#getting a real sense of what things may come up in the next film

[chloesimaginationthings]

Mike can’t handle Abby in the next FNAF movie..

[poisonous-lemonade]

hii, are you accepting requests right now? (if not, feel free to just ignore this😅)

I love the reactions you wrote for the obey me cast with child!mc!!

so I had this idea that the cast and mc don't have contact with each other after mc goes back to the human world (for whatever reason)

But when mc is like 20 they get teleported again to the devildom, so they see each other for the first time in years and mc is all grown up now, how would the brothers react to that?

A/N: AH- that's so cute 💛 Pt 2 will be out soon!

All Grown Up

MC tugged on Diavolo's hand, Barbatos by their side as they walked together to the portal, ready to send the young human back to the human realm. The brother awaits there, Mammon and Asmo on the verge of tears. Satan patting Asmo's back without much interest. Belphie, was more awake than usual when compared to the tall giant that was his twin, Beel, with dark circles under his eyes. Levi stuck next to Lucifer, rubbing his tears away before they get the chance to spill and Lucifer stood tall, his pride and loyalty holding him back from just stopping this entire thing.

"Do I have to go?" Mc asked, it had only been a year but that year spent with Mc was the best of the brothers' life, they got to have a younger sibling again, well, for some it was definitely a new experience.

Mc had spent their 6th birthday there, it was the best one they had ever had, even if the human competition was no match for Devildom celebration or festivities.

"I am deeply sorry, but you do, you may come back when you are older, yes?" Nodded Diavolo, bending down to the small child's height, fixing the small paper crown he had placed on their head. "Remember, we will always be here for you." Mc nodded her head at his kind words, although she did not understand them fully.

They understood that they had their pact marks and the protection of the Seven Brothers and the Royals of Devildom as well as high-ranking angels and an immortal sorcerer but they couldn't quite grasp it all.

"Will, will I see you all again?" Asked the small child, sending the emotional brothers into a crying fit, bawling into their jackets, their sleeves and (in Beel and Belphie's case) each other.

"Of course, you will, my dear, one day, I promise," Lucifer spoke, patting Mammon's back gently. "One day you will be older, and one day, we will see you again. I swear on it."

Mc was grown, plagued with memories of this place called 'Devildom', some imaginary place she had probably made up when their parent made them watch some biblical film, although they cannot remember it.

Not only were they plagued with memories, but they were also plagued with visions, one's that made almost zero sense until the right moment.

One time they could've sworn they saw a peacock in their room before a big speech, little did they know, but they were fueled with confidence when they were sent in front of the classroom which suddenly seemed so small, so hard to breathe, and yet they did it. They didn't get a high mark on the speech, but even they impressed themselves with that random boost of pride.

A couple weeks before, they saw an odd amount of crows outside their window, they then decided they would feed them like any 8-year-old would, oddly enough, the number was an even 12, even more odd was when 12 seemed to be their lucky number, they found 12 bills, 12 coins, 12 shiny rocks, 12 everything, it was strange to them but they was so grateful, they couldn't help but feel lucky.

But then a couple of months ago Mc had the strange feeling of being watched, like something in the shadows of their closet and the shadow of under the bed, but it felt warm and safe until they learnt it was a snake, then they were really scared, still, as her parents took it outside, she could’ve sworn things were missing from her, what an envious little snake.

Then after the peacock, Mc must've been imagining it because there was no way that there was a unicorn in their room, but their mane felt so real and soft and comforting, it even curled up on their lap like a cat as she read a story aloud, when it left however, just outside their window, it looked like a tornado had gone through it, it must've been a really angry unicorn.

Then almost immediately after, a scorpion was found in their mother's makeup box, its pinchers and stinger trying to put eye shadow on itself, it was almost funny if not terrifying, but MC couldn't just go up to their mother of the night, telling her that they stole her makeup box and that there was a scorpion in it, so they didn't, they just let it do its thing, it was almost loving to MC.

Then the next day a cow and bear appeared in their room, how did they even get in?! The bear was massive! Like it was so big it couldn't even make it through the window big and the cow was a cow! How did a cow get in with a big bear! The bear ate all of their food, they barely got a chance to taste it and the cow just slept on their lap. What a lazy and gluttonous duo.

A few years later, all those imaginary friends started to fade, the peacock's colour fading, the luck of crow stopping suddenly, and the snake came back, only for a moment, to give back her things, like they were always there. The unicorn rarely showed up but he always did when they were mad, he didn't anymore, and the weird scorpion suddenly disappeared one day, in front of their eyes. The bear and cow, who only slept and ate, stopped, they just sat around, not sleeping, not eating, not anything, before they just never showed up.

This was a great weight off MC's back, still, they couldn't feel like a part of them was suddenly missing, like a part of their life was suddenly gone.

But they were older now, they weren't going to let this get in the way of things. They were grown, an adult, a real adult, finally. They had high hopes for graduating this year, they might've been held back because of their 'disappearance' but this was their year.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Suddenly, like clockwork, they sat at their desk, the feathered pen in their hand, the golden rings on their fingers, and headphones wrapped around their neck, the floor began to cave in on itself, sending a spike of fear in MC before they jumped out of her chair, their heart beating fast, knocking over their skincare, the unicorn statue they kept around shattered, the cow and bear plushie tore apart from each other's arms, as the sinkhole grew, MC was frozen in place, their heart beating so fast that they could barely keep up with it as their room rumbled, they tried to stand up before falling back and into the black abyss.

"Welcome back, MC."

Pt 2 coming soon!

[amerricanartwork]

True Love Conquers All (Lilypad Essay cont.)

Ever since I realized the fairytale parallel was one of the main reasons I ship Lilypad, I've wanted to draw this, so here it is! Sig and Moon as Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora!

Actually, though, besides the drawing I'm also making this because I wanted to expand on that point from my Lilypad essay; there's still more I wanna gush about regarding the fairytale parallel!

I was too nervous to say it before, because it's derived largely from my personal tastes. However, I really wanna just write about my opinions on it now. Much of it's actually the feelings I've had about several ships before in various other fandoms, yet I've never really had the courage to express these feelings openly because I have yet to find even one person in any of these fandoms who feels the same way. However, I started thinking about it again, and I think it's about time I get it out somehow, at the very least to express these feelings in some tangible way so they don't stay bottled up forever. And maybe, just maybe, to find someone who likes these themes as much as I do!

Again, it's definitely very personal, so I don't mind if you completely disagree with all of it. But with that being said, if you want to read an additional 1,846 words on Lilypad fantasies, it's just below the cut!

To elaborate on why I love ships with fairytale parallels so much, it has to do with the poetic feeling stories like Sleeping Beauty seem to carry. I must preface that I don’t know the original fairytale, I’m pretty much entirely going off the 1959 animated Disney film, but even so I still love various themes within it and how they can be applied to other stories. Sleeping Beauty isn’t the only old Disney movie where I interpret these themes, or even the only animated story in general where these themes can be interpreted, but I think it’s overall the most similar to Lilypad specifically because of the whole “fair maiden dies and gets revived by the prince’s love” dynamic.

Something I’ve come to realize, especially upon developing a love for Rain World specifically, is that I adore stories about accepting one’s own nature and learning how to have it coexist with your personal goals rather than conflict with it. Sleeping Beauty has this not only through the eternal bond between Aurora and Phillip (I mean, “Once Upon a Dream” literally seems to be about how the singer will always love the person they fell for even if their love seemed too good to be true), but in the whole curse put on Aurora and the “true love conquers all” message. The conflict is all about how to ensure Aurora’s safety despite the impending doom of Maleficent’s curse on her, which is made more intense by how the curse can’t really be stopped, only lessened in severity. However, the inevitability of true love’s triumph over all obstacles, and really the inevitability of nature as a whole, is just so beautiful to me because it’s something so universal. As much as we may try to hide it, we humans are still animals, and still a part of nature as much as any other animal is, so the idea that forces as powerful and omnipresent as natural phenomenon could just as easily be on your side and working to help you reach your goals instead of trying to hurt you and keep you from them is very comforting specifically because of how powerful and inevitable these forces are. I mean, if forces like those can pose a seemingly impossible challenge when they seem to oppose your goals, what if they could also supply seemingly invincible support if you learned to work with them? Hence, why true love conquers all. It’s basically, “I can’t stop this thing, but maybe I don’t actually need to”. And the fact that both this and the next theme I’ll write about are present in stories which are, by this point, quite old, and can even be interpreted in newer and more recent stories just helps to further support their eternal, everlasting power by adding a sense of real-life timelessness to it all that I just find so beautiful!

