#classic is dangerous. modern supports him the most

[000marie198]

Imagine if in the Olympic games series. The Tails Squad were participants

You just know most of the other participants will sit aside and let them have their fun.

The squads' competitiveness amongst each other and support to the point of multiple tiny teams is highly entertaining to watch.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I've been reading your Erikar posts and I think that they work really well with the idea that moirallegiance really doesn't work the way it's "supposed" to. It's framed in-universe as a very one-sided "stable person pacifies dangerous person" deal, but both Erifef and Gamkar, which are basically platonic ideals of that concept, failed independently because of how unstable that dynamic is -- one person is worn out doing all the emotional labor and the other is not interested in being pacified. Whereas the meowrails, despite also being framed as a "classical" moirallegiance, are much more clearly two-sided, as both parties consistently help, listen to, and advise each other, and the relationship is consequently much stabler and more enduring. I love the way you frame Erikar because it works really well with this by showing both parties taking and giving "pacification" and support in turn, instead of one shouldering all the work.

Yeah! I think this is a good way to talk about something Hussie likes to do that I'm a huge fan of, which is: unreliable narration. This unreliable narration has garnered Hussie the reputation of being a "troll" or even flat-out "wrong" about HS, and I find both of these to be very unfair because the use of unreliable narrator is both deliberate AND thematically fitting.

As part of Homestuck's post-modern stylings (and I mean post-modern in the literature sense, not vis. art, though it has shades of that too), it plays heavily on the ideas of narrator-as-character, author-as-character, metafiction, and we-all-know-it's-a-story-itis. Hussie himself, even in his external commentaries (Formspring, Tumblr, Books, etc.), is fully aware that his additions add to the metatextual texture of the work and change how it's interpreted - that, although his additions technically lie external to the "story" Homestuck is telling, they are also paradoxically part and parcel of that very story.

As a result, they deliberately play a character WRT Homestuck, both in- and out-of-universe, and this character is, by their own admission, buffoonish and oafish. It's really apparent in their book commentary, where they'll sometimes even drop the act, or "realize" they've dropped the act and hurry to put it back on (a standout moment is when he provides a very genuine, honest analysis of Vriska, before going "oh, wait, I forgot, she's literally my wife and has never done anything wrong ever in her life ever"). They also mention how their narrative voice sometimes works antagonistically to the characters, such as when it assures Vriska that she has no choice but to kill Aradia, subtly pushing Vriska towards that option.

Functionally, neither the narrator nor the author (and by that, I mean the caricaturized character of "the author" that Hussie plays) of Homestuck are entities that you can take fully at face value; they need to be challenged and interrogated as much as any other character, have their motives dissected, have their blind spots pointed out.

And why would this need to be the case? Because that's literally one of the main thrusts of Homestuck: malicious entities (in HS's case, LE, Doc Scratch, and Caliborn, who at various times struggle with Hussie for control of the story, before killing him and wresting it away entirely) will attempt to write the narrative. They'll push their version of events, their politics, their biases, their philosophies. They'll try to change the story to suit them and perpetuate their own power and ability to enforce that power. And you can't let them win.

Hussie-as-a-character/narrator himself is not particularly malicious, and, as the narrative prompt serving as Caliborn's guide, is even ultimately sympathetic, expressing that kids need to grow up and mature, achieve self-actualization, emotional catharsis, etc.

However, as a result of his oafishness, he has a tendency to play to the characters' worst instincts, to pick favorites among the cast. The most blatant example of this is his "love" of Vriska, which - contrary to popular opinion - isn't "real". Hussie is not actually in love with Vriska; the whole thing started because - due to misogyny - people accused Hussie of only giving Vriska so much plot relevance because he was literally in love with her. Why else would a female character with an unpleasant personality be allowed to be important, amirite? And Hussie clearly thought that this whole thing was so ridiculous that he 100% leaned into it as a joke. I'm not here to litigate whether or not it was appropriate to do so, just to point out that Hussie's "love" of Vriska was always an artifice - an aspect of Hussie-as-character that he played up to highlight the fact that Hussie-as-character is an unreliable buffoon, and, by extension, that Vriska is not blameless and perfect.

Since this is the Eridan blog, I'd be remiss not to talk about him. Hussie's commentary towards Eridan is especially fascinating to me, because Eridan is one of he characters Hussie-as-character is biased against, in a similar way as he's biased in Vriska's favor. Thus, his attitude towards Eridan is very dismissive, both in the book commentary AND in the comic itself. "Gamzee: Indulge emotional theatrics" and "Jade: Answer this douche bag" come to mind. He also spends the vast majority of the Act 5 Act 2 book mocking Eridan for being sad and alone, with nobody to care about him and nobody who listens to his problems.

Now, the reason I call this fascinating is twofold: the first is that his commentary in the Act 5 Act 1 book has a WILDLY different tone: while he's still biased in Eridan's disfavor, he outright calls Eridan a "good character" alongside Nepeta, and offers genuine insight into his characterization and the powers of Hope - comparing him at one point to Dave if Dave took a much darker path.

So when his attitude changes from "he's a shithead, but fairly complex, I guess" to "he's a loser idiot that nobody likes LMAOOOO", you're supposed to notice that! You're supposed to question that, to wonder why he has a change of heart, why he's suddenly so dismissive of a character he was genuinely writing whole paragraphs about before.

And the answer is multifaceted:

He's playing up his buffoonish character, to let you know that he's about to be wrong as hell. Every time Hussie starts really amping up the Hussie-as-character persona, you're about to be in for an opinion that SHOULD NOT be taken at face value.

He's reflecting a common fandom opinion, because one of his favorite things to do as an unreliable narrator is to speak on behalf of another character or entity, highlighting the biases and blind spots in play - in this case, the audience's. Again, he's about to be wrong as hell, so he's doing this specifically to indicate that the audience members who believe this are also wrong as hell.

Act 5 Act 2 is when we get the one conversation in all of Homestuck where somebody (Karkat) cares about Eridan and takes his problems seriously. During this part of the story, Hussie goes COMPLETELY silent. This is incredibly out of character, as he usually can't shut up, and the commentary is usually dense, packed with words, without pause. Compare:

In those blocks of silence are contained the conversation Eridan has with Karkat where Karkat literally tells him "I know it's hard being you" and that Nepeta's rejection of him wasn't a negative reflection of him. In other words, Karkat cares about Eridan and takes him seriously, COMPLETELY contradicting Hussie-as-character's assertions that nobody does, so utterly that Hussie-as-character has to completely shut up during that entire sequence because he has no way of reconciling his stance with the evidence presented.

Now, Hussie-as-an-actual-person is completely aware of what they're doing, or else they couldn't do stuff like this so consistently and so precisely. So I want to be very, very clear that this is not Hussie "not understanding his own story" or whatever BS the fandom likes to say in order to cast Hussie as the villain. This is masterful usage of unreliable narrator, like, I'm genuinely impressed.

By acting a clown and insisting that nobody likes or cares about Eridan, the audience is MEANT to glean from the text:

That Karkat is clearly an exception, and he quite likes and cares about Eridan,

That those who are dismissive towards Eridan and treat him purely as an object of ridicule are Wrong as Hell,

That maybe it's not a good thing for us - both audience, author, and characters - to be so quick to judge and dismiss others just because they're annoying and nasty - that doing so can have dire consequences, as we see with how Eridan's story plays out.

And I'm not kidding when I say that we have to be constantly fucking vigilant, that there's very, very little that can be purely taken at face value. Not long after this is one of Karkat's memos, where he attempts to warn his past friends about all the murders, only to dismiss past!Gamzee by saying that current!Gamzee going crazy murderclown "barely even concerns [him]." Hussie then notes in the commentary - and not for the first time - that Karkat has a Problem(TM) with not seeing past/future versions of people as contiguous with their current selves, which he does as a defense mechanism so as not to confront his own feelings of shame and self-loathing. Hussie then proceeds not to comment on the following:

CCG: YOU ARE DEAD TO ME CCG: PAST YOU, PRESENT YOU, FUTURE YOU CCG: AND ABOVE ALL, UGLY SCARFNECKED DOUCHEBAG HIPSTER YOU CCG: WAIT I FORGOT, ALL OF THE YOUS ARE THAT YOU

Hmmm... interesting. I wonder why Hussie points out one of Karkat's running character traits, just to "forget" to notice when an exception happens directly after? I'll let this one be an exercise for the class.

So to tie it all back to your ask: why is the exposition on troll romance done the way it is? What are the narrator's motives? Hussie even outright states in the commentary that Kanaya/Tavros/Vriska, which is used as an example of an auspicetism, isn't even a real auspicetism, as Kanaya feels no need to commit to it, and at most is putting out mixed signals - it's just used as an example because it's the closest thing we've seen.

Well, the answer I've arrived at, personally, is that the troll romance explanation is as flawed as it is because the narrator is taking on Karkat's point of view. A movie poster on Karkat's wall, the troll version of Serendipity, is used and namedropped as the ultimate expression of meeting your soul mate in every quadrant - as well as the assertion that "every" troll believes that there ARE destined soul mates for every quadrant, which Karkat definitely believes, but isn't a sentiment necessarily shared by everybody else. Moreover, the explanation ends with a tirade about how Karkat tried to explain quadrants to John, who didn't get it because "he's an idiot".

I'm not saying that Karkat is literally narrating here, just to be clear - I'm saying that the narrator (Hussie-as-character) is relaying factual information as processed through the lens of Karkat's biases, and, as a result, we can't take the explanation at 100% face value (though we can't discount it as entirely untrue, either). It's not so much that "real" moirail pairs work because they're doing moirallegiance "wrong," but that Karkat's view of moirallegiance is simplistic, idealized, and flawed, and we see this play out when he's bitter about his breakup with Gamzee because Gamzee stops "needing" him to keep him calm, even after Karkat has failed to be kept calm by Gamzee in return.

The more I look into Homestuck, the more that I'm genuinely impressed by the way it handles its writing. I hope this was interesting to everyone, too. I feel a little like I'm peeling back a curtain, or opening up a clock to reveal all the little cogs and wheels.

No, you can't trust Hussie as the narrator, but that's on purpose, and it's on purpose because why do we trust narrators? Why do we assume people telling a story are unbiased, benevolent, and have no ulterior motives? Why do we let idiots, assholes, predators, and monsters get away with their version of the truth, when a little scrutiny will have the whole ruse fall apart? Why do we let people tell us not to care about other people, why do we let them tell us that it's okay to be cruel to acceptible targets, why do we let them go unexamined?

And how about the stories we tell ourselves?

[fantastic-nonsense]

im soso curious, i need to know... why is tim a child of apollo? bless u for not going with fanon<3

[referencing how I decided who the Batfam's godly parents were in my PJO AU WIP]

People like to sort him into Athena because DC has spent the last few years emphasizing how smart he is and how he's better at the more “cerebral” and detective aspects of the job. But Tim’s most prominent pre-reboot traits are not actually his detective or tech skills: they’re his reckless, impulsive bravery, his ability to analyze and think very quickly on his feet in dangerous situations, and his "power of friendship" idealism.

He's a people person; it's one of his greatest strengths. Tim is like...physically incapable of going somewhere and not making at least one friend while he's there. Hell, when he ran off to travel the world on his "fuck you, I'll find Bruce on my own" trip he still managed to pick up his own little crew of assassin friends along the way. Making connections and talking to people and relying on others for help is how he successfully navigates being a hero, as he himself notes on multiple occasions:

"Did you think I was going to run all around the city, desperately trying to save everyone all by myself? I'm not Batman. I have friends." -Red Robin #12

Tim loves his family and friends, and losing so many people he's close to within such a small timespan sends him off the deep end in multiple ways (trying to clone Kon, fighting Dick to get the Lazarus water, isolating himself from everyone, fighting with Dick and running off to find proof that Bruce was alive on his own, etc).

At his core, Tim is an idealist who becomes a hero for no other reason than a) a broken man needs help and a broken family needs mending and b) if Dick won't go back to being Robin he might as well do it, because someone has to be Robin. He sees what will happen if Bruce stays on the path he's on and says "no. I'm not going to let that happen." He's a hero because someone has to help, and he's able and available to do so. He doesn't work on cold hard logic and facts. He works off of gut instinct and then uses his big brain to go find facts and logical conclusions that support those instincts.

Tim was never going to be an Athena child.

So I started thinking. At first, I wanted him to be a Hermes child; it seemed right to frame his parentage around being the child of the messenger of the gods given how he became Robin. But that's not really him, either. Apollo, within the scope of both classical mythology and the PJO-verse's depiction of him and his children, fits him better.

While modern culture tends to zero in a lot on Apollo's status as the god of music, poetry, and the arts (for good reason), Apollo in classical Greek mythology was first and foremost known as the god who (for lack of a better term) helps his people. He's the god of the sun, of light, of medicine and healing, of prophecy, of truth.

Tim comes into Bruce's life at a time when Bruce is at his absolute lowest point. Jason is dead. He's estranged from Dick. He's failing in his mission to save Gotham. He's highkey passively suicidal. And Tim takes it upon himself to fix that. And he does it by being a solid, bright, stable presence in Bruce's life and an extremely blunt, truthful messenger of the future he sees: Batman needs a Robin, and if Bruce doesn't have one he's going to die.

And I didn't abandon his intelligence in the calculations: Apollo is also the god of rational thinking, order, and knowledge, contrasting and working in harmony with Dionysus (the god of irrationality, chaos, and passion). He was also known to be the god whose job it was to interpret the will of Zeus to humankind, which I thought was appropriate for a boy who spends quite a lot of his time being the living communication translator between Bruce and everyone around him.

