#so i might continue giffing the ep tomorrow if i feel like it and if it hasnt been giffed 3942309 times yet hakjsfhkajhg

[moonkhao]

WE ARE | EP11

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#4: The Bench (1.01)

gif cred: @arabellas

After Rick expresses some emotional turmoil alone in his apartment there's an instant cut to Rick sitting alone on a bench outside during a nice day, and I really like this shot. Also, knowing he’d have dreams about falling in love with Michonne on a park bench, I like to think that this actual bench is one of the places Rick would go to daydream about her some more. And while right now he can only be with Michonne in his head, a visit from his one friend in this place reinstills Rick's hope that maybe there's another way to reunite with Michonne in reality...

Rick stares at the city across the water and it’s clear that the Civic Republic is not a place of hope to him but of imprisonment. Even if it’s a technical upgrade in lifestyle, it’s still a symbol of him giving up on his cherished life from before. And he is so not ready to do that yet so he’s trying to avoid being brought into that place as best he can. 

As he sits quietly for some time just taking in the day it feels like this is one of the few moments of calm in his otherwise depressing routine, even though he still is clearly so weighed down. Also, it’s funny how even tho he was in his apartment and could have washed up, he instead decides to sit on the bench looking like a madman covered in blood. 🤭

gif cred: @candiedblue

So then Rick hears a friendly voice as Esteban Garcia approaches - Rick's one friend here.

Esteban immediately wants to talk about the insanity of Rick cutting off his hand. Rick greets him and confirms he did in fact cut off his hand and when Esteban teases asking if he can touch it, for a split second there Rick is not amused as he moves away from him lol.

Esteban confirms he’s just joking around and recalls how Rick didn’t even talk to him or anybody for like two years but Esteban was persistent in continuing to talk to him.

It’s interesting because while many of Rick’s TWD friendships had rocky starts he ultimately built a genuine family with those people. Yet in Philly, Rick never let his guard down enough to build new family ties because everything in him was convinced he’d be with his real family again.

gif cred: @perryabbott

Esteban says “It took a while but we got something now.” Rick nods and Esteban repeats "We got something" as he talks up the hidden city saying while he knows Rick looks at it and just sees Alcatraz he and others look at it and see “that good life, man.” Hearing that just makes me like the use of 'The Good Life' song in TOWL ep 5 even more. Because it shows being on the road and on the run with Michonne is far more the good life for Rick than the Civic Republic. 

It’s sweet seeing Rick soften up just a tiny bit listening to Esteban’s excitement over finally entering a city with air conditioning. Rick smiles and quietly laughs and it’s interesting because you can tell that most people here know Rick as super quiet and stoic when there’s much more to him, like a super affectionate side, he just of course hasn’t really shown them.

Esteban says he’s gonna be in the city walls as of tomorrow because he finally got an upgraded position. And it’s nice seeing Rick seem happy for Esteban even if he himself is miserable under these same circumstances. 

gif cred: @perryabbott

Rick says he should have got Esteban a gift. Gift-giving is truly one of Rick’s favorite expressions of care. And Esteban playfully asks, “What the hell you gonna get me? A scowl?” Lol the consignees and CRM really only know Rick’s grumpy little face.

Rick laughs and then, still the kindhearted guy we know, he thanks Esteban for “whatever this is.” While he’s still more reserved in this friendship I know Rick appreciates at least having one genuine friend here.

gif cred: @richardgrimes

Esteban says “It’s life” and then tries to look on the bright side for Rick that after cutting off his hand Okafor might stop trying to recruit him as a soldier. And then I love the wordless acting Andy does as Rick confirms to Esteban in just facial expressions alone that Okafor still wants him to join the CRM. 

gif cred: @arabellas

Then Esteban plants the idea for Rick’s next steps when he says Rick might as well join just to get Okafor off his back and then make his next move when he’s out there as a soldier scavenging for twine. Rick hears this and you can see his mind going as he realizes it could be a good play.

I know some wondered why Rick didn’t try this sooner but I honestly think he didn’t want to at all make this place seem like it was his people or his home, especially when he was convinced he'd escape and be home in no time. Plus, joining the CRM likely felt like a betrayal of his family and so even just off principle, he didn’t want to give in at first. But now after struggling to escape without conforming several times, he’s seeing maybe he can use conformity to his advantage.

And then the part I really like but also makes me sad (which is the running theme in this ep for me lol) is when Esteban says one thing he hasn’t told Rick, announcing “I got a girl, man, on the inside.” The way Rick looks at Esteban when he shares this 😭, you know the image of Michonne has vividly popped up right to the front of his mind as he listens.

I love the way he plays it where you can tell he’s happy for Esteban because he knows exactly how invigorating it is to find the right one - as a romantic Rick has always been happy to see the people he cares about find their love. We've seen it in the positive way he'd respond to relationships like Glenn and Maggie, Carol and Ezekiel, Jerry & Nabila. But there’s also this clear shade of sadness in Rick's expression as Esteban says this because he’s been away from his true love for several years now. 

Esteban keeps talking about this woman he’s excitedly in a relationship with and Rick slightly looks away, his thoughts consumed with the idea of cooking up a new plan to essentially get off the bench and make an updated play to get back to his own girl. The woman he felt so lucky to find all those years ago. 

So then, Rick approaches Okafor in a room full of plants and dog tags. It's a nice shot.

gif cred: @perryabbott

Also, when Rick enters this room he's wearing all black for the first time, and let me just say Rick in all black is fine on another level 😍.

Now from a metaphorical standpoint, the black clothes have much sadder connotations as the darker apparel shows he’s entering a darker state and losing himself, forced to become more uniform with the CRM...but from a strictly visual standpoint, the man looks great in black. The black fits were always giving. Every single one. 🔥

gif cred: @clonecaptains

A montage shows Rick getting his black prosthetic fist and training with Pearl and others to improve their fighting skills, as Pearl first easily takes him down. Rick also learns to pilot a helicopter as Okafor talks about millet and how if he can find the right one it can change things - obviously alluding to Rick.

We then see Rick take someone down during the training. Look at our baby getting better at hand-to-hand combat. 👏🏽 We know in TWD that wasn’t his strong suit, even tho he always did find a way to come out on top regardless because he's resilient like that. But now he has new fighting abilities under his belt too. 👌🏽

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

The soldiers stand at attention in front of Major General Beale and yell 'Sir, yes, sir' as Rick observes Beale, clearly skeptical of this leader. Even standing in uniform amongst these soldiers, Rick’s A energy is clear.

gif cred: @theoneswholiveblog

Okafor asks “Is that your choice?” as the concept of 'choices' is big to CRM folk.

Then we see Okafor sitting in a helicopter that Rick is piloting which is hot I mean cool lol. (I mean both 😋). But fr it is cool to see this be a full circle moment from Rick seeing that helicopter in the TWD pilot and being called 'helicopter boy' to now being able to pilot a helicopter himself. 

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Rick looks down at the city while he flies the helicopter and it’s almost like while he’s not yet immersed himself in the Civic Republic/CRM ways, he is at least 'hovering' over it.

Okafor asks, “Is this the end of it and the start of something else?” Rick responds, “It’s the end…and the start” and I think for Rick he very much means this is the end of me being stuck here and the start of my new journey home, which is why he’s even willing to join this military.

The montage ends with Rick in the doctor's office getting aquatinted with his new prosthetic hand and trying out the weapon, showing the new Rick. The Rick who, as Okafor says, has been welcomed into the CRM.

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

However, while this is Rick’s initiation into the CRM, his driving motive still has not changed. It's still all about her. 

