#I also have ultimately decided I don’t have any real interest in the IDW comics

[youngerfrankenstein]

Now that I’ve seen four different Transformers cartoons I thought it might be fun to rank the mainstays.

It’s been an interesting (and frustrating) experience! I’ll probably watch CyberVerse at some point, and possibly 2015’s Robots in Disguise, so I might update at some future point.

As for the ranking of the shows themselves

[kacebox]

Shipping Just Sucks For Me

I’m going to share with you all here on Tumblr a little bit of frustration I have when it comes to enjoying whatever fictional dramas I do.  Be they TV shows or some film franchise, it always seems to be the same.

I didn’t know the term “shipping” even existed until about Summer 2004 when I started frequenting some L Word message boards.  It was a bit of internet language I wasn’t familiar with.  From there I was introduced to concepts like ship names, names based on whatever pairings, romantically or otherwise from some show or movie.  I remember an early favorite of mine was a friendship based one from TLW called AlShaDane, based on a trio of friends, Alice Pieszecki, Shane MacCutcheon, and Dana Fairbanks.  There was Dana/Lara and when that fell through, there was Alice/Dana aka Danish.

For TLW, the big one and the one that still persists to something else I was introduced to in 2004, FanFic was TiBette, Bette/Tina.  That was the first truly fierce, “ride or die” ship fandom I can recall and it’s still rather fierce.

Eventually I learned what I could of the terminology so I could apply it to my own fandom.  The L Word aka TLW was important in teaching me a lot of stuff I wasn’t familiar with, but also teaching something else important and that’s shipping disappointment, also fandom disappointment.

TLW prepared me to deal with a lot of bullshit I’ve noticed when it comes to the fandoms I represent.  Dana Fairbanks was my favorite character.  She had the most intriguing story overall as it concerned the main characters.  Naturally, she’s the one the writers decided to kill off in Season 3 while she was already in the middle of a gripping enough storyline involving herself, Alice, and Lara.  I had also become a fan of the Shane/Carmen pairing and of course that died at the end of Season 3.

I remember writing the first (and only successful) fanfic based on the trauma that I and some other fans had dealt with as a result of that season.  I’ve tried here and there to write some stuff since, but I’m fucking horrible at writing.

By the time TLW ended in 2009, it felt like a mercy killing and it would be a while before I was able to watch anything though I should point out I did watch FlashForward for the freak show effect of the plot.

2013 was when I finally started opening back up to watching any shows again, starting with Agents of SHIELD and The Blacklist.  Eventually I would catch up on some other shows I eventually became interested.  In 2015, Supergirl would burst on the scene and that show quickly went from curiosity to my favorite show, the reason why episodic TV was worth it.  I became a big fan of the Danvers sisters and how they dealt with the growing pains of Kara growing into being a superhero and the support and love from Alex who had always been there for her since Kara showed up at the Danvers’ doorstep.

Unfortunately, Supergirl had to deal with CBS during Season 1, but thankfully the show as able to move over to the CW where I figured things might open up.  I admit, my initial reaction to Maggie showing up had me at “Huh?”  Then I remembered, it probably wasn’t likely Maggie was gonna show up on Gotham and date the future Batwoman who herself has yet to appear on that show.

Then Season 2 came along and Alex and Maggie started interacting.  There was an instant chemistry to it.  Sanvers wasn’t like Olicity where I figured “Yeah I like it, but understand Oliver’s got that “destined loner” thing going against him (see: MacCutcheon, Shane).  Like I said, TLW prepared me for this shit.

Sure there’s Barry/Iris, but that’s cheating as OF COURSE they’re supposed to be together.  Then Sanvers happened.  Cue the Sigma song with Rita Ora, “Coming Home” and that first kiss.  It was Dana/Lara all over again for me.  I remember how that one ended.  Again, that show prepared me.

Yet still, here we are in 2017 and this amazing story with an amazing pairing of characters featuring actors with chemistry and empathy for the situation their characters are in yet we’re on the verge of the oil slick into the ravine, assuming it’s not there already.

Disappointment is disappointment and sure a good fanfic doesn’t hurt when it comes to distractions, but that can only get so far.  Heck at one point last year I attempted (and failed) to write some story where not only were Jessica Jones and Felicity Smoak were a couple, but Supergirl and Quake were also one, because just the idea of that impossible pairing was too good to pass up without at least giving it a shot.