Part of my love for stories like this actually comes from a specific natural force I freaking love and have been craving more of ever since I rewatched the old Disney movies and really begun to appreciate the poetic themes of them, and that force is the classic attraction between men and women. I’m not gonna get super into it now because I imagine I’ll have other chances to talk about this (again, Lilypad is far from the first ship I’ve derived this theme from, and I doubt it will be the last), but I’ll provide an intro of sorts to it here. If you’ve seen my full Lilypad essay you already know I’m a BIG fan of “inverses attract” ships, where the characters display opposite sides of the same base trait, conflict, or subject, and when they come together they help balance each other out in ways no one else can by offering each other the benefits unique to the other side of that subject. Well, simply put, if you ask me, what better example of this “inverses attract” dynamic exists in real life than the natural inverses of male and female, where the strong protectiveness and creative nurturing combine to literally create a family, from which all people come? The presence of the inverses attract dynamic is always nice to see in ships regardless of gender, but whether or not it occurs in this way specifically — that being whether or not it showcases the inverse characteristics of men and women and the positive potential when those forces combine as a team — is another major factor that, throughout my fandom experience so far, has determined which pairings I actively ship rather than just mildly smile at from time to time. (And on a side note, now that I have much more skill in art and feel more confident about my art, I figured it’s about time I start acting on that love more openly!)

So what in the WORLD does this all have to do with Lilypad?

Well, even disregarding how this very idea will basically be the major theme of my personal worm-off-the-string AU (I may elaborate on that more later because it’s just SO perfect for these particular characters and can even be interpreted in the base game to some degree), I think Lilypad, at least as I choose to imagine it, is the Rain World ship that best embodies this idea — that nature and instincts can actually help you once you simply stop fighting and accept them — more than any other in the fandom for a variety of reasons.

I’m actually going to start with how Looks to the Moon and No Significant Harassment, as strange as this may sound given who and what these characters are, actually do still display that feminine and masculine energy I love at least when I picture them, especially with Sig being confirmed as a “he” according to the wiki. It’s clear to me that Moon is very feminine (I mean, c’mon, her design in the CGs, how the moon is often associated with femininity and feminine things in real life, how she tries, even after her collapse, to connect with Five Pebbles and nurture their relationship in a very caring way, etc.), but I wanna elaborate on how part of the reason I love Sig as a character and the slag reset keys as a plot point so much is because it perfectly demonstrates that masculine protectiveness that happens in stories like Sleeping Beauty, where a man faces great trials all to rescue the fair maiden. Again, it may not have happened literally because Hunter had to deliver the slag keys, but the sentiment is the same if you ask me! And it’s always so nice to see because, again, he literally brought her back to life! How could it NOT be a sign of deep love and devotion that someone would go through so much trouble just to make sure you’re okay? 

It’s also great because I imagine the local group would have a tendency to not always take Sig seriously because he’s so careless about their purpose, so I’m sure the slag key stunt would also warrant a lot more respect for him from the other iterators. This is another thing I love seeing — both when the character everyone else overlooks finally uses their full power and their peers have to re-evaluate their impression of them, but specifically when men feel inspired to use their full power and skills to help the women they love! I love it because it demonstrates just how powerful and valuable femininity can be, shedding light on a more subtle kind of power, that being power through influence and aura rather than raw strength and stubbornness. Heck, I like to imagine wanting to protect Looks to the Moon and make sure she lasts as long as possible is a major reason why, in my AU, their physical interactions are when Sig and Moon finally begin to act on their love despite it having existed almost since Sig came online. Moon’s collapse would’ve shown both of them directly that she won’t be around forever, and if you ask Sig, someone as beautiful, kind, intelligent, noble, and all-around beloved as Looks to the Moon deserves to at least enjoy her life a little more before she fades (again), even if all the iterators falling apart is inevitable. But, coming back to what I said about nature, the inevitability of the eventual end is what makes the time they have left all the more precious!

And that’s the next part of Sleeping Beauty and fairytale-esque stories I see in Lilypad — there’s also the inevitability of this dynamic, which hits hard with Rain World iterators specifically because their whole purpose is fundamentally opposed to natural phenomena. Solving the Great Problem is, as far as I know, all about trying to escape the natural cycle of life, death, and reincarnation, and likely about escaping all natural cycles as a whole. And the iterators exist specifically to facilitate this rejection on a massive scale. So think about how poetic it would be that even they, seemingly so far detached, so far above these things, STILL fall in love and embrace these forces despite every attempt by the Ancients to prevent them from doing so! It’s made better by the fact that the iterators are machines and, even though they’re very much biomechanical ones (a big example of natural phenomena still manifesting in them despite their attempts to separate from it), one can argue they’re therefore somewhat detached from nature inherently, especially that bond between masculinity and femininity I discussed. So again, the fact it still finds a way to show up in them despite seemingly having much less reason to exist and the iterators themselves likely having much less desire to possess it just re-emphasizes how eternal it is. But once again, are they (and by extent, we the audience) sure that’s such a bad thing? 

Lilypad in an ideal scenario, to me, is of all the Rain World ships the strongest embodiment of “true love conquers all, and that’s not a bad thing after all!”

And it makes me more eager to develop my worm-off-the-string AU because I imagine that’s where their relationship really gets to flourish. Moon and Sig can finally enjoy that physical aspect of romance, and Moon in particular would, by that point, more confidently join him in rejecting the Ancients’ ascensionist philosophy. Not to mention how cute it would be to see them drawing parallels between their relationship and the love the Ancients used to feel for one another long ago, once again supporting true love as a truly timeless phenomenon. And it would branch off to not just embracing their romance that existed for so long but could never fully go anywhere, but learning to enjoy and partake in all the aspects of the world that were denied to them and that they were told to deny for who knows how long! And when it comes to not just for Sig and Moon, but the local group as a whole, what could be more poetic than that?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Man, a HUGE thank you to anyone who made it to the bottom of all this! To know that anyone bothered to at least consider what I have to say in this fandom is always nice, but with this in particular I greatly appreciate anyone who read it all! And again, PLEASE let me know if you agree with any of this, especially the parts about masculine-feminine teamwork. I'd love to know even one other person in one of my fandoms who's into that as well, and maybe even hear possible additions to it!

Regardless, I've gone on about this for so many words already. I hope you enjoyed the ideas, or at least the art! Thanks again for reading!

[absolutebl]

This week in BL - Gay Boy Turf Wars Galore!

Also, ALL the guest couples: TutorYim & MacNat showed up in Korea. Korea also reused the Love Class pair. And Wayne Song & Huang Chun Chih (H3:MODC) popped up AGAIN. (To be fair, when does Wayne not show up in a Taiwanese BL?)

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized by favs in each category. No numbered lists anymore, tumblr be buggn'.

Aug 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 7 of 8 - Plot reveals galore + all the penultimate tension we could want. (How many different kinds of smiles does Film have in his arsenal?) OMG I LOVE the unhinged idiot bloody tattooed ex bf - intro music and all. He is my precious psycho-bunny-snookums. Also Tinn, baby-boy, communicating about your honest feelings in a BL? What madness is this? I sense doom incoming. Smart Chan, always tell him he’s better in bed than your ex. The sides getting caught! Noooooo. I mean we knew it would happen but still noooooooo! 

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Sat YT) ep 2 of 12 - I like the surreal slip-stream dream-sequence openings. Is it a cerebral examination of temporal paradox or just designed to creep us out? The pace has picked up a bit and I'm delighted that external threat, stressors, and conflict are driving this plot. Refreshing. I love historicals - every touch and action can have such lingering significance, it’s very elegant. Thai BLs can often feel clumsy but not this one. I’m really enjoying it. 

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 2 of 12 - Sailom is great. I love a smartass who’s actually really smart, reminds me of Bai Luo Yin in Addicted. (The real Addicted.) Never a bad thing. Kang is nasty bit of business, I look forward to his redemption arc. I love his grandma. (BL is giving good grandma right now.) Nicely executed narrative twist into sympathy too: rich kid sees how rough life really is. The complexity of character depth needed for this script makes me so happy it's Perth & Chimon, they both have such expressive nuanced faces.

I do keep wanting to rewatch LBC tho. 

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 3 of 10 - It remains a blast. Boston is king of red flags, cutting down Ray because he is the easiest punching bag? Going after his friend's bf just to prove he can? No thank you. I know Ray is lovely when he’s soft but danger zone, Sand. Be careful upon entering a minefield, every little step forward may cause an explosion. I don’t think being master of snark is gonna help you avoid getting blown up.

Sand is the one I feel the worst for - bi guy strays into cesspit of gay toxicity. He ain’t gonna make it out alive.  

Hidden Agenda (Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 7 of 10 - The boyfriends date ep! Zo’s past explains a lot about his behavior. Flirty Zo is v dangerous to all our hearts. Nice kiss. Poor Joke. Meanwhile, the side couple gave good kiss too! However, why is Title playing the bad guy again? Did GMMTV bring him in just to be resident jerk face in all their BL? Makes me sad.

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 8 of 12 - This should be a 8 or 10 ep show, 12 is too many. I think I just don’t like the lead couple's character dynamic and personalities. (No shade on JaFirst.) Side couple went startlingly high heat allasudden. And while their sex scene was good, I wish Daddy and the Hot Doc were being given a lot more script, screen time, and character dev. Sigh. I guess I just wish they were the mains and the others were the sides.

Can't have everything, I suppose.  

Wedding Plan (Wed YT & iQIYI) ep 6 of 7 - Nuea is a saint and next week everything comes to a head (that didn’t already get head this episode). Trash watch here!

