#i need this show as a blue ray or dvd

[officialempressofhell]

Tammy getting so angry at Neil comparing him to their father is resonating with me. She is every woman who is realizing that her male relatives are the same danger to women as the strangers who have been harassing her all her life

[piiyoin]

Imposter Zine 🎭✨

My part of @veiled-identity-zine aka Ultimate Imposter Zine💛✨ this will be my first and last Zine cuz idk Can I still join several other Zines that are interesting to me but currently this Zine is the only one I follow for one of my favorite characters and also main ship with my OC💛

Also i will explain how his disguise works in the canon story because I was inspired by some canon information about him:

Byakuya disguise aka "Twogami" : We often see him in games and main stories in other games with his different appearance with Byakuya (with a white suit a little cream, his tie is very short and his hair is a little blonde from it), He carries out his daily life by imitating Byakuya's natural nature but has a slight sense of kindness and concern for the people around him, and also his sense of leadership to protect his friends

Ryota disguise aka "Mitwarai" (not Mitworai cuz maybe it's name ship between Ryota x Imposter) : This appears in the anime Danganronpa 3 Despair arc where he disguises himself with a few differences from the original Ryota, with round red peach cheek that he deliberately made and the character created by him, Ryota by himself has a slightly cuter nature. He will interact normally with those around him without showing his true nature and he also has a caring attitude towards the people closest to him and he wouldn't be so hesitant to think if a pinch came.

Kyosuke disguise (Still thinking about a nickname for this🫠) : It's not shown much but this appearance appears in the anime Danganronpa 3 last Future arc when he try to help original Kyosuke, Maybe it's about the nature of still being compared to the original Kyosuke and I thought about putting this appearance when he was a remnant. Along with Byakuya's disguise, he will use Kyosuke's disguise to gain access to the Future Foundation headquarters, he could command or deceive several troops with that disguise.

Kizakura disguise (same with Kyosuke i'm still search a good name sksk) : This disguise was inspired by a sound recording on a Blue Ray DVD where Koichi Kizakura was talking to several class 77-B students before they were accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, The real Kizakura was drunk and that's when the Imposter started acting to impersonate him. He will look the same but without a beard and with a mustache that is yellow like the color of his hair, he carries out his duties but he will not touch alcohol or get drunk. He met the real Kizakura and talked to each other (I don't really know what their conversation was because it was in Japanese :') but what I heard was when the Imposter changed his voice because Kizakura already knew that he was an Imposter, that's when Kizakura invited him to enter Hope's Peak Academy. "Ultimate Imposter" is a nickname given by Kizakura himself and has become the name for the Imposter himself (because at that time he said the word "Sagishi" in Japanese as if it were a name for him).

The true disguise: Appears in the anime but only temporarily and not much development to his original appearance, he has long black hair and slightly gray eyes (there are some headcanon by people which they said was a little purplish or greenish in color), He doesn't show many characteristics, but you could say he has a very friendly nature and cares about others, of course he gets along very well with others and also cares about others. He can do everything as an imposter and doesn't care about his fat and big body shape because for him he feels so safe with his current body. He prefers warm bodies so he really likes to be hugged by those closest to him to warm and provide comfort. And also he might be able to help someone if someone needed a disguise for a job.

Maybe that's all for me, if you have opinions, suggestions and criticism, please just leave them in the comments because I don't really know many things and I only put a few of the AU stories I use for my ships and some of your headcanons are also very helpful💛

[sihayadunee]

Mythic Symbolism in the Mayfair Witches

a mythic and psychoanalytical thread exploring themes of: alchemy, star lovers, fairytales, greek myth, three fold goddesses, and beastly grooms within the amc series ‘anne rice’s mayfair witches’

*disclaimer*

This post will be split up into multiple parts as it is very lengthy.

The point of this post is not to discuss how the show adapts the source material, but instead how the show stands on its own, utilizing psychological and mythic motifs in its plot and character journeys.

For those who want to see the show, it is available on physical DVD and Blue-Ray as well as streaming. The entire eight episode first season is available on AMC+ which you can get a free trial for through Prime Video channels.

A second season has also already been green-lit. However the first season ends on what I would consider a very satisfying note.

Part One, Part Two

————————————————————————

THE TRIPLE GODDESS: MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE

Aside from Rowan’s story, there are two other Mayfair women whose lives we follow. The progenitor Suzanne in the 17th century, and Rowan’s biological mother Deirdre. While together they each represent one of the goddesses, we also see each of them move through these roles in their own journeys.

The concept of the triple goddess also has strong roots in the myth of the Greek Fates and the Norns of Norse myth. Both represent the Birth/Life/Death cycle. This archetype is also strongly associated with Persephone, Demeter and Hecate, or Artemis, Selene, and Hecate.

Each of these Mayfair women has a role directly associated with life and death. For example, Suzanne is a midwife whose work, like her aunt says, is not just curing people but also helping give them a good death.

Rowan, like Persephone as Maureen Murdock puts it, is pulled out of the innocence of everyday life into a deeper consciousness of self by Hades. Or in this case Lasher.

Furthermore, Deirdre like Demeter is overcome with grief and surrenders to her sorrow, when her daughter is taken from her. However in this instance her daughter is taken away by Carlotta.

Suzanne is like Hecate as Jean Shinoda Bolen describes, a guiding companion force. When Rowan meets a crossroads in her journey at the Witching Hour, Suzanne is there to guide her as the first matriarch, as a mistress of life and death.

They each have mirroring moments in their journeys. Just like Rowan, Suzanne too was visited by a murder of crows, and the Dark Night of the Soul that Rowan is facing is likened in dialogue to the dark subconscious place Deirdre is trapped. In fact, episode two is titled The Dark Place.

Each of them share the same animus. A being known as Lasher. He is bonded to each of the “Designees”, the matriarchs of the Mayfair family. We’ll delve into him soon enough.

DREAMS AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS

When Rowan uses her powers on the crows, causing a couple of them to fall down dead, she lays them down in her jacket, and drives off to a beach. She then walks to the shore and digs into the sand until she has a hole she can bury the crows in.

After this she takes a pill to force herself to sleep, both exhausted and desperate to flee into oblivion to escape her consciousness as it begins to recognize her shadow. But now as she is laying by the ocean, she is submerged in the unconscious. 

She experiences a dream that evokes Cinderella, fairy godmothers, transformation, and spiritual death. She is wearing a shimmering blue gown, and is chasing after Ellie who is leading her somewhere. She runs after her mother, who leads her to The Mayfair House. 

Whenever we see the house, it’s presented as a piece of nature itself, overgrown, hidden among trees, and the sound of water. It is a true representation of the subconscious, the underworld.

A FALSE START AND CLEANSING FIRE

When she finally goes to New Orleans, we think she’s going to get the answers she needs and reconnect with the feminine. However forces intervene and Rowan’s first impression of her Mayfair lineage and the power she possesses is one of fear, in part thanks to Ciprien Grieve. He means well, but his actions and perspective are a literal extension of Ellie as the “too good mother”.

The organization called the Talamasca that Ciprien is part of, actually puts a spell around his building where Rowan is staying. Which acts as a wall or barrier keeping Rowan separated from her Shadow. It was made to keep Lasher out. This is when we have that cleansing flame, as Lasher sets a fire to get the alarms to go off and Rowan to leave the building. 

And the first thing she intends to do, is find the Mayfair House which as we know is her subconscious…

End of Part Two

[walks-the-ages]

"Favorite Doctor Survey" Update February 11th, 2023, ~9pm Eastern Standard Time:

[ID: a screenshot of a pie chart which has a multitude of colors in sections, the largest being labeled with percentages of 23.3%, 16.3%, 11.6%, and two are labled 7% while the rest are not labeled. there is a list of Doctor Who incarnations off to the side with color coding which trails off. end ID]

So far, we have 43 votes, and right now, the 8th Doctor is in the lead with 10 votes, aka 23.3%!