Again though, it’s fanfic.  Anything may go there, but the writers of the official stuff still helm the controls.  Creative and the network dictate what they can with the official narrative and there’s not much we can do about it.  Based on my avatar as of this writing, it’s apparent that I’m a big Holtzbert fan as well, based on Jillian Holtzmann and Erin Gilbert from Ghostbusters (2016), my favorite of the Gb films.  Sadly, I don’t think that will ever be successfully addressed either in a sequel that might not ever happen to the comic adaptation that currently gets to form the narrative, courtesy of IDW Publishing.

Which brings me back to Sanvers.  Here’s what the current state of Supergirl has done to me.  Keep in mind, this is still my favorite show, but I’ve gone from watching the show as it airs to DVR’ing it for later to delaying watching it and the other shows I’m into.  I’m currently 2 weeks behind and this Monday it might be 3.  I’m still keeping up thanks to social media, but it sure does make me feel apprehensive about hitting Play.

Everything is veering towards an inevitable breakup and I’m none too pleased about this.  I get that Floriana Lima, who plays Maggie is up for checking out some other gigs while she can and that’s fine.  I get that Creative is more interested in teasing the Supercorp (Kara/Lena) fans while shoehorning Karamel (Kara/Mon-El) in even when they’re not together.

Don’t get me wrong Karamelers, I’m not anti-Karamel necessarily.  I think they’re good together.  It’s just not something I feel strongly about either way.  I love that Team Karamel is ride or die for their favorite couple.  I dig that.  I also dig Team Supercorp and they’re undying faith in a concept no doubt feel should be given a chance.  I know that feeling well.  Unfortunately, I also know what it’s like to be disappointed at such a chance not being taken.

I don’t like feeling strongly about ships.  Again, I learned from TLW that’s a quick access point to resentment toward strangers trying to write their narrative.  With the exception of some likes or whatnot on social media I’ve tried keeping all this in check, but I admit it’s getting harder to do that.  There’s this level of bile building up, a level that I haven’t felt since Losing the Light on March 12, 2006.  Trust me when I say I was not particularly pleasant that night.

If/when the big Sanvers breakup happens on Sg, I’ll likely find out about it before I get around to watching it and it’s still gonna suck. 

These people have lives.

These people have jobs to do.

These people are just trying to tell some story the best they can.

That’s me trying to remind myself to be rational.  That’s me trying to remind myself that ultimately this is fictional bullshit that should have no effect on my or anyone else’s life.

Then I remember how wrong I am.  Then I remember the families who shared their stories about how the Danvers sisters dynamic was huge for them, especially those with a birthed child and one adopted.  Then I remember the past year of reading just how powerful Alex’s coming out and the relationship with Maggie became instrumental in their lives.  I remember thinking to myself “Wow” when it came to others struggling to come out and struggling with acceptance, struggling with all of these real life issues that Chyler Leigh has been able to provide her acting prowess to as Alex and how meaningful the Alex/Maggie relationship became.

This wasn’t just some TiBette shit where people simply loved the chemistry in everything Jennifer Beals (Bette) and Laurel Holloman (Tina) brought to the table in making the rollercoaster ride of that relationship work on screen.  It wasn’t just about how natural they made it look, how organic it came off as.  Sanvers wasn’t just some crazy idea worth checking.  We weren’t interested in being baited.  We weren’t interested in Sg Creative declaring, “hey let’s try a lesbian thing on here and see how it goes.”  As the SEC football fans and marketing puts it, “it just means more.”  We had no interest in Sanvers being some kind of exploitation project to attract the GLAAD viewers.  For many of us it became personal, deeply personal.  I have a bad feeling that once all this plays out the way it’s apparently going to, that by the time they’re able to resolve it, it’s going to be too late.  When fans declare that “Sanvers is my endgame,” they’re not fucking kidding.  Something to understand about LGBTQ viewers, myself representing the “B” side to that.  We don’t like being dicked around.  We don’t have time for it.  We don’t have to be baited and we’re not interested in being thrown a damn scrap here and there. 

Whether Sg Creative meant it, they tapped into something that’s become meaningful for many of us.  For me it’s idealism mixed with some realism, which I realize is a bit crazy as it comes to a show about a flying white lady alien who among her superpowers is being able to do all that fighting and not get a single run in those tights.

