#but doesn’t mention the fact that it’s once titular character was a gender-less being who chose and designed his own body

[mythalism]

solythal is has the unmistakable air of toxic yuri even if solas happened to take a male body. im not elaborating further either you get it or you don’t

[ploppythespaceship]

So I watched the Artemis Fowl movie...

Usually I make a list of good things and bad things in my reviews, but in this I literally do not have one good thing to say. Artemis Fowl fails as an adaptation, and it fails as a movie. It’s almost incomprehensible how terrible this film is -- Percy Jackson looks competent by comparison. So instead of my list, I’m gonna just talk about why it sucked.

The Plot

The movie combines the plots of the first two books in the series, with a few elements from later books tossed in for good measure. In the first book, Artemis learns of the existence of fairies and takes one hostage -- Captain Holly Short -- in order to extort them. In the second book, Artemis’s father has been captured, prompting Artemis to team up with Holly to rescue him.

The problem with combining these two is that they are fundamentally different stories. The latter relies greatly on the former to be well set up. Additionally, both are rather busy stories that need time and focus to do them well. The tension of Artemis holding Holly captive works because it lasts for a significant portion of the book. The development of Artemis teaming up with Holly works because they have hated each other for over a book now. This does not happen in the film. Everything is rushed, leading to a jumbled mess that barely makes any sense.

Artemis’s father is captured by Opal Koboi (a villain from the later books who does little to nothing in this film), who demands that Artemis give her something called the Aculos (a mcguffin that the movie made up). Artemis then captures Holly, and demands the Aculos as ransom. But when the fairies have no interest in giving him this ransom, Artemis teams up with Holly. Because it turns out her father, Beechwood, stole the Aculos years ago, and Artemis’s father knew Beechwood. The fairies send in a dwarf named Mulch to break in, and he locates the Aculos in the Fowl Manor. Mulch then teams up with Artemis, and there’s a long sequence where everyone fights a troll. Once that’s done, Holly uses the Aculos to rescue Artemis’s father. The end.

If you’re thinking that this plot makes no sense, that’s because it doesn’t. Information is presented at the strangest times, making things impossible to follow. Not to mention that character allegiances are constantly shifting for no discernible reason. There is no reason for Holly to trust Artemis, or vice versa -- yet they declare themselves “forever friends” before the end of the film. I can’t even tell you why Mulch sticks around, he just does.

The movie is also terribly paced. Despite only being ninety minutes long, it feels like it drags on for an eternity. Alternating between Artemis and Holly in the opening creates a distinct lack of tension, making it impossible to stay invested in any one thing for too long. Topping the whole thing off is the movie’s framing device -- the story is narrated by Mulch, as part of an interrogation that’s never properly explained. This setup feels so unnecessary, and it’s actually jarring every time we cut back to Mulch growling his exposition at the camera.

The Characters & Actors

I cannot think of one character that has not been butchered by the writing, the acting, or both. All of them are terrible. And across the board, the acting isn’t terribly good.

Artemis Fowl

The titular character gets it the worst of everyone. In the book, he’s a criminal mastermind. He’s cold, calculating, and eerie. He behaves so much like an adult that it unsettles people. He isn’t at all interested in typical child things, instead focusing on his own lofty goals. He’s an utter genius, learning the existence of fairies all on his own and coming up with the plan to capture one himself. Though he’s sympathetic in his own way, he’s also not presented as a terribly good person. As a protagonist, he’s almost unlikable -- it’s not until later books that he learns to have friends and become a better person.

But in the movie, Artemis is about as generic a fantasy film protagonist as you can get. He’s a more or less happy child who adores his father. He likes surfing and skateboarding. He doesn’t learn about fairies on his own -- his father tells him about them. And while he’s shown to be intelligent, it’s nowhere near the genius level he should be at. He’s so watered down and uninteresting that he’s unrecognizable as the same character. Even accepting that this isn’t the book character, he’s just boring to watch. There’s nothing interesting or compelling about this random kid. Ferdia Shaw’s performance doesn’t help -- while I’ve certainly seen worse child actors, I’ve also seen far, far better.

It’s worth mentioning that some of the best moments in the books are when something rattles Artemis so badly that the walls come down and he acts like a scared little kid. These moments work because they’re rare. This movie tosses them at you left and right. I don’t know who this kid is, but it ain’t Artemis Fowl.

Holly Short

In the books, Holly is an adult woman working an adult job -- she’s a police officer. She’s also described as having medium dark skin, with the phrases “olive” and “nut brown” being used most often. So the decision to cast a fourteen year old white actress... it boggles the mind. In fairness, Lara McDonnell did a decently good job in the role. But there wasn’t much role to do a good job with. Holly is a very bland character, with all of her drive and fire from the book simply gone. There’s also a backstory tossed in about her father, Beechwood Short, which is implemented in the strangest way and only comes up when it’s strictly relevant.

Domovoi Butler

Oh, Butler. Artemis’s bodyguard slash best friend slash pseudo father figure. A tremendously important character in the books who is barely in the movie at all. His role is so cut down that it’s absurd. I guess Nonso Anonzie was doing a fine job, but he was hardly there enough for me to tell. All indication that this man is a tremendously important figure in Artemis’s life is simply gone.

Edited to add: I didn’t initially think of anything wrong with Butler being a black man for the movie, but after seeing some complaints from others... yeah I think making a character from a family that’s been servants to a rich white family for generations now into a black man is uhhhhhhhhhh. It’s questionable.

Juliet Butler

Butler’s niece, Juliet, is in the movie so little that I kept forgetting she was there. Which is a damn shame, because I actually really liked Tamara Smart from The Worst Witch already and thought she was an excellent choice for Juliet. In the book, Juliet is the only other child around, and about the only kid that Artemis will remotely consider an equal. She’s great to balance him out and keep him more grounded. In the movie? Eh. She has a handful of lines.

Mulch Diggums

As far as being accurate to the book, Mulch is probably the closest. Though the decision to make a dwarf character not actually short boggles the mind... my main complaint is that Josh Gad likes to improvise his way through scenes, and his style of comedy is pretty grating. It gets old, fast. Throw in the fact that he’s also growling all of his lines to sound different, and you have a character that’s nearly unwatchable.

Julius Root

Speaking of growling all your lines! Commander Root is played by Dame Judi Dench in this movie, changing the character’s gender. I really don’t mind that, and the characterization is largely unchanged. What I do mind is Dench’s delivery. All of her lines are growled in such a low rumble that it sounds like she’s been smoking for eighty years. It becomes impossible to take anything she says or does seriously when she’s speaking like that. Josh Gad even pokes fun at it in a scene with the two of them, saying that they sound like “hippos with a throat infection” -- the only line to get a chuckle out of me.

Artemis Fowl, Sr.

To round it off, we have Colin Farrell as Artemis’s father. And... he’s here, I guess. Farrell mostly sounds bored in all of his scenes and it’s incredibly easy to forget about him.

Angeline Fowl

But wait! A fan of the book may ask. What about Artemis’s mother? How did the movie do her? Surely they didn’t forget Artemis’s mother! And my friends, I regret to inform you that the movie did, in fact, forget Artemis’s mother. She isn’t present, nor is she even mentioned. A major part of the books, a major force to drive Artemis’s character, just... gone. Lovely.

The Production Design

The best word I can think of is uninspired. Most things are serviceable, but unimpressive, leading to the film looking very generic. I was especially disappointed with the look of the fairy underground. A combination of magic and technology has a lot of potential to look visually interesting. Instead, the fairy police just look like the E.L.F.S. from The Santa Clause. And once you’ve seen it, you’ll never unsee it. So you’re welcome.

Additionally, the action scenes tend to be poorly shot and edited. Everything is extremely fast paced with a freely floating camera -- this makes things nearly impossible to follow. Several times I said out loud “what just happened?” because I legitimately could not tell where things were in relation to each other, and who was attacking, who was being attacked, etc. Thankfully there aren’t a lot of action scenes, but the few that do exist are pretty bad.

There are also several sequences of Mulch unhinging his jaw to burrow through the ground. In the book, it’s mildly amusing, but it doesn’t at all translate to film. It’s horrifying in every sense. The CG looks rubbery and fake, and Josh Gad’s performance doesn’t at all sell it. If there were any change from the books I would actually welcome, it’s this one. There are plenty of other ways he could dig. But nope. They stuck to that one. For some reason.

In Conclusion

This is easily the worst book to film adaptation I have ever seen. Please don’t watch it unless you’re a fan of the book and want a laugh.

[sorio99]

Deltarune Chapter 1: The Official Undertale AU

At 6:00 AM PST, on Halloween 2018, the official Undertale twitter account released what is essentially a demo for the next game by Toby Fox, deltarune. Between the baffling intro, the odd relationship with the original Undertale, and the implied involvement of a certain missing doctor, everything about this game was shrouded in mystery.

And I loved it.

(Spoilers and Review below the cut)

Part 1: The Story

At first glance, most people assumed this mysterious new game would be a sequel (or possibly prequel) to Undertale. After all, it involves a number of shared characters, the titular rune was prominently featured in Undertale, and even the name “Delta rune” is an anagram for “Undertale”.

However, the relationship between the two is much stranger, and the plots are largely unconnected.

After creating an avatar and having the game unceremoniously throw it in the garbage, you play as Kris (that lovely person up there), the human child of Asgore and Toriel, and younger sibling to Asriel Dreemurr. Right off the bat, about a million questions are raised, especially since later conversations indicate Kris has at least been living with the Dreemurrs’ since they were too young to know their species, but we’ll come back to that.

Toriel drives you to school, though still get there late, and Alphys (who is your teacher here) puts you in a group with Susie, the only student to show up after you, to work together on a group project. However, when she realizes she doesn’t have any chalk, she sends the two of you to go get some from the school’s broom closet. You catch Susie eating chalk, she threatens to eat your face but doesn’t, and you head off to the broom closet.

Then things get weird.

After that, it sort of follows a plot line similar to the original: you fall into another world, there’s a bunch of monsters you can either fight or spare, and you just have to keep going up and to the left to fulfill a prophecy & get to the exit, all while dealing with ambiguously evil characters who are more silly than dangerous. It is, however, a bit shorter, with only about ten unique enemies and only three areas in the whole game. But hey, it is technically just the first chapter, so what do you expect.

Of course, what really makes an Undertale is the characters. Since you’re in a different world for most of the game, the returning characters from Undertale don’t have much of a presence outside the very beginning and very end. Instead, we focus on a handful of new characters, all of whom are pretty well-rounded and developed, with the exception of Kris, our silent, somewhat-ambiguously-gendered protagonist. Susie, in particular, goes through a pretty nice character arc, going from someone who’d casually threaten to rip your face off and eat it, to an actual antagonist at one point, before eventually working her way back to being a good guy and someone you can actually be friends with! It’s definitely the strongest arc in the game so far.

There’s also Lancer!

He’s a villain.

And not a skeleton.

Just trust me on this.

Part 2: Presentation

Just to get it out of the way, the music is fantastic. Of course it is. It’s an Undertale spinoff and, more importantly, it’s made by Toby “Radiation” “I could shit out a better soundtrack than most of you will ever even imagine” Fox.

I will however say that I prefer Deltarune’s sound design in general to Undertale, though. Don’t get me wrong, Undertale still has the better OST (for now at least), but Deltarune’s sound effects JUST beat it out in my books. In particular, I felt like the text sounds for most of the characters was, on average, less annoying than in Undertale. Again, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Undertale’s voices, but some of them could get a little ear-grating, especially for characters who talked a LOT throughout the game. Here, with the exception of one returning character (where the irritation was kind of the joke anyways), all of them work really well. There’s even a tiny bit of voice acting from a couple of the more important characters! So, big thumbs up there.

More pressingly, however, are the visuals. In case it wasn’t obvious from the above screenshots (aside from that second one of Lancer, maybe), the graphics have gotten a MAJOR glow up since the last game. Temmie Chang, aka “Most Precious Meme”, is still the main Artist for the game, and Undertale is by no means a bad looking game. However, in general, the games’ art went from “Beautiful and sometimes even breathtaking” to consistently “HOLY SHIT MY EYES ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO COPE WITH SUCH SHEER BRILLIANCE!!!”

You think I’m exaggerating, but I legit dropped my jaw at a lot of this game’s visuals. I mean, just look at this one End-game animation!

I think this one short scene has more detail and frame than Asgore’s overworld sprite got in the entirety of Undertale.

On the slight downside, however, we no longer get the full-body monochromatic battle sprites from Undertale, as enemies appear in battle almost identically to how they appear in the world. Still, with this much more detail in overworld sprites, it’s not even a slight loss.

Speaking of battle...

Part 3: Gameplay

Yep, the gameplay has gotten a major overhaul over the past three years. First, as the screenshot should make obvious, you have a team now! Yep, in addition to Kris, you can get up to three additional party members over the course of your adventure, including Susie! 

In general, what you can do in battles with Kris is mostly the same; you can Fight by hitting the button at the right time, Act in certain ways to make the enemies not want to fight you, use an Item really quick, or Spare an enemy who you don’t want to kill. You also have the option to defend, which will lessen the damage you take if you get hit during the obligatory bullet-hell attacks your enemies dish out.

Where things get really interesting, though, is the team mechanics. You see, every character is different, and everyone but Kris can use magic (although some of Kris’s ACT commands kinda seem like magic?). However, only Kris can directly ACT, with other party members only being able to preform certain set spells. So, instead, Kris can command the other party members to perform actions, or Kris can ACT while the others defend, use items, or attack. If you use a Team ACT, the other party member(s) involved won’t be able to do anything else that turn, but said Team ACTs are usually more powerful or potent as a result. The whole thing can set up for actually strategic choices in battle: In Undertale, since most enemies only had one or two ways to spare them, the most strategy you could use on a Pacifist play through was “Which enemy should I deal with first?” Here, you have to figure how you’re going to handle each encounter. Do you have Kris ACT first, then have another party member spare that monster in the same turn? Or do you act WITH that party member, and next turn be able to spare at least two monsters?

In addition to the battle system being reworked, there were a number of smaller, quality of life changes:

You now have three item categories: Items (your standard consumables), Gear (your armor and weapons), and Key Items (your cellphone and a couple other important things).

You can sell at pretty much every shop in the “Dark” world, which makes sense, since you’re mostly selling food, armor, and weapons-things people in this world would need to survive.

Each character in your party uses a different kind of weapon, but all of them use the same armor, and you can give them all two pieces of armor each, so you can stack defense and get extra boosts!

Choices are mostly presented in a cross pattern, so you just have to pick a direction and confirm to choose that option.

THERE IS NOW A RUN BUTTON AND IN THE OPTIONS YOU CAN CHANGE SO YOU AUTO-RUN AND THE RUN BUTTON IS JUST A WALK BUTTON!

And speaking of which, YOU CAN ACCESS THE MENU FROM WITHIN THE MAIN GAME! THANK YOU!

You can also have up to three save files at once, although I’ve heard each file has some minor differences in flavor-text across the game, so be on the look-out for that.

Overall, I feel like I honestly prefer the game play to Undertale. In fact, with the exception of the story (which is mostly underdeveloped because, again, this is basically just a very long demo), I honestly prefer most of Deltarune to Undertale. While it isn’t technically a sequel, per se, it does do what any good sequel should do: use the original as a starting point and just improve almost everything. It’s almost like the Bioshock Infinite to Undertale’s Bioshock, if that makes sense.

(Would that make System Shock 2 Homestuck? Am I over thinking this?)

Now, with the actual review out of the way, we can get to the main event.

Part 4: Co̞͞n̤̠͎̙̥̗n̸̰̜̳͚͓͇͍e̸͈͉̳̺c̭̮̬̖̭̗̳͠t͍͓͘i̖̺͙͇̟̫o̢̰̜̦n͈̮̼͈͎͖̦s͈͝ ̹̙̦͈̯̜A̡̟̥ņ̥͙̗d̛͙̤̦͈̹̪͚ ̺T͍̞h̡̜̝̟̬e͏̱̹̲ͅ ͕̯̰͍̜͇͍D͝oc̜t̸̺̱̯͙̠o̷̱r͈̟̣̤̯

As I mentioned before, this game isn’t technically a sequel to Undertale. None of the events of Undertale seem to have occurred in this universe, including (seemingly) things from before the game even began. This becomes especially apparent after you leave the “Dark” world and can explore town, talking to various people. Character relationships are almost universally reset, there is no mention of the “Underground”, and considering Asriel is still alive and in college, it’s safe to say there is no Flowey in this world. It could almost be passed off as a complete alternate continuity, or even a reboot, if it weren’t for a few...

oddities.

Yep, among the returning characters, Sans makes an appearance, having apparently just moved into town and never having met you before. Despite having apparently met Toriel the night before in the grocery store, and having a business relationship with your teacher, Alphys. Plus, there's the fact that what used to be Grillby’s and the Bone Brother’s house both look WAY too close to there original versions (no other building looks that similar), the fact that of ALL the returning characters, only Sans looks the exact same (no redesign, visible aging, or even new clothing), and the fact that some of Kris’s dialogue choices seem to reference things that haven’t happened in this universe, and other characters notice them acting...different.

Plus, you know, there’s Chapter 1′s ending.

Yeah.

(Plus, as you might have noticed at the top of this part, there’s a monster who is the only one in either game who looks similar to this Gaster Follower)

All of this seems to point to something much more sinister going on. And, for those who haven’t seen it, the tweets leading up to the demo’s release might just explain why.

Now, we aren’t quite sure who this is supposed to be, but judging by their vocabulary and how they type, it’s a pretty safe assumption we’re being chatted to by our favorite former royal scientist. And, sure enough, most people are assuming that this entity is at least some version of Dr. W. D. Gaster. Why is he doing this? What does it all mean? Why was the Delta Rune even slightly relevant to the plot of this chapter aside from there being three prophesied heroes?

Well, I suppose only time will tell.

Until then...

