#legacies season three review
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unabashegirl · 10 months ago
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Vicious 3 || Harry Styles x Mafia
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Summary: Harry Styles, the cold and calculating son of a powerful mafia don, must consolidate power after his father's passing. He faces challenges from his unpredictable younger brother, Silas, and navigates a complex world of alliances, ruthless decisions, and family loyalty. Amidst the intrigue, the elegant and alluring Y/N Castellano, the daughter of an Italian mafia boss, attends the funeral and finds herself drawn to Harry. As power dynamics shift and the future remains uncertain, the story explores the dark and dangerous allure of the mafia, the weight of family legacies, and the potential for unexpected connections in a world defined by secrecy and ruthlessness.
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word count: 2.7K
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The room buzzed with a low hum of whispered conversations as the weight of Arthur's will settled upon the gathered assembly. Harry, typically composed, found himself grappling with a surge of emotions that threatened to breach the surface. Outrage smoldered beneath his stoic exterior, fueled by the unexpected clause that dictated his marital fate.
"Enough!" Harry's voice sliced through the room, a thunderous command that silenced the discussions like a sudden clap of thunder. His eyes blazed with an intensity that mirrored the storm within him. "Everyone, leave. Except Mr. Reynolds."
The men, sensing the gravity of the situation, filed out of the room with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. As the door closed behind them, leaving only Harry's most trusted friends and the family attorney, a charged silence hung in the air.
Harry paced the room, his frustration palpable. He turned to Mr. Reynolds, his jaw clenched. "Is there any way around this, any loophole we can exploit? There has to be something."
Mr. Reynolds, a seasoned attorney who had navigated the intricate legalities of the family for decades, met Harry's gaze with a mix of empathy and realism. "I've reviewed the will thoroughly, Harry. Your father's conditions are explicit. To inherit the leadership of the English Mafia, you must fulfill the marriage clause."
Harry ran a hand through his hair, his desperation bubbling to the surface. "There has to be another way. I can't just accept this. Why would he had wanted to force me into an arrange marriage? "
His closest men exchanged uneasy glances, aware of the weight of their boss's predicament. The air in the room grew heavy with the burden of tradition, obligation, and the tangled legacies that bound the family.
Mr. Reynolds spoke carefully, "I understand your frustration, Harry, but the legal avenues are limited. Your father's will is a binding document, and to contest it would invite unnecessary complications."
Harry, his frustration unabated, slammed his fist onto the desk. "I won’t marry. There has to be a way to negotiate”.
The room, bathed in the warm glow of dim lighting, served as an impromptu council chamber. Lex and Charlie, flanking Harry's side, exchanged glances laden with a shared history of camaraderie. The atmosphere was charged with an air of urgency as Harry, seated behind the mahogany desk, contemplated the weight of his father's will.
Alexander Turner or Lex, an imposing figure with an aura of controlled intensity, stood tall beside Harry. His sharp features and piercing green eyes bore witness to the challenges he had weathered over the years in the service of the Styles’ family. Born into a legacy of organized crime, Lex's loyalty was forged through shared experiences and a sense of duty that transcended familial ties.
On the other side of the desk, Charlie exuded a quiet confidence befitting his role as the financial mind of the English Mafia. Dressed in a meticulously tailored suit, he carried an air of sophistication that belied the shrewd calculations beneath the surface.
All three were young, but they were the new generations of the family. Alexander and Charles fathers had served Arthur until their last day. They had diligently trained their sons just like Arthur had shaped Harry into the man that he was.
The door closed behind Mr. Reynolds, leaving the trio alone in the room. Lex broke the tense silence, his voice a low rumble. "Harry, negotiating with Federico Castellano is a dangerous game. The man is not known for compromise, especially when it comes to matters of family and honor.”
Charlie, his gaze fixed on Harry, added, "And marrying Y/N Castellano might be the most pragmatic solution. It not only secures the alliance but also ensures a smoother transition of power. Your father knew the importance of alliances in our world.”
Harry, frustrated and conflicted, leaned back in his father's chair. "I won't be forced into a marriage, especially one that feels like a strategic move. I need a way out of this without sacrificing my autonomy."
Lex, his loyalty unwavering, stepped forward. "Harry, sometimes sacrifice is necessary. This whole shit thrives on alliances, and Castellano is not someone you want as an adversary."
Charlie nodded in agreement. "Your father foresaw the challenges ahead. Perhaps this marriage is a way to strengthen the bonds that hold the English Mafia together. It's about survival, Harry. The last thing you want is the Italian’s bagging on your door within the first month as the boss”.
Lex began, his eyes locking with Harry's. "Marrying Y/N doesn't mean you have to let it affect your personal life. You can keep that separate. It's just a strategic alliance on paper.”
Harry regarded Lex with a furrowed brow, unsure of the path his closest friend was suggesting.
Lex continued, "Think about it, Harry. Marrying Y/N is a small price to pay for securing the future of the English Mafia. It doesn't mean you have to care for her or be faithful. It's just a marriage on paper, a symbol of unity."
Charlie, though quieter by nature, nodded in agreement. "He's right, Harry. It's about securing your positions and ensuring stability”.
Harry, caught between the legacy he inherited and the desire for autonomy, rubbed his temples. "It's not that simple. Marrying on paper might be one thing, but it's not just about appearances. It's about what that marriage represents, the expectations it carries."
Lex placed a firm hand on Harry's shoulder. “We're suggesting you play the game strategically, like your father did."
Harry, grappling with conflicting emotions, took a deep breath. Sacrifices had to be made.
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The grandeur of the manor loomed ahead, its imposing facade a testament to the legacy of power that resided within its walls. The air was thick with anticipation as Y/N Castellano, accompanied by her father, Federico Castellano, approached the entrance. It had been five days since Arthur’s funeral. Harry had taken five days to digest the news before calling the Italians.
Y/N, a vision of sophistication and poise, carried herself with an air of quiet strength. Her hair cascaded in elegant waves around her shoulders, framing a face adorned with striking features. Her eyes, a deep shade, held a gaze that betrayed both intelligence and resilience. Dressed in a tasteful ensemble that accentuated her grace, she exuded a timeless beauty that mirrored the allure of the English aristocracy.
Federico, a seasoned figure in the world of organized crime, stood by his daughter's side with an air of stoicism. His graying hair and sharp features spoke of years spent navigating the intricate web of alliances and conflicts. The Castellano patriarch, clad in a tailored suit, bore the weight of responsibility with a demeanor that mirrored the unyielding nature of the Italian Mafia.
"Y/N," Federico's voice cut through the silence, cold and devoid of warmth. "This union is not a matter to be taken lightly. You will behave precisely as I expect, and failure is not an option."
Y/N, her eyes meeting her father's, felt a chill in the air as he continued, "You are a Castellano, and our reputation is paramount. If you fuck that reputation in any way, I will ensure the consequences are severe."
Federico's gaze bore into hers with an intensity that made her shudder. "Do you comprehend the gravity of this, Y/N? The Styles may seem like allies, but make no mistake, they will exploit any weakness."
He took a step closer, his tone lowering to a threatening whisper. "Should you embarrass the Castellano name, I won't hesitate to make an example of you. There are ways to deal with those who fail to uphold the family honor."
Y/N, her composure wavering under the weight of her father's words, managed a nod. Federico, unsatisfied with the gesture, continued with a more sinister edge to his voice, "I have spent a lifetime building our family's power. I will not tolerate your incompetence jeopardizing everything we've achieved."
He leaned in, his breath chilling against Y/N's ear as he uttered words that sent a shiver down her spine. "Remember, blood ties can be severed. Fail me, and you'll find out just how disposable family can be."
“Yes father” She simply responded, too scared to object.
As they were escorted into the manor, Harry awaited in a room adorned with opulent furnishings and subdued lighting. The air, charged with a delicate tension, carried the weight of unspoken expectations.
"Y/N, Mr. Castellano, welcome," Harry greeted with a nod, gesturing for them to take a seat.
Y/N's eyes flickered with a blend of curiosity and reserve as she took in the surroundings. Her father, a man of few words, inclined his head in acknowledgment.
"Thank you for having us, Styles," Federico replied, his voice carrying the authority of a seasoned leader.
Seated across from each other, the conversation turned to the logistics of the impending union. The delicate dance of negotiations unfolded, each party navigating the intricacies of a strategic alliance.
“I think it’s best to get this wedding out of the way. Don’t you think, Styles?” Federico asked as he reached out for the whiskey that he had been served. “I am sure that you want to claim your rightful place as the new boss”.
Harry found himself caught in a web of conflicting desires. On one hand, the prospect of the approaching wedding loomed, a duty to fulfill for the sake of family alliances. Yet, the allure of remaining single a bit longer tugged at him, whispering promises of freedom and unbridled pursuits.
There were things on his agenda, a few weeks of bachelorhood he wished to savor, experiences he yearned to indulge in before the weight of matrimony settled upon him. Harry knew well that once he tied the knot with Y/N, the whispers within the family would be relentless. The constraints of a committed relationship, especially with a woman like Y/N, hinted at the end of his carefree liaisons.
Observing her since her arrival, Harry noted a certain submissive demeanor in Y/N. Whenever her father intervened, her voice would fall silent, a quiet agreement to authority. In some strange way, Harry found himself drawn to this quality. The idea of having a partner who willingly yielded to his control aligned with his inclination for dominance.
"In a month," Harry finally responded, his eyes briefly glancing down at his watch. "It would give everyone enough time to prepare."
"I agree," Federico replied tersely, "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom."
As Federico left the room, Y/N felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Her father's threats lingered in the air, but for the moment, she could breathe a bit more freely. She was acutely aware of his penchant for action, and the gravity of his warnings weighed heavily on her.
"I'm sorry about all of this," Y/N finally spoke, breaking the silence. "I'm sure the last thing you want is to get married to a complete stranger."
"Don't," Harry raised his hand, cutting her off before she could say anything more. "Let's get this straight from the beginning. We aren't friends, and we will never be. Let alone have any kind of relationship.”
Y/N, though taken aback, maintained a composed exterior. Although after she had processed the words that had just come out of his mouth, she was ready to speak.
“Wow! You really are what they say.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"
"A selfless asshole with no heart."
“Precisely” Harry's gaze hardened as he delivered a cold response, his tone devoid of emotion. “The only connection I'm open to having with you is purely for pleasure.”
"Pleasure?" Y/N giggled, a condescending smile playing on her lips. "You are more pathetic than I thought if you believe that I would just jump in bed with you.”
Harry was surprised. She wasn't as submissive as he had assumed; her demeanor was simply a façade, a reflection of her fear of her father. A flicker of intrigue crossed his eyes — a challenge that piqued his interest. It wasn't merely about breaking her; it was about unraveling the layers that shielded her true nature.
"Everyone breaks. It's just a matter of time, pet," he said confidently, a sinister edge to his words. "Once we are married, you are all mine, and I'll be able to do whatever I want with you." His voice carried a dark certainty, a proclamation of dominance that echoed in the tense space between them.
Federico eventually returned, and Y/N fell into a silent watchfulness. Her eyes, however, never left Harry's, a determination burning within them. She was resolute in her commitment to prove him wrong. Despite her willingness to be friends and genuinely get to know him, Harry's overwhelming ego had created an impenetrable barrier, leaving her disappointed.
Y/N had approached this arrangement with hope and openness, praying that her husband would be different from her father, that she could finally break free from the suffocating constraints of her family's expectations. She had wished for a chance at freedom, a life unburdened by the shadows of her past. However, Harry's demeanor shattered those hopes, leaving her grappling with the harsh reality of her circumstances. The prospect of marriage now loomed as a prison rather than a pathway to the liberation she had yearned for.
The sudden intrusion of the door swinging open shattered the fragile peace. A figure, disheveled and agitated, burst into the room, his eyes wide with urgency. The men gathered around the desk turned their attention to the unexpected visitor.
"Harry," the man stammered, breathless from the urgency of his news.
Harry's brows furrowed as he rose from his chair. "What's going on?"
The man took a moment to catch his breath and approached him before delivering the unsettling revelation in a hushed tone. "Someone's took your father’s body out of the grave. We caught the bastard before he could do anything to the body, and he's in the back room. You need to see this."
“I must take care of this” Harry, his jaw tight with restrained anger, nodded sharply. "Take me to him." Harry wasn’t going to apologize to the family. He had priorities and discussing where is wedding was going to take place wasn't one of them. Harry left Federico and Y/N to fend for themselves.
