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moonshynecybin · 7 months

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thinking about FCO Rosquez at their first PR-forced public dinner (like a week or two after the announcement, Wednesday or Thursday night) and how their conversation is supposed to go when Marc was dying to talk to Valentino all winter (still has a string of unanswered texts in his phone) but now he’s closed off and Valentino wants to make this work but can’t have them fight in public or be silent for an entire hour, do we think they find a middle ground or Vale just talk about random things on his own or they somehow ignore everything and are able to tell each other about their winter or subjects that have nothing to do with MotoGP or—

court mandated date night nooooo poor marc :(

this is so nuts to think about... like even outside the insane emotional reality of getting outed and the violence of public scrutiny and like. marc having (once again !) his ability to control his own narrative ripped away from him by his association with valentino— which is his LEAST favorite thing (i do think he blames himself for the photos though... like maybe if i wasnt such a whore we wouldnt be in this mess :((( which. marc buddy naur.) on TOP of that he is having a romantic candellit dinner with his ex situationship that he is still in love with. one million points lightning damage. so everyone is extremely strung out at this shitty little date night table (michelin restaurant lbr) and marc has justtttt gone dark on his whatsapp thread with valentino. maybe he is trying to maybe exert some control over his life here in small ways... put up SOME walls in clumsy self protective fashion...

but VALE is like okay. so if this thing between us is public he doesnt want it or want me. interesting. okay im cool im fine im good np who cares i hate him anyway (girl.) and he's also um. kind of reeling from the abrupt reversal of the status quo here tbh. marc has never played hard to get ever ever not once in his entire life. no self preservation on that man 5ever. he's literally always been there giving vale flattering attention and being in love with him !!! so vale is kind of off-balance here being met with some version of the marc marquez freezeout, not sure how to react but missing marc's attention. and he chooses to compensate as he does with most roadblocks in his life: full charm offensive. (he also, in some selfless and tender corner in the back of his mind that he is trying to ignore, just really and truly knows marc is FREAKED and misses seeing him laugh. he wants the evil jajajas.... he will do anything for the evil jajajas....) so he is trying. SO hard to get him to crack a smile. lowkey causing a scene in the restaurant by being such a clown... but marc isnt really biting. is still responding, like they ARE having a conversation, but its nothing like it used to be. clearly he is just being polite. smiles twice ALL night—all wan and pale and beautiful and so clearly exhausted—and vale's mouth gets all dry and his ribcage feels like its going to implode. and of course in response to this he is like wow. my heartburn is going crazy. damn. [chugging wine].

like looking to real life, as awkward as rosquez have been in their years of estrangement, they have always had to share space. for 6 years in that paddock ! that's a lot of years of small talk ! they can have and will do it if necessary... so as the night drags i think marc talks about riding and the season to fill in the gaps... goes home and gives himself a list of regimented rules to stick to when interacting with valentino (i see him texting exclusively the PR thread more as his classically unpracticed self protection style than like. a deliberate fuck you to that end. i cant drunk booty call vale if karen from PR is also there type stuff). that being said, eventually i do think he makes elaborate excuses to BEND these rules bc he still wants valentino's attention. and also his tongue in his mouth. hes like okay! i am only kissing valentino in front of tv cameras if we both podium! and then they DONT share a podium and hes like. okay! it would be WEIRD if i didnt kiss vale after i podiumed even if he didnt! because thats what i would do if we were actually together! [starts jogging across the paddock like a dick-seeking missile.]

#[SEND IN THE CLOWNS DOT EM PEE THREE]#i also think both of them fundamentally oppose awkward silences. they are YAPPERSSS #motogp #callie speaks #asks #rosquez #forced coming out au

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indefenseofkara · 1 year

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MWII Operator Headcanons: Kortac edition

Hello! It’s time for my Kortac headcanons! I’m doing the base operators that came with the game (except Oni because he’s a playstation exclusive so I can’t play him.) Like before, all images are screenshots from my game.

“Fender” Takacs

momma's boy, in the positive sense

can be loud and rambunctious, easy to view as a "mans man"

but very respectful of women and doesn't tolerate any of that "locker room talk"

the whole "mystery dad" thing has maybe gotten out of control

and when he's drunk he might let slip that he thinks his dad is someone like Reagan or maybe Elvis

or a time traveler. Seriously

“König”

I like the cleft pallet head canon

definitely a guy who crafts

there's already a ton of fan ideas about him, I don't really have anything to add

“Calisto” Allard

thinks she's better than you, but she's right

honestly one of those people who is good at everything and it's just not fair

refuses to look unkempt. No messy buns, no old t-shirts. Even her lounging around or doing chores clothes are high quality and well coordinated

still coming to terms with the fact that she isn’t straight

Darnell “Hutch” Hutchinson

competitive to a fault

seriously, just say "bet I can (blank) better than you" and he's ready to go

really good singing voice, a deep baritone

I think he has sisters. idk why, it just feels right

he’s actually the most meta character because he worked with the Call of Duty Endowment, which implies CoD exists within the world of CoD

Kim “Horangi” Hong-jin

has attempted to bet on the fact that he's a terrible gambler

it did not work

because he is a terrible gambler

can really hold a grudge

dyed his hair blue one time and kinda wants to do it again

likes to paint his nails

Rozlin “Roze” Helms

I like to think that she put Graves in his place a couple times when in Shadow company

like can you even imagine? He'd say some sexist remark and then say "not you/you're different/you don't count" or some "boys will be boys" nonsense

as if Roze isn't ready to throw down on behalf of any and all women in the fucking world

has been the "only woman" or the "first woman" in organizations for so long, and she's sick of it

maybe that’s one reason why she split from shadow company?

Sami “Zero” Zakaria

his call sign is the answer to the question "how much sexual attraction do you feel?"

(I'm trying to say he's ace)

yeah he had his rich party boy days, but that was more of a performance; a persona molded by societal expectations

when not in the battle field he's surprisingly chill

cannot stand low quality alcohol

Declan “Conor” MacConor

this mf-er blinked in my first screenshot of him

will play up the accent to get laid. No shame

if people get annoyed by his filthy mouth he talks about how cursing is a part of his ~culture~

guilty pleasure: reality tv

Tor “Aksel” Eriksen

serious about sunscreen. He's Scandinavian and has scars and tattoos. Gotta protect that skin

definitely owns a motorcycle

probably part of a heavy metal band at some point

he’s one of those guys who will wear shorts and sandals when it’s snowing and tell everyone “it’s not even that cold!”

Salvatrice “Stiletto” Muselli

biggest issue with her scar is that it makes it hard to do covert/undercover work

due to working on anti-drug task forces, she always carries narcan

has definitely threatened to castrate someone. Like holding a knife to their sack and everything

pretty good at giving herself manicures

she’s my fave, tbh

Thanks for reading! You can find my Specgru headcanons here.

#call of duty #mw2 #MWII #COD #Kortac #modern warfare #modern warfare ii #operators #headcanon #my COD posts

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garbagequeer · 1 year

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Can you help me im so confused how archie (and everyone listening to him) had those memories for his poem i thought everyone but betty and jughead forgot 😭

bobbyjean asked: Wait a second were those the good memories. the serial killer gene and jason’s corpse. and archie playing football in leopold and loeb juvenile detention center……

well imo you can work with different theories so like

they dont remember these things as things they lived themselves but they remember them as things tabitha showed them the first time they saw the riverdale memories (so like if they'd watched themselves go through these things in tv but not as if they happened irl for them)

goodbye riverdale is back to jughead's narration and jughead is unreliable he's just making shit up (this also goes with the theory that what jughead showed betty was not real but was a fabrication he made up for her as her dying wish was to relive those days with everyone as they were + the fake reality had plot holes because to be fair jughead was like 86 when he died he cant keep track of who remembers the serial killer genes and who doesn't he's busy)

narrator jughead seems to be in control of this episode more than he was before (we see him corporeally and there's 2 jugheads in the end) so the characters' lives have been rewritten to fit the narrative jughead wanted to tell so they remember because he does too and the story belongs to him and not to them (to me jughead is always afraid of abandonment and change so he keeps his stories ones where his friends don't leave or grow + he has been shown to find it hard to come up with anything other than stories about his friends in riverdale in s5 and as bunker/god jughead). for me this also fits with the idea of the characters and angel tabitha trying to break free and narrator/god jughead(s) not allowing it -> town won

they loved these memories they love cults and killing and corpses and gay juvie. the bad memories were like archie not getting his high school diploma or something

from a doylist pov (boring) this meant nothing about the story and was just an homage to their most iconic moments in the show for the audience and the crew. you could twist this a bit to be meta and make something up about the characters behaving as characters and talking willingly to an audience because they exist only in our eyes if you wanted

which are all fun ideas to consider and theyre not mutually exclusive (like it could be jughead taking over the narrative but it could be in a world he makes up just for betty so all the other characters are in the real sweet hereafter but betty went to purgatory pop's because she does remember it all and this prevented her from being able to leave it behind. also archie for sure would remember some of gay juvie he loved the gay parts of gay juvie he told me. and fangs probably had god times at the cult i mean he dated human kevin maybe a love for cults is what they had in common)

to me it stood out as a moment where i was like oh jughead is lying to us for sure. awesome. one last jughead lying to us and trapping us in the cycle forever for the road yippee