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 2 of 10 - The side couple is everything. They are so cute and my favorite trope. Plus hugs with neck kisses! I love big brother using his adorable boyfriend to try and help his annoying little brother’s business. It’s just perfect. Unfortunately, that annoying little brother, is too fucking annoying. I remain largely unable to watch the main story arc. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) 1 of 24 eps - Sampler pack BL, 12 pairs, each pair gets 2 eps, so this show will run all the way into 2024.

First installment is Casanova Begins. Dead boy wakes up in his enemy’s body, 2 years after his own death. Has to make things right with the boyfriend who thinks he was abandoned. Everyone has secrets. No one can be trusted. And the dead kid can never tell anyone who he really is. It’s … different? Unique take on the My Ghost Boyfriend trope.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 6 of 8 - Random moment of TutorYim. Hi cuties. Simon is my favorite, I love him and his flirty irreverent ways.

Who does he actually like?

Or is he just flirting with everyone?

Can he have a crush on anyone but himself?

He’s a house cat among the pigeons. Clearly wouldn't know what to do with the bird if he managed to catch it. Or would he?

The 4 boys dodging around each other and re-shuffling is so funny. I can’t tell you how delighted this show makes me. I do feel sorry for Lee Jun, he’s just the toy everyone wants to play with. I understand his frustration, do any of them really want him or is it all because the others are interested? Kiss! Yay! Good kiss! Even more yay! 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - Poor baby doesn’t think he’s good enough and is holding JC back. They are THE CUTEST BOYFRIENDS. It hurts. The sappy. 

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 13(?) - From screenwriter Lin Pei Yu (We Best Love, H3: Trapped) formerly known as Miracle, features a student doctor forced to take care of a gangster. I love the premise and like the writer. This one could be sad. Never forget Taiwan will go there.

Shall we get tucked in?

Gay boy turf wars! Main couple is cute. Sunshine gangster (turns out to be a sweetie who cooks) meets broken brilliant tsundere student who wants to be a doctor. Side couple is the leader of the gang and his rabid Pet. Also, all praise the guest couple de jour (baddies). Nice to see you 2... again. All actors are clearly having a blast with this script.

Triggers for knife play, child abuse, lingering trauma. 

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 5-6 of 10 - Aw guest couple from Love Class original, that is very sweet. The tutor and returning student, aka couple 3, are the best. So funny. But the whole thing remains engaging in a messy way.

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 8 - Oh, it’s very odd. Certainly a lot more comprehensible if you've already watched the Thai version. As with that version, I still dislike the SaifahZon couple and love the FighterTutor couple. And once again I hate the weird IRL shipping sister. HATE HER. I’m not mad at the "Man who Fell into the World of BL" overtones but I wish they went at it more intentionally. (They’re not using NPC the way I would, are they? Cause that’s hella cruel.) MaxNat are fun. I love that Fighter went to his girlfriend's birthday party, didn’t even say hi to her, picked up her drunk bestie, and took him home.

This show is WILD. It’s very Korea tries to do a Thai BL. And, I gotta say, I kind of like the absurdity of the whole scheme. Do I think it will ultimately "work" as a stand alone piece? No. But as a very odd kind of parody? Sure.

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Truth always comes out in hot springs. It's a rule of life. Coming clean is coming clean, I suppose. Still, moving very slowly for me and I need sake to get through this season. It's certainly suffering from sophomore slump.

Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) ep 4 of 5 - Sad episode is sad. 

In case you missed it

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - didn't air this week

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 9 of 10 eps - Didn’t drop this week? MDL thinks it should have. Everyone is confused. But also… who cares? 

Low Frequency (Thai iQIYI) Finished it's run - NO SINGING as flirty boyfriends they very cute actually, but this final ep was V E R Y slow.

All in all this was not a great show. Classic pulp with an interesting twist on “ghost boyfriend investigates his own not-murder” but ultimately not very good in any arena. 6/10 Only if you have nothing better to do. 

Sing My Crush (Korea iQIYI) Finished it's rerun

This a cute coming of age drama around music and 2 kinds of self acceptance and actualization journeys. This was basically Korea’s version of About Youth, and was perhaps a bit too soft and ungrounded by comparison, like a marshmallow sculpture. Sweet but somewhat lacking in discernible flavor. Inoffensively unmemorable. 8/10 RECOMMENDED especially if you enjoy KBL's style

8/24 Man Suang (Thailand movie, domestic cinema release) - historical drama about Thai burlesque with KP’s MileApo. Do I know where to get it? Nope. Do I care? Nope.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming September

I have 4 on my radar:

9/2 Naughty Babe (Thailand Sat ????) - MaxNat back on our screens. We think iQIYI but aren't confident.

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan ????) - it's taking over from Stay By My Side so likely Gaga. Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/?? Venus in the Sky (Thai iQIYI) 10 eps - ????

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

No you aren't, Lom. You don't even know what that means. (Wedding Plan)

Minato comes out to the best person.

Trope spotlight! (Low Frequency)

I Fell You Linger in the Air

So true. (Only Friends)

I love them so much, as @heretherebedork would put it, Tiny Idiots!

(Last week) 

Gotta say I am hating this new UI so much I'm not bothering to tag with shows. We shall see what that does for ROI.

[lemonandpie]

Brudick for the ask meme!

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

Probably since forever? I shipped Batman and Robin before I even knew there were multiple Robins

my thoughts:

I've been binging Wormsin's fic the past couple days, which means I'm in a darker place when it comes to Brudick. (Also I've been craving some erotic thriller recently and that should just be Brudick: the genre. Can you imagine Bruce and Dick doing the piano scene in Stoker? Amazing).

Right now, I'm lamenting how rarely we see Bruce and Dick together anymore. They are the relationship that defines the Batverse, but almost three decades of Robin being treated like a bad word in DC cinema, I am missing Dick being Bruce's foil. His mirror. The one who took Batman's ideals and became something Batman himself could never be. But more than that, I'm just missing them right now.

What makes me happy about them:

I love mess :D

fr though I just have a thing for super messy father and son-esque mentor relationships where they're perfect together except one is definitely going to kill the other someday. They have a blowup and I wiggle my toes, but I think their sweetness gets me the most. I'm not big on the current era of comics, but I do love Bruce acknowledging Dick's worth and strength and I think Bruce needs to it more often

What makes me sad about them:

Their relationship is so heartbreakingly toxic sometimes, and not even in the fun way. Slade can almost kill Dick and it's hot, but if Dick was my friend and Bruce treated him that way (either as a partner or a parent or even just as a boss), I'd be begging him to leave. There's a real bitter undercurrent of Bruce being expected to do no wrong but also be dark and broody and grim that leans on Dick to always forgive, always come back, no matter what Bruce does to him. I think that just makes me sad about Bruce in general-- I am gagging for character development and DC steadfast refuses to give it to me.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I think a lot of fic makes Bruce either too good or too awful, until it's either boring or ooc. I just can't with a Bruce who is just the worst, or at least so deeply profoundly mediocre that he may as well be the worst. But also sunshine and rainbows seems too happy for them. It's a hard balance for the source materials, let alone the fic. And I include myself in this! I think Brudick is a genuinely difficult ship to write, because their dynamic is just difficult to nail down in general. Honestly I struggle to write them because of it, myself

things I look for in fanfic:

Passion. They may be the old married couple of the DCU, but Brudick are sexy. Any fic where they're a couple has to include the fact that they're an extremely taboo relationship but they're just so into each other it doesn't matter. Sizzling chemistry. Raw desire. The kind of mental anguish to keep Catholicism alive til the next millenia.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

Realistically, I think Bruce is going to end up with no one, but I'm down for some BatCat. Dick I ship with almost everyone

My happily ever after for them:

Dick being in a fucking live action film again

The DC world is so incredibly unpredictable that I think any ending I can imagine now would be completely incongruous to what would make sense five or ten years down the line. And honestly it's hard to imagine an ending for them. Right now, I would just like a run where Dick and Bruce have to lose their current status quo and have to genuinely understand and accept everything they are to each other. Yeah yeah, they hugged recently, but god I want them both to be stripped down to their darkest secrets and bared to each other; where Bruce can't make empty platitudes and Dick can't just forgive everything. Something where they get the choice to walk away and instead hold each other twice as hard. And then I want the hug

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Bruce is the big spoon. Dick is the loose limbed jellyfish who can't stay still for five minutes and prefers to be face buried in Bruce's chest anyway

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Fighting Swinging through the city, grappling hooks not necessarily required.

[austinslounge]

I’m on the fence with regards if they seen together again! I will try to explain - A pap walk would make sense if they’re still together and that’s what their PR teams want us to think but that’s when damage control makes even more sense cause it’s still to early after Z/C split IMO and all a BU article would bring is Kaustin shippers making a whole lot of noise to try protect her and make out it was ALL Austins fault cause their princess can never do anything wrong 🙄

But then it would be stupid to carry on the circus act as the last time they were seen together (him looking unhappy again) was at HER friends concert and by what videos we’ve seen (I know we only got a few seconds) but they didn’t even look like a couple. Plus when she was actually IN NYC for her Vogue party he didn’t attend though it was a big night for her and then she went straight back to LA when it was supposedly his day off and we didn’t get the usual pap walk.

