#to the entirety of season 4. whatever that was. that. that was my villain origin story

[mazojo]

My villain origin story is every single Byler moment

[im-the-punk-who]

Black Sails as John Silver's SuperVillain Origin Story

Okay so I recently got asked about my views on Silver in a roundabout way so HERE ARE SOME OF THEM. I don’t often post about him because honestly I just really dislike him but he’s an extremely well written character and one of the best ‘villains’ I have ever seen portrayed. The reason Black Sails is such a compelling prequel to Treasure Island is that it does not just say ‘John Silver is a villain because he does bad things.’ Like all the characters in Black Sails he is complex, with deep and thoughtful motivations for the things he does. We see him as a villain because Black Sails sets his goals up in opposition to those of the protagonists we want to succeed - Flint and Madi - but he is not villainous in his own right.

But it is the effects of those motivations on himself that, to me, are the most interesting. 

And just up front because I know this is a touchy subject - especially coming from, well, me, lmao. This is how I read Silver. If you disagree, that’s cool. Like literally everything else in Black Sails(and fiction in general), Silver’s character is mutable based on your views and experiences. Tomato/Tomato.

So! To me, the most important thing about John Silver’s character in Black Sails, is who he is in Treasure Island. Black Sails is a prequel, and Silver is a major character in Treasure Island. We see his actions in the book(albeit through the story of the man who survives him, and, oof, isn’t that a bit of a kicker). We know that in this future Silver is still a lying, manipulative and mysterious person, hard not to like but hard to know.

That consistency is the most important part of Long John Silver’s character to me: he doesn’t really change from the beginning of Black Sails to the end, because he’s not really meant to. 

Silver may not exactly like the person he is but there is no point in trying or wanting to change.  In his view, who he is is just as immutable as the world he exists in. 

And that's the brilliance of Black Sails. 

Silver isn’t the way he is because he is ‘evil,’ or because he wants to intentionally cause harm. He is the way he is because it is the only way he’s worked out to survive. It is “the only state in which he can function.” He does not believe in a cosmic story, in a grand design or justice in the world - and because of that he does not see the point in trying to change something that has kept him alive thus far to appease it.

The entirety of the beach flashbacks is, to me, the summation of both Flint and Silver’s characters but this in particular I feel is important:

-Do you really imagine a few weeks of this is going to make much of a difference? Am I not what I am at this point?

-It's better than nothing.

In the grand scheme, Flint and Silver only know each other for about six months. 

Their relationship - especially to Silver - is a transient one. A handful of weeks. Was it ever enough to expect it to make any bit of difference?

But not so for Flint. He truly believes humans are capable of change, and he believes even the smallest bit of progress is worth the effort. Flint takes the things that happen to him and make them a part of him.

But for Silver,

I've come to peace with the knowledge...that there is no storyteller imposing any coherence, nor sense, nor grace upon those events.

Therefore, there's no duty on my part to search for it.

Silver refuses to acknowledge his own story and so is unable or unwilling to see himself as capable of change throughout it. Or even really the need for change. And that’s not said as a negative - that is who he is. That is who his past - whatever it was - has taught him.

And so he consistently acts solely for his own gain, benefit, and safety. Because if he doesn’t, who else is going to?

And this continues the differences between Flint and Silver. 

While Silver is very wrong that his past is irrelevant, he is correct in that it doesn't matter. It doesn’t matter what his past is, because we can clearly see the effects of it. We don't NEED to know his past to understand his actions.

However, without knowing Flint’s backstory - Thomas, Miranda, England’s betrayal - his actions don't make sense. They are erratic: they seem villainous and vile and like the acts of a tyrant or a madman. Because his actions are tied to his story.

But from the very first moment we see Silver fight the cook over what he presumes is a chance at living, Silver is clearly trying to figure out what is best for him. 

He doesn’t care about Flint’s war, or what the treasure could fund. He doesn’t care about the pardons, and he doesn't care about England. He doesn’t care about piracy. All he cares about at first is the life the treasure could buy him. But when he loses his leg, suddenly the thing he literally spent two seasons fucking everyone over for becomes completely inconsequential, because it no longer benefits him.

It is without relevance.

And through the very last time we see him speaking him to Madi, he is doing the same thing. 

That's not to say he doesn't form friendships or care about people. He is, indeed, a hard man not to like, and I think he also genuinely likes people as well. But that doesn’t mean he changes because of them. The friendships he forms with Flint - with Billy, with Muldoon and Randall and the other crew members - the relationship he forms with Madi. They are all real, but they are also all expendable to ensure his own comfort and survival. 

In the first episode of season 2 we’re told point blank:

It’s likely that if our interests were averse, I’d betray you to save myself.

And of course at this point Silver and Flint are little more than necessary enemies, Silver has no reason to want Flint alive. But the pattern holds throughout the whole show. 

Later in season 2, when Flint is thinking about changing tactics to prioritize the pardons over the gold, Silver has no problem screwing over the entire crew(minus the two men he’s recruited) to meet his own ends. It’s what’s best for him, and Silver operates on this assumption that every person needs to look out for themselves. 

And then again, in the finale of season 2 - he saves the crew because it also means saving himself. When Vincent brings up leaving, Silver says that they would likely be killed if they tried - he’s already considered that option and rejected it because his odds of survival are higher sticking with the crew. 

And then of course, in season three, in the maroon cages - you can bet that the fact that flint’s psyche basically controlled whether they all - including him - lived or died was a major driving force behind his dedication to getting Flint to come up with a plan better than Billy’s in which - again - they all likely end up dead. 

His relationships with Madi and Flint in particular are deep, and so it is the worst thought possible when he realizes that they are starting to agree with each other, but not with him. When Madi agrees with Flint over trading the cache for the fort, I read this as the true end of Silver’s support of the war because the war now threatens his personal ‘safety.’

Because at that moment, the thing most important to him is keeping Madi - who he not only has come to care for but who supports him. And she makes him know she supports him. And the prospect of losing that is what ultimately I think drives him to planning to send Flint away, rather than bring Thomas there or some other plan. 

And again it isn’t maliciousness - not outright. He is doing what he thinks he needs to to survive, because he cannot have enough faith in either Flint or Madi to think they won’t drop him the moment he stops being invaluable. And in the end, that lack of faith is what spells the end for any chance he has at having them in his life.

When he thinks Madi might die if they continue, he doesn’t care if she hates him. He doesn’t care if Flint hates him. He doesn’t care if the relationship is destroyed if he gets what he wants out of it. Madi’s survival. The end of the war. An end to Flint and Madi’s relationship so that he can ‘protect’ her from death and choose how he ‘loses’ her. It is always less painful to be the one doing the leaving.

Based on his world view - that you must protect what is in your own interests and the only person you can count on is yourself - that is the right thing to do.

Over and over we see that Silver is mostly interested in other people through the guise of his interest in keeping himself alive. And I also think that because of that, he views himself as expendable to other people as well. 

When Muldoon insists that the crew would take care of him if he needed that, it’s clear that Silver doesn’t believe him. He still believes himself to be expendable unless he is useful. He is constantly managing his image, managing how people see him, managing the things he allows others to see and what dangers or threats they pose to him, because he believes these are the things that keep him safe. Not his friendships, but what he brings to them.

Part of what’s so heartbreaking about Silver’s arc in season 4 is how terrifyingly close he comes to believing himself worthy. He wants the war because the two people who mean the most to him, who he sees as vital to his own survival - Flint and Madi - are both committed to it. And he’s committed to them. But I also think that just for a second, he starts to see their vision. 

When things are going well, when he can’t see the body count, he comes so close. But then of course, when everything falls apart and he is forced to confront once again the horrors of the world, he retreats.

That line he has:

And as long as (I have his true friendship) he is going to have mine.

I see that get thrown around a lot as a declaration of love, of deep feelings - and it is, to an extent. But it is also a sign of the deep mistrust that Silver harbors even when he is not looking to.

Even in this moment when he has Madi, when it must seem like they are nigh unstoppable and Silver himself is poised at the head of this great thing - when he and Flint are closest and when, I assume, Flint couldn’t fathom betraying him. Silver is still thinking in the eventuality that it will happen.

I have his true friendship, and as long as that is true, he is going to have mine. 

Silver’s love is always conditional. And that doesn’t make it any less ‘real’. It doesn’t make it any less important. But it does make it easier to take back. And that’s important for him!! It’s important for Silver’s own safety that he never rely on someone so much that he cannot cut them loose if they pose a ‘danger’ to him.

And to me, that’s the most important thing to realize about Silver. He is a ‘villain’ - and again I use the term loosely because he is ONLY a ‘villain’ because our protagonist’s stories are set in opposition to his - because he will always put himself above the grander goal. 

We see this in Black Sails, and we see this in Treasure Island. John Silver betrays Jim even though he feels conflicted about it. It isn’t until the very end, until Silver sees once again the same opportunity flash before his eyes where someone he loves is in danger and he cannot live with their death, that the treasure itself becomes unimportant again. Black Sails does an incredible job of giving us an antagonist whose defining trait is that he cannot see himself being meaningful in any way that matters. 

Silver ends up destroying just about every relationship he has because of this inability. Time and again when he is faced with an opportunity for growth that comes with hard decisions, he chooses to destroy himself. Because it is easy. 

It is easy to destroy the thing you do not care about, it is easy to destroy yourself if you don't value yourself. To call it winning because at least you are still alive and the things you’ve had to sacrifice are merely unimportant - inconsequential. But thinking like that hurts not only ourselves, but others too. 

And it is not that Silver puts himself first, plenty of other characters do that as well - Miranda, Jack, Max. It is the fact that Silver must deny himself in the process that makes him the villain not just in Black Sails, but in his own story. And THAT is the origins of his supervillain story. That he is, in fact, his own. 

[canadian-riddler]

Hi Indy! I know Arkhamverse Riddler is definitely your specialty. Do you happen to have a rough ranking of Riddlers that you like from most to least? And which do you think is the most definitive version of the character?

I THINK that’s what my blog description says, anyway

Yes, at all times I have a rough ranking floating around in the back of my mind.  It is going to be very long so I will answer the last question first.

For most definitive version of Riddler I’m going to have to go with BTAS.  No recurring villain really had a distinct personality from their original (1940s) version, and while I am not knocking Frank Gorshin the 1966 Riddler absolutely was a bit Joker-y.  Most importantly (if I am not mistaken, which I could be), BTAS gave Riddler what became his most important trait: his intelligence.  Before that he was mostly an average weirdo who wore a green suit (sometimes) and liked riddles and sometimes built puzzle traps.  After BTAS, though, the Riddler’s intelligence became the driving force of his character.  Batman ‘66 saved Riddler from obscurity, but BTAS made him both relevant and future-proof.  Will we ever see a Riddler of average intelligence who doesn’t specialise in computer programming/engineering ever again?  I doubt it, and that’s because of BTAS. 

Onto the list.  It does not include EVERY Riddler ever because I have not read every Riddler story ever, but it should cover most of them (or at least the ones you’ve probably heard of).

1. Anything Paul Dini wrote.  This actually covers a few different Riddlers, which would be the first two Arkhamverse games, the most notable PI Riddler stuff, and of course the Riddler from BTAS.  Paul Dini can write the Riddler as both being a bad person and sympathetic at the same time, which is actually harder to pull off than it sounds.  AND he does it without using backstory as a crutch, which really is hard.

