#jim most tragic character of all time

[tinytimism]

when they’re mean to jim in the adventures of huckleberry finn and in james

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

THERE'S A CASTLE ON THE HILL, AS THE STORY GOES...

As promised, some initial thoughts on the things I loved about seeing this show. Spoiler free, since most of us haven't gotten to see it yet, and under the cut since I do wax a bit poetic...

Cinderella’s Castle is, in a strange way, an exercise in irony. The show is a retelling of an ancient story that is beloved and recited throughout so many cultures, and yet somehow feels completely fresh. The modern take on glam-punk lighting, a score infused with styles from 80s synth to anime, a high fantasy set with the costumes to match, the spirit of Jim Henson lingering through both the puppets and some larger and intangible vibe, a script combining that Starkid humor and Hatchetfield darkness with a whole different style of speaking… all of these beautifully executed elements melted together into something that I’ve never before seen. To take a tale as old as time and make it unique is no easy feat, but Starkid did so with magic and charm to spare.

Like any good Starkid show, Cinderella’s Castle is relentlessly dynamic: fun and tragic and exciting and just-plain-silly, with many twists and turns and character moments will make you gasp or cheer just as often as you laugh. It simply rollicks. The story clicks right along, especially in act 2, but the characters are so distinct and fun that I found myself almost wishing the Langs had sacrificed their plotting and pace just to spend more time hanging with every single member of this ensemble of personalities.

And that’s also a tribute to the actors themselves. Jeff is David Bowie reborn as the impish and fabulous narrator. Jon and Joey bring Hop A Lot and Crumb to life with so much charm and presence that they practically had the audience eating out of their hands from the very first second. Like, seriously, you will not believe how invested you will immediately become in these talking animals. Kim’s Fairy Queen is as radiant and terrible as promised; her portrayal of immortal inhuman power compels and commands and stands fully distinct from the Lords in Black. Lauren and Mariah are delightfully disgusting as the vile but deeply lovable troll step-sisters; you can feel the fun they’re having practically radiating off of them. Curt’s Tadius is dryly funny and put-upon, but also provides a vitally grounding and centering presence in the larger-than-life world of the Lands That Are. His big scene with Bryce is probably my favorite part of the whole show. James Tolbert is nothing short of an absolute STAR as the Prince, stealing scene after scene after scene with ease and charm and more jokes about genitalia than I think any of us expected. Angela once again displays a completely different facet of her never-ending range, exuding such elegance and control even in trollish filth that I do fear that the kids on the internet are going to start calling her “mother” with greatly increasing frequency. "Facade" was an absolute highlight of the night. And of course Bryce anchors, propels, and heightens every scene she’s in with such apparent ease you forget she’s been rehearsing for weeks and isn’t simply Ella herself. Ella is this world’s bruised, brave, and angry heart, and you will absolutely root for her every step of the way as she wrestles with who she is and learns what it means to claim her own power.

This was Starkid’s biggest budgeted show to date, and you could tell. This group of Michigan Wolverines and friends have accomplished incredible things since the Very Potter days of a single door and some cardboard columns, and I’m so proud of how far they’ve come. And yet Cinderella’s Castle, the fifteenth musical in the fifteenth year, still retains some of that core Starkid magic that I’ve always believed boils down to love. You can so often see that love emanating from the performers on a Starkid stage: love for the show, for their friends, for their craft, for the audience’s energy pushing them through. And the sense of love and support and community radiating from the audience is just as palpable. The man sitting behind me last night was at his first ever Starkid show, and afterwards he remarked in awe how that was the best audience he’d ever been in. And all that love isn’t unearned—it is built and it is nourished by a proud history of creativity, of song and of dance and of laughter and tears. And Cinderella’s Castle, I think, is going to prove an installment worthy of both Starkid’s past and future.

Starkid family, Bogs Hollow grants thee Starlight.

[pinkiemachine]

How would you do Batman, I'm just wondering because Batman's my favorite character

OH HO HO!! I HAVE WRITTEN SO MUCH ABOUT BATMAN!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

*ahem*

His show is called BATMAN: GOTHAM FILES, and I have the basic outline for each and every one of the seasons! There’s 9 total, plus a movie finale. Here we go!

(But before we start, I want to add for all you whinging, angsty, broody moody, comic zealots out there, this is an overview. A light, easy breazy, overview. I am not getting into the gritty details, but they do still exist, so shut your pieholes.)

SEASON ONE:

Most of us should know basically what Bruce’s backstory is, so I’ll keep this part brief. Bruce Wayne was eight years old when his millionaire mother and father were gunned down in front of him in an alleyway in Gotham City. They never found the killer. The family’s loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, took care of Bruce from that point onward. Bruce started taking self-defence classes in-between going to the schwanky Gotham Academy and learning how to run his father’s business, Wayne Enterprises (a massive conglomerate that was famous throughout all of America, but especially the East Coast.) The young man had hardly healed from his traumatic experience, though, and after graduating college (something he was practically forced to do by Alfred), he decided not to stay in Gotham. He hated the city. Instead, he took off in a plane… and secretly never intended to come back…

EIGHT YEARS LATER…

It was a welcome surprise when Bruce Wayne turned up in Gotham, seemingly in a much happier headspace and eager to finally, finally take his father’s business seriously. The Prince of Gotham had returned. Months after that, there was a new legend lurking in the streets of the city. Something called “the batman” or “the bat.” Criminals were getting caught and arrested left and right, and half of them were scared out of their minds about this spectre. The police force didn’t know what to make of it… except for one Captain Jim Gordon. He knew that the legend was true… and occasionally, he would sneak into his office and scare the living daylights out of him. He and Batman had been working together for a little while now, (we get an episode later that explores how they first met), but Gordon doesn’t know who he really is under the mask, and no one else in the force thinks that Batman is even real. But Gordon is eager to help him because the police force is falling apart. They’re completely unable to do their job and keep the streets safe, so Gordon agrees to help Batman stop crime in its tracks. He wants to make Gotham safer for his wife and daughter.

Shocking literally no one, the audience discovers that Bruce Wayne is Batman, working out of a massive secret base underneath Wayne Manor—his ancestral home. But, he must balance the life of a vigilante with the life of billionaire Bruce Wayne, which can be difficult at times. We get several episodes just laying the ground work. Who runs the company when Bruce isn’t around? Lucious Fox. Who manages Bruce’s affairs and schedule? Alfred. Who makes all the gadgets and gear that Batman uses? He does. Using plenty of materials and goods he can buy since he’s a billionaire. When did he learn how to make all this stuff? Hmmmmmm….

We meet our first few villains—Penguin, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, etc—and we go into detail about each of their tragic backstories. Each episode focused on them also parallels as aspect of who Bruce is and what he’s fighting for as Batman. Speaking of which, Batman is still trying to track down who murdered his parents, but he’s not making much headway.

MID SEASON FINALE TIME.

Haley’s Traveling Circus was famous on the East Coast, being one of the oldest circuses in the country, as well as boasting the Fabulous Flying Graysons! A family trapeze act! However, this smiling troop of clowns was actually hiding some pretty dark secrets. When they arrived in Gotham City, they were asked to help out known mob-boss Tony Zucco with some… not-so-nice things. John Grayson, head of the Flying Graysons, had been feeling conflicted about how much behind-the-scenes shady dealings the circus had been involved with over the years, so he thought that maybe if he just let the tiniest bit of evidence leak to the police, maybe they could handle everything and the Graysons wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire. This is what brings Batman to the scene. He investigates the circus, meets the Graysons, including their son, Richard, aka Dick, and eventually goes on to solve the crime at hand, pinning it on Tony Zucco and getting certain members of Haley’s Circus arrested. (The ones actually involved in the crime.) However, Zucco manages to avoid jail time. Not only that, but he discovers who snitched on him. That night, after the case has been solved and Bruce shows up to catch the Flying Graysons perform, everything is going great until the unthinkable happens: the lines on the trapeze snap and Mr. and Mrs. Grayson go falling to their deaths.

