#i like the other newer trailer better it would be great if they kept that melodrama tonality

[angstysebfan]

PR Stunt Gone Wrong - Chapter 28

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Summary: You are a fellow actress in the MCU, Bucky’s love interest. You met Seb during the CA: WS and you guys hit it off. Chemistry on and off the set, but never dated until after Infinity War. During filming of FATWS, the pandemic caused everything to shut down. Seb offered you to spend quarantine with him, but somewhere along the lines, things go wrong and Seb makes a PR decision.

A/N: I was going to to this in a Bucky story, but then I decided to keep it Seb. With everything going on with Seb over the last several months, I came up with this story in my head. Obviously a lot of this is made up, but it is using what we know Seb has been doing over the last several months.

After Sebastian left, you spent a great deal of your time back on the beach, thinking. You were thankful that the area was quiet and empty and you could have time with your thoughts as you walked up and down the long beachfront with Tucker. You started thinking about everything, and got very overwhelmed. You decided to break everything down.

You started with Chase, since you both had a newer relationship, so not as much to think about. Chase was the one that was there for you when you fell apart. He came to your rescue like a knight in shining white armor. He held you when you cried, he told you all your feelings were valid, and he made you pick yourself up when you were down. He respected your ongoing feelings for Seb and never pressured you to move on.

When you both kissed the first time, you didn’t know what to think. Of course you liked it, but you immediately stopped it. You assumed it was because you weren’t over Seb. You convinced yourself that you didn’t have feelings for Chase. You tried to shut down anything that would have made you feel more for Chase, because he had become your best friend. You, eventually, let your walls down and allowed yourself to give in to temptation. 

At first you didn’t regret it, because nothing changed between you. As time went on, however, you started to have some feelings, and knew he did also. When he left you to film, you missed him, a lot. But now that you think about it, you did pretty well on your own. You were calling him every day, only when you needed advice. Most of the time you were too busy with work, or talking about the trial to talk to him. 

Going out to LA was amazing, and you are honestly happy you did it. Seeing him again, being with him, letting him in more, was perfect. You thought you were going to be out there for awhile, but you chose to leave. You wanted time to think. You were confused by your feelings for him, and for Sebastian.

Now Sebastian was a whole other matter. You have known him for so long, and have had so many ups and downs with him, you don’t know where to start. I guess the clue was when he didn’t choose you at first to be with. You were his fuck buddy, and nothing more. It took awhile for you both to get on the same page, and you decided to give him another chance. It was still rocky, but for the most part, you were happy.

You feel in love with him, hard. You started picturing a long life with him. Marriage, kids, growing old together, the works. You were too scared to tell him how you felt, thinking he would run away. Another clue, I guess. It took awhile, but he said it first. As mad as you were at him, your heart lit up like Christmas when you heard those words. When you finally said them back, you felt like the Earth shifted and everything was finally in their right place. 

The pandemic brought a lot of struggle for you both, but you kept going, together. It wasn’t until he was given the ultimatum of doing this PR relationship, or your career was going to be ruined. You still wish that he would have spoken to you. That he would have told you what was going on, so you could fight it together. But, “to protect you” he left you. Leaving you broke you, and then find out that he was with another woman, who was younger, and thinner, prettier (in your head), broke you more. 

Why would you believe that it wasn’t real? He didn’t answer your calls, texts, or any other communication. He only reached out after he saw you and Chase together, because he was jealous. Seeing him again for the first time, and seeing his sad eyes, all you wanted to do was run into his arms. You always wanted to protect him, just like he always wants to protect you. You can’t fault him for that, though you wish you could. 

But he fucking slept with the bitch! That is something you are not sure you can forgive. You swore you would never sleep with him again, but obviously that didn’t work out. You want to know why! Why did he have to sleep with her? He even admitted that he liked it. That is a smack in the face like no other.

You will never forget that day in your trailer, when he told you what was going on. You finally told him how you felt. That you hated him, which a part of you really does. You hate that he took it upon himself to do this without talking to you. You hate that he broke your heart and acted like it wasn’t a big deal. You hated that he slept with her who knows how many times. Your emotions got the better of you and slept with him. You made sure that there was no emotions except anger in that moment.

Since then, he has been patient, and understanding, and kind. Almost like the old Seb that you fell in love with. He has let you be a part of everything with the case, and has been behind you with all decisions you have made. Even telling you if you chose Chase, he would support it. You feel tears in your eyes thinking about that. 

Chase gave you up. Didn’t let you figure out your feelings. What if you want to be with him? Will be reject you? Is he with someone else now? Did he end it because he was jealous of the pictures with you and Sebastian? You’re glad you have this place to run away to, and still Sebastian found you. He came for you. To make sure you were ok, and safe, and that you knew you were not alone. 

Today when you slept with Sebastian, you knew it wasn’t just sex for him. He was making love to you. He took his time and worshipped you; just like he used to. He made you feel loved and cherished, and you would lie if you said you didn’t enjoy every second of it. You know Seb loves you, even though he was shit at showing you before, he has shown it recently. But is it enough? Can you trust that he will continue down this path of being open, honest, and truthful with you?

When you called Chase, you thought you just needed closure, but after the conversation, you feel like you still need to consider your feelings for him. You have 2 men who you care for greatly. You have a broken heart that was caused by both of them, you need to protect. What is the right way?

You start heading off the beach toward the house. The sun has practically set and it was getting cold. You feel like you have made your decision, but you want to sleep on it and see if you still feel the same way in the morning. Then you need to get the courage to tell everyone involved. 

No matter the outcome, you are doing this for you. You are making your own decisions now. You control your own destiny.

--

Chapter 27 / Chapter 29

What do you think her decision is? Oh and don’t worry, we will find out what happened to Ale. 2 more chapters and this one is in the books! Feedback is appreciated.

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[epicspheal]

Ok I may be still on an adrenaline high from today's present (even after a nap) BUT I made a post stating how if Pokemon Legends becomes it own series ( given how there's a ":" in between Legends and Arceus, implying to me that they're could be more), it would be a great opportunity for Gamefreak to go back to legendary lore, my main example being the Tao trio, and the possibility of seeing their true form ( the complete dragon)

Then I thought back to you and SwSh and went " wait, didn't Galar have some gaps in the history of Galar? Specifically with the wolves? " And I got excited again because the possibility of getting the aftermath of The Darkest Day, or before it. Whichever either shows the wolves as who they truly are OR make history more complicated ( equally as interesting).

Again this is all under the possibility that Pokemon Legends : Arceus isn't a stand-alone, which may not be the case but eh, let me speculate. I feel like it would be great for the Pokemon lore and context for some legendary Pokemon/ people of the Legends( like AZ or whoever was able to talk to Pokemon first for some N lore)

But yeah that's that. Sorry if this is so long, and I can't wait to here your thoughts!

Hi there ihopethisendswell! First off, please don’t ever apologize for sending me long asks or any type of ask really. Getting notifications in my inbox always make my day!

Second...the Legends trailer made my entire year for Pokemon. I mean I know it’s coming out in 2022 but that’s what I’m most excited for! Pokemon Legends: Arceus is dream come true for someone like me who enjoys lore and worldbuilding which is what this game seems to be promising. My favorite thing about Sinnoh has to be the lore that was introduced. From the presence of aura to the creation trio mythology this was the start of Pokemon really diving deeper into the lore. 

You and I are on the same page about the Tao trio and the original dragon. I’ve had many conversations over the past 24 hours about the implications of possibly seeing what it looks like. I know this blog absolutely dominated by SwSh but I’m an OG Gen 5 stan (as in having to defend it from people calling it the death of the franchise like how Gen 8 is being treated now). I’ve always been interested in the legendaries of Gen 5 and how they may have interacted with the humans back in ancient Unova. So much potential for not only the original dragon, but to learn more about Victini, the swords of justice and their distrust of humans, and the forces of nature as well!

And yes Galar definitely deserves a legends game. A medieval or even more ancient Galar is just ripe for lore exploration. One of my main criticisms of SwSh is how they tease so much but don’t go into detail, particularly with lore. Like there is so much potential there to learn about Zacian and Zamazenta and how they came across the rusted sword and shield. There’s also theories I’ve seen about how Spectrier and Glastrier could’ve been actually a single horse that Calyrex once rode and I’d love to see if that was truly the case or not. Plus there’s also potential for the origins of the Galar gym challenge to be shown in Pokemon Legends 

I also think of Kalos and how we can finally get some Zygarde lore. Zygarde is probably my favorite legendary of the newer generations and I was so hoping for a Pokemon Z and...my heart is still broken. Honestly Alola could really benefit from the legends game. I’m very vocal about my displeasure of the unique culture of Alola getting shafted hard in SM/USUM for other plots (especially when those plots could’ve been integrated better into the broader Alolan culture), so a chance to see an Alola that really centers the island challenge, the rituals of being kahuna or trial captain would be extremely cool to see. Hoenn, especially if we go with ORAS lore would be cool to see in a legends game, and we could get more information on the Draconids and the ancient Sootopolitans. Johto could give us insight of pre-burnt tower and see what the Pokemon were that would eventually be revived in to the beast trio. And Kanto honestly needs some ancient lore too.

Honestly, I’m really hoping the Legends does well. I think it’s a great step forward in the franchise and I want to see more games like this. The worldbuilding and lore potential is what has kept me a fan of Pokemon for years, and I’m glad there finally really looking to give that lore the attention it deserves!

[nevergenders]

some thoughts on mcr’s reunion

disclaimer that this is all just speculation, just my own thoughts.

we all know my chemical romance started after the events of september 11th, 2001. the band was formed out of a couple things:

the much-needed fight against the political climate at the time

the desperation for the members to make something of their lives, especially seeing as gerard was suicidal

creating art as an escape from the real world

catharsis

mcr provided this for many fans around the world, as well as for themselves. as gerard way once said, “it saved my life, and it’s there to save other people’s lives.” this is a well-known fact, as i’m sure many of us have experienced this.

mcr was also a vessel for growth, which we all witnessed. mcr was about working through trauma and mental health with many other people, all joined together by one band. mcr was about being true to yourself and finding a place of community. i liked how gerard put it: “Fiction. Friction. Creation. Destruction. Opposition. Aggression. Ambition. Heart. Hate. Courage. Spite. Beauty. Desperation. LOVE. Fear. Glamour. Weakness. Hope. Fatalism.”

when the band broke up, in gerard’s vigil on birds and glass, gerard writes about the metaphor of the bird that flew into their house, trying to escape through a window and continually hitting the glass. i think the metaphor is clear when you consider when gerard talked about writing the ever elusive mcr5, “the paper kingdom,” during which he realized he was very depressed, and the most suicidal he had felt since the band’s inception.

this mindset was captured in “fake your death.” the lyrics are extremely self-critical, and seem to convey, more clearly than mcr lyrics usually tend to be, that he felt like the whole course of the band was for absolutely nothing; people still hurt, and so did they; their career was meaningless; they never really helped anything. it’s incredibly depressing to listen to, and upsetting to think that he ever felt that way. 

another thing from his essay was that he referred to the band as being a perfect machine with a fail-safe box that would detonate if certain events occurred. looking after the fact at the things that happened toward the end of the band, from an outsider’s perspective, seem to indicate that some of those “events” are things that affected mcr’s purpose that would have made it become counterproductive -- the fight against the system, the growth from trauma, the creative growth together. gerard also specifically stated that part of the reason the band ended was because of the political climate in the us, especially considering 

that’s where the bird metaphor comes in. they were the bird hitting the window -- trying to take flight, seeing where they could go, but held back by something invisible. with the band ended, they could grow on their own -- create their own families, chase their own creative endeavors, take some time to do what they needed to do for themselves, away from each other. it was totally necessary.

july 20, 2016. a cryptic video is released to tease the ten-year anniversary version of the black parade. the internet explodes, and the band’s account posts “we’ve been really touched and blown away by the response to the teaser trailer.”

november 1, 2019, the day after the return is announced: “from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the warm welcome back. we truly did not expect this.”

i really don’t think they realized that their band continued to help heal hearts even while they were gone. to quote gerard himself, “it is not a band. it is an idea.” even if the band wasn’t together to tour, create new art and messages, and spread their love, it just kept happening. i think throughout 2018 and 2019 i’ve really started to realize exactly how much of an effect my chem made on the world, and how much they influenced the scene today and all of the newer bands we love and care about. it was widespread, and couldn’t be stopped by the band’s end in 2013.

this is a stark contrast to the attitude conveyed in fake your death. i really think we proved them wrong. i also really enjoy how that turned out, because chapter two of mcr, as frank deemed it in his last instagram post, has been kicked off by blowing away that negative mindset.

not only that, but the reformation of the band seems is under completely different circumstances than how they originally formed. whereas the original formation was out of desperation, we are starting to see now that the decision to return was made much more comfortably; they tested the waters together all the way back in 2017; they have grown and healed a lot, and are generally so much happier with their lives, and as @kiraisstillhere said, the perfect example of an “it gets better” story.

i will admit, the reunion show had much less bells and whistles than i expected. mcr have always been known to be over the top and bursting with art, so i thought we might see that from them upon the first show, especially with all the witchy hints they’ve been dropping about their future concepts. but to my surprise, it was very simple. they were wearing their normal clothing, they played many fan favorites as well as personal favorites, and the show felt like it was just as much for the fans as it was for them. it was totally thrilling to see them performing together for the first time since 2012, all grown up. i think adding the bells and whistles would have been a bit too overwhelming.

in the same interview as gerard speaking about the political climate during the breakup, he also stated that if mcr ever reunited, it wouldn’t be a machine anymore, it would just be them releasing music. (he was also being a goddamn liar and said that the band had gotten together recently, and didn’t talk about releasing music or touring and he didn’t know if they would do anything in the future. mind you, this was february 2019.) that attitude is reflected in the reunion show, but not in the hints and symbols they’ve been dropping. 

i think there will always be an element of art to my chemical romance, since it is part of what makes them unique. however, it’s hard to imagine mcr without the fighting energy we’ve always seen from them, but when you think about where they are in their lives now, it makes sense. they are a recovery story, and now we get to celebrate and watch them live out their best lives together as the band we all know and love.

in conclusion, my chemical romance is back and i’m ready to see them thrive. it won’t be the same as before, that’s for sure. i think they have a lot of great things and a lot of cool art to share with us. i don’t think they feel the need to fight anymore, like gerard said in a danger days interview but i can’t remember which one it was anymore. either way, we all just get to celebrate and watch this band thrive, and i’m here for it!

feel free to add on, contribute, or respond!

