#Christopher Lloyd: Death to all humans!

[seven-dragons]

Finally watched the Mandalorian with Lizzo, and it was awesome, but also aside from that awesomeness pretty much the closest thing I have ever seen to a live action episode of Futurama.

[tiptapricot]

Alright. Finally getting my thoughts together about Mando S3 episode 6! Forewarning this is a very critical and disappointed view on the episode, however I do try and be as nuanced and explanatory as I can, as just like with the rest of this season there is so much potential, so much I almost love, but it’s just not carried through or is handled in a way that makes me confused and frustrated.

This is somewhat organized, but not overly edited, so if things jump around a bit or if there’s typos, excuse me. Other than that, let’s get into it.

So this episode brings a first two seasons side quest vibe to stuff, which personally I enjoyed as I think those side quests (while many ppl see them as filler/a distraction from the main plot) are more ab exploring our characters under different stressors and circumstances and seeing how they act/react as a result. The design for Plazir was gorgeous and intriguing, and it was fun to see Jack Black and Lizzo and Christopher Lloyd. Similarly to a lot of people I had a “HEY I KNOW THOSE GUYS” moment, and it made me smile and laugh.

But then you get into the plot and I just. I was so icked out and uncomfortable and baffled at how it was handled. Plazir is, as it’s set up, an absolute fucking dystopia. Star Wars has never been good with its droid issues, something that always makes me extremely mad and uncomfortable, but beyond the Solo story, I think this may be one of the worst handlings of those issues yet.

I’ll be sharing ideas with the video “The Traegedy of Droids” by Pop Culture Detective pretty consistently in passing here, so please check it out if you haven’t or aren’t aware of what I’m talking about with “the issue with how SWs handles droids.”

The mini plot of this episode is, in summary, our main protagonists helping to carry out a targeted physical oppression of a droid revolution in order to maintain the droid’s enslaved class status and allow the citizens to continue living on free labor. Not only that, but the revolution and fighting back is revealed to not be a choice, but a drugged reaction from an evil human source. The droid bar literally called The Resistor is not, in fact, an underground place for droids to find community and power and push back (despite the fact that it proves they have off time and desires for relaxation and comraderie) but a place for our mains to be reminded that droids actually just love being an enslaved class, and that oh yes these violent push backs actually make them look bad, and what if they’re forced not to work anymore? No they care about their oppressors and couldn’t imagine fighting back. Action like that has to be forced out of them by humans and is unnatural to their regular existence.

And none of this is framed in the dystopian way it should be. Plazir and it’s leaders and citizens are not framed or presented in a negative light, and the moral is not put on helping the droids to not be the forced labor class for a whole planet. The interesting and terrible ideas presented are taken at face value of how the ruling class sees it, and we as the audience are meant to root for Din and Bo as they chase after a droid Din harassed into fighting back, who is running for its life and defending itself, who they kill. We are meant to be happy when they shoot it, feel triumph, see these outbursts the same way those on Plazir/our mains do. We are meant to see droids as both the enemy and as rightfully subservient.

And that’s. Absolutely fucking wild? Similarly to Solo and L3, I cannot fathom the thought process going through the writers brains while setting up a plot that focuses on droid revolution and freedom, only to treat it as a joke, or to end up condemning droids to a fate worse than death/to a content slave class. And all of this, again, our protagonists go along with.

Bo and Din never once question droid rights or sentience, never once go “oh hey we should actually help these guys out.” They stop the uprisings, Lizzo knights Grogu, and the story goes along its way like it was just an unimportant side quest, and not a nightmare. The mains don’t care, the writers don’t care, the world is telling the viewer not to care.

This is exemplified, unfortunately enough, with the use of the cameos. That reaction of “Omg haha! Lizzo! Jack Black! Mr Lloyd!” add to the comedic/trope-y framing of this episode. The acting was great, this is not against the actors present, I was happy to see them, but their presence added to the episode’s unserious/comedic/don’t think about it too much tone. Seeing celebrities we like takes the focus off of the content of the plot and onto “Haha people I like!” And that sours their presence for me.

And like. Droid stuff not being serious has always been around, with protagonists playing into/joking about droid oppression right from the original trilogy, but hating droids has within the mandalorian itself been built up to be unreasonable and a flaw.

Din is droid-racist. That’s been part of his character since the start, and it has been something he has grown with, that the story has attempted to show him working against despite his prejudices. Yes, he is not over his hate for droids, trusting a few will not change his views on them all, and his actions still being violent and prejudiced this episode are not totally out of character. But he’s been shown to be working on that, and the issue comes with the fact that these actions are not seen as an issue past being impulsive. Kicking a line of workers until one lashes out, saying “if they’re programmed right they shouldn’t mind,” threatening to kill a droid bartender, not questioning forced labor, being excited to kill droids, are all framed as funny or correct or just regular “fighting before talking” type characterization, and not as the deeply flawed and bigoted actions they are.

I’ve seen people in fandom saying “well it’s because of his battle droid PTSD” “din still hates droids that wasn’t resolved” “he’s not just going to be fine around the droids that killed his parents” and like. Yeah, sure. But that doesn’t excuse the actions. They should still be seen as a big fucking issue, as him acting grossly out of line and holding up a “one bad experience means the whole group is bad forever” mentality. Not just a character quirk or something funny or an excuse. The best I can liken it to atm is racism from war vets against the group they fought against. You may be able to understand the distrust and trauma associations but hey guess what! Doesn’t excuse the racism/xenophobia/etc.! But the plot and story framing sure does, and it’s been effective, because the fandom has been doing the same thing too! And it’s. Wild to me!

Like I get many people don’t think about stuff, because again that’s how the world frames it, but you gotta? You gotta see the messages being pushed here?

And from a narrative standpoint you can’t just introduce a storyline like this without dealing with the implications it therefore burdens the story with discussing. Otherwise you end up with something reductive, trivializing, and at its core really really ideologically gross, which is what we got here.

This also doesn’t even touch on:

—The further use of the amnesty program in a way that doesn’t fully dig into the messed up results or the irl parallels to operation paperclip

—Ugnaughts being the only organic labor class we see besides those monitoring security, another group that’s framed as loving to work on the things the ruling class don’t want to, and also living in the dark underground

—The implications of direct democracy and non-militant societies being seen as weak and unreasonable

—Leaders finding loopholes in their laws to intact violence into a revolting class without having to answer for the repercussions of rule breaking

Mainly because I don’t have the brain to unpack all of it. But hey! Just shows how much they introduced with no real thought of how big a can of worms it opened up from a political and social perspective. Something that while a constant in Star Wars at this point never makes it alright. It’s lazy and shows the underlying racist/capitalist politics running through most main pieces of the universe, of which this episode I’d say is probably Mando’s most outright example of. (There are exceptions, Andor being a huge one, but lord is that an exception with everything around it)

And like in concept a neo-noir detective story/procedural with the mando cast sounds awesome, that’s one of my favorite genres, but this was just good old fashioned copaganda and race/class fumble episode with no real nuance, point, or lingering effects on our characters and their view of droids. When I’m fully able to say Detroit become human did a better job handling the ideas of robot sentience/freedom/uprising/changing sides, I think you need to take a good hard look at your story.

So just. That’s that part of the episode. And that’s already so much, but then we have the ending/it’s ties into the overall plot.

From the start we get no real explanation for why Din is with Bo and no one else, what the fallout of the armorer’s decision and reveal of Bo’s place in things had on the covert or on Din and Bo. We just jump in. Then you have Din and Bo showing their individual leading strengths in the episode, the balance between diplomacy and action, heavily implying some joint ruling need, or even showing Din finally showing leadership skills.

But then we get to the final scene with the Axe and Bo fight, and I’ll say I loved that combat! Beat each other up! It was great and I think shows their competence and the statement that fighting makes in mando culture, as well as asserting Bo’s place leading her group. But then we also get two really fucking stupid things.

The first is Axe saying Din isn’t a real mando because of blood even though that? Has never really been a staple of the culture??? This opens up an idea that the night owls have different views on Mandalorian culture than the larger consensus that understands it as a religion, a culture, a people, but not a homogenous group with direct biological descent. Foundlings are huge! So where is this coming from? What’s the background there?

It muddies up a lot of character stuff, culture stuff, and the analogies Mandalorian culture has to real life groups like the Jewish community, various Indigenous and colonized communities, etc. As with so much of this season, Mandalorian culture and politics is begging to be explored, to be fleshed out and dug into in a deeper way than it has been already, and even with new ideas the writers decide to use, it’s given almost no focus. It’s frustrating and disheartening.

Second, ofc, is the Darksaber hand off. I have talked previously about one of the largest issues this season being the writers wrapping up Din’s arcs and plots with no real focus or fanfare, and this was another slap in the face in that regard. Officially, every single important thing from the end of S2 has been wrapped up either in a spin off series that shouldn’t even have had sm Din focus, or in the second episode of the third season. Everything that poised Din for a huge character arc at the end of season 2, at a fundamental change and exploration in himself, has been tossed aside. And it makes no sense to do that. So let’s go through them each!

1. Grogu. Throughout the first two seasons Din and Grogu’s relationship was a focus. It was about Din breaking rules and getting into danger to save this kid, his drive to protect him, to connect him with his people, and then to save him from Gideon. We get that line “He is more important to me than you will ever know,” and then Din has to give him away. This sets up exploring how Grogu has changed him, how that relationship has affected them both, how Din now operates without him.

But then he was reunited with Grogu relatively easily, and there has been no focus on how the newfound understanding of Grogu’s importance to Din affects their relationship now. He hasn’t even recognized himself as Grogu’s father yet, and there’s been no real bonding moments past some in the first two episodes and the background shallow cute moments in others. There’s been no side interactions of Din asking about what Grogu learned, or treasuring having him back, or reflecting on his place as a parent, or making sure he doesn’t lose him again. In episode 6 Din even leaves Grogu with strangers he’s just met for the entire episode and that has no fallout or recognition, despite one of them being an ex-imperial.

2. Breaking the creed. Throughout the first two seasons, again, Din’s faith and his adherence to the CotW’s beliefs are a huge focus. From episode one and on we get variations of the question “Why don’t you take off your helmet?” “Just take off your helmet” “don’t mandos never take their helmets off?” And we see Din is willing to die rather than break that, rather than not be Mandalorian anymore in his eyes. But he does anyway. For Grogu. A testament to not only his growth because of him, but to his commitment to Grogu over all else.

And he is in some ways hopeless because of that. He willingly takes off his helmet again to show Grogu his face before he says goodbye, because he is all Din has left at that point, all that matters in the moment.

But, of course, there is no lasting effect. Bathing in the waters, built up to be a season long arc, was aborted to being finished in episode two with relatively extreme ease, and even then, had no lingering focus on what being redeemed meant for Din. There was no questioning or clinging to faith, no discussions of how much this meant for him, no lingering on the bathing (because it was turned into a rescue action scene for Bo’s story!), no discussion of how being accepted back and cleansed affected him. One of the largest parts of the character since his introduction is. A footnote.

3. The darksaber/ruler of Mandalore story. This one’s just. Nothing. Also resolved retroactively in episode 2, and with no plot presence otherwise. To start this out, no I didn’t think Din was going to have this great rise to being Mand’alor, that was never really where the plot was going in my eyes. But no matter where it should’ve gone or what it should’ve been, it should’ve been something. Yes! He doesn’t want it! So show us why, show us what that responsibility or implication means to him, why his sect of culture doesn’t care about it, why he doesn’t believe himself to be the one to rule or unite. Make him giving it up feel as earned as if he’d kept it. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of this episode and a final straw in my vendetta against the writers.

The dark saber doesn’t even make an appearance between episodes two and six, it’s that unimportant. There is no conversation with Paz or the Armorer, who both know Din has it. There is no discussion about what it means with Jedi vs Mando history, or with Bo Katan about her history with it. This therefore makes Din having it pointless. It did nothing beyond maybe some combat scenes and the brief Butt up against Paz in BoBF. Another case of more actual plot engagement being in BoBF than the main show. There was no point for it to change hands to Din, because him having it changed nothing, made no one grow, made no one think. It affected Bo, which I’ll touch on again in a bit, but the story blooming there could’ve come around by many other means and was not tied to Din at all.

But before I dig into that aspect, the amount of times I’ve seen “Din never wanted the saber that’s why hes finding an easy loophole to give it up” “Din likes being a side character” stuff is so!!! Like!!! Yes! He doesn’t want it he doesn’t want action and responsibility and he doesn’t care about it but he is not making choices he is not real he is being written lazily! This is the writers not wanting to engage with their own character that they built up and created and set the arcs in motion for.

A show can have multiple mains, can shift character focus, but “The Mandalorian” at its inception was referring to Din Djarin and there was no precident for that focus to completely shift. This isn’t a show that changes protags every season, he used to be a shape in the title, is on the merch and the branding. And if there is meant to be a protagonist shift it has to be gradual, and to still involve his development in the impact on that other character. The explanation of “Well it’s called The Mandalorian not Din Djarin” just makes me really mad cause yeah? It is? But it’s also called Star Wars and not Luke Skywalker but we still understand he is the main protagonist, even if other characters develop and are present alongside him.

And there’s no excuse to sideline Din, because the truth is he does have growth to get, he does have arcs to explore, the only reason he’s so flat and has nothing to work towards right now is because the writers threw that away. Specifically in ways that did not make sense from a character or writing perspective.

And why is that? Because they wanted to write someone else, they wanted to write Bo Katan.

Which is exciting! I love Bo as a character from what I’ve seen of her. She is complex and flawed and has a deeply fucked up past that’s intrinsically connected to Mandalore and it’s future. That is a fascinating character to work with, and I don’t mind her being more present in Mando as it tracks for the goal of bringing Mandalorians together. But! This plot is not doing her justice either.

Throughout this season Bo has been dragged along through the shallows in her own journey. There has been no discussion of her past, of Death Watch’s terrorism and torture and murder, of Satine, of her several past attempts to lead Mandalore, of her history with the civil wars and with clan Viszla and with so much more. Which is wild, because you’d think a season which has chosen to focus on her would? Give a shit about her? Would actually engage with the character she is and what she brings to the table?

Instead she’s been handed every plot point, reduced to a girlboss leader, and her rise to getting the saber again is not only forced with no real discussion or nuance, but she’s once again been given it on a technicality. Just as Din giving up the saber is not a decision and shift earned by development, Bo getting it again isn’t either.

And as I mentioned earlier, she was affected by Din getting the saber in that it led to her people leaving her, and led her to question things, but it being Din having the saber means nothing. The same thing would’ve happened had anyone else gotten the saber, or had it been vented off into space or lost or hidden or whatever. By giving it to a specific character, that begs for interaction over that ownership, for discussion and reflection and connection with that character.

And yet there has been nothing. Bo and Din have had some good interactions, yes, but the development the show seems to want for Bo, seems to want the audience to be rooting for and going along with, is not being shown.

To make all of this more basic, the issue with this episode and this whole season thus far, is that it refuses to engage with its own ideas to a fault. It doesn’t want to get its hands messy, doesn’t want to untie the complicated and fascinating and fucked up knot it’s tied for itself. Instead it’s slicing through all of those Gordian style and leaving us to wonder about what might’ve been, about what the story seems to want to be.

I love a lot of the concepts this season, I love what it could be. I love the characters and the world and the religion and the politics, but I have to actually see what is set up, what is set in motion, what is built, to feel like I am watching the show I loved at the start.

And though it’s not as relevant to this episode, it feels relevant here: This should’ve been a Mandalorian politics season, not a new republic politics season.

Yes, they are intertwined, but at the moment the new republic development feels like a main focus, meant to set things up for further installments in the franchise or retroactively explain pst choices, and the mandalorian culture a side focus, and this has caused a detriment to both. Neither gets explored in their full complexity and nuance, and the story feels unfocused and weirdly disjointed as a result.

I’ve seen people upset by the great divide or presence of fandom negativity lately and I get that, but I feel there needs to be an understanding that people aren’t hating just to hate, this is a serious disappointment with the tanking quality of the show and it’s lack of commitment to itself. When something doesn’t deliver on what it markets itself to be, what the writing lays a basis for, that breaks trust and engagement and enjoyment, and leads to people being pissed. It happens. You can still enjoy the show, while also recognizing there is a boatload of valid criticism and issues and flawed messages that are making people uncomfortable, disinterested, and angry.

