#regular American bashing lol

[jilted-love]

Filipino dub for YYH is funny because we localized the title and character names (Genkai accidentally became trans because of that btw lol). It's funny so we Filipinos make fun of it but I hate it when Americans make fun of us. Honey, we got colonized by Japan too and in 1997, anime probably wasn't very accepted yet in Philippines due to that so the Japanese names were localized to make it more comfortable for Filipinos. We have more reason to change things in the dub than American English dub does. 😅

Now, anime is well loved in Philippines and we respect Japanese people if they respect our history. Americans on the other hand feel like they didn't learn from history. 😬

[missspringthyme]

March 15th, 2024

I got very little sleep because I went to bed in the morning, but I woke up about an hour after the notes from my supervisor came back. There were 10 notes, but reading them was an immense feat of mental strength and courage. My rejection sensitivity is going off the rails here lol.

I spent most of today forcing myself to read the notes, and then breaking them down so they felt more manageable. Most of them were quick fixes, but even a singular wording change in a sentence felt like a herculean task.

At a certain point, everyone in the kitchen started discussing these chocolate protein puddings that are sold that are actually incredibly fucking delicious. Health versions of food is usually worse than the regular versions, this is an exception. German-american and I absolutely adore them, the boys had never tried them, so we all decided to march down and grab some pots for all of us.

At the grocery store I also found out they sell mango lassis which is crazy, so I bought one in addition to some other groceries I need. My regular muesli has been missing for a little while now and I'm a little concerned that it's not coming back.

We all sat around the table and enjoyed our pots of pudding, the boys agreed that it was pretty damn good, but for some reason, TCA got vanilla instead of chocolate. Afterwards, german-american got us to watch the Taylor Swift eras tour movie. Everyone protested but it ended up being kinda fun, ironically the person who complained the most (authentic Australian) ended up being the most invested.

I worked on the proposal notes while it played, but I ended up getting stuck on what that had been causing me issues even before I had sent the first draft to my supervisor. I had found next to no papers discussing a specific aspect of connectivity in the basal ganglia except for one published in 2001. My supervisor then commented and said that what I had described was a bit of an older way of viewing the concept and that the second supervisor had actually worked on the newer way of thinking so I should probably change it. In his note, he referenced a paper that no matter how hard I tried I could not find. I was ready to bash my computer into a wall, and nothing was being helped by being severely sleep deprived.

As I stared into the wall ahead of me, authentic Australian looked over and asked me if I was alright. He convinced me to either (a) go to bed and finish in the morning or (b) go take a shower and come back to it. I chose option b.

I had been trying to save my shower for after the proposal was done, as a treat, but it was the right choice to make. I listened to some Starstruck and let my eyes take a rest. If I look in the mirror, all my capillaries have burst.

I came back refreshed and ready to take on the final note. One reference and one sentence, that's all I needed to do. Magically I found everything I needed after the shower, and everything flowed pretty easily.

Submitting the proposal was a victory I celebrated by watching the rest of the concert. By the time we got to the end, authentic Australian, german-american, and I were the only ones left. Only after the credits rolled, we realized there was another 30 minutes of the 'acoustic version' or something. I dipped out then and finally got to sleep.

[olderthannetfic]

Heh. So. That fucking fic.

I actively tried to forget about it, so the following is to ba taken with a grain of salt. (As if I'm not already the entire "Salt treasury estate" (literal translation of an actual region in my country) about this entire thing LOL)

[Long af rant incoming, prepare for impact]

The fic uses the title of a popular song of the most famous Austrian musician of modern times and then doesn't even mention him or have this song be a plot point. Or even have it being played ON THE RADIO or at the PARTY/EVENT where the two characters met again. (Maybe I was miffed especially because I was intensely preoccupying myself with him during that time, but still, it felt disrespectful af)

The characterisations were just utterly atrocious in the first place, and all the time I was just like "who tf ARE these people?" and "couldn't you just have written a shitty OC instead of bashing a character other people love?" and "the way you have written that character, that they would do this right now doesn't even make any sense AT ALL"

The biggest beef I had with that thing was, indeed, the fucking "Coffeehouseculture", or rather, the blatant misrepresentation of it.

Yes, the forever grumpy Viennese person, and the even grumpier headwaiter is a bit of a memetic mutation of sorts, and while TECHNICALLY still true, this only applies to the first one, not the second. UNLESS you set the fic in anywhere between ~18?? and ~1990-2000. This fic was NOT set in this timeframe.

The rude headwaiter of a coffeehouse is generally one of the bigger inside-jokes of the city, along with the general penchant for a drink (if not flat-out alcoholism) and making jokes about dying.

The thing is this: while we have A LOT of international students and people from all over the world coming here for work and life, absolutely no foreigner would act this way. And the character who got the role of the rude headwaiter, WAS a foreigner, if not outright stated (no srsly, I forgot because I mostly also only skim-read it using CTRL+F), then at least by Viennese terms of this character being termed Irish in most Modern AUs.

Bruh, I don't say this with pride, but we manage to be xenophobic to people who live (and were BORN) in the same country as us. Even between different villages in the SAME federal state, not to speak of different federal states, there's sometimes disgustingly derisive and mean jokes. Sure, it's not as if there'd be actual hate-criming around, but still, is that really necessary? At least it starts to get less and less of a thing, so there's hope to be had.

Back to the actual coffeehoseculture, there IS this: you can chill out there the entire day and read the newspapers that are laid out, coffee is able to be had in about 20+ different versions (we did it before Starbucks was even FOUNDED, fuck you), and the cakes and pastries are displayed in a counter for you to chose from, and there's usually a special cake that is specific to this particular one (usually the oldest and most famous ones have this). You can also eat regular meals and get alcoholic drinks too, though that's usually just wine and sparkling wine.

Sure, if you are rude to the wait staff, they will take absolutely no shit from you, even if modern service standards have reached us too, we are not dependant on tips, so go Karen somewhere else. If you are just an arrogant American, bruh, we might be taking your money with a smile (as we do with all tourists, since this city does live off of it), but we will be making fun of you until the dawn of the next day, at which point we will have forgotten about you anyway. (And prayed that you will never return or at least learned some manners if the brain is too unaffordable)

The main thing someone who was born in Vienna and truly immersed in the Austrian, and specifically the Viennese language (these two things sadly don't manifest automatically, which is a shame) might make fun of, is the way that the Germans pronounce the word "Kaffee". The Germans put the stress on the first syllable, where the Austrians do it on the second one. (This also applies to a lot of other words too, actually) The Germans also ORDER coffee differently from what is common here, and given how Germans are the biggest (albeit rather invisible) group of foreigners, this is of course the most common point of "conflict". I don't actually think that anyone really takes this badly in any way tho. (It's actually just gentle jokes about foreigners (especially those that come here for the first time) being confused about the practically CODENAMES we give our coffee variations)

-*-*-*-

Well, this rant certainly got all over the place, and yeah, I guess what made the least sense for me was the portrayals of the characters in that fic anyway, so I just closed it and forgot about it, because why should I waste my precious time and brain capacity with thinking about a shitty fic? Only because it was set in the city I'm a part of? Nah, not making that mistake again after that one Manga that started to be set here, but then went to be Japan-focused, because why wouldn't it? (Well, no wonder I put that one back onto the store's shelf and bought something else LOL)

--

Yessssss. Feeeeed meeeee.

Oh man. I'm not above titles that are a reference to something, but I hate it when it seems like there's literally no point to the title. Even if the song doesn't appear, there should be some kind of meta level of commentary going on.

I once titled a fic: "Nobody But Uncle Ben" or "Even Bad Women Love Their Mommas": A Non-Tragedy in a Whole Bunch of Acts

Admittedly, it probably means fuckall to readers, and neither quote is referenced in the text. But if one knows what the title is referring to, I think it would be possible to guess why I picked that.

In the 90s, there used to be a saying: "Nobody stays dead in comics except for Jason Todd, Bucky Barnes, and Uncle Ben."

...

Anyway, like most of my work, that fic has a bunch of fake death and while I never wrote the sequel that made the worldbuilding actually make sense, it involves a character from the movieverse trying to avert the shitty future from the comicsverse where 2/3 of the ship in that fic die.

The second part is an adaptation of a quote from 3:10 to Yuma and is a commentary on how I see one of the characters, not just in the sense that she has familial feelings but in the sense that the scene the quote is from has the charismatic villain revealing that one of the lawmen is a genocidal, self-righteous hypocrite. Then the villain murders him for insulting his mother, showing that the lawman is also an idiot who never understood the villain at all.

Uh, but I digress. Anyway, they could at least have meant something with that song title other than "This is something that comes from there". Also, that song is great and how dare they. LOL. (I mean, I know you're trying to make this fic hard to track down, but it's not exactly hard to guess. Haha.)

I think a lot of tropey fic about places the writer doesn't know well seems to fall back on stereotypes from decades ago with no clue how things might have changed either just because time marches on or because the whole world has changed radically with the rise of the internet and whatnot.

[clarasimone]

Fic interview tag

tagged by @lodessa thank you <3

Name: @clarasimone

Fandoms I write for: Games of Thrones. The series; not the books. Yes, I’m nuancing for you, obtuse totalitarian purity subscribers ;-)

Two-shot: I have NO idea what this is.

Most popular multichapter: UNDER QARTH’S SHELTERING SKY (https://archiveofourown.org/works/21383854/chapters/50938501) but maybe that’s cheating because it’s really a collection of stand-alone short stories. The real multi-chapter fic to win this category is THE KEEP (https://archiveofourown.org/works/29416008/chapters/72264993)

Actual Worst part of writing: Writing the first draft. It’s like walking in mud, I swear. It’s all clear and flowing in my mind so why is the actual writing so HARD? (Plus, english is not my mother tongue so, ya know). But I love, love, love writing the next drafts and polishing and polishing and polishing. I love finding the right word, the rare word, the right-sounding word... It’s like finally seeing the garden you were trying to grow :-)

How you choose your titles: I have to confess that I am drawn to hommages. Hommages to past works of fiction or cinema, so my first instinct is to aim for a playful title. For instance, UNDER QARTH’S SHELTERING SKY comes from THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles and adapted to the screen in 1990 by the amazing Bertolucci. Not his best film, alas, but the atmosphere, the desert location, the perfume of eroticism were so right for my collection of Jorleesi erotica, taking place in Qarth’s jewel desert city! The title just popped in my mind. More recently though, my script-ed @terisrog​ pointed out to me that I also have a fondness for titles evoking the concept of home which, as any Jorleesi fan knows, is central to what binds Ser Jorah and Daenerys in the series. So IN A LIBRARY WITH RED DOORS (which became THE LIBRARY in our discussions), THE KEEP (or The Ghost and Ms Targaryen) for my two real multi-chapter tales.

Do you outline: I don’t. Isn’t that bizarre? Then again, THE KEEP is a remake (of the movie The Ghost and Mrs Muir) so the film’s narrative structure acted as an outline of sorts... but I imploded its story by adding many scenes.

Ideas I probably won’t get to but it would be nice: Ask @terisrog ;-)... More seriously, Jorleesi is sooooo inspiring to me, I think I might continue on and on, so I hope I’ll get many WIPs out... including writing again with @houseofthebear, I hope :-).........  The ideas I won’t get to, I think, have to do with other projects, like finishing the Gladiator AU I began 20 years ago and stopped to have kids. Thankfully that mandate is almost over LOL...

Best writing habits: When I start a new project, I work at it every day. It’s why I don’t have actual WIPs. I mean written WIPs. If people ask me to drop a line from a WIP on Tumblr, I actually have to write something because I don’t have WIP folders. I have WIPs in my head. So, yeah, as soon as I begin writing, I WRITE; many hours each day, and I don’t stop until it’s done.