Alex/Maggie is getting into Dana Fairbanks territory.  It’s getting into Losing the Light territory.  As much as creative has a right to tell their stories as best they can, I and other Sanvers supporters have a right to not be happy about it and be rather vocal about it.

I won’t allow for any ship to be my endgame. I just won’t.  That said, even with the now apprehensive viewing, there’s going to be that disappointment.  The previous decade, TLW made me realize that I was more of a fan for what the show could be than what it was.  Supergirl with all those powers and abilities is going to wind up being the same.  That just sucks.

Sanvers matters.  Sanvers fans should also matter.

[cbilluminati]

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they’re always glad you came.

That’s a really awesome reference that you should Google. No, don’t worry about it, I’ll drop a Youtube link. It’s time for yet another edition of Top o’ the Lot (or TotL pronounced “TOTAL” by the kids), Outright Geekery’s weekly listicle. This week’s countdown examines all the great bars, taverns, clubs, and dives from my favorite TV shows, movies, comics, and more. While Cheers may not have made the list, nothing beats that song. So, without further ado, we hit all (or most) major forms of media, make it a double, and everybody sing along, with Outright Geekery’s Top o’ the Lot: 15 Fictional Watering Holes.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mi0r0LpXo%5B/embedyt%5D

Honorable Mention: The One from Every RPG Ever

Including video games, table top games, and the occasional board game. You know the one: Where there’s always someone selling the exact stuff you need for the upcoming journey, the bartender is burly (probably a bastard), the bar maidens are hot and ready (and probably rogues), and (in too many cases) there always seems to be an NPC or PC ready for a team up.

This one is ridiculous in almost every single case. It’s cheap storytelling, hinges primarily on nostalgia, and none of that matters at all. Seeing the local Inn in video games like World of Warcraft or Elder Scrolls is often such a terrific feeling. It denotes discovery and familiarity in brilliant ways. But there’s way too many, so it gets a Honorable Mention.

15. The Bar with No Name

Ok, try to keep up. In the Marvel Comics Universe there is this bar…or maybe it’s a series of bars, where the badguys meet up for planning world domination, cementing their criminal networks, or celebrating good times (Kang’s birthday party was a true rager), and they do this in a place known only as The Bar with No Name.

This is the one that should be getting an Honorable Mention. What a cheap way around getting some bad guys talking. But it’s throwback, it’s subtle and dark, and some really cool things have started in these Bars with No Names…or whatever. And it’s comics. Comics get a pass.

14. Kadie’s Club Pecos

This is the bar from Sin City. A lot of things happened there. Dwight and Ava meetup, The Long Bad Night, Nancy’s Last Dance. What an amazing way to tell a story, and what a terrific scene.

Only hits this low on the list because so many others are just better. It should be on here, but 14 is as high is it’s getting. The dance is really good though…but NSFW.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yUWO2PFVF4%5B/embedyt%5D

13. Gaston’s Tavern

What a lovely little town. Too bad the only bar is run by this douchebag. But there’s no denying that Gaston’s Bar from Beauty and the Beast is THE happening place in that provincial little town. Everyone loves the owner too.

Gaston is the man, and he knows it. Why shouldn’t he run his very own tavern? But it’s that song! Although, a good tune can only carry you so far. And he’s such a jerk. Calm down, dude! Grab a drink, go lift some weights, and get with one of those other honeys. I mean, you own a bar. He should just move on.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJTqmpBnI0%5B/embedyt%5D

12. The Bada Bing

The Bada Bing is the fictional strip club owned by Silvio Dante, second hand to crime boss Tony Soprano, and it was a crazy place. Topless girls, alcohol, and gangsters 24 hours a day. The back room was a gentleman’s club, where New Jersey’s finest criminals ate sandwiches, played poker, and counted money.

The Bing makes the list because it was just a cool place. The setting worked to help define the backdrop of this series, and it was one of my favorites. I picture myself walking in, spreading around the cash to all the fine “ladies” dancing, and being invited to the back room for a late night poker game, which inevitably leads to Outright Geekery becoming a front for the mob, my wife’s fingers being cut off as a warning, and me ultimately floating in the Hudson River. Worth it!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lonfT9ITxhk%5B/embedyt%5D

11. Swerve’s

In IDW Publishing’s Transformers titles, there’s a story about a group of ragtag Cybertronians – loners, castoffs, shut-ins, socially inept etc. – who decide to leave Cybertron and search the galaxy for the fabled Knights of Cybertron. Things have not gone well. Despite that, however, one standout of this series in the context of this list is Swerve’s Bar. Swerve is a wise-cracking smartass of a guy, but he’s just looking to have a good time. And Swerve’s Bar is THE place to go on the spaceship The Lost Light should you have the need for some Energon Ale.

