#also forgive the next time trailer quality

[thelvadams]

DOCTOR WHO • 'The Church on Ruby Road'

#they were over 2000 years old #they should have been at the club

[rares-posts]

Midnight Museum looks so scary!! I still don't understand the plot though

Midnight Museum Theories based on mock trailer are below.

Hi anon! While I didn't find the trailer scary per se, I do get where you're coming from because it did have unnerving qualities and it doesn't give much away in terms of plot which only adds to it. Unknown in itself is the most scary thing!

I'm on the same boat as you about knowing next to nothing about the plot itself (quite intentionally I imagine since this is just the announcement trailer made to generate intrigue and anticipation and get some sponsors. I think we'll know a bit more whenever the final trailer is here after the filming is done). You can follow MidnightMuseum's official twt for updates or more possible clues!

I don't wanna leave you hanging though here's some info I do have!

It's a supernatural drama starring Gun Atthaphan, Tor Thanapob as leads and the synopsis on mydramalist is:

Burdened with tragedies that scar him to date, a cafe barista is offered a job at an odd museum. When he arrives, he realises that his life has interconnected with the museum and its curator who used to visit his shop regularly. What does this mean for him? And how are the museum and the curator in connection with this?

(I read Cafe barista as Cute barista and went 'truee!!' before realising i misread🤦)

The barista is Gun, and the curator is Tor. Some people have theorized online that the museum and Cafe are the same place just that the Cafe changes into the museum at night. Something the barista wouldn't know but also why the curator would choose to invite him out of all people. Obviously this is still unconfirmed along with all other speculation that will take place in this post.

From the trailer, I'll make some light observations mostly based on the dialogue.

There's basically two camps of theories my observations fall into:

Camp 1: the barista has accidentally found himself victim of a curse of some sort and the people turned into statues were the people before him with the same curse that couldn't find a way to break it or cure it in time. So the barista will try to uncover the mystery of the museum in order to avoid the same fate.

Camp 2: The one with the curse is actually the curator. And to break it he needs another person and inviting barista to the museum for a new 'job' may mean that curator thinks barista is the key to curing his curse.

Reason behind speculation based on mock trailer dialogue and visuals:

Somebody once told me that being alive is a curse - Barista/Gun

Now that somebody could be the Curator. In which case, maybe he has the curse of immortality. He's unable to die and life is a nightmare for him. So this would be a point towards Camp 2.

But I never thought that a new opportunity would be a nightmare from the past, a past that has imprisoned me for so long - Barista/Gun

This implies that the Barista isn't as ordinary as he might seem at the start and has his own troubles. These troubles might actually related to affects of his curse but he was just unaware that he was cursed until his visit to the museum. And that someone in the first quote could actually be indirectly foreshadowing the Barista's fate if he gets cursed. This explanation leans towards Camp 1

There is one forbidden place here. The danger zone that displays cursed objects. - Curator/Tor

This here, paired with the visuals of all of the cast except the Curator being behind the glass as if displayed in a museum makes me think that the "cursed objects" in the show could just be the characters themselves like I said for Camp 1 theory.

Anyone who disregards the warning will face dark power and nightmare, death, pain and revenge that awaits forgiveness. - Curator/Tor

I think this dialogue will be said by Curator to the Barista when he first arrives at the museum. It's seems like clear foreshadowing. Barista is definitely gonna snoop around in that forbidden section. I have no idea what 'revenge that awaits forgiveness' could possibly mean though.

We've finally met - Curator/Tor

For Camp 1 maybe Barista is cursed but the curse is detrimental to not himself but the curator or both of them. And the Curator keeps the cursed objects or people in the museum to keep it contained but some kind of prior accident or maybe even a prophecy leads him to believe that Barista poses a threat to the balance he's created so that could be the reason why they're pitted against each other. A past accident could also tie into whatever it is that happened that makes Barista feel imprisoned by his memories.

On the other hand for Camp 2 since Curator seems to have been anticipating Barista for quite some time. It's possible that the something about Barista holds the key to curing Curator's curse. But ultimately the pursuit to cure himself or maybe gain even more power has turned Curator into a selfish cruel being who is alright using others for his own gain, which is why Barista will fight against being a pawn in the Curator's game and try to escape the museum.

Can't wait till the show comes out and I'm proven completely wrong haha.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 4 

it’s my birthday week! *raises a glass of pink milk* 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 4 - oh noes my babies are all so sad! Teen angst for the win. Tropes included: crying in shower, a very significant hand hold, & striped shirts. (At this point over half the cast has been in stripes.) 

Love Machine Ep 1 - not gonna lie, I barely made it through the first half, this is a short run LOW budget experimental web series and it’s not good. Dropped.  

Lovely Writer Ep 9 - I like it when LW gets serious because there are fewer dumb sound effects, but oof Aey, poor baby. How many Aeys have I known over the years? Rejected, broken, angry, lonely, and lashing out. On a different note, I haven’t see the “sex drug made us do it” plot device since 1980s Johanna Lindsey. Props to that cocktail rearing its ugly head. (yeh yeh) ZOMBIE TROPE ALERT. (Is this the point where I remind the world at a-play doesn’t have to hurt? Well, it doesn’t! Toys, prep, and lube people. Sheesh.) Anygay, zombie trope is put safely back underground. Please don’t let it rise again? (I KNOW, I’ll stop now.) So this was a rough episode, especially the back end. (Okay now I’ll REALLY stop.)  Seriously tho, BL doesn’t do a massive coming out family drama scene often. I liked LW’s handling of this one. Hard to watch but compelling. 

Close Friend Ep 1 (OhmFluke) - very cute snapshot into a LTR featuring an overworked music producer and his student BF. That’s the chassis for this whole series, each one has to do with the song & is a portrayal of that song’s message. Essentially, the theme of this one was remembering to make time for your partner. I enjoyed that. OhmFluke gave us easy casual familiar affection and a kiss, but no BL tropes, just romance. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 3 - Pi is a total spazz & the ghost story bit was... well, it was something wasn’t it? Lots of tropes: fixing his clothes, wound tending, drag baby around, piggyback, head in lap, hand hold, and ending on a drunk kiss. I just noticed Pi uses guu/mueng with Mork, but Mork’s a year older. (So I have a new entry onto the linguistic brats list.)  So rude and presumptuous. Also I gotta say this, don’t wear watches when you’re working on a cadaver, mmky boys? 

Y-Destiny Ep 4 - look MaxNat have great chemistry, this ep had loads of great tropes (e.g. cheek kiss, rooftop, public claiming via phone), it’s not their fault I’m just not wild about these characters. I do like Nuea’s wanna-be idol wardrobe though. And Sun is sporting the red bag version of Tharn’s black bag that I wanted so bad in TT2. (I wonder if I can score a knock off when I’m over there?) Regardless, I basically grinned all the way through this installment, so that’s another thumbs up from me for Y-Destiny. Who knew I’d come around? Man would I love to see these two get their own series. 

Brothers Ep 12 - teacher/student exposed! But the power of boys on phones will overcome all. No KhunKaow for me, so of course I found this ep tragically disappointing. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 6 - MuRen is officially a yaoi manga character in the flesh. H4′s outright mockery/subversion of tropes “don’t touch him he’s mine,” + “touch my lip & think of kissing” makes the fact that other (way more damaging) tropes are being blithely utilized without critique almost - dare i say it? - insulting. YongJie is trash but I’m the one who feels like trash because I want to forgive him. How aptly abusive & dysfunctional we all are. I don’t know whether to applaud H4 or start drinking. (Maybe this is the show I should invent a cocktail for? Who am I kidding? This is totally a jello shots show.) 

Friend or Lover (Taiwan) Ep 2 - I thought this was only a microfilm but turns out it’s a web series. It’s cute. I’m enjoying it. 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 3 - subs take a while to drop but it’s still better than average. I like a secret identity trope, I love a grumpy/sunshine pairing, and the side couple is great but this ep was slow. With only 6 total (I assume) they better get the main couple together next ep or the improved quality of this series will be sacrificed on the alter of pacing issues. 

Word of Honor (China) Ep 28-30 - slowed down to focus on bad guys (yawn...ooo Scorpion...yawn again). Then baby gets kidnapped, other baby goes crazy, and old friends turn up. We end on DOOM because mathematically this was an episode 11. All boxes checked.

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 3-4 - how is this show SO DAMN CUTE & weirdly wholesome at the same time? Another one of those: Will Korea resolve this satisfactorily in 4 short eps? But I seem to say that half way through every Korean BL. These days, I have complete faith. Warm fuzzies for everyone. 

Stand Alones

Color Rush movie is the same as the series. There is a stinger at the VERY end (untranslated) but which I’m assuming has something to do with the missing mother. Is this a possible indication of a 2nd season? Hopefully someone will eng sub the stinger and post it out into the universe. So yeah, Color Rush movie = To My Star style, sadly, not Wish You. That said, I did enjoy watching with different subs. The first version I watched was fan subbed, and they were better on English colloquialisms. Viki’s subs are better on Korean colloquialisms. 

Breaking News 

Bunch of new press on Thailand’s I Told the Sunset About You 2 AKA I Promised You the Moon. Here’s a master post on the subject with all the links you could ever want. It will start airing May 27th 8 pm (Thai time) on LINETV.

