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keepyourpantsongohan · 25 days ago

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Ayesha Liveblogs Mashle S2

We have finally arrived at the intro song which was my entire reason for starting this show LOL. It is catchy

"Victorious in the battle against the Magia Lupus, all of Lang's coins went to Adler." After all of those fights there was a coin exchange? Cause it seems like Lang just left LOL

"We just shouted him into submission." That's SUCH a funny way to deal with a crisis

"What's the point protecting that magicless blight-blood, Finn?" Not the new slur LOL

LMAO @ Finn mustering up his courage to tell this guy off only for Lance to gravity crush and spit on him. Lance said: Using your words is not enough

"It seems Dot's injuries were more severe than we thought." Is it going to be a running gag that Dot just doesn't get his face animated routinely?

PLEASE why are they having the world's most haunting victory party with the people who lost the fight:

I do enjoy the return of Lance's apron. It's my favourite outfit

"I'll take a hint as I should also celebrate Abyss getting better. That's what betters do." Abel said: I'm still a little evil, don't worry

"I got caught up with some guys claiming to be death row inmates." Lance had a busy evening while off-screen

I also love the return of the owls. The best part of this show

"Lord Abel gained his third line by artificial means thanks to Innocent Zero's power. Genuine triple-liners are even more fearsome." Ohhhhh so THAT'S the lore of Abel's three lines, I was wondering why they hadn't said anything about it

I am shocked we've escalated all the way to the Bureau of Magic calling Mash in so quickly. Where is this going?

"It is a miracle God bestowed upon humans alone." 1) Again, it is striking how religious this society is and 2) Why are anime towns/countries/villages always depicted as a circle?

"You are basically a bug. Bugs should be dealt with quickly." "Okay, but what if things didn't have to be perfect all the time?" Crazy way to respond to an argument for eugen!cs

"Magic is everything in this world. So you need to show us a miracle stronger than magic." Well, at least the Divine Visionary is hearing Mash out?

"That boy belongs to us. Hands off." "Why is Innocent Zero...?" "It seems that boy has unusual origins after all." I do have to wonder why Mash is the only nonmagical person who could do a strongman circus act since birth

"Such flawless actions. You're a treasure." Ryoh's dialogue is so silly

"What are you, a child?" Yeah, actually he is! That's a 15-year-old you're trying to murder, Orter Madl (related to Wirth, I guess?)

I guess Wahlberg thought it was prudent to get ahead of the whole Mash thing by him calling for the inquiry instead of the Bureau

"He's a living legend, the only one to go toe-to-toe against Innocent Zero in his youth." Like Dumbledore, did Headmaster Wahlberg also have a situationship with its leader?

"However, he has an unsual gift to sway people's hearts." Wahlberg said: Maybe Mash's most magical power is friendship

"Our values change alongside history. However, redefining our values takes courage, as we must admit our injustices thus far." This is the most real dialogue thus far. Laws don't define justice. People make laws!! And therefore, people are responsible for the impact of those laws, and for changing them. In this essay, I will—

"You may punish me as you see fit. But I will not change my verdict [to defer Mash's sentencing]." Rayne and Wahlberg and Bliss bowing their heads in supplication on Mash's behalf. Ahhhh

"And he must prove he's strong enough to fight Innocent Zero. That proof is to become this year's Divine Visionary candidate." Well, I guess that's the plot of the season

Also this structure of 'help us to delay your own execution' is very Jujutsu Kaisen. This show just feels like a lot of other media slapped together. Mostly [Redacted] Potter and Naruto

"So you can't use magic?" HAHAHA I'd wondered if Lance knew. The answer is no!

Every time I want to enjoy Lance they need to remind me he's a freak. Anime, I am knocking at your door with a baseball bat

The aesthetic is giving 'you never see four best friends who look like they are going to the same place.' Lance and Finn look like they're going on a date with each other, Mash looks like he's going to school, and I don't know know where Dot's going

"Even though you can't use magic... For my sister's sake, I'm not going to go easy on you." Again, I would love this storyline if you weren't so weird about it!!

LOL why did no one else get a wand? They were too distracted by Mash's megaweight wand?

Tom and Lemon also look like they're going on a date LOL, it's like they designed everyone's day out aesthetic in pairs:

"I've never gone out with friends before." This is actually quite an emotional statement when you think about Regro keeping Mash at home to keep him safe

"See that he cannot participate in the Divine Visionary Candidate Exam. Orca dorm prefect, Margarette Macaron." For someone so stuck on the rules, Orter seems to be ignoring the ones he himself set out

Also why does lipstick seem to be a sign of nefarious intentions in this show. Nice people can't want nice lips?

"You hanging in there?" Brad Coleman, Magic Cop, has truly institutionalized himself as Mash's Weird Uncle

I do love that everyone comes on Mash's home visit

"I'm so touched. To think Mash has made friends." Both sweet and a lil insulting, Regro, hahahah

"They're quite unique, all of them." "Yes, they are." "You must have a hard time." "Yes." Poor Finn LOL

Did Rayne follow Margarette waiting for them to mention Mash or did he just have excellent comedic timing?

"The three prefects boasts some of the greatest talent in Easton." If Abel and Margarette are the other two prefects, I can understand why everyone appreciates Rayne so much LOL

"A few years ago, a tournament was held for 13-16 year olds in the middle school division. One magic user singlehandedly overpowered all the other competitors. They had only been nine at the time." We've found our Zabuza parallel I guess. They split Zabuza in half between Margarette and Abel

Also they? They/them mage, perchance??

LOL does Margarette's magic rely on playing the piano? Seems inconvenient

[Finn watching all of his friends yell at a board game] "I have to keep it going." You've got an uphill battle, baby

"I can't imagine someone with values like you could ever fulfill me." Why does this fight trash talk seem like a breakup?

"Rayne may act aloof, but he always takes care of others." I feel like whoever wrote this show is an older sibling

"And the youngest ever to acquire three lines is... the one named Rayne Ames." What does this mean!!! Are people born with three lines also, or do they only acquire it? Is Rayne's considered natural, as opposed to the earlier artificial? Tell me more!

"In this world, lack of magic is basically having no human rights." That's honestly a charitable way of putting it, Rayne

"An ordinary human would feel despair, no doubt. Jealous of those who can use magic, regretting ever being born, hating society... All of those would be reasonable actions. Mash Burnedead is different. He fights against his own destiny. Not that an underhanded rat like you would ever understand." This speech is actually making me like Rayne more

"I'm terrible at encouraging people. But I'll say one thing. You're embarking on a challenge the likes of which this world has never seen. Nothing good will ever come from your failure. So win. And give your challenge meaning." In the course of this one episode I'm growing to love Rayne

Mash letting his dad know he's happy, so everything til now has been worth it 🥺❤️

Mash making sure his friends have enough coins to qualify for the exam. He's a team player

Why is Orter the way he is. Did a nonmagical person dump him

"I should mention the Deadervants are completely immune to magic. So watch out." Well, I'd say that puts Mash at an advantage, but if you're clever you can use magic on the environment and not the creature. Put the Mashle Minotaur into a hole in the ground, or drop a tree branch on its head

"This exam questions how well you do in a situation where you're forced to flee." That seems like a reasonable test actually

If this adorable cutaway was meant to make me like Max, it worked!:

"It's obvious we'll do better if we work together. So it's only natural. In other words, we have formed an alliance." I've only had Max for 7 minutes, but if anything happens to him, I'll [redact] everyone in this anime and then myself

The tiptoeing, please. I love this alliance, they're so silly

Of all the ways they could've solved the challenge of bursting the balloon to get the key, breakdancing to generate wind power was not on my list

LOL @ Lance completing this task with ease. He really is one of the more qualified candidates

"Actually, I heard all about you from Rayne." Oh??? Are Rayne and Max best friends, cause that'd be SO cute. Doom and bloom 🥀🌹

"It's my ego saying that I want to do something for people like you. So don't worry. It's an important job for a junior to keep a senior's honour." MAX!!!!!!!

MAX SENT MASH AWAY TO KEEP HIM FROM GETTING ATTACKED BY CARPACCIO 😭😭😭

I KNEW they were gonna hurt Max, he was too sweet too soon!!

"Weaklings should keep quiet." Carpaccio brings absolutely rancid vibes to the function

"Also, you keep calling people 'weaklings.' But I have yet to meet anyone stronger than me." Get him, Mash!!

Lol @ Dot flipping the bird at the mirror camera because Mash can't follow the announcer's instructions

"Lance is in a different team. What should we do?" Oh, Finn. I'm sure he'll give as good as he gets

Lmao @ Mash and Dot breaking their crystals immediately

Love how they all naturally agree that Finn is unable to protect himself LOL

"I'm sure they're in bad shape now." I mean, u right Lance

Carpaccio's magic power is 'I'm rubber, you're glue'???? How very Hidan of him

UR SHITTING ME IS FINN'S POWER JUST CAMOUFLAGING HIMSELF LIKE A LIZARD?:

"I'll even lick between your toes." There was no need for that, Finn

"You're Finn Ames. The continuing student who barely made the cutoff." Cs get degrees, Carpaccio!!

Why does Carpaccio have to say everything in such a hateful tone. Calm down, High School Hidan

"The reason Finn didn't use his magic until now was to catch me off guard?" Ohhhh, it's a switching places kind of magic!! That makes sense why he uses it so rarely. Mash and Finn are a scrawnier and more incompetent Yuji and Todo

Finn refusing to give up the crystal at the cost of his own life bc he knows he holds Mash's fate in his hands. He is the BEST friend

"Thus, from the moment I was born, I've never felt any pain." Is that why you're such a dick, Carpaccio? Also what do you mean, were you a newborn and they put a wand in your cradle?

"The most ancient of wands, of which there are only 13." That seems like a lot actually

"But desperately standing against something you fear... My friend is standing against someone overwhelmingly stronger than himself. And to thoughtlessly laugh and look down on him... I won't allow that." Mash said: My friend is weak AND brave, bitch

I'll give Mashle this, they do love to commit to a bit. How will we solve this Self-Inflicted Torture Battle? High-Speed Racquetball

"So pain is something... this horrifying, huh? He withstood this much pain for someone else?" Yeah he did!!! Go Finn!

Also Carpaccio is giving that one Family Guy audio: 'Ow, that hurts! My God, is that what I've been doing to people?'

"The likes of you will never show me the coming of spring." What a poetic burn from Margarette

I assumed they'd pass, but I'm glad they didn't have to fight Lance

"You really do take his side quite a bit. I have no idea what makes him so alluring." Alluring is a CRAZY word to choose to describe why Mash is Wahlberg's fave student LOL

"Why do I train so hard? It all began when Pops told me to. At first, it felt heavy and was so tiring, I really hated it." It makes me feel for Mash that he's strong not out of want, but out of need

"Do you know why humans have arms? It's so they can lift dumbbells." Deranged take. Tell me more

"Want to play a little game?" I don't like the vibes in the room rn

"What's the reason he needs to be a Divine Visionary that badly? Everything is for naught if you die." 1) You all are the ones who put the condition of becoming this to stay his execution, what are you saying? 2) WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE TRIED TO STOP THE ETERNAL FIRE SWORD WITH HIS HEAD

Why does Finn think Regro is Mash's grandpa? It's his dad LOL

"Based on my completely biased reasoning, the crazier someone is, the more powerful they are." You know, I think Mashle is the Glee of anime. I will not elaborate

"This is the power said to be equal to Divine Visionaries." Is the implication of Finn getting ill that hanging out with his brother also makes him sick? I understand why they don't interact much

"My spells are not something you can punch to topple." That's a good change of pace. However, Rayne did defeat you with a bunch of magical swords

So caught up was I in Margarette looking more femme and having hair that I completely forgot Innocent Zero was rushing the school to attack Mash

"It's Innocent Zero himself." Last season, I thought they determined it was the organization name! This is the problem when most people's names are just randomly generated words

"This is my form when I unleash my innate magical power." Margarette said: My kekkei genkai is being nonbinary

"By touching the wall, Mushroom Head felt the sound slightly faster than the attack landing." Every two minutes someone has to narrate these fight mechanics LOL

"No, but Macaron has their secondth. It's only appropriate to see them at a disadvantage." I think this is Lance's way of saying, 'Go Mash!'