And that's made clear when even after joining this army, Rick still retreats in his dreams to a happy place that prominently stars his wife’s beautiful smile and presence. He’s still eager for Michonne. And y’all, his dreams know deep down she’s eager for him too. And I’m very eager to talk about it. 😋👌🏽

[t4yce]

I want to thank you for all of your great Drag Race UK gifs from both the finale (I can’t believe you did so many so quickly) and throughout the season💝

I also wanted to know what you thought of the episode. I was a little worried about how the song mashup would go but I really loved it and the performance was amazing (and I loved how they brought back the other queens for both the finale runway and the performance🤩). I knew it would come down to Danny and Cheddar for the top two (and they were both my faves) and I feel like I kept going back and forth between who I wanted to win but I’m definitely happy with the winner (even though I was hoping for a tie since I honestly couldn’t pick🙈)

And since I’m already in your inbox I also wanted to talk about Drag Race Italia and make a gif request (if that’s okay). If you wouldn’t mind would you be able to gif Nehellenia winning this week and all the cuteness surrounding it (like her going over to hug Aura and Diamond and how happy they were🥰)? I really enjoyed this episode (and I’m loving the season as a whole) and I just love how close all the queens are to one another (and it was so sweet when La Diamond asked Aura to be her drag daughter☺️)

Thank you in advance for the gif and once again thank you for all your great gifs you gift us with for so many different drag shows and thanks for continually being amazing💗

helloo 🤗 i was a couple of eps behind on italia but i just finished catching up and am ready to read your thoughts!! but druk first! honestly neither can i 😅 when i came on tumblr the next morning i was wow ok that was a lot :P sometimes i finish an ep with so many screen recordings i just have to go go go otherwise i probably wont get round to them unless someone requests but anyway yes i thought it was a great finale i really enjoyed it!! the mashup was a nice twist and i thought they all did pretty well and yes it was so nice to see all the eliminated queens again! they looked amazing! oh and the finale lipsync!? so good!! i thought that might make the winner more clear but no they were both equally amazing i really don’t know how ru picked tbh but i’m very happy danny won 💕 a lot of the uk queens do tv appearances here (especially viv + lawrence) and i feel like it’ll be just the same for danny! yes ofc thats okay, i’ll get it done tomorrow ^^ that was adorable i’m glad she finally got her win! and yes the drag daughter moment was super cute, i loved that moment too and fully understand why many people had asked to be aura’s drag mother, shes so sweet and charming 🥰 (also i think this was the first italia episode where i fully agreed with the placements so that was nice too lol) and can i just say in ep5, i loved how chiara went full pageant mum during the rehearsals and rusical 🤣 an icon and no problem, its nice to connect with people about drag through gifs! and thank you for always being so kind, i hope this coming festive season is nice to you 💖💕

[madzilla84]

new fandom smell

might as well talk about this here a bit huh!! otherwise this would be a LOT of tweets

(ofmd) (major spoilers) (long) (emotional) (not clickbait)

So there's no real fascinating backstory here - I saw the internet (and more importantly, my friends) losing their collective shit over Our Flag Means Death, and if my experience with Yuri on Ice taught me anything, I knew it would be something I'd end up liking - which was precisely why I was avoiding it a bit, somewhat unwilling to hand over my brain on a silver platter. I also hadn't watched What We Do In The Shadows or anything like that (I will, sometime), but then unexpectedly last week we watched the pilot during one of our phannie caracal watch sessions and well. That was the end for me, goodbye, game over. (If you wanna watch/rewatch the show too we've only watched the pilot so far; well we watched ep 2 yesterday but we're rewatching it tomorrow for those that couldn't make it)

Immediately obsessed. I 'acquired' the rest of the episodes through a very appropriately-named website (it's not yet available legitimately in the UK) and watched them all on Sunday evening (I was just gonna watch 1 or 2 to begin with, hahaha idiot) and I was Done For. It was sadder than I was expecting but I'm actually not completely sad about it because - you know what, we'll get to that later.

I knew a little bit about the real Stede Bonnet (and have since refreshed my memory, especially after discovering one of my fave youtubers Internet Historian made a feature-length video about his life a couple of years ago that I had somehow missed, YAY), courtesy of my late teens/early 20s pirate phase (didn't we all have one), mainly because I was 19 when the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out and I was o b s e s s e d. Anyway of course for all things pirates we must consult the ancient texts:

(Remember these?? I had all of these books. Dragonology was probably my favourite)

And yes, they're in it:

But anyway, yeah. Getting sidetracked. I mentioned YoI earlier and I brought it up because this feels quite a bit like when I finished watching that (I watched it during its run, but towards the end). It was such a nice, happy, positive feeling, just sort of - joyful that this thing exists and that I got to see it, and diving headfirst into all the theories and amazing art and gifs and wailing and squeeing and what-have-you.

People who are a lot better at wording this sort of thing than me have posted amazing things about how and why it's such great and important queer/POC representation and how it was such an antithesis to the queerbaiting we're all so used to, so I won't go too much into that, but I just loved everything - the acting, the writing, the music (day 3, still can't listen to perfect day without crying, i'm fine though, really, honestly, just fine), the characters, the cast, the fanart, the memes, it's just. It's really, really great, and it's a nice feeling to be so thoroughly brainrotted by something I'm enjoying so much. I haven't been grabbed by something new like this for quite a few years now (since getting into dnp in 2018, maybe?), so it's just. You all know how the New Fandom Smell is, it's the best.

I mentioned that I wasn't too sad at the way it ended and, well, obviously that isn't entirely accurate, it was totally heartbreaking - but like, when it *did* end I found myself feeling - excited? Also very sad obviously, because it was sad, but ... I find that I trust the writers and showrunner to take it to a good place, in the end (which is a weird and new and unique feeling), and the journey to get there might be a bit painful (it already is) but that's gonna make it so much sweeter when we finally get there. And that angsty and beautiful journey is gonna be so fuckin good!!

All of that is assuming, if course, that the show continues and that they get to tell the story they want to tell, which, COME ON, it has to. But you never know, I suppose, and of course if that doesn't end up being the case it would change how I feel about it a lot - where we left off was a wonderful place to leave off, there's so much promise and potential, but as an ending it would be pretty unsatisfying and sad, so. We shall see, I guess, but I'm hopeful. Maybe I'm just being a clown, as per usual... (I am here on tumblr dot gov, after all.)

anyway i could go on forever so i'll wrap it up with some random bulletpoints:

The Swede is precious and must be protected

I don't think for a moment that Lucius is dead; fully willing to eat my words but I just don't think so. I don't know if he'll turn up right away or after an absence but i DO know it will be funny. And the tension will be Pete dealing with his idol trying to kill his boyfriend, and of course however Stede feels about it

They separated all the couples at the end (Jim on the ship, Lucius and Stede wherever), which means so many reunion scenes; sad or not that is my favourite shit I cannot WAITTTTT

Obviously fell in love with Taika Waititi; yeah yeah I know the internet has been in love with him for years, but somehow I have managed to get this far in my life without seeing anything he's been in or has made, which clearly was an Error, he's delightful and I have no idea how he does that with his eyes, like a damn Pixar character

Beards don't usually do much for me so I have NO idea how Ed managed to be equally hot and beautiful as full-beard leather version and clean-shaven ethereal doe-eyed anime prince version and angery leather facepaint stubble version, hOW

Same with Rhys Darby; not having watched WWDITS I hadn't seen him in anything either (although? I have the vaguest of vague memories of seeing his standup at some point yeeeeeeears ago on TV, though I don't remember anything about it) - obviously since watching the show I've hunted down many a clip of him/them doing interviews both recently and years ago and it's so lovely to see how funny they are and what good friends they are. They have such insane chemistry, and you can tell they love each other (albeit platonically) in real life. But yes, I absolutely loved him/Stede from the first moment, he's so lovely and endearing and it was such a wonderful performance, especially because it wasn't just comedic, it was so full of depth and emotion and *all* of those things were done so brilliantly, by him and Taika and all the cast, really. How is it his *first* lead?? He's amazing! And Stede is just - extremely relatable, to me at least. (And yes, I got him in that 'which character are you' quiz.) Long may he roam. :_)

The cast!! The characters are just amazing, but so are the cast, at least the ones I've encountered so far; I followed David Jenkins on twitter and twitter was like 'would you like to follow these other 12 people' and i was like 'sure i guess' and they're just wonderful so far. Special shout out to Con O'Neill (Izzy) whose twitter seems to be half him retweeting horny fanart and half hating the Tories. Truly iconic.