#riverdale #'' '''stuck up riverdale punks... think they're too good for me''' - homer simpson''#- narrator jughead when he gets mad that his friends are not following the script so he sends them to pop's in the sky forever #answered

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ariel-seagull-wings · 11 months

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CINEMA'S GOOD FATHERS

@thealmightyemprex @makingboneboy @themousefromfantasyland @professorlehnsherr-almashy @amalthea9 @princesssarisa @bixiebeet @spengnitzed @inevitablemoment @angelixgutz @softlytowardthesun @tamisdava2 @inevitablemoment @theselfshippingwitch

So, the main reason I am so drawn to fiction is that it presents, not as it is, but a way in which it could be better: rather that being content in reproducing the problems in reality, it imagine:

"Alright, so that is what is wrong with humanity and the world right now. Let's make an effort to imagine how to get rid of the wrongs, and show that happier alternatives can exist."

Case in point: the role of father's in society.

We live in a society that is sexist, so we were acustome to think that all the effort in raising and educating children to become functional adults is exclusively of the mother, while the father's should only make the bare minimum, enjoy only the fun aspects of interacting with the child, or even don't be present in their child's life at all, so we tend to treat father's abandoning their children as a given, rather than act shocked or indignated (like likely most would act if the situation was reversed and the mother was the one doing it).

Sometimes that would even be treated as heroic too: how many times we heard stories of man who go to die fight in wars, while their wives stayed at home, pregnant, with no guarantee that their husband would return alive to meet their children, and heard this situation be treated as a beautiful story, rather than something sad!

In a lot of fiction (movies and TV shows), this backwards kind of tought was usually seen as the norm: people usually went to watch movies and shows waiting for the father to be some deadbeat character who either does the bare minimum or even nothing, sometimes constantly complaining about how having children ruined "their lives", while mother characters have to carry the pressure of being the voice of reason.

And if the father was portrayed as decent and present, that would be received with just a shrug and the comment of: "Whatever, he is just doing his basic obligation."

But actually, going to how started this text, since the role of fiction is to present a world that can be better than what we have, when making an effort, we can actually examples of GOOD fathers, who don't think than being a father is just making the baby and putting his surname on the birth certificate, but actually goes trough the effort of being always present, learning from trials and mistake, doing sacrifices to take care of his children, loving and being proud of their child even if not always agreeing with them and having to deal with family conflicts.

Those characters are GREAT, and should be more praised, so we encourage more man with children to be more like then, instead of comforming in doing the bare minimum and being seen as dumb.

And maybe, they can inspired more writers to create father figures like them, instead of constantly reproducing the Absent or Dumb Dad tropes as a norm.

Here are GOOD examples of father's in film who I want to highlight.

Gepetto from Disney's Pinocchio (1940)

Going back to the year of 1940: the whole movies starts because Gepetto wished for a child. He was poor, and single, and yet this didn't stopped him from creating a little puppet boy and begging for a star to turn the puppet into a living person. The night that the star (the Blue Fairy) concedes the wish to give life to Pinocchio, Gepetto is at first surprised, but fully embraces the now living puppet as his son. In his first day as a parent, Gepetto makes a mistake of sending Pinocchio alone to school, and the puppet boy is manipulated by two strangers to go into more dangerous paths. What Gepetto does? He waits the whole night, without eating, and decides to go in search of his son, even sailing the sea and getting swalowed by a whale on the way!

You can feel his sadness when he thinks that he will never find Pinocchio again, the joy at the moment that the two are reunited, not even letting the weirdness of the donkey tail and ears disconcetrate him, the fear for their lives when they set fire inside Monstro, the grief when his son apparently dies saving his life, and his renewed hope when Pinocchio is ressurected and turned into a flesh and blood boy.

Gepetto longed for a child, and moved heavens, land and sea to make that dream come true. It wasn't easy, yet he never expected to be easy, and he never gave up in frustration. This is what makes him such an inspirational father figure.

Guido Orefice from Life Is Beautiful (1999)

This movie may be unpopular in America, but in Brazil: most of us love it! I atribute this to the fact that in Brazil, humour historically was a very important way to cope with misery and opression, so we indentified with the lenghts in which the italian jewish man Guido Orefice used his sense of humour to protect his son when the two were turned prisoners of the Concentration Camps: deep down, Guido knows that he will likely die. He is not a fool who thinks that all is alright, and soon it will be like nothing happened. But he doesn't want to sucumb to despair: he wants to fight for his son to live, and his way to do so is making sure that little Giosue believes that they are in a game of imagination. All the time he hides the little boy from guards, makes sure that he has enough to eat, keeps him close, and finds way to comunicate with Dora, his wife and Giosue's mother, to encourage her to also fight to continue alive. When he is caught by a nazi soldier, searching for his wife disguised as a woman, the last moment we see Guido alive, is him smiling and winking at a hidden Giosue: he is walking to his death, happy, because he knows his son is safe and will be free!

Guido Orefice teaches us a lesson that there are more ways that father's can sacrifice themselves for their children, while still being present and participant in their lives.

Nurullah from The Breadwinner (2018)

"When I was young, Parvana, I knew what peace felt like, here in the city. Children went to school, women went to university. All day empires forgot about us, for a while at least."

A wise, well-learned former schoolteacher, who lost his leg in the Soviet-Afgan war, and whose young son Suleiman died when mistaking a bomb by a toy, Nurullah struggles to make ends meet for his family. He becomes a peddler, selling his family’s non-essential belongings and valuables (most notably a dress that his daughter Parvana never wore) in the street in order to bring food to the table. Despite of this, he maintains a cheerful outlook on life and works to pass down his knowledge to his children, to whom he teaches the history of their country in the form of stories.

After his arrest by the Taliban, his daughter Parvana takes up the mantle of breadwiner under the disguise of a boy named Otesh, and tells stories like Nurullah does to keep everyone's spirits up.

The climax of the film is when Parvana goes to the place where Nurullah is imprisoned, where a shooting is happening, to rescue him.

Nurullah can be astute, tricking a Taliban soldier who was harasshing Parvana to think that she is already engaged to another fiancee. But in reality, he wants his daughter to have a childhood, to play with other children and go to school, and hopes that someday she will graduate, have a profession, and know a world of peace. The only reason he becomes absent is due to being unfairly imprisoned, but when he has the chance to choose, he is always there for his family.

Ebi from Persepolis (2007)

Based on the real life father of cartoonist and film director Marjane Satrapi, Ebi at first starts as someone who is underestimated by his young daughter.

The family lives trough the political turmoil of Iran between the 1970s and 90s, and Marjane at first sees other people's fathers and uncle as strong figures because they directly dealt with persecution, imprisonment, torture and death.

As the years pass, and Marjane sees the ways both Ebi and her mother Tadji find to try helping people more directly involved in activism, while still working to keep a sense of estability for the family, she comes to understand that her father is one of the strongest people she will ever know.

While all this happens, Ebi doesn't forgets his humanity and vulnerability: he encourages his daughter to be resilient when he and Tadji sent her to take refuge in Austria, so she can survive the war between Iran and Iraq, while also crying to be separated from her.

He could have flaws, like a bit of pride, but they never overcome Ebi's love for his daughter, and his convictions for what is right.

