#His costume is the biggest example of this in how bad it looks but HE LIKES IT

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Peacemakers sense of fashion is like so clearly whatevers comfortable/ "well I think it looks nice." and its so funny to me.

Hes never wearing anything good

[wileycap]

So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.

So.

It's okay. B, maybe a C+.

That's it.

Now for the spoilers:

The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.

The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.

The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.

Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.

The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.

The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.

Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.

In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.

And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?

Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.

In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"

They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.

It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.

To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

[quirkwizard]

I'm in the middle of writing about the ending of MHA. I wanted to include a bit where I talk about the updates the characters have had to their looks and costumes, but felt that it was too long of a diatribe. Instead, I'm throwing it out here. That may be difficult considering how crowded the final shot is and how there is no official colored version out, but I can do my best.

Mineta: Also barely changed barring the little grape vine on his head and a similar design around his writs and he does his waist. It's more cohesive, I guess, but it's still whatever.

Sato: I honestly thought that Sato only had a pair of gloves as his new costume. Still though, I miss the mask as a part of his look. I would say more, but Sato's design has never been interesting, so I'm not disappointed.

Hagkaure: She has the biggest downgrade. Poor girl lost half of her costume during the time skip. She doesn't even have access to shoes anymore. That or she secretly has the best costume and the lighting was wrong.

Sero: Barely anything changed here. His helmet is sharper, which I could take or leave but do prefer the older one, and he's our first example of characters getting wrist bands. Not the more prominent trend, but one I noticed.

Mina: There isn't any notable changes to her costume, except more wrist bands which you think would just be melted by her acid, but I like the longer hair and horns. Even if the fact that her horns seemingly changed positions and shapes bugs the life out of me.

Kirishima: I don't even think there is anything different about Kirishina's costume. Maybe more pronounced teeth on the mask and making his gears more jagged, but that's about it. At least he has the best hair designs out of the new looks.

Ojiro: I like the changes. He got rid of the silly one sided fur on his neck in favor of a full one. He traded out the white gi for a black one, showing he evolved further in his martial prowess. And again, he has the headpiece like a few of the other characters.

Jiro: She exchanged the leather jacket for the vest. It's a fine trade, giver her more of a proper punk rocker look. Once again though, she is the part of the odd trend of giving characters wrist bands, seemingly loosing her arm speakers.

Koda: The character done the most dirty for design. In both panels he's in, his entire costume is covered by text boxes. At least his lost the mask, both showing him being more open and because it was basically useless now.

Shoji: Odd how one of the few students with their own panels has pretty much nothing changed about their look. And his may be a hot take, but I don't like Shoji with longer hair. I just think it looks really weird on him.

Tsuyu: A very minor change to how her headpiece looks, but I like it. It looks like a cute little summer cap instead of hulking headpiece she had before. The lenses looking like frog eyes were certainly a nice touch and adds to the "cute and friendly" look.

Tokoyami: The only change seems to be that Tokoyami now has a scarf on top of his cloak. I don't really get it. It doesn't look good and doesn't have any particular benefits. Was he really taking tips from Square Enix with wanting more cloaks?

Shinso: Shinso grew out his hair. That's about it. I'm mixed on this. It's not a bad design, but it can make Shinso feel more and more like a clone of Aizawa. So much of his design is already based on Aizawa. Could we maybe do something a bit diffident?

Iida: More of a sidegrade with this one. The extra muffles around his head look silly. I like the more cap shaped helmet, more resembling his brother's costume and looking similar to the cap the Greek god Hermes would wear for neat little visual reference.

Aoyama: I'm conflicted. One the one hand, Aoyama's costume does look a more practical with the removal of things like the cape and sliming down the design, but it loses a lot of the personality. Plus his pants are really dumb. I don't care how they are colored, they just look silly.

Denki: He may just have the most improved costume. His disk launcher has been broken down into a smaller version of it, seemingly with darts instead. The lightning patterns on his pants are nice as well to give his look more flavor. And the headphones work with his design.

Uraraka: I miss the space visor. It really brought the whole them of the costume together. Instead we get another pair of headphones. I do like the little bits of Izuku's costume in the look, such as the metal around her neck and the launchers around her arm looking like his gloves.

Momo: Momo has a proper shirt now. I do wish it has some more design to it. Maybe some white accidents around it reminiscent of her old look to make more like an evolution. Maybe she could have taken some visual ques from Midnight's or Magic's costume to show respect to her former mentors.

Shoto. Not a lot changed here, surprisingly. The most there is Shoto having designs similar to Enji on his chest. Which I do hope has more of the red and white as part of it. It'd be a neat way to represent how Shoto is still Enji's kid who incorporated everything he learned from him, but is more then his own person at this point that can be free of the shadow that Endeavor cast over his life.

Bakugou: I don't much care for this new design. While I like how they intergrade more of his winter costume into his standard look, it loses on a lot of personality that the old costume had. Things like the blast shaped mask and grenade bracers were great additions and it really needs more of that orange and green to break up all the black. The little fuse tassels are nice though.

Izuku: Out of the all the characters here, I find myself the most reserved about Izuku's new look. Because it depends so much on the coloring. The look itself I think is fine. A natural final conclusion to his costume. But the colors have always been an issue for me. I'm just hoping the cape and highlights are plain white as opposed to the clashing orange and yellow of his last look.

[t34-mt]

hi, i hope you don't mind this question, but what sport does nau'stikah exactly play?

surprised an anon knows he plays sports, i don't remember if i even mentioned it on my blog honestly? also no i don't mind character asks im just shy :>

organized combats in the style of southern momui'oma region, specifically Nuinuk colony, which is the biggest momui'oma colony and holds the biggest festivals of the region. Some would argue out of every coastal group that Nuinuk festivals are the best to attend to, a must even. The main sport nau'stikah practices are organized theatrical combats, usually taking place during the renowned festival month where they're presented several times a week, the schedule being quite tight sometimes for the actors.

although theatrical combats are held all year, but the most prized and memorable happens at this month which is momui'oma's new cycle celebration. Other combats will be held for small festivities of the colony and do not attract so many voyagers. Passing by people will be here sometimes because of Nuinuk being a big colony in general. other sports are mainly a hobby because he enjoys physical activity (and showing off but that's a detail he wont admit). One of them being wrestling which is a sport born in northern regions, believed to have been started in polar maanul groups. It was imported in Nuinuk via northern immigrants. the wrestling is different and incorporates things from the southern continent theater standards thus creating its own sub genre in momui'oma. It works quite close to staged wrestling we have!

organized combats are mainly staged, wearing gears that look closer to a festival costume but still have the required padding on the stomach area to endure talon kicks. While the talon kicks wont cut them, they still can get out of here with nasty blue marks if the combat was intense. The shows are over the top, and incorporate almost dance-like performances too. Since they happen during the theater play acting is part of the sport too. The combat recreates either folklore or mythology tales, or made up storyline between fighters! The combatants are seen as popular sports figures among colony but the favorites will hold an almost "unbeatable near living diety status. Which is what nau'stikah immigrated here to achieve, and he did! he did acquire his own unique title as many fan favorites do. His being "fire catcher".

