#the new power rangers movie

[klanced]

hey katie … you do know that the live action voltron movie isn’t gonna have keith or lance right? like its most probably going to be an entirely new set of characters from the research i’ve done 😓 somewhat disappointing but interesting to see what they do with it at least?

i don’t like that idea so i’m electing to ignore it until proven otherwise 👍🏼

[thegirlwholied]

"it was great being a Ranger, Zordon" 💔

[morninkim]

Rise of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Rito Revolto & Mordant

A mercenary for hire and his accountant who handles his space finances, meet Rito Revolto and Mordant!

Rito was hired by Count Dregon almost a year ago as an extra warrior. His ruthless fighting style, nonchalant attitude and willingness to do almost anything if it means he gets paid proved useful to the Count's cause. However, Rito defects from Dregon when it looks like the warlord will be defeated by the combined forces of the Power Rangers and the Masked Rider, meaning he wouldn't get paid anymore.

Mordant joined up with Rito a few years ago, seeing him as a steady contract that makes him money so he can maintain his cybernetics. He now makes more than enough, but sticks around because he knows Rito would make terrible financial decisions without him.

Shortly following the departure of Dex from Earth, the two are approached by Goldar as a representative of Lord Zedd and offered a deal. Destroy the Power Rangers and Zedd will give him the Power Coins as a reward. Though the Dark Specter would never, in fact, actually give up the Power Coins to a random mercenary, Rito accepts the bluff, despite Mordant's best advice.

Rito then joins up with the growing ranks of Lord Zedd (or "Edd" as he calls him), surprised to see Scorpina also among them. Once again, Mordant is stuck tagging along with his client, against his better judgement.

[spiltsoup]

Hi!

I was hyping up my first post for absolutely no reason at all and it was making me anxious so. Well. Here it is.

I guess I’ll tag some of the fandom stuff that one should expect to see on this blog. Currently I am hyperfixating on Ally McBeal, and my obsession has become so potent that I have now moved most discussion about that show onto my sideblog, @gay-homophobic-lawyer-show. Please follow me there, I talk about women a lot!

Speaking of which, I also cannot physically shut up about actresses. Like I am the blueprint lesbian who sees a pretty woman in a movie/TV show, goes onto IMDB, and watches everything they’re in.

I write, make silly stupid edits, and rant about things I like. I also do digital art, but I’m still figuring that stuff out so bear with me.

Don’t really have any active socials other than this and AO3. I’m still SpiltSoup on there! BE WARNED: I WRITE SPICY SMUT NOW.

My tags:

soup.txt- Random bits of my insane thoughts and ramblings. Could be about things I like, could just be about whatever. Spin thee wheel.

socribbles - My drawings, doodles and art (soup + scribbles). I’ll also probably tag it with “my art” for simplicity, but I wanted to be a bit wacky. Nothing in it yet but that will soon change!

alphabet soup - Original creative writing. Fanfiction mostly. Probably. It will be gay.

spilts edits - Video edits/fancams I make. 50/50 chance they will be incredibly stupid or “serious” and “cool”

soup spills - Answered asks!! I’m excited to see what y’all send me. Please send me asks. I like answering them please pls pls pls 😳

More personalized tags to come! This post is constantly being updated lol.

[whoisryosuke]

[rawrsatthetree]

I think the best way to tackle a Modern AU for BG3 isn’t to make it a slice of life but to some how combine the elements of a collage drama, organized crime, a dooms day cult, and an alien invasion all into one coherent plot.

I do not know how to do this but I do have some ideas. All the characters have no reason to associate with each other until they’re all abducted by aliens, wormed, and released back into the wild like a bird that just got tagged. Everyone kind of writes it off as either a bad trip or a dream until the cross paths and the worm does the connection thing. Eventually bringing them all together with a few people investigating the invasion to get to the bottom of what’s happening.

Wyll is a pre law student mostly against his will to appease his dad. He wants to help people but doesn’t necessarily want to be a cop like his father the chief of police. He half asses his classes because he doesn’t have much passion for them, blowing them off to volunteer in clubs and community outreach programs. I think Mizora should be either a professor, Dean of students, or academic advisor. In exchange for favors she alters his grades pushes him through the system. Little does he know she’s also idk involved with a crime organization and her favors go from small and perverted to slowly becoming more dangerous and criminal. He’s young and she has a lot of power over his future and could even expose him as a fraud and an accomplice to his father so he feel helpless to defy her.

Astarion is a law school drop out but that’s old news. You’ll find him prowling the local bar and club scene looking for potential clients. After a string of bad luck and poor life choices he’s a prostitute and drug dealer for a local gangster in the Black Hand gang only known as The Vampire (I know I’m so creative). Cazador’s deal is still the pretty much the same local rich public figure is secretly a very cruel and evil man who uses fear and addiction to control his underlings.

Karlach worked as muscle for the leader of the Black Hand gang before she was forcibly sold and enlisted as a mercenary over seas. After a ten years fighting in foreign years she’s back and ready to get her revenge on the whole Black Hand cult unfortunately she has to do it quickly because (ok idk I tried doing some research and couldn’t find any condition caused by an injury that can suddenly become fatal idk maybe cancer from a bullet or shrapnel)

Gale isn’t a professor but like a doctorate student on a tenure track, but bordering on the mad science kind of research. He’s in an abusive relationship with his over seeing faculty Mystra. Ultimately a lab accident during his research leads to the orb.

I think Lae’zel should still be an alien. She was abducted on another planet and escaped while the earthlings were being tadpoled. Now she’s stranded and tadpoled on a strange planet.

Halsin is a university professor and a local environmental activist. He’s been investigating strange occurrences and is onto the alien invasion thing.

I’m honestly not sure about Shadowheart. She should definitely be college age. But I’m not sure how to approach the shar thing.

Not sure about Minthara either except maybe military turned death cult member.

Jaheira and Minsc are cops investigating the alien invasion I’m so sorry not like real world cops but like fun fictional cops that only exist in movies. Boo is their police dog. OMG wait no they’re Park Rangers!!

Other stuff

The dead three chosen are instead three gang leaders. Except Bhaal cult also doubles as a murder cult still on top of being a criminal organization.

The alien invasion is still the mind flayer grand design.

I don’t think the dead three are controlling the mind flayers this time. Instead they’re using the strange alien invasion occurrences as grounds to start a dooms day cult or maybe they are idk

[droidders]

Transformers One review

I'll start off with a non spoiler review.

First of all, amazing voice acting especially from Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree!! I didnt think Chris would be able to do a good orion/optimus voice but boy was I WRONG. They did amazing. Scarlett Johansson's voice for Elita was an amazing pick and keagan michael for bee's voice is also good.

Stellar voice acting with so much emotion!!

The animation is amazing. And the way they showed the world of cybertron is amazing. The world building in this movie is so good, i seriously feel like cybertron is a real planet with real creatures with its own rules, history, culture. They made the planet feel so alive, its insane.

All the characters were likeable, i was really vouching for all of them to succeed in their goals. The movie knows when to be funny and when to be serious, and it can get REALLY serious when it needs to be. The movie talks about real world problems and reflects it so well.

THE TRAILERS DID NOT DO THE MOVIE JUSTICE.

The trailers really made it look like a kids power ranger type of movie. The trailers gave it a vibe of:

"Bumblebee, you go left! D-16, you go right! And Elita.. well, you just be elita."

When the actual movie really wasnt. I kept my hopes low cause the trailers weren't really hyping me up that much and i didnt expect much from the movie overall but holy moly my expectations were blown away. The movie does have its flaws like any movie but yeah. This genuinely feels like the spiderverse of transformers. Truly amazing.

Overall 9.8/10, amazing job to everyone who worked on this movie, YOU COOKED!!!

I highly reccommend watching it in cinemas. Its worth it, just trust me on this!!!

Waiter! Waiter! I'd like a trilogy of transformers movies that are as good as this!

Id also like to add that this movie is the best transformers movie. And you dont have to be an insane transformers fan like me to like the movie, nor do you have to watch any other transformer movie to understand it. Its a great standalone movie. Its a movie great for both new and old transformer fans and people who are just looking for a good movie to watch.

GO WATCH IT NOW.

Now onto the spoiler review

I said all that i wanted to say about the overall movie in the non spoiler review. Here, I'll talk about the actual characters and story.

THIS IS CINEMA HOLY MOLY.

I had to resist screaming in theaters especially the part where Orion and D16 went to that thruster thing to get a better view of the Iacon 5000 and d16 is all like: "You did all this for me?"

AAAGWGSFEGWGSGDGDHHYDTST

The character development with D16 slowly turning into the monster that is megatron is BEAUTIFUL.

The movie writes d16 in a way that makes us NOT want him to turn evil which makes him slowly turning into megatron and betraying orion all the more heartbreaking. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Seriously, his descension into evil makes me wanna cry. His unbridled rage towards Sentinel portrayed through the voice acting is just WOW. You can really feel his anger through his voice.

The way his eyes change as the movie progresses is just great. They did great writing him, deep down I really wanted him to be redeemed and for him to NOT turn into a brute like sentinel even though I knew it was inevitable. Some transformations are good, useful even, but in the case of Megatron it was a terrifying transformation thats unfortunately permanent.

Sentinel prime, as much as I hate him he is still such a great character. I hate him so much I love him. THE SCENE WHERE HE WAS BEGGING D16 TO NOT KILL HIM SENT CHILLS. You can feel the amount of fear in his voice. It was a striking contrast to his confident demeanor, his ruthlessness as a 'leader', and he who is the literal killer of the Primes,

to see him BEG for his life truly shows how terrifying D16 is.

