#the fight choreography is so good but at what cost

[pilindiel]

Thank you @roserelease for the tag!

Last Song I Listened To: Loser, Baby, because Hazbin Hotel has ruined my LIFE and I have listened to NOTHING but the cast album the entire day and YES my whole existence DOES feel fucking hopeless sometimes thank you, Keith David

Currently Reading: Handbook of Inca Mythology by Paul Richard Steele

Currently Watching: Fantasy High Junior Year on Dropout and Cherry Magic on Crunchyroll (caught up in the manga and it's SO CUTE)!

Current Obsession: Truthfully, anything CLAMP related, Yuri on Ice, TGCF, and obviously Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss.

I tag: @commodorecliche @whipperschnapper @rhetoricfemme @rocioandthatsall @gstrings-and-jockstraps

[lovehotelreservation]

chapter one: hi it's me you're all in danger summary: worldwide fame and a political tie or two has you--one of the biggest pop stars around--in dire need of reliable protection. thankfully you have four ex-military retirees to entrust your wellbeing to. but what happens when that protection turns possessive? rating: pg-13 (rating will increase across certain chapters) pairing: f!reader/task force 141 next chapter

as a longtime charli xcx fan, can't say i expected my brat autumn to be spent writing about the cod mfs 😭😭

-----------------

10 AM. London. Shangri-La. Hotel bar.

Somehow, being surrounded by opulence, prestige, and elegance made particular four men currently seated in the back of the space feel a bit out of place.

But they were here on a mission.

Or rather, a job now.

The days of being out on the field in camo fatigues were of the past. Now they were all seated together in suits–black and white, jacket, tie, pants and polished shoes–gin and lemon water on the table.

There was a bit of restlessness in the air and it was starting to spill out in the conversations shared amongst the four.

“Simon, would it literally kill ya to show yer mouth, man? Dae ya want the lass to think yer sick as a first impression?”

“A bit of mystery could be fun, no?”

“Are ya Scooby fuckin’ Doo or somethin?!”

“Johnny, can you keep it down? Your mohawk’s already gotten us enough looks as it is.”

“And what’s so wrong with a lil’ business casual, Kyle?!”

“Can you muppets keep it down!?”

The harsh lash of Price’s tongue had postures straightened and lips hushed.

With a sigh, he brought his fingers to his temple, wondering how he managed to save the world over and over again with these three. Still, his eyes flickered to his watch as he checked the time, a conversation from a month ago coming to mind.

“Price.”

A hand was extended out to him. Fluorescent lights at the American embassy in Paris hung above. Murmurs of French and English lingered in the air as the day proceeded.

Price grinned, returning the exchange with a firm handshake. “Miller. Good to see you standing, old friend.”

Moments later the conversation was held at Miller’s office, a familiar place during the times Price had visited. What stood out to him most was the newly framed photo of Miller and his blushing bride, Priscilla.

A miraculous matrimony all things considered.

Miller, an American ambassador. Priscilla, an activist whose loud and mighty voice helped push for change within socio-political and environmental spaces.

It wasn’t as if it was absolutely impossible for the two to meet–rather, it was just the fact they met after being held hostage alongside other world leaders and activists during a goodwill gala held at Berlin. Terror wished to deliver a haunting message to all of the world, with similar sieges held at other massive events, but thankfully the work of 141 and other allies blocked the reception.

Price glanced down at Miller’s desk, where a few pictures of a glamorous woman were splayed across files: a pop star by the name of Dollface. Formerly part of beloved girl group 4EVA, now setting the music scene alight with impeccable music production, godly vocals, and captivating choreography.

Or so he’s heard.

Right beside her was a clipped out headline from a newspaper:

Glastonbury Saved! Tragedy Averted from Terrorist Threat!

A job well done–courtesy of a certain phantom soldier.

“–I know your days of military campaigns are over, but this has been tearing Priscilla apart,” Miller sighed morosely. “While I know this is the fault of no one and she understands that change in the world comes at a cost, the fact that terrorists would target her niece’s festival performance has been haunting her.”

“Revolution does not come easy, that’s for certain,” Price mused as he glanced over at his friend’s face with an affirming nod. “Even so, it’s something still worth fighting for.”

Miller sighed out in agreement. “Of course.”

“So then.” Adjusting his posture, Price then continued, his tone light, “What can I and a few recently retired soldiers do for you, mate?”

His shoulders relaxing, Miller then reached down for one of the photos of the pop star, pushing it over towards Price. “Watch her. Protect her, please. She’s been an anxious mess ever since Glastonbury.” Gazing down at the newspaper headline clipping, he continued, “Her career’s at such a critical point and her first solo world tour’s been delayed enough as it is. Pressure’s everywhere–label, fans, the media. I know she wants more than anything to finally move forward. But��”

Gingerly picking up the photo, Price took in every single detail of the woman.

Of you.

Turning his focus back to Miller, he grinned, brows raising. “A bit of Price Protection and Co. could do wonders, yeah?”

“You’d be doing miracles, friend” was the response received, along with a vigorous nod.

Price held out his hand.

“It’s a deal.”

And now, the gang was all here, even though the gang was currently driving Price up the wall. Still, if there was anyone who he trusted to get the job done on behalf of a dear old friend, it was Gaz, Ghost, and Soap.

Or rather, from here on out: Kyle, Simon and Johnny.

It didn’t hurt that the gig paid quite handsomely–your label desperately wanted you to get back on stage one way or another. Since the Glastonbury incident, you’ve since been spending your days in London, far too afraid to leave anywhere. The plan was to slowly draw you out of your shell by planning all promotional endeavors around the UK before you would travel the world as intended.

Before any of that however, the first key matter of business is for the five of you to meet together.

10:15 AM. London. Shangri-La. Hotel bar.

“What do you lot think? Full glam or lowkey?” Kyle spoke up, now peering over to look at Johnny’s phone, who had brought up one of your music videos.

Price glanced over, seeing slick skin, big curls, gyrating hips, rouge lips, white heels, and sparkling eyes.

Such visuals were definitely not on Miller’s desk when discussing the job.

“Like right now?” Johnny queried back.

“Lowkey without question.” Simon folded his arms across his chest, his eyes peeking at Johnny’s phone, his expression reflective.

A sudden tap on the back of Price's shoulder just a moment later soon caught his attention. 

“Mr. Price…?”

He immediately turned back, the others following suit.

Johnny’s eyes widened, immediately switching off his phone to shove into his pocket.

Lowkey was correct.

A cap, oversized t-shirt with shorts hidden beneath, hair down, tennis shoes, a pair of sunglasses that were soon slipped off.

The contrast between who they saw on screen to who they were seeing now couldn’t be any more apparent.

Still, even by the way you stood before him, posture shrunken back slightly, eyes a bit downcast, voice softer than the usual bubbly vocals of your music, there was this grace, this aura that you exuded–one that spoke of a true bonafide performer rather than a mere average person.

Smiling warmly, Price held his hand out towards you for you to shake. “That would be me, dear.”

“Uncle Miller’s told me lots about you.” You smiled, bringing your hand up to take his.

So much smaller than his, he noted to himself, chuckling as he responded with, “I hope they’re my finer moments.”

Giggling in response, you affirmed, “As he said, only the best unclassified stuff. I’m Doll–” You quickly stopped yourself, opting to give your first name instead.

“Face pretty like a doll’s still,” Johnny murmured over to Kyle, who nodded in agreement.

Simon didn’t say anything but instead allowed his arms to rest by his sides, continuing to quietly observe you.

A world-renowned pop star with four former soldiers tasked to serve as her bodyguards.

Should be an easy enough job.

-----------------

thank you for reading !!! i know i tend to not really do multi-chapter pieces but idk the ghost of brat summer took over me after seeing a clip of soap and simon banter so i've been genuinely locked in with writing out this tale 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️

subsequent chapters are going to be loosely tied together but i hope you enjoy my take on cod yumejo with this pop star otome 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

next chapter's up next friday !!! 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️

[classicanalyzer]

Skeleton Crew - This Could Be A Real Adventure and Way, Way Past The Barrier Thoughts

"Since the fall of the EMPIRE, the NEW REPUBLIC has maintained order.

And yet, remote hyperspace routes are increasingly plagued by piracy.

These PIRATES boldly brand their armored hulls as a sign to all ships.

Surrender or die...." The opening crawl of Skeleton Crew

The first two episodes are such a fun and refreshing open to this new Star Wars adventure. The editing in this show is top notch and full of personality. The child actors did an amazing job of selling the four kids as kids in the Star Wars galaxy. The high number of aliens in this show also really refreshing.

That opening space battle goes so hard, especially the transition from the title crawl (I'm loving how the live-action shows since Ahsoka been doing this) to the action. The action sequence is shot really well and I love how the visual effects look.

Mick Giacchino did an amazing job with the score with the kid's theme and the pirates' theme. I can't wait to see what else this man cooks in the rest of the episodes, especially with the piano.

Captain Silvo is pretty much Jude Law's character, Jod Na Nawood (at least one of his many, many identities).

Brutus being a Shistavanen is such a good choice. Such great alien prosthetic work. It was also some good continuity to see Vane in the show, given the focus on pirates.

