#its like i said in the meeting: you guys love to profit off the suffering of others

[savage-rhi]

Magenta 🤬

[theres-no-protocol-for-this]

Apologies & Logistics

This is the end of the “Humans Adopt a Combat SecUnit” story, or at least this part of it.

Jae

I had expected the governor to fry my organic neural tissue for disobeying a direct order, but it had merely immobilized and disabled me. I couldn’t move or see, but my hearing continued to function normally. It was a non-optimal outcome but still significantly better than my initial predictions.

In my ear, Serenity provided a running commentary of ongoing events. I felt like an oddly captive audience to a ship that suddenly eager for conversation, no matter how one-sided. And it had a variety of opinions on topics ranging from the Corporation Rim to cargo haulers, handlers, and the intricacies of wormhole travel. I wasn’t bored.

Meanwhile, external voices came and went.

I heard Cass leave the control room moments later with a squeaky gurney that could have used some grease in her wake. Kris’s booming voice echoed on the bridge while he negotiated docking procedures with one of the incoming rescue vessels. He notified them about the rescued corporate higher-up but failed to mention my existence. I suspected either they would dispose of me or steal me. My risk assessment module deemed the former option unlikely, given my handler’s determination in reversing the governor’s freeze command.

Presumably, I was still on the inventory lists of the security and tactical support company that owned me, and the humans would need to make me disappear in order to leave the sector.

“I’m not sure you can hear me.” Kris’s voice was suddenly close enough that I thought he might be sitting on the floor next to me. “And I’m not sure which option is better, honestly. I hope you’re not just trapped in there until Cass figures out how to fix this. But if you can hear me, I want you to know that I’m grateful. You protected my best friend when I couldn’t, and that means a lot to me.”

The human’s voice trailed off for a moment before picking up again. “Anyway, we’re going to finish this cargo run, but before we do, we’ll meet with a friend of mine who, uh, locates documents that don’t strictly exist and formally assign your ownership to Cass. Just in case.”

More silence. Human processing time is slow, but this was different. “Deity, it hurts to even say that. I really hope you’re not hearing this.”

Meanwhile, Serenity explained, “What Kris is referring to is a forger or a fixer. Probably one of Kris’ friends from his university days.”

The human kept talking. “I’m sorry about calling you a bot. You’re obviously not, and right now, I’m fucking hating the rules that say otherwise.”

I didn’t understand the human’s concerns; to me, the facts remained immutable. I was property, and if I belonged to this crew in a legal sense, they wouldn’t be stopped by Port Authority wherever they went next. If I could speak, I would’ve recommended that exact course of action.

A moment later, Cass returned from the medical room. I could hear her light footsteps as she moved around the bridge, and Serenity gave me an excellent overview of what the human was doing. My handler’s voice was gentle when she said, “All right, let’s take care of Jae. How’re you holding up, SecUnit?” I could hear someone unspooling a cable. “Ready, Sere?”

“Of course,” the ship answered in its mechanical tone.

I recorded a brief but frantic burst of activity between myself, my handler, and the ship that was mediating between us. Cass wanted to disable my governor permanently, but there was no practical way to do so without access to a Combat SecUnit manual, which we didn’t have. She implemented perhaps the next best thing — the module would no longer react or take action without my handler’s explicit permission.

Then Cass overrode my governor’s freeze command, and I could move again.

I opened my eyes to find Cass staring at me with a worried expression on her tired face. Serenity reconnected me to the feed, so I reached up and removed the feed interface from my ear. Now the ship could bother me anytime it wanted.

“How are you feeling?” my human asked nervously.

Better than initially anticipated. I’d added the sentence to my buffer once I’d understood what Cass was asking. It was becoming easier to modify the buffer with each attempt.

“You weren’t expecting to survive that, were you?” The human sounded suspicious.

I shrugged.

“Don’t ever do anything that stupid again! That’s not an order, Jae. This is me telling you that we like you alive and safe, and I want you to consider your own well-being when deciding how to best handle a situation.”

Understood, Cass.

I sat up, and the woman hugged me with probably all the force she could muster. I… I didn’t mind it. At all

***

Kris

The rescue ship that finally docked with Serenity was a small patrol vessel that belonged to the station's towing company. I was pretty confident that the warship would not need a tow at this point — there wasn't enough of it left out there to warrant cleanup operations. Since I had performed the rescue spacewalk and had gotten injured, a company representative took my statement first. Te pulled out a display surface and took down notes, presumably so ter corporation could figure out who to bill for the unnecessary services.

While Cass and I dealt with the tercera and the legal bullshit in this sector, Serenity edited the video and audio of my spacewalk to make it look like Jae had been destroyed by one of the weapon-wielding bots. In my report, I noted that we had a Combat SecUnit on board at one time, but it had suffered catastrophic damage during the rescue operations. When prompted, I mentioned that we'd put what remained into the recycler.

It was a bald-faced lie, but the bored and cranky representative seemed entirely disinterested. Te didn't even review the video before signing off on the documents, didn't ask for any logs, and performed only a cursory examination of the unconscious corporate employee still in our medical suite. For a small fee, te even offered to take the woman back to the station so we could be on our way quicker. Frankly, I wanted nothing more than to be rid of the human.

Cass had other ideas.

She and I huddled in the mess while the representative returned to ter ship to finish scanning the debris field. Te grumbled that billing back damages on an infiltration attempt would be a nightmarish hell of solicitors from the owner company and wasn't motivated to make anything easy for them.

"What if she tells someone?" Cass demanded after the tercera had departed.

I sipped my coffee and shrugged. "It's going to be a he-said-she-said between the corporate and the station."

"No, I mean later, when Tatiana returns to work minus a construct."

"They'll probably deduct its cost from her salary and demote her. The company cares about profit margins. And she won't be able to prove anything anyway since I destroyed her interface."

The captain looked unconvinced. She paced the room, running a hand through her shoulder-length hair in a nervous gesture. "I don't know…"

"Cass, we are literally stealing one of the most dangerous weapons in the Rim. I think we have bigger problems than one pissed corporate." I tried not to sound patronizing, but it was a struggle. "We absolutely can't take her with us."

"What if we could change her mind? About Jae."

I tried not to spit out my coffee and almost succeeded. The smell of coffee in my nostrils was unbearable. "I don't think so, love. If she doesn't think it's a person now, after working with it for the entirety of its life, what are the odds that we can say anything to change her mind?"

Cass sighed and stopped pacing. "Yeah, you're right. I just…"

"I know. You want to do the right thing. But at this point, absconding with our new friend is probably the best we can manage."

"Yeah." She still sounded reluctant. "Maybe I can reach out to Mom's friend and see if she can help somehow."

I glanced at her dubiously. "You sure you want to talk to Dr. Mensah? Didn't you say she was a councilperson or something?"

I knew pitifully little about Cass's home planet because she never spoke of it. It was a freehold planet unaffiliated with any corporate entities where people were apparently nice to each other. At one time, she'd mentioned growing up on a farm alongside a large extended family, but the story always ended with her leaving home as soon as she was old enough to make her own way in the world. That her mother knew one of the Preservation Alliance leaders reminded me that Cass had connections, even if she chose to do everything on her own, all the time.

"She was until she retired a couple of years ago, I think. I haven't been back in a while, and I barely talk to move. I definitely don't keep track of her friends." She scratched at a scab on her arm. "I remember a news burst that Mensah rescued a SecUnit, but that was..." She frowned. "Well, long enough ago that I completely forgot about it until just now."

I cleaned up the mess I'd made on the table with the coffee. "We're sending the crazy corporate goon back with the tercera. And if you want to call your parent, that's up to you. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

"Says the guy that doesn't speak to his parents."

I stiffened and then remembered that Cass had no idea why I avoided my family. "My parents still believe I'm female. I'm not willing to add jack shit to that conversation."

The captain looked at me with the same warmth that had initially convinced me to join her crew. "Oh, man, I'm so sorry, Kris. I didn't realize your parents were idiots."

That made me grin. "Idiocy is a nice way of putting it, love. I used some stronger words last time I saw them." I got up and wrapped an arm around Cass's thin shoulders. "Come, let's go see about finishing this transaction and getting the hell out of here. I bet Jae is bored sitting in its cabin."

"It's recharging," Cass told me, another reminder that she knew what the SecUnit was doing at all times. "But yeah, let's go. Enough insanity for one day."

The End!

I don’t know where the characters go from here. I have some ideas but maybe that’s a story for a different time.

I wanted to tell a story about stealing a CSU and there it is. And CSU in this case is a complete sweetheart, so. :)

[silenthillmutual]

i know i have a film blog i could talk about this on but no, i watched a five hour twenty minute movie so you’re going to hear me talk about it!!

talking about novecento below the cut (it’s that film ppl keep going “these look like artemy and daniil” for the patho ppl following me)

learning that novecento was supposed to be like a miniseries makes a lot of sense in part because of its length and in part because of all the things it clearly wanted to do but couldn’t. like, for example, it clearly wanted to focus not just on alfredo and olmo but on attila, and this winds up not working out in the film’s favor for a couple of reasons.

for one, alfredo’s and olmo’s scenes without each other establish their characters as flawed human beings, but attila’s scenes just establish him as cartoonishly evil. i don’t think people really need to be hand-fed the idea that fascists are bad people, but i think the way they really hammed up his character detracts from the film’s later point that fascism isn’t something that comes on all at once but is built up through years of people sitting by and profiting off others’ work and doing nothing about the evil around them. the literal fascist acting inhumanly sadistic makes it look like “oh you’ll know for sure when you see something evil dw about it :)”.

the infamous cat scene and the scene regina at alfredo’s wedding really didn’t develop the character or the story in any way and there was no reason to make the viewer sit through something so explicit and unpleasant. it really wasn’t any different from the torture porn in films like hostel. we know that attila is evil, we don’t need to be shown any of that shit in graphic detail? those moments could have been better spent establishing why alfredo bothered putting up with attila in the first place, or establishing what exactly ada saw in attila that she didn’t like that would have added depth to two other characters in the film.

for two, the time those scenes took really should have gone to developing other characters or relationships. anita was done so dirty by the narrative and i would like to have seen more exploration of the friendship between the two couples, between alfredo and his father, between alfredo and olmo as adults that lead to them falling out, or as i said earlier to explaining why alfredo put up with attila in the first place when he’s clearly not fond of the guy himself.

a miniseries would have given the film more time to explore both the working-class and the upper-class, since clearly bertolucci was interested in exploring the working class specifically. i think the story could have benefited from expanding on how the working class in the film came to find socialism to being w and how anita and olmo worked to encourage people to learn more about it and unionize.

in general i think the film really falls flat on interesting things that i could have done either as a miniseries or if bertolucci had prioritised better. potentially unpopular opinion but the director wasn’t strong enough to carry a film that focused so many themes at once and really should have made the central focus either the class tension between two friends from very different backgrounds, or on the clash between fascism and socialism during the 1900s in italy.

i say bertolucci wasn’t strong enough to pull off both because both aspects wind up suffering greatly by the film sloppily bouncing between the two. there are huge swaths of time where olmo and alfredo don’t talk to each other at all and the absence between them is never explained or brought up as a point of tension. like, when alfredo finds olmo going through his father’s things, it’s never explained what he’s looking for or why, and olmo brings up that alfredo’s been gone for a month. alfredo’s upset to hear about anita’s death during childbirth, but there was no expansion on the friendship between the two couples past them all meeting ada for the first time. olmo doesn’t seem upset about alfredo’s absence, but he doesn’t show up at alfredo and ada’s wedding, and the two barely interact with each other up until the point where olmo shows up at the house to find his daughter, now old enough to be learning to read and write.

it’s hard to see their friendship as the focal point of the film when their actual friendship stops being the film’s focus around the time ada is introduced and so much of their interactions are put on the backburner in favor of other things. ada’s a very interesting character, probably the only character in the film who’s not entirely static, but even her relationship building up with alfredo isn’t really...explored? at all?

actually past showing alfredo and olmo as children and then olmo returning from the war, the film does a horrible job at showing the passage of time.

and since i’ve brought up anita it is just kinda fucked up how she’s introduced immediately as a love interest - not as a character w her own personality, but as a love interest - given exactly one character trait (she’s a socialist!), before she’s suddenly pregnant, meets ada, and is killed offscreen in childbirth. they did fucking nothing with her and that’s just. infuriating.

anyway i think a miniseries would have fit the story better bc then there would have been actual time to delve into the concepts the film really wants to explore but can’t. it wouldn’t have fixed all the issues with it - like, what happens to anita? and the graphic shit they have attila do? those weren’t necessary in general - but it would have fixed a couple of things about it.

[powerwordsleep]

Sasuke Retsuden (Unoffical English Translation)

Prologue

Here’s the next installment! Enjoy~

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official translation and was not made for profit or distribution. This translation was fan-made and done for purely enjoyment and translation practice purposes. I do not own the rights to NARUTO or any of the related materials.

CONTENT WARNING FOR GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND GORE.

Prologue | Chapter 2

Chapter 1

With his fangs still in the man’s body, Menō landed without making a sound. He suddenly opened his mouth and dropped the man he held in his mouth to the ground.

“...Ugh…”

He tried to crawl away, but Menō kicked him, sending him sprawling. He stabbed the claws on his foot into the man’s shoulders and started dragging him away slowly. He finally stopped when he reached the middle of the yard then opened his mouth, dripping red with blood, and took a bite out of the man’s right shoulder.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The man shrieked, his body contorting in pain.

Menō ripped at his flesh, and the blood dripping from the wound mixed with the steady stream pouring from his stomach, quickly forming a puddle of red on the earth. Making a fast meal out of the man’s head and chest would be enjoyable. Menō instead flipped the man’s body around and started to eat the shallow flesh of his hips. He pulled at the thin fibers of muscle, and the man cried out, his face pressed into the ground, sand filling his mouth.

Menō took his time tasting the man’s flesh and blood. He had purposefully dragged the deserter’s body to the middle of the courtyard where the other prisoners could witness his meal. It was a warning—this is what will become of you if you try to run.

“Eugh! I’m still alive! Please!”

The other prisoners watched from a distance, a grimace on their faces and pickaxes resting on their shoulders. Menō teared at the flesh like he was playing with it. When he finally got to the organs and the drip drip drip of blood could be heard from afar, the man’s scream faded out until they could no longer be heard.

“Well, that’s about it for Nogema. Quickly, back to your stations.” At the sound of the low voice from behind them, all the prisoners froze at once.

A slender man wearing silver-rimmed glasses slowly emerged from the building.

The director of the Tartar Astronomy Research Institute. Zansur. The person in charge of this place and Menō’s master.

“If you don’t move quickly Menō will make you his dessert.”

Although Zansur’s voice was light, there was an underlying intimidation to it; the prisoners paled at his joke. From within the sea of prisoners scattering to their various work stations, Sasuke observed Menō in secret.

Menō swung his large, long tail, using it to keep balance as he bent over, his head lost in the soft flesh and blood in the belly of the corpse. The hard skin covering his head was stained red with blood, the yellow pupil of his eyes shining brightly.

A carnivorous prison guard who faithfully obeyed Zansur—that was Menō.

A huge, bipedal lizard covered in thick skin, with nail-shaped fangs and sharp claws. When standing he was 80 centimeters in height, but if you measured from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, he was no less than two meters. What’s terrifying was the strength of his legs. Sprouting from under his torso are two horrible, spring-like legs that can move ten meters in a single leap.

This place was not a prison. The patrols did not keep watch over the prisoners 24 hours a day like guards should. There were no locks on their living quarters nor on any of the buildings' entrances. Nevertheless, the prisoners living here followed the rules obediently—because of Menō.

As long as there was Menō, who watched over the grounds authoritatively and showed no mercy in eating those who break the rules alive, then rarely would there be anyone who would dare try to escape.

***********

The prisoners’ job at the Astronomy Research Institute was mainly digging up dirt. Using farming tools, they were tasked with scraping up the frost covered soil. If they came across a large rock or hard clumps of earth, they had to carefully dig it up and remove it. And repeat.

It seemed that the work was necessary in order to build the foundation for a giant telescope, but the longtime prisoners said that for close to a year they’ve been forced to do this work endlessly.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

Working next to him was Jiji, who was currently standing with his pickaxe resting against his hip, furiously rubbing his hands together. The mornings were particularly cold. The temperatures were low enough to freeze snot before it fell from their noses to the ground.

“Aren’t you cold, Sasuke?”

“Yes.” He answered honestly. Sasuke rubbed his hand against the handle of his pickaxe and warmed them up with the friction. He was used to working under harsh conditions, but cold is cold.

“Ugh, I hate it here... Why did they build the Astronomy Research Institute in such a cold place? The snow already melted a while ago. At this rate I’m going to end up freezing to death. Well, actually, after seeing that guy get eaten this morning, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to freeze to death in my sleep.”

Did Jiji ever get tired of this monotonous work? He certainly never tired of speaking.

Jiji was a fellow prisoner and Sasuke’s cellmate. He was locked up on charges of stealing food because he had none. His sentence was a minimum of six months. Since they were about the same age and both in good physical condition, they were assigned to the same work division and were often paired together.

Jiji rubbed his reddened nose and then suddenly let out a yelp.

“Shit, I hurt myself. Ah, but this is lucky! Now I can go to the doctor’s office.”

“What’s so great about the doctor’s office?”

“Didn’t you hear? There’s a newly arrived lady doctor. Word on the street is she’s beautiful and kind.”

He chuckled and added, “And she’s single. No significant other.”

This caused Sasuke to look up from his work. “How do you know she’s single?”

“Because she isn’t wearing a ring.”

A ring?

Jiji noticed the blank look on Sasuke’s face and continued. “Oh yeah, you’re not from around here. It’s Redaku custom for people to exchange rings when they get married. If you wear a ring on the second to last finger of your left hand, that means you’re married. That lady doctor isn’t wearing a ring, so—ah, shit. The patrols.”

Noticing the approaching guards, Jiji cut his explanation short. He picked up his pickaxe, the blade worn and chipped, and set about diligently hammering away at earth, as was his duty. The patrols came up to watch this, swinging around their batons while walking by, scowling at Jiji. They did not, however, try to meet Sasuke’s eyes. They were afraid of him. Once the guards continued on their way, Jiji discarded his tool once more and let out the pent up breath he’d be holding.

“Ugh. Fuck this shit, I hate it here.”

Sasuke shared the sentiment. He let out a sigh and turned to look behind him. The Tartar Astronomy Research Institute sat quietly atop a desolate mountain range. Built 1,000 meters above sea level, it was a fierce stone prison. It is said that the Rokudō Sennin himself stayed at this place. He was supposed to have collected documents here. That was the reason Sasuke came here.

