#chrono short film

[yoyocheese]

It's hard to process that Akira Toriyama is gone. Dragonball Z was one of my favorite things ever when I was growing up and it's what really got me into anime. To this day, it's ruined fight scenes for me. I still find myself comparing any fight sequence in anime or film to the best ones in DBZ and they almost always fall short.

Chrono Trigger has had an influence on me too, though not nearly to the same extent and while I've never played much Dragon Quest, I certainly respect the legacy of that franchise.

This man has reached out and left his mark on the world several times over. Millions of people are feeling his departure tonight. Not many artists can claim that. Toriyama's legend will never die. His works will remain in our hearts forever.

Rest in peace. He was taken from us far, far too soon.

[radsbackup]

1, 4, 11 and 13 for the fandom asks. Any fandom, whichever fits best ^_^

1. the character everyone gets wrong

AYLA CHRONO TRIGGER. I KNOW PEOPLE ARE GREAT WITH HER IN MY LITTLE NICHE BUT THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I'VE SEEN HER REDUCED TO 'HOT AND DUMB' IS ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she's the leader of her people, talking to AND effectively communicating with people from the future about concepts she's never encountered before now AND SHE'S DOING THIS ALL IN A SECOND LANGUAGE. she is very strong and capable and has many moments throughout the game where she says some pretty profound and inspiring stuff, but because she speaks a little differently and has a sexed up design, she's just for looking at apparently 🙄🙄 God forbid a woman be hot AND clever

(^that goes for all hot and clever ladies in media for me, I just feel particularly butt hurt about ayla)

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

Uhh... I block pretty liberally and just try to avoid drama in public if I can, but usually I unfollow if my dash was getting clogged with shit. The only example that comes to mind isn't a fandom one but I blocked someone once because they were being way too American for me (I know I joke around in varying degrees about Americans, but this was like. Too much about gun bullshit and displaying closed mindsets to other cultures.. No thank youuuuu)

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

Dunno cause I lost my main 😭

I know I filtered dead poets society cause I really don't give a shit about that film, ever since we had to watch it in class lol

I probably had most Marvel stuff filtered too I think, but otherwise I think it was just flashing gifs and insects and stuff that I don't really want to see in general

13. worst blorboficiation

Uhhhh... This is hard to think of. I generally try to avoid fandom takes I don't vibe with and my brain is slow today so ummmmmm

I'm just gonna say the way Capcom have treated their main resi characters LMAO. Especially the Redfield siblings... Like dude they're the best how do you fuck them up!? Chris isn't stupid by any means but throughout the series he just gets worse and worse and makes weird decisions that don't even feel plausible from a character flaw standpoint. He was done fucking dirty in re6 and then re7/8 was just. What the hell. 7 didn't look right but whatever, 8 he looked SOOOO FINE but acted BADLY. (I LOVE re8 but I.... Kinda hate most the story decisions LMAO)

AND CLAIRE!!!????? I LOVE CLAIRE SO MUCH AND THEY DID WEIRD STUFF TO HER :''''(

she's a capable, if a little hot headed, badass that is VERY FUCKING CLEVER. I really enjoyed seeing her in re2r and and cv, but then in rev2 that was straight up not Claire? Like, you can't tell me that she suddenly lost her ability to talk to children like humans when she helped Sherry in re2. She felt flanderised in the worst sense and the game left me feeling very frustrated at a lot of character points. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE FILM/TV PERIPHERALS. I'LL TRY TO KEEP IT SHORT BUT BASICALLY. INTO DARKNESS WAS A CRIME AGAINST CLAIRE CAUSE SHE NOT ONLY HAD THE MORE INTERESTING PLOT POINTS TO FOLLOW, BUT WAS DEPICTED SO POORLY AND EVEN MADE INTO A WEIRD DAMSEL IN DISTRESS FOR LEON... SHE WAS SHAFTED SO HARD JUST FOR LEON TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE (BUT EVEN THAT FUCKED LEON OVER A LOT TOO TBH) and I'll refrain from the other times she's appeared in movies cause it's been a while since I watched any and I don't wanna go on too long into incoherency haha

Send questions from here

[sazlew]

Romcoms

(Declan if u reading this fuck off fuckOFF)

K so I’m writing this on my phone and alsooooo I’ve had a bit to drin k so soz if it’s weird looking or whatever! Just wanna write some words while i have this idea in my mind!!

(also im babysitting Dee while he sobers up sooooooo… love him but i am scared for him always)

Romcoms.

They’re so great. They’re amazing! I love them. They’re probs my favourite film genre of all time. Declan doesn’t like them but that’s cause he likes films the best that are long and boring and about the meaning of life or whatever

Look i like some old old old films by famous directors - much ado about nothing from 1996 is my favvvv (KENNETH BRANAGH IS SO HOT) - but i can’t do the smart film thing. I am smart but not smart enough to city in a movie theatre and watch something where people just talk all the time and don’t even kiss. 

I like rom coms. Cause they’re nice and fun and cute.

I know sometimes they’re all the same, but I think most fims are the same once you get down to the heart of it. Three act structure, right? Someone doesn’t want to do a thing, but then they need to do a thing, and on the way to do a thing, that thing goes wrong, and then they overcome that problem and then do the thing and then there is a climax! (heeeee) and then the film ends and the character has change - better or worse than before but theyve gotta chanre or else there is no point. People change all the time but not probably as fast as rom com characters do cause some of those stories tae place over like four days.

Four days is too short to fall in love. I fall in love in long stretches of time. Like… sitting at work for two months spending time with people and then going ‘oh i love you’. The best thing about people you love is the weird bits. Ike a thing about them that they think is ugly but makes u smile. Or something they know lots of things about. Or a thing that thye aways wear but not for any fashion reasons.

I think life would be real boring if we all loved the same people all the time…

Ok wait 

I just got dee some water 

And me some water

What was i writing uh.

Romcoms.

My favourite romcom is defs defs defs The Proposal!!!!

I’s got all the best bits of rom coms in it. They don’t like each other, then they’re trapped in a place at the same time, plus weird humor that’s very silly, plus sandra bullock is a babe, plus she DEFS FOR REASLS DOMMED ryan reynolds

Fuck me you must think i have a ryan reynolds thing [gif of Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal, he’s pulling off his shirt and looks hot as fuck] 

ive reblogged enough pics of him

Hot boy summer????? 

It’s winter in NZ

Hot boy winter

(Dee laughed at that. Im kinda talking this post out loud now whooooops but i cant seem to stop)

The Proposaal. ICONIC!!!! 

What else

It’s not a rom com but i love the baz luhrmann romeo and juliet. The fashion is so so much and the music is too - that scene to “Kissing You” by Des’ree? I wish i was alive for more of the 90s cause that shiz was iconic

And Mercado?

Wait

Mercution! As a drag queen? I love

So more rom coms.

(Declan is telling me about a rom com he saw at the NZIFF in 2016 about time travel called.. chrono - krono? Theeisa???????? Look idk it probably wasnt a rom com knowing him it was probaby just something about death or murder or the meaning of life or whatnot)

The romcom i saw last week thaat everyone at work loves (EXCEPT DEE CAUSE HE DOESn’T WANT T WATCH IT) is called Set it up

It’s got the guy from Scream queens (hot guy??? chad???) and queen zoey deutsh and they play two PAs for two bosses that try to set their bosses up cause their bosses are real mean to them and they think if they set them up then they will be less mean cause they’ll be getitng laid - vibes

But then they both FALL IJ LOVE

Also pete davidson from SNL is there which is real weird 

But yeah tey fall in love and its cute

I love it i love it

I wish real work was like that

OH ANOTER ONE

10 Things I hate about you

So picture health ledger (RIP) being like a bad boy in a school and then kate - who is blonde and kinda a bitch but like she’s badass and it’s cool and i wilsh i was that badass - her dad says that her sister can’t date her crush (josepg gordon levitt but young AS) until kate dates someone

It’s shakespeare apparently i think if i remember from school

Wait wait wai

[DECLAN: Ten Things I Hate about You is Shakespeare yes. It is a retelling of the Taming of the Shrew which is one of the Shakespeares that people feel weird about these days cause it seems sexist and maybe is. In the movie Kate has much more agency than in the play which is good. It is a good movie that I like a lot,]

FOR ONCE DEE IS RIGHT IT IS A GOOD MOVIE  

Another one i like is clueless which i also studied at high school

Look it is iconic!!!!!! The outfits

Cher

Paul rubb but young and pretty and i mean hes still pretty and hes like fifty but he was real pretty then

Weird that they were cousins 

aCTUALLY i saw a paul rudd movie ast week and it was an art movie

(shut up Dee stop laughing) 

Ideal Home! It was real good actually

He was paying a gay film producer???? With his husband/parner played by……. That english guy

Fuck he was in that other series of movies for old peop

Fuck i dont remember

But yeah they were breaking up - i guess it was kinda a rom com actually

They were breaking up but the other guy - the english lover whos name i cant remember - his estranged son was jailedfoor being a piece of shit and his son (the english guys grandson) came to live with them

And it was a story about paul rudd and englsh guy falling in love again and it was actually real nice, i like it a lot. Funny and passionate

Like it when romcom couples have actual chemmisty cause liv and drew have both said that it s hard to make chemistryyy that seem real on screen whew ur are castingg gg iand mking movie s sssssssssssss,sssssssss ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss s f

[DECLAN: Ideal Home was a great movie. I enjoyed it lots and lots. Go and see it if it is on at your local. Saz has dozed off so I guess I will just post this. Take nothing sshe has said as true.]