So. Apollo child.

............also I thought it was funny to make the god of youth the father of the boy DC refuses to allow to age.

[magicantare]

mmc magical girl AU lore dump:

The year is 20XX. The world is slowly approaching a post-scarcity utopia supported by unprecedented advances in technology and science. Quantum and classical physics have been united, asteroid mining has made electronic components cheap and abundant, medical technology guarantees a higher quality of life, and most recently, inorganic matter has been able to be converted into data and back.

Dr. Light and Dr. Wily developed a “robotic support system”, a type of protective suit integrated with incredibly advanced robotic tools for specific dangerous tasks, like rescues, handling hazardous material, or performing tasks in extreme environments. Light wants the suits to be used to help advance the frontiers of science, while Wily is more interested in its military applications despite large-scale conflicts being minimal in the present day. These support systems are integrated into the body to the point that removing them requires special equipment (think like an HEV suit), but the suits themselves are very powerful and cutting-edge. Light’s proposal to use them for scientific reasons is what ultimately wins out, and Wily is shunned for pushing for military use. Soon after this, Wily simply vanishes without a trace, which bothers Light but he can’t do anything about it.

At some point Light saves his oldest son, Blues, from dying of a heart condition with a suit prototype (LRSS-000) that regulates his heart rate and provides strength for his weakened body, but Blues had already accepted his death and doesn’t take having his body tampered with super well and ends up leaving home. Light creates generic support systems in the form of LRSS-001 and 002, proving the non-weaponized potential that the support system has, where his twin children Rock and Roll happily volunteer to demonstrate them with great success. Light then deploys LRSS-003 to 008 with handpicked candidates, qualified university graduates and trade employees, for use in scientific and industrial fields.

Wily shows up some years later and declares war on the world with his own version of the robotic support system, and a handful of 20-somethings that he’s coerced/bribed/blackmailed into piloting them, calling them “Bion Masters”. The suits are ridiculously powerful and there are far less military resources out there than in modern day due to the general state of peace in the world, so nothing can stop them. Rock and Roll both volunteer themselves to fight against Wily, but Light can’t bear to let either of them face danger after nearly losing Blues. Though Light’s Bion Masters try their best to fight back, they don’t have the same weaponized capabilities that Wily’s do and are slowly defeated and abducted one by one, each disappearance further weighing on Light’s conscience.

The most egregious act comes when Wily and Shadow Man break into the Light residence and kidnap Rock and Roll and their support systems, absolutely shattering Light’s will to fight back. Before he vanishes, Rock tells his father that he can’t give up here and urges him to resist Wily for everyone’s sake.

Light makes the difficult decision to weaponize the second series of support systems he’s been developing and seek out people who have enough courage to take on Wily’s forces. He finds the first seven users relatively quickly, but the last support system, 016, has so much dangerous potential that Light hesitates to find a user for it…

Light’s (Current) Bion Masters:

LRSS-009 “Concrete Man”

Good Point: Gets the job done Bad Point: Self-righteous Likes: Fulfilling work Dislikes: Laziness

The support system was designed for construction. In battle, he’s most effective at backline support, civilian rescue and damage mitigation, but has quite a lot of raw physical strength for defense. Concrete Shot can immobilize enemies.

LRSS-010 “Tornado Man”

Good Point: Confident Bad Point: Slacker Likes: New experiences Dislikes: Working

The support system was designed for weather management and mitigating storm damage. In battle, he acts as the leader and has quick mobility, focusing on clearing out large groups of enemies and moving victims of Wily’s assaults to safe areas. Tornado Blow can throw even heavy enemies into the air and damage them upon impact with the ground.

LRSS-011 “Splash Woman”

Good Point: Hard worker Bad Point: Moody Likes: Self-care Dislikes: Having her time wasted

The support system was designed for rescuing shipwreck survivors. In battle, she can fight up-close and excels at underwater combat and has small fish-like robots she can call on for extra support. Laser Trident can cut cleanly through metal and destroy robotic enemies.

LRSS-012 “Plug Man”

Good Point: Quick learner Bad Point: Over-exciteable Likes: Technology Dislikes: Boring tasks

The support system was designed for delicate but high-powered electronic manufacturing. In battle he’s a long-ranged fighter that can use both physical and electrical projectiles. Plug Ball can spread across surfaces and short-circuit any machines that aren’t hermetically sealed.

LRSS-013 “Jewel Man” Good Point: Stylish Bad Point: Self-Centered Likes: Interesting things Dislikes: Being rejected

The support system was designed for jewel mining. In battle, he’s a very fast and up-close brawler that can even claw metal apart. Jewel Satellite can protect him from energy shots and damage enemies on contact.

LRSS-014 “Hornet Man” Good Point: Compassionate Bad Point: Pushover Likes: Nature Dislikes: Selfishness

The support system was designed for botany and environmental science work. In battle, he’s primarily a backline fighter that provides remote support. Hornet Chaser can pursue enemies and pierce through metal with lasers.

LRSS-015 “Magma Man”

Good Point: Calm Bad Point: A little dense Likes: Traveling Dislikes: Staying indoors

The support system was designed for work in volcanic environments. In battle, he’s a very slow but powerful frontline fighter. Magma Bazooka can melt through metal armor with direct shots.

LRSS-016 “Galaxy Man” Good Point: Creative Bad Point: No people-skills Likes: Science Dislikes: Strangers

The support system was designed for performing spacewalks and maintenance on space stations and satellites. In battle, they’re highly mobile and can hit devastatingly hard, but are themself fragile. Black Hole Bomb can suck up pretty much anything that isn’t tied down or attached to the ground, so it can destroy huge groups of enemies at once.

...That's everything I have formally written down, at least, but I've also made a lot of offhand remarks when brainstorming for this.

[minheelovelee]

epex as college boyfriends ? <3

as a professional college student, i love this ask! thanks anon!

college boyfriend!epex

warnings: mentions of controlled substances.

wish

- physical education major

- plans to teach middle-high school. he lives for growth and improvement. it’s the most rewarding thing about teaching.

- makes you walk everywhere with him. never takes his car for some reason. has really nice calf muscles and works out almost every day.

- eats with you every day at the dining hall. wants to make sure you’re eating well. sometimes he forgets, too. you keep each other in check.

- takes you to parties. he has a million friends. he always knows someone at every event. you don’t know how he made all these friends.

- doesn’t study and doesn’t set alarms. likes to live dangerously. take care of him.

- he ends up rooming with jaeho, a weirdo who wants to follow you everywhere. you both come to love him <3

keum

- modern dance major

- wanted to go to a college with non-art majors, too. so he settled for a school with just a general dance program.

- made friends with everyone on the first day. everyone has his snapchat. suddenly became a social butterfly. you’ll start off as friends.

- makes playlists for you. he makes music with some of his buddies. he dedicates songs to you and makes mix tapes.

- amazing host. always has gatherings at his apartment. stocked up on drinks and bud 24/7. doesn’t party sober.

- has a couple secret spots around campus to take you to. he’ll bring you to them when he wants to be alone with you.

- obsessed with his roommate. kyungmin never partied, drank, or had fun before coming college. he takes it upon himself to introduce km to all of college’s joys.

kyungmin

- art history major

- wants to be a museum coordinator or a journalist. he’s still kind of figuring things out. classic art student.

- you met through his roommate. you end up hitting it off and end up spending a lot of 1-on-1 time together.

- takes you out for coffee almost every day. the campus cafe takes all of his money. also, you eat girl dinners together because you don’t want to go to the dining hall. cracker, cheese, and whatever alcohol you could get your hands on that day.

- walks you to classes. insists that you never walk anywhere alone. makes sure you’re never lonely. also drives you wherever you need to go.

- drinks la croix at parties. with vodka. he can’t resist a drunk cigarette on the balcony either. not a big fan of crowds or drunk people though.

- his roommate, donghyun, is a lot. kyungmin likes him, but is annoyed by how many people he has over. so he comes to your dorm to watch you study.

amin

- business management major.

- following in the footsteps of one of his relatives. he wants to end up in human resources or entrepreneurship.

- brings you gifts of encouragement when you’re studying. might surprise you at the library with boba. also makes sure you eat dinner daily. he’ll cook for you if you’re too busy to go to the dining hall.

- his room is a mess. always. he thrives in chaos. even when he cleans, it’s still dirty.

- goes to campus events like plays, art shows, or comedy nights. he’s very appreciative of the arts. green flag.

- thinks putting something on the door handle is a universal sign not to come in. apparently it’s not. his roommate has seek you naked.

- roommates with baekseung. they spend a lot of time together. you three become a cute trio and share an apartment next year.

baekseung

- major: undecided

- he didn’t want to graduate high school. or go to college. he’s just going to meet girls and please his parents.

- biggest dining hall supporter. he thinks the food is fire. you meet him there when you both sit by a mutual friend.

- you can hear him coming from a kilometer away on his skateboard. one time he hit a pothole and went flying. lol.

- goes to all donghyun’s parties. they write music together. he’s pretty well-known for being the campus rapper. you’re his groupie.

- he’s just taking generals right now, so his classes are pretty easy. he’ll try to help you with homework. but after one problem, he goes back to playing fifa.

- lives with minwoo. his roommate is only slightly obsessed with him. they love each other though. you spend a lot of time as a trio.

ayden

- biochemistry major

- he’s planning to go to med school. his mom told him to. he’d actually make a fantastic doctor.

- way too smart. he doesn’t study though. he just plays crossy road while watching you do class work.

- he falls asleep in class. bring him a red bull and he’ll be so happy.

- takes care of you like no other. he doesn’t take care of himself though. make sure he gets scolded for that.

- his dream date: watching netflix documentaries, procrastinating, and smoking a bowl.

- roommates with yewang. they get along too well and encourage each other to do stupid stuff. like stay up all night and light fireworks in the parking lot.

yewang

- music education major

- wants to teach high school or middle school music. dreams of being a choir director. he couldn’t see himself in a field that isn’t focused on music.

- writes songs for baekseung and donghyun. he’s got his guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, and everything set up in his room.

- always has food in his pockets. not normal food though. like an entire cookie or a grilled cheese sandwich.

- you’ll never catch him working on homework. he always has it done before he sees you. he’ll help you with yours, too.

- probably joined the choir and encore for the school. or he plays in the band. he thinks he’s the next Mozart.

- roommates with ayden. they love each other. they always are up to shenanigans. if someone gets pranked in the dorm, you can bet one of them had something to do with it.

jeff

- criminal justice.

- probably will work in the juvenile field. he really likes kids and thinks that corrective services are super important for teenagers.

- captures everything on camera. he has albums and albums dedicated to you and his college experience. y/n sleeping. dining hall shenanigans. donghyun parties.

- good friends with donghyun. he joined the dance crew because donghyun gave him a flyer and he was too scared to say no. he’s quite good. go support him and he’ll be so happy.

- goes to the vending machine everyday. he has to get a diet coke. he keeps his mini fridge stocked WELL.

- he snuggles you to sleep every night. then he’ll walk home in the dark. he just likes you a lot and need to hug you before he goes to bed.

- roommates with dawit. you guys follow him around to get on his nerves. he never says no. you cook together at 2am sometimes.

[dhm-rising]

Fan Dragon Month Series One: Alice in Wonderland

Day One: The Mad Hatter

Male Spiral - Plague Swirl

Garnet/Obsidian/Blood

Pinstripe/Blaze/Glimmer

Lore Under The Cut!

This Alice in Wonderland retelling takes notes from other darker modern retellings like American McGee’s Alice*, Lorestrome’s Alice is Dead series, and the 2010 Burton film. Instead of taking place in a classic Wonderland setting, it takes place in one of the many strange magical pockets of Sornieth.

In this version, the Hatter serves as a sort of guide to Alice, but his alignment is constantly changing and it’s really hard to tell whether or not he’s actually trying to help. We first meet him when Alice falls into Wonderland and stops her from following the White Rabbit. He then steers her immediately into danger, very nearly getting her killed by one of The Things In The Woods, and then saves her and takes her to his home, promising her a place for the night. When Alice awakes, she finds herself in a freak show ran by the Hatter, and finds herself surrounded by strange yet friendly faces…

First | Previous | Next | Last

Design Notes

This guy isn’t really based on any particular interpretation of The Mad Hatter, other than the fact that he is a little hyperactive man with a top hat and a funny cane.

He is based on my mental image of a circus ringleader though. Lots of reds and stripes and a pointy stick to point at things.

Originally his scry had Hypnotic instead, but when I saw that the edge of Obsidian Blaze matched the Blood Glimmer I couldn’t pass it up.

His original outfit had Skeleton Chimes, but I removed those when I found out how expensive they were, plus they stopped fitting the vibes I had in my head.

The two shirts are intentional. For some reason most every shirt on Spirals just kinda ends after the first loop, and I don’t really like that.

The Hatter was the first fan dragon I ever made and I love him for that.

*Disclaimer: I no longer support American McGee due to his recent actions involving AI and the treatment of the members in his Discord server. That being said, Alice and it’s sequel are amazing and underrated games that I encourage people to check out.

[denimbex1986]

'Depending on who you ask, the character of Tom Ripley is a Machiavellian criminal, a mastermind of deception, or a hopelessly deluded dreamer. Patricia Highsmith’s quintet of novels centering on the tortured, talented con artist have invited several cinematic interpretations, each with a different take on his slippery essence. Some actors might hesitate to step into the protagonist’s dubiously-acquired Ferragamo loafers, but Andrew Scott, star of the new limited series Ripley, had no such qualms. “Since I’ve been associated with the role, people say ‘Oh my god, that character,’” recalls the Irish actor, known for his subtle, precisely observed performances as the magnetic Priest in Fleabag and Adam, a lonely writer batting grief in All of Us Strangers. “People have a lot of preconceptions about Tom Ripley. It’s my job in some ways to ignore all that and create our own particular version of it.”