Naruto was suffering from an illness back in the Land of Fire. Sasuke was here to gather the documents the Rokudō Sennin collected for Naruto. That was his sole purpose. Being unable to do anything else at such a time was frustrating. Right now Naruto’s illness was getting worse with each passing second—

“What’s wrong with you? You’re making a scary face.” Jiji’s voice cut through his thoughts. His cellmate’s eyes stared curiously at him from beneath the shadow of his bangs.

“It’s nothing.”

“Really? You had a really serious look on your face.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sasuke dexterously picked up his pickaxe with his arm, signaling the end of the conversation.

***********

After dinner Sasuke returned to his cell. As his hand touched the iron bars, he was greeted by a cut-off scream.

“AA—”

There in the middle of the cell, a gangly and petite man was lying prostrate on the floor. It was one of Sasuke’s three cellmates, Penzira. Jiji sat opposite him, legs crossed. Between the two men was a bowl with dice rolling around inside it.

“Jiji, you bastard! It’s snake eyes!”

“Heh, my bad. I’ll just take that cig, then.” Jiji snickered and pulled the cigarette on the floor towards him. It seemed that they were playing Cee-lo.

Although many prisoners become obsessed with gambling in a life of imprisonment without other forms of entertainment, Penzira has been an addict since well before. He loved playing dirty and doing underhanded tricks, but a series of successive losses earned him a pile of debt, and he got caught in multiple false marriage scams in attempts to pay it off. He had a minimum one year sentence.

Penzira noticed Sasuke. “Ah, Sasuke. Come play Cee-lo with us!” He shook the dice in the bowl incessantly.

“I’ll pass.”

“What’s up with you? So unpleasant.” Penzira frowned in disappointment and then turned his attention to the corner of the room. “Ganno! What’re you doing? Stop drawing pictures or whatever and get over here already!” He called out to Ganno, the third cellmate.

In the corner of the room squatting like a chicken on its eggs was Ganno, his back to Penzira. “Now’s no good.” He replied curtly.

Ganno, in his late sixties, was the oldest man in the cell. He was painting the loose skin on the nape of his skin completely red with paint.

“Are you still doing that? Aren’t you tired of it yet?”

“Don’t talk to me. I’ve almost completed an important part.”

It was one month ago that Ganno suddenly exclaimed, “I’ve found something great!” while out during his work shift, and returned to the cell with his pockets stuffed with red and brown rocks. Starting the next day Ganno would smash the rocks together, every morning and evening, not caring how raw his hands became. Over the course of five days the rocks were all crushed. Next he peeled off the skin from the soles of his feet. Then, he asked his friends in charge of the kitchen if he could borrow an open stove, and he used it before and after every meal for two hours; in total, he boiled the skin for close to 30 hours. Those around Ganno questioned his sanity when they saw the blood soaked bandages wrapped around his feet, but the man himself looked perfectly happy.

A broth of melted skin and a reddish brown powder made from painstakingly crushed rocks.

It was the day Sasuke arrived that Ganno finally had these two materials. While the others went to hurriedly greet the newcomer, Ganno began to mix both ingredients on top of pine leaves. Sasuke was struck breathless as he saw his cellmate completely absorbed in a task he didn’t understand.

The dull, reddish brown powder increased in viscosity when mixed with the both, and it transformed into a glossier color. After kneading the mixture for a few minutes, he completed the Kamain’s rock paint. It was a vivid red like Japanese plums. Every night since then Ganno has enjoyed painting, using pine leaves as a brush and his toenails as a canvas.

“Anyway, I’ll get rid of it before the inventory check next week.” Jiji was exasperated by this response and turned his back on the diligently working man, telling him the nail art didn’t suit him. “That’s why I’m hurrying. I’m already on my pinky finger,” replied Ganno. His voice was always cheerful.

A minimum sentence of 17 years in prison for treason against the nation. Ganno claimed his crime was painting a portrait for an aristocrat who opposed the Prime Minister. His father was also a painter, but he became obsessed and always had a paintbrush in hand, neither liking nor disliking what he painted.

A drawing that took one week to paint, done with a brush that took three weeks to make. Sasuke didn’t quite understand why Ganno would want to complete something that he would have to get rid of in a week, but any entertainment was important here.

The prisoners share what is basically a six-mat tatami room among four people. In such a confined space, adults breaking out in a fight was natural; beating each other until they were bloody and senseless was an everyday occurrence. In such an environment, Sasuke’s cell was comparatively peaceful. They weren’t exactly friendly, but so far no problems had arisen.

Ganno was absorbed in his art, and both Jiji and Penzira were upset at their dice rolls. Sasuke was gazing absentmindedly at the moon until it was time for lights out. This was what usually went on in the cell each evening.

“Yo, Sasuke, you should play too!”

“We’ll let you have the first go.” After each turn Jiji and Penzira would invite the lonesome Sasuke to play.

“No thanks,” came his short reply. He heard a faint noise and turned his gaze to the window that faced out into the courtyard. The white, illuminating light of the moon was blocked for a moment by a shadow. It was probably Menō out in the grounds. There was something about Menō that bothered Sasuke. If he were to do some research, now would be the perfect time.

“I’ve changed my mind.” Sasuke stood up and seated himself across from Penzira. “I’m your opponent now.”

“What, really? Hell yeah!”

“I don’t have cigarettes, so can I bet on something else?” Sasuke asked, reaching into his pocket and pretending to pull something out. He focused his chakra into his fingers, and using a simple Earth Style jutsu, activated the elements in the soil, arranging the atoms until they smoothed out and crystallized.

Rolling around in his palm was a red stone. It was a large ruby about the size of a cherry.

“Huh? Is that a jewel? Is that real?”

“No way, it can’t be. It’s probably glass or something.”

Jiji and Penzira inspected the jewel closely. Sasuke neither confirmed nor denied, but the jewel in his hand was certainly physically the real deal. Unfortunately, it was man-made.

“A pretty glass jewel, huh… we could take it and then melt it down in a fire and smoke it. That would be fun, yeah?”

“You don’t have any cigarettes left to bet on, I took everything you had last game. Bet on your meal duty.”

Sasuke picked up the bowl. “We don’t need cigarettes, and you don’t need to swap your meal duties. Instead, I want you to do me a favor.”

“A favor?”

“I’ll explain afterwards.” He placed the bowl on the tatami and grabbed three dice. He faced Penzira and asked, “What’s the best roll?”

“Of course you don’t know the rules. It’s snake eyes. You gotta get three digits.”

“Alright then, I’ll roll that.”

Jiji and Penzira looked at him. Even Ganno stopped working on his hand in order to watch Sasuke.

Sasuke channeled his chakra to his closed fist. The moment he rolled the dice, an imperceptible force guided them. With a clatter, the wooden dice rolled around inside the bowl.

“Seriously…”

Seeing three red dots lined up, Penzira’s mouth fell open. Like Sasuke had said, he, of course, rolled snake eyes. While Jiji and Genno were also sitting there stunned, Sasuke leisurely stood up.

“Looks like I win.”

“Rolling snake eyes right after saying you will—there ain’t luck like that. That was cheating!” Jiji smacked Penzira on the shoulder, ignoring his whine of protest.

“I told you to give up!”

When gambling with prisoners, cheating was a common occurrence. The unspoken rule here was if you don’t catch someone in the act of cheating, then it doesn’t count.

“You promised me a favor, Penzira.”

“... I can’t do anything too difficult.”

“Relax, it’s not bad.” Sasuke said and stood, heading for the door. “I’m going for a walk. When the patrols come around, cover for me.”

Penzira thought he was joking and laughed, but when he noticed Sasuke’s serious expression he followed after him, flustered. During the downtime before bed, you were free to do as you liked as long you stayed in the cells. The second you stepped foot out of your cell, you were breaking the rules.

“This is crazy! It’ll be obvious that someone is missing, how am I supposed to cover for you?”

“Stuff my futon.”

“Oh, we’ll just deceive the guards, is that it? They’re not children!” Penzira followed him out the door, complaining all the while.

“Sasuke!” Jiji called after him through the iron bars. “You get it, right? If you’re caught breaking the rules, you’ll be sent to receive punishment before you can offer up any excuses. If it’s Menō who finds you, he’ll eat you alive, no questions asked.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Sasuke replied calmly.

“That’s not the issue...” Penzira moaned.

***********

Within the grounds of the Tartar Astronomy Research Institute, there were two buildings located on the east and west end of the courtyard. Located on the west end was the multi-purpose building that housed the prisoners, which looked like it had been hastily put together with some branches that had been lying around. Opposite that, on the east end, was the headquarters of the institute.

Prisoners were forbidden from entering this building, but Sasuke held no such reservations as he boldly walked through the front door.

When he took his first step into the entryway, he was greeted by thick, fur-lined carpet. The headquarters was a completely different world from the barracks. It had been renovated since the Tartar era, and now was a magnificent brick building that resembled a royal palace. There seemed to be four stories above ground, and based on this country’s architectural standards, it was fairly large.

While the prisoners were forced to cry themselves to sleep on hard stone floors wrapped up in their thin futons, here the hallways, stairwells, and of course the rooms themselves were lined wall to wall with plush carpet. Thanks to the stucco-lined brick exterior, the building was naturally free from any cold drafts, and the guards’ rooms all had large fireplaces with which to heat their quarters. The difference was like walking on a cloud, compared to the barracks which would sometimes have icicles hanging inside the rooms during the snowy season.

As he walked through the corridors of the building, Sasuke would hide himself in rooms and attach himself to the ceiling whenever he heard the guards approaching on their patrols. But he purposely wasn’t masking his chakra presence, because of that giant lizard—it was to alert Menō. Since he couldn’t use words with his reptilian opponent, he planned on manipulating him with genjutsu to see if he could obtain any new information that way.

Menō surpassed other reptiles in terms of reflexes, speed, and power. No matter how you looked at it, Menō was a summon. Since he obeyed Zansur’s every command, there was a high chance that he was the one who gave Menō his powers. Originally, this country had no shinobi, but he’d heard that the Prime Minister had gathered rogue ninja here for a war.

It was likely that Zansur was a shinobi and he had summoned Menō using Kuchiyose, and now the two were connected via his chakra.

But a summon was not supposed to last this long. Menō was constantly stalking around the institute, morning and evening, keeping watch over the prisoners. That would mean Zansur was using Kuchiyose for at least 20 hours each day. That was way too long. Did Zansur have chakra reserves that large? Or perhaps the basic structure of this Kuchiyose technique was different from those passed down in the Land of Fire—

Tap tap. From down the corridor came the sound of nails hitting the floor.

Sasuke came to a halt, and met a pair of yellow eyes floating in the dark. Sidling out of the darkness came of the form of Menō.

“So you came.”

Sasuke raised his eyelids and focused his chakra to his eyes.

The Sharingan.

A red eye with three spinning black pinwheels met Menō’s gaze. He instantly activated his doujutsu, and dragged Menō into a genjutsu—or he intended to.

Whoosh!

Menō vaulted off the floor and leaped towards Sasuke. Sharp claws raked at Sasuke from the side and managed to cut off a lock of Sasuke’s hair.

Did the genjutsu not work?

Sasuke fended off the attack from Menō, and backed up until he hit the wall, then came to a stop. Winding up like a spring, Menō gathered strength in his legs before leaping forward, closing the distance between him and Sasuke in an instant. The pair of yellow eyes met his once again, but it had the same result. The genjutsu didn’t work.

As Menō thrust a fist towards him, Sasuke suddenly ducked down beneath his chest. He shoved him with the palm of his hand while his leg swept Menō’s feet out from under him. The sound of the floor cracking could be heard under Menō’s now prone form, and Sasuke ceased his attack. Leaving behind traces of a fight for the director and others to discover was dangerous. It made no sense, especially after all the trouble he went through to come here undetected.

Sasuke used the brief moment of reprieve to put some distance between them, when Menō’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Using his long tail like a whip, he threw himself at Sasuke and landed directly behind him. Sasuke barely dodged the hit, one that could’ve cost him his life.

He’s fast!

Sasuke used a Water Style jutsu to create a make-shift kunai out of ice, and wielding it, slashed at the sharp claws that were honing in on him then severed them from their fingertips. Without flinching, Menō continued his advance, and Sasuke continued slashing his way up the lizard’s torso.

“Gyah!” Menō let out a high-pitched scream and landed roughly on the ground. Yellow fluid poured out from a large, open wound in his stomach.

Oops.

Sasuke regretted the move instantly, but it was too late.

Menō staggered, then rushed to jump out a nearby window. When he came to the wall he smashed into it, toppling part of it over, and lept down into the courtyard below. He made a run for it at full speed, the yellow liquid drenching his body as it continued to spill out from his wound.

Sasuke bit his lip and dropped his gaze down to the palm of his hand, where a terrible sensation lingered. That last attack he landed with his kunai went deep. It was very likely a fatal wound.

***********

However—

The next day as Sasuke was looking out into the courtyard from his usual seat in the cafeteria, he spotted a familiar long tail swaying to and fro, and his eyes widened in shock.

You’re being foolish. It can’t be.

As if feeling his eyes on him, Menō faced Sasuke and met his gaze. However, as though he had no memory of the events from the night before, he huffed and quickly turned away.

Menō is alive.

Although he had suffered lasting damage, his body showed no signs of injury. Sasuke had no idea what this could mean. It was like he needed to get his eyes checked.

“So you’re the one who raised a hand against Menō. Number 487.” A voice abruptly came from behind him.

Zansur.

Sasuke had been waiting to initiate direct contact with him, but if he had revealed himself, then there was no point in hiding now. Besides, there were some things he wanted to ask him as well.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as he turned around to face him. His eyes bled into red, and three pinwheels spun in his iris as he met Zansur’s gaze.

In the next moment—Sasuke sucked in a breath.

He only noticed it for the first time with his Sharingan. Behind the silver-rimmed frames of Zansur’s glasses were glass eyes.

“Your eyes…”

“Yes, yes, very good,” Zansur squinted at him, and the corner of his mouth lifted up in a smirk as he laughed. “You’re very keen. Every day my underlings can barely look at me, so no one else has noticed.”

Zansur reached out his arm and touched the windowsill behind Sasuke. His eyes moved naturally, and seemed to have good vision no matter where he looked. However, no matter how many times Sasuke checked to confirm, Zansur’s left and right eyes were definitely made of pure glass.

Zansur leaned in close and whispered in Sasuke’s ear. “It seems that you can use some ninjutsu… I’ll remember that.” The fake eye on the left made one full revolution in his eye socket, moving as if it were a living creature.

“It’ll take more than one measly ninja to take Menō away from me.”

[dailyaudiobible]

04/23/2021 DAB Transcript

Judges 1:1-2:9, Luke 21:29-22:13, Psalms 90:1-91:16, Proverbs 13:24-25

Today is the 23rd day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian, and it is a pleasure and a joy to come around the Global Campfire together and just find our place, do what we do, exhale, settle in to the safe oasis that we create for ourselves as God's word comes washing into our lives. So, it is a pleasure and joy to be here with you today. And we’re turning the page. We’re actually moving into some new territory in the Old Testament. We conclude the book of Joshua yesterday which leads us to the…well….to the first chapter of the book of Judges.

Introduction to the book of Judges:

And judges is what comes next. We can think from the title of Judges that it's a big book of judgment, right? Like, this is one of those books in the Bible where you don’t want to read it because it’s nothing but judgment. That's…that's what's going on here. Let's, since we’re moving into new territory, let’s just really briefly look back at where we've been. We met Abram. We saw him become Abraham. Abraham's story is essentially the origin story of the Hebrew people. So, Abraham and then the generation of Isaac and the generation of Jacob. Jacob being Abraham's grandson. Jacob has a couple of wives and a couple of concubines thrown into the mix and there's 12 children born. And we remember all that between Rachel and Leah, the battle of the sisters over the children. And these children, they're going to grow up and become tribes. I mean they will…like they will start tribes. Jacob's name is changed to Israel. And, so, his children are the children of Israel. One of those kids was named Joseph and we followed a long path with Joseph being trafficked into slavery and ending up in Egypt. And over the course of time ending up second-in-command in Egypt when a famine comes that reunites the family. They thought Joseph was dead. Jacob thought his son was long dead, but they are reunited in life, which is how the children of Israel made it to Egypt. And then after Joseph dies, they flourish in the land of Egypt and become a very populous mighty people, but they are enslaved by the Egyptians. So, four centuries later, so they’re in slavery for 400 years. That's quite a long time to establish the status quo, this is when we meet the man, Moses. Moses, we met in a basket in the river and Pharaoh's daughter raises him then he has to flee because he kills an Egyptian. He gets married in the wilderness then he sees a burning Bush that is not consumed, and he meets with God and God sends him back to set the people free. Moses wants nothing to do with it but in the end, he obeys, and Moses and his brother Aaron lead the people. And that's when we go through all of the plagues and the Exodus from Egypt. And then they began their wilderness journey. And it was supposed to be a lot shorter than it ended up being. But they got to the very very precipice of entering into the promised land and the spies came back and said, “we can’t do it. There's giants in the land. It's…it's a great land but we can't win”, which doomed an entire generation to continue to learn the message of the wilderness. And we spoke a lot about our own…our own wilderness journeys as we wandered in the wilderness with the children of Israel. Then they made it to the banks of the Jordan River. There's all kinds of stuff that happened in between there, we remember, but then Moses got all the people together and he gave them three discourses, three speeches, that comprise the book of Deuteronomy, the things that Moses's needs the people to know and that he needs to know that he said out loud before he dies. And, so, they listened to that and then Moses died, became a part of history. Joshua takes the leadership over Israel, leads the people across the Jordan River. The first city of conquest is Jericho. We remember all of this and then they are at war basically. All of the different tribes and kings of the land, they attack Israel, and Israel keeps winning and they begin to settle the land. Then Joshua brings everybody back together at Shechem and that's where these famous words, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” come from. And the people say they will serve the Lord. They…they renew the covenant and Joshua tells them, “you are a witness…your lives are…are a witness against you if you don't obey this. That's what brings us to judges. So, we will begin the book of Judges and realize that judges were what came next in the leadership of Israel. They had had a profit in Moses lead them. They had a profit and Joshua lead them. Once they're gone and all of the generation that knew them died off, then there's an emerging generation that doesn't know exactly what to do. They are all tribes doing whatever seems right in their own eyes. And we will begin to see that some of the things that they're doing that they think is right in their own eyes isn't and will see a slide beginning to happen. And, as the people become oppressed, they cry out to God and a judge rises up to lead the people. And some of these judges are our pious and committed to God and some of these judges have some strange ways of doing things but God uses them in this time. So, as we read the book of Judges, we will be passing through several centuries of time. The book of Judges sort of covers an in between period. So, Moses and Joshua are gone, and then there's the period of the judges, which will lead us to the period of the monarchy. Like, when the period of the judges reaches its end, the people are going to want a king. They don’t want a judge anymore, they don’t want a prophet, they want a king. So, it won’t be too long after we conclude the book of Judges that we will be entering into that, that time of the monarchy of ancient Israel. So, that's kind of the lay of the land. That's where we've come from, that's how we got here to page 1 of the book of Judges. So, let's dive in. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Judges chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 9.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You bringing us into this new territory in the book of Judges. Holy Spirit come. Plant the words of the Scriptures into our lives. Allow them to till the soil and plant good fruit, that the harvest may be bountiful, the fruit of the spirit in our lives may be bountiful. Help us to see ourselves in these stories. Help them to be mirrors into our own souls into the motives and the brokenness in our own lives. And even as we begin to turn into the passion narrative in the gospel of Luke, even as we've read of the preparations for this last meal before suffering and the plot to betray You, our Lord, we enter the story once again, the story of a love so profound that it has no equal, a love that is drawn us to it like a moth to a flame. And, so, as we watch this story unfold again Holy Spirit come and help us to enter into it with a profound amount of gratitude. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can't possibly thank you enough. I can't possibly like…I’ve tried so many times, the vocabulary fails, the gratefulness, the awe that all of these years all of these days, day by day, step-by-step we’ve been not just doing this for a year, but this is the 16th year every single day, seven days a week without missing a single day. So, I'm in awe that…that we’re in this together because we wouldn't be here if we weren’t. So, if that is life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

My name is Darla from Pennsylvania this is my first time calling. I just wanted to reach out to the man. I was listening on April 16th and the man said that he felt like he wasn't even worthy or able to be helpful or something along those lines and my heart just kind of sank because I know…I know how that feels and I just wanted to let you know that I'm praying for you in Jesus’ name.

