#guardians of las sequel

[its-to-the-death]

Glasses Swag Sequel Round 1

Shen Wei (Guardian) vs Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

[riddlerosehearts]

thinking about how people who watch the emperor's new groove and somehow come out of it shipping pacha and kuzco, or thinking yzma only became evil when kuzco fired her and that she would've been a better ruler than him, are both so wrong in so many different ways and are also missing one of the things that i absolutely love about the movie. which is that, the way i see it, pacha and yzma are counterparts. as parental figures to kuzco.

like, just to get this out of the way first, yzma was a dismissive asshole to a peasant whose family was starving. and yeah, if kuzco had been in her place he definitely would've also done that, which... is why she would not be a better ruler than him. she'd just be the same because they're both horrible people in the exact same ways. her reaction to being fired is to plot murder, and as soon as his funeral is over she sets everyone to work on replacing paintings of kuzco with paintings of herself and covering the palace with imagery that makes it clear that it's all about her now. i'm not even sure why this is a discussion tbh.

and also, kuzco is literally a teenager. he's barely 18 years old. source: in the movie, yzma says at his funeral that kuzco was "taken from us so tragically on the very eve of his eighteenth birthday." she also claims in the movie to have "practically raised" him, to which kronk replies "yeah, you'd think he would've turned out better". and sure, she could be exaggerating, but what evidence do we have that she is? we learn absolutely nothing of his parents, who are never mentioned even once in the movie, or of anyone else who could've raised him, and she's his advisor who for some reason sees no problem with attending to royal duties in his place. most likely because she's his regent. also, i'm not exactly a fan of the sequel tv series "the emperor's new school" but it does have something that backs up my point: kuzco is revealed to be an orphan and just before his father went and got lost at sea, he asked yzma (who was also his advisor) to take care of kuzco if anything happened to him. so, yeah, the writers who worked on the series clearly thought that yzma genuinely did raise kuzco, and nothing in the movie contradicts this.

and i find the idea of her being his only parental figure for pretty much his whole childhood incredibly interesting because, and this also goes back into why she wouldn't be a better ruler than him--she mirrors him as a reflection of what would've become of him if he'd never met pacha. they're both incredibly arrogant, power-hungry, selfish, and cruel, with a tendency to blame their problems on everyone but themselves. yzma was even originally going to have her own reprise of kuzco's theme song "perfect world", which i really wish had been kept:

[ID: Lyrics that read:

I'Il be the sovereign queen of the nation And the chicest chick in creation I'm the cat with all the cream and ooh-la-la This deadly concentration Will put an end to my frustration Now this perfect world begins and ends with moi

What's my name? Yzma, Yzma, Yzma Yzma (what's my name?) Yzma, Yzma (What'd you say?) Yzma (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!) Yzma. End ID]

(this song can be fully heard in "the sweatbox", the documentary about the making of the movie, and is also on youtube btw)

anyway, i'm sure yzma would not exactly have been the most nurturing or hands-on guardian, especially given that she and kuzco don't exactly treat each other like family. but it makes a lot of sense to think that her behavior influened kuzco's throughout the years. and for the entire movie, she remains determined to kill him. when he tries to reason with her and admits that he should've been nicer, she says the same thing to him that he originally said when he fired her. she never grows or changes and in the end, she hurts the one person who was willing to stand by her (and even then, kronk had never fully been on board with her plan) and he ends up trying to crush her with a chandelier. kuzco on the other hand is able to realize the error of his ways, come to regret who he was in the past, and start taking steps toward being a better person. his theme song gets a reprise where it's changed from a song about one person being the center of the world to a Power Of Friendship song. why? because, as i've already mentioned, he has pacha.

pacha, who similarly to both yzma and kuzco is in a position of authority as the leader of the village but unlike either of them is gentle and humble. who isn't afraid to stand up to kuzco and be honest with him even though he's the emperor, who agrees to take him back to the palace but has no obligation to be so helpful, kind, and caring toward him--and just about every reason not to be--and still chooses to be anyway. pacha who is 45 years old (also stated in the sweatbox documentary) and can see that kuzco is practically still a kid, not a single day over 18, who has time to grow and change. pacha, who already has a wife and two kids with another on the way, but practically treats kuzco like one of his own. who acknowledges that if kuzco dies all his problems will be gone and then still worries about him and goes out of his way to rescue him after he wanders into the jungle. who sees kuzco shivering at night and covers him with his poncho, who carries him when he's genuinely too weak to keep walking, who refuses to give up on him even after repeatedly being betrayed by him because he believes there's good in everyone.

also, while yzma ends up repeating kuzco's harsh words of dismissal as she tells him of her plans to kill him, kuzco had previously repeated pacha's words that "nobody's that heartless" after he saved pacha's life. and as the movie progresses kuzco and pacha's relationship becomes more and more equal and is constantly contrasted by moments of yzma being cruel and unappreciative of kronk's kindness. a good example of this is how kronk is constantly being forced to carry yzma everywhere on his back while yzma literally walks all over him and steps on his hands when she gets down, whereas when pacha briefly carries kuzco after the latter collapses he tells him he'll have to walk the rest of the way later and kuzco doesn't even protest.

idk if i'm even explaining well what i'm trying to say here. but basically, if yzma actually raised kuzco and contributed to his current behavior, then she and pacha both are figures who guided him and helped him grow. only yzma helped him become the tyrant that he was at the start of the movie, who was selfish and callous and saw everyone else as beneath him. whereas pacha helped him see the value in being selfless and considerate of others. and in the end, yzma is stuck as a cat and nobody is concerned about her. kronk has found a new job that makes him genuinely happy, while kuzco has decided to build a hut on the hill next to pacha's and effectively joined his family. in the sweatbox documentary it's even mentioned that chicha and the kids were at risk of being removed from the film, but it was decided that they needed to be there because having just pacha as a single guy who lived alone wasn't interesting enough--kuzco needed to go from having basically an empty world where he had nobody to being able to come together with pacha's whole family. and i just think that's incredibly satisfying and beautiful. it also leads up to one of the few things i really do enjoy about the emperor's new school, which is the fact that during the show kuzco moves in with pacha and chicha and pretty explicitly thinks of them as basically his parents while he's like a son to them.

idk. i feel like my mind went in a million different directions while i was writing all this. but i guess i just think that for all of the praise the emperor's new groove gets for its comedy and for how hilarious yzma and kronk in particular are as a duo, the movie also has a lot of genuine heart that gets overlooked. kuzco's character growth and his unique dynamic with pacha is, for me, really what elevates the movie from just a funny movie that i like to one of my favorite disney movies. and i wish more people appreciated that aspect of it and saw it as a found family story in the same way that treasure planet, brother bear, and lilo and stitch are all found family stories.

[lightandfellowship]

Things that really get my gears turning with regards to Xehanort visiting La Cite des Cloches pre-DDD:

Xehanort visiting it directly after the MoM's speech to him about "false light" and misguided love, and this causing him to finally grapple with his conflicted feelings towards Player. Specifically when observing what Frollo has been doing to Quasi all his life (aka imprisoning him away from others with claims of "it's for your own protection.") Maybe it's after visiting this world that Xehanort starts to refer to his childhood home as a "prison". <- Also could tie into YMX telling Sora his heart is a prison in DDD. Like I know it was Sora or someone else who said the line first but when YMX repeats it back to Sora I gotta imagine he's also thinking about his own relationship to "prisons".