The group hurried through the corridors of the manor, the sense of foreboding growing with each step. The back room, usually reserved for private meetings, now harbored an unexpected intruder.
As they reached the room, the door swung open to reveal a figure, bound and battered. The man, with fear in his eyes, glanced up as Harry entered.
"What the hell is this?" Harry demanded, his voice a low growl.
The informant stepped forward, explaining, "We found him defacing the grave. Seems he's got some personal grudge against your father."
Harry's gaze bore into the intruder. "Who are you, and who sent you?”
The man, battered and broken, spat out a defiant response. "Fuck off”.
Harry smiled, savoring the reaction he had just elicited from the man. The flicker of fear in his eyes only fueled Harry's determination, validating his next course of action. In his mind, the man's response justified what he was about to do next. He wasn't merely seeking compliance; he intended to break him, to reduce him to a point where he would beg for the mercy of a swift end.
"Take him to the dungeon," Harry commanded, the words carrying an air of cold authority. The ominous directive hung in the air, a prelude to the torment that awaited the unfortunate man. As the guards moved forward to carry out the order, Harry's smile widened, fueled by the anticipation of the power he held over those who dared to challenge him.
chapter 4
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formyloveoflove · 6 months ago
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Characters I Would've Liked to See More than the Faks in S3
I learned too fak'ing much about that family in S3. I loved the Faks in S2. Their increased screentime felt like an over-compensation. Much of the comedy that I loved in S1 came from the staff interactions. The feeling of an ensemble was truly missed for me.
But without further ado and in no particular order-
1. Marcus
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Marcus Brooks, I am so sorry that the writers didn't give your story the necessary space it truly needed. You were the only child of a single mother, and you watched her die. I wish we could've seen more of your grief. The little glimpses we saw - your eulogy speech, the way you were inspired to make a dish to honor her, and your thinking about legacy - were so beautiful, but it felt like it had no place to breathe.
The glossing over this tragic loss, the fumbling of showcasing Black Catholic influences (sidenote: did you know that Chicago is home to the biggest African American Catholic population), and the diminishing of his grief were some lows of the season. I would've loved to see more of Marcus dealing with the loss of a parent because no matter how "prepared" you are, that shit will knock you off your feet.
2. Sweeps
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If we needed a break from the melancholy of the main plot, I would've loved to see Mr. Gary “Sweeps” Woods go to wine school. It could've been in clips, similar to Tina going to culinary school in S2. Some comedic slip-ups, or maybe somebody else recognized him from his baseball days, or maybe he messed around and got too drunk. Better yet: he and some fellow sommelier get drunk. We've seen this character for three seasons, and we barely see him.
I did enjoy his monologue in Legacy and thought it was very fitting.
3. Manny and Angel
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I remember seeing them for a split second in the 30-minute montage S3 E3 "Doors." They are truly the unsung heroes, and it would be good to see them for some comic relief. Maybe they're pranksters? Maybe they could've been the reason the teaspoons and forks were missing. Or maybe they could've been tasked with counting how many come through.
What's their dynamic? What are their personalities? Three seasons, and they feel like cameos.
4. Thee Adamus
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One of the things that I wanted from S3 was some more Sydney's mom, and while I was delighted to see she has her mom as her lock screen, I wanted more. I love Syd's dynamic with her Dad whose unyielding support can come off a little worrisome to his baby girl. But Dreamer! Daughter x Practical! Father hits close to home for me. And the Adamus have a healthier relationship with loss and grief, and I want to know more about that process.
When I say more of the Adamus, I mean I want to see why and how Sydney became Sydney. I wanted to see their family dynamics. Why does Syd like to cook? Why is Syd avoidant?
Plus, this was a season about mothers, goshdarnit. More mother content, please.
5. Ebra
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Ebra is so funny to me. Like I'm begging on my knees for more Ebra content. He's so cryptic and genuine in a way that only older Black men sharing snapshots of their trauma are. In S1, he's very attentive when it comes to the younger staff members, like when he was sensitive to Marcus gaining confidence in his skills and when he read Sydney's review for the whole kitchen to see.
One of my critiques of S2 was that they just let Ebra fall by the waistside. They didn't fully commit to his journey to accepting change as an older professional. This season, we barely got him at all. I would've had him at least show up to Syd's party. Maybe even via Facetime with the camera all up his nose because he doesn't understand the mechanics just yet.
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lyretheinstrument · 7 months ago
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Finished batch one of tfe season 2 and honestlyyyyyyyhhh..,.
(first batch review and opinions)
(cut to avoid spoilers)
it's rough compared to the first season. I genuinely believe it's not the creators fault and they probably got mega rushed and a ton of budget cuts.
This season was definitely more Terran focused and I don't minddd that?? because it is their show. but I do wish legacy characters got a bit of spotlight. I know prowls coming in batch two so I hope he gets a fair share of screentime. again, I know it’s supposed to focus on the Terrans but I feel that if your gonna include the cybertronians can you try to use them a little more ? otherwise don’t have them at all yk /lighthearted
but personal grievances aside for a moment the writing was ROUGH. I know it's a kids show but almost all the episodes felt weirdly paced, awkward, and babyish?? and the animation downgrade doesn't make it any better.
honestly a lot of it was just really distracting and I couldn't really focus on the story. Also the story itself felt kinda, unfocused? idk maybe that's a personal thing as well. I found it kinda hard to get invested. The Terrans I only really like are twitch thrash and nightshade. jawbreaker is fucking insufferable. I’m sorry.
I noticed a lot of the issues in the episodes could have been easily solved. That is NOTT something u want an audience to feel.. a simple communication or action could have easily prevented an issue in an episode. :/
personal grievances back infront IM SO MAD BEE GOT LIKE ZERO SCREENTIME
Optimus episode was cute tho I like it when characters shit on jawbreaker
I don't mind the cons being villains but if you’re gonna have them as villains can you give them more personality and screentime. also a lot of the decepticons felt bland or out of character.
A fun and interesting plot line we could have had (at least in my opinion) is decepticon infighting. It felt bizarre to me that soundwave and shockwave just fell in line when starscream assumed leadership. IDK!! I feel like the three would be arguing over who would be leader?? Correct me if I’m wrong on this I might he looking at this all wrong. </3
honestly I had like zero interest in spitfire and aftermath but at LEAST aftermath had a new design (GLARES AT SHAMELESS TWITCH RECOLOR).
like I’m not even upset that twitch and spitfire have the same/similar alt modes because it works w them being literal parallels of eachother. I’m just mad it’s just a straight up (lowk ugly) recolor. it just doesn’t work for me personally. Especially bc a good redesign could immediately fix a lot of my issues with it. like make her sharper or give her different patterns and adjust the color placement SOMETHING BRO.
that concludes my disorganized ramble for now. I’m excited to see everyone’s thoughts on the first batch of season two and I remain optimistic for the second half :3
side note:
I LOVE YOU BUMBLEBEE I LOVE U SO MUCH AND ALSO IM SOOO HAPPY RAVAGE GOT CONFIRMED AS FEMALE ILY GIRL CAT RAVAGE
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electrificata · 10 months ago
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here are my house observations, im in season 3
some of the shit house says to foreman is genuinely unforgivable
foreman as a character i generally like. omar epps is giving a good performance of an even-keeled-but-not-without-effort kind of guy, i do like the plotline of a guy who came to learn from an expert whos the worst guy in the world and trying to figure out how to do the same thing without being the worst guy in the world. i also think they way they keep him out of hospital love triangles is racist, foreman is not currently hot but could be with 15% more attention from the writers room.
really sexist as a general rule. i have not encountered the idea of "jailbait" this much in literal years.
hipster racism. its the 2000s. funny to talk abt this because "hipsters" were younger at this point and the character of house is, im assuming, in his mid 40s at the start of the show, but thats the general logic that seems to be on display. "well you know that he's a good guy so its ironic and funny that he's threatening to use the n word as a joke."
a) stupid logic to begin with, doing something ironically is also just doing it, b) doesnt even work on its own terms here because house is widely acknowledged to be an awful person in the context. the entire show is built around the question "how much deliberately annoying, dangerous bullshit will we endure from this dickhead to maintain access to his unique skillset"
i still dont "get" house/wilson. like i do see it, like i can see that theyre a little obsessed with each other and they have a fun mutually manipulative dynamic, and they make sense as foils (guy who's self-consciously awful and often ends up doing noble things accidentally/guy who's self-consciously noble and often deliberately does awful things). but i cannot feel myself going insane about it. if anything i like him better with cuddy
cuddy really really hot. really really really hot. cuddy.
so like yeah i see house/wilson im just not going insane about it the way i thought i might. altho tbh it took a global pandemic and a extended, byzantine renaissance of tumblrina supernatural scholarship to make me have a destiel spiral. i need infrastructure for these things.
cameron's character is such an old school token girl character. i hate how they treat her "niceness" almost as much as i hate how they treat her crush on house.
a better show (written by me) would have some more cuddy and foreman "managing" house plotlines (foreman being a protege allows focus on the legacy of house's medicine, how to replicate it, how to contain damage), probably give him some of the cuddy and wilson time. the three of them together would be good i could do that.
cuddy/foreman. hm. in the remake.
like, i do get how this happened. house is troubled in a durable, interesting way. the writing is good enough to support his layers, the way his snap-judgement psychoanalysis of everyone he meets curls back around to shine a light on his own issues. good balance of competence and patheticness. laurie is giving a masterclass in the niche field of "british comedian comes to us tv drama, grows some stubble, becomes a sex symbol." i read an old review that referred to his "sourpuss charisma" i really like that turn of phrase.
(i was also into josh on the west wing when i watched that last year, i have a type i love antagonism. no im not dating anyone right now, who wants to take me for a candlelit dinner and tell me i smell good and my voice is sexy) (you cant just compliment me, ill be bored or uncomfortable, you have to bury it in a disagreement and make it clear youre kind of mad that youre into me)
that said i think the show kind of misunderstands house's sex appeal. it feels very written-by-men. women characters throw themselves at house in a porny kind of take-me-now way. in my observations guys who are arent traditionally hot but attractive in this antagonistic, talky was dont really get that kind of treatment, but they do get the main cast wilson/cuddy/cameron "i hate this guy but im obsessed with him and i will never make a move or i will and itll go badly" kind of stuff. my phantom house reboot does have cameron and house hook up and its a really mean and destructive fwb thing with like 4 false endings. does this make sense.
right now im in the middle of the plotline where leighton meester plays a 17 yr old girl stalking house because shes so in love. like thats not the vibe. at least from what ive seen. im not omniscient.
lol it turns out she has a spore makign her hypersexual lolllll i literally have this on in the background rn ok i take some of this back.
whenever i mention to someone im watching house theyll recount to me the plot of the one episode they can remember and it always sounds insane and its never made up.
"the one with the intersex teen model who fucks her dad to manipulate him and has testicular cancer" like yeah. yeah thats real. if you talked to me 3 weeks ago thatd be the one i recounted to you.
yes house does leer at her in that episode and its treated as logical and normal for a 45 year old man.
i hate chase, he's awful but boring.
im curious how long im gonna keep watching this, i know the later seasons get kind of soapy plotwise and i dont know if thats what i want out of this
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twinflames-rewrite · 3 months ago
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WindClan Culture
The Pious: WindClan’s meadow territory lies closest to the Moonstone, and they believe that this allows them to be StarClan’s favored Clan. As a result, they are dedicated to their ancestors. They sleep underneath the stars and take time every day to honor their ancestors.
WindClan cats are often muted colors, with long legs and slender builds. WindClan litters are given 'themed' names. While some cats prefer litters named after all birds or all colors, other cats will name their litter after meaningful places or items.
Below the cut are the following expansions to WindClan's culture:
Council
Holidays
Territory
Territory Powers
Territory Tales
WindClan's Council
WindClan's council has a varying number of members, but usually at least three. These cats are chosen by the healer. Members will hold their position until they step down or retire.
WindClan's council is responsible for giving advice and guidance to warriors. They also are in charge of the Clan's wildfire preparedness, and take charge on fire-fighting patrols.
The deputy is chosen by the leader. While it is not required for the deputy to be one of the council members, it is rare for a leader to choose a non-council member.
Clan Holidays
MAJOR WindClan’s main holiday is in Leafbare, during the longest night of the year. It is customary to fast during the day if possible, and then keep a silent vigil all night to reflect on StarClan and one’s place in the world.
MINOR While WindClan's major holiday is in Leafbare, they still celebrate the holidays of the other seasons.
