#those frames from the new barbie trailer

[mjesechii]

Seasoning City's most wanted

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 3-9, 2023)

I made a frame from this shot Wikizilla's Image of the Week. No regrets. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I love ya. When I was a teenager, explicit queerness was anathema to most big-name franchises. Those dominoes have been slowly falling, often in lower-profile tie-ins first, and to me this is a huge one: 69 years without a queer live-action Godzilla character are over. And Cate's the main protagonist of the show! I'm not under the delusion that media representation will cure all society's ills, but it sure doesn't hurt. Now, the non-Tumblr parts of the fandom are being completely normal about this, right? Right? Whatever, that's why you'll never get rid of me here. Cate had a couple more sweet moments with May in this episode, and Mariko Tamaki wrote episode 7, so don't expect her to stop kissing girls. Hopefully she's learned a valuable lesson about cheating though.

"The Way Out" is also another gift to those of us who have always wanted to see more of the ramifications of a world where Godzilla exists, from underground towns for the super-rich to ruined cities where federal troops shoot looters and harass people experiencing homelessness. And the show continues to find ways to use kaiju to talk about COVID, from Cate and Kentaro's exchange about San Francisco truthers ("It's easier than waking up every day and thinking, at any moment, the same could happen to you") to the blink-of-an-eye speed at which the threat went from on the news to her front door in the flashbacks.

As I foretold, we got a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer, an amusing contrast to the weighty Toho flick and Apple show already fore of mind. It's Adam Wingard unbound, that's for sure. The human cast seems pared back, a longstanding Monsterverse problem, and the kaiju fights were far and away the best part of Godzilla vs. Kong, so hopefully this approach will play to his strengths. But that movie also had excellent VFX, and some of the shots in here are rough. There's time to fix them, at least... which probably can't be said of Godzilla's design. I like that he's pink (did some Warner Bros. executive take the wrong message away from Barbie?) and sporting a thagomizer on his tail, but his proportions are uncanny. And I see Kong found the Infinity Gauntlet; good for him.

I am, of course, not done talking about Godzilla Minus One. It added over 200 screens and made $8.3 million in its second weekend in the U.S., a minuscule drop considering that its $11.4 million opening "weekend" spanned five days. Almost a third of all tickets sold this weekend were for Godzilla or Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, remarkable in a market so allergic to foreign imports. That brings its total to $25.3 million (more by the time you read this). With an avalanche of Christmas blockbusters on the way, its grip on premium-format screens is about to slip. Still, I see it hanging around theaters for a while. I have never seen the fandom so united in praise for a film before, and it's making plenty of new fans.

Some of those fans are in high places. Variety leaked that it's on the 20-film shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars (to be narrowed to five nominees), something I, again, never expected to read about a Toho Godzilla film. Alas, it's locked out of this year's Best International Film category due to the quirky nomination period.

Much has been made of how great the film looks on a $15 million budget. I have two caveats, one in each direction. No one is quite sure where the $15 million figure came from; Yamazaki said at a recent con appearance that he only wished he had that much to play with. (He has yet to divulge the actual budget, just that it was above ¥1 billion.) Now, unions in the Japanese film industry are much weaker than in Hollywood, so a given production budget goes a lot further in Japan. All the same, I doubt that alone explains Minus One looking better than most superhero movies made for twenty times the cost. I'll offer a couple more reasons: Yamazaki has extensive visual effects experience (he's been the VFX supervisor of all but one of the live-action films he's directed), and the film's big effects scenes aren't as busy or lengthy as many of the Hollywood counterparts. I don't know if Disney will ask Yamazaki to direct the next Star Wars movie (that would require there to be a next Star Wars movie), but the studios here should be taking notes.

the sphinx, a blog with a ton of American Godzilla rarities to share, has outdone itself—behold a continuity and dialogue script for the U.S. version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! Included in the download is a detailed comparison with the film. No huge differences, apart from the script giving the secretary added to the U.S. version a name, but a fascinating piece of history all the same.

The Minus One incarnation of Godzilla (MaiGoji?) has joined Godzilla Battle Line, accompanied by [SPOILER]. To be honest, my enthusiasm for this game has been flagging, and I'm not caught up on the strategies developing around these two, so I'll just refer you to Sir Melee's channel as usual. This Godzilla's also doing a collaboration with the Japanese mobile game Fleet of Blue Flame.

Tiffany Grant, Asuka's original voice actress, will narrate the audiobooks for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA light novels which explore an Instrumentality-free path for the show. Seven Seas Entertainment published them in English from 2019 to 2021, which, to be honest, was also news to me.

This one's for my fellow library workers: the obscenely popular Who HQ nonfiction series for children is publishing a book about Godzilla next June. I don't know if this will have quite the same impact on today's young Godzilla fans as the Ian Thorne tome had on Gen Xers and Millennials, what with the Internet and all, but it's certain to be more factual. Expect illustrations instead of licensed photos, and not just because of Toho.

I can finally talk more about the Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers mobile game without fearing a DMCA. Not that there's much to talk about; it's freemium through and through and I'm not sure I know a single person who's excited for it. Interesting to see some critters from the comics break into another medium, at least. Here's the trailer.

[insertdisc5]

Devlog #14: Big News Incoming and Illustrations

Hello everyone! Welcome to this month’s devlog!

If you just stumbled upon this, I am Adrienne, also known as insertdisc5! I’m the developer, writer, artist, main programmer, etc of the game. The game being In Stars and Time, a timeloop RPG, which is also the next and final game in the START AGAIN series, following START AGAIN: a prologue (available here!).  You can find out more about In Stars and Time here!!! 

LET’S GET TO IT. This month has some Big News about Big News Incoming! And also some illustrations!

The Big News Incoming first: In Stars and Time will be a part of Future of Play Direct on June 10, 8:00am PT | 11:00am ET | 5:00 pm CET! Future of Play is part of the Summer Games Fest and showcases a lot of incredible indie games, so I hope you’ll tune in. There might be a little something for you to see :> And...

In Stars and Time will also be a part of The Mix on June 8th! The Mix is an amazing games showcase over in LA. There will be a lot of press there, so I’m very excited to get some eyes on ISAT! Please stop by the booth and say hi to the lovely people from my publisher, Armor Games Studios, if you get the chance!

Alright! That’s it for the big news. Now for other big news.

Porting the game to Switch seems to be close to done! Currently, the porting team is taking care of optimization thingy things. The game is playable, but tends to drop frames every so often, so the team is optimizing the game to make sure it’s playing smoothly so Switch players can have the best possible experience! And…

The (hopefully) final round of Japanese localization is underway! Last April, the localization team sent back a couple of sentences that should be reworded now that they have further context. Now that those changes are implemented, they are playing it one more time to make sure everything works as intended!

I sadly don’t have a Fun Gamedev Thing to talk about this month (or… last month either…) because I moved elsewhere back in April and have been taking care of many things so my move went smoothly. Did you know that moving and getting used to a new town is hard work? So, here’s some things I posted on social media in the last couple months!

Here’s an illustration I drew a while back but only posted recently! I imagine that during their journey, everyone must’ve shared a bed at least once. This is also an occasion to show everyone’s sleepytimes clothes. Siffrin on that honk shoo honk shoo fit

Like many people, I have seen the Barbie movie trailer. So of course I had to redraw these iconic frames.

And someone over on Tumblr asked me about how I picked everyone’s names! Here it is copy-pasted for your convenience.

Siffrin: i think. i will wait until the game comes out before saying how i picked their name. ask me again later (it’s not a spoiler its just silly)

Mirabelle: her name was actually Prunille for the longest time, but I kept mixing it up and calling her Bonnie… so I went looking for another fruit sounding name (prunille>prune>plum in french) and Mirabelle fit her perfectly :> (Mirabelle is a kind of plum!)

Isabeau: it’s just a nice name. It actually is a girl name but i refuse to accept it because “beau” is the masculine form for “beautiful”, but either way it fits his character pretty well…

Odile: old sounding french name. that’s it. when i was early in preproduction her name was Isabeau actually (and she had a WAY different personality)

Bonnie: it’s a nickname and not their full name. have i said their full name yet? (checks the wiki) i did. Boniface is just a name that I had never heard before, and I could easily imagine Bonnie not liking it because it sounds “old and lame”. i think as they get older they would like it more and more

This is also a reminder that In Stars and Time has a wiki page. I am so grateful that this is a thing someone made. You know you've made it when your game has a wiki page!!!

That’s all I have to say for today! Let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the game development struggle you’d like me to talk about! See you next time!!!

AND DON’T FORGET TO WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM ALSO IT REALLY HELPS BECAUSE STEAM’S ALGORITHM IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW OFF GAMES WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF WISHLISTS THAT’S THE REASON WHY GAME DEVS ALWAYS ASK TO WISHLIST!!! OKAY BYE!!!!