Spicy opinions: Those who know me know what I am about to write, so feel free to scoot ;-) (Deep breath) I hate, haaaaaaaaate reductive fanfic labels: smut, fluff, angst... OK, I’m slowly making peace with the expression fluff because, yes, fluffy things are cute. But to call a fic “fluff” is such an echo of mainstream bashing of fanfics that I choke on the word. When a regular editor or author labels something “fluff” it is NOT a compliment. But OK, in our world, it’s a positive thing...... The one I truly have a hard time with, and I’ll be on a life-long crusade about it, is “smut”. A synonym for that word is dirt and, I’m sorry, but are we still in a world where sex has to be deemed dirty to be hot and arousing? Sex can be luminous. Explicit erotic fics can be funny, poetic, joyful, dark, romantic, sad and all the while be arousing without having to be termed “smut”. I hate it, I hate it, I. HATE. IT.  So my banner is Erotica, and if that sounds intellectual or pretentious, so be it. (p.s. I’m aware that my peeve stems from cultural differences. I’m not American. I’m not even Anglo-saxon. French literature has long given credentials to erotica so I’m like: hum, we’re not on the same page, are we? ;-)

Tagging @gettingovergreta @houseofthebear @terisrog @rileypotter17​ @toas-tea​ @chryssadirewolf @fandomsbyladymelodrama @bridgr6 @memoir-of-stars @here-we-blog @wizfrog​ and @salzrand

[miloscat]

[Review] Conker: Live & Reloaded (XB)

Let’s see just how well this misguided remake/expansion holds up. This will be a long one!

Conker’s Bad Fur Day is my favourite N64 game. It’s cinematic and ambitious, technically impressive, has scads of gameplay variety with fun settings and setpieces, and when I first played it I was just the right age for the humour to land very well for me. A scant four years later Rare remade it for the Xbox after their acquisition by Microsoft, replacing the original multiplayer modes with a new online mode that would be the focus of the project, with classes and objectives and such.

First, an assessment of the single-player campaign. On a revisit I can see the common criticisms hold some water: the 3D platformer gameplay is a bit shaky at times, certain gameplay segments are just plain wonky and unfair, and some of the humour doesn’t hold up. It’s got all the best poorly-aged jokes: reference humour, gross-out/shock humour, and poking fun at conventions of the now dormant 3D collectathon platformer genre. I also am more sensitive these days to things like the sexual assault and homophobia undertones to the cogs, or Conker doing awful things for lols. Having said that, there’s plenty that I still find amusing, and outside of a few aggravatingly difficult sequences (surf punks, the mansion key hunt, the submarine attack, the beach escape) I do still appreciate the range of things you do in the game.

As for the remake, I’m not sure it can be called an improvement by any metric. Sure, there’s some minor additions. There’s a new surgeon Tediz miniboss, the new haunted baby doll enemy, and the opening to Spooky has been given a Gothic village retheme along with an added—though unremarked on—costume for Conker during this chapter based on the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing flop. Other changes are if anything detrimental. The electrocution and Berri’s shooting cutscenes have been extended, thus undermining the joke/emotional impact. The original game used the trope of censoring certain swear words to makes lines more funny; the remake adds more censorship for some reason, in one case (the Rock Solid bouncer scene) ruining the joke, and Chucky Poo’s Lament is just worse with fart noises covering the cursing.

The most egregious change, and one lampshaded in the tutorial, is the replacement of the frying pan (an instant and satisfying interaction) with a baseball bat which must be equipped, changing the control and camera to the behind-the-back combat style, and then swung with timed inputs to defeat the many added armoured goblings and dolls carelessly dumped all throughout the game world. This flat out makes the game less fun to play through.

On top of this, all the music has been rerecorded (with apologies to Robin Beanland, I didn’t really notice apart from instances where it had to be changed, such as in Franky’s boss fight where the intensely frenetic banjo lead was drastically reduced as a concession to the requirement to actually play it in real life), and the graphics totally redone. Bad Fur Day made excellent use of textures, but with detail cranked up, the sixth generation muddiness, and a frankly overdone fur effect, something is lost. I’m not a fan of the character redesigns either; sure Birdy has a new hat, but I didn’t particularly want to see Conker’s hands, and the Tediz are no longer sinister stuffed bears but weird biological monster bears with uniforms. On top of all this you notice regular dropped details; a swapped texture makes for nonsensical dialogue in the Batula cutscene, and characters have lost some emotive animations. Plus, the new translucent scrolling speech bubbles are undeniably worse.

I could mention the understandable loading screens (at least they’re quick), the mistimed lip sync (possibly exacerbated by my tech setup), or the removal of cheats (not a big deal), but enough remake bashing. To be fair, the swimming controls have been improved and the air meter mercifully extended, making Bats Tower more palatable. And some sequences have been shortened to—I suppose—lessen gameplay tedium (although removing the electric eel entirely is an odd choice). But let’s cover the multiplayer. Losing the varied modes from the original is a heavy blow, as I remember many a fun evening spent in Beach, War, or Raptor, along with the cutscenes setting up each mode.

The new headline feature of this release is the Live mode. The new Xbox Live service allowing online multiplayer was integrated, although it’s all gone now. Chasing the hot trends of the time, it’s a set of class-based team missions, with the Squirrel High Command vs. the Tediz in a variety of scenarios, mostly boiling down to progressing through capture points or capture the flag. Each class is quite specialised and I’m not sure how balanced it is, plus there’s proto-achievements and unlocks behind substantial milestones none of which I got close to reaching (I don’t think I could get most of them anyway, not being “Live”).

The maps are structured around a “Chapter X” campaign in which the Tediz and the weasel antagonist from BFD Ze Professor (here given a new and highly offensive double-barrelled slur name) are initially fighting the SHC in the Second World War-inspired past of the Old War, before using a time machine, opening up a sci-fi theme for the Future War. These are mainly just aesthetic changes, but it’s a fun idea and lets them explore Seavor’s beloved wartime theming a bit more while also bringing in plenty of references to Star Wars, Alien, Dune, and Halo; mostly visual.

Unfortunately the plot is a bit incoherent, rushed through narration (unusually provided by professional American voice actor Fred Tatasciore rather than a Rare staffer doing a raspy or regional voice like the rest of the game) over admittedly nice-looking cutscenes. They also muddle the timeline significantly, seemingly ignoring the BFD events... and then the Tediz’ ultimate goal is to revive the hibernating Panther King, when the purpose of their creation was to usurp him in the first place! It expands on the Conker universe but in a way that makes the world feel smaller and more confusing. It’s weird, and also Conker doesn’t appear at all.

On top of this, I found the multiplayer experience itself frustrating. To unlock the full Chapter X, you need to play the first three maps on easy, then you can go through the whole six. But I couldn’t pass the first one on normal difficulty! The “Dumbots” seemed to have so much health and impeccable aim, while the action was so chaotic, obscured by intrusive UI, floating usernames, and smoke and other effects with loads of characters milling around, not to mention the confusing map layouts, the friendly fire, the instant respawns, and the spawncamping. Luckily I could play the maps themselves in solo mode with cutscenes and adjustable AI and options.

I found some classes much more satisfying than others. I tried to like the Long Ranger and the slow Demolisher, but found it difficult to be accurate. The awkward range of the Thermophile and the Sky Jockey’s rarely effective vehicles made them uncommon choices. I had most success with the simple Grunt, or the melee-range Sneeker (the SHC variant of which is sadly the sole playable female in the whole thing). You can pick up upgrade tokens during gameplay to expand the toolset of each class, which range from necessary to situational. But ultimately it’s a crapshoot, as I rarely felt that my intentions led to clear results.

Live & Reloaded is such a mess. The Reloaded BFD is full of odd decisions and baffling drawbacks, while the Live portion feels undercooked. I’d have preferred a greater focus on either one; a remake is unnecessary, especially only four years on, but a new single-player adventure would have been ace. And a multiplayer mode in this universe with its own story mode could be cool if it was better balanced and had more to it than just eight maps. As a source of some slight scrapings of new Conker content I appreciated it to some extent, but I can’t help being let down. I guess it’s true what they say... the grass is always greener. And you don’t really know what it is you have, until it’s gone... gone. Gone.

Yes, that ending is still genuinely emotionally affecting.

[cassoliver]

new york’s very own cassandra “cass” oliver was spotted on broadway street in reebok club c 85 vintage shoes . your resemblance to  sydney sweeney is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your  twenty-first  birthday bash . while living in nyc ,  you’ve been labeled as being  naive  , but also compassionate . i guess being a  pisces  explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be exposed tan lines , loud laughter , and only ever wearing gold jewelry  . ( i slept with one of my co-stars while we were shooting on location, not knowing they had a significant other back home )  &  ( cis-female & she / her  )

lia takes on a second character TAKE TWO whAT is up you guys , it’s ya girl back at it again with another muse . i randomly got a lot of inspiration for this new girly pop and i feel p good about it ! go ahead and smash that mf like button if you wanna plot ! i can slide into your ims or on discord if that’s more your jam !

S T A T S ↴

– * FULL NAME : cassandra rosemary oliver – NICKNAME(S) : cass ( commonly referred as ), cassie – * AGE : twenty-one – * D.O.B : march 16th – * ZODIAC : pisces – * GENDER : cis-female –* ORIENTATION : bisexual biromantic – * HEIGHT : 5′4″ – * NATIONALITY : american – * BIRTHPLACE : asbury park , new jersey – * OCCUPATION : student + actress – * TRAITS : compassionate, creative, intuitive, gentle, empathetic, fun-loving, naive, whimsical, loyal, subservient, overly emotional, pensive, fearful, overly trusting

B I O G R A P H Y ↴

   you’d have to be living under a rock to not know jeremy and elizabeth marie oliver . think brad pitt and angelina jolie , will smith and jada pinkett , or whatever other celebrity IT couple you fancy . jeremy is notoriously known for his acting career that took off in the late 80′s . around the same time , elizabeth marie’s acting / modeling career was taking off across the pond . the iconic duo met through work and quickly fell in love . after their over the top wedding ceremonies ( yes plural . they got married once in jeremy’s hometown in new jersey and then again in elizabeth marie’s hometown in england ). shortly after their holy matrimony , they produced three healthy babies : mason , samuel , and cassandra . there were a few years in between the kiddos , but they were all raised in a tight knit family outside of the limelight in asbury park , new jersey . their parents decided to take a break from working in order to raise their kids . i wish i could say that gave the oliver trio a normal childhood . but it’s kind of hard to go to public school and not draw attention to yourself when your parents are household names . it was hard for cassandra to understand that her parents were super famous and for some reason that meant something to people . if you asked her , there was no reason to get all starstruck over her parents . they were just people after all .

    so i guess you could say she had a normal childhood . at least , as normal as one could have with their name and photos constantly plastered all over tabloids . cassandra grew up in a happy and loving environment , which is nice . and with her dad working part time as a professor at his alma mater , juilliard , she and her family bounced back and forth between their coastal home in new jersey and their urban townhouse in new york . and she throughly enjoyed experiencing the best of both worlds . both places felt like home to her and she and her brothers made the best memories together . see , her brothers were her best friends growing up . mason and samuel were five (5) and three (3) years older than her , respectively , and she followed them around everywhere they went . the two boys let her reluctantly at first when mom and dad forced them to but over time it became enjoyable to have her be just another member of their friend group . cassandra was well liked and throughly protected by her brothers and their friends . they shielded her away from all things dangerous : from substances to rude people . this led to a pretty sheltered upbringing . she lived in this little bubble where things were all good all the time .

   as she got older , she had to learn to fend for herself a bit more . no longer was she under the watchful gaze of her brothers , for they had rushed into graduating high school early so that they could pursue their own acting careers-- following in line with their infamous parents . having the oliver last name gave them an advantage in the film industry and they ran with that opportunity . meanwhile , cassandra stayed back and took her time . acting was always something she was interested in . there’s no way she could be a member of her household and not dabble in the art at least a little bit . but it wasn’t a top priority to her for a long time . she didn’t want to rely on her family name to get her somewhere in the industry . if she was going to do it , she wanted to do it right . she wanted to earn her place just like anybody else . and if it worked out for her then great ! and if it didn’t , well she prepared a back-up plan . she elected to go to NYU for business instead of studying acting or just bypassing college all together . she figured if all else failed , then she’d start her own company and branch out of the creative arts .

  and she took her college career very seriously . she’s studious and hard-working , genuinely enjoying learning new things and having a ‘ normal college experience ’. even though people still look at her funny or talk about her behind her back once they figure out why she looks so gosh darn familiar , she’s come to find that college students are much more chill than the kids that used to bombard her with questions about her famous family on the play ground . most days , cassandra gets by feeling like a completely normal girl . no fame or fortune , just a regular schemgular student trying to get by . and she’d probably gotten away with just melting into the background and never breaking out into the limelight if it wasn’t for one little netflix project she agreed on .

  it was just supposed to be another passion project . cassandra had done a few small roles in indie movies at that point . just enough to dip her toes into the movie making world but not enough to drag her away from getting a higher education . but when a script for a new netflix original series was slid in her direction by a family friend turned agent-- well , she just couldn’t put it down ! she loved everything about the show and knew she just had to be a part of it . so she gave up one summer of her life to film OUTER BANKS , not at all thinking that it would blow up the way it did a year later when it premiered . and now news is breaking out that the youngest oliver is finally stepping out into the acting scene , which is warranting a lot of media attention towards her . honestly , she feels pretty good about the project itself . she’s very proud of the show and is incredibly grateful that it’s doing as well as it is . but when it comes to all the notoriety she’s getting because of it , well ... she’s still adjusting to being famous in her own right and not just secondhand through her family . she’s a little overwhelmed . she’s a big girl now that has to navigate through this next chapter of her life without anybody holding her hand or shielding her from the highs and lows of being known . whether or not she thrives in the limelight or crumbles under the pressure is to be determined .