While Swerve’s doesn’t break into the top 10 o’ this Lot simply because it’s such a vague and relatively unknown bar, it makes the list overall because I just love these robots, their stories, and their relationships so damned much. I know, these are plastic toys from the 1980s. But their real to me.

10. Quark’s

Although it’s not the coolest bar from the Star Trek universe, Quark’s is easily the one that looks more like your traditional western frontier saloon, which is what Deep Space Nine was going for. Set right off the main hub in the promenade, Quark’s offered food, drink, fellowship, but most importantly it offered gambling and holosuites.

Having hookers and gaming was a real departure for the series as the Federation tended to frown on such things, but it added a sense of realism to the fell of the entire series. Real frontier stuff, unrestrained by the laws of the Federation. And the cast of regulars, including the ever-silent Morn, were fantastic additions. A great place that deserve to break the Top 10 in a list with so many great entries.

9. Club Rockit

Club Rockit was an actual, real-life place that writer Bryan Lee O’ Malley used to model the fictional punk rock venue in the wildly successful and fun Scott Pilgrim series of comics. It was described as cramped, ugly, and terrible by its creator, but we loved it for a lone reason: Sex Bob-Omb played there!

If you have a club in a comic book and there’s a cool band that plays there it’s going to be an awesome place. The club shows up in every instance of this license including comics, movies, and video games, and really just goes to show you how damned popular this series is. Sequel? I sure hope so!

8. The Leaky Cauldron

Founded by Daisy Dodderidge in 1500 to serve as a doorway between the non-magic Muggle World and the Wizarding World, The Leaky Cauldron is a pub and inn from the Harry Potter Universe. It was one of the first introductions readers and viewers had at what the new magical world we were stepping into truly had to offer.

Whimsy filled both the book and movie scenes that introduced The Leaky Cauldron, and it only got better from there. Beyond that, however, The Leaky Cauldron was a portal of sorts from the real to the imagined, a mainstay in scores of fantasy titles. Subtle and fun, it was a great anchor early on in the series and just neat in its own right.

7. The Prancing Pony

Another one from both famous books and popular movies, The Prancing Pony is in the village of Bree in Middle-Earth from The Lord of the Rings series of novels and films. This is where Frodo and his group meet up with the Ranger Strider in what became one of the most amazing adventures of all time.

More occurs at this inn and bar than just the meeting of Frodo and Strider, but it’s the most famous by far, and this meeting represents a ramp up in the adventure of the story. And it’s a terrific moment. Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf meet up here at one point, as well, but it’s just not mentioned as much. While the Honorable Mention spot in this Lot may be a stereotype, this is the inn that created it.

6. Moe’s Tavern

When you visit Springfield there’s only one place where the Everyman goes after a long, hard day of running the nuclear power plant. Moe’s Tavern. The cold Duff on tap, terrific music, fun regulars, and, of course, Moe, our lovable bartender. There may not be a more well known bar on this list.

A lot of people know about Moe’s because so many people have been forced to watch so many seasons of The Simpsons. I guess it deserves it – I haven’t watched since season 5 or 6 – but Moe’s is still very worthy of making this list.

5. The Hellfire Club

I’m not really quite sure if this entry even qualifies, as the Hellfire Club is more of a group of people than a building where people drink, but I don’t care. The perennial X-Men villain, the Hellfire Club is a fictional society bent on obtaining power, but they do often have an actual club.

Sometimes a bar isn’t about the where, but the who. The place is terrific, but The Hellfire Club is really made up of really interesting – and often very evil – characters. And those cool Chess piece nicknames? So cool!

4. The Iceberg Lounge

Barely missing the Top 3 is the relatively new aspect of DC Comics Gotham City, Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge. The iceberg shaped nightclub, conveniently located in Gotham Harbor, acts as a legitimate business front for the Penguin’s criminal dealings, and also works as a place for Batman to use his makeup kit.

My favorite parts of the Iceberg Lounge are when Batman disguises himself as a criminal, goes to the lounge incognito, all in an attempt to overhear some underworld information that may help him solve the next crime. And it’s just really cool to see it floating there on Gotham’s Skyline.