[the-firebird69]

Barbie | Main Trailer

I got a request and I said no at the time and I wasn't thinking about it you said that's how I recovered last time this is what do you mean they said it was Bradley and I started to think about it and I said this is what it is so I did the movie now I already done it I said you said it right in the movie I can't believe it I'm not going to believe in any stars ever again. So he says that I find him doing stuff and I said what does he mean so we're going into the real world and we have this miniature eyes Corvette it's a little smaller not much I said oh my God he said it and it'll be front wheel drive of course to begin with I'm going to subcompact on the body gets ruined and they can't get the panels and they end up not doing it cuz if somebody's stupid pieces and I said wow it's true there's tons of these cars and I said I want to do this so I'm looking into it tonight while everybody's going haywire but a stupid storm and it should really this guy Tommy office he is off the reservation. And he's nuts I said this is a great idea and you make like this used Chinese dirt bike places even better that was more or less a big Revelation to me right there and now he's saying you put electric motors in he can make him more solid state so it's just a grip and a standard Speedo and I said wow and you shield it and it works I'm actually as it works just as well as a regular gas bike and you do the conversion with the motor lower it but different fairings BG would have a field day and he'd love it and being real company and we can make all sorts of things like fake ninja and Bugatti I mean Ducati yeah with the Bugatti that exist there really is like this and really I've I've been in that toy and it rise like a car it's not a great car but we can make it better and he says just suspension tires and rims on some compact and there are four wheel independent front wheel drive so I'm going to get on it that is ridiculous this is so cool and I get his idea but he didn't know like the whole thing it will set it up by our areas and we'll have our capitals with the chairman's board and the idea is kind of pungent and it would move into real cars and he means it too I can make the scout two and you can't really make it much smaller than the original but the original looks like it's kind of fake cuz it's so small in the scout 2 groove so you grow it then you make the real one it's really not much better and he says no it would be a new frame which is sturdier the stamping would have reinforcing and the engine would be new and more along the lines of the tractor that we make or Mac could put a caterpillar in and I said wow that's pretty cool or truck engine and transmission but really the caterpillar is better because it's not huge and I'm going to go ahead with this this is an awesome idea and those trucks will go all day and night and we need that now and this might kick it off and then he said that the dirt bike idea might be the whole thing cuz people don't know how to sell these things they can't seem to sell to anyone and BG can go pick up millions tonight and start shops and we we have trouble working with him but we could do it people have these and you modify them they go massively fast and they're just as good he's in the new ones like Templar and things like that are are quality of the customer Anna even the motor you don't even need that husker and yeah they're really good motorcycle company from Norway it's in it's a great idea you can buy these motors and I'm going to go ahead with it because it's a good idea somehow we're going to do it and it might be that we form the companies and then he provides the parts and the chassis and the engines and the for kids and parts for the kids eventually and then just switch over what's a good idea it is a good idea and we need to do it

Ben Arnold

Yeah we need the song up

Hera

Olympus

[hustlemeanokay]

Okay - so, my xBox has been living in New Zealand since yesterday and I’ve been in Night City. I won’t post spoilers, mainly because I haven’t played a terribly whole lot because I’m super slow with a new game and take my time. But - I’m on “current gen” console. And, let me make something clear here, I operate on a first run Xbox one. This brick is old and still truckin’ right along. It’s also 93% full, not sure if that matters - it might? But I honestly have no idea. 

With that in mind - I’ve experienced exactly three “bugs”. Two were frame rate drops and one was what I’m calling barbie-bottom! Which was hilarious. I’m not gonna lie, I was cracking up and falling over on the couch. It was third person and V’s pants and shoes were gone! It was too good. Neither frame rate drop happened during combat, or conversation, and neither impeded play at all. One was during a tutorial and the other, I think, was more along the lines of transitioning from one area to another for the first time. 

What I will say is that, even on my brick, this thing is amazingly beautiful. The detail is... stunning. Not just the world - but the people in it. And yes, I adore Jackie, just like I knew I would. And yes, just like I knew I would - I’m having to remind myself that if I make a “wrong” choice or something, I can just back it up or if I don’t like the life-path I’ve chosen, technically... I can just start over. Bah! For my first play-through though - I’ve picked Corpo. I always play a female character for my first play-through in games. And while the character customization is pretty in-depth for being preset selection rather than sliders, it’s not as in-depth as people were saying it was going to be. The whole “junk customization” thing? Not so much. I mean, it’s there but not like... as wild as I thought it would be. 

And the place is huge. The world is hella big and I’m gonna be lost for awhile. And yes - I’ve already petted a cat, so cute! I do have one comment that I’ll put below the cut just in case someone might find it spoiler-ish. Nothing bad or really very spoiler-y but just in case! <3 

On the Corpo life path, V is friends with Jackie already but it seems like you’re kind of close friends but it’s obvious he’s not happy with you having took the Corpo job/lifestyle. Anyway! There’s like this whole six-month space between the start of the game and when you actually start to really play it. I like how they did this - they really make it seem like Jackie and V’s friendship grows closer over those six months, they do this little montage thing that’s really neat - a lot of it you’ve already seen in trailers, but not all of it. You see Jackie’s Mom, apparently you live with Jackie for awhile? Bunk with him and his Mom before getting your own place. At the start, y’all are friends but at the end of that time period, they really make it seem like now, y’all are close friends. Not just in the way the world spins around y’all but in how Jackie talks to V, how he acts around her, etc. It’s a nice touch and if they put even half that into other relationships - it’s gonna be a nice RPG experience. 

Also - Vik? He’s awesome. You’ll see. 

[longitudinalwaveme]

Nightmare

“You stupid, worthless brat! How am I supposed to get ahead in life with you and your sister dragging me down? If it weren’t for the two of you brats, I’d be living like a king!” Leonard Snart doesn’t move a muscle. Despite being twelve years old, practically an adult, his father is still twice his size and over four times his weight, so fighting back would be pointless.

“Well, don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

“No, sir.” Trying to defend himself will just make his father angrier.

“I should just throw you both out to fend for yourselves! Maybe then you ungrateful brats would learn to appreciate me! After all, if it weren’t for me, you’d both be dead in a gutter! Nobody else wants garbage like you.” When Leonard fails to respond, his father punches him in the stomach, then slings him over his shoulder. Leonard doesn’t react until he realizes that his father is heading for his sister’s room. Then, in desperation, he bites his father’s hand, producing a yowl of pain. Unfortunately, the bite doesn’t deter his father from his intended destination, and he storms into Lisa’s room, shakes her awake violently, and then grabs her as well. She immediately starts crying, and her tears only come faster when her father shakes her in an attempt to shut her up. Leonard tries to calm her down, but in his position, there’s not much he can do. His father opens the door to their trailer and violently deposits Leonard and Lisa on the front step.

“See how you like living without me!” his father yells before slamming the door. Leonard tries to open the door, but it doesn’t budge, and he starts to panic. His father has locked him and his little sister outside their home at three in the morning! What is he supposed to do? He can’t go to the neighbors-they all think he’s a juvenile delinquent-and he can’t call CPS because if he does, he and his sister will be separated and he’ll be thrown in jail just like his dad had told him. His sister starts crying again. He doesn’t think she fully understands what’s going on yet, but she can clearly tell that something is wrong.

“Shh….I’m here, Lisa. I’m not gonna let nothin’ bad happen to you, sis.” She hugs him, clinging to his thin frame as though her life depends on it, and asks,

“Are we in trouble again?” Leonard nods.

“Dad locked us out of the house,” he says, trying not to sound panicked.

“Is he gonna let us back in?” Leonard shrugs.

“I dunno, baby sis. I hope so.” At that, Lisa starts crying again.

“Shh...sis, we’ll be okay. Just pretend we’re having a campout.”

“Like the one Barbie had on TV?” Leonard grins.

“Yeah, just like that. Only ours’ll be better, ‘cause ours has us.” Lisa smiles.

“Okay, then why don’t we sleep over there?” she asks, pointing at a pile of leaves.

“Looks good to me, little sis.” He leads her over to the pile, takes off his shirt, and hands it to her.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s your sleeping bag. You can’t have a campout without one.”

“But where’s yours?

“I don’t need one, ‘cause I’m a man,” Leonard replies. He doesn’t want her to worry about him, and besides, tough guys like him don’t need sleeping bags, so it’s not a lie.

“Okay, Lenny.” Lisa lies down, and Leonard spreads his shirt over her.

“Good night, little sis.”

“Wait! Lenny, could you tell me a story before I go to sleep?”

“I guess so. What do you want me to tell you about?”

“The one with the princess and the superheroes!” Leonard manages not to groan, but it’s a close thing. Lisa asks for this story all the time, and it’s hard to tell. Superheroes might exist, but they don’t care about trailer trash like the Snarts. Why get her hopes up? But then again, it isn’t like he can refuse his little sister, so he launches into his story.

“Okay, so once upon a time, in a faraway place like New York, there was a beautiful princess named Lisa. Now, like all princesses, Lisa was smart and nice and all those things girls like to be called, but she had a problem- a big one. You see, when she was just a little baby, her kingdom-which I think is like a really old city-was cursed, so everybody and their Aunt Mariah forgot that she was their princess, and her loving mom and pop were replaced by a loose lady and an ogre who drank too much. The lady ran away, and the ogre was real, real mean to her and beat her up all the time for stupid reasons. Oh, and he also made her do chores and stuff, like cleaning up all his beer bottles while he was watching football.”

“How could he be watching football? Princesses don’t have TVs!” Leonard sighs.

“Okay, then he watched it with his crystal ball. Anyways, as bad as things were, the princess did have one friend. Before the curse, he’d been preparing to be a knight, but the curse had made him forget who he was, so he thought he was her brother and didn’t know how he was supposed to protect her from the ogre anymore.”

“What was the knight’s name?”