ORION PAX AKA THE GLORIOUS OPTIMUS PRIME.

A wonderful and entertaining main character. THE SCENE WHERE HE JUMPS OUT OF THE PIT AS OPTIMUS PRIME??? Holy moly that was so badass. AND THE LINE WHERE HE SAYS:

"We could've built the future together."

GOD IT MAKES ME WANNA CRY.

The expression he made when he saw D16 being absolutely BRUTAL to Starscream as he realizes that his friend is slowly transforming into someone evil is gut-wrenching.

And throughout the first part of the movie he was this reckless character who did stupid things, he had hope and determination unlike anyone. It made me question 'How could this guy possibly turn out to be the strong leader that Optimus is?'

But during that scene where he talked to the other miners and led the High Guard to sentinel made me 100% sure that yeah, this guy definitely can be a great leader. And the way he gave the miners a CHOICE to join him or not. That is PRIME.

Elita was a straight up girlboss. I love how they didn't make her just another love interest for Orion or made her just this girl who was a good fighter. She was sassy, witty, and a hard worker. I almost feel bad for her getting demoted and having to deal with the mess that is Orion, D16 and Bee. But anyways, shes an amazing character, really likeable personality who is way more than just a bot who's a good fighter (which was the impression i unfortunately got from the trailers)

Her pep talk with Orion was both funny and beautiful. She knows how to break someone down with her words and build them back up to be stronger. I loved her. Not to mention her design looks gorgeous??? Probably my fav elita design of all time.

At first I found Bee a strange addition to the movie and I was scared they were gonna make him an annoying character but thank god he really wasnt! He was a great comic relief character who had a lot of funny lines. He adds so much silliness into a serious movie and not in a bad way.

He knew when to be serious and the gravity of the situation with Sentinel being a terrible, corrupt leader. I loved the portrayal of him as this almost crazy guy whos been stuck being alone talking to inanimate objects in a place where all he does is burn trash all day (makes sense as to why he talks so much).

A really good character, thank primus they didnt make him annoying or overbearing.

Lastly, Cybertron itself. THE WORLD BUILDING IS SO GOOD. It's environment, its people (or bots?) make the planet feel so real. All of these cool mechanisms with the road and trains, the landscape during the train scene with the vapor wave-esque sun is just gorgeous. Such a beautiful portrayal of Cybertron that I love.

I personally dont think the movie NEEDS a sequel since the rest of the transformers just takes place after this, but if they make another movie thats as good as this, Im not complaining. If they do make a new movie though, I'll guess that it probably has something to do with the Quintessons or something idk.

Its a really beautiful take on Megatron and Optimus' backstory. And though there are many takes on it like how megatron was a gladiator and not a miner, etc,

This is still probably my favorite take on their story, its a really interesting portrayal of them and their fallout.

Anyways thats the end of my yap, honorable mentions to the music, it helped the immersion of the movie, and its really good.

Do note that Ive only seen it once, i might've gotten some stuff wrong but ill be looking to watch it again somehow in the future. My review may be subject to change but yeah.

Buh-bye!!

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 10-16, 2023)

Suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, who originated the roles of Gigan and Hedorah and played Godzilla in all of the Heisei films, passed away on Saturday at the age of 76. A serious performer paired with a serious Godzilla, he approached the role with near-religious reverence. Asked to give advice to Godzilla's next actor following the completion of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, he said, "Be Godzilla. Don't do anything else. Write books about playing Godzilla, talk to reporters about playing Godzilla, but don't do anything else. Just be Godzilla." His second stint as the character, Godzilla vs. Biollante, is my favorite movie of all time, and it's pretty staggering how many of its key people are gone now. Rest in peace.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters finally brought Godzilla into the present-day storyline—and finally let him enter Japanese waters in the flashbacks to 1955. (The only other time he's done this in the Monsterverse is in the debatably-canon Godzilla: Awakening.) I enjoyed the flashbacks a lot more than the main story this time, as the latter is just piling on the Ominous Pronouncements while withholding details to a degree that seems unrealistic from a Watsonian perspective. Give me a well-acted, doomed love triangle any day.

Comic book sales data is nigh-impossible to find these days, but 2022's Godzilla vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers must have made bank, since it's getting a sequel! Writer Cullen Bunn and colorist Andrew Dalhouse are back, with Baldemar Rivas now handling the art. First issue's coming in April. The logline:

Worlds collide a second time as everyone’s favorite kaiju meets up with Earth’s mightiest warriors once again to take on the most fearsome monsters from both sides of the multiverse, with Rita Repulsa egging them on! This one has it all: SpaceGodzilla! Clawhammer! Tentacreep! But what exactly does Rita intend to do with their collective might, and how have her mysterious new allies, Astronema and the Alliance of Evil, given her added reach across worlds? The Power Rangers are on a mission to find out, but first…all roads lead back to Godzilla!

I recognize some of the proper nouns in there, at least!

Godzilla Minus One added even more North American theaters (from 2,540 to 2,622), but with stiffer competition in the form of Wonka, it fell to fourth with $5 million. That gets it over $30 million here; we'll see how much of a boost it gets from the holidays. The film is piling up accolades from regional critic groups, as well as a nomination at the Critics Choice Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

I'm also making my way through all the videos Toho put on YouTube when I was desperately dodging spoilers, so look forward to more Minus One gifs and screenshots.

One more trailer for the Kaiju No. 8 anime, which is, for whatever reason, going to stream worldwide via X/Twitter. (Maybe they saw that users there already upload entire movies and decided to get ahead of the curve?) Don't worry, it'll be on Crunchyroll too.

[morkitten]

KAMEN RIDER MEGAPOST

I've been deep in the Kamen Rider hole after taking a blind chance on it about a year ago and it's been one of the most rewarding discoveries I've had, so I'm doing a megapost where I try to convey what's so interesting and unique about this series that you can literally just start anywhere. There's a Kamen Rider series for everyone, and I hope to convince you of it and point to where you can give it a try for yourself. Click on the read more to see more!

WHAT IS KAMEN RIDER?

Kamen Rider is a superhero that rides a motorcycle who's often bug-themed, but not always. The Kamen Rider franchise started in 1971 and, with the exception of a few periods of dry spells, keeps making new yearly series to this day. It's part of Japan's many, many decades old craft of special effects-focused TV shows and movies, called "Tokusatsu" (literally, "special filming"). It was conceived and spearheaded by Shotaro Ishinomori, an incredibly famous mangaka in Japan, responsible for not only Kamen Rider, but also Super Sentai, Cyborg 009, Zubat, Kikaider, and many other TV series and mangas. The amount of works he has produced in manga and TV is incredibly huge, and his works have been incredibly influential to Japanese culture as a whole. Kamen Rider can be argued that is his biggest, most important contribution.

A consistent theme in early Kamen Rider series is that he's a lonesome, grieving hero, in which his sadness fuels his righteous anger at the evils that he's fighting against. He's been transformed into a monster against his will, and now must fight against the very forces that created him. In every Kamen Rider series, the power that the protagonist wields is the same power that fuels the evil forces he fights against. In a way, you can see it as a metaphor for Kamen Rider's production itself: It must use the evil power of mass media to carry its anti-authoritarian messages that go against the very forces that even allow it to exist. It's the tale of every artist trying to create something earnest and culturally and artistically enriching in the cynical mass media space.

WHY WATCH KAMEN RIDER?

I was never really sold on Kamen Rider at first. I remember watching a bit of Kamen Rider Black when I was very young, so I was always nostalgically curious about it. But whenever I saw the newer Kamen Rider stuff pop up on Twitter or whatever, I had always dismissed it as "eh, whatever bug bit you I guess made you interested in that". Something about the super toyetic costume designs and super fake CG just never really inspired my attention, and it was easy to dismiss it as something for kids, something in that same place in my mind as "what shonenheads are into". I guess what I mean is that I saw newer Kamen Rider as "low art". It's easy to categorize it as such, people in silly suits selling toys, doing really silly comedy, with silly CG. I've seen Power Rangers before, it's just that. It has to be cynical!

I had never done such a big 180 before. Yes, Kamen Rider is "for the kids" (with some exceptions), yes it has a ton of silliness to it, but there's also a lot of good cinematography, fantastic stunts, and really great, serious drama. Kamen Rider is seen as a cultural institution in Japan for all those reasons. It's a way to keep a lot of theater traditions alive in a modern space, a way to have many young, extremely talented actors have a big break, a way to keep tokusatsu traditions and craft (analog special effects, stuntmen, martial arts actors) alive, employed, and continuously evolving, to create something that bridges the gap across all generations in Japan.

It's difficult to explain, but Kamen Rider has the important positive qualities of extremely good older television like Star Trek and Columbo. A TV show that doesn't want to aspire to be a hollywood movie like Netflix series cheaply try to do, but that sees the value of theater and theater skills in television.

Another thing to note is that because Kamen Rider is such a huge cultural institution, if you enjoy anime and japanese video games, there's so so much about what you love on your favorite anime and games that are directly inspired by Kamen Rider. Every japanese action game you've enjoyed? Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Hagane, Bayonetta, they -all- have an incredibly huge amount of Kamen Rider in them. Nearly everything Gainax, Hideaki Anno and Studio Trigger made. Pokémon, Digimon, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh (especially on the superb monster designs), Taiyo Matsumoto, every japanese character that has ever stricken a dab. It's not just references, there are fundamental things about pretty much all of these games, mangas and animes I've listed that are directly attributed to Kamen Rider. So if you enjoy anything I've listed, you ought to give it a try.

