#that’s the year it came out right?

[athetos]

I finally (after years of putting it off) watched annihilation and honestly I was pleasantly surprised because while I don’t think it was superior to the book in any way, it served as a nice complement. It took the main themes and vibes and made something enjoyable and unsettling that can stand on its own. I think the metaphor about refraction was a really nice addition, and the many (so, so many) changes from the book were mostly born from necessity as it would be impossible to translate them to a visual medium. I’m glad it didn’t try to just copy the book’s plot and characterization because it would never hold a candle to Jeff vandermeer’s writing.

However, with all that said, there are two glaring detractions. Firstly, the ending was disappointing. If I had the ability to change just one detail, it would be to make it ambiguous as to whether the shimmer truly disappeared, or if it advanced to encompass the entire planet. That alone would be much more interesting. Obviously I don’t expect them to tackle questions like “what IS the shimmer” because even the novels don’t really answer that question (I mean there’s a 4th book in the works so MAYBE but c’mon it’s Jeff vandermeer he’s not going to give a definitive answer).

The second major criticism I have is that there’s no tower or crawler! I know they kind of merged the tower with the lighthouse but it’s a pretty weird omission to me since the tower is the most significant part of the first book and whenever I think about them, I always picture the tower and the nonsensical but chilling scripture first. I do understand why it might not have been included for budget and set purposes but I’m so distraught over this…

I guess the last two, smaller criticisms I have is that they had to throw in a contrived affair (why does every other movie feel the need to do this) and that they didn’t explain what annihilation meant. I won’t spoil it for people who haven’t read it but it has a very specific meaning that gave me chills when it was explained. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t mention the psychologist using any type of hypnotism or mind tricks on them at all. It adds a lot more to Ventress’ character even without the backstory for her we get in the other two books, and it would play way more into the “are we being manipulated to turn on each other” question that arose.

Other than that I think most of the changes made sense from a filmmaking perspective. Lena is ex-military so they can show her shooting big damn guns. They let them bring electronics into the shimmer because finding a videotape left behind is way more interesting to the audience than reading a journal entry. They gave the other survey members backstories to make the audience get more attached to them. They let Kane live because they needed another ‘changed’ person for the ending. Kane (presumably the original) committed suicide because it was a great way to show the plot twist. Etc etc

I also want to address that there is whitewashing in this movie but it seems to come from a place of genuine unawareness. The main character is Asian and the psychologist is indigenous in the books however they’re both white in the movie, but their races are never touched on until the second book, which was being written and cast at the time of the script’s writing (the rights for the film adaptation were acquired before the first book was even officially released!) I truly don’t think anyone involved was aware of this information, as it just wasn’t available. I don’t know enough about the filming process to know if they could have altered it after the second book came out or if it was too late in the process, so that’s all I have to say, but I don’t think it was done with malicious intent at all.

TLDR: it was a good movie and I recommend it but I recommend the books way harder go read them right now

[angermango]

i think Joltik mad Emmet is the funniest fanon concept tbh

[original insp: Everything Smells Like Salmon by Tom McGovern]

("fuck it up Emmet! [insane keyboard solo]")

[little-pondhead]

DP x DC Prompt

…

There are no more heroes.

Well, okay. Rewind a bit.

Danny has been doing the hero thing for a while now. He’s had a big reveal; everyone has accepted him (including his parents), the GIW disbanded, the Anti-Ecto acts repealed, and generally, everything is going great. Some of the A-Listers are even training as junior ghost hunters to help give him a break from his rogues! (Being Ghost King makes things hectic sometimes, and he just needs the extra help. Sue him!)

The point is, literally nothing is wrong with Danny Phantom’s afterlife.

And then Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress, disappears in front of his eyes.

Danny is baffled! She’s just…gone! Valerie just popped out of existence, like she was never there. But no matter how hard he searches in the Ghost Zone, he can’t find her soul anywhere. His core isn't broken in grief. So she’s not dead. Which is good. So then, where is she?

Some of the others come forward with ideas on how to find her. A few ghosts volunteer to go out into the mortal realm, an area Danny had declared off-limits, to see if she was out there. Danny approves it. He rounds up some of the friendlier (i.e., discreet) ghosts and Amity Parkers and demolishes the outside travel ban.

So everyone spreads out, looking for their dear frenemy and teammate. But it becomes apparent very quickly that something is wrong with the rest of the world.

There are no more heroes.

Every single living superhero on the face of the Earth has just…vanished. Villains are running amok; the countries are in chaos! Some aliens are invading Earth, mythical deities are trying to take over, and society is crumbling to the ground. Everything is on the brink of collapse.

Well, Danny was still there. And so were his people. They were pretty spread out, so could they just…take up the mantles? He also knew where to find the souls of dead heroes in the Zone; surely they wouldn't mind coming out of retirement for a little bit, especially if they couldn't die again. Oh! And that skeleton army leftover from Pariah Dark's reign might be useful in repelling those invading forces.