Goofy from the Goof Troop franchise (1992-2002)

"There are times you drive me, shall we say, bananas

And your mind is missin', no offense, a screw (none taken)

Still, whatever mess I land in

Who is always understandin'

Nobody else but you

So your jokes are all, let's face it, prehistoric

And your music sounds like monkeys in a zoo

But when life becomes distressin'

Who will I be SOS-in'

If you're having trouble guessing, here's a clue"

Goofy's name means that he is bumbling, but there is something that makes his bumbling personality standout from your typical bumbling character: usually, bumbling characters are hopeless idiots who don't care for anything or anyone around.

Goofy is the oposite: he cares for others, specially to be a good, present father to his son, Max. He may comit misunderstandings, be a bit impulsive, and his son may find him embarassing, but there is no denial that Goofy never regrets having a son: he really, really LOVES being a father, and will give up anything if it means the chance to share moments with Max.

Maurice from Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Maurice is a bumbling inventor who sometimes has his had on the clouds. But his passion for his work never comes above for his love for his daughter, Belle. He is always supportive of her, just like she is always supportive of him. When she takes his place in the Castle of the Beast, Maurice gets desperate. He runs to the town's tavern to beg for help, but his cries are mocked as madness. This makes him give up? Nope! He goes walking alone trough the woods, facing a snowstorm that makes him ill, determined to rescue Belle!

No wonder Belle is always determined to make everything to save her father's life: we are constantly shown that Maurice values her, and will even sacrifice his health for her. Their reunion, when she takes care of his health after finding him passed out in the snow, is one of the most touching moments in film!

Fa Zhou from Mulan (1998)

What I find touching by Fa Zhou is that while he has strong belief in traditions, and has expectations that his daughter follows them, we were soon shown that his love for Mulan could go above those expectations: when Mulan returns from a failed meeting with the matchmaker, she is very embarassed, fearing his disapointment, but rather than reprimanding her, Fa Zhou comforts her, comparing her to a flower that will soon bloon.

There is a conflict between then when Fa Zhou thinks that he should sacrifice himself in a war for the concept honor, yet is clear that their fight is painfull for both of them, and Fa Zhou shows regret for their fight when Mulan takes his place in the Army.

When Mulan returns, bringing victory presents from the War hoping that will honor the family, Fa Zhou doesn't care for honor anymore: he ignores the gifts, and goes to hug Mulan, glad that she returned home alive!

How can't someone not be touched when Fa Zhou that his greatest gifts are having Mulan as his daughter?

Pacha from The Emperour's New Groove (2000)

That man can embrace the world: he is a loving husband to his wife Chicha, a good father to his biological children, the trusted leader of his village, and even assumes the role of being the moral guide to Emperour Kuzco, teaching him to care for other people's well being and calling his selfshiness out!

Basically: he is the father, brother and husband that everyone dreams to have.

Stoick from the How to Train Your Dragon franchise (2010-19)

Stoick's arc is incredible to watch: he starts as someone who is sad, stuborn and emotionally distant, grieving the disappearance of his wife and dealing with the fact that his son Hiccup is not what he expects a viking to be. As the two movies and TV show progresses, we see Stoick grow, learning how to comunicate with his son, understanding his different point of view, and accepting him as an equal partner in leading their village, by working together trough their different methods of solving problems.

A father doesn't need to be perfect, but is important that they become conscious that they are flawed, and can always learn to be better, specially with the help of their children's perspective.

Searcher Clade from Strange World (2022)

The botanist and farmer Searcher was abandoned by his father, the explorer Jaeger Clade, when he was young, because of their differing dreams in life clashing.

Because of that, Searcher goes to great lenghts to be a good father to his son Ethan. However, his trauma of abandoment causes problems in their relationship when Ethan grows interested to become a explorer: Searcher fears that his son will abandon him, like his father did.

As their journey trough the subterranean world of Pando progresses, Searcher learns to accept that while present for his son, he can also comit mistakes as a parent, and apologizes for trying to force Ethan to follow his path as a farmer, like his father once tried to force him to become a explorer.

Searcher tells about his fears, and learns to accept that Ethan will forge a different path for himself, but will never abandon him.

He also finds his father Jaeger, and gets to call out how much he hurt him, before the two can slowly start to reconcile.

Strange World is a great movie about how different generations can both enter in conflict, yet learn from each other's perspectives, and explores both flawed ways of parenting, and alternatives for father's to become better.

Is a shame that the studio Disney didn't promoted the movie, and let it go under most people's radar.

#parenting #parenthood #fatherhood #fandom musings #tumblr mutuals

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damnfandomproblems · 10 days

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Rounding up a few asks regarding Fandom Problem #5724 and ensuing replies.

Anon: (replying to this ask)

you are engaging with the fiction in a purely diegetic sense without thinking about how it interacts with reality. yes, vulcans are not autistic. but Spock was written by human writers, based on their experiences in exclusively human culture. Spock is not autistic in the canon of star trek, but it is absurd to claim that he was not inspired by, nor is metaphorical for, autistic experiences. also, what does Dan Olson's character have to do with the validity of that hypothesis?

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Anon:

Response to the headcanons asks. The issue I personally have is when people claim their "character X is autistic" headcanon is canon. There's this TV show where one character is thought to be autistic by a lot of people in the fandom. He is not autistic in canon. People just think he is due to certain traits of his. Which would be fine, except if anyone ever says they find the character annoying, or they dislike some of these traits of this character, these fans jump up and call you ableist. By all means, have your headcanons, but you don't get to make accusations against people just because they dislike things about a character that you identify with.

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Anon:

Hi, the "Spock is Human and Vulcan" anon that I think I started the whole ableism argument thing here. I realized I didn't explain that last part very well and want to clear it up. The ask was a rant about how the submitter omitted facts about Spock's heritage in order to justify why he can't be autistic, which to me came off as both racist and ableist (because intersectionality! You can be multiple things lmao). Disagreeing over headcanons is valid, but when you use racist and ableist arguments to do so, then it starts to be a problem. And I question why some people get so upset about neurodivergent fans seeing themselves within a character. Also, perhaps we should bring back the term "allegory". I'm not actually an expert on autism so I'm not going to diagnose Spock or make headcanons, but, I can acknowledge that he can be an allegory for autism because of the traits he exhibits, his behaviors, and challenges he faces, which people, and especially autistic people, can relate to. It's like how Jadzia is a transgender allegory because of the way in which her species and culture works, even if she herself isn't transgender. Once again, it shouldn't be used against fans who do headcanon a certain way, but idk maybe it can clear up confusion?

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Anon: (replying to this ask)

Autism can be a huge part of peoples' identity, but that OOP person said "leave labels out of it" because that's literally what people are doing with characters: labeling them as this or that. Categorizing them. As autistic, or as anything. Surely that's obvious? "Label" isn't being used as a dirty or reductive word here. I'm bi and the word "bi" is still a label. It's a way to quickly explain what I am without having to wax poetic. Stop reading in bad faith. From your responses to these asks, it's happening a lot.

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Anon: (replying to this ask)

I don't wanna make it seem like I'm taking an harmless joke post super seriously and I'm not really saying this AT that anon, but it just reminds me of a thing that's been bugging me, the fandom trend of going "what if actually the minority group were the MAJORITY group! ^^" (i.e. "everyone is neurodivergent" "everyone is queer" etc) Just 'cause it's kind of like. Missing the point? "A (relatively) small group of people struggle / are discriminated against because they're not understood or society was built without taking their needs into account, who largely confide in each other because they're able to find common understanding, which they often can't find elsewhere." If things were "reversed" the same issues would still exist, it doesn't actually fix or improve anything. Speaking as someone who IS queer and neurodivergent.

#fandom problem 5274 #response to previous problem #response to previous ask #mod sf

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insanityclause · 11 months

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Zoe Saldana stars in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"SOURCE: MARVEL

That’s not to say Marvel — along with all studios and streamers — doesn’t face some hurdles going forward. But the nature of those obstacles for Marvel are frankly pretty obvious; it’s mostly things Marvel has overcome before; and regardless of those issues and the need to address them, Marvel is still actually doing pretty good right now even amid the problems they’ve had.

So let’s just unpack what’s really going wrong, and what it means for Marvel Studios.