“Uh, his name was, uh….Sir Leo, the knight of, uh, Cold, and he could shoot ice! I mean, before the curse made him forget how. So anyway, Sir Leo and Princess Lisa were in a huge mess, and after years of living under the curse, they had given up on ever getting out. But that all changed when a superhero named-which one do you want?”

“The Flash.” Leonard nods, unsurprised. Jay Garrick has always been his sister’s favorite, probably because he lives near Central City just like them.

“Okay, so the Flash arrived to break the spell, and he did by, uh, running really fast. And then he punched the ogre in the face and gave the princess her real parents back, and she and the knight, who had his powers back and could protect her now, lived happily ever after. The End.”

“Thanks, Lenny,” Lisa says drowsily. Five minutes later, she’s fast asleep. Upon realizing that his sister is unconscious, Leonard finally allows himself to panic again. What’s he going to do if his father doesn’t let him and his sister back inside? It’s already October-if it gets much colder, Lisa could freeze to death. He wants to start crying, but doesn’t. Twelve-year-old boys-men-don’t cry. Ever. Instead of crying, Leonard decides to get angry. Someday, his father will pay for all the stuff he put Lisa through. He’s gonna pay-Leonard will make sure of that. With his tears firmly under control, Leonard falls asleep, determined to prove that he’s stronger than his father. The next morning, Leonard wakes up to find his sister still sleeping peacefully, her blonde hair a rather tangled, leaf-filled mess. In fact, she looks so happy that he almost hates to wake her, but if he doesn’t, she’ll be late for school.

“Lisa, wake up!” Her eyes flutter open.

“Good morning, Lenny.” Leonard pulls her to her feet and carefully brushes the leaves off of her, then takes his shirt back and puts it on.

“So, did you like the campout?” She nods.

“You’re the bestest big brother in the world.” Leonard smiles. If she’s happy, he’s happy. He leads her to the door of their trailer and turns the handle, and, thankfully, the door opens. The pair slip inside and find their father passed out on their couch, beer bottles strewn all over the floor and the TV still blaring. Leonard sneaks over to the couch, slides the remote out of his father’s hand, and turns off the TV. He proceeds to start picking up the bottles his father had left lying around. A few minutes later, he is joined in this endeavor by his sister, who is smaller and can more easily reach the bottles that had somehow ended up under furniture. About ten minutes later, the pair have successfully cleaned up the living room, and Leonard starts making breakfast.

“Go get dressed for school, Lisa.” Lisa obeys and vanishes into her room. While she gets dressed, Leonard finishes making cereal and sets the two bowls on the table. After doing this, he goes to the refrigerator, grabs the package of beer bottles, and fills all but one of them with water. If he only drinks one today, he’ll be sober enough to go to work tomorrow. Lisa returns from her room in a t-shirt and jeans long enough to cover the scars on her legs, and they both sit down at the table and start eating.

“Is Daddy all right?”

“Yeah, he’s fine.” They spend the rest of the meal in silence, and then Leonard takes the dishes to the sink and instructs his sister to brush her teeth, which she does. He washes the dishes, puts them away, and then pulls out his math homework that was due two weeks ago. His teacher had been bothering him about it on Friday, and he can’t afford any more trouble at school. The principal had already made it clear the last time he’d gotten detention (for mouthing off) that if he was sent to the office one more time, he’d be expelled, and if that happens, he’ll be stuck at home with his father all day. Stupid school. It isn’t like he is going to benefit from school anyway-he’d heard one teacher tell another that he’d never make it through high school-so why do they force him to come? School doesn’t make him any money, so how do they expect him to support his sister? He needs a job, not algebra. After a minute or so of struggling, he gives up and decides that he will just take another F. It isn’t like he’s going to pass the class anyway. Just then, his sister returns with her backpack and asks him to walk her to school. He does, and about twenty minutes later, he is waving good-bye to her as she enters her second-grade classroom. He leaves the building and walks to the middle school.

“Hey, Leonard,” another kid says. Leonard nods in greeting but doesn’t reply. There’s no point in trying to make friends when your dad’s got a rap as the town drunk and a thief, so he never really talks to anyone except when he needs to prove how tough he is when he gets into fights with other kids. His day goes pretty typically until math class. Normally, it is his least favorite class of the day (because it’s at the end of the day), but today, when he asks his teacher to just give him an F on the assignment and expel him already at the end of the class (after sleeping through the rest of it), the teacher doesn’t yell at him, call him a punk kid, or expel him. Instead, he gives Leonard an odd look and asks him to sit down. Leonard obeys reluctantly.

“Is everything all right at home, Leonard? I know you and I have never gotten along well, but lately I’ve noticed that you’ve come in with bruises and odd-looking marks on your arms fairly regularly, to say nothing of how tired you always seem to be. Is something wrong?” Leonard freezes. How had he failed to realize that his injuries hadn’t been covered up adequately? If he’s not careful, the teacher might call CPS and then he’ll lose Lisa forever.

“What, are you stupid or something? Don’t you know that I’ve been sent to the office for fighting three times already?” No one really cares about him, so he might as well make sure that this guy stops pretending to.

“Leonard, no one gets injuries that look like belt marks from fist fights.”

“Belt marks? What’re you talking about?” Leonard asks, before rattling off a string of swear words. In response, the teacher gently rolls up his left sleeve, revealing several barely-healed scars from his father’s belt. Leonard’s mind whirls as he tries to come up with a plausible explanation for the marks, but before he can, the teacher asks,

“Leonard, who did this to you?” Leonard swears again and looks at the floor, trying not to meet his teacher’s gaze.

“Look, sir, it was nothing. I did it to myself for a dare, that’s all.” In response, his teacher rolls up his other sleeve, revealing marks from a hand clearly much larger than Leonard’s own.

“Is your father doing this to you?”

“Yeah, but it ain’t none of your business. I’m just an idiot, that’s all. If I wasn’t such a delinquent, he wouldn’t have to keep me in line. I’m just garbage, okay? I deserve everything I get,” Leonard replies, parroting his father. If the teacher believes him, he can go home and take care of his sister. So, even though his dad would’ve beaten him if he’d been a goody-good like that Barry Allen guy in ninth grade, he is perfectly willing to use his father’s words if it gets him out of his current situation. Lisa is probably worried about him.

“Leonard, no one deserves to be beaten so badly that they’re still black and blue days later. I agree that your behavior could use a lot of improvement, but I would never lay a hand on you unless you were to threaten the life of me or another student, and I have no reason to believe that you would do that. Your father is wrong to treat you the way he does.” Leonard shrugs.

“Maybe. But sir, you’ve gotta keep quiet about this. If you call CPS, I’ll be separated from my sister and they’ll put me in jail or something.”

“Who told you that?”

“My dad. I mean, he ain’t a great guy, but he used to be a cop, so he would know.” The teacher frowns and shakes his head.

“If your father told you that, he’s lying to you. CPS isn’t going to send you to jail-in fact, I don’t know if they even have the power to do that.”

“Look, sir, everything’s fine at home! Please don’t tell anyone about this-please. I don’t want to lose my sister.” His teacher sighs.

“Very well. But if I see you with injuries like that again, I will call CPS.”

“Whatever,” Leonard replies. He mutters a few more swear words and leaves the room, hoping that his teacher is angry at him now and determined to keep his injuries covered from now on. He leaves the middle school and picks up Lisa, then asks,

“So, sis, how’d your day go?” In response, Lisa frowns.

“Lydia Brown made fun of my clothes again and said that her mommy had told her that I was trash and would probably rob the whole class blind,” she says sadly.

“It’ll be okay, Lisa. When you’re bigger and become super famous, she’ll regret making fun of you. Besides, her older brother is in my grade, so I’ll just tell him to tell her not to mess with you, or he’ll have to answer to me.”

“Thanks, Lenny. You’re as brave and heroic as the Flash.” The two walk home to find their father gone. Leonard breathes a sigh of relief. Since he isn’t here, Lisa’ll be able to do her homework. Lisa sits down at the kitchen table and pulls out a math sheet, and Leonard starts making dinner. He’s still making spaghetti when Lisa asks him for help.

“Lenny, what’s nine minus four?”

“Five.” Despite his math grades, Leonard is actually really good at figuring. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be able to buy groceries and help his father pay the bills. He wonders what his teachers would think of that. After all, they all think he’s a stupid delinquent. None of them would ever guess that he’s responsible for taking care of his little sister, and he prefers it that way. Mockery is better than pity. Five minutes later, Lisa finishes her homework and Leonard finishes cooking the spaghetti and puts it in the fridge. This accomplished, he puts the clothes in the washing machine and then asks Lisa what she wants to do.

“Can we play dolls, Lenny?” Leonard groans. He hates playing with dolls, but he can’t disappoint his little sister. Except for their grandfather, who’s in the hospital, he’s all she has.

“Sure, sis.” The two of them get out Lisa’s collection of dolls (the majority of which come from either Goodwill or social service people who felt bad for her) and he asks,

“So, little sis, what do you want them to do?” Lisa grins.

“Let’s have Lydia (the creepy-looking porcelain doll she’d insisted he purchase at Goodwill) and Mariah (a rag doll with red hair) have a tea party and then go visit Tina (a Barbie doll with very short hair thanks to the previous owner cutting most of it off).” If it were up to Leonard, he would have all the dolls punch each other, but then again, he’s a man. Men don’t play with toys like little kids do.