Honestly, there were more than enough hands to go around! And with the heroes gone, Danny didn't mind letting everyone out for a little break, as long as they followed his rules. They wouldn't stop the search for the other heroes, but hopefully, when they found them, the heroes wouldn't mind Danny's intervention too much. :)

In other words:

Someone fucks up, and all of Earth's living heroes are either wished out of existence or are whisked away to some far-off realm where Danny hasn't checked yet. In the attempt to figure out what's going on, Danny lets the dead run amok over the Earth as they search for clues. The skeleton army repels the invading armies, the souls of dead heroes deal with the world leaders, and his rogues and other Amity Parkers set up shop in place of famous heroes, trying to get the cities under control again.

Basically, they just do their best to keep everything from imploding until the Justice League and others are back.

(And why is it that Danny hasn't disappeared? Well, whatever caused everyone to go poof! only affected living heroes. Anyone heroes that were dead in the first place, or even just half-dead, stayed behind.)

[expelliarmus]

[cfserkgk]

Guess who may or may not have watched Alien Stage and is questioning their life now.

[homeofhousechickens]

Chickens likely domesticated themselves the same way wolves did which is basically by hanging around our settlements and eating our refuse.

Living with chickens in this sort of way was likely happening way before the estimated times of 8,000- 10,000 years ago. The relationship was likely already long established it was just during that time some chickens started developing smaller/weaker adrenal glands which caused them to become much easier to raise and handle which eventually lead to the domesticated chicken we know of today (and how that happened so suddenly is a completely different but very interesting topic)

Also due to this you could argue that there isn't any true wild red jungle fowl left untouched and uninfluenced by humans anymore. Not only due to constant cross breeding with domestic chickens but because red jungle fowl are still doing what their ancestors did in their current range, if there is a town or village nearby the bravest junglefowl will still choose to intermingle with the village and eat the refuse, agricultural byproducts, and waste. People will still catch and care for these "wild" birds like their ancestors did. This isn't to say we shouldn't try our best to preserve the wild red jungle fowls wild genetics, their should be populations left to be in their natural environment but it's likely they are not truly same wild birds they once were thousands of years ago and honestly that's OK because thats how its been for thousands of years.

[ryllen]

I could only got up to the sketching stage for this but they're so cute AHBFSUBFUYFIAFIUWFHSFU

sketch ? no color ?? no problem! 🎨🖌️✨

[morganbritton132]

Eddie responds to a comment on one of his videos making a joke about Steve divorcing him with a video asking Steve what it would take for them to get a divorce. Steve with absolutely no hesitation answers with, “Three in one shampoo.”

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[lovethytendytenderly]

Sunrise, Louise Glück, x x x x x x x x x x x

[originalartblog]

Do you know who's also 15 has a final form values friendship above most things wants to keep everyone safe and has fought and won against multiple gods or god-like entities???

anyway I firmly believe a little bit of Sonic could have saved Chuuya.

[off-mozzarella]

A lil something for Whumptober day 10: blow to the head

[virtualplushy]

can i make a confession…… i actually rly enjoy the second half of s2 of twin peaks even tho it makes no sense. why is nicky there. who even is that. dwayne saying that dougie’s new wife murdered him with her pussy. billy zane is there for some reason. nadine thinking she’s 17 and flinging high school boys 100 meters with zero effort. donna is wearing sunglasses all the time. james gets framed for murder. ben horne thinks he’s leading the confederacy. josie turns into a doorknob. it’s awesome

[el-cheung]

Hiroyuki Sanada, as Yoshii Toranaga, in Shōgun S1E10 (2024).

[front-facing-pokemon]

[feltcreature]

a little baby pigeon

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmore of that disciple shen yuan fic i've jumped into writing, because I thought this scene was funny and wanted to share.

----------

His features hint at a marble sharpness though, he twists his neck left to right, eyes locked on and zeroed in on the curve of his cheekbones, the angle of his brows, and the point of his nose. There’s a certain sort of— of regality, he thinks? The elegance of an imposing statue, the saints of Notre Dame looking down from their pedestals as if asking, ‘how dare you insult me with your presence’. Shen Qingqiu lets his face fall into a neutral expression, and all it does is highlight the subtle condescension and complete disinterest his face naturally wants to make. 

In short, Shen Qingqiu has the meanest resting bitch face he’s ever seen on a thirteen year old. 

Even one who looks pointedly exhausted and like he went camping without a tent. His messy hair and the thin streaks of blood he hadn’t managed to crust off earlier does nothing to even dissuade such a look; it’s as if they weren’t even there. 

Experimentally, Shen Qingqiu scrunches his nose up, and his face reflects back at him as if he’d smelt something foul. Weird, he thinks, and keeps the expression still as he traces his fingers across the faint grooves of his skin. After a moment, he drops the look, and shifts his mouth into a scowl, just to see what it would look like. 

It’s about as vicious and as menacing as he was expecting. 

Then he smiles, and it looks painful. It looks, well, blatantly forced. The lips pulled too far back, his teeth showing too much, and his eyes squinted slightly and cold. As if someone had stuck their fingers into the corners of his mouth and forced him to smile rather than him doing it of his own free will.  

Immediately, he drops the smile and it folds back into its disinterested neutral look. I look like I’m going to eat a child, he thinks, probably for the best that I don’t smile.