Kind of Margarette to explain how to defeat them

"I'm smitten. I accept defeat." That's kinda cute, Margarette has a crush now LOL

Call me crazy but I think Margarette and Mash could make it work. Margarette also prioritized supporting their companions over winning (the twins they were hanging with), AND distributed the gold coins amongst their house. Plus Mash and Margarette are both very fast and competent at hand-to-hand combat. There's some common ground there!

Abyss and Abel look so happy for Mash. He really did turn their mentality around:

Orter must be PISSED he's been unable to orchestrate Mash's failure

I suppose we were due for a Life-Altering Exam Interruption™

Am I crazy or did Innocent Zero's magical effect also look like Lance's gravity magic?

"Oh, how beautiful. I didn't think I'd find you alive. I felt despair thinking I would never obtain you. My dear, sweet son." YOUR DEAR SWEET WHAT?

I probably should've considered this possibility but I didn't. My flabbers are ghasted. My bams are boozled. I did not give a shit who Mash's bio parents were til now

Omg they changed the intro!! Mash dances with his friends and the Divine Visionaries now. Also every time I type that I first mistype it as Divisionaries, which is telling, perhaps

You know, I've gotten to the point where instead of being upset at hateful character designs in anime, I just start shouting, I KNEW IT, YOU SON OF A BITCH. The Sphinx was the writing on the wall:

"Back off, you insignificant speck." Wow, Grandpa Wahlberg got some hate in him HA

"I only wish to become a perfect human. Undying, beautiful and powerful." So you need to absorb a teenage bodybuilder? Okay Off-Brand Orochimaru

"My family exists for my sake. Even Mash Burnedead over here. He exists for my sake. He is mine. He is my son." Mash already has a dad ✋ His name is Regro ✋ We are not accepting new hires

"It's been decades since we crossed wands." I still haven't ruled out a situationship here

"Those who can move, deal with the demons." I love that Margarette, Mash, Lance and Dot are the first to jump into action

"Is it all right to leave it in the hands of a few students?" To be fair Orter and Kaldo are adults and they're also there

Also it is interesting that Wahlberg and Innocent Zero both show you can acquire two lines

"This is a trap. I expect they possess a surefire way to get sweet little Mash." "Seriously, how'd you figure that?" "Just a woman's hunch." "So they have a woman's heart. I was wondering about that the whole time." LOL what does that even mean, Dot???

LMAO @ Mash just completely forgetting Cell War as a person

You know, I do think Mash and Cell have the same colour eyes. Maybe they're related too

"My magic turns the target into infants." Not the babyfication

Sitter Baby said: Yeah, I'll kill a baby, what's it to you?

"What a shameless look on his face. It makes me so irritated." What is your beef with babies, Lance?

"I have to protect Dot in baby form while I deal with these guys." This is an insane way to have a fight:

You know, I take it back, THIS is an insane way to have a fight:

PLEASE NOT LANCE BEING CAPABLE OF KNOCKING OUT A GROWN MAN WITH HIS MAGIC AS AN INFANT. He must've been a tough child to raise

"This is the top of our class, the genius, Lance Crown," said Dot, while Lance trash-talked through the magical pacifier in his baby mouth

I'm glad they turned back quick, I would not have been able to take this fight seriously if they were babies the whole time

"What kind of relationship do Mr. Wahlberg and Innocent Zero have?" Putting my money down on evil and gay

Wow, Faceless Zero with his Magic Coffin is REALLY serving Orochimaru. What do you want to bet he resurrects their teacher LOL:

"He's running on top of my magic." Sure, why not?

"So the same thing twice? Please." Fighting teenagers is brutal

"Adam Jobs. The legendary magic user blessed with overwhelming magical ability who reigned at the top of the Magic Realm for several centuries." Why does Wahlberg get a name and everyone else gets a noun? All this makes me think of is Apple LOL

Also we are confirming that wizards do live hundreds of years

"However, most of his effort in his later years went into social assistance to those who were unable to use magic." What the hell happened to your society since then?

Who is Adam's third student? Mash's bio mother?

Innocent Zero did in fact resurrect their teacher. This show can only have an original thought when it's being silly

Necross Mance's design has no reason to be like that. Except for, you know 😨🤬🤡

"I recall Master was so very fond of you." Innocent Zero said: Teachers are not allowed to have favourites unless they're me

"What's important is not the past, but the present. If you descend the present into chaos, then I won't show mercy, even against my master." That's a healthy perspective, Wahlberg

"The body part you lost just went to a slightly distant spot. It won't kill you." Wahlberg said: He's Necross-Section Mance now

Did Wahlberg just ctrl + alt + delete two whole people LOL

[Orter, tersely] "Quit your whining." [Kaldo, irritably] "It's a calm analysis of the situation." [Kaldo, internally] "I'd like to assist Mushroom Head, but if we leave here, danger befalls the students." Kaldo is growing on me I think

"Forbidden Magic of Body Construction. Dark magic used to create an immortal heart from the hearts of six blood relatives. That is why Father prepared six children as vessels to nurture the heart." I was correct, they are related!

Also I fear it's giving horcruxes. We return to [redacted] Potter

"Basically, it's like how you need protein to create better muscles? So that's the kind of existence I am." Existential Crisis Mode: Protein Shake Baby

"It's quite heavy. My life, that is. For now, I'll take a nap." God, same

"By the way, are you one of my brothers?" "I am not. I am merely a clone created by giving Father's blood to a corpse." Of course, the obvious alternative to brothers

Also, why's Cell War blond then? Bottle bleached clone?

PLEASE Mash just good ole fashioned choking his opponent out. We love a classic

"I care a lot about this school. If you're claiming to destroy it, I'll choke you out as many times as I need to with my muscles." Now that's school spirit

[Narrator] "In the skies near Easton, Ryoh and Nerey Shawn took two whole episodes to finally arrive at Easton Magic Academy." The fourth wall breaks do make me laugh

Rest in pieces, Wahlberg's left arm. I think the rest of him is not far behind

"Did you know that cabybaras run at 50 km per hour? Come to school." I love what a silly teacher they've made Adam out to be. Also it doesn't translate in subtitles, but all of Adam's animal trivia facts are also rhyming couplets:

"It's fine to live for your own sake as you do. But I have lived to this day, saved by all of the goodwill around me." Oh Wahlberg. I'm so sorry you're about to mega-die!

'Hey, Wahlberg, what's your magic's final form?' 'Optimus Prime'

"Thirds spells unleash the power of the gods residing in the wands." Apparently Greek gods specifically, since Rayne's was Ares and Wahlberg's is Uranus

Wahlberg's ultimate control of space is very Gojo's infinity

"With this, I will sever the affinity I have had with you for such a long time, Innocent Zero!" Taking this as confirmation of the situationship. Wahlberg said: We're breaking up

"My Thirds will tear you apart... in exchange for my own life." Wahlberg said: More specifically, I'm breaking YOU up

"This world could be so much better. It could be a world filled with kindness, where we respect each other and accept our weaknesses. That is why I must save them." Wahlberg is such a good teacher 😭

Shout-out to Mash for saving Wahlberg, I can't wait to hear what the hell he's doing to be airborne

He was doing his leg kick. Return of the Weird Bird Boy

"I was raised to be kind to the elderly." Yeah you were, Mash ❤️

There is something cathartic about Mash kicking his icky bio dad in the face

"Your only purpose in life is to elevate me into a higher state of being." Gross reason to have kids, Zero

I guess the theory is a body as tough as Mash's could hold a ton of magic, so Innocent Zero won't experience magical pixelation anymore? Guess Innocent Zero hasn't considered the possibility of absorbing Mash and losing magic completely

"We'll finish this another time." [Hashirama voice] I'll deal with you later

"What was that cut scene just now?" While I hate whenever they make reference to Lance being a Weird Brother, I am a little obsessed with the implication that Dot can read Lance's mind

"But this is simply way too ridiculous, Mash," said Finn, about Mash playing tug-of-war with a giant demon, as if Mash had not played racquetball with a God in front of him earlier that day

"There's no room for someone who can't use magic in this world," said the Student Extras, as if Mash were not the ONLY thing keeping them from being crushed by a Giant Demon Monster

"Whether or not you can use magic... Right now, he's fighting for us and the school. He's giving everything he's got for to fight for us!" THANK YOU, Student Extra #5

Awwww, Mash heard Finn and it gave him the strength to win!! Friendship really IS the most powerful magic of all

"Kaldo, I hear you have sided with Mash Burnedead." You are such a piece of work, Orter

"Mash, the centre of this incident, and the only one who knew the truth, was burdened by this grave knowledge... and went to the beach." So fair, Mash deserves a beach episode

"Considering Mash's circumstances, they're going to make him take the fall somehow." Harsh but realistic prediction, Lance

[Finn, concerned] "Headmaster! What are you doing here?" [Wahlberg, chilling in a swimsuit, covered in bandages and missing an arm] "It's summertime." I accept this reasoning

"The five brothers who flank him are all top-tier magic users in this world." Innocent Zero's brothers? I guess that's where Mash's other five Horcrux Family Members are

"Either I'll win, or I'll lose. That's one in two. A 50% chance. And muscles never lose. So the chances of winning are 100%." Mash said: We didn't cover math in homeschooling

PLEASE LANCE'S REALITY CHECK ABOUT EXAMS LOL

"So I study a little bit every day, thinking it's practice for putting in effort. And you lose nothing from having an academic background." Wow, I didn't think Dot had it in him

"I'm somehow hurt by this." Mash said: I thought we were stupid together, Dot

I do love that they're all taking turns tutoring. Teamwork!

Please, as soon as I said that, they cut to this threatening imagery of the tutoring:

"I'm not bored enough to teach someone who isn't willing to learn." Again, harsh but fair, Lance

"I want to graduate together with you." Awww, Finn

They really knock it out of the park with every animal design. In love with how they've drawn the moles:

"And thus, Mash confronted studying, which he was not so good at." Same, bestie

"Your marks are not what I'd call praisworthy, however." "You scraped by." "Just barely." Again, relatable to me during high school chemistry

LOL @ Lance and Dot taking turns kicking Mash for calling it easy

"It's in the newspaper that the prestigious Easton Academy has a Lackmagic as Divine Visionary candidate." Oh boy

KGJHKGJHGKJG Lemon and Dot just growling at the crowd which is targeting Mash. Good friends indeed!

"If Mash is going to be judged for such a ridiculous reason, I will take the punishment with him!" LEMON 😭😭😭

"But I will become the best in this Magic Realm and prove it to you... that it's okay even if you can't use magic." YEAH MASH

"In one's life, you may never come across even one person who will speak up on your behalf. You have excellent friends." Yeah he does!