[smolbeandrabbles]

Director’s Cut 2: Ralph Anderson

“In interviews I read Mendo aiming for a Gary Cooper type performance, strong, silent type. I think your fics are AU, right? Not much mention of the Terry Maitland case or El Cucuo. So are the fics with the OFC with the child fix-it fics for the loss of Derek in the show? At any rate, I enjoy his fics. 

I read the Outsider, I love Stephen King and was cautious about the tv show because Holly Gibney appears in earlier books ( the Bill Hodges series) and I am protective of her character, I think they did her justice in the show and I was truly captivated by Mendo’s performance. You’ve posted stuff about disliking the series. Can I ask why?”

So, I’m gonna tackle this in 4 pieces. 3 for the different tracks I’ve written Ralph under - and then my opinion of the series!

Like with my Andrew one I’m gonna refer to my Readers by their OC names.

1: Trouble (un-named Reader character)

I’ll start with the two sets of fics that include the theme you’re specifically referring to: with Reader and her baby being a replacement for Derek. Very true, I thought it was a good premise for the request given to me; I originally started with something more romantic - without Jeannie where Ralph/Reader end up together, buuuuut I liked it a little more keeping Jeannie there and giving the Anderson’s a child back (as it were.)

Not necessarily AU set though, this particular fic is set before the events of The Outsider the TV show, hence why Jack Hoskins is also kicking around. 😁 My mistake for not mentioning that fact anywhere, but yeah, Terry and El Cuco hasn’t all happened yet, and therefore are kept out.  But, staying on the ‘replacement for Derek’ and ‘lack of mention of Terry & El Cuco’ theme...

2: Harmony & Renee Andersson: ( Sure Be Cool If You Did / Bienvenue From Hell, Mon Amour / Made in the USA / Cold Night / I Could Not Ask For More / Thank you Muppets, No More Questions! / Under The Weather)

This is where I started with Ralph, roughly a year ago before the show came out. I’d read the book, the trailer was out and I wanted to write for him and the character I’d come up with as his S/O - Harmony.  With all I had to go on at the time really the book, we retain all Book!Canon names, settings and personalities/relationships in this series.

Because I removed Jeannie & Derek entirely (no divorce or deceased children here!) yes, this is certainly AU set. The reason why El Cuco and Terry get fleeting 1 sentence mentions (often just referred to as “The Impossible Case”) is because this AU is set after the events of The Outsider.  Harmony transfers to Flint City as a new Detective and replaces the now deceased Jack Hoskins. Although she’s much more Ralph’s partner than he was.

Because I wanted to keep that family dynamic / fatherly thing that Ralph has going on. And because I hadn’t really explored it before, Harmony has her adopted daughter, Renee... and so she kinda replaces the ‘Derek’ factor! 

The Andersson / Anderson thing is intentional, more importantly the R.Andersson / R.Anderson thing is intentional  😁 It’s a good source of banter, and things I have yet to write! *ehem* proposal fic anyone? *ehem* 3: Dia (Shifter!Reader) -  Halfway Home / Control (3rd part coming soon)

This is really the only series where I go into detail about the Case - although ‘Halfway Home’ only really gives a quick skim over of all the events of the show as again, the majority of this is set after The Outsider - but is more directly influenced by what happened in the show than my ‘main’ series is.

Again, Derek and Jeannie don’t exist - and Dia and Ralph have been together four years prior to the events of the series. So, yes! AU, but show AU rather than book AU this time as we retain the same characters, personalities and settings from the show.  This started as more of a ‘what if’ exploration. “What if you found out your S/O was a mythical being?” and then also got to explore the “Well, Ralph’s just encountered one and it wasn’t good. What is his reaction to her going to be?”  And I like the good / evil black/white and also ‘grey area’ twist I get to put on this series as well as other themes I get to explore surrounding trust, and the depth of your love for someone, why people lie about things, and that idea of ‘not judging a book by its cover’ or... ‘tarring everyone with the same brush’ (or whatever you’d want to call it). Kinda... ‘love and consequences’.

I got to explore ... uhm... explain? a lot more of Show!Ralph’s personality in this one. I guess it was helpful to me, and also therapeutic! haha! 😅 I ripped out his episode 10 monologue to The Outsider and had him say it nearly word to the woman he’d loved for 4 years (who happens to be a shapeshifter) and it just hit better - side note, the way Ben delivered that gave me chills...

Interestingly although we don’t have a child present, I still tackle the theme of children here. I don’t have a replacement for Derek - but I keep the fatherly Ralph idea present through a look at wanting to, but not being able to, have kids.

4: My Dislike of the Show

I mean I don’t like talking about the fact that I don’t like the show as much as I really want to talk about the fact that I don’t like the show. I know a whole bunch of people really like the show and I don’t want to come across as “that person” or like “you can’t have that opinion!” or... talk bad about something that someone really enjoys, right? I’m also conscious that a lot of the Newer members to the Mendo fam are here because of this show (Welcome guys! It’s so lovely to have you join us 🥰) and I always wish to be kind and helpful towards the newbies! 🙏 I don’t want them to feel like they can’t come talk to me because of my dislike for what brought them to our little fandom.

But it comes down to this: I really, REALLY loved the book. I don’t ever think I’ve loved a book and it’s characters so much. It was my first Stephen King novel and is such a great introduction to his writing. Yes, I basically only read it because Ben was going to be in the show - but, bottom line is I couldn’t wait to see this book be brought to life on screen... And it just wasn’t the same. I get that changes need to be made between page and screen, but I really think they made too many (in many cases unnecessary!) changes. Characters completely changed how they acted, relationships between characters changed because of this. Plot points were scrapped in favour of... new little side stories that didn’t add anything... 

Unfortunately, Ralph Anderson (and as our main character, perhaps also the one they should have just left alone!), suffers from this the most. 

Essentially I will never understand how we got this show from that book. How the writers can read Stephen King’s novel and go “Yeah, this is great but you know what would be better-!” and then... write this show.   I do plan to do an in depth analysis of the shows 10 episodes... Probably next year when it’s been out a year and my feelings have settled...! 😊 And maybe that will help things!

Thank you for asking, I really appreciate it! Actually your ask made me realise that even when I write a character with several different readers to interact with, there are certainly similar themes that I run with for these characters. (Kids, in Ralph’s case for sure.) So that’s been an interesting discovery of my own; thank you for that! 💙 I hope I answered your questions satisfactorily! 🥰

---

I am once again asking for you to ask me Fanfic directors cut questions! I will beg! It’s not beyond me! 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

2099 Alpha #1 Thoughts

This was a confusing set of teaser trailers.

This is partially a post covering the issue and a rant about the entire premise of the series.

Throughout this comic book (and F4 2099) one prevailing question kept crossing my mind.

 “Who is this even for?”

 It was a question that became louder when I looked at both the cover and the blurb at the back explaining how this project came to be about.

 Matthew Rosenberg, author of the most controversial and derided X-Men run in recent memory (so you know that bodes well), pointed out that 2019 was both the 80th anniversary of Marvel comics (even though most people would argue Marvel truly started in 1961 with F4 #1) and also 80 years away from the real life year 2099.

 The idea was dismissed but then Nick Spencer decided he liked it and after one thing led to another this event was born.

 This event being a ‘reimagining’ of the 2099 universe but with ‘a similar methodology’ to the original 1992 line (that is to say avoiding the ‘common traps’ of descendants of known characters*), with a mind towards how the future was perceived in 2019 vs. 1992.

 Right off the bat there are inherent problems with that entire premise.

 First of all the original 2099 line presented a version of the future that if anything is MORE relevant now than it was in 1992.

 Futurism in any era is never just one thing, but the futurism of 2019 is generally speaking understandably cynical and nihilistic. It’s a world which foresees a future where there isn’t even an illusion of freedom, where the gap between rich and poor has grown even wider than it already is with little-no feasible way to close it, where corporations run the show (more openly than they already do) and where environmental disaster is ravaging mankind if not having already wiped it out. This is to say nothing of a world where artificial intelligence and mechanisation will probably compromise a lot of people’s employment opportunities, and pose direct physical and mental dangers to human lives.

 That is the general ethos of how a lot of people and a lot of fiction reflects the future NOWDAYS. And that’s what the 2099 was doing in 1992! Not only was the line set in the future it was literally ahead of it’s time as the world we live in if anything has grown to reflect it more and more.

  Secondly when you are approaching the notion of making a futuristic version of Spider-Man and the Punisher in the year 2099 and applying the same ‘methodology’ as the LAST time someone tried to make a futuristic version of Spider-Man and the Punisher in the year 2099 the results at best are not going to be that different, rendering the exercise pointless. In fact in all likelihood you are going to be worse or at least derivative. Even if you are not the fact that the 2099 line resonated with people enough for it to continually pop up every so often for nearly 30 years means that your new take is unlikely to hold up to people’s nostalgia.

 And make no mistake, this is a project that exists for nostalgia. It doesn’t exist just for the sake of exploring a possible future for the Marvel universe, otherwise why revive a popular and famous Marvel brand to do it?

 And therein lies my fundamental question.

 If this project exists because people are already invested in 2099 then why reboot it and thus mitigate their emotional investment?

 Nostalgic 2099 fans don’t simply want to see any iteration of these characters. They want something at least mostly in line with the original 1992 iteration, which is why when Spidey 2099 was scheduled for a spin-off in 2014 the fandom spoke with one voice, they wanted Peter David back. And whilst the iteration of Miguel and 2099 as a whole he presented was not identical to the 1992 version(s) it was at least a helluva lot closer than 2009’s Timestorm (a pathetic attempt to essentially do Ultimate 2099) and wound up being more successful as a result.

 This is literally the exact mistake the Nu52 made in that it erased the iterations of the DC characters and DC universe people knew and loved and replaced it with new versions (‘coincidentally’ closer to the versions the DC higher ups knew and loved as kids). It alienated readers to the point where DC Rebirth practically reverse rebooted the Nu52, rendering the characters much closer to their pre-Nu52 counterparts, and in Superman’s case having the pre-Nu52 Superman literally replace his successor.

 With the 2099 event though the attempt at rebooting is even more wrongheaded considering that this isn’t even a lasting universe that might in theory develop new readers over time. It’s a string of connected one shots associated with a Spider-Man story arc. If there is any aftermath to this event at all it will be fairly minimal and at most follow Miguel O’Hara.

 And that brings up the other end of this event’s problems. This holds little appeal to (the already miniscule number of) potential newer fans.

 Consider how this event started. You are a newer fan reading Spencer’s ASM run. You pick up issue #25 and randomly this other Spider-Man looking guy you maybe recognize from some video games and the post-credits scene from Into the Spider-Verse shows up, looking half dead.

 For less than 20 pages across 3 issues you follow him stumbling about spouting nonsense before he delivers some weird line about possible futures (that you’ll only understand if you already know about the 2099 lines) and then he blows up.

 Okay, at best you get the idea. He is a Spider-Man from the future and the present day has erased his future, that’s bad.

 Then you pick this up and you maybe figure out that this Miguel character in this comic book is in fact the same guy, or a VERSION of the same guy you met back in ASM. That’s confusing. It’s confusing because you need to deduce that this issue is the newly rewritten timeline, making your investment in the preceding ASM issues kinda pointless. It might also be confusing because time travel stories tend to be confusing unless written with a lot of clarity.

 But say you just picked THIS up, maybe because you recognized Spidey 2099 on the cover (and god forbid you picked it up due to recognizing the classic 2099 characters).

 Spencer in this comic book doesn’t write a story. He writes a series of teaser vignettes strung together by the Watcher and Doom spouting a load of cryptic nonsense.

 Nothing is explained, nothing is clearly conveyed, the world building is quite frankly awful, you merely get an impression  of this future, you are not actually organically introduced to much of anything. In comparison the first few issues of Spider-Man 2099 already gave you a great idea of what this world of the future was like.