And having expectations doesnt devalue those criticisms either. I’ve seen a lot of talk of like “you wanted it to be something it’s not” and while that’s true in some cases, I had no solid ideas for this season beyond… what it showed it was going to do. And I am trying to engage with the ideas it is presenting. Again, I like the hypothetical arc at play, but the execution just. Isn’t it for me. The writing quality isn’t good and isn’t smooth and as I hope I’ve laid out, isn’t living up to its own potential or ideas.

So. Yeah.

I just want a show to be what it was begging to be, what it set itself up to be, what the characters and plot threads are wanting to be, but aren’t able to reach in their entirety. I want stuff that makes sense, that makes me think, that isn’t bigoted and lazy and frustrating. But I haven’t been getting that. And that really sucks.

TLDR: a train wreck in motion, but it was carrying cargo I would’ve loved to see.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Snake Eyes chapter 6: Folie a Deux (originally published on October 2, 2023)

AN: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. We've been building up to this for two years now, but at long last, Steven and Black Rutile finally go head-to-head once again. And this time, there will be nothing holding them back in their fight to the death, except for their own inner demons. Steven refuses to fight and kill for entertainment but deep down, he's resisting the urge to go all out. Meanwhile, Black Rutile is incredibly eager to kill Steven once and for all, but that doesn't stop her from having her own second thoughts about everything. This, I believe, makes their dynamic so well-written, though I might be bragging here since I was the one who created it. But enough stroking my ego, we're officially at the halfway point of Snake Eyes now, so let's begin!

Synopsis: Steven and Black Rutile have their long-awaited rematch. Meanwhile, Nosiop begins his plot for universal conquest.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Grace Rolek as Connie

Jennifer Paz as Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Aurelio Voltaire as King Cobralan Jormagundr

Jason Marsden as Prince Nosiop Jormagundr

Keith David as Pyth

Shirley Millner as Queen Constricta Jormagundr

Henry Rollins as Captain Boa

Neil Flynn as Aescul

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Christine Ebersole as White Diamond

Ron Perlman as Inner Steven

Christopher Lloyd as Batsputin Vosania

Anna Akana as Dionna of the Sands

Peter Stormare as Reximillian

--

"Okay ladies, everyone into your cells!" one of the Bismuth guards at Revanche 666 yelled as the Rutile Rebels were ordered to their assigned prison cells in the aftermath of their attempted takeover of Little Homeworld. "This will be your home for as long as it takes for you to change your ways and finally accept that you lost."

"So that's how it is, huh?" Black Rutile muttered as she glumly sat down in her cell and gazed at her feet. Everything she had worked so hard from the moment Steven came out as the so-called son of Pink Diamond was all made entirely pointless once again. And even worse, it wasn't even Steven who ruined her plans this time, but instead his disgusting human friends. That was one of many things she hated about Steven. Despite how toxic he was towards others, Steven always knew how to gather allies, whether they were former enemies he convinced would agree with him or simple-minded creatures he could mold into his slaves.

Of course, Black Rutile wasn't any better, but at least she knew how evil she was and loved it. But now, her love of manipulating others to her whims had been used against her thanks to some choice words by the Crystal Gems to turn her allies' collective backs on her. And now, as she heard her subordinates converse among themselves, Black Rutile had one question to ask herself.

"Is this still worth it?"

--

"Status update on the Diamonds?" a Slytherophidian scientist said to his lab assistant as the pair watched over three massive gems in an equally large containment field meant to house the ginormous Diamonds they would soon reform into.

"Their vitals are normal, Dr. Heller." The female Slytherophidian said, gazing down at a tablet documenting the Diamonds' statistics. "They should return to their normal forms within a few minutes."

"Excellent work, Dr. Mercer." Dr. Heller said before the two scientists turned to find Aescul walking into the laboratory. "Oh, hello Aescul. Need anything?"

"Yes, I'm gonna need you two to leave for a bit so I can have a little privacy with our giant guests here." Aescul stated. "They're gonna need some catching up to do."

"Understood, sir." Dr. Heller said as he and his assistant left Aescul alone in the lab, just as the Diamonds regenerated their forms and found themselves in the containment unit.

"Oh, what happened?" Yellow groaned as she slowly regained consciousness from her fight with the Metals. "Where are those Metals?"

"Where are we? Some kind of laboratory?" Blue asked while looking around and tapping on the glass.

"You are exactly right, my Diamond-y friend," Aescul stated. "Hi, my name's Aescul. I'm a Slytherophidian spy who participated in the surveillance of your people and brought your little friend Steven to your planet. Nice to meet you guys."

"Hello there, Mr. Aescul." White Diamond politely greeted the spy in a somewhat awkward fashion. "Would you mind telling us where we are and why we're here?"

"Oh yeah, that." Aescul nodded. "You took quite a beating against the Metals, and I just wanted to see if you'll be alright in time for Steven's big fight with Black Rutile."

"Whose big fight with what?!" Yellow yelled in shock.

"Oh no, Steven!" Blue added, just as horrified at the decision, while Aescul remained stoic.

"Please, you must tell your masters to change this decision at once!" White begged Aescul on her knees like her life depended on it. "You have no idea how much Black Rutile hates our dear Steven!"

"Sorry, everybody, but rules are rules," Aescul said as he turned to leave. "You know, I can let you go so you're free to watch, ladies. You just need to keep your mouths shut since everybody hates you so much. Remember that cover-up?"

"Yes, we convinced the universe at large that all the planets we conquered were uninhabited to hide the fact that we committed genocide, we know," Yellow stated dryly as the Diamonds were released from their confinement. "I don't think I want to know how Steven would react to such news."

"Probably not well at all." White nodded fearfully while Aescul led them out of the lab. Little did they know was that Steven was having his own issues at the moment.

--

Meanwhile, Steven anxiously paced back and forth in the Crystal Gems' quarters at the Ouraborium as he contemplated what he had heard earlier. Queen Constricta had just announced that Steven and Black Rutile were due to fight soon in the arena, their first one-on-one battle since Black Rutile invaded the beach house while the Gems were in Los Diego. A lot has changed since the two last fought, but one thing that remained a constant was that Black Rutile utterly hated him and wanted every opportunity she got to knock him down a peg.

"Well, well, well, look who's all ready for his big day." Black Rutile declared sarcastically as she entered the room to speak with Steven one last time. "Don't get cold feet, old friend. The Slytherophidians wouldn't like that. Then again, they already hate you as is."

"So, what brings you here?" Steven said tepidly. "Want to gloat some more before we fight?"

"Quit reading my mind!" Black Rutile laughed before offering her archenemy a high-five. "Give me five!" Steven didn't answer, causing Black Rutile to high-five herself instead. "But in addition, I come here to inform you of a new plan I've come up with in cooperation with a new acquaintance I've made here with similar designs for the universe as I."

"Who are you talking about?" Steven asked quietly.

"I am, of course, talking about Prince Nosiop Jormagundr." Black Rutile stated. "You'll get to meet him soon, of course, but for now, to give you an idea of what we have planned." She played a holographic image of a tall, humanoid figure looming over the Crystal Gems and zapping them into poofing before the Gems reformed, looking like they had just emerged from a Kindergarten. "Nosiop and the rest of the royal family have connections with a being known as the Lapidarist that can revert all Gemkind into their base programming." She explained. "Meaning that we won't just force the Crystal Gems into being returned to what they were originally created to do, but the Diamonds and all of your little friends too! And maybe as a bonus, you might fall victim to the Lapidarist's powers too, thanks to you possessing good ol' Pink Diamond's gem."

"I knew you would do something like this to get your way!" Steven screamed angrily. "You're a monster!"

"Oh, I'm a monster. I haven't heard that one before." Black Rutile replied with a cross of her arms and a roll of her eyes. "What are you going to do about it? Shatter me? Oh wait, you can't because you're a pacifist! No, pacifist might be too kind for you. You can't shatter me because you're a coward."

"I am not!" Steven yelled back, only for Black Rutile to shut him up with a finger to his lips.

"Oh sure, try and deny it all you want, but let me make one thing clear." Black Rutile stated. "All of this was your fault. All of your friends were abducted by these snake people all because they've been watching you for months on end, and now they're all going to die because you don't want to fight!"

"But that's the idea." Steven tried to explain himself. "I told the king that I refuse to kill people for the entertainment of others, something I'm sure you would love to do."

"Oh sure, even the king is patting you on the back for your cowardice." Black Rutile sneered as she prepared to leave. "But remember that next we meet, you and the other Crystal Gems will finally learn your place under my heel."

"I'll see you in the ring." Steven said as Black Rutile left the room. Once again, she was plotting her revenge, but this time, her plan would involve transforming all Gems into her slaves, the Crystal Gems included. Steven couldn't stand for this. As much as he wanted to stay true to his guns, Black Rutile needed to be stopped once and for all, no matter what it would take.

"I said I've had enough of your bullying, Black Rutile," Steven yelled as soon as he heard another pair of footsteps approach him. "I'll see you in the ring!"

"I'm not Black Rutile, but I still think we need to talk about her," Greg replied in a firm yet gentle and fatherly tone while sitting beside his son.

"Please don't tell me she convinced you I'm a monster." Steven prayed that his beloved father wouldn't betray him.

"What, no?! I would never think such horrible things about my son!" Greg exclaimed. "Black Rutile's a monster, and your kindness aside, anyone else would've wanted to put her down for good with no remorse."

"Then I don't understand why you're talking to me when you barely know her," Steven responded.

"It would be the logical move, the safest move, the sensible move," Greg added.

"But?" Steven asked.

"It's not the Steven move. You trust people. You give them second chances, and they live up to your expectations the best they can." Greg explained. "I mean, Lapis, Peridot, Jasper, Bismuth, Spinel, the Diamonds, White Topaz, they all wanted you dead or out of the way, yet you believed they deserved a chance anyways."

"And here comes Black Rutile to refuse a second chance and live up to how evil she can be." Steven muttered disdainfully.

"No one can deny all the horrible things she did." Greg agreed with his half-human son. "I mean, she formed an entire terrorist organization to get revenge on you AND tried to destroy or conquer Earth multiple times!"

"But now she and Nosiop are plotting to reset the entire Gem race and use them to conquer the universe!" Steven exclaimed.

"True. And if I had your powers, I'd use them to take her down if I had no other option." Greg shook his head in agreement. "But I never thought I'd live to see you consider doing the same. You always find a way."

"Not this time." Steven declared as he got off the couch. "I've had to do a lot of growing up ever since I discovered my powers."

"And you did pretty great despite all you endured." Greg smiled pridefully, remembering all the ups and downs he and his son went through together as Steven grew up.

"For a while. But then I kept letting her get in my head and making me live up to her expectations. It's because of her that I had to leave everyone behind!" Steven exclaimed angrily, only for Greg to not answer him. "Aren't you going to argue with me?"

"Not when you're right, Schtu-ball," Greg replied somberly, knowing what Steven would do next.

"I've had fun, but I knew that when the situation gets serious, so would I!" Steven added.

"I'm not gonna argue with you, Steven," Greg said, not wanting to get into a fight with Steven. "I just wanted to make sure you really thought about this."

"I have, Dad. I'm sorry about what I'm going to do to Black Rutile; I really am." Steven replied firmly as he turned around and prepared to leave for the arena, his eyes briefly glowing a faint pink. "But I'm not a bright-eyed little kid singing songs about ice cream anymore. Playtime's over."

--

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, you've been waiting for this fight for ages now, but at long last, the moment has arrived!" King Cobralan announced to his cheering audience. "In this corner, you know him; you absolutely hate him, Steven Universe!"

As Steven marched out into the arena, he was met with booing and insults from the Slytherophidians, who were eager to see him killed in action. At the same time, the Crystal Gems could only watch helplessly as their human son was forced to fight against his will.

"Please do your best, Steven." Pearl silently prayed for Steven's survival.

"What are the odds of him making out of this alive, Garnet?" Amethyst asked the fusion.

"I'm calculating a 32.33% chance of Steven making this out with perfect mental health," Garnet replied, lowering her shades. "Repeating, of course."

"Well, that's better than he usually does," Jasper added.

"And in this corner, the Striking Shadow of the Rebellion, the leader of the Rutile Rebels, the little Rutile that could, the most wanted criminal known to Gemkind, BLAAAAACK RUTIIIILE!" The Slytherophidians celebrated Black Rutile's introduction, a stark contrast to how Steven was received, as Black Rutile strutted into the arena with her sword over her shoulder.

"You know what shall happen once I win this, right?" Black Rutile snidely asked Steven as she drew her sword. "You shall die, and there will be much rejoicing." To emphasize her point, Aquamarine and Eyeball gave a dry "Yay." from afar.

"I know, but I'm willing to try." Steven said as he nervously summoned his shield to defend himself as Black Rutile furiously charged at her archenemy and tried to stab him with her sword. Throughout the first part of the fight, Steven mainly defended himself with the shield from Black Rutile's attacks, all while she vented her frustrations and insecurities on him.

"Haha, you're just blocking!" Black Rutile laughed. "Typical Steven, never once raising a fist even if his life depended on it! You're just like your mother, just as weak and pathetic a brat as she was!"

"Seriously, pressing the mother button again?!" Steven yelled before he finally decided to throw a punch, but Black Rutile effortlessly caught it and threw him to the ground.

"Oh, what's the matter, little boy?" Black Rutile taunted. "Going to cry? Maybe soil yourself in front of hundreds?"

"So this is going to be our battle?" Steven muttered frustratedly. "Just you making speech after speech in between insulting me? Trust me, if I wanted to hear someone talk about themselves all day, I'd spend time with Peridot or Jasper."

"You know I can hear you, Steven!" Peridot yelled in offense before Jasper pushed her away.

"Come on, Steven, destroy her!" Jasper ordered Steven.

"No, this isn't just a battle. It's a message." Black Rutile replied while holding back tears of rage and sorrow. "A message about how you ruined countless lives with your worthless pacifism, but none more than mine. Before I met you, I was the ideal servant! Proud, ruthless, ruling by intelligence and charisma alone! Under my gentle guidance, entire armies of Gems made civilizations tremble before the Diamonds' might! But then you came along, a mere human boy from a pathetic little ball of dirt thought long abandoned by the Diamonds, a boy who stripped me of my honor and pride that I built my entire identity upon. It was at your hands that I suffered my greatest defeats and was forced to live life as a commoner after giving up everything I had worked for. You could not begin to imagine the disgrace I felt when I was exposed as a mere victim of White Diamond's sense of humor in front of everyone on your world!"

"But you still don't understand!" Steven exclaimed as he got back up and smacked Black Rutile in the face with his shield, making her tears fly free as she parried another attack and pressed her sword against the shield. "You were this way because the Diamonds gave you everything you could've ever wanted, and you still selfishly wanted more! Has it ever occurred to you that you're more like Pink Diamond than you think?!"

Angered by this accusation, Black Rutile slashed at Steven's shield as she began crying in earnest, something that Steven had never seen her do before, if she could even express such sadness at all. "Don't you dare compare me to that overgrown brat! I had suffered for centuries because of her, and now it's because of you that I lost everything!" she screamed tearfully. "I admired the Diamonds so much, but it's all their fault I'm reduced to a shell of my former self! Why do I have to keep chasing after a damned half-human rat who always knew what to do to ruin my life?! Why do you keep getting so strong and winning at everything, and even be acknowledged by the Diamonds as one of them, but why was I the one always getting pushed aside?! Why can't you just accept me for who I am?!"

Steven couldn't believe what he was seeing. Black Rutile, who had prided herself as a cunning, devious, opportunistic, sociopathic monster, was showing real sadness for the first time ever since they first met each other on that faithful day when she and White Topaz interviewed him for their fake news show. Everyone has seen Black Rutile laugh, but now Steven isn't sure if anyone has ever seen her cry.

However, Black Rutile quickly brushed her tears away and replaced her crestfallen frown with a psychotic grin. "But now, with Nosiop and the Lapidarist by my side, I can start anew with a new army, a new Homeworld to rule, and an entire universe at my fingertips to enslave! That's why I needed to come with you, to seize the opportunity like I always do! The Lapidarist shall free us of these petty attachments we have forged with each other, and I have to say, revenge feels pretty good."

