#I did not miss spoilers abound on this site

[timbrrwolfe]

Ok so now that I've actually watched Glass Onion I have some thoughts

1: Rian Johnson (or maybe someone close to him) absolutely watches Twitch and even maybe some specific channels I'm aware of that play Among Us, Codenames and (to a lesser extent) Quiplash on the regular. 2: Goddamn I forgot how freely spoilers fly on tumblr. I really did try to scroll past them but I sure saw enough to plant the seed in my mind of the end of the mystery, at the very least. The movie was still plenty good, I just wish I had managed to not know it (maybe I'll have to set up some blacklists next time something gets big again).

[prettywarriors]

Ok ill bite whats the worst mg series

alright, whats the worst magical girl series in your opinion?

Thanks you two for letting me do some yelling. The obvious guess would likely be one of the recent edgelord shows right? Magical Girl Site or something similar? But nay I say, for while MGS and Day Break Illusion and such and what not generally tell you what to expect right away. Don't like super violence and suffering? Watch something else is the clear message from the get go. One of the bait and switch series then like Madoka or maybe Yuki Yuna? For what faults they may or may not have, at least these series do something and are interesting, even if you're not huge on what goes down in the series. A parody then? They range from affectionate to banned in New Zealand but regardless of quality and their feelings for MGs, it's a parody. It's a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously (plus they're usually short so you can just forget about them forever).

So what makes a series terrible then, I am sure you are asking. IMO? Setting expectations for an interesting and enjoyable series, and then dashing them to hell.

Come with me below the cut, as I talk about Key Princess Story: Kagihime Eternal Alice Rondo!

Spoilers abound so if you care about those for a 15 year old series, click away.

Background: Kagihime was a 4 volume manga that ran from 2004-2006 that was picked up for a 13 episode anime adaptation near the end of its run. The manga is created by a pair (Kaishaku) who you may know for making Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto. Kannazuki no Miko, and Steel Angel Kurumi, and the anime had a script written by the same writer (Mamiko Ikeda) for Tenshi Ni Narumon who also did some script writing for Princess Tutu and Seven of Seven. The anime also had 6 character music videos which are fairly simple but a nice addition to the series for the main girls. Discotek has been publishing the anime in the states in recent years, and the manga was brought over by *squints at book spine* Dr Master Publications.

The Premise: Girls transform and enter weird outside of reality spaces to fight each other with giant keys to take each other’s stories to create a third Alice In Wonderland story.

Well, an off-brand Alice story written by Alternate L. Takion, rather than Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson, that while the series uses all the aesthetic hallmarks of the tradition Alice, the little we see of the in universe Alice story is clearly different. Which is fine, at the end of the day, it’s still about someone who loves the Alice stories and wishes there was more, and even makes his own fanfiction version. His? Oh yeah, while the girls do all the fighting, the main character is Aruto, a teen boy who loves Alice, and for reasons we don’t know till late game, can enter the liminal spaces that the ‘Alice Users’ fight in. He chases a girl who looks like the Alice he sees in his story, who is named Arisu, and gets roped into this fanfic battle royale. He is also the older brother of the very needy Kirihara, who also ends up being and Alice User. As does Kirihara’s bff Kisa. To round out the group of enemies-turned-friends-who-will-work-together-to-collect-the-Eternal-Alice-without-having-to-fight-eachother group is a young genius researcher Kirika who wants to know more about Aruto’s connection that allows him to enter the spaces where the girls fight.

Then there’s all the other girls, some of whom still have real importance to the story and some who have a few panels or 2 scenes total. But with a whole bunch of girls to design, the creators reached out to a whole lot of other people to have them create designs! Eventually the battle gets down to the last few girls, there’s a confrontation with the guy running the whole thing, and while the anime and manga vary quite a bit the whole time, in both version Aruto ends up with Kirihara. Oh and Arisu was created by Aruto’s super imagination powers.  

The Promise: Here on is subjective, particularly with what I personally saw as potential from this series. because I need you to understand how much I want to like this series. 

~Alice in Wonderland themed: I know some people aren’t alice fans and that’s fine you do you but as a big alice fan this is great. We have a few alice episodes and themed characters amongst series like CCS and MGRP, and even Alice themes in other series like Tweeny Witches and Alice 19th. But damn it I am down for Alice series.

~Giant Keyyyyyyyys: Yeah yeah Kingdom Hearts but these keys are much more staff like for a lot of the characters which ads and air of elegance rather than the KH ones that for me at least feel well designed for big ol props rather than actual weapons. We also get...

~Weapon variety: It counts as a key if it’s a thorn whip that can be shaped like a key right? How about a giant pocket knife? Crossbows can also be keys. Hush. And we have this variety because

~Guest Artists: For magical girl series where we have a variety of outfits designed by different people, we have Kagihime, Uta~Kata, and uhh I guess Magia Record? But that’s a mobile game with a hella number of characters and with how mobile game works I wouldn’t count it just because it’s less the intent of the series to have variety and more the nature of having lots of girls. (Precure doesn’t count because unless I missed a memo each season’s set is still by one designer). If a series isn’t about a team and therefore doesn’t need cohesion, bringing in other artists is a great way for variety and new looks. 

~The long term goal: Fighting with other people who love the same piece of media you do in hopes of creating new material that will be viewed as official? That’s just fandom nowadays. But it’s a legitimate interesting concept, and opens up so many doors for a message for the series, be it ‘what you create is no less valuable than the canon work’ or ‘it’s hard to let go when something you love doesn’t have more to it but you can still love it for what it is’ or ‘bond with the people who like the thing you like ya idiot instead of fighting about it’. The concept is interesting and there are so many narrative ways you can take this.

~Gays: Between the anime and manga, we have at least 5 wlw. Is it a magical girl series without some gays? (side note- the manga had a short thing where the MC wears a girl’s uniform and is pretty comfortable in it and while there is no way this was the intent, between that and the emphasis on the stories that live in girls and how the fight zones have no men, I’m just saying, Trans girl Aruto.)

~Greater Fairy Tale Premise: We meet a Little Match Girl based MG who is obsessed with Andersen rather than the Alice books, and touch on a Sleeping Beauty character in the manga. The manga at least implies that classic stories and fairy tale authors uh. Live on in a liminal space as immortals with world warping powers within that world and there could be opportunities for other girls in the real world to fight for Little Mermaid 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The Good: Everything has positive points, no matter how bad it is.

~Character Designs: Some of those looks slap. As do most of their weapons. 

~Backgrounds: I have a strong opinion on backgrounds in anime that can be easily boiled down to old watercolor backgrounds good, modern filtered photos as background bad, and as a 2006 series, this might not be Memole nice but they’re quite attractive. 

~Splash Pages: Easily my favorite thing after the designs, each chapter’s title page for the manga just has a character standing in a setting. Which is not everyone’s thing I’m sure but it’s a nice simplistic way to let the characters breathe imo. Even if at least some of the settings were deffo traced. But that’s how backgrounds work to some extent? If I ever get to the Met again, I am tracking down this exact photo, but here is a likely candidate for an example.

~Different Versions: I do not understand the need to make an adaptation that tries to be a 1:1. Kagihime had the same ideas and characters and did some of the same beats but very much had a different finale story and a lot of changes in the middle (like the Alice cops in the manga). Again, not something everyone probably wants I’m sure, but I very appreciate this, especially since the Anime kept good pace with the number of Manga chapters (reading the manga again while watching the anime at 3.8x speed just now was very interesting to see the different interpretations of events in a different medium.)

The ‘Fine’: Yeah.

~Anime Visuals: Look 2006 was still early enough into digipaint that I will give it a total pass on these. The colors are too bright but in a very bland way, the lineart is nothing interesting, and the faces are. Iffy. But it’s not total garbage to look at (probably helped by backgrounds and character designs...) it just came out in an era where not enough people knew how to stylize things to account for the weakness of the tools of the time. (It was 4 years earlier but I feel Kagihime is the polar opposite of Chobits with its painfully bland color palette while still being just. Flat. Sorry for the drive by Chii.) 

~Music?: There sure were songs. Obviously, they are nothing to me.

The Bad: CW for.... somehow all the big things to an extent. 

