#we want disney to do something with this amazing franchise

[reizerisanoingsstuff]

I think I'm gonna be in a conflict with the whole fandom rn , because we and the reboot are like this :

I see so many content creators just not giving it any chances , criticizing it for the smallest ditales and some even deciding that they hate the plot just by few snippets of story we got

Guys it's just a baby guys , give it some time

[galaxygolfergirl]

Alright gang, let's talk about Kristoff. Here, I want to showcase his new look to discuss some ideas that I've had about his role in the franchise. I additionally updated Anna's look because I feel I didn't shade her enough on the last few pictures. Honeymaren and Ryder are up next, and after that the hypothetical villains of this next installment! But let's get right to it. Read below the cut for more info.

Kristoff. What can I even say about the guy? For as long as I've been a part of this fandom, I admit I've been ambivalent about the guy. He's not the most complex character to get into and Frozen 2 basically had him set up to be Anna's glorified boyfriend, which is a shame, really. He's a hardworking, earnest, dependable guy, an entrepreneur who had already made a life for himself before he met Anna, and while he may be awkward and at first abrasive, he has the best intentions at heart. Frozen 2 did not really give him the best material to work with, nor does he have much to do besides focus on proposing to Anna. So what do we do about this for Frozen 3?

For starters, let's address the fact that he's about to be Prince-consort/King-consort engaged to the Queen of Arendelle. What is there for him to do? He had the title of Arendelle's official Ice Master and Deliverer, but we don't really see him do anything with that position. Furthermore, in the deleted scenes of Frozen 2, they toyed with the idea that Kristoff wasn't really happy with his life in Arendelle and fitting into this new role as part of the nobility. Maybe that should be addressed.

So here's what I did: for his look here, I decided to try and evoke the colors of his outfit in the first movie; a royal blue and gold jacket contrasted with comfortable civilian clothes that he likes to wear, his hair parted to the side and combed a bit more to reflect that while he's had situation of being prince-consort thrust upon him, he's still a down-to-earth guy who won't let the expectations of nobility change who he is. He's a little older, more mature now, and his appearance should reflect that in kind.

For his role in this story, he sees that Anna is stressed out trying to be queen and run the country, and if he and Anna expect to be equal partners by the time that they're married, he could assure her that she doesn't have to take on this responsibility by herself. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, back in his day dedicated his time supporting public causes, working on educational reform, and was in charge of running the Queen's household, office and estates. Perhaps Kristoff could do something similar. He could be a man of the people and rally them in a darkest hour situation, or heck, recruit those ice cutter guys from the first movies should Elsa's powers be hindered since he's Ice Master. He's been a supportive boyfriend thus far; like any Disney couple, he should be on equal footing with her to some degree.

Lastly, if Hans were to show up, as I've hypothesized, in an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation, the delicious amount of bickering that would ensue between the two of them would be amazing. The protective boyfriend ™️ would come out full swing for Kristoff's supportive arc, though after some time Hans could give Kristoff some insight on how to be a leader, if that scenario should arise.

Anyways, Kristoff deserved better. They all do, so hopefully y'all like what I've come up with so far. There's more on the way. 👍

@jasmindoodles

[foggywiz4rd]

Maybe this sounds random, but on Tik Tok I saw a lot of people using AI to make their Arcane lookalike character, and I just wanted to say that if you do so you didn't understand anything this show offers.

The quality of Arcane comes obviously from a really good writing but also from the amazing  character designs, worldbuilding choices, scene composition and obviously animation; those are works that take a lot of fucking time to the amazing artists, animators and directors, and using a technology that actively threatens this working positions is not only disrespectful but also stupid. Actively feeding AI with the unique artstyle of arcane is first of all helping this abomination evolve into becoming even more precise in stealing and copying specifics artworks, and also it's teaching it how to replicate Arcane lookalike art pieces that could be used to mass produce merch or prints putting a profit in the pockets of the wrong people; not only that but since we live in a time where profits are basically the only interest to big companies, who can guarantee us that once the AI products are good enough they will not be used for the actual series and products. I know that right now it doesn't seem like a possibility for this franchise because it has given us a genuine and fantastic work of art, but seeing what is happening in the world of animation (thinking for exaple Disney pushing only corporations slabs such as live action remakes or souless films, Pixar employees given less and less creative liberty, DreamWorks Co founder Katzemberg basically declaring that animators can be replaced by AI, and all the strikes the animators in the USA are doing because of the inadequate salaries and threatens to their positions) it's not an impossible scenario, maybe the fact that the arcane/league animation projects are done by a studio based in France, [were because of EU regulations AI is more limited (kinda, but also not really lol)], can keep it safe for now, but I wouldn't be so sure about it in the future.

This is to say that there are real people in the animation industry wich are suffering the direct consequences of the capitalistic mentality of their executives, and the real threat of AI replacing their labor, you chosing to use this technology is only giving this capitalist machine free fuel.

Also it's insulting to the amazing visual work done in the show, the art of animation is finally taking a different path in big industries than the iperrealism of Disneys 3D backgrounds; let's think about Spiderverse by sony, or the lates Ninja Turtles by nickelodeon, or even better Nimona, finally there has been a path of experimentation with this form of art recognized by the general pubblic, and Arcane is yet another example of this new and diverse path. The characters flow in the scenes, everyone of them has a unique style of combat reflecting their personality, the use of color as symbols but also as enanchment of the scenes, the raw strokes and blurred edges, the use of light to convey the scenes depth, the character designs, the writing, it's a work of art, a humanmade work of art, not one done by some click on a computer and a prompt. This is a tipe of work that an AI should struggle to replicate, it easy for an artificial intelligence to remake a Disney 3D style, because it's clean, boring and all the same therefore it's easy for a company like that to start rely on this technology to feed us with all the more shit ass stories and all the same animations, let's not make it easy for an AI to replicate something like Arcane, let's not feed this machine great material to steal and reuse to take away work from the people who give us this masterpieces in the first place.

Without obviously starting the discourse about how harmful it is for the environment, but this post is already a chapter, so maybe another time.

Section with spoilers:

Last thing is I saw a girl talking about the artstyle choices in the scene where Viktor and Jayce destroy the excore, where the excore products are all kinda fucked up and uncanny like something an AI could make, and then where the two of them fucking explode (rip to them I'll miss those gay boys) everything becomes more flat like a traditional human made drawing. So maybe the glorious evolution of mankind through AI it's a lot like how it's portraid in the show: souless, all the same, lacking personal freedom of choice and creativity, therefore if we put on our thinking caps maybe it's not the best path to go down. I dunno I just wanted to throw it out there because it fits a lot.

Just my thoughts. If there are grammatical errors I'm sorry, but clearly I don't want to use an AI to correct them lol.

[divinecomedyproductions]

I think I also want to explain my big bias about romance in epics: a heavily opinionated thread

Keep in mind, I’m not trying to throw shade at any indie creators who do this, just trying to explain my style and why

I really don’t like “Star-Crossed” Lovers and “Love interest to be built up and killed off” tropes. Not sure I ever did honesty.

I get why they work, they just don’t work for me. Unless like Peter Parker they get another chance again.

And three franchises were the final straw for me, and what drove me to go indie along with being inspired by indie works of others

First it was RWBY the tragic end of Arkos and what I feared to be sane of Black Sun among others along with the doomed fate of Oscar Pine

I tried to express my distaste of it on tumblr on my past accounts and RWBY wiki discussion forum(big mistake, I know) and I regretted it so much

Never had I met a fanbase so arrogant, self righteous, and sanctimonious about this kind of stuff, going on how amazing these tropes and dark stories like RWBY initially seemed circa V3-Finale along with Madoka Magica and Akame Ga Kill were and sneering at anything even one shade lighter than that

They were either passive-aggressively judging and gaslighting me, or outright lecturing me

How a epic story that has Dork knight and a lonely warrior woman isolated by society crushing on him,  or a unlucky moody girl and sunshine himbo, a doomed hero having a well earned happy ending, especially if it involved resurrection as a good thing was nothing but “pandering”, petty, and worthless and the preference of the weak and cowardly

Even one fan said “people don’t find that interesting, sorry.” And that another fan seemed to stated characters like Pyrrha and Jaune are only fit for tragic endings because “that’s the kind of character she is” both of which these fans spoke as these things were gospel, or they themselves had some kind of storytelling authority

Then I heard about Superman and Lois Lane getting married and having a kid and even Bruce and Selena getting hitched, until hearing both marriages get trashed along with a few others

Along with the defense Dan Didio gave

It was absolutely MADDENING to me

"Heroes shouldn’t have happy personal lives. They are committed to being that person and committed to defending others at the sacrifice of their own personal interests.

That’s very important and something we reinforced. People in the Bat family their personal lives basically suck. Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon and Kathy Kane. It’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s equally important that they set them aside. That is our mandate, that is our edict and that is our stand."

Like, these guys want to hopeful, but only in certain ways the pop-culture/literary ‘intellectuals’ deem acceptable as well as what they deem to be ‘interesting’ and what I had in mind did not only not qualify, it was seen as outright heresy

When I brought this up in my grievances with stories like RWBY, one holier-that-thou jerk supported it because 

“Single Batman and Superman sells well”

After writing my preferences off as “pandering” and only for the likes such as Disney and Marvel,

The Self-Centered hypocrisy was staggering because what he said and his many followers were basically saying this;

“We don’t like it when your niche interest stuff is forced into our stuff, but when the case is in the reverse? We’re totally cool with that, and we hope it keeps happening.”

other fans said what I wanted was only for sitcoms, imposing themselves as gatekeepers of *epic storytelling itself*

From where I was standing, there is a growing hatred of couples in epics go through and making it and even getting married and having children, especially those of certain dynamics all under the guise of “hopepunk” and “The Greater Good.” Or whatever the term is now

Prattled on by conceited fandoms who in my opinion, have become a bunch of literary snobs who think way too highly of themselves

Who go around deciding what ways are legitimate “raised stakes” and “consequences”, 

both which might I add are defined by their *own* standards,

along with their own preferences, especially fates for of certain kinds of ships and characters, which they flaunt as “objective” and above those of “the unwashed masses” in order to justify glorifying them as well as themselves for liking them

Which then afterwards these fandoms pressure these standards onto aspiring writers such as myself or be exiled to sitcoms, romcoms, Disney, or Marvel.

Because it’s not “entitlement” if it’s directed at the peasants I guess.

That along with the fact their so insecure and discontent with just being different, they need to feel superior than others for their own preferences

Nor they can’t handle the idea somewhere out there there is story that have characters like the those of the stories they enjoy, but with a different outcome

All epic fiction, its characters, its settings, its themes, its use of its inspirations, the creator’s style needs to begin and end on terms of these self-appointed arbiters who, once again, try to justify by presenting their preferences, tastes, and “personal emotional beats” as objective and superior

And once again: I’m *NOT* saying creators who goes with the tragic romance route are bad or malicious, most of them are just doing their thing

This problem lies with sycophantic individuals among fandoms who appoint their chosen champion’s ways as law and act offended on their behalf, even though they never spoken to these creators personally nor did these creators asked them to pick up a sword in their name and are not held accountable for their behavior

And what’s worse, is that these groups imply epic stories where heroic couples get married and have families are allegedly incompatible outside of Disney or Marvel or else it ends up as terrible story

Which they will imply is the case for stories like DragonBall Z, Sword Art Online, and Naruto/Boruto

But when *their* way of doing things ruins a franchise like DC comics and people complain about it?

It’s the whining of unwashed masses or vocal toxic minority opposed to the enlightened few or informed majority

Because *their* way makes everything better and always will

It’s incredibly self absorbed and narcissistic

So that’s why I’ve been so keen on having my heroes find love, get married and having families. Especially ones who’ve been through so much sorrow.

I’m just weary of this and tired of fandoms telling me when I’m disappointed;

“It’s not for you” and implying “nothing should be for you and everything should be for us”

And I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels this way

You don’t have to share my personal tastes and distaste’s in story beats in epics, once again, I just want you guys to understand.

[invaderarizona]

My Unpopular opinion: Velvet and Veneer are Vexy and Hackus that done right and better than them

The one thing that Vexy and Hackus have something in common with Velvet and Veneer is that they’re both villainous twins in the franchises that involves the small happy little creatures that are almost like Santa’s elves and kidnapped one of the small creatures for stealing the essence reasons.