Dick Grayson is an orphan… and he’s angry. He’s about 11 years old, but he’s smart enough to know what’s going on. He knows why Batman was coming around asking questions, he knows who Tony Zucco is, and he knows that his father made him very unhappy. After the police have arrived, but before social services do, Dick sneaks out and climbs to the top of the building with the Bat-Signal on it (yes, by this point in the story, that’s a thing). He flashes it on and off, rain pelting down, until the caped crusader arrives. He demands to know if this was Zucco’s fault. Batman refuses to say anything, but Dick doesn’t care. He says he’s going to make Zucco pay, whether Batman helps or not, and he tries his hardest to remain true to his word. After that night, Dick runs off through Gotham several times, trying to get in touch with Zucco and attempting to enact revenge, meanwhile Batman has to keep swooping in to keep the kid from getting himself killed. He recognises the pain he’s in—he completely understands his anger—and realises that he needs a teacher—a mentor—a father figure who can lead him through all of this and keep him out of trouble. So, as Bruce Wayne, he decides to adopt Dick. At first, Dick doesn’t want anything to do with this stranger—he’d rather stay with his circus family if he’s going to stay with anyone—but then, in court one day, Bruce says something—something only Batman said to him once—and all of a sudden, it clicks in Dick’s mind. He instantly asks to be placed in Bruce’s care and not a few hours after arriving at Wayne Manor, Dick manages to discover where the Batcave entrance is. Sneaking down there, he plans to become his own kind of vigilante, just like Batman, and get revenge… until Bruce catches him and tries to knock some sense into him.

It’s here that Bruce has to confront his own past. His sense and reason are saying, “Don’t let the kid try to enact revenge!” But then, he has to ask himself, “why am I still hunting down the man who killed my parents?” He has to tell himself, “it can’t be about revenge. Only what is just and fair.” When/if he finds the killer, he will turn him over to the authorities and let him face proper punishment. Zucco… he’s too powerful. There needs to be a lot of incriminating evidence against him before the police can take action, and even then, that’s not what Dick wants. Dick wants Zucco gone. Permanently. THAT is what needs to be dealt with inside of Dick. Bruce refuses to let this boy make himself a killer. Instead, he decides to channel that anger and drive into training him. You see, when Bruce vanished for eight years, it was during that time that he met many teachers and learned many new skills. Through bettering himself and learning these skills, he felt he had grown as a person and had worked through some of his emotions. It was therapeutic. He hopes it will be the same for Dick. He also teaches him about the justice system and detective work so that they can bring down Tony Zucco WITHOUT killing him. Little by little, over the course of the next year, Dick starts to turn into the infamous side-kick Robin, following Batman on small cases and learning about fighting crime… from a distance. (Mostly.) Dick does still have a knack for getting into trouble.

On the personal side of things, Dick still needs to adjust to living in Wayne Manor, going to a new school (Gotham Academy) navigating being a wealthy, famous person’s adopted son, especially when that wealthy famous person is the emotionally constipated and perfectionist Bruce Wayne, but we’ll circle back to that in the next post.

And then… Ra’s Al Ghul shows up. Now it’s time for Bruce’s past to be revealed. He had traveled the world, and he did have many teachers, but none quite as legendary as the Demon’s Head, leader of the League of Shadows. A secret organisation (cult, really, Bruce later realised) that had mastered martial arts, ninjutsu, and so much more. Each member was a peak specimen of the human race, with no genetic weaknesses or flaws, especially their leader, Ra’s. Bruce had been one of his top students, but then he had revealed his grand scheme. Ra’s wanted to wipe out the rest of humanity (which he deemed as impure and flawed) and then the only people who would be left to inherit the Earth would be his perfect family and his perfect followers! All he was missing was a male heir to his throne. His daughter, Talia, most perfect of his children, had fallen in love with Bruce during his time in the Shadows (and yes, the feelings were mutual), but before anything serious could come of it, Bruce snuck out and left the League, meaning never to come back. He refused to take part in mass genocide.

Now, though, Ra’s had found him and wanted him to marry his daughter. Bruce refuses, on the grounds that he and the Al Ghuls are entirely morally opposed, and both Ra’s and Talia deserve to be locked up for committing a long, long list of various crimes against humanity. Ra’s then tries to take Bruce by force, but Robin rescues him, proving himself as his sidekick, they save the day, it’s a big exciting grand finale to the season, and it ends with Ra’s and Talia retreating… because while Bruce was captured, they managed to steal some… “DNA”… and test tube baby Damian would be thus conceived, unbeknownst to Batman and Robin.

(Like, he’s a test tube baby from conception. Talia was never physically pregnant with him. PLEASE do not misunderstand.)

Anyway, things are looking up for our main characters. They saved the city, they saved each other, and everyone is excited to see Season 2 because—

JOKER TEASE!!!! DUN DUN DUN!!!!

I’mma make more posts, this is a long one, strap in…

I also have a sketch of Talia…

Part 2 👇

[dcdreamblog]

So I'm confused about the Spectre.

Because on one hand I always see these rumor and urban legends about people being found dead in various unusual but karmic conditions and people saying that the Spectre is responsible and that he's the literal Wrath of God.

But then I see old pictures where he sits with the JSA and he just looks like a guy.

So what is it and how do Christians react to him?

That first question is WAY easier to answer than the second but I will do my best, as ever. Like you said the Spectre seems to have altered in character over the course of the heroic age. But in reality that's just a trick of our perspective. In reality the Golden Age just happened to coincide with a lull in the Spectre's most violent tenancies due to an accident of fate, as many superhero stories do.

(An image of the Spectre from a wartime propaganda comic) It is truly not possible for me to exaggerate how old an entity the Spectre is. Descriptions of a hooded figure meting out the vengeance of the divine stretch back to the Bronze Age Middle East in what is now Israel where it was recognized as a spirit under the name Aztar. While descriptions of the Spectre are not EXCLUSIVE to Abrahamic religions they are much more common within those societies where the "character" appeared in reams of violent fables, enacting the vengeance of the lord upon sinner with bloody and ironic results. These reports peter out after the Renaissance and especially after the Industrial Revolution the same way all magical sightings faded during that period as the scientific revolution and enlightenment principles forced these ideas from humanity's collective psyches. That was until a deathly cold February night in New York, 1940. When hard edged police detective Jim Corrigan was dunked in a barrel of cement and thrown into the Hudson. His spirit calling out for vengeance so strongly that is snagged the Spectre's essence from the there and bonded with it. Perhaps inspired by the mystery men who had already appeared, Corrigan used the Spectre's abilities publically to hound the criminals responsible for his own death. Without any other avenues and now kept from his eternal reward by his anchoring to the spirit Corrigan dedicated himself to fighting crime. It was in this guise that he was a founding member of the Justice Society and All Star Squadron, serving as one of the strongest magical presences on both teams. Those who knew him at this time described him as cold and slightly unnerving but with a recognizable human persona underneath, Jim Corrigan was the one in the driver's seat and he was the one who sought and maintained membership in the JSA, similar to the way it was Kent Nelson who was invested in the JSA, not the spirit within the Helm of Fate. This all changed when the JSA was forced into hiding and Corrigan lost that circle of human connection

(A painting of the modern Spectre, done by Metropolis pastor Norman McKay) Over time, without that human connection and operating outside the direct public eye Corrigan exerted less direct control over the Spectre and began to operate much as he always had, delivering tragic punishment to those who escape the justice of all but the almighty. Most occult reports have ever suggested in the modern day that Corrigan himself has been freed of the Spectre's hold and been passed on to whatever afterlife he merited. Your second question is...mostly unanswerable, kind of by definition? How people see the Spectre in relation to their own spiritual views is a question that has as many answers as it has people to ask the question TO. Some Christians take him at face value as a facet of their vision of God. Some Christians deny his "divinity" but uphold him as a hero or at leave a benevolent presence. Some branches rebuke him as a false creature, his existence seen as blasphemy in itself. I'm a historian, not a theologist and the answers for any other religion are equally fractal and complicated.