~Fanservice: Look, I am fine with fanservice, especially for a series that’s, ya know, not targeted at kids, big Mai Hime fan here even if I would recommend skipping the panty thief episode. And honestly the series generally isn’t fanservicey, at least by the modern standards of having the camera choosing under the skirt rather than an over the shoulder shot like I’ve seen plenty in other shows. Even the sexier outfits like the rose whip dominatrix aren’t bad BUT. When the girls fight. One takes her phallic key and drives it into another girls chest between the boobs while the loser cries in pain and then her book comes out and when the victor rips out pages, the loser’s clothes also rip. It is very SuperS Amazon Trio assault metaphor-y. There’s also a bit of fanservice with the sister becauseeeee....

~Incest: If you read the premise up there, first wow good job because I’m sure not re-reading that, you might have noticed I said MC ends up with his sister. As someone who is a big mythology fan and watches plenty of anime, I have a decent tolerance for your obligatory ‘oh we’re siblings but actually cousins so our feelings are okay’ or whatever the fuck Citrus has going on I don’t know that series and I don’t vibe BUT. I have limits and boy did this series go beyond that because multiple episodes are dedicated to the sister being in love with the brother? And the brother returns her feelings but knows that they are wrong so he put everything he likes in his sister into his version of Alice who, of course, physically manifests as Arisu who he creates accidentally with his uh. Magic imagination powers. But again in both versions MC still ends up with his sister. Hey, at least the manga eventually said the boy was adopted when the sister was like, 3, so if nothing else no blood relations? The anime did not ad this. -_-

~Under Utilized Characters: Arisu’s gradual revelation that she has no childhood memories because she isn’t a real person is so interesting and they don’t do nothing with it but also? That’s the kind of thing I personally would love to dig into and Kagihime, while touching on this world shattering revelation, easily loops back to So Anyway She Should Fight For The Man and to hell with developing a life or personality outside of what has been written for her. The rest of the main 5 were 2 note characters which. Could be worse? The most interesting character ends up being the child genius who accidentally murdered her childhood bestie (and/or lover? depending on version) and her coming to terms with that (the friend is alive but the version changes how and why she thinks she’s dead). Then the villain has the motivation of ‘i lost my creativity and now have become an immortal living outside of normal space and am getting girls to fight each other because that’s like a story so I’m still relevant right?’. But shoutout to the anime for then taking death of the author literally. The numerous other girls are canon fodder outside of like. The manga version of the dead gf and the little match girl.

~Battle Royale: This is not a thing I have an issue with generally. Again, but Mai Hime fan, I need to read MGRP 11, BUT by not developing the non-main girls there is no emotional connection which makes them just canon fodder and that’s boring as sin for a royale system. The initial main character fights revolve so much around the MC guy being there that they fall flat, and the 2 or 3 final battles in both versions still feel without any stakes. Also for a royale thing most of the characters don’t actually die, which cool! Neat! Except when they do? Some nobodies and a somebody are murdered (at least in the manga) and the tone never feels like it’s supposed to be upping the stakes, it’s just. Some people are dead now. And do you want to guess which of the main characters died?

~Gays: Oh boy the best friend of the brother-complex sister is in love with her and (in the manga) dies. She does apparently get better for the last chapter but the death itself is only felt by the rest of the cast for a page or two before we go back to feeling sad big brother wants to kiss his mentally generated sister clone rather than his actual sister u_u. Bury your gays is nothing new, but I wonder if it was also intended to be justified because Guess Who Is Creepy and a bit Perverted? Oh look the lesbian keeps the used swimsuit of her beloved and manipulates events to get an indirect kiss and when she sees the sister trying to strange Arisu for a moment she decides to do it for the sister? It’s not good. You want bad gay rep in a magical girl series, well here ya go. We also had a nobody in the first(second?) episode whose story pages reveal her having a kiss with a girl, and then we also have the prodigy again and- in the manga- her. Uh. childhood lover who she thought she killed but the girl has been wiping her mind over and over so prodigy remembers ‘killing’ the friend and not the she’s alive so she can keep? fucking with her? Toxic!

~Sexual Content: But wait you say, you already covered fanservice! Ah but that is sexual content for titilation. This is sexual content for dramatic backstory! The red riding hood character was sexually assaulted, another character was manipulated into sex first as a teen and then more often to ‘get into the publishing industry’, and the same writer forces some aggressive kisses on the MC. None of it is gratuitous which is nice, but also, was it necessary? Not making a new point for this but read riding hood’s dog was also murdered so unnecessary animal death gets tossed on in there. 

~Male Lead: You can have a male, non magical character as the main character surrounded by magical girls. This is not how to do it. If I can make a vicious and hopefully not understood reference, Aruto is basically Tate from the Mai Hime Manga. If you understood that, I am so sorry. If you didn’t, congrats! Don’t read the manga. Or do and send me asks about the iconic final page of the first volume (18+). Anyway, this dude is boring, everything revolves around him, BUT I’ll be generous and say at least this isn’t a harem series? It looks like it out of context but it’s just a triangle with a fun attached scientist and token lesbian.

~Premise: They didn’t make good use of it. The initial goals of ‘take other girls pages from their soul books because if we get enough we unlock a third alice book’ is good! And then we add the twist that that was never going to happen and either if we get all the pages we can grant a wish, or these fights are just happening for the amusement of and asshole. Either way, yeah okay I guess. But at no point do we ever achieve this forbidden wish granting book and the asshole just. Lives. Nothing happens to him. His peers don’t even dunk on him. The only real changes from the beginning and the end of the series are: the siblings are now chill with dating, and the scientist lady won’t turn into a child in magical spaces. Oh. Yeah.

~Why did we make this adult a child sometimes?: I think we know why. Stop trying to get those types of folks to watch your already meh series. I also could have sworn at points in the past looking up images for this series I’ve seen extra art for Yuuri the Thumbelina-y Alice User that seemed like it would fit alongside anything by POP. You know, the Moetan guy. If you don’t know, god I wish that were me. 

Wrap Up: I have definitely forgotten some points and am well within my rights to ad to this whenever I remember more points but uh. Yeah.  

Listen you want an alice themed battle royale with nice outfits? Rozen maiden is right there. Battle Royale magical girl series that’s good with fanservice? Mai Hime. Series with different outfits while being based on a classic story? Pretear.

Hope anyone who read all of this at least got what I was saying, even if they don’t agree with it. And thanks for reading because whoops. 

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 5x05: Analysis

How did everyone like last night’s episode? Did I see any symbols or parallels? A few.

That sarcasm! Holy crap, there were some interesting things in this episode. We got some massive, MASSIVE hints at what's going on here and things are clicking into place all over the place for me. 

***As always, spoilers abound for FTWD 5x05. Don’t read past this point until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

This is the episode about what happened to Althea. At the beginning, we see her get hit in the head by the person in the helmet. It’s a woman who, to me, looks a lot like Jadis. She has the Heman haircut going on. At first, I was thinking the opening sequence reminded me a little bit of Alone. Because Al sort of hurt her leg and lost her boot.

And to be fair, we definitely had lost shoe/foot symbolism.

If this is leading to Beth, as I firmly believe it is, that does make sense. Especially because I believe the loss shoe/lost foot symbolism is a foreshadow of the death fake out. Beth seeing the shoe by the tracks in Inmates was a foreshadow of Beth’s arc. Having the military walker’s foot come off with Rick in 7x12 was a foreshadow of his. So, if this is leading to Beth, seeing that symbolism here makes sense. Plus, Al was a missing girl for time before her group found her again, which makes her something of a proxy to Beth.

But as I got into the episode more, it became clear to me that structurally, it's much more like 6x06, Always Accountable, than Alone. Think of it this way. In Always Accountable, Daryl was hit over the head and taken captive people he didn't know (Dwight and Sherry). Those people were part of a bigger group (the Savior's). Naturally, Daryl thought they were bad guys because they, you know, smacked him over the head and tied him up. As the episode progressed, they talked, got to know one another, and he soon realized they were basically decent people who were just doing the best they could. They even came to see eye to eye at one point. But by the end, Dwight and Sherry return to that oppressive group and they and Daryl parted ways.