Newleaf: WindClan celebrates the arrival of newleaf by participating in a scavenger hunt. Each cat finds a collection of items that is important to them. Typically this would cover one item for each cat they'd consider family, and is more about following one's intuition and reflecting on the relationships they hold dear. The item will then be used to decorate their nest until the next Newleaf celebration!
Greenleaf: To prepare for wildfire season, the WindClan Council spends the day reviewing fire safety with all the Clan members. Warriors are reminded of their fire-fighting duties, and apprentices are taught how to properly run messages between groups. Queens and kits are taught how to safely evacuate camp, and shown where the fireproof places on the territory are located.
Leaf-fall: WindClan's Leaf-fall holiday is a day to mourn the dead. WindClan cats are buried with their newleaf-holiday trinkets, and on this day, cats close to those who have died since the last Leaf-fall holiday will place additional trinkets on top of their grave. A solemn meal is eaten together as a Clan, and the Healer will then list off those who have died since the last Leaf-fall. Cats will then take turns saying the names of those they wish peace in StarClan, as a way of caring for their memory and legacy.
WindClan's Territory
A meadow with sparse rock outcroppings. While plentiful in prey, WindClan had to learn to manage wildfires during the dry season.
Territory Powers
WindClan's territory has granted them a variety of abilities to help them thrive in their home.
Gust: Causes a large gust of wind in a desired direction. A hunting patrol can stay ‘downwind’ of prey when working together.
Windbreaker: Toughens the skin, providing some resistance to fire and harsh wind, as well as claws.
So Below: Causes a bright ‘star’ to briefly appear. Can be used to disarm in battle, to locate a cat lost in the meadow, or religiously, as a way of calling StarClan’s attention to oneself.
Territory Tales
THE TUNNELER WindClan warriors tell stories about a rabbit-dog called The Tunneler. It poses as a large, dark rabbit to lure cats into the tunnels. Once inside, it will maneuver to be behind the cat and chase them as a dog. It will confuse the cat by alternating between prey and predator, until the exhausted warrior can no longer keep moving. Cats who are skeptical of its existence believe it is a story made up to explain tunnel disappearances, as well as giving a face to the terror that being surrounded by earth can evoke.
THE WILD HUNT When the full moon is especially large and bright, a collection of ghostly cats roam all four territories. Named the Wild Hunt, the group catches prey and chases off predators. WindClan believes that these cats are StarClan warriors who have returned to the land of the living due to the power of the large moon. The StarClan cats have returned to drive predators away from the Clan territories, protecting their descendants.
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astoundingbeyondbelief · 11 months ago
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Kaiju Week in Review (January 7-13, 2024)
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Hard to talk about the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters finale without spoilers, so if you haven't watched it yet, skip ahead to the next item. No flashbacks this time (time dilation aside), just our surviving heroes finally all on the same page to solve a seemingly impossible problem. The momentous reunion between Lee and Keiko got the space it deserved, although I was a touch disappointed that the obvious budding romance between Cate and May got shortchanged. And of course we finally got our first kaiju fight of the series, with Godzilla dispatching the Ion Dragon in a quick but ferocious battle. Fun to see this version of the character take on a low-stakes, low-power challenger for a change. I am routinely frustrated by TV seasons ending on cliffhangers (some of which are then never resolved), but they managed to conclude this season's storyline while setting up the next one, should they have the chance to tell it. Good to have some payoff to the Apex episode earlier in the series. I'm wondering if the series is planning to pivot to Kong now. Since Godzilla: King of the Monsters still hasn't happened yet, the Big G still can't make any public appearances without breaking continuity, which is quite the writing complication.
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@bog-o-bones has blessed us with an excellent feature-length video essay on the history of the kaiju genre. Even for a walking encyclopedia like me, it was fun to have it all laid out so cleanly—the way the three genre pillars of Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman rise and fall in popularity, never entirely in sync and consequently keeping us steadily entertained over the decades. So many narratives about the genre in print are decades out of date and/or act like barely anything past the sixties was worth making. This one's up-to-the-minute and gives the seismic influence of films like Cloverfield and Pacific Rim their due. I have my quibbles (last-minute re-records accidentally omitted GAMERA -Rebirth-; the original Mothra deserved more attention), but I acknowledge the amount of works covered here is staggering and every fan would tell this story a little bit differently. Highly recommended.
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IDW's biggest Godzilla comic ever is coming in May, a one-shot anthology called Godzilla: 70th Anniversary. It'll have nine stories over 100 pages, with the writers including Joëlle Jones, Michael W. Conrad, Matt Frank, James Stokoe, Adam Gorham, and Dan DiDio. (Some of these folks will presumably be illustrating their comics as well.) The solicitation doesn't offer many plot hints, given that scope: "From the American Old West to modern Tokyo and beyond, this collection features stories of the King of the Monsters fighting with its allies like Mothra, against old enemies like the terrible Mechagodzilla, and reshaping the lives of all who fall in its path!" I'm surprised they're not waiting until November—hopefully it doesn't get delayed into November.
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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will now release in the U.S. two weeks early—March 29. It's taking the place of Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17, which is now undated. I can hardly complain about being able to see it earlier, though the move comes with some risk, as it's now opening the week after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
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SRS Cinema has opened preorders for their Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo Blu-ray. Or is it Yuzo: The Biggest Battle on Tokyo? That's what the product page says, but on the cover the title's unchanged. Oh, SRS. Anyway, bonus features are scant: just trailers and something called "A Brief Introduction To Ishii Yoshikazu."
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Here's the teaser trailer for Volcanodon, a short film from Taiwan's Creator Union of Tokusatsu. They're aiming to have it uploaded to YouTube sometime this year, and I'll happily watch it. Obviously low-budget, but it's well-shot and it's nice to see a kaiju movie outside of Japan go all-in on practical effects.
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thealmightyemprex · 9 months ago
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Sci FI Month:Why X Men the Animated series is awesome
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So I binged the entierty of X Men the Animated Series and I intended to make an epic review with episode reccomendations,annnnnd it ended up too long ,so instead I am going to go over reasons why this show is Great and has an enduring legacy
1.X Men in general as a franchise has tons of characters to choose from and I think it is so wise of the show that they limit it to 9 core characters,while some fan favorites get really good guest appearences like Nightcrawler
2.The Characterization and relationships are top notch ,every character gets a spot light and each character has layers ,with each character having their own demons.Even Professor X who couldve just been the mentor figure gets fleshed out to where you understand why he does what he does .Oh if you wanna know who my fave characters are:Storm,Wolverine ,Gambit, and Beast
3.The villains are varied ,from the anti villainous Magneto ,to the brutish Juggernaut ,to the bigoted Graydon Creed ,to the sadistic Sabretooth,to the complicated Mystique ,to the cold Mr Sinister to (My favorite ) the bombastic Apoclaypse
4.As a comic adaptation I think its fun that the show doesnt limit itself to one period of X Men but pays tribute to 30 years of comics:The designs are Jim Lee inspired,they pay tribute to Lee and Kirby,the stories pull a lot from Chris Clairmount ,and several episodes were written by comic legend Len Wein
5.The show doesnt have the biggest budget but with its shading ,strong character designs and editing it still holds up rather decently
6.Voice acting is all around solid,Cal Dodd,Lenore Zahn,George Buza and John Colicos are the go to voices for Wolverine,Rogue,Beast and Apocalypse to me
7.The series is serialized with a conitinuity,which while common with modern cartoons,was kind of a new thing back then.We can thank this show for changing how action cartoons were done.Also each season has a distinct feel with the first three having story arcs(The Sentinels in season one,Magneto and Xavier trapped in the Savage Land in season 2 , andDealing with the aliens known as the Shiar Empire in season 3 )
8.The writing does not talk down to kids,in fact the writing for the show is very good not shying away from the fact this is a show about prejudice
9.I think the show has good momentum getting better and better up to Season 4 ,which is the best season of the show .Now Season 5 does feel like it is running on fumes,but it still has great episodes and contiains one of the greatest animated series finales ever "Graduation Day "
10.And of course.....The theme song is kickass
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If you want me to explain my feelings more just ask me,I am more then willing to ramble about this amazing cartoon.I plan to do my top 10 favorite episodes,villains,and multi parters
@ariel-seagull-wings @the-blue-fairie @piterelizabethdevries
@amalthea9 @themousefromfantasyland @princesssarisa
@angelixgutz @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @filmcityworld1 @countesspetofi
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natandwandaseries · 4 months ago
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Spooky Season Watches and Recs
My current and past spooky season watches with really short reviews in no particular order. All shows are on Netfilx
-Discovery of Witches: Current watch, timeline is a little unrealistic, but then again so are witches. Good show that completed so no cliffhanger ending. Currently on season 2
-The Magicians: Harry Potter for adults with swearing and drugs Have rewatched some episodes. Good show, second season is where it hits its stride when secondary characters get a lot more screen time. Good for a long binge.
-Lucifer: One of my favorite shows... until the last season that was so bad that it ruins the rest of the show. Just pretend the last season doesn't exist if you watch it
-Sabrina: New take on a classic, once again last season was a let down though so, a mindless binge. The musical episodes are horrible and no TV show should do them. It was okay.
-The Mayfair Witches: Recently watched, hard to get into at first and the story progression isn't great, but I love Alexandra Dadario. Season 2 is currently filming.
-The Vampire Diaries Trilogy shows: The Originals is the best of the three, I said what I said. *Only Legacies is on Netflix, Vampire Diaries is HBO, Prime for the Originals
-Fate: A Winx Saga: It would have been good if it had nothing to do with the original Winx
-Wednesday: I kind of feel like everyone has seen this one at this point
-The Good Witch: It is a hallmark TV show, low stakes, low on the witchiness (In my opinion). A relaxing watch but more for the background than something to keep you glued to your screen
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lgcmanager · 3 months ago
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LGC FALL BOYS 001
SCHEDULE TYPE: ONE TIME GIG
on SEPTEMBER 9, the following ten boys were invited to a meeting with KIM HYUNCHEOL about the project, LGC FALL BOYS.
BAE NATHAN ( @lgcnathan )
CARTER JAEJIN ( @lgcjaejin )
CHO ISEUL ( @iseullgc )
CHO MINKYU ( @lgcminkyu )
CHOI JUNKYU ( @lgcjunkyu )
HAN JISOO ( @lgcjisoo )
KANG MINJUN ( @lgcmjun )
KANG YOOJOON ( @lgcyoojoon )
KIM SEYOON ( @seyoonlgc )
KWON HYUNTAE ( @hyuntaelgc )
when all of them were gathered in one of the large meeting rooms, HYUNCHEOL begins the meeting with his greetings. “hello everyone. thank you for coming here and congrulations on being selected to take part in our new variety show.” he continues on, revealing about the foods that were chosen. “in the past, choosing the group or concept would be a determining factor for the songs and units. however, for this show it will be different as the korean foods chosen will be in relation to the games that most of you will be playing while filming the show.” he then hands each of the boys a packet containing all of the important documents pertaining to the show and project.
knowing that some of them may notice it quickly as they’re reviewing through the files, HYUNCHEOL decides to bring it up first to them. “as you will soon or perhaps have already seen in the packet, V&A’s SEN ( @lgcseojin ) and AKIO ( @lgcakio ) will be making an appearance on the show to help the three soon-to-be debuted members of V&A and the MCs of this show, CHOI JUNKYU, KANG YOOJOON, and KWON HYUNTAE.”
EPISODES & ACTIVITIES
“just like the past iterations, while many of you will be filming the music videos and learning the songs and choreography assigned to you, the show will serve as an opportunity for the audience to get to know you even more and your group dynamics. so take this time to get to know each other better and let your personality shine.”
listed below are the general summaries about each of the episodes:
EPISODE 1
- MUSES INVOLVED: KUROSAWA AKIO, PARK SEOJIN - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 13 - AIRING: OCTOBER 28 - SUMMARY: SEOJIN and AKIO will be seen inside an empty classroom hallway, where there are subtle references to LGC SPRING BOYS spread throughout the hallway ( eg. trophies and awards representing some of the school clubs, stickers of the social groups, and a few photos from the LGC SPRING BOYS show ). eventually they arrive at a bookshelf where they spot a YEARBOOK titled “2023-2024”. when both of them flip through the pages and talk about the memories they’ve shared on the show, they noticed near the end of the yearbook are missing pages. there are some hints that the pages were supposed to be filled ( eg. photo of three mysterious figures holding the three korean dishes; bam bbang, patjuk, and songpyeon, a blurry photo of a group of boys hanging out together, etc. ) they spot a note nearby the bookshelf that tells them to fill the remaining pages with “new” memories.
