#She is the greatest queen character in the history of video games

[wildfire-wordsmith]

Nimona Worldbuilding vs. Character Motivations

The Nimona film adaptation features exceptional high fantasy world building combined with futuristic science fiction technology, in which awe inspiring knights further capture the attention of viewers with flying bikes or glowing swords and projectiles. However, the most interesting parts of Nimona's world building are not the ways in which it is eye-catchingly different from the real world, but in how it is meant to mirror society, and how it uses its depiction of the world to comment on cyclical violence and how it impacts different groups of people.

After Ballister Boldheart, a commoner granted the rare opporunity to train for the opportunity to become a knight in The Institute, is seen killing the queen who gave him this opportunity, he is the kingdom's newest villian. During the incident, his arm was cut off by his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, decendent of Gloreth, an old hero of the kingdom with almost God-like reverence among the citizens (characters ask "what in Gloreth's name?" or ask what Gloreth would have wanted in her plan for the kindgom). With the help of shapeshifter Nimona, Ballister sets out to clear his name and prove that he was framed by, as he later uncovers, the director. Meanwhile Goldenloin must overcome the fear of a threat to the kingdom and learn to trust Ballister's innocence to fight on the right side of history. The movie comments on the violence within the world and how it is perpetuated. Unhealthy fear is instilled in children of all backgrounds, and the "monsters" often bear the brunt of the violent consequences.

The film makes full use of its background in each scene, paying attention to the small details to flesh out such complicated themes in a short children's movie. A train station in which Ballister and Nimona attempt to escape the knights that are after them is called Vanquisher Square, reflecting what their society values. As Nimona walks past a small child playing a violent video game, she unplugs it. A commercial for cereal features the company's Kwispy the Dragon mascot being gallantly slain by the children in the commercial. The need to defeat monsters is casually pervasive in all aspects of the lives of people and children in the kingdom. It is most directly put in a quote from Nimona : "They grow up believing they can be a hero if they drive a sword through the heart of anything different. And I'm the monster?" The effects of this world can be seen when Nimona attempts to comfort a child during a run-in with the knights, although the child still raises their swords against this "monstrous" shapeshifter. The impacts are also seen as major plot driving elements.

The heroes in the film are the ones that learn and change their world views, while the villains are the ones that hold onto their fear. The most obvious example would be the director, who frames Ballister due to a dream she had as a child. She saw the kingdom's protective wall crack and eventually break in this dream, while no one listened to her warnings. Clearly the director has been afraid of the mysterious unknown ways of life beyond the wall since childhood, and feels that she needs to take matters into her own hands to get rid of potential threats to the kingdom, to protect the people and their children. And the world building has clearly shown where the director would get this idea as a child, she has been surrounded by taught vigilance and fear since childhood. However, in protecting the kingdom, she posed the greatest threat and killed the queen.

The violent video games, commercials, and names in the film often reflect the themes and goals of their real life counterparts. By contrast many forms of love, such as queerness, are seen as inappropriate for children in the real world, but the movie takes care to represent a queer main couple. In the director's motivations and plot lines, this is especially relevant. "Protecting the children" is often cited in anti-queer sentiment. The director, who is "protecting" the kingdom, actively causes the very kind of destruction she aims to prevent by killing the queen, a major political figure. The movie demonstrates to audiences that society often perpetuates fear, but that this fear often causes the harm it aims to prevent, and that choosing to instead accept those who are different is the more worthwhile pursuit in order to bring peace.

[calisources]

GAME OF THRONES: HISTORIES AND LORE - ROBERT'S REBELLION. all sentences are taken from a mini-web series of hbo's game of thrones with different characters narrating different aspects of the world. this specific sentence memes is made from various videos of perspectives of robert's rebellion. change pronouns, names and locations as seen fit. this is a long post.

By Robert Baratheon.

The crimes of House Targaryen were too heinous to go unanswered.

The noble houses of Baratheon, Stark and Arryn united to oppose and overthrow the line of the cursed Dragon Kings.

We tried to take Ashford Castle in the Reach but the Tyrell’s beat us back.

The Targaryen searched from house to house for Robert Baratheon.

The combined forces of Ned Stark and the Tully's swept into the city guards. What a day that was. It's now known as the Battle of the Bells.

 It was his heir, Rhaegar who started the whole damn thing

Finally emerged from hiding in the south and assembled his own army to face us.

The battle that would decide the fate of the Seven Kingdoms occurred at the crossing of the Green Fork of the Trident River.

Rhaegar commanded the royal host which was some 40,000 strong.

Their  forces were outnumbered by nearly  5000 men but that didn't matter, they were fresh that we were battle-hardened and had justice on our side.

The Stag and The Dragon right there in the fort of the river.

Ned Stark goes to the capital to face the Mad King and make him pay for his crimes.

By Viserys Targaryen.

The Targaryens, Blood of the Dragon and the last of old Valyria were loved by their subjects and admired far and wide as the greatest dynasty in the history of the Western world.

Three centuries of Targaryen rule was shattered by the usurper Robert Baratheon and his band of traitors.

House Baratheon owed its very existence to the Targaryen.

Was it not Aegon the dragon himself who elevated the bastard Orys Baratheon in the war of conquest?

There are some who dare to claim Robert and his allies had reason to rebel.

They say the crown prince stole the usurper's lady love. They say my father King Aerys murdered Rickard Stark and his son without just cause.

Whether these charges are true or not? It doesn’t matter if the dragon answers to no one.

Aerys' good name has been besmirched in the years since the Rebellion. He’s been called a dangerous madman, a monster, a tyrant that brought  his tragic end upon himself.

My father was a victim of weaklings in his Council, lackwits who failed him in his hour of need and let the rebellion spin out of control.

At the Battle of the Trident, it was there the valiant Rhaegar met Robert in single combat but the gods betrayed him, and he perished by the usurper’s hand.

The Battle of the Trident seemed to herald the end of the Dragon kings.

I was the surviving heir to the throne. 

He sent me to the island fortress of Dragonstone along with my mother Queen Rhaella who was great with child.

King Aerys Targaryen prepared to defend his throne to the bitter end.

By Oberyn Martell.

 House Martell could have waged war until the end of days.

His royal parents had not produced a sister for him to wait, so he had to look elsewhere for a princess and there was only one in Westeros. Elia of house Martell.

She was not the most beautiful woman in the world or even in Dorne but rare for a woman from our land.

Her flower came with no thorns. She was kind and clever with a gentle heart.

I loved her, I feared for her for years I fended off lesser men from her but when Rhaegar came even I failed.

He was beautiful and the crown prince of the Seven Kingdoms and our mother had worked so hard to secure the match.

They were wed and he took her from her home from those who loved her and would die for her and locked her in his red keep.

She bore him a daughter and a son though, each almost cost her her life.

Elia loved Rhaegar, she obeyed him and he chose to steal away Lyanna Stark.

A pale northern girl whose veins ran with ice like all her people.

 instead of disciplining his faithless son, King Aerys executed the Starks when they came seeking justice.

Even in his madness he knew that no true Dornishmen would ever take up arms against our beloved princess and that we would fight to the death.

Prince Rhaegar, who was too slow or too arrogant for Robert's Warhammer.

Lord Tywin's Army sacked his friend's city while Lord Tywin's son  murdered the king he'd sworn to protect.

War is terrible and men must become terrible to wage it.

Lord Tywin's dog Ser Gregor Clegane the mountain, made Elia watch as he murdered her daughter and dashed her infant son's head against a wall.

With her baby's blood still on his hands he raped my sister and murdered her.

By Catelyn Tully/Stark.

Brandon Stark of Winterfell sought and won my hand.

Brandon was heir to the north and a suitable match for a daughter of house Tully.

Brandon was wild and terrifying, never far from laughter or trouble.

I loved him with all the fire of her first passion.

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen abducted Brandon's sister Lyanna. Hot-blooded as always, Brandon immediately rode for King's Landing to demand justice.

Brandon's younger brother, a man whom I had never met though of whom none spoke ill or spoke anything at all.

I spent the war by the windows waiting for a raven to hear if my son would grow up fatherless or at all. We knew the price of defeat.

When he came home to me he could not meet my eyes. I saw the reason by his side.

Many  men have bastards, I know, and under the strain of war any man no matter how honorable may forsake his vows for a night of warmth that he may never know again.

Ned Stark was not built like other men. His northern honor would not let him sequester his shame in some distant holdfast.

These bitter memories are sweet now they are all I have left of my Ned.

The Starks are of the North and like the snows of winter when they come south they melt away.

By Ser Jaime Lannister.

Kingslayer. A word every man and woman in Westeros spits at me, though many can't even name the king I slayed.

 I understand to them,  I'm a symbol of everything they'll never have and a warning that'll

never apply.

When a  dog goes mad we put it down. Why not a King?

I was never supposed to be on the Kingsguard. 

Oh as a boy I dreamed of the white cloak like all boys.

If Tywin Lannister forbade the tides, the waves would cease.

She could arrange for the king to raise me to the Kingsguard so I could stay in the city with her.

Is it a rock you want or me? Come morning she had my consent.

 I would join the Kingsguard for her. I would force my lands and title for her. I would forsake our family for her.

Everything started to fall apart at Harrenhal.

King Aerys made a great show of my investiture.

I admit despite my father's anger I was happy and foolish.

He commanded me to return to the Red Keep to guard the Queen and little Prince Viserys. 

The Mad King had chosen me to spite my father and steal his heir. I wanted to rip off the white cloak but it was too late.

I kept the King's secrets when his Pyromancer said caches of wildfire beneath King's Landing.

It fell to me to hold the red keep.

Royal Command,  bring me your father's head if you were no traitor.

Burn them, burn them all he kept muttering.

As I approached the throne, sanity flashed behind the King's eyes for a moment just long enough to read the look in mine.

He turned and ran, a single thrust was all it took to end the greatest dynasty the world had ever seen.

The last dragon king squealed like a pig and shat himself so easily. I thought a king should die harder than this.

I knew at once when I saw the way they looked at me I would be blamed.

I commanded them to announce that the Mad King was dead and to spare all those who yielded 

They asked me if they should proclaim a new king as well. I knew what they meant. Would it be my father or Robert Baratheon? or maybe the charred verse

Proclaim who you bloody well like

I climbed the steps of the Iron Throne and sat on it with my sword.

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 11

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “It really is very dangerous to believe people. I never have for years.”

Number 11 is…Miss Marple.

Miss Marple is one of the most popular characters created by Agatha Christie: a woman whom many consider to be the single greatest mystery writer in the history of English literature. (Yes, even more than Conan Doyle.) While Christie wrote many marvelous books, and created a number of equally marvelous characters, only two have managed to make this list. On the bright side, however, one will be in my oncoming Top 10 (I won’t say who, nor where they rank exactly), and Miss Marple herself only JUST misses out on making the same, which I’d say is pretty good.

I mentioned with Ellery Queen and Father Brown the idea of the “Accidental Detective” or “Busybody Detective.” I think many would argue that, at least in the world of literature, Miss Marple – while not the first of this kind (the aforementioned Father Brown predates her by about twenty years) – might have been the most popular and influential. Miss Marple is not a detective by profession in any regard; she’s not even a priest or an author. She is, in fact, a rather prim, elderly spinster lady, who lives largely alone in a fine old house, living a life of sublime comfort and seeming tranquility and peace. She is, some would argue, the single least likely of all unlikely detectives there have ever been. She’s old, she’s petite, she’s mild-mannered, has a few eccentricities…in short, she seems more like that kind, well-off grandmother or aunt down the road than a super sleuth.

Of course, a super sleuth is what Miss Marple is. Miss Marple doesn’t go out of her way to find crimes and solve them, but whenever a murder or some other injustice effectively falls into her lap, and she feels the police aren’t doing well enough to figure it out, she takes it upon herself to lend her assistance in solving the crime. Her age, her experience, and – much like with Father Brown – her plain common sense are her greatest assets. While Miss Marple is not typically harsh or unkind, it’s indicated that – even before taking up her "hobby" of solving befuddling crimes – she’s seen a lot of human injustices and cruelties. Under her gentle-hearted surface, she’s privately a bit jaded. She’s not grouchy or overtly cynical, but she's also never remotely shocked or startled when terrible things happen, nor particularly upset by any motive for them, because she’s seen it all. She understands human nature and its capacity for evil, so she trusts no one completely and sees no great surprises.

Once again, the character of Miss Marple is one who has been adapted many, MANY times over the years. The first highly popular interpretation onscreen was Margaret Rutherford: her somewhat comedic film takes on the Miss Marple stories actually reinvented the detective somewhat, accentuating her eccentricities and making her a more zany character than usual. While not really what Christie imagined, this version is still popular today. Other actresses who played the character in movies include Angela Lansbury and Helen Hayes. She’s also starred in a couple of TV shows; the most recent featured first Geraldine McEwan in the role, then later Julia McKenzie, after McEwan decided to retire from the series. Arguably the strangest interpretation was an anime with the very long title of “Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot & Marple.” This series adapted various tales of Christie’s, including not only the Miss Marple books, but also several tales featuring her other most famous creation, Hercule Poirot. The two detectives were connected by an original character named Maybelle: a relative of Miss Marple who works for Poirot.