Yeah, exact same thing happened here with Al. She was taken prisoner by a person who is a member of the helicopter group. And it’s obvious from what she says that they’re a fairly strict, oppressive group. (She says, “no one just walks away.”) 

At first, she and Al were naturally at odds but as the episode progressed, they had to rely on each other to survive and soon became friends. (Unlike Daryl and Dwight, Al and Isabelle even made at the end.) But in the end, helicopter chick—that’s Isabelle—returned to her helicopter group, and she and Al parted ways.

There was even a part where Al sees an opportunity to escape, grabs her bag and runs away, just like Daryl did in 6x06 and he grabbed the bag with his crossbow in it and ran. 

But just like him, Al ends it back with that same person who first attacked her.

So definitely a symbolic parallel to 6x06. In that light, it's kind of interesting because, if this group needs to Beth or this is where she is (and with each passing episode I’m more convinced of that), then all the Beth symbolism we saw in 6x06 was, in a way, a foreshadow of this.

Let's get more details. At one point, Al woke up in a car with her hands tied together (in front of her like Daryl’s were in 6x06). 

It gave me some serious 5x09 vibes. Parallels to the walker waking up in the front seat. 

We also saw example of that in 6×06 when Daryl found Patty 2 and there was a walker in the front seat.

Al escapes and eventually finds Isabelle’s helicopter. She gets in, picks up the radio, and the helicopter people answer her. Isabelle's call signal is Ground 17. I can't help but think of the missing 17 days after Coda. Perhaps this is a clue about that.

Probably the most shocking thing I heard in this episode is that when Isabelle grabbed the radio from Al, she answered the helicopter people. And guess what she said? She use the term KIA. Guys, that's freaking huge!

Remember, one of the lines on Morgan’s wall in Clear that we’ve always struggled to interpret was, “No KIA's on BEF.” People have theorized the KIA stood for, “killed in action,” but we couldn’t be sure. But that definitely seems to be what it meant here. I had to go back and listen to the dialogue again after first watching the episode to figure out what Isabelle said. It went very fast and was hard to interpret the first time.

It turns out, Isabelle killed the other person who was with her in the helicopter, a man named Beckett. She tells Al all about it later in the episode. And he, Becket, was the mission leader, rather than Isabelle. So, when she talks to the guy on the radio, he says, "Is this the lead?" Isabelle says “No, the lead is KIA.” In other words, killed in action. She then says they were non-hostiles, which I take to mean walkers rather than people who are hostile, and she also says there was a breach in protocol. These are all things that are revealed throughout the course of the episode.

We find out later that the “breach in protocol” is that Beckett tried to run. Tried to leave Isabelle and the helicopter operation behind. (Again, much like Dwight and Sherry ran away from Negan and the Saviors in S6). But again, “no one just walks away.” Any time there is a threat to the operational security of the helicopter people, that threat is taken out. Hence, Isabelle killed her partner.

The radio guy asks if the payload is secure and she says yes. We don’t really know what the payload is. She mentions the nuclear reactor site that the kids’ parents died at. I'm thinking they needed some sort of nuclear technology for what they're doing.

I just have to reiterate that the KIA is huge! We’ve literally been trying to figure that out for four years! On one hand, you could argue we can't prove it's about Beth. It was on Morgan's wall in Clear and it's Morgan who's in FTWD. But hey, at the very least, they've had this planned since Clear in S3. Anytime it becomes obvious that a plan has been in place that long, that’s good for us and for Beth’s arc.

Also keep in mind that other things on Morgan's wall have been successfully tied to Beth. Like ABIBEL and the sun.

Isabelle accepts Al’s help because she needs fuel for the helicopter. Gasoline has been a big theme, especially in 4a with the gas station. We've seen several gas stations over the seasons as well.

It's also worth mentioning that the cut on Al’s head where Isabelle hit her is in the exact same place that Beth was shot. And remember that Daryl had the same thing in 6x06. Another clue of what this whole thing parallels to.

Eventually, Isabelle talks to Al and tells her what happened. When her partner, Beckett saw the contaminated (radioactive) walkers at the nuclear plant, it frightened him and he tried to run away. (She used the phrase, “he cracked,” which reminded me of how Dawn described Captain Hansen at Grady.) 

This is when we got the info about no one leaving the helicopter group and protocol is just to kill anyone who tries.

To be honest, I was glad to hear that the helicopter people are a somewhat hostile group. That goes a long way to explaining why Rick never came back to Alexandria. It's not a group he can simply walk away from. I'm sure he's trying to get back, but for whatever reason, he hasn't been able to get away.

That said, what other major community did we see that did not allow people to leave? That would be Grady. People were taken there and held hostage. As Noah explained, they were simply never allowed to leave. Grady might have been a foreshadow of this community. Or, the tie may be more literal than that. I’ll explain.

Isabelle didn't give us a completely straight answer about what they're up to. She did talk about them purifying water, which is important. I'll come back to that in a minute. But something struck me when she sat by the fire with Al. She kept saying this operation (the helicopter people) was bigger than her, bigger than Al, bigger than just one person. 

It sounds like they think what they're doing will save humanity and end the apocalypse. That's why they're so exclusive and don't let anyone leave. There are too afraid of the operation being vulnerable and getting destroyed.

The thing about that is that it reminded me a lot of what Dawn said to Beth. I did theories about this back in the day, not long after S5 ended, in which I talked about how so much of what was said at Grady was left unexplained. The ward system was not explained in detail. Whatever Grady was doing was not explained. Many people think they were trying to cure the virus, and they may well have been, but they never came out and told us that.

But Dawn told Beth that being a part of Grady was the biggest, most important thing Beth would ever do. That never made sense to me. What was Dawn talking about? If they were trying to come up with a cure, then what Dawn said would make sense. But the show never told us that. It was very secretive about what was actually happening at Grady. Which was always simply more evidence to us that this arc remains unfinished.

I'm thinking more and more that the helicopter people must be either an outgrowth of Grady or connected to Grady in some way. This is where my TD brain starts making all kinds of connections. Whatever this helicopter group is doing, what if Grady was a part of it? Maybe Grady was in communication with this helicopter group and were conducting just one branch of the operation at the hospital. Maybe whatever this group is up to with the water purification is specifically what Dawn was referring to when she said told Beth how important it was

Furthermore, I couldn't help but think of her conversation with Beth about being rescued. She said they just had to keep things up until someone came for them. Beth then yelled at her that no one was coming. 

It's funny, because even among TD-ers, I've never heard anyone question why Dawn believed that. I’ve never questioned it myself. I suppose it just seemed plausible that there would be people who were in denial about the extent to which the world had ended. They naively believe there must be some functional community out there that will eventually come save them. It's ignorance and shortsightedness on their part, but it's also understandable.

But what if Dawn’s belief way more than that? Not quite as misguided as it seemed. What if she'd actually been in communication with this helicopter group and had some kind of agreement with them to come and get her and the people of Grady? Much like Jadis did. Maybe she was trading supplies with them. There's no way to know at this point unless we go back to Slabtown and look for signs of it, but I think it's a real possibility.

This could even explain why, after Beth was shot, no one other than Noah went with Rick’s group. Again, that seemed well-explained at the time. We could already tell they were fairly narrow-minded people, because they remained under terrible (rapey) conditions rather than escaping and surviving on their own, and of course they didn’t know Rick and Daryl’s group. And to be fair, our beloved TF came across as fairly rough people, especially after Rick killed Officer Lambson.

But again, maybe it was more than that. Maybe they knew they had a bigger operation to fall back on. Yes, I’m totally letting my imagination run away with me here, but I can’t help it. This episode and the connections to Beth’s arc made me so excited.

Then there’s the water purification Isabelle mentioned. @wdway figured out long ago that Beth =s water, and boy was she ever right! Talking specifically about water purification reminded me of a specific scene. The one just prior to Coda where Glenn, Rosita and Tara were trying to purify the water from the river. 

This is also the episode we see Tara with the yo-yo. I think that's important because I always assumed the yo-yo right before Coda was a foreshadow that Beth would survive. Yo-yos going down and coming back up is a type of resurrection symbolism. So, this water purification thing right before Coda could also be a foreshadow.

