#I live in a trailer with no power there is One (1) way winter goes for me

[samwisefamgee]

lmaooo the high is 7 degrees today and people keep messaging me like “omg I hope you’re ok don’t get too cold 😭🥺 uwu” yeah I’m not ok and it is extremely cold and also everything else is bad but thanks anyway

[anxiouspotatorants]

Whoopsy daisy I made a Shadow and Bone random thoughts post:

The costumes in this show are impeccable. I was drooling over all the keftas and the ball gowns in 1.05 and the crow outfits. Hell, even the winter-camo outfits that Mal, Mikhael and Dubrov wore in 1.04 were amazing.

Am I the only one who isn’t surprised by the kruge pronounciation? Because I thought it would sound like how English people say Scandinavian words and I wasn’t wrong.

Coming in to this show as someone who had only read the Six of Crows duology, I expected to at least tolerate Malina based on the trailer clips. I kid you not: less than five minutes into the very first episode they owned my ass. That might be a new record for me.

Seriously the friendship? The pining? The finding home in each other and being able to acknowledge their faults and apologize to each other? Both of them having massive “fight me” energy and protecting each other? Hugs?? Why am I surprised that I ship this?

Some of those scene transitions/flashback edits were so good! Like I know they repeated that meadow scene a lot throughout the season, but the cuts from kid-Mal looking at the rabbit to grown up Mal psyching himself up for the fist fight? Poetic cinema.

The Darkling was horrible and I love it. He wasn’t a carbon copy villain, nor did his complexity redeem him. He was a perfectly complex and understandable monster and I am living for it. I have not been so happy to despise a character in ages and I genuinely bow in gratitude to both the writers and Ben Barnes, because I finally got to enjoy watching a character I did not for one second root for ( #writevillainswellagain)

Look I already loved Jesper in the book but his on-screen translation elevated him from a fave to the fave. I was worried that they would push him into a comedic relief-role, but he got to keep both his heart, his depth, and his humour. Kit Young did an amazing job bringing what was already a great character on page to an even greater character on screen and I once again applaud.

Am I a bit bitter that the casting had some interesting choices for certain roles (aka hiring light skin and mid-size actors for explicitly darker skin and plus-size roles)? Kind of. Do I think there are important discussions worth having about this? Yup. Do I also think that every actor hired for Shadow and Bone did an amazing job and deserve zero hate and massive amounts of love? Also yes.

I had Alexei for one episode and one episode only, and I still miss that poor sucker. This show did a surprisingly good job with making me care about a massive amount of characters considering the screen time they had and the amount of episodes this season had. Good job.

For some reason I expected Inej to be a lot more brooding based on how I perceived her in the books but I love what Amita Suman did with her. Her translation completely recontextualised everything I remember from the books and just brought this truly fresh character to life. Assassin with a conscience indeed.

Also I did love the Kaz we got in this season but I can barely contain myself as I wait for season 2 to be made and for a certain flashback to take place because that moment in the book was visceral and it stayed with me for a long time and I knew before the show announcement that this flashback could become a television moment. 

Speaking of Kaz the crows were so chaotic and messy and I’m here for it. Their interactions with each other and their improvised back-up plans were everything. I somehow didn’t expect the crows to become the comedic relief of the season but it honestly makes so much sense.

A couple episodes in I still didn’t get the Zoya hype (remember I haven’t read the books) but was a massive Genya fan. By the end of the season I was like “oh both of these girls are getting redemption arcs and I am here for it”.

Speaking of redemption I still don’t like Matthias. I’m sorry but I just don’t. I get that he is important to many and that they like his relationship with Nina, but I just don’t have the patience for him and feel like Nina can do better. I still want him to get a redemption... but maybe not through a romance with the grisha woman he repeatedly slutshames, is bigoted towards and chokes at least once (twice if that SoC scene from book 1 happens). That being said this is just how I see him, so feel what ever you feel about him and ship to your heart’s content!

Alina’s journey through this season made complete sense to me. It hurt to see certain things, but they were necessary in my eyes. Seeing her go from this essentially insecure but brave girl to a manipulated pawn to an even stronger and more self reliant girl in spite of everything was amazing. It did feel like a well-written hero’s journey and I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes next.

Apparently a lot of book-readers don’t like Mal (and I am not here to change anyone’s mind about that) but the Mal I saw on the show was amazing. I actually kind of wish we had seen more of who he was outside of his relationship to Alina (f.ex. other flashbacks than the meadow, maybe something about any of his missions while separated from Alina pre-show), but I also loved what we got of him with Alina. We still got to see a guy who was brave, stubborn, flirtatious, a bit judgemental but with a strong sense of humour, and a lot of loyalty (to Alina but also to his friends). I can hardly wait to see what’s next for him.

Milo the goat. Where do I even begin. Not only did we get that Jesper-scene, but their farewell actually became a Chekhov’s gun for Mal in 1.07? Milo is the true hero of the season.

Speaking of 1.07 I loved the tent scene between Alina and the Darkling. She both got to be realistic about her feelings for the Darkling and stand up for herself and for others and call him out. The way I interpret the Darkling, he is the kind of villain who creates a saviour narrative around himself but cares more about power than anything else. He’ll say he’s doing everything to protect his people but is the first to kill the very people he claims to love. And Alina’s tent-speech really hammered that in for me.

I adore Baghra. Is she morally dubious? Yes. Was she incredibly mean to Alina during training to the point where it might have been excessive? Yes. Did she not take any of the Darkling’s bullshit and act as the proper mentor for Alina when the Darkling had said that he was going to train her? Yes. Am I kind of a Baghra stan now? I mean maybe.

The antler-collar was so evil and gross but from a visually narrative stand point it was perfect. 

Also I still have no idea who David is but I want redemption for him too. Honestly I feel like half the supporting cast is gearing up for redemption arcs next season and I am excited for most of them.

Nina’s reaction when she hears Kaz on the boat? Priceless. Actually the whole boat scene from when she goes up on deck again to the cut back to the fold was priceless.

That being said the final scene had me even more ready for season 2.

Jesper kind of gave me messy period-fantasy James Bond? Does that make sense?

And Mal kind of gave me Lois Lane energy? As in he’s the mortal love interest that many assume is the hero/heroine’s weakness but actually functions as their emotional strength and inspiration? Am I reaching here or am I getting somewhere?

Mikhael and Dubrov. What a duo. Absolute madlads.

Also I’d like to see more Nadia if that is possible? Because the few scenes we had of her had me intrigued but then she sort of disappeared? Is she going to be important or was she just more of a temporary supporting character? 

I entered this show a casual Six of Crows fan with mild interest in Kanej and I finished this season a mess. A mess who ships Kanej and Malina and Genya with that David guy even though they had about 30 seconds of screentime together and Zoya with redemption and Jesper with main-character status (hey we’re not getting Wylan until season 2 at least) and kind of those two Ravkan army guys and Nina with anyone else and Matthias with a better redemption storyline and the Darkling with karma! Also, a mess with a whole new set of comfort characters!

[kingofthehilltoday]

King of the hill review s1e1 "Pilot"

(I'm gonna start watching koth and typing these out season by season, depending on my work schedule/metnal healt will depend on how often I put them out, with the occasional single episode ones like this one which I've already typed up so much for. A lot of people seemed to like just the Meer idea of this so im gonna finish this one and post it)

We're introduced to the main characters surrounding a truck with the hood up. The first lines of dialogue they have in the series is their iconique "yep" "yep" "yep" "mhm" followed by a short silence (aside from the alcohol consumption).

Bill is the one to break the silence and demonstrates his understanding of automobile engines.

He is followed by Dale who demonstrates himself as an idiot. "Ford stands for: Fix It Again Tony."

Boomhauer, who without subtitles i wouldn't have been able to understand, also demonstrates he understands automobiles.

Hank who does not have the courtesy of subtitles does not understand what Boomhauer says and brushes him off and instead dribbles on about George Bush in Japan? This establishes his conservativeness/dumbness (if there's that much of a difference between the two.)

Hank grabs more beer and Dale breaks off into asking about a new episode of Seinfeld dating the beginning of the show.

Boomhauer immediately starts squaking about it.

This episode of Koth aired January 12 1997, although it doesn't seem to take place in a winter month. Most likely a spring one. I want to say the episode that Boomhauer is talking about is The Wig Master (April 4, 1996) as it is an episode that features Kramer and Kramer is the subject of Boomhauers tangent.

Boomhauer ends his giggling with "Just a show about nothin." And the theme song begins to play. A good introduction into what King of the Hill is about, and so far a great way to start the show off.

Theme song ends and Hank enters Bobby's room, despite Bobby telling him he wouldn't like it Hank decides to listen to Bobby's music to find: he doesn't like it. Admittedly because it isn't music (which Hank claims to like new generation music) but because instead it's just a fart? Bobby for some reason just listens to farts.... I guess this does establish that the boy ain't right....

Hank leaves Bobby's room telling him to get ready for the game, which Bobby is clearly already dressed for?

Luanne shows she hasn't learned how to lock the bathroom door when Hank busts in to a fully toweled Luanne. He still avoids looking at her the entire time after the initial door opening. Luanne gives slight exposition by explaining her parents are currently fighting, giving her a reason to be in the Hill House.

Hank, Bobby, and Peggy pile into a car and head to the game. Peggy tells Bobby to do his best and Hank insists he should give it 110% instead of 100%. They then keep suggest 1% higher until Peggy says 13 is an unlucky number. The driving scene ends with Hank miffed saying "just give it 112%."

At the game Bobby shows his inability to play baseball and Hank shows how overzealous he is about getting Bobby to play. Bobby gets hit with a ball when he's not paying attention giving set up for future events within the episode.

Hank Hill stops at the Mega Lo Mart for WD-40. Its not that important that I mention the WD-40. I just like the way he says Dubya Dee Fordy.

Two gossips see Hank interact with Buckley (who doesn't seem to recognize Hank, let alone where he even is in the store) along with Bobby who has a black eye following close behind him.

As Hank gets more and more frustrated with Buckley, Bobby begins swinging a cardboard tube around like a baseball bat. The gossips see Hank with his temper and wonder if he gave Bobby the black eye (theyre voiced by Nancy and Peggy without changing the voices even a little bit). Bobby swings the bat a little too close to some cans and knocks them over prompting Hank to scream YOU'RE FIRED (???? who gave Hank the authority???) at Buckley when he tells Hank that he'll have to pay for the damages.

The two gossips' words spread around and eventually get to the erroneously named Arlen County Child Protective Services (I suppose Heimlich County hasn't been established yet). And we're introduced to Anthony Page whos proportions make him look like he's in the wrong cartoon.

We cut back to hank and friends and Dale goes on his rant about Glo-Bal warming. He says we'll grow oranges in Alaska. Hank calls him a giblet head and tells Dale he'll hold him personally responsible if Texas gets any hotter in the summer. His anger is further pushed by a thumping noise.

Which we see is Bobby playing ball in the house while watching TV. He accidentally smacks his mother in the face with it when she pauses to lament about a man on TV who had botched surgery.

Bobby is once again throwing the ball in the house, enter the social worker, and Hank fixing his truck. The sound distracts Dale from pointing the flashlight correctly which then causes Hank to screw up and the hood of his car to fall on him and Dale runs off instead.

"Hank is as gentle as a lamb," says Peggy followed by Hank barging in, grabbing the baseball and throwing it screaming, "STOP BOUNCING THAT BALL!" Note: the ball zoomed past Mr. Page and into the street making a glass shattering noise. What glass he could have shattered at that angle I'm not quite sure of.

After Tony insinuates the bruise on Peggy's head was caused by the same ball they told him hit Bobby in the eye, he asks if Bobby is their only child. Peggy manages to tell this random dude about Hank's narrow urethra and Hank gets loud.

Our Italian alien looking friend tells Hank "Loud is not Allowed." This sets Hank off on a rant about how he works for a living as opposed to writing down nonsense. This is the first mention of Hank's job selling Propane and Propane Accessories.

Hank's face turns visibly red as talks about his tax dollars going to fund... CPS? I understand that twig boy is very much not doing any actual investigation and is completely biased but... come on now Hank? Chuld protective services?? Anyways Hank asks for some B.C. Headache Powder and a glass of water. He then proceeds to yell at Anthony again and threatens him to get out before he gives HIM a black eye. Not the best choice of words there Hank. Also both of these rants are set to the National Anthem for some reason.

Our self proclaimed hero of this story then goes on to interview neighbors about Hank. Starting with Dale who is interrupted by Nancy leaving to get a headache treatment from John Redcorn. "You've been going to that healer for 12 years and you still get headaches every night." Imagine getting dicked down roughly 4380 days in a row.

After Nancy leaves it goes back to our city slicker asking if Hank has ever hit his child which Dale explains that Bobby is his pride and joy because of his Narrow Urethra. Very interesting world where Dale knows Hank has a narrow urethra but not that his own wife is cheating on him. Joseph is introduced and the paper white boy does a double take as he's the spitting image of John Redcorn.

Boomhauer has mistaken the defunct social worker as??? Someone whos there to do something about a barking dog? Once again if not for the subtitles I'd be lost on what he's saying but what the hell is he talking about. Our pencil pusher backs away slowly.

Bobby and Joseph are trying to get pebbles into the exhaust of the truck in the next scene, impressively they make a few shots. Joseph asks to reassure that Hank does not in fact hit him and Bobby confirms that Hank is all Bark and proceeds to mock the propane salesman. Joseph proceeds to try and while he's making fake threats in Hank's voice our Valiant Savior overhears and somehow mistakes his voice to actually be Hank's....

Cut to the actual Hank and he's found Luanne's panties. They're very cute pink ones. Peggy calls Luanne in to Hank's protests and she comes in crying and expositions about her mother attempting to stab her father with a fork then being sent to jail. She says her trailer was tipped over but does not elaborate as to how. Although she does say it will be on a TV show! Kind of wish theyd make an episode out of that alone.

Hank assures Luanne as best he can and lets her know she can stay with them until her mom comes home. Hank offers to let her use power tools to style a wig that was also damaged in the process of the trailer being flipped over. This immediately calms Ms. Platter.

A doorbell is heard and the Hills (minus Luanne) answer the door to find Our Holy King making his return to try to get our Poor Abused Child to come outside and go live with a family in North Arlen (not even gonna try to find somewhere in a different town??) Hank tries to offer him Luanne instead. The social worker makes an effort to try to get Bobby to come with him but Bobby clearly doesn't care or want to go. Hank chases him away and even hits his car, Ladybird making her first appearance running with him and barking at Anthony.

Mr. Page is confronted by his boss about not having found any actual abuse but recommending state custody. He called the entire neighborhood redneck city to a man with a strong country accent, bruh. The boss asks him if he talked to the little league coach, WHICH THE BOSS KNOWS BY NAME (Harvey) and our Los Angeles boy is sweatin fierce.

Cut back to Hank and Peggy with their ears covered they come outside to BOBBY WITH A STOP SIGN HE CUT DOWN USING A DRILL THAT HE'S HITTING WITH A HAMMER??? How did he get a Fucking Stop Sign??? Hank immediately yells at Bobby about this and Bobby calmly states back that Hank can't yell at him or the state will take him away. This frustrates Hank but he does his best not to outburst again after Bobby picks up the stop sign and runs away dragging it behind him.

Once inside the house Bobby answers a call from CPS, they inform him the case has been dropped and our boy from L.A. will be heading back home. He chooses not to tell his parents instead opting to tell them it was a wrong number. After this scene the stop sign is never seen again 😔.

Hank apparently makes bacon and mayo sandwiches. Hold the bacon grease. No wait he adds the bacon grease back. Luanne comes into the kitchen and demonstrates that she knows more about cars than any of the guys as she has fixed his truck's problem: a clogged fuel line.

We cut to Hank outside the garage asking Bobby to plug in a power tool in the garage, Robert (with Joseph in tow) agrees and does so but also grabs the opener and starts opening and closing the door on his father. Hank begins to yell again and Bobby reminds him that it isn't proper adult-child conversation. Hank settles down a bit and through gritted teeth asks Bobby to return it to factory setting of down and walks away. Joseph is very pleased by this.

We then see a montage of similar things happening in succession. Bobby knocking a fence down with a bat, dressing ladybird up and taking pics of her on his mower, and finally spraying Hank with a hose. As he does this the Anthony's ex boss comes over and knocks on the door.

We cut over to Bobby in his bed making sound effects. He is informed by Peggy that the man came over and told them the investigation was off. Bobby says he likes his father better this way he can "make him love me even when I screw up" and Peggy asks if he really thinks that.

Peggy is shown going into the bedroom (not really sure if this is their bedroom... there is a picture of cotton on the wall [pre shin loss] and it doesn't look like their bedroom in future episodes) and she insists Hank vocally tell Bobby that he loves him. Hank explains that he can't do that "you know how I was raised" followed by a flashback of a young Hank and a shinless Cotton telling Hank not to cry about his knee scrape.

Hank heads out to the porch to talk to Bobby who is sitting on lawn furniture. And Hank stumbles over words trying to explain to Bobby that he cares for him. Bobby doesn't understand and Hank makes some weird voice cracking sound. "You.... family." Hank then, after little bit more stumbling, manages to blurt out "ILoveYouNoMatterWhatYouDo." And then offers food.

Bobby asks if he's not a disappointment and Hank assures him that he's proud of him and cares for him. He then play fights with Bobby and the city boy sees it and proclaims he was right but is cut off by another passenger and says "never mind." And the episode fades to black. Cue theme song.

The quoted line at the end of the episode is blank. This episode predates that tradition apparently.

Okay so now for some more of my own thoughts

I joked around a lot but I do see where the social worker is coming from on some level. He believed he was investigating a case of abuse. He just wasn't very smart about it. He really should have talked to the coach immediately after hearing about the baseball incident. Or literally anyone that could have been at the game that day. That's all it would have taken and he would have still have had a job. But it's a good thing he doesn't anymore because his own negligence could have separated a family.

I won't claim they're the most functional family. But if the most Hank does (up until this point, not gonna count that awful smoking ep just yet) is simply yell at Bobby then they're a much better family than I had growing up. Does Hank need to work on his anger issues? From this episode alone I'd say a solid Yes. He was a dick to a store employee which is very much not a cool thing to do. There was some justification in being angry at Bobby, I mean the kid tortured him at the end there, but he should have sought a better release than the one he had.

Overall I'd say this is a really good episode to start the series on, it's entertaining and funny and properly builds up the world.

[rwby-ask-central]

RWBY CRACKPOT THEORY TIME! (SPOILERS?)

So this post will be a rather long one because of all the theories and the level of detail I want to go into. So buckle up kids!! It’s starting time!

Theory 1: TEAM JN_R is gonna die. So let me start with the most likely death: Nora! Why? Well we saw in a trailer that she used herself to conduct electricity through Amity, and she’s CLEARLY in pain. In the opening of the show, we see Penny’s fathers working on Amity (presumably) and it flashes Watts on the other side of the glass. So it’s likely they’ll try to recruit him and he’ll play along. He’s still a villain. It would be the perfect opportunity to take out someone. It would deal a moral and actual blow to the group. Now, Ren’s death relies on Nora. Call it cliche, but I think if Nora dies, he’ll take his own life. He still carries the dagger, it’s clear they have feeling for eachother and they’ve been together for a long time. So that’s where it comes from. Jaune will probably meet his end the same way Pyrrha did. Not necessarily by Cinder’s hand. But all the same. And if my theory of Pyrrha being sent to the same realm that Ozma was when he met the God of light, then the two lovers can rest eternally at last. You’ll learn that a bunch of my theories rely on this main theory.

Theory 2: Salem will obtain the maiden powers through more...malicious means. I’m not sure if it was confirmed or not, but if Salem is able to corrupt people as she was, she can offer to ressurect Nora (following theory 1) in return. Of course, if this wasn’t the case, perhaps she could offer to ressurect Pyrrha. Or even....Summer Rose.

Theory 3: Neo is going to die. See, we know that Salem controls the Grimm. Neo is seeking revenge against RWBY for Roman’s death. What if..AND HEAR ME OUT...she knows Ruby wasn’t at fault. She pretends to hate Ruby to get close to Cinder, by extent, Salem. She’ll try to take her revenge, but between Salem, cinder, and everyone else on board? She won’t even make it in touching distance. A futile attempt, but one she risked her life for.

Theory 4: Neo’s evolved semblance. It was hinted that Semblances can actually evolve to some degree, back in volume 7. This theory comes from my partner!! What if she has the ability to project illusions, similar to Emeralds, but it’s not a mental task. And I spun it off into a sad bit where I said she uses that semblance to project a clone of Roman and sleep next to him crying herself to sleep. ;-; ITS SO SAD AND IM SORRY.