Most fans of Miss Marple seem to agree that the definitive screen portrayal of the character was Joan Hickson, who played the part in a TV series that ran from the mid-80s all the way into the early 90s. (She is the fine lady pictured here.) Hickson also narrated several audiobooks of the Marple stories, only adding to her legacy. To say she was right for the role is an understatement: long before being cast in the TV program, Hickson had appeared in a play based on Christie’s story “Appointment With Death.” The author was so taken with her performance, she later told Hickson that she felt, one day, the actress could be a perfect Miss Marple. As evident from critical reception since, this was a case of excellent judgment. No matter who you prefer in the role, considering that as recently as 2022 there were new Marple stories still being printed (obviously by contemporary authors; Christie’s work, in general, has many contemporary treatments to uncover, some better than others), it’s safe to say this grand old lady is still in the prime of her crime-solving life.

Tomorrow, the countdown enters the Top 10!

CLUE: “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.”

[girakia]

Mario movie thoughts! Full of spoilers!

I want everyone to line up and lick my foresighting pussy. I was right about everything except for toad during training and dance party(thank god)

But okay, I'll analyze it in two ways, one as a mario fan the other as an average movie goer

As a mario fan:

10/10 WHAT A FILM! Seriously if you like Mario and his history enough this movie will be amazing. It's reference after reference + new stuff and it respects it's source material for like 90% of the time.

Mario and Luigi are actually brothers that care SO MUCH about each other, it's so cute. Their baby forms show up in a flashback and it shows how Mario always stood up to his bro. It's so adorable and "Mario is evil and doesn't like Luigi" has just been killed in the garbage, buried and had it's grave spit on.

Speaking of the bros, we see the Mario Family WHAT? AND THEY GAVE MARIO DADDY ISSUES? WACK. Like it's a stereotypical brooklyn-italian family, but nice to at least see their face. And it's so cool to me how Mario and Luigi are probably on their 20's, just beginning their careers and failing and be filled with self-doubt, it's nice...

Oh and Mario has a personality now, yeah he's very head strong, daring and brave, only being taken aback when he's in a real tight spot. And despite his chubby physique he's quite the athlete(wait we have seen this type of Mario in Luigi's mansion 3) it's really cool that it took 40 years for him to, for a large audience, develop a life of his own.

Next point: Peach

Yeah, girlboss, uh huh, an actual queen, yes... I actually really liked her in this movie, she is a capable leader that loves and appreciate her people. Her backstory, we see baby Peach, so cute and it actually reflects why she loves the Toads. Also yeah she's pretty strong and agile, but now thinking back I want to see some of her flaws in the (and it definetely IS going to happen) sequel.

Also her and Mario, so cute together, I want more of them...

Speaking of love... Bowser. Yeah he is menacing and a threat, if this wasn't a kids movie I think we would see more messed up things, there is only cartoonish violence which is okay I guess. However, despite being shown to be cruel and sorta of a mad king, he also shows a dorky side. Like "Why does Bowser want to kidnap and marry Princess Peach" It's because he likes her... What are you gonna do about it? He's charmed by her and I can't blame him..

And bowuigi... It didn't happen, yeah. Kinda mad because the fanart that would have been made if it had more than the scenes shown in the trailer would be insane. But also, I don't like it when corporations use gays ships for pink money(it's what would have happened). They did use bisexual light in his speedwagon-esque music number. And what a cool addition to Bowser lore, that he plays the piano.

Speaking of Luigi, he doesn't show up too much actually, he really gets imprisioned and stays imprisioned 2/3 of his screentime, waste of a character ngl, but next time we gotta see more of him. Maybe his lack of appearance makes sense to his shy demeanor.

KONGS. They were great! I really like how the movie made part their culture around kart racing, because as we all know, diddy kong racing for the nintendo ds is the greatest video game of all time. Donkey is actually a pretty cool character and he's really funny too. THEY MADE CRANKY HIS DAD BTW. AND HE ALSO HAS DADDY ISSUES, IT'S WHAT MAKES DONKEY AND MARIO BOND. When Mario Peach and Toad go to Kong Kingdom, they get greeted by a kong that (maybe it's because of the artstyle) looks a lot like DK jr... idk. ALSO DIDDY APPEARS THIS IS GREATES MOVIE OF ALL BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ONE WITH DIDDY KONG.

Toad is also there, like it's a chef toad, but he doesn't have an interesting name like those chef toads from the first paper mario games. He's the comic relief, but everyone is funny in this movie so he's just here to be next to Peach. Speaking of Toads, Toadsworth is dead... yeah there is a group of advisors and they are just normal toads with different colors and a few clothing details. Which interesting because I could blame Illumination for this lack of creativity in character design, but I know by a fact that this was Nintendo's doing.

Kamek is cute also, the koopas and goombas and enemies designs were great. The art style of this movie was fantastic to me.

And with that I can conclude my view as a fan. Now to act slightly more mature.

If you're not a fan of Mario, this movie will be a 5/10.

It's pretty good™, and that could be seen as a positive but we all know a "good" movie isn't enough, specially in animation, specially in a blockbuster animation. Don't get me wrong, you can see that I fucking adored this movie. However, if you're going to watch it completely devoid of any facts about Mario and gang, it's another movie about believing in yourself, protecting those you love and standing up for what's right.

And I know Mario isn't known for it's complex stories and carefully thought out world building and lore, but you can find another movie just like this one. What I'm trying to say is there is potential in this galaxy they created for the movie, though it's not explored.

I watched it with a couple of friends and one them said that this movie is more for mario nerds that grew up with playing the games back when nintendo was accesible rather than current day kids that watch a lot of youtube and have other interests and understandably can't afford nintendo crap. And agree to disagree, I'm definetely proving her point with this extensive review about a property I played with when I was 8 y/o. However, there were plenty of kids in our session, and like I said this feels like a genereic kids movie, so this is a movie for children, no denial, but it also relies on older fans to really profit.

In matters of animation, it's pretty good, expected from two big names like Nintendo and Illumination. As I sais the art style is reely cool, I like how it adapted the Kotabe/Nakaue art style mixing it with the smooth illumination style, take that as you will.

And okay, Illumination kids movie, you know what that means, copyrighted 80's music, seriously, Mr. Blue Sky, Holding out for a Hero, Take on Me. My honest reaction to that:

At least they put the dk rap when dk is introduced.

Also there were a few problems in the story. This is REALLY FAST. Like they don't even have time to make a misunderstanding when Peach and Mario first meet. They're already telling the toads they'll try to convince Cranky to join their fight. Like slow down jeez...

And hey, How does peach know what a human is? She came to the mushroom kingdom when she was a baby. And how is New York after Bowser gets defeated? They just show the bros moved to Mushroom kingdom. Is there even a pipe anymore? And the pipes just take you to other worlds ig? We're working with little explanation, I see.

Also no Daisy explicitely, nor Rosalina, there was A Pauline second.

But yes, it's generic, but I couldn't ask for anything else. But they better step up their game if they really want to make any impact on Mario's history.

[piracytheorist]

I was writing out a long ass ask about a series of youtube comments i saw from John Wolfes (I have a vague recollection of him being included in a reaction video for the ending of Video and him being sad Ethan died) final playthrough of Village (laptop lagged a bit and I clicked on it by accident) and for some reason I got curious and looked through the comments and there was a series of conversations with this one person who well let me show you the highlights for two of them (I did respond to this particular comment cos internet arguement mode kicked in)

comment one: "That's what RE8 does. It doesn't try to explain anything, despite literally telling the player that Mother Miranda is an uneducated peasant from the 1900s who becomes the greatest virologist in the world through unknown means, experiments on the Mold and ends up creating an embryonic clone of her daughter Eva for the sake of The Connections' research. Oh wow! She accomplished her goal of getting her daughter back before RE7 even happened? What impact does that have on the story? Fuck all! It's just a stupid, shortsighted retcon to try and give the two games a proper connecting element. It's plain bad writing, so no, I do not have to come up with an explanation or suspend my disbelief further, because I already suspended my disbelief the exact way you're insisting I should, in the DLC for RE7 where Zoe is saved despite becoming calcified the same way her parents died."

--the Bakers turned into actual mould then crumbled away (look at pictures of mould on food and compare what was left of the Bakers)

comment two: "The issue is not that I want a detailed breakdown of every single educational establishment she went to, I want to know how the fuck some rando widower with a dead daughter knows what Mycology is in 1912. Miranda is an uneducated, potentially illiterate woman from the turn of the century in the arse-end of nowhere in Romania. It's not a particularly compelling piece of fiction to show me a character and say "she has all this hyper-specialised knowledge and was able to completely bypass the functions of her local society...somehow". I don't know much about Romania, I'll admit, but I do know that in 1912 one of the only women in the world generally accepted to be above washing dishes was Queen Victoria, and that's quite a social standing difference between her and what is essentially some hick. It doesn't matter how much time she had, or if she is immortal, you need more than that to become such a phenomenal expert in a niche field of study that wasn't even widely accepted until MAYBE ten years before The Connections showed up to ask her for a Mold sample. And to finish off - Yes, her goal was in fact achieved when she created an embryo clone of Eva to experiment on alongside The Connections, because her goal was to get her daughter back. And since the Megamycete stores the genetic information, memories and subsequent personality of the people who are infected by it, she could have easily imprinted that onto the embryo clone. Why am I so sure that she could? Because the writers already established a precedent of not actually setting down hard rules for how the damn thing works. (As a side note, the T-Virus never had this issue because it was stated from the beginning that engineering specific outcomes among humans requires a specific combination of genetics, so no, the old games did not actually have this problem to such a degree.)"

the thing is its not like midwives and apothocaries exist is it?

because i'm interested in this shit I looked it up and according too All American Restoration: history of mold and building related illnesses

1837 – Stachybotrys Chartarum (known as “toxic black mold”) is first described by Corda from wallpaper collected in a home in Prague.

and the huffpost also has a brief history of mold where a defilling mold was mentioned In the Old Testament – Leviticus 14 – you will find the first written mold remediation protocol. Here’s an excerpt:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house.

“If the mold has spread on the walls, the priest is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

sorry for how long this got but I am interested

"telling the player that Mother Miranda is an uneducated peasant from the 1900s"

Wh-when did the game say that???

Someone tell this RE fanboy and his weak masculinity that people didn't start being "woke" when the internet came... the problem was that history was being written by straight white men and that's why we don't have a lot of info about women or queer people or people of other races and the role they played in history.

Like this dude thinks there weren't female scientists in the 19th century? Does he know what happened in 1911, when Eva in the RE universe was just two years old? Marie Skłodowska–Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, having already shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with her then husband in 1903.

Like yeah, women scientists haven't been many - but that doesn't mean they did not exist, even before women's rights was a thing. He sounds like the kind of guy who recognizes the patriarchy hasn't allowed women in higher positions for centuries, but who also doesn't realize that women have been mentally capable of such positions and have achieved them occasionally, just not as often as men did because well, the PatriarchyTM. To him it's like, Women got their Rights and Now they are as Smart and Capable as Men. Before they got rights they were only illiterate plebeians. It was us men who made them smart!

I don't even know where the guy got that Miranda was uneducated--- and illiterate???? Seriously??? Does he even know what the word illiterate means, and that this is immediately rebuffed by the fact that we see that Miranda has written entire books of notes on her experiments along with a letter to her daughter??? Spencer's letter on her lab??? Does this guy think Miranda had a scribe to read and write for her???!

Y'all, sometimes I think internet was a mistake. Dudes being bros are just unstoppable here.

But yeah, if these comments are verbatim, it just screams to me that he's a bitter, butthurt fan of the older RE games (like, the way he mentions the T virus and how it doesn't fall into PLOT HOLE SINS like the Mold does - and by the way, he probably watches too much C!nemaS!ns and unironically thinks they're right) who is also pretty uneducated himself (the only woman who was above washing dishes was fucking queen Victoria are you real bro? also good job on jumping from Romania to England, cause ofc there weren't any other queens in the entirety of Europe at the time, he's probably one of those MuricansTM who think that Europe is a country) and thinks he's right anyway because HE'S A TRUE RESIDENT EVIL FAN! and he's just bummed with how the RE team decided to take a different route and felt he had the knowledge to actually criticize their work.

Also, of all the things to hate Miranda for, lmao. The way he talks about her supposedly being "illiterate" sounds like he hates her for that and how the game made her OP and I'm like... dude. The game gives you so many reasons to hate Miranda for. She kidnapped Mia and Rose, then killed Rose and experimented on her and Mia. She experimented on thousands of people and made the Lords' lives miserable. She tormented Ethan. She's obsessed with her daughter to the point where she'll abandon all morality in order to get her back even a century later. And I'm like, y'all don't get that, you have to create a trait of hers out of fucking thin air to hate her? Y'all that shallow?

"a niche field of study that wasn't even widely accepted until MAYBE ten years before The Connections showed up to ask her for a Mold sample"

WHAT THE ACTUAL FCUK??? Alexander Fleming created penicillin from mold in 1929! Penicillin was then widely used during WW2! WHO THE FUCK GAVE THIS DUDEBRO INTERNET

Like seriously people like him suffer from an inability to shut the fuck up and especially to think before they post. He hates a female character for supposedly being "illiterate" and how the game made her OP despite that supposed illiteracy, and he doesn't have the self reflection to think wait, I don't know shit about the history of science, maybe I should either shut up or do my research before I post shit on the internet.