And if the if Beth is with the helicopter group and what they're doing has to do with water purification, that alone explains why the use water as such a heavy symbol for Beth. Because she will eventually be involved in this operation. It's also a foreshadow of where Beth will show up. That her eventual return will have something to do with water purification.

I’m telling you, my mind can just keep going. I was thinking this must pertain to Beth because the only other people involved in the water purification scene were Glenn, Tara, and Rosita. Glenn and Tara are now both deceased and Rosita is in Alexandria and we’ve never seen her connected to water purification after this S5 scene.

But that just made me think of the fire truck and the fact that they ran out of water. I’m wondering if there will be a situation where the world is out of water and other water is contaminated (we saw a foreshadow of this recently in S9 when Negan escaped and drank the water and it made him sick) and will have to go to this helicopter group in order to find clean water. Just feels like a great big foreshadow to me.

Either way, this has heavy connections between water and the helicopter group and it suggests even more so that Beth will be connected to this group.

There was even a part where Isabelle talked about how she hesitated, made a mistake, but still shot her friend Becket. At first, I was just thinking that many people have theorized that whoever shot Beth (because it obviously wasn’t Dawn) may have been aiming for Dawn and shooting Beth was actually an accident. This wasn’t exactly the same as what Isabelle was saying (she was saying that hesitating to shoot her friend was a mistake) but it just made me think about Grady and Beth getting shot. But once I started making connections to Dawn and Grady, I can’t help but wonder if that shooting happened because of something to do with “operational security.” I don’t know exactly what it would have been, but that was emphasized so much in this episode, I can’t help but be suspicious.

These were the biggest things I originally saw in this episode. Then, when the re-watch was on and I was putting together this analysis, something else occurred to me. I said earlier that Al and Isabelle make out at the end, right? Well, this was by no means a deep, abiding relationship. These two ladies spent exactly one day together before parting ways, so the kiss felt more whimsical than everything. And kind of desperate in an I-need-some-human-connection sort of way, because the world just sucks so much.

All that said, I DO think it’s supposed to be something of a parallel to Beth and Daryl’s relationship, albeit a small potatoes/less deep one.

The reason I think so is because of this scene. 

They spent the night in an elevated tent (to keep away from walkers on the ground). Look at the way they’re both sitting here. It’s almost exactly like how Beth and Daryl sat on the porch of the moonshine shack. 

And in this scene, Al says to Isabelle, “What I told you today? I’ve never told anybody that.”

How many times have we said that about Beth and Daryl? That he told her things he’d never told anyone else. Then there was the fact that they really connected and came to understand one another. Again, not with nearly as much depth or beauty as Beth and Daryl did, but the parallels are there.

And think about what I’ve already said. If this is a parallel to 6x06, with Al in Daryl’s role, then Isabelle would be Beth’s stand-in. And just as I’m sure at some point Al will run across the helicopter people again and find Isabelle there, so Daryl will run across the helicopter people and find Beth there. (Hinting at things are we, Ms. Kang? ;D)

Another thing we can compare this to? At the end, Al kept her word to Isabelle and didn’t tell Morgan and the others what she knew about the helicopter group. 

The other time we saw that was with Tara and Oceanside. When she returned to TF, she didn’t tell them about Oceanside, but of course she soon found a reason to do so and they visited Oceanside. The same will obviously happen here. And that could be one of the reasons for seeing so much Beth symbolism at Oceanside. It was a foreshadow of this, which may be where Beth actually is.

I’m mostly going to stop there. Don’t get me wrong, there were other small symbols that we could pick out. 

Isabelle had Beckett’s key (Key Theory) to a cabin (Cabin theory). We didn't see this cabin, only heard it spoken of, so it was purely symbolic. 

There was a big H spray painted on the ground at the fuel drop. I just made me remember how there was an H emphasized this past season because the woman from Hilltop made the H coins. 

Isabelle and Al also shared a beer. Obviously, we always connect anything to do with alcohol back to Beth. 

Al makes a comment about how she doesn’t “stay in the car” and that policy has saved her life. Feels like a reference to Beth being left in a car. At one point, Isabelle says they have to walk but they’re ten clicks out. Plus in the very top picture I put in my post where she says the nuclear plant is 10 miles away. Maybe references to S10? So, I noticed lots of things like that, but they’re things I’ve said dozens of times over dozens of episodes.

Overall, the comparisons to Grady and 6x06 were the big ones. And the KIA, of course. I'm more convinced than ever that this group will lead to Beth. We're getting there, slowly but surely. If Beth did end up back at Grady after being left behind, and the helicopter people are connected to Grady, both of which we have pretty good evidence of, chances are good Beth is still with the helicopter people.

What did everyone else think of this episode?

[nearmidnightannex]

little black movies 2019: Fast Color

No, not trying to revive the series on how these movies do financially. (Which is good, because this would be a terrible one to start with.) Just noting that it was finally and very briefly out, and a couple of things about it, and its promotion (or criminal lack thereof).

“Fast Color” stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ruth, a woman who has been on the run and in hiding for a while. You think she’s been hiding because she’s being chased by a nebulous someone, but it turns out that’s not the whole story. She’s also been hiding to protect her family from what she can do, but winds up being forced to turn back to them out of desperation.

That aspect of the film is a bit ... problematic, in ways. There’s really only one “action” scene in the entire film. (In a superhero movie, yes.)  Just before that -- before she knows who her pursuers are -- she’s unintentionally told them where she’s going. Now ... having done that, and knowing that you did that, wouldn’t you want to lead them away from your (theoretically) vulnerable family? But not only does she go home, she doesn’t tell her mother (played by Lorraine Toussaint) that she IS being pursued, or how close it was, until quite late.

That, however, is a quibble. The core of the film is about this family rediscovering each other and their abilities -- the mother/grandmother Bo, her daughter Ruth, and Ruth’s daughter Lila (played by Saniyya Sidney, in a performance that is not at all cute or precocious and which feels very true to her age and a child that’s been forced to live her life essentially in hiding in the middle of nowhere). The story is very deliberately paced, for all that the entire film is only about 97 minutes long. Wound around that, we watch Ruth’s pursuers getting closer, and David Straithairn’s sheriff doing a parallel investigation -- because the government has taken control of his evidence and shut him out. The story is presented in such a way that at first, you’re not sure if he’s a good guy or if he’s helping the government, but it’s also presented in such a way that well before the truth comes out, you can figure out who he is and what he is to this family. (The scene where he tells the truth is simultaneously a “Well, DUH!” and a “Not now you idiot!” moment.)

I have are one quibble and one major criticism. The quibble is that the film doesn’t build out its world at all, only gives tiny sketches. For example, there has apparently been a world-wide drought for the past eight years. Water is notably expensive -- how, in central New Mexico, there’s any water at all after eight years is an intriguing question. They have breakfast cereal, without milk because ... well, we don’t know, exactly. My guess is that eight years of drought pretty much killed off the meat and dairy industry of the world, but we’re never explicitly told that. Also, how is there grain for breakfast cereal?

The actual criticism I have is that it doesn’t -- quite -- stick the landing at the end. Without major spoilers, I’ll say that something is revealed which makes absolute sense given what we’ve seen to that point ... and which means that the government would never EVER allow things to turn out the way that they do. It’s ... not a happy ending, precisely (not at all) but it’s a better ending than they would ever be allowed to have. That said ... given that the ending is what it is, I kind of want to know what would happen next. How would things turn out given that ending? A piece of information is revealed that changes something that Ruth told her daughter earlier; what can anyone do with that? But, alas, the film ends there.

The film was given an extremely limited release on April 22 (a month later than initially planned). It had, quite literally, NO publicity that I know of. No trailers in theaters. No ads on television. Not even the ads on the train station boards that I saw for Proud Mary and Superfly. The idea, allegedly, was that the distributors would see how well it did with word-of-mouth and decide on a strategy from there. The problem with that, of course, is that you have to let people know something exists before they know if they want to see it. I only went because I was in the mood to be out at a movie, and when I looked at the listings for the local googlplex, there it was. And I only knew what it was because I saw a little bit of publicity for it last year, when it debuted at SXSW, and one article in EW this year:  Gugu Mbatha-Raw is a different kind of superhero in trailer for Fast Color (ew.com)

In Fast Color (out March 29), Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Ruth, a woman who went on the run when her superhuman abilities were discovered. Now, years after abandoning her family, the only place she has left to hide is the farmhouse where she grew up.