Anchored by Scott’s mercurial performance, Ripley is a finely drawn character study of one of the most beguiling creations of twentieth-century fiction. Helmed by DGA Award-winning director and Academy Award-winning writer Steven Zaillian, the gripping psychological thriller unspools over eight episodes shot in elegant black and white by Academy Award winner Robert Elswit. From a rat-infested flophouse in 60s Manhattan to a dolce vita gone sour in Italy, Ripley’s travels — and travails — come to life in noir at its most luxurious and complex. Its cinematographic lushness is haunted by ever-present threats of deception and violence and shot through with sly wit. “It’s just the way I write, intertwining drama and in this case, suspense, with humor, because that’s what life is like,” says Zaillian. “I’m always after what’s real in behavior.”

When we first meet Ripley, he is scraping together a living in New York’s underbelly when an offer arrives that few in his position would refuse. A shipbuilding magnate practically hands Ripley a blank check to retrieve his wayward son Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) from an extended vacation in Italy. Yet upon arrival, the mission takes on a complex and sinister edge as Ripley becomes dangerously infatuated with Dickie’s haute bohemian lifestyle and carefree cool. He grows possessive and jealous, raising the suspicions of his partner Marge Sherwood, played by Dakota Fanning. “Marge susses him out pretty quickly,” notes Fanning. “A lot of the other characters think that they’re playing Tom — and Tom is fully playing them.”

Zaillian sought out Fanning after watching her “expressive and eerie” turn as the Manson cult member Squeaky Fromme in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood: “I thought, This is someone who can go toe to toe with Tom Ripley, who is too smart to be conned, who can threaten his schemes.”

To find the perfect setting for Dickie and Marge’s Italian idyll, Zaillian and production designer David Gropman set about the rather enviable task of location scouting on the Amalfi coast. Amid the area’s swishy modern-day hotels and luxury boutiques, they discovered Atrani, a quaint village that seemed frozen in time with its lemon tree-lined streets, tenth-century church, and stunning vistas of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The costume department meticulously recreated the period’s fashions to outfit a supporting cast that brings richness to Atrani’s pensiones and vibrant life to its bustling Roman piazzas. Filming happened to coincide with a lull in vacationers, adding to the authentic feel. “This was during COVID, so there were no tourists,” notes Zaillian. “It made it feel all the more like we’d gone back in time.”

Despite its fidelity to the 60s setting, there’s a sense that Ripley is meeting the moment, reentering popular consciousness at a time of cultural fascination with real-life scammers such as Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes. Even so, Scott bristles at the idea that the series’ protagonist is a mere grifter. “I think he’s very charming and not in a manipulative way,” says Scott, who rocketed to stardom playing a true literary villain, James Moriarty in the BBC’s Sherlock. “When [Ripley] comes to Italy and he’s exposed to all this beautiful art and landscape and beauty and food, he adores it. But the people that he’s with I’m not sure have the same appreciation or humility about that stuff that he does. So in a way, he’s very like us.”

Scott adds that Ripley’s unsavory exploits are motivated by fear, specifically the FOMO-like certainty that everyone else is having a fabulous time without him. “He’s a dark character and does bad things,” says Scott. “To me, what it’s about is feeling like you are not invited to the party. It’s about feeling like you’re ‘other.’”

It’s hard to blame Ripley for longing for what he can’t have. One early scene in New York sees him gazing admiringly into the window of a refined boutique while on the way home from a dingy dive bar, transfixed — taunted — by an upper-crust lifestyle that is inaccessible to him no matter the cash in his wallet. You can’t merely buy your way into the echelons of high society, or acquire the laissez-faire attitude to wealth that comes with it: Dickie shrugs on his made-to-measure Italian suits with the same careless ease that a dock worker tosses on his overalls. “Essentially, Dickie doesn’t want to inherit the rich kid status,” says Flynn. “In his heart, he’s a bohemian artist-poet, and he’s getting to imagine he is that, living in this reclusive place in Italy.”

This nonchalantly rakish dreamer-gone-adrift casts a particular spell over Atrani’s newest arrival. “To my mind, it’s all about love,” says Scott of Ripley’s attraction to Dickie. “I think he loves Dickie. It’s not really specified as to what the nature of that love necessarily is from Tom’s point of view. Do I think that it’s in some way sexual? Possibly.” Ripley doesn’t know whether he wants to be Dickie, or wants to be with him.

Scott is no stranger to getting into the bones of characters that subvert audience expectations. He recently scored an Olivier nomination for a tour-de-force turn in the West End’s Vanya, an audacious Chekhov adaptation in which Scott played every role. His Ripley is just as multidimensional, teasing out the humanity of a man who is certainly no hero, but is also too complex to quite be a love-to-hate-’em antihero. “I always think the great works of art are or should be about who we are and not who we should be,” says Scott. “I think we contain multitudes within us and all great art reflects that, that we’re both the light and the dark.”'

[anantradingpvtltd]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] The only tie-in book for USA's award-winning series Mr. Robot, elliot's journal - red wheelbarrow - is written by show creator Sam esmail and show writer Courtney Looney. Before and during the events of season two, Elliot recorded his most private thoughts in this journal - and now you can hold this piece of the series in your hands. Experience elliot's battles to gain control of his life and his struggles to survive increasingly dangerous circumstances, in a brand-new story rendered in his own words. The notebook also holds seven removable art I facts - a ripped-out page, a newspaper clipping, a mysterious envelope, and more - along with sketches throughout the book. You'll discover the story behind Mr. Robot season two and hints of what is to come. This book is the ultimate journey into the world of the show - and a key to hacking the mind of its main character. Mr. Robot is a psychological thriller that follows Elliot (rami malek, the Pacific), a young programmer, who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and as a vigilante hacker by night. Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater, adderall diaries) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Praise for Mr. Robot: "relentless, sensational, and unabashedly suspenseful" - The New York Times ". . . Most br>Narratively and visually daring drama series on television. . . " - entertainment weekly "terrific" - The New Yorker "Sam esmail is one of the most innovative creators to make his mark on television in a long time. " - rolling stone "a modern classic" - Forbes "Mr. Robot has the potential to be one of the defining shows of our age. " - Time "brilliant" - The Huffington post Golden globe Awards for best television series, drama, and best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television (Christian Slater) critics' Choice Awards for best drama series, best actor in a drama series (rami malek), and best supporting actor in a drama series (Christian Slater) Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series (rami malek) five Emmy nominations, including for outstanding drama series. Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams; Har/Acc edition (1 November 2016); Abrams & Chronicle Books 1st Floor 1 West Smithfield London EC1A 9JU Language ‏ : ‎ English Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419724428 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419724428 Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 440 g Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.05 x 1.27 x 24.77 cm Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ Hong Kong [ad_2]

[hellsbellschime]

The Myth That Catelyn Stark Is Jon Snow's Wicked Stepmother

There are plenty of nearly universally accepted perspectives in the fandom of A Song of Ice and Fire, but one of the most interesting and seemingly over-simplified perceptions of the story is that Catelyn Stark somehow occupies the role of the classic fairy tale wicked stepmother to Jon Snow.

This particular point of view is a bit perplexing though, both because the textual support around this idea largely isn't strong enough to treat it like irrefutable fact, but more importantly, because the idea that Cat is Jon's abusive stepparent seemingly takes a very modern idea of what blended families should look like and ascribes it to a situation where it does not even remotely apply.

To get it out of the way, Cat telling Jon that "It should have been you" after Bran's fall is an utterly horrific and inappropriate thing to say. It was an unusual circumstance, Cat is clearly not coping with what has happened to Bran very well, and based on her behavior towards Maester Luwin a bit later, she seems to be cruelly lashing out at everyone. But as an adult, it was undeniably Catelyn's responsibility to not take her pain and frustration out on a completely innocent child. Her behavior in this situation is utterly unforgivable.

But aside from this instance, their relationship seems to be almost entirely nonexistent. And the dynamic between Catelyn and Jon was incredibly complex, complex in a way that a child like Jon would be incapable of fully understand and in a way that Ned went out of his way to completely ignore to the detriment of everyone. And ultimately, many fans seem to entirely blame Catelyn for a situation that she didn't want to be in and was objectively in danger as a result of, despite the fact that Cat had absolutely no power or even any other options when she was put in this position.

One of the most informative and interesting passages regarding Jon and Catelyn's relationship and hints at all of the endless influencing factors to it comes relatively early on in A Game of Thrones. In Catelyn II, Ned and Cat have this exchange:

Many men fathered bastards. Catelyn had grown up with that knowledge. It came as no surprise to her, in the first year of her marriage, to learn that Ned had fathered a child on some girl chance met on campaign. He had a man’s needs, after all, and they had spent that year apart, Ned off at war in the south while she remained safe in her father’s castle at Riverrun. Her thoughts were more of Robb, the infant at her breast, than of the husband she scarcely knew. He was welcome to whatever solace he might find between battles. And if his seed quickened, she expected he would see to the child’s needs.

He did more than that. The Starks were not like other men. Ned brought his bastard home with him, and called him “son” for all the north to see. When the wars were over at last, and Catelyn rode to Winterfell, Jon and his wet nurse had already taken up residence.

That cut deep. Ned would not speak of the mother, not so much as a word, but a castle has no secrets, and Catelyn heard her maids repeating tales they heard from the lips of her husband’s soldiers. They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys’s Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain him in single combat. And they told how afterward Ned had carried Ser Arthur’s sword back to the beautiful young sister who awaited him in a castle called Starfall on the shores of the Summer Sea. The Lady Ashara Dayne, tall and fair, with haunting violet eyes. It had taken her a fortnight to marshal her courage, but finally, in bed one night, Catelyn had asked her husband the truth of it, asked him to his face.

That was the only time in all their years that Ned had ever frightened her. “Never ask me about Jon,” he said, cold as ice. “He is my blood, and that is all you need to know. And now I will learn where you heard that name, my lady.” She had pledged to obey; she told him; and from that day on, the whispering had stopped, and Ashara Dayne’s name was never heard in Winterfell again.

Whoever Jon’s mother had been, Ned must have loved her fiercely, for nothing Catelyn said would persuade him to send the boy away. It was the one thing she could never forgive him. She had come to love her husband with all her heart, but she had never found it in her to love Jon. She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him. Somehow that made it worse. “Jon must go,” she said now.

“He and Robb are close,” Ned said. “I had hoped …”

“He cannot stay here,” Catelyn said, cutting him off. “He is your son, not mine. I will not have him.” It was hard, she knew, but no less the truth. Ned would do the boy no kindness by leaving him here at Winterfell.

The look Ned gave her was anguished. “You know I cannot take him south. There will be no place for him at court. A boy with a bastard’s name … you know what they will say of him. He will be shunned.”

Catelyn armored her heart against the mute appeal in her husband’s eyes. “They say your friend Robert has fathered a dozen bastards himself.”

“And none of them has ever been seen at court!” Ned blazed. “The Lannister woman has seen to that. How can you be so damnably cruel, Catelyn? He is only a boy. He—”

His fury was on him. He might have said more, and worse, but Maester Luwin cut in. “Another solution presents itself,” he said, his voice quiet. “Your brother Benjen came to me about Jon a few days ago. It seems the boy aspires to take the black.”

Ned looked shocked. “He asked to join the Night’s Watch?”

Catelyn said nothing. Let Ned work it out in his own mind; her voice would not be welcome now. Yet gladly would she have kissed the maester just then. His was the perfect solution. Benjen Stark was a Sworn Brother. Jon would be a son to him, the child he would never have. And in time the boy would take the oath as well. He would father no sons who might someday contest with Catelyn’s own grandchildren for Winterfell.

It's a long passage, but it explains nearly everything important about Catelyn and her feelings towards Jon. She outright states that, although being with another woman is an objective betrayal, and although Catelyn clearly could never be with another man despite the fact that she owed Ned no loyalty either, Ned cheating on her in the early days of their marriage was to be expected and she's not even angry about it.

She also directly states that she would have expected Ned to care for any illegitimate children, and she seems to have no negative feelings towards that either. What upsets her is that Ned brings Jon to Winterfell before Catelyn and Robb have even arrived, and acknowledges Jon as his son for the entire world to see.

In a normal contemporary society, Catelyn being upset about her husband's illegitimate son is far less reasonable, and it seems like many fans seem to look at her behavior and decisions through this lens. But she very directly explains why this is a problem, and frankly, she's right.

Ned treating Jon as an equal to all of his children puts all of them in an extremely dangerous and precarious position, and it puts Catelyn in potentially mortal danger at some point in her life as well. However, because Catelyn is a woman and Ned is her husband, she has to go along with whatever he wants and she can't do anything about it.

In the real world, if a woman didn't want to be with someone who already had a child, they would be able to decide not to marry that person. And if a woman was put in a position that was uncomfortable or even dangerous for them after being married, they would have the option to leave. But Catelyn doesn't have those choices, and Ned takes complete advantage of the fact that he can simply tell Cat what to do and she has to do it regardless of whether or not she wants to.

And that really leads into another interesting aspect of this notion that Cat was Jon's wicked stepmother. Because very early on in Ned and Cat's marriage, she inquires about Jon's parentage and the rumors surrounding it, it's the only time in their relationship that Ned ever truly frightened her, and Ned commands her to never ask about Jon's mother again and tell him who started the rumors about Ashara Dayne.