Theory 5: RWBY Corruption. Similar to the theory of using dead people as bargaining chips, this one is more..just to torture them. Salem would corrupt the corpse of Adam and make it undying, sending it after Blake/Yang. They would be facing a foe that can’t stay down from thier past. Adam has caused so much damage (mental and physical) to the pair. It would probably continue to scar them seeing his corpse try to fight them mindlessly. Salem offers to put the man to rest for good by taking one of Team RWBY. After the trade is done, she corrupts the girl to replace Adam.

Theory 6: Sad Summer Times. Somehow, Team RWBY/JNR make thier way into the whale ship. Somehow, Salem is about to fall and perish. As Ruby swings her sythe to strike her down, the black goop from the Grimm pools slides off, revealing a still alive Summer Rose. By the time Ruby sees this, she can’t stop. A head goes rolling on the floor. The goop reassembles itself into Salem. She used a Vessel to sacrifice in the event she was in Danger. (You can think of this one as a substitution Jutsu from NARUTO, but with an actual sacrifice to use).

Theory 7: Salem is trying to start over. She’s suffered so much, she’s already cost thousands of people thier lives when she was human. What if she’s trying to gather the relics to create a new, better world where she and Ozma and live happily without fear of death or age?

Theory 8: Salem’s goal is bigger than any of us can imagine. She already has magic. She’s growing stronger, she’s taken down most of the Kingdoms. There’s nothing to stop her. What does killing the Gods possibly get her? She can already rule over the world as she is. There has to be an even bigger picture

Theory 9: Emerald will defect from Salem’s troops. She came with Cinder because she thought she cared. She’s being neglected SO. HEAVILY. She must hate it. If you look back to the opening, we see a hall of villains that lead up to Salem. If you noticed, Emerald wasn’t there. But MERCURY WAS. It seems odd to only show off one of the low-level henchmen?

Theory 10: Winter will kill James Ironwood. The man...he’s become Salem but for the good guys(? Is he even still?). It was clear NONE of the ace Ops openly approved of the murder James committed. Winter is recovering. The military has been Winter’s entire life, running away from her family problems instead. If James threatens her military career, she probably wouldn’t hesitate to strike. Even if Winter doesn’t murder James, we know she wouldn’t hesitate to Usurp his position. We know that Winter and Weiss will clash this season from the opening.

Theory 11: Ozma will die for good. Or at least by separated from Ozcar. This one doesn’t really have a reason behind it other than the fact that Ozma keeps getting weaker and we saw Salem looming over Ozcar in the opening. I think this would be a great opportunity to allow Ozcar to better expand his own legacy, not the shadow of Oz’s. He would take up Oz’s legacy, but forge his own path the right way. His way. One more theory to go!!

Theory 12: We are reaching the Natural end of RWBY. At least the first generation. As far as I recall, Monty was able to write up about 10 volumes worth of lore and plot. We are going into volume 8. No one said the entire thing is about the VICTORY of Team RWBY. rather, it’s a story about the world of Remnant in its most interesting days. What if the story (from our perspective) is actually about the victory of Salem, accomplishing her goals and seeing the world struggle to fight against her in their final days? Strange theory, but I have such a weird draw to this one. I genuinely feel like Team RWBY won’t succeed in thier goal to stop Salem. I don’t want to see them suffer, but I can’t see them winning. Not unless some magical miracle happens. Which I’m not saying CANT happen....just that I don’t believe it will.

Theory 13: Raven saves the day. I’ve been thinking about a character redemption for Raven since her run away in Volume 5. It would be perfect. She agreed to turn herself over to Salem in exchange for leaving Atlas. I don’t think Salem would agree to it, or even honor the agreement if she did, but it would be amazing if Raven showed up to try and make amends.

I know this was a VERY long one, but I really needed to just let out a giant theory blast. Even if none of these make sense, I like them. Or at the very least, I think they make interesting story bits to share or think about “what if X happened”. Thanks for reading!

[seancekitsch]

first observations from the trailer

ok so the worlds ending 11/25/63, three days after jfk gets murked, so im assuming central plot is going to mimic dallas arc a lot more. they gotta put time right and kill jfk to save the world. im assuming if he lives theres gonna be a worldwide nuclear winter bc theres tanks deployed, destroyed buildings and you see the nuclear launches and the trajectory of where each country with nuclear access is sending their bombs, no one is safe. also confirmed five is the last one to come back and everyone else has kinda made a new life for themselves. but its so nice to see hazel back!! maybe he snuck agnes back with him?? we have ten days to save the world!!!

ok im just gonna go down the line as reggie boi labeled the siblings as useful to him so starting with #1

luther- is comfortable with his body??? hes shirtless as fuck in that trailer. first in the fighting ring and then in front of that explosion. i think hes learning to be himself without the number one label and hes doing a lot of growing. hes also the first one five calls for??

diego- that nerdist article said hes gonna be the one in charge trying to bring the lil fam back together again so i am excited to see that. he also looks so attractive sos i like the long hair so much. but uhh it looks like hes also in some kind of mental hospital? so i guess thats where he finds lila? also shes a possible love interest? bc like for a brief second you can see her grab his face

allison- looks like shes gonna be a really strong player this season and have a good relationship finally with her sister. also, shes participating in a sit in! shes 100% going to be a part of the civil rights movement in this season and she DOES in fact have her voice, so if they do the twins arc from the comics theyre gonna have to find a new way to manipulate her and use her voice. 

klaus- i wanna join his cult, like so badly. his cult looks fun, and hes 100% using the fact that hes from the future and his powers to become a prophet. which, like, i dont blame him thats lit as hell. i dont hate the beard as much as i thought it would and it looks like it gets shaved quickly. he also learns how to drive??? i think with all the blue looking blasts we see in the trailer hes gonna learn how to use more of his powers bc his powers manifestations were blue last season. also it really looks like hes just not tryna find dave so either he already tried and it was a no go or hes moved on and learned to live with it.

five is the last to show up. hes also going to be going back and forth between the commision and the group just like last time, and he has the added advantage this time around of his siblings all having gone through this already and not only knowing the past but the future. they know how to find people that would have been alive in this time period and how history turned out if all goes well with them stopping the apocalypse. can they give him mr pennycrumb the dog whos only powers are being adorable??? and he eats ice cream?

ben is still dead what the fuck/???? but he seems to be more fleshed out as a character this season and i cannot wait to see more of him. a good good boy all i can say is im excited. 

vanya- nerdist confirmed her amnesia so she gets to move on without her trauma and shes got like??? a gf and step kids??? i hope. but other than that we get to see her dancing with klaus and allison and i hope the three of them get to bond and be cute and she deserves to have fun with her family and when she eventually regains her memory i hope it can be growth and easing from her pain. also her just existing probably puts missy and her kids in a lot of danger and imdb isnt showing how many episodes theyre in as of the last time i checked. 

the swedes- im assuming are carmichaels top assassins sent for the umbrella academy specifically bc of how royally they screwed up the 2019 end of the world. we see diego face off against them a lot in the trailer. 

carmichael- FISH HEAD FISH HEAD FISH HEAD im SOOOOO EXCITED TO SEE CARMICHAEL SOS IM SCREAMING I THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA DO IT AND THEN THEY SAID NIC CAN HAVE A LITTLE CARMICHAEL AS A TREAT my favorite little sadistic shubunkin top authority of the temps!!!

lila- marry me bih. she looks so cute and fun. imdb confirms shes in every episode so shes not gonna get fridged like patch. she seems cool i want to see her constantly. im sure just being near diego makes her a target for the swedes as well. 

the monocle- reggie boiiiiiii i think theyre gonna discuss more of his origins and whether or not hes actually human. im assuming the fuckin tiki bar is his house bc hes a rich weirdo. dont forget even tho he was a piece of shit hes probably a really really really useful superscientist for the hargeeves siblings right now in the current time period. 

pogo- were gonna see his origin story, and by that delve deeper into reggies work with super intelligence and chimps. im excited, and now maybe we will get a pogo that since hes younger is less willing to hide things from the kids later if they save the world and then regular time plays out and theyre born 20 years later and all. 

[psyga315]

Fixing RWBY Volume 5

Well, here we are. Volume 5. The hot mess that helped spark a new generation of critics. Sure, Volume 6 also had its share, but it was more focused on Adam and the Bees. Volume 5 destroyed a lot of things and caused people to voice their complaints. It was so bad, RT had to literally appease the public by giving them exactly what they want. You ever wondered why Ruby suddenly gained prominence as a character in Volume 6 or the sudden focus on Blake and Yang’s relationship or even Penny’s return?

But why is Volume 5 so bad? Well, I made a lengthy post about it, but the long story short of it is that a combination of RT’s over ambitiousness of RWBY, its lack of resource management, and the writers clearly having no idea how to pace scenes out led to a Volume that felt more like the writers just wanted to get it over with and failed to live up to its core theme. I brought this up time and time again with my tweaks that each of the volumes carried with it a certain theme.

Volume 1 was about beginnings and friendship, Volume 2 was about stepping into danger, Volume 3 was the theme of falling, Volume 4 was the theme of picking yourself back up, Volume 6 was outgrowing your mentor’s advice, and Volume 7 was about trust and fear. What’s Volume 5’s theme? Well, from the interviews mentioned in the Reddit post and the opening song, the theme revolves around solving problems on your own and, most importantly for this rewrite, shouting “We’re not done here!”, which, if you’ve seen Volume 5, went more like this:

“Let’s wait until the bad guys call us to fight them. Then we’ll cry about how things aren’t going our way until this guy goes about feeling up- I mean, healing up this girl.”

Obviously, this needs to be changed. Unlike the other tweaks where I change one or two major elements of a Volume and mostly shuffle things around for better coherency, this is just gonna outright be a full rewrite, since while I mostly let things go as they are, the problem with Volume 5 is that nothing should go as they are.

In fact, all the tweaking I did is basically building up for Volume 5. All the bits where Ozpin is untrustworthy? To better sell Yang getting all pissy about BIRDS. Hazel’s appearance? To make him a much more prominent character. Everything in regards to Adam and the White Fang? To set up a better closure for the White Fang subplot. It’s all been to try and fix Volume 5. If Volume 3 is the lynchpin for which all other Volumes try to imitate, then Volume 5 is the lynchpin for which all other Volumes try to avoid being. Like I said, RT had to basically give viewers a shit ton of cookies just to make up for how bad Volume 5 was.

So, instead of going by this arc by arc, I’m gonna go the more traditional route and rewrite the Volume episode by episode. My obligatory recommendation is a mishmash of Volume 5 rewrites that Unicorn of War made. I mean, he made about 3? 4? I lost count.

Episode 0 (Trailers)

Okay, these need to be changed. The point of a character short is to highlight the character’s strong points. Not make them weak or focus on someone else. Ruby’s character short did this, Adam’s character short did this, the original trailers did this, so why the hell did they drop the ball with Weiss losing to common undead mooks and Blake listening to a backstory that isn’t even in the show proper?

So, we’re going to change all this. Weiss’s character short has her fighting against the Beowovles and she manages to win. Winter comes by, but points out how sloppy she was and reveals that she held back. She then gives a foreshadowing line of “if this were a real battle, you’d most likely be bleeding out from that last blow.”

Blake’s character short goes more into detail of what happened to Ghira. Namely him getting gunned down by random humans and in a later scene, Blake fighting them to get revenge, only to stop herself. Adam steps in and personally finishes off the humans, which causes Blake to realize just how much of an asshole Adam is.

Yang’s character short is somewhat the same, but drop the stupid plotline of Ruby learning hand to hand, since RT wants to pretend it never existed to begin with. Also, let’s not have Yang’s aura flicker and tell the Audience she has no aura when you literally just explained a day or so ago that no aura means no semblance.

Alright, now let’s finally get into it:

Episode 1

We open right where the stinger of Volume 4 leaves off with Jaune and co visiting Pyrrha’s mom and dad and dropping off a spare shield that RT joked about in an interview that forever scarred the Floof Artist and blurred the lines of if RWBY should be an anime or a cartooooooooooon. It’s meant to set the tone for this Volume as we get a brief bit where Ruby and Qrow explore the rest of Mistral and not just look at mat paintings. Also, show that it’s in a state of chaos instead of two people with some bamboo heart plant thing.

We also have bits that catch up with our cast. Weiss hears a distress signal and much to Pilot Boi’s demands, she commandeers the ship and flies to them. Blake and Ilia meet for the first time since the fight and Blake argues with her on why she’s vouching so much for Adam. Ilia only warns her to leave Menagerie before she gets hurt and leaves before Blake asks for details. Yang and Heather gang up and get Not!Bakugou to drag them to the bandits.

RNJR and Qrow meet up with Lionheart, who fills them in on the crisis as Qrow tells him that he had to explain the Relics since Ozpin is no longer with them. Namely, Mistral has tons of Grimm going around, not helped by bandits who are making bad matters worse. When Qrow mentions that the Spring Maiden is among the bandits, he nearly has a heart attack. “Bandits are one thing but magical bandits!?”

He also answers Jaune’s question with the same response: “Nothing but lies and forgeries.”, which makes Jaune angry and openly complains about it before Ruby tries to help him. “Hey! We may not have gotten what we wanted, but people here need our help.” When Ruby says this, Qrow decides to inform the group about the possible home base of Raven’s tribe. Note that he does not mention that she’s Yang’s mom nor do they know. Lionheart is a little startled and warns that they only have one shot at this and if they fail, Raven’s tribe will scatter into parts unknown, if they haven’t already. He tries to get them to stay, but Ruby is insistent to stop Raven at the very least, with securing the Spring Maiden being a secondary mission, not asking why she’s important, since she kinda got the idea from Jaune when he recounted how Ozpin forced the Maiden powers onto Pyrrha.

As they leave, Lionheart sighs and warns Watts about it, only for him to say that this game of chess was out of his hand to begin with. The most Lionheart can do is provide the team with the one Huntsman who is at his Academy…

Later that evening, Qrow goes for a drink while RNJR prepare for their mission. He is approached by Oscar and Lionheart. Lionheart says that Oscar had arrived at Haven days ago and refused to leave when he’s told that school’s out for the summer. He leaves Oscar to Qrow while saying how “a day out in the field is worth a week in school.”

As Oscar is alone with Qrow, he asks for his cane in a voice that is not his. Ending the episode there.

Episode 2

Lionheart informs Salem about RNJR arriving at Haven with Qrow and that they’re on their way to retrieve the Spring Maiden. He advises Salem to act quickly, but Salem hushes him (no, she does not strangle him) and says that she’s got the situation under control. She then advises Watts that he is no longer needed at Mistral and is to return to Evernight before the others find him. Watts uses the Seer to teleport and he and Cinder have a bit of a snarkfest now that Cinder can talk before Watts leaves to make Tyrian’s tail.

Cinder then asks Salem to personally be the one that kills Ruby, only to be warned that Ruby’s Silver Eyes are a hazard to her. “She is merely a novice with the Silver Eyes and yet put you on death’s door… I don’t want you to get hurt again.” Cinder just flares up and goes “I. Won’t.” And storms off.

Weiss battles with Lancer Wasps like in the original, but she’s acting on initiative so people are being saved. Battle proceeds like normal, but when Weiss crashes the plan, she and Pilot Boi survive before being kidnapped by Raven.

We cut to Adam and Sienna doing their usual talk, but instead of Sienna going out like a bitch, she actually has a battle with Adam because I assume in this universe, RT knows better than to fuck up like this. I’d compare it to Maul vs. Vizsla from the Clone Wars.

Meanwhile, Ruby and co. are ready to depart before Qrow approaches them, drunk, with Oscar, who quickly informs the group that they may know him better as Ozpin… Cue Jaune becoming shocked at first… then turning into outright rage. End episode.

Episode 3

We open with Kali making a speech on Adam’s plans to destroy Haven Academy and the rest of the Menagerians hesitant to step forward. One of the guards approaches Kali, then stabs her. In the chaos, the guard runs off, then appears through the crowd, shedding her disguise and revealing herself to the audience as Ilia, who gives her whole “Now is the time to side with Adam” speech and also reveals how her parents died in the dust mines. This goes into a brief scuffle between Sun and Ilia that Ilia gets out of by disguising herself as Blake when Blake joins the fight. This is where you can do that Blake slaps Sun bit, but instead, it’s Ilia who slaps Sun.

We then cut to Jaune slamming Oscar against the wall and shouting: “YOU BASTARD! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?” Ruby tries to pull Jaune away, but he won’t budge. Oscar, still in Ozpin’s voice, gives the explanation that he is able to reincarnate but hides why or how he can do this. In fact, he hides that his “reincarnation” actually means his soul becomes linked to another’s, much to Oscar’s chagrin. He explains that Lionheart has been very sketchy and warns not to listen to what he says. He then advises that they should move quickly. Note that he doesn’t say that they need to train, since the training arc goes nowhere and we need to not only streamline this but make it a lot more entertaining. Ozpin then de-possesses Oscar, who cries about his hurt back, immediately bringing Ozpin’s methods into question for Ruby for the first time.

Weiss awakes to find herself in a cage next to Pilot Boi, who just gives her a comedic calling out just before Vernal and her troops come in and drag out Pilot Boi. Vernal looks to Weiss and tells the bandits “she’s important. Leave her be.” Weiss asks what’s going on as Vernal tells Weiss about how she’s going to be used as a bartering chip. For what, we don’t know yet, but it’s clarified that she’s not being ransomed back to her father. Vernal then explains that Pilot Boi is merely a spare and that they can do what they want. As she says that, she goes to Pilot Boi as he is held down in front of Raven. Vernal approaches Pilot Boi as Weiss looks on in worry. We then end the episode with a crash of lightning.

Episode 4

Heather and Yang get ambushed, but beat up the gang with ease, then enter the tribe, though not without seeing Pilot Boi’s charred corpse crucified outside the gates as a warning for intruders. Heather and Yang get their weapons ready.

We cut to RNJR, Oscar, and Qrow, who are walking to Raven’s camp. Along the way, Oscar is given a lecture from Qrow on Aura, namely on how to activate it. He then asks Ruby, as she’s the youngest of the group, if fighting is as easy as huntsmen make it out to be. Ruby gives the naïve answer of “of course!” though Jaune brings up how inexperience is discouraged. As Oscar grows afraid of Jaune, Jaune sighs and apologizes. “Sorry, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with you and Oz right now… I don’t hate you… Just the voice inside you.”

“I know… I hate it too…”

Qrow stops them and tells them they’ve arrived.

Cut to the tribe letting Yang and Heather in where they confront Raven… Heather questions if she’s the one responsible for not just the destruction of several villages, but also the disappearance of huntsmen too. Already, this should send warning flags, but Yang decides to ignore them.

Yang: Take off that mask, Raven.

Raven: Is that anyway to treat your mother? {Heather gives a WTF look}

Yang: My mother is dead and you know it.

Raven: {sneers} Regardless. You’ve proven yourself by coming out to find me. I guess you grew tired of Ozpin’s teachings and wanted to join the winning side.

Yang: That’s not why I’m here.

Raven: Then why are you here?

Yang: For my sister.

Raven: Well, hate to disappoint you, but she’s not here.

Yang: That’s why you’re going to bring me there with your Semblance. It can create portals with you and a close bond, right?

Raven: So… you know about that. Well, unfortunately for you, I don’t respect that brat enough to make a portal.

Yang: {eyes go red} Don’t talk about my sister that way!

Raven: What’s so important about her anyways? From her eyes, she’s already a lost cause for that Ozpin.

Yang: What do you know about Ozpin? You got kicked out the moment he saw that you’re using his teachings to kill innocent people!

Raven: Is that what Taiyang told you? Foolish. Simply foolish. I didn’t get kicked out of STRQ. I left STRQ. I’d rather use those teachings for better things than what Ozpin had in store. He turned my brother and your ‘mother’ into his personal attack dogs and put one of them down when they got too gabby.

Yang: {about to go into a frenzy} You shut your mouth!

Vernal: Are we going to have a problem?

Yang: {sees she has Myrtenaster} W-where did you find that?

Raven: {nods to Vernal, who goes over to reveal a caged Weiss} We had anticipated your arrival since you stepped foot on Anima. The fact that one of your friends just so happened to be close by gave us the perfect bargaining chip.

Yang: What are you going to do to her?

Raven: Nothing, if you join us. {Weiss looks at Raven, having suddenly figured out that’s what Vernal meant}

Yang: And if I refuse?

Raven then signals Vernal to execute Weiss. Just then, Ruby intervenes and speed blitzes her. Weiss then breaks out of the prison with her summon as JNROQ come in. The group is surrounded by bandits as everyone quickly finds out that Raven is Yang’s mom. Ren is the first to attack, seeing Vernal and believing her to be the child he made friends with back in Kuroyuri. This begins a massive clash that is sure to sate the appetites of those who want to say “RWBY’s about four girls who kick ass” and give a taste of what’s to come.