OKAY, WHERE TO START?

One of the greatest things about Kamen Rider is that since every series is its own closed continuity (there are crossover movies but they largely don't matter), you can pretty much start anywhere you'd like. Of course, with this many ice cream flavors, one can't help but become paralyzed by the abundance of choice, even though, and I can't emphasize this enough, every Kamen Rider series I've watched so far have all been pretty good to fantastic. I'm sure there's a couple of stinkers I've avoided, but a hitrate like this feels miraculous, I don't understand how does Kamen Rider from so many different eras can keep such a consistent quality even when they can feel so different from one another and be spearheaded by such different creators. You can maybe look them all up and decide what theme you're most attracted by, or, I can maybe help you and tell you about the ones I've watched!

So, here's a list of the Kamen Riders I've watched, with short descriptions of each of them and what makes them appealing, and a mini-list of recommended episodes to sample, in case you're still not sure whether to jump in:

SHOWA ERA (1971 - 1994)

KAMEN RIDER (1971)

The original, and also the least I've watched so far, haven't even gotten to 10 episodes yet. It famously started with an incredibly small budget and it's magical to see what tricks the production employed in order to make it work and be exciting and fun while spending as little money as possible. The stunts are very dangerous but very cool to see. A long, very episode-by-episode affair, but if you get excited on cheap sets and cheap cinema tricks and special effects used very cleverly, this is going to light you up like a christmas tree. It also employs some thriller-inspired cinematography that is very exciting. The writing doesn't offer much substance, but it has this quality where it really believes in itself and in the ideals that Kamen Rider is supposed to represent that is very easy to feel wrapped up in. Might bore you if you're not already sold on the appeal of old tokusatsu.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 6: The Grim Reaper Chameleon! Episode 7: The Grim Reaper Chameleon Showdown: Old World's Fair

KAMEN RIDER AMAZON (1974)

It's basically just the 1971 Kamen Rider but the main character is Tarzan. It runs only half as long as other Kamen Rider series so if you wanna do a whole Showa-era KR series quickly, it's a very solid recommendation. It's very violent for a children's show, with Amazon often slicing and mauling his monster opponents in bloody messes, and it looks really sick. The suits and special effects are better than how the original Kamen Rider starts off, but it still has that appeal of being old and budgeted for a TV show, which in this case is a huge positive, imo. Also again, the writing isn't much to write about, so don't expect big narrative payoffs or anything like that, you really have to enjoy it on an episode-by-episode basis, which is fine, because the monsters and special effects are extremely cool, the characters are charismatic, and the little episodic plots are fun.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 4: Run! The Raging Jungler! Episode 11: The Golden Snail is the Grim Reaper's Envoy!? Episode 16: Garanda's Tokyo Sea of Flames Operation Episode 17: Mt.Fuji Big Explosion?! The Tokyo Fry Pan Operation

KAMEN RIDER BLACK (1987)

This was supposed to be a revival of Kamen Rider into public interest after being dormant for a while, so it also feels like a retelling of the first Kamen Rider in a sense, has a lot of common elements, but with slick 80s production and sensibilities all over. If you love how 80s action, sci-fi and thriller movies look like, you'll love the cinematography and production of Kamen Rider Black. It's edgier, sleeker, and even scarier, borrowing a lot of horror/thriller elements that were in vogue at the time, while still being a hopeful, heroic and uplifting presence for children. Has an overarching plot that develops over time but it's, again, really about enjoying it on an episode-by-episode basis, as the overarching plot develops veeeery slowly and in very small portions. I supremely love how this series looks, I love the special effects, I love the suits, and it has my favorite transformation sequence.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 1: Black!! Transformation Episode 2: Monster Party Episode 18: Sword Saint Bilgenia Episode 20: Rider's Grave Episode 23: Marumo's Magic Power Episode 24: College Girl's Nightmare

SHIN KAMEN RIDER PROLOGUE (1992) (MOVIE)

This doesn't have anything to do with the Anno movie, the Shin here is written differently. A movie that celebrates the series' 20th anniversary that tells its own story with its own Kamen Rider, so it feels like a "reboot" or "re-interpretation" of Kamen Rider. It's darker and scarier, with a Kamen Rider that looks much more like a monster than an armored hero, and leans more into the horror side of Kamen Rider, being more adult-focused. Very violent and very cool.

KAMEN RIDER ZO (1993) (MOVIE)

This was supposed to be a full-fledged Kamen Rider series but the 80s bubble popped and they decided to shift production into a short movie instead. Might be a good introduction point, since it's a short 1-hour watch, and has a ton of really great special effects. Everything that is great about Black's cinematography, propwork and special effects apply here, except since it's just one movie, they're really throwing everything they've got into it

HEISEI AND REIWA ERAS (2000-Present)

Kamen Rider went dormant in the 90s until it was revived back into its TV format by Kamen Rider Kuuga, which was a major success. Since then, there's been yearly new Kamen Rider series on Japanese television, non-stop.

The difference between the Kamen Rider of old (Showa era) and the Kamen Rider series past this revival (Heisei, Reiwa) is that newer Kamen Rider series, despite also being monster-of-the-week romps, tend to have a more complex overarching plot which they tend to lean more into, and less of dangerous stunts and practical effects. Episodes also tend to be two-parters, so maybe calling them monster-of-the-week is innacurate, it's more like monster-of-every-two-weeks. This shift is fine because their reliance on denser plots with a much larger supporting cast of characters, more than makes up for it. It feels less that they're stretching episodes into two-parters and more like they're filling these episodes with so much other stuff that making them 2-parters makes sense.

Also, to note, as modern Kamen Rider goes on, there's more reliance on CGI, but all the monsters (and Kamen Riders) are practical suits and there's still plenty of practical effects, so don't let the super artificial candy-colored videogamey CGI effects trick you into thinking that that's all there is to modern KR.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA (2008)

Kiva is the only "Heisei phase 1" series I've watched so far (early to late 2000s), and I absolutely love it, one of my favorite Kamen Riders. It's considered to be a bit of a black sheep of Heisei phase 1 Kamen Riders but I think fans severely overlook and misjudge Kiva. Kamen Rider Kiva is vampire-themed and is about this shut-in, extremely shy boy who, mysteriously, is also the heroic Kiva, that springs into action whenever Fangires (vampire monsters) are about to kill humans. However, it also takes place 20 years before, in the 1980s, where Fangires are also attacking, but there's no Kiva around to stop them. Instead, humans have created a secret vampire-hunting association and are developing their own technology to stop them. What's the connection between the characters from each time era? Mysteries...!! It has a large cast of characters and incredible soap opera drama and romance that'll keep you heavily invested in all of its twists and turns. It's a very narrative affair which makes it difficult to recommend episodes out of order since it can be confusing to catch things out of context. The fact that it takes place both in the 2000s and in the 80s means every episode has both an A-plot and a B-plot, which avoids the pitfall of some modern Kamen Riders of two-parters that don't have enough going on, because Kiva is absolutely overstuffed with great characters and narratives. The drama is great, the romance is great, the comedy is superb, and the fights are awesome too. I really can't recommend it enough.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 1: Fate: Wake Up! and Episode 2: Suite: Father and Son Violin (2-parter) Episode 17: Lesson: My Way and Episode 18: Quartet: Listen to Your Heart's Voice (2-parter) (I have trouble recommending more episodes out of order because this series is very narratively-involved!)

KAMEN RIDER W (2009)

W is a very well-received and loved series, and it's easy to see why. It's one of those things that if you watch it you immediately go "oh, if I watched this as a kid I would be so so into it". It has fun, charismatic characters that you want to see every week, simple to understand and easy to like. It's detective-themed and the Kamen Rider is actually comprised of a fusion of two people - Shotaro, who wants to be a tough, hard-boiled detective but is unintentionally kind of stupid and goofy and isn't seen very seriously by people around him, but has a heart of gold, and Phillip, who is an androgynous autistic introvert that basically has the entirety of Google inside his mind, and uses this to help find information to solve cases. Together they transform into Kamen Rider W (W as in "double", get it?), with each controlling a literal half of the suit (right and left), that they can switch properties of and create different combinations. They're great characters but who really steals the show is the comedy relief sidekick, Akiko. She's an immensely funny actress and character.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episodes 1 and 2: W Search Episodes 9 and 10: S Terror Episodes 23 and 24: L on the Lips Episodes 25 and 26: P's Game

KAMEN RIDER OOO (2010)

OOO is another extremely beloved Kamen Rider series, and the one I actually started with. Its themes are "desire" and "currency", and the evils and necessities of living in a world that depends on them. The main character is a lovable homeless hippie (Eiji) who's egged on by his extremely androgynous edgy greedy demon boyfriend (Ankh) to collect "medals", because said demons are greedy for them and require them for power. These medals also allow Eiji to transform into Kamen Rider OOO (pronounced "Os" or "Osu"), and different medals can be slot into his transformation belt to create different combinations. Other demons, that are not Eiji's demon babygirl, want to use humans' desires as piggy banks to generate more medals for their own greed, at the cost of these humans' lives. Eiji needs to stop them and collect all the medals before they do. Again, easy to enjoy, easy to see why it's beloved. Filled with a light-hearted fun energy that you can feel as soon as you watch the ska-inspired opening. There's a small stretch of it that feels a bit by-the-numbers, but the drama ramps up and pays off immensely well as it goes on. An extremely fujoshi Kamen Rider series.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 1: Medals, Underwear and a Mysterious Arm Episode 2: Desire, Popsicles and Presents (2-parter with Episode 1) Episode 13: A Siamese Cat, Stress and the Genius Surgeon Episode 14: Pride, Surgery, and a Secret (2-parter with Episode 13)