L̴͙̖̠̕è̘̝͚̯̩̘ͅt͔͎͖̝͎̼͘͢ ̷͎̮͘ù̴̹̘̮̰̙̮̮̘͝s̵̷̫̠͎̯͙̥͟ͅ ͍͍̤̟͇͕̺ͅh̨̼̼͕̠ą̶̛̦̫̼v̺͞e̸͎̭̱͍̭͞͠ ͖̩̳͕͔͚͚̝̱s̘̭̩͜͟ơ҉̥͖̯͟m̞̠͈e̷͔͖̭ͅ ́҉̤͔͎̫̣̥̱͚̲ḿ̶̩̼̙̪̻̝̥͟o̗͇̩͇̠͍͟r̡͖͇̤̗͔͈̕͠e̶̝̠͔͈̭̟ ̷̫̬̺̮͔̣F̢̗̘̟̯͈̜͖͕͈͞Ų̴͍̜͚̘̠̞͈͇̀N҉̡̣̺̝̩̘͓ͅ.̷̩̹͓̯͝

S̛̪̦͉͎̙̀h̴͇͈͡á̤̣̫̬l̷̬̤͓͈͟ͅl͚͚̙̦̙̣̱̺ ̳̗̩͍̱̤̦͈̣w̡͔é͔̝̹̻̜͎̞͝?͜҉̣̣̥̫͎͎ͅ

[knightofbalance-13]

http://alexlayer.tumblr.com/post/176968058052/how-not-to-ever-ever-defend-jaune-part-3\

Considering this is targeted at one of my friends, consider this PERSONAL.

Today we exterminate @rainbowloliofjustice‘s reply as well as her apparent ingrained misogyny, taking everything into account, following @outcasts-redeemer’s argument’s deconstruction

So no matter what, if someone defends Jaune it’s sexism. Wow, I’ve seen some stupid forms of logic in my time but this is literally the strawman every right winger uses to describe someone like you. So uh, good job on that end just don’t stand near any open flames.

Hello! NB person here.

So you’re not a woman and therefore have no place talking about female issues? Good know! We can just go ahead with the assumption that, even if every single argument I make after this is wrong, you still don’t get to say anything.

It was more than twice, and it’s not the constant asking out that’s the problem, it’s the disregard and disrespect for the girl’s agency that makes him a douche.

Really? Because uh, this is the first I’m hearing of this from you. Before,Jaune  asking Weiss out multiple times was the issue.

So the issue you actually have has no corporeal form nor does it have any definition other than ‘negative against Jaune’. Great, how about you take it up with that wall over there?

Jaune actually called out Neptune on not caring about Weiss’ feelings, which is practically giving him a lecture and incredibly hypocritical of him considering his behavior towards him

So apparently a parent can’t lecture their kids on making mistakes they made, ignoring how people who made these mistakes would know the consequences of these mistakes and how to avoid them? Good to know you don’t understand a fundamental aspect of life.

I’m not here to deny that Weiss wasn’t the best of the best during Volume 1, but she’s actually shown development and evidence of moving past this. Yeah, she approached Pyrrha with her own interest in mind, but that was just once and it has never been repeated since. Not to mention Pyrrha was nowhere near as visible uncomfortable about any of this as Weiss was with Jaune shoving himself in between them, and at least Weiss was smart enough to pick up the hint and drop it.

Actually-

Pyrrha was being vsibly uncomfortable by her tone of voice and how she constantly tried getting away from Weiss. And since Weiss, just like Jaune, didn’t outright admit she was being wrong: shouldn’t she be considered just as bad as Jaune?

Or does this actually boil down to “Weiss have vagina so good and Jaune have penis so bad”?

P.S. Pyrrha was more comfortable talking to Jaune than Weiss. Or are women not allowed to choose who they talk to now?

Yes, Miss Chick, I’ve watched the show, and I stand by this statement. Pyrrha was made, from beginning to end, to complement Jaune’s arc, not to be a character of her own. And if you don’t see it, then… girlfriend, sister, gal pal, wake the fuck up! Not that I’m saying that you can’t like Pyrrha on her own right, but what can you even tell me about Pyrrha other than she’s kind, badass, smart, and dependable, mh? What are her hobbies? What are her dreams? What’s her background like? Do we even know anything about her family that might tell us anything about her? About how she grew up? Can you even tell me what’s her relationship like with her teammates and fellow classmates other than Jaune? ‘cause I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but outside of Ozpin’s circle during her would-be “arc” in Volume 3, Pyrrha is practically never allowed to interact one-on-one with characters that aren’t Jaune. Her conversation with Weiss in Volume 1? Interrupted by Jaune. Ren and Nora trying to cheer her up before her big fight in Volume 3? Interrupted by Jaune. Her apologizing to Ruby in V3 after killing Penny? Goes about two lines before Jaune steps in again to claim all of Pyrrha’s attention once more.

A. Sexist.

B. Also sexist implying she can’t see it due to her gender.

And C. You know, you mentioned Penny here....

So what is Penny’s hobbies?

What is Penny’s dreams?

What is Penny’s background like?

What is penny’s family like, outside of what she told Ruby?

How did Penny grow up?

Can you even tell me about a relationship Penny has outside of Ruby?

Trick questions:

You CAN’T answer them.

Because Penny is in the same fucking boat as PYRRHA. In fact, Penny has LESS of a character than Pyrrha because, guess what, She HAS no arc! She is entirely connected to Ruby!

So if you have such an issue with characters like this then surely, you would say something about Penny right? Unless, of course, you only have an issue with Jaune because Jaune has a penis and you have outright misandric tendencies.

Even her death has served nothing but Jaune’s development. We’ve never seen any characters mourn Pyrrha other than him. Not Ren and Nora, who were her teammates, not even Ruby, who saw her die first hand. Nobody outside of Jaune seems to even remember her most of the time (and yes, I know Ruby mentions her in one scene in Volume 5, but that’s about it), and even her remnants were melted down to improve Jaune’s equipment rather than being brought to Pyrrha’s family to be placed on her grave or something.

A. Ruby outright shows development because of Pyrrha at leats three times in the series.

But B.

Even her death has served nothing but Ruby’s development. We’ve never seen any characters mourn Penny other than him. Not Ironwood and Dr. Pollendina, who were her father figures, not even Pyrrha, who saw her die first hand. Nobody outside of Ruby seems to even remember her most of the time, and even her remnants were forgotten about because they couldn’t be used for Ruby instead of seeing her buried or something.

Notice how my paragraph is almost exactly like yours? That’s because no matter what argument you make for Pyrrha, I can make the EXACT same argument for Penny (or even better.) So unless you show an issue with Penny’s death 9which you don’t): Why should I take this as anything other than the ravening of an insane, biased asshole?

Again, I’m not saying you can’t like Pyrrha for what we’ve seen of her. I myself liked her as well, but in the sense that I really wish she had been her own character, that we could have actually gotten to know her and see what she was really like, rather than have her near entire screen-time revolve around Jaune. Stop for just a moment to think of what Pyrrha’s character would be like if Jaune wasn’t in the show, and you either come to the realization that she’d have no purpose, or realize about the endless possibilities there is to her character that the show never bothered to explore because the writers never saw her as anything but a complement to Jaune’s character. From day one, she was meant to die. She was made by design to be little but the Disposable Woman, and it shows.

Do I need to do the paragraph thing again?

Because here it[’s even more effective considering A. Pyrrha would be the exact same character whereas we’d never even SEE Penny wthout Ruby and B. Pyrrha died for her own reasons whereas Penny died basically to give RUby development.

So uh, once more:

Either stick your standards or showcase how your standards is just sexism.

Honestly, no, not really. I mean, I didn’t really meant to blame Jaune for those things. You’re right. Cinder is the one to blame here, for everyone that got hurt. I do believe, however, that Jaune’s behavior during that fight did more harm than good during the earlier half of the fight, and made so many mistakes that it makes you wonder if he’s really learned anything throughout the series, though really, the whole part here is not so much about issues with characters as it is with the writing. I mean, why would Cinder even target Weiss instead of Ruby, whom she holds a personal grudge against and was even more vulnerable than Weiss? This is what worries me, that it feels like the writers chose Weiss because, since Jaune used to crush on her, that would hurt him the most. It’s a writing decision placed solemnly with Jaune’s character in mind and no one else’s, which is a serious problem because it shows the writers keep prioritizing Jaune above most other characters, even the titular characters.

Or you know:

She’s also Ruby’s partner and her and Yang have been getting very close this season and thus choosing her would affect the most people?

And because hurting Ruby wouldn’t give her the same satisfaction as hurting Weiss.

And finally: bullshit. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Qrow, Raven, Hazel, Lionheart, Illa and Cinder all had more focus this entire Volume than Jaune. He Is literally one of the least focused on characters this entire Volume.

That’s fair, but even then, there’s been zero interaction between Jaune and Weiss since the reunion in Volume 5 (they practically didn’t acknowledge each other). In other words, there hasn’t yet been a development to their relationship, which I wouldn’t be exactly against. What I’m against is the writers using the whole “Jaune saving Weiss” as a shortcut to show a development in their relationship and thus completely avoiding having Jaune own up to what he did wrong in the past, as if suggesting Weiss was in the wrong (and no, she wasn’t. It’s completely within her right to reject someone she’s not interested in) and Jaune never did anything bad, which just isn’t true, despite what they want the viewer to believe. They themselves (the writers) need to own up to their shortcomings just like Jaune needs to.

A. WHAT DEVELOPMENT? Their relationship is EXACTLY THE SAME as before. Weiss doesn’t even ACKNOWLEDGE that Jaune saved her life. Your bitching about nothing!

B. Jaune kind of SAVED HER LIFE. N doubt she’s gonna act differently! that tends to change one’s view of a person!/

C. Jaune WAS suppose to be in the wrong! You just don’t want to see it because that would tear away one of your beating sticks.

And D. Why SHOULD the writers acknowledge jackshit when you adamantly REFUSE to? You bitch at my friend for being seixsdt then display almost as much sexism as Dudeblade and act like hypocrisy is so bad when you have done nothing BUT spout hypocrisy!

Like I said before, this much is right. Mind you, though, I only brought up Jaune failing to stop Cinder as Ozpin told him not because I really want to blame him there, but because @outcasts-redeemer actually dared blame Pyrrha’s death on Weiss for failing to save Pyrrha after Jaune asked her and Ruby to do just as much, which… I don’t need to tell you just how ridiculous that is, now do I?

... bullshit, you did want to blame him. Hell, your excuse here has no evidence to back it up so I’,m just gonna assume you willfully misinterpreted something.

If you wanna ignore the obvious fact that there’s clear issues with the way Jaune’s written, and the way near everyone gets written to accommodate things for his sake (the battle of Haven being by far the worst offender), then you do you, but I’m not. We were promised a show about four badass action girls, not about a boring, generic and stereotypical dude who’s just the most unoriginal archetype ever but has the world bend to his whim because the writing says so, and so long as they keep making these blunders, criticism will continue to show up.

Thing is:

Not only do only ONE issue here actually apply, but that issue applies to THE MAIN CHARACTER and you never say a word then.

Not just that, you act like Jaune took up the entire  battle of haven when at most, he took up half an episode. In a Volume where he made NO other significant appearances while the rets of the Volume focused on the main girls while you STILL bitch about Jaune having too much focus then say, the other TEN characters that had more focus than him.

And then to top it all off, you call this shit ‘criticism.’ Bull fucking shit. You blatantly IGNORED facts here and showed a clear double standard in regards to what is good and what is bad. You don’t want the show to get better, you want the show to cater to you ALONE. This is even EXCLUDING your hypocrisy as you call misgyony while being misogynist AND misandrist or how you bitch about the show so called bending to Jaune’s will while you demand everyone around bend to YOUR will.

Guess what? So long as this shit still happens with you, your criticism will never go away either. So long as RWDE spews bullshit, people will shovle that bullshit right back in.

[theorynexus]

Pseudo-Liveblogging: 2B

Your attempt to name John Egbert “Zoosmell Pooplord” has failed.  It was an interesting attempt, considering “Zoosmell” at least relates to the “Biologist” part of his present “ectoBiologist” chumhandle, but Pooplord doesn’t really work all that well with it.  On the other hand, at least you seem to have presciently related the joke name to his command to defecate upon his desk, and the name quite obviously relates well to that of Farmstink Buttlass, who is his (ecto-)biological sister.    On that note, I am sure you are quite aware that Dave Strider and his (ecto-)biological sister, Rose Lalonde, will both also receive failed naming attempts. These shall be much less silly and much more insulting names, Iin2ufferable Priick and Flighty Broad respectively, shall be offered to them by the trolls Sollux Captor (who I have admittedly been spoiled into knowing is actually named Solluxander [which fits quite well with his theme, due to the fact that it is not only bending the rules {DOOM}, but also an example of an integrated “11″ {beenary code/dualism}], though I still have no idea what Pesterquest [I think that’s what it’s called] even IS, and am vague and uncertain as to what the implications for this are, other than it maybe having something to do with gender identity and Shrek) and Kanaya Maryam (respectively).  The names are both rejected in spite of the fact that Rose Lalonde calls Dave an insufferable prick before Dave is given his name, and the additional fact that Dave calls Rose a flighty broad before her name is known.   This was obviously played off as a laughable result of the MSPA Reader trying to “remember” these characters names, when the opportunity to name them first comes up. That this gag is brought up again in Hivebent very briefly (in such a way as to create symbolic connections between Karkat and Dave), and that it is connected to the Honorary Placronym concept the Alpha Kids’ side of the scratch both barely need or deserve mentioning. Neither does the fact that the naming jokes/ectobiology tie-ins continue in later examples.

Your true identity is the Ghosty Trickster. You earn that identity later in life not only via your mastery of the Breeze, which allows you to potentially dissolve into pure spirit/wind and thereby avoid damage; you also earn this title by ushering in the concept of Trickster Mode into the comic, and more importantly evoking the power of the Ultimate Juju (which contains a version of yourself and each of your friends at the time, and is ambiguously related to the Trickster Sucker/Lollipop[s] [which will likely be explained/elaborated upon via the Candy epilogue]), allowing you to play cosmic pranks such as causing your arm to appear across numerous points in various timelines and continuities, as well as allowing a more adept user to teleport themself and their friends fully to any point in space/time (perhaps in any reality), and thereby to further play tricks such as antagonizing the young Caliborn such that you and said friends become trapped in said juju (powering it until it is used as a weapon against him).  ([{Caliborn DOES call him that, by the way, if anyone is forgetting--- or at least refers to his powers as “TRICKSY GHOST POWERS,” or something of the sort.}]) You are also the Heir of Breath, which is a mythological role which quite suits you, on account of the aforementioned identity. Breath is associated with the spiritual, by the way, which is likely your reason for the affinity for the paranormal. At the same time, however, it constantly feels like you are trapped-- stuck, if you will, in a manner which borders on the titular --not just in your home, and certainly not just in your room (which affords a nice view of the Breath Blue sky by means of its soon to be no-longer-confining window), but in a restrictive sort of life, filled with drudgery and inconvenient (yet friendly, in a coddling sort of way) ties with family, which contributes to the general feeling that you are bound to the earth, despite a destiny that clearly lies beyond it. Soon, that will change: you will become the first of your friend group to enter the Medium, though you will have paradoxically proven to have been there all along. You see, you have a Dream Self, which has been living on the moon of Prospit ever since you were born. In fact, paradoxically quite well before it, as well. This self is periodically exposed to the effects of the Eclipse, which allows you to dimly view visions of the future in Skaia’s clouds.  Since you are not awake, there is no chance that you could remember anything consciously, but your subconscious mind has been influenced by these cloud visions for years. As such, your interests have been somewhat tailored to your future, and foreshadow things:  particularly, the movies you are a fan of will both directly effect and reflect the events of your session in a foreshadowing and paradoxically interactive manner. Obviously, Con Air will directly lead into your skits wherein you hand a dirtied bunny to various children and pretend to unite with your beloved wife and daughter (yay, Candy timeline reflecting this with Roxy and Rose just a little bit, even if the relationship between John and Roxy supposedly doesn’t work out?).    However, others are more subtle:  Armageddon foreshadows the Reckoning, and its Deep Impact upon the Earth; Mac and Me and Little Monsters both suggest blossoming relationships (friendship or otherwise) between humans and monsters that look like Howie Mandel in weird monster makeup [with Karkat’s small horns possibly being a reference to the alien in Mac and Me, but I’m not sure]; Ghost Dad relates to Nannasprite, Ectobiological “fatherhood” over all of the Kids on John’s part, and of course Dad’s death (and post-death “haunting,” once John sees Jane’s father in the Alpha Kids’ session and/or before that, when the version that sacrificed himself for Davesprite’s sake met Vriska and then briefly saw a “Ghost Dad” in a Dream Bubble); Ghostbusters is just silly, though I guess it could maybe be a long-term reference to the eventual double deaths that start going around; otherwise, it is probably related to Slimer seeming like the ghost on John’s shirt, or just general paranormal silliness ([obviously, unleashing an evil god through a portal connecting two worlds has nothing to do with it]);  aaaannnd... I can’t remember any of the other posters for now, and won’t be skipping ahead to see them, yet, considering I am doing this in a linear and sane manner. For years and years, you have been demented by the horrific image of a Clown Missing an Arm and an Eye, an insidious result of Gamzee Makara’s manifestation of his dark ancestral chucklevoodoos, which directly contributed to the destined destruction of your universe by means of Jack Noir (Blackjack, Ace of Spades, the Joker gone wild), whose black affections were made to boil and Rage by his Bardic inspiration-- so exceeding his natural affinity for the Black Queen that he would usurp her and become the Sovereign Slayer.  By means of his Rage-inducing chucklevoodoos, you became mentally unstable, and would come to scrawl colorful images of harlequins upon your walls and posters in periodic fugues, much to your own later disappointment and shock. This would cause your Dad to embrace a hobby of collecting and gifting harlequins to his dear, sweet, adopted John in order to try to show he appreciated his twisted child and was attempting to relate to him. Throughout your childhood, you and your friends would attract the attention and ire of various other trolls, leading you to have a negative disposition toward the creators of your universe and to ironically lose much of your precious time early in the game disbelieving them or otherwise being unable to cooperate alongside the alien player group; whereas there would have been a good possibility that if they had contacted you after you had entered the game and declared they were another group of players, it would have been much more likely that you would have believed them. That might have smoothed things out significantly.  Oh well. Them’s the 8r8ks. Speaking of, you would be patronized by a spider-themed troll who was particularly excited to insert herself into your personal progression and rise to godhood.  That trolls name will remain a Sekret, at least for now.  She is a very divisive and inter8sting character. While all of these aforementioned facts have a very important influence on your life and the progression of your story, the fact that you are descendant (by way of adoption) from Colonel Sassacre and Betty Crocker will also greatly shape the environment you grow up in. As will your interest in Harry Anderson and his biography. The latter person is not very much elaborated upon in the story, though his hole punching tricks are used to inspire advances in punch card-based alchemy.  The former two, I shall address more when I reach pages relating more to them. In the meantime, I am thinking I might accelerate my schedule on reading the Candy epilogue. As I was attempting to look up the Wise Guy book so I could double check that Harry Anderson doesn’t come up as being, say, secretly the guy who, I may have slightly spoiled myself on it by seeing that there is a character named Harry Anderson Egbert, apparently, and I don’t want to expose myself to too much more potential spoiling. There are too many questions that fact generates by itself.   (My guess would have to be that, if Terezi was correct about John and Roxy not working out, either the kid is born before they break up and therefore one of them takes up the traditional Homestuck role of being single parent to the child, or alternatively, John ends up adopting them as an apparently unnamed baby, continuing the tradition of a guardian discovering a mysterious seemingly abandoned child, possibly in debris of some sort.   The former seems more likely, given the bitter taste that’s supposed to settle in after the sweet of the candy wears off.) Soooo... Yeah, I think I might do one more of these posts and then start up the other epilogue’s read.   Or just start after this. I don’t know.