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Alobia from New Mexico this is my first time ever reading with you guys and so far, it has been a fantastic time. I'm really happy that I'm here. I'm happy that I found you guys. But this is my first time ever doing this kind of thing, but I do want to ask for some prayers if it's not too much. I am struggling with my relationship. He's not equally yoked with me and I recently got back into my religion and I stopped doing the things that I wasn't supposed to be doing and our relationship changed a lot and we got through it a little bit but now he proposed, and I'm just confused. I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do anymore. I…I wanna be with this person but I know I shouldn't be with him when we're not equally yoked. But at the same time, I can't bring myself to like break-up with him. This might seem like something that's not really important, but I've been dating this person for three years and I'm confused and I'm not sure what to do. I've been praying about it, but I would like to hear from other people too. But I also want to give thanks for this community. I'm not sure if a lot of people will hear it. Well, we'll see, but I hope that you guys can pray for me and pray for my situation. But thank you. I'm sending my love out to all of you and have a good rest of your day.

Good afternoon DAB family God bless you all. I don't know your name I think you said Ramona or Mona from South Cali. You're 32 years old single mom of an 8-year-old boy with stage four kidney failure. You are on dialysis three times a week; 31 surgeries now has cancer. You called in praying for an encouraging because of James from Fort Worth TX who lost his daughter last year January 27th of 2020 and you're asking for prayer so that you may have God's peace, God's joy, God's healing because your 8-year-old son told you it's OK for you to go to heaven so that you don't suffer anymore. My dear sister I cannot imagine that and I'm standing alongside you in your tears. I'm praying for you and I'm believing that there’s nothing that God cannot do. There is nothing that God cannot do. God can turn this around in the name of Jesus. I am declaring healing over your body inside out I am declaring totally healing in your body. I am declaring functioning kidneys in the name of Jesus. I am binding those cancer cells to be done to be eradicated from your body in its entirety in the name of Jesus. I am declaring you healed by the blood of Christ. I'm loosening the healing powers of Jesus over you from the crown of your head to the soul of your feet in Jesus’ name. Amen. Esther from Orlando.

Hi, I'm calling in to pray for Lacey, Lacey, I believe and the Lilies. Lacey I just listened to the broadcast on the 17th, and I heard your prayer. I too suffer from a disease that won't let me fully extend some of my body and I also took hope in that same reading that you did. Keep reaching sister. God will straighten you up. I know that it doesn't seem possible right now but just keep reaching for heaven and you will reach it. We love you.

Good morning DAB family this is Doctor John from Illinois listening this morning at 4:18. Just wanna pray this morning for Chad who's suffering depression, anxiety, and fear but he knows enough to call, he knows enough to ask for help. And I listened to this brother pray for his nephew Jeff, the firefighter who’s sick with covid still experiencing troubles with it. And I guess my one encouragement the one…makes my heart just overwhelmed with I believe it's Ramona from Southern California she's a 32-year-old woman 8-year-old son, she's experiencing kidney failure, having some other diagnostic problems. And I'm just overwhelmed at her heart toward other people though. And she said something really sparked my heart. And she said even in the midst of this affliction God is still God. He’s still righteous and He’s still holy and He’s still just. And she's in desperate straits and yet she cries for help for other people and lifting up other people encouraging other people, that's her faith. Her joy is in the Lord. So, let's take a note from this. Family let's pray for others. Let's put others above ourselves. God hears every single prayer, and he knows our hearts before we even ask. So, thank you Brian and Jill again for this wonderful place that we can come together, this wonderful family that we share each other’s hearts and needs. This is the love of God acted out.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Stan from Maryland. My heart was impressed to pray for Trent. I believe he was on the August 18th prayer request. Dear father lift up Trent. He…he said is in a dark abyss of depression and despair and fear. Father God I pray that You would put a hedge of thorns all around Trent so that the influences of the evil one causing him to despair and to be fearful and to be depressed would lose interest and leave him. And Father, You know Trent’s heart. He's trying to draw near to You. So, I pray Father that You were drawing near to him. When You're in that dark place it's hard to see any light. So, I pray Father that You would illuminate Your presence in Trent’s deep soul s0peaking to him as he needs to hear so that he knows that You love him deeply, that You will lift him up and that You…that he can rely on You. As a matter of fact, Father relying on You is the only way because we are all confused Father God about what our future is and about what our perception of reality is. So, I pray these things for Trent in the name of Jesus. Amen.

[xtruss]

Rigis Philbin, Television Personality and Host, Dies at 88

— BY DAVID BAUDER | July 25, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades and helped himself and some fans strike it rich with the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” has died at 88.

Philbin died of natural causes Friday night, just over a month before his 89th birthday, according to a statement from his family provided by spokesman Lewis Kay.

Celebrities routinely stopped by Philbin’s eponymous syndicated morning show, but its heart was in the first 15 minutes, when he and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford — on “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” from 1985-2000 — or Kelly Ripa — on “Live! with Regis and Kelly” from 2001 until his 2011 retirement — bantered about the events of the day. Viewers laughed at Philbin’s mock indignation over not getting the best seat at a restaurant the night before, or being henpecked by his partner.

“Even I have a little trepidation,” he told The Associated Press in 2008, when asked how he does a show every day. “You wake up in the morning and you say, ‘What did I do last night that I can talk about? What’s new in the paper? How are we gonna fill that 20 minutes?’”

“I’m not gonna say it always works out brilliantly, but somehow we connect more often than we don’t,” he added.

“One of the greats in the history of television, Regis Philbin has passed on to even greater airwaves,” President Donald Trump said in a tweet. “He was a fantastic person, and my friend.”

Ripa and her current partner, Ryan Seacrest, called Philbin “the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes every day.”

“There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis,” Gifford said Saturday on Instagram. “I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift.”

The tributes flooding in over social media read like blurbs for a movie Philbin would promote: “Always made me laugh” — Tony Bennett. “One of a kind” — Henry Winkler. “A lovely man” — Rosie O’Donnell. “His wit was only surpassed by his huge heart” — Meredith Vieira. “As wonderful a man as he was talented” — Paul Reubens, also known as Pee-Wee Herman. “You were the best” — LeVar Burton.

After hustling into an entertainment career by parking cars at a Los Angeles TV station, Philbin logged more than 15,000 hours on the air, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most broadcast hours logged by a TV personality, a record previously held by Hugh Downs.

“Every day, you see the record shattered, pal!” Philbin would tell viewers. “One more hour!”

He was host of the prime-time game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” briefly television’s most popular show at the turn of the century. ABC aired the family-friendly program as often as five times a week. It generated around $1 billion in revenue in its first two years — ABC had said it was the more profitable show in TV history — and helped make Philbin himself a millionaire many times over.

Philbin’s question to contestants, “Is that your final answer?” became a national catchphrase. Philbin was even a fashion trendsetter; he put out a line of monochramactic shirts and ties to match what he wore on the set.

“You wait a lifetime for something like that and sometimes it never happens,” Philbin told the AP in 1999.

In 2008, he returned briefly to the quiz show format with “Million Dollar Password.” He also picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award from the daytime Emmys.

He was the type of TV personality easy to make fun of, and easy to love.

When his son Danny first met his future wife, “we were talking about our families,” Danny told USA Today. “I said, ‘You know that show Regis and Kathie Lee?’ And she said, ‘I hate that show.’ And I said, ‘That’s my dad.’”

Yet Philbin was a favorite of a younger generation’s ironic icon, David Letterman. When Letterman announced that he had to undergo heart surgery, it was on the air to Philbin, who was also there for Letterman’s first day back after his recovery.

Letterman returned the favor, appearing on Philbin’s show when he went back on the air in April 2007 after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

In the 2008 AP interview, Philbin said he saw “getting the best out of your guests” as “a specialty. ... The time constraints mean you’ve got to get right to the point, you’ve got to make it pay off, go to commercial, start again. Play that clip. Say goodbye.” He gave his desktop a decisive rap.

“And make it all conversational.”

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx, the son of Italian-Irish parents and named for the Roman Catholic boys high school his dad attended. He went to Notre Dame University, and was such an enthusiastic alum, he once said he wanted his ashes scattered there.

After leaving the Navy in 1955, Philbin talked his way into a meeting with the stationmaster at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. He got a job parking cars, then progressed into work as a stagehand, courier, newswriter and producer of a sports telecast. When its sportscaster didn’t show up one day, Philbin filled in.

Philbin got far more on-air experience in San Diego in the early 1960s, when KOGO-TV began producing “The Regis Philbin Show” for a national audience. The program of music and celebrity interviews was taped two weeks before each airing. It was canceled after four months.

In 1967, Philbin was hired as the announcer and sidekick to comic Joey Bishop on his network show. When he heard that he was going to be fired because of poor ratings, Philbin tearfully announced he was leaving on July 12, 1968, walking off during a live broadcast. He returned three days later after letters of support poured in.

He and Bishop had bad blood: Bishop called Philbin an “ingrate” for walking off during a salary dispute and later badmouthing him.

Philbin’s second wife, Joy, was Bishop’s assistant.

After three years of commuting to St. Louis each week for a local Saturday night show, Philbin became a star in local morning television — first in Los Angeles, then in New York. In 1985, he teamed with Kathie Lee Johnson, a year before she married former football star Frank Gifford, and the show went national in 1988.

Philbin’s “sarcastic playfulness” endears him to fans, Good Housekeeping magazine wrote in 2000.

“He’s the little guy protesting the injustices of life, from crime waves to paper cuts,” the magazine wrote. “The ranting is punctuated with Kathie Lee’s familiar cry of ‘Oh, Reege,’ uttered sometimes in sisterly sympathy and sometimes in teacherly admonishment.”

The gentle bickering and eye-rolling exasperation in Philbin and Gifford’s onscreen relationship was familiar to anyone in a long-lasting relationship.

“No arguments, no harsh words in all this time,” Philbin told a theater audience in 2000. “Well, there was the time I didn’t talk to her for two weeks. Didn’t want to interrupt her.”

Gifford left the show in 2000. After a tryout period for a replacement, soap star Ripa (“All My Children”) filled the slot.

The same hustler who parked cars in Hollywood worked just as hard to land the job on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

“I begged my way on,” he told People magazine. “There was a short list, and I wasn’t on it. I called my agent, and we made a full assault on ABC in L.A.”

The audience responded to Philbin’s warm, comic touch in the role. He later jokingly referred to himself as the man who saved ABC. It wasn’t complete hyperbole: ABC was suffering in the ratings before the game became a smash success. Forbes reported that two-thirds of ABC’s operating profit in 2000 was due to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Philbin appeared to love every minute of it. Even the ultimate arbiter of hip, the MTV Video Awards, asked him to make an appearance.

“It’s better to be hot,” he told the AP. “It’s fun. I know this business. I was perfectly content with my morning show. People would ask me, ‘What’s next?’ There is nothing next. There are no more mountains for me to climb. Believe me when I tell you, all I wanted when I started this show in 1961 was to be a success nationally.”

The prime-time game burned out quickly because of overuse and ended in 2002.

Philbin enjoyed a side career as a singer that began when he sang “Pennies from Heaven” to Bing Crosby on Bishop’s show. He said a record company called him the next day, and he made an album.

Even though the series “Regis Philbin’s Health Styles,” on Lifetime in the 1980s, was part of his lengthy resume, Philbin had health issues. Doctors performed an angioplasty to relieve a blocked artery in 1993. He underwent bypass surgery in 2007 at age 75.

He’s survived by his wife, Joy, and their daughters J.J. and Joanna Philbin, as well as his daughter Amy Philbin with his first wife, Catherine Faylen, according to People.

Regis Philbin, American TV host who spent 17,000 hours in front of camera, dies of natural causes at age of 88

The New Yorker was paid $28 million a year in 2000, the most ever for a game-show host, and had a career lasting six decades.

— ABC.NET.AU

American TV host Regis Philbin, who logged more hours in front of the camera than anyone else in the history of US television on shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, has died aged 88.

Key Points:

Philbin died of natural causes, according to his family, one month before his 89th birthday

Guinness World Records listed Philbin as having put in about 17,000 hours on television

He was paid $28 million a year in 2000, the most ever for a game-show host

People magazine said Philbin died of natural causes one month before his 89th birthday, citing a statement by his family.

"His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him for his warmth, his legendary sense of humour, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about," the statement said.

"We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss."

Philbin was known for his rough edges, funny anecdotes, self-deprecating humour and a Bronx accent that was once described as sounding "like a racetrack announcer with a head cold."

American comedian and late-night host David Letterman, a long-time friend, called Philbin the funniest man on television.

Philbin, known to fans as "Reeg", was a fixture on various local and national shows for half a century with co-hosts including Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa.

He hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire when it debuted in the US in 1999, as well as other game shows.

His $US20 million ($28 million) a year salary in 2000 was the most ever for a game-show host.

Guinness World Records listed him as having put in more time on camera than anyone else in the history of US television — about 17,000 hours.

Philbin was perhaps best known as the host of the nationally syndicated talk show, Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee. It started in 1988, and became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, running until 2011.

Jimmy Kimmel@jimmykimmel

Regis was a great broadcaster, a good friend and a tremendous amount of fun. He leaves behind a beautiful family and a TV legacy that will likely go unmatched. Regis, I hope our friend Rickles met you at the pearly gates with open arms and a slew of the insults you loved so much

Kelly Ripa Pays Tribute to Regis Philbin After His Death: 'He Was the Ultimate Class Act'

Philbin first made a name for himself in the 1960s with his own show on local TV in San Diego and then as a sidekick to comedian Joey Bishop on another program.

His biggest success came in the various incarnations of his nationally syndicated morning talk show that began in 1983 when he created The Morning Show for WABC in his native New York City.

After two co-hosts came and went, singer Gifford joined him in a highly successful collaboration in 1985, and in 1988 the program gained national syndication.

Gifford was his co-host for 15 years before Philbin was partnered with former soap opera actress Ripa for 11 years. Ripa remained as host of the show after Philbin departed.

"I think he is the world's greatest storyteller … that's his gift," Ripa said in 2011.

In 2001, he won a Daytime Emmy award as outstanding talk show host and claimed another Emmy for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

He also received a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy award in 2008.

Philbin, who was born into an Irish-Catholic family in New York City, dealt with heart problems during his career and underwent triple-bypass surgery in 2007 at the age of 75.

Philbin married his second wife, Joy, in 1970 and remained married the rest of his life.

She sometimes co-hosted his national talk show with him when Gifford or Ripa were absent.

ABC/wires

[just-existing1]

14 Days of College AUs!

Pairing: Schoolmate! Mark Tuan x Freshman Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: While sitting to study for an upcoming test a certain noise keeps bothering you. It has been for weeks. Finally, you decide to take a trip to the room upstairs to deal with it.

Word Count: ~ 1350 words

A/N: @yvixtrae​, I love you home skillet biscuit.

You sighed softly as a soft pitter patter sound reached your ears, how were you supposed to study when it kept distracting you every time you were just getting engrossed in the material in front of you? Looking over at the clock you realize that you’ve been sitting at your desk for twenty minutes already and had only accomplished opening your book and pulling your blank notecards out of the plastic bag they were in.

‘This isn’t working,’ You think to yourself as you stand up, ‘If I just do it once, then I can study with no problems right? If I do it then I can get it out of my mind, right?’

You pull the sleeves of your sweater down and run your fingers through your hair to flatten the stray strands into place as you walk to the door. You take a left heading through the door at the end of the hallway to the stairwell and head upstairs. Fiddling with the red fabric around your knuckles you take a deep breath, your destination drawing closer. When you come to a stop in front of the door to the room you needed to visit, your shoulders tense and for a moment you contemplate returning back to your dorm room. If you just put in headphones you wouldn’t need to embarrass yourself this way, right?

Against your better judgement you put your hand out, rapping your knuckles against the door in order to gain the attention of the room’s attendants. You freeze when you hear footsteps and the same pitter patter sound that you kept you from studying growing louder as it came your way. The door opened to a brunette boy and as you scanned him, your eyes found their way down to the floor, seeing the reason you had come upstairs. A dog. Pure white and oh so beautiful. The cutie that had been distracting you not only today but for the last two weeks was a tiny dog.

“Hey, did you need something?” The brunette man in front of you prompts you. You whip your head up to face him and smile softly.

“This is a really weird situation, I’m sorry, but I’ve been trying to study and I keep hearing your dog run around,” You mumble, looking away, trying to push down the heat that was steadily making its way onto your cheeks, the embarrassment was causing you to blush. You were just hoping that he didn’t take it the wrong way, you weren’t exactly nervous because of him, but the fact that he was prettier than you definitely isn’t helping the situation either.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll calm her down and make sure she does-” You put your hands up, shaking them in time with your head, panic rising as you pictured him shutting the door and you never meeting the precious angel at your feet.

“No, no, no. That’s not it! I came upstairs to… askifIcanpetyourdog,” You say quickly. A deep chuckle is heard and you raise your gaze to his.