EPISODE 2
- MCS: KUROSAWA AKIO, PARK SEOJIN - MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, CHOI JUNKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KANG YOOJOON, KIM SEYOON, KWON HYUNTAE - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 19 - AIRING: OCTOBER 30 - SUMMARY: when all of the boys arrive, the MCs will tell them that they will be split into three groups, with JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE deciding the groups through rock, paper, scissors ( in actuality, the groups were decided by the order of the foods and first come, first serve basis ): - TEAM BAM BBANG: CARTER JAEJIN, CHOI JUNKYU, KIM SEYOON - TEAM PATJUK: BAE NATHAN, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KANG YOOJOON - TEAM SONGPYEON: CHO ISEUL, CHOI MINKYU, KWON HYUNTAE the boys will then do an activity inspired by one of the most popular holidays during the autumn season; chuseok. there will be a wishing tree nearby located outside of the legacy building and all of them except AKIO and SEOJIN will be writing on a sheet of paper. in the sheet, they are asked to write in two wishes or dreams that they have in the future ( eg. “i wish to debut”, “i wish to become the best vocalist/dancer/rapper”, “i wish to find happiness” etc. the more creative the wishes, the better ) while thinking and writing their wishes, AKIO and SEOJIN will check up on the other boys, asking them questions about themselves ( eg. “what is your favorite color/animal?”, “give one random fact about yourself” ). once they are done writing their wish, they will fold and tie their wish around the string attached to the tree. at the end of the episode, JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE’s wishes “disappear” on the tree and instead are replaced with envelopes noting how in order to retrieve their wishes before the end of autumn, their friends ( everyone else in their respective teams ) will have to find all of the clues they need to make the food assigned to them ( to make it even harder for the teams, the recipe for each dish is done so that there may be certain ingredients or steps added in that people might not know based on their knowledge of the said dish. for instance, the songpyeon recipe may ask for edamame as a filling rather than sweet honey sesame or chestnut ).
EPISODE 3
- MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 30 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 4 - SUMMARY: the boys will be APPLE PICKING in a large fruit farm. the game is based on a two part challenge. the first part of the challenge is whichever team gets the most apples within 30 minutes will receive 20 lgc coins. the second part of the challenge is memorizing the pictures placed on some of the signs and the order in which the pictures appeared. the photos will be of random legacy npc artists ( eg. blazing, dbsd, haru ). teammates can help each other with the second part, but they can only submit their choices one time and cannot change it once it’s been submitted. whichever team wins the second challenge will receive one clue ( can either be an ingredient or recipe step of their team’s dish ) AND 10 lgc coins. both parts of the challenge will be happening simultaneously, so it’s up to the team to decide which one to prioritize more. - CHALLENGE 1 WINNER: TEAM SONGPYEON - CHALLENGE 2 WINNER: TEAM PATJUK
EPISODES 4-5
- MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON  - FILMING: OCTOBER 8 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 6 ( EPISODE 4 ), NOVEMBER 11 ( EPISODE 5 ) - SUMMARY: the boys will travel and go to hongcheon gingko forest, where a tour will give them a guide and historical facts about the forest. there will be three stops and each team will go as a group to a staff member who has three envelopes numbered 1-3. each team will be asked to pick one envelope ( two teams cannot pick the same envelope ) and depending on what they pick, they may gain additional coins or a clue or receive nothing. winning teams were randomized. - HIGH TIER REWARD: TEAM BAM BBANG ( 30 LGC COINS & ONE CLUE ) - MEDIUM TIER REWARD: TEAM PATJUK ( 10 LGC COINS ) - LOW TIER REWARD: TEAM SONGPYEON ( NONE ) later on after lunch, the boys will be heading to alpacaworld and meet various kinds of animals ( alpaca, capybara, deer, rabbit, sheep, owl, eagle, pony, etc. ) near the end of the episode, each of the teams will be given an envelope that contains two messages; one is a clue regarding the step and/or ingredient for the recipe and the other is a note telling all of them that the next time they’re filming, they will expect all of the boys to wake up early in the morning.
EPISODES 6-8
- MCS: CHOI JUNKYU ( TEAM BAM BBANG ), KANG YOOJOON ( TEAM PATJUK ), KUROSAWA AKIO, KWON HYUNTAE ( TEAM SONGPYEON ), PARK SEOJIN - MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON  - FILMING: OCTOBER 15 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 13 ( EPISODE 6 ), NOVEMBER 18 ( EPISODE 7 ), NOVEMBER 20 ( EPISODE 8 ) - SUMMARY: all of the boys will arrive at a korean folk village, where they will play a variation of one of the most popular variety show games — the name tag game! the three teams ( including JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE, who will be in team BAM BBANG, PATJUK, and SONGPYEON respectively ) will be given ten minutes each to hide their lgc coins throughout the village. once the ten minutes are up, the game will start as members from each team will search for the coins. the more coins they get at the end of the game, the more they can spend to get the clues to solve the recipe. if someone from the opposing team rips off one of the opponents’ team members name tag, the team that ripped off the name tag will receive an additional 10 lgc coins, which they can hide until the end of the game. the game itself will last about 3 hours, but every TEN minutes SEOJIN and AKIO will be roaming around the village as well, doing what everyone else is assuming, which is giving their commentary over the locations of where the boys are and trivia facts they've learned about the village. but for the observant people, if one were to rip either SEOJIN or AKIO’s name tag, the team member can receive 30 lgc coins ( which will be given at the end of the game ). do note that everyone won’t know how many coins each team has during that time. by the end of the game, all of the teams will be spending their coins in the lgc fall boys shop ( owned and created by the production team ) to gather as much as they can about their assigned recipe ( eg. 200 lgc coins to have the complete recipe, 100 lgc coins to get the complete ingredients list, 30 lgc coins for one clue, etc. ) once all ( or majority ) of the coins have been used, the teams will be following the recipe and making two servings of it. the MCs will be talking with each other as they talk about their thoughts about their favorite things to do during the fall season. every so often, the MCs will interview the other boys asking them about their cooking progress. when the dishes are done, there will be a scene of them taking one group photo, carrying the dishes that they’ve made. then they’ll place the photo inside the yearbook that SEOJIN and AKIO were looking at in the first episode.
SONGS
for the songs, the boys ( minus SEOJIN and AKIO due to V&A schedules ) will be spending SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER working on the following:
YOUNG BOY ( THEME SONG ) - RELEASED ON OCTOBER 30
STILL HERE – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 6
HEAR ME OUT – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 13
FAREWELL, NEVERLAND – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 20
( important note: the release date is the same day as when some of the episodes will air, so they will be released on various music platforms shortly after that. )
the line distributions for the songs can be found over HERE. due to JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE working on LGC FALL BOYS and V&A’s comeback preparations, they will only be recording for the theme song. also, the boys will be filming music videos for "YOUNG BOY" and "HEAR ME OUT" but not "STILL HERE" and "FAREWELL, NEVERLAND".
LGC FALL BOYS LIVESTREAM
on NOVEMBER 20 ( hours before the airing of episode 8/the finale ),  BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, and KIM SEYOON will be having a livestream on LGC’s youtube channel for the fans ( the room will be decorated to represent the autumn season and the activities the boys have done on the show ). during the livestream, JISOO will be acting as the HOST and member as he helps facilitate in asking questions to the rest of the boys about their thoughts about the variety show ( without giving any spoilers about the final episode ) and about the songs that they’ve released thus far ( they will be expected to describe each song minus ‘farewell, neverland’ ). the livestream will be around 40 minutes long and each boy is expected to respond to at least one of the questions ( either asked by the producing team or by the fans who are watching the livestream ).
PREPARATIONS
“finally, ahead of today’s meeting, i have also spoken with your coaches to better understand where you are currently lacking as artists.” he pulls out a bag with a slip of paper for each person. “when i call out your name, please come and take this from me. this will be the skill that we’d recommend you focus on for this project. you, of course, can choose not to, but do note that we will take this into account when we review your performance as a whole at the end of this.”
once each boy has been called, HYUNCHEOL continues on. “if you have any questions as to any of this, please don’t hesitate to let a staff know. i must be off now,” he finishes, quickly collecting his belongings and leaving the room.
ooc info: there is a skillset that we’d like each muse to focus on. if you choose to do so, you will receive double the skill points for the requirement than if you were to choose your own skill set. the decision is up to you.
WRITING REQUIREMENTS
make sure to use the hashtag lgc:fallboys for everything related to this event. you have until NOVEMBER 30, 2024 11:59 EST to complete the following requirements:
REFLECTION: write a 300+ words solo with your muse’s thoughts as to their participation on the show. topics to discuss can include but are not limited to how they think they did with the MV / song recording, participating in the livestream, bonding with the other boys, showing off their personality in front of the camera. please treat this as a conversation with a coach though they are welcome to be honest in their thoughts. completing this will give +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE ! ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **
ACTIVITIES: write a thread with 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) with any participants about any of the activities (private conversations in between activities aren’t valid, threads must happen when the cameras rolling). if you choose to write about episodes where the soon-to-be and currently debuted V&A members ( JUNKYU, YOOJOON, AKIO, HYUNTAE, SEOJIN ) are present, you may do so. completing this will give +6 POINTS IN ANY SKILL SET DISTRIBUTION, +4 NOTORIETY. ** for everyone, including the V&A members participating in this event **
SONG PREPARATION: write a thread with 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) with another member about the song preparations.** see below for rewards, for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **
BONUS: complete the ACTIVITIES or PREPARATION requirement with a muse you have NEVER INTERACTED with before for an extra +5 NOTORIETY. ** can only be claimed once and everyone except the V&A members participating in this event can do this **
as mentioned above, if you should decide to follow the coach’s suggestion for improvement in a skillset, your muse will earn the following points for the second requirement. if you should choose not to follow the suggestion, your muse will earn +5 POINTS IN ANY SKILL SET DISTRIBUTION, +3 NOTORIETY.
BAE NATHAN: +10 KOREAN, +3 NOTORIETY
CARTER JAEJIN: +10 PERFORMANCE, +3 NOTORIETY
CHO ISEUL: +10 VARIETY, +3 NOTORIETY
CHO MINKYU: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY
CHOI JUNKYU: +10 MCING/HOSTING, +3 NOTORIETY
HAN JISOO: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY
KANG MINJUN: +10 PERFORMANCE, +3 NOTORIETY
KANG YOOJOON: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY
KIM SEYOON: +10 RAPPING, +3 NOTORIETY
KWON HYUNTAE: +10 MCING/HOSTING, +3 NOTORIETY
to validate your skill points and collect your notoriety points, please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog before NOVEMBER 30, 2023 11:59 EST. also, please note that even if you send the points early, these will only be approved after the activity check of OCTOBER 6, 2024.
MUSE NAME ∙ LGC FALL BOYS 001  - REFLECTION: +5 ( skill points distribution ) [ LINK ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN ** - ACTIVITIES: +6 ( skill points distribution ) +4 notoriety [ LINK ] - PREPARATION: see above; otherwise +5 ( skill points distribution ) +3 notoriety [ LINK ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN ** - BONUS (if applicable): +5 notoriety [ activity thread or preparation thread ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **
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mediamixs · 4 months ago
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Charmed Review: horror TV series with female essence
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Three witches destined for magic greatness, the Charmed ones as they are popularly known, drew great TV following with their supernatural-effects among the dedicated TV viewers. Prudence Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty), the eldest sister who had the power of telekinesis; Piper Halliwell, the witch who has the power to freeze molecules; and Phoebe Halliwell, the youngest and rebellious sister who has the power of premonition these three blood-bound witches became the most powerful witches of all time. Enduring for eight long seasons, these three magically captured the hearts of televiewers with the whisk of the hands and catchy incantations.
However, even with their apparent control over their powers, these cool and modern-day witches have constantly faced, lost to, but, eventually managed to get over with daily wiccan stresses. In one episode, Piper cried a river because the Elders, supreme protectors of good, had to take her husband away from her. Even as she experienced what seemed like an anxiety disorder, she vowed with all her witchly powers that she will one day get her husband back.
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Leo (Brian Krause), Piper’s husband also had his share of panic, or anxiety attacks. He discovered that his son Chris, was killed by their trusted friend Gideon who was also an Elder. He wreaked havoc as he hurled thunder from his arms and shot it across the room. These manifestations of anxiety attacks was due to his overwhelming grief over his son’s early demise.