And Vico Ortiz (Jim) who went to a ren faire with Samba Schutte (Roach) last weekend and cosplayed as Izzy with blue hair XD. And Samba who cooks IRL and actually made the 40-orange cake!! They all seem like very good eggs.

Spanish Jackie do you need to replenish your spouse numbers or-

Me, a twat, trying to figure out who 'Menozes' was before I realised Jackie was talking about the nose jar. ffs XD

There were so SO many good moments actually I would need a whole separate post or 12

the MUSIC fuck MEEEEEE such good music choices! It was actually the song at the end of the first episode (high on a rocky ledge) that left me with the Longing TM to watch the rest of the episodes IMMEDIATELY (as well as, you know, everything else). I already mentioned I can't listen to perfect day without crying now - it was already a beautiful song, but now? And if you listen to the lyrics? Fuck off??? ;_; and the rest, of course. That Spotify playlist's gonna get some action, I think, heh.

I'll stop here partly because it's super late and this is already so long and partly because tungl's text editing is el shit but man. I'm so glad I found this show, so glad they made it. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts to share soon, I have only watched it once through so far but obviously I'm gonna rewatch.

[insomniac-soup]

TXT: Thoughts on Bighit’s new group, the future of BTS (and Bighit)

March 4 was the day Bighit Entertainment, the entertainment company that manages the worldwide famous Kpop group BTS, released the MV for their new group. I watched the teasers, curious what this new group would bring to the table; after watching the MV, I think it’s worth reviewing what the future may hold, since there’s a lot going on. This post is quite niche in its content so feel free to keep scrolling if this ain’t your cup of coffee. This is a fairly opinionated and extensive take on the topic of the groups mentioned (and Kpop as a whole), so read at your discretion.

[I do not own any of the images, gifs, or videos used in my posts; these visuals are used only for entertainment.]

[Rant #1: Group Comparisons]

PREFACE: to those unfamiliar with Kpop, it’s a genre of music originating in South Korea, placing great focus on the aesthetics of group members, music videos, music shows, and dancing. It originated in the 90′s, drew inspiration from North American music, and evolved to becomes its own genre. Groups or soloists are managed by entertainment companies (as opposed to record labels), so many (but not all) lack autonomy and/or control over their music, general say in the group’s plans, wardrobe, etc. Some groups are more experimental than others, but the industry and genre is quite eye-catching and unique.

So I’ve been keeping up with BTS almost from the moment they debuted, and it’s been great seeing them grow as a group, produce great music (solo mixtapes from the rappers; absolute fire), and get the recognition they deserve. They’re all talented, unique, and have great personalities; that isn’t to say other groups don’t share these traits, but it’s no question that BTS is the most notable for such traits at moment (internationally speaking). The fans supporting them have sparked more debates as the fans increase in numbers, and it can really go either way depending on the fan you meet. Either way, I like BTS, and understand those who don’t. The reason I bring up BTS is because I can’t talk about TXT without mentioning BTS, as BTS is now TXT’s senior group. Now, onto TXT.

TXT, the short-form for Tomorrow X Together, is the new group consisting of 5 members (Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai), who just debuted with their EDM-esque EP The Dream Chapter: Star , with the title track ‘Crown’. My thoughts?

1: On the debut title track, I think it’s nice; I don’t think it’s revolutionary or an instant bop, but I do enjoy it. It’s perfect to walk to, the minimalist aesthetic is nice, and they all seem to have personalities. By that, I mean there’s energy from them. That seems pretty typical to expect from any Kpop group, and I’m sure other Kpop fans know that’s given. But there are many groups I’ve listened to whose tracks or debut tracks lacked a kind of ‘punch’. The simple and somewhat cute aesthetic of the MV may not have the actual punch, but I get the feeling the idols themselves are engaging. I appreciated that it was simple, because to be honest, if a debut track is too good, all succeeding tracks can seem underwhelming. With this track, as well as the other songs (Cat&Dog is really catchy not gonna lie), they can work their way up to more complex tracks. This is a quick edit, but after listening to the track a couple more times, it’s kinda catchy. Plus, the lyrics are actually nice, in that it’s not all that different from other songs describing someone’s love changing them for the better, but different because of the word choice.

2: about the group name, I think Bighit favours the acronym-style name, which I do like. This is just a random observation and less so a serious point. Everyone knows BTS are generally referred to just that name, but their other names, Bulletproof Boy Scouts, and their more recent meaning Beyond the Scene, have meaning. I think this can actually make TXT more memorable, because it’s more than just a name. BTS still refers to themselves in the abbreviated form of ‘Bangtan’ (recalling the group’s name in Korean) through songs like ‘Anpanman’, so it helps create an identity. Of course, they aren’t the only group to use acronyms (take AOA, or Ace of Angels), but I make a point of this because they’re not a group from the Big 3 (JYP, YG, SM). EXO and SNSD (although they do go by Girls Generation) are SM groups that both use acronyms (EXO more lucidly), but their name partly has that impact because they come from a notable entertainment company. In the same way that BTS made their name iconic, I can see this working as well for TXT (it also seems really wholesome). My personal interpretation is a theme of unification and obviously togetherness. For each new day, for the future that holds ‘tomorrow’, we can be together, and united in both senses. That might be a bit of a dive, but considering BTS’ naming had similar significance, it would be a nice, wholesome, message to project.

3: They have a really interesting motif with their Introduction Films and group concept, and the members are versatile (in a general sense of the word). Each member has a representative animal and flower associated with them, somewhat reminding me of the different songs sung by the vocalists of BTS (Euphoria, Serendipity, Singularity, and Epiphany). It also kind of reminded me of VIXX, another group that developed their niche as a concept group (meaning each album or EP has a particular theme and songs that match that theme; their latest album EAU DU VIXX has the perfume motif, which implies alluring and scent-related themes and lyrics). This motif, however, is really unique and engaging in its own right, aside from BTS or VIXX. The Introduction Films each dedicate short clips that showcase each member, and the general Intro Film shows them just having fun. Keep in mind that they’re all fairly young, the youngest member being born in 2002. The cute aesthetic may fool you into thinking they’re just another generic boy group (I was kind of tricked into that mentality at first), but like their senior group, this group is building a story with their representative animals and flower. The short story illustrating the boy with horns in their debut showcase was compelling and really interesting; many were quick to point out the wings motif tracing back to BTS’ 2016 album Wings. I see that as well, and I do hope that leads to a good relationship between the Bighit labelmates (I’ll go into detail on that). One of the members, Hueningkai, is the first mixed idol employed in the company (half-Korean, half-American with European and Brazilian ancestry). 2 other members are also good at English, which is really helpful in the market today; what’s helped Kpop groups connect with international audiences is bridging the language gap, so this also means TXT is a group people could understand more (and I wouldn’t say that everyone should speak English and their success is defined by that, but that is the reality in this market). As a brief side note, their dancing seems to be pretty good, which is clear in their dance practice video.

