#very keen to remind everyone this happens. in episode 1 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thebadjoe · 1 year ago

Text

Alright, another response. Let's do this.

From a writing perspective [...] you can't establish every meaningful relationship in chapter 1. You can get a lot of groundwork in, but it's really hard to set everything up all at once.

Of course not. But that doesn't mean it has anything to do with the intense bullying in chapter 2.

Of course, that doesn't mean that, in-universe, Ace and Nico have to not hate each other in chapter 1. It's very possible in my opinion that the creator put the interaction between Ace, Nico and Xander into chapter 1 because they wanted to hint at the Ace/Nico relationship, but they didn't have the time or space in the daily life to emphasize it like they do in chapter 2.

Eh... kind of? I think it has more to do with something like this.

This is something that feels more logical to be a hint as to what might happen in chapter 2. Or something that once you think about the main reason why he's bullying Nico, of all people, you come back to this line and you go "oh my god, that makes so much sense! I love you DRDT Creator!".

The hint I'm referring to is the part where Xander tells Ace to pick on someone of his own size. If you think about it, when Ace snapped in chapter 2 episode 2 and decided to act like a tough guy, but proceeded to bully someone much stronger... like Levi, Ace would get his whole face beaten up.

Of course, choosing Levi is probably not the best exemple, but it would be more or less similar if he bullied anyone else but Nico instead.

I think it makes more sense to think that ever since his behavior change in chapter 2, he realised that Nico would be the perfect target for the bullying.

So there ya go. Not a big deal by itself, but hopefully that will clear things up.

TW: EATING DISORDERS

Weight training/strength training obviously does burn calories and thus can help prevent gaining weight. Specifically, strength training increases metabolism, so your body naturally burns calories faster. However, I'd assume that if you're an Ultimate in a sports profession who also might have an ED prompting them to exercise you'd want, like... different kinds of workouts?

I mean... I'm no expert in that domain myself, but let's think about the connection between the murder case and the ED for two minutes.

So we know that Ace is kinda important in this chapter because he holds very important information (David's secret). We also learn about Ace's secret because of Veronika's logical guesswork. To remind everyone again, it's : "Your body is falling apart, but you still refuse to eat."

The only pieces of information we have that would have something to do with the ED is when Veronika explains why it would make sense for Ace, the ultimate Jockey, to have this secret, when Ace refused to eat cake and when Ace's having those extreme mood swings. As far as I know, that's all we got.

As far as I'm aware, we have absolutely nothing indicating his obsession to work out. Just because this is one of the symptoms for the ED doesn't mean he's going through that as well. It's possible that the creator didn't consider this at all. It's possible that the reason why he wanted to work is simply to toughen up, to get stronger, without having the ED eating his mind.

Ace might exercise in his room when he doesn't have another option. Personally, I don't think it tells us that he would necessarily choose his room over the gym, even if there's some amount of associated danger.

I'm sorry, but the more I see that kind of claim, the more I just find that preposterous. This would practically be a life or death choice in Ace's mind. We know he's afraid of death.

Whether or not he believes that Nico would try to get him next time, it honestly doesn't matter because Ace believes that everyone's out to get him!

Considering the fact that Ace's been nearly killed, if you guys are so keen on making the assumption that his ED would make him go back to the gym to exercise, shouldn't we also make a fair assumption that Ace had a trauma from this life threatening experience of being nearly killed by presumably Nico?

But there's nothing indicating that he had trauma from this!

And there's nothing indicating that he has an obsession to exercise, so what's your point? It goes both ways, everyone!

I honestly think you guys are getting off track with linking Ace with excessive excersising from the ED, but I get it. In a sense, this is your best line of defense against my claim that Ace is lying about some details in what he witnessed.

After all, once this ED argument goes away, then any theories that claim that Ace is telling the whole truth about what he witnessed... they're all gonna start falling apart.

Anyways, that's my two cents on that!

TW ED OVER

If Ace wanted to look tough for (allegedly) going back to the gym after Nico almost killed him there, why wouldn't he mention the fact that the gym was the site of the murder location? I'm very curious what you think about that, because I do think it largely removes any incentive for Ace lying about it being later than it actually was.

You know... that's actually a good point. Hmm... I may have done a little wrong assumption about Ace trying to look tough.

Hah! So there's no way Ace lied about it then!

Heh, very funny. Unfortunatly for you, there's a way to explain that issue.

For starters, let me first claim that during his behavior change, Ace was definitly trying to look tough. However, he didn't reveal David's secret by pretending he went back to the gym for the sake of acting tough... except for those who were present at the crime scene : Teruko, Eden and Nico.

Besides, his other reason was to make himself look like a reliable and useful witness for the killing game. However, that wouldn't be enough. There must've been something else that made him want to lie about being at the gym that night specifically.

So why wouldn't he mention the fact that the gym was the site of the murder location?

The answer lies in this picture.

Neitheir of them wants to talk about what happened. Nico is understandable, but what about Ace? Why wouldn't he say anything? It's simple. Ace doesn't want anyone to find out the whole truth about what happened that night in the gym.

But why? What would be the point?

Two main reasons. First one being that he doesn't want the others to know how he's been attacking. From the looks of it, it seems incredibly likely that he's been knocked unconscious easily in ways he doesn't know how (the turpentine). If others were to know about it, that look make Ace look weak and he would hate that, surely.

Second one being that there's something he might've done that he doesn't want others to know. I mean, you've made the discovery yourself @venus-is-thinking (although, I saw it a while ago, but "forgot" about it). There was blood on the tip of the glove of his right hand. Based on my deduction, it seems most logical to believe that Ace did this himself.

I'm not gonna get into details, but basically, if you try to someone link up a murder method with this blood on the right hand even though the gloves isn't damaged and there's no other signs of blood aside from the neck wounds and that smear on the wall, it'd be eitheir impossible or someone will come up with an incredibly convoluted method. So it would make a lot more sense if it was Ace himself who got blood on it somehow (explained in a different post, I'm not going to explain it here in case people want to argue about it).

Eitheir way, if the blood on the tip of his fingers was indeed caused by Ace, then it would mean that he tried to cover it by touching at his neck wounds as he woke up. So if that's indeed what happened, if others were to figure out the truth, what do you think would happen?

That's right, he'd become an unreliable witness and he doesn't want that!

Even if you don't believe in that theory, the fact remains that it could've simply been because he didn't want others to find out vulnerable and easy of a target he was during the failed murder attempt.

Anyways, just count this as my updated reason as to why Ace would lie about being at the gym that night.

I am in no way saying that Ace has a sudden burst of courage and that's why he goes back to the gym. I'm saying that Ace has a sharp increase in apathy, and as a result, he decides to continue with his routine despite the potential threat of Nico.

As for this, I've already explained myself in my counterpoints above. There's no indication that Ace had an obsession/routine for working out. Even if Nico wasn't a threat to Ace, he still thought that everyone was out to get him.

Alright, I think I'm done here.

Thank you for your time.

Something we mustn't forget about chapter 2 (DRDT)

As usual, this is a spoilers warning for DRDT chapter 2, so beware.

So, I'm sure some of you have seen me have a reasoning battle against a few people, most especially @1moreff-creator. We've had some really interesting back and forth happening.

This post is meant to be a response to 1moreff's latest post regarding their theory. So think of it as a reblog.

Why don't you just simply reblog then?

Well, that's the thing. I... messed up. For any reblogs I've made on their original theory post, they were all long posts that didn't have a cut section, a "read more" button.

So everytime you look at a reblog, you'd have to scroll through all of that to reach the latest reblog. Even though I eventually edited them all later on, the original versions are still there on the previous reblogs because the edit doesn't go through previous reblogs and the reblogger cannot edit others' posts eitheir.

So yeah... sorry about that.

But trust me however, this is a very interesting read. Especially if you've seen my version of the theory. 1moreff's uses the same whodunnit and whydunnit in their theory, but they used a totally different path as for the howdunnit. I'd recommend you all to read it if you haven't already.

With that out of the way, let's get to business. It won't take too long, I promise.

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

(I'm now adressing to @1moreff-creator)

So uhm... I don't really have much to add in regards to your reblog. You've made your point in regards to anything I tackled on and we're pretty much at a stance where I can't really prove that x thing happening while you can't prove that y thing happened. Eitheir of those could work. And because they both work, they're both technicly valid.

Besides, you've already pointed out what could be your issues in regards to your theory.

the glove; the BDA having a lacking explanation; how hard and risky it would be to convince Levi of being an accomplice (though narratively consistent because of the good person thing); and how risky it is to use such a time-sensitive method.

Your biggest issue is definitly the glove, no doubt about that. Even though you do have some kind of explanation for it, it's not something you're quite convinced yourself eitheir.

In any case, I'm not gonna dwelve on it much unless you can eventually think of more solutions to these problems.

So what's the point of this "reblog" if you're not gonna refute against any of these points?

Well, upon doing my own detective work to fix my own holes in my deduction, I discovered something really interesting. Something that I can't believe I didn't realise sooner.

It has something to do with Ace's testimony. There's something off about it. There's a glaring issue with it which will become quite an issue for you.

What do you mean?

Let's start with a very quick recap. According to you, everything that Ace saw according to the flashback really happened. Meaning that in your theory, Ace was working out in the gym during the evening of DAY 3, then he heard Arei and David talking. So he decided to spy on them. So everything he heard and saw must be the truth.

According to my own theory however, Ace was not working out in the gym during the evening of DAY 3. Instead, he was working out in the evening of DAY 2, spied on them that evening and then got knocked unconscious for the attempted murder later on, which would explain why the weight rack was moved in the fitness room. So ace was eitheir lying or confused about the day he witnessed the conversation.

Anyways, if people were to believe that your version of that theory is indeed what truly happened, then we'd have to deal with a very glaring issue that I can't believe I didn't notice until yesterday. I'm convinced more than ever that Ace is wrong about the day he witnessed the conversation. It's based on simple common sense.

Common sense? It can't be that simple!

Oh, it sure can!

So according to Ace, he heard Arei talk to David in the relax room during the evening, the day after he nearly died, right? According to him, at the time, he was working out before he heard them.

So tell me... would he really dare spend time ALONE working out in the gym, literally the place where he nearly died, A DAY after he's been attacked?!

I don't think so. Especially Ace, of all people. He's a coward. That makes no sense.

But Teruk-

Teruko's different from Ace. She's no coward and she's been through a lot of bad crap her whole life based on what we learned so far. Teruko's unlucky.

Anyways, If you cannot find a proper explanation for this, then I'm afraid that your theory could potentially crumble.

I could go out of my way to explain how it would crumble, but essentially, it would come down to me explaining that the more issues you would be able to explain if you were to admit that Ace was indeed lying about the day he witnessed that conversation, the more it would look like my theory.

But before I do that, I'm gonna give you the opportunity to solve this issue I've mentioned about Ace's testimony. I think I have an idea of what you'll claim, but let's see how this plays out.

(Sorry for not reblogging this time around and sorry again for the mess I've created in those reblogs)

#drdt #drdt spoilers #drdt theory #drdt solve #ace markey #tw eating disorders

44 notes · View notes

peterstanslizzie · 4 years ago

Text

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 2.9 (Party Over Here)

Ohhh hey there Zachary! 😍

- Kate’s turning 14 soon and she’s forced by her parents to invite all of her classmates, including Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda to her birthday party. I thought she’s a year older than everyone since she revealed to Claire in Season 1 she got held back in kindergarten? Since they’re in the 8th grade, shouldn’t she be turning 15 instead? Unless, everyone else is turning 14 in the following year since it’s the fall right now.

- In addition to handing out paper invites, she has a whole entourage sing an entire song, which I’m assuming it’s called ‘The Kate, The Party’ to the invitees. It was pretty cringe but very on-brand for Kate. Lizzie wasn’t gonna RSVP to her invite but after hearing a couple of kids talking about Kate giving her guests goodie bags with cellphones in it, she quickly changes her mind. I think ALL of us would change our minds lol.

Lizzie’s Next Attempt At Lying

- First things first, Lizzie needs to convince her mom, Jo that Kate’s party will be well-chaperoned even though Kate’s irresponsible 18 year-old cousin, Amy (played by Hilary Duff’s sister, Haylie) is going to be the chaperone. However, Jo is pretty set on not letting her daughter go to this party and this causes Lizzie to get upset.

- The next day in school, Lizzie complains to her best friends about not being able to go to Kate’s birthday party. Miranda is also on the same boat as Lizzie but surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), Gordo’s parents are allowing him to go because he’s basically a good boy and never really gets into trouble. Except, he did actually got into trouble at least one time before this. Didn’t he get grounded last season for sneaking into an R-rated film in the episode, Rated Aargh?

- Lizzie and Miranda try to think of ways to convince their parents once more like volunteering to do more chores around the house but they’re not so keen on doing that either. Miranda then thinks about the other option, which is to lie to them. Sounds a lot like the Rated Aargh episode. Hopefully, Lizzie’s a better liar this time.

- They come up with a plan, which is to get Jo to drop them off at the mall but instead of staying there, they will then get on a bus to go to Kate’s house. Lizzie is quaking in her boots because poor girl doesn’t know how to lie well. Gordo, who’s trying to prove to everyone that he’s not some goody two shoes reveals that he lied to his parents by saying that he’s at Miranda’s place but in actuality, he’s going to go the party that he was already allowed to go to instead. That sounds so unnecessary but whatever floats your boat, Gordo.

- Before taking off, Jo gives Lizzie some cash to spend on some treats at the mall, which instantly makes Lizzie feel guilty. This reminds me of the ‘Between A Rock and Bra Place’ episode, where Jo also gives Lizzie some money to go shopping for bras, which made Lizzie feel guilty as well especially after telling her mom off at the changing room.

Kate’s Cousin Is The Worst

Eww, I hope that woman washed her hands before flicking Gordo like that. How rude!