"Not yet." Steven firmly stated as he stood his ground and awaited another attack from his nemesis.

"Too little, too late. Story of our lives, Steven Universe." Black Rutile smirked as her sadness turned into insane laughter as she lunged at Steven, ready to kill him once and for all.

--

"So, is this what Black Rutile is truly like?" Dionna of the Sands asked as she and the other Universal Lords watched the fight between the half-human son of Pink Diamond and the rebellious Rutile below their theater box. "I have only heard stories about her atrocities before now."

"Nay, as someone whose life was threatened by her before, this is utterly new to me." Batsputin added with a curious shake of his head. "Never before have I seen someone pour their heart out this much. Metaphorically, of course."

"It is extraordinary to see a Gem act this way." Reximillian agreed with Batsputin. "Is it normal for one of their race to be this emotional?"

"I'm not too sure." King Cobralan answered fearfully. "I'm afraid that should Steven Universe survive this, there should come a time for him to learn the truth."

"The truth about what, my love?" Queen Constricta asked.

"The truth about the origins of Gems and how they connect to us," Cobralan told his wife, making Constricta realize what her husband was talking about. "Captain Boa, inform our special friend at once."

"It shall be done, sire." Captain Boa said as he slithered away. "And I'll make sure to look for Princess Naja and Pyth as well. No one has seen them lately."

"Don't bother, Captain." Nosiop told Boa as he took a break from silently cheering for Black Rutile to face his uncle. "Naja is just in her room, nothing too serious. As for Pyth, wouldn't you like to know?"

--

While the Contest of Champions was going on, Pyth had retreated into his favorite hidden chambers within the royal family's castle with a torch in hand to search for something he hadn't checked up on in decades. Raising his torch to the wall, the Jormagundrs' royal vizier examined a series of stone wall carvings depicting what could come in the future.

They displayed images depicting what appeared to be figures resembling Steven and Black Rutile fighting each other in the arena, then shaking hands, followed by the two of them facing a large humanoid figure with hair resembling White Diamond's, and then them preparing to fight an even bigger snake creature.

"It is just as the prophecy foretold." Pyth stated ominously. "The sword and the shield shall soon reach an understanding after the shield learns of the sword's true inner self, just in time for Ragnarok."

--

"Dang, Black Rutile is really going all out." Greg muttered in surprise at Black Rutile's emotional outburst. "Never expected her to be that broken."

"She's lying, I just know it!" Connie yelled as she struggled to rush out into the arena and back up Steven against Black Rutile. "Black Rutile would never say something like that; she has to be faking it!"

"Connie, please calm down!" Pearl said while holding Connie back from recklessly charging into battle. "I know you love Steven, but I think he can handle himself here."

"Still, I've never seen Black Rutile like this before." White Topaz added. "I've been working with her for ages, and even I don't think she would get this emotional."

"Maybe it's because of how Steven ruined her life." Aquamarine said as she fluttered into view, with Eyeball, Holly Blue, and Cat's Eye beside her. "Think of it: she is only now venting all of her frustrations because, in this world, violence is both the only question and the answer."

"And the answer is yes!" Eyeball added cheerfully.

"Ugh, these guys." Lapis groaned in disgust. "What'll it take for you just to give up already?"

"In all seriousness, even we're questioning our loyalty to Black Rutile right now." Holly Blue declared. "We're so sick of her complaining about her losing; we almost selected a superior leader to replace her!"

"But unfortunately, Black Rutile and his new friend had to come in and ruin our fun!" Cat's Eye declared dramatically and swooned into Holly Blue's arms. "Now we are well and truly lost!"

"I'll believe it when I see it, drama queen." Jasper scoffed in disbelief as everyone turned back to watch the fight with bated breath. The battle between Steven and Black Rutile had just gotten more intense than ever, escalating from a duel between rivals to a clash of warriors. But who would make it out of this fight alive was left to the viewers.

--

"What's wrong, boyo? Too scared to keep fighting?!" Black Rutile snarled viciously as she threw her bowie knife at Steven's eye, only for him to block it with his shield and accidentally injure a Slytherophidian in the audience. "Oh, I get it; you want to go easy on me because you think I'm just so scared and misunderstood!"

"I know what you're going through, Black Rutile. There was a time when I felt scared and alone, too!" Steven exclaimed as he continued fighting back. "Of course, that was half because you made me feel like everything I did was for nothing!"

"Everything you did was for nothing, you pink brat!" Black Rutile responded as she jumped into the air and tried attacking Steven from behind. However, something began to change within Steven in the seconds before she would land the finishing blow.

"You're really just going to stand there and let her kill you?" a familiar voice in Steven's head asked. "Do you give up? Will you abandon their hope? Can you not feel their desperation?" Steven's eyes lit up in shock as the world around him froze, the only ones moving being himself and a being who looked just like him, only more muscular with pink skin and his hair in a pompadour. "Will evil forever rule the universe? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?!"

"You again!" Steven yelled at Inner Steven, facing him. "What do you want with me now? What have I forgotten?"

"I'm asking if you've forgotten what it means to stand up for yourself." Inner Steven said, turning Steven around to face Black Rutile, ready to stab him in the back. "Tell me, my friend, are you ready to surrender and let a monster like her claim the victory she craved for so long?"

"But what if she isn't a monster?" Steven asked his darker half. "Fighting her has given me a whole new perspective on Black Rutile as a person. She feels so lost and alone, and it's all my fault. Maybe if she stopped trying to kill me for a minute, maybe we can finally talk things out!"

"Oh please, she's probably lying as always to play with your sympathy." Inner Steven shook his head in disgust before he got an idea. "As a matter of fact, why don't I take the wheel for a bit? I've been wanting some action for a long time now."

"Well, if that's what you want, then by all means," Steven sighed in resignation before stepping away to let Inner Steven take hold. "go get her, tiger."

"You're too kind, my little friend." Inner Steven grinned happily as time resumed to normal, and Black Rutile was about to stab Steven in the back. However, she was quickly met with Steven grabbing her sword by the blade, not caring about the injuries to his hand it would cause, before saying one word in a very deep voice. "FALL!"

Steven's increased volume sent Black Rutile flying back into the arena walls, creating a significant dent in the wall as the Slytherophidians gawked at Steven's sudden change. Not even the two hecklers had any wisecracks to make because of how shocking this was.

"W-what is this?" Black Rutile stuttered in shock at this new development. "Who are you?! Where is Steven?!"

"He's gone." Steven, now under the control of Inner Steven, declared as his body became a pink silhouette with glowing white eyes and a pair of shields in his hands.

"What did you just say?!" Black Rutile shouted. "Answer me!"

"He's GOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!" Steven boomed loud enough to create a shockwave that rocked the Ouraborium and the entire surrounding city, causing everybody inside to fall over from the sudden yell.

"Wait, this is just like when I removed his gem!" White exclaimed hopefully while the other Diamonds trembled in fear. "If this is anything like that time, then Black Rutile is toast!"

"Steven, you can't do that!" Black Rutile yelled angrily. "This victory is mine!" With an angry battle cry, the Rutile charged at Steven with her sword, ready to kill, only to be grabbed by the face and slammed into the ground. "What happened to you, Steven?! Why are you like this? Answer me, blast you!"

"This is what happens when I cut loose and show you how powerful I really am." Steven announced before picking Black Rutile up and throwing her to the sky before zipping towards the airborne Gem with superhuman speed and striking her with everything he's got. "ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA-OWATTA!"

"Make it stop, make it stop!" Black Rutile screeched as she felt every last bit of hatred Steven had for her with every attack. But no matter how much she wanted to, she could never poof from the amount of damage she was taking, almost as if Steven wanted her to suffer all the pain she wrought upon others.

As Black Rutile landed on the ground in a cloud of dust while Steven descended from the air, the only thing she could do now was plead for mercy. "No more, Steven Universe! Grant me mercy, I beg of you!"

"You, who are without mercy, now plead for it?" Steven scoffed in disgust at Black Rutile's attempted surrender. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff."

"That's what you think!" Black Rutile briefly regained her bravado and drew her sword, but Steven deflected the attack with his twin shields before grabbing the blade and twisting it into a corkscrew shape.

"No need to wonder where your god is, Black Rutile, for he is right here." Steven declared menacingly, his threat sending shivers down the audience's spines. "And he is fresh out of mercy."

"Oh, how cute, he thinks he's a-." Black Rutile chuckled before she realized what Steven was about to do. "OH SHIT!" With another punch to the face, Black Rutile skidded to the ground so hard she was almost buried within Serpentes's surface. As she burst one hand out of the arena's floor to pick herself back up, Steven stepped on her face, and Black Rutile was forced back into the hole.

"This is where you belong, Black Rutile. Under. My. Heel." Steven coldly declared as Black Rutile continued trying to escape. "Had enough yet?"

"You know what? I give up." Black Rutile said, causing Steven to stop stomping on her as she exited the hole and onto her knees. "Go ahead, kill me. Kill me now." Steven was silent, as if he was hesitating to put her down. "DO IT!"

"FINISH HER! FINISH HER! FINISH HER! FINISH HER!" the Slytherophidians chanted as they beckoned the empowered Steven to shatter Black Rutile just as Steven returned to his senses and realized what he had just done.

"No!" Steven boldly declared upon regaining his humanity. "I refuse to kill someone who's already dead inside as is!" The Slytherophidians gasped in shock at Steven's announcement, but unlike the last time something like this happened, where they made him the scourge of Serpentes, they were willing to hear him out this time. "Just look at Black Rutile here. She's lost everything. Her power, her status, even her dignity. Everything she's been through has reduced my opponent into a pathetic shell of her former self, and I do not think shattering her would grant her any kind of sweet release she would be looking for. Why kill her when she's already killed herself?"

"So that's it? You're sparing me?" Black Rutile muttered in disbelief before she immediately grabbed onto his pant leg like an upset child. "Why?! Why can't you shatter me already?! I've ruined your life, turned you against your friends, and turned the whole universe against you! Why can't you just hate me like I do?!"

"Because after hearing you vent your anger," Steven coldly responded. "nobody hates you more than yourself." On that last word, Steven left the humiliated Black Rutile to be gawked at by the shocked snake people like she was some kind of endangered species. Perhaps Steven was right. No one did hate Black Rutile more than herself. And this made her very worried.

"Uh, this was certainly an unexpected end to such an intense fight." King Cobralan announced as he tried to ease the tension thick enough to be cut with the sharpest swords in the universe. "How about we go to halftime then?!" The Slytherophidians all cheered at the suggestion while their fearless leader wiped the sweat off his brow. "Oh geez, I do not want to know how the Lapidarist will hear about this!"

"Hmph, pathetic." Nosiop scoffed in dismay at Black Rutile's meltdown as a pair of Slytherophidian guards took her away. Regardless of her performance, she was still needed for his plan to succeed, but Nosiop knew she would need to be taken off the board soon.

--

Minutes later, Black Rutile was left to wallow in shame in her personal quarters at the Ouraborium, utterly humiliated by her defeat and how Steven refused to kill her no matter how much she begged him to end her suffering. But no matter what she did, Steven refused to cave into the pressure of others and stuck true to his ideals. "I thought this time, just this once, I thought I was gonna get what I was fighting for."

"Hey, Black Rutile, remember me?" White Topaz said as she entered Black Rutile's quarters to comfort her old master despite how much she was abused in the past. "I just thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing. Man, Steven absolutely destroyed you back there, huh?"

"Don't remind me." Black Rutile sulked angrily as she turned away. "The nerve of that boy, thinking I was more like Pink Diamond than I realized, and how nobody hated me more than me. Can you believe him?! Always projecting his own issues onto others!"

"But it's true, you are like Pink Diamond!" White Topaz agreed with Steven's accusations. "You got everything you could ever want, yet you still think that isn't enough, so you decided to become an evil megalomaniac bent on conquering the universe because you think you'd be a much better leader than any of the Diamonds combined."

"Because that's what I built my identity on! Or at least I thought I did." Black Rutile stated. "Until I learned that everything I worked for was because White Diamond found my dreams of greatness funny. I swear on my gem, once I learn more about the Lapidarist, I will restore everything to its proper order, except that only I shall be made leader of all Gemkind!"

"Then you truly are lost." White Topaz declared sadly, having now lost all hope in helping Black Rutile make a change. "Goodbye, my Rutile."

As White Topaz turned away and left Black Rutile behind, her former superior could only cry out for her ex-bodyguard to come back. "Topaz, get back here at once! Topaz!" The doors shut behind White Topaz, leaving Black Rutile alone in her room. "TOPAZ!" She fruitlessly pounded on the door with tears in her eyes, desperately trying to get White Topaz's attention, but to no avail.

What once was a proud, arrogant conqueror with delusions of grandeur was now a broken, lonely shell of her former self. Thus continues the tragic tale of the life of Black Rutile.

--

"What was all that for?!" Steven yelled at Inner Steven in the meantime. "You could've gotten Black Rutile seriously hurt or worse!"

"It's the least she deserves after all she's done to you." Inner Steven firmly retorted while folding his metaphorical arms. "Let's see, lying to you and all your friends, attempting to kill you, gaslighting you into betraying your friends, attempting to destroy the Earth multiple times, shall I go on? Going easy on her just wouldn't be enough if you ask me. Consider yourself lucky you made it out with your mental health intact."

Just then, there was a knock at Steven's door. "We'll settle this later, Inner Me. I think someone wants to see me." Steven said to the personification of his darker impulses as he opened the door to find Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl beside King Cobralan. "Oh hey, guys. Sorry, I got you all worried back there."

"Nah, we're not talking about how you utterly creamed Black Rutile in your fight." Amethyst shook her head morosely.

"We're here because King Cobralan wants to speak with you about something." Garnet added before nodding to Pearl.

"So, Your Majesty, what did you want to say to him?" Pearl asked the Slytherophidian king.

"I wanted to tell Steven that it's time he learns the truth." King Cobralan said forebodingly.

--

In Loving Memory of David McCallum

September 19, 1933 – September 25, 2023

"So many different ways to tell a story, but that's what makes them so interesting. You can never predict how they're going to turn out."

-Professor Paradox, Ben 10 Omniverse: "And Then There Were Ben"

So ends quite possibly the longest chapter of Snake Eyes yet, and how fitting that it's the chapter marking the halfway point. From here on out, Black Rutile has turned into full tragic villain, we get more hints on her big scheme with Nosiop and Pyth, and next time, Steven learns the origins of the Gems we've all been waiting for. And I can assure you, it'll be one of the biggest bomb drops I've written not just for Alternate Future, but for any of my stories in general. See you then.

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

i did more or less figure out btw why infinity war doesn't work for me even though i'm an idiot with bad taste who enjoyed civil war and endgame Just Fine. the problem with infinity war is that it is very excited to play around with the fun cute possibilities of slamming together these characters in novel combinations - which i get like the idea of peter quill being all insecure about thor is fun on paper! it is! - but it ALSO really badly wants to be taken more or less seriously as a movie with a kind of epic grandeur that the mcu is generally not really suited to providing because in order to do epic in a movie you have to make it not look like total shit (lord of the rings is the very easy contrast here - compared to the very human creepiness of christopher lloyd's saruman, the dedicated practical effects of the uruk-hai, the spooky darkness of the ringwraiths, or the smartly sparingly used fire of the eye of sauron, thanos simply looks Dumb As Fuck and that is a sinker for this particular aim), and then that problem is compounded by the extent to which this movie cannot walk the tightrope on tone, like, at all. like we open up with the slaughter of the aftermath of half of asgard, the heroic onscreen death of everyone's favorite antihero, because the movie wants us to feel that thanos is a real and credible menace like nothing we'v ever seen, but then after that we're supposed to be entertained the fact dr. strange thinks tony stark is a dick. and then that's just multiplied by a billion for six hundred more interminable hours. civil war and endgame both don't have this problem because they are just trying to do the one thing (actually civil war a little bit has this problem when spider-man shows up but it's not for that much of the movie and tom holland is adorable so like it's forgivable to me).

i don't think the movie was ever gonna be "good" like a real movie is good but i think it could have worked for me better if the movie had actually undersold the thanos situation for the first like two thirds and gotten all of the fun playful comic book crossover stuff out of its system, and then something happens to really bring it home to everyone how bad it is (because this is the other thing is that like none of these people are acting remotely like people who think that they're up against an existential threat. they are acting the same way they act in all their other movies where they face down, like, bad dudes who wanna kill a couple people or whatever. steve does not seem any different from civil war when his biggest enemy was tony, although that could be because, i don't say this often and didn't think of this when i first saw it and also did not really find it to be true of endgame, but man, chris evans was checked the fuck out of this film). and then we transition to the giant scary scope of it all and everything is very serious and bad. see and that would also work because it's like, well and now everything is so serious and bad that dr. strange can't even complain about how annoying tony is anymore! (sidebar also i would 100% take out the dumb dr. strange thing about how he sees all the futures and there's only one way for them to win bc then it's all just like. well now we're in strange's plan gonna see how that plays out.) we can feel the horror with the characters because we perceive the difference in their behavior. anyway. that's just my onion.