I like how Wim is a deconstruction of wanting to have a classic SW adventure and believing in the classic SW tropes. As he'll see over and over again, the galaxy is not as idealistic and happy as the stories make them out to be. But I also feel with his desire to do something more and different, especially in that scene when he looks at Neel's family and his own reflection. I hope Wendle, Wim's dad, gets further exploration in the forthcoming episodes.

Nell is the best. That boi must be protected at all costs. The prosthetics for him and his family are so amazing. He seems to have a problem with asserting and standing up for himself. It's both funny and cursed that his siblings are watching footage from the Holiday Special lmao. Fern is a bit of a brat, but she's also dealing with a mother who expects a lot from her. She tries to escape that as much as she can while trying to live up to her expectations. She also is the most level-headed of the group. KB is the most intelligent of the group but also seems to long for more in life. Her fascination in the creatures in the pirate spaceport and absent mindedness at the creatures suggest interests beyond technology. I want to know about KB about why she's given cybernetics and where her family is.

I also wonder what the mural in Fern's house means for the history of the world and the story of the show.

The production design is very impressive and I really like the electronic devices used in the show, especially how Wim uses his to look at images of the Jedi.

I always had a feeling that At Attin was pretty fishy based solely on the suburbs, lmao. They seem to have a false utopia of sorts with all the predetermined career tests (the US Department of Education would love them lol), especially toward whatever the "Great Work" is. I wonder if the Great Work mentioned by Fara is related to Soh's Great Works.

I also like the nod to how some Jedi Temples can arise from underground and arise plus the Atollon and Aldhani mentions are nice nods to the larger Canon.

I like a theory that the Barrier could be a hologram of sorts.

The Onyx Cinder is such a cool ship design. SM-33 (Nick Frost) is such a fun pirate droid with some kickass fighting choreography. His introduction in the red lighting is also really cool. I hope we get to see more of his antics and character in the show. Port Borgo looks so fire, and God, the visual effects for the pirate port and this show are so amazing. It blows Ahsoka's visual effects out of the water. A Teek being the driver is a fun nod to Ewok: The Battle for Endor. I also find it interesting that everyone thinks their world is not only considered a myth and doesn't exist but is full of treasure. I also like that the Theelin brothel worker wanted to help out the kids and get them back home, tho it's very understandable why Fern is distrustful of her, given the nature of the port.

The fact the kids literally know nothing that's commonplace and normal to the galaxy means most of At Attin (since they had droids from the galaxy, I wonder if the general public doesn't know about the galaxy but only a few in govt know) didn't hear anything of the Skywalker Saga. Oh God, that's going to be a depressing story to tell the kids (especially Wim on Order 66) and At Attin's public about how the galaxy went to hell for decades.

I love that rat (Snowball) that lives in SM-33's empty eye. I also like how Wim refer to Old Republic credits as dataries just as Qui-Gon said when referring to credits in The Phantom Menace. I wonder how insane the exchange rate between Old Republic credits and New Republic credits is.

I wonder what Jod's backstory is since Jude Law confirmed he is an actual Force-sensitive and not pretending to be one. Realistically, I think he's just a Force-sensitive who is posing as a Jedi to the kids. However, I feel like there could be more to his story since Law mentions we'll be learning a lot about his character in Episode 7. If he was a Jedi, I like to think he was a Jedi dropout and then using the Force subtly to rise in the pirate ranks. I hope Jod gets some character development if he is going to try to manipulate the kids at first (mainly because I like Jude Law and hope he gets to do more Star Wars.

Otherwise, these two episodes is such a great start to this show.

"The distance between us and the key...is an illusion." "Jod Na Nawood"

[goodlucktai]

tagged by @bobtheacorn like...... 3 weeks ago 😭 my bad

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

283

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,353,670

which seems.......excessive

3. What fandoms do you write for?

actively, one piece and tmnt, but that is ruled by the demons in my brain that control the hyperfixation machine.

fandoms ive posted 3 or more fics for:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends Good Omens Final Fantasy XV Undertale Mumintroll | Moomins Series Harry Potter Young Justice 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 陈情令 | The Untamed King Falls AM Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rise of the Guardians Voltron: Legendary Defender

4. Top five fics by kudos?

Exclusivity - 11,116

walk straight through hell with a smile - 9,152

Inanition - 9,039

there is thunder in our hearts - 8,161

trouble is a friend of mine - 7,842

5. Do you respond to comments?

i do try to but i can't always :'( and i feel terrible if i manage to reply to most and then forget someone and only realize it months later. but i read every single comment and i appreciate them more than i have words for

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i tend to veer away from angst, but off the top of my head....

where the good men go or if i go i'm going on fire

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

99% of my fics have a happy ending because thats my BRAND but i suppose give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around or the weekend we were in love OR put your empty hands in mine

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not often, but i recently had someone who REALLY disliked the way things change because i 'villainized' raph. which is definitely news to me, since raphael is the love of my life

9. Do you write smut?

nope

10. Craziest crossover?

i wrote a tmnt/one piece crossover once ? but now that we are actually getting a tmnt/naruto idw run it doesnt feel that weird to me anymore

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

only once if i'm remembering right ?? it was a long time ago and wattpad related, which is a site that i dont really understand and therefore tend to avoid

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes ! i'll often have people request to translate my stories and it blows me away every time

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Devil took your hand was written by myself and @moogsthewriter

14. All time favourite ship?

ineffable husbands, wangxian, or leosagi

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

how much time do you have 😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

i want to say characterization and narrative voice. i'm also pretty good at maintaining a throughline, even if it sometimes gets a little wobbly

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

conflict ! i hate it ! i will avoid writing it at all costs ! i also tend to struggle with writing fight scenes, especially when there are several characters involved :') staging any kind of choreography is my opp

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i try not to but if it feels unavoidable i google the heck out of it

19. First fandom you wrote in?

honestly it was either digimon (which also inspired my og penname) or xiaolin showdown lol

20. Favourite fic you've written?

i'm stealing bob's idea and going top 5:

there is thunder in our hearts - this story came together so easily for me, like i knew exactly how i wanted to tell it from start to finish

the only hoax i believe in - a kfam fic in my top 5s why yes and i'll tell you why. because i poured so much of myself into this fic that they could probably read it at my funeral instead of a eulogy

traveling so far to get there - after party au raph and mikey continue to take up so much real estate in my brain and for what

now the darkness comes alive - this one is more recent but im so happy with the way it turned out :')

if we could stay all day in the sun - it was a lot of fun reimagining one of my favorite fairy tales and doing a bunch of unnecessary research for this story i will stand by it until the day i die !!

i'm tagging @mykimouser, @owletstarlet, @portgas-d-aroace, @mad4turtles, @camsthisky, @remedyturtles, @pickledcarrotsandradish, @swordsmans, @mangogreent, and anyone else who wants to !

[fallenrocket]

One thing I absolutely love about Polite Society is how the fight choreography, score, sound design, cinematography, and more serve both the protagonist and the progression of the plot. All of these elements are the film aren't just cool aesthetic choices. They're reflective of how Ria processes her entire life through the lens of an action movie. It's her life that has smash cuts, slow-mo during her sickest moves, and dramatic close-ups. The score we hear is her own internal soundtrack--I loooooove the scene where the score ramps up with so much tension when Ria learns that Lena and Salim are engaged, only for the music to drop completely as we get the other characters' view of this extra-ass girl's reaction to this news. This movie is Ria's world.

And because Ria is imaginative, obsessive, and dramatic, we don't know how reliable of a narrator she is. I have no idea how much of any given fight in the movie actually happens. Does Kovacs really grab her leg in midair and swing her into the trophy case? Does Lena really smash her face repeatedly into the glass of a framed picture? Do the other wedding guests really become an army of henchpeople for Ria and her allies to take out? Not a clue.

This means that, when Ria suspects that Salim is up to no good and vows to stop him at all costs, it's easy to assume that it's not really true. This could've been a story about a teenage girl with an overactive imagination wanting to "save" her older sister from marriage because she's afraid of losing her. It could've been a story about a teenage girl with big improbable goals refusing to accept that her older sister is getting married, because if Lena "gives up" her dream of being an artist, what does that say about Ria's dream of becoming a stuntwoman? And to be sure, those themes are definitely in the film. But it could've easily been a story where Ria needs to learn that she's created an imaginary threat that she can kick around and beat up because she's scared to face the more grounded reality of the emotions she's experiencing.

The stylistic choices in the film already get us halfway there. We're primed to sympathize with Ria and root for her, but not necessarily to accept her views as objective reality. We see how she magnifies things, cinematizes them, injects everything around her with drama and heightened stakes. And so, speaking for me personally, it's such a trip to realize that Raheela and Salim do have an evil plan, that Ria's distrust in them and over-the-top meddling/snooping pay off. Furthermore, once Ria learns the truth (along with the audience,) her wildly imaginative nature makes it harder for others to believe her and easier for Raheela to undermine her. Of course Ria is just getting carried away again, of course Salim doesn't have a secret lab where he's performing reproductive experiments on potential brides, of course Raheela didn't threaten Ria while she was having her legs waxed. Silly girl!