[master-tonberry]

Since the weekend is upon us, you probably won't hear from me as it's booked (as usual wah wah), so I'll try and make this ask good.

As soon as I read Alias Grace, I immediately reread it. Margaret Atwood, without exaggeration, changed my life. Now I will definitely try out Sheri S. Tepper!

Yes!!! Goonies never say diiiiiiiiiiiiiiie! I went to Astoria just to visit the filming locations and even got to touch the ORV (and the bullet holes haha). Your taste is immaculate, mbbdarling! The LOTR movies are my all-time favorites.

You don't have to say your age specifically, but are you also a child of the 80s or maybe the 90s?

You have really lived a lot! So super cool. My uncle was also a pilot, though he was always US-based. I have been to Germany a couple of times, too. We have family there, and I also majored in German in college. It holds the most special place in my heart.

I suspected you were a fantasy-lover, so maybe I was being rather sneaky there as all four of those genres are my faves. I couldn't lose! //evil laughter//

SORCHA. IS. LIFE. As we rewatched it this past weekend, it hit me--she's probably the reason why I'm obsessed with and drawn to curly redheads.

Speaking of hair, are you a long or short hair person? You have a fave hair color? (I've dyed my hair red for the last 20 years, and I'll probably dye it until I go gray--I also love all-gray hair.)

I can't talk about Lee Scoresby... </3 I am also a profound lover of Iorek Byrnison, though I revile that damn golden monkey. //clenches fist//

You like video games like my bestie does! I am not a gamer--I love watching others play--with two exceptions: Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. The only two video games I ever loved. :)

Those are SOLID tropes. I love those, too! Found family goes hand-in-hand with quests, which you already know I love. Nothing beats a good ensemble of characters.

I'd probably end up being the leader, I guess, so I'm coming to you, my consigliere, for all the plans and schematics. I will trust in your fastidious nature to lead us safely to the dragon's hoard!

Okay, more nosy questions time.

If you were an animal, what would you be:

Dream job:

House, apartment, cabin, or treehouse:

And back to MX--

Favorite MX photoshoot/aesthetic:

Favorite Hyungwon hairstyle:

Favorite Jooheon hairstyle:

(Examples are always appreciated *wink wink*)

Have the best weekend, mbbdarling! Take good care of yourself and smile lots!

NO. WAY. Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are my all time favorite games 😂 I'm starting to think we're the same person!! I almost cried when I found out that they had finally re-released Chrono Cross for the PS4, I'm just about to start getting relics from the dragons.

I was a short hair person all through high school and most of my early 20s but I have been a long hair person for years now. I had it down to my butt at one point but I recently gave myself a long wolfcut just before my partner and I went to see Ateez. I've had it so many colors (I was a punk back in the day, so I've always liked dying it) but it is currently fire engine red and I think I'll keep it that way for a while. I also recently did a blue to purple ombre, half neon green and half black, half pink and half blue (that was for Seventeen!), and all black.

Okay questions time!

What Animal Would You Be: Definitely some kind of corvid. I identify too strongly with bluejays, but crows are also excellent.

Dream Job: I actually love the job I have right now (which I won't be specific about for privacy reasons, but its an admin position) but I secretly always wanted to have a self-sufficient farm and a little shop where I could sell handmade candles and soaps and handspun and dyed yarn lol

House, Apartment, Cabin, or Treehouse: Okay it's not practical at all but I would absolutely love to live in a treehouse like the ones that they have in Hook. But since that would never ever happen in a million years, a cabin in the woods is the ideal.

Favorite MX Aesthetic: Okay look. I really really love the Shootout jumpsuits. Jooheon especially looks super hot in them.

Favorite Hyungwon Hair: THE GRAY HAIR AKDKKSKAKZKSKAK LOOK AT HIM

Favorite Jooheon Hair: I mean, he invented having blond hair soooooo...

Look at this man, he's so gorgeous???? How???

I hope you have a great weekend!! 💗

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #96

My neighbor Adolf, a strange new Israeli comedy, which was produced in Poland and filmed in Colombia. It’s about an old Holocaust survivor in 1960 who suspects that his mysterious German neighbor is Hitler. The tone is shifted from comedy to horror, the score is jarring, and Udo Kier is terrific. Interesting oddity - 7/10.

🍿

2 non-narrative poems by Ron Fricke:

🍿 After serving as the cinematographer on Koyaanisqats, Ron Fricke  branched on his own to direct 4 time-lapse abstract poems in a similar large scale style. Chronos was his first. A musical essay about the passage of time.

It’s hard to believe it’s from 1985. Unfortunately, it’s only 42 minutes long. Best of the week!

🍿 Re-watch: Baraka, AKA “Breathing” in Sufi. His next impressionistic, non-verbal, majestic trip across the world. But also includes darker segments about mass destruction, poverty, homelessness, mass murder, animal farming

🍿

Sweetheart, a sweet new British comedy about a confused 17-year-old girl on holiday camp with her family, as she awkwardly falls in love with another girl. 100% “Fresh” reviews on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’. I loved it. 7/10. (Photo Above).

🍿    

5 by veteran Bruce Beresford: 🍿 His most recent, Ladies in Black, was recommended to me by my 92-year-old mother, who read the Australian book about a group of female employees in a hi-scale department store in 1959 Sydney. I did not expect to like it so much. More than a feel good “chick flick” reminiscent of ‘Carol’, it’s a nuanced and nostalgic feminist tale, well-told. 7/10.  

🍿"...Were you really Mac Sledge?" ... "Yes ma'am, I guess I was..."

First watch: Tender Mercies, a tender story about an alcoholic country singer who finds peace and redemption with a young widow outside Waxahachie, Texas. Robert Duvall sang (his own) songs. This was Tess Harper debut film.  8/10.

🍿 “...Hoke? ...Yes'm....You're my best friend...”.

Driving Miss Daisy, his very popular drama about the relationship between old Jewish Jessica Tandy and her subservient black chauffeur Morgan Freemen starting in 1940′s Atlanta, GA and continuing for 25 years. Tandy became the oldest actress to win an Oscar, by playing a 72-year-old woman who than ages through the decades. With an early catchy score by Hans Zimmer. 9/10.

🍿 In 1987 he participated in Aria, a 10-director anthology interpreting various opera scenes, mostly by the Europeans, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Lully, Etc. The line-up was impressive: Godard, Julien Temple, Robert Altman, Ken Russell...

Every reviewer at the time had a different opinion which of the segments were ‘successful’ and which failed. I was taken in by the first remarkable few by Nicolas Roeg and Charles Sturridge, But eventually the whole concept proved to be just music videos of Operas, and fizzled out. Bridget Fonda and Elizabeth Hurley had their debut performances here, and very young Tilda Swinton too. The music of course was superb.

🍿 Re-watch: His Australian breakthrough film Breaker Morant, about the first war crime trial in the history of the British military. A real life story of the 3 Australian soldiers who were court marshaled for murder of some prisoners, “The scapegoats of British Empire". Old-fashioned war films, especially about a far-away war like the Anglo-Boer War, are not too interesting, but the last 25 minutes were brilliant.

🍿

So 2 more by Ken Russell:

🍿 Women in love, his adaptation of D H Lawrence’s bohemian novel, about sex and the upper class before the war. It’s a modern story of the relationships of two sisters of working-class background and two male friends, who also have strong attraction for each other. An early script by Larry Kramer.

Including some famous scenes, notably a nude wrestling scene between Bates and Reed and "The proper way to eat a fig”.