The situation with actor Jonathan Majors — the star of several Marvel films and streaming shows, as the MCU’s time-traveling villain Kang the Conqueror — is that he faces multiple accusations of abuse, and is scheduled to stand trial for one recent case. After that case was initially reported, other accusations surfaced, as did previous public statements from years ago by performers who asserted accusations of abuse were already circulating about Majors.

So yes, Marvel will almost certainly recast Kang. Lucky for Marvel, the character literally exists across a near-infinite number of alternate realities where he takes different forms and changes appearance. Likewise, Marvel has had to recast characters in the past, just like lots of other franchise or TV/streaming series. This isn’t brain surgery, and the framing of this issue as something that could sink Marvel’s whole future plans is frankly nonsense.

Just one great example, Marvel could offer the role to John Boyega (who I’d argue should’ve been the top candidate for the role in the first place). Or maybe Denzel Washington as an iteration of Kang who sat out the in-fighting and collective efforts of the rest of the Kangs and grew older and wiser as he made his plans to take over. Or maybe Ray Fisher could be offered the role, if Marvel wants to poke DC and WBD while scoring a great casting option.

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Or perhaps Marvel could offer the role to Leslie Odom Jr., Lakeith Stanfield, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Daveed Diggs, Stephan James, or any number of other fantastic casting choices to take over the role of Kang in the MCU.

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The point is, the worst part of the situation with John Majors is if the allegations are true and women suffered this abuse while Hollywood ignored it. The casting “problem” is small potatoes by comparison, and is easy to solve.

So let’s look at the financials now, since a central claim to the “Marvel is in trouble” narrative is that the studio is struggling at the box office while streaming is an unpopular mess.

At the box office, it’s true Marvel hit a high point with their back to back releases of the two-part Avengers conclusion to the Infinity Saga. The $2.79 billion from Endgame and $2 billion from Infinity War elevated the final global gross for all 22 films in that saga to more than $20 billion, for a per-film average of around $935 million.

In 2018 and 2019, the MCU put up the following numbers: Black Panther hit $1.34 billion, then Infinity War topped $2 billion, then Captain Marvel scored $1.1 billion, and then Endgame took $2.79 billion. Ant-Man and the Wasp at $622 is the only MCU film in those 24 months that failed to top $1 billion.

Since the Infinity Saga ended, Marvel’s releases have taken north of $8.1 billion across 10 movies so far, with a Multiverse Saga per film average of about $815 million. The difference between $815 million and $935 million is not insignificant, but nor is it disastrous, and it’s certainly not hard to understand why it’s happening.

The 2018 and 2019 slates for the Infinity Saga benefited from a decade of build-up, and it was those last four (out of five total) blockbusters topping $1-2 billion each that provided the final heft and resulted in an even higher per film average. We are only in the first half of the Multiverse Saga to date, and so far we haven’t had a single Avengers movie in this new saga, while as noted the Infinity Saga ended with a one-two Avengers punch good for more than $2 million per film.

And then the fact of the Covid pandemic alone accounts for most of the rest of the downturn in Marvel Studios’ average box office performance. Even during the Covid pandemic, when films were flopping or going straight to streaming/PVOD, Marvel’s three releases that performed “badly” due to the global health crisis still managed to finish between $379.7 million on the lowest end and $432 million. That’s better than the DCEU can perform even after theaters reopened and box office started its climb back toward something resembling “normal” — at least for the right films, since 2023 has been a roller coaster ride for theatrical.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperformed earlier this year and wound up the weakest performer of that franchise at $476 million, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 scored blockbuster results with $845.5 million.

Indeed, Vol. 3 is currently the fourth-highest grossing movie of 2023, both domestically and worldwide. And for the record, as disappointing as its box office was, 2023 has been so cruel to theatrical releases that Quantumania is still a top-10 box office performer.

We’ve seen one would-be blockbuster tentpole after another face-plant or otherwise disappoint, and often when a tentpole has managed a healthy box office performance it’s at a more moderate level than expected or typically enjoyed by the given franchise and/or its prior financial trajectory.

Other than Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Oppenheimer, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, nothing else truly put up top-tier results this year. Fast X topped $700 million, but is fourth film in a row from the series to suffer a decline from its predecessor’s box office gross, and the lowest box office for the franchise since 2011’s Fast Five, so it’s a mixed bag there.

Besides that, 2023 saw three films in the $500-600 millions range, four in $400 millions territory, and a couple of $300 millions.

The makeup of the top 10 this year looks like this: Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Oppenheimer, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Fast X, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Little Mermaid, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Elemental, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Notice, there are three Marvel superhero movies in the top 10. Yes, one of them underperformed, but the point is that it seems silly to talk as if audience are in any widespread or large scale way turning away from superhero cinema, or that Marvel is somehow reeling from a downfall and have lost control.

The Marvels is currently tracking toward a shockingly low debut this weekend, with most projections pointing to a $130-$150 million global opening. Without at least average holds, the film could struggle to get past $300-400 million. On the other hand, I think tracking has proven pretty unreliable these days, and I believe a significant part of these disappointing numbers is the fact a lot of people are confusing this film with being another new Disney+ Marvel show, or think it is coming to Disney+ as a film soon. There’s also the general 2023 ongoing curse to consider.

But regardless, The Marvels should’ve been a home run sequel. While we can point to the unethical shenanigans and toxic behavior of fans and of certain organized hateful online voices obsessed with attacking women-driven movies or shows, if this film flops or underperforms rather than merely suffering a downward adjustment consistent with the genre overall (which would mean a box office for The Marvels in the $700 million range, I’d say), then it’s entirely fair to call it a big stumble for the studio.

The large-scale tainting of superhero cinema by the DCEU’s overarching failure the past several years (eight films in a row across five years, all failing to reach $400 million and averaging in the roughly $250 million range) coinciding with the Covid pandemic and theatrical downturn, coupled with a leveling off — not uncontrolled free-fall or any other hyperbolic situation — of Marvel’s must-see “event” status in the aftermath of their 11-year Infinity Saga’s conclusion (and lack of any Avengers team-ups for four years and counting) has no doubt reduced the dominance of the superhero genre and audience’s previous high-level anticipation.

But that sort of heightened “event” status is impossible for any franchise or genre to maintain, and no serious person expected the genre or any one studio’s piece of it to be some perpetual ever-increasing profit machine

Neither Marvel nor the genre in general need to treat the usual ebb and flow of primacy in entertainment as if it’s some major crisis threatening the existence and profitability of the studio or genre. That’s just the natural clickbait mentality driving entertainment journalism. We should be able to report on and assess such situations without resort to exaggerated portrayals for melodramatic purposes, nor parrot claims from those with obvious incentives and ulterior motives behind any of that sort of hyperbolic claims. We know better, but that doesn’t mean the profession behaves better, and so we get clickbait and studio drama delivered up like silly reality TV, and everyone pretends not to recognize it as the nonsense it usually is.

Marvel has to recast a major lead actor, something we’ve seen plenty of times by studios and projects, including literally by Marvel themselves on more than one occasion. Marvel’s first two films of 2023 grossed a combined $1.3 billion in box office. Even if The Marvels only does about half the box office of Captain Marvel — a vastly bigger drop than the Ant-Man franchise experienced, but let’s just use a 50% dramatic decrease to make the larger point — the MCU will have grossed a total of about $2.45 billion for 2023, an average of $815 million per film.

If that figure sounds familiar, it’s because I mentioned it earlier since it’s the per-film average for the MCU ever since the end of the Infinity Saga. Marvel settled back a bit from the high per-film average of $935 million, and for four years we’ve consistently seen this same new average level of performance for their films. Again, not insignificant as a drop, but in context it’s easier to understand and recognize as not a sudden emergency situation, and I suspect most studios would be happy if they could average north of $800 million per film on average every year.

And let’s face it, once the latest Avengers movies hit the radar, we’ll see the average per film gross go up during those years, just like always, and in the long run if the two scheduled Avengers movies play at the $2 billion level, that will actually result in an increase in the final average per-film gross for the Multiverse Saga, just as those huge Avengers box office grosses at the end of Infinity Saga seriously raised the saga’s per-film average.

This is all fairly predictable, within an obvious margin of error but not frankly too far of deviation. Which doesn’t negate the fact of the downturn in average performances, but rather puts it into less histrionic perspective as solvable problems for a still overwhelmingly successful studio that’s seeing per film averages still far superior to what any other studio can claim.