[tlbodine]

Alexandre Aja

The last of our directors is also the first entry into a new challenge we're doing, which I'll tell y'all about in a little bit. First, I want to talk about Alexandre Aja -- a horror director you might not know by name but perhaps by reputation. A member of the Splat Pack alongside Eli Roth, his films are marked by certain sensibilities toward good, fun splatter violence.

We've seen him here before remaking The Hills Have Eyes, and he's also responsible for the film adaptation of Horns with Daniel Radcliffe. But for our double feature, we selected two aquatic creature features that, viewed side by side, produce a fascinating glimpse into the history of horror across the past decade.

Piranha 3D (2010) is a remake (of sorts) of the 1978 Joe Dante Piranha. The story revolves around a lake town whose spring break plans are cut violently short by a swarm of vicious prehistoric piranhas unleashed by an underwater earthquake. The main character is thrust into the center of the action when, instead of babysitting his younger siblings, he sneaks off to join the crew of a softcore porno a la Girls Gone Wild.

This movie has tits and blood galore. Pretty much every shot is an excuse to either put more naked boobs or more severed limbs on display. Eli Roth has a cameo appearance and is crushed to death by a speed boat. Elizabeth Shue is in this for some reason. They even paid Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss to show up for this.

As you may surmise by the title, this movie was shown in 3D, and the hallmarks of that show in how many "ahh! fish swimming at camera! oh no!" shots there are.

It's a fun, stupid, puerile, turn-your-brain off popcorn movie and I think pretty neatly slots into what people thought horror was all about coming out of the 2000s.

Crawl (2019) is about a collegiate swimmer who goes to help her dad evacuate from a hurricane, only for the two of them to get trapped in a crawlspace with a number of very hungry and aggressive alligators.

I think this movie makes such a fascinating counterpoint with Piranha. They are, after all, both movies about underwater deadly creatures. But they are wildly different in the way they're filmed and how the story unfolds, in a way that I think beautifully typifies our current new golden age of horror.

Piranha is all about boobs and blood. Crawl is in many ways a tightly focused family drama. Where Piranha shows dozens of nameless people getting shredded into meat, Crawl focuses on two characters and their human conflict, which is dramatized and symbolized by an external threat. Yeah, this movie is about killer alligators, but it's really about a girl and her dad's relationship being strained by her sports career, which put him in the role of coach as well as dad and ultimately played a hand in breaking up the family. It's about surviving the night, but it's also about reconciling that relationship.

It's post-Babadook horror, in other words, and I'm here for it, even as I know a lot of other people lack patience for this sort of thing and would prefer more shlock. Different strokes and all that.

Anyway, for what it is, Crawl is pretty good. It breaks for me a bit on the logic aspect (why are these alligators so persistent and aggressive?) but the effects look great and the characters are drawn well enough to keep me invested.

[drwilfredwaterson]

Recognizing and Responding To The Adversary of the Abrahamic Faiths and All of The Adversary's Servants, Slaves, and Allies. Part 9/13.

“The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Back to the Future Part 3 - The Armor of G-d: Shed human blood, get knocked out, mixed with manure, and arrested along with any poop-talking associates

Published: July 25, 2020 (207th day) Duration: 3:44 (224 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO9PtW-wMBM DO9PtW-wMBM DOPtW-wMBM bdmmoptww 2+4+30+30+50+60+100+900+900=2076. 2076+9=2085. 2085+224=2309. 2309+207=2516.

Strong's Concordance #2516 Chelqi: descendant of Helek; rom chalaq; smoothness (of the tongue), flattery; also an allotment, inheritance, part, partial, partake, portion, tract, territory. Original Word: חֶלְקִי

Sunday Sabbatarianism is enshrined in its most mature expression, the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), in the Calvinist theological tradition. Chapter 21, Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day, sections 7-8 read:

As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.

This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe a holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. The confession holds that not only is work forbidden in Sunday, but also "works, words, and thoughts" about "worldly employments and recreations." Instead, the whole day should be taken up with "public and private exercises of [one's] worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy." (Wikipedia)

7, 8…318… Back to the Future Part 3 - Red Truck, Better Choices, Blank Paper, Clean Future… "Make your future a good one…" - Christopher Lloyd (as Doc Brown)

Published: November 13, 2020 (318th day) Duration: 6:23 (383 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7jeOQ8ezs xV7jeOQ8ezs xVjeOQezs eejoqsvxz 5+5+600+50+70+90+700+300+500=2320. 2320+7+8=2335. 2335+383=2718. 2718+318=3036.

Strong's Concordance #3036 Yadon: From yadah; thankful; "will know"; one of the builders of the walls of Jerusalem Original Word: יָדוֹן

The article below fails to mention that all of those "American" policies originated with England and England's invasion of North America, but it's still relevant and comparable to what the Europeans are doing to the Abrahamic faiths, all Hebrews on Earth, and Israel to this day. The United States of America didn't form until after the English colonists decided they were sick of England and they'd rather all fight to the death than continue enduring being docile mindless subjects and slaves of the self-deifying, corrupt, delusional and godless heretics responsible for the "Old Testament" of the King James Version of the Christian Holy Bible.

For its policies toward Native Americans and attempts to keep the races apart, Hitler considered the United States an admirable -- but incomplete -- example of a 'folk' nation By Matt Lebovic 13 August 2017, 11:29 am The Times of Israel

Hitler had an “admiring engagement” with America’s handling of Native Americans, said Whitman. In a 1928 speech, the future dictator said the US had “gunned down the millions of Redskins to a few hundred thousand, and now keeps the modest remnant under observation in a cage.” For its policies toward Native Americans and attempts to keep the races apart, Hitler considered the US an admirable — but incomplete — example of a “volkisch” nation. A notable success, in Nazi eyes, was the “dead letter” citizenship afforded to blacks.

“It was not outlandish for [the Nazis] to think of their program of the early 1930s as a more thoroughgoing and rigorous realization of American approaches toward blacks, Asians, Native Americans, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, and others — even if the regime had shifted its sights to a new target in the form of the Jews, even if it would later take the racist exercise of modern state power in an unimaginably horrifying new direction,” wrote Whitman.

The aspect of America’s “common law racism” that most appealed to the Nazis was called “anti-mongrelization law,” or measures aimed at preventing “mixed” marriages. In 30 states, “anti-miscegenation” laws existed to prevent these unions from taking place. There were even fines and jail sentences issued to offenders, something Whitman called “rare” in legal history.

Another aspect of American race law that appealed to Nazi legal minds was the ability of state and local judges to use common law to — for instance — discriminate against blacks. A Constitutional amendment might have freed the slaves, but many southern leaders, including governors, mayors and judges, were bent on denying blacks the voting rights afforded by citizenship.

Also of appeal to Nazi planners, US politics was “comparatively unencumbered by law,” and a plan like FDR’s “New Deal” could thrive in tandem with the country’s systemic racism, according to Whitman. This combination inspired the Nazis during the 1930s, when the “Four Year Plan” created new jobs and built a covert war machine, all while the persecution of Jews and other minorities steadily increased.

“What the American example showed was that German judges could persecute Jews even without legislation founded in clear and scientifically satisfactory definitions,” wrote Whitman. In a regime that was to become obsessed with “who is a Jew,” this flexibility — such as deployed by judges in the US south — would become important, including when the Nuremberg Laws were crafted.

Frozen 2 - The Northuldra and Arendelle's Backstory

Published: January 14, 2020 (14th day) Duration: 2:51 (171 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wIEF8s_Ow 61wIEF8s_Ow wIEFs_Ow efiosww 5+6+9+50+90+900+900=1960. 1960+61+8=2029. 2029+171=2200. 2200+14=2214.

Strong's Concordance #2214 zara: loathsome thing, foreign Original Word: זָרָא

Frozen 2 - The Shipwreck - Water Has Memory

Published: February 23, 2020 (54th day) Duration: 2:48 (168 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5atd44chnU L5atd44chnU LatdchnU acdhlntu 1+3+4+8+20+40+100+200=372. 372+5+44=421. 421+168=589. 589+54=643.

Strong's Concordance #643 appeden: a pavilion or palace-tent -- palace. Original Word: אַפֶּדֶן

Frozen 2 - The Next Right Thing - Olaf Flurries Away

Published: March 3, 2020 (63rd day) Duration: 3:02 (182 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSYTEOI3Gg IUSYTEOI3Gg IUSYTEOIGg eggiiostuy 5+7+7+9+9+50+90+100+200+400=877. 877+3=880. 880+182=1062. 1062+63=1125.

Strong's Concordance #1125 Ben-abinadab: "son of Abinadab (son of the Father of benevolence/compassion/kindness/grace)," one of Solomon's leaders Original Word: בֶּן־אֲבִינָדָב

Psalm 1:6 (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English TANAKH) Page 1413 For the Lord cherishes the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Psalm 1:6 (New International Version Christian Holy Bible) For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1:6 (King James Version Christian Holy Bible) For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Cherish: (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English TANAKH) 1a: to hold dear : feel or show affection for 1b: to keep or cultivate with care and affection : NURTURE 2: to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely (Merriam-Webster)

Watch over: (New International Version Christian Holy Bible) 1: as in supervise; to be in charge of (Merriam-Webster)

Know: (King James Version Christian Holy Bible) 1: to perceive directly : have direct cognition of 2: to have understanding of (Merriam-Webster)

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

ELSA BRINGS OLAF BACK TO LIFE FROZEN 1 & 2 - WATER HAS MEMORY

Published: March 7, 2020 (67th day) Duration: 1:08 (68 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqNRSLdrXuk wqNRSLdrXuk dklnqrrsuwx 4+10+20+40+70+80+80+90+200+900+300=1794. 1794+68=1862. 1862+67=1929.

Strong's Concordance #1929 hah: alas! ah! expressing grief, woe, oh. Original Word: הָהּ

Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. Matthew 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 5:19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

"The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love." - Margaret Atwood

"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!" - J. R. R. Tolkien

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Page 1644: Proverbs 26:1 Like snow in the summer and rain at harvest time, So honor is not fitting for a dullard. Proverbs 26:2 As a sparrow must flit and a swallow fly, So a gratuitous curse must backfire.

In one recent example of changing weather patterns throughout the globe, the city of Reutlingen, Germany, experienced 12 inches of hail and snow earlier in August. Officials in the city, which is located in the southwest of Germany, described the event as a “localized storm with hail and heavy rain.” It took 250 firefighters and multiple snowplows to clean up the damage from the unexpected storm, which included blocked drainage systems and the Echaz River rising 5 feet and bursting its banks. ES Euro featured images here. August is typically the warmest month in Reutlingen, with average temperatures ranging from 54.5 to 73.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The month of August typically brings no snowfall, according to Weather Atlas, as it is the height of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The residents of Reutlingen were likely quite surprised to see 12 inches of hail and snow during the warmest month of the year. When it comes to changing weather patterns and extreme weather events, we can increasingly expect the unexpected, as our dependence on fossil fuels continues to wreak havoc on every aspect of life on our planet. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-german-city-deploys-snowplows-summer.html https://euro.eseuro.com/local/773177.html

Reutlingen, Germany, was an Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1495 and 1516 the Jews were exiled from the city. The worst disaster in the history of Reutlingen happened in 1726, when a major fire swept through the city, destroying 80% of all residential houses and almost all public buildings, and making 1,200 families homeless. The impact of this fire, which lasted three days, is still visible today. During World War II, the wings of the V-1 flying bomb were manufactured in Reutlingen, making the city the target of several allied bombing raids. The V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) designation was Fi 103. (Wikipedia)

"I'd been a wedding singer through college, but after a few years of doing my best renditions of jazz standards to clinking glasses and the sound of forks on salad, I thought, 'Oh God, if this is all I do, I'll never be able to live with myself.'" - Idina Menzel

More than two million Soviet Jews are believed to have died during the Holocaust in warfare and in Nazi-occupied territories. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many Soviet Jews took the opportunity of liberalized emigration policies, with more than half of the population leaving, most for Israel and the West: Germany, the United States, Canada and Australia.

Idina Kim Mentzel was born on May 30, 1971, in Manhattan. She grew up in New Jersey until about age three, when her family moved to Syosset, New York, on Long Island. Her parents are Stuart Mentzel, a pajama salesman, and Helene Goldberg, a therapist. She has a younger sister named Cara. Menzel is Jewish, and her grandparents emigrated from Russia. Menzel attended J. Irving Baylis Elementary School in Plainview, New York, and then Syosset's H. B. Thompson Middle School and Syosset High School. When Menzel was 15 years old, her parents divorced and she began working as a wedding and bar/bat mitzvah singer, a job that she continued throughout her time at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama in 1992. Idina changed the spelling of her surname to "Menzel" to better reflect the pronunciation that the Mentzel family had adopted in the United States. (Wikipedia)

“Luxury is not a necessity to me, but beautiful and good things are.” ― Anais Nin

The Building Blocks of the Temples/Vessels/Cisterns of Human Hearts, Minds, Bodies, Souls, and Spirits…

The basic elements that compose DNA are five atoms: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and hydrogen. (CDC.gov) Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Alef א Carbon is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. Vav ו Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Zayin ז Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. Chet/Het ח Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Samekh ס

DNA: Alef א, Vav ו, Zayin ז, Chet/Het ח, Samekh ס

Oasis: אוזחס A fertile spot in a desert, where water is found. By weight, the average adult human is approximately 70% water, and the average child is approximately 60% water. (Wikipedia)

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English): Pages 1005 and 1006: Jeremiah 2:1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah 2:2 Go proclaim to Jerusalem: Thus said the Lord; I accounted to your favor The devotion of your youth, Your love as a bride--How you followed Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the Lord, The first fruits of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; Disaster befell them--declares the Lord. Jeremiah 2:4 Hear the word of the Lord, O House of Jacob, Every clan of the House of Israel! Jeremiah 2:5 Thus said the Lord: What wrong did your fathers find in Me That they abandoned Me And went after delusion and were deluded? Jeremiah 2:6 They never asked themselves, "Where is the Lord, Who brought us up from the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, A land of deserts and pits, A land of drought and darkness, A land no man had traversed, Where no human being had dwelt?" Jeremiah 2:7 I brought you to this country of farm land To enjoy its fruit and its bounty; But you came and defiled My land, You made My possession abhorrent. Jeremiah 2:8 The priests never asked themselves, "Where is the Lord?" The guardians of the Teaching ignored Me; The rulers rebelled against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And followed what can do no good. Jeremiah 2:9 Oh, I will go on accusing you--declares the Lord--And I will accuse your children's children! Jeremiah 2:10 Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look, Send to Kedar and observe carefully; See if aught like this has ever happened: Jeremiah 2:11 Has any nation changed its gods Even though they are no-gods? But My people has exchanged its glory For what can do no good. Jeremiah 2:12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; Be horrified, utterly dazed!--says the Lord. Jeremiah 2:13 For My people have done a twofold wrong: They have forsaken Me, the Fount of living waters, And hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, Which cannot even hold water.

John 4:6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” John 4:8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? John 4:12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” John 4:13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. John 4:20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” John 4:21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. John 4:22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. John 4:24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Taylor Swift's Gift Giving of 2014 | SWIFTMAS

Published: December 31, 2014 (365th day) Duration: 6:12 (372 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3yyF31jbKo j3yyF31jbKo jyyFjbKo bfjjkoyy 2+6+600+600+10+50+400+400=2068. 2068+3+31=2102. 2102+372=2474. 2474+365=2839.