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE (2011)

Fourze is written by Kazuki Nakashima, the Studio Trigger writer responsible for stuff like Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill and Brand New Animal, so that may be something that's either going to extremely excite you, or make you very wary of it. I personally feel he's not a very good writer, but that's okay, because the rest of the production is fantastic, and I still enjoyed Fourze a good amount! The main character is an extremely likeable and charismatic school delinquent that wants to befriend the entire school and creates his own Kamen Rider school club after being bestowed with the Kamen Rider Fourze technology thanks to, uh, a portal that sends him to a space base on the moon? So it's a half-and-half school theme and space theme Kamen Rider. The school club has a large cast of characters but the show doesn't really know what to do with them unless the episodes focus on a specific club member. Fourze really, really drags in the middle (this is when the problem of two-parters feeling stretched out when the writing isn't very strong hits hardest), but as it crescendos to its finale it gets -very- good again. This might be the weakest Kamen Rider out of the ones I've watched, imo, but still, I think there's quite a lot to enjoy here.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episodes 1 and 2 (Youthful Transformation and Space Superiority) (2-parter) Episodes 5 and 6 (Friendship, Inside and Outside and Electric Shock, Steadily) (2-parter) Episodes 13 and 14 (School Refusal and Stinger Onslaught) (2-parter)

KAMEN RIDER AMAZONS (2016) (WEB SERIES)

Wait, didn't I review this one before?! No, no, this is AMAZONS, plural! It doesn't actually have that much in common with the original Amazon, being very much its own thing, and what it borrows from Amazon is mostly just to help frame this series as a more adult, violent affair, since Amazon, despite it being very much for kids, was back then known as "the violent Kamen Rider". It's also an Amazon Prime-exclusive series, so they did it for Branding, too. A very dramatic, violent, adult Kamen Rider show that's spearheaded by my favorite Kamen Rider director, Hidenori Ishida. He's a supremely good director that brings his A-game to this series. It follows an extermination team that hunts terrifying man-eating monsters called Amazons. There's two Kamen Riders, Alpha and Omega, that are also Amazons but they largely fight against other Amazons. Alpha is set on killing every Amazon, while Omega has just awakened into an Amazon and a Kamen Rider himself, and has to decide what he wants to do and who and what to fight for. At least this is the premise of Season 1, Season 2 I will not spoil but it is the production going "oh, Amazon season 1 did well enough for us to do whatever we want, and we'll do exactly that". It's the most well-equipped artists in tokusatsu breaking off their shackles and doing a dramatic magnum opus. It's dark, edgy, but also earnest and sentimental. It's my absolute favorite Kamen Rider show. Also, the fact that the monsters are called "Amazons" is used for extremely pointed stabs at Amazon (company), which is hilarious.

This series is completely narratively-driven, so I can't recommend episodes out of order! Watch the whole thing!

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE (2019)

Robot-themed! Zero-One takes place in a future where robots and humans live together, like Megaman or Astro Boy. It's about the struggle of humans and robots to live in harmony with one another, and it develops those themes and its world extremely well. The main character (Aruto) is very goofy and wants to be a manzai comedian but his lame puns always bomb. He is, however, also the heir of a massive company that builds all the robot people! Aruto is suddenly, unexpectedly, thrown into the company as its President after his grandfather dies. This responsibility is too much for him, but he decides to take on the mantle as he wants to bring a smile to people's faces, and that he legitimately cares about robots, as he was raised and saved by one as a kid. With this in mind, he takes on his grandfather's KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE technology and uses it to attempt to stop a terrorist robot faction (METSUBOUJINRAI.NET) that's bent on killing all humans, and corrupting other robots for that goal. All while also trying to advocate for a harmonious relationship between humans and robots. This is honestly fantastic, and may seem super goofy at first but gets very complex as it goes on. Very great balance of lighthearted comedy and serious drama, and another one of my absolute favorite Kamen Rider series, right up there with Kiva and Amazons.

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 1: I'm the President and a Kamen Rider Episode 2: Is AI an Enemy? Ally? Episode 5: His Passionate Manga Path Episode 6: I Want to Hear Your Voice (2-parter with episode 5)

KAMEN RIDER GEATS (2022)

Battle-royale themed Kamen Rider, with a lot of inspiration on korean dramas and reality shows. It definitely feels inspired by, say, Squid Game. Gods select people to compete in a Kamen Rider battle royale, and the winner of the final round gets to remake the world in whatever way they see fit. The production is a bit cheap after the last two KRs before Geats underperformed, and they had to scale the production down. The fact that the series tries to convey the excitement of extremely high stakes so often only for those stakes to completely deflate thanks to how the premise works, creates a situation where you don't know what to care because anything can get undone and completely changed so often anyway. Near the end the series gets particularly bad with this. Still, it has some good characters, some nice drama and some fun comedy, so it's not bad, but definitely on my lower tier of KRs alonside Fourze. Again: No KR I've watched was bad! So, even the ones that might sound that I'm down on them I still very much enjoyed.

(Too narratively-driven to recommend episodes out of order! Try the first couple of episodes!)

SHIN KAMEN RIDER (2023) (MOVIE)

Hideaki Anno's film! Hideaki Anno is a huge Kamen Rider fan and it really shows throughout the movie, with a lot of pulls from the Kamen Rider manga specifically, while also being nostalgic for a lot of the original Kamen Rider TV show from 71. Still, it ends up feeling less like "a Kamen Rider movie" and more like "an Anno movie" with a Kamen Rider-theming to it. It doesn't put its focus on the stunts and the fight choreography that you'd see in other Kamen Rider productions, but more on Anno's style of cinematography, his sense of timing, special effects and animation. It also retreads several of the themes and elements that he's drawn from before, a lot of Evangelion is in this. It's good, I like it!

KAMEN RIDER GOTCHARD (2023)

Currently ongoing! Very Y2K nostalgic, with a Kamen Rider suit that has that Y2K aqua color to it, and is themed around... Pokemon cards? There are these creatures called Chemys, that are contained inside alchemical cards that have been let loose and need to be captured again, or at least kept away from the villains. The main character is this super earnest, almost helplessly naively optimistic schoolboy called Ichinose that has been unexpectedly thrown into the secret world of alchemy and given the power to become Kamen Rider Gotchard, as a powerful benevolent alchemist dies in his arms. As a promise to him, he vows to find the Chemys. Ichinose also believes that they're extremely good-natured beings that are only corrupted by human malice, and really believes in the friendship of Chemys and humans, while other alchemists feel Ichinose's ideas of Chemys are too naive and soft-hearted. It's, uh, I don't know what to think of it, honestly! The first couple of episodes really did not sold me on it, but it gets better and better as it goes on, though, it's also, like, a lot of Big Important things keep happening in rapid-fire in a way that I can't tell whether the show has a higher plan for all of it or if it's just throwing things for easy hype. Nearly every episode there's a new Kamen Rider transformation, it's kind of insane. Still, this is preferrable than the stretches of not much happening that plague some other KR seasons. I've been enjoying it a good amount, honestly!

RECOMMENDED EPISODES TO SAMPLE: Episode 5: Burn! Fight! Wrestler G! Episode 7: Goodbye, Saboneedle

And those are all the Kamen Riders I've watched! Something else that can help you decide on which series to try out, is that the NHK made a public popularity poll of Kamen Rider series, with the results being found here! From here, you can tell which KRs are most beloved and well-remembered in Japan, and use that as a guidance for yourself, if you'd like. But again, I must emphasize, you can really start most anywhere, so feel free to do exactly that!

[justforbooks]

James Earl Jones

American actor hailed for his many classical roles whose voice became known to millions as that of Darth Vader in Star Wars

During the run of the 2011 revival of Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy in London, with Vanessa Redgrave, the actor James Earl Jones, who has died aged 93, was presented with an honorary Oscar by Ben Kingsley, with a link from the Wyndham’s theatre to the awards ceremony in Hollywood.

Glenn Close in Los Angeles said that Jones represented the “essence of truly great acting” and Kingsley spoke of his imposing physical presence, his 1,000-kilowatt smile, his basso profundo voice and his great stillness. Jones’s voice was known to millions as that of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film trilogy and Mufasa in the 1994 Disney animation The Lion King, as well as being the signature sound of US TV news (“This is CNN”) for many years.

His status as the leading black actor of his generation was established with the Tony award he won in 1969 for his performance as the boxer Jack Jefferson (a fictional version of Jack Johnson) in Howard Sackler’s The Great White Hope on Broadway, a role he repeated in Martin Ritt’s 1970 film, and which earned him an Oscar nomination.

On screen, Jones – as the fictional Douglass Dilman – played the first African-American president, in Joseph Sargent’s 1972 movie The Man, based on an Irving Wallace novel. His stage career was notable for encompassing great roles in the classical repertoire, such as King Lear, Othello, Hickey in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the son of Robert Earl Jones, a minor actor, boxer, butler and chauffeur, and his wife Ruth (nee Connolly), a teacher, and was proud of claiming African and Irish ancestry. His father left home soon after he was born, and he was raised on a farm in Jackson, Michigan, by his maternal grandparents, John and Maggie Connolly. He spoke with a stutter, a problem he dealt with at Brown’s school in Brethren, Michigan, by reading poetry aloud.