You know, this show grows on me more over time. It's a little confused, but it's got the spirit! You can tell exactly which media fixations (HP, Naruto, JJK) have influenced the author, and while there are clear low points (its capacity to address a prejudicial social dilemma, depiction of Necross, generally the lack of women, that character motives and dialogue seem like an afterthought to the plot points/fights to name a few), I would say that I like it more than I don't (great friendships, treating parody as an art form, positive nonbinary rep, a well-structured tournament arc, Mash's closeness with Regro, the loving way that it was ultimately written). It is clumsy but enjoyable. I maintain it is the Glee of anime. It's not necessarily a show I'd widely recommend, but it is a show that appeals to me as a viewer

#ayesha liveblogs mashle #liveblogging #ayesha talks anime #mashle s2 #mashle spoilers #mashle series #long post #television #just in case LOL since i start with a spoiler for the previous season #again there's many references to nart and jjk and hp bc that's just where this show gets its inspiration #moqueueton

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alicewhitesblog · 5 months ago

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Rob Talbot was what his neighbors called 'A Ghoul'. He was a collector of the macabre. A around the walls in his apartment were items that had become infamous in the participating of hideous crimes. Axes, knives, firearms even a toy bear that was altered to conceal a gas canister.

So, when an electric chair come up for sale, he just had to have it. Rob surfed the dark web in order to add to his collection and someone in the nearby state had a genuine 1920's electric chair for sale. It's providence claimed that the chair had executed the Scaretto Brothers. They were convicted and sentence to death for the killings of two rival mob leaders.

The transaction was simple. Just a card payment and a delivery provided. Despatched within 24 hours. Rob had just the right spot for the chair, in front of his 54"TV screen where he could sit after work watching his favorite horror movies.

As promised, the next day, being a Saturday. Rob received an email telling him a driver would be with him on the hour. Just time to make some room and get in the beers and snacks.

At precisely 3pm there was a knock at his door. He opened it to see two delivery guys with a large wooden crate. Rob showed them in and immediately the delivery guys started to unpack the crate. Rob could not believe what he saw. The chair still had its leather straps and electronics attached.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Rob. "I didn't expect to see those!"

The two delivery guys looked at each other then back to Rob. "Our seller wants to please. Where would you like the chair?"

Rob pointed to the space in the middle of the room.

Once in place, one of the delivery guys asked if Rob would like to sit in the chair. "Our seller wants to be sure you are happy before we leave you. Rob immediately obliged. The wooden chair felt smooth and there was still a surprisingly burnt smell coming off it. "How about we try these straps, for that authentic feel."

Before Rob could protest, both of the delivery guys were upon him, strapping Rob down.

"Hey! I think this is going too far!" Rob protested.

A leather gag was forced into Robs mouth and the metal hood above the chair was lowered onto his head. Rob tried to struggle free, but it was useless. The chair and straps were built to prevent such resistance.

With Rob prepared, one of the delivery guys ran the cables from the chair to the junction box in the apartment. With a flick of the switch, the power from the apartment surged through Rob. After a few involuntary spasms. Rob was dead!

The delivery guys waited until Rob had cooled down before unstrapping him and loading him and the chair back into the crate.

Once the crate was secured, one of the delivery guys turned to his colleague. "We'll drop him in the river and move on to the next sucker. By my recogning this is the fifth time this week we have sold this chair."

#books are better than people #halloween #flash fiction #short horror story

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taiblogcomics · 7 months ago

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Fights and Delights

Hey there, anachronistic tacos. It's September now! Countdown is still going! Do you see now? Do you begin to see how this was as a weekly series? And this is me being diligent about it! I genuinely don't know if there were any delays or what have you. I know that 52, for all its splendor, missed a deadline or two in its still very impressive run. And I know that because the trades for it include a lot of supplementary materials, including stuff by the writers about behind-the-scenes work. What do the Countdown trades (which I am reading this from) have? Nothin'. Because Countdown sucked, and they know it sucked, so they cheaped the trades out as much as they could~

Here's the cover:

All right, it's no secret I've been harsh on more than a few covers in this series. But it's this series, so can you blame me? Now this one, though, this is a cool cover! I will absolutely give it that--if Batman actually appears in the issue. That's my caveat! In fact, I will make you a deal. As long as there are no other outstanding major issues (e.g. character deaths), I will give this issue a full pass if Batman is actually in it. If they're just putting Batman on the cover to bank off his personality, it fails. That's the deal, man. The total deal.

So, in the recap, Pied Piper and Trickster are on the run for murdering the Flash and hid out in Gotham, where they're confronted by Deathstroke (not Batman). Donna Troy and Jason Todd are searching the multiverse for Ray Palmer, and are held captive by a magical queen (not Batman). Mary Marvel, in pursuit of magical power, is expelled from her apprenticeship by Zatanna (not Batman). Karate Kid and Una are searching for answers and fought a '90s reject (not Batman). Holly Robinson is recruited by Athena's women's shelter to fight in a gladitorial arena (not against Batman). And Jimmy Olsen takes his new superpowers to the Justice League and is rejected (including by Batman). Now let's get into today's issue (with or without Batman).

So, remember two issues ago where Trickster and Piper tried to pass themselves off as in Deathstroke's employ to escape from Poison Ivy, only for Deathstroke to show up and call their bluff as a cliffhanger? And then the previous issue didn't even feature their subplot? I hope that anticipation and build-up was worth it, because we open today's issue with Deathstroke having beaten them up off-screen. Seriously. Slade must be getting paid by the minute, because he is in one panel in this entire series. "What was even the point" is the tagline for this whole series, but it feels especially fitting here~

So anyway, Piper and Trickster got beat up by Deathstroke, who then tied them up, hung them upside down, and pointed the Bat-Signal to shine on them. So page two does fulfill its promise of Batman, as he shows up where the Bat-Signal is being shone, as he always does. Like Bat-moths to a Bat-flame. Batman's about to pull them up and Bat-interrogate them when they disappear. We then see they got whisked away by the Flash--not the one they killed, but I believe this one is Wally, who has returned from the Speed Force he got stuck in during Infinite Crisis. Batman notes that they're probably in for even a worse time than he was gonna give 'em.

Hey, do you remember how this whole series started? With Duela Dent's murder, and Jimmy Olsen trying to write an article about it? Well, Jimmy suddenly did. Now that he's been rejected from the Justice League, he's back to square one. He reasons that there must be some connection between the murders of Duela, Lightray, and Sleez. To that end, he's visiting DC's resident tech genius, John Henry Irons (AKA Steel). He's got a bio-feedback scanner, and Jimmy's hoping it'll tell him more about his powers. And true to form, if you didn't read Steel's or his daughter Natasha's parts in 52 or Infinity Inc., you probably don't know why he has this.

We cut away from that back to Wally having hauled Piper and Trickster out of Gotham and to Keystone City. To Bart Allen's grave, specifically. Naturally, he's furious. See, both Trickster and Piper had reformed some years ago and were allies in the pages of Wally's own series. So not only did they participate in Bart's murder, they betrayed his trust to do so. So he's even madder about this than he is at the actual villainous Rogues like Mirror Master or Weather Wizard. Mad enough that he won't hear them out, he just starts beating the hell out of them.

Over with the Multiverse Crew, Donna Troy and Jason Todd got captured by a fairy-tale queen, Ryan Choi (the only non-white character in this whole story) got turned into a bug, and Bob the Monitor got thrall'd. Queen Who-Cares amuses herself by turning Ryan back and forth from bug to human, and when Donna comes for her, she uses Bob to blast her away. She's very interested in Bob's ability to move between realities, figuring this will be of great help to her once the Great Disaster strikes. And when Donna gets up again, she calls in her bug squad to have a fight scene.

Speaking of fight scenes, we check back in with Athena's combat arena. Holly Robinson's still squaring off against the combatant in the comedy mask. Holly reveals her secret of how she's survived on the streets for so long: there's no such thing as a fair fight. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to cheat, do it, coz your opponent would do the same. So she manages to get around behind Funny Face and start choking her out with her whip. Funny Face does a scorpion kick to break free, and Athena calls the match. She deems both of them worthy, and Holly's opponent removes the mask to reveal she was Harley Quinn all along! Gee, who could have guessed~?

Mary Marvel, meanwhile, is not in a fight scene. In fact, where she is is actually kind of funny. She's in a marketplace in China called Chung Ling Soo Square. And when I went to look that up to see if it was real (given DC's track record of having over a dozen fictional major cities in the US alone), it turns out Chung Ling Soo was an American stage magician in the late 1800s who performed in yellowface. Like, you get the connection as a magical person, so he has a magical market named for him. But you probably won't find many places named after him in real-world China. Anyways, I think that's some fun trivia for you.

Oh yeah, where were we? Mary Marvel, magical marketplace. Wandering around in her black latex cheerleading uniform, she looks a little out of place in the Asian mysticism-themed stuff. Naturally, the only other person who also super stands out notices her. It's Klarion the Witchboy! Klarion's a fucking delight whatever he's in, the scheming blue-skinned Puritan. He and Mary have a friendly chat, which is mostly all Klarion assessing both Mary's magical ability and naivete, after which he binds her in a bubble and plans to sell her on the market himself. See? Dastardly~

Meanwhile, Una and Karate Kid have finally met with this Mister Orr that Oracle recommended they seek out. That dingus Equus is nowhere to be seen, thank god. Orr asks if they're familiar with the OMAC Project (which resurfaced in the leadup to Infinite Crisis). Whatever Karate Kid is infected with, it bears a resemblance to the OMAC virus. So Orr suggest they track down Buddy Blank, the guy who invented OMACs. And as they leave, Orr calls up a mysterious silhouette, reporting he did as was asked by sending them to Buddy. The silhouette replies that his master will be most pleased. And on the other side of the screen? Desaad, rearranging Darkseid's chess set again.

Back over with Jimmy and John Henry, the machine is showing a visualisation of what's going on with Jimmy. More specifically, it's showing a projection of the Source Wall, the mysterious barrier at the edge of the universe. Jimmy's also getting that classic sci-fi trope of his head swelling painfully from having too much info in it. A brief projection of the multiverse also appears. The machine is overloaing, and Jimmy's brain is projecting it back, catching them in an overload feedback loop. Steel has to smash the machine to turn it off, another classic sci-fi trope. Whatever's going on with Jimmy, Steel can't even determine it.

So for the final page of this issue, we return to Wally beating up Piper and Trickster. Once he's satisfied, he asks them what they were babbling about in regard to a "secret mission". Piper and Trickster state that they were only with Inertia and the other Rogues to act as spies. From there, they found out Poison Ivy, Deathstroke, and other villains are planning to attack Green Arrow's wedding (another well-publicised event at the time). How or where they got this info isn't explained here, so it must've happened in the same off-screen fight with Deathstroke. Wally considers this, then starts pulling on their handcuffs. The ones that will electrocute them if strained too far. The comic ends with Wally's face in shadow, stating they deserve to die for killing Bart.

So! As promised, I'm officially declaring this a good issue. It paid off that Batman appearance, even if not as excitingly as the cover. But I think it deserves the title for other reasons, too. We got to see Klarion the Witchboy, we learned a little about American stage magic in the 1880s, we used some funny GIFs in the review. Equus wasn't in it. All that's good!