- They get to the mall and Lizzie and Miranda then change into their ‘party’ outfits whilst Gordo waits for them outside the ladies room. Just a little after 7 pm, they arrive at Kate’s house. Lizzie is still feeling the guilt from her mom giving her 10 bucks. Only 10 bucks? Lol, I thought she gave more than that...just saying.

This actually happened to me once at a club in Spain....lol

- Kate’s party is filled with older kids, whom are probably around the same age as Amy and probably older. Our trio doesn’t seem to recognize anybody...well, except for Amy:

This is so funny to me because it’s Hilary watching her big sis, Haylie doing a ‘7 minutes in heaven’ thing. Well, this is why Jo and Daniela are against their daughters going to an Amy-chaperoned party

- The three of them decide to just ditch the party but before they could make their escape, Kate finds them inside the ‘7 minutes of heaven’ closet they were hiding in. Isn’t hiding in there kind of gross? It looks like Kate doesn’t want them to leave so soon seeing that she wants them to at least be around for when she cuts her birthday cake.

Amy is like the worst....lmao. First of all, she got Kate a strawberry cake when she knew Kate preferred chocolate but what’s even worse is that she forgot that Kate’s birthday is today. How does Kate even deal with her?

1:06 gif

You can’t help but feel bad for her at this moment.

Lizzie Helps Kate...Again

- Lizzie goes upstairs to see if Kate’s doing okay and she then sees Kate on the phone with her mom to let her know how much of a disaster her birthday party is. We also find out that the only reason why Amy’s chaperone is because Kate’s mom is out of town. Lizzie tries to talk to her but Kate’s still very upset.

- They both sit on Kate’s bed and Kate reveals to Lizzie that all she wanted for her birthday is just to go to the movies with a few of her close friends. However, her mom wanted her to have a ‘grown up’ party instead. She’s 14 (or 15)! She doesn’t need a grown-up party. Lizzie obviously feels bad for Kate and decides to ask her to tag along with her and Gordo and Miranda to the mall to watch a film together. That’s so sweet. And Kate’s reaction was sweet too!

- However, Kate doesn’t think it’s a good idea to leave her house in the state that it’s in. I actually think she should just leave and let Amy take all the blame since she is the chaperone and ADULT in this situation. I’m sure Kate’s mom would have punished Amy and not Kate for any possible destruction of property lol.

Why are Gordo and Miranda me in most parties? Just be eating cake all the time lol

- Lizzie thinks the best solution is to call her mom to put an end to this party. How about no. Can’t they ask Kate to call an aunt or an uncle or something? Anyways, she eventually calls her mom, who was eating ice cream whilst watching a sad movie (that’s so me as well) and she quickly makes her way over to Kate’s house.

- Lizzie makes an attempt to get herself off the hook by telling her mom that she doesn’t deserve to be punished since she did a responsible thing, which is to call her. However, Jo isn’t fooled by this and tells Lizzie that she’s grounded. She also tells Miranda and Gordo that she’s going to inform their parents as well.

- We then see Jo turning the party upside down by getting everyone in there to behave and she literally brings the party to a halt by unplugging the music speaker, causing everyone to stop dancing. She then orders everyone to get out of the house.

Amy vs Jo lol

- Amy gets an attitude with Jo for disrupting the party but Jo isn’t gonna let any 18-year old walk all over her. You got that right! Jo asks Kate if she wants to come home with them but Kate politely declines.

Okay...so it was definitely Kate’s 15th birthday and she’s still just lying to everybody hahaha

- Kate decides to swallow all her pride and thank Lizzie for helping her out...for a minute. She then goes back to mean girl Kate shortly after. I’m so sick of this charade Kate’s playing with Lizzie. Just suck it up and be friends lol.

B-Plot: Fun Dad

- In this episode, it isn’t just Matt getting into some weird albeit fun venture but Sam is also involved in it too. They reveal that the both of them were chosen to be the spokes-family for ‘Cardio Punch’ sport drink, which includes them starring in a commercial. Jo thought that she is to be part of it too but unfortunately for her, it’s just a father and son thing. And she’s feeling pretty salty about it.

Hey there Zachary!

- Matt and Sam arrive at the studio and they’re greeted by the casting director and Zachary Quinto Steve, the director. It looks like Steve isn’t playing around as he wants them to get fitted into harnesses straight away because they’re gonna have to rock climb; Sam is all sorts of terrified.

- Steve goes over all the steps they need to take once they scale that wall with them. It’s not very complicated but at the speed he was delivering the instructions, I wouldn’t have caught most of it lol.

- We fast forward to the both of them pretty high up on the mountain wall. However, Sam is petrified and can’t really move. He explains to Matt that he experienced a bad rope-climbing incident, which made him greatly afraid of heights ever since. Steve, the director grow impatient and yells at Sam for not moving. He even makes fun of Sam’s weight. This angers Matt and he proceeds to scale back down to the bottom and gives Steve a piece of his mind. It turns out, Matt telling off Steve made great film for the commercial.

- At the end of the episode, the full commercial is out on TV and the Mcguires are in the living room watching the final product. The commercial is just so hilariously bad, especially that shoddy dub on Matt, by Matt. It didn’t even fit his lip movements. Sam was also edited out of the commercial. After all of that anxiety? Poor Sam.

Overall Thoughts

- This was a pretty enjoyable episode to watch. Nothing significant really happened except that we got to see Zachary Quinto guest star in this episode as well as Haylie Duff guest-starring again. Lizzie helping Kate out is nothing new but as I’ve mentioned it earlier, I’m kinda over Kate acting like she hates Lizzie when deep down, she doesn’t. It’s getting really old.

- Jo definitely got to shine as a character in this episode, which is awesome to see. I particularly enjoyed her setting the older kids straight like a military sergeant. I’m also glad she was involved in the A-plot instead of Matt’s B-plot, in which the latter is usually where she appears in most of the time.

- Speaking of the B-plot, it was one of the better ones frankly speaking. It didn’t involve Matt doing something ridiculous like an extreme hobby or whatnot. It was just him and his dad, Sam starring in a somewhat cool sports drink commercial. The highlight of all of that was definitely Matt standing up for his dad in front of Steve. Although, it didn’t really do much to Steve except making him happy and excited that he got great film out of Matt’s rant lol.

17 notes · View notes

mysterylover123 · 5 years ago

Text

My Top 10 Todobakudeku Moments

mysterylover123

So a while back I did a post about the OT3 moments of Baku/Deku/Ocha, since i’d noticed a bunch of em. But since we’re in the Todobakudeku arc in the manga right now, I figured I’d do another one for the OT3, especially since I’ve made posts about Top 10 moments for each component (a whole whopping 40 in total for BKDK, since I had 2 lists of 20). These three are basically considered the three MCs of BNHA, and I may as well talk about the bits that throw ‘em all together.

BTW I’m pretty sure this current arc will add about ten more to the list so this is a preemptive strike for now.

#10. What about our extra lessons?

Episode 61 “Deku vs Kacchan Part 2″

What happens; After the big BKDK blowout, Todoroki takes the time to ask Bakugou if he’s still gonna have time for their extra lessons. Bakugo gets annoyed and yammers about how this has nothing to do with Shoto.

Why I Like It: Both Ochaco and Shoto throw their hats into the ring after the big blowout in terms of their role in the rivalry; on the one hand, this looks like Katsuki telling Shoto to butt out of their Rivalry bromance...but it still means we highlight Shoto’s place in this group, nonetheless.

#9. "Perceptive and Dense”

Chapter 217 “One for All and All for One”

What Happens: MANGA SPOILERS Shoto goes up to Deku to ask him about his new power and how he apparently lied to him about having multiple quirks. Deku comes up with a plausible lie, while Bakugo rolls his eyes at Shoto’s inability to get it.

Why I Like it: After a big BKDK chapter, where we see their new dynamic, Shoto again pops up to remind us that he has a stake in this part of the story: he has a connection to Midoriya, and now to Bakugo, that is important to his personal growth. Also it does, as fans pointed out, look like a shot out of TDBKDK doujin.

#8. Locker room Challenge & Obstacle Race

Episode 15-16 “Roaring Sports Festival”/”In their Own Quirky Ways”

What Happens: Shoto goes over to Deku and challenges him. Bakugou gets rather jealous of this and insists that Shoto “declared war on the wrong person”. Deku surpasses them both, coming in first place by jumping on their backs and riding the wave.

Why I like it: This is kind of the official ‘beginning’ of TDBKDK as a thing, since before this Todoroki just kinda exisited in tandem with the Wonder Duo instead of being a part of their rivalry thang. It’s not entirely clear how this triangle works - is Bakugou jealous because Deku picked another rival or because Todoroki isn’t interested in him? Is Deku more keen to surpass one or the other? Would Todoroki challenge Kacchan if Deku wasn’t connected with All Might? It’s not so simple.

#7. “How sad, Todoroki Shoto”

Episode 45 “What a Twist”

What Happens: Knowing that the LOV wants to kidnap Kacchan, Todoroki, Deku and some other people band together to save him. In the moment of his kidnapping, it’s both Deku and poor, frantic Shoto who fail to save him, highlighted by “how sad, Todoroki Shoto” and “Don’t come, Deku”.

Why I Like It: While everyone in Class A is protective of Bakugou in this arc, Todoroki and Deku go the few steps beyond into Shippy territory. Not only do we have Shoto take the time to express his concern for Deku in the ep before this, but we also have Todoroki’s uber-protective giant-ice-wall attack on Compress, Deku’s “Give him back”, and this final, devastating failure, to remind us of the reciprocal OT3-ness of them. Nicely played.

#6. Hideout Raid Arc

Episodes 46-50

What happens. Following the aforementioned failure, Deku and Shoto are among the most gung-ho of all Class A to go do the incredibly stupid and reckless thing and save him. When he is before them again, they both move in sync to save him, with Iida having to stop them both. Thanks to Deku’s planning, they succeed.

Why I Like It: Continued mostly from the appeal of the previous one, but this one has: Todobaku (Todoroki risking everything to save Kacchan), Tododeku (Todoroki and Midoriya moving in sync to save him) and of course BKDK all over the place (”I can’t help feeling I have to save him” “You’re the most concerned of all” “Don’t give up All Might”, etc.) It’s very nice and circular.

#5. Deku vs Todoroki

Episode 23 “Shoto Todoroki Origin”/chapters 38-40

What Happens: Midoriya gets furious at Shoto for holding back on him, because everyone else, including OP bosses like Kacchan, is using everything they’ve got to win. Channelling Baku, Deku refuses to lose, and eventually does the “Your power” thing, which makes Todoroki have his big epiphany moment and change forever. And throughout it all, we cut back to Bakugou, reminding us of his role in this whole thing.

Why I Like It: Well, obviously first and foremost because “DEKU VS TODOROKI OMG”. But for TDBKDK, this is another one that just keeps them all inside each other’s orbits in this pivotal moment. Bakugo is deeply interested and invested in Todoroki’s deal. BKDK show their mind-mates sync think when they talk together, like they just know everything. And of course it’s the #1 big TDDK moment. But significantly, the inspiration on Deku’s side is a very Kacchan-like moment of “take me seriously” from him.

#4. Bakugo vs Todoroki

Episode 25 “Todoroki vs Bakugou”/Chapters 43-45

What Happens: Where to start? Bakugou and Todoroki brooding over Deku in the prep room; Todo losing his spark post Deku-match and Baku being jealous, Baku yelling about how there’s no point in not doing better than Deku, Deku cheering Todoroki on to do his best and Baku appreciating it...it’s more like five moments but I’m counting it as one.

Why I like It: So much TDBKDK vibe in this one. Bakugo needs to do better than Deku and wants respect from Todoroki. Deku wants Bakugo to get his respect and Todoroki to take care of himself. Todoroki feels guilty for hurting Bakugo and comes alive at encouragement from Midoriya. They all kinda benefit from each other in ways that go in all 3 directions.

#3. Wanna come intern with me? (MANGA SPOILERS!!)

Chapter 242 “Merry Christmas”

What Happens: Todoroki notices how Midoriya and Bakugou both have nowhere to intern. He offers to let them come learn from the #1 with him.

Why I Like It: This one is pure, fanservice-y fun, though it did set the direction for this new arc. But while there isn’t too much BKDK in this one, outside of their posing, Todoroki noticing his two bfs issues and offering them a way out is just pure peak Shoto. He’s so nice, ya’ll, and he cares so much about both Deku AND Kacchan at this point. If you don’t believe me on that one...

2. Training with these Guys (MANGA SPOILERS)

Chapter 247 “Progress Check”

What Happens: Todoroki, relaying his backstory after Deku and Kacchan already gave theirs, explains how his entire perspective was changed “by fighting with these guys” - not just Midoriya, but both of them. He makes it very clear that they’ve changed his life.

Why I Like It: This chapter also has some bKDK-y goodness in it too, since Baku flashes back to his adorable childhood with Deku in his motivation monologue. But here, Todoroki firmly establishes how much both characters mean to him, how they’ve affected him. I love that little correction, too, as he reminds himself there’s other people he cares about too.

BONUS:

#1. Todoroki’s Backstory

Episode 19/Season 2 Episode 6 “The Boy born with Everything”/Chapter 31

What Happens: Todoroki tells Deku his backstory and Bakugo overhears.

Why I Like It: I’m a big sucker for “I know your secret” stuff. This one has Todoroki opening up to Deku about his tragic life, which Bakugou also over hears, making these two the only people who know what Todoroki’s real deal is and therefore able to help him through with it. Bakugo followed them there, either to follow Deku or Shoto or really both, and gets a wake-up call from hearing the extremes this can bring. Deku thinks of Kacchan when he thinks of “those who have helped me” and tells Todoroki the best version of his backstory he can. It’s just...such a reciprocal moment.