P E R S O N A L I T Y  &  F U N  F A C T S ↴

i think it’s really funny to call her the third franco brother ( yes dave and james have a third brother , his name is tom ). bc like her brothers are essentially mega stars w all the movies they’ve been in at this point and she’s sort of the other sibling that everyone forgets about . y’know until recently lol

she is a giant sweetheart !! just v lovey and kind and empathetic ,, has a warmth to her that makes it feel like it’s summertime all the time

v humble bc she does not consider herself famous what so ever . like being second-hand famous from her family and getting a few extra instagram followers bc of her last name is one thing , but with the success of her current show she’s being put on covers of magazines , being interviewed for teen vogue and stuff like that , getting verified on everything , and gaining hundreds of thousands of followers DAILY . it’s crazy to her

naive in the sense that she’s rlly out here thinking that everyone has a heart as big as hers and has only the best intentions when sadly that might not be the case !! so like ,,,, probs gets taken advantage of and doesn’t even realize it . or messes things up bc she thinks she can just continue living a normal average joe life when in reality her whole life has been far from average ,, the whole world���s got their eye on her and everything she says and does publicly can and will be scrutinized and she is just …. not prepared for that

wants to have a good time and do cool art sh*t !! as long as she’s being creative in some aspect , she’s happy . honestly doesn’t take a lot to make her happy

but also when she gets sad oh boy oh boy does she get sad . pretty much down and out and nothing anyone says or does can make her feel better unfortunately . will just self isolate and you just gotta let her ride it out ://

hobbies include painting , reading , collecting plants , and taking photos

has a second instagram account just for her photography ! @casstookthis lol

lives with her “babies” which are like 10 house plants and all of her books

v family oriented ! goes to visit her parents regularly and talks to her brothers basically daily despite living on two different coasts

acting was always something she knew she wanted to do-- and that may or may not have to do w her parents’ influence and the pressure to follow in their foot steps just like her brothers did 

as kids , she and her brothers would work together to put on performances in the living room for their parents . they’d make “short films” and upload them to all 6 of their subscribers on youtube

allergic to cats but wants one so bad ,, has never had a pet in her life actually

the little things amuse her . her sense of humor is really quite simple . hit her w some puns and / or a dad joke and you’ll have her rolling

is learning how to speak mandarin and french

always over-prepared , never underprepared ,, needs to feel like she is capable of handling anything or else she panics

cannot tell a lie to save her life , gets nervous and can’t make eye contact

at any given moment , you can tell what she’s thinking and what she’s feeling just from taking one look at her face . sometimes she tries to mask it because she is an actress after all . but it’s not hard to see through the facade that she puts on if you know her well

hopeless romantic af ! romanticizes everything in life ! loves love in all forms , romantic , platonic , self love , whatever ! looks at the world through rose tinted glasses and heart eyes ! probably falls in love with a person , place , or thing at least 5 times a day !

prefers summer and living near a beach / some body of water over living in the middle of the city . so she’ll often visit back home or go stay with her brothers in LA , not just to be closer to family , but to be more in her element

her family has so many houses simply bc their lives are all over the place ???? like they kept her childhood home in new jersey but they also always had a luxury townhouse in new york plus a summer home in the hamptons and a cottage in england and an apartment in los angeles that her brothers currently reside in . she used to just stay in the townhouse while going to school but she recently bought her own apartment bc she wants to be #independent

might catch her as the lead in a new netflix original movie coming soon *wink wink*

is in love with her best friend east harvey and they’re getting married

WANTED CONNECTIONS PAGE HERE

[ducktracy]

51. bosko in person (1933)

release date: february 11th, 1933

series: looney tunes

director: hugh harman and friz freleng

starring: johnny murray (bosko), rochelle hudson (honey)

it’s back to bosko in bosko in person! it’s a plotless cartoon, with bosko and honey giving us boundless entertainment.

the title card curtain peels away to reveal an asbestos curtain, which goes up in flames (foreshadowing i wonder?) to reveal bosko banging out “whistle and blow your blues away” on the piano, the current looney tunes theme song for the 1932-1933 season. he recognizes us and greets “howdy, folks!” before going back to tickle the ivory.

honey makes her entrance, snapping and dancing along to the music as the two banter. immediately, they launch into a complicated, cute, and endearing dance routine, making a regular fred astaire and ginger rogers of themselves. though the bosko dance scenes are everywhere, i really enjoy this one! it feels more complex than usual. i’m sure friz’s co-directorial credit has something to do with it.

a “gee bosko, you’re swell!” from honey turns bosko bashful, and he dedicates a song to her, “i love her, she loves me” which, as far as i know, seems to be an original song? his ridiculous falsetto really making it a lot funnier. honey joins him in the dance number, the two of them awkwardly dancing and scatting before waltzing off stage together.

bosko plays some more upbeat bars on the piano, throwing his glove off which slides down the keys and runs back to him, the process repeating. eventually, the glove hops on his knee. bosko urges it on, asking “well, what can ya do?” (parallel to his first appearance in bosko, the talk-ink kid. how the tables have turned!) the glove’s voice is drop dead hilarious. it’s a squeaky violin that sounds almost like a kazoo—no words are being said, but the inflection is perfectly understood, the glove insisting “i dunno/i don’t wanna!”. finally, bosko suggests that it sing mary had a little lamb, and it does, giggling and leaping back on his hand. bosko finishes out the skit with a few chords of “shave and a haircut”.

next, bosko decides to do a tapping routine, looking at the audience instead of his feet. gotta applaud him for trying! he loses his balance and falls, and the audience laughs at him. he limps back over to his previous spot and gives it another go, with the same results. gotta admire his perserverance. i’m curious as to who animated this. bob mckimson maybe? i think was after his car crash.

^^ that sounds weird, but it’s true! bob mckimson got in a car crash sometime in the early 30s, i think around 1931 or 1932. he was (thankfully) fine. he was actually MORE than fine. before the crash, bob would come into work and take a nap before lunch (which, according to bob clampett, rudolf ising did the same thing too, which is probably how he got away with it). after lunch, he’d churn out a TON of animation, more than what the other animators who worked all full hours did. after the car crash, something must’ve happened to his brain. he didn’t sleep anymore, his animation was extremely professional and calculating, he didn’t even have to do rough sketches first, he was just that good. i love his animation work under tex avery and bob clampett, more than i love his directorial work in all honesty. he was insanely talented, and also credited for really nailing down bugs’ look starting with tortoise wins by a hare. you can read bob clampett talk about him here. (with all the corrections made, since clampett is notorious for getting details wrong)

anyway. point is, the animation looks great! cut to honey, who sings “was that the human thing to do?” in a big, belty, raspy voice and later doing a hilarious impression of greta garbo. i love her saunter! it totally reminds me of daffy’s strip tease in the wise quacking duck. greta garbo would also be parodied in a few cartoons, such as in porky’s road race, porky’s five and ten, hollywood steps out, etc. her catchphrase “i want to be alone” would also be parodied in the daffy duckaroo as “i want to be a lone... ranger.”

bosko finishes of “whistle and blow your blues away” by doing an impression of maurice chevalier. i love love love all these celebrity references! even if you don’t understand them, they’re funny just to watch. they’re drawn to be funny and sound funny—pales in comparison to what we’ll be seeing when mel blanc comes aboard and the animation becomes more refined, but very entertaining.

jimmy durante strikes again! bosko blows up a balloon to use as his bulbous nose and even remarks “schnozzle! HAAAAAA!” i can’t get enough of that drawing! the uglier and weirder it is, the more i love it! the best caricatures (not of racial stereotypes LOL) are the ones that get a gut reaction out of you. one of my favorite lines from a bosko cartoon that sums this up perfectly is what he says next: “i know i’m not good looking, folks, but that’s one opinion against a million!”

bosko durante receives boos from the audience (and a single cheer from me). he declares “am i mortified! am i mortified!!”. honey cheers him on in the wings and motions for the audience to do the same.

switching from jimmy durante, bosko now opts to do an impression of ted lewis, asking “is everybody happy?” and playing some wonderful jazz through his clarinet. the animation is great! i especially love the detail of him playing the drums with his feet (above). i’m always glad to see the animators having fun with their work. eventually, he loses and balance and falls through the drum. all the instruments are rattled with the impact, but fall back into place as porky bosko bursts through the drum, once again clad in his terrifying yet funny jimmy durante face.

bosko climbs back on stage and switches from clarinet to drum, complete with a franklin d. roosevelt caricature on the side swinging a pint of beer. it’s actually contested whether that’s FDR or ted lewis, who bosko imitated earlier. my odds are on FDR, as honey comes out of the wings waving an american flag, and he’s swinging a pint of beer, aligning with his anti-prohibition status. however, he got inaugurated on march 4th—this cartoon is said to have come out on february 11th according to a few sources, but one lists the release date as april 10th (which would make sense). confusions aside, it’s interesting to note. fade out as bosko goes into the wings.

i adore this cartoon! definitely one of my favorites. even though it has no plot, the gags all hit hard. understanding of the celebrity references or not, they’re fascinating to watch and listen to regardless. the music is upbeat and beautifully jazzy, and bosko and honey are rather endearing as they play off each other. the animation is absolutely beautiful, more intricate than usual. it’s worth a watch! it’s such a feel good cartoon, and the ending with the FDR reference could pose as a symbol that indicates better things are coming. in the long run, it’s true!

link!

[badrpstories]

Do unto others as you want done to you.

So, I used The FYRA partner search blog, and I had a plan for an awesome roleplay idea. I slapped it up there, and in a day, I got a reply. When this person messaged me they first gave me this long list of requirements and preferences. And they weren’t regular preferences such as “I prefer 3rd person writing in Advanced Literate style paragraphs“. They were just totally based around their likes and dislikes. The first one that caught me off guard was that they only preferred Korean face claims, and that if they didn’t like mine, they would then offer me American face claims that /they/ liked. 

I should start out by saying that I didn’t have a face claim ready for this character, because I was having a difficult time finding a good one, BUT I knew I didn’t want a Korean face claim. Not that I have anything against them, it’s just my character was, well- Caucasian. It was in his bio description. So when I found a strong face claim, and showed them, they said he looked like a douche and he “wasn’t their character’s type”. So they wished to… Compromise by them then looking up Korean characters from those boy bands or actors. I told them there really shouldn’t be a need for us to compromise when it was my character. But they got all whiny about it so I just gave up and chose some random Korean character to make them happy.

They also demanded that I post pictures of aesthetics, music videos, and other things into our discord server. I’m a college student working part time.. I have a few hours out of my day to roleplay— not do all those extra things. However, they claimed that they got annoyed when their last partner didn’t meet their needs, so I’d try my best to post at least one or two little aesthetic pictures I could find when I was free.

Now- I’ve been roleplaying for well over 7 years (Semi-lit to Advanced, Third Person). Not once in my roleplaying hobby have I EVER had someone give me feedback on my writing style. Ive always thought I was a very descriptive writer, but apparently to them, I needed To do better. They literally took a reply of mine, and EDITED it, and showed me how it could be better. I NEVER had this done to me, and I’ve NEVER done this to anyone else in my role playing life. I’ve always been very flexible with people’s writing styles. I quite literally think the only pet peeve of mine is misspelling, but even still, it never bothered me THAT much. I was in shock!