Vexy and Velvet are both sister leaders of the duo, have the latter V for a name and both have two different voice actresses where one does the speaking and the other one does the singing. While Veneer and Hackus are both brother sidekicks who are not very bright except Hackus is far more stupider and gross while Veneer at least pretty smart at the end and more clean than him.

The big differences between them is that Velvet and Veneer are far more popular and have better memorable villainous chemistry than what Vexy and Hackus got.

Velvet and Veneer are actual real fun villain duo and a twin relationship between with a mean sister who wants to famous and the gay brother who doesn’t wanted to be famous deep down and wants to be loved but was still on her side until the end. Their moments together are very funny, memeable, charming and just reminds me of a Trollsverse version of Sharpay and Ryan from high school musical or Devin and Matthew from Big Mouth (if they had chemistry but just saying for the characters comparison). Even though some people says that they don’t belong in Trolls (which I respect their opinions) but for me in a way, they at least still make sure that Trolls are still Trolls and just added new things to it, which I think them along with introducing interspecies relationship with Bruce’s family did an amazing job at it.

Meanwhile for Vexy and Hackus and as another negative thing to say about The Smurfs 2 but here we go. Even though Vexy was the only fun character of that movie and on her own but being around and teamed up with her twin, Hackus. I will say that Vexy and Hacks together are one of the most boring part of the Live Action movies and they’re a really boring villainous twin duo between a rebel and a dimwitted slop with no personality and both are all about getting into trouble before redeeming.

The problem is that they barely had any fun chemistry, they’re not funny together and extremely unmemeable (even websites like TikTok, Instagram or Twitter wants nothing to do with them). While V&V does make sure Trolls are still Trolls, Vexy and Hackus are one of those things that doesn’t make Smurfs to be Smurfs. Not only they made the Smurfs to be more like Alvin and the Chipmunks rip offs but Vexy and Hackus also feel like they belong in the universe of Disney’s Descendants due how the way of how they wanted to be cool and hip, feel more like Shrek parodies and with ridiculous character designs in my opinion (especially Vexy seems more like a mini version of Mal or Evie). Their dynamic are so boring that after the Smurfs live action series lasted for 2 movies with 2 holiday specials and moved on into reboots, they never wanted these two to come back and most people nowadays (including me) decided to no longer care about this Smurf duo.

[cringywhitedragon]

So Httyd is getting the “Netflix Adaption” treatment

Can we please STOP with the live action remake remakes of already existing animated series trend that’s been plaguing many major studios for the past few years now and has only brought controversies from people who don’t like the casting and or a possible financial failure.

Like so many of these live action movies just feel like soulless rehashes of the originals with only minor or complete changes that it’s not even worth going to see them if you could simply just watch per say the original Beauty and the Beast at home on that same old DVD you used to watch for hours as a kid while the live action one plays in the theater.

Mulan is a great example since the remake is boring as heck to the point it feels like a random ass war movie (Literally remove any references to Disney and you could pass this off as anything but a Disney movie, people liked the original for its humor that helped to break up the more serious moments of the film. Heck, the Phoenix in the film simply appears in like two scenes and barely does anything, like you could have at least had it accompany her instead of flying around and being fucking useless the whole film.)

If you want to do a live action movie then do something like Maleficent that redoes the story from a different perspective instead of the same boring stuff we’ve seen before in the original. LIKE CHANGE THE NAME AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR ONCE! I REALLY DON’T CARE TO GO SEE THE SAME MOVIE THAT I HAVE SEEN COUNTLESS TIMES BEFORE BUT NOW ITS ALL REALISTIC LOOKING! Not to mention the uncanny valley effect that just makes some beloved characters look creepy as shit or bland as hell.

There’s a reason we shat on Netflix for making live action anime adaptations first because they are just unnecessary. But no, Hollywood had to turn around and do the same shit.

HTTYD was my childhood franchise and it breaks my heart to see it now be memeible with the “Anime, Manga, Netflix Adaption” meme.

Just go watch the original, you won’t be missing much from the remake (And it’s one amazing silly little franchise that I hold dear to my hear.)

[ooops-i-arted]

renewing my "anti ahsoka" club membership on a monthly basis now because i'm beyond done with her stans getting pandered to especially at the expense of other jedi. and i'm one of those people that didn't mind her much in tcw even though i really think she maybe should have been the apprentice of plo koon or literally anyone else instead of anakin. but it's apparent to many people that she's outlived her narrative purpose and is there just so filoni can make live action fanfic.

like i was watching the disney gallery episodes for Both bobf and mando and everytime filoni feels the need to go into his "isn't ahsoka so amazing and powerful, she trained under anakin" spiel i fast forward through that shit, like we Get It filoni you want to worship your precious darling! he even describes working on her show as a "religious experience" and wants her to be this enlightened force goddess, aka the Daughter reincarnated. if he's already like this when she's a mostly redundant cameo, can you imagine how insufferable he is going to be in the behind the scenes episodes for her own show?

just scenes of badly recreated togruta cosplay with mediocre acting, parodying better made samurai films. maybe a trapper wolf cameo thrown in somewhere. who wants to sit through episodes of that shit? not me.

I am so glad you pointed out the TCW thing because I've often thought the show would be MUCH stronger with a tighter focus on Ahsoka as another Jedi's apprentice and just occasional cameos or episodes featuring the Main Characters like Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, Mace, Yoda, etc. More like Rebels. It could've been really cool to see the Clone Wars through a young apprentice's perspective since the main films we usually see it through the eyes of the higher ups. (That's what I liked about Rebels the most - it's not just Leia and Luke and Han who deal with the big picture, but we got a tighter focus on fighters on the front line, and new characters to fall in love with.) (Also one of the biggest reasons I hate TCW is how they warped Anakin especially but also Obi-Wan ooc, those are NOT my boys, and a focus on Ahsoka would've mitigated that and kept Filoni away from them.)

I don't begrudge any fan their love for a character, and Ahsoka has undeniably widened the playing field for female characters in Star Wars, but Filoni, please: variety!! She doesn't have to be in everything!! I'm tired of watching a show for something else and then suddenly it's TCW 2.0 Featuring The Super Specialist Jedi-But-Not-A-Jedi-Because-She's-BETTER Ahsoka. Mandalorian S2 E5 spent more time on her than Din and Grogu!! She completely took over the Rebels season 2 finale!! Filoni invented time travel in the Star Wars universe to save her from Vader and had Ezra save her over his father figure. What the fuck??? I mean, I can write endless fanfic about Cara Dune bc no one is paying me for it and I owe no one anything. He's helping lead an entire franchise and for god's sake can we PLEASE have something besides Ahsoka, Order 66, and Man Adopts Child? (And stop acting like Ahsoka is the third member of the prequel trio. IT'S PADME.)

I'm not gonna lie, I hope the show flops hard. I'm not proud of that, I'm still torn because don't want that to affect Rebels characters, and I do hope the Ahsoka fans like it, but I wish Filoni would get a reality check as vengeance for ripping apart Zahn's Trilogy for pieces and rebuilding it around Ahsoka and for handing Din's set up arc in The Mandalorian to Yet Another Fucking TCW Character. Or at least that Lucasfilm stops licking his butthole and lets him greenlight what's basically his own fanfiction.

Don't even get me fucking started on the Daughter and the Mortis arc. That was when I quit TCW when I tried to watch it all. THAT'S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKS. (Also doesn't Anakin like resurrect her with the Force or something? The power he was trying to get in RotS when it's pretty explicit it isn't a thing and Palpatine was lying to him to mainpulate him? Filoni broke canon just so precious widdle Ahsoka won't die? Are you shitting me???)

[gothicprep]

the worst part about the information-social media ecosystem rn is that we’ll have, like, people will support Thing. then you’ll have an anti-Thing market emerge. and then you have the anti-anti-Thing market. backlash to backlash, dust to dust.

the current thing with this is “wokeness”, a word I hate more than I hate ranch dressing. the problem with the anti-anti-woke guys is that they generally don’t acknowledge that socialists have been critiquing identity politics for decades before the first conservative ever uttered the word “woke”. and ignoring the criticisms of this from the left strikes me as not engaging with the skeptics’ strongest argument by pretending they don’t exist. I get that the socialists arguing this are generally smarter than Gary from Facebook, which makes them harder targets. either way. I just don’t like this very much. it’s shallow.

that preamble out of the way, I was watching YouTube video from someone on team anti-anti. I’m not sure why I keep doing this because I always get disappointed for the same reasons, but some may call it masochism and I dont appreciate being non-sexually kink shamed.

the person in the video brought up nerdy youtube film critics who were angry about the Star Wars sequel trilogy as a pet example, but I feel like this is a really weak point. the sequel trilogy is done now, and knowing how poorly it played out, we may have to admit that the bitter nerds who said that it starred a woman and two men of color as just a cyclical marketing decision might have seen something we did not. they did basically nothing with oscar isaac and john boyega which is so. imagine signing them to your movie and doing nothing with these amazing actors! felony! go to jail! at least boyega has the good sense to be openly critical of this. and as for rey, she doesn’t exactly have an arc.

I rewatched the force awakens for the first time in a long time in a while a few months ago and, now that we’re out of the cultural moment it was released in, it feels very different. very 2015 pilled in the sense that it aged like milk that's been sitting in the fridge for 8 years and has begun to cultivate bacteria that no microbiologist has ever observed. and i don't think the bitter nerds were wrong to interpret kylo ren as a strawmen of, well, people like them who don't want people messing with a franchise they have a lot of emotional investment in. and while you can write this off as them saying "we don't want women to enjoy star wars", observing that these movies are ultimately products, disney aspires to have a larger net worth than god, and not trusting where they're going with this... it's not entirely unfair, even though there are very real problems of racism and misogyny in nerd circles.

sometimes when we defend stuff from the angle that representation is good, we inadvertently forget that the "you can be a jedi too, little girl or black child of unspecified gender" thing is mostly done with the intention of consumer outreach because we're biased in favor of rep. the bitter nerds are not, and it gives them shinigami eyes. pandering is a bit more obvious when you're not the one being catered to. or something. i also don't think this is exclusively right wing, it's just that a lot of lefties are more reluctant to say something. if you phrase yourself incorrectly, it looks REALLY sketchy, even if you frame it through the "ultimately, these are products" lens, and sometimes it's best to just not comment.

i saw critical drinker, who's one of the more annoying of these youtube film critic types, on a podcast semi recently, and when he drops the anti-woke kayfabe, you just see a frustrated guy who writes screenplays as a hobby and doesn't like how many female-led stories skimp on developing conflict, or the disappearance of the mentor/student dynamic in storytelling and why this is doesn't bode well for franchise reboots that are meant to pass the torch, how unearned that feels. and even though i think his videos are cringey as shit, they're coming from a real place of caring about stories and being frustrated that the biggest purveyors of them don't seem to care back. i'm sympathetic to this, even if i think "wokeness" is an intellectually lazy copout and the preferred method of delivery makes me want to get my eardrum pierced.

iunno. i think, maybe, if you want to talk about these guys, it would make for a better story if you talked to them. or at the very least, try to understand what the substantive meat of their problem is as a fly on the wall. even if you ultimately decide that they're being irrational, "irrational" is not synonymous with "random". that's an important thing not to lose sight of. and while i do believe a lot of the anti-woke stuff is irrational, i do think it's worth trying to make a real effort to figure out what's going on underneath it all. but thinking too much gives you wrinkles, or whatever malibu stacey said. oh well!

[disneywizard]

The Best Animated Series of 2022

2022.  Another year of Animation has come and gone, and so it is now time to do the one thing that I do on this site: make my top 10 list. This year should be an interesting mix, since I am allowing myself to put adult animated shows on the list for the first time.  But only if they are exceptional.  While this definitely made making this list harder this year, due to more content, it wasn’t as bad a deluge as I feared.  

Before we unveil the list, I also wanted to give a shout-out to the best thing that happened in 2022: the return of Gargoyles in comic form.  From Dynamite Publishing, written by series creator Greg Weisman.  Gargoyles is my favorite show of all time, it’s the reason I became enamored of Animation in the first place.  So I highly encourage everyone to check the comics out, if you can.  