It's just so masterful, the way almost every element in the film works together--first to let us inside Ria's head and show us who she is, then to misdirect from the twist, and finally to back Ria into a corner as people refuse to believe her. Absolutely chef's kiss!

It's a bummer that we had to wait so long to get season 2 of We Are Lady Parts, but without the long hiatus, I'm not sure we would've gotten Polite Society, so I can live with it.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Personal recap GPF 2023 Men SP

Not that anyone cares for this but I bring this back anyway, also it's a personal opinion so if you don't agree that's completely fine with me. 😊 I usually posted recaps on @jennibeultimate but for some reason it saved it here 🤷

Congratulations to Ilia, Shoma and Yuma for posting scores above 💯! 🥳

Shoma Uno - What an amazing SP from Shoma! 😍😍😍🔥🔥🔥🔥Shoma is on a totally different level of skating when it comes to choreography, emoting to an audience and the step sequence was glorious. 🔥🔥🔥Also Shoma 3 out of 3 SPs with a 💯+ score and 4T3T when he didn't manage to include 4T3T last season at all. This is already a huge success and shows you some unknown consistency. 106,02 is also his 2nd highest SP ever at almost 26 years. It's his 9th senior season, but he looks as confident as never before.

I think though that Shoma's PCS were too low. Yeah I am aware he had the highest PCS of the 6 competitors but yet how can they all be within just 4 points??? I mean if Ilia is getting 44 Shoma should get 50!!!

Scoring aside Shoma showed he didn't come to play and that he won't go down without a fight! Everything else - scores or placements - aren't in his hands!

Ilia Malinin - Ilia's 4A was so casual wow 🔥🔥🔥Ilia with a world record BV🔥...that x on the TES box had me shook, but ok judges did it right (besides that Belgian judge with the -5 GOE 💀)...not sure if the 4A was really worth it (Shoma's PB TES score is 62,36 from Worlds 2022, Ilia's today was 62,53 with a 4A) but I mean today it did win him the SP and a personal best score... Ilia's PCS however wtf💀💀💀 I am ok with Ilia winning the SP though I personally would have seen Shoma in first but well...good job Ilia! 👏👏👏

Yuma Kagiyama - I love Yuma's SP. And his 4S is chef's kiss 😍 The best 4S of the business! I am sooo happy Yuma is back in form! I also think the point difference is ok. Still yeah Yuma's PCS in comparison to Ilia's...just no...

Kevin Aymoz - An artist on the ice! 🩵 Shame about the 3A. He only has outsider chances at a medal but I think he's just happy to be there. And I am glad he is there, he brings such a different style to skating and such unique movements!

If we talk about uniqueness we have to talk about Adam Siao Him Fa! Such a shame about the popped Lutz. In this field this mistake can cost you the Gold but there is still the free skate and when CoC teached me any lesson, then that Adam can skate brilliantly in the free to make up for it and that a 15 point lead means nothing. But ofc it's going to be much harder for him. I think his PCS suffered from the mistake, apart from the mistake I liked his performance. 😊

Kao Miura also made a costly mistake but much less a problem than Adam's mistake. I think skating after Shoma and Yuma wasn't helpful for his PCS. He is a very energetic skater and I really like his program. I just think that of the ppl in the field (apart from Ilia) his skating isn't as refined and looks a bit rushed. His speed is tremendous. 🔥 He has a new season best, which was a bit surprising considering the mistake...but I am not complaining, judges weren't stingy with anyone in particular...

Nothing is decided yet and this will be an exciting free skate! Ofc the skaters leading atm have a much better position but they are close together and one mistake can change the order.

Men definetly weren't menning which is great. Just two minor mistakes and one big one! 👏👏👏👏

Good luck for the free skate everyone!

Chart by @ bigfanofskating (Twt)

[gobblinhours]

Thin Line Commentary

I've never done this before, but @alchemicallymoon made one for their Agent 32 fic, (which can be read here) so what the hell, seems like an interesting idea!

And fun fact, the whole idea for this fic was spawned because I cannot smile, I just press my lips together into a Thin Line (title drop)

Biggest thing to note: How long it took to write. I thought that it would be around 5000 words and I could get it out by Thanksgiving.

This was not the case. The original roadmap was Eight & Four -> Eight & Three, with a one-day time skip in the middle. But then I had an idea to make it less abrupt, so I integrated Off the Hook into it, before realizing I was leaning into Eight's relationship with Pearl, at the cost of Marina, so I had to make another scene with Eight and Marina to even things out. (leading to this post) Then I figured I should throw in a little bit of positive interaction between Pearl and Marina, which luckily was easily able to be adapted into something subtly referencing Pearlina at the end.

Then I realized that someone had to stay back to commentate over the radio, and if Three and Eight were going to go into a kettle together like I planned, someone else would have to be in the story. I'm not confident in writing Cuttlefish or Sheldon for extended periods, and I already utilized Marie for a joke, so Callie was the most viable option.

And she worked surprisingly well! She and Eight bounced off of each other as if they had been friends for years, even though at this point in time this was the first time Eight had spent any time 1-on-1 with Callie, and she was a great foil to Three, with both examples leading to slapdash photoshop jobs. I had them run through a kettle, (24, for obvious reasons.), and fun fact: That was written as I played through it with a charger, albeit with two people and an increase in skill.

After that, I finally was able to get Three and Eight together, although by that point I was already over my estimate and had to cut out a plot point to save time and energy. (Three and Eight get sushi together during the evening with a Three name drop!) Luckily that was at the very end of the fic, so that fact, combined with the fact that I had no idea how to bridge the time gap except for a shopping montage, which seemed like too much of a cut for me, so I chopped it down to lunch, turf war, and video games. In the end, the roadmap ended up more like Eight & Four -> Eight & Pearl -> Eight & Marina -> Eight with Pearlina in the background -> Eight & Callie -> Eight & Three.

The biggest time loss besides IRL business was finding ways to connect the scenes together organically, as I didn't want to overutilize line breaks. I spent days unable to think of a way to connect them, (the kettle run and lunch being especially egregious) to the point where the once-liberal Thanksgiving estimate was now a speck in the rear-view mirror. The second biggest issue was writing a turf war, as I realized that fight scenes (specifically choreography) were not my specialty. (Also why you don't get to see Eight play generic-brand DDR) I can visualize it in my mind, but I can't put it into words. Hopefully with practice that can be fixed.

Overall, this is the second fic I've written that I was 100% proud of upon release, possibly due to the anxiety that came from accidentally posting it early drowned out any perceived issues, which happened with my first fic, which is the other one I was satisfied with. (my one complaint is that I couldn't come up with a good name for Callie to use in a chatroom, because agentFUN was already taken and I couldn't come up with anything else.)

Overall, I'm surprisingly happy with the quality of this, and I doubt that I'll write anything close to this length and quality, at least for a while. And while I know that I did say that I would write another Agent 24 fic next, this has drained me of any motivation to write anything focused on this ship, and I need time to recover. But I have plenty of non-24 related ideas, and motivation still flows within me. The most anyone should expect for a bit is occasional updates to my microfic dump, but that by no means means that I am not going to write anything big again, just taking a break from more time-consuming projects, as I spent over a month on this, and the added pressure of having people vote on this didn't help at all, so from now on I probably won't do that.

But even though it was absolute hell to write, it was oddly satisfying to work on, and it feels weird not having to think about what to write next.

[henshinwolf89]

Zeiram 1 Retrospective

When it comes to Tokusatsu, it can be somewhat tricky to initially get into. With such a long history and back catalog, and an often 50+ episode long commitment, it can be daunting to newcomers. That’s why I usually say to find what appeals to you and go from there. Maybe find something that’s on the shorter side of things before trying to tackle the bigger ones. Standalone Tokusatsu movies can be a good starting point.

That leads me to suggesting one such movie series as a potential starting point into the larger world of Tokusatsu, the Zeiram series, which consists of two feature-length films and a six episode OVA. Zeiram was created by the insanely talented Keita Amemiya, an absolute legend in the Tokusatsu industry. Having worked on almost every major Tokusatsu franchise in some form at one point before creating his own series, such as the incredible Garo franchise, he quickly established himself as a unique visionary of the business.

Zeiram is Amemiya’s second film after Mirai Ninja, his debut movie in 1988, and began its life as a sequel to it before evolving into its own thing. The first Zeiram movie was released on December 21, 1991, and reportedly had a smaller budget than Mirai Ninja, thirty million yen, which is roughly two hundred thousand dollars. The entire film’s budget is apparently the cost of just a single episode of Garo! However, just because it had a smaller budget doesn’t mean that they skimped on the special effects. The film deploys an impressive array of special effects, ranging from amazing suitmation, puppetry, pyrotechnics, wire work, fight choreography, and even stop-motion animation!

The film stars actress Yuko Moriyama as Iria, a tough as nails intergalactic bounty hunter. Moriyama was a relatively new actress, having her start on a contact lens commercial for Seed Contact Lenses and mostly doing TV work. Moriyama was initially hesitant to play Iria, as she had no prior experience playing action roles, but enjoyed her experience as Iria by the end and came out with a very positive outlook. She wasn’t used to using guns or gun props and was pretty surprised by the impact of the model gun the first time she used it. She got used to it eventually as she knew Iria was a professional and needed to act the part. Soon, she found firing the guns to be really fun. Moriyama also stated having difficulty with the suit Iria wore. It’s bulkyness making her feel like a robot and bruising up her body quite a bit. She got used to it after a month. However, the suit was very squeaky and noisy. You could always tell when she was nearby, much to the amusement of the rest of the cast and crew.