2.  Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee’s Riddler from Hush.  He only actually appears for two issues, but it’s one of the best Riddler stories merely because it allows him to do all the things Riddler SHOULD be able to do, but can’t because then there would be no Batman comics because he would have ended them.  619C is also, in my opinion, the best Riddler cover of all time.

3. Jim Carrey’s Riddler from Batman Forever.  Why would I put him this high on the list, you ask?  Because some writers forget that the Riddler is half just in it to have a good time and he doesn’t really care about how other people perceive him.  This man is living his best life and he’s doing it in glittery spandex and a light-up jacket.  Is he over the top?  At the time, no, not really.  At the time Riddler kinda just acted like that.  And he should be able to do so, in my opinion. 

4. Current Riddler (James Tynion IV).  While this Riddler has some issues with consistency (though this probably has to do with being shuffled from a main comic story into a Catwoman story), he returns to being almost self-cripplingly paranoid and absolutely losing it when he’s bested, which I think are important traits for Riddler to have.  I’m also actually really amused that they gave him the Batman Forever hair.

5. Batman ‘66.  While it did likely rescue Riddler from pending obscurity - he actually never appeared in a Batman comic before 1965, and before that was featured in only two issues of Detective Comics - and he definitely checks the ‘charming’ and ‘having fun’ boxes, there isn’t a whole lot differentiating him from the Joker he’s playing alongside.  If you watch the Batman ‘66 movie they’re almost the exact same character, just one likes jokes and the other likes riddles. 

6. Hush Returns and its aftermath.  This stuff is weird and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because it mostly involves Riddler running away from Hush and retcons certain things from Hush, most importantly the part where Riddler got everyone to work together because he gave them what they wanted.  Hush Returns (which also contradicts itself during the story) for some reason has everyone angry at Riddler for tricking them and it ends with him getting the shit beat out of him and puts him into a coma for a year, which leads into him getting total amnesia and becoming a PI.  That’s the reason it’s so high on the list.  The story is weird and makes no sense at all for any of the other characters in it either but it gave us a reason for PI Riddler and that makes it matter.  Sort of.

7. Brave and the Bold/The Batman Riddler.  I’m putting them both together mostly because BatB Riddler features in I think only one episode and he deserves a mention because he’s adorable.  TB Riddler was an interesting experiment into a Riddler that, for whatever reason, never really came into himself as a person and instead sort of enacts revenge for his existence on life.  If I remember correctly he’s also pretty low-key about his intelligence, which is another interesting character choice.  I respect the things they went for but this Riddler overall gives me the impression of a person who always says no when invited to something but gets upset when people stop asking which, while definitely something the Riddler would do, isn’t really my preferred take.

8. Snyder Riddler (New 52).  The problem I have with this Riddler is that I have no idea what his motivation even is.  I was told a long time ago that a backstory for him WAS written but didn’t make it into Zero Year because the story was already too long, which is... not a great look for a professional storyteller.  And because we don’t know anything about this Riddler, this story consists of a dude who wears green to impress women (which he never shows any interest in), gets the mob to work for him... somehow... and decides to spend a YEAR watching the people in Gotham die because... I’m not sure?  If it amused him, sure, I could understand that.  But he just seems super bored during the entirety of the story.  He doesn’t even seem particularly excited when Batman actually shows up in front of him.  Beyond Zero Year his appearances are, to my knowledge, limited mostly to two issues in Batman Eternal, where he’s hiding, three issues of The Flash, where he speedruns Zero Year and is undone by the Flash villains teaming up against him (which I don’t know enough about Flash villains to comment on), and Scarecrow 23.2, where he for some unexplained reason seems to look up to Scarecrow.  And then there’s Detective Comics: Future’s End, which is just the worst thing ever.  Snyder didn’t write all of these stories, but they are based on his Riddler.

9. Gotham Riddler.  I didn’t watch past season 3 so I can’t comment on too much after that, but the arc with Mad Grey Dawn and ‘I knew that you knew that I knew’ was some of the greatest Riddler stuff we had gotten in years and if they had just kept on with that they would have had one of the greatest Riddlers of all time. 

10. Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale Riddler.  Full disclaimer I haven’t read Catwoman: When in Rome, but I have read The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.  The reason I don’t like this Riddler is because he actually bears no resemblance to him.  He’s a literal moron who just stumbles around incompetently for the duration of his relevance to the plot.  It’s like they decided to make an ironic Riddler who is actually stupid and also for the first time in his life does not have the ability to locate a tailor.  I don’t actually understand the point of this Riddler’s existence.  He isn’t even really Riddler, he’s just some sort of vaguely Riddler-coloured person.

[kinetic-elaboration]

January 15: What It’s About

Look not to be Sour on Main or anything here but I’m going to do exactly that. 

That tweet about S7 tying everything together and showing “what the show is about” is laughable, and I join in with the people mocking it because it is QUITE clear that the show isn’t “about” anything and hasn’t been for some time. It is, as my mother says, basically a soap opera, by which she means that it propels itself forward with a constantly updating roster of characters and crises, and with no concern at all about making a coherent whole or advancing any sort of themes or lessons. 

(And look there’s nothing wrong with creating a soap but you should be honest about it imo.)

So anyway the point of this post is that this is what the show SHOULD have been about.

Overall theme/plot: Bellarke growing up into mature, wise, adult leaders, at the head of a discrete community, preferably living in peace and stability.

Season 1: Bellarke as nascent leaders

Bellarke emerge as co-leaders of a group of young people, alone in a dangerous world, without the presence or aid of experienced adults. They are imperfect and young but effective in gaining the respect of the other delinquents, creating cohesion, and accomplishing their most basic goals (i.e., not dying).

Season 2: Bellarke are separated; Clarke’s leadership trial.

With the return of the adults and the dispersal of the original delinquent group into other communities (MW, Camp Jaha, Trikru, etc.), Bellarke lose their leadership positions. Clarke retains some amount of power, but almost always in relation to someone else. In MW, she is with most of her people, but doesn’t get much opportunity to “lead” them; everyone knows they are in Dante’s House. She leaves early in the season, and finds instead a different segment of her people in Camp Jaha--lead by her mother, whom Clarke defies when it suits her but never usurps. Mid-way through the season, she forms her alliance with Trikru/the Grounder Coalition, and works closely with Lexa. They are in some sense co-leaders. But Lexa is a more experienced leader, she has a larger number of people in her cohort, and a more defined grasp on her power. Only at the end of the season does Clarke, along with Bellamy, emerge as a pillar of singular leadership--after the alliance has broken up, and almost every other major actor has been disabled.

Overall, we see Clarke learning about leadership from a variety of teachers: from Dante in the early episodes, and from Lexa in the second half of the season. She lets herself get pulled into decisions that aren’t fully her own, like abandoning TonDC. She picks up some mantras that she may or may not truly understand, like “I bear it so they don’t have to.” She takes a lot in, and it’s messy and uncertain and probably necessary, but it leads her down a path where she’s no longer in control, as she once was.

Season 3: Bellarke are separated; Bellamy’s leadership trial.

Season 3 is in some sense a parallel to Season 2, but with Bellamy experiencing his version of Clarke’s arc from the previous season. Like Clarke, he’s been deprived of real power since the end of S1, when the rest of the Ark arrived. And like Clarke, he finds someone with more defined, more established power, and more leadership experience, to attach himself to--in this case, Pike, for whom Bellamy acts as something like a lieutenant.

And look I’m not here to discuss Pike as a character or whether or not it’s a good idea to be a Pike apologist but I do think it’s pretty obvious that the narrative treats him as a villain and Bellamy’s lessons as his right hand as negative.

What Season 4 should have been: Bellarke are reunited and return to their rightful positions as co-leaders of the protagonist group.

They take the lessons they have each learned in the previous seasons and establish themselves as true leaders of their people--either the delinquents specifically or possibly the entirety of the Sky People community--with a clear mandate for power. This might be an election or it might be a secession of the delinquents into a smaller community, continuing where they left off after S1, or it might be through some other method. But it would make sense that they’re the leaders, and it would be clear that they are good at what they do and effective, as they solve whatever the Crisis of the Season is.

What Season 4 actually showed: Bellarke are sort of in leadership positions, I guess? But it’s not clear if they’re effective? They end the season having entirely or nearly entirely ceded authority of any kind.

Clarke in particular seems to have authority in S4, though the mechanism by which she has been given that authority is never explained; she is respected because she’s the main character, as far as I can tell. She and Bellamy make some important/difficult decisions. But at the season’s end all leadership has been given to Octavia, who has never had a “leadership” story before. Bellamy has been set aside with a group of only six other people, and Clarke has been set apart somewhere else with only one single companion--neither is in a position to “lead” in the season-one sense because they aren’t living in communities as such. They’re living, basically, in stand-alone family units. The group they could have most reasonably led, based on S1/the title of the whole show, the delinquents, no longer exists, either in terms of significant numbers or in terms of social cohesion. And even the sky people are essentially decimated as a discrete community.

Season 5: ????

Everything you know about the structure of the show is gone.

Season 6: I guess they’re on another planet now or something lol?

Season 7: But yeah it’s all going to come together in the end!! I guess??!?

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 35: Seto and Yugi’s Excellent Adventure

Ah, I’m back from a long trip--I will actually leave on another trip (shorter this time) next week so don’t think this update will mean the timely updates are back haha, they ain’t. But, on this excursions (not really a vacation at all--vacation is next week) I had a hell ton of Netfix and Hulu on in the background and you know what? Lets watch some more. I’m tired as hell. I just want to do something that requires little thought and has nothing to do with anything, but feels like progress for some reason, and that’s what watching a TV series is. So satisfying to click “next.”

Now last we left off, because it’s been kind of a while, we were on somewhat a cliffhanger. I say “somewhat” only because it’s during a card game and it only involves either or Yugi or Kaiba winning and I......don’t think it’s going to be Kaiba. But, if it were, it would honestly not change the outcome of Marik getting roasted. Marik who only wins by putting people in comas and like...electrocuting them or setting them on fire. I feel like Seto is immune to all of those things, especially since the shoulder pads on that coat have to be an insulator from both electricity and fire.

That and like...what’s Marik going to do, use the rod on Kaiba? Like Kaiba kind of owns that thing so would it even work? It can’t work on Kaiba, right? Kaiba’s kind of a shoe-in for beating Marik but I just...I don’t think the show will go that direction since they really want us to side with Yugi in this fight. Or, if it does, it would only do it during the last second. I guess we will see.

During this time, Seto admits for the first and probably last time that he maybe did not do enough playtesting of this card game.

Since these two God Cards decided to arm wrestle, it for some reason triggered a...weird response. Because once, Like Godzilla and Ghidora, a long time ago, these two had a heated arm wrestle battle and destroyed a hell ton of stuff. This time they do an arm wrestle and...it just kinda makes people trip out for a little while. They’ve grown more gentle over time.

(read more under the cut)

So Marik says that Seto is triggering the Millennium rod...which he has done completely by accident once before, but he doesn’t really say why. Like yes, Seto is a reincarnation of the earlier dude that owned this rod and killed the Pharaoh but...what is currently causing this rod to trigger?

Both times this rod was triggered was during a duel, but both times were at a point where Seto was only in danger of playing cards in a match where there are really no stakes for him. Maybe he perceives stakes but like...what’s the worst that Yugi’s going to do? Seto is fine.