The dramatic irony of Xehanort looking at Frollo and not realizing that he himself is going to become a Frollo later in life. "Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin / And he saw corruption everywhere except within."

Also my god the Frollo + Quasi, Master Xehanort + Vanitas parallels. "Even this foul creature may yet prove one day to be / Of use to me."

I'm also thinking about how Frollo was the one to name Quasimodo and his name means "half-formed". Xehanort's name can be an anagram of X and "no heart". And also there's Xehanort giving Vanitas his name, which is a word associated with death and futility. Just a bunch of characters being given demeaning names lol.

Going back to the "false light" stuff, I feel like Frollo is one of the best examples of that among the Disney villains. As Xehanort says to the MoM after his world tour: "They believe themselves to be moral and virtuous, but it's all an act." So if you needed Xehanort to see "false light" in action, this world is just perfect for that.

Please. Imagine. One-on-one Xehanort vs. Frollo boss fight (Frollo can wield the sword from the end of the movie). And then maybe in the second phase Frollo summons a Heartless minion to fight alongside him like the Clayton + Stealth Sneak boss in KH1 (depending on if the Emblem Heartless are still inexplicably around after KHDR, I guess. If not, we can just have the first phase and nothing else). Xehanort is like "Look, okay, yes, maybe I am partially beating you up as a means of venting some of the complicated feelings I have towards my guardian, but also you in particular just suck, you're a danger to everyone around you, and I want you gone from this world forever." And then this marks the second time that Xehanort has just straight up murdered a guy who also happens to represent what he'll become later in life (he is, unfortunately, starting to grow numb to the sensation).

Honestly, realistically, it would probably make more sense for Xehanort not to interfere with the worlds at all, but...I just really want more one-on-one Disney villain boss fights in these games.

Like, seriously, in a theoretical KHDR sequel, this world would probably be my #1 pick just because there's so many layers to its relevancy.

[princessfbi]

Fic Author Self Rec

Tagged by the wonderful @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels ❤️😘

I think I'll start with...

Kink Club AU 

Where Buck and Eddie first meet at a kink club before the firehouse! This one was wild because it was an idea I had randomly while driving around. Then I let it sit for like a month or so before I tackled it. It's such an important fic for me too because I think it really taught me the value of my own boundaries? So not only is it emotional and spicy but it taught me something.

Buckley Bookshop AU

Ok but I LOVE this AU so much. I was a little nervous because it was Madney and I don't write their meet cute often just because I love them but I think it came out really well. It felt great getting to explore the dynamic of Doug and Maddie with Buck being such a prevalent variable to their relationship and it's maybe some of my best whump. Also Buckley Siblings. You all know this and getting to write an AU where Maddie is Buck's primary guardian was just 🤌🏻 BUT BUT BUT ALSO...... I LOVED LOVED LOVED getting to write teenage Eddie, Buck, and Taylor. I have a whole head full of HCs for that trouble trio.

Falling Slowly; Sing Your Melody (I’ll Sing It Loud) 

Tortured Musician Buck my beloved. I'm sure I've probably bored everyone with how much I loved writing this fic but I LOVED WRITING THIS FIC. It would keep me up at night and literally wake me up from a dead sleep so I could keep writing. I cried when I finished writing it. I loved getting write Buck's vulnerability and creativity. Also the music. I will convert all of you into liking my music.

00Q!Buddie AU

I wrote that first one not thinking I'd go on to write a whole ass prequel and a possible planned sequel but here we are! I'm going to say: I crushed the smutty parts of this AU. It's maybe some of my best. I loved getting to explore smart Buck and the broody, darker side of Eddie while also showing just how much capacity he has to love some one.

I Don't Mind Waiting (If It's For You)

Trashy romance murder mystery novel AU my beloved. I wrote this while being stuck inside for four days during a blizzard in February and I was having such a fun time. The whole thing consumed by brain. I don't even really remember how I got the idea for it but I'm so glad I did.

I'm going to tag @homerforsure @bigfootsmom @mellaithwen @rogerzsteven @like-the-rest-of-la (fic and art count cus I say so) and @lovebuck

[cha-lii]

can companies like disney and dreamworks and stuff start making sequels targeted towards their more mature audiences??

like, show me luca and alberto and julia as young ✨gay✨ adults.

show me mirabel as the new matriarch of la familia madrigal.

give me a sequel to rise of the guardians that gets properly into joyce’s lore and backgrounds for his characters.

god damn there is so much these studios could do that they just don’t have the brains or courage for 😩

[chrisbuckleydiaz]

Nest ao3

They get the call two hours before the shift is over.

Buck isn’t working, Dario from C-shift asked if someone could switch so he could go to a baseball-game and Buck offered.

Eddie is glad he isn’t there, doesn’t have to see it. It’s a boy. Maybe fourteen, fifteen. Skateboard vs. SUV. Tale as old as cars. He was probably on his way to school. His backpack lies five feet away, burst open. Eddie and Dario are busy with recovering the driver - but not busy enough. 

The ride back is quiet. Eddie’s stomach churns at the thought of the boy - his parents, his dreams, his future. Their shift is over, so there’s no need - except survival - to store those thoughts away. 

Maybe he had been into Guardians Of The Galaxy the same way Chris is right now - playing the game night after night. Maybe his parents had been at their wits end on how to coax him away from it.

Maybe he had spent every afternoon at the skatepark and came home on time and did his chores without having to be asked twice.

Maybe he’d wanted to become a pilot or a vet or a kindergarten teacher. Maybe he’d wanted to hike the Appalachian trail after graduation. 

Eddie takes a shaky breath, steadying himself by grabbing his own thighs. 

There’s a figure leaning against the glass wall of the locker room when they pull up at the station. Eddie feels Cap’s hand squeezing his shoulder in passing.

“Bobby texted me,” Tommy takes a step forward, forehead creased in worry.

“Oh.”

Eddie comes to a halt one, two feet apart from him.

“Evan is dropping off Christopher at school and has therapy after,” his voice is soft and measured.

Maybe Eddie almost flinched at the mention of his son. 

He knows Buck’s schedule - all of their schedules actually, they have a shared calendar, so he’s not sure why Tommy mentions it, but he doesn’t really care either. He nods.

“Yeah.”

“You want to grab breakfast?”

“Not sure I have an appetite,” Tommy nods, eyes warm with understanding, “But I could do with coffee.”

“I’ll wait for you outside.”

Tommy wraps him in his arms as soon as Eddie approaches the car and Eddie lets himself fall into the older one’s arms. 

“I’ve got you.”

Eddie inhales the familiar scent of Tommy and stays still for a moment, while Tommy rubs circles over his shoulder blades. Eventually Tommy pulls back, kissing his temple.

“You feel like driving?” 

He shakes his head and doesn’t let himself worry about the logistics of letting his car behind in the 118’s parking lot. Instead he climbs into the SUV. There’s soft rock music quietly playing and Eddie remembers with a sense of gratitude that Tommy rarely listens to the radio but has a number of curated playlists on his phone.

“Feel free to change that to whatever you feel like.”

“No, it’s - It’s good.”