3. The Ink & Paint Club

Yes, breaking into the Top 3 is the nightclub run by cartoons from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Ink & Paint Club. In a world where toons are real, this nightclub takes the best parts of that animated world, puts them to wrok, and provides quality entertainment as well as superb nightclub services.

Opening on the Duck vs Duck piano duel, Jessica’s solo in the middle, and ending on that gorilla of a bouncer, the Ink & Paint Club not only left an impression on anyone who watched this movie, but it made viewers want to go there for a Saturday night of drinking, dancing, and drawing.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv24TJ8iXcs%5B/embedyt%5D

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy5THitqPBw%5B/embedyt%5D

2. Mos Eisley Cantina

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

But, man, they play such good music! Like many things in the Star Wars Universe, less was more when it came to this Outer Rim bar on the mudball that is Tatooine. Is was rightfully a dangerous place. Who goes to Tatooine if they aren’t in trouble and laying low? That’s a recipe for smugglers, pirates, and, yes, nerf-herders.

Again, less was more here. Lucas understood that an audience will fill in their own gaps, and usually an audience will fill it with better stuff than a writer ever could. So many alien races with absolutely no explanation whatsoever about who or what they are. It was perfect. Oh, and that house band is the best in the galaxy.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbYF6XpTYE%5B/embedyt%5D

1. 10 Forward

Wait! They put a bar in a Federation Starship? Yes, they did, and it was awesome! Deck 10 in the forward section of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D was just that: A bar. A place where weary Starfleet officers could relax, eat, fellowship, drink, listen to music, and otherwise have an awesome time. It was weird for a while. There’s a bar on a Federation starship? But it ended up working so well for so man reasons.

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The primary reason was the bartender, Guinan, played by acting legend Whoopi Goldberg. But all of the little things fell right into place over a very short period of time to make 10 Forward one of the most popular place in the entire galaxy. Sometimes there’s a hostage situation, some days it’s a birthday party. Other days there’s a funeral wake, yet others there’s an emergency baby delivery (thanks, Worf!), and still others see the entire crew trying to beat each other to a pulp. Business as usual on the Flagship of the Federation.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWaguilvSrY%5B/embedyt%5D

See a mistake? Disagree with the choices? Let us know!

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TotL – 15 Fictional Watering Holes

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they’re always glad you came. That’s a really awesome reference that you should Google.

TotL – 15 Fictional Watering Holes Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came. That's a really awesome reference that you should Google.

[outright-geekery]

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they’re always glad you came.

That’s a really awesome reference that you should Google. No, don’t worry about it, I’ll drop a Youtube link. It’s time for yet another edition of Top o’ the Lot (or TotL pronounced “TOTAL” by the kids), Outright Geekery’s weekly listicle. This week’s countdown examines all the great bars, taverns, clubs, and dives from my favorite TV shows, movies, comics, and more. While Cheers may not have made the list, nothing beats that song. So, without further ado, we hit all (or most) major forms of media, make it a double, and everybody sing along, with Outright Geekery’s Top o’ the Lot: 15 Fictional Watering Holes.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mi0r0LpXo%5B/embedyt%5D

Honorable Mention: The One from Every RPG Ever

Including video games, table top games, and the occasional board game. You know the one: Where there’s always someone selling the exact stuff you need for the upcoming journey, the bartender is burly (probably a bastard), the bar maidens are hot and ready (and probably rogues), and (in too many cases) there always seems to be an NPC or PC ready for a team up.

This one is ridiculous in almost every single case. It’s cheap storytelling, hinges primarily on nostalgia, and none of that matters at all. Seeing the local Inn in video games like World of Warcraft or Elder Scrolls is often such a terrific feeling. It denotes discovery and familiarity in brilliant ways. But there’s way too many, so it gets a Honorable Mention.

15. The Bar with No Name

Ok, try to keep up. In the Marvel Comics Universe there is this bar…or maybe it’s a series of bars, where the badguys meet up for planning world domination, cementing their criminal networks, or celebrating good times (Kang’s birthday party was a true rager), and they do this in a place known only as The Bar with No Name.

This is the one that should be getting an Honorable Mention. What a cheap way around getting some bad guys talking. But it’s throwback, it’s subtle and dark, and some really cool things have started in these Bars with No Names…or whatever. And it’s comics. Comics get a pass.