New Thai Bl Golden Blood got a teaser trailer. Stars familiar side dish Gun Napat (Techno from LBC) as a rich kid who needs a bodyguard. Yeah, it looks to be the Thai version of Where Your Eyes Linger which is FINE. I love me a bodyguard romance. DO EETTT Thailand. Trailer contains ALL the tropes: dry his hair, piggyback, cooking together, and more, plus good smooches. It looks GREAT. Also cheeper to make then KinPorsche and it might get funded due to of residual enthusiasm. Also GOOD TITLE. 

Close Friend got another teaser trailer this one for Talay & Yoon (no subs). 

Taiwan has a new BL coming out... eventually. Looks to be a new franchise like the HIStory series with different couple(s) each season. It’s the first Taiwanese BL from a major in-country network. The first installment is titled Be Loved in House: I Do (seriously Taiwan, could we talk about your titles?). It stars a familiar face, Aaron Lai from HIStory: My Hero. It’s a grumpy/tsundere boss/employee office-set BL with some forced proximity to push them together. (Nods to Japan.) No release date, but (unlike Thailand) Taiwan usually doesn’t make announcements without content & serious intent. 

Gossip 

Taiwanese BL NOVEL Miracle dropped a trailer, no subs or translation. According to YouTube comments it was supposed to be part of HIStory3 but MODC took on its slot. Still it’s kinda fun to see what might have been.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something. 

[theuntitledblog]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - REVIEW

SNYOPSIS

Luke Skywalker has disappeared and the evil First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire to try to take over the galaxy. When the droid BB8 encounters scavenger Rey and renegade Stormtrooper Finn, it takes them on a journey that will lead to a confrontation with the First Order's sinister agent, Kylo Ren.

This is where things get complicated and Star Wars becomes something polarizing to talk about both rightly and wrongly. There was so much hype surrounding the release of the The Force Awakens and it wasn't just down to the Star Wars name but rather the excellent marketing campaign. This was a film that was a direct sequel to Return of the Jedi rather than a prequel, the return of the original characters was a juicy prospect and the trailers themselves did an excellent job of stirring excitement without spoiling. The Force Awakens in many regards is pure Star Wars; it's a simplistic tale with the freedom to establish a fresh narrative and introduce new characters alongside the iconic ones. Sure there are plenty criticisms to be had but the Force Awakens does not get the credit it deserves for just how much fun it really is. The problem is that it is seriously lacking in new ideas, there is little in here that hasn't been done before and done better. It compensates however with new and interesting characters plus a strong new villain.

The Force Awakens achieves a visual balance that the Prequel Trilogy frequently got wrong. Those films introduced worlds that looked far more imaginative than anything we'd previously seen but the visual effects used to do so often meant they never looked fully convincing. The 'lived in' aesthetic of the Original Trilogy was lost but here that aesthetic is restored as the use of practical and computer generated effects achieves the right balance so that nothing here looks unconvincing or artificial. Likewise the Force Awakens makes improvements to the clunky editing from Episode III and most of all there is no sign of the awful dialogue that plagued the Prequel Trilogy in general. The film moves at a brisk pace with a sense of humour that doesn't feel out of place and the action set pieces are suitably thrilling and good fun. Overall the filmmaking for The Force Awakens feels like an improvement and as a result there is a genuine freshness about it that cleanses away the many flaws of George Lucas' last trilogy. But, George Lucas' absence also means that the Force Awakens lacks what his presence brought to Star Wars; vision and ideas.

The Prequel Trilogy was many things but it never felt like a reboot; that story had it's own identify with many new and memorable characters and story threads that felt different to the Original Trilogy. The Force Awakens does have its own qualities but there's no getting away from it, this is a reboot of A New Hope dressed up as a sequel rather than anything new. There are far too many plot point similarities and whilst I am able to forgive many of them, the final act in particular is hugely problematic for me. Starkiller Base is the epitome of the problems here. The name itself is unoriginal and is effectively yet another Death Star. The stealth mission to infiltrate and sabotage it is again very familiar as is the death of a mentor and space battle to bring it all down. Whilst not all parts of this final act disappoint, overall it doesn't come close to what was achieved in A New Hope and is where The Force Awakens' flaws are laid open to see.

Similarities to one side, The Force Awakens does work however when it comes to its characters. There is no shortage of joy in seeing Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles as Han Solo and Princess Leia with Ford in particular enjoying much of the screen time. But this is definitely a case of one generation handing over to the next as Daisy Ridley's Rey and John Boyega's Finn are new and different heroes than have previous been seen and are a breath of fresh air. Boyega and Ridley have great chemistry and play likeable character's with different and unique backstories to get behind and root for. For me Oscar Issac's Poe is an unnecessary addition to the line-up; he doesn't enough screen time to really feel like a compelling character and feels subject to requirement. The MVP of the film for me though is Adam Driver's Kylo Ren who is a self aware Darth Vader wannabe but has all the interesting inner conflict between light and dark that Anakin Skywalker lacked. He's one of the best villains seen in Star Wars and probably the best character in the entire Sequel Trilogy. The assortment of new characters does feel slightly lesser than other films but what counts is the new main characters do feel different and offer plenty of potential to carry this trilogy forward.

VERDICT

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens feels like a palette cleanser and takes Star Wars back to its more simplistic roots. With a welcome return to a familiar visual aesthetic plus some thrilling action set pieces and fresh new characters, Episode VII is a breezy return to form. However there's no escaping that this return to form would be far more satisfying with an injection of fresh ideas.

4/5

[vemuabhi]

Kaku, Lucci and Jabra - First Meetings and Kiss

Annyong Haseyo!! This was requested by REDFRLegend (Wattpad)

This is my first time writing for these 3 members. I hope its not too OOC. I made these in Modern Universe.

I hope you like it!

Pairings :

Kaku X Reader

Lucci X Reader

Jabra X Reader

Word Count : 5.8K (I promised you, I will do justice for your request)

Warnings : Not Proof read, so please forgive me for any mistakes.

A/N : I absolutely enjoyed writing for these three. I thought I'd hardly be able to write 500 words but... when I first wrote Kaku I didn't even notice the word count in the beginning. But it reached 1K words and I was shocked. I thought I couldn't beat this count for Lucci and I was definitely sure that I wont be able to write that much for Jabra. But Lucci beat Kaku's word count and it was 1.9K words. I received another shock when Jabra's story word count surpassed these two's. Jabra's was  2.6K words. I was speechless when I noticed that. Now to think of it, I am now in love with these people. I didn't like them because of Robin chan arc. But now... these people stole my heart. Please help me. I can't...

Kaku - 1K

Warnings : None

A/N : The meeting of this was so weird but the rest of the story is not that weird. Please read it.

You were so excited to watch the new movie which you waited so long to watch. By avoiding many posts and people who spoil everything, you went to the theatre and took the ticket. You were alone and thought that you could spend some quality time with yourself. You wanted to check your makeup so, you went to the restroom. As soon as you walked into the washroom, you saw a man with a long nose staring at you. His eyes were open wide as well as his mouth and his cheeks were flushed pink after seeing you.

'What the!?', you thought as you took a few steps back and then another man came into the restroom. You saw him and then again you looked at the long nose man. Then your legs worked their magic and you ran away. You ran towards the girls restroom which was on the floor above without even caring who was looking at you. You were completely embarrassed to walk into the men's restroom like that.

You looked into the mirror and noticed that your cheeks were also red from the embarrassment. You placed your hands on your face and whined. 'It's okay. Just forget this and watch the movie', you thought and you looked at the mirror again.

After heading to the movie hall with your tickets and popcorn, you sat in your seat and tried to concentrate on the movie. You watched the movie as you ate your popcorn. The movie didn't even finish 30 minutes at least and you noticed how terrible it was. Completely different from the plot you imagined after watching the trailer. Everything about the movie was so bad. Your frown didn't fade away as the scenes kept going.

"Do you hate it too?", whispered the person beside you.

"Omg, its... its totally different from what I expected. I really don't like it", you whispered as you still kept looking at the screen and kept eating popcorn.

"I really had high expectations about this movie. I never thought the plot would go like this", you said and then looked to your side. Then you saw the same long nose person, who you saw in the men's restroom. You blushed and hung your head low as you looked at him. He noticed that you were still upset about it and said, "Its okay. Everyone makes mistakes like that once in a while", he said and you slowly looked at him. He cheeks turned red as you looked at him. He averted his gaze to the movie and said, "Its their fault for not constructing extra washrooms", you chuckled as you heard that. He gave you a side glance and smiled. After more 10 minutes of discussing how the movie was getting annoying you sighed in defeat. "All my money is wasted on this, and now even my time"

He gave you a side glance and asked, "So... if you also feel like that... wanna go and grab a bite?"

Your heart skipped a beat. You didn't expect this but... you really wanted to go. A faint blush was visible on his cheeks as you nodded yes. The two of you went and sat at the restaurant and talked about movies and music. It seemed like your tastes matched and you were really happy to have a new friend.

"I'm Kaku by the way. We kept talking and didn't introduce ourselves", he chuckled and you realised that he was right.