Tommy rubs his thumb over Eddie’s hand while backing out of the parking space. 

“La Rosa ok?”

La Rosa is a tiny café in Ocean Park that has an elaborate coffee and breakfast menu and its own mascot in the form of Cupcake, the owner’s dog. Christopher, naturally, absolutely adores the dog.

Eddie nods and a short while later they find seats on the backyard patio that is equipped with seats in all different forms and colors. 

“Talk to me. Tell me something. A story. Whatever.” Eddie doesn’t let go of Tommy’s hand even for a second, not when they walked here and not now, after they ordered.

Tommy hums, thinking for a moment, then he smiles and Eddie feels better already.

“I used to spend a lot of my holidays at my aunt’s house. When I was eight or nine, my cousin became really obsessed with Back To The Future . We would watch the first and the sequel - the third one wasn’t released yet - like every other day. He could recite half of the script. And I guess I had something like a crush on Marty, but that’s not the point of the story,” Tommy winks and Eddie squeezes his hand, “The town my aunt lived in had - no joke - the same kind of clock as in the movie on the town hall. I think in the movie it wasn’t town hall. Anyway. One evening, there was a thunderstorm raging outside and my cousin begged his mom to let us go outside. Not sure what he wanted to do, since we didn’t have an actual time machine, but he begged for like half an hour. My aunt obviously refused to let us go and my cousin got so mad he didn’t speak to her the rest of the evening.”

While Tommy told his story, the waiter brought their order: Café con leche for Eddie and a mocha and strawberry muffin for Tommy.

“Did you like spending time at your aunt’s?”

“Yeah. She was a really kind woman that also took no shit. I mean, she had to be, growing up with my dad, I guess. She was really into quilts”, he frowns, “I should have a quilt of hers somewhere, now that I think about it.”

Eddie smiles at the thought of a keepsake like that when he feels something nudge his knee. It’s Cupcake, who’s looking expectantly at him.

“Hey, bud,” he greets him, instantly starting to scratch his ears, “It’s good to see you!”

He lets himself get carried away and baby-talks to the dog for a while. So long, that when he looks up again, Buck is standing behind Tommy, hands on his shoulders. Both of them are smiling fondly at him.

“Did you sneak up on us?”

“A buffalo herd could have trampled through here and you wouldn’t have noticed,” Buck teases, rounding the table and sitting down next to Eddie. He leans forward, his hand cupping Eddie’s face. “Hey, baby. Chris says hi.”

Eddie swallows a whine when Buck withdraws his hand to grab the menu.

“I’m starving! I hope they still serve the three-cheese omelet.”

“Any thoughts on how to spend the rest of the day? My on-call doesn’t start until noon.”

Eddie shrugs, stirring his café slowly. Buck musters him.

“Your eyes are teeny-tiny, Eds.”

He smirks. “Maybe I’m a teeny-tiny bit tired.”

Tommy smiles. “I could do with a nap.”

“Same.”

“So that’s decided then?” Tommy raises an eyebrow. 

“Looks like it,” Buck nods and grabs a fork to dig into the omelett.

When Eddie wakes up two hours later, Buck is propped up against the headboard, scrolling on his phone.

“Did Tommy have to leave already?” Eddie pats the empty side of the mattress.

“Hey sleepyhead. No. He’s looking for something in the garage. Didn’t want to tell me what,” Buck shrugs. 

Eddie hums, positioning himself in Buck’s lap. Buck immediately starts scratching his head and Eddie sighs. For a while, they’re quiet.

“You want to talk about it?” Buck eventually asks.

Does he? 

“I assume you have the context?”

“I texted Bobby.”

Eddie clicks his tongue, looking for words.

“I know that we have to suppress the fact that this planet is a really fucked up, unsafe place because otherwise…,” he shakes his head, “But it just hit me. Full force. Life isn’t safe and I won’t be able to protect him.”

Buck’s still caressing his hair.

“You think…,” he clears his throat, “A pedestrian hit by a car - that - You think that brought up something else as well?”

Eddie looks at him, looks at his face that’s so full of love and care and gentleness, and blinks.

It’s not like they don’t respond to that kind of call at least once a week. But the combination of a fourteen year old teenage boy and - his stomach clenches painfully.

His breath stutters, resentment rising in him. But Buck beats him to it.

“Grief is incredibly messy, Eds. There’s no endpoint to it.”

“I know,” he rubs his face, “But I have this,” he gestures towards the room, “I have you, and Tommy, and Chris is thriving … Then why -”

“Because you love her. Emotions don’t ask for reasons.”

Eddie huffs out a breath, still frustrated. 

“It’s not going to get any easier if you’re trying to will the feelings away.”

He glances at Buck, a retort about therapy speech on his tongue when he hears rummaging in the living room.

“I guess he’s done,” Eddie claps his hand and pushes himself up, calling out, “Tommy, you wanna shoot some hoops?” 

“Eddie,” Buck sighs, but his expression is so incredibly soft that it makes Eddie’s heart skip a beat.

He halts and bends down to give Buck a kiss. “I love you.”

It’s half past eleven, so they have at least half an hour until Tommy’s phone might go off and Eddie feels the stress bleed away from his body ten minutes in. He’s okay. Chris is okay. Tommy is okay. Buck is okay. They’re okay.

It takes Eddie all the self-control he has to not to hug Chris when he’s picking him up from school. Hugs in front of his friends are uncool. At least hugs in private are tolerated, yet.

Chris climbs in and sits down in the passenger seat (it took Eddie two weeks to adjust to that. He isn’t sure if Buck has adjusted yet.) and promptly connects his phone to the car radio. 

“Learned anything exciting today, mijo?”

His son starts talking about the three types of sedimentary rocks and Eddie doesn’t get half of it, and surely isn’t as excited about it as Buck would be, but just hearing Christopher talk, and be excited, is enough to make him fill with warmth.

“I was thinking, if you’re done with your homework before dinner, we could watch a movie after.”

Christopher glances at him.

“It’s Tuesday.”

“Smart kid.”

“And Tommy is on call.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows. “That sounds a lot like a no, champ. Are you ill?”

Christopher scoffs. “I’m just confused. I mean, yeah, of course. As long as it’s nothing boring.”

“Just want to do something nice. And the aquarium really doesn’t fit into a weekday-schedule.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

By some kind of miracle Tommy is still at home when they have dinner and has the brilliant idea of making popcorn. 

Buck and Eddie get settled on the couch, while Chris throws his legs over the armrest of the armchair. 

“One second,” Tommy sets down the second bowl with popcorn and disappears for a moment. Eddie frowns but Buck shrugs cluelessly. They select the movie and Tommy comes back, holding a quilt in his hand. 

“I found it,” he beams at Eddie and sits down next to him, so Eddie is squished in the middle (they really have to get a bigger couch). WIthout hesitation he spreads the quilt over them and Eddie marvels at the colors. It’s obviously a coincidence, probably some gendered bs, but Eddie’s heart fills with warmth when he sees the squares in different shades of blue and turquoise. 

“Tommy, that’s … It’s really beautiful.”

“My aunt made it for me when I was ten,” he explains to Chris and Buck, “I found it in the garage this morning.”

Eddie rests his head on Tommy’s shoulder while caressing Buck’s hand with his thumb, while the opening credits of Back To The Future start playing.