And I'm like... I don't know that much myself. Everything related to science I posted here was from a five minute search on wikipedia. That's all it took, yet that dudebro couldn't do it. But Miranda's the uneducated one, sure.

But y'know, I find it so ridiculous, lol. Of all the reasons to hate Miranda for! Her one and single redeeming quality is that she was determined to get her daughter back - every other trait of hers is there for us to hate her (not in a hate-hate way, but in a way that makes her a compelling villain - love to hate if you will) yet dudebros have to come up with shit to hate her for, lmao. Sadly he's not the only one. But at least we can make a laugh out of their shit, lol.

[that-house]

Viego Rant (villainy and character design and tragedy and all that jazz)

Introduction The more I think about Viego, League of Legends’ newest character, the more enamored I am with him as a villain (unrelated to his general sexiness, though that does tie in with what makes him such a good villain).

I’ve seen a lot of complaints about his design. The Ruined King, one of the greatest threats in Runeterra, the progenitor of the Shadow Isles, the lord of the undead, is finally released as a playable champion and he looks like this:

People were expecting another Mordekaiser (who is similarly an undead king with a ghost army), a lich-tyrant clad in iron, decayed flesh peeling from an aged face. What we got was an angsty anime prettyboy, and it was infinitely better than the alternatives. 

Lore Viego isn’t a conquering king. While his combat abilities are indeed badass, his personality is far from it. He’s a whiny brat and that’s incredible. He isn’t bent on world domination. His character arc revolves around just how human, how fallible he really is. For those unfamiliar with his lore, I’ll paraphrase it here:

Viego was the second son of a great king. Overshadowed by his brother and with no expectations upon him and near-limitless wealth, he wandered around being an idiot fuckboy for the vast majority of his formative years. Disaster struck when his brother died in an accident, and Viego took the throne with no training, no experience, and no desire to be king. He was a shitty king. The worst king. Just all-around apathetic. Gave zero shits. Can you blame him? It’s a lot of responsibility to be thrust upon someone who isn’t much more than a child, and with no preparation. He didn’t care about anything, that is, until he met Isolde. She was a poor seamstress, but he fell in love with her upon their first meeting. Together they ruled the country but it was really just them staring longingly into each others’ eyes. His allies were kinda fucking pissed about that, and one day an assassin came from Viego. The assassin fucked up and stabbed Isolde instead, and the poison on the blade made her fall gravely ill. As she lay in her bed, slowly dying, Viego went mad seeking a cure. He ravaged the land seeking any knowledge that might help, pouring all of his money into finding an antidote. He failed. As a last resort, he brought Isolde’s body to the Blessed Isles, a place rumored to be able to resurrect the dead. It worked, to an extent. Isolde’s wraith, confused, afraid, and angry at being ripped from the peace of death, unthinkingly stabbed Viego in the chest with his own magic sword, creating basically a magic nuke that turned the Blessed Isles into the domain of the undead. Viego resurrected as the king of the Shadow Isles some time later, having totally forgotten that Isolde killed him. He controls a big-ass ghost army, could probably beat up any living thing in a fight, and has evil ghost magic. Now this stupid simp wants his wife back and if he has to kill every living thing on Runeterra, well, anything for his queen. He’s even a tier 3 sub to her Twitch.

Music His musical theme isn’t some heavy metal anthem or intense cinematic piece (unlike the Pentakill song named after his sword, Blade of the Ruined King). It’s mostly sad and slow, almost sinister, with a piano and a music box. It has its loud moments featuring violins and choral bits like any villainous music, but the song is mostly subtle. It is a banger though.

In the comments section of this video, someone pointed out that the music reflects his story from beginning to end:

Everything about this champion is so well done. Riot Games really outdid themselves on this one. Bravo, encore please.

Motivation While the Mordekaiser circlejerkers on r/LeagueofLegends won’t shut the fuck up about how powerful Mordekaiser is, Viego is the better villain. Mordekaiser may be a bigger threat to all life on Runeterra, but Viego is a better character. (There’s a guy on my League discord server who won’t shut up about Mordekaiser so forgive me for being pissed at Morde stans).

Mordekaiser is motivated by a desire for control, to rule the world. Viego is motivated by obsession and misplaced love. There aren’t a lot of Mordekaisers on Earth. Supervillains are rare in real life. But Viego’s motivations are a lot closer to home. People in positions of power that they don’t deserve can do a lot of harm (for example: Trump).

He’s a grieving husband who was never prepared to deal with anything more difficult than choosing what wine to drink with dinner, who is trying to get his wife back because the world had always complied to his every whim. He’s a funky mix between a truly hopeless romantic and a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum.

Obsession is scary. It’s a real-world emotional state that’s been the cause of a lot of murders over mankind’s history. In contrast, Mordekaiser’s cartoonish Genghis Khan XXL schtick isn’t something that we encounter often. Of course a superpowered ultradictator would be worse for the world, but if you give ultimate power to a random person, you’re more likely to get someone like Tighten from Megamind. Or, more relevantly, Viego.

Design His design is sexy and stupid, just like him. He wears an open shirt into battle and wields his sword like an idiot (I’ve seen all the rants about how that’s not how that sword is meant to be used) because he was never really a warrior. Even at his most violent, right before the end of his mortal life, he didn’t do much combat himself, leaving his military endeavors to his underlings. Even now that he’s essentially a god, he still has a colossal wraith army that causes far more devastation than he ever could personally.

Despite his slim build (by League of Legends standards), he easily wields his colossal sword because of the strength of his state of undeath. Like his political power when he was alive, his posthumous magical and physical powers were never something he sought out, they were just given to him by circumstance.

The big cool-ass triangle hole in his chest where Isolde stabbed him is the source of the Black Mist, which is evil ghost mist that ebbs and flows from the Shadow Isles, bringing with it hordes of the undead. The sadder Viego is, the more Mist he creates. Poetically, his invasion of the world is inspired by his sorrow at his wife’s death and enabled by his wife’s reluctance to return to him. His story is perfectly reflected by his design.

Isolde Isolde’s spirit took up residence inside a young Senna (who’s another League champion, not particularly important here). This led to some Black Mist-related shenanigans and at least for the time being, Senna uses Isolde’s power to fight off the servants of Viego which threaten all life on Runeterra.

It seems pretty clear that whatever love Isolde felt for Viego is gone by now. Whether or not she ever loved him or was just unable to say no to the king is up for debate, but I’d like to believe there was something there. In my opinion, Viego’s story hits harder if they really were a great couple at first, torn apart by circumstance and obsession.

Much like the Maiden of the Woods in that one comic that circulates around here, to whom the knight gave his heart and she was like “yo what the fuck i literally never asked you to do this,” Viego went a little too far in trying to save her. They may have once been happy, but the Ruined King ruined his own life, too.

Unless Isolde is a lot less morally decent than we’ve been led to believe, I doubt she can forgive all the massacring that her husband’s been doing lately. In the recent cinematic, she was shown to be pretty anti-Viego. Maybe she’ll get a bastardization arc, but it certainly seems unlikely.

All of Season 2021 is based around Viego, Isolde, and the Shadow Isles, so we’ll just have to see what comes next. It’s possible that we’ll get Isolde as a playable champion, which should clear a lot of things up.

Final Thoughts Unlike so many villains, he’s not fueled by rage or hatred, but rather by sorrow. He’s stuck in his past, unable to move on. He regrets the actions of his life but is set on his course now. The sunk-cost fallacy comes into play here; he’s put so much time and effort and blood into bringing back Isolde, that turning away from it would feel to him like an insult, not only to her but to the innocent lives he’s taken in her name.

His tale is a tragedy, a love story gone horrifically wrong. Viego has suffered throughout his thousand-year life. Despite this, he’s undoubtedly the villain. His permanent death would be a net positive for the world. In has rage and grief he’s destroyed multiple civilizations, and will burn down the world to get Isolde back.

His heart may be in the wrong place, but it’s in a very human place. I don’t think he’ll get the ending he’s looking for, but I hope he finds some closure in the end.

[brittaperry]

so it’s 2021 and I replayed tlou bc it’s totally not like there are other video games on my shelf that I haven’t finished or even started

originally this was going to be a thread on twitter but then I remembered that talking about anything tlou related over there seems like hell so I’m here instead.

this opening is still one of the best in video game history. like I’m still a mess watching Joel and Sarah fall. rip me (and also Sarah… and now Joel too, I guess).

should I make a tally every time I hear someone from CR? it’s been like ten minutes and I’ve heard 3 of them already.

why do I feel like I know more about the minor characters and their relationships with the main characters in this game than I do about the ones in TLOU2?

Joel is probably canonically stealthy because 1) survivor, and 2) limited supplies, and I like playing stealthy but I am not always good at stealthy.

Ellie pulling a knife on Joel immediately because she thinks he’s hurt Marlene? That’s how you introduce a character.

the women in this game are just so good. like not morally in some cases, but in terms of writing and development.

missing collectibles when I'm trying to collect them all and finally get the trophy makes me scream. no one look at me.

Ellie's excitement over being outside? I am EMOTIONAL.

"Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?" that is what they call a wham line.

it started raining here while it was raining in the game. the universe said “let’s really immerse you this time”.

sorry to all the NPCs I travel with but if I don’t search every corner of a place and grab all of the loot, I won’t be able to think about anything else for the next 6+ hours. (flashback to FO4 because yes, I do really need all of this junk, because apparently I’m the only one building the settlements).

I’m not going to talk about how much I hate that bit in the Outskirts when Joel drops down on to the floor with the 4 runners and 1 clicker, but I need you to know how much I hate that bit in the Outskirts when Joel drops down on to the floor with the 4 runners and 1 clicker.

"You got something on your shoe" Ellie is a comedy queen.

the NPCs are useless sometimes. Bill’s just casually walking around while Joel and Ellie run from the bloater.

EXCUSE ME BUT I AM VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT JOEL AND ELLIE AND HOW MUCH THEIR FRIENDSHIP/SURROGATE FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIP HAS DEVELOPED BETWEEN BOSTON AND PITTSBURGH. YOU CAN REALLY SEE THAT THEY’RE STARTING TO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER AND I WANT TO CRY.

I missed one of Ellie’s jokes... I’m so disappointed in myself.

I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hot--

the fact that you meet and then lose Sam and Henry in the space of a few days still devastates me.

they buried Sam and Henry, and that makes me happy (even though I’m still devastated they’re gone) because they had to just leave Tess where she was, so it’s beautiful that they were able to say goodbye and that those two characters could be laid to rest.

remember when Tommy wasn't an asshole.

no, you're crying over Joel and Ellie.

JOEL TEACHING ELLIE ABOUT FOOTBALL. I JUST!!!!!

I hate when games are like "HINT" because you're taking your time and you want to explore the world they created like, chill.

when Joel falls onto the rebar and the sound gets muffled, echo-y, and goes in and out? how it gets harder to control him? how certain parts of the screen blur? how the screen starts to fade in and out as you're walking because Joel's losing consciousness? A+++ choices. who else is doing it like them?

it's interesting how the first time you play as Ellie in TLOU and the first time you play as Abby in TLOU2 it's winter.

why does Naughty Dog hate horses?

Ellie is one of the greatest video game characters. if you think otherwise, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

why did I think you had bottles and bricks you could throw at David?

AGAIN, ELLIE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST VIDEO GAME CHARACTERS.

AGAIN, JOEL AND ELLIE MEAN THE WORLD TO ME.

THE GIRAFFE. MY HEART.

WHEN JOEL PULLS ELLIE OUT OF THE WATER AND SHE'S NOT BREATHING AND THE FIREFLIES ARE JUST ASSHOLES AND KNOCK JOEL OUT. LIKE NO, I STILL HATE THE FIREFLIES. I get that it’s the apocalypse but you see a guy who’s trying to resuscitate someone who could be his daughter and you’re like “let’s knock him out”?

here's the thing, and I'll go into this more when I play part 2, the fact that they're going to kill Ellie for the cure and they don't even tell her??? Like, Ellie would say yes to it, but they don't ask and I hate them. ALSO, just because they say they can make a cure, there's no promises. AND ALSO, HOW IS IT THAT THERE'S ONLY ONE MAN WHO CAN MAKE THE CURE? okay, that's more of a complaint for the second game, but yeah, HOW IS IT THAT A GUY NAMED JERRY IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN CREATE A CURE? IN TLOU2, WE FIND OUT HE HAD AT LEAST ONE STUDENT (MEL) SO DID HE JUST NOT TELL ANYONE ELSE HOW TO CREATE A CURE BECAUSE HE WANTED TO FEEL SPECIAL? LIKE HE'S NOT THE ONLY SCIENTIST LEFT IN THE WORLD. LIKE THERE ARE TWO OTHER DOCTORS/ASSISTANTS WITH HIM IN THE SURGERY. okay, this is not TLOU related, this is TLOU2, but yeah, I'm still mad about it.

also, the whole giving NPCs names thing is in TLOU and other NPCs will say things like "this is for my friends" so unless this is an update and wasn't in the original (cbf to play on ps3) why was it such a big deal in TLOU2? like when you're in the hospital, the Fireflies call one of the NPCs Ethan.

just realised I missed ONE Firefly pendant. I hate everything.

back to what I was saying before, Marlene says "you can still do the right thing", which implies that the cure can still be made but like, she'd have to assume that Joel did kill Jerry to get to Ellie and she still says that so like, were there other people who could've made the cure?

did Joel do the right thing? no. would I have done exactly the same thing? yes.