#todobakudeku #todobaku #bakudeku #katsudeku #tododeku #shoto todoroki #katsuki bakugou #midoriya izuku #todoroki x bakugou #todoroki x midoriya #midoriya x bakugou #top 10

380 notes · View notes

pinkysfaultorbrainsfault · 4 years ago

Text

animaniacs - season 1 episode 38 - spellbound

episode summary: inexplicably stuck in camelot times, brain tries to get the ingredience for a magic spell that allows the caster to take over the world. this episode has no relation to the other camelot episode and i don't... know why.

the rundown: we begin our episode with the assertion that this is England in 1194. at this point in history, everyone from fire emblem 16 has grown up and is gay married, but we're not focusing on them right now. we're going to camelot and asking about their round table.

lol.

anyway after we see this creepy spider do whatever he's doing, we meet... merlin, i guess.

my dude??? he looks different. did you go on queer eye, merlin? whatever. he technically doesn't say he's merlin, so... maybe he's the other guy? the older guy? who's like merlin's dad?

this fucker. is he in the original king arthur? idk man i only watch cartoons. anyway he is casting a spell and it is very important. important enough to require components from yoko ono, apparently. like she hasn't suffered on this show enough.

but who do we have here?

"mouse" as my flatmate elegantly put it when he walked past the tv room to get a water. but even better than mouse??? mouse in SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS??? MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS LOOK AT HIS LITTLE LEGYS MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN. SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS.

YES.

pinky is not wearing shorts, which is incredibly disappointing. he's wearing some sort of sleeveless shirt dress tunic thing in an awful colour that someone like kanye west or justin bieber probably sells on their merch store for like a thousand dollars. he got the yeezy fit, damn. despite the designer status of his clothes, his bedroom eyes still do not convince me.

"i wish i was a windowsill so i could be--! ah. um."

"an imbecile?"

"ah! haha good rhyme, brain!" the bop of the century. kanye west sells the "windowsill" remix in vinyl on his online store for an additional fifty dollars.

after naming a few more celebrities ("I win, you win, edwin newman") the cauldron explodes in a puff of green smoke! and we get!

a pie. “lo!” he cries. “i’ve made a nice pie.”

hm. pinky is impressed. brain is uh. i think he mentally checked out? whatever he's doing i cannot stop fucking laughing at it. i actually had to put this post on pause for longer than anticipated because brain’s stupid face got to me. i’m so sorry. i started writing this at like 11pm gmt on the 11th and it just didn’t get to y’all in time because of brain’s stupid fucking face.

i’m sorry. brain is less impressed and declares it a “waste of magic”, and that he “would never squander such mystical powers over mere pastry.”

“poit. but what if you were eating dinner and you forgot dessert?”

“maybe then.”

but there is trouble afoot! Old Man Merlin has realised that king arthur will want some of his pie, and decides he’d better eat it in the dungeon so that doesn’t happen.

brain takes this opportunity to look through Old Man Merlin’s big book of spells. he “will use merlin’s magic to take control of the world” and then we get another nice closeup of his funny little face.

i don’t know why animaniacs was so keen on doing this? does it happen this much in the reboot? it feels like every episode we stare brain down to assert dominance.

“oh, no, no. where will you find a magic spell for that?”

“in the table of contents, pinky.”

“oh, well, very good.”

(the table of contents also contains a spell to “win at blackjack”, next to the taking over the world spell. brain considers this, for a moment, and then decides now is probably not the time.)

so good thing they have all the components for the magic spell, eh? including the Half Eaten Gingerbread Cookie That’s Been Left On The Counter All Night.

hmm.

oh, wait, no they don’t. turns out they’re fresh out of red dragon toenails, so brain’s solution to this problem is just to... go and get more, which is obviously a thing people do. they have to cross the enchanted forest to do that. it has witches and stuff. pinky rightfully points out that that is a lot of danger to overcome, and brain gets his stealing-the-minivan vibes back and nicks Old Man Merlin’s magic wand. he only knows one spell, but that won’t stop him.

the first obstacle they have to cross is the gingerbread house owned by... witch hazel from looney tunes. she’s a lot less annoying here than in bugs bunny lost in time, and informs brain that she is “waiting for pudgy german children.” instead of taking her suggestion to “get outta here”, brain magics her ass.

charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean.

they do get their ass handed to them by aforementioned pudgy german children, but then the german children decide that the mice have syphillis and yeet them in the general direction of slappy squirrel, who is here now.

she starts an argument with the goodfeathers, who are also here now, and brain takes it as their cue to leave.

but never mind all that! good thing there’s a handy bridge over this stream!

unfortunately, the bridge likes to spawn Giant Purple Hands That Kidnap Goats, so brain concludes they should cross said bridge using Stealth. unfortunately pinky drops the wand on the source of the Giant Purple Hands, and it is... relatively unhappy.

so brain pulls out the old “ charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean” again.

i did definitely think the troll was going to kick him in the crotch. i was very much sure of this, actually. instead it yeets him into rita and runt and fucks off.

“for goodness sake boxy” i hear you cry, “aren’t they at the dragon yet! this review has lasted a good twenty years of scrolling down my dashboard!” and i hear you, and you’re right, but the first thing you need to understand is; pinky has spent this whole episode singing. that little guitar he has? he has spent the whole episode replicating windowsill. “we’re in the woods so dark and stinky, to conquer the world, go brain and--” and then he forgets his name and brain has to remind him that it’s pinky. or remind him of his own name, or suggest like, steam to rhyme with stream. that is the running gag of this episode, and it is very important, at this stage, that you know that. pinky has not, as of yet, stopped singing and playing the lute.

so even though they make it to the dragon pretty mucn unscathed (aside from brain getting sat on by a giant, but i won’t go into that unless y’all specifically want details) pinky just has to have his little song in order to keep the dragon asleep.

and then brain yells at him for forgetting the word “sandman”, which breaks the toenail off completely,

and also wakes up the dragon, which can’t be good. it’s not happy! it was growing its’ nails out for paris fashion week.

brain tries his best to rectify this situation.

“charlie sheen, ben vereen--!”

charlie sheen and ben vereen are dead. i’m sorry to have to tell you. they shrunk down so much they got stuck in the quantum zone from antman and the wasp. someone should probably do something about that.

anyway the mice decide to hightail it back to Old Man Merlin’s.

conclusion:

spoilies: they do make it back in one piece. i won’t detail the whole chase scene because it’s just a bunch of running, because the post is long enough already, and also because tumblr has eaten it three fucking times and i could basically type all this in my sleep now. the things i do for y’all. donate to the wavemaiden.

so pinky shoves all the ingredients into the pot, while brain finds The Take Over The World Spell. the dragon is harassing them this whole time, which feels unfair.

“listen carefully, pinky. i need to recite this spell exactly, and once i start i cannot stop. so i need you to be extra quiet, okay?”

“sure thing, brain.”

this lasts for approximately five minutes.

“brain’s the boss! he’ll rule with ease!”

“mystical powers, your might unfurled, grant that i become--”

“he’s the one! the big, erm. banana?”

“cheese!” yells brain, who has given up entirely by this point. “it rhymes with ease! big! cheese!”

hm.

“are you alright, brain?”

“i feel. odd.”

this is an interesting development.

so brain is cheese now! cool. i guess they have to wait for merlin to get back from Pie Heaven and turn him back, somehow? with his spare wand or whatever. this is definitely pinky’s fault, because brain did ask him to stay quiet for a bit surprisingly nicely (in brain terms) and he... did not. and now brain is a cheese.

on the other hand, this would probably work again if they tried it again, once merlin goes back to pick up some more toenails.

brain: 2 pinky: 3 outside influence: 5

“can i get you anything, brain? some medicine? a cracker?”

“were i not a large cheese, i would make you pay for that remark.”

#patb #animaniacs #pinky and the brain #a!#tumblr has now eaten this four times.#this time i saved the html though.#anyway sorry this took so long the heatwave is making everyone tired xnx

10 notes · View notes

twdeadlysins · 6 years ago

Text

What Lies Ahead: Part One

Season two, episode one (1/3)

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x Reader

Word Count: 3,991

Warnings: Slow burn, minor mention of character death, minor mention of attempted suicide, the usual walking dead violence, language, blood, and such with possible typos.

Author’s Note: I don’t own anything from The Walking Dead, so all credit goes to their respective owners. This is a twd series rewrite with the reader inserted into the mix. I did and will continue to use dialogue from the actual show because I want it to be similar to what you’ve already watched, but obviously have the reader in it.

If you want to be (un)tagged for this series rewrite, don’t hesitate to send me an ask, message me, or leave a comment and I’ll add/remove you. The same goes for any other fics! I’m in no way, shape, or form a writer. Any feedback is appreciated, but hate is a different story. Thank you and enjoy!

The gifs I use aren’t mine, so all credit goes to their respective owners.

Catch up!

MASTERLIST // TWD SERIES REWRITE

It was gone- they were gone, just like that. The images of the flames consuming the building were imprinted in your brain, replaying over and over again in your head like a broken record. You could barely keep your lids from closing as you stared out the window, still not knowing where you guys were headed. Nowhere was your best guess since Rick and everyone else believed you could make a home out of the C.D.C, even you were coming around on the thought. Now it was just a forgotten dream.

“Hey! Can ya finally hear me?!”

The sudden wash of all of the noises that were muffled flooded your ears and you whipped your head with startled eyes, staring at the irritated hunter. His knuckles were white as he held the steering wheel tight with anger, his body tense all over, and his eyes … they pierced through yours every time he would look at you other than the road. The crystal blues were cold and hard like ice, the glare feeling like he could see all of your insecurities and deepest regrets.

“What the hell were ya thinkin’?” Daryl furiously rasped, his southern drawl evident as he desperately wanted to fixate his gaze on you. You didn’t want to witness the look in his orbs any longer, so you blankly averted them back outside the window, not wanting to argue. It wasn’t like you had the energy too either.

“Hey, I’m talkin’ to ya!” he huffed as he roughly pushed your leg with his hand and that caused you to quickly shove it back.

“What do you want me to say, huh? That I wasn’t thinking? Or that I thought maybe, just maybe I could convince someone from taking their own life?” you yelled, boring your eyes into his stone hard ones that were slightly laced with shock as you lashed back.

You regretted the outburst as pain pulsed through your brain, making you wince and slowly rest your head back while you went back to looking out the window, you definitely had a concussion. Hopefully he would just drop it and leave you alone seeing how you were feeling, but the hope you had flew right out the window once he scoffed.

“Why would ya risk yer life for someone?” he bluntly asked, but you could sense he was judging what you did and that made you angry. Yeah, you normally didn’t care what people thought about you, but he wasn’t judging you, he was judging your choice.

“I did it everyday, so why stop now all of a sudden since the damn apocalypse started?” you joked coldly, still not tearing your eyes away from the scenery.

“That ain’t a good enough reason. Ya could’a died Y/n, blown up like the rest of them!”

“Good, then I wouldn’t have to be here,” you softly muttered, feeling a lump in your throat as tears began to surface. You didn’t really mean it, you didn’t want to die, not after you almost let the walkers kill you in your backyard, but you couldn’t refrain yourself from letting the words fall from your lips.

Daryl scolding you made you feel like a child, like you did something wrong and you definitely knew going back for Andrea wasn’t wrong. Yes, it was a risk, but if you hadn’t went back, she could’ve died and you would live with the guilt. It was selfish, but you didn’t need or want to feel anymore of that, you already had enough of it already. Hell, you felt guilty for not attempting to talk Jacqui out of it.

The ride was uncomfortable and silent, reminding you of when you were in the cubic van on the way to get Merle and the bag of guns, when you and Daryl barely knew or even uttered a word to each other. The last two days were even worse.

Since the argument, you took the first day to cool off and stay away from him knowing your emotions would betray you. You thought about what happened and felt terrible, you could’ve handled it better, not of said the things you said in the way that you did, but you still didn’t regret going back into that building for Andrea and Dale. He was just showing he cared in the only way he could, so you didn’t blame him, just surprised. How could a guy like him give a damn about you? He didn’t exactly care about anybody else except his brother and himself, so why you? Or maybe you were reading into things too much, he could just think you were dumb for going back in there and still not give a damn about you, just wanted to call you out on it.

The second day you awkwardly approached him after getting out of the RV on a stop, but he angrily paced off before you could apologize. It hurt that he wouldn’t even look at you and if he did, he would send daggers your way, but that was only when you were being spoken to by someone else or pitched in your input as the group were discussing plans. The plans being Fort Benning which you still weren’t very keen on.

Now you all had stopped near a couple of run down houses with a couple of cars littering the place to siphon the gas out of them since you were running on fumes. T-Dog and Daryl went to retrieve the gas while the rest of you transferred any belongings you all had in the vehicles that were going to be left behind into the ones you’d take.

“Hey, Y/N.”

You craned your neck over your shoulder to see Lori approaching you with a slight smile as you were placing some items into the back of Carol’s Jeep Cherokee. After putting the stuff in the trunk, you slammed it shut and wiped your palms on your jeans as you turned to face her.

“Would you mind helping me look through Daryl’s truck for anything to bring since he’s busy?” she questioned, pointing her thumb in the direction of said truck. All you gave her was a nod before walking towards the vehicle and searched for anything in the truck bed just incase while she rummaged through the backseat.

“Find anything?” you asked, striding over to Lori after turning up empty handed.

“Just your bag and gun,” she said as she handed over your belongings. Your eyes widened and you snatched the bag from her hands, frantically sifting through to make sure everything was there. When shit hit the fan at the C.D.C, your stuff was the last thing on your mind, honestly, you forgot all about it.

“How- how is this here? Last time I checked, I- I left all this in my room,” you stammered, trying to grasp that your knives, clothes, photo album and rifle was still intact and not a pile of ash.