talon kicking combat is a thing worldwide, with different rules and gear worn, and levels of dangerosity in it. For example talon kicking in plateau region inside the mountain range is quite violent. little to no gear worn, they're short, around a minute or less but quite damaging. They firstly originated from a plateau kyhuine courting practice, where "female" members would fight violently for the prettiest "male" (i put " " because the way their concept of gender works there isn't through assignment via birth sex like humans generally do) as a show off of their capabilities, and while that practice is still alive it also derived into a sport with rules. But the intensity of it is still very present.

babbling -> i still want to develop one that requires swinging (not throwing) an instrument. But at the same time, i have to make a diagram of arm movement and how far they can move them around. since their arms arent on a ball socket joint, they can't do a full circle rotation. they can move it up to a certain degree and rotating it backwards is very limited. I think id be enough for what i have in mind though. Their butterfly joint is limited but not bad though. Also if they ever had sports that require throwing it would be thrown like a frisbee, again using the butterfly joint instead.

people forget this often but humans are like little freaks that are extremely good at throwing things and other primates arent able to do it as well as us. a lot of our sports when you think about it revolves around running around and throwing things, which are the 2 things our bodies excell at. and i think its fun and cool, humans are cool in their own ways ok. anyways, for maanuls and kyhuines their sports generally will also revolve around running around, length jumps and talon kicking

[northwest-cryptid]

Idk if I fully understand ffxiv being native-phobic? I just played through stormblood & what I got from that was colonialism bad, to put it in super simple terms. Like idk the entire point of it was liberate an oppressed peoples and give them back their homes? And maybe I missed it but I didn't see the Ala mhigans as being native coded or inspired?

You didn't see the Ala Mhigans being "Native Coded" because they aren't and yet Ala Mhigan clothes use Native patterns. You didn't see FFXIV being "Native-Phobic" because it's generally not, it likes to hide it's racism away in little pockets.

It's hard to see it when you're not used to seeing it. This isn't your fault, it's that you're looking in the wrong places.

This is the "Ala Mhigan Gown" it's being largely attributed to being "Ala Mhigan" it is not. It is Native.

These patterns are Native, and while I cannot claim exactly and exclusively which tribes use them I can say for certain that I'm Deer Clan Lakota and these patterns are ALL OVER my traditional Native clothing. To attribute our clothing to Ala Mhigo is wrong.

This pattern is being reproduced and sold as Ala Mhigan, as "Kimonos" and lastly, as cosplay.

And these patterns can be found across plenty of First Nation/Indigenous clothing and beadwork.

Like, here if you're curious:

Let's also quickly talk about the New World set,

This is just ugh. Believe it or not I like the pants, and the actual torso and shoes aren't bad either. IF (and this isn't the case) this set were to exclude the headdress and were to actually pay proper respect to Native design and culture I'd love it. I actually used to use this set in game minus the headdress obviously, but wouldn't you know it I'm literally Native. This feels like those party city costumes people make, and the parts it gets right are almost more upsetting because it's not being properly attributed to the right people despite knowing very well the devs clearly referenced actual Natives. Those straps on the pants for example are a very real thing, the clothing my father passed down to me has those, tipped with metal because it makes enough noise to scare off rattlesnakes since those were a threat for kids on the res. The colors and bead patterns also do follow a lot of various Native designs, though I find it harder to pin down these exact patterns.

You're looking at the plot, but that's not entirely where the problem lies; also sorry sorry but I can't overlook this. None of the story or plot justifies Zenos calling me a Savage. I do not care if he's the antagonist, that's a fucking slur. It's been used against me and my people for decades. It's been used against me when I was in middle and high school. So yes, even in recent times this is acknowledged as a slur by racist individuals seeking to cause us harm.

If you've never gotten into a physical fight that you didn't instigate only to have someone ask you "what are you gonna do savage? You gonna scalp me?" And then do the worst imitation of a Native war cry; you likely have no idea how annoying it is to see/hear even a villain in a video game call you a fucking savage, have this be hand-waved as kinda being whatever by the general public who don't deal with this kind of racism, and then furthermore when you go into FFXIV community spaces you see this blonde ass white boy being plastered up everywhere like "oh I wanna fuck him so bad" why do you want to fuck a racist?! He's not even hot. Any potential sex appeal he had left his body the second he uttered the word "savage" and you know the worst part? He's not real. Which means he didn't say that shit, someone at Square WROTE that into the game and really thought "hey is it okay to use a slur like this? Yeah it'll be fine no one is gonna know or care."

Can you IMAGINE if they had a villain drop the N word mid fight? You'd never hear the end of it I assure you.

I think the biggest issue is that people don't even know what Native is, they don't know tribes, they don't know patterns, they don't know our actual history.

You say you don't know how it's "Native-phobic" when it's racism and mockery of Natives is very apparent to Natives, but I can't fault you for it because you literally don't know what to look for.

I want to make it super clear I'm not mad at you, I'm upset that this game can get away with this shit because no one is actually educated on Native matters, culture, etc.

I hope this helps clear that up a little.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 made me cry three times.

Hey, that’s one per movie...Yeah, this movie’s awesome.

If you couldn’t tell, this is a very emotional film for sure, and a part of why that works so well is because it’s these characters. The Guardians are some of the most likable characters in the MCU, so seeing them go through a lot of hard stuff in this movie hits ya where it hurts because of how much you care about them. Especially Rocket, who I might not see the same way again after this movie due to his crazy tragic backstory.

Speaking of which, shit gets DARK with Volume 3! Do you like animals? Then maybe don’t watch this one, because there are scenes where animals get tortured, mutilated, mutated, and even killed throughout the film. You don’t see the REAL brutal stuff, but the implications that James Gunn puts in might actually be worse than SHOWING us. But don’t let that make you think we DON’T see any gruesome stuff in this. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is one of the few MCU projects that EARNS its PG-13 rating, having some VIOLENT imagery and deaths. For example, there’s a moment where you see what a character really looks like, and it might just be the goriest thing the MCU has ever had, which is the biggest compliment I can give.

But despite all that, it’s still funny! Like, REALLY funny! And the jokes don’t spoil and dramatic or serious moment in the film, either...Well, except for maybe one or two scenes, but that’s NOTHING compared to films where the jokes completely harm the final product like Thor: Love and Thunder. Here, the jokes are perfectly placed, are rarely forced in, and are ACTUALLY funny. Me and everyone in the theater were cackling with laughter a LOT throughout the movie. I could barely restrain myself from belting out a laugh or two half the time.

And the action. Holy SHIT, the action! These “trilogies” in the MCU really know how to save the cool stuff for the third movies. Iron Man 3, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and now THIS FILM all feature some of the most epic, creative, and fun action scenes and set-pieces in the MCU. There’s a hallway fight that might just top Daredevil’s due to how violent and creative it is with these characters, their powers, and how they kill people. It really does feel like James Gunn wanted to give the fans a few final cool battles before leaving the MCU forever.