And now for the list: Honorable Mentions: Green Eggs and Ham, Dragon Age Absolution, and Paranormal Park were all fantastic shows, I just thought that the following ten series were slightly better.  But all three of these shows ALMOST made the list as I was working on it, so I thought they belonged here.   And without further ado:

10) Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

The French Action Adventure show about two superheroes in love with each other continues to go strong for it’s fourth and fifth seasons, which have included some of the best episodes of the show.  

Available on: Netflix (S1-3) Disney+ (S4 & 5*)  

9) Legend of Vox Machina

Man I wish someone would animate my D&D campaign.  

Available on: Amazon Prime.

8) Kid Cosmic and the Global Heroes!

Craig McCracken’s amazing superhero show is the first one on this list that officially ended this year, and went out quite strong.  I cried at the end of the series.  Definitely worth a look.

Available on: Netflix

7) Tales of the Jedi

I’m not much of a Star Wars fan.  It’s hard for me to even care outside of the Rebels series.  But this anthology series was so good, I’d be remiss to exclude it from the list.  

Available on: Disney+

6) The Dragon Prince: The Mystery of Aaravos

If I’m being honest, TDP was a bit weaker this season than previous showings.  We’ve had a time skip and the characters are now all in different places, which made it a little harder to get back into a groove with them.  But the story was still fantastic and I can’t wait to see how the next 4 seasons unfold.  

5) The Owl House

Why are you not watching this show?  You definitely SHOULD BE, it’s FANTASTIC.  The top four-through-two shows on this list were, IMO all so good, it was impossible to objectively place them in any order, so I’m listing them by my favorites.

Available on: Disney+  

4) Star Trek: Prodigy

This show taught me to love Star Trek again.  Everything from the voice work, to the animation, to the story is an absolute treat.  The easter eggs aren’t heavy handed, but will excite you trekkies when you see them, and the plot kept me fully excited and engaged all season long.

Available on: Paramount+

3) Amphibia

Another show we said goodbye to this year, the series finale had me in tears.  I just love these characters so much.  Everyone should watch this show, especially if they want something more from the property, and the defictionalized Marcy’s Journal hinted at some interesting future possibilities...

Available on: Disney+

2) Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous

Another show that we said goodbye to this year, Season 5 was an excellent close to the series, especially following the slightly weaker season 4.  The epilogue hinted at the possibility for further hijinks with these characters, and I hope we get them.  This is my favorite entry in a Movie Franchise that I already love.

Available on: Netflix

1) Young Justice Phantoms

WOO-HOO!  It’s here!  It’s finally here.  I can finally actually put the show I actually thought was the best of the year on my actual list, instead of just being an “Honorable Mention” like in past years.  This season was an incredible well written roller coaster of character and story arcs, that kept my attention and interest from beginning to end.  I cannot emphasize how good this show.  There was never any question where it was going to fall on my list, unlike the rest of the shows on here.  It was always going to be #1 because it was the best.  Watch it on HBOMAX while you still can, because given what has been happening over there lately, who who knows how long that will be.

Available on: HBOMAX, for now.  

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Specially chosen Pokemon teams for the kids in The Ghost and Molly McGee

I am revisiting one of my favorite franchises as a kid (pokemon) and I have been having fun taking shows I watch on Disney now (plus a couple old ones from Cartoonetwork) and making pokemon teams I think best fit the characters.I started doing this around the time I also started watching TGaMM, and I wanted to do a list for it, but at the time of season 1a coming out I had some ideas for Libby, but was completely stuck on every other character. Particullarly Molly whom from what  could tell would be as enthusiastic with a Pidgy as she would an Alakasam, and as happy with an Alakasam as she would a skunky. 

But now we are half way through season 2, character have been more fleshed out, and I found another pokemon/TGaMM fan who looking ats posts gave me the motivation to go back to work on what I think these characters teams would be (Hey shout out to @slowthypiglordblr​. I tried not to copy your ideas onto my teams, minus one pokemon for Molly that was just to perfect, but you definitely gave me some great inspiration for my structure and to think more about the characters and possible pokemon).

As far as structure goes for TGaMM I am giving each child/teen the total 6 pokemon. Since other characters connections to Molly are so important (she is basically at the center of Brightons support community now) each other character will have 1 pokemon that connects to one of Molly’s to show that friendship. Also I Originally wanted to give Scratch a team of 6 ghosts, given his new rank among the ghosts, but I could not figure out how to swing that. So instead I gave each child 1 ghost type to represent Scratch and the effect he has, be it directly or indirectly in the case of Andrea, had on heir lives.

Teams are Below. I am also trying something new with the pictures

Molly McGee

Haunter: I give @slowthypiglordblr​ credit for thinking up Molly and Haunter first. Haunter is the perfect blend of silly and powerful for Molly. it’s right in the middle of a really amazing evolution line, and its nearly scratch shaped. So Haunter is Molly’s ghost pokemon

Sylveon: Here was another pick I felt was a pretty clear chose for Molly. Sylveon is a fairy type eeveevolution that represents companionship and intertwining, both of which are very important to Molly.

Alolan Muk: I really wanted to give Molly a rainbow pokemon. She slides down one in the theme song, and all things rainbows symbolize color, creativity, peace, love, the storm/flood being over... all things Molly could get behind. Alolan Muk’s colors and the rhinestone rocks surrounding its mouth do kinda look like a tween girls attempt at making Kanto Muk’s pretty, though I still wasn’t sure about Molly having a poison type. Then I read that Alolan Muk’s do not give off the foul stenches Kanto Muk’s do, and that you can feed them your trash instead of throwing it into dumps/landfills. So having one is in a way environmental. Boom

Gossifleur: I had to give “enhappifying” Molly a flower pokemon. Tat was a given the question was just which one: Sunflora? Belossom? Flabebe perhaps? Well after spending hours online going through all the flower pokemon I found Gossifleur! It is super colorful and cheery looking, its musical, and its pollen apparently has healing effects when made into tea for children or the elderly. a community service, “enhappifying”, pokemon all around. ...There is also a fourth reason I picked it, but that will be mentioned down on Ollie’s team list.

Gurdurr: Molly does show a liking for construction, such as when she organized the town rebuilding the Mega Dome. So I a giving her a pokemon that is based around construction. I will go with the second evolution on this one too. Molly is undoubtably very skilled in this field. But I bet their is still more she could learn and do. 

Plusel: A bright,cute, cheerleader mouse, with a great big plus sign on it. Already a great pokemon for Molly who again might as well be her towns official cheerleader with her quest to “enhappify the people of Brighton”. Also I will go ahead and say right here that it is her and Libby’s connection pokemon. Libby is Minun’s trainer.

Molly’s Team: Haunter, Sylveon, Alolan Muk, Gossifleur, Gurdurr, Plusel

Daryl McGee

(little note here I comprised his team entirely of prankster pokemon)

Gastly: Darryl’s Ghost pokemon. Also his and Molly’s connection pokemon. I like the Idea of Darryl’s Gastly being the younger sibling to Molly’s Haunter too.

Spinarack: We know Darryl has a pet spider, so i looked into Spider pokemon. I think he would appreciate Spinerack’s more creepy design. Pus its webbing can apparently be sold as facial product or bandages, which I could see Darryl getting into since he does have some marketing/business interests.

Whimscotte: Darryl’s one evolution pokemon (Hey he would still be a pretty new trainer). One of the pokemon worlds more notorious prankster Whimscotte apparently loves to sneak into buildings and rearrange peoples furniture or leave rooms covered in cotton. This Really sounds like a pokemon Daryl could have fun with

Nicket & Klefki: At this point these are pretty standard pokemon for me to give troublemakers. Nicket likes to swipe things, and Klefki collects keys that can help its trainer sneak into closed off places. Shenanigans ensure

Grookey: Well of course I mischief making kid would need a little monkey sidekick. I picked Grookey due primary due to its hyper and curios nature, matching Darryl. Also it can hit things outside with its stick and make them better, so people cannot get mad at Daryl for it doing so.

Darrly’s Team: Gastley Spinarack, Whimscotte, Nicket, Klefki, Grookey

Libby Stien-Torres

Alright So we all know Libby’s favorite animal and trademark is the Turtle. Season 2 confirms that she has a total of 4 pet turtles. I tried to do 4 turtle pokemon, but with a 6 pokemon max , and other pokemon her team needed the most I had room for where 3. Libby’s three poke turtles are Torkoal, Chewtle  and Grotle. Grotle is at a higher evolution than Chewtle because It was Libby’s caught first. It’s both big enough for Libby to hide behind when she gets scared, and grows delicious berries. Torkoal of course does not evolve.

Lickwit: This is gonna be Libby’s ghost pokemon. I think she would be interested in its lore. Also she is a writer and I love the idea of Lickwit shining its flame on Libby as he she stays up late into the night working on her stories.

Goodra: The ace of Libby’s team and probably her first pokemon (from before she developed her turtle interest). I recently watched a lot of Pokemon XY(Z) and I love Goodra. Goodra’s shy, meek, but still friendly nature reminds me of Libby. I also like that Goodra is a decently powerful pokemon that started from a dragon type the pokedex says is considered weak. This also kinda reflects Libby since in her early episodes she seems like this scared and helpless girl, but as we see in episodes such as howling Harriet there is definet strength in just how much “X-factor” she posses.

Minun: Libby is not a cheerleader, but she could definitely use one to help boost her self-esteem. Also it again is her connecting pokemon to Molly, who is Plusel’s trainer.

Libby’s Team: Torkal, Squirtle, Grotle, Lickwit, Goodra, Minun

Andrea Davenport

side post here. When I did TOH I also said what I thought each character would be in the world of pokemon: Trainer, gym leader, cordinator, breader, etc.. After the owl house I decided that was too much work and stopped doing that. I am gonna dip back into that old rend with Andrea ntd say she is a showcaser/video maker like Serena. Some of these picks are chosen with that in mind

FurFrou: Furfrou is a shaggy poodle like pokemon that is popular in the Kalos region because people like to trim and dye its fur, then decorate it with cute accessories for fashion shows. That is easily something I could imagine Andrea getting into and being very good at.

Alolan Vulpix: This is one pokemon I could really see Andrea loving because it’s just so cute, fluffy, and exotic. It’s also her connection pokemon to Molly, since I gave them both Alolan pokemon. Muk and Vulpix are not as closely connected as other pokemon on these lists. But Molly also isn’t as close personally with Andrea as she is others on this list. So it is what it is.

Geodude: She love rocks and geodes right? So here is a living Geode for her to train.

Frostlass: This is going to be Andrea’s ghost pokemon. I picked it for its beauty and dramatics. If she wanted to shoot more horror based videos Frostlass would be a great big star

Corsola: it’s cute, feminine,tough, and apparently you can make pretty jewelry or light chimes out of its shed spikes. That’s another thing I think Andrea would have a lot of fun dong

Pichu: The pikachu line is one of the most post/meme able lines in pokemon, and Pichu is the adorable baby of it. So yes Andrea’s social media page is littered with pics of Pichu to score cuteness points. It also the only pikachu clone to evolve, and has notably more color to it than Andrea’s other pokemon. This is intentional, as to reflect the evolution Andrea’s character is taking within the show, and how she as a character becomes more colorful as the show goes on.

Andrea’s team: Furfrou, Alolan Vulpix, Geodude, Frostlas, Corsola, Pichu

Ollie Chen

(My main goal with him was to give him a team that represented him, and was also different from Molly’s,because while I know they have similar interests they are different characters)

Pancham: I gave him this Panda pokemon to represent his Chinese-America Heritage.

Chimecho: Ollie also really likes music and positivity in his community. Well Chimecho is a beautiful and soothing music pokemon that cheers up anybody who listen to its song

Cutiefly: This is his connecting pokemon to Molly. Cutie is what she thinks he is. Plus apparently are pollinators particularly drawn to Gossifluer, so the pair have symbiotic relationships. Ollie’s cutiefly is at the same evolution Level as Molly’s Gossifluer so that they can train and evolve them together.

Swoobat: Ollie is a research specialist. So that means he is good at searching information, and tracking...objectives down. Searching and tracking got me thinking about bats and their sonar and locating abilities. I gave Ollie Swoobat because it is blue and has fluffy hair.

Poochyena: Ollie is from a family of Ghost hunters, who are all terrified of Ghosts. So since Dark types have an advantage over ghosts, it makes sense to me that they would all have at least one dark type, to protect them in their fight against ghosts. Poochyena/Mightyena are honestly my favorite dark types. I gave Ollie Poochyena because it’s still a young dog and like Ollie is fully capable of learning new tricks, cough*not all ghosts are the enemy*cough.