4: as a group on their own, they seem to have potential, but I worry about how they might be compared to BTS. I admit, I compared them at first, but having seen the MV with discarded preconceived notions, I can now say I appreciate TXT in their own right. I am excited to listen to more of their music and give them a chance like I would any other group, and like I mentioned before, they do seem interesting as personalities. I think the problem now is that because they are the brother group to BTS, they will likely seem underwhelming and lacking the ‘it’ quality. I think there are some comparisons worth making that aren’t inherently bad, as well as ones that can be problematic;

Take BTS’ debut MV ‘No More Dream’ compared to ‘Crown’. They are two very different collectives of personalities, and BTS is a lot more aggressive with their darker, b-boy aesthetic. TXT is bubbly and super cheery in comparison, but that’s not a bad thing. That means the groundwork is ultimately different.

As a continuation, TXT is at a different stage as a boy group than BTS when BTS debuted. Bighit was on the verge of bankruptcy, had some scandals (those do exist), and weren’t very rich. BTS’ success decided the survival of the company, but TXT isn’t a group that’s in jeopardy. The company isn’t make-or-break anymore, so considering the circumstances, it’s okay to compare them but not to a large extent. I think it’s okay to compare debut MVs, since that’s fairly harmless, as long as that’s being perceived without the idea that TXT needed to meet the standards of BTS’ debut (and let’s be honest, BTS didn’t have the most revolutionary, amazing tracks to start; some were okay, some are pretty notable for misheard lyrics, others potentially problematic, but they didn’t win awards with their debut songs).

TXT have less members than BTS, so that might have been a marketing strategy; 7 is fairly standard for the number of group members to have, but 5 allows audiences to know everyone faster ‘cause it’s still two less members.

If people can give BTS the benefit of the doubt, then TXT deserves the same courtesy if we are comparing the two. Like I said, BTS gradually progressed as a famous, best-selling group, so TXT should be compared only in the sense that they’re a new boy group under the same entertainment company.

Once I listened to the debut track ‘Crown’, the rapping style greatly differed from BTS’ rap line. They’re more in-tune with melodic rapping over RM, J-Hope, and Suga’s fast-paced, hard-hitting rapping style. Even in ‘No More Dream’ (Jungkook when he still rapped), they’re much more intense compared to TXT’s rappers. You can compare them, but it’s not fair to say anything along the lines of TXT’s rappers being less than compared to BTS’ rap line, since the styles are almost polar opposites.

What it also boils down to is the fact that TXT is debuting in 2019 and not 2013. 2019 can be marked as a new era for Kpop, especially with all that happened in 2018, and doesn’t border on 2nd generation like BTS did. You could say 2010’s onward is 2nd generation Kpop, while 2013/4 (give or take? I’m a little rough with my years when it comes to Kpop generations and haven’t found a concrete chronology so my interpretation here is mostly speculative) is 3rd generation. This is an unpopular opinion of sorts, but 2nd generation Kpop groups innovated in dance/music styles, and deserve credit for such, helping to usher in popular styles and concepts that comprised 3rd generation groups. BTS is no exception in pioneering and creating unique music styles (they aren’t the standard or exception, but definitely stood out when it counted with notable hype tracks like Dope or Fire and impressive choreographies), but I digress. The point is TXT has a lot to live up to, and not just in comparison to their brother group, but also debuted in an era where Kpop is becoming more widespread, more intriguing to newer audiences, and will be very public (considering the advent of social media).

I will discuss TXT more generally now, as I would like to mention what I think this means for the company and BTS.

1: Hopefully, Bighit will finally let BTS take breaks. We know BTS have toured many times and released music often, and it’s also obvious (with proof) that they’re overworked. They’re so professional, even when they are tired and exhausted (notably Jungkook), which shows how much they care about their fans. Granted, when the company needed revenue, that would be a little easier to judge, but Bighit is no longer in dire straits. Every member of the group is just as human as the next person, and they need to relax; RM himself has stated that they enjoy doing what they do, but still get exhausted. That’s just normal human behaviour. In ‘Burn the Stage’, you see more raw moments that normally happen off-camera, including arguments between members and moments of physical exhaustion. If we are to take these developments as they are and believe every word of it, then it’s fair to say they’re really tired. With that said, I hope TXT is managed well, promoted well, treated well, and given attention as the new group. It means TXT can be maintained and have presence in the industry’s foreground, while also allowing BTS to take time off. I say that without knowing all the technicalities about idol management, but my hope is TXT didn’t debut for no reason and BTS is overworked all the same. I know BTS is releasing a new album in April, which I am excited for, but do worry they just aren’t getting the rest they deserve.

2: BTS will remain popular as TXT breaks in, so I’m not concerned whether BTS will lose relevancy or not. With the hope that Bighit will let BTS get some rest from promotions and touring, I think BTS is comfortable where they stand. There is no doubt about their fame as I mentioned before, and maybe their name might help boost interest for people considering TXT’s music (having a company name that people know is fairly effective, and how I learned about groups like (g)-idle, who are labelmates of CLC, who were labelmates to the former group 4Minute and successor girl group). I mentioned how I was worried TXT would be compared too much to BTS, but I think there are still positives in that relationship. What I would love to see is whether BTS members mentor the new group, like RM or Suga helping with music producing and such (hearing RM’s demos shows how talented he is). A closeness between the two groups would be ideal, which brings me to my next point specifically on the company.

3: Bighit entertainment has a problem, and could potentially become a part of a greater one if it becomes a big entertainment company like the Big 3. This is where I diverge from solely talking about TXT and BTS to run down what this means for Bighit. As I’ve grown up with Kpop, I’ve learned about the good, the bad, the sad, and the ugly. I personally think having that kind of journey is both unique and the kind you need to experience organically; it’s okay to start off as a casual listener in the process of becoming a fan, but it’s still important to recognize at a certain point that the industry isn’t exactly perfect, or that groups can be good without validation or comparison. Some of my favourite groups are managed mostly by the Big 3, all three companies that have their own controversies and problematic programs. JYP overworks his best selling girl group (and best selling group for that matter) TWICE in the same way Bighit does to BTS, but that’s just one of the layers on this problem cake. I won’t go into the details of the scandal, but once upon a time Bighit had a girl group. After such scandals (one member a saesang, another an actual felon) happened, it became a thing of the past and something most people don’t know about. Bighit doesn’t take female trainees, and even in the time BTS trained, they couldn’t interact with the female trainees that were once there. The reason I point this out is because there is no female group in the company, Bighit cannot enter the league of the Big 3. All three have (or had) groups like SNSD, Red Velvet, f(x), Blackpink, 2NE1, Twice, Wonder Girls, the list goes on. The way these groups have and are being treated have its pros and cons, but nonetheless are being managed. This lack of female idols in Bighit is a huge gap in revenue; sure, they might have more money than c. 2012 Bighit, but one group cannot help a company become as influential as SM or JYP. To summarize, the first problem Bighit has is the fact that there are no female idols or groups, which chops down any potential influence in the industry and diversity in music (since girl groups are endorsed differently and allow for concepts that boy groups can’t necessarily try). TXT isn’t bad for being a boy group, but the reason I hope for a good relationship between BTS and TXT is because they will be allowed to interact (that sounds so dumb, why isn’t this a given). Not having a girl group lacks diversity in the sounds, and that could be to Bighit’s detriment.