Which brings me to another thing about what makes this movie awesome: It is a clear send-off for James Gunn and the Guardians. The movie makes it VERY clear that this will be the last time all these characters will be together. Hell, the credits features pictures of the Guardians throughout their journies and adventures in the MCU. The most we’ll PROBABLY get are cameos, but other than that, this is the end for most of these characters. And WHAT an end it was.

If there’s anything to complain about, there’s two problems.

#1, Adam Warlock. The character isn’t...bad and Will Poulter nails the voice I always pictured this character having. But he doesn’t really nail who Warlock is in the comics and, overall, he’s kind of...pointless. You can easily write him out of the movie and make a few extra tweaks NOTHING would be missing. Honestly, it feels like the only reason why he’s here is because Volume 2 teased his appearance and James Gunn had no choice but to...bring him in for this last ride. Also, Warlock has the worst costume in the MCU. I mean, look at this:

What even is this?

Which brings me to #2--Which is my most nitpickiest complaint: Star Lord doesn’t wear his mask. Ever. Throughout all two hours and a half hours of this film. It’s part of a bigger complain I have where characters don’t mask up as much as they should in these movies, but it doesn’t stop how distracting it is. I don’t want see Chrisp Ratt’s stupid face in this. I want to see STAR LORD.

THIS! I want to see THIS! And the crazy thing is that Volume 3 finally gives the Guardians their comic accurate uniforms, but don’t go all the way in giving us Star Lord’s mask. Not even the original one they made for these movies. Part of the fun of superheroes are their cool and iconic costumes so it sucks that we don’t get to see enough of that. Imagine if Spider-Man: No Way Home or Captain America: Civil War didn’t have Peter and Steve wear their masks for the big and epic fights, including the finale battles. It wouldn’t be great, would it? Seeing Tom Holland and Chris Evans fight instead of Spider-Man and Captain America.

LET YOUR HEROES WEAR MASKS, YOU COWARDS!

...But other than that, this movie’s a near perfect 9/10 for me.

Now, does this mean Marvel’s back on their game and they’ll be making good movies again?

...We’ll see.

For now, I’ll remain hopeful. Because while the MCU is going through a bit of a rough patch with its films and recent shows, there’s still some fun to be had. I’ll always keep an eye out for what they have next, even if it’s not always as good as it could be, it’ll always lead me to seeing...

A fun, nostalgic thrill-ride that honors Spider-Man and what makes him so awesome.

A touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman and how much he and the character he portrayed meant to others.

And this final ride that’s fun, tragic, and complete in all the right ways.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Black Adam (2022)

Pitched as a different breed of superhero film, Black Adam fails to reach its full potential. We're not getting a sequel but if one did come one, there's enough here that works for me to say "I'd see it". Maybe it’s my history with the comics combined with the source material shining through but I had fun.

In Kahndaq, archeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) is searching for the Crown of Sabbac. If this ancient artifact falls into the hands of Intergang - an international criminal organization with a foothold in the country -, there's no telling how much damage it will cause. Ambushed by Intergang, Adrianna and her brother (Mohammed Amer) awaken the super-powered Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) from his 5,000-year slumber. His arrival summon the Justice Society - Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo). In theory, they'd be on the same side, but Black Adam takes things too far.

The biggest difference between Teth-Adam/Black Adam and the other mortal given powers by the wizard Shazam (see 2019’s Shazam!, who curiously isn't even mentioned) is that this antihero is a jaded former slave who doesn't hesitate to kill. When we meet Black Adam, he sends enough lightning through a man to reduce him to a screaming pile of bone and ash. He hits so hard limbs come off. Oddly, you still never feel that the Justice Society is truly justified in their “going in guns blazing" approach. While in-universe these mercenaries had lives and families of their own, to us they’re just faceless goons. Black Adam kills them but they were about to execute Adrianna. It's not like he demonstrates a harsh idea of justice that has him cutting off a thief's hands or executing corrupt politicians, for example. He's "bad" because he kills people but we still remember Man of Steel and that time Superman snapped General Zod’s neck. Meanwhile, the super-powered squabble is tearing up streets and demolishing historical statues. For that destruction to feel worth it, this movie needed to push the “antihero” idea much further.

The film is also hampered by certain decisions at the story level that I strongly suspect were mandated by Dwayne Johnson or his agent (famously, the characters he plays are never allowed to lose a fight). Then, there are some odd choices toward the front end of the story. They end up paying off satisfyingly, thankfully. Also on the positive side are several surprising twists. I can't list them because they would give too much away.   One of the best things about Black Adam is the way it translates characters from paper to the screen. If I told you that Cyclone’s power was to manipulate wind, you’d think we’re about to have some flashbacks to The Last Airbender and its uninspired combat but when she moves, director Jaume Collet-Serra takes the colours from her costume and makes them swirl around the screen in a surprisingly beautiful display. Hawkman is a character that could easily seem ridiculous. Here, he’s awesome. As the other junior member of the Justice Society, Atom Smasher is so-so at best. Like Cyclone, he doesn't have much to do. This leaves us with Dr. Fate. All of the actors in Black Adam are well-cast. Years before they announced this movie, every comic book fan knew they had to get Dwayne Johnson to play him. It's saying something that Pierce Brosnan steals the movie away from Johnson - and not only because his character’s powers look super cool.

I wish Black Adam was a better movie. There's so much more it could have done. With the idea of an anti-hero protagonist, with its characters (I guess I should mention Bodhi Sabongui, who plays Adrianna’s teenage son because he doesn't do much but is important in theory) and/or with its superhero vs. superhero story. The universe this film belongs to is over so none of it will pay off and that wouldn't have been so bad if as a stand-alone, Black Adam was great. Instead, it's ok. If you want to see what might've been, check it out. There's a mid-credit scene that will blow the minds of all those Snyderverse superfans. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 17, 2022)

[charismabee]

Went to Hamilton yesterday and want to talk about my many thoughts

Good things:

The chorus was great, both in terms of choreography and voice, the backing vocals really elevated quite a few performances. I especially liked watching the bullet going around doing her thing since I came in knowing that was a thing to look out for.

Jefferson/Lafayette and Peggy/Maria were the definitive stand out performances. Peggy had a beautiful voice and the moment I heard her in ‘Schuyler Sisters’ I was hyped to see her as Maria and she killed it 10/10. And I was really surprised at how good Lafayette's French accent and ability to do that really fast rap while still being understandable was, and he did an amazing Jefferson in the second half.

The live orchestra did an amazing job, the instrumental was very nice.

The lighting was also very good, the colour theming was a really nice touch and they did a great job.

I liked it when they spun George Washington around on a staircase on wheels. I just thought that was cool.

I actually wasn't sure about Burr in ‘Wait For It’ but he really saved it in ‘The Room Where It Happens’ and onward. Same with George Washington. I was initially unsure of him when he was rapping but God can that man sing.

The costume design was great. I especially liked King George's comically large glittery crown. It was like the size of his whole head, maybe bigger, amazing.