The world might be a fucked-up place, but he has his own little corner inside of it. And that’s everything.

[twothpaste]

Giegue/giygas for the ask game, maybe?

First impression: I learned about Giygas through internet osmosis long before I even thought to play EarthBound. All the usual "ooooh this game is secretly sooo dark" and "he's ack-chewally an aborted fetus, see, oooo" kinda shit. I remember it giving me the impression Mother was way scarier and edgier than it turned out to be. (I played games like OFF and Yume Nikki first though. So by the time I got around to Mother, it was very refreshing to play somethin bright & uplifting at its core, lmao.) (In retrospect, I kinda wish Giygas wasn't among the first things every prospective player is told about the EarthBound. Going into the Giygas battle blind seems like it would've rearranged my brain molecules, and I wish I'd gotten to experience it like that.) I forget when exactly I learned about Giegue (I didn't get to play M1 blind either), but I'm pretty sure my first impression was honestly pretty neutral? The imposing presence of a huge alien spaceship, 8-bit sci-fi machinery, and a barely legible creature in a capsule was pretty wicked to see for myself the first time though!

Impression now: Giygas is a big triple decker chocolate layer cake worth of metaphor & symbolism. The existential horror of growing up, the fear of losing who you fundamentally are in the process, the horrific inhumanity adults are capable of, the hopelessness of coming to terms with the world as it is, and so on. Not really a character per se, but the quintessential globular slurry of adolescent angst Ness & pals've gotta contend with. Giegue is a bittersweet little story about a broken family. An internal conflict between vengeance, familial love, and maybe where one's obligations lie? Cool antagonist for sure. I wanna like him more than I do (M1's cryptic hands-off approach to storytelling is hard for me to sink my teeth into 😔). I've speculatively written (and drawn a comic for the upcoming zine 😉) about how Giegue became Giygas, and read some good fics on the topic. In the canon we're given, though? There's really so little binding them together narratively or thematically… I have a difficult time reconciling the two, in the context of the games themselves. Mother 2 in general feels more like a reboot than a sequel - and there's hardly if any "lore" weaving Giegue & Giygas together - so Itoi's choice to declare they're one and the same just seems kinda odd to me. C'est la vie. Fan creators make do.

Favorite moment: The Giygas battle, but like, before he goes sicko mode. When he's bound to a chamber of wires and innards, reflecting Ness' face back at him, and it turns out our fervently raving buddy Porky is actually the one in "control". The atmosphere is so intense and unnerving, such a bizarre yet captivating way to ramp things up. There's like, this sense of stomach-churning dread, as you begin - if only scarcely - to realize the alien overlord you were expecting is an entity far more powerful and personal and helpless and incomprehensible than you ever could've imagined. I mean. You know, because the internet spoiled you when you were 11. But in the bigness of the moment it still makes my mitochondria itch on a primal and cellular level. /pos. Love it.

Idea for a story: My favorite Giegue thing is the vague implication (??) of whatever the hell George did to to him. Y'know, whatever made him hate humanity so much. Whenever I see fan content speculating on how George might've experimented on him or mistreated him I do in fact Feel Somethin' There. (I have been a sucker for angsty-creature-in-a-lab stories from the time I saw Mewtwo Strikes Back in kindergarten all the way to Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 a couple months ago, and I don't suppose I'll ever be sick of 'em.) The conflict it introduces between George and Maria is intriguing too. Like, her husband's treating her dearly beloved child like a science project? Trying to extract the secrets of PSI from his oversized alien brain?? You know if this kinda shit went down, those two were on a caliber of divorce drama the world has rarely seen.

Unpopular opinion: I really like Giegue design interpretations that're freaky and grotesque and biologically unfamiliar. When the beast isn't just mammalian in nature. Truly out of this world.

Favorite relationship: A mean-spirited but otherwise ordinary 13-year-old willingly aligned himself with the alien emodiment of all things evil. And the alien embodiment of all things evil willingly let the kid be his right-hand man. And I'm normal about it. EarthBound tells us basically nothing about how Porky n' Giygas' partnership in crime came to be, but speculating about it sends me into a shark frenzy. Porky seeking power over the world that wronged him, at literally any cost. Giygas weaponizing a child's worst, most vengeful impulses. Porky ultimately usurping Giygas, at least in terms of agency. Witnessing the absolute horror his "master" becomes, and simply sidestepping out of the universe itself to dodge the mess he brought about. I like to imagine there was a period where Giygas was still cognizant enough to maintain a rapport with Porky - and that the two of them fucking hated each other. Both of 'em using the other as a means to an end, assured in the conviction they're the one with the upper hand. And they're kind of both wrong. Bloaw up da worl.

Favorite headcanon: Giegue/Giygas speaks (telepathically?) with a rural midwestern accent. Courtesy of the fine folks who raised him. Other aliens probably think it's weird and mondo cringe, but are too intimidated to say so.

[justforbooks]

Nothing can sum up Keith Giffen’s character better than the Facebook post he wrote to announce his own death at the age of 70: “I told them I was sick … Anything not to go to New York Comic Con. Thanx. Keith Giffen 1952-2023. Bwah ha ha ha ha.”

That eruption of maniacal merriment was recognised by comic fans as a last defiant laugh from the sardonic comic writer and artist, who has died of complications following a stroke, after a 50-year career during which he created many memorable characters including Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle), Rocket Raccoon, Ambush Bug and Lobo.

A Mexican-American teenager, Reyes first appeared in Infinite Crisis #3 (2006) and became Blue Beetle two issues later, when he gained superhuman powers via a scarab that morphs into an alien battle suit, eventually going on to appear in the 2023 Blue Beetle movie.

One of the stars of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies was created by Giffen early in his artistic career. Rocket Raccoon was a smart-mouthed anthropomorphic weapons expert who first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (1976), written by Bill Mantlo, who resurrected the character in his own four-part miniseries in 1985.

Among Giffen’s other early creations, Ambush Bug’s debut in DC Comics Presents #52 (1982) and its sequel, which involved the Legion of Substitute Heroes, were so successful that they led to several miniseries and one-shots drawn by Giffen featuring the absurd, fancifully dressed alien wannabe hero, and a one-shot Legion of Substitute Heroes Special (1985).

In 1982 Giffen joined the writer Paul Levitz on The Legion of Super-Heroes #287 and began transforming the series into a saga of considerable depth. One of the most popular storylines in comic book history, The Great Darkness Saga (#290-294, 1982), featured Darkseid as its cosmic villain and Legionnaires and other heroes from across time teaming up to confront him. As a result, Legion of Super-Heroes became one of DC’s bestsellers of the early 1980s.

Lobo, who first appeared in Omega Men #3 (1983), was intended as a parody of violent characters such as Wolverine, but became a poster boy for violence when Giffen teamed up with the writer Alan Grant and artist Simon Bisley for Lobo: The Last Czarnian (1990), which spawned numerous miniseries and specials in which Giffen continually pushed the envelope of acceptability as Lobo battled everyone from Santa Claus to his own children. Combat Christ and the Howlin’ Apostles proved to be DC’s limit.