Next, I wanted to go over what could happen to Bighit now that they have another group to manage. I’ll save a lot of these topics for future posts, but as I said, the Big 3 have had controversies over the years, and even smaller companies have had their problems. Considering the weight loss programs many companies enforce on their groups and general abuse of power (lawsuits from EXO’s former members Tao, Luhan, Kris related to overworking), as well as dating scandals (former CUBE artists Hyuna and E’dawn), being a big entertainment company also generally has connections to problematic incidents. What the concern here is is whether Bighit is inclined to do what other companies tend to do to their artists when they have multiple artists to juggle. Take PLEDIS entertainment as an example; they’re not among the Big 3, but they manage groups like SEVENTEEN, Pristin, the subunit Pristin V, and SF9. Pristin debuted in 2016, and haven’t had any comebacks since ‘We Like’ in 2017. They were given lots of dance practice teasers like Blackpink before they officially debuted as Pristin (some members came from Produce 101 and the one-year group I.O.I), but they’ve basically disappeared as a collective. SEVENTEEN, on the other hand, just had a comeback in January, garnering lots of sales, and continue to promote and write their own music. Granted, SEVENTEEN is slightly senior to Pristin, but it’s easy to see they’re being managed a lot better than their sister group. That’s the sad part, because SEVENTEEN members would even do dance practices with them, and the members of Pristin are quite talented. Problems like this are much easier to find in smaller entertainment companies, and Bighit, with the debut of TXT, are finally entering that ring. That means that they might continue to let their artists have autonomy (ex. RM and Suga), or end up potentially mistreating their idols. I am not saying they will, but only that the concern is now more warranted.

4: The success of TXT will ultimately determine what kind of company Bighit truly is. Here’s the thing. The quality of many entertainment companies are determined by the way they manage, promote, and support their idols. JYP is considered the best among the Big 3 because the idols seem to be close with their labelmates, they micromanage to almost program success, groups are unique in concepts and member diversity (DAY6 compared to GOT7, where both groups have strong English speakers, TWICE compared to older group Wonder Girls and newer group ITZY), etc., but that’s also up for debate. BTS has had a couple problems in terms of lyrics, outfits, comments made in interviews, but have addressed many if not all of these issues. What’s good is that both Bighit and RM will issue apology statements, which means we get both sides of the story and that there is at least a level of respect between the group and CEO. That alone doesn’t reveal enough about the CEO or company though. I’m not saying this to be hypercritical, nor believe everyone should think about this kind of thing when listening to music by a Kpop group; the point is, at least for me, knowing the state the idols are in, because often idols don’t get much control over what they do and could be overworked behind the scenes. They have to pay back the companies for the training and other privileges granted, and even those conditions may not be the best; well-known companies are more transparent nowadays because we see how everyone else is managed, but that’s not the case for BTS or Bighit.

If TXT succeeds in a similar fashion that BTS did, that may open up the playing field for Bighit. Maybe they’ll bring back female trainees, and possibly expand the number of groups they manage if revenue begins to come in steadily. The reason Bighit hasn’t been able to enter the stratum where the Big 3 sit is because they only had one avenue for revenue (BTS), until now. Bighit borders on young as an entertainment company (established in early 2000s), so the company not only lacks the number of years the other ones had to experiment (like SM), alongside the problem of no diversity as a company. To conclude, TXT’s promotions and journey as Bighit’s new group will determine whether Bighit is a problematic company or not, because we will now have another group to see being managed and promoted. We have the precedent of BTS, and I personally hope TXT isn’t mistreated.

Conclusion? This took way too long to write, but I think when I’m considering the prospect of TXT, I’ve considered what it means on grander scales too. The reason it’s worth noting TXT’s debut is for all reasons mentioned; what it means for Bighit, BTS, and TXT themselves. All in all, I’m going to listen to more of TXT’s music and see what the future holds for them, since I see potential in the group’s success and potential for them to be engaging as idols.

[spynotebook]

Image: CW.

Greeting, my Global Express Guaranteed packages of fun. Sorry “Postal Apocalypse” is a day late, but this time I did an extra extra-long version to make up for it—you get a free 50 percent more of my shenanigans! This week: The future of Batfleck! The future of Ghostbusters! The future of the Star Wars prequels! And I’m finally back to answering questions about where superheroes go to the bathroom.

Broken Arrowverse

Mike W.:

Greetings Postman! I had originally started watching the CW’s Arrow a few years ago when the first season debuted on Netflix, and continued with the second season when it was released (I prefer most shows in binge-watching form).

Friends who had watched the Arrow and Flash when they originally aired suggested that I start alternating episodes, because there were several crossover episodes throughout the season. I think that was good advice because some pieces of those crossovers may not have made sense taken out of the context of where both shows were at.

Now alternating between episodes of two shows wasn’t terrible. Occasionally I would forget to switch over and just hit “play next” and not realize my mistake until something regarding Flash happened on Arrow that hadn’t been mentioned yet in Flash, or vice versa. These spoilers, or even information that made no sense out of context bugged me every time!

The next set of seasons were released on Netflix, only this time the CW threw the Legends of Tomorrow in the mix as well! Alternating between three series at the same time seemed like a lot of work so I kept putting it off... only to have Supergirl get tossed into the crossover blender the season after that!

Is it worth watching all four shows concurrently for the crossover episodes? Bouncing back and forth seems like a lot of work, and I’m not sure if the order is consistent or if some shows missed episodes here and there , and if the ties between crossovers are important to each show then it seems like it might be frustrating if they were out of order. What do you suggest?

Honestly, as long as you account for the crossovers—and not even all of those—it can be reasonably uncomplicated for you to catch up. Sure, there’ll be a few references or asides to things that have happened in the other shows, but they’re few and far between, and never that important. Look, if they bug you they bug you, but trying to watch every episode of four TV series in the order they aired sounds like it would be infinitely more irritating. So I suggest trying this instead:

Arrow seasons one and two

Arrow season three, episodes 1-7

Flash season one, episodes 1-8 (episode 8 begins the first Arrow crossover)

Arrow season three, episodes 8-23 (episode 8 concludes it)

Flash season one, episodes 9-23

Arrow season four, episodes 1-7

Flash season two, episodes 1-8

Arrow season four, episodes 8-23 (same deal as Arrow s3 and Flash s1)

Flash season two, episodes 9-23

Legends of Tomorrow season one

Supergirl season one

Here’s where it gets a bit wackier, thanks to the “Invasion” crossover, and the Flash/Supergirl musical episode.

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Arrow season five, episodes 1-7

Flash season three, episodes 1-7

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode 1-6

Supergirl season two, episodes 1-8 (ep. 8 verrrrrry technically starts “Invasion”)

Flash season three, episode 8 (“Invasion” part two)

Arrow season five, episode 8 (“Invasion” part three)

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode 7 (“Invasion” part four)

Arrow season five, episodes 9-23

Flash season three, episodes 8-16

Supergirl season two, episodes 8-16

Flash season three, episodes 17-23 (ep. 17 is the Flash/Supergirl musical)

Supergirl season two, episodes 17-22 (there’s no ep. 23)

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episodes 8-17

Since Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow are stand-alone after “Invasion,” it really doesn’t matter when you watch the rest of their seasons.

And yes, I recognize there’s technically a Flash/Supergirl crossover in seasons two and one, respectively, but it’s actually more of a cameo. Basically, the Flash shows up for an entire Supergirl episode; in the corresponding Flash episode, the Flash disappears for a couple of minutes while running around the multiverse; when he gets back to Earth-One he says, “Boy, that was weird!” or something. You 100 percent do not need to rearrange your viewing order to accommodate it, or anything else, in my opinion.

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Let the Hate Flow Through You

Andrew M.:

Dear Mr. Postman, I have a habit of forming complicated non-binary opinions after reading a book or watching a movie. Instead of just loving or hating something and then either gushing or complaining for the next hour, I more often declare frankly whether I enjoyed it or not, and then want to talk about everything both positive and negative. This has led to me having a reputation among my friends as someone who “hates everything.” Anytime I see a movie, if I don’t totally love it, I’m attacked.

