#but let Adam and Jason have the spotlight for a little while ^^

[augment-techs]

Well, since you're getting into the swing of things, and I am still so gd behind on another series, sure I can play again~

Cam: I'm sorry, what?

Kapri: What what?

Cam: I just...I feel like I'm misunderstanding you. Because the Lothor of my dimension is a bastard and all, but I don't think...he'd never... Three years as pleasure slaves?

Kapri: For me. I can't have kids, being infertile and Drakkon didn't want to waste my "talents" so I was the pleasure slave; Marah was the breeding stock. For all the good that did anyone.

Cam: I'm sorry, what do you mean by that?

Kapri: Our species can carry up to three infants in a pregnancy in a matter of seven months, unlike humans. If we feel safe. But we miscarry if we feel upset, and...and the sentries and environment and Drakkon kept upsetting Marah.

Cam (mouth dry as a desert, palms sweating, maintained eye contact with this Kapri; this brave, blonde, never having worn makeup for as long as she'd been on Terra Venture, never dressed in anything other than scrubs and the under suit of her sentry uniform version of his cousin from what he was understanding to be the worst timeline; blinked and then walking over to look down from the training area with punching bags and weight equipment and floor mats, over to the balcony that looked down onto the kitchen area where the version of his baby cousin with the auburn hair and very thin complexion and inability to look most of the men in the eye for very long was trying her level best to teach Mia Watanabe how to cook): ...Does that mean she did get pregnant?

Kapri (giving a smile that was disgusted, but not at Cam, more at the universe, as she went back to punching the one sandbag on the reinforced chain Terona had set up when she'd almost punched the last bag through a wall): Oh, yes. Many times. But that was never the problem, since that disgusting fucker Finster-5 figured out her estrus cycle and kept feeding her fertility treatments. The problem, as far as Drakkon was concerned, was that she kept wasting resources when she miscarried and had to start all over again.

Cam (sick to his stomach and calculating the probability of how completely worse off these two were compared to his cousins back home): How many?

Kapri (slowing her punches, then disengaging with the bag to walk over to where Cam continued to watch Marah loosen up around someone that had no idea what she was doing, but was trying her best, with Cassidy and Devin having wandered in with Conner after a long day of helping alien refugees and looking for something to eat that wouldn't come back up; an almost domestic setting that Kapri herself appreciated tremendously for the sake of everyone she knew from Eighth Division): Fourteen pregnancies, twenty-five fetuses. Two almost made it, but faded two months from their due date; which meant she had to go into labor and birth them anyway.

Cam: ...Boys or girls or both?

Kapri (chewing her tongue, trying to find the words): We don't know. They were missing a lot of what would have allowed them to live to begin with, and genitals didn't even begin to cover it. One was growing it's intestines on the outside of its body and the other one had no legs, no arms, no face... That was when Drakkon finally gave up and handed us over to our Captain. After Marah stopped screaming and could keep solid food down. And I'm glad.

Tagging: @lordkingsmith @koragg1 @theonewhonothingknows @rivulet027 @aletterinthenameofsanity

Character voice tag game

Line provided by @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling: "We have to Go"

(With characters from TCOT and I'll reblog with J&R Side WIP)

Kasi: Please, go.

Xhaazi (Shady): Let's get out of here!

Chrin: Come on, let's go!

Sokuna: We can't stay here!

Mouse: Can we leave yet?

Marril: Hurry up.

Viasaki: *just picks you up and leaves*

Kila: If you spend another second staring at that wall I will Feed you to the wolves

Shyre: Please, we need to leave, now.

(I will be doing these for a while because I am now obsessed)

@ajgrey9647 @smudged-red-ink @clever-naming-convention and anyone who wants to, your phrase is: "I can't do this anymore"

[goggles-mcgee]

In your wish me away au, does Mari ever return to Paris when she’s older? Maybe some of her old classmates/parents recognize her?if so, how would the reunion go?

She does end up returning to Paris when she's older, specifically 13 the age she became Ladybug, she does it to see how it's changed, how she's changed and to get closure. She of course doesn't go alone, Dick, Jason, and Cassandra go with her since they know the probability of her running into someone she knows is high and they don't want her to have to go through that alone.

When she first gets there she's fine and she shows her siblings her old favorite spots, some she can't show without transforming but they understand why she doesn't want to show them. The risk of Paris seeing her is too high and the questions that would be asked would be too much for her to handle. So she was content on showing them her "ground-level" spots and it was fun. Dick and her took many pictures together, Cassandra too, Jason took some if she pulled her "big-blue's" on him. It was great and they made sure to avoid the 21st arrondissement since that is where Tom and Sabine's bakery is. They had been careful so of course Marietta's luck ran out then and there and they ran into Nino and Alya, who were surprisingly still together. It was hard not to react but Cass had held her hand and it had helped. She knew she wasn't wearing what she used to but she did wear her hair in pigtails like she did when she was Marinette. It was still hard not to react when, out of the corner of her eyes she could see Alya look in their direction, then back at Nino and do a double take back at her.

She knows Tikki told her some people were punished with memories. Specifically memories of her before she was wished away, but it didn't make seeing them any easier on her given she remembered them too. She had to grow up with these memories despite having this other, better life. Wayzz explained it was kind of like kids who remembered their past life's, except she wouldn't grow out of the memories. Apparently, those who didn't wrong her too much in her past life, if they excepted what they did wrong, the memories would fade. She didn't know if that was merciful or not but she was not going to question the Kwami on it, there was no need to anger the tint gods. All of them had made their opinion known, they thought everyone had gotten too soft a punishment. It was that talk that reminded Marietta that the Kwami were gods yes, they liked humanity, liked Earth, but they would ultimately always be morally grey unless something was directly hurting or abusing the Miraculous. Duusuu was still recovering from what Gabriel and Nathalie had done to him.

Mari sighed when she heard the click of a camera because she knew that now, everyone from her past would know about the "Marinette" look alike.

"Hey. Isn't it illegal to take pictures of a minor without their consent?" Jason said loudly in French. Though he wasn't looking at them, Nino and Alya tensed and Mari had to hid her giggle.

From then on they were followed by Alya and Nino. Jason wanted to "teach them a little something" but Dick thankfully reeled him in but she could tell Dick wasn't pleased by the situation either. He even offered to do something about it to, like make a scene and even use their Wayne name, but she refused. Maybe Tikki was getting to her, but she wanted to see how far they'd go. Mari suspected Cass also wanted to see, she was still holding her hand though so she knew Cass wouldn't let them try anything.

Slowly the group of her classmates grew and really Mari wanted to shout at them. Did they think they were being subtle? She was expecting someone to come up to them when they decided to rest and who did they bump into? Andre Glacier himself! They decided to get some ice cream, and Marietta's heart clenched when she saw the ice cream she got was the same it had been that day she had faced Miracle Queen and everytime after. She could hear the not-so-quiet gasps.

Then she gasped and dropped her ice cream when Tom and Sabine marched up to them and Sabine was calling her Marinette and asking how she hadn't aged. Dick hid her behind him and stood to his full height with Jason right beside him while Cass stood beside her holding her to her. Things sounded muffled, mainly because Cass was hugging her to her chest and covering her head with her arms but Mari didn't mind, but she could hear Dick telling them what they think they were doing just coming up to his sister like that and that they must have mistaken her for someone else but Sabine was adamant she was Marinette.

"I birthed her! I think I would remember how my baby looks!"

Apparently her old class decided that would be the perfect time to join in and show Tom and Sabine the picture of her ice cream before it was ruined and next thing she knew she was being grabbed at, and then she heard her dad's voice which was supposed to be in Gotham, and she felt herself being pulled behind someone and when she looked up she recognized Damian's hair and by his stance she guessed he was pointing his katana at someone.

Guess there went her normal day. She didn't even know how they got ther-...Zeta tubes right. Those were a thing.

"You would do well to remember this you leeches. Don't. Touch. My. Sister." Damian growled.

"Damian. Put the katana away. The point still stands that you were putting your hands on my daughter. And from what I heard some of you took photos of her which is illegal is it not?" His words were polite but his tone was cool as ice and Mari had to shake the image of Frozer and Mr. Freeze that fought to be the only image she saw, away.

It took entirely too long to get away from the group and back home but when they did Marietta didn't know why she ever wanted to go back there. And apparently the family can't do anything without being in the spotlight because they made it onto Paris local news and soon basically world news since it wasn't everyday that Gotham's "Princess" was harassed. They would have to do a press conference and Mari hated press conferences but it was needed.

Little did she know her and her family would be getting a visit from a member of the Graham de Vanily family soon. 👀

Hope you enjoyed this small bit anon!

[arctic-comet]

Osblaine week 2021, Day 2: Lyrics

Over the last several weeks, I have carefully curated a playlist for Osblaine. The final total length of the playlist is 2 hours and 53 minutes.

The playlist can be found HERE

Click "Keep Reading" if you're interested in the introduction, commentary, more graphics and the full tracklist.

For full disclosure, I have to give some of the credit to my amazing fellow Osblaine fangirls @dystopiandramaqueen, @splitscreen and everyone who participated in a certain conversation for the original inspiration and even bringing up some of the songs.

You should look at the playlist in five parts: one section for each season that's aired and one section for the future (because I like to end things on a hopeful note).

The playlist contains a lot of the following:

Music from movie and TV soundtracks

Instrumental music

Remixes

Classics and covers of classics

Country music. I blame Florida. My sincerest apologies.

Some of the songs were chosen because they reminded me of a certain Osblaine scene, and some of them aren't specific to particular scenes but chosen for the general Osblaine vibe. And most of the movie/TV music I chose have been used for couples that remind me of Nick and June.

Part I- Season 1, first 12 songs of the playlist:

Forbidden Love- Abel Korzeniowski, Jasper Randall, The Hollywood Studio Symphony (Romeo & Juliet)

Fireflies- Owl City

Echoes in Rain- Enya

My Ghost- Glass Pear (Bones)

Daring to Hope- Anne Dudley (Poldark)

Everytime We Touch- Cascada

1000 Times- Sara Bareilles

Too Good At Goodbyes- Sam Smith

In Case You Don't Live Forever- Ben Platt

To Find You- Cast of Sing Street, Brenock O’Connor

She- Elvis Costello (Notting Hill)

Miracle- Instrumental- Cö Shu Nie

Hanging By A Moment- Lifehouse

Commentary:

The first instrumental song IMO works as an intro for their entire love story.

The next two songs are more about having the right vibe. It's a little ambiguous and dark because that's how their life is in Gilead.

Leave my door open just a crack

Please take me away from here

'Cause I feel like such an insomniac

Please take me away from here

Why do I tire of counting sheep?

Please take me away from here

When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

***

Wait for the sun

Watching the sky

Black as a crow

Night passes by

Taking the stars

So far away

Everything flows

Here comes another new day

Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

***

"My Ghost" is June's POV before they sleep together, wondering if she can trust Nick:

Who can you trust, in this place?

And whom can I put my faith?

If you're real, then show me now,

Who you are

The last two songs are for episode 1x10, for both Nick’s reaction to June’s pregnancy and the beginning of her first escape attempt (arranged by Nick).

She may be the face I can't forget The trace of pleasure or regret May be my treasure or the price I have to pay She may be the song that summer sings Maybe the chill that autumn brings Maybe a hundred different things Within the measure of a day

Part II- Season 2, next 10 songs:

Love Will Keep Us Alive- Eagles

So Easy- Phillip Phillips

Incomplete- James Bay

Rewrite the Stars- The Piano Guys (The Greatest Showman)

I’ll Be Your Shelter- Taylor Dayne

Love Never Fails- Brandon Heath

P.S. I Love You- 05:11- John Powell (P.S. I Love You)

It's A Girl- Mychel Danna (The Time Traveler's Wife)

I'll Stand By You- Josh Groban, Helene Fischer

The Miracle of Love- Eurythmics

Commentary:

The first four songs cover June’s escape attempt and the time they share at the Boston Globe.

"Incomplete" is Nick's POV from when she's on the run and he knows she'll be gone from his life soon. He lives in the moment.

I don't wanna look down

I don't want us to break up in the clouds

All I want is to stay us, to stay with you now

"I'll Be Your Shelter" is for when June's mental health is at its lowest point and he goes to Serena to beg for her to get June help.

What you need is a friend to count on

What you got baby you got someone

Who will stay when the rain is fallin'

And won't let it fall on you

P.S. I Love You takes me back to episode 2.09, Nick’s selflessness in the episode and of course the scene where after telling June that Luke loves her, he tells her that he loves her too, despite believing she probably doesn’t feel the same way.

It's A Girl makes me think of the beautiful moment they share during June's false labor when he helps her out of the van and they climb the steps together.

I’ll Stand By You is for 2.10, Nick holding June after she was heartbroken over Hannah and over what the Waterfords did to her and clinging onto him.

Part III- Season 3, next 6 songs:

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close- Alexandre Desplat (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

All I Ask- Adele

Never Enough- Loren Allred (The Greatest Showman)

I Don’t Wanna Live Forever- Taylor Swift, ZAYN (Fifty Shades Darker)

Love is Gone- SLANDER, Dylan Matthew

Constellations- The Oh Hellos

Commentary:

For obvious reasons, it was extremely difficult to pick songs for this season.

The first (instrumental) song is for the beginning of the season with June coming back to the Waterford house and them then saying goodbye to each other on the street.

All I Ask, Never Enough, I Don't Wanna Live Forever and Love Is Gone are for their night together in June’s room at Lawrence’s (the one we didn’t get to see sigh). They know it's possible it's all they'll ever have, and they'll take it, but it'll never be enough.

I will leave my heart at the door I won't say a word They've all been said before, you know So why don't we just play pretend? Like we're not scared of what's coming next Or scared of having nothing left

Look, don't get me wrong I know there is no tomorrow All I ask is

If this is my last night with you Hold me like I'm more than just a friend Give me a memory I can use Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do It matters how this ends 'Cause what if I never love again?

***

All the shine of a thousand spotlights

All the stars we steal from the night sky

Will never be enough

Never be enough

Towers of gold are still too little

These hands could hold the world but it'll

Never be enough

Never be enough

***

I'm sorry, don't leave me, I want you here with me

I know that your love is gone

I can't breathe, I'm so weak, I know this isn't easy

Don't tell me that your love is gone

That your love is gone

"Constellations" is for their long separation and the doubts that I'm sure plagued them both during it. Would they ever see each other again?

Part IV- S4, next 12 songs:

All of Me- John Legend

(Everything I do) I Do It For You- Bryan Adams

Iris- Natalie Taylor (City of Angels)

She Was Like A Bright Light- Hans Zimmer, Rupert Greyson-Williams (Winter’s Tale)

Noah's Last Letter- Aaron Zigman (The Notebook)

What’s In The Middle- the bird and the bee (Bones)

ivy- Taylor Swift

Footprints in the Sand- Leona Lewis

Remember Me (Lullaby)- Gael Garcia Bernal, Gabriella Flores (Coco)

On The Nature Of Daylight- Max Richter

My Heart Will Go On- Basil Jose (Titanic)

The Story- Sara Ramirez (Grey's Anatomy)

Commentary:

There were sooo many songs I wanted to include in part IV, but I controlled myself and ended up with this particular dozen.

"She Was Like A Bright Light" and "Noah’s Last Letter" are an instrumental double punch to the gut for Nick’s time in Gilead during episodes 4.07-4.09. The first one is meant for when he finds out June made it to Canada, and the 2nd for is for when he starts to gather info on Hannah to give to June.

"What’s in the Middle" and "ivy" are June’s POV of episodes 4.07-4.09.

"What's In The Middle" has more of an angry and confused vibe, and June was definitely both in episodes 7 and 8.

Losing your head is such a common theme

All your brains are falling out, falling out the open seams

Where is the heart, is the heart of the matter

I will empty out my skull of all this useless chatter

On the other hand, "ivy" has this haunted vibe, but there's also reverence and acceptance, which she begins to achieve in episode 9.

Oh, goddamn

My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Taking mine, but it's been promised to another

Oh, I can't

Stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows

And now I'm covered in you

The next three songs are of course all for their reunion in 4.09, and I couldn’t resist including the song that was actually played in the scene.

"The Story" draws the season to a close nicely, with June understanding that her current needs are different from what they used to be and that there’s someone who understands her completely (and it’s not Luke).

You see the smile that's on my mouth

It's hiding the words that don't come out

And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed

They don't know my head is a mess

No, they don't know who I really am

And they don't know what I've been through like you do

And I was made for you

Part V- Season 5 and Beyond, the last 6 songs

Secret Love Song- Little Mix, Jason Derulo

Burn With You- Lea Michele

The Bones- Maren Morris

Feels Like Home- Auli'i Carvalho, Keegan DeWitt

Love Will Find A Way- Piano Covers (Lion King II)

Like I'll Never Love You Again- Carrie Underwood

“Secret Love Song” is a more angsty tune about a love that’s still kept a secret like June and Nick’s love (as far as most people are concerned). Now that they’ve already made out in front of the man who raped and abused June and made Nick watch him do that, I want to believe they can let go of the secrecy in S5, at least when it comes to a few people.