I am extremely delighted with this fact, we need more people to appreciate the Eighth Doctor ~! For anyone who is unaware of it, the Eighth Doctor is not limited to just the 1997 TV movie and a few minutes in Power of the Doctor--

--oh no, this Bestest Boy Ever has not only over a hundred audio dramas (and counting!!) on Big Finish, but also at least 74 Novels to his interation! If you do not know the Eighth Doctor yet, now is your excuse to go watch his movie on the web archive and then dive into the world of Big Finish to experience his adventures with Charley! :D

*Ahem* So, onto the next "Favorite Doctor!"

To no-ones surprise, the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi is holding steady in second place, with 9 votes!

There's a slight error in the graph because I realized I'd forgotten to add his actor and year to the 12th doctor listing and the answers already submitted didn't get edited, so Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor is not just the dark teal 16.3% you see above, but also the dark blue right underneath it which is the first 2 original votes before the updated info.

In 3rd place, appropriately enough, we have the Third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee! He currently has 5 votes, aka 11.6%!

Everyone seems to love his dynamics with UNIT, being earthbound, and his fatherly/grandfatherly relationships with his companions-- not to mention his chemistry with The Master!

Tied for 4th place, we have the Sixth and Second Doctors, each with 3 votes, aka 7% !

One, Five, Nine, and Ten each have 2 votes,

Four, The Valyard, The Shalka!Doctor, Eleven, and Thirteen all have 1 vote each,

and so far we have two write-in answers: one vote for "The Lethian Campaign Assassin" (an extremely intriguing wiki article) and one vote for the Master!Doctor from Power of the Doctor :D

Let's keep those votes rolling in! I pretty much have no time limit on this poll lol, i'll just post periodically when there's a significant number of new votes or if someone else takes the lead!

In the meanwhile if you haven't taken the survey yet, here is the link to cast your vote:

And if you'd like to see what all the hype is about for the Eighth Doctor, here is a link to a gorgeous fan-made upscaling of the movie, which was posted to the archive by the uploader-- you can stream it from the archive (make sure you set it to 1080p and give it plenty of time to buffer!)

Or, even better, download the mkv video, and use VLC media player or a similar open source program so you can adjust the playback speed to around 96% for the proper pitch and speed!

When they were doing US to UK conversion they uh. lol they fucked up the framerate so to fix it the movie was sped up on release, so watching it without adjusting the playback speed will make everyone sound like chipmunks comparison to their normal voices, but can also cause some motion sickness from the weird, fast framerate

! So I highly reccomend downloading it so you can adjust the playback speed a custom amount! Oh, and don't forget to favorite to show the upscaler some love for their hard work, they made it into a beautiful masterpiece! [ it literally looks better than my physical dvd i bought years ago lol]

If you'd like to dip your toes into some other, slightly more obscure Doctors featured on this survey, I also have a link to the 4k Upscaling of "the Scream of the Shalka", an animated Doctor Who episode from 2003, which was never continued (on screen at least; it has one short story sequel written available online, "The Feast of the Stone"!

Scream of the Shalka, in 4k HD, again, thanks to fans taking the time to upscale things!

Scream of the Shalka short story sequel:

(please note for fellow Shinigami-Eyes users, there is no transphobia in the short story, the entire BBC website is now universally marked red in shinigami eyes)

[dekusheroacademia]

How to add the Ultra Stage subtitles to your video

Subtitles for musical 2 are here

Musical 3 and the rest soon.

HOW TO WATCH THE MUSICAL WITH SUBTITLES

When you insert the dvd you will see this menu. (Translations of DVD menus will also be shared with the subtitles, and they have been done by frenchlizardbrainfullofktdk here on tumblr).

Click on the first option ("Main film") to watch the musical!

Subtitles unfortunately do not work directly on the dvd files because dvds videos are divided in small files called VOBS. So the first step is transforming your dvd into a video file. This process should work for blu ray too.

There are two ways to do it, with VLC or with MakeMKV.

MAKEMKV PROCESS

You can find MakeMkv here: https://www.makemkv.com

It does confirm that it works for both dvds and blu rays, also make sure to use an antivirus because my first time downloading this last year, my pc kept giving me warnings. But this new version (now in October 2023) seems to be working without problems.

Download and install the program.

Here you can find the guide on how to use MakeMkv to transform your dvd/bluray into a mkv file: https://www.makemkv.com/onlinehelp/

VLC PROCESS

You will need: your dvd (in our case we are using dvd 1, which is the one with the main musical), VLC (a program used to watch movies and open video files) and a dvd reader for your pc (I used HP USB External DVDRW Drive GP70N).

1) First put the dvd in your dvd reader (attached to your pc), then open VLC. Click on "Media" (top menu, first option) and select "Convert/Save". If you don't have VLC you can download it here (it's free).

2) Now, select "Disc" and check that DVD (if you have the dvd and not the blu-ray) is selected. Your disc device should automatically appear. Then click "Convert/Save" (if the saving does't start automatically you will need to click play, and you will see the blue vlc bar quickly moving, showing you the progress, it might take an hour!).

Keep in mind that this might lower your dvd quality!!

If you want to look at alternative methods (that I have tried myself so they should work) for better dvd quality - I WILL LOOK FOR MORE POSSIBLE OPTIONS.

3a) (VLC) If VLC is the program you use to watch movies/open video files, then you will have your musical starting automaticall in VLC.

Click on the menu option "Subtitles" and select "Add subtitles File"

(You can also right click on the video, and select "Subtitles" -> "Add subtitles file")

Now you can search the folder where you saved the subtitles and select the file, before clicking open.

And this is it! When you click on play, the subtitles will be automatically added and synced! If they don't start immediately, allow a couple of seconds.

If you don't have VLC you can download it here (it's free).

3b) If you use Windows Media Player, you might have to install an extension. There are also other programs, but I always recommend VLC as it is the easiest one for subtitles.

For any trouble, contact me!

[bates--boy]

[If he planned the shipping properly, Peter SHOULD be getting a box today, assuming he's at home to receive it. Inside, on top of everything else, is a papercraft card of a microphone, an album, and stars. Or, well, that's what it's clearly supposed to be: the lines are wavering and jagged from Raivis's tremor and inability to cut steadily, but by god did he try his best! Mans Kaijaspārnš, Daudz laimes dzimšanas dienā! Happy Birthday to you. I hope this year brings you nothing but joy, love, and success. Every year I am honored to be friends with someone so determined, kind, funny, and bright. Continue being a light for those around you, and never forget to shine on yourself sometimes. Here's to a great year and many more to come. Love, Raivis

Inside are a tiny pair of mittens in a traditional Latvian pattern, though the colors are in white, and pastels of pink, yellow, and orange like one might typically associate with seashells. There's a tiny pair of matching socks, too, and a little crocheted seagull plush made of the softest yarn he could find. Please ignore that one of the eyes is very kinda wonky. Now, for the actual birthday boy, Raivis has sent over some gingerbread cookies cut into stars and music notes, though a few have cracked on the trip over. There's a homemade bookmark made with high-quality cardstock paper, pressed flowers, watercolors, and in the best writing he could manage, a quote from one of Peter's books. A cord is tied through the bottom and hangs down, woven in threads of black, blue, royal purple, and shimmering gold. There are a few trinkets that he's bought from artist markets while on various business trips, ones that he saved up specifically to send to him. Lastly, there's a DVD with "DAINAS" written in sharpie. Peter said he wanted to see his choir work, but seeing as he's so busy, it might not happen. So, he managed to film a session. Is the footage grainy? Hell yes, but at least the audio is halfway decent and the quality is good enough to see faces. There's a sticky note on the case: I show you my songs, now you need to send me the link to your livestreams! With a little heart next to it. ]

[He's just coming home from his birthday party, carrying Sadaf in her car seat up to his door]

[Yeah, she's getting fussy]

I know, I know, we did eat too much cake, didn't we... Wait, what's...

[He pauses to read the shipping label and, beyond his exhaustion from today, feels a flutter of renewed excitement]

[He carries the box inside with him and sets Sadaf in his shoulder sling so they can open the box together]

[He reads the note and puts his hand on his chest] Oh, Rai...