And if it sounds like I’m just a buzzkill, I’m not certain that’s the case, either. I’m often very positive, I just like full discussions where we can talk about what did and didn’t work. Sure, I can be negative (I didn’t enjoy Rogue One and actually fell asleep during it, while Flash throws me into a weekly blind rage), but not everything’s going to win you over.

This has even ruined some of my nerd interests. Despite being a huge fan, I fell completely out of Doctor Who and stopped watching years ago because any fans I met would get offended if the discussion got even a little gray. And it’s no fun to be in a fandom and not talk to anyone.

Am I too harsh on my media? Should I lie and pretend I love everything? Should I stop discussion altogether?

Andrew, this is a question close to my heart, as I too look at things with a critical eye and am frequently accused of being a hater (as are my coworkers, as is io9 as a whole). To be fair, I do hate many things, and I have often hated things professionally; however, anyone who reads io9 regularly and has object permanence should be able to see that all of us here love a lot more than we hate.

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But once someone is convinced you’re a hater, it’s hard to shake the preconception. Say you and your friends watch Wonder Woman, and you find it flawless. Just perfect in every way. Your friends may be surprised at your opinion, but in a few weeks when you all watch Transformers: The Last Knight and point out it is senseless garbage, they’ll immediately call you a full-time hater again.

There’s not much you can do about this, unfortunately. Some people don’t understand thinking critically about art is really about understanding it fully, and gaining a deeper appreciation of it overall. They also don’t understand that even if you feel something has flaws, that doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t like it. The two aren’t mutually exclusive! (And since my opinions are broadcast to a wide audience, some of those people just want to have their own opinions validated, and feel attacked if I disagree, as if I’m calling them dumb. Then they attack me to make themselves feel better. I’m assuming your friends aren’t this bad.)

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You just need to find friends who actually enjoy discussing the movie’s merits and flaws with you, and are secure enough that they can disagree with you without freaking out. They exist somewhere. At the very least, I feel totally confident in telling you that most io9 commenters on James Whitbrook’s Doctor Who coverage will agree with you that modern Doctor Who is not wholly without fault.

Image: Disney.

The Phantom Menace Pain

John H.:

Dear Mr Postman, how and when will Disney get around to fixing the Prequels? From a certain point of view, this has to happen. Those three movies are the dogs of the film franchise and they need to make a return on Disney’s investment. There’s no way The Mouse just lets them hang out, sucking in substantially less money than the other six.

First is the how – do they re-edit and make minimal reshoots? Hire one of the fan editors to use their ideas? Maybe fuse I and II together? Or maybe they declare the first three non-canon and start over?

Second is the when – wait until after George Lucas is one with the force? Until they run out of ideas for stand-alone movies? Wait a decade to build up nostalgia and demand?

Screwing around with Star Wars films is a time-honored tradition that Lucas himself started, so there’s really no reason not to. What’s your take?

Alas, you’ve begun with a false premise. While the prequels may make nominally less than the original trilogy—although nine times out of 10 you’re forced to buy all six Lucas movies at once, so it’s not actually much less—what they make is almost totally profit. Sure, there’s manufacturing costs and residuals to the cast and crew, but that’s built into the cost. Disney doesn’t have to touch a thing, and the prequels will continue to make a decent profit for them.

And there’s no reason to do anything to them when those resources would be better spent on churning out new Star Wars movies, each of which will probably make around a billion dollars. That’s a significantly better use of time and talent, with much higher returns. Basically, the prequels are profitable enough to keep, but not profitable enough to bother messing around with.

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I also have a feeling that Lucas included a few legally-binding demands when he sold Star Wars to Disney, one of which could be “You can’t make any alterations to my Star Wars films,” which would be understandable if somewhat ironic. I also worry that he demanded Disney never release the non-Special Editions of the original trilogy, in revenge for all of us bitching so much about the prequels. I can’t know this for sure, but I am 100 percent certain that if Lucas had demanded these conditions before he sold them the franchise, Disney would have absolutely agreed to them.

Intentional Cowl

David O.:

Following on from the question about casting an old Batman at the start of a DC cinematic universe, do you think if the whole shebang went on long enough that we’d see a new non-Bruce Wayne Batman on the big screen?

Supposing he just gets too old or has one too many “Sad Affleck” moments to want to stick around, do you think WB would give us Damien, Terry, or even Dick under the cowl? Or do you think they’d sooner recast the part?

Affleck is totally gonna bolt long before WB is ready to reboot the DCEU. Since they’re trying to establish a continuity—and because trying to find someone to replace Affleck a la Kilmer and Clooney is a losing proposition—I’m betting that Affleck passes the cowl. Now, whether there’s actually a full Batman movie where this happens, or whether it happens in the first five minutes of the movie, or it happens offscreen before the film because Affleck is just so sick of this superhero bullshit depends on so many factors—Affleck, his contract, how fast WB manages to actually make these film—that it’s impossible to predict.

As for who he passes the cowl to, I’m calling it now: Damian Wayne. First of all, WB is planning on making a Nightwing movie; assuming this actually happens, they’ll want both Batman and Nightwing movie franchises. Meanwhile, Damian’s been Robin in the comics since 2009, and has been regularly showing up in DC’s animated movies and the very popular Injustice video games. He’s even in the recent animated Judas Contract movie, despite that being an adaptation of a Teen Titans tale from the ‘80s.

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Basically, Damian has taken over the role of Robin in pop culture, and is more associated with the character than Dick Grayson or Jason Todd or Tim Drake at this point, and the DC live-action movies are much more interested in modern takes on these characters than any kind of legacy anyway. Also, tell me that “Batman has a kid he doesn’t know about who is raised by a league of assassins” isn’t the most DCEU thing you can think of. Ya can’t.

Image: Satellite of Love/Netflix.

Movie Sign of the Times

James M.:

With the return of MST3K to Netflix it would seem that a lot of opportunities could arise for the series that were not possible before. Netflix has the rights to a host of movies and I would enjoy seeing Jonah and the bots’ take on Michael Bay’s TMNT or Prometheus.

Is this likely or should the Satellite of Love crew focus on older, more obscure pieces?

As an uber-fan, I want—nay, need—MST3K to stick to older, cheesy movies. To me, it’s intrinsic to the show’s DNA, and watching the ‘Bots riff a big budget modern movie, no matter how terrible, would feel wrong. I know full well that Rifftrax does this for many big movies, including some genuine hits, and I love when they do it, and I love them, but I don’t think something like Prometheus would fit with MST3K’s low-fi, garage-built sensibilities.

Besides, the reason Rifftrax can do this is because they’re literally offering their own commentary track for the films. There’s absolutely no way Paramount or any major studio would consider licensing out their big films to MST3K for mocking.

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A film would have to be so old and so terrible that giving it to Jonah and the ‘Bots would provide the maximum revenue stream, and it would still have to outweigh the shame of making a movie so bad it deserves to be put in the same league as Manos: The Hands of Fate, Monster A-Go-Go, the Coleman Francis trilogie, and the rest.

All that said, as time marches on, the revenue streams and hubris regarding these films will dwindle. Maybe in 2040, Crow and Tom Servo will be making fun of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, because it’ll feel as old and terrible as Starcrash seems now. But I imagine—and hope—that they won’t be running out of pre-1990 targets anytime soon.

Image: Sony.

Giving Up the Ghostbuster

Joe C.:

I think we can all agree that Ghostbusters 2016 was not a success. It did not make its money back, eliminating a sequel with this cast and crew. However, it wasn’t bad enough to kill the franchise. So I ask, where does Ghostbusters go from here?