Giffen was heavily involved in numerous crossover event series, designed, he said, to “significantly alter the status quo or introduce new characters into the status quo”, including Invasion! (1988), the weekly 52 (2006-07) and Countdown to Final Crisis (2007-08) for DC, and Annihilation (2006-07) from Marvel. His creativity and tongue-in-cheek humour earned him a loyal fanbase and he won an Inkpot award in 1991.

The son of Rosa Ann (nee Duncan) and James, a salesman for a textile company, Giffen was born in Queens, New York, but grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey. He was a fan of comics from the age of eight, when his mother handed him a copy of World’s Finest, and especially loved Marvel’s monster books and Gene Colan’s Giant-Man. He began creating his own characters at high school and went on to spend “one abysmal year” at the School of Visual Arts in New York (“the less said about that, the better”).

Apart from a year of night classes at duCret School of Art, New Jersey, Giffen was self-taught, studying books on anatomy and perspective during his four years working as a hazardous materials handler at Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceuticals. During a week’s holiday he decided to submit samples to comic companies. At Marvel, an artist had dropped out of illustrating a back-up story (The Sword and the Star) for Marvel Preview, and Mantlo, who had spotted Giffen’s portfolio, suggested they give him a try.

Giffen briefly produced layouts for Wally Wood on Justice Society of America for DC’s All Star Comics (1976), but was let go. After a period of selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door and other odd jobs, he tried again, drawing horror stories and Doctor Fate as a back-up strip in The Flash (1982), and working his way up to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

An accusation of “swiping” the work of José Muñoz in Ambush Bug (1985) – Giffen said he “parroted” it, rather than doing an outright copy – derailed his career for a time, until he was offered the chance to plot, and do breakdowns for, Justice League (1987-92) and its spinoff, Justice League Europe (1989-92), working with JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. He also plotted and did breakdowns for Aquaman (1989) and plots for L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89/’90 (1989-90), a superhero group spun off from Invasion.

The range of Giffen’s output over the next 30 years was astonishing. He drew the superhero parodies The Heckler (1992-93) and Punx (1995-96), the return of Justice League International in Justice League: Generation Lost (2010), and episodes of Outsiders (2011), O.M.A.C. (2011-12) and Infinity Man and the Forever People (2014-15). He plotted or wrote full scripts for Eclipso (1992-93), Vext (1999), Suicide Squad (2001-02), a biography of HP Lovecraft (2004), Blue Beetle (2006-07), Midnighter (2007-08), Wetworks (2007-08), Reign in Hell (2008-09), Doom Patrol (2009-11), Booster Gold (2009-11), Magog (2009-10), Justice League 3000 (2014-15) and The New 52: Futures End (2014-15), all for DC; and for Marvel he wrote stories featuring Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell (2005), Drax the Destroyer (2005-06), Defenders (2005-06), Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos (2005-06) and Annihilation spin-offs Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) and Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord (2007).

During the same period he also penned or plotted various comics for Image (1993-94) and Valiant (1994-96), adaptations of Japanese manga, Battle Royale (2003-06) and Battle Vixens (2004-10), for Tokyopop and 10 (2005), Hero Squared (2005-07), Planetary Brigade (2006-07) and others for BOOM! Studios. He was also a storyboard artist for the animated shows Batman Beyond and Static Shock, as well as writing episodes of Ed, Edd n Eddy and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network.

In early 2023 he produced a podcast titled I���m Not Dead Yet, and had recently moved to Tampa in Florida.

He is survived by his children, Kyle and Melinda. His wife, Anna, predeceased him.

🔔 Keith Ian Giffen, artist and writer, born 30 November 1952; died 9 October 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[mndvx]

"Army of the Dead has a pretty vast mythology that never made it into the movie.” says the Justice League director, "There’s actually a character from Rebel Moon in the Army of the Dead animated series that we never did." 

Snyder’s Army of the Dead series started in 2021 with the Army of the Dead movie, starring Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista and Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell in a post-apocalyptic and zombie-ridden Las Vegas, a few months later the sequel Army of Thieves was released. The animated series that Snyder mentions, titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, was supposed to hit Netflix straight after the first two movies but was never completed. 

lost vegas is joever rip in peace

[fluorynn]

✧˚.❃ ↷¡ 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄 ! ˊ-

✧˚ I have a distinct name, I suppose you could say, so I rather be called Nyrr for short — pulled from my actual name, lol!

✧˚ I like who I like — no preferable label to be sincere !

✧˚ I was born on the 18th of July ( I am to turn 19 this year ), raised and born in Houston Texas (…it be hectic out here sometimes — weather is incredibly bipolar ) though I am Hispanic due to both my parents being from Mexico 🇲🇽!!

✧˚ I am the eldest child in my family, so the responsibility can be a bit much at times, especially with the youngest children. I adore my family despite the many times we’ve clashed against one another — I’d do anything for them :)

✧˚ Truth be told, I never thought there was a loving fandom that writes for Avatar — until I came across Tumblr and was bewildered but full of anticipation to witness this! I’ve watched from the sidelines for awhile, but now I think I’ve gained a bit of familiarity with Avatar, and my writing skills — so I really hope you enjoy what I give! I love meeting new people — so please don’t hesitate in asking/mentioning anything within my ask box!

✧˚.❃ ↷ ¡ 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 / 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 !

.❃ hobbies of mine : writing — wether it be stories or thoughts or poetries or little notes, going to the library, reading, reading reading! drawing ( I would say I’m slightly above an average artist, lol ) clay ! Analyzing, deeply thinking of quotes, poetry.

.❃ music artists I listen to on a daily base : Hozier, Stephen Sanchez, Novo Amor, Noah Kahan, QUEEN, The Weeknd, Kevin Karl, Rebecca Sugar, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ricky Montgomery, SZA, Backstreet Boys, Ainslie Wills, Montell Fish, Morgan Clae, Aventura, Darell, Zach Bryan, Luke Combs

.❃ films / series I have on repeat that perhaps is not healthy but it’s okay : Avatar ( 1&2 OFC ), HTTYD (every film, every series of it — besides the reboots —) Lo Que La Vida Me Robo, Bridgerton, The Book of Life, Hamilton, Steven Universe ( the film and the sequel series included ) Kubo and the Two Strings ( such an underrated film ) every single MARVEL film ( Black Widow & Guardians of the Galaxy especially…UGH ) Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War For the Planet of the Apes, Netflix’s YOU series, Strawberry Panic, Komi Can’t Communicate

.❃ Favorite emojis : 🪼, 🌌, 🌃, 🫧, 🌄, 🌆, 🌠, 🎆,🦕

.❃ Current favorite songs :

Gone, Gone, Gone [ Phillip Phillips ]

The Pool ( single ) [ Stephen Sanchez ]

Easy On My Eyes and Angel Face ( 2 albums ) [ Also Stephen Sanchez ] ( any song of Stephen Sanchez is the most purest, sweetest of words ever )

Abrazando a Ti [ Kevin Karl ] ( any song of his is so beautiful too— )

Like Real People Do [ Hozier ] ( he is LIVING POETRY GUYS, every breath uttered from this man is poetry )

Special [ SZA ] ( my beloved )

✧˚.❃ ↷ Tag System

*⁀➷ ŋყཞཞ’s replies¡! — 🎆 (replies to ask box!!)

ŋყཞཞ’ʂ recs¡! — 📖🪼 ( other amazing writer’s work!)