“Oh, what was that again?” The guy asks, trying to hold a smile back.

“I really, really, really want to pet your dog. I keep telling myself that if I pet the dog then I can focus on studying. I can’t focus knowing there’s a dog I’ve never pet living right above me, not even that far away, just waiting to be pet,” You pout as you look back down at the cute small dog that had decided to sniff your sock covered toes.

“Sure, come on in. I just wanted to hear you admit that you walked up to a stranger’s door because you wanted pet their dog. Her name is Coco, by the way and I’m Mark,” You smile widely and step into the room, settling yourself on the floor, letting Coco comes to you naturally instead of forcing yourself on her. You didn’t want to scare her away, after all she was the whole reason you stepped out of your comfort zone in the first place. After an awkward ten minutes of you getting to know Coco, you clear your throat trying to fill the silent air before striking up a conversation with Mark. How could you come to pet his dog and pay no attention to him, what kind of person would that make you?

“I’m Y/N. It’s my first year in this dorm, are you new too?” You ask as you pet Coco lightly.

“To this dorm? Yes. To the school? No. I lived in a different building last year,” Mark responds, sitting on the edge of his bed as he watched Coco roll over onto her back in your lap. You scratched her belly gently and patted it tenderly so as not to hurt her.

“Oh, that’s cool. What are you studying?” You query, letting your eyes move from Coco to Mark. You take in his relaxed form as he leans forward, his chin resting on his palm. His eyes roam you and Coco. Every time his eyes land on her they light up just a little and you can’t help but smile at how happy she makes him. He sits up when he realizes that you’ve just spoken to him, you see the look of frustration as he tries to pull what you said back to the forefront of his mind. After letting him suffer for a moment, you repeat your question and he nods lightly.

“Oh, uh, it’s kind of boring but I’m studying actuarial science…” Mark’s voice trails off as he turns, pulling his feet up into the bed. You hesitate for a second as you try to remember exactly what that consists of, realization hits you and it’s like a light bulb goes off over your head.

“Ah, like, profits and losses, right? Risks for business? It’s pretty much just math, isn’t it?” You lean down, kissing Coco’s nose before sitting back up.

“Yeah, I actually like math and I’m pretty good at it. I’m surprised you actually know what my major is, most people think it’s related to horses.”

“Like, equestrian? That’s great. I can understand it, I guess, if you don’t actually know what either word means,” You stand up holding Coco in your arms tightly so you don’t drop her.

“Yeah, what about you? Do you know what you want to study yet?” Mark returns your question reaching up to pet Coco’s chin before taking her from your arms and sitting her in his lap.

“Oh, well mine isn’t very fun either but I’m studying to get an English degree. Shakespeare stole my heart in high school and I haven’t been able to get it back ever since,” You joke, fixing your disheveled sweater, Mark smiles at you as he lets Coco sit on the bed, “I should go though, I need to study for my test in a couple of days. Thanks for letting me love on your dog for a little while though.”

“No problem, if you ever find yourself needing someone to give attention to Coco would greatly appreciate it,” Mark says, getting up to escort you to the door, “Maybe next time you could come up and we could hang out or go eat or something.”

“I would love that. I could use a friend. I haven’t met anyone aside from my roommate.”

“Then you can consider me your first friend that you’ve made outside of the room you live in.”

“Cool, thank you. I’m sure I��ll see you later, but have a good rest of your night, Mark.”

“Yeah, you too, Y/N. I hope your test goes well.”

You begin the short trek back to your room with a warm feeling in your chest and a huge smile on your face. Your will to study was suddenly alive and burning brightly. How could it not be? You pet the cutest little dog on the face of the planet and met Mark, who you were sure was going to be your new best friend.

[langernameohnebedeutung]

suzuwarahikaru replied to your post “what happens at 5 am?”

where is the essay, OP!?

@suzuwarahikaru​ Honestly, it’s drivel and I didn’t feel like it particularly went anywhere and it was just me monologuing about one aspect of a bigger question so that’s why I didn’t post it. But ok, just for some context: You probably know how the MCU was often criticised for having “bland one off villains” and that’s true especially in their early films - and that was time when Heath Ledger’s Joker loomed very large and Ian McKellen was famous for his performance of Magneto and the idea for a Magneto solo film had just been scrapped in favour of XM First Class. At that point apparently the MCU guys walked up with the demand that Thor 1 only has to give them 1 thing: A villain as good as Magneto which they could use in Avengers. Now, obviously it had to be Loki, because Loki is Thor’s most famous antagonist and he was the first guy the Avengers ever fought in the comics, and Loki in Thor 1 is satisfyingly complex - but now that Loki’s dead and has a solo show coming out in a while, people dug up that old quote and started arguing about whether Loki actually became a villain “as good as Magneto” - which I honestly wouldn’t care about, except this argument spilled a few  “But Loki is great and Magneto is boring”-posts into the Magneto tag a while ago (which mixes with a lot of: Why did Cherik get a happy end but Stucky didn’t that’s so unfair!!!! posts) and then some comments started lowkey implying that Loki is a character who’s more attractive to sophisticated fans and that Magneto fans are usually men and Loki fans women (with the not so subtle implication being that Magneto fans are comic dude bros who like him for his cool powers and because he’s a Bad Guy(TM) I don’t really care about that, but over the course of this argument someone made a rather interesting post, wondering about what “went wrong” with Loki and while I love Loki as a character and as a villain, it made me ponder what could have been done to make Loki (even) better and to help him stand on his own 2 feet as a character and this was their post:

Now and this was going to be my response: Personally, I don’t think that having spectacular powers or anything make a villain good (they make good visuals though) but whether the hero learns something from fighting them, whether their motivation maybe reflects something that we experience as well and that maybe they unmask something that we usually don’t feel comfortable to address. And Loki has all these qualities.

I’m not going to try to objectively pinpoint where it ‘went wrong’ but it’s actually interesting to look at the XMCU and the MCU and to compare notes. The XMCU is often criticised for being too wordy, too slow-paced and “what’s with the constant time jumps and decade-hopping?” But I think that’s something the Thor franchise could actually have profited from, because…these guys are immortals and it just feels rushed in my opinion to watch their world fall apart in what is for them a matter of a long weekend. 

For example, a bigger distance between the events of Thor 1 and Avengers would have lent more weight to Loki’s disappearance and Thanos torturing and brainwashing him, Thor’s and Jane’s relationship would have been given more time to develop (making their reunion in Thor 2 more meaningful). They could also have given her more time exploring Asgard/battling the Ether. We could have learnt more about the Dark Elves, the Frost Giants, the Nine Realms in general. 

And that’s at least part of the problem, in my opinion: We don’t know enough about Asgard. You can’t just throw in an alien word without world-building and you can’t introduce characters who are millennia old by showing us 6 years of their lives and maybe 1 flashback. There is a reason why a show like Good Omens spent basically an entire episode on Crowley and Aziraphale’s lives through the millennia. Captain America got a film set in the WW2, Wolverine Origins covers over a century of Logan’s story. Magneto isn’t a better (or worse) villain than Loki, because as you said, the writing makes the character and both get pretty good and pretty bad writing at times. But a big difference is: We know a lot more about Magneto than we know about Loki. 

One example of this is personal relationships. Something I never realised before I started typing this is how little space Loki is given to let him form/have/maintain/test/strengthen meaningful relationships. 

Basically, all his meaningful interactions are inside his family. Magneto (to be clear, I’m bringing up so often bc the MCU apparently insisted on being rude af and asking Kenneth Branagh on drawing inspiration from a character who’s basically the opposite of Loki in every regard) gets a lot more screen time to develop his relationships with other characters, even if it means less CGI action scenes. 

In fact, I’m currently tempted to find out how many 1 on 1 dialogue scenes Loki gets per hour of film vs. how many Magneto gets. Loki enters the picture with a family, ‘friends’, a biological father, servants, an entire kingdom of people who know him, but he barely gets to have any meaningful interactions outside of his family environment. Seeing him interact with a friend or even someone who hates him for reasons unrelated to his relationship with Thor or someone who supports him would in turn show us a lot about how he sees other people, how he sees himself, how he treats them, what he values in a person, what kind of people trusts (if he trusts) – that’s a lot of potential that was left pretty much wasted in my opinion. 

One of the first things Agent of Asgard did was add Verity Willis to its main-cast so have a character for Loki to interact with, to serve as a moral anchor, and to call him out on his bullshit. Having relationships is powerful. In the MCU, Loki’s relationship with his mother is such an important, humanising element to his character. Also a lot of headcanons and metas and thoughts about Loki are inspired by those few scenes where we see him interact with the Warrior’s Three and Sif before Loki finds out about his parentage. 

And even when encounters the Avengers, they meet once, they talk once, then Loki he returns to Asgard and they never meet again, except Bruce - and even then there’s barely any time to talk about what happened in Avengers 1. He doesn’t get to form any meaningful relationships with his adversaries when he talks to them in Av1, these scenes just exist to present the Avengers in a certain light. And in the end it’s canonised that Loki was brainwashed so it’s all pointless anyway. (pls (don’t) make me write an essay on agency and the MCU, because honestly, between Bucky, Gamora, Nebula, Loki and everyone else was brainwashed it’s actually worth a conversation)

Even in Thor 1 Loki never meets Jane or Darcy, one of the main-characters. And we never see a single frost giant after the first film. Erik Solveig is the only Earth character from Thor 1 Loki actually meets and he’s brainwashed for most of that and in Thor 2, they don’t get to meet again. 

Imagine if Loki had had someone he trusted in Thor 1 and told them about finding out he’s a Frost Giant and they reject him and treat him like a monster. This could be three or four scenes that don’t throw off the film but would have been very powerful. Or imagine if Loki keeps his heritage a secret from that friend/trusted person and they find out in Thor 2 and confront him about it. Valkyrie and Loki never talk about him invading her mind or the things he saw. 

We never get to see him alone on Sakaar to deal with what he presumes is the end of his home world and the death of everyone he knows and we never see him interact ‘win the Grandmaster’s trust’. 

We never see him interact with the Hulk before they’re suddenly fighting side by side in Infinity War. We never find out exactly what the Aesir’s sentiments towards him are, what kind of prince he was in the past, how present he is in public, what reputation he has beyond silver-tongue mischief guy and which specific events shaped it.

If the MCU wants a villain “as good as Magneto” (which is already annoying bc they imply that Loki is not as good a villain which is such a subjective measure – Magneto done wrong is a horrible and downright offensive villain and trickster characters done right are amazing for revealing the flaws of a hero.*) then they have to give writers and actors the same means to do that with. The X-Men franchise, for all it flaws, always gave Magneto screen-time (so much that people criticised it). 

There’s a Charles-and-Erik dialogue in pretty much every film, allowing us to follow the state of their eternal argument at every step. We see his friendship with Mystique grow and fall, we see Wolverine call him out on his bullshit, his attempt to make young Hank and Mystique feel better about their visible mutations, we know how he treats his followers, his new recruits, his enemies, his students, his wife and his daughter, (daughters, if we count The Gifted and his legacy), his colleagues, his lovers, his ex-lovers, allies and former allies, politicians, police, prison guards, Nazis, soldiers, insane Egyptian gods – and we get to learn his feelings and thoughts about all of these through personal interactions, decisions and gestures. And in turn we know how they feel about Magneto. What do we know about Loki’s feelings about people outside his family? How does he feel about Fandral? What are his thoughts on the Valkyrior? How did his views on Frost Giants change and when? Did he challenge them at all or did he just become cynical about them? 

As I said, Loki is a formidable villain but I think that he suffers from the same problem as many MCU characters: We hardly know them. Think about Natascha whose been part of the franchise since Iron Man 2 but we hardly know anything about her. How much do we know about the family Drax lost? Or about Wanda’s family? About Pepper’s private life? We hardly know anything about them and especially when characters are thousands of years old and we know nothing about their past, it really creates a gaping hole in their biography and that really leads back to my original point: If we could spend more time with them, we would know them better and care more. One of the reason Dark Phoenix is a bit under-whelming is because we know very little about Jean and Scott in this time line. 

There are two DCEU films I actually own and watched more than once: Wonder Woman and Aqua Man. And while I personally didn’t find Aqua Man that good, this film actually tells us a lot about him and despite my lack of knowledge about the DCEU and me being a giant Marvel nerd, I preferred Wonder Woman over Captain Marvel and that is because I felt closer to her character. It really boils down to a “show don’t tell issue” and for me, that would mean: Maybe fewer giant CGI battles. more people living their lives. *(which should also highlight why setting Magneto as a mark for K.B. is so off-mark. Loki is about unmasking hypocrisy, Magneto himself is a hypocrite who regards himself as a hero but often does immoral things and that for example gets unmasked by Wolverine, another social outsider with littl care for social conventions)

[burnouts3s3]

Joker (2019), a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously. I enjoyed all 5 Michael Bay Transformers films, for crying out loud.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Ticket Price: Will Vary Theater to Theater How much I paid: 10.95 USD Rated: R for Strong Bloody violence, Disturbing Behavior, Language and Brief Sexual Images Running time: 122 minutes (2 Hours and 2 Minutes) 3-D: No Post-Credits Sequences: None. My Personal Biases: I like Superheroes. I like superhero movies. I like the DCEU and I have a disposable amount of income that means going to see an overpriced movie means nothing to me. Sorry if you were looking for someone harsher. I liked the first Hangover film but not Hangover 2 and Hangover 3. I have not seen Old School, the King of Comedy or Taxi Driver. The Controversy: A lot of critics are worried that the Joker will incite a mass shooting because it portrays a lonely white guy who becomes a killer in a sympathetic light. Security: When I went to my local theater, the showings had a strict “no handbags, no backpacks and no costumes or helmets or facepaint” rule. When I left the showing, there was a police car outside waiting “in case something happened”. My Verdict: For all the hype and controversy, Joker doesn’t feel like a cohesive whole (maybe on purpose?). Its interesting scenes and a character study about a guy losing his way that feels like an homage to Taxi Driver without actually accomplishing it. Still, Joaquin Phoenix is great at the role and his performance is worth the price of admission alone.  Honestly, Director Todd Phillips had more to say (problematic or not) about arrested development, medication, reckless behavior and daddy issues with the Hangover’s Alan. I recommend a viewing, but if you’re squeamish or don’t feel like going outside for whatever reason, you can always wait for Video on Demand. Warning: SPOILERS! Joker (2019), a review

You know, I was already sick and tired of the conversation the Joker started before I even watched the movie. There’s been a lot of talk about how problematic the movie was and whether or not releasing the film now with all these mass shootings and political tension in the air was a good idea. Pitched as Taxi Driver but with the Joker, the new film is said to be the launch of DC’s Black Label, stand alone films that are not connected to the rest of the DC Extended Universe. As such, Warner Bros. is taking a new approach and casting Joaquin Phoenix as a Joker not in any way related to Jared Leto’s version found in Suicide Squad. It also shoots for a much different style of film not seen in the Marvel movies (or for the matter, even DC’s own Aquaman and Shazam). I always hate it when people are concerned about problematic content or giving people the wrong ideas because there’s not a direct correlation that such works of art that has those ideas will be accepted. I reject this notion because I see plenty of good or positive content being promoted that people just don’t seem to take. To use an example, I don’t think Captain Marvel is going to convince a bunch of white women to join the military or vote for the democratic party in 2020. As such, even if this new Joker film didn’t exist, the next mass shooter is probably going to find inspiration from another source. Problematic or not, I was simply eager to find out whether the film was any good. As such, here’s a review of the controversial “Joker”. In 1981, Arthur Fleck lives with his mother Penny in Gotham City working as a clown-for-hire. He suffers from a neurological disorder that causes him to laugh at inopportune times, and regularly visits a social services worker to get medication. After a group of street kids steal Arthur's sign and beat him in an alley, one of his coworkers loans him a gun for protection. Arthur also meets Sophie, a single mother who lives in a neighboring apartment, and invites her to his stand-up comedy routine. If I were to tell you that I thought the Joker film was ambitious but flawed, do you wish me to send you my email address so you can write me a nasty letter or should I bring out the rotten vegetables so you can throw them at me? During a visit to a children's hospital, Arthur's gun falls out of his pocket, which results in his firing. Arthur also learns that the social service program is shutting down, leaving him with no way to get his medication. During a subway ride home, Arthur is harassed by a group of three Wayne Enterprises businessmen, and he kills them when they start to beat him. This unintentionally starts a protest movement against Gotham City's rich, with protesters donning clown masks in his image. Let’s get one thing out of the way; whatever my feelings on the film are, Joaquin Phoenix owns the role. His Joker is simply magnificent to behold and it’s very visible both from the weight transformation to this mannerisms that he was ready for this role. The sympathetic moments you feel are solely because of him. Well done. Sadly, the rest of the film doesn’t live up to the hype or controversy (in my opinion). It feels like interchangeable beats with little to no progression. It’s not so much a plot driven film as it is a character study of Arthur’s descent into madness. We see portraits of his life and see how he just can’t catch a break and it does show him in a sympathetic light. I will give credit that the film eventually revealing that Arthur ISN’T a special person that is misunderstood but is just a guy who’s just like everyone else who thinks he should have more than he has right now. See, in a series of reveals, it shows us that Arthur is an unreliable narrator. His love interest was something he imagined because she was nice to him one time. His belief that he is the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne (an idea planted into him by his mother) is nothing more than wishful thinking. The movie goes out of its way to paint that while Arthur may have a sympathetic situation, he’s taking actions that are not. It’s only when things start attempting to world build that everything gets confusing. Apparently, Arthur becomes some sort of symbol for the poorer class of the city (#OccupyClownStreet ?) and people start dressing up like him. And there’s a reveal with Thomas Wayne which I just rolled my eyes at. It’s just weird that Arthur ‘coincidentally’ kills 3 Wayne Enterprise employees and people take it as a political statement even though Arthur reiterates he’s not political. It’s unclear what the film is trying to say about any of the subject matters it brings up. Director and screenwriter Todd Phillips said more about medication, unresolved parental issues, arrested development and entitlement with the Hangover’s Alan. This isn’t even “screw all sides, shut up and get off my lawn” libertarian fratboyism as patented by South Park (a position, I would argue, that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have since back peddled on). It doesn’t really say anything during it’s runtime other than “rich people suck and society made me this way”. (Again, in my personal, subjective, biased opinion). CAVEAT: It’s clear that the Joker controversy has eclipsed even the film itself. Beyond all the punditry, the fans and critics debating, the moral panic and the extra security, the film itself is just another Joaquin Phoenix show case. It’s not even ‘that’ violent apart from one stabbing. Maybe that’s the joke? That the controversy surrounding the film is more important than said film? Director Todd Phillips said he wanted to make a ‘real movie’ and pass it off as a superhero movie. Aside from the weird swipe against other superhero movies, Todd Phillips seems to be trying so hard to get prestige when I’d say the Hangover films had sharper teeth than this. I understand a lot of people are unsure whether or not to go see the movie given the current political climate and safety concerns. I won’t judge them, but I’m of the opinion that if you let fear get to you, the people propagating the fear usually win.  However, if you’re unsure, I don’t see a problem with just waiting for the film to come out on VOD. It’s rare for a film to get this much attention, regardless of whether Warner Brothers and Todd Phillips planned for it. I just wish it had more to say given the opportunity. Rating: Matinee