So nothing makes any sense with these two cause if they’re still a couple why not spend time together rather than go back to LA for a meal with friends. Why couldn’t he attend the vogue party even if it was just for a few hours - shippers can’t say it was because he was tired from filming as he went to that concert straight from set. Then to suddenly been seen as a ‘happy’ couple and doing pap walks again etc just looks weird. I just hope we don’t have to deal with another Cabo scenario 🤢 I can’t cope with that!

However I do believe if they have split then it probably won’t be confirmed til next year like it was with Vanessa even though they split in Nov. I can’t help but think that he’s just letting the dust settle after all BU rumours and he’s trying to do it quietly (again like he did with V) cause there’s not been much mention of them in the media or articles. Too much has happened this year to make me believe they’re a real couple nowadays and I do think it was a PRship from the beginning when maybe it was good for them to be seen around award season as it got people to notice him and maybe he was happy with the situation until the family started demanding more from him. Maybe their opinion is that they think he owes them by that I mean helping Kaia get the publicity and attention like she did for him. Controversial opinion I know!! IMO all she did was cause a media storm for him and not always in a good way but esp this year when he’s acting should be the talking point and not them.

I'll admit girl, your theories sound valid! While I don't think they would be holding off on a breakup announcement (if they did breakup) forever due to the Z/C breakup, I can definitely see the both of them not wanting to bring any attention to a breakup at this current time.

I just don't think that Zoe is even a factor in any of this, and I think it's silly that people are even speculating about her and Austin in the first place. For one thing, we haven't even seen Austin hanging out with her outside of filming on this shoot at all. Usually, when two costars have something romantic going on with each other, there WILL be signs.

Second, it doesn't even seem like Zoe's role was huge in this film, because I haven't seen her filming on the set for weeks since their initial scenes filmed outside. I'm sure she did some indoor scenes with Austin at some point, but we haven't even seen her coming out of any place near set in weeks.

Anyway, I totally agree with you regarding the Vogue party, but we have to also keep in mind that a lot of celebrities attend events without their significant other. It happens all the time. It doesn't mean the couple has broken up. I've followed quite a few couples over the years, and so I see patterns with celebrity couples.

Also, keep in mind that Austin and Kaia are never going to be a Tomdaya or even an Austin and Vanessa. They're just not that serious. Their relationship is totally different. So they may not do the normal things that normal couples do, because I don't believe that they are a normal couple.

So we have to look at a variety of things (imo) to see what the status of this relationship is. Presley still not following Austin back again is quite telling though, I will say that. 🤔

I agree with you about the PR thing. I started strongly suspecting that Austin and Kaia are PR last year, and that feeling has only intensified this year.

PS- I also cannot do another Cabo trip either 😩 With a towel over his head 😭

[mirai-e-jump]

Hero Vision Vol.8 (2002/Autumn) ft. Hagino Takashi Interview (translation below)

"I'm not afraid of playing the role of a villain. It's the role I desire to play," says Hagino Takashi about his role as Asakura Takeshi in "Kamen Rider Ryuki."

10 years have passed since his debut as an actor, and we asked him about Asakura, Changerion, and his "current self" as an actor.

...

"This is a psychological test"

Hagino-kun stared at the test paper given to him by the editorial staff, all while skillfully spinning a mechanical pencil with his thumb. This was our starting point.

Hagino: Hmmm~…

He stared at the paper for a few seconds, as if thinking about it, and then asked:

Hagino: I'm supposed to write something that's unique, right?

"No, ah, well, it's just a straightforward psychological test."

Hagino: Ah, so it is a psychological test!? Nahaha!

"……That's why I called it a psychological test (laughs). This is giving me a bit of a Suzumura Akira of "Choukou Senshi Changerion" feeling."

Hagino: Please forgive me, you see, I'm just an idiot~

Hagino-kun, who is always insisting that he's an idiot while smiling, bears no resemblence to Asakura Takeshi from Kamen Rider Ryuki.

"So then, why was Hagino-kun chosen for the role as an "Evil Rider?"

Hagino: I'd honestly like to ask the producer that as well. "Why me?," is what I think, but I also sort of understand Asakura. I understand where his frustration comes from, so I'd like to express those emotions. In a way, I now think it's the perfect role for me.

"Saying that, are you implying Hagino-kun is always annoyed?"

Hagino: Take this for example, whether it's yesterday, today, or tomorrow, there are people who are always happy and satisfied with their lives, but, there are also people who are aiming for a better one, and when having to face both themselves and society, they may become frustrated. I think that's why I sympathize with him.

"You've known producer Shirakura of Ryuki since Changerion 6 years ago. I wonder if producer Shirakura could sense Hagino-kun's frustration."

Hagino: Ah, those days~, he must of thought, "This guy's a real idiot, huh?" (laughs).

And Hagino-kun, you're still stressing how stupid you are right now.

Actually, before being casted as Asakura, he ran into producer Shirakura at Toei's studio, where he told him, "I'm slowly getting by, but I hope to work with Shirakura-san again within the next 3 years." Then, only 3 months later, Toei was sent an order, requesting for Hagino-kun to play the role of Asukura. So, when he heard that he would be an evil Rider, he said the first thing he did was, "think up a transformation pose" and "In some ways, I was thinking more about my passion than the actual show itself (laughs)."

Ouja's unique pose is based on the one that Hagino-kun developed himself while at home looking in the mirror, the quick movement of his right hand during the transformation is said to be inspired by the image of a snake. However, at the time of Changerion's filming, he wasn't really into transformation poses, and during filming even said, "We don't really have to do a transformation pose, do we?" which is unheard of for a hero actor (that's just how things went in Changerion).

"Although Changerion is well known now, many people didn't know about it at the time of its broadcast, and when some mistook its name for "Evangelion," he would say, "It was so stupid, I would become angry (laughs)." His feelings toward these types of shows have changed alot since the days of Changerion."

Hagino: It was around that time that I started to understand Changerion abit more, and was beginning to think that it was kind of fun playing in.

"When producer Shirakura complimented him with "Your acting is good," he responded honestly with, "Ah, I'll do my best, I hope~."

Hagino: That's right, through various experiences, I've come up with things I want to express, and began to think that I want to show them to the world. Little by little, I want to slowly climb the ranks.

"Hagino-kun himself seems alittle different compared to Akira, who is OK with anything as long as he's having fun, while Asakura, hurts others for his own enjoyment."

Hagino: Of course I want to have fun. But, just having fun isn't enough. I guess sometimes it's necessary to be patient with these kinds of things.

"He says he enjoys being an actor most when he watches the on air performance."

Hagino: I get a lot of enjoyment out of performing, but the most enjoyable moment is when I watch the on air performance, that's when all the elements come together.

Another thing, is there are times where being an actor makes his heart skip a beat. In the recently aired TV Special of Kamen Rider Ryuki, there was a scene in which Asakura was wearing a straightjacet while being completely restrained. The set of the holding cell, the costumes for the restraints, the filming equipment, and lighting, among other items, were all prepared "only for" Hagino-kun. Even with the limited budget, seeing the staff of each part working together for his scenes made him, "very happy."

"But, isn't there alot of pressure for so many people to work for Hagino-kun at the same time?"

Hagino: In my opinion, the pressure is felt when hearing excuses such as, "I'm tired," or "It's hot," and so on. It would be a waste if a bad feeling ruined a good situation. That's why I try to take care of my physical condition.

Hagino-kun says this with a strong sense of professionalism.

"As an actor, there are other roles that you would like to play in the future."

Hagino: For example, I could play a nice, refreshing young man. Or, I could be the scientist who created Frankenstein's Monster…Yeah, I'd like to play mad roles like that.

Whatever role he plays, as the actor who has grown through his major role as Asakura in Ryuki, we have high expectations for Hagino-kun!!

[jupitersmoon167]

hey… about that cod x marvel crossover…….

— 🎨

🎨 anon, this was my genuine reaction seeing this:

Oh boy, where do I even begin?

Okay, so I have a few ideas plot wise, both of which have to involve extreme detailing, cause in my mind I (unfortunately) can’t just smush these two fandoms together just for the hell of it. It’s gotta make sense.

And as much as I’m into incorporating the CoD:MW timeline into the MCU timeline, that’s just not as fun. So, what better way of introducing these two fandoms than thru ✨multiverse✨shenanigans?

Fair warning, I’m also incorporating aspects from the comics (in regards to Marvel) and weaving some of that into a MCU AU/canon divergence of sorts. But overall, incursions play a big role in both of my ideas. It just depends on when it occurs.

Regardless of the plot, it’ll be set Pre MWII CoD wise and Post Endgame MCU wise (we’ll just ignore the obvious yearly difference)

Regarding the MCU, there’ll be a bit of canon divergence:

- Tony doesn’t die at the end of Endgame (but he’s retired)

- Steve doesn’t fuck off to the past and stays in the present (he’s also retired and works more behind the scenes when necessary, so Sam is still Captain America)

- The ending from Far From Home doesn’t happen (I also may just scrap the events from that film entirely for reasons I can explain later)

- Secret Invasion doesn’t happen (cause let’s face it that show was an absolute dumpster fire, and I think the Taskforce would already have enough to deal with besides a terror organization consisting of shapeshifting aliens).