ŋყཞཞ’ʂ reblogs¡! — 🌌 ( reblogs!)

𝐍¥𝐑𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐍 !*ೃ༄ ( my writing!)

ŋყཞཞ rambles¡! — 🫧 ( just random rants, lol )

— 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐙𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 :

❝ 𝘋𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴? ❞

— 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔

❝ 𝗪𝗲’𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗜 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆: 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗲. ❞

— 𝙸, 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚗 ( 𝙸𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 ), 𝚑𝚘𝚣𝚒𝚎𝚛

[denimbex1986]

'Coming to the end of Barbenheimer weekend, here are my stats. I have seen Barbie, but I have not seen Oppenheimer. This is not a feminist or aesthetic decision. It’s because Barbie is one hour and 54 minutes long, while Oppenheimer is just over three hours long.

I’m not alone in being perturbed by the length of the movie; over the weekend on TikTok and Twitter people posted the exact time that it was safe to go to the bathroom during Christopher Nolan’s epic. Others shared the app RunPee which is specifically created for this purpose (if you’re interested, it’s when Oppenheimer’s brother first comes on screen, apparently). These people are well practised at the art of knowing what parts of a cinematic epic can be missed because, lately, it seems filmmakers are well practised in the art of making movies and flat out refusing to cut them down to non-epic length.

James Cameron’s original Avatar came in at two hours 42 minutes. A decade later, Avatar: The Way of the Water, comes in at three hours and 12 minutes. The original Dune (1984) came in at two hours 17 minutes. Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel to his reboot is slated to be three hours and 15 minutes. Even non-cinematic releases have embraced epic length; Netflix’s Blonde, released last year, was two hours and 46 minutes long, which felt reasonable given that three years before The Irishman ran for three hours 29 minutes. Ari Aster’s breakout horror, Hereditary, was a reasonable two hours and seven minutes. His follow up a year later, Midsommar, came in at two hours 28 minutes. Beau Is Afraid, released earlier this year, was two hours 59 minutes. Then there is Zac Snyder’s extended cut of Justice League that comes in at a criminally long four hours and two minutes.

Back in 2019 when Martin Scorsese released The Irishman, a long run-time was seen as a problem rather than what it is now; a thing to be endured or a badge of honour. “Meanwhile, traditional Hollywood studios beholden to box office sales have become progressively risk-averse in recent years (producing a three and a half hours-long film definitely counts as a risk, no matter how esteemed Scorsese is),” one article reported at the time. “A fact the filmmaker recently lamented when he argued that ‘cinema is gone.’ Perhaps The Irishman will help bring it back, if audiences can gear up for the long haul.”

It seems that the long movie is now a badge of honour for directors, screeners and filmmakers. Longer is more theatrical, more expensive, more intrinsically artistic. Compare this to previous cult movies that a generation before were noted both for their impact and for their short runtime; La Haine is only one hour 38 minutes long, Gummo is only 89 minutes long, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pink Flamingos, Kids, Trainspotting — all really very short! But nowadays the ‘kill your darlings’ editing method has been inverted. “Most long films could be promoted as special and prestigious,” Dana Polan, a cinema studies professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, told Variety. “There was an assumption that length equaled quality. It’s almost to say, we’ve spent the money — let’s flaunt it.”

I had a theory that, given these lengthy blockbuster examples, the 90 minute movie was simply gone, done, over. But then I looked back at the past year’s releases and was proved sadly wrong. Rye Lane was one hour and 22 minutes long. Aftersun also ran at just over 90 minutes. As did Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, and Sydney Sweeney’s Reality. Even Infinity Pool and A24’s The Whale were both under two hours long. Clearly 90 minute films still are around, but why does it feel like films are getting longer then. Why do we spend so much time talking about the long ones?

“These days, there’s a lot of talk about long running times,” Sarah Atkinson, professor of screen media at King’s College London, told The Guardian last year following the release of Tenet (which somehow didn’t even reach three hours). It’s all part of incentivising people to go out and pay for a ticket, which they won’t do unless it’s for something special – a big, epic film. Just look at the Marvel franchise: almost every one is well over two hours.” Film length isn’t going up, she concluded, but we think it is. Why? Sarah believed it was simply down to good, savvy marketing.

One other answer could be that our attention span is just worse now. That our attention span is destroyed, actually, by short form social media video and constantly having access to information chopped up to be digested as quickly as possible. We watch TV at double speed or 1.5 speed with the subtitles on. We can look up the plot on Wikipedia and even if we can’t be bothered to go to the cinema and figure out when it’s safe to pee, in six months or a year’s time we can watch whatever film we missed on TikTok anyway, chopped up into parts in a post-123 Movies age of piracy. Even if this doesn’t captivate us enough, someone will have edited those cut-up clips further, and put them above or alongside clips from Subway Surfer or Temple Run or people making cakes or pushing vodka bottles down flights of stairs to see if they break. We don’t ever have to concentrate long enough to take anything in. We can always be distracted.

It’s true also that longer movies always did exist, especially for vast historical epics like Oppenheimer. Lawrence of Arabia, released in 1962, ran at three hours and 42 minutes originally (it was cut down by both 20 and 35 minutes in later releases before being extended to three hours 48 minutes in 1980). Further back, 1939’s Gone with the Wind was three hours and 44 minutes long. Cleopatra, one of the world’s longest cinematic commercial films ever, was released in 1963 and is three hours and 53 minutes long. But a generation later, longer films made headlines when they tried to embrace the epic-runtime set by their predecessors. James Cameron’s Titanic – three hours 14 minutes – was originally released for home media in a two VHS bundle to account for its length. All of the Harry Potter movies were just under or over three hours long; Chris Columbus and later directors knew that the franchise’s rabid fan-base would watch, no matter the length, and so studios would pay for big, lengthy productions too. Even accounting for the amount of lore creators had to include, the length is frequently cited as one of the flaws of the series, which is now being remade into more easily digestible TV sized chunks.

For Oppenheimer though – Christopher Nolan’s longest movie to date – the length doesn’t seem to be off-putting, even with the fact the movie’s 70mm film reels are clocking in at over 600lbs (I did actually try to see it, but every cinema close enough to make is sold out even today). Perhaps we’re just more used to a modern lengthy epic than we used to be. It made just over $80 million in opening weekend takings, making it the director’s biggest non-Batman box office hit to date. Barbie, for transparency’s sake, did take $150 million in the same weekend. Despite its three hour length people still embraced Barbenheimer weekend, going to one movie and then the other, spending an entire day at the cinema, unfatigued and impressed. Maybe Barbenheimer weekend is not just what we needed to reinvigorate movie theatres, but what we needed to fix our broken attention spans. We have become death, destroyer of short films.'

[its-to-the-death]

Glasses Swag Sequel Round 1

Time to start the tournament! Here is our bracket:

I can tell some of these are going to be crazy already. The matchups are randomized so blame the computer if you don't like them. The pictures are always a little small first round, but the matchups will also be listed below the cut of this post. Once the polls are out, they'll link to their designated poll.

Just for the first round, I'm going to split the polls across two days. The first batch will be out on Wednesday, June 5 and the second batch will be out Thursday, June 6. All polls run for a week.