The group have little time to figure out what’s going on. Just that Ren, Weiss and Nora are fighting Vernal (this is where you have Weiss trying to summon only to get shot by Vernal), Jaune is battling some bandits with Oscar and Heather, and Ruby and Yang try to fight Raven, only for Qrow to interfere and say that Raven’s on a whole different level. Raven retreats and after battling some bandits for quite a bit, Hazel comes out of the tent. Turns out that Fort Castle (the place where Adam fought Sienna) was not too far from Raven’s base. Ruby and Hazel reunite briefly before Hazel apologizes and enters the fray. He makes everyone his bitch and that’s without the Dust Crystals. Heather and Qrow are the only ones to give him an even fight, but he quickly overwhelms them too thanks to his Semblance.

While the group manages to fend off the bandits, it’s clear that with Hazel, Raven, and Vernal, they need to make a retreat, especially since Raven asks Hazel to bring in “that Adam boy”, making Yang go full PTSD mode. However, before they could leave, Hazel defeats Heather. Ruby protests that he shouldn’t kill her, but her pleas fall on deaf ears as he finishes Heather off. Ruby begins to cry and asks why he killed her. Hazel just replies “She made her choice.” The group retreat back to Mistral as we end the episode with Raven going back into the camp as we see that a Seer Grimm is inside her tent.

This reveals a rather big twist: Raven is also in league with Salem’s crew, acting as Huntsmen removal instead of Tyrian and Hazel (since they were too busy with their stuff in Volume 4) and it also explains why Salem and the others aren’t as hard-pressed about the Spring Maiden as they should be. They already have her in their grasps and, were it not for Cinder getting Silver-Eye’d, Cinder would have immediately gained the Spring Maiden powers.

Episode 5

After that rollercoaster of an episode, the story relaxes with Sun trying (comedically) to get people to join in the battle for Haven, only for Blake to stop him and tell him that it’s futile. She just visited her mom, who is currently recovering in the house, and tells Sun that they should just give up and leave. Sun refuses, since he wants to give Adam a thing or two about giving Faunus like him a bad name. Were I to completely redo Sun’s character, I’d definitely see him as Claude from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Blake then explains to Sun who Ilia is, complete with a Burning the Candle-like flashback. This is where her backstory comes in. She then explains who Adam is. We don’t get a flashback and even so, she knows little about him. Just that he came to the White Fang one day, asserted himself, then when Ghira was assassinated, took the reins of the White Fang, leaving Sienna Khan to be a puppet leader. As such, Blake believes that she’s the one who made Adam the monster he is, when audience members can obviously tell that’s not the case. It’s just Blake putting herself down and Sun points out how this is probably something Adam said to her to make her feel small. If you’re not getting it by now, Sun is basically where Blake learns a lot of Adam’s tactics from and eventually, she becomes a much better person at handling Adam’s BS. The reason why he knows all this is from his own personal experience. To ensure there’s no “mystery box” element, I’m gonna nip it in the bud and say his father’s the RWBY version of King Louie… Which given how he sings about wanting “man’s red flower” and how people compare Adam to Mowgli because he killed Sienna Khan…

Oooooooh, this could be really cool but this is a tweak, not a fanfic. FOCUS! … I want to say that Adam was an experiment by Vacuan scientists (read: shamans who prefer using Dust as science) before being dumped to the Schnees as part of a deal and that’s how we got his Semblance being as weird as it is.

Back at Haven’s dorm, RWYJNR are shaken up from the battle, not to mention Ruby having personally seen her friend’s father murder someone before her eyes. Oscar himself is rather shaken up. Qrow is the only person unfazed, but that’s because he’s always drunk instead. While everyone takes their time in recovering, Ruby and Oscar talk about the future, as Heather was an experienced Huntress. This is where the infamous speech comes in, but Ruby doesn’t blame Salem for killing Penny and Pyrrha, rather she blames Cinder, then mentions how she’s a pawn of Salem and expresses doubt if they could beat her.

Cut to the Albains. They have no communications with Adam and so they have to move on their own. One of them decides “let’s kill Kali!” and the other’s like “uh, isn’t that going to cause people to turn against us?” “No, no, it’s okay dude, they can trust us!” all while Ilia is like “… wtf?” and Yuma’s like “only here for a few minutes, use me effectively.”

Episode 6

Qrow investigates and finds that all the other Huntsmen have met unfortunate ends and all assigned to the same quest: stop the bandits. He mutters about how Raven could do such a thing, only to find a young girl crying and asking for her mother. It’s made clear that this is Heather’s kid and Qrow, for the first time in a longass while, begins to feel remorse, if only because he mistook her for Ruby.

We cut to Raven as she has a meeting with Vernal, Hazel, and Adam. It’s clear that RWYJNR are gonna try and return and rather than prepare for a rematch, Raven proposes to nip it in the bud. She also dotes on Adam a bit, saying how he is better than Yang in every way possible. We don’t know the full extent of what she means just yet, but we’ll find out later.

Ren and Yang have a chat about Raven. Ren’s absolutely pissed that Yang’s mother is the person who torched his town and stole his friend (he assumes she’s kidnapped and is being forced to fight against her will) while Yang is just as irritated that Raven tried to use her friend as leverage. Weiss copes with having seen someone die in front of her and Nora comforts her, casually joking that, if Vernal tried that on her, she’d be sorry. Ruby, Oscar and Jaune discuss on what to do going forward, having Ozpin come out so that they can get some sort of advice, much to Jaune’s chagrin.

Ozpin, however, refuses to speak. Before Jaune could get upset with Oz, he cites that even walls have ears. Cut to Yang as she sees a red-eyed raven outside her house. She quickly remembers the red-eyed raven from Patch, both the one that screamed at Ruby and the one that was there when she lost her arm. She instantly goes on the defensive as the bird flies through the window and changes to Raven. Yang asks how she can do that and she merely says “Oz did this to me.” End of episode.

Episode 7

Everyone rushes in as Raven brings in her proposition: Surrender Yang and she’ll spare the rest of the group. Refuse and they will have the fight come to them. Ozpin interjects and offers Yang in trade for the Spring Maiden, to which everyone, Qrow included, goes “WHAT THE ACTUAL F, DUDE!?” The two have a little back and forth as Ozpin makes clear that she chose to have these powers and points out that if she was salty about being able to turn into a bird at free will without any drawbacks, he could gladly take them back by force. This casual threat is enough to make Raven back off, only to warn the others that a storm is coming.

With that, Ozpin is forced to explain quite a bit. This, unfortunately, is where we can’t mince the scene, since Ozpin has to explain what’s going on. I guess the only way to make it more effective is a little back and forth where the characters share what they do know about Ozpin’s magic and Ozpin fills them in on what they don’t. First and foremost, Yang is not upset about Ozpin and BIRDS. The person being upset is Jaune, especially since Ozpin reveals that not only did he create the Maidens in the first place, but also that by “reincarnate” he meant inhabit the body of a young boy. This is made worse when he reveals accidentally that he is able to reincarnate earlier than intended if he chooses to die instead of being killed.

This sets Jaune off since, as far as he can tell, Ozpin is responsible for Pyrrha’s death more than Cinder. Cinder may have killed her, but it’s Ozpin who not only put Pyrrha in that position, but also paved the way for Cinder to overpower her. Before they could get into a tussle, Yang shouts and has Ozpin promise “no more lies, no more half truths”. He obviously lies about promising that and Qrow can see the crossed fingers behind his back.

We then end with Cinder and co arriving to make negotiations with Raven.

Episode 8

The beginning actually stays the same, all things considered. The only massive change is that Yang is not easily convinced to want Blake back because Weiss told her “lol, my mummy was drunk so shut it”. In fact, we see the others talk about Blake and Jaune is the most bitter, even more than Yang, because Blake was a White Fang member and refused to share any information regarding them, which could have led to an easier time dealing with the Fall.

Ruby puts her foot down and tells Jaune to stop being so salty over Pyrrha’s death, but is quickly outvoted since Ren and Nora are also upset that Pyrrha died. She’s frustrated and goes to interrupt Qrow and Ozpin discussing what to do regarding Raven. She asks Ozpin what he knows about the Silver Eyes, saying how it’s the only thing that might incapacitate Vernal. Ozpin tells her he doesn’t know too much about Silver Eyes, as he did not have any himself, but reassures her that the Silver Eyes would have no impact on a Maiden.

Raven and Cinder chat and Cinder makes it clear that it’s time for the Spring Maiden to relinquish her powers to her, reassuring Vernal that she can make it quick and painless. Raven stops Cinder and says that Ruby and the others have set their sights on the Spring Maiden and that if she were to take them now, she’d have a target on her back, reminding Cinder of the Silver Eyes. She then makes a proposal. Salem has given them a blank check on how Haven falls since they have all the cards on the table, so why not kill two birds with one stone… Or rather, kill one crow and seven kids with one army?

Blake’s bit with Ilia stays the same as well, but the difference is that Ilia wants to keep Blake for herself instead of sending her to Adam, saying how she can keep her safe. Yes, this edges her more into the Psycho Lesbian route, but unintentionally. She genuinely cares for Blake’s well-being and not in some sort of yandere bit. Sun intervenes and the group runs back to the house while the guards have a war with the White Fang.

Episode 9

We instantly kick off the Battle of Menagerie instead of a long, drawn out sequence of Raven talking with Cinder. It mostly stays the same, but how the house catches fire is different. Blake sees Ilia in the dark, shoots her and goes “rly?”, though, in the middle of this, the Albains begin to fight amongst each other.

Corsac is willing to kill the Belladonnas for the cause (“THEY’VE GIVEN US NOTHING BUT GRIEF!”) while Fennec is trying to convince him that Adam is a lost cause and they need to replace him. During this scuffle, it’s revealed that Corsac was the one who set up that roadside ambush that killed Ghira, believing that Ghira was weak and that they needed a stronger leader ready to give the Faunus much needed progress. Fennec tells him that all it’s given them is chaos.

The two clash and set the house ablaze. Ilia realizes that Blake would be in immediate danger and struggles to save her instead of seeing the assassination to the end, thus redeeming her as she nearly dies saving Blake. Sun sacrifices himself to get Kali out of the burning building, but its revealed to have been his Semblance at work. When Sun shows up, Blake finally slaps him for realises, and this time, for good reason.

Blake gives her “humans didn’t do this” speech, Ilia playing a recording of Corsac’s hand in Ghira’s death, and this motivates the crowd to fight for Haven. Fennec emerges, heavily burned and carrying his brother’s tattered cloak. He has much to atone for and offers to remain on Menagerie with Kali to establish a new White Fang, giving Blake the task to destroy the old one. Ilia, Sun, and Blake go with the Menagerian army to Haven, with their captain, having comedically been neglected all Volume, finally getting the spotlight… He’s going to steal Robyn’s line of “still here, everyone” because honestly, that has a better spot here than in the show proper.

Episode 10

Lionheart messages the crew that Raven had left Vernal at his office and they go. They know full well it’s a trap and so Qrow elects to stay behind in bird form. Lionheart instantly stammers and freaks as he sees kids and not Qrow.

Lionheart: W-where is Qrow?

Ruby: I don’t know if you’ve heard of us, but we’re Teams RWBY and JNPR. We’ve accomplished many things without an adult to save us or tell us what to do-

Weiss: Uh, technically-

Ruby: {whispers to Weiss} Ssssh! You’re ruining my groove! {speaks to Lionheart} Even though we’re incomplete, our friends are by our side. And that’s why… {she points her sniper rifle at Lionheart} We’re not going to fall for your tricks!

As she fires, a fireball comes out and there’s a large explosion as Cinder flies through the smoke. The Battle of Haven begins as, one by one, the villains enter the fray. First Cinder, then Emerald and Mercury, then Raven and Vernal, and lastly Hazel. Lionheart is reluctant to fight, but Oscar forces his hand.

Meanwhile, outside, Qrow is attacked by Adam and the two duel it out for the episode. Maybe have Qrow quip a line like “so, you’re the one who severed my niece’s arm? Well, why don’t you give me a leg?” and some joke about equivalent exchange that would be funnier if Vic had voiced Qrow in this universe.

I’m not gonna sugar coat it, the Battle of Haven, at least in the opening act, is a battle royale and one that V5 should have been. We have six people going up against six people, each of them taking turns at their opponents and switching out every now and then, the only consistent battle pairings are Qrow vs. Adam and Lionheart vs. Ozpin. By the midway point, though, the fight has been finalized to…

· Jaune vs. Cinder

· Ren vs. Raven

· Weiss vs. Vernal

· Nora vs. Emerald

· Yang vs. Mercury

· Ruby vs. Hazel

Each of them gives their own reason why they’re fighting. Jaune and Ren want to make their opponent pay, Weiss wants Vernal to give her back her weapon (yeah, she never gave it back), Yang is angry that Mercury framed her, Nora tries to help Ren but is interrupted by Emerald, and Ruby fights Hazel to reason with him.

Eventually, the battle comes to a head when Emerald uses her illusion powers and Ruby witnesses it. She quickly realizes she caused Pyrrha to dismantle Penny and goes ballistic. Before Emerald knows it, she gets speed blitzed and beaten up by Ruby’s fists. Ruby then chops off Mercury’s prosthetics as soon as she notices them, knocking both out of the fight. It then becomes a little one-sided as Nora helps Ren fight Raven and Yang helps Ruby fight Hazel, where Ruby gives her “I’m angry” line.

Jaune nearly getting killed by Cinder, along with Weiss’s aura running out and screaming in pain, causes Ruby’s Silver Eyes to go off as it begins to burn Cinder. Cinder gives her a fireball to the chest in desperation, destroying Ruby’s aura and leaving her venerable for a hit. Jaune swings his sword and, while he misses like in the original, gives Cinder a deep cut on her cheek, right below where the burn is. Qrow’s fight with Adam knocks him into the room and Adam waltzes in, giving Yang the PTSD trip of a lifetime, not helped by Adam gloating…

“I didn’t realize that when we fought at Beacon, I was facing Raven’s own daughter… Now I know what she means when she said I was the superior child!”

Boom! Plot twist! Adam’s Raven’s son! Well, adopted son. But still!

Also, Cinder decides to make Jaune’s life a living hell by trying to stab Weiss… But Ruby runs and takes the blow for her, ending the episode.

Episode 11

The episode starts off rather similarly, with the exception of Ruby being the one that’s mortally wounded. Jaune cries and says “we need you!”, which given what he said in Volume 4, fits better.

The major remainder of the fight is focused on fighting Hazel, Lionheart and Adam, as Emerald and Mercury are still out of commission and Cinder, Raven, and Vernal f off to the vault. The two prove to be a powerhouse, especially since Hazel powers up Adam’s Moonslices and Lionheart handing Hazel more Dust Crystals. Ruby heals up and tells Jaune “whatever you’re doing, don’t stop”, only for Jaune to go “then don’t take my hands off the wound!”

Pretty standard battle and we have a reveal that Raven was the true Maiden.

Episode 12

The battle comes to a second head when Blake’s army arrives, forcing Adam to leave the battle and confront Blake. His fight happens like before, but Blake appears behind him instead of in the path of the blade.

Hazel, meanwhile, is not tiring out for a second. Not even a stab from a Lancer is enough to take him out. Ruby comes to and evens out the battle by speed blitzing him. Yang and Blake meet each other for the first time, but as Yang tries to reconcile with Blake, not only is she reminded of the bitter words she gave her in V3, but Adam’s presence makes it a hard-emotional hurdle to break. As soon as Oscar warns Yang that the Relic of Knowledge should not fall in to the wrong hands (during this, he explains what’s so important about the Vault), Yang goes after Raven, Cinder, and Vernal, much to Ruby’s dismay. She ends up losing her arm from Mercury grabbing it.

The Battle of the Bitches remains unchanged because it is GOAT.

Episode 13

The final episode of the Volume (because Volumes 6 & 7 are also 13 episodes long) has Blake defeating Adam, with Sun breaking off one of his horns because Monkey King. Sun gives chase, only for Adam to almost kill him were it not for Ilia saving Sun. You can have it so that Ilia is killed by Adam here.

Blake joins in and we have a fight scene with Hazel & Lionheart vs RWBJNROQ. It’s short, but everyone gets a hit in. Ruby realizes that there’s only one way to stop Hazel. She flies over and aims her sniper rifle at the Dust Crystals on Hazel’s arms. Weiss and Blake hold Hazel down with Glyphs and Shadows as Hazel looks at Ruby. He quickly realizes what she’s doing and asks:

Hazel: What do you think you’re doing!? What would Gretchen think of this?!

Ruby: … You made your choice.

BANG! As the sniper rifle hits the crystal, it triggers a chain reaction that causes Hazel to explode, killing him in the process.

Cut to Yang and Raven. The two have a stand off as Yang begins to piece everything together. We have a flashback of the fall of Kuroyuri, this time from the little girl’s perspective. She’s upset since she brought the Bandits to the place and caused enough havoc to have it be destroyed by Grimm. She protests this to Raven who, having run out of patience for her, stabs her and says how she’ll use her powers in ways she can never imagine, mirroring how Cinder killed Pyrrha.

Yang bitterly calls out Raven for murdering a child and Raven claims it was mercy. They get into a heated argument, but no one wishes to move. It becomes apparent that, with Raven out of aura and Yang without an arm and also having very low aura, this battle will not only be quick, but deadly. And yet, the battle lasts for a good chunk of time as the two try to avoid getting hit, Yang out maneuvering Raven while Raven uses her magic. It ends with Yang delivering a fatal punch to Raven’s gut as Raven lays dying in her arms. Raven warns her that, should she take the Relic, Salem will hunt her down. As such, she refuses to give her the Maiden Powers and dies without Yang in her thoughts. Yang goes to get the Relic, then begins to cry.

Emerald awakens from the sound of the explosion and finds that she is out numbered. She goes all “CINDER WILL TAKE ALL OF YOU OUT!” before Yang comes up and devastates Emerald so much, she makes the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Salem. However, this isn’t a jump scare. Rather, it’s a full-on boss battle as RWBY try to face it like in the opening. While they realize it’s a hallucination, their mind makes it so real that one hit from it is enough to knock Yang out.

Lionheart sees this and, deciding to be brave for the first (and last) time in a long while, stockpiles the remaining Dust Crystals he has and tells the others to get out as he deals with the illusion. Before they do, he tells Oscar to tell the others about his betrayal. Although he was brave in this final moment, he wants everyone to know he was always a coward. He then sets the crystals into overdrive and explodes, taking both him and the illusion out, but also collapsing Haven’s main hall down and with it, the entrance to the Vault.

The group are confronted with police and concerned Faunus… Cut to a few days later as Menagerian Faunus are welcomed with open arms and news of Lionheart’s heroic sacrifice makes headlines. A manhunt is put out for Adam, Emerald, and Mercury, with Cinder being presumed dead.

After having rested for a bit, Ruby confronts Jaune about wanting to kill Cinder and tells him that she doesn’t feel anything good when she hurt Emerald and Mercury and even feels horrible for having killed Hazel. Nora and Ren join in and tell Jaune not to doubt himself for a second. Basically, that bit in V7 is here. RNJR disbands, but not without a tearjerking remark from Jaune where he says that “at least one team is back together”… Not bitterly, surprisingly enough. Oscar joins in and asks Jaune if he’s willing to take him in. Jaune asks for his name so they can figure out how to name themselves and when he hears that it’s Oscar Pine, he just chuckles and says “Well, there’s always JNPR…”

Blake and Yang are clearly shown to not be back together, but Yang is willing to let Blake stay for now because that’s all that matters. Weiss and Ruby talk about Ruby sacrificing herself for Weiss and she chews her out in a rather sweet way. Qrow, meanwhile, pours one out for Raven. She may have been a bitch, but she was still his sister. Oscar comes and calls for a meeting. With the vault no longer accessible for the time being and the Spring Maiden having gone to someone random, they have no choice but to leave for Atlas. There’s a pause before Weiss goes “WHAT THE FU-”

Roll credits.

DVD Exclusive Episode

This is where we have the STRQ flashback episode now that one of the core members is dead. It is a simple how they formed and how they eventually left, with Raven leaving STRQ on her own terms soon after she’s inducted into the shadow war, Summer leaving on her final mission assigned by Ozpin, and Taiyang retiring as a Huntsman. Qrow, the last one, laments on how everyone he loves is gone and is driven to drink more, foreshadowing to his alcoholism spike in V6. Ozpin comes to him and gives him a rather heartwarming speech about how time heals all wounds, using RWBY and JNPR as examples of this.

As he ends the speech, we end on a small girl in the middle of Shion village, now going through a rebuilding, before her eyes flare up and she begins to use gusts of wind to help clean up the debris.

And that’s how you tweak Volume 5. Granted, a lot of stuff has been changed and makes at least one hole in the V6 Tweak, namely the DVD exclusive episode for that. To which I say… Make it an extended look at the beginnings of Remnant 2.0. Apparently, there was a lot more information RT couldn’t squeeze into The Lost Fable, so do that.

With that, the Tweaking Series is finally done. I don’t think I’ll do V8 unless it proves to be just as problematic as V7, V6, or V5. This has been a rather entertaining ride and I hope you guys loved these entries. Adios, amigos.