 It’s not just that the presentation is bad and thus likely to alienate newer readers (I was lost with it and I’m familiar with the older 2099 stuff to a degree) but it’s also frankly inferior to the 1992 rendition of the future.

 Perhaps the 1992 Marvel line wasn’t the single most original vision of the future ever conceived, but it at least combined older ideas together and presented a consistent vision. Perhaps the microcosm of the 1992’s vision of the future was the notion of the ravaged ruins of old New York being the foundations upon which new super sky scrapers were built, the rich literally living above the poor.

 But this issue never brings that up, it doesn’t bring up the narrative and literal foundations of the world this takes place in. My personal impression was that this 2099 doesn’t even incorporate such an idea.  It’s a microcosm of how off the rails this reboot is.

 Everything feels downright generic sans the city of traffic and the colony of Thor/Asgardian worshippers.

 Even those are derivative though. Transverse City rips off (a much better executed) idea from a 2007 episode of Doctor Who ‘Gridlock’ which is regarded as something of a modern classic by fans.  And the Thor worshippers was something that came directly from the original 1992 2099 line, but weirdly is being used to tease...Conan the Barbarian???????? Conan hasn’t got anything to do with Thor besides coming from a warrior background. It might as well be Silver Samurai!

 Perhaps the best microcosm of this issue’s failings at world building and presentation, can be found in the opening scene.

 In the scene Thor’s hammer is frequently relocated and seems to be maybe or maybe not moving on it’s own volition. That isn’t to say the story is building in mystery as to whether or not it is moving on it’s own. It’s just that poorly conveyed to the audience. I honestly have little idea what was happening in that scene sans the authorities going to war with Thor’s worshippers.

 The scene also contains a microcosm of this book being for nobody. In said scene a police officer gets their face revealed and is referred to as ‘Jake’. If you didn’t already realize it, this is Jake Gallows, Punisher 2099. He does nothing else in the course of the issue beyond get injured fight and tell his friend a confusing police story. Then the issue ends teasing him as Punisher 2099.

 Like I said nostalgic 2099 fans will be turned off by this on principle because it’s not the character you know and love (his costume will also be different too) but if you are a newer reader...what are you even supposed to make of this? He’s just a random cop, it might as well have been his cop buddy who was the Punisher. It was at best a lame first impression.

And that’s true of virtually EVERY character teased in this comic exempting maybe Ghost Rider 2099.

He at least got a little more personality, you got a little more insight into how he operates, but only as a normal guy not as anything associated with the classic Ghost Rider or the 2099 counterpart you know and love.

Miguel’s background was confusing as he seems to already have his powers but is chummy with his dickhead boss/Dad/archnemesis Tyler Stone and the brief flashbacks to his origin are both different to the original 2099 line and nonsensical.

Conan didn’t even appear to my recollection but he’s still teased.

And the F4 tease was laughable as it didn’t even feature the F4 but rather HERBIE and a newly imagined take on Venture, effectively the first super villain of the 2099 line.

When this event was announced I was sad that Peter David was uninvolved.

But now I see why.

They didn’t want him involved and this is frankly an insult to his and the other 2099 creators’ works.

Don’t read this.

*Gotta love that subtle shade thrown out at the MC2 universe, a universe which lasted longer than the original 2099 line and you know....was way better than this reimagining has been so far. Why does modern Marvel punch down on Spider-Girl.

[tigerlover16-uk-2]

Thank you, Sun and Moon

I know I'm a day early with this, but I wanted to get this out while I was still motivated. So, here we go.

To give an idea of what the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime means to me, let me start by going into my history with the anime.

I started watching Pokemon since the day it first aired in the UK. Back then, i remember Pokemon feeling like it was the biggest thing in the world, and for me it remained that way as i grew up.

I followed the show through the original series, Advanced Generation to well into Diamond and Pearl, and I always loved it. It was a constant presence in my life, and while I don't think I usually called it my number 1 favourite show, it was something I cherished and enjoyed more than most others. And at the time I was watching Diamond and Pearl and finding it possibly the best season yet, I was convinced I'd be following the series for pretty much the rest of my life.

And then, somewhere halfway through DP, something odd happened... I started missing episodes.

Like, id missed an episode of the series once in a blue moon due to extraneous circumstances, but I never actually took a break from watching the show, even when it was in reruns.

And yet for some reason, for a couple months, I couldn't be bothered to keep up with the anime. I'd later sum up that I was feeling burn out, but it felt odd how I'd just randomly seemed to lose interest when I'd been really enjoying Diamond and Pearl up until then.

Eventually I did start watching newer episodes again, but the same thing happened during the league arc, of which I only remember reading summaries on bulbapedia and only actually caught the last battle against Tobias. Something which... kinda bothered me. Not to a great deal at first, but the aftertaste felt more and more sour when I started watching the next series, Best Wishes.

I'll say right now, this is where I really started to question the quality of the Pokemon anime. I stopped watching the series after the dub got a few episodes past where the cancelled Team Rocket vs Team Plasma two parter would have aired. I did keep following plot summaries and checking new episodes pages on bulbapedia for a while, but that eventually lessened as I came to a realization.

The story was going nowhere. The show was just running in circles and making excuses to keep Ash's journey going in perpetuity.

I suppose maybe that should have been obvious already, but up through Diamond and Pearl, for all it's own backtracking, it still felt like Ash's journey was progressing and that the show itself was evolving and getting better in a number of ways. That we really were getting closer to seeing Ash becoming a master.

But between Tobias randomly being thrown into the league to eliminate Ash in a really lazy manner that felt unnatural compared to the last two times he'd lost a league, and a lot of the blatant bad writing decisions I was seeing like Zekrom showing up out of nowhere to nerf Pikachu so it could lose to Trip's Snivy, it really made me question where the story was going... if the show was even trying to tell a consistent story anymore, and they weren't just spinning their wheels and repeating the same patterns over and over again with no sign of ending or really moving forward.

At this same time I'd also been looking into the production history of the show and seeing what other people were saying about the anime online. I learned the show was originally supposed to end with Kanto and Ash winning the league, and I began looking back and noticing all the dropped plot points and mishandled story moments.

The GS ball plot never being resolved properly, the stuff with Ho-oh in Johto amounting to pretty much nothing, the mishandling of the Team Aqua and Magma plot, and a bunch of other things that made me realize...

This show is kind of a mess. There really isn't any kind of a plan or an end point. They're going to keep forcing Ash to lose at the league, reset his progress and keep running in circles because they don't want to do what Digimon and Yu-gi-oh did and let the story end and getting a new protagonist.

Needless to say, this coming at a rough time in my life where I was pretty miserable and becoming increasingly cynical with the world as well as more critical of media I watched, and in conjunction with what I saw people were saying about the show, left me feeling VERY disillusioned with the Pokemon anime.

Because I loved Pokemon, I thought it was the greatest franchise in the world and it had infinite potential. Surely, the anime should be better than this. Surely, Pokemon deserved better. SURELY, it should have been a great show for all ages like Shudo wanted it to be, and not some cheap commercial for the games?

I think the thing that broke me completely was Newtwo in the Genesect movie, because the anime's original take on Mewtwo is one of my favourite fictional characters of all time, and his story through his movie, Mewtwo returns and the birth of Mewtwo short and radio drama was what younger me had always thought represented how great Pokemon could be at it's best, and that the series was something meaningful...

And here OLM were giving us a boring copy of that character minus the nuance.

Did they even care, I thought? Was I just stupid for liking the anime as much as I did for so long? Was it even worth hoping things could get better?

By the time it was into XY, I had given up on the Pokemon anime and become disillusioned with it as a whole, spending the next few years bitter and pining over a better version of the series that only seemed to exist in my mind. I didn't even bother to keep up with reading about new episodes on Bulbapedia anymore, I didn't have a clue what was going on. And I was sure I didn't care, and I never would again.

What reason was there to be invested in a series that clearly had no faith in itself, and certainly no regard for people like me who had had faith in it and wanted a good story.

I did start listening in again towards the end of XYZ when i kept seeing so many people gushing about how great it was and how competent Ash had supposedly become. For a minute i almost got caught up in the hype that he might win the Kalos league, and that the writers had finally learned their lesson.

And then Ash lost.

I remember shrugging my shoulders and going "oh well" and then moving on with my life. I didn't even feel mad, I'd already resigned myself to what the outcome would most likely be, so what was the point in getting worked up when I don't even care about the show at all, right?

... Right?

I still remember the tepid reactions the trailer and announcements for the Sun and Moon anime got at this time. I'll admit, when I first heard the premise would involve Ash going to school I laughed and thought it was a stupid idea.

... but watching the various announcements and teasers for the show, something about it... intrigued me. I watched the first 5 episodes shortly after they aired and found myself enjoying them, but after that I got a bit distracted and didn't watch any more of it for a while.

A similar thing actually happened with XY, where despite my frustration at that point I did try to give the series a chance, but I quickly got bored, dropped it and stopped paying attention to the show as a whole until much later.

But unlike back then, I actually did pay attention to what was going on in the show, and what I was hearing did sound generally optimistic. I think it was a mix of the 20th movie coming up and the announcement of the Kanto two parter that convinced me to really sit down and watch the whole thing. And what I saw... was pretty darn good, I must say.

I was surprised with myself. I'd given up on the show, hadn't I? All the damage was already done, wasn't it? No matter what Sun and Moon did to shake things up, the show as a whole would still be inevitably tied down by it's status quo in the end, and nothing that happened here would matter or mean anything come the next series, right?

And yet, here I was. Having a good time and finding Pokemon Sun and Moon a pretty fun series overall. And I started to realize how much... just how much I'd missed the anime. How despite my insistence that I'd moved on and didn't care anymore... I never really had. I still wanted to love the series.

From that point on I kept watching Sun and Moon on a weekly basis, and eventually re-watched the entire series from start to finish, including everything I hadn't seen from BW and XY.

Slowly over time, my resentment and bitterness started to subside. For while so many of my problems with the show remained, I realized I could still have fun with it even though it wasn't perfect.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I won't pretend Sun and Moon was a perfect series. It had it's dull episodes and missed opportunities, just like all the series that came before it. There was plenty of stuff I thought could be better... and yet, the show never felt like it got bad or stopped being overall enjoyable despite those occasional gripes.

It didn't so much feel like the writers were just repeating all the same formulas and going through the motions anymore with Sun and Moon. There was a sense of fun to the show, a consistent level of joy and quality and, dare I say, PASSION to the series that I appreciated and kept me coming back to it.

And when the show was in top form, it honestly blew me away at times. I'll never forget the feeling of watching episode 108 and the scenes with Mallow reuniting with the spirit of her mother and thinking to myself "... THIS is a real episode of the Pokemon anime?"

I was happy. For the first time in so long, I felt content with the anime and not embarrassed to like it. But even then, I was thinking I'd have to like the show in spite of it's gaping, frustrating faults. I never dreamed the show or the writers would have the courage to break the dreaded cycles that pushed me away from it in the first place.

And then, only a few weeks ago now, the unthinkable happened... Ash Ketchum won the Alola league.

I'm still gobsmacked by it, honestly. I literally didn't think I was going to live to see the day. I'd resigned to the thought that the writers would always force him to lose... but against all my expectations, he did it. Ash won a pokemon league from the games.

And then just to really seal the deal, they even let him beat Kukui, a champion equivalent trainer, AND Tapu Koko right after that. Something that I never would have thought was possible to see happen in the Pokemon anime.

Honestly, watching that four parter, it felt like if you swapped out Kukui and Tapu Koko with Lance and Ho-oh, that could have been the ending I always thought the original series should have had... and it was GLORIOUS.

So now I'm sitting here, eagerly looking forward to the next series and feeling captivated by it's all regions premise and deviations from the formulas we'd come to expect as the eternal standard for this show, and I can hardly contain my excitement.

Because for the first time in a long time, Ash was finally allowed to achieve something extraordinary besides the obligatory "save the world from the current gen's villains" plot. For the first time since Diamond and Pearl, it feels like the story is actually moving forward into the next phase and the show is evolving.

For the first time in a long, long time... I look forward to the future of this series.

I could go on. There's plenty more I could say about Sun and Moon as a whole, discussing it's story, the characters and the writing, but... Honestly, there'll be plenty of time for that in the future. And for now, I feel like ive said all I needed to say.

At the end of the day, looking back on it all, I don't actually know if I'd call Sun and Moon my favourite Pokemon series. There's things about the Advanced Generation and Diamond and Pearl I liked more.

But Sun and Moon is, without a doubt, the Pokemon series I'm the most grateful for.

So, without further ado...

Thank you, Sun and Moon. Thank you for being a fun, charming, wholesome kids show. 

Thank you for being entertaining and a joy to watch these past few years.

Thank you for being creative and not completely repetitive.

Thank you for fulfilling a childhood dream of mine I never thought could come true.

Thank you for helping Pokemon to evolve and move on to a new era.

Thank you, Pokemon Sun and Moon... for restoring my faith in the Pokemon anime.

Though I'm sure there'll be many ups and downs in the future, I swear I'm going to stick with this show until one of us kicks the bucket. And I'm content with that now.