"OMG! I didn't realise that. I'm Y/N" you replied. As you both finished your food, you decided exchanged numbers before you left.

Every day you two kept talking about stuff you both liked and slowly, the conversations turned to daily routines and then meme war at each other. You didn't knew how time passed while you both talked. You both decided to meet again for another movie and this movie was good than the previous one. For some reason you didn't feel awkward with him at all. After the movie you both strolled in the park. You felt so happy beside him. With him the conversation was never dead.

After a few more movie meetings, you were talking to him on the phone as usual.

"So, yeah... I heard there was a new pet café opened and people are loving it. Wanna go on a... date with me?", he asked as your cheeks turned red. You said yes and then you both discussed on the time and place of your meeting. Your heart was beating faster and you couldn't stop this excitement for meeting him. Actually you were even happier for every time you met him. 'This time... it's different. It's a date', you thought as you placed your hands on your cheeks.

The day of your date, you wore the new clothes and applied some makeup then went to the café. He stood from his place as he saw you enter the café. You approached him and he still was still standing without moving an inch. You smiled at him and shook his shoulder. He then blinked and chuckled nervously. Your date was really cute with him blushing as you both played with the animals. After you decided to leave, he took you home as it was dark. He blushed as he linked his hand with yours and with the free hand he gently tugged a strand of hair behind your ear.

He looked into your eyes for permission. You just smiled back at him and nodded. He leaned down as you slowly closed your eyes. Your lips touched with his and you felt so happy at that moment. His hand slowly caressed your cheeks and the other trailed to your waist to pull you even closer. Your hands tugged the back of his shirt as you just tilted your face to deepen the kiss. You both parted for air and looked into each other's eyes. It felt right with him. You were truly happy to be with him and he was feeling the same. You two were falling in love.

XOXOXOXO

Lucci – 1.9K

Warnings : Mention of alcohol but mostly fluff

A/N : I really loved this story too. Yeah, its a bit awkward but trust me, you will get past it.

The week was completely trash. Not one good thing happened and as if your problems were not enough, your boss dumped so much more work on you and your weekend almost went to waste. As you were so determined to complete your work, you had some free time and went to the new bar. The bar looked so beautiful and neat. People were drinking and singing. You ordered a drink for yourself and were trying to forget the shit week you had.

‘I need to buy new shoes/heels. These are about to get ruined’, you thought as you sipped your drink looking at your shoes/heels. Then suddenly you saw your asshole ex enter into the bar with another person. ‘That Dick, he is already with someone new’, you thought. You really wanted to leave but you didn’t want to seem single if your ex sees you. Your gaze landed on the person beside you, who was minding his own business. He had interesting beard. He was actually cute. You saw that he paid for his drinks and got up.

You stood before him as you blocked his way. He looked confused at your actions. You gulped. He was pretty tall, had sharp eyes and was having a serious expression. You asked him, “Are you leaving?” to which he just gave you a weird look and nodded.

“Good! Let’s go together, please”, you said as you held his hand. If weird and confused could be one expression, he had that. As he was about to protest, you stopped him and said, “Please. Don’t ask anything. I’ll answer your questions. But please come with me”.

He stayed quiet for a couple of seconds to think and then sighed, giving his permission. You linked your arm with his and smiled happily as you made your way out of the bar and YES! Your ex saw you with a guy way too handsome than him. Your ego boost increased X100 with that expression on your ex’s face. You laughed as you walked. Suddenly you felt a tug on your arm and you then noticed that you were dragging that stranger for a while now. You face turned red because of embarrassment. You let go of him and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t notice that I was dragging you along with me. I just wanted to get out of there because of my ex. And I got to leave with a handsome guy like you. You should’ve seen his face”, you said and laughed again thinking about that jerk ex. “So, thank you”, you ended as you looked at him.

He just nodded and left. ‘Huh… it… looked like he didn’t even care’, well to be honest you would’ve been happy if he was interested. ‘Well, its fine. My ex saw me with that handsome guy. It’s all I need’, you hummed to yourself and went to your house.

The next week, you had a new contract from a client and you had to visit the client at his office and talk about the project with your boss.

“So, Rob Lucci is our client and I hope you know that atleast… we should meet him now”, said your boss looking at you. You nodded quickly and followed him behind. Mr. Jabra was a strict man but, he was a good person.

Mr. Jabra led you into Mr. Lucci’s office and you both were waiting for him to come and meet you. Apparently that person Lucci was a very busy man and could only afford this day to talk about the project. As the door swung opened you and Mr. Jabra stood up. Your eyes widened as you looked at him. He was the same person who you met at the bar a few nights prior. He and Mr. Jabra shook hands and then you two sat in your chairs. He sat in front of you two and talked about the project. He seemed like, he didn’t even remember you. So you let that thought go away and started to listen to him. This was the first time you heard him speak. He had a deep voice and was really good. He was very particular and you noted them down just for future references. After the meeting you both thanked him and you followed your boss but as you were about to exit his cabin you fell on your face.

Your boss gasped and asked, “Y/N! are you okay?” with worry. Then you felt an arm on your shoulder. You looked at the owner of the arms, and it was Mr. Lucci. He was beside you. Your face turned red as you saw his handsome features so close. He helped you up and you thanked him. You then noticed that one of your shoe/heel was actually ruined. The client and also the boss noticed that.

“It’s ruined. Wait here. I’ll send my secretary”, Mr Lucci said. You looked at Mr. Jabra and he nodded. Then Mr. Lucci and Mr. Jabra went ahead. You didn’t know why he told you to wait there but you obliged. Then a beautiful lady came where you were waiting. She was wearing delicate specs and had silky blond hair. She had brown paper bag with her.

“Hello! You must be Y/N. I’m Kalifa. Mr. Lucci told me you were here”, she introduced herself and you nodded.

“So, if you don’t mind we only have these here. But, I’m sure you can wear them for temporarily”, she said as she handed me the brown paper bag she held. You looked inside and saw a new pair of shoes.

“Thank you so much!!”, you bowed to her and she left. You took the shoes out and wore them. Coincidentally, when you wore them, they were a perfect fit for you. ‘And then the prince and Cinderella stayed happily ever after’, the sentence suddenly popped into your brain and you chuckled. Then you noticed if someone was watching you. Luckily no one saw you laughing to yourself. You placed your ruined pair into the bag and headed towards the exit. There you saw your boss waiting for you. You quickly dumped your shoes bag in the trash can and headed towards Mr. Jabra.

He smiled widely as he looked at you. “Y/N!! You are here! Lets go”, he said and went towards his car as you followed him. Apparently, the the contract with the company was also made for another project if this was going to be successful. You also were happy that the company was getting more contracts.

As you and your team made the project, you and Mr. Lucci had to meet a few more times. His seriousness was really captivating to you. The passion towards work, really inspired you too. Slowly you found yourself reading about his company and his articles. You really started to like the man and your respect also grew.

After the project completion, luckily everyone liked it and it was a huge success. So, the client company held a party and invited your company too. You all were very happy for your work to be successful. The party was held on the terrace of the building. But there were security to take care of people, if they get too drunk.

You got yourself a second drink and leaned on the wall. Then you saw that Mr. Lucci was leaving the place. You followed him and now you saw that he was heading towards the elevator.

“Hey! Please wait!”, you said and sure he waited for you to come. “Thankyou”, you said as you also got in. He pressed the button for the ground floor.

“Sir, you can at least enjoy in these times. It’s ok to be carefree once in a while”, you said as he turned to look at you. You sipped your drink and continued, “Everyone is really happy and really admire you. If you join them they would be even more happy”, you said and he averted his gaze from you. If you weren’t drunk, you would’ve noticed his cheeks dusted pink.

“Yeah, but… not everyone likes me. Some people find me gloomy. So, I don’t want to let their sprits down”, for once, he talked about himself and not about work.

“NO WAY! Heck, even I too like you. You are so passionate and inspiring”, you being drunk said it casually but he stared at you with his eyes wide open and cheeks completely red. “You sure are serious about your work but you aren’t gloomy. You are really kind. I heard that you even take care and donate for the wildlife sanctuary. I really appreciate and admire that”, you smiled at him and exited the lift. He followed your steps and said, “How… are you going to go? You can’t drive in the state you are in”, he said as he looked at you.

“You looked back at him and replied, “I’ll call a cab”

‘Ofcourse, you’ll call a cab. Why did I even ask the most stupid question’, thought Lucci.

“I think you forgot but, we both met in a bar. I stopped you from leaving and tagged along with you”, you said.

“I remember”, he said making you stop in your tracks. You turned and looked at him. He came closer and stood before you.

“I never forgot you, or that time”, he said as you gulped.

“I thought you weren’t interested in me”, you said as you chuckled.

“I… wasn’t.”

“Ouch! That hurt”, you said as you placed your hands on your heart. He chuckled at your actions and it was the very first time you ever saw him laugh.

“Let me rephrase it, I wasn’t interested at that weird stranger who dragged me to an unknown location”, you were embarrassed at what he said. ‘Of course who would be interested in a person who did that’ your head hung low. But he continued, “But… I remembered the drunk person, who called me handsome. That clumsy person who fell down, the hardworking one, who made the project successful”, he said and he came closer and whispered, “I’m interested to know more about that person”, your face turned red at what he said. Now he was the one who walked first and you followed him. He stopped at his car and said, “Let me drop you”

You obliged and sat in the fancy car. He suddenly leaned closer to you and you closed your eyes. Then you heard a click. You opened what was that sound and saw that he placed your seatbelt. You got embarrassed and he chuckled.