14. Kadie’s Club Pecos

This is the bar from Sin City. A lot of things happened there. Dwight and Ava meetup, The Long Bad Night, Nancy’s Last Dance. What an amazing way to tell a story, and what a terrific scene.

Only hits this low on the list because so many others are just better. It should be on here, but 14 is as high is it’s getting. The dance is really good though…but NSFW.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yUWO2PFVF4%5B/embedyt%5D

13. Gaston’s Tavern

What a lovely little town. Too bad the only bar is run by this douchebag. But there’s no denying that Gaston’s Bar from Beauty and the Beast is THE happening place in that provincial little town. Everyone loves the owner too.

Gaston is the man, and he knows it. Why shouldn’t he run his very own tavern? But it’s that song! Although, a good tune can only carry you so far. And he’s such a jerk. Calm down, dude! Grab a drink, go lift some weights, and get with one of those other honeys. I mean, you own a bar. He should just move on.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJTqmpBnI0%5B/embedyt%5D

12. The Bada Bing

The Bada Bing is the fictional strip club owned by Silvio Dante, second hand to crime boss Tony Soprano, and it was a crazy place. Topless girls, alcohol, and gangsters 24 hours a day. The back room was a gentleman’s club, where New Jersey’s finest criminals ate sandwiches, played poker, and counted money.

The Bing makes the list because it was just a cool place. The setting worked to help define the backdrop of this series, and it was one of my favorites. I picture myself walking in, spreading around the cash to all the fine “ladies” dancing, and being invited to the back room for a late night poker game, which inevitably leads to Outright Geekery becoming a front for the mob, my wife’s fingers being cut off as a warning, and me ultimately floating in the Hudson River. Worth it!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lonfT9ITxhk%5B/embedyt%5D

11. Swerve’s

In IDW Publishing’s Transformers titles, there’s a story about a group of ragtag Cybertronians – loners, castoffs, shut-ins, socially inept etc. – who decide to leave Cybertron and search the galaxy for the fabled Knights of Cybertron. Things have not gone well. Despite that, however, one standout of this series in the context of this list is Swerve’s Bar. Swerve is a wise-cracking smartass of a guy, but he’s just looking to have a good time. And Swerve’s Bar is THE place to go on the spaceship The Lost Light should you have the need for some Energon Ale.

While Swerve’s doesn’t break into the top 10 o’ this Lot simply because it’s such a vague and relatively unknown bar, it makes the list overall because I just love these robots, their stories, and their relationships so damned much. I know, these are plastic toys from the 1980s. But their real to me.

10. Quark’s

Although it’s not the coolest bar from the Star Trek universe, Quark’s is easily the one that looks more like your traditional western frontier saloon, which is what Deep Space Nine was going for. Set right off the main hub in the promenade, Quark’s offered food, drink, fellowship, but most importantly it offered gambling and holosuites.

Having hookers and gaming was a real departure for the series as the Federation tended to frown on such things, but it added a sense of realism to the fell of the entire series. Real frontier stuff, unrestrained by the laws of the Federation. And the cast of regulars, including the ever-silent Morn, were fantastic additions. A great place that deserve to break the Top 10 in a list with so many great entries.

9. Club Rockit

Club Rockit was an actual, real-life place that writer Bryan Lee O’ Malley used to model the fictional punk rock venue in the wildly successful and fun Scott Pilgrim series of comics. It was described as cramped, ugly, and terrible by its creator, but we loved it for a lone reason: Sex Bob-Omb played there!

If you have a club in a comic book and there’s a cool band that plays there it’s going to be an awesome place. The club shows up in every instance of this license including comics, movies, and video games, and really just goes to show you how damned popular this series is. Sequel? I sure hope so!

8. The Leaky Cauldron

Founded by Daisy Dodderidge in 1500 to serve as a doorway between the non-magic Muggle World and the Wizarding World, The Leaky Cauldron is a pub and inn from the Harry Potter Universe. It was one of the first introductions readers and viewers had at what the new magical world we were stepping into truly had to offer.

Whimsy filled both the book and movie scenes that introduced The Leaky Cauldron, and it only got better from there. Beyond that, however, The Leaky Cauldron was a portal of sorts from the real to the imagined, a mainstay in scores of fantasy titles. Subtle and fun, it was a great anchor early on in the series and just neat in its own right.