[891movies]

Top 25 films (of the second 250 I watched for this project)

Around two years ago I posted a top 25 list of the first 250 films I watched for this project. Since I have now watched another 250 films and discovered many new favorites, the time has come for a second top 25!

Without further ado, I present them in chronological order (because if I actually had to rank them this list would never get out of the editing stage):

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, dir. Michael Curtiz, William Keighley)

This movie is a storybook adventure come to life, charming, entertaining and beautiful to look at (I miss you, technicolor!). Errol Flynn has an unmatched energy as the titular character and Olivia de Havilland is the picture perfect leading lady, with the exact right mixture of grace and fire. This is may not be a particularly complex or groundbreaking film but it does what it does perfectly and taps into that childlike sense of wonder that few films manage so well.

A Matter of Life and Death (1946, dir. Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell)

One of my most delightful discoveries since starting this project have been the films of Powell and Pressburger - I'm not sure what other directors could boast releasing three of the greatest films of all time in three consecutive years (those being A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes). This film mixes a deeply moving love story with a metaphysical court room drama to great success and this strange mixture is mirrored in the film's form, with some experimental but mostly conventional cinematography.

Ace in the Hole (1951, dir. Billy Wilder)

As grim and cynical as it is sharp, this movie plays out like a feverish nightmare. I was honestly shocked at how dark this movie got, considering the time and place in which it was made, but that is absolutely what the story needed and I'm glad Wilder got to tell it this way.

A Star Is Born (1954, dir. George Cukor)

Has there ever been another star to reach the heights of emotional intensity that Judy Garland did in her time? I was lucky enough to see this movie on the big screen and I can't imagine watching it at home, because Garland is so larger than life, I can't see how a smaller screen could contain her. That's not to take anything away from James Mason, who gives a tragic and intense performance for the ages.

Johnny Guitar (1954, dir. Nicholas Ray)

Joan Crawford in your butch black shirt save me! Save me, Joan Crawford in your butch black shirt!

Bigger Than Life (1956, dir. Nicholas Ray)

Surprise, it's another Nicholas Ray melodrama! Ray had this habit of creating highly emotional stories that hid some sharp social commentary, but the commentary is barely hidden this time and it is shockingly subversive. Mason gives another intense performance but here it tilts fully into unhinged territory and he is terrifying to watch. The ending feels a little slapped on but it also feels like the only way Ray could get away with everything that came before.

Mon Oncle (1958, dir. Jacques Tati)

This movie feels like a precursor to Playtime, one of my all-time favorite films (incredibly novel opinion, I know). The sets are meticulously designed and a delight to behold, and Tati's performance as Monsieur Hulot (the titular uncle) is charming as always. I especially adore the contrast between the traditional and modern Paris, as well as the unconventional sound mixing that refuses to privilege dialogue, leaning into cinema's strengths as a visual medium.

Jules and Jim (1962, dir. François Truffaut)

This is by far my most recent watch on this list and it's still kind of percolating in my head but I loved it when I watched it and my fondness for it has been growing daily. It has that charming, youthful irreverence that the French New Wave is so known for, as well as one of the most complex depictions of a female character I've seen in french cinema.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962, dir. Robert Aldrich)

Bette Davis is one of my all time favorite actresses and this is one of my all time favorite performances. She puts everything into this role and the rest of the film compliments her perfectly; it's funny and dark, tragic and absolutely unhinged. And Joan Crawford is good too, I guess.

Tokyo Olympiad (1965, dir. Kon Ichikawa)

This blew my mind when I first watched it, seeing what incredible feats documentary filmmakers were capable of so early on in the genre's history. It is also the perfect counterpoint to Riefenstahl's earlier documentaries about the Olympic games; where she emphasized nationalism and feats of strength, Tokyo Olympiad focuses on the humanity of it and the power this event has to bring us together. Probably my favorite section of the film focuses on an athlete who was the sole representative of his newly independent country and who did not qualify for the finals in his field (unfortunately I don't remember the country or the sport). But just the fact that he made it to the Olympics, that he got to represent his country on the world stage, is an incredible feat in and of itself, and the film recognizes this.

The Wild Bunch (1969, dir. Sam Peckinpah)

This movie is everything a western should be - exciting, violent, and deeply critical of the ugly history it is depicting. The characters are not good people but they are compelling and incredibly fun to watch.

Woodstock (1970, dir. Michael Wadleigh)

Another mindblowing documentary that pushes the ability of the medium to its limits. It captures a unique moment in time, a spirit of rebellion and hope for the future that unfortunately feels worlds away from our current cultural landscape. It is also an incredible display of the emotional power of music. I cried during Janis Joplin's performance and it felt impossible to match, but then it is immediately followed by Jimi Hendrix and I could feel my soul descend to a higher plane of existence. It is my life's goal to see this film in the theater.

In the Realm of the Senses (1976, dir. Nagisa Ōshima)

Everything is sex, except sex, which is love and beauty and death all intertwined and impossible to separate.

Atlantic City (1980, dir. Louis Malle)

Rarely has a setting felt so integral to a film. Everything from the story, to themes, to the characters revolves around and is subservient to the setting of a declining Atlantic City whose glory days are far behind it. It is also a microcosm of American society at large, at least as people were experiencing it in 1980 (although it's pretty relevant today, I would say).

Gallipoli (1981, dir. Peter Weir)

This is the movie that definitively convinced me that anti-war films are indeed possible to make, just not in Hollywood (Come and See had me thinking this, but Gallipoli proved to me that it wasn't a unique feat of just one film). We barely see the war in this movie but it is all about the incredible tragedy of it.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982, dir. Godfrey Reggio)

I was completely expecting this movie to put me to sleep and instead, it was one of the most viscerally intense and haunting viewing experiences of my life. It is hypnotic in the very best way and somehow captures the ennui of modern life without a single word being spoken.

Paris, Texas (1984, dir. Wim Wenders)

This film is an intoxicating mixture of tenderness and brutality, and a deeply moving depiction of our longing to reach out and connect to one another. This is the other film on the list I got to see in the theater and the cinematography was absolutely breathtaking on the big screen.

Trust (1990, dir. Hal Hartley)

This is such a delightfully strange film, almost but not quite set in our reality. The strangeness makes the gentleness of the love story all the more touching; this is one of those movies that makes me happy to be alive.

Safe (1995, dir. Todd Haynes)

I have been kind of obsessed with this movie since I saw it, so much so that it will actually be a focal point in my master's thesis. Everything in the film, from the cinematography to the soundtrack to, especially, Julianne Moore's performance, builds to this overwhelming sense of anxiety and dread, and Haynes' refusal to give an easy answer (or any answers at all) makes it all the more unsettling.

Scream (1996, dir. Wes Craven)

I do like scary movies, yes. I especially like movies that are scary, funny, and feature a bloody final girl and (more than) a touch of homoeroticism.

The Blair Witch Project (1999, dir. Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez)

Look at that, another scary movie! I am probably more susceptible to this movie's attempts at scares than most viewers, because I've only very recently started to build any kind of tolerance for horror, but it got me so good. The simplicity just makes it better; it may only do one thing but it does it very, very well.

Dancer in the Dark (2000, dir. Lars von Trier)

I'm always kind of hoping when I watch a new Lars von Trier movie that maybe I won't like this one, because I don't know what it says about me that I enjoy his films so much but I know that it can't be good. But this movie belongs just as much to Björk, who gives an incredible acting performance and an all-time great vocal performance. I was left a sobbing wreck; to this day, just humming 'The next to last song' to myself brings a tear to my eye.

Volver (2006, dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

Penélope Cruz is a revolution in this movie, my god. She brings the emotional sincerity that the film needs to keep its elaborate plot grounded. As always, I appreciate Almodóvar's clear love for strong and complicated women, as well as the often messy relationships between them.