THIS GAME IS STILL ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO GAMES/EXPERIENCES.

I didn’t take many screenshots, but here is probably the worst encounter I’ve had during this fight.

Also, that looks like the most useless bladed melee weapon. Like, Joel just made it for the aesthetic, right?

Anyway, on to Left Behind.

[wazafam]

The first Dungeons & Dragons modules and campaigns that Gary Gygax created back in the day were inspired by literature, specifically the Lord of the Rings books. Dungeon Masters and players alike still use their favorite books as templates for their campaigns, but there's a lot more to choose from when it comes to media these days. Modern Table Top Role-Playing Gamers (TTRPGers) not only have volumes of books but also a myriad of video games and movies when they need new ideas.

RELATED: 10 Best Fantasy TV Shows To Watch Right Now, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

There are a lot of fantasy movies out there that would make great D&D campaigns. They include a team of characters with different but complementary abilities, a quest, some nasty enemies to fight, and maybe even a magical object. All of the elements combine to make a great story and a great D&D module. Contemporary movies have the added benefit of mixing up the setting and genre, with some space opera and superheroes thrown into the mix.

10 The Avengers (2012)

Fantasy isn't always about sword and sorcery, but there's even some of that in there through the Asgard connection that features the god Thor and his sorcerer brother, Loki. The Avengers plays out like a stereotypical D&D module, complete with a quest, a magical object, a sworn enemy, and various people with different abilities that have to learn to work together for a common goal.

The fantasy movies of today are dominated by superheroes, and the success of the Marvel movies attests to that trend. Several entries in the franchise could inspire a TTRPG, but recognition goes to the one that confirmed the franchise was a pop culture force to be reckoned with.

9 Star Wars (1977)

It's not exactly science fiction, although there are plenty of tabletop games that specialize in the genre, but a combination of sci-fi and fantasy known as space opera. This is where snarky descriptions of Jedi Knights as "space wizards" come from, and you can easily assign other D&D classes to the other characters, like Rogue or Barbarian. The question of whether Jedi are Wizards, Sorcerers, or Clerics could be a source of interesting debate.

The concept of a campaign that takes place in outer space, or even in a setting that features interdimensional travel, can follow a similar plot as the original Star Wars. The campaign could include a mentor, training, party formation, and working together for a common goal.

8 Ninja Scroll (1993)

Imagine a module that has elements like a secretive plot that the characters must team up to discover despite opposition from malevolent and supernatural forces, and that's essentially the plot of Ninja Scroll. The setting can vary, but a DM can take some inspiration from that as well since "medieval" doesn't always have the go with "European."

RELATED: 10 Greatest Fantasy Weapons in Film, Ranked

Ninja Scroll was part of the anime wave of the mid-1990s that brought on cyberpunk and psychological horror along with this movie, a chilling tale of ghosts and demons from Japanese history. At the time it was a unique example of an anime film that took place in the past as opposed to a movie about the future.

7 The Last Unicorn (1982)

A book that's been successfully adapted into a movie can also be adapted into a campaign. For players that are more concerned about character development and roleplaying, especially as it relates to class progression, The Last Unicorn is the ideal inspiration.

The quest and plot are simple, relying more on the interaction between the characters than any complex storyline. Players and DMs alike can see where archetypes come from and how they can be subverted, different ways that character progression can work, and how they are combined as part of RP in gameplay.

6 Conan The Destroyer (1984)

The first Conan movie could also be in this space, but the oft-overlooked sequel, Conan The Destroyer, has a much better party dynamic.

Conan, of course, a Barbarian, is joined by a Cleric, a Druid who might be a Fighter multiclass, a Monk who might be a Barbarian herself, and of course his sidekicks from the first movie, the Rogue and the Wizard. They're on a quest to find a magical artifact for a queen who seems to be Neutral Evil so she can resurrect an old, angry god. If there's not a D&D module for this already, there should be.

5 Spirited Away (2001)

Sometimes a whole module can take place in a relatively small space, like a castle keep, a large house, or a prison compound. This movie is more about creating and playing in a unique and perhaps enclosed setting since there's little to see regarding party dynamic with one character being the focus of the plot and action.

RELATED: Spirited Away: 10 Ways It's Actually A Horror Movie

The enchanted bathhouse of the witch Yubaba is where most of the action takes place. DMs will appreciate the detail and difference that each of the various levels has, with the lower levels furnished for public viewing and the upper levels for employees and Yubaba's private quarters, with the addition of secret routes along the perilous exterior of the massive building.

4 Ladyhawke (1985)

The quest still has to be at the heart of any D&D campaign and that's also what makes Ladyhawke such a great movie when DMs and players need inspiration. Every good D&D campaign needs a plot, which is the quest, along with a realistic antagonist complete with minions and magical powers.

That's not to say a few interesting characters are included, and they have some interesting arcs, for those interested in character progression. For example, the main character, Philipe, is a Rogue who seems to take a turn towards multi-classing into a Cleric as the story comes to a close.

3 Dragonslayer (1981)

This one seems too obvious at first, and the script plays on those fairytale tropes on purpose only to surprise the viewer later. Although Dragonslayer is missing a lot of that essential party dynamic, the main character has an interesting mentor and character arc, thus it's more useful to players when it comes to putting together a good backstory than building the ideal campaign.

However, what seems like a typical story ends up subverting some old archetypes in clever ways, and a good D&D campaign would find some ways to do the same.

2 The Dark Crystal (1982)

A unique setting can make a simple, even stereotypical storyline a lot more interesting. The journey starts with the search for and the acquisition of a magical item that must be delivered to a precise location, complete with a ticking clock, which is also a nice plot for a DM to guide the party through.

RELATED: 10 Fantasy Movies That Were Groundbreaking For The Genre

Aside from all that, there's a wealth of details in The Dark Crystal for those that are interested in designing a unique campaign with a lot of lore, which includes creative destinations and compelling villains with interesting backstories. It's also an interesting example of progressing through a campaign where one player starts on their own, with a brand new character, and grows their party as their initial quest progresses.

1 Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2

The first movie was more about how Star-Lord and his gang initially got together, a story that's useful for beginners, so Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 for players and Dungeon Masters that want some inspiration for more advanced characters. These are gamers from both sides of the table who have already formed a solid party dynamic and are ready to face a more formidable challenge.

It's also a nice twist on the conventional fantasy genre, with a variety of settings that include Ego's planet and some creative space monsters, including the final boss himself. All of this is set up with some easy-to-follow character progression, and if viewers are paying attention, there are Barbarians, Fighters, and Rogues aplenty if players that favor those classes need inspiration for their own individual gameplay.

NEXT: 10 Pro Tips To Running A Large DND Group

10 Best Fantasy Movies That'll Inspire Your Next DnD Campaign from https://ift.tt/3v2cKK0

[96thdayofrage]

Aretha Franklin was larger than life. Her voice, her physical presence, her personality, her place in musical history. Everything about Aretha was big. To appropriately portray the scope of her story, and everything she represented, the treatment must be larger than life.

National Geographic’s 8-part series, “Genius: Aretha” does the exact opposite.

To begin with, there’s a reason they call television “the small screen.” It’s not a medium for epic storytelling, or anything with significant scope. The way the series is shot feels very much like daytime television, rather than a cinematic experience. But that alone isn’t what makes this story feel so small.

The opening title sequence of each episode contains music that sounds like a midi track from an old video game — a bizarre musical choice to set the tone for a story about Aretha Franklin, a brilliant and inspiring musician who was named the #1 greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Suzan Lori-Parks’ script diminishes The Queen of Soul to a mere caricature. The dialogue is so poorly written, it becomes a distraction to the story. Throughout the overlong show, Parks takes tangential details and tries to make them absurdly momentous. And worse, she reduces some of Franklin’s grandest moments into side notes, or skips them entirely. For example, we see Aretha (barely) react to the announcement of Dr. King’s death. But why did they gloss over the fact that Aretha sang at his funeral? Instead, the episode included a fictional scene of Aretha and MLK flirting during a smoke break. A classic example of sacrificing an iconic moment, for a silly (and untrue) scene in its place.

The entire show feels like an effort to confuse the audience as to what time period it’s supposed to be in. This is partially due to the scattered direction from Anthony Hemingway. The flashbacks are confusing, in part because some are in black and white, while others are in color. Stylistically, the black and white treatment never works because the picture looks as bright and clear as if it was shot yesterday. Nothing else was done to make the “old” scenes look old.

Another authenticity problem is the gospel music sung by young Aretha. While Shaian Jordan has a lovely voice, it is a contemporary R&B sound, and does not remotely resemble the style in which Aretha Franklin sang as a child. Her voice is much smaller than young Aretha’s, and yet audiences respond with rapturous applause as if she just brought the house down. This is distracting, to say the least.

Overall, the acting leaves much to be desired, and is not helped by the lackluster script. Each actor’s delivery feels like they are reciting lines. The pacing as a whole is painfully slow, yet each individual scene feels rushed.

In life, Aretha was surrounded by celebrities from an early age. Her father was a famous minister, and they had countless famous friends. Even from a young age, some of Aretha’s closest friends and neighbors grew up to be stars as well. So, to properly tell Aretha Franklin’s story, you need a glittery cast of A-list talent. NatGeo fell painfully short in this department, as no one is actually a star.

The closest thing to an A-list celebrity is Courtney B. Vance, who has enjoyed an illustrious screen career. But even he is sadly out of his element playing Aretha’s father, the iconic Rev. CL Franklin. His portrayal feels like a caricature, and much of his story arc is straight from the salacious rumor mill.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, NatGeo’s worst error was the miscasting of British musical theater actress Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin.

Perhaps most obviously, Erivo simply does not possess the physicality to play Aretha at any stage of her life. Her stature is far too small, and her costars tower over her in most scenes. Aretha had unique presence both onstage and off. She was a commanding figure — a force — and yet she had the most graceful way of moving. Her gestures were understated and subtle. Erivo’s movements are hurried and harsh, and her physical presence lacks the authority of Aretha.

One of the most distracting elements is Erivo’s speaking voice. Aretha had a high, breathy, flirtatious voice, with a specific lilt in her cadence. For reasons unknown, Erivo speaks in a low, emotionless monotone, which is reminiscent of her previous characters, Celie (“The Color Purple”) and Harriet Tubman (“Harriet”). It would seem that Erivo has one American accent in her arsenal and uses it with each American role she takes on. Perhaps the most difficult moments to watch are when she accidently slips back into her British accent, taking the audience fully out of the scene. Why no one on set caught these major gaffes is beyond comprehension.

Erivo’s character development completely misses the mark. Aretha had a strong personality, but was also shy, coy, demure, feminine, and cool at the same time. Erivo’s portrayal is surprisingly one-dimensional. It would seem that her only view of Miss Franklin was “angry diva.” But Aretha was far more than a diva, and when her “diva” came out, it was often coupled with a wink and a nod. Aretha loved to laugh and had a wonderful sense of humor. Erivo’s Aretha is painfully void of comic relief, completely ignoring Franklin’s playful and acerbic wit. The one instance she attempts to show this side (telling her band a joke about a chicken), it falls completely flat.

While Erivo’s singing is strong throughout, it never reaches that spine-tingling level of Aretha’s unbridled delivery. Instead, it feels like a carefully rehearsed karaoke imitation. Unlike Andra Day’s recent tour de force performance as Billie Holiday (“The United States Vs. Billie Holiday), Erivo never manages to get lost in the character, even during her best musical moments.

In addition, many of the musical moments would appear to be added after the fact, just to remind the audience that this is still Aretha Franklin’s story we are watching.

Arguably the biggest letdown of this entire endeavor is the song selection. NatGeo did not secure the rights to Franklin’s most beloved songs in her catalogue. So what we get here is a string of lesser known songs from Aretha’s repertoire — and often, songs more closely associated with other acts (Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Otis Redding’s “Satisfaction,” Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” and Diana Ross’s “Reach Out and Touch”).

Before Miss Franklin died, it’s been said that she specifically requested not to have her story told on television. (Instead, she famously asked Jennifer Hudson to bring her story to life on the big screen in MGM’s “Respect,” due in theaters this August.) Aretha knew what National Geographic and its showrunners did not — her story is larger than life and should be treated as such.

[animeman08]

Hulk

The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in publications by the American publisher Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 1962). In his comic book appearances, the character is both the Hulk, a green-skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength, and his alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist. The two exist as independent dissociative personalities, and resent each other.

Following his accidental exposure to gamma rays saving the life of Rick Jones during the detonation of an experimental bomb, Banner is physically transformed into the Hulk when subjected to emotional stress, at or against his will, often leading to destructive rampages and conflicts that complicate Banner's civilian life. The Hulk's level of strength is normally conveyed as proportionate to his level of anger. Commonly portrayed as a raging savage, the Hulk has been represented with other personalities based on Banner's fractured psyche, from a mindless, destructive force, to a brilliant warrior, or genius scientist in his own right. Despite both Hulk and Banner's desire for solitude, the character has a large supporting cast. This includes Banner's lover Betty Ross, his best friend Rick Jones, his cousin She-Hulk, and therapist and ally Doc Samson. In addition, the Hulk alter ego has many key supporting characters like his co-founders of the superhero team the Avengers, his queen Caiera, fellow warriors Korg and Miek, and sons Skaar and Hiro-Kala. However, his uncontrollable power has brought him into conflict with his fellow heroes and others. Despite this he tries his best to do what's right while battling villains such as Leader, Abomination, Absorbing Man and more.