[pompeiibonzai]

6 Things RWBY Volume 7 Needs to do

With RWBY Volume 7 literally days away, there’s a lot of speculation about what will happen to our heroes in Atlas.  Volume 7 is shaping up to be a pivotal time not only for teams RWBY, JNR, Qrow, Oscar and Maria, but for the series as a whole.  The group has come a long way since leaving Vale and Atlas needs to be the biggest challenge they’ve faced yet. 

With that in mind, here are 6 things that Volume 7 needs to do in order to make this volume stand out. 

1. Focus on Weiss

It can’t be argued that Weiss has come a long way from her introduction in Volume 1.  Volume 4 especially laid the groundwork for Weiss’s development when she chose to forge her own path rather than stay under the cold thumb of her father.

Since then, however, not a lot of attention has been given to Weiss.  We got a touching reunion between her and Yang (and later Ruby) and she certainly kept her cool when she set the Brunswick house on fire to stop the Apathy’s pursuit.  Now, with the party arriving at Atlas, it’s important that the volume take the time to focus on her, her feelings about being back so soon after leaving, reactions regarding what Atlas has become and (hopefully) a showdown between her and her father – or at least Whitley.  Hell, a reunion with Winter would certainly be welcome as would an introduction to the elusive  Willow Schnee.

Of course, I’m not looking for the rest of the cast to take a complete backseat (some attention thrown Oscar’s way and how he’s dealing with his situation, would be nice), but the main focus of the volume when it comes to characterization needs to be on Weiss.  The volume should take the opportunity to develop her character further, work on the relationship between her and Yang that was touched on in Volume 5, and lay the framework for continued relationship building with Blake and Ruby and maybe members of team JNR as well.

2. Show (Don’t Tell) the Civil Unrest in Atlas…and some Faunus Discrimination too.

RWBY has a bad habit of telling us a lot of things, but not actually showing any of it to us.  Volume 5 spent too much time in the teams’ safe house and not enough time out exploring the Kingdom of Mistral.  Not to mention that we have had our ears talked off about how badly the Faunus are treated, but to date have not seen much to back that up.  With the exception of Jinn’s vision in Volume 6, exposition has been given by way of a lot of talking and little showing. 

The trailer for Volume 7 teases us with scenes from a very dark city (Atlas? Mantle?) where the people are very unhappy and we hear a voice over from Weiss observing that “This isn’t right”. 

It’s hopeful that this means we’ll actually get to see the affect the fall of Vale and the subsequent closing of Atlas’s boarders has had on the people of living in the kingdom.  Has Ironwood gone too far with the idea of a military state?  Has martial law been declared?  Are things so bad that civil war threatens to tear apart the country if the grimm don’t get to it first?

Whatever is going on in Atlas, it’s vital that Volume 7 takes the time to show it to us rather than have Ironwood (or anyone else) simply explain the situation to Ruby and the others. In order of us to really grasp how things “are not right”, we need to see it for ourselves.

Same goes for some negative treatment of the Faunus.  Mistreatment, even oppression, of the Faunus has been something repeated again and again over the course of the series, but not something we have actually seen much of.  Granted, it’s not easy to write (much less watch) the cruel treatment of others, however, it is something that needs to be seen in order to carry any kind of weight.  This is especially true if the audience is meant to be sympathetic towards the Faunus.  Considering Atlas is supposed to be the most offending country when it comes to Faunus rights, Volume 7 absolutely must show how the Faunus living there are treated, especially during this time of social strife and unrest.

3. Ruby Learns that there are Consequences to Her Actions

Ruby really came into her own as a leader during the events of Volume 6, something that was a long time coming and was fun and rewarding to watch.  However, there is a significant difference between being a leader and being overconfident to the point where you’re reckless – like diving headfirst up the barrel of a buster cannon during combat.

Part of being a good leader is realizing that your actions have consequences, not only for yourself, but for your team as well.  This is a lesson Ruby hasn’t seemed to have learned yet and one she should have learned back in Volume 4 when she butted into the fight with Tyrian after Qrow told her to stay back.  Qrow, fortunately, recovered from that encounter and for whatever reason, the event has never been brought up again.  Furthermore, Ruby’s “We Don’t Need Adults” speech in Episode 9 of Vol. 6 (Lost) underlines the fact she has a lot to learn when it comes to the idea that her actions have consequences.  Especially considering that no, Ruby, you wouldn’t have gotten to Mistral had it not been for the adults in your life stepping in and helping out.

I will admit that the fight with Tyrian showed Ruby’s sense of responsibility (“I can’t stand by while someone gets hurt”).  However, she hasn’t quite learned about taking responsibility when her actions cause problems for others or puts them directly in harm’s way, or risks her own life needlessly.  Ruby needs to learn this lesson and she needs to learn it the hard way. 

We all make mistakes.  Let Ruby make her own that have serious repercussions not only for her but to those who follow her. Let her face those repercussions.  Doing so will not only make her more relatable as a character, but will help her to continue to grow into the great leader and hero she is being set up to be rather than being a girl who can do no wrong (even when she does).  

4. A Limit to the Silver Eyes

Ruby has learned to control her Silver Eyes too easily and too quickly. Yes, it took her two tries in order to use them on the Leviathan at the end of Volume 6, and she didn’t freeze it permanently, but she still was able to do it just with the meager information Maria had given her earlier in the volume.

The other two times Ruby used her eyes she was under great emotional distress and she had little to no control over what she was doing, much less an understanding of what she was doing.  This is what made the concept of Silver Eyes so appealing and so mysterious.  The appeal was taken even further when it became obvious that not a lot of people knew anything about the Silver Eyes (if anyone did at all), and that Ruby was going to have to figure it out on her own and we would figure it out with her. 

However, by the end of Volume 6, and after one conversation with Maria (in which the huntress didn’t provide Ruby with much information we didn’t already know), Ruby seems able to use her eyes no problem and against a gigantic beast that was supposed to be an imposing threat against Argus.  The issue here is since she was able to use her power on something so imposing, any time she doesn’t use it on much smaller grimm will come across as being forgetful at best and negligent at worst.  It also mitigates any threat the grimm still have, turning them into more of an annoyance than anything else. 

This can be avoided, however, if Ruby learns that there is some kind of limit to her power.  I’m inclined to believe that there is considering that in Maria’s flashback, she only used her eyes against one nevermore and only after she had defeated the first using her weapons.  This is only a theory, of course, but a limitation on the power will keep it from becoming too powerful too quickly and keep the grimm a reasonable threat. 

5. A Reconciliation (of sorts) with Ozpin

Volume 6 changed Ozpin from a righteous and wise figure our heroes followed without question and humanized him, giving him flaws and faults and casting him in shades of grey.  I loved every minute of it! 

But Ozpin has had his time to brood and has made it clear that he hasn’t completely retreated to the recesses of Oscar’s mind.  So, now is the time for him to attempt to reach back out to the people who are still carrying on his mission, with or without him.

Let’s be clear here: Ozpin was 100% in the wrong for keeping secrets from those who were loyal to him. However, I can sympathize with his reasoning and I can certainly sympathize with the overall reaction from Team RWBY and Qrow when his secrets finally came to light.  But here is the main take away from this scenario: no one is absolutely right or absolutely wrong.  No one is meant to be.  It isn’t about who is right and who is wrong.  I mentioned this before, but its about taking responsibility for the decisions you’ve made, right or wrong, good intentions or no.  

I’m not talking about total forgiveness here.  There was a gross betrayal of trust on Ozpin’s part and he should have to work hard to gain that trust back.  However, having him reach out to the group, and having them respond (perhaps having an actual conversation about what happened), would provide for some fantastic character moments during quieter scenes.  It would also be a great parallel for Ruby, as she too comes to understand that there are consequences for her decisions as well. 

6. A Defeat at Atlas

The end of Volume 3 changed everything for RWBY.  Though technically Ruby, her team and her friends weren’t completely defeated at Vale (the relic there still remains unclaimed...as far as we have been told...), they were shown for the first time that there are forces closer than they think that are incredibly strong and just how unprepared they were to face them.

Volume 7 needs to do something similar.  The convergence of Watts, Tyrian, Cinder and Salem (along with her flying monkeys) on Atlas at once is the perfect time for our antagonists to re-establish their threat to RWBY and Co., as well as to us as an audience.  Salem, especially, needs to continue to be a considerable looming threat and its time that she come out of the shadows to show our heroes just what she is capable of and why their mission against her is so important.  

Now, I’m not calling for Atlas to come crashing down to the ground (though wouldn’t that be a spectacle), but the group needs to experience some kind of loss – either the loss of a relic, a maiden or even a teammate – to show them how far they still have to go if they ever hope to stand up to Salem…much less the gods themselves.

There you have it.  The 6 things that (I think) RWBY Volume 7 needs to do in order for it to be as epic as I think it could be.  There are a couple other things that I’d like to see this volume: Some good team combos (we got a great teaser with Weiss and Ren in the scene that was recently released), learning more about Summer (come on!  Its been 7 years, throw us a bone already!) and Ironwood sporting the world’s best beard.  However, that’s more of a wish list and doesn’t really have a lot of baring on whether or not the story will be good.  Maybe I’ll do a post sometime between now and when the volume premiers talking about that.  Maybe.

[firestorm26621]

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2020

A new year is upon us, and with it being such a visually impressive numbered year as 2020, it’s hard not to think we’re living in the future.  For me, though, it mostly means another year full of movies, many of which I’m very much looking forward to.  

So, without any further ado, here are the ten I’m looking forward to the most...

#10 – A Quiet Place Part II

A Quiet Place was #4 on my list of favorites movies of 2018; at that time I praised it for being tense and riveting but mostly for doing an excellent job of using the monster scenario to illustrate its themes of anxious parenthood in a dangerous world.  A sequel, in theory, was probably not a good idea, especially considering the track record on sequels to horror movies in general.  And yet, I still find myself excited; it has the same hand behind the wheel and cast, and the trailer looks like it is maintaining the intensity if nothing else.  This one has the greatest potential to disappoint, but I remain cautiously optimistic.

#9 – The King’s Man

The first Kingsman movie was a fun blast that walked a fine line between bad-ass, charismatic action and goofy, over-the-top comedy, and it did it wonderfully.  The second film fell way over that line, becoming a goofy pile of cartoony gimmicks.  Thus, I was very nervous when I heard they were making a third, but based on the trailer, they are trying their best to reclaim some of the more serious elements that worked the first time.  Plus, I think it was a smart move to make it a brand new story with new characters in a new time period, as it allows them to make unburden themselves of the weight of the previous films.  I won’t be terribly disappointed if this ends up being bad, but I will be very happy if it rights the Kingsman ship and recaptures the charm of the first.

#8 – The Gentlemen

Guy Ritchie is making another gangster movie, and I am here for it.  In all honesty, I kind of fell off with Ritchie as a director over the last ten years; Aladdin could have been directed by anyone, the Sherlock movies are fine at best, and his takes on King Arthur & The Man From UNCLE were genuinely bad.  He can bring his style to anything he directs, but it seems he has devolved from gritty yet charming film-making to be more of a director-for-hire, without much artistic vision in place.  But go back in time, to RocknRolla and Snatch and Lock Stock, and he could bring a style that no one has been able to replicate to date.  With this, I hope he can bring the old magic back, even if it’s been absent for a whole decade.

#7 – Black Widow

This one is a pure MCU fanboy entry, for sure, but I can’t help it.  I’ve wanted a Black Widow for a long time, since back when it would have actually made sense in the timeline.  I do still think this timing is odd, but it is absolutely a case of better late than never.  I’m unfamiliar with the director who seems to have done television and a couple female-led thrillers which I haven’t seen.  But what’s really exciting is the trailer, which recalled the way The Winter Soldier trailer played out, and since that is still my favorite MCU movie, I’m alright with getting my hopes up.

#6 – Top Gun: Maverick

This one is a bit of a surprise to me to be excited about.  I have no real nostalgic feelings for the original, I think I saw it far too late for that.  Instead, I recognized it as a pretty great, if dated, action drama full of repressed homoeroticism and a very cool style (I’d later fall in love with Tony Scott’s style, but I didn’t know who he was at the time).  No, as fun as that movie is, my excitement for this has nothing to do with then, but now.  Namely, the two names attached, the director Joseph Kosinski has been doing solid films with fantastic visual styles for a few years, and recently proved he can do films with real heart with Only the Brave; and then, of course, there is Tom Cruise, who has reinvented himself in the last few years as a high intensity, all-or-nothing, thrill-seeker willing to go to any lengths to put dangerous scenarios on the screen.  The kind of person who would actually learn how to fly a fighter jet for a movie; which seems like a good fit here.

#5 – The Personal History of David Copperfield

Armando Iannucci is one of my favorite comedic directors working right now.  His comedy is of a sly, sharp, often cunningly cruel variety while also somehow seeming whimsical, which is a feat.  With Veep ending, it leaves a hole where I can experience bad people saying mean things to each other in hilarious fashion, and this will fill that nicely.   Add to that a fantastic and sizable cast, which is an almost given for his work now, and I can’t wait for this one.

#4 – No Time to Die

The Bond franchise is wildly varied in quality, especially Daniel Craig’s run, going up and down in succession for years.  I still think Daniel Craig is the best Bond we’ve had, and I still think his first entry, Casino Royale, is the best Bond film, it’s just that the franchise has changed hands so many times and everyone seems to have different ideas of what he should be, which leads a bizarre jump where he goes from brand new 007 in one film to aged, retiring Bond in the next.  So, for the most part, I’m trying to take these one at a time, not together, and basing my estimations of them by who is helming them.  And this one is being helmed by none other than Cary Fukunaga, a director who exudes artistic vision.  I haven’t loved everything he’s done, but nothing has been middling; he swings for the fences with everything he makes, and so I’m very excited for what kind of vision he’s going to bring to the latest in the 007 series.

#3 – Last Night in Soho

I know almost nothing about this one, but it’s a new Edgar Wright movie, and that’s really all I need.  Seriously, there is a very vague description about a girl time traveling to meet her fashion icon, but it honestly doesn’t matter what it’s about, Wright never fails to bring his intricate, precise, magnetically charming style to anything he does, so a new movie from him after three years without is all I need to get excited about it.

#2 – Tenet

Much like the previous entry, I don’t need anything else to get excited for a Christopher Nolan movie.  He’s an unmatched storyteller who revels in complexity and telling stories in unconventional ways, and with this one, he is going back to messing around with time, something he seems to love doing, with a story that seems set to dig down into that particular inclination to an extremely high degree.  The first trailer was promising if vague, and that’s perfect; I don’t want to know any more about what I’m going see, I trust Nolan to take me on a memorable, mind-bending ride.

#1 – Dune

I don’t want to say that this film was crafted specifically for me, but it just might have been.  Dune is my favorite book of all time, and I’ve read a good number in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, but it has eclipsed all of them with the sheer power of its ideas; ideas that have lodged themselves firmly in my head and formed a good deal of my personal philosophies.  And then, it is being directed by Denis Villeneuve who is one of, if not the single greatest director working today. Sicario was one of my favorite movies of 2015.  Arrival was my absolute favorite movie of 2016.  Blade Runner 2049 was my favorite movie of 2017, and one of my favorite of the decade.  And unless something disastrous happens, there is very little chance that Dune does not become one of my favorite films of all time.  How’s that for getting my hopes up?

[tonotbelionized]

Character Allusions

The world of RWBY has many influences from our world in its world building, culture and story, and the main influence in the show is the allusion that every character has to a tale. Whether this is a fairy tale, a legend, or mythology, there’s hints to what each character represents not only in their name, but also their outfits and stories.

RWBY has many characters that you are able to figure out, even if it takes some time, and can even have a secondary allusion in regards to other characters. Volume 1 is the easiest to decide in the show, with all the characters having clear influence from their fairy tales so that the audience are able to decide; Ruby Rose is clearly Little Red Riding hood not only from her name and English inspired outfit, but her trademark red hood and the hints given in show, noticeable Roman’s nickname of her being “Little Red”. 

The other characters are the same. We can see Snow White with Weiss or Joan of Arc with Jaune, but it seems that as we go further into the show, a once key aspect of the story telling has now fallen behind.

Characters With Hardly Any Allusions

Carrying on after Volume 1, we still have characters that we can determine their allusion easily enough; Neptune is clearly the Roman God of the Sea, and has a interesting secondary allusion in Zhu Bajie, the pig companion with a shared habit of hitting on every woman he saw, connecting Neptune to Sun’s primary allusion of Sun Wukong. The same can be said about Mercury with his allusion connected to the Roman God Mercury.

However, there are characters that really don’t seem to have an allusion, or at least one that can be determined. Neo’s outfit is based of a gender bent Roman cosplayer, but there’s nothing to suggest what her allusion actually is, with some thinking that she could be Mary Poppins because of her umbrella, or even Tinkerbell. The problem is that more casual viewers who don’t know about this cosplayer, would not know what Neo’s outfit means and the allusion is lost.

Another example is Maria, with her outfit and character taking heavy influence from the Mexican holiday Dias de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. It’s especially seen in her heavy skull usage in her outfit, and the sugar skull mask that she wore in her younger days. However no other character has been based on an actual holiday, so actually determining if this is Maria’s allusion or not can get a bit muddled.

The most noticeable one out of the people in both Kali and Taiyang. Taiyang’s team are all based on poems; Summer Rose from Last Rose of Summer by Thomas Moore, Qrow and Raven are meant to be Muninn and Huginn from the poem Grímnismál, but Taiyang doesn’t have a clear poem that he’s based off. There’s nothing about him besides his obviously Chinese name that would give us a hint on where to start. We can’t even go off Yang’s Goldilocks allusion to decide because Goldilocks didn’t have a father in the tale, nor does Tai fit any of the bears.

And Kali doesn’t even have the same allusion to the Jungle Book as Ghira. Her outfit has nothing unique that could point us in the direction to figure it out, and in all honesty she just looks like an older Blake. This isn’t necessarily the problem given that Summer looks like an older Ruby, but at least Summer had the name to connect her to the poem, and the fact that the last words on her grave is directly connected to the line of the poem. There’s nothing about Kali Belladonna that could point her to be an allusion for the Hindu Goddess Kali.

She has no blue on her outfit at all, her outfit is Japanese influenced rather than Indian with her hakama pants and kimono, and nothing in her story points to the Goddess of Death and Destruction apart from the fact that Kali is also seen as a symbol for motherly love, and RWBY Kali is one of the best mothers in the cast. 

This isn’t the only thing about RWBY’s allusions, as the writers have even gone the other way and made it that the allusion is all that the character is without anything new about it.

Too On the Nose Allusions

The main culprit of this problem is Leo Lionheart. It makes sense for him to be the Cowardly Lion, he’s one of the headmasters and part of Ozpin’s Inner Circle, where everyone else has an allusion that connects to Ozpin’s Wizard of Oz theme. However, the others have their allusions in subtle ways and have more to their characters than just being that allusion.

Leonardo doesn’t. He’s a turncoat yes, but we spend all of his scenes being told that he’s doing this because he’s afraid of Salem, that he feels like he can’t fight against her, that he’s a coward. I don’t hate his character, but there has to be more to Leo than just being a coward and a turncoat, the problem is that the show never show us more to him. The very first thing that is established in Volume 5 is Leonardo getting shocked by Team RNJR and Qrow, and faints in fright.

After that, he seemed to be a reasonable leader that’s doing the best he can given that Ozpin is dead and everyone is at each other’s throats, especially with James’ downward spiral mentally and Glynda being kept at Vale to help with the situation. He’s a perfect counterpart to Qrow’s impatient personality and seemed someone that the group needs to calm them all down, and then every scene afterwards throws it out of the window.

We could’ve learned exactly how Leonardo decided it was futile to fight against Salem. Did he learn by the lamp given it only had two wishes when the heroes grabbed it? Did he see what Salem could do? Does he know about Ozpin’s past if he did use the wish? Not only that, but he’s the only Faunus headmaster of the four and lives in a country that has less than favorable views on the Faunus. How did he rise so far in rank despite the disadvantages set against him? Did Ozpin help him with that? What was their relationship even like?

There’s nothing to his character, so much so that no one even cared about his death at the end of Volume 5, and it wasn’t even a fitting way for him to go. He was caught by the Seer and stabbed to death while pitifully begging for his life. All while Salem coldly calls him a coward. We know. He’s a coward, it’s all that’s ever said about Leonardo, and I wish that they had given him something more than that.

Characters Allusions to Each Other

One thing that RWBY can do well is the characters not only having allusions to themselves, but also being able to connect with other characters too. From Yang’s trailer, we have Junior who serves as an allusion to little bear from the Goldilocks fairy tale, this connects him to Yang and her character. Not only that,  he also serves as the Bear Prince to Melanie and Militia Malachite’s Snow White and Rose Red. This level of detail is very well done and makes the characters feel more connected to each other, rather than just being random fairy tale characters thrown into a world with guns. 