Strong's Concordance #2839 chishshuq: From chashaq; conjoined, i.e. A wheel-spoke or rod connecting the hub with the rim -- felloe, to cling, i.e. Join, (figuratively) to love, delight in; elliptically (or by interchangeable for chasak) to deliver -- have a delight, (have a) desire, fillet, long, set (in) love. Original Word: חִשֻּׁק

Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm

Published: December 5, 2019 (339th day) Duration: 3:45 (225 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3rDTAdM2o mN3rDTAdM2o mNrDTAdMo addmmnort 1+4+4+30+30+40+50+80+100=339. 339+3+2=344. 344+225=569. 569+339=908.

Strong's Concordance #908 bada: to devise, invent Original Word: בָּדָא

Taylor Swift - Innocent (Taylor's Version)

Published: July 6, 2023 (187th day) Duration: 5:05 (305 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO6JqQpJboY vO6JqQpJboY vOJqQpJboY bjjoopqqvy 2+600+600+50+50+60+70+70+700+400=2602. 2602+6=2608. 2608+305=2913. 2913+187=3100.

Strong's Concordance #3100 Yoel: probably "the LORD is God," From Yhovah and 'el; Jehovah (is his) God; the name of twelve Israelites -- Joel. Original Word: יוֹאֵל Yhvh: the proper name of the God of Israel El: the one only and true God of Israel

Taylor Swift - Style/Let It Go (with Idina Menzel) (Live on The 1989 World Tour) | Full Performance

Published: February 13, 2022 (44th day) Duration: 10:14 (614 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNVLV11QqXU bNVLV11QqXU bNVLVQqXU blnqquvvx 2+20+40+70+70+200+700+700+300=2102. 2102+11=2113. 2113+614=2727. 2727+44=2771.

Strong's Concordance #2771 Charan: Haran; from charar; parched, to be hot or scorched, to glow, i.e. Literally (to melt, burn, dry up) or figuratively (to show or incite passion -- be angry, burn, dry, kindle. Original Word: חָרָן

“The fishhook catches the fish; the truth catches the lie; the death catches the life; the love catches the hate!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

In the Runaway Snowman, Happy, the talking snowman, wins a local contest and soon becomes quite a celebrity in town. A scheming con man, Freddy Fast Talk, convinces Robin, who built Happy the Snowman, that there is money to be made! Along the way Robin learns important lessons about friendship and caring. Give a little love each day. Just a little love each day. And in a little while, a happy little smile will spread across your face and stay. Give a little love each day. Give it in a special way. And anywhere your eyes can try to realize the sun is chasing clouds away.

“I give you this to take with you: Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.” ― Judith Minty, Letters to My Daughters

“Even if you can only do the littlest bit of good, you have to keep going, because that little bit of good may save someone's life.” ― G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca

“Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

“All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.” ― J.M. Barrie , Peter Pan

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Penguin from batman

Penguin from batman tv#

It also picked up nods in the same categories at the Bafta Awards where it again was thwarted by Death Becomes Her and The Last Of The Mohicans. It was recognised at the Oscars and Baftasīatman Returns received Oscar nominations in the Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling categories but lost out to Death Becomes Her and Bram Stoker’s Dracula respectively. Written and performed by Australian troubadour Vance Joy, acoustic ballad Riptide reached No.10 on the UK charts in 2013.įeaturing the lyric ‘I swear she’s destined for the screen/Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen’, the song was partially inspired by the actress’ performance in Batman Returns. McDonald’s was forced to scrap its Happy Meal tie-in following floods of complaints from parents about the film’s violent tone. Reviewers weren’t the only ones to get a little upset about Batman Returns’ inherent darkness. Tim Burton’s Batman films are virtually technicolour fairy tales compared to Christopher Nolan’s gritty reboot, but back in 1992 critics weren’t prepared for dark, comic-book tales.Įsteemed reviewer Roger Ebert argued that ‘superheroes and film noir don’t go together’, while the Los Angeles Times described its tone as ‘claustrophobic, oppressive’ and one which ‘strangles almost all the enjoyment out of the movie’. In a 2007 interview she revealed she never wanted to see a Catwoman costume again, perhaps due to the fact that it was so tightly sealed she only had a brief amount of time to act her lines before she passed out. Michelle Pfeiffer wasn’t a particular fan of the wardrobe department’s work. Indeed, 12 king penguins and 30 African penguins were used over the course of the shoot, with men in suits, robotics and CGI standing in for the real thing during the more difficult scenes. While computer generated animation was used for the bats, The Penguin’s bird army was a mixture of nature and technology. Sadly, the aging star fell ill shortly before filming and he had to be replaced by Pee-wee Herman, aka Paul Reubens, who also reprised the role for several episodes of Gotham.

Penguin from batman tv#

The original Penguin was supposed to make a cameoīurgess Meredith, who played The Penguin in the cartoonish 60s TV series, signed on to play the Penguin’s father Tucker Cobblepot. The director only agreed to return when he was given more creative control and allowed to commission a rewritten script from Heathers screenwriter Waters. Tim Burton appeared to have had enough of the Caped Crusader after bringing him back to life with 1989’s Batman, describing the possibility of a sequel as a ‘most dumbfounded idea’. Marlon Wayans had not only been cast as Robin in Batman Returns, he’d also been measured up for a suit.īut he never got to wear it onscreen when the sidekick was rested due to the film having too many characters. These included John Candy, Bob Hoskins, Dean Martin, Christopher Lloyd and Dustin Hoffman. Marlon Brando was just one of several big-name actors who were considered for the role of The Penguin before it was given to Danny DeVito. Marlon Brando could have played The Penguin The musical icon, who instead took a role in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, had previously passed on another role Walker then assumed – Max Zorin in A View to Kill. But none other than David Bowie was the first name that producers had in mind. Named after Nosferatu actor Max Schreck, Batman Returns’ all-human villain was played by Christopher Walken. Producers wanted David Bowie to play Max Schreck Madonna, Cher, Raquel Welch, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda were just some of the other names in contention for the role.īut no one was more distraught on missing out than Sean Young – the actress actually turned up to the production offices in a homemade Catwoman outfit to demand an audition.

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Slave Ships

Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast in West Africa.

Atlantic slave trade

In the early 1600s, more than a century after the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, demand for unpaid labor to work plantations made slave-trading a profitable business. The peak time of slave ships to the Atlantic passage was between the 18th and early-19th centuries, when large plantations developed in the southern colonies of North America.

To ensure profitability, the owners of the ships divided their hulls into holds with little headroom, so they could transport as many slaves as possible. Unhygienic conditions, dehydration, dysentery and scurvy led to a high mortality rate, on average 15% and up to a third of captives. Often the ships carried hundreds of slaves, who were chained tightly to plank beds. For example, the slave ship Henrietta Marie carried about 200 slaves on the long Middle Passage. They were confined to cargo holds with each slave chained with little room to move.

The most significant routes of the slave ships led from the north-western and western coasts of Africa to South America and the south-east coast of what is today the United States, and the Caribbean. As many as 20 million Africans were transported by ship. The transportation of slaves from Africa to America was known as the Middle Passage of the triangular trade.

Conditions On Slave Ships

Enslaved People

The Slave Trade Act 1788, also known as Dolben's Act, regulated conditions on board British slave ships for the first time since the slave trade started. It was introduced to the United Kingdom parliament by Sir William Dolben, an advocate for the abolition of slavery. For the first time, limits were placed on the number of enslaved people that could be carried. Under the terms of the act, ships could transport 1.67 slaves per ton up to a maximum of 207 tons burthen, after which only one slave per ton could be carried. The well-known slave ship Brookes was limited to carrying 454 people; it had previously transported as many as 609 enslaved. Olaudah Equiano was among the supporters of the act but it was opposed by some abolitionists, such as William Wilberforce, who feared it would establish the idea that the slave trade simply needed reform and regulation, rather than complete abolition. Slave counts can also be estimated by deck area rather than registered tonnage, which results in a lower number of errors and only 6% deviation from reported figures.

This limited reduction in the overcrowding on slave ships may have reduced the on-board death rate, but this is disputed by some historians

Sailors and crew

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the sailors on slave ships were often poorly paid and subject to brutal discipline and treatment. Furthermore, a crew mortality rate of around 20% was expected during a voyage, with sailors dying as a result of disease, flogging or slave uprisings. While conditions for the crew were far better than those of the enslaved people, they remained harsh and contributed to a high death rate. Sailors often had to live and sleep without shelter on the open deck for the entirety of the Atlantic voyage as the space below deck was occupied by slaves.

Disease, specifically malaria and yellow fever, was the most common cause of death among sailors. A high crew mortality rate on the return voyage was in the captain's interests as it reduced the number of sailors who had to be paid on reaching the home port. Crew members who survived were frequently cheated out of their wages on their return. These aspects of the slave trade were widely known; the notoriety of slave ships amongst sailors meant those joining slave ship crews did so through coercion or because they could find no other employment. This was often the case for sailors who had spent time in prison.

Abolition of the slave trade

The African slave trade was outlawed by the United States and the United Kingdom in 1807. The applicable UK act was the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and outlawed the slave trade throughout the British Empire. The US law took effect on 1 January 1808. After that date, all US and British slave ships leaving Africa were legally pirate vessels subject to capture by the United States Navy or Royal Navy. In 1815, at the Council of Vienna, Spain, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands also agreed to abolish their slave trade. Between 1807 and 1860 British vessels would capture slave ships and free the slaves; they captured 1,600 ships and freed 160,000 slaves in this time.

After abolition, slave ships adopted quicker, more maneuverable forms to evade capture by naval warships, one favorite form being the Baltimore Clipper. Some had hulls fitted with copper sheathing. This was very expensive work that at this time was only commonly done to Royal Navy vessels; however, it increased speed by preventing the growth of marine weed on the hull, which would otherwise cause drag. The speed of slave ships made them attractive ships to repurpose for piracy, and also made them attractive for naval use after capture; USS Nightingale and HMS Black Joke were examples of such vessels. HMS Black Joke had a notable career in Royal Navy service and was responsible for capturing a number of slave ships and freeing many hundreds of slaves.

There have been attempts by descendants of African slaves to sue Lloyd's of London for playing a key role in underwriting insurance policies taken out on slave ships bringing slaves from Africa to the Americas.

List of Slave Ships

Antelope, Spanish slave ship captured near Florida in 1820 with 283 slaves aboard, leading to The Antelope case.

Aurore, along with Duc du Maine, the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to Louisiana.

La Amistad, general-purpose cargo ship that also carried slaves on occasion. A successful slave revolt on ship gave rise to a case that reached the Supreme Court in United States v. The Amistad.

Brookes, sailing in the 1780s.[25]

City of Norfolk, fitted out in New York City by Albert Horn.[26]

Clotilda, burned and sunk at Mobile, in 1859 or 1860.

Cora, captured by USS Constellation in 1860.

Creole, involved in the United States coastwise slave trade and the scene of a slave rebellion in 1841, leading to the Creole case.

Desire, first American slave ship.[27]

Duc du Maine, along with Aurore, the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to Louisiana.

Elisabeth, sailing from Jamaica for West Africa.[citation needed]

Erie, the ship owned and captained by Nathaniel Gordon, the only American executed for slave trading

Esmeralda, captured 1 November 1864 off Loango, West Coast of Africa, by HMS Rattler (1864) and Taken to St. Helena to prize court by C.G. Nelson midshipman in command.[citation needed]

Fredensborg, Danish slave ship, sank in 1768 off Tromøya in Norway, after a journey in the triangular trade. Leif Svalesen [da] wrote a book about the journey.

Gallito, Spanish slave ship carrying 136 Africans when captured by HMS Nimble 16 November 1829.

Guerrero, Spanish slave ship wrecked in the Florida Keys in 1827 carrying 561 Africans.

Hannibal, an English slaver of the Atlantic slave trade.

The Hawk, The Hawk sailed for Calabar, with instructions to buy 340 slaves.[28]

Hebe, Portuguese slave ship carrying 401 Angolans when captured by HMS Nimble 13 July 1832.

Henrietta Marie, sank in 1700 near Marquesas Keys, Florida, excavated in 1980s.

Hermosa, a schooner whose 1840 grounding in the Bahamas led to a controversy between the US and Britain over the 38 slaves who had been on board the ship.

Hope, American brig that brought slaves to Rhode Island

Isabella, British slave ship that brought the first 150 African slaves to the American port of Philadelphia in 1684.

Joaquina, Spanish slave ship carrying 348 Africans when captured by HMS Nimble 10 November 1833.

Josefa, Spanish schooner carrying 206 slaves when captured by HMS Monkey 7 April 1829.

Jesus of Lübeck, a 700-ton ship used on the second voyage of John Hawkins to transport 400 captured Africans in 1564. Queen Elizabeth I was his partner and rented him the vessel.

King David, sailing from St Christophers, on St Kitts in the Caribbean 1749.[29]

La Concord, a slave ship captured by the pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach), used as his flagship and renamed Queen Anne's Revenge. Run aground in June 1718.

La Negrita, Spanish slave ship carrying 189 Africans when captured by HMS Nimble May 1833.

Lord Ligonier. See Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley.

Don Francisco, a slave ship captured in 1837. Sold as a colonial trader and renamed James Matthews. Excavated by Western Australian Museum in 1974.

Madre de Deus, 1567. John Hawkins captured this ship and transported 400 Africans.

Manuela, built as clipper ship Sunny South, captured by HMS Brisk in Mozambique Channel with over 800 slaves aboard.

Manuelita, Spanish slave ship carrying 485 Africans when captured by HMS Nimble 7 December 1833.

Margaret Scott, confiscated and sunk as part of the Stone fleet in 1862

Meermin, a Dutch East India Company ship active between southern Africa and Madagascar, whose final voyage in 1766 ended in mutiny by the slaves: around half the crew and nearly 30 Malagasy died, and the ship was destroyed.[30]

Midas, 360-ton Spanish slave ship captured by HMS Monkey 27 June 1829. Midas had left Africa in April 1829 with 562 Africans, but only 369 were still alive when she was captured, and 72 more died of "smallpox, diarrhea & scurvy" before Monkey and HMS Nimble could take Midas into Havana.[31]

Nightingale, clipper ship captured by Saratoga near Cabinda, Angola in 1861 with 961 slaves aboard.

Pons, American-built barque captured by USS Yorktown on 1 December 1845 with 850–900 slaves.[32]

Providencia, Spanish brig carrying 400 slaves when captured by HMS Monkey in 1829.

São José Paquete Africa, a Portuguese slave ship which sank off the coast of South Africa in 1794 killing over 200 of the enslaved men and women.

Tecora, Portuguese slave ship that transported the slaves who would later revolt aboard La Amistad.

Triton captured by USS Constellation in 1861.[citation needed]

Trouvadore, wrecked in Turks and Caicos 1841. 193 slaves survived. Project commenced in 2004 to locate the ship.[33]

Wanderer, formerly last slave ship to the U.S. (November 1858) until Clotilda reported in 1859 or 1860.

Wildfire, a barque, arrested off the Florida coast by the US Navy in 1860; carrying 450 slaves.[34]

Whydah Gally, a ship that transported cargo, passengers, and slaves. Captured by the pirate Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy and used for piracy, eventually grounded during a Nor'easter at Cape Cod and sunk in April 1717. 

Zong , a British slave ship infamous for the1781 massacre of 132 sick and dying slaves who were thrown overboard in an attempt to guarantee that the ship's owners could collect on their cargo insurance.

Source: Wikipedia / Slave ships

[dafukdidiwatch]

FoodFight (2012)

The origin story of Sausage Party and The Emoji Movie

I honestly don’t really know where to start with this film. Like I’ve heard of it, I’ve seen reviews of it, I was so sure I wouldn’t ever see this trainwreck because it looked and sounded so bad.

But honestly? This was an amazing film to watch. I don’t even know where to begin because I genuinely enjoyed this movie. This was a fun shitty trainwreck of a movie.

Let’s start with the obvious: The animation sucks. Like the designs are bad, the world building is bad, the animation is bad. Body movement? What body movement? The only body movement we need is arm waving and twirling and nothing else. And those are for characters they were trying for. The Humans, if there are any, are the literal worse with either being amusement park mascots at best or mountain troll monsters at worse. Yeesh they were bad to look at. In fact, a lot of characters in this movie are just, very ugly all the way around.