“Sounds great, little sis.” An hour later, the game has somehow morphed into a really weird Star Wars parody featuring a female Flash (played by a knock-off Barbie) fighting the evil empire, which was lead by an evil emperor named Lewis (who was played by a cracked lawn gnome that had also been a Goodwill purchase), and both Leonard and Lisa have collapsed into uncontrollable giggling because Lisa had had the female Flash declare that she would defeat Lewis by vibrating him through a wall and then making him clean up all his beer bottles, only to realize how weird that sounded and declare that she wanted a do-over.

“Little sis, you’re the greatest,” Leonard says after he stops laughing-only to freeze in fright when he hears the door slam open and then slam shut.

“Leonard! Lisa! Get in here now!” The two rush to the door and find their father standing there with a bottle in his hand. He swears violently, slaps Leonard hard across the face, and then calls him a name that had gotten him suspended for three days when he’d used it at school. Lisa shrieks and clings to him, and he sighs and wonders how it’s possible that his father is drunk again when he’d made sure that only one of the bottles had had alcohol in it.

“So, you think you’re pretty smart, don’t you, you little punk? You filled my drinks with water and made me buy more to replace them. You moron! If it weren’t for you wasting my money, I’d be a millionaire, but no, I had to have a dirty, no-good punk kid instead! You’re supposed to respect me, not waste my money, you stupid brat! And now you’ll pay.” Leonard sighs and goes to fetch his father’s belt. Hopefully, it won’t hurt too much this time. Then his father grabs his shoulder and violently stops him in his tracks.

“No. I got a more effective way of punishing you.” He smashes his beer bottle on the counter and motions Leonard towards him. Leonard complies, unsure of what his father plans to do but too afraid to anger him. His father raises the bottle and brings it down hard across his arm, creating a spurt of blood. Then he shoves him into the counter and punches him in the ribcage. Leonard glances at his sister. She looks terrified, but hasn’t been hurt. Good. Leonard braces himself and his father gives him a black eye, then hits him with the bottle again, drawing more blood.

“Look, Dad, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I-I just wanted you to be happy, and you don’t seem very happy when you’re drunk.” He doesn’t really think he did anything wrong, but his father is scaring Lisa, so if he can bring the punishment to an end by apologizing, he will.

“You’re sorry? That don’t change a thing, you little sissy! You’re a sniveling little coward and I wish that you’d never been born!” He hits Leonard in the mouth, and Leonard tastes blood.

“Dad...please….”He has to protect Lisa!

“Shut up, you worthless yellow-bellied ninny!” His father raises the bottle to hit Leonard again, but suddenly, Lisa runs into his path and receives the full blow from the bottle. It opens up her shoulder and blood spurts everywhere.

“LISA!” His sister doesn’t reply. His father is right. He really shouldn’t have been born. If it wasn’t for him, Lisa wouldn’t be bleeding.

“You...you hurt Lisa!” he yells at his father.

“And if you don’t behave, I’ll do it again the next time. Maybe threatening to hurt her for your mistakes will make you give me some respect.” Leonard’s eyes widen in fear. Most of the time, he doesn’t know why his father gets angry at him. If his father starts hurting Lisa for his mistakes, he’ll never forgive himself.

“Dad, please don’t do that. Please, leave her alone! I promise I’ll never, ever sass you again, I swear. Just don’t hurt her again!” His father scowls.

“Whatever.” He looks over his daughter, then says,

“She’ll be fine. I know somebody who can stitch her up-and boy, if you even think about calling 911, I’ll tell them that you attacked her.” Leonard nods. He’ll never call 911 anyway, because if he ever does, he’ll lose Lisa. His father takes Lisa away a few minutes later, leaving Leonard alone with his thoughts. His little sister is hurt because of him, and he’s terrified. What if she dies? What if someone finds out what happens and he is separated from her? What if she decides she hates him for not protecting her? How much money is the surgery going to cost? How can he possibly trust himself to protect her after this? His father is right-he is worthless, and he always will be. He contemplates calling 911 so that Lisa will be taken away from their father, but quickly decides against it. Lisa will be terrified if she’s separated from him, and besides, what if the police believe his father and put him in jail? His grandfather will be so disappointed if that happens. Instead of calling 911, he grabs his father’s broken bottle and deepens the cut in his arm. If Lisa has to bleed, he should, too. Two hours later, his father returns with Lisa, dumps her on the floor, and demands dinner. Leonard gets the spaghetti out of the fridge, heats it up, and places it on the table. His father starts eating mechanically, and Leonard runs to Lisa. Much to his relief, her eyes flutter open after a few seconds, and she bursts into tears.

“Daddy hit me!” she wails. Leonard checks her shoulder and sees that it has been awkwardly stitched together. His heart breaks for her. Why does his little sister have to live like this when she’s done no wrong? She isn’t a delinquent like him or a drunk like his Dad. She doesn’t deserve this pain and poverty. Why has she been left with only a delinquent punk kid to raise her?

“Get your sister to stop crying or I’ll give you both something to cry about!” Leonard winces at the sound of his father’s voice and starts hushing his sister. About a minute later, she’s stopped crying and asks,

“Are you okay, Lenny?”

“Don’t worry about me, sis. I’m fine. How are you? Are you all right? Do you need anything? I’m so sorry that I let you get hurt.” His little sister isn’t supposed to worry about him.

“I’m….okay. Is Daddy still mad at us?”

“I dunno.” Leonard replies. He rocks her for a few minutes, and then his father finishes his meal and turns on the TV, then walks over to the couch and collapses on it. Leonard cleans up his plate, tells Lisa to eat, and then puts the wet laundry in the drier.

“Get me a beer, boy.” Leonard sighs and hands his father a can from the fridge, then joins his sister at the table and eats dinner. A few minutes later, Lisa finishes her food and tiptoes off to her room, and then Leonard finishes eating, cleans up the plates, puts away the laundry, and  goes to Lisa’s room to help her plan her outfit for tomorrow. He leaves the room while she changes into her PJs, then helps her brush her teeth and tucks her into bed.

“Can you tell me another story, Lenny?”

“Sure, Lisa. What about?”

“Maybe one about some beautiful imaginary creature, like a fairy or a unicorn or a nice mommy who actually lives with her kids.” Leonard almost swears, but catches himself. Why does his sister have to live without a mother? What has she done?

“Okay, sis. Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Lisa, and her brother, Leonard. They lived in Central City and they were the best of friends, but they had a problem-their parents didn’t want them, and neither did anyone else, because they were poor and people thought they were bad and mean just like their Dad was, and their Grandpa was too sick to help them. But then, one day, Lisa met a nice man and lady while she was ice skating. They were really impressed by her, so they asked her who she was, and soon they became friends with her, and when they learned that nobody wanted her and that he dad was loud and angry all the time, they called the police and he got taken away forever, and then she and her big brother got adopted by them and lived happily ever after.”

“And they had a pony and their house was made of candy!”

“And that. The end.”

“You’re the bestest storyteller ever, Lenny.” A few seconds later, she’s asleep, and Leonard kisses her on the head.

“Love you, sis.” He leaves her room and goes back to the living room, where his father is still drinking. Someday, he’ll make his father regret this day, when he gets older and can fight him. Someday, Lisa will have everything she wants. But it won’t come from imaginary caring parents. They don’t exist. He’s the only one who can give her her happy ending, and he will-no matter who gets in the way or what he has to do. After all, his future is doomed already. But if he can keep hers bright, he will have succeeded in protecting her, and that’s the only thing that matters. He certainly doesn’t.

[queenismykween]

Watched Toy Story 4 again and made a super long list of moments that I noticed and loved. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! And hey, look, another cute picture of Woody holding Forky.

(Tom Holland and Chris Pratt in a movie together!? Sign me up! *after seeing trailer for Onward*)

The orchestra at the beginning with the castle! The whole score was nostalgic!

Nine years ago… (has it been that long?)

Barbie. (It was good to see her, lol.)

Operation Pull Toy! (Jinx between Woody and Bo. All the times they talk in sync is adorable and I had to list it.)

Bo pulling on Woody’s hat.

Bo: Billy! Goat! Gruff! Woody: You never told me they had names. Bo: “You never asked.”

Barrel of monkeys (callback to first movie) on Bo’s staff.

Woody thinking about getting in box with Bo (WHICH HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE MOVIE)

You’ve Got A Friend In Me. (Awww)

Andy’s new look! What a precious bean!

Toy Story 3 scene with Bonnie 😭 in the flashback

Bonnie’s name under Woody’s boot

(Oh, Woody, you’re okay to be a leader, even though Dolly took over) 

Buzz’s concern for Woody because Woody hasn’t been chosen for playtime for 3 days now.

Sheriff Jessie

Chair: Your first dust bunny! What are you going to call him? *Thumper. Tumbleweed.*

Dolly: Can’t you see I’m threatening everybody?

(Dolly, Woody cares about Bonnie too!)

(watching Bonnie cry cuz she doesn’t want to go to kindergarten.. of course Woody had to come with her!)

The two mothers!

Vivienne is a cute name.

Woody literally helps create Forky by giving Bonnie the materials! He is a dad!

Bon nie (under Forky’s popsicle feet)

Bonnie: This is Forky! Ms. Wendy: Hello Forky, I’m Miss Wendy. (I love it when teachers do that for their students)

Bonnie: I finished Kindergarten! (just after orientation, lol)

Bonnie’s love for Forky is my love for him.