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #146 - The Boxtrolls

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes. #319.

Format: Blu-ray

1) Unlike previous Laika films, The Boxtrolls isn’t really a horror movie in any way. It’s more just quirky fantasy. Not that this means it is any less well done of a film though. Just make sure you know what you’re seeing.

2) I just have to say, from the first few minutes of the film, Ben Kingsley as Archibald Snatcher steals every freaking scene he’s in.

(GIF originally posted by @callerofthecrows)

Kingsley’s voice work is totally unrecognizable as Snatcher, and that is part of what makes him fun. You feel some sympathy towards Snatcher, as he just wants to move up a social ladder which he has been at the bottom of since birth (because it’s an injustice and unfair system). But darn if he just isn’t an amazing villain. Each and every one of his lines DRIPS with delightful evilness and greed. He is just amazingly fun and so freaking good in this movie, Snatcher is easily not only one of my favorite animated villains of all time but one of my favorite villains of all time period. Sometimes a movie is as good as its antagonist, and if that’s the case for The Boxtrolls it makes sense that this movie is so freaking good.

3) I grew up in Wisconsin. I totally understand the obsession this town and its elite members have for cheese. Cheese is awesome, man.

4) The titular boxtrolls.

The animation in this film is amazing and you can see that just by examining the boxtrolls. For characters who have little to no dialogue, each individual boxtroll is somehow given its own unique character and personality through design and movement alone. You understand that Fish is a little more caring and patient than the stubborn Shoe, for example. And even with the boxtrolls with smaller parts you get a sense of individualism among them. It would have been easy for each boxtroll to be a carbon copy of the other. For them to be the same if not in design than at least behavior. So kudos to the filmmakers for taking the time and effort to give each their own personality.

5) Fish and Eggs have a really interesting relationship. It’s almost father/son, in fact it’s REALLY close to father/son, but even Winnie comments later how Fish isn’t really a father. That may be because he’s a boxtroll, but I don’t know. He doesn’t feel like a total father. It’s like Eggs is raised by the community and Fish is the one who puts special interest to him. So ALMOST a father but not exactly. Either way, it’s a nice relationship to have in the film.

6) The entire class structure in this film (white hats at the top, red hats at the bottom) is really interesting to me. I mean it sucks, because people get to be abuse power while other people are at the bottom just because of privilege (or lackthereof), but it just works REALLY well. Not in reality, obviously, but as a storytelling device. It’s sleek, simple, easy to understand, and create a basic conflict for the rest of the film.

7) Winifred!

She’s so freaking weird, I love it. Laika has a real knack for portraying kids honestly, weirdness and all. And Winnie is no exception. She’s unique, a total nut job in the best sense, well developed, and has a great conflict with her dad which illustrates one of the biggest struggles about being a kid: no one ever listens to you. Elle Fanning is great in the role, giving Winnie all the heart/bravado/weirdness she needs in one well balanced package.

8) This is way too accurate to today’s political world.

White Hat 1 [on how one gets a white what]: “With valor!”

White Hat 2: “Chivalry!’

White Hat 3: “Or being rich! That’s how I got it.”

9) Eggs in the human world is the opposite of how we are introduced to the boxtroll world. We are introduced to the boxtroll world as this wondrous place filled with imagination and wonder. Eggs is overwhelmed, freaked out, and no one could pay him any mind. It gets to a line he has later in the film: humans are the monsters, not the boxtrolls.

10) The Trapshaw Baby song is a great piece of exposition to not only kind of what happened to Eggs, but also why the surface people hate boxtrolls.

It was also written by Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame. I would also like to point out that it is easy to see the twist that comes with Madame Frou Frou if you’re looking for it. I wasn’t the first time I saw this film, so I was honestly surprised.

11) Eggs big conflict in this film is one of identity. He is too human to be a boxtroll (as he doesn’t have the natural inclination to hide like the others) but he’s too boxtroll to be accepted in the human world (biting Winnie, wearing his box, hiding from humans). You would think he belongs to both but instead he belongs to neither.

12) Wow. I can’t tell if this is awful or brilliant.

Winnie [about a street]: “Creeds Way? Milk turns into it.”

[She points to a street sign that names the street “Milk” just before the one man band does a rimshot.]

13) Snatcher is really starving for power (and cheese, which in this film are one and the same). It’s a bit of self loathing: he thinks if he raises his social status, he will raise who he is as a person. I always love a villain with a weakness (it feels more realistic when they’re defeated in the end), and I think Snatcher’s starvation for power/cheese is a great one.

14) The following factory fight once Eggs is discovered trying to save Fish is a great action set piece. It is well paced, humorous, and also helps move the story along. This is when we learn that Eggs (and also when Eggs learns that he’s) the infamous Trapshaw Baby, and it’s when we learn that the captured boxtrolls are being forced to build something. It’s just a wildly fun scene altogether.

15) I love that THIS is how they explain why Eggs speaks English while the other boxtrolls don’t.

Eggs: “I have a speech impediment!”

16) Poor Eggs.

Eggs [translating for Fish]: “He says I was given to him.”

His entire world comes crumbling down. The conflict of identity (not being fully boxtroll or fully human) becomes apparent to him, starts to weigh on him. Everything he thought he knew was a lie and everything is now upside down. Growing up sucks, basically.

17) Eggs at the white hat party is so painfully awkward I love it!

18) This line gets me wondering...

Eggs [after Winnie tells him to kiss the hands of the ladies]: “Which one’s the ladies?”

Do boxtrolls have gender? Are pronouns ever used to describe boxtrolls? I can’t remember. All I can remember is them being referred to by their full names like Fish and Shoe. But does anyone remember if they have gender? I’m totally down if they don’t! Like if that’s just not a part of their culture, I am so okay with that. I’m just trying to figure out if that’s the case or not.

19) Platonic male/female friends waltzing (especially if the female is leading) is one of my favorite things in the world.

20) This line kinda gets me.

Think about what’s happened at this point: all of Eggs’ family, everyone he ever knew, have been kidnapped by humans who think they’re evil for kidnapping him. He tries to tell them the truth and he is outright ignored. It doesn’t matter. Not as much as their cheese, their privilege, their power, their beliefs. They shut out everything that doesn’t make sense to them and make up lies to fill in the blanks. And here’s Eggs who is hoping they can help but learning the truth that a lot of people really just suck. I don’t know why this line is so powerful to me, but it is. It all is.

21) When Snatcher invades the boxtroll cave to round up the last of the boxtrolls it feels like such an invasion. Here was this place of warmth and safety being ruined by a greedy man and his death machine. It is incredibly effective but damn if it just doesn’t feel wrong.

22) Eggs’ dad!

I had the chance to watch this film with my mom for the recap. She had never seen it before and was so sad when Eggs’ dad was seemingly killed off. So when “Jelly” showed up she got so excited, it made me like the film even more.

23) I cannot even imagine what animating this giant robot was like for stop motion animators.

24) I didn’t mention it before, but I love how Richard Ayoade’s Mr. Pickles and Nick Frost’s Mr. Trout keep having to convince themselves they’re good guys. That they think they’re on the side of justice and keep losing that faith as the film goes on. This is the culmination of that for me.

Winnie: “Are you pest exterminators or evil henchmen?”

Mr. Pickles: “I KNEW it! I KNEW that’s how people saw us!”

25) This. Freaking. Line.

Lord Portly-Rind [after Snatcher talks when he’s disguised as a woman]: “Why is he talking like Madae Frou - oh my god! I regret so much.”

26) This scene. The idea behind this is so freaking important for EVERYONE to hear. I knew it’s something I still have to remind myself of on a daily basis, and I love that this film says it.

Eggs [when Snatcher has his white hat]: “Don’t do it. Don’t change who you are. Cheese, hats, boxes! They don’t...make you. You make you.”

27) I love the boxtrolls and the humans in a cohesive society at the end. Granted I love any film with a message of unity.

28) I! Love! THE META!

Outside of Pixar, Laika is probably turns out quality animation with more consistency than most studios. The Boxtrolls is no exception. With a unique sense of humor and excellent characters, we are taken on a fun fantasy filled ride which will fully immerse you from start to finish. It is truly just a wonderful film. 

[furederiko]

Random-News-Digest time everyone! It's the final one for the month of June. And yes, I admit that it's mainly published to address the recent update of a certain... game XD.

NOTE: This post hasn't been formerly proofread, so I have to apologize in advance. I'll get to that when I have the time, which might take a day or two, or even faster than that. Big religious holiday is supposedly starting later tonight, and although I'm not celebrating, for some reason I've always got caught up in the moment (can't actually get some rest due to the festive noise anyway. Gah!!!). And also, the internet has been rather slow thanks to that same reason. So there's that! (^^;) Proofread and minor updates completed on June 26th 08:10AM. See? Told you it'll take a while... XD

Star Wars

Big storm is brewing against the franchise! In an unexpected and perhaps unprecedented (for the franchise at least) turnaround, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are no longer attached to the "Han Solo: A Star Wars Story" (tentatively titled) movie, which is currently IN PRODUCTION! Nope, make that 'only a few weeks away from finishing the filming' stage. So it's more than halfway done. Unbelievable, right?

Creative differences is the diplomatic excuse as always, because well... this IS Hollywood. The duo even issued a statement with the cliché tune of "Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project", because well... cliché HOLLYWOOD. But it turned out the reason was a bit more personal than that. Apparently they had a clash of style and vision with Lawrence Kasdan (who's writing the movie's script with son Jon Kasdan) regarding the titular character's personality, an issue that was not backed by producer Allison Shearmur who's overseeing production in London. Since the long-gestating problem that has begun since day one of production couldn't be solved, they have practically been let-go (or fired, if you prefer the more blatant term). Rather blindsidedly too, some sources claimed. I'm not taking sides here, but honestly, if this was intended to be such a serious movie, I personally wondered WHY Lord and Miller were even hired. Considering their portofolio so far has been none other than comedy. No wonder there was a clash of tones there!

Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm immediately announced that there would be a replacement, with names like Ron Howard, Joe Johnston, and Kasdan himself being in the mix. And well, yesterday the studio has officially chosen Howard to take over Lord and Miller's directorial duty. A news that was met with mixed reactions, because while some were aware of Howard's superb Oscar-winning talent, many others have so easily forgotten all the critically acclaimed works he has delivered and... lamented this decision instead. Some even started complaining that the movie doesn't need to exist in the first place. LOL. That's our INTERNET people, get used to it! By the way, Howard is no stranger to the "Star Wars" franchise. He's an acquaintance of George Lucas, and had previously been approached to direct "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace". His hiring is said to be keeping up with "the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began 40 years ago", inspite of how old-fashioned it might be.

It's currently unclear if all the works that Lord and Miller have done since February would be scrapped and replaced anew, but since the issue stemmed from such fundamental ground, I feel many scenes will be redone in extensive reshoots during the Summer. Not unlike what happened with Gareth Edwards' "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" last year... which thankfully came out unscathed. For the record, this Han Solo movie starring Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, and Woody Harrelson is still scheduled for May 25th, 2018, so the studio might need to salvage as much footage as they can to fulfill the target date. As for Lord and Miller, there are rumors that they might get back to talking with Warner Bros about "The Flash". Not surprising, considering they DID write its original script, and left to do Han Solo. That poor superhero movie is pretty much a vacant production anyway, having lost directors over and over again. For the moment, there's no official confirmation about this. Heck they can even go back to working on sequel to "The LEGO Movie", right? We'll just have to wait and see.

Suffice to say, with this news, as well as the fact that Colin Trevorrow's recent movie "The Book of Henry" tanking both critically and financially... the Force is definitely NOT with the franchise. It makes good sense if fans are beginning to doubt that Trevorrow will wonderfully fulfill his duty as director for "Star Wars: Episode IX", the last of the modern/new-era trilogy. Not to mention, the firing of Lord and Miller might affect the franchise in terms of... behind the scene dealings. I'm not hyperboling here, but things are definitely not looking good. Then again, Lucasfilm managed to crawl out from risky situation before, as evidenced by "Rogue One", so perhaps this won't be a huge deal? I for once am glad that I'm not that invested in the franchise. But I'm aware that many nerds, and general audience out there care deeply enough for it to be more than just casually concerned. Let's just... hope the best and expect the worse. Okay?

Dark Universe

Another major franchise (if we can even call it that way, because it's still in infancy state for now) that has also become a major question mark, is none other than Universal and its modern Shared Monsters universe. Much were riding on Alex Kurtzman's "The Mummy" to jump-start the whole universe, but it sure didn't play out as planned. It wasn't the breakout hit that Universe was expecting. Nope, it was worse. It was already riddled with bad reviews prior to release, hence the opening numbers for the movie was underwhelmingly weak, and now it has plummeted 56% domestically in its second week. It's another "Ghost in the Shell" and "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" situation, folks! Not even a household name like Tom Cruise and/or Russell Crowe can do anything about it.

The good news is, it's doing better in the global market having passed the $600 million mark. The bad news? One would easily wonder if this is a good sign for Universal or not? After all, isn't this like... the "Dracula Untold" situation all over again? Will Bill Condon's "The Bride of Frankenstein" need to re-start the universe from scratch again? I'm honestly skeptical about it, but this is Hollywood we're talking about. A business that in general, couldn't care less about what its audience is thinking. Perhaps we should be doing that instead, then? Hmmm...

Mission Impossible

Speaking of Tom Cruise, he's currently filming the currently un-subtitled "Mission: Impossible 6". Aside from introducing Henry Cavill as a likely expendable member of the movie, director Christopher McQuarrie also personally confirmed several additions to the cast, old and new. Namely, the female cast who have joined series veteran Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris, and Ving Rhames for a 2-hours session with Cruise's Ethan Hunt (Jeremy Renner is busy with Avengers, so nope, he won't be around). Surprisingly, these gals consist of returning actresses Michelle Monaghan and scene-stealer Rebecca Ferguson, as well as new ones like Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, and Sian Brooke. That's like, twice the number of women compared to each previous installments! Who would've expected that we're getting a balanced gender in the 6th movie, and not just another sausage-fest, right?

McQuarrie is writing and directing the movie, and seemed proud with his extended cast. We still however, don't know much about it or the plot. I can only hope that this one will have a fresh story, that doesn't revolve in recycling has-been-plots. This franchise has that kind of unfortunate tendency, by the way. I'm not and never a fan of the movie series (I liked the TV better? Idk why), but it's totally commendable that it still has a good spark for another round. Heck, perhaps it might be turned into its own Shared Universe in the near future? LOL... Naah, I'm just kidding. But really, that might actually happen. I hope I didn't just jinx it...

Transformers

Reviews for Michael Bay's latest bombastic explosive robot-destruction-porn have hit the market, and well... should we even be surprised if they are BAD? Like... really BAD? "Transformers: The Last Knight" has even surpassed the Chinese-heavy "Transformers: Age of Extinction" by debuting in a... lower RottenTomatoes score. YIKES! 17% on RT, and 29 on Metacritic. Critics haven't been kind with the franchise, as evidenced by how they were torturing "Age of Extinction", but they weren't holding back with this one too. According to many, this one has even more bloated overstuffed plot, it's an overlong mess of badness, eventhough it has an ambitious screenplay and Mark Wahlberg giving his best as Cade Yeager's swan-song to the franchise. Some however, also said that it was bearable and would likely please its true fans no matter how bleak it might be. So... it's not for everyone, then? Hmmm...

In another NON-surprising news, Bay also announced that he's retiring from the franchise. AGAIN! Yes, I've even lost count how many times he had sworn these similar lines, but in an interview with Fandango, he just openly reiterated his intention. AGAIN. Hopefully for good this time, because I'm intrigued to see other directors taking their chances with this. I admit, I'm rather skeptical about his words though, because as I said, he kept on saying he's done with the franchise, only to jump back in while boasting his pride all over the place. It's like, a Decepticon knocked him out cold, and gave him amnesia every single time he finished making one movie! The bigger problem in the bigger picture though, we still have many more movies in the planning! I think it was 14 more scripts, right? I lost count as well. A Bumblebee spin-off has even been set to arrive next year as the beginning of this supposed Bay-less era. The logic here, is... do we really NEED more? It's a rhetoric question, by the way, don't bother answering. "Transformers: The Last Knight" is out since June 21st, so it should be crashing down in theatres near you as we speak *sigh*.

Jurassic Park

Well well well... title for the sequel to "Jurassic World" has been revealed! Announced through an official poster, the movie will now be called "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom". It's unclear what the 'Fallen Kingdom' actually means, although it somehow reminded me of... the 2nd Transformers movie. Which is not a good sign, considering the first "Jurassic World" made A LOT of money, but in a way, suffered through poor reviews by many critics. Will this franchise fall into the same category to Transformers? We'll see. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" is set to arrive next year!