Another turning point of the Charmed Life series was when their eldest sister Prue died because time was manipulated by the Source (highest demon). The remaining witches grew skeptical about their destiny and found themselves on the verge of breaking point. Good thing is, the power of three was reconstituted with the advent of their half-sister Paige. Paige Matthews, was the daughter of Paricia Halliwell, the Charmed Trio’s mother. However, Piper, the closest to Prue, gave Paige a hard time because she did not let go of Prue’s memory. With her grief and anxiety attacks, she became a creature called Fury, a curse that almost made her destroy her own sister. In the end, she did managed to bring her emotions across to the right place Prue’s grave.
Even though blessed with wiccan powers, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige, constantly struggled with different emotions that no spell can totally dispel. But the good things is, as always perceived in the TV series their most trusted power over mind boggling trivialities and blood thirsty enemies are not their wiccan gifts. Their answer is their sisterly bond — which also became their best anxiety relief. Sisterhood, not their inherent powers, was their best anxiety relief and power against all that the underworld can hurl at them.In the end, after years of wiccan supremacy, the Charmed Ones managed to keep their family legacy, which was written in their book, The Book of Shadows.
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icravemusicx0x0 · 6 months ago
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rating music pls dont hate me #30 | THE SHINEE WORLD - SHINEE
in every entry with issue number divisible by 5, i talk about significant albums in the past instead of the present. since 2nd gen won last friday's poll, today we are going to review THE SHINEE WORLD, a DEBUT album by no other than famous BOY GROUP SHINEE.
SHINEE is an icon of 2ND generation KPOP. they REVOLUTIONIZED new trends of MUSIC, DANCE, and FASHION in the KPOP industry. the FAMOUS boy group consist of ONEW, KEY, MINHO, TAEMIN, and LATE JONGHYUN. they debuted under SM ENTERTAINMENT, one of the big three entertainment companies of the KPOP industry, in 2008 and have made many big hits in their still active career.
their debut album, THE SHINEE WORLD, was released 3 months after their first mini album, REPLAY. in fact, the title track of the mini album REPLAY was featured in the album, along with a UNPLUGGED REMIX of IN MY ROOM. REPLAY also served as the leading track for their debut album.
1ST GEN KPOP music was more HIP-HOP or OLD-SCHOOL-RNB oriented in production. on the other hand, 2ND GEN KPOP music was more ELETRONIC than ACOUSTIC. SHINEE's discography lead this trend with the PEAKEST PEAK production i have ever seen in 2ND GENERATION KPOP music. in fact, i believed this is the most CREATIVE SM group based on PRODUCTION. THE SHINEE WORLD still has this new ELETRONIC production first introduced in this GEN but also has a little mix of TRADITIONAL RNB found in the 1ST GEN, but also feels more EXPERIMENTAL and NE-YO-coded, and i can tell you that NE-YO-coded songs are absolute BANGERS.
another thing i love about the album is the vocals, all of the member's shine their vocals in their own ways, specially mentioning ONEW and JONGHYUN. JONGHYUN's whole solo performance in Y SI FUERA ELLA wants me want to scream like fans when a song starts playing in a concert, the music key change gagged me so hard.
overall, SHINEE's debut THE SHINEE WORLD is, no doubt, a masterpiece, an icon for fans who are probably at the age to go to college, but i may be wrong of course. this was a promising beginning and will at least be their boldest work to date, if ODD (their 4th album) would be a bit worse than this (i haven't listened to it yet).
~Rest in piece JONGHYUN, you will always be my favorite lead vocal idol. The legacy you left is beautiful and influential. You did well.
underrated gem(s): LOVE'S WAY, ROMANTIC, ONE FOR ME, LAST GIRL (IN MY ROOM-PRELUDE), Y SI FUERA ELLA - why not.
tracks that i rec listening: THE SHINEE WORLD (DOO BOP), LOVE LIKE OXYGEN, GRAZE, BEST PLACE, IN MY ROOM - UNPLUGGED REMIX, REPLAY.
worst track: FOUR SEASONS - i emphasised positively about the album's production but it can get messy like this track.
overall score 9/10 - this is all opinion so pls no hate
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comicbookclub · 3 months ago
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'Superman & Lois' Season 4 Review: A Heartbreaking Goodbye To The CW's Superhero Series
If you’ve been a long-time fan of The CW superhero series, which stretches back to the premiere of Arrow on October 10, 2012, it’s tough to watch the final season of Superman & Lois, knowing this is the end of a 12-year legacy that includes hundreds of hours of television. Thank goodness, then, that based on the three episodes provided for review to critics, Superman & Lois Season 4 is going out…
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tartrat · 6 months ago
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Lights out drop 2 review I guess
Im not good at giving reviews but here are my thoughts on paparazzi and the legacy songs because I don't own JD3 or 4 as well as other general thoughts i might have. Spoilers for paparazzi i guess.
Paparazzi: I always forget how slow this song is and i was listening to it this morning before the drop went live. Anyway I actually really like it, the outfits remind me a lot of Gaga especially the hero/villain costume from the movie part. Moves were a bit confusing at first (I only got superstar on my first try there.) but theres this sort of elegance and class to them during the red carpet section and then the sort of monstrous movements during the movie section were fun, although a bit hard to get down at first.
Hot For Me: The dance is great, i was hoping for the song to be a bit better. I don't really have much else to say.
Dance All Nite: Out of the three legacy songs in this drop, this is the best and fits the theme of the season better with all the neon in the background. I did mess up the second last gold move on my first attempt though. All around a solid map.
We R Who we R: I never knew that this was the "Hot and Dangerous" song, like i knew that it was Kesha who said it but didn't know the song lol. Its sort of lost on me like i don't know what the map is trying to say or what the general theming is. The coach is obviously a punk but then the people in the back at the rave section are normal, I think. Then there is the random fire that happens in the background. Its fun but i wouldn't go out of my way to do it often
My ranking for the new songs is:
1 Todo de ti
2 Paparazzi
3 Don't Rush
and for the legacy songs
1 Circus (Extreme)
2 Dance All Nite
3 Part of Me
4 Hot For Me
5 We R Who We R
I wouldn't necessarily say that wrwwr is the worst legacy song just more that its the weakest. I think that JD 4 has some of the worst or weakest maps in the series, i really only care about So what and Gold Dust from that game. In general JD4 is overated.
I also want to know who is stalking Eva Chase and the other Lady Gaga Coaches who are seen on the cork board. Initially i thought that Louise Dials would be the coach you could see her in the top right corner of the background in the season rewards. It could be Night Swan after the events of the escape in telephone or someone else whos hunting them down in relation to the event and noticed how Eva, and possibly Felicia evaded capture.
I think after Poker Face releases in JD2025 thats the majority of Gaga's hits covered in the series. I think what remains is Edge of glory, Perfect Illusion, and i guess Shallow (though that might be awkward), before they go for her other popular songs that aren't as big. I really hope they do Americano or Replay at some point even if its just during a season.
I'm now excited for the next event. then after that it'll probably be another celebration event akin to last year's 2024 event. I can see Night Swan being the legendary avatar for that. Its so funny because i believe that a majority of the fandom who came in from JD 2023 wouldn't have survived prior as the seasons from 2019 - 2022 were just the three new songs and legacies and then radio silence for a month an a half, with the only rewards being from the world dance floor which were always kind of weird I don't know how we managed with those basic avatars for so long, much prefer the new avatars). and then 2022 only had 2 seasons but at least they got 8 songs each. I can't really remember but i think back during the 2018 era the exclusives and legacies were just dropped at random times, like i even remember when Sax and Mi Gente leaked and was left wondering when those would release and it wasn't until like January and April respectively or something like that.
Side note its so funny how you can see some leakers complain about fans complaining about leaks. Like obviously people are going to be upset that you've been parading around leaks, people want to be surprised and make their own theories and not just be told what exactly is going down. Like all the games from JD2021-2024 have been leaked so far and i think as a direct result of that the previews have been shortened down to 30 seconds, or songs getting cut or replaced (Darkest hour still fits better than Eurythmics because it feels more like Leda's thoughts, I'll defend darkest hour and the Night Swan Prologue until i die). I think at this point the leakers are just getting off of the reactions of those who are annoyed, and we can't ignore them as it feels like they are purposely making themselves known. Best thing i can akin the leakers to is Trisha Paytas, like we all try our best to ignore her then she does something insanely weird to draw our attention back to her. I know that the leakers have had their own fair share of respective drama as it comes up on my YouTube home feed from time to time and i try to ignore it. its been going on for years i don't think it'll stop any time soon as they just find new ways to get info.
Anyway the seasons have been great this year (minus Don't rush) and im excited to see what comes next, lets just try to be positive.
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popculturebuffet · 1 year ago
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Beetlemania: Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle Volume 7 #1-7 review) (Patreon Review/comissoin for Brotoman.exe)
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Welcome back all you happy beetlemaniacas to beetlemania, my look at the three men to wear the mask.. and at last we've come to the breakout of the bunch, the latest and co-greatest, the one whose movie debut inspired this whole project, Mr. Jaime Reyes.
Out of the three Beetles, Jaime has gotten the most appearnces in other media. His two biggest roles were in Batman Brave and the Bold, where he was one of the most featured guest stars, eventually joining that shows version of the Justice League International, with Ted also getting some apperances. More on that next week. He was the centerpiece of Young Justice's second season, with the reach, the beings behind his armor, being the driving force of that season's plot and from what I can tell he's still been decently featured in later seasons. He's also shown up on smallville , justice league actions and in dc's direct to video teen titans movie before they killed off that universe and yes it still bothers me.
But before we can get into who Jaime is, we have to ask whatever happened to ted kord? Short answer...
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But when have I EVER taken the short route when I can ramble a bit?
So around the mid point of his solo book, Ted joined the Justice League International. This is where I met my boy and where most people met ted, Ted being thrown in there, along with the later addition of Captain Atom, to show off DC's charlton cast.
JLI was a diffrent sort of justice league book. Most of the big 7 weren't avaliable, with Wonder Woman and Superman busy being rebooted, flash now being Wally West who wasn't ready for it, and Hal Jordan and Aquaman
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So with just Batman and Martian Manhunter representing the old guard, writers Keith Giffen and JM Dematis decided to go in a diffrent direction; Make it funny. The comic would be both a sitcom and superhero action with real stakes and status quo changes.. but also batman punching the team's green lantern and ronald regan loving macho dumbass Guy Gardner in the face after Guy challenged the goddamn batman to a one on one fist fight, sans ring.
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Have I mentioned JLI is one of my faviorite comics of all time and something i'm LONG OVEDUE covering in some form? Well I have now.
The book was a hit for most of it's run and a fan faviorite for years and had both a great legacy for ted.. and some cruddy after effects. The good was that it kept him in the public eye for some time: Ted was on the team from the beginning to the end of Giffen and Dematis run and into the 90's, including Death of Superman. He also gained his best friend and comedic other half Booster Gold out of the deal, a janitor who traveled back in time with some future tech to make himself a superhero and promote the shit out of himself and whoever paid him to promote the shit out of them. It left ted a fan faviorite for generations and guaranteed he woudln't be forgotten.
The problem was a LOT of people were idiots about the bok and assumed because it was jokey the characters within were jokes. I mean the team wasn't immune to some pretty.. bleh characterizations: Power Girl was an angry man hating sterotype of a feminist as opposed to being an actual feminist now a days, Animal Man was routinely mocked despite Grant Morrision working wonders and ole billy batson was routinely but of the joke as he was well. a 12 year old in a childs body to us but a childish man to everyone else.
As a result many didn't really think to use ted after. There was an attempt at using the charlton characters that fell flat, but otherwise Ted's only real big run I can think of post justice league was in the pages of Birds of Prey, where he showed up having retired and nursing a massive crush on barbra gordon, so do most people attracted to women , can't blame him. The two had good chemistry but ultimately with the spectre of dick "King of all tush's" grayson looming, Ted never had a shot.
So ted was left off to the side, showing up for jli reunions but otherwise unused... until Infinite Crisis. In a fit of irony that had to be intetional, while it's predecessor brought ted into this world.. the leadup to it's sequel would take him out of it.
And thus we come to countdown to infinite crisis, a one shot leading into four mini series that lead into the event comic infinite crisis. CTIC is infamous to some: it portrays ted as a joke in the superhero community and pretty gruseomly kills off an infinite character. And as someone who hates killing off a b or c list character for the shock.. I think his death absoltuely works and is one of the most tragic and well written deaths in the dc canon and lets Ted go out on a high note.