The other two major characters are the two average working Joe electricians, Teppei and Kamiya, played by Kunihiro Ida and Yukijiro Hotaru, respectfully. Ida was in Amemiya’s previous film, Mirai Ninja, and is a varied actor being in the original Japanese version of “Shall We Dance?” Hotaru, on the other hand, is an accomplished stage actor and should be a familiar face to Tokusatsu fans. He played The Evil Emperor Diable in Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine, had a cameo as the suicidal man in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack or GMK for short, and most famously played Tsutomu Osako in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and Gonza Kurahashi in Garo. Hotaru and Amemiya are good friends, and they both have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

Moriyama, Ida, and Hotaru all developed a great working chemistry with each other. Ida was very supportive of Moriyama, frequently psyching her up and giving her emotional support, while Hotaru often gave her acting advice. They did line readings together often and read through the script many times before shoots. They did this in advance as often as possible. Hotaru during shoots would hunch over to make himself look smaller in comparison to Moriyama, so Iria had a larger and more imposing presence.

Next up is Bob, Iria’s A.I. partner. Who is voiced by Masakazu Handa. He sadly died at the young age of 47 due to heart failure on August 26, 2014. Handa was a professional voice actor who also did a lot of narration work and announcement work at events like martial arts tournaments and sports games.

Finally, the titular monster, Zeiram, is played by suit actor Mizuho Yoshida, and the suit was made by famous sculptor and artist Takayuki Takeya. Yoshida’s first role was in Mirai Ninja, but he has played many Kaiju characters as well, such as Mother Legion in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, Zedus in Gamera the Brave and Godzilla in GMK. In the Rebirth of Mothra movies, he played Desghidorah and Dagahra in the sequel. He has also provided motion capture work for video games such as the Tyrant from Resident Evil CODE: Veronica, Dylan in Dino Crisis 2, Dead Rising, and Onimusha. Most notably was the mo-cap actor for both Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 1-3.

Amemiya drew many designs to find the look of Zeiram, an alien wearing a sedge hat. He settled on the look of a traveler from the Edo period, as he thought it would be scary to see someone like that in the streets in the middle of the night. The Zeiram costume was quite heavy, most of the weight being on the head with tension on the neck. According to Amemiya, Zeiram is female, but in the films, the characters use male pronouns, so I’ll be using gender neutral terms to refer to Zeiram. I mean, it’s a bio-mechanical alien. It probably doesn’t even fall into our human definitions of gender anyway.

But enough about the behind the scenes tidbits for now, let’s get into talking about the actual film!

The movie opens with an intense scene showing how dangerous Zeiram is. A group of armed men are brutally slaughtered by the ruthless alien. A bounty is placed on the capture of Zeiram, and Bob accepts the order and claims no one may interfere with Iria and Bob’s job. Next, we see Iria skulking through the streets of Tokyo, gathering supplies. Then we are introduced to Kamiya, who is elated to finally strike it big gambling on horse races. Kamiya is divorced, most likely due to his gambling habits. Teppei is next, trying to contact Kamiya about their next set of jobs. He wants to quickly get them done as he has a date with the company’s secretary, Yumi, something Kamiya teases him about.

I like Kamiya and Teppei. They’re just two average dudes that are about to find themselves in something extraordinary. They are the source of comic relief and provide a contrast to Iria’s stoic badass demeanor. Their hapless antics don’t distract or ruin Iria’s action scenes, and they even contribute tremendously to helping Iria. Honestly, they remind me of Val McKee and Earl Bassett, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward from the movie Tremors.

Anyway, Iria and Bob’s base of operations are siphoning a lot of electricity, and so Kamiya and Teppei are called in to investigate. Iria and Bob are building a device to trap Zeiram in a place called the Zone. They need to use the Zone to capture Zeiram to avoid causing collateral damage to Earth’s environment and population. Bob says that they need this job to pay off debts racked up by Iria. After catching Zeiram in the Zone, the two electricians arrive, and Teppei accidentally stumbles into the Zone’s teleporter. Iria gives chase, and Kamiya invites himself along. This is where the movie primarily takes place in the Zone, where no other life is allowed in outside those permitted or teleported there.

Iria traps Kamiya in a protective barrier and goes off to pursue Teppei and find Zeiram. Unfortunately, Teppei encounters Zeiram first and is attacked. He flees, and Zeiram produces a creature called the Lilliput monster to give chase.

The smoke in the scene where Zeiram attacks Teppei with the Lilliput was created with oil at 2 o’clock in the morning. One of the first locations they shot according to interviews. People who hung their clothes out to dry had them covered in oil the next morning, Amemiya feels guilty for it and was sorry. The Lilliput monster was played by suit actresses Mayumi Aguni. Apparently, an early example of a woman playing a monster in Tokusatsu. It’s unfortunately difficult to find information online about female Kaiju actors. The only others I’m aware of are Yumi Kameyama as Super Gyaos in Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and, of course, the popular and adorable Rie Ota as Baragon in GMK.

Back to the movie. Iria manages to track down Zeiram and lures it to a warehouse that she previously laid with booby-traps. She ensnares Zeiram in a wire trap and begins to gloat about her victory. Her confidence gets the best of her as Zeiram seizes the opportunity and surprises Iria with the parasite in it’s hat, and cutting itself free. Meanwhile, Teppei stumbles upon Kamiya frozen in the barrier. He attempts to free him. The fight between Iria and Zeiram rages on, as they exchange fire between each other. However, Bob warns that conventional weaponry is useless, so against Bob’s wishes, Iria reveals her battle armor and switches to hand-to-hand combat.

Iria’s armor proves effective as Zeiram’s payload of artillery is reflected. Zeiram chooses to fight with melee as well and begins to overpower Iria with shear might. Iria lures it to another trap, restraining it in place. Zeiram unleashes more Lilliput monsters to buy itself time to escape. Iria defeats the Lilliput monster, but Zeiram escapes its binding. Zeiram presses forward and corners Iria, but just before it can finish her off, she manages to finally trap it in the same confinement barrier she trapped Kamiya in.

With Zeiram in custody, Teppei finds Iria and requests she release Kamiya. Iria complies, and she explains the situation to the two men. Just as Bob is preparing to teleport everyone back, a Lilliput monster attacks the group. Iria defends the two but gets transported along with the monster, leaving the electricians behind with the frozen Zeiram. The scuffle with the monster damages the control panel, cutting off access to the Zone. Bob reveals it has also destabilized the Zone too, and not much time is left before it completely vanishes.

Waiting for Iria, Teppei rifles through Iria’s bags as Kamiya grows impatient. Another Lilliput monster attacks Kamiya, and Teppei uses Iria’s weapons to fight it off. In the struggle, Zeiram’s stasis pod gets damaged and releases it. The two electricians attempt to flee by hot wiring a truck. Unfortunately, Zeiram corners them and bites Kamiya’s arm with it’s parasite. They manage to shake off Zeiram and escape. It’s revealed that by consuming its victims’ DNA, Zeiram creates its clone monsters. It creates an imperfect clone of Kamiya, but it is unable to follow orders. In its rage, Zeiram kills the clone.

The scene where Kamiya gets attacked by Zeiram’s tentacle is one of the final scenes to be shot. The tentacle was controlled by wires, and the prop was quite short. They had to utilize camera tricks to make it look longer. After Zeiram removes its scarf, revealing its face, to make the Kamiya clone, its face seems reminiscent of the Predator. I wouldn’t be surprised if Predator played a role in inspiring Zeiram in some way.

The two electricians flee into a beer storage warehouse and attempt to defend themselves from Zeiram. The fight causes Teppei to get separated from Kamiya. Teppei is unable to locate Kamiya, escapes, and contacts Iria. Iria and Bob debate sending Teppei the Metis Cannon to fight Zeiram after Teppei resolves to make a last stand after he assumes Kamiya might be dead.

Teppei heads to the drop-off point on a motorcycle to retrieve the Metis Cannon, Zeiram intercepts, and corners Teppei. Suddenly, Kamiya returns to save Teppei with a construction crane. However, Zeiram overpowers it and knocks Kamiya out of the vehicle. Then Iria swoops into the rescue, armed with a bazooka. Iria unloads the bazooka’s only shot towards Zeiram, severely damaging its body. Zeiram discards its lower half, revealing its true body is the hat, and mutates into a more skeleton-like creature to continue pursuing our heroes.

The bike scene was shot in a plane hanger in Haneda Airport. Amemiya had no prior experience with shooting a scene with a stunt like this before and was worried about the safety of the actors. The wire connected to the stunt actor on the bike fortunately snapped off, had it not, Yoshida, in the Zeiram suit, would have been hit and seriously injured. The Zeiram skeleton showcases Amemiya and his teams talent at practical effects with an impressive display of both stop-motion animation and puppetry, bringing the creature to life.