But, one particularly vital aspect of this whole exchange is that Cat does what Ned tells her to do when it comes to Jon. So, if Cat is supposed to be abusive to Jon, then that would logically mean that Ned was aware that Cat was abusing Jon and never told her not to, which makes absolutely no sense.

Interestingly, Ned also says that he can't take Jon from Winterfell to King's Landing because he would be shunned. And although he's angry at Catelyn for being what he characterizes as cruel, he is also blatantly acknowledging that regardless of Cat's lack of relationship with Jon, he is literally more comfortable leaving Jon in Cat's hands alone at Winterfell than he is taking him south among the other lords and ladies who will apparently treat him much more poorly than he thinks Cat will. So again, the notion that Catelyn was abusive to him, and even the notion that she didn't treat him considerably better than Westerosi society would expect him to be treated, doesn't seem to be backed up from Ned's own point of view.

Ned acknowledges that Robb and Jon have a good relationship, but Jon's relationship with all of his siblings seems to be pretty great, or rather, he at least doesn't seem to be treated much differently than any of the other Stark children. At different points, they all acknowledge that Jon is a bastard, but that doesn't seemingly affect the way that he is treated among his siblings. Which again, hints that Catelyn isn't particularly hateful of him, at least outwardly, because she very easily could have poisoned the well against him with all of her kids and she very clearly hasn't done that.

But, one of the most interesting and telling thoughts that Catelyn ever has in relation to Jon is this: "He would father no sons who might someday contest with Catelyn’s own grandchildren for Winterfell."

This is the very obvious problem that everyone likes to ignore or blame Catelyn for outright. Because Catelyn's rejection of Jon isn't just an emotional reaction, it's a political necessity.

Ned isn't a particularly politically savvy individual, and given that he is one of the most powerful and autonomous people in Westeros, he doesn't really have to be. He is the person who is in complete control of his own world, so in his mind, he can treat Jon just like he'd treat a trueborn son and it's fine because what Ned wants is what happens. However, he is very willfully ignoring the societal structure that he lives in, to the detriment of Catelyn, all of their children, and even Jon.

The expectation that a woman should perform a maternal role for any child aside from their own regardless of circumstance is a pretty sexist point of view to begin with, but when it comes to Catelyn specifically, asking her to accept Jon is basically directly asking her to put herself and all of her own children in danger.

Clearly, the rules of Westeros are incredibly unfavorable to all but a few of the people who live within their society. However, the highborn women who are essentially property that is transferred from their fathers to their husbands have very few silver linings in this system that keeps them almost completely disempowered. But one of those silver linings is supposed to be that their children's future is secured purely through the rules of legitimacy and primogeniture. And Jon's very presence in Winterfell is a massive threat to that insurance.

Based on the fact that Catelyn is specifically worried that Jon's sons might contest her own grandchildren's claim to Winterfell, it seems obvious that Cat doesn't question Jon's integrity as a person and doesn't believe that he'd attempt to take her children's inheritance for himself. However, something that a politically savvy person like Cat would likely be aware of is that Jon doesn't even necessarily have to be a manipulative traitor in order to pose a danger to the future of House Stark or to Catelyn's children specifically.

Cat is an intelligent person who understands and more importantly accepts the political complications of Westeros in a way that Ned simply does not. That should come as no great surprise though, as she spent a significant amount of time being raised as Hoster Tully's potential heir and she's a daughter of the Riverlands, a region that has been particularly affected by rebellious bastards. She undoubtedly grew up hearing tales of her uncle Brynden's exploits during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, so she'd be keenly aware of what a dangerous illegitimate child or that child's future bloodline can do.

And that's largely only looking at the Blackfyre rebels, illegitimate Targaryens who largely had no connection to Westeros or the Iron Throne. If the Blackfyres could cause that much war and chaos in the Seven Kingdoms, imagine what kind of effect a northern-looking bastard who is believed to be the son of a highborn woman and has been raised with a lord's education in Winterfell could do to the political situation in the North.

Ned legitimized Jon's position in the North as much as he possibly could have, and Catelyn embracing him or raising him as her own only would have further endangered everyone. Ned obviously has a strong desire to have a happy and united family, but what he refuses to recognize is that ultimately, Jon's character or his love for his family might not even matter all that much in the end.

Jon notices that Catelyn is upset every time he outshines Robb in some manner, but that is only because, unlike Ned, she actually accepts that the more competent Jon seems to be, the bigger danger he could potentially pose. Because Jon doesn't necessarily need to have an independent desire for Winterfell. The lords of the North could throw their support behind him or point him out as a better option if they're ever unhappy with Robb for any reason. Even if Jon outright rejects it, the very fact that Jon offers up another possibility in a world where primogeniture would at least ensure that Cat's children couldn't really be pitted against one another in any kind of succession crisis means that Jon's presence destabilizes the political situation of the kingdom by very nature of his existence.

And, as Cat clearly understands, the threat doesn't end with Jon unless Jon has no children. It's an impossibly cruel situation for Jon to be in, but Catelyn didn't create that situation. It is almost entirely Ned's fault.

Ned clearly feels a lot of responsibility for the near-destruction of his family, but in certain ways, he essentially uses Jon as a means of punishing and publicly shaming himself in the way that he thinks that he deserves. However, Jon and the entire Stark family would have been much better off if Ned had made another decision, and it was entirely his choice to make.

Ned is far too reliant on his own political position and power, and he suffers massive consequences for his belief that his position in society will keep him and the rest of his family safe. He claims Jon as his own son both because of his promise to Lyanna and largely because he's traumatized and afraid of what will happen if Jon is ever discovered, but the cover story that he comes up with actually causes a lot of unnecessary suffering and threats of danger for everyone.

Because unlike Catelyn and the rest of the world, Ned knows that Jon is not his son. Ned has essentially put an enormous amount of pressure on Catelyn, has forced Jon to be isolated and rejected, and has put the political state of the North at great risk because he feels really bad that his sister died and he wants to punish himself for not saving her. But he didn't have to do that, and Jon and the rest of the Starks would have been far safer if he had simply come up with another lie.

Because it really could have been as simple as Ned passing Jon off as Benjen's bastard son instead of his own. He could have raised him like his own son, raised him among the rest of the Starks, and he actually wouldn't have doomed Jon to a position where he would essentially have to forsake every possible future for his own family in order to prevent a potentially catastrophic succession crisis. Plus, obviously Catelyn wouldn't have been nearly as resentful or felt remotely threatened by Jon's presence. But Ned failed to think ahead or plan for Jon's future, and Ned failed to think ahead or even plan for any possible scenario where he wasn't the one who had control of the North and Winterfell, and that choice had terrible consequences for everyone.

It's obvious that the vast majority of Catelyn's behavior towards Jon was driven by the fear of what would happen if he ever posed a threat to the future of her own children, and ironically, those fears have already been proven to be founded, as Jon has literally already been offered legitimacy and Lordship over Winterfell to prevent Sansa and the Lannisters from inheriting it.

Unsurprisingly, he has turned that offer down despite the fact that he genuinely wants it, but Catelyn's instincts regarding what could happen as a result of Jon's existence seem to have been dead on. If the situation had been only slightly different and Jon had made another choice, then Sansa would have become a nearly valueless hostage of House Lannister, and although they were likely planning on getting rid of her once she had given Tyrion children anyway, Stannis' offer of legitimizing Jon could have posed a mortal threat to Sansa despite the fact that as far as the world knew, she was the legal heir to Winterfell.

Obviously, Catelyn's behavior towards Jon hasn't been unimpeachable, and it understandably had an effect on Jon himself. But she had no control over the situation whatsoever, so castigating her for being put in an entirely unfair position and then not standing up to volunteer as a surrogate mother to a child that not only wasn't hers, but could pose a serious threat to the future of her entire family, is ridiculous.

According to the actual text of A Song of Ice and Fire, it seems like the fan perception of Cat's hatred towards Jon is massively overstated as well. And, although Cersei Lannister should obviously never be the standard-bearer for anything, it's worth acknowledging that if Ned had married Cersei instead, Jon would have been dead within a fortnight. Frankly, if he had been wed to any politically motivated and particularly cold woman, then Ned openly claiming Jon as his own bastard son probably would have gotten Jon killed very early on anyway.

Ned's desire to do what he believes is honorable can be admirable, but realistically speaking, he is often willfully ignorant of the realities of the world to the point where it endangers everyone around him. Ultimately, his commitment to honor even when it so clearly conflicts with common sense is what literally got him killed.

However, blaming Cat for not 100% committing to Ned's delusional fantasies of what he wanted the world to look like is absurd, and does not take into account that in the end, Ned had absolute power over Catelyn to the point that he could force her into a life-threatening situation and she had no other choice but to follow his commands.

Cat didn't play the part of mother to Jon, but she didn't have to, because he's not her child. It's not abuse for a woman to not parent a child that isn't hers, and the notion that she's a terrible person because she didn't enthusiastically embrace Jon as her own and instead simply tolerated the position that Ned forced her into is a completely unfair characterization.

Ultimately, neither Jon nor Cat bears any responsibility for what happened to them, and they both suffered as a result of Ned's desire to publicly self-flagellate as some sort of roundabout punishment for failing Lyanna. Although unfortunately, by making the choices that he does, Ned seemingly makes the same mistake that he made with Lyanna all over again. Lyanna wasn't comfortable with marrying a man who fathered bastards or wasn't loyal to her, making her standards surrounding illegitimate children considerably stricter than Catelyn's. However, Ned didn't want to face the reality of the problem, and that resulted in an absolute catastrophe for the North and the Starks.

Ironically, hardly anyone in the A Song of Ice and Fire fandom drags Lyanna for literally fleeing her home in secret because she didn't want to marry a man who had already been disloyal to her and fathered bastard children, a decision that ultimately resulted in a civil war that nearly destroyed House Stark. But for some reason, Catelyn isn't offered that same inherent agency as a person in the eyes of many readers, who apparently believe that instead of being able to have some actual input in a life-altering choice for her, she should have just devoted herself to her husband's desires and ignored her own feelings and self-interests.

In terms of the fictional world of Westeros, Ned is obviously just about as good as a man can be, but he's certainly not without flaw. He's in a position of near-absolute power over his entire family, and he often makes decisions that are what he wants personally rather than what is in their actual best interest. Cat had no right to lash out at Jon after Bran's fall, but frankly, Ned shouldn't have ever put her in the position she was in to begin with, and the notion that she is a wicked stepmother because she lashed out once after suffering indignity and insult in front of the entire world for a decade and a half is ridiculously unfair.

[kali-writes-meta]

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Blogpost #8 OADs 3-5 The Kids Are All Right

In this story the kids compete in a field test that goes awry in more ways than one, and Rimuru meets more foreign dignitaries.

Tensura Season 1 part 2 left us with three big questions: who's the human stalker, who's the demon stalker, and most importantly are the kids going to be all right? This story arc addresses the latter two questions.

The students are now healthy, but after years of trauma followed by benign neglect no one knows if they can handle themselves in everyday situations. Also, when Rimuru is gone, will they have a supportive adult ally they can turn to in times of need? An annual field trip/exercise provides an opportunity for the kids to show they can stand on their own.

A select number of classes have to make their way to a training dungeon in a neighboring kingdom, where the first class to reach the target wins a prize. Rimuru kits them out with top quality gear, including his newest invention the DnD equivalent of a campervan; and hands them over to a sympathetic teacher to proctor.

Thanks to the campervan and their own skill and enthusiasm, Rimuru's students arrive first, impressing their proctor. Alas, the attention of their host has been occupied by his gravely ill wife, and kidnappers are hiding in the test dungeon. They try to capture the students, who easily defeat them, really impressing the proctor. But the leader turns out to be a minor demon in disguise, working on what appears to be some long-term grudge with the regional church. He knocks out the kids and is about to destroy them when the proctor sends out a desperate cry for help.

Her plea is answered by Shizue's demon buddy, who wants to pay off his debt to the dead Shizue by saving her students. He easily dispatches the minor demon, arranges a cover story, and threatens to eat the proctor if she reveals his involvement.

Later, after the others have arrived and caught up on recent events, Rimuru learns that the kidnappers stole and used a healing potion meant for the sick lady. He offers to replace it, only to find out that his host wasn't even sure it would work. His internal sprite informs him that healing potions need to be applied directly to the afflicted area, or the shock produced from a misapplied potion could prove lethal to a sickly individual. Rimuru asks to examine the lady, and with the help of his internal sprite, invents surgery to cure her, earning a ton of local brownie points to boot.

In the process we meet some people, do some light world-building, find out that Shizue's demon buddy has a sense of moral accountancy (the foundation of an understanding of morality), and most importantly take the measure of the students. It looks like they'll be able to handle themselves in most situations and they've made a sympathetic adult ally to help them should they need it.

As far as mid-century references go, we've got two this time -- campervans and internal medicine/surgery. While motorized campers and car-drawn trailers had been around since before WWII, they were built on heavier commercial truck frames. In the late 1940s Volkswagen developed lighter steel bodies for private vehicles and produced the first campervans (aka van, bus, or microbus, depending on the market) in 1950. I couldn't find a specific reference to camping in 1950s Japan, but countryside vacations have been popular in China and Japan for centuries (The classical Chinese/Japanese garden is supposed to be a miniature recreation of a favorite woodland vacation spot.) and modern Japan is known for its plentiful accomodations for campers, so it would make sense if there was an uptick in camping in the mid-century.