Junior isn’t even a main example, Qrow Branwen is another well done example. While his allusion to the scarecrow mostly on the surface given that he is fairly smart, compared to James’ more obvious character being a man with trust issues having to learn to let people in his heart, there’s still enough to connect him to Ozpin’s Wizard of Oz motif. On top of that, both he and Raven are connected to Ozpin as Odin’s crow and raven; Muninn and Huginn. They were given powers to turn to birds so that they could spy for Ozpin, further leading to this allusion.

However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments were the show trips up. the Belladonna family is the most awkward one that comes to mind, especially when remembering that Blake’s main allusion is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Ghira is obviously Bagheera from the Jungle Book, but that only means he’s connected to Sienna’s Shere Khan, as there’s nothing to point to Belle and Bagheera.

The exact same thing can be said for Kali. As mentioned before, we don’t even know her allusion, and if it is Kali the Hindu Goddess, then there’s nothing connecting the two. It goes even further that nothing connects Kali’s allusion to Blake’s despite being her mother. Neither of her parents share a connection to Blake, and it seems that the writers forgot this as the only person who fits into this story is Adam.

He’s the Beast who never got over his Beauty leaving and as a result was never redeemed, and he’s also the Gaston in the story with Blake and Yang. While Adam can be seen as other legends, such as the Demon Bull King in connection to Sun, his main allusion was made so that he fits in with Blake and the two feel connected. Her parents don’t have that.

This further continues on the last point.

Cultural Inspiration to the Character’s Allusion

With a character that is an allusion to a tale or a legend, the show takes care to physically connect their appearance and name to the origin of the fairy tale. Weiss Schnee is German for White Snow, as the original Snow White tale is German, and this goes further into her family as they all have a snow and a northern European theme. 

Winter Schnee is based off the Snow Queen, a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen and is Danish. Jacques Schnee - Gele is based of Jack Frost, a French name with a fairy tale that is thought to come from Anglo-Saxon and Norse origins. Even Klein the butler is given a Germanic name and is based off the Seven Dwarves, connecting him directly to Weiss’ Snow White theme. 

The same can be said for Ruby and her mother, with both their allusions being English and Irish in origin. While Yang’s allusion to Goldilocks is different with her Chinese influence, it also adds to another allusion for her being Fenghuang, a Chinese legend of birds coming from the union of a dragon and a raven, heavily playing into Yang’s parents being Taiyang and Raven. This means her Chinese influence makes sense, it also ties her to her parents more.

Blake’s influences are all over the place. Her fairy tale is French, and her Volume 1 - 3 outfit reflects the French aspect, with her coat tails and frills on her shirt. She loses that French aspect in her later outfits. Her pyjamas and weapon are clearly Japanese inspired, she has a katana that can turn into a kusarigama with the help of her ribbon. While this isn’t as bad before Volume 4, the inclusion of her family further muddles it. Ghira and Kali’s allusions are Indian fairy tales, but Kali’s outfit is once again Japanese inspired while Ghira’s has no cultural inspiration that I can figure out.

Then there’s the fact that Menagerie is heavily inspired by not only Australia for its deadly wildlife and past connections of criminals and undesirables being sent there, but also Pacific Countries like Hawaii because of the name of the towns and it’s plant life, like the coconut and palm trees there. However, someone did point out that the houses and architecture of Menagerie are once again Japanese inspired. 

Even Blake’s name further muddles things because Blake is Old English, it’s not even French like Belle’s name, and her surname is Italian. All the other main characters have names that flow with the same language. Weiss Schnee is German, Yang Xiao Long is Chinese, Ruby Rose is English, even Team JNPR follows this, but Blake doesn’t.

Unlike the rest of the girls, this mess of different cultures being mashed together leaves the Belladonna’s lacking that same cohesion that the rest of the families have. It has the knock on effect that people who want to give face claims to Blake simply don’t know what ethnicity she would be. It’s easy to cast Yang as Chinese and White because of Raven and Taiyang, same goes for Ruby, and Weiss is clearly white, but Blake’s is just confusing and can lead to infighting in the fandom. 

I feel like this could’ve been avoided if Ghira and Kali shared at least one of Blake’s inspiration, either the French or the Japanese side, and if Blake followed the same line of thought that her friends do. Give her a French name to connect her to Belle, rather than mixing it all together.

That’s all that I have to say about the show’s handlement of allusions. In all honesty, with the show carrying on, it’s not that big of a deal as it was at the beginning, but I wish that it was still given the same amount of thought because when RT gets it right, they get it really right. We see it in the latest volume with Tock, we know what she’s meant to be, her design is cool and it all connects to the crocodile from Peter Pan. 

Thanks for reading guys!

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Thor

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe....

As We Look At The First Movie With The God Of Thunder, Thor...

This Film Sees Thor (Played By Chris Hemsworth) Being Banished To Earth By His Father Odin After Reigniting A Dormant War, Stripped Of His Powers, Thor Seeks To Return To Asgard When His Brother, Loki (Played Memorably By Tom Hiddleston) Seeks To Take The Throne Of Asgard For Himself, Will Thor Return To Asgard In Time To Stop His Evil Brother?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Thor...

The Movie Starts At Night On The Planet Earth As Jane Foster (Played By Natalie Portman) Erik Selvig (Played By Stellan Skarsgård) And Jane's Assistant, Darcy (Played By Kat Dennings, Who Is Apparently The Jar Jar Binks Of This Film) Who Are There To Monitor Atmospheric Disturbances Which Tie Into Jane's Work...

Eventually Finding Something, They Drive Off To See Whatever It Is But When They Drive Into It They End Up Crashing Into A Guy With Blonde Hair And A Beard, This Leads To An Introduction By Odin (Played By Hannibal Lecter Himself, Sir Anthony Hopkins)

(Start At 3:02)

Showing His Sons, Thor And Loki The Casket Of Endless Winter, Thor Promises His Father That He'll Hunt Them Down And Slay Them All, However Odin Tells Him That A Wise King Does Not Seek War, But He Must Always Be Ready For It....

Years Later, Thor Is Ready To Ascend To The Throne Of Asgard With His Brother Loki And His Friends, The Warriors Three (Hogun (Played By Tadanobu Asano) Fandral (Played By Once Upon A Time's Josh Dallas) And Volstagg (Played By The Punisher)) And Lady Sif (Played By Jaime Alexander) By His Side...

But When 3 Frost Giants Break Into The Weapons Vault At Asgard, Odin Destroys Them With The Prototype Version Of Cyclops So, Him, Thor And Loki Can Come Down To See What Happened...

Seeing This As A Possible Threat To Their Boarders, Thor Suggests Going To Their Homeworld Of Jotunheim To Teach Them A Lesson So They Won't Dare Cross Their Boarders Again, However With Odin Seeing This As Just An Isolated Incident That Will Never Happen Again As The People Behind It Have Paid With Their Lives, Odin Tells Thor No...

Having A Major Temper Tantrum In The Dining Hall Because Daddy Won't Let Me Have My Way...

Loki Goes To Talk With Thor To Say That Despite What Odin Thinks He Thinks He's Right, Saying That If The Frost Giants Broke In Once, They'll Do It Again...

Which Sounds Right...

Thor Is Right, The Frost Giants Broke The Truce And They Should Be Going To War But Odin Is Like "These Things Do Happen" Bull! Something Needs To Be Done And Just Simply Raising Security Is Not Enough...

Deciding To Go To Jotunheim With Loki, Sif And The Warriors Three, They Race To The Bifrost Where They Try To Convince Heimdall (Played By Idris Elba) To Help Them, Which He Only Does Because He's Pissed Off A Frost Giant Got Passed His Watch And He Wants To Know Why...

Once On Jotunheim, They Meet The Ruler Of This Frosty Realm...

(Start At 0:17, End At 1:46)

No, No, Not Him!

This Guy, Laufey, Who Tells Thor That The House Of Odin Is Full Of Traitors, He Doesn't Know What His Actions Will Unleash And That He Should Leave Now While He Still Allows It, Which They Start To But One Lousy Frost Giant Couldn't Shut His Mouth

(Start At 2:07, End At 4:28)

Being Chased By Frost Monsters, Odin Eventually Appears To Try To Barter Peace With Laufey, But It Is Too Late And Laufey Declares War On Asgard...

Taking Them All Back To Asgard, Odin Argues With Thor About What He Has Done And For His Actions, Odin Takes Away Mijonir From Thor And Banishes Him To Earth And Sends Us Back To Where The Film Began With Jane And Her Team Finding Thor...

Believing Him To Be On Drugs Or Something, Darcy Tazers Him And They Take Him To The Hospital Only For Thor To Attack The Doctors And Nurses When He Comes To...

Meanwhile On The Other Side Of New Mexico, A Driver Comes Across A Big Crater Where Mijonir Landed And Tries To Pull It Out Only To Be Unsuccessful...

Back At Their Lab, Jane And Her Team Go Over The Data Of What Happened Last Night And Discover That Whatever It Was Had The Characteristics Of An Einstien-Rosen Bridge Otherwise Known As A Wormhole...

Coming Across A Picture Of What Looks Like A Man Inside Of The Wormhole, Jane Races To The Hospital To Get Thor...

Strapped Down After Trying To Escape By Beating The Living Hell Out Of Doctors And Nurses, Thor Somehow Manages To Break Free Before Jane And Her Team Get There...

However, When They Go To Leave, They End Up Running Thor Over Again...

Do You Just Run People Over On A Regular Basis, Jane?

Meanwhile At The Crater With Mijonir, Millions Of People Are Around The Area Trying To Get It Out Like It's The Sword In The Stone...

Hell, Even Stan Is Getting Involved...

Stan Lee Cameo!

But While Everyone Tries To Get It Out, A Car Arrives On A Hilltop, With The Driver Getting Out Of The Car, We See That It's Phil Coulson (Played By Clark Gregg) Who's There To Redo The End Credit Scene From Iron Man 2 For The People Who Didn't See The Film Which Is Most Likely The People Who Live Under A Rock Or Martin Scorsese...

Jane Gets Thor Some Clothes Along With An Easter Egg To Dr. Donald Blake, While On Asgard, The Warriors Three And Sif Are Missing Thor. However, They Soon Wonder How The Guards Found Out, This Leads Loki To Admit That He Told Them, However He Had No Idea That Odin Would Banish Thor For What He Did...

Sif Asks Loki To Convince Odin To Change His Mind But Despite Loving Thor More Than Any Of Them, Loki Knows How Arrogant, Reckless And Dangerous Thor Is And He Believes That That Is Not What Asgard Needs Right Now...

As Loki Walks Away, Hogun Remembers What Laufey Said About The House Of Odin Being Full Of Traitors, Stating That A Master Of Magic Could Bring 3 Frost Giants Into Asgard, But Sif, Fandral And Volstagg Just Dismiss The Idea...

Meanwhile In The Weapons Room In Asgard, Loki Grabs The Casket Of Endless Winter Only To Be Confronted By Odin Who Discovers That Touching It Has Briefly Transformed Loki Into A Frost Giant...

(Start At 0:50, End At 2:22)

With Loki Mad At His Father For This, Odin Soon Faints And Falls Into What He Calls The Odinsleep...

Taking Thor For Food, Him Along With Jane And Her Team Hear About A Crater Where A Satellite Crashed In The Desert, But When They Say That No One Could Lift It, Thor Knows That It's His Hammer And Asks The Gentlemen Where It Is And They Tell Thor Where It Is Only To Warn Him That Feds Showed Up...

Walking In The Middle Of The Road With Jane And Her Team Following, Thor Tells Jane That If She Helps Him Reclaim Mijonir, He'll Tell Her Everything She Needs To Know. But Selvig Tells Jane Not To Go Because He Believes Thor To Be A Delusional Nut So Jane Doesn't Go With Him And They Just Walk Off Only To Get Screwed By Coulson And S.H.I.E.L.D. Who Take Everything From Them...

And I Do Mean Everything, Their Data, Their Facts Their Scientific Equipment...Everything Without Even Saying Please...

With Their Research Gone, Erik Lays Down A Reference To Bruce Banner Before We Go Back To Asgard To See That With Thor Gone And The Allfather Deep In The Odinsleep, Loki Has Been Placed In Charge Of Asgard...

(Start At 0:40, End At 1:49)

Jane Decides To Help Thor By Driving Him To The Crater Site Which Has Been Taken Over By Coulson And S.H.I.E.L.D. Sneaking Under The Gate, Thor Fights Dozens Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Soldiers While Coulson Gets Clint Barton (Played By Jeremy Renner) To Try To Take Thor Down From Above, But Eventually Reaching Mijonir Thor Tries To Grab It Only To Discover That He Cannot Lift It As He Is Not Worthy...

Arrested By S.H.I.E.L.D. Guards, Coulson Interrogates Thor Only To Get Nothing Out Of Him. Once Coulson Leaves, Loki Appears To Thor...

(Start At 1:10, End At 3:09)

Getting Selvig To Help Her After A Talk About How Magic Is Just Science That They Don't Understand, Selvig Goes Down To The S.H.I.E.L.D. Site To Free Thor, By Stating That He Was Upset That They Took Their Research And The Reason He Was Able To Take Down Their Soliders Is Because He's A Health Nut On Steroids...

Buying Selvig's Story, Coulson Lets Thor Go, But Before He Leaves, Thor Manages To Get Ahold Of A Book That Belongs To Jane...

Taking Thor To A Bar To Talk, They Get A Few Drinks Which Ends In Selvig Getting Drunk To The Point That Thor Has To Carry Him Back To Jane's Trailer...

Meanwhile On Jotunheim, Laufey Has A Visitor In The Form Of Loki, Who Tells Him That He Was The One Who Let The Frost Giants Into Asgard Mainly Because He Wanted To Ruin Thor's Big Day. Offering To Conceal Laufey And A Few Of His Soldiers In Asgard So He Can Kill Odin And Take Back The Casket Of Endless Winter, Laufey Accepts...

Travelling Back To Asgard, Heimdall Tells Loki That He Couldn't See Him On Jotunheim Which Has Him Suspecting That Loki Was The One Who Brought The Frost Giants Into Asgard...

But Telling Heimdall To Never Question Him As He Is King And To Not Open The Bifrost To Anyone Until He Has Repaired The "Damage" That Thor Has Caused, Loki Exits...

Talking Outside With Thor, He Gives Jane Her Book Before Telling Her Everything She Wants To Know And Where He Comes From...

Back On Asgard, Fandral And Volstagg Are At The Point Of Fighting Before Sif And Hogun Unite Them When They Realize What They Must Do And That's Go To Earth To Get Thor Back. Going To Heimdall At The Rainbow Bridge After Hearing Them With His Powers, He Somewhat Helps Them...

And Somewhat Helps Them, I Mean He Walks Out, Leaves His Sword That Opens The Bifrost And Lets The Warriors Three And Lady Sif Use It To Go To Earth..

Seeing The Bifrost Being Opened, Loki Sends The Destroyer To Detroy Thor And His Companions...

Arriving On Earth, The Warriors Three And Sif Go Into Town To Try To Find Thor Only To Be Spotted By S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents On The Rooftops...

No, No, No, You Twit! This Is Robin Hood..

He Was Prince Charming...

Eventually Finding Thor, He Tells Them What Loki Told Him Only For Sif To Tell Thor That Odin's Alive And He's Been Lied To...

Confronting Heimdall Who Knows The Truth Now, He Fights Loki After Loki Dismisses Him From His Job Of Gatekeeper Only For Loki To Freeze Him With The Casket Of Endless Winter

Arriving At The Site Where The Warriors Three And Sif Landed, Coulson And His Agents Watch As The Destroyer Arrives On Earth...

(Start At 0:38)

Talking With The Destroyer, Knowing That Loki Is Watching, Thor Tells His Brother That Whatever He Has Done To Lead Him To This, He Truly Is Sorry But Taking Their Lives Will Not Gain Him Anything So Instead He Offers Up His, And The Destroyer Kills Him Only For Thor To Be Brought Back To Life By Mijonir As He's Proven Himself Worthy Enough To Regain His Powers To Destroy The Destroyer...

Confronted By Coulson Who Says It's Obvious That He Hasn't Been Telling Him The Truth. Thor Tells Coulson That They Fight For The Same Cause And To Consider Him An Ally If They Return The Items They Stole From Jane, Which Coulson Promises To Return...

Taking Jane, To The Bifrost Site With The Warriors Three And Sif Going There In Selvig's Car, Heimdall Breaks Free Of Loki's Ice Prison And Opens The Bifrost To Bring Thor And The Others Home....

But Before He Leaves, Thor Promises To Return For Jane Which Ends Up With Them Kissing...

But While Thor And The Others Were On Their Way To The Bifrost And Heimdall Was Still Frozen, Loki Brought Laufey And His Frost Giants Into Asgard To Kill Odin But When Laufey Goes To Kill Odin, Loki Double Crosses Him And Kills Him Instead...

Making The Attack Look As If It Was Orchestrated By The Frost Giants, Thor Arrives To Reveal All Of Loki's Lies...

Blasting Thor Out Of Odin's Room, Thor Flies To The Bifrost As Loki Heads There To Release The Full Power Of The Bifrost On Jotunheim To Destroy The Entire Planet...

(Start At 0:28)

Realizing That He Can't Stop This, Thor Decides Instead To Destroy The Bifrost With Mijonir, Knowing That He Will Never See Jane Again..

But When The Bifrost Is Destroyed Loki And Thor Are About To Go Over The Edge But Luckily, Odin Wakes From His Odinsleep To Save His 2 Sons, However After Telling His Father That He Did This For Him, Loki Lets Go Of His Staff Only To Supposedly Fall To His Death...

Holding A Celebration/Funeral Over The Return Of Thor And The Loss Of Loki, Thor Talks With His Father, He Tells Thor That He Will Be A Wise King But Thor Admits That He Has A Lot To Learn And Says That Someday He Will Make His Father Proud, However Odin Says That He Is Already Proud Of Him Before He Walks Away...

Headed To The Rainbow Bridge (Can't Really Say The Bifrost As The Bifrost Is Gone) Thor Talks With Heimdall Asking If He Can See Jane, Saying That He Can He Tells Thor That She Is Searching For Him...

After The Credits Roll, We Get The End Credits Scene Of The Film Which Shows Selvig Meeting With Nick Fury (Played Again By Samuel L. Jackson) Who Is Impressed By His Work With Jane Foster And Shows Him The Tesseract In Which He Needs His Help Adapting It In Someway...

Looking In A Mirror, We See That Loki Is Alive As He Puts Words In Selvig's Mouth...

This Film Is...Pretty Good...

Alot Of People Complain That This Is Just A Fish Out Of Water Story With Only Best Scenes Being In Asgard But Me, I Just Like This Movie, The Stuff With Thor And Loki And Thor And Jane Is Interesting And I Love The Fight Scenes, I Love The Warriors Three And Sif As Well As The Stuff With Darcy (I Know I'm Going To Get Alot Of Hate For This But I'm Sorry I Like The Character, I Thought Anthony Hopkins Was Good, I Thought Asgard Was Amazing As Well As The New Mexico Setting, It Was Just A Good Film And I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[stokan]

Top 20 Things of 2018

1.) Beychella How do you make a long awaited surprise album between two of the biggest names in music that is also one of the year’s best feel like complete afterthought? Set the bar as high as Beyonce’s Coachella appearance.

First awards show performances, then music videos, now music festival gigs: is there anything that Beyonce CAN’T turn into high art?

2.) Explained by Vox The most exciting development in the world of television in 2018 was radically breaking the rules on episodes length. We saw 30 minute dramas, and hour long comedies. We got shows like Maniac where episodes were as long as 49 minutes and as short as 27 minutes. Now television creators can tell exactly the stories they want to tell in however much time they want to tell them in. And perhaps nowhere were these loosened restrictions taken better advantage than Explained, Vox’s documentary series for Netflix. Many topics cant sustain a full length documentary, but, say, 14 minutes explaining cryptocurrency to me? Sure! 17 minutes on designer DNA? Sounds great! 20 minutes on the origins of K-Pop? How do you say “yes please” in Korean? Every episode has a different narrator, a different look, a different feel, and varies wildly in subject matter. Yet they are all exactly the length they need to be. The only thing left I really need explained to me is why no one thought to make this series before.

3.) Serial Season 3 If Explained was a great example of the latest evolution in television, then the new season of Serial is at the front line of the evolution of our newest artistic medium: podcasts. Serial’s third season was nothing like its second, which was in turn nothing like its first. It’s a series still figuring out what it CAN be, while now defining forever what it NEEDS to be. Serial this year explained a deeply important topic in a way that wouldn’t have been possible through any other medium. They always say if you’re a writer you have to ask yourself what form of writing your idea needs to be. Don’t write a play that’s really a TV show, or a movie that should be a book. And now we can add to that don’t make a TV series that’s really a podcast. As Homecoming proved this year, the two mediums are very different and better equipped to tell different stories. And after hearing Serial Season Three I can’t imagine there will ever be a better way to explore the current American criminal justice system. It was 2018’s version of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. It may not change national food safety standards, but it hopefully will do something perhaps even more important: it will make us never again take lightly the election of local judges and sheriffs. It was a podcast for the heart, the head, and the time capsule.