Phantom Thread (2017, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

I love a good twisted love story and it is beautifully told here. Form also compliments function to a tee; a story about an obsessive compulsion to create perfect art is mirrored in the absolutely meticulous cinematography and costuming. Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of a lifetime here and while I do miss seeing him in the theater, what a film to end on!

Roma (2018, dir. Alfonso Cuarón)

This is one of those movies where nothing happens, in that there isn't a traditional plot (events still take place, obviously), because it's about life, man. It's a type of film that needs a deft hand and a filmmaker with something to say, and Cuarón has both in spades. Funnily enough, this movie reminds me a lot of Paris, Texas; it has that same mix of tenderness and harshness that compliment each other.

[anewstartrekfan]

Why I like Kirk so much and why I think he didn’t resonate as much with general audiences as Spock did

I think what Gene Roddenberry and the rest of the tos crew underestimated is how powerful knowledge of a character can be when they thought Kirk would be popular over Spock. As season 1 progresses while you do get information about both Kirk and Spock peppered through out, how much and how it’s conveyed is important.

Spock is Stoic yes, but surprisingly he talks about his past and what it means to be Vulcan a lot. And other characters comment on Vulcans too like McCoy describing where a Vulcan heart is. Even moving onto season 2, when Spock truly, desperately, does not want to explain what Pon Farr is or that Sarek is his father, he admits these things under pressure. And all of this information is what’s gives the audience an idea of what informs his actions.

Jim Kirk however, despite being very outgoing and charismatic, very rarely talks about himself. With few exceptions, every time you do learn something about his past it’s because someone else explains it or points it out. You’ve got where no man has gone before where Gary talked about their academy days, The naked time while Spock talked about his regrets, Kirk vents that he wants a personal connection and then is literally the only person who is able to will the virus to stop effecting him (on his own I mean) just long enough for McCoy to give him the cure.

The Android copy of Kirk tells us about Kirk’s brother Sam, in Conscience of the king literally everyone except Kirk explains his tragic tarsus iv backstory, we never find out who the Ruth girl is in shore leave, and it’s Bones that brings up Sam lives on Deneva. Even in season 2 in the worst episode ever, the deadly years, when Kirk is in a room alone with his ex fiancé, she explains their history. Not Kirk.

This man is allergic to talking about himself I love it.

Edit: Whenever Jim does even sorta talk about his past, it’s always in the context of what the other people he’s talking to know about it. Take Tarsus IV. Spock tells Jim that he checked the same library records. So when Jim finally opens up at the end of the conversation, it’s information Spock and Bones already know. “I saw him [Kodos] once, 20 years ago.” Then about 10 minutes later when he’s talking with Kodos and trying to get proof, he gives Kodos a copy of the speech Jim heard him read 20 years ago. Saying that he memorized the words. Again, these are things only the two of them would know about. It’s not something Jim exclusively went through.

Then later in Obsession when Jim is talking about his prior experience with the fog, everything he references was in the report he made after the Farragut disaster that he knows Spock and Bones read. There is no new information he reveals about what happened to him or even how he felt about it. Bones has to be the one to say Jim was wrecked with guilt because at the end of the day, Jim will never willingly talk about his past without knowing or thinking the other person he’s talking to has the same information. He will not reveal anything new 95% of the time.

Anyway back to the old blog.

While I’d argue conscience of the king does most of the work you would ever need to explain why Kirk is the way he is, the fact is we don’t learn much about his past through him. Instead it’s Kirk’s actions that inform our understanding of him. Which on some level I like a lot. It’s rare that a tv series doesn’t lean heavily into some tragic backstory explaining why a character acts the way they do. But it isn’t just he doesn’t have multiple tragic backstories. It’s what we know nothing about his past in general. Ffs we didn’t learn he grew up in Iowa until Star Trek IV. It might not even be Riverside! That town just claimed it for themselves and everyone rolled with it.

Edit: SNW did confirm after almost 40 years that riverside is Kirk’s birthplace.

The audience never truly closes the gap with Kirk because he never willingly opens up (at least where I am in the show idk maybe the movies change this) So comparatively Spock just had more going on.

[ramblingguy54]

Now that the holidays are moving on out once again, I can have free time to post this. Sonic 3 is hands down the best entry outta all three films, no contest.

It streamlines the Sonic & human characters formula more nicely. Jumps right into exactly what many were wanting. That being Shadow’s amazing introduction. The fucking CHILLS I got hearing that acoustic Live & Learn at the start played by Maria in Shadow’s brief flashback. That’s when I knew I was in for a real gaming movie treat. Keanu does such an excellent job capturing Shadow’s threatening presence, yet contrasted by the underlying melancholic nature, of his tragic background.

What Sonic 3 does best is the conflict between how Sonic & Shadow’s grief plays a big part in the overall thematic use of Live & Learn throughout its run time. Sonic & Shadow’s baggage influences their future lifestyles.

For Sonic, he obviously yearned for a proper family and friends after years of being in hiding. Losing Longclaw at such a young age left deep scars on him. Shadow of course mirrors this losing the only person who didn’t see him as a tool of destruction to fear. Maria in the movie may not have a compelling backstory with terminal illness, but this iteration’s personality is highly entertaining to make up for the exchange. You can immediately buy into why this Shadow would want bloodshed unleashed. Movie Maria is a cheeky, sneaky, and playful kid that gets Shadow to open up emotionally. To stop the mindset of not having to become what these scientists see him as, a monster.

Sonic 3 is the most compelling entry thus far because they take what defines Sonic & Shadow’s backgrounds. Putting them against each other in the third act.

“I’ve spent fifty years reliving what they did to her…This is WHO I AM inside!”

To no surprise, Shadow’s characterization is my favorite part of this whole movie. Any time he appears on screen you know shit is gonna normally hit the fan hard. Sonic’s first thrown down with Shadow at its start sells what a bigger deal he is out of every threat this blue blur has faced previously.

What makes it much harder for Sonic to deal with is when he learns about Shadow’s past. Realizing he is a broken guy, who had his chance at happiness unfairly ripped away puts things into a much bigger perspective. It’s not just about stopping Shadow anymore, but proving his ideals are strong enough to save him from that encompassing pain.

If there was any real critique I have against Sonic 3, it’s Jim Carrey as Gerald. For as much as I enjoy his usual antics as Eggman, they should’ve dialed it back a bit more on Gerald. He should’ve been a much bigger starker contrast in his darker dramatic intentions. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have great moments with Gerald. When he stops screwing around to play it straight, Gerald gets some great dialogue. One line he says to Eggman near the end made me internally go, “Holy shit. That hurt to watch.”.

That criticism aside, Sonic 3 is a love letter to what made SA2, and Shadow The Hedgehog most importantly, an insanely iconic entry for Sonic’s franchise. While my favorite movie outta this whole year goes to The Wild Robot, Sonic 3 is certainly up there in my highlights.

Go see this on the big screen now.

[yandere-toons]

Someone: *says something rude about the reader*

Yandere: You talk a lot of shit for someone who's house is so flamable.

