#II Act 1 II The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

[poisonedpowder]

tags.

[luimnigh]

And finally, December:

22 Movies Watched, with 8 Partial Watches

1 TV Special

25 Comic Book Issues

And I started 1 Game.

Now, that 22 movies is clearly an outlier. And with 20/22 of those being watched over the Christmas holidays, it turns out I watch more movies when I feel the need to spend time with my family rather than go to my room. I watch more stuff when I'm not in charge of starting the watching. Go figure.

Details, as always, under the cut:

Movies:

A Christmas Carol (1984): The one with Patton as Scrooge, which notably has Scrooge as a commodities trader. Fairly good adaptation.

That Christmas: Netflix animated Christmas film, co-written by the creator of Love Actually. Pretty great movie, it's definitely stuck in my head since.

Sing: The Illumination franchise not featuring Minions. Fun, feelgood kid's movie. Solid stuff.

The Holiday: One of my Mom's favourite Christmas movies, she watches it every year. It's a fun little thing, mostly about romance than Christmas, but still.

Oppenheimer: I finally got around to this one by virtue of my Mom putting it on and then falling asleep watching it. It's a fascinating movie about the road to hell being paved with good intentions, how justification for immoral acts grow and spread, and how you cannot control what you put into the world once you've done it.

Batman Begins: Directly after Oppenheimer, seems they were doing a Nolan marathon. Gotta say, I feel like after this one Nolan leaned too far into realism and I feel it was detrimental to the rest of his trilogy. This one had a gothic Gotham and while the more fantastical elements were stripped, it still had a secret society of Ninjas who burned society down every so often. I feel like some more magical elements absolutely could have coexisted with this Batman over the latter two films.

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway: This did something The Fall Guy joked about, and tried to make up for a weaker Act Three by lampshading the weakness of it's Act Three.

The Muppets Christmas Carol: Because of course I did, it's mandatory.

Moana: Still a fantastic movie, one of my favourites of Disney's 2010s films.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: It's Wallace & Gromit, it continues to be a series of hilarious films. I like how it touched on AI art and how the effort of creating something is part of the enjoyment of it, but in a subtle enough way that it doesn't come off as preachy.

San Andreas: You know, I think this is the only movie I've seen where falling glass from a breaking window is depicted as dangerous.

The Quiet Man: For those that don't know: It's a movie by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, about an Irish-born American returning to his family home and trying to make a life. He falls in love, and falls afoul of local customs. It is absolutely heavy on the stereotypes, and the romance is questionably consensual the entire way through (not helped by the ending, in which our hero seems to treat our heroine terribly... until it turns out to have been an act they planned). If you can get past that, it is a fun movie.

We Own The Night: Cop drama. Not great.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Compilation of Monty Python sketches into a movie. Some of them are better in the TV versions, but it's Python, it's still mostly funny.

Romancing The Stone: Eh. It's a fair enough romantic comedy/jungle adventure.

Superman II: ...y'know, these Superman movies play a lot heavier into the Jesus angle than I remember.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: Y'know, I've seen people say this doesn't hold up now that the Marvel Multiverse stuff in full swing, but I gotta disagree, I still like this a bunch.

The Sound of Music: I gotta admit, the confrontation at the end between Captain Von Trapp and Rolfe is really well-done. You genuinely think he's gonna get through to this kid, and then the guy's true colours shine through.

The Railway Children: ...the pacing is weird on this, because what seems to be the natural climax is just the halfway point. In any other movie, preventing the train crash would happen just before the reuniting with their father.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold: I didn't really pay attention to this, to be quite honest, but I paid enough that I feel I can't call it a partial watch.

Black Panther: Technically, my last movie of 2024, as the next one I watched after midnight on New Year's Eve, but the rule is that it's not the next month until I go to bed. Anyway, still an all-time great superhero movie.

The Guard: An Irish comedy about a corrupt small-town cop who turns out to be less corrupt than the rest of the cops. Genuinely hilarious.