“Daryl had handed it to me in a rush when we were leaving the C.D.C,” she trailed, stuffing her hands in her pockets and you knew by her body language she was getting uncomfortable as she was reliving the events in her mind, Jacqui and her seemed close. “I had placed them back into the truck at our first stop thinking you were going to ride with Daryl, but you chose to ride in the RV instead.”

Daryl had went back for your things? The thought of him running into your room and grabbing your stuff puzzled you, he could’ve saved himself the trouble and time and sprinted past your room, but he didn’t.

“Hey ladies,” T-Dog called with a grin, “time to head out.”

The both of you nodded, making you escape your thoughts and shut the door before heading to enter the RV.

“Hey, Y/N,” Rick said after placing his hand on your shoulder. “I know you like to ride motorcycles and is somewhat familiar with Daryl, wanna ask if you could ride with?” he inquired, gesturing his head over to the archer who was throwing his leg over his bike.

The idea would’ve seemed nice if things weren’t so tense between the two of you, so you disappointedly shook your head and continued up the stairs into the RV when the redneck’s eyes connected to yours.

After Shane entered the RV shortly after you did, you opted to sit on the floor, not wanting to talk to him or even make eye contact, you just wanted to be left alone. It was already uncomfortable enough for you to be in the same presence as him, so being beside or directly across from him would be worse.

You decided to sharpen and clean your machete along with your rifle and pistol to pass the time since you got bored of just sitting there, 125 miles was a long way to go, so might as well use the ride wisely. While you sat cross legged against the floor cabinets which faced the table Andrea and Shane sat at, you used the floor to set your weapons out in front of you and began wiping your machete and knives with a rag.

Shane wielded out his gun to clean as you were in the middle of sharpening your machete and knives. Once you felt satisfied, you moved on to your pistol and stripped it, setting the pieces on the floor around you.

“Looks complicated,” Andrea said, flickering her eyes between Shane and your hands as you were cleaning the barrel of your P99.

“The trick is getting all these pieces back together the same way,” Shane joked, causing you to roll your eyes and slightly smile. It was a bitch sometimes to put it back together, but you had more experience than him, so you were mainly finding his struggle funny.

He glanced over to you with a smile of his own and you looked up seeing the friend you knew all too well again, so you lightly nodded your head and he did the same. What he did wasn’t okay, but you felt like he regretted it … you just hoped forgiving him wasn’t a mistake. You still felt kind of uneasy to be around him, but it would just take some time. The two of you will never get back to how they used to be, but that didn’t mean you still couldn’t be friends.

“I could clean yours, show you how,” Shane offered before reaching into the bag to pull out Andrea’s gun. He aimed the pistol saying it was a sweet piece before the blonde said it was a gift from her father. He had given it to her just before her and her sister took off on their road trip.

Shane informed her more about her gun while you went back to your own to distract yourself from thinking of Amy or anything else. Just as you were about to piece your gun back together, the RV slowed down.

“Oh jeez,” Dale worriedly said, making you set the parts down and curiously stand up to see what the problem was.

You approached the front on the RV to lean on the back of Glenn’s seat to see cars sprawled out everywhere on the highway with their doors open, in the ditch, even a tractor trailer was on its side and they were all blocking the way to Fort Benning. Great, how were you going to get there now?

Glenn sighed and began studying the map for another way while Daryl drove towards Dale’s side of the RV. The older man questioned if he saw a way through causing the hunter to turn his head around at the chaos and nod before gesturing to follow him.

“Uh, maybe we should just go back,” Glenn nervously said. “There’s an interstate bypass-”

“We can’t spare the fuel,” Dale interrupted. He was right, there was no way for you guys to turn around and try a different route, you’d run out of gas by the time you got back on track.

Dale began maneuvering around cars as he followed Daryl down a clear path and it made your stomach turn as you saw how many abandoned vehicles were on the road. Some were flipped over and some had dead bodies still occupying them which made you wonder how all this happened, but at the same time you didn’t want to know. Everything seemed to go smoothly minus the scenery, but then a weird sound erupted from the hood of the RV before the engine started to sputter out smoke, just your luck. You sighed and pushed your palms into your eyelids knowing you’d have to stay in this shit longer.

Dale threw the door open and stepped out, “I said it, didn’t I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water,” he complained making you even more irritated. You really didn’t need to hear whining when you knew the matter of the situation, it just wasn’t going to help.

“Problem, Dale?” Shane said, his tone evident that he was feeling the same way you did.

“Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-” he tailed off and you realized why when you witnessed Daryl reaching into the back of a car to scavenge. “Okay, that was dumb.”

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff we can find,” Daryl said as he continued looking through the truck. It sucked that you all had to stop because of a break down, but it was a good thing seeing how there could be more food and other survival gear you could have, plus loads of more gas you could siphon. You always said things do happen for a reason and maybe that started now.

“This is a graveyard,” Lori spoke up, tearing everyone’s attention away to her. You averted your gaze from her to the cars feeling remorse for what happened here, but that didn’t mean you wouldn’t search through them because of it.

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” she quietly said, making you shake your head.

“It isn’t worth anything to them anymore. We aren’t going to pass up on an opportunity for more supplies just because people died here,” you said a little too harshly which made Lori stare at you in disbelief. “Sorry, I just mean we shouldn’t let that get to us. Yes, it’s a graveyard, but the stuff that we could find… could help us,” you softly encouraged, hoping she could see how you were perceiving the situation.

T-Dog started to walk off to fill up the gas can as Shane said to just look around and gather what you could, so you were going to do just that.

“Hold up, Y/N,” Rick said, stopping you in your tracks. “Could you be on lookout with me? I think there’s enough people going through the cars,” he softly asked.

“For sure, let me go get my rifle,” you said as you patted his arm while heading to the RV. Once you entered the vehicle, you quickly pieced your pistol back together and placed it back into your holster along with your knives in the other before grabbing your rifle.

As you were stepping down the stairs, you heard Glenn and Dale at the front of the RV trying to fix it. “Radiator hose clamp is always a flathead,” Dale instructed, handing the Korean the tool and a rag telling him to do it before he left. Glenn coughed as he inhaled the smoke and you snickered at the sight in which Glenn gave you a straight face causing you to grin as you went to fulfill your watch duty.

You leaned against the hood of a car as Rick approached and stood beside you, looking at Dale for confirmation if the area was clear since he was on top of the RV scanning with his binoculars. He assured it was all good as you stood up straighter and slung your rifle over your head and across your back before climbing onto the hood of the car to get a view and assist.

Dale pivoted around and stood there for a good minute until it seemed like something had caught his eye as he used his binoculars and you did the same with the scope on your gun in the direction he was surveying. A single walker came into your sights and you peered over to Rick to see if he saw it, but he was already staring at you on whether or not to shoot. You shrugged your shoulders not knowing whether or not to take it, but Rick decided to because he placed his arm through the strap on his gun to steady his aim and firmly gripped the rifle.

You peeked through your scope to watch the walker be taken down or at least take the shot if he somehow missed, but movement from the side caught your attention, there were two walkers. Rick and you looked at each other and he gestured for you to take the right and he the left, so you went back to aiming at the first walker that appeared. Before you could pull the trigger, a swarm of walkers came into view and you shockingly pulled away. There had to be about a hundred or so of them coming straight for you all.

“Oh fuck,” you mumbled before throwing your rifle over your back and carefully jumped off the hood of the car. Rick placed his hand on your back, ushering you forward as you both got down in search to warn the others.

Lori was in the middle of sifting through a trunk when Rick yelled in a whisper to get under the cars. She immediately got down and underneath once she noticed the urgent look on your faces while you said the same thing to Carl and Sophia. You strided over to the closest car and climbed under on your stomach, propping yourself up on your forearms before sliding your rifle to you.

The moans and groans became louder and louder as they came closer making you slightly tremble at the thought of them somehow finding you. Their feet shuffled past the car you were under and you slowly went for one of the knives in your holster just in case. Once your fingers met the hilt of a knife as you kept your eyes trained on their movements, you slipped it out and tightly gripped the handle, carefully shifting on your side and brought the weapon up, ready to strike if needed.

They continued to trudge along making it seem like it would go on forever until the groaning became distant and then nothing, it was silent again. You looked over to your feet in the direction they had came in and saw nothing, and you did the same in the way they went, still notta. Was it over? You didn’t know if you could trust yourself, so you glanced over to Rick who was checking if the coast was clear as well.

Just as you were about to crawl your way out, you heard sobbing mixed with screams along with growling. You whipped your head in the direction of the yelps to see a walker trying to get to Sophia. You didn’t hesitate on whether or not to go help her as you frantically stumbled out from underneath the car to go aid her with your knife still in your grasp.

Too many cars were in your way, but you could see not one, but two walkers still chasing her as she crawled under the highway guardrail. You sprinted and maneuvered your way around the vehicles until you saw a car right in your path alongside the rail, but you didn’t have time to avoid it, so you twisted your body and slid over the hood instead.

Before you could register that there was a hill, your hip slammed into the steel rail before you went tumbling down at great heights. After a couple of hard rolls and grunts while still holding your knife tightly, your back hit the solid ground and you winced at the impact of both the rail and ground along with your forearms stinging, but you ignored it and quickly got up, sprinting into the direction you saw Sophia went.

Sophia was still being followed and you pushed yourself harder, ignoring the burning in your lungs and the pain of the joints in your knees. You sprinted until you were about to collide with the walker in the back, so you leaped and lunged forward, taking the walker right down with you.

The two of you rolled twice before you ended up on the bottom, just your luck. It snapped its jaws at you, but you wrapped your hand around its neck before it could sink its teeth into your face. You grunted, turning your head away for a second to see where your knife had flown to and when you did find it, you knew it was no use since it wasn’t in arms length. Bringing your focus back onto the walker, you went to reach for the knives in your holster, but the walker’s hand was frantically waving around and you didn’t want it to get ahold of you.

You would have to get the upper hand before going in for the kill, so after a couple of attempts, you managed to grab the walker’s arm and used all your strength to push the walker off of you. The walker was now on the ground, so you placed each of your knees on its arms and pinned its neck with your hand before wielding out your knife, but just as you were raising your arm to strike, you thought about how you just cleaned your blades.

“Eh, I wouldn’t want to get them dirty because of something as rotten as you,” you half-heartedly joked as you stood up and before the walker could get up, you grabbed a nearby rock that wasn’t in your reach before and smashed the stone into its head.

You rapidly carried your feet after picking up your knife, trying to find Sophia or the walker that was chasing her, but you didn’t see or hear a damn thing. Once you felt like you couldn’t run anymore, you slowed your pace and came to a halt, bending over with your hands on your thighs, trying to catch your breath. In that moment, you noticed the color red on your arms, so you held them out in front of you knowing you didn’t get bit ‘cause you would remember, to see that cuts littered them. The realization hit you and you brought up your knife to see the tiny blades had your blood along their edges which made you loudly exhale. ‘Why didn’t you just let go, Y/N?’ you scolded yourself as you rolled your eyes, but a loud cry filled your ears and you began running again.

The cries kept getting louder as you grew closer to the little girl, but you still couldn’t tell where they were coming from as it seemed they were coming from all directions all of a sudden now. You slowly stopped once you felt an instant wave of dizziness and a pulsing headache wash over you, and placed your hand against your head trying to regain your vision back. Your ears started to ring loudly, overpowering the yelps and you brought your hands to the sides of your head as you fell to ground on your knees. The thumping of your head and the ringing in your ears made you wince and grunt, you wanted to scream badly, but you suppressed the urge and widely opened your eyes to see the world spinning before your hazy vision went black.

_____________________________________

MASTERLIST // TWD SERIES REWRITE

Thank you for reading! What did you think of this part? Any feedback is much appreciated and I would love to hear your thoughts, criticism, suggestions, etc! If you’d like to be (un)tagged don’t hesitate to let me know!

A/N: Oof, that cliffhanger tho, you’ll just have to find out why she blacked out in the next part hehe.

_____________________________________

Taglist:

@jodiereedus22 @sourwolf-sterek32 @jll72-blog @mtngirlforever @haleypearce @nikkipea @sombra--speaks @kararanae23 @bunnymother93 @holyn0vak @myshakespeareanddarling @million-dollar-milkshake @thatsoragan @firehoopinmama @mummy-woves-you @sheebthezeeb @j-a-val @spaghettirogers @gruffle1 @lonewolf471 @youhavemyfantasticbeasts@gabbygurrl @burningsorr0ws @siren-queen03

144 notes · View notes

youknowmymethods · 6 years ago

Text

Content Creator Interview #7

Welcome to interview number 7! Guys, this is a two-parter with fandom friends @ellis-hendricks and @geekmama posing a similar set of questions to each other. Ellis won the coin toss, so she’s up first -- discussing why her husband is to blame for her Sherlock obsession, fluffy realism, and why John reminds her of a sad walrus -- with geekmama’s turn coming next week.

Ellis_Hendricks (interviewed by geekmama)

We are, respectively, a Californian and a Geordie, and we got to know each other through reading and reviewing each other’s fics (geekmama’s ‘Time of the Season’ series was one of the first fics I read and loved). Geekmama has been writing in the fandom for around 3 years, and I’ve been doing the same for around 2 years, spurred on by the end of series 4 (and the ILY scene in particular). We started beta-reading each other’s work around a year ago, and are always discovering new and unexpected words and phrases that don’t translate across the pond! Although we’ve used the same set of questions for these interviews, we haven’t seen each other’s answers – so it does mean that if nobody else is interested, at least we will be!

Questions about the series

geekmama: Was there a particular moment in the series that set the ship sailing for you?

Ellis_Hendricks: It happened as soon as I started paying attention properly! I missed series 1 when the BBC first showed it, and when it was repeated, it was my husband who wanted to watch, and I was just casually joining in. But I think it was probably ASiB that did it for me - the contrast between Irene and Molly, and the manner in which Molly stood up for herself.

geekmama: What's your favourite episode and why?