But, maybe it just has to do with the vicinity of Seto to this weird rod? That maybe if he plays cards at any point within 100 ft of this thing, he will absolutely hallucinate? I mean, earlier in the season, he was playing cards in a VR realm which had no rod around.

Which...the VR world somehow had less hallucinating than when playing cards in the real world when it comes to Seto Kaiba. Wild.

But just go with it, Seto can occasionally sync with this thing. I don’t know why he does it, he doesn’t know why he does it, he just does it, and whenever he does, he hallucinates weird experiences of his past self, a dude that Seto refuses to accept is himself and hoo boy--I don’t blame him, that guys is the only mess in history who is more of a mess than the current day Seto. (and I only say that because I haven’t yet learned of whatever the hell was going on with Bakura)

This whole hallucination problem Seto has is kind of funny, since the Millennium Puzzle syncs with Yugi all the time and they have had absolutely no hallucinations of Pharaoh’s past life. Not once. Although that would have been super helpful. In fact, this is the first time in my memory that Yugi’s going to get to see the past, and it’s because he’s accidentally piggy-backing off of one of Seto’s acid trips. Like a secondhand high but with exposition.

I’ll give them credit, this was a really sweet level in Mario Odyssey.

They use all 10 of their remaining brain cells left over after 3-4 straight days of card trauma and very, very, very, very slowly start putting it all together.

And so we finally get a glimpse of Pharaoh’s realm, which is...kinda small? But I mean it was the past, there weren’t many people alive yet and it takes a long time to draw buildings so we’ll just...kind of assume there’s a lot of orchards off screen maybe? Maybe people just kind of commuted into the capital but didn’t really live there, like Sacramento.

I also get the vibe that this whole city now exists on some other plane, like maybe the whole city got shadow realmed and it murdered everyone who was originally here? Because there’s no people in this town. Maybe they all got offscreen murdered before Seto and Yugi showed up, but, I have a weird feeling that this won’t...reallllllly ever get addressed. I don’t know how 4kids would handle about 10,000 deaths. Although my Yugioh Death Count tracker would absolutely love that.

But hey, we can fly now. We can fly and make random observations to solve this riddle of “where are we? With the pyramids and sand and stuff?”

And that’s when I get to fully see what past Seto looked like and y’all.

This is a LOOK.

Like, there’s a lot of really bad looks in Yugioh, but this is...a LOOK.

Maybe worst look so far, even worse than Yugi’s emo jumpsuit date outfit that had 6 clashing chunky bangles. I love it.

Oh boy I take like a month break and come back to just a REAL look.

Also, it’s a look so truly bad that that he forced his entire four-person army to also don the dark magician shaped gnome hat. The dedication to purple gnome hats. I can’t believe that the Seto fashion we have now is the upgraded version, I can’t believe this was Seto Beta.

Also...kind of weird that his hat shape is a reference to dark magician. I thought that was Yugi’s thing. But youknow...that’s he hat he chose. This is the hat.

Meanwhile, past Seto and past Pharaoh are fighting some mehhhh DnD campaign. It has a Dark One in it although they kinda forgot about him in the same scene they bring him up. Much like any show that has a villain named Dark One in it. It kind of feels like a placeholder villain name that writers forget to remove.

I would pay more attention to all of that if it weren’t for the just...insane outfits these two are wearing.

And so, just before we found out what the hell ever happened to Pharaoh’s body and like...any of that nonsense, Seto has decided for once in his life that it is time he stopped hallucinating and return to the real world.

Bear in mind, that they have no idea that every TV this was broadcasted on exploded, and so, for all they know, their trip-out is being broadcasted on every TV in Domino. Yugi screaming to Kaiba that he killed him, was something Yugi was pretty sure all of Domino got to see.

And for some reason the God Cards are no longer active. No reason. Don’t think about it. Mokuba noticed, but no one pays much attention to Mokuba unless he’s abducted.

Reminder that we just saw that the last time those God cards were activated against eachother, an entire city was swept into the Shadow Realm and everyone totally died...but this time they just kinda cancelled eachother out? Eh...it’s a kid’s show.

Bro brings up that maybe the God cards looked around at this deserted island and were like “We don’t really want these four guys and Joey Wheeler’s Soul, peace.” and freaking left.

Oh Marik, the only one on this show who would be threatened if Seto found out that Seto is a wizard. I don’t think it would really phase anyone else here if Seto was just suddenly magic. Yugi wouldn’t even blink. Joey probably assumes everyone but Joey is a wizard at this point.

And so Kaiba decides to just ignore everyone and finish his job so he can finally go home, I guess.

Bro brings up that he loves how when Yugi talks, this tablet comes back into fame, but when Seto talks, it kind of just goes away.

And here’s the kicker. Here’s the thing that actually surprised me.

This duel still isn’t over yet???

OK I guess???

So uh...I’m going to leave you on yet...another cliffhanger haha, unless I finish another of these before next weekend, which...I might, I might not.

Anyway, if you just got here, you can start here on Ep 1 S1 and watch my whole journey of watching the entirety of Original Yugioh knowing basically nothing about OG Yugioh. And Season Zero as well, I guess.

[class-wom]

Legion Chapter 25 “Morning After”-Thoughts – SPOILERS!!!

NOTE:  Due to the fact that I didn’t see the entire ep, this one will be a little bit different from my usual “morning after”-musings/ramblings/whatever.  It’s more of a thought-gathering and speculation based in part on the Chapter 26 preview as well as the few scenes -- namely the final scenes -- that I did ultimately watch, to say nothing of the notion of “Okay, how do I balance this with everything I’ve seen thus far?”                       

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

 SPOILER TERRITORY

  *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

1)  Okay, whatever my mixed feelings about Oliver Bird in full-blown leisure suit/martini mode may be after Chapter 13 and his role in Amy’s fate in particular and his reunion with Melanie at the expense of David and Farouk’s “revival,” I will concede that this was a cool moment:

2) Please tell me with regard to this parable parallel in terms of the “present day” situation that the Wolf represents Farouk and Cynthia represents David!  Granted, the “Not everyone wants to be saved”-moral of this tale does put the potential fate of our antihero* in a grim light (hey, at this point, my expectations are such that I’m almost resolved to that idea anyway, tbh!), but given the part played by Farouk in Chapter 24 and where the last two eps are taking us with regard to the original showdown between Farouk and Xavier, I really would hate to see Syd and the Loudermilks siding with Farouk yet again, especially since it appears to be setting us up for a “David & Charles vs. SK”-type of scenario!  I’m hoping “us and them, not us or them” is more with regard to David/Legion and less to Farouk at this point; they’ve already put ((ahem)) enough eggs in Farouk’s basket, and look where we are now!

3)  Okay, Syd and the Loudermilks (with an emphasis on the latter, I might add!) may be a little easier to root for now; I’ve said all along that the Loudermilks are the most sympathetic of the “old gang” left, with everyone else either reduced to robotic form or of questionable motives and/or allegiance and obsession just as bad as David’s if not worse!  And yet even they seemed to test me in Chapter 23 in particular:  Yeah, okay, even if I do understand his low trust issues at the time of Chapter 21 with Cary all too well and why he felt it necessary, I wasn’t okay with David brainwashing Cary, and naturally Cary came out of it none too pleased -- I get all that.  But just taking Switch and running off with her, calling it a “rescue,” and assuring her that she’ll “never have to hide again” only to throw her in a box in hopes of hiding her from David?!?  Yeah, I can’t possibly imagine why Switch so easily turned on Farouk and came back under David’s wing, tooth-losing and time demon-battling included, and it’s entirely possible that she’ll be associating Cary with Farouk from now on, which should put that dynamic in an interesting light in future eps!  🙄 (My new theory on that:  Perhaps one of the Legion-alters managed to get the box open and wake her while Farouk was busy taunting David? just a thought...)

4)  So all Syd needed to become “a true hero” was a completely new upbringing with a loving, functional adopted family, namely the Birds? could someone tell me (this is a rhetorical question, people!) why that was true for her and not for David? or was that the point, that he had that all along but Farouk’s toehold and/or his own genetic code was strong enough that he had somehow sensed the entire time that something was wrong and his seemingly happy childhood was a lie?  (Farouk as a fake dog certainly didn’t make things easier for him as a kid, you have to admit!)  Or is that the whole “Some don’t want to be saved”-philosophy, aka the entire point?

5)  Okay, Mel, let’s see if I have this straight:  What now gives Syd “the power to save the world” is “love, empathy, and understanding.”  Can we please back up to your rather (SK-influenced, granted) contradictory advice to her in Chapter 18, when you were literally putting a gun in her hand, encouraging her to “be a hero” and telling her that the best way to survive was to rely on herself?  And here’s an idea:  If you had given her the former advice in Chapter 18 instead of freaking her out, telling her “He doesn’t really love you!” and adding words to the effect of “He’ll turn into Legion the World-Killer,” do you suppose she could have avoided all of those antagonistic moves that, surprise-surprise, brought “Legion the World-Killer” (to say nothing of David’s subsequent violation of her!) out in full force by Chapter 24?!?  Prevention is less costly than cure in the long run, Mrs. Bird -- and the whole “Yeah, but NH ordered an entire season of eight eps!”-argument is all well and good, but still...

6)  It would be really nice when these folks come out from under the influence of Farouk that they acknowledge it with some sort of regret.  I mean, if the whole point is to “own mistakes” and all that, but maybe in their own way, they are, idk... 🤷

7)  “Not everyone wants to be saved.”  Substitute the word “help” for “save” and somehow that goes double, triple, and quadruple when you’re using the phrase “We want to help you!” when you trap the person in a force field, surround him with guns, and bring out his old enemy to really rub his nose into it, as what happened in Chapter 19! 🙄  That still kinda bugs me; I’m hoping that Syd’s ill-fated encounter with Legion in Chapter 24 will help her to realize that mistake and her part, intentionally or otherwise, in strengthening Legion’s resolve and increasing their literal “us vs. the world”-mentality.  It’d be nice if she admits that may not have been the wisest move on her part (part of the self-forgiveness eluded to in interviews, perhaps?), but at this point, I’m not holding my breath!

8)  Okay, embellishment on a point touched on briefly in #2:  Now that the already-fragile trust issues between David and Syd have been further marred by Farouk’s “brilliant” advice to Syd to lie and seduce David into compliance, and now that Legion is wary of Syd’s “trickery” and protecting David from it at all costs, I’d say Syd and the Loudermilks have their work cut out for them where dealing with Legion is concerned.  Syd’s choice of words at the end of the ep, “I know how to fix it” rather than “I know how to stop him,” are admittedly encouraging; I’m hoping they’re officially done with blatantly trying to kill David and instead will try to focus his efforts more in genuinely fixing the past and his family situations, since the point of this ep seemed to be that the key is a loving family support unit.  (Worth noting, Switch’s own distant relationship with her father, and I’m not sure if anyone else picked up on this, but her mother has never been acknowledged in any way, shape or form! read into that what you will!)

9)  We do remember that Melanie’s initial interest in David and his powers was to weaponize them (at the time) against D3, right? yeah, just thought I’d throw that out there, now that she’s in “Use the Force of empathy and understanding to save the world, Syd!”-mode.  Let us not forget that when the Summerland Gang first picked Syd up from Clockworks in Chapters 1 and 2, they were under the impression that it was David and not Syd who was truly being rescued!  They were initially interested in the one with literally explosive potential, not a mere body-swapper!  And if you want to file this one under “Character and Plot Growth and Development,” okay, fine.  But just because it’s filed doesn’t mean it should be completely swept under the rug imo!