Lee stated that the Hulk's creation was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Although the Hulk's coloration has varied throughout the character's publication history, the most usual color is green.

One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the character has appeared on a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectable items, inspired real-world structures (such as theme park attractions), and been referenced in a number of media. Banner and the Hulk have been adapted in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations. The character was first played in a live-action feature film by Eric Bana. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character was portrayed by Edward Norton in the film The Incredible Hulk (2008) and by Mark Ruffalo in the films The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) in a cameo, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019) in a cameo, and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Ruffalo will reprise the role in the upcoming Disney+ series What If...? (2021) and She-Hulk (2022).

> Personality

Bruce Banner During his decades of publication, Banner has been portrayed differently, but common themes persist. Banner, a physicist, is sarcastic and seemingly very self-assured when he first appears in Incredible Hulk #1, but is also emotionally withdrawn. Banner designed the gamma bomb which caused his affliction, and the ironic twist of his self-inflicted fate has been one of the most persistent common themes. Arie Kaplan describes the character thus: "Robert Bruce Banner lives in a constant state of panic, always wary that the monster inside him will erupt, and therefore he can't form meaningful bonds with anyone." As a child, Banner's father Brian often got mad and physically abused both Banner and his mother, creating the psychological complex of fear, anger, and the fear of anger and the destruction it can cause that underlies the character. Banner has been shown to be emotionally repressed, but capable of deep love for Betty Ross, and for solving problems posed to him. Under the writing of Paul Jenkins, Banner was shown to be a capable fugitive, applying deductive reasoning and observation to figure out the events transpiring around him. On the occasions that Banner has controlled the Hulk's body, he has applied principles of physics to problems and challenges and used deductive reasoning. It was shown after his ability to turn into the Hulk was taken away by the Red Hulk that Banner has been extremely versatile as well as cunning when dealing with the many situations that followed. When he was briefly separated from the Hulk by Doom, Banner became criminally insane, driven by his desire to regain the power of the Hulk, but once the two recombined he came to accept that he was a better person with the Hulk to provide something for him to focus on controlling rather than allowing his intellect to run without restraint against the world.

Hulk The original Hulk was shown as grey and average in intelligence who roamed aimlessly and became annoyed at "puny" humans who took him for a dangerous monster. Shortly after becoming the Hulk, his transformation continued turning him green, coinciding with him beginning to display primitive speech, and by Incredible Hulk #4 radiation treatments gave Banner's mind complete control of the Hulk's body. While Banner relished his indestructibility and power, he was quick to anger and more aggressive in his Hulk form, and, while he became known as a hero alongside the Avengers, his increasing paranoia caused him to leave the group, believing he would never be trusted.

Originally, the Hulk was shown as simple minded and quick to anger. The Hulk generally divorces his identity from Banner's, decrying Banner as "puny Banner." From his earliest stories, the Hulk has been concerned with finding sanctuary and quiet and often is shown reacting emotionally to situations quickly. Grest and Weinberg call Hulk the "dark, primordial side of Banner's psyche." Even in the earliest appearances, Hulk spoke in the third person. Hulk retains a modest intelligence, thinking and talking in full sentences, and Lee even gives the Hulk expository dialogue in issue six, allowing readers to learn just what capabilities Hulk has, when the Hulk says, "But these muscles ain't just for show! All I gotta do is spring up and just keep goin'!" In the 1970s, Hulk was shown as more prone to anger and rage, and less talkative. Writers played with the nature of his transformations, briefly giving Banner control over the change, and the ability to maintain control of his Hulk form. Artistically and conceptually, the character has become progressively more muscular and powerful in the years since his debut.

Originally, Stan Lee wanted the Hulk to be grey, but, due to ink problems, Hulk's color was changed to green. This was later changed in the story to indicate that the Grey Hulk and the Savage Hulk are separate personalities or entities fighting for control in Bruce's subconscious. The Grey Hulk incarnation can do the more unscrupulous things that Banner could not bring himself to do, with many sources comparing the Grey Hulk to the moody teenager that Banner never allowed himself to be. While the Grey Hulk still had the "madder he gets, the stronger he gets" part that is similar to the Savage Hulk, it is on a much slower rate. It is said by Leader that the Grey Hulk is stronger on nights of the new moon and weaker on nights of the full moon. Originally, the night is when Bruce Banner becomes the Grey Hulk and changes back by dawn. In later comics, willpower or stress would have Banner turn into the Grey Hulk. During one storyline where he was placed under a spell to prevent him turning back into Bruce Banner and publicly presumed dead when he was teleported away from a gamma bomb explosion that destroyed an entire town, the Grey Hulk adopted a specific name as Joe Fixit, a security guard for a Las Vegas casino owner, with the Grey Hulk often being referred to as Joe after these events.

The Gravage Hulk is the result of Banner using the Gamma Projector on himself which merged his Savage Hulk and Grey Hulk personas. This form possesses the raw power of the Savage Hulk and the cunning intellect of the Grey Hulk. While he doesn't draw on anger to empower him, the Gravage Hulk persona draws on dimensional nexus energies to increase his strength.

The Dark Hulk persona is the result of Hulk being possessed by Shanzar. This form has black skin and is viciously strong.

The Guilt Hulk is a malevolent representation of Banner's abusive father, Brian Banner, that manifests itself in Banner's childhood memories.

The Devil Hulk or Immortal Hulk is the result of Hulk needing a father figure. While the character's physical appearance varies, he is always depicted as having glowing red eyes, and reptilian traits. The new form of Devil Hulk is the result of Banner and Hulk having been through different deaths and rebirths. This incarnation is articulate, smart, and cunning, and does merciless attacks on those who do harm. Unlike the other Hulk incarnations, Devil Hulk is content with waiting inside Bruce. If Bruce is injured by sunset, the Devil Hulk will emerge with his transformation being limited to night-time. Thanks to the Devil Hulk side and Banner working together, Devil Hulk can maintain his form in sunlight.

The Green Scar persona is unleashed on Sakaar and is an enraged version of Gravage Hulk. In addition, he is an expert in armed combat like the use of swords and shields. Green Scar is also a capable leader and an expert strategist.

Doc Green is a variation of the Merged Hulk persona that is the result of Extremis fixing Hulk's brain. This persona is powerful enough to destroy Tony Stark's mansion with one thunderclap.

> Powers and Abilities

Banner is considered one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, possessing "a mind so brilliant it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test." Norman Osborn estimates that he is the fourth most-intelligent person on Earth. Banner holds expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, physiology, and nuclear physics. Using this knowledge, he creates advanced technology dubbed "Bannertech", which is on par with technological development from Tony Stark or Doctor Doom. Some of these technologies include a force field that can protect him from the attacks of Hulk-level entities, and a teleporter.

The Hulk possesses the potential for seemingly limitless physical strength which is influenced by his emotional state, particularly his anger. This has been reflected in the repeated comment, "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." The cosmically-powerful entity known as the Beyonder once analyzed the Hulk's physiology, and claimed that the Hulk's potential strength had "no finite element inside." Hulk's strength has been depicted as sometimes limited by Banner's subconscious influence; when Jean Grey psionically "shut Banner off", Hulk became strong enough to overpower and destroy the physical form of the villain Onslaught. Writer Greg Pak described the Worldbreaker Hulk shown during World War Hulk as having a level of physical power where "Hulk was stronger than any mortal—and most immortals—who ever walked the Earth", and depicted the character as powerful enough to completely destroy entire planets. His strength allows him to leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents, and he has displayed superhuman speed. Exposure to radiation has also been shown to make the Hulk stronger. It is unknown how he gains biomass during transformation but it may be linked to One-Below-All.

His durability, regeneration, and endurance also increase in proportion to his temper. Hulk is resistant to injury or damage, though the degree to which varies between interpretations, but he has withstood the equivalent of solar temperatures, nuclear explosions, and planet-shattering impacts. Despite his remarkable resiliency, continuous barrages of high-caliber gunfire can hinder his movement to some degree while he can be temporarily subdued by intense attacks with chemical weapons such as anesthetic gases, although any interruption of such dosages will allow him to quickly recover. He has been shown to have both regenerative and adaptive healing abilities, including growing tissues to allow him to breathe underwater, surviving unprotected in space for extended periods, and when injured, healing from most wounds within seconds, including, on one occasion, the complete destruction of most of his body mass. His future self, "Maestro", was even eventually able to recover from being blown to pieces. As an effect, he has an extremely prolonged lifespan.

He also possesses less commonly described powers, including abilities allowing him to "home in" to his place of origin in New Mexico; resist psychic control, or unwilling transformation; grow stronger from radiation or dark magic; punch his way between separate temporal or spatial dimensions; and to see and interact with astral forms. Some of these abilities were in later years explained as being related; his ability to home in on the New Mexico bomb site was due to his latent ability to sense astral forms and spirits, since the bomb site was also the place where the Maestro's skeleton was and Maestro's spirit was calling out to him in order to absorb his radiation.

In the first Hulk comic series, "massive" doses of gamma rays would cause the Hulk to transform back to Banner, although this ability was written out of the character by the 1970s.

[hlupdate]

So what does a young superstar spend his time thinking about? Classic rock, mostly, along with the occasional movie or TV show. Harry Styles has always been a voracious scholar of pop history — the kind of guy who obsesses over John and Yoko album covers and Fleetwood Mac deep cuts. “We’re all just fans,” he says. “I’m just a music fan who happens to make some.” These are just a few of Harry’s favorite things — some influences, some inspirations, some heroes.

Listen along to our Harry Styles playlist here.

Van Morrison The Irish blues bard was down and out in Boston when he wrote his brooding 1968 song cycle Astral Weeks. “It’s my favorite album ever,” Harry says. “Completely perfect.” Harry recently posed with his idol for a backstage photo — inspiring Van to smile, which doesn’t happen too often. The grin is so out of character for Van, Harry jokes, “I was tickling him behind his back.” (He’s kidding, obviously.) On his first tour, before going onstage, he played “Madame George” over the speakers — the epic ballad of a Belfast drag queen. “‘Madame George’ is one of my favorites — nine minutes. I’ve got some long songs but not my nine-minute one — it hasn’t quite come through yet.”

Joni Mitchell Harry got so obsessed with her 1971 classic Blue, he went on a quest. “I was in a big Joni hole,” he says. “I kept hearing the dulcimer all over Blue. So I tracked down the lady who built Joni’s dulcimers in the Sixties. She still lives around here.” He not only found her, she invited him over. “I went to her house and she gave me a little lesson — we sat around and played dulcimers.” She built the dulcimer Harry plays on his new album. “Blue and Astral Weeks, that’s just the ultimate in terms of songwriting. Melody-wise, they’re in their own lane. Joni and Van, their freedom with melodies — it’s never quite what you thought was coming, yet it’s always so great.”

Etta James The hard-living R&B legend could do it all, from raw Chess blues to pop-soul torch ballads. Harry is a devotee of her 1960 debut album At Last! “This whole album is perfect. On that record you have ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ going right into ‘At Last,’ which has to be one of the greatest one-twos ever. Her ad libs are so intense. It’s like, ‘Come on, Etta — tell us how you really feel.’”

Wings Paul McCartney’s 1970s band left behind a slew of shaggy art-pop oddities. Harry swears by London Town and Back to the Egg. “While I was in Tokyo I used to go to a vinyl bar, but the bartender didn’t have Wings records. So I brought him Back to the Egg. ‘Arrow Through Me,’ that was the song I had to hear every day when I was in Japan.” The 1971 suite Ram was divisive for Beatles fans at the time, but for Harry it was a psychedelic experience: while making the album, he and his band enjoyed it while lying out in the sunshine on mushrooms. “I love Ram so much — I used to think it was a mixed bag, but that’s part of its beauty. And the one that’s just called McCartney, with the cherries on the cover and ‘The Lovely Linda’ on it.”

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Documentary A deep dive into the world of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, during the making of Imagine. “I watched Above Us Only Sky on Netflix,” Harry says. “Seeing him play ‘Imagine’ on piano made me want to take piano lessons.” One of his favorite Lennon songs: “Jealous Guy,” especially the Donnie Hathaway cover. “Have you ever heard the original version of ‘Jealous Guy’? It was called ‘Child of Nature.’ Every time I play ‘Jealous Guy,’ I can’t help singing ‘Child of Nature.’ I really like Mind Games too. My favorite-ever album cover is the John and Yoko Live Peace in Toronto. So beautiful: it’s blue sky with one cloud, and that’s it.”

Carole King For a playback of his new music, Harry arranges to listen at Henson Studios in Hollywood, which used to be the old A&M Studios, in Studio B. Why? “It’s the room where Carole King recorded Tapestry.” Obsessive pop scholar that he is, Harry reveres King as both a singer and songwriter. His favorite: “So Far Away.” “How do people make shit like this?”

Crosby, Stills and Nash These three hippie balladeers summed up the mellow West Coast soft-rock vibe, despite their chemical wreckage. (For the full story, see the great new band bio by Rolling Stone’s David Browne.) “Those harmonies, man,” Harry says. “‘Helplessly Hoping’ is the song I would play if I had three minutes to live. It’s one of my ‘one more time before I go’–type songs.”