I'm living for that day Someday Can I hold you in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dancefloor? I wish that we could be like that Why can't we it be like that? Cause I'm yours, I'm yours Why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dancefloor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that? Cause I'm yours Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? Cause I'm yours Why can't we be like that? Wish we could be like that

***

“Bones” is about a relationship with a strong foundation, which IMO they do have. It will carry them in the future, too. They’re more into each other now than ever before and especially June is coming to terms with how strong that love is. They’ll weather any storm.

When the bones are good, the rest don't matter

Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter

Let it break 'cause you and I remain the same

When there ain't a crack in the foundation

Baby, I know any storm we're facing

Will blow right over while we stay put

The house don't fall when the bones are good

***

“Feels Like Home” is more hopeful. Their home is with each other and I hope that’s something that will be explored more in the future.

Take me, I'm ready

Go slow but go steady

To a place that we can call our own

I wanna know what feels like home

***

“Like I’ll Never Love You Again” is a good conclusion for the playlist. It’s hopeful and a testament to an epic love.

I wanna love you like the rain on a roof

Stronger than a bottle of a hundred ten proof

I wanna take love to places that love has never been

Yeah, I wanna love you like I'll never love you again

And I'll love you again

Oh, and again

[midnightrooftops]

Batfamily: My Hero Academia AU

Done before? Probably. I’ve become obsessed with bnha (better late than never) so here’s my headcanons for a bafamily in the bnha verse. This was with the help of a friend.

Bruce Wayne | Batman Quirk: Shadow (not widely known) Bruce’s quirk is actually highly debated by the public. His name suggests he has a “bat” quirk and he leans into that as the playboy billionaire he is. But really, his quirk is a shadow quirk that allows him to hide and travel in shadows. 

He’s a unique hero in that even his personal identity is a mask. “Bruce Wayne” is a public face for Pro Heroes. Rated #2, he uses his wealth and prestige to do a lot of work outside hero work. Anyone that knows him knows that he isn’t the playboy he plays up for the press. People have a hard time remembering that his persona is a fearsome hero and many of his arrests go without proper credit. If he does make a public debut as “Batman”, it’s a campy, played up version that supports his personal identity. 

The way his false “Bruce Wayne/Batman” identity encourages heroing is a direct contradiction to the way he really is. He tries to minimize the message but after his parents were murdered by a villain, he attempted to the vigilante style. However, he found it wasn’t plausible with the way the world was evolving. He then turned to using his fame and wealth to make sure that any hero was better equipped. He has the leading company of support gear and will often gift gear to anyone in need of it, hero or not. 

Dick Grayson | Nightwing Quirk: Low impact Dick’s quirk makes him light on his feet, able to maneuver quickly over any terrain. It took years, but he’s been able to apply his quirk to any part of his body, not just his feet. The bounce his quirk gives him makes him hyper-reactive and able to spring into action faster than most anyone else.

Dick grew up in a circus, exploiting quirks for amazing physical feats but when his parents were killed, there wasn’t any place Dick could go. Taken in by the pro hero Batman, Dick learned from the best of the best at a young age and often accompanied his teacher on cases as young as twelve years old. This put him on the top of the charts when he got into hero school and he quickly rose to the “Top Three” of the school. By the time of graduation, he, Wally West and Donna Troy, had broken pro records. 

He has since made his own agency and brought on many sidekicks the media calls “titans”.

Barbara Gordon | Oracle Quirk: Information Gathering By look or touch, she can gather a huge amount of information about someone and their activities. She also has a perfect memory.

The daughter of the chief of police, Barbara sees the difference between “heroes” and police and hates it. She’s dedicated to bridging the gap between public law enforcement and the private job of “hero”. Somewhere along the way, she’s starting to understand the difference. She has a pro license but she stays out of the spotlight these days. She prefers to bring in the bad guy and doesn’t care who gets “credit” for it. 

Jason Todd | Red Hood Quirk: Phoenix (Unknown to almost everyone) Every time he’s burned, that portion of his body gets temporary stronger. Total regeneration results in partial mental instability.

Jason was thought to have a useless quirk - he was immune to fire. That didn’t stop him, however, from using it to the best of his abilities. Jason grabbed the attention of pro Hero Batman by stealing the tires off his car. As Dick had just graduated hero school, Bruce was looking for another young sidekick to mentor and teach. Jason was brash, hot-headed and, to put simply, not liked. The press tore the poor kid apart for his poor behavior, the hero community wouldn’t defend him and, while he DID get into the top hero high school, he was ostracized from the beginning because of his origins. 

Tragedy struck when, during an internship, Jason ran off to protect his mother and he was captured. A vote was submitted to the public, asking them to vote for his fate. While there was massive amounts of cheating and it was rigged from the start, it was still a terrible shock when the vote decided his death. Batman was not able to save the boy. 

However, the explosion made to kill him actually activated his quirk. While he burned, his body regenerated, stronger and he returned as the villain, Red Hood. Batman, after discovering his adopted son was still alive, kept his identity a secret and they have a public back-and-forth about heroes-verses-villains. Many don’t see Red Hood as a pure villain, but instead an anti-hero, taking out the worst of the worst. Have Batman or Nightwing teamed up before? Not publicly, but that’s neither here nor there.

Tim Drake | Robin/Red Robin Quirk: Memory Replay Touch activates memory of an object or person. The duration or clarity is dependent for how long that person/thing was touched and how connected it was to the events around it.

Tim never set out to be a hero. With the neglect of his parents, he had a lot of downtime and he saw the downward spiral of Batman/Bruce Wayne before anyone else did. Yes, a death of a sidekick was bad but Tim was predicting this years beforehand, seeing beyond Bruce’s public persona. His natural knack for information gathering had him saving the pro hero from doing something horrific. In exchange for his heroic deed, Bruce offered to train him. Always eager to learn more, Tim accepted and was eventually accepted into a hero academy.

This new path on the road to becoming a hero would eventually lead to the death of his parents and being adopted by Bruce. But for the time being, he’s trying to find his place in the “hero” world as a relative outsider. 

Cassandra Cain | Black Bat Quirk: ???

The daughter of villains, breed to be the best assassin in the world, Cassandra was raised in isolation, taught by killers and knew little of the world until coming to Gotham. After her first kill, she fled her teachers and sought something better.

She was one of the most important people involved in the earthquake of Gotham, saving two-thirds of the survivors by herself. The press never knew she existed so she went unrecognized. Bruce adopted her secretly and keeps her hero activity away from the press. He worked with the police to clear her past crimes. Now, she’s focused on understanding the world around her and making the best of her quirk. 

Stephanie Brown | Spoiler Quirk: Deconstruction Anything she touches can be deconstructed, depending on the size of the objects and how long she holds it.

Nothing disgusts Stephanie more than villains. Her father has been in and out of prison her entire life and the news knows him by name. She hates it. It’s made her life a living hell. She hates it more that she shares his same quirk. 

She knew she would never be a hero. Despite her submissions, no hero school would take her and she was forced to a regular public high school with the same bullies as before. But she’s made it a habit to spoil her father’s plans. After being let down by heroes in her past, she takes it upon herself to make sure none of her father’s plans work. Call her a vigilante. This, of course, spiraled to ruining his villain-friend’s plans and, well, being in the wrong place at the wrong time may be habit for her now.

She met Tim and Cass while doing her very illegal night activities and, despite their warnings, they haven’t turned her in yet. She’s learned how to be a better “hero” from them and they, in turn, seem to appreciate her tips about the underground. 

Damian Wayne | Robin II Quirk: Regeneration He can regenerate from wounds. Total amputation may take time to regenerate but will grow back slightly stronger. 

Unknown to the press, Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and the villain Talia al Ghul. While his parent’s relationship is complicated, he has been nothing but tenacious when it comes to fighting evil, even at the age of twelve. Much of the public regards Damian as the next “Jason Todd” but Damian is adamant about proving himself. Even with his “older brother” at hero school, Damian isn’t interested in waiting for regulations to let him do what he was trained from birth to do. He’s been known to cause problems for local police and heroes alike more than once. 

[mizutoyama]

HPHM OTP Playlist

(Inspired by @drinkyoursoupbitch​ & @carewyncromwell​ )

Alice Beaumont x Charlie Weasley

It’s a long one... Sorry 😅(Been writing down songs that reminded me of Charlie and Alice’s relationship and its evolution for some time now...)

The order, while not perfect, is important. We start with Charlie realizing his feelings for Alice, followed by Alice’s own (very) slow realization, them dating through highs and lows, them breaking up, after the break up, until they finally find their ways toward each other again.

You came into my life

And I thought hey

You know this could be something

Two Is Better Than One (Boys Like Girls, Taylor Swift)

Oh I feel overjoyed

When you listen to my words

I see them sinking in

Overjoyed (Bastille)

Hey Juliet

I think you're fine.

You really blow my mind

Maybe some day you and me can run away.

I just want you to know.

I wanna be your Romeo.

Juliet (LMNT)

I remember the day we first met

The shy smiles and the spilling sunlight

I knew, just by looking into your eyes

Neverending story (Stray Kids)

She watches the sunset slip out of sight

She points to the lilacs in bloom

Her eyes filled with wonder

And my eyes they do the same

Just looking at her face

Looking at Her Face (Tyrone Wells)

What could a guy like me

Ever really offer?

She's perfect as she can be

Why should I even bother? 

She’s so High (Tal Bachman)

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

Enchanted (Owl City)

I think you're pretty

Without any makeup on

I think you're funny

When you tell the punchline wrong

Teenage Dream (The Rescues)

New and a bit alarming

Who'd have ever thought that this could be

True, that he's no Prince Charming

But there's something in him that I simply didn't see

Something There (Beauty and the Beast)

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

But watching you stand alone

All of my doubt, suddenly goes away somehow

A Thousand Years (Christina Perri)

You might need time to think it over

But I'm just fine moving forward

I'll ease your mind if you give me the chance

I will never make you cry, c'mon let's try

Beautiful Soul (Jesse McCartney)

So this is the miracle

That I've been dreaming of

Mmm, mmm

So this is love

So This Is Love (Cinderella)

'Cause lovers dance when they're feelin' in love

Spotlight's shinin' it's all about us

It's all about us

And every heart in the room will melt

This is a feeling I've never felt but

It's all about us

All About Us (He Is We)

Remember those walls I built

Well, baby, they're tumbling down

And they didn't even put up a fight

They didn't even make a sound

Halo (Beyonce)

You've got me seeing stars brighter than ever

Shining just like diamonds do

I know that in time it could be all ours, brighter than ever

Your love is such a dream come true

Seeing Stars (Børns)

You’re already in my radius

My eyes are already a pair of binoculars

Other guys are outside my vision

Only you are growing bigger

Adrenaline (Girls’ Generation -TaeTiSeo)

As I looked up into those eyes, his vision borrows mine

And I know he's no stranger

For I feel I've held him for all of time

Ordinary Day (Vanessa Carlton)

It's a new world it's a new start

It's alive with the beating of young hearts

It's a new day it's a new plan

I've been waiting for you

Here I am

Here I Am (Bryan Adams)

I've got somewhere I belong

I got somebody to love

This is what dreams are made of

What Dreams Are Made Of (Hilary Duff)

You're the fire and the flood

And I'll always feel you in my blood

Everything is fine

When your hand is resting next to mine

Fire and the Flood (Vance Joy)

Do you feel the lightning inside of you

Will you follow through if I fall for you?

Don't look down

Up this high, we'll never hit the ground

Don’t Look Down (Martin Garrix)

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way

To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say

You're OK with the way this is going to be

Must Have Done Something Right (Reliant K)

I can show you the world

Shining, shimmering, splendid

Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?

A Whole New World (Aladdin)

When you're near, I hide my blushing face

And trip on my shoelaces

Grace just isn't my forté

I Do Adore (Mindy Gledhill)

She calls me sweetheart

I love it when she wakes me when it's still dark

And she watches the sun

But she's the only one I have my eyes on

I Must Be Dreaming (The Maine)

And Edison would spin in his grave

To ever see the light that you gave

Don't wanna take it nice and slow here

Don't wanna waste a minute more dear

Warmer Climate (Snow Patrol)

There's something about you I can't describe

If only you could see yourself through my eyes

There is nothing I won't do to show you why

You cannot hide, you're simply one of a kind

Something About You (Lucius)

Never knew I could feel like this

Like I've never seen the sky before

Want to vanish inside your kiss

Everyday I love you more and more

Come What May (Moulin Rouge)

My wildest dreamings

Could not foresee

Lying beside you

With you wanting me

As Long As You’re Mine (Wicked)

Make your fingers soft and light Let your body be the velvet of the night Touch my soul, you know how Andante, andante Go slowly with me now

Andante, Andante (Mamma Mia 2)

You be the Beast and I'll be the Beauty, beauty

Who needs true love as long as you love me truly.

I want it all, but I want you more

Wonderlands (Natalia Kills)

If I lay here

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)

You're the reason that I feel so strong

The reason that I'm hanging on

Mess is Mine (Vance Joy)

There comes a time you need to let me know

We'll fight your demons

When they start to show

Circles (As Tall As Lions)

And when you're needing your space

To do some navigating

I'll be here patiently waiting

To see what you find

I Won't Give Up (Jason Mraz)

So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light

'Cause oh that gave me such a fright

But I will hold as long as you like

Just promise me we'll be alright

Ghosts That We Knew (Mumford & Sons)

I don't want to talk right now

I just want your arms wrapped around

Me and this moment before it runs out

Eavesdrop (The Civil Wars)

You're a wreck and you know

You've got me wrapped around your finger

Like a boy tangled in vines

But I've figured you out

Daisy (The Maine)

You tell me all the things you do

Tell me that it's up to you

Crying in the peaceful night

Telling all the things you hide

But out there in the future

Maybe you're the rainbow

A Song About Love (Jake Bugg)

All I want is to keep you safe from the cold

To give you all that your heart needs the most

May I (Trading Yesterday)

Tell me that you'll stay

Even when I'm far away

My voice will carry through

Until the end it's me & you

We can make it if we try

Silhouette (Active Child)

Pain or tears, let's change them into stars.

Light a light that will shine on our tomorrow.

Though we may waver now and then, let's do this together;

We'll find that forever, glittering brightly with stardust.

Let it out (Miho Fukuhara)

And when you cry a piece of my heart dies

Knowing that I may have been the cause

If you were to leave and fulfill someone else's dreams

I think I might totally be lost

The Girl (City and Colour)

I don't know where you're going

And I don't know why,

But listen to your heart

Before you tell him goodbye

Listen to Your Heart (DHT)

Can I embrace you one last time?

Can I bid farewell for the last time?

Just please don't forget those loving, happy memories

Driving Me Crazy (Master’s Sun)

But it was not your fault but mine

And it was your heart on the line

I really fucked it up this time

Didn't I, my dear?

Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons)

If I was a burden to you

If I was a baggage

I should’ve left you earlier, I’m sorry

Happy (2NE1)

It's been seven hours and fifteen days

Since you took your love away

I go out every night and sleep all day

Since you took your love away

Nothing Compares to You (Stereophonics)

Sometimes I find myself sittin' back and reminiscing

Especially when I have to watch other people kissin'

And I remember when you started callin' me your miss's

All the play fightin', all the flirtatious disses

Littlest Things (Lily Allen)

You said this was all for me

Like a lie, you coldly turned around

Why? Why? You’re gone away

Come Back Home (Unplugged Ver.) (2NE1)

The time when anything made us happy

Looking at each other

You were my strength

When you trusted me

LUV (Apink)

I will miss you the more I erase you

I will shed more tears than today

Like fate, I won’t ever have anyone like you

Good bye my love (Ailee)

I'm sorry that I hurt you

It's something I must live with everyday

And all the pain I put you through

I wish that I could take it all away

And be the one who catches all your tears

The Reason (Hoobastank)

Well, you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Let Her Go (Passenger)

I tossed and turned in the end

With no one to talk to

I searched again and again

But I never found you

Up All Night (Owl City)

You didn’t say anything, and it was over

I didn’t say anything too, that was our end

The past was still clear

MILK (f(x))

But now the sun shines cold

And all the sky is grey

The stars are dimmed by clouds and tears

And all I wish

Is gone away

To Wish Impossible Things (The Cure)

Et au sud de mes peines j'ai volé loin de toi

Pour couvrir mon cœur d'une cire plus noire

Que tous les regards lancés à mon égard

J'ai tenté de voler loin de toi

C'était salement romantique (Coeur de pirate) (Decided not to put the translation ‘cause the one I found was bad.)

Don’t look back and leave

Don’t find me again and just live on

Because I have no regrets from loving you,

so only take the good memories

Haru Haru (Big Bang)

Even if you easily turn away,

easily get farther apart

I know I won’t easily forget you

If you see me, still the same, still like this

You will call me a fool

And One (Taeyeon)

The one person who appears even when I close my eyes

The person who is next to me even in my dreams

Do you even remember me?

Do you even think of me?