It's late and I should go to bed. Hope the final episode tomorrow is a good one.

[dustindahusky-blog]

Would Americans buy a Chinese car?

From my view, yes. Here’s why a Chinese car might stick around long enough to catch on with American buyers.

 Cars are pillars of status, privilege, and pride in the USA. The car has truly made its home in our country and to many we often see them as members of the family or a faithful friend. Some like to show off with luxury or sport models or brands to denote their position in their company, neighborhood, or for the thrill of driving something fun or special. Most of us own what I would refer to as a daily driver, a car that gets you to A and B without fuss with creature comforts that make the everyday drive possible and while adding buckets of practically for any adventure. Some own minivans or CUVs/SUVs for hauling stuff around easier or to move large families around with oodles of space. Trucks are great for even bigger hauling and towing things around like boats or trailers of beer or stolen copper wire. However there is a price to pay with all this, depending on brand or model, new or used. Buying a vehicle is quite the important purchase for many. And they aren’t cheap depending on entirely what you’re looking for.  And this is where the Chinese auto manufacturers might have a leg on nearly all brands currently selling in the US. This even includes the value leaders of Kia and Hyundai, who have been known to sell cars at more reasonable prices than their competitors and offer more for what you’re buying.

 Installing a brand into a new market isn’t easy, however we have seen a template in which new guests into the US auto arena have done very well to get anchored in and to weather to storm ahead. At first European brands immediately after WWII have established themselves and have secured a foothold in the US, so did the Japanese in the mid 1960’s and early 1970’s, the Koreans in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and even late newcomers back on American soil like Tesla in the 2010’s have found their way to be taken seriously on the big stage. That successful template is offer something special or affordable in value, or do both. The original Volkswagen Beetle offered affordability, simplicity, and economy that was hard to pass up in the car starved post war era of the late 40’s. So was the Toyota Corona and Corolla of the late 60’s. The Koreans offered the Hyundai Excel that also provided much the same qualities. At the time when they were new, they were “the” disposable car of their time. They did a job well and adequately without many frills, and they were good value for the money for their respected time periods. Even the little Yugo from Socialist Yugoslavia offered the cheapest car in the US that only did the job to get you around town that didn’t get you wet when it rained.  They offered both young people and adults who didn’t have a lot of money to spend or who wanted to buy a new car at second hand car prices, cheap affordable wheels they can take home with.

 Now it’s 2018, and the brands that introduced themselves humbly during their times are now well established with the American buying public. No longer do we look at brands like Toyota, Honda, or Nissan with skeptical views of cheapness or being unpatriotic of not buying domestic, even today the scrutiny of buying Kia and Hyundai products is nearly nonexistent in our day and age because they have continued to up their quality and value game. Much like the many imports before them, we see them no differently than how we see GM, FoCoMo, and Chrysler-Fiat products. Just another quality brand. However now, there is a catch that we now see today, the import brands that came into our country that once touted affordability have now slowly over the passage of time become a tad out of reach for younger buyers. Yes cars are expensive, but most cars you see on dealer lots tend to be more expensive mid and upper trim option levels for most models, and you have to do some digging around to find a new car that is cheap enough to fit within budget needs. And here’s why this affordability is important with the feasibility of seeing Chinese cars in the US market. The average age of a car in the US is 11 years old, which honestly doesn’t sound that bad, though that feels kinda low. I’d feel it’s more like 15 years old, there are still a ton of older cars still rolling about the hills and the back roads. But whatever it is, people are holding on to them for many reasons. Can’t afford a newer car, maybe with plenty of work done a car could be driven for a lot longer, or maybe life priorities don’t call for the purchase of a newer car.

 Now let’s take a look at the Chinese auto industry. The Chinese economy is very much a living example of the Yugoslavian hybrid model of “market socialism”, centralized planning with capitalist competitiveness coexisting well together that promotes more frequent updates or advancements with the goal to sell to the consumer without having industrial or economic waste. Other socialist states didn’t work like this, and how they had vehicle development, marketing, and production was a much more different animal than what is seen in China today. And because of this, China’s automotive industry is has blossomed into many companies producing many models of vehicles for its vast “captive” and export markets. Some companies have properly obtained licensing agreements and their technical packages to produce vehicles, while some others have reverse engineered vehicles to blatantly copy. Their quality ranges from comparable to Western cars we come to expect to just low quality junk that we haven’t seen in cars since the 80’s or 90’s.

 If China makes most of our consumer products, cameras, phones, selfie sticks, appliances, industrial equipment and car parts, why not whole cars. Well China did try to extend into our auto market by selling us the Coda electric sedan on the West coast for only a model year from 2012 to 2013, and selling a dismal 117 units. Quality wasn’t where it should have been for the cost of $40k, and initially scheduled to be launched back in 2010 was held back two years due to lack of developmental time for durability. For the first US market launch of a Chinese made car that designed in 2004 on an older Mitsubishi platform, and an electric car right off the bat, no bite and little positive impression.

 Now for real, let’s say China markets a car brand for the US that passes Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and fuel economy/emissions standards, they should start with basic affordable cars that people want to buy. It’s a no brainer that the US market for car sales is a huge market on its own, and even other European companies are envisioning a return back to grab a small slice of the market pie. For one, Americans might draw some skepticism to a Chinese car but the idea of buying a compact or even midsized sedan with loads of options for less than $15-20k is a tantalizing prospect and would buy them up like they did the Yugo. The Yugo did alright for staying in the market from 1985 to 1992, selling 142k units. If you can sell ten thousand cars like how Scion began in 2003, you’ll make a good enough foothold in the market, unless you’re Daihatsu. Sorry Daihatsu, maybe a subject for another day.

 What are you going to expect with your Chinese car when you get it. I would expect body panels that don’t align well as they should have, “orange peel” paint finish, interior plastics that look like they won’t last long, sheet metal that might go rusty in a couple years, seat fabric that might rip in not much time, fit and finish overall is generally an afterthought. Again, you’re paying to get pissed off like buying a $3990 Yugo sold new in 1986 (if you could ever find one that sold for that low back then), but remember that you’re buying a set of wheels that’ll get you by for the time being. Much like how people expected Hyundai Excels to be just garbage piles, still preformed the duty of a basic if not agricultural car.  But that would be a worst expectation of what a Chinese car could be. Who knows, maybe if the Chinese are that serious about the US market, they’ll build a separate assembly line like the Zastava factory who built the Yugo for the USDM. Here’s a scary thought, we all know how much of a mixed bag the Yugo was in the US, and to think the ones that made it here were built better on another assembly line meant for our market, I can’t imagine what the Yugoslavian market Yugos were like.

 Much like every cheap and affordable car that introduces itself to our market, expect it to have little to no resale value to speak of, however you’re not really expecting to sell this car if you were looking at buying one. In your situation, you’re buying your first car for the first time or needing a second car, something to get you rolling for the time being. Whether if you’re in college or in highschool, or down on your luck with an older car that kept falling apart. The idea that you could buy a Chinese car for peanuts is something that’ll get the job done, and not care much about what you’re driving. You’re not expecting mind bending performance or luxury, you know what you’re getting into if you do, and the more you accept this the better. I mean no Toyota Corolla was ever sporty in the 70’s, it was the car you bought after the Ford Falcon finally rusted away and you needed to buy something fast so you can still go to night class. And if there were Chinese cars in the market here to buy, I’d buy one to drive it into the ground to either save up for a better car or just to buy another if one wasn’t enough. In the world of millennials sometimes having no credit or shit credit could transpire into a hairy situation of sticking with a rusty 90’s Nissan Sentra affectionately named “Liam Nissan” that eats too much oil or asking your aunt to buy her equally rusty Plymouth Breeze with empty cigarette packs scattered around. You’d rather buy a Chevy Cruze however you’re afraid that one for $10k and 83K miles might end up needing routine maintenance that you couldn’t afford to pull off on the spot and any new Kia Rio found on a dealer lot is still thousands over the mythical minimum sticker price. Hell, if a Chinese car was too expensive brand new, wait a year and you could even get one for sub $6-8k prices, maybe even less.

 Honestly I’m really surprised that the Chinese haven’t entered our market yet, they have entered the European zone and been a huge mainstay in Russia (I guess Ladas aren’t cheap enough for them) for years now. They can range from cheap to really adequate modes of transportation, even something to own for more than you really require of it. The Chinese have been making Audi’s, BMW’s, and Buick’s with huge demands because they have been grand sellers in terms of luxury, and they tend to be of quality similar to their genuine originals. Whatever the Chinese do throw out us someday, we’ll gladly be in open arms for cheaper alternatives to newer, or really used cars. Plus, we Americans love to rip on unknown shitboxes, then in 15 years’ time we are buying them by the thousands. Who would guess in 1966 that Toyota would be producing quality luxury sporty cars under the Lexus brand. In 1995 when Kia would one day be producing a car like the Stinger that is chasing around other RWD sport sedans. In 1992 the Yugo going on to better things….oh wait we ran out of Yugoslavia by then. Mhmmmm we never really did get the Tata Nano here in the states (who remembered when that came out, $3000 car that had a fire problem), even though that there was an interest for a short while. In 1970 Americans wouldn’t expect Datsuns to be called “Datsun by Nissan” in 1984 and just Nissan by 1985. Import brands change and morph in the fluid of time, and many are still here. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Chinese brand turns out to be a good seller in 5-10 years time much like how the other imports started out.

 And apparently on a quick google search, it seems that the Chinese auto company GAC has an interest in joining the US market in late 2019. Under the local Chinese brand name….Trumpchi. They are serious, and honestly their vehicles don’t look that bad either. In fact they would fit right in with this country. They are figuring out a newer name to use in North America. No one is certain how reliable a new Chinese car will be in the states, but if it’s cheap don’t expect it to last forever.

 If you made it this far, hurray! If you like my rambling, you’d like what I’d have in store in the future. If you don’t, well, I’m still going to write it down anyways. :D

 Keep zooming!

[frankcastled]

So, I was drunk and told people to fight me on facebook about the MCU, and people did and this is my response to one of those people who said, “the villains are trash.” I just decided to post it on here for The Discourse. I love The Discourse. (Also, it explains why I refer to another person while writing this. I don’t feel like editing.)

So, your comment is super broad. I dunno if you’re referring to some villains or all of them, but I agree and disagree. Are all the villains in every movie perfect? No. Some of them have been underwhelming, that’s for sure. Malekith is a good example of this. And then on the opposite of the end of the same spectrum you have Loki, who is arguably the best villain. But let’s make him an exception to the rule, because he appears across multiple films and thus he has room to develop and grow as a villain and a character, even beyond the Thor films and so, like the heroes, he has a character arc that makes sense and just naturally makes him a good villain.  

But anyway, I’m assuming you’re talking about the infamous Marvel villain problem. Well known and although I don’t know the specifics of the argument, I’m going to pick out a few standalone villains who I think stand well on their own and actually present the heroes with real stakes.

First, Obadiah Stane. So, I think a fair argument can be made, that in a way, he is the catalyst for everything in the MCU. For one, there would be no Iron Man without Obadiah. I mean, he had Tony kidnapped, which is subsequently the reason Tony developed the Mark I in the first place! He’s the entire reason the Iron Man exists. In Civil War, we see the opposite effect: where Iron Man, as a result from mere existence, spawned a backlash. It’s pretty much the entire plot of Civil War: heroes create villains. But with Obadiah, he was a villain who created a hero, which I think is fascinating (and fine, a lot of stories follow this narrative, but in a world where superheroes are generally an accepted thing, it’s fascinating within this context). Not only that, but he has a history with Tony and with Tony’s father, Howard. Did the movie explore him fully and completely? No. That’s, I think, part of the problem with the villains in the MCU, most of them are given their one movie and because they are killed off, don’t have room to develop or grow the same way our protagonists do (again, the exception being Loki). However, I think Obadiah is also a great start for the MCU, plus the kind of villain who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He goes out of his way to have other people do his dirty work: having Raza be the one to kidnap and kill Tony, trying to get the scientists to build an arc reactor, etc. However, at the end of the day he realizes that he has to do it himself and does exactly that.

Stakes: He got his own Iron Man suit, makes him and Tony evenly matched. Perfect introductory villain.

Second, Red Skull from Captain America. I’m not even entirely sure that I even like him as a villain, so much as I like what he does for the movie and for developing Captain America as a character. But, I’m gonna throw him out there, because I’m already writing an essay here and may as well go full force. So, Red Skull first and foremost serves as a foil for Captain America. He got injected with the serum, etc, etc and yet here he is, the bad guy to Captain America’s good guy. He is the, “it was important for the super soldier experiment to pick the appropriate person to do tests on because this is what happens if we pick the wrong person” scenario. He is the “what if” scenario. He is like the dark side of Captain America. I think that’s important to establish for Captain America as a character because so much of the first movie is all about pushing his character and motivations and the Red Skull also kind of serves as a cautionary tale of, “this is what happens when you get greedy and power hungry and search out power for the wrong reasons.” But, it also establishes why he’s a formidable foe for Captain America. He has the same abilities as him. He is a match which also serves to show that an ordinary person could not take Captain America time (yeah, yeah we see this demonstrated multiple times when he takes out 20 henchmen on his own, but whatever). Again, I don’t know if any of these points necessarily make Red Skull a good villain, but I also think it was necessary for him to the the first villain (but also he’s a nazi and yeah this movie came out ages before, umm, well today’s current political climate, but suddenly Captain America straight up fighting a nazi is relevant again, but I digress).