Characters that have this vibe:

Patrick Hockstetter

Kai (Ninjago)

Tom Lucitor

Bridgit Pike | Firefly

Iblis (Blue Exorcist)

Smaug

Matthew Patel

Deadpool | Wade Wilson

Godzilla

Hades (Hercules 1997)

Snotlout Jorgenson + His Monstrous Nightmare Hookfang

Ruffnut & Tuffnut Thorston

Zuko

Jesse Gemstone

Lili Zanotto

Red Son (Monkie Kid)

Eric Cartman

Mr Piranha

Vaas Montenegro

Coriolanus Snow

Lord Garmadon

Roger the Alien

Stewie Griffin

Negaduck | Jim Starling

Bender Bending Rodr��guez

Rocket Raccoon

Cherri Bomb (Hazbin Hotel)

Blitzo

Rin Okumura

Five Hargreeves

The Joker

Shelby Brothers

Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Lili Zanotto

Judge Claude Frollo

Mushu

Daemon Targaryen

Joffrey "for someone whose head is so cuttable" Baratheon

Sheldon J. Plankton

Bowser

Emperor Zurg

Emperor Nefarious

Handsome Jack

Trevor Philips

Gremlins

Bakugou Katsuki (early on)

Dabi

Duncan (Total Drama)

Heather (Total Drama)

Honourable Mentions:

Gru + Minions, Vector (Despicable Me), Megamind (when he was villainous), Doctor Nefarious, Gyro Gearloose and Technical Boy would consider arson too lowbrow. In their tech-savvy minds, shrink rays, piranha guns, dehydration guns, atomisation, robot and clone armies and breaking every bone in the person's body all send the correct message.

"Why settle for a house?" wonders most iterations of the Doctor (Doctor Who). "Why not drop them on some desolate planet or in some hostile universe where they die over and over again?" Bill Cipher seconds this notion.

Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians) would freeze the doors and ice the floors and windows, effectively creating a giant icebox as fires cannot stay burning in his presence.

Dark Helmet, Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux and Darth Vader would vaporise the person's house (and planet to boot) from space. If the person was off-world at the time, those who are Force or Schwartz users will proceed to Force-choke or laser the person even after they have lost everything.

Scar (The Lion King) would arrange an accident that is tragically and unavoidably fatal while Shenzi, Banzai and Ed would maul the person in full view of a crowd.

Gaz Membrane is constantly rude to anyone who dares to be her obsession, but if anyone else tries the same rudeness, they will pay. Zim and the two main Tallest also have shades of this.

Albert Wesker (Resident Evil 5 era): Look, another test subject for Uroboros has presented itself.

Urdnot Wrex, Grunt (Mass Effect 2) and Wolverine/Logan are not the burn-your-house-down types. It would be too easy for the person to learn nothing from the experience, such as how much they should be afraid of running their mouth to the wrong stranger in the future. These three will knock the person out before they even finish the sentence.

Yzma has exactly the right potion for this human flea, except that she adds an extra four or so steps to the plan.

Lord Hater invades the scoundrel's home planet with the support of Commander Peepers and his army of Watchdogs, or he may blast the world to smithereens with a laser.

Lord Dominator delights in crushing this pest's home world with her drill and making them watch every life on it come to an end.

Marvin the Martian said it best: "Be polite, or I'll vaporise you."

[yuttikkele]

sonic 3 spoilers under the cut

things I really liked about the movie!! and some other thoughts as well!!

I actually did laugh when Sonic said “TALK ABOUT LOW BUDGET FLIGHTS!!” It felt so showhorned in but I don’t care it’s still hilarious

forgot how much I missed just, shadow being COOL. Bro deserves all the hype he gets he’s just so cool.

THE CHAO GARDEN??? Genius way to include that. Give us a location in America NOW.

HOW DID THAT OLD GUY DIE SO EASILY??? I MEAN I KNEW HE WAS OLD BUT REALLY???? THAT HAPPENED SO FAST. They were killing off characters in this movie left and right 💀💀

I really like the foreSHADOWing of Tom telling Sonic he is the way he is because he handled loss with love (and how if he didn’t he’d probably turn out a completely different person).

Genuinely loved the allegory Maria and Shadow used. “Even though the star is gone, its light continues to shine.” Absolutely beautiful.

Would it really be a movie with Jim Carrey if he didn’t have a whole dance number with himself?

Stone was going THROUGH IT this whole movie.

oh my gosh WHEN LIVE AND LEARN STARTED PLAYING???? I started jumping up and down in my seat. I tried mouthing the lyrics but it’s been a while since I listened to it and I got so excited that I forgot some of the parts. The most hype part of the movie.

DR. GERALD ROBOTNIK DEATH???? Might actually be one of my favorite death scenes ever oh my gosh. That took me out.

I was so focused on Eggman peeing on the moon that my brain kinda glossed over the joke that was actually in the movie during that scene, so I want to give it a little spotlight here cause it was incredibly funny. *sigh of relief as the laser just barely misses Earth.* *it slices a piece of the moon off.* “GASP” “aaAAUGH” “ooo that’s not good” “LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE”

EGGMAN MAKES AN ANNOUNCEMENT but it’s gay????

I mean, we all know Eggman and Shadow aren’t dead (well ig there’s a possibility Eggman’s dead but it really isn’t likely), but by a movie standpoint, these characters are just DYING TRAGICALLY and then BOOM WE’RE GOING CAMPING :DDD

oh my gosh. YESSSS LET’S GO AMY ROSE!!! Was so excited to see her. I really thought she should’ve been in this movie, but I know Shadow’s already a handful so maybe this works out better. Metal Sonic too!!! Curious who is leading this onslaught.

MAYBE SONIC MOVIE 6 WILL HAVE SILVER GUYS WE’RE NOT GIVING UP HOPE YET!!!

All the pop culture references in this movie? Actually so good. Like it wasn’t cringey it was like “yeah Sonic would say that.” But there was just, WAY more pop culture references than like what feels normal, so the sheer amount of pop culture references was funny to me.

Great movie. Fantastic movie. Grand time.

[uselessheretic]

Izzy Hands and His No Good Very Tragic Love Story

Season two came out recently (if you haven't noticed!) and within the first 3 episodes we've gotten to see a side of Izzy showing a great amount of depth and sympathy towards him. This is especially around his declaration of having love for Edward, confirming a long held fandom opinion by some that the lil guy is just cranky because he has a crush.

For most of the last year and a half, it seems that the main fandom interpretation of Izzy Hands and whatever the fuck is wrong with him was that Izzy was homophobic. For a while, it was actually controversial to suggest that Izzy was in love with Edward at all!

For some, Izzy's confession debunks their previously held understanding of Izzy as a homophobe. For others, they might just go with the "he's gay and homophobic, duh" reasoning. I'd really encourage anyone who's seeing a new side of Izzy to go back and rewatch season 1, but try it through a lens of assuming that Izzy's in love, not bigoted, and see which narrative is stronger.

But no matter your interpretation, I think we can confidently say that the creators' goal with writing Izzy has never been to make him homophobic. There's examples from the show I can use to draw out an analysis of why homophobic Izzy doesn't hold up under scrutiny, but right now I just wanna give y'all some background onto what has already been confirmed by word of god.

David Jenkins had already confirmed at the end of season 1 that Ed and Izzy are a romance. A dark and toxic one, but a romance nonetheless. He has also reiterated the same in recent interviews as well.

The writing of the show has a focus on not relying on queer trauma to create conflict. Ed and Stede getting together isn't ever blocked by homophobic forces, jim's story isn't defined by transphobia, and nobody's past is scarred by homophobic (or racist) bigotry. The writers have said that this focus on queer trauma was something they wanted to avoid.

Taika has said a few times that nobody is ever against a queer couple because they're gay, they're just upset that jealous. The context makes it pretty clear that the only characters he could be referring to is Ed, Stede, and Izzy. He also emphasized that being gay is just the pirate way.

Con o'Neill has also specifically said at a panel in June that Izzy isn't homophobic, he's just heartbroken.

There's also been con goers who've spoken with Con about queer narratives where Con had added on that yeah, gay people can be homophobic, but Izzy isn't. He just hates Stede's guts.

If the creator's and actors' intentions are undeniably that the character isn't homophobic, then maybe it's time for us to revisit the source material, and try to see what they were actually trying to say.

[amageish]

People seemed to like my post chronicling the queer history of Felicia Hardy, so I'm going to do something similar to that... Let's chat about the queer history of Marvel's unwitting power couple, Ellie Phimister and her girlfriend Yuki Ohara.

Let's dive in!

Content Warning: This summary will include discussion of anti-mutant hate crimes and genocide, as that is part of Ellie's comic book story.