Propaganda is always welcome and I will reblog anything that has at least a little explanation as to why your glasses character is superior.

Be nice and have fun!

Wednesday, June 5 polls

Adrian Andrews (Ace Attorney) vs Sniper/Mick Mundy (Team Fortress 2)

Kristopher Gavin (Ace Attorney) vs Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Peter Spankoffski (Nerdy Prudes Must Die) vs Stanley Pines (Gravity Falls)

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (The Muppets) vs Maria Calavera (RWBY)

Stanford Pines (Gravity Falls) vs Waldo (Where's Waldo)

Medic/Ludwig (Team Fortress 2) vs Seymour Krelborn (Little Shop of Horrors)

Specs/Glasses (Splatoon manga/Coroika) vs Odile (In Stars and Time)

Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) vs Garnet (Steven Universe)

Klaus Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events) vs Dr. Newton Geiszler (Pacific Rim)

Ibara Saegusa (Ensemble Stars!!) vs Dirk Strider (Homestuck)

Lilith Clawthorne (The Owl House) vs Kei Tsukishima (Haikyuu)

Tedd Verres (El Goonish Shive) vs Liu Sang (Daomu Biji)

Trisana Chandler (Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce) vs Jackson Jekyll (Monster High)

Yakou Furio (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) vs Baizhu (Genshin Impact)

Tsumugi Aoba (Ensemble Stars!!) vs Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time)

Edward Nygma/The Riddler (DC) vs Chuckie Finster (Rugrats)

Thursday, June 6 polls

Lawrence Fletcher (Phineas and Fern) vs Sissel (Ghost Trick)

Dave Strider (Homestuck) vs Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)

Sadness (Inside Out) vs Coco Adel (RWBY)

Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium) vs Austin Powers (Austin Powers)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) vs Tomi Kisaragi (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)

Shen Wei (Guardian) vs Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo) vs The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai) vs Lil Hal/Autoresponder (Homestuck)

Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs Taylor Hebert/Skitter (Worm/Parahumans)

Colress (Pokemon) vs Sci-Twi (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls)

Halara Nightmare (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) vs Bedman/Romeo (Guilty Gear)

Riz Gukgak (Dimension 20: Fantasy High) vs Newton Pulsifer (Good Omens)

Jason Grace (Heroes of Olympus) vs Xianyun (Genshin Impact)

Qifrey (Witch Hat Atelier) vs Palamedes Sextus (The Locked Tomb)

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) vs Calvin's dad (Calvin and Hobbes)

Cricket (Wings of Fire) vs Agatha Heterodyne (Girl Genius)

[scotianostra]

Happy 35th Birthday the Bonnie Lassie Karen Gillan, born in Inverness November 28th 1987.

Karen loved acting early on and worked in several youth theatre groups. After gaining an HNC Acting and Performance course at Edinburgh’s Telford College she moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency before working as an actress. Karen appeared in Rebus in 2006 but it was her casting as the Doctor’s companion, Amy Pond, on the long-time hit U.K. sci-fi TV program Doctor Who that led to her career breakthrough.

In her charity work she has helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and opened a ward at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2013 she shaved her hair off for.

A favourite with US fans on the show, Karen took the big step over to Hollywood in the TV show NTSF:SD:SUV  an American television comedy. Staying in America she was then cast the lead in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC.

It is not all Hollywood with Miss Gillan  as she returned to Scotland to star in an indie Scottish romantic comedy called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott, who she incidentally shares a birthday with but is 4 years his junior. It’s a decent film, if you want to watch it you can find it on Amazon Prime, or Netflix.

On 2nd November 2016, it was announced that Gillan was to write, direct and star in her feature directorial debut with Burbank-based development and production company Mt. Hollywood Films’ indie drama project titled Tupperware Party.  Set in her home city of Inverness released in 2018 and retitled The Party’s Just Beginning, It’s a decent first effort from Karen and it will be interesting to see if she continues to write and direct in the future.

No matter what she decides to do Karen Gillan will find no shortage of work, I counted 10 films since The Party’s Just Beginning till this year, and another four projects in varying stages of production, including the third in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Karen has supported the charities Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) and helped out Great Ormond Street Hospital and earlier this year she visited the Mikeysline crisis support centre in Inverness after presenting her film The Party’s Just Beginning. The film is about the high suicide rate in the Scottish Highlands, and Gillan made a public pledge to support the mental health charity.

Last year Karen says she misses Inverness and wants to swap LA for Scottish Highlands. When asked if she pined for her home town, she said: “Yes, I do - every single day, I’m so homesick. I keep looking up houses in the Highlands, thinking I’m just going to move back . But then, for some reason, I can never seem to do it and there’s always some work reason not to and now I’m in Los Angeles, even though it’s not my favourite city in the world.

In 2021 Karen starred in the action crime thriller,  Gunpowder Milkshake, which is available on Netflix, apparently they have already confirmed they want a follow up sequel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit the cinemas next May and Rhona Who Lives by the River an animated  TV Series for Disney+. will also air.

On being asked about her nationality once Karen commented

I am legitimately Scottish. I can officially say - yes. Yeah, I am from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. The last two pics are from this weekends Tokyo Comic con, where Kaaren was presented with flowers and a cake to mark her birthday, don’t you just love the cat sweatshirt! 

[rhela-xiv]

Character Inspirations

I figured it was about time to redo this!

Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) - Spike (mostly in the earlier parts of the series) was one of the earliest inspirations for Rhela, and it still shows through in her personality. The ever present cigarette and ambivalent attitude definitely stuck with her, as did his sarcasm. Like Spike, she has no apparent fear of death and will throw herself into danger though it is rarely, if ever, out of an interest in protecting others.

Mathilda (Léon: The Professional) - This one is more to do with Rhela's past -- there are definitely shades of Mathilda and Leon between Rhela and her first mentor. While the motivation of revenge is missing, like Mathilda Rhela was too young for the circumstances she put herself in.

Letty (The Fast and The Furious) - {we do not acknowledge the sequels in this house} Mostly an aesthetic inspiration, Rhela still shares some of Letty's traits. Not exactly "one of the boys" but far more masc leaning. Rhela doesn't have "family", even found family, but those she considers important to her are her highest priority and she will do anything for them.

Nikita (La Femme Nikita) - {not to be confused with the tv show. yes i am aware that i have two Besson films on here} Rhela was a street kid in Kugane before landing herself with the Empire, and while her story has much less "vague yet menacing government agency" than La Femme Nikita, Rhela was still very much turned into a weapon.

Billy Butcher (The Boys) - Butcher is on here more for his attitude. Rhela is foul mouthed and shares Butcher's propensity toward violence. They are both resistant to showing emotion or attachment, even if they do feel protective of some people. In pursuit of her goals, or jobs, Rhela is utterly ruthless and there is little she will not do.

Casca (Berserk) - {specific to the Golden Age arc} I was a little bit hesitant to put her on here, because Rhela existed long before I read Berserk. I also debated if she leans more toward Casca or Guts. That said, I ultimately have to go with Casca for her devotion that borders on worship. Rhela is an extremely capable fighter, and can lead in the right circumstances, but she is happier serving someone else's cause. The "I want to be his sword" panel in particular screams Rhela.

