#i mean Yeah its the soap-opera-esque drama of it all

[scarletttbitch]

rewatched like most of the Saw movies this weekend so I could fully enjoy Saw 10 (bc, shocker, its a 'prequel' kinda) and like... fuck dude i love this series so much and i really do not understand why

[norcumii]

For shits and giggles and I honestly couldn’t tell you why, I started listening to the Clone Wars movie commentary, by Filoni and...others?

Putting aside that at least 50% of it is some form of “ALL HAIL GEORGE,” which...yeah. Fine, whatever – there’s been an interesting thread I’m trying to chase down mentally. So, er, late night musings ahead.

They keep talking about how they tossed this line into the editing, or how George is all about tweaking the story in the editing room – and how that’s all about building the final vision. How in order to get a good laugh, in this bit the droid suddenly has the intellectual/philosophical context to ask “Whhhyyyy?” as its being tossed off a cliff to its doom and that was all added several editing rounds in.

And this has been bugging me. Not just because it’s cheap humor and might be good for a startled guffaw but not once one steps back and looks at the picture because ouch, that’s...pretty ugly. Also, this is COMPLETELY ignoring my instincts to snort and be bitchy about George Lucas’ ego and Marcia Lucas saving the OT in the editing room.  

See, my first instinct is to be cautiously approving of this approach. You write a fic, you edit, you edit some more, you get a beta and you tweak depending on their suggestions, and then you post. That’s what these people are talking about, right?

But if that were the case, then why do I spend so much time bitching about how Star Wars NEVER follows through on story lines, and they never spend a fraction of the time we do trying to figure out logistics and political folderol, and – there’s got to be something I’m missing.

I had to step back and look at my usual fonts of inspiration, Aaron Sorkin and Greg Weisman – the latter in particular given how he got tapped for Rebels.

Sorkin is a masterclass pantser. I have no idea what his process is, aside from procrastinating and getting quality scripts in JUUUUST under the wire (or often after that fact). Greg’s more a note-card, organizational type. Not much useful comparing those to what sounds like “George Lucas has An Idea, we try to execute it with our spin, and then Lucas comes in and has more suggestions. If all else fails we pull all-nighters and then wing it for George.”

They’ve mentioned cutting some things, and altering others, so it’s not just a matter of these people just add to things, whereas I know the other two have talked about cutting extraneous stuff a lot. So it’s not something vague about keep cutting the fat.

Something about that notion tweaked a thought, though. The Lucas approach here seems to be taking a storyline, then going in and brushing it up – and the focus seems to be on how to buff up moments. “We have a segment here, how do we give it more punch? Ok, add a joke. How do we buff up the next segment? Apply changes to that thing.” Add in the mantra they keep repeating in the commentary, about how it always has to be new, how for instance if you have a Rancor scene, it can’t just be a rehash or similar to the classic Return of the Jedi rancor scene, it has to have a new twist.

(….OH. And a belated realization that this is one of the things they DIDN’T do for the sequel trilogy, as compared to the prequels! Episode 7 was a rehash, but there wasn’t enough new angles, whereas the prequels were taking the same structure but putting in new scenarios. Maybe? Something for me to chew on later.)

Anyway. What all this does is take a storyline, and focus on those moments.

That DOESN’T look to the greater plot.

Greg approaches a season as a storyline. He has his tiers and tentpost episodes, but it all builds along an arc. Sorkin also has season long plots and themes.

Consequences. The Clone Wars never deals with consequences. They’re so busy punching up a scene they never look to what precedes or follows it, so there’s never any fall out for things other than in a broad, hand-wavy way –

oooooh.

They got so caught up in the theory about this week’s adventure in the Flash Gordon-esque production that they never looked to the overall plot. Like how in soap operas characters would get horrible diseases, need to get organs removed (multiple times) and the like – it’s so tied up in Teh Drama of the moment that there’s never someone going around saying “yeah, uh, this character used to have a kid we might want to remember that.”

So while there’s attempts to show Anakin being disillusioned with the Jedi – see the entire Rako fiasco – there never feels like any actual BUILD there, just moments of “why would you DO that you beTRAYed me Obi-Wan!” without the context we the fans labor so hard to structure. Sure, we can see how Obi-Wan reacts in the few seconds of screentime at the beginning of that arc – hunched over in the Council chamber, with the body language of someone who’s been browbeaten and argued into a fucked up and patently absurd scheme – but we never get more than hints that this is something he never wanted to do.

And then it never gets mentioned again. We can build consequences beyond “and then one day Anakin Falls and becomes Vader!” – I wholeheartedly believe that Rex (one of the most identifiable clones out there) wore Jaig eyes on the Onderon mission entirely as a message to SOMEONE about how he might have to be clandestine, but he’s not about to abandon his identity – but it’s all speculation and personal perspectives.