4.) Black Mirror - “Hang the DJ” I know this technically came out December 29th 2017 but I’m counting it here because nothing was more 2018 than this. The sadness, the isolation, the uncertainty, the living in a world you don’t understand the rules of anymore, the unfairness of modern life, but the ultimate perseverance of hope and love: it’s all there in the best episode of Black Mirror’s third season. It made me cry out of sadness and happiness in equal measure. Could anything be more 2018 than that?

5.) Kesha at the Grammys Ok so maybe one thing was more 2018.

The Grammys, an organization led by Neil Portnow, a man who said this year that “women need to step up”, and an organization that didn’t offer its one female Album of the Year nominee a solo performance spot, also offered us 2018’s most powerful show of female solidarity and one of the most moving moments of the Me Too era. It all amounted to the perfect encapsulation of this year. Kesha scream crying and then collapsing into a sea of strong supportive women WAS 2018.

6.) Eighth Grade My favorite movie of the year was also the year’s best horror movie. It was so real, and visceral, and intense, and frightening that at times I literally had to remind myself to breathe. I watched at least half the movie through my fingers and on the edge of my seat. Proving what everyone who has lived through it already knows: there’s nothing in the world more terrifying than being in junior high.

7.) Big Mouth Speaking of junior high, the other side of the pain and trauma of growing up is humor, so why it took this long for someone to make a comedy series explicitly about puberty is beyond me. I guess, of course, making a show like this work is a fine needle to thread. It wouldn’t work without being animated and being on a streaming service that lets them go as far as they did. It wouldn’t work without writing that is both laugh out loud funny and deeply compassionate and human in equal measure. And it wouldn’t work without one of the best voice casts on TV, including a true tour de force from Maya Rudolph. But work does it ever. In a just world junior high health class homework would be simply watching this show.

8.) Emma Gonzalez speech Here’s how long 2018 was: this was from 2018.

Finishing off my personal 2018 Growing Up Trifecta is the most powerful 12 minutes of the year. That high school students could be more inspiring, articulate, and better leaders than the President of the United States is sadly, at this point, a given. But that they are now more effective and efficient than him at starting genuine political movements still feels revolutionary. The kids are our future, and our future has never looked brighter.

9.) Childish Gambino - “This is America” video 100 years from now if theres only one cultural artifact that still exists and is still remembered from 2018 this will be it. A “you know where you were the first time you saw it” level cultural event. No song will ever be more closely associated with its music video, and no music video will ever be more of an avatar for an entire cultural moment than this. THIS is, of course, a truly shocking and horrifying (in a good way) music video from the former fifth lead of the TV show Community. A profound and brilliant piece of art underscored by a fun-sounding dance song. The year’s most complex and important social-political message delivered in 4 minutes via YouTube. This is America indeed.

10.) Drake - “God’s Plan” video While Donald Glover may have perfected the music video as art form, it goes without saying that long ago Drake mastered the music video as promotional tool. And in that sense the music video for “God’s Plan” seems like minor failure. It seemed to sort of come and go from the culture, especially in light of the success of the In My Feelings Challenge. But for me, there was nothing more heartwarming and human this year than watching Drake give away almost a million dollars to strangers. It was an idea so simple it’s shocking no one had ever done it before. And so affecting I was shocked it didn’t seem to penetrate the public consciousness more. There’s so much going on at all times now it’s hard for anything to truly break through all the noise, but this really deserved to. It’s impossible to watch this without smiling, and is there anything 2018 needed more than that?

11.) Nanette The dumbest debate this year was whether or not Nanette was stand up. Form and genre aren’t delineators still worth discussing in 2018. It’s now only about the message and the messenger, everything else is just details. An important fresh voice, the most timely, and sadly, timeless message imaginable, delivered in a way that reached and deeply affected seemingly every person you knew? What is there to debate? Nanette may or may not be stand up comedy, but it’s definitely RISE UP comedy. And in the end, that’s all that matters.

12.) Amber Says What Please click on the link above. The final two minutes are by far the best comedy of 2018. It still makes me laugh so hard that it causes me physical pain. You’ve been warned.

13.) A Star is Born trailers A Star is Born is maybe a perfect film. The performances, the songs, the direction, the fact that there’s literally no human being on earth who could have played her part and made the movie work like it did other than Lady Gaga. It was all perfect. But there was actually something better than watching A Star is Born: anticipating watching a A Star is Born. Before the first A Star is Born trailer came out I thought the whole project sounded dumb and unnecessary. After I finished watching the first trailer I knew I was going to see A Star is Born opening night. True story: I was at a movie where the same A Star is Born trailer got played three times in a row for some reason. And it was riveting every time. There was no grumbling at all in the audience, and I for one was sad when it didn’t replay a fourth time. So as much as I loved A Star is Born what I would really love is be able to still want to see A Star is Born for the first time.

14.) Ariana Grande - “thank u, next” It’s genuinely impressive that a song released in November could be the song I listened to by far the most this year. Somehow it took less than two months for this song to feel completely ubiquitous. Hell, even the PHRASE “thank u, next” is omnipresent now. Forget Song of the Summer, this was maybe our first Song of the Winter. Which is perfect because has a hit pop song ever sounded more winter? It’s cold, but it keeps you warm. It’s the sadness of the holidays with the life reaffirming joy of the holiday season. It’s a sweater for you to wear on the dance floor. And it’s clearly exactly the song so many of us needed. No matter how many times I’ve heard it (and as I said, I’ve listened to it, uh, A LOT) its existence feels like a holiday miracle. Having a new and fresh take on the breakup song in the year 2018? That shit IS amazing.

15.) The proposal at the Emmys This is literally the only thing anyone remembers about this year’s Emmys. It was amazing, and special, and made anyone who watched it believe in true love. But for me it still cant touch the most heart-melting awards show moment of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJrku4fSxk

(Was this whole entry just an excuse to link to one of my absolute favorite YouTube clips? Perhaps.)

16.) Succession When I saw the promos for Succession I literally made the sound UGH out loud. The last thing the world needs is another show about rich white people behaving badly, I thought. How could there possibly be anything original left to say on that topic? Who on earth is still greenlighting shows like this in The Year of our Lord 2018?

People much smarter than I am clearly, that’s who.

Because from writing, acting, production design, direction - whatever element you want to focus on - this was the best and most exciting new show of 2018 by a wide margin. People have been saying for years that TV is the new movies; this show made movies look like the old TV. It was the most vibrant and perfectly crafted big budget feature film of 2018, stretched out over 8 episodes on HBO. Did it have anything new and important to say about the world? Probably not. And turns out, I couldn’t have cared less. The phrase compulsively watchable might have been invented just to describe the world these actors and writers created. I would watch the team involved with this show dry paint. 

17.) Angels in America on Broadway Angels in America is the best play of the past 30 years and its not even close. So the fact that it would get a production that’s this good is just unfair for everyone else on this planet who makes theater. It was so good it made all other plays I’ve seen since seem small and cheap and unimportant. It was such a towering achievement that it has made the entire rest of theater as an art form seem insignificant by comparison. When you hear old people talk about seeing Brando in Streetcar or watching the original production of Death of Salesman I now can relate to what they are talking about. I’ll be thinking about Andrew Garfield’s final monologue for the rest of my life. It was unfair that we the audience had to all leave the theater when the lights finally came up and that we couldn’t all just live in that feeling forever. The eight hours I spent watching this play are what art is all about.

18.) Jesse Plemons in Game Night If dying is easy, and comedy is hard, then they should cancel the Oscars and give Jesse Plemmons Best Supporting Actor right now for his work in Game Night. And ok, maybe it wasn’t the BEST performance of 2018, but it was DEFINITELY the best performance relative to what it needed to be. It should have been a dumb throwaway part in a big-budget mainstream ensemble comedy. But Jesse Plemmons crafted a performance so strange and singular and memorable that it elevated the entire movie into something way better than I’m sure even its creators expected. I legitimately don’t know how everyone didn’t break in every one of his scenes. It’s a master class in the comedic power of silence. It should be studied in acting classes everywhere. And 20 years from now when Game Night is considered a comedy classic, Jesse Plemmons will be the main reason why. You heard it here first.

19.) The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships Saxophones? Electric guitar solos? Backing choirs? A concept album about being uncomfortable with the internet? Dumb pretentious song titles? This album couldn’t be any more in my wheelhouse if I made it myself. Its best song is basically a modern reimagining of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for God’s sake!

For me this wasn’t just an album, it was an experience. It was big music to get lost inside of. And I did. At age 36 it’s nice to know that sometimes I can still feel 16. And it’s fitting that a band named The 1975 would be the ones to make music that’s so transporting.

20.) Emma Stone Ok so as someone who once argued in this very space that Emma Stone deserved an Oscar nomination for Easy A, it’s clear I’m pretty deep in the tank for Emma Stone. But even an Emma Stone hater would have to admit than this was a banner year for Emma Stone. Signing up for the insane acting challenge that was Maniac and completely acing it while totally exposing two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill in the process? Going toe to toe with Olivia Colman in the battle of the best acting performances of the year in The Favourite? Coming across as more charming than Jennifer freaking Lawrence ?!?

2018 was Emma Stone’s year, we were all just living in it.

[bagelbite]

so my thoughts on endgame

yes this does contain spoilers and yes, i will continue to tag any of my spoilers as “endgame”

did i hate the movie? no. it had many very good moments that i will list before i list the problems i had with it

i LOVED all of the humor like they did that so well. like when steve was fighting his younger self and young steve says “i can do this all day” and now steve goes “yeah i know” in this just tired voice. and americas ass. and all of the jokes about rocket being a raccoon. and hulk taking pictures with the kids and then when rocket and hulk were sitting in the back of the truck. when tony threatened to sell all of morgans toys. korg playing fortnite. the whole scott coming back the wrong age bit. hulk having to walk down the stairs. when tony told steve that if he dropped the shield one more time he was gonna keep it. like there were so many parts that were just so funny and i loved it.

i loved all the tender moments. that little moment of friendship between nat and steve where she calls the avengers her family. i was SOBBING when tonys daughter was revealed and at literally every interaction between them. the fact that tony wasnt even going to build the time machine until he saw peters picture and thw fact that he had peters picture at all. tony telling nebula “you won” and her freezing bc shes probably never heard that before. the fact that both nat and clint refused to let the other one die (which was the truest form of love i have ever seen, not romantic but just genuine platonic love. also not that bullshit thanos called love for the very same stone). the moment when clint was looking around for his family and couldnt find them so he was just running back and forth not knowing what to do. im not even going to mention tony and peter’s reunion or goodbye because i was sobbing like a child the entire time. quill thinking for a second that gamora was back. when pepper told tony “we’re going to be okay” and you think she means the world and humanity but she really means her and morgan. the entire interaction between tony and his dad. there were so so many parts that just hit me so hard.

i loved all the heroic parts. carol showing up outside the ship with tony and nebula. steve standing up with his shredded sheild, still fighting on. the fact that steve can fUCKING WEILD THORS HAMMER LIKE BRUH. also that sick combo he did with the sheild and the hammer. the hail hydra moment because steve is so incredibly smart and knows how to work a situation. all of those bad ass women gathering to fucking destroy thanos. the circle opening up and revealing tchalla and shuri and okoye walking out, silhoutted by the light and the wakandan battle cry. the fact that the canons recognized that carol was the largest threat around and firing at the atmosphere to try and stop her and she just fucking rips through them like nothing. carol beating the shit out of thanos and him having to literally hold the power stone in his hand to beat her. that moment where you see all of the heros lined up ready to fight. “i am iron man”.

obviously there are more of every moment, and i loved all of them.

but.

that doesnt mean that i liked the movie. and heres why:

1) thor’s literal character assassination. i reblogged a few posts (that you can find in my endgame tag) that explain this better than i will be able to but bruh. the russo brothers did thor so fucking dirty and it makes me pissed. they made him fat purely for the laughs (which someone pointed out an emphasis on the fact that they literally edited his weight out of the trailers because they wanted to use it as a gag in the movies). also, they blatently ignored and made fun of the fact that thor OBVIOUSLY was grieving and blamed himself for how things had turned out. he has lost literally everything in his life: his home, his father and mother, his brother, his best friend - and now the man who wiped out half of the human population taunted him with his mistake of not going for the head. also, thor literally just went through the whole process of realizing his true power and sacrifing his home in order to protect his people and youre going to tell me that he just decides “mmm imma go to space and leave you all here youre fine without me” like no. also please read this post it makes me so mad its so true.

2) the whole time travel plot. to me it didnt seem well thought out and it leaves so many plot holes. like if removing a stone can create another timeline, i dont think putting the stone back fixes anything. you have still technically created another time line. and like what happened to loki we saw him disappear wouldnt that be another time line??? and like if 2012 or 2014 or whatever thanos came to the present, then wouldnt that create another time line?????? and if steve stayed behind, then thats a whole other time line. like it just doesnt make sense there are so many things that do. not. work. (sidenote: thanos said the infinity stones were reduced to atoms. wouldnt that be reversable by scott and shrinking down into the quantum realm??? this is just an idea)

3) it was predictable. there were SO many times that i was able to tell what was going to happen before it did. like clints family vanishing. and scott finding an older cassie. and scott being turned into a bunch of different ages. and tony saying no and then saying yes. even tony weilding the gauntlet was predictable (i just refused to think about it bc i didnt want to see tony die).

4) steve staying in the past. now im going to preface this saying that im not trying to say that steve didnt deserve it. he did and im happy for him (since this is what the russo brothers have decided to make permanent). steve did deserve happiness and i will even say that he deserved peggy. but. that doesnt mean thats what he should have done. it was out of character for steve (not as bad as thor but still out of character). he would have recognized that the world needed him in the now and he wouldnt have been able to just stay in the past. like steve’s biggest character flaw is that he cant just sit by and do nothing, he always has to act. so now out of no where he just decides that hes gonna screw over everyone in the present and stay behind. like he knows they just lost tony AND nat, two of the og avengers, and hes just gonna decide to leave them hanging without another person???? and hes just going to sit by knowing that bucky is out there being tortured??? ALSO i am absolutely not saying that any part of his talk with sam was unnecessary. i even love the fact that he gave the sheild to sam (black captain america is my shIT HELL YES I AM HERE FOR IT). but. there is no way that steve “even when there was nothing i had bucky” rogers wouldnt say anything to bucky. and i saw someone saying “well they obviously talked off screen” bitch i dont care there are probably thousands of off screen things that happen and thats why we have fanfiction. but the on screen stuff matters and steve just ignores bucky entirely?????? no he fucking doesnt the russo brothers are just afraid to encourage any more interaction between steve and bucky because they fear stucky fans. and im not even saying this as a stucky fan im literally saying it as a marvel fan who knows the smallest amount of steve’s character.

5) tony creating his worst nightmare. tony has said multiple times that he blamed his dad for leaving him and it only makes sense that he would fear having a kid and then leaving them alone. and the russo brothers did just that. they gave tony the life he always wanted and then ripped him from it, creating tonys nightmare at the same time. he has now subjected morgan to live a life like he did, without a father. now personally i dont think tony should have died. did i predict that he was since infinity war (bc of rdj’s contract ending and also it will be very difficult to continue the “next generation” with these huge figures still around), yes. and i know that its unrealistic for everyone to survive in war but so is fucking time travel and they pulled that card. idk i just dont like how they did it.

so overall, i think i loved a lot of the overall moments on film, its just that i didnt like the themes, messages, and character delieveries shown in the movie. im just gonna go watch winter soldier and ragnarok and homecoming and captain marvel and black panther and all the other Actually Good marvel movies.

[livestocklens3-blog]

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The Most significant thing that anyone ought to know about anything concerning cows farming is that no ranch or farm is precisely the exact same. Nobody farm follows the creation practices of a different, and no 1 manufacturer manages her or his cows the exact same manner as the following one will. If you would like to learn about everything connected with cattle farming, then get to understand the fundamentals first, what makes each plantation click and everything in between anything else. Dairy farming or beef farming, it does not matter what, there are particular things within those ventures which make them operate, from the feed to the cattle and the financing necessary to conduct the farm into the cows themselves.

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It is a Great Deal of Hard Work...

Anyone  Are a fool if they stated raising cows was simple.  You've got machines, buildings, buildings, and managing facilities to preserve, fix --replace if it is absolutely crucial --cattle waterers to mend if they freeze in the dead of winter or should they stop working on you all of a sudden, hay to haul, financing to maintain at the top of (loans, utility bills and penalties to cover ), fences to keep and fix, the list keeps moving. You may experience periods of exhaustion during times once the farm requires you the most--be it physical or psychological exhaustion.

When  It's really easy to get caught when you are least expecting it, and from the time you realize you are caught it is often too late.  The best thing to ensure your success and also to keep all of your limbs intact would be to always know about your surroundings, understand if and when you are feeling exhausted, never wear loose clothes around running machines, and show the utmost respect for each of bulls and fresh momma cows with their calves. There's an entire collection of all farm-safety items I could lay out in the following guide, however I fear that it is only going to take up more space than that I intend and induce me to seriously slough off course.

No matter bulls and cows Needs to be respected and frequently not trustworthy either, whether or not you are working or handling a beef or poultry farm. Dairy bulls are particularly dangerous and you never to turn your back .  This is an issue when you have not established dominance together and if they don't honor you and your distance.  In case a bull sees you as contest because of his harem, he'll come after you. Otherwise, and sees you as only a two-legged individual rather than a two-legged bovine, then you need to be secure, but do not take my word for this as who knows what goes through a bull's head during breeding period!

Hormones Are also a huge element in aggressiveness in cattle. A cow's first instincts when that calf strikes the floor will be for her to nurture, suckle and shield it with her entire life.    Bulls have their method of communication they're not conducive of your existence also: revealing their sides, arching their throat revealing their dimensions, head shaking, not recognizing your existence at all (in other words, even ignoring you) if you are in the pen together, etc.. These are warning signals to get out, or be ready to stand your ground and make it understood that you don't tolerate their behavior . Then be ready to undergo with your escape plan, in case you've got one.

It Requires Knowing a little Bovine Psychology

When Raising cows, you need to know a reasonable bit about what cows are telling you so as to tell if they are just being favorable, a nuisance, a hazard, or an expected cull. Cattle that admit your existence, and come around you but maintain their individual space from you (except in the event that you invite them) are favorable. A number of the favorable ones may also be those which don't discount you but return into what they were doing until you disrupted them may also be considered favorable. Even the ones that come running towards you whenever they visit you--might be considered favorable, particularly in the event that you understand them well enough to understand when they come hurrying just like that it is to have fed, and less to make a stampede! Cattle that make high-strung, high-headed and make a rush for it each time you're about are ones which needs to be culled--cows should keep their individual space from you, but not go so far as to attempt jumping over the fence to escape from you! Sometimes these kinds of animals can be trained to be calmer about individuals, but there are occasions when this could be much more vain than simply rewarding. Some cows simply can not be tamed and stay"crazy"

Even though     Calves on cows could be weaned when they are about 6 to 10 weeks old. Dairy calves are removed from their dams each day or 2 (sometimes less) after arrival, but are not weaned off the jar till they're about 3 to 4 weeks old.  Vast majority of heifers are ready to be consumed by the time they're around 15 weeks old. A bull is about to breed from the time he is 12 months old. Age of adulthood for the majority of cows is about 3 to 4 decades old.

Calving and breeding periods will match, and the best   There's loads of debate exactly what time of year it's ideal to calve out cows, nevertheless a cow could be bred--and consequently calve--in any given time of the year. A cow could be bred either obviously --through a bull--or --known as artificial insemination through AI semen and gun .

When the calf stems, the milk works. The very first milk a cow creates because of her calf is known as colostrum. Following 48 hours she begins making"normal" milk. Her greatest nutritional necessities occur from late pregnancy into the next month of lactation.  Calves, once weaned, however, have different nutrient requirements--because they become older, protein demands reduction.

Know What to Take Them

Perhaps not   This is most likely where the best variations in how cattle are raised starts, and something that I am only able to cover temporarily here. Basically there are five kinds of feedstuffs which are fed to cows: hay, silage, grain, other feeds, and pasture. The latter is not just fed to cows, but instead cows are put to nourish themselves.

All dairy farms Will Need to feed their cows cows a  Nearly all hay fed to dairy cows is constituted of alfalfa or clover and fishes such as orchard grass and timothy. Silage--that can be chopped and fermented feed--is frequently of corn, because it's greater nutritional quality than wheat or barley. The grain part of the TMR ration could be corn, wheat or barley, based on what is more appropriately grown in the region where the milk farm is situated.