After sometime you reached your house and again he leaned in closer to you. He removed the seatbelt but he stayed still looking into your eyes. You leaned towards him and captured his lips with yours. You placed your hands his raven hair and he placed one of his hand on the back of your neck and the other on your cheek. Your make out session with him lasted for a while then you smiled at him and looked at your lap. He smiled and pecked your cheek. You got out of the car and waved bye to him. He did the same but then he told you to come closer. As you were close to the window of his car, he again pulled you close and kissed you. After that he smiled and left the place. You went to your room and changed your clothes. You plopped on the bed and thought about the kiss you two had. It was so intense and passionate. Little did you know, a new beautiful story really was awaiting for you.

XOXOXOXOXO

Jabra – 2.6K

Warnings : Angst, hurt, comfort, TW! sexual harassment 

A/n: The story for writing him came to me and I was so in love. I hope you enjoy it.

You get ready as usual and get on the train to go for work. It was an everyday routine for you. You tended to go early to avoid rush hours. Anyhow, you couldn’t avoid the evening traffic and people, so you at least tried to be early. This was peaceful and quite with just you and a few other people on the train. You had your book in your hand to pass the time while you went to your stop. You then saw a new face get on the train. He was a tall man with different kind of beard.

He sat opposite of you and put on his headphones. He was quiet for a while but suddenly, he started to sing out the song he was listening to. You looked at him and saw that he was really immersed in the song and didn’t realise that he was singing out loudly.

You smiled to yourself at his actions. He wasn’t singing amazingly but, he was singing with his heart and you really admired that. He wasn’t horrible too. Just in between. After one song, he started to sing another song. You stopped reading and listened to him sing. You soon reached your stop and got down. He was still humming and singing. You went to work and started to work, but as you worked, the songs he sang were playing in your head. You shrugged it off and started to work, but the songs still played in your head.

The next day, you saw the same man enter the train. After a few minutes, he started to sing again. You listened to his songs till you reached your stop.

This became a routine to you every day and you never once, didn’t fail to stop listening to his songs. Eventually you started to like his singing and his voice. You didn’t finish that page of your book ever since he started to sing. You once noticed that he was singing the song that you liked too. You jammed to that song inside your head.

One day as he was giving you his free concert, another man got on the train and sat beside you. The new person, told the man before you to stop sing. That man got embarrassed and apologised. He didn’t even hum the entire ride. You came back to your book and noticed that you forgot what the story was so, you had to come back a few pages and read it again. To be honest, you felt bad for the singer. The entire ride was really quiet and… dull. You got down at your stop and looked at the man one last time and headed to your office.

The next day also the singer stayed silent and the new man sat beside you. You didn’t even hear the man hum. He was silent that day too… and the day after… and after… he stopped singing.

One day, you were on the same place as usual and the singing man sat opposite of you. The stranger sat beside you like always. You really didn’t mind but… then you felt his shoulder touching you. You noticed that he was sitting closer to you than before. You carefully moved a bit till your shoulders weren’t touching. But after a few minutes, your shoulders brushed again. You didn’t like how a person was touching you. You moved again and after few minutes you noticed the person touching you again! You gulped and you followed your instincts.

You sat beside the man opposite to you and he noticed you now. He didn’t mind you sitting there until he noticed that the other man also made his way towards you and sat real close to you. Now, you don’t have place to move. You frowned at how that jerk kept doing that. You were about to say something but then you saw that the singing man, stood abruptly and glared at the other man.

“Don’t you have shame? She doesn’t like it. Stop it or else do you want me to break your hand?”, that man clicked his tongue and left the train as soon as the doors opened. You smiled at the singer and said, “Thankyou so much”. To which he just smiled and took his spot.

Things were silent and then he said you, “I… I am sorry, I didn’t notice it first”.

“No, its not your fault”, you replied as you smiled at him. You continued, “I really don’t like the rush hours because of people like this. But I guess, for them, the time really doesn’t affect”.

“I’m sorry to hear that”, he said and you indicated no.

“You aren’t the one who did that. Don’t apologise”, you said as you got up and continued “Its my stop. I’ll go. bye”

He watched your form leave. Just like every day. You didn’t knew. But he also noticed you. But only when you left.

The next day, you sat in your spot and waited. The singer came and sat opposite to you. He smiled at you and you returned the same.

“You know”, you said and he looked at you as he listened carefully. “You sing well. Don’t let that person’s words get to you”

He gasped and his eyes opened wide. His cheeks turned red.

“So, you didn’t knew you were singing out this whole time? You sang from the first day you started to take this train”, you chuckled as you said that.

“Oh noo… I really didn’t knew I was singing every day. I’m sorry I did that. I must have disturbed you”, you whined as he held his head by his hands and placed his elbows on his knees.

“But… I did enjoy the free concert”, you said as he blushed even more.

"Oh god.... it so weird", he said looking at you.

"Why? How is it weird. Many people tend to sing like that", you closed your book and placed your elbows on your knees as you looked at him.

He covered his face and replied, "No... not that...", he sighed and replied, "you saying you liked my singing... its weird. Everyone says I suck at it. But... this is different"

"Owh! So rude... you aren't so bad. They just... need to listen to you more", you told him as you leaned back.

"Tha...thankyou. you are so kind", he said as he smiled. You asked about some of the songs that you liked while he sang and he answered everything to you. Then you got down at your stop and went to office.

The talking about music then changed to movies, then books. He wasn't much of a reader but he heard about the stories and stuff from his other friends and was really interested while you were talking about them.

After some days, you both sat beside each other while you both listened to music while you shared headphones.

You recommend him a few songs and he instantly got hooked on all of them. Exchanged phone numbers made you guys even closer and the meetings on the train while you went to jobs were becoming even more special.

One morning as usual you talked but... he seemed a bit restless.

"What happened? Are you okay?", you asked him as he just stayed silent. He looked down at his shoes and avoided to look at you.

"Jabra, if you wont tell me, I can't know. Tell me if something is bothering you", you said as he straightened his back and looked at you.

"I don't feel so good today... I feel like something bad is going to happen and I just... can't get rid of this feeling", he confessed.

"Oh no! Why? Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you. You'll stay safe. I'll pray", you assured him but he shook his head no.

"I'm not... talking about myself.... I'm talking about... you, Y/N", he looked deep into your eyes.

You chuckled and said, "Me? Don't worry. Nothing will happen. I'll be fine", you said assuring him.

He smiled weakly and said, "Yeah... maybe I'm over thinking"

You patted his shoulder and got up. You got out of the train and waved bye to him. But... even if you said you were going to be fine, Jabra just couldn't get the uncertain feeling out of his heart and mind.

That evening, as work piled up, you had to stay late and work a bit more. Jabra messaged you a few times and you replied saying you were fine.

That night at 11 pm you started to go towards the station alone. The streets were a bit too empty and you felt like the traffic would be much better than this. You then got an idea and opened your phone.

'CALL SINGER', Your phone displayed and you hit the green button. He almost immediately picked it up and asked you whether you were okay or not. You giggled and said you were fine.

"So... did you eat?", he asked

"Nope... i actually am leaving the office now-"

"WHAT! NOW! Y/N. I told you the area where you were working isn't safe after dark. Why didn't you listen?", he didn't let you finish and started to worry about you.

"Jabra, listen. My boss gave me work, while I was about to leave. So I had no choice. It's not like I didn't listen to you", you pout as he clicked his tongue.

"Tsk... I really want to talk to that stupid boss of yours. How could he make you stay so late"

"Just let it be... I... just wanted to talk to you", you said as you gulped hearing footsteps... getting closer to you.

"Y/N what happened?", he sensed your distress and asked you.

"I... it might be my imagination but... I thought I could hear... footsteps?", you whispered as you kept walking.

"Y/N... listen to me carefully. Don't turn back. Just keep walking and make use of your senses and don't turn off the phone. Keep it on even if you aren't talking to me", he said.

"I am not able to hear them anymore but... Jabra... I'm scared", you told him the truth.

"Y/N don't be. Don't cry. Put on a brave front. I'm coming", he said as you heard his door closing. He was really coming for you now and this time... you were sure you heard the footsteps again.

You reached the station and noticed that someone was definitely following you. You told jabra and he said to quicken your pace and get on the train. You did as he told you and you heard the footsteps running after you. You ran towards the train and just as you made it in then the doors closed. Then you saw the person who ran after you.

Your eyes widened as you saw his face. He was the same guy who harassed you on the train a few weeks ago.  He had a sinister looking grin on his face as he indicated an indecent hand gesture.

Tears slid down your cheeks as you kept eye contact with him and the train moved forward.

"Y/N! Y/N! Y/N! TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED? DID YOU GET ON THE TRAIN? Y/N PLEASE ANSWER! PLEASE", you noticed that you didn't answer Jabra and he was having a panic attack.

"Jabra... I got on the train but I ... I saw him", you said between sobs.

"Who was it?"