All the long term consequences are drowned out in the minutia of the moment. Filoni mentioned early on about how the clones check their wounded and call for medics to drive home that these are people, not cannon fodder – while unironically using them as cannon fodder. The only times they’re not used that way is when the deaths are furthering someone’s – usually Rex’s – particular storyline. The bit about a clone calling for a medic is great for a moment, but the followthrough is never pursued unless a different moment might be richer for it and someone on staff happens to remember.

It occurred to me that this is also part of my problems with Avatar the Last Airbender. Look, I’m fascinated by the meta worldbuilding, and some of the themes, but when there’s regular breaks in the dramatic tension by yet another snot joke, I do not have patience for it. I don’t like storytelling that feels the need to step back and jam in humor on the regular every [X] minutes because otherwise executives are worried that the kids will stop caring. And maybe that’s not what’s going on, but if it rubs me that way I’m disinclined to sit through hours and fucking hours of it without an enthusiastic guide.

However, that does explain Lucasfilms’ obsession with Filoni. He seems to thrive on that sort of storybuilding. Take a segment. See how to punch it up. Move on to the next segment.

This, right here, IS one of my problems with Rebels, that was so painful but intermittent through season one. It’s even worse in later seasons – none of which Greg worked on, which. Yeah. Fuck, I am going to have to do that watch through at some point. I mean, throughout Rebels, I could see the worldbuilding and structure, but then it’d get yanked off into left field by this week’s inane gag or absurdist moment or random ass THING they need to cover because oh yeah, they’re trying for an overarching plot and should probably include the thing before it’s immediately relevant.

Back to Clone Wars. I think the problem was too much inspection of segments, and people didn’t often step back and say “where is this storyline going?” Getting too caught up in the moment to check if the scene or gag moved the overall plot and themes along. They got so concerned about doing everything with a fresh new twist they never came back to points, never raised up old elements to say “look how far we’ve come” or “here is how that thing affected people and the plot.”

It’s funny, how something with so much scope can get hamstrung by all the fiddly little details.

[ringsy-flamingsy]

Top 5 plots you'd like to see for Ringsy?

Ooh, this is such a good question, thank you!

1. I guess it’s obvious that I don’t like Tobias at all (and never did because I absolutely dislike the whole concept of his character), so I’d LOVE to see him fuck up. Badly. Like, the tries to manipulate Ringo and Easy’s relationship one too many times and Ringo finds out about it, but he decides to cover up for Tobias because he kinda still thinks that he doesn’t deserve Easy anyway. But Easy refuses to believe that Ringo has fallen back into old habits and confronts Tobias, who decides to dish up one of his “I didn’t want to lose my best friend to my half-brother”-sob stories, but his relationship with Ringo has made Easy gain so much confidence that he’s finally able to stand up for himself and his boyfriend. In the end, Easy decides to move out of the flat and in with Ringo.

2. I want Kira to come back from Milan, even if it’s just for a short period of time (like, she decides to take a semester off from uni or something like that). Seriously. I need another person besides Easy and Paco to take Ringo’s side, and I want her to be strong and petty and put people into their place, especially the Kotzmeister.

3. Not Ringsy per se, but I want Ringo and Paco to deepen their friendship. Like, give me some goofy, light-hearted  buddy story line with them going on an adventure together. No drama, no injuries, no scheming, just them doing silly stuff and talking about whatever comes to their minds. And I’d love to see Easy and Elli be really happy about it because they love their husband / boyfriend a lot and want them to be happy.

4. I want Ringo, Easy and Paco to team up in order to ruin Huber Bau. Someting off-the-charts ridiculous, Mission: Impossible-esque. Gimme burglary, explosions, hostage-taking. I don’t care, just let me grab a bucket full of popcorn and watch my pretty shitty afternoon soap opera tap its full potential.And because this is insane wish fulfillment: I also want the storyline to end with Ringo starting to realise that he absolutely does want to marry Easy, thanks to all of the dramatique stuff that happened before, which leads to…

5. Yeah, I actually am that transparent: Ringsy wedding 2k18, preferably the most kitschy, tear-jerking Christmas wedding ever. I want Ringo to be the one who plans on proposing and he wants the proposal to be as beautiful as possible, and because he’s good ol’ Ringolino, he accidentally makes it look like he keeps a secret from Easy (and I mean a dark secret, not a happy one like a proposal). But surprise, Ringo is just a soppy little marshmallow with a sharp jawline and wanted to be a perfect future husband. :’)

(6.: PLOT TWIST: Ringo never ever lets go of Easy’s hand again. @unter uns writers: hire me.)

ASK ME MY “TOP 5/TOP 10” ANYTHING!

[ayyfour-blog]

Wrestlemania 34 preview!