Bad things

The biggest problem for me was the added 'humour', long awkward pauses, funny voices, etc. I get why they did it, they wanted to put their own spin on it. It just didn't land for me and really took me out of the performance at points. For example Alexander put on a funny voice for his 'wait for its' in ‘The Room Where It Happened’ which really jarred me, especially as Burr was putting so much into his performance in that song.

Relating to that, I really didn't like Young Phillip. They added a like... squeal and boyish tap when Hamilton complimented him, and while I was willing to suspend my disbelief for the original awkward rap from an obvious adult, that was just too much for me. I never want to see that moment ever again in my life it was so bad.

Also, I don't know if they always do this but king George was sitting in the corner of the cabinet battles making funny faces like a reaction youtuber and I don't understand why.

They changed some of the words, just randomly in the lyrics. The most notable example for me was in ‘Story of Tonight (reprise)’ where instead of saying that the soldiers have been returned to their masters they said Lauren's dream died with him which just felt really weird?? Like it just felt really off. There were a few other lines that while less jarring still caught me by surprise and while I can understand adding the humour to an extent I can't understand why they did this one.

Finally, the change I understand least. For some reason they made every character we're supposed to be against (Mr. Reynolds, Charles Lee, Jefferson, King George, literally all of them) like blatantly flamboyantly queer coded. Why did they do this? They haven't done this with any character we were supposed to like. It wasn't like this in the original. I tried to ignore it but they were so obvious about it that I couldn't understand why they did this???

[maroonghoul]

Thoughts on Slashers

While Horror in general as a film genre seems to be more popular then ever before, for the specific subgenres with it, that’s a little more complicated. I’ll admit, of all of them doing a resurgence both commercially AND critically, I wouldn’t have expected the Slashers being among them. 

Let’s face it; even during it’s first heyday in the 80s, they were kind of seen as the lowest, most creatively and ‘morally’ bankrupt type of films there, whether by critics or parents. They were the punching bag; the stereotype, because they had the gall to make the source of the horror, not something as eloquent as the vampire or as metaphorical as the radioactive dinosaur. No, these films, new for their time, said that a person putting on an outfit and mindlessly killing people was all it took to make plenty of films around for artistic consumption. 

I will say, I wasn’t always the biggest fan of it either. Even now, I currently have a love/hate relationship with the Friday the 13th movies. (The ones anyone who doesn’t watch horror movies think ALL of them are like). I’ve only seen three Friday movies (4, 5, and the remake), and I plan to seen more. There’s nothing intentionally deep over the one’s I’ve seen and that’s fine. I am now in the frame of mind where I can enjoy them enough as they are, a fun way to kill an hour and a half. Though I guess for non horror fans, it’s just jarring to have an antagonist as figurately and literally blunt as Jason Voorhees. A character that makes no profound speeches, has no large plans, and whose motivation quickly loses sympathy the more he attacks just anyone he comes across. Offbeat mask aside, compared to the tentpole movies villains like Darth Vader and Hannibal Lector, he seems banal and uninteresting.

But, living through these past ten years or so reading news on the kind of hellscape our country either turns into and reveals itself to have always been, we realized that the villains of the real world ARE banal. They are not nearly as smart or sympathetic as they see themselves to be or even compared to the most infamous of fictional villains. Even the most interesting they get is how far short they prove to be at that. (Look over at the newest owner of Twitter for a good recent example). And well, what do you know,  there’s too many psychos in costumes killing people by the dozens here too. They just use M15s instead of machetes.

I’m not saying, villains intended to be sympathetic are bad or lesser then. But, I feel we’re at a point where a lot of us are more attracted to villains less interested in trying to be complex and more one’s looking to cut to the chase. They are confident in themselves if nothing else, but that goes a long way. Okay, that’s a bit contradictory, saying the most effective villains were one I was calling banal a second ago. It’s more like they know how to prioritize. Motivation can matter a bit, but not as much as how they kill, I feel. 

Michael Myers’s original debut and his return in the most recent trilogy was way more successful to audiences then the Rob Zombie remakes, primarily because the knew there was no possible reason to reveal or explain why he kills people that people would buy or thought was worth looking into. He’s horrible not because what made him snap or that he was evil all along. But that when he did decide to kill, everything he needed to kill the people he did were all easy to get. We don’t just admire the creativity of the kills, but appreciate the warning about how these mundane things in our lives could kill us.

I think that’s it. Most monster movies before Halloween and such, has it so while the monster is scary, it just meant we should be really be scared of who or what created it, Whether it’d be the mad scientist avoiding responsibility or radiation spread about by uncaring military powers. Most slashers are caused by something more mundane; middle-class suburbia. Michael’s the obvious example. Jason and his mother turned their back on the world because he was mistreated to the point of extreme negligence by more privileged children. Freddy was already a monster made way worse by careless bureaucratic mistakes and mob justice. The Ghostface reveal in the original Scream (plus the sequels minus three to a lesser extent), still hold up BECAUSE it’s just two entitled white boys who took more lessons on life from the friggin’ movies then their own parents. Candyman...just everything about Candyman, really. Even in cases where a slasher is from a more out-there source, he find his way into an environment like this and he’s able to kill more efficiently because of it’s structural rules and beliefs have a blind spot. (’Alien’ in that it was the characters own employers that invited the monster in, ‘The Terminator’ in that no one will help fight it because everyone was raised not to believe in killer robots, etc.)

I don’t think this deep meaning was intended for every slasher film, not even ‘Halloween’. (Though I think Wes Craven did intend it in just about all his films). Some of them, especially the ones who behind the Friday films, were just looking to make some popcorn movies. It’s just that they were using a core idea they didn’t need to overthink. Though any additional thought is not unwelcome as long as they stay off the soapbox.

In the end, they are monster movies like Frankenstein. It’s just that the role of the Doctor is filled by not by the outsider, nor was it done via mad science or Satan worshippers. They are created by the society occupied by middle-class America’s indifference and entitlement. WE created the monster.

No wonder parents were pissed. They were being directly called out. And no wonder Slashers came back in popularity. We were receptive to the warning again.

And that’s not even getting into the Final Girl. But that’s a rant for another day.

[kuromifluff]

⚠️MHA CH. 362 SPOILERS⚠️

Okay, just fully caught up on the MHA manga and I’d like to share my thoughts. I read from 258 to the latest chapter after re-watching seasons 1-5 of the anime.

———————————————————————

• Had previously read the 1st war arc, not much to say on that except the scene with Mina freezing up while fighting Gigantomachia still makes my blood boil. I’m gonna make a separate post talking about this but Mina is literally my favorite woman in the series besides Mirko. It’s established early on that she’s both exceptionally strong as well as courageous. Her fumbling in this moment doesn’t fit her previous characterization at all and seems like another classic example of the girls just being used to make their male classmates look better. Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE Kiri, but that moment should have been Mina’s! She’s such a vibrant character and deserves time in the spotlight and the one time we’re it seems like she’s about to get it, it gets stolen from her. Makes me so sad. :(

• THE VIGILANTE ARC WRECKED ME EMOTIONALLY!!!! Izuku has been my biggest comfort character for the past like 4 years and I both loved and hated seeing him acting alone. He was like a total badass and I love seeing his growth and this arc was great for his development, but MAN. Like Ocha says in her speech, HE IS LITERALLY A HIGH SCHOOLER! Seeing this poor kid try and shoulder responsibility for the future of his entire nation if not the world is heartbreaking. Izuku is genuinely such a good person and deserves to be loved and supported, seeing him try to tackle this huge problem alone was so sad. I wanna hug him so bad.