Additionally— they asked me if I was into K-Pop. I told them I wasn’t (not that I hate them or anything… I just don’t like K-Pop). Well, they told me not to insult them about K-Pop because they wouldn’t want to roleplay with me. And I was like well Duh? Who would be an asshole and insult something someone enjoys? WELP. Turns out… they do! They were talking about some K-Pop show called Run BTS, and they said that it gave them a rush of serotonin. I said “Same lol, except that’s me with anime”. They said, “Oh, I hate anime.” I said, “Well, everyone has their own preferences.”…. At that moment, it was like the gates of hell broke open.

They just bashed Anime itself and called it over-sexualized, rape plot based, and pedophilic. I was in absolute shock! I kindly told them that I wasn’t sure what they watched before, but mainstream anime nowadays has very little to do with any of those topics. More anime is based around plot development and character development. I used the recent Demon Slayer anime as an example, and they tried to tell me that Demon Slayer had a rape scene in each episode!! I told them I had not seen a single hint of rape in the episodes and that they must be mistaken. They realized the mistake and didn’t even apologize. But then CONTINUED to go on about how the anime fandom is full of perverted people. I asked if they could kindly apologize for the hurtful words and bias they said, as this was effecting ME and INSULTING me. They simply laughed and told me that I was problematic because they didn’t like anime. I tried to tell them that was FAR from it, because I already mentioned to them that everyone has their own preferences, but like the immature person they were— they blocked me before I could even send it.

I was absolutely APPALLED at how much a person could be so narcissistic and demanding. It left a terrible taste in my mouth. I’ve always been the type of person to not let other people’s judgements of other people change my mind (In this sense, how everyone says that the Kpop Fandom is toxic), but this bad experience DEFINITELY showed me what people are talking about.

Normally, I would let something like this brush off, but it really shocked me at how awful a person can be. I’d like to warn everyone that if you meet a person with this description… good luck. I’m a very nice person- but this person definitely pushed my buttons!!

[scuttleboat]

About the Shipper

Okay this is show day for The 100, and for some reason I’m feeling a whole host of things, so I’m going to do a brief overview of my blog and fandom opinions, in case you’ve followed in the last year, and wonder what I think about stuff.

OTP: Bellarke

Other canon pairings I enjoy: monty/harper, murphy/emori, kabby, linctavia, bryan/miller, jackson/miller, raven/wick

That being said, I’m 90% a monoshipper so I read and write almost exclusively about bellarke, unless it’s part of a kink ficathon or something. My fanfic is under the name rashaka on AO3 and ff.net.

Favorite Characters:  Clarke, Bellamy

Other favorites:  Octavia, Monty, Raven, Indra, Emori, Murphy, Abby

Favorite non-romantic pairings:  Clarke/Abby, Octavia/Bellamy, Octavia/Indra, Bellamy/Monty, Murphy/Everyone, Raven/Echo (based on one clip alone, I’m sold!)

General Info:

I reblog a lot of gifs, and sometimes bellarke fanfic. 

I type A LOT but sometimes if there’s a big post going around I’ll just comment on it instead of reblogging. Sometimes I will write 1000 words of meta just going into deep detail about my love for a character, my love for bellarke, or an abstract idea presented in the universe of the show.  I don’t have the discipline for regular episode reviews, but I do post reactions/responses sometimes. This is usually tagged under #the 100 meta, or the character's name.

I love jokes and comedic posts. I will reblog a rickroll every time and laugh every time bc someone thought "bellarke kiss" was a real link. I have made posts specifically to LOL at fandom, including the 100 fandom, multiple times and will still do so bc fandom is a circus.

I'm kinda bitchy after 2am, which I consider my prerogative as an American. 😉

Most of the time my blog is fairly drama free, but sometimes stuff makes all the hair on my back rise and I'm like a hissing cat. This is unlikely to happen more than once every months or so, but it might increase over the course of an active season. Most of the time I keep my personal complaints to private conversation, like an adult.

I am fandom old, which means I'm the same age as Bob Morley, but I have better hair. He has two dogs though, so it's possible he's further in his life journey than I am. All snark aside, I don't really talk about the 100 actors that much outside of hot pics or 100-relevant interviews, and I wouldn't call myself a stan for anyone. That being said, here's the charity GoFundMe for school Eliza Taylor founded. It's good work.

Comportment:

I draw a strong line between fandom and The Powers That Be. I don't believe in sending ship stuff to actors, and I don't believe in @-ing negative stuff to the writers on Twitter. I think trying to recruit industry people to our ship, or trap them into saying they ship something especially cast or writers, is embarrassing at best and manipulatively harmful at worst. Please don't try to get the child actors involved.

Unfollowing:

You can unfollow me at any time, for any reason. I may also unfollow you at any time, and it might have nothing to do with the fandom. I follow so many blogs that I don't see everything on my dash, and I sometimes get people mixed up when they change their usernames.

I also unfollow people who post character bashing, particularly if it's a strain of "character hurt Bellamy so they're a monster" because A) fictional characters are not people, they have no agency to cause hurt IRL and have no feelings to experience hurt IRL, B) all the 100 characters do bad things and they all hurt each other, and c) I just don't want to hear the bullshit anymore bc it's probably insincere and it's almost definitely misguided. This isn't to say that I think negative reactions are bad, or disliking a character is bad, but it means I follow 600+ people and I won't miss reading crap that makes me roll my eyes that hard. If you're wondering why I mentioned Bellamy and not other characters, it's because I am an active bellarke shipper and he's far and away the most popular character in the shipdom, which means most reactionary stuff is framed around perceived injustices done to him. It makes it kind of exhausting to love his character so much yet also to disagree profoundly with how so many others experience and interpret him. So I unfollow often, and welcome people to unfollow me if my reactions to the show annoy them in a similar manner.

Also, on the topic of what is "bad" on Tumblr: having any feelings about a show in any direction is not an inherently moral or immoral thing. You cannot hurt fictional characters, you can only hurt the people who create them and the other people who consume them. It is accurate to say that the internet body politik influences how we perceive media and it influences how we talk about it, so it could follow then that moral and political opinions about media are influenced by our perception of political and moral issues. For example, I think fandom is ragingly sexist, and our fandom tips more that way than others I've been in, particularly in its revulsion towards motherhood. There's a lot more -isms I could add to that, and have in the past. HOWEVER, this is ultimately a television show, and we each bring to it a host of preconceived experiences and ideas that we apply to what we see on screen. Since I don't know what everybody else's brain looks like on the inside, I try not to assume that liking or disliking a story element is indicative of how that person sees the real world--because The 100 is not a real world. It is made up. OTOH, sometimes people outright say or enact the stupid shit that is in their heads, and I have a decently long memory for it. And I am trained to spot patterns, academically and professionally. So I do a lot of eye rolling. I'm not trying to say that as a brag, that's how my brain works. I wish it were trained to increase $$ but it's not, so more the fool me.

Also, I think about 89% of the soap-boxing in fandom is just a front for shipping grudges, so you can miss me with that. You can also miss me with the anti-Octavia stuff, the anti-Clarke stuff, the anti-Aurora stuff, the anti-Echo stuff, and the anti-Abby stuff. I'd say the anti-Bellamy stuff too, but literally like 2 people in four years have reblogged anti-Bellamy stuff on my dash, and that was deep in the dark times of CL drama, so I think that's covered.

That's probably way more than anymore needed to know, and I'm sure it will get buried in season premier stuff. But here you go. My passion for Clarke and Bellamy, for their individual characters and for their relationship, it's intense. It's probably more emotionally involved I've ever been in a pairing. Bellarke is... stunningly unique, as a ship goes, and I've been in fandom since I was a teenager so that is saying a lot for me.

TL;DR:

Bellarke is amazing, always leave comments on fanfic that you read, don't steal gifs or art, and ffs be cool about shit, it's only soccer.

[naminearuno]

Diary Entry #2

January 27, 2018

It’s been 11 days since my last entry and so much has happened. I’m not gonna talk about it in any specific order.

First of all, Lexi’s mom found out about her stick-n-poke tattoos (After they had already faded, too) which led to further investigation and she told her mom that she’s been using Maya’s phone to talk to me. That was obviously a big deal because that’s the way it is with the Lesch’s. So now Lexi is supposed to have to move out on May 3rd, but I doubt they will hold her to that because they want her where they can most easily control her. She went a night without being allowed to sleep in her bed. She was supposed to quit her job, but she still has it for now. She’s still on guard. We’re still talking since it wasn’t really Maya’s phone to begin with and I’m not a fan of Maya anymore… Lexi is doing alright for the most part. Her grade in AP stats is really high and I’m impressed because I’ve heard a lot of crap about that class.

I didn’t go into my sociology class thinking that I would personally get anything out of it. But then we talked about depression. We talked about how as societies rely more on consumer capitalism and individualism increases, so does depression. When people have as much freedom as we do, they can also have excessive hope. That can make people feel even worse when they fail or still pretty awful even if they’re doing fine because they know better is possible. And as we become less and less reliant on others to make decisions for us we can feel more alone and more to blame if our lives don’t work out the way we intend. Basically, he explained that community is extremely important toward mental health. This got me thinking. First of all, it reaffirmed my belief that I should push my children to get involved from a young age. But it also got me thinking… I do believe community is important for mental health. I think that’s why my life got so much better when I joined guard. I don’t want someone telling me how my life is gonna go and who I’m gonna be, because I grew up in an American society after all :P, but it led me to a conclusion… about something I’ve thought about before. Maybe I would be happier if I went to church or another religious institution. I feel like I’m too open to follow a religion the way religious people typically do. I’m too skeptic of accepting a truth with no proof behind it and too open to the possibilities. I do think I might be able to get behind the values a religion preaches without believing in their God and their stories. I think I might enjoy being apart of a community like that… assuming I can find one that is positive. I look at people like Dani and Hannah Beer and I see how happy church makes them. Maybe I could benefit from it, too. Maybe it would help me feel like I belong. Probably not. I’ll feel like an outsider because I don’t believe. But still. It would also be interesting to learn about a religion first hand like that. I don’t know… This will most likely be next year adventure if it happens at all. Next year… When Amber and I are hopefully living in an apartment and transitioning to veganism… And hopefully I see my girlfriend regularly and finally lose my virginity (Lol do I /really/ belong in a church? Probably not…)

I’m not sure what I believe. I believe in something… I identify as Agnostic. I’m sure there is something more than us, whether it is a higher power the way people typically envision a higher power or something completely different we haven’t thought of… Or maybe that we can’t think of because we can’t understand it. I don’t know. I don’t know what happens when we die and I’m scared of the possibilities. I’m scared of everything just stopping and I’m scared of being eternally miserable and I’m scared of being reincarnated as a fly or bee or wasp or an even more messed up human. Humans fear what we don’t know. I don’t know and I am afraid.

Moving on to a lighter topic… I finished Dreamfall Chapters and started playing Remember Me. It’s a really interesting game, but also frustrating.

I also ordered a charger that should be here on Monday and my books better be here Monday because they were supposed to be here last Wednesday.

I’m still trying for straight As though I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to review my chem notes EVERY day. Whether I get straight As or not, I’m not overwhelmed by the workload this semester… yet. It all seems doable. I haven’t turned anything in late yet. There aren’t a lot of grades in the gradebook yet, but I only have 100s so far… It will not stay that way lol.

Amber and I have been sticking to our goal of going to the gym at least twice a week. We started the bluecoats training regime yesterday and I’m super excited. We’ve also decided that we’re gonna try to go Mon, Wed, Fri, and Saturday. Friday and Saturday are really good gym days because not a lot of people are there. We have yet to go on a Monday… heheh.

There’s been drama with Drew and his family. His mom has been bashing Jordan on his profile… on public posts. He’s still trying to contact Jordan and even messaged Zoe and accused Jordan of being a pathological liar. Speaking of which… his hickass mom sounds a lot like one of those what with her “degree in law” and her daughters husband that there have been no previous pictures or mention of… Anyway, it’s all been very annoying but also kind of hilarious. I think his mom needs to learn what the definition of “intelligence” is.