It's been awhile since we've had a blog post, and aside from the NFL off season drama by Le'Veon Bell, my Steelers haven't provided much action (per usual).It's time to transition folks- Yes, this is still primarily a Steelers Blog, but lets not limit it to just that anymore. No, no, it's time for you to hear my random thoughts on ALL sports. Welcome to the new era of the blog. 

Wrestlemania 34 extravaganza!

Wrestling has always been something that kept my interest over the years. As with many others, the Attitude Era captured years of adolescence and teen angst and turned them into something I could really enjoy. Wrestling was an escape I could turn to weekly when I wanted to watch some ridiculousness that was the "male soap opera". Okay, enough defending my inner nerd, let that fucking freak flag fly! Let's get to some wrestling action, Bah Gawd!

Wrestlemania 34 is upon us this Sunday, and like many other wrestling nerds I will happily be playing WWF No Mercy on the N64 at 4pm, turning on the "kickoff show" at 5pm, and my eyes will be bleeding with a pounding headache at 12pm when the Undertaker decides to take step-after-step on a 700 yard ramp that he makes it halfway to the end of before they decide to finally just yell fucking cut and allow me to sleep. I love Wrestlemania and the WWE but this 7 hours worth of a show needs to end. Raw being 3 hours takes up too much of my time at this point, let's cut out the casual eyes matches and just get down to the nitty gritty. Prepare for another rant below..

Remember when wrestling used to have a Win/Loss record? I feel like this was more of something that took place in TNA's heyday, but the WCW really capitalized on Goldberg's streak. I miss that in a way, why can't it be run more like a league? The top record gets the title match. Period. Add some storylines here and there, but just showing up and declaring a title match doesn't cut it for me anymore.  I get it, its storyline and moment driven, but I'm a sports nerd, goddamnit, give me some fucking stats or KISS MY ASSSS! (sorry, having Vince McMahon flashbacks at the moment). If only there was a way the WWE could incorporate both into a show....

This years Wrestlemania actually provides the opportunity to capitalize on the win/loss record, although not quite in the manner I've wished for, as it still mostly revolves around storyline. The win-less Curt Hawkins very well may get his chance to get his first W Sunday, Asuka is looking to defend her streak since her developmental days at NXT, and the Undertaker finally gets a chance to get his final and well-deserved win against John Cena in a dream match. 

The Matches

Womens Battle Royal

This is a Kickoff show special and more than likely will be only paid attention to if it comes down to Sasha vs Bayley. Otherwise, this is second screen viewing while you're finishing up playing video games, Russian roulette, or whatever one does during the pre-game. I also bet we get some shitty "hey Bayley" song going during the match, because the fans will be bored enough from the beach ball by the time the actual showdown occurs. Sahsa wins.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal This is going to be another kickoff show sleeper, Dolph Ziggler has to be pissed to be in this matchup but likely will go over with a win. Big Cass could have an emergence in this match, but it also is likely that we see him as Braun's partner for the WWE Raw Tag Title match. Also very likely to see a Bray Wyatt return, Jeff Hardy (hopefully as brother Nero) return, and Kane. Goldust would be cool to have a Wrestlemania moment after his confrontation with Cena and awesome promos, but.. Matt Hardy Wins.

Cruiseweight championship- Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali One more kickoff show match. I'll be about 6 slices of pizza deep and sicker than hell from all the Oreo's. To be honest, I haven't watched much of the cruiser weights (are they on Raw, Smackdown, or do they still have their own show anyway?). I've heard great things about Mustafa Ali and am going with him because of this. yeah. Mustafa Ali wins.

MAIN SHOW! (THANK GOD)

Raw Tag Title: The Bar vs Braun Strowman and_(?)_

As I stated earlier, I think it would be awesome to give Curt Hawkins a chance to win. The giant wrecking machine takes the guy that can never catch a break, the undersized and underutilized talent in Curt Hawkins and carries him to his first victory. At Wrestlemania. For a title. The pop for this would be unreal, and those two would be completely over for a good while. But this is the WWE, so the other scenario is we get the return of Big Cass. Cass has no story line after Enzo is gone, so let's throw these two giants together and see what happens..

Strowman and Big Cass new champions.