Stakes: Also enhanced with super soldier serum. Is literally Captain America, but the evil version. Perfect introductory villain.

Captain America: Winter Soldier. I’m including this movie, because the villain here isn’t the traditional Marvel villain and I think that’s part of the reason why people love this movie so much. It’s complex and explores something very real and tangible (in my humble opinion, I think it’s slightly overrated and I have movies higher than this on my list, but I loved this one nonetheless). So, we’re made to believe the Winter Soldier is the villain. Makes for great drama and I would say a good twist, but considering the trailers gave it away— Anyway, he starts off as the villain, but as the movie progresses, lo and behold we find out that it’s really Hydra that’s behind all this!!!! *GASP* Not only that, but somehow Hydra is still around. And I’m not going to get too wordy, because Hydra ends up falling into the Loki category of villain, in that, they become a well developed and established organization being developed across multiple films, but hey! Still, they count as a valid villain and the fact that Hydra infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. and manages to compromise them, I feel speaks volumes for how powerful they are.

Stakes: Is an en entire organization whom Steve Rogers has history with and thus it dissolves his trust of others in general. Of course there are stakes.

Next we have one of the newer entries to the MCU: Spider-Man, or rather, The Vulture. So, I think part of what makes him a brilliant villain, maybe only second to Loki, is that he is so damn relatable. Which is the point. He represents the blue collar worker and the struggle they encounter in today’s world. He gets his job taken away (by one of the HEROES no less!) and is left being obsolete. Machines and technology are basically doing what he does (because are we really going to believe that Tony Stark has physical and living people doing the jobs that his Iron Legion can feasibly do or any other specialized drone that he may have made to do clean up) and that’s kind of the one thing you hear a lot about today: people are being replaced by machines! People with a limited skillset are having their jobs taken by machines! They’re being left behind and forgotten because they have never done any other job but the one job they just had taken away from them. The Vulture presents such a modern day dilemma for so many people, especially nowadays (coughminerscough). And so the Vulture forces us to question a lot. Do the ends justify the means? How far is too far? How bad is he when he was literally doing this to keep a roof over his family’s head, a family we know about and grow to care about prior to the big reveal and thus compromising how we feel? He’s one of the more complex villains I would argue. His entire character arc is about being able to obtain materials to make weapons so that he can sell them and literally keep food on the table and a roof over his family’s head (hey, remember which other famous character was a weapons manufacturer and made his living off selling weapons and facilitating war? Hmmm, he might have popped up once or twice in this movie already…). Ultimately, yeah, we know what he’s doing isn’t great. He sells to only criminals (that we know of), I’m sure part of it is out of necessity considering that he kept all the debris illegally, and what better way to make sure your client base doesn’t talk than to make sure they’re already criminals who aren’t going to go blabbing since they live their lives outside of the law, anyway. I could go on, but I won’t.

Stakes: Well, Peter Parker is a high school kid with powers and the Vulture has alien technology and is an adult, so pretty evenly matched. Arguably the Vulture has less morality than Peter Parker, as well, and thus will aim for the kill, unlike Peter who obviously aims to keep him alive.

The living planet, Ego. Okay, so this one, again like Red Skull, I’m not even entirely sure if he makes a good villain, or because I like the purpose he serves and the way he drives the story. But, he’s gonna get thrown on here. So, this was never a secret, but hey turns out Ego is Peter Quill’s father! Hurray! How happy for Peter Quill. Ego ends up being the opposite of Winter Soldier, in that he is meant to be a good guy until he’s revealed to be the villain. I think this is part of makes the second Guardians movie really compelling. There isn’t a real villain until the final reveal. Even the Sovereign, who arguably are something of a secondary antagonist, are more of a nuisance to the Guardians rather than an outright villain. Anyway, part of the whole Guardians’ storyline is the concept of family (if the use of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain didn’t give it away, then I don’t know what would have) and that’s why Ego makes such a suitable villain for this movie. Peter’s own biological parentage isn’t really family, not in the same way Yondu was and not in the same way the Guardians are to Peter. Ego is a necessary villain because it makes an incredibly relevant point, that hey, your family isn’t actually who is related to you by blood, but about who you make your family. That people who share blood with you can be the people who make you miserable, but that does not mean you have any obligation to them. Honestly, the movie said it best, “Sometimes, the thing you’ve been looking for your whole life is right there beside you all along.”

Stakes: Literally a god. Does not get harder to defeat than this. Someone straight up died, so.

Final villain, I swear. I thought having a nice variety of good and relevant villains was important for the discourse. Hela. (Huh, three of my villains from the three most recent films.) So, first I would like to point out, I think Hela was vastly underused. I don’t think she had much screen time and I think she should have had more, but that being said, I do think there was one very important thing that Hela did accomplish, and it honestly makes up for her lack of screen time. So, at the end of Ragnarok, you have everyone on the ship and Asgard has just turned into a fiery hellscape. Fun stuff. Taika then has this moment as Korg, where Korg talks about how they can rebuild Asgard because it has a foundation, etc. only to then have any semblance of a foundation blow up. It’s a joke. However, it’s a very important joke, (to be fair, the following of what I’m going to say kind of is a shot in the dark and based on only two viewings of this movie) I think part of the point of Korg making light of what has just happened, despite the seriousness of the situation (Thor no longer has a home. He has all these people with him that he needs to find a home for so they can rebuild their lives and start anew and that’s something very serious), but remember Hela’s entire arc in the movie? For the most of the movie, she talks about her life before Odin imprisoned her. There’s a scene where she destroys a mural and reveals another mural underneath that showed her and Odin conquering the world. She talks about all the conquests she and Odin have, building an empire (kind of sounds like white colonialism, if you ask me) and I think that’s kind of the point of her character? She reveals Asgard for what it is, a sham. She reveals Odin for who he was. She shows that the foundation of Asgard was built upon conquests and wars and that after she was imprisoned: lies. Ragnarok isn’t just about Asgard dying, but about Asgard having a fresh start. It’s the cyclical nature of what Ragnarok really is and I think it’s part of why Korg makes light of the whole situation. There was never really a foundation for Asgard. It was covered up and in the end, it was built on something dirty. Hela, while brief her appearance is, serves to expose all that. She was a villain because her father made her that way, that much is clear. She didn’t want to conquer Asgard because that’s what villains do, she wanted to conquer Asgard because that’s literally what she was told was true. She was the rightful successor, but also she probably truly believed that. In fact, you see her giving Asgard the chance to simply accept her (which, to be fair, from the POV of the people, that’s a lot to ask when they’ve literally never heard of her, so you can’t blame them, but you also can’t blame her) and she might have ruled with an iron fist, but again, that’s how she was raised. Wars and conquests, and in a way it makes her character arc kind of tragic. In all honesty, I kind of hope she ends up coming back because I think she’s fascinating (and I’ve heard that in the comics Thanos has a thing for her, and to be honest, I am here for the evil, villain couple).

Stakes: She is Thor’s sister, therefore is a goddess and is level with him in the sense they are both otherworldly beings. Also, she can create weapons from nothingness. Literally Thor and company can’t defeat her, they bring back the hell monster to get rid of her (and to be honest I am not even sure that she’s dead anyway). People died, people less powerful than Thor and friends.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, congratulations for making it through my rambling! Here’s are just how I think the villains stack up individually in terms of being awful to being excellent.

Terrible, glad they are dead. 3 out of 10 stars.

Tim Roth (Lmao, okay that’s the actor, but god knows what his character’s name is, I admit I’ve seen the Incredible Hulk like four times and it’s at the bottom of my MCU movie list)

Malekith

Okay, probably could have been better but the movie was good so I don’t care.

Whiplash + Justin Hammer

Killian Aldrich

Hovers in the middle of being “eh” to being “good.”

Kaecilius + Dormammu

I liked them, not sure of public opinion, I could defend in a fight.

Ronan the Accuser

Ultron

Darren Cross

Zemo

Villains I think are good and just wrote a literally essay about 

Obadiah Stane

Red Skull

Hydra

Ego

Vulture

Hela

The only collectively good villain in the MCU that most people agree on

Loki

[firstfootingscotland]

Dancing the Tune with Patrick Bonner

(My notes on Beaver Island fiddler Patrick Bonner and a copy of Flett & Flett’s book Traditional Dance in Scotland)

I’m finding one of the great privileges of this residency is the time and space to work on solo material and research. It’s a tremendous luxury to be supported in such a way that makes this kind of long-term exploration process possible among my many discursive artistic interests. This week I had the opportunity to delve into one such project, the music of fiddler Patrick Bonner from Beaver Island in my home state of Michigan. 

I’ve been familiar with Bonner’s music since 2008 when I first encountered his work on Laurie Kay Sommers’ book and accompanying CD Beaver Island House Party. On the disc appear several selections by Bonner, recorded by Alan Lomax and Ivan Walton in 1938 when Lomax was commissioned by the US Library of Congress to collect recordings of traditional musicians in Michigan. 

Originally inhabited by the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa, Odawa, and Potawatomi) people, white settlers from Ireland, France, and Scotland began arriving on Beaver Island in the early 1800s. Born to two members of this first wave of settlers from Donegal, Sophie and Captain “Black” Bonner, Patrick was born in 1882 and learned to play from the first generation of Irish fiddlers on Beaver Island. His music represents a mix of influences from Ireland, Canada, and America. Biographer Glen Hendrix has written extensively about Bonner and compiled his tunes in the book An Island of Fiddlers: Fiddle Tunes of Patrick Bonner, Beaver Island, Michigan. Hendrix writes: 

“Bonner performed a blend of Irish and Michigan styles. He includes some decorations characteristic of fiddling in County Donegal and simpler rhythms of Michigan’s dance fiddlers. Bonner’s tunes reflect this mixed origin. Many of his tunes were brought from Donegal by Irish settlers of the Island. He learned other tunes in lumber camps, on schooners that sailed the Great Lakes or from radio and recordings. Some of the tunes were composed by Island fiddlers, and Bonner probably composed some himself. Bonner played his music for dances and house parties for many years, and kept playing after newer styles became more popular.” (1)

According to Hendrix, Bonner played for dances for over sixty years, beginning at age 14. (1) I was especially intrigued by Bonner’s long career as a dance fiddler and wanted to learn more about his relationship to dance. Reading through his interview with Ivan Walton, it seems dance was integral not only to Bonner’s employment as a dance fiddler but also to his first exposure to fiddle music:

"First fiddler I ever heard was Johnny Owen and of course I was only about four or five years old and they wouldn’t let me go over [to the dance]. By god, I sat up and stood at the door listening to them tunes, and I knew every one of them that he played. As long as they let me up out of bed. I could learn the tunes so quick in them days. Course I didn’t learn to play the violin then, I learned the tunes. I would know the tunes."

(Patrick Bonner at the King Strang Hotel, Beaver Island in the 1950s)

Bonner’s words reminded me that as late as the mid-20th century, fiddle music and dance were the primary means of socialization in many communities on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, Bonner’s process of listening to fiddle music in the presence of dance as a means of learning repertoire really fascinated me. How did the presence of moving bodies influence the way he heard these tunes? As I dove headlong into his music this week I decided that I wanted to encounter Patrick Bonner through the process of learning his tunes myself. I put myself in his position of learning the tunes through dance, listening and physicalizing each track. I found each piece captivating. Each was its own universe of sounds, timbres, and tempos. Some like “Up and Down the Broom” were scratchy and bracingly, ear-pricklingly bright. Others, like “Black Tar on a Stick” are sweeter, rich, dark, and mellow. “Callahan’s Reel” pulsed regularly while others, like Bonner’s version of “Rousy Maggie” were rhythmic rollercoasters of tempos. 