Celebrities: I feel so sorry for these people. Apparently it took 12 years to make this (like, wtf first off), so a lot of the “big names” they got in the day sort of faded away out of the public light. Not that I actually give a shit about it they got paid either way. I just think out of all of them, Wayne Brady was done dirty. He didn’t deserve to be in this movie, he deserves better than having his name listed in FoodFight. Tim Curry is a riot no matter where he goes, still bringing in his Dr. Frank-n-furter Vibes all the way around. And Christopher Lloyd wasn’t in for long, but by god does he leave an impression. A terrifying impression.

Why are actual food brands in this movie? Ms. Butterworth, what are you doing in here? Charlie Tuna, The Pickle Stork, Mr. Clean? I can’t tell if they did them dirty or not because they are barely in the movie anyway. The most screen-time of them went to Mr. Clean just for the bald clean jokes. It’s like playing Where’s Waldo in finding out where the notable brand icons are.

It’s also fun to play “Who the Fuck is that guy?” because there are a lot of brands being parodied here. Captain Crunch turned into Shitty Admiral Chip Peg. Chocola is a disco gay vampire bat. Some weird disturbing french cheese men....no idea who he is for but hey! That’s what the game is for! Trying to see what their ugly abominations were supposed to be in the light of day.

The only “decent” animated characters are the main one: Dex Dog-tective who speaks nothing but puns, every sentence. All the time. You want to start a counter on all the food puns he makes, but you also don’t because I’m sure it’s in the Hundreds. It also doesn’t help that he is like...furry bait? That’s the best way to describe him since he is like the Better animated characters they tried to make him handsome so...furry bait. Then we have Sunshine Goodness who is a terrifying uncanny valley creature which is just an anime catgirl that the animators decide to give up half way and hope her dead eyes give out the allure she has. But uh oh, watch out Sunshine, Lady X of Brand Ex is coming in with her twig-ass Dominatrix Barbie outfit trying to seduce your man...a talking golden retriever. Her dead glass eyes have its sights on seduction and world domination one fetish at a time.

I’m not kidding about the fetishes either, this movie is just throbbing with sexual tension. In the worst way. Like you think the food puns are a lot? Well the sex innuendos are giving them a run for their money. There is so many sex jokes. So many tension of the “oh the bad guy good guy flirt? Hwot” This is supposed to be a kids film and yet you are having jokes of raisins = nipples, chocolate = dicks, "I'll have you roll over and begging for mercy" is too sexually charged for this movie like.....AHHHHH. I fear for the children who learn their kinks through this movie. And that’s just the verbal! The visual is sexy dominatrix. Sexy plaid school girl. Sexy villain nazi-stand-in dominatrix. Sexy Tango. Sexy...sniffing?? God they were trying So so so hard and it pissed me off to no end: 50% in-credulousness because who the hell thought this was a good idea to have kids watching this, 50% anger because I’m somewhat pissed that some unfortunate lines had the gall to be actually good for romantic tension....if it WASN’T TIED TO A BAD FETISH FILM! Like, you can have sexual chemistry, but when sky planes fly out of someone’s vagina you know it’s a fetish film.

But hey, enough stalling, let’s actually talk about the plot of this movie.

It’s Casablanca.

Like dead ass Casablanca.

After losing the love of his life a grizzled detective man ends up running a club where he has to face off against nazis. This is deadass Casablanca where Rick had a dark romantic fling with a nazi at a grocery market. The decisions they went with like the bad rendition of the French National Anthem to be food themed that I could barely hear. Brand X having a nazi-like salute if someone misspelled YMCA with one letter. The...actual weird torture murder scenes? This movie was wild enough, you didn’t need to add in death to the mix. They even had the side characters from Casablanca being in here like the Moose guy being the piano player, and the weasel looking dude being the....weird ass dick weasel in this movie.

And now, some random lines that I liked:

"I just want to be loved"

"Whats the point if having luxurious hair if you can't look yourself in the mirror"

"Oh Yeah, sure, no prob, except I don't have a death wish"

"But you were recalled?! And butt ugly!?"

Overall: I honestly swear to god believe this could and should be the next Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is that level of just...badshit craziness where everything is wrong and beautiful that we can laugh at it all. This needs to have like, it’s own riff track, audience participation, SOMETHING because there is too many golden moments to let it fly by.

If you can get your friends and tell them NOTHING about this movie and see their reactions. Because that is what I’M going to do with mine.

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: What Makes a Great One-Off Character?

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Some Doctor Who characters are intended for greatness; some are intended to be killed off at the end of their first episode. Writers have a lot more control over the second than the first. What remains true for all characters, is the tension that exists between their function in the story and their potential to affect it. Even a guard who simply runs into a room to get shot could have dragged the story in another direction, should they be allowed (this stock background character was the inspiration for Terry Pratchett’s City Watch novels).

Successful one-off characters aren’t necessarily those who break away from their function, (or even those who aren’t strictly required, for example Binro the Heretic in ‘The Ribos Operation’), but those who make a story soar to another level entirely. More often, what makes them work is when their function in the story is disguised. There are plenty of ways to do this and most of them intersect: casting, costume, dialogue, performance…

Let’s first address the latter. Does the actor need to get under the skin of the character to create a nuanced and layered take that resonates utterly with the audience?

Nope. Doctor Who frequently embraces camp. Sometimes camp holds Doctor Who at gunpoint and sings piano ballads at it. The results vary. Richard Briers’ possessed Chief Caretaker in ‘Paradise Towers’ undermines the production (while not a production striving for kitchen sink realism, Briers’ parody-like performance still cuts against its Brechtian leanings) whereas Graham Crowden’s Soldeed is heightened and ridiculous among similar performances.

Other great examples of this stock character, which I am calling Ham-Err Horror without apology, include Professor Zaroff in ‘The Underwater Menace’ (intended to be driven mad by the death of his family, only for this to be cut from the script, rendering the character inexplicably inexplicable) and John Lumic from ‘Rise of the Cybermen’ (inspired to create the Cybermen by a fear of death, with actor Roger Lloyd-Pack citing Dick Cheney as an inspiration for the performance, but remembered mainly for the ripe delivery of lines such as ‘And how will you do that from beyond the grave?’).

Sometimes you don’t even need dialogue. Christopher Bowen, as Mordred in ‘Battlefield’, commits to a maniacal laugh so long that there’s a cut to another scene in the middle of it.

And yet there are places where camp or over-the-top villains work unironically, and some of the most hospitable are the Tom Baker stories of 1975-1977. Harrison Chase, Magnus Greel, Morbius, the Master… these characters fit into the Grand Guignol tradition of heightened and melodramatic performances (Just because something is dark and morbid doesn’t stop it being ludicrously tragic). As the tone of these stories is pitched at gothic melodrama though, the characters and setting cohere.

Returning to ‘Battlefield’, while there are some great individual performances from one-off characters, they’re not quite pulling in the same direction (Jean Marsh as Morgaine is playing an inter-dimensional sorceress as if it’s real, Marcus Gilbert as Ancelyn is saying ‘This is ridiculous, and that’s great’ and pulling along Angela Bruce’s Bambera in that direction too). ‘Battlefield’ is fun, but also disjointed.

Read more

TV

Doctor Who: Ranking Every Single Companion Departure

By Andrew Blair

TV

It’s a Sin’s Doctor Who Crossover Pays Tribute to Remembrance of the Daleks Actor

By Louisa Mellor

Some characters get by on the strength of costume or make-up, such as the Destroyer (also from ‘Battlefield’) or the Zygons. Broton, the latter’s leader, is a successful character who operates purely as a function rather than an individual. Played with haughty relish by John Woodnutt, Broton is a visual triumph, with the costume a collaboration between costume designer Jim Acheson, visual effects designer John Friedlander and director Douglas Camfield. At its best, ‘Terror of the Zygons’ oozes with tension and atmosphere, with some fantastic design work and enjoyable pulp runaround. This all distracts the viewer from Broton being a colossal idiot. Indulging in clichés such as explaining his entire plot, putting characters in easily escapable situations and assuming the Doctor is dead without proof, Broton has to do these for the story to unfold according to Doctor Who’s format. Fortunately few people watch ‘Terror of the Zygons’ for Broton’s unique take on planetary subjugation.

Some clichés exist specifically because that character has worked well in previous stories. Frequently in Doctor Who somebody would sacrifice themselves to save the day, someone else would comment on this, and everybody would look solemn for a few seconds before immediately moving on with their lives. ‘The Ark in Space’ features two people sacrificing themselves to save humanity, one with a quip about his union and the other fighting possession, and in 1975, a single line noting these acts was enough.

In 2005, TV had changed, and so Doctor Who threw more weight behind these deaths (boosted by Russell T. Davies’ seemingly effortless ability to generate a whole human life by adding three adjectives per character to the scripts). Jabe in ‘The End of the World’, Gwyneth in ‘An Unquiet Dead’, Pete Tyler in ‘Father’s Day’… these sacrifices were dwelt on, their weight became cumulative. From this, a subgenre of Almost Companions emerged with Lynda in ‘The Parting of the Ways’, Astrid in ‘Voyage of the Damned’ and Rita in ‘The God Complex’: all too doomed to step on board. Eventually the show acknowledged this with the Eleventh Doctor standing over the body of Lorna Bucket and observing “They’re always brave.”

Doctor Who was commentating on itself as early as its second series (in ‘The Rescue’ David Whittaker created Koquillion, a monster in a rubber suit that turned out to actually be a man in a rubber monster costume). In the 1980s, Doctor Who had become increasingly continuity-heavy, but what its final few series managed successfully was to comment on Doctor Who without making the stories’ success dependent on this. Characters such as Captain Cook offer up twisted reflections of the Doctor, with the Chief Clown, Josiah Samuel Smith and Commander Millington all tapping into the historical influences on the show, but crucially the stories still work if you’re not familiar with all this.

‘Ghostlight’, the most densely packed version of this approach,is still entertaining even if you don’t know what is going on. It’s played with such conviction and unity, with each character managing to feel both heavily symbolic but with a sense of inner-life. This is generally true of the Seventh Doctor’s era supporting characters, especially the guy who snaps “I can’t do anything without my list now can I?” in ‘The Happiness Patrol’.

But as we’ve seen, a standout character doesn’t have to be multi-faceted. Not every henchman can be Packer from ‘The Invasion’ (he’s not only sadistic and cruel, but Peter Halliday really commits to the undignified flapping when things go wrong), but most stock characters in Doctor Who work by being given ‘a bit’.

Usually this stems from their plot function. Harrison Chase, in ‘The Seeds of Doom’ is a plant collector and obsessive because the story is based around aggressive plant-creatures, and needs a simple way to bring the main human antagonist into the adventure. Here though it’s more than that. Lesser examples of this trick can be seen with Tarun Capel in ‘Robots of Death’, where his obsession with robots isn’t as unsettling as Chase’s obsession with plants (and then further down the line we have Magnus Greel in ‘Talons of Weng-Chieng’, who is evil because the story needs a bad guy). In ‘Seeds of Doom’, time is devoted to the idea of a man who considers plant life superior to humanity, and the script and actor Tony Beckley really commit to the comedy and horror of this idea. That’s his ‘bit’.

Perhaps the finest example of turning a character’s basic function into pure entertainment is Duggan in ‘City of Death’. Douglas Adams and Graham Williams, rewriting David Fisher’s scripts about aliens in Monte Carlo, took a Bulldog Drummond-inspired detective character and realised his primary function in the script was to be the muscle for the Doctor and Romana.

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There are other elements of of ‘City of Death’ that poke fun at television’s contrivances (The guard’s throwaway line saying Captain Tancredi will “be here instantly” just before the door opens, for example) and Duggan’s repeatedly punching people unconscious to move the plot along is not only revealed to be an example of Chekhov’s Gun, whereby it’s the solution to the whole story, but also the source of the best sight gag in Doctor Who when Duggan opens a wine bottle by simply smashing it open off the bar. Without providing him with much in the way of depth or backstory, by leaning into the character’s story function to almost absurd levels, ‘City of Death’ creates one of the most memorable supporting characters in Doctor Who history.

The post Doctor Who: What Makes a Great One-Off Character? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[technoskittles]

Pure Feeling Playlist

Okay, so I had someone on twitter express interest in the songs I have for my playlist for Pure Feeling and figured, yeah, I could share it. I don’t have a spotify (I don’t like the interface plus the music selection is way too limited for my taste) and the playlist itself is on Youtube Music. It’s also private because I don’t really want random people seeing it or other people messing with it if I unlocked it, so I’ll just type up all the songs here with links that way y’all can scroll through and listen to what you want.

I understand there’s probably an easier and faster way to do this probably, but hey, with the quarantine I clearly have some extra time on my hands so why not?

Though, couple of warnings:

1. It’s LOOOOOOONG (it’s 300+ songs in total) (don’t worry I’m gonna put this under a cut)

2. Some of the songs aren’t going to make much sense in terms of the AU. This is for two reasons: a) Some of the songs allude to events/characters that haven’t shown up in the story yet (there’s a LOT of songs regarding Mara’s father) and b) some of them are just general songs that I use to get a basis of emotion/vibe when writing particular types of scenes.

3. My music tastes are all over the place (and this doesn’t even include some of the other genres I listen to just because it doesn’t fit this AU lol)

But this playlist is my main muse and is probably one of the best insights to my process/inner thoughts so, without further ado.....my full playlist.

(I grouped the songs from the same artist together for the easiest convenience)

(And some songs might kind of be repeats if I listen to multiple versions for the purpose of this fic)

Got any favorites? Any songs that worry you about the future of this fic? Or just something you might want more clarification on? Feel free to shoot me ask about it!