🍿 Ken Russell’s very last film, A Kitten for Hitler, (”Ein Kitten für Hitler”), is an offensive, politically-incorrect 2007 short. It tells of a little Jewish boy (played by a real Oompa-Loompa dwarf) in 1941 Brooklyn, NY who travels to give Hitler a gift of a kitten in order to soften his heart, so he won’t be so cruel. But the boy ends up as a lampshade on Eva Braun’s side of their bed. So yeah, a typical Pink Flamingo type dog shit bomb by the 80-year-old Russell.

🍿

Argentina, 1985, based on true events, is a new courtroom drama about the brave prosecutor who led the “Trial of the Juntas”. I knew about the ‘Disappeared”, but was not too familiar with the details of that period in Argentinian history. After 8 years of brutal dictatorship, this trial was the opening chapter in the struggle for democracy that has lasted until now. Interesting topic, formulaic execution. 5/10.

(I was planning to follow this with ‘The official Story’, the 1985 story about ‘The dirty War’, which was the first Argentinian film ever to win an Oscar, but didn’t manage. Back on the list it goes)..

🍿           

I was looking forward to Weird: The al Yankovic Story, the ‘Funny and die’ spoof, and hoped it will slap, but it was a big disappointment: It was a flat and dumb parody about a parodist, not funny or clever. And so many cameos: Dali, Divine, Hulk Hogan, Conan O'Brien as Andy Warhol, Coolio... 1/10.

🍿 

Woody Allen’s 2nd slapstick comedy Take the Money and Run, from the time when he was still funny (“He earned a meager living selling meagers”) and before he started molesting young girls. Strange to think that his self-depreciated nervousness was once considered a romantic trait.

🍿

A bit more Guilty Pleasure: I saw the complete ‘Breaking Bad’ about 3 times before, and so I just went back to the series final Felina once again. It’s about revenge: The most dramatic scene is the machine Gun Massacre, but the rest of the episode is very quiet, introspective and emotional conclusion to this perfectly-complicated story.

🍿

Throw-back to the art project:

Morgan Freeman Adora.

Breaking Bad Adora.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[dxnahas]

Gintama season 1 episode 23

Gintama season 1 episode 23 free#

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[ceteradesunt]

Chronos (1985) dir. Ron Fricke

[tfc2211]

Play Movie ▶ Chronos (1985) Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high-speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions. IMDb

[phoenixyfriend]

hey i read through your Anakin and Jedi babies au, and got to the part about Shmi eventually having a kid and Ani being supportive and listen man i just have emotions bc i realized that her daughter would be the first freeborn child in the Skywalker family. like god knows how many generations of slavery on Tatooine, and this tiny baby is the first one born free. of course, while everyone knows this is a big deal, i feel like Anakin and Shmi are the only ones who truly Know how much of a big deal this is. tiny new baby skywalker draped in japor charms and whispered desert blessings

Context: Anakin and the Jedi Babies, chrono, how Shmi ended up on Mandalore, the post about Jango/Shmi.

YEP.

I’m thinking her name is something like Amika or Amyas? I’ve come to the conclusion that she is the result of Shmi and Jango getting into a relationship, but not actually planned. Anakin absolutely offers to fight Jango for Shmi, and she scolds him for it despite being a solid ten years younger than him.

Jango and Shmi do get married, after a bit more fumbling to make sure this is what they really want.

I imagine that the disaster lineage moves back to the Temple a year or so after that, when Ben is eleven or twelve. The Force just said it was a good time, and Mandalore seemed to be in good shape, etc. There’s a lot of sidelong glances and questioning looks because Soka and Ben still insistently refer to Anakin as buir (or Skyguy, on Soka’s part), and there’s a variety of conspiracy theories, and Ben acts Very Grown Up for a child his age, etc. They actually tell the council the full truth and cause a number of headaches. Mace isn’t amused. There’s rumors everywhere about Obi-Wan and Ben being related but nobody has the guts to ask after the first Scary Skywalker Smile.

What’s really relevant, though, is what that move does to relations between Mandalore, the Jedi, and the Republic.

"Okay, so if the Jedi Order does any negotiation with Mandalore, it has to be through Skywalker." "Why?" "The Mand'alor is his brother-in-law and they met when Fett was fifteen; I've seen Skywalker give this man a noogie and suffer zero consequences for it."

Like, please understand: Jango becomes Mand’alor in his late-twenties even while Jaster is alive, a few years after the Shmi thing, just because he’s Very Good At It. But also, he’s Anakin’s brother-in-law. Anakin, who knows that Shmi can take care of herself but is very protective anyway, and made a hobby of kicking Jango’s ass when he was younger, and has always had Weird Vibes around Jango, and at least once made veiled comments about how he didn’t trust Jango’s ability to be a father.

Jango, of course, doesn’t know that this is because Anakin judges him on the fact that he had three million clone sons that he didn’t give a shit about in a future that won’t happen.

So Jango is actually very concerned with maintaining Anakin’s good favor, something that he feasibly had for a few years but is struggling to hold onto after getting with Shmi and having a kid.

If it were almost anyone else, Anakin probably would have been very “she can make her own choices” about Shmi, but it’s Jango Fett and Anakin has concerns.

A few years later, let’s say Ben is fifteen, the Temple gets notified that the king of Mandalore is coming. The Mand’alor is going to be here, and hasn’t told anyone why. He’s bringing his spouse and several other people, but not a full guard or anything for a formal visit with the Republic.

The ship lands. The Mand’alor exits in full armor. There’s a woman next to him, a small brunette with a toddler in her arms, not wearing much armor, but she has enough to make it clear that she is Mandalorian. Vambraces, greaves, a gorget,  and there’s a sigil on it somewhere declaring her the the spouse of the Mand’alor.

The Jedi Council is mostly polite. Mostly hesitant. Confused. Diplomatic. Dooku is there, and asks, “Did anyone inform Master Skywalker of our visitors?”

“He recently returned from a mission and is likely asleep,” someone tells him.

The Queen of Mandalore sighs. “Oh dear.”

This is when a recently-woken Anakin Skywalker, age thirty-seven but looking like he stalled out on aging in his late twenties, strides out into the hangar and yells, “Shmi!”

The queen gives her toddler to her husband and sprints to Master Skywalker, throwing herself into his arms and letting him spin her around with a laugh. “Ori’vod!”

Dooku’s smile could be, at a stretch, described as ‘shit-eating.’ He turns to the councilors. “You didn’t forget that Skywalker has a sister, did you?”

They didn’t, but they clearly hadn’t expected it to matter.

“Let me see my niece,” Skywalker says, with a grin out of a holo film. “Fett, gimme.”

“Hi, hello, it’s good to see you’re alive too,” the Mand’alor grumbles. “Oh, I’m doing well, and--”

“Yeah, yeah, su cuy'gar and all, let me see my niece.”

The Mand’alor, one of the most influentially dangerous men in the galaxy, sighs and hands over the toddler to Master Skywalker, who immediately starts cooing over the little girl and otherwise making it clear just why he ends up in the creche so often.

“Master Skywalker,” Dooku calls over, as the only person to have encountered the Mando contingent often enough to get away with saying something right now. “You knew they were coming?”

“Nope! Felt ‘em arrive,” Skywalker cheerily replies. “Did someone tell my kids? Somebody tell my kids, they’ll want to see Shmi.”

“Has Ben gotten any taller?” the woman stage-whispers, and Skywalker grins at her.

“Not as much as he’d hoped.”

The Skywalker teenagers in question come sprinting out with less decorum than even their father had. Ben at least tries to slow down and greet the contingent politely, but Soka just barrels into Shmi like there’s nothing in the galaxy that could stop her. There’s laughter and hugs, and Skywalker hands the toddler off to his daughter and steps back to watch his family interact.

(They get justification for the visit eventually: the child is terrifyingly force-sensitive, and the queen has only just managed to convince Fett to let them take her to the Temple. The Council knows just how tenuous their guardianship here is, in that they’re sure this child would have been kept away from them if not for Skywalker’s presence here. Mandalore’s warriors and Tatooine’s slaves hold family to be of utmost importance. Skywalker is the only reason this is happening.)

“You know, I was getting respect from your High Council before you showed up,” Fett grouses, now without his helmet. “I’m the Mand’alor, the first in centuries to step foot here without war in mind. This moment should be historic. People should respect and fear my presence.”

Skywalker looks at him, pitying.

"Fett, I don't care that you're Mand'alor. I've known you since you were fifteen, and you're married to my little sister. You know you don't scare me."