Do they do another reboot with new characters again? A reboot with the original characters but recast? An animated movie is in the works, but word has been mum on that.

In my world of imaginary optimal outcomes, I would love to see a new GB cartoon. You get the original GBs back, add some new ones, make it take place after the video game (or GB2 for simplicity) and add adult humor. Some of the funniest moments in the original movie are the jokes that go over kids’ heads. Unfortunately an adult oriented GB cartoon won’t sell action figures, so that option’s probably off the table.

Right now this franchise is like a bunch of tangled Christmas lights; nobody knows how to untangle it, so fuck, why not just go out and buy a new set?

Well, that “new set of Christmas lights” is essentially what the movie reboot tried to be, and it didn’t work out. Rights holders Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd may be eager to try again, but studios like Sony won’t be. You can hope for any incarnation of the team you want, but unless Bill Murray agrees to star—which he absolutely won’t, as the last 30 years have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt—studios aren’t going to take a chance on a new movie for years, probably more than a decade.

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A cartoon is more likely, but not by much. Cartoon Network and Disney XD are way more interested in making shows based on their own properties (e.g. Adventure Time and that Gumball show, and DuckTales and Marvel’s stuff respectively) because if they own it then they get the profits if it’s popular enough to sell DVDs and merchandise. Toys aren’t as much of a factor as they used to be, because basically only the biggest, most popular franchises sell action figures nowadays—which is the same reason why Pokémon and Transformers are cartoons owned by other companies that CN and Disney XD are willing to air.

But if Reitman and Aykroyd license out Ghostbusters as a kid’s cartoon, that’s going to kill the chance of a new movie, because studios will feel it can only be a cartoon. I know this isn’t logical, but I’m not pretending it is; studios want PG-13 movies, so Hollywood execs will instantly decide if Ghostbusters is right for kids’ cartoons, it can’t possibly right to make a $150 million movie about (and the last movie didn’t help).

Reitman and Aykroyd know this, and the movie is recent enough that I’m sure they still have hope of getting a new live-action film. Even if a network wanted it, I doubt they’d be willing to do a Ghostbusters cartoon for the foreseeable future.

Image: Lucasfilm.

I Only Meant to Stay a While

Spessartine:

Dear Postman of the Future,

Although national anthems probably died in the societal collapse that you miraculously survived, I’m sure you vaguely remember some kind of patriotic ditty associated with sporting events and the like.

Here’s my question: suppose that Nerdom/Geekdom decided to declare itself an official something-or-other, and as part of the package, we had to choose one anthem for all us, to be played before every con, cruise, and filk concert for the rest of this century.

What would that anthem be? Is it a classical piece? Is it an instrumental mash-up of themes? Is it “I Ship It” ? What, in your notably nerdy opinion, could possible do the job?

Well, if nerd-dom declared its anthem it would either Luke’s theme from Star Wars, or “The Imperial March.” Just like when I called Star Wars the most quoted movie of all time, it also has the most instantly iconic and beloved music, and these are the two songs that the largest majority of nerds in the world would actually agree upon as a song to represent them as an entity. There’s no other music that comes close to be as universally accepted among our kind.

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However, when I’m finally elected King of Nerds, I will be declaring “Twilight” by E.L.O. as the national nerd anthem, because it’s nerdy as hell, it’s catchy as shit, and has this amazing scifi music video:

That’s not an official music video, as you might suspect; it was the animated intro for the opening ceremony of a Japanese scifi n’ anime convention called Daicon IV, held back in 1983, which totally didn’t properly license the music but I assume were forgiven because it’s so amazing. Fun fact: The guys who made this went on to form Studio Gainax, including Evangelion creator/director Hideaki Anno.

Image: DC Comics.

  Flash in the Bed Pan

Jason W.:

Dear postman,

You seem like a man who knows a thing or two about fictional characters’ bathroom habits. So does Iron Man pee in his suit or what? Similar question: Does Batman use the rooftops of Gotham as his own personal outhouse?

I am dead certain that Iron Man’s suit takes care of all his waste, and drops it surreptitiously when he flies around so no one notices. I am merely very confident Batman’s suit also accommodates his number ones and number twos, probably—and more than a little disgustingly—containing them until he gets back to the Batcave. However, it’s worth remembering that Bruce almost never eats or drinks, and probably takes some ultra-efficient vitamin of his own devising that gives him the energy he needs with producing little to no waste, so such a thing would very rarely need to be utilized.

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If you doubt me, please remember that Kevin Smith did once retcon Batman’s origin—in continuity at the time, amazingly—that Batman pissed his pants at one point during his Year One. If the legendarily prepared Batman was too young to have thought about this potential problem then, he certainly addressed it afterward.

Guys! Thanks for all the great questions! You keep emailing the postman, I’ll keep trying to answer more, So send your questions, concerns, arguments that need settling, pleas for advice, and whatever else the heck you want to postman@io9.com!

[toddmichaelrogers]

Letter to You

Time continues to march toward nothing. I pass along with it, happy to see currents ripple and shift until I find my reflection marked by tell-tale signs of fear and what some expressionists (scientist who study faces) might call “pretty gay”--but I myself learned to accept as “mostly straight, don’t mind seeing a dick though” a long while ago.

(READ MORE)

The world is falling into the sort of post apocalyptic chaos our stories have been worried & also warning us about for several ages. I’m pretty excited for the 80s again (who knew far right fear tactics, dance music, cocaine and a cold war would ever come back in style?) If you’re reading this as a printout in some sort of home-fashioned bunker, the year is 2017, the American President is a reality star billionaire who was elected by people (both good and bad) in an effort to clear out the politicians in the country’s capital. 

One dear friend of mine referred to it as “burning down the house” which is all well and good, unless of course there are people living in that house you have attempted to burn down. 

We are three weeks into an uncertain world, run by a puppet of far worse men, a puppet who is obviously, quite clinically insane. I actually worried about typing that for an instant, here, in the “land of free speech”. That’s how bad it is. The people surrounding him are open racists / enemies of the LGBTQ community, and misinformed religious fear mongers. This week airports across the country were shut down by protesters after refugees and travelers from several foreign countries were banned from entering. I saw a picture of Muslim people praying in an airport while an American crowd cheered them on and it nearly moved me to tears. (And I eat a lot of salt, so if I cry it burns and I fuckin’ feel it). I will not leave this country. So what am I to do? Should I write politicians? Call them? Does this matter at all, or has it ever? I have lists of resources on Tumblr, saved between gifs of cartoons and porn searches. What am I to do? Also what gets the best results? “NSFW” or “Boobs very humungo gifs”?

I don’t know what to do. But I am grateful for the art and politicians this horrible world is about to create.

EFFORTS the band I am in was asked to play a show. This is nice as no one has heard our music. We have declined any other opportunities to perform, but a few weeks into this political fuckquake was the right time to ask, I guess. So tomorrow we have band practice, and then we’ll be playing our first show ever, later this month. I definitely want to puke but in like, a good way. Like prom nerves. Prom puking.Like a  Prom-Puke-Posal

We’ve been recording our first album since November 2015. Back then it was just me and Zach. Then a guy named Geoffrey heard our demos and asked to play bass for us. No one else was asking, so we eventually said yes. Nearly a year later Zach and I tracked most of the album (there are maybe 5 songs still missing) and Geoffrey had sent us his bass demos for each. It was October 2016 and the album has been taking so long that I started pulling demos together for some other sort of release. I was going to call it DAMNSEL & THE EUTH GROUP and Geoffrey said he would produce it, but a few songs in it became obvious we were just making another EFFORTS album and now Zach is involved as well.

xxxxx

New future efforts stuff @thisisgeoffrey and I fucked with last night.