The trio, with Zeiram in tow, flee through a maze-like web of rooms in search of the Metis Cannon to kill Zeiram. Iria stays behind to stall Zeiram, leading to her being flung out a window after damaging Zeiram with a grenade. Kamiya and Teppei find the Metis Cannon but struggle to put it together in time, Zeiram tracks them down and corners them. Iria locates them in the nick of time and quickly assembles the Metis Cannon and uses it to destroy Zeiram’s skeleton. She then captures Zeiram’s hat in a barrier.

Bob transports Kamiya and Teppei back to home base outside the Zone. Then, he brings back the captured Zeiram. Next, he attempts to bring back Iria. However, Zeiram breaks free, damages the transport device, and goes on the offensive once again mutating further. Iria is trapped within the Zone as it is collapsing. Bob instructs Kamiya on how to repair the transport device as Teppei attempts to hold Zeiram back with a makeshift wooden barricade. Zeiram breaks free and is poised to kill Teppei when Kamiya fixes the device, and Iria arrives to save the day by lighting Zeiram up with as many shots as it takes, finally killing it.

As the morning comes, the trio catch their breath and thank each other for everything. Iria cuts off two locks of her hair and gives it to Kamiya and Teppei as a way of saying thanks and for them to have something to remember her by. Bob then asks if the three could group up for a commemorative photo. As Bob snaps the picture, everyone smiles and credits roll.

Though Moriyama was inexperienced as an action actress, by the time of filming the final confrontation with Zeiram, she was completely in character. Amemiya found it easier to direct her, as she had become accustomed to fighting, and he had gained more experience as a director. Despite a few bumps in the road, the cast and crew had a pleasant experience with the movie. The only major problems were the weather, which seemed to be against them, according to Amemiya.

As for my thoughts on the film? I absolutely love it! I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, whether you’re into Tokusatsu or just like monster movies or creature features, like Predator or Alien. I’d even recommend this movie to a Resident Evil fan! I couldn’t shake the feeling of being reminded of my love of the intense rivalry between Jill Valentine and Nemesis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film played some role in inspiring Resident Evil 3, though I have zero evidence to back that claim. Zeiram even goes through several mutations, like a final boss from Resident Evil.

Even if you’ve never heard of Keita Amemiya’s work prior to this, chances are you’ve encountered his work vicariously through some games you may have played. Games like Hagane: The Final Conflict, Onimusha 2-3, Clock Tower 3, Genji: Days of the Blade, Final Fantasy 14, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Like I said, he’s a legend of the industry, and he has fans all across the world.

If you’re interested, you can easily pick up a Blu-ray copy for a good price. It recently received a fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition re-release back in 2021 by Media Blasters. Go check it out! You won’t regret it!

[vaguelyaperson]

in other critiques of the ATLA remake, I haven't seen anyone else address this, but

netflix butchered the martial arts of bending

disclaimer: I'm not a martial arts master, but I did have the privilege of taking a year of lessons from a kungfu master. This shifu studied at the Shaolin Temple - the birthplace of kungfu. He taught a mixture of basic kungfu (firebending), sword forms (like Piandao - Sokka's master), tai chi (waterbending), bagua (airbending), and Buddhist philosophy.

After I took those lessons, I developed a renewed appreciation for how the original ATLA represents martial arts through bending. I knew that they had a martial arts consultant to help choreograph (and damn is the choreography good), but it became increasingly clear that canon ATLA also took the philosophy of martial arts seriously. And if my shifu has anything to say about it, it's not kungfu without that philosophy.

... A philosophy that the remake butchered to present a superficial facsimile.

The original ATLA presented a wonderful, applicable nuance of bending: Like martial arts, intense emotion can make you 'stronger,' but it comes at the cost of your control. Raw strength can be a weakness; you can use an enemy's strength against them. The best fights are fought on reserved action. Proper breathing and form are crucial irreplaceable foundations. Or, MOST IMPORTANTLY, like martial arts, it's NOT ABOUT being the strongest fighter, but about self-defense and balance - balance within self, with nature, with others.

The remake said screw that nuance, bending is all about tapping into intense emotion. Raw strength is everything. Big, flashy attacks and powerful punches look the coolest. Everyone's obsessed with being a great warrior.

In other words, in the remake, that wasn't martial arts. That was just intense fighting that vaguely mimicked martial art forms. And given the budget and resources Netflix has, it's insulting that they didn't have or adhere to consultants. Most importantly, given that bending is the literal central aspect of the world, this butchering strips away yet more of ATLA's heart and soul.

I understand that they couldn't train the actors to master the respective martial arts of their element (and from what I saw of their forms, it's clear these kids at least learned and did their best to apply the basics; I did appreciate Gordon Cormier's focused finishing of airbending forms, that was on point), but the show's philosophical presentation of bending could've made up for that.

Which it didn't. At all. It did worse.

Episode one, remake Aang explained the importance of 'balance and energy' to help Katara make a waterball (something she already knew how to do before meeting him in canon, but sure yeah, misogyny is solved cause Sokka is no longer sexist), but... his explanation... sounded like the end result of a telephone game. It was utter gibberish. I could not follow what the fuck he was saying at all. 'Balance and energy' aren't magical terms - there's very real physical and mental intent, which you must train, in ensuring you have that balance and proper flow of energy (which I'll expand on below.)

Whereas in the original, Uncle Iroh's explanation of bending in the first episode was wonderful. 'Firebending comes from breath, not muscles' has real world equivalent to martial arts. Meditation is meant to train breathing, as well as calm the mind. Overt reliance on muscle (or worse, specific muscles) is a deterrent to proper martial arts. In fact, everything Uncle Iroh taught about bending was clear, well-understood, and had legitimate parallels to actual martial arts. He was an incredible foil to Zuko, an angry amateur.

Canon Zuko's firebending (at least in season 1) sucked for a reason - and the nuance displayed so much respect for the discipline of martial arts. He only seemed capable of basic forms (like forms I learned in the first month of kungfu) and maybe a few cool kicks. His breathing was TERRIBLE (you should not have to huff and grunt when doing basic kungfu forms). His balance was demonstratively bad, given how easily he kept getting knocked over. When Iroh insisted that Zuko master the basics first, it was cause Zuko legitimately still sucked at the basics. His anger and strength were poor crutches.

There's a reason that Aang had an entire character arc to master the emotions of the Avatar State, that Zuko had to learn how to firebend without anger. I can now confirm from experience that anger and reliance on raw strength makes you imbalanced and inflexible!!! It also tires you out faster.

Real balance and energy explanation: In real life, the flow of chi is facilitated by proper form, which REQUIRES meditative practice to master; correct rooted stance, arms-torso-legs aligned to maximize full-body strength, a calm focused mind. Shifu was particular about every detail of our forms down to how our feet were angled and our thumbs placed. We practiced those forms again and again and again. My most powerful hits were ALWAYS because I was focused and my form was on point.

Remember, I had only a year of lessons. Even with basic training, the actors could've EASILY demonstrated everything discussed - if the show's narrative presented it correctly.

But nope. Katara was outright encouraged to base her bending on emotions, instead of emphasizing the necessity of practice and a teacher to demonstrate proper form. The Kyoshi Warriors mostly just grunted through hard punches and threw their fans around, rather than utilizing stealth and their opponent's body mechanics against them. Azula leveled up her firebending just because she was upset at her dad (can the remake stop making men the catalyst of female characters unlocking abilities??), not because how - in canon - Azula is a precise, self-controlled person, which allows her to channel such a dangerous erratic element like lightning.

Everything in the remake was based on emotion and strength! It full on flipped the script!

It was insulting. All of it was so insulting.

I fell in love with martial arts as a child because of ATLA. I took the opportunity to learn from that Shaolin shifu because of ATLA. So I especially felt betrayed by the bastardization of the bending. How could you strip such an essential part of the worldbuilding? It's just not ATLA anymore.