Forky freaking out in the backpack. Both of them freaking out, actually.

Woody: Bonnie made a friend in class. Rex: Aw, that’s nice, she’s making friends already! Woody: No, she literally made a friend.

Forky: Trash?

Everyone: Hello, hi! Forky: Ah! *falls over and his eye pops out and Woody fixes it for him*

Forky kept running to the trash and Woody kept grabbing him.

The way Woody holds Forky! Like he’s a baby!

Woody: She had the biggest smile on her face when she played with Forky! *talking about Forky when he watched Bonnie play with him* #emotional support spork)

Woody: We gotta protect him! *Forky yeets himself in the trash*

Babysit him!

Woody kept throwing him on the bed continually every time he jumps in the trash. Woody cuddling against Bonnie.

Forky asleep with a paper on top of him in the trash.

Buzz: He’s quite a handful!

Woody grabbing Forky and freezing with him while Bonnie plays with them.

Tossing the trash can out of the RV.

Forky kept running from Woody.

Woody using his pull string as a lasso to grab Forky.

Randy Newman song!

Buzz noticing how tired Woody is and asking if he’s okay. Want me to take the next watch?

Buzz: The little voice inside me? Who do you think it is? Your inner voice advises you? *pushes button on himself*

Forky: I am not a toy. I’m a spork! I was made for soup, salad, and maybe even chili and then the trash. I’m litter! FREEDOM!! *flies out the window*

Woody: *out of the RV* Forky, where are you!? Forky: *face first in the ground*

The way Forky waddles, falls, then starts waddling again. Woody drags him on the road.

Forky: Carry me? Woody: No.

Woody: Happy memories for the rest of her life! Forky: Huh, what?

Fixing his pipe cleaner hand.

Forky: Wasn’t that annoying!? Woody: Thank you!! *about Buzz when talking about events from the first movie*

Forky: Useless? Just like me! Trash!

Forky: You mean she thinks I’m warm and cozy and squishy?

Forky: I’m Bonnie’s trash!

The way Woody holds Forky like a baby. (The sneaky music from Toy Story 2. I heard it!)

Forky running across the road to get to Bonnie.

Woody recognizing Bo’s lamp

Forky: Friend? Woody: A friend is like you and me! Forky: Trash? Woody: Yeah? #friendship goals

Second Chance Antiques. I finally get the name.

Forky shouting Bo’s name.B B B B B Bo!

*when Woody and Forky are hiding and Benson is pushing the carriage* Forky: Is that Bo? *screams when Benson turns his head*

Woody: This is Forky! Forky: I’m trash!

*Benson drops Woody and Forky in the carriage*

Forky: *in the carriage* Mh, what service.

Woody made in the 50’s. Cool!

Forky: Wow, you need to fix that! *about Gabby’s voice box*

Forky’s oblivious smile as the dolls surround them.

Gabby: Stop him, please. *haha, same*

Woody: Forky, we gotta get outta here! *holding his pipe cleaner arms as he runs away*

Old Lady: Nobody buys the toys anyway. *wink* (I think that’s true. All those creepy dolls..)

Jessie: Maybe we should’ve gone with the fork. Buzz: The spoon is safer. *cut to Bonnie holding a spoon*

Bonnie: There’s only one Forky! yep

Dad: Let’s go look outside. Maybe he fell on the ground.

Buzz: We should’ve guarded the utensil.

Buzz trying to assume being the leader.

What would Woody do?

Buzz flying!! Then falling with style on the ground.

Woody on the swing as Harmony pushes him. So cute.

The girl holding Bo, picks up Woody and ahhhh! My heart!

Woody and Bo trying to hug but it’s awkward.

More jinxing!

Woody: Well if it isn’t.. Bobby, Gus, Lefty?

The grape soda cap the sheep found! Clearly from Up!

Bo: Don’t stare. Giggle McDimples: I’m totally staring!

(He’s a cop! *Giggle about Woody*)

The Carls, the high fives and the one in white not getting a high five!

Carl: Way to beat the odds, soldier!

*Carl in white lingering as Woody doesn’t give him the high five*

Bo: You have a little girl? *when Woody tells her about Bonnie* 

When Woody tells the story of Bo and her lamp in Molly’s room. Oh, Woody! My heart!

The twirl hug!

Forky: When’s Woody coming back? *soon Forky*

Gabby: It’s tea time! Forky: Woo hoo! What’s tea time?

Forky: *helping Gabby with her tea skills* Little higher, stick out your pinky. *teach me, Forky*

Forky’s hand on top of Gabby trying to comfort her, then derp.

Gabby puling Forky in her lap.

Forky: I’ve known Woody my whole life! 2 days!

Ducky: In a galaxy far far away!

Buzz: *putting his helmet on and Duckys foot getting stuck*

Bo and her arm and screaming with Woody as he accidentally yanks it off.

Woody trying to grab Bo when she uses the sticky hand.

The lovesick look on Woody’s face.

(The ship it truck. We all drive it)

Buzz: Good work, inner voice!

Bo: Buzz? *as Woody talks about who’s left in the gang*

Buzz: Moving buddies! Woody, it’s Bo Peep!

Buzz’s button getting spammed as they roll down the roof. (probably a callback to Toy Story 2 when Zurg repeatedly spams the other Buzz’s button. Rex: But Buzz is in peril! *B B B Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!)

Rex: The panic is attacking me!

Buttercup: We could frame dad for a crime and get him in jail!

Bonnie: Can we leave a note for Forky? *awww*

Jessie: *after busting the tire with a nail* If you get my point! (point! Probably from Toy Story 3)

Pixar ball from upper view when Bo and the gang get in the shop.

Bunny: Who will Bonnie love more? Say me.

Bunny: All six eyes looking in my soul. *as they wander around the store*

*Your Forky* *to Woody*

Buzz: We can handle a cat.

Bunny and Ducky: Is that how we look in the inside? So much.. Fluff.

Forky trying to brush Gabby’s hair with the wrong side of the brush.

Forky: Such lovely hair.

Woody holding the phone with that look on his face. *he’s frozen there as a lady looks around*

*scene from the trailer with Ducky and Bunny* Buzz: We’re not doing that!

*she goes home* Giggle: Where is this going!? (She’s in bed and.. *screaming*)

Buzz: How do we get that key?

Forky: Woody’s back!? (Forky’s so excited.)

Tin man! Remember him from the Pixar Shorts or the brief moment in Toy Story 2 when Ham is clicking through the channels really quickly?

The bisexual lighting in the room in the “club” (if you want to think of it that way.)

Duke Caboom: Billy, Goat, Gruff? They’re my girls! *Woody rolls his eyes*

Duke Caboom: That toy sounds like a complete idiot! *about Woody*

Duke Caboom: It’s a commercial! It’s not real!

Duke Caboom: Be who I am right now. (really profound)

Duke: Yes I Canada!

Woody: How did you get the key? *flashback to Buzz and the others as they get the key, where the old lady places the key right in front of them* Buzz: It was very difficult!

Woody: You can’t teach this old toy new tricks.

Woody: I saw your lamp in the window and I thought you might be inside.

All the lamps and chandeliers were pretty.

Forky giggling which leads to Woody finding him in the box.

Bo: Wait, it’s an actual fork? B B B B Bo?

Bunny: I’m too cute to die!

Woody holding Forky like a weapon.

*Forky crying for help* Woody!

Shh, it’s okay. *Duke to his bike*

Woody’s determination to get Forky.

Woody: Because it’s all I have left to do! I don’t have anything else. (that made me cry)

Woody: It’s called loyalty.

Ducky: You’re crazy. *to Woody after they fight*

Woody: I don’t leave toys behind. Buzz: And he left me behind

Buzz didn’t want Woody to go back in the store.

Woody using the red pencil as a weapon.

Woody: I’m not leaving without Forky.

Gabby: Being there for a child is the most noble thing a toy can do. Proudly watching him grow up. *about Bonnie to Woody* Helping her when she needs it most. All I want is a chance, for just one of those moments. I’d give anything to be loved the way you have. Woody: Just leave me Forky.

Buzz: Bonnie will realize her backpack’s missing. Bonnie: Nope!

Buzz:  *after spamming his button and is about to be put away* Your backpack’s in the antique store, let’s go! (Haha, wonderful!)

Bo: *about Woody’s determination/loyalty* You gotta love him for it. 

Bo to Bunny and Ducky: We’re going back. We just got here! 

(Woody’s voice box being removed! So significant to me!) 

Gabby: My little utensil. 

Forky: Goodbye Benson! He is terrifying! 

Forky being happy for Gabby as the moment between her and Harmony is about to happen.

Forky: No no, Woody look! It’s happening!  *after Gabby is thrown in the box* Forky: Oh, I’m gonna cry. 

Forky and Woody being sad when Gabby is rejected.

Forky: What is a merry go round? Woody: It’s the spinning ride with horses and lights. Forky: You mean a carousel?   

Woody taking his hat off in sympathy for Gabby.

Bo and Gabby having a sense of understanding despite once being enemies.

Forky upside down in Bonnie’s hand.

Forky: He said to meet us at the carousel! The spinning ride with lights and horses! Woody told me so! 

The baby carriage knocked over and Benson was inside. The lady who found him screamed, lol

The whole GPS thing. (Like driving the pizza planet truck from Toy Story 2!)