"That pervert from the other day. You also saw him. He looked so sinister Jabra... I can't even explain", you cried as you told him.

His didn't know how to feel. Was he supposed to be relieved that you escaped for now or was he supposed to feel sad that you were crying.

He knew one thing for sure... He was hella angry at that asshole for making you so scared and cry.

After travelling alone for a few minutes and crying on the phone, you then saw that Jabra was waiting on a stop for you. You ran out of the train and hugged him tight as he also held you close. He wasn't going to forgive himself for letting you experience that alone. He was mad at himself for not being there for you, when you needed him the most. He held you as if you were going to disappear if he let you go.

Jabra then dropped you at your home on his bike as you still hugged him. The adrenaline was still making your hands shiver even after you reached your house. You let him stay at your place for that night. But you couldn't sleep for a long time. That experience was terrifying. But as he soothingly caressed your hair, you fell asleep.

He didn’t had a small crush on you. It was already love for him. He wanted to take you out on dates and dinner. Wanted to see you smile. Wanted to come to your house and hug you while you slept… But he didn’t wanted that to happen like this. This was heart breaking for him.

The next day, you took the day off and curled in your blanket. Jabra already left, after leaving a note. You were alone in your house. Then you got a message from Jabra, with a link. You opened it and saw that, a killer and rapist was arrested and sent to jail. Tears rolled down your cheek as you saw that.

Then you pressed the call button and in a few rings, Jabra picked up.

“Y/N! I’m sorry, I had to leave but-”

“Thankyou! Thank you so much”, you didn’t let him finish his sentence and thanked him.

“Don’t cry my dear. It’s okay now. He is in jail and… he will never ever hurt you or anyone else again”, he said as you sniffed.

Actually, after you fell asleep, Jabra left the house and searched for that man. After finding him, he beat him up and handed him over to the police.

You called him over to your place and as he reached the door you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tight. He blushed hard at your sudden hug but still he embraced you. You pulled him into the house and closed the door.

You took his hand and said, “I love you”, his eyes widened at your words. “And don’t mistake it for gratitude or something else. I really liked you from a long time. But the way… you”, your tears returned to you as you continued, “Prioritize me and give importance to me is just… truly beautiful”, you got closer to him and added, “I… love you. Will you go out with me?”

“YES! YES! YES I love you too!” he also exclaimed and hugged you tight. Then you pulled back a bit to see his face then placed your hand on the back of his neck.

“Can I?” you asked him as he turned like a tomato and nodded. You brought him closer to you and kissed him gently. He wiped the tears on your cheek with one of his hand and the other stayed between your shoulder blades. You ran your fingers in his hair as the other caressed his back. Your actions sent shivers up and down his spine. You two broke the kiss for air and looked into each other’s eyes. You pressed your foreheads together and smiled as you pecked his cheek. This felt magical. With him, it was always different and beautiful. You thanked your stars for making him meet you.

XOXOXOXO

OMG!! I am so in love with them now. Please help me. I hope you enjoyed these One shots. Like I promised, they aren't just a few lines or scribbles.  Comment your favourite among these?

Please support me by giving me a Vote/Like, Comment, Reblog/Share. If you love my stories, please follow me!

Thankyou so much for reading!

[tomb-bloom-noctem]

3 theories I wanna just throw out there before Friday and the next episode (episode 3) of Are You Afraid of the Dark Curse of the Shadows Season 2 comes out.

Forgive the quality of these pictures I literally have to take screenshots from YouTube or the show on Nickelodeon's website.

Okay so June Murphy as established in Episode 2 is somehow involved in this. At least Connor thought so. He researched her, he prepared to perform a seance with her - which we literally saw in Episode 1. She is somehow an important character to this.

So far this is all we know about her.

June Murphy, 15 when she passed. Born in 1981, passed on October 15th, 1996 near the lighthouse it is specified. The lighthouse that her father Charlie cares for as his father did. And she was an activist for the planet and all living things. That's not much honestly. Makes it a bit unclear as to why she's be involved. But as Hanna stated, maybe she was one of the Shadowman's victims. And considering as we were warned by Sardo, being in the woods after dark results in being cursed. The Shadowman's spirit is said to live in the old lighthouse, which is surrounded by the woods. Because the woods "guard" where his spirit lives, that makes them all part of his "domain." And also as Sardo said, "Upon nightfall, no child is allowed to enter the haunted woods." I think the fact that they specifically say child and not person is strange. Definitely suggests adults are safe from the Shadowman but not kids. So all this time June must have stayed out of the woods after dark. But at some point, she was there afterwards. Perhaps with her father, learning to take over tending to thr lighthouse someday. Perhaps just a simple not knowing how much time had passed while out there. Regardless, somehow June as potentially been another victim of the Shadowman.

Or is she?

3 theories I have. None have particularly strong evidence I just want to throw then out there.

Theory 1. June wasn't a victim, she's what started all this.

This theory is brought up directly by the show. Hanna literally asks this question in the trailer for the next episodes. Definitely something to consider. We simply don't know that much about June. We don't know why Connor selected her. Why not that little kid Zoey who we literally saw be tormented and presumed taken by the Shadowman during Sardo's warning? Why not anyone at all? What told Connor to reach out to her specifically? Sadly no answers or ideas yet.

Sadly this is pretty heavily into just strong imagination and little evidence territory but here's my theory on a specifically how and why June is what started this theory.

If we go back to June's description in that obituary, it is mentioned she's an environmental activist. (Hmm. Much like Hanna is shown to be...) Again, strong imagination with little evidence territory here but. What if June summoned the Shadowman? What if she intended to summon a spirit in the intents of protecting the woods and instead got the Shadowman? If she was in a situation where she was informed that the woods were going to be destroyed for say making more buildings, and she couldn't do anything to stop it, June went to the extreme and tried to summon a protective spirit while at the light house one night. And this resulted in the Shadowman appearing. This would also explain why his spirit lives in the lighthouse as that's where he crossed over into this world from. Then did she from there become a victim of his? Perhaps even the first? Possibly. It feels a little off though considering the curse appears to be specific to kids, if the woods were in danger of being bulldozed over, it doesn't seem for now like the Shadowman would be a great help with that and especially factoring in that his power is a night based thing whereas construction and bulldozing is definitelymore of a daytime activity. So great job June you managed to accomplish literally nothing but bad things with this summon.

Theory 2 which is a bit extra whack. June IS the Shadowman.

Definitely the wilder of the 3 but allow me to indulge my imagination. I have already been contemplating the idea that the Shadowman is similar to a Wendigo. And while I don't think that they will try to say The Shadowman is one, I think there could be an aspect of human spirit turning into a more malevolent one at play here. Picture it, June is an avid environmentalist again like Hanna is shown to be. But rather than be ignored like Hanna is, what if June is picked on? What if she's even followed one evening by these bullies who can't just leave her be? And then a "tragedy near the lighthouse" occurs? And June is so hurt and angered by that that her spirit cannot rest and becomes the Shadowman? This could potentially explain both the woods being the domain and the lighthouse being where the spirit lives and also explain why kids are being targeted. Much like that one episode of Gravity Falls, the wrath of the spirits haunting that old store went to the teens who terrorized them. And in this case the wrath of June would go towards all who were children or at least "not adults" like the ones who harassed and possibly killed her. And another weird thing that maaaaaybe gives this theory something to stand on is this shot of something from the trailer. A spell from the Book of Shadows.

The Life from Death Spell

"I seek you in the darkest hour. Hear my plea and give me power. Take me in the black of night, to bring her back into the light. A curse that cannot be reversed, till what was stolen return first. Fire light and shadow black," and then unfortunately the final sentence is blurry and partially covered but I can make out "my life" so I'm guessing the line is "I give my life to pay death back." Very difficult to read but that's my guess.

The fact that this spell specifically appears in the trailer and the words here are hmm definitely seem like they could apply to June...very odd. Particularly the line "to bring her back into the light" is very specific. It makes me wonder if this could be used to try to free June's soul? Not bring her back to life but move her soul into peace so she can move on from her monster state? Or does it support the first theory? Trying to bring forth her soul to speak with her? Or heck is it a third option even?

Theory 3 Trying to actually bring June back to life?

The spell from above is very interesting and I'm the idea of it led me down another plot trail. Could the Shadowman be her father? Similarly to the previous theory, did Charlie's soul become dark? Who in his grief and pain of losing his child become something that seeks out children and tries to drag them away into the darkness, searching for the daughter he will never again find? Seems a little dark and excessive perhaps, but perhaps it would work. Even if just for a moment June was alive again, would it grant him the peace needed to move on and haunt the woods no more?

Also interesting to note, it's October in the show. October is also when June died. And anniversaries can be powerful things. Will the Shadowman regardless of any of these 3 theories have an increase in power due to this anniversary?

If only these darn kids had just gone to bed and waited till the next day to explore the woods and double checked the time when sunset was.

All a bunch of strange ideas without much proof but here you have it. Somethings to consider and possibly be right on. Only time, or rather, the next few episodes will tell.

[bellegoldie16]

Kylo goes to fight with Rey?😆

So hello again!! After watching th trailer loads of times, I couldn’t help but notice something from previous trailers and this trailer that could all be connected to the final battle.