Which is not to say even a mostly enjoyable issue is not without its, well, issues. The cliffhanger with Deathstroke concluding off-screen and introduction of new info about Green Arrow's wedding is very badly written and baffling (probably happened in a tie-in, but the comic doesn't even include a little "see issue #whatever of Countdown: The Tie-In!" box to tell you where). Ryan Choi gets constantly mistreated, as is a common thing in his history. And you start to see how Karate Kid's storyline will play out: it's a long fetch quest. He will track down a person, who will tell him to go see another different person. This will continue until the end of the series. So, like, strap in.

Still, no one died, and the comic didn't lie about having Batman. That's basically all I asked! It's sad when that's the minimum~

#comics #reviews #Countdown #Countdown to Final Crisis #Taiblog

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meikostan · 2 years ago

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OK finally watching oshi no ko anime, it turns out all i needed was to go outside for like an hour and im normal again

my thoughts under the cut (writing as i watch) (long) (lots of thoughts) (beautiful and true?) (manga reader) (don't read if anime only) (spoilers) (seriously) (i talk alot) (lots of thoughts)

at this point i've reread oshi no ko enough times that even if i didnt already know japanese i could probably make it without the subs SDJLF but its so cool to see lines and panels that im so familiar with brought to life!! i also liked goro's death scene, especially the way they used static and cut between shots. i keep on pulling out my physical copies of onk (well mostly vol 1) and pointing at my screen and the corresponding part of the book like

2. AIIIII little known fact about me is that ai is genuinely my favorite character... WHICH SUCKS BECAUSE SHE DIES IN THE FIRST VOLUME. seriously we only ever get to see her after this when a. her name or demeanor is invoked by another character b. aqua has his numerous mental breakdowns or c. flashbacks (including but not limited to aqua's mental breakdowns). i am always down for ai content!!!

3. its so much easier to ignore the weird vaguely sexual stuff from their babyhood because i know the rest of the series is normal and cool and not into that sort of stuff👍

4. speaking of normal yayayay it's aqua back when he was actually normal and not "normal" :D like he is just a baby. do you think now that oshi no ko is popular people will get into internet arguments about whether you can ethically have aqua as your favorite character post-normalification. actually wait this may already have been happening in the dark depths of some discord server out there.. but i dont use discord so im blissfully unaware

5. OH i dont think ive seen all of the OG b komachi before? or at least not in high detail. epic!

6. infant ruby telling people on the internet "kys" before age 2... truly a model twitter user

7. not gonna lie i havent really ever liked the way babies are drawn here (including manga)... idk their heads just look way too big like adult heads drawn on toddler bodies then ""cutified"". but this is a personal gripe

8. do you think because of infantile amnesia the twins forgot about the whole pretending to be amaterasu moment. do you think miyako still remembers. can you imagine being the foster mother of two kids who you believe to be gods sent to earth. do you think she remembers that she was "charged by the gods with keeping ai's secret" and then aqua. you know.

9. imagine: you married the ceo of a mid production company because you want to date hot men. there are no hot men in sight. you have to watch over one of the idol's twin infant babies. they reveal to you that they are divine messengers of god and also they can speak normally. there are no hot men in sight. you tend to their every need because you don't want divine retribution. you explain the intricacies of the idol industry in detail every couple of days when they complain about the injustices of the world. there are no hot men in sight. you become their foster mom after they witness the traumatic death of their mother, whose secrets you where charged with keeping safe. at least 12 years pass. they never mention any of this again. you manage the idol group one of them is in. there are still no hot men in sight. your name is miyako. every day you wake up.

10. i like how gotanda gives his business card to a toddler. whats he gonna do, call you on his fisher price dial phone? well actually nevermind aqua is probably the only other toddler (alongside ruby) who could make use of a business card

11. KANAA LETS FUCKING GOOOOO but also nothing will ever top 'lick a lying snitch/flick a crying switch'...... nothing ever... :( also taking the opportunity now to say ive always found it hilarious she assumed 'aqua' is his stage name and not his actual legal name, that's how ridiculous it is DSKLFJ

12. sobbing at the ruby ai dance... dont even have that many words i just really like it.. do you guys think ai was thinking about her own mom [& abuse/lack of relationship thereof]? not even just in this scene but in her more serious moments when she's thinking about her kids it's like "i want to make millions so they can go to the nicest schools and have the nicest things" "i want my daughter to dance freely and happily and i will support her in this" which ig can also be excused as 'thats just what a normal parent wants' but idk i like taking into consideration her own past and lack of parental support when looking at the way she tries to raise her children (not that she exactly got a chance to, even while still alive)

13. also i realized at this point that ep 1 is like an hour long not just because of the whole 'we gotta make sure no one drops this before the reveal that shows what this story's actually gonna be about', but also because it would be kinda awkward to have cut any of these scenes out? or not like out completely but like from each other. like if we had ended ep 1 at for example where they do their silly baby dance and go twitter viral (chapter 5 aka the midpoint of vol 1). that wouldve been terrible. but we can't cut it any earlier, or any later. ai's death feels like the natural conclusion to this problem. also i can't really see much of the other sections being stretched out to fit a full episode length being done very well. having ep 1 be a full 90 minutes lets them be as long as they need to be, aka a 1:1 adaptation of the manga.

14. oh boy chapter 9 time

15. i don't have anything to say about ai's outlook that has not already been said but this is the scene that made her my favorite character. not being able to tell at what point your lies become reality.. not really knowing if you've ever loved or been loved truly because your entire concept of 'love' was based off insincerity necessary for survival.. and now not ever being given the chance to explore what 'real love' means to you. FUCK

16. aww i love all these little family moments they added! very cute ^_^

17. yayy go kids get traumatized ^_^ also for some reason i remember the stalker as having really light hair o-0 fascinating. i remembered his name though!! just like ai fr

18. speaking of hair i also did not realize saitou was blond i thought he had brown hair..

19. hey the bandana (? i forget the word) guy holding the ai fan sign during the news montage is from one of the intros to the vol 1 chapters where hes like 'oh yeah i wonder where those dancing babies are now'!

20. another part of that montage shows a house with a wii in it, which came out november 19 2006. characters are shown using twitter which started earlier that same year; it was a pretty popular website even in 2008, but the mobile app only became a thing in like 2010. i'm seeing a mix of flip phones and smart phones so this has gotta take place sometime around 2010. it's kinda difficult to tell exactly what age the twins are in the main story because like the first page of vol 2 has ruby listing her age as 14, but - and the proof is not at my finger tips rn - i swear to god they're like 16 at this point. i have legitimate reasons to believe this but i need to grab exact proof adding to that we also have 15 years of lies, which if im remembering right would be referring to the twins age? i was trying to logic out exactly what year oshi no ko takes place in even though i already know the answer is 'in the modern day' but anyway yeah i'll just finish my episode and move on

21. THE IPHONE RUBY IS HOLDNIG HAS A HEADPHONE JACK. i want so badly to say that's an iphone 4 but there's like a separation between that and the power button. i also dont have an iphone 4 with me so i cant check it irl :( but anyway the iphone 4 was released in 2010, meaning the evidence is piling up for this part of the story taking place some time around 2010. or maybe i'm looking too deeply into this and should go back to actually watching the episode.

22. this is reminding me i was gonna write a fic specifically about this time period where the twins go to therapy and have to adjust to life without ai, having miyako graduate from fake mom to actual mom, aqua faking being fully recovered from the incident so he'd be released from therapy (fic concept was inspired from him stating this in like vol 6), etc. i never did because i spent like 3 hours researching play therapy and never got anywhere with it.. but maybe...

23. THE KIDS HAVING TO WATCH HER FUNERAL THROUGH THE FUCKING CAR WINDOW... I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF

24. YESS AQUA NORMALIFICATION COMPLETE

25. AM I INSANE OR IS THAT AKANE? HER HAIR COLOR IS THE SAME BUT IT'S SO SHORT

26. MEM!!!!

27. AHHH POST CREDITS AI MAKING HER VIDEO FOR THE TWINS "i don't think i'll still be an idol by then" YEAH BUT AT WHAT COST 😭

FINAL THOUGHTS: i liked it alot ^_^ i dont really watch that much anime anymore (not that i watched an incredible amount before, but i am familiar with it) but i really liked this. i think they did a very good job of adapting the first volume! i know the rest of the episodes will be not-film length which does make me a bit sad because i think it would work out well, or at least not badly, if they were. it does also make me really excited for the future, seriously i will actually explode when i see the theater arc in full. cannot wait to see aqua mental breakdowns and ruby evil arc and and and and

the only thing i would've liked is if they could somehow have found a way to incorporate the pre-chapter intro scenes from the manga where they're talking about 15 years of lies, interviews with their pre-school teacher, etc. though both the pre-school teacher and the aforementioned bandana guy appear which may have been their way of doing it? like adding a fun detail for obsessives like myself to point at like 'my god it's those guys from exactly 2 panels in the manga'

tumblr ate my post and erased everything up to #2 while i was writing it and i was about to flip but it turns out that it automatically saves posts while youre writing them now and it was in my drafts safe and sound soooo crisis averted ^_^ anyway those were my thoughts on ep 1

#oshi no ko #animanga

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kaz3313 · 2 years ago

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So my (according to Tik Tok) scream hot takes. Unfortunately besides Tik Tok idk where the scream community is 😭 Under the read more and tagging @staghunters cause like over a month ago you said yes to hear them.

Spoilers for 6 but I’ll also tell you where those spoilers are. Spoilers for all the other movies to (unwarned)

I personally think the first one is the best Scream movie but i don’t give af if others are liked more

Scream 2 and 5 are over hated and calling Scream 3 “basically scary movie” is ridiculous

Mrs Loomis does have an understable motive and people not being able to understand she could’ve both loved her son and left him after she found out her husband was cheating don’t understand nuance.

Maureen Prescott is not the “real villain” and saying none of the movies wouldn’t have happened if she just “didn’t cheat” completely ignores how she was abused by Hollywood/Roman would still very much exist and would find a way to kill her/get his revenge. She is the ghost of the narrative and also has a lot of nuance to her.

Melissa Barrera was also over hated for her acting in Scream 5 and I think she did phenomenal. It really reminded me of how Sidney felt in the first movie when she was being attacked/gone after (Minus, of course, that Sam has hallucinations of her father)

(Kinda spoilers for Scream 6- justa. Nickname is used) The Core Four (Mindy, Chad, Sam, and Tara) are reflections of the OG 4 characters (Randy, Dewey, Sideny, Gale) but are not meant to be one on one just parallels. That’s why there can be similar arcs and characteristics while remaining there own characters.

None of the Ghostfaces are my “favs” and while I do like them as characters in general the victims or survivors are my favorites.

No actor should get hate for the character they play. None.

Gale and Sidney are both bad bitches and they do not need to be put against each other.

Fan creations are fine (and awesome) but genuinely Sam as Ghostface would ruin her arc of the last two movies. Even if Tara died

I believe in Lesbian Sidney Prescott rights (Mark and her are in a lavender marriage/or QPR with kids) 💕 But I also think she’s cute with Randy. (Something about theater nerd x film nerd along with ‘she could never love me’ and ‘if he literally asked but he never does’). Tatum/Sidney and Sidney/Gale are both top tier ships.