[swanguard]

why am i subjecting myself to this. just to get it out of the way i guess.

anyway spoilery ahsoka premiere reactions below the cut:

the fucking new republic uniforms look like they're made for disney world cast members

ivanna sakhno hot pacific rim day ones already know

another God Damned mcguffin map will the horrors of disney star wars storytelling never cease

i think it is so funny how impossible it's going to be for casual mando fans to watch this show time to start doing your homework babes

absolutely horrendous fight choreography but what's new

i am simply not perceiving That Actress when she's on screen, she's so lifeless and boring it's not even difficult anyway

that's not hera. that's not hera. oh my god she looks so horrible

COMMANDER SABINE WREN pulling an ariel moment

JAI KELL OMFG

SHE'S A BIGGER DYKE THAN EVER BAHAHAHAHHA BLASTING GALACTIC RIOT GIRL MUSIC ON HER MOTORCYCLE LIVING ALONE WITH A CAT CHIPPED NAIL POLISH

ezra......my beloved........his theme music......YOU'RE LIKE A SISTER TO ME i'm so glad they're at least getting that right

weird staff lady is a NIGHTSISTER? uh okay whatever

"former apprentice" what the fuck is this.

like. is this just kanan erasure???? what is going on???

girl if i'm supposed to be getting some sense of history and conflicted affection between ahsoka and sabine i'm getting absolutely nothing from this acting

blah. just blah i don't care i don't even care about sabine fighting a hot dark jedi it's just not good

i love to see hera moming sabine!!! this is how it should be!!!

from a distant galaxy? we're talking other galaxies now?

i really don't know what in the fuck is being implied with all this. absolute batshit stuff going on

CHOP

hera advocating for her depressed deadbeat daughter to get a job

well at least robot david tennant confirmed that she's not force sensitive

they did a beautiful job recreating that final rebels shot but at what cost

[overgrownmoon]

in other news i’ve been thinking about my creative projects a lot more now that i can finally breathe a bit over this break and i’ve got some ideas for yavari and koa*’s story. koa* is gonna get renamed i just haven’t found one that fits yet.

this got long i’m putting a read more

basic premise is that koa* is a monster hunter on the very fringes of the law, a frontier space where government rule has little meaning aka the polar north. ruthless, cunning, and has built a reputation for being damn good at his job, he’s basically immune from the law bc he’s so good at what he does. he then heard about a huge bounty that has gone out: a wanted monstrosity from the warmer south-lands has been sighted trying to escape to the polar north to evade capture and the reward for finding it and turning it in, dead or alive, is immense. koa*, of course, is in.

but of course, our monstrosity is none other than yavari, a woman cursed by the god of the sun, war, and fire because she tried to gain the same godly power for herself, and was struck down for her hubris. she got her immense power, but at a steep cost: her mortal heart is burned to cinders, replaced by a furnace in her chest that is both slowly burning away her body and soul. to fuel the fire inside her and stave off her death, she is forced to make “blood sacrifices,” aka kill and consume human flesh. she takes… perhaps a little too much joy in the hunt and the kill, and she has been granted incredible power and control over flame that is also fueled by the furnace in her chest, but she wants to break the curse before her soul is consumed completely and she is lost to the flame forever. however, it’s been a long time, and she is losing hope, and escaping to the polar north is either her last desperate attempt at finding a cure, or simply a suicide mission to end her life, whether by capture or freezing in the tundra.

koa* does find yavari bc he’s damn good at his job but is completely blindsided to find that the “monster” is a person; in fact, the first person who’s ever been able to relate to his own deep secret. koa* is actually a selkie who has pursued this life as a way to evade his worst fear of being captured and be forced to become a sailors wife, bc he’s trans! (yavari is trans too but it’s not as plot relevant) no one knows this, but he can’t help but be sympathetic towards yavari.

their relationship is rocky at first. yavari is grateful to be spared but suspicious and closed off, and koa* wants to help but doesn’t know how to trust others anymore. they don’t know what they’re going to do, besides evade the army of hunters who would want both of their skins to sell, but they know that they only have each other, now, and that they will have to figure out how to get along somehow if they want to survive and find a place they’ll be safe.

t4t monster enemies to reluctant and suspicious travel partners with a common goal to friends to lovers? perhaps? honestly most of the scenes in my head are a lot less Plot and a lot more yavari and koa* learning to be closer, open up, and become better people because they find someone to care about. and sweet action scenes and fight choreographies set to my likes playlist. sighs.

[glouchyouchy]

This laid out what I felt after watching the entire show far better than I ever could.

It’s a bit of a mess, and I really, *really* wish that it wasn’t.

( Some additional thoughts that I just *have* to throw in with everything that’s been said…

1) The acting, I have to say, in what I think is the climax of the entire story at the very least ( Force-choking, etc ) leaves much to be desired : not LJJ ( he was superb and deserved so much more, and the same goes for his character too ), but rather, AS. Just… This is her *father* that she’s killing, and that lifelong connection juxtaposed with what she was doing to him ( and what she was *seeing* him suffer through )… I don’t know, I’m no actor, but it just *seemed poorly done ( or rather, under-done )*, to be honest.

2.1) The showrunner was right : we *don’t* need a season 2, at least as regards the story of Osha, Mae, the Stranger, and Vernestra. Say what you will about The Acolyte, but this season really does wrap everything up quite… Not nicely, but *in a reasonably complete way* : Mae and Osha are Mark 1 of the Chosen One project, and whatever they end up being seems to be largely irrelevant in timeline; the Stranger is one of Plagueis’ Apprentices ( whether he’s the first or the last before Sidious seems to be of no real consequence in the larger story of Star Wars ) and whether he is the progenitor of the Knights of Ren can be tackled quite easily without another appearance from him; Vernestra chooses to conceal the truth in the exact same way that Sol erred in his management of Osha’s apprenticeship under him ( i.e., through a weird and misguided combination of selfishness ( unwillingness to deal with their own failings, internally or otherwise ) and selflessness ( protecting the Jedi Order in her case, protecting Osha’s dream in his case ).

2.2) I read somewhere that this show cost Disney a staggering 180 million dollars to make - *staggering* because it certainly *doesn’t* look like a 180-million-dollar show ( except for the *extremely short* starship battle ( the one in the Ahsoka show seems so much better in retrospect ))… Which means that there is a good chance that this really is *it* for this show.

3.1) Lee Jung-Jae has been an unmitigated ball of awesomeness this entire season. It bums me to no end that with his character’s demise also goes any and all future appearances from him in Star Wars media. Also : Sol’s Force-explosion was BAD-ASS. A *single* Jedi Master is capable of doing this… The Sith are right to be in hiding after all!

3.2) While I’m at it… Dafne Keen and Charlie Barnett have also been such a compelling presences - you just can’t help but root for them - in the show ( for as long as their characters lasted, that is ). It made their character’s deaths *that* much more impactful, which was evident from the audience reaction.

4) The fight choreography in this show was EXCELLENT, to say the least. Imagine how much better Ezra’s unarmed fight scene on Peridea would have looked like if The Acolyte’s stunt choreographer / coordinator was also in charge of the Ahsoka show’s… Versus what we got, which was *LAME*, it has to be said. )

Probably the biggest problem with The Acolyte is what really bit it in the ass in the finale--its main characters did things because of the plot, not because they were organically built up or made sense. I could mostly overlook it in previous episodes because it felt like there was still more time to reveal the characters' motivations, but now that we're at the end, there's just so little throughline for either of the twins' characterizations. Mae makes the most sense, you get why she was so angry, she always wanted Osha to stay with her, of course she'd drop everything when Osha was alive, but then suddenly she's just completely okay with Qimir erasing her memories of Osha? Of giving up that relationship that drove her the entire time--and Qimir says this was permanent, I doubt Mae had reason to think otherwise--in half a second flat, not just physically separating her from Osha, but erasing her entire relationship with her?? And Osha makes even less sense, we all joke that about how hot Manny Jacinto is and how he ~seduced her to the dark side, but honestly her motivations just seemed utterly gone in the previous episode, she's 100% ready to drop everything she believed in and go with him just because? And up to this point she's barely shown any interest in her connection to Mae, it's all "tell not show" that Osha cared about her, we're told that it was her biggest wound, we're told that she felt that connection, but we don't really see it until suddenly she's running away with Mae because apparently all along she felt that pull towards her? Intellectually, there are reasons given in the show, but I didn't feel any of them, it was more "Osha behaves this way because the plot needs her to behave this way." It's the same reason Sol can't say, "It really looked like your mother was going to kill you when she started Force-dissolving you, so I reacted without realizing what she was doing." because if he's allowed to explain, then the plot falls apart. The plot demands that he half-ass his explanation rather than because that felt natural to Sol's character. Things happen because the characters need to get from point A to point B, so point C can happen, rather than because the characters felt like they would actually do that. And it's worse because these are your main characters, the entire plot of the show is set around them.

[kevinkoosk]

Random thoughts 2024-01-17

On Revising My Opinion

A client asked for my opinion, and to draft an agreement based on that. I did so.

The client's client had a different opinion, and opined a different position at law was the proper position.

Based on the client's client's feedback, I'm now being asked to revise my opinion.

If anything goes wrong, I'm responsible because it will be my opinion.

So I think I won't change my opinion.

The client is free to engage another lawyer to give a new opinion that support's the client's client's opinion.

I've already made up my mind and there is no need to change my opinion.

On promising tokens

I have been interested in some very new L1 tokens.

Some of these include Fuse and Root.

(I can't afford the tokens which cost an arm and a leg. Best to get them when they're still early.)

Unfortunately I'm kinda broke and I can't afford to get in on them, but I'm very sure that they will moon in the next few months.

Maybe I'll find a way.

On exhibiting my art

On a whim, I decided to submit my art to a call for art.

The organizers promptly accepted my submission and asked for payment of 120 GBP.

I did the calculations, and found that I would be badly broke if I went for it.

It's more than MYR 700... half of the minimum wage in my country.

Still thinking about it, how to get the cash.

D.I.U.I.D.

Looking back at my posts over the past year, I feel like my main self-motivation has been to "get things done".

So yesterday I came up with an acronym called "D-I-U-I-D".

It means "Do It Until It's Done".

I guess you could shorten it to "Do Until Done", but then it'd be a "DUD".

Maybe DUID - Do Until It's Done - could be an alternative.

For almost 8 years I was enrolled in a doctorate program.