Herself (Partial): Irish drama about a mother escaping an abusive relationship and trying to build a home for her daughters. Harrowing, honestly.

Gosford Park (Partial): Proto-Downton Abbey. You can see the bones there, but also see where edges got sanded down from this.

Cheaper By The Dozen (Partial): Smallville Superman gets bullied by Sam Supernatural for being a farmboy. This is the only subplot I remember, it's mostly chaos.

Elf (Partial): Honestly I gotta get around to watching it in full, it seems fun enough.

Chicken Run (Partial): Animated classic.

Ghostbusters Afterlife (Partial): Technically I saw the whole thing, I just didn't hear any dialogue after the first thirty minutes thanks to everyone visiting on Christmas Eve.

The Italian Job (1969) (Partial): Quite possibly the first ever use of a hacker in a heist film. The prison scenes are very clearly filmed in Dublin if you've ever seen Killmainham Jail. I saw the car chase, that's the best part of the film except for the iconic line.

Forces of Nature (Partial): Ben Affleck, Sandra Bullock romantic comedy? Wasn't great, but it's the only romantic comedy I've ever seen where the engaged lead decides to get married to the person they're engaged to. That's the end. Our leads go off on seperate lives, happy for the time they spent together but knowing they made the right choice. Insane this happens in an otherwise forgotten romcom from the early 00s.

TV Series:

Doctor Who Christmas Special: Joy To The World: Fun little romp. Nice poignant moments. Unsubtle ending.

Comics:

Alpha Flight (2011): Issues 5-8. I was confirming some confusing wording on the Marvel Wiki regarding a kid someone protected that made it sound like it was there. Canada spent some time as a fascist state in Marvel.

Strange Tales (1998): Issue 2. The below comic continues the story, turns out Man-Thing might be a direct descendant of the Biblical Adam.

Man-Thing (1997): Issues 7 and 8. Man-Thing's son nearly gets corrupted by a demon(?). Psychadelic art style. Hard to read.

Howard The Duck (2002): Issue 6. And wow, this series was trying incredibly hard to be edgy. Quite unsure if the cosmology it lays out is canon.

Namor, The Submariner: Issue 4. Double-checking some characters who pretended to be Poseidon's kids.

Uncanny Avengers Vol 2: Annual. Checking out the full story of the Emerald Warlock.

Scarlet Witch (2016): Issues 1-4. Continuing machinations of the Emerald Warlock.

Fantastic Four (2013): Issue 5. In which Julius Caesar is replaced by a Caesar-fanboy alien.

Blade: Vampire Nation: Single Issue. Honestly, I was just checking out why Henry Kissinger was a Vampire.

Master Of Kung Fu (1976): Issues 36 & 37. Shang-Chi meets a dude who claims to be related to Pan. Incredibly confusing story.

Kidpool & Spider-Boy: Single Issue. Sometimes I get asks and have to look up comics to answer them.

Elektra & Wolverine: The Redeemer: Three Issue Series. More of a book than a comic. Interesting story, but added another kid to Wolverine's list.

Wolverine (2010): Issues 305-307. Wolverine fights a Redneck Stereotype Mad Scientist named Dr Rot, who stole pieces of Wolverine's brain and grew them into shapeshifting minions.

Videogames:

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Partial): Fun detective game so far, but I kinda miss the courtroom stuff. The Testimony/Rebuttal just doesn't feel the same.

Looking back, I spent most of last year in a depressive funk. There were some high moments, but after about March I just stopped doing the stuff I enjoy. I didn't read books, I didn't watch movies, the last videogame I played to completion was in May, I only went to the Cinema twice...

I just took the quick dopamine hit from stuff like youtube videos and social media scrolling.

I gotta fix that. I gotta get back to the things I enjoy.

So my New Year's Resolution, probably the first time I've ever seriously done one, is to enjoy more art.

I'm gonna record every movie and series watched, every book read, every game played- and I'm gonna finish a bunch of those I started and never ended.