South London Forever by Florence + The Machine

Patricia by Florence + The Machine

I Will Be by Florence + The Machine

Too Much Is Never Enough by Florence + The Machine

You’ve Got The Love by Florence + The Machine

Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine

Ship To Wreck by Florence + The Machine

St. Jude by Florence + The Machine

Over The Love by Florence + The Machine

Pure Feeling by Florence + The Machine (hey look it’s the fic title)

Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + The Machine

What Kind Of Man by Florence + The Machine

Stuck On You by Meiko

Stuck On You (Acoustic Version) by Meiko

Adventure of A Lifetime by Coldplay

Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay

Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay

Simple and Clean by Hikaru Utada

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI - Hikaru Utada

Be My Last by Hikaru Utada

Colors by Hikaru Utada

Distance (M-Flo Remix) by Hikaru Utada

Without You (Justice Skolnik Remix) by Oh Wonder

Rockabye by Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie

In The Rain (an unofficial rendition from Miraculous Ladybug by David Russell)

Stone Heart (an unofficial rendition from Miraculous Ladybug by sxrlove06)

Lost In The Moment by Daniel Lee Kendall

Fragile by ARCADES

Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood

Scary Love by The Neighbourhood

Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood

Sweater Weather (Vaski Remix) by The Neighbourhood

Honest by The Neighbourhood

Alleyways by The Neighbourhood

Stuck With Me by The Neighbourhood

Lights by Ellie Goulding

Goodness Gracious (The Chainsmokers Remix) by Ellie Goulding

Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding

Starry Eyed by Ellie Goulding

Don’t Need Nobody by Ellie Goulding

Candy-Coloured Sky by Catmosphere

‘Till We’re In The Sea by RKCB

affection by Jinsang

summers day v2 by Jinsang

Let Go by Frou Frou

Must Be Dreaming by Frou Frou

I Just Want You by Robert Duncan

Forget by Alicks

Dinner & Diatribes by Hozier

Nevermind by Dennis Lloyd

Let It Happen by Tame Impala

Think About You by Kygo ft. Valerie Broussard

First Time by Kygo ft. Ellie Goulding

Fragile by Kygo ft. Labrinth

Feel Your Love by Nyquill

I See You by MISSIO

Learn To Let Go by Kesha

Praying by Kesha

I Love My Life by Justice Crew

Sex by Cheat Codes x Kris Kross Amsterdam

Everlong by Foo Fighters

Party Like It’s Your Birthday by Studio Killers

The Disappearance of The Girl by Phildel

Soul On Fire by Mystery Skulls

we’ve never met but, can we have coffee or something? by in love with a ghost

What is Love? by Y//2//K & Yung Death Ray ft. Jaymes Young

A Manner to Act by Ra Ra Riot

Suckers by Ra Ra Riot

Do You Remember by Ra Ra Riot

You And I Know by Ra Ra Riot

Oh, La by Ra Ra Riot

Can You Tell by Ra Ra Riot

Consequence by The Notwist

Anyone Else by PVRIS

Dead Weight by PVRIS

Can You Hold Me by NF ft. Britt Nicole

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

No Fear by Dej Loaf

I’ve Been Waiting by Lil Peep & ILoveMakonnen ft. Fall Out Boy

Give U Up by CALVIN (I’m sorry in advance for this one)

Heartbeat by Scouting For Girls

Keep It Simple by Tove Lo

Sweettalk My Heart by Tove Lo

Glad He’s Gone by Tove Lo

Not On Drugs by Tove Lo

Got Love by Tove Lo

Crave by Tove Lo

Paradise by Tove Lo

Moments by Tove Lo

Talking Body by Tove Lo

Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo

Scars by Tove Lo

Out Of Your Mind by Tove Lo

Vibes by Tove Lo

Lies In The Dark by Tove Lo

Come Undone by Tove Lo

dont ask dont tell by Tove Lo

Cherry Blossom by ALA.NI

Feels Like Home by The Him ft. Son Mieux

Quiet by Lights

Skydiving by Lights

365 by Zedd & Katy Perry

Left to Right by Marteen

Could You Love Me? by Black Saint

Midnight City by M83

Marble Soda by Shawn Wasabi

Crystal Dolphin by Engelwood

Pusher (Shawn Wasabi Remix) by Clear ft. Mothica

She’s A Riot by The Jungle Giants

Stranger by Jay Hayden & King Vodka

Now That I’ve Found You by Carly Rae Jepsen

Marty McFly by Luke Christopher

Rocks by Imagine Dragons

All Day And Night by Jax Jones ft. Madison Beer & Martin Solveig

Run Free by Deep Chills ft. IVIE

Maps by Maroon 5

Feelings by Maroon 5

blue by Pools

High Hopes (The Lucifer Edit) by Quails

breathin’ by Ariana Grande

Into You by Ariana Grande

Shy Girl by Kedam

Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club

What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club

Sleep Alone by Two Door Cinema Club

This Is The Life by Two Door Cinema Club

Do You Want It All? by Two Door Cinema Club

Sun by Two Door Cinema Club

Eat That Up, It’s Good For You by Two Door Cinema Club

Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club

Sunflower by Post Malone & Swan Lee

Señorita by Shawn Medes & Camila Cabello

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

Everybody’s Angel by Down With Webster

All Fall Down by OneRepublic

Counting Stars by OneRepublic

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T by Fall Out Boy

Jenny by Walk The Moon

Youth by Daughter

Get Lucky (Cover) by Daughter

Love by Daughter

River Flows In You by Yiruma

Girls And Boys In School by Neon Trees

Girls And Boys In School (EP Version) by Neon Trees

Helpless by Neon Trees

In The Next Room by Neon Trees

Beings by Madeon

Dried-Out Cities by Fallulah

Bloodline by Fallulah

Almost Home by Mariah Carey

Headlock by Imogen Heap

Closing In by Imogen Heap

Lifeline by Imogen Heap

Goodnight And Go by Imogen Heap

First Train Home by Imogen Heap

I Am In Love With You by Imogen Heap

The Walk by Imogen Heap

More by Kaskade & Felix Cartal ft. Jenn Blosil

Lay Down by Kaskade & Late Night Alumni

My Distance by Kaskade

Lessons In Love by Kaskade ft. Neon Trees

Kill The Lights (Audien Remix) by Alex Newell ft. DJ Cassidy, Nile Rogers, & Jess Glynne

Fall In Love/Lie by INNA

Cola Song by INNA

Caliente by INNA

Iguana by INNA

Ruleta by INNA ft. Erik

I Like You by INNA

Love by INNA

Shining Star by INNA

Bebe by INNA

Bebe (Yaniss Extended Remix) by INNA

Better Not by Louis The Child ft. Wafia

Living Island by Pogo

Still Into You by Paramore

Hard Times by Paramore

Emergency by Paramore

Ignorance by Paramore

I Caught Myself by Paramore

Letting Go by HERB x Kendall Miles

To Be Human by Sia ft. Labrinth

Big Girls Cry (ODESZA Remix) by Sia

Elastic Heart by Sia

Angel By The Wings by Sia

If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor) by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Butterfly In The Still by Iwasaki Taku

Dare (La La La) by Shakira

Me Enamore by Shakira

Loca by Shakira ft. Dizzee Rascal

Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango) by Shakira

Addicted To You by Shakira

Whenever, Wherever by Shakira

When A Woman by Shakira

Can’t Remember To Forget You by Shakira ft. Rihanna

Better Than Yesterday by HollySiz

This is What You Came For by Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna

Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch

Rain by Pueblo Vista ft. .Eehlou & Shiloh Dynasty

G.B.D. Pressure (Extended) by Chillster

Valentine by Aether ft. Veela

Lemme See by Usher ft. Rick Ross

Promises by Aly & AJ

Like Whoa by Aly & AJ

Silence by Aly & AJ

Find A Way by Safety Suit

Ordinary Day by Emilie Mover

Green Light by Lorde

Don’t Feel Like Crying (MK Remix) by Sigrid

Crazy in Love by EDEN ft. Leah Kelly

Broken Girl by Matthew West

Crazy in Love by Sofia Karlberg

This Is What Makes Us Girls (The Confect Remix) by Lana del Rey

1901 by Phoenix

Lisztomania by Phoenix

Please Don’t Touch by RAYE

Island In The Sun by Weezer

God Is A Dancer by Tiesto & Mabel

Tighten Up by The Black Keys

Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys

Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups

Don’t Play by Halsey

Bad At Love by Halsey

Young God by Halsey

Now Or Never by Halsey

Hurricane by Halsey

Drive by Halsey

Eyes Closed by Halsey

Eyes Closed (Stripped) by Halsey

Haunting by Halsey

Strangers by Halsey ft. Lauren Jauregui

100 Letters by Halsey

Ghost by Halsey

Break A Sweat by Becky G

Little Talks by Of Monsters And Men

I wanna be your girlfriend by girl in red

Run by Alison Wonderland

I Want U by Alison Wonderland

Peace by Alison Wonderland

Peace (Acoustic) by Alison Wonderland

Dead To Me by Kali Uchis

Good Enough by Evanescence

Go Slow by Gorgon City & Kaskade ft. Romeo

Feel Good Inc by filous & LissA

All I Need by Within Temptation

A Lot Like Love (Oliver Heldens Edit) by The Voyagers ft. Haris

Hideaway by Kiesza

Memories by KSHMR ft. Sirah

American Sadness by XYLO

One Step At A Time by Jordin Sparks

Your Shirt by Chelsea Cutler

Hope Of Morning by Icon For Hire

Collect Call by Metric

Flowers On The Grave (Acoustic) by The Maine

Fabulous by Ally Brooke

Falling (blackbear Remix) by Trevor Daniel

You by Petit Biscuit

Unlove You (Drop G Remix) by Armin van Burren ft. Ne-Yo

Formation (R-TRAX Trap Remix) by Beyonce

Schoolin’ Life by Beyonce

Simmer by Hayley Williams

Ruby by Foster The People

Moral Of The Story by Ashe

Colorblind (Left/Right Remix) by Karma Fields ft. Tove Lo

Don’t Stop The Music by Jamie Cullum

Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant

Don’t Stop the Fancy Footwork (Chromeo vs. Rihanna)

She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) by David Guetta ft. Sia

Slow Burn by Audiograf

Write My Story by Olly Anna

1 Thing by Amerie

I Like That by Janelle Monae

Your Favorite Place by Joey Pecoraro

Beauty Mark by Parov Stelar ft. Anduze

Dead Hearts by Stars

Change of Seasons (EP Version) by Sweet Thing

Larger Than Life by Pink Zebra ft. Benji Jackson

Are You With Me (Pretty Pink Remix) by Lost Frequencies

Nothing But by Skin

In Common (Kenny Dope Remix) by Alicia Keys

Resonance by HOME

All Stars by Martin Solveig ft. ALMA

Lavender’s Blue Dilly Dilly [From the Cinderella (2015) OST]

Besame Mucho by Jorge Blanco

Touch You Right Now by Basic Element

Dinero by Trinidad

Icon (Reggaeton Remix) by Jaden Smith ft. Nicky Jam & Will Smith

Make Me Sweat by Kat DeLuna

Sombredosis by Kat DeLuna ft. El Cata

Real Love by Memory Tapes

Feelings by Hayley Kiyoko

This Side Of Paradise by Hayley Kiyoko

Wanna Be Missed by Hayley Kiyoko

Gravel To Tempo by Hayley Kiyoko

Pretty Girl by Hayley Kiyoko

Fiesta (Remix) by Bombe Estereo ft. Will Smith

Love by TeZATalks

Had by TeZATalks

Heal by Loreen

Analyser by AlunaGeorge

Attracting Flies by AlunaGeorge

Damaged by Plummet

My Kind by Hilary Duff

Sparks by Hilary Duff

Talk by DJ Snake ft. George Maple

First summer without you by Outgoing Hikikomori

First birthday without you by Outgoing Hikikomori

2 Heads by Coleman Hell

Mathematics by Little Boots

Hearts Collide by Little Boots

Meddle by Little Boots

Parachute by Cheryl Cole

When she went away by Max Richter

When she came back by Max Richter

Who Knew by Pink

Lash Out by Alice Merton

Back To The Start by Mr. Little Jeans

Perfecto. by Ayo. & .Disfnk ft. Daniela Andrade

service by j^p^n

I’m In Love Again by tomppabeats

Close by Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo

Falling Apart by Michael Schulte

Dusk ‘Til Dawn by ZAYN ft. Sia

Pillowtalk by ZAYN

Minimal Beat by Lindsey Stirling

Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga

Do I Wanna Know? (Cover) by CHVRCHES

La Familia (Guy Sigsworth Remix) by Mirah

Broken Parts by The Ready Set & Mokita

Invisible Chains by Lauren Jauregui

Lonely Gun by CYN

Cartier by Dopebwoy ft. 3robi & Chivv

Boss Bitch by Doja Cat

[malicerewatchesdoctorwho]

The Power of the Daleks - Episode Six

Written by – David Whitaker Director – Christopher Barry Producer – Innes Lloyd Animation Producer and Director – Charles Norton

Episode Six

(“Did I do all that?” – The Doctor who got knocked out while mucking with the power supply to Valmar over what happened to the Daleks and the power supply.)

Likes

- This episode had a lot of action in it.  If there was blood drawn from Dalek weapons, this place would be swimming in it.

- How only basically two people survived outside the Doctor and his companions.  Quinn and Valmar.  And they are planning on working together to get the colony back up and running.

- The very cyclical way this story goes for Lesterson.  It starts with people thinking he was mad for wanting into the shuttle so much and not stopping with the science ever to the point of obsession and bringing the Daleks to life as his servants.  Ending with the Daleks killing him with him saying he was their servant while actually mad, driven that way by the truth of the Daleks and how unlikely it is for them to be beaten.  Basically, the death of the colony would be his fault.  

- Ben just being so done with everything and everyone XD  I swear, he looks like he is scowling the entire episode.

- Valmar killing Bregan. I just really began liking Valmar last episode and in this one he really stepped up.

- The way Lesterson just stood there after being shot by the Dalek for a few seconds, before falling down dead.  Nice little bit of acting there.  Wish I could have seen that in action.

Dislikes

- Can the Daleks please, PLEASE shut up?  They get annoying in some of these scenes.

- How you can’t really see the fighting as well in the animation which is a damn shame.  I would love to see this one in live action.  It would be awesome.

- Bregan.  He just went from bad guy I hate to like to despicably evil I plain hate in two seconds flat and I didn’t like it.  

- You never find out what the rebellion was about.  It was never, not once, brought up.  You’d think it would at some point, since it is such a big part of the plot.  Was it simply that they didn’t like Hensell and wanted him dead?  Surely there were easier ways of doing things than the way they did.  I will continue thinking it was the milk shortage.  It makes as much sense as anything else *nods*

Awesome

- There is one scene with the three Daleks in the lab turning to look at the door, which is where the camera is, and it looked so ominous and cool.  It was really awesome and made the Daleks look like the malevolent force that they are.

- The guards’ guns. It reminds me of the cool guy thing in movies where people shoot their guns sideways to look more awesome, except that is the normal look of their guns.  They think themselves so cool, they made their guns look like they are always shooting sideways XD

- There’s one scene in here where the camera pans and shows a corridor full of dead bodies and afterwards a Dalek slowly rolls past the dead body of Janley.  That right there was a horrific little scene of the destruction a single Dalek can cause in classic Who.  It worked so well.  There was some nice camera work in this one if this is true to the original.  Very nice.  Kudos to the guys manning the cameras in this one!

- So many exploding Daleks! Yes.

Shitty

- It’s missing. Seriously, this episode would be absolutely awesome in live action.  Still, I am really glad this is animated so it is at least not just stills in the recons. That’s a definite plus.

- What was that lone Dalek doing outside the colony and right near the TARDIS?  Just...what?  I didn’t get why that was there, except to show us the Daleks weren’t truly dead and gone. Which could have been done in a shot inside.

In Conclusion

I really wanted to see this one live action.  It’s a great end to the story.  Lots of action, lots of deaths, lots of explosions.

But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  Thankfully though, we have it in animation, which is good.  I really liked the animation in this one.  Especially done on the Daleks and non moving people. They put so much detail into it. Look at Janley’s eyes and how her shoe fell off as she died.  Shivers, I tell you, shivers.

Great episode.

Body count – Well, considering it is basically Quinn and Valmar who survive that is in the main buildings we see here everyone BUT those two died.  So, we have the genocide of both Daleks and humans.  Both sides basically got wiped out.  

Oh, and of course the Doctor and his companions survived.  And both Ben and Polly are now convinced the Doctor has no idea what he is doing, I swear :P

The Power of the Daleks as a Whole

Watch this one. Seriously, watch it.  

It may be animated, because the original was lost, but who cares.  For the most part, the animation is excellent.  The characters are great, the acting is great, and the plot for the most part is great.  The Daleks are at their best (except the shouting, stop it Daleks...) here.  

Most episodes are great too.  I think one or two were a little bit slower than the others, but were still highly enjoyable.  

Also, it is the first regeneration story for the Doctor, the first story for Two and Ben and Polly have to sort out their own thoughts and feelings on that.

Highly enjoyable and shouldn’t be missed.  

9/10, would watch again.

[theyearoftheking]

Book 5: The Stand

Bloggers note: if you’re looking for a complete plot summary and a list of all the characters in this epic tome, this is not the blog post for you. Proceed with caution. 

Once upon a time, there was a precocious ten year-old, with divorced parents. One parent embraced her weirdness and didn’t pay attention to what books she was bringing home from the library; and the other parent was my dad... who constantly wondered (aloud) why I wasn’t like normal kids. 

Being of slightly above-average intelligence, I saw this as an affront, and did subtle things just to piss him off. Subtle things “normal” children probs wouldn’t do. The summer I was ten, my dad had picked up a paperback copy of The Stand, and was raving to me about how good it was. I remember he was fixated on people falling dead in their bowls of Chunky soup. 

“Sounds like a cool book, maybe I’ll read it,” I commented. 

“This isn’t a book for children. You still haven’t read that copy of The Hobbit I gave you.” 

Hold my beer, motherfucker. I’m here for it. And The Hobbit was boring af. I never got past all the singing. 

Just to piss him off, I read the book cover to cover, faster than he did. You know, like normal vindictive ten year-old girls do. I don’t have a lot of memories of my dad growing up, but I hold onto this one fast and tight, because I got mine in the end. I was like the Trashcan Man of the fifth grade set. Just with a worse haircut. See below. 