Pumkaboo (smallest version): I thought really hard on Ollie’s ghost type. He is still unlearning his preconceived notion that all ghosts are evil and scary. So I wanted to go with a more duel typing half ghost pokemon. I am also taking into account 2x08 where he manages to befriend the ghost girl in the video store and as apposed to trapping her helps her finish her unfinished and cross over.

Pumkaboo’s lore says it houses the spirits of those trying to cross over. It is a ghost/grass type mix, so not full ghost. I am giving him the smallest of its four sizes, partially to make it as non threatening as I can, and partially so it will be small enough for Ollie to have an easier time hiding while the McGee’s help the rest of his family come around to ghosts.

Ollie’s Team: Pancham, Chimecho, Cutiefly, Swootbat, Poochyena, Pumkaboo.

Juniper (June) Chen

So the rest of season 2 finally came onto DisneyPlus, Junipers is made aware of the existence of Scratch and other “Good Ghosts”, and I know have enough on her character to give her a team of six pokemon.

Umbreon; Like I mentioned with her older brother , due to the Chen’s fear of ghosts i think they would all have at least 1 dark type pokemon. Since my rules up top state one of her pokemon has to have a similarity to one of Molly’s I decided on giving June an Umbreon, so they both had eeveelutions

joltik: She is a high tech wizz, who likes bugs. Joltik is a electric/bug-type pokemon that liks to cling to machines and tech to recharge itself. June’s joltik is likely one that snuck into her house and climbed onto one of her inventions. Also Darry has a Spinnarack, and since her and Darryl are good friends then I can say spider pokemon are a connection pokemon with them.

Pidgey: Aviation is another large area of interest for our girl, so she needed a bird pokemon. I picked pidgey, since it is a really docile little bird that would not give her any trouble to catch and train, and as she trains it it will evolve into a bigger and stronger aviary.

Goomy: an obvious pokemon for June. From what I have seen of her in episodes she loves things that are squishy and gelatinous in texture, so of course she would want a blob pokemon.I do not see June as a ditto or grmer/muk trainer. Goomy however, with its sticky invertebrate forum, natural stealth skills, dragon typing, and awesome evolution line is a great fit. Plus she could talk to Libby on how to train/evolve it and i really wish those two got more scenes together.

Jigglypuff: This one is a little harder to explain. But I wanted to take June’s autism into consideration and give her pokemon that could help aid her when things pop up that could cause sensory overload. wiki says she is sensitive to loud noises. So I tried to think of a more quiet and soothing sounding pokemon. I thought about jigglypuff, It is basically a softy, puggy, non popable balloon. June could pet it if she statred to get overwhelmed. If someone was really bothering June it could put them to sleep for her. Also if she got really overstimulated and needed to just disconnect to rest and recharge Jigglypuff could help her calm down enough to take a short nap. I basically I wanted her to have a comfort pokemon, while also giving her a secondary one to use in battle apart from Umbreon.

Phantump: Here is her mandatory ghost pokmon, which she caught/bonded with after being introduced to the concept of not all ghosts being evil, and deciding she wanted to know more about them. I gave her a phantump because I do not think she would be to scared of a  woodland ghost who’s big goal in its afterlife is just to keep making friends. Also it goes with her older brothers pumkaboo.

Since the Chen parents are still scared of ghosts and phantump is a little harder to keep out of sight/pretend is a toy than Ollies mini pumkaboo Phantump for now lives in a tree that is at school or more likely in the Mcgee’s yard. Juniper visits it regularly/frequently. She really thinks her parents would like Phantump if only her and Ollie can first manage to convince them that not all ghosts are bad like the one her Dad met as a kid.

[thefinalboss387]

Okay so I am currently watching through Black Sails for the first time and

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE THEIR PORTRAYAL OF EDWARD “BLACKBEARD” TEACH

Gonna explain why under the cut. And also ask some questions that people who know a lot about pirates and/or are familiar with other great pirate shows/movies can hopefully answer for me!

Before I go any further, I want to preface everything by saying that I just finished season 4, episode 5 today. It’s my first time watching the show (so please don’t spoil anything beyond that episode for me), and so far I can happily say it is one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen. I’m SO impressed with the layers and depth of the story, how literally EVERY action has consequences (even the ones you don’t expect), etc. This show has all the political intrigue and power dynamics of Game of Thrones, without the noticeable decline that show unfortunately had. Season 4 has been AMAZING so far and I don’t expect the next half of the season to disappoint me. I’m genuinely starting to get a little sad that I’m so close to the end, because... NOW WHAT???

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SHOW UP TO SEASON 4 EPISODE 5

My only real experience with pirate fiction or history at all before this show was really Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan. Even Treasure Island I’m largely unfamiliar with - I remember watching the Muppet version as a kid, I loved Treasure Planet but admittedly haven’t seen it in decades, and I barely remember either version, but yeah. I was recently in a pirate mood after that new Peter Pan movie came out on Disney+, Googled recommendations for a good pirate show, and Black Sails was the top of that list. And BOY am I glad I gave it a shot!!!

In particular, I found myself REALLY drawn to the character of Blackbeard. He showed up pretty late in the story so obviously I have a lot of other favorites as well, but he won me over VERY quickly. I’m at a point in my watch through where Teach is now dead, and unless he keeps coming back in Miranda-style visions (doubtful), I thiiiiink I’ve seen his entire story and am at a place where I can comfortably talk about his character arc?

Honestly, my only complaint is that I wish we saw more of him. He only ultimately shows up for like maybe 10 episodes, but MAN what a presence he brought with him!! As soon as he first showed up in that cabin being confronted by his ex-wife’s angry family, I was excited. He was played by the late RAY STEVENSON!!! I’ve only seen that particular actor in one other role, but he was my favorite Dexter villain BY FAR, so I knew he’d kill the role. I’m also super excited to see him in the upcoming Ahsoka show, but that’s neither here nor there lol. I feel like Teach’s overall lack of screentime hurts his chances of landing himself in my “favorite characters of all time” list, but I need time to digest the show for a bit before I decide on things like that. Because in the limited time we DO get with him, he hits all the right buttons for me!

I know Blackbeard is a super-famous real life pirate, and that he shows up a lot in popular fiction, but the only real knowledge I have of the man is what we saw in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. His portrayal in that movie was.... fine? I didn’t dislike him, but he definitely didn’t impress me either. He was a serviceable villain in a franchise that has had way better and more effective villains.

I work with kids, I serve as a mentor figure to them, and honestly my mission is to be the adult I wished I had in my life when I was a kid. Mentor/mentee, parent/child, “found family” relationships are something I LOVE to explore in fiction. Since I also tend to love villains, a lot of my FAVORITE fictional characters of all time are villains that explore a more toxic, dark side of those mentor relationships.

What I love about this portrayal of Blackbeard, primarily, is his relationship with Charles Vane. Despite how dangerous and arguably toxic both men are, their relationship was surprisingly sweet.

Blackbeard is a SCARY dude, and he very quickly establishes himself and makes it clear that he hates how soft and docile pirate society has become in his absence, and immediately goes about building a crew of hardened badasses that violently prove their worth to him. Yet, everything about his relationship with Vane is empathetic, understanding, and gentle.

Now, obviously, Vane is one of the most hardened and badass characters in the show. It’s easy to see why someone like Blackbeard would take a liking to someone like Vane. He grows to see Vane as a son, and despite the betrayals Vane puts him through, Teach never holds it against him, never lifts a finger to harm him, and even passionately seeks to avenge his death after the fact. His absence for literally half of the show’s run is because Vane betrayed him and exiled him, and in his words, he left because he would’ve had to kill Vane if he stayed.

He reveals, privately, to his lover that he is slowly dying from shrapnel in his chest, and wants to cement a legacy for himself through Vane - a fact that he never actually TELLS Vane or anyone else because he doesn’t want to manipulate or guilt him. Everything about Teach’s motivations revolved around Vane. But even beyond that, he grows something of a mentor-y dynamic with Jack Rackham after Vane’s death, and it’s implied that he took Israel Hands under his wing before Vane. He is entirely driven by his need for a son, even if that son is not biological -- after Vane’s betrayal, he laments that only God makes sons. As someone who also really wants to be a parent, and has a lot of mentor relationships instead, I really relate to that sentiment and feel the heartbreak behind it.

I genuinely love his style. A brilliant tactician, yet so ruthless and violent in a fight. I loved that he would be sword fighting people, only to randomly pull out a gun and shoot his opponents in the face. I loved his death scene and his utter defiance right until the very end. He wasn’t looking to make a statement, or inspire a riot, he just wanted to fuck with his murderer and ruin his moment.

So, I have a question for the pirate enthusiasts out there. How accurate is this version of Teach? Did he have this tendency to take people under his wing and mentor them despite his ferocity? Are there other fictional portrayals of him out there that have that quality to him? Even in Pirates of the Caribbean, he was pretty notable for the relationship he had with Angelica, who may or may not have been his daughter, but how genuine and caring that relationship was is left pretty ambiguous from both sides.

Either way, Black Sails is really sparking my interest in pirates in general! I recently purchased Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on Steam, and plan to play that very soon. I went and downloaded the shows Crossbones and Our Flag Means Death, but haven’t started watching them yet. I downloaded the anime One Piece, but am unsure when/if I want to watch it because holy crap it’s a huge commitment haha. It also occurs to me that I should probably read/watch Treasure Island, but I am fully aware that the pirate characters are two-dimensional villains without any of the complexity or nuance of Black Sails, so that’s disappointing. I know almost nothing about any of those above shows/anime/movies/games though so I’m in for a ride!!

But, my pirate enthusiast friends, another question: Any other great pirate media out there I should go consume?? I already know I’m going to miss this show when it’s over so I’m already starting to look for the next thing to watch to keep myself busy!

[epickiya722]

they’re going to do china (and dara renee) dirty i fear :( disney used them for promotion, but it’s assumed they won’t have many scenes. china confirmed on live her scenes are minor.. i feel bad for her because she expressed promoting was uncomfortable for her in the first place (bc grief maybe)

Oh, how I feel the same, Anon.

I don't even blame China for feeling uncomfortable. I don't care what anyone says, she deserves a break, to be left alone and not bashed anymore by certain people.

I wouldn't even be surprised if Disney did do them dirty. Disappointed, but definitely not surprised.

Given the supposed plot of the film, Uma doesn't even have to be involved, but given that she is a very popular character (possibly the most popular) and Disney knows that, she was going to be written in to drawn in fans to watch the film. They're banking on that. At most, they're gonna have an Uma cameo. Which would suck because if they really want to please the fans, give my girl a whole musical sequence, give her half the time of the movie.

Let's be honest, without Uma, without China's amazing performance as Uma, the franchise would not be that big of a succession.

That's not to say everyone else didn't do that great of a job or their characters aren't as good as her. But let's just be real here.

Uma is a big hit. Almost everyone has her a favorite character. If that wasn't true, Disney wouldn't be using her for the next film. (If you somehow don't like Uma, I don't trust you, just saying. Don't care to hear the reasons why.)

And oh, I have thoughts for Dara, too!

Disney already done her dirty by giving her a role that practically doesn't make sense.

From my understanding, wasn't Dara first casted to be Chloe Charming? A princess?!

Even though the film is now called "Rise of Red", we know Chloe has a big part. But why isn't Dara playing her? Why isn't this black girl who is amazingly talented playing a princess who has a big role? Why did they cast Dara to play Ulyanna, Ursula's sister (who never has been mentioned before they just made her up for the movie when URSULA ALREADY HAS A SISTER, but I forgot! The series is supposedly ignoring sequels of the animated films) and a villain who most likely has a minor role in this film?

To me, it's just Disney's way "catering to representation but not wanting to cater too much". "You're in the movie. Be happy with that."

Note how when they cast black women and girls as characters in Descendants. They're all villainous, antagonistic in some way. Celia was someone who didn't have an "antagonistic" role really, granted because she is a child, but they advertised her as such and she did something bad, throwing the ember in water. (Which honestly, I chuckled at. I say let Celia have that because she was lied to. Have a great relationship with her dad and she was lied to. Shaking my head.)

Watch, they're gonna have Brandy's Cinderella be some neglectful mother or something. Or some bratty teen during their high school years. Hope I'm wrong about that.