I miss you, please

The One Person, You (Jessica)

It's always times like these

When I think of you

And wonder if you ever think of me

Cause everything's so wrong and I don't belong

Living in your precious memory

A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton)

Come up to meet you

Tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you

Tell you I need you

The Scientist (Coldplay)

I just wanna love you again

Please come back to me girl

We just broke up but we need each other

Come back to me, you feel the same way

Wanna Love You Again (2PM)

Tired of being tangled in this mess and I

I'm ready to wish you the best tonight

Let me let you go

Let Me Let You Go (Namie Amuro)

Whoever I'll be gazing at, whoever I'll be spending time with,

a day when I can forget you won't come

I'll keep loving you in my heart,

but we can't be together anymore

Cause life's no love story

Love Story (Namie Amuro)

Think of all the things

We've shared and seen

Don't think about the way

Things might have been

Think of Me (Phantom of the Opera)

Now she's here shining in the starlight

Now she's here suddenly I know

If she's here it's crystal clear

I'm where I'm meant to go

I See the Light (Tangled)

Why are you looking down all the wrong roads

When mine is the heart and the soul of the song

There may be lovers who hold out their hands but

He'll never love you like I can

Like I Can (Sam Smith)

And I will swallow my pride

You're the one that I love

And I'm saying goodbye

Say Something (A Great Big World)

If I would have known that you wanted me

The way I wanted you

Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart

But right here in each others arms

Almost Is Never Enough (Ariana Grande)

Why kiss another frog

You're the only one I want

It's obvious, Why can't you see?

Wontcha Take me to the place we used to meet

A Place Called You (Emma Stevens)

Can we start it all over again, this morning?

I lost all my defenses, this morning

Won't you show me the way it used to be?

Morning (Beck)

I will love you unconditionally

There is no fear now

Let go and just be free

I will love you unconditionally

Unconditionally (Katy Perry)

If you’ve gotten this far, congrats! And thank you! While this playlist has many songs, it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

[psyga315]

Fixing RWBY Volume 3

Volume 3 is most likely not going to receive a lot of changes due to how this is the lynchpin for which all other RWBY volumes make or break. It is because of Volume 3 that people were either turned off or were re-engaged by the tonal shift and it is because of Volume 3 for which people compare all other finales to, as well as scenes that were clearly made to recapture that feeling from Volume 3.

So, instead of going episode by episode in trying to change plot elements, I’m going to go in broad strokes with this.

Like before, I’d recommend Celtic Phoenix’s Fixing Volume 3 video, though only for the Vytal Festival Tournament and Cinder’s overall plan. After that, all bets are off.

Though, we need to address the Goliath in the room. Midway through Volume 3’s production, Monty Oum passed away and, if Shane Newville is to be believed (which, given how they used Adam’s V3 fight footage for V6, might be more likely), a lot of stuff was changed last minute, much to Shane’s chagrin. Now, some rewrites would simply go for “let’s go with the original plans” route, but I find that would be not only too easy, but would go into the route of “this is what Monty wanted”, which is not only a stupid complaint in more ways than one, but a real slap in the face to his friends.

Instead, I want to go with a somewhat more… meta route. I understand that this is a little more controversial, so if you wish, you may skip this. The long story short is that we’d be getting a 2.5 where we see the Vytal Festival Tournament and its ulterior motive is to get animators that hopefully would not lead to the fight scene drought of Volumes 4 through 5. Also, Jason Liebrecht is Qrow instead of Vic because Vic was busy in another role by the time RWBY finishes up with 2.5.

Those Who Treasure Monty

We begin in our world, on February 2, 2015, news of Monty Oum’s passing breaks out onto the web and a long, lingering shadow is cast over RWBY’s future. Even with multiple confirmations that RWBY will continue, it’s clear that without Monty Oum’s animation, RWBY would eventually slow to a crawl in fight choreography.

So, RT is forced to make a decision. They need to put RWBY off for a year while they figure out how to proceed. To ensure the RWBY fans stay sated and to search for talent that could either replicate or even succeed Oum’s, they create short, five-minute fights set during the Vytal Festival tournament that anyone with an animating talent can use. While some used Poser like RWBY, the fact that Maya is used more gets RT to thinking… Perhaps they should make the switch to Maya.

It’s been stated that Monty insisted on Poser when Maya was a superior option, and I wanted to reflect that in this meta-arc. This would also pave the way for animators to get RT’s spotlight.

In the middle of this hiatus, we’d also get Grimm Eclipse, which, given how not a lot of attention is given to RWBY proper, means that RT would funnel more support into the game’s first year than they did originally. This might also get Gray to try and put his name out by doing Gen:Lock, or at least releasing teasers for it, much like how Monty hyped RWBY through the four trailers.

The fights are in a purgatory of “semi-canon”, where it technically happened, but don’t expect RT to actually call back to it. Much like the DC Comics. HEY-O!

By the end of this hiatus, RT will most likely get their new talent and will definitely cut ties with Sheena and Shane, much like they did originally, but hopefully with less resentment given the cooldown. RWBY would get an October 2016 premiere which would be predated by RWBY vs. ABRN, JNPR vs. BRNZ, and SSSN vs. NDGO being the final three fights for Volume 2.5, done by people who would end up being lead animators for RWBY going forward. The last of the fights will end on a familiar scene.

“Wow, now that was a match!”

“Pheh, that was a mess…”

The latter of which being delivered by Jason Liebrecht. I reason that, in the time RWBY took to process the passing of their brainfather, Vic would most likely have been in another role and be too busy to do Qrow. This would also avoid the… unfortunate circumstance of which we shall not name.

With that, we shall properly proceed to…

RWBY, Volume 3, The Vytal Festival Arc

By the time 3 kicks off, we’re already done with the first round, having already seen most of it from 2.5. We instead open up with Ruby talking to her mom, the final moments of RWBY vs ABRN, and Ruby and her friends celebrating their victory, much like V3. What changes is that JNPR is also celebrating their victory over BRNZ.

However, it’s clear that not everything is bright. Ruby’s still scarred over the Breach, Blake is frustrated with the lack of closure they got and believes that the case is still not over, and Yang is thinking back to what Raven said, to which we get an extended flashback of Raven explaining that she saved her once and that Yang should not expect her to save Yang again and also how Summer was a pawn in a larger game. She doesn’t say much, but she leaves enough information for Yang to know who Summer was a pawn for: Ozpin.

We end Episode with a ship entering Vytal and Qrow deliberately going over to face it as Weiss looks on in a bright smile. Episode 2 kicks off with Qrow vs. Winter, now being a lot more vicious as Qrow believes Ironwood to be putting his jackboot over Vale and strangling what free will the people had remaining. We get to see his bad luck be put into motion as bystanders get attacked by debris and getting injured in the process. His Semblance is literally uncontrollable. However, the trick is to not show that this is his Semblance until Volume 4.

Glynda and Ironwood arrive and chew out both Winter and Qrow for their fighting. Even though they have differing opinions on Ironwood, Qrow is explicitly told that his drunken fits only help to cause fear, something Ozpin does not want in the Vytal Festival. Qrow brings up that Ironwood’s army is bringing fear and while Ozpin agrees, also agrees with Ironwood that it also brings some form of safety. Bottom line with how the scene plays out is that Qrow, while a valuable asset on the battlefield in more ways than one is outright a liability in social situations, made apparent when he hangs out with his niece(s) and only makes a bad situation worse by making his “cut one Taijitu head and now the other one calls the shots” speech sound way worse than it sounds.

However, there’s also subtle nods that imply that the only reason he’s such a drunken wreck with social skills so bad that he’s actively making things worse is because of the trauma he received from his days of being in STRQ and serving Oz. Basically, downplay the comedy of Qrow being drunk and show off that Qrow being drunk is a bad thing like in Volume 6.

Winter also has her hangups. Because of being raised by her abusive father, Winter inherited a bit of that. Think the DC Comics version of Willow. Weiss notably sees just how much like her father Winter’s become and Winter tells her that her ambition of being a Huntress has done more harm than good, bringing up her scar. Winter then tells her why she came. Not just to oversee the deployment of new robots, but also to warn Weiss. Jacques cutting Weiss off and constantly calling her is his way of saying “Okay, this is getting out of hand, come home or I will take you myself.” This kinda worries Weiss quite a bit.

The doubles match are the ones that are a major focus for episodes 3 & 4, showcasing Yang and Weiss vs. Neon and Flynt, Nora and Pyrrha vs. Sun and Neptune, Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco and Yatsuhashi, and Penny and Ciel vs. some random members of CRDL. Not a lot of changes here. With a whole episode to ourselves, we can spend that to see our cast one final time before the plot throws them into hell. Weiss talks to Ruby about her father, she assures her that RWBY will not leave her side. Blake tells Yang about her worries for the White Fang, especially since her name had been publicized by the tournament, even knowing that Yang is hiding something.

We end the episode with Glynda asking Ozpin if he’s sure about something and he reassures her that time is of the essence and that they have no other option. “The only one with a choice will be her.” Before we cut to Pyrrha.

Episode 6 is unaltered, except there’s a heavier emphasis of Ozpin pushing the issue onto Pyrrha and making it clear that it’s making her mentally unstable.

RWBY, Volume 3, The Fall of Beacon

Okay, the only thing that changes for Episode 7? NO BLACK SCREENS! It works for some mystery with the Grimm and Salem, but for meeting Roman?! So, no black screen. If you need to add mystery, just add dark shadows and for the Grimm, glowing eyes. The biggest change would be how Cinder interacts with Adam. Obviously, we keep how he acts in the flashback… But we get a bonus scene of Cinder talking to Adam and manipulating him into resenting Blake for leaving him. Boom. We got our transition covered.

The only change for Episode 8 is that Blake doesn’t go “lol, okay” when she gets Yang to say she’s sorry for kneecapping Mercury. In fact, she expresses doubt on Yang and does not change her mind about it, believing that the thing she was hiding had something to do with injuring Mercury. We end Episode 8 not with Ruby encountering Mercury, but Hazel.

Episode 9 remains relatively unchanged, as it’s the necessary lynchpin to cause the Fall of Beacon. Really, most of the final act can remain unchanged for the most part, save for some quality of life changes like “how come no one called out Emerald when she was in the middle of the crowd even though they were told that her team went home?” or all those tiny nitpicks that really makes Cinder’s plan fall apart if you think too hard about it.

The most that changes is that Hazel fights Ruby reluctantly. Obviously, he doesn’t want to fight Gretchen’s partner. Cinder would have no idea Ruby’s incompetence led to Gretchen’s death, so Hazel wouldn’t use that to guilt trip Ruby. He does, however, rant about the flawed system that Ozpin has made and it’s clear that this is him talking about how flawed the system is, not Cinder whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He lets Ruby go just as the fight between Pyrrha and Penny ends.

Yeah, this still takes place despite Cinder not knowing, since she lacks her virus for now. Cinder is smart and is able to put two and two together when she sees that Penny is doing a lot of the heavy lifting during her fights. I mean, it was obvious to us that she was a robot from Volume 1, Cinder didn’t need no fancy scroll to tell her “hey, Penny’s a robot.”

I should add that, throughout the tournament, Cinder had been rigging the tournament so that it’d come down to Vale vs. Atlas, using the narrative of the Breach to set the stage. She’s also making sure the losses for Mistral and Vacuo sting so the Grimm get attracted sooner. How is she doing this? Via the backdoor program she had. As I said previously, the virus feigns being dead and can only be reactivated by a backdoor program. However, this isn’t the full extent. Cinder is basically using the program to activate a few nodes in the CCT to rig the randomizer enough so that no one stops and goes “wait, this is fishy”. It doesn’t help that the way the tournament is held, each Kingdom representative is guaranteed to face an opposing Kingdom once per round, so if one Kingdom was really good, they’ll overcrowd the subsequent doubles and finals. Two Kingdoms? Then you essentially guarantee that the rest of the fights can be nothing but Kingdom A vs. Kingdom B.

Penny is killed and this becomes the straw that broke the camel’s back. I also would make it so that her big speech, while imposing and setting the tone for the fall, doesn’t sound like “I’m the big bad evil guy and I’m going to announce my terrorist attack!” Also, Adam can get involved too, saying how humans are so sad over a dead robot, but when it’s a Faunus, no one gives a crap, white guilting the crowd. When the Beacon staff cut the feed, Cinder goes “OMG! CENSORSHIP!” and riles up the crowd that way. Basically, her speech causes fear and panic. The Grimm and White Fang attack, we kick off the Fall of Beacon Arc.

One major change to kick off the finale: Port and Oobleck are killed. It doesn’t have to be shown, but it would be implied as Ozpin notices that he lost contact of the two. Really, this is your chance to get rid of all the characters that won’t make an appearance in later Volumes or wouldn’t really matter. After all, there will be no rest or love. Hell, kill off CFVY while you’re at it. Hammer home that the dark tone is here to stay. Also, the backdoor is the thing Roman puts on that ship and thus reactivates the virus.

Of course, the major change is Adam’s fight with Blake, since they fought before. Blake tries desperately to ask why he’s hurting people, but Adam gives her his response: “Because this world doesn’t reward the kind-hearted people. You should know that after what happened to your father!” This puts Blake in a lot of fear and anxiety, requiring Yang to interfere. The one thing I’ll change from this is that Adam does not one-shot Yang, because that horribly unbalances him in the grand scheme of things. Instead, he relies more on manipulation to put Yang in the absolute worst spot throughout the fight, absorbing the increased blows he got from Yang before letting it all out in his Moonslice, taking off her arm.

The other major thing I’d change is the handling of Pyrrha. The bit where they’re underground changes immensely as Ozpin explicitly instructs Jaune to wait by the door, thus separating him from Pyrrha. Ozpin and Pyrrha go to the pods, but as Pyrrha begins to have second thoughts, Ozpin activates the switch as Pyrrha screams in pain.

Meanwhile, Jaune finds Cinder entering the chamber via a superhero landing (No one’s gonna acknowledge that she managed to follow the group down a longass shaft?) and as Jaune tries to fight Cinder, realizing she’s the one who organized all of this, she tells him “I didn’t cause this… I merely exposed Ozpin for what he truly is… Arrogant and willing do to anything to win.” Jaune pieces together what Cinder could possibly mean and enters the chamber, seeing Pyrrha in pain. Just then, Cinder kills Amber and takes her power.

Ozpin decides to hold Cinder off while Jaune and Pyrrha go to get help. While this will be revealed in Volume 5, it’ll be revealed that Ozpin threw his battle with Cinder so that, not only would he reincarnate quicker, but also to avoid the Council chewing his ass out. This leads to the consequence of Cinder forcing Pyrrha’s hand, however…

Like with the show, Pyrrha fights Cinder by herself since Jaune did enough. We’ll have him try to contact Glynda and the others, but they’re unfortunately busy and it’s this poor communication that causes Jaune to panic call Weiss. The fight proceeds like normal and Pyrrha is killed by Cinder, making her sacrifice seemingly in vain before Ruby, having enough with all this bullshit, Silver Eyes the fuck out of Cinder and the Dragon, turning the latter to stone and Cinder into a cripple.

Ending remains the same, but give a lot more emphasis on Ruby and Yang coping with the new change and the losses of their friends. One day, Jaune comes by and asks Ruby if she and Yang would like to accompany them to Mistral, figuring that Cinder came from there and that they’d be able to find some answers. Ruby, having had enough of moping around, leaves much to her father’s chagrin. Salem’s speech remains the same and we get two stingers, split by Divide and Cold. Divide’s credits would be for the Volume and Cold would be for all the animators who helped out during Volume 2.5 and a tribute to Monty. The first stinger is Qrow following RNJR in bird form, the second is Cinder, literally on the edge of death before the parasite Grimm begins to heal and nurture her. She’s furious that Ruby managed to hurt her and this negative emotion causes a Grimm to stalk her. She tries to sing to it, but her voice gives out a rasp.

Just as the Grimm is about to kill her, it gets killed by an unknown assailant, who just scoffs to Cinder. We don’t know who it is, but the shadow of a scorpion’s tail and the creepy voice pretty much gives those with foresight a good idea who he is: “Poor, poor little girl… Bit off more than you can chew, hmmm?” before cutting to black with him giggling.

DVD Extra

This would basically be an encore of Volume 2.5, where animators that nearly made the cut were invited to animate doubles and finals battles and even have a speculative RWBY vs. JNPR battle for ol’ time’s sake.

And that’s RWBY Volume 3 tweaked. Only two more left to go and they’re the most… interesting ones to tweak. Well, with this isolation, I might as well give a little bit of time to this…

[madscientistutm]

As a challenge, and a little fun, I’ve ranked the best versions of the TMNT characters upon request. This is technically a Top 4 although it can also be a Top 5 if an Honorable Mention qualifies. The rankings depend on how the character was portrayed from a creative standpoint as well as the performance of the voice actors. For each character/topic, there have to be at least six versions of a character available so Karai (1987 series’ Lotus Blossom doesn’t count), Baxter Stockman (“Rise...”’s Stockboy doesn’t count), Krang, and B&R don’t qualify. Now it’s time to lawyer up and present my cases for each character beginning with Part 1:

Donatello: (5*)I like Corey Feldman as an actor and a person, I really do but the best I can do for him is an Honorable Mention. It has less to do with being in the 1993 live action movie which, let’s be honest is one of the worst movies of all time, and more to do with not only does he provide a voice similar to that of a chain smoker (although you could say the same about 2003′s Raph) but he was also basically just a Mikey clone. (4)Then you have Rob Paulsen who fits Don better than he does Raph and started out excellent in the first season with all the responsibility he shoulders, his reserved feelings about his existence as a mutant, and his balance of being a bit charming at times and snapping during his more vulnerable moments. He’d be higher though if “Apriltello” was handled a lot better and he wasn’t featured in such bad episodes down the 2012 series’ stretch: “A Chinatown Ghost Story”, “The Fourfold Trap”, “Revenge of the Triceratons”, “The Power Inside Her”, and “Heart of Evil” most notably. (3)To me, Adam Carl did a better job as the voice of the live action Don in TMNT II as he had a better voice (very close to the 2003 series’) and an interesting existential crisis about the meaning of his existence with regards to the mystery surrounding the ooze plot device. (2) It is a bit surprising Sam’s this high when you consider he doesn’t have much range as 2003′s Don but, like Mike and Greg who share that same issue, he fits the character like a glove. Some say his voice is sexy but I think it’s the perfect voice for a pacifist like him. He doesn’t feature much in the series but he is so well portrayed as a character that I have to give him the second spot. (1) However, I have to give the top spot to 1987′s Barry Gordon. He had good lines as Don, provided a nasally but very genius-like voice, and was involved in some of the series’ best and even most fun episodes. He also flexed his voice range a bit in episodes like “Donatello’s Duplicate” and “Night of the Dark Turtle”. And despite him not being Don in every episode (hence the asterisk), he stuck around to the end and he deserves some (more) credit for that.