Needless to say, my comprehension of The Stand almost thirty years later is a little bigger, wider, and deeper. It’s also colored by other epic “Good vs. Evil” reads (sigh, yes... even Tolkien); and King’s other works (mostly The Dark Tower). While at times this was not an easy book to read, I’m glad I powered through it. Ultimately, I feel rewarded I didn’t give up on page 872 like I had initially wanted to. I’m also glad I didn’t go with my gut instinct of reading the original released in in 1978, and then later on the uncut edition that was released in 1990. One reading of The Stand per year is more than enough, thank you. And besides, there’s fun pictures along the way! I mean, if I’m being honest, the book is mostly pictures with just a few words here and there to break it up. I’m absolutely kidding. 

Let’s get into it, shall we?

First of all, I picked the worst fucking time to read this book. Coronavirus is probably going to kill the whole world, and I refuse to be one of the survivors like in The Stand. There’s not enough bourbon in Kentucky for me to survive that shit show. Additionally, my family is huge into board games, and we thought Pandemic might be a fun cooperative game to try. Spoiler: it’s awesome, we’re all hooked on it. I highly recommend it for your next game night. Maybe an End of the World/Pandemic theme?? You can all wear gloves and masks, eat shelf stable foods and bottled water, and play REM on repeat. Sounds... awesome. 

But I digress. The Stand is your ultimate post-apocalyptic good versus evil showdown. A government employee with Captain Trips (the world ending virus) goes AWOL from his base, and takes a frantic road trip across the country with his family, where he manages to contaminate everyone he comes in contact with. 

What is Captain Trips? Well, I’m so glad you asked! To hear a doctor explain it, “We’ve got a disease with several well-defined stages... but some people may skip a stage. Some people may backtrack a stage. Some people may do both. Some people stay in one stage for a relatively long time and others zoom though all four as if they were on a rocket-sled...” 

The virus spreads (like viruses do), until there’s less than 15,000 people left in the country (rough estimate). The people still alive start having two types of dreams; either scary nightmares about The Walking Man, or peaceful dreams about Mother Abigail. Again... good versus evil. Guess who is who. If you need clarification, let me give you this one little quote about Randall Flagg, courtesy of Mother Abigail, “He’s the purest evil left in the world. The rest of the bad is a little evil. Shoplifters and sexfiends and people who like to use their fists. But he’ll call them. He’s started already. He’s getting them together a lot faster than we are. Before he’s ready to make his move, I guess he’ll have a lot more. Not just the evil ones that are like him, but the weak ones... the lonely ones... and the ones that have left God out of their hearts.” 

And his followers?

“They were nice enough people and all, but there wasn’t much love in them. Because they were too busy being afraid. Love didn’t grow very well in a place where there was only fear, just as plants didn’t grow very well in a place where it was always dark.” 

Yeah. I’m just going to leave that there for you to read and digest. 

So, the remaining people from all over the country either ended up in Vegas with Flagg, or Boulder with Mother Abigail and The Free Zone; which is basically Bernie Sander’s Utopian dream. 

God damn it! I swore I wasn’t going to get political and compare Donald Trump to Randall Fla- 

Ok, so The Free Zone. Most of the people who come to Boulder, want to meet Mother Abigail Freemantle, the one hundred and eight year old black woman they’ve been dreaming about. She’s got a self-described case of the shine, and speaks stupid relevant truth to her followers, “I have harbored hate of the Lord in my heart. Every man or woman who loves Him, they hate Him too, because He’s a hard God, a jealous God, He Is, what He Is, and in this world He’s apt to repay service with pain while those who do evil ride over the roads in Cadillac cars. Even the joy of serving Him is a bitter joy. I do His will, but the human part o me has cursed Him in my heart.” 

I’m not religious, but that hit hard. And it shows you the clear difference between Randall Flagg, and Mother Abigail. 

Later on, Mother Abigail also hits us over the head, and explains to us why this book is titled, The Stand: “But he is in Las Vegas, and you must go there, and it is there that you will make your stand. You will go, and you will not falter, because you have the Everlasting Arm of the Lord God of Hosts to lean on. Yes. With God’s help you will stand.”

Spoiler: it doesn’t quite go according to her plan. Very few are left standing at the end.

 So, The Free Zone. People come together, dispose of dead bodies, get electricity turned back on again, clear the roads of abandoned cars, and form a de-facto government. While lots of characters come and go (die. They die.) throughout the book, there are a few mainstays in The Free Zone: Franny, Harold, Stu, Larry, Nick, Tom, Nadine, and Lucy. But again... good versus evil. While most of the residents of The Free Zone are good, Flagg is able to whisper in the ears of some members, mostly Harold and Nadine, who end up defecting and making the trip to Vegas. 

While socialist utopia is succeeding in Boulder, Flagg is ruling with fear of crucifixion in Vegas. His henchmen include Lloyd, and The Trashcan Man. Oh, Trashy... maybe one of King’s most iconic characters. He’s a bit of a firebug (understatement of the century), and really goes out in a blaze of glory (ha. Pun intended). 

In fact, the two heroes of this book are Trashcan Man, thanks to his epic nuclear disaster; and simple-minded Tom Cullen, who is able to infiltrate Flagg’s inner circle, and successfully make it out, rescuing Stu Redman, who is dying in the desert with a broken leg and a horrible infection along the way. Tom Cullen is the character you root for. But Trashy is the character you’re always curious about. He’s like that rebel guy you dated in high school for ten minutes, and now stalk on Facebook, because you want to see what shady shit he’s up to twenty years later. 

This is the biggest oversimplification I think I’ve ever written. The onus is on you to just pick up the damn book and read it yourself. Do it soon, because you might not have a lot of time left, what with Coronavirus breathing it’s death fumes down our necks. 

For those still keeping track, we have TWO Wisconsin references in The Stand. The first was on page five, set in a gas station in East Texas, “...had covered himself with glory as a quarterback of the regional high school team, had gone on to Texas A&M with an athletic scholarship, and had played for ten years with the Green Bay Packers...” 

I can’t help but feel Steve is a closeted Packers fan. He lives in Maine, so I know he’s contractually obligated to be a Patriots fan (gag), but come on... homeboy loves him some green and yellow. 

The second reference comes from our friend Trashcan Man, while trying to find a walking route of possible destruction. “He had planned to get over to the west side of Gary, near the confusion of interchanges leading various roads towards Chicago or Milwaukee...”

Question... does Gary, Indiana still smell in a post-apocalyptic world? Asking for a friend. 

We also start getting the Dark Tower references fast and heavy. I didn’t make note every time Steve referenced wolves, crows, or wheels; because we’d be up over a million references now. And Randall Flagg himself is straight out of The Tower. So that’s fun. And we have our first “ka” reference: “And it came to him with a dreamy, testicle-shriveling certainty that this was the dark man, his soul, his ka somehow projected into this rain-drenched, grinning crow that was looking at him...”

‘Tis ka, bitches. 

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 8

Dark Tower References: 4

Book Grade: A- 

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books 

The Shining

The Stand

‘Salem’s Lot

Carrie 

Night Shift

Next up is The Dead Zone, which I must have watched a million times as a kid, because my mom was obsessed with it, but I’ve never actually read the book. So this should be fun! I mean... who doesn’t love reading a book and imagining Christopher Walken without his cowbell as the main character? 

Long Days and Pleasant Nights, Rebecca 

[the-record-obituaries]

Oct. 16, 2019: Obituaries

Raynard Eller, 94

Mr. Raynard Arnold Eller, age 94 of Purlear passed away Sunday, October 13, 2019 at his home.

Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 17, 2019 at Wilkesboro Baptist Church with Dr. Chris Hefner officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:30 until 1:30 PM                 prior to the service at the church.

Burial with Military Honors by Marine Corps League Brushy Mtn. Detachment # 1187 will be in Mountlawn Memorial Park.  

Mr. Eller was born July 12, 1925 in Wilkes County to Percy and Ora Mae Eller.  He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and was a recipient of the Purple Heart.  He was a member of Wilkesboro Baptist Church.  

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Jo Angelyn Blackburn Eller, five brothers, James M. Eller, twin brother Raymond Eller, Edward G. Eller, Max P. Eller and Rex J. Eller.

He is survived by one daughter, Bettie Kroutil and husband Bob of Santa Fe, New Mexico and two sons, Ron Eller and wife Beth of Huntersville and Rich Eller and wife Patty of Franklin, TN, four grandchildren, Josh Eller, Alison Eller, Jack Fornadel and Abbie Richard and three great grandchildren, Sterling Richard, Kyrie Richard and Edye Sandvick, three sisters, Christine Eller and Haline Eller both of Wilkesboro and Nancy Barnes of Tega Cay, SC and one brother, Kent Eller of Pulear.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice and Pallative Care, 401 Technology Lane, Suite 200, Mt. Airy, NC 27030 or Wilkesboro Baptist Church, PO Box 61, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Grayson Fender,  72

Mr. Grayson Mack Fender, age 72 of Traphill, passed away Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Woltz Hospice Home in Dobson, NC.

Funeral services were  , October 15,  at Old Roaring River Primitive

Baptist Church, Austin Traphill Road with Elder John Lyon, Elder Lowell Hopkins, Elder Carlton Brown, Elder George Paul and Elder Tommy Pegram officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.  .

Mr. Fender was born February 12, 1947 in

Alleghany County to George Lundy and Gladys Clyde Dowell Fender. He retired from Chatham Manufacturing in Elkin and Textiles, Inc. in Ronda and was a member of Old Roaring River Primitive Baptist Church for 24 years having served as a Deacon for 23 years. Grayson dearly loved his family, neighbors and friends from church. He loved helping his family, neighbors and hunting and fishing. He also loved farming.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Mr. Fender is survived by his wife; Rachel Lyon Fender of the home, a daughter; Charlotte Mae Fender Sloan and husband Matthew of Traphill, a son; Randel Mack Fender and wife Etta of Traphill, three grandchildren; Jordan Fender and wife Maygan, Austin Sloan and Garrett Fender and wife Lakyn, three step grandchildren; Tiffani Galloway, Rachel Higgins and Luke Higgins, expecting two great grandchildren in December and April, two brothers; Jim Fender and wife Ellen of Sparta and Bob Fender of Elkin and special friends; Billy Dowell and Bobby Dowell.

Pallbearers were Guy Brown, Jordan Fender, Garrett Fender, Austin Sloan, Keith Lyon, David Spicer, Micky Durham and Derek Brown.

The family wishes to give a Special Thanks to Mtn. Valley Hospice for their care of Mr. Fender.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Woltz Hospice Home 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson NC 27017.

 Harold Eller, 70

Mr. Charlie Harold Eller, age 70 of Purlear passed away Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at his home.

Graveside Services were October 9, 2019 at New  Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Purlear with Rev. Dean Crane officiating.  

Mr. Eller was born January 5, 1949 in Wilkes County to Clyde Thomas and Nora Belle Faw Eller.  He was a member of New Hope Baptist Church and retired from Gardner Glass.

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by two sisters; Ernestine Wiles and Arliene LeFever, three brothers; Franklin Eller, Willie Eller and Jimmy Eller, three sisters-in-law; Mazie Eller, Jewel Eller and Judy Eller, two brothers-in-law; Glenn Wiles and Fred LeFever.

He is survived by his wife: Linda Wyatt Eller of the home, one daughter; Michelle Ann Hogan and husband Paul of Hope Mills and one son; Christopher "Chris" Harold and wife Carene of Ferguson, five grandchildren; Kasey Bolick, Elizabeth Lentz, Ashley Hogan, Rebecca Hogan and Steven Hogan, four great grandchildren; Harmony Swaenepoel, Makenzie Murph, Lillian Murph and Daniel Murph, three sisters; Loriene Castle and husband Lloyd of Wilkesboro, Christine Edmonds and husband Bill of Abingdon, VA. Maxine Johnson and husband Tony of Traphill, four brothers; Filmore Eller and wife Alberta of Wilkesboro, Richard Eller of Purlear, Marvin Eller of Wilkesboro and Max Eller and wife Janice of Hays and two sisters-in-law; Betty Eller and Annie Lee Eller both of Wilkesboro.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice and Pallative Care, 401 Technology Lane, Suite 200, Mt. Airy, NC 27030

 Johnny Shepherd,  72

Johnny Ray Shepherd, age 72, of Archdale, passed away Monday, October 7, 2019 at High Point Medical Center. Johnny was born June 26, 1947 in Wilkes County to Harlie C. and Della Stamper Shepherd. He was owner of JR Shepherd Electrical Repair. Johnny enjoyed playing the guitar, the harmonica, fishing, and his performance cars. He especially loved spending time with his family. Mr. Shepherd was preceded in death by his father and his mother, Della Stamper Shepherd Frazier.            

Surviving are his son, Brian Shepherd and spouse Melissa of Thomasville; grandchildren, Blake and Luke Shepherd both of Thomasville; brother, Buster Shepherd and spouse Peggy of Jamestown; and sister, Marie Shepherd Fite and spouse Bobby of Flint, Texas.

Funeral service was October 9,  at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Gene Shepherd officiating. Burial  followed in Mountlawn Memorial Park.  Flowers will be accepted.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online con

 Edward Brown, 87

Edward Eugene Brown, age 87, of North Wilkesboro, passed away Sunday, October 6, 2019 at his home. Edward was born February 13, 1932 in Wilkes County to Ray and Maude Prevette Brown. Mr. Brown was a member of Second Street Baptist Church. He loved to farm his cattle when he was able; loved his children and grandchildren. Edward was preceded in death by his parents and nine siblings.

Surviving are his wife, Betty Renegar Brown; daughter, Wanda Cleary and spouse Ronnie of Hays; son, Tommy Brown and spouse Rebecca of North Wilkesboro; grandchildren, Samantha Lusk and spouse Freddie of North Wilkesboro, Kristy Cothren and spouse Marty of Hays, Amanda Robinson and spouse Stephen of Asheville, Daniel Brown and spouse Keri of North Wilkesboro; great granddaughters, Sydney Massengill, Mary Cothren and Katie Cothren; several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was October 9,   at Haymeadow Baptist Church with Rev. Danny Dillard, Pastor Michael Golden and Daniel Brown officiating. Burial   followed  in the church cemetery.   Flowers will be accepted.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.  

 Callie Haynes, 88

Mrs. Callie Mae Johnson Haynes, age 88 of North Wilkesboro, passed away Sunday, October 6, 2019 at her home.

Mrs. Haynes was born January 16, 1931 in Wilkes County to William Beshears and Belva Johnson. She was a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church. For over 60 years she was the Co-Owner of the Beauty Bazaar in North Wilkesboro.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband; Edgar Gray Haynes, Sr. and a sister; Minne Rae Ashley.

She is survived by a son; Edgar Gray Haynes, Jr. and wife Angela M. Haynes of North Wilkesboro, two grandchildren; Heather Lynn Haynes and Alicia Dawn Haynes and a niece; Jenny Sale.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate that memorials be made to Wake Forest Care at Home Hospice 126 Executive  Drive Suite 110 Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

 Patty Hendren, 67

Mrs. Patty Sue Link Hendren, age 67 of Hays, passed away Saturday, October 5, 2019 at her home surrounded by her family.

Funeral services were  October 10th,  at Reins Sturdivant Chapel with Brother Larry Adams and Mr. Kevin Prevette officiating. Burial was in New Light Baptist Church #1 Cemetery.  

       Mrs. Hendren was born September 12, 1952 in Wilkes County to William Baxter Link (Bill) and wife Thelma Marie Kelly Link. She was retired from Tyson Foods. Mrs. Hendren was a member of Welcome Home Baptist Church in North Wilkesboro.

       In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by a son; Russell Lee Hendren and a brother; Larry Link (Bill).

       She is survived by a daughter; Dotty Cheek of Hays, a son; Mickey Hendren and wife Denise of Greeley, CO, five grandchildren; Bethany Hendren, Justin Caudill, Justin Hendren, Jasmine Johnson and Darius Jackson, a twin sister; Kathy Prevette and husband Perry of North Wilkesboro and a special nephew Kevin Prevette.

       The family wishes to thank all those that helped Patty during her extended illness. All of the friends, caretakers and visitors during that time are too many to name but each one is greatly appreciated by the family. Thanks also to Medi Home Health and Hospice.

       Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to the Wilkes Humane Society PO Box 309 North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or Window World Cares St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital 118 Shaver Street, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659.