On streaming, where audience trends and preferences have likewise evolved during the Covid era, Marvel

First we got the ABC broadcast series: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and Inhumans. Want to take a moment to recall how did those all fair with audiences and critics?

Then came Netflix's slate, with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher — half of those got mostly good or great reviews, a couple got mixed to negative reviews, and along the way different seasons of a given show had their ups and downs. Many fans and reviewers bemoaned the general lack of tie-in to the cinematic releases, a point that's amusing in light of how the same reviewers and fans completely reversed course a few years later to bemoan the fact the newer MCU shows often try to tie in to the MCU.

So next up are The Runaways and Cloak and Dagger, shows with younger casts and less direct connection to the rest of the MCU, but both were short lived and appeared on two different streaming services.

Which brings us to the MCU shows on Disney+, overseen by Marvel Studios itself and consisting of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Secret Invasion.

While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and What If...? received mixed reactions, WandaVision and Loki got generally good to great reviews, as did Hawkeye and Moon Knight.

Ms. Marvel likewise received strong positive reviews, aside from resentful fans mostly motivated by racism or sexism who bashed the show (the same way angry bigoted fans harassed Brie Larson and tried to manipulate online reviews for Captain Marvel, and to this day engage in bizarre conspiracy theories pretending movies with women leads are secretly propped up by studios buying up tickets), and the same mob of boys and men perpetually upset that everything isn’t just a mirror reflecting themselves were incensed that She-Hulk dared make fun of them for being immature, bigoted, and all-around goofy.

Granted, She-Hulk did often have what looked like rushed and unfinished CGI, but it was also still miles ahead of most TV CGI and it didn’t detract from the entertainment value of the show and was generally fine. (Yes, plenty of folks just didn’t enjoy these shows, and I’m sure it’s entirely a coincidence that for many of them it always happens to be women-led shows that bother them or are declared “meh”).

Secret Wars is the most recent new MCU show (besides a new season of Loki), and it got mixed reviews that lean mostly positive but still point to trouble in the decision-making to develop the series, questions about

The point of all of this is, Marvel’s had a lot of superhero shows for a long time during the reign of the MCU, and the shows have tended to mostly get good or great reviews, while often suffering complaints of inconsistency in tie-ins vs stand-alone abilities, or iffy VFX, or questions about who is in charge and why certain decisions were made. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s a broken record of reality at this point, the sort that gets mentioned as if it’s a new development any time someone is pushing the latest version of the “sky is falling” narrative.

Not that there aren’t issues needing solutions. The budgets are too high, and Marvel — like many streamers — is discovering it’s simply not sustainable to spend $20 million or more per episode with rushed production schedules and increasingly unreasonable demands on VFX workers.

But the shows themselves are so far working and working pretty well, if you aren’t focused entirely on social media debates and media exaggerations. Most every MCU show on Disney+ has enjoyed positive reception from critics and viewers, enjoying good (and sometimes record-setting) viewership. Fixing the problems for the Marvel streaming plans is not really any more difficult than fixing the theatrical issues, because it’s easy to identify the problems, easy to see where the problems arose, and easy to see what is necessary to end those problems.

Nobody foresaw the Covid pandemic (or at least the extent of it) or the utterly shameful, failed public health response it elicited from governments and organizations that are paid and entrusted to prevent or deal with such crises. Marvel was caught off guard like every studio, Marvel suffered the same box office downturn as every studio, Marvel leaned into streaming like every studio, and Marvel is now having to make adjustments to adapt to the still-evolving environment theatrically and in streaming.

So media and fans and others in Hollywood pretending this is some shocking, Marvel-specific situation are making disingenuous claims, and they should know better. Most probably do, but the truth is more boring than doomsaying — and with everything else in the world falling apart, clickbait and hyperbole are the best way to get attention for entertainment news during a drought (caused by few new films/shows releasing, and the likelihood of strikes dragging into next year because studios put money toward bonuses, yachts, and private jets rather than pay artists, writers, and performers living wages from a fair share of the revenue they generate).

Marvel will recast Kang, they’ll reduce the number of shows and films in production at a given time, they’ll get budgets under control and allow more time for VFX work, and they’ll refocus on the approaches and measures that worked so well in the past to determine which projects to greenlight and how to return to the sense of a big shared world the Avengers have to team up to save.

Luckily, with the X-Men and Fantastic Four reboots around the corner, Marvel has a couple of big teams with lots of potential for precisely the sort of storytelling Marvel does best at the blockbuster level. They could even simply move toward a post-Secret Wars setup that lets Fantastic Four, X-Men, and a handful of other existing popular franchises carry the Marvel brand forward for a while.

We will also probably see the temporary return of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson reprise their popular MCU roles for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and/or Avengers: Secret Wars.

And looking at the upcoming slate, it’s not hard to see there’s plenty of reason to feel confident Marvel will continue to enjoy success, even if it’s at a slightly moderated level due to the myriad factors we’ve discussed, including the idea that superhero genre films are settling into a more consistent long-term level of popularity and performance from now on.

The next four years brings Deadpool 3, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, Blade, Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars, and at some point thereafter Armor Wars and the X-Men. Of these films, the two Avengers movies are likely to be blockbuster hits, as is Deadpool 3. Captain America: Brave New World is an established franchise, lacking the original series lead but with a continuing cast and brand that I think are enough to avoid any significant downturn in box office, even if we see some drop from the peak levels of the Infinity Saga.

Blade and Thunderbolts are the riskier properties here, but the former is a previously successful cinematic brand and the latter is a team-up movie including some recognizable characters and stars. Still, this is where we might see more underperformances. Fantastic Four could likewise either perform at a blockbuster levels, or might wind up in the $700 million range, but as a key property getting lots of attention and must-work oversight, I think it’ll avoid being a problem.

Armor Wars as an extension of the Iron Man movies — and possibly/probably coming after we see Robert Downey Jr. again in some Avengers action — should perform well, and X-Men is a known successful brand getting an MCU reboot and polish as a big team franchise including younger cast members, so I think it’ll at least be capable of playing at the Guardians of the Galaxy level, if done right.

This isn’t a debacle, it’s not doomsday, and Marvel isn’t in disarray. The internal difficulties they’ve faced are frankly typical and easy to identify and solve, as much as everything else we’ve discussed here. The bottom line is this: we’ve seen Marvel Studios kick off with a big hit in Iron Man and an outright flop with The Incredible Hulk, after which Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor performed at okay levels but didn’t set the box office on fire by any stretch.

We got the original Avengers movie off the strength of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and to really help put this into perspective I’ll point out the average per film box office of Phase One was $634 million. Phase Two’s per film average was $876 million.

Marvel worked hard to build what they created, and it’s a tremendous historic success full of ups and downs that so far have ultimately maintained an impressive level of successful across a large slate of films and series. To look at this history, this math, and think Marvel Studios is in deep trouble, struggling, or never really was very good to begin with, is unreasonable and contrary to the data and any serious considerations.

#exactly the kind of data we need to remember #Thor TFA and TDW weren't huge hits

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wat-the-cur · 1 year

Note

LEMME TRY AGAIN. Death Note for the fandom meme please!!! 🥺 I want to hear all of your opinions!!!!! 💖

Ooooh, gosh. I’m going to be honest with you, I haven’t rewatched Death Note in AGES, so my memory of so many plot points and details probably leaves a lot to be desired. That, and I’m sure that if I rewatched the series now, a lot of my opinions will have changed. For that reason, I shall not be answering all the questions, but I have picked out the ones I do have half decent answers for. Silly ones, but I hope you enjoy them all the same! I should definitely rewatch the series soon.

3 headcanons for (insert characters here): Bad news, all of my headcanons revolve around the most mundane shit imaginable, but they bring me pleasure!

Rem - So, Shinigami evolved to the point of never having to eat, but we know that they do so for pleasure. They especially seem to gravitate towards sweet food and they all seem to have favourites that they eat to the exclusion of all others. Ryuk has his apples, Sidoh loves chocolate, and Calikarcha is partial to blueberries. It is easy to assume that Rem has no favourite, because we never see her eat, but I think that she does. Rem’s favourite treat is king cake, in particular the king cake served at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We never see her eat, because she cannot get hold of that cake in Japan and she always wants to be by Misa. Upon confiding in Misa about her guilty pleasure, Misa said, offhandedly, that she would try to bake her one, one day. She never got the chance.