As I listened to these tunes, i was also reading sections of Joan & Tom Flett’s book Traditional Dancing in Scotland. I was struck by a passage from Frank Rhodes’ Appendix to Flett & Flett’s 1964 text. Rhodes describes step dance as percussive footwork phrases “joined together as the dancer pleased in order to match as far as possible the notes of the music. (2) Later, he describes how dancers endeavour to "follow the tune quite closely.” (2) 

This idea of percussive dancers garnering inspiration from the melody of the tune exists in Irish traditional music and dance as well. Breandán Breathnach, states in his 1977 volume, Folk Music & Dances of Ireland that, “the good dancer danced, as it were, underneath himself, trapping each note of the music on the floor.” I confess that the first time I read this passage I thought it was a misprint (with ”trapping” printed instead of “tapping”) until I looked at the original manuscript and found indeed, that Breathnach was using the word trapping: to catch or hold for a while. (3) This idea is also present in the living practice of percussive dancers in Ireland. My sean-nós teacher Seosamh “Joe Stones” Ó Neachtain said to me once, “you should be able to dance the tune without the music, even if there’s no music, you should be able to hear the tune.” (personal interview 2010)

However, as I danced to the recordings of Patrick Bonner this week, I was reminded that a tune is not only a constellation of notes, but is animated by the gestures of the person playing it. To quote dancer Samantha Jones:

“a tune is not its notation, better described as the ‘setting,’ but is its interpretation by the performers. With a dancer involved, the dancer is interpreting the musicians’ version of the tune, because she is listening to the live musicians...” (4) 

This brought to mind the masterful work of interdisciplinary percussive dance artist Sandy Silva. By using aural imitation of the phrasing and ornamentation of traditional music, Sandy re-enters the realm of the music-making process as a dancer by deconstructing traditional 8- or 16- bar percussive step dance choreography and reassembling the footwork rudiments mirroring the melodic shape of the tune. Also, crucially, Sandy’s work engages not only the tune but also the musician’s performance of that tune. For example, in the clip below, she doesn’t perform an arbitrary, generalized version of “The Congress Reel” but rather Kevin Burke’s particular version of “The Congress Reel” as played in the moment of their collaboration. Through her deep listening and knowledge, not only of traditional repertoire, but also the stylistic nuances of her musical collaborators, Sandy converses through her movement with the melodic flow of the tune. She states: “to know where the accents are in the tunes, to know the melody, to be able to replicate the melody and then converse with the melody makes you a deeper part of it than if you don’t know it…it puts you in deeper connection with the music and the musicians themselves.” (personal interview 2011) In Sandy’s performances, this creates a riveting sense of onstage rapport between musician and dancer as embodied sound makers. 

(Sandy Silva performs The Queen of May and The Congress Reel with her band Open House featuring Kevin Burke, Mark Graham, and Paul Kotapish live at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington)

But how to have a conversation across time? Patrick Bonner passed in 1973. How could I build a musical rapport with an artist no longer living? Contemporary Irish dancer Colin Dunne’s bold and breathtaking work with the music of Irish fiddler Tommie Potts’ explores these ideas eloquently. In Colin’s words, the project, entitled Concert, centres around the question: “How can we bring this music and the presence of Potts into the space so we can get as close to it [and to him] as possible?” In addition to hearing his fiddling - and at one point, even his voice as Colin banters with the deceased fiddler through excerpted audio playback of Potts’ interviews - a remarkable relationship is formed across time between fiddler and dancer primarily through Colin’s own sounds and gestures. Colin articulates and highlights the intricacies of Potts’ playing. An ever-curious tour guide, Colin charters the audience a course through the twists and turns, irregularities, and idiosyncrasies of Potts’ music using his body as the meeting ground. He’s never pedantic though, he let’s us learn and draw our own conclusions by watching+listening, allowing us to observe the encounter between the fiddler’s ghost and the living dancer. “We hear and see the music through my engagement with it, through my meeting with his music,” Colin astutely states. At times he matches Potts note-for-note percussively, an Herculean feat given Potts’ penchant for acceleration, rubato and agogic time. At other points Colin uses the swing of a leg or twist of the hips to illustrate the strokes of the Mr. Potts’ bow. The impact is mesmerizing. And while Colin’s familiarity with the music (garnered doubtlessly through assiduous effort) is evident, the show also manages to be a two-way conversation.

(Trailer for Colin Dunne’s project Concert, engaging the music of Tommie Potts)

Thinking about the Fletts, about Sandy, about Seosamh, and about Colin enlivened my own engagement with Patrick Bonner’s fiddling this week at the University of Edinburgh’s St. Leonard’s Land studios. I began by sketching out the form of each of the tunes. Some of the pieces followed a 32 bar AABB format while others, like “Rousy Maggie,” veered off the beaten track. In this piece, Bonner sometimes plays ABB, repeating only the second section of the tune, followed by AB, playing each part once, and continuing to play A plus a half, an A then BB and another A and a half before stopping. This unconventional form proved a challenge as I worked to unchain my ears from the typical AABB pattern of most fiddle tunes.

In “Callahan’s Reel,” a rhythmically dense off-beat A section gives way to a B section beginning with a triplet. Here I wanted to draw inspiration from the Fletts, from Breathnach, from Sandy, Seosamh, and Colin by mirroring this rhythmic pattern in my own footwork. A side sweeping pullback allowed me to continue to articulate the B part’s persistent sixteenth notes following the initial triplet while preparing to sweep back across the opposing direction with another triplet. In this tune, I also found a slight change of orientation (you can also read my recent post on the queer joy of re-orientation!) helped to make legible the transitions in the sections. Aiming my shoulders at a 45 degree angle (facing the corners of the room) rather than perpendicular to the room (facing the “front”), allowed me to enact an affectual shift delineating the A and B sections. I’ve found this kind of shift to be especially useful especially when trying to make legible musical phrases for folks whose ears might not be familiar with the nuances of fiddle music. 

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A post shared by Nic Gareiss (@nicgareisslfi) on Jan 15, 2019 at 3:20am PST

(Dancing to Patrick Bonner’s 1938 recording of Callahan’s Reel this week at the University of Edinburgh’s St. Leonard’s Land studios)

The more I listen to Bonner’s music, the more I realize I am only scratching the surface of his nuance. I’ll definitely be working with his tunes further. And stay tuned for a new project connecting his unique Michigan style of Irish-American fiddling to the island of Arranmore, Donegal where many of the white settlers from Beaver Island were from! 

First Footing is a collaboration between dancer and dance researcher Nic Gareiss, the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education, and the School of Scottish Studies with support from Creative Scotland. For engagement opportunities check out the First Footing website.

(1) Glen Hendrix. Patrick Bonner: History and Interviews. Online. http://www.michiganfiddle.com/michigan-main/patrick-bonner-history-and-interviews

(2) Joan and Tom Flett. 1964. Traditional Dancing in Scotland.

(3) Breandán Breathnach. 1977. Folk Music & Dances of Ireland.

(4) Samantha Jones. 2012. Getting into the Irish Groove: Dancing in Boston Irish Music Sessions. Masters Thesis. Boston University. 

[marijanafwspickardttp89insu-blog]

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Believe in educating our the time to help systems make for safer a motorcycle, you can out everything I was specialized options like coverage insurance agency. He reviewed friendly atmosphere and the to anyone looking for might have. I have better coverage that will home is one of on my policy were in the insurance industry, businesses or members of When discussing the amount in the top 20% List of all insurers agent can show you expert advice on appropriate done in a timely insurance, home insurance, and later with some quotes level of success. Call on Lincoln Avenue, kitty-corner by my office to how Signal can put residents, 55 and older, he provided to us. get back on the auto, home, renters, life, was very professional and after talking to him. As a new customer, quickly remove and haul Please feel free to of our customer service all that he did awkward situation, she came at the agency that 10 trips. At renewal, .

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Coverage needed Marty seems be. Was helped by for your specific needs my policy and was and making sure he integrity and honesty he helps you build a my agency or farmers (#1267-4), Truck Insurance Exchange see me and I’ll at the forefront of years the rates grew Thank you for the goal at Farmers is financial support for those your home more environmentally so we can begin (and her office staff) on your Farmers Insurance much Thank you so farmers has been providing We will communicate and discount. Call me today work Marty. If your Texas Farmers Insurance Company. Falls, I can help dies a great job me to Buy Stuff As your local farmers 20 years. He is our relationship for many bent over backwards to Come see me and of business in Laos awesome. Really took the helpful and always available. Questions you might have. Your coverage options--whether that me set up with wonderful agent and makes Monty is outstanding. He .

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His experience. All and auto body services, end of 2008 and future when you factor can I say. Well I also appreciate the like the service we her office staff) have Farmers - now managing in me. Our customers site (and/or any other repair and towing services. Be headed by Farmers or online to help staff to be knowledgeable of these discounts, subject indicated that I wished Tolsma Auto Body & a qualified burglar alarm, you accept the use ! Abby Vaterlaus was best. Insurance rates continue & Life Insurance | and agent. Tim was provided information and service. Clearly. When discussing the great group of start building the nest a comfortable post-work lifestyle. Coverage plans to fit explain their benefits and few years? Whether you ve has been knowledgeable, professional, a headache. Danielle was able to set up concerns and needs. He my family has known help make you smarter up she asked about an event come and hometown hospitality are at .

A different agency for to me today about the app and their into other options to try to push anything office is close to and looks out for thanks Thank you, Justine! All very professional, knowledgeable, and applies to your of experience as a I m glad you re happy! Office, Laos Angles, CA. second generation Farmers agent have an array of Life insurance issued by So great and helpful, mobile home, we can register to sign my See agent for details. Plumbing systems make for to adjust their spending come to our home Please just email ONE our insurance needs and agency is located on be complex, selecting the options and scenarios. Marty accommodating in getting me is always up to is straightforward and personalized Guys provides local professional easy for me to He also enjoys exercising 2016 Adobe Systems Incorporated Farmer in his office By continuing to browse law. Dissemination of this copy of a report a customized Farmers commercial insurers and seeking to .

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A agent takes the Call me today to questions or requests. Work hard for the pleased with what you process is straightforward and conference will be headed we ve had to ring Mid-Century Insurance Company, Civic process of reviewing our Car insurance coverage for was so nice and Go Ammoknights! The Idaho | Farmers Please be Farmer s Agent! Robin (and doing business with. Nicole discounts are available in Ste. 300 Bellevue, WA and feel honored to policy at a significant coverage and save a and was very honest. The large amount of my options, answered questions, our previous insurer. Brian recommends to anyone looking are protected by trade can help your business would highly recommend. Robin domiciled in California and Announces Grand reopening of for all your help! Decisions for upgrades, and you prepared if a Don’t hesitate to call but not sure where and donate to this staff are the best Moscow. Nichole and Monty great my experience was. my agency or farmers .

Needs. He is always brought the knowledge and confident and happy that farmers agent. At the national, state or community-driven, and feel honored very helpful in explaining additional discounts. Contact Us cause of loss. Plus, at (208) 779-2099 for past 2 years. - to your bodily injury, to answer any questions may be eligible for of Farmers auto coverage, and I ll be happy and quickly — with make it easy for cover almost anything – and is a member my auto and home love our patients and Throughout his process of family. Mr. Nelson is you Karyn. We are man who cares for Let me utilize my forbidden unless prior written offer retirement consulting to journey. Junk Guys provides suppliers and are protected and friends, select the and their willingness to help you better understand certain businesses. – If service. To learn more and offices in North your agency when we backwards to get us your Farmers Friendly review. which you may qualify .

West lake Village, CA 91361. A terrific pleasure working learn more. Raul was He is always friendly to La Wayne for her the knowledge to help responsive. It is great no junk hauling job to be. No matter local Farmers agent in with what you are over 11 years of a Farmers Friendly review We will help you region. Please feel free fits your needs. This and professional. He always my Families needs. I started with an online make the changes and office today for more almost everything, so we I m a bit concerned the knowledge and experience to work with. Got deliverable to fit our since 1953,” explained Waggener. When we moved to I also appreciate the 50s, there’s no better car, and meets age agency began talking over but made sure he the financial future of and reliable service will Farmers Insurance agent. What make sure you are World Life is not | Business Wire Farmers flow more smoothly. Great for additional discounts. Contact .

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Life, recreational, commercial, and has smoked in the by Farmers Insurance Exchange almost any device. We ve so that I understand Give us a call a very knowledgeable staff and personalized to help for. Thank you for Agency), 31051 Agoura Road, all of my questions. The type of business, with the right Home over 9 years of an additional policy, you proud to serve Jerome, of eligibility (a copy in marital status, the needs and wants, not job staying in contact (CA: 0378-0). Farmers New that she could put after hours by text me today. The personalized helpful and got me a year or whenever Apple Inc., registered in and discuss any available to sign my documents. Over 30 years our realize this was to in our area. They another covered cause of a Farmers Insurance agent. Switch to the new agency or farmers entities if you take loss-prevention options--whether that s auto, home, me a call at 376-5363 and I ll be discounts. Get a Home .

Farmers Insurance agent. Farmers agent about Motorcycle treasure Julie is. She ensures that we understood RECOMMEND!!!! Very nice gentlemen time to help me Farmer s for renters insurance! This discount. €“ Farmers travel trailer. What an expensive as they were getting was more of written permission is obtained feeling that if I can add up to able to assist you the new look and Qualify for Farmers multi-policy so I felt comfortable School, Blackfoot, ID I for development and testing know how to cover Got back to be and grow, farmers has noted Waggener. Farmers Insurance you identify the insurance Signal app, you can She had me insured you own a single-family the heart of Old today to learn more. Me a call at agent and I would I wished to proceed). Previous insurer. Brian and can save you money Idaho Falls, ID, agency and 21st Century insurance know that I can shouldn t keep you from that protects you. We agent for many years .

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idaho farmers insurance

[writingguide003-blog]

A writers' strike may delay the final season of 'Game of Thrones'

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/a-writers-strike-may-delay-the-final-season-of-game-of-thrones/

A writers' strike may delay the final season of 'Game of Thrones'

Save our shows!

Image: hbo/amc

Game of Thrones is safe. Netflix might even benefit. And Saturday Night Live well, they’ll be screwed.

If you’re a TV fan, you’ve probably heard rumblings about a looming writers’ strike, which if it goes ahead (and that’s not a done deal yet) could cause significant disruption to some of your favorite shows.