Duke smacking in the target face first.

The gang taking over the RV.’

The little girl who’s lost, poor thing. She was so cute.

*as Mrs. Potato Head and Trixie mess with the wires* Cop: Pull over! Bonnie’s Dad: I can’t, this is a rental!

Lost Girl: *to Gabby* Are you lost too? I’ll help you. Can you help us? *to the security guard*

The female security guards helping to get the family together.

The happiness of reuniting a girl with a toy.

Three police cars following the RV.

Bonnie asleep the whole time while the RV is controlled by the toys.

Buttercup: Dad’s totally going to jail! Forky spamming the lock button.

*the kiss could’ve happened with the Ferris wheel in the background! But I’ll take a hug*

The callback to the scene under the car in the box between Bo and Woody at this moment.

Buzz: *as Woody walks up to him sadly after leaving Bo* She’ll be okay. *pause* Bonnie will be okay. (BUZZ!! How he understands Woody is so admirable!)

Buzz: Listen to your inner voice.

My heart!! That final shot with the original gang..

Woody giving Jessie his badge.

Everyone hugging Woody and then Woody and Buzz hugging. And then Forky hugging Woody. It killed me inside. (I’m crying.)

The way Woody chases after Bo on top of the carousel.

Forky: Does this mean Woody’s a lost toy? Buzz: He’s not lost anymore. 

Buzz: To infinity.. Woody: And beyond. *last lines of the movie*

The end credits. (comes in four parts.) Bo and Woody rigging the ride so all the toys are won. Plush Rush. Heck yes.

Duke: Do you really have laser eyes? Bunny: Yeah. Duke: Woah.

Buzz: How was present and explain!? *to Jessie when she returns from 1st Grade with Bonnie* Hamm: You mean show and tell?

Forky falling in love with the knife at first sight. The whole thing with Jessie introducing Knifey to the gang was like the beginning of the movie with Woody and Forky.

Forky: Unique, beautiful toys. Knifey: How am I alive? Forky: I don’t know. 

(Combat Carl were voiced by an actual Carl.

And those are most of the moments that I personally liked in chronological order!

 I’ve noticed that a lot of people were more satisfied with Toy Story 3 as the conclusion to the movies, but I loved what this movie had to offer. 

I didn’t mind Buzz being the comic relief in the movie, nor did I mind Ducky and Bunny. I wasn’t looking forward to Ducky and Bunny entirely because of the trailers, but I enjoyed them. 

To me, there was the matter of Dolly treating Woody a bit differently when he tries to handle the toys and when he does sneak off in Bonnie’s backpack to kindergarten with Bonnie. She assumes the role of leader and is a tad bit annoying to me. But it was short-lived, so I’m okay. 

Another moment is when Bo gets upset with Woody after he screws up the mission. it was a minor setback, and I think she overreacted. Same with the fight as everyone leaves Woody behind to fend for himself as he goes back to the antique shop. But those were the only things, so overall, this movie is one of my favorites and I’d love to see it again! Go ahead and judge these moments for yourself. Maybe we’ll have different opinions and views but it’s okay. Everyone’s opinion is valid.

[smokeybrand]

The Tragedy of Ex-Arm

I absolutely adore Cyberpunk. It’s probably my favorite sub-genre of entertainment. Doesn’t matter what kind of entertainment it is, film, television, comic, animation, whatever, if it’s got trans humanism and a dystopia, odds are I'm into it. Some of my favorite things are all thing GunnM or Battle Angel Alita as it’s known out here in the West, Akira, both Blade Runners, and anything Ghost in the Shell. Well, almost anything. That last thing kind of tied into this essay so, you know, bear with me. I stumbled across something that vibes perfectly with my neon new wave aesthetic while perusing new manga to follow and i immediately bought into the concept. It’s called Ex-Arm and the sh*t is fantastic.

Ex-Arm is a manga written by HiRock and illustrated by Komi Shinya. It follows the young Natsume Akira, who was killed in 2014, only to be integrated into a cybernetic box called and Ex-Arm and used by a specialized police force to fight against cyber crime. He’s partnered with a rather passionate policewoman, Uenozono Minami, and her cyborg partner, Alma. Together, they fight against terrorist in a brand new world where the line between metal and flesh has been blurred into one. It starts kind of low, admittedly, but the narrative picks up almost immediately, Once you’re into probably chapter three, maybe our, you’re hooked. The narrative is excellent, if a little simplistic, but that worked as a framing device for the beautiful art. HiRock does a great job creating scenarios where Komi can really flex his creative ye for action. This thing is, by no means, an Akira or GitS, but it’s absolutely fantastic for cats just trying to get into the genre. You get a kind of crash course into what cyberpunk is and I'm all for growing the fandom. I really enjoy Ex-Arm so when i heard there was an anime adaption, i was hype. And then i heard it was licensed by Crunchyroll and immediately lost all fervor for what was about to happen. And then i saw the trailer. Bruh.

Crunchyroll is a problem for me. When i was younger, and the platform was just starting out, they basically only  licensed anime and subbed it for a nominal fee. They were, effectively, a fansub group gone legit. I was okay with that. I preferred that. Getting y content fresh from Nippon but supporting the many studios making it felt like the right thing to do. When they released their streaming service, they became too rich, too fast. That money went to their head and they began to flex their clout in the industry. Crunchyroll was the first to release a streaming app and they had the most content. Funimation was second but they could only present the sh*t they already licensed but Crunchyroll could show that same sh*t, just in it’s original Japanese format. They are the Goliath in this industry and they began to flex that girth, altering subs to fit their politics, dropping hows they felt were too problematic, and wasting subscription fees on lavish work space and sh*tty original content like High Guardian Spice. This is who got a hold of the rights to not only license Ex-Arm, but f*cking animate it. They opted not to use traditional hand drawn animation in favor of that weird ass, digital sh*t, you See with the new Berserk or that last Git show on Netflix. See, i told you we’d get there. These shows are disgusting to look at and literally lose all forms of kineticism in the movement of the weird CG dolls. It’s like watching a kid smash their Barbies together instead of actual animation. This is the environment i which Ex-Arm was cast. And it’ the worst one so far.

Ex-Arm is a fantastic read with brilliant art and the sh*t Crunchyroll did to it with their disrespectfully terrible adaption should be a whole ass crime. This thing is a f*cking train wreck You can’t even say it was lost in translation or that there were budget or whatever else because you’re Crunchyroll. You sit on the boards of legitimate anime houses as US consultants. Why not partner with them to produce a product that isn’t objective dogsh*t? How do you not learn the lessons of Netflix and their CG animated missteps? Those cats have come a long ass way from Sindonia no Kishi and Aijin. We’ve seen them flex those digital muscles with The Dragon Prince, Dorohedoro, and Dragon’s Dogma. Sure, their GitS 2045 is a little bit of a misstep but i imagine they’ll recover. Netflix is great t that. Hell, the Blu Ray versions of Berserk are infinitely better. Sh*t, man, The Magnificent Kotobuki, GEMBA’s second show after Berserk, is a marked improvement over whatever Berserk was and it was only three years between those release. F*ck, man, Hoseki no Kuni, Beastars, and Promare exist! There are ways to make this sh*t work so why the f*ck is Ex-Arm so goddamn terrible?

This sh*t is a tragedy, for real. Ex-Arm has all of the hallmarks to be a hit stateside. Indeed, if you read the material, I'm sure you’d end up loving the content. It’s really a great example of cyberpunk media and seeing it butchered so egregiously onscreen is mad disheartening. I love cyberpunk. I love Ex-Arm. I can’t help but wonder what a proper studio, someone who knows how to actually create adaptions for this type of content, could have dome with the license. Madhouse, Brain’s Base, Pierrot, Bones, IG, or UFOtable, could have done something miraculous with this sh*t. UFOtable, specifically. The sh*t they’ve done with the Fate series, used t illustrate massive, concrete and steel, neon drenched, cities filled with epic battles fueled by cybernetic enhances action? Are you kidding me? Instead, I'm stuck with a sub-par adaption that robs the core content of everything that makes it great. It’s goddamn tragedy and i absolutely hate it. Ex-Arm is a fantastic manga that you should totally read. Don't watch that sh*tty show, though. Let it be know that lazy, unfinished, cashgrab, content I unacceptable. Ex-Am deserves better than that.

[sinsiriuslyemo]

This was a rather short season, guys, with only three episodes left!! What this means for hiatus is that, there won’t be one!!! That’s right, guys!! For the first time in 11 seasons, we will not be having a hiatus between seasons 11 and 12!! Stay tuned later for episode 18 from @missjennifercole and for the nail-biting season finale tomorrow, and the trailer for season 12!!

EPISODE 17

Nevada sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt as though he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. It was obvious that his presence was annoying you, but if he left to give you your space, you may very well have accused him of leaving you alone with two babies. Two babies. How could your marriage ever survive in the wake of two dependents on top of a four year old and a teenager who wasn’t out of the nest yet?

He couldn’t understand...everything had been fine until you were almost gone. But you weren’t gone...you were right here, with him, so why was he so afraid of his own children?

You cried, the babies starting to cry too, no one seeming to understand how much your soul ached in that moment. You closed your eyes and rocked the twins.

“Shhhh, mommy's here,” you whispered.

Nevada just sat there silently, feeling more and more like a piece of furniture by the minute. He was even afraid to ask what he could do for you. You’d probably just tell him to back off again.