1. Kylo decided to go to Rey:

In this scene Kylo looks like he has been crying and it seems like he has made a decision of some kind. I can only hope and feel that that decision is him deciding to join Rey and defeat Palptine with her. I mean this is all speculation and theories but he has go his mask off and his face seems determined to go somewhere. He looks angry and upset about something, maybe that is what the voice over was of Luke that we heard in this new trailer. I’m convinced that he is talking to Kylo Ren in this scene and it would actually make sense if Luke was talking to Kylo Ren because it highly suggested that Kylo Ren will become Ben Solo again by the end of this film. I’m so down for this happening and it could be a possibility. After making the decision he flys in his ship to find Rey, which takes me to my next GIF.

2. Kylo is walking to help Rey:

Now with this scene, the second trailer was highly suggesting that he was walking to face Rey but now I really can’t see this scene being that. It’s the same planet floor as where we see Rey later edging away from what I believe is Palptine. The stride and aggression to this GIF suggests to me that he going somewhere with determination and protectiveness and I think that is to help Rey, and beat Palptine.

3. Rey is on the defensive against Palptine:

(Before I continue, sorry for the bad GIF! It’s my first time creating one and it’s zoomed in for some odd reason so you can’t see Palptine that well and it’s really bad quality😬)

As we can see with this scene, Rey is on the defensive and probably scared of Palptine. She is backing away and seemingly scared of what he can do, this may lead to my theory that Palptine is going to or has shown Rey the vision on her being Dark and this is going to frighten her.

So she backs away and ignites her lightsaber as it’s makes her feel safe and protected from anyone. But then she senses someone, someone she knows and is connected too, this of course my folks is Kylo Ren coming in to support and beat Palptine with her. This is why she is crying and smiling in the last shot of the trailer because she is seeing Ben being good and being him once again.

(Once again, sorry for the really bad GIF! I don’t know what app to use to create them, so I used one that I thought would work and it did in a sense😂)

She is seeing Ben and that is making her so happy and that is when in the trailer Palptine says “And now your coming together, is your undoing” because they are obviously going to fight him together and destroy him. She is also nodding a little bit which I believe she indicating towards Ben, maybe saying she forgives him?😁

I hope this all makes sense, I’m really bad a describing things😂

[moved99999999999]

U guys wanna know what I think about that hell hotel show

I feel like twitter’s very tired of seeing ppl talk about Hazbin Hotel, so I putting my opinions on tumblr where they belong. I’m not a “professional critic” by any means, but I’ll try my best given what I know. And don’t worry, I’ll be incredibly nit-picky to suit the internet’s needs.

I’m gonna mainly focus on HH itself instead of Vivzie’s accusations because that's a WHOLE other can of worms to open.

During the time of me writing this, I haven’t watched any YT reviews, but I’ve read a few threads criticising the show, so take that as my social influence bias.

My ted talk is allllll below the cut. Enjoy~

Context: 

My first exposure of Vivzie’s work was her “Die Young” animation that I came across around 2016. Instantly I fell in love with how “smooth” and lively her animation was, and especially the fact that it was hand drawn. Animation like that was extremely rare to come by (and still is) and seeing her execute it so well with such complexed characters was amazing to my fetus self. 

A few years later and I see the first trailer for HH. I instantly went OH I RECOGNISE THAT STYLE AND THOSE CHARACTER TYPE DESIGNS and was looking forward to what it had to offer. 

On “opening day” I watched the pilot ASAP to avoid my opinions from getting warped by all of the key-mash memes and post call-out bitching (literally the extremes of the HH opinion spectrum), and overall.....

I thought it was good. 

Not ground breakingly amazing, not horrifically terrible, but charmingly good.

(Ok now it’s actual review time)

Animation Quality:

As a hand drawn animation that has the freedom to get creative with its shots, a lot of effort was clearly put into how everything moves (it definitely didn’t take any lazy flash puppet shortcuts for the main sections of the show) and I can appreciate that. However it tends to be... rather inconsistent, most likely due to the varying skill level of the animators on the project. It’ll be nice and smooth one minute, and then awkward and choppy the next which can make the viewing pretty confusing at times. I’ll be honest I found myself overlooking these inconsistencies due to the characters and backgrounds themselves being very visually engaging, especially considering how over designed some of them can be (which I applaud the team for handling cuz wow that must have been painful). However, the needle thin and exaggerated art style makes some things incredibly hard to look at. While it helps with adding fancy details, it hurts in catching peoples eyes in the right place.

It’s also chalk full of little details, visual gags, and references that are hilarious to look at if you have the luxury of pausing every two seconds (the news segment and Sir Pentious turf war w/ Angel and Cherri are good places to look). But I feel like these lil details were put in at the cost of some some continuity errors (Charlie not wearing her coat in one shot, and having it back on in the next, papers being blank, etc.) and lip-syncing issues which really shouldn’t be happening considering all of the detail they were able to put in. There are also some shots that have just SO MUCH detail put into them, only to be shown for less than a second. I get that’s the cost of animation sometimes, but save the detail for the shots that need it, because at that point you’re just causing the animators to waste their efforts.

However, I was surprised at how professional the soundtrack and editing was. Not one but THREE songs in this single episode was really surprising, and the variation and quality of each was great (as cringy as Charlie’s song is)

But overall, the production quality is surprisingly good for a project like this, the editing, sound effects, and sound track act like a cherry on top. Of course there are some noticeable drops in quality, but given time and a budget, it has enough chops to look like an actual show.

Writing: 

As far as overarching plot goes, it seems like it’s going to be one of those procedural shows that tries to be serialised, but it’s a creative twist on hell and has an interesting premise to begin with. You can get really creative with seeing how you’d dive into getting redemption out of all of these seemingly lost causes, and I’m sure there are many people willing to know the backstories our main cast. As a pilot, it did it’s job of launching the plot very well, setting up the premise of the hotel and introducing characters in a very engaging way. I was legit really interested in each segment with who in introduced, and it didn’t feel like I was being overloaded with names to remember (which can be a problem for many medias and introductions). The cohesion between each scene is VERY smooth, and I genuinely enjoyed some of the cliché cuts/gags. 

Unfortunately I can’t extend this interest to our main character. Charlie is one of the most generic tropes we’ve ever seen. She’s a boring Disney princess who has a “cute happy positive goal to change her world” and the only thing that would make her more generic is if she wore a dress and cried “I’m tired of being so privileged”. 

(Although it’s impossible to tell, I honestly think Viv is just projecting through her, especially considering how horrifically accurate the hotel’s opening mirrors the internet’s reaction to the pilot itself)

I would be more forgiving if she was a supporting character or someone less important, but she’s the freaking protagonist, arguably the character that has to be the most interesting. Angel’s personality seems to be “flirty porn star”, and while that’s just as bad as being a boring Disney princess, at least he gets a few jokes and has a profession more interesting than Charlie’s. Around the end of the pilot he just seems like he’s getting involved because Viv likes giving him attention. If he’s supposed to be leeching off of the hotel, wouldn’t not care if it survives or not?

(There’s that whole stereotype issue that everyone keeps bringing up, but I genuinely think that’s BS because people are blatantly ignoring the fact that Angel is a porn star, Vaggie is portrayed as helpful, and that the show takes place in H E double hokey sticks.)

The transitions may be smooth, but the dialogue pacing can get really awkward at times. This paired with the animation sometimes having awkward quality drops makes some movements incredibly jagged, and has some detailed shots show for incredibly unbalanced screen time as mentioned before. 

I don’t have enough to give voice acting it’s own section so I’m just popping it down here:

The voice acting is legitimately better than several big name projects I know. It’s consistent, great at expressing the character’s mood properly, and each voice fits each character perfectly. My only gripes are that Alastor and Sir Pentious tend to grain on you after awhile due to them keeping a single tone for too long. 

Character Design: AKA the only thing I have legitimate experience with.

First thing’s first. The characters are WAY too over designed. There are so many markings and accessories that are incredibly unnecessary. I think the mindset for these characters was “the more complicated and attractive the better”, which makes them look like they’re designed by an edgy tumblr artist (heck I fall for this too some times).

Especially if a character is going to be animated, you have to keep in mind the value of simplicity. You absolutely don’t have to fill in your character with markings and trinkets to make them look unique, I mean just look at the gen 1 pokemon starters. Thanks to the limitations of the game, the sprites were forced to be simple, and it was that simplicity that made them such unique and varied creatures. You can tell Blastoise is a bulky water blasting turtle just with a quick glance. 

Many of the characters suffer from over complication, but I’ll look at Husk for example. He has these stripes all over him that do not contribute to who he’s supposed to be at all, and only look like they’re added to make him more unique. The markings that DO help are the little card suite marks on his wings, because those at least infer he’s linked to a casino/gambling type of theme. I would say his outfit helps as well, but formal wear and bowties are worn way to often by the main characters, which brings me to another problem.

They may look different, but they feel way too similar. From the same skinny body type, to generic head shapes, to outfits, the focus characters just don’t stand out amongst each other. Even the ones with interesting features still suffer from feeling generic. I’d say Sir Pentious is a good example of this. He has a serpentine/naga body and clever hair style that make his concept really creative, but his skinny body type, complicated eyes all over his tail, and generic “young but supposed to be at least middle aged” face just push him back into obscurity. He’s even wearing the SAME outfit as Alastor (who's an even worse offender of that generic face problem), and unless Viv has some plan to link the two, I’d say the characters need to stop using a dress code.