Varies considerably more significantly than in your typical dairy farms.  The lowest-quality rations are awarded to cow-calf surgeries, and also the highest-quality to feedlots. Cows on cow-calf surgeries frequently don't have any issue subsisting from grass and hay, even though some manufacturers like to feed them grain or silage during the winter season. Backgrounding/stocker surgeries will need to nourish their calves so they develop, therefore pasture, silage and high quality hay is frequently fed. Feedlots finish cows for slaughter, therefore an 85 percent grain-based"sexy" ration is necessary. Another 15 percent is included of roughage such as silage.

All cows Have to Be fed sterile water and also have access to Mineral in any way times. Beef producers feed their nutrient to their cows free-choice, occasionally mixed in with all the feed. Dairy manufacturers have a tendency to possess these minerals blended in with all the feed.

Which Are You Getting Your Favorite From?

That is  A significant question to ask yourself whether you plan on starting your cows farm. Basically you've got two options: Create your own, or buy it. If you create your own, you'll need your own equipment and also the opportunity to produce the feed. You might require the excess labour if it is required, based on which sort of feed you are making. Producing your own feed will bite into your gains since it means more money spent on gasoline and maintenance/repair expenses. Purchasing feed has its dangers too. Although you do not close half the machines needed for producing your own feed, you still need to have somewhere to keep it and risk the feed you are getting to be less good excellent feed as you would like it to be. There might be health risks related to the feed you buy --that the hay you buy may have pieces of garbage or metal inside, or even the feed you bought from the feed shop could possibly be infected with something which will kill your critters.

You Can have as small as merely a few parts of machines to as numerous as to create any agricultural machines retailer company proud. I have known a few cattle producers that just have a couple pieces of gear: a hay-hauler truck, a livestock trailer, and also a four-wheeler ATV.   What kind and how many machines you believe you want to own (try to not consider it as"need") in your cows farm will have an effect on your bottom line and the way you increase your critters.

Believe  Of it this way: If you would like to repaint your cows on pasture throughout the year, there'll be a point in time at which you will understand that the machines you desire is not always the very same parts of machines you may need!!

Each   From that point you are able to do the test to find out whether you're losing money, simply breaking even or really making a little cash from the farm. In addition, it can let you know in which you're weakest or most powerful, and what options you should think about if you would like to boost income amounts to your enterprise. Creating and keeping a business strategy can help a lot too.

Sheltering Your Own Cattle

Shelter Is not too large an significance, though a easy lean-to drop or even a stand of trees will probably suffice for many. Dairy cows will need to be kept restricted to a barn during the winter season. This might not be so in locations where they do not encounter as intense, freezing or freezing winters as a lot of North America has. When they don't have a lot of shelter, then they will need to compensate for the absence of heat by ingesting more feed so they can remain warm.

Most Herds will need to stay current with their vaccinations each year, based upon the age and sex of the animals in addition to in which you're farming them.    Some regions need vaccinations against Anthrax too. Check with your neighborhood large-animal vet for what kinds of diseases that you want to vaccinate your creatures.

Assess your herd Regularly for signs of disease or illness. The clearest symptoms I have discovered using the cows we had were listlessness or lethargic action --calves that normally ought to be considering food aren't, they're slow to get up or attempting to put down and rest rather than get up and consume. Other indications include lameness, dull eyes, loss of body condition, bald spots, kicking at the stomach, coughing, snotty nose, or a lot of abortions on your herd to be considered ordinary, or anything else unusual regarding the creature's behavior or elements of its body, which range from the udder or scrotum into the eyes. Be constantly aware that one symptom you visit could be a indication of a far larger issue.

Where You Buy Livestock, You'll Acquire Deadstock

As The Circle of Life goes round and about, you can't expect any of your critters, old and young alike, to live eternally. You'll receive cows which will expire on you, otherwise or unexpectedly. That's only something to anticipate on each livestock farm or ranch. It's challenging for every single manufacturer to have an animal die on these, but that is only part of life. A lot of men and women that are generations removed from farm lifestyle don't understand this, however as somebody who wishes to enter cows or any sort of livestock industry this is a tough fact you have to understand or else you are not likely to survive long inside.

Everything you do with these dead Creatures is dependent upon local laws.  It is no issue to drag a carcass from the middle of a pasture and allow  The scavengers treat it. Other regions need such carcasses to Be instantly buried or burnt or possess a livestock-rendering truck encounter  To take away them for you.  Special bull or cow, prized or maybe not, opt to bury that creature just Like somebody would spoil a pet cat or dog which was part of the household  For many years.

[chalantness]

fic: Meet Me Under the Spotlight - Part II

Rating: PG-13 Word Count: ~5800 Characters: Steve/Natasha and the ensemble Summary: A continuation of that celebrity social media au no one asked for.

A/N: I hesitated about revisiting this story because the format was so unique and it flowed incredibly well and I wasn’t sure if I could replicate that. Also, in terms of the universe itself, I wasn’t sure what story I wanted to tell next that would still be fun to read through social media. With that said, I thought about it a lot and had so many things I wanted to add and other characters I wanted to include. I just planned on revisiting this ‘verse through headcanons or blurbs for you darlings, but I took another crack at it instead, and I had just as much fun writing it this time as I did the first time!

By the way, I’ve officially dubbed this ‘verse the Marvelous ‘verse. Because I will be coming back to it.

Read On: [ ao3 ]

‘Marvelous’ Season Finale Recap: “How the Mighty Fall”

May 25, 2017. 8:12 AM PST

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains plot details from the Marvelous season three finale, episode twenty-two, “How the Mighty Fall,” below.

Let’s start by getting this out there: no, we’re still not over it. And with three whole months between now and when Marvelous is scheduled to start filming Season 4, we’re sure the tears won’t stop flowing for a while.

Last night’s episode was the culmination of every heartbreaking fight we had to endure between our heroes, and every hasty action they took came back full circle with a sucker punch to our hearts! This was the lowest point the series has come to yet, and even after watching an entire season of everything falling apart, we still didn’t expect it to happen in such a spectacular fashion.

We’ll be back to get into the gory details soon, but in case you were too caught up in your tears to follow every minute of the finale, here are the highlights:

Black Widow’s betrayal that sent fans into a rage at the end of last week’s episode - episode twenty-one, “A Butterfly in a Web” - turned out to be for good reasons. Which we never doubted, but did you have to take such a hard shot at the Captain to do it?

Evidently, yes. Because not only did the Captain realize too little too late that she was protecting him, but his initial abandonment of her after their fallout ended in grave consequences. He barely makes it to her in time before she can bleed out to death, and when she wakes up, she has no recollection of anything. Not of what happened to her, not of betraying him, and not of anything that has to do with the Team at all. We’re not sure exactly how far this memory loss goes, but it was very clear from her confused and shaken expression when she wakes up that it’s pretty grim. And now that she’s without her memories, the Captain is more lost than ever. Guess it takes temporarily (hopefully temporarily?) losing every precious moment together to put things into perspective.

The escalating tension between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch is irony at its finest: Quicksilver has spent the entire season as the overprotective older brother to Scarlet Witch, which unfortunately meant that Scarlet Witch has spent the entire season feeling sheltered and suffocated. She finally gets what she wants - a chance to put her newfound control over her powers to work, without Quicksilver hovering over her shoulder - and that left her open to being kidnapped. Understandably, Scarlet Witch could have avoided this with her eyes closed and both hands tied, but she had a little something else to deal with:

The Winter Soldier and Falcon, who have had no love lost between them this season, are quite literally at each other’s throats when they join Scarlet Witch to investigate a lead that takes them into the mountains to sniff out a secret bunker. Their fight last night had been the biggest and ugliest yet, and as expected, they don’t realize how gravely it would cost them until Scarlet Witch - too wrapped up in trying to keep them from killing each other - is snatched from under their noses. And no, it wasn’t the thing they needed to come to some kind of truce. If anything, it only made things worse.

Hawkeye and Thor had left in the previous episode to follow a lead of their own, and as expected, they also run into a nasty baddie of their own. And the blowout was far more fatal than you could imagine. When Agent 13 and Agent Hill were finally able to find them and bring them back to the safety of the Facility, they realized that Thor’s powers were completely gone - so it looks as if healing his eye isn’t something that will happen soon - and Hawkeye is in a coma.

Looks like we’ll need to stock up on tissues for now, because with no indication about how things will end up for another few months, we’re left with broken heroes and even more broken hearts.

What scene was the biggest tearjerker for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Articles:

Here’s Every Tweet from the Cast and Crew of ‘Marvelous’ During the Season Finale

‘Marvelous’ Season 4 Scheduled to Begin Filming in August

On the Air with Phil Coulson: ‘Marvelous’ Co-Stars Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers Talk Season Finale and Summer Plans

[Image Caption: Natasha Romanoff standing under a floral arch, smiling to someone out of shot. She’s holding a blue and white bouquet and wearing a white dress with a crystal bodice and tulle skirt, a veil attached to her headpiece.]

912,518 likes

carters13 Just got back to set and @nataliaromanov already has the best wardrobe! Glad to see some things never change.

View all 1,402 comments

AUGUST 14, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Tony Stark, and Thor Odinson standing in a row, looking in different directions. They are all wearing tuxedos with matching navy blue ties and blue iris boutonnieres.]

813,320 likes

ohsnapwilson First day of filming and none of us know what’s going on. Gonna be a long season. (PS. We paid attention during the table read. Mostly.)

View all 1,840 comments

AUGUST 14, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff sitting down between takes. Steve is wearing a tuxedo with a navy blue tie and blue boutonniere, and Natasha Romanoff is seated on his lap in her wedding dress, the both of them laughing.]

925,556 likes

MarvelousOfficial #Marvelous Season 4 is officially back in business, and we’re so excited about it that we’re getting a jump start on our #MarvelousSneakPeeks!

View all 1,934 comments

AUGUST 14, 2017

The Late Night Show with Peter Quill @PeterQuillTonight -- September 28     Hey #Marvels did you know @therussianprincessnat is stopping by tonight? I hope she brings me a present

Marvelous @MarvelousCW -- September 28     #Marvels be sure to tune into @PeterQuillTonight and show @therussianprincessnat some love. Retweet if you’re watching!

Wanda Maximoff @littlewandamaximoff -- September 28      want to help a girl out #Marvels? @theothermaximoff says there’s no such thing as a @PeterQuillTonight viewing party :(

Sam Wilson @snapwilson -- September 28      so #Marvels got any plans tonight? mine include @PeterQuillTonight, a cramped apartment, and stale beer

Pepper Potts @twopeasinapott  -- September 28      hey #Marvels, the @MarvelousCW gang is back to watch @therussianprincessnat on @PeterQuillTonight! Wish you were here <3

Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn -- September 28      Better get ready @PeterQuillTonight because @therussianprincessnat is a lethal charmer. You won’t know what hit you.

Just In: ‘Marvelous’ star Natasha Romanoff appears on The Late Night Show, drops exclusive Season 4 teaser trailer (September 28, 2017)

Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Marvelous’ Season 4 Teaser Trailer

September 29, 2017. 12:55 AM PST

Last week the Marvelous official Twitter announced that the show’s teaser trailer would not be included in the CW sizzle reel due to “production complications”, much to the disappointment of us Marvels everywhere. Little did we know that not only were we still getting that teaser, but we were getting it an entire week early!

When Natasha Romanoff dropped by The Late Night Show last night, it seemed like a typical guest appearance. But we should have known something was up when, just hours before airtime, the Marvelous cast and crew posted tweets upon tweets encouraging fans to tune in, then took to Instagram to post photos of the entire gang gathered in Nick Fury’s penthouse apartment to watch the show. We know this cast and crew love to show their support for each other, but all this seemed like a lot of fuss over a simple talk show appearance, right?

So. Wrong.

“I was so sure I’d get her to dish about her trip,” Peter Quill shared after the show, referring to the Hawaiian vacation where Natasha Romanoff and co-star Steve Rogers seemed to be closer and cozier than ever. Photos of the couple out and about across the islands had made fans swoon over their screens, but not nearly as much as the incredibly intimate photo the pair had posted to Twitter themselves! But if we thought that Peter Quill would finally get the scoop we all wanted, we were mistaken. “I was prepared for every trick Nat could’ve thrown my way except for this one!” Quill had laughed. “I still want answers, but, come on! How could you top that surprise?”

In case you’ve been living under a rock -- or if you want to watch it a few dozen more times like we have -- then here’s the Marvelous Season 4 Teaser Trailer that Natasha surprised the world with last night.

...Couldn’t get the video to load? Don’t worry, we’ve got all 1:15 minutes of it broken down:

We start with a black screen, and the Captain narrating: “When I woke up, they told us we’d won. That the war was over.”

Flashes of scenes in quick succession: Hawkeye in an infirmary bed connected to tubes, bandaging wrapped around his eyes; Scarlet Witch screaming, hands pressed to her head; the Winter Soldier and Falcon on a snowy mountain, both doubled over, blood on the snow; Agent 13 throwing Iron Man’s helmet across the room, nearly hitting Agent Hill’s head as it cracks against the wall.

Black Widow standing in her room, her back to the camera as she reaches for something on the desk, fading into a shot of the Captain watching her from the doorway as his narration continues: “But they didn’t tell me what we’d lost.”

Thor and Quicksilver in the training room, Quicksilver grabbing Thor’s arm and yanking him back as he says, “We have to go after her!” with Thor curtly replying, “If we do, she’s as good as dead.”

Scarlet Witch gathering her energy between her palms, her eyes glowing as men in the foreground aim their rifles; a quick second of nothing, then a shot of a bunker in the snowy mountains erupting into a red explosion, fading into a scene of Falcon and Winter Soldier watching it collapse from afar.

Agent Hill, Agent 13, and Hawkeye (his eyes still wrapped in bandaging) standing over a holographic table as Agent 13, clearly distraught, asks, “All that sacrifice and we only put a Band-Aid on the problem?” Agent Hill answers with, “Maybe, and it’s going to be for nothing if we can’t fix this,” to which Hawkeye scoffs and replies, “Look at us. We can’t even fix ourselves.”

An ominous shot of the cube-like form of energy used to seal Thor’s powers within it, currents of electricity sparking out from its core; then Thor wincing in pain before hurling a weight across the training room.

Black Widow and the Captain standing close together as she hesitantly reaches up to touch his face; then the Captain sitting on his bed, head down, as Black Widow kneels in front of him and asks, “Tell me what to do to help,” to which the Captain replies in a strained voice, “I don’t know.”

Scarlet Witch in the snow, surrounded by the debris of the exploded laboratory, and then the Winter Soldier lifting her into his arms as she tucks her face into his chest, her entire body shaking.

Falcon pressing a kiss to Agent 13′s hair as she closes her eyes, his voice playing over the scene: “So how do we do this?”

Then Falcon and Agent 13 startling as someone enters the room, Iron Man emerging from the doorway with his arm in a sling and a bruise on his cheek. A quick cut to Agent 13 crying as she throws her arms around Iron Man, his voice playing over the scene: “We start with my least favorite thing to do.”

Cut to black, with Iron Man finishing his dialogue: “We ask for help.”

Then a close-up shot of purple light passing over someone’s skin and dissolving into a black, textured material as it spreads. This figure turns around, revealing a complete shot of his high-tech, full-bodied, cat-like suit; then he glances up at the ceiling as another figure -- slighter and smaller in stature, in a blue-and-red suit with a spider across his chest -- repels from the ceiling, landing on his feet.

Best. Teaser. EVER.

And with Marvelous not returning until December, it’ a good thing that we Marvels know how to keep ourselves busy. Bring on the theories!

What did YOU think of the teaser trailer? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Articles:

Favorite ‘Marvelous’ Fan Theories for the Upcoming Season

WATCH: Can the Cast of ‘Marvelous’ Sum Up the Entire Series in Thirty Seconds?

WATCH: Peter Parker Almost Missed His ‘Marvelous’ Callback

Maria Hill @aproblemlikemaria -- October 10      you know you’ve been filming too long when @therussianprincessnat and @stevefrombrooklyn turn into an old married couple

Thor Odinson @corethor -- October 10      apparently on hour 16 of filming @therussianprincessnat and @stevefrombrooklyn start arguing in latin. about latin? idk

Peter B. Parker @pbandparker -- October 10     @therussianprincessnat just looked at @stevefrombrooklyn and said “get me donuts” and HE DID. pretty sure she’s a jedi

T’challa T’chaka @ttchalla -- October 10      @therussianprincessnat just jumps onto @stevefrombrooklyn’s back when she’s tired of standing. Think I might try it out.

Clint Barton @cbarton -- October 10      @stevefrombrooklyn went MIA. turns out @therussianprincessnat fell asleep on him and he didn’t want to wake her

Clint Barton @cbarton -- October 10      update: @stevefrombrooklyn and @therussianprincessnat held up filming for 15m and @nickfurry just SHRUGGED. i’m suing

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat -- October 10      @stevefrombrooklyn we need new friends

Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn -- October 10      @therussianprincessnat i think you need another nap

[Image Caption: Natasha Romanoff and Peter Parker in their Black Widow and Spider-Man suits, with Peter resting his elbow on Natasha’s head.]

1,057,583 likes

nataliaromanov @peterbenjiparker us spiders have to stick together, right?

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OCTOBER 22, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers kissing Natasha Romanoff’s cheek as she laughs, holding a melting cup of ice-cream.]

1,002,318 likes

stevenrogers I knew I couldn’t compete with @peterbenjipaker’s natural charm so I brought her ice-cream instead. #latenightshoots

View all 1,605 comments

OCTOBER 22, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff between takes on the training room set. Steve stands behind Natasha with his arms around her, leaning forward as Natasha whispers into his ear.]

842,102 likes

peterbenjiparker Have you ever eaten something so sweet that it gives you a sugar rush and sugar crash at the same time? That’s what it’s like to watch @stevenrogers and @nataliaromanov on and off camera

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OCTOBER 23, 2017

Just In: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff spotted filming in a downtown Toronto shopping mall, pose for pictures with fans between takes; when asked if the ring on her finger was important to the scene, Natasha coyly responds, “what do you think?” (October 27, 2017)

Happy Halloween! ‘Marvelous’ Treats Fans with More Insight on Upcoming Season

October 31, 2017. 8:25 AM PST.

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains on-set stills from Season 4 of Marvelous.

When we were kids, we gorged on candy for Halloween. Now, we gorge on spoilers!

(But candy would still be appreciated.)

This morning, the Marvelous official Twitter announced that they had a little something special for us Marvels on the show’s official site, and they did not disappoint! Not only were we treated to on-set photos -- confirmed to have been from the start of filming back in August -- but we were also given the official synopses of the first three episodes!

Bonus: none of scenes shown seem to be related to the scenes teased in the trailer.

Can you say, “more spoilers”?

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers in a tuxedo and Natasha Romanoff in a wedding dress, Natasha’s hand tucked into Steve’s elbow as they smile at each other. The seats behind them are filled with the main and recurring cast, dressed for the occasion.]

[Image Caption: Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and Wanda Maximoff driving through a snowy mountain in a jeep. Sam is at the wheel as Wanda and Bucky are shown talking in the back seat, Wanda wearing the Winter Soldier’s jacket.]

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff standing in the infirmary. Steve is holding onto Natasha’s arm, his eyes closed as he kisses her forehead.]

[Image Caption: Thor Odinson and Maria Hill sitting on a couch together with a mostly-emptied bottle of whiskey on the table. They’re both holding tumblers of scotch and angled toward each other as they speak.]

[Image Caption: Sharon Carter and Tony Stark in the infirmary set, Sharon seated at Tony’s bedside with a hand in her hair and her face wet with tears.]

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff in the gym, a punching bag hanging between them. Natasha has a hand on the bag, her expression concerned as she looks at Steve, whose fist lingers on the punching bag as he angles himself away from her.]

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff in the kitchen of a suburban house. Natasha is sitting on the kitchen island next to bags of groceries, her arms draped around Steve’s neck as he’s smiling at her.]

But wait: there’s MORE!

IN SOMNIS VERITAS - Season 4, Episode 1

As the Captain (Steve Rogers) struggles to deal with Black Widow’s (Natasha Romanoff) memories being lost, Agent Hill (Maria Hill) tries to pick up the pieces of the Team’s latest fallout, especially as Thor (Thor Odinson) starts to spiral without his powers and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) remains in a coma. Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) and Falcon (Sam Wilson) fear that their time to rescue Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) may be running out.

THE DARKEST NIGHT - Season 4, Episode 2

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) realizes that her powers are fluctuating due to the experiments performed by her still-unnamed abductor (guest star Edwin Jarvis), which she fears will have catastrophic side effects. Elsewhere, as extraterrestrial weapons continue to move between counties, Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) urges the Team to take action. Realizing the distress she’s causing the Captain (Steve Rogers), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) asks him to help jog her memories.

BEFORE DAWN - Season 4, Episode 3

With the Captain (Steve Rogers) opening up to her and the Team reunited once more, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) starts to get flashes of what she believes are her lost memories, though she hesitates to tell anyone. Meanwhile, the return of the Director (writer/producer, guest star Nick Fury) gives Agent Hill (Maria Hill) a new push to rally and regroup, while the arrival of Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) gives the Team the motivation to move forward.