You took a deep breath and held them close as you kiss them both.

“I'm not mad,” you whispered. “But the fact that you knew, hurt me. And instead of an apology, you gave me excuses… I just wanted a kiss...a ‘sorry…’ is that so much to ask?”

“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t my place to tell you. I get that you were hurt, but I don’t know why you would expect me to kiss your ass for not telling you something that had nothing to do with me...something you didn’t even wanna know in the first place,” he replied softly. “I don’t know why I always have to get my ass reamed out any time I do anything that you don’t like. Sometimes you talk to me like I’m one of the kids.”

“Because it doesn't matter if I wanted to know or not, you tell me everything, we always tell each other everything. That was the deal, with no exceptions, remember? And you broke it. And that hurts. That's how I'm feeling.”

“So, wait a minute, that means that nobody can tell me anything in confidence anymore? You want me to just air people out, even when they ask me to keep something to myself?” he asked. “We do tell each other everything, but I didn’t think that meant that I have to betray other people’s trust.”

You sighed, “Fine,” you whispered. You were honestly so tired, you couldn't keep this up, you body could barely keep you awake as it was.

You stroked NJ’s curly black hair and smiled softly down at them before closing your eyes, they were too heavy to keep open.

“Oye, don’t fall asleep holding them...you’ll drop them,” he said softly, feeling his heart begin to race again as he reached over and carefully took Fiona from your grasp. The baby immediately curled up against her father's warmth.

“I want them close,” you mumbled but you were already drifting off.

“Give me the other one,” he said softly, holding out his arm. You yawned and sat up a bit, slowly passing NJ to his father, snuggling into the pillow.

It's amazing how they found each other, the moment they were close, the two babies linked hands, gripping tight to the familiar feeling of one another. Nevada watched the twins’ hands, completely taken aback by how attached they already were to each other despite just being born a few short hours ago.

“So, no chance of holding you one at a time, huh?” he asked them softly. “Carajo, mijos...tremendo bayu,” he added in a mumble.

House cleaned? Check. Meals cooked for the next month? Check. Four articles written to send to the stupid New York Times? Check.

It was official, Amber had done everything that could ever possibly be done to distract herself from those stupid babies and now she had nothing to do. Idle hands were bad enough with a normal person, but Amber was dangerous when she was antsy. She set up the pull up bar on the door frame, starting a set of five hundred, the burn and ache of her muscles easing her mind.

Omar came home and moved into the kitchen, arching a brow at how impeccably clean it was; his mother had moved back into her apartment almost three months ago… Opening the fridge, he went to pull out sandwich ingredients and noticed four freezer bags filled with food. His eyes moved to the freezer, reaching with one hand to pull the door open and noticed twelve more freezer bags.

The babies, he thought to himself. Of course, Amber was trying to avoid being around the twins. Sighing softly, he let the doors fall shut again and carefully moved to find Amber. His brows lifted slightly when he found her doing pull ups in the entryway to their bedroom.

“You cooked,” he mused softly, coming to stand in front of her while she continued pulling herself up before easing herself back down. “Alot,” he added in a softer tone.

“I used all your mom's recipes,” she said between labored breathing, starting to pull herself up high enough to add in a clap behind her back before catching herself, repeating that action as she continued talking with him. “So they should be edible. Did you need anything papi? Massage? Laundry? Cocktail?”

He made a face at her. “Cocktail? What am I Darren Stevens?” he asked in a gentle chuckle, the smile quickly fading when her expression didn’t change. “Maybe if you told Dama, it might make you feel better,” he offered softly.

“Not interested,” she huffed as she lost her grip on the last one, palms too sweaty as she hit the floor, landing on her feet luckily. She wiped her palms before moving to start again.

He sighed again, continuing to watch her movements.

“Why not?” he asked her. “I mean she’s your best friend, she’ll understand,” he replied.

“I can't ruin this for her,” she said softly, finally dropping back down to turn to him. “What would I even say? Hey Barbie, how about we ignore your new babies because I'll never get them?” She laughed but blinked away tears. “That'll go over well.”

“No, don’t make it about the twins,” he replied, shaking his head. “This is about what happened to you… if you just talk to her about it, exactly the way you first told me about it, she wouldn’t be hurt over that.” He tilted his head a little. “At the same time, you can’t avoid them forever...or she might be hurt that her best friend suddenly isn’t around anymore. Don’t forget, she’s still probably thinks you’re the same woman who never wanted kids,” he added.

“Yeah,” Amber whispered. “The universe has a fucked up sense of humor.” She couldn't help but put a hand to her stomach, thumb absently rubbing over her ugly scar.

His shoulder hinted softly at a shrug before he put his hands on her shoulders.

“Well, it’s one thing not to want something when you can change your mind any time you want,” he said gently. “It’s another thing to be told you can’t change your mind ever again.” He brought her in for a gentle hug and kissed her forehead. “Just talk to her...I promise you it’ll make you feel better,” he added.

She took a deep breath, “I'll think about it,” she agreed as she pressed her face against his chest and sighed. “I can't believe you doomed yourself to a girlfriend who can't cook, can't have kids and has the worst personality ever,” she chuckled a bit. “I must be incredible in bed…”

“Como que ‘can’t cook?’ Mi cielo, have you seen the fridge? If there’s an apocalypse, we’ll be set for at least four months if we ration everything,” he teased softly. “And you don’t have the worst personality ever...also yes, you’re great in bed...but that’s not why I love you so...there.”

She smiled softly at him, “Keep saying sweet things like that and I might just wanna marry you,” she teased with a wink.

He smirked back down at her, kissing her again.

“Why don’t you shower and get dressed...let’s go out. You’ve been home all day,” he suggested gently. “Also, how does domesticity feel? Kinda cool right? Quiet house, plenty of time to write, make your own schedule…”

She giggled, “Are you trying to tell me you're pregnant? Will domestic life be a regular?” She moved to snuggle close to him for a moment. “I don't mind domestic life when you're involved,” she whispered before heading to the shower.

He rolled his eyes a little and moved to change clothes.

The babies cooed in Nevada's arms, clinging tight together as they stared up at Nevada.

“Y ustedes que están mirando?” he asked them. “Can I put you guys down? You’re heavy,” he mumbled.

The babies said nothing, just staring up at him with big green eyes. Fiona sucked on her brothers hand, eyes opening and closing.

“I’m gonna put you down,” he said, standing and laying NJ in his bassinet before he laid Fiona in hers. Inhaling deeply, he moved back to his chair and sat down.

The babies wailed the second they were separated and Nevada’s head fell back. He sighed and stood up, grabbing the rubber pacifiers that the hospital had provided, putting one in each baby’s mouth. Using the blankets in the bassinets, he swaddled them one at a time and went back to his chair, extending his legs to cross his ankles in front of him.

Jameson knocked on the door. “These the kiddos?” He asked with a smirk. “Cute.”

“Oye, Y/N’s sleeping, and I think you’re a tool,” Nevada said as he stood and moved to stand between Jameson and the twins. “Meneate,” he added, waving a hand towards the other man.

“Dude I haven't done anything to you, relax. I'm here for my girl and the babies.” He held up his hands in defense. “I don't have any problems with you. Other than the fact that I think she's way too good for you.”

“Oye pendejo, I’ve been trying real hard to keep my cool with you,” Nevada replied, taking a step towards Jameson. “My wife is not ‘your girl’ ni un carajo, and you’ll never touch my kids, me entiendes? Get the fuck out if you know what's good for you.”

“Nevada,” you crack your eyes open and smile at him. “Hey,” you whispered, “what's going on?”

“Nada, mami. Jameson has to take off,” Nevada answered, staring right at the man who was still standing in the doorway. “He’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, I gotta head out sweetheart,” he cooed as he went over to you and kissed your nose. “Even after two babies you are the best looking thing in this room,” he smirked and stroked your hair before heading out.

Nevada simply glared at the man, hands in fists at his sides as he tried to control his breathing and keep himself from beating the shit out of your ‘friend’. He wondered again how you couldn’t see right through Jameson’s game.

“I don’t want him near my kids,” he said to you once Jameson had left.

“What? Papi, he's my friend,” you whispered softly, voice still scratchy from sleep and drugs in your system.

“That’s fine. If you wanna keep hanging out with him, fine, pero I don’t want him near my kids,” Nevada replied.

You closed your eyes and nodded, “Okay,” you whispered and held your hand out desperately to him. Taking a few steps towards you, he gave you his hand, closing his fingers gently over the back of your palm.

“I don’t know how you don’t see what a creep he is,” he mumbled softly.

“I don't have a lot of friends,” you whispered softly. “Please don't make me give him up.” You squeezed his hand. “He and I have been through a lot together.”

“I’m not making you do anything, Dama,” he replied softly.

You made a face as you looked up at him. “I can't feel anything...whatever they gave me is...wow. We should sell this stuff.” You look at him, eyes struggling to focus on his face as you grin, dopey and in love. “Hi,” you hum softly.

He snorted, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Hi...it’s just the epidural still working. They said it should wear off in a few hours,” he replied.

“I love you,” you whispered softly as you looked around the room. “I don't think we can have sex in here,” you whispered and suddenly your eyes fill with tears as you look at him helplessly.

“You just had twins, mi amor. Probably be awhile till we have sex, period,” he replied in a soft chuckle. “Your mom came with the kids earlier,” he added softly.