DC Films

"Wonder Woman" was the FIRST critically-good DCEU movie, so it's not even a surprise that WB is already planning a sequel. Once again, this IS Hollywood, people! Director Patty Jenkins and DC Comics and DC Films' Geoff Johns are currently collaborating for the treatment. Their goal is, "to make another great Wonder Woman film". The twist in this equation, Jenkins hasn't been officially signed to the project. Given the sudden recent development on "Star Wars" (which MIGHT carry Lord and Miller back to DC Film), this can mean anything. So it's unclear if she will or will not direct it, or just working behind the scene as writer and producer. Creative differences happen every now and then. But you know what? I'm more curious to how Johns can even manage to work on so many projects at the same time! Is he a cyborg, solely created for multitasking? He DID write "Vision" for Marvel Comics before... hmmm

Meanwhile, "The Justice League" is expected to have a new look now that Joss Whedon is in charge of the reshoot. Splash Report said that the movie have been overhauled by the studio not just once, but TWICE. This was seemingly evidenced by what happened after production was wrapped on October 2016. If it was done, how come actors like Jason Momoa subsequently had to cancel guest appearances and also postponed production for "Aquaman" just to do reshoots? And looks like it's not just an everyday reshoot after all, but a 'serious' and 'significant' one. Similar to what happened to "Rogue One" for half of its runtime, I say. The sources of this rumor said that WB didn't like what they were seeing, and commanded a rehaul. Big or small, it's none of our business, but surely, by now they have learned that messing around too much in the editing room could resulted into something equally awful. Like... last year's "Suicide Squad".

So as we speak, Whedon is likely working hard to change the team-up movie into something... better. Why would I blatantly said Whedon's name? Because Zack Snyder is no longer in charge, considering he and wife/producer Deborah have walked out since March due to personal family issue. Clearly, Whedon is solely in charge now, even if he's not given the credit he deserved (WB said the movie is still Snyder's no matter what). I don't know about you, but this situation suddenly feels eerily similar to the Lord and Miller, "Han Solo", and Ron Howard situation. According to random unconfirmed buzzes, Whedon has also been heavily involved in the DCEU. I don't actually know what that means, but it's probably similar to his previous overseeing-role for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Again, do take this with a grain of salt, because once again, no official word has been made about it. But you know what? I'm NOT surprised if that's indeed the case. Whedon had successfully created "The Avengers" in 2012, back when almost everyone in Hollywood thought a Cinematic Universe was a dumb idea. And now every studio want their share of a similar cake! It just makes perfect darn sense that WB hired Whedon to fix their DCEU, with the exchange of giving him freedom with his upcoming "Batgirl" project. I don't think it takes a genius to figure this one out. LOL.

X-Men Universe

At the same time, 20th Century FOX is also confidently moving forward with "X-Men: Dark Phoenix". True to the rumor, producer/writer Simon Kinberg is set to turn this into his first directorial project. All Most of the cast from that dreaded boring "X-Men: Apocalypse" are set to return. Wait... WHAT?!

Yep, that's quite a surprise indeed. I, among many others, thought that actors like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and especially Jessica Lawrence were done with their roles. J-Law in particular, has publicly expressed her disdain to play Mystique like... over and over again. Not to mention, "Apocalypse" tanked critically (and also financially? I forgot about that one). But this is indeed happening folks, which means expect those three, as well as Nicholas Hoult to be reprising their respective mutant characters once again. Since the title obviously is a reference to the character Jean Grey, all the younger cast have been confirmed as well. Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan, and Kodi Smit-McPhee will be playing Jean Grey/Phoenix, Storm, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler once again. They are contractually-tied to the movie anyway. Hold on... where's Evan Peters? And... why aren't people talking about him? Will we not see his over-powered Quicksilver this time around then? Hmmmm... good riddance. Perhaps Taylor Swift is primed to take over his scene as the official... Dazzler?

Anyways, the studio is aiming big as always. After completely wasting and misuing the talent of one great Oscar Isaac, as well as the character Apocalypse that he was entrusted, now FOX is aiming for another big star to... probably ruin: Jessica Chastain! Yeess, the Oscar-nominated actress who had been approached by Marvel Studios before, has entered negotiations with the studio last week. She's the studio's top-pick to play the antagonist, Shi'ar Empress Lilandra Neamani. This is a character closely related to the alien-entity Phoenix, by the way. But knowing FOX, and also the hack that is Kinberg, I wouldn't bet too much on Liliandra to actually resemble anything she looked in the comics. She wasn't even a villain there, because it was her sister instead! Intriguingly, the Shi'ar is a Marvel Cosmic character. Does this mean, FOX is trying to have their share of the space opera-cake too now? Without even seeding hints towards it? That's FOX all right...

Seemingly, production is reaching the start of production in Vancouver, Montreal (marked by random set-photos on social media), eventhough Chastain hasn't even been locked. With an inexperienced director, a rushed production, a major storyline that has been done and sadly damaged before, and the level of CG necessary to pull of the scope? Those variables just don't add up. I've lost interest to this franchise a long time ago, so clearly I don't have faith in this one either. How they will even manage to achieve the November 2nd, 2018 release date is beyond me...

Speaking of production, "Deadpool 2" filmed scenes at the Hatley Castle Victoria, British Columbia. The place serves as a stand-in to Professor X's (which one? LOL) X-Mansion. True to his character, Ryan Reynolds sure didn't waste time to make fun of his fellow X-Men side. It's officialy the first set-pictures from the sequel! Also, Japanese actress Shioli Kutsuna has joined the cast in a key role. Perhaps, as the X-Men Hisako Ichiki/Armor or Noriko Ashida/Surge? "Deadpool 2", which is still a tentative-title (seriously, it's an epidemic!) will arrive on June 1st, 2018.

One last thing! Those Marvel fans who have been speculating that the copyright for "Fantastic Four" has reverted/been sold back to Marvel Studios... can now swallow their hopes and dreams in whole. As Kevin Feige has repeatedly stated (to which I'm scratching my head because nobody believed such an honest guy like him), this is NOT happening! And thankfully, we get an actual confirmation now, because FOX is... *drumrolls* set to make another movie! YIKES. YIKES. YIIIKEEESSSSS!!! Exaggerating response aside, this isn't that much surprising, since Kinberg had sung similar tune several times already. The failure of the really honest-to-God-really-BAD 2015's "Fant4stic" movie, as well as the whole backstage drama with director Josh Trank, apparently didn't stop FOX from further claiming their feet in this franchise. Because yeah, clearly they are only stalling time, trying to avoid the copyright from being reverted automatically to its rightful owner.

Third time's the charm, huh? Not so fast. This one won't be another reboot apparently, because it's going to focus on Franklin and Valeria Richard, a.k.a the chidren of Reed and Sue. Seth Grahame-Smith, the same guy who also walked out from "The Flash", is said to be writing a draft about this movie. Grahame-Smith was already involved in the 2015 movie to do some rewrites, so he's not necessarily a new name in the project. I'm not sure what to think about this, because I believe FOX has totally ruined this particular franchise. So much that I would really love to see Disney and Marvel Studios' take on the superhero family. Hey, it could be a live-action version of "The Incredibles", right? But the idea of focusing on Franklin and Valeria is intriguing nonetheless (assuming FOX can pull this off), because it might end up becoming a fun family movie like those "Spy Kids" series. Plus, they can easily use the same cast from the 2015 movie because they have aged now. But... that might be a wishful thinking. I still would rather see the copyrights revert back, so Marvel Studios can bring justice to, and have actual-legit fun with these characters in their upcoming Cosmic Universe. LOL.

SONY Marvel Universe

During the press junket with FilmStarts for the upcoming Spider-Man movie, producer Amy Pascal delivered a mindblowing statement that... in just seconds rocked the Marvel fanbase to their core. For better or worse, I say. When asked about SONY's upcoming plans for Spider-Man spin-offs, ones that Kevin Feige had openly said to be "a SONY Project", Pascal gave an arguably... contradicting answer. "Well those movies will all take place in the world that we are now creating for Peter Parker. They’ll be adjuncts to it, it may be different locations but it will still all be in the same world, and they will be connected to each other as well.", she said, ambiguously confirming that both Ruben Fleischer-directed "Venom" and Gina Prince-Bythewood-directed "Silver & Black" will exist in the same universe to Tom Holland's Peter Parker. Which means... the... MCU, right?! O_O... She even added that "There’s a chance [that Peter Parker will appear]. There’s always a chance. I think one of the things that Kevin has done with Marvel that was so brilliant is by bringing the fans along and making each movie seem like a chapter in a book, that you have to read that chapter in order to go forward. And I think the investment that the fans get to feel in being a part of a larger story and understanding what’s happening, I think is something that I know Sony would want to emulate.".

This small news, was immediately met with various kinds of reactions. Some was calling Pascal out to be a 'hack' who didn't understand what she's saying. On the other hand, others are calling Feige to be liar, especially due to how 'surprised' or 'confused' he looked upon hearing the words coming out of her mouth... which was followed by a mysterious 'smile' (Monalisa much?). And other variations of those. Want to know my immediate reaction? Allow me to share what I wrote on the 1st draft of this post: Okay, this must be a joke right? Or Amy Pascal is confused or mixed up about something? Because that means SONY is messing around with the MCU! And I'm not too sure I would like that. It's bad enough that Marvel TV division is already chipping away potential characters from ever being used in the big screen, now this. Isn't that like, overstepping much? If anything, this gives Avi Arad an access to mess around in the MCU. And also, not only the Earth-based but the cosmic side through Venom as well.

Ignoring my personal-beef with Marvel TV aside, nor my natural grumpy bed-side manner (what can I say, I've been in a bad mood lately. LOL), that WAS indeed my response when I first read the news a few days ago (earlier this week in fact!). Of course I've calmed down ever since, and managed to carefully assessed the situation with a cool head. Nope, there aren't any official confirmation or clarification so far, from neither SONY nor Marvel Studios. But many sites have chimed in with their take on the matter, and well... it's starting to make sense. The way I see it, neither Pascal and Feige are spreading lies. They are only speaking in their own personal style and gesture. So we can't really take their words or sudden expression at face value. Collider and Marvelous Realm pointed out the generalising word 'adjunct' that Pascal used. As Birth.Movies.Death pointed out, Feige is a man of diplomatic answer, and had always refuse to give out unnecessary information when it's not needed. Pascal on the other hand, is spontaneous and her role is to help sell her own studio... SONY. A studio who by the way, had also stated that "Venom" and "Silver & Black" are NOT connected to the Peter Parker movies. But she wouldn't be talking like that without having prior discussion about it, right? If we look at it closely, Pascal herself NEVER stated that those movies would be part of the MCU. That's not how their collaborative deal is happening anyway. In a way, this is a situation that rhymes a bit in comparison to Marvel TV's Netflix series, or their other non-ABC projects. Once again, as I've said over and over again, the arrival of 2016's "Doctor Strange" helped Marvel Studios to expand their universe into a Multi-verse state. So perhaps, speculatively-speaking... that's exactly what's happening with the SONY Marvel Universe, right? That it's part of the MCU, just not in the same realm to The Avengers?

The Hollywood Reporter's thorough piece about the relationship between SONY and Marvel Studios, surprisingly shed some hidden lights about the SONY movies too. Apparently, SONY is also working on projects that will focus on Sergei Kravinoff a.k.a. Kraven the Hunter, and Mysterio. As if we don't get enough villain-based movies, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock is set to take on (if not feature) another Spider-Man's symbiote antagonist: Carnage! According to Omega Underground (via ComicBook.com), the R-rated movie will begin production on September 1st for the October 5th, 2018 release date, and is set to film in Atlanta and New York City. Meaning it won't be long before we get to know who will play the totally-NOT-PG13-character sociopath murderer Cletus Cassidy. "Silver & Black" is also eyeing for a Fall start. A rumor detailing the movie's possible plot has also been flying around the internet. For the record, the source's credibility is questionable, particularly because it includes several characters like Jessica Drew and Dominic Fortune that might not even be SONY's to begin with. It also introduced many names from the Spider-Man lore, like The Scorpion, The Chameleon, and Norman Osborn... that somehow sounded a little too good to be true.

For now, Tom Holland isn't attached to any of these movies, but the intention of SONY is clearly to do so. And I hope that's indeed the case, because it probably would give me a slight of interest to see it. To be honest, I'm still mulling over the fact that SONY is going to flesh out amazing villains like Kraven, Mysterio, the Symbiotes, and many others, robbing their connection to a Spider-Man. I personally would love to see Holland's Spider-Man taking on these characters as PART of the MCU, not the other way around. I'm still happy that at long last, those names have been reconsidered for a big-screen feature, because as disappointed as I've been to realize that Hardy won't ever be portraying Kraven now, we DO need to see a "Sinister Six" movie somewhere in the future, right? But on the other hand, the absence of quality control from Marvel Studios is undeniably concerning. Don't forget, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach practically ruined Venom in "Spider-Man 3", and other characters like Goblin and Electro in the consequent follow-ups. Which leads me back to the most nagging question: Is the SONY Universe thing REALLY a good idea? Will its movies be enjoyable and not disappointing like those "The Amazing Spider-Man" series? Hard to tell. Somehow its future is still looking dark and cloudy to my curious eyes...

Marvel Studios

You've seen that official first teaser for "Black Panther" that arrived two weeks ago, right? Yes, I'm sure you have. I've always thought that Marvel Studios is keeping wrap Ryan Coogler's movie for a grand debut in San Diego Comic Con next month. Turns out it arrived much earlier than I have anticipated. Am I disappointed though? Of course NOT. It looked grand like its poster, amazing like any Marvel Studios' releases, gloriously and explosively epic, and character-focused (if that new synopsis is any indication). And surprising too, because it was much more colorful than I expected!

I honestly didn't expect the costumes to be so... vibrant. But as it turns out, the designs for those bright red, dashing yellow, lush green, and navy blue outfits were completely inspired by actual African culture. Which is of course AMAZING, because I got to learn new things from it. I can already expect a nomination in the Costume and Production category in the next Oscar race. Yes, Production too, because the fictional country of Wakanda itself is also looking grand. A combination of African culture and high-tech, this country looks and feel like Thor's Asgard that takes place on Earth. A hidden utopia! Also, we got plenty of women in action thanks to the Dora Milaje! Lupita Nyong'o strutting as Nakia in a casino, Florence Kasumba's Ayo kicking people's behind with a tonfa, and Danai Gurira as Okoye who seems to be serving as Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa's right hand. And then there's Angela Bassett who's rocking grey hair as Queen Ramonda, Letitia Wright's Science-Princess Shuri with Panther-shaped Iron Man-style gauntlets, and singer Nabiyah Be as Tilda Johnson who is connected to Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger. Johnson's name might be unfamiliar in the mainstream, because she's a character best known as the supervillain Nightshade. Oh, and also don't forget returning actors Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis as Everett Ross and Ulysses Klaue respectively. Sure, it would've been great to see some Asian tone, but at least the two added some colors to an otherwise African-American cast.

Executive Producer Nate Moore, who also worked on the last two Captain America movies, talked to Complex and shed some details about the movie. He confirmed that "Black Panther" takes place right after the event of "Captain America: Civil War", and that the untimely passing of John Kani's T'Chaka will serve as the catalyst for the plot. In a sense that, T'Challa himself wasn't automatically a King and had to prove himself, while internal threat presumably coming from Killmonger will challenge that notion. Chiming in to Kevin Feige, Moore reiterated the studio's goal to "tell the best stories with the strongest developed characters and scripts" they can work on, and not to rush something that's not ready or not according to their standard. Particularly when asked about the issue of diversity, to which he kindly compared to the "Fast & Furious" franchise. "I think an upshot with Marvel is that our characters and brand are both big enough where we’re not limited to just using actors and actresses who’ve done a ton of movies. We work with big name actors but we’re not under the pressure of saying that we have to work with, say, Matt Damon or Will Smith, or no one’s going to want to see this new idea. Hollywood is a bit agnostic as far as race and gender. They’re just trying to get as many people as possible to see movies so they just want faces that get people into seats, frankly. And because there aren’t as many roles for people of different ethnicities, you tend to see a lot of guys like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio who are super talented, but who maybe aren’t as diverse as other actors out there.", he said, negating the practice that has recently been done by other studios like Universal with their Dark Universe, or WB with DC Films.

As for the future, the studio is always thinking ahead, but in a limited capacity as things evolve naturally. He admitted that they are "finishing up what we call Phase 3, which will sort of end with the fourth Avengers film in 2019. And then I think for us, we continue that conversation of, what’s next? Who will be the new heroes who can tell great new stories and bring us to new worlds that we haven’t even had a chance to visit yet, while still expanding on the slate of heroes we have and finding the next step for characters people have come to love? We’re looking for the next best story. And then we let the story tell us what we should be making as part of that one united narrative in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.". Once again putting focus on the story first and not just trying to make the MCU continue rolling. And what kind of stories? One that would please the fans. Because for the studio, fans are "the forefront of our minds when we talk about development. What does our audience want and how do we give it to them in a way that’s unexpected? What do they want to see? What can we show them that they don’t know they want to see, but that we think they’ll really respond to? And a big part of that is plunging into new worlds with characters that offer a different flavor than what people are used to. Those are the stories that we want to explore.". An attitude that so far hasn't been taken as good lesson by other studios.

"Black Panther" will arrive on February 16th, 2018. Considering that's less than 3 months prior to "Avengers: Infinity War", it's clear that the movie's going to be have some set-up towards that ensemble movie. While Chris Hemsworth is seemingly having a fun time on set on Instagram, Boseman posted a video showing that Chris Evans' Steve Rogers and Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff will be filming a scene with him that's set in Wakanda. This hinted at the possibility of the Secret Avengers' members visiting Wakanda to request T'Challa's aide. Some members of the "Black Panther" cast (Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright) have even been confirmed to reprise their roles. which makes sense, really. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Johansson stated that there's going to be a scene consisting around 32 characters. It wouldn't be a surprise to expect the representatives of "Black Panther" to be part of that big ensemble. Heck, even Iron Man and Hulk might have already shared a scene with Doctor Strange and Wong!

Actress Hannah John-Kamen has joined the cast of "Ant-Man & the Wasp" in what Variety called as a key role. John-Kamen is a rising star, and her ethnicity comes into mind with what Moore had stated in regards of diversity. But what character could she be playing? Young Janet van Dyne? Or another female antagonist for the MCU, which might sound a bit offensive for her background? I bet we're going to hear more details about her role pretty soon, since the movie will begin production in Pinewood Studios Atlanta, under working title "Cherry Blue" next month, after the 4th of July holiday. That's less than two weeks away from now, folks! According to information on OmegaUnderground, this production will run concurrently with Avengers 4, which will commence production on July 17th under working title "Mary Lou 2". This clearly hints that Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne will eventually join the ensemble movie like many fans have hoped, along with Brie Larson's Carol Danvers. After all, her "Captain Marvel" is also expected to begin production in the same location, from January to May 2018 under the working title "Warbird".