The diffrence between this and say the slaughter of the freedom fighters or the various titans c-list deaths in the book proper is simple: Weight. Ted's death is given a lot of build up, weight, tragedy and is something that is never forgotten afterwords and has a serious impact on several characters.
So ted finds a conspiracy involving Maxwell Lord, formerlly the comically money hungry benefactor behind the jli now a megalomanical supervillian bent on killing all metahumans and superheroes except himself using the OMACs, a last resort batman built after he found out the justice league mindwiped him.
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The takeaway is ted found out and with booster injured, Babs busy with a lot of shit, and no one taking him seriously, Ted was left to his own.. and sadly as seen above Max beat the shit out of him, tried to flip him and then shot him in the head. But again part of what makes it work.. is that Ted goes out on his own terms. He could've just given up, he knew going in he had no real chance of winning , no idea what he was facing when he did, and no one to back him up.. but he didn't. He didn't give up because that's not who he is. that's not the man who put on this mask. That's not the man dan asked to put on the mask. He began his career trying to stop a threat only one othe rperson knew about.. and ended it the same way. And it was THANKS to his tragic death everyone else was able to unravel things in time. As a result wonder Woman was able to snap the bastards neck before he killed superman, see above gif, and Lord was stopped.
Problem was Brother Eye, the AI Batman built to create and control the omacs was still mostly loose and the omacs copoted by the big bad of infinite crisis, Alexander Luthor, relelated to exactly who you think's.. alternate good counterpart from a mirror universe. Thankfully Ted's devistating loss inspired Booster to do something, so he went back to the future, grabbed as much info as he could, declared "never again" and found the scarab, which had ended up in el paso on the back of one Jaime Reyes and recutied him since he was invisible to brother eye. With a team of other heroes they saved the world from batman's greatest blunder.
The questions remained though. Who WAS this kid wearing the armor? What happened to him after? And how did he feel about the weight now on his shoulders? All important questions abou tot be answered as we dig into the first arc of Jaime's Solo, Shellshocked.
This comic comes from us from Writers John Rogers and Jm. Demattis. JMD of course co wrote jli, while Rogers is a screenwriter whose written a few comics and later would take sole writing credit here for this run and is part of the reason it slaps so much.
We begin with our hero landing in the desert, having no idea what's going on as he's attacked by captain punched in the face himself Guy Gardner, whose response to Jaime putting up a shield to defend himself after Guy shouts at him "WHAT ARE YOU" is
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So an average first meeting with Guy all things considered. We flash back to Jaime's life before he got super armor and had a guy trying to kill him while he looks like he just.. badly wants to go home. The art here by Cully Hamner is fucking awesome and hamner also designed jaime's now iconic outfit, complete with having his mask look similar to a luchadors. It's gorgeous stuff and while Ted had the cool bug eyed goggles and giant ship, Jaime really looks insectoid. while still giving his mask enoough expression.
So in the flashback we meet one of the best parts of the book, Jaime's best friends Paco and Brenda. Paco is a boisterious loudmouth with a heart of gold while Brenda is a type a trying to encourage the other two to study more. Paco has shown up in the brave and the bold but the two don't get adapted much.. including, disapoitningly , for the film , with other characters seeming to take up their rolls instead, paticually Jaime's sister taking paco's roll as she was aged up for the film. I don't hold it against the film makers hard: as much as I miss them I get them trying to both do their own thing and not having room for them, focusing more on his family. Their might be room in sequels, one can hope.
For the comics though I like the two a lot and through every attempted revivival creators have been smart to keep them in it. They both provide a nice shoulder for jamie, Paco being his more fun and games type buddy, while Brenda keeps him grounded. While this type of trio, moderate voice of reason who has to pay referree to a smarty pants and a loudmouth isn't new in fiction, Paco and Brenda feel like real people. Their conversation feels like two real friends arguging with Jamie understandably tired of being their refree.
Things take a turn when Paco is judo throwingly dickish, sniping at Brenda she "thinks she can become a lawyer".. and rightly gets tossed on his ass for it. Brenda also takes akkido.. though the why is heartbreaking as she let's it slip her dad hits her. I also like the diffrence in where the two want to go" Paco dosen't care about school becaues he knows he can't afford college and has to make his own way, while Brenda desperatley hopes to because she has no other option to escape her abuser.. or so she thinks but we'll table that for now. For now Jamie finds the scarab. If your curious HOW Dan's scarab got here, he had it for a while, it seemingly blew up when it reinamainted dan from the dead to fight Ted , and then it somehow ended up on the rock of eternity. Then gods vengance got horny and then got angry and blew it up, and here we are.
We cut back to guy breifly and .. it's more of Jamie getting beaten up as his armor reacts on it's own to pull out canon to defend itself. Then we cut back.. but before we do.. I have to comment on how jarring this is. The scenes themselves aren't bad: the past stuff provides valuable info on who jamie is , his family, his friends, lots of ogod setup and the fight with guy IS necessary: not only is his over the top reaction to the scarab foreshadowing, but it leads to one of the best scenes in the entire series later on when he comes back about a year later.
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It just feels a bit jarring here: even having read infinite crisis it feels incredibly abrubt and entirely unfriendly to anyone who didn't.. and trust me as someone back then who , while not reading this series monthly (that came years later when I finally got the chance via comixology unlimited) was picking up books week to week as a high school dork, not everyone could afford the big event series. I'm not doubting most comic book fans had read this.. but to someone just picking up the trade without knowing what an infinite crisis is, it's a bit of a head flip. They DO explain jamie's time in infinite crisis and fill us in on that stuff, it's just a lot to take in getting into the book wether you know the event or not.
Jamie banters with his kid sister milagro, in the comics as I hinted at earlier only about 4 or 5 versus slightly younger than jamie in the movie. The two banter, his mom tells them not to fight (And she knows because it's tuesday), and he goes to help his dad. It's a nice little scene that helps establish the dynamics: he and his sister fight but in a very natural sibling way (Jamie was annoyed she asked him to help with the remote for the 80th time) and his mom is.. well see above: she's tough but entirely fair.
He then goes to see his dad, and we see a scene tha'ts new to us but feels like ti's happened a thousand times: Jamie's dad's car shop isn't doing well but he refuses to let his son eithe rdrop out to work shifts or even do more with school, just wanting him to be a kid longer. I'ts.. heartbreaking and well done.
We then cut back to the fight. Guy is winning.. but breaks the face of jamie's armor so he sees it's just a kid and REFUSES to keep fighting despite his ring's recommendation. This is a REALLY awesome character moment that shows the duo really get guy. Not a suprise form Dematis obviously, but it still shows h'es not the same asshole he used to be. He's still.. well guy, seen here leaving earth for a tour of duty on oa with his usual grace and dignity
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That comment tells me Batman''s seen that ass before Batman knows an ass that needs a shaving for he is the night.
Guy explains why he went nuts.. for once with an actual reason: the ring went fucking crazy, and wanted to kill the shit out of Jamie, but Guy isn't a killer.. which is a bold faced lie but hey you try telling a kid. Guy says he'll be back.. and isn't seen for a year in publishing time and months in story. Look he has a lot of people to moon and not a lot of time before he was due back on oa, cut him some slack. The one important bombshell though is contrary to previous lore up to this point, the Scarab.. isn't magic. Which isn't a shock to anyone whose seen jamie in anything else, but is still a nice way to drop that bit of retcon. And I do like it: it dosen't horribly contridcit previous stories and if anything Lewis Lovhag made a VERY good case in his blue beetle retrospective for how it all ties together.
So the scarab retracts, Jamie is left naked and in pain and we cut back to the past. The scarab bonds with him and he speaks it's language breifly.
Jamie then walks with Paco and brenda and runs into a strange girl.. a strange girl who turns out to hav eno eyes. While his friends pass it off as jamie starring at .. something else, it's clear he saw something. It's part of the scarabs power set naturally.
So we end the issue with Jamie naked and having no idea what to do next. We pick up exactly from there next issue: jamie is naked and wondering through the desert wondering how the hell he'll explain this to his parents, when we flash back to the past again. Their at school and Jamie once again sees thigns that arne't there. We find out why as it turns out Probe, the girl from earlier's friend has a power that allows him to make people undedticable. Curious about his own powers they want to invite him to join.. but the scarab attacks probe some how and, not knowing it wasn't Jamie's idea, her friend vows revenge. Back in the present, we get a neat scene as Jamie , with no other options rifles through a guys trunk only for a guy to point a rifle at him. The guy in question being white and having a sweet trucker hat, you'd assume he's going to be a dick.. but in a nice subversion and an even nicer random act of kindness.. the guy simply gives Jamie some clothes, offers to call his folks and is just in general a sweetheart. Given the series takes place in texas, el paso to be specific it's just a nice show that not all people are ignorant monsters. Some people will just.. help someone because it's the right thing as they should.
We get one last flashback, as Jamie gets targeted by Probe's friends we get another breif superhero fight with the scarab activating on it's own. Gain it's a bit.. chatoic, but on second read.. it feels a lot more deliberate than it did. The fight not only shows just how dangerous this thing is when left to it's own devices, but even the posse's leader is starting to tell that whatever Jamie is he isn't a baseline metahuman.
Back in the present day, the friendly trucker man who I genuinely wish we see again some day, such a peach talks to Jamie and tries to convince him his parents will be fine. Jamie insists on sneaking in.. and finds a freaked out Milagro in his bed... and sadly for our boy and his poor family.. that isn't the ONLY suprise awaiting our hero.
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It's a hell of a reveal and one that's entirely well done and set up.
To properly explain it I have to get into DC's linewide status quo at the time. Blue Beetle came out in the aftermath of the big event I mentioned, infinite crisis. Heroes lived, a LOT of heroes died, and in the aftermath Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all stepped away for a bit: Superman was depowered in the final fight of the series, Wonder Woman wanted to reconnect with humanity despite being perfectly connected under any writer who wasn't Geoff Johns, and Batman, after all his paranoid antics leading up to it, decided to take a year off with his adopted sons Dick and Tim. Damien didn't exist yet if you were curious. And so every dc book jumped ahead
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Complete with this nifty Sticker. Every book shifted it's status quo with a year having passed and like any good time skip left questions as to WHY things changed while we weren't looking. One Year Later was my first time skip and to this day is one of the best i've seen in comics. At the time I was reading Teen Titans, which shifted to a whole new roster in the wake of superboys death and a lot of turnover off screen, adding in two of my faviorite titans Ravenger and my boy eddie aka Kid Devil, who I'm bound to cover one of these days. It was really good stuff. Other books had roster changes, massive status quo shifts and all sorts of good stuff and most used it beautifully. It's what gave me a love of time skips and what you can do with that.
Given Jamie didn't come in till Infinite Crisis he wasn't obligated to use the gimmick and looking at his first two issues, they cleverly DIDN'T plaster the sticker on there, as to not give away the twist. There was no way a reader would know this had a one way time jump going in and no way a modern reader will know reading the trade. It also means they didn't HAVE to use it.. but i'm glad they did: Jamie being gone and his family and friends dealing without him leaves a massive gap and seeing how it was before allows us to discover how it is now alongside our boy. Some truly magificent storytelling.
We open issue 3 with..
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I'm not kidding... we open with Peacemaker, complete with tatoo's. .talks about dreaming 'Blue dreams".. while casually beating up some guys holding up a convience store. He has a friend in the area he just dosen't know it.. god help him.
Back with Jamie, his mom.. dosen't belivie a word and neither does his dad, thinking it was drugs or something. His mom even calls it "this fairy tale". Now in MOST stories i'd get it: it's a LOT to take in and a lot to believe.
The problem is in the details: when Jamie disappeared.. the world was in danger: robots were swarming the sky, an army of supervillians escaped. There was mass destruction all over the world and an army of superheroes engaged in a massive battle for the fate of it. All of this happening around the EXACT same time Jamie disappears in a world where superheroes are entirely common and have been a fact of life since world war II. It dosen't wreck the story for me, Jamie's mom is fairly practical she probably didn't want to kid herself, I get her not thinking that till now.. but it's still VERY weird that none of them think MAYBE this is true.
So with really no other choice.. Jamie armors up. Which solves the "she thinks you were on drugs problem: but the result.. is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in comics and the one thing I was least looking forward to re-reading this story, a scene that's gotten me EVERY time.