• Loved seeing more of Toga! Another one of my favorite characters, she’s just so interesting. I honestly really hoped she was gonna get a redemption arc, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the direction her character is going in. I just really feel for her, she’s just a kid too and has been a victim because of her quirk. I thought it would be really cool for her to get a second chance and maybe decide to help the heroes because of her love for Izuku and Ocha. Regardless, the scene where she confesses to Izuku was hilarious. Seeing him blush after getting asked out by a serial killer had me wheezing. 10/10 would recommend.

• The UA traitor reveal was sooooo cool! I’ve always liked Toru and firmly believed she wasn’t the traitor bc it was just too obvious to be true. Glad to see that hunch was correct, but I am surprised it ended up being Aoyama. Always thought he was just kinda a gag-character. So great plot twist, and Toru was so cool during the confrontation! PUT SOME RESPECT ON MY GIRLS NAME!!!

• Shoto’s development throughout the series is second only to Izuku imo. He’s come so far and it’s wonderful to see, he deserves to heal. He handled Dabi’s reveal in such an emotionally moving way, and he looked so cool during their fight! Sometimes I genuinely forget how much I like him; he’s just so well written!

• The stakes have progressively ramped up throughout the series and Horikoshi’s done a great job conveying this, but I gotta say seeing Mirko and Aizawa get so hurt was really hard. They’re def my two favorite pros. Also Crust sacrificing himself for Aizawa?! Oh. My. God. Obviously Crust hasn’t really been a super relevant character so I wasn’t attached to him, but seeing the look on both his and Aizawa’s face? Gut wrenching; made me cry. I think Mirko is still so cool with her prosthetic tho, I hope Aizawa is able to get his eye fixed and return to the fight directly as well. I know he hates watching from the sidelines, unable to protect his students.

• SHINSO MY LOVE!!! His hero costume is so cool!!! And I’m so glad he’s confirmed to be joining the hero course next year. :)

• OH MY GOD TENYA CAME THRU! I’m a huge Iida fan and hate seeing him get overlooked. I feel like he’s been pretty absent since the Hero Killer arc despite being one of the protagonist’s closest friends, but he had a couple of cool moments during the vigilante and 2nd war arcs. I JUST WANT MORE SCREEN TIME FOR THE CLASS REP

• Okay now for the big one, Katsuki Bakugou. I have a lot of conflicting feelings about him as a character as well as his death. Kats is another exceptional well written character, especially after his motivations and feelings about Izuku and All Might are revealed. I like Kats as a character because he’s complex and interesting to watch, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s necessarily a great person. Katsuki may not be a villain, but I don’t really think he’s a hero either. I find most of his actions and motivations to be entirely self serving, a stark contrast to Izuku, who is everything that a hero should be. For a majority of the series, he operates without regard for anyone else’s feelings and is generally unkind and even cruel. He only wants to be a hero because he wants praise and recognition, to prove he’s better than everyone else. I don’t think that you can really be a hero if that’s your motivation for doing so. A real hero needs to be compassionate above all else. While Katsuki receives good character development throughout the series and eventually recognizes Izuku as a legitimate rival instead of an obstacle to crush, he never becomes kinder. And it’s honestly heartbreaking to watch Izuku continue to seek validation from someone who’s mostly just been mean to him their entire lives. At the end of the day, despite his strength and accomplishments, Katsuki Bakugou is still a total jerk. He doesn’t even apologize to Izuku until the vigilante arc, and afterwards doesn’t bother to adjust his attitude. Yes he may be more open to working together by that point, but is it because he really cares about anyone else’s feelings, or does he just know that it’s the only way to win? I don’t know. Either way, if someone has to die here, I’d much rather it be him than most of the other prominent supporting characters. His death also makes sense from a plot standpoint. Despite how toxic their relationship is, Izuku still cares for Katsuki deeply, and his death would have the most impact on the story. But then again, they’ve pulled the “oh no there’s no way they could have survived… SIKE” thing with several other characters at this point so I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t actually die. At this point, I could take it or leave it. I will say tho, he looked awesome with that new gear during the fight with Shiggy.

[edwardsmate4ever]

Twilight Effect Podcast Review (Rant)

So, I've been listening to Ashley Greene's new Twilight-centric podcast, i.e. her attempt to cash in on the Twilight Renaissance (successfully attempted). The podcast has rewatches, guest stars, fan questions. Ashley's cohost is her best friend (and self-professed TwiHard) Melanie.

I have thoughts. Some are good, a lot are bad. Spoilers under the cut

The first three episodes consist of Ashley and Melanie rewatching the first Twilight movie. It was torturous for a person who knows Twilight canon. Ashley I can be a little more forgiving toward since she was just an actress in a movie, but Melanie claims to be the biggest Twilight fanatic, and she gets so much wrong. Like, basic stuff. They keep saying Chemistry class instead of Biology, for example. Drove me absolutely nuts and I vowed to never listen to another movie rewatch with these two. Zero interesting tidbits were added to the seasoned fan's experience.

They do involve the fans at the end of each episode. They have trivia games and opportunities to leave a voicemail question for Ashley to answer. All you have to do is go to Ashley's instagram and you have a chance to participate, if that's your cup of tea.

Melanie asks Ashley "burning questions" in the second half of every episode. These are interesting, often things like what was the best/worst scene you shot, who was romancing who, were there set disputes. So that was worthwhile.

The fourth episode contained their first special guest, who was Kellan Lutz. He and Ashley were friends before Twilight, so the conversation/interview was very comfortable and easy. They talked about his personal life as a new dad, and how he got the role of Emmett (which was really interesting), and why he made certain acting/costume choices. At the end, they had a trivia challenge where Ashley and Kellan were each paired with a fan to answer questions about the movies. It was funny how clueless the actors were, and how the fans picked were trying to gently steer them toward the right answer. However, a big drawback was Melanie constantly cutting off Kellan, which was annoying. I want to hear about Kellan's experience, not Melanie's commentary of it!

The are two other episodes I haven't listened to yet, both guest star interviews: Peter Facinelli and Catherine Hardwicke. I'm looking forward to hearing their experiences with Twilight, assuming Melanie lets them fucking speak.

Have you listened? What did you think?

[sillydreamer]

The boys' headcanons meet Candy's aunt and she will invite them to lunch and say something like: "Oh, Candy told me all about you ..."

MCL boys meet Candy's aunt

Hohohohoho...this is an interesting idea, thanks for the request anon and I hope that you enjoy this request.

Castie:

When he first heard those words he looked right at Candy with a mischievous face "I see...what did she say about me?"