[A few minutes later, Raivis's phone is blowing up with text messages]

[A photo of Sadaf trying on her new knitted set. Unfortunately, they're slightly too big, but she'll grow into them]

[Next, a photo of the trinkets sitting on Peter's bookshelf and work desk, with Jack and Rosé sniffing at them]

[Next, is a video]

[Sadaf is in the middle of her fussy crying despite being in her rocking cradle, but there's very familiar music playing in the background]

[Her fussing weakens, her eyes drawn to the television, and after she yawns, her eyes slowly drift closed]

[Finally, a photo of Sadaf asleep, cozy in her mittens and socks, the sweetest grin on her face as her head is turned to the plush toy sitting above her like a guardian angel on duty]

[text:] Everything was beautiful, Raivis! Thank you! 😍

@cryingyetcourageous

[sebsxphia]

About the job of lathering oils on the actors before the beach scene - I think they need a re-shoot... For the extended cut for the DVD and Blue-ray... And they also need a new scene for mid- and after credits which is a celebratory dogfight football after the mission is completed... Y'know, just to show how truly happy and relieved they are... And I volunteer as tribute to fulfill that job and oil them up. They don't even need to pay me, if they don't want to, I'll pay them even. Wouldn't be much, cuz I don't have huge piles of money, but it's the thought that counts, right?

mmm mmm i definitely agree with this my dear anon and i stg i will fight anyone at paramount who tells you no!!!!!

you’re so right, it is the thought that counts and i know they would be so grateful and understanding. i mean who doesn’t want to see them oiled up again???? i also vote that bob has his shirt off in these after credit scenes, it’s only fair <33

[secondbeatsongs]

agshjfsj you know what? sure. I can do this from an in-universe perspective too

for anyone too young to know this: watching The Truman Show is a vastly different experience now, compared to when it was on air.

firstly, you'd better hope it stays up on amazon prime, because it aired 24/7 for multiple decades, so the size of it is astronomical. there's a reason the other streaming services dropped it - the server costs alone are ridiculous. but even on prime there are ad breaks in it that it never used to have, because back then all the advertising was product placement, but modern advertisers want mid-roll ads, and they really break up some of the most emotional moments imo.

(and don't get me started on the music licensing btw - all of the changes are bad, but the song swap in episode 9775 killed me dead. awful)

not to mention that the vhs, laserdisc, dvd, and blu-ray releases have been out of print for years. and if you want to try torrenting it, to get it in even barely decent quality you're gonna need at least 300TB of free space, and that's not including the deleted scenes and director's commentary tracks, which are a whole other thing.

secondly, everyone has this parasocial thing where they feel like they grew up with Truman, because their mom kept it on in the house when they were a kid or w/e, and we need to just. get over it. I mean, he's just a guy. you're not special for liking him; everyone likes him.

like, some of you guys are worse about this than you were with Steve from Blue's Clues, and that's saying something. you've gotta move on.

and people need to be nicer to the actors who played his friends and family, too. like I know the ones who were adults at the start have a lot to answer for, but the kids were pushed into this by the industry just like he was! and they don't deserve to be cancelled on twitter just because their dad got them into acting as a 3yo or w/e. like. come on.

thirdly, because of the way the show ended, we need to actually address the fact that we don't know what happened to him? like, Truman wasn't some actor who quit, he was lied to about his whole life, and now nobody knows where he is! and after the SAG-AFTRA strike when the crew and extras were fighting to get paid for the work they did on that show, did fucking anybody think about Truman? if anyone's owed residuals, it's that guy.

I just feel like nobody's taking it seriously that he's not a celebrity? he's a kid who got shoved into a machine, and after what happened to him, it'd be completely fine if he never showed his face in public again.

(though personally, I want him to just so he can sue the shit out of everyone involved in his upbringing. but that's just me.)

anyway on a fandom level, if you want to help, the Truman Archival Project is looking for some eps that were lost due to corruption, and some scenes that got cut later. there's a list on the wiki, but there are a lot of gaps and old tape formats that need converting, so if you can help, go do that!

and Truman, if you're out there - I hope you're living a good life. whatever comfort and entertainment you bring to people really means nothing compared to the value of you getting to live a normal life. I hope you're having a good time, wherever you are.

when it comes down to it, what was done to you was awful. nobody deserves to have their most private moments shown to millions of people without their consent.

it's probably bad that we've normalized this experience.

for anyone too young to know this: watching The Truman Show is a vastly different experience now, compared to how it was before youtube and social media influencers became normal

before it was like, "what a horrifying thing to do to a human being! to take away their autonomy and privacy, all for the sake of profits! to create fake scenarios for them to react to, just to retain viewership! to ruin their happiness just so some corporate entity could harvest money from their very humanity! how could anyone do something so evil?"

and now it's like, "ah, yeah. this is still deeply fucked up, but it's pretty much what every influencer has been doing to their kids for a decade now. probably bad that we've normalized this experience"

[myles-the-hedgehog-real]

Good Omens

I want to watch Good Omens Season 1 AND 2, VERY IMPORTANTLY 2 IS INCLUDED, but god damn why can't I just buy the show and not a fucking subscription? Even Doctor Who lets me buy the seasons on google tv or whatever the fuck it is and watch from there why I can't I just do that with prime? why do I HAVE to buy a subscription to watch 2 seasons of a show and literally nothing else? I just want the show. Nothing else. but any "free" site I find just refers back to amazon s o. "Oh but just buy it then cancel" I am stupid. I am a big stupid blue hog boi who will forget to cancel. I just want the show to watch whenever, not a limited time "pay 10 dollars now then get hooked into these other things you clearly don't give a flying fuck about" I want to spend money just not on a fucking subscription I want the show I clearly want to PAY for the show I just don't want a subscription. Think of it as like, me owning a DVD/Blu-Ray Player. I am content with buying DVD/BluRays for the shows or movies I like, but I don't exactly want/need Cable, so I don't get it. Now there comes the issue, a TV show just came out and it's only available on TV. There's no way around it, no DVD release in sight, no way to just watch that show and nothing else that could be around it because honestly, Idc for the shit around it. I just want the TV show, but now I HAVE to buy Cable just to watch. Granted, with Prime I can atleast just watch the show as opposed to Cable which I'd have to wait for it to come on TV once in a blue moon but the point still stands. By the time I'd be able to purchase it individually the topic would've passed on. It'd fall into a slumber to never be heard from until something with the show happens again. (Which could take years) Anyways rant over it's 4 am lmao

[thotly-thoughts-101]

I don't actually know what I'm doing

I'm a college student. I think that has been stated before. But I'm just venting I think. I'm a creative writing major. part of creative writing is that we learn various writing types, poetry, memoirs, and fiction. I mainly write fiction, as poetry and memoirs require a more direct vulnerability than I find myself comfortable with. So I write fiction, which often holds more truth in it than I ever anticipate.

But I write things like sci-fi and romance, which is not viable to write in my class, granted I am also a fanfic writer which I already knew wouldn't fly there, I anticipated it even. But now I am burnt out as we have spent half a semester just writing poetry, something I am not comfortable writing or sharing with people, and we are moving onto memoirs, "the most popular genre" (It is actually romance but my prof does not view "porn" as a real genre). Because people like hearing other's misery, apparently.

I do not understand. I do not want to here about how sad and odd someone's life is and then gawk at it, like it's some side show attraction. I actually don't really care about people's lives, I don't read about what actor did what (I only read about what movies the actors I enjoy are going to be in the upcoming year. I'm very excited for the new Indiana Jones movie) or how said what to who. Provided a celebrity is not doing harmful things, like kill, rape, push for policies that actively harm me and those around me, I tend not to care.

In some cases my values movie wise will clash, like fantastic beasts 3. I was not going to support JKR in the slightest, but I like Mads Mikkelsen's acting and the movies he is in. So the obvious answer is to not see the movie in theaters of buy it new when it came out on DVD and blue-ray. Well, my solution would be to not buy it at all, but my mom likes those movies (thankfully she will only buy movies from our used video store) so I pirated it so I could at least watch the actor I enjoy.