Fast Color is directed by Julia Hart (Miss Stevens) and written by Hart and her film producer husband Jordan Horowitz (La La Land).

“My husband and I came up with the idea for the movie when we became parents,” says Hart. “I just felt this superhuman strength that I had never felt before when I became a mother. So, the idea for the movie came from this notion that mothers are superheroes. I realized that I’d never seen a movie where there was actually a superhero who was a mother. That was the origin of it, about these three generations of women — a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter — using their relationship with each other to understand, and accept, and use their powers.”…

Fast Color hit the festival circuit at SXSW last year, and then seemed to vanish. It didn’t seem to have gotten a distributor, or landed on a streaming service, or anything. Then suddenly, there it was, with no notice. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, Fast Color was released into a whole 27 theaters initially. With no publicity, it basically sank like a stone. The film appears to have grossed $88 per theater showing in its most recent daily update. It looks to be headed to be the first of the Little Black Movies tracked here that is going to be an outright financial failure -- and considering that it seems to have had a wee tiny production budget to start with (and, clearly, no promotions budget at all), that’s saying something. According to rottentomatoes.com, it did well enough with the critics, and very well with the few audience members who reported on it. That just wasn’t enough.

Sad thing is, I do think people would have gone to see it, and mostly enjoyed it. Had they only known it existed.

[Complete side note: I’d have sworn that I wrote something about this film when it appeared at SXSW in 2018, but it’s not showing up when I do a search. A couple of items have disappeared that way, in fact -- not in the “Content Appeal” wormhole, but just disappeared altogether. Can’t be found with the Tumblr search engine -- well, nothing useful ever can be, really -- or with Google, which for some reason will not crawl this site properly. So much weirdness abounds with this place...]

[drarry-lover]

OH MY WORD! Guys! I managed to reach 5000 followers! Like seriously, that is amazing, oh my word, thank you all so much for following this little blog, you’re all so great!! ^^

I really want to do something to show you guys how honoured I feel, but I am rather poor and I lack any talents. Will you guys accept a rec-list of my all time favourite fics in a reblog-able format?

Rec will be in the cut below if anyone is interested in it, otherwise you’re all so amazing, please stay you and thank you so much!

Adrift by Cheryl Dyson 

This was supposed to be a swashbuckling pirate story. It sort of took a turn into Whaaaaa? but it's now my favorite, so I guess it's not all bad... Anyway, Auror Harry takes a vacation and runs into Pirate Draco. This fic contains MATURE content. (One-shot | 14k | M)

​All Our Secrets Laid Bare by firethesound 

Over the six years Draco Malfoy has been an Auror, four of his partners have turned up dead. Harry Potter is assigned as his newest partner to investigate just what is going on. (Multi-chapter | 140k | Explicit)

An Issue of Consequence by faithwood

Draco has woken up in an alternate universe. Or he has woken up utterly insane. Nothing else can possibly explain why Harry Potter suddenly seems to think he’s Draco’s boyfriend. An eight year fic. Post-DH. EWE. HPDM. SLASH. Mature content. (Multi-chapter | 21k | M)

A Slytherin in Gryffindor Clothing by mahaliem

Draco hits his head and wakes up in a world where he's a Gryffindor and Harry is a Slytherin. (Multi-chapter | 43k | M)

Azoth by zeitgeistic (faire_weather)

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care. (Multi-chapter | 88k | Explicit)

Bitter Honey, Green Night by faithwood

 An inn, an Auror, a criminal, a mystery. (One-shot | 14k | Explicit)

Black Truth by InferiorBeing

And, with bated breath, Draco traced the silver line down one more step in the family tree. Draco Lucius Malfoy... the third full blooded Veriae in the Malfoy family... and future life mate of Harry Potter. HD SLASH No HBP spoilers (Multi-chapter | 100k | T)

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by lettered

 Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks. (One-shot | 54k | Explicit)

Chaos Theory by Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley)

Chaos: when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. One gene varies, one neuron fires, one butterfly flaps its wings, and Draco Malfoy's life is completely different. Draco has always found a certain comfort in chaos. Perhaps he shouldn't. (Multi-chapter | 102k | Explicit)

Checkmate by Naadi

Draco has a plan to get Harry Potter, and challenges him to a game of Dare Chess. But is it love, or betrayal, he has in mind? A real game of chess is played throughout the story. A seventh year story based on canon through Goblet of Fire. (Multi-chapter | 250k | T)

Dismantle Repair by shamrocker531

How a random meeting in a coffee shop can change everything. Non-magical. Draco/Harry, some Draco/Cedric, Harry/Oliver - Warning: Explicit sexual content. (Multi-chapter | 160k | M)

Draco the Cowardly Lion by Lomonaaeren

When Draco is Sorted into Gryffindor, everything changes. For the, uh, for the better? (One-shot | 5k | Teen and up)

Eclipse by Mijan

Draco swore revenge on Harry for Lucius's imprisonment, and for once, he keeps his promise. The old rivalry turns deadly when Draco abducts Harry for Voldemort. But when Draco’s world turns upside down, the fight to save himself and Harry begins. (Multi-chapter | 309k | T)

The Fall of the Veils by lettered 

This is the fic where Muggles find out about wizards, wars are fought, Apparition is abolished, political conspiracies abound, Draco is asexual, and Harry has Legilimency sex with him. (One-shot | 60k | Mature)

Freudian Slip by jennavere 

Two years after graduating from Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy is still obsessed with Harry Potter. Fed up, his father makes him get therapy. (One-shot | 10k | M)

Friend Like Me by LadyVaderWrites

Draco's rendition of the Love story that never was. (One-shot | 11k | M)

Gilded Soul by Digitallace 

It’s one thing to hear about the daring tales of Harry Potter but quite another to be living in the middle of one. But the danger Draco is destined for seems trivial once he finds himself falling in love with Harry. (Multi-chapter | 94k | M)

Greenhouse Lessons by Cheryl Dyson

Harry and Draco have detention in Hogwarts greenhouse. Dangerous plantlife and several varieties of euphoria ensue. It was complete, but I continued it... This fic contains MATURE adult content. (Multi-chapter | 14k | M)

Gumption by Roozette

In which there are biscuits, poisonous snakes, nefarious ploys, and, oh yes, Harry is slightly mental and the heir of Gryffindor. (Multi-chapter | 6k | M)

Harbinger by Copper Vixen

Harry is a demon with a mission. His assignment? To locate and retrieve his target before he runs out of time or irreparable damage is done to the mortal plane. (Multi-chapter | 96k | T)

Harry Potter and the Children of the Future by Ahja Reyn

In Harry's 7th year, children from the future suddenly appear at Hogwarts and one of them claims to be Harry's son. Problem is, Harry isn't the only father...DMHP [NO male preg] (Multi-chapter | 83k | M)

Here’s The Pencil, Make It Work by ignatiustrout

Harry thinks "Why is Malfoy working in a coffee shop in muggle London?" is a much simpler question than, "Are you going to accept that auror offer and, if you don't, what will you do?" (One-shot | 49k | Mature)

High Priced by Cheryl Dyson

I referred to this as My Stupid Veela Fic until I decided it was fairly good. Harry is a Veela, for a change, since I was tired of Draco!Veela stories. This fic contains MATURE adult content. (One-shot | 17k | M)

How Potter Turned Malfoy Gay by Galadriell

The whole truth and nothing but the truth. And a bit of weirdness. (Multi-chapter | 36k | M)

I’m a Slave For You by BecauseIHurtSo

After being sold into Ministry enforced slavery to one Mr. Harry Potter, Draco is simply trying to find his lot in life. (One-shot | 6k | M)

In Pieces by Cheryl Dyson

Harry returns to Hogwarts as the new DADA instructor, only to find his teaching efforts thwarted by a very familiar ghost. This fic contains mature content and the necessity of one of our boys not being alive. Exactly. *grin* (Multi-chapter | 87k | M)

In the Company of a Rubber Duck by Anonymous

War makes for strange bedfellows. However that doesn't fully explain how Harry ended up sharing his bath with Draco Malfoy... nor why Malfoy was a rubber duck at the time. (One-shot | 34k | Explicit)