Ellis_Hendricks: I know it’s considered by some to be the least ‘Sherlock’ of Sherlock episodes, but it’s got to be The Sign of Three. The Best Man speech alone is an amazing piece of writing and performance, but then you’ve got the Worst Stag Night in History (™), Sherlock’s Mind Palace interactions with the women caught up with the Mayfly Man, and of course, Molly stabbing her fiancé with a fork! But it also reveals some of Sherlock’s secrets (his love of dancing) and vulnerabilities (his loneliness), and they’re so deftly woven into the action and the comedy. From a Sherlolly point of view, the ‘planning the stag do’ scene is always going to be a classic (I particularly love how Molly has the upper hand here), and then there’s the look on Molly’s face during Sherlock’s speech that so clearly shows that she only has eyes for the Best Man.

geekmama: If you could ask/tell the series writers one thing, what would it be?

Ellis_Hendricks: Very hard to pick one thing, as there are so many moments when you really want to interrogate the writers’ intentions, particularly when they (deliberately, infuriatingly) leave things vague! I have always wanted to know, though, how Janine came to be Mary’s chief bridesmaid - was Janine a pawn used by Magnussen to befriend Mary and gain her trust, was she in on it in some way (seems unlikely), or were she and Mary genuinely just friends and the connection was just a massive coincidence?!

Oh, and at what point did Sherlock realise that Molly was engaged? The way the camera zooms into her engagement ring implies that this was the moment he noticed (and his previous behaviour would largely support that) - but it’s hard to believe that Sherlock would miss a detail like that.

geekmama: Do you have a controversial opinion about the series? E.g. a character who everyone else hates, but who you love?

Ellis_Hendricks: I’m not keen on Irene, although that’s probably not a controversial opinion. But it’s not particularly for shipper reasons - I just don’t like what the writers did with the character, which, to me, was quite tired and hackneyed. I do have a soft spot for poor Tom, though - and actually, I don’t think his ‘meat dagger’ idea was that idiotic! In other circumstances, if Sherlock had come up with that, it would have been hailed as genius!

geekmama: Have you ever, when watching an episode, cracked a case before Sherlock?

Ellis_Hendricks: Ha! No. Although I did notice right away that the same actress (Sian Brooke) was playing multiple roles in TLD - not that I worked out why, though!

geekmama: With whom would you rather be stuck at a wedding table - Janine or Irene? Donovan or Anderson?

Ellis_Hendricks: I would be massively intimidated by all three women, for different reasons, and Anderson would obviously be intolerable. It’s probably got to be Donovan - she’d have some good police stories, at least, and she probably wouldn’t try to make me dance.

geekmama: Who would you rather bring back in series 5 - Mary or Moriarty?

Ellis_Hendricks: I really like Mary, but I would throw something at the TV if it turned out she’d faked her own death somehow. I was sad she was killed off, but once it’s done, I think it has to be final. Moriarty has probably had his day now, too, especially in the light of the revelations about Eurus - although his suicide was a brilliant shock, I do wonder whether Moftiss killed him off too soon.

geekmama: Whose house would you prefer to live in - Sherlock's, John & Mary's, Molly's or Mrs Hudson's?

Ellis_Hendricks: If the rest of Molly’s flat/house is as nice as her kitchen, then Molly’s (although the kitchen wasn’t at all what I would have imagined for her). Although it has some nice quirks, I would generally see 221B as a horrible regression to student filth.

geekmama: In your opinion, who has been the best series villain - Jim Moriarty, Charles Magnussen, Culverton Smith, or Eurus Holmes?

Ellis_Hendricks: I think it has to be Jim, if only because he was the most fun. Magnussen and Smith were clearly despicable human beings in their own way, and they were both incredibly chilling. Although Eurus is a fascinating prospect, as a character in this particular show (and with the history she was given), I found her harder to buy into - it was all a bit too Silence of the Lambs.

Questions about your writing

geekmama: What was your first fic? What prompted it, and how do you feel about it now?

Ellis_Hendricks: It was ‘Completely Backwards’ - aka, Sherlock hatches a plot to get Molly pregnant, because he somehow thinks it will make her happy. It ended up being part of a much longer series, although I didn’t plan it that way. In fact, I wrote it more or less freeform, and it wasn’t beta-read, so I guess it’s a bit rough around the edges - looking back, there are a few small plot points I would change (mostly due to my relative lack of grounding in the series at the time), but it more or less stands up. Two years later, people are still reading and liking it, so it must work okay!

geekmama: Which fic are you most proud of/most attached to, and why?

Ellis_Hendricks: I’m genuinely quite proud of all of them, but I’m really pleased with the way both ‘In Loco Parentis’ (which follows Sherlock and Molly through 18 years of godparenting) and ‘A Knockout Christmas’ (Sherlock does A Christmas Carol) turned out. Both were quite big challenges. ‘In Loco Parentis’ involved thinking about how Sherlock and Molly would develop as a long-term married couple, how everyone’s lives might change and move on, and also both creating and sustaining original characters (in the form of their kids - and to an extent Rosie, who is not mine, but who we only know as a baby, and therefore have to take a guess at!). ‘A Knockout Christmas’ was an idea that came to me in a moment of insanity, and which I wrote fairly quickly - but I felt as though it had to strike a balance of being true to the series, and close enough to A Christmas Carol so that it followed similar beats and themes. Oh, and getting the choice of Sherlock’s ‘ghosts’ right was vital as well!

geekmama: In what ways does that old rule, “Write what you know” affect your writing?

Ellis_Hendricks: Quite a bit, I think. Or if I want to write about something that I don’t know, I do sufficient research so I can at least bluff that I know about it! My background is totally arts-based, so I feel very out of my depth when writing about anything sciencey (Chemistry was my worst subject in high school - I felt like doing a victory parade when I passed that exam!). I’m also not well-versed in fantasy or sci-fi literature, so I would also feel a bit of a fraud attempting something in an AU along those lines. Most of my fics are straightforward family/relationship pieces, and I suppose that’s my comfort zone. Generally speaking, my life is far too uneventful to actually inform plotlines - although Molly’s medical emergency in ‘Under One Roof’ was based on the birth of my younger child (and writing it served as cheap therapy!)

geekmama: What are your worst writing habits? What are your most overused phrases, plotlines, etc.?

Ellis_Hendricks: I’m not so hot on writing beautiful, detailed description, so I feel it’s something that’s lacking a bit in some of my fics - and it’s kind of out of laziness, and an impatience to get to the bits I do like! I think that I’m a bit repetitive when it comes to describing people’s gestures/facial expressions/reactions, and I’m also guilty of burdening characters with the same old verbal tics and quirks. In terms of plotlines, you could probably argue that all of my fics are basically the same story written from a slightly different angle!

geekmama: Do you have a writing routine? Where and when? And is everything digital, or are things ever handwritten first?

Ellis_Hendricks: Oh, for a writing routine! When I come up with an idea, it’s a case of frantically jotting down notes (usually on my PC or phone, but occasionally on paper if that’s more convenient at the time) - I then try to work those notes into a story plan in bullet points, usually including bits of dialogue if it occurs while I’m thinking. I generally have to write in short bursts, as and when I have time - at my desk during my lunch hour, on my phone while commuting (by train, I hasten to add - not while driving), at home once the small people have gone to bed. But if I had more time, I know I’d only procrastinate!

geekmama: Who do you enjoy writing the most?

Ellis_Hendricks: I’d love to give a more interesting answer, but it’s probably Sherlock - although writing his parents is also a lot of fun.

geekmama: Who do you find easiest/hardest doing first person POV?

Ellis_Hendricks: I think I’ve written from Sherlock’s, Molly’s, John’s, Mary’s and Mycroft’s POV, and to be honest, I’ve loved doing all of them, because each presents a different writing challenge. Mary was possibly the hardest, because she’s such a closed book in a way, and so much is unknown - and because I want to be sympathetic to her, at the same time as finding some of her choices questionable! Writing ‘A Dead Man in the Family’ really got me into writing Mycroft - to the point that I actually started to feel an affinity with him, which was a bit disconcerting!

geekmama: Which fic would you recommend to someone who has never read your stuff before?

Ellis_Hendricks: Hmm, if someone wanted a quick taster, maybe ‘The Wedding Planner’ or a recent one, ‘A Piece of That’. Most of my fics are multi-chapter, so if you’re willing to get your teeth into something longer (so to speak - that sounds wrong!), you could try ‘Not What it Looks Like’ (only 3 chapters), or start with ‘Completely Backwards’ and then see whether you want to keep reading that series for the next five months!

geekmama: What do you value most when it comes to feedback?

Ellis_Hendricks: All feedback is wonderful (except for the time a 12-year-old tried to start an ALL CAPS fight with me about Eurus!). For me, the greatest compliment is when people say that the characters feel authentic, and/or a story feels like a missing scene from the series. Anytime that someone says a story made them laugh, cry, or otherwise have a spontaneous outburst of emotion, that’s amazing, too. But having that dialogue with readers is what is important - the feeling that you’re not just throwing out stories into the void, and the encouragement that keeps you writing.

geekmama: Would you ever go back and revise old fics - or do you consign them to history once they're published?

Ellis_Hendricks: No, I’m pretty much of the feeling that what’s done is done. The only changes I’ve made are spelling/grammatical ones that I’ve spotted later on - or when I’ve spotted a glaring error that might throw people out of a story. I don’t think I’d ever do a wholesale rewrite.

geekmama: Do you - or would you - write other pairings?

Ellis_Hendricks: I write other established pairings, e.g. John and Mary, and have written post-TFP fics where Mycroft and Lady Smallwood are a couple in some way, but I haven’t written other fan pairings. Everyone is totally free to ship who they like, but I guess I just write the ones that appeal to me.

geekmama: How would you define your style?

Ellis_Hendricks: One reviewer described it as ‘fluffy realism’, so I think I might pinch that! Generally, my fics are fairly close to canon, and use events in the series as a hook or jumping-off point.

geekmama: What's your method in approaching a story? Do you plan methodically, or wing it?

Ellis_Hendricks: I used to wing it, but I’m better at planning these days - it at least means that if I lose momentum or have a gap between chapters, I’ve got something to fall back on. When writing a multi-chapter fic, I used to publish a chapter and then write the next, but now I tend to try to write the whole thing first (or at least get a few chapters ahead) - much less stressful that way!

geekmama: Who do you write for? Is it you, or are you thinking about trying to please your audience?

Ellis_Hendricks: Certainly in the early days, I was just writing things that I would like to read, as there was no guarantee that anyone else would be interested! That’s probably changed a bit now, but I go by the rule that if I don’t find something engaging and entertaining, then I’ve got no right to expect that other people will!

geekmama: Do you have any WIPs, and do you think new chapters will ever see the light of day?

Ellis_Hendricks: No, I don’t have any WIPs - I’m not good at juggling more than one idea at a time, and I’m a bit of a compulsive completer, too. If I get a new idea while writing a fic, I make a few frenzied notes and then bury it until I’m ready.

geekmama: Are you working on anything at the moment?

Ellis_Hendricks: All I have is an outline for a one-shot, which I’m hoping will see the light of day before too long. These days, it’s really hard to come up with something that hasn’t already been done (and done well) by someone else!

geekmama: What’s harder for you - writing the start of a fic, or coming up with a decent title?

Ellis_Hendricks: The start of a story, because of that need to grab people (hopefully a reader might forgive a crap title?!). I had a teacher who said that once you’ve written something, you should always go back and jettison the first paragraph, because it’s usually a pointless preamble - not sure whether I agree with that entirely, but I do always check to see whether there’s a better way of just jumping into a story.

Reading other people's fics

geekmama: What are your favourite tropes in the fandom?

Ellis_Hendricks: Lots of the old favourites. Off the top of my head...bed-sharing, Molly as ‘the missus’, secret dating/marriage, being lab partners, accidental pregnancy.

geekmama: What things are likely to turn you off a fic?

Ellis_Hendricks: I try to be pretty open-minded, but I’m not keen on fics where Sherlock is portrayed as insanely jealous or aggressively dominant, or when Molly is a bit of a teenage fangirl, usually with little or no backbone. Another is where Tom turns out to be a total bastard, either before or after Molly breaks up with him - I know we don’t see a lot of him, but I don’t read him that way at all, and I like to think that (even after Jim from IT!) Molly has better judgement.

geekmama: Can you recommend 3 fics that are not your own?

Ellis_Hendricks: No, because I’ve read too many good ones. But I’m always excited when I see something new from geekmama, MizJoely, Writingwife83, waitingtobedistributed, OhAine, Quarto, sunken_standard, miabicicletta, forthegenuine or hobbitsdoitbetter.

geekmama: What compels you to leave comments on top of kudos?

Ellis_Hendricks: I don’t know exactly - but it does feel like a compulsion. If something has really impressed me, moved me, made me laugh, or has prompted me to go and read the whole thing again, then it definitely warrants a comment.

Quick-fire questions!

John's TEH moustache or his TAB moustache?

Ellis_Hendricks: TAB moustache, because it’s acceptable for the period setting. TEH moustache makes him look like a sad walrus.

Sherlock's purple shirt or white shirt?

Ellis_Hendricks: Can’t say I’m fussy in this regard, but...purple. Or the all-black get-up from ASiB.

Molly's stripy jumper or cherry cardigan?

Ellis_Hendricks: Stripy jumper - it looks cosy (although I would snag it on everything).

Mary's christening outfit or black-ops gear?

Ellis_Hendricks: Black-ops. I’d wear it when I’m surreptitiously moving my neighbours’ bins.

Submitted by @thisisartbylexie: Your way of presenting Mary and Molly's friendship is so realistic and rich. What made you want to write about it?