The Other Two TV Series He’s a big fan of the Comedy Central series. “It’s a brother and a sister — they’re the Two — and their younger brother becomes a viral YouTube sensation. He’s a Justin Bieber–type thing. He’s 13, and it’s basically those two dealing with that. It’s really funny.” (He’s got a thing for absurdist pop scenes like this — he also recommends the documentary When the Screaming Stops, about a bizarre reunion gig from the Eighties twin-brother duo Bros.)

Paul Simon “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,’ that’s the greatest verse melody ever written, in my opinion,” Harry says. “So minimal, but so good — that drum roll. ‘The Boxer’ is a perfect lyric, especially that first verse.” Paul Simon was one of his childhood soundtracks, with or without Art Garfunkel. “I grew up in a pub for a few years when I was a kid and Simon and Garfunkel were just constantly playing, always. Every time ‘Cecilia’ started, I’d be like, ‘I think I’ve heard this a hundred times today.’”

Hall and Oates “For my 21st birthday, I had a big party, and I convinced myself I really wanted Hall and Oates to play. I knew it wasn’t going to happen — I just had to ask. But just a few months before, they went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so whatever it was, it was now three times as much as it used to be. Their rate just tripled — ah, fuck.”

Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” Video “The greatest music video ever. I also love that Eighties synth pan-whistle sound — it basically just exists in this song and ‘My Heart Will Go On.’”

Elvis Presley “The first music I ever heard was Elvis Presley. When I was little, we got a karaoke machine and I sang Elvis, because that’s what my grandparents listened to. I made my grandfather a tape of me doing Elvis songs on one side and all Eminem on the other side. Unfortunately, I accidentally played him the wrong side.”

Harry Nilsson The legendary L.A. eccentric could croon middle-of-the-road hit ballads like “Without You,” but also a crazed weirdo who caroused with John Lennon and pursued his own lunatic pop fantasies. In other words, Harry Styles’ type of guy. “I think of all the great songwriters I love — but they all had their pop songs. Joni Mitchell with ‘Help Me,’ Paul Simon with ‘You Can Call Me Al,’ Harry Nilsson with ‘Coconut.’ You have to conquer the fear of pop.”

Stevie Nicks The Gold Dust Woman and her “little muse” are everybody’s favorite rock friendship. At the Hall of Fame ceremony in March, the sight of Harry dropping to one knee as he hands the award to a radiant Stevie — one of the iconic cross-generational images of our time. They first sang together in L.A. two years ago, when she made a surprise guest appearance at one of his first solo shows. “One of my favorite-ever musical memories. We sang ‘Landslide’ as a soundcheck, and that was even cooler for me than the show — just me and her, in an empty Troubadour.”

They just sang “Landslide” at a Gucci event in Rome, with Harry hitting impossible high notes on the final “snooooow-covered hills.” “We practiced in the dressing room,” he says. He’s got the rehearsal footage on his phone — when he hits that note, guitarist Waddy Wachtel is too stunned to keep playing. “That’s my favorite bit,” Harry says. “Practicing the song together. Just the two of us.”

[chaoskirin]

Freddie and I share something in common - we both went to school for fine art. I earned my bachelor's degree in 2005. At times, I wonder if he ever got tired of the formal education, too. I wonder if he also laughed when his film teacher told him that "after this class, you'll never watch a movie the same way again" and then realized later with horror that it was actually true. How color theory takes over your life even when you don't mean it to. How everything you see makes you wonder if you could draw that, and what technique you would have to employ.

I don't know. I was ten when he died and I'll never get to ask. Somehow he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would want to talk about his own art, anyway. I mean, there's not much we know about Freddie's private life, but everyone says he was shy.

So when I sat down and thought about what to do for Freddie's birthday, I thought analyzing one of his greatest works of art would be a good place to start. I had to pick apart and appraise so much art in school, whether it be my own classmates' paintings or pieces in a museum, or even poetry. And what are all Freddie Mercury's songs but poetry? In any case, it felt like a good tribute to him to analyze "It's a Hard Life."

British "Promo videos" were the prototype for today's visual extravaganzas, and were really meant to provide a simple visual aid to the music. Michael Nesmith says in his book, Infinite Tuesday, that they weren't meant to have much thought or money poured into them. The name of the game was getting a band on stage and recording them, which would then, theoretically, promote more sales. But they evolved, as things tend to do.

Music videos seem absolutely mundane today. A hit single has a music video, and people watch it, and it kind of gets swept under the proverbial carpet and filed away in our collective mind. Sometimes, the really good ones stand out, but more often than not, it's just some thing that's expected. It almost feels ludicrous to think that music accompanied by video wasn't the industry norm.

But in the 1980s, music videos were just becoming valid as a means of expression, and many artists had no idea how to exploit them as an art form. Even Queen did a song supporting the idea that video was killing radio. There were a few who believed that music videos were the way of the future (See again: Michael Nesmith who started down a path that would one day lead to MTV) but to others, they were just a fad, or even something to be resisted.

But in reality, music and video accompanied each other in various forms for years. The first motion pictures themselves were set to music - usually live - because watching a film in silence would have been utterly boring! (Note - artist opinion. I can't cite that, but I stand by my assumption.) Then in the 1960s, the Monkees performed "romps" on their TV show that became the precursor for modern music video. Later, just before MTV came into existence, came "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Since that short foray into music video history is out of the way, it's time to discuss Freddie Mercury.

Of course, Queen did other music videos before "It's a Hard Life." Some were quite artistic, and even Bohemian Rhapsody - which was one of those aforementioned "Promo Videos" - had quite a lot of skill that went into its production. The point is, Freddie seemed to detest the mundane. He wanted something that would make a mark and stand out among everything around him.

In the audio commentary for "It's a Hard Life," Brian May said that the video was a "Freddie indulgence, and we indulged him." He wasn't seeing the endeavor as Freddie did, however. This project was more than an indulgence -- it was a beautiful song, with beautiful lyrics, and there was a real chance to make the video speak just as much as the lyrics themselves. Freddie could recognize the music video medium as a canvas upon which he could paint his ideas. With formal training in fine arts, he knew the importance of symbolism and color in both still art and film, and couldn't fathom why the same principles couldn't be applied to his songs.

The lyrics don't just outright tell the story, though. The song says one thing that the video interprets, but both aren't completely in sync. The visuals are up to interpretation just like any work of art. Freddie had two stories to tell here... Not only the story outlined by the words of the song, but also how he felt about those words. And that's where he managed to unite music and video into a wonderful little four-minute movie.

At the center is the main character. Freddie. His entire life is this room in two parts - an opulent staircase that contains all his life's desires. As the scene expands, his court and other revelers dance around him, enjoying life, while the other players - Brian, Roger, and John - stand off to one side in shadow, interacting with no one.

The room itself is interesting. One side is extremely busy, while there is almost nothing on the other side. The balance is striking and obvious; the stairs and everything within - revelers, a throne, gold banisters, lace curtains, balconies and columns, is meant to represent man's desire. This side of the room is warm and comfortable, populated and eye-catching. It could be heaven, or the Garden of Eden or Valhalla. The other side of the room has nothing except shadow, tile, a few stray revelers, and Death and his angels.

And there's Freddie. The commentary on the video does shed some light onto its meaning. A man who appears to have everything is devastated by the lack of love in his life, which would have made him whole. Ultimately, though, the video is about a man who is so crushed by the lack of love that he makes the decision to kill himself.

Red is used carefully but liberally to highlight passion and desire. Interestingly and importantly, red is also the color of blood - remember that for later - although at the beginning, it is very representative of desire. A red "carpet" leads up the stairs, for example, where brightness waits for anyone who enters. Freddie, as the subject of this metaphor, is also wearing red, and is also covered with eyes that are open and forever searching for what he craves. Passion, romance, deep love, and trust. One one arm, this red costume is starting to unravel as he realizes that what he wants is difficult to obtain. He's begun to believe that it's even impossible for him.

And so we reach our second important color. Blue. Often, the lighting abruptly shifts from red to blue, which is a color of sadness and longing, made even more obvious with the use of heavy shadow. It is weighty and unbearable. Crushing. It destroys everything except Freddie, who is alone when the blue light casts shadows upon everything in the room. There is no more red. No more passion. And only one way out.

He tries to make it work. A red, warm glow flashes onto the party again. But he's getting farther away from the party. He's delving into the emptiness.

Brian - as Death - brazenly walks past him on the stairs, but no one seems to notice save for a passing glance. People wearing slight hints of red rush past Freddie, engrossed in each other but ignoring their host.

Freddie is trying to save himself, but as the screen goes blue again, he knows it's over.

Roger - an angel of hell, and John - an angel of heaven, wander into frame behind Freddie. They are also important in this blue landscape of melancholy and loss. "I try and mend the broken pieces/I try to fight back the tears," Freddie says. "They say it's just a state of mind," he goes on to the sound of a discordant guitar sting, as the angels discuss him, perhaps arguing over his soul after the end has come.

This is the point where the video takes a gloriously subtle shift into darkness. It is a scene of cut time - a view of the past where Freddie was long-haired and in his prime, surrounded by the rich, extravagant life that so many people want. Even back then, his expression is devoid of what one would expect from someone with such a bountiful lifestyle, and the real tragedy is that no one seems to notice or care. They ignore his pain, but are suddenly amused and appreciative when he makes a show of himself. And these scenes are intercut with "present" Freddie, framed in blue and heavily shadowed, at his end.

The angels follow Freddie around as if deciding his fate. Though they are dressed as revelers, they always face away from the other people and interact with no one except each other. They go completely unnoticed by everyone, much like Death, although they have an important role to play. They know what's coming and when - they are even the first to climb the stairs as Death makes himself known.

And while the Garden - or Heaven - or Valhalla - is the goal of nearly everyone at this party, Freddie knows he can't find what he's looking for there. He has the ability to get there, but love is constantly eluding him, and he's come to the conclusion that it always will.

And then Death arrives for Freddie, who has finally given up and ended his own life. Suddenly, the red that appears before him isn't passion, but blood and death. Even so, the decision to commit suicide seems to be a cause for celebration - there is dancing, and the pages are throwing rice as if the day of a royal wedding has arrived. Freddie begins to climb the stairs to take a woman by the hand, only to be stung when she steps on his foot and leaves him in pain. It's not what he wanted. It's not what he hoped for.

And then he notices the angels.

The hall is empty, save for them and Freddie, and the looming visage of Death, who leads Freddie out of the Garden and into the empty hall. The angels take their place at the gates, their stare making it absolutely clear that Freddie has been denied any form of afterlife, and that they are in agreement that he will be alone. He can never go back.

But Freddie has no regrets.

"I'll look back on myself and say 'I did it for love,'" he says, as he offers the first and only smile in the entire video.

He did it for love.

[themattress]

My Top 11 Danganronpa Characters

I love many characters in the Danganronpa series, but these ones are truly the Ultimate.

11. Monomi

Don’t get me wrong, Usami is a sweetheart and all, but on her own (as seen in DR2′s Island Mode) she’s pretty bland. While her forced conversion into Monomi caused her no end of grief in-universe, it made her a much stronger and more memorable character outside of it. Her interactions with Monokuma and position as his good counterpart / “little sister” are just perfect, as is the voicework done by Rebecca Forstadt. She, like her “big brother”, is iconic.

10. Sakura Oogami    

I may love Nekomaru and Gonta too, but neither of them hold a candle to the original “tall, muscular giant who looks scary as Hell but is actually the nicest, most loyal friend you could ever hope to have” in the franchise: Sakura Oogami. Her lower placement on this list is only because she kind of recedes into the background among the cast until the reveal at the end of Chapter 3 (which is fitting given the nature of that reveal), but once Chapter 4 centers around her she easily steals the show as a powerful, noble and tragic figure who is nonetheless such a beautiful human being that she successfully ends the Killing Game.                             

9. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

A textbook case of a character you hate at the start and love by the end, Fuyuhiko’s development from a perpetually angry wannabe-thug who refused to be friends with his classmates and routinely threatened them with violence as a cover for his insecurities to a humble, honorable, brave, supportive team player was amazing to watch unfold, and Derek Stephen Prince sells it magnificently with his most touching performance since Ken Ichijoji . He may still be rough around the edges, but Baby Gangsta has always got your back.

8. Byakuya Togami

If you merged Sherlock Holmes and Seto Kaiba, and in the process filtered out all of the redeeming qualities, you get Byakuya Togami: an elitist prick of the highest order who has a dangerous intellect to back up his ego. As despicable as Byakuya is, he is also fascinating: I both hate hanging around him due to his constant insults and love it because I’m drawn to watching him work as he displays just how well the Togami family-sponsored education has served him. He’s as useful as an ally as he is formidable as an enemy, and once he learns there are some things beyond his sociopathic grasp and that it’s best to stick with those who know it, he mellows out into a reliable anti-hero. So yeah, awful person, fantastic character.