On that note, do I like the harry potter franchise that much? No. I never read the books, and I don't care for any video games, and I only saw the movies because my sister and mom insisted we had them. I liked movies like the mummy (1999 and 2002) Underworld, and hellboy (2004). I also liked scooby doo and marvel. Am I super obsessed with marvel to the point I need to know everything about the actors and buy all the movies new? No, I still only thrift my movies (save for my box set of Hannibal, I do not regret that).

Okay, I got off topic. But my point is, I like fiction, it is close enough to our world that it is relatable, but far enough away that I do not have to worry about that happening to me, where as poetry and memoirs hold an expectation that something is true. I do write my truths, but there is something incredibly draining about only being able to do so.

I read a lot of Porn with plot, and often times the plot deals with depression, suicidal thoughts and ideation, feelings of worthlessness, and self esteem issues. And yes, the sex makes it palatable, but the heavy material is still there.

[postalvalhalla]

Movies

Watched Raya and the Last Dragon a few weeks ago.  It was... okay.  I like the world building, but they don’t have time to explore the world properly or to develop any of the characters.  The movie’s two biggest flaws are -- far too ambitious, doesn’t take time to develop anything, and the central message is really messed up, essentially “always place faith in others, even if they’ve betrayed you repeatedly and never apologized”.  I mean, I don’t THINK that was the lesson they intended but that’s it in a nutshell.

On Dec 30th I watched Lightyear.  This was a good movie, I think, but I kind of agree that it fails in its central premise -- it’s supposed to be a space adventure featuring Buzz Lightyear that would inspire the toys that appear in the Toy Story movies, but it’s a dark, brooding story with very little adventure (takes place entirely on one planet) and involves Buzz slowly losing his friends and everyone he knows.  Not exactly a light-hearted space romp.  But if you forget it’s supposed to have been a children’s movie, it’s a fine movie for what it is.

Tom came over on New Year’s Eve and we watched two films that he brought -- The Mitchells Vs. the Machines, and Bad Guys.  Both are pretty good films, i think.  I enjoyed them.  I’d heard that Bad Guys was a good film but I really hadn’t heard anything about the Mitchells movie and had no expectations -- but it was very entertaining, a good film.

I decided to watch Lilo & Stitch last night.  I kind of play a game in my head sometimes, where I imagine that I’m explaining the present or recent history to someone from the past.  Recently I’d watched a video ranking all of the Disney animated films -- every single one of them -- and I’d kind of imagined what it might be like to show that to Walt Disney.  What would he think of the Disney  renaissance?  Pixar?  Computer animation?  The whole Disney Princess promotional line?

So I watched Lilo & Stitch with that in mind -- what would an old Disney person or Walt Disney himself think about this movie?  It’s a very anti-Disney movie in a way -- broken family, girl who acts out and is kind of weird and is as far from a Disney princess as possible -- and an alien creature who is even more destructive.  I think these mind games of mine are just a way to try and appreciate something I like from a different point of view, or to see if it’s really as good as I think it is.

I still love Lilo & Stitch.  It’s a great film, and I appreciate how it was a Disney film showcasing real Hawaii before they made Moana.  And Stitch is pretty awesome.

So I thought, there were sequels, maybe I would like those?  I usually ignore Disney’s direct-to-video sequels, but I like these characters so maybe they’d be fun to check out?  It turns out there are technically three sequel movies plus a 65 episode television series, all of which came out just a few years after the movie.

Technically, Lilo & Stitch 2:  Stitch has a Glitch is the real sequel to the original movie, but it came out after a different sequel movie and it’s reportedly the least interesting of all the sequels.

Stitch!  The Movie came out a year after the original movie.  The third film is Leeroy & Stitch.  These two films bookend the television series -- the first serves as a prequel to the tv series, and the second is a finale, and the entire thing (two movies and tv series) is kind of an alternate universe to Lilo & Stitch 2.

Anyway, it turns out that the television series was on streaming platforms but has never been released to dvd/blue ray in the U.S.  So I’m undecided if i want to take a dip into the sequels at all, given that two of them bookend a tv series I can’t watch, and the other is considered the weakest of  them all.  You can get the tv series as a Japanese region 2 import, for which you need a special dvd player to watch, and it’s in Japanese with subtitles.  Also, confusingly, there was an anime series made for Lilo & Stitch, and a Chinese tv series.  I’d kind of like to see those as well, but if I can’t even watch the television series that was made for the U.S. market, there’s no chance of seeing the others.

Watching all of those review videos on Youtube (I also watched all Pixar movies ranked, and several other animation studios) makes me want to rewatch certain films again, especially the best of Pixar and Disney.  So maybe that’s what I’ll be doing the rest of January.  ^_^

[officialempressofhell]

Tammy getting so angry at Neil comparing him to their father is resonating with me. She is every woman who is realizing that her male relatives are the same danger to women as the strangers who have been harassing her all her life

[distilled-prose]

Interesting list, there CGW 1. (also) "American Graffiti" "- I have honestly watched this film over two dozen times. I have the DVD, the blue ray (much better preservation of the quality), and the paperback book. The characters, the movie, the plot(s), all of it are absolutely enchanting to me. I would have sat through it a second time when I first saw it, but my date wasn't interested. I should have taken her right home and come back for the late night show. 2. "Wizards" - a Ralph Bakshi animation. The detail in the movement of the animated characters is surprisingly detailed for 1977. Also, revenge rarely gets sweeter. 3. "About Time" - an English film with a delightful fantasy plot played to perfection by all the actors. The sound track introduced me indirectly to the Waterboys and also to Nick Cave. 4. "Stranger Than Fiction" - I typically avoid films with Will Ferrell, but he plays an unusual character (probably on the autism spectrum) with a convincing strength. Well supported by Emma Thompson. Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Queen Latifah. I also purchased the soundtrack to this film. 5. (hard to leave out) "The Princess Bride - no likely need for introductions of comments to you all here. Tag: @ituckyouinmypocket @goneahead @summerwages anyone else who wants to share (Please either reblog or tag me in your replies. Thanks!)

The Monkey tagged me to pick four comfort films. i'm not sure what a comfort film is, but I assume it means a "go to" film I might watch that makes me happy.

American Graffiti. This film captures a place and time in the early 60's that I find personally appealing. it has a slew of stars before they were famous including Harrison Ford.

Red Sun. Watched this movie with my father many times over the years. it was something we always agreed on. The contrast between early American western culture, and Japanese culture of the same period, is interesting to consider. in the end, the character played by Charles Bronson, gains his honor, which is a lovely concept.

Little Big Man. This is the first movie that I can recall that showed the atrocities committed against American Natives on film. I remember being shocked that the brutality being portrayed, was a factual account of historical events. The movie is also well made and quite entertaining, with Dustin Hoffman as the lead. He's sort of a Forest Gump character, before there was Forest Gump.

Singing in The Rain. First saw this movie at the drive in with my parents in the late 60's I have continued to add this movie to my personal favorites. It always cheers me up, and has a great story line with great acting. I also love Debbie Reynolds. Her smile melts any foul mood.

Young Frankenstein. This is an absolute favorite of mine, and one of Mel Brooks's best films in my opinion. i've lost count on how many times I have watched it. guaranteed to make me smile. I set links on the titles in case anyone is interested, and I Tag @distilled-prose @the-sea-lives-inme @mikefrawley

[fetchmearum420]

1776 BEHIND THE SCENES DUMP BECAUSE I AM HAVING A MOMENT AND IT NEEDS TO BE SHARED:

-when teching the show when they got the curtain with all the founding fathers signatures on it, the cast weren’t allowed to see it because Peter Hunt thought it would ruin the magic of the show. The hours of teching were long and boring and often the cast would complain and grumble on about not wanting to do it anymore (same to be honest)

-99% of the cast got along extremely well except with Howard da Silva and Vice verse.

-During the Audio commentary of the 1776 film on the blue ray DVD with Hunt, Ken Howard and Bill Daniels, Hunt complimented Ralston Hill the most. He also pointed out Jonathan Moore and David Ford and described Moore as a lovely, lovely man and David Ford as a very, very nice person. Bill Daniels pointed out about his terrific voice.