10)  The Chapter 26 preview seems to indicate that Syd and the Loudermilks will visit the Xavier home and potentially bump into Gabrielle and even Baby Davy.  Now that has some promise! 😁

In “conclusion,” can you imagine how long this would be had I watched the ep in its entirety? 🤣 bwahaha!

*Yes, I’m using that word instead of “villain” concerning David; deal with it!!! 😝

[dweemeister]

Toy Story 4 (2019)

2019 marks the completion of the John Lasseter era at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios with Toy Story 4 (credited as story writer; uncredited as producer) and Frozen 2 (as producer). Lasseter’s disgraceful end as the creative head at both studios was marked by scandal, in which the Walt Disney Company cut ties as quietly as possible. At one point untouchable because of Pixar’s creative output – not a single dud from Toy Story (1995) to Toy Story 3 (2010) – Lasseter’s recent years had reeked of complacency, dependence on sequels, and having played a part in erasing the final vestiges of hand-drawn animation at the famed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Pixar’s impeccable record is no more; the groundbreaking studio is fallible after all. With Lasseter now at Skydance Animation (to the dismay of many), his final involvement with a Pixar film continues the legacy of arguably the most consistent animated film series ever.

Directed by Josh Cooley and with a screenplay by Stephany Folsom (her cinematic debut) and Andrew Stanton (1998′s A Bug’s Life, 2008′s WALL-E), Toy Story 4 had languished in development hell for years. An army of writers have doctored the story since 2014, so it is difficult to understand who contributed what. For those who were children when Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (1999) were released to theaters, Toy Story 3 appeared to be the fitting farewell to Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and their friends. Pixar, which has claimed that it does not pursue sequels unless there is artistic and narrative sense to that sequel – they have some explaining to do about the Cars sequels – has charged forward with this newest entry in the Toy Story mythos.

Now with Bonnie, the cast of toys must contend with the fact she is about to attend Kindergarten. Worried that Bonnie will have a difficult day of Kindergarten orientation and the fact that – though he would never openly admit it – Bonnie has not given him much attention recently, Woody hops into Bonnie’s backpack and has a hand in the creation of Forky. Forky, believing himself to be trash, makes numerous attempts to toss himself into the wastebasket, much to Woody’s dismay. As Bonnie’s family embarks on a vacation, Woody and the gang must prevent Forky (whose scenes are frequent and comedically overcooked) from disposing himself. While at a mountainous town, numerous situations will introduce the likes of other toys including Gabby Gabby (a ‘60s-era doll who longs to be loved by a child); the miniscule Giggle McDimples; prize toys Ducky and Bunny; motorcycling daredevil Duke Caboom; and Woody’s old flame, Bo Peep.

Without detailing the film’s conclusion and, as someone who rewatched my VHS of Toy Story and DVD of Toy Story 2 ad nauseam as a child, Toy Story 4 does not feel as strong a conclusion as its immediate predecessor. Yet Toy Story 4 deepens the series’ existential themes and characterization of Woody – its moral center after extinguishing his homicidal feelings towards Buzz in the original – at the unfortunate expense of almost the entirety of the cast of toys. Nevertheless, Woody’s character growth has been tremendous to behold. His steadfast loyalty – so often a source of adoration from moviegoers – is called into question here. His unwritten sheriff’s code to be of service, embodied by Jimmy Stewarts or Gary Coopers in decades’ past, clashes with the “lost toys” without children to call their own. The misadventures and toy-sized heists characteristic of Toy Story are derailed by unfortunate timing and increasing stakes. No wonder the frustration towards Woody – among the characters and the audience – is so palpable.

The fragmentation of the plot and physical separation of its characters creates a handful of storylines that, with the film’s sharp editing, are comprehensible. Toy Story 4, when analyzed through its editing (and even when excluding flashbacks and fantasies) and writing structure, is the least linear of the Toy Story films. Characters are not so much reacting to a singular event as they are personifying or espousing the film’s themes. One’s ability to tolerate this structure will be tested, but screenwriters Folsom and Stanton are content to not devolve into lengthy expositions or soliloquies that too explicitly outline their intended subtext. Gabby Gabby’s apparent and ultimate fates will elicit instant, strong reactions that might just be universal. Woody’s final decisions in the film’s closing minutes will be viewed through the prism of life experience. Many of the questions Toy Story 4 presents once Forky has been introduced have been central to the series, with variations with each passing installment. What does it mean to realize one’s obsolescence? How does one come to terms – if at all – with that realization? When does a lifelong dream transform into obsession? Folsom and Stanton are not interested in whether there is a “correct” way for a toy to exist – note that every toy in this film defines their existence in bringing joy to a child, even those toys have been lucky enough to do so.

After years of late Lasseter-era twist villains and films with so little nuance in trumpeting their vaguely liberal inclusive messages, this is a refreshing change of pace. Whatever answers viewers find will not arrive easily and will change with time. The most worthwhile art tends to be as such.

Toy Story 4′s characters are stand-ins for human relationships with a coat of comedic paint to make the most difficult moments bearable for everyone. To ask so bluntly the nature of meaningful existence might be dismissed in a live-action film as maudlin, manipulative (film is always manipulative; the effectiveness and appropriateness of such manipulation is not beyond criticism). Inside Out (2015) and Coco (2017) are the best recent examples of this from Pixar’s filmography of how animation lowers these barriers to posing such ideas. The studio’s success is not because they created imaginative worlds filled with talking toys, rodents that can cook, or a post-apocalyptic humanity too dependent on technology. Nor is it the storytelling the studio justly prides itself upon. It is because of the raw ideas found within their films, when the excesses of plots are discarded.

The production design by Bob Pauley (1993′s The Nightmare Before Christmas, all three previous Toy Story films) – in addition to the ever-increasing photorealism of Pixar’s backgrounds and character animation – is superb. Pauley juxtaposes the dusty, earthy antiques store that the film spends much of its runtime with the neon-lit carnival beaming its lights into the night sky. More than the previous Toy Story films, this edition allows the use of colors to help guide the dominant moods in respective scenes. The darker, subdued antiques store scenes lend a feeling that something or some secret lurks around the next cobwebbed corner – evoking claustrophobic spaces, ideological and personal entrapment (the placement of “Midnight, the Stars and You”, which is most famous for its use in 1980′s The Shining, plays a key contribution). The carnival/fair has occasionally been a source of macabre elements or thematic irony in Western cinema; it is a tradition that at least goes as far back to 1920′s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (more recently, and though not a film, the third season of Stranger Things contributes to that tradition). The summer carnival of Toy Story 4 is more liberating than most, leaning into whatever escapist nostalgia the audience holds – of which Toy Story could be a part of. The fourth installment of this series is the most atmospheric; one wishes that the filmmakers could have slowed down a tad to allow a fuller appreciation of the various settings.

Pickier than most film score composers, Randy Newman (1984′s The Natural, 2009′s The Princess and the Frog) nevertheless has become a staple with Pixar and has created, single-handedly, Toy Story’s musical identity. Recorded, in typical Randy Newman, with an enormous orchestra of Los Angeles-area musicians at the 20th Century Fox studio named to honor his uncles (Emil, Lionel, and especially Alfred were gifted composers contracted to Fox), Newman’s ability to integrate musical ideas he has not revisited for twenty or more years with newer motifs is most apparent in the film’s busiest scene. The cue that plays there is “Operation Pull Toy”, which utilizes character- and plot-driven motifs drawn and rearranged beautifully for this newest film. But standing above the rest is “Parting Gifts & New Horizons”, which plays during a fateful moment and a series of fond farewells. The Americana that Randy Newman incorporated through the series and was especially acclaimed for before working on the original Toy Story appears, without restraints, brass instruments backing, and high strings leading. Though not as distinguished as previous Toy Story scores, Newman knows when to pull the emotional strings with his sweeping melodies.

To digress slightly: in isolated parts of Newman’s score (the brief theme beginning at 4:04 of “Parting Gifts & New Horizons” included), I yearn for Newman scoring for an American Western film.

In the recording studio, Tom Hanks (as Woody) and Tim Allen (as Buzz Lightyear) admitted that neither could record their lines without being overwhelmed by emotion. Hanks claimed that he could not even face the crew as he neared his final moments of dialogue. Another member of the cast, Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head), passed away in April 2017 – well before any voice actors began work on the film. Rickles’ family urged Pixar to see if a performance could be pieced together through archival recordings. Poring over almost a quarter-century of voice work from outtakes and recordings for promotional materials, Disney parks, and video games, a brief, but serviceable performance was spliced together by Pixar. Rickles is credited as Mr. Potato Head in the film and he, along with animator Adam Burke, is one of the film’s two dedicatees.

As a disappointing decade in mainstream American animation closes with sequels and the ignominious departure of a figure central to the industry, Pixar’s artistic future is uncertain. Pixar’s new chief creative officer is Pete Docter (2001′s Monsters, Inc. and Inside Out). Docter, who has been with Pixar since 1990, is not likely to fundamentally transform the studio’s mission – as outlined by Lasseter – or artistic direction. He is noted, however, for imbuing his films with his deep sense of morality. Combined with the fact that Pixar intends to move away from sequels in the immediate future, will the studio regain its form after an inconsistent decade? Toy Story 4 is, by way of its structure and overuse of Forky, the weakest in Pixar’s most venerable series. That standard, however, is comparing greatness with excellence.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

[psychotickol-a]

DOSSIER.

BASICS

BIRTH NAME: Kol KNOWN TITLES: Kol the Blood Drinker, Earthshaker, Kol the Unbent NICKNAMES: little menace, wily fox, the psychopath D.O.B | D.O.D: April 12th, 794 AD SEX | PRONOUNS: Male | He, Him, His ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries is the first of the zodiac signs whichis the sign of the self. People born under this sign strongly project their personalities onto others and can be very self-oriented. Aries tend to venture out into the world and leave impressions on others that they are exciting, vibrant and talkative. They tend to live adventurous lives and like to be the center of attention, but rightly so since they are natural, confident leaders. Enthusiastic about their goals and enjoy the thrill of the hunt, “wanting is always better then getting” is a good way to sum it up. Very impulsive and usually do not think before they act - or speak. Too often Aries will say whatever pops into their head and usually end up regretting it later! ALIGNMENT: Neutral Evil. A neutral evil villain does whatever he can get away with. He is out for himself, pure and simple. He sheds no tears for those he kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. He has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make him any better or more noble. On the other hand, he doesn’t have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has. Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies. Neutral evil is the best alignment you can be because you can advance yourself without regard for others. However, neutral evil can be a dangerous alignment because it represents pure evil without honor and without variation. MYERS BRIGGS TEST: ESTP - The Doer. Friendly, adaptable, action-oriented. “Doers” who are focused on immediate results. Living in the here-and-now, they’re risk-takers who live fast-paced lifestyles. Impatient with long explanations. Extremely loyal to their peers, but not usually respectful of laws and rules if they get in the way of getting things done. Great people skills.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