Ellis_Hendricks: Thank you - and that’s such a great question! (I also had no idea that artbylexie had read my fics, so that made my day.) Well, I’m a feminist, and I think that female friendships are worth celebrating whenever you can. Also, Molly and Mary are both such brilliant characters in their own rights, and I was keen to think about their lives outside of their relationships to the men in the series. It always fascinated me that Molly wasn’t a bridesmaid at the Watsons’ wedding, but she was made a godmother less than nine months later - so a strong friendship must have developed in that time. I tend to think that, because of her past, Mary wouldn’t have fostered many genuine friendships, but that she can’t help but make an exception for Molly. Makes me want to write something else for them now!

Submitted by @ohaine: this is a joint question for Ellis and geekmama: Do you feel that working together as betas has changed the way you both write?

Ellis_Hendricks: Yes, I’m certain it has made me up my game! The quality of geekmama’s own work (both creatively, in terms of plot, and technically, in terms of grammar and structure) is very high, so I suppose I have that to aspire to when I write, too. She’s great at spotting my errors or opportunities for improvement - I guess that could make me lazy (knowing she’ll pick them up), but I think it makes me more determined to do a good job first time around, so she doesn’t have too much to do!

Next week, April 5th 2019, the shoe is on the other foot and @ellis-hendricks puts her questions to @geekmama

#content creator interviews #sherlolly #sherlock #ellishendricks #geekmama

53 notes · View notes

precuredaily · 5 years ago

Text

Precure Day 147

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 48 - “The Final Battle! The Stolen Land of Greenery!” Date watched: 28 July 2019 Original air date: 21 January 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/XoatG4O Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

I’ve got bad news

This episode has it all: a fantastic fight, huge stakes, crippling defeat, near-death experiences, the destruction of the world.... wait that doesn’t sound good at all. Hmm.

The Plot

Gohyaan has destroyed Akudaikaan, revealed himself as the creator of Dark Fall, and brought everyone to the Land of Greenery to find and destroy the Fountain of the Sun. Naturally, the girls don’t really want that to happen and they fight back with everything they have. They pull out all the stops but ultimately Gohyaan is not deterred. He’s about to torture the girls when Princess Filia, still possessing Korone, shows up to stop him. In a freak series of events the Fairy Carafe ends up in the water and begins to glow. It is revealed that Earth’s oceans itself are the Fountain of the Sun.

Visually it’s not very interesting, just the ocean with a yellow glow, but I guess it would have been difficult to live up to the hype. Having found his objective, Gohyaan charges an attack that resembles a black hole, sucking in all life and spirits. Bright and Windy try to stop him with Spiral Star Splash but he blocks the attack, and with the spirits of Earth getting sucked up, they exhaust their spirit energy and detransform. The black hole continues to suck all life from Earth, leaving the entire planet as a dry and barren wasteland.

Gohyaan turns his attention back to the four girls and prepares to destroy them as well, but Michiru and Kaoru block his attack. He reminds them that with Akudaikaan’s life flame gone, their own power and lives are finite, but the pair don’t abandon their friends. They use the last of their energy to flee Gohyaan and land under the dried up Tree of Life, where the Kiryuus collapse, seemingly dead.

Saki and Mai cry while Flappi, Choppi, Moop, Foop, and Korone watch with sadness. However, some keen spotting by Flappi leads to the realization that the soil is not dead, the air is still breatheable, and the moon and wind are still out there. There’s still room for life, and all things have life. Saki and Mai reflect on their families and friends, wishing to see them again, and they pray to all the spirits left on the planet, within all things, to give them strength. The Tree of Life flashes as spirit energy gathers, and restores strength and power to all four girls. As the light fades, they emerge: Saki as Cure Bloom, Mai as Cure Egret, and Michiru and Kaoru have been given the powers of the Moon and Wind respectively. Gohyaan appears and scowls at this latest development, and the credits roll.

Well. It’s about damn time.

The Analysis

I think my favorite part of these finales is wondering how they’re going to fill 3-4 episodes and then being pleasantly surprised by the result. Episode 46: They enter Dark Fall, engage with Akudaikaan in ideology, and show him they’re strong enough to counter him. Ep 47: They truly battle, again exchanging words as much as blows, and with the power of spirits they manage to defeat him. Gohyaan reveals himself. Now episode 48: The girls express how important life, their friends, the spirits, and the planet are to them, they fight, they lose, but their resolve creates a miracle. When I write it out, it sounds a bit silly, but when you actually watch it, it works. There are shows where I take issue with the pacing of the story, but this isn’t one. This battle has been perfectly paced, each episode ending on a cliffhanger for the girls, and then in the subsequent episode, paying it off. Now that Michiru and Kaoru have been given Cure-like powers, things are looking up. The cliffhanger this time is a more positive one. In moments of deepest darkness, the cures’ spirits shine the brightest. Even when the odds are stacked against them, they never give up. And I’m here for it.

The emotional journey through this episode is tense. Even if you kind of know things will work out in the end, seeing Saki and Mai get pushed to their limits is sad, and then seeing Michiru and Kaoru pretty much sacrifice their lives to buy them a few extra minutes is just gut-wrenching. They’ve always gotten a raw deal, they don’t deserve to suffer the way they have, and now that they’re caught between worlds, either side’s defeat could kill them. Yet, they do fight, and they do sacrifice themselves, because they care so much about the two who taught them the value of life. Even if their supposed death only lasts a few minutes before they’re rejuvenated with the Moon and Wind powers, it’s still tragic. Saki and Mai’s resulting anguish at the loss of their friends is also deeply moving.

The fight scene towards the beginning of this episode is fantastic, almost movie quality. Words don’t do it justice, so here’s the video.

vimeo

It is well-animated, well-choreographed, well-blocked, well-paced. The camera moves around and they don’t hover on still drawings for longer than they have to. Almost as soon as someone lands a blow and Gohyaan shoves them away, someone is ready from a different direction with their own attack he isn’t anticipating. Then that dramatic combination at the end, where the Kiryuus trap him in their energy sphere while Windy crushes him with wind, before Bright bounces up and charges the biggest damn light beam you’ve ever seen, I love every minute of it. This is a Precure fight scene to remember.

Speaking of animation, I want to give special consideration to the detransformation scenes. This is something we rarely see in magical girl anime to begin with, and in Precure it’s exceedingly rare. Usually their whole bodies glow as their outfit dissipates, but here their faces stay normally lit and they subtly blend frames to show their hair and accessories disappearing. It’s really neat, and considering even the movie fudged the detransformation, it’s impressive to see it done on the show.

The one thing that bothers me is the extreme of the raised stakes in these finales. In all three shows so far, the villain has essentially destroyed the world and all the people in it, leaving only themselves and the Precures. When they win, the world is magically restored as though nothing ever happened. It’s the logical extreme of how buildings and scenery mend themselves after their normal battles. I’m willing to overlook that, but when you get to this degree, to the point of destroying the global population, if you can undo that in a snap then how is there any threat at all? At what point do the powers that be say “this is too much, we can’t restore normalcy”? Is it predicated on the Cures winning? I think I questioned this in the FW and Max Heart finales as well, and I don’t think I’ll ever have a satisfactory answer. I’m definitely overthinking it.

Just a minor point of note, this is the only episode in the series to feature Saki and Mai transformed into both Bright and Windy as well as Bloom and Egret. The movie did it but otherwise it’s only ever been one transformation per episode. Technically it still is, they transformed into Bright and Windy two episodes ago and are only now being forced out of it, but it’s still a neat little tidbit.

Next time on Precure Daily, it’s the long-awaited, long overdue Splash Star finale! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: The title of the next episode is literally "Zekkouchou nari! Eien no Hoshizora no Nakamatachi!" Titles are a gray area but it’s been so long without one that I’ll count it as 1.

I’ll hopefully be back in ~10 hours with the last review. I do NOT want to push it to Tuesday for personal reasons.

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS48 #PCD147

11 notes · View notes

superchartisland · 5 years ago

Text

Super Mario All Stars (Nintendo, SNES, 1993)

Any overall roadmap for this project (and my brother’s related predecessor) is very lightly sketched, but this is a useful point to reflect on it. We grew up playing Dizzy games; part of what we’re doing is trying to reclaim video game history as we and many other Brits lived it, to demonstrate how the American-led received wisdom is a rewriting of the record. All of my research suggests that we were in the majority there -- in the UK the NES didn’t get a look in, and we’re not going to properly encounter the Game Boy until it’s a decade old.

Even this first Nintendo direct encounter is somewhat of a guess. Super Mario All Stars was a documented best-seller for the SNES, but in an absence of evidence I don’t know for sure that it was big enough to be an overall UK #1. I remember hearing about it a lot at the time, and by then the SNES had had a chance to build an audience, but remember that this blog covers games which were a #1 but not necessarily always the #1. Yet at the same time as I refute the story that Nintendo swept in to replace a dying industry -- neither happened like that in the UK -- we’re pretty keen on many things Nintendo. I have a NES Classic Mini, SNES Classic Mini and a Famicom Classic Mini sitting under my TV: loving recreations of consoles which I never owned.

In the internet era, this kind of adoption of history is probably more common. When I wrote the first version of this post I had recently watched the period piece music video for Satellite Young’s “Don’t Graduate, Senpai!” and was overwhelmed with contented nostalgic feelings, left with the power of a glimpse into a familiar and loved past. All that despite the fact I’ve hardly ever listened to the Japanese genre that it takes after, City Pop, or watched shoujo anime, and never when I was growing up. The person who it is precision targeting isn’t me. But it needn't be. There can be a feeling that is just as real, but second hand, a gravity exerted on adjacent culture that was invisible until something made me look over and notice its force.

youtube

There are lots of ways that the influences on the song and video reached me. My partner did grow up with a lot of Japanese pop culture in Hong Kong, and talking with her about that and having watched a couple of episodes of Creamy Mami means having a feel for her fond memories. I have years of happily browsing tumblr gifsets of Sailor Moon, absorbing love for it and its place in culture. I can still get good use from a “but you didn’t do anything!” meme even if I’ve never actually watched the show. I’ve listened to 80s referencing music elsewhere, and modern Japanese music taking cues from City Pop, and that has added up to giving the sounds of the song a similar personal gravity.

And all of that has been made easier by the world getting smaller, by the internet giving providing an easy route to interests you share with people elsewhere in the world and from there to interests they share that you don’t. Look at it negatively, and it means a winning narrative can travel faster and become more comprehensive than ever, reaching into places where it doesn’t belong. But at the same time, it gives us a Japanese band and some Swedish animators uniting in their shared nostalgia, and it reaching out to me through next door culture which I’ve taken in via friends from all round the world, and me having feelings shared with those friends. That’s an amazing thing.

In common with most people I knew, we didn’t have the internet when Super Mario All Stars came out, and the world was still huge. Nintendo had other tools to work with, though. Their games were successful enough to reach out and have an outsized cultural impact beyond the limits of people actually playing them.

When I started primary school, before football stickers, there was a craze for Nintendo sticker books, and friends and I collected images of all of their games. People tried to negotiate enhanced swaps for stickers of Game Boy screenshots by maintaining that they were gold stickers, even more valuable than the special silver ones. I knew more about the characters and background for Mario through Saturday morning cartoons, and I remember watching American TV programmes where people competed through playing Super Mario Bros. levels. I assume it made it to the UK’s own Gamesmaster at some point too. And of course, many of the European games we were playing took their own influence from Nintendo. I may have been unaware of Metroid until years later, but hours spent playing Turrican still gave my first impressions of it that nostalgic gravity.

Mario was Nintendo’s most successful reach out to the wider culture, and that wider culture drove people back to Mario’s original form. That could work better for Nintendo if Mario games were easier to access, and so we get Super Mario All Stars. What to do when moving on from the NES to the SNES? Reissue, repackage, re-evaluate the games! Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3, now brought together in one place. With an extra track, no less, in the form of Japan’s very different Super Mario Bros. 2, new to the rest of the world and hence called The Lost Levels. From 2019 the very idea of levels being lost feels faintly absurd – someone will dig it out in a mod, or you can just log onto your alternate Japanese online console account, surely? I guess a handful of British people probably did own imported Famicoms even in 1993, but everyone else got their cross-fertilisation of culture mediated by Nintendo’s eccentric international release schedule.

Super Mario All Stars presents each game in its entirety, complete with newly upgraded graphics. Yet, in some way, the games seem to shrink in the transition. The act of selecting a game to play from a menu, turning them into pinned specimens labelled by year, emphasises the overall history and starts you off with a reminder that each world is only a part of a newly defined whole. Maybe that's why there is no Super Mario All Stars on the SNES Classic Mini, an assessment that the bird-inside-a-bird effect of featuring a retro collection on a retro collection would be that bit too spookily recursive.

And that idea of recursion is where the realisation struck me as I played Super Mario All Stars. It wasn't the first version of Mario I played, (it was the first Super Mario Bros. 3 that I ever played, though, the briefest of enchanting glimpses). But it feels absolutely right as my version of these games, even for Super Mario Bros. 2 where I'm pretty sure I'd never played this version before. The very sense of diminished scale, the way that All Stars exists as a Mario game aware that not only each individual game, but the games as a whole, are but a small part of the Mario out there in the world, feels totally fitting. The feeling runs through everything. The upscaled renditions of the music which expand on it but nonetheless can't escape how iconic the basic originals were. The decision to put Super Mario Bros.’ underwater waltz on the title screen with the new confidence that duh, it rules. The little portraits of what to expect that have been added to the start of each level, not spoilers but cute reminders. This is a Mario for the late to the party, an artefact of the games' immense second hand cultural gravity, reflected back into the games themselves. It's a sign of so much to come.

In reflection of it being the first time these games have come up on my route through history, here are miniature entries for each of the four games on Super Mario All Stars, pinned to one place:

Super Mario Bros.