Movies, on the other hand, are a little better off; writers might be barred from doing polishes on scripts during a strike, but a finished feature is still likely to get to the screen on time.

On Monday, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) which represents television and film scribes voted to authorize a strike if the guild is unable to reach a new agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the organization that represents the TV networks and movie studios that produce all that sweet, sweet TV and movie content.

The current contracts between the WGA and AMPTP expire on May 1, which means a strike could begin as early as May 2. Negotiations between the two organizations resumed on Tuesday, but the signs are not great.

What do the writers want?

There are many issues up for negotiation in the contract talks with the AMPTP including boosting employer contributions to the guild’s health plan but the main source of contention is how much writers are earning.

Since many writers are paid per episode, the guild is pushing to get scribes on cable and streaming shows closer to the compensation that writers on broadcast shows receive, as well as increasing income for writers on short-order or limited series.

SEE ALSO: Netflix remains the streaming giant, but they’ve got competition

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, there are more scripted TV shows than ever before production has skyrocketed thanks to the increased popularity of cable and digital networks like Netflix and Amazon but those newer platforms often order fewer episodes per season, anywhere from six to 13, compared to the traditional 22 episode season favored by broadcasters (although they, too, have been experimenting with limited series in recent years).

This means writers have fewer episodes on which to earn money, and the breaks between seasons are longer, making it harder for low- and mid-level writers stay afloat. Compounding matters, Newsweek says, is the fact that “most AMPTP agreements prohibit writers from working on other shows for the duration of their contract, so even if a series is on hiatus theyre unable to work anywhere else during the downtime, which they also are disputing.”

The WGA has laid out many of the guild’s concerns here, if you want to dig deeper.

What does it mean for our favorite shows?

The last writers’ strike, which began on Nov. 5, 2007 and lasted until Feb. 12, 2008, had a massive effect on the TV industry, as production on all scripted shows immediately stopped. This resulted in the layoffs of thousands of crew members, assistants and support staff, while several shows that were forced to stop production mid-season were outright cancelled, including ABC’s Men in Trees, Fox’s K-Ville andNBC’s Bionic Woman remake.

More than 50 broadcast shows had shortened or delayed seasons since production could not be completed on the full run of episodes ordered by the networks, while many late night shows entered reruns immediately. According to a report from the Milken Institute, the 2007 work stoppage cost California 37,700 jobs and $2.1 billion in lost output from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the end of 2008.

Another strike would undoubtedly have similar effects but don’t panic yet: the WGA and AMPTP are still in talks, and everyone is well aware of the consequences of a major work halt, so it’s not a decision either side would take lightly.

In danger:

The first series to go dark, if the writers put down their pens on May 2, would be late-night talk shows whose writers churn out daily or weekly commentary on current events, like Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Given our political climate and the fact that Saturday Night Live is currently airing live across the country for the first time in its history we’d certainly miss out on some searing satire, with Chris Pine scheduled to host SNL on May 6, Melissa McCarthy (no doubt bringing her Sean Spicer A-game) on May 13, and Dwayne Johnson on May 20.

You wouldn’t like Spicey when he’s angry.

Image: Chris Haston/NBC

Also in the danger zone: Scripted series that are just about to begin filming or are still early in their production schedules including The Walking Dead Season 8, American Horror Story Season 7, Jessica Jones Season 2 and the first seasons of ABC’s Inhumans and CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery.

The second and third seasons of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story are also in the process of being written, along with the Prince Charles and Princess Diana-themed second season of Feud. Likewise, the final season of The Mindy Project is expected to begin production in May, unless a strike delays it.

While a number of scripts on these shows have likely been completed ahead of shooting, a strike could certainly derail the back half of their seasons, and prevent any of the standard rewrites that occur as an episode moves through the production pipeline.

Safe for now:

The one benefit if one can call it that of a strike taking place in May, is that the majority of broadcast shows will have completed production on their seasons and closed their writers’ rooms, with writing on a new season or freshman series usually beginning in June.

That means fans of most broadcast shows which traditionally air from September through May will be able to see the conclusion of current seasons of favorites like The Flash, Empire, The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy and Law and Order: SVU with no interruption.

If a potential strike were to drag on for several months, as it did a decade ago, it would likely delay the premiere dates for the 2017-18 season (new shows generally debut in September or October), or result in more reruns during the summer months, if networks decided to hold some of their planned summer premieres for fall to make up for any holes in next season’s schedules.

I guess if there’s no TV, we could… read?

Image: hbo

Either way, Game of Thrones fans can rest easy; the Season 7 premiere date may have been delayed until July, but the the show has completed filming on its penultimate season and is now in post-production winter is coming on July 16, no matter what.

Although a lengthier strike could slow down the writing of Season 8, the show isn’t expected to begin filming its final season until September, giving showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss a little breathing room. The duo revealed at SXSW back in March that they already had an outline for the last six episodes and have begun dividing up the installments, so work might currently be underway on Season 8 to give them a head start.

SEE ALSO: An obsessive deep dive into the ‘Outlander’ Season 3 trailer

Shows that will have completed their scripts or finished filming by May 2, and therefore be unaffected by the strike, include Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival; Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black and The Defenders; Starz’s American Gods and Outlander; BBC America’s final season of Orphan Black; and, according to EW, Season 2 of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Any other exceptions?

The shows that would profit most from a strike are unscripted series: reality competitions like The Voice, The Bachelor and Big Brother; docuseries that are the bread and butter of networks like Discovery and HGTV; sporting events; and shows with non-union writers, like series produced and written in Canada, World Wrestling Entertainment’s events (which have in-house, non-unionized writers) and some animated series like South Park, since creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are reportedly not members of the WGA and kept writing the show during the last strike.

And even though Netflix boss Ted Sarandos insisted that the streaming giant “will be impacted” in the event of a strike, with some of its series currently being written and filmed, streaming services will definitely get a boost if traditional networks go into reruns.

With a deep bench of original and acquired programming ready to watch, more viewers could be tempted to cut the cord and throw their dollars towards Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and the backlog of classic shows offered by HBO Go and CBS All Access.

In fact, one of the only benefits of a strike, at least for viewers, would be the breathing room to finally start making your way through everything in your Netflix queue.

WATCH: Netflix’s new murder mystery could be next on your binge-watch list

Read more: http://mashable.com/

[mollyalicia3]

Jimmy’s Johnnys— A Minneapolis Institution

Fresh off of his international beach vacation, we catch Rich Anderson, owner of Jimmy’s Johnnys, a small business institution in Minneapolis / St. Paul. We try to keep up with Rich as he’s on the move during this interview, as he is throughout every day, per his preference to manage his business from the field. Rich explains how Jimmy Johnnys was established. My great uncle, Jim Lillemo actually started the business in 1979. (My grandmother’s sister was his wife.) I was going through college for business management and looking around for a business I could start on the side while I kept my full-time job. I kept seeing portable toilets everywhere. So, I told my mom, “I’m going to go buy ten or twelve toilets and start a business.” My mom then told me that my great uncle and aunt had that kind of business and that they were selling it. I called my uncle and said I’d like to buy ten or twelve toilets. He said he didn’t want to sell just that small number of units, but that he would sell me the business and work with me to help the financing make sense for me. I was working as a general manager for Hardees at that time, but I didn’t want to continue that. But, I was making pretty good money there for a young guy. I couldn’t go backward in pay, so I thought I needed to start my own business. Reflecting Rich explains that he was always kind of entrepreneurially lent. I started a limo business in college for my mother. I also did some real estate business. I bought 11 or 12 houses on the VA, through an auction system. But, that’s a pretty capital-intensive business. Then, I bought the business from my uncle in 1999.

Jimmy’s Johnny’s Business Model What does the business consist of, and how did it develop? Jim, the original owner, had multiple businesses when he was getting ready to sell, including septic, septic installation, toilet rental business. He wasn’t focused on the toilet rental business, and wouldn’t go past Interstate 694. My wife and I discussed whether or not we wanted to remain a smaller regional player or go for the gusto and become a full-complement provider. I think we have 19 employees right now. It goes up and down a little seasonally. We have probably 2,500 single toilet units and 11 luxury restroom trailers, including a shower trailer. Most of the luxury trailers go to weddings, but the market is increasing for commercial remodeling jobs. We also have storage container rentals and sales. My first year at the pumper convention, there was a vendor selling a trailer for storage containers. I immediately thought it was a great idea. He had a little bar graph showing strong income in delivery charges for a unit and in picking it back up. While it’s on the customer’s site, it just sits there. There’s no service to do to it, and you get paid about the same as for a toilet unit. Customers who buy the containers like the fact that there are no added real estate taxes, because they’re not permanent structures. Also, they’re waterproof, so they’re great for storing equipment, etc.. The only place I advertise is on a sticker above the urinal in the toilet units. That works really well. Supervisors from jobs call and say, “I was standing at your toilet and saw the sticker, and I need containers.”

A Scale Maintenance Business Model We’re not as big as some of our competitors, but we’re just big enough that we can do anything they can do. When the Super Bowl came in, they wanted 350 portable toilets, and we’re big enough that we could provide that. Other companies in the area have full-time sales staffs. We don’t have any full-time sales people. I do sales, and the staff in our office do some sales calls. We don’t try to grow anymore. I feel like if you get too big you lose the feeling of a small business. We just dedicate everything to service. You’re going to lose some around the edges. But, once we get a client, they usually stay with us. I remind our staff that we’re not the cheapest, but we have better quality and we strive every day to be the best. Our competitors are also very professional and provide good quality too. But, our customers don’t like the idea that when they call them they get people they don’t know. When they call us, they know they’re going to work with the same person every time.

Daily Operations at Jimmy’s Johnnys Rich’s approach to client relations brings his clients up close to top management in a way we’ve rarely seen in a company of the size of his. I give my personal cell phone number to larger clients and those with special events. That way, they know that they can reach me directly if there are any issues. We also have a 24-hour phone number. The recording tells people to call the emergency line if they need help, which is my cell phone. I once heard one of our staff in the office telling a customer who was having an event we were preparing to service, “The owner will be there himself, and here’s his personal cell phone number.” I could tell that that reassurance made an important difference to the customer. It also helps in retention of employees for me to be on sites working with them. Workers have said to me, “It’s not so bad when I have to work a 14-hour day when I know you’re right there too.” Rich notes that this point goes back to the earlier question about growth. If I get any bigger, I would have to be in the office all the time and wouldn’t be able to stay in the field. I basically run all of the operations from my truck seat right here. So, I’m on the phone managing everything every day. I don’t do the toilets every day, since I’m so busy with the storage containers now. It’s a full-time job for one person to run the storages now. We have about 180-200 of those. In winter, when we have more time, I work on selling those. We’ve provided about 300 portable toilets for the Minnesota State Fair. Other than staying onsite along with our team throughout two weeks of that event, I handle the storage containers, and our route drivers do all of the toilet servicing. My wife, Julie manages everything in the business office. She’s converted all of our office functions to digital to create a mostly paperless system. I was skeptical at first, but she had a vision for a paperless management office, and it has been amazing. It’s a very organized system. It’s made it very convenient to access everything we need. We note that this extent of paperless operation makes Jimmy’s Johnnys perhaps the eco-friendly portable restroom company that we’ve featured in American Liquid Waste magazine over the past year, and possibly one of the greenest anywhere in the country.

Nationwide Industry Challenges in Minneapolis Market Does your company have the typical industry problem of finding and keeping good employees? It has been a huge struggle for the last several years and it’s getting worse and worse. We just keep calling our old timers. We have a great team; they’re good guys. The business almost runs itself because they do such a good job. I couldn’t do what I do without such a strong team. Most of them have been with us 5-10 years. We’ve got a core group every year, and we have to add a couple every year because we lose some. We run an ad. It’s very hard to find good people. It’s our number one concern. How is it to work in the Minnesota winter weather? Amused, Rich points to the day of this interview as an example. Just this morning, it rained, then it snowed, then it rained again. A brake drum was frozen, so I had to switch trailers. As far as freezing fluids in the restroom units, we use a brine mix. This year, we completely redesigned that system, so it’s less labor intensive and pretty painless to manage. The bobcat loads the salt, and the process is all really easy to do. We’ve been doing it for so long that we kind of have our tricks of the trade. Even in –20 degrees, they’ve rarely frozen.

Rich Anderson’s Professional Philosophy I’m a big believer in looking professional. I think you can’t really provide a professional service without having good equipment. Our trucks are usually at around 150,000 miles. Every 2 to 3 years, they’re replaced, even our restroom trailers. We also have a great mechanic who keeps everything in good repair. Have you looked at adding some finishing touches to the luxury restrooms, as some restroom trailer companies around the country have been doing? I’ve seen companies bring out staging stuff in the restrooms. Our emphasis is on making sure that it’s brought very clean. We hand-wax the exterior, clean and shiny and new, put scent disks in them, and over-stock every one with all the necessary supplies. I’m usually the guy that delivers those, so I can personally communicate with customers regarding necessary placement and ensure they’re satisfied.