(Scream 6 spoilers) People saying Gale’s BF was unnecessary as well as “she didn’t actually love him because she didn’t react that sad to his death” are ignoring that she was in an extremely stressful situation AND ignores that her “moving on without actually moving on” is extremely on point with her character. (I have hcs about these two’s relationship but that’s another post)

Old fans don’t be mean to new fans. New fans don’t be mean to old fans. I’m a new fan who likes the OGs. New fans who like the new movies are valid. Old fans who like the new movies are valid. Please stop being mean to each other. Do recognize that the OG movie(s) *are* the ones that started it. Calling any of them outdated is ridiculous.

(Spoilers for 6) I think Dewey’s death is sadder then Anika’s. I do think that with the short amount of time we knew her, tho, she’s probably one of the saddest deaths for a character that just was in one movie/had little screen time.

Stu is not alive BUT hearing (some serious and others ridiculous) theories are very fun. Also playing with the concept is <33

Gale Haters 😶😶 Like yes she was “a bitch” in the first movie but she’s one of the best developed characters (besides Sidney and Dewey-) , she continuously is iconic (both in fights, dialogue, etc). This is not to say- cause I feel I have to say this- you must like her but especially for those who love Dewey but hate her for “using him” ignoring her development of feelings and how much she bonds with him just because in the VERY beginning she wanted to butter him up for more info is a weird grudge to continuously hold.

Dwight “Dewey” Riley can both be a very silly funny character but I feel the fact he most DEFINITELY suffers heavily from PTSD and depression and it’s put to the wayside by fans is disappointing(excluding my beloved on ao3 who give me the best Dewey/Gale fics that have such an amazing grasp on both of them— that’s besides the point). The fact in five that he left Gale in the city, was forced to retire from the only career he’s ever known, And lives on the outskirts of Westburro (the only home and town he loves) speaks volumes on how he was isolating himself. He’s disabled physically and has mental illness All while he was being a hero into the very end (though internally believed himself to be a coward) just shows what a TRAGIC character he is. Even in the second movie when Sidney calls him their (as in Randy and her) “surrogate Big Brother” hurts me beyond belief because with the death of his Sister he really started to go even further into the “protector” and “big brother” role. It’s really a shame that most scenes speaking on Tatum post her death were cut/deleted scenes.

Neve Campbell deserves her credit and it’s a damn damn shame they were not going to pay her what she’s worth. As sad as I am I don’t think Sidney as a character will be seen in the next movie.

(Scream 6 spoilers), Scream 5 And 6 have done a great job with parallels to 1 and 2 (the “love interest” betrayal to the revenge plot) and I think their continue to be a parallel from 3 to 7. My guess is that it will be oriented around family perhaps we’ll have Martha involved, maybe Mark (Sidney’s Husband), finally a revel of Tara and Sam’s Mom. With ofc a twist at the end (like Roman)

Saying “No new characters for the next scream movie” is like saying “don’t make another movie!” Since legit EVERY movie showcased new characters And if not for new characters it’d be boring/redundant.

I def have more thoughts but these are my thoughts for now 💕

#scream #scream movies

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apocalypticavolition · 28 days ago

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1,000 Greatest Films: Intolerance

I'm beginning to wonder if film critics aren't the best judges of cinema. This movie was certainly an experience and it was at least not horrifically racist. Hell, I think some of the sources it used to depict the various historical sections were vaguely based in reality! After The Birth of a Nation, this film is a big step up. Regrettably, Dante has demonstrated that hell has layers, so we are still somewhere on the wrong side of the Phlegethon.

Maybe I should talk about D. W. Griffith for awhile, since I didn't do that last time. He was born in Kentucky, the son of a Confederate colonel (I think I did mention that last time) and spent his childhood in poverty. Like all responsible sons supporting a widowed mother, Griffith abandoned his retail jobs to become an actor and playwright. This did not go well, but tragically a producer at Edison Studios gave him a role in one of their films before Griffith abandoned his creative pursues.

From there, Griffith went into directing for the Biograph Company, which he was genuinely good at. A big fan of Dickens, Griffith brought the narrative art of "cross-cutting" to the screen, which is an even bigger tragedy than everything else at this point because this movie is so cross-cut that it features Jesus's ministry as but one of its four plots. Griffith began making longer and longer films, a practice almost quashed by Biograph... but not quashed enough. He left them and joined the Mutual Film Corporation, which just goes to show that even Charlie Chaplin can make mistakes I guess.

That partnership led to his own Triangle Film Corporation being formed, and it in turn led to The Afterbirth of a Hate Movement or whatever. Vastly controversial for its racism even in its own time (and I cannot tell you how racist you have to be to make 1910s people call you racist), Griffith did what all racist white men did when confronted with the slightest bit of criticism and developed a persecution complex. Outraged at the notion that his propaganda piece wasn't universally beloved, Griffith decided that he'd show them, he'd show them all! and make a film about the evils of intolerance.

Not racist intolerance, mind you. That was all fine and dandy for him. The intolerance Griffith was born to fight against was the intolerance of the so-called moralists, whose actions inevitably led to mass deaths apparently. That's what Intolerance is about, the suffering he went through, compared to the four historical events that put together almost equal one-third of the hatred his critics had for him. The intolerance of the Babylonian priests, whose infighting led to Cyrus conquering their city. The intolerance of the Jews, who of course forced Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus. The intolerance of the French, who massacred a bunch of Protestants. And the tragic story of the intolerance of... some bored, rich ladies who force a mill owner to drive all of his employees to ruin so they can kidnap babies.

Okay I'm actually underselling and misrepresenting that last story. That could be a great 90 minute film. It features a crushed workers' strike, the forced relocation of that plotline's hero and heroine ("The Boy/the Musketeer" and "The Dear One", because individual names are too trifling for this SWEEPING EPIC). He turns to crime and is nearly destroyed by it. She has her baby taken away for being a single mother. A rescue attempt turns into a murder trial that ends with a police officer helping the Dear One prove her husband's innocence. Great stuff.

Tragically, the rest... nope. Jesus's story is heavily abbreviated, mostly focusing on a couple minor stories in his ministry. It could and should have been cut entirely. The French story is also a thing that exists. The costumes are decent at least, and there's a brief bit with cats. Griffith should have stuck to filming cats. There's also this interstitial where Lillian Gish is rocking a cradle and it's a metaphor for the passing of generations so we have to watch it every time we cut across time and let me tell you nothing makes the pointlessness of a metaphor more apparent than seeing it seventy times.

The Babylonian story is better. I'm not entirely certain it's good or historically accurate but the effects are decent. Griffith was great at getting sweeping shots of large areas and filling them with extras, and the costuming and props are exquisite. The epic battle that leads to the Fall of Babylon is another impressive piece. However, short of the briefly enjoyable bits of this era's heroine being far too feisty at the marriage market to get bought up, I never really gave a flying fuck about any of these people. This segment was all spectacle and I'm sorry but if all getting into the top 1,000 films of all time requires is being spectacular, 35 of them would involve Robert Downey Jr. pretending to be an Elon Musk type who can actually invent things and tell jokes.

I'd like to say more about this film - this particular post is way shorter than the others so far in this series - but also I would not care to do that at all, thank you. There are two more D. W. Griffith films on my horizon and I am so very, very happy that they are a mere 177 minutes combined. Next time: Broken Blossoms. Please universe give me the strength to view it with unbiased eyes on the off-chance that it's actually good.

#films #best films #they shoot pictures don't they #intolerance #d w griffith

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queencvbra · 5 months ago

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okay I'm gonna talk about That Scene (the Tory & Sam fight that ended with her leaving). and I'm gonna be potentially ranty bc I have been thinking about this A Lot over the past few months and idr if I've said anything about it before on the dash. but I have so, so many problems with that scene and the argument the writers are trying to make here.

listen. I love Johnny to death okay? But he was wrong as hell about letting Tory fight, from every angle. I get the writers wanted the approach of "fighting through the pain" but this? This was not that. It was another form of Cobra Kai's whole "channel your anger and make it your power" thing which is just unhealthy. It has a historical basis, too; the whole idea of Cobra Kai since the first Karate Kid movie is that it is a western corruption of the traditional values of karate, and the most direct display of that is the fact that Cobra Kai karate is NOT karate at all, it's Tang Soo Do, and it was just called karate because karate was a marketable term in that time period, no respect given to the actual art other than how it could be turned into profit.

It's all based on an old mindset that largely cropped in the martial arts scene after western militaries (largely the United States) started incorporating various east asian martial arts techniques into their military training. That part of the show where they have Kreese learn Tang Soo Do while stationed in Korea is somewhat accurate (minus the dramatic special ops shit obviously), and my own family has actual experience with this, as this is actually how my uncle's father learned Taekwondo in the first place; he was stationed in Korea during the Vietnam war and taught martial arts. In a lot of cases these "hardass" (sarcastic) military guys would come home and take that "karate" and completely commercialize it, stripping away all of the actual ideology behind it to replace it with western militaristic ideals. Which of course fostered extremely toxic environments when the point of these martial arts was always supposed to be balance and discipline, not just an outlet to beat the shit out of people when you're angry, and that's why that mentality is present and still exists to this day, because it became *that* prevalent. This is literally the basis of Cobra Kai and part of the writers' thesis in this show was supposed to be deconstructing that, yet it seems they keep backpedaling and making it seem "cool" when they need it to be because it appeals to a certain demographic.

And yes, this stuff being in the show and reflected in a positive way DOES affect what people will do in real life, and there is empirical evidence to support that. Seeing martial arts on screen is enough to inspire people. There was a spike in the popularity of martial arts after the original Karate Kid movies. There was a spike in popularity after Bruce Lee became a star in the west. There is currently a spike now because of things like Cobra Kai and the UFC becoming so popular. But not everyone comes in with a healthy, learning mindset, and that happens a lot more when the *unhealthy* mindset is advertised and encouraged on screen instead of challenged. My uncle has kicked students out before because it was easy to tell that all they wanted to do was beat people up and try to mimic their favorite MMA stars. I think Stingray is genuinely the perfect caricature of that phenomenon irl and the writers really cooked when they wrote him, because there really are people who act like that, who want to learn martial arts to feel "cool" and "powerful" for all the wrong reasons.

And I think, from the standpoint of the writing itself, it's a detriment and unfair to Johnny's character that even after all this time, he still hasn't unlearned this mindset and is actively advocating for it when the whole point over the course of this show was supposed to be showing that this is a horrible and unhealthy mindset; it's clear they regressed him to that again just to put him into conflict with Daniel once more and sow more dissent into the group again and give Tory a reason to walk out. In a martial arts setting, you should never take out your anger on another person, and a sensei especially should never allow or advocate for that to happen. I don't care if this is just a show, this is such a stupid argument to make from a writer's perspective and also potentially harmful for any impressionable dumbasses who think they can just go learn martial arts so they can enact their violent fantasies on others as an anger outlet. Mutual trust is such an important thing to have with anyone you spar, and these people join with the intent to purposefully abuse that trust so they can feel like they're a bunch of tough guys. Focus is such an important aspect in martial arts training and discipline, too, and if your head is clouded (especially by that much anger) you are more likely to not only hurt your sparring partner / opponent but also yourself. Allowing that would have been pure negligence and unhealthy for those students in more ways than one.