Can you believe it? Those three are the FINAL three movies of Phase 3. Which means, the end is near. For the 3rd Phase that is, because somewhere out there writer/director James Gunn is already hard at work to deliver the next iteration for Guardians in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". A movie that will mark the beginning of the Marvel Cosmic Universe. It's unclear what shape it will take though. Does that mean introducing new heroes like Nova and others? Or can we expect members of the existing team, like perhaps Rocket Raccoon and Groot to star in their own separate title? During E3 2017 World Building Panel, Gunn admitted that he has completed the first draft of "Vol. 3", but apparently, it comes with an issue. Namely, a retconning issue. Gunn specifically pointed out the mugshot scene from the first 2014 movie, causing many sites to speculate that it has anything to do with Rocket, Lady Lylla, and his Halfworld origin. Since Gunn is prone to debunking false rumors/speculations, and this time around he's not saying anything... it's safe to assume that there might be some truth to it. Then again, this is just the first draft! Even Adam Warlock got kicked out from the first draft of "Vol. 2", right?

Enough about the future, and let's talk about the... near future. As in what's coming in the next weeks. About "Spider-Man: Homecoming", of course! Obviously, its World Premiere is coming, because early social media reviews for the movie have officially arrived a few hours ago! Nope, let me correct that. It started a few days ago. Apparently, some early screenings have been held, and one of its particular audience is the nice guy I've been following on Twitter. And should I be surprised that it's... AMAZING? Well... duh, that's what you get when you let Marvel Studios work on it, right? While he had since ranked it under "Logan" and "Wonder Woman", he didn't hesitate to compare it with "Spider-Man 2" that has been his all-time favorite. His response rhymed really well with Robert Downey Jr.'s statement on his Facebook account, so it's indeed a good sign.

And just earlier today (local time, meaning last night in the US), social-media embargo for critics have been lifted, and they have been tweeting their official responses ever since. And well, they are singing the same tune! Here's a glimpse of what they say (in list form... because I love lists): - Collider's Steven Weintraub simply LOVED it. He said that the movie was "Tons of fun". Mike Ryan of Uproxx added that it's an absolute delight. - Germaine Lussier of Gizmodo/io9 compared it to "Spider-Man 2", calling it close to the Sam Raimi's movies. He also added that the movie had several genuine surprises, while exuding young innocence that differentiate it with other MCU movies. Others like William Bibbiani of CraveOnline thought it was fluffier than the Raimi's though, because the drama is thin. - Some critics, like Sean O'Connell of CinemaBlend and Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com easily called it their new favorite Marvel movie. Davis even added that it's endless fun and flawless. - Chris Sylvia of RegalMovies reminded that it's also a good High School movie while calling it his favorite Spider-Man movie to date. Angie Han of Mashable also said that it balanced superheroism and high school drama nicely. - Kristy Puchko of Nerdist, Vanity Fair, and ComicBookResources praised Michael Keaton as an amazing antagonist, even compared him to Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Jeff D Lowe, social media producer of Good Morning America also said that Keaton is fantastic, saying that his character is a great villain with depth. - And of course, praises are being sung for Tom Holland's performance. Molly Freeman of ScreenRant said that he's definitely the best Peter Parker so far. Erik Davis of Fandango called it spot-on casting and spot-on Spidey, while Matt Singer of Screen Crush gave him thumbs up. That all sounded positive, so I don't think it would take long for the 1st Rotten Tomatoes score to generate, right? Let's just hope that unlike the questionable posters, word of mouth will help boost the movie's appeal, and it will exceed the $100 million estimated opening number (which has already gone lower since previous tracking).

That whole talk concerning the state of SONY Marvel Universe also shed some light to the production of this movie, and what's to come. It's revealed that SONY's new head Tom Rothman, is betting high on it to kickstart their own Cinematic Universe. With the budget of 'mere' $175 million, it was unveiled that "Homecoming" is totally taking the Marvel Studios method of "Keep costs down on the first two outings and spend bigger on a third". The movie was intentionally made to replicate the John Hughes-vibe, and those who have seen it said that director Jon Watts and his young actors (who went on a picnic together for some fun real-life bonding time) delivered that promise. Michael Keaton is only signed to play Vulture in this movie, so it's unclear whether he'll be reprising in the sequel or as part of "Sinister Six" in the future. And speaking of sequel, we can expect NO Iron Man in it, because there will be another to-be-determined Marvel Studios character instead. Doctor Strange and/or Hulk comes to mind, Captain Marvel, even Charlie Cox's Daredevil since Feige had indeed stated that a crossover with Marvel TV will eventually be inevitable. But perhaps... an original character? Here's hoping it will be hinted in the movie's post credit scenes.

Lastly, be sure to check out SDCC 2018 next year, because Marvel Studios will be releasing a special 10-year Anniversary logo. Darn it, it's almost 10 years already! Time flies by soooo quickly...

Marvel TV

Freeform's Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" won't be arriving until 2018, but according to SpoilerTV it has quietly been renewed for second season. They said the production will begin next month and ends in October. Now this sounded a bit odd, since last we heard, they've only completed the pilot in February. Is this report accurate, or is SpoilerTV merely making a mistake when they were meant to refer to the rest of the Season 1? We'll have to wait for further news to clarify this.

Netflix

In case you're forgetting, Marvel's "The Defenders", Marvel TV's FIRST-ever (yes, unbelievable right? What took them so long?) crossover between their series is coming in August. It's easy to lose track about it, since the marketing has been swept away by coverage for "Homecoming" as well as other big-screen titles. Not saying they aren't promoting this mini-series though, because very recently the official Twitter accounts of the four core heroes have released motion posters to remind audience and Marvel fans of their existence. Charlie Cox's Matt Murdoch was obviously the first, followed by Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, and Finn Jones' Danny Rand. Each carrying their own tagline and personal swagger, before culminating into a catchy foursome poster.

No offense, they looked COOL, but... I don't know. Perhaps Marvels "Iron Fist" had given such a negative after-taste, that I no longer anticipate this mini-series as much as before. No reason to be worried since Scott Buck is not doing it, but... likely I'm already feeling tired of waiting too darn long to see this happening. As I said above, unlike the movie side, Marvel TV is burning me out so much faster than I've expected, I ended up developing some beef against them. With that said, I WILL be watching this mini-series, but that's likely as far as I'll go for the Netflix side. I'll likely even give Jon Bernthal's Marvel's "The Punisher" a huge pass when it arrives later in November. Not saying these series are bad, but... the dark, gritty, and gruesomeness are seriously wearing me down. Oh well... to each their own, I guess. Marvel's "The Defenders" arrive on August 18th, 2017.

DC Television

I'm not a fan of "Watchmen". When Zack Snyder made a movie version of the 1985's series back in 2009, it made me cringed. The whole nudity revolving Doctor Manhattan, and that unnecessary extended intimate scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre were... disturbing for the then-young version of me (still do though LOL). Then again, that's probably just me not digging Snyder's style, so probably not the series' faults. I also understand that many people are loving this series, and since this is the Golden Age of superhero adaptations, should we even be surprised to hear that another version is coming? Yes, this time in form of a TV series. According to Variety, Damon Lindelof is currently in talks with HBO to develop such series. HBO had tried to do so in 2014, but it didn't pan out, so there's no reassurance if this time it's going to be... better. No confirmation so far from HBO, but I'm sure we'll be hearing about this in the near future. Same question though: Is this a good idea? I seriously can't say. Perhaps it is, perhaps it might be great and I end up liking it. But at the very least, this is a good news for the series' devoted fans! There's one for everyone, right?

Super Sentai

Long time Tokusatsu scooper Dukemon, has revealed the possible rumor to the upcoming Super Sentai series. Yes, "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is still airing, and it's not even halfway done. But projects like this usually takes 2 years in advance to work on, so it's not a surprise. According to Dukemon, the 2018 season/team will once again be Car-based, particularly to celebrate the 10th anniversary of "Engine Sentai Go-Onger". A team-up with its members is also in the rumor mix. Now I can't say for sure whether I like this or not. I'm probably among the few weirdos who LOVED Go-Onger and their talking Enjins (basically the team consists of 19 members because of them and Bomper), but another Car-themed series feels... redundant somehow. Sure, it's easier to pull off for the mecha/toys design. But unless it has other meaning to differentiate it (like "Kyukyu Sentai GoGoV" with the whole Rescue-theme, or "Go Go Sentai Boukenger" with the adventure/expedition angle), we've seen too many of those already. Of course, Tokusatsu is a genre that LOVES to rehash popular themes, just like they do with story tropes in a yearly basis, so it's not out of the realm of possibility to see them going back to vehicles. Oh well... here's hoping we'll be getting a "Go-Onger 10 Years After" V-Cinema too. With the way the series ended, I would LOVE to see the cast reunites. Beside, all if not most of them are still active in the entertainment business anyway.

DuckTales

Now THIS is a series I'm going to be watching. Hearing that modern version of the classic theme song alone, complete with the various swashbuckling adventure scenes of the characters... already got me fired up for no particular reason! Perhaps, the effect of nostalgia-blast? Granted, I never actually watched the original series religiously, because I didn't have the means to do it. But now that I can, I'm going to give this show a chance. Sure, the character design and art-style might need some time to get used to, and yes, I'm still taken aback by the non-Donald-esque voices for the nephews (especially knowing that "Parks & Recreation" annoying Jean-Ralphio is voicing one of them). But the six Short-Episodes I've seen so far, were enough to convince me that this is going to be great. And that Launchpad is still my favorite character of the show. LOL. Here, check out this First Look trailer on Youtube if you don't believe me...

A one-hour episode/movie for "DuckTales" is set to embark David Tennant's Scoorge McDuck's adventure with Tony Anselmo's Donald Duck, as well as the three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, and Bobby Moynihan). It will premiere on August 12th, 2017, which will then be followed by the series regular run starting in September 23rd. That date is the 30th anniversary of the original series, and will bring two brand new episodes. The series will also star Kate Micucci as Webby Vanderquack, Beck Bennett as Launchpad McQuack, Toks Olagundoye as Mrs. Beakley, as well as featuring special celebrity guest stars. We have Lin-Manuel Miranda as Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera/Gizmoduck, Allison Janney as Goldie O’Gilt, Margo Martindaleas as Ma Beagle, Paul F. Tompkins as Gladstone Gander, Kimiko Glenn as Lena, Jim Rash as mad scientist Gyro Gearloose, Josh Brener as tech billionaire Mark Beaks, Keith Ferguson as Flintheart Glomgold, Eric Bauza as the Beagle Boys, and Corey Burton as Ludwig Von Drake. This already sounds MORE than just fun, am I right?! XD

The King of Fighters

Chinese-produced series "The King of Fighters: Destiny", has released its second official trailer. This one is more story-oriented, and well... gotta admit, the more I see it, it does grow on me. From what I gather, while Kyo Kusanagi can be seen sensing the arrival of the Orochi, the bulk of the story will focus on the Fatal Fury Trio's beef with Geese Howard. Geese killed Terry and Andy Bogard's father Jeff, and so the brothers, alongside Joe Higashi will attempt their revenge to the guy who is ruining Southtown. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw Geese's right-hand Billy Kane, but he looked okay now. Particularly after seeing him wearing his iconic Union Jack headband. There's a special clip showing Terry, Andy, and Joe dealing with Billy and his henchmen, and it looked nice. A press conference video, also confirmed the appearance of iconic female characters like King, Mai Shiranui, Yuri Sakazaki, Athena Asamiya, and others, though I'm not sure casting BEJ48 idols as their voice actresses is a wise choice. They should've hired the respective voice cast from "The King of Fighters XIV" instead. Of course, I'm going to check this series anyway. I just hope it exceeds my expectation, and that this would be good, because we all know that video-game adaptations don't really have good reputation...

Tomb Raider

Possible title for the next Tomb Raider game has probably been revealed. Rumored at least, courtesy of NeoGAF. Some artworks by the title of "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" have seemingly been leaked via an entertainment marketing company. Further adding credential to this rumor, was the fact that the images have since been removed by the website. If this rumor is true, then it seems Lara Croft will be exploring Egyptian Pyramids once again, which is a really nice decision. We'll just have to wait and see if this rumor pans out or not. So take it with a grain of salt for now...

Dynasty Warriors

Koei TECMO has debuted the first official trailer for their open-world "Dynasty Warriors 9 / Shin Sangoku Musou 8". The footage will undoubtedly thrill fans of the series, while also teasing the updates the company has given to this iteration. Koei TECMO weren't kidding when they said that it's meant to be "the most immersive and ambitious Dynasty Warriors experience to date" because it sure looked that way. Having been converted into a fan over the past years, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to see this game come to shape.... even if I won't be able to play it, since it's likely a PlayStation 4 exclusive. There's no fixed 2018 release date for now, but expect details about the game and its 83-plus characters to be delivered in the near future.

Professor Layton

Following details for the second episode that was unveiled during E3 2017 last week, LEVEL-5 has debuted the official second trailer for "Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy". This one previewed the main stories of the game, and also unveiled the looks of all titular seven millionaries in cinematic motion. With only four of them detailed for now. Those who were worried that this title might look and feel different to the previous Layton titles thanks to a female protagonist, can rest assured now. It feels just like another chapter in the Layton storybook. Heck, even the great Herschel Layton himself made a cameo appearance in this trailer! Just look at Katrielle and his dad, and tell me you didn't go... "Aaaaaaww".

Also, in an exceptionally clever marketing to commemorate the game's release, LEVEL-5 collaborated with real escape game creators SCRAP for a "Real World Puzzle Solving" campaign. It's a free to play experience that is accessible to anyone worldwide! There will be 50 puzzles released on the internet one by one from June 20th to September 21st. The first one has famous Japanese entertainer Pikotaro doing a puzzling-rendition of his "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" song. It's available on Youtube, if you don't believe me. That particular puzzle is pretty easy, but the next one? You're going to need a paper and pen to figure out the message. And not just that, the question will also direct you to 15 different websites hosting clues in form of another puzzle. How THRILLING is that?! Go ahead and visit Layton.world to test it out, because once again, the treasure hunt is free for play! "Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy" arrives on 3DS in Japan, and iOS and Android worldwide on July 20th.

Zero Escape

Spike Chunsoft released an official trailer for PlayStation 4 version of "Zero Time Dilemma" last week. The point of this trailer is clearly to give us a glimpse to how the game would look in PS4. I'd argue that it's not that much different to the PC Version, but it does have some minor details like shading and such that somehow looks... clearer. This is a good chance for those who have played the first two games (or the recently re-released "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games"), but hasn't had chance to experience its third. Assuming you own a PS4, of course, LOL. "Zero Time Dilemma" will be released on August 17th in Japan, and Fall in North America.

Final Fantasy

Square Enix has officially released the trailer for "Final Fantasy XV" next DLC, "Episode Prompto". You can check it out on Youtube. If the E3 2017 footage showed the gameplay of his solo adventure, then this one is focused more on the story... which of course is all about his unexpected origin. This DLC will launch several days from now, on June 27th, 2017. Here's hoping the Final Fantasy fans will receive this much better than Gladio's.

Street Fighter

CAPCOM has rolled out a Season 2.5 patch, and an alleged leak about future updates immediately floated in the internet. This report, assuming it's accurate, said that data miners have found signs of future DLCs and new game mechanics among other things in the patch. The character DLCs, which are now speculated to be coming as Season 3, consisted of 6 additional characters that should make many fans happy. Fan-favorites Sagat, Sakura Kasugano, Oro, C. Viper, Q, and Necro are all mentioned to be on this list! Admittedly, this isn't that much surprising considering most of them (with the exception of Sagat and Q) have already appeared in various Story Modes since the game was first released.

The leak also include the existence of second Critical Arts for all characters, an Arcade Mode, and also a second Cinematic Story expansion. And now suddenly it sounds a little too good to be true *sigh*. Now remember, take this with a grain of salt. This could be real, or a deliberate ruse by fans to force CAPCOM to eventually turn their wishlist into reality. Especially considering, as far as I know, the 2nd Season DLC (Akuma, Kolin, and Ed, with three others remaining) hasn't been received as well as expected. But if CAPCOM is true to their words of saying that "Street Fighter V" will be the only version of its generation (so there will be no 'Super', 'Arcade', or 'Ultra' upgrade), it can very well be true...

Pocket Monsters

Yeah, this is the reason why I'm posting this R-N-D! To be precise, WAS the reason, because it was initially scheduled to go up yesterday. Following the subjectively-disappointing Solstice Event, Niantic has begun rolling out update for "Pokemon GO" in terms of their new Gym system, and it is... well, elaborate, to say the least. I wanted to say 'Complicated', but I've slowly warmed up to it that it's no longer a suitable term. The transition had started on June 19th (local time) with Gyms throughout the world being closed down (which made the App looked somewhat-eerie, to be honest), and was officially implemented as soon as the extended Solstice Event (for another 24 hours until June 21st, 1 PM PST) ended.

Gyms have been reactivated since yesterday's morning (I know, because I've clearly experienced it myself), and new feature called Raid Battles have been made available for Level 35 above later in the afternoon. Today, many users have reported that the Level warning has been lifted, and those with lower levels than 35 has even obtained their daily Raid Pass. Niantic confirmed through an official announcement, that Raids are available for 'Level 25 above' now. This confirmed that the limitation was purely for Beta Testing, and thus the feature will be rolled out for even lower levels in the future.