The other reference was to internal medicine and it's offshoot surgery. Traditionally Asian doctors considered poking around inside the human body to be far too dangerous, and with good reason. It took Western medicine 500 years of patient, gruesome, frequently unethical, and often illegal work to get the crudest idea of what was going on inside the body. Even with that knowledge, surgery only became reasonably safe and reliable in the 20th century thanks to a quartet of late 19th century inventions: anesthesia (1846), antiseptics (1867), the sterile operating room (1884), and X-ray photographs (1895).

While some Japanese physicians had begun to receive Western training as early as the 1830s, it was very expensive to travel to Europe to study it. After WWII, an American physician serving in Japan (whose name I forgot to write down and can't find now) raised money to send dozens of young Japanese doctors to study surgery in America, improving the availability of trained surgeons in Japan.

(That said, considering the strictures Rimuru's sprite gave, it seems a long-needled hypodermic would be more useful for delivering a dose of healing potion in the story than a scalpel. And neither delivery method would work against something like a small-cell cancer, especially leukemia.)

And that's all the OADs. Now I can start on Season 2!

[filmnoirfoundation]

NOIR CITY 19 wraps up today at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre with ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1:00), THE PROWLER (3:00), ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (7:00) and FORCE OF EVIL (9:00). All films introduced by Eddie Muller.

Sunday Matinée • March 27

ON DANGEROUS GROUND1:00 PM

Big-city cop Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan), embittered by his job, has become a ticking time bomb. Aware that Wilson's unhinged brutality is a lawsuit waiting to happen, his boss sends him to a snowy upstate town to cool off. There, Wilson meets Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a sage blind woman who sees through his cynicism and vitriol. But before she can melt his defenses, a young girl is found murdered, and Wilson throws himself into the vengeful manhunt for the killer. Ryan and Lupino give powerhouse performances in this unusually structured film, ingeniously and aggressively directed by Nicholas Ray. Half of it takes place in the nocturnal city, the other half in blinding white snowscapes; notions of natural and human duality abound. Featuring brilliant cinematography by George Diskant and one of Bernard Herrmann's most distinctive scores, which plays up the film's themes through an astounding juxtaposition of propulsive brass and wistful strings.

1952, RKO [Warner Bros.] 82 minutes. Screenplay by A. I. Bezzerides, based on the novel Made with Much Heart by Gerald Butler. Produced by John Houseman. Directed by Nicholas Ray.

THE PROWLER 3:00 PM

Patrolman Webb Garwood is more interested in achieving the American Dream than he is protecting it for others. After answering a woman's distress call about a peeping tom, Garwood hatches a nefarious plot to worm his way into her affluent but lonely life — and into her husband's life insurance policy. Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes give stellar performances in this disturbing spider-and-fly romance, written covertly by legendary blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and directed by the soon-to-be-blacklisted Joseph Losey. Largely dismissed by critics upon its release, it's now regarded as Losey's best American film, one that offers a compelling warning about small-minded people's willingness to abuse power for selfish gain. Restored in 2007 by the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA Film & Television Archive, the first triumph in a long-running partnership.

1951, Horizon Pictures/United Artists [FNF/UCLA Film & Television Archive]. 92 minutes. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo (fronted by Hugo Butler) . Based on a story by Robert Thoeren and Hans Wilhelm. Produced by John Huston and Sam Spiegel (as S.P. Eagle). Directed by Joseph Losey.Sunday Evening •

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW 7:00 PM

Disgraced ex-cop Dave Burke (Ed Begley) masterminds a piece-of-cake bank robbery in upstate New York, but to pull it off he requires the cooperation of two dangerously mismatched cohorts: hot-headed redneck war veteran Earle Slater (Robert Ryan) and gambling addict jazzman Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte); their racist antagonism threatens to thwart a seemingly fool-proof plan. Silent producer Belafonte hired blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky to adapt William P. McGivern's novel, specifically to subvert the sanctimony of The Defiant Ones (1958), a "feel good" movie about racism. Robert Wise's direction is as fresh and expressive as anything being done by the French New Wave of the period, and the score by John Lewis's Modern Jazz Quartet is innovative and exhilarating. With vivid supporting performances by Shelley Winters, Kim Hamilton, and Gloria Grahame. An all-time classic heist thriller—and much more.

1959, United Artists [Park Circus]. 96 minutes. Screenplay by Abraham Polonsky, with Nelson Gidding (fronted by John O. Killens). Based on the novel by William P. McGivern. Produced by Harry Belafonte (uncredited) and Robert Wise. Directed by Robert Wise.

FORCE OF EVIL 9:00 PM

One of the most distinctive works of the noir era, Abraham Polonsky's directorial debut is an exposé of the New York numbers racket and a riveting tale of a fallen man's attempt to reclaim his soul (John Garfield, in one of his best roles). Unfortunately for Polonsky, the House Committee on Un-American Activities also felt the film was a thinly veiled attack on the nation's capitalist system, suggesting parallels between the operations of businessmen and gangsters. Polonsky was blacklisted, unable to put his name on any work he produced over the next twenty years. Force of Evil is innovative and superlative in every respect; its stylized art direction complementing vivid New York location footage. With an evocative score by David Raksin and memorable performances by Thomas Gomez, Beatrice Pearson, Marie Windsor, and Roy Roberts.

1948, MGM [Park Circus]. 78 minutes. Screenplay by Abraham Polonsky and Ira Wolfert, from Wolfert's novel Tucker's People. Produced by Bob Roberts. Directed by Abraham Polonsky.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

Real Dinosaurs Versus Reel Dinosaurs: Film’s Fictionalization of the Prehistoric World

by Shelby Wyzykowski

What better way can you spend a quiet evening at home than by having a good old-fashioned movie night? You dim the lights, cozily snuggle up on your sofa with a bowl of hot, buttery popcorn, and pick out a movie that you’ve always wanted to see: the 1948 classic Unknown Island. Mindlessly munching away on your snacks, your eyes are glued to the screen as the story unfolds. You reach a key scene in the movie: a towering, T. rex-sized Ceratosaurus and an equally enormous Megatherium ground sloth are locked in mortal combat. And you think to yourself, “I’m pretty sure something like this never actually happened.” And you know what? Your prehistorically inclined instincts are correct.

From the time that the first dinosaur fossils were identified in the early 1800s, society has been fascinated by these “terrible lizards.” When, where, and how did they live? And why did they (except for their modern descendants, birds) die out so suddenly? We’ve always been hungry to find out more about the mysteries behind the dinosaurs’ existence. The public’s hunger for answers was first satisfied by newspapers, books, and scientific journals. But then a whole new, sensational medium was invented: motion pictures. And with its creation came a new, exciting way to explore the primeval world of these ancient creatures. But cinema is art, not science. And from the very beginning, scientific inaccuracies abounded. You might be surprised to learn that these filmic faux pas not only exist in movies from the early days of cinema. They pervade essentially every dinosaur movie that has ever been made.

One Million Years B.C.

Another film that can easily be identified as more fiction than fact is 1966’s One Million Years B.C. It tells the story of conflicts between members of two tribes of cave people as well as their dangerous dealings with a host of hostile dinosaurs (such as Allosaurus, Triceratops, and Ceratosaurus). However, neither modern-looking humans nor dinosaurs (again, except birds) existed one million years ago. In the case of dinosaurs, the movie was about 65 million years too late. Non-avian dinosaurs disappeared 66 million years ago during a mass extinction known as the K/Pg (which stands for “Cretaceous/Paleogene”) event. An asteroid measuring around six miles in diameter and traveling at an estimated speed of ten miles per second slammed into the Earth at what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The effects of this giant impact were so devastating that over 75% of the world’s species became extinct. But the dinosaurs’ misfortunes were a lucky break for Cretaceous Period mammals. They were able to gain a stronger foothold and flourish in the challenging and inhospitable post-impact environment.

Cut to approximately 65 million, 700 thousand years later, when modern-looking humans finally arrived on the chronological scene. Until recently, the oldest known fossils of our species, Homo sapiens, dated back to just 195,000 years ago (which is, in geological terms, akin to the blink of an eye). And for many years, these fossils have been widely accepted to be the oldest members of our species. But this theory was challenged in June of 2017 when paleoanthropologists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology reported that they had discovered what they thought may be the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens on a desert hillside at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco. The 315,000-year-old fossils included skull bones that, when pieced together, indicated that these humans had faces that looked very much like ours, but their brains did differ. Being long and low, their brains did not have the distinctively round shape of those of present-day humans. This noticeable difference in brain shape has led some scientists to wonder: perhaps these people were just close relatives of Homo sapiens. On the other hand, maybe they could be near the root of the Homo sapien lineage, a sort of protomodern Homo sapien as opposed to the modern Homo sapien. One thing is for certain, the discovery at Jebel Irhoud reminds us that the story of human evolution is long and complex with many questions that are yet to be answered.

The Land Before Time

Another movie that misplaces its characters in the prehistoric timeline is 1988’s The Land Before Time. The stars of this animated motion picture are Littlefoot the Apatosaurus, Cera the Triceratops, Ducky the Saurolophus, Petrie the Pteranodon, and Spike the Stegosaurus. As their world is ravaged by constant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the hungry and scared young dinosaurs make a perilous journey to the lush and green Great Valley where they’ll reunite with their families and never want for food again. In their on-screen imagined story, these five make a great team. But, assuming that the movie is set at the very end of the Cretaceous (intense volcanic activity was a characteristic of this time), the quintet’s trip would have actually been just a solo trek. Ducky and Petrie’s species had become extinct several million years earlier, and Littlefoot and Spike would have lived way back in the Jurassic Period (201– 145 million years ago). Cera alone would have had to experience several harrowing encounters with the movie’s other latest Cretaceous creature, the ferocious and relentless Sharptooth, a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Speaking of Sharptooth, The Land Before Time’s animators made a scientifically accurate choice when they decided to draw him with a two-fingered hand, as opposed to the three fingers traditionally embraced by other movie makers. For 1933’s King Kong, the creators mistakenly modeled their T. rex after a scientifically outdated 1906 museum painting. Many other directors knowingly dismissed the science-backed evidence and used three digits because they thought this type of hand was more aesthetically pleasing. By the 1920s, paleontologists had already hypothesized that these predators were two-fingered because an earlier relative of Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus, was known to have had only two functional digits. Scientists had to make an educated guess because the first T. rex (and many subsequent specimens) to be found had no hands preserved. It wasn’t until 1988 that it was officially confirmed that T. rex was two-fingered when the first specimen with an intact hand was discovered. Then, in 1997, Peck’s Rex, the first T. rex specimen with hands preserving a third metacarpal (hand bone), was unearthed. Paleontologists agree that, in life, the third metacarpal of Peck’s Rex would not have been part of a distinct, externally visible third finger, but instead would have been embedded in the flesh of the rest of the hand. But still, was this third hand segment vestigial, no longer serving any apparent purpose? Or could it have possibly been used as a buttressing structure, helping the two fully formed fingers to withstand forces and stresses on the hand? Peck’s Rex’s bones do display evidence that strongly supports arm use. You can ponder this paleo-puzzle yourself when you visit Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition, where you can see a life-sized cast of Peck’s Rex facing off with the holotype (= name-bearing) T. rex, which was the first specimen of the species to be recognized (by definition, the world’s first fossil of the world’s most famous dinosaur!).

T. rex in Dinosaurs in Their Time. Image credit: Joshua Franzos, Treehouse Media

Jurassic Park

One motion picture that did take artistic liberties with T. rex for the sake of suspense was 1993’s Jurassic Park. In one memorable, hair-raising scene, several of the movie’s stars are saved from becoming this dinosaur’s savory snack by standing completely still. According to the film’s paleontological protagonist, Dr. Alan Grant, the theropod can’t see humans if they don’t move. Does this theory have any credence, or was it just a clever plot device that made for a great movie moment? In 2006, the results of ongoing research at the University of Oregon were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, providing a surprising answer. The study involved using perimetry (an ophthalmic technique used for measuring and assessing visual fields) and a scale model T. rex head to determine the creature’s binocular range (the area that could be viewed at the same time by both eyes). Generally speaking, the wider an animal’s binocular range, the better its depth perception and overall vision. It was determined that the binocular range of T. rex was 55 degrees, which is greater than that of a modern-day hawk! This theropod may have even had visual clarity up to 13 times greater than a person. That’s extremely impressive, considering an eagle only has up to 3.6 times the clarity of a human! Another study that examined the senses of T. rex determined that the dinosaur had unusually large olfactory bulbs (the areas of the brain dedicated to scent) that would have given it the ability to smell as well as a present-day vulture! So, in Jurassic Park, even if the eyes of T. rex had been blurred by the raindrops in this dark and stormy scene, its nose would have still homed-in on Dr. Grant and the others, providing the predator with some tasty midnight treats.

Now, it may seem that this blog post might be a bit critical of dinosaur movies. But, truly, I appreciate them just as much as the next filmophile. They do a magnificent job of providing all of us with some pretty thrilling, edge-of-your-seat entertainment. But, somewhere along the way, their purpose has serendipitously become twofold. They have also inspired some of us to pursue paleontology as a lifelong career. So, in a way, dinosaur movies have been of immense benefit to both the cinematic and scientific worlds. And for that great service, they all deserve a huge round of applause.

Shelby Wyzykowski is a Gallery Experience Presenter in CMNH’s Life Long Learning Department. Museum staff, volunteers, and interns are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 15 Portrayals of The Penguin

Alongside the Joker and Catwoman, Oswald C. Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, is arguably Batman’s single most iconic villain. At least outside of comics, he’s long been considered Batman’s “Number Two Rogue”: if the Joker is Batman’s arch-nemesis, then Penguin is usually considered his SECOND worst enemy. In comics, that role has not been so stable; since the Bronze Age, other characters like Two-Face, Scarecrow, and Ra’s Al Ghul have sort of superceded Penguin. Nevertheless, the character has endured over the decades, and virtually no Batman imagining worth their salt would dare to completely leave this Pompous Waddling Master of Fowl Play out of the running entirely.