Because what would have happened if they let Tory fight Sam like that? Nothing good. It wouldn't have helped her. It wouldn't have made her feel better. Her mom fucking died. That much grief and anger and sadness is not something you can just punch away. Sure, if you're angry and you show up to class upset, you can take it to the bag and let out some steam, but that is NOT the same thing as directing that towards another person. She would have hurt Sam. (She was already hurting Sam and they were barely into the match!) Worst case scenario, she could have potentially *killed* Sam. Do you know how easy it is to critically injure or even kill someone by accident? You could put out an eye, break a jaw, give them a concussion, hell you could even get brain damage from something like getting choked out for too long. This is why you train for *safety* first, and everything else is secondary. That's always been my problem with how much shit gets allowed in the show. And I don't mean Johnny's silly OSHA violations. Like, it's goofy, it's funny to see on television, I don't mind *that*, but after so many seasons it's kind of a nuisance to see when it gets taken THIS far, beyond the jokes and funny scenarios and into something serious where the same mindset carries over.

Ultimately, from the standpoint of what actually would have been the right thing to do in that situation, this is not a "different perspectives" thing. There is *no* argument to make here, and the writers trying to pull the same "well they both have a point" bullshit again is wrong, because no they fucking don't, and I'm tired of this being the basis of every single conflict between Johnny and Daniel in the series. Sometimes things ARE just black and white. And also, purely from the perspective of Tory's character development and arc? She doesn't need yet another person telling her to hold on to her anger and center her karate around those emotions. She needs someone to show her that it's okay to let it go.

#ck critical tw #⚡ ooc. ── ❝ 𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪. ❞#it's been months and I can't stop thinking about it so I have to do my little rant actually bc I'm just?????#that was one of my least favorite scenes they've ever put in this show. one of the most frustrating to me for sure.#and a big part of why I'm so worried about where they're going with tory's arc if THIS is the mindset the writers are advocating for #this is not johnny hate btw I love him but I do hate how the writers handle him sometimes #it feels like they are just too scared to let him grow beyond himself sometimes because they are afraid they'll ruin appeal to #a very particular demographic that tends to dominate the viewership #who WANT to live out their alpha male fantasies by projecting onto johnny #the writers cater to that demo way too fucking much #and it's made so much worse by the fact that his character is so clearly ready to grow past that shit #but they only let him do it when they can write it as something 'funny' or 'badass' and never let him actually show vulnerability #'johnny wanting to be a better dad so he practices on a pack of beer' is their idea of character growth for him and that's so???#it's frustrating beyond belief. he deserves better writing.

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alittlebitofeverything89 · 5 months ago

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Hi!!!!

tell me about THE characters!!!

or the plot of your favorite book!!!

I am going to talk about a favourite author of mine and both of her books I truly love—that is Bella Mackie. She has three books out two fiction and one nonfiction about her relationship with running titled ‘Jog On’.

Also, I am not going to spoil anything for you. Giving you the plots so, you can decide for yourself if you want to read them yourself. 😉

=======================

1) Her first fiction book ‘How to Kill Your Family’ is about Grace who is the main character in this book who find herself in jail for a murder she didn’t commit—however, she actually did kill her family. She killed her family in revenge for her real life father: Simon Artemis. Simon is from a family with money, he is a womanizer. Grace plans to kill his family members before she ends up killing him. She starts off with his parents, then his son, then his daughter, his brother—and then gets thrown in jail before she can kill Simon. Grace kills her family in various different ways: from skin cream, locking someone in a bathroom, and a sex club. These are memorable death scenes! The ending is wild. There is a plot twist that will make you speechless.

Little warning with ‘How to Kill Your Family’ is that the chapters are long. I am not sure where you stand on long chapters. I personally did not mind them.

2) Bella’s second fictional book is called ‘What a Way to Go’ this is where we follow Anthony on the night he dies and then his experience in the afterlife. Well, one issue is he has to figure out how he dies before going to the afterlife. Bella’s interruption of the afterlife is very interesting and a fun one. I have never seen anything like that before. Anthony does spend all his time watching his family through a television or a computer screen to help pick up the pieces of how he died in real time. He can’t go back and watch how he died—the memory is erased from his mind, hence having to figure out how he died to get to the afterlife.

We see Anthony watch his wife Olivia and his four children Jemima, Freddy, Lyra, and Clara live without him. With Anthony we see how much the family thought about him. How spoiled they actually are—especially, when the will comes along. Who really genuinely misses him. By the end of the novel Anthony will win you over more than the other family members. Again, another memorable ending that is wild too!

There is another character called the Sleuth they are a True Crime buff. They believe that Anthony was murdered. They want to solve the mystery before the police do. This is Bella’s interpretation of the True Crime community; about what lengths they jump through to “solve” a mystery or “help” to “solve” a mystery. How dangerous it can be and how much overstepping boundaries can go down. To make a valid point of is it really worth doing True Crime stuff to get famous and popular?

‘What a Way to Go’ has shorter and quicker chapters than ‘How to Kill Your Family’ does. When reading ‘What a Way to Go’ you will fly through it. It ended too abruptly for me! There is so much more Bella could have added in. I want to know what happens to two certain characters—I hope she does an extra few chapters or so for a special edition release so some of us can get closure on these two characters.

=======================

I know you said favourite book—but I did two by a favourite author of mine. I hope you are okay with that. I do hope you might check out her books as well too.

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panfluidme · 2 years ago

Text

Purple's Second Chance

Master Post, Chapter Eight

CHAPTER NINE: HAMATO SPIRITS

Donnie was devastated when he learned that Shelldon had been destroyed shortly after his future self's death. No one knew how to rebuild him because of how complex his AI had become.

If anyone could rebuild him, it was Donnie. He decided to get to work on that soon after he learned that Shelldon was gone. He needed something more to remind him of home.

"Uncle Tello?"

"Hello, Casey," Donnie greeted as he fired up his computer to start programming Shelldon's AI.

"What are you doing?"

"Rebuilding Shelldon. Master Michelangelo told me that he died during a raid of a Kraang base. So I thought that I could remake him to help fix things around here."

"Shelldon?" Casey stood next to Donnie, looking at the screen. "I haven't heard that name in a while. Why are you making him?"

"As I just said, to help fix things around here. I'm only one person and many people need my help."

"Oh." Casey nodded. "You promised me before you died you'd teach me how to program."

"Would you like me to do that now?"

"Please."

Donnie grinned, excited that someone was taking a genuine interest in his hobbies. "Of course, C-Double J."

—

"Leo!" Master Michelangelo shouted as he ran into Sensei Leonardo's room. "Raph wants to talk to you."

Sensei Leonardo's head shot up. "Is Donnie with him?"

Master Michelangelo nodded. "Come on. They said it's important."

The two quickly made their way to Master Michelangelo's room, where the spirts of Major Raphael and Doctor Donatello waited. Sensei Leonardo's heart soar when he saw the two.

"Raph! Donald!"

"Leo, I told you to stop calling me that," Doctor Donatello's voice was echoey. "But Raph and I have something very important to tell you and Mikey."

"What is it?"

Raph frowned lightly. "We've learned about the past version of Donnie. We're worried if he stays here much longer, the past versions of ourselves will start doing brash things to get him back."

"And then accidentally destroy their world. Don't worry, this time will still go on. Him coming here created a new time-branch that cannot be destroyed. But they'll make a new, worse world in which they destroy most of it and the Kraang destroy the rest," Doctor Donatello finished.

"How long until do you think that will happen?" Sensei asked.

"Each month for them is a year for us, so you two have a couple of years to figure it out. I'd give it four months for them."

"That would have been after the Kraang arrived. He's from three months before their attack," Master Michelangelo pointed out.

"I see." Doctor Donatello looked at Major Raph and sighed. "I would suggest to use Shelldon somehow."

"Shelldon's dead."

"He is?"

Sensei nodded. "He died about a year after you did."

"I see." Doctor Donatello sighed. "Perhaps the past version of me can help you and rebuild him. I can't do much from here."

"Does dad or Gram-Gram have any ideas?"

"Gram-Gram said there is a way for people to travel back in time with their mystical powers, but it will completely destroy their body. So I highly suggest to use it as a last resort."

Sensei Leonardo nodded. "Of course. Last resort." He thought then sighed and looked at Master Michelangelo. "If we do send Donnie back like that, I think we need to send Casey back with him. He deserves a better life."

Michelangelo nodded. "He does."

Chapter Ten

#purple's second chance #rottmnt au #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt #rottmnt leo #rottmnt casey jones #rottmnt angst #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt raph #kraang

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voxiiferous · 2 years ago

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🌊🌊🌊

Send me a “🌊” and I’ll put my muses playlist on shuffle and do a deep dive on why I like that song for them. | @nebula-gaster

Right then! I haven't done anything like this since last semester, and even then analyzing poetry in general is not quite the same as music to a character, but same basic concept, but no one's marking me on this, and I don't need MLA so this is automatically better!

In This Scene You're Just An Extra - Search the City

So unlike some some on Vox' playlist, the music, sound wise, doesn't fit him the best. It's neither vintage nor hyper-modern synths and processed beyond belied. But lyrically-- starting with verse 1. you get this glimpse into what's going on in his mind. Line 1, "The hard times are getting harder" is so good for where he is at this point in his life. His relationship is falling apart, and he's not happy. He is actively depressed, but in the same way that the line doesn't directly say that, neither has he. Things are bad, but he's in Hell, the hard times are a given, but they have recently gotten worse.

And then you have, skipping line two:

You wonder, would it kill me to call? I've already made you too many promises I never meant to keep But that's just a side of me I wish you never had to see

The entire song, at this point, reads like a conversation to someone, and while that is presumably the singers (former) romantic partner, they remain nameless. For Vox, the same can be said. He is talking, always talking, but he never says anything. He tells Val whatever he wants to hear to preserve their relationship, a concept that gets repeated twice in the chorus refrains, through the direct use of "'cause you've made a liar out of me". In addition to Val, he lies to himself, and the song could be something where the nameless audience is not, in fact, another person at all.

Vox uses his own persona as a shield, to make sure no one ever gets close enough, or the side of him he wishes no one would ever see. He's the Overlord, he's on top of the world, whether or not that's true.

Now into the pre-chorus, it's only two lines, "I took a shot in the dark, but I came up short / And I swear to God this time it's gonna hurt", which can sort of be split into two major parts of his life. The first line is his death, it's the attempt to blackmail, quite literally a deal made in the dark, and it gets him killed, he comes up short. The second half, you get something you see in his mind repeatedly. There is a promise to that higher figure, which, whether or not he believes in God, is sort of resigned and accepting, this isn't a shocking turn of events. And then his screen is broken again and the whole thing starts all over again.

I'm going to skip over the chorus mostly, straight to verse two, which is the real part that cinches this song for Vox. The first two lines, "I watch my shadow stretch from my feet / Like the way we stretch the truth" is a fun motif for the man, who isn't just in media, but is media. He no longer recognizes his shadow in the same way. The shadow here, is disconnected from the natural process of light and shade, like it has a mind of its own, and its drawing away from Vox. Who he was as a human, and what he is now are increasingly distinct creatures who are harder to reconcile with one another. And then for the lies, or the stretched truth, then that follows the same path as the shadow. As he stretches, so too does what he say. That could be the personal things he says, or posts online, but it's also the media he shows. Everything gets cherrypciked to make make a good story, nothing can be fully genuine.

The song is an admission of falsehood, not itself, of what the singer really wants. The brideg outright states this, "This isn't my confession But I'm coming clean I knew it was just a matter of time before this all would catch up with me" The singer knows that he hasn't admitted to anything, but that what has been said and the consequences are no longer a far off thing. The closest thing you get to that is the second half of verse 2.