Leonardo: (5)It was so close between Eric Bauza and James Arnold Taylor it was as though a pinch of salt separated them from the HM. For each positive, there was a negative. When no way to distinguish them individually came about, the tiebreaker had to come down to who was in a better movie and although “Batman vs. the TMNT” wasn’t as good a Batman movie, it certainly was from a TMNT perspective and was overall a better movie than the 2007 one. Eric has built a reputation for being one of the best VAs of this generation, as well as one of the friendliest even in this day of big egos in the entertainment world. He does have his shortcomings such as the Scarecrow scene which showed us nothing we didn’t already know about him (nor did it answer the question of why Leo takes his brothers into battle so much if he worries about their safety) and, compared to JAT, it really is splitting hairs between them but ultimately Eric gets the nod. (4)I knew Cam was going to make this list even if JAT or Eric didn’t which is why he’s #4. Cam’s take on Leo is a lot lighter than any of these others, but he does get better as the series goes along and that’s why I have no problem giving him this spot. (3)I used to think Brian Tochi was the best Leo even though he was less prominent as the original trilogy rolled along. His voice fit Leo perfectly and he was around for the whole thing but there’s a lot more character to the next two. (2)Some are going to say I’m crazy for not putting the 2012 Leo at #1 due to his development and growth in the series and they have a point. I however thought Jason was miscast as Leo, in large part due to his real world behavioral problems. Then he leaves to commit full time to “Orange is the New Black” and Dominic, as far as I’m concerned did a better job. He should’ve stayed full time and not Seth. He does have some compelling moments such as his relationship with Splinter and Karai, as well as being her knight in shining armor in “Vengeance is Mine”--unfortunately it takes until “Requiem” for him to get it back. He also suffers a lot of physical and emotional torment from Shredder until he gets to (temporarily, unfortunately) defeat him in “Owari.” He ultimately becomes his enemy in the true finale “Carmageddon!”, which was a nice poetic touch, until he snaps out of it and finds paradise both figuratively and literally with his family. (1)Ultimately though, I’m giving it to Mike. He didn’t have a lot of range and we could’ve done without his PTSD storyline (at least for how long it lasted) in Season 4, but he fit the character like a glove. He exemplified everything the character is supposed to be and it also helps that he and Sam also weren’t affected as much by the spinoff seasons!

Michelangelo: (4)The closest to an HM is Greg Cipes but I can’t do that. Despite some great stuff such as him reaching and befriending Leatherhead, he was so over the top starting from the beginning and he mostly relied on his Beast Boy schtick. No, I have to start with the big surprise of “Batman vs. the TMNT” and that is Kyle Mooney’s take on the character. He had a really good delivery and some pretty good comedic lines while still not coming off as too OTT and getting in the way like Noel Fisher did in the recent live action movies (yuck!) (3)It’s hard not putting Wayne Grayson any higher. He had this Bugs Bunny vibe with his imitations, voice range, disguises that were mostly cross dressing, energy, and lines that really weren’t bad at all. However, it was the spinoff seasons, mainly FF, that did him in as he became far too one dimensional. And in a competition this thick, that’s all it can take sometimes. (2)It’s splitting hairs between Townsend Coleman and Robbie Rist for the top spot but I ultimately have to give it to TC here. He does deserve credit though for sticking around to the end and never missing an episode (like Cam). (1)Robbie may not live down being the often despised Cousin Oliver, but hopefully he can take solace knowing that he’s #1 as Mikey in the hearts of many (most likely) including this guy. Like Townsend, he stuck around for the whole series when most of the cast didn’t. He was also quite energetic without getting in the way. Ultimately, live action movies also have to be given a bit more of a nod than animated TV shows, and with the 1990 live action movie perhaps being the best TMNT screen adaptation out there, Robbie gets the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

Raphael: (5)Rob’s 1987 series version of Raph may not be the true version of the character, but he had a lot of very good lines and had such a charm behind his voice that you can’t help but like him. He faced some stiff competition from the likes of Alan Ritchison, Omar Miller, and Sean Astin but there’s a saying of mine which is totally fair: “When in doubt go with the original”. And, with the 1987 series being the first TMNT screen adaptation out there, Rob gets the nod. (4)It’s funny that they brought back Josh Pais in the suit for TMNT II, yet they hired Laurie Faso to voice him anyway. I don’t understand it myself but Laurie did a heck of a job filling in for Josh’s voice. He still had that tough, New York sounding attitude who would act on his emotions just as much as he acted on what he thought was the right thing to do. (3)Nolan North is a heck of a voice actor. He was a good pick to portray Raphael in the 2007 animated film and it’d be a shame if he never portrays the character again. The reason he’s not higher is both the competition and the fact that he (and to an extend JAT’s Leonardo) hogged the spotlight from the rest of the characters. (2)Usually I’d think Greg’s version of Raph in 2003 would be #1, at least I did for a time. Anyone who would, I have no problem with. Some would say that him not getting the spotlight so much in the series would keep him out of that spot. That’s not me though. What keeps him out is his lack of range (even though that wasn’t much of a problem for Mike as Leo) and his more one-dimensional nature in the spinoff seasons (mainly FF). I don’t mean that as a knock though since he’s still clearly the best animated version of the character. (1)Ultimately, Josh is #1 here. He can over act at times which would make you cringe a bit, and while his and Greg’s versions of Raph are about the same character-wise, I thought Josh had more range, depth, and story to work with and that’s why he’s ultimately #1.

Part 2 coming soon...

[crispsevans]

Films in 2019

It’s been a while again. Maybe I should make this review-thing a monthly thing LOL. My current count is at 33/150 for 2019, 18 out of 33 seen in theatre.

filmpage - filmlist - suggest a film

CAN CONTAIN SPOILERS. ( I review Endgame in this post, there are Endgame spoilers in this so don’t read, if you haven’t seen it yet.)

Hidden Figures (2016)

streamed on Amazon Prime Germany production country: USA OV: english seen version: OV Starring: Taraji B. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe Director: Theodore Melfi Plot summary: The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Review: 99ct Prime Deal movie. So glad it was on the list of the deals, because I’ve been dying to see this one ever since it came out. But as always I had no one to watch it with and I waited a little too long.

Finally saw it and what can I say - I loved it very much. What a great and important movie. 

My favourite part is probably where Janelle Monáe’s character fights for her right in court aspiring to be the first african-american woman to attend a white school in order to get higher education to qualify for a better position. LOVED IT. She slayed. Rating: 4/5

The Big Short (2015)

streamed on Amazon Prime Germany production country: USA OV: english seen version: german Starring: Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell Director: Adam McKay Plot summary: In 2006-7 a group of investors bet against the US mortgage market. In their research they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.

Review: 99ct Prime Deal movie number 3. I was a huge fan of Vice so I really needed to see this one.

To be honest this one was a bit harder to understand, because you have to have a little knowledge about economics and how they work - esp. on Wall Street. I mean, I took an A-Level class in Social Sciences and Economics so it was okay for me, even though I didn’t fully understand everything, but I just put it into context. They try to explain it in an easy way, but just make sure to pay attention :) 

Shocking reveal of the real estate market and how things went downhill in 2007 causing the global financial crisis that affected my family in a really bad way. 

Though I have to say it didn’t involve me as much as Vice, I felt like it was a little bit like chewing gum in between the scenes. Maybe I had to watch it in theatre to love it as much as I love Vice. Rating: 3,5/5

Spotlight (2015)

streamed on Amazon Prime Germany production country: USA OV: english seen version: german Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams Director: Tom McCarthy Plot summary: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Review: 99ct Prime Deal movie number 4. Hands down - THE BEST out of all of them. 

What a movie. Very emotional, very dramatic, very captivating, very important.

I have nothing more to say except for: WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY. What a shame that it took me so long to actually see it. Outstanding cast, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams are killing it! Rating: 5/5

Serenity (2019)

seen in theatre production country: USA  OV: english seen version: german Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke Director: Steven Knight Plot summary: A fishing boat captain (McConaughey) juggles facing his mysterious past and finding himself ensnared in a reality where nothing is what it seems.

Review: #sneakmonday movie. I was hoping they’d sneak it and I was so happy when they did, even though this movie kinda was a let down considering the cast of the movie. 

It was a decent movie with decent acting, liked McConaughey and Clarke in it, Hathaway (even though I love her very much) didn’t deliver her best performance here. 

I liked the plot twist mid-through the movie that made you rethink the entire thing. It was a little too surreal for me though. I’ve seen worse but I’ve also seen a lot better than this. Rating: 2,5/5

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

streamed on Netflix Germany production country: USA OV: english seen version: OV Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman Director: Roland Emmerich Plot summary: Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind's new space defenses be enough?

Review: This never happened to me before. In one of my previous review post I reviewed ‘Independence Day’ and I didn’t like it that much. Now THIS ONE, the sequel, IS SOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER! I freaking LOVED it. 

I really don’t know if it’s the new CGI (which is obviously 10000 times better than in the 1996 version) or the storyline or whatever it is - it’s way better than the first one. It really caught my attention and I just love Jeff Goldblum - he’s such a class act.  Rating: 4/5

Greta (2019)

seen in theatre  production country: USA / Ireland OV: english seen version: german Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe Director: Neil Jordan Plot summary: A young woman (Moretz) befriends a lonely widow (Huppert) who's harboring a dark and deadly agenda toward her.

Review: #sneakmonday movie. 

Can I just say I really love obsessive lover/stalker movies?! I know I’m weird and it’s nothing you should fancy, but the movies about this topic always get me. They keep me on the edge and sunken in my seat until the movie’s over. 

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, I thought it was really good most of the time - also something I haven’t seen before. The performances by Huppert and Moretz are really convincing.

It just really lacks in some of the decisions Moretz character makes. Sometimes it drifts off into a B-Lister movie, which this clearly shouldn’t be, but the lines and decisions of the character make it seem like a weird thriller horror thing. No one is really that stupid, but they wrote her character that naive. I didn’t like that.

But all in all it’s a good one, I enjoyed it very much. Rating: 3,5/5

The Collini Case / Der Fall Collini (2019)

seen in theatre production country: Germany OV: german / italian seen version: OV Starring: Elyas M’Barek, Alexandra Maria Lara, Franco Nero Director: Marco Kreuzpaintner Plot summary: A young lawyer (M’Barek) stumbles upon a vast conspiracy while investigating a brutal murder case.

Review: #sneakmonday movie. This is a german movie.

Elyas M’Barek is usually a comedy-actor. A little bit like Jennifer Aniston but as a male and in german. I never saw him as a guy who’d play a serious role. But here we go and I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. Never thought he’d do this good. 

Interesting story, very captivating and not too revealing. It takes quite a while until the movie really lifts off and the storyline begins to paint a picture and you understand what’s going on, but the reveal is very tragic and very emotional. I loved the screenplay and also the cinematography in certain points.

But whoever directed the music in this movie, please reconsider your job. It was a disaster, really. The score itself was good, but the usage was so out of place most of the times, it bothered me SO MUCH. 

German produced movies try to be so much like Hollywood Blockbusters, but they’re not and this is another example for it. But it’s one of the better ones. Rating: 4/5

The Perfect Date (2019)

streamed on Netflix Germany production country: USA OV: english seen version: OV Starring: Noah Centineo, Laura Marano Director: Chris Nelson Plot summary: To save up for college, Brooks Rattigan (Centineo) creates an app where anyone can pay him to play the perfect stand-in boyfriend for any occasion.

Review: I don’t know what I was expecting from a Netflix RomCom, but this kinda let me down yet again (just like ‘Isn’t it romantic?’).

It was okay and kinda cute in some places, but nothing fancy and a lack of entertainment for me. Overall it was okay and it’s a movie to watch before you go to sleep or when you’re sick.  Rating: 3/5

Overdrive (2017)

streamed on Sky Cinema Germany production country: France / Belgium / USA OV: english / french seen version: OV Starring: Scott Eastwood, Freddie Thorp, Ana de Armas Director: Antonio Negret Plot summary: Two car thief brothers (Eastwood, Thorp), who journey to the south of France for new opportunities, wind up in the cross hairs of the local crime boss.

Review: I literally just watched this for Scott Eastwood LOL. It’s such a cringe movie, I just couldn’t. 

I know Scott can do better than this. The character-writing was so damn flat and so was the entire screenplay. I’m not a huge Fast & Furious Fan, maybe this movie is for people who love those movies - at least you get to see some really nice cars. 

But really, this is such a cringe movie. My rating is for Scott (because DAMN) and the beautiful (!!!!!!) landscape cinematography of South France! Rating: 2,5/5

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

seen in theatre (soon thrice) production country: USA OV: english seen version: german (soon OV) Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin AND SO MANY MORE. Director: Joe and Anthony Russo Plot summary: After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe.

Review: ... here we go.

I went to see it on the first screening of the day when it came out over here in Germany. I know Europe was blessed with being two days ahead of the US.  I literally cried for 3 hours. The entire 3 hours OKAY. Sitting through the credits because I couldn’t believe what I just saw. 

It took me a few days to completely understand what I had watched.

There are so many things wrong with this movie, but also so many good things about this movie I JUST DON’T KNOW. 

When I went to see it the second time I liked it a LOT better and with every day and every clip I see and listening to the score more and more I grow to love this movie more. 

And against the mainly common opinion in disliking the ending of this movie, I loved it - even though it may makes no sense in a scientific way. Hate me all you want, but you can read HERE why I loved Steve’s ending, Becka wrote a beautiful piece. 

Also Tony Stark. Let’s talk about Tony Stark. What is there left to say though? His actions speak louder than words. He basically did ALL OF IT for PETER FREAKING PARKER. How beautiful. He did it for him, because he missed him, because he couldn’t live with the thought of losing him. And sacrificing himself for Peter, for the rest of the Avengers, for the entire universe, WHAT A MOVE.

Now let’s move on to Natasha Romanoff, because she doesn’t get enough credit. First female Avenger, the glue, heart and soul of the Avengers, the mom that held everything together, that kept the world a safe place after the snap and Thanos being dead in 2023 like. She still cared, she cared about her family (the original 6 more than anyone else really) and she kept looking for Clint (DON’T GET ME STARTED ON CLINTASHA) and.. I just.. and then she sacrificed herself and her life, for her family. FOR THEM. FOR LOVE. FOR CLINT. SO THEY COULD SEE THE SUN AGAIN (to put it in Loki’s words). I JUST.... 

It started with Tony and Nat and it ended with Tony and Nat and I just... I just can’t. Literally I CAN’T. Still not over it.

P.S. America’s ass. Rating: 4/5

Fighting With My Family (2019)

seen in theatre production country: UK / USA OV: english seen version: german Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Florence Pugh, Vince Vaughn Director: Stephen Merchant Plot summary: A former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment.

Review: #sneakmonday movie. Based on a true story. I had no expectations, really. I gotta say, I’m not into Wrestling AT ALL. And I don’t really want to be. So this was a bummer for me. 

But nonetheless this is a cute family movie. The bond between the siblings and the entire family is really beautiful to see and so is the character development of Paige’s brother Zak. 

Also the interaction with all these kids learning how to wrestle is really just beautiful. Kids from all ages, different backgrounds, different identities, sizes and also a blind kid - they all come together and become friends through Wrestling. That’s really beautiful. 

It’s just not my cup of tea, because of the Wrestling topic. It’s a decent movie though. Rating: 2,5/5

Journal 64 (2019)

seen in theatre production country: Denmark / Germany OV: danish / arabic / spanish / german seen version: german Starring: Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares, Johanne Louise Schmidt Director: Christoffer Boe Plot summary: A series of mysterious disappearances in 2006 are eerily connected to the same institution.

Review: #sneakmonday movie. Based on a crime thriller by Jussi Adler-Olson.

Scandinavian films are so good, really. They are SO DAMN GOOD. Especially crime thrillers - they’re just really good at not only writing them as books but also making them into movies and TV shows. I don’t know how they do it. Norwegian/Swedish/Danish crime thrillers are kinda dark most of the times, this one had a nice comedic effect, though, because the main character is a blatantly honest person and drops a lot of bricks, but is still a very charismatic character.