A successful character design can to tell you who the character is just by looking at them. You should be able to tell if a character’s personality, function, age, the universe they belong in, and if they’re important or not, and that’s a big problem when it comes to the background characters. If you pause on one of the extras for a minute you can see all of the effort put into designing them, and that takes away so much attention from the main cast. Not only that, but they have actual variations in their body types and outfits, which makes them more intriguing than who we’re supposed to be interested in.

Regardless, this pilot has potential, and if they can get someone to comb out the flaws, you can end up with something good. No one can deny a legitimate animation was made here, and the team successfully executed the start of a story, and that’s something anyone can look up to.

TLDR: The pilot is good. It has some major flaws, but it has potential to be a good show.

If you actually read this far epstein didn’t kill himself.

[prorevenge]

Payday for Hayday

First of all, English isn't my native language so please forgive some mistakes.

This is my fathers story, but I love it.

My father was kind of a part time farmer, meaning he came home from his 9-5 job and went on working on the land we owned... but as he got older he got rid of the lifestock (sheep) and just made hay in the summer (we have a few meadows, they need to be tended) and sells it... (he's now in his mid seventies, still going)

He is also a hunter... where I live we have a very strict weapon control, so if you want to hunt you have to work hard for it and prove that you are a responsible person who can be trusted with a weapon and will not do harm to the animal (meaning killing the prey with the first shot in the right place so that it wouldn't suffer)

About 20 years ago it was time for haymaking... he was out all week turning the hay, driving from one meadow to the others and finally the day came to press the hay in bales... He got them all in our barn but for one meadow, so he let the bales there over night to collect them the next day. He'd done that for a lot of years and never happened anything... This year was different... when he got to the meadow the next day the bales where gone.

He was mad... the monetary loss was assessable but all the work he put in, it bugged him... he thought about who could have done it... for all the bales the thief must have had a trailer for a tractor and he could not have driven too far... My father thought about it and the only person who he could think of stealing the hay was Joe... Joe was a nice guy but you had to be careful in his surroundings... he made odd jobs for cash (solid work, good quality) but he also was known for some minor criminal activities like thefts (often from farmers and hunters), smalls scams but also for poaching... He preferred the fast money before hard work.

So my dad drove to Joe's property a little outside the town and got out of the car... Joe wasn't to be seen but a litter of about 8 week old Weimeraner puppies ran towards my father... Weimaraner are a hunting dog breed and joe had 2 female Weimaraner who he would breed with... of course he didn't have papers for them, no sane dog breeder club would have taken Joe and he wouldn't care all the regulations and the costs... For those who don't know the breed, Weimaraner are top hunting dogs, very pretty, but very expensive,even without papers he would make good money with the litter. Joe took care of them, got them to the vet when needed but if you wanted to have a dog with a family tree this backdoor breeder was the wrong address... he was also very strict, for him they were tools and not family members.

So my Dad took a good look at the puppies and took one up when Joe showed up... My father looked at him and told him: I like this dog, I'm taking her, what do you want for it?", Joe smiled and told him the price... My father put the dog on the passenger seat, turned to Joe and said: "You can deduct the dog from my hay or we can call the police"... Joe went pale and said:"Oh that was your hay..." My Father had been dead right with his gut feeling, who the culprit was... He said nothing more, got into the car and drove off. The dog was more worth than the hay, but Joe never asked for the rest of the money... he was just happy my dad didn't call the police...

What we didn't know at that time was, that Joe was out for probation and he would have gone back to prison for this.

But we know that if Joe knew that the hay was my fathers he would have never touched it... my father was one of a few who treated him always fair and respectful as he did with everyone. The hay incident was never mentioned again between them and even after that my father kept his kept his relationship distant with Joe (but never left him alone on our property, he knew how to handle Joe) BTW the Weimaraner hated Joe, we had to put her away when he seldomly came by (1-2 times a year)...

That's how we got a new dog... she was a really good and loved dog and we had her for 16 years (for a Weimaraner a biblical age)

We also took another Weimaraner from Joe, a lovely girl who came back 3 times to him so my mother told him she wouldn't let the poor dog go to another owner who would give her eventually back, she would stay with us forever... she also got to be 16 years... she was so thankful and loving, I miss them both

TLDR; A distant friend stole hay from my Father, not knowing it was his, and payed with a Dog more worth than the hay.

(source) (story by Dixon_Brothers)

[har-rison-s]

My MARVEL Journey

A/N: Hi, yes. No one answered if they'd like to hear/read it, but I will put it here anyways. It's long, it's very long. But I hope you read this. This brought me to tears. Enjoy.

My first Marvel-related memory was probably when Captain America: The First Avenger came out. A picture of Steve Rogers shirtless was in the magazine and I laughed at it. I don’t remember the particular reason, but something about ‘who the hell’s going to go see this movie? only because of the shirtless guy, i’m sure’. Yes, yes, Rūta, you’re sure.

It was 2012 and the movie Avengers had come out. Me and my dad were sitting in a cafeteria, looking at the small printed repertoire of the nearest cinema, wanting to see Avengers. But, alas, I was too young. I was only eleven at the time and the movie had an age restriction, 12+. Made me a bit confused and I was often told I look older than I am, but dad didn’t want to break any rules. So, we went home.

I don’t know when exactly this was, but we were at home and I was doing something on my own, dad was in his room and I heard that he was watching a movie. So I ran up the stairs to see what he was watching. The Avengers. 

I sat down next to him, having no idea what was happening in the movie, and watched a fragment of the movie with him. At the time, I really liked Chris Hemsworth and Thor, one of my first celebrity crushes. So dad asked me “You like that Thor guy, right?” At which I smiled and said yes. Eleven-year-old me, oh my god, that is so funny to me now. 

When Iron Man 3 came out, I was thankfully above the restricted age and dad took me to the cinema to see Iron Man 3. My english wasn’t that good then, so I understood like 40% of what everyone was saying. But I remember liking the movie a lot, it felt fresh and new and I really liked the humor and Tony and Harley’s interactions. Towards the end of May 2013, at some point I had drawn Iron Man’s hand with the light and showed it to my dad. He liked it so much that he took a photo and posted it to his Instagram. Or was that 2014? I actually can’t remember.

Then, sometime later in the year, we went to see Thor: The Dark World. One of MCU’s worst movies, but at the time I liked it, cause, of course, I liked Loki and Thor a lot, and their actors. 

That’s when I think my involvement with Marvel really started. I used to draw Loki and Thor in my notebooks, save photos and memes of them in my first touch-screen phone and put them as wallpapers. There was one really good drawing of Loki I did, I think I still have it somewhere. But really, for my drawing skills at 12-years-old, it was exceptionally good. His face was very detailed and similar to the real photo. 

I used to watch a lot of videos of Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth on my laptop, I had so many photos of them saved, and I used to watch Thor: the Dark World and Avengers all the time, not understanding a thing or what’s happening, what’s the storyline. All I knew is that I loved Loki and he was my first favourite Marvel character. Some time passed until I got more in depth with his character. I was young and silly, okay? Forgive me.

Next thing, I found out my classmate also liked Loki and the MCU movies. I was happy I found someone with the same interest, a bit unhappy that it wasn’t my best friend. But I knew she’d come around, and I had my fun. 

Spring 2014 came around and me and my dad were going to New York City. My god, I couldn’t wait. I’d wanted to go there since I could remember. Around the time we went there, the press tour for Captain America: The Winter Soldier had started and I had thrown Marvel to the side a little. 

Me and my dad went to a comic book store in NYC, not so far from Central Station, because he wanted to look for Transformer comics and I wanted to find a Loki comic for my classmate. The comic shop was small, but god was it cool. It had very steap stairs, you had to climb them to get there. And they were narrow and someone wanted to come down when we were going up, so it was quite uncomfortable. But the comic store was heaven for me.

It had action figures, pop! toys with the bobby heads, Mjlonir!!! and Loki’s helmet!! and Cap’s shield!! In actual life size. That was cool. There were toys from CATWS, and I told dad “Oh, the new Captain America movie is coming out sometime around now.” cause I remember seeing it on twitter and seeing a snippet of the trailer. I marvelled at the toys, looking at them. Natasha, Steve, the Winter Soldier, Falcon, Nick Fury. It was very exciting. There were probably other promotional things except for the toys, but I didn’t see them (or just don’t remember them). 

Dad got his transformer comic, and I got my Loki comics, and we left. I think we spent from 30 minutes to an hour there. No regrets. 

A week, I think, after returning from NYC, me and my best friend went to see Captain America: the Winter Soldier. I still didn’t quite know what was happening, but I remember seeing the trailer and thinking ‘how epic is this!! some mysterious guy, cap looking very attractive, natasha having a great haircut, i’m excited!!’. And that’s where the real ‘trouble’ began. 

I saw Bucky and Steve’s friendship somehow, for an unknown reason, very similar to my own, with my friend. I don’t know why, it just seemed so familiar, so well-known. None of us have been brainwashed and made an assasin, but I think already then we shared the same deep connection as Steve and Bucky and we still do. Maybe that’s why I saw a familiarity there - I’d do anything, go against anyone for my best friend, just like Steve did for Bucky. 