For a part he feels bad for her because that's exactly the types of phrases that his mother would say but by the other hand he can't loose an opportunity for bothering Candy.

Depending on what the aunt decided to say his reaction may be positive or...well, the next time time that they see each other their faces will be red as Castiel's face.

If there are normal things like "You play the guittar" or "I heard that you played the character of the werewolf on that play that you did in the school!" Castiel will be disappointed but not surprised. He expected more spicy things.

If there are other things like the episode of the rabbits (as an example) then he'll blush and look at other way while the aunt keeps saying embarrassing things.

But doesn't loose his sense of humor and will joke about it "So did you really find me that sexy in the beach?"

Nathaniel:

At the moment that the aunt said that Candy has said her everything about him he panicked and blushed. "O-oh, that's g-great" (he almost chokes with cake)

He's praying that she's speaking about the grades and the good things that he has done, he doesn't want to hear about the time that he played the drums almost naked (he's dramatic)

At the end he wouldn't hear anything because he's thinking on all the bad possibilities.

Nathaniel wants to die.

If the aunt says normal things then he'll relax and try his best to act natural, he was worrying for nothing.

However if she speaks about the concert...he'll turn red and start shaking. Since her aunt is rounding around the school Nathianiel is more carefully about what he does in public or in what situations he gots into.

But his biggest fear is that her aunt knows about the abuse that he had back home, if the subject isn't touched Nathaniel's body will feel relaxed.

Lysander:

Unlike the others he doesn't react. His first thoughts are about random school experiences like the amount of times that he has lost his notebook, how they met, the fact that he writes songs...his most wild memory is about the play but this pure man doesn't think anything weird.

"Oh that's good" No but seriously his beautiful head doesn't see the problem.

"She told me how good you looked in the white rabbit costume!" "Rosalya and Alexy did a great job"

Almost impossible to break this man, almost.

Maybe if the incident of the tattoo comes to the table he'll get a little bit nervous or the time that he forget about Candy but he'll never loose control of the situation.

Lysander finds Agatha very curious but likes her cheerful personality.

Armin:

"Candy can't stop talking about you..." "Oh god please tell me that she didn't tell you about the time that I tried to climb a tree for money and a bird pooped my shirt" He just exposed himself.

Anyway, he's chill and curious about what type of..information Candy aunt's have. Agatha is like his mother and knows how to manage himself.

No matter how personal or bad the story is, Armin makes it out in a epic way.

If those are very personal things then he'll play back "That's a wonderful story, but have Candy told you about the time that wee see her underwear?" "ARMIN NO-"

Him gets very well with the aunt Agatha and they share stories about their families (Armin is becoming the wine aunt help-)

After the lunch he'll ask Candy about the next familiar reunion, he really liked to speak with her aunt, it reminds him to Alexy.

Kentin:

Panic!

She knows about him moving just for her? Does she know about the teddy bear? HOW MUCH AGATHA KNOWS?!?!?

Still tries his best to look relaxed and normal, but by the sweat on his face you could tell that he isn't.

It doesn't mind what is the conversation about, he'll be nervous all the time. Specially if Candy's aunt mentions the teddy bear that he gave to her.

Maybe her aunt will stop speaking when Kentin's face turns red and can't pronounce words.

[babymilkawa]

Sorry if this has already been rone but- could I get Bakugou, Todoroki, Denki and Izuku (separately) with a non-binary s/o who’s quirk is based off of a hyena? They have splotches of lighter skintone on them, freckles, laugh like a hyena, have sharp teeth and eyes like them? And a tail + ears? S/o is really chaotic, they live by the motto “I’ll try anything once,” and are overall very likable yet funky? Extra points if the boys see them in their hero outfit (which is something a little showey💕

-🧸

this is rly interesting anon!!

hyena quirk headcanons with:

bakugou katsuki, todoroki shoto, midoriya izuku, kaminari denki

gn!reader :)

bakugou katsuki

so at first he was definitely ticked off by how different u were

tbh u kinda reminded him of Mina with ur personality

But he thought ur appearance was very cool

later on in ur relationship, you’d always feel him tracing the shapes of the splotches on ur skin, or softly scratching the space behind ur ears

he thought u looked so badass with those teeth though

u were wild but you weren’t careless

your attacks were precise and carefully planned during practice and he definitely noticed

even before u guys started dating, bakugou had already known almost everything about you just by observing

he noticed how your ears perked up easily

whether it’s excitement or during training

he loved watching how your pupils would dilate and how completely focused you’d look when on the battle field but if you’re just chilling?

your whole body is relaxed

oh and his favorite, favorite part is that if he teases you about things and you deny it, your tail will give it away

like your first kiss for example

he pulled away and with the smuggest grin he said, “not bad, right?”

you had rolled your eyes and looked away, unaware that the tip of your tail was rapidly moving side to side

Usually he’ll point you out

but after that kiss, he was dazed himself, so caught up on the feeling of ur lips, he didn’t even bother telling u that ur tail was betraying its owner

and the first time he saw ur hero costume? oh my g a w d man had to look away

cos damn what r u looking so good for 

literally has to slap himself when no one’s watching so he can focus on the task

todoroki shoto

so your personality is very different than his

knowing this, you sometimes try to catch him off guard by like fake pouncing on him 

but he never flinches or anything

never does

he prolly already knows ur planning this on the other side of the room smh

todoroki generally doesn’t have a playful side to him but when he’s noticing that you’re being more jumpy than usual he’ll join you cuz why not

but ofc it’s awkward at first

he doesn’t know how to have fun fun

he doesn’t understand ur impulsive decisions which happens a lot

for example, if you’ve accidentally had one sip of caffeine at 6 in the evening, you’re wide awake at 2 am and preparing to rearrange the furniture in ur dorm

he’s right below you, luckily, so he’ll hear all the noise and show up to ur dorm like “why?”

and you’ve got the same answer each time, “why not?”

he figures that he won’t be able to go back to sleep anyways so he helps you move the furniture

one thing that’s great is that he can instantly read your emotion or energy level from your tail

like if you’ve still got to move your night stand, but your tail is starting to droop, he’ll just drag you to bed

he’s tired too and he loves your cuddles even if ur ears tickle his chin a little excuse to be little spoon? I think yes

midoriya Izuku

your energy s c a r e s him sometimes

being ur partner during training will literally keep him fully alert, for you

but you’re a great partner, you can just be a little reckless sometimes

he soon learns that even if you dive right into the action, you don’t act without thinking

before you guys are even together, he’s already got your whole quirk analysis down in his notebook 

he’ll ask you questions about whether your tail gets in the way or whether your ears help during training and all

sometimes if you guys are just chilling, you’ll catch him staring at you

one day you ask him and he just goes like “no you just look really cool. I hope I'm not being weird though! I don’t mean to!”