Really liked this one. Very dramatic story, there should be a trigger warning though (tw: rape / tw: abuse / tw: abortion). So keep that in mind, if you decide to watch it.

Rating: 4/5

[bugheadfamily]

This week the spotlight is on Anna ( @writeradamanteve )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones | Graphic by Katie, @betty-cooper

Anna | @writeradamanteve

Name: Anna 

Age: 40

Location: New Jersey

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: Filipino.

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: Aside from Betty and Jughead, I do love the awfulness of Cheryl Blossom and spitfire that is season 1 Veronica.

Cheryl Blossom is unapologetically terrible, and in real life, I would absolutely HATE her, but there’s something to be said about a woman who just goes all in. I get that hardness in her, and I like it that she admires others for it, too. That Toni brings out her soft side is a plus, but I would prefer that she stays true to her character outside of her romantic relationship. 

Season 1 Veronica Lodge was a champion of women. I loved that about her. I may not have bought the whole “Betty is my best friend” assertion, but I did like that she was doing it to make amends for her past. S1!Veronica wanted to do better and she looked at Betty and thought Betty was a good person to hang out with to further that. Veronica as a person is methodical. Deliberate. And those are characteristics that can be both good and bad. I like it that Veronica can go both ways. I also mean that in a very gay way. No amount of her sleeping with Archie will convince me that her character can’t be bi. I can’t even say I hate her in season 2. She seemed a little lost there, but she was deciding between her family and her principles. For a while she thought that both could coexist, but when she realized in the end that it couldn’t, she broke away. That’s badass. 

As for Betty and Jughead, I have at least 500K worth of words in fanfic that expresses the many ways I love them. But to be clear: 

I love Betty for being so steadfast in her beliefs. She may have her insecurities when it comes to how she looks and what her mother may think of her, but when it comes injustice and friends endangering themselves for sex, she isn’t going to let anyone prevent her from doing the right thing. She is a go-getter, from saving Pop’s to saving her relationship (especially when Jughead was pulling away from her). She is a master at wielding household items — a skill, we learned, she got from Alice, who’s clearly handy with a lamp. She’s kinky, and she can be scary stone cold — forcing Cheryl to testify the truth with blackmail, watching Jughead punch Chic in the face without flinching, drowning a man to get him to confess to his sins (although ask me some other time about the morality and racial undertones of that, as that is an entirely different conversation). But she also deeply values her relationships. She cares for her loved ones so much, friend or family. That makes her so strong.

Let me tell you the many Jugheads I love: Soft!Jughead, Smughead Jones, Curious Jones, Snowflake!Jughead, ProudBF!Juggie, and even HaplessSerpent!Jughead. I like him best when he’s writing and when he’s making literary references in regular conversation. I love how sarcastic he could be and how his transition from loner weird kid in Riverdale High to popular serpent prince in Southside High tugs at my heartstrings and makes me mad, too. Like Betty, he cares fiercely for the people he loves. His need to belong becomes real to him, after he tried to deny it for so long. As much as we all have our issues with Season 2 Jughead, it added certain dimensions to Jughead that I love to write about in fanfic.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: I think I loved most of season 1, but the moments that stood out to me most were these: When Betty was dancing happily in her Cheerleading uniform, when Betty and Jughead were searching Jason’s room and got caught, when Jughead and Betty went to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy together, when Betty rushed to SSH to save Jughead only to find him laughing at the lunch tables with his newfound friends, when Veronica stood up for Betty at the tryouts, when Veronica showed Cheryl compassion, when the girls all banded together to make Chuck suffer the consequences of his misogyny (again, I have words for this, but mostly — why only him? His wasn’t the only name on that playbook), when Cheryl calls people names, when Jughead protected Betty from her vandalized locker, and of course, when Jughead climbed Betty’s bedroom window.  While I can’t get enough of Jughead throwing Betty against the kitchen counter, I have to admit I still loved those other scenes a whole lot more. That said, I will still hope for what I mention in question #7.

Season 2 — ah, my goodness. I don’t need to explain how S2 broke my heart in so many good and bad ways. While there were some golden moments, I think most of us are in agreement that there were so many things that could’ve been done better. However, I STILL do have favorite scenes in this Hell Season: Jughead running the gauntlet was amazing, Betty working on Reggie’s car, the entire street race sequence, every time Betty uses a household object to save people (a shovel, a rolling pin, a poker), Jughead and Betty disposing of the car--from her house to the swamp, that entire episode of “The Wicked and the Divine”, Cheryl and Toni finding one another, and the hunger strike scenes.

What are your hopes for S3?:

Bughead summer sex montage. 

MOAR Bughead Detective Agency. 

A slammin’ Riverdale Parents Flashback episode. 

Joaquin stays and Kevin gets better with love and BDE.  

Kevin and Josie becoming step-siblings.

Reggie and Sweetpea being half-brothers.

Veronica being the Speakeasy Queen.

Cheryl stirring trouble (even if I know I’ll hate her for it).

Archie getting a clue.

Other fandoms you’re into?: My thing is that I don’t usually fan hard on more than one thing. My past fandoms were Harry Potter, Teen Titans, Anime (many of them at once), Cowboy Bebop, X-Files, Star Trek Voyager, and Firefly. At present, I love Star Wars (all of them — eh, except maybe for Episodes 1, 2, and 3), Wonder Woman, and all the Marvel movies.  

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: Classics: Galaxy Quest, Tropic Thunder, Labyrinth, The Princess Bride, Forest Gump, The Matrix, Constantine, Clueless, The Breakfast Club, Transformers: The Animated Movie, Snatch, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Supernatural (Seasons 1 - 5), X-Files; 

Most Recent: Pacific Rim, Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Rogue One, Ready Player One, Anne with an E, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Anthony Bourdaine’s old and new series. 

Favourite books?: There are so many, fam, but here are the ones that first come to mind:

Harry Potter 1 - 6 (yeah, sorry, not a huge fan of the 7th)

Emma by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

All of Louisa May Alcott’s books

All of Sharon Shinn

All of L.M. Montgomery

Anne Marston’s Rune Blade Trilogy

Barb and J.C. Hendee’s Noble Dead Saga

The Infernal Devices Trilogy (Cassandra Clare)

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

All of Zilpha Keatley Snyder books

All of Paula Danziger books

Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Misery by Stephen King

Favourite bands/musicians?: I shall date myself, thanks:

Queen

Guns & Roses

Metallica

Nikki Minaj

Cardi B

Imagine Dragons

One Republic

The Killers

Lily Allen

Cake

Eminem

Amy Winehouse

U2

Sting

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: Harry Potter, no doubt. I would like to live in a world that relies on magic. I would like to go to a magical school like Hogwarts. I would love to fight in a resistance to overthrow an evil sorcerer. Plus, I would really, really love to meet Hermione.

Favourite food?:

Ramen (the real stuff, not the dried instant ones)

Banh Mi

Bun bo Hue

Sushi

Filipino Food — particularly Adobo

Tacos

Mangos and strawberries

Favourite season?: Summer.

Favourite plant?: This is an odd question to me as I don’t have a favorite plant. They are just there and sometimes they give me grief when I have to tend to the outside of my house because they’ve gotten unruly on some level (like — Fall, why do you have to discard your leaves all over my grounds?)

Favourite scent?: Baby’s breath, food, and freshly changed bed sheets.

Favourite colour?: Victorian pink.

Favourite animal?: Cats and Owls (I am definitely a witch by heart).

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: I sleep late and wake up early. I am an old person who can go on 5 hours of sleep.

Place you want to visit?: Portugal or Prague is next on my list.

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I have two pets. Pootie is a cat. He is a gray tuxedo. He loves me best, but he also hangs around my eldest child a lot. Every once in a while, he bothers my husband. Bob is a hermit crab. Bob bores the hell out of me and I am equal parts terrified that I will find him dead in his cage and tired that I am still taking care of him. His previous companions, Larry and Curly, have perished. When I found them dead, I screamed. Hermit crabs are creepy as fuck when they leave their shells, like I can’t stand them that way. I don’t know why I am stuck taking care of Bob, but he’s here, he is under my care, and God help me, he’s a stubborn bastard.

Tell us a little about yourself?: 

For work, I’m a web producer/web developer, and I maintain about 20 sites for my company.  

I used to work in publishing.

I went to law school and quit.

I eventually married my high school sweetheart and now we have 3 children.

I was always attracted to women, too, but growing up, I was too afraid to come out as bi. It still intimidates me, coming out to new people now. Most times, I just let them draw their own conclusions.

Fun or weird fact about you?: There’s nothing weird about me that you don’t already know. Fun fact: I kickbox in the nearby UFC gym, and one time, I was practicing with Tai pads with a dude who kicked me in the leg by accident — he just “grazed” me, really. I TRIED VERY HARD to pretend that I was alright. That night, my leg was swollen, and three months later, I saw that same dude fighting in the octagon on TV.

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: 20 years.

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: That is impossible to answer. Truly. So I’m going to close my eyes over a list of my stories and where my finger lands, that’s my fave. It’s Drive.

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: This is even harder. 

Polly’s character arc in Wicked. I really love how I fleshed her out in that story

The development of Kevin and Jughead’s friendship in Harvest to Home

Jughead’s relationship with Archie and Jellybean in Drive.

Betty’s story arc in Drive.

The twists and turns of Wicked.

The rich ambience of Harvest to Home.

Betty and Cheryl’s friendship in Harvest to Home.

The text conversation in Drive.

Sweet Pea’s background character in Drive.

Cheryl’s character in Wicked.

The car chase scene in Drive.

The hotel scene in Cowboy Jones.

The Peitho kitchen scene in Cowboy Jones.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Wicked was hard to write. I had set out to write this story with the twists and turns in mind, and those twists were interlaced. I had to set stuff up all throughout the beginning and middle so that the end would make sense. It was also harder because of Season 2. The background of those episodes in contrast with what I had in mind tended to make me nervous about reader expectations. Like when Hal was suddenly the Black Hood on Riverdale, it felt odd to not make him so terrible in Wicked. 

One of the hardest chapters I had to write was a chapter written in Cheryl’s POV. Delving into her psyche was a difficult switch to turn on and at some point, I was doubting whether I can do it, but I did it and there it was. And I don’t regret it at all.

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: Inspiration is different every time. 

For Harvest to Home, I wanted to write a fic about a very domestic Betty who made beautiful things. While I was writing that fic, I was deeply into the show Fixer Upper because we had just moved into our own new home. I was absolutely inspired by the designs I saw on TV and our need to decorate our home. I wanted Betty to be so good at it that she wrote a blog about home making. I had a lot of inspiration for that as well, since in the publishing company I used to work for, I worked with a lot of chefs and homemakers who published books. 

For Drive, I was inspired by images of Mechanic!Betty at the start of Season 2. I think I may have seen a couple of fics inspired by the movie Baby Driver, where Jughead drove the getaway cars, and honestly, I got a little mad that Betty was never the driver. So I wrote the damn thing, and suddenly, Jughead was drag racing in Season 2. I wrote that fic with a lot of alternative music in the background. I usually started my chapters with the lyrics of those songs that inspired me.

For Wicked, I started writing it for Halloween and it basically grew too large of an idea to make it to Halloween of that year. I was also hesitant about how the fandom would receive a fic where Betty was a witch. Then there came that article about how Alice was possibly a Spellman. WELL THEN. 

Cowboy Jones was absolutely inspired by the Camp Bughead prompts. I figured since I hadn’t been driven out of the fandom by torches and pitchforks because of Wicked, I’d try for some sci-fi, a genre I really love. I aimed to misbehave with Cowboy Jones, so I told myself that this was going to be my smuttiest work yet. I had also put out an X-Files inspired bughead short called The Truth is Here for that same prompt. 

I answered the question about my writing process here and some more about character development here. 

Idea that you always wanted to write?: Kitchen Confidential type story, where Jughead is an asshole chef who is determined to make his restaurant succeed. Betty becomes his sous chef and shows him a thing or two about cooking and about life.

Favourite character to write?: Betty and Jughead, no doubt.

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: Well, there are so many commenters who have been so fantastic, but my favorite comments come from those who want to have a discussion with me, mostly because I like to reply to all commenters to express my gratitude and it’s easier to reply when I can pick up a conversation.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: Best part is finishing a chapter and posting it. Worst part is getting flamed. I have been fortunate enough to have a welcoming group of readers here, but I’ve had my share of flames in other fandoms. I always try to dig deep for something constructive in them — there always is something that can be so useful to my writing, but man, those are TOUGH to handle sometimes.

Do you have any advice to offer?: Few things:

Don’t let fear rule your life. Embrace that fear and get to know it. Find out what makes it frightening, then overcome it. 

Practice. That is the only thing that will make you better at anything. 

Learn from failure. It’s a bitch of a teacher but it’s the best lesson you’ll ever have.

Find work that you love. It always pays.

.

.

This is the eleventh installment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

[bettereveryletter]

little things from Hamilton West End that I didn’t notice the past times I’ve been

This is so overly long but last night is looking to be the last night I will have seen the original west end cast and I wanted to pick up on everything I could. Firstly, here’s the cast I saw:

Ash Hunter (Alternate Alexander Hamilton), Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Hamilton), Giles Terera (Aaron Burr), Rachel John (Angelica Schuyler), Obioma Ugoala (George Washington), Jason Pennycooke (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Tarinn Callender (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Cleve September (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton), Christine Allado (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Michael Jibson (King George). Ensemble: Jade Albsersten, Johnny Bishop, Leslie Garcia Bowman, Courtney Mae Briggs, Jack Butterworth, Jon Scott Clarke, Leah Hill, Waylon Jacobs, Miriam-Teak Lee, Gabriel Mokake, and Lindsey Tierney.

-There was applause after Alexander Hamilton, I’ve finally witnessed it!

-Ash’ Burrs Corner in My Shot - “a bunch of revolutionary revolution revolutionists”

-Tarinn stealing Cleve’s mug in The Story Of Tonight and then them proceeding to do a bit about it

-Rachelle and Christine holding hands and looking so delightfully thrilled to be in New York in The Schuyler Sisters

-Christine is such a cute Peggy, she seems to be either annoyed at being left out, or very happy-go-lucky and sometimes childlike

-Applause and woops after “compel him to include women in the sequel” line!

-Cleve swiftly whipping Giles away for the distraction on the exact first “mercy” beat in Farmer Refuted

-Obi blocking the ‘letter’ being passed along by the ensemble during Right Hand Man, the last time I saw him on was February and he collected the ‘letter’ from them

-“we keep meeting”

-Ash’s super cocky grin on “that’s true!”

-Christine and Rachel holding hands and bopping during the “heys” at the start of Helpless

-I love that Peggy and Laurens dance together during Helpless because it means I get to watch my two favourite cast members at the same time

-Cleve persuading Rachel to get up and make her speech in Satisfied, after her laughing and shaking her head, by nodding and saying “yes! Go!”

-Christine and Rachelle’s eskimo kiss in Helpless/Satisfied

-Ash placing his hand on cleves chest, and cleve’s dramatic look down to it at the start of Meet Me Inside

-Ash nodding in agreement with Eliza at the end of That Would Be Enough

-Rachel’s Angelica in Satisfied, or Rachel John in general tbh

-the way cleve sung “let’s have another round” in tsot (reprise)

-overall rapport between Tarinn and Cleve

-tarinn randomly bear-hugging Ash on “wonders great and small”

-Tarinn’s verse in Yorktown!! Always!! Astounding!!

-My friend bursting into tears at the first note of Dear Theodosia

-the quiet “will you read it for me?” In The Laurens’ Interlude

-Jason encouraging applause like 4 times over in What’d I Miss?, and receiving it louder each time

-an elderly lady who was sat near me found every funny line absolutely hilarious and it was so endearing

-very close shave mic drop in Cabinet Battle #1

-cleve being all reluctant to play piano, and the stroppy, mimicking, “sept-huit-neuf”

-cleve ‘practicing’ the Philip rap with a piece of paper with ‘the lyrics’ in his hand, dropping it all flustered when ham comes over unexpectedly, then gradually sliding it away with his shoe mid-rap

-Christine is an incredible Maria, her voice is so mesmerising oh my god

-a red spotlight shining on Maria’s red dress

-Reynolds summoning Maria with a heel-click

-the room where it happens was amazing, Giles is incredible

-Rachelle looking miffed on “I’m sure he already knows” in Schuyler Defeated

-the audience’s utter amusement at the tantalising Burr at the beginning of Washington On Your Side

-air-punching of audience members during Cabinet Battle #2

-a man in the royal circle stood up after One Last Time, applause went on a while, and you could see Obi grinning from ear-to-ear and it was lovely

-mike making giles laugh at the start of The Adams Administration

-the way hurricane is ...choreographed? Blocked? I’m not sure what the word is but it’s super clever

-Cleve angrily screwing up The Reynolds Pamphlet and tossing it to the floor

-Ash’s riff on “slow down” during Blow Us All Away

-My friend whispering a subtle “oh no” at the end of Blow Us All Away

-Cleve writhing in pain during Stay Alive (Reprise) and Rachelle looking so, completely heartbroken. She nails grieving-Eliza.