[an-indecisive-mess]

Finding Alex: An Adventures in Disney Prequel

A long time ago, long before Frankie ever became Disney’s Guardian or even visited the world of magic, when she was only twelve years old, a big change had happened for the young girl. Well, for her and her friend Pearl. At the time, their friend Alejandra had gone through major surgery. Months prior to the operation, Alejandra had told Frankie and Pearl that she was to undergo a surgical procedure that was sure to make Alejandra who she was really meant to be. So, the surgery wasn’t anything too serious, but it was something that would end up changing the trio’s friendship in a significant way. And finally, the day had come for Frankie and Pearl’s friend to finally be released from the hospital after months of recovery.

Frankie and Pearl waited in the hospital waiting room with nervous feelings and a bouquet of flowers to welcome back their friend. It had been quite the few months since the three managed to get together, for Alejandra’s moms wanted to keep their child’s appearance a surprise for the two girls. Pearl was excited more than anything, but Frankie? Frankie was more nervous than anything.

“What happens if-” Frankie began to worry.

“We’ll know who it is when we see them.” Pearl assured her. “Honestly. We’re smart enough to recognize our friend after major surgery.”

“I hope so.” Frankie said before grumbling a negative thought. “I just hope no one from school makes fun. Especially stupid Ty and Vincent.”

“What do we do if they do?” Pearl asked.

“Kick ‘em in the balls.” Frankie stated more confidently. “No one…” 

““Treats our friend so shamefully!”” the girls quoted Jack Skellington in unison before erupting in laughter.

“We would hope so.” a voice interrupted.

Frankie and Pearl got scared looks before seeing two women standing behind them. Frankie instantly knew that the women, one dressed in a fancy pantsuit while the other wore a knee length red dress with a thick black belt, to be Alejandra’s mothers. Which meant that their friend was now released from hospital custody.

“How did it go?” Pearl asked eagerly as she handed the bouquet to Mrs. Santiago.

Frankie nodded in agreement. “Is-?” 

Mrs. Santiago and Mrs. Gutierrez gave each other an excited smile before looking back towards the girls. And as if they had rehearsed this, both women walked to either side of the hall to reveal someone behind them. A young yet very familiar boy with recently cut and very wild hair wearing a shirt with the old A New Hope poster printed on it. The boy gave the girls a nervous yet excited smile as he shyly waved at them.

“Hey, guys.” he greeted them.

Both girls had surprised looks on their faces before the surprise quickly turned to glee and before the boy knew it, Frankie and Pearl immediately ran towards him with a warm and very welcoming hug.

“You look amazing!” Pearl told the boy.

“Yeah! I mean- Wow! Look at you!” Frankie added when she broke off the hug to get a better look at her friend. “This is a good look for you.”

“Thanks, Frankie.” the boy smiled largely. “That means a lot.”

“Okay, real talk right now, dude.” Pearl began to say. “Have you picked out a new name yet? ‘Cause, Frankie and I have been brainstorming ever since you told us about transitioning.”

“Okay,” the boy’s expression turned into a mischievous one. “Let’s hear them.”

Frankie and Pearl each gave the other an excited look before they both began listing out all the names they’ve thought of for their friend. And boy, was that list a very, very long and well-calculated one. 

“Pearl wanted us to start off simple. Like Hispanic and/or Latino names.” Frankie began. “José, Victor, Hugo, Miguel, Héctor, Ernesto, Felipe, Oscar, Julio, Enrique, Javier-”

“And we got Luke, Han, Lando, Anakin, Mace, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Poe, Finn, Ben, Ezra, and Kanan.” Pearl added, listing names from the boy’s favorite film franchise. “And this is only half of the list. We haven’t even gotten to the full alphabetized version yet.”

“Which, I made and even drew little drawings of the ones we thought sounded cool!” Frankie finished excitedly as she dug into her pocket and grabbed said list.

“Actually, girls.” Mrs. Gutierrez spoke. “He’s had one picked out for a while.”

“And we’re sorry to say that none of those names are even remotely close.” Mrs. Santiago added.

“Oh…” Frankie’s face dropped into an awkward expression before shoving the list back into her pocket.

“Then what is it?” Pearl asked.

The boy took a deep breath and introduced himself. “I am now called Alexandro Manuel Santiago-Gutierrez. But you guys can call me Alex.”

So, if you remember from my Adventures in Disney story, at the very end was a facts chapter. And in that chapter, there was a part in it where I stated that one of Frankie's friends, Alex, was originally planned to be a female character but was changed to be male last minute. So, I headcanoned him as being a trans character. And yeah, I probably should've mentioned it somewhere in the story, but I honestly didn't think it would've mattered. Alex is, are, and be a ftm trans character, no matter what. This little short story was supposed to basically be what happened after Alex's transition, and how Frankie and Pearl were so excited and so accepting of Alex after he fully transitioned and wanted to show their support by fully ditching his dead name and pronouns, and even tried coming up with names for him to use.

I hope I did a decent enough job with this story and Alex's transition. If I didn't, I'm sorry if I missed something or got something wrong. Please let me know, and happy transgender day of visibility 🏳️‍⚧️!

[ordinaryschmuck]

The Mess of the DCEU-Chapter One: Rough Beginnings

Salutations. I’m an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories, reviews, and all that other yada-yada.

*Sighs* You know, say what you want about the MCU, but it at least started with an innovative idea. They wanted to make an interconnected universe of movies and TV shows that brought Marvel’s characters to life and tell an ongoing story that would lead to all these characters working together to stop a great evil. It wasn’t good ALL the time, but MOST of the time, it was. It told great stories, had cool action scenes, and introduced general audiences to superheroes they never heard of before. It might be a shadow of its former self NOWADAYS, but within those first ten years, the MCU accomplished something other studios could only DREAM to do. Unfortunately, innovation often breeds IMITATION, with the MCU’s success leading to people thinking “Oh, in order to make bank, we need to make cinematic universes too!” This led to several attempts to make interconnected universes and franchises, with studios desperately trying to copy the MCU’s homework without understanding how it did everything right. And there was no mess that tried way too hard and failed even harder than the DC Extended Universe. DCEU, for short.

Where the MCU succeeded in its ten years, the DCEU fumbled and grasped at any straw they could because they wanted to make something not out of innovation but competition…Well, for the most part. You COULD argue there were creators that wanted to make something that will help the DCEU stand out from the MCU, telling stories with a different tone and style that made the universe more unique. But the STUDIO wanted the MCU killer, which led to constant interference with creators and their visions, dozens of reshoots and rewrites, and so many bad decisions that killed the DCEU as soon as it started. How? Well, let’s go over it through phases, starting with the rough beginnings of this mess of a universe. 

In this period, Warner Bros wanted the DCEU to be a BIG hit with general audiences so they can catch up with Disney/Marvel. The problem is that they weren’t patient enough to lay out the groundwork of a cinematic universe and allow a clear, concrete story to be SLOWLY told over time. It’s like they bought this LEGO set and wanted to make it look exactly as it did on the box, but decided to toss the instruction guide away and start building at random. The results, as you’d imagine, weren’t pretty. And, to  be fair, it wasn’t HORRIBLE right away…depending on who you ask.

Spoilers down below

Man of Steel

DC’s first movie in this cinematic catastrophe was divisive among fans, general audiences, and critics. Some LOVED it, stating that it’s the best Superman movie, to this day. Others say they hated it, saying it ruined Superman as a character and it should be TOSSED into the sun. And while I wouldn’t say it’s THAT bad, it’s not…AMAZING either.

It should be worth noting that I’m not a particular fan of Zack Snyder’s style. He has his fans (Who act more like a fucking CULT), but it’s clear that his style doesn’t reach out for everyone and it doesn’t for me. Not…ALL of the time, anyways. For one, I don’t like the colors he uses. The rusty oranges, the stormy blues, the DARK BLACKS. It all just makes his movies look ugly to me, with people justifying it by saying these colors set the tone for a dark, edgy universe. And I don’t care what justification there is, if I don’t want to look at your movie, you’ve already failed the visual medium.

Then there’s his glorification of death and violence. Like, yeah, the neanderthal in the back of my brain can’t help but think of how cool it looks when Superman is throwing Zod and his goons into buildings and making shockwaves as they trade blows, but I can’t help but think of the people in those buildings and how wrong it feels watching our HERO drag the villain’s face across a skyscraper that collapses. You can say that it’s realistic for a Superman starting out to cause this much destruction, but it doesn’t stop how weird it feels watching him actively cause more of it instead of trying harder to steer Zod AWAY from the city they’re destroying. Just keep throwing him into space! You did it once, just keep doing it!

And this leads me to my last, BIGGEST problem with Zack’s style: He’s motivated more by what looks COOL. Why does the camera constantly zoom into one shot? Because it looks cool. Why does Superman destroy a city he’s trying to save? Because it looks cool. Why does Krypton look like an amalgamation of other sci-fi stuff, including birds from Avatar, genesis pods from The Matrix, and probably some secret third thing? Because those movies looked cool and they would make HIS movie look cool. And yeah. It IS cool. But after a while, when you catch onto it and THINK on it, it makes you wonder if any of it is really necessary.

Now, to be fair to Zack, there ARE some good stuff. I think Jor-El is handled well as an anti-thesis for Zod. The action, while unnecessarily violent, DOES look awesome and I do like the detail that Superman leaves soundwaves when he hits something that can take as much as he gives. It helps show the POWER of this character, and I think Zack understands well just how powerful Superman is. As for how Superman’s portrayed, I think he’s…mostly good. I love that our introduction to Clark Kent is him saving lives. That’s the best possible way to introduce us to him, and Henry Cavil does well enough sometimes in portraying the character. He looks the part, his voice matches how I hear Superman’s when reading comics, and there’s the occasional twinkle in his eye when speaking…Occasional. Not all the time. 

This brings me to the main issue with this movie: This is not the best portrayal of Superman. Zack Snyder went about  making a more realistic version of the character. One that’s more messy, is less of a boy scout, and can’t find an easy solution because it’s how Superman would exist in real life. And I am sick to DEATH of superheroes movies that try to go the realistic route. SOMETIMES it works, and you get something amazing like the Daredevil TV Series or The Dark Knight. Heck, you could argue that the first Iron Man movie is realistic, having Tony slowly build a suit and testing out each function while negating the suit’s more comic accurate craziness. I mean, the thing doesn’t even have roller blades, for crying out loud…Yeah, that’s a thing. Look it up.

But while a realistic superhero story works for SOME characters, it shouldn’t work for ALL of them, with Superman being the one you want to steer clear from being realistic.The guy shaves his face with his own heat vision because normal razors can’t even cut his beard. That’s a character that works best at being the most fantastical as possible. But if you WANT to make the character more realistic, then fine. Do it. Just as long as the character’s spirit is intact. Because superheroes change a lot, going through different phases and personalities due to the current writer at the helm. The best changes are the ones that offer different perspectives to the character, breathing new life into them, while still keeping their spirit alive. For example, the MCU may have made changes to Tony Stark’s origins and made him famous as the hero who revealed his identity to the world in an INSTANT, but the spirit of the tortured, cocky genius is alive in every appearance. Making Superman act more direct, having him actively break stuff for justice, and wearing a suit that lacks all forms of color is just…not Superman. He’s this bright, happy guy who you can go up and strike up a conversation with. A beacon of hope that shows the best side of humanity even if he’s not exactly human. Yes, there are days when he’s angry and destructive, but that’s only when he’s pushed past his limits and has no other choice but to go against how Ma and Pa Kent raised him to be. To go against that in his FIRST appearance feels like Zack’s shooting his shot too soon. We don’t get that much of an insight into the joyful boy scout Superman has been for decades, so by starting out with him being…not that leaves the impression that this is just how this version of Superman acts. There was never a chance for this character to be hopeful, which would be tragic if that was intentional. But for all I know, Zack did it because he thought it’d be cooler.

For all it’s worth, Man of Steel isn’t the WORST Superman movie, but it fails to grasp just what makes Superman the greatest superhero ever conceived. Zack still made a cool looking action movie that was entertaining if you don’t think about how many people died when Superman saved the day. Anything other than that? Let’s just say I hope James Gunn understands the character better.

However, as bad as this movie got, it had an audience. People loved it and were willing to see more. So, in a way, it’s not the worst start to a franchise.