-During a performance out of town in Washington, there had been a matinee that day, this was the evening show, something was wrong with David Ford, Peter Hunt was in the back with Stuart Ostrow, the producer, and they couldn’t figure out what it was. But Ken Howard who Obviously was on stage with Ford, knew what was going on. Ford fell ASLEEP. He probably had a big meal or a few drinks after the matinee, and ultimately fell asleep. But David Ford was on the moon for a moment or two after being woken up by Ralston Hill, and it worked because the Audience thought that HANCOCK had fallen asleep! They thought it was a part of the fucking show! The show kind of stopped for a moment or two, but it worked fine, it was as if Hancock was pissed off or something. But he was really, at 6’s and 7’s and Ralston Hill kind of said a few things to him, and Ford was back on track again. It was hilarious.

-during the film, the cast lovingly referred to Patrick Hines (Samuel Chase) as “Aunt Pitty Pat”. Why? I have no idea, but it’s hilarious.

-This one is a little heavy so, CW for this one: one day during rehearsals for 1776 on broadway, Betty Buckley accidentally referred to “He Plays the Violin” as HER number, when in reality it kind of isn’t because there’s two other people in the number with her. And Howard da Silva heard that, and he went CRAZY. He yelled: “THIS IS NOT YOUR NUMBER! THERE’S TWO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE NUMBER WITH YOU! DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! HOW DARE YOU-“ and he was screaming and poor Betty Buckley was terrified and she said: “I’m, I’m so sorry Mr Da Silva, it won’t happen again!” And then another time during the actual show, when Benjamin Franklin and Martha Jefferson have their little waltz, Da Silva would take her to the edge of the damn stand and dip her hand a little towards the orchestra pit, as if to say “your life is in my hands, I could throw you in if I wanted to” all because of her little mistake of referring to HPTV as “her” number. So Buckley went to Onna White, the choreographer, and said: “I think Mr Da Silva is gonna throw me into the pit, I really think he’s gonna do it.” And so Onna said “I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do, take him out to dinner. Get to know him a little, just treat him to a nice meal” and so Buckley went and knocked on his dressing room door, and asked: “Mr Da Silva, I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner” and Howard was very amused by this idea and allowed her to take him to dinner. And everything changed. He told her the story of his life and how sad and difficult it had been, and how he was blacklisted form Hollywood (that’s a story for another day) and they became very very close friends after that. When he died, he requested in his Will to have her sing “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell at his memorial service. And she did.

-It was freezing on the night they filmed “Piddle Twiddle and Resolve” and it was so cold that you could see your breath. So, to prevent that, they would make Bill Daniels put ice cubes in his Mouth, melt them a little and then take them out and go on filming the number. A little Hollywood trick back in the day.

I’m tired so I’ll do more facts tomorrow or some other day.

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY THURSDAY: Six DARK Megamind Theories

"Imagine the most horrible, terrifying, evil thing you can possibly think of and multiply it… BY SIX!"

Yes! It’s Thursday again! And you know what that means: I have to say it. You know I do. SPOILER WARNING!

Megamind might be an animated family film, but that doesn’t mean all the fan theories it’s spawned are pure sunshine and daisies. In fact, a few are the opposite. As its name suggests, some ideas in this post will be fairly dark. Nothing will be graphic, of course, but nonetheless, please pay attention to the warnings below. Without further ado, let’s get in touch with our villainous sides and get started!

Has Megamind Killed Before?

Trigger warning for violence and death.

Near the beginning of the movie, Megamind has accrued eighty-five life sentences. While some fans argue that this could be due to the justice system’s unfairly harsh treatment of him—they did allow a child to be raised in a prison, after all, so clearly there’s corruption—others insist that a person simply doesn’t earn that kind of wrap sheet without shedding blood. And the concept is more than mere speculation; there are several pieces of evidence that might support it.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, proof is the simple fact that people are terrified of Megamind. When he shows up in a restaurant, during his date with Roxanne, other patrons literally start screaming. They’re not the only ones who feared the former villain, either. As I’ve mentioned before in the article The Warden, Demishock’s wonderful blog post transcribes one of the newspaper clippings seen at the beginning of the film Hometown Boy Makes Bad. In it, we learn that “experienced, hardened criminals in [the prison] are afraid of him” and that, as a grade-school child, he is “isolated from the general population [of inmates] for the protection of the adults.” This may indicate that Megamind is dangerous. Although he clearly avoids hurting people unnecessarily, if all he ever did was vandalize and steal he’d likely be viewed as an annoying delinquent rather than an actual threat.

Next, we have his De-Gun. (I’ve touched on this before in both Who is the Real Megamind Part Two and in Megamind’s Inventions, so I’ll be brief.) Sources such as Fandom.com point out that, if you slow down images of the weapon and look closely, you’ll see that it has eight settings: Dehydrate, Decompress, Debilitate, Demoralize, Decoupage, Deregulate, Destroy, and Death Ray. That’s right: Death Ray. Why would the blue man invent a lethal setting if he never intended to use it? Of course, this doesn’t mean he’s a bloodthirsty maniac—in fact, the DVD commentary makes it clear that he goes out of his way not to harm others—but it’s quite possible that he’ll use violence when he must.

Another fan theory connects with this as well. Many believe that Megamind, during his supervillain days (and possibly even afterward) controlled all organized crime and other villains in Metro City. In one of the storyboards that was ultimately left out of the film, while Megamind has laid claim to the mayor’s office as the new Evil Overlord, a group of lesser supervillains approach him and essentially ask for permission to go on a crime spree. Why would they do such a thing unless they were answerable to the blue man and unless he kept tabs on who was committing illegal acts locally? Indeed, this in itself offers some slight support for the idea that Megamind is not above violence when he feels it’s unavoidable. If he did, in fact, rule the city’s underworld, it would mean keeping tight reigns on some incredibly dangerous individuals, many of whom might not share his distaste for bloodshed. Frankly, a person simply couldn’t control a criminal empire and an entire group of preternaturally-powered villains unless they were both willing and able to back up their threats. So, while he may not like taking life, and may treat it as a dire last resort, it seems that he might do it when needed. And judging by his number of life sentences, it’s quite possible that he has.

Does Roxanne Ritchi Have a Dark Side?

Many might argue that Roxanne is, in many ways, the only major character in the film who seems to be generally good from start to finish, but others disagree. Two camps exist on this subject, one claiming that Roxanne clearly has a good heart and has her act together, the other claiming that there may be something less wholesome lurking beneath the surface. In fact, I’ve heard it said that there appear to be some odd discrepancies in her behavior that may, possibly, point toward the woman having a secret side.

Essentially, the fan theory is this: Roxanne knew Megamind was “Bernard” almost from the start, but chose to pretend otherwise, possibly in order to manipulate him. That may sound somewhat far-fetched—and I certainly had my doubts at first—but it may not be as unbelievable as it initially seems. To begin with, the reporter is clearly attracted to Megamind, as can be seen in their moment of flirty banter during the kidnapping scene. (In fact, a line that was later removed portrayed Roxanne telling Megamind-as-Bernard that Metroman was not her type because she preferred brains over brawn.) Therefore, it’s not impossible that she might have knowingly gone out with the villain if she could do so without risking her reputation and career.

Next, consider this: Roxanne is supposed to be extremely intelligent. Not as ingenious as the blue man, perhaps, but very astute nonetheless. In the original script, she is an investigative reporter who originally comes to Megamind’s notice because she is always trying to discover the location of his secret Lair and learn what he’s planning. During the film’s kidnapping scene, she uses her “nosy reporter skills” to get information out of Minion and quickly deduces that they are (apparently) in the abandoned observatory. She finds the supervillain’s hideout and, later in the movie, decodes his plans to reveal that he’s created a new nemesis. When Megamind comes to her for help, he calls her “the smartest person I know.” Indeed, her intelligence seems to be part of what has attracted the blue alien to her in the first place. Roxanne is obviously far from stupid.