I wish I could play the victim for you I just needed room to breathe My world collapsed on me And I miss screaming off rooftops in New York City

the implication is that there was never enough time to just stop and consider what's happened and the choices he is making. In Vox's case, this is the cross-over between death and where he is now. In life, aside from actually being from New York, he had an outlet: he danced, he read, he was, until the end, fairly happy, he knew where he stood in the world. And then he was dead, and within a month he was Overlord, and whatever outlets he had got packed away, and never returned to or replaced with something. There was no time to breathe, and in his relationship, he can't play victim, he won't accept he is one, so you're just left with this cyclical habit.

The specification of "I miss screaming off rooftops in New York City" implies that the singer is no longer in New York, and that it was that geographically separation that plays a role, which also stands true here.

Even in the 'confessional' song, very little gets confessed, and while the singer states how a liar has been made of him, there's no indication that he has taken steps to move beyond that, to something more truthful either. This period of truthfulness and ability to decompress is in the past, and the present is something that will hurt.

Next two are under the cut.

American Idiot (1940s wartime cover) - Robyn Adele Anderson

The fact that it's a cover is actually important here, because the sound is super relevant. The original song, by Green Day, was intended as a commentary of the US following 9/11, and it has that evident in the sound, it's the rock-emo genre, and it sounds it. The musicians are unhappy, and it's they're calling out the system from outside the conformity.

The cover however, is set composed as a 1940s jazz tune. This is important for two reasons: the first is that it's contemporary to Vox. He was alive during this point of history, he danced to this, this is the music that characterized him. The second fact is that while the original version of the song feels angry, this one doesn't, it sounds bouncy and happy, very 1940s and 50s conformity-- something that characterizes the post-war period, and something that the Beats, probably the most well known counter-cultural move of the times, was raging against.

For Vox, the disconnect is vital. He was the voice on the TV, he said what the government and the network wanted him to say, on the surface, he conforms to what is mainstream, it's only when you actually look beneath surface appearances that you see the truth of it.

Moving into the lyrics themselves, buckle in, this might be a long one.

Jumping into the first verse, the second line is "Don't want a nation under the new media", and for Vox, at the time, this new medium would have been television. It hadn't yet made the swap from old to new, and radio was still more popular, but it was starting to go that way. The war was over, television was starting to unite the country as America, because TV was really important in creating that sense of national unity, because it was broadcast all over, and in tandem.

The next line is "And can you hear the sound of hysteria?"-- sure, world war two is over, but it goes from that into the Cold War, and specifically McCarthyism. If in 2004, when the song was originally released, this would have been more aimed at the widespread fear of Islam and the War on Terror, here it would be the communists... and also the gays. Everyone could be a communist, and gays were reportedly especially susceptible to be taken in by it-- more information on that can be found if you research the Lavender Scare.

The chorus kicks off with "Welcome to a new kind of tension", and that's accurate for the 1950s! Sure, the threat of fascism had been defeated, but now there was a new threat, and the fear of nuclear annihilation. The Atom Age was two-fold in that it both felt like a new start, anything and everything was possible, America was at it's best in the, 'good old days', but also that it is undercut by this sense of fear and paranoia and things nobody talked about, like the rampant drug problems among housewives.

The line "All across the alienation" is interesting because when listened to, it could be that or "alien nation", both of which continue to work. Vox felt alienated from the people around him, very aware that if anyone were to find out he were gay, there could be major consequences, and then later on, it was the effects of that, like the lack of wife, that denied him his promotion because he didn't fit the image of a unified, conformist America. And in terms of the idea of "alien nation", it's both the fact that America isn't composed entirely of the middle-upper class straight white people that the image likes to appeal to. A not insignificant of people born there would be aliens to the mainstream, and for any immigrants that would only be more obvious. To them, the world is one "Where everything isn't meant to be okay".

Continuing with that point, you have "In television dreams of tomorrow", which for the man in the television, he is both the person helping shape the American public, but also it is the television that is directly his future, and why he does what he does. There is, to him, no where else to go. You get the sense in the Buggles Song of how the age of video made radio obsolete, and what you get here is sort of the start to that. TV isn't yet the big thing it will become, but society can see where it is starting to go that way.

At the same time, going back to the point before last, , those people whoa are alienated from the mainstream, are "not the ones who're meant to follow", because it is not aimed at them, and yet, they are expected to try and assimilate and blend in with the idea of the white picket fences. Vox, despite being the person on screen, identifies more with this, though he very much exists on that line, in which of he were to be himself, there would be immense consequences, but nor does he disregard who he is entirely in favour of what the world wants from him.

The cover replaces the original line with "Oh, maybe I'm the outcast America" which I like, because it's both more inclusive and there were oh so many people that the time was less than approving of, but also because outcast can both be the state of being, and the action, and the use of 'maybe', is so accurate for Vox, in which yes, he does identify with the plight, but he's not open. He makes the choice to hide who he is, and to follow the line, so he is Schrodinger's outcast, always on the edge of toppling.

There is a bitterness inherent in the last two lines, which are "Now everybody, do the propaganda / And sing along to the age of paranoia". This ties together the song's themes of the new media as something all consuming and controlling, and the themes of conformity, but with the awareness that what is being said is not true. People associate propaganda with either things from other, enemy countries that people are fools for falling for, or the sort of patriotic "join the war effort" posters you saw a lot of. It's both calling on the public audience to follow and obey, but also to question.

The bridge continues this

Don't wanna be an American idiot One nation controlled by the media Information age of hysteria It's calling out to idiot America

While it still works for Vox while he was alive, I almost like it more with how it transitions to him in death. He peddles in information-- have you searched for something on Voogle, have you said anything at all? He's captured to monetize it-- and in Hell, Pentagram City is getting counted as "one nation" which is however many countries and industries Vox may control, it all comes back to the TV, and to what is seen on screen. In comparison to the rest of the song, the singer says how they "Don't wanna be an American idiot", and for Vox, he isn't. He is the man in his high tower, selling everything to anyone willing to buy, he capitalizes on "calling out to idiot America", and is no longer part of the outcasts, but placed himself above it.

The final line of the song, and the chorus is "For that's enough to argue", which feels almost unfinished, the story continues, the media doesn't die. For Vox, if he argued or showed signs of dissent in life, he would have jeopardized his position and now, in death, he has become the very thing thing that is controlling the media, rather than just a mouthpiece for it.

Gasoline - Halsey

The joy of shuffle is that it means you can go straight from the treatise on the on the 1940s and 50s conformity to the exact other end of the spectrum, back to the internal and personal.

The sound of this one is much more in line with current, modern Vox. It has a processed, almost mechanical sound to it, especially during the chorus, where there is an almost static sound underlaying it. There are no incredible high or low notes, but within a neat letterboxed area, almost... mechanical. Now to the lyrics!

Are you insane like me? Been in pain like me? Bought a hundred dollar bottle of champagne like me? Just to pour that motherfucker down the drain like me? Would you use your water bill to dry the stain like me?

Here, we see the waste of wealth-- these actions are not happy, but nor are they defined by a sense of tragic consequence. Vox has likely done this exact thing if he bought something for Val, and then they break up before it gets used. He can't eat, and yet he has food, he keeps people fed because it keeps them quiet long enough to listen to him, and he's not afraid of what price that takes.

In the second half of verse one, you get the line "do you tear yourself to entertain like me?" And for Vox this encapsulates a lot of how he feels as Overlord. He posts his broken screen on Voxtagram in order to control the narrative and make sure that Val can't. He hooked himself into the power grid, and is the face on every product. Nothing is honest, nothing is true, it's all airbrushed and tightly controlled, and you see that in his personal life. There are no hobbies, there is nothing personal in his house, it's just a blank slate. He is whatever he needs to be to protect his reputation and his empire, himself be damned. He has made his life into a performance as much as he himself is.

The last two lines, "Do the people whisper 'bout you on the train like me? / Saying that "you shouldn't waste your pretty face" like me?", cover a lot of why he lost those hobbies he held so dearly onto in life. No one wants to dance with the media overlord-- his fights with Alastor don't count. He doesn't deal directly with any hires until they reach the level below executive because only then do they tend to be disillusioned enough to speak to him like a person, rather than a star or a monster. Some of them, like Hellaina, are more likely to call him an idiot to his face.

Vox is interesting, because he fits into the interesting question of how human he is now. The other sinners can eat and drink, just like anyone else. He can't. He doesn't breathe, he doesn't eat, he can't cry. Everything is a 2d approximation created by wires and steel. Some people take to their demonic forms easily, and some prefer them to what they had in life, Vox has a lot fo baggage with his, not limited to how inhuman it is. The chorus,

And all the people say "You can't wake up, this is not a dream You're part of a machine, you are not a human being With your face all made up, living on a screen Low on self-esteem, so you run on gasoline"

is fun because in his dreams, he is either in neon and behind the camera, working even when he's not awake, or black and white, where he's still human. Someone like Adelard barely remembers what he should have looked like, but for Vox, he is so indelibly tied to his own appearance: in life he taught himself how to seem charming and at ease in his own skin, and he could never outrun his face on screen, always scrutinizing every smile and step. In Hell, he has no face, only the projection of one, he is quite literally, "living on a screen". He could turn the display off, but he doesn't like to do that because it feels like his only way to really express himself. He can control each stray grimace, and stray spike in brightness.

Beyond that, while he's an egotist, a lot of that comes from position. As previously mentioned, he wired himself into his empire, which gives him a major power boost, but it also is another step away from humanity. Like in life, he straddles a line between two opposites, except here it's organic and inorganic. He still needs sleep, he still gets caught up in his own thoughts, and it makes him alien to a machine, too human, but not human enough to be that either. He runs on power and electricity, swapping out his screen when it gets broken to make sure no one every looks at him and think 'weakness'.

The post-chorus section, is where the singer talks about this contradiction, saying "I think there's a flaw in my code", which in this case, would be those more human aspects, like hopes and dreams and love that a true machine would not have, and yet, cannot be shaken either.

Like in the first song, with how he had no chance to breath, here the singer says how "These voices won't leave me alone", and for Vox, these take several forms: they are internal, things he tells himself, but also the court of public opinion, his fans, his detractors, the nameless people who leave comments on Voxtagram. And then there's the constant demand: release a new product, we want this, we want that, this choice was wrong, this choice was right. He can't win, and he can't please everyone. What he thought was boredom in the 1990s, and has perhaps developed into proper burnout. "Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold", he has the right intentions, but he's tired. His hands are cold, he's inhuman, he's trying to appeal to whatever has the largest market whether or not he can partake.

The last actual verse, not counting the choral repetition, is as follows:

Are you deranged like me? Are you strange like me? Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me? Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me? Pointing fingers 'cause you'll never take the blame like me?

While not nearly as fitting as some of the other verses in the song, remains true. Vox plays with the electricity he has access to for show, for intimidation, to impress. He's "Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?", and electricity after all, has been referred to as cold fire. It goes through him, as much a part of the circuit, and he often times, makes conscious effort to keep it contained. He leans into the persona, and he leans into the glory of being an Overlord, and to work, to his rivalry with Alastor, because he's never just going to exist peacefully. The things he doesn't want to think about get put in the mental shelf of "I'll come back to this", and he never has, so it collects dust.

Vogitek keeps getting bigger, he gets more powerful, none of this is making him happy, he continues to live on this line of monstrosity because there is no where else for him to be in Hell.