“you’re my bf you can stare at me all you want Izuku”

one time, you were sitting down with your friends playing a card game and he was walking by behind you

but suddenly your tail just unconsciously swept the floor and he stepped on it, making you cry out in pain

he felt soooo bad

oml

doesn’t know how to help make it better so he just keeps on apologizing

if it was anybody else, you would’ve pounced on them but he looks genuinely guilty

so lets not make it worse :)

at first, seeing you smile would give him mixed emotions

like you’d go up to his face and flash your teeth and he’d start sweating buckets

you looked adorable don’t get me wrong

but you also looked a little...menacing

kinda like himiko

after a while he got used to it, knowing that you were a really kind person at heart

but since you can be a little wild and you like to have fun, you'll just graze his shoulder or neck with your skin to feel him shiver

you won’t put any pressure that’ll draw blood but it’s fun to hear him whimper 👀

the first time he saw ur hero costume, he start stuttering random nonsense lmAo

“y-y-y/n, wow, uhhh” sweat sweat sweat

yea he’s prolly not gonna get used to that hahHha

kaminari denki

this boy matches your energy

your always paired up with him during training cos you guys make the best team

like you’re there to keep him from making irrational decisions but you also ignite the fire and make sure the two of you make the most out of the time

even if you guys fail the mission sometime, you always come out laughing and developing new inside jokes

sometimes if you’re laughing, he’ll just turn to look at you with the biggest smile

and admires your tail wagging like a little pup and your teeth glistening under the ceiling lights

he is all up for your impulsive decision making

your #1 supporter

“oh? you wanna have fireworks in the field? me too! let’s go!”

pulls out 20 packs from under his bed

you two hold the best parties ever

and sometimes Iida gets on ur nerves but denki’s there to politely ask him to not be a party pooper and that the door is wide open 👀🚪

y’all get in trouble with Aizawa all the time 

like by now, he’s sick of y'all LMAOOO

someone told him that there’s a hole in the vending machine?

“y/n, Kaminari, come here”

but they weren’t even snitching on you two but it’s sooo obvious who did it hahaha

a lot of running around in the hallways and chasing each other

your so much faster than he is but he loves hearing your laugh echo the place

he clings on to you a lot cos ur soft

he’s usually the little spoon change my mind no u can't but when ur exhausted and all out of energy, he’s there to scratch your back or behind your ears, loving the way your tail wags in your sleep

you guys growl at each other

like playfully but it happens a lot

Midoriya walked in one time and lowk thought a fight was about to break down, tryna separate the two of you

you have an actual growl and a fake cute one, guess which one he likes ;))

a/n: aaah this was so fun to write!! thank you for requesting <33

bnha masterlist

[gritsandbrits]

Sorry to ask but is it ok to give a full summary on what is wrong with the BATB live action remake? I only heard a handful of them from disneyfan50 so I want to hear from you if there’s anything wrong with the BATB remake.

The Beast gave it his all but Emma Watson was a bad choice she was just basically Hermoine but bland and the autotune sucked. They had no chemistry, Belle comes off as a snooty brat and somehow they made her an inventor bc gal powah apparently. Also the Beast is kinda lacking too but eh. Somehow they gave Gaston a sympathetic backstory bc that's what cool these days. They made Lefou gay because I guess being a sycophant equates to sexuality when cogsworth was right there like you could TELL he movie was made solely to appease to critics who get their information from Buzzfeed and Cracked. Like when Belle comments about talking furniture or having to explain how she and Maurice moved or the enchantress all that stuff like no one wants that extra shit! They try to make it where it doesn't come off as Stockholm but again the chemistry between Belle and Beast here severely lacks in genuine heart.

But the biggest thing i hate about the movie was Belle's ball gown Now in DP movies the "fancy" gown is often the biggest iconic part of the movie

Look what they got Hermoine to wear

Whoops!

It's so plain and boring! Sticks out like a sore thumb among the other costumes; which are actually close to historically accurate the film was aiming for. There's detailing on the skirt but you barely see it! I've seen prom dresses on ebay look better than that!

Once Upon A Time has a tv budget but YET managed to design a better dress than a multi-million dollah movie!

It's different yes But still harkens back to the original. You can actually see the gold details! The fabric is very shiny and gold not that banana colored shit! Even her hair is reminiscent of the cartoon vs that flat ass ponytail.

Now look at this multimillion dollah celeb infested monstrosity:

No pomp. No floof. No whimsy. Just a bunch of flimsy slices of homogenized cheese!

Hate hate HAAAAAAAATE!!!

But for all intents and purposes it's just one of the most obvious examples of why Disney shouldn't fix what isn't broken!

[fanmoose12]

Hello would you mind writing vets as a music band? And that fans suspect the “normal” relationship of head vocal Levi and bassist Hange? Sorry if my english isn’t writing properly at all.

Mikasa invites him to a No Name concert.

And it's like- whatever, right? Who cares? Jean certainly doesn't.

So what if the girl of his dreams asks him out on a date? It's not like he has been daydreaming about it for the past two years. So what if she offers to see his favorite band in the whole world? He doesn't even like them much. Sure, he knows all their songs by heart but- he doesn't listen to them that often. Only twice or thrice each day. And it's not like his closet hides an insane amount of their merchandise. That is between Jean, his closet and his mother.

He isn't nervous, he doesn't care about the upcoming date. At all. Most certainly, he doesn't spend literal days, obsessing over his outfit. And he obviously doesn't pester Sasha and Connie with questions on how to style his hair.

Most importantly, he doesn't imagine how it would feel to hold Mikasa's hand or maybe even go for a hug or a kiss-

Jean tries not to think about it, his heart starts to beat to fast, when he does, but when he doesn't think about Mikasa, he starts thinking about No Name and the little, tinie tiny fact that he's going to see them in person. That he's going to meet them and maybe even shake their hand, because Mikasa being the gorgeous goddess she is, got them tickets with access to a backstage. It didn't require any kind of effort from her side, since the famed, spectacularly, dreamy Levi Ackerman is Mikasa's cousin, but- Jean doesn't remember sharing his No Name obsession with Mikasa, for obvious reasons - he doesn't want to think that he likes her just because she's Levi Ackerman's cousin, Mikasa is great not because she's an Ackerman, but because she's Mikasa, but- but Jean is so, so grateful that he'll have the chance to see No Name in all their glory.

Of course, he is not at all nervous about meeting his favorite band in person. No, no, he doesn't lose sleep over it, his palms don't turn clammy. Sometimes he feels like he'll combust from anticipation, but he's fine, completely fine.

He just can't wait until that fated day will come.

---

When that day rolls around at last, Jean is cool. He's cool, calm, serene.

His hand is greasy from all the times he touched his slicked back hair, and he can't stop tugging at the sleeves of his leather jacket, but- but he's cool.

The band that is currently playing isn't that bad - not nearly as talented and awesome, and hot as No Name, but still good. The crowd is bigger than Jean is comfortable with, but today it works in his favor because it prompts Mikasa to hold his hand. Maybe, he'll get that kiss after all. If he continues keeping his cool.

That proves to be just a little harder task when Mikasa announces that they reached the backstage.

Jean can't help it - he gawks around helplessly.

This is it, this is a place where miracles happen, where stars lounge and rest.