“Anakin--”

“Also you’re short.”

“Oh, get kriffed, you asshole.”

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

I started this over a year ago and then never posted it. Sorry, my brain has been on vacation.

Thank you for the tag @senadimell! (And sorry for taking so long!)

Hmmm, favorite comfort things. Let’s see...

comfort food: Mashed potatoes. Always and forever mashed potatoes. With meatloaf or salmon cakes, or Swiss steak, or chicken, or beef roast, or anything really, or just by themselves.

comfort clothes: Something soft and flowy. Nightgowns and easy summer dresses. I would absolutely be a mumu person if it were more socially acceptable. In practice more often cotton t-shirts and cotton shorts. Soft soft soft.

comfort item: Unfortunately, my iPhone. There’s an addiction I need to beat. More healthily: a sketch pad and pencil.

comfort character: Phoenix/Jean Grey (X-men), Rogue (X-men), Catwoman (the Michelle Pfeiffer Batman Returns iteration), Eilonwy (The Prydain Chronicles), The Eighth Doctor (Doctor Who—particularly EDA-verse), Nienna (The Silmarillion—I know she barely appears but the idea of her brings me comfort), Wei Wuxian (MDZS/CQL—new addition but I love him and I suspect he’s a permanent fixture in my brain now). KOS-MOS and Shion (Xenosaga).

comfort song: Oh gosh. “Cumulus” by Imogen Heap (I’ve had that on repeat for days while I laid in bed with migraine), “To the Ancient Land” (first track of the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack), “Figlio Perduto” (Sarah Brightman, La Luna, the tale of the abduction of a young boy by elves set to Beethoven’s 7th, Second Movement—like, can it get any better?), “Glosoli” (Sarah Brightman), “2000 Years” (Billy Joel), “Still” (Alanis Morissette from the Dogma soundtrack), “Mercy (from the Prayer Cycle)” (Alanis), the entire The Phantom of the Opera (original London cast, please), “Phoenix Rises” (John Powell from the X-men: The Last Stand soundtrack), “Dancing Mad” (Distant Worlds II cover of track from Final Fantasy VI, Nobuo Uematsu), “The First and the Last” (Xenogears, Yasunori Mitsuda). Honestly, I could go on forever here.

comfort youtuber: You know I don’t spend that much time on YouTube, but I once sat down and watched the entirety of Cooking with Dog, a cooking channel where a Japanese woman referred to only as “chef”, under the “guidance” of her dog, Francis, prepares traditional Japanese (washoku) and Westernized Japanese (yoshoku) dishes. This was my first exposure to Japanese cooking (outside of visiting an American sushi restaurant) and I was fascinated by the careful preparation of ingredients, often involving many small, deliberate steps taken to ensure each ingredient is exemplified in its best self as a part of each dish. Like watching any kind of careful and practiced craft in action, it was mesmerizing and really quite soothing.

comfort video game: Soooo many. Xenogears, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Chrono Trigger.

comfort film: Moulin Rouge, Legend, The Lord of the Rings (all three), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney), Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing Up Baby, Shall We Dance, Sunset Boulevard, Withnail & I.

comfort show: Star Trek: TNG, The X-Files, X-men: The Animated Series (look, how else am I going to get a Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga adaptation that isn’t a horrible dissapointment?), The Untamed (newest addition to this list).

comfort stim: I don’t know if I truly stim or not. I used to do (and still occasionally do) a thing where I had to twitch my toes in a certain rhythm.

comfort activity: Sitting on my porch or in my garden, walking through nature, driving through hidden backwoods and down old winding country roads, holding my cat (or any cat, anywhere, at any time).

Is comfort book not a thing? I am going to add it: Lord of the Rings, House of Leaves, The Prydain Chronicles, Cosmos, The Singularity Is Near (Kurzweil), Doctor Who: The Infinity Doctors, Arcadia (yes, it’s a play but it’s a play that reads as good as it performs)

tagging (with no pressure—I can’t remember who all did this the last time it went around): @thearrogantemu , @silver-grasp , @odense , @warrioreowynofrohan , @if-he-catches-me-ill

[animepopheart]

Hello! Do you know of any Christian-inspired anime? Referenced? Or like even portrayed? Thanks!

I sure do! You cover a lot of ground with those questions, so yeah, there are actually a lot of series that would qualify, particularly from a more superficial level.

Lots of anime, of course, use Christian elements as window dressing (think gothic churches) or for world-building, usually portrayed in a negative light (ex. Evangelion), though there are some that portray the faith more neutrally (Samurai Champloo), comically (Saint Young Men) or in a positive way through the actions of a Christian-like church (Chrono Crusade), with some even throwing in decent theology (Vatican Medical Examiners) too. But the latter are rare—you're more likely to find stuff like this experimental trailer for a proposed Warrior Nun Areala anime:

There are a few straight-up, Christian anime, mostly older ones like the original Superbook, which many kids grew up watching in Sunday School, and In the Beginning: The Bible Stories, a series written by Osamu Tezuka. I also like to post the short film, My Last Day, each Easter; it was developed by a Japanese studio for the makers of the Jesus film.

On Beneath the Tangles, though, we prefer to dig a little deeper. Instead of looking for superficial elements, we connect better with themes or content that help us think more about the Christian life. A couple recent examples of articles include one about Rio's arc in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and how Sakuta's advice to her doesn't provide a strong hope, and another on the final episode of Kageki Shoujo and how one character's thoughts and actions brings to mind the older brother of the parable of the Prodigal Son. A more classic example is in Trigun, and Wolfwood's struggles with grace.

If we believe God is who he says he is, his stories are everywhere around us, often in unexpected places and in media where creators never intended to include him. That's what we examine on our site.

Here are some recommendations we have for Christians, though virtually none of these series actually reference the faith.

[mishasminion360]

You Are My Destino

Marcus Pike x gn!reader

Warnings: I got nothin’. It’s just a bunch of fluffy fluff.

Summary: You’ve only recently become aware that Marcus Pike has yet to see one of the most stunning visual masterpieces of the modern age. It’s date night and you’ve got a special activity in mind for your art admiring boyfriend.

A/N: Salvador Dalí is my favorite artist. As a Disney fanatic how could I not fall in love with the Dalí illustrated short film “Destino”? I first saw this incredible piece of film, a long lost masterpiece, at the Dalí museum when I was in high school. It changed me forever. I hadn’t been able to watch it again for years, but thanks to platforms like YouTube and Disney+ I can relive that magic day after day.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen this before,” you say for the hundredth time, queuing up Disney+ as Marcus plops gingerly on the couch and rests a bowl of popcorn between the two of you.

“I’ve never really been big on Dalí’s work.”

“What kind of art connoisseur doesn’t like surrealism?”

He shrugs. “This one.”

You begin scrolling through your list of favorites, scanning for the particular short film as you flip a piece of popcorn into your mouth.

“Well, I appreciate you giving this flick a chance. Especially on date night,” you grin.

“Anything for you,” Marcus responds, stealing a kiss and a handful of popcorn as you press play.

A record crackles to life followed by the first strains of a somber refrain and a brief introduction:

In 1946, two legendary artists began collaboration on a short film. More than half a century later, their creation has finally been completed.

A phantom pen scrawls the names Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney elegantly across the screen and the tale begins in earnest.

You feel Marcus’s hand curl around your own as Dora Luz’s haunting voice fills the space of the living room, beginning her melancholy ballad.

“Now I can smile and say….

Destino,

My heart was sad and lonely,

In knowing that you only,

Could bring my love to me.

Destino,

This heart of mine is thrilled now,

My empty arms are filled now,

As they were meant to be.”

You’re three minutes into the nearly seven minute short and you haven’t been watching since you’d felt Marcus’s fingers intermingle with yours, opting to watch him instead. His eyes are glued to the screen, darting to and fro with Dahlia’s dance as she flits across the desert landscape, artfully weaving her way around obstacles that stand between her and her beloved Chronos. You hear his sharp intake of breath as he realizes that, alas, their love is not meant to be; that the life of a mortal is too fleeting to be saved by the love of a god. A frown tugs at Marcus’s lips as he watches Dahlia fade into the obscure, leaving Chronos with nothing but a memory of what never was.

His arm finds its way around your shoulders, his eyes never drifting from the screen as the film ends. It’s an unconscious gesture; an inherent, subliminal search for intimacy, and one that you sink into willingly. Your own gaze returns to the screen just as Dora ends the ill-fated love story with a message of hope.

“I know now

That you are my destino.