#*personnel file (hc)#*cathode rays and rock and roll (vincent price)#*soundtrack (music)#nebulagaster #nebula gaster

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i-write-shakespeare-not-disney · 2 years ago

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🍦🛠🎯💞 🧠 (Class 1-A)🤩 ✅

What's the sweetest fic you've created so far? Ah. Y'know, I'm gonna go with To End Up With You, because that was all fluff and falling in love lol not much angst or relationship troubles as I tend to do.

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write? I used to use Word, then one horrible day, my laptop like. collapsed? It just went full on blank screen, wouldn't turn on at all and I went into a horrible panic because i had so many stories. Somehow it booted back up and I moved as much as I could into my email or a flashdrive, but I've lost a flashdrive with a story before, so.... I moved to google docs. Everything's there now. But that all I use, idk any other apps aha

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which? Oh, for sure. They guessed the True Love's Kiss of course. uhhh and I think some guessed when Lance started writing poetry again in lovesick. Oh and someone guessed how Ozai died in Teaching a Heart. That one's cool because I haven't actually finished that one yet.... (I will, I swear I will, and I have a friend who is helping me make sure I do!!!!)

💞 Who's your comfort character? At the moment, it's Rody. And then by extension, Izuku because the way he treats Rody is what I imagine he would do for me? Just because I really resonate with Rody y'know

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. Ahhh, all of class A will take a while ahahaha but, okay some of the ones I can think of are-

I think they have themed movie nights

I have a headcannon that Sero has dated most of the class, but not in that messy kind of way, just like. Over the years, he's dated someone for some amount of time- whether to just see how it'd go, one date, kissing practice, or a genuine relationship of a couple months or longer. But if it ends, it ends amicably <3 Sero has a lot of love and affection in his heart. My best friends and I call him the "sentimental slut" or "wholesome whore" aksdjfkajdf in a nice way i swear

People do fall out of touch after highschool, but i like to imagine that no matter where they go, class 1A takes the time to reunite because... you don't go through all these near-death experiences and wars without... becoming family I guess? Like how do you just leave behind someone who fought at your side when the best of the best were hanging up their (figurative) capes?

They go to therapy. good god let them go to therapy

and my biggest headcanon that I might make a fic about: Izuku funds, creates, and runs a home for orphaned, abused, and unwanted children where they are taken in and helped with their quirks, however scary or "ugly," taught, and taken care of. I think that Izuku has seen what a bad upbringing could do to people enough times. Shiggy, Dabi, Toga. He saw how Rody and his siblings had to grow up. I don't think Izuku could handle just sitting back and letting kids with "bad " quirks or kids without someone to look after them or kids being hurt just keep being mistreated. He would want to be that outstretched hand, that listening ear. And I think he'd open up homes like that all over the world as he got older. Definitely think that Shoto helps with funding. And Rody and his siblings help run them. I really wanna write this one akjfka🤩 Who is your favorite character to write? ohhhh that ones hard (idk why the formatting changed, sorry) I've been writing in Deku's a lot, but I really resonate with bakugo's and rody's tbh.

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to? oh. hahah I tend to do a lot of "not officially dating, but basically dating, then that break up thats not really a break up, then getting together for real" also lots of nuzzling into necks.... OH! Also, there's a woman who always appears someone? Like the vibe. This sort of protective but no bullshit, tall, plump woman with a large presence. In Teaching a Heart, it's Madame Jun and in Princes and Pickpockets it's Miss Amelia. Like. they are the same woman. and idk why or who I'm even basing her on, but she likes to show up akljfka

Thank you so much for your questions!!! I loved answering them <3

#ask phoenix

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anthonysstupiddailyblog · 2 years ago

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Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (413): Thu 4th May 2023

I had Luna this morning and she got a good laugh out of repeatedly grabbing hold of the bottom of the sleeping bag I was wearing and dragging me off the sofa. I really hope that she's nearing the end of this phase where the thing she seems to find funniest in the world is me being in pain. I'm worried she's going to turn into the next Bam Margera and start getting her kicks from beating the shit out of me. Normally she want's to watch some stupid YouTube brat called A For Adalay but today I got a reprieve in the form of some stupid South Korean cartoon about two larvae that she wanted to watch for some reason. While she was watching this I booked myself a ticket to see the new Evil Dead Rising movie later on in the day. I still can't believe that I had never seen any of the original Evil Dead movies until this year. I've really been missing out and I think the first one might actually be the scariest film I've ever seen. I had a ticket for an 8:30 PM showing of the film but since I've got my trusty motorbike back I got there a little early. I popped into the casino to kill some time before the film started. I stuck £10 in the roulette machine and started putting bets on red / black for £2.50 a go. I started to win but eventually found myself back at £10 cashed out as it was nearly movie time. Just as I was about to leave I remembered that I still had five pound coins in my bike trousers from when I paid that dickhead taxi driver the other day, decided to live a little and put it on 00. I watched in disbelief as the ball actually landed on 00 and I made a tiny profit of £180!! The only people more surprised than me where the two Chinese gentlemen sat next to me who started loudly pointing at the table and then at me as they exchanged words with each other that I actually couldn't understand but I'm guessing translated to "He just won £180 that lucky Jack the Ripper-looking bastard!". I left the casino absolutely fucking elated that I had just made more money than I would have made doing a days overtime and that the amount I had made had just covered the cost of my KISS ticket and my motorbike repair! I popped over to the movie theatre and remembered that since my diet doesn't start until tomorrow I could treat myself to some beautiful caramel flavoured popcorn (Hell with the cash I was carrying I could have bought the cinema's entire supply). There were only about a dozen other moviegoers in the screening room with me. I really can't remember the last time I went to see a movie where the theatre was actually packed with punters (I think it might have been the Adam Sandler film Bedtime Stories) but I'm not complaining because there's nothing I hate more than people. The movie was...okay I guess. Pretty much the same story as the first one except this time relocated to an apartment building instead of a log cabin. There were a surprisingly low amount of scares in the movie, even the jump scares didn't get that much of a reaction out of me. I genuinely thought about leaving half way through the movie because it just wasn't doing anything for my but I decided to stay and I'm glad I did because the rest of the movie was actually pretty goo. As with the original this film is very gory and surprisingly even though the protagonists are children not all of them make it out of this film alive which is unusual for a horror movie. The one thing I don't understand about horror movies about groups of friends being attacked in isolated places is what do the survivors tell the police at the end of these movies? The cops would have gone to the apartment after the events of the movie and seen that it was a bloodbath so I would assume that they would ask the survivors what happened and they would have to come up with something more concrete than "an evil book caused my family to get possessed and try to kill me so I had to woodchip them to death".

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spider-jaysart · 1 year ago

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@an-android-child

Hmmmm, there usually isn't always that much interactions between Bruce and Starfire I'm pretty sure, but there are times in canon where it's brought up how he thinks about her when it comes to the fact of her being Dick's girlfriend

Here are the ones I could find:

These two above have him thinking negatively about her, especially because he's shown to be a DickBabs shipper just like in that first example (that second one though is just only showing two different points of views through Tim's thoughts and him speaking about what Bruce himself thinks at the same time, so it's not actual trashing on her since they are saying that she is the complete opposite of whatever bad thing he thinks about her, but it is still a little annoying), but that's honestly just because most of the writers at DC comics are ALSO big time DickBabs shippers who also hate Starfire too for very dumb reasons, so that's really the reason for why they make him react towards her this way as well🙄, not letting him have more of his own opinions, because they're giving him their own mindset to use instead just to make their actual fave ship look better that way

And this is so bad because DickBabs is actually so toxic in canon, because Barbara treats Dick pretty bad as a girlfriend and always puts him down and throws her anger at him whenever she's upset about something, even the stupid smallest things!!! So with that, it's like what the heck is wrong with you Bruce??? Why would you want your Son with someone like that who's obviously a bad choice, but act like something is actually wrong with Starfire when there really isn't???? It just makes no sense, so it's stupid🤦‍♀️

This just makes Bruce seem like those annoying Mom's in movies where they keep trying to bring up or shove their child's ex in their face whenever they can just because they dislike the current partner for super silly reasons, even though their child and their current partner are obviously very happy with eachother and have a much healthier relationship than the one that was had with the ex in the past

Now for this one below, this I like a lot more better than those other two:

This is from the og comic series "Teen Titans go!" that was made for the og Teen Titans 2003 cartoon show. It was made to tell extra stories that weren't brought up on tv as episodes and other ones that just couldn't be told on screen anymore either, due to the show having to end after it's five running seasons. This book's issue is called "Teen Titans go!" #47 (came out in Sep 26 2007) and the title of the story in it is specifically called "Regarding Robin", which is about Dick having to deal with the anniversary of his parents death. That cartoon related to this comic series actually had respect and care for Starfire whenever it came to her character, unlike the main DC universe's comic writers most times, so they never try to trash on her and also never had to ever make her look better than Barbara either just to make her become more liked by fans and also make Robstar work in their favor too lol, because they knew how to do it pretty well on their own without needing her at all to assist in that kind of petty way

And because of this, Bruce here is actually shown to have a very different reaction than his comic book counterpart's usual ones, which is him being genuinely happy to see his child in a relationship with someone who is treating him well, especially when he can't be there to, like right here in this moment where Dick is mourning his parents, but Starfire is thankfully there to comfort him in this time of hurt

So it's a very wholesome moment where he's not being hateful for selfish reasons, instead of being like "Oh my gossssh, why isn't he with Barbara???? I'm a Dickbabs stan!!! THis MaKES Me UPSET!!!! BARBARA'S PERECT BECAUSE SHE'S A BAT!!!! I HATE ALIENS!!!"

And I love that very much a whole lot. And besides this wonderful example, a little thing about how I always see things going is that sure Bruce would probably need time to get used to Starfire at first while getting to know her and would also wonder what are her intentions with Dick at first, feeling a little suspicious like any good parent would during those times, thinking like, "is she good for him? How much can she be trusted? Will she always treat him well like I hope? Is she really the type of nice person that she seems to be? Is she truly right for him? Does she really love and care about my Son or is that false?"

So he definitely doesn't become super close with her right away or start idolizing her in his head instantly like "Oh, yes. I'm sure she's very great like I hear!", but after some time of seeing for himself how things work out between Dick and Star in their relationship, he finally warms up to her much more better because he can clearly see that she indeed does makes his Son very happy and fills him with so much joy, and that is all that mostly matters when it comes to his children dating someone, just like how he expresses in the last panel above

But anyways, these are all the examples that I had found. Sorry if it felt like it became too much of a rant about DickBabs on some parts though lol😅, but that was only because I was just trying to explain my points about things here with the panels. But I do hope that all of these were helpful for you though!

Hi! Do you know in what issue Kory shows up in wayne manor?

@an-android-child

Oh I'm not so very sure honestly😅 I think it's actually very rare to see her ever visit or hang out there in canon, because I've never seen it happen before, but I could possibly be wrong though!

But after some looking, I did find this very old panel from the comic "The New Teen Titans" #33 (July 1983) where she's looking for Dick and shows up at the Manor's door

If this wasn't it though, then sorry about that, because that was all I could get, unless this is the one you were actually looking for. If I ever find any other one sepereate from this, then I'll be sure to update about it here

If anyone else who sees this post knows another comic where she does visit again though, pls let us know! :)

#starfire #koriand'r #dick grayson #dickkory #robstar #bruce wayne #teen titans

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