It’s all about the movement. Specifically, the jump, the balletic means of progression which sits at the tempting boundary of predictability and control. It is not the only game jump, it was not the first game jump, but it is somehow still the Jump. When you press the jump button the moment stretches in time, a repeated joy that resounds slightly differently from Jump to Jump. Sometimes the Jump is relaxed, sometimes the Jump is tense, sometimes the Jump is a celebration of achievement. Gravity and momentum make their claim on you, and you must not reject them or bow to them, but turn towards them, take their hands, and dance. Only when you are the lead in the dance can it proceed in its full majesty. All of the subtle design, killer music and cleverly revealed secrets play their part too, of course. The richness of the world, day and night, water and dungeon, clouds and green groundclouds, isn’t to be underestimated. The dance wouldn’t be as kaleidoscopically beautiful without all of that. Fireworks might not always be necessary, but they are still fireworks. And yet it is the dance of the Jump that gives meaning to it all.

The Lost Levels

It’s common in games for many a character or object to be accompanied by its inverse, its mirror, its shadow. Maybe it’s a product of how games are made, were made, of the commonality of repetition and the short distance from repetition to repetition with a twist. Super Mario Bros. 2 (“The Lost Levels”) introduces one such shadow as almost its first move with the poison mushroom, power-up turned to power-down. It takes that to a whole new level with the negative warp zones: welcome to warp zone, now a trick on you. The whole game, in fact, is a cruel mirror held up to Super Mario Bros., a reflection that looks right but doesn’t wave back. Much of its cruelty comes from luring players into familiar actions and then turning them back against them. This game is a dance too, but it’s one where the floor is trying to throw you off, where the steps and flow that you have learned are not only impossible to use but will quicken your downfall. But for some people who already know the dance back to front, perhaps trying to freestyle your way through some spiky math-rock is an enjoyable next step.

Super Mario Bros. 2

It’s common in games for many a character or object to be accompanied by its inverse, its mirror, its shadow. Maybe it’s a product of how games are made, were made, of the commonality of repetition and the short distance from repetition to repetition with a twist. Super Mario Bros. 2 (“Super Mario Bros. USA”) is the Waluigi of early Mario games, a mirror of a mirror. It doesn’t focus on the shadows of objects and characters, though, but whole shadow worlds. Pick up a magical potion and you can open a door anywhere, take a subtle knife to the fabric of the universe, walk through the doorway and find yourself literally in shadow. Even outside of that mechanic, there are doors everywhere, and each one could go anywhere. This is the world of the subconsciousness, where possibilities extend to such things as a playable princess and gliding across the world on a gravity-resistant egg. Super Mario Bros. 2 is barely even a Mario game, and handles more awkwardly than one. Yet among all of its doors, it opens one to one of the series’s futures, platforming which is first and foremost a series of puzzles and doors to unlock.

Super Mario Bros. 3

This is the game where Mario learns to fly, tail flapping, on unseen wires in front of platforms casting shadows on a sky painted on sheets. The game is a show, and it’s some production. It has a cast of thousands and is the introduction point for almost as many iconic series images as the original. Its brilliance as sequel and as theatre is in taking the solid and dependable gameplay and mechanics of the original and using those as building blocks, the platforms of its stageset, then rearranging them. Each world rejigs and relights them and makes them interact with new props and characters for a set of dramatically different scenes. Water levels go from brief distractions to an entire world; the desert and an idyllic grassland emerge; World 7 turns off all of the lights to interact with the bare mechanics of pipes. The transitions between levels feel like curtains down and a chance to move things round. And then occasionally it breaks all the underlying rules and throws you into giant world or climbs up through the clouds, and there is nothing to do but laugh in delight. This is the game where Mario learns to fly.

SNES chart, Edge 004, January 1994

#every number one #retrogaming #SNES #Super Mario Bros.#Super Mario All Stars

5 notes · View notes

magaprima · 5 years ago

Text

Part 2 Episode 1 Thoughts (Part 4 of 4)

“If demons are hunting you with any regularity, perhaps you should transfer back to Baxter High”

When Hilda asked Lilith to encourage, she was very disinclined, but seeing that a demon, and a major one at that, was willing to defy all rules and kill her, concern for Sabrina’s welfare is coming into play. Now, at this point, it’s not genuine concern (as it does become later on in the season), but entirely out of the concern that if Sabrina is killed, Lilith is the one who will be made to pay the price. Their survival and protection is intrinsically linked via the Dark Lord.

“It would...please your Aunt Hilda and..I could keep an eye on you”

I love how Lilith uses reassurances rather than arguments to convince Sabrina to come to back to Baxter High. She already knows telling Sabrina she must do something, that she can’t protect herself and do things by herself, will just make her dig her heels in, so she’s using emotional connections; her Aunt Hilda is all worried about her and her favourite teacher wants to look after her.

Also notice the box to the side of Sabrina; it is a cardboard box filled with all of Hawthorne’s things. Lilith has literally dumped them in a box and isn’t even bothering to hide it, and the fact no one is questioning the man left without any of his stuff, shows how heavily disliked he was. People, most especially women, are too relieved he’s gone to question how and why.

When we begin talking about Sabrina’s issues at the Academy, Lilith seems to switch from manipulative talk to genuine conversation, genuine interest, revealing some of those early stages of the attachment she is inevitably (considering their similarities and the amount of time spent together) developing towards Sabrina. And Lilith doesn’t even take a second to correctly guess how people are viewing Sabrina’s bid to be Top Boy.

“Oh, I see, and erm, stab in the dark, the warlocks, aren’t too keen on the idea of a female Top Boy are they?”

This is a story Lilith knows well and knows personally. Her very first conflict, very first experiences, were her saying she was equal to men, that she was entitled to the same role as men, and she’s spending thousands of years trying to prove to everyone, not just Lucifer, that she is deserving and worthy of being Queen of Hell.

“Well, with a name like that, I can only imagine he’s trouble”

Well, needless to say, from this comment alone, Lucifer has not shared with Lilith that he’s told a warlock to get close to Sabrina. This is clearly the first time Lilith is hearing about Nick, but the fact she gauges from his name-- both of which are names consistently associated with the devil in Christian mythology- that he’s going to be trouble reveals a lot of how she views Lucifer, even before she has admitted it out loud to herself.

Lilith looks genuinely and really amused when Sabrina tries to dismiss the idea of Nick being the one behind everything and dismissing her attraction to him. We’re seeing more of Lilith’s genuine interest in Sabrina’s welfare etc, the attachment is there, even if it’s only minorly showing itself and even if Lilith is in complete denial of it, but the way she engages with Sabrina here, her interest, teasing about a new boy in her life the way a Mother might tease a daughter is extremely revealing about what Lilith’s role is truly becoming towards her (the fact in the finale Lilith literally takes Sabrina’s birth father’s place in hell kinda seals the metaphor). Even the language she uses, the words she chooses, are very much maternal.

“Oh, Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina. Is someone having a rebound crush? Is some handsome, young warlock clouding your judgement?”

It’s all very familiar, affectionate, caring, and it all comes too naturally and easily for it to be entirely down to manipulation. The bond is already there between them, whether Lilith likes it or not. Even the way she refers to Nick as ‘this provocatively named’ is another maternal thing, like a Mother immediately pointing out the issues with a potential boyfriend, warning against having interest of the boy with the motorbike (metaphorically speaking).

But when Sabrina says Nick is a conjurer and both of them realise this means Nick could very well be the one summoning the demons to attack her, Lilith’s expression is so resigned and unsurprised like ‘well there we go, it took a man exactly 2 seconds to disappoint and betray. How shocking’.

The heavy sigh when Sabrina leaves, and Lilith is sat alone, is so freaking exhausting. Like this is a woman whose job is literally never done. She is always cleaning up something, sorting out something, fixing something, and getting no reward, no credit, and this is just another item to add to the list. She’s basically like Bob in The Incredibles when he’s like ‘I feel like the maid! I just cleaned up this world, can the world not stay saved for five minutes?’

And then we come to Lilith getting read to summon Satan. The woman doesn’t feel she can just summon him, that she can just cast a spell and have a chat; she has to get ready. She dresses herself nicely, she styles her hair, she applies lipstick; like the very last thing she does before casting the spell, is her make-up. She then messes with her hair, pulling her forward, she is obviously trying to make herself look as sexually attractive as possible. Now, remember this is not how Lilith originally looked. It may be her body now, through that flesh-copy spell she cast in the first episode, but for thousands of years she’s always looked like she did when Lucifer first met her, which among many things, looked a lot younger than her new form, and Lucifer is prideful, vain, arrogant, and no doubt Lilith is more than aware how much image and appearance matter to him.

She has been playing this role of Ms Wardwell for absolutely months and months now, constantly, 24/7 and perhaps is even starting to feel sometimes that she is losing herself in the role, that she can’t see her original self in the mirror anymore. And what if Lucifer can’t see it either? What if he looks at her and all he sees is the ‘spinster school marm’ (to quote Zelda)? Lilith is, after all, very much aware of how easily men dismiss women due to looks and age, and Lucifer is a fallen angel, yes, but he’s also a man. So she tries to make herself look as much like her old self, even in this new form. She wants him to see her and still want her, and that, considering his treatment of her, and how worthy Lilith is in her own right, so tragically revealing of the existence she has been suffering through for so long.

She looks at herself in the mirror like she’s getting ready for battle. She swallows, nods at herself, and is clearly tense as hell about the idea of summoning him. But she does it, because Lilith has never let fear stop her before, not when things need to be done. But we are very aware that this is a far from easy task, on so many levels.

And then when we see her sat in the chair, working on the talisman, we see how she has styled herself; her hair, her makeup, her dress, all of it is more reminiscent of her old self rather than her ‘Ms Wardwell’ self. She has a very youthful style here, proving that she is trying to ensure Lucifer sees through her new appearance to her true self, the way she has been looking past his twisted form to remember his true self (It’s interesting to note that they’re both trapped in forms that aren’t their own, but the only difference is, it simply happened to him, a cause and effect, but Lilith was convinced to do this at Lucifer’s request, for the sake of getting Sabrina to join their ranks).

“Forgive me impudence in summoning you”

She is quick to apologise, to assure him that even though she has commanded him here (and so proving that despite everything he says, she does have the power to do that. She is extremely powerful, enough to control him, even if only for a time; which obviously happens to a greater extent in the finale, when she fools him with a glamour and grabs him by the throat) as a way to stop him from being too angry, to remind him she knows that he is charge.

She avoids his eye so much though, even as she makes her challenges, She only glances at him briefly, as if afraid too much eye contact would make him lash out. It’s only when she finally gets to the point about Sabrina, and her suspicions about his secrecy, perhaps even betrayal, that she finally looks directly at him as she says ‘than you’ve led me to believe’. And we finally get the very first glimpse of the rebellion to come.

#episode stuff

2 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years ago

Text

Doctor Who: Flux Episode 1 Review – The Halloween Apocalypse

https://ift.tt/3bxr0Sw

Doctor Who Series 13 Episode 1 Review

Warning: this Doctor Who review contains spoilers.

From the outset, Doctor Who: Flux has an uphill climb. Quite apart from the significant hurdles of filming anything during a global pandemic, recent announcements concerning the programme’s future – Russell’s coming back! We’re getting a new Doctor! – have firmly distracted everyone from what’s happening to the show in the present.

It must be terribly frustrating for everyone involved in the creation of these episodes, no matter what their role was in proceedings, to see something they’ve worked hard on treated like yesterday’s news before the series has even aired. No matter what the future may hold, this group of people are the ones shepherding Doctor Who for the next two years, and that’s plenty of time left for them to surprise us. So, putting wild speculation of the Fourteenth Doctor and future anniversary specials aside, the meal we have in front of us is a “six-chapter” story centred around the titular Flux but still hopping around time and space.

First, we get a very quirky cold open. The Doctor and Yaz, who’ve clearly been travelling as a twosome for some time, are being hung upside-down by a flying stick above a lake of acid on a planet that’s four minutes away from destruction. Oh, and they’re also being menaced by hovering drones unironically named “Kill-Discs”. It’s almost self-parody; a James Bond action sequence plucked straight from the Roger Moore era, but it does play out sincerely and isn’t what you’d expect to kick off a self-proclaimed Halloween episode. It may well serve to lay out Flux’s manifesto – don’t ask questions, just hit the ground running and accelerate from there.

Having survived the machinations of the canine Karvanista, it would be on-form for the Doctor to brush herself off and immediately get caught up by the real plot of the episode. Not this time, though. Despite his predilection for traps that would make a Batman villain blush, Karvanista’s not just a pre-titles joke – he’s a major player in the episode. Travelling to what he describes as “the final hours of planet Earth”, the TARDIS is forced to set off in hot pursuit, except that the ship seems to be struggling, not to mention leaking, for some reason the Doctor can’t pin down.

Chris Chibnall once again pens the first episode of the new series – he’s scripted or co-scripted all six parts this time around – and there are certain similarities to the first part of ‘Spyfall’ here. Big chunky subtitles carry us across lots of seemingly-unconnected locations as the story unfolds, while characters are introduced with just a few lines of dialogue before we’re whisked away to watch the next puzzle piece being fished out of the jigsaw box.

This is also a “new companion” episode, of course, so we do get to spend a bit more time enjoying the debut of Dan Lewis. He’s played by John Bishop, who imbues Dan with a kind of fragile cheerfulness that’s hiding the woes of a directionless and rather melancholic man – and it’s clear he’s fooling no-one. Dan is obviously fiercely proud of Liverpool, but the life he spends there seems to be as threadbare as his kitchen cupboards. It’s a similar sense of listlessness to Donna Noble before she reconnected with the Tenth Doctor in ‘Partners in Crime’, so let’s hope that Dan actually gets to remember his time in the TARDIS when all is said and done.