This is the place where he'll meet No Name.

Jean can't imagine how this meeting will transpire. Will they like him? Will they agree to make a photo? Will they give him an autograph? Will they think that he's a weirdo who is too obsessed with their music?

All of the above? None of the above?

Jean doesn't know.

There are so many things he wants to say. There are so many things he wants to ask - how can they play with those bandages on? How do they never trip during performances? What is their favorite song to play? What do they do in their free time? What is their favorite food? Are the rumors about Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoe-

Okay, no, he probably shouldn't ask that last question, no matter how much he wants to know the answer. And he wants to, so, so much.

The thing is- there are many rumors about No Name. It's not surprising, they are young, famous and extremely hot. These rumors usually exclude the drummer, Mike Zacharias, who is already engaged with a very pretty blonde lady, their stylist. Although, there are some fans who speculate that the engagement is not true, and Mike actually dates their producer, one Erwin Smith, but- Jean usually ignores that type of fans, branding them as freaks.

Now, as far as everyone is aware, nor Levi Ackerman, neither Hange Zoe are involved in any kind of romantic relationships, and that's- that's where the juicy stuff begins.

There aren't many rumors about Hange - some say she's involved with Pieck, the band's make-up artist. Or their manager, Moblit Berner. Or an indie artist, Onyakopon. But that's where the list ends.

Levi Ackerman, however, oh he has a far longer list of lovers. Petra Ral, for example, a rising pop-star - young, talented and so pretty that it hurts. Or Erwin, although on that subject rumors wary - some say that Erwin is the one who got Levi in showbiz, some say that Erwin is his sugar daddy, some say that they're already engaged and even married. The rumors are as varied as they're wrong, in Jean's opinion. Most rumors about Levi are like that. There are even talks about his involvement with Yeager brothers - with the front man of the rival band, Zeke, and Jean's and Mikasa's classmate, Eren. Jean doesn't understand where these rumors even come from, as far as he's aware, Levi hates them both. But- but rumors still exist.

As stupid as they are.

Now, Jean has a different opinion, one that he spends nights defending in chats and forums. Yes, Levi Ackerman has a lover. And no, it's not Petra Ral, Erwin Smith or any of the Yeager brothers. It's Hange Zoe, No Name's bassist.

There are many reasons why he thinks so. Firstly, they are always together. And by always, Jean means always. In photoshoots they stand side by side, during performances they lean against each other, on all kinds of photos - from after-parties to official events, they always touch each other in some way. And that's not all. They spend their vacations together, they hang out at movies, restaurants, museums, their respective instagrams are full of the other's candid photos. And it's a known fact that they share an apartment. Honestly, how much more obvious it can get? Also Jean is pretty sure that one of the songs written by Levi is about Hange, and he has an entire essay, explaining why he's right. He prays to every saint known that Mikasa will never find it. He doesn't want his almost girlfriend to find out just how invested he is in the romantic life of her famous cousin.

As they walk further and further into the magical territory of the backstage, Jean tries to think of something cool to say, something laid-back and easy like 'hey, what's up, guys? I've listened to the couple of your songs, you're not that bad...'

Yes, he decides. That's a good way to start. A cool way to start.

And Jean is cool. And calm.

And- oh my god, there they are, the three of them, already in their costumes, just without the signature bandages. They look even cooler in person. They look even hotter and-

Mikasa squeezes his hand.

"If my asshole cousin says something awful, I'll punch him in the face for you."

God, that is so sweet. So Mikasa. He wouldn't be opposed to anyone getting a punch from her except- her gorgeous cousin. His pretty face should be protected at all costs.

However, as they approach, the face that charmed millions transforms, turning into a quite nasty scowl.

"So that's him?" Levi Ackerman asks (Jean's sick brain, even in that moment, can't help but note that Hange Zoe is standing right behind her band member, a hand laying on his shoulder). "That's the guy you're going crazy about?"

"Yes," Mikasa answers, and suddenly the air grows stiff. "Do you have a problem with that?"

The lines around Levi's mouth harden, and Jean tries to focus on Hange Zoe, while his mind prepares for something not at all pretty, but- Hange is smiling - not smirking, smiling. That is a good sign, right?

"Don't mind the Ackermans," she stage whispers to Jean. "Levi was actually very excited about meeting you."

Right now it's hard to imagine that dark (and still so handsome) face in the expression of excitement, but. Hange knows him a lot more, right?

"Oh and by the way," she giggles, and at the back of his mind Jean wonders if that's how angels sound like. "I'm Hange."

He almost blurts out 'I know' but- that'd be creepy? Or not? He can't decide so settles on a simple nod.

"Jean," he says, taking the offered hand in his. With his hand that isn't holding Mikasa's (they're holding hands, wow!), he shakes Hange's. It's unexpectedly calloused. But still warm and gentle. Not as nice as Mikasa's but... somewhere very close.

"And that is the one and only Levi Ackerman," Hange continues, gesturing to the man in question. "He only looks so scary. But actually," she winks and lowers her voice. "He's the biggest softie you'll ever meet."

The biggest softie Jean has ever met, practically snarls, baring his teeth. But the hand on his shoulder tightens and he instantly relaxes, scoffing in annoyance. Oh, so that's who Hange Zoe is? The one who tames the beast?

"You're not as revolting as her other dates," Levi says. Jean is pretty sure that it was meant as a compliment. "But if you dare to-"

"Oi," Mikasa's face becomes as stormy as her cousin's. "He won't."

"And even if he does," Hange smiles, so handsome and a little scary. "Mikasa knows what to do."

Jean gulps. He has seen Mikasa train that one time. He was very impressed, and a little bit scared. Also a lot aroused.

He knows with ironclad certainty that should Mikasa kick him... his face may not survive it.

"Hange, Levi," a gruff voice behind them calls. Jean lifts his eyes, mouth opening in shock as he sees him in the flash - the third member of Non Name, Mike Zacharius himself. In person... he is even more enormous than on photos. His shoulders are twice as wide as Jean's, and next to Hange and Levi, he looks almost like a giant. "We're starting in five."

"Oh!" Hange covers her mouth with a palm. "I haven't checked my guitar yet. Let's hurry, shorty!"

Hange dashes away instantly, Levi sighs and trudges after her. Mikasa tugs at Jean's hand as well, whispering that they need to go to their places.

Jean nods, absentmindedly, because right in that moment, at the other side of the room he sees Hange and Levi exchange a playful, quick but undeniably a kiss.

Triumph courses through him, firing him up. He knew that he was right, those fuckers from twitter can eat his shit.

Hange Zoe and Levi Ackerman are truly dating.

He wants to know more, wants to ask Mikasa to spare the juicy details, but for now-

For now, Jean has to take care of his date as well.

He interlaces their fingers, and, keeping Hange's words in mind - Ackermans are not as scary as they look - he leans in to press a kiss to Mikasa's cheek and whispers,

"You look fantastic."

Ever so slightly, but Mikasa blushes. It's the best moment of the evening so far.

And, hopefully, there will be more of that.