-the way Ash sung “You knock me out I fall apart” in IQU

-giles’ subtle disbelief and betrayal when burr finds out ham supports jefferson in The Election of 1800

-complete audience silence as they’re enraptured during the monologue in The World Was Wide Enough

-rachel blowing a kiss at the end of curtain call and then pointing to the audience member so they knew it was for them

-Ash jumping on someone’s back to walk off the stage, I couldn’t see which cast member it was since I was too far over

-that was such a great show, shoot me a message if interested in full audio

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: CHECKLIST: 21 films to watch for the 2021 Oscars

(Image: goldderby.com)

In what has become an annual Monday morning Oscar hangover, this website looks down the calendar and into the crystal ball to prognosticate which 2020 films could be contenders for the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021. Who could possible top the history that was Parasite? Many will try and they may very well come from this scouting report. Last year, 11 films from the 20-film list (and six others from the honorable mention section) ended up with Oscar nominations this past month, including wins for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, Judy, Ford v Ferrari, 1917, Rocketman, and Little Women.  No sooner than the sun rises and coffee pots turn on, the next Oscar season starts now!  Here’s your eighth year of advance scouting courtesy of Every Movie Has a Lesson. Release dates are listed if known.

1. West Side Story

Everything Steven Spielberg touches gets automatic attention.  He’s become very selective in his projects, so many were surprised he chose a musical, let alone a remake of a legendary classic.  Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Zegler are your new Tony and Maria in front of all the usual Spielberg powerhouse collaborators (cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Michael Kahn, screenwriter/playwright Tony Kushner).  Its Christmas release will prime it for peak Oscar attention. (December 18)

2. In the Heights

You heard this movie and its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda name-dropped last night. Its emerging star Anthony Ramos was given the mic time. They weren’t kidding about hearing it in the same place next year.  Between this and West Side Story, you may have a toe-tapping 93rd Academy Awards. Be ready for the performances and inescapable summer soundtrack from Miranda. (June 26)

3. Tenet

Christopher Nolan is also on the “everything he touches” list for Oscar attention. The John David Washington and Robert Pattinson thriller may be an ominous summer blockbuster instead of small-scale prestige, but that has not stopped Nolan films before. Expect technical attention given to cinematographer Hoyte van Hotema, production designer Nathan Crowley, and composer Ludwig Goransson.  (July 17)

4. Dune

Someone emerging to become equal in clout in the technical prowess department to Nolan is Denis Villeneuve.  His massive undertaking of Dune may be the film that surpasses Nolan for that elusive Oscar prize.  Hopping headfirst into the fantasy realms of Frank Hebert’s source is a cast of zillions including Rebecca Ferguson, Timothee Chalamat, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Oscar Isaac, and Dave Bautista.  Someone get a bucket for the eyes popping out for this one come December. (December 18)

5. Mank

(Image: movieweb.com)

It’s been too long since we’ve had a David Fincher feature in theaters.  Gone Girl, The Social Network, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button amassed 22 Oscar nominations and 6 wins.  This behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Citizen Kane through the eyes of Oscar winner Gary Oldman’s screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz could be the Hollywood-celebrating-Hollywood epic that finally wins Fincher an overdue Oscar.  This may be #5 for list purposes, but this is my prohibitive most-anticipated awards season favorite for this coming year. (TBA)

6. The Trial of the Chicago 7

(Image: dailymail.co.uk)

Speaking of David Fincher, one of his former collaborators is screenwriter-turned-filmmaker Aaron Sorkin.  He’s following Molly’s Game flying solo with this legal drama about the charges leveled on a group of protestors from the 1968 Democratic Convention riots in Chicago.  Enjoy on-point rapid-fire dialogue and the big screen return of Joseph Gordon-Levitt next to Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, J.C. MacKenzie, Sasha Baron Cohen, and Frank Langella. (October 2)

7. The French Dispatch

Speaking of another filmmaker looking for that next big picture that wins the highest honors, Wes Anderson has steadily and strongly become one of the best filmmakers of this generation.  He too makes the “everything” list and The French Dispatch brings the prerequisite monster cast of Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamat, Elisabeth Moss, Lea Seydoux, Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Benecio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and, of course, Bill Murray.  Called a “love letter to journalists,” this could speak to auteurs and regular folks alike. Besides, like the embedded videos, there’s his usual mise en scene to marvel at in the meantime. (July 24)

8. Respect

Between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, it wouldn’t be the 21st century Oscars without a musical biopic. The brightest and best contender of that genre for 2020 is the story of Aretha Franklin with Jennifer Hudson’s presence and pipes in the lead alongside Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and a renewed Marlon Wayans for director Liesl Tommy.  (October 9)

9. The Last Duel

Ridley Scott hasn’t had Oscar attention since The Martian, yet he is a veteran of pedigree where his movies garner serious consideration for praise.  Scott re-teams with Matt Damon who reunites with Ben Affleck and joins the fresh pairing of the red-hot Adam Driver for a showdown of knights, noblemen, and squires.  Period detail and Ridley Scott are a match made in Oscar heaven. (TBA)

10. Stillwater

(Image: ktul.com)

Spotlight director Tom McCarthy returns to the poignant legal realm after a cute Disney spin with Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.  Matt Damon stars as a father looking to clear murder charges subjected to his estranged daughter (Abigail Breslin). Wrought family drama and powerful themes come out strong with McCarthy.  Let’s see if this can also be an acting breakthrough for Damon to seek the top trophy that has eluded him. (November 6)

11. Charm City Kings

Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk director Barry Jenkins is the story credit on this spring drama about the gangs of the Baltimore streets.  While it might not be mainline Jenkins, one has to think the potential for quality is there. Meek Mill, Teyonah Parris, and Jahi D’Allo Winston star. (April 10)

12. Those Who Wish Me Dead

(Image: metro.co.uk)

Ever since Hell or High Water, the respect for Taylor Sheridan as a writer and filmmaker has grown.  His latest neo-western is a Montana-set survival thriller set against a wildfire starring Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Tyler Perry, and Jon Bernthal.  If it can find and bring an edge, the acting and screenwriting categories could be in play. (TBA)

13. The Personal History of David Copperfield

Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin might not have risen to Oscar love, but his follow-up raises the class up a notch by taking on Charles Dickens with Dev Patel leading Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton.  Advance buzz overseas is very positive as this comedy stands to drop as summer counterprogramming. (May 8)

14. News of the World 

(Image: abqjournal.com)

Let’s start the Tom Hanks train.  Revitalized with his first Oscar nomination in over a decade for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the Hollywood icon stars in three 2020 films.  The first is the best Oscar hopeful of the trio. He re-teams with his Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass for a western adapted by Lion filmmaker Luke Davies about a travelling reporter helping out his customers with a kidnapping matter.  Expect raw tension as only Greengrass can deliver. (December 25)

15. Greyhound 

(Image: youtube.com)

The second Hanks movie of the three comes from a World War II screenplay written by his own hand and directed by up-and-coming Aaron Schneider of Get Low.  The story surrounds a Navy captain trying to safely traverse a pack of approaching German U-boats.  Get your Captain Phillips and Saving Private Ryan tingles to have Hanks back on a boat and in WWII for a summer adventure.  (May 8)

16. BIOS

The third offering from Tom dives into science fiction mixed with a little love for dogs.  In a post-apocalyptic landscape, a robot is tasked with protecting a dying man’s dog, one of the few living survivors of the world.  Game of Thrones TV director Miguel Sapochnik leads his second feature film and first in a decade.  Let’s see if Hanks brings the golden touch. (October 2)

17. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Every now and then, the Oscars notice quirky head-turners.  No one fits that description better than Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind writing Academy Award winner Charlie Kaufman.  His first directorial effort since Anamolisa and first with live-action actors in 12 years since Synecdoche, New York is a dramatic thriller about a woman at a relationship crossroads after an odd traveling detour.  Wild Rose breakout Jessie Buckley works with Toni Collette and Jesse Plemons for this future indie gem from Netflix.  (TBA)

18. Deep Water

(Image: journalposts.com)

It has been a long 18 years since noted master of eroticism Adrian Lyne brought Unfaithful to the masses with a Oscar-nominated Diane Lane.  Let’s how Lyne has become an aging fine wine to the tune of Terrence Malick and other filmmakers who have taken decade-plus breaks.  His newest film adapts mystery maven Patricia Highsmith with ingenue-of-the-moment Ana de Armas entangled in a murder and disappearance crime when one of her allowed affairs turns up missing and her open-relationship husband, played by Ben Affleck, becomes the prime suspect. (November 13)  

19. Mulan

The annual parade of Disney re-imaginings always find their way to Oscar nominations in the artistic categories.  With trailers promising more straight epic adventure and way less Eddie Murphy sidekick chicanery, Mulan might just be one of the rare cases where these remakes improve on the originals.  The Mouse House is betting strongly on female director Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country) to elevate this material into something special.  The trailers look phenomenal where future nominations look very viable.  (March 7)

20.  Soul

Pixar has two 2020 films awaiting release and both are in the first half of the year.  Onward feels like silly genre thrills, while Soul looks more like the assured Best Animated Feature contender of the two.  Colorfully bringing symbolism and emotion to out of out-of-body experiences, star Jamie Foxx and double Oscar winner Pete Docter (Up and Inside Out) look to squeeze hearts and tear ducts.  (June 19)

21. The Woman in the Window

The last entry on this list is a carryover from last year.  Director Joe Wright has been more hit (Atonement, Darkest Hour, Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice) than miss (The Soloist, Hanna) with Oscar voters.  So has his lead, namely 6-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams.  This long-delayed 20th Century Fox thriller in the vein of Rear Window finally sees the light of theater screens in the early summer.  (May 18) 

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[imgoldielikehawn]

Just a dancer Pt 1

Hey guys!!! I couldn't go to sleep so I decided to finish up the first chapter to my NEW Jai Courtney FanFic

Let me know what you think!!! you guys are the best, no worries I'm not finihsed with Tough Love I just needed a change. I haven't decided how long this Fan Fic will be yet...  @kenzieam​ 

PLEASE REQUEST TO BE TAGGED

ENJOY and remember Jai=Bae...

Song: Too Many Daddies - Lucian Piane

Characters

Jai Courtney

Coraleiani  summers (WOC)

Lisa Bonet

Zoe Kravitz

Jason Momoa

It’s been a wild ride for the last four years. I haven’t seen my family in a long time but I know they support me from afar.  These are the same thoughts I’ve had since the first time I stepped on stage. I could hear the crowd of rowdy men and women from behind the curtain.  It echoed in my ears like the sound of a siren blaring down the street.  I welcome it, like a blanket on a snow day.  The curtain rose and I could see my sequined corset catch the lights.

“He wants to take me to breakfast

 He wants to show me his house

 He wants to meet me in London

He wants to drive me around

 I can't fix this problem of my

 Too many daddies and not enough time

One at a time boys”

  Three steps to the left… turn and smile at the crowd, leg up and gasp. Turn around shake my ass, half face the crowd right leg up smack my ass. Turn again dry hump the male dancer, who by the way is definitely gay.  Tip my hat, three steps to the center, drop into a split, flip forward hands in the air, lifted by male dancer walk together towards the center of the stage….

“He wants to lose in my corset

 He wants to buy me a ring

He wants to teach me to tango

He wants to do everything

 I got all of them standing in line

Too many daddies and not enough time

Too many daddies Too many daddies Too many daddies Too many daddies Too many daddies Too many daddies And not,

And not enough time”

  Off goes the corset, hold my tits up, act shocked, wink …. Lights go out.

The small venue erupted with cheers as the curtain came down. It was our last set of the night and I was exhausted. I always enjoyed preforming for the burlesque but it was almost all I had time for.  I was a full time performer straight out of college, Julliard for four years and then touring with a company. I loved all styles of dance but burlesque was my favorite. After changing out of costume I slid into my favorite pair of black jeans and tossed my curly hair in a bun on top of my head. I looked up as my best friend and her mother were coming to my vanity.

“You were amazing!” Zoe said. She was always calm on the big screen but in person she was hyper. Her mom Lisa was the complete opposite. She always spoke in a calm and soothing voice that had been calming my nerves at every dance recital since I was five years old. Lisa was the only reason I was able to attend Julliard. I’ve always called her mom and she’s never treated me any different than Zoe or her two other children.  “Very sexy” Lisa smiled.  “Thanks guys, I’m so glad you could make it” I said pulling my hoodie over my shoulders. It was winter time in LA and I planned to enjoy it while I could.

“I can’t believe you’re going on a world tour! I’m so jealous” Zoe teased as we started to walk to the back door.  “Neither can I, I’m nervous.” I frowned.

“You have nothing to be nervous about. How many nights do you have left here?” Lisa asked as we neared the car.  “I have two days left here and then it’s off to Australia” I smiled.  “Ugh I hate to see you go, that’s so far away from us” her mouth turned into a thin line.  “Oh mom, I’ll be back before you know it and I will facetime everyday” I hugged her and Zoe.  “Come by the house to get something to eat, it’s pretty late.” She got into the driver’s side of her car and Zoe and I got in mine. “Soooooooo, have you talked to your mom?” Zoë asked and I frowned. “Not really. What am I supposed to say…? “Hey mom I dance half naked for a living and I’m going on tour” I’m sure she’d just love that” she made a face of discomfort “Point taken, you’re going to have to tell her eventually.  “I know...” the remainder of the car ride was silent as I turned up the music. My mom is Lisa Bonet’s best friend Cree Summers; I didn’t know she was mother until I was five years old. When I was born my mother and father made an agreement, they were never married and my mother wasn’t ready to be a mother. I was to be raised by my father and kept  out of the spot light. Long story short the universe found out about me and I found out about her the end right?

No… my father did everything possible to shield me from it, but my mom was not giving up. After a lengthy court battle my father finally agreed to joint custody.  My father was still very adamant about me staying out of the spotlight and my mother  had also got on board. I shook the thoughts away as we pulled up to Zoe’s house. “Dads home, looks like he has a friend over” she said spotting the Motorcycle in the driveway.  I locked the car and followed her in. when I got to the door I could hear yelling coming from the living room. I looked at Zoe and raised my eyebrow.  She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the kitchen. I took off my jacket and poked my head into the living room to say hey to Zoe’s dad Jason.  Lisa remarried when Zoe and I were growing up after divorcing from her dad Lenny.  Jason was a big time actor himself and always a joy to be around.  “Hey!” I said loudly with a small wave.  “Cora! I didn’t know you were coming over!” Jason jumped up from the couch and pulled me from around the corner and into a bear hug. He was not a small man by far and in an instant I felt my back pop. “Jason.. Please” I gasped. “Whoops, it’s so good to see you!” he smiled sincerely.  He backed up and I noticed the other man who was on the couch standing behind him.

  I felt like I had been hit by a semi and I prayed it wasn’t written all over my face. Jason’s “Friend” was Jai Courtney. He was pretty much a staple in entertainment these days. I had seen him on several magazines and in several movies. I could feel my brain imploding. “Jai this is Coraleiani but we call her Cora for short” he gestured to me “Cora this is Jai” I nodded coolly and said “Hello”. His eyes seemed to sweep over my entire body, not that I was wearing anything revealing. He smiled and stepped forward holding out his hand for me to shake. I hesitantly walked up to him and placed my hand in his. “HI” he grinned. “Cora, come eat with us” Lisa called from the kitchen.  I pulled my hand back slowly as  my amber eyes  remained glued to his fantastic blue ones. His gaze was intense, almost as if he demanded to be seen at all times. I realized that our hands weren’t joined but seemed to be hanging in the empty air. Jason cleared his throat and mine and Jai’s connection broke. “I’d better go” I said forcing my hand down to my side. I turned for the kitchen and ran smack into Lisa and Zoe.  I glared at both of them and walked into the kitchen. I sat down on the stool and Lisa and Zoe sat down beside and across from me. “Don’t” I said shoving the vegan pasta in my mouth that Lisa made.  “Oh my goodness, I thought you two were going to kiss” Zoe whispered. “Mhmmmm. If Jason hadn’t cleared his throat I’m sure they would have. Jai is a very attractive man.” Lisa smiled. “Mom, Zoe, drop it. I’m already embarrassed as is.” I dropped my fork on my plate and sighed. “Okay, but this isn’t going away. Jai is Jason’s best friend and you’re about to go to Australia” Lisa looked over at me and waggled her eyebrows. I just wanted to crawl under a rock and disappear. I finished dinner as fast as they’d allow and they walked me to the door. “Bye Coraleiani” Lisa hugged me at the door. I was trying to make a run for it  with what little shred of dignity I had left when I looked up and saw Jason and Jai outside by Jai’s Motorcycle. I took a breath and I swear I could feel Lisa and Zoe’s grins on the back of my neck. I walked to my car quickly and pulled off before I even turned on my music.

 JAI’S POV

 “You like what you see?” Jason smirked.  

“Who is she?” I stared after her black Chevy Impala.

“That’s Cora man, Cree’s daughter.” He grinned.

“Fuckin hell she grew up didn’t she?” I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Hey, she’s family. You can look but you can’t touch, Lisa will eat you alive” he crossed his arms.

“How old?” I asked ignoring his last statement.

“Same as Zoe, 28, I’m telling you leave her alone. She’s a dancer, went to college and everything. Works at the Shadow lounge down the block” his grin widened.

“That’s a strip club ain’t it?” I grinned back.

“Not exactly” he turned and walked away from.