So how, some fans ask, could someone with such mental prowess be fooled into thinking Megamind is Bernard? After all, she’s familiar with both men. Miss Ritchi has clearly interacted with the Metroman Museum curator before—she recognizes him when she meets him after hours—and she’s been regularly abducted by Megamind for years.

Why does that matter? Keep in mind that the blue man didn’t have time to record Bernard speaking before he used the De-Gun and holowatch to assume his identity. Furthermore, the reporter clearly recognizes her serial kidnapper's voice; when she hears him in the museum, her expression turns suspicious before she goes to investigate. Consider as well that, as she’s at least acquainted with Bernard, and likely knows Megamind better, she would be familiar with both men’s features and personalities. This has led some to propose that she must have realized something was amiss. Surely she’d notice that Bernard’s brown eyes were suddenly bright green? That his jaded personality had instantly become awkwardly emotional and cheerfully enthusiastic? That his voice had abruptly changed to that of the top local supervillain? After all, she'd spoken to the real Bernard mere moments before. Many also feel that she obviously heard everything Megamind said over the phone when she found his Lair. If she could hear him calling Minion a “dim-witted creation of science,” how could she not also hear him shout: “how did she find my hideout?!” A number of fans, therefore, feel that it’s nearly impossible she wasn’t aware exactly who she was dating.

The question now, of course, becomes why. Why would she become romantically involved with a supervillain? Stockholm Syndrome, while possible, is an unlikely explanation. According to a website discussing psychological treatments and issues, PsychoTreat, the FBI database shows that only about eight percent of hostages develop the disorder, and those who do usually refuse to cooperate with rescue efforts. Since Roxanne shows no unwillingness to be saved by Metroman, this doesn’t seem to apply to her. So why then? One of the main suppositions is that she wants to change Megamind for the better. Indeed, it could be argued that when, during one of her reports, she asks: “has someone tamed this monster?” she is indirectly referring to herself. Insightful and intelligent as she is, and as much time as she’d spent with the blue alien, perhaps she’d seen what others didn’t: that he really was a good person underneath. However, positive though her intentions might have been, they do not change the fact that, if this is true, she was purposefully manipulating him.

If Roxanne knew who he was all along, however, then why would she seem so angry and surprised when Megamind’s true identity was revealed? Fans have theories about that as well. The first is that it was expected. He was a supervillain and she was not only a damsel but also a recognizable television reporter. If she had simply shrugged it off and said that she knew who she was kissing, it could have potentially damaged her career and her social life beyond repair. The second is that the illusion was shattered in more ways than one. Think of it like a person who knows, deep down, that their spouse is having an affair but has never been confronted with evidence. A surprising number of people will remain in such a relationship so long as they can pretend the issue away. However, while it’s possible to ignore things that remain mere concepts, having one’s proverbial nose shoved in hard facts is an entirely different matter. The third possible reason is that she was projecting. If indeed Roxanne was lying to manipulate Megamind, she may have felt guilty, and becoming angry at him when his own lie was revealed may have been a way of alleviating that guilt and shifting the blame.

Indeed, another similar fan theory suggests that such manipulation was, perhaps, not entirely new to the woman. In fact, according to a CBR article by Robert Vaux, it has been conjectured by some that Roxanne may have volunteered to be kidnapped. We know that she obviously isn’t afraid of Megamind, and is categorically convinced he won’t actually harm her. We also know that she and Metroman apparently allowed the city to believe they were a couple when, in fact, they’d never dated. What if, believing that the blue villain needed someone to regularly act as bait, the two conspired to make him think Roxanne was Metroman’s girlfriend, making her an obvious target and thus ensuring normal citizens were less likely to be traumatized by villainous attacks?

I’ll be honest, I’m still can’t say that I’m convinced by either of these fan theories, but I have to admit that they're certainly interesting. There is some evidence, at least, for those who wish to adopt them.

Is Megamind’s Lair a Murder Scene?

Once again, this section contains triggers for violence and death.

This next fan theory relates back to the first one concerning the former supervillain’s possibly violent past. During the scene involving Roxanne’s discovery of Megamind’s hideout, there is a small but very intriguing detail visible in the surrounding abandoned lot. For just a moment, we can see a single car sitting there, and upon closer inspection, it is a very interesting vehicle indeed.

At a glance, it appears to simply be an old, rusty car, but, apparently, a few fans see more. Firstly, the rather square front, narrow aerodynamic back, and sleek two-door sides look almost identical to a 1970 Chevelle SS or AMC AMX. This is significant because, in good condition, both of those vehicles can sell today for $30,000 to $45,000. Of course, that’s the same as many current models you might find at a dealership, but keep in mind that, unlike new vehicles, classic cars are often sold by individuals and therefore usually cannot be financed. Instead, they typically have to be purchased outright. Secondly, the vehicle appears to have a large dent in the roof and scorch marks up one side. Clearly, something has happened.

It is possible that this may simply be an old automobile of Megamind’s. After all, the invisible car is a modified 1950 Hudson Hornet, so he clearly likes hot rods, and Metroman’s super-strength and laser vision could certainly produce both the body damage and the external burns. Perhaps the vehicle is simply worse for wear after a long-previous battle.

Some point out, however, that this explanation doesn’t seem to fit what we know about the blue man. Both his invisible car, (when stealth mode is not engaged,) and his hoverbike always appear to be clean and highly polished. This is clearly someone who takes care of his vehicles. Furthermore, whether because he simply prefers to reuse and recycle despite running a multi-million dollar criminal empire—as many fans believe—or because he isn’t wealthy and often has to use whatever he can—as the DVD commentary suggests—Megamind often uses scraps and components to build machines. Even if the automobile was beyond repair, it seems extremely uncharacteristic of the former villain to not salvage as much as possible. So why would it be left, more or less whole, outside his hideout?

Solving that riddle is a bit difficult because it raises several other questions: who did the vehicle belong to if not the blue alien, why is it in the condition it’s in, and what happened to the owner? To answer the first, we have to consider who would be living in a seedy part of an urban center, surrounded by empty factory buildings and dockyards, and yet be able to spend up to $45,000 on a car in one go. The most obvious candidate, of course, would be someone who is associated with a criminal organization and earns a reasonably significant amount of money thereby. And, as already mentioned, many fans believe that all such organizations were under Megamind’s control during his villainous days. (You can read more about that theory in The Not So Evil Overlord.)

This may even fit with the specific auto in question. Although car chassis aren’t nearly as bulletproof as movies would have you believe—Mythbusters actually tested it during their 2004 season—advances in metallurgy and the addition of reinforced side impact bars make certain 1970’s vehicles somewhat more protective. If a person realistically thought they might be shot at, but couldn't afford an armored sedan—such as the Audi A8 L Security or the Mercedes-Benz S680 Guard, both of which sell for over $600,000—then a 1970’s muscle car might not be a terrible second choice. At the very least, it would have to be a better option than a modern vehicle with a fiberglass body.

Relatively bullet-resistant though such an auto might be, however, I seriously doubt it would fair well against, say, the blue villain’s spider bot. Yes, you read that correctly; some fans suggest that it was Megamind who attacked the vehicle and its occupant. The damaged coupe is outside his Lair, after all, and he certainly owns doom devices and weapons capable of creating the damage we see. (Besides that, consider that Titan, who shared Metroman’s strength, punched through the invisible car’s door, so it’s reasonable to assume that Metroman would have done more than dent a body panel.)

Now we have only two mysteries remaining: the whereabouts of the owner and the reason for the vehicle being left in situ. That’s where this fan theory turns dark. Essentially, it’s this: some mid-level person in Megamind’s criminal empire approached the villain's hideout, possibly with plans to usurp him, and faced his wrath as a result. What happened then? Did the would-be assassin leap from the car and flee? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to drive off than to run? Besides that, many may wonder why, if that is was the case, the then-villain would have simply left the car where it was. Wouldn’t it have been more practical to dismantle it and use the material for his own inventions? Taking it for himself and literally making it his own would certainly send a message to the owner.