On graduating from the University of Michigan, he served as a US Army Ranger in the Korean war. He began working as an actor and stage manager at the Ramsdell theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he played his first Othello in 1955, an indication perhaps of his early power and presence.

The family had moved from the deep south to Michigan to find work, and now Jones went to New York to join his father in the theatre and to study at the American Theatre Wing with Lee Strasberg. He made his Broadway debut at the Cort theatre in 1958 in Dory Schary’s Sunrise at Campobello, a play about Franklin D Roosevelt.

He was soon a cornerstone of Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare festival in Central Park, playing Caliban in The Tempest, Macduff in Macbeth and another Othello in the 1964 season. He also established a foothold in films, as Lt Lothar Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove (1963), a cold war satire in which Peter Sellers shone with brilliance in three separate roles.

The Great White Hope came to the Alvin theatre in New York from the Arena Stage in Washington, where Jones first unleashed his shattering, shaven-headed performance – he was described as chuckling like thunder, beating his chest and rolling his eyes – in a production by Edwin Sherin that exposed racism in the fight game at the very time of Muhammad Ali’s suspension from the ring on the grounds of his refusal to sign up for military service in the Vietnam war.

Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs (1970) was a response to Jean Genet’s The Blacks, in which Jones, who remained much more of an off-Broadway fixture than a Broadway star in this period, despite his eminence, played a westernised urban African man returning to his village for his father’s funeral. With Papp’s Public theatre, he featured in an all-black version of The Cherry Orchard in 1972, following with John Steinbeck’s Lennie in Of Mice and Men on Broadway and returning to Central Park as a stately King Lear in 1974.

When he played Paul Robeson on Broadway in the 1977-78 season, there was a kerfuffle over alleged misrepresentations in Robeson’s life, but Jones was supported in a letter to the newspapers signed by Edward Albee, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman and Richard Rodgers. He played his final Othello on Broadway in 1982, partnered by Christopher Plummer as Iago, and appeared in the same year in Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard, a white South African playwright he often championed in New York.

In August Wilson’s Fences (1987), part of that writer’s cycle of the century “black experience” plays, he was described as an erupting volcano as a Pittsburgh garbage collector who had lost his dreams of a football career and was too old to play once the major leagues admitted black players. His character, Troy Maxson, is a classic of the modern repertoire, confined in a world of 1950s racism, and has since been played by Denzel Washington and Lenny Henry.

Jones’s film career was solid if not spectacular. Playing Sheikh Abdul, he joined a roll call of British comedy stars – Terry-Thomas, Irene Handl, Roy Kinnear, Spike Milligan and Peter Ustinov – in Marty Feldman’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), in stark contrast to his (at first uncredited) Malcolm X in Ali’s own biopic, The Greatest (1977), with a screenplay by Ring Lardner. He also appeared in Peter Masterson’s Convicts (1991), a civil war drama; Jon Amiel’s Sommersby (1993), with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster; and Darrell Roodt’s Cry, the Beloved Country (1995), scripted by Ronald Harwood, in which he played a black South African pastor in conflict with his white landowning neighbour in the 40s.

In all these performances, Jones quietly carried his nation’s history on his shoulders. On stage, this sense could irradiate a performance such as that in his partnership with Leslie Uggams in the 2005 Broadway revival at the Cort of Ernest Thompson’s elegiac On Golden Pond; he and Uggams reinvented the film performances of Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn as an old couple in a Maine summer house.

He brought his Broadway Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to London in 2009, playing an electrifying scene with Adrian Lester as his broken sports star son, Brick, at the Novello theatre. The coarse, cancer-ridden big plantation owner was transformed into a rumbling, bear-like figure with a totally unexpected streak of benignity perhaps not entirely suited to the character. But that old voice still rolled through the stalls like a mellow mist, rich as molasses.

That benign streak paid off handsomely, though, in the London reprise of a deeply sentimental Broadway comedy (and Hollywood movie), Driving Miss Daisy, in which his partnership as a chauffeur to Redgrave (unlikely casting as a wealthy southern US Jewish widow, though she got the scantiness down to a tee) was a delightful two-step around the evolving issues of racial tension between 1948 and 1973.

So deep was this bond with Redgrave that he returned to London for a third time in 2013 to play Benedick to her Beatrice in Mark Rylance’s controversial Old Vic production of Much Ado About Nothing, the middle-aged banter of the romantically at-odds couple transformed into wistful, nostalgia for seniors.

His last appearance on Broadway was in a 2015 revival of DL Coburn’s The Gin Game, opposite Cicely Tyson. He was given a lifetime achievement Tony award in 2017, and the Cort theatre was renamed the James Earl Jones theatre in 2022.

Jones’s first marriage, to Julienne Marie (1968-72), ended in divorce. In 1982 he married Cecilia Hart with whom he had a son, Flynn. She died in 2016. He is survived by Flynn, also an actor, and a brother, Matthew.

🔔 James Earl Jones, actor, born 17 January 1931; died 9 September 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[themculibrary]

Stucky Halloween Fics Masterlist

a day in the life (ao3) - powerfulowl (StuckyFlangst) E, 20k

Summary: Steve Rogers wakes up on Tuesday October 30 1956, and doesn’t seem to remember his life that well. Why does every day feel so familiar? And why does he keep getting visited by tall, dark, handsome men who remind him of Bucky?

A Halloween Miracle (ao3) - Oh_i_swear T, 5k

Summary: As he stands on the doorstep of his sister’s house, Bucky sighs. It’s Hallowe’en night and he could be anywhere right now… but ideally he’d be inside of his tiny apartment ordering a pizza, watching horror movies and ignoring the world. He wouldn’t be standing here in a Captain America costume waiting to take his niece and nephew trick or treating.

At First Scream (ao3) - SmutConnoisseur E, 5k

Summary: He didn’t have Samhainophobia. He didn’t.

Because Bucky wasn’t afraid of the holiday, he just hated haunted houses and being scared shitless. That’s a common thing.

But when his best friend drags him to a haunted manor experience on a cloudy Halloween night, Bucky feels his heart race— and his gut clench from something more than jump scares.

Blood sucking squatters (ao3) - Just_Bill G, 8k

Summary: When Steve inherits a house from his estranged great aunt he doesn’t know what to expect. Not the creepy mansion which seems to come straight from a Lovecraft book. Nor the fact that it’s not as uninhabited as he thought it was.

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater (ao3) - odetteandodile T, 7k

Summary: Bucky’s first impression of the tall, hot blonde guy is that he’s the only other person at Clint’s Halloween party who looks as awkward as Bucky feels.

His second impression is that the guy is about to cheat at a dumb game to avoid watching a scary movie.

As for third impressions and beyond? Well, things start looking up from there…

Could A Sexy Vampire Ever Love A Hipster Werewolf? (ao3) - perfect_plan M, 12k

Summary: Steve Rogers tries to manage coming out, avoiding the school bully and being in love with his best friend.

Emperor’s New Clothes (ao3) - IllusiveBirds T, 3k

Summary: ‘You’re going to be at the Halloween party and you’ve won best costume for the past three years but this year I am wearing the best costume ever if you defeat me I will eat my - wait you actually look really cute when did you turn hot what the fuck um’ AU.

Steve is determined; no he is fucking resolute, that this will be the year that he wins best costume at Tony’s Halloween party. He has been planning this costume out since July, okay and he will not let James Barnes win another year. No way or he’ll eat his own helmet.

I especially am slow (ao3) - bangyababy T, 5k

Summary: Steve’s been in love with Bucky his whole life, but he’s never told him and that was okay, Steve was fine. Until Bucky announced that this year he’d be doing a couples costume with his new boyfriend Ryan.

Jack-o-Lanterns and Kittens (ao3) - captain_wintersoldier T, 9k

Summary: Steve works at a Coffee shop. Cue attractive customer named Bucky Barnes. Steve falls in love and ends up embarrassing himself, but scoring a date anyway. Yay relationships.

Mighty Morphin Captain America (ao3) - 74days T, 4k

Summary: Bucky Barnes is sitting outside of a haunted house because he’s to scared to go inside - and meets the worlds most hilarious Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. It’s just a shame he’s got no idea what the guy looks like.

Sharp Like My Love (ao3) - mikazure E, 3k

Summary: Steve and Bucky carve pumpkins for Halloween, it’s hard to focus on the task though, when Bucky’s showing off his impressive knife skills

sometimes dead is better (ao3) - aniloquent N/R, 3k

Summary: “You hate scary movies,” his mom says.

“You’re literally Netflix and chilling,” Becca says.

“You’re not sleeping in our bed tonight,” his dad says.

Bucky throw his hands up. “We’re just hanging out!”

Bucky’s dad grunts, unconvinced. “Take a condom.” He hesitates, glancing over at Bucky but not registering the horrified look on his face. “Or two. Steve plays football. Kid’s got stamina.”

“Oh my god,” Bucky breathes, eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

The Asset and Halloween (ao3) - Introvertatheart G, 6k

Summary: It’s Bucky first Halloween with the Avengers. As usual, he doesn’t understand Halloween. So when Tony invites him and Steve to the annual Halloween party, things get interesting.

The First Encounter (ao3) - sunrow T, 2k

Summary: Instead of Tony throwing a huge Halloween party, the Avengers have planned a truly horrifying haunted house experience, all in the hopes of scaring Steve and Bucky into revealing their hidden feelings for each other. But not everything goes according to plan.