“Really? You’re just going to walk away and leave me to wonder!” I called to Jason’s back. He waved over his shoulder. I frowned and hopped on my bike.

   JASONS POV

 I closed the door behind me and ran into my wife on the stairs. She was smiling. “What are you smiling about?” I adored my wife, I thought to myself.  “He’s enamored isn’t he?” she smiled crossing her arms. “How’d you know?” I sighed and walked up to take her into my arms. “The way he was staring, reminded me of how I stare at you” she wrapped her arms around my neck and then wrapped her legs around my waist. “Don’t worry I already told him she’s off limits” I carried her up the stairs. “I’m not worried. She likes him too. Just let things run their course” Lisa leaned forward and kissed me. “I Love you” she whispered.  “You better” I smiled kissing her again…

[frontproofmedia]

The Monster Rises Again: Naoya Inoue Ready for Las Vegas Spotlight

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Published: June 17, 2021

LAS VEGAS (June 17, 2021) — Naoya "Monster" Inoue is a man of few words, but his devastating knockouts, climb up the pound-for-pound rankings and cult hero status among combat sports fans have elevated the Japanese prodigy to main event status. Inoue will defend his WBA and IBF bantamweight world titles Saturday against Filipino mandatory challenger Michael "Hot and Spicy" Dasmarinas from The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Inoue, who also captured titles at light flyweight and junior bantamweight, is 15-0 in world title bouts and looks to continue his dominance against a man who has not tasted defeat since 2014. In the co-feature, Mikaela Mayer will make the first defense of her WBO junior lightweight strap against former two-weight world champion Erica Farias. Mayer dethroned Ewa Brodnicka last October as the co-feature to the Inoue-Jason Moloney main event. Mayer has her sights on the top names in and around her weight class. The 10-round featherweight televised opener will see the return of action star Adam Lopez, who will defend his NABF strap against former WBO junior featherweight world champion Isaac "Royal Storm" Dogboe. Lopez has won toe-to-toe battles against Louie Coria and Jason Sanchez since his valiant effort against Oscar Valdez, while Dogboe returned last July with a one-sided victory over Chris Avalos. It was crowded dais Thursday, as Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and all six fighters participated in the final press conference. This is what they had to say. Bob Arum "Monster is back in the United States, and he's fighting a tough Filipino. And I know from experience how tough Filipino fighters are. So this should be a very, very enjoyable fight. I can't wait for Saturday night because the fists will be flying." Naoya Inoue "Basically, {becoming undisputed champion} means I'm the best in that weight class, the bantamweight division. To prove that, that's why I'm going after all four belts." "I feel the expectations, and I want to answer those expectations, and I want to have a performance Saturday night to answer to those expectations." "I'm very happy that the nickname 'Monster' comes before Naoya Inoue. I'm very happy and honored, and I've taken it in myself as far as 'Monster' in the United States as my name." Michael Dasmarinas "I did everything I am supposed to do in training, and I am prepared, and I will do whatever it takes to give a good fight to Naoya Inoue." "It was a long, hard wait {after winning the IBF title eliminator in March 2019}, but patience and perseverance allowed me to get here. I am thankful to everyone that I've been given the chance to fight a great fighter in Naoya Inoue." "America has to learn about my very hot and spicy punches!" Mikaela Mayer "We need to hear that promoters and networks want us to go those three-minute rounds and that they see the benefits it would have for women's boxing. And if that's what you want, I'll give it to you, and if that's what will grow women's boxing, we will do it." "I don't have anything bad to say about Erica Farias. She has been a champion for a long time. She fought at 140 and 147, and now she is coming down in weight. She has a ton of experience, but this is a new era in women's boxing. The experience and the skill that I bring, even though I have less fights than her, is on another level thanks to the Olympics and for women being able to fight at the highest level in the amateurs. This will also be a test for her. I prepared very well and we studied her fights. We always go into fights with a good game plan. If she studied my last fight, it's not going to really help her because every single fight we keep learning and building. I'm looking to become a better fighter every time I go out to the ring." Erica Farias "I will take full advantage of this opportunity. I already became world champion in two divisions, and now I'm looking to become champion in the division that I debuted in a couple of years ago. I feel great at this weight." "I'm very calm. I've been working hard for seven months because I was going to get another opportunity in a higher weight class. That's why we took this challenge. We were close to the division since I've been working very hard for the last couple of months." Adam Lopez "This is the perfect name I need right now. Isaac is a great champion. He's dedicated to the sport just like I am, and I'm excited to show you what I've been working on. Tune in. It's going to be a great fight." "That fight alone {against Oscar Valdez} showed me that I got what it takes to be at the top. I took the fight on a day's notice. I was going through a lot of management issues beforehand. I was in a shaky spot in my life. I was not 100 percent there mentally, physically, but it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down. It was a fight I always wanted. The way it presented itself was something you never see happen. Nobody comes in 11 pounds heavy {like Valdez's original opponent, Andres Gutierrez}. That's unheard of, so I thought it was meant to be. I jumped on it. I did my thing. I think I showed the world what I got, and that was me on three weeks of training. Saturday night, I got a full camp, so I'm excited." "I put everything into this camp. I know Isaac is a tough competitor, so you will see the best Adam Lopez Saturday night." Isaac Dogboe "{You can expect} a firefight as usual. What can I say? I bring excitement. That's exactly what they are expecting. They're expecting Isaac Dogboe to come and fight, so I am going to come and fight. Obviously, the fans are looking forward to an exciting fight, and that's why we're here. At the end of the day, we just want to keep the excitement going. After the fight, they'll be like, 'Yeah, that's Adam Lopez and Isaac Dogboe. That was the fight of the night.'" "I love working with them, Barry {Hunter} and Boogie {Harris} and Brady. These guys, they are family. I feel great. At first, I was just supposed to pass through a couple of weeks. I ended up telling them, "You know what, I'm gonna stay.' That's how everything began. I feel great. The boys down there are really sharp. They're motivating me. They keep me in shape. I've had a relaxed camp. I feel calm. Saturday, I'm ready to put everything on the line." "The best Adam Lopez can also be an undisciplined Adam Lopez. I know he is a great fighter. He's gonna stick and move. But at the end of the day, sometimes Adam Lopez gets cute in the ring, so we're looking to exploit that. When he gets a little cute, we'll let him know that it's not a time to get cute." SATURDAY, June 19, 2021 ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT Naoya Inoue vs. Michael Dasmarinas, 12 rounds, Inoue's WBA/IBF Bantamweight World Titles Mikaela Mayer vs. Erica Farias, 10 rounds, Mayer's WBO Junior Lightweight World Title Adam Lopez vs. Isaac Dogboe, 10 rounds, Lopez's NABF featherweight title ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT Lindolfo Delgado vs. Salvador Briceno, 8 rounds, junior welterweight Eric Puente vs. Jose Antonio Meza, 6 rounds, lightweight Omar Rosario vs. JJ Mariano, 4 rounds, junior welterweight

(Featured Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images)

[kansascityhappenings]

Super Bowl LIII prop bets: A look at the bizarre novelty wagers for the big game

Some people will tell you that prop bets are for suckers. And those people suck.

Prop betting has become one of the most popular wagering options for both squares and sharps alike, according to sister site Covers.com.

When it comes to the professional bettors – those fabled Vegas wiseguys – they don’t care what the bet is. Their biggest concern is value: do they have a significant edge over the book to make money on that bet?

Whether that’s on the Super Bowl pointspread or time of the first score of the game, money won is money won. That said, there are “smarter” prop bets to make, like handicapping prop odds for things you can actually research and quantify.

You can crunch the numbers around the longest made field goal for Super Bowl LIII and have an educated prediction. You can’t, however, accurately forecast the fashion habits of Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine and know whether he’ll wear a hat during the halftime show. I mean you can try. And boy do we try.

For all of you Super Bowl bettors — the so-called suckers — who love those unpredictable and often absurd novelty prop options: we salute you. That’s true gambling. Let’s do the impossible.

*Note: Most novelty props that can’t be officially graded in a box score are not allowed to be offered in legal sports betting states like Nevada or New Jersey. These types of props are only available online or in Europe sportsbooks. If you can’t legally take part in those markets, these predictions should simply be treated as entertainment only.

COIN TOSS

The same folks that poo-poo prop betting are the same ones that crap all over wagering on the coin toss.

Yes, it’s an actual coin toss with no way to predict what will happen. Pure 50/50. But, it’s also a coin toss, so there’s no outside factors like weather or in-game injuries that will spoil a play you thought you handicapped perfectly. Just let her rip.

Another reason to love betting on the coin toss: it’s the miso soup of Super Bowl bets. It’s quick, and early on, and you don’t have to go nuts and bet a ton of money on it. The coin toss is just a little taste to warm up your gut for the all-you-can-eat feast that is Super Sunday.

As it stands, Tails holds a 27-25 edge over Heads in Super Bowl coin toss history. Tails had hit in four straight Big Games before Heads showed up last year at Super Bowl LII. Is Heads due to come up again in order to balance out the universe or is Tails still the hot pick? Reminder: it’s a coin toss, so don’t lose too much sleep.

A couple other coin toss trends to consider (but are actually pure fluff): the NFC has won 18 of the past 21 Super Bowl coin flips but lost last year when the AFC Champion Patriots took the toss. That was just the second time in New England’s eight Super Bowl showings under Bill Belichick that the Pats won the toss – and they lost both of those games (2012, 2018).

Again, it’s a coin toss. Have fun.

PREDICTION: Tails (-105)

NATIONAL ANTHEM LENGTH

Motown legend Gladys Knight has the honors of singing the National Anthem at Super Bowl LIII. The 74-year-old songstress from Atlanta has an Over/Under of 107 seconds (could vary per sportsbook), which is well below last year’s 120-second total for pop singer Pink, who clocked in at 112 seconds and cashed in for Under bettors.

Going back over the past 28 Super Bowls, the average length of the anthem is about 115 seconds but recent singers have really milked the spotlight with longer versions of the “Star-Spangled Banner”. Before Pink, three consecutive singers went over two minutes with their anthem performance and looking back at those past 28 Super Bowls, just seven versions of the anthem stayed below the current O/U of 107 seconds.

I did some YouTube sleuthing and found a recording of Knight singing the anthem back in 1991, with her finishing with a time around 105 seconds. That was 27 years ago. According to my fellow Covers Live Wire host and professional stage performer/singer Maddy Palmer, Knight’s age and breathing control have her leaning toward the Under. Maddy believes Knight won’t have the pipes to go all out like some younger anthem singers in the past. She’ll keep it quick and clean.

Good enough for me.

PREDICTION: Under 107 (-115)

HALFTIME SHOW

Is it just me or does Maroon 5 not have enough clout to play the Super Bowl halftime show? Beyoncé, Prince, Paul McCartney, The Rolling “F-ing” Stones, and… Maroon 5. One of these things is not like the others. I guess that’s what you get when every other major musical act passes on the chance due to their stand on the NFL vs. Colin Kaepernick. But I digress.

Props around the halftime show are abundant, with Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi (God, I’d love an all Outkasts halftime show!) scheduled to appear. As mentioned above, you can wager on whether Levine will sport a hat to start the show or not, but by now that’s standard Super Bowl prop betting fare. I think the real money is in the opening song markets.

Some books have “Moves Like Jagger” as the front runner to kick off the halftime show while other have songs like “One More Night”, “Sugar”, and “Makes Me Wonder” at the top of this prop. You can grab most of these between +300 and +600.

The one trend I’ve noticed in recent Super Bowl halftime shows is a “psych out song” to open. They start playing the tune from one song but then start singing another:

We saw Lady Gaga do this three years ago with “God Bless America” and then jumping into “Poker Face”, Bruno Mars did it in 2014 with a kids choir singing “Billionaire” then he went in with “Locked Out Of Heaven”, and Beyoncé crossed us up with a “Run The World (Girls)”/Vince Lombardi mashup then singing “Love On Top”. Beware of this trend because it causes grading issues with many online books. It’s their prop and their rules, so whatever they think is the first song sung – that’s what you get. Tough tees.

The other trend I’ve picked up on in recent Super Bowl halftime shows is that acts will either open with their latest song – in order to promote the new album – or they’ll swing big with what is considered their greatest hit:

Justin Timberlake went new with “Filthy” right out of the gate last year, Lady Gaga went classic with “Poker Face”, Coldplay went classic with “Yellow”, Katy Perry went new with “Roar”, Bruno Mars went new with “Locked Out of Heaven”, as did the Queen B with “Love On Top”, and Madonna took us back to the classics with “Vogue” in 2012.

Since most of these options pay a larger sum due to the unpredictable nature of this prop, we’re pulling the trigger on three songs to open. Going classic: “This Love”. Going new: “Girls Like You”. And, digging into setlists from their recent concerts: “What Lovers Do”.

PREDICTION: Opening song – This Love (+1,500), Girls Like You (+600), What Lovers Do (+400)

BETTING THE BROADCAST

The great thing about broadcast props is that the game can be an absolute wash and you still have a dog in the fight. And speaking of dogs, did you know there’s an Over/Under prop out there on the number of dogs featured in Super Bowl commercials (5.5)? Gotta go Over, right?

Other broadcast offerings include how many time Tony Romo will correctly calls a play before it happens and will a call Romo correctly predicts finds its way to the endzone? Then you have all of the Over/Under TV appearance props: Giselle 1.5 O/U, Roger Goodell 1.5 O/U, Robert Kraft 2.5, Kylie Jenner 0.5.

There are a ton of these out there but my favorite one – in terms of probability – is will CBS mention the age difference in the two head coaches, Bill Belichick (the evil entity that uses his body as a host is 391 years old but he doesn’t look a day over 66) and Sean McVay (33).

The “Yes” on this prop is priced at -200, which may be a little too rich for the casual fan but this prop is going to hit. You bet $20 to get $10. You’re going to return half of your investment right away. No mutual fund is going to promise that kind of return.

PREDICTION: “Yes” broadcast mentions age difference between Belichick and McVay (-200)

GATORADE BATH 

Just because the whistle blew and confetti is flying doesn’t mean the betting fun stops. The postgame is a dog and pony show of unpredictable markets just waiting to be wagered on. You’ve got a ton of President Trump related props (Will he congratulate the winning team on Twitter by midnight ET?) and of course, who will the winning quarterback thank first (God, family, coach, team, fans)?

At the top of that list though is the color of the Gatorade bath. Depending on where you play, the price on colors is all over the place. However, most shops do have water/clear and yellow leading the charge.

Looking back to 2000, this is your Super Bowl Gatorade bath count: Water x 7, Orange x 5, Yellow x 3, Blue x 1, and 4 bone-dry coaches. You had both Water and Orange when the Ravens won in 2013, in case you’re actually counting.

If you like the Patriots, there might be value in no bath – if available at your sportsbook. In Belichick’s five wins, he’s stayed dry in three of those games (thanks to walk-off wins) with Blue and Water as the color of the other two. McVay, on the other hand, got a Water bath in his first win as the Rams’ head coach in Week 1 of the 2017 season.

Seems like H2O is the way to go.

PREDICTION: Water/Clear +360

This article was written by Jason Logan (@CoversJLo) and originally published on Covers.com, a site also owned by Tribune. 