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It hurt to even put that on there. And in a lesser book Bianca's thought wouldn't have any nuance... but as Alberto explains and somehow makes this hurt even MORE
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It's a beautifully heartbreaking segment and part of what makes this time jump work so well: Jamie's disappearnce had a tangible, painful effect. It's an exploration of what just taking ONE person out of the world for that long would do. I also love the end of what I showed you. Alberto explains to his son why Bianca's doing this.. but assures him he's still his boy and this will pass. I also like that they don't just have bianca be evil .. it's simply the SHOCK of all this getting to her, of having to come to the grips with the fact that Jamie is a person.
So he has Jamie go out for a bit, let his mom work through stuff.. though he pointedly dodges Jamie's question about him now walking with a cane. For now Jamie still hasn't gotten a grip on what the suit can do, and tests it, using arm blades and the canon from earlier before popping back naked again. Thankfully this time the Scarab shows it can make him some clothes.
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So Jamie goes looking for his friends.. but both places he tries sputter out: Brenda's moved during the year and Paco isn't at school. Turns out though the Scarab can track anyone Jamie's met, and he acknowledges how creepy that is before heading for the border.
So turns out Paco is WORKING with Damper of the posse, the guy who makes the invisible stuff happen.. but just as their on the bridge here come the men in black, and the MIBS are working for someone named la dama and have cable sized laser rifles. Thankfully before they can blow a hole in paco and damper, Jamie swoops in just in time and blocks it. The MIBs decide "Fuck it this guy wants it big willie style" and attack jamie who struggles to get the scarab NOT to murder them, but manages to take them out then swoops off with Hector since homeland security are you know.. homeland security.
Jamie explains things to hector before stopping on a roof with him.
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It's a touching and MUCH needed bit of cahtarsis. After going through a LOT of shit in the past three issues.. Jamie's finally given a proper welcome home.
Paco also helps with Brenda... turns out things got even WORSE with her dad and the bastard put her in the ICU. As paco brilliantly put it, there apparently really IS a god as a week later he died, and Brenda's beloved great aunt took her in. Paco's still visiting but hasn't told her about the posse. Jamie's reunion with brenda is just as sweet if a bit .. less huggy.
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Yup.
So we open issue 2 and Jamie is doing his homework. He finds ted doing this without powers cool.. until he gets to the bullet in the brain part. Clearly a bit unnerved he moves on to dan, who at least gives him a clue, the scarab gave dan powers.. but he wonders why it skipped over ted. That's when he gets a visitor on the web: Oracle.
For those who haven't seen this version of her, Oracle is barbra gordon. During the killing joke the joker , wanting to drive Comissioner Gordon to madness, shot barbara. That wouldve been the end in many cases but not liking this one bit, writer John Ostrander turned her into oracle, who works as most superheroes go to help line, paticuarlly the bat family and her own operatives the birds of prey. She TRIES to recruit Jamie: Ted was her friend and this makes it her buisness... but instead of opening with "Ted Kord was my friend I just want to help" or something like that which might not have worked but at least would've softballed you know, hyjacking his monitor, Jamie instead blows up at her, mad the other heroes didn't find him (In her defense they had no way of knowing he was missing as Booster never told them and isn't around due to his fate, revealed in the series covering the missing year 52, not being known at the time this comic was published),. Jamie blasts the screen and tells her to go to hell while Black Canary, who is both barbra's best friend na dmain field operative needles her a bit. She likes Jamie though and it's clear she gets it: to Jamie the superhero community abandoned him, and heroes don't do that, and he simply needs time to process the fact their humans and they fuck up.. and that guy DOSEN'T represent them. Though Babs didn't HELP with that one by saying "if he wanted you dead you'd be dead" which is factually true but dosen't exactly calm down the scared teenager babs.
Anyways Jamie's mom takes him to the doctor where they find nothing. Jamie points out that's a good thing: if he HAD found the scarab, which can retreat into Jamie, there would've been a LOT of questions and possibly the government on their asses. We do see Bianca's come around a bit: after jamie apologizes Bianca tells him he has no need to: it's not her fault and she has to stop thinking that.
We cut to La Dama's place. While Brenda leaves for school, La Dama talks with her minon Diviner... and given he oggles brenda a bit before La Dama just bluntly tells him if he does it again he dies, no metaphors either she just straight up says she'll have him killed. Direct. I like that. But Diviner is an ass, but he's a useful ass so La Dama wants him to test the new beetle, try and break him. See if he's of any use since as far as she knows, the Scarab is still magic.
And reinforcing my point from earlier, Jamie getting back into school.. was incredibly easy. A lot of weird shit happened around the crisis so he just had to fill out a form. It's a great gag and makes perfect since. All Bianca had to do was say he disappeared in a beam of light. Brenda shows up , getting out a half our earlier as naturally having a rich aunt means she can get a nicer school and the three riff like nothing happened. Diviner finds Jamie easily.. but realizes Brenda being there complicates things, so he decides to stage a false flag attack: test jamie with a monster and save her to score points with his boss at the same time.
They go to their old hangout spot we haven't seen before but fair enough, we just met these guys. Jamie asks them point blank: what happened to his dad. Both are shocked no one told him and while Jamie got the cliff notes version, he got hurt at the garage, he knows their not telling him the whole truth.
And shockity shock, they weren't. His dad got shot. Turns out the unreliable guy Jamie was trying to fill in for... was in with drugs and Alberto got shot. Jamie.. blames himself. He was going to get to work summer hours. Thankfully Brenda says fuck that noise..well more don't blame yourself, this isn't a mature readers book.. and in a nice moment Paco.. agrees for once.
It's not hard to see why Jamie's connecting those dots as he lays them out: he disappeared, the cops questioned paco and brenda, her dad nearly beat her to death as a result, Paco joined the posse... but Paco makes it VERY clear it's not his fault.
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It's a brilliant moment that shows for all his bravado.. paco is very EMOTIONALLY intelligent.
Then some groots attack. Well ents but they look grooty enough. Jamie tries to fight them but the scarab won't damage nature. Foreshadowing for later. For now Jamie takes command and points out when it complains there are plenty of trees, tracking where the magic is coming from.
Jamie is able to stop it and it foils Diviner's attempt to seem like a hero.. that and Brenda KNOWING him, knowing he always hits on her aunt, and not trusting him whatsoever. The fact he uses the word "ruffians" to describe jamie and paco dosen't help.
And with this Jamie's full circle knows. It was one of the big word of mouth things I heard in wizard magazine and other places back in the day... and rightfully so. While most teen super hero works have the hero hide it, especially during the 2000's cartoon teen superhero boom that was going on at the time, Blue Beetle.. has everyone find out within issues 3 and 4. Jamie HAS to reveal it to his parents as a result of his missing year and Paco and Brenda learn organically as he has to save both of them in ways that don't feel contrived: Paco was already working with some metahumans and the attack on him introduces la dama.. and makes it a big reveal that this crime boss is Brenda's aunt and guardian, while Diviner was attacking Jamie anyway. It allows jamie's FAMILY to deal with this situation with him instead of him having to hide it and the books better for it.
Am I saying EVERY hero needs to tell their loved ones? no, if you have a godo reason for them to hide it in your story your good. But if there isn't they should know. It's why most 2000's superhero animated shows, while not telling the parents in most, had the friends know at a minimum. It's more intresting to explore how this effects those around them rather than just having them have to hide it.
So the issue ends with Jamie having Paco call on the posse for a meeting.
Issue 5 begins with Jamie waiting for the posse. He ends up instead meeting the Phantom Stranger. For those curious the Phantom Stranger is.. the phantom stranger is...
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I TRIED looking it up but he has no concrete origin. He's a mysteroius man in a trenchcoat and fedora who appears related to magic stuff or to help someone with a critical turning point. For instance brave and the bold had he and the spectre, the horny ghost of god's vengance, wager over wether batman would kill Joe Chill or not. Golly this review is giving me a LOT of ideas for OTHER reviews.
At any rate he says Jamie's not what he thought he was, and then bounces. The posse's rep, Damper the invisible guy from the flashback with probe is ycordial: as long as Jamie dosen't try anything their cool. Turns out Paco is actually really close to him: As he revealed to jamie earlier they aren't into drugs or anything, and as it turns out blocker dude was so upset because one of the other posse members he hurt was his girlfriend who since then has had a baby . And since Paco explained it wasn't a concious decision on Jamie's part, there square for now. He also finds out the stranger was invisible to everyone else and asks the scarab to tell him next time.. and finds out they can't hear the scarab either. Though i'm sure the voices thing went down better as Jamie HAS explained at this point the thing has a mind of it's own. It turns out though a guy working for Diviner is following them.
While that's going on Brenda has lunch with her aunt, who asks her about the boys. She also knows about the Posse though Brenda vouches for Paco, telling them he just hangs out with them. La Dama also wrongly assumes Brenda has a crush on jamie and I like changing this dynamic up: normally in this sort of trio the main character and the girl of the group have the unreseloved romantic tension. Here.. well..
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I love the art here too. It communciates very well that no , Brenda's not denying she has feelings.. she's just utterly mortified anyone remotely thinks she has feelings that aren't there.
So while the Posse gives jamie ten minutes to talk, Divinier begins his plan, summoning a religious hunchback to do his bidding
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Said hunchback uses harlot a lot and is easily tricked into stealing Damper (Shield guy) and Bonita's baby... and i'm suddenly wishing firefist would come back stupid outfit and all.
It turns out Probe is missing and we find out why while also finding out more about La Damia and the Posse: La Damia was originally just a coyote, someone who helps people from the border in exchange for cash or drug trafficing. Some are more benevloent than others, and ran a whole orginzation of them but has gone up in the world over the time skip.
She's also decided after the crisis she has to step it up hence gathering magical artifacts and metas, collecting them for her own team. And it also turns out Paco was ENTIRELY correct about the posse being good guys and harmless: they run stuff like bingo, smuggling and getting people across the border, but as Paco vouched no drugs or anything serious. They do crime.. but it's only because with no real superhero presence down El Paso way, no one on either side of the border is looking out for the little guy. Paco is one of their non meta guys, used for the more day to day stuff. They also figure Beetle's already being "tested".. before bonita rushes in talking about the hunchback taking her baby and accusing Jamie
We cut back to lunch: La Dama continues to grill Brenda, but Brenda both admits everyone likes jamie and gives the beam of light story: while La Dama dosen't buy it Brenda gives good reason for her loyalty: jamie was there for her when she showed up brused at school from her dad, took her lying about it in stride and simply offered genuine support... and with that La Dama clearly realizes she has an issue as she's targeting her adopted daughter's best friend.
Everyone else gets her calmed down.. and Jamie offers to get her back. It's a nice chekovs gun: since he met them earlier, that means he can track the baby using their combined dna. While one of the posse questions if Jamie's a superhero now Jamie dosen't know about that but says "It's a baby, I can't let anyone hurt a baby". While jamie may not WANT to be a hero and given all the shit it's brought down on his life, no one can possibly blame him... it's moments like this and the stuff mentoind by brenda that show WHY he's a hero. Without a moments hestiation he helps two people using something he really dosen't like simply because a child is in danger and he's the best bug for the job. It's jamie's core feature: his heart> he's just a good kid who loves his family ,friends and tries to do the right thing. That's it. It's why his friends and family are so key to his character: they show off he's human, he jokes, he fights with his sister, he's a normal teen.. but also show he's an honest good kid who does wheaver he can to help them, letting Brenda have an escape from her abusive home, helping his parents however he can, just being there. Jamie Reyes is one of the purest, most lovable heroes in the dc universe and this one moment encpasulates.. all of that.
Jamie fights the hunchback of notre slut shaming but has a problem since you know, he has to also rescue the baby then hold it. He traps the guy under a truck but it barely slows him down. thankfully help arrives: Peacemaker shows up on motorcycle and grabs the baby. Which is badass. but he calls jamie the blue monster.
Jamie is able to easily beat quasimodick though ,as the guy WANTS to die and the scarab drains it clean, despite jamie's wishes.. and as it turns out the news was watching. The whole world now knows there's a new blue beetle.. for better or worse. Something I want to note before we wrap up the arc proper next issue: ther'es a runner that while jamie has great power.. he has NO idea to fight. And I like that. He gets by with his gadgets and such but it creates a nice contrast between the previous two beetles: As we've seen while Dan Garret had powers, he was a brawler, while Ted was an acrobat and used movement as his primary weapon. It creates a nice contrast that jamie really only has his brain, much like ted, and brute force at first: no finnese simply because he hasn't had TIME to learn it yet.