Calling this a major update would be an understatement. Those who are in the game purely to collect Pokemons might not be majorly affected, but those who relied on Gyms to farm PokeCoins and such will definitely need to learn from scratch. Practically, it has altered the way Gym-goers going to behave. This update changed the whole pattern of the Gym System, forcing Players old and new to adjust their gameplay. And of course, this gave me mixed reaction. Here's what came in the update, along with my thoughts on them (once again, in list form):

- Let's start with the simple touches! A handy Search Function in the Pokemon Collection screen has been added! This is well appreciated, as now we don't need to waste time scrolling down the long list just to check/compare our Pokemon. It also works for searching based on Types or species. So when we enter the word 'Fire', the result will feature every Fire-Types on our list, and if we enter the word '+eevee', every Pokemon related to Eevee including its evolutions will show up. Convenient! There's a marker on PokeStops now, indicating which one we haven't spinned for the day. This is small, but also convenient! - Having Photo Disc on Gyms that unlock items is a wise decision, because that means the game now has more PokeStops than before. Standing by near a Gym feels rewarding now! And in return, the same is happening to PokeStops with some of them being turned into Gyms. This helps give access to wider-range of Players who usually can't participate in Gyms because of their limited occurence. - I'm really happy to see that one species of Pokemon can only be assigned once, and the improved UI allows us to see the team of Pokemon lining up together like badasses. Also, they are no longer sorted by CP. It's a first-come first-served situation now, which admittedly sounds more fair to low level users. Yes, many users are complaining to the fact that Gyms can only contain 6 Pokemons now, but they seem to be forgetting that it's the maximum number of PokeBalls a Player can bring in the core RPGs. So it's still a great nod! - Trainers also felt more incorporated, as we can see their in-game silhouette decorating the Gym's backdrop and/or doing cool battle pose prior to Pokemon Battle. This is where the whole wardrobe-customization feature comes into play in an interesting manner. It's honestly thrilling to see it in action. - The addition of Gym Badges that keeps track of activity is also a neat touch. Aside from serving as memento of the places we have visited, now we can monitor whatever is happening to the Pokemon we've placed there without the need to travel the distance just to check them nearby. Eventhough I would've prefered it better, had it were Type-based like in the core RPGs, this was more than acceptable. Curious about the Ranking System though. How do I get a Basic/Vanilla, Bronze, Silver, and Gold? - Gone is the Prestige system, and enter the Motivation Level. Many Players have been complaining about the whole Prestige system that drains out excitement, so in a way, good riddance. On the other hand, its replacement might be a bit tricky to judge. Berries that were once treated like waste, is now important because they are necessary to restore a Pokemon motivation level. So as long as you, as well as other people continue feeding Berries to one Pokemon, it will continue its reign in the Gym. Even if they are NOT yours! I'm starting to understand that the point of giving Berries to Gym Pokemon of the same team, is a way for other users to participate in Gyms without the need to submit their own. So those who are more focused in collecting, can still gain Stardusts by giving up their unused Berries to Gym Pokemon. Aside from getting items via the Photo Disc, of course. Unfortunately, although it felt good and fresh at start, in less than 48 hours many Players are already complaining because keeping track of Gyms to feed Berries to their Pokemon turns out to be... reasonably exhausting. Just between you and me, that's practically one of the reason why this R-N-D suffered a one-day delay (I got too exhausted, it practically knocked me down cold)... - Inline with the Motivation Level, is the new PokeCoins system. Previously, Players had to assign a Pokemon for at least 20-24 hours before automatically receiving 10 Coins by collecting them at the Shop. That's no longer the case now. Coins will now be earned by the duration a Pokemon had spent in the Gym, and will be accumulated to Player's in-game pocket after it has completed its duty (as in defeated and lost all of its motivation). There's a maximum number of Coins that can be earned a day. The rule for this one however, apparently is still being tweaked and tested as we speak, as proven by the latest changes. Defending Pokemon will now earn 1 Coin per 10-minutes, to a maximum of 50 Coins daily (regardless of how many Pokemon assigned on numerous Gym). I'm still personally anxious about this change, and how this will affect my daily Coins-revenue. I'm not a pro, but Gyms are definitely my primary source of income in this game. LOL. - A new real-time push-notification has been added, thus a message will be sent to Player whenever their Pokemon is defeated and has left the Gym to return to their owner. I just got mine several hours ago, and it was both fun and sad. Fun because the progress feels up close and personal, eventhough the game isn't even activated. But also sad because clearly it's not a good news... *sniffs*. - Raid Battles is an intriguing cooperative feature. I haven't experienced it myself (it's happening in every Gyms nearby... while I'm practically stuck in the house *sigh*), but it plays out similar to what was promised on the App's teaser trailer... more than a year ago! Yes, the idea of 'multiple Players gathering around to defeat Mewtwo in Times Square', has at long last become reality. Players will be alerted of Raids event on the Nearby Screen. A giant Egg can then be seen on top of a Gym, which will then hatch into a strong giant-sized Pokemon. Using a one-per-day free Raid Pass, Player can cooperate/participate with others to defeat this Pokemon. It will be active for 1 hour, but each Player will only be given 5 minutes each. If they succeed, said Pokemon will be available to be captured. Premium Normal Raid Pass, alongside Max Revives are now available for purchase in Shop to support this feature. - There are several ranks of strong Pokemon that will hatch as Raid Boss. I saw a 1-star hatched into a Croconaw with CP 5000+, a 2-star into Exeggutor with CP 12000+, a 3-star turned out to be Vaporeon with CP 16000+, while a 4-star is Snorlax with CP 25000+. For the record, you don't really need to be nearby to see this process... which is how I was able to spot them while cringing knowing I couldn't participate. There are 5 levels of difficulty to Raid Battles, and each will award different prize. All are new items for the game: Premiere Ball, Rare Candy, Golden Razz Berry, and Fast/Charged Technical Machine. - Higher difficulty Raid will also include the Legendaries Pokemon like Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, and others, as proven by the variants of Lugia Badge discovered in the APK. A Legendary will have a unique egg, and to battle them a different item called Legendary Raid Pass is required. Clearing a Legendary Raid will also give three ranks of Badge: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Now, before you get excited, there's a catch to this. Apparently... this special Pass is only awarded to high-level players who have participated a good amount of regular Raid Battles. Which is such a bummer for a lazy introvert such as yours truly *sigh*. Nevertheless, Niantic did confirm that this Pass will be given to active Players, so let's not rule out any possibilities just yet. After all, they are still tweaking the system with feedbacks from Players. - Last but not least, a new anti-cheat measures have been implemented. Players who obtained high levels, as well as rare, region-exclusive, high-CP Pokemon through illegal means such as hacking, GPS-spoof, or other 3rd Party Apps, will have their Pokemon specially marked. This doesn't necessarily kick GPS-spoofers, botters, and illegitimate players out from the App, it just disables them from using Pokemon and participating in Raid Battles. In theory, it's a much-anticipated update that answers the cries of many legitimate Players. But in practice, is it really effective? I'm personally not sure if the punishment is working or not. I'm still seeing many Players who have over and over again showed signs of cheating (proof? One user kept stealing my spot after I cleared out Gyms, and there's NOBODY in the area but me. Clearly a spoofer!), comfortably placing their high-level Pokemon in various Gyms.

Thanks to mining the latest APK, there are many details that have since been made available by several fan-sites like Pokemon GO Hub and The Silph Road. Most are just confirmation to what Niantic has officially announced, but some of them might hint at future additions to the game that has yet to be activated. So those who are interested can go ahead and visit those websites to check them out. The first site also provided some fan-made guides, such as technical details on how the new Gym mechanics works, Raid Survival guide, how to battle Legendary, guide to predict how manyPokeCoins we can obtain, and others.

In the end, whether this Gym System rework is effective or not, remains to be seen. Despite some of them had behind-the-scene technical updates, popular Pokemon like Vaporeon, Gyarados, Dragonite, Blissey, Tyranitar, and others are still occupying every single Gym I've encountered. Personally, this shows that the issue of seeing the same old Pokemon species over and over again isn't yet solved. And then there's the cheaters, who have gotten high levels yet was given early chance to test out the Raids. So while some Players are enjoying, others aren't quite feeling the same thing. As I said, this changed how Players think, and clearly forcing them to adapt with the new situation. As proven by the PokeCoins issue, things might still be in process of worldwide-scale beta-testing for the time being, and that minor changes can still take place on the fly. So let's just wait and see how the final system turns out when "Pokemon GO" officially celebrates its first anniversary next month!

[malcortez]

TV Tropes for Malcolm Cortez

I gathered up some TV Tropes that I think fit Malcolm, both his general canon self and what I've expanded on with my version. For some reason, I can't find a trope centered around idolization/idealization of one's father, or of carrying on his legacy, but I feel like those definitely ARE tropes, and ones that most certainly apply to him!

Accuser of the Brethren/ Reformed But Rejected: Will not accept the zombies even when they have overcome their hunger

Bad Future/After the End: His world is several decades ahead of 616, and is the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.

Berserk Button: When the zombies think that they can just live with the New Wakandans now that they have "overcome" their hunger, it sets Malcolm into a vengeful frenzy. Understandable when one considers not only what they did to Earth and the rest of the universe, but that he had just witnessed one of his friends being devoured.

But What About the Astronauts?: The Acolytes (plus Forge and Black Panther, the latter who Fabian rescued from Earth) survived the zombie apocalypse by hiding out in space on Asteroid M, which the zombies didn't know about

Bullying A Dragon/Too Dumb To Live: Is very open about hating the zombies to their faces, demanding they pay for their crimes, wanting to take them all on in a fight on the spot, etc, despite the fact it's all of them against him and they include the likes of Wolverine, Dark Phoenix, and Giant Man...who also have the power cosmic from eating Galactacus. It's amazing he lives through this; in fact, he probably wouldn't have if not for the fact that's when Zombie Hulk burst in and they all had to team up against him.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Has Black Panther's son killed. Tries to have Black Panther Killed. Lures the "good" zombies, including Black Panther, into the room with a machine which takes them to another dimension, getting rid of them forever. And beats Forge (possibly to death) when Forge discovers this and wants to bring them back.

Disappeared Dad/Missing Mom: Neither of his parents ever appears. Fabian is implied to be dead (he is referred to only in the past tense) and his mother is never mentioned at all.

Disaster Scavenger: The village of New Wakanda is built on the outskirts of what was once NYC, and I headcanon they take a lot of items from what they now only call "the city"

Enemy Mine/Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Forge knows Malcolm is the one who tried to kill T'challa and doesn't like him for it. And Malcolm REALLY doesn't like the zombies, even the "tame" ones. But in the face of the very much NOT tamed zombie Hulk, they all agree to work together for the sake of saving New Wakanda.

Expendable Alternate Universe: Malcolm used a machine to send the zombies to another dimension with the statement "they're somebody else's problem now" and clearly didn't have any concerns about them wiping out any inhabitants there the same way they did his world. I likewise play him as unconcerned about the welfare of other worlds he visits and the people therein; only HIS dimension and HIS people matter to him.

Everyone Is A Super: Since 11 of the 12 original survivors were mutants, I headcanon that most of their children and grandchildren would be as well, making New Wakanda a mutant-majority population

Evil Redhead: Exactly what it says

Evil Is Bigger: Like his father, Malcolm is 6'5 and extremely beefy/muscular in build

Even Evil has Loved Ones: Idolizes his father and is sincerely invested in protecting his people

Even Evil Has Standards/Wouldn't Hurt A Child: He states that he won't kill T'challa's grandson until the boy is older. Since there's no reason for him to wait (and in fact, it would be more beneficial to him to do it sooner rather than later) I can only conclude that Malcolm has something against killing children. He likewise had plans to hurt Forge, even though Forge openly opposed his reign and said to Malcolm's face that he knew he was responsible for the assassination attempt on T'challa. The only reason he ended up opening a can of whoop-ass on the old man was when Forge discovered he'd sent the zombies to another dimension and wanted to bring them back. So even though Forge was a threat to Malcolm's leadership, Malcolm was apparently going to spare him...until Forge became (in Malcolm's eyes) a threat to New Wakanda by wanting to bring back the zombies. Also, he's outraged beyond belief at the zombie's crimes.

Is It Something You Eat?: Probably has this reaction at least a few times to things he's unfamiliar with in worlds besides his own

Hypocrite: He's outraged that the zombies wiped out almost all life in the universe, and demands they pay for their crimes. However, Malcolm is a murderer too, and he didn't do it out of compulsive hunger like the zombies did, but by choice because he wanted to be king. Malcolm, of course, sees it differently In his eyes, there's no comparison, because his crimes were (comparatively) small and done for a reason, whereas the zombies pointlessly committed mass murder on a literally universal scale.

Generation Xerox/Overlord Jr/In the Blood/Lineage Comes From the Father: An unusual example in that while he is much like Fabian Cortez, it's the villainous 616 Fabian that he's similiar to (minus the sexism and with some additional bravery/genuine care for his people) rather than the Fabian of his own universe who actually fathered him (who was a much better man)

Fantastic Racism: What little fandom knows of him tends to treat his hatred of zombies as a form of bigotry, rather than, y'know, COMMON SENSE

Fish Out of Water/Trapped In Another World: He comes from the Marvel Zombies universe, in which all of humanity except 12 survivors were wiped out by the titular zombies, and thus grew up in a very different world...and I write him as having come to whatever universe my partner is in (616, XMCU, etc.) by use of a machine shown in his canon story that was capable of transporting people between dimensions. Obviously, he's in for a bit of a culture shock.

Fish Out of Temporal Water: Sort of. While his Earth is several decades ahead of 616, their technology level is now much more primitive (aside from scraps of extremely advanced technology taken from the Stark and Reed labs, as well as their Asteroid M base) making him function in a "normal" world much like someone from the distant past would in terms of being unfamiliar with things like electric lights, indoor plumbing, etc. On the flip side, he's extremely adept with futuristic technology even though he can't figure out a cell phone.

Gadgeteer Genius: Shown to be able to figure out extremely complicated, futuristic machines left behind by the likes of Reed Richards, namely the interdimensional transporter.

Karma Houdini: Despite being the villain of the story, he not only never gets an comeuppance, he wins. And with no loss to himself at that!

Jerkass Has A Point/Hypocrite Has a Point/Villain Has A Point: His reasons for not liking or trusting the zombies are completely rational ones

Large And In Charge: As mentioned in Evil is Bigger, Malcolm is a HUGE dude. He's also the leader of rebel "Acolytes" in New Wakanda, and, at the end, all of New Wakanda

Living Is More Than Surviving - Said more or less exactly this in his speech to his followers

Limited Wardrobe: Spends the entire story just wearing his father's old Acolytes uniform. I headcanon him as having more clothes though.

Men Are The Expendable Gender: For functional/biological reasons than cultural sexism, I headcanon Malcolm is a "women and children first" kind of guy. 1 male and 10 females can produce 10 times the offspring, after all, so it's more conducive to the survival of their very small and fragile society to protect women over men if it comes down to that. That said, he still Would Hit A Girl in a fight or if otherwise given reason.

Only Sane Man: He's the only character shown to make any objection to the zombies being allowed to live with the New Wakandans now that they have overcome their hunger, despite the fact that it only takes one bite of flesh for it to reawaken and that it'd be pretty much impossible to stop them from devouring everyone if they relapsed.

Reduced to Ratburgers: Well, there's no more livestock, and the village is built next to New York City...

Rebel Leader: Sees himself as this

Revenge Before Reason: Averted, he's willing to put his hatred for the zombies, and animosity with Forge, aside for as long as it takes to ensure the safety of New Wakanda

Ruins of the Modern Age: The village of New Wakanda is in the wilderness surrounding the outskirts of New York City, which has fallen into disrepair from 45 years of abandonment.

The Usurper: Attempted to be this to Black Panther, and ultimately succeeds at the end

The Bad Guy Wins: The story ends with Malcolm triumphing and achieving all his goals without any loss to himself; he gets rid of the zombies and Black Panther in one go, leaving him able to take over New Wakanda for himself, and probably to an even more welcoming populace than before since he's now likely a hero for helping fight the zombies.

The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: Malcolm isn't an example of this, but Fabian possibly is. This universe's Fabian proves to be a much better person than every other version has been, but it's impossible to say if this is just how he was to begin with in this universe or it's a result of this trope.

Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: A redhead with green eyes who is a major character in his story of appearance

Species Loyalty: Understandable, when your species in limited to a single village and the only other species is the cannibalistic undead who reduced them to such a tiny number in the first place. However, his Species Loyalty is not to the point that he practices Ape Shall Never Kill Ape, as shown by his having T'challa and T'challa's son both murdered, and his plans to do the same to T'challa's grandson.

Sociopathic Hero: He's framed as the villain of the story, but I think it could be argued he's ultimately one of these instead. His methods are villainous, but ultimately done to ensure the safety of New Wakanda, which he succeeds in, getting rid of the zombies once and for all. Honestly, if not for the whole 'tried to kill Black Panther so *he* could become leader' I'd straight-up say he was definitely the hero, not just arguably.

The Resenter: I get the impression that part of his reason for wanting to overthrow Black Panther is his belief that Fabian should have ruled instead of him in the first place

Rabble Rouser: He's first shown in canon inciting his followers against Black Panther with a speech, resulting in one of them trying (and technically succeeding) in assassinating him on Malcolm's orders

Uncanny Valley: Canonically, he finds it very unnerving when one of his own murder victims is walking around and talking. In my headcanon, people from "normal" worlds (616, XMCU, etc.) also look kinda weird to him because we're all just too clean, what with our access to things like daily showers and laundry machines.

Unintentionally Sympathetic: He's meant to be the despicable bad guy of the story, and when it comes to what he did to T'challa and his son, I agree full stop. But I can't get behind the idea he's totally wrong in his objections to not wanting the zombies who tried to devour his village just hours ago now being allowed to live there just because they figured out a way to not be hungry anymore...especially when it's known that a relapse is possible. I can't tell if the story/writers mean for him to be totally unsympathetic, but I've found that what fans do know of him consider him totally awful for this, to the point he's been compared to a virulent racist in some reviews.

Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Malcolm and his crew see themselves as dismantling a useless and outdated regime for the betterment of everyone, whereas King T'challa and his confidants see them as dangerous fools and misguided children who are a threat to the very society they claim to want to improve.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wants what's best for his people. Believes the Black Panther is no longer an adequate ruler. Solution? Assassinate Black Panther.

Who Needs Enemies?: Malcolm, who allies with T'challa, Forge, and the "good" zombies, only to betray them all as soon as he has the chance and the greater threat of the "bad" zombies has been vanquished. Same for the "good" zombies, whose hunger is only overcome so long as they never have another bite of human flesh...lest they instantly and violently relapse into their hunger. Clearly, neither are folks you really want at your side unless there's no other choice.

Zero Percent Approval Rating: Forge thinks this is the case with Malcolm, claiming he doubts anyone would follow him for more than a couple of months if he actually did become leader of the village. That said, it's only Forge's opinion, and he's clearly loyal to King T'challa while disliking Malcolm, so he's hardly unbiased. We also see that Malcolm has a considerable number of supporters among his peers, including ones ready to kill King T'challa for him.