In Which Draco Malfoy Treats His Classmates To Bad Poetry Over Breakfast by giggly!RurouniHime

How does Draco love thee? Let him count the ways… (One-shot | 0-1 000 | G)

Letters by Galadriell

Harry inadvertently becomes penpals with Draco. Here are the letters! Harry/Draco slash. Chapter 17 contains the full story: edited, updated and with more letters. So read that instead of the first 16 chapters! COMPLETE! (Multi-chapter | 51k | M)

The Mistletoe Incident by Naadi

A story in limerick verse. HxD slash. Draco commandeers the mistletoe and Harry sets out to put a stop to it. (One-shot | 500 | T)

Must Love Quidditch by dracosoftie

Through a series of emails from an online dating site, Harry thinks he's found his perfect match. Will the bond they've forged survive after their identities are revealed? H/D. Warnings for slash, language and explicit sexual content. (Multi-chapter | 107k | M)

Nevar by Aoiika

AU. Lily and James are murdered, leaving behind their seven-year-old son. The little black bird has a hard time fighting his way through life on his own. Especially when he's found by a darkness that has followed him, and swallows him whole. HP/DM. Violence and serious abuse later on. Slow romance. (Multi-chapter | 127k | M)

Obliviation by Cheryl Dyson

When Harry decides to quit Auror Training in order to care for young Teddy over the summer, he has quite enough to worry about without Pansy Parkinson dumping a mute Draco Malfoy on his doorstep. (Multi-chapter | 27k | M)

On a Clear Day by Sara’s Girl

Draco Malfoy is waiting for his real life to begin, and it appears that he's not the only one. Coffee, charity, and the wisdom of the elderly. HPDM. Oneshot of epic proportions. (One-shot | 43k | M)

Order of Merlin by Cheryl Dyson

Draco is sent to retrieve an out-of-control Harry Potter from a local nightclub. Written for Alaana-Fair's birthday on Livejournal. MATURE ADULT CONTENT, ETC. (Muti-chapter | 13k | M)

Paradigm by Cheryl Dyson

In my quest to conquer all possible Harry/Draco cliches, I present my Rentboy!Draco fic. *evil smirk* Harry is an Auror and Draco is a Rentboy. This is not a typical rentboy story. (Muti-chapter | 59k | M)

Phantom Orchid by Cheryl Dyson

Auror Potter goes to Seattle in search of a smuggler and discovers a very familiar person in a quite unfamiliar setting. Is Draco Malfoy really who he is pretending to be? (Multi-chapter | 22k | M)

The Pure and Simple Truth by lettered

Harry, Draco, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, and Pansy go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Pansy, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, and Pansy―you guessed it―go to a pub. I could go on. In fact, I did. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Ron, Blaise, Luna, Goyle, Neville, and Theodore Nott go to a pub. In various combinations. (Multi-chapter | 65k | General audience)

Renaissance by Cheryl Dyson

Harry awakens after a long sleep to find things terribly changed. He's not in an alternate universe... it just seems like it. (Multi-chapter | 34k | M)

Starts With a Spin by Maxine

It started with the spin of a bottle, and now Harry and Draco have gotten themselves so far into their own game there's almost no way out again. Except to keep playing. (Multi-chapter | 129k | X)

Sealed with a Kiss by faithwood

Harry Potter will fall in love with the first person who kisses him. Draco knows what he must do. A Christmassy Hogwarts kissy fic, this. An eight year fic. Post-DH. EWE. HPDM. SLASH. HUMOR. COMPLETE. (One-shot | 48k | M)

Second Chance by DreamingInColour

Of all the possible ways he could die Draco never would have thought a single olive would lead to his demise. But when he is offered a second chance at life he eagerly accepts. Too bad his second chance comes with an unexpected condition. (Multi-chapter | 17k | M)

Secrets by Vorabiza

Beginning with Draco's unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry's summer becomes filled with activity and many secrets. He generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side. H/D post-HBP (Multi-chapter | 411k | X)

The Slytherin Gryffindor by Cheryl Dyson

This is my response to JKR's horrific epilogue. It's a dual novel with one part Albus Scorpius and one part HarryDraco. Deathly Hallows compliant! The Slytherin Hufflepuff is the Albus Scorpius portion. This fic contains MATURE adult content. (Multi-chapter | 40k | M)

Sparkle Sparkle Princesses by Cheryl Dyson

One of Draco's random pranks gets out of hand and creates a roomful of pretty princesses. Crackfic FTW! OMG it's only PG13! *gasp* (One-shot | 2k | T)

Stigmata by InferiorBeing

Harry isn't the Dark Lord, so he cannot be with a Death Eater's son. This is the first time the BoyWhoLived ever asked for something and he cannot have it. So he takes matters into his own hands. Post HBP! Evil!Harry, Dark!Draco (Multi-chapter | 47k | T)

Storm in a Teacup by faithwood

For reasons he'd rather not think about, Draco is obsessed with Potter's hair. This cannot end well. (One-shot | 8k | M)

Synthetic Bonds by mypetelephant

Harry has always been the golden boy of Malfoy Corporation, earning the respect of Lucius and the resentment of his high school rival, Draco. But Lucius has a business proposal that involves Harry becoming a Malfoy..by marrying Draco. Non-magic AU (Multi-chapter | 125k | M)

​Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop

It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always. At first, though, the time loop seems liberating. For the first time in his life, he can do anything, say anything, be anything, without consequence. But the more Draco repeats the day, the more he realises the uncomfortable truth: he's falling head over heels for the speccy git. And suddenly, the time loop feels like a trap. For how can he ever get Harry to love him back when time is, quite literally, against him? (Multi-chapter | 70k | Explicit)

That Which Divides Us by oldenuf2nobetter

Three years after what would have been their seventh year at Hogwarts, the war between the forces of light and Voldemort's minions grinds on. But even within the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix there are vast disagreements over what is good for 'the Chosen One' and his volatile relationship with Draco Malfoy has many on edge. Sometimes even the best intentions can reap disaster. (Multi-chapter | 126k | Explicit)

Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain by faithwood

It always rains for Draco Malfoy. Metaphorically. And literally. Ever since he had accidentally Conjured a cloud. A cloud that's ever so cross. SLASH. HPDM. Humour. Metaphorical angst. Hufflepuffs. A peacock. An eight year fic. Post-DH. EWE. (One-shot | 22k | M)

This Side of Me by cherrycola69

Saving his mortal enemy in a moment of insanity Draco is suddenly labelled a hero. Floundering in a new life and hiding from Death Eaters with Harry he finds that his allegiance isn’t the only thing that’s changed. (Multi-chapter | 56k | M)

Tick Tock by fireflavored

Draco Malfoy is in serious danger of becoming an old maid. (One-shot | 11k | NC-17)

Turn by Sara’s Girl

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently. Epilogue compliant/AU. HPDM slash but some canon het along the way. Please trust me - I promise the epilogue will not bite you. (Multi-chapter | 321k | M)

Twist of Fate by Oakstone730

Draco asks Harry to help him beat the Imperius curse during 4th year. The lessons turn into more than either expected. A story of redemption and forgiveness. Pairings: HP/DM (Slash) Timeframe: 1994-2002 Goblet to 4 yrs post-DH EWE Rating T for language, high angst, content. (Multi-chapter | 302k | Teen and up)

The Undeserved Hardships of Draco Malfoy by Bullied

It was all an accident, helping that annoying Potter! But now the wizard extraordinaire, Draco Malfoy, is in a bind. He’ll need all of his intelligence, his wits, his looks and his sneers just to make it through Hogwarts! (Multi-chapter | 88k | T)

Valentine’s Day Repeated by bananacosmicgirl

It’s not a happy Valentine’s Day for Draco. Then again, he might get a chance to do it over… (Multi-chapter | 18k | T)

Want by Cheryl Dyson

Draco seeks out Harry in order to assist his family. And then he has second thoughts. This fic contains MATURE adult content. And Harry on a motorcycle. GUH. (One-shot | 4k | M)

We Are Young (I’ll Carry You Home Tonight) by Femme (femmequixotic)

Harry and Draco have been falling into bed on and off again since the last election five years ago, much to the amusement--and financial gain--of their circle of friends. But when Harry agrees to work with Draco to put Kingsley Shacklebolt into the Minister's office, they can't work side-by-side again every day and sleep together; that would be courting disaster. Wouldn't it? (One-shot | 68k | Explicit)

The Way Down by lettered

Malfoy’s all, “Come out of there,” the way you say to a cat who is badly behaved. And Harry’s all like, “No, what, I’m a hermit! And I have a chest-monster! And I am crazy magically powerful!” and Malfoy’s all, “We all have problems, bub.” (thoughtfully) “You are crazy though. I’ll give you that.” (Multi-chapter | 70k | M?)