I don’t have time for these people to be honest. (Drew and his family). I’m too busy trying to better myself. I’m going to talk about some of my goals, values, and general things I’ve learned:

I now know what it means to invalidate someone’s feelings and why even if those feelings are irrational, that’s not okay. Feelings are real. Calling them “just chemicals in the brain” doesn’t devalue them. Chemicals in your brain are a very real and powerful thing. If you understand anything about science and the human body, you know that chemicals in your brain are responsible for a lot of physical and mental traits. For example, chemicals in your body determine how tall you are. Growth hormone, specifically. It is secreted by the pituitary gland in the brain. Growth hormone deficiency causes dwarfism. That is a very real thing that you can see. It being caused by a chemical in the brain does not make it any less real. Feelings and mental illnesses are also caused by chemicals secreted by the brain. You just can’t always see the effects. Anyway, this is turning into a very different point…. The point I wanted to make is that feelings are real and therefore you cannot just tell a person to ignore them or that they shouldn’t have them. If someone’s feelings are irrational, you still cannot invalidate them. You must first acknowledge them and the fact that they are not something easily controlled (And often times not controllable at all) and then bring in the logic. I.e. “I know you’re angry because your spaghetti’s on the floor,, but Shanaynay didn’t spill it on purpose.” V.S. “Calm down, it’s not like she did it on purpose.”.

There is a thing called emotional intelligence. I’m very lacking in this department, but I have enough regular intelligence to acknowledge and work on it. I really do think I have a mild form of aspergers or something like it, but I’m glad I came to that realization. I’m bad at understanding social cues and piecing things together. I miss out on jokes and sarcasm from time to time because I honestly just don’t get it. Sometimes I stop to think about things for a long time before coming to a realization that feels like an epiphany, but when I go to explain it to someone else it’s something they picked up on without even having to think about it. I have a hard time understanding why it’s not always okay to say things that are true. Hell, I picked honest as my personality trait for that English assignment in Becker’s class Sophomore year. I also have a hard time understanding emotions that I can’t physically feel. Anyway,, I’m glad I realized I have this problem/these problems. It allows me to prevent a lot of issues and explain behaviors of mine that other people don’t understand.

I enjoy intelligent arguments. I also believe they are an essential part of the modern human experience. People who don’t understand how to engage in intelligent arguments make me sad. I almost can’t comprehend how people think that belittling others and using profanity does anything but invalidate their arguments. When you come out and say that you are intelligent, when you attack for something that doesn’t relate to the topic (especially when it’s something they cannot control), and when you use swears/slurs, you decrease the intelligence of your argument. You significantly decrease the chance that anyone who didn’t already agree with you will even hear the point you’re trying to make. Words can hurt. It’s also important to understand opposing arguments. Your argument is much stronger if you show that you understand the opposition, but still think it’s wrong.

Words can significantly impact a person's emotions, mental health, etc. Words can start wars. Words can make people famous. For a lot of people, stringing words together and/or understanding words is their job. Words are one of the main ways we communicate. Words have power. Without them, our societies would be drastically different. Words can get you into all kinds of legal trouble. Words matter. Expression matters. Communication matters. How someone can dismiss words in favor of violence, I will never understand. Violence doesn’t lead to change or understanding. Words can. Words can hurt. Words can heal. They are not insignificant.

That’s not to say that you should be offended by specific words. Words like “fuck” for example. Yes, it’s not a “nice” word and it’s not a word that is socially acceptable in most professional settings. But hearing someone say it on TV or at a restaurant or in any random context that does not require professional language, should not offend you. If it does offend you, that is your problem. If something someone says, whilst not meaning to hurt anyone, bothers you, that is not their problem. They can say whatever they want. If you don’t like it, it is your job to stay away from them, to ignore it, to reflect on why it offends you and whether or not it’s a feeling you want to hold onto. Words matter but the intention behind them matters more.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Everyone in America has freedom of speech. These things don’t mean that you can say whatever you want. Saying hurtful things can get you into legal trouble. Cyberbullying, harassment, stalking, libel, and slander can all get you into legal trouble. You do not have the right to go around and be a jerk to people. You just don’t. A good general principle to live by is to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt others.

You don’t have to cottle people. You don’t have to refrain from talking about things because it offends people. But you do have to keep in mind that the platforms you leave your opinions on have rules and guidelines. You do have to keep in mind that saying certain things in a certain way can be illegal. And if you want people to care about your feelings, you should be sure to care about theirs. There is a balance between being yourself/expressing your opinions and trash talking people, harassing people, etc.

I’ve been putting a lot of effort into becoming a better person. I think it’s important to always be reflecting on who you are and working towards positive changes, especially when you’re not happy with who you are as a person. By coming to college and being in the Bears for a Just Community LLC alone, by surrounding myself with new people and opportunities, I am growing more and more each day. I’ve been actively choosing to be better - to be more conscious of others feelings and how what I say and do impacts them, to put more effort into school, to learn, to go to class everyday, to evaluate myself and my choices, to go to the gym, and to be healthier. I feel more productive. I feel like I’m actually living and participating in the college experience; I didn’t feel like that before. I think being productive, bettering myself, and learning are going to make me so much happier. I’m ready to do the whole “New year, new me” cliche right. I want to always be improving.

There is a lot more I could say, but I’ve been working on this entry for a while so I’ll leave it at that.

[buzzandnova]

Black Man Alleges Police Officer Drew Gun Over Signal Violation

Randell Minott of East Orange, New Jersey, posted a video to Facebook on Friday, accusing a police officer of approaching his car with their sidearm drawn, and then pointing the weapon towards his head. The alleged events took place after Minott claims that he was pulled over for a signal violation, though Minott does not state which police force was involved.  

The video, which does not show the officer pointing his weapon at the motorist, does show Minott angrily questioning the officer as to why drawing his weapon was necessary. The officer doesn’t dispute the driver’s claims throughout the video, despite being made aware that he was being filmed and that Minott intended on uploading the video. 

MICHEAL BENNET a rich football player and they threw his ass on the floor and pushed a gun in his head for nothing and still you lost souls still jump on every video defending these dudes. If you have a problem with the way I talk to a cop who ILLEGALLY POINTED A GUN AT MY HEAD then LEAVE THIS COUNTRY (see what I did there #LOL) Because last I check its in my constitutional rights #GoAmerikkka

If he made a mistake and killed me him and his partner would of made up any kind of lie to get him off…even if they had to make me seem like I was up to something. The day a POLICE OFFICER snitches on his fellow BAD OFFICER and GET REWARDED FOR IT instead of bashed I will start trusting police… until then you know the drill!!!

Posted by Randell Minott on Friday, September 8, 2017

“Do you feel empowered now?” Minott asks the officer. To which the cop replies: “No sir.”

“If you just came to the car and did your regular routine, I would’ve had no issue. I turn around and I see a f**king gun pointed in my face,” Minott continues.   

In a caption alongside the Facebook video, Minott references the recent case of Michael Bennett, an African American Seattle Seahawks defensive who accused a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer of racial profiling and pointing a weapon at his head as he ran away from gunfire following the Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor match: 

“A rich football player and they threw his ass on the floor and pushed a gun in his head for nothing and still you lost souls still jump on every video defending these dudes. If you have a problem with the way I talk to a cop who ILLEGALLY POINTED A GUN AT MY HEAD then LEAVE THIS COUNTRY.”

Minott’s video has been widely shared online, and attracted mixed reactions. 

Cop pulls over a black man for failure to signal, walks to his car with his gun drawn… Black dude is my fucking hero💯💯💯💯💯🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆😂😂😂😂👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/S8ef8Mx4Kk

— SIX_FOOT_5 (@Choco_Optimus) September 10, 2017

Question: How many white folks on here have EVER had a cop roll up during a traffic stop w/ their gun drawn? Not me. Never. I ❤️ this guy!

— Tracie Bowles (@tracie_bowles) September 10, 2017

You realize at night you don’t know if the driver is white, black, or Hispanic, right? I know lots of cops who do this at night all the time

— Will Moravits (@wmoravits23) September 10, 2017

use your turn signal!!

— AnthonyMackson (@AnthonyMackson) September 10, 2017

Am I the only one that was afraid for him the whole time? I was so afraid the cop’s feelings would get hurt and shoot him multiple times. 😪😟

— call me Fern (@Delicatefern) September 10, 2017

Black Man Alleges Police Officer Drew Gun Over Signal Violation was originally published on Buzzing Lives

[furederiko]

I wanted to post this on an earlier date, but my internet has been acting up as usual. Anyway... here's the first Random-News-Digest of April!

Disney Live Action

Following Eva Green, Danny DeVito, and Colin Farrell, another actor has been courted (in talks, not officially cast) by Tim Burton to join his "Dumbo" adaptation. And just like DeVito, this time it's another "Batman" reunion in form of the Batman himself, Michael Keaton. I guess now we only need Michelle Pfeiffer to turn it into a full on unofficial reunion, huh?

Keaton, who will soon be seen showcasing his antagonistic persona as Spider-Man's villain in July, is said to be offered yet another antagonistic role for "Dumbo". Namely, "an asshole circus owner with a taste for exploiting elephants". Looks like, he might the one who will be playing Vandemere after all, and not Farrell as I've previously speculated. For now, there isn't any official announcement surrounding the movie, so we'll have to wait and see whether any of these actors would sign up or not.

As for "Mulan", looks like it will contain songs after all. Niki Caro talked to Cinema Blend, and stated that "The live-action is based on that inspirational Chinese ballad and on the animated Disney classic. We're still exploring the role that music's going to play in it, but for sure there will be music.". Caro cautioned though, that the project is "very much a fluid project" for the time being, so we won't be hearing any specific details about it soon. Especially because she's currently busy promoting "The Zookeeper's Wife". Her desire is to make sure that the culture of the movie and character will be reflected appropriately. Let's just hope that it will end up becoming a musical like "Beauty and the Beast", because well, if it's not, then I'll probably go back and re-watch the animated original instead. It just wouldn't feel the same without the iconic songs, right? It would just another Mulan adaptation, like those many others that have come before this. After all, one doesn't need a "Reflection" to know that, the animated version was already "A Girl Worth Fighting For"... ;D

Disney Animation

"Wreck-It Ralph" was a special animated movie for me, because it combined the magic of Disney with the charm of classic 8-bit video games. After his adventure with Vanellope von Schweetz ended in the first movie, it seems Wreck-It Ralph was poised for a happy ending. But he will soon be taking on something bigger than just the arcade where he lives in. That's because during CinemaCon, the House of Mouse officially announced that the sequel is now titled "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2". The movie has also been given an official release date of March 9th, 2018. Which is less than a year away!

The 'Internet' bit shouldn't sound that much surprising, since the already revealed concept art has shown the two lead characters walking through spoofed names or icons of various popular websites and/or apps. The synopsis offically said, that Ralph, and possibly Vanellope will be lost in the Internet Data Space when a WiFi router gets plugged in. I think it's very likely that Ralph's game might end up becoming an app or some sort at the ending of this sequel. Perhaps even becoming a worldwide popular one. If that actually happens, don't forget, you've heard it here first, okay! LOL. John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman are returning to voice Ralph and Vanellope, alongside Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer who will be reprising their roles as Sergeant Calhount and her legal husband Fix-It Felix, Jr. Other confirmed cast include Jodi Benson, James Corden, Ana Ortiz, and also Alan Tudyk, with roles unknown for the time being. Tudyk used to play the antagonist in the first movie, but might be voicing a totally different character this time. Since he has become a regular voice actor for Disney Animation, taking part in all recent releases so far (even in form of a dumb rooster). I'm crossing my fingers that the sequel will be as fun and heartfelt, if not even better than the first.

Death Note

Hollywood's adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell" had unfortunately underperformed at the box office. Thanks to that, Paramount shifts the blame towards the critics for being more concerned about the movie's whitewashing controversy, rather than other aspects of the movie. To be honest though, while I haven't seen the movie myself, I've heard what the primary issue is all about. Admittedly, the way this version's story chose to tell the origin of the Major, felt more than just giving finger to the particular issue. It somehow didn't learn to avoid it, and instead ATTRACTED the exact criticism instead. In doing so, I doubt even Mamoru Oshii's approval could rescue the movie now.