Or, the Avengers don’t realize Steve and Bucky are already in a relationship, and think they need to help them get together.

the only john wayne left in this town (ao3) - lisainthesky, toookish E, 3k

Summary: The M&M hits the floor and rolls under the fridge, but he doesn’t really notice.

Steve’s peeking out from under the wide brim of his cowboy hat, a blush spreading across his cheekbones. Always so shy, even when Bucky’s staring at him with his mouth open like an idiot, even when he’s trying to be sexy, leaning against the wall like that with his thumbs in his pockets and his hips cocked.

Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me (I Wanna Be Dirty) (ao3) - OhCaptainMyCaptain steve/bucky E, 11k

Summary: (And Bucky is none-the-wiser, until he stumbles into a screening and sees his supposedly self-conscious boyfriend strut onto the stage in a corset, fishnet stocking, and tap dancing shoes.)

—

On stage, Steve owned that outfit like he’d been fucking born in it. All self-consciousness he’d previously shown in his body was non-existent, as he strutted around with his hands on his waist like a model on some sort of catwalk; popped his hips from side to side and gave these playful, almost sinister-looking grins to the cast and the rest of the crowd. It was so unexpected, but there was also something sexy about seeing Steve up there, acting like that. It was like some free-spirited sex kitten had possessed him or something. Goddamn it, it had Bucky fucking confused.

trick or treat (ao3) - liionne T, 2k

Summary: Bucky, Steve and Nat go to Sam’s for Halloween, to watch some movies, pig out a little, have a few drinks— and end up babysitting Sam’s nephews and niece.

Trick or Treating with the Avengers (ao3) - Writerofthelorde G, 14k

Summary: Post Winter soldier. Bucky has been with the Avengers for a couple months now. Steve has been trying to help him through everything. It’s halloween and the Avengers all go trick or treating. Bucky is wearing his army suit from back in the day and it’s making Steve fall in love with him all over again. Awkward moments and a ton of emotions follow.

Tricks and Treats (ao3) - Somerandomauthorrr N/R, 2k

Summary: Steve loves the Halloween season. Bucky does not.

We Got A Lovin’ Thing (ao3) - MacksDramaticShenanigans G, 6k

Summary: Steve’s trying to think of a good response that doesn’t make him sound pathetic in front of Brock when a flash of leather catches his eyes. His Sandy. The man is only a few feet away, and before Steve can think his actions through he’s striding towards the man and sliding an arm around his waist, pulling him into his side.

Sandy looks like he’s about to say something— probably ask who the hell Steve is and what he’s doing, which would blow the lid off of Steve’s lie. Brock doesn’t need more to taunt him about.

So Steve does what any normal person would do. He pulls Sandy in by the waist and leans in to lay one on him.

[raddagher]

Ever since I learned there was 5 characters in FUA I immediately made power rangers headcanons for them.

Klein is red, Harley is blue, Lanc is green, Raddagher is black, and Love is pink.

Also, maybe Harley will become the red ranger, and Klein will become something else like how the pink Dino Fury ranger becomes the red Cosmic Fury ranger, and the red Dino Fury ranger become a completely new kind of ranger in Cosmic Fury.

Sorry this was long. Can you tell I'm autistic?

All I know of power rangers is the 2017 movie which I love and am fascinated by but I respect your designations even though I do not know what they mean. But i am sure you are correct. this is an autistic house

[eggfucker700]

Not that anyone asked but i have an idea for an animation where a bunch of characters beat the shit out of homelander to like that and im making a list of characters i think could defeat homelander. Here’s what i have so far:

-Reigen arataka (mob psycho 100)

-bluey

-adorabat (mao mao heroes of pure heart)

-luz noceda (the owl house)

-senshi (dungeon meshi)

-mordecai and rigby (regular show)

-mob (mob psycho 100)

-markiplier (real life)

-deadpool

-goku

-popeye

-bugs bunny

-omni man

-any of the powerpuff girls individually

-godzilla

-saitama (one punch man)

-robocop

-the terminator

-captain kirk

-darth vader

-Superman

-every single power ranger

-doc ock

-any spider person from the spiderverse movies

-gojo

-deku (mha)

-john wick

-mike tyson

-finn (adventure time)

-jenny (my life as a teenage robot)

-SpongeBob

-any iteration of the tmnt

-ben 10

-anne boonchuy -amphibia

-every Jojo protagonist

-michiru kagemori (brand new animal)

-luffy (one piece)

-sanji (one piece)

-ussop (one piece)

-tony tony chopper (one piece)

-robin (one piece)

-zoro (one piece)

-mashle (mashle muscles and magic)

-yor briar (spy x family)

-jimmy nuetron

-batman (no prep time)

-sailor moon

-denji (chainsaw man)

-tetsuo shima (akira)

-astro boy

-the hulk

-thor (marvel)

-wonder woman (dc)

-gumball watterson

-nicole watterson

-Richard watterson

-sans undertale

-frisk undertale

-ash ketchum (no Pokemon, only hands)

-kirby

-truck kun

-the collector (the owl house)

-uncle grandpa

-po (kung fu panda)

-sonic the hedgehog

-jebediah kerman (kerbal space program)

-danny phantom

-my latinx self insert’s chimichanga stand

If anyone has any suggestions please tell me

[cryssyboo]

I love Tokusatsu (And it's time to make it your problem.)

Ok, This is something I finished writing like a month ago. It's basically a whole essay on what Toku is and some of it's elements. It's a long read, but if anyone ends up reading this I hope you enjoy it!

I am really, REALLY interested in Tokusatsu. (I’m not very subtle about it.) What is Toku? Toku is a genre of media that essentially translates to “special effects”. There are 5 major shows/franchises that fall into this category: Godzilla, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Power Rangers. Now, personally, I’m not really a fan of Godzilla or Ultraman, but I am VERY into the other 3. There are also some other series that I’ll talk about. Now, someone reading this might be asking themselves: “Crystal, what the hell is a Kamen Rider or a Super Sentai? It all just looks like Power Rangers to me.”. That’s what I’m gonna answer here.

Kamen Rider began airing its very first show over 50 years ago, in 1971. The basic premise of any rider series is 1 or multiple people transforming into heroes know as ‘Kamen Riders’ using either a belt, a gun, a wrist mounted changer or a sword, along with various gimmick items (such as the Lockseeds from 2013’s Kamen Rider Gaim, or the Progrise Keys from 2019’s Kamen Rider Zero One) to fight an overarching villain. A typical Rider show lasts around 50 episodes, and ends in around August to September, with a new one almost immediately following it. The 2022-2023 series, ‘Kamen Rider Geats’, came to a close on August 27th, 2023, with the 2023-2024 series, ‘Kamen Rider Gotchard’, beginning on September 3rd, 2023. The 2024-2025 series, ‘Kamen Rider Gavv’, has been trademarked as of writing this. A rider typically has power ups that they get throughout the season, things like Kamen Rider Zero One’s Metal Cluster Hopper, Ex-Aid’s Hyper Muteki Gamer, Geats’ Boost Mark IX, or Gotchard’s Rainbow Gotchard form. Secondary Riders also get upgrade forms, like Tycoon’s Bujin Sword Raise Buckle, or Buffa’s Plosion Rage Raise Buckle. They also get a movie each summer, which typically has a cameo with the upcoming Rider show in it. There’s also sometimes side series’ and specials throughout the year, like Kamen Rider Outsiders, Tycoon meet Shinobi, and the Kamen Rider Legend special.

        Super Sentai is a yearly team hero series about 3-5 people transforming into heroes to save the world, sometimes with gimmicks (like Zenkaiger’s Sentai Gears, Donbrother’s Avataro Gears, or most notably, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger’s Ranger Keys), sometimes without (like KingOhger’s OhgerCalibur or Kiramager’s KirameiChanger). The team also can gain more heroes throughout the show. For base teams of 5, the number of extra heroes typically ranges from 1-2, although we rarely get 7th rangers anymore. For base teams of 3, the number of extra heroes is typically capped at 1-2, upping the team to 5 members. The only exceptions I can think of are Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, and Engine Sentai Go-Onger. Now, what makes this different from Rider? Well, for one, the suit designs are all standardized, and fit in with each other. But the bigger thing is, well, the giant ass robots each team pilot. The mecha, which I will be calling a Megazord from here on out (because it’s more recognizable), gets other auxiliary mecha (Zords from here on out) throughout the season the main team can use to increase the Megazord’s power. The 6th ranger (or any other extra ranger) typically gets their own separate Zord when they’re introduced. This Zord can also transform into a standalone Megazord, and can later on combine with the core team’s Megazord to create a more powerful Megazord. Towards the end of the season, the 2 or more Megazords combine with the auxiliary Zords to create one final combination, which I’ll be calling an Ultrazord for simplicity. Sometimes the Ultrazords are simpler, other times they’re what the community likes to call Clusterfucks. Some examples of this would be Samurai Ha-Oh, or God KingOhger. An example of the simpler ones would be something like ToraDora Onitaijin Kiwami. The main Red/White ranger (the color can vary, or sometimes even the whole team can use the power up.), and sometimes the 6th ranger also gets a power up midway/toward the end of the season (and even sometimes long after the show has ended, in the case of Gokai Red’s Gokai Galleon Armor). Some examples of this are Gokai Silver’s Gold Mode, The ToQger’s Hyper Resha, Super Zenkaiser and Super Twokaiser, or the Donbrother’s Omikoshi Phoenix. The previous sentai that was on air was OhSama Sentai Kingohger, and currently airing sentai is Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger. In recent years, sentai has deviated a bit from the norm, with Avataro Sentai Donbrothers being pretty much nothing but filler, with not much story tied into it, and 2023’s OhSama Sentai KingOhger not having many filler episodes, and being almost entirely story focused. However, Boonboomger seems to be a bit of a return to form for sentai.