Speaking of forgotten things… While she’s wrestling with the TARDIS, the Doctor finds her mind yoinked halfway across the universe. She’s to bear witness to the escape of a mysterious alien as he breaks out of eternal confinement and dusts a couple of guards to revitalise himself. (Scripts during Chibnall’s tenure have a bad habit of leaving significant characters unnamed, but this is ‘Swarm’, at least according to the credits.) “Trick or treat!” Swarm declares upon his escape, keen to goad the Doctor and apparently equally keen to remind the viewers at home what day it is as if they weren’t already suffering from Haribo Remorse.

Doctor Who: Why Is It So Difficult to Replace the Showrunner?

By Kayti Burt

Doctor Who: Introducing John Bishop

By Jamie Andrew

It’s made obvious that the two have past history which the Doctor doesn’t remember, and implied that she was once at least partly responsible for Swarm’s incarceration. Yes, for better or worse, we’re leaning back into the legacy of the Timeless Child and the Doctor’s past actions as part of The Division on Gallifrey – in fact, we’ll come to learn that her pursuit of Karvanista is the Doctor seeking answers about her wiped lives.

Karvanista himself arrives on Earth while the Doctor is telepathically-texting “new regeneration, who dis?” and breaks into Dan’s house, seemingly looking to pull off an old-fashioned alien abduction. Dan, though, gamely tugs at the alien’s dog-like whiskers and comments on what a nice Halloween costume it is, which is precisely the kind of attitude to take towards anyone who breaks into your house with an axe. This should be a cringe-inducing scene, but it works, largely because Karvanista isn’t just a Scooby-Doo villain. He’s an exasperated professional with a short temper and a job to do, and it sets him nicely apart from the scenery-chewing Swarm and his grand proclamations of universal destruction.

Having finally coaxed the TARDIS to Earth, the Doctor and Yaz find Dan’s house and realise that he’s been taken. They’re then accosted by a woman named Claire who’s clearly involved in something timey-wimey, but the Doctor’s so focused on the chase she practically drags Yaz back into the TARDIS and off to Karvanista’s ship, which is looking to rendezvous with seven billion of his buddies in what bears all the hallmarks of a classic alien invasion.

The TARDIS really isn’t well at this point, with the interior geometry beginning to distort. Even so, the Doctor and Yaz manage to make it to their destination and split up, with Yaz busting a confused Dan out of the cage he’s been stuffed inside. Yaz was so often given nothing to do when Ryan and Graham were around, so it’s great to see Mandip Gill finally getting to take charge of a scene, showing the confidence and command that we were hoping from PC Khan since we first met her. Right away, there’s a chemistry with Yaz and Dan that simply wasn’t present between the old members of Team TARDIS.

Confronted by the Doctor, the infuriated Karvanista reveals that his species, the Lupari, aren’t here to invade humanity but to save them from a cataclysmic event – namely, the Flux. It’s a fun twist because Karvanista clearly doesn’t want to be involved in all this and would just as soon hurl Dan out of an airlock, but it does raise the question of who organised this “species-bonding arrangement” to begin with. (Could it be the Doctor herself? Possibly, but let’s hope the truth is more interesting.)

Meanwhile, we get our first look at the Flux through the eyes of Vinder, the lone occupant of an observation base who has to report the billowing cloud as it sweeps across the cosmos, atomising anything and everything it touches. Vinder is set to be a regular character but Jacob Anderson is given relatively little screen-time here, so the jury’s still out on what he’ll bring to the table.

The effect of the Flux is so similar to the attacks unleashed by Swarm, it’s no surprise when he psychically contacts the Doctor a second time, lamenting her wiped memory and promising that this will be their final fight. He then directs the Flux to pursue the TARDIS directly, leaving no doubt that this is a weapon rather than a natural phenomenon.

Doctor Who’s Weeping Angels Are Perfect Horror Monsters But Are They Returning Villains?

By Zoe Kaiser

Doctor Who: Ranking the Master Stories – Which is the Best?

By Andrew Blair

The Doctor’s goal in the last few minutes of the episode is to assist the Lupari in saving humanity, and she does so by ordering their ships – apparently somehow designed to withstand the Flux – to interlock and surround the Earth with a protective shell. It’s played as a triumphant moment, as if Earth is the only planet worth caring about, and the Doctor shows an odd lack of concern towards the countless other lives the Flux must be snuffing out. Granted, there’s not a lot of time for grief, but the story plays down the unimaginable horror of what’s happening to the universe by focusing almost exclusively on the Doctor and her favourite planet.

We’re left on a cliffhanger as the terminally warped TARDIS throws its doors open and exposes the control room to the oncoming Flux, but there are plenty of newcomers in peril of their own whose predicaments have yet to be explained. We’re still to learn the truth about Claire and her knowing altercation with a Weeping Angel, the purpose of mysterious tunnels being dug under 19th century Liverpool, what importance Dan’s date Diane holds to Swarm and his sister Azure, not to mention what exactly the Sontarans are planning…

In short, it’s a lot. Doctor Who two-parters often fall into a routine of having Part One be nothing but questions asked as characters move into position, but that’s not always a bad thing – Capaldi-era adventure ‘Under the Lake’ was a fine mystery that saved all its answers for the following week’s ‘Before the Flood’ and that was a speedy, suspenseful ‘base under siege’ story even so.

This is a six-part story, however, and it needs to be judged as such. The viewer shouldn’t have to rely on episode six retroactively making or breaking the first five chapters, and each instalment is going to need to stand on its own merits when it comes to keeping us entertained.

Does ‘The Halloween Apocalypse’ hold up on its own? More or less. Scenes with our core characters interacting make for the most enjoyable moments, and the script is a breath of fresh air for Yaz in particular. She’s embraced the role of the experienced companion who isn’t afraid to argue with the Doctor or call her out when she keeps things to herself, taking the initiative in moments where Thirteen’s hesitancy and self-doubt manifests itself. This is the Yaz we were hoping for all along, in other words, and I hope she sticks around.

Scenes with the side characters are less engaging, though. It’s obvious from the minute Claire appears that she’s going to be menaced by a Weeping Angel, but the keyhole scene goes on just a little too long and is just a little too similar to scenes from the iconic Blink. Likewise, it’s hard to really empathise with “Man Who Stores Chillies in Fridge” getting bumped off by Swarm when that’s his only defining character trait.

It’s impossible to say how these disparate threads will ultimately contribute, of course, but saving a few of these vignettes for future episodes would have allowed this script to spend more time fleshing out the Lupari and the nature of their species-bond, because that is ultimately the core story of ;The Halloween Apocalypse; – everything else is groundwork. Still, the big win here is the promise of a revitalised TARDIS crew who are more keenly aware of, and able to make up for, the Doctor’s foibles. It may be too little and too late for fans who are already fixated on the future, but this new team dynamic is a change for the better nonetheless.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Doctor Who: Flux continues next Sunday with ‘War of the Sontarans’

The post Doctor Who: Flux Episode 1 Review – The Halloween Apocalypse appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3nJzPOT

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes

yegarts · 6 years ago

Text

Cultural Diversity in the Arts Project Grant Stories

Through our annual Cultural Diversity in the Arts project grant program, the Edmonton Arts Council provides grants to artists from marginalized cultural communities to support the achievement of their artistic endeavours. While these artists are also eligible to apply for all of EAC’s grants for individual artists, the intent of this program is to provide an entry point for artists to overcome cultural, historic or language barriers and allow them to pursue their professional artistic work and develop connections to the Edmonton community. New in 2018, the level of maximum funding for Cultural Diversity in the Arts has been increased from $15,000 to $25,000 to allow for even bigger projects, ideas and proposals.

We talked with some of last year’s grant recipients to find out what they created with their grant, and how they’re working to share the stories of marginalized communities with Edmonton. You can see video interviews with these and other grant recipients here.

Photo courtesy Shawn Tse

Artist: Shawn Tse, filmmaker Project: Three short films for the Seconds, Please series Grant: Cultural Diversity in the Arts, 2017

Seconds, Please is a series of short films directed, co-produced, co-written, hosted, and edited by Chinese Canadian filmmaker Shawn Tse. Each episode documents the stories from Canadian immigrant families, and features a first generation elder teaching a traditional family recipe to a second generation family member. Tse received a grant to produce three episodes along with a team that includes a local cinematographer, writers, and editors.

“The main mission for the film series is to be a platform for immigrant stories and intergenerational stories, and to explore the differences between generations like my parents and I,” Tse says. “In Edmonton it’s very special because there’s a growing population of newcomers and we have unique access to people with different cultures. This is an outlet where we can give space to people to share their stories, and give other Edmontonians access to their stories and hear them direct from the source.”

While Tse is an experienced filmmaker with producing, acting, and directing credits, creating Seconds, Please is a passion project in order for Tse to share part of the immigrant experience.

“This is a labour of love, and a whole team of people make it happen,” Tse says. “The grant is a way for us to take time out of our schedules in order to make it happen, without the grant it would have been much harder, if not impossible to do. The team is super passionate about this topic, everyone on the team is part of that generation, with parents who were newcomers. This grant and the extra support from Edmonton Arts Council allows us to take it further, like allowing for a higher production value.”

The next three episodes of Seconds, Please will be released by the end of 2018 and feature the stories of an Indian immigrant family, a Russian immigrant family, and the history of Edmonton’s unofficial-official dish, the green onion cake. You can watch the current three episodes here.

Hagar poster by Foolish, Art & Design Work

Aksam Alyousef Project: Staging his play Hagar Grant: Cultural Diversity in the Arts, 2017

As an immigrant to Canada from Syria, Aksam Alyousef is keen to tell the stories of Syrians and dispel myths that Western audiences might have. So in 2016 he wrote the script for Hagar, the story of a single mother trying to flee Syria with her one-year-old son.

“This play talks about events that are happening now in Syria, and it’s important because [the main character] is talking about my people in Syria. People in Western countries always talk about how important human rights are to them, then they close their borders. This play is to show Western audiences what happens when you don’t take action. Canada has shown a deep humanity by receiving refugees as human beings. It is a thank you letter to Canadians and a portrait of the alternative fate that many refugees face.”

After producing a show at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 2017, Alyousef wanted to go bigger with Hagar with a larger production value and stage it outside of a festival because of the serious subject matter. Given the expenses involved in staging a theatre production, Alyousef applied for, and received an Edmonton Arts Council grant to hire an actress, director, set designer, costume designer, producer and projectionist. The show ran from June 1 - June 8, 2018 at the ATB Financial Arts Barn and Alyousef was pleased with the reaction to the show.

“Every day after the show, some people would leave crying. It’s a very emotional play and that reaction made me feel like I had delivered my message and gave people an idea of what is happening in Syria. I wrote Hagar to remind people why people leave their homes and seek refuge in other countries, to say refuge is not a choice.”

See more of Alyousef’s work during the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival August 16 – 26, 2018—he wrote and directed the comedy FOB and is directing the drama Apricot Stones.

Applications for Cultural Diversity in the Arts project grants are open through October 15, 2018. Hard copy applications must be received by 4:30 pm MST at the Edmonton Arts Council office. Click here for more information and to apply.

Artists working in all disciplines are invited to apply, and mentorship and professional development opportunities are encouraged.

1 note · View note

thesearchforspirk · 7 years ago

Text

1 x 8: ‘Balance of Terror’ {Subtext Study}

Please read my manifesto here if you haven’t already- it better explains my beliefs as per the Kirk/Spock dynamic and what I aim to accomplish with this blog.

An admittedly shorter study as this episode is without any strong Kirk/Spock interaction to mull over. There are some interesting possible parallels here, but even in that respect I’m not sure I’ll say anything that the TOS Commentary hasn’t already said about this episode. For all these reasons this episode was a bit of a white elephant for me, so if you want to skip this write-up I’ll understand. Either way:

Our episode opens with a wedding on board ship and never has Kirk looked happier to perform his duties as Captain. The fact that this wedding goes smoothly is very important to him (because he cares that much about his crew and is that much of a romantic and I just love him ok) so when he gets a message from Spock that some Earth outposts are in trouble he privately, quietly acknowledges so that no one else will hear. Some shit is about to go down for sure.

(the fact that Scotty escorts the bride down the aisle thrills me to no end- it has nothing to do with this blog, I’m just a shameless Scotty fangirl)

Sure enough the shit does, indeed, hit the fan and two Earth outposts are attacked by some mysterious vessel. The wedding must be abandoned and postponed (someone really does NOT ship this) so everyone can assume emergency battle stations as the Enterprise runs to help. On the bridge Kirk tries to gain as much info as he can about the attackers, though there doesn’t seem to be any definite info. A certain navigator is keen to help though, offering up, “there can’t be much doubt who’s attacking, sir”.

He may be right about that, as it seems the earth outposts are in place to guard the neutral zone, an area agreed upon after a war with the Romulans a long time ago. It turns out said navigator had family members who died in that war so he’s got a bone to pick with the Romulans. Kirk tells him, however, that it was their war and not his so don’t make this a personal thing, bub...even if the attacker of the hour is Romulan, I guess.

Spock replies that a few of the earth outposts have been completely decimated, indicating that the Romulan power must be greater than they thought. Kirk and Spock exchange some concerned looks as the gravity of their situation becomes apparent.

Do you remember our cute wedding couple from earlier? We see them again, hard at work in what appears to be the engineering sector. The groom says, “Happy wedding day- almost.” and the bride jokes, “You won’t get off my hook this easily. I’m gonna marry you mister, battle or phaser weapons notwithstanding.” “Well, meanwhile, temporarily, at least, I’m still your superior officer- so get with it, Mister!” So, apparently cutie pie groom who has a striking resemblance to another certain cutie pie on the ship is his bride-to-be’s superior officer. She just so happens to be seated at a control panel acknowledging orders. I guess that’s pretty inconspicuous enough.

(yeah...nothing to see here)