No…That would be the NEXT movie.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

…We all have that one movie that makes us angry. A movie that we could all rip apart because of how much it does wrong and personally pisses us off. A movie that clearly wasn’t made for us in mind, but doesn’t change the fact that, no matter what people will say, we’ll NEVER like it. THIS? This is MY movie…

POSITIVES FIRST: I like Wonder Woman’s entrance. The badass guitar riff never fails to get me pumped up and it instantly sold me on this version of the character. I like Batman’s suit. The small pointy ears, the beefy bat symbol, and the bulkiness of it all makes for a suit that screams BATMAN. And I really like that warehouse fight. You know, if I pretend that Batman ISN’T killing people in that, it’s a pretty awesome fight scene that shows how badass Batman is…And that’s it. Yeah, I can count on ONE HAND the things that I like about this movie. As for the things I don’t like? Let’s just say I’m genuinely trying to hold myself back from ripping this film a new one for the sake of time.

Remember how I said that Henry Cavil showed moments of that glimmer in Superman’s eye and the nice guy that he is? Yeah, that’s completely erased in this one. This Superman is damn near detached from any sense of joy and optimism, where if he isn’t feeling anger, he’s as emotionless as a plank of wood. The man will stand in the middle of a room that was blown to hell, and his reaction looked like he farted in church. There’s no shock, fear, or even sadness over the lives that died around him. He’s just standing there with an expression of “Oh, that sucks.” And when he DOES feel  sad AFTER THE FACT, it feels like he’s holding back what he should be feeling. Superman, as a character, is one who wears his emotions on his sleeve, yet he can’t even cry in front of his girlfriend, his true love, the woman he shares everything with. Don’t just show me a Superman that’s all powerful and can’t be broken easily. Show me a Superman that’s HUMAN!

As for the rest of his cast of supporting characters, let’s just say that Zack Snyder doesn’t seem to care much about Superman’s mythos other than Superman being the most powerful being in DC’s universe. Jimmy Olson, Superman’s best pal that’s his confidant and as important to him as Robin is to Batman? He gets a bullet in his brain upon being introduced. Martha Kent, Clark’s mother who made him the man he is? She’s relegated to a plot device that’s used to make Clark feel better and bring peace to Batman and Superman (Oh, we’ll get to THAT later…). At least Lois Lane has some plot importance. Yeah, she gets a whole subplot where she discovers that–LE GASP–Lex Luthor is the bad guy! Good job, Lois! You did something the other two meatheads could have done if they weren’t too busy planning on how to kill each other! But at least it’s something semi-important. Goodness knows you couldn’t do anything else like give this information to Clark to help investigate instead of focussing on Batman or getting a fucking STICK out of some water! But, hey, at least you figured out Lex Luthor was the bad guy…just in time for him to throw you off the roof so Superman can save you and learn that information for himself. Not from you. Because YOU’VE DONE NOTHING! NOTHING! You are as useless as a semicolon! Any purpose you bring doesn’t mean shit when there are two more important things to use, you worthless–I’m getting mad…I’m getting mad…Let’s just move on…

Lex Luthor. He sucks too. It goes without saying that Jesse Eisenberg doesn’t really nail the cold, captivating, and easily threatening villain that is modern Lex Luthor. Even the campiness of early Golden Age Lex Luthor felt like more of a threat than this skinny little man-child who likes sticking Jolly Ranchers into the mouth of one government official and sending a jar full of piss to another. I have no idea how ANYONE could be threatened by this “villain,” who acts more pathetic than intimidating. As for his intelligence? Pfft. I used to think that his plans were stupidly complicated, now I realize that they’re complicatedly stupid. He wants to either frame Superman for murder or kill him. Except that when it comes to framing Superman, Lex Luthor leaves behind so much evidence that someone as pointless as Lois Lane could have picked up on it. As for killing him? He plans to bring out Doomsday, a creature too powerful and stupid to control that even IF it killed Superman…what happens next? What could stop this monster from going on a rampage and causing more destruction than Superman ever could? And the crazy part is that Doomsday is Plan B! Plan A was having Superman and Batman fight, something that Lex considers a win-win situation. Because if Superman wins, he’s framed as murdering a man in cold blood. And if Batman wins, then Superman is dead. It SOUNDS smart…until you realize that Batman is a crazed vigilante who branded criminals so they could die in jail. There should have been NO CHANCE for Batman to successfully kill Superman. Even if he had Kryptonite handy, there was no guarantee that Batman would win. And if and when Superman won, he would have killed a crazed maniac that some people would have been happy to see gotten rid of. I mean, if they already hate Superman killing innocent people, why would they hate him for killing someone insane? To quote a hero from the RIVAL COMPANY, Lex, “Not a great plan.”

And SPEAKING OF Batman…Zack Snyder screwed up. This isn’t the great detective who values life because of the ones he lost, to the point he would NEVER kill the Joker, not even on a bad day. No, no, no, this is a meathead who would sooner punch first, think later, and kill anybody who gets in his way. “But those people aren’t innocent–” Doesn’t matter! Okay?! It doesn’t matter what screwed up shit these people have done, Batman’s not the one to pull the trigger. He’s not even one to use a GUN! Guns killed his parents and it is a weapon he is so venomously against, large in part that he doesn’t trust himself to use one nonlethally! To have a Batman that kills goes against the core of the character. So why does Zack have Batman kill people in his movie? Because it looks cool. Wasn’t it cool seeing Batman blow up that car? Wasn’t it cool seeing Batman whip another car like a yo-yo? Wasn’t it cool to see Batman ready to stab Superman with a fucking STICK?! And yes, this is meant to be a Batman that was pushed to his limits due to a long life of fighting crime and the lives lost from it. The tribute to a dead Robin hints at that. But if you START OUT with that Batman, without showing us what he was like BEFORE reaching this point, it tells me that he was ALWAYS like this because there’s barely any evidence to the contrary. And the thing is that I would have actually liked this Batman more if we actually DID spend time getting to know him and seeing what broke him, but we don’t. Why? Because we needed to rush out a cinematic universe and start out with two of DC’s iconic superheroes fighting each other.

This movie came out around the same time as Captain America: Civil War. And to this day, I will forever say that movie did the superhero vs superhero movie better. Say what you want about its quality, but we at least got to KNOW Captain America and Iron Man. We got to KNOW why they’d pick one side and the other, with Iron Man motivated by guilt and Captain America motivated by a selfish desire to save the last connection to his past. And when they fight, it’s heartbreaking because it’s watching two characters you love going against each other. I feel none of that with this Batman and Superman. I barely know either of them, and their reasons for hating each other are vague and hypocritical. They’re not men with opposing viewpoints and morals. They’re both brooding, violent idiots who kill people, and hate the other for being the exact same person.

Plus, most of this movie isn’t focussed on that final showdown! Too much of it is setting up the Justice League and Darksied and all this other stuff that would have worked better if the studio took time to introduce these story threads! Civil War may have introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man into the MCU, but Black Panther went on such a powerful emotional journey that made his character a worthy addition to the story, Spider-Man has a long enough presence to feel like a character even if he’s an over glorified cameo, AND neither of them distract too much from the main conflict. The story is still about Iron Man and Captain America going against each other, showing so many scenes of them at each other’s throats before that final battle. Batman and Superman share ONE scene together, and it’s all we get before their big fight.

And when they DO fight each other, I can’t even appreciate how cool it is because of all these distracting questions in my mind. Like, why doesn’t Superman just hold Batman down and explain the situation? He clearly wants to try and convince him to help Martha and can easily hold him down. There’s even this moment when Superman holds up Batman and has the perfect opportunity to tell him what’s going on…but instead throws him through a building because it looks cool. And if Batman has this kryptonite, why did he waste it on stinkbombs and a FUCKING STICK when he could have used it to make bullets into the turret? There’s this argument that because the Waynes started out as hunters, Batman makes a hunting weapon to better prove himself. Fair argument, but you would think a hunter would have laid out better traps than sonic canons and bullets that do NOTHING!

But oh…we’re not at the worst part yet. All that other stuff…is frustrating, but it’s nowhere near as bad as what happens next. The worst part of this movie is something that’s been made fun of by everyone and their grandma. And that is the fact that the whole reason Batman stops wanting to kill Superman…is that their moms have the same names.

“IT’S NOT–” SHUT UP…Shut up…YES, it is. That IS the exact reason why he stops. People have argued that it’s because this finally proves to Batman that there’s humanity in Superman. It’s proof that he HAS a mom that he cares deeply for, just like Batman does…Except that doesn’t mean shit. Batman already assumed Superman had a mom–EVERYONE had a mom, literally speaking. YOU would not exist if not for some woman giving birth to you. And Batman knows this. He even says that Superman’s parents must have told him that he was meant for great things while swinging him around like a yo-yo! He KNOWS Superman has a mom…It’s just the fact that Superman’s mom is named MARTHA, reminding Batman of HIS mother who died that causes him to stop. The man who says that if there’s even a small percent chance that Superman’s his enemy, he has the moral responsibility to PUT HIM DOWN, gives up the second Superman says “Martha.” A name that 1 out of 4,575 girls, to this day, has. So, guess what, Snyder fans. The reason why Batman doesn’t kill Superman really is because their moms have the same name…GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Ugh…This movie sucks. IT SUCKS! I’m sorry, it does! It’s not the WORST movie ever made–Fucking Freddy Got Fingered exists. THIS is not the worst movie in existence. But so  much of it makes me so angry due to plotholes, disservice to the characters and their mythos, and so much of it oozes with self-importance that it makes me sick. And just me ignoring the little things that tick me off (Why does Jonathon Kent have a different accent from the first movie). It’s a mess of a film that frustrates me to no end, and I really don’t want to see it again. You can’t make me.

But, regardless of how I felt, this movie made BANK. How? Well, either because superhero movies were REALLY big at the time this one came out, some wanted to see if it was as bad as their friend said it was, others wanted to see a bad movie to make fun of it, or were part of the select few who actually liked the movie. Regardless, it WAS a financial hit, so it still sort of justified that the DCEU needed to exist. And they already shoved in that weird Knightmare stuff and introduced the Justice League into a film that already had too much going on, so there was no backing down now. DC was desperate to catch up to Marvel, and they hoped that a movie containing DC’s two biggest characters to help advertise their big, cinematic universe would help. Unfortunately, critics' responses left DC a little scared, and they needed both critics AND general audiences to like their films to keep their money consistent. After all, audiences can eventually get bored rooting for a universe that’s too dark and grim. So, they needed to make some changes…But instead of improving on their mistakes made to set them apart from Marvel…

Suicide Squad

They tried to make a “Soulful Drama” funny so it could be like Guardians of the Galaxy. “Because people loved Guardians of the Galaxy! The talking tree and raccoon were funny! Surely making our movie funny would work too, right?” And trust me when I say that the end result was NOT worth it.

The crazy thing is that I can see BITS AND PIECES of what David Ayer intended. There are moments that seem like they could have worked and were ALMOST good if this movie held onto the same vision that Ayer wanted. There was this nice moment in the staircase between Deadshot and Harley Quinn that makes you think it’s meant to go SOMEWHERE or the backstory with Diablo that makes me think, “Man. If this movie took itself seriously, it might have been good.” Unfortunately, the studio didn’t want a serious movie. They tried that twice, and because Zack Snyder ruined the second try, it led to DC thinking they needed to be funny and exciting, just like Marvel. The end result is taking David Ayer’s movie and trying to make it mimic James Gunn’s style.

Did you know James Gunn likes to use licensed songs in his superhero blockbusters? Because he does. Except when he does it, it’s done with the intent of already having a song in mind and writing the scene around it. He doesn’t just pick a song from an iPod shuffle and insert it into the scene for no reason. Because that’s what I feel like the executives did here. They’re just a bunch of out of touch losers who still had an iPod shuffle in 2016 for some reason, picked random songs, and thought, “Yeah, that makes this scene cool.” It’s the only excuse I can think of for why the movie plays “Fortunate Son,” a song about Vietnam, to introduce Killer Croc. Yeah, the song SOUNDS cool, but it doesn’t match. And that’s the worst case. The best case is that you get “Super Freak” playing for Harley Quinn’s second introduction, taking a song that works surface level but isn’t strong enough to make it feel necessary to the scene. If anything, it makes it feel like a joke.