With numerous takes in movies, TV, video games, and so on, there’s a lot of Penguins to choose from. So, here is my CURRENT ranking for My Top 15 Favorite Portrayals of the Penguin!

15. Terry McGovern.

When I made my list for the Riddler, I mentioned a PC game entitled “Toxic Chill”: a puzzle-based game developed by The Learning Company, made for children and incorporating an aesthetic style seemingly inspired by the DCAU (with some hints of Dick Tracy, of all things), but with lore elements based on the then-current depiction of Gotham in the comics of the early 2000s. “Toxic Chill” wasn’t the only game TLK made, however: they also made a sequel, “Justice Unbalanced.” In this game, Penguin ends up playing both victim AND villain, as he winds up on the receiving end of Two-Face’s ire: while trying to stop a series of strange robberies Penguin is involved in, Batman discovers that Harvey Dent is planning to get revenge on the Buccaneer of Birds for crimes past. I love the use of the Penguin in the plot of this game, and McGovern does a decent job with the character’s voice, plus I have some good nostalgia for these games.

14. Bobby Moynihan.

I first learned Bobby Moynihan’s name because of his role as Louie in the DuckTales reboot. How fitting is it that a duck would also play the Penguin? Moynihan voiced Penguin for “Batman: The Audio Adventures,” a series of radio-play-style audio dramas for HBO Max, which sort of ride a fine line between the campy goofiness of the 60s series and the more dramatic, darker intensity of most modern incarnations. It mixes the moods surprisingly well, allowing the characters to be both funny and yet also dangerous. Moynihan’s Penguin is no exception: this take on Oswald Cobblepot has a voice and sense of style and vocabulary heavily influenced by Burgess Meredith’s portrayal, but he can also be legitimately scary and a canny manipulator. This Penguin is an opportunistic, crafty Bird of Prey, who has a habit for finding people’s weak spots and exploiting them for various purposes. For all his humorous elements, one shouldn’t underestimate him.

13. Stephen Root.

With a design directly lifted from the pages of the Golden Age of Comics, and a vocal performance seemingly inspired by Lennie Weinrib’s portrayal from the filmation cartoons (Root gives the Penguin several of the same affectations), “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” certainly gave us a fun take on the Bird of Ill Omen. Like most villains in the series, however, this Penguin had a fairly small role in the way things played out; the only major role Root’s portrayal had in the show was in the episode “Aquaman’s Outrageous Adventure,” where he was effectively the main villain of the story…but even then, most of the action and conflict revolved around the protagonists, not so much their struggles with Cobblepot and his crew. (He also had a supporting role in the Scooby-Doo crossover, but in that appearance, he was given a whole different voice actor, for reasons I know not.) He was always fun to see hanging around, however, and the show made great use of the character’s classic gimmicks and quirks. If he’d had more focus, he might have made my Top 10. 

12. William Salyers.

Bill Salyers portrayed the Penguin in the animated features “Return of the Caped Crusaders” and “Batman vs. Two-Face.” Both films were set in the same universe as the 1960s TV series, where Burgess Meredith had played the Penguin. However, since sadly most of the performers who appeared in that show have long since passed away (Meredith tragically included), new voice actors had to be selected to portray the many colorful baddies of the series. Salyers’ impersonation of Meredith’s Penguin is pretty spot-on, and he gets a bunch of fun lines and moments throughout both films. However, much like with Stephen Root, it’s focus that ultimately drags him down a peg: Salyers spends his time in both movies surrounded by a cavalcade of other crooks, and is never the villain chiefly in charge of the many dastardly plots that occur. As a result, while he does a great job with what he’s given, he’s just not enough of a presence to make it past this place.

11. David Jennison.

In “DC Universe Online,” the Penguin pops up several times throughout the course of the game. It’s revealed that - much like in the popular Arkham games - Oswald Cobblepot and Two-Face are engaged in a turf war, and throughout the story of the game, the player gets roped into the conflict, or has to visit the Iceberg Lounge for other purposes. At one point, the player may even have to face Cobblepot in a boss battle, where he attacks them using a machine gun umbrella, assisted by an army of mooks. David Jennison really plays up the “old time gangster” side of the Penguin; this version considers himself a “businessman,” above all else, and sees crime as simply an opportunity for growth and profit. I really like this interpretation, and it’s fun to hear a Penguin who just so thoroughly embraces that quality of the character.

10. Dana Snyder.

Snyder first played the Penguin in the “Batman Unlimited” series of films and shorts. Used as promotional vehicles to sell toys, Unlimited created a unique take on the universe and visual style of Batman, the stories of each film largely focusing more on action and comedy than anything else. Snyder’s Penguin looks…weird, I’d be lying if I said I was crazy about the design, but the character is VERY well-portrayed, and Snyder’s vocals fit like a glove. In the first film, “Animal Instincts,” the Penguin assembles of a team of animal-themed supervillains in a plot to destroy Gotham City: it’s a twisted sort of revenge scheme on his part, as Oswald has always felt mistreated by the human race, and despite his success as a businessman, has never gotten the things he truly wanted in life. It’s a surprisingly sympathetic motivation, but the character’s schemes and methods are so dastardly and destructive, it’s arguable how sorry one feels for him. He later returned in the movie “Mechs vs. Mutants,” teamed-up with Mr. Freeze, with a new plan to try and get back at the City, as well as Batman. Snyder would reprise his role as Penguin in a few episodes of the show “Justice League Action;” the character had less to do in this version, but also looked much more traditional in style, so one can pick their poison with this interpretation. Both are good, but good for slightly different reasons, and the voice actor plays both off very well.

9. Elias Toufexis.

I never expected Adam Jensen from “Deus Ex” to make such a magnificent Oswald Cobblepot, but life found a way in the video game “Gotham Knights.” While the game itself has many flaws and foibles (or so it seems; as of writing, I haven’t actually played it yet, just watched videos), one thing I do like is the way the Penguin is portrayed. This version of Oswald plays off the idea of him as a “retired” criminal in a new way: evidently, this Penguin didn’t decide to “go straight” until after Batman died. In typical Penguin fashion, he’s suspected of still doing dirty deeds out the back window from the Iceberg Lounge, but what’s interesting is that, in this game, we don’t actually get too much PROOF of that. Penguin actually acts as a sort of tenuous ally of the heroes in the game, giving them gear and offering information about the Court of Owls. Naturally, he’s not a fully trustworthy associate, but that’s par the course for the character. I loved the way they played with the Penguin’s “legitimate businessman” angle in this version, and I also love how Toufexis’ portrayal sort of blends elements - both visually and vocally - of the sort of “mafioso” Penguin popular nowadays with the more classic character of yesteryear. If he were in the game even more prominently, he could have been a bit higher in the ranks.

8. Ted Knight.

It is perhaps stubborn nostalgia and personal fondness, above anything else, that lands this Penguin so high in the ranks compared to others below him. Knight was the second person to ever play the Penguin, and the first voice actor to handle the role, in first Filmation cartoon series. More famously, however, he would reprise the part in “The New Scooby-Doo Movies,” appearing in both of the classic “Scooby-Doo Meets Batman & Robin” episodes of the show. In these episodes, Knight’s Penguin was always joined by Larry Storch as the Joker. While the two characters had teamed-up in comics and even in the 60s series a few times, I would personally argue that it was these appearances that led to the popularity of the characters as a duo for many years. Knight plays the Penguin with a foppish, flutelike sort of voice, foregoing the quacking and squawking of Meredith in favor of presenting the character as a more gentlemanly, posh fellow. Probably the most noteworthy thing about this Penguin was his love of alliteration; Meredith’s Penguin enjoyed repeated letters and sounds, too, but Knight REALLY played around a lot with the concept in dialogue, and apparently some of it was improvised as much as scripted, which to me only makes the moments more impressive. Seriously, just sample THIS beauty: “We are prepared, Professor, to purchase your praiseworthy product. Not for a piddly, paltry pittance, but a prodigious payment!” I sure hope the pop filter was attached firmly to that poor microphone when he said those lines!

7. Colin Farrell.

Out of all the different takes on Penguin that embrace his “mob boss” side, none has latched onto that element quite so firmly as Colin Farrell’s portrayal in “The Batman.” Farrell plays Oswald Cobblepot in the style of a stereotypical gangster, with his heavy “Brooklynese” dialect, and various little quirks and traits that seem taken straight from the pages of a 1940s film noir...which is fitting, since this movie basically IS a film noir, just with...you know...a detective in a bat costume instead of a trenchcoat. Farrell is honestly my favorite part of the movie; his melodramatic but convicted performance, combined with the absolutely ASTONISHING makeup job, allows him to completely and entirely disappear into the part. There were seriously multiple moments watching him throughout the film where I forgot it was Colin Farrell in that outfit, and while Penguin isn’t the primary antagonist of the picture, he’s definitely the scene-stealer of the film. The only reason - and I do mean the ONLY reason - he doesn’t rank higher is simply that, perhaps because the film is so new still, I tend to think of other portrayals that I’ve known much longer before this one, whenever I think of the character.

6. Danny DeVito.

While most people nowadays, especially major comic book fans, concede there are some flaws with the execution of DeVito’s Oswald Cobblepot in writing, this version still has plenty of fans, and for good reason. I myself sometimes forget how much I enjoy watching DeVito’s Penguin, until I actually sit down to do just that; then I get all wrapped up in it again. Seemingly owing more to Killer Croc than any take on Oswald in the comics, Tim Burton and company created a particularly grotesque and gruesome Penguin: a depraved monster of a man with flippers for hands, jagged teeth, pale skin, and a more Gothic, Victorian sense of style. Mixing the basic imagery and tropes of the Penguin in comics with the shadowy dramatics of German Expressionism, the visual design of this character remains highly influential. As for the performance…yeah, it’s a bit over-the-top, but I don’t think there’s a way to go subtle with a character like this in these cases. DeVito actually finds ways to give this character surprising nuance and depth, which leaves one unsure on how to react to this Penguin. You often get the feeling one is supposed to feel sorry for Oswald, but he’s still a thoroughly nasty, menacing creature.

5. Nolan North.

The Arkham games did something similar to the Tim Burton movies, but in a different way: once again, they put aside the Penguin’s more debonair elements, instead focusing on his rougher edges. This Cockney-accented Cobblepot was a truly nasty customer; a gritty mobster who loved the finer things in life, and would stop at nothing to make a profit. Sadistic to a fault, this Penguin loved carnage and cruelty, as long as he wasn’t the one getting the butt end of it, and demanded loyalty and respect from his associates. While a departure from the dapper little crook of yore, the character still felt distinctly like Penguin at heart, and even kept many of the character’s typical aesthetics, albeit giving them a more grimy, grungy sort of demeanor. (For example, instead of a monocle, this Penguin has a piece of broken glass stuck in his face. Ouch!) Nolan North voiced Oswald in the games, as well as the “Assault on Arkham” spin-off film, and did a dandy job maneuvering through the character’s nasty demeanor and inner cowardice delightfully. Alongside the version from Gotham, it’s arguably the most popular Penguin to date, and influenced both the comics and even recent other versions a surprising amount.

4. Robin Lord Taylor.

When “Gotham” started out, to be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of Penguin...but, like many other things in the show, he grew on me over time. However, in his case, it was in the best and smoothest way he could. The series does a very good job showing the progression of Oswald Cobblepot into becoming the Penguin we all know and love. We see him struggle from the odd little wimp in the corner to becoming, as he so triumphantly puts it, “THE KING OF GOTHAM!!!” over the course of the first season...but his wicked adventures don’t stop there. You see, as Penguin quickly learns, gaining power is only half the equation. You also have to hold onto it. Throughout the remaining seasons, that becomes his real journey. Robin Lord Taylor’s Oswald became probably the most popular character in the show, and while the Penguin has always been an iconic character, I would argue his work helped reinvigorate interest in Gotham’s Bird of Prey. The character’s tragic past and sense of vulnerability draw us to the Penguin and make us empathize with him deeply...but he is more than capable of horrendous and frightening acts, able to make us fear and revile him as much as we adore him. There are multiple layers to him as a character, as we come to find Penguin is not merely a greedy monster, but a rather broken human being. At the end of the day, he just wants a few simple things he never had: to be loved, or to be feared, and to DEFINITELY be in control of his own life…and maybe a few others, as well.

3. Tom Kenny.

Yep. Spongebob himself not only played the Penguin…he’s been doing it for years. Kenny first played Oswald Cobblepot in the TV series “The Batman” (long before the oncoming storm of the Farrell). Fans seem split about this Penguin, and this show as a whole; personally, I love both. This Penguin mixed elements of the portrayal popularized by Meredith with things taken straight from Danny DeVito’s book, and created a really fun and unique take on the villain. In this show, while the Joker was imagined as Batman’s arch-foe, the Penguin was meant to be Bruce Wayne’s: a sort of dark reflection on what Bruce could have been like if he’d let the wealth and power his family had go to his head. After this show, Kenny would go on to reprise the Penguin MANY times, and still voices him repeatedly to this day: he’s played Oswald in most of the LEGO games AND direct-to-video appearances, had a minor role as the character in “Batman: Ninja,” replaced Stephen Root in “Scooby-Doo and Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” and - my personal favorite - had a supporting role as Cobblepot in “Batman vs. TMNT.” Indeed, some would argue Tom Kenny has become to Penguin what people like Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy have become to Joker and Batman, and for that above all else, he earns VERY high marks here.