Like a lot of queer X-Men stories, this one begins with queercoding in the 80s.

While Jim Shooter famously prohibited any queer storytelling in Marvel Comics during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the company and, on top of that, the Comics Code Authority also banned it, Chris Claremont, the architect of the X-Men as we know them today, never really followed those rules - and neither did his editors, artists, and co-writers. There are so many queer-coded relationships throughout his runs on the X-Men and the modern X-Men stories are still playing catch-up to this day, canonizing the intentions of him and his collaborators one character at a time. Mystique and Destiny are probably his most famous pairing nowadays, as that is canon now, but he also wrote the Juggernaut as being with Black Tom Cassidy, Kate Pryde as being bisexual for most women she encounters in her life, and, the topic for today, Storm being in a romantic relationship with the Japanese assassin Yukio.

Yukio is, to put it mildly, a risk-taker. She runs through life with seemingly no self-preservation instincts whatsoever and, for some reason, always gets by nonetheless. She and Storm have a fling while Storm is in Japan (Uncanny X-Men 172-173) and this leads directly into Storm's famous punk era, which certainly does recontextualize some of the vibes of her having suddenly gotten a mohawk and a taste for leather.

Their later reunion in Uncanny X-Men 311-313 is extra funny to me - both because of the narration textually referring to them as "more then friends" and because of Yukio justifying her daredevil attitude by suggesting it would have been "politically incorrect" of the villain to have attacked them in public.

These two "kindred spirits" hang out for a bit, but Yukio is ultimately a Wolverine character and not a larger X-Men team member, so they naturally split off as time goes on. Their last appearance together was during the 2014 Death of Wolverine event - though their affair was mentioned by an angry Kitty during the Storm flashback mini earlier this year.

That said, Yukio is obviously a Sapphic and I guess when the team behind the movie Deadpool 2 decided to give their version of Negasonic Teenage Warhead a girlfriend, they looked at the list of queer-coded characters and decided she was the right one for them...

Now, as for Ellie...

Eloise Phimister AKA Negasonic Teenage Warhead debuted in Grant Morrison's New X-Men, but her name was not said on-panel until after she was already dead. She was one of Emma Frost's students, a gothic woman with telepathic powers that foretold the death of her and her classmates at Genosha... and yet she died nonetheless.

This is a very tragic character. She has a silly name, but that is part of the heartbreak of this moment. Ellie is a child who died as a result of a genocidal desire to kill all mutants. Her silly name emphasizes her youth... which makes it REALLY tonally dissonant when it played for comedy from here-on-out.

She was briefly brought back by the camp gay villain Selene when she revived horrific versions of many deceased mutants as part of X-Force... and then she was revived for real with a new design fter the release of the first Deadpool movie. She maintains her precognitive abilities and future-sight here, but otherwise... Well, she's now a comedy character in a Deadpool book. She also can warp reality now, partially as an explanation for why she looks/acts different then her first appearances.

She paled around with Deadpool for a bit, but didn't do anything explicitly queer in the comics until 2022 (good god) where she kissed an unnamed woman, causing Wolverine to wonder if she'll one day lead a X-Men team that is exclusively made up of her multiple girlfriends. This comment is also a subtle not to the implied status quo of the Krakoa era, where Wolverine himself has two partners - dating both Jean Grey and Scott Summers.

This is a funny moment, though I do wonder why it took so long for her to be queer in the comics - Marvel comic books are generally the most queer media Marvel puts out, so I do wonder if it was something specifically about her being a Deadpool character that caused people to hesitate to greenlight queer stories about her.

Finally, in 2023, Ellie got her first solo series in the form of an Infinity Comic.

This series uses the increasingly-popular approach of having "fate" be a stand-in for "the concept of being a loyal adaptation in a multimedia landscape," as she is fated to kiss a girl named Yuki Ohara or else the fabric of reality as we know it will be destroyed.

While Deadpool is only in it for a bit, it is a very meta narrative, with a lot of commentary on the way that female characters are written in comics in general and female reality-warpers specifically, with Ellie having a lot of anxiety about the risk of her becoming like Jean Grey or Scarlet Witch - not helped by the TVA chasing her down and declaring her a threat. However, in the end, she meets her girlfriend-to-be and pauses time itself to get know her properly before having their universe-saving kiss. Good for them!

Since then, she has appeared exactly once - in a Pride issue fashion show - but I imagine she and her girlfriend Yuki are just in a little reality-warp bubble, hidden away as Fall of X finishes up.

Synergy is a dirty word in the comics landscape, but I personally like Ellie and her romance with Yuki - and I'm very relieved that they introduced a new, younger Yuki O. based on the movie for her to date instead of just retconning the established Yukio into becoming Eloise's girlfriend... Storm doesn't deserve to have her girl stolen away like that!

Also, Yuki has a giant mech and electricity powers. Maybe a little cliche for a Japanese character's powerset, but it is badass...

I hope we see more comic book stuff with these two eventually... There is potential there that is as of yet untapped - especially as they are probably two of Marvel's most notable queers by virtue of being in wildly popular movies, even if their comic queerness is a relatively modern thing.

[tyrantisterror]

Top ten favorite Orcs? Either specific characters or a given setting’s take on the species as a whole.

I'm not sure I have enough strong feelings about Orcs to really make an interesting list of ten, but what the hell I'll try.

Tolkien's orcs - not just LOTR orcs, but specifically orcs as written by J.R.R. Tolkien - are pretty high up there for me. I've probably mentioned this more than enough on this blog, but I'm still moved by the moment in The Lord of the Rings where we get this conversation between two orcs when their bosses aren't around, where both of them commiserate with each other about how shitty being drafted into Sauron's war is, how they long to go back to their simpler life as mountain bandits, and how, maybe, if they could find a way to escape being caught by their superiors, they could run off and find someplace far from the war to settle down together. Their names are Shagrat and Gorbag, and later in the book one of the heroes finds them among a pile of dead orcs, their dream of a simpler life tragically unfulfilled. I bring this up because, for all the flak Tolkien's cosmology gets for codifying the fantasy trope of "Always Chaotic Evil" races, there's a lot more moral complexity to his "evil" races than most people think. The orcs we meet in his stories are universally pretty nasty people - even Gorbag and Shagrat can't conceive of a simple life that doesn't involve killing people for their valuables - but it's very clear this is a result of the culture they are living in, which, if you get nerdy and read up on the Lore (TM), is one that has been specifically designed by the Middle Earth equivalent of Satan to turn all living things in it into tools of warfare - a world that exists solely to serve as a vast machine of industrialized conquest and mass murder. And it makes them miserable. Orcs don't like living this way, even though it's the only way they know how to live. They are at once victim and villain, and that's explicitly the canon way to look at them in the text. So it kind of sucks that their reputation in pop culture - and how they're presented in most adaptations, including good ol' PJ's film trilogy - is as one-dimensional evil henchmen, because they do have more going on than that in the books themselves, and it enriches the themes of the story when those dimensions are included.

The orcs in Rune Factory are probably my favorite from a design standpoint. I'm kind of neutral at best with the standard "green skinned humans with optional tusks" look of most orcs. There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't thrill me either, existing in the same nebulous space as, like, traditional fantasy elves, dwarves, and hobbit expies - I understand why they're classics, but they feel kind of boring when you've got other options on the table. So seeing these guys when I booted up my first Rune Factory game was a revelation - finally, orcs that look INTERESTING! And they're so cute, these gnarly little Jim Hensen/Brian Froud style pig people. And they'll help you water your plants! A+ Tier orcs as far as I'm concerned.

Dungeon Meshi found a good middle ground between "gnarly boar people" and "humans with tusks" that I really like, and while the orcs aren't given a whole lot of focus, what world building we do get about them is pretty great, taking a lot of the classic orc tropes and giving them that Ryoko Kui caliber thought and detail that makes them so wonderful.