Smackdown Tag Titles: Bludgeon Bros', USO's, Booty O's The Uso's vs the New Day have had classics each time they faced off. It was a complete bummer when the Bludgeon Bros interrupted the last match. I get it- but the WWE is trying to force the Bludgeon Brothers down the throats of the crowd. I get the tactic they've been using for a "slow build", but it's so easy to see this coming when they feed them jobbers week-after-week. They interrupt some of the WWE's premier talent to injure and shake up the tag team scene, however, this team is not over with the crowd and frankly can't keep my interest to watch a match. Especially with the atheletic-ness of the two teams that run the show in Smackdown. Unless they put on some sort of epic and fast beat down, I can't see this team getting over. But its the WWE, it's time for a shake-up, so.. Bludgeon Brothers win

US Title Match- Orton vs Roode vs Mahal vs Rusev Not alot of interest in this match whatsoever. Roode's face personality is about as interesting as Orton's, each made such a better heel. Orton was a complete master of a heel and his program vs HHH was epic when he basically kidnapped the McMahons. Roode was a pretty good heel in NXT and because his music is awesome WWE turned him face. A good song and entrance don't mean shit without character development.. which leads me to Mahal's title run. The build to this was awesome, but the quick escalation and shitty promos led to one of the worst title runs in WWE history. The story lines drew little interest and the story of "we dont like him because he's different" was completely played out. I feel like a face Jinder would actually go over pretty well, in a Rusev sort of way. But he's not Rusev. And never will be. ITS RUSEV DAY! Rusev wins! (exclamation because I'm excited about this one)

Intercontinental Title Match- Miz vs Balor vs Rollins The worst thing about this match was the fact that Rollins lost the gauntlet match that built to this. Seth finally had his chance to completely go over with the crowd since his return vs HHH, but they couldn't capitalize. Speaking of going over, Miz is one of the best heels in the biz. He does not deserve the fate he is about to receive, but I cannot see him coming out of this match the title holder. Which is a shame, he is set to be the longest running IC champ in history, but the kids love Balor Club and Shield T shirts! I really miss heel Rollins, and Balor Club was always a heel faction. Fuck it, turn em all heels! Rollins wins

Raw Womens Championship- Nia Jax vs Alexa Bliss We all know what's going to happen here- Nia is so fucking pissed at Alexa for calling her fat that she disembowels her and gets DQ'ed Alexa wins by DQ, Mickie gives her the "v-trigger" and starts her weird lesbian phase once again.

Smackdown Womens Championship- Charlotte vs Asuka This match will be fucking awesome and should honestly co-main event with Nakamura vs Styles. Charlotte is the best in the game and I really miss her heel run. She was sooo good at being a bitch, and her feud vs Sasha was incredible. I look forward to a great match and cannot wait for this one. The only issue I'm going to have is once Asuka's streak finally gets it's title to show her greatness....

Asuka wins, Carmella cashes in MITB and wins

Yes, Carmella is going to capitalize on the epic match we just saw with a Seth Rollins-esque Wrestlemania cash in

Daniel Bryan and Shane vs Sami and KO This match has had one hell of a build, whoever is writing for Smackdown has something right. No matches have long builds anymore, this has been coming since Sami helped KO at Summerslam by saving him from a Shane Hell in the Cell Elbow-through-a-table-signature-hyphenated-move. I can see Daniel winning and either a heel turn by himself or Shane, leading to a Summerslam feud between Shane-O-Mac and DB. Shane and Daniel win

Rousey and Angle vs Stephanie and HHH Get some popcorn and shotgun a few beers, this is gonna be a shitshow. As you know, Rousey's mic work has been as cringe worthy, if not more so than Kurts. HHH vs Kurt itself would have been a great match, then Stephanie vs Ronda could have been the ultimate popcorn match, but we're getting them both combined for some God-awful reason. Unless Ronda literally breaks Stephs arm in two like she forgot this shit isnt' real, I'm skipping this one. But just for the hell of it.. Ronda breaks Stephanie's arm, Rousey and Kurt win

WWE Title Match- Styles vs Nakamura Dream match for most, but it would be really nice to see what Nakamura is really about in the ring So far there's been a ton of hype and catchphrases and epic intros, but its time to deliver. AJ did it last year, let's bet Nakamura does it this year. Nakamura wins

Universal Title- Brock vs Roman This is the least interesting main even since Goldberg vs Brock's rematch. I barely have any interest and the build to this has been way too predictable. The only redeeming promo so far has been when Heyman told the WWE exactly what Brock thought of everyone, this sets up for an opportunity to turn Roman face, at least for one night, and win the WWE title uninterrupted. And with no more Brock, does Heyman serve as the mouthpiece for Roman? Roman Reigns wins

Other Stuff thats gonna happen.. Kid Rock's being inducted into the WWE hall of fame. I had no reasoning behind this until I realizerd it was a possibility the Undertaker would be back one more time. This sets it up perfectly, Kid Rock comes out, plays a shitty song, gets booed a little, then boom. You hear a couple power cords, Kid Rock screams "I am the American Badass" and you hear a Harley rev up. Yes folks. the last appearance of the Undertaker is the American Badasss. He gets the Win vs John Cena and rides off into the sunset. So that's it. Oh, of course must watch TV comes with the Raw and Smackdown after Mania, so you gotta stayed tuned those next few days to see what major changes the company has in store for 2018. 

In the famous words of D-X, are you ready!?