2. Burgess Meredith.

Robin Lord Taylor and Nolan North may have rejuvenated ol’ Pengy for more contemporary audiences, but Burgess Meredith is the actor who has probably done more for the character than any other. While the Penguin was already popular in comics before Meredith came around, it was Meredith’s portrayal of the villain - possibly the single most popular character in the show - that arguably allowed the cagey little bird to become a pop culture icon. Not only did Meredith’s costume and makeup allow him to look like the character had practically come to life, leaping right out of a Silver Age illustration, but the portrayal of the character was absolutely brilliant. Meredith’s voice carried a sense of grit and toughness, which, when combined with the character’s dandified sensibilities and vocal mannerisms - emphasizing certain words and consonants in interesting ways - helped to sell the core concept of the Penguin in a wonderful way: he looked and spoke like a gentleman, but he was ultimately still a slimeball at heart. Meredith also invented the character’s waddling gait and “Quacking Laugh,” both of which are still featured in various takes on the character in and out of comics to this date. If it weren’t for this man, we simply wouldn’t have the Penguin we know today.

1. Paul Williams & David Ogden Stiers.

Williams voiced the Penguin in “Batman: The Animated Series,” and most of its subsequent spin-offs. However, in the spin-off movie “Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman,” David Ogden Stiers (most famous for his appearances in various Disney movies, such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Pocahontas,” and “Lilo & Stitch”) played the character. While Ogden Stiers only had the one movie, I would honestly argue his performance is more than a match to Williams’, and to this day, I’ve never been able to decide which of the pair I like more. Whichever actor tackled the part, they aren’t the REAL reason this is my favorite Penguin. The reason, really, is because in my opinion, this was sort of the Penguin who offered a little bit of everything. In the first three seasons of the show, Pengy was portrayed in classic style as a sort of gentleman thief; he had henchmen, but he wasn’t a crime lord. These early seasons also featured a design influenced by the version from “Batman Returns,” due to contractual obligations. In the fourth season, things changed: keeping with the lore of comics at the time, the Penguin openly retired from crime to manage the Iceberg Lounge…but of course, he was still up to his old tricks, using his business as a front for the capers he would mastermind. In this fourth season, the creators were allowed to depict Penguin in a more classical aesthetic style; this is the version Ogden Stiers would play. As a person who loves ALL these different angles with Penguin, I personally felt there was just no way to lose with this one, and while his actual APPEARANCES weren’t always top notch (he seemed to just be the bad guy the creators would use when the Joker wasn’t wanted, with only a few exceptions), the actual portrayal of the character was truly brilliant, and he did have a few golden moments to shine. As a result, the DCAU Cobblepot takes top billing as My Favorite Penguin.

[balillee]

why 'there's no lore going on' right now in the dream smp - The Misfits Analogy

Fans of television, especially British television, will probably be familiar with an early 2010's show called Misfits. The show ran for five seasons spanning 2009 to 2013 - while the first two seasons (the first moreso than the second) are regarded more as cult classics, the latter half of the show completely falls in writing and production quality due to one significant change - the cast.

Seasons one and two of Misfits was centred around the original misfits gang - Nathan Young (portrayed by Robert Sheehan), Kelly Bailey (portrayed by Lauren Socha), Simon Bellamy (portrayed by Iwan Rheon), Alisha Daniels (portrayed by Antonia Thomas) and Curtis Donovan (portrayed by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett).

The show was good for two different factors from my perspective -

The intersection of superpowered television and interpersonal conflicts that broke the norm for stereotypes.

How the cast reflected modern British society.

In summary, the show followed a group of five young offenders at a community service centre. Not too interesting - but give them relatability, realism and explore their character development and their existing stereotypes/tropes through the use of superpowers? Genius.

Nathan was most definitely the fan favourite character of the show - he was outgoing, annoying, larger than life in a lot of ways and in all senses, he was a skeevy asshole who would insult characters at every turn. He was very much the class clown of the show and any British viewer could probably see someone they remember from school in Nathan, except Nathan was lovable and you could sympathise with him because you could see him struggling primarily at home and with his family.

Spoilers for the show - Nathan's power was immortality and the ability to resurrect himself from death. This power wasn't explicit immediately either to Nathan or to the audience unlike all of the other young offenders, and it reflected his 'nothing can hurt me ' attitude. Nathan was a character who could take any comment and brush it off like it was nothing, and he in the physical sense could take being thrown off a roof, impaled and practically buried alive and be sitting in his own coffin with his iPod all fine and dandy.

Kelly was also another standout example - her character reflected the stereotype of a chavvy girl, 'council house and violent' - loudmouthed, not very smart, questionable fashion choices and a bit abrasive. The only difference is that the show knew they had to subvert that stereotype - instead, Kelly was smart in her own way and she was empathic -> her superpower was the ability to hear other people's thoughts, and later, she became superintelligent and when her character left the show she decided to move to Uganda use her newfound rocket-scientist level intelligence for good. She was still loudmouthed and definitely chavvy, but she was also a whole human person who cared about other people and who was definitely intelligent.

If I kept going, I'd be lamenting about how season one's cast well reflected and subverted stereotypes and expectations using their superpowers, but I'd be here all day and that's really not the point I'm trying to make.

By the end of season 2, Robert Sheehan, as the standout performance from the show, decides to move on to greener pastures (which,, I don't blame him, being stuck on E4 would have been a nightmare for his career and look where he is now? He's a fan favourite as Klaus in TUA now!) - thus, Nathan is written out of the show in a post- season 2 special in which he gets locked up in prison in America.

This was the first character to get written out of the show.

In season 3, we lose Kelly who moves to Uganda with Seth to defuse landmines, and Simon and Alisha are both killed, and the only remaining member of the original ASBO five is Curtis.

Season 4 rolls around, and we pretty much have an entirely new Misfits cast - Curtis, and then we have Rudy (who had been present since season 3), and then we have new additions Jess, Finn and Abbey.

Let me tell you that by this point in the show, all of the fans had lost interest.

Not only had the two biggest fan favourites, Nathan and Kelly, left the show, but you now have to replace four out of the five original cast members with new ones that don't function the same way the originals did. What type of person is someone with X-ray vision trying to represent? You could argue that maybe Jess is good at figuring people out, but I don't really remember this being explored that much in the show. And the difference between this reflecting a minor personality trait is that the original cast didn't do that - in dumbed down terms, Alisha was a 'sket' who had the power to make people horny for her, oftentimes against her wishes, through skin-to-skin contact. That's much more impactful and there's a lot more to explore there.

Episode 7 of Season 4 of Misfits is the clearest indicator of the departure of the original show's intentions and explains perfectly why it didn't work the way it used to.

For the entirety of the season, Jess had been crushing on a guy called Alex from a bar she frequented (who later went on to replace Curtis as the fifth Misfits member in season 5, go figures) who, as far as we had seen, not at all reciprocated those feelings nor was there any indication of him wanting to.

In episode 7, we figure out why.

Jess, using her x-ray vision, finds out that Alex's penis was stolen by a trans man.

I'll be honest, when I first heard it, I thought it was a joke.

The show went from having a diverse cast, not only in terms of having two black characters in it's main cast, but also in it's diversity of character tropes that they aimed to subvert - to then having a mainly white cast in a show that actively perpetuates harmful stereotypes about trans people being dangerous.

Now, and I want to preface this, I don't think that the Dream SMP is malicious in the same way that the writing of that episode of Misfits is. I don't think the SMP is malicious at all. What I want to highlight is how the change in cast directly mirrored when the audience dropoff was and when the show itself started to go south in terms of quality, production and what they wanted to achieve.

For the sake of my argument, there is currently three seasons of the dream smp. The start of the server up until the end of the initial disc war is the prologue, season one encompasses Wilbur's L'Manberg and the Pogtopia arc, ending on November 16th, season 2 starts November 17th and ends January 20th (the disc war finale) and season 3 spans from January 21st to the present day.

Most of the fans of the Dream SMP can tell you that the primary story of the server is centred around quite a few certain characters who viewers started watching to see more of. I'm guilty of this myself - I primarily watch the SMP for Tommy's story, and I also stick around for Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo and a little bit for Phil, Techno and Jack Manifold. Those were the people I was invested in and those are the stories I like to follow. Not to discredit or to downplay the work or the stories of other characters, but I can imagine that there are a few people who watch the SMP primarily for a close few perspectives/storylines, and following some storylines over others just because you're not interested in them is completely fine and there's nothing wrong with that at all.

In season one, there was always things going on with my favourite characters. Tommy was always getting himself into spots of trouble and making up different schemes to get people to come visit L'Manberg as a tourist attraction, or getting people to support the rebellion, and this was interspersed with the heavier, plot-driven moments such as Wilbur's mental breakdown, the festival, the pit fight and the season 1 finale. This got me invested in him as a character because he had been there for quite a while and we'd seen him develop and grow into the character we now see in season 3.

In the back half of season 1 came Techno, who really shook things up and threw a spanner in the works and provided a totally different perspective - unlike Dream he didn't hate L'Manberg because he couldn't control it, and unlike Wilbur he didn't have a personal connection to it and he didn't know it's history. Techno initially hated L'Manberg because it was a government he knew nothing about (and still knows nothing about even today), and because violence and destruction is kind of his thing.

We had a well balanced cast of characters - not too many - that we could follow and who all had varying perspectives, experiences and personalities. We had clearly defined groups of individuals with different morals: you had the people on the side of Manberg, the people in Pogtopia who wanted Manberg blown up, the people in Pogtopia who didn't want Manberg blown up, and on the side to compliment it all you also had the Badlands, comprised of three longstanding members of the server,,,, and then Antfrost who was kidnapped by Tommy that one time. It was all wrapped up nicely in a neat little bow and there was structure to it all. There was one plot that went in one direction, and despite the many perspectives, it all ended up in the same spot and the story ended. There was a conclusion.

In season 2, the two primary additions to the 'cast' were Phil and Ranboo, whose characters complimented the existing story well. Phil functioned mostly as a successor to Wilbur alongside Ghostbur by exploring well the departure of Wilbur as a character in that moment, and he also functioned well as a companion to Techno's character. Ranboo, on the other hand, had a pretty good complimentary solo story that could be followed alongside the main plot, however his story wasn't too distant from the main story to the point where he was completely removed from it - he had direct involvement in different events such as the exile conflict, his connection to Dream as the main antagonist of the season and his involvement in blowing up the community house.

Season 2 starts with a focus on two different spaces - it breaks up a longstanding duo and the storyline diverges into two halves: Logstedshire and New L'Manberg, and you have Techno's short 'retirement' arc working decently to compliment it and also to set the tone for his character going forward in that season. In Logstedshire we see the aftermath of Tommy being exiled from L'Manberg by Dream - we see him endure what is (in canon) at least a month of isolation and physical and psychological abuse and it culminates on December 15th when Tommy rescues himself, jumps from the tower and goes to hide in Techno's house (which acts as a good precursor to his involvement in Techno's storyline in that season). On the other side, we follow Tubbo in L'Manberg dealing with Presidency - he talks a lot and gets 'friendly' with Dream, he prepares to run against Ranboo in the coming election cycle (primarily because he doesn't want to be President) and we see his interactions with the power-hungrier Quackity who all too often takes the reigns and this culminates in the creation of the Butcher Army, and following the Butcher Army's attack on December 16th, once again, we have two clearly defined sides:

One one side, we have Tubbo, Quackity and Fundy who represent L'Manberg, and on the other we have Tommy (who is unaware of the Butcher Army's attack), Phil and Techno, and more in the middle we have Ghostbur and Ranboo.

Season 2's finale format is a clear departure for the format of November 16th, but it's not a poor choice - I think, especially considering the story that they were telling, it worked perfectly. On November 16th, pretty much everyone was streaming their perspective of the event; at the time, there were even compilations of everyone's reactions to Wilbur blowing up L'Manberg. On January 20th, however, we only had two perspectives - Tubbo and Tommy.

I'll say it now, while Season 2 was definitely Clingyduo's season, it didn't focus solely on them. There was also a big focus on Techno as a character, whose arc came to an end a little earlier on Doomsday, and there was also a focus on Ranboo a lot as a solo character, and he streamed a little later on January 20th with what I refer to as the 'epilogue', where there was also a shift in his character to expect moving forward.

Why season 2's finale worked is because it was centralised around only three characters, only two of which we ever see the perspectives of, and it was the finale of the longest running storyline of the entire narrative - the disc war. Two boys who were on their last life, making their last stand at the one man who pulled the strings to make their lives miserable - those two perspectives only, and it worked. We didn't have compilations of everyone reacting to the things happening around them which worked for season 1, instead, we focused on these two characters whose turn it was to get the focus, and we had iconic and moving moments. We had the two boys walking down the prime path saying what they could only assume might have been their last goodbyes to the people that still had a shred of care for them, we had the two sailing to where they would face off against Dream for their final stand and finally talking about their feelings a little and dreading the implication that if they were both to die, nobody would live to tell their stories, we had Tommy choosing his best friend over his discs time and time again, and we had Punz - Dream's last confidant - standing against Dream and bringing everyone with him and sending him to prison, now on his last life too.

Everything about it was perfect. The more focused ending worked for the ending of season 2 because it was their time to have their climax moment - and it wasn't some spectacular display of explosions or violence like in Wilbur's finale on November 16th, where the ramifications hit everyone and we got to see it, nor was it a show of violence and almost oppressive dominance like Techno's finale was on Doomsday, where we saw everyone's breakdown and how the people contributing to the destruction of L'Manberg, no matter how righteous they thought they were, did not care to understand how much they were hurting and destroying the lives of the country's citizens. On January 20th, Tommy and Tubbo went into it thinking they were going to die, they got their asses handed to them despite how hard they tried, and they had their behinds saved by Tommy's preparative thinking by people who weren't there to save them more than they were there to get rid of Dream.