Ryuk - This one is a bit silly, but we get a lot of hints throughout the manga, anime and related series that Ryuk loves cutesy things. Misa is one of them. I think Ryuk gets on very well with Misa. He and Light may understand each other better, but he has a more affectionate relationship with Misa. They share an enjoyment of cheesy TV dramas and trashy reality shows. They both like baking and dancing. They even give each other gifts sometimes. Ryuk frequently examines Misa’s plushie collection, so as a sign of friendship, she let him keep one. A pink bunny, which Ryuk keeps sat in a corner and occasionally picks up and pets.

Mello (and Matt) - Mello fucking loves hagsploitation cinema (movies featuring scary old women). It’s such an unexpected thing, but he has a collection of hagsploitation films, from the best to the forgotten, on VHS. His favourites are “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane” and “Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker”. Matt’s favourite film is “Clerks”, partially because it’s very funny, but also because he likes to fantasise that his life would be similar to that of Dante and Randall, had he never been whisked off to Wammy’s as a child.

2. 3 fandoms views you don’t agree with: I don’t think I’m about to say anything groundbreaking here, but here I go.

“Light was corrupted by the Death Note” I seem to remember you making a post about this one some years back, and getting a whole lot of shit in response. Like, yes Light went down a slippery slope, but it looked to me like he used his own two feet to get there. I just hate it when people remove responsibility from Light, because that sort of defeats the point of his character to me. Besides which, from day one he just came across to me like the type of guy who was one missing order of French fries away from beating the servants with the stiffest switch from the tree, so yeah.

“L was in love with Light” Listen, seriously, ship whatever you want chaps. No hate to you LawLight shippers, it just does not work for me. I absolutely do believe that Light had a fat hate crush on L, but I do not think L felt the same way. Is L a bisexual king in my opinion? Yes. Do I like he fancied Light? Maybe a little. But for me, this is no soulmate situation. Sorry. I was sad that L died, but I felt absolutely no remorse for the end of his relationship with Light.

“L was faking absolutely everything about himself (in other words, he was faking all of his autistic-coded traits)” Ahem...Nooooo he wasn’t!

14. Most intriguing rarepair: Okay, I have a few, so just hear me out. First of all, I have to mention LMello, which you got me into with your galaxy brain takes <3. Just recently I’ve been loving the idea of an alternate universe where Ryuk is Misa’s Shinigami, because I honestly think they would be so cute together. The ultimate same-interests couple. In yet another alternate universe, I love the idea of Rem and an older and wiser Sayu going up against Light. Sorry, but I somehow could never see Misa being interested in Rem, so I wanted to give her a different girlfriend and Sayu is perfect, in my opinion. Also, Rem/Kinddara Guivelostain (the female Shinigami with the fissure down the middle of her head). It appeals to my love for “viciousness personified having space in their heart for kind, tender soul”. That is this pairing.

16. Favourite behind the scenes insight: This is not even actually a behind the scenes insight, but I’ve never forgotten it. Basically, the Shinigami realm was originally conceived as being full of chunks of old metal and piles of rubble, or something to that effect. An information site that I once read must have been fucked around with, because the quote was written there as being “full of chunks of chocolate and piles of cookies”, and that had me so intrigued for ages. When you consider how the Shinigami love sweet food, it actually would have made sense.

19. Character interactions you would have loved to see: I would have loved to have seen L actually interact with the Wammy kids, I think that could have been so funny. I think the thing that always comes to my mind, is your post when you talked about L assaulting Near over Yahtzee stratagems. That killed me. I wish there were more interactions between Shinigami and humans. I wish Rem got to interact with people who didn’t treat her like dirt. As I’ve said, I’d like to have seen Ryuk and Misa have fun together. Matt deserved a few more scenes interacting with Mello, too, for sure.

21. Song that reminds of (insert characters): Again, multiple answers for this one!

Mello - “Infa-Red” by Placebo (basically any song by Placebo is a Mello song, but this is a good one)

Matt - “What A Waste” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Rem - “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” cover by Chris Thomas King

Ryuk - “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” Dr. John The Night Tripper

L - “Life Without Buildings” by Japan

Misa - “Puppet On A String” by Sandie Shaw

Near - “I Dream Of Wires” Gary Numan

Thanks so much for this ask, buddy! It was a lot of fun to answer!

#asks #ask game #death note

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lunar-years · 2 years

Note

Now youve got me thinking about Jamie having essentially a public breakdown and his Dad has convinced him that he is good at only 2 things- football and being objectified, so he flees doing the thing he loves to go on that show in the desperate hope that it'll make him feel something

I’ve been enlightened by these tags:

That this is apparently just a thing actual footballers have actually done (which, literally what on earth 😂). Just goes to show that I do not follow sports nor reality tv.

Anyway—in my head, which loves to read everything into nothing and exclusively watches this show for the characters, it’s more along the lines of what you said re: Jamie having a breakdown. Also I think it’s interesting that he literally blocked Keeley’s number?! Almost like he desperately wanted to reach out and talk to her but he convinced himself it would be a bad idea (either because of Roy or because of his general inability to ask for help or maybe because she might have told him the truth and that scared him) so he blocked her number and literally had no friends and no one to talk to and then just. Left. Again, thinking thoughts…

#ted lasso #Jamie Tartt #asks

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hyperfashionist · 1 year

Text

A Spoiltastic Journey

through the Entire Space: 1999 Canon

up to "Odysseus Wept"

Preface

Go straight to Story 1: Eternity Unleashed

No one:

Absolutely no one:

Me:

SPACE: 1999 WAS A FLAWED BUT ULTIMATELY UNDERRATED TV SERIES THAT EXPLORED HUMAN NATURE THROUGH MAGICAL WORLDBUILDING IN A SPACE-AGE GOTHIC UNIVERSE AND ITS 2000s REVIVAL IN THE POWYS MEDIA BOOKS MIRRORS THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL

I have just speed-skimmed the final three Space: 1999 novels in the Powysverse, including Odysseus Wept, the canonical end to the original characters' storyline, and the end of the book series altogether since it went permanently out of print last month.

I have thoughts.

Pull up a chair, bring a packed lunch. Maybe a sleeping bag.

But hyperfashionist, you say, what is Space: 1999?

It was a syndicated TV series by Gerry Anderson that first aired in 1975 and lasted for two seasons of 24 episodes each.

The premise of the story is this: Moonbase Alpha is a self-sufficient settlement, on the Moon (funnily enough), inhabited by 311 scientists. On September 13th, 1999, nuclear waste stored on the moon blows up and hurls the Moon out of Earth's orbit, and the Moonbase and its inhabitants are forced to blunder through the universe in a "playing pool with planets" situation, continually looking for a habitable planet to settle on, and whingeing because they can't go home.

In 2001, the series was revived in book form by Powys Media and the story was written and rewritten into a chronology ending with the novel "Odysseus Wept", published in Spring of 2023.

In an alternate universe, Big Finish recorded several episodes, both original and new, as audio dramas. Being officially licensed, these can reasonably be classified as canon, albeit canon outside the more internally-consistent Powysverse.

Exclusive! hyperfashionist speaks out

It is time for me to break my decades-long silence on this matter and tell everyone the absolutely real and true history of Moonbase Alpha, from the exclusive point of view of me, an inhabitant of the base whenever reality gets too much, which is most of the time. The Moonbase is my happy place.

This is not a respectable closet to come out of, so I'm putting all my faith in your ability to refrain from kinkshaming. Recreational cannibalism was one thing, but I'm aware that I'm truly sticking my neck out here.

The very best critic to consult on Space: 1999 (or anything, really) is John Kenneth Muir, because he actually observes the material he's reviewing, not the material he assumes he's reviewing. Additionally, he is the author of two of the three best Powys novels in my opinion, and we'll be discussing those as they come up.

What This Review Series Will Include

Spoilers. Lots of them.

The TV series has been off air for some four decades now. The Powys book series is out of print, is not available in electronic format through any legitimate channels, is not held in any libraries, and is extremely rare on the aftermarket because it was printed on-demand. At this point I might as well spoil away. I'll put all the spoilers under a cut, but you have been warned.