We’ll be as one, for we know

Our destiny of love.”

The credits roll and you toggle back to the main menu while Marcus remains silent. Appraising, critiquing, you assume.

“Well, mister ‘I don’t do surrealism’, what did you think of that?”

His head snaps to you and it’s almost as if he’d forgotten you were even there at all.

“That was….wow,” he breathes. “I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.”

“So, does that mean you liked it or…?”

“Honey, it was beautiful.” His smile is full of wonder. “I mean it was tragic, and there was still a lot of symbolism I didn’t quite grasp, but I’m seriously impressed.”

You chuckle as you run a hand playfully through his hair. “Does that mean I’ve successfully defected you to team Dalí?”

“I’m at least straddling the line,” he admits. “I will say this, though: seeing all of the weird imagery that Dalí could conjure up just hanging suspended in time on a wall doesn’t exactly do his vision justice. It just looks like someone’s nightmares or fever dreams plastered onto a canvas. But watching those same images come to life, watching them move and interact the way he saw them doing so inside his head? It’s….breathtaking.”

You love listening to this man talk art. He’s as passionate when discussing art as any artist is while creating it. The way his smile grows; the way his eyes sparkle. He becomes a work of art.

“I just wasn’t expecting it to be so sad,” he admits, his smile drooping ever so slightly. “Who likes a love story without a happy ending?”

Marcus’s whole life seemed to be a love story without a happy ending. You hope to be the one to change that.

“Sometimes the greatest love stories don’t end happily,” you shrug. “But they still inspire others to seek their own happiness. That’s what makes them great.”

Marcus mulls that over for a moment before taking your hand and resting a gentle kiss atop your knuckles.

“I think my days of seeking are over,” he grins warmly. “You are my destino.”

You playfully flick a piece of popcorn at his face that he skillfully manages to capture with his mouth.

“Sweet talker,” you smirk.

“So, spill it,” he says, scooching in and getting cozy. “What turned you on to Dalí’s work?”

A good question. One you never really expected ever having to answer. You’d been introduced to the surrealist’s pieces in the same way you assume that most people had been: watching the clocks melt off the pages of your textbook in your freshman art history course. Much like the title of that well known work suggested, the memory had persisted. You’d taken it upon yourself to study more of Dalí’s masterpieces, diving straight into the mind of the mad man. Once you discovered “Destino” you were officially hooked. But that’s not what Marcus had asked. How did you even put the answer into the right words?

“Dalí created images that people wouldn’t typically see as art and turned them into masterpieces. Weird things. Sometimes disturbing things. He found the beauty in the strange, and that made me feel something,” you answer honestly. “I’ve always been an oddball myself, so he gave me hope that maybe, someday, someone could see beauty in me.”

He stares at you for a moment (either awestruck or weirded out, you can’t really tell) before surging forward and locking his lips with your own. Marcus is a master of conveying his love with his mouth; whether with words or silently.

“I see it, honey,” Marcus whispers against your lips. “I see it every single day.”

@just-another-dumb-artist @grimeylady @rav3n-pascal22 @mamacitapascal @insomniamama1 @pedrosbisch @emmaispunk @mandolydian @lv7867 @reonlouw @hawaiianmelodies @pascalsky @pascalpanic @heythere-mel @healingstardust @pastel-0-princess @pedropascal207 @delorena @dindjarinsfingerlessgloves @pedropasxal @caesaryoulater @just-fics-i-read @randomcollection-o-stuff @girlbestie @phoenixpascal @dickspittoon @pasca1 @carstwirs @pancakeisreading @kiizhikehn-cedar @hellovanessax @fangirling-alert @pedrocentric @fromthedeskoftheraven @liviiii98 @feralhotmess @axshadows @mandapascal @dragon-scales88 @spaceppastel @anaaaispunk @pedropascal2532 @spideysimpossiblegirl @pbeatriz @hauntedmama @mswarriorbabe80

[taylorswiftstylequestions]

I’m torn because I completely understand the desire to go straight to the vault tracks but at the same time I feel like hearing the intro to State of Grace (Taylor’s Version) first is going to be a RELIGIOUS experience. Howww are we supposed to choose

I completely 100% agree.

For those who may have missed it, my release day plans will be listening to RED (TV) at 9pm PST when it drops and going in album chrono order with a glass of wine or beer and a candle lit. <3

I'll deal with the insanity of the late night appearances depending on how I feel but I will probably watch the short film after I've had at least one full listen cycle of the album.

[sun-daisies]

Hope, Alya, and Robin + Academy High School AU

Aaaaand one more wip-turned-moodboard for @agentsofchallenges march madness challenge! I’ve been wanting to write a next-gen Academy AU with Hope, Alya, and Robin for a long time now (I can imagine they’d be such a powerful friend group oh my goodness) but I unfortunately don’t have the time yet. And for we love them all I wrote a quick high school au fic with them and then never posted it because I’m an angst writer and I quite literally don’t know how to do anything else oops. Buuuut anyway, recycled that idea for a moodboard for this month’s challenge - high school au! 

Here’s some ideas I’ve been bouncing around for these three:

Robin’s a total art kid, which extends much further than drawing and painting, which is her first love and choice medium. Because of her chrono-vision, she’s also developed a love for photographing moments right in front of her. She’s absolutely the friend in the three who wants to take pictures all the time and make little short films about their day - she loves doing it, but it also helps her stay in the moment rather than getting lost in the muddled timelines in her head. 

Hope is a bubbly ray of sunshine, and the kind of kid who can make anyone smile, even pessimistic Robin - correction, especially pessimistic Robin. Hope absolutely is the type of kid who seems to never stop, and she plays varsity sports year round. Hope also has picked up an interest in robotics and engineering from her dad. Hope’s energy is absolutely infectious and while her head is often in the clouds, the most uplifting and genuinely helpful advice usually comes from her. 

Alya of course is a brainiac. She’s not necessarily shy, but she gets lost in her own head quite often, and is more of a “loner” than anything else. Robin and Hope think she’s the most brilliant human being on the planet and often rope her into their shenanigans. Alya is definitely the mom friend of the group, but even she has her moments. She’s either the self-care, bed at 9, balanced diet type of kid or the no sleep for 72 hours and fueled by Monster type of kid - she switches between the two on a moment to moment basis and there quite literally is no in-between. 

Robin and Hope are childhood friends. When they cross paths with Alya, she’s off on her own, deep in work during lunch, and Hope drags Robin across the cafeteria and plops herself down next to Alya and basically claims her as their new best friend. Alya is eternally grateful - making friends has always been hard for her. 

The group dynamic is pretty much Hope is the optimist, Robin is the pessimist, and Alya is the realist. 

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with these three and will never let go of my Academy AU headcanons but for right now this is what I’ve got! 

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #238: Unlimited Vision

December, 1983

He is Oz, the great and terrible. And he can see ALL.

So what’s going on here? Has Vision been in a tube-coma so long that they just decided to replace him with a giant hologram?

Dunno, but he sure is filling the room with too much pink energy and kirby crackle.

So, there’s been a bit leading up to this.

In Avengers #233, Vision and Scarlet Witch were called in as reservists to help the team with an invisible dome Annihilus was using to destroy the universe, as ya don’t do. When Vision intangibled into the dome, he immediately fell onto his face inert. After the crisis, Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic examined the synthezoid and said that nothing was actually seriously wrong and that Vision would be able to repair himself.

Despite that, he’s been inert in a tube since #234, moved into the Avengers Mansion so they could keep an eye on him. Maybe Reed doesn’t know shit because it’s been several issues!

The Avengers have been taking shifts watching Vision and the least suited to sitting still and watching an inert synthezoid is on duty as this issue opens.

“But being an Avenger, he’s discovered, doesn’t mean saving the universe every waking moment. Sometimes, it requires a lot of sitting... and watching... and waiting!”

Hahahahahah!

I might sympathize more if it weren’t for his full page rant.

Like this goes beyond bored and into ‘UGH I have to do something not immediately entertaining??’

Wait, I’m like that sometimes...

Starfox: “I just don’t understand! My father’s computer assured me that the Earth would be teeming with excitement and adventure -- and from previous experience, I knew that the Avengers invariably became involved in such adventures. But I haven’t seen a bit of action since we saved Project Pegasus from total destruction. That was more than a day ago! Now with Thor off on a mission in space... Captain America away on a personal mission... and the lovely ladies of the Avengers taking the afternoon off, naturally it’s the ‘trainee’ who gets stuck with keeping watch over the Vision!”