No goal, just more.

[poisonedpowder]

@kleinewahines​​ asked:

“i never want to hear you say that again.” -vi [hi have whatever angst this can conjure lol]

Dialogue Prompts 

   “Sometimes I feel like I’d be better off dead.” She whispered quickly under her breath. She was talking to herself. It wasn’t meant for anyone else’s ears.

“i never want to hear you say that again.”

    Powder quickly glanced at Vi as she heard the reply she had not anticipated. It wasn’t something meant to be heard by anyone else, but it was too late. Vi heard it whether she liked it or not. 

‘What? It’s true. I’m no use existing.’ 

   She stopped herself from adding insult to injury, from doubling down even more, but it didn’t change how she felt on the inside. Screw up after screw up. Comment after comment about how much of a problem she always ended up being. It was starting to weigh on her, and all the affirmations in the world from Vi couldn’t alleviate it. Today’s events certainly didn’t help either. She practically begged to be involved in today’s job, and even as small as it was, Powder had still nearly managed to blow it all up in their faces before Vi saved the day. Vi always did. Why couldn’t she be more like Vi... and less like herself? 

  “...I’m sorry, I won’t,” and that’s a prime example of why she would never be like Vi. Vi wouldn’t have let something slip out of her mouth that she would be afraid to repeat. Vi meant what she said, and she let people know it. Powder just bottled everything up until something accidentally slipped, and she always scrambled to reverse the damage. 

    “I didn’t mean it.” She did mean it. “I’m ... just upset.” She’s more than upset. She had been for a good while, but she would never let on just how upset she truly felt. That would just burden Vi--- and she already burdened Vi enough as it is.

[poisonedpowder]

@hexprogrexx​ liked for a starter!

    Powder had a running arrangement of sorts with Ekko. If Benzo ever decided to get rid of stuff that wasn’t selling, she would be the first person that he’d let know so she could get first pick of what he tossed out, and in exchange, she’d make sure Vi would do more impromptu fighting lessons. It didn’t happen all that often, as he rarely tossed things, but she was there at the drop of a hat when it did. 

    It seemed like rarely was threatening to turn into never due to some Pilty that had popped in one day and bought up a whole slew of things. Benzo now had a tight grip on everything just in case that guy ever showed up again. However, some hearsay from Ekko let her know that it had been a good minute since that guy had made an appearance, and hope was starting to resurface that she would be sifting through junk in no time. 

    That is, until today when she had been hanging outside of Benzo’s shop with Ekko, and he suddenly abandoned their gadget tinkering session the moment he spotted a guy approaching--- that guy approaching to be more specific. She grimaced as they walked into the shop together and begrudgingly went back to her tinkering alone.

    After some time, the man had reemerged from the shop with a whole box of things, and Powder paused mid-tinkering to stare with annoyance at the unfortunate display. 

   “What do you even do with all that stuff?” Powder nearly clamped her hand over her mouth after she said it. She knew better than to mouth off to someone much bigger than her, but it just... slipped out.

[poisonedpowder]

@hellfcllowed​ asked:

“ that was good! hell, that was brilliant! you knocked me off my feet! good job! ”

Mentor/Mentee Meme

    Powder’s eyes lit up as a grin made its way onto her face. Did she really manage to do that? She can hardly believe it even if the evidence is right in front of her with the other clearly on the ground. Well, it was hard to believe any occurrence that was this rare. Powder had a good aim, that’s for sure, but that was about it. She was far from strong and clumsy on her feet at best. Victory was rarely in her cards when it came to close combat. It made her question this victory as her smile begin to falter slowly.

    “...You didn’t just let me, did you?” She questioned as she walked over to extend her hand to help Siobhan up. It wouldn’t be the first time someone let her win. Claggor often would when he agreed to spar with her and Vi would on rare occasion even if she pretended otherwise. Powder always knew the truth. “Was I at least even close to actually doing it?” She added dejectedly  before she was even given a response to her first question.