PARENTS: Mikael ( father, deceased ), Esther ( mother, deceased ) SIBLINGS: Freya ( elder sister, alive ), Finn ( elder brother, deceased ), Elijah ( elder brother, alive ), Niklaus ( elder brother, alive ), Rebekah ( younger sister, alive ), Henrik ( younger brother, deceased ) CHILDREN: None RELATIONSHIPS: Siv, daughter of Sigurd ( wife, deceased ), Annabelle ( friend, alive @wakemeinneverland ), Mary-Alice Claire ( mentee, deceased ), Davina Claire ( partner, alive ), Jeremy Gilbert ( frenemy, alive ) SEXUALITY: Aromantic | Pansexual

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTORS

HAIR | EYES: Brown | Brown HEIGHT | WEIGHT: 6'2 | 81 kgs ETHNICITY | NATIONALITY: North Germanic | American, British TATTOOS: Throughout his travels Kol has collected an immense amount of inked tattoos and brands that cover almost the entirety of his back and shoulders. Many of the tattoos are spells, rituals and practices translated into his native tongue as the reliability of grimoires survival waned over time. Click here for preview. PIERCINGS: None BODY MODIFICATIONS: None

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

POSITIVE TRAITS: Intelligent, observant, independent, intuitive and assertive. Bold, charming, playful, out-going and loyal. NEGATIVE TRAITS: Manipulative, cruel, violent, possessive and disloyal. Impulsive, sarcastic, provocative, jealous and angry. MENTAL DISORDERS: Paranoia, hyper vigilance, antisocial disorder. TEMPERMENT: On the surface, Kol can be friendly and approachable, capable of convincing others to let down their guard with his boyish charm and playful nature. Kol often rebels against society and displays a deep rooted unwillingness to submit to any kind of authority which can often manifest into violent or malicious outbursts. He is provocative, often taunting those around him for reactions, his intuition and skill to read and understand others makes him particularly skilled in manipulating others and often seeks out the darkness in those around him to exploit. Kol has few friends but those that he does have, he values above all other life and is willing to go to the ends of the earth for them. His relationship with his siblings has been strained and difficult but when they need him, Kol is always there for them, regardless of his own feelings or opinions of them. Kol is a valuable ally and friend to have, and a truly inescapable enemy.

CURRENT LOCATION

Kol's default location is set during the break between season 3 and season 4 of the Originals. After separating from his siblings, Kol traveled across Europe with Davina Claire, later he took her through Asia, taking in the sights of the world as well as exposing Davina to historically powerful magical sites. While his home in Norway had long since fallen to time, Kol did take Davina to Scandinavia, telling her of his family’s history as Vikings and for a time he and Davina were happy.

However, Kol’s nature for chaos, violence and blood was inevitable and whilst Davina was willing to accept him for all he was, Davina’s good nature and desire to change the world for the better eventually had the pair parting on good terms.

Kol has since returned to the states and can often be found in dive bars, food restaurants or occasionally dropping in on campus lectures. Kol is very much a nomad, rarely remaining in one place for too long and always searching for entertainment in some form or another.

** Please be aware that after the events of season 4 and that during Legacies, Kol is dangerously unstable. For more insight please refer to my verses page.

[eloarei]

As copy-pasted from that one BNHA ask meme: ALL my answers, since @oldseablues suggested I do that.  Under a cut because it’s long.

BNHA Ask Meme™ Reblog this if you want your followers to send you one of these:

~ B A S I C S ~

1: What part of the anime/manga piqued your interest? Like, what did I see that made me want to watch it? TBH I don't know! I guess it was All Might lol. I just saw that a bunch of people on my dashboard were talking about it and about him and I was like "Okay, I'll watch it." (A few people IRL had reccommended it to me before but I was like 'eh'.)

2: Did you think Midoriya would be a good protagonist in the first few chapters/episodes? Answered before. I think the gist of it was that I thought he was gonna be fine, I just didn't know if the story was gonna be any good.

3: How do you think Midoriya’s conflict with Bakugou will end? Honestly I think it'll turn out fine. I mean, I think that they'll repair their friendship (if you can even call it that). I think Izuku has to stop focusing on Bakugou and Bakugo has to start respecting Izuku. I think it'll happen just fine as they grow into themselves. I would be surprised if they didn't repair their relationship, just based on common shounen tropes.

4: What was your first reaction to Bakugou’s treatment towards Midoriya? First reaction? Hmm, let me see if I can remember. I guess I didn't think about it much because I wasn't sure he was going to be an important character. But when I realized he was... I guess I was just surprised that Izuku put up with it all that time. Of course it could be because of his lack of confidence, but I guess I see it more as him having faith in Kacchan actually being worth maintaining a friendship with, despite the bullying? He's too sweet for his own good ^^;;

5: What do you think of All-Might as a hero? Pfft, well he's great, obviously! Isn't that like... the one thing you're supposed to know when you start the series? "The sky is blue. All Might is great." He's a good guy. He does what he can and he does it well.

6: Do you think that Midoriya deserved to get OFA? Of course. He's clever and determined and passionate and kind. Who else would have been that appropriate?

7: Aside from Midoriya, which character in the series do you think has had the most character development? I'm gonna SKIP this one, since I'm still only a lowly Season 2 graduate. I haven't seen enough change in any of the characters to say.

8: Favorite unpopular character? Honestly? Mineta. I know everyone hates him, but I like him for the same reasons. Yes, he's dumb and sleazy, but I think he acts as a sort of balance, and it's good to have a character that occupies peoples' soft-hatred but isn't a villain. Not every 'good guy' is unproblematic, and I think he has the greatest capacity for growth because he's starting so low on the likeability chart. XD

9: Favorite overall character? I mean, that's an easy tie between Izuku and All Might. Obviously. If I had to pick someone else though... Tsuyu. She's precious. Or Ochaco. She's also precious. Or Iida, who is (surprise) also damn precious.

10: Do you have any OC’s? Describe them! If you don’t, create one on the spot. Create one? Yeesh. Uh. Okay, I'll port some original OCs over. Addisson: chivalrous lesbian hero, dresses like a knight. She conjures 'light-weapony' (or other items; made of light/air/whatever, they function as intended until she lets go of them. Only for melee weapons though, not projectiles unfortunately.)

~ S H I P S ~

Pink: What are your main/favorite ships? As surprises nobody: Dekumight, for sure. But side ships? Erasermic, and anything involving Ochaco. (Roughly in order: Ocha/Iida, Ocha/Bakugo, Ocha/anyone else. Oh! Never seen it before, but how about Ochaco/Gunhead?!)

Blue: Do you have any NOTPs? By principal, no. I don't do NOTPs. But if you're asking which ships I just don't really like or don't really get, the winner would have to be TodoDeku. It's very popular? but it just doesn't pique my interest at all.

Yellow: Favorite fanfiction about your OTP? Ooh man, it's only on chapter 2 ATM but @thenightisdarkandfullofbooty’s "Fettered" is really really great so far! Other than that, I don't generally recc explicit fics, but Motte-Gwappo and Jabor pretty well cornered the market with good E-rated oneshots.

Green: Any preferred rarepairs? Ahah yeah, I main a rarepair. And from what I understand, pretty much everything that doesn't include Todoroki or Bakugou is a rarepair, so... uh huh.

Purple: Do you have any works centered around your OTP? HELL YEAH. Anyone who's reading this probably knows. I've got 11 posted Dekumight fics so far, and *counts* 4? WIPs? and... uh... roughly 30+ more ideas? *sweats*

Orange: Fluff or Angst? Good lord I love both, but if you're gonna angst me, PLEASE give me a happy ending.

Red: What do you like the most about your favorite ship? Aaaaaaahhh gosh. Everything. *sighs dreamily* Did you see me the other day, comparing them to freaking Christian worship music? Gawd. They have SUCH a great dynamic, and it's one that has a lot of potential for shifting in various ways too. I guess what I really love most about them is how genuinely devoted to each other they are. Shipped or not, they really love each other! It's so wonderful. =]

Turqoise: What do you hate about your favorite ship? Alright now this is silly question. Why have an OTP if you don't just adore every fiber of their being? In the case of Dekumight, despite what I think a lot of other people would think, I don't even hate the things that make it a controversial pairing. I don't hate that Izuku is underage, and that there's a fairly massive age gap between them, and that there's a 'power imbalance' between them, because that all adds to their dynamic. It makes them very interesting. I don't wish that Izuku was older. I mean, I've written that fic, and I think they're still interesting together, but honestly, the fact that they at least met when Izuku was young is pretty important to their dynamic and-- *goes on forever and ever* ADDENDUM: One thing I do hate is that the majority of the fandom can't (or isn't interested in even trying to) see how goshdarn much sense the ship makes.

Lavender: Does your ship get a lot of hate? If so, why? Hahahaha yes. I don't pay a lot of attention to the fandom at large, but I'm fairly certain it's the most hated ship in the fandom? And it's the only ship I've ever gotten hate over! (Wonderful. Wish I'd get more. It'd be a good outlet for my blabbering haha) I understand /why/ it gets hate though. It's underage. It's frequently read as a father-son relationship. Oh, and it interferes with other popular ships, of course.

Grey: Realistically speaking, will your ship ever become canon? I guess there's a remote chance. Like, top of Mt. Everest remote. haha wouldn't that just fuck with people. Naw, look, I'm fully accepting of the fact that there are at least 5 other drastically-more-likely options, which are, in approximate order of likeliness: 1. Izuku/Ochaco, 2. Izuku/nobody, 3.Izuku/another girl, 4.Izuku/Bakugou, 5.Izuku/another guy. I give Dekumight a .01% chance haha and I think that's a liberal estimate. XD; BUT! I would be more than happy for there to be at least a throwaway line somewhere about Izuku having (or having had) a crush on All Might at some point, and I give that a very generous 5% chance of happening haha.

~ T H E O R I E S ~

Pop: Do you think the “Dabi and Shouto are brothers” theory is true? Don't know who the hell Dabi is.

Indie: Opinions on the Traitor Kaminari theory? Never heard it. Sounds implausible.

Punk: Opinions on the Traitor Kirishima theory? Never heard it. Don't like it.

Rock: What do you think of the “The doctor from Midoriya’s childhood is affiliated with the League Of Villains” theory? (in reference to this post) I mean... sure?? I didn't read the post, but I have no strong opinions on theories.

Jazz: What do you think will happen now that Eri has been saved? Honestly, I only know Eri through fanfic, so I'm gonna say, "No clue, my dude."

~ S T U D E N T S ~

11: Dekusquad or Bakusquad? Porque no los dos? But Dekusquad.

12: Most underrated student? Hagakure. That's the invisible girl, right? That's quite a power!

13: Dadmight or Dadzawa? Porque no los dos? But my ship dictates I vote Dadzawa. Honestly though, they could both BE dads; there's no one way to be a dad. All Might makes me think a little more of an uncle. Aizawa strikes me as more dad-like from my own experience, but they're both supportive in their different ways. I know, let's be contrarian and say "DadMic" =P HE'S the one that reminds me of several of my allo-dads.

14: Whose quirk do you think is the most unique? I think I said Tokoyami when I answered this before. I can't think of a better answer right now, so let's just go with that again.

15: Aside from Midoriya, who do you think has the most potential to be #1 Hero? I guess Todoroki.

16: Should Mineta be replaced by Shinsou in the hero class? Porque no los dos? If you get rid of Mineta, there's gotta be someone else for everyone to hate. Just shove another desk in there and have them both. Make them share, I dunno.

17: Favorite student(s) outside of Class 1-A? Hatsume Mei!