“By Chronos, is there no justice?! Where are the thrills, the challenges?!? Am I never to know satisfaction? I didn’t come all the way to Earth just to stand watch over some infernal android in a life-support-tube!”

“Ah, forgive me, friend Vision. I should not make you the object of my resentment. You were, after all, injured to end the threat of Annihilus. It’s just that sitting around and playing nursemaid to a comatose synthetic man is hardly my idea of fun!”

Vision: “I sympathize... but it has not been enjoyable for me either.”

HAH!

Imagine complaining so hard about having to go a day without an adventure that you wake a robot from a robot coma.

Over in a scene shift, there’s Monica “Captain Marvel” Rambeau trying out a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. The salesman is trying to close the deal but Monica finds herself distracted by the events of the previous issue.

Even though she saved the day from lava men and then stopped a nuclear meltdown, she still feels crappy that Moonstone and Blackout escaped AND that Blackout was able to capture her.

When the salesman finally gets her attention again she says she needs a bigger boat!

I’m still wondering what her new career is going to be! She’s taken out a small business loan and looking into buying a boat.

Possibly shark hunting?

Good on her for building a life away from avenging. You never know when you have to retire from superheroing and take up a civilian career.

Back at the Vision tube, Starfox sets up a voice amplifier on Vision’s tube so Vision can talk more easily.

It transpires that he didn’t just wake up in time to deliver the ultimate dunk on Starfox, he’s been conscious for several days. He’s been able to hear and see what’s been going on around him but he hasn’t been able to move or talk.

Starfox apologizes for his rant but Vision doesn’t actually mind.

Vision: “No offense taken. I found it entertaining in a way... I hadn’t heard such vitriol since the time the Beast found himself on monitor duty during the opening night of a Roger Corman film festival. As a matter of fact, I’ve enjoyed all of the one-way conversations that have gone on about me. Captain America’s war stories were most informative -- and the She-Hulk’s stories were quite amusing... If a bit tawdry!”

Amazing.

I actually like that the Avengers have been talking to Vision like a person in a meat coma and not ignoring him like a dysfunctioning fridge of a Jocasta.

He’s their buddy and they kept talking to him in hopes that somewhere he heard them. And he did!

Even all the dirty jokes!

Vision tells Starfox that he’s mostly confused about all the paralysis and that his repair systems haven’t restored his movement. He wishes that he could more fully analyze his condition.

Which gives Starfox a wonderful idea! A wonderful, terrible idea!

He calls up Jarvis on the video-intercom and asks what the range of the Avengers communication system is. Like. In terms of... interplanetary?

Jarvis: “All equipment is state-of-the-art, sir. I dare say we could make contact with any corner of the Solar System!”

I know that the Avengers deal with a lot of space nonsense so it makes sense that they’d need that range. Starcore-One and all.

Anyway, Starfox uses a tight beam signal to communicate allll the way to the master computer ISAAC on Titan.

Meanwhile, the three whole women on the Avengers (She-Hulk, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch) are on a mission together. A friend mission. A friend mission of find She-Hulk an apartment mission because that’s been a subplot for a while and She-Hulk deserves nice things.

Huh! If you ever wondered what the relative heights of some Avengers were here we are.

She-Hulk is most tall. Scarlet Witch is pretty tall. And Wasp is a short.

Comics being comics and not big on consistency, I’m sure this is contradicted a dozen different places. But its fun.

Of course, in the innocent 80s (??) people just weren’t used to seeing tall green woman a-walking down the street and gawk.

But it doesn’t bother She-Hulk like it used to.

She-Hulk: “I must be getting used to this town, Waspie! The gawkers don’t faze me in the least anymore. In fact, I’m starting to have fun, staring back!”

Wasp: “Uh-huh! I’ve noticed you practicing on our dreamy new trainee! Starfox is really something, isn’t he, She-Hulk?”

She-Hulk: “You know it!”

Scarlet Witch: Starfox does have a certain something in the way he carries himself...

She-Hulk: “I’ll bet that Starfox even does something for an old married lady like the witch!”

Scarlet Witch: “Wh-what?! Why, that’s ridiculous! I mean... that is... the Vision is the only man in my life!”

She-Hulk: “Aw, come on, Wanda! You’re married, not dead! ‘Fess up, don’t you like the way Starfox just sort of... stands around?”

Scarlet Witch: “Well, if you put it that way -- !”

Just some gals being friends and talking about how hot their new co-worker is.

Just objectifying a foxy guy... from space.

I like She-Hulk someone immediately sensing Wanda thinking about how hot Starfox is. She has a sixth sense for it.

And I fear because Janet “Aesthetic Appreciation for Every Man” Van Dyne now has a comrade in arms in Jennifer “What are inhibitions?” Walters.

The three arrive at the apartment building Jan found for Jen (not confusing at all). The rental agent isn’t around but Jan basically does whatever she wants and the door is open so they go in to look around.

And its a good apartment! Its got a terrace, high ceilings, deep carpeting! Its perfect for She-Hulk! The long subplot is finally at a resolution!

Alas.

The rental agent comes in and when he learns that its Jen who wants to rent the place. Really wants to rent the place. “You can draw up a lease -- I don’t care how much the rent is!” wants to rent the place. He has one (1) concern.

Rental agent: “My lord! You... you’re green!”

She-Hulk: “Yeah, and you’re a pasty shade of pink! So what?”

Rental agent: “I... I can’t rent to you! What would the other tenants say?”

Oo buddy that’s illegal under the Fair Housing Act. Especially if you just come out and say it. Granted, I don’t think it foresaw this exact scenario so let me rephrase. Oo buddy she is not shy about hurting people who annoy her.

She-Hulk: “Outta my way, Jan! I want to turn Mr. Pink black-and-blue!”

Wasp: “Forget it, Jennie! We’ll find a better place!”

But since Wanda doesn’t have any patience with bigotry, she uses her magic-science mutant magic to set off the fire sprinklers above Rental Agent.

I guess he’s allll washed up.

Back over in New Orleans, Monica returns to her apartment still hung up on Blackout and Moonstone getting away.

I guess it is her first failure as a superhero? It’s a very minor one but if you were on a winning streak before, it could knock you for a loop. Monica seems like the sort of person who holds herself to very high standards.

She considers calling the Avengers on her bracelet radio to see if there’s any leads on the two loose ends but then realizes that she can travel at the speed of light. She may as well just pop into the mansion!

Monica has cool powers.

But when she arrives inside the mansion, she sees a bunch of electronic components just floating through the mansion.

Soooo she follows them. Gotta see what’s going on.

She finds Starfox in the medical room constructing some apparatus around Vision’s tube.

Starfox explains that stuff be floating because ISAAC is using an attractor beam to assemble an apparatus. ISAAC being the Titan computer Integral Synaptic Anti-Anionic Computer.

It sure is cool that some Eternals that went to live on Titan before modern English existed still managed to name their computer ISAAC.

And its cool that ISAAC can apparently influence things like this halfway across the solar system.

Anyway, ISAAC is linked up with the main computers of Avengers’ Mansion to build a more specialized medical computer to get a better idea of what’s going on with Vision.

Vision: “It sounds complicated, Captain, but the principles involved are actually quite simple.”

Captain Marvel: “Vision? You spoke!”

Vision: “That seems to surprise everyone... pleasantly, I hope.”

He explains that if everything goes well with this apparatus, he hopes to be ambulatory again before tomorrow. And also, because he’s a class act, thanks Monica for the stories of New Orleans she shared when she was on Vision duty.

In a funny continuity nod, Vision notes that he and Wanda went to New Orleans once (in issue #152) but didn’t have time to sight-see. Because there was a lot of voodoo nonsense going on.

The Avengers tend to go all over the world but they also tend to be involved in nonsense and can’t enjoy it.

Monica isn’t sure whether they should go ahead with this without consulting the other Avengers but Starfox shrugs that it’s Vision’s decision.

Vision: “In that case, I choose to begin analysis immediately!”

In fairness, I’m sure he’s fed up with lying in a tube staring at the ceiling. Bring on the untested science! My god, just anything novel!

Starfox activates the devices, showing Vision’s body with unearthly energies whiiich makes him twitch and spasm and then a tiny Vision head pops out of his forehead gem.

Mazel tov?

I don’t think that was the intended outcome.

Outside, She-Hulk, Scarlet Wanda, and Wasp are returning from Apartment Quest.

Wanda mentions that she didn’t mean to be away from Vision this long.

Wasp: “Don’t worry, Wanda. I’m sure nothing’s gone wrong!”