Season 3 suffers a lot from a lack of focus, awful pacing and really poor timing.

Seasons 1 and 2 occurred during the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, where everyone was stuck at home and had more time to stream because it was their primary form of content and because it was the best way to communicate with their friends. Thus, the pacing of those seasons was extremely steady and things were always happening.

Now, lockdown restrictions have eased quite a bit, and creators can branch out a lot more and can meet with each other in real life and can do vlog-style content. Therefore, they don't stream as much, and the focus of the Dream SMP story has shifted more towards newer or sideplot characters. If you enjoy those characters, that's fine, but when they take the focus away from the characters and the storylines the majority are expecting, a lot of people won't try to keep up with it and from their perspective there'll be a massive lull in narrative content.

What I'm saying, is that Tommy streaming for thirteen days in a row in July 2021 is a fucking pipe dream. It happened in December because the story was consistent and the pacing was steady and he had the time and the want to be there. Now, Tommy's off making his vlogs and hanging out with his friends and thus he can't stream as much as he used to. He's sort of suffering from the Robert Sheehan problem, isn't he? Tommy is still involved with the Dream SMP and his story is definitely continuing, and his narrative in season 3 is really starting to pick up with the newer developments, it's just that he doesn't have as much time to play the role anymore because he isn't streaming as much.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing - it's obviously making him happy that his content is changing and I'm fully supportive of that.

So when all of these meetups are happening and we don't have as much content from the main characters that we follow anymore, what happens?

Well, the fans get a little itchy. This fandom, especially. They might throw out a comment or a tweet asking when they're going to stream on the SMP, or if they really don't understand why the Dream SMP is good, they'll ask when the next 'lore stream' is, and they'll lament a little about how the content and the story has slowed, especially in contrast to the fast pacing of season 2 which only lasted a little over two months with much more story going on than in season 3 despite it having been going on for triple the time. What they'll get in response is that the Dream SMP is still going on and that lore is still happening.

On all accounts, these statements aren't incorrect. Lore still is happening.

But when you've been following lovable characters for two seasons, setting up their struggles and then switching the focus onto newer or 'sideplot' characters that you haven't really followed before, there's going to be a bit of moaning about it on twitter dot com.

The SMP now suffers from having too many characters, too many unfocused narratives, and poor pacing/ditched or unfinished storylines from the characters we used to follow and love while we're being told to love other characters instead.

I never really cared too much about the egg subplot, I'll be honest. I was a little interested in the involvement of Sam, Puffy and Ponk, but other than that, I wasn't really too invested. It very much tried to replicate the 'you should have paid me more' moment from January 20th at the Red Banquet, and it really didn't hit as hard because most of the characters there were either ones that didn't belong there at all (like Niki, Fundy, HBomb, and Purpled), weren't that involved with the plotline and felt out of place with the established characters in that storyline (Techno, Quackity and Ranboo), or were new characters that were difficult to get on board with because they hadn't really had too much of a story beforehand (Hannah and Foolish), or in the case of Antfrost, characters with no known motivation to be there other than that being the storyline they're currently in. Not to discredit those involved or their characters, but the Red Banquet really tried to replicate what the disc finale did with it's focused perspectives and it's Punz moment, and it failed.

Now, following the egg subplot's finale, I'm meant to focus on Las Nevadas, Snowchester and the Syndicate.

Las Nevadas is the most consistent storyline, however it's biggest problem is that it is filled with new characters or ones that are barely there. Despite how long he's been on the server, Purpled really is a new character if only because he's only really become a character recently - Foolish is still considered new, Slimecicle is new, Fundy rarely streams on the SMP. The only consistent longstanding and heavily involved characters that are a part of Las Nevadas are Quackity and Sam, and even their streams are infrequent, with a lot of Sam's perspective not even focusing on Las Nevadas but instead the prison.

Snowchester's plot is very much dying, dead and in the water. She's suffering. We haven't seen Michael in over a month, a nuke is still missing, Jack Manifold is dubiously a citizen and Tubbo doesn't even think he has a character on the SMP. It breaks my heart.

The Syndicate suffer from a lack of existence. The four characters really aren't a friend group in canon - all of the stuff about them hanging out all the time and them basically being a book club is all fanon. They've hung out as a four all of twice, the first time they ever got together they celebrated someone's death and then basically invaded Snowchester to give themselves a reason not to destroy it, terrifying Tubbo in the process. The second time was because it was Techno's birthday.

Now, Techno is in prison, and the only reason Phil hasn't read the will to progress the story is likely because of difficult scheduling with other server members, which is written off in canon as Phil not wanting to accept the possibility of Techno potentially dying.

Literally reading the will and having the Syndicate figure out that Techno's in prison with Dream will solve all of season 3's formatting issues and have the story back on track.

Currently, we don't really have two clearly defined sides the way we always had. We were meant to root for L'Manberg against the Dream Team, we were meant to root for Pogtopia against Manberg, and in season 2 we had a lot more moral ambiguity and room for side switching between the forces of Dream, Techno and Phil against L'Manberg, and then we rooted for Clingyduo against Dream.

I can predict that if the will is read, here's how a good conflict can arise.

Two clearly defined different sides - Las Nevadas on the side of Pandora's Vault, and the Syndicate (currently consisting of Phil, Ranboo and Niki), and you have compromises to make. If the side of the Prison wins, Techno and Dream stay in Pandora's Vault without a proper trial and being treated inhumanely, and there's also the threat of the rest of the Syndicate also being imprisoned. If the side of the Syndicate wins, the prison is taken out and Techno and Dream are no longer being treated inhumanely - problem is that Dream's out, and he's very much dangerous because despite what c!Dream apologists will tell you, he's not docile and he's not going to have a healing arc with Techno because he doesn't think he's done anything wrong and Techno can't tell him that he's done anything wrong (because Techno is the most wilfully ignorant character who gets to be political it's INSANE) - he'll go right back to the evil, abusive bastard he was, obsessed with Tommy, probably worse now that he can easily get Wilbur to do anything he wants and more vindictive against Quackity. Plus, if the Syndicate take down Las Nevadas they'll hold the most power on the server systematically and the so-called anarchists will ironically be the top dogs of the server.

Then towards the middle you'll probably end up having Wilbur, Benchtrio and Jack Manifold - Tubbo and Jack would prefer Techno and Dream staying in prison, except Tubbo's really not on the greatest terms with Q at the minute (because Q's paranoid and making conflict with parties that would have otherwise helped him out and thought they were friends), whereas Tommy would be stuck between wanting Techno out but needing to either keep Dream in or kill him, and Wilbur will be having to pick between aiding Dream's escape from prison or staying with Tommy, because he can't have both. Ranboo will probably be having the same problem as Tommy, except he's on the side of the Syndicate and will have to pick between the Syndicate or keeping Dream imprisoned.

Season 3 is salvageable, it really is. You can fix the poor pacing and you can fix the lack of focus with literally one revelation from fucking Philza M|necraft. But as it stands now, season 3 suffers from a similar situation as Misfits - almost replacing the cast of characters we've followed for the longest time with a new one in a format completely different to the original seasons.

[k1rst9ein]

modern au! connie in a relationship;

✶ this includes how i think connie would act in a relationship and how’d he be as a boyfriend, because he doesn’t get enough love in my opinion.

✶ nsfw warning !! connie brain rot, implied drug use, etc.

✶ wrd cnt: 630 +

— CONNIE is definitely is the type of guy to start off as your best friend, or even just a frequent acquaintance, and gradually become more over time as you indulge in his attempts to ask you on a date. he’ll ask jean and sasha to help him pull the most extravagant shit just to ask you out, like the whole homecoming candy poster with the corny question type extravagant. of course, you’ll say yes and this becomes the highlight of his year. i can imagine the first time you two spend the night together, he’s on some bullshit but like it’s good bullshit. you’d be sitting on the couch, tucked into his side watching random videos on your phone as he plays some multiplayer game with the boys. you get the urge to start being freaky, because who the hell wouldn’t, and you’d palm him through his gray sweatpants as he stumbles to try and not lose the round for his team. it’s the classic “let me suck you off while you’re on the game” scenario and connie was never ready for it, so he releases in his boxers before you can even give him head and instead of being a baby about, he tells you to give him ten minutes and he’s all yours. 

— CONNIE would let you in on his hotbox/chill sessions with jean if you’re into smoking like they are sometimes, even encouraging you to bring a few of your own friends so you won’t be bored with them. the only friend you bring is sasha, who loves you for cuffing her twin because she was starting to think he was gonna die a nineteen year old virgin. you would more than likely choke on the first puff, if you’re inexperienced, and then proceed to get the hang of it as you do it more. you and connie definitely get a little handsy during the session, sitting in the backseat of jean’s car secretly not so secretly fucking each other. like his hands ghosting the waistband of your panties and your hand dangerously close to his inner thigh, which is awkward because niccolo has to witness this since he’s right across from you guys. connie apologizes, but we all know he doesn’t mean not a bit of it. aside from that, you guys enjoy the company of each other and your friends, who’ve accepted you as a part of their little crew. 

— CONNIE is not a jealous man, but if you happen to have an encounter with a douchebag of a person who doesn’t know the definition of boundaries, he might just bite the motherfucker’s hand off. like he isn’t the “you can’t wear that dress to the club or go out with that much makeup” type of guy, but he does voice his honest opinion on things if it’s bothering him. communication is never a problem with him, and that’s one of the many reasons why you love him. i can see him honestly letting you be the bad bitch that you are and being the best hype man known to date, gassing you up whenever you two are at the club or a party in general and just being so supportive of you. it makes the girls around you jealous and they try to destroy your relationship with connie by pushing up on him, which doesn’t work in the way they expect. connie is a faithful man through and through, letting the girls down in the most blunt way possible and making sure they get the message that he’s taken. you are his and he is yours, and there’s nothing that’s getting in the way of that.

[c0rrupt3dsp1r1t]

So- my thoughts on the episode. Spoilers!!!

Dan's exit could've been interesting and it wasn't really, but it was a very normal human thing to do and Dan has been played straight as a very normal human guy, so makes sense.

I'm happy they recruited Ace and Tegan to UNIT rather than continuing Ace's charity story. They already seemed to do everything they could with it in Big Finish and the ACE book and it doesn't fit on-screen Ace well at all. She could've given the company over to someone else or be using it to fund UNIT when the government doesn't want to, but being in the field rather than behind a desk is... mmm. So much better. (I'll have to edit my longfic draft a bit, I was waiting for the episode to come out to add her section, but not too drastically)

I didn't expect them to confirm Tegan/Nyssa one way or the other. Farewell, Sarah Jane is nice, but the Doctor Who Lockdown stories that weren't for the book have been almost completely ignored thus far and I doubt that'll change. For instance, Big Finish gave present Ace a K-9, (in her weakest story imo) but it explicitly wasn't Sarah Jane's.

They also don't outright deny/confirm other expanded media either. "Three decades for me" could mean a number of things, including new meetings with the Doctor getting lost in Ace's short-term memory thanks to Brax and she just didn't age much until she was put back in her own time after Gallifrey.

There is a very particular itch for the Master for me that only Sacha Dhawan has scratched and Rasputin and taking the Doctor's body presumably for the extra (now possibly infinite) lives, something he's always wanted to do but never quite succeeded in doing- letting him actually do it, all felt very fresh.

The past faces manifesting in their mind during a time of terrible danger thing hasn't been done on TV I don't think, and it was done in the perfect surreal way.

The hologram 5 and 7 were adorable. Five comforting Tegan about Adric and Seven making up with Ace and acknowledging she's grown up and he's proud of her on-screen. (Chibnall you actually remembered that he's basically her dad when so many writers have forgotten that especially with the few modern-day Ace stories.)

I felt very teased with the possibility of a Thasmin kiss. They didn't have to, but that left something balled up in my chest. The ice creams were quite literally sweet though.

All of the bad guys are just fodder for the Master, that's kinda meh. His plan being trigger every volcano on Earth to cause a doomsday rather than just hyperbeaming it with his death star planet is a very Classic Master plan though.

Kate didn't do much and that makes me sad. Still no Osgood=homophobic. I don't make the rules. At least she's not dead, even though Chibnall could do so justifiably, since the (Jenna Redgrave) Kate is his character.

The plot is messy but there is a through line and it comes to a decent conclusion after that huge rollercoaster.

Companion support group is an official thing now I thought that would only ever exist in fanfic and comedy skits.

The end... I'm sorry. I just didn't like it. I never liked 10, he's my least favourite Doctor. I'd have preferred if they did half the regeneration here, fade to white, credits roll, the other half in the next special, because while I love David Tennant in other roles (especially Crowley) I cannot stand his Doctor, think he’s overstayed his welcome and wish I could ignore it.

Overall I think it's a good story and it has all the love for classic who that I wish the 50th had but didn't. Better written than DotD? I don't think so, but I like it better. (For one I actually like most of the characters involved, not only 3 of them) It definitely feels like a comfort episode, very self-indulgent, very camp and fun, fanfic-y but in a good way- but also this thing is a straight-up whole action movie, not an ordinary special.

Also you can still 100% tell that after series 10 Chibnall binge-read the VNAs, has the same vibes as the books, including one I was reading last night. To be fair Transit is all about space trains but that's just a coincidence I totally forgot there'd be a space train in the episode .