We, The Kings by MissPronounced

A medieval tale of ancient prophecies, chivalrous duelling and a forbidden love between a Slytherin Prince and a lowly knight. Eventual Harry/Draco. (Multi-chapter | 191k | M)

[mceproductions]

October 2018 Blurbs

10/1/18 31 Nights of Halloween, Freeforms inheritence from its previous incarnations, other than the mandated 700 Club. The month between seasons, otherwise known as candy city. Stockholm Syndrome from Willies departure may be setting in as we had a large truck and only 4 of us to do it. I shouldnt be missing his prescence but somehow i am. Remedy is needed soon. 10/2/18 Im A Christmas Guy, love giving gifts out and decorating. Have done so annually for 16 years and it always starts within the first few days of October as i unblock my Holiday themed movie and TV Shows on digital. Looking forward to the next few weeks especially. Brewers NLDS starts Thursday! 10/3/18 The old tutalige of when it rains it pours, reared its ugly head. Flat by Old El Rancho. That really screws things up for me. Hoping for Miracle. 10/4/18 Well, day minus the Brewers coming back, was a bust. Tire was flat. Hoping I can get it either possibly fixed or a cheap replacement. Wondering how ill get to the store tomorrow. 10/5/18 Apparently massive flu spreading around as Mom picked up whatever Dad was sick with. Ended up replacing tire, but with brand new one. Hopeful not mistake. Also affected things at WallyWorld as Linda and Tyler were feeling cruddy. Hopeful I dont get it. Brewers win and truck got fixed. Still undecided on Venom or Gaga for movie on Saturday. 10/6/18 Ended up going with Gaga and was pleasently stunned by both her and Bradley Cooper. Movie was wonderful and that ending was rough, picked up soundtrack to boot. Sort of took longer than I anticipated coming back from EC thanks to BlueGolds Homecoming. Boy colleges take that far more seriously than High School. Panera for dinner was a great alternative as well. 13th Doctor tomorrow before work! FLCL on the other hand...I'll never say the C word to anyone, but Pets was definetly the C Word to Kana. 10/7/18 Man that was emberassing to watch. Green Bay actually played so lousy I watched Doctor Who, and loved the female 13th looking forward to more of her. Final Season of Walking dead also premired. Wonder how Ricks going out. Gunner and his partner are really intolerable. Reporting that asap, the store is not a place for thier private spats. 10/8/18 Columbus getting squeezed out of his own day is the most PC thing that I can get on board with. Nobody gives a crap about the whole Sailed the ocean blue in 1492 thing anymore. Stuff to do including assignments that I have to go to the library to finish. Hoping internet will be back sooner rather than later. 10/9/18 Woke up to flashing lights by house and realized power line got taken down by tree that Dad had pointed out. A bit more broke than I anticipated. Stuff here i have to do anyway and thankfully work will limit my having to go anywhere. Really could use $300 to pay Patti. Brewers will take on Dodgers in NLCS starting Friday. Mad that Conan for all intent and purpose has been cancelled, adpating is one thing but this is a glorified cancellation. 10/10/18 Rain city continues...Puddles in Bravada. On top of it its getting colder. Winter isnt here yet, but the white ravens are taking flight. 10/11/18 Now comes the cold, and first snow of the year. We had it all today cold, wind, sun and snow. 10/12/18 Store gave me a first look at my future. Gaurantee work on Sunday Monday and Friday every week unless i say so. Which other than one day may be saying much. Could use more variety than that. Also stinks NLCS is on when im working. Pulling for Dodgers in at least 1 game so I can see game 5 on wednesday at least. 10/13/18 They have been hyping the crap out of inventory for the past 3 weeks. Now i see why, Clint made a rare Saturday appearance at the store. Hopeful for the next few days. Got my prediction right about game 5 on Wednesday so thats good. Kanye is nuts as usual, and Kana gave me the best reason yet to finally move forward on the FLCL finale. Cold week ahead. 10/14/18 Andrew and his little notes are getting out of hand. Got called in to do truck early as Inventory closes in on Tuesday. Clint on the other hand, i know ive got to not walk off for a few seconds but he really needs to chill for a bit especially cause we both used to be pushing carts in the first months of the store he should know my rhtyms by now. Stinks about Pete Davidson though, really hope he can recover cause i liked him and Ariana as a couple. Rather unfortunate that they split cause she couldnt deal with her ex commiting suicide. 10/15/18 A missing person is a big deal, when you happen to know someone who is related to said missing person, then you know its huge. Jayme Closs, the cousin of Brody being abducted after her parents were gunned down, sad for all. My only issue is brody reatcing to everyones sympathies, overkill a bit. The other issue i have is the amber alert system that can be sent out to phones. With Trumps ability to text everyone in the country I witnessed a bunch of people who got the alert yesterday complain about it, the others who thought she killed them and fled are the bigger morons. Hopefully shes found safe. Other than that, good night for Wisconsin Sports, Brewers are 2 Out from pennant and Rodgers did his thing once again. 10/16/18 Boring first part of shift as we did basically nothing due to the inventory. But at least the night managed to salvage itself. Dodgers really play dirty. 10/17/18 Nose began to stuff itself again. Bunch of classwork for 2 weeks as i get the inservice day. Milwaukee gave another one away. Hoping Game 6 on Friday will be a turnaround. 10/18/18 Rare thursday day, nose still stuffed. 10/19/18 Library day as i caught up on work, and finally watched A Chrsitmas Story to its ending. A classic, yes just don't feel that strongly about it. Big game from the Crew forcing Game 7. 10/20/18 This day was nuts, a quick 25 minute snowcase that gave way to sunny conditions by noon. Saw Venom, didn't get why it was hated. Quite enjoyable dyanmic and She-Venom was the highlight of it all. Dodgers unfortuantley took the pennant. Great season overall for Milwaukee just bummed my streak of picking the world series winner at the All Star game ended at 4. Also tide pods finally used them, no wonder people ate them they're great for clothes. 10/21/18 First day ever that i skipped NFL Games. Neat concept. 10/22/18 Very long strech of store coming up, especially given that Today we only had 3 total. 10/23/18 Held off on grabbing Mamma Mia 2 Blu Ray. Mainly due to gas situation that had Bravada dying near tracks. I got to figure cash situation out to pay off people. 10/24/18 Lone day off before Halloween. No class today so that made things better. Master Mode on Zelda getting easier to figure out. Did reset on iPhone and Kindle, should fix lone bugs. Really want to play RDR2 and Spiderman PS4. World Series from what I can tell is shaping up as a sweep. Also, whole reason I began watching Sunny aired tonight. First of 2 Part Super Bowl Episode. Charlie in a Bear Trap drinking pee, eww! 10/25/18 First of 6 in a row backwise. The Halloween episodes on TV Usually do wonders for me, not this time. I know this is the final season of Big Bang Theory but Sheldon not realizing how irritating he sounds to others after 12 years and so much maturing seems not the right way to do it. Especially seeing his wife irrate Bernadette. 10/26/18 2nd night, the wheels i dont think feel off, but the were more loose than usual. Hour to set up, hour work, break, 30 minutes to unload hvdc and then didn't finish til after 6. When your down numbers wise you can certainly feel it. FYI The crap with the MAGA Bomber made me mad enough to likely stay off social media until after the election, that made it my breaking point. RWBY Season Premire Tomorrow! 10/27/18 Rooster Teeth First free trial, worth it for watching a great primire that perfectly sets up what comes. My point who is that woman with the Maz Kanata eyewear? Wisconsin stinks. 10/28/18 My issue with the whole core hours thing involves me working on days i know theres something i should be doing. Such as watching the packers. Almost beating LA, hopeful they can actually do that against Brady. 10/29/18 That blue wave better close in next week cause, another shooting and another predictable Trump response occurred. Hate crimes abound in his america. 10/30/18 Last in the back, October really came and went this year. Only thing bad about not working Halloween is the dressup im missing out on. Adam in drag would have been a hoot. 10/31/18 Darkness Falls Across the Land...You Know the rest. Halloween. This day is one back 20 Years ago i would openly love. At least the Candy is still around, albiet smaller and more sugary. Nowadays this day has me DVR'ing all the major shows to see what costumes get put on. Spoiler Alert only episodes of ATH And PTI that I happily record all year. When it comes to applying for scholarships however thats where it blurrs. WITC is really biased against those in the outreach sites hoping i can get help tomorrow when i visit. November came too quickly but, I get to see my nephew in 2 Weeks!