18: Any HCs for the entirety of Class 1-A? Headcanons for the whole class? Is that a thing? I guess I HC that they all genuinely love Izuku and are encouraged by his attitude. =]

19: Do you remember their seating arrangement by heart? lol heck no. I think I have an idea of where a few of the characters sit? But honestly, I blasted through the series once and haven't looked back on it yet, so I haven't had time for memorization.

20: Which of the students do you think has the most potential to become a villain? Gosh. Any of them could. I mean, being a villain instead of a hero is so based on circumstance. If things go wrong, any of them could go that way.

~  V I L L A I N S ~

Techno: Favorite villain? Stain. Not interested in any of the others just yet.

Classical: Eight Precepts of Death or League of Villains? what.

Metal: Which villain’s quirk would you want for yourself? I don't?

Soul: Shigaraki or Chisaki? Who?

Alternative: Most obnoxious villain? Shigaraki.

~  M I S C ~

Apple: Favorite popular HC? I haven't the slightest clue what's popular, but I'll reiterate my own personal headcanon: Izuku has or has had a huge pre-teen crush on All Might.

Strawberry: Who is your favorite pro-hero? Uh... Hmm.... Predictable answer: All Might. Less predictable answer: Best Jeanist, because his fucking outfit drives me nuts and I hate it so much I like it.

Banana: Which of the pro-heroes’ quirks fascinates you the most? Eh. I dunno. I guess I'm not really 'fascinated' by anyone's abilities. ^^; I just like them as whole characters.

Cherry: Should Endeavor die like right now Nah. He's important, even if we hate him. In fact, that might be part of why he's important. You can't love every 'protagonist'.

Pear: What was your reaction to Todoroki’s backstory? I... didn't have a strong reaction. I'm not a huge fan of Todoroki to begin with. I mean, I felt bad for him, of course, but I guess I wasn't surprised or anything, so it was like, "oh. huh. poor kid." I'm more interested in what happens next.

Kiwi: Should the BNHA girls get more spotlight/recognition? Of course! They're all great.

Pineapple: What do you like the most about BNHA, as a whole? Well, I guess what I like is the characters! That pretty usual, for any story I get involved in. But of course I love superheroes, so there's that! But I do also like the feeling of the whole story, how it's inspirational but also with a looming bleakness, you know?

Watermelon: Dub or Sub? Sub sub sub all the way. Gotta watch it in its original form, whatever that is. I LOVE their original Japanese voices. I accidentally heard a tiny snippet of it in English and I regret it haha.

Coconut: How do you think Hokiroshi is doing, in terms of the plot? Well I'm not caught up so it's a bit hard for me to say, but I think it's going well so far. I'm still interested.

Blueberry: What makes BNHA unique from all the other shonen animes/mangas out there? I'm not sure. I think it's in the small details. I mean, I'm not sure it really IS unique from other anime, any more than they're all unique from each other. TBH I feel like it actually take quite a few elements from other popular series and puts them together in an effective way.

...and that's the end!

[groundramon]

Do you have a list of like top 5 tv shows? (Cartoons and anime included)

!!! Yes I do, actually!

I’ve actually thought about doing a YouTube video about this in the past, and while I do want to do list-like videos (and I already have at least one in mind) in the future, I put off doing this one because it actually…depends greatly on where certain shows I currently like are headed because some currently-airing shows would be on this list if they hit their full potential, but who knows if they’ll hit their full potential. Also I always split anime and cartoons into two categories because I always had a hard time picking otherwise xD But I do have some semblance of a list, and I adore talking about this kind of stuff, sooo:

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

This spot is kind of a three-way tie between Voltron, Bojack Horseman, and FMAB, all for extremely different reasons. So consider Voltron and Bojack my honorable mentions. But while I believe Bojack’s best is honestly some of the (if not the) best out there, and if Voltron promises through on what they’ve promised it will easily skyrocket up this list, Bojack’s worst is everything I hate about Hollywood and Voltron just has too many holes at the moment.  FMAB has the best of both worlds because it has great animation like Voltron, doesn’t have any of Bojack’s bad kind of moments, and doesn’t have many holes in it.  (Another honorable mention goes to BNHA, but like Voltron, I just don’t think it has had enough time to develop all the way. Unlike Voltron, it doesn’t really have any holes, but I do have a problem with how strictly it adheres to cheesy super heroes of the past.)

BUT onto FMAB itself. God cmon, its FMAB, do I really need to elaborate why its so great? The characters are compelling, their motivations are powerful and interesting. I could write an essay examining Ed’s character alone, because he has so many interesting motivations and morals that seemingly conflict with his angry disposition, and I don’t even like Ed that much. The story is exciting - there’s basically no filler, and it almost moves too fast at points. I do have problems with the show - as I said, it goes too fast. The only two deaths in the season happen in the first 12-15 episodes of the series, and although I think that’s because the original FMA animated those scenes already, it still fucks with the pacing of this show. Additionally, despite Lust, Gluttony, and Envy all being revealed before, the show introduces a completely new villain - Greed - to introduce the homunculi. And then they kill Lust - the presumed leader of the first three introduced homunculi?? Idk man, the show barrels in a completely different direction way too quickly. But other than that, its a great show. The only reason it isn’t higher is because I’m a biased shit towards other good shows.

4. Teen Titans

Speaking of being a biased shit, idk if it shows or not, but I have a HUGE soft spot for corny kids shows that try to give kids bad laughs and dark/relatable storylines, or rather, have a heart while doing so. Its not so much that I like a balance of comedy and darkness in my shows - although that’s a good thing, I eat pure angst up and I’m all-for pure comedy shows that have the aforementioned heart (ie we bare bears, another good show not on this list) - its just specifically corny pun-ridden teen/tweeny-feeling shows/games that actually have a decent story underneath that get me. (Also my sense of humor aligns much more with shitty teen lingo and puns than modern cartoon humor that’s considered “good”. Like I find Teen Titans 10x funnier than I’ve ever found Steven Universe. I’m a 90s kid at heart even tho I wasn’t alive in the 90s)

But the biggest impact of this show for me was the heart and the plot. The silly moments made me laugh, sometimes iromically and sometimes unironically and sometimes I wasn’t sure how, but it was the story that really gripped me. The first season’s overarching plot for Robin is honestly one of the most compelling things I’ve seen in kids cartoons…period. Its dark, its unique, its a subversion of such a simble and broad trope. Sure it had a nice cheesy ending but Robin actually saves the day through INTELLIGENCE, something he always had. No other Teen Titans ending did that, but I digress.

And god, do not even get me started on Terra’s arc. Just because Robin’s was the most well-structured arc doesn’t mean his was the most emotional. I was fucking distraught after Terra’s season. Those memes weren’t a joke, I legitimately cried right in front of my mom. IT WAS SO OBVIOUS, BUT IN MY BLIND LOVE, I MISSED ALL THE SIGNS… and god, even when she comes back, even when she’s given a happy ending, she manages to make me cry AGAIN. I never, ever thought I could cry over a character like Beast Boy, but she made me do it. I didn’t even cry when Sokka’s girlfriend died, but this really, really got to me. Once for personal attachment, and the second time because…the finale is so good. Literally its Bojack levels of deep, emotional, and realistic, and this was the ending of a fucking kids show. What the fuck. To this day I still get emotional whenever something reminds me of her arc. Which brings me to my next series…

3. Cybersix

Hi so did I mention Cybersix is really good? Because Cybersix is really good.  I’m not even done with it but yeah, I love this show.  It’s got an amazing art style, great animation, an intriguing story…I have a feeling I’m gonna be really disappointed when it ends because I’ll want to know what happens next so badly.  I like the characters, I like the aesthetic, I like the old-timey music that dates this cartoon so wonderfully, I even like the romance between Lucas and Cybersix/Adrian!  How’d you make me do that.  Oh yeah, because it’s not hard to get me to care about a mutually rewarding relationship that’s gradually built up through a friendship, then an aesthetic attraction, then presumably a relationship but idk yet, where both parties care about one another and their boundaries and have gotten along well since the start.  I forgot.  (I could nitpick that Lucas doesnt have the same buildup for the relationship as Cybersix [its complicated, basically he’s friends with Cybersix’s alternate persona Adrian but he’s in a relationship with Cybersix, and he doesnt know theyre the same person] but I’m not gonna.)  It’s just…a good show man.  @ hollywood, reboot THIS you cowards.  Stop rebooting shit nobody wanted a new version of and reboot shows that were ended to quickly.  Actually dont reboot Cybersix because the only animation studios that would be able to do it any justice are Studio Mir and anime studios, and whoever owns the current copyright to Cybersix would probably be okay using flash for it

2. Digimon Adventure (with a honorable mention to Digimon Tamers)

You can rip my love for the entire Digimon franchise from my cold, dead hands.  I’m sincerely surprised any show passed up my love for this show.  If/when the currently airing series in Japan gets brought over here, I’ll watch it, even though Digimon has kind of abandoned what made it so great in the first place.  But hell, even Fusion was enjoyable - the second arc, from what I remember, was pretty dark and interesting (im still mad they got rid of the two best characters tho) - and the only reason I disliked Data Squad so much is because of Marcus (that and it doesnt have anything else that’s absolutely stunning, in fact from a technical standpoint Marcus is the best thing about the show).

But there’s a reason I put Digimon Adventure here and not the entirety of the Digimon franchise.  Digimon Adventure is what started it all.  No Digimon season has as much heart in it as the original.  Sure the animation improves each season, sure Tamers is probably better story-wise on a technical level, but I dont think any season matches the raw charm of the original.  It was so charming, in fact, that what was supposed to be a 13-episode miniseries evolved into a massive franchise that’s still beloved to this day.  Hell, there’s still content being released for the 8 Digidestined of this season!  It’s right alongside Pokemon, Invader Zim, Hey Arnold, and all these other beloved 90s/early 2000s cartoons that are being revived in recent years, and I think that says a lot.

I wasn’t even alive when Digimon Adventure was airing, but I loved the Digimon games I had played so much that I went out of my way to watch it.  And I…loved it.  Sad as it may be, it was the greatest TV show I had seen at the time.  Growing up in the late 2000s watching only Nickelodeon and CN was not a good period to grow up in, and I never saw Avatar as a kid.  By the time the 2010s had rolled around, I had mostly given up on cartoons, and besides, they were all fugly.  I still tried to watch some, but just…the humor didn’t grip me, they seemed dumb, and they weren’t pleasant to look at.  (Okay the main shows I’m vaguing about are Adventure Time and Regular Show, as well as whatever Nickelodeon was doing but I begrudgingly put up with Nickelodeon for the most part because I preferred Nick and I never knew what else to watch)  Then Digimon came around, and hol-y-shit.  The characters were like nothing I had ever seen before, the storylines engaging and interesting.  Sure it was cheesy, but there was 95% less fart jokes than the average cartoon, a good story, and actually relatable characters that actually go through hardships and actually change for the better!

Digimon Adventure has been and always will be proof to me that no matter what you are, no matter what your show is, you can make a good show out of it.  If you get people who care, who can make relatable characters, who can come up with an interesting story, you can make a good show.  Digimon Adventure is basically a big long toy commercial, and yet its better than lots of shows that dont even have merchandise - and its also better than a lot of shows that have merchandise now, but weren’t created to sell toys in the first place.  I just.  Love it a lot.

Also, the reason I specifically chose Digimon Adventure, outside of having a personal attachment to it since it was always my favorite, is because Tamers hecking scared me as a kid and I’ve never gotten over how creepy the last arc is.  Like it’s good, but it still scared me.