7. Chiaki Nanami

Hey, hey! Chiaki, as portrayed in DR2 anyway, is such a lovable character, at first seeming like an anti-social girl who would rather play video games and sleep than converse with people, but steadily revealing just how big a heart she really has and what a great friend she is once she connects with someone. As naive and weird as she is, she quickly picks up on things once she learns them, and is consistently one of the most perceptive people to have around in a class trial. And just when it seems like she’s becoming a tad too perfect to be realistic, we find out that she isn’t real and suffer one of the biggest emotional gut-punches in the series as she is cruelly taken away from us...except that even then, the bond she and Hajime forged is strong enough to keep her digital spirit alive within him. And Christine M. Cabanos brings it all home with her vocal performance. Chiaki, we will never forget you.

6. Nagito Komaeda

Who would have thought that a guy who at first seems like a weird, equally bland retread of Makoto from the original would end up being one of the franchise’s most famous characters? But it’s super easy to see why - when he shows his true colors it is bone-chilling, and the creepiness factor that Nagito brings with him only keeps on growing from there, as he shows how far he’s willing to go in order to create despair just so that hope can triumph over it. The story of DR2 would not nearly work as well as it does without Nagito in the role of the arch-antagonist for the other characters, all while he develops as a character too in a deliciously negative way which ends up culminating in what is probably the best class trial in the series.

5. Celestia Ludenburg

In a mystery-solving game like Danganronpa, Celestia honestly stands out as one of the most complex characters because she herself is a mystery. The game doesn’t really spell out her backstory, motivations or character arc given that as the Queen of Lies she has to keep a poker face about all that, but does allow the player to decipher it by themselves. While those unwilling to indulge their minds write her off as “crazy evil gambler lady who just wants money in order to become a vampire queen”, the people who pay attention to everything she says and does across the game (including / especially in her FTEs) can separate the truth from the lies and uncover the sad, pitiful reality of the character, a reality that haunts her all the way to her final moments. Call her Celeste or call her Taeko, that kind of depth deserves respect.

4. Gundham Tanaka

That’s right, my favorite DR2 character isn’t Monomi or Fuyuhiko or Chiaki or even Nagito - it’s GUNDHAM TANAKA! This man is a fucking legend, with Chris Tergliafera’s voice-acting perfectly capturing how endearing he is with his persistent delusions of villainous grandeur. But as funny as Gundham may be, he ends up not being a purely comic relief figure, playing a serious, emotional and noble role at the end of his run that gets me and many other players choked up. He may play at being evil, but in actuality Gundham is too good for this Earth.

3. Junko Enoshima

Do I need to explain myself here? It’s Junko fucking Enoshima! One of the most unique Big Bads in recent video game history! From the fact that the ultimate evil is a teen fashionista to the bizarre way she keeps changing her personality just to keep from getting bored to her ungodly despair fetish that has no rational basis for existing but simply does, Junko is less like a human being and more like a force of nature: gleeful, nihilistic despair incarnate. And though it’s true that she wore out her welcome past DR2, in her prime she is magnificent.

2. Kyoko Kirigiri

As far as I’m concerned, Kyoko Kirigiri is the real main character of the original Danganronpa. Makoto is just the POV character; the Watson to her Holmes. And what a character she is; truly one of the greatest female detectives in all of fiction. What I love best about Kyoko is what a unique take on the Emotionless Girl / Ice Queen trope she is. It’s made clear quite frequently that she isn’t really emotionless and that she’s just really good at masking her feelings as a necessary part of her job, and that this doesn’t stop her from being a kind and compassionate person toward others in her own straight-faced way. The narrative doesn’t condemn her for the way she is and she doesn’t have to change it either; what she has to change is her distrust toward others and reluctance to rely on friends, plus her hypocrisy regarding that and her personal goal vs. everyone else’s. It makes her such a rich, nuanced character and I love her for it (fuck the Danganronpa 3 anime though, it did her so dirty).

1. Monokuma

I think I’ll just conclude this post with a screencap:

[fayewonglibrary]

Melting of the Ice Queen (2000)

Once the music world’s Ice Queen, Faye Wong warms up to motherhood and new love as Rebecca Li uncovers.

AS Faye Wong walks into the photo studio at Chai Wan, Hong Kong, casually dressed in baby-blue pants and pink No Name sneakers that look like a cross between sports shoes and ballet slippers, she looks relaxed and girlish.

The colours of her outfit suggest that her life is absolutely bright and sunny.  Even without makeup, her eyes obscured by aviator shades, she still looks completely stunning.

Well-known for her nonchalance to the media and her chameleon-like image changes, Asia’s most charismatically enigmatic chanteuse seems to have mellowed.  Does it have anything to do with the birth of her daughter Jingtong in February 1997?

“The greatest change in me came not after the birth of my child, but after I converted to Buddhism in 1992,” says the 31-year-old.  “I used to ask myself questions like ‘Why is it so?’ But not everything in the world can be explained.  If it is so, it is so; there is no why.  If it is fated, then it is so!  You can only learn to accept your fate.  A simple principle, but easier said than done.”

LIFE GOES ON

With her divorce from Taiwanese rocker Dou Wei out of the way, Faye seems to have moved on.  The big news now is that she is dating a younger man, and not just any younger man too, but Hong Kong heartthrob Nicholas Tse, who’s all of 19.

The source of the rumor?  The pair was snapped by paparazzi earlier this year, kissing at a party in Hong Kong club Greenspot…during a drinking game.  And to add fuel to the fire, they have also been spotted having intimate dinners together on several occasions.

Gossip aside, it’s amazing how the public just cannot get enough of this long-limbed, 1.72 metre-tall Beijing-born beauty, who first set foot in Hong Kong in 1987 at the age of 18.

Back then, the artiste formerly known as Shirley Wong Ching Man didn’t even speak a word of Cantonese, and out of boredom, she enrolled herself in singing classes that helped her develop that ethereal voice that she is now so famous for.

After spending a couple of years in New York studying music, she returned to Hong Kong in 1992, changed her name to Faye, and released an album entitled COMING HOME.  The rest, as they say, is history.  In 1993, she was voted “Most Popular Asian Singer” and over the years, her star has just kept rising higher.

Within a short span of time, Faye has attained the kind of pop icon status that took her favorite singer Teresa Teng an entire lifetime to achieve.

Fans from as far as France devote entire websites to her.  Film critics in Sweden gave her the “Best Actress” award for her role in CHUNGKING EXPRESS.  Sony Playstation felt she was appealing enough to the youth market to pay her US$1 million to sing the ending theme song for their popular video game Final Fantasy 8.

If you’d holidayed in China last year and felt a thirst for Pepsi, you would have seen her gorgeous face emblazoned all over the can (that is, before the limited edition ran out).

A Japanese cellphone company used her for their commercial, but that perhaps is not even half as flattering as the fact that a Taiwanese artiste, Kung Mei Mei, released a debut album entitled I LOVE FAYE WONG.

QUEEN OF MODESTY

Faye has proven herself as one of the very few singers who have made a successful crossover into acting, with CHUNGKING EXPRESS, LOVE AFFAIR IN OKINAWA (which hit Singapore screens on 9 August) and the yet-to-be-completed 2046.  But she still remains unimpressed by her own thespian talents.

“Actually I don’t have much acting to do in LOVE AFFAIR IN OKINAWA… and it is nothing as crazy as the character in CHUNGKING EXPRESS.  It is much more normal and easy-going.”

And contrary to what others say, the movie has not been tailormade for her, she clarifies.  “Maybe they just know this is how I am, I simply can’t act.  Maybe it is because it is a different director (Peter Chan).  I have only worked with Wong Kar Wai before.  I’m more familiar with what he wants… I’m afraid of the demands from other directors, that I may not be able to meet their requirements…”

Faye says that she does not like acting because it involves teamwork and requires a lot of patience.

“For me, when you are making a movie, you have to wait.  It takes a lot of time, and it can be boring.  When you sing, you just need to go to the studio.  I would know if I have not sung a line well, so I can ask to do it again.  When it comes to acting, I wouldn’t know which way is better.  When the director says it is okay, then it’s okay for me, I wouldn’t have any opinion of my own.

"I have also sought advice from many actors, like Carina Lau, for example, who never went through formal training either.  She said, it will be fine, just keep doing it, it will come with experience!  Maybe that’s true, I’ve only made three movies, which is not much of an experience.”

While most actors eagerly dissect every film they can get their hands on, Faye says she is not even a movie buff to begin with.  “I don’t like to watch martial arts movies, war movies, period movies,” she says, without pausing for breath.  “I do watch comedies, but if it is blatantly slapstick, I will definitely not watch it.”

And contrary to how so-called “serious” actors try to get into their roles by trying to get under the skin of the character they’re taking on, Faye prefers not to get in too deep.

“When you are doing a Wong Kar Wai movie, you can never be quite in it, because you won’t even know what the story is all about.  When I was filming CHUNGKING EXPRESS, I really didn’t know what I was doing.  You have to read the script a few times to understand what he’s trying to say.  As I was playing the role, I was feeling that this girl is so irritating and inexplicable.  Haha…"  Self-mockery has always been a virtue of survivors.

LOVE ACCORDING TO FAYE

Now that she has reclaimed her "single” status, perhaps Faye will reveal the kind of man that attracts her?

But this line of questioning doesn’t get much information out of her – Faye would rather speak in generalities, and not about any specific person.  Nicholas Tse’s name is not mentioned throughout the interview.

Sexiness, Faye says, is a matter of personality, a kind of feel.  For her, there are no criteria to speak of.

“I have always been one to follow my intuition.  When it feels right, then it’s right.  The most important thing for a man is to be upright, frank, not to make me do any second-guessing, not to say one thing and do another thing.  Whether he is sexy or not is secondary.  There is not particular look that I go for.  Except that I don’t like guys that talk to much.”

Still, despite her ice queen persona, there’s still a hint that the man who manages to make her thaw will find a hopeless romantic underneath.

“I feel that everything is fated.  When a person is in love, it is like having a magic spell cast on you, you just can’t wriggle out of it, and you can’t be so level-headed as to examine yourself objectively.  Some would calculate various factors while choosing a marriage partner and decide according to one’s requirements.  But I’m definitely not someone like that.”

Translated by Ts’ Ming.

FAYE ON HER LEADING MEN

Tony Leung Chiu Wai - “I have worked with him the most number of times but never really talked to him.  I don’t understand him too well.  He doesn’t talk much, but sometimes he would behave like … he would be very affectionate, it’s rather odd.  I guess he is harder to fathom.”

Leslie Cheung - “He is a buddy.  He is someone who makes clear distinctions between what he loves and what he hates.  He would explain why he likes something and why he doesn’t like something … a headstrong type of person.”

Tony Leung Kar Fai - “He is a very agreeable character, he would share his private matters with others, things like where his family has gone traveling, what they have encountered, how his daughter is doing … I think he would make a perfect husband, very nice, caring, and attentive.”

Takuya Kimura - “Kimura is a very smart person.  But sometimes he’s very playful too.  He’s actually a very professional actor.”

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

On hobbies - “Shopping for clothes is no longer my hobby, I only shop for 'working clothes’, so that doesn’t count.  Recently, I haven’t’ had any hobbies.  Apart from work, I just lie around at home, or meet up with some friends.  I have not played mahjong for a long time."  (Right, who has time for mahjong when one is too busy dating?)

On music - "Thinking back on my first record, it was released without much thought, and it was not very me.  I tend to be more carefree while recording in the studio, other than that I behave very awkwardly.  I’m not one who needs to listen to music everyday.”

On pursuits - “I’m not very worried about what to eat, or what to wear, just as long as I have a place to live comfortably.  Actually I’m usually not so concerned about my appearance.  I think the only thing I care for is my records, choosing my songs, recording a good album.  Although there are some works that I’m satisfied with, I still hope to do more.”

On happiness - “A lot of times, that’s just a state of mind.  As long as you know how to let go, you will be much happier.”

On her daughter - “I never planned to have children.  I’m not a patient person but I tend to be nicer to children.  Fortunately, Jing Tong is not naughty at all.  I will not interfere with her future, my responsibility is just to raise her.  Whichever path she takes from then on would be her own, that’s beyond my control.”

MAKING OF A COVER GIRL

Faye Wong has a habit of browsing through magazines while making up.  She would rather stay a while longer than to rush an interview while making up and doing her hair.  Such insistence is rare among entertainers, but how else to share your thoughts with so many people around to interrupt?

So this reporter had to watch her making up, doing her hair, trying her dress and taking the polaroids for a full five hours.  But that helped her to warm up and made it easier to strike up a conversation.

As expected, her daughter Jing Tong turned up at 5:30 pm sharp, insisted on a hug and kiss, and on being Faye’s personal dresser – she followed Mum into the changing room.  Faye looked completely transformed as she emerged, and her daughter started to mimic her, much to everyone’s amusement.

During the interview, the cute little girl interrupted three or four times, but she also knew when to back off after every act, without being told off.

As the interview drew to a close, Jing Tong grew more and more impatient.  She shouted with all her might:  “Mum, Mum, let’s go home!"  It sounded like a little wish that was too long suppressed.

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: ELLE

[dbphantom]

BACKSTORIES BACKSTORIES BACKSTORIES BACKS-

Amara layers on the bravado and 'wants a bigger fight' shit not just because she's confident but also because she feels bad about leaving Partali since she was basically the only thing protecting her friends/family there, but she believes if she succeeds at Vault Hunting that she'll be able to bring the wealth back and help the community in a bigger way than just punching bad guys. Its sort of a 'I'm incredibly strong physically, but clearly not enough because I can't even help with this simple little problem' situation.