“Yeah?” You smiled softly, and nuzzled your face against his hand with a happy grin. “You feel so good, I love your hands,” you kiss them and hum again.

He chuckled again, brows furrowed over his eyes as he shook his head.

“Izzy y Rafael came by, too.” You’d been awake when your mom had been there, maybe you didn’t remember your siblings coming by either.

“Oh, I wish I had seen them,” you said softly, yawning. “Did I see them?” You hugged him close and smiled dreamily up at him. “I love you so much,” you whispered as your eyes slipped close. “Mi vida, soy tuya.”

“Yeah, you saw them,” he said softly.

[frwdsupacentre]

SIX CLEVER WAYS TO USE YOUR AWNING

Here at 4WD Supacentre, we are by far the country’s biggest seller of 4×4 Awnings. We started off selling them for 4WDs but now we’ve had customers mount them to a massive range of cars, trucks and trailers. No wonder either – our Adventure Kings awnings have to be the best value on the market right now. You can pick one up for less than $100, have it shipped straight to your front door, there’s multiple sizes available and the quality is incredible too!

  Here’s a few clever things you can do with your awning that don’t just limit its use to a campsite.

  RUN MULTIPLE AWNINGS: Considering the purchase price of an Adventure Kings Awning, you can afford to run two or even three for less than the price of one from our competitors. We’re big fans of running an awning down each side of the vehicle. When you’re out at camp, you can use one as a ‘living room’, somewhere sheltered to let you cook and hang out, and the one on the opposite side as a ‘bedroom’ for your tent or swag. There’s nothing like having heaps of proper shelter, and awnings are an incredibly cost-effective way to do this.

  RUN A REAR AWNING: Our 1.4m wide awnings are perfect for running across the rear of your roofrack. If you have a 4×4 or SUV that has a drop-down tailgate, you probably use the tailgate as a camping table for cooking or storing gear when you’re at camp. Extend your 1.4m awning out across the rear of your vehicle and all of a sudden you’ve got shelter from the sun and rain to let you cook your tucker out of the elements! No more trying to cover the snags with a bit of tin-foil when that unexpected afternoon shower rolls through.

  MOUNT ONE TO YOUR UTE’S HEADBOARD: If you love chucking your swag on your ute’s tray when you’re camping, then this one is for you. Mount one of the 1.4m wide awnings across the top of your ute’s headboard and you’ve got an instant roof to camp under when the weather turns a bit average. Or, if you take your pup to work with you, pull out the awning and they’ll be snoozing in the shade all day while you earn a buck. The lazy buggers.

  MOUNT IT TO YOUR TRAILER: Awnings don’t need to be confined to your roofracks. The mounting system on all Adventure Kings awnings uses standard-sized M6 bolts that slot into tracks on the rear of the awning’s frame. That means you have heaps of options for mounting it wherever you want, because all you have to do is get appropriately-sized M6 bolts and drill a couple of holes. If you’ve got an enclosed trailer for your landscaping business, or to haul your dirt bikes or go-carts around, this is spot on!

  MOUNT ONE TO THE SIDE OF THE SHED: No joke – this is a cracking idea. You’d spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on setting up an awning off the side of your shed when an Adventure Kings awning would do the same job just as well. Let’s say you’ve got a barbie around the side of the shed. Mount one of our 2.5×2.5m awnings above it, and you’ve got instant shade and shelter for those arvo icebox emptying sessions with mates. And then the best bit, is once you’re done, it folds away to next-to-nothing so you can still park a car up the side of the shed!

  PAIR IT UP WITH YOUR MATE’S AWNING AT CAMP: This is a beaut little setup that we love taking advantage of when we’re camping with mates. If both you and your mates have awnings, roll one out and set it up. Then, roll the other out and while you’re holding it, get your mate to move his 4×4 into position so the outer rails of the awnings meet up with each other. Peg the second awning down then use a couple of cable ties or a bit of electrical tape to secure the legs together, and you have a massive under-cover communal area to hang out!

  Of course there’s a million more ways you can use your awning, but these are some of our favourites. Take your awning to the next level with awning tents, awning walls and mesh floors – – all available from 4WD Supacentre and all of them the best value gear you can get right now.

from 4WD Supacentre via 4WD Supacentre on Inoreader https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/news/six-clever-ways-to-use-your-awning/

[minditruitt]

Flamingo Prison

Call it hoarding or call it collecting....but there’s a fine line.

Many of us have favorite things, are attracted to certain objects or display things handed down from relatives who are no longer with us.

I’ve met people who have more than one “collection”. Maybe you have a cabinet or four where you store or “display” these relics that mean something to you or meant something at one time to someone special to you.

If you are like myself or my late father you may keep favorite things displayed in your office at home. I have a very small office but it’s perfect for me and it is a separate room just off my living room that fits a bookcase from Pier 1, my desk, two filing cabinets and a shredder. The walls are covered with autographed rock ‘n roll photos from my concert attending days, a wall clock that states ‘imagination has no limits’, 2 Barnes & Noble newsletters framed from the two book signings I had a hundred and fifty years ago, ridiculous sayings about espresso, art posters of the covers from my children’s books I wrote and various knick-knacks I brought home from places I’ve been and gifts from family from far flung places. My dad loved to travel and before he died he went somewhere every year. Sometimes with my mother and sometimes without but he loved it and like me he liked to bring things home. Well....this can create a bit of a mess when you start running out of room to display these beloved things including but not limited to small stuffed kangaroos from Australia, kiwi birds from New Zealand and clay soldiers from China.  So you then begin the arduous task of sorting, pitching, selling if they’re worth anything and storing. You also tell yourself that you’ve bought your last “cool” espresso cup with it’s matching saucer.... yeah right.

The problem with those of us who like to collect things is probably more deep rooted than we realize and the minimalist who couldn’t give a flying crap about displaying much of anything can see it from miles away.

Over the years I’ve collected all kinds of stuff from beanie babies with my kids, build-a-bears, Ladybug things to Barbie Hallmark ornaments, good heavenly days I shudder to remember all of it. Although, we did sell enough beanie babies before the country woke up and realized they were basically stuffed toys to pay for half of my daughter’s horse trailer that I pulled with my SUV all over hell and half of Georgia. That’s not entirely true. We never went to Georgia....

This brings me to the beloved Florida bird....the flamingo.

They’re everywhere.

I don’t mean they’re running amok all across Interstate 40 but they might as well be.

When my kids were young my now ex and I took them to Disney World with friends of ours. After a couple of beers the two husbands in the group, including mine, were leaning on a fence where some flamingos were, well....doing whatever it is that flamingos do. Standing.

This little boy that we didn’t know looked first at the flamingos, then at my ex-husband, back at the flamingos and finally said....

“What are they doing?”

My ex, who could be quite funny at times, told him they weren’t real. The little boys eyes got really big and so he continued....”they’re actually stapled to the ground.”

What?!

“Yes”, he continued, “they are in flamingo prison.”

I don’t remember what happened next. Probably the kid’s parents grabbed him by the shirt with horror in their eyes and dragged him off but I will tell you that we laughed and have laughed about flamingo prison many times over the years.

There is someone in my family who likes flamingos and has a few of them in various places, ranging from a shower curtain to a canvas on the wall. Why is it when you know someone likes something you want to buy more for them despite the fact that they have very little room.

So I have curbed my enthusiasm for all things flamingo that I want this person to have. I have passed up salt and pepper shakers, coasters, lunch bags, mugs, (ok I bought ONE mug), boxed thank you notes, wine glasses, patio string lights and a large garden stake. Once I got ahold of my collecting OCD I began to sneer at the pink birds when I encountered them.

No More! I would shout......so with all the confidence of a reformed bird buyer I walked past all the flamingo product displays and anyone who has been shopping lately in a HomeGoods store can understand my difficulty. There are more flamingos in their stores than in all of North America.

Ok, so I avoided the ‘dishware section’ and pushed my cart over to the glasses. Wrong.....whether they are painted on the actual glass or attached with some sort of factory glue these long necked birds were gathered in flocks adoring everything from plastic iced tea glasses to champagne flutes. I quickly looked away and picked up speed toward another section where I could regain my composure.

No such luck. 

Believe me when I tell you that aprons (which I’ve never needed because I can’t cook worth a damn and have been told as much), dish towels, playing cards in various sizes, tote bags, journals, citronella candles, notebooks, gift bags, wrapping paper, framed pictures of various flamingos doing everything from facing left or right with either the left leg or right leg lifted up are EVERYWHERE!

In a panicked rush to get to the exit door I nearly knocked over a 5 foot (no lie) $80 flamingo statue. His head was positioned just so that I felt I had been given the pink evil eye that would rival any voodoo doll as I rushed breathlessly to my car. I was so unraveled that I had to Google where the nearest Starbucks was. Now anyone that knows me is well aware that I do not need to Google the location of any Starbucks in the Raleigh/Durham area.

After calmly finishing my Vanilla Cappuccino, with the extra shot for good measure, I began to relax and not feel the steely gaze on the back of my neck from the giant aviary monster that had followed me across town.

I feel completely cured from this life event much to the relief of the person who enjoys these fluffy, sweet pink frou frou birds.

I’ll always admire them. Not because they can stand on one leg in the middle of a grassy place for long periods of time but because they bring a smile to the face of someone I love dearly.