Honorable mentions: Bojack Horseman, Voltron: Legendary Defender, We Bare Bears, Gravity Falls (thats a big one, it would definitely be on this list if I had 10 spots, and will gladly take the 6th spot if Voltron doesnt follow through or Bojack goes south), Over the Garden Wall,  the aforementioned Digimon Tamers ,and Infinity Train might be #2 or at least #3 if it wasnt just a single episode l m a o

1. A tie between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

HI SO YEAH if you didnt expect this then you dont know me //BRICKED

Before I explain both, I want to be very clear that I’m not counting them as a single entity.  No, I just cant pick between them.  They’re two extremely different shows, and I actually agree with people who say ATLA is overall a more-rounded show.  Problem is, I watched both during a period of my life where politics and darkness make an extremely interesting show for me (aka the current period of my life) and thus its a very biased and “nostalgic” pick, just like Digimon Adventure.  Had I watched these shows when they were airing, I dont know if LOK would even be on this list.  Heck Digimon adventure probably wouldnt be on this list since ATLA would’ve held the crown for my favorite show for all those years.

They both have amazing animation and solid writing, but that’s about all they have in common in my eyes - even though they share the same world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a kids show.  Through and through, its a kids show.  That’s not an insult in the slightest though; no, the fact that they can make something so sophisticated and enjoyable that still clearly appeals to children is really a testament to their skills.  Many kids shows that try to take on heavier/darker stories feel like completely different shows when they try to do that - shows that arent intended for kids.  Voltron and SU are the most notable examples of that, but even LOK has a little bit of that (but in LOK’s case, its the entire show, so I kinda give them a pass lol)  Other shows do it okay (Gravity Falls) but really the only show I’ve ever seen match Avatar’s perfect balance of comedy and seriousness is Bojack, which isn’t a kids show so it has an advantage over Avatar.

Avatar’s world is fanciful and larger than life.  I’m so sad that I watched Avatar and LOK after my fanfiction days; I would’ve loved to spend nights thinking about a potential Avatar story, complete with my own Avatar and original cast.  I could put it before Avatar, after LOK, who knows? but it would’ve been so much fun.  Hell I HAVE thought about Avatar stories, but I obviously dont have much thought up on any of my potential ideas.

The pacing of Avatar is golden.  How a show wish such good pacing got through Nickelodeon, I dont know, but whatever deal allowed Avatar to go on for three seasons and then end was a once-in-a-life-time deal (as evident by what happened to Korra).  Somehow this show came out almost completely perfect, with few or no flaws.

This is the pinnacle of children’s entertainment, in my opinion.  This is proof that there’s no excuse for the garbage that makes up 90% of children’s entertainment.  The standard doesn’t have to be this, since this is the best, but this show is proof that we need to raise the standard.  I wish executives actually gave a shit about quality; if they did, maybe we could get mostly good shows instead of mostly bad shows.

If most shows were half as good as Avatar, the average show would be gorgeously-animated, smartly-written, and really good, even if it had a flaw here and there.  If most shows were half as good as Avatar, Steven Universe would be the average instead of a godsend.

If I someday, somehow make a show that’s 2/3rds as good as Avatar, I’ll officially be a good writer.  I’d love to make tons of shows just as good as Avatar, but hey, I cant get TOO cocky now lol

Now for The Legend of Korra.  Korra has slightly better animation (god i love studio mir) and different but still intriguing worldbuilding.  I know a lot of people found the political bs to be annoying, but I actually found it quite intriguing.  Avatar did a little bit of exploring moral gray areas and playing with politics, but Korra just goes all-out.  I wish the first season’s morality could’ve been a little grayer, but even then, the politics were still interesting.  And god, that one scene in the first season finale, the murder-suicide…that’s still a really powerful scene.  The entire finale would’ve been super powerful were it not for everything resetting by the end of it, but hey, they basically did the same thing in season 3!

Holy shit though, season 3.  An on-screen strangling.  Someone exploding themselves to death.  And then the finale’s fight.  The finale’s fight. The finale of season 3 is one of the most intense things I’ve seen…ever.  The atmosphere in that fight is just…so good - combined with the animation and choreography, its just amazing.  You can almost feel every hit, you actually feel concern for Korra, you’re legitimately concerned for her life.  And you know what?  You should’ve been!  Because she almost dies, and she has to suffer the consequences of that.  The fourth season has a time gap in-between, but even then, she spends episodes trying to fully recover.

In my opinion, the only thing making Korra a kids show is Milo.  I’m certain they put him in there because otherwise, it wouldn’t have been allowed to be called a kids show.  It’s dark, its intelligent, its beautiful, and it’s going to go right over most kid’s heads.  As a kids show it does kind of fail; it just doesn’t really appeal enough to them.  Once you’re old enough to understand, say, Naruto or Dragon Ball you should be okay, but ATLA appeals to all ages while Korra really needs a certain maturity in its audience to be understood and to not scare its audience.

They’re just both. so good

(thanks for the ask!!!)

[itslovewithyouthings]

My Definitively Subjective Star Wars Movie Ranking ift.tt/2Orl9R0 It’s an amazi… http://bit.ly/2DSZNJR

My Definitively Subjective Star Wars Movie Ranking ift.tt/2Orl9R0 It’s an amazing time to be a nerd. I’ve found myself thinking and saying that a lot over the last several years. I’ve alwaysbeen a nerd – Star Wars Lord of the Rings Harry Potter Monty Python DC Marvel and everything in between. I remember sitting in elementary school having Star Wars trivia contests with my friends. Who was Luke’s childhood best friend? What was the name of the droid Uncle Owen almost bought instead of R2-D2? That sort of thing. When I was home sick as a kid I wore out our Star Wars trilogy VHS tapes. And yes Han shot first. I have LOVED the onslaught of new Star Wars movies. They should have waited to release Solo until this holiday season but whatever. I am definitely not one of thoseStar Wars “fans” who nitpick every little thing and boycottthe movies. I will have opening night tickets to every single Star Wars movie and will see it multiple times in theater. Is every Star Wars movie a masterpiece? No not by a long shot. But each movie has something I can really appreciate for what it’s worth. And I just want to say….if you only really like 2 out of 10 movies then you aren’t truly a Star Wars fan. So without further ado here is my Definitively Subjective Star Wars Movie Ranking. 1. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back Rarely in the world of cinema is a sequel better than the first. Empire is a near-perfect follow-up to the surprise worldwide phenomenon. We thought that after the destruction of the Death Star the rebels would have the Empire up against the ropes. But the opposite ends up being the case. The scrappy rebellion is still fighting for survival against the galactic war machine helmed by Darth Vader. In a masterful piece of story telling the good guys don’t win the day. The plot is full of betrayals backstabbing double crossing love jealousy and “defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.” I mean it doesn’t get any more Star Wars than this installment. It has the most-quoted lines (“No! I am your father.”) and the most iconic imagery (AT-ATs carbonite light saber duels and Yoda). The Empire Strikes Back is what every movie sequel strives to be. 2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope The indie movie that became a global cultural phenomenon was ahead of its time in many ways. It’s a traditional “hero’s journey” movie that has been copied time and time again – because it works. I will forever be loyal to this movie that introduced us to Luke Han Chewbacca Leia Obi-Wan C-3PO R2-D2 and Darth Vader. For a 1970s sci-fi movie made on a shoe-string budget with practical effects and first-time actors this movie still holds up surprisingly well 40 years later. This is where it gets a bit more controversial and subjective….. 3. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens The characters plot action and humor of The Force Awakens make this one of the most rewatchable installments in the saga. Yes it has a lot of similarities to the original. Yes Kylo Ren is an angsty emo kid. Yes SPOILERS Han Solo dies. But The Force Awakens recaptures the feel and magic of the original trilogy. I absolutely love Rey and Poe and BB-8 and Finn. 4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The first non-saga movie was a pleasant surprise. I appreciate everything it was trying to do. Yeah you could say it was a whole movie just to fill a plot hole in the original. But it was more than that. It made the Empire worth fearing. It established the original trilogy within the galaxy ruled under the tyrannical fist of the Empire. Rogue One also shows the moral ambiguity of the rebellion at times. And come on – that last 90 seconds with Darth Vader was one of the best scenes in the entirety of Star Wars. 5. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi I’ve gotta say that when I was a kid this was my favorite. I loved the scenes in Jabba’s palace. I loved the Ewoks. I loved the speeder bikes and the space battle. I loved the duel between Luke and Vader at the end with the redemption of Vader. But when I watch it as an adult I realize how much this movie was targeted to kids. It could have been a lot darker and grittier following ESB. But they played it safe in order to sell more toys – which totally worked. I only hope the newest trilogy doesn’t follow the same path with Episode IX. 6. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi This movie took a lot of risks. The “fans” complained that The Force Awakens was too much like the originals so The Last Jedi tried to break away from the common tropes and expectations of the originals – and the “fans” complained again. I thought it worked really well on many levels. It was a very meta movie telling you the whole time what it was doing – “Let the past die…” “This is not going to go the way you think…” Kylo Ren and Rey both came into their own. They can no longer rely on the past to lead them into the future. I think that says something about Star Wars over all. The Last Jedi has one of the coolest light saber battles one of the most visually stunning space battle scenes and Yoda! It would be higher on my list but it’s not quite as rewatchable as others. 7. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith Revenge of the Sith had the darkness and the grittiness that I wish Return of the Jedi would have had. RotS however almost goes toodark. But it captures the transformation of Anakin to Vader in a visceral way. Obi Wan is the hero of the prequels. As unbelievable as Anakin and Obi Wan’s friendship seems at some points because of bad acting/writing when things fall apart you feelit. That final duel between them is haunting. Full disclosure I’ve seen Revenge of the Sith fewer times than any other movie on this list. 8. Solo: A Star Wars Story I really enjoyed Solo. It was a fun campy action-packed heist movie. Think Italian Jobin space. Was it entirely necessary? No. But I’m glad it’s here. Like Rogue One Solo establishes the Empire as a force to be feared and the rebellion as a fledgling grassroots resistance movement. The actor playing Han offered a surprisingly convincing portrayal of the character. Lando was spot-on. I loved seeing the fresh new Millennium Falcon pull of the Kessel Run. And when Maul appeared on screen there was an audible gasp throughout the theater. There’s SO MUCH they could do with the Maul storyline…if they ever do another “Star Wars Story.” 9. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace THE BAD:the writing the politics (Trade Federation? Are you kidding?) goofy battle droids naked C-3PO midichlorians and Jar. Jar. Binks. THE GOOD: the worlds Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kinobi Darth Maul with the double-bladed lightsaber the BEST light saber duel in all of Star Wars the pod race expanding the Jedi/Force lore 10. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones I’ve tried rewatching this a few time recently and get the same feeling each time: Bored. I forgot how much of this movie involves slowly walking and talking. There’s action at the beginning and in the last 30 minutes. The rest is just slow and/or annoying. There is absolutely no chemistry between Anakin and Padme. Obi Wan’s skills are wasted. The main villain Count Dooku is completely dull and forgettable. If anything this movie feels like an introduction to the Clone Wars animated series – which I think is better than Attack of the Clones. How does your list compare? I know this is a pretty controversial subject among nerds but I’d love to hear from you. For comparison’s sake here are the Star Wars movies ranked by Tomatometer Score: 1. The Empire Strikes Back (95%) 2. The Force Awakens (93%) 3. A New Hope (93%) 4. The Last Jedi (91%) 5. Rogue One (84%) 6. Return of the Jedi (80%) 7. Revenge of the Sith (79%) 8. Solo (70%) 9. Attack of the Clones (66%) 10. The Phantom Menace (55%)

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My Definitively Subjective Star Wars Movie Ranking ift.tt/2Orl9R0 It’s an amazi… http://bit.ly/2DSZNJR

[mustapleko]

So yall remember how I promised I was done with Sherlock like five years ago oh you do good because I made a word vomit about s4 click here or don’t because Idk how this happened I don’t have anything new to add it’s literally all the same crap that we have all seen already from mofftiss. Or at least was until the third episode because boy was that really fucked up or whaaaat??????????????  

 under the cut also spoilers or whatever. ↓ sorry mobile users :^)

I procrastinated 4 weeks watching the new eps. Yesterday I saw new cute fanart and was warmed and energized by my love for Sherlock Holmes *stops to wipe a tear* and found the willpower to sit through them. Initially I hoped that I’d be able to just enjoy the shittiness of it all. That I’d finally managed to break my emotional ties with this series (burning love for season 1 to deep disappointment in the rest)  Still wrote a rant nobody asked for. And to the person who convinced me to finish this: fuck you this took me all night now im tired and feel stupid abt this but it’s too late to backpedal so fuck it.