Honorable mentions - these weren't added either because they aren't strong enough, or because they came around after Rhela existed as a character. - Guts (Berserk) - Tommy Shelby, Arthur Shelby, and Aunt Pol (Peaky Blinders) - Fordola (FFXIV) - Rocket (Guardians of the Galaxy) - Literally any other Michelle Rodriguez character

[littleragondin]

perhaps 6, 17, 19, and/or 25? happy break <3

Thank youuuu (*´▽`*).｡ｏ♡ (I am going to sleep. SO much.)

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

Was there ever... I will not touch all the books I have started but not finished yet (or we'll spend the day here) but I'd say "The World We Make" by N.K. Jemisin. I loved "The City We Became" and finally got the sequel early this year, excited to go back to that story.

It has since been hanging, beautiful, colorful, untouched, on one of my shelves 🙈

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

Actually, yes. This year I read "七爷 (Lord Seventh)" by priest after watching Word of Honor and ended up delightfully surprised. It was very different from what I was expecting, with a lot of political intrigues and murders, which I LOVED, and I devoured the whole thing in a few days. I will definitely read more priest stuffs (starting with "天涯客 (Faraway Wanderers)" but I also want to catch "Guardian" now that it's getting an official translation).

Also got pleasantly surprised when I re-read "Escalier C" by Elvire Murail. It's technically an old favorite, but I had not read it in a very long while and I was glad to find it as good a read as 10+ years ago.

19. Did you use your library?

Yes! I did not borrow a lot this year (and I think I will always be more of a buyer), but I have gone in there to just... hang out and work on my thai lessons or read. I spent a whole afternoon there reading "Nothing to see there" by Kevin Wilson sometimes in spring and it was the *best* day.

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

I'll set my "20 books" goal again, for sure. Go back to and finish "A La Recherche du Temps Perdu" !! that's my big one. I also want to go back to reading a bit more mangas/comics/graphic novels, I fell off that wagon lately when I actually really enjoy it. But I try not to put too much pressure on myself or I won't do any of it lol

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ANIMEJAPAN 2023: LE MILLEMILA NOVITÀ DALL'EVENTO (PARTE 4)

La seconda stagione di Mushoku Tensei arriverà a luglio!

Ecco la quarta e ultima parte del resoconto più lungo di sempre, in cui ho raccolto ben 49 NEWS diverse, alle quali in verità si sarebbero potuti aggiungere altri mini update su cast e simili, che non ho incluso.

Senza contare che ci sono stati anche annunci concomitanti, grazie al fatto che i due giorni di fiera sono stati "strategicamente" piazzati a fine stagione televisiva.

Vorrei poter dire che l'AnimeJapan 2023 è stato un gran evento, con tanti aggiornamenti attesi, bei video e annunci interessanti, cosa che in effetti è stato, ma rigurgitare più di una cinquantina di notizie nel giro di 48 ore per me rimane follia pura. Una cosa resa ancor più ridicola e insensata, dal fatto che il tutto è stato comunque preceduto da un'ondata di video e annunci ugualmente importante. Eh sì, vorrei dire che è finita qua e che ora ci rilassiamo mentre aspettiamo l'inizio della stagione primaverile, ma ci sono un ANIME RECAP che prende la polvere nelle bozze e altre cosine uscite fuori sempre negli ultimi giorni che aspettano di essere condividere con voi.

Nel frattempo, fatemi sapere quali delle millemila novità vi è piaciuta di più!

 🔶🔸MUSHOKU TENSEI: JOBLESS REINCARNATION

Trailer e doppia locandina per la seconda stagione della serie, che arriverà su Crunchyroll a partire da luglio. Prima di quanto mi aspettassi!

Da notare che i nuovi episodi sono parzialmente in mano ad un nuovo staff: la regia, la sceneggiatura e il character design infatti sono curati, rispettivamente, da Hiroki Hirano (assistente di regia nella seconda parte della prima stagione), Toshiya Ono (Shadows House, 86) e Sanae Shimada (Photokano, Utopa).

 🔶🔸THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER

Anche per quanto riguarda la terza stagione del popolare reverse isekai, l'appuntamento è stato ufficialmente fissato per luglio.

Chissà se Crunchyroll aggiungerà anche la prima stagione prima o poi, al momento rimaniamo solo con la seconda.

🔶🔸 FATE/STRANGE FAKE - WHISPERS OF DAWN

Abbiamo finalmente la nuova data di debutto, boys! Inizialmente atteso per Capodanno, lo special verrà ora trasmesso il 2 luglio!

È stata menzionata anche una world premiere, che si terrà a Los Angeles, ma non ne sono stati svelati i dettagli. Anteprima all'Anime Expo che si tiene in quegli stessi giorni? 🤔

🔶🔸THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: FOUR KNIGHTS OF THE APOCALYPSE 

Nova locandina e secondo trailer per la serie sequel di The Seven Deadly Sins, in arrivo sulle tv giapponesi da ottobre.

Ad ora, nessuno si è pronunciato ufficialmente sulla distribuzione in streaming, quindi non vi so dire se anche questa la vedremo su Netflix o no.

🔶🔸 PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON COSMOS

Secondo trailer anche per il capitolo finale della nuova serie ispirata all'iconico manga di Naoko Takeuchi!

Come il precedente film d’animazione, sbarcato su Netflix nell'estate 2021, anche questa volta le vicende verranno raccontate in due parti: la prima metà dell'arco Shadow Galactica debutterà in Giappone il 9 giugno, mentre la seconda verrà proiettata il 30 giugno.

 🔶🔸THE GREAT CLERIC

Primo promo per la commedia fantasy isekai, tratta dalla light novel firmata Broccoli Lion.

La serie andrà in onda da luglio ed è diretta da Masato Tamagawa (The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt).

🔶🔸THE KINGDOMS OF RUIN

Primo trailer anche il fantasy drama tratto dal violento manga di Yoruhashi, verrà trasmesso sulle tv giapponesi a partire da ottobre.

L'adattamento è in produzione presso YOKOHAMA ANIMATION LAB (The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt), dietro alla regia di Keitaro Motonaga (She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man, Digimon Adventure tri).

🔶🔸 A GIRL & HER GUARD DOG

La serie school romance, basata sullo shojo manga di Hatsuharu (I won’t ever like you, My senpai, Can I Kiss You Every Day?), arriverà in autunno, a partire da ottobre.

In lavorazione presso PROJECT No.9, l'anime ha come regista Nobuhiro Takamoto (Beelzebub, VazzRock the Animation).

🔶🔸RINKAI!

Anime e manga in arrivo per l'originale progetto crossmediale incentrato sul ciclismo femminile.

Per ora sappiamo solo che il fumetto verrà lanciato nel corso di quest'anno e che nel cast della serie figurano già Umino Kawamura e Azusa Aoi.

🔶🔸KAWAGOE BOYS SING

Mostrato un primo teaser per l'originale serie musicale diretta da Atsushi Matsumoto (Brothers Conflict), che al momento non ha ancora un periodo di debutto.

* NON VUOI PERDERTI NEANCHE UN POST? ENTRA NEL CANALE TELEGRAM! *

Autore: SilenziO))) Se usate Twitter, mi trovate lì! 

blogger // anime enthusiast // twitch addict // unorthodox blackster - synthwave lover // penniless gamer // INFJ-T magus