Now, moving onto Power Rangers. This is the one most people reading this should know about. Power Rangers is a yearly team hero series about 3-5 people transforming into heroes to save the world, sometimes with gimmicks,  sometimes without. The team also can gain more heroes throughout the show. Sound familiar? That’s because, with some notable exceptions, Power Rangers pulls all of its suits and most of its action and Zord footage from Super Sentai! The show pulls suits and stock footage from a Sentai season of the team’s choice, and adapts it for an American audience. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) aired its first episode on August 28th, 1993. However, the idea existed long before that. Power Rangers was an idea dreamt up by a man named Haim Saban during a trip to Japan in the 80s. He wanted to bring Super Sentai to the states, and put his own spin on it. The first series he tried to bring over was the 1984 series Choudenshi Bioman. It wouldn’t have been called Power Rangers, though. Saban was just going to call the show Bioman. He put together a pilot for the show (which sadly is still lost to this day), but no children’s network programs would pick up the show. He kept trying to pitch Bioman for a while, before eventually he went back to the drawing board. He tried again a few more times, with another series, 1991’s Choujin Sentai Jetman, before settling on 1992’s Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. He also made a pilot for this show (which was officially called MMPR by this point), and to his surprise, Fox Kids picked the show up. The show began airing in 1993 and blew up almost instantly. Nearly every kid who grew up in the 90s watched at least some form of Power Rangers. MMPR Ran for 3 seasons, all pulling different Zord and monster footage from either Zyuranger, Gosei Sentai Dairanger, or even some brand new Zyuranger footage Saban commissioned Toei to film for him. MMPR was followed by a miniseries called Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, which was adapted from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. In 1996, a new season of Power Rangers started: Power Rangers Zeo. The show dropped the Mighty Morphin, switched suits and power sets yearly, and up through In Space it kept a consistent cast, with the occasional switch out. After In Space, however, it swapped cast every year, with new characters each year. That’s how it's been ever since. However, the PR franchise itself has switched hands a number of times. Saban had the franchise from 1993 to 2001, when Disney acquired it as part of a larger buyout. Disney made, frankly, some of the best seasons of the franchise, despite the fact that they hated the brand and did not want it. Seasons like Dino Thunder, RPM, Jungle Fury. Disney continued to make new seasons up until Power Rangers RPM in 2009. In 2011, Saban bought the franchise back, and in 2011 Power Rangers Samurai went on air as the first show in what the fans call the Neo-Saban era (fun fact about samurai, the writers had to scramble to get a new season out after the buy back, so samurai is pretty much just a bad remake of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger). This era housed some of the worst shows in the franchise’s 30 year history. Shows like Super Megaforce and Ninja Steel. In 2018, Hasbro ended up buying the franchise from Saban, with Power Ranger Beast Morphers going on air in 2019 as the 26th season of Power Rangers. In 2021, Power Rangers Dino Fury began, and its cast will be the first since MMPR to stick around 3 whole seasons, as they returned as the main cast of the 30th season, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, on September 29th, 2023. Cosmic Fury is also the first since MMPR to use just Zord footage from a sentai show (the show will be adapting Megazords from Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger), as the show uses completely original suits. Unfortunately, rumors suggest that Cosmic Fury is the last traditional season of the show, as it seems Hasbro has plans for a reboot of the franchise sometime soon. (post cosmic fury amendment: the franchise is dead. very dead.)

Power Rangers wasn’t the only show Saban made, though. He made a number of other shows using the PR formula. Those shows were Big Bad Beetleborgs (Alongside Beetleborgs Metallix), VR Troopers, and Masked Rider. Beetleborgs and VR Troopers were made using a mix of footage from different shows in the now dormant Metal Heroes franchise, with a mix of American footage, same as PR. Masked Rider followed that same formula, but instead was an adaptation of 1987’s Kamen Rider Black RX. While Masked Rider was a failure, Beetleborgs and VR Troopers actually did really well. The only reason they ended when they did was because the straight up ran out of footage to use. Older fans of Power Rangers probably remember at least Beetleborgs and VR Troopers.

When it comes to other shows in the genre, I’m not the most knowledgeable on them. There’s Godzilla (which most people probably know, it has a big presence outside of Japan, unlike most things talked about here), Ultraman, the aforementioned Metal Heroes, and Spiderman. No, that wasn’t a typo. Spiderman is genuinely a part of this rabbit hole. In the late 70s, a partnership was made between Marvel and Toei that allowed the 2 to use each other's properties. Spiderman (スパイダマン) was a result of this. Aside from some powers and his outfit, the show didn’t resemble our Spiderman at all. His suit was stored in a brace on his wrist, he shot literal fucking guns, and the biggest difference of all was that he had a giant robot. It’s name was Leopardon, and it’s the entire reason that Super Sentai has mecha in the first place. The first 2 shows, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger (not Goranger oh my lord) and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai didn’t have mecha. It was the success of Leopardon that gave Toei the idea to bring one to the 3rd Sentai, Battle Fever J (fun fact, Battle Fever was also a part of the Marvel x Toei deal! It evolved from a japanese version of Captain America), and they’ve been a major part of the franchise ever since.

There are also some sudo-toku shows out there. Toku itself is limited to live action, but that hasn’t stopped various anime and cartoons from imitating the genre. Some of the ones I can name off the top of my head are Yo-Kai Watch Jam: Y School Heros, which is a clear toku parody, and Fuuto PI, which is an animated sequel to 2009’s ‘Kamen Rider Double’.

But we’re not done yet. It’s time to move into one of the biggest parts of this genre.. The Toylines! Yeah, if you haven’t figured out, these shows, while super cool, double as big toy commercials. Nearly every gadget they use gets a toy in the real world. From the base transformation device, to the gimmick, to the Megazords, it almost always gets a toy. The toy version of the changers and weapons are almost always smaller than the on-screen prop, but they get the job done. Megazords can vary in quality. Up until Donbrothers, Megazords have always been bricks, pretty much, Barely any articulation, and can barely move in the first place. However, starting with Donbrothers, Sentai Megazords have had decent articulation. (Boonboom amendment: Boonboomger Robo took away the articulation. Damn you Bandai.) The gimmick lines are typically released in multiple ways: Candy Toy, Deluxe, and Gashapon. The candy toy release is self explanatory. It comes with a little piece of candy. The deluxe format is the best version of the toy (although sometimes all formats are basically identical), and the Gashapon format can vary. Sometimes it’s really good, other times it’s the gashapon release of Gokaiger’s Ranger Keys. Speaking of Ranger Keys: Ranger Keys! This is probably the best part of any toyline these franchises have made over the decades. It began in 2011 with the release of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, and, as the name suggests, were tiny little figures of the previous 34 sentai teams that could turn into keys to be used in the Gokaiger’s changer. These little toys were wildly successful, more than Toei or Bandai could have ever predicted. Now, over 10 years later, minus a few breaks here and there, the line is still going strong. We’re still getting Ranger Key sets through Premium Bandai pretty much every year now. Now, what exactly is Premium Bandai? It’s the bane of every Toku fan’s existence, that’s what it is. Many things go up there, like certain Kamen Rider Drivers, certain Sentai Changers, extra gimmick sets, action figures, unnecessary rereleases (cough PREMIUM DELUXE I AM LOOKING AT YOU.). Sometimes things are reasonably priced, but often the stuff that goes on to Premium Bandai is pretty expensive. Recent drivers like the Vision and Zillion Driver’s, some Villain Changers from Sentai like the Ninjark Sword or OhgerCalibur ZERO have been pretty expensive (for toys that is). Even some main series gimmick items like the Fantasy and Bujin Sword Raise Buckles have been PB items (Personally I think they should’ve just been retail items). There’s also the Memorial line, which is bigger and more show accurate versions of Sentai Changers. They’re expensive, but most of the time I think they’re worth it. If you’re a hardcore collector, it’s not worth buying the Deluxe Changers anymore, since they’re pretty much guaranteed to get a Memorial Edition when the show ends. Also, replica clothes sometimes go up there. Most of the Gokaigers outfits got replicas, so did Zenkaiser’s main jacket, along with the DGP jacket from Geats. 