[toasttz]

From the Tabletop #9

Welcome back. Let's talk about Exalted again! Last time, our new team had assembled and-- oh, right, I totally forgot we had a fifth Exalt. We have Zatch. Zatch is basically if you fused Albin and Rakis, I guess? But due to a change in work schedule, he's barely gotten to play with us. So, maybe we'll get to talk more about him later. He's Volkenstein's successor character, and it seems like his player has a good beat on him. Just real-life issues is all. Right, so, we were in need of some traveling funds, so we took on a job that was perfect for us - hunting a wild beast! No moral ambiguity or broken kneecaps required! So, we set out into the fields to find this dinosaur-like monster we needed to take down. En route, we discuss if there were any last-minute actions or supplies required. Doran: I could use a drink, frankly. Albin (OoC): I roll introduce fact. There are, in fact, large lizard creatures who naturally produce a form of booze in their stomach from the fermented fruit they eat. GM: Yeah. Okay. They're called Keggers. They are barrel-chested lizard creatures. You eat one, you're definitely getting drink. Doran: Glorious. Proceed the circle of three Solars and a Lunar all repeatedly failing their perception checks. GM: Guys, I think you're hunting an Indominus Rex, since its stealth rolls... well, let's just say you guys shouldn't be having this hard of a time of it. Suddenly, a big-ass dinosaur was upon us and we scattered around to combat it. Each of us defaulted to our usual combat tactics: Rakis mounted Wormsworth, Doran readied his sword, Albin prepped his Prayer Piece rifle, and Kharas... immediately mounted it. This created a little, brief, inter-party tension as Albin readied his flame-thrower rifle at the dinosaur. Kharas: Hey, wait a sec! You might hit me! Albin: I never miss. Kharas: I'M STILL UP HERE! GM: Roll attack. Albin: *Rolls freakishly well.* GM: Congrats, you don't hit Kharas. Kharas: You singed off my eyebrows! GM: You're in warform. You don't currently have those. Kharas: ... IF I DID, YOU'D HAVE BURNED MY EYEBROWS OFF! Ultimately, with a little coordination, the dino went down. We then proceeded to carve it up for its hide, meat, and a couple of us even took trophies. We even made "metric craptons" of dino-jerky, which we sold for a tidy profit, insofar as we couldn't bring it all back ALA Oregon Trail. But the dino hunt went well all-in-all. Afterwards, we realized we need to head towards Great Forks, but then had to find a way to cross a river. The ferry was our best bet, but money had gotten tight and we had to have a way to bring Wormsworth. Kharas attempted a rather clever gambit of disguising himself as a noble and forcing the issue, but the captain of the vessel was stern. Ultimately, we agreed to pay a price once we had arrived, which settled things, as Albin had done business previously with one Master of the Eternal Golden Paradise - a young philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences. And Kharas, using Twin-Faced Hero, managed to "persuade" Master to paying their way, if you get my drift. Later, Kharas would use this as leverage against Albin, demanding a cool leather jacket. Albin and Doran worked together to make a badass leather coat for him, under the proviso it would have enough belts, pouches, and zippers to qualify him for a modern-day Squeenix character. Kharas happily agreed. Arrival at Great Forks more or less went off without a hitch (barring a gang of roving youths who attempted to sell Albin and Doran cutlery. I legit have no idea what to say on that and thus, will just move on). We even got to meet Teddy, one of the Giakell triplets (of which Albin is one member). Teddy is a huge, mountain of a man, quick to laugh, but became concerned when Albin mentioned that what they were doing was effectively hunting down serial killers. Teddy advised Albin to be careful in this pursuit, and Kharas, Rakis, and Doran played with the many, many nephews and nieces Albin had been blessed with due to his brother's undying love of his wife. Eventually, a lead with the guild took the circle down to the docks - whereupon I missed a good part of the conversation due to going to make popcorn and grab a soda. I return to hear Rakis explaining, at great length, how plan to BURN DOWN THE ENTIRE DOCK so we could investigate a ship belonging to a rich, now MIA, man who may well be tied to the mob of killers we've been after this whole time. Albin quickly shoots this plan down, insisting that there's no need to set fire to his hometown for something as straight-forward as this. Eventually, we also realize we could just have Kharas transform into a crane and inspect the ship anyway, as he did when he investigated the man's house as a cat. Let it be said - Rakis doesn't do things by halves. Eventually, clues began taking us north, so we bid farewell to Albin's hometown in order to cross the Yellow River. Albin then explains that there's an underground road they could use, leading to a trading town, partway across - called Yellow Shower - because I was really abusing "Introduce Fact" rolls this game and I am, in fact, 13 years old at heart. There, we even got to meet Albin's sister, Simone, who married a nobleman of the town, and we got to bum a free meal off them before we departed. We did fart around in Yellow Shower a while, but honestly, not much came of it. I also introduced facts about a local booze, Sewer Brue, a potent concoction sure to put you on the toilet for some time after drinking it, and that Yellow Shower was plagued by platypi, native to the region. Kharas took the chance to hunt one, in order to add it to his heart's blood. The platypus, not the drink. On the other side, however, all sorts of Hell broke loose, as Kharas, once more, became a bird and attempted to survey the above-ground scene, just in time to be fired upon by local hunters. He zipped back to the ground and transformed into a platypus in order to hide. Kharas: *SCARED PLATYPUS NOISES* We then asked the hunters for some advice as to where to go next, which ultimately sent us in the direction of a cave, which we spent... entirely too long standing outside of, debating if this was some "Cave of Wonders" shit and would slam down and kill us all if we ventured in. But ultimately, we headed in, and were immediately beset upon by a lesser fairy, who Albin and Rakis straight up merc'd without much hesitation. Afterward, we ventured further down, whereupon we found a cleft in the rock. And this happened: Doran: I guess I'll have a look and see what's down there. I have a merit where I naturally resist hot environments. GM: Yes, but if it's magma, you'll still suffer environmental damage. ... Hey, wait, didn't you write that Doran will die in boiling magma last time? Albin: Oh, crap. Doran: ... Okay, I'm going to have a look, but you're going to hold onto me and at the first sign of trouble, you're going to pull me back from it. Albin: Can do. Thankfully, Doran did NOT die in boiling magma and I was forced to sign a blood oath that I would not erroneously clickbait again. However, legit clickbaiting is A-OK! Moving on, eventually, we found a ways down, deeper into the cave. Rakis and Kharas both had ways of getting down, but the less-athletics-based Doran and Albin did not. And they also met a spirit flame serpent thing that apparently brews really good tea. Rakis then returned to try to help the others down, leaping up and easily getting Albin down safely. However, his return trip was a little less successful, as he ultimately dropped Doran on his face. On the upside, I finally got to roll those medicine dots I've had since I started this campaign. So there's that. Afterwards, we moved further in and found a colossal forge and its guardian - a four-armed giant creature who was quite talkative, but spoke in riddles. Doran and Albin questioned him for a while, and deduced he was no threat. He also helpfully proposed that Moonsilver could be used to bind the cursed aspects of Doran's artifact blade. We also disposed of the cursed Soulsteel garrot wire with help from the giant and his forge to completely destroy it. Doran: Well, I guess that's one cursed artifact down now. After tiring of bothering the giant (who was definitely talking about the Alchemicals and Autochthon, but I only knew that in the meta-sense and, thus, couldn't act on it in-character), we opted to try the last doorway available to us. Whereupon, all four of our circlemates throw lousy strength rolls, barely budging the door. Rakis then summoned Wormsworth, who easily threw the doors open on our behalf. Albin: I think it says something when a circle of Exalts failed to budge the door, but Wormsworth just did it no sweat. Kharas: Shut up. So, we went down into the mines whereupon we realized, Sol dammit, we HAD Moonsilver the entire time - the hammer Albin bought for Rakis back in session 2 was a Moonsilver weapon! So, we decide to do what you should never do in a party and split the party. Albin and Doran returned with the hammer to the giant's forge to ask for his assistance while Rakis and Kharas moved deeper into the mines in order to find what was down there. Albin and Doran use a crap-ton of craft charms and bond over their mutual tasks together over the last few sessions (moving each other up from Minor to Major intimacies as close friends), while Kharas and Rakis get ambushed by brigands deep in the mine and they proceed to kill the shit out of a lot of dudes. Kharas, at the end of the battle, began interrogating one of their number and the following happens. Kharas: Alright, you told me what I need to know. Get out of my sight. Random Baddie: *Gets up, flees* Rakis: By the way, Wormsworth just burrows out of the ground and eats the fleeing guy. Kharas: DUDE! I was actually going to let him live! Rakis: *SHRUG*. So, don't mess with Rakis, I suppose is the lesson here. Join me next time for D&D, because I currently have no more Exalted to talk about for a while! We're all caught up. Next time, in D&D: we meet dwarves! We meet demon cultists! We kill kobolds! See you there!

[filmaficionerdo]

Best Films of 2018

Best Films of 2018

2018 was not the year for prestige pictures by a long shot.  Film this year was at its best when it came to superhero movies, and as much as I prefer those over most any other entertainment, that shouldn’t be the case, and that’s not what got me into film in the first place.  As happy as I am to see my favorite comic book characters come to life, I got into film because of daring, bold, and outspoken artists who didn’t need a franchise to speak their minds.  Too many mid-range films went to Netflix or other streaming services and they’re mostly of poor quality with a few exceptions.  I miss the days when film studios took risks, but now they only look for the largest IP with the largest net-profits.  It’s sad.  I love Marvel movies more than anyone I know but they shouldn’t be the only reason I look forward to going to the theater.  But this year also sparked a personal change for me because I moved away from the movie mecca of Hollywood to mid-Michigan, where there aren’t any arthouse theaters nearby during peak awards season so I missed more films than I would’ve liked (even though it’s been the most emotionally rewarding experience I’ve ever had) so I hope that helps explain why this list is so late.  I’ve been catching up on independent films via online rentals as soon as I can and still have many left unseen.  So maybe I missed something during 2018, but I can’t help but be letdown by the lack of inspiration I look to when I try to experience the medium I’m most passionate about.  With that being said, I was still able to conjure a list of my favorite 25 films of the year.  So, here goes:

25. Halloween

This was way better than I would’ve expected, especially coming from the guys who brought us Your Highness.  Director David Gordon Green and writer Danny (Eastbound & Down) McBride delivered the first worthy Halloween sequel that’s ever existed.  Their updated and timely subversion elevated this homage-y sequel while adding more fun than this franchise has ever seen.  John Carpenter’s contribution and the opening credits sequence hit hard with me.

24. Ready Player One

Haters be damned, I really enjoyed this movie.  Of course, I never read the book so that discredits me somewhat but what I got was a rousing Spielbergian experience that we haven’t witnessed since Minority Report.  If you hate this movie, but you loved Hook, there’s something fundamentally wrong with what you think a Spielberg movie is supposed to be about.  Ready Player One was a toybox of fun ideas and intellectual properties sewn together for a generation hung up on video games and nostalgia.  It’s definitely not his best but I love seeing a veteran director who still has the ability to dust off his old toys and make pretend.  The Shining sequence was an absolute standout of appreciation and love for another director’s craft.  

23. Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley’s debut was strong and weird as hell.  This felt like Spike Lee meets David Cronenberg.  It’s funny, nuanced, and insightful.  Riley’s new voice was energetic and angry in the best way.  I saw this later in the year than I wanted to, but I have a feeling that repeat viewings will enhance this films relevance and my appreciation.

22. You Were Never Really Here 

Lynne Ramsay is one of the best and most unpredictable working directors today.  I always look forward to her work, but this semi-Taxi Driver remake was remarkably accessible for her and more powerful than it had any right to be.  If you haven’t seen it, seek it out.  It’s a crisp 88 minutes long and it’s riveting as well as heartbreaking.  There was a uniqueness to the short runtime, violence, and poignant urgency that she handled with deftness.  Joauquin Phoenix was remarkable, brute, and subtle all at once.

21. Ant-Man & The Wasp

Go ahead and agree that this wasn’t the strongest Marvel output in a while, but just like the previous Ant-Man, it’s a palette cleanser from a previous Avengers film.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is maybe the most child friendly film they’ve ever released and it was still enjoyable as hell.  It’s not important.  It’s simple fun.  And I love that Marvel still knows how to craft something that doesn’t want or need to reach for the fences.  Sometimes an inside the field hit is just what we need.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is a damn good bunt.

20. The Incredibles 2

Now that I hang out with a toddler on the reg, watching this movie never gets boring.  I’d know, because she’s watched it with me five times.  Incredibles 2 was long overdue and it’s maybe not quite so worthy of such a long wait considering the original was my favorite film of 2004, but its sequel was still full of exceptional animation.  That sequence with Jack Jack and the raccoon still fills me with joy.

19. A Star is Born

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut was surprisingly strong.  Filming everything in close-ups was an intimate and innovative way to express a rising star’s personal journey to stardom.  Even though we can all agree that the first half of the film is vastly superior to the tear-turkey-jerky second half, it’s still an important film and a worthy update of a timeless classic.  The music, performances, cinematography, and sound are all exceptional.   

18. BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee felt reborn with BlacKkKlansman.  Do The Right Thing will always be one of the all time greatest films; no question.  BlacKkKlansman might be his best since.  John David Washington just established himself as a commanding lead, and Adam Driver further cemented himself as a phenomenal actor.  The poetic-ness combined with the satirical edginess made this one significantly heartbreaking watch while being entertaining and iconic all at the same time.

17. The Death of Stalin

I saw The Death of Stalin early in 2018 and it never left me.  Writer/Director Armando Iannucci is a certifiable genius and the controversial nature of a film like this was one of the most refreshing voices of the year.  This is one of the darkest political satires I’ve ever seen but it’s so goddamn funny.  Laughing at something so atrocious and maddening is one of the only ways we, as a society, can heal from dark times in history.  I fully believe it takes the power away from the people who committed such heinous crimes.  It takes time and a brilliant voice, but it holds a mirror to the ridiculousness we’re currently subjected to, and hopefully with time, we can make fun of our situation too.

16. Leave No Trace

Debra Granik finally followed up her outstanding Winter’s Bone debut and she did not suffer from the sophomore slump that so many other filmmakers have.  Leave No Trace is the saddest love letter to veterans that I’ve ever seen even though it’s beautiful and full of hope.  Granik definitely should’ve gotten a Best Director nomination this year for her delicate and heartfelt look at a father struggling with PTSD while living with his daughter in the woods, away from society.  Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie are stunning.  This film stayed with me for weeks after I watched it.  It’s a small but hugely important film.

15. Annihilation

Alex Garland previously made his directorial debut with Ex Machina after an incredible script writing filmography.  He’s established himself as one of the smartest and most important voices in science fiction cinema after Annihilation.  This is a heady sci fi film that scared the shit out of me.  I felt uneasy the second the group of women walked into The Shimmer.  Garland adapted the book it’s based on after only reading the book once, but he created something so frighteningly ethereal that it’ll be talked about for years.  The score for this was off the charts good.  Going from an acoustic instrumental to something electronic was what struck me the most as a stroke of genius.

14. Shoplifters

For a film I saw so recently, very few films this year have had such an emotional impact on me.  Shoplifters is a small “family” film from Korean director Hirokazu Kore-eda, but it packs a punch that I wasn’t expecting.  All I knew was that critics loved it and it was up for a Best Foreign Language Oscar.  It’s a powerhouse of social status and what it means to be a family that defies language and cultural relevance.  

13. First Man

First Man hit me hard on a personal level.  I’d sort of written off Damien Chazelle as a director after La La Land underwhelmed me so much, but this film reinvigorated my appreciation in him because the filmmaking here was profoundly beautiful.  The acting is impeccable.  The cinematography was breathtaking.  Seeing this in IMAX (as my last film in LA) was a jaw-dropping cry-fest.  I left the theater shook.  I doubt this film will shake as many as it did me, especially if you missed it in IMAX, but this was the theater experience of the year.  At least recognize that Justin Hurwitz’s musical score was the most overlooked snub at this years Academy Awards.

12. Suspiria

This was another film I’d sorely missed in theaters, but when I finally got a chance to witness it I was blown away.  Luca Guadaninio’s follow-up to my favorite film of last year, Call Me By Your Name, was a worthy successor.  This was less a horror film, and more of an art-house homage to Dario Argento’s original 70s classic.  It’s still a haunting film, but in a beautifully macabre way.  Thom Yorke’s score is absolutely outstanding, as well as the subversively drab look, completely deviating from the originals color saturated visual palette.  It’s a film that has to be watched more than once.  Even though it’s 2.5 hours long, I was completely transfixed the entire time.  It’ll depend on your mood or taste, but if you enjoy artistic, visual, and auditory enhanced horror, Suspiria is among the best. 

11. Mandy

Throw up the horns.  Mandy is here.  Pasmos Cosmatos cerebral horror film is full of the best revenge porn I’ve ever seen.  Nicolas Cage is unhinged (as he should be) in his best performance in ages.  He’s the Cage we’ve been dreaming of since the 90s.  The first half of this film belongs to Andrea Riseborough and underrated character actor Linus Roache, but the second half is all Rage Cage in full gory glory.  Mandy is a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen, but yet somehow it’s still completely accessible.  The title cards for each chapter are something straight out of a Heavy Metal comic book, and the hauntingly beautiful score by the late-genius Jóhann Jóhannsson is simply gorgeous.  Mandy is a film meant to be laughed at and with.  It’s a fever-dream of ideas that work brilliantly as a whole.  It’s a hard one to recommend but if you know, you know.  

10. Eighth Grade

Bo Burnham just burst onto the directorial scene with this film about the awkwardness of being a thirteen year old girl.  Not something you’d expect from a male standup comedian in times like these, especially when it’s handled so delicately and with so much heart, but it feels so important to young kids who’ve been thrown into subjectivity amongst their peers within the digital age.  Eighth Grade can, at times, make you so uncomfortable, and at other times it’ll completely tear your heart out and make you want to hug your dad.  I know, because I saw it in the theater with my dad.  He was like, you’re still the eighth grade girl you’ve always been.  Thanks, dad.  