And depending on whether I add a certain OC (one that I’ve already introduced in the past), the story would start off Post The Marvels due to one component that was introduced in that film (a gold star to anyone who can guess what that component is).

ENOUGH EXPOSOTION

Let’s get into the plots!

My first idea was this:

So do you remember in the Hawkeye show that stuff from the Avengers Compound was stolen after it was bombed and being sold on the black market? Well after that fiasco, Clint would make Sam, Bucky and the others aware of this so they can keep an eye out for anything shady. Fast forward, and the team (thru some sort of means) finds out that some of that stuff, whether it be Stark tech, confiscated tech from the Battle of New York/Thanos’ Attack on Earth, magical artifacts, whatever it may be, has been sent to another universe. And so, to risk the event of an incursion, they travel to that universe to get all of it back.

My second idea would be a sort of Secret Wars/Battleworld type scenario where the CoD:MW and MCU universes sort of just, merge out of the blue. One moment they’re their own universes, next thing you know, an incursion like event occurs, but rather than one or both universes being destroyed, they just merge together. People from the CoD universe suddenly wake up to find that superheroes exists, gods and aliens are real, half the population was dead for a few years before coming back, and there’s apparently the corpse of a giant celestial being who emerged from the Earth’s crust now just sitting in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, everyone from the MCU timeline is like “fuck it, this might as well happen”.

Regardless, the Avengers cross paths with TF141 (whether it be accidentally or deliberately) and shenanigans occur.

I’ve got a lot more I can share, but this is already long enough 😅

I also might reveal details on how I think the Avengers would interact with the TF141 and the dynamics between the canon characters and my OC’s (both of which I’ll make character profiles on eventually when I’m not so busy with college classes).

Speaking of college, it’s nearly 6am as I’m writing this and I have class in a few hours 💀 so imma head to bed

[dynared]

Random thoughts on the Earthspark cancelation and what comes next for the Transformers brand

What a week, huh? So, we got confirmation Earthspark was canceled, Hasbro put the absolute bare minimum effort into their 40th anniversary celebration leading to many people going to the movie theaters expecting Transformers the Movie and not DVD-quality episodes of the TV series with many demanding refunds, and some good news, Transformers from Skybound being nominated for several Eisner awards, the first time a Transformers comic has ever been nominated for the comic book world's Oscar equivalent.

So once again, the brand, the sole surviving Western mecha brand at this point unless that J-Lo movie next week somehow launches a new franchise (doubtful) is at a crossroads, especially with their enduring business partner Paramount in complete turmoil, with more senior executives jumping ship and an official NDA signed between Paramount and Sony yesterday which allows Sony access to Paramount's record-keeping in order to ascertain the value for a bid.

So with all that said, rambling about the franchise under the cut.

Earthspark is done after this season, and it's easy to see why. While many right-wing grifter types will point to the nebulous "wokeness", an ill-defined term at this point that means little besides "bad non-traditional thing", the reasons are pretty simple. Kids weren't interested, the toyline didn't sell, and the show, whether due to being distributed on a streaming service people only get for Sonic stuff and the occasional South Park special, had very poor ratings. If you're making a kids show and you bore the kids, you're done, no matter how "important" you think the stories are. The days of Ted Turner funding Captain Planet out of his own pocket are long gone.

Since Earthspark is dead, but another series is in development, it looks like Hasbro will not be letting the franchise rest for any set period of time. The most likely follow-up for Earthspark is a spin-off of Transformers One similar to what Tales of the TMNT is for Mutant Mayhem after the latter's box-office success. It's a pretty low-risk venture to boot, with the biggest issue being the usual problems with a movie spin-off (lower quality visuals, sound-alikes since you can't pay the celebrity actors to do the voices week in and week out) so long as the movie is a success. It also lets the franchise establish some needed distance from Earthspark's lack of success.

Now, the question of "What if One isn't a success?" definitely is one that Hasbro is contemplating. For all the ragging on Snake-Eyes GI Joe Origins as a box office bomb, Rise of the Beasts was widely viewed by Hollywood as a flop and the lowest-grossing film in the history of the franchise. While a lot of that may be due to the wishy-washy way the continuity has been handled and the inability to commit to a full reboot (Madame Web producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been insistent that all the Michael Bay movies are still canon, even though that makes no real sense), if One isn't successful, the franchise may need to step back for a year or two.

Any other new concept for a series that fans have wanted is simply not feasible due to time and budget. With Hasbro joined at the hip with Paramount (apparently Hasbro board members own Paramount stock, hence their desire to keep the relationship going so long as Paramount exists), they don't have access to or funds for numerous studios. Studio Trigger have been asking to do a Transformers show for years now, hence all the shout-outs in stuff like SSSS.Gridman and even Panty and Stocking. Studio Orange's head took to the internet earlier in the week asking to be able to do a mecha show. Neither is getting the call from Hasbro because Paramount would rather use local Western studios and save money.

That of course leads to the final option for an adaptation, a 1:1 or similar of the Energon Universe. The problem with that is simply put, it's way too soon. While it would assuredly get a lot of attention just by putting down "From the creator of Invincible and The Walking Dead" in the promos, animation lead times mean that it would be impossible to do at this point without overtaking the entire stock of comics and either resulting in huge delays between seasons, or filler. Neither of which would be helpful.

So I guess tl:dr - Earthspark bombed not because of a non-binary owl, but because the kids were bored by it, with even the Fox News controversy failing to get the show any real positive attention with its main demographic of families. As horrible for Hollywood as it may be to see Paramount be sold for parts to Sony, it may actually be Hasbro's best bet at making its tie-in brands successful again on the big and small screens. And if One doesn't succeed, they are going to be in big trouble because nothing else is realistically ready yet.

[bracketsoffear]

Next Tournament

The last redemption poll, as events currently stand, will take place around mid-November, after which I intend to take a nice long break from this blog and come back around February. However, I'm also a believer in planning ahead.

So it is with great pleasure that I announce the 2024 Leitner Round! The Battle of the Books, the Textual Tourney! I encourage all of you to start thinking ahead about what books you would like to submit.

Rules

Must have been published. I love fanfic a lot, but for the sake of simplicity and not getting hundreds of ABO fics for the Hunt poll, I'm going to have to veto it for this one.

Must be a book. I'm willing to be somewhat lenient on this front; comic books, magazines, short stories, pamphlets and academic journal articles are acceptable, provided they adhere to the other guidelines. Non-text-based media, such as films, music, or video games, are not.

Fiction or nonfiction are acceptable. Following on from the 'no real people' rule, I'm going to disallow biographies, autobiographies, diaries, journals, and memoirs.

Because I want to keep things fresh and avoid having the same people win every time, you may NOT submit the source material of a winning character for the Entity that they won -- e.g., Moby Dick would be an invalid Hunt submission, but would be permitted for the Vast. House of Leaves, being an overall tournament winner, is retired from all future tournaments.

The rules for all polls still apply

Tentative Schedule

Stranger: Submissions open 3/07, polls open 3/09

Desolation: Submissions open 3/14, polls open 3/16

Spiral: Submissions open 3/21, polls open 3/23

Hunt: Submissions open 3/28, polls open 3/30

Vast: Submissions open 4/04, polls open 4/06

Dark: Submissions open 4/11, polls open 4/13

Web: Submissions open 4/18, polls open 4/20 (nice)*

Corruption: Submissions open 4/25, polls open 4/27

Flesh: Submissions open 5/02, polls open 5/04

Slaughter: Submissions open 5/09, polls open 5/11

Lonely: Submissions open 5/16, polls open 5/18

Buried: Submissions open 5/23, polls open 5/25

End: Submissions open 5/30, polls open 6/01

Eye: Submissions open 6/06, polls open 6/08

Extinction: Submissions open 6/13, polls open 6/15

Other**: Submissions open 6/20, polls open 6/22

*(Unreality cw ahead) I legitimately did not plan that out. I think this might actually be the Web fucking with me. It already made Annabelle Cane's statement episode 69, so this seems like its sense of humor.

**Unlike the Avatar tournament, I can't think of a way for a book to not belong to any fear without just being a normal book. Therefore, this will be the space for submitting any books that, while not conforming neatly to any one fear, are nevertheless super fucked up. Did I choose to go this route because there's a super fucked up book that I couldn't make neatly fit elsewhere? Perhaps. But that's the way it's going to be.