I didn't make it very far because people around me kept asking what was taking me so long.

So eventually I gave up.

That was when I was already halfway through the thesis writing, so, it was at an advanced stage.

I should have just hacked my way through it and gotten it done.

Good or bad, "Done" is more satisfying than "It's great but it's incomplete".

Sloppy but done. Still done.

Ugly but done. Still done.

Half finished but goddamn beautiful. Not done.

Some film producers die and others finish the movie for them.

Some authors die and people finish the book for them.

That's possible only because they died.

Ever seen a half-abandoned book finished by another author?

Or a half-abandoned movie finished by another director?

Maybe it's workable, and they'd call it an anthology.

"I did the first part and he did the second part. Collaboration is awesome!"

In actual fact, people get tired of what they are doing.

The best thing when doing something that makes you tired is to rush through it quickly and get it done.

Doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it is acceptable and workable.

Then come back and clean it up and upgrade everything!

The UK film producer Gareth Evans made Raid 1 and Raid 2 in Indonesia on a shoestring budget.

His method was to rehearse and film everything in the gym.

Camera angles, fight choreography, poses, dialogue - everything was rehearsed and shot in the gym.

Then they did the shooting for real.

By the time they were actually shooting, the film producer could take the actual movie footage and compare it with their gym-rehearsed footage.

"Oh, we missed a shot there. Let's redo it."

You know what, that saved them a lot of time.

Done is done. A message I give myself today.

Don't waste time with time wasters. Another message I give myself.

Because time wasters love nothing better than to waste their time - and wasting yours is a bonus.

Somebody said once that misery loves company, but in some circumstances, it's better to be alone.

Especially when you're sorting things out.

Have a nice day!

[legion1227]

Mortal Kombat 11: A Review.

In anticipation of Mortal Kombat 1 releasing, I decided to buy Mortal Kombat 11 a few months ago. I played the game in bits over the years at gatherings but never got much substantial time with the game until this purchase. As a big fan of the Mortal Kombat franchise, this game held me down, a fighting game casual fan, while waiting for the next entry.

Story-wise, the Mortal Kombat games got messy over the years. It was simply about a tournament in the 90s games, then became more complex with the 3D era of games introduced in the 2000s, like Deception, Deadly Alliance, and Armageddon. Then, Mortal Kombat 9 was released. MK 9 was the (sort of) reset the franchise needed. Cleaner slate, taking characters in new directions, 9 was ambitious. Then Mortal Kombat X was the follow-up, and Mortal Kombat 11 was the finale to a story established in 9 while also setting up the next game as a hard reset, like 9.

Mortal Kombat 11 was in a bizarre spot, huh.

Regardless, the story mode and story DLC were a lot of fun. Battling through the vast amount of characters in the roster with a rotating and changing cast of characters to play was fun. Ideally, when I'm looking for single-player content in a fighting game, the Mortal Kombat games are the standard of what I love and want to see. The cutscenes and fighting choreography are the best seen in the franchise so far. Character arcs for fan favorites like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are memorable. Newer or returning characters like D'vorrah or Kotal Kahn stand out in their own ways. And Kronika made for a challenging final boss for the game, though not as memorable as previous final bosses like Shao Kahn. The Aftermath DLC was even more fun. As a small continuation from the original story, DLC characters like Nightwolf and Fujin get some time to shine. But whoever's idea it was to bring back Cary-Hiruyuki Tagawa, the legend who played Shang Tsung in the 1990 movie, to reprise his role for this game is a genius. Whenever Shang Tsung is on screen, he's an utter delight.

Looking beyond the campy pleasure that is the MK story, other single-player content provides many hours of enjoyment. Traditional arcade mode to unlock character endings is my favorite thing in a fighting game right after a decent story. Fighting several different opponents, watching specialized intros between my character and the enemy, attempting to link combos, and alternating between finishing my opponents with fatalities, brutalities, stage fatalities, friendships, and whatever else all add to an overwhelmingly positive experience. I tried every character, and among the nearly forty available characters, I found that stringing along combos and special moves with Shao Kahn was the easiest. I love many fighting game series besides Mortal Kombat, like Street Fighter, Blazblue, or Tekken, but I've always appreciated how much easier it is to pull off special moves or complex combos in the recent MK games. So gameplay-wise, Mortal Kombat 11 feels good. It feels right. It's joyous to look at and a bomb to play.

Besides the traditional arcade mode, there are other arcade-esque modes called the Towers of Time. The ever-changing rotating towers with differing objectives or challenges provided a different intrigue every day. Your rewards usually end up being one of three types of currency that can be used at the Krypt, where you can buy customization options for each character or concept art or brutalities, among numerous other things.

There comes my one major gripe with the game. The Krypt fucking SUCKS!

Actually, the Krypt is somewhat cool. Exploring an island to purchase various items, navigating through death traps, and seeing some easter eggs for fans was a distinguished experience. What muddies the experience is that you have coins, souls, and hearts that act as payment for whatever. Some items cost coins, and some need others. The best way to accumulate currency is grinding through the arcade towers, which can become tedious after a while. Especially considering the requirements for hearts and souls are more demanding and specific than coins. My hope for Mortal Kombat 1 is that a version of the Krypt similar to this one appears but only uses one type of currency.

As a casual fighting game fan, this game works immensely for me. The blueprint of fighting game single-player content I would like to see as someone who prefers not to hop online and get my ass handed to me by pros who eat, sleep, and breathe the game. I dunno if or when I will get Mortal Kombat 1, but until that day, for a Mortal Kombat fix, I will definitely indulge over and over again in Mortal Kombat 11. Great game. 4/5.

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: The Toxic Avenger (1984)

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Rated R

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-toxic-avenger-1984.html>

Score: 3 out of 5

Much like its titular superhuman mutant, The Toxic Avenger is a messy, disjointed film that nonetheless rises above its ugly first impression, largely because it has a ton of heart beneath its campy exterior. Its story and its many subplots are all over the place, the cast is comprised of ridiculous caricatures, the acting is shaky at best, and some of the humor doesn't hold up and can best be summed up with "the '80s were a different time"; Troma typically treads a fine line when it comes to that sort of thing. That said, the effects themselves still look good decades later despite this film's low budget, the Toxic Avenger himself was an incredibly endearing character, and as somebody who grew up in New Jersey, this film's exaggerated parody of a lot of that state's working/middle-class communities rang incredibly true, especially with its notes of satire about what we think of as "acceptable targets" in the War on Crime. This movie's still worth a watch today, not just for gorehounds and B-movie aficionados but for anybody looking to have a genuinely good time.

Set in Tromaville, New Jersey just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, the film introduces us to Melvin Ferd, a scrawny, dweebish, dim-witted janitor at a supremely, spectacularly '80s gym whose rich asshole customers routinely harass and bully him, when they aren't partaking in their evening pastime of running people over and photographing their splattered corpses for their amusement. One day, four of those jerks decide to pull a prank on Melvin, one that ends with him accidentally falling into a drum of radioactive waste that mutates him into a hideous, grotesque abomination -- but one who's not only much stronger and more resilient than he used to be, but also seemingly smarter and better-spoken, too. Rejected by his own mother as a freak, Melvin goes to live in a junkyard, only to find his true calling in life when he brutally beats down three crooks attacking a cop who refused to take their bribe (killing two of them). With this, he becomes a local hero, especially as he starts fighting criminals and helping ordinary people across town -- a genuine Jersey superhero, much to the growing concern of the town's corrupt officials who fear that one day, he'll come for them.

This movie looks and feels rough, like they shot it on actual city streets that they only had a few minutes to close off, and not just because some of the police cars and ambulances say "Jersey City" and "Rutherford" instead of "Tromaville" on the side. While the action scenes are still better shot than some of the garbage I've seen with budgets more than a hundred times bigger than this film (which cost about half a million dollars), they were clearly relying on gore and explosions more than tight choreography. The characters are all written as broad caricatures and played in a very over-the-top fashion; Melvin is a walking dweeb stereotype before his transformation, the yuppie bullies, street criminals, and corrupt city officials are all cartoonishly, one-dimensionally evil, and the blind woman Sarah who falls for Melvin because she can't see what he looks like feels written and portrayed by people who'd never met a blind person. An interesting plot thread that Melvin's transformation might also be turning him violently insane is dropped when it's revealed that the seemingly innocent old lady he killed was actually a crime boss involved in human trafficking. This is a movie where it feels like the people involved were just glad they got the chance to make it at all, and so they focused purely on making sure that all the visceral thrills and yuks made it on the screen without really going back over the script.

That said, there are still interesting ideas here. As the story goes on and the Toxic Avenger starts aiming his sights higher than just mopping up street slime, his "protection" of Tromaville grows increasingly controversial once he starts attacking people like that old lady who were seen as pillars of the community, hiding their crimes behind a veneer of respectability. It's here where the film's real villains come out to play, the fat cats who have turned this town into an empire of kickbacks and graft and allowed it to turn into a dump (a literal one in the case of the toxic waste facility they built) with the residents none the wiser, to the point that it becomes easy for them to start turning the people against Toxie when he moves on to frying bigger fish. Again, it often felt clunky and disjointed how it played out, especially towards a climax that didn't really feel earned, and it didn't go into much depth on these themes. However, as somebody who grew up in New Jersey and was quite familiar with stories of small-town corruption, a lot of this movie's plot was instantly recognizable. For all the faults in the writing, I bought the villains as surprisingly realistic bad guys given the kind of movie they were in, and grew to hate them for all the right reasons.