Giant disembodied Vision head: “WRONG? ON THE CONTRARY, EVERYTHING’S GONE JUST FINE!”

Oh my god, he got Oz’d.

Imagine coming home to that! You go on an errand with a friend to take your mind off your coma robot husband and you come back and he’s a giant holographic head!

The three Avengers rush inside and find a more reasonably sized Vision hologram and Starfox protesting that this wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

Yeah, I suspected.

But Vision is thrilled with this turn of events!

Vision: “Evidently, the internal dysfunction in my body caused a data feedback-loop which overloaded my brain with ISAAC’s energy-information matrix. Simply put -- I have become as one with ISAAC and our own computer systems! The ability to project this holographic construct is a fortuitous side-effect!”

Huuuuuuuuuh!

Vision merged with some computers. This is fine. Is this fine? Is Vision fine? Starfox wants to know and so do I.

Vision: “ALL RIGHT?!? I’ve never been able to think more clearly. Even with my body temporarily out of order, I can be of great help to the Avengers! I can out-think, out-deduce any computer system in the world! All the information in our files is mine -- instantly! For instance -- I see there’s some unfinished business pending! Two opponents escaped us recently! Those two must be found!”

Well, Monica will be happy with that at least.

Geez, Vision is kind of... manic? Maybe its just the contrast to how dour he tend to be. But he definitely seems keyed up. Like he’s running high on having all these computers running through his brain.

Is this robot drugs?

Wait, no, vibranium is robot drugs. Is this other robot drugs? Connect to a super-computer and scream I’M THINKING SO FAST! ?

MEANWHILE, those very two miscreants!

In a hideout in the Bronx, Blackout is ranting paranoid about how they’re out to get him and are going to merge him with the light spectrum and destroy his humanity. Which is fairly unique paranoid ranting.

Of course, while he’s focused on glaring out the window, he’s not paying attention to Moonstone who prepares a drugged cup of coffee for him.

Blackout: “You’re the only one, Moonstone... the only one who hasn’t betrayed me!”

Moonstone: “That’s right! You can trust me! Now, drink it all down!”

Womp womp.

The drug makes Blackout trance out and Moonstone uses this to start interrogating him about his origin. And... maybe trying to help him? She did start off as a therapist. And even as a villain, she sometimes does therapy.

For some damn reason, Hank “Good Ideas” Pym got her to look over Avengers Academy kids down the line and offer her thoughts on them.

Anyway. Moonstone asks how he got this way:

Blackout: “Well... I ‘spose it all started when Dr. Croit set me up so I’d have to be his guinea pig. He... charged up my body with the power of a black star! That’s why I... *yawn* ... had to punish him!”

Moonstone: “Shh! I want you to listen closely... there are no black-star energies... There’s no conspiracy against you! Let your mind drift back! I want you to tell me what really happened!”

So what really happened is here’s how a Mark Daniels became a man with a lightning bolt mask. He was a lab assistant to Dr. Croit.

Blackout: “He always wanted to be everyone’s big daddy!”

Um. Okayyy?

Anyway, Mark Daniels was helping Croit build an experimental device for tapping energy from other dimensions. And, at least according to Blackout, Dr. Croit liked Mark Daniels because he was a dummy who didn’t understand the experiment at all.

Then one day, while he longingly caressed it, the device blew up in Mark Daniels’ face, somehow making his body a control surface for tapping into another universe’s “dark force.”

Dr. Croit wanted to cure Mark Daniels who took exception to the idea of having his newfound power taken away. So he killed Dr. Croit and the other assistants.

But the power was running out of control (shouldn’t have killed the doctor, ya dingus) and before Blackout could use the stabilizer to save himself, he got stuck... somewhere. Its a bit fuzzy to him until he popped out in Project Pegasus.

Moonstone believes that his mind couldn’t cope with what happened to him so he made up the black star nonsense to be An Explanation.

Moonstone: Imagine... all of that power at the command of a raving paranoid! Yes, but he’s a paranoid who trusts me! Now that I have a handle on his power, I should be able to manipulate him into doing just about anything I wish! Why, with the dimensional-warping potential of a power like his, we could be unstoppable!

“Blackout, we have a very bright future ahead of us!”

And then Vision pops in from nowhere and gives Moonstone a startle.

She fires some of her hand pew pew at him but he’s a hologram and just sasses back.

Moonstone runs to wake up Blackout while Vision can’t help but show off how smart he is now that his computer brain is overclocked.

Vision: “It was, of course, clever of you to seek refuge in a hideaway of your former ally, Egghead! Unfortunately, with all the cross-referenced data instantly at my disposal, tracing you here was child’s play!”

Blackout wakes up and Moonstone basically points at Vision and tells him ‘get ‘im!’ and Blackout gets ‘im.

He uses the same imprisoning black sphere move on Vision as he did on Captain Marvel.

And it probably would have worked. If Vision was really here. He’s just a hologram. And, sure, the light of the hologram would probably be trapped in the sphere too. It trapped Captain Marvel when she was light. But Vision is being projected from elsewhere so he can just turn the projection off and then turn it on slightly to the left.

Vision: “I’m sorry, but that won’t work either! You see -- I’m not really here at all! But my friends are!”

Oh, Vision, you sassmaster.

Moonstone’s ‘knows when to fold them’ kind of lapsed when she was attacking Vision instead of remembering ‘hey doesn’t that guy hang with the Avengers?’ but a whole bunch of Avengers busting in reminds her.

She blasts the floor beneath her and Blackout to try to escape and has Blackout seal the hole behind them to buy time.

But Scarlet Witch is still a great counter to... maybe anyone? But especially Blackout.

She waves her hands at the black barrier and it turns into goo and drips all over Blackout and Moonstone, ensnaring them before they can even try to run.

The Avengers storm after the two villains.

Trapped, Moonstone tells Blackout its up to him to stop the Avengers!

Moonstone: “Concentrate on your power! It’s greater than you realize! If you try, you can control it completely... make it do anything! Concentrate... make this 'dark force’ release us! Yes... that’s it! You’re doing it! But you can do more than just reform the darkness into a protective sheath! You can turn it back on the Avengers... you can make them merge with the darkness! And then we can get out of here!”

Vision warns the Avengers that the dark-force is a manifestation of another universe but She-Hulk is skeptical so goes to grab Blackout out of the black goo but her arm goes right through him.

And not in the gory way that you’d see these days.

Blackout and Moonstone are pretty perplexed too.

Apparently, he done goofed and merged him and Moonstone with the darkness and the two get sucked into a singularity and disappear.

Vision: “This may be a first... Our enemies have actually imprisoned themselves!”

Geez, Vision, these assholes might be dead.

-google- Huh. Nope. They’ll be back to menace.... Dazzler? Huh. It be like that sometimes.

Sidenote: I do like that Captain Monica Marvel, as the newest to this superhero life, is the one that most visibly shows shock and consternation at two villains being sucked into an unknown fate.

It’s a nice touch.

Even though the villains maybe got away? Or got sent to the next dimension? She-Hulk congratulates Vision on finding them. And then notes, seconded by Wanda, that Vision is becoming more of a vision.

Scarlet Witch: “Darling? Your holographic projection is starting to fade!”

Vision: “So it is! I seem to be having some difficulty maintaining the transmission over the distance! Perhaps I’ve overextended myself a bit.”

He decides to switch off the projection to run a systems check.

Later, back at the mansion, the Giant Floating Head of Vision reassures everyone.

Vision: “I was just explaining to Captain Marvel that there’s nothing to worry about! As I’d already guessed, the strain of the long-distance transmission was a bit taxing. A few days of rest, and I’ll be able to transmit myself almost anywhere. Of course, by then, I hope to be physically mobile, as well.”

Scarlet Witch: “Vision, you must be more careful! It’s not safe for you to consider using this power again... not until you’re fully healed!”

Vision: “You mean ‘repaired,’ Wanda. But, yes, a certain amount of caution is required. I must adjust to this extra power in stages. Once I’ve mastered it, I’ll never be so helpless again. I’ll be able to do anything... anything!”

Well.

That’s a massive red flag.

Being locked in a tube has not done wonders for Vision’s emotional state that he always pretends he doesn’t have.

(Side note again: I like that Wasp’s costume has an open back, for her wings. It’s another nice touch.)

Starfox asks if Vision has ever had ego problems but Wasp says he’s never had a swelled head like this.

Nah, not exactly. But can you imagine!

But yeah, no, she says he’s never showed ego like this before.

Its actually such a massive red flag that everyone present seems to pick up on it.