- the art book confirmed Amara is wearing a vial of water from Partali around her neck- I like to imagine the city has some significant statue/fountain with water in/around it that she finds comforting/inspiring

- Amara got her Siren powers in grade school during a schoolyard fight (she won, obviously)

- Amara's family has been threatened more times than she can count. She's always ready and has defended them before but sometimes she worries, especially now that she's not there. She spends a lot of her free time getting in touch with them. I like to imagine she has kid brothers who look up to her. She gives me an older sister vibe, I dunno.

- Amara is lowkey glad her fame hasn't followed her to Pandora/beyond because she was getting tired of interrupting her fights to take selfies and sign posters. She stills likes seeing just how far her name has traveled tho. Is a good confidence buff.

- Amara is sorta like Axton with her bravado. She also believes she's the 'main character' of the four Vault Hunters. It makes her a very good leader, but it can get slightly overwhelming.

Moze runs away from the Vladof army and 'abandons' (they think she's dead) her responsibilities to live her life and do what she wants with IB and also lives with the crushing (ha! Oh no.) knowledge that her poor leadership skills are what killed the squad she had just become captain of and definitely was not the Vladof corporation trying to keep their IB mechs from leaving circulation. Definitely not. She gravitates to Amara because Amara is pretty much the group leader and a v good one at that, and Moze likes that Amara is a lot of things she isn't. Also nice arms. She needs the money from Vault Hunting to support her free lifestyle cuz she doesn't want to work.

- Moze will cook and eat literally anything. Her family grew up poor so her palette is pretty much open to anything at least twice. She sent the money she got working in the military back home to them. When she fakes her death she contemplates moving back but she knows they'd spend money they don't have to make her stay with them so she watches from afar, mailing them her most expensive loot anonymously to make sure they'll be okay

- Moze really enjoyed video games as a kid, like the free ECHOnet ones where you played against other people. She ends up joining the Vladof military a) for money and b) because she doesn't have a viable career path after playing video games all of her youth

- Moze is a really good liar. She can make up anything on the spot and get away with it. On a totally unrelated note, Moze was a little delinquent as a kid. Smoking (-> bubblegum to break the habit?), underage drinking. Wasn't doing anything bad, just breaking laws she thought were dumb- passive anarchy. She fit in great at Vladof.

- Moze is super protective of the other VHs, to the point she's willing to self-sacrifice to ensure they survive even the smallest squabble. Amara is always like 'no wtf stop'. But Moze still tries anyway, in spite of the group's blood pressure. Which I guess maybe she ought to be taking into consideration.

Fl4k slowly gains sentience over time and begins to realize they despise their job despite being programmed to enjoy it (their hardware had begun to malfunction as the biologist researchers were using them long after their expiry date- so replacing bits with more modern parts led to some unintended interactions. they were found in an abandoned factory on the planet that was so dilapidated/overgrown nobody knows which megacorporation it belonged to). They were working on a species preservation planet, basically a giant safari/zoo planet where a bunch of species were brought to ensure they didn't go fully extinct because the borderworlds are crazy. The planet has lots of history books to see how the animals were meant to behave/look/be cared for and it's how Fl4k gained their affinity for animals. Long story short, during a walk in the jungle where they contemplated their newly-gained sentience, Fl4k met what is essentially the personification of death (not the grim reaper- he's different, like uhhhh the Raven Queen and Kravitz from TAZ- literally death itself) watching them nurse a dying spiderant back to health and they became obsessed with The Hunt (TM) in order to win her affections (and also pay back their debt to her for keeping a soul from coming her way because Fl4k gaining sentience wasn't supposed to happen, so that spiderant is off schedule but whatever mannnn).

-Fl4k is the best healer on the team because they know so much about biology due to the hours of reciting scrolls and sorting books they had to do. They also have a lot of obscure, random history knowledge

-Fl4k can eat, they have taste receptors (given they know greeble snot is mild), they just prefer not to because it is inefficient and not worth anything to them. I'm also not sure how yet.

- Fl4k was allowed to choose three more animals out of the thousands dying on their home planet the day they met death and nurse them back to health in order to have four companions join them on the hunt. Because. Idk. Sounds cool to me. They chose a jabber, a skag, and a rakk hive. Death didn't vibe with the rakk hive, so she gifted Fl4k the ability to summon a couple rakk instead, just like the hive.

- Death doesn't want the Destroyer getting loose because that's a lot of paperwork ahead of schedule, and Fl4k is more than happy to oblige and go on the greatest hunt to stop it. Death gifts them with some powers (gamma burst, rakk summoning) to help them on their mission. Also just to keep things tidy Fl4k is unaware of their end goal until it's mentioned in the story. All they know is that Death wanted them to become a Vault Hunter and go to Pandora to go on The Hunt (TM).

- Fl4k can be fairly bossy/commanding and does tend to tell the other VHs what they should do like they are part of The Pack. They had tried to take the leadership role in the beginning, but it did not work and Amara naturally fell into that position. They're still commanding, but the others take those more as general suggestions now and everything works fine.

And you already know Zane's, is pretty much just: 'How to Develop Trust Issues: the 7th edition (Written by the LGBT+ Community, Anotated by Cryptids)'. He gave it to Zer0 once during a full moon and he's 90% sure it was used for assassination practice. He gave it to Hammerlock next because at least Hammylock can treat a book right, you fucking heathen.

[frighthouseofalighthouse]

I'M GONNA DO IT TO EM' ALL ASKS THAT YOU REBLOG TONIGHT TILL 10 AM TOMORROW.... DO THEM!!!!

Hey, you had to do it to ‘em! Here they are starting with the most recent.

“Weird asks that say a lot”

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Coffee mugs because you can use them for everything. Teacups are too small for a proper cuppa.

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Chocolate bars always.

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Bubblegum, which I miss so much. I haven’t had it in over 2 years bc of my braces

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

I didn’t go to public school but all the adults who dealt with me said I was sociable and tried to get everyone to do the group projects but no one listened so I ended up sitting alone reading and quietly doing the project.

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

Glass BOTTLES make it taste superior.

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

Pastel boho preppy goth best describes my style.

7. earbuds or headphones?

Earbuds, but only rubber tipped ones. The plastic ones never fit in my ears. Also headphones never cover my whole ear right. :/

8. movies or tv shows?

TV shows keep my attention span better.

9. favorite smell in the summer?

Brewing thunderstorms.

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

None. But trampoline if I had to pick.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

Scrambled eggs, peanut butter toast, and some kind of fruit.

12. name of your favorite playlist?

My main one is Things You Love. My one for writing is Queen And Country, and my other two favorites are Summer Songs and A Queen Knows How To Fight A War.

13. lanyard or key ring?

Key ring, lanyards get in the way.

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Swedish Fish or Sour Patch Kids.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

OH MAN. To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, The Grapes Of Wrath, and The Handmaid’s Tale were definitely my top 5 in English class.

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

Curled up sideways in an armchair with my legs slung over the arm. Sitting normally sucks.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

Either pair of my black boots, or my pink floral Skechers that I wear to work.

18. ideal weather?

60 degrees, cloudy, windy, with a chance of rain.

19. sleeping position?

On my right side, arms around a fluffy pillow, one leg out straight and the other drawn up with my knee to my chest.

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Laptop. I’m trying to exercise my hand and wrist so I don’t tire as quick of notebook writing, though.

21. obsession from childhood?

History, Nancy Drew books, Harry Potter, and ghost stories.

22. role model?

The person I am but don’t think I am.

23. strange habits?

Pulling my shirt collar up over my nose and mouth/putting it in my mouth and chewing on it.

24. favorite crystal?

Amethyst, my birthstone! Close second is blue goldstone. (Have you ever seen it? It looks like the universe. I have a worrystone made of blue goldstone and it’s one of my prized possessions.)

25. first song you remember hearing?

Something from church probably. Outside of church probably one of these: If I Had A Hammer // Peter, Paul and Mary, Puff The Magic Dragon // Peter, Paul and Mary, Scarborough Fair // Simon & Garfunkel, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald // Gordon Lightfoot.

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Sit in the shade.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

Drink tea, read, and play either Pokemon or Nancy Drew and the Clue Benders Society on my 3DS.

28. five songs to describe you?

The Pines // Roses & Revolutions, I Am Here // Pink, Walk Me Home // Pink, Call Home // Heathers (not the musical), Traveler’s Song // Aviators

29. best way to bond with you?

Talk to me about history, crime, musicals, books, or tv shows

30. places that you find sacred?

Natural swamps. Libraries. Old, overgrown gardens. Anywhere historic. Pine forests at dusk. Anywhere under a clear night sky.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

A plaid shirt, black leggings, and black boots with dark neutral lipstick and a black choker.

32. top five favorite vines?

Fre she vocado, BENTLEY NOOOOO, uhhh I sure hope it does, the one of Lin Manuel-Miranda trying to brainstorm, and this bitch empty YEEt

33. most used phrase in your phone?

Idk how to find this out

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

Idk if this is just a local thing here but WOW ITS NATURESTONE

35. average time you fall asleep?

12-1 nowadays.

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

I can haz cheezburger

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Depends. Suitcase for things like my laptop that are better protected than in a duffel bag, but duffel bag otherwise because they’re easier to carry.

38. lemonade or tea?

TEAAAAA

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

Both please

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

My house? We had a safe word when we did math. It was “quokka.” If we got overwhelmed we’d say it and then stop and look at pictures of quokkas.

41. last person you texted?

My friend and coworker.

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

Jacket pockets.

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Cardigan or hoodie

44. favorite scent for soap?

Lavender

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Fantasy. It takes me a bit to get into fantasy books usually, but sci-fi is hard to follow and superhero is mostly predictable.

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

Fuzzy pants and a t shirt

47. favorite type of cheese?

Muenster, parmesan, or goat cheese

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

Raspberry

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

“I have no country to fight for. My country is the earth, and I am a citizen of this world.” - Eugene V. Debs

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

A weird local political ad a couple years back.

51. current stresses?

My recent breakup, an overnight shift I work on Wednesday night, and trying to find time to go out to a corn maze with my friend.

52. favorite font?

Baskerville or Georgia.

53. what is the current state of your hands?

Covered in small cuts and scrapes from work, nails picked short, black nail polish mostly peeled off.

54. what did you learn from your first job?

babysitting job: Kids suck never have more than one. Retail job: being on your fee it hardddd

55. favorite fairy tale?

Beauty and the Beast or Rapunzel

56. favorite tradition?

Looking at Halloween decorations

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Cutting, being manipulated by my dad, and letting other people make me believe I wasn’t good enough (still working on that one)

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Writing, puzzle-solving, singing, and calligraphy

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“Oh shit waddup”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

One of those preppy gothic private school animes with a dark secret lurking around the corner

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

Book: “Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance. You have to work at it.” - The Handmaid’s Tale. Movie: “It’s not about deserve. It’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.” - Wonder Woman. TV Show: “I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself.” - Doctor Who.

62. seven characters you relate to?

Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin, Richard Gansey III, Blue Sargent, Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury.

63. five songs that would play in your club?

Same five that I said describe me.

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Webkinz and the old American Girl site circa 2009.

65. any permanent scars?

One down my chest from heart surgery as a baby, lots from self harm on my arms/legs, some on my left knee from falling as a kid, and one on the back of my right heel from being pecked by a goose at the fair when I was 11.

66. favorite flower(s)?

Sunflowers, roses, and dahlias.

67. good luck charms?

Myself.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Ranch anything.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Jellyfish have no brains and no heart.

70. left or right handed?

I’m third generation left handed!

71. least favorite pattern?

Vertical stripes.

72. worst subject?

Math.

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

Wendy’s fries and chocolate frosty.

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

7. Usually I just ignore it because I have a “high pain tolerance” (which means I like to put myself through minor pains because I think I deserve it)

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

Age 5. I was trying to blow up an inflatable ball and it came out.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

ALL POTATOES EXCEPT POTATO SALAD

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

Violets.

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Neither, both suck equally.

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

Never had a school id so I guess the license

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Earth tones for me

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

...They are literally the same thing

82. pc or console?

PC

83. writing or drawing?

Writing. I absolutely cannot draw.

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcasts, talk radio is so obnoxious.

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie. The clothes are easier to take on and off. I used to accidentally rip polly pocket clothes all the time.

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology. I like it because it explains things, it’s creation stories, its origins. Fairy tales are just fantasies or cautionary tales.

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Cookies.

87. your greatest fear?

Rejection, drowning, and clowns.

88. your greatest wish?

To be a semi-successful author and historian.

89. who would you put before everyone else?

My mom.

90. luckiest mistake?

Not succeeding in killing myself!

91. boxes or bags?

Bags.

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

Dim lamps if they have yellow bulbs. I hate white lights. And also fairy lights yes please.

93. nicknames?

Ellie, Ell, Little Lion, Lioness.

94. favorite season?

FALLLLL

95. favorite app on your phone?

Tumblr, Spotify, or Instagram.

96. desktop background?

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

6.

98. favorite historical era?

Revolutionary War-era America or late Victorian England.

THIS GOT REALLY LONG AND I DONT WANNA HIT THE TEXT BLOCK LIMIT SO IMMA DO ALL THE HALLOWEEN ONES SEPARATELY, MAYBE IN THE MORNING.