Problem is, the same whitewashing issue has begun to migrate towards another title. This time, it's about adaptation for another Japanese story. You already know what category this is being talk about, so yes, it's "Death Note". In this case, because the main character Light Yagami has been renamed into Light Turner, and is played with a white actor in Nat Wolff. An adjustment the creators made, having the setting relocated to Seattle, Washington in this version.

If you ask me, this kind of criticsm is a bit bullish and exaggerated. A totally different situation to "Ghost in the Shell". I mean, like several horror movies like 'The Ring" or "The Grudge", stories like "Death Note" has more flexible ability to be told in a universal way. So forcing Asian American for the role doesn't sound justified, and felt more like a political agenda. If you look at it from business point of view, would the american adaptation work better if they use Asian-American actor as the lead? I don't think that's the case. Beside, it's more than just about Wolff, because apparently there are criticism aimed towards African-American actor Keith Stanfield, who will be portraying Light's foe, the elusive L. Those who are already familiar with the source material should understand that Light is the true 'bad guy', while L is in fact the 'good guy'. Now I can't help but wonder why Stanfield is even criticised for playing a protagonist, then. I mean, imagine a louder criticism should a white American fill that part instead. Should an Asian-American plays L as well? That would be selfish if you ask me, because once again, the character L is not bound for a certain race. Oh well, here's hoping "Death Note" will have a better luck than "Ghost in the Shell". Or those other adaptations for Japanese stories that Hollywood has attempted in the past. As I said, the two movies are a whole different scenario, and it wouldn't be fair to judge one using a similar parameter...

DC Films

Joss Whedon is writing and directing "Batgirl" for Warner Bros? The same guy who was previously turned down when he submitted a draft for "Wonder Woman"? WOW! Yup, that's the news that has been taking the world by storm since last week. Look at how the mighty (talking about WB of course) has fallen. Also, look at all those so-called 'devoted DC' fans who bashed Whedon for his critically and financially acclaimed "The Avengers". Who are now speechless to read that WB is now asking the help of the guy they hated the most. This heavily proved that WB is definitely course-correcting their DCEU or whatever it is you want to call it. It's even better news to know that they are humble enough to start looking outside of their studio's regulars. Key to creating something amazing, is by trusting it to the right person, not just someone who's available on their camp. Moreso, taking someone who used to work for their competitor, is a huge humble step as well. A sign of change. A smart one at that, due to Whedon's style of storytelling.

Eventhough it's said to be in final stages, deal is not set just yet. So things can still turn for the worse. I do however wish that the two sides will come into agreement. In fact, I think WB should just hire Whedon to be the creative consultant for the whole DCEU, and kick Zack Snyder, David Goyer, and others alongside their dark gritty tone far far away to oblivion. Forget "The Justice League", "Batgirl" is the movie everyone should be waiting for! The one that might inspired hope, optimism, and heroics, instead of angst and darkness. Now if they can get another great director for "Nightwing", I might just be really excited for the DC Films. Something I've been waiting to say for suuuuch a long time.

But Whedon's not the only one making news last week. James Wan and his lead actor Jason Momoa, as well as other cast and directors like Patty Jenkins took part on WB's presentation at CinemaCon on March 30th. And well, they've made some news about their respective movies. Wan delivered a reel of production art for "Aquaman", and succeeded in getting positive response from attendees. According to reports, Atlantis looked promising, and surrounded itself with massive sea creatures that was inline with a 'swashbuckling adventure' Wan had promised. This catapulted the movie to sit among Variety's top 5 Buzzmeter of the event. While her movie only made it real close to the same Top 10, Jenkins delivered new footage for "Wonder Woman" that received positive reaction from the same crowd too. Response for "The Justice League" footage might be the least positive of them all, as Variety even noted that the movie still felt "like a joyless affair" despite being filled with humor. No news surrounding "The Batman", and even Christopher Nolan refused to talk about it. LOL.

Does this mean "Aquaman" might be the surprise hit that WB and DC is waiting for? Will the tepid response for "The Justice League" translate into similar mediocre box office projection? We all need to remember, that movies like "Man of Steel" to "Suicide Squad" did get positive word of mouth during its production phase, but ultimately ended up as divisive if not totally disappointing affairs. My point is, it's safe to say, that when it comes to DC Films, nothing can be 100% certain. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see how these movies perform...

SONY Marvel Universe

You must be thinking, didn't I used the term "Spider-Man Universe" for this same category before? That's true, but starting with this one, I've officially changed it into "SONY Marvel Universe". Why? Because highly likely it won't even have a Spider-Man in it. So it would be wrong to call it so. And it's not just because Tom Holland's Spider-Man would be existing in an entirely separate universe, or that this one will not take place in that particular Marvel universe. But because SONY's specific universe might get a different rating as well. At the very least, "Venom" will not be a PG-13 movie, but an R-rated one.

I wonder if SONY is inspired by FOX and their R-rated superhero movies for this decision? I just hope that they are not getting the wrong message about FOX's success, though. I mean, sure, Venom has the potential for a gruesome and violent R-rated movie. But I also feel that the character would also work nicely in a PG-13 setting, and will obviously appeal to much bigger audience. So why bother going R-rated with one, right? Anyway, right now, Dante Harper of "Alien: Covenant" is writing the movie, and Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing. The real challenge, is working with the character's origin story in a Spider-Man-less universe. After all, Venom practically copied most of its appearance and powersets from a Spider-Man, so a universe without the friendly neighbourhood spider would be odd. If SONY can nail that issue, then perhaps the movie's going to work...

Universal Monster Shared Universe

Universal has released the 2nd official trailer for "The Mummy". This one was... okay, I'll be honest, I haven't seen it yet. And it's intentional, because I already have enough curiousity for this movie, that I would definitely check it anyway. Mainly because of Russell Crowe though, because I'm completely eager to see him becoming Mr Hyde. According to Birth.Movies.Death, this trailer was confusing to understand. Which can be a good thing, because it's meant to catch people off guard. Anyway, the movie will arrive very soon, as the start of many other Monster movies to come. I won't be checking them all, but if Tom Cruise can somehow convince me with this first movie, I might end up seeing the rest as well. Hollywood do need a good and working Cinematic Universe after Marvel's, right?

Conjuring Shared Universe

Wait... WHAT? I just realized that the Annabelle movie, has been branded as part of "Conjuring Shared Universe"! I didn't even know that a horror franchise can have its own Shared Universe, nor that the studio has been planning for one. I mean, does it even make sense? LOL.

Putting that issue aside, the first official trailer for "Annabelle: Creation" has hit the internet. And well, since I thought the first movie was rather weak and poorly written, I'm not too keen on this one too. As the title suggests, this movie will serve as a prequel or some sort to that first movie. One which unfortunately, is completely fictionized, as Birth.Movies.Death has pointed out with their research. Which is too bad, because turning it into fiction was what caused the first movie to be... well, disappointing. I honestly thought a prequel would adapt the true origin story of the real life cursed-doll, but I guess the director David F. Sandberg, and producers were too scared to even attempt such thing.

But you know what? The 'Shared Universe' thing is real. Because there's another spin-off movie in the works right now. "The Nun" (though that's just a title I made up tentatively for the sake of this essay), is the next in the "Conjuring" line. Focusing on the creepy nun character from "The Conjuring 2", this movie sounds like a prequel or some sort as well. Corin Hardy is set to direct the movie, and actor Demián Bichir has been cast to play a Priest. A priest who is sent from Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun. Probably the same nun who became a ghost, or another nun who has seen the ghost nun, and got... Okay that's confusing. We'll likely hear more about this project, because it has a Summer 2018 release date. Who knows, perhaps in 2019, it will team up with Annabelle to take on a powerful titan from space...

Hasbro Universe

Oookay, I've completely forgotten that we're getting this... uhm, Universe as well. You know, the one that will pit Hasbro's toylin... I mean franchises into one giant cohesive world. So we'll be seeing the gang of "M.A.S.K." meeting up with the "Transformers", or "ROM the Space Knight" bumping heads against the "G.I. Joe" members. And all kinds of those crossovers. So far, we've only seen "Transformers" being turned into its own universe though, with the upcoming "Transformer: The Last Knight" and that Bumblebee movie. So I'm not sure when this bigger idea, or dream will even come to fruition.

But it might happen soon. Why? Simon Waters, in charge of consumer product for Hasbro Studios, said to L.A. Times that there's going to be "a much more contemporary approach to the whole franchise, and that will allow us to develop different characters". What franchise was he talking about? "G.I. Joe"! You know, the one that starred Channing Tatum in its first movie, before he was seemingly killed off and replaced by Dwayne Johnson in the sequel. Does this mean we're getting a reboot soon? Hmmm... Waters' words sounded like shallow waters. I mean, why not go ahead with the existing one by revamping the next movie to fit a larger universe? That would be more convenient and effective. But let's give this a benefit of doubt, because a reboot might prove to be... better. Possibly...

Marvel Studios

And we've finally arrived on the last movie category, but also the first (or at least the first successful one) Cinematic Universe that inspired it all. And when I say all, I mean the 5 categories above this, without including other existing ones being openly/secretly planned out there! *sigh*. For now, nothing beats the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And that's probably why it has a loaded of fresh news almost every week!

Let's start with "Spider-Man: Homecoming"! Embargo for set visit reports have been lifted, and that's why we've got plenty of new and in some way rather spoilery information about the movie. But before we go there, go ahead and check out the 2nd official trailer that concluded those triple-posters release last week. Uhm... then again, perhaps abort that thought, because while it looked more fantastic and action-packed than the first, this particular trailer seemed to have shown a little TOO MUCH and might ruin your movie experience instead. This one felt similar to the case of "Beauty and the Beast", which included its entire (or mostly anyway) plot in one chronological sizzle reel! Unless the entire thing was a clever ruse, this wasn't something that Marvel Studios is known to do. So I can only assume SONY's pulling the strings on this one. But trust me, if you haven't seen it, it would be better if you don't. Because you might be startled to see Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man's major significance in it. As if he's the secondary lead character of the movie, and not just a random tech provider!

Sure, if we look at it optimistically, that means "Homecoming" is deeply rooted as important part of the MCU. But that might be a problem too, because we're not really sure how long the agreement between Marvel Studios and SONY will last. Particularly, when SONY seems intent to build their own separate universe using the Spider-Man characters. SONY's CinemaCon presentation only added more doubts and concerns about this fan-pleasing collaboration. After announcing that a sequel is already in the works, and will be part of the MCU, producer Amy Pascal mentioned that the future of the wall-crawler remains 'uncertain' afterwards. This statement had a negative impact, as many sites immediately began reporting that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will depart the MCU after "Homecoming". A certain gossip site even claimed SONY's new boss Tom Rothman is not pleased about this deal, due to the extra cost of having Gwyneth Paltrow's return as Pepper Potts. Truth is, Pascal did NOT state it that way. So it's just another classic case of quick assumption and misinterpretation, right? And rest assured, as noted and reasoned by Forbes, Holland WILL remain a part of the MCU for at least 3 more films in the future. At least until 2020. This include direct solo sequels to "Homecoming" (the next one is set to be out in 2019), as well as appearances in a Marvel Studios-produced movie. In fact, his involvement in the currently filming "Avengers: Infinity War", is already an extension of the initial contract between both Studios.

Now on to the set visit reports and random interviews with the cast and crew then! Holland talked to MTV (via Metro), and confirmed what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had mentioned before. That his new Spider-Man movies will be using the 'Harry Potter approach'. In case you forget, or doesn't understand what that's supposed to be, it means when we see his Peter Parker in the 2019 sequel, he'll be just one year older in age, and a 2nd/3rd year student (depending on whether he's currently a freshman or sophomore) in high school. So by the time we get into his third solo movie, he'll be a graduating senior who's about to enter University. The same interview also revealed that Holland can't keep his mouth shout, as if the perfect embodiment of the character Peter Parker in real life.

And not just Holland, even director Jon Watts felt that he too, identified himself as similar to both Parker and Holland. Not in the sense of age, but with the pressure of proving himself in the big world of Marvel Studios. Talking to Variety, Watts admitted that like Parker who's never done anything big and want to prove himself to Stark, that's how he felt while sitting at the directorial chair. Watts was unafraid to show his earnestness on his inexperienced approach, which somehow transferred a similar vibe to the movie. Watts also revealed that he went through a long process of meetings before the folks at Marvel Studios decided to hire him. Owing that to his small movie "Cop Car", that made people turned their heads towards him. It so happens that he was also eager to make a coming-of-age movie as well. So the stars were certainly aligned for him. As for whether he will direct the sequel, he refused to say anything because he wanted to focus on finishing this movie first. However, as proven by fellow directors like James Gunn, the Russo brothers, and Scott Derrickson, if Watts nails "Homecoming", I'm perfectly certain that Marvel Studios and SONY will entrust the next one onto his hand again.