I also grew to love Melvin/Toxie himself, a hideous lunk of a man but one with a big heart who, as it turns out, can actually express himself surprisingly well. Hearing him suddenly switch from grunts to speaking like a Hollywood leading man was humorous the first time, but by the end of the film, I'd come to embrace it as just another part of his character, a legitimate stand-up hero who just so happens to look and occasionally act like a horror movie monster. He's probably the most wholesome character I've ever seen crush another man's head with a set of weights. The violence and bloodshed here are plentiful, for that matter, and when paired with the manner in which Toxie is treated as a superhero by the town, I felt like I was watching a more lighthearted version of The Boys, one that dropped the cynical portrayal of superheroes but not the depictions of what might actually happen if a man with super-strength went HAM on a man who didn't. The romance between Toxie and Sarah felt like it was thrown in just to give him a love interest and have at least one actual female character who wasn't one of the bad guys, but it still felt pretty sweet how it was handled. The Shape of Water it wasn't, but I still came to care about her.

The Bottom Line

Overall, I left Popcorn Frights' screening last Friday night (a rather serendipitous one given I was heading up to Jersey that Sunday) feeling good. This is a quintessential midnight movie experience, with a mix of creative kills delivered to deserving scumbags and a hero I came to root for, even with the film's self-evident faults. It's a treat for fans of retro B-movie cheese.

[iloveyourwritingthankyou]

Eddie x Cheer Manager!reader - post graduation head canons

hey guys I'm sorry this took so long i hope you enjoy it!!

Masterlist

Eddie and reader graduate together at the end of ‘86

Eddie and reader are a year apart in age, reader repeated a year after all of the upside-down stuff made it hard for her to concentrate on school

Eddie isn’t sure what he wants to do after school aside from the band and reader convinces him to go all in, “babe if you can save an entire town with a guitar solo you can totally sell out a venue”

Reader decides to take a gap year before college because she just wants a break after everything that happened the past few years

Reader accompanies Eddie to rehearsals for a few weeks before she gets a little bored and decided to do what she does best, manage!

She starts by trying to unify their image a little more, listing all the clothing elements they had in common so they could plan more cohesive outfits for gigs

They all have a lot of energy but none of them seem to know quite what to do with that energy on stage, so reader starts working on some basic choreography

She also starts looking at designing a logo for the band, though she has Eddie do most of the drawing

Eventually the band starts getting really good tips and energy from the crowd when they perform but there’s only so much they can do in the middle of Indiana

So reader does some research and suggests that the band moves somewhere that metal is a little more lucrative – San Francisco

They’re a little apprehensive at first, it’s a big commitment and it costs a bit to move more than halfway across the country but reader is so sure this is going to work that they can’t help but believe her

Eddie and reader get an apartment with the rest of the band so that costs are cheaper

Reader manages to book the band a gig in a small venue not long after they get there, she’d made a lot of friends organising gigs closer to Indiana and after quite a few phone calls had managed to gain some contacts in San Francisco

One of the bands corroded coffin opened for on the east coast is running a gig and reader convinces them to give eddies band the spot again – it wasn’t really hard they loved corroded coffin last time

The crowd in San Fran really likes corroded coffin and they get consistent gigs opening for other bands across a few venues

Reader keeps helping the band work on their craft, planning the set lists so that she can choreograph the whole set together

The new strategy really helps the boys, with planned rests letting them keep energy up right to the end of their performances

Eventually corroded coffin begin getting headlining gigs allowing them to save up to start recording their songs

They get signed fairly quickly after the demos are recorded, with eddies charisma and readers careful curation making them a valuable addition to any label

The band manages to barter for a pretty decent contract as reader has already done a lot of the heavy listing a label would do

This contract includes the term they had to fight hardest for, getting to keep reader as manager

The label was certain that they should have a proper industry manager, it would help them do better

but the band absolutely refuses to get rid of reader, they’re a little convinced she's a good luck charm so they, especially Eddie, demand that they keep reader and that she can just get training if the label is that insistent

Reader does end up getting trained and Eddie loves it because it makes it so much easier to bring her with him on roadies when they eventually start touring

Reader and Eddie enjoy touring, but they make sure they get to spend considerable amounts of time in San Fran because that’s where their family is!

Because eventually the whole Hawkins squad ends up in San Francisco for various reasons

The hoppers-byers family goes at the start of the new school year for a few reasons

They decide that Eleven should be able to go to school and that she would raise less suspicion in a big city where not everyone knows each other

Joyce also figures it’s the best move for her sons, knowing it would be best for Will to grow up somewhere more safe and accepting

Eddie runs the hellfire club for Will and his friends once everyone is settled in, he grants official leadership of the Hawkins branch to Dustin in his absence

While Eddie was stoked at the idea of the hellfire club expanding across the country he was happiest when everyone eventually made it to California and they became one group again

Will is actually the groups dungeon master by the time everyone is together again with corroded coffin taking off but Eddie and reader are equally happy to be party members whenever they’re in town

the band has a low intensity campaign they play on the road, rockstars or not they’re all still nerds at heart

Joyce also knows Jonathan would love to follow Nancy if he didn’t feel the need to look after his family, so moving them all to San Francisco means Johnathan doesn’t have to sacrifice anything

Nancy moves in 87’ after scoring a journalism position with the San Francisco chronicle

The exclusive piece she writes solving the sting of homicides in her town the year before grants her enough credit that she’s considered a lucrative potential employee

Johnathan lives with his family for a few years, he does free lance photography for a few newspapers, making more money by being able to sell to multiple bidders

Occasionally he’ll grant Nancy exclusive rights for an article, putting her work that much further ahead of everyone else

Eventually he and Nancy get their own apartment after Nancy gets promoted

The paper makes her lead journalist after she scores an exclusive interview with Eddie about the bands third album tour

With Jonathan being granted exclusive backstage access for concert photos the article is unmatched

Mike begins planning his move to California the moment Will and Eleven tell him they’re leaving

his belongings are packed as early as he possibly can and he leaves the morning after their high school graduation

Mike Will and Eleven get an apartment together though after a while Will is the only one who ends up living there full time

Mike and Eleven are gone most weekends as they make their money as a magic act in Vegas, hopper was apprehensive at first but once he sits in on a performance and realises everyone just thinks they’re illusions he calms down a little

Eleven only uses her powers for some of their tricks to avoid raising too much suspicion – they stuff cotton up her nose to hide any bleeding

Max Dustin and Lucas leave together not long after Mike moves

They were all keen to get away from the dangers of Hawkins, no longer trusting that the upside down and its monsters would stay dormant

Max had missed California since the move to Hawkins and was excited to move back

Lucas was happy to follow max and they both agreed that San Francisco was a better option than LA between getting to stay near their friends and not wanting Lucas to be anywhere near the Los Angeles police

Dustin had no real interest in staying in Hawkins without his friends and San Francisco put him less than a 24-hour drive from Suzie

Eventually Dustin manages to get Suzie to move out of her house, the distance from her dad lessening the religious guilt a little

Dustin and Suzie move out of San Francisco fairly early after they both gain lucrative jobs in Silicon Valley, Dustin with a tech firm and Suzie with the us defence department

They’re both fairly happy that it’s not too far away though as it allows them to take their kids to see all their aunts and uncles very easily

Reader and Eddie love to babysit everybody’s kids especially because they don’t plan to have their own kids, Eddie always comes back from tour with a tiny suitcase full of souvenirs for all his nieces and nephews

Reader was absolutely stoked to see her little brother again; she’d only been gone about a year but phone calls and letters just weren’t the same

Reader convinces Eddie to throw a welcome back party when the last of the kids arrive

They have snacks and alcohol courtesy of Eddie, who also planned a DND one-shot for everyone to play at the party

Dustin is absolutely ecstatic that they had finally convinced max to join in

Robin and Steve leave Hawkins last, wanting to make sure that the kids still in Hawkins always have someone around to look out for them

Robin decides she’s tired of walking on eggshells around the people of Hawkins and the idea of an established community she can be a part of sounds immensely appealing

she convinces Steve to come with her and get an apartment for a few reasons

first of all, she knows Steve wont last 5 minutes without his gaggle of kids to look after; she remembers summer before Dustin came back

second of all, the longer Steve went struggling to find what he wants in a woman the more his feelings sounded very familiar, she figures he might be a little more willing to process those feelings in a more accepting place

corroded coffin play gay bars fairly often and reader invites Steve and Robin to a gig to go drinking once they’re in town

Steve finally comes to the realisation he was bi at one of the corroded coffin album release parties after Eddie gives everyone some party favours to get everyone in the right mood

Eddie, Robin, and reader may be seen exchanging money when Steve starts talking to one of the members of eddies newest opening act

Robin has never been happier to have to make her own breakfast when she realises Steve hadn’t come home the night before