While we now have a little insight on what to expect from the start of the season, we’re still wondering about those wedding photos posted by the cast back in August. Is it a dream? An illusion? A flash-forward?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Related Articles:

Guest-Stars James Rhodes and Loki Laufeyson Return to ‘Marvelous’

Peggy Carter Expected to Direct ‘Marvelous’ Mid-Season Finale

‘Marvelous’ Newcomer T’challa T’chaka Scheduled to Appear on The Late Night Show

[Image Caption: Natasha Romanoff standing with her back to the camera. She’s wearing a Dodgers jersey and baseball cap, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb at the “ROGERS” stitched across the back of the jersey.]

1,085,340 likes

nataliaromanov Told @stevenrogers that this was my funniest Halloween costume yet.

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OCTOBER 31, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff on set, laughing with their arms around each other. Steve is in his Captain suit while Natasha is wearing Steve’s Dodgers baseball cap and personalized jersey.]

1,072,342 likes

stevenrogers @nataliaromanov dressed up as me and then started hugging everyone on set. Don’t know whether to be flattered or offended.

View all 1,003 comments

OCTOBER 31, 2017

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[Image Caption: Steve Rogers dressed in his Captain suit and Natasha Romanoff dressed in Steve’s Dodgers baseball cap and personalized jersey. They’re sitting on their set chairs with their backs to the cameras as they talk.]

914,134 likes

iambuckybarnes dude wouldn’t let me try on his precious jersey when he got it, yet Nat steals it from his closet and prances around in it and he’s fine #messagereceived

View all 1,236 comments

OCTOBER 31, 2017

Just In: ‘Marvelous’ writer/producer Nick Fury tweets on-set photo of Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, and Sharon Carter sharing a warm drink between takes, and fans are quick to notice the diamond ring on Romanoff’s left hand; when his Twitter is flooded with questions, Fury responds with a cryptic, “you’ll see” (November 4, 2017)

The Official Twitter of Access Entertainment @accessentertainment -- November 13      Only one month left until the #Marvelous Season 4 premiere, but of course you #Marvels already know that.

The Official Twitter of Access Entertainment @accessentertainment -- November 13      To celebrate, we asked the cast what their favorite lines of the season are so far #MarvelousLineswithAE

James Buchanan Barnes @iambuckybarnes -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “It’s not about the fear. It’s about how you react to it. That’s what you taught me.”

Wanda Maximoff @littlewandamaximoff -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “Unlike you, I can still tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it.”

Sharon Carter @sharoncarter -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “I used to think that love got in the way of duty. But maybe love is our greatest duty.”

Sam Wilson @snapwilson -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “If I focus less on the blame and more on the hurt, it makes it easier to heal.”

Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “There’s nothing and no one that could take your place in my life.”

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “That isn’t something I have to remember. That’s something I just know.”

Nick Fury @nickfurry -- November 13      #MarvelousLineswithAE “Please say yes.”

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat -- November 13      @nickfurry you sap                Natasha A. Romanoff Retweeted                @nickfurry #MarvelousLineswithAE “Please say yes.”

AE! Exclusive: Spoilers Straight from the Cast of ‘Marvelous’

November 14, 2017. 8:02 AM PST

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains plot details from the season premiere of Marvelous.

(If any of you Marvels successfully resisted the urge to continue reading, know that we are incredibly impressed.)

That’s right, Marvels. With the Season 4 premiere just a month away, Access Entertainment! received an exclusive invitation to visit the set. And while we were there, we sat down with some of the cast and crew to squeeze out juicy details on what to expect from the upcoming premiere.

(WATCH: Access Entertainment’s Entire First Look from the Set of ‘Marvelous’)

Ready for the spoilers? Yeah, neither were we.

1. The premiere will center around the theme of dreams, and Steve Rogers (playing the Captain) shares that the entire episode should be an emotional roller-coaster. Ready your tissues, Marvels.

STEVE ROGERS: There’s a very blurred line between dreams and nightmares and that’s something the premiere really plays on. We shot two or three, sometimes even four versions of the same dream scenes that were so tonally different from each other. There are really low points but there are really high points, too, and it’s just one of those things you know will have that punch and then keep on punching.

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: And we’re guessing one of the Captain’s dreams must involve Natasha [Romanoff, playing Black Widow] in that gorgeous wedding dress all over Instagram?

ROGERS: [laughs] That was actually the very first scene we shot of the season. We read the script together, so we knew it was coming, just not when. But it’s the first day, and we’re all in tuxes and gowns and they’ve got us in this beautiful church set. And I didn’t even see Nat in her dress until we started filming. Nick [Fury, the show’s writer/producer] still won’t admit it but I’m sure that was intentional.

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: How romantic!

ROGERS: Yeah, don’t let the guy fool you. He’s just a big softie.

2. We’ll pick up right where the finale left off. Which means throwing salt onto all those wounds that still haven’t healed; their wounds AND ours.

SHARON CARTER [playing Agent 13]: You can watch the finale and then the premiere back-to-back and it’ll sort of be one extended episode. That’s the idea. We put these characters through every circle of hell and back and we don’t want to just jump forward and make you fill in the gaps. We take you with us every step of their emotional journey like we always have, and I can’t share anything, of course, but it doesn’t take long for them to start bouncing back. It’s sort of our way of saying, ‘Hey, we broke your hearts and made you wait half a year because we suck but now you’ll reap the rewards.’

3. After watching an entire season of our heroes falling apart, we can look forward to them coming back together stronger than ever. It’s no secret that watching episode after episode of our heroes fighting among each other was heartbreaking. But Wanda [Maximoff, playing Scarlet Witch] dished that this won’t be the case for the upcoming season.

WANDA MAXIMOFF: You won’t have to worry about us being at each other’s throats nearly as much anymore. When you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up!

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: Thank goodness!

MAXIMOFF: I know! [laughs] It’s always fun to play those kinds of scenes, you know? They’re very raw and real, and it’s cathartic but in a very safe way to channel all your emotions and let them out. But it’s still draining. We were all so tired from “fighting” with each other by the time we wrapped. We looked forward to having a little fun again and Nick absolutely gave us that

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: So we can expect a lot more smiles this season? Maybe even a few laughs?

MAXIMOFF: Absolutely! The first few episodes will deal with the aftermath of the finale, of course. You don’t just sweep that under the rug. But everyone has suffered so much individually, this season you’ll see them lean on each other to heal. At the core, they have a bond you can’t really fit into one type of mold and it’ll be what helps them turn things around.

4. This season will explore the dynamics between our characters in ways we thought we could only dream of. Which means, yes, Marvels. They are in fact listening.

MAXIMOFF: You’ll see characters share scenes together that didn’t have much interaction outside of the group before, and you’ll see relationships in new lights. Iron Man [played by Tony Stark] and Quicksilver [played by Pietro Maximoff] got off to a rocky start, and they’re in a civil place now, but you’ll see them develop a genuine friendship. Iron Man will really pull through for Quicksilver and that finally gives them some common ground. Agent Hill [played by Maria Hill] and Thor [played by Thor Odinson] have always butt heads here or there because they’re just so different. They’re almost the last duo you’d expect to come together and that’s the beauty of it. They end up leaning on each other and it’s beautiful. All of these odd, new dynamics will get their own spotlights and it’s so much fun.

There’s even some role reversal in key relationships. Like with Hawkeye [played by Clint Barton]. He was an important mentor to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and now with his condition he’ll turn to them for guidance. And with Black Widow, she really built up Scarlet Witch and helped her become confident in her abilities and now Scarlet Witch will get to return the favor. She’ll be there to help Black Widow get back on her feet. She becomes Black Widow’s biggest confidant, and that will be such a strong thing for Scarlet Witch, who is in a dark place at the start of the season. These more intimate moments - they’ve been my favorite to film so far.

5. Newcomers Black Panther (played by T’challa T’chaka) and Spider-Man (played by Peter Parker) won’t take long to join the fray. We learned that we won’t be seeing them in the premiere, but at least we won’t have to wait much longer! It’s confirmed that Black Panther and Spider-Man will make their debuts before the end of the second episode.

T’CHALLA T’CHAKA: I was surprised to learn during the table read that Nick wasted no time introducing us. He had us involved from the very first day of filming, even though Peter and I would traditionally not have been called to  the set just yet. We were very much included between takes. You would think coming onto a show of this magnitude, joining a cast so established - that would be an intimidating thing, you’d think. But as soon as I got the part everyone reached out to me on their own. We talked, not always about the show. I felt a fast connection. So when Peter and I were watching that first scene being filmed, when Natasha and Steve recited those vows, we were hit just as hard as everyone else. I choked up. I don’t mind sharing that, I’m not heartless. [laughs]

6. There’s a very good chance that every (well, ALMOST every) character that has crossed our heroes’ paths will make a reappearance before the end of the season. At least, it seems that way.

SAM WILSON [playing Falcon]: I’m just making guesses here, but with the way these last three months have gone, it’s probably a good guess. I think we’re somewhere between episodes nine and ten right now and we’ve already brought so many faces back. Sometimes we’ll walk onto a set or get rewrites, and we’ve brought back someone we thought had been written off definitively, and in these cool twists you won’t expect.

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: Any names you can hint at?

WILSON: Nah! No, don’t get me in trouble. [laughs] I can’t even hint at anything, but - trust me, it’ll be good. Fans will be excited to revisit these characters and see these shout-outs to old subplots. Some of it will be tying up loose ends, some of it’s just plain fun. Nick’s even got plans to have every guest director come back for an episode if scheduling works out. Don’t worry, I was allowed to share that. I asked. But Peggy [Carter] is already coming back for the mid-season finale and I think they’ve talked about her having a bigger hand in the second half of the season.

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: Oh, that’s exactly what we wanted to hear. She’s been involved in those episodes that make me swoon every time!

WILSON: Yeah, she knows how to tug on those heart-strings. She and Nick sat down, I think it was the middle of Season 2. But she and Nick sat us all down and we went around and said where we thought our characters would be in a few seasons and what we wanted for them. And it was all domestic. [laughs] No matter how crazy the world is, those same basic dreams are at our core, you know? And those are Peggy’s favorite stories to tell. Old romantics will be very happy with the intimate moments we fit into these episodes. It’ll be good. Real good.

7. Speaking of intimate: “It’s a very romantic season,” Bucky [Barnes, playing the Winter Soldier] shares. Cue squeals!

BARNES: Obviously the tone of the series will still be there, we don’t deviate into some kind of romantic drama. But you’ve seen the highs and lows of all these relationships, you’ve seen these characters go through so much and now they’ve earned this happiness. It’s a big turning point for our favorite couples, and rather than “will they, won’t they” you get to see them as a unit. That’s kind of the theme of this whole season, “us against the world,” whether it’s couples or friendships or the Team. It’s a great message.

ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT: Can you give us any hints?

BARNES: I wish I could, I really do. We just - we’re all having such a hard time biting our tongues. Each script is better and better and we want to share that with everyone, we want them to be excited with us. But I promise you, if you’ve sat through the last three years with your fingers crossed it’ll pay off. We almost jump the gun in a sense, because it goes from this slow burn to just diving head-first and it’s so satisfying. Even for myself, as a fan of this story and these characters, I see how far everything has come and I just get all tingly. [laughs] It’s great.

Well, there you have it!

It seems like this season will be the most emotional one yet, and luckily for us it sounds like it won’t be of the heart-breaking variety. Hopefully.

What are YOU most excited about for the upcoming season? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Articles:

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‘Marvelous’ Co-Stars’ Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers Recap Season Finale, Discuss Their Sizzling Chemistry

YouTube Personality Skye Johnson Posts Adorable Video to Announce Landing Unnamed ‘Marvelous’ Role

[Image Caption: Close-up of Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers at night. Steve is kissing her hair, and Natasha is smiling softly with her hand on her cheek, showing off a glittering diamond ring - different from the ring she had been seen wearing in an on-set photo that writer/producer Nick Fury tweeted.]

1,056,813 likes

stevenrogers my favorite present has always been you

View all 1,965 comments

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

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[Image Caption: Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers on the set of Marvelous, kissing, her glittering diamond ring resting against his cheek as he dips her. The cast and crew can be seen out of focus in the background, cheering.]

1,195,381 likes

nataliaromanov I said yes

View all 2,110 comments

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

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[durenjtmusings]

10 Baby Facts for SPN Fic Authors

[I swear this is not a rant - it ISN’T. Honest.]

It is actually kind of cool to realize that you possess specialty knowledge that may be of use to others. Stuff that you didn’t really KNOW you knew, until, of course, you are reading along in a fic and something the author describes (or the character says) brings your brain to a screeching halt. “That’s not right – it can’t possibly happen that way…” And then you go and do actual research to back up your gut knowledge. This little FAQ is the result of one such realization.

My dad fixed antique and classic cars for a living from 1964 – 1978, owning his own showroom for 3 years near the end of that time. Born in 1966, I grew up playing in old cars, hiding in floorboards and exploring them to my heart’s content. Our family car for several years was a 1966 Thunderbird, but when dad went to car shows, we rode in whatever he wanted to show off. I’ve been in rumble seats, hard top convertibles, cars with windshields that laid down flat, and cars with no roof, doors, or walls of any kind. My 1st car was a fully restored 1966 mustang. Without really realizing it, I soaked up a LOT of inherent understandings about older cars. The information below is based in that knowledge, backed up with some internet research.

The following is true about Baby (the character in SPN, not necessarily the actual cars that play her): 

1) Compared to most modern sedans, Baby is BIG. Like REALLY BIG. She is 17 and ¾ feet long (5.4 meters) and 7 feet 8 inches wide (2.03 meters). Allowing for door thickness on either side and the gaps between doors and bench seat, I’m betting the front seat is a little over 5 feet wide. Given basic geometry and human skeletal limitations, this means it is not possible for the passenger to have their head resting against the passenger door/window AND place their hand on the driver’s thigh. If the passenger is in this position, the driver can,  at best, entwine fingers with the passenger’s outstretched hand. That’s IT (even with Sam’s monkey arms). Sitting up straight, yes. Slumped over, no. On the plus side, this is why the guys can, in fact, get some sleep in her (and have fun in the back seat).

2) Despite how big Baby is, she is kinda short. Baby is only 54 inches high (4’6” or 138 cm). INSIDE the car, she is slightly less than 4 feet tall total. This means that the following actions WILL make you bump your head (or butt or hands or feet) on the ceiling unless you are very very slow and careful: climbing over the back seat, straddling someone’s lap, taking off your pants or t-shirt (unless nearly lying down in the seat), and lunging across the front bench seat to attack someone bodily. And you will look graceless doing it. [Ahem, trust me on these, I KNOW.] Additional negative modifiers for Sam due to height.

More below the cut.

3) Baby HATES crappy roads. Her big body has an all steel frame and body panels plus a very large engine system. Baby is HEAVY. She weighs a *minimum* of 3704 lbs empty. With equipment and the boys in her, she is over 2 tons. Oh and Baby is LOW. Her ground clearance is slightly less than 6 inches. This means an 8 inch deep pot hole (like the one in episode 11.01, above) can bottom out her axle and stop her in her tracks.  She SUCKS on rough terrain. Oh, and getting her OUT of said hole? Will require a JACK and a lot of swearing. (Baby is rear-wheel drive – her front wheels aren’t getting her out of anywhere). There was NO way the boys lifted her out of that hole in that episode (especially since they showed up in the next scene NOT covered in mud).

4) Baby is, in fact, good to have in a wreck. That all steel frame means she can practically bounce off of most modern cars. You’ll note they use large SUVs and tractor trailer trucks to hurt her. The fact that she makes it through the bumps and bruises she does is relatively accurate. In addition, Baby’s model had shoulder* seat belts in the front driver and passenger sides ‘standard’. Now this doesn’t mean the guys have to wear ‘em, or that Dean/John didn’t take ‘em out, but they were a standard safety measure. If you are wearing them, however, all movement described in 1 & 2 above is even MORE limited/complicated. Wearing them should keep you from getting thrown out of the car in an accident. Without them - you are the rock in a slingshot, out you go.

5) Baby’s model ONLY had a full, flat, smooth bench seat all the way across (front and back). She should NOT be drawn or described with a split front seat or (shudder) bucket seats of any kind. Sliding across this kind of seat from one side to the other was, in fact, a fun game for us as kids. Again, this makes her relatively ideal for napping…kinda. The backwards tilting angle is weird to sleep on and the seat itself is narrow front to back. it isn’t ideal, just possible.

6)  Baby’s gear shift is on the steering column (and she is an automatic). While there is a hump in the floor boards for the transmission, there is exactly zero to climb over for anyone who might be…shifting positions for activities in the front seat. In fact, given #1 above, it is possible for three grown adults to sit in the front seat, although the floor bump makes the middle person uncomfortable (unless they are short). Leg crowding and hip/elbow bumping will occur, but it can be done without too much discomfort. This means Baby can seat 6 with only mild discomfort (and in fact, has seat belts for 6 standard - see #4 above). You could do 7 if the four in the back are small (or someone lays across the other three – What? I’ve done it). OK, if later season Sam is in the front seat, the person in the middle better be Claire or Jody.

7)  Baby, as portrayed on screen, has lots of “optional” features. Most likely, John and Dean have been regularly ‘upgrading her’ over the years. For example she has “all vinyl interior” (standard was cloth and vinyl combined). The extra headlamps in early seasons are another example (and of course the trunk modifications). The ‘67 impala came with a wide variety of transmission and engine options. Even before the Season 1 finale, Baby likely had a “non-standard” engine system. Who KNOWS how powerful a system Dean put into Baby in the FIRST reconstruction (because, trust me, she needed a new engine) and what he might have done since then.

8)  Baby is OLD school rock and roll. *NEW* for the 1967 model year was the option of a tape deck – an 8 track tape deck. Dean’s ‘compact cassette’ deck is an after-market modification, likely sometime after John bought it in 1973. The compact cassette player is not “authentic” or “original” for Baby. (Although Dean may say or think so, he, in fact, knows better.) John likely listened to 8-tracks or to just the radio if the previous owner hadn’t put an 8-track in her.

9)  Baby is EXPENSIVE to maintain: > At best, Baby gets between 10-15 miles to the gallon (4.26-6.19 kpl), depending on the size of the engine Dean put in her most recently (and the tweaks he has made to it). As a corollary, Baby’s top speed is between 95-130 mph (152-209 kph) also depending on the engine. Top speed is inversely proportional to gas mileage. The bigger/faster engine Dean uses, the crappier the gas mileage. > Baby’s engines – ALL of them – are designed for ‘leaded’ gas. To get the most out of her, Dean has to regularly give her additives. > At this point, parts for Baby are either original ‘leftovers’ from the manufacturer (and very expensive) or from junk yards (used) or from online specialty stores (or Dean machines them himself). Glass, in particular, is going to be a special order. This means that ANY fic you write can include gripes about the COST of Baby (or the challenges in finding parts for her). Really, If I was FBI/enemy hunting Dean, I’d haunt the 67 Impala online groups  - which is where Dean’d go to find parts for cheap. They’d all know each other – classic car enthusiasts are a small close-knit community.

10)  Baby needs LOTS of regular maintenance. The mileage on baby, at this point, is almost a moot number. She’s had at least 2 new engines and one new transmission. She’s had just all sorts of parts replaced. Dean can tell you what’s still truly original, but for the most part, consider only the mileage you see from seasons 2 on when considering wear and tear. That said, Baby is FIFTY years old this season. Yet, as depicted, her interior and her engine are PRISTINE. Dean must spend TONS of time regularly detailing her inside and out. I mean LOOK at the carpets in the image for #5-6 above. There is NO MUD or dirt anywhere. The dashboard isn’t all faded or cracked from sunlight, and the vinyl hasn’t any rips or stains. Now, granted, likely most of that was all replaced with as new as Dean could get in 2006, but still, it takes a LOT of work to keep a car looking like that even if you keep her under a cover in the garage all the time. Baby is an actively working classic car, with the added bonus of blood and other nasty goo all over her on a regular basis. Any time a fic writer needs something for Dean to do, he can be working on Baby. There is ALWAYS something for him to be doing. [Heaven forefend he lube the damn door hinges.]

Bonus Facts: Baby is HOT. No, I mean it, all black vinyl seats and steering wheel sitting all day in the sun – is scorching hot. Like “I can’t touch anything without yelping” hot.  The 67 Impala had air conditioning as an option, so the guys likely have it, but it will still take a while to cool her down in the summer – especially in the southwest.  She will likely also take a bit of time to heat up from dead cold in the winter – especially for those in the back seat. And she isn’t air tight or well insulated, she’ll have subtle drafts. Which also means she’ll fill up fast and sink like a rock if she goes into water (2 TONS – see #3 above).

I hope this is helpful to SPN fic writers. I certainly feel better for writing it - this was fun! :)

*Updated - *brackets* for shoulder seat belts were standard - the belts themselves were an option.