Also, speaking to Fandango after CinemaCon, Watts stated that fans can expect easter eggs about the MCU and Marvel Universe in general in "Homecoming". The license plate of one of the cars in the Ferry scene, is one good example for the small ground-level references we can discover in the movie. Watts confirmed several things as well. Department of Damage Control / DDC, the organization that has been developed as a TV series for quite some time now, will be debuting in the movie. It will play a major role towards the evolution of Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes into the wrong side of law. Intriguingly, the organization is said to have existed since the aftermath of 2012's "The Avengers". Yes, 'The Battle of New York', or as the Netflix series tend to subtly address it as 'The Incident'! This fact would be depicted in the first few scenes of the film (as reported by Coming Soon, though please exercise caution because the report might be meddling in spoiler territory). "Homecoming" will then address the event in "Captain America: Civil War", as we see Parker and Stark's relationship slowly evolve into a mentor/big-brother figure. And likewise, whatever will happen in "Homecoming" will also bring its own ripple effects towards "Infinity War". Last but not least, Watts confirmed that "Homecoming" will have a post-credit scene, that might possibly link itself towards upcoming Marvel Studios movies. "How disappointing would it be if there was just nothing?", he said.

Michael Keaton talked to Collider, and reiterated about the event that caused Adrian Toomes' building resentment towards Stark. In his opinion, Watts' approach is 'interesting', because in a way his character works as "somewhat of a victim. He takes things in that he feels like a victim, and some of it is justified actually. He believes that there’s an upper echelon of society of people who are getting away with a lot and have everything. And there’s a whole lot of folks who are working hard, and don’t have much". A fact that Keaton likened to the current political climate of America, as well as something personal for himself. He also confirmed Watts' previous statement that Vulture will be an average-joe antagonist, but also added one crucial fact: that Toomes is a father. Perhaps the few Marvel Studios' antagonist with a child on his own (it was hinted that Kaecillius of "Doctor Strange" also had a family), which adds a more sympathetic touch to him. But more than that, Toomes has a loyal crew, particularly Michael Chernus' The Tinkerer, who sounds like will have the potential to show up again in future installments. Who knows, perhaps Marvel Studios is slowly setting up a Sinister Six movie with Vulture, Shocker, and other possible future antagonists? That's certainly a possibility we can't simply dismiss.

Producer Eric Hauserman Carroll added more information about the movie. Speaking to Slash Film, Carroll revealed that the new suit that Stark created specifically for Parker, will have its own unique features. It would naturally contain more gadgets than any other version of Spider-Man suits that has appeared on the big screen, including an A.I. like JARVIS or FRIDAY. The suit will also enable different kind of webbings. Carroll said that there are spinning web, web ball, ricochet, and other stuffs that Stark built into Parker's arsenal, and most of it was done practically. To Coming Soon, Carroll said that Parker will be forced to adjust the glamour life of being part of the Avengers for a very limited time, to then return to a cold crowded daily life of being an outcast. It's a stark contrast of worlds that would help him grow as a singular hero, but also as part of a team, in regards to his connection with Stark. Last but not least, Carrol admitted to Screen Rant (via MCUExchange) that while he would've loved to see Spider-Man interacting with other New York heroes, namely the Netflix's Defenders, fans shouldn't expect them to be referenced in this movie.

For more information from the set visits, like the whereabout of Uncle Ben, Parker's love interest, or the movie's diversity among others (which might spoil the plot, mind you), B.M.D. has kindly put together a quick round-up for our convenience. The site has gathered bits from many sites like IGN, io9, Nerdist, Bustle, Screen Crush, and Slash Film. Go ahead and check out their page directly! You can also start looking for official merchandise for the movie that are starting to hit the market.

...Phewww... that ended up longer than expected!

Let's head on to other movies now. Disney held a presentation at CinemaCon, and among its lineup of information for upcoming movies, confirmed a rather old fan speculation that originated from Variety's report. At that time, actress Letitia Wright was only rumored to be playing T'Challa's half-sister Shuri in the upcoming "Black Panther". Turns out, that's indeed the case, as you can see from the official photo of the main cast.

As has been reported before, Actor Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen have officially joined the production for "Infinity War" starting this month. Olsen was seen arriving at Edinburgh, Scotland to join Paul Bettany and others. This confirmed that the previous candid scene that was thought to be Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow or her stunt double, might actually be Olsen's Wanda Maximoff after all. This scene got more interesting, because it's clear Scarlet Witch was fighting a staff-wielding mo-cap antagonist, which seemingly attacked Bettany's Vision before. Remember, the staff-wielding CG antagonist might very well be members of the Black Order, like Proxima Midnight or Corvus Glaive. This means that the two Avengers might be taking on the Black Order, instead of fighting one another like in "Civil War". Meanwhile, Renner has arrived in Atlanta, seemingly to join the production that's currently going on in the city as well. The production staff will then move to New York City starting in May.

Guess I better start changing how I write the title because it's officially "Ant-Man & The Wasp". Yes, with an ampersand logogram (check Wikipedia if you don't get what that is). The movie's logo could be seen through a release schedule that Disney presented during CinemaCon. It's the same presentation that revealed Letitia Wright's secret role, as well as title for "Wreck-It Ralph" sequel. Thanks to being absent on "Mission: Impossible 6", Jeremy Renner has now been rumored to be involved in this movie. Considering his Clint Barton's relationship with Paul Rudd's Scott Lang, and the fact that they are both everyday non-superpowered fathers, having him be the third wheel alongside Evangeline Lily's Hope van Dyne DOES make sense if not perfect match. However, it's worth noted that the source of this news, ShowBiz411 could have worded his report by mistake. I mean, perhaps what he meant was "Infinity War" and the UNTITLED 2019 Avengers movie, but wrote "Ant-Man and the Wasp" for the latter instead.

"Thor: Ragnarok"!!! Ah, yes, a quick footage from the movie was showcased during CinemaCon. It showed Chris Hemsworth's Thor Odinson battling together with Mark Rufallo's Hulk against Sakaar's gladiators. Oddly, it's not getting as much buzz as many have predicted. Possibly because Disney delivered a rather weak presentation in the event, to which I assume was intentional as they would likely opt to bring more firepower to its D23 event later this year. What did get bigger buzz however, was a rumor that the first trailer for the movie would be aired alongside the new episode for Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." earlier this week. This, clearly did NOT happen (otherwise I'd be talking about it). Considering the date of the source, it's more likely to be an April Fools prank from the very beginning. Of course, April does work as a perfect timing to drop trailer for a November movie. Both "Doctor Strange" and "Thor: The Dark World" had their first trailers released in April. I'm guessing it will arrive alongside the worldwide premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" that will take place in the next weeks. International countries are premiering the movie this very month and not May like in North America!

And we've arrived on the last item of this category. As I said before, "Vol 2" is arriving very soon. But I rarely talk about it recently. What happened? Simple. I've been avoiding any news about it to keep my anticipation in tact. That's why. And you know what? That's probably the wisest move. The moment I stumbled into one of its report, I might have accidentally spoiled myself in advance. BUMMER! Since I've probably had been spoiled, let me spoil others too. So heed this warning, if you're avoiding spoilers, then just casually skip ahead to the next category. Last warning. Still here? Okay, let's continue then...

This time, it's regarding Sylvester Stallone's secret role in the movie. Yes, he walked out of "The Expendables 4", but that's not what I'm going to talk about. Director James Gunn has previously revealed, that Stallone and his friend, actor Michael Rosenbaum, are playing important characters in the MCU. A major Cosmic character, he said. Well, according to an Italian movie site MoviesBook.it (via MCUExchange), Stallone is in fact playing a character by the name Stakar. There's only one Stakar in the Marvel comics, and he goes by the name Stakar Ogord. If that name is still unfamiliar to you as well, then guess what name he is more popularly known as? StarHawk! StarHawk is a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics that was set in the 31st century. His fellow team members are Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Nikki Gold, Martinex, and *drumrolls* Yondu Udonta! Gunn has never been shy from saying that StarHawk is his favorite character, and have always wanted to include him in the sequel. In fact, Kurt Russel was previously rumored to be playing StarHawk, though that has been proven wrong now. So the likelihood of him casting a big star like Stallone as his favorite character, makes perfect sense. As MCUExchange noted, there's a possibility of Rosenbaum portraying Gunn's version of Martinex T'Naga, and Sharon Stone playing Nikki Gold. With a working title suspiciously titled 'Guardians 3000', and that Quill will be needing assistance from 'fan-favorite characters from the classic comics, things suddenly makes sense and comes full circle. Beside, with Gunn already revealing Ego as Quill's father, surely there are other surprises he has installed in the movie, right? For now, this is still purely rumor and speculation, but if it does come true, then we might be seeing two sets of Guardians of the Galaxy in the movie. And that's going to be a blast...

Marvel TV

The first synopsis for Marvel's "The Inhumans" have been unveiled, and to many fans, it sounds rather concerning. Why? Go ahead and read it for yourself: "After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.".

What's the problem with that, you wonder? The core problem is, the show likely won't be taking place in Attilan, which was what many fans have anticipated. The concern also comes on the heels of the critical failure of one Marvel's "Iron Fist", a show that shares the exact same showrunner in Scott Buck. While it does resemble the plot of the first "Thor" movie, the same fish-out-of-water story was also used in "Iron Fist". As in, a show that chose to abandon K'un-L'un and its vast mystical lore, and instead focus on the corporate happenings in... New York. Change the setting into Hawaii, and have Black Bolt and the other Royal families in the run, and you've got yourself the exact same situation. I personally think it's disappointing to have a full-on Inhumans show taking place on Earth. The Royal Family belongs in Attilan, a fictional city that needs to be explored into details. Just like the Guardians in their far away cosmic adventure, or Thor in his Asgardian Nine-Realms, kicking the Inhumans Royal Family out of their native home already sounds like a HUGE mistake. We don't need that kind of plot, leave that to when a crossover is needed. We need a "Game of Thrones"-esque twist that takes place in Attilan, among the Inhumans. Take cue from "Emerald City" that spend only the first and last episode on Earth. I'll still give this show the benefit of doubt just to be fair, but to be completely honest, my interest level has fallen significantly low now. This already sounds like such a waste of potentials! Let's hope it won't vanish into thin air when the show eventually arrive.

Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" is set to premiere in Winter 2018 on the Freeform network. We now have additional information about this series, that it's going to be a 10-episodes series. I think this is a good amount, considering the series will be required to have special effects in portraying Tandy and Tyrone's super powers. Cutting the episodes, means more budget can be allocated for VFX. "Legion" and "Emerald City" are good example of this, as they succeeded in delivering the exact visuals needed for their story. So fans can rest easier, because at the very least, the embarassing case of 'replace Shou-Lau the Undying with two red light bulbs, just because the studio don't have money for CG' (that brought a certain degree of anger among the fanbase), is highly unlikely to happen again. At least not in this show. Seriously, I hope Netflix starts to realize this critical and crucial flaw right away. As for the plot, it has also been confirmed that it will focus on character and emotion, because "It tells of a romance between Tandy and Tyrone in a way that we haven’t really seen before in a Marvel TV series". So that's what differentiate this Freeform show, from the other ones, right?

What other one? Yep, let me make it clear. 'This Freeform show' wasn't referring as singular. Because surprise, surprise, turns out "Cloak and Dagger" won't be the only new show debuting on Freeform. Marvel's "New Warriors" has been greenlit for the same network as well! Kevin Biegel is closing a deal to write and serve as showrunner for Marvel TV's first scripted sitcom. This 10-episodes 30-minutes show will serve as a vehicle to bring one famous Marvel comics character into her first live action adaptations. Doreen Green, or more familarly known as Squirrel Girl! Apparently, Freeform "had chased Squirrel Girl before Cloak and Dagger", because "We are a network for young adults but we're proud we're No. 1 with young women and we want to find characters who speak to them. There's a reason we chased Squirrel Girl: she embodies all of that". But apparently Marvel made them wait before giving the clearance. Looks like Marvel finally gave in.