What This Review Series Will Not Include

Haggling over realism, at least not scientific realism

You may have noticed that the show's premise is wildly unrealistic on its face. Yes it is. I don't care.

You may also notice that the unrealism of the show just caroms on and on, from nuttiness to outlandishness and back again. I still don't care.

Okay, some explanation

Not that it matters, but there is an explanation for why this show takes a passing glance at the laws of physics and decides it wants no truck with them. Originally, the show was meant to represent the origin myths of a later civilization descended from the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha. That's why it's not worried about portraying stuff that's physically impossible to the point of being ludicrous - that stuff is not the point of the story.

The point of the story, as JKM explains, is to build a world, pull you into it, and make you feel what it might be like to be part of that world. It succeeds or fails according to whether or not you feel compelled by it.

The TV series accomplished this primarily through production design, as JKM's linked article explains. The Powys books that succeed, succeed by a combination of plot and characterization.

It's all subjective, of course, and not everybody has the receptors for it, just like not everybody can smell freesias. De gustibus non est disputandum.

Any Truck With The Whinge Wars About Year 1 versus Year 2

There is a famous and never-ending dispute between the devotees of the first series (Year 1) and the second (Year 2). It's usually the first thing anyone talks about. It's boring. I'm not going to argue about it. It's a matter of taste.

Okay, some explanation

There are good reasons why people have this strong preference for Year 1. When the second series began, several major characters had disappeared with no explanation. Additionally, the genre, production design, pace, and tone of the show had radically changed. This upset a lot of people, and they never really got over it. Not to mention that there is at least as much to criticize about Year 2 as there is about Year 1.

There's also a lot right with both seasons, which is why I bother to watch it.

I should add that I had the opposite experience to most viewers. Where I lived, Space: 1999 replaced the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner show in its regular timeslot, and I was disappointed and skipped the first episode.

The following week, rather than complain that it wasn't Bugs Bunny/Road Runner, I tried watching Space: 1999 and was hooked.

The twist was, the first season I saw was Year 2. Year 1 was shown *after* that, and lo and behold *my* favourite characters had disappeared without explanation, and the genre, production design, pace, and tone of the show had radically changed - but in the opposite direction from how most people experienced it. I was disappointed and confused, but I lived with it. It was my show for a reason - it was worth watching. More than that, it was the highlight of my week.

The Bottom Line

De gustibus non est disputandum.

I actually like Space: 1999. Actually I love it. I loved it when I was a little kid, and I love it now I'm a grownup. I know it's got enormous flaws and is often cringey and ludicrous and I will probably burst into flames of embarrassment numerous times during this review series.

I still love it.

I love it WITH its flaws, not in spite of them.

You can't explain love. You can only surrender to its power.

Next Episode

Tomorrow we'll be discussing the first story in the chronology according to Powys Media, which is Eternity Unleashed by William Latham.

It's going to be a very short discussion because I don't have the book, may never have the book, and most certainly won't be able to get the book before tomorrow unless this post is seen by someone out there who can help me.

Nevertheless, I can still find a couple of things to say, so that's where we're going to start.

Go to Story 1: Eternity Unleashed

#series announcement #meta #Space: 1999 #Powys Media #Gerry Anderson

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just-an-enby-lemon · 2 years

Note

oh your ideas are great can i add onto them? you know how some riddlers build those giant replicas of chess pieces or typewriters etc and make Batman or their victims solve a clue or game with them? those look kind of like modern art installations so maybe unburied Ed made that kind of stuff too? or some kind of perfomance art while highjacking a tv channel. would be fun if Bruce managed to get him to reform by setting him up with gallerists and museums to be a proper modern artist so he can set up elaborate constructs and clues for Bruce to solve for their game of cat and mouse and also get attention without harming anyone

I loved this sooo much. The instalations reminds me of Batman Secret Origins and it's just supper smart and the performative act hell yeah.

And the gallery would also be a save enviroment for him to rediscover himself and explore his fears that he is losing his touchwith reality and that his actions are controlled by his compulsions and he has no real control over his life (actual therapy with non Arkham doctors and medicine would also help, but tbh I doubt either he or Bruce ever will seek help, unless ofc Barbara and Alfred can bully them enough).

That being said I think it would be a bit hard for it to work because I cannot imagine Edward ever conforming to any form of artistic norms or tradition, he would want to do his thing his way and it would probably create a complicated relationship between him and gallery owners and even more with some more formal critics. Also I don't think Edward would want to do exclusive exibitions, he would want it to be open to the public and able to be experiment for everyone wich would be a problem to the owners of the galleries and museuns since it would meant they weren't making money out of it. I can imagine Eddie finding alternative ways of profiting (maybe by early paid realise or by accepting donations or even by hacking into rich people accounts and taking money from them, he also is shown to have money in his scene in Egipt probably that he got via illigal ways but still). But yeah, while hard totaly viable.

#edward nygma #riddler #batman unburied #ask #best ask ever

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cheatcodelife · 8 months

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How to read several books at the same time.

Remember that you already have such an experience

There is an opinion that reading more than one book does not make sense. Those who think this way believe that the reader's attention will dissipate. In his imagination, the plots will get mixed up, and the characters will wander from one book world to another, which will lead to chaos.

But in fact, you can read two or three books at the same time without much effort. After all, each of us opened 5-6 books a day at school.

Let them be textbooks, not fiction. But no one confused history with geometry. And he did not say that he would not be able to read about chemical reactions, because he had just learned a lot about geographical discoveries. We considered it perfectly normal to flip through several textbooks a day. And after lessons, they could read Max Fry, Rowling or Conan Doyle, and with pleasure.

That's why you can still read several books in parallel. And also — to solve work tasks, do household chores, pass new levels in online games and watch TV series. And don't confuse anything.

Choose 2-3 books of different genres and formats

So, you want to read several books at the same time. It will be more interesting for you if these are different stories. For example, a combat fantasy, something from the classics and a book about popular psychology. Or a humorous detective story, a historical novel and an economic bestseller.

It is worth choosing books that tell about events from different eras. Let the heroes of these stories not be able to meet in reality under any circumstances.

Now about the formats. Some people like paper books exclusively. But to read outside the house, you should download the library application on your smartphone or tablet and upload electronic versions of the books you want to read there. It will also be useful to download several different audiobooks.

During the day, you can read from the screen in transport, listen to an audiobook while walking or exercising on simulators, and open a paper volume before going to bed. And your brain will not perceive reading as a repetitive ritual that will quickly turn into a routine.

Make time for reading

It often seems that there is simply no time for books. But if you abandon the stereotype that you can only read in a quiet library room, and devote at least a couple of hours to this, there will be time.

You can listen to audiobooks on the road. This is possible both in transport and when you walk. We can spend from half an hour to a couple of hours on the road a day. It will be great if you spend some of this time with a book. In addition, audio can be turned on while jogging, in parallel with cleaning or cooking.

You can always read e-books as soon as you have at least a few minutes of free time. Often people in such situations go to social networks. But it is worth opening the reader application instead of the news feed at least in half of the sudden pauses. For example, you can return to the book at lunchtime, at a time when you are waiting for a doctor's appointment or the end of a child's classes.

Paper books can be read at home before going to bed or on weekends. You can turn reading into a cozy and relaxing holiday, into a pleasant ritual that helps to restore strength after a difficult working day or week.

Try to make the reading process comfortable

Over time, you will develop your own reading habits. But first you should adopt a few simple rules:

Don't start reading two or three books in one day. It is better to make it a "ladder": add a new book every day. When you finish reading one of the selected stories, it is not necessary to start the next one on the same day. It is worth taking a pause to feel the aftertaste of what you have read. Or maybe even write down interesting thoughts that appeared in the process of reading. Do not strive to read at least a page from every book in a day. If you want to postpone a story for a day or two, that's fine. But if you haven't thought about the book for more than a week, think about whether you want to finish reading it. Maybe other stories are closer to you now, but it's better to come back to this later. Then let the book wait its turn. If you realize that you are not going to open it again, you can delete the file from the reader. Or give someone a paper volume. This way you won't have the feeling of unfinished business. In the evening, it is better not to take a book that requires serious mental stress. But you can immerse yourself in an easy and pleasant story. Or reread one of your favorite stories. Determine how many books you will be comfortable reading at the same time. Still, there shouldn't be too many of them, otherwise you can really get confused about the events and relationships of the characters. And also: do not chase the number, turn reading into a sport and assume that the more books you overcome, the better. The main thing is that you start this activity with pleasure every time.