Zombie Apocalypse: I don't need to explain this one, right?

[flarebossmalva]

notes for my friend for hire mix is she promised to the night

#abuse #death m

this won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read friend for hire. even if you have, i wrote that story back in ‘13 and made the playlist at around the same time and it’s ‘18 now and i don’t exactly remember what was going through my head when i put this together, so this might be a less enlightening mix notes post. regardless, here we go.

only happy when it rains / garbage

one of the things i figured out very early on about jack is that she’s pretentious and melodramatic and on some level enjoys having something to complain about. after all, what kind of fifteen-year-old runs an overly verbose vent blog filled entirely with lengthy personal posts about some girl her parents are paying her to befriend? well, probably someone who likes to wallow in it a bit. friend for hire is, i guess, something of a tragedy, but it’s also being told by a character who has a tendency to revel in being sad.

seventeen / marina and the diamonds

growing pains. teenage angst. more establishing material for who jack is. 

about a girl / nirvana

this is definitely a song jack likes — i’m pretty sure i alluded to her fondness for 90s grunge at least once. nirvana songs are hard to analyze because kurt cobain was the sort of lyricist who mostly didn’t give a fuck about what his lyrics actually meant; regardless, the way i read this song is that it’s about being too hung up on someone who isn’t that level of hung up on you, who has a life outside of you. an unbalanced relationship, broadly speaking, which is what jack and luna’s thing was from the get-go because of the money jack pockets for it and the three-year age gap between the two.

crushcrushcrush / paramore

i think i put this on there more for the mood than for any specific lyric. this is a story about angsty teenagers. it definitely calls for some paramore. 

down today / jonathan coulton

this dude can write a passive-aggressive song like no one’s business. i mean, if you haven’t heard this song, it’s about how someone (maybe an ex, from context) is attempting to go off on you but you don’t even give a shit because you’re having a good time with a nice girl now. also: did jack make friends with luna to spite her mom? one hundred percent yes she did.

summersong / the decemberists

song about taking it easy because it’s summertime and summer comes and goes quickly. the main events of this story happen over the course of one summer — that’s about a three-month time frame. that’s quick. but a lot can happen in a single season, especially if you’re young.

summertime / my chemical romance

abandoning the rest of the world to run away with someone. this song is off mcr’s concept album set in a dystopia, so relating it to a much more mundane occurrence (two adolescents becoming friends) helped set the overdramatic us-vs-them teenager mentality mood i wanted the story to have.

born to die / lana del rey

more moody shit, plus the line “you like your girls insane” for a little nod at the mental illness themes i was working with. and a little mild suicidal ideation, why not?

kimberly / patti smith

i don’t know what the fuck patti smith is on about half the time, i’ll confess, but i love the imagery in this song; it’s weird and surreal and grand and apocalyptic and ends with the narrator gazing “into your starry eyes, baby” for the rest of the song. more “the two of us against the rest of the world” / “all we have is each other” kind of stuff, in context.

4 o’clock / emilie autumn

so we’ve mostly been from jack’s perspective in this playlist till now, but here’s a bit of luna. she’s an insomniac, and when she does sleep, she sleepwalks. for a girl named after the moon, she’s learning to dread the night pretty well. i confess that this bit of luna’s character is also based off of my first depressive episode in part because i kept myself awake at night until sunrise because paranoia made me fear the dark. 

asleep / emilie autumn

luna again, big surprise. pretty self-explanatory. wanting to sleep but it sounds an awful lot like wanting to be dead at times, too. 

is she weird / pixies

yes, she is weird. this is where i got the title of the mix from. 

monster / paramore

again, us vs. rest of the world stuff. drowning imagery in this one too. i don’t remember my writing process for this story too well but i’m pretty sure the foreshadowing was far from subtle.

girls! girls! girls! / emilie autumn

i think i referred to this song explicitly in the story. this is victorian notions of female madness / hysteria stuff, which is a theme i hope i explored at least a little because it was a big influence while writing this thing. iirc i had jack reference this song which is sort of getting at jack’s gender issues i guess, not seeing herself as a girl and all that.

fear of dying / jack off jill

i love foreshadowing apparently. also sort of a “i don’t want to die and leave you behind (but if we died together it’d be alright)” thing here.

northern star / hole

more night imagery. also a really moody track, sort of apocalyptic-sounding. it’s hole so i’ll be damned if i know what the lyrics are supposed to mean but the tone fits. i think i had this one associated in my mind with a specific scene i wrote where luna shows up at jack’s house unexpectedly.

how strange / emilie autumn

don’t remember which of my main characters i associated this one with but i wanted to get some early emilie autumn in there and this song is basically a passive-aggressive “you don’t know me like that” track. also the chorus talks about dreams which naturally were an important part of this story.

if you feel better / emilie autumn

abuse victim anthem am i right. the lyrics for this one are basically like “you can blame everything on me and treat me like i’m just a heartless person taking advantage of you if it helps you to do that because i’m past fighting you on it” and, again, you can definitely read it as passive-aggressive but i’m not sure you have to either because this is 100% the mentality abuse victims commonly adopt during their abuse. could work for jack and luna or for jack and her mom. 

the killing type / amanda palmer

the narrator of this song constantly asserts a nonviolent, pacifistic nature but is clearly willing, if not eager, to resort to violence to fix a broken relationship. if that ain’t a mood, i guess. i think this is more of a luna track, except she’s like twelve and ends up directing violence at herself instead of towards anyone else.

i want my innocence back / emilie autumn

given the ages of my protagonists, loss of innocence is in the thematic mix, and i think luna in particular (who is just moving out of childhood into adolescence) wants to go back to how she was before losing some vestige of innocence... another violent song too, but not angry, the violence here is matter-of-fact. a means to an end. luna’s basically dealing with the onset of mental illness symptoms (i never decided what she might have, but definitely some measure of psychosis) and doesn’t know what’s happening but wishes things could return to “normal” for her.

time for tea / emilie autumn

my main reason for including this track, i think, was because luna would like it. it’s about girls exacting bloody revenge, what’s not to love?

eloise / the damned

given jack’s overall musical taste (which i don’t think i discussed too much in canon, but i alluded to it more than once), i’m sure she’d like this song. the angst makes it fit. also like... doing everything you can think of to keep someone happy and then losing them anyway.

liar / emilie autumn

god i really put a lot of emilie autumn on this one huh. this is another track that could work for jack’s relationship with her mom (i think when i had her review opheliac in a blog post, she mentioned liking this song; that’s why), but it’s more relevant to jack and luna’s relationship ultimately, especially once luna finds out jack’s been getting paid to befriend her.

when i am queen / jack off jill

extremely a luna track, the chorus is even about suicide by drowning for fuck’s sake. not sure there’s much more to say, the relation of this one to the story is probably very obvious.

shallot / emilie autumn

very pretty song about being imprisoned and escaping it in order to die free, or something. also a lot of water/night imagery. very luna.

where is my mind? / pixies

water imagery again, also losing your mind or realizing you never had one to begin with. most applicable to luna but jack is probably the one who likes this track.

come away to the water / maroon 5 ft. rozzi crane

the title is probably enough explanation but this is about children being taken to be slaughtered, so. there’s that.

4 o’clock reprise / emilie autumn

if friend for hire was a movie i’d want this to play the night luna drowns. that’s all i gotta say on that.

redondo beach / patti smith

this song is about a woman who has a fight with her girlfriend and then goes looking for her; along the way she sees a commotion on the beach, where a girl has just washed up dead, but ignores it to keep search for her gf, not realizing till the end of the song who the dead girl on the beach is. obviously i picked it because it’s about someone drowning herself following a fight with a loved one.

dear prudence / siouxsie and the banshees

the narrator of this song implores the titular prudence to come outside and play, but i’ve always thought prudence sounded... well, dead, the way the narrator keeps imploring her to open her eyes. i’m not sure if that’s like a “valid interpretation” of the track but in my mind prudence is absolutely not alive. at this point in the story neither is luna, so.

if i burn / emilie autumn

friend for hire concluded with jack realizing that even though luna’s dead, she’s never going to be rid of her. this track is about someone asserting that even if she dies, her killer will never be rid of her memory and will be haunted by her forever.

[furederiko]

Tis the start of the week, thus it's time for Random-News-Digest! Only a few categories, though...

Disney Live Action

"Beauty and the Beast" has had its big Hollywood premiere several days ago, following the UK one that was already held in a prior date. Which means, critics have begun voicing their opinions about it. From what I read so far, the response was... rather divisive. Some called it a loyal, bold, and faithful adaptation of the original, that would bring together old fans and new ones alike. Some praised the movie to the point of predicting it to be one of the year's first best-selling title so far, that it's going to make a lot of money. But on the opposite side, there were those who weren't as pleased with the adaptation. Collider called it "too much of a good thing", and The Hollywood Reporter likened it to a "crystal-meth-like narcotic high that lasts about two hours"! Both which... can mean good and bad at the same time. Of course, the rule of the thumb is, everyone has the rights to have their own personal and subjective opinion. So in the end, it's all just a matter of taste. Knowing that, it's hard to pinpoint which one of these responses is the accurate one, without actually seeing the movie with our own eyes. In fact, even you and I might have a completely different opinion about it. That's just the way it is.

Backlash to the movie also came in other areas. The first one was about Disney's approach to the 'renewed' sexual orientation of one character, that made fans both buzzing in cheer and jeer. The movie might not even gain access to Russia JUST because of it! WOW. In an interview with Attitude Magazine, director Bill Condon (who is openly LGBT, in case you're not aware) stated that Josh Gad's LeFou might be heading towards a more 'queer' trajection in the movie. Basically crowning him as Disney's first openly LGBT character in the big screen. This is said to be an update from the original animated movie, that originally placed his character as some kind of idiot manservant comic-relief to Gaston. Who, by the way, in the movie is played by the loveable dashing actor Luke Evans. Thus making perfect sense that anyone, regardless of their gender, might easily have a crush on him *wink*.

In my opinion (rhyming nicely with LeFou's actor's point of view), I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, this is a natural progresive albeit MINOR update that embraces the change in our culture and society. If not something that simply works as a subtle tribute to the late Howard Ashman, the original lyricist of the animated movie, whose fingerprints are all over the animated movie. C'mon guys, it's the year 2017! But why minor, you ask? Because if you actually pay attention to the character of LeFou in the animated movie, there has ALWAYS been a hint of attraction to his boss. Something that went beyond mere "I respect my boss so much, I'll go with him wherever he goes". It WAS there all along, so what Disney is doing, is nothing more than a confirmation. Problem is, there are people who simply don't want to accept this, and being an internet era, immediately voiced their disagreement. Especially after USA officially became a 'discriminative country' thanks to its new elected leader. This kind of reaction feels... ODD, if you ask me. But to each their own, so who am I to judge, right? Besides, just like above, I need to see the movie first before I can fairly say whether this update is for the better or opposite, or even worth the pointless argument alone.

The other negative buzz, was the ridiculous questioning of lead actress Emma Watson's feminism stand! With some even going so far as calling her... a hypocrite. YIKES! Yes, this came following her rather revealing photo shoot for an interview with Vanity Fair. This reaction, was also... ODD. Pray tell, WHAT is really the point of being a feminist? Isn't it, the FREEDOM of choice for women to express themselves, to stand proud without the need to be approved by men? Isn't that... what Watson was doing? Hmmmm. Which is why I'm feeling confused about the reasonings behind these decries. Does this mean, a fully grown-up actress (albeit growing on-screen from an innocent child one), is NOT allowed to do both? Posing elegantly in a magazine for a mature art piece, and still be a feminist who stands up for female rights? Once again, do tell me what's the point of feminism. Because the way I see it, if she's not allowed to perform such pose just because she's a woman, then isn't that... sexist instead? And for crying out loud, it's her own body too, not ours! Really, please elaborate me on this (which is a sarcastic rhetoric, in case you don't realize one). I thought being feminist is an ideal that extends more than just about women wearing pants...

As of writing, "Beauty and the Beast" is sitting at a score of 73%, aggregated from 44 critics on RottenTomatoes. This number will definitely fluctuate in the coming weeks, so it's not the end result. For the sake of pure numerical comparison only (not quality, that'd be subjective), Disney's previous two live action remakes ranked higher. Kenneth Branagh's "Cinderella" ended with a 83%, while Jon Favreau's recent Academy Award winning "The Jungle Book" finished with a heaping 95%. To be fair, I'm never a fan of the original animated movie in the first place, so my interest to see this movie hasn't been as high as those other titles. But now my curiousity has peaked at the highest level, because I just need to see whether these absurd complains are true, or that these people are only making too much of a big deal out of nothing. I have a feeling it's the second one...

Currently in production for a December 25, 2018 release, is the long awaited sequel "Mary Poppins Returns". Disney Studio has officially released the first look for lead actress Emily Blunt as the titular character via Twitter. And well, response to this one was generally positive. Which was on point, if you ask me, because Disney is keeping most of Poppins' signature looks in tact. That is something that would easily please fans of the first movie that starred the legendary Julie Andrews. Of course, with the risk of sounding pessimistic, "Beauty and the Beast" also had the same warm-welcome at first. But look at what is happening now, right?

Anyway, I expect we're going to see more of the other cast really soon. Just a reminder, Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer are set to portray the adult versions of Michael and Jane Banks, the children that Poppins nannied in the first movie. Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to play Jack, a street lamplighter who will aid Poppins in her mission to bring back joy to the Banks. While Meryl Streep will be playing her cousin. Will this movie be as captivating and genuinely endearing like the first one? Or will it suffer unnecessary backlashes, because people in the modern age are more prone to complain about everything and can't seem to shut their mouth for just a moment to enjoy something as is? As always, we'll see... hahaha.

X-Men Universe

Before you ask, NO, I won't talk about that X-Men TV show that had just cast its Polaris. I couldn't care less about it, so this is as far as I go on even mentioning one. Yep, I'll just focus on talking about the movies instead. But nope, I won't talk about that NOT-Supernova X-Men movie, which I couldn't care less. Not even "Logan" as well. Even if critics everywhere are praising the movie, seemingly unable to find any flaws in the R-rated gruesome comic book adaptation, that is already raking a great amount of money in its first weekend (and exceeding expectations too). I just don't have that much interest for Hugh Jackman's last foray as the titular character, and will not watch one until.... the home video is out. That's all I can say.

Instead, I'm going to talk about another title that seems to be in pre-production process. Yes, "Deadpool 2"! Sequel to the surprise hit that made FOX shifted direction into venturing the R-rated superhero business. Apparently, there's a short for the sequel that has been playing in front of "Logan". Not to worry though, because FOX and lead actor Ryan Reynolds has kindly released this 03:41 minutes butt-sho... er, I mean "No Good Deed" online for everyone to see. So it's not just limited to those who are watching "Logan" anymore. Lucky for me, eh? Then again, that's not such a big deal anyway (Deadpool: "R U effing kidding me?"), because writer-producer Rhett Reese has clarified that this footage will NOT be used in the movie itself. What's the purpose then? Simply a final message to Hugh Jackman before he rides off into the sunset. After all, with Wolverine officially gone, the burden has fallen to Reynolds' shoulder to carry the flag of the FOX-Marvel franchise. Reese also confirmed that his sequel is currently in casting mode, hence why there is no release date given for the movie just yet.

Speaking of casting, another big name has been thrown to the "Who Should Play Cable" hopefuls. This time, it's a popular name that would make Netflix's fans happy, particularly those who are watching "Stranger Things". According to The Wrap, Hawkins Police Department Chief himself, David Harbour, has been considered for the role of the future-based mutant. He even said to have screen-tested for the part. Of course, knowing what happened to previous contenders like Kyle Chandler, this doesn't necessarily mean Harbour is set for the role. So don't get excited too much too soon about it, because it might very well be just a passing news in the near future. Not to mention, The Wrap's source El Mayimbe isn't as reliable as he used to be anymore, with most of his scoops regarding "Logan" turning out to be false. Nevertheless, it's still interesting to see the range of actors they are looking for the character.

Personally, while I think Harbour's a fantastic actor, I just couldn't see him as Cable. Not saying that he won't be able to pull it off, but I'm expecting someone who's a little more... stern and naturally buffed, considering the character itself has always been like that. That's nothing Hollywood can't fixed of course, but those who already came with the built would be better. Perhaps, the likes of John Cena, or Joe Manganiello would fit my criteria for this role? Even the recently cast Black Bolt, could be a better choice... physique-wise. Anyway, let's just hope we'll hear more about the casting soon. With "Logan" already out on the market, and its actor posting a final message to Wolverine fans, it makes sense that FOX would be moving ahead with "Deadpool 2". To keep the hype strong for their favor, what else?

Marvel Studios

"Doctor Strange" has been released for home video for quite some time now. Thanks to this, director Scott Derrickson has been making rounds about his movie once more, either with the press or via social media. He's been answering questions on Twitter lately, and his response might have hinted on what we can expect from the as-of-yet-unnannounced sequel. To be honest, since "Doctor Strange" was a success and a easy hit among audience, even snagging some prestigious Awards honors ever since (like Academy Award?), a sequel is nothing more than a sure thing. Highly likely Marvel Studios consciously opts to not reveal too much about it though, to keep the momentum and attention towards current projects instead. Heck, confirming its sequel for Phase 4 could even be considered spoiler alert for "Avengers: Infinity War", right? A movie that will see Benedict Cumberbatch's second return in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Intriguingly, while Derrickson hasn't been confirmed to return for the directorial duty, the way he responded with ideas and everything, seems to have partially confirmed that he would definitely be back, or at least involved in the sequel.