[yesterdanereviews]

Tremors (1990)

Film review #624

Director: Ron Underwood

SYNOPSIS: Val and Earl are two handymen working in the (very) small town of Perfection, who decide they have had enough and decide to leave for the next town over. However, before leaving, they start to find the bodies of a number of townsfolk. Believing there to be a killer on the loose, they quickly learn that it's actually the work of giant underground monsters that are picking off the population. Trapped in the town with no communication with the outside world, what remains of the town must band together to see off the threat before they become it's next meal...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Tremors is a 1990 monster film. The film centres around Valentine (Val) and Earl, two handymen who live in the small town of Perfection in the middle of nowhere. They have plans to move to the town of Bixby, but on the way, they come across a number of Perfection's residents who have been killed, and head back to Perfection to warn everyone. It turns out that the killings have been perpetrated by huge worm-like monsters living underground, who are dragging people down to their doom. As such, Val, Earl and the rest of the tiny town must band together to defeat the worm threat. The film has the flavour of a classic 50's monster movie, harking back to a time when low budget monsters terrorised small American towns. Tremors is not so much a homage or parody of the films of those times, but a mix of comedy and horror that I think is best described as refreshing: it takes the key elements that made those films successful, but recharges them with a burst of energy that makes them feel up to date, with horror that balances tension and gore, while also slanting everything with a sense of humour that keeps things fun, without resorting to the easy parody of those classic films and taking cheap shots at their low budgets and cheap productions. It's silly and goofy, without being degrading to the horror element, which is a very fine line the film walks well.

Strong chemistry between Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward as the leads really drive the film, and they're quite different from the heroic, square-jawed leads that we used to get in monster movies. The rest of the supporting cast too feel genuine, and while may be more one-dimensional character, fill out the town's population with authentic life. The creatures themselves are brought to life with some super cool practical effects that strive more for that classic b-movie feel rather than trying to be "real," are nevertheless very well done, and they have a very destructive energy and scale whenever they are on screen, lending a strong sense of terror.

On paper, Tremors perhaps looks like another attempt to pay homage or parody the classic b-movie era of science-fiction movies, but it offers a pleasant surprise by exceeding in all aspects of it's production. The film is kept energetic and fun thanks to it's cast, and a genuine sense of improvisation that the characters have to do to take on monsters that they have never considered as existing. Balancing the line between horror and comedy exceptionally well, it carves out it's own path with likable characters and plenty of terror and destruction. It's difficult to find anything that's done badly in this film: everything it does, it does well. Maybe it doesn't quite shake that hokey, cheesy feeling some might get from the classic monster movies, but you shouldn't be really looking for it to do so. Entertaining, silly, and terrifying all in one, Tremors rarely misses a beat, and is a refreshing take on the genre, rather than a reinvention that is nevertheless a captivating experience.

[oswlld]

oswlld's monthly wrap up: march

note: i am trying something a bit different this year, so bear with me as i figure out how i want to format this. i wanted to spend more time sharing what i consume, beyond what i rb, and put my thoughts in one place. these posts are okay to rb

--

When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut [started 02/24, finished 03/14] What an outstanding example of blurring the lines between fiction and reality. I am content in never knowing what’s real and imaginary in the lives of these people. May we never forget that for every new idea challenged, there is a real person with real emotions and motivations behind it. 4.25⭐️ in storygraph. — No Stopping Us Now: A History of Older Women in America, Gail Collins [started 03/03, finished 03/30] This book makes some strong points, but comes off weak in its execution. By having it be told decade by decade, it becomes hard to follow along when so many names and events are being tossed around. Without a firm thread tying all the themes together, the achievements ended up feeling lackluster when it should leave you feeling a sense of pride and hopefulness. 3.25⭐️ in storygraph (I rounded up, but it feels more like a 3.15)

23.5 Degrees, GMMTV [started: 03/08, ongoing] What a breath of fresh air!! With my busy schedule, I managed to catch the first two eps and I’ve loved every minute of it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still keeping a tight grip on its sense of identity. The series soaks up every aspect of its space theme like a sponge. Content specifically made for me, tysm! As much as I have tried refraining from consuming more high school settings, I couldn’t help but be enamored by what I have seen so far. I have paused this series for now, but hopefully I’ll be caught up before the end of April. I should be able to watch it live on Fridays in May. Until then, I will miss them dearly! — Always a Witch, Netflix [started 03/28, in progress] At this time, I have only seen episodes 1-5. So far, it’s a very straight-forward series. I am restraining myself from calling it predictable, because there are one or two things that really turns some tropes/themes on its head. But all-in-all, I am still waiting for this show to grab me. For a show that checks all the boxes that really makes a core jessi show, a series with time travel, magical realism, and found family, it has yet to completely sweep me away. Time really got away from me this month, but I will finish this series sometime in the next two weeks. We shall see if the latter half gets better.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) [watched 03/15 thru 03/18] I have seen this live and did see the original film in theaters last year, so this experience was more of a rewatch. This time around, my parents wanted to watch some of it with me so we made a whole evening of it on 3/15 so that was really neat. I will be traveling a lot in April and will be taking an audio copy of this to keep me entertained. — Oscar Nomination Season [started 02/17, ended 03/24] All of my initial reactions of what I managed to cover this Oscar season is in this post. Some of the strongest categories I have had the pleasure of covering this year were the Best Documentary (feature), Best Production Design, Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary (short), and Best Animated Film. I have several more films to tackle later this year, but my overall impression this Oscar season was just alright. One or two films have hit an extremely high note for me, but no worst of the worst.

BEYONCÉ, Beyoncé [relistening] During the pandemic, I really got into waching YT reaction channels reacting to full albums. One of my favorites is HTHaze and he is only beginning his listening journey through Beyoncé’s discography (yes, for the first time!) His reaction to Beyoncé’s self-titled made me want to relisten to it in full for the first time in years. I tend to only revisit a few songs through the years, but I do love going back to albums after time has past to recontextualize everything all over again. I’ve had my longtime faves from my 20’s but in my mid-30’s, the songs that hit harder now are: Pretty Hurts, Haunted, and Jealous. — Bewitched, Laufey [first time listening] The same YT channel got me to listen to this album. I am guilty in having my first listen be through his video first before diving into her album properly. With that said, the brain rot went FULL ROT. I love LOVE her compositions. Having learned from her Tiny Desk that getting a grand piano influenced the way she wrote her songs makes the whole conception so much grander. Her voice is soooo, it’s SOOOOO !!!!!!! I read a comment somewhere that her dream is to rejuvenate jazz the same way Taylor Swift did with country for a younger generation and that really spoke to me. I truly believe she is heading in the right direction in achieving that. My favorite run of songs goes from: Haunted, Must Be Love, While You Were Sleeping, Lovesick, California and Me, Nocturne (Interlude), and Promise. Those seven songs in that succession is so GOOD, ahH! — Once the Musical [relistening] Every spring, I fall into a Once spiral and it just gets deeper and deeper. This time though, I only tackled the core faves on YT rather than committing to the full audio (w/ Arthur Darvill and Joanna Christie). Although Arthur Darvill’s Leave will forever solidify his Guy as my Guy, Declan Bennett is The Guy of Guys for me. My mandatory relistening experience always goes: Arthur’s Leave, Arthur’s Say It To Me Now, Declan’s Say It To Me Now, Declan’s When Your Mind’s Made Up, Zrinka's If You Want Me, Once’s Spotify Jam Session. And it would all be on a loop lol. — Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé [first time listening] This is still fresh in my mind, having only listened to it in its entirety once through. My first impression is that it’s one of her most cohesive albums to date. Having had the first taste of what she would eventually achieve all the way back with Lemonade and The Gift, Cowboy Carter feels like a natural progression in her discography. I don’t have a top songs list to provide at this time, as I would need more time with the album. Fav songs come with time. Although, I did listen to 16 CARRIAGES when it was released several weeks ago and I knew then it would be a spectacular album. What a phenomenal single to lead a phenomenal homecoming.

Where’d You Go Bernadette, written by Maria Semple and narrated by Kathleen Wilhoite [started 03/22, finished 03/29] I… I didn’t like this. And that’s alright. Even if I didn’t like the premise or the characters, I did enjoy the format of the narrative and the narrator (especially her singing!!). But in the end, this was just not meant for me.

—

As it is still March when I am writing this, I wanted to endcap Women’s Month with a special shoutout to two women in my life that have been working with me to improve my overall well-being: Wendy (personal trainer) and Sofia (life coach). I am in a better headspace because of the work and trust they have in me to build a life I want. I cannot wait to see what I am capable of this time next year.

[duhragonball]

Cold Water

All right, so let's talk about this Dragon Ball theme park that doesn't exist.

@jasminewave brought this to my attention last week and I mostly got interested in the Saudi Arabia connection. I saw some hype about the park news on Twitter, and people excitedly asking "Where is this?!" I guess they were too blown away by the announcement to actually notice any of the mentions of its location.

I mean, it's not like they're keeping that a secret. This 56-second "trailer" features a newscaster reporting that people are converging in Saudi Arabia in search of the Dragon Balls. Then the narrator says "coming to Saudi Arabia". Even if you don't look up "Qiddiya", the answer's right there in the press release.

There's nothing substantive to the video. A lot of special effects, shots of people interacting with buildings and other attractions based on the Dragon Ball franchise, a kid shoots off a Kamehameha, some women ride a roller coaster, you get the idea. But none of it is real. I mean, the roller coaster was probably real, but they probably filmed actors in a different park. They may plan on building a roller coaster shaped like Shenron, and they may plan on building a replica of the Capsule Corp. building, but it's not what they showed in the video.