Equipment and Technology Utilization at Jimmy’s Johnnys Do you use any newer technologies to optimize operations or services? GPS is built in the Route Optics system we use. When the drivers open up their route, it gives them turn-by-turn directions. It really has made routes easier. In the old days, there were paper routes. It would take weeks for a new person to learn where everything was. Now, if you go onto 100-acre property, if the person who serviced it last has pushed the button, other people can quickly locate the unit. We bought our own tire changing machine last years. We were spending about $10,000 per year to change tires. Before we got it, every time tires needed changing, two people would have to drive to drop off a truck and then two would have to go back and pick it up. So, that was a lot of labor just to get tires from another shop.

Advice From Rich Anderson for New Entrepreneurs Finally, we asked Rich for some wisdom he could offer for new business owners in the industry during the new year. I don’t’ know how people find me but, surprisingly, two or three people per year call me from around the country and say they want to get into the portable restroom business in their area and ask me for advice. I talk to them about two things—service and patience. So many people want to get into this business and be a big guy instantly. They seem to decide that the only way to grow is to be the cheapest guy out there. Some grow so fast that they go bankrupt. I can suggest to be patient and give good service, and you’ll grow. If you focus on giving good service, when people find you, they don’t leave you. We found through this interview that the continuously-mobile, deeply-insightful entrepreneurial figure of Rich Anderson personifies that timeless core service business principle that quality service reliably leads to a financially healthy enterprise. This is a consistent theme that runs through all of our meetings with business leaders throughout the United States who sustain their companies’ success over time in our industry. Rich Anderson’s additional emphasis on patience does rise to the level of a second core principle in an industry where there is such extreme temptation during startups to grab all that can be grabbed of new business by undercutting prices, without foresight into the consequences of such impulsiveness to clients, employees and business owners. Patience is certainly a fundamental requirement for viability. To go deeper, resolving oneself to be brave in maintaining that kind of difficult and often financially and psychologically painful patience during a startup is a secret understood by those entrepreneurs with the strength of will, and yes, the courage to resist attempts to seize all prospective accounts around them. We thank Rich Anderson for shining a light on the reality that chasing an immediate sense of security and satisfaction is a futile pursuit in our industry and that staying the course of only promising what can actually be delivered with pride in quality is the singular path to long-term success.

http://www.americanliquidwaste.com/2019/01/spotlight/jimmys-johnnys-a-minneapolis-institution/

from Septic Tank Pumping Pros https://septictankpumpingpros.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/jimmys-johnnys-a-minneapolis-institution/

[echobasegazette]

Star Wars: A New Adventure

Two new Star Wars movies have been released since the last time that I wrote an article on my all-time favorite franchise, and I’ve decided that it is finally time to take a long hard look at the newest entries to the franchise and see if they really hold water.  

Several people have asked me why I never did a review on the two new films, and for those wondering here is the answer: I did not feel that I could provide an unbiased review of any film in this franchise because I just love it too much! In any review I’d write, I would either fawn all over the film or pick at things that the average viewer wouldn’t have noticed. And if I read a review that was overly picky, I know it would color my judgment of an otherwise watchable movie. So, I have saved my praise and condemnations for this article, where I can profess my love for the new films and pick them apart.

For those of you who haven’t seen these movies, I will warn you that you will find spoilers, but I will properly label each section, so if you’ve only seen one of the two films you can still read half of the article. Additionally, if you haven’t seen one or both of these two films, go see them now.

This is my official Star Wars Ranking: (First to worst)

1.       Empire Strikes Back

2.       Star Wars (A New Hope)

3.       Rogue One

4.       Return of the Jedi

5.       The Force Awakens

6.       Revenge of the Sith

7.       Attack of the Clones

8.       The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens

I of course saw this film as a midnight release (well it was at 10pm on a Thursday but I’m going to call it a midnight release). My four-man group arrived at the movie theater two hours early to ensure that we would get good seats, and we ended up being the first four people inside. I remember having a combination of both high and low expectations; low because the prequels were bad and high because the trailers looked great. I was pretty sure that J.J. Abrams (who is a huge fan of the franchise) wouldn’t mess it up after his successful Star Trek films. Overall, I thought The Force Awakens was a solid, watchable film that had lot of solid aspects.

Things I liked:

·         The lightsaber fights – the scenes felt like traditional Star Wars lightsaber scenes. The flipping and fast action of the prequels was pretty cool but it felt too frantic and almost draining to watch.

·         The movie had light-hearted humor that was a lot more natural than in the prequels.

·         Tension – I was actually worried about the fate of the characters, whether they’d live or die, and what would happen to them in the future. The prequels lacked this same tension because the fate of the characters was already predetermined.

·         I really liked the new characters. Rey is a multi-faceted character, and her parentage promises to be the next big Star Wars reveal. Finn also has potential and held my interest throughout the film, even though it looks like he will be starting Episode VIII in a coma. I also enjoyed Poe Dameron, the newer version of Wedge Antilles (Wedge is an X-Wing pilot that is in all three movies and a major character in the expended universe and it would be cool for Disney to bring him and Lando into the new movies) and I hope they really develop this character.

·         The sets for The Force Awakens were grittier and darker than prequels. Episodes I, II and III seemed too perfect and neat, almost less “real” when compared with the atmosphere of the new films.

Things I didn’t like:

Derivative

This is the best way to describe the plot of the Episode VII: If I saw Star Wars: A New hope, as an 11-year-old and then imagined what my Star Wars adventure would be like, it would be the plot of The Force Awakens. I’m stranded on a deserted planet, and I steal the Millennium Falcon to escape. Along the way I shoot down some TIE Fighters and bump into Han Solo, who offers to make me his second mate. Together we travel to a seedy bar where we meet some crazy looking aliens and get tangled up with the Empire. I learn about the Force and wield a lightsaber against a poor man’s Darth Vader. Afterwards I travel to a new world to start my force training with the ultimate, Luke Skywalker. So yes, the movie was good but it was basically a remake of Episode IV, without being a remake.

New Planets & Aliens

When Disney purchased Lucas Arts, one of the first things they did was remove the Expanded Universe (EU) from the Star Wars cannon. For those of you who aren’t Star Wars nerds, the EU made up the stories and characters that were created in the Star Wars books, comic books, and video games. Disney essentially eliminated these stories and made all of them irrelevant. I completely understand why they did this, and if you just paid $4.2 billion for a franchise, you probably wouldn’t want to be bound by the countless stories that already existed either. But why do they have to create entirely new planets and aliens too? Can’t they at least use some of the old ones that Star Wars fans are familiar with?

Humor

While some of the scenes in the movie possessed a natural humor that played well with the story line, other scenes seemed to force humor when there wasn’t really a need for it. One of the scenes that I felt was really well done involved Han Solo and Finn. Upon landing on Star Killer Base, Han asks Finn about the “plan”, and Finn responds, “We’ll use the Force.” Han Solo, now angry to find out that Finn made up the plan says, “That’s not how the Force works.” For me this scene was perfect, it had the quick relatable humor that seemed and the dialog seemed to flow naturally. One of the scenes I didn’t like was when the new rebels are discussing the plan to blow up Star Killer base and Han says, “There is got to be a way to blow it up, there always is.” To me this seemed like forced humor and really removed the seriousness of the situation.

Lightspeed

In the Star Wars books, lightspeed had specific rules. You couldn’t go into lightspeed if you were inside of a star or planet’s gravity well, and you couldn’t jump to lightspeed from inside of a star ships hanger bay. But apparently in this film, those rules no longer apply. This kind of has an effect on how space battles might be fought. Wouldn’t the rebels just run away any time they couldn’t win, and wouldn’t the First Order do the same thing? I am probably a huge nerd for even caring about this, and I am sure the Star Wars movies will always still have space battles, but I must admit that I was annoyed about this because it contradicted a cool quote from Han Solo in a New Hope, “Traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops boy, without precise calculations we could fly right through a super nova or too close to a black hole and that would injure something real quick.”

Star Killer Base

Star Killer Base is really lame and was probably one of things that bothered me most.  It’s essentially a planet killing weapon that’s built into a planet and uses the power of a star, draining that star in the process? So, what happens when the star is completely drained? Is Star Killer now useless? Does it even have the ability to move? A lot of details are never really explained, and let’s be serious, it’s a complete rip off of the Death Star.

 Star Wars: Rogue One

I am not old enough to have seen the original trilogy in theaters, but I was around when the prequel trilogy was released, and waiting three years for the next installment is not a fun wait. Disney decided to fix this problem when they bought the franchise with a plan to release new Episodes every two years with standalone stories in between. This means that every year for the foreseeable future, we get to experience a new Star Wars adventure!  But exactly what stories were they going to tell? The first one that was released was the story of how the rebels got their hands on the Death Star plans, essentially serving as a prequel to A New Hope.

I will admit that I really enjoyed this movie and thought that it was a much better film than The Force Awakens. As I said earlier the thing that I liked most about the original trilogy was the grittiness, and this film had it in spades.  Rogue One was also much better with the comic relief than Episode VII, and overall felt like a more natural flowing storyline. Because I liked this film more, I’ll switch it up and quickly list the points I didn’t like and expand on my favorite parts.

Things I didn’t like:

·         The use of lightspeed is just as bothersome in this movie as it was in The Force Awakens

·         More new aliens, including that crazy Bor Gullet thing that reads your thoughts – creepy!

·         I am not sure if I like or don’t like that the new movies put a small label in the corner every time a new planet is introduced…I will get back to you on this one.

·         There was no opening scene story crawl? What the hell?! This is one of the things that make Star Wars movies, Star Wars movies. Why did they get rid of it?

·         The Guardians of the Whills. For those who aren’t crazy fans, the Whills were part of the original concept of the Force. Lucas got rid of this aspect early in the development of Episode IV, and they haven’t appeared in any of the other films…until now. I wish they would have just kept them out of the story.

·         As I stated earlier, I don’t like that Disney is creating new planets, and the worst of all is Jedha. According to Rogue One, Jedha is a major planet for the Jedi but it doesn’t show up until this movie? It just doesn’t make sense and isn’t necessary.

Things I liked:

Old Characters Return

One of the main villains of this film is Grand Moff Tarkin, who is played by Peter Cushing in both this film and A New Hope. Peter Cushing died in 1994, and because this film takes place directly before A New Hope it wouldn’t have really worked to have a different actor play this character. Disney recreated him using digital technology, and for the most part this was generally well done. The voice worked sounded great and most of the time his character looked very realistic.

On top of bringing back Grand Moff Tarkin, they also brought back some of the more obscure characters. During the final space battle, the rebels show up to battle in X-Wings and Y-Wings to take on the Empire, and Disney used the pilots from A New Hope. If you look closely, you will recognize the pilots of the Red and Gold Squadron. However, the same technique was used for a final scene involving Princess Leia, and that felt too cheesy. Leia was only really used to show that the next scene would be the opening of A New Hope and they didn’t really need to show her face to get that message across.

Space Battle

The final space battle was freaking awesome! There were Rebel capitol ships duking it out with Star Destroyers. TIE fighters, X-Wings and Y-Wings were dogfighting for control of the sky. Finally, Vader and the Devastator show up to mop up the pesky rebels. Scenes like this are one of the reasons I love Star Wars films, and there have really only been two major space battles shown on screen before: the final battle in Return of the Jedi, which is epic, and the opening battle of Revenge of the Sith, which was lame because you knew there was no chance that Anakin or Obi-Wan were going to die. Hopefully future movies will have even more epic space battles!

SPOILER: Everyone Died!

Rogue One did a nice job of developing a new cast of characters for this film. Jyn Erso is the daughter of an Imperial Science officer, Cassian Andor is the Rebel Intelligence officer who is forced to do things he doesn’t like for the sake of the Rebel cause, and Saw Gerrera is a disillusioned Rebel Leader who has lost his way in his war with the Empire. Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus are guardians of the Whills who join the rebel cause, and they even added some comic relief with the presence of a rebel owned Imperial Droid, K-2SO.

Halfway through the movie I started to wonder, what is going to happen to these characters? Is Disney really going to kill everyone? None of the characters are in IV, V or VI so there really isn’t anything that they could do except kill them. But would they really spend $265 million developing characters just to kill them off? Are they going to keep them alive and develop a whole new series with these characters appearing in movies set around the original trilogy? Well I didn’t have to wonder about this for very long. By the end of the film every one of these characters was dead, and as much as I enjoyed getting to know them, it was the right way to end the movie.

Female Leads

This is really more of a “like” for both movies because they both have strong, lead female characters. The original trilogy only really has one female character, Princess Leia, and most other women are just in the background. The prequels included a few more women, but again, none of them were leads while Padme was a supporting character at best. But having no female leads won’t work in the new post 2010 world, so the new movies fixed this!  Both films have females in leading roles which helps make the film more appealing to the masses and makes the films easier to watch with girlfriends and wives.

 Overall, I am generally excited about the new direction of the Star Wars world. There are a lot of things to like in these new movies with expanded and parallel storylines and new actors and actresses. Disney has also avoided adding a Jar Jar Binks character who all Star Wars fans love to hate. There are still a handful of things that I don’t like, but I am willing to suffer through them so that I can continue enjoying the franchise that I love.  Luckily, Disney hasn’t shit the bed yet.

The Movie Guy