Speaking of, James Gunn LOVES making jokes in his movies. Part of what made Guardians of the Galaxy a hit was how hilarious it was with general audiences. Except he has a very specific sense of humor that works best through his vision and style of direction. Just look at the scene where Peter is trying to rally the Guardians to work together before fighting Ronan. It starts off with a ton of jokes, jokes that shouldn’t be funny but work because of the actors’ deliveries and the comedic timing of when they should say or do certain things. In Suicide Squad, all the jokes feel like they were jammed in with actors struggling to make them work because David Ayer wasn’t sure how to make them funny either. That’s because he wanted to make this a DRAMA, so when forcing jokes, there’s this fight to make it work without hurting the dramatic aspect of the film. Except that they do, every time. Going back to that scene with the Guardians, James Gunn at least knew to slow down when Peter Quill was getting exasperated and allowed a serious moment to build up as each Guardian decides they’re willing to fight…and ending on a joke about Rocket saying they’re all jackasses standing in a circle. It doesn’t sound balanced, but seeing it in action gives this sense that Gunn wanted to make a scene equal parts funny and dramatic, something that remains consistent throughout the whole film. David wanted a stronger lean towards drama, so when forcing in comedy it makes a lot of scenes feel awkward. Honestly, the only time I laughed was when Captain Boomerang cut and ran the second he was told he was free. That’s because he’s clearly meant to be the comedy relief character out of all of them and his action is consistent with his personality.

Then there’s the way this movie is cut. Scenes will just end shortly, randomly jump to characters doing something or NOTHING, and move on making the whole story feel incoherent. There’s this line about how something happened THREE DAYS AGO, but as I was watching the movie it all felt like everything was happening on the same day. And with how cut down this movie is, a lot of the characters don’t feel like real characters. The worst offender of this is Katana, who has this interesting backstory and could have worked well as the straight man to the insane criminals, but falls short because she barely has presence in the movie and her backstory is brought up in the last thirty minutes…and they do NOTHING with it, making you wonder why she was here. I’m sure David Ayer had SOME idea with her, but the studio’s interference caused Katana and others to fall to the wayside and cause the film to be a mess. And that’s just the stuff that’s the studio’s fault.

There’s other stuff that bothers me about this movie, and it’s hard to tell if David Ayer’s the problem or the studio. But some things feel like they were problems from the beginning, such as the premise. The whole reason behind this Suicide Squad is that the government wanted a team to take down the next evil Superman…So they got in people like Slipknot, a guy who’s special skill is climbing things really well. I’m sorry, I can NOT take this idea behind this team seriously, because nothing about it makes sense. What’s Slipknot going to do against evil Superman? Better question, what’s Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, the people who quickly lost to both Batman and The Flash, going to do against evil Superman? If the idea was that they were to fight “threats” to US territory and take care of things in a lethal manner because they’re SUPERVILLAINS and the government can always wipe their hands clean of them, it would have worked better. Having them fight The Enchantress, a cosmic witch who can turn people into silly putty with one kiss? It feels like too much for people whose main gimmicks are guns, boomerangs, and bat. A fucking BAT!

While we’re on the topic of Enchantress, she might be the most boring villain in the DCEU. Probably the most boring villain in any superhero movie. Her goal is world domination…like every other supervillain. Except that there’s no unique personality or interesting motivation behind it. Just…weird belly dancing and kissing soldiers into submission. But you know what? I’ll take her over Jared Leto’s Joker. You could not have a WORSE version of the character. His acting is awkward, his charisma is nonexistent, and his laugh–HIS FUCKING LAUGH! The Joker’s laugh is the most important thing to get right no matter what version of the character. It needs to feel haunting and maniac. Here, he sounds like one of those cow in a tin things having a stroke. The Enchantress is too OP and boring to be a Suicide Squad villain, but at least she’s serviceable compared to Leto’s Joker. And don’t even get me STARTED on what that fucker did behind the scenes to “get into the mind of a mad man!” Fuck Jared Leto and any other superhero movie he’s in! I don’t care if he’s better in the Ayer Cut, nothing justified the gross shit he did to the cast and crew!

Suicide Squad is an incredibly flawed film that I would HOPE is better in Ayer’s original version, but I have no way of proving that because it doesn’t exist. It’s a sad thing too, because there ARE parts of this film that could have been improved with time. The characters could have been stronger, the story could have been coherent, and the tone would have been consistent. The premise is weird and the villains are weak, but you don't know what kind of improvements can be made to a film if it meets the director’s expectations. It’s all unfortunately hypotheticals for now, but it doesn’t change how Suicide Squad is the third film in a row within the DCEU’s lineup that fails to genuinely be good. It got fans hoping, PRAYING that DC could finally have a good movie again. A movie that proves what makes these characters and their universe interesting while distinct from Marvel’s.

And in 2017, they…ALMOST got it.

Wonder Woman

According to general audiences, Wonder Woman was truly the first GOOD DCEU movie. It was inspirational, powerful, hopeful, and showed what makes DC and its characters amazing…and I fucking fall asleep almost everytime I watch it…*HITS DESK*

Although, what I just described is how people felt in 2017. I have NO idea what the reception towards this movie is like now in 2024 due to Gal Gadot’s current political beliefs. But to be fair to the film, no one could have expected that in 2017. This isn’t an Ezra Miller situation where they still released a movie despite it starring a literal maniac. So, let’s give the film the benefit of the doubt and judge it without the current political climate of the present day. And in that regard…I think this movie is boring…but not in the way you think.

I have this belief that a movie could be so good that it is dull. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, the story and characters are all fine and serviceable, to the point where you can absolutely see how someone could like it. The issue is that it doesn't offer an energy that grabs you. I feel this way with a handful of movies that, yeah, have nothing truly wrong with them, but don’t keep my interest as well as other films. And it’s the same with Wonder Woman. For the most part, I do say it’s a nearly perfect film that’s exactly as people described it…For the most part. We’ll get to that.

Positives first, the characters are all well-done. Professor Poison and that German General aren’t the best supervillains in media, but they offer some campy fun that makes them work. The group of men that teams up with Diana and Trevor are a tad bit underdeveloped, but have great chemistry and identifiable personalities that makes them a joy to watch. Then there’s my personal favorite, Steve Trevor, who acts as a great straight man to the wackiness around Diana, trying his best to be understanding and patient but constantly getting frustrated in a way that’s alway funny. And finally you’ve got Diana, whose fish out of water nonsense hits that right spot where it’s charming without overstaying its welcome, making you appreciate the naivety of a character who’s seeing the world for the first time and is filled with WONDER (Haha). As for her moments with Steve Trevor, I like it. Things get a little rom-commy at times, but it’s the right amount of cheese that makes these two adorable together. I genuinely love seeing their love.

But by far, the best thing about this movie is the No Man’s Land scene. This is the scene most people talk about when bringing up how great this movie is, and for good reason. Diana is seeing death and destruction everywhere she turns, with people telling her there’s nothing she can do and that she can’t save anyone. Only for Diana to go, “No,” and goes out to save everyone. This scene is everything that makes superheroes amazing. When a situation feels hopeless and there’s nothing a normal human can do, a hero is there to rise and be a beacon of hope to those who felt hopeless. It’s everything we as people wish we could be, to make a stand and save lives that need help the most. The No Man’s Land scene captures all of it, being inspirational, beautiful, and one of my favorite superhero scenes from any movie, not just DC…It’s also a bit muddled by Gal Gadot’s current political beliefs, but again, 2017. No one could have expected that.

One thing that people should have expected, though, is what REALLY ruined the movie: It’s ending. You see, the movie tricks you. It makes you think it’s building up to this message about how there’s no one bad person to beat to fix everything. There’s no divine intervention that leads humans to who they are, they’re just…like that, and to stop them means doing more than killing the big bad guy. It takes years of dedication and working hard to make the change you believe is right…Only for the movie to go, “Nope. There’s the REAL bad guy. Kill him and everything’s fine.” AND THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS! Ares shows up, going on and on, spouting nonsense like, “I don’t make people evil…I just give them the things they need to do bad things and further kill people. It’s HUMANITY that’s the death of everything, not ME!” Except that when Wonder Woman kills him, everything is fine. The war ends and people stop killing each other…But then what happened in WWII? And the Vietnam War? And every single war that happened after WWI?! The film tries to give this message across that love is the true end to all wars with Diana staying in Man’s world to help end corruption. But if that were true, then I would like to point out that Diana didn’t really beat Ares with a hug, she killed him with a fucking lightning bolt through the CHEST! And again, EVERYTHING WENT FINE! You could make the argument that things still took time to end peacefully, but the movie doesn’t present it as such. Diana’s friends and German soldiers were hugging one another after Ares died, as if it really was his influence that drove them to want to kill each other. Almost as if the real problem was Ares all along and every war humanity experienced afterwards…must not have happened in this universe, I guess–It’s stupid.

Everything up to those last forty minutes is great. I can see why people would love this movie, even if it’s something that doesn’t reach me specifically. It’s not bad, it’s perfectly serviceable. But the second Ares shows up, it all goes to hell in a SPECTACULAR fashion, taking what could have been a solid A movie and making it a B-. Now, as for whether or not I’d recommend watching it despite Gal Gadot’s current opinions…let me put it this way: Mark Hammil is in the exact same boat as her, and if you were to tell Star Wars fans to stop watching the original trilogy because of it, you’d have better luck telling the moon to stop rotating. There are a ton of movies, shows, and even books that are made by or feature bad people with pisspoor political standings that leaves an icky feeling in one’s tummy when they consume their favorite media. If you want me to tell you that you're the best person in the world for avoiding that media or a piece of shit for still consuming it…I’m not doing either. My advice is do whatever YOU think is the right thing to do.

But that’s enough controversy. We’re almost done with this fucking thing, so let’s keep going with the movie that ruined the DCEU. A movie that, after its release, things would never be the same for this cinematic universe.

Justice League

And I don’t mean Zack Snyder’s version of the movie. No, no, no. That’s the GOOD version.

*Gasps in Snyder Cult*

Yeah, yeah, I know. I clowned on his other two DC movies, but the truth is that I not only find his version of Justice League to be superior, it’s genuinely of the best superhero movies out there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an hour too long, everything’s too dark to barely make out the characters in dark and gray costumes, and Stephenwolf still sucks…but there’s this sort of epicness to it. It’s one of the few movies where Zack Snyder’s style and interpretation of these characters work, making a movie where even if the good guys lose at first they still win through hope and perseverance. It shows what makes DC characters work, where despite the darkness in their lives and the darkness in their future, they’ll always be there to save the world and all the little people in it. If THIS was the movie DC put out, then I genuinely believe it would have been enough to save the DCEU…But it isn’t. Because due to a tragic event in Zack’s life that I couldn’t begin to comprehend, he stepped away from the movie and put DC in a position: They could have shelved the project and allowed Zack to return after he processed his grief…or they could have done what they did and got in a different director to finish the movie.

And did they get someone similar to Zack’s style? Someone Zack trusted to finish the movie he wanted to make? Nope…Because DC and WB wanted to be like Marvel, so they got in the guy who made the MCU big.

This? This right here? This is the face that killed the DCEU.

Yes, Joss Whedon made the box office SMASH that is The Avengers. But the reason why THAT movie works goes beyond the man who directed it. HIs style and vision for what makes superheroes cool works for the MCU because it mixes well with the tone set in Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. Those were movies that had their serious moments and epic action, but still featured jokes and quips that made them fun movies to go out and see. By the time we got to The Avengers, it was all that but brought to a grander scale and having the joy of seeing all these characters you got to know join up and save the world as a team. It worked because it fits with the rest of the MCU. Joss Whedon’s Justice League, on the other hand, fails because his style INSANELY clashes with Snyder’s. Snyder has this sort of poetic self-importance to each project he makes. It’s what we got in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman and…yeah, those movies sucked, especially the latter, but Snyder at least had a strong sense of faith in his projects and saw the grandness of these characters, even if it was in a way that I particularly didn’t like. Whedon saw superheroes as silly and made jokes. He’s not entirely WRONG, there is this goofiness to every superhero, all in their costume, powers, and names. Just think of your favorite superhero for more than ten seconds, and you’ll see all the ways that they’re silly. But while that works for The Avengers, it fails here because it goes against everything Snyder set up with this world and its characters. To go from having these big, super serious films to this goofy two-hour long popcorn flick feels like a step backwards. These are the biggest heroes in DC’s library, coming together to stop the generic evil bad guy. And instead of feeling like this epic grand adventure, it’s a mediocre film that almost put me to sleep due to a cast of characters with dull personalities and bad jokes about brunch.