EP 1:

And there went my fun bc the first episode ended up being so... bland. Plot was rushed and pointless. I laughed at one joke. The rest of them were so embarrassing, oh my god. The “lol sherlock is awkward” gag is so old and tired. And his characterization is all over the place. Like.... I don’t even know what to say. I’m not a film critic, I’m not here to say what I just said, I came here to laugh at stupid shit and be offended as a Holmes fan.

But I started a rant and so I shall do because the second half of the episode actually gave me two reasons: There is one thing that I judge harshly in every Holmes adaptation, and that is how they treat their Watson. And there’s one thing that really bothers me about this series, and that is Mary. All of her. This had both problems.

Summary: So Sherly is off the hook for shooting a guy in the face in the last episode bc he’s needed to solve shit for the government. He then proceeds to be a huge dick to everyone. The Watsons successfully have a baby and it’s small and cute and all. The three (four) of them go off to solve crimes but everyone keeps shitting on John and we get this really weird Mary x Sherlock episode. Then one of Mary’s ex-co-assassins turns up wanting to kill her because of some misunderstanding. That crap is solved (with guns) and we are again assured that her history as a secret killer agent is in no way a problem and everyone loves her unconditionally. Then at the conclusion of the case some more guns are involved and Mary jumps in front of a bullet to save Sherlock and kicks the bucket. rip. 

I admit I’ve never had much interest in Mary in any adaptation. (Dumb personal preference. please I don’t wanna fight anyone over this, I do understand her importance.) Not because I think her a ship breaker or anything. I’m fine with her being involved. But she usually just kinda exists in the background. And ends up being disposed at some point This show tried to involve her properly but they made it so complicated. There’s no way to make her backstory fit comfortably into the setting. Not with John and Sherlock being more or less regular people. I don’t want to sympathize with her assassin ass. Again, my personal problem probably. But watching an episode centered around her was not fun.

I don’t mind them being a trio, but with this Mary the group is unbalanced. She’s too sassy and smart. Like having two Sherlocks. And considering what a charmer he is in this show...... brings us back to the problem I mentioned first. Which tbh existed before. Everyone’s really terrible towards John all the time! Still, after 4 seasons. I get that he’s supposed to be the normal dude who reacts to all the crazy shit happening around but....  He’s constantly being lied to, kidnapped, dismissed, manipulated and provoked into violence. My enjoyment of all things Holmes comes pretty much from the beautiful broship. But nooo, that’s too lame for this series, no homo.

I don’t wanna go too deep into that, it was talked about enough last season (“Is everyone I know a psychopath??”, “Why is everything always my fault??” & other Moffatty Stories). They do kinda try to convey how shitty this all is for John but it falls really flat. And that is so weird and frustrating because this show doesn’t actually suffer from a bad Watson like many others. They just don’t let him be a competent character. Meanwhile the person Sherlock is being besties with is Mary. Idk if they were trying to pander to the female audience or make her inevitable death sadder, but that was really weird.

I was happy to be rid of her in the end. Again, not in “hated the bitch” kinda way. That’s just the best course for the story to take. In that moment I had hope in the writers of this godforsaken mess. (Then her ghosting and becoming the fucking narrator later on ruined it.) It was dramatic and sad and all but they made that too all about Sherlock. And his angst. John’s been completely pushed aside??  And as rare as it is, I actually really like the single-dad-watson -trope. But you gotta let the man have some screen time

I just spent several paragraphs politely rambling when all I wanted to say was that Mary is terrible and I don’t like her and Sherlock is being a dick and I don’t like that either and the episode was boring

Time to list the good thing eyyyyy:

1. They gave John a new hairstyle for the season and it looks really good!

2. Yet another shitty dingy plastic skeleton in a serious crime drama. I 100% unironically love these to death no pun inteded

3. I was gonna write that I still actually really like Cucumberboy and he’s still very pretty but it took the episode 15 seconds for Sherlock’s personality to be too annoying for that to help lol

4. Yeah that’s all, it wasn’t great.

EP 2:

Now, looking at my summary you probably would not believe it, but God help me I had so much fun watching this one. Looking back, the plot is garbage. But how this was shot and acted out was exactly the kind of “so weird it’s funny” content I had been waiting for. I was in tears by the end if it. Most of it might have been late night hysteria I admit, but now afterwards it doesn’t matter. The episode is ridiculous, loud and energetic and idk how I’m gonna express that in a positive light the middle of a long ass complaint post. I’m not gonna say that this was the best episode off the three, I’ll just say I had the most fun watching it. Biggest minus points are for having to look at sherlock’s ginger teenstache through the entirety of it.

Summary: John is sad bc his wife is dead. And he keeps seeing and hearing Mary everywhere he goes. And we need her ghost to narrate the plot for us. But that’s not important. Because Sherlock is even sadder cos he feels responsible for her death. John wants nothing to do with him so Sherlock angsts alone, does a lot of unspecified drugs and spends the rest of the episode shouting at things coked off his tits. Then he makes a big show from trying prove that some rich famous old dude is a cereal serial killer, because the old bastard’s daughter visited Sherlock to tell him about her suspicions. But she was also sad and suicidal so they spent a lovely night walking out and talking about feelings. Or did they??????? *dun dun dunnn* Don’t do drugs, kids.  Nobody believes him because he’s weird and high. Sherly is then convinced that he’s actually going mad, then tries to murder someone again, then gets beaten up by John again, then almost gets mudered again and somehow the bad guy still gets caught they get a happy ending from all of that.

And in the end it was ~all part of a plan~ bc mary told sherlo that if she were to die, he had to make himself as miserable as possible to guiltrip john into saving him to make him feel better about himself or some shit because we can’t have john having any control over his life now can we what the fuck.

Now, I understand that a drama about a super smart people like has to have some elaborate plotting going on that is all revealed in the end, but this show has a really fucked up obsession with it. Everything is according to plan, everything that is going to happen Sherlock already knew weeks ago. That really sucks the fun out of the story and makes the actions of all the other characters meaningless. Previous episode even had a whole thing about how predeterminism is bad, you are not listening to your own advice!

Yeah the original story of the Dying Detective was kinda fucked up. Culverton Smith (the shitty old dude) was some asshat who went around poisoning people. Holmes pretended that he became one of his victims and that was dying in order to get a confession from Smith. Then he lied to Watson about this all because reasons and used him as a just pawn in the plot. Not his finest moment, but in right hands has lots of potential as fuel for some angst. I don’t know why I’m bringing this up. It’s not like team mofftiss knew how to use any of that. Gotta say I’m not really feeling the canon references anyway. Either they are relevant to the plot, meaning they make the stupid twists even easier to guess, or they they are just awkwardly forced in “we just wanted someone to say this name, look at us we read the books”  kinda of things ://

I took a lot of notes while watching this but now that I look at them I can’t really separate single things comment on. The show is trying too hard at everything it does and ends up being an all around fuck up. Middle of the night is also not the time for writing these, I’ve got nothing.

MMMMmmgood things listing!:

1. I really appreciate them hiring that one weird looking fucker to play Culverton! He keeps popping up in films and such and I’ve kinda wanted to see him play a holmes villain! He was fun!

2. Had some fun cinematography, especially for sherls’ deduction making pantomime

3. Sherlock’s a fun character to beat up and make cry ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

and no no no no no no please don’t bring irene back

.....oh good you just needed to mention her because no homo.

(actually I can’t leave my jab at that. because that wasn’t a suble no homo, that was sherly straight up gettin told straight dude to another -talk how he needs to get together with her specifically in order to be happy. and that was the most forced and desperate scene I’ve ever seen and I’m not gonna let that slide)

4. irene didnt do a comeback

EP:3

Summary:

*takes a deep breath*

Sherlock finds out he secretly has a younger sister who is a total psychopath (hi moffat). She looks like the creepy woman from The Ring and she’s locked in a super secret mental hospital slash prison in the middle of the sea because she did terrible things when she was a child and is supernaturally intelligent and super dangerous because she’s able to take control of anyone who talks with or gets too close to her. So she’s secretly in control of the whole facility of course. We had already seen her in several disguises in previous 2 episodes (I’m so bad at remembering faces, I fall for all twists where they have one actor play several roles) and Sherlock doesn’t remember her because he was so traumatized when she killed his beloved dog when they were little kids. We get some flashbacks about the Holmes siblings’ childhood and then the sister locks Sherlock, John and Mycroft in a Jigsaw kinda game / psychological experiment, which they have to pass by solving puzzles and killing several people. And it was all because she was so much smarter than everyone else in the goddamn universe so she was lonely and saaaaad.

........

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I... know this show was not supposed to be a crime drama anymore but.....

whaaaaaaaaaa...?

that was straight up a shitty horror flick. how.... did this happen....? who was it that was so salty that they didn’t get to work on Saw? I hope all the east wind references to the last Holmes story and the name of the episode actually mean that this show dies here because where do you fucking go from there? Like.... not to add to their charming mental institution plotline but that was absolute insanity.

2/10, have read better fuck or die fics before. with much less no homo. (I swear I didn’t even watch this shit in search of homo, this show has started overcompensating. hard.) spent half of this giggling madly like the 2nd episode and half barely looking at the screen out of secondhand embarrassment for the shitty “shoot me” “no shoot me” dialogue

(though: not gonna lie, really liked the reveal at the end when it turns out it wasn’t actually Sherlock’s dog the sister had fucked up, but lil six year old Victor Trevor )

(oh my god! Remember how people used to joke about the “old friend of mine” skull above the fireplace being Trevor??)

fucking hell

Oh yeah and of course no one important dies and then the whole thing ends with “All the sister needed was love and then everyone is friends again and it’s just like the good old times *coughseasononecough*. John and Sherlock are back to living together and now they are dads no homo tho and they gonna go and solve fun crimes and do detective shit again. A pretty violin cover of the theme song plays and we all ignore ghost mary’s terrible cheesy narration over it” all of which should have happened three episodes ago!!! this whole season was pointless.