That kind of irks me, because I've seen plenty of people get swept up in the hype for this thing. They're excited because they saw this:

And they think it's the coolest thing in the world and it's a real place they can go to right now. Except the Dragon Ball park looks a lot more like this:

This is a still from a video on Qiddiya's YouTube channel, so it's not like I'm talking behind their backs here. The video's from three weeks ago, and it shows a lot of footage of the construction work going on at the site. It's a lot of cuts of construction crews and equipment, with powerful, uplifting music playing in the background. This is what Qiddya looks like in 2024. The Saudi government has big plans to construct a bunch of parks and other attractions on this site, but it'll take years to finish it all.

To put this in perspective, they're also building a Six Flags park in Qiddiya, and that project began construction in 2021. I found a message board called "themeparx.com" where people share photos of resorts and parks that are under construction. And the Six Flags looks a lot like this:

I mean, it's coming along. There's some other photos that show roller coaster tracks and other structures that you can recognize as theme park-related, but you can tell it's nowhere near ready for the public. And this is about two years' worth of construction. It'll take a while before this thing has its grand opening.

And let's be clear: The Six Flags construction started in December of 2021. Six Flags Qiddiya was announced way back in 2016. The Dragon Ball theme park was announced last week. So this construction site we're looking at could very well be a peek into what the Dragon Ball park might look like eight years from now.

Now that I think about it, that makes some sense. Qiddiya's also supposed to have a water park too, and I wondered why they planned all these theme parks for the same location, but they're not building them all simultaneously. By the time the Dragon Ball park is ready to build, the Six Flags will probably be ready to open, along with whatever else is ready, and that gives them time to see how well the whole thing performs. If Qiddiya succeeds, they can move ahead with the next wave of projects. Or if it fails, they can scrap the whole thing, or just stick to the initial set of attractions. I guess my point here is that they might not even build the Dragon Ball park. A lot can happen in a decade, and plans might fall through between now and then.

What I find irritating is how they basically "announced" the thing with a slick video "trailer" that uses images of a park that doesn't actually exist. At best, it's based on a bunch of conceptual artwork and blueprints. At worst, someone just slapped a bunch of stuff together. The park images in the video remind me a lot of the Conton City map in Xenoverse 2. Just a bunch of familiar settings from the anime, all smooshed together into a single area. It wouldn't take much effort for a skilled CGI team to make a similar layout for a hypothetical park. So there's no guarantee that the imagined park in the video has any ties to the park they're actually planning to construct.

I find the whole thing misleading, because the "announcement" and the video are presented like a commercial, promoting the park like it's a real thing you can go to right now and it'll look like it does in the ad. It'll be years before we can see for ourselves how this turns out, so why bother hyping it up at all? Wait until it's done, and then promote it.

I'm not sure what the point is of these slick video packages. Normally, I'd chalk it up as an attempt to showcase the work being done, as a way to reassure investors or taxpayers that their money is being put to good use. Except this whole Saudi Vision 2030 project is being financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is under the direct control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the country. Maybe they're just making videos to show to him personally, or maybe he wanted the videos made to show off to the rest of the world.

Ultimately, it all boils down to propaganda. They're not announcing a theme park because they want people to visit tomorow. They're announcing a theme park to get people talking about how cool Saudi Arabia is for building the theme park. Like I said last week, watching the video packages WWE ran for Saudi Vision 2030, I got the impression that one of the main goals of Saudi Vision 2030 was to promote Saudi Vision 2030. They just want everyone to know about all this stuff they're building, even while they're still in the middle of making it.

I just find it obnoxious, especially when the video's not even a minute long and shows zero images of an actual park, but you see bottom-feeders like Geekdom101 rushing to "report" on the story. He's got a six minute video up where he presumably "reacts" to the official teaser and talks about how cool this is going to be. Maybe he has ideas on what they should put in the park. It doesn't really matter, because I already know he has nothing to say about it, since he only knows what everyone else knows, which is in the teaser video, which doesn't actually show anything. It's all a mirage until there's an opening date.

And maybe the initial hype has already died down, and I shouldn't be giving this non-story more oxygen than it deserves. But it is a Dragon Ball theme park, and we'll probably hear more about it in the coming years, so maybe it's worth writing this down for posterity. I just kind of wish I could skip ahead to the part where it all goes hilariously wrong, like Willy's Chocolate Factory, or the Heroes of Wrestling PPV. That's what's so frustrating about this. At this moment, the Dragon Ball Park in Qiddiya is probably just a stretch of empty desert. At best, there's some trucks or something on the lot. It's not even a failure yet. It's just... nothing.

[dulltoned]

currently brainrotting about the possible antagonists that we could get in Trolls 4 (if that does end up happening) and I need to get this shit out somehow

I’ve seen people talk about Crimp being the next antagonist, and imma be real; I don’t see it- like sure, that lil mop thing is smart, hell, even Velvet acknowledged that and ended up not trusting her as a result, but I highly doubt Crimp could be some kind of evil mastermind (also wondering how she didn’t get arrested as well since, legally speaking she could be considered a as an accomplice to the whole shit fest with Floyd?? make that make sense, but then again, law may work different in their world so what do I know)

some said something about Creek coming back, and let me just say I HATE plots like that-

Creek’s dead, end of story, and even if he is somehow still alive, he doesn’t deserve to fucking return (I hate Creek, alright- can’t stand the little shit)

now, I’ve seen someone speak about a new kind of Troll popping up and I gotta say that caught my eye a bit more; Phonk Trolls- I’d say it would be an interesting concept to play with-

I got a personally idea of mine since, throughout the movies, the subject of grey trolls in general is never truly talked about again- so far, canonically, Branch seems to be the only troll we know of that has turned grey and remained that way for a long period of time- but what if there were more, similar to him? trolls who had lost their colors and just- never gained them back

I find the idea of a whole tribe of grey trolls rather interesting, and it would be a fun concept to tweak and play around with- and how they could pose a threat to our beloved main cast- perhaps they want to rid the world of color, or they want to steal that color to have some sort of happiness back, unfortunately ripping all the others trolls of that same mirth- are they driven by anger, grief, vengeance, or a mix of all of these?

or perhaps the newest antagonist is another species entirely, or a bigger threat than anything they’ve experienced before-

anyways it’s midnight where I am and I need some sleep

-🪶

I don't really have any big hopes for the antagonists of the fourth film, were there to be one. I'd like to see some returning antagonists, to be fair, even if they've all been pretty safely written off and tucked away where they won't be a problem anymore.

I don't remember if the storyboards I saw were real or not but I honestly wouldn't mind if Creek was a returning villain. I'd honestly like to see him antagonize Branch a lot more, I enjoyed their bitter dynamic before the Snack Pack got taken in the first movie. While Chef is most certainly dead we saw Poppy save herself from a similar experience during Get Back Up Again so I don't think it would be entirely out of pocket to have Creek survive somehow.

I just don't know how the franchise could do that in a way that I wouldn't despise. I know that I absolutely loathed how Creek was written into The Beat Goes On and I would hate to have the main series ruined by some blunder like that.

I'd just like to see one of the Trolls movies expand a bit more on what we already know, like how World Tour really went into detail about the Trolls and their different cultures and subspecies. I don't want a whole new species like the Mount Rageons even though I adore them, I think it'd be fun to dig a little deeper into the world we already have and then continue to expand it later down the line maybe.

I like what I've seen a few people say here and there, though. I'd like to see a scenario where Branch is the one that needs help for once, instead of being the one to offer it and pull off the rescue. I love seeing how competent and aware he is but I'd like to see what would happen if the rest of the trolls didn't have Branch to rely on for once. He's always a really big piece of the solution so what would happen if they didn't have him to put things together?

Regardless, if/when a fourth film comes out I hope I love it just as much as the other three. That's all I can really ask for.

[alleecatblues]

So the new trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just came out, and because I'm a fucking enormous nerd who loves Spider-Man, I'm going to go through that big zooming shot with all the Spider-People and try to figure out where they're all from. If I can't figure it out and you have a better guess, let me know and we can figure it out together.

Even blown up on my 75 inch monitor, these first ones are hard to see, especially because of internet video compression, but I can kind of make out the color scheme of a suit that a version of Spider-Man who was in the Avengers wore. He was just called The Spider and he was kind of an asshole.

Some of these I can't find anything about even though they're pretty distinctive. I might have to go back and read through my Spider-Verse comics to see if any of them made appearances there. For instance, this guy in the red with the glowing blue chest symbol:

The one facing the camera could be a 2099 suit variant but the last one has basically no visible distinguishing features so it's impossible to tell. I also have no idea who this purple guy is. Could be a design based off the Prowler, especially ItSV's version of the Prowler.

The guy he's talking to though appears to be wearing Spider-Man's classic comic book suit. This one seems even closer to the original design than Peter B's suit, which is based off the more modern comic redesigns. This is the OG.

Again, I can't figure out who the big guy is here but the other one might be Ben Reilly:

Specifically Ben Reilly wearing an advanced suit given to him by the Beyond Corporation, which isn't really a corporation per se, more a collection of entities that exist between universes and decided to start multiversal capitalism. Based on the weird extradimensional corporate aesthetics of the film, Beyond Corporation or at least the Beyonders might have something to do with the plot of Across the Spider-Verse.