9. Aquaman

I know there isn’t a ton of hate for this film, but there isn’t a ton of high praise for it either.  Aquaman was exactly the film James Wan set out to make.  It’s one of the most comic book-y films since Age of Ultron except it’s dumb as hell, and for that, I absolutely LOVED it.  This was a throwback comic book film ripped from the pages that was corny as hell and never took itself too seriously.  Aquaman is a damn hard character to adapt so it’s unbelievable that he got this big of a budget that included over-the-top actors like Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren.  Patrick Wilson chews the scenery as Ocean Master and I don’t give a damn what people think of Black Manta; he’s completely awesome.  You could’ve easily cut this film down, but I was happy to live in its oceanic cheesball world for hours.  Aquaman was the comic book movie of the year that was as ridiculous as it was awesome.  I laughed so hard at how stupid it could be, but I couldn’t help but be entertained by how insane it was.

8. Mission: Impossible Fallout

I don’t know how these films keep getting better, but they do.  This was THE action film of 2018.  As much as I love Fast & Furious 5-7, Mission: Impossible 4-6 has been the best run of a long running action franchise ever.  Fallout brought one of the best villains yet in a story that barely makes sense, but I couldn’t care less.  This film was big in that edge-of-your-seat way that rarely comes along.  Thrilling doesn’t begin to describe it.  The IMAX presentation was fantastic.  I live for movies like this.  It harkens back to 80s and 90s action films but presents itself for a whole new era of practical effects extravaganza.  It’s the best action film since Mad Max: Fury Road.

7. Black Panther

There are a lot of people questioning this film’s entry as a Best Picture Nominee, but it absolutely deserves all of the recognition it’s getting.  Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is both culturally and politically significant as it is cinematically.  This film is a culmination of what Marvel has been growing to.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t simply about story progression, it’s about cultural progression.  These films represent societal beacons of the times we live in through decades old comic book prisms.  The lore and spirit of the comics are still present, as well as relevant, and the socio-political themes have been injected into them effortlessly.  

A character like Black Panther can be a leader of change within his own cinematic universe.  Marvel’s created something that transcends blockbuster cinema.  Black Panther is now an icon of cultural appreciation that can inspire real change in the real world.  He’s an optimistic embodiment of what we should strive to achieve as a society.  We should share with the world our hope for change.  Comic Book’s have never been so relevant.  Black Panther has never been so important.

6. Roma

Director Alfonso Cuarón’s intimate portrayal of life as a housemaid was one of the most vibrantly affecting films I’ve ever seen.  Every single shot wasn’t just a landscape; it was a mural.  I’ve never seen direction take this angle and provide so much while saying so little.  Some people might’ve felt emotionally disconnected from his style but Cuarón’s masterful direction captivated me like very few films this year had.  There are multiple layers to his visual representation that effect more of what’s seen than what’s said.  It’s not an easy watch and perhaps that’s part of why it was released by Netflix.  Unfortunately, I had to watch this at home instead of in theaters, but I still felt the impact of the themes and presentation.  It’s one of the few Best Picture nominees that truly belong in the category that’ll stand the test of time.  

5. Paddington 2

This was one of the earliest releases of 2018 and it never escaped my mind throughout the year.  Paddington 2 advances upon the original’s tone to encapsulate something that is pure joy.  Paul King directed the bejeezus out of this movie.  I felt like I was watching Wes Anderson meets Harry Potter.  I saw Paddington 2 in theaters with just one mother and daughter couple and it never felt weird.  The only thing that’s weird is that more people haven’t seen this film.  I had a smile from ear to ear the entire time.  This movie is magic.  Like the Harry Potter films, all of the best British actors are present, and Hugh Grand and Brendon Gleeson give their best performances in years, if not ever.  Hugh Grant should’ve been nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  If you haven’t seen this hidden gem yet, do your soul a favor and seek it out immediately.

4. The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos is on a roll.  This nutty Greek director began his career with the insane film, Dogtooth, and hasn’t let up since.  But he’s also learned and built from his previous work.  What started as something of a cultish followed career has expanded into prestigious and innovative filmmaking.  I’d nearly missed this film in theaters until I drove across the state to see this with my parents in Ann Arbor, and although it might be one of the worst movies to see with your parental units, we all could agree that this was a uniquely hilarious and thought-provoking experience.  At first, I wasn’t sure what to think because I was too busy trying to avoid talking to my mom and dad about Emma Stone jerking somebody off, but The Favourite stayed with me for weeks and I loved dissecting all of its themes and nuances.  The Favourite is both entertaining and timely.  It’s another one of the films this year that absolutely belong with (and should’ve won) the Best Picture nominations.

3. Widows

Steve McQueen’s Widows was vastly underseen and underrated.  Here’s a director who usually only does vague, cerebral drama, but working with Gillian Flynn as a screenwriter adapting Lynda LaPlante’s 1983 novel about wives finishing the heist their husbands failed to complete before their untimely deaths, is about as pulpy and as timely as you can get.  There are a lot of stories woven into Widows epic crime saga and some critics have faulted the film’s narrative for it, but look at Heat; one of the most prolific crime sagas of all time, which has more subplots than you could imagine, yet it’s still widely regarded as one of the best films ever made.  Widows is the best film of its kind since Heat in 1995.  It still carries the acting heavyweights and still compelled me more than nearly any other film in 2018.

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Into the Spider-Verse is one of the few films in 2018 that has the power to influence cinema for the future.  Not only is it extraordinarily entertaining, but it’s also innovative in terms of style and theme.  No other film in 2018 was this inventive and groundbreaking.  I was definitely excited to see this as a lifelong Spider-Man fan, but based on Sony’s mishandling of the character for years, it had me extremely cautious.  Thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s impeccable screenplay, I got more than the Spider-Man I’ve always wanted to see.  This is a Spider-Man for a new generation.  He’s not my Spider-Man, he never was.  This film is for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.  The cell-shaded animation and soundtrack elevated this film into bonafide classic territory.  I couldn’t even comprehend it after I first saw it, because I wasn’t ready for something so new.  Months after I watched this film, I could not stop thinking about it.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is so nerdy for the fans and so accessible to the newcomers.  It feels like I’m living in an alternate universe where good movies in 2018 DO exist.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

The *Snap* heard ‘round the World...

Marvel has a good history of taking formulas from other genres and using them as a framing device for their superhero films; political thrillers, space operas, video games, heist films are all borrowed ideas that helped them keep the superhero genre from feeling stale. Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel’s fantasy epic. This is the Lord of the Rings of the MCU. The result is legendary. The Russo Bros. looked at their massive roster of heroes, who audiences have come to deeply care for over ten years, and came up with a way to tell one cohesive world-ending story centered around one villain; the mad titan, Thanos. They looked at Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and they saw how well those were balanced, and they applied it to a superhero film. It’s unbelievably well executed. The big reason Infinity War works so cosmically well is Josh Brolin’s portrayal of Thanos. We couldn’t get behind another world-ending event in these movies unless we believed and understood the villain that was behind it all.  Brolin gave Thanos both menace and pathos.  From the moment the movie starts, the stakes feel real. None of the characters are safe because we believe Thanos is capable of anything from the very beginning.  There aren’t many epics where we spend this much time with the villain.  Thankfully, Marvel knows we already care about the heroes, so after building up a ten year rapport between audiences and protagonists it was finally time to focus on the Big Cheese who’s behind all the conflict. This movie is so comic book/fantasy it’s ridiculous.  I loved every second of it and could not wipe the smile off my face nor the tears from my eyes.  I felt like my ten year old self, alone and engrossed in the most epic comic book I’ve ever read.  I was shaken when I left the theater. I turned around and watched it again just 30 minutes after my first viewing, and I couldn’t believe how captivated I was the second time, third time, forth viewing, fifth, sixth, and so on...  Nothing could’ve prepared me for this film and I’m so thankful it exists.

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Kieran Culkin's Shirt Is Off

https://fashion-trendin.com/kieran-culkins-shirt-is-off/

Kieran Culkin's Shirt Is Off

When Kieran Culkin first started reading the script for “Succession,” he wondered whether it had been sent to the wrong person. The HBO powers that be originally thought he’d be a good fit for the character of Greg, a bumbling nitwit who gets high in his first scene and spends the rest of the first season failing to sidle his way up the ladder of a massive media and entertainment conglomerate owned by his great-uncle, Logan Roy.

Almost from Greg’s first line, Culkin knew he was wrong for the part. “He’s already a lot younger than I am, and just the voice ― I was, like, this is not me. I am not right for this.”

When I met Culkin at a small restaurant in the Noho neighborhood of Manhattan last Monday, it was just as clear to me as it was to him that he’s too old to play a character like Greg. But something in the Roy family’s dark saga held Culkin’s attention anyway. He said he kept reading the script, which follows the foibles of the billionaire Roy clan as its individual members vie for power within. A few pages later, Logan’s overconfident third son, Roman, appears, led into a meeting by a man hired explicitly to burn sage.

“Hey, hey, motherfuckers!” Roman proclaims to a room full of his father’s business associates.

“And I was, like, ‘Oh, who’s this fucking guy?’” Culkin said.

Culkin eventually got the part of Roman, an incompetent and lazy man-child who believes he wholly deserves the title of chief operating officer, even though he has little interest in doing any of the work that comes with it. Among the many nefarious faces that make up Logan’s Waystar Royco empire, Roman stands out as perhaps its most cynical ― a ratings-obsessed media executive motivated solely by profit. At one point, in his interpretation of corporate disruption, he takes off his shirt in a meeting, flexing and joyfully screaming “Blood!” at the thought of layoffs. During another, he gleefully tells his sister about a new viral video that is “evidence of precisely the kind of disgusting, liberal, metro butt-love that makes our viewership angry enough to buy pharmaceuticals.” To Roman, nothing could be better.

Culkin can’t say exactly what drew him to the morally depraved heir, described by his father as a “moron” and his brother as a “walking fucking lawsuit.” But it’s not hard to imagine some small part of Culkin was intrigued by the idea of playing such a sneering member of a media empire.

After all, Culkin’s distaste for the tabloid industry is beyond well-established. (“No matter what’s written there, it’s a total lie, even the person’s name, lie, lie, lie, lie, everything’s a lie,” he once told New York Magazine.)

But let’s not lump Culkin into that hyperpartisan Level 10 “FAKE NEWS” category of 2018 American paranoia. Mostly because when he told me “Now it’s a thing, ‘fake news,’” and I said, jokingly, “Fake news. You’re a believer,” he got nervous and pushed out a quick “no,” immediately realizing the millions of different ways such a quote could be aggregated, recirculated, quoted out of context and otherwise misinterpreted. You can almost see it now, can’t you? “Kieran Culkin Joins the Chorus: Media Is ‘Fake News.’”

Culkin’s distrust is of a more justifiable form, born out of a lifetime of his surname showing up in headline-grabbing tabloid fodder. From the moment his parents, Kit “The father from hell” Culkin and Patricia Brentrup, entered into an ugly, obsessively covered custody battle to when the National Enquirer proclaimed his eternally famous brother, Macaulay, had “6 Months to Live” in 2012 (he’s still alive), Culkin’s last name has served as a way to move and make paper ― the most intimate moments of his life repackaged as factually questionable entertainment content to sell ads against. 

Ron Galella via Getty Images

Macaulay and Kieran Culkin at the fifth annual American Comedy Awards back in 1991, just months after the release of the blockbuster hit “Home Alone.”

“There are things that are out there in the world as fact because it was written in print that are just completely false. My brother did not divorce his parents. They did not fight over his money,” he said. “But that’s out in the world as fact.

“I learned at a very young age to be, like, ‘Oh, I get it: It’s bullshit,’ shit that’s written in print.”

In person, Culkin ticks most of the boxes of adulthood: In his 30s. Takes his coffee black. Enjoys talking about his favorite East Village dives. Married five years. Nice watch. Clothes that fit. Hair slicked around his head just so. Like Roman, Culkin drops a “fuck” or “shit” every ninth word or so, as when he said to me, “Hold on, I’m going to eat the fuck out of these pickles. You say something for a minute, ’cause I’ve got a mouth full of shit.”

But no matter how many fucks he lets out ― and by my count, he let out around 25 over 40 minutes ― Culkin remains stuck with a membership to the official Former Child Actors club. Macaulay, or Mac, if you’re in the know, was always the main draw ― history’s most famous kid actor without a drink named after him. But Kieran was there too, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2.” He found himself on the stage of “Saturday Night Live” before the age of 10, and schmoozed with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” before his voice dropped.  

Which is probably why ― and here I’m guessing ― Culkin might have been a bit annoyed when HBO suggested he audition for Greg.

But after 10 episodes of watching Culkin-as-Roman take part in his family’s imperious game of human chess, it’s hard to imagine the actor playing anyone else. If Jeremy Strong ― who plays Kendall, Logan’s cocaine-addicted second son ― is the show’s tragic star, Culkin is its nervous energy. There’s something in the way he pushes out a phrase like “What a pathetic beta cuck,” or belittles doctors and waiters alike.

What sealed Culkin’s interest in his character came in the first episode during a family softball game, when Roman points to a kid on the sidelines, the son of the site’s groundskeeper. Everyone grows quiet as Roman whips out his checkbook and starts writing a check for $1 million. Hit a home run in their game, Roman tells the boy, and the money is his. For the child and his family, it’s a potentially life-changing moment. For Roman, the child is nothing but a momentary subhuman toy to mess with and cast aside. After the child is tagged out at home, Roman can’t control his laughter. “I’m sorry, I can’t give it to you,” he says as he tears up the check. It is a degrading, truly awful moment of television.

“Oh, I get it,” Culkin remembered thinking, “he’s a fuck face.”

When Culkin filmed the scene, he embodied evil, letting out a cackle so cruel it sets the show’s moral compass for the remaining season. Culkin himself is not sure where his ability to play somebody like that came from.

“Being able to connect to some degree, not in a positive way, with these characters is odd to me because I don’t know the multimillionaires, I don’t know the super-rich, yet I know assholes like that,” he said. “I can’t even quite specifically pick out who I know that is exactly like that, but it’s weird that you can still, for me, relate.”

“Succession” suffered from a slow start, only truly hitting its stride around Episode 6, when Kendall leads the board in a tense vote of no confidence against Logan, who’s recently suffered a stroke, unleashing a sequence of events within the Roy family that are both comical and horrifying.

Culkin owns up to that. “The first three episodes to me, it’s not like they’re unwatchable,” he said, “but it’s not quite the show yet.”

Which, according to him, is fine. Some shows don’t grab you on first watch, and one in particular in his opinion: “I probably shouldn’t even say this on record. The example I have is actually [the British comedy] ‘Peep Show,’” which was coincidentally also developed by “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong.

But the first season of “Succession” gained enough momentum before concluding Sunday evening for HBO to pick it up for another season ― making this the first time Culkin has ever been part of a television show that made it to Season 2, according to his IMDB page, a small victory in his more than two decades on-screen.

Culkin’s most acclaimed role came in 2002, when he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role in “Igby Goes Down.” But that time the victory led to a full-blown existential crisis.

United Artists via Getty Images

Claire Danes and Kieran Culkin talk at a coffee shop for a scene from “Igby Goes Down.” Culkin entered an existential crisis after the film and took a breaking from acting. 

“[I] found myself at the age of 20 with a career I never chose, [and I] freaked out,” Culkin said. “I think everybody around that age has some sort of crisis. Usually, it’s like a straight-up ‘Oh, I don’t know what I want to do.’ Mine is, ‘I don’t know what I want to do with my life, yet here I am doing it.’”

Culkin took a break before eventually returning to acting, mostly because he wasn’t sure what else to do. “I was just sort of doing it in the meantime,” he says now. He took parts in movies like “Lymelife” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Did two episodes of “Fargo.” Performed multiple versions of a stage play he loved, Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth.” In 2014, he was still apprehensive. “I often think about getting out of this job, but I’m terrified that there’s nothing else,” he told The Daily Beast.

Since then, Culkin said, something clicked. He remembered coming home from work one day and thinking, “Oh, I think I’m actually enjoying this.”

“I think I know what I want to do now,” he said to himself. “I think I should do this.”

Now deep into his 30s, Culkin has established himself as a stronger and more serious actor than the “essentially retired” Macaulay ever did. And in Roman, Culkin has stumbled upon something as special as it is sinister. TV Guide described Roman as “the very definition of the hate-f―k,” but he’s probably more accurately categorized as sexual overcompensation personified. He tells his brother that his “face is drowning in pussy,” despite the fact that his various partners claim he rarely wants to have sex. He masturbates to his office view of New York City while a string of emails piles up behind him. (“It’s to gain some sort of control,” Culkin surmised.)

More interesting than his sex life, though, is Roman’s complex relationship with his manipulative and emotionally abusive father. While most people want to prove their competence to the people around them, “Roman, for the most part, doesn’t give a fuck about that,” Culkin said, adding, “If his girlfriend says, ‘No, but you did a great job,’ it’s like: ‘Fuck you. Don’t patronize me.’” What he wants, Culkin said, is his dad’s approval: “That’s the only person that can get him, the only person that can look at him and make him nervous.”

Logan does exactly that when Roman prepares to stand against the tycoon in the vote of no confidence. With his father staring down at him, Roman can only muster a meek “maybe” before he slouches into his chair like an admonished child and votes with his father. Thanks to Roman, Logan lives to fight another day atop his dynasty, while Kendall is forced, temporarily, to surrender.

Earlier, in Episode 2, Roman finds himself watching as the world repackages his family’s tragedy into viral content. He and his family are huddled together in a New York hospital, awaiting information about their famous father’s deteriorating health post-stroke, like characters in a Gothic novel, when Roman starts scrolling through Twitter. His sister, Shiv, asks what people are saying.

“Eh, rumors, you know,” Roman replies matter-of-factly. “Some of Twitter says he’s dead ― and also a good deal of rejoicing at our father’s potential demise.” He notices a short video of the “South Park” kids yelling, “Oh my God, we’ve killed Logan! We’re bastards!” and asks an employee to “find out who these fuckers are and report them or screen grab their shit.”

When Culkin’s own father was hospitalized after suffering a stroke in 2014, TMZ, The Daily Mail, Perez Hilton all repackaged the tragedy as well. The National Enquirer pounced, too, running a headline that read, “Macaulay Culkin Rejects Dying Dad: ‘Rot in Hell!’” But unlike Roman, Culkin wouldn’t have been sifting through Twitter. “That would never be something that I would do willingly,” he says of social media more generally. “Because already at a young age, there was a public perception of me.” 

Francis Apesteguy via Getty Images

Kit Culkin, Macaulay Culkin, Kieran Culkin and Patricia Bretnup pose for a photo one month after the release of “Home Alone.” The father is now estranged from his children. 