What else... well, ok, my brain still categorizes these guys as "goblins" rather than "orcs," but since the two are more or less synonymized in both Tolkien and the Rankin Bass adaptations of his work, I guess I can include them. They're one of my favorite designs for goblins of all time, and since I generally like goblins more than orcs, I guess this makes them my favorite orc design by default? I just love them, nasty little toad people.

The 1980 Return of the King movie in particular is one of the few adaptations that keeps Tolkien's sympathy for the orcs in tact, with Frodo even having a dream sequence about living in a world where his run in with orcs is fully pleasant, each of them waving at each other as they cross paths, content to share a beautiful world together.

And while it adapts the parts of the text that take place after the deaths of poor Shagrat and Gorbag, it still manages to work in a moment where the orcs lament their lot in life by way of the infamous "Where There's a Whip There's a Way" song written just for the film. I know this song is generally viewed as "bad" and corny and whatever, fuck that, I unironically love it. It's my wakeup alarm for workdays. I am these orcs five days out of the week.

What else...

So, like, kind of a cheat I suppose, but the Darkspawn in Dragon Age take a lot of cues from Tolkien's take on orcs, right down to seeming like they're just always chaotic evil at first glance, and also being the product of Supernatural Crimes Against Nature by semi-divine powers. And indeed, in Dragon Age Origins you're basically given no reason to view them as anything but evil obstacles to destroy, especially when you learn the body-horror involved in how they reproduce (it's more in the vein of Slither than Goblin Slayer, for those unaware - grotesque but, thankfully, not in that way).

But the big ol' DLC for the same game, called Dragon Age Awakening, throws a big monkey wrench in that view of them. We meet Darkspawn who are capable of speech - ones that have been broken free of the evil hivemind their species is ruled by, and, like freed borg drones, are now at a loss of what to do with themselves. They are, like Tolkien's orcs before them, a people who were made for war and violence, and yet still crave something more than that when given the chance to think about it. It's something that hasn't been followed up on much since, sadly, but it's a damn cool take.

What else...

I'm probably the only person who still remembers this movie, especially with any fondness, but I liked the orcs in the Warcraft movie directed by David Bowie's son. They were given a lot of nuance and I honestly think their parts of the film were by the far the best. Actually I remember liking that movie a lot despite some of its pacing issues, I should revisit it.

Ok that's not ten takes but I feel like there are at least 10 designs on display here so I'm calling this done.

[maidenimage]

90 minutes

I couldn't sleep, so I got on my computer and edited season 2 down to just the present-day Crowley/Aziraphale scenes, just to see how much time that fills.

The answer is: approximately 145 minutes (or 2 hrs 25 min).

I removed everything that didn't have either of them in it, as well as the minisode flashbacks. Here's how each episode tallies up:

2x01: 0:33:45

2x02: 0:18:58 Job Minisode is an additional 0:25:36

2x03: 0:19:12 Edinburgh Minisode is an additional 0:18:25

2x04: 0:05:36 Nazis Minisode is an additional 0:32:48

2x05: 0:27:19

2x06: 0:40:03 (like basically the entire episode, not much fat to trim here)

Keep in mind that this is not a story edit; meaning there are scenes that I cut out that probably would have been in the season if we were genuinely trying to whittle it down to movie-length but keep the integrity of the story. (This includes scenes such as Muriel bringing the matchbox to Michael and Uriel, Shax in Hell talking to Beelzebub, all the Gabriel/Beelzebub flashbacks in episode 6, etc.) But it's late and I don't have time to do that right now, so this is the rough framework we're working with.

Here's my takeaway:

Can season 3 be sliced and diced into one 90-minute episode/movie? Yeah, probably. Are we going to lose a lot of the heart of the show and the characters in doing so? Definitely. Because in order to edit season 2 down into 90 minutes while still keeping the story in tact, I would probably have to add back some of the non-Aziracrow scenes, and cut the following:

The "Before the beginning" scene with Angel Crowley starting up the universe (which we can all agree would be a devastating loss; but doesn't directly tie to present day)

Most likely, the apology dance (because it's long and isn't strictly speaking necessary, except TO ME ON A SPIRITUAL LEVEL)

Most if not all of the scenes of Aziraphale convincing the various shopkeepers to attend the meeting (which would gut me, but is objectively not necessary to the story)

A great deal of the Maggie/Nina story (would probably keep some of it, but most of it is superfluous)

A lot of the Gabriel/Jim scenes (which are adorable but are there for entertainment, and not story)

A great deal of the Crowley/Jim scene where he confronts him about telling Aziraphale to shut his stupid mouth and die. Parts of this sequence were important, but a lot of it would have been axed/shortened.

The scene of Aziraphale driving the Bentley and Crowley calling him, furious about everything (which would break my heart to lose)

All of the minisode flashbacks (which would be the MOST tragic thing to do to this content, but objectively none of it was needed for the season 2 plot)

All of Shax gathering the demon troops and Eric arguing with her (which, I wouldn't cry about losing, but still shows you the flavor of the show that would be gone)

Other Hell scenes (e.g. Beelzebub and the dung pits demon)

Other Heaven scenes (e.g. Michael and Uriel arguing over duty officer etc)

A great deal of the demons/bookshop battle (to shorten it up/tighten it)

A great deal of Crowley in Heaven investigating Gabriel's trial/disappearance (again just to shorten/tighten, but not lose completely)

And again, this is all stuff that could easily be cut and the story of season 2 would remain the same, but look at how much of what makes this show so great would be lost.

Ultimately, I'm not here to tell you how to feel. I can tell you what I feel, which is outraged and devastated and grieving and ready to storm studios with pitchforks and a frothy mouth. But I recognize that the Terry Pratchett estate went to bat for us in a big way, and we owe them everything we get in this upcoming finale.

I have other thoughts on this whole nonsense, but I'll save that for another post. Just wanted to provide some numbers data for folks who are curious about what could reasonably be done in 90 minutes. Hope this helps in some way.

@goodomensafterdark @fuckyeahgoodomens

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

oh man ok i need to gush about moonlight chicken for a second lol

i adored how this show didnt shy away from the messiness of real life and relationships! like u hav a single gay working class man desperately trying to make ends meet and struggling with the guilt of his past lover having died tragically whilst bringing up his nephew who wants to be taken seriously and finally fly the nest to live his own life whilst at the same time navigating his crush on a lonely deaf boy who just wants to be understood and respected. and then you have a man stuck in relationship limbo where he's unable to let go of his past love but also yearning to move on and free them both from the pain they cause each other... and that's not even to mention the side characters who deal with the loss of parents, unfaithful partners, unplanned pregnancies, trying to be a better mother to your son, etc...

no one was a villain, instead you had a group of people who needed to grow and learn in a very natural way, and that's just so refreshing to see! honestly one of my fav parts of the story is that rather than inventing some arbitrary dramatic reason for wen and alan to break up, it just happened because their love had fizzled out, a thing that happens all the time in real relationships! and even though their love had died, it was still obvious that they cared deeply for one another which made both of them trying to move on so much more painful...

so much of this show was about the cycles of emotional abuse that can develop when you're stuck in the past... jim is unable to see a happy future for himself because he blames himself for beam's death, and he let's that anger and resentment inform how he treats li ming. wen is ignoring the messiness of his relationship with alan in favour of pursuing jim, but knows deep down that neither will be able to truly move on unless he deals with the situation. even heart's parents are stuck unable to relate to or be willing to understand their deaf son as they continue to isolate him from the outside world, thinking that it will protect him but all it does is make him even more lonely!

idk i just loved how the show focused so much on living in the moment. that the past is fixed and the future is uncertain, but there will always be now where you can always find some glimmer of joy and optimism.

and then there's ofc the queer element of the show where we get to see how internalised and external homophobia exist as perimeters to queer people being able to truly be themselves. one of the most heart wrenching scenes is at beam's funeral where his parents come up to jim and effectively tell him that because he and beam weren't married, he has no legal rights to any of the things they had worked so hard for together! and this is something you hear time and time again, both historically and now, where queer couples in countries that dont recognise gay marriage or even civil partnerships are denied so much (particularly when one of them dies) because their relationship is deemed illegitimate by law.