There's Insomniac Spider-Man chatting it up with Superior Spider-Man, who was Otto Octavius's mind in the body of Peter Parker. Not an alternate universe character, by the way. This happened in the main comic series. Spider-Man was just being possessed by Doc Ock for a while.

Here's the Mk II Armor suit hanging out with another guy I can't place. Spider-Man's Mk II armor was created by Horizon Labs to help Peter out when he lost his Spider-Sense for a little while. If you can't dodge bullets anymore, might as well get a bulletproof suit.

There are three others on this bridge I can't place. They all look to be women, and they've got color schemes that have been on Spider-Man suits before, but in different patterns, so I'm a little stumped. I imagine not all of these are going to be references, and some are just created from wholecloth, but if you can figure it out, let me know!

This is probably Mary Jane and Mayday Parker, although I'm not familiar with the suits. Mary Jane has gotten spider powers in a few universes, and when Peter and MJ have a daughter in most universes, her name is Mayday, and she usually has spider powers.

Which is a lot better than that one universe where MJ got cancer and died because Peter had radioactive cum. I'm not kidding, that's a real thing that happened in an official comic series.

The red and white is another Scarlet Spider variant suit. Not sure about the red and yellow next to him.

This one with the clockwork arms is Lady Spider. She appeared a few times in the latest Spider-Verse event and comes from a cool steampunk universe. She has no powers, just her spider arms and web shooters, and is technically an alternate universe version of Aunt May.

This guy looks... naked??

It could be Savage Spider-Man? Or Kraven the Hunter Spider? But it looks like he's not wearing pants, so it might just be a weird skin-toned suit. I dunno.

Anyway here's Spider-Clan from the Spider-Man manga dabbing

This guy's pretty prominent. I think he's supposed to be a reference but I'm not sure to what. It could be Spider-Cop, but he's missing his hat, sunglasses and mustache.

This might be the original Iron Spider suit from the comics. Tony Stark made it for him after he came back from being dead for the, like, 3rd time.

This looks like Miles Morales's PS4 costume, but it swings by pretty fast, so it's hard to make out much detail.

Bombastic Bag Man! This is a little different to his appearance in the comics, but there have been a couple times Peter needed a spare suit on short notice and had to borrow one from the Fantastic Four. Their suits don't have masks, though, so he wore a bag on his head instead.

The first iteration also had a "Kick Me!" sign on the back, because the Human Torch thought it would be funny.

Here's werewolf Spider-Man in the back. During a crossover event, Ash from the Evil Dead comics ended up going to a few different universes, one of which started the Marvel Zombies series (which is actually a pretty good series). Another one he went to had a bunch of superheroes turning into werewolves, and Spider-Man was one of them.

This looks like a suit Spider-Man wore when he was part of the Future Foundation; a version of the Fantastic Four that formed when the Human Torch died.

This looks similar to Spider-Punk. He's got the jacket and the pants, but instead of his mohawk spikes, he's got some kind of camo baseball cap or something, and what looks like a face mask of some sort.

In this shot, Miles is fighting with the Mk I armor and something similar to the Mk III armor, although it's definitely different. The lady with six arms is a mystery to me.

Yo, is that Jessica Drew Spider-Woman? Jess Drew gets overlooked a lot despite being the first Spider-Woman. I hope she gets some kind of role in this movie.

Spider-Monkey is from the Marvel Apes universe. Yeah, there's a Marvel Apes universe.

I'm getting tired but I remember this one from somewhere. A cartoon maybe? I think I remember seeing a Spider-Man suit with a cape as a kid and thinking it was dumb because Spider-Man doesn't wear a cape.

Anyway that's all I could find aside from the main characters. Again, if you can track down any other references let me know. I'm too much of a nerd to let this go.

[pb-dot]

The Things I really loved in Spider-Verse

Or: I feel like an asshole for ragging on a movie that I for the most part enjoyed a lot.

So, as mentioned in my less-than-glowing review, there are several things that I loved in Across The Spider-Verse that my frustration with the story kind of overshadowed. One thing, in particular, I was very impressed with was the character writing. Across, somehow, keeps the main character count roughly equivalent to Into, but the sheer finesse shown in the writing of the side characters upgrade them from cameos and gaffs to actually really cool characters in my opinion. More gushing under the cut.

First up is the villain Spot. At first, the joke about this walking Inciting Incident seems to be that he's so desperate to be Miles' Nemesis, despite getting no traction and being a profoundly pathetic villain in the process. The fact that he arguably caused Spider Miles' entire existence doesn't help, he reads like one of those current-era retcons that try to make a villain intimidating by revealing he was secretly behind everything, despite this not at all lining up with earlier movies. Looking at you, Spectre.

Then, something happens. It's not a dramatic shift or anything, but little by little the dogged determination and seething hatred for Miles that drives Spot starts to crowd out the awkwardness, and the shift is matched by his animation getting messier (in a good way) until he is this plainly inhuman extradimensional being driven by his seething hatred for our dear Morales, animated like some kind of mixture between an art film's animated depiction of severe mental illness and a late-season villain in a mech anime. Like several of the characters I'm going to talk about today, it's a shame he's not in the movie more, but given the bisected nature of the narrative, I suppose that's to be expected.

Next up to bat is Hobie and holy fuck did I not see Hobie coming. Oh, make no mistake, I knew his general deal and that he's pretty cool after all I am on Tumblr and possess a pair of mostly functional eyes, but I was not prepared for just how cool this guy is. It's not just a style thing, although his delightfully off-beat animation and Daniel Kaluya being the most British I've ever heard him, or anyone else, be, are incredibly cool to experience.

No, Hobie's strongest point is, at least for me, his convictions and how he acts on them. It is, perhaps, not a huge challenge to be the most nuanced take on punk in popular media, but the sheer panache with which Hobie pulls it off is astounding. Yes, he is a contrarian, he vandalizes stuff, and he's a bit of a shit-stirrer by nature, but that isn't all he is. In fact, if I may engage in some character interpretation, I'd suggest that all of this is a smokescreen, meant to distract from what Hobie actually is doing, which is trying to infiltrate and subvert an unjust power structure that is causing real tangible harm. If there's anything more punk than that that you could conceivably get into a mainstream movie, I don't know what is.

Look no further than how he interacts with Miles when they're alone. He nicks a bunch of stuff and acts kind of "too good to be on the team," sure, but the stuff he steals, I think can be safely assumed, are parts he needs for his bootleg dimension bracelets, and his reservations he talks about make an awful lot of sense in the context of the reveals that the Spider-Society is basically an autocratic misery machine unilaterally steered by the deeply wounded Miguel. You can also see it in the way he circumvents the entire morality discussion around what to do with Miles by letting Miles know how to break out and make up his own damn mind.

Schlubby dadbod Spider-Man Peter B Parker is perhaps a bit less of a standout than he was in Into, but he still makes for a compelling character. For a fair bit of the start, I wonder what sort of plot malarkey had Mr. Joke The Pain Away team up with Miguel, perhaps the only Spiderperson to be less about fun than Spider-Noir, but as it progressed, it painted a pretty nuanced picture. Miguel is an absolute world-class stick in the mud in addition to his other traits, but as a fresh father, I get the feeling Peter B is especially sensitive to his "lost my daughter twice over" backstory. It is also possible, although there's that insidious character interpretation thing again, that he feels like he can be a moderating influence on Miguel and perhaps curb his most intense edgyboy impulses, a dream that shatters about the time Miguel attempts to break through the spiderporter with sheer primal rage. He has not helped, he has been an enabler.

I've talked indirectly about Miguel a fair bit so far, and while I wouldn't count myself a fan, he is too emotionally distant as the uncompromising leader and entirely too driven by raw emotion as the dogged pursuer to be super interesting to me, but I do like the effect he has on the plot. Miguel operates on a mix of Comic Book Guy trope obsession and the very boomer "If I've suffered in my past, similar or greater suffering is mandatory," and he does so with such dogged zeal that he kind of bends the plot space-time around him. His conviction that Things Are Worth Doing Because They're Hard to Do And Feel Bad is such that even fairly reasonable spiderpeople like Gwen and Peter B end up doing his bidding.

Gwen operates in a bit of an awkward space in this movie, as the intro and outro seem to cast her as the protagonist, which is out of sync with the literal entire rest of the movie revolving around Miles. It's a shame though, because Gwen is very good in this. While her role in Into was more to be the "kinda too cool for this" Spiderperson Miles can, and should, get to be, her journey through the "actually being a spiderperson feels pretty bad"-wash cycle is compelling. If the story was more about Gwen realizing she's letting her hurt take her to a bad place, I would not mind it one bit. Left as a subplot it still works, but so dearly wanted to see it truly blossom.

So in short, I really liked the character writing in Across The Spider-Verse and I am a little sad most of my favorites didn't get as much screentime as they perhaps should, but I do hope they get their moment in the sun in the sequel. Also, a brief shoutout to Earth 42 Uncle Aron for being both scarier and somehow more sympathetic in his few minutes on screen than Miguel manages for the entire movie.