[njawaidofficial]

'Transformers: The Last Knight:' Has Pandering to Chinese Audiences Hurt 'Transformers 5'?

http://styleveryday.com/2017/07/02/transformers-the-last-knight-has-pandering-to-chinese-audiences-hurt-transformers-5/

'Transformers: The Last Knight:' Has Pandering to Chinese Audiences Hurt 'Transformers 5'?

Friday, 5.00 p.m. somewhere in central Shanghai 

It’s raining heavily outside. Big fat water droplets are falling vertically from the murky gray sky. They call it ‘plum rain’ in these parts.

Right now, there’s no better place to be than indoors and as coincidence would have it, it was opening night for Transformers: The Last Knight, perhaps the most hotly anticipated Hollywood release in China this year. Thus, the multiplex beckoned. 

I purchase a ticket for a 5.10 p.m. 3D showing at the Premiere Cinema in Shanghai’s Jing’an district, and the cost is a princely $23.50 (RMB160). Yes, you read that right, it can be over $20 for a 3D ticket for Hollywood movies in central Shanghai these days. In China, this is not a cheap night out. 

I had been a little worried that I wouldn’t get a seat on opening weekend, or if I did, it would be at the sides or right down in front of the screen. Given the time of day and the hard-to-miss fanfare for Transformers in China, I imagined Shanghai’s youthful middle class would be rushing from work to grab the earliest glimpse of giant robots smashing each other to pieces for the fifth time. 

I needn’t have worried as the box office clerk gave me my pick of seats. (In China, as in most of Asia, movie theater seating is assigned, and you pick your place from a screen as you buy your ticket — which is actually quite nice.) A quick glance at the box office seating chart seemed to confirm that well over half the theater was still to be sold with the screening due to start in minutes.

Still, I figured the theater would fill up as the trailers rolled. But once we were getting underway, very few extra people walked in. 

(I don’t think I need to say much about The Last Knight itself, beyond that it’s a Michael Bay movie — if you’ve seen one, you get the idea. I actually found myself enjoying most of the runtime by observing the crowds’ reactions. Click here if you’re curious about the film but not so much to actually go and see it.) 

The opening minutes of the film, set in Arthurian England and featuring a number of sight gags involving a drunken Merlin seem to leave both me and most of the audience unmoved. Indeed, throughout the film, the intentionally comedic moments don’t seem to elicit much reaction from the audience. Instead, their biggest laughs are almost universally reserved for the moments of blatant product placement by Chinese companies.

And boy, is there a lot of product placement. 

With the audience quickly learning to play spot-the-brand, giggles start rising in the cinema as the Chinese dairy drink Mengniu makes an appearance at Mark Wahlberg’s very-much-in-America scrap yard. Smartphones from LeEco, the financially strapped Chinese tech company, seem to be the brand of choice in the film. And the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is for some reason everywhere. The biggest laugh, however, arrives at the most unsubtle piece of pandering: the moment when the Autobots and their American friends are looking up ‘car porn’ on a Chinese used car website. 

An hour in, and glancing around the theater, I can see the low glow of mobile phone screens dotted around in the darkness. My neighbor to my left is diligently checking his WeChat, the Chinese social messaging app that’s a cross between Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. He’s clearly much more absorbed by what’s going down in his social grid than Anthony Hopkins’ admirable (though ultimately futile) attempt at explaining the convoluted history of the Witwiccans, an ancient secret society tasked with protecting the Transformers from the wider world. 

Though the Last Knight is shorter in length than the last two entries, the film is still well over two hours, and as the movie finally starts edging towards its explosive, climactic ending, some people begin to leave. A few at first, just as Unicron and Cybertron begin to crash and collide together, then a fairly steady stream are straight-up walking out of the cinema just as the final battle is taking place. 

Well before the credits role, the theater is almost empty, although my phone-absorbed neighbor (I suspect he’s avoiding the rain outside at this point) and a few other hardy souls have stuck around to see the mid-credits scene. [Spoilers ahoy!] He looks on impassively as we see the villainess of Last Knight, Quintessa, reappearing in the body of British actress Gemma Chan. Despite her Chinese ethnicity, Chan isn’t much of a name in mainland China, so one wonders if her appearance, like much of the rest of the film, was lost on those that stayed till the end — it certainly seems so. 

—-

One week later, the figures for Last Knight’s China opening are in and the numbers will have Paramount sweating. The headline figures, of course, make for impressive reading, with Last Knight opening at no. 1, with a $123 million weekend, a record for the franchise and topping the $92 million Age of Extinction made its first full week in 2014.  The China tally also is almost double the film’s disappointing $69.1 million North American opening.

The film’s seven-day total has now ticked past $166.7 million according to Chinese box office data company Entgroup. Yet, there’s a feeling that Last Knight is shaping up to be a disappointment and instead of bettering the $320 million haul of Age of Extinction, the film is likely to fall well short. 

When it came to marketing Last Knight, Paramount covered all the bases. Transformers may be about “robots in disguise” but a few hours spent in any major Chinese city and the robots are in plain sight, with posters, billboards, TV adverts linked to the movie at saturation levels. A particularly popular promotional tool in China has been the life-size replicas of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee that menacingly stand outside movie theaters and shopping malls across the country. 

Moreover, Paramount mitigated a lot of its promotional costs in China by partnering with Wanda, the leading theater chain, as well a number of other Chinese companies including Le Vision and Weying. And of course, there are the plethora of Chinese companies pushing their products prominently in the film. 

Ultimately, Last Knight hasn’t ignited the same critical love or word of mouth Age of Extinction enjoyed in spades. The last movie became a genuine phenomenon in China, with several wacky stories of farmers building their own robots. By tapping into the zeitgeist in China, Age of Extinction was able to smash box office records.

  Last Knight, on the other hand, has been pilloried on Chinese social media, particularly for the product placement and the confusing plot, and this audience kiss of death is what is likely to dash any hopes the film had of beating Age of Extinction‘s box office score.

On Sina Weibo, one of the larger social media platforms, user Lu Lihao RS summed a general feeling about the confusing nature of the film, writing that “I didn’t understand anything except advertisements for all the brands.”

Another Sina Weibo user named Wang echoed the issue with product placement. “Even though it is normal to add Chinese elements into the Hollywood blockbusters, it still makes the audience uncomfortable when there are too many Chinese brands,” Wang wrote. 

On review site Douban, Last Knight had an average rating of 4.8 on Wednesday and was dropping fast. The influential site’s consensus is overwhelmingly negative on Last Knight, although if there is a small consolation for the producers, there was some praise for the special effects, if not for the humor or plot.  

Still, for some, and not necessarily Paramount and its Chinese partners, Last Knight’s box office travails shouldn’t prove a hindrance to making money. Despite the tepid critical response to the fifth film, Transformers merchandise, both official and blatantly unofficial abound in China. Everywhere, from the airport to the shiny new malls, the theaters and street vendors at major tourist attractions, all manner of Transformers merchandise (yes, fidget spinners too) seem to be selling briskly suggesting that, in the end, the greatest product placement in the Last Knight was the robots themselves. 

Transformers: The Last Knight Shanghai Film Festival

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#Audiences, #Chinese, #Hurt, #Knight, #Pandering, #Transformers