7. The Prancing Pony

Another one from both famous books and popular movies, The Prancing Pony is in the village of Bree in Middle-Earth from The Lord of the Rings series of novels and films. This is where Frodo and his group meet up with the Ranger Strider in what became one of the most amazing adventures of all time.

More occurs at this inn and bar than just the meeting of Frodo and Strider, but it’s the most famous by far, and this meeting represents a ramp up in the adventure of the story. And it’s a terrific moment. Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf meet up here at one point, as well, but it’s just not mentioned as much. While the Honorable Mention spot in this Lot may be a stereotype, this is the inn that created it.

6. Moe’s Tavern

When you visit Springfield there’s only one place where the Everyman goes after a long, hard day of running the nuclear power plant. Moe’s Tavern. The cold Duff on tap, terrific music, fun regulars, and, of course, Moe, our lovable bartender. There may not be a more well known bar on this list.

A lot of people know about Moe’s because so many people have been forced to watch so many seasons of The Simpsons. I guess it deserves it – I haven’t watched since season 5 or 6 – but Moe’s is still very worthy of making this list.

5. The Hellfire Club

I’m not really quite sure if this entry even qualifies, as the Hellfire Club is more of a group of people than a building where people drink, but I don’t care. The perennial X-Men villain, the Hellfire Club is a fictional society bent on obtaining power, but they do often have an actual club.

Sometimes a bar isn’t about the where, but the who. The place is terrific, but The Hellfire Club is really made up of really interesting – and often very evil – characters. And those cool Chess piece nicknames? So cool!

4. The Iceberg Lounge

Barely missing the Top 3 is the relatively new aspect of DC Comics Gotham City, Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge. The iceberg shaped nightclub, conveniently located in Gotham Harbor, acts as a legitimate business front for the Penguin’s criminal dealings, and also works as a place for Batman to use his makeup kit.

My favorite parts of the Iceberg Lounge are when Batman disguises himself as a criminal, goes to the lounge incognito, all in an attempt to overhear some underworld information that may help him solve the next crime. And it’s just really cool to see it floating there on Gotham’s Skyline.

3. The Ink & Paint Club

Yes, breaking into the Top 3 is the nightclub run by cartoons from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Ink & Paint Club. In a world where toons are real, this nightclub takes the best parts of that animated world, puts them to wrok, and provides quality entertainment as well as superb nightclub services.

Opening on the Duck vs Duck piano duel, Jessica’s solo in the middle, and ending on that gorilla of a bouncer, the Ink & Paint Club not only left an impression on anyone who watched this movie, but it made viewers want to go there for a Saturday night of drinking, dancing, and drawing.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv24TJ8iXcs%5B/embedyt%5D

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy5THitqPBw%5B/embedyt%5D

2. Mos Eisley Cantina

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

But, man, they play such good music! Like many things in the Star Wars Universe, less was more when it came to this Outer Rim bar on the mudball that is Tatooine. Is was rightfully a dangerous place. Who goes to Tatooine if they aren’t in trouble and laying low? That’s a recipe for smugglers, pirates, and, yes, nerf-herders.

Again, less was more here. Lucas understood that an audience will fill in their own gaps, and usually an audience will fill it with better stuff than a writer ever could. So many alien races with absolutely no explanation whatsoever about who or what they are. It was perfect. Oh, and that house band is the best in the galaxy.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbYF6XpTYE%5B/embedyt%5D

1. 10 Forward

Wait! They put a bar in a Federation Starship? Yes, they did, and it was awesome! Deck 10 in the forward section of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D was just that: A bar. A place where weary Starfleet officers could relax, eat, fellowship, drink, listen to music, and otherwise have an awesome time. It was weird for a while. There’s a bar on a Federation starship? But it ended up working so well for so man reasons.

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The primary reason was the bartender, Guinan, played by acting legend Whoopi Goldberg. But all of the little things fell right into place over a very short period of time to make 10 Forward one of the most popular place in the entire galaxy. Sometimes there’s a hostage situation, some days it’s a birthday party. Other days there’s a funeral wake, yet others there’s an emergency baby delivery (thanks, Worf!), and still others see the entire crew trying to beat each other to a pulp. Business as usual on the Flagship of the Federation.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWaguilvSrY%5B/embedyt%5D

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TotL – 15 Fictional Watering Holes Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came. That's a really awesome reference that you should Google.