Thank you for watching this post. As always, CHEAT CODE LIFE is with you. I'm trying to make your life easier.

#Guides #Lessons #Lifehacks #cheatcodes

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serve-update · 2 years

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Lala Kent Net Worth: James Kennedy Cheated On His Girlfriend Raquel Leviss With His Secretary!

American reality TV personality and writer Lala Kent (born Lauren Elyse Burningham). She entered this world on 2 September 1990, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. In 2015, she joined the cast of Vanderpump Rules on Bravo and quickly became a household name.

Lala Kent Net Worth

American reality TV star, actor, author, and businesswoman Lala Kent has a net worth of $2 million. Kent's main claim to fame is that he is a regular on Vanderpump Rules on Bravo (2015–present). Before becoming a regular in season six, Lala appeared in episodes occasionally in seasons four and five. With over 1.7 million Instagram followers, Kent is also the founder of the cosmetics and skincare line Give Them Lala Beauty. Kent's filmography as an actress includes such titles as "Reflections in the Mud" (2009), "The Mentor" (2014), "One Shot" (2014), "Pitching Love and Catching Faith" (2015), "10 Minutes Gone" (2019), and "Hard Kill" (2020). She also runs a podcast of the same name and released a book in 2021 called "Give Them Lala." https://twitter.com/vnaij/status/1171336035680301056

James Kennedy Cheated On His Girlfriend Raquel Leviss With His Secretary.

Ally Lewber, James Kennedy's new girlfriend, watched "Vanderpump Rules" with shock. On Wednesday night's show, Kennedy's ex Lala Kent confessed that she and the DJ "hooked up" while she was dating Randall Emmett and Kennedy was with Raquel Leviss. The news "shocked" Lewber. You might also be interested to read about this article Eric Yuan Net Worth. “I was upset at him for a minute, for sure, yeah,” the 27-year-old told Page Six exclusively at the Season 10 premiere party. “I felt for Raquel a lotatn that moment—just knowing were about to get married, and she was never going to know this.” Leber said she and Kennedy, 31, "spoke things through" after he told her Kent had mentioned it on tape. “Honestly, no, I haven't got time to be bitter at Lala about something that happened six years ago,” Kennedy said when asked if he was unhappy at Kent for revealing their secret. Since then, we've improved our friendship so much.” He said he was “not proud” of his acts and that they didn't reflect “the man that is today.” In the unsettling encounter, a grinning Kent, 32, told Katie Maloney, “James and I, when we were both very early in our relationships, certainly hooked up.” “You're making me nervous,” Kennedy pleaded. Heartbeat. Don't. Don't.” Kent, now clean, recounted the drunken hookup in Chicago, adding "handstands" were involved. Must read about this article Kim Pegula Net Worth. Kennedy laughed and nodded, but he wouldn't admit to having "fun" behind Leviss' back. A montage of his supposed ex-girlfriends GG, Ellie, and Hope followed.

Lala Kent Net Worth Leviss, 28, told Scheana Shay that she hopes Lewber “doesn't suffer from low self-esteem” like she did when she dated Kennedy. “Some of the stuff I tolerated—I look back, and I'm like, ‘What the f–k was I thinking?'” At the premiere party, Kent said, “This season, coming into it, I just felt like I was sitting in a pile of s–t. I wanted all my skeletons out. I wanted toapologizee.” She promised "a lot of ups and downs" between her and Leviss, whom she memorably called a "Bambi-eyed bitch" during a furious argument, as the season progresses. “And maybe I shouldn't have told because she was furious about it, but hindsight's 20/20,” Kent said. I felt like I was doing something for both of us since we were in a good position and I wanted to move forward with her. I couldn't move forward with her knowing I was someone I wasn't proud of.” Kent said she and Leviss are "not great" now. “That's OK, though,” she said. “This group.” https://youtu.be/WxJXecVz1f0 If you liked this article, follow our website, serveupdate.com, and don’t forget to follow our social media handles. Read the full article

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sasquapossum · 2 years

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[image: black and white drawing of two wolves, superimposed so that the muzzle of the left-looking one is also the muzzle of the right-looking one in a slightly different pose. It’s easy to flip between seeing one or the other, but hard to see both at once. Credit to https://www.moillusions.com]

I have Schrödinger’s ADHD, and maybe Schrödinger’s Autism as well. Both there and not there, the “truth” for any moment only determined after the fact. For a while now, I’ve been thinking (and occasionally telling others) that I don’t know whether I have either condition or not. In a way it doesn’t matter, because if I do then I clearly have a robust set of coping strategies as well. It certainly does run in my family, especially the men on my father’s side. I have an uncle who was profoundly autistic as a child, but when he was about 20 he must have hit on some way to compensate (with no help from family or therapists so kudos to him) and has totally “passed” ever since. Evaluations are expensive, so why bother if it’s not affecting me too much? Another metaphor that kind of works for the is the good old “two wolves” only in my case it’s ND Wolf and NT Wolf. (I love that image above and might try to get it on a shirt BTW.) They both exist and will always exist. I can choose which one to feed, but the other never goes away. Here are some examples of how this has played out in my life.

In my work, I have gone through periods of what I (vaguely) think of as “heads down” mode - days to weeks of such intense focus on a particular problem that I barely eat, sleep, etc. It was kind of something I could control, but also kind of not: the pull was always there, and I knew I would eventually succumb whether or not I found a productive outlet. Is that ADHD behavior (or perhaps bipolar), or is it just “normal” variation?

When I had a child, I became reluctant to go into a mode where I shut everyone else out, because you can’t (or anyway shouldn’t) shut out your child. Perhaps that’s a warning for my ND friends who might have kids themselves. I might not have too many words to describe it, but it’s a pretty intense struggle.

Similarly, when I retired it was because I just didn’t want to devote those chunks of my life to others’ benefit. I still get a bit carried away, e.g. with archery or resin crafting, but it feels better even though it’s arguably less satisfying intellectually (the programming problems I was known for solving were hard).

When I wore out my second stairclimbing machine and decided that I should find a new kind of exercise, I eventually settled on running. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stick with it unless I absolutely geeked out on it, so I did. You would not believe how much time I’ve spent thinking about gear and form and routes, but without that I would have quit years ago.

There are other things I carefully avoid because I know they would exceed my ability to pull out. That’s why I don’t play MMOs. I’ve seen them totally suck in my brother (twice) and don’t want that for myself. I’ve seen the same with my wife and Killer Sudoku or Nonograms. I know I have to pace myself with getting into a new TV or book series, or some kinds of video games, because I’ll get totally absorbed into studying the lore underneath. Even in retirement, I don’t feel like I can afford that.

When I replay a social interaction in my mind (itself probably a “not quite normal” thing to do apparently) I experience an odd kind of duality. One moment I’m hyper-aware of how I was consciously thinking and planning my way through it as someone with autism might do. The next moment I’m hyper-aware of how I was handling it intuitively, as a neurotypical person might. Flip, flop, flip, flop. In reality I suppose both elements were present, and everyone has at least a little of both, but I can choose which one to see almost exclusively and that feels weird.

In many ways, these tendencies have been positive for me. “Heads down mode” was great for my career. My obsessive behavior around running has been good for my health. It’s something I have to manage about myself, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Neurodivergence is a different ability (or several), not a disability. Its existence should be recognized and respected, not “fixed” or condemned.

I’m not particularly going anywhere with this, really. Just thinking out loud, and I guess crafting long posts like this (like the blog posts I wrote for many years) is another example of not-quite-NT behavior. I just have to, y’know? It’s like an itch I have to scratch, sooner or later. Usually I post the results, but also you wouldn’t believe how much time I’ve spent on stuff that’s still in my drafts. I’ll just close with a couple more images (artists unknown this time) that also illustrate the kind of duality I’m talking about. Enjoy!

#adhd #autism #neurodivergence #optical illusions #schrodinger #probably had one or the other too #quite likely both #long post

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