Unless, of course, said owner was dead. While watching the movie with a friend, she pointed out that, if Megamind had killed the intruder, it would make sense for him to leave the vehicle as a sort of warning about what happens to people who attacked the Master of All Villainy. I admit, that would doubtlessly act as a very convincing deterrent. Indeed, that’s exactly what some fans believe may have happened, and the idea seems plausible. Was some minor crime boss or other foolish enough to challenge Megamind, and did they pay the ultimate price in the end? Your guess is as good as mine.

Was Titan Even Worse Than We Thought?

Trigger warnings for sexual assault and violence.

To be perfectly honest, I debated whether or not to include this one. It is frankly pretty disturbing, but I’ve seen it appear in enough discussions and fanfictions that I felt it had to be mentioned. So here it goes. We all know that Hal/Titan is a truly bad guy in every sense of the term, but one incredibly dark theory suggests that he may be much worse than many of us realized.

Of course, even before gaining superpowers, Hal is a creepy stalker who regularly harasses his coworker, but, afterward, he becomes positively evil. As I’ve mentioned several times already—and you’re probably getting tired of hearing me say it—Megamind may be capable of violence when it’s necessary, but Titan seems to revel in it. Furthermore, while there is evidence that the blue man tries to avoid hurting people, and whether or not he ever has is open for debate, Titan most definitely does kill. Worse still, he does so essentially because he’s pitching a fit.

In the film, immediately following his first battle with Megamind, Hal clearly intends to end the blue man’s life with his laser vision. He even says that he plans to put the alien genius in the morgue. Shortly afterward, when Megamind has ejected from his battle mech and been rescued by his brainbots, Titan gives chase, causing a sixteen-wheeler hauling what is apparently gasoline to crash and explode. It’s highly unlikely that the driver of that truck survived, and it’s quite possible that others were killed as well. Then, of course, the superpowered menace uses his laser vision to burn the word “Tightenville” across Metro City, leaving huge swathes of fiery destruction through densely-populated areas. People almost certainly died. Indeed, that obviously wasn’t Hal’s only act of arson as, even before that scene, Megamind fears that Titan will “destroy the whole city,” and we can see smoke rising from parts of the skyline while the blue hero and Roxanne are driving toward Metroman’s hideout. In short, it is unimaginable that no lives were lost, and I have to wonder just how many people suffered for no better reason than Hal being a man-child rage-monster.

That may not be his only sickening crime, however. Some fans have speculated about what happened between the time that Titan backs Roxanne Ritchi against the news van and the scene when he has her tied on top of Metro Tower. After all, Hal not only desires the woman but also feels entitled to her, and it’s undeniable that he has no qualms about taking whatever he wants. Yes, I know that’s a horrifying thought, but we have to admit that it’s a possibility. Especially considering that assault of that kind is, in the end, always about power rather than lust, and Hal seems to be addicted to power.

If such an idea makes your stomach queasy, like it does mine, take heart: other fans disagree with this supposition. They argue that, as Titan displays a complete lack of empathy and only dubious control over his powers, Roxanne would have likely been seriously injured or worse if such a thing had taken place. Beyond that, it should also be remembered that Hal feels he is owed not just Roxanne’s body but also her affection. He may well have wanted to own her completely and, realizing he couldn’t, decided to kill her instead. Basically, he feels that if he can’t have her no one should. Nonetheless, both theories have equal merit, so it’s a fifty-fifty toss-up as to which is most accurate.

Was Megamind Purposefully Forced Into Villainy?

Trigger warnings for bullying and psychological abuse

Of course, we all know that Megamind embraces villainy and Metroman pursues heroism beginning in school. Is there, however, more to it than that? In a YouTube video called Megamind: A City of Deception, The Theorizer addresses some fascinating and potentially tragic details of the film.

The first one is, in truth, less a detail and more a glaring oddity. Why would any presumably sane society allow an infant to be raised in a prison? Why were convicted criminals allowed control over his care and education? A part of the reason may, of course, simply be the DreamWorks team’s desire to create a comically overblown version of an origin story, but even by the standards of animated films, this seems rather strange.

Stranger still is the school Megamind is sent to. It’s a one-room building with, apparently, a single class. Despite there being only a dozen students—a bizarrely small academic organization for any urban area—the only two known aliens in Metro City just happen to attend. Then there’s both the location and the name. Not only does the school appear to be a mere block away from the prison, which is unusual in itself, but both facilities share suspiciously similar appellations: The Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted and the L’il Gifted School for Li’l Gifted Kids. While it’s true that both are a spoof on X-Men comics, the question of why they are so alike still remains.

Indeed, I can take The Theorizer’s supposition about the school one step further: after Megamind leaves the academy behind, apparently for good, Metroman is allowed to simply keep the building. This would mean that the Li’l Gifted School must have closed down after the blue man stopped attending, which may indicate that Megamind’s presence there was its sole purpose.

Whether or not that’s accurate, two things are clear: Metroman was a bully as a child, while Megamind was both ostracized and punished whenever he tried to do something positive or defended himself. In fact, Wayne Scott—which is generally accepted at Metroman’s legal name as it appears in the original script—seems to be encouraged to bully his blue classmate. (The other children seem to face no negative consequences for excluding or hurting him, either.) Although most teachers would try to curtail one student acting as a disciplinarian to another Ms. Jane Doe—she is actually called that, which is suspicious in itself—actually rewards him with gold star stickers and praise. (Here I would like to mention that, as a grown hero, Metroman’s uniforms include star details and gold accents. This is almost certainly on purpose.) Furthermore, rather than trying to promote diversity acceptance within the classroom, she appears to embolden others’ ostracization of Megamind, allowing him be left out while other students sing together and, in a photo, even posing behind the majority of the class while blue alien stands apart with a sad, forced smile on his face.

I think a blog post on the Megamind’s Destiny Tumblr page may say it best:

Megamind was assigned to the role of villain at birth. He did everything that he could to tear himself away from that position, and aimed to become the exact opposite. This resulted continuously in abuse and punishment.

Why would anyone do all of this to a child? One more classroom detail, pointed out in the aforementioned video, may hint at the explanation. In the background, during the popcorn scene, we can observe a crayon drawing of a yellow school bus. That’s not unusual in itself, but one figure depicted in the vehicle certainly is. It appears to depict the Warden as he looked during Megamind’s youth. Naturally, it seems utterly nonsensical for a prison official to be associated with a school… unless, of course, the two facilities are connected.

That is precisely what this fan theory suggests. Realizing that they had a dangerous bully on their hands—one possessing inhuman strength and laser vision—concerned city officials conspired with Metroman’s adopted parents to push young Wayne into heroism so that he could have a relatively safe outlet for his powers and his aggression. A superhero, however, needs a villain to fight, and it's been supposed that that is where Megamind came into the plot.

The idea is certainly plausible. Without doubt, Lord and Lady Scott would have had the finances and influence to open a small private school, while local politicians and prison authorities could have seen to it that Megamind was kept in jail and sent to class with his future nemesis. Indeed, ensuring the boys would be foes may have been exactly the point. As discussed in How Strong is Megamind, the blue man is clearly far more durable and physically powerful than he appears. That along with his intelligence and his status as an outsider made him a perfect candidate for Wayne's nemesis. Thus Metroman was conditioned to seek public adulation and taught that his blue-skinned peer was an acceptable target for bullying. At the same time, Megamindwas manipulated into believing that he was naturally bad and “destined to become a supervillain.” Wayne Scott was given both a lifelong craving for applause as well as a focus for his antagonism while Megamind was pushed into the role of his “evil” adversary.

Was “Space Dad” Based on a Real Person?

This last fan theory comes from a discussion on Reddit in which a user suggested that Megamind’s Space Dad disguise might be less innocent than it seems. This concept hinges on three basic facts. The first is that every other time we see Megamind’s holowatch used, he employs a likeness scanned from a living person. It is quite possible that any other source—a photograph or an image on television, for example—would not produce the same three-dimensional, realistic effect. (Not to mention that, as the scan function apparently captures all angles of a subject with a single sweep, using a flat image would likely result in a holographic projection with no back, or in an illusionary TV walking down the road.)