That last bit is another problem with Whedon’s version of this movie: He adds too many jokes. Now, I’m not against superhero movies having jokes and quips in them. Far from it, in fact. Comedy and quips have been a part of superhero bread and butter since the very first Superman comic. Lose that, and you lose the charm of superheroes. The issue is that Whedon seems to forget the most important rule when telling a story: Everything depends on the characters. Whether it’s a fight scene, an emotional moment, or a JOKE, you need to keep in mind the character who says and does everything you write. For example, when Batman’s asked what his power was and he goes, “I’m rich,” that’s perfect. It’s quick, it’s dry, it’s BATMAN. Him going, “Yup, something is definitely bleeding” after Superman threw him like a sack of potatoes doesn’t work. It’s slow, it’s awkward, and it undercuts this big tense scene about Superman losing his sense of self after being brought back to life. And keep in mind that this isn’t just an issue with this movie. It’s an issue that Joss has with all of his superhero movies, both Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Just look at how Joss Whedon directs Captain America and how the Russo Brothers direct the character. Under Whedon’s direction, Cap noticeably makes a lot more jokes, acting as a sort of sassy grandpa to the team.  With the Russos, Captain America feels more like a straight man, making jokes on occasion but has more of a dignity to his personality. All sense of dignity is lost under Whedon’s direction and you feel that in Justice League. None of the actors feel like they’re having fun in this movie. For example, Ben Affleck. The poor man looks like he’s dying inside with every quip he’s forced to spit out or for every interview he had to do for the film. You can tell he was waiting for it all to be over so he could finally wash his hands from the whole thing. And then you hear stories about how Joss Whedon threatened to end Gal Gadot’s career because she didn’t want Ezra Miller’s face on her boobs for the sake of a joke. Regardless of how you feel about that actress, that’s a pretty scummy move and it was all for a lame gag that makes the audience feel more uncomfortable than entertained. But that’s just the stuff that Joss added. It’s the stuff he takes away that really kills the film.

Zack’s original vision for the film was for it to be four hours long and, to be honest, you can cut it down to at least three. After three bad films in a row plus one decent intermission, I don’t think general audiences would be willing to see a four hour long DC movie. Still, by cutting things down to be HALF of what Zack planned, Whedon takes away too much. Four hours was too long, but it allowed every character to breathe and come out onto their own. Take Cyborg as an example. In Whedon’s cut, Cyborg feels like a non-character whose personality is non-existent as he goes through no arc. But in Snyder’s cut? Victor is the heart of the film, going through a powerful journey of accepting his new self and the father who loved him. Even Victor’s father is a fully fleshed out character with an emotional end to his arc. That’s all cut out of Whedon’s version, and it’s a little suspicious that he felt as though the story arcs and personalities of the BLACK characters were deemed as unimportant. And the same treatment happens to Superman, DC’s greatest superhero, who’s inclusion to the story feels so unimportant that you could almost cut him out of the film entirely. SUPERMAN is POINTLESS in a JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. Read that out loud and tell me that it doesn’t feel right. You can’t. But in the Snyder Cut? We spend a lot more time with him learning to be alive again and coming to grips as a Superman reborn. You can remove him from Whedon’s cut, but you’ll be missing too much in Snyder’s.

As for the stuff that Whedon kept in, not only can you see that in the Snyder Cut, but every GOOD moment in this movie is BETTER in Snyder’s. Action scenes aren’t cut to pieces, intense dialogues aren’t put on fast forward, and dramatic moments aren’t ruined by dumb jokes. Honestly, I can count TWO improvements that this movie has compared to Snyder. For one, I actually like that the color grading is turned up. I don’t give a fuck how serious your story is, if Invincible can tell one of the darkest origin stories I’ve ever seen all for a character in bright PINK…you can make Superman’s suit more blue and Flash’s suit more red. Tone is not a good enough justification to make a film look ugly. Another improvement…is a single scene. A post credit scene that you could miss if you leave the movie the second the credits come on. And that scene is Flash and Superman having their race. It’s the one thing that Whedon’s style does best, and that’s making superheroes entertaining even when doing something dull. Just look at the hammer scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s fun watching characters you love have a friendly competition and joke around with each other. To the point where people would watch entire movies of just that if they could. But one good scene that happens when the movie’s over is NOT enough to save this mess.

Joss Whedon’s Justice League is what finally killed the DCEU. Oh, they still made more movies after this, but the franchise would NEVER recover from the damage that this movie did to its reputation. In trying to compete with Marvel, DC put out what feels like a C-Tier MCU movie in the same year general audiences got a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, Spider-Man in the MCU, and Thor finally having a FUN movie. Why would people waste time with a franchise offering C-Tier superhero schlock when they can save their money for stuff they actually love.

As for me? I have this rule when it comes to watching TV (This is related, trust me). I call it the “Five Episode Rule.” A TV show has five episodes to win me over, five chances to tell me that the rest of the series is worth watching. If it fails, then I drop the show unless someone I trust tells me it’s worth sticking out or I hear good things about it online. Now, let’s picture the DCEU as a TV show and each movie an episode. If that were the case, we’d get a mediocre beginning, an infuriating second entry, an incoherent third, a decent fourth with a bad ending, and a dull finale. If we follow my rule, then it goes without saying that the DCEU definitely didn’t win me over. It didn’t win ANYONE over. The DCEU became a bigger punching bag on the internet than Marvel currently is. It took the MCU ten years before it began to lose general audience appeal, but with the DCEU? It failed almost immediately, leaving DC and Warner Bros with this dying franchise. General audiences lost faith in it, Zack Snyder didn’t want to return due to how the studio treated his vision, and even the actors for Batman AND Superman refused to work for DC for the longest time. By the time Justice League came out, the DCEU was at rock bottom. The question is, could they climb their way back out?

Well…They ALMOST did. And we’ll get to that next time as we see what happens when a dead franchise decides to do whatever the hell they want.

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

Marvel Star Charlie Cox Took Massive Pay Cut to Work With Snyderverse Legend Ciaran Hinds: “It’s definitely in my top 5 experiences”

by Shazmeen Navrange  March 31, 2023 (X)

Many actors take the risk to work for less pay just to reflect the best experience in their acting resumes. Well, Charlie Cox is one such actor, who doesn’t regret doing a film with the Snyderverse legend even with a pay cut. Cox is popularly known for his role as Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He starred in the marvel series for almost four years and did three seasons. The show was then canceled for another season due to the rights issues between Disney+ and Netflix.

Charlie Cox will be returning to MCU with a stand-alone series of his own named Daredevil: Born Again. Apart from his franchise work, he has also been a part of films like The Merchant of Venice, Legacy, Eat Locals, The Maiden’s Conspiracy, Hello Carter, and others.

Why Charlie Cox Took The Pay Cut?

Ciaran Hinds is considered one of the most well-known actors in the industry. He has also been a part of DCEU and played the role of the supervillain named Steppenwolf. His character was a part of the 2017 Justice League as well as the Snyder Cut of 2021. He has been a beloved villain of the DCEU and who wouldn’t take a chance to work with him? That’s the reason Charlie Cox took this opportunity and was ready to work even with a pay cut. Apart from Hinds’ work in the DCEU, he has been associated with big films like Harry Potter and The Death Hallows: Part 2, Ghost Rider, Munic, Persuasion, and many others.

Charlie Cox played the lead role of Michael Kinsella whereas Hinds’ had the supporting role of Eamon Cunningham in the Kin series. The Stardust actor didn’t regret his decision as he thinks it was one of the top experiences of his overall career.

“Oh Yes. Yes I did. But it’s definitely in my top five experiences of all time. I thought I was doing a small low budget gritty series. I never thought we would have some of the other actors we got like Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and Ciaran Hinds, etc. A lot of those guys can demand very high paychecks on American jobs. The fact that they wanted to do this says a lot about them. Putting all of us together led to an amazing dynamic.”

Ciaran Hinds has also won the award for Best Supporting role in the series at Irish Film & Television awards. The show was worth Charlie Cox’s experience and also was a delight to the Irish Audience. The team did an incredible job in creating something so great on a tight budget. There are in total eight episodes in season one. The show was also renewed for a season 2, this year. The first two episodes are already streaming on RTE.

Marvel’s Big Paycheck To Charlie Cox

Well, Charlie Cox might not get the deserving pay in some other films, but he gets a good payday at Marvel. Even before the announcement of Daredevil: Born Again, Charlie Cox appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home which was a complete surprise for fans. It was known that the Stone Of Destiny actor was paid an amount of at least $4M. Other reports also suggested that he may have got up to $7M.

Well, Charlie Cox is now getting his own stand-alone masked superhero series. So it can be expected that he will get even more than the amount he was paid for a film like Spider-Man: No Way Home. Daredevil Born Again will be an 18-episode-long series that will stream on Disney+.

As of now, the release date isn’t confirmed but it’s known the series will be released in 2024.

~*~

[mbat]

i think the thing is that people want mature stories but most peoples idea of mature is just gore and sex or whatever. i blame adult swim for that skgjsnf theres probably a better thing to blame but still.

plenty of kids/family media prove you dont need those things to be mature. you just need to care. granted, theres restrictions on kids media that hold them back. thats the biggest issue fr.

when it comes to adult shows they dont put enough of those restraints on. they restrain other things though. like when morel orel created and aired an episode that was a major reason it got cancelled. the episode was fucked up.... but it cared. at least a little bit.

steven universe is mature. bluey is mature. id even consider multiple disney animated movies as mature.

the thing is... theyre also made for families of all ages.

they arent mature because of organs falling out of bodies on screen, or people having explicit sex for every viewer to see, or people foaming at the mouth from overdoses. theyre mature because they show humanity in a way that you can feel cares. they show people experiencing real feelings and getting through them in a way that feels real.

of course, its not all black and white. everything has its mature moments, and just because something doesnt do what ive said doesnt make it immature, its just different. inside out was mature for showing a girl running away and experiencing deep emotional pain until she decided to go back home to her parents and talk it out.

i wouldnt say moana was immature for not doing deep dives on the human experience in favor of having a fantastical story that had human moments more as a side dish. it has some amazing moments that are just as human, but theyre not the primary focus.

when i think of writing stories as mature, i think of having a dive into the human experience. i wrote a whole fic that was that and its still unfinished. the only part that could be considered adult is the way i added people cursing and vague references to sex.

when i think of a mature story i want on screen, i want one thats real, that tells human stories whether the characters are human or not, i want one that acknowledges the things we consider adult like violence/gore, sex, and sure, even drugs if it matters so much, but they arent some focal point for drama or shock. i dont want something that overtakes a story that couldve been good.

ive thought of many shows while writing this. many movies, just media in general. ones i love, ones i hate, ones ive experienced through other peoples words alone. maybe you have too.

hear me out here, a good example of what i consider a mature story i like on screen is stranger things. however, its also a horror franchise alongside its other genres, so of course it leans into gross things and gore a little bit, but never just because. it uses those elements to paint a world and further the story.

i also like the good place, too. a show that, from episode one, points at philosophy and ethics and runs with it. one that questions and attempts to answer things about humanity itself. its a comedy show so it can have its weird moments, but i honestly consider it a near perfect show personally. it also acknowledges sexual things without being in your face with them.

many shows do try to be mature but just go too far with some things. i mean, i think euphoria was trying to be mature? but when i watched it all i saw was oversexualized teenagers and so much talk about drugs that it got on my nerves from minute one. maybe its realistic to some people but it was a pain to get through for me.

and sigh. yes. i will acknowledge Velma. it shows close ups of brains falling out of heads. it opens on a shot of nude women in highschool only covered by conveniently placed bubbles and constantly talks about another students privates. it has a whole storyline about selling drugs. all of this is shock, all of this is immature 'adult' stuff. we been knew. its the type of stuff you see on family guy.

family guy is some of the worst about it all, only brought down the rankings of worst because its restrained from showing everything possible. also. admittedly. theres moments where family guy had, well, moments. its been years since ive watched the show but there were moments it got genuine and serious and you could feel they were trying, at least a little. but then the rest of the show is just... bad.

i dont know if ive gotten a point across or if my wording makes sense, but i just wanted to say all that considering conversations people have been having for a little while now.