jim as a character has internalised this so much that when he finds out his nephew is gay, he lashes out (in one of the funniest scenes ever, mind you lol... literally the whole 'why are you gay, isn't being poor enough of a challenge!?' thing is gonna stick in my mind forever i love it sm lol) because he knows first hand how hard it is to be a queer man in a society that still doesnt fully accept you! (and it rly showed the disparity between him, a working class man, and wen, someone from a middle class/wealthy background when it comes to queerness that i don't think gets discussed as much... cos the fact of the matter is that for a long time queerness /was/ effectively reserved for wealthy people, as working class people wouldnt have had as much of a choice in how they could live their lives, so jim's reticence when it comes to accepting li ming's (and his own) queerness is directly tied to how being poor doesnt always allow you the luxury of simply 'being yourself'...)

and i think it was especially interesting that this show didnt present homophobia in individualistic terms. we don't get a character calling them slurs or saying that they're wrong for being gay, instead we get systemic and societal prejudices showing up in insidious ways, which feels so much more realistic! (like even jam, who is presented as having outdated and homophobic opinions, isnt presented as some evil villain. she's just a product of a homophobic society that teaches people being gay is a sad way of living, and she has to unlearn that as both her brother and son prove her wrong!)

i honestly could (and probably will) go on but yeh... this show man... this show

[divorcingjimmatthews]

episode 5 impressions (spoilers)

1. everyone going ohh boyd you suck you're a bad leader we don't need you 😒😒😒 and then 3 minutes later its "sheriff we need you to separate a man from the pool wall he got fused with, you can do that right?"

2. until proven wrong im gonna assume the bottles in the bottle tree were important to tell the tree where to send people so jim jade and tabby sealed poor dale's fate when they messed with them #rip

3. call me crazy call me delusional call me insane i dont care i believe they're setting up jade and tabby to get together eventually after jim's tragic self-sacrificing death. "let men and women be friends" ok but not them

4. "i saw your freaky kids 😏" the way he knew that would cheer her up. and it did

5. boyd telling kenny that his weird woods creature walking around the cabin tragically didn't make the cut into the top 10 pressing issues he's got to worry about that day

6. say what you want about jade's questionable babysitting strategies but both times he's watched ethan, ethan stayed inside. as soon as they left him with jim he was running off again??

7. i'm clowning too much on jim, i feel bad to do it when everyone else is clowning on him too, he's been trying his best, i see your efforts jim

8. julie and elgin are so cuteee i love them and i loved the scene with julie's theory that the place will never let them go... it would be one hell of a downer ending but hm

9. im worried that donna's about to break tbh after all that already happened her reaction to seeing dale in the wall had strong last straw vibes

10. really enjoying the victor and sara friendship, specially loving the fact that they're chasing the christopher mystery. i'm looking forward to sara's connection to the town playing a role in this plotline, it feels like it's all coming together since the voices made references to the christopher incident in S1

11. tabitha learning jade went into the tunnels for julie means everything to me like even with the shipping googles off its like see, youre not alone in protecting your family, you have at least one friend you can trust !!!

12. desperately need more matthews (+jade) family drama, i dont even care for the town mysteries that much i just need el chisme

13. on that same line of thought frankly i dont mind if the mysteries go unanswered, what i find most compelling is the theories the characters make along the way and what it says about them

14. miranda is such an intriguing figure i need to rewatch the scenes with henry in maine tbh so much was said... i feel like there might be more twists coming. it bugs me that i can't really figure why she wouldn't warn everyone about christopher like she did victor and eloise

15. "but where's the motel" the question we've all been asking im so excited if henry bringing it up will lead to new insights

[aevykcreates]

Jlaire Week Ask Game

Yeah, I went ahead and answered all of them. :P

Light and Darkness - What got you into Jlaire in the first place and what makes it one of if not your favorite ship?

I’m pretty sure I shipped them from the very first episode. First, we’ve been introduced to Jim, who is like the sweetest character ever. So when we saw him literally drooling over Claire, we know she has to be special.

It doesn’t take much time for them to interact and I remember loving that scene because I didn’t know there was so much Spanish in the show (at least in the first season). Both that interaction and the one just before the audition show they’re actually interested in each other and I’ve loved their dynamic from the beginning.

I think they somehow remind me of my own characters, Zem and Aury, since he’s the anxious one and she has to help him (even though Aury is way more short-tempered than Claire).

Romeo and Juliet- What's your favorite Jlaire moment form Trollhunters?

There are many good ones to choose. I love when she discovers his secret, the dance in the hill and when he reaches out to help her when she makes that mega-portal. They really care about each other and I think the best part is how we’re able to see their relationship flourish during the seasons.

Beauty and the Beast- What's your favorite Jlaire moment from Wizards?

The picnic, for sure. I think we should have seen more Jlaire interactions when he was a half Troll. I loved all the scenes where Claire gets to protect Jim, showing how much she has improved as a sorceress, but there’s something about them being able to relax and have an actual date.

Tragic Love - What's your Jlaire heartbreaking moment in the series?

Even though Jim knowing he’s not going to survive if they go back to the present is a close one, I have to say when Claire finds his soul wandering over the Killahead Bridge in the Shadow Realm. I’m a hopeless romantic and what breaks my heart is that “being close but still too far from each other” if you know what I mean.

My Romeo - What's your favorite Jlaire quote from Trollhunters?

From Hero of a 1000 faces: “This is the worst day of my life.” “That’t the real Jim.” It’s so funny, but also shows how much she’s gotten to know him.

100 Life times - What's your favorite Jlaire Quote from Wizards?

That’s a tough one. I liked the “I'd date you for a hundred lifetimes, Jim Lake.”… until the movie came out. So I guess: “But I've fought across time and space to bring you back.” Because of the same reason that scene is so heartbreaking to me.

Toby dating Advices - What's your advice for Jim that would help with him Claire

Actually, I think things worked out quite well. I would have advised him to be braver but he actually ended up being it, so...

Mary Dating Advice- what's your advice for Claire that would help her with Jim.

Actually, I think things worked out quite well.

time and Space - What's your Aus for Jim and Claire relationship or what's your favorite Au for them?

I have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast kind of stories, so most of my Aus revolve around that. I seriously thing Troll Jim was underused and I’d have liked to see more of them as a couple, like travelling to New Jersey. That’s why I had to write about that and why Lights and Shadows of Camelot is the culmination of it. BTW, I’ve written a lot about Jlaire in my fanfics, if you’re interested 😊

Shadowhunter - What's your favorite headcanons for Jlaire?

They send messages all the time, checking out the other is okay. Jim makes Claire her favorite cookies and she takes him on dates using portals to visit new places.

If you have any more questions or want me to elaborate about anything, don't be afraid to ask!

Sadly, I won't be able to do any prompts, but I'm gonna share some Jlaire art I have around and you can check out my fanfics for more Jlaire content!:

-New Jersey: A brief story of what happened in the journey to New Jersey that had place during the season 2 of 3Below.

-Awakening: A novelized version of the 11th episode of the third season, "Jimhunters". Includes original new scenes.

-The Arrival: Final chapter of "New Jersey", connecting the story with "Wizards".

-Light through yonder window: After being attacked by Nomura, Jim is brought to the hospital. Claire decides she has to go and stay by his side. Tells what happened between the episodes 'Claire and Present Danger' and 'Battle of Two Bridges' and a couple of things more.

-Waiting: Jim has entered the Darklands. Claire and Toby will have to act quickly and not fall into despair.

-Butterflies and Christmas Jlaire, from Arcadian Nights.

-Lights and Shadows of Camelot: Claire has just discovered her magic powers and goes to Camelot so Morgana can teach her. One night, she'll meet the Trollhunter.