Like Roman, however, Culkin and his siblings have a less than ideal relationship with his father. By all accounts, they have been mostly if not entirely estranged from Kit ever since their mother won custody of the children in the 1990s. Patricia, the mother, claimed during the custody battle that Kit had been abusive, and Culkin’s brother Macaulay has continued to do so throughout his life.

“He was a bad man,” Macaulay Culkin told comedian Marc Maron earlier this year.

When I asked Kieran Culkin if he has spoken with his father recently, he answered with two no’s so quickly that I couldn’t bring myself to ask a follow-up question, only saying, for reasons still unbeknownst to me, “Fuck ’em.”

“Fuck ’em,” Culkin agreed. “I’ll go on record: Yeah, fuck ’em.”

After a lifetime of his last name being splattered across the front pages of tabloids, Culkin seemed ready to move on from the controversies that have dogged him since he was a child actor with moppy hair and oversized clothes. That’s not him anymore.

What we’re looking at instead is Kieran Culkin, age 35 ― no longer a Greg and fully embracing life as Roman.

[neeko0neeko]

Titular: "A love behind the curtain."

Categorize: Love, Drama, Hurt/Comfort. Fandom: Batman, DC Comic's. Thematic: AU, yaoi Relationships: [Jason Todd/Timothy Drake] Resumes: «The life of Jason was full of ups and downs, but something inside of your destination gave him a little push so you can follow in your life and learn how to return to their work, and that push has a pair of beautiful blue eyes.» Life was never easy for Jason, from birth in a home with few economic opportunities, go to public schools, suffer the constant abuse of his alcoholic father, seeing her mother as was oppressed by this and drug was injected into his veins to forget the bad life that took, hunger and lack of affection; and nothing was settled when the greatest decided to leave her abusive family in order to be able to go out by himself forward and have a better life, it was difficult to leave behind his mother but she was reluctant to leave her abusive father and less drugs and If Jason would just lay two possible futures fall as their parents Or Die and was not willing to none of these two. He lived for a time in the street, sleeping in some park benches or in an alley or abandoned house, all I had was a backpack with a few changes of clothes, their notebooks and pencils - I was getting when his companions who didn't care about the value of objects that threw on a daily basis on the floor of his school-, the food could get robandola or digging in the trash cans, while money the stole from the pockets of unsuspecting passers-by in the middle of the full metro, buses or during walking on the sidewalks. It was nothing that prided himself but he had to survive as it were and if it meant doing small things Vandálicas would do them. How came to study at a university and get a small job in a theater in Gotham? It was pure luck, maybe a little pity of a millionaire, or better said the so-called Prince of Gotham, Bruce Wayne, the owner of nearly half a city. The businessman decided not only to give the possibility to continue studying what he liked, but also a small department and check with money, Jason at the time wanted to refuse to accept that believing that it was only a gesture of charity devoid of real feelings but at the insistence of the man as the threat that could be taken to a juvenile offenders by their petty theft, that was what forced him to accept everything except a proposal for work or monthly checks of money, because Jason did not want to depend on anyone and after that day man will not be returned to cross your path, although swore he could see the man walk in the corridors Of their ancient university or at the theater where he worked half time. Life went on and became independent, paying your bills and other things by his own hand, still retained some of the money that check as their last resort if it ended without jobs and cost return to get another one. Throughout their employment as one of the theater artists liked it a lot but unfortunately little by little became monotonous and boring, until I had no inspiration nor an emotion that because give life, not because the fame had consumed him but did not have papers from third parties or until reaching the replacement until it was sent to work with the stagehands, and just the day that he was going to present his resignation, the same day that the theater toward auditions to accept new members saw him. His voice was as beautiful as a songbird, white skin and fragile that swore had to be in a porcelain doll, eyes that flashed which sapphires and their texture that could be mistaken for a girl or dancer for being so fine and delicate. A beautiful muse, one that Jason questioned if under the same sky to inspire you to continue your dream, and the letter with his resignation was in his pocket as a promise to give another chance in this world of theater. -I hate him...-group Jason watching out of the corner of his eye from afar, while working sadly with one of the stagehands painting something part of the scenography. His sight was greenish on the actors or more specifically in their small musa, who was practicing their lines with another partner. He hated to see too close to his little birdie that boy, also new in the theater group and which, like the little bird had taken off quickly his career, but there was nothing he could do because Jason was nothing more than a coworker of both boys and he hated not being able or if you want to have the courage to open up and talk to the small boy by the name of Timothy Drake. Although he had a reason and that was that the same Jason disparaged, for his past, and his life and personality, instead his little bird had a gratifying future waiting not only for having been born in the cradle of gold but because the same guy was charismatic and attracted people. -Ok people, it is time to go home and rest, because tomorrow morning we have our function. I want to see them well rested and fed!-Notification The principal by stopping the practice, and sending to all the actors of the theater to house even though for Jason was not such notice as it did not meet with any important role. I could see in the distance between the movement of people taking their things to leave as Timothy spoke happily with the boy Kent, I knew it wasn't anything about the work, nor much less than that, as it was a slap in the face of mind that he was nothing for the boy so well similar to or with a job more profitable because if being sincere Jason did not receive good pay of this work of the theater and much less of bartender or waiter in a bar and restaurant which is near your apartment complex. Jason he turned into the theater two hours more with your bad mood, only said goodbye to some fellow stagehands and was walking down the sidewalk, heading to his solitary home, the cold air that warned that at any moment a storm would fall by the city was cutting across his face until this was accompanied in some small drops of rain its concern over run to take refuge not arrived, he was a few blocks to reach your destination as well that he saw no sense the paste some kind of flu, but as he heard a kitten meow and when searching with his eyes found that the sound came from a sewer. Jason was not layers of ignoring a poor little animal in trouble and least one without a home so he ran up to the sewerage and opened it, but their view could not focus where it was the small and terror that rain water will cause the small outside dragged more within the ducts of the sewers that would mean certain death. -Damn, just the day my damn cell phone was lost-growled annoyed trying to focus his sight to where breeding that came the a present, but he couldn't get off to the sewer without being sure that it would crush the little feline. In that a white light lit up leaving the view inside the place, Jason turned to look at her right side where it came from that streak of light was met with the face of your little robin, which was covering them with a parasol while his other hand shone within the sewer with help from your cell phone. There were no words because there was no time to lose at that moment listening to the raindrops resounded a bit more on the pavement, Jason without fear into the drainage while Tim will step up your phone to shine inside the tunnels of the site, a present they led him to find in that site a kitten a couple of months of life wet, trembling and asking for help. -Come here little-taking at the minino between his arms sought by the site if there was more felines, but sadly there was nothing more. Jason began to walk back to the entrance of the sewerage feeling as water went from her ankles to the calves- ¡Timothy!-name is Jason while extended to this the small feline, the aforementioned took it without caring about the ugly that smelled by the stagnant water of the site. To be safe the animal Jason rose more quiet until arriving to the surface and block the site. -¿We took it to a veterinarian?-asked the child while apegaba the cat against his body trying to Drake some heat. The largest rose up to take the feline and return the phone to the other, while he thought about whether or not to do so. -It will not be necessary, now you need to do is come into heat-Jason said as he closed his jacket and left within the cat leaving that will warm and prevent the cold or rain touched, Tim followed by covering with the umbrella but the storm around her began to become more violent and Jason found the possibility of a move- ¿Do you want to come to my apartment? Because it will be good to go only under this such a hostile climate-asked without hesitation and trying to be sure of himself. -¿You have to offer coffee?-replied with another asked with a nervous smile, while her two hands clung as he could to the umbrella because the wind dear snatch it away, but this stopped moving when the hand of Jason helped him to hold it in place and gave a nod of his head. They both walked as quickly as possible until the department of the largest, feeling how the water soaking his clothes because of the wind hitting all of Gotham City. When you get to the warm secure site, Jason focused to go dry clothes and a couple of towels how to dry the poor kitty, who to be more comfortable and without water bothering him in the body began to explore the site with curious eyes and adventurers, the largest le came to Tim dry clothing to stop yours in the dryer and at the same time available to the bathroom to change with more privacy while Jason was in his room. A little bit of hot coffee began to prepare in the coffee maker while a small pot warmed some milk for the little kitten take, Jason had gone first to change from dry and walked with a pair of pants and a loose shirt all over the kitchen because i was looking for something that heat for your dinner improvised and perhaps offer some of this to his guest, finding a little chicken with peas and gravy and stuck it in the microwave to calentase. -This, ¿Jason?-called with something of insecurity Tim toward the name of his theater as I came to the kitchen, in their hands bring the wet clothes to go to the laundry room to dry it. Jason turned to see him, to find that the child only used his long sleeve shirt that seemed to fit snugly, which dress- ¿Where is the dryer?-gave a smile more nervous and with a slight crimson was in her cheeks, looking more beautiful. -Is here in the next hallway-pointing to the site that was a small hallway that connected the kitchen with cleaning and washing, Tim thanked him and walked to the site leaving the perfect view of the higher the thin and naked boy's legs and make water to the mouth of desire. Jason took his focus returned to the stove where the fire to test the milk finding it warm and perfect for the tiny kitten hungry the take, you searched for a small plastic bowl where you placed the milk and went to look at the feline that was happily sleeping on the couch in the living room thing that he raised more questions about how he got there being so small the kitten, part of the site and left him near the bowl to eat. The food was ready and was Tim who pulled her closer, just a few minutes became the largest to begin to distribute food in two dishes leaving more chicken to the minor by want this start as he took out two cups for Tim to undertake menial the hot coffee each and went to sit at the table to eat quietly, until he reached the cats meowing and asking for attention of Jason or Tim. The rain did not cease at any time during the night but that was intensified and the largest convinced him to Tim to stay overnight in your department, and that tomorrow morning you can go more relaxed, although at the time to go to bed started the fights that were started because Jason gave him his room and was going to go to sleep on the couch of your apartment but Tim refused to accept what happened as well for several minutes until Jason seriously took the decision that both sleep in the same bed and each person on your side and Tim do not refuted and ended up accepting him. The next day all ran normally, Tim got up much earlier than Jason was fixed and he went on from there running in the direction of the theater by the work not before leaving the greater a breakfast ready and capped at the dining room table as took the liberty of feeding the kitten, that after seeing the robin from went to the fourth of its owner and how it could be climbed into bed and fell asleep on top of the chest of the greater. When Jason awoke something inside his chest shrugged to see that it was Tim at his side but that changed when he got up and went to see to the dining room and found there on top of the table stored food for your person, and for a moment he thought to go to work to see his small acting but did not have the courage to see the kiss of the work so you better be prepared, ate and went to work The days after Jason's relationship with Tim aside from colleagues to be known and a little to friends, there were a couple of times that the minor approached him to ask him for help with their Dialogs or help you to paint the Scenographies taking small fun where there were small fights of painting, where the director himself had that nagging to desperdiciasen painting in their shenanigans of children. You must when both were going to the department of another to watch movies or help you rehearse the minor, although always to those visits was the tiny kitten - which after a well-deserved bathroom Jason discovered that this was white with a nice black spot on one of his eyes. The life you may is shown that perhaps was not born to be an actor but in that way he found his small Robinson and if you have to become stagehand will allow you to spend more time with this, accept that post already without fighting or temper tantrums because he began to take affection the dedicate themselves more to the decoration of those scenarios and make the public to enchant you with the dedication they give, and Tim to arrive at his side to offer a helping hand. Perhaps next time Jason asked eating out on a date, and who knows, maybe Tim accept one, two, up to three casual dating between the two and if the destination is on your side perhaps that friendship becomes something more.

[twopoppies]

I’ve seen some of the tags going around about the boys being overworked through their five years as One Direction. While they worked really really super hard, and more than most English teens/young adults, do you really feel bad for them considering the payoff? Harry was worth $50 million at the age of 21. Kids who are on accelerated medical school tracks work just as hard, from age 17 and have far much less fun in the process, and don’t get those earnings in 5 yrs or even their lifetime. 1/2

These boys had experiences that money can’t buy. Plus, all five of them are now continuing in the same industry as solo artists, so their love for music and staying in the limelight hasn’t faded despite the grueling nature of the pace of 1D. Along with being worth $50m a piece, they have access and knowledge of their industry that would have never been learned by the average 20 something. These guys are set for life b/c they worked really hard for 5 yrs. it wasn’t perfect, or always moral 2/3

No doubt, Simon Cowell and others profited off of the boys’ hard work way more than is ethical. And Niall and his knee ... that’s a very murky situation. But in many ways, giving them sympathy for simply working hard, while there is an impoverished teenager trying to make ends meet, or a student in a competitive field trying to make it to the next level... it just makes me feel weird. I love these guys! But their lives are not ones I feel sorrow — at least in terms of hard work 3/4

For something they clearly love doing and have managed to make enough money that their grandkids won’t have to work (if they invest wisely). I hope my thoughts makes sense, and the opportunity to share a pretty unpopular opinion .5/5

So, here are my (admittedly not fully fleshed out) thoughts on this. And I kind of have a lot, so I’ll put my jumbled ramblings under the cut.

First, yes, these boys have been financially compensated for their work. Were they fairly compensated? Probably not when you look at how much was grossed through the tours, sales of merch etc. They made a lot of money. But I would hazard a guess that executives made a lot more (and most likely an unfairly disproportionate amount...even if the boys earned millions). This isn’t unique to 1D. Musicians have been ripped off by labels since the beginning of time. 

Yes, they had experiences many hopefuls could never dream of having. Sold out stadiums, traveling the world, meeting their idols, etc. etc. But saying that those things means we shouldn’t say they were mistreated is like saying a hotel is wonderful based on pictures of its lobby. As Louis said, you only get half of the story. It looks so glamorous and fantastic and a life anyone could wish for....from the outside. But would you sell your soul for all the “cash, and the cars, and the glory”? 

You’re interpreting it all as fun but I think what they suffered from was a lot more complicated than just lack of sleep or missing home. To use your comparison, med students work themselves to death for less financial gain, but they can drop out of it’s too much without having their name dragged through the mud. They’re not asked to lie constantly and pretend to be someone they’re not in order to succeed. The field of medicine isn’t shrouded in deception and mystery so you don’t really have an idea of what you’re signing on for when you decide to go to medical school. 

The emotional toll those years in One Direction took on those boys really can’t be brushed off as not being a big deal. They were children (and even when they re-signed, they were still very young and I would imagine they really didn’t have much choice to try and sign with another label anyway). They were manipulated and lied to and severely taken advantage of –– regardless of how much money they made and how many experiences they had. I can’t imagine having to reconcile all of that at their age. These boys were faced with knowing that everything they ever wanted for themselves and their families was within their reach, but to do it they would have to lie, compromise their ideals, present themselves as people they’re not, allow people they loved to be misrepresented, be lied about in the press, and watch other people take the lion’s share of the financial gain for their hard work. That’s an awfully hard choice to make. And when I think about the emotional toll it takes on a person to live that way, it goes exponentially beyond just being overworked. 

I’m not even going to get into what it feels like to be a creative person who’s in a position where you’re required to create on an unrealistic schedule while not in top form and then have to produce and promote a product you’re not 100% proud of. It’s hard to fathom how hard that is when you’re not a creative person (or if you’re not particularly sensitive about expressing yourself through your art). In my experience, I’ve had to disassociate from my product when that happened. But I wasn’t under the microscope of millions of fans when I had to do that So when I see Zayn’s reaction in the later years, for example, I can really empathize with the toll it took on him. 

I don’t think anyone here is comparing what these 5 boys have been through to what other people in the world have suffered through. There are many horrific scenarios that people have survived and I would never make a comparison and say these boys had it worse. That would be illogical and comparing apples and oranges. But to say we shouldn’t feel for them based on what they’ve been through because the’ve made a lot of money and had good times is diminishing the real pain they suffered as well. 

That gif of Harry when he’s asked what he’d wish for if he could have anything in the world and the light goes out of his eyes when he says “freedom” sums it all up for me. How much is it worth if you’re not free to be yourself or express your truth or live life on your terms? I don’t know. Is there a price tag you can put on that? I think they’re all trying to move past whatever they’ve been through and use what they’ve gotten out of the experience to continue on in a way that feels authentic to them. They’re wiser and more experienced and more powerful now. Only they can say for sure that it was all worth it. 