Now, this next part is still toyline related, but I wanted to separate it from the Japanese toylines, because the Power Rangers toyline is a fucking mess. The toys are almost always lower quality. There was a time where Bandai America, the original holder of the toy license, would import the original toy’s from Japan or just use the same molds, but those times are long gone. The toys were pretty decent up until the late Disney and Neo-Saban eras. Over time, Bandai’s Power Rangers toys got worse in both quality and detail. The toys were tiny, they were missing detail, and sometimes they were just pure dogshit, like with the Ninja Stars from Power Rangers Ninja Steel. While Bandai did get some good toy lines under their belt in the Neo Saban era, like the Dino Charge toyline and bits of the Samurai and Megaforce toy lines, Ninja Steel was the last toyline they made before Hasbro bought up the toy license, and then bought the entire brand from Saban. Hasbro had a decently strong start with Beast Morphers, the show still had a lot of the stupid Neo Saban regulations, but it’s not that bad. That's about all I can say for the toyline too, it wasn’t that bad. They came up with an original gimmick, which was cool, but they also made Beans Morphers Gold’s morpher a NERF Gun and never even released some things. For Dino Fury, the show was actually really good in my opinion, and the toy line was a lot better than Beast Morphers’ if you ask me. And Cosmic Fury? As a show, it wasn’t too bad. Not as good as its last 2 seasons, but it also had a crunched episode limit so it gets a pass. However, the toy line does not. We got 3 toys released in this line. A repainted roleplay set, the Cosmic Fury Morpher, and the Cosmic Fury Megazord. That’s it. But toywise, where Hasbro really shined was the Power Ranger’s Lightning Collection. It was a standardized 6 inch figure line that began in 2019, and lasted until 2023. Well, technically it’s on pause until… well, we don’t know. But still. Figures came with Head Sculpts, well chosen (for the most part) accessories, good paint, and absolutely NO QC ISSUES!! ….oh yeah, did i mention it had heavy QC issues during the later years of the line? Yeah, they were awful. It ranged from paint mishaps to literal missing accessories or wrong head sculpts. Sometimes the figures were just built bad, like Time Force Blue, and the packaging shift didn’t help with this at all. In fact, the removal of the plastic window made the QC issues more prevalent because no one could actively see the figure to get around them. Eventually it toned back down, but even then there were still heavy issues, with mold changes and all that. The drop down hips were almost always loose and the pinless figures were always fragile. As of now, the lightning collection is on pause. Why, you may ask? Well, because the entire franchise is on pause. There's no new content outside of the comics releasing. The reboot has moved from Netflix to looking for a new home, Hasbro signed a toy deal with Playmates, there’s the occasional merch drop or acknowledgement of the brand by Hasbro, and that’s really about it. They bought it because the CEO at the time really did care for the brand, but now that he’s no longer the CEO, Hasbro doesn’t really know what to do with Power Rangers. They’re trying to do things, and they have people on the team that care, but the higher ups don’t really care about the brand. And until either the reboot comes to fruition, or the production rights are sold off to someone who actually cares and wants the best for the brand, I think that’s how Power Rangers is gonna stay. It’s in a constant state of limbo, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So, yeah. A bit of a sad conclusion to such a long running franchise, but it is what it is. In its current state, Power Rangers is essentially dead until someone who cares gets their hands on it. I hope you at least semi-enjoyed reading this stupid essay of mine, and maybe you learned a thing or two from it!

[kimberlyannharts]

Ultraman: Rising!

Sure we all know the Power Rangers reboot has been passed on at Netflix but instead we have this hot new piece of toku instead: Ultraman: Rising! And I finally got the chance to check it out last night.

I know Ultraman is one of the big toku/kaiju genre staples but it's never really been on my radar of things to watch. I'm not sure why! I guess Super Sentai/Power Rangers just has more of the it factor that appeals to me. So because of that I really have no context to the story besides it's a guy who can turn into a giant silver superhero that beats up kaiju.........or maybe it's an alien who looks like a human and the silver superhero is his true form? or maybe the human and the silver superhero are two separate beings that share the same body? idk. It's probably all three of those things depending on the series. But this film was marketed as a standalone that new fans could enjoy AND....the big one.....it's ANIMATED, so I felt more inclined to check it out.

And it was really really good!! I enjoyed it a lot!

Spoiler-ish thoughts on the film below:

= Let's get this out of the way: the biggest draw to this was the animation and art direction, and yeah, it slaps. The textures and stylization (always love 2D painted effect animation on explosions and things) and lighting were a full-course meal and the scenes where they focused on Ultraman's shining eyes staring through a window or computer screen were just SO striking. To the point where I feel that if I got around to watching the actual live-action Ultraman, it might feel a little underwhelming in comparison. Oops

= It does kind of fall in the cliches of the "selfish guy learns maturity by having to be a father" plot (with bonus "son is estranged from his dad and mom is missing but they work to improve their relationship" sprinkled in) which makes me appreciate The Return even more (sorry, I'm still Returnpilled) but it's still charming and I can hope if we get more movies they give a little more focus to Ami and Emiko (speaking of which, I know they weren't doing a romance this movie, but Ami having a daughter and the movie being about Ken raising a daughter? oh you know it's happening and I'm here for this because they're both so hot)

= I think Ken is also a better example of the "showboating egotistical hero who learns to mature" than most because the movie isn't afraid to show him vulnerable even before his character development. I was genuinely surprised at that scene where he starts crying out of the stress of balancing his baseball career and figuring out Emi

= Apparently there was some discussion that the movie didn't bring up Ultraman's origins which, as someone who knows next to nothing about Ultraman, that didn't really bother me? Obviously I can still give more benefit of the doubt than people who don't know much about the tokusatsu/kaiju genre to begin with, but even so, I was still pretty down with the concept of "this guy has the ability to turn into a giant silver superpowered man and passed the ability down to his son" - and I think in the age of superhero blockbusters in general the idea isn't that farfetched that it requires more explanation. In any case it's a bit of a moot point since future movies are clearly going to talk about Ultras and their origins more, based on the stinger.

= Is Emi a clear kid-appeal character meant to be shown off in marketing and merchandising because of how squishy and cute she is? Yes. Is she just so fucking squishy and cute and my newest baby child? YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES. I am not immune to monster baby. I think it helps that I always found the old monster screeches cute and applying them to a baby babbling was kinda genius in its execution. And I'm glad they kind of got the obligatory "haha babies poop and are smelly and gross" jokes out of the way early (yeah they had the whole "acid reflux" thing in the second act but I've seen way worse in other media)

= The subtitles calling Sato's Ultra form "Ultradad" and his Ultra mustache were both really funny

= Obviously I knew Ken wasn't going to die when he threw himself on Dr. Onda's mech (btw the mech was sexy) but I definitely expected a little more than just a busted arm with how they were building up how the blast would have "destroyed them all" kdjkfdj maybe they cut to after he had recovered a bit. Though in general I'm not quite sure of how durable Ultraman is

= Kind of a milf. reblog

[hawkepockets]

okay 👏 @glamfellens meet fisher!

just off the dome, here’s the gist of them—

they grew up rambling around the mojave, raised by a single mother who was also a courier in her time. their mother was solemn and practical to the point of nastiness most days, but had just a touch of the romantic in her—she loved pre-war songs and stories, and if you caught her in the right mood, listening to the right old record or having just found an intact book in the ruins of a shop, she’d tell you abour her fantasy of living the high life in new vegas, going to the movies once a week and drinking her fill of ice cold filtered water from a tap whenever she pleased. she named fisher after reading about the sea in moby dick.

fisher inherited her love of the radio, but didn’t share her dream of escaping the desert to live between air conditioned walls. they loved the mojave and the troubled hodgepodge of societies it cradled. they took up photography as a kid, and have always wanted to document the colors of the landscape and settlements and prove that the “wasteland” isn’t a waste.

when fisher was a teenager, their mother ran afoul of a deathclaw on her delivery route—which is to say, a stranger ran afoul of a deathclaw, fisher and their mother heard the screams, and instead of rushing to “help” (die) they followed their well-made protocol, turned tail and split up to better their chances. fisher zigged, their mother zagged—and ran straight into the first claw’s hunting partner. she took a hit to the face, dislocating her jaw and slicing through her lips, cheeks, and tongue, before losing the claw in a maze of slot canyons.

in case of separation, fisher and their mother’s routine was always to meet up at the nearest ncr ranger station. fisher made it to the rendezvous point. their mother almost did—but as she staggered toward the outpost, moaning and wailing out of a ruined face, a jumpy sentry mistook her for a feral ghoul and shot her dead. without taking a single second to process what had happened, fisher shot the ranger in the back. and double tapped.

fisher didn’t think they could ever take a job for the ncr after that. but they got off with a light sentence (temporary insanity), couriering was what they knew how to do, and they were hungry. so courier 6 they became.

when benny shot fisher 10 years later, the bullet ripped through their brain’s language center. they’d always been kind of a quiet, dour person, but after that they didn’t speak at all. they could understand others, but just didn’t have the words to respond, out loud or in writing. it was beyond frustrating to grasp for vocabulary that simply wasn’t there. they weren’t fortunate enough to know sign language previously, either. to communicate, they used their big brown eyes and their photographs—they tracked benny by showing every kindly stranger they met a piece of checkered shirt cloth cut into the shape of a little suit, tacked on to a cutout of a male model.

when they did find benny, they shot him before he was done talking. it didn’t cross their mind to do anything different until well after the fact, while they talked with yes man. they’d been so single-minded, considering themself a dead body animated purely by the need to kill the fucker who’d killed them. temporary insanity again, this time for weeks on end. they thought. in truth, the desire to redistribute electrical and political power among the people of the mojave and fuck house, the legion, and the ncr had gradually built up, and was waiting to catch them once benny was dead and they ran out of track on revenge. fisher had a reason to live before they accepted that they were still alive at all.

so they blew up the dam.

their closest relationship was with boone—despite their cool ambivalence toward the ncr, the two were riding the same wavelength of thinking of themselves as basically revenants, and then starting to shake off the grave dirt and face the future. boone taught them a few basic ncr military hand signs. and he even tried to make a replacement wife out of them once after hoover dam, gifting them colored pencils and carla’s old dresses in the vague hope that they would turn artsy and domestic for him. and fisher gamely tried it all on! but they’re not fanciful or feminine. it just didn’t work. it felt violating for both of then. and honestly, these days, the silent, surly butch photographer/gunslinger might be?? more to boone’s taste??? who said that?

fnv was my first fallout game, so i didn’t have the background knowledge to play a character with strong ties to any faction or settlement yet. but i did love the desert map, so that’s what i put into em! i feel like fish & harriet would be great foils honestlyyy 👀