So we come to the finale of our introductory arc, and yes ther'es still another issue to cover after, i'll explain when we get there.
We cut to some time after last issue with Jamie having found La Dama's compound. Turns out he didn't know he could do the tracker thing himself, it's why he had to ask the posse about probe int he first place but now he can it was easy enough. He has Paco stay behind though.. not out of malice or anything but as Jamie rightly points out he's can fly ONE person out if things get dicey. They need an exit stratgey. And when paco worries if Jamie's just trying to protect him..
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Our heroes sneak in.. but turns out La Dama naturally ha senors and their soon spotted. The place itself is.. paradise. A really nice garden, plenty of testing. It's clear while La Dama has been taking kids in.. she isn't stupid enough. I mean she still has grunka lunka dunkity darmed guards, but when the guy in charge talks to them he not only tells them they could've got vistors passes. A fight quickly breaks out as our heroes naturally don't assume the best of these guys and one of them spinner, who can swap powers being a dick to the posse dosen't help. A full fight breaks out whlie outside Paco is chasaed. We cut to La Dama who.. handles things well, simply wanting it calmed down and notably giving Spinner an infraction... more on her later as we cut to her other problem, said car chase as Paco tries not to die, while Jamie takes the head guy out of the dome.. and thus the Phantom Stranger finds what he was looking for. it's a lot at once. All good stuff though.
La Dama arrives and ends this nonsese. She also brings out Probe, who turns out is staying of her own free will. As Stranger, whose now visable to all puts it , it's the finest prison.. one of their own will. He's also here BECAUSE La Dama's been hiding magic people, but she counters it dosen't break rules as she's doing it to keep them safe. Which given every the majority of supervillians are still unionized under the society at this point and the goverment's track records includes "send a guy who was used for experiments because he had a rape and murder charge to deal with the new green lantern and hope he dosen't do somethign serial killery to her girlfriend and oh look what's in kyle rayner's fridge".
So Damper makes an offer; since la dama offers saftey, he promises they'll be safe now El Paso has it's own here: Jamie. and Since jamie has no intent to go anywhere and is a good kid he agrees despite just being volunteered for this. La Dama also agrees: they can come and go as they please
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As you can probably guess, La Dama isn't pleased and has a one on one with Jamie, who recognized her as Brenda's aunt. She knows who he is as like Ted jamie isn't the best at keeping secrets.. in this case the fact the Blue Beetle showed up right after jamie disappeared with a very flimsy explination.. it's too obvious and it's clear earlier she was just trying to get Brenda to tell her. As for why she put in the effort he's a threat.. and she's not wrong: he upended a massive operation of hers simply by doing the right thing and so far dosen't have any idea what the hell he's doing.
But as you can tell by this point La Dama's smart and it's part of why I love this character so much: she's a crime boss and she's defintely doing some shady shit.. but she's not a horrible person. She genuinely cares from brenda and sh'es far from stupid when doing her dealings. She was kind to the various metas instead of imprsoning them and when faced with a superhero.. she simply makes an offer. And not "you need to work for me or else" like say the kingpin would a simple one: keep doing what your doing but don't fuck with my operations in a major way, which also neatly dosen't stop jamie from say stopping a dealer or a robbery or something if it's on her dime and he didn't know it, just stops him from dismantling them, which with his powers he likely could. She's still antagonistic, offering to paint him as a villian in the media if he does.. but Jamie shows he's not afraid: she does this, he'll tell brenda. He's clearly bluffing, La Dama can see it.. but the risk is too great not to agree. Also in case you were wondering if things were a bhit TOO concidental with Brenda's new happy life.. Jamie had the same thought...
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Honestly I like that the crime boss in Jamie's life ISN'T some big kingpin style villian. And I love me some kingpin and his dc equivlent blockbuster. No question. But I like that La Dama.. isn't evil. Ruthless, a criminal and someone more than willing to kill yes, but she's complex: she loves her niece, and while she did kill her dad and it's mildly fucked up she did so given the son of bitch hit her regularly then beat her so bad she had to be hospitlized, I have absolutely no sympathy for him. She did what she had to and the complexites of that including what Brenda will think once she finds out, all nicely add some Drama. La Dama says Jamie won't be able to figure out the scarab without her resouces.. when Peacemaker enters and drops the bombshell.
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And this is PART of why I wanted to cover issue 7: it ends on less of a cliffhanger. That and it ties up some necessary EMOTIONAL loose ends too.
So we open our last issue. Jamie recaps his landing to earth and has taken the Reyes Family, Paco and Brenda to the crater it left, with Alberto having them gather some soil samples his cousin can look at. I .. genuinely dont' think this comes up again.
MIlagro suggests retracing his steps.. but still recoils when her brother tries to touch her. It's painful to see. Peacemaker joins the group and understandably Alberto wonders what the strange man wants with his son. Turns out he got the scarabs database, i.e. the instruction manual and more, beamed into his head on a tour of duty. We get our first flashback to inifnite crisis. We also get a few nice bits: Jamie wonders what monster built brother eye with Bruce deflecting it onto Green Arrow. He also later tells them to say they met superman, it'll go down better.. and when we cut back he has. Well most of them take it okay
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Speaking of Peacemaker , Alberto dosen't trust the strange tatooted man and isn't comforted by Peacemaker casually talking about working off the books during the dominon and qurac wars, both wars Alberto served in. It's both some nice character to find out alberto served, and something that leads to one of the series best moments later, and both of Alberto's tours are some nice dc continuity nods: The Dominon War was the DC crossover event Invasion! , where the earth was invaded by the dominators. It didn't have a ton of impact and I mostly know it for two reasons: there were tie ins at the time in most books , in paticular Wonder Woman, JLI, and Suicide Squad for me personally, and Doom Patrol's next relaunch came out of the event and it'd later be the origin story for Crazy Jane. god I also have to do some doom patrol content at some point. Not enough hours in the day I swear.
We also get Paco and Jamie's thoughts on the la dama thing: While Paco is worried she's Jamie's "nemesis" jamie.. is fine upholding the truce. La Dama has stopped the worst of her actions, could easily have him ground into paste if she wanted as she likely knows someone as powerful at him but with more experince, and is being good to brenda. There's no REASON to shake that hornet's nest for now.
We get the rest of what happened on Brother Eye: Dinah suggests blowing up the bitch, I forgot she'd already met Jamie at this point, and they blow it up.. and as we see it REALLY was accidental: the scarab cloaked itself upon seeing Jon Stewart and then Hal Jordan.. and thus our hearts get broken one last time ... this arc.
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It's one of the best scenes in the whole run and one of the most powerful.. and as I hinted at the main reason WHY I wanted to do this issue. At last, Jamie fully has his family back with him.
As for why he went forward in time it's simple: Brother Eye was already out of synch with time, its's how the scarab could track him since it used similar technology as it's creators, but with Brother Eye busy exploding and everything chaotic Jamie got shifted out of time and phase and thus wound up a year later.
So everything's good right.. except.. peacemaker raises a VERY valuable point as we end on a cliffhanger I CAN live with.
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And we'll get to that some other day as I intend to cover the rest of this series sometime on my own time.
For now though when I finally got to read this run last year.. Blue Beetle became one of my faviorite comics of all time. It was probably easy to tell given i heaped almost nothing but praise on it. It has SOME small growing pains but once we're firmly in the present and everything set the book just keeps going and tells a magnifcent coming of age story. It's not hard to see why DC keeps going back to Jamie or why they thought he could anchor his own movie: He's a wonderful, loveable character with a rich and fleshed out supporting cast. While Ted's death was tragic it paved the way for a book about family, legacy, duty and being who you are versus who people expect you to be. Blue Beetle is a masterpiece and there are trades collecting both halves of John Rogers run out now thanks to the film. Snap them up. This is good stuff and it only gets better. For now though that concludes the main portion of beetlemania, but tune in next week for more beetle as we focus on both boys as they get brave and the bold and we wrap up this retrospective. Thanks for reading.
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fiercynn · 8 months ago
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Aaliyah Edwards comes from the small city of Kingston, Ontario — a city deep with history nestled next to Lake Ontario, sitting evenly between Toronto and Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. As Edwards said upon being drafted: "You’re not only playing for yourself, you’re playing for those falling behind you. You’re also playing for those who laid the foundation in front of you. Coming into the WNBA, I respect that. I appreciate, I’m not going to say elders because I don’t want them getting on me, but I appreciate our vets. I’m going to soak up all the experience, but also know that I have a huge impact across the border in Canada." Growing up, Edwards was coached in basketball by her dad, quickly gaining skill and strength far beyond her years. She started her high school journey at Frontenac Secondary School, but ended up moving to Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto to further her basketball career. It was there she went through her recruiting journey and joined the ranks of Canada Basketball junior national teams. After seeking guidance from another Canadian legend of the game in Kia Nurse, Edwards decided on UConn for her college career. The legacy of the school’s basketball programs mixed with the trust Geno Auriemma had in her and the glowing review from Nurse; it was enough to convince her that Storrs was the place to be. Edwards joined Paige Bueckers and Nika Mühl as the freshmen trio that would ultimately send UConn to three Final Fours in four seasons and play in one national championship game.
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miloscat · 1 year ago
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[Review] Air Twister (ATV)
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A strange hybrid.
Another Apple Arcade title that caught my eye was this rail shooter. It seems to mash up two Sega classics: Space Harrier (flying person with a gun) and Panzer Dragoon (the lock-on shooting mechanic). Directed by Yu Suzuki through his company Ys Net, otherwise known for Shenmue 3, it certainly has that Sega pedigree! (He also directed the original Space Harrier you see, although he wasn't involved with Panzer Dragoon.)
The game kind of throws you in initially, so you might think it's a simple arcadey experience. Only after failing your first run does it reveal its broader scope (although the game itself doesn't shy away from oddly quoting Suzuki himself saying that the arcade mode is the real game and everything else is just extra). By defeating enemies in the main mode you gradually accumulate stars which unlock nodes in an "Adventure" map. These give you all sorts of things: extra max health, new weapons, charges for a slowdown ability, new cosmetic gear, etc.
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This is how Air Twister artificially encourages a player to do extra runs of the main game's 12 stages, although I had fun trying out the different weapons by retackling the short campaign. Also unlockable are new modes of play, only most of them seem especially superfluous, not to mention expensive in stars since you only unlock individual stages at a time for these modes.
As for the game itself, it's pretty decent. Rail shooters like this often have trouble effectively depicting the depth of incoming projectiles to help the player avoid them, and this one certainly has that problem. As someone who grew up on Lylat Wars the enemy placements and formations seem a bit standard as well, and the basic combat lacks that visceral impact. The graphics have quite good fidelity but this seems to have come at the cost of model and texture pop-in, as well as occasional frame stuttering, which you really don't want with an action game like this.
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Promotion for the game boasts of its touch and swipe controls, which I didn't test at all. I just used a controller for a more traditional experience, which the upcoming console port would seem to confirm is going to win out as the default scheme. Perhaps as a consequence of designing around direct touch control, there is no crosshair to help out controller players which makes lining up your lock-ons more difficult... or maybe that's part of its Space Harrier legacy, which also lacked this feature. Planet Harriers had a crosshair, pout pout.
An interesting feature of this game is that it represents a collaboration with Dutch music artist Valensia. His heavily Queen-inspired prog rock songs (a mix of old hits and newly composed tracks for this game) grant a very novel "rock opera" feel to the game experience. I don't tend to like lyrical songs in my video games, and they didn't really try to time the action to the music, but even so it's pretty cool to prominently feature this kind of music in a game.
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Like many Apple Arcade games, this has the uncomfortable feel of hybridisation between console and mobile game design. It has daily and weekly goals, premium currencies, and even the dreaded timed events. The latter ran for just a month at a time last year (three in total) and their exclusive cosmetics are now inaccessible. I loathe this practice, and they seem to have stopped it, presumably while focusing on the console port. The app icon still hasn't even been changed away from a seasonal event which has been over for eight months. Baffling.
As it is, the odd compromises and decisions in the design of this game would probably destine this for footnote status in the Space Harrier legacy alongside Planet Harriers. Hopefully the console port tightens its focus and gets it more attention, because there's some nice stuff here. I didn't even mention the bizarre lore compendium or the cool environments which again hybridise the surrealist Space Harrier worlds with Panzer Dragoon's more grounded epic fantasy vibes, leading to some imaginative dreamy landscapes.
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