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/02/01/super-bowl-liii-prop-bets-a-look-at-the-bizarre-big-game-novelty-wagers/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/super-bowl-liii-prop-bets-a-look-at-the-bizarre-novelty-wagers-for-the-big-game/

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 16 April 2018

Quick Bits:

Amazing Spider-Man #799 sees some surprising revelations and developments, as Spider-Man’s extended network tries to take on the Red Goblin, who has turned his attention to Harry and his family. This issue does a great job of ratcheting up the tension as we dive headlong into the final confrontation in the next issue.

| Published by Marvel

Antar: The Black Knight #1 is the beginning of a retelling of the history and legend of the warrior and poet Antarah ibn Shaddad, brought to us by Nnedi Okorafor and Eric Battle. I know that many probably aren’t familiar with Islamic poetry, let alone pre-Islamic Arabic poetry as part of the Mu’allaqat, so it’s especially nice to see this presented here. The art from Battle, with colours by Jason Scott Jones, is great.

| Published by IDW

Avengers #689 is technically the penultimate issue of “No Surrender”, but this is the extra-sized special spotlighting the Avengers throwing everything they have left at the Challenger and Grandmaster, and showing who has all the cards. This is big, with great art from Pepe Larraz and David Curiel, and a really nice circling back around for narration from Lightning.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: Back to Basics #4 concludes the second two-part story focusing on a time in the Avengers’ past, as seen through the eyes of Ms. Marvel using a virtual reality device. I really like how this series has been structured, with the framing story with Ms. Marvel and then the view of the historical inset. Also, so far this has featured some of Peter David’s best humour I’ve seen for awhile. 

| Published by Marvel

The Ballad of Sang #2 is more balls to the wall action, with Sang being hunted down by a coked-up “rock and roll” biker gang. It’s completely over the top to the point of near absurdity, but Ed Brisson and Alessandro Micelli are still making this high octane fun.

| Published by Oni Press

Black Crown Quarterly #3: Spring 2018 spends a lot of its time building up the neighbourhood, centrally with a tour in “Ghost Walk with Me” from Tini Howard and Phillip Bond, but also in two other comics stories and the continuing “Tales from the Black Crown Pub” feature. It’s interesting how the locations in the respective comics being published are used here to populate this fictional world, like a shared universe that only intersects with its buildings. There’s also an interview with Howard about and a preview for the forthcoming Euthanauts by her and Nick Robles. And a short from David Barnett and Martin Simmonds that looks integral to Punks Not Dead.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #1 begins the next chapter in Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s epic, essentially turning the premise on its ear as it goes from Lucy searching for her dad and the missing heroes to the “missing” heroes searching for Lucy. Given where Lucy ends up when she claims to have figured everything out, it certainly makes me wonder where and what the farm happens to be.

| Published by Dark Horse

Cable #156 takes a slip into the past/future with an untold adventure set during the time period of the last Cable series when he and Hope were hopping through time, trying to stay one step ahead of Bishop, who was trying to kill them. Aside from establishing more of the father/daughter bond between the two of them, this also looks to be showing us Hope’s first encounter with Cable’s techo-organic nightmare in the form of Metus. I love how Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson are mining Cable’s past to build this story. Also, as with the first issue in the arc, Germán Peralta and Jesus Aburtov’s artwork is stunning.

| Published by Marvel

Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins #6 brings to a close this mini, hopefully with more to come. I love the regular Critical Role broadcast and it’s nice to see the Vox Machina campaign and characters brought to life, as it were, in a different medium. Matt Mercer, Matthew Colville, Olivia Samson, Chris Kawagiwa, and Chris Northrop did a great job of adapting them to the comics medium and told one hell of a story, with a great feel for the actors’ voices, too. 

| Published by Dark Horse

The Damned #9 gets us back to new material, presenting a fairly straightforward heist of the proceeds of a demonic gambling parlour. Naturally it’s not going to turn out to be that simple.

| Published by Oni Press

Daredevil #601 begins the next stage in Charles Soule’s upheaval of Daredevil’s status quo, with Mayor Fisk fighting for his life in the hospital, the Hand waging war on New York City, and Matt Murdock finding himself in a position of power. Mike Henderson and Matt Milla provide some really nice art.

| Published by Marvel

Evolution #6 is ostensibly the end of the series first arc, but there’s not much concluded. There are a few transitions for our focus characters, but it’s mostly more slow going through the outbreak. It’s nice to see outside confirmation that Abe (and by extension everyone else) isn’t insane or, at least, isn’t imagining the bug. And the art from Joe Infurnari, with Jordan Boyd, is gorgeous.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Giants #5 ends the series with the moral lesson of friendship and humility over greed and aggression. It’s been a good series, with some great storytelling by the Valderrama brothers.

| Published by Dark Horse

Her Infernal Descent #1 is an interesting take on Dante’s Inferno, with a grieving mother descending into hell with William Blake as her guide. Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler have this first issue rife with literary and pop culture allusions and cameos, much like Dante utilized characters and people from his time in the original poem, adding an interesting level of Easter egg finding. The art form Kyle Charles and Dee Cunniffe also presents an interesting aspect to the storytelling. I love the choices for the pages with nine-panel grids.

| Published by AfterShock

The Highest House #3 brings the Lord and his family home, allowing for more intrigue among the land, and Moth to become smitten with the Lord’s daughter. The artwork from Peter Gross and Fabien Alquier is simply gorgeous. I’ve been saying this since the first issue, but the way that Gross lays out his pages is spectacular. Each page is a treat to see how he’s incorporated bits and pieces of the House’s architecture, making it feel like an ever-present character, much like how Mike Carey presents Obsidian’s voice to Moth.

| Published by IDW

Infidel #2 sees Aisha try to find a reasonable explanation for seeing the ghosts, finding out from her doctor that her anxiety meds can possibly cause hallucinations. It’s also nice to see Aisha and Leslie try to mend their differences, Pornsak Pichetshote is doing a great job of building these characters.

| Published by Image

Infinity 8 #2 sees Agent Keren’s situation go from weird to worse, as she continues to rebuff the advances of a lovestruck alien, now having to deal also with a homicidal one, all while trying to figure out the mystery of the necropolis and keep the ship from exploding due the attack of other insane Kornaliens. Beautiful artwork again this issue from Dominique Bertail as he really gets to show off some weird and wonderful design amidst the necropolis.

| Published by Lion Forge / The Magnetic Collection

Infinity Countdown #2 is more punching over the Infinity Stones, or at least the Power Stone, with little more beyond that. It’s pretty at least. Aaron Kuder does a great job with the main sequence of the Guardians battling the Chitauri and the Raptors, while Mike Hawthorne and Terry Pallot carve out Adam Warlock’s quest for the Soul Gem, all beautifully coloured by Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by Marvel

Iron Fist #80 brings the tie-in to Damnation to a close, along with the series itself. I’ve really enjoyed Ed Brisson’s take on Danny Rand, first with Mike Perkins and here with Damian Couceiro, so I’m sad to see it end, but it does so on a high note. 

| Published by Marvel

James Bond: The Body #4 is another great issue in this series. I like how Aleš Kot has structured the series and each story within it, how it has been focusing on both the theme of the titular body parts, as well as how each part contributes to the whole. It’s a measured, thoughtful approach to James Bond and it adds a nice depth that is often missing in some incarnations. It’s also nice to see more Eoin Marron art. I loved his work in Centipede and he shows here that he’s just as suited to more grounded character work.

| Published by Dynamite

Jughead: The Hunger #5 has Jughead’s problems in Riverdale come to a head when he finds out that difficulties just escalate when you try to run from them. Despite the downcast and brooding feel, there’s still some time for humour in Frank Tieri’s script.

| Published by Archie / Archie’s Madhouse Presents

Kick-Ass #3 is where it seems that it’s going to start going wrong for Patience as she finally comes face to face with some true opposition. I like how Mark Millar is fleshing out this new aspect of his world, making Patience’s family feel important, even as we find out a new dangerous wrinkle. There’s also the continuing idea that there truly are no heroes in this story, just varying levels of criminals.

| Published by Image

Lazarus #27 takes us back to the “Conclave” arc, showing us what happened following Jonah’s leap into the North Sea. It’s interesting to see how torture and nearly dying seems to change a person. The quiet moments really allow Michael Lark’s (with Tyler Boss and colours by Santi Arcas) art to breathe.

| Published by Image

Lucy Dreaming #2 is more glorious madness from Max Bemis and Michael Dialynas. The story is funny as Lucy comes to terms with her parents’ mad science and her own newfound ability to lucid dream in very strange ways and the artwork is beautiful.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Optimus Prime #17 is a bit of a mindfuck. Since the reappearance of Onyx Prime at the beginning of this arc, John Barber has made it feel like there was something ominous and somewhat hinky going on. That feeling was well-deserved and it shines through this issue.

| Published by IDW

Optimus Prime #18 is a retelling of the history of the Primes, with the new perspective revealed in the previous issue. This sort of revisiting of Transformers lore definitely aids in the idea that this incarnation is going to be ending soon.

| Published by IDW

Rough Riders: Ride or Die #3 gets into some interesting territory as Houdini traverses the afterlife in order to figure out the problem with the Buck Rider, Madame Coffey and the potential oncoming zombie apocalypse. Patrick Olliffe’s art has been great throughout all of the Rough Riders books, but I wanted to point out that some of the layouts this issue are particularly impressive.

| Published by AfterShock

Rumble #5 is glorious. John Arcudi, David Rubín, and Dave Stewart take us back in time to Rathraq’s battles with the Esu in order to show us an allegory about the true meaning of friendship and sacrifice to close out this arc. Rubín’s art just consistently seems to be transcendent. 

| Published by Image

The Spider King #3 is packed with more incredible artwork from Simone D’Armini and Adrian Bloch. Like Andrew MacLean’s Head Lopper, there’s a visceral quality to the style of the angular characters, crazy hair, and smooshed noses that just lends itself completely to this kind of violent and crazy mash up of science fiction and Viking action.

| Published by IDW

Star Trek: Discovery - Succession #1 continues on in the mirror universe following the end of the first season of the television series. As such, it’s pretty dark, with the usual backstabbing, in-fighting, and plotting, but the new Emperor takes it to a new level of evil and crazy with a plan for the complete genocide of non-human races. Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson also throw some somewhat unexpected familiar faces at us.

| Published by IDW

Star Wars: Poe Dameron #26 jumps ahead in the timeline to The Last Jedi era, with a flashback story filling in the hole of how Poe survived Jakku. I don’t always like it when ancillary media fills in what some consider plot holes, which in many cases are just the story moving on past trivial details, but this one wasn’t necessarily trivial, even if the real life answer was just something like “we really like Oscar Isaac”. Either way, Charles Soule does a good job of bringing an explanation here into an entertaining story and Angel Unzueta’s likeness game is on fire.

| Published by Marvel

Superb #9 serves as a capstone to the second arc, with Abbie giving an analysis of Kayla and Jonah, before the revelation of who she’s talking to in order to set up the next stage. Despite being an end, it actually serves as a pretty decent jumping on point, giving a detailed, if biased, explanation of the characters and what’s going on.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Tales of Suspense #104 is the pretty awesome conclusion to what has been a great story. It’s full of the humour and oddity that Matthew Rosenberg has been bringing to the story since the first issue, plus the added depth that only Bucky seems to understand that this has never been about them.

| Published by Marvel

TMNT Universe #21 has a main feature from Paul Allor, Mark Torres, and Ronda Pattison that continues the plight of the Triceratons, following their attempt to return to Earth in the main book, as they try to come to an accord with the Utroms. Naturally, it’s slow going and doesn’t seem to be working out so well.

| Published by IDW

Transformers: Lost Light #17 drops many hints that all is not what it seems in the Afterspark, with weird shenanigans going on as Rodimus tries to return to the land of the living and Nautica investigates the area. There’s some great humour throughout the issue, and it’s always interesting to see James Roberts delve into the metaphysical and philosophical realms of Transformers lore.

| Published by IDW

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #2 goes deeper into Usagi and Ishida’s investigation of the two strangers who appeared murdered in the streets. It’s interesting to see Stan Sakai tackling the religious and political aspects here, within the framing of what’s becoming a traditional Ishida mystery.

| Published by Dark Horse

Weapon H #2 concludes Clay’s battle with the Ur-Wendigo, with a little help from Doctor Strange as a guest star. Greg Pak seems to be approaching this title in an old school Marvel way and it’s a nice change of pace. I’m also really enjoying Cory Smith and Morry Hollowell’s art.

| Published by Marvel

The X-Files: Case Files - Florida Man #1 officially starts IDW’s new approach to the X-Files license after a kind of soft launch last year with JFK Disclosure. Essentially a series of mini-series from various creative teams, this first one brought to us by Delilah S. Dawson, Elena Casagrande, Silvia Califano, and Arianna Florean. It’s a decent set up, with Dawson going heavy into the more humorous aspects of Mulder and Scully, tapping heavy into the feel of the offbeat episodes. It makes for an entertaining story and the art keeps it relatively light.

| Published by IDW

Other Highlights: 30 Days of Night #5, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #18, Assassinistas #4, Black Panther #172, The Crow: Memento Mori #2, Curse Words #13, Death of Love #3, Descender #29, Diablo House #4, Encounter #2, The Further Adventures of Nick Wilson #4, Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #2, GI Joe: A Real American Hero vs. The Six Million Dollar Man #3, Incredible Hulk #715, John Wick #2, Kong on the Planet of the Apes #6, Mage: The Hero Denied #8, Mata Hari #3, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #6, Moonshine #9, Ms. Marvel #29, Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe #4, Punks Not Dead #3, Quantum & Woody! #5, Skyward #1, Star Trek: Boldly Go #18, Star Wars Adventures #9, Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018, Venomized #3, Warframe #4, Wasted Space #1, Weapon X #16, Xena: Warrior Princess #3

Recommended Collections: Black Monday Murders - Volume 2, Dark Ark - Volume 1, Elephantmen 2260 - Volume 6, Luke Cage - Volume 2: Caged, Ninja-K - Volume 1, Phoenix Resurrection, Punisher: Platoon, Royal City - Volume 2: Sonic Youth, Runaways - Volume 1: Find Your Way Home, Spider-Gwen - Volume 5: Gwenom, Underwinter - Volume 2: Field of Feathers

d. emerson eddy thinks that you should just take a bite, just go all in.

[mavwrekmarketing]

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption The tour started in Vancouver and ends with three nights in Sao Paolo this October

Rock band U2 paid an emotional tribute to murdered MP Jo Cox as they brought their Joshua Tree tour to the UK.

Bono, who worked with the MP on the Make Poverty History campaign, dedicated Ultraviolet (Light My Way) to her memory.

“She lived her life championing the lives of others,” he told the audience at London’s Twickenham Stadium.

Mrs Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed in June last year during the EU referendum campaign.

Image caption U2 have been supporters of the Jo Cox Foundation

The tribute was one of several moments when U2 paused to acknowledge global events, including the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London.

For their encore, the band asked Noel Gallagher on stage to sing Don’t Look Back In Anger, which became an unofficial anthem of resilience in Manchester after a suicide bomber killed 22 fans outside an Ariana Grande concert in May.

Gallagher also dedicated the song to the victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

A day earlier, U2 had invited 50 of the firefighters who tackled the blaze to watch their rehearsals and soundcheck.

And Bono echoed Jo Cox’s maiden speech to Parliament – “we have more in common than that which divides us” – as he made a plea for tolerance towards immigrants.

“Us Irish are immigrant people,” he said, “and of course we came here into this great, Great Britain and we thank you for giving us safety and sanctuary for all these years.

“We hope it won’t stop.”

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The Joshua Tree tour is expected to play to more than 2m people in 2017

It was a testament to U2’s experience and sincerity that these moments did not overshadow or unbalance the evening; which was, at heart, a celebration of their career-defining album The Joshua Tree.

Written against the backdrop of the Cold War, The Joshua Tree reflected the two sides of the American dream, with the Irish band seduced by its glamour but repelled by what bassist Adam Clayton “the bleakness and greed” of the Reagan era.

Thirty years later, it remains an eerily relevant ode to a divided America.

“It seems like we have come full circle from when The Joshua Tree songs were originally written, with global upheaval, extreme right wing politics and some fundamental human rights at risk,” said guitarist The Edge earlier this year.

So while most bands revisit classic albums as an exercise in nostalgia (or luring back lost fans), U2 seemed energised, even hungry on this anniversary jaunt.

Image copyright Rex Features

Image caption The original Joshua Tree tour began in arenas but had to upgrade to stadiums to meet demand

The tour itself boasts technology that would have been unthinkable in 1987 – from the sampled instruments that bolstered their sound; to the 200-foot, 8K LED video wall that formed a backdrop to the set.

At the start of the show, however, U2 spurned both those luxuries.

The video screens were set to standby as Larry Mullen, Jr strode onto a small, tree-shaped satellite stage and launched into Sunday Bloody Sunday’s instantly-recognisable drum riff.

He was soon joined by his bandmates, who played a four song pre-history of The Joshua Tree, facing each other in a circle, like the Dubliners who put on their first London shows 38 years ago, using 3,000 they’d borrowed from their families.

Performing without spotlights or video screens in the broad daylight was a brave move in front of 80,000 fans – but it brought the best out of both sides.

The audience were forced to focus on U2, and U2 were forced to play their hardest, as Sunday Bloody Sunday led into New Year’s Day, followed by Bad and their breakthrough single Pride (In The Name Of Love).

The raw power of those songs – more often reserved for encores – set the stadium on fire. Grown men played air guitar and bellowed the choruses, clasping each other around the shoulders when they weren’t punching the air.

For once, Bono was humbled, saying: “Thank you for letting us back into your lives.”

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The backdrop features the highest-resolution screens ever used at a pop concert

With the crowd still singing the chorus to Pride, the band moved to the main stage, and played Where The Streets Have No Name silhouetted against the burnt orange colour of a sunset.

This was exactly how the original Joshua Tree tour began in 1987 and it proved similarly effective 30 years later.

Indeed, the screens were consistently used to great effect. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For was set against a slow-moving shot of a desert highway; while With Or Without You saw the band play against dramatic time-lapse footage of Death Valley.

Later, before Exit, they showed a clip from the 1950s TV Western Trackdown, in which a shady con-man named Trump tries to frighten the residents of a small town into building a protective wall.

Rather than preach to the audience, as he has in the past, Bono simply let these clips – and the music – do the talking.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption The two-and-a-half hour show ended with a new song, The Little Things That Give You Away

The star, who recently turned 57, was in better voice than on previous tours. What he has lost in range, he has gained in depth and gravitas.

When he sang Mothers Of The Disappeared, accompanied by a video of women holding candles in honour of the young Chilean men murdered by Augusto Pinochet, the purity of his emotion echoed around the stands.

That song concluded the Joshua Tree section of the show; freeing the band up to play some crowd-pleasers for the encore.

They raced through Beautiful Day, Elevation and Vertigo – three songs that exposed how U2 stopped soul-searching in favour of stadium-filling in the 21st Century.

In the mosh pit, they were a highlight, but elsewhere they felt like the musical equivalent of a Happy Meal.

Achtung Baby’s Ultraviolet and One felt more nourishing – raising hopes that U2 will tour that album when it reaches its own 30th anniversary in 2021.

Image copyright Anton Corbijn

Image caption The band recreated Anton Corbijn’s famous cover shoot to announce the tour

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