The second is that Space Dad is the only disguise which is edged in blue light, indicating that something is certainly different. What might that be? How could Megamind have possibly scanned a glowing person? That answer may lay in the third fact: Space Dad is obviously a spoof on Marlon Brando’s portrayal of Superman’s father, who, as most of you likely know, only appears to the DC hero in the form of a hologram. Because Metroman is clearly based on Superman, that has led several fans to speculate that something similar may have occurred in the film Megamind. It’s possible that Metroman, like his comic book counterpart, was sent to Earth with a hologram of his father intended to teach and guide him. However, in this case, it may have been his nemesis, not the hero himself, who discovered and learned to operate the device. And a three-dimensional hard light hologram might be scanned with the holowatch much like an actual person. It would explain the bright nimbus around the illusion.

Why, you may ask, would the blue man have bothered scanning it at all? While using the image of Metroman’s dead father in a plot would undoubtedly be effective, it would also be cruel, and Megamind, despite being a villain, clearly does not possess such callousness. There is, however, another possible reason. Some fans speculate that, being a super-genius, the blue man would have surely recognized how perilous Wayne might be. Like the previous theory, this concept suggests that someone took action to prevent that, however in this case that someone is Megamind himself. Could he have used the image of Metroman’s parent, much as he did with Titan, to convince the other he needed to become a hero and fight the self-proclaimed Master of All Villainy? Did Megamind, in short, willingly submit to a life of loneliness and rejection, turning himself into the proverbial monster in the shadows in order to give Metroman an enemy to focus on and thus keep other people safe? If so, then the blue man was a hero all along.

And that’s it! Six dark fan theories surrounding the animated movie Megamind! All of them are definitely interesting to consider, and as a group they offer enough angst and drama for anyone. I hope everyone reading this has enjoyed it, even if, perhaps, we may never look at our favorite characters in quite the same way again.

[kanmom51]

My Masterlist

About me as a Blogger

JM JK timeline - how they grew over the years masterlist

Jikook/ Kookmin masterlist - part 1

Jikook/ Kookmin masterlist - part 2

Jimin masterlist

Jimin 2021 birthday masterlist

Jungkook masterlist

JK’s tattoos masterlist

JK’s songs & covers masterlist

Bon Voyage & ITS masterlist

Run BTS masterlist

BTS interviews masterlist

Vlive masterlist

Bangtan bombs, packages & other official BTS content masterlist

Unofficial content:  Award shows, concerts, red carpets, Fansigns, fancams, etc.

2019

SY LY Final Seoul masterlist

2020

Memories 2020 masterlist

MOTS ONE masterlist

BTS in LA 2021 masterlist

2021

BTS Sowoozoo 2021 muster + dvd

2021 BTS Zoom fanmeet masterlist

Memories 2021 masterlist

2022

PTD Seoul 2022 masterlist

BTS LV 2022 masterlist

Festa 2022 masterlist

BTS Proof masterlist

TMA 2022 masterlist

Yet to come Busan masterlist

BTS fanservice/ Queerbaiting masterlist

Jikook “You are me I am you” masterlist

Hardcore Minkook Exposes masterlist

Cont./

My other posts:

Blue neighbourhood

Rewrite the stars - Jikook

Just putting it out there

My support message for JM on Weverse

Freedom of discussion

Met JK today

Admin announcement

Is this a coincidence?

Not all LGBTQ+ people in the public eye WANT to come out

This is my message to all the asses out there spreading this f**king hate

Stop trashing JM and grow up

When there is sexual tension and when there isn’t

I will not post TKK content

Tae the clingmaster

JK reacting to Vmin

Tae asserting dominance with JK

Tae’s “get out of your imagination”

Luca - my impressions

Vminkook are great friends

Vmin, Taekook and Jikook - the difference in dynamics

Homosexuality was always around - legal or not, acceptable by society or not

I make it a point not to be on Twitter

Koreans tell their parents they are gay

BTS Bubblegum talk - true translation of JM’s words

The not so hidden agendas behind the misinterpretations of the bubblegum talk

Jealousy and possessiveness are not healthy and can be criticised; Cont. to anon

Ikon Bobby announcement he’s getting married

OMG JK said “I love you” to Tae + stop the “JK never said I love you to JM” narrative

Tokopedia - JK saying “I love you, I love you” to Tae - actual meaning explained by K-army

If you have something to say don’t hide behind anonymous asks

Stop trashing JM and grow up

To the haters

When there is sexual tension and when there isn’t

My top 5 favourite BTS duos

Jin/JM talking JK out of quitting?

Toxic Jikook narratives

The Truth Untold - Fukuoka Dome Japan

Nay sayers and what they are unwilling to see

2018 BTS contemplating disbandment - Suga’s messages to JK & Tae

JK billboards removed for promoting homosexuality

Jinkook sibling dynamics (find the differences)

BTS members fathering styles, lol

Why is Hobi ignored

It’s not always about Jikook

Jikook showing their love is not disrespectful

BTS and Lauv - why wasn’t ‘Who’ promoted by BH

BTS and the question of enlistment

BTS’s Dynamite makes it’s way into Rolling Stones list of top 500 songs of all times.

BTS 2018 thoughts of disbandment & the renewal of contracts with BH

BH are not ‘pushing’ Jikook to ‘service’ the LGBTQ+ community

Jikook are a winning product

Not gonna accept hate in my blog

‘My universe’ - Coldplay BTS colaboration

BTS on nightline

Watch original content

JK ignoring Tae

The 3J’s

The difference between friendship and relationship

Josh Cavallo a brave young man

Eight by IU (Prod. & Feat. Suga of BTS)

Girls like us Zoe Wees

The 3J’s - Hobi the protector

Oh my god (G)I-DLE

The line in the sand needs to be drawn

Merry Christmas from BTS over the years

Jessi doesn’t know Minkook are a couple - must mean they aren’t - or does it?

Vmin are close but not romantically involved

News flash:  You can be gay and still find someone of the other sex to be atractive

Josh Cavallo - take a stand against homophobia

Tae refocusing JK

Tae and JK’s boxing IG convo

Happy birthday Hobi - our ray of sunshine

Stay away from Quora

JM is Jimin and has been for years now

BTS Oscars 2022

Being army is about loving BTS not hating other bands

The racist BTS coverage of the 2022 Grammy’s  by The Project

People see what they want to see

That that - Run BTS version

A born singer

Love is love - seeing it, supporting it, even if you’re the odd one out doesn’t make you wrong

I guess I’m in love - Clinton Kane

BTS friendship tattoos

A new level of insanity

Boundaries crossed once again

Jhope ‘MORE’ MV Shoot Sketch BTB

Jhope W Korea

Equal signs - Jack in the box

Mary queer

Seoul Pride 2022

Jhope W Korea more photos

W Korea missing pics from Hobi’s party

Do you really love BTS?

W Korea Hobi B-side

This is not ‘a moment’

Something to learn from Hobi’s comment

Poly C’s autograph wall

Poly has JM and JK tattooed on his arm

They got married

I just love Hobi

My thoughts about their military service

Do You Really Love BTS...A Time for Reflection!

Don’t become what you despise

Some JinJikook love

Letter to troll

Let’s talk about Tae’s birthday

A little rant

Me Myself & I J-Hope "All New Hope" silhouette photos

Me Myself & J-Hope “All New Hope” clip

Me Myself & J-Hope “All New Hope” photos 1

Me Myself & J-Hope “All New Hope” photos 2

Hobi’s birthday 18 Feb 2023

Tae’s IG story 18 Feb 2023 - Hobi’s birthday

Hobi birthday live

South Korea LGBTQ+ rights - a step forward

Jhope live 26 Feb 2023

Sope on the street

Jhope On the street photo sketch

Vhope on the street

Jihope, Sope and Vhope

This is not OK

1 April 2023

Masterlist part 2 - Interesti

ng asks

Masterlist part 3 - Recommended posts