A video posted by Todd Michael Rogers (@d_a_m_n_s_e_l) on Jan 3, 2017 at 12:40pm PST

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The plan is to finish our first LP (I Bought You A Coffin) and then either license it to a record label, preferably in the UK (Plan A) or just do it the fuck ourselves (Plan B). Then when that’s all said and done we’ll have the next bit of music ready, which will be released as two EPs (2.1 Sorry Everyone Disappoints You) and EP2 which I have a name for but it’s not official or anything (2.2 Mean Songs to Hurt People). After we release the 2 EPs-- each holding 6 songs--we’ll smash them together for our second album (2.final form May The Eyes That Rise Upon You Never Know (Your True Heart). I even have album covers for all three but I ain’t showin’ em here yet. So far the first EP is missing 1 and a half songs, and the second is all in demo pieces.

A lot of these plans seem fanciful at best but it’s sort of how I always work on things, ‘shoot for the stars and hope you don’t put a bullet in your own boot’.  A lot of it came about one night when Zach and I stayed up drinking as we concocted a five year plan, should anyone ever ask us if we had one.

But it all start now, with finishing this album, making our facebook page (LINK), playing our first few shows, and releasing our first single (May You Absorb all Evil) But look, we even have a cover for it, granted to us by the artist Liam Barrett. We’ll release this baby sometime this Summer, along with a music video I have been meticulously planning for over a year.

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I miss writing the novel. It’s been over a month since I touched it, but printing out my progress from the start of 2016 to the end was amazing.

I think the time away from it will be good, the fear, the worry, the feworry is leaving it for too long, allowing it to get lost in the current of the sea (see opening paragraph, this blog).

My plan is to look at what I’ve done (dangerous) do a quick edit job upon it (also dangerous, but hopeful/most/ly this is just a grammar bombing), and then see where the first 200 pages are at. I hope I’m doing the right thing, the bow of the ship needs to be set through some very particular territory, and even I know I’m telling a strange story in a weird way. I could smashed to bits upon the rocks of those who would never publish it.

But I miss it.

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WHYLC is a comic book I started writing 10 years ago next month (Jesus Fucking Christ) and which I eventually self published online after taking it upon these keep-it-100 hands to illustrate. Issue 2 will take even more time, but for those of you who read it, the work shall continue. I reallllly like making comics and it was sort of the first thing I ever wanted to do writing wise. 

PS Issue 1 can always be found right here (LINK)

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Spell Saga could destroy anyone, at any given time, if they saw the scope and horror of the project, stretching like ley lines backwards & forwards, away from my heart. I’ve spent the better half of a year working days and nights to pay for both a) my cool ideas and b) my dumb mistakes. This has resulted in many more cards being printed than initially anticipated, and most of my ‘money bucks’ being sent out as packages of said cards to patient wonderful truly unbelievable fans across the globe. 

(Meagen Crawford took dis pic)

Do you know how long it takes to package something? Or even double check and print the correct address? Let alone figure out a packaging solution after the US Postal Service gave you the WRONG information? It’s been a fucking nightmare--but a super neat problem to have. I can panic and smile, I do both all the time.

The next step of the process is sort of manifold:

First I have to finish sending packages to places like the UK, Singapore & Brazil. Then I have to wire the final amount to the manufacturer which was delayed by all the changes we made during initial production. THEN I have to finish re-designing DECK 2 (it’s just a new Photoshop HD makeover, no rules changes). THEN I have to get the packaging for deck 2 finalized (make sure everything is the right size, get UPC code etc.) THEN I have to wire the manufacturer to print this deck and ship everything out together from Hong Kong to any US coast and down to me in lil ole Tennessee.

Then I get my shit together. Spell Saga has been bruised and hidden away while the manufacturing continued. Having Decks 0, 1, and 2 printed and at my fucking door (taking up most of my living room) will give me the privilege and honor of sending everyone another deck for free (thanks for waiting) along with sending out marketing packages to game reviewers across the Earth. It will coincide with the continued but stalled development of the Spell Saga library (a web page of game resources formerly known as the wikiFAQ).

Getting the game back up to good standing is a very real priority for this lonely designer. When I have all that cooking at the right degree I can finally finish the main game by Designing DECK 3 and the Ending with Cousin Lauren. (Then I’ll have to pay for that one to get printed too. That’s 10 grand. Right there.)

PS Cousin Lauren has a page for her art now. Check it out (LINK)

In the INTERIM. The Meantime. IN the age of Meanness: I’ve been designing a new SPell Saga deck, called 1.5 The Under Sky. It’s a sort of bridge between decks 1 and 2, that also acts like a warp into deck 3 if it’s played right. The Look, Feel, Story, and emotional journey of this Deck matches the others--it’s still the story of The Last Minstrel--but while decks 1,2, and 3 were created with the emotions of a bad marriage and a young man afraid of what his life might have become, this DECK is sort of based on how it’s felt to publish the game and everything that’s happened to me in my own journey. Making things is hard. It’s so hard. It’s super terrible and impossible. But getting to the end is the whole point of a journey, and this deck celebrate that.

In The Under Sky, you play as The Last Minstrel, but you’ve sort of lost your way to The Forest, as well as your friends. It’s the idea of knowing exactly what you want, until a sort of early 20s suburban existentialism hits like a storm to blow you so off course you aren’t even sure who you are anymore, much less where you’re going. During the game you’ll explore the insides of living keeps called Castle Crashers, making friends with mirages and using a creature called the dark pixie to pull magical items out of ordinary places. There’s also a river of blood that’s spilling out from a talking disembodied head of a fallen god. It’s pretty cool.

If I’m nervous about anything it’s that the mechanics are advanced to say the least. It’s still the same old Spell Saga but there’s new ideas there too. Like, imagine five cards that are in a circle. The hero token (representing your character) can move left or right on the circle visiting each card (each representing a different place to visit) if you’ve played Spell Saga before, the idea should seem familiar, it’s the main and most basic mechanic of the game. But now, imagine each card in the circle is a stack 5 cards deep, and when you move from one stack to the next the cards in each stack are shuffled, the order they rest in dependant upon how you enter or leave the stack with your token. That’s some scary shit to try and “make a rulebook out of” but I think it’s going to work. I want every Spell Saga deck to kind of have it’s own vibe going on, each playing off the mechanics you may have learned in the previous deck.

There’s other Spell Saga news too:

If anyone is reading this Realmwalker ~ Science//Armor//Romance will be republished with typographical errors removed and a new box sometime near March. This was a game I released a year ago (Judas Iscariot Priest!) on The Gamecrafter, and then removed until i had time to fix it.

The next Realmwalker ~ The Discordant Shore is half designed and really a very exciting game. I think it should be done by June, and that one will also be on The Gamecrafter. The Reason this one took so long is half the cards are also copies of special handmade cards I’ll be sending out to people who spent dat ca$h on the Kickstarter, y’know, back in 2014 (Satan’s Red Mouth!).

Are you still here? Are you still reading this?

French Toast Gaming Co.’s next game, something I first worked on twenty years ago, and then spent the better part of a decade worrying about is about to be released this year. EPIOCH was supposed to come out last August, but many delays pushed it away. Now my good friend Weshoyot has nearly finished the art, and all the game needs is more playtesting and a rulebook before it pops up on The Gamecrafter. Here’s an art peek, and you should check out her instagram. (LINK).

That’s everything I needed to type out to stay sane. Thanks for following along all three of you. I appreciate it. There’s been other things too of course, lost jobs, another concussion, dreams where I tell my secrets to people who look disappointed. But you don’t need to know any of that. Not really. It will all come out in the artwork anyway.

OR THE patron page PODCAST, I GUESS.

-mE.