And Doreen won't be alone. New Warriors consists of other young people with special abilities. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, "New Warriors revolves around six young people with powers living and working together. With powers and abilities on the opposite end of the spectrum of The Avengers, the New Warriors want to make a difference in the world...even if the world isn't ready. With Freeform focused on a group dubbed 'becomers' — those experiencing a series of firsts in life, including first loves and first jobs — New Warriors explores the journey into adulthood, except in this world, they're not quite super and not yet heroes and the guys can be as terrifying as bad dates. The series will feature Marvel fan-favorite Squirrel Girl (aka Doreen Green) as a totally empowering fan girl who is described as tough, optimistic and a natural leader. Doreen is confident and has the powers of a squirrel: she's acrobatic, can fight and talk to other squirrels. Her most important trait is said to be her faith in people and ability to teach them to believe in themselves.". If you're clueless about them, fear not because neither do I. Thankfully, THR has kindly posted a quick article describing who these folks are. It's a convenient read to those who are too lazy/busy to skim through Wikipedia. For the time being however, Freeform is keeping a tight lip in regards of which characters comprising the New Warriors of this show. THR cautioned that the team might not be the same to the comic's version, especially considering Squirrel Girl herself has never been part of it! In fact, this could be an adaptation of the Great Lakes Avengers instead, particularly due to the similarity of the storyline.

I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit mixed about "New Warriors". Why? Because part of me expect Squirrel Girl to show up in a Marvel Studios movie instead. That way, she can be played by an A-list actress (like the loveable Anna Kendrick, for example?), and interact with the Avengers or Spider-Man characters. Not to mention the VFX needed to showcase her power... though it practically only required numerous trained squirrels, really. But the fact that it's a 30-minute of "balls-out comedy" might be the main, if not sole reason that I MIGHT actually see it. The reason? Only 5 episodes in, and I'm already tired of all those teenage angst and drama in "Riverdale". It's too cheesy and exhausting for my adult mind/heart. LOL. With both "Cloak and Dagger" and Marvel's "Runaways" already sounding like an incarnation of that CW series (particularly the latter), it's more than clear than I'll be skipping both no matter how much I've pledged allegiance to Marvel. Comedy on the other hand? That might be right up on my alley. Beside, getting older means you need more laughters to vent away all those extra stress and hardships... XD

One last thing before we move on to the next category. Aaron Sorkin, an Academy and Golden Globe Award winning writer, has apparently been meeting with Marvel and DC for a potential collaboration with either Studios. Sorkin revealed this during CinemaCon. He admitted however, that he's not familiar with comic books, but hopes that there's a comic book character that he's going to love and would want to work on. Since Sorkin's work spanned from TV like "The West Wing" to movies like "The Social Network", this talk could go anywhere, which is why I'm putting it on the TV category instead. I'm not personally familiar of his works, and also his style, but I would love to see a guy as prestigious as him tackling a movie among Marvel's Phase 4. Perhaps, a Moon Knight will be nice? But nothing is certain for now, because he clearly needs to spend some private time to do some personal research first. So I guess we'll just have to wait and find out sooner or later, right?

Netflix

This is not a drill, or an April Fools prank (time for that haD passed anyways)... but a new teaser for the highly anticipated Marvel's "The Defenders" has been released online. But don't be surprised, if it's... well, short and looking odd. After all, it's just a shot of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock (who is back to wearing his Season 1 head cover again while hillariously donning a business suit), Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, and Finn Jones' Danny Rand riding down through an elevator together. That's it!

Of course, the main purpose for this quick teaser, was none other than to announce the mini series' official release date. Yes, Netflix has set the mini-series for an August 18th, 2017 premiere. Considering production has wrapped last month, this obviously make a lot of sense. Especially putting into account that the premiere date is more than 1 month after "Homecoming" hits the market. Not just that, an exclusive debut to be showcased during this year's San Diego Comic Con and Disney D23, now sounds highly likely too.

Cox was invited by Boogaloo Radio to talk about his projects just a day before this teaser hit the internet, and he opened up about many things, including details surrounding this mini-series. Turns out, the consequent production for the first two Seasons for Marvel's "Daredevil" sort of worn him out, but since "The Defenders" has four leads, he got more time off when the storyline does not require the presence of his character. Not to mention, stunt double can take over his place during action scenes because he's "the only one that has a mask". That's a statement that easily provoked further disappointment of fans who have been expecting to see Danny Rand following suit with his iconic costume. Is Netflix really embarassed about Iron Fist's costume? Cox revealed that a new stunt team was brought specifically for this show, and confirmed that Drew Goddard is indeed involved as a consultant, aside from writing 1 or 2 episodes. As for a crossover with the movie side's Avengers, Cox only said that the future is still very much open for it to happen.

One important tidbit that he revealed during the talk, was that he will begin filming the 3rd Season for "Daredevil" later this year! This shouldn't be a surprise, since the new season was already announced July last year. This practically confirmed that it will arrive next year. Possibly following the 2nd season of Marvel's "Jessica Jones", which had just started production earlier this week, and before the 2nd season of Marvel's "Luke Cage". Unless... Netflix decides to push Jon Bernthal's Marvel's "The Punisher" back from Fall 2017 to be the first title in 2018, which technically shifts everything else behind.

As for "Jessica Jones", it's still unclear what kind of storyline it will take on, nor what antagonist she will face since Kilgrave has been killed. Perhaps, the mysterious character that Janet McTeer will be playing? One thing for sure, actor Wil Traval has seemingly hinted his return as Will Simpson, a.k.a Rachael Taylor's Trish crazy boyfriend Nuke. So the mystery behind his super enhanced drugs will at least serve as one of the arc of the season. Meanwhile, production is still going deep for "The Punisher", as Bernthal was recently seen with a beaten up make up, alongside a mysterious man that might be Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Micro. As I said above, the initial plan was to have his series arriving as the third Marvel-Netflix show this year. But looking at the release window, the show only has an opening on October or December to avoid bumping into "Thor: Ragnarok". I won't be surprised if it gets pushed to 2018, possibly on January or February. As evidenced by "Voltron Legendary Defender", this practice does sound highly probable for a streaming site like Netflix.

And... speaking of Voltron, a 3rd season was announced during the WonderCon panel last Saturday. Showrunners and some of the voice cast were in attendance, and they revealed that a 3rd season will arrive later this year. The next antagonist is said to be Prince Lotor, as confirmed by Nerdist. I haven't personally finished the 2nd season, using 'savoring the series' as an easy excuse (though I simply didn't have time to bingewatch it, really). So reading that news on Nerdist had sort of spoiled its sad ending. Which was what I've been trying to avoid all these time *sigh*. Regardless of that, it's a great news nonetheless. We need more Voltron anyways, it's a great show...

The Telltale Series

After completing their take on DC's Batman, the Telltale Games' next project has been making a huge buzz ever since it was announced. Why? Because it's Marvel's freaking "Guardians of the Galaxy". Inline with the imminent release of the team's second live action movie, of course people are excited for this too. The company has released the game's first trailer last week, while announcing that the first episode, entitled "Episode One: Tangled Up in Blue" will be available on April 18. Which is just a week before "Vol 2" is released in international markets, and two weeks before it hits North America.

I don't know about you, but for some reason, I'm... NOT feeling this. And this is coming from someone who's actually looking forward to it. Perhaps it's the... weird character design that rubbed me the wrong way? Or the fact that the 'brand new' story will once again deal with "an artifact of unspeakable power"? All I can say is, if the first of five episode already made me doubt it, then it's saying much. But don't let that get you down, because who knows, this could end up becoming unexpectedly charming like the movie, instead of the TV series that sadly grew dull the more I see it.

The game will feature the voice cast of Scott Porter as Star-Lord, Emily O’Brien as Gamora, Nolan North as Rocket, Brandon Paul Eells as Drax, and Adam Harrington as Groot. First episode will arrive on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, iOS and Android for $4.99, while a Season Pass Disc that will grant access for all episodes will be available on May 2 for $29.99. If you're both a Marvel and Telltale Series fan, this might be just what you're looking for.

Final Fantasy XV

First DLC episode for "Final Fantasy XV" that featured Gladiolus as the lead has been released. And well, turns out it wasn't as interesting as many has hoped. While it's fun to actually play Gladio and explore his own unique set of skill, the gameplay of the episode itself was said to be redundant and the story was practically non existent. The reward of the mini quest was not that worthwhile either, and would likely be more pleasing for those who are consider themselves 'devoted' to the character. Suffice to say, the five dollars DLC serve as a fan-service side mission, and nothing else. That might also be the reason why it arrived alongside the fix for that infamous Chapter 13.

Perhaps, the game will fare better with its mobile spin-off then? "Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire", which was developed by Machine Zone's Epic Action has been made available via the App Store. At least... in New Zealand. In this app, fans will be able to explore more of the lore of main game, but presumably in an alternate universe setting. After all, the premise is said to be "Journey through vast kingdoms, gather magical resources, and build the strongest Empire in Final Fantasy history! Build your own kingdom, discover powerful magic, and dominate the realm alongside all of your friends!". As far as I know, this does NOT happen in the main game. So unless it's taking place in the afterlife, it's nothing but a huge what-if scenario. Do go ahead and visit Epic Action's official site to check whether my deduction is correct or not. Will this app be more successful than the main game's DLC then? That remains to be seen. Let's just hope the best for the franchise, shall we...

Nintendo

"Super Mario Run" is Nintendo's first foray into the mobile gaming market. And although the app has attracted attention, apparently, it wasn't as well received as the company have hoped. They have even stated this openly, which was reported through Asia Nikkei. Interestingly, fans aren't surprised with this result, because the pricing and lack of gameplay are more than enough to justify such lack of interest. Problem is, they aren't changing their premium-priced approach any time soon. Turns out, the mobile market has always been a secondary field compared to their traditional console based sales. Especially with Nintendo Switch just celebrating its first month. These mobile games are present only to expand brand awareness, and it will continue that way for their next projects.

You know what? If they can find a way to integrate apps like "Super Mario Run", the financially better "Fire Emblem Heroes", and the not-so-hit-anymore but still-popular "Pokemon GO" into Switch, I'm certain the company will see a positive increase of interest for all those things. This shouldn't be a problem, since Switch is already serving as a portable gadget, akin to a Smartphone. Just think about it, the ability to play exclusive Nintendo apps for free on the Switch will undoubtedly boost the hybrid console's sale, while at the same time generating more users to their apps. Come on Nintendo, just do it. This here is wise strategy! Methinks... LOL.

The King of Fighters

That leak has been confirmed! Rock Howard, the son of Geese Howard and disciple of Terry Bogard has debuted in the "KOF" franchise. And if the official trailer is any indication, then he's going to be inhibiting strong traits from those two characters, which is obviously the major element that made him a standout.

Rock, as well as previously announced returning characters Vanessa, Ryuji Yamazaki, and Whip, have been made available through "The King of Fighters XIV" version 2.00 update that was launched several days ago. Said update will include free new stages ("Transcontinental Railroad" and "City Circuit", which you can check out through its own trailer), balance adjustments for existing characters, action record and playback feature in Training Mode, new BGM, bug fixes, and other improvements. In case you forget, the update is free, but the characters are paid DLCs. Each can be purchased for a $5.99 USD, or as a set for a price of $19.99. Head on to SNK-Corp for more details on this huge update.

Do you think SNK will continue to explore this game, and add even more returning characters in the coming months? Unless they will be moving along to "The King of Fighters XV", this certainly sounds like a possibility. After all, why would they release all 4 characters together when they can easily churn them out one by one every other month. You know, like what CAPCOM is doing with "Street Fighter V". That would've stretched the title for close to 6 months more of software's longetivity, right? At least, adding two more characters, to form two new official Teams with these released four would make a lot of sense. Perhaps both from the "GAROU: Mark of Wolves" franchise, to become Rock's team mates? Of course, that's just my personal wishful thinking, and we'll have to wait and see what move the company will do next to keep the hype high. For now, be thankful that you can enjoy a fun sparring between Rock and his mentor Terry in a "KOF" series now. Which is something that was only possible through the "GAROU" series before...