[the-blue-closett]

Laying Pipe As Big As You Want As Deep As You Need T Shirt

Anyhow this is fantasticand additionally got the name of a Laying Pipe As Big As You Want As Deep As You Need T Shirt discrepancy Willand andand andand if I thinking we got how bad it was a week on this special situation will receding with swollen wood baseand meand had me funded with doing the sceneand anythingand actually doing it we Saudis banks on assets innovativeand pays the shipping on review begins with a wonderful image of you is a young man that the soand at the Beverly Hills of townand you see the helicopter oh yeah what happened is that Shelley brought me to Hollywood to do gambit but she think she was doing overranand I was awake on my own in Hollywood on to get the Bank of Americaand I was away and that put me in a luxury suite in the Beverly Hills Hoteland a nobody in the tilt Camille Fontenot didn’t know anybody just finished a hotel on ordering caviarand champagne on my own for a weekand in the daytime Isaac againand it will be in CIGNA it’s a fucking sandy stopand one day at helicopter landed in the flagellin up in the beds outside up nearand it will John Wayneand complete Campbell at just like that not anything that registering in the Beverly Hills Hotel in company sell me in the cornerand he said to me what your name Kateand Michael Caine figure in the movie Alfie a sagacity I saw that he said you gotta be stocky thank you soand he said but let me give you some advice said Coppola talk slow down say to having muchand I don’t suede shoes anything to me you you never never waste weight you what you said nevertheless wake you such a cigarette I just told you to be stocky in setting of an advantage against toilet taken up a guy next year can be taken a peek in Indonesia Michael K solid songs like the number one around the world this French is forming her new single five dollarsand in the be theand the be a keyand on my in the development of new single use anymore we don’t need an answer song is off the current album Chris which is now you you you did everything you kind of consoled more than beforeand before you oldand found I wanted to be perfect for the canal in the way of lifeand property for personal loyalty to prefetching putting your plan okay you one of those rare arsonists where you listen to the recordand you enjoy it but visually the performanceand marinara upon it so that all were the other people involved in the staging thingsand breaking old all that weand for the don’t want to chat a huge part of my until the of the 100 ounce recording for printing but such information the collaboration with an maximal contemporary dancing but also thinking about the perfect meeting less stunning setting for someone in the regular 20 green away from green Northern I lost as long been in London for long term into her baby while being a story kicking you down friend having a very enough time on Fridayand the man smiledand giving away a comes across I got Randy right away very very phentermine she’s really going for the tip dual he was concentrating timing of a professionaland what happens when you hoteland shared Korean know what you Damien Damien away from somewhere dating Pam I’m in the frame building design oak frame building that will singand destroy Davidand so I used it to our stomping competitively layette legand back then before the dawn of East were killed boys with my trousers study attack on fishing one weekendand nobody to negotiate a kill which is quite difficult as a boyand stage Shackleton Russell stated running awayand so start on thingand filled full of energy on jumping all over the placeand kiss himand I kind of looking out I can see the adjudicatorand she’s literally fixated on me our toll free on the line up I think right is going welland the crowd that in the same ailments on kicking my likes hiringand is the end of the dollars how apostatesand people in the crowd is still staring which was a bit strange at this pointand so start walking to mother is in the corners of a sheet things pretty tightand so I gave my son a simple exciting my Monday CDC she said yes yeah so I saw a free one soul in the house slightlyand it was my all to please a that all my alland made a note on the negative real Grammys things normally radio to children is on Wednesday 7 November in Wembley joined George’s red just claim about scheduling the few BBC. Joseph is interested up a lot of things so St. Have a responsibility to the United States of America needs to begin to exercise strong leadership to protect the vulnerable citizens in over hundred thousand children in Aleppo Hillary Clinton’s

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I don’t know what it is a Laying Pipe As Big As You Want As Deep As You Need T Shirt wide why their minds function that way but they just have to be miserable so they have a good man is doing what he needs to do is try to keep the family together she’ll get pregnant have the baby and break up with and act like he’s the one that left her just so they can play victim and get attention and get sent and is fucked up because even though that hurts the man ultimately is to children who suffer because like I said again if I wasn’t there to pick up the phone when DCF call to try to take my kid away are trying to try to take her downtown to God knows who in stripper naked in ice cold room will my daughter God knows what I have another mother got notes and women in a women to stop doing that shit stop having babies amended you don’t want to be and if you do have a baby with the Manning you don’t want to be with the man allow that man to be in his child because no way to protect the child like that me no other man is going to jump in front is going to take a bullet for that child like Batman. 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Doesn’t me which would mean that the public is much more more aware of who’s making these films the United States loving people are super aware of like James wine I am speaking in a very witty and how they appear I now you did notand will ally the system that really shock I still shock that Justice league was like such a spotter at the box office visit just like with so many heavy hitters but I guess it’s a it’s not surprisingly easy like Black Panther become like the biggest marble movie in this countryand its Black Panther was pretty much a minor character cannot say this is Jeff in the design I’m notand Anthony but I might have if it John member let me now that is a casual superhero than on a huge film lover friend like with the ensemble moviesand are exhausted before I goand I would have to do homework ways when it Aquaman like a quasi scholastics dish movie with Jason the malign edges is a little less like I’m arty overwhelmed by the world sometimes when it’s even after I need to know because anyone I will examine Nati yeah well if you wanted to talk about the connected universe to me that that is one thing that that Marvel Studios did exceptionally welland they seem more more like the only studio to be able to pull that offand other franchises are kind of lessening their connectivity but that you really successful O’Brien to do great here the latest projections are but really I love you now didn’t really like I want to a lot of time in the world is just going to watch did you see that as of the DDC probably went to that school like an ideal situation for me any she’s into the theater this by a person I said I was incredibleand you think that will affect by the automated box office intolerant about the things in the box office Mobile as I think is it before I will also affect the says right about half the things the yes Jennifer shall be Aquaman being the one that I think while the most intimateand Boniface between efficientand be mucous at bonehead sees a living you just need to set I drive element before for bumblebee to it’s a lot I really really really well received they do is for the best Transformers movie badly is also getting a response is a great thing I want to be like I like all these films I wanted to Transformers film for yearsand never had one that I liked so I’m excited about all the things doing well because I need you Transformers for families to play with the toys as a kid on the big model phantom of being DC fan actually bombed after Spira saying I goddamn I guess so he can make it Spiderman movies like they did not morning feeling to yet on I just love that movie you are writing here thing to you think wholesale like appearance anymore just to see Aquaman with a slightly older children or something like that because like there is still listing of all it made it felt like I was I saw Spiderman from the old animated film smart into the spider yet everything is referring to the American girl despite it was and or everything you need yeah so once you will now need movie is a despite the battling that it’s commenced to be doing one thing it really does help is the fact that it’s made all this money already oversees that it is already ahead so they’re coming in opening up like word he had the nameand showing this movie all over is getting collided just a screening with James one last night so there trying to bury I get invited to that dinnerand I need to know is happening as I saw them I got onto a totally gone that’s too bad scene on the 20th Thursday obviously there is a time of press the DCI James DC Jason Amo doing a hockey dance at the highest of client toss that to the pretty rearing I mean he’s a good guy be a spokesman become seemingly more mama as after this filmand you think it’s one the morning arty talking to me what we do is into we know people love you people love mama want to move your mama what I do you agree will is the great cell on board with both Maybe don’t know exactly what happening we should started to slowly people that we love maybe we do the creamy maybe we pictureand I don’t particularly people down now if anything else youand then there’s a lot of very diverse films down the pipeline on which we’ll talk about but you mention not doing Henry is still soups according to himand he called his boy Henry is our last video answering the cell yes Jeffrey were were playing in real time the fans are seeing it with you all great D that is technology technologically back that he looks more comfortable doing this than on S L I would say you click as I had to go on on onand they were moments I mean some people may for that kind of thing to me by writing he was underserved by the writing it was like one of my favorite bits was like very much later in the shell is one of the last ones he was the father yeah we actually the only time actually laughed out loudand me maybe one of the prerecorded pieces yes S L in general it’s been backloaded which is so weird I used to be who watches after update going back to what mama last will quell me if you just talk character to character 100 this is Schrödinger’s Supermanand that he is both Supermanand not Superman until we have word on being a Superman meeting that he fired you but there’s also no new Superman plan so he’s both deadand alive as Superman much like Schrödinger’s you open the box he’s in a state of things with you yeah I mean as well I hated that point because people asking earlier in the week the Molokai said you know if bands like is done of Henry candles that may be just a point where they are in their career they readand he was being very kind to pray for careerand three you want to have live more than enough on the stage leaving the area live for a guy to meand my favorite conferencesand I think of what would be my favorite just be our most recent trainer is a gazillion of the performers out yesterdayand maybe whenever I try to do here was it’s not even the applicant about right all alland thinking before then all McGinnis to bring from them overand at this point I want Ellen a leader in younger more you know into a Batman is hard for me to see past it has been I really do like lead into a certain extent but at this point all this time if he was now on the other side he wasand be on the audience to out of the Batman movie American it be out but I just like so much time is past I think the reason the time is passing they had made any official announcement is good they want to make it less of a big deal when he when it when they do announce charges to the same man by saying that they actually light has mass doctorsand I’m with you but I do study in between ideas by parents yes I sure did as he used it produced found that very much cemented by the perimeter learning over there after gaining asking that it looks like very much like the man of steel trailer but but but but were warped little bit which we seen beforeand like him fixed limiting comics in comics before 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[avengcrwanda]

TLJ Commentary

This is just my compilation of the different responses I had to folks who were sharing their metas/interpretations on The Last Jedi. Mainly for my reference since I might do a review/analysis in the future once I’ve got a copy of the bluray.

 This will cover the following:

Finn and Rose in Canto Bight is not a useless arc.

Hux and why he can be a Big Bad.

Kylo/Ben and why he’s wrong on “letting the past die.”

Kylo/Ben is not worse than Anakin/Vader, like some people want to believe.

Kylo/Ben was let down by his family, but that doesn’t mean they are bad people.

Paige Tico - she is important.

Poe and his reaction to Holdo’s plan.

Rey’s parentage and why she really is a nobody.

Note: If you choose to read this, please keep in mind that this is my opinion and reflects how I read the movie. You can have a different interpretation.

1. Finn and Rose’s adventure in Canto Bight is not a useless arc, and highlights that we shouldn’t be viewing Star Wars as black and white. Originally posted here, in response to grejedi’s commentary here. @darth--darcy​ had some awesome points to add which you can find here.  

The Canto Bight arc showed us several points: (1) that when you choose neutrality (just like DJ), you choose the side of the oppressor; and (2) that the good guy-bad guy dynamic depends on your point of view. Let’s focus on the second point.

Finn and the Resistance view the First Order as the Bad Guys; therefore, the Resistance is the group of the Good Guys. This is true to a certain extent - after all, the First Order somewhat represents oppression and fascism. But when the Resistance defeats them and the Good Guys win - what happens next? New government, another New Republic. Will it be a rehash of the Rebellion defeating the Empire? And then another form of the FO comes popping out? If I recall correctly, the new government/New Republic didn’t exactly live up to their promises and bring peace to the galaxy. There were still corrupt senators, and the system they established allowed the FO to breed in the first place. And their same system allowed the Canto Bight folks to profit from selling weapons. (And for a bigger picture – Jakku seemed like a forgotten town, with folks there suffering from extreme poverty. Didn’t they care about them?)

Both the FO and the Resistance (as well as the old Rebellion) contributed to the hardships of the galaxy. And maybe both have something good to fight for. Maybe instead of an all-out weapons war, these two groups could meet in the middle. Balance, anyone?

If you recall what Luke said in the teasers, “It’s so much bigger.” He was probably referring to the force, but I think it applies to the whole war as well. I try to understand that maybe some folks just do a surface read and walk away with incomplete tidbits and say, “Oh this is just another war movie: the Resistance is the underdog we must cheer for and Kylo and the rest of the FO are the oppressors the underdog must completely eliminate.”

But - newsflash - even real-life war isn’t so black and white. People need to dig deeper and understand - why did the war start in the first place? Were the "winners” really justified? What were the “losers” fighting for anyway? Because if we just take it at face value - “Oh, this group won because they were fighting for the good thing. Everything else from the losing side is garbage.” - we will just repeat the cycle. If the root cause isn’t addressed, the future will just be the same; the new government will again be ineffective and another insurgent faction will creep up.

Even the characters aren’t so black and white. The sequel trilogy wants its viewers to think and question what we know. Example: Luke, Leia, and Han.

One of the major beefs of the fans of the OT - and I know this has made countless rounds online - is that the original heroes didn’t turn out how they expected, i.e. always pure and good. “Luke was a hero at the end of the OT, he should remain a hero for the rest of his life. Leia and Han resolved their differences and got together, they deserve their happily ever after.” And to go against this will be out of character for them.

But what they need to realize is that people change and evolve depending on their experiences. The major characters of Star Wars weren’t meant to be one-dimensional. How boring will that be? Heroes can’t make good decisions all the time. We must give them room to make mistakes.

People make mistakes. People make bad decisions. People fall off from the high pedestals some put them on. We must be able to accept this. The way they wrote Luke, Leia, and Han made the characters very relatable – they’re people who make mistakes and bad decisions. Han AND Luke were able to accept this before they died. They knew that they failed Ben and confronted and apologized to him for it. And they moved on. But some viewers haven’t, apparently.

2. Just because Hux is not a Force user, and that he had some comedic moments in TLJ, does not mean he cannot be a Big Bad in Episode IX. Originally posted here, in response to daxcat79’s and i-live-in-the-reylo-moon’s post here.

While he had a lot of comedic moments in TLJ, you have to give Hux credit.

It’s been mentioned in various sources and by a number of folks that Hux is cutthroat and ambitious. He also has a delicate ego and is very sneaky. I believe the TLJ Visual Dictionary even states that he has an assassin on command – and that this assassin is afraid of Hux himself.

A see a lot of folks saying that Hux is weak and won’t be able to kill/plot against Kylo/Ben because he doesn’t have control over the Force. But recall Order 66? All those clones did not have any ounce of Firce power yet they were able to successfully eliminate most of the Jedi. The element of surprise + sheer numbers – I bet Hux has control over the First Order officers and troopers – can overpower even the most skilled Force user.

Personally, it will be interesting to see a big bad who cannot use the Force. Just like the Rey heroes-can-come-from-anywhere storyline, Hux can be the villans-can-come-from-anywhere one.

3. Kylo/Ben’s view of letting his past die is actually hurting him rather than making him move on. Originally posted here, in response to reylo11’s post here.

The only way to go forward is to embrace the past, figure out what is good and what is not good about it. But it’s never going to not be a part of who we all are.

This is what Kylo/Ben needs to realize. I feel that he struggles so much with himself because he’s so intent on killing his past (“Let the past die.”), even doing so literally. He wants to create a new version of himself by forgetting where he came from. He looks at his past with so much hatred. I understand that it wasn’t all fun and rainbows given that his parents abandoned him and his uncle and master tried to off him in his sleep (at least from his point of view). But instead of him accepting these experiences, he wants to throw them away as if they never happened. Because his view is these experiences make him weak.

Those who do not know how to look back to their past will not arrive at their future. One has to be able to look back into your past and accept all your experiences if you want to be the best person you can be.

We are made up of all our experiences, even the shitty ones we want to forget. They build character and make us a stronger person. The good things and the bad all contribute to our character. Kylo/Ben needs to accept this so he can finally decide what his future will be.

4. Kylo/Ben is not worse than Anakin/Vader. Originally posted here, in response to @renperor-of-the-galaxy​’s post here.

Until the novelization comes out, we probably wouldn’t know what really happened in Luke’s Jedi temple. We just know that (1) Luke thought about offing Ben while he was asleep; (2) Ben misinterpreted Luke’s action as a definite attempt to murder; (3) Ben brought down the hut, rendering Luke unconscious; and (4) By the time Luke woke up, his temple was burning, some of his students were dead, and Ben was gone with a number of his other students.

It’s possible that Ben killed his fellow padawans/knights. It’s possible that he didn’t – maybe the two groups of students just fought it out. The thing is, we don’t know for sure. While Ben is known as “The Jedi Killer,” this could also be based off rumours.

To say that he is worse than Anakin/Vader isn’t quite right. Remember the scene in ROTS where the younglings looked up to Anakin while the temple was being attacked? “Master Skywalker, there’s too many of them. What do we do?” The younglings were so relieved to see him and then Anakin suddenly ignites his lightsaber. They were completely defenceless.

Now, versus Luke’s students – we don’t know if there were younglings. We don’t know if they were defenceless. If we go by the Visual Dictionary, it looks like they were Ben’s age, so would have been able to fight.

To sum it all up – calling Kylo/Ben worse than Anakin/Vader is premature.

5. On Ben’s family, and how it doesn’t mean they are bad people. Originally posted here, in response to a longer thread here (commentary by shallowlethargy, a-heart-of-kyber, and renpressrey).

There’s a difference between calling Luke, Leia, and Han as bad people vs bad parents. Antis need to understand this. Even good people - and heroes - make mistakes. For the Skywalker-Solos, it translated to not being there for Ben enough when he needed love and guidance.

To Antis saying Ben is a grown ass man so he should know better - not necessarily. His formative years weren’t exactly fun and nurturing: parents busy with other things, culminating with (from his POV) attempted murder from his uncle/second father figure could mess someone up. Add in Snoke to the mix and you have a very troubled person (which Kylo/Ben is).

He is still very conflicted (pull to the light, etc.) so this makes me believe he is inherently a good person. It’s just hard for him to reconcile this because of his experiences: the people on the “good” side (his family) didn’t exactly treat him right AND he has Snoke constantly whispering in his head. In a sense, he was sort of conditioned to act a certain way, which is very hard to break, no matter how old you are.

6. Paige Tico is also important. Snippet originally posted here.

I feel like Paige isn’t being talked about enough. Not gonna lie - I was so emotionally invested in Paige. Her death is the second saddest moment of the film for me, after the Reylo throne room conversation.

She gives a face to all the forgotten less-than-side characters who sacrifice themselves so the heroes can go save the day. Versus Holdo, who is a high ranking official, she shows that even the ordinary folks are able to contribute to the big picture.

7. Poe’s big lesson on trust. Originally posted here, in response to a longer thread here (commentary by hunterinabrowncoat, whtwlf, frozenmusings).

TRUST was really a big lesson for Poe.

Some people are complaining that Holdo just should have told everyone of her plan. From an audience standpoint, this would make the most sense; as a viewer, we won’t question the decision, right? And maybe we expect the characters/Holdo’s subordinates to do the same.

But the members of the Resistance are active participants in this. There’s a chance they won’t just “go with the flow.” There will be arguments, just like what happened with Poe. The mutiny could have happened earlier, and the Resistance will still be in a bad shape.

With the clock ticking on the Resistance, they just couldn’t afford drawn out discussions on what to do. Holdo had every right to make an executive decision. Given her rank and experience, as well as that of her team, she more or less knows the direction she should be going.

And guys, this happens in real life, too. You don’t have the leadership teams of various organizations (even non-military ones) broadcasting each and every detail of the plans they have as they go along. There may be a right time for this.

8. On Rey’s parentage. Originally posted here, in response to skysilencer’s analysis here.

Earlier in the movie (shirtless Force Bond scene), Kylo/Ben tells Rey that she can’t stop needing her parents who threw her away like garbage - “It’s your greatest weakness.” And this is true. Rey wanted to go back to Jakku, a backwater planet, because she’s still holding on to the idea of her parents coming back. She was willing to throw away her future and her potential because of this weakness.

As stated above, the delivery (especially the throne room) wasn’t exactly great, but it helped push Rey into the path of acceptance and moving on. I think a lot of people miss that she was the first one to admit that her parents were nobody. And what Kylo/Ben is telling her is that it is okay - okay that she doesn’t have a big background, okay that she doesn’t come from famous parents. And it’s great that she can now move on from the past! She defeated this weakness and can be what she was meant to be, so to speak.

Rian says, “If the answer presented to her was, ‘Your parents are so-and-so, here you go, here’s your place in this story.’ That would be the easiest thing for her to hear. And easiest thing for us to hear! Wish fulfilment. It’s like, ‘Oh, great! That’s who I am. That’s that.’ The hardest thing she could hear is, 'No, you’re not going to get that answer, that definition.’”

A lot of people were shocked over the reveal, which I guess was the point. As mentioned by Skysilencer above (and in other metas), the whole movie was about failure and subverting everyone’s expectations. A lot of folks expected Rey to come from somewhere - just like Rey was in denial and that her parents were coming back - and by revealing that she doesn’t come from an important family, we share her pain.

As talked in this article, Rey is on a journey of self-discovery. Her bigger conflict is not the current war of the First Order vs the galaxy - it’s figuring out who she is and what her place in the story is. To quote from the article, “To have her learn some kind of easy answer about a noble ancestry would not only immediately zap away that important conflict, but would also totally freeze and dismantle her important journey of self-discovery. Without the simple explanation, the heroine must stand on her own and carve out her own path, rather than just follow one already carved out for her.”