As for what he said about the inevitable solo sequel, Derrickson has revealed several interesting bits. When asked about the potential of Jericho Drumm, or more familiarly known as the Master of Mystic Arts Brother Voodoo, Derrickson replied that his brother, Daniel Drumm's demise might not serve as a mere pointless random incident. After all, this IS Marvel Studios we're talking about, and not FOX nor Warner Bros. His death will surely triggered an after-effect from his younger brother. Since in recent years Jericho has become a Sorcerer Supreme himself, it makes perfect sense to see him joining the sequel as Strange's apprentice. To add credential to this, do remember that when Chiwetel Ejiofor was cast, many sites have speculated that he's playing Jericho instead of Mordo. As for which actor should play Jericho? Expect Marvel Studios to target big names. I don't know, how about... Trevante Rhodes from the latest Best Picture Winner "Moonlight"? *grins*

The brief inclusion of Dormammu the Dread in the movie, would naturally pave way to another key character in the Doctor Strange lore: his equally magical romantic interest, Clea. It wouldn't be surprising to see the character incorporated in the sequel, because as Derrickson himself stated, "you can't tell the story of Doctor Strange w/out eventually dealing w/Clea.". It's safe to say that we haven't seen the last of Dormammu, thus his silver-haired sorceress nephew will surely come into play as well. As for the villain, Derrickson mentioned the name Nightmare once again, but unlike before, he has backtracked a bit with a tinge of uncertainly because he's a "tricky villain to get right". In my opinion, going with Nightmare would allow Marvel Studios to completely venture to the realm of horror genre, and that's certainly going to be a challenge. It could open the gate for supernatural characters like Blade, or Moon Knight too. Especially since Derrickson is clearly a fan of the latter, as much as the Fantastic Four.

Promotional materials have begun hitting the internet, in anticipation of the arrival of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2". We get to see more of Kurt Russel's Ego, as well as Yondu and Nebula who both have been hinted greatly to be joining the team. The movie will open on May 5, 2017 in the US, but I won't be surprised if it arrives earlier in other countries. In fact, I believe it will be available here late next month. Because that's how it has always worked for Marvel Studios movies. We almost always get a May movie in April. The good news is, even after seeing the third and latest trailer, I still don't have any clue about what the movie is all about. Which is good, because I'd love nothing more than some elements of surprise!

Meanwhile, the July movie, "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is said to have begun additional photography as we speak. Or 'reshoots', in case you prefer a much pessimistic sounding choice of words. According to reports from social media, a crew for the movie was spotted at Disneyland California. Not just that, a school bus scene apparently has been filmed outside of LA's Van Nuys High School. There isn't an official confirmation for reshoots like this, but it is said that lead actor Tom Holland and his personal assistant- best friend Harrison Osterfield will be meeting with co-star Jacob Batalon very soon. Is it for this reshoot? It's anyone's guess.

As for "Infinity War" that's currently in production, there's a rather startling news that was sparked from Atlanta Business Chronicle. Namely, the claim of Pinewood Atlanta Studios' co-owner, that there is a "largest film production ever with a $1 billion budget." going on right there. Easy bet obviously went to Marvel Studios, considering "Infinity War" is gathering a huge number of actors and resources, to create what seems to be a 'Two-Parts Finale' of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mind you, NONE of this was official news. It was never stated openly that "Infinity War" was what the co-owner was talking about. It's all a result of speculation and pure assumption. But since we know how the internet works, it's more than enough to drive people talking. Both in praise and cynical tone.

Interestingly, this wasn't even new. Bleeding Cool, had also reported the same rumor before. Calling the combination of "Infinity War" and the 2019's UNTITLED Avengers movie to reach the exact same number. So is this true, then? Though I'm inclined to believe its possibility, there's always a high chance that it's nothing more than an exaggeration. After all, Bleeding Cool in particular has been known to be an anti-Kevin Feige fansite, who favors the side of Marvel Comics (as well as Marvel TV) more. That alone is enough to make me question the foundation behind their report. Not to mention, they don't really have a good track-record in reporting insider info. Remember, they were the one who assumed that Chiwetel Ejiofor would be playing Brother Voodo. And we all know how that turned out to be, right? Sean Gerber had posted a fine thinkpiece about how this situation does NOT make sense, pointing out some valid reasons for this to be illogical. Go ahead and read it on Marvel Studios News.

Marvel TV

Production has officially begun for Marvel's "The Inhumans" last week. Precisely on March 3, 2017. Photos of Black Bolt from the set has already begun circulating on the internet (courtesy of Reel News Hawaii)! So fast, huh? A few days prior, the remaining core cast members have been announced. Joining the already announced Iwan Rheon and Anson Mount, were the other Inhumans Royal family characters, as well as two more supporting ones.

The first one to be announced was gorgeous actress Serinda Swan, who was cast to play Medusa Amaquelin. Medusa is the wife of Black Bolt, which means she's the Queen of the Inhumans. Interestingly, this isn't Swan's first comic book role, as she has portrayed the magician Zatanna in the TV series "Smallville" before. Her casting announcement was followed by Asian-American actor Ken Leung, who will be portraying Karnak Mander-Azur. Similar to Swan, this wasn't Leung's first comic book role, as he has played the mutant Spike in FOX's critically panned "X-Men: The Last Stand". To put it simple, Leung is officially both a mutant and inhuman now. How cool is that?

Several others, and arguably lesser characters were announced all together as the production officially began. African-American actor Eme Ikwuakor is set to play Gorgon Petragon. Australian actress Isabelle Cornish will portray Crystal Amaquelin, who is Medusa's younger sister. Mike Moh, familiarly known by gamers all around the world as Ryu in "Street Fighter Assassin's Fist" web-series and its sequel, has been cast as Triton Mander-Azur, who is Karnak's blood-brother. Hawaiian native Sonya Balmores, will portray the Inhumans Royal Guard Auran, while Ellen Woglom's character is currently undisclosed to not spoil the storyline. The same announcement also confirmed the appearance of one key character of the Royal Family: LOCKJAW!!!

As for the characters they are playing, if the official announcements were any indication, then we might be seeing a very faithful adaptation of the comics. Black Bolt will have the power of his devastating voice. Medusa would have her 'powerful hair'. Karnak will be Black Bolt's brilliant strategist with the natural ability to pinpoint weakness in all things. The same with the other three. His brother Triton will have his fish-like ability, Gorgon will have his super strong legs and hooves, while Crystal is a master of elements. Just like in the comics! The only change that seems apparent, is the switching of Karnak and Triton placing in the Mander-Azur family. In the comics, Triton has been described as the older son. But seeing their actors age, it seems this might be reversed. Which shouldn't be a surprise, since many adaptations have been practicing the exact approach ("Ultimate Spider-Man" animated shows, for example). For more information on how these Royal characters are linked as a Family (they are literally siblings and cousins), MCU Exchange has provided an excellent infographic for our convenience. As for Woglom's mystery character, interestingly, she is said to be working at a private aerospace company, with a passion for all things space and lunar. This is a vague hint that the setting of the show would take place out of Earth, and perhaps on the Blue Side of the Moon. Could she be an important character from the comics too, then? That's certainly a possibility.

It's safe to say, that the hype level for the show just skyrocketed due to these announcements. For me personally, it's Lockjaw's inclusion as well as Moh's casting that basically sealed the deal. The moment I saw Moh's name, I think I nerded out, because I've been wanting to see him play a Marvel heroes. Sure, he'd make a far better Shang-Chi than Triton, who will be covered by scales and prosthetics throughout the show. And yes, he'd make a better Karnak too, since he's an actual martial art practitioner (in fact, I wonder why he's not switching role with Leung?). But the fact that he's a Marvel actor now, is enough to make me happy. Of course, it's when I read that the show will incorporate a 2000-pound giant mutt with the power of teleportation, that I basically lost it. After all, you simply can't have a faithful Inhuman show without Lockjaw!

Intriguingly, most if not all of the names in this cast are on a 'different' level than your average TV actors. If you pay attention, most of them have had big screen roles as well. Swan was in "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and "Tron: Legacy". Leung was recently in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Cornish was as suspected, the younger sister of movie actress Abbie Cornish. She has been a contender for "Transformers: Age of Extinction" before, but more importantly, she's also a "Home and Away" alumn, a.k.a the show that gave birth to lots of Hollywood big names such as... yes, Chris Hemsworth. Mount was in "Non-Stop" among many other titles. Ikwuakor and Moh mostly had roles in TV, but have been involved in big movie productions before. There has been a wide speculation that Marvel TV was looking for actors who could fit both mediums nicely, considering "The Inhumans" will have an exclusive 2-weeks IMAX debut before proceeding later on as an 8-episodes TV show on ABC. Clearly, this IS indeed the case, and I'm genuinely pleased. Speaking of IMAX debut, the theatre chain itself had announced via Twitter that the first two episode will arrive in one feature-length movie format on September 1st, 2017 (additional scenes will be added for the TV version). This practically confirmed previous report that it will debut on Labor's Day. That's only less than 6 months aways!

If there's any lingering question I have about this show, is how it will play out in the MCU. How significant it will be in the bigger picture. Remember, Marvel Studios had this as a movie planned for Phase 3 once, before "Homecoming" and the sequel of "Ant-Man" shuffled it away to 2019. Kevin Feige had since mentioned that there's still a plan for the movie in Phase 4, but then ABC and Marvel TV announced it a mini-series. Will the one produced by Marvel Studios be using the exact same cast to this one? Will fans' expectation to see Mount's Black Bolt as part of an Illuminati that consists of Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, and others, exceeds more than just a wishful thinking? Or will... everyone be recast, similar to the fate Linda Louise-Duan who is not reprising her "Doctor Strange" role in the upcoming Marvel's "The Runaways". As great as these actors are, I doubt they have the high-profile needed to sell a high-budget movie version to a global audience. Which is why many have imagined the likes of Vin Diesel, Jessica Chastain, and other A-list actors in these roles instead. Technically, this show CARRIES the greatest potential to be an actual bridge between the TV and Movie side. But judging from the current situation between Marvel Studios and Marvel TV, it'll be far wiser to not get our hopes up too high. Yes, ABC is a network owned by Disney, but even the House of Mouse has no power to settle what's happening between the two divisions. Especially since both are reporting to a different boss *sigh*. Let's just hope for the best, shall we?

As for the other shows, it seems Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" has wrapped production of its first episode. At the same time, "Runaways" is close to wrapping its in production, as some candid photos and videos have hit the internet from Long Beach's Ernest McBride High School. Despite the intention to keep things tightly kept in secrecy, eager fans will still find a way to get information anyway. THAT my friend, is how our internet works! LOL. Unfortunately, as great of an idea these two shows are, the chance of me watching both has only continued to wane. As I said, unless it's through illegal means (which is NOT recommended) I don't think I'm going to watch both. Why would I purchase a Hulu and Freeform account to watch one show, right? Looks like it's a good thing that my interest for "The Inhumans" has spiked enormously. In the end, that might be the only new Marvel show I'd be watching. Or is it? According to IMAX CEO Greg Foster, they are "already looking for a second series" to work with. Could we be seeing more Marvel shows with "The Inhumans" treatment then? That's a possibility...

Netflix

The 4th and final Defender's member so far, the last character that Marvel TV promised several years ago, will be upon us in just one week from now. Yes, Danny Rand will be debuting on Marvel's "Iron Fist" on March 17th, 2017. Hype is high, as well as expectations, and as I said, if the last trailer was any indication, then this is going to be an interesting show. At least for me personally.

Unfortunately, just two weeks before all episodes of the show is released worldwide, showrunner Scott Buck just had to 'run his mouth' and well... revealed something underwhelming. That's like... taking cues of DC Films for their impressive bad-marketing stunt. In this case, it's concerning Danny's iconic costume. Talking to Games Radar, Buck stated that fans should NOT hold their breath to see Finn Jones wearing one. In this show, that is. To be fair, the same thing happened on the first season of Marvel's "Daredevil", where it took 12 episodes before Charlie Cox' Matt Murdock consciously shifted from black beany to a specially crafted costume. So there's no reason for us to be shocked. Even so, this news was still disappointing to fans nonetheless. Why? Because every Netflix shows afterwards, had been real shy on implementing one. Marvel's "Jessica Jones" only revealed one just to make fun of it, and Marvel's "Luke Cage" only featured a very quick glimpse of one in its 4th episode. Both ended up serving as mere passing nods. That's why somehow, fans are expecting a change in this repetitive scenario. Because once, or the first time, is okay, but doing it again and again every year? That will get old real fast.

And yes, I do feel slightly disappointed with this. I mean, if anything, at least Danny should be wearing a similar attire to the one Matt wore in his series' first season. That's practically an all-black version of Iron Fist's attire, right? Many fans (through various fansites) have also pointed out one VERY logical thing. Similar to rich characters like Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, and others, Danny has a reputation he has to protect. He's the heir of a wealthy businessman. He OWNS a company, and is supposed to be its long-lost CEO. Can he damage such esteemed position by openly beating up thugs and evil henchmen as a vigilante, exposing himself to the world? Even Buck's statement contradicted this very issue: "There was no good reason we could imagine to put Danny Rand in a costume because Danny Rand is still discovering who he is as a hero and where he is going to be, so he’s not yet ready to put on a mask or a costume.". Eventhough he backtracked a bit by saying "At the same time he is someone who is rather well known as a billionaire, so he can’t necessarily go out in public and do the things he does without being recognized. It does become an issue for the character.". Seriously? THAT makes for a good reason, right? Let this sink in to your brain for a bit. Of course, Buck might simply be hinting at some surprises in store, that we can only learn by watching the series. So for now, let's just give this show the benefit of doubt.

Pocket Monsters

Still playing "Pokemon GO", eventhough the addition of Generation 2's species isn't as big as it should have been? Well, worry not, because according to John Hanke, more "major new releases" will arrive this year. Yes, and there are 3 of them too! Speaking in an App Convention, the Niantic boss confirmed that there are major quarterly updates being planned for their successful App this year. There aren't any official announcement about what they will be, but two of them might have already been revealed through interviews.

The first one, is 'Gym System Overhaul'. A statement that came straight from Hanke himself. I can't help but wonder what this means. To be frank, I've been hearing many complaints regarding the state of Pokemon GO's Gyms nowadays. Either it's becoming rather dull due to being monopolized by high-level players, or the fact that it now mostly consists of the same types and species over and over again. This isn't surprising, since several Pokemon like Vaporeon, Gyarados, Snorlax, and others have become the game's top-tiers. Hence, their presence on Gyms have not only become a norm, it's an underwhelming and annoying repetitive sight. No wonder many players have walked out because of it. I'm curious whether the App will eventually choose to go the Core Game route, by assigning fixed Pokemon on Gyms instead of letting players assign their own. But what about the battle part? Well, that's where... 'Battling' comes to play. Just imagine how the fanbase will react when they know they can do Pokemon Battle with other players. Won't that be a lot of fun?

The second update, is something I have long expected to arrive in the App. And what is that? 'Trading'. Yes, the ability to exchange Pokemon with other players. This is the exact reason why I speculated that a Battling feature might be coming as well. Because the ability of Trading, means there will be interaction between players in the App. After all, just the thought of seeing an alert with the tune of "There's another Player near you" is enough to thrill me! Tatsuo Nomura, the Senior Product Manager for Niantic has even confirmed that this Trading system "won’t be through the internet ...The person needs to be in your proximity". This is GREAT news. I've mentioned on my First Impression last year, that "Pokemon GO" has massive potential it can explore. Trading, which might trigger Battling, is one of its key social feature, and is a step to the right direction. Not only it will enhance gameplay, it will also enhance real-life social aspect of the game. I can already imagine players meeting new people, interacting, and develop a healthy community if not deeper relationship with one another. That's precisely what Niantic's earlier title "Ingress" has successfully accomplished, right? It has even spawned a bishoujo Manga! So just imagine what "Pokemon GO" could be when it can replicate the same feature. Fans are going to love it!

A quick disclaimer note, do mind that what I just said on the previous two paragraphs are combination of fact, and personal speculations. The Gym Overhaul and Trading are facts, albeit not yet officially announced, while the Battling and other bits are my own wishful thinkings. So until we hear actual confirmation to these features, take it with grains of salt. Oh, and by the way, included in the Hanke's statement, was a "systemic solution to spoofers". I can't really comment on this, because I'm not quite sure what it means. Mind you, I'm not THAT fluent on the gameplay, due to being a casual gamer. But of course, the general notion is, Niantic is hard at work to stop players from cheating on the game. And that's a good reassurance to existing players.

Sidetracking a bit, the first trailer for this year's movie have been officially released by The Pokemon Company. There are two versions, the normal-length and shorter one, but the content of both are practically the same. Serving as the 20th anniversary movie, "Gekijouban Pocket Monster, Kimi ni Kimeta!" is a retelling of Satoshi's first encounter with his most loyal and trusted companion, Pikachu. After seasons of TV series, and 19 movies, that had the pair travelling together with various other Pokemon and close friends, it's time to revisit the harsh and tumultous starting point between the two. A fated meeting that has evolved into a strong bond that inspires many Pokemon fans all around the world. The movie will premiere in Japan on July 15, 2017. Will you come to the theatres to see this nostalgic tale? I know I would I could...

Nintendo

Nintendo's new hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch has been released! Have you purchased one? In alternate universe where financial situation is not an issue, I would've already been playing one right now. Heck, I might have been among the line of those first queue to get my hands on one *sigh*. So yeah, despite my desire to own one, I have no choice but to wait until things are more... stable. It could happen in a few months, later this year, or even next year, only time will tell (and God knows when).

Response for the release has been generally positive. Including that ODD-sounding cartridge mouth-testing stunts everywhere. LOL. Yes, some folks are holding back until Switch has more exclusive titles like "Super Smash Bros", a core "Pokemon" title, or the likes, but many who has purchased one are pleased with its features. As well as its launch titles. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" in particular, is an easy crowdpleaser. Fans of the franchise immediately fell in love with the game, calling it fun and amazing. In fact, IGN rewarded it with a full score of 10 on their review! Something that is rarely done by the Entertainment Site. Of course, with the good also comes the bad. Other title, like the much anticipated "1-2 Switch" didn't perform as successful as it's expected. Then again, you can't have it all, right?

Nevertheless, Reggie Fils-Aimé, the President of Nintendo America has conveyed his thankful message to all fans who have supported Nintendo by getting Switch. It remains to be seen whether Switch will stand strong amidst competition with bigger Ultra-HD consoles like Playstation 4 or Xbox One. Moreso the rumored high-tech Project Scorpio from Microsoft's front. There's always the possibility that Switch will end up suffering like its predecessor Wii U, and not gaining much love like the groundbreaking Wii. Let's just hope this hybrid console will bring Nintendo back to its prime.

For now, gamers can enjoy other available games like "Just Dance 2017", "Disgaea 5", "Othello", and others, while they wait for more titles to arrive throughout the year. One of it is "Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers" that will released on May 26 in Japan, North America, and Europe. It's a remake of the classic title, with new characters and bonus features. And that's just one of the Switch's upcoming title! Here's hoping it will be getting even broader titles in the future. Like that rumored "Pokemon Stars", perhaps? That would be super dope... :D