But there’s no time to address that because they get an emergency call from Tigra.

Ah, Tigra! You were fun the short amount of time you were here. What wacky hijinxes do you have going on now?

Tigra: “I’m at St. Anthony’s Hospital in San Francisco, Jan. No, I’m fine -- but a friend of mine is literally at death’s door. She may not make it if we don’t get some help fast... and I mean big help! It’s hard to explain over the phone, but... do you believe in ghosts?”

!!!!

Why, Tigra! I didn’t know you and Spider-Woman were friends!

So next time.... uh. We won’t be addressing this right away. The next Avengers’ issue is an infamous offering from Assistant Editor’s Month and before we can even get to that, we need to look into what Hawkeye has been up to because it’s kinda relevant. Or will be relevant soon. When Marvel decides to give this liveblog a headache by splitting the party.

Oh yes, West Coast Avengers looms in the near future. As does Secret Wars. As does David Letterman!

Good grief!

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I’m going to try to cover all these things. That’s a good reason to follow, probably. Also, like and reblog if you like to reblog.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Any way you could turn that popcorn comic into a story? -pineapple (no pressure I'm just curious)

Speedrun because I have school soon BUTNevermind have to go to school ajdfbvhdsbjsd y’all won’t see this for a whileAlright back now time to finish (...none of these notes will make sense to y’all since no timestamps on them but shhhhhh they’re in chrono order don’t worry)

Inspired by this

-Roman and Deceit go to that movie theater a LOT-They both love having movie dates (Roman thinks they can be both very romantic or very goofy; they have flexibility; Deceit likes the Sins He Can Commit In The Dark which are mostly just kissing Roman til he’s red as a tomato; they both like the show they get with it all)-But there’s only one movie theater that’s close to them, and that’s the one Virgil works as-Virgil is sarcastic all the time towards them, mostly because he and Deceit were ~rivals~ in high school and he knows he (nor his boyfriend) wouldn’t report him to his manager for just acting like he always has-And when he’s on shift (which he is a lot- he needs the money) he always makes sure to be the one helping them-Roman’s frustrated that all his cutesy couple moments are being Ruined by Virgil but he will NEVER stop saying cheesy stuff because he refuses to be beaten by an angsty popcorn butter-er-Deceit’s just amused by the whole thing, since his and Virgil’s rivalry always has been and likely always will be some petty little thing that doesn’t actually matter that much, so he’s never really insulted by any of it-(Which is good, because if he was, Roman has promised multiple times he’d threaten Virgil with his sword. Deceit doubted Virgil would care, but Roman might drop it and cut someone’s toe)-This whole thing goes on a while-As in roceit visits the movies at least once a week (they are ADDICTED to cinema) and at least once a week Virgil ‘helps’ them with a side of extra salt-They’ve come when Virgil’s not really been on his game, though

-Sometimes it’ll be late and it’s clear he hasn’t slept in too long as he mumbles his way through their transaction-Sometimes he’ll be too busy glaring at another employee to be witty, and they know he must have just gotten chewed out for a stupid reason-Sometimes he’ll just… look at them, with some odd look in his eyes, before he checks them out as quickly as possible and with as few words as possible-Roman and Deceit notice-They’re not sure, exactly, when they decided they needed to help protect the emo who always made fun of them, but they have and they will-They’ll make the employee who was a jerk to Virgil enjoy an absolutely horrible transaction-Or they’ll just awkwardly tell Virgil he’s doing good before they go to their movie-When he’s tired, they remind him to go home soon, to rest-More than a few times they’ve driven him home after their movie when it’s clear he shouldn’t be trusted behind a wheel-And for his off days, they just make sure to slip him a bigger tip, since they know he needs the money-They don’t have too many breaks in their ‘rivalry’ but they do have some, and those moments are their breaks-One day, they come to the movies like usual, noting that Virgil seems happier than usual. they don’t ask after this, but they’re both (not-so-) secretly happy to see him happy-After he’s helped them, though, he tells them the cause: he’s got a new job, and given two weeks notice. it’s better paying, more within his interests-Deceit and Roman accept the news outwardly excitedly, inner-wardly excited... and upset-They had gotten used to seeing Virgil at the movies, after all, and their back-and-forth had become very familiar. they were both loathe to lose it, but this was better for Virgil! and though they’d never say it to the soon-to-be-ex-movie theater employee’s face, they wanted him to have only the best-They did start going to the movies more in those two weeks, though, trying to enjoy the last of all of this-And by ‘more’ I mean they went to multiple movies every. single. day. because they did still have work, this meant a lot of real late and early movies, but they made it work-The only thing was this: if they walked in and saw Virgil wasn’t behind the counter? they’d leave and come for the next showing they wanted to see-They were coming here for a REASON after all-Virgil seemed amused by the attention + extra final chances to roast poor Deceit, so he never mentioned it-Now, all of this? It was leading up to something... a plan.-Because Deceit and Roman had seen a lot of Virgil, had gotten used to his snark and his sarcastic tone and his smirks and frowns and deadpan expressions, had gotten used to his sense of humor and interests, had gotten used to him-And as that deadline approached for their time with him to be cut short, the both of them were realizing very quickly they didn’t want to lose him-So they had a plan-They came in for their final movie on Virgil’s final day-You could tell it was his last day- he wasn’t in uniform, he looked more carefree than ever, and when they ordered he didn’t even ring them up; just handed over the drinks and grub, free of charge-‘what’re they gonna do, fire me?’ Virgil had asked with a grin when Roman looked at him in shock-‘happy to be almost gone, I can tell’ Roman commented idly-‘there’s only so much fake butter a man can smell before he goes mad’ Virgil joked back. ‘besides, it’s even better knowing I’ll never have to see your boyfriend’s ugly mug ever again’-‘yeah well have you- uh’ Roman stopped, looked at Deceit, looked back at an unimpressed Virgil, continued, ‘y’know, boyfriend- your- I mean-’ another pause, dramatic hand motion, slamming his hands into the counter, ‘our!’-Virgil didn’t respond aside from looking at Deceit in confusion-‘mind my boyfriend... for such a romantic he’s not great at pick-up lines...’ Deceit said, only making Virgil look more confused until he added, ‘though he could be our boyfriend’-Virgil blinked at him. once. twice. looked at Roman. blinked again.-‘what?’ he asked, finally, sounding torn between extremely bewildered and almost hopeful-‘we’re trying to ask you out.’ Deceit clarified. ‘as you can tell, we’re amazing at it.’-‘...you’re gonna have to say that again, because it’s still not making sense-’-‘we want to DATE you, emo daydream!’ Roman finally said, cheeks immediately blushing a dark red even as he stared Virgil right in the eyes-Virgil froze up at that, both the confusion and hope in his expression increasing. ‘I- wha- why?’-‘because you’re pretty, and cute, and funny albeit snarky, and because of that me and Roman can to the shared conclusion that we don’t want all of that to walk out of our life just because you got a new job’-Virgil didn’t respond to that for a minute, instead just looking down at the counter, clearly lost in thought-finally he says, slowly, awkwardly, ‘...that might be... nice. you guys are... also nice’-‘I’m pretty sure that means ‘I love you’ in awkward introvert language’-Deceit lightly elbowed Roman, though considering Roman was leaning against Deceit’s side + holding his arm as he stared stupidly adoringly at Virgil, it wasn’t very effective. ‘you’re going to scare him off’-‘no, no, I don’t mean it scathingly. I think it’s... cute.’-Virgil who up until now had been doing pretty well at being more shocked than flustered, was beginning to lose that battle. ‘shut up, princey’-Roman puckered his lips. ‘make me?’-Deceit gently shoved Roman away from the counter. ‘I’d apologize for his antics, but you’re well-versed in them’-‘that I am’-Deceit smiled and handed Virgil a card with both his and Roman’s numbers on it. ‘call us so we can set up a date, yeah?’-‘uh... yeah’ Virgil said, cheeks flushing a shade darker just at the thought of a date.-Deceit nodded, still smiling as he collected the food (passing drinks to Roman), the two of them heading off-‘wait!’-Roman and Deceit turned back towards Virgil-Virgil didn’t say anything at first, the ‘wait’ clearly having been spur of the moment. finally, he lifted the card, almost pointlessly, and said lamely, ‘enjoy your movie’-Roman and Deceit smiled back at him. ‘we will’ they promised, before heading to their film-They didn’t uphold that promise, considering they didn’t pay any attention to the movie at all-But given they were instead more occupied with thinking (and talking) about their new boyfriend, they were fairly certain Virgil would forgive them