I had so many pictures of Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan and Scarlett Johansson in my phone, I changed my wallpaper every other day, very often. I watched their previous, non-marvel movies all the time. And then Scarlett’s “Lucy” came out and me and my best friend watched it in poor quality on my iPhone 4. We also watched CATWS in poor quality on my iPhone 4. How could we do that?? On such a small screen?? Was desparation the reason? Who knows. 

Anyways, I was obssessed with Marvel then. Couldn’t wait for the next Avengers and Captain America movies, didn’t even know what they’d be about. Then, I had started to see into the characters and my english had improved, so I started to understad everything better.

I remember one evening after seeing CATWS, we spent like 30 euros on groceries to make dinner and spend some time together, and we were making that dinner and then watching the first Captain America movie. It was one of the best nights of my life.

Spring 2014 is still the favourite time of my life, because it gave me so much. So many new people, characters, discoveries, books, travels, friends, etc. I loved that period in my life, all of the first half of 2014. If I could travel in time, I would go and live in that time for as long as I could, being the same age as I was then. I wouldn’t necessarily want to live there as myself like I am now, I’d like to be as young and weird as I was then. 

Every spring, I am reminded of 2014’s spring. The smell of fresh rain plus the smell of blooming lilac and lingon. The music I listened to then, the places I was at most often then, the smells and feelings of spring. It’s interesting that spring reminds me of that particular year’s spring, not other years. It is somehow best settled in my memories and my heart. 

I will say that Captain America: the Winter Soldier changed my life. It did, and it’s not an exaggaration. This movie and the characters and the actors provided something of an escape for me. From what? I don’t know, really, but they were my home. Made me feel accepted. And I started to connect with people on Instagram and Tumblr through Marvel and it gave me a community I was accepted in, I was finally a part of. I hadn’t found that kind of thing until then. I hadn’t found a place for myself until I discovered the Marvel fanbase. And it’s the best fandom I’ve ever been a part of, the most true and loving and accepting and understanding people. The only haters in the fanbase are the directors and script-writers for the movies ;)

2014 was a very colorful year for me, my interests changed and came and went, but Marvel was a constant interest for me. It was always there, always somewhere on the side. I got a Captain America beanie and a shirt for Christmas, from my dad. Still one of my favourite Christmas gifts ever.

2015 had come around and I had changed as a person, a lot, and I wouldn’t say for the better. I was very stuck on something, stuck in an unlikable version of myself, and it was strange suddenly to communicate and be with people around, in groups. But I managed. I got a Captain America wallet for my 14th birthday that year. And I still have it, although it’s broken and wore-down, but now I have another Marvel wallet. 

There was a youth film jury thing happening on a May Sunday, which was also the day me and my dad went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron. I agree, not one of Marvel’s best movies, but I liked it. The movie was funny, full of love and action, and very… discovering, as well. The movie showed each character’s fears and doubts about themselves, what they think is the worst about themselves. And that’s a strong move, to show the heroes’ weaknesses. I’ve always liked that. When a movie/tv show shows the main character’s real personality, their weaknesses, fears, the things that make them human, just like me. And it means a lot. To know that heroes like Natasha Romanoff, a genius phylanthropist like Tony Stark, a super-man like Steve Rogers and a god like Thor have a weak spot and are still humans, that they still feel what regular people do. 

The similarities I can draw between myself and Steve Rogers, for example, is a) having a skill for motivational speeches, b) crossing borders and breaking rules for our best friend, c) standing by what we believe in and not giving into anyone, d) we’ll do what we have to, even if everyone else says it’s wrong, but we know it’s not. The similarities between myself and Tony Stark are a) we’re both geniuses in some ways, b) we’re geniuses who can’t sleep, c) we’re geniuses who are overlooked by most people, what we do for ourselves and for others, our friends and family is overlooked and unnoticed by others, d) we know what’s the right thing to do, e) we’re capable of more than we think (I hope). 

I don’t think I have any similarities with Thor or Hawkeye or Banner. With Natasha… I just might. We’re both secretive about ourselves, about what’s happening inside, about what we’re hurting. Also we both know what we have to do, we also know that if we don’t do it, nobody else would. We both make sacrifices.

Age of Ultron was a fun time, it was some sort of highlight of the journey, well, one of the highlights. So many funny videos, so many interviews and events and comic con panels. Oh, and the credits of the movie! The sculpture of the Avengers and Ultron and his soldiers was so beautiful, I loved it. Still one of my favourite MCU credits.

Never around that time, or in 2014, or in 2013, had I thought that the Avengers movies would end at some point. Sure, I thought about the Captain America franchise - how many movies can you make? What are the Avengers going to do in the next movie? You know, stuff like that, but I never gave it more thought than that. My mind never really went there. I was too hyped about the movies coming out constantly, I was excited and couldn’t wait for each movie. My best friend reminded me on the night of Endgame premiere how she recalls me being so excited for every new movie Marvel had coming out, I think I can remember hyping the movies up, ranting happily and just being giddy and over-all excited, telling her my opinions and stuff, you know, like a true fan. 

At the end of 2015, the trailer for Captain America: Civil War had come out. And the excitement grew, cause you know I’d see Steve and Bucky together again. I couldn’t wait!! 

And, of course, you had to choose either if you were Team Iron Man or Team Cap, before the fans even knew what was happening. All you knew was that Steve and Tony were indifferent. Well, they couldn’t show more, otherwise they would spoil the whole plot. 

I was literally the only one who was on Team Cap in all my class and my friends, everybody else was on Team Iron Man. But, you know, as our dear friend Steve Rogers, I stood my ground and didn’t falter. Captain was always my favourite and I was more a fan of him than any other Avenger. You know, when you’ve been a fan of Captain America for three years, you can’t choose  Team Iron Man. 

Even my best friend was Team Iron Man. One day, we were staying in line at the school cafeteria and she just said “You know, but Steve is old.” Which is one hell of an argument, I laughed in ehr face and could still do it. It’s just so funny. Yeah, okay, Tony wasn’t frozen in the ice for 70 years, but it’s no argument. 

We went to see CACW on the same day we tried the black face mask for the first time. Our faces were extremely red, no matter how much make-up we put on. But I think it went off after a while. We went to the premiere, it was the first time we were in the new SCAPE auditorium. It was h u g e, the biggest 3D auditorium in the Baltic countries. I think it was the first time it was opened or at least the first week, I don’t know, maybe that’s incorrect, but I hadn’t been there before. We sat in the middle, and there was a girl with a Cap t-shirt next to us, and turned out my best friend knew her somehow, but I don’t know about that. 

It was honestly, a whole experience. While the movie meant a lot to me emotionally, CACW as well as CATWS were comic book movies as much as they were political thrillers. Brilliantly done, perfect actors, good plots and turns and twists, great characters, cinematography = brilliant, the music = well written and fitting to all characters and their storylines. 

I went to Civil War with one of my best friends, who is also my neighbour, and as strange as it seems since we’ve been friends since 2008, that was the first and only (yet) time we went to a movie together. And we were texting before the movie and talking about which tram to take and I asked her which team she’s on, of course, expecting her to be on Team Iron Man as everyone else. But she wasn’t! Finally someone on Team Cap!! I was so happy, haha. I was glad I wasn’t alone. It was cool, going to the movies with her. And it was only two days after I first saw CACW. 

2016 was also the year Batman vs Superman came out, and Suicide Squad. BvS didn’t suck as much as SS did. God, it couldn’t live up to the hype. But I liked Batman vs Superman, I really liked the movie. I saw it twice, once with my best friend and once with my dad. I also saw Civil War twice in the theater, but altogether I’ve seen the movie probably about 200 times. It’s meditative to me, and each time I watch it, I spot something new in the charaters and the storyline. I watch it when I’m sick, when I’m at home and lazying around. I love it. Probably one of my favourite Marvel movies.

Later in May 2016, my classmate was calling me and asking if I wanted an Iron Man shirt. “It’s red, it’s big, wait, I’ll send you a picture”. So she did and I said ‘yes, of course’! It cost me five or six euros, but it was original Marvel merchandise that she bought in a second-hand shop. 

In 2016 I also saw Doctor Strange. It was in November or October, I can’t place exactly, but I know I was going alone. The first Marvel movie I saw alone in the movie theater. And I was running late, as well. It was raining, but I made it in time. And it was again a premiere. I loved the movie. My classmate asked me “yo Rūta have you seen that Dr Strange movie yet?” I was like “yes, of course, it’s a Marvel movie, I went to the premiere”. I was like that back in the day, acting like it’s, you know, evident and a fact that I see all the Marvel movies immediately as they’ve come out (which I did). Anyway, I said yes and she was like “oh well were the directors on drugs? cause we saw it and the movie was so trippy, felt like lsd”. I was like…. “well, I don’t know how to tell you, but the movie’s based on comics and in the comics, as in the movie, there’s the idea of multiple universes and dimensions and what they’d look like, and I think what they showed in the movie would be quite accurate in real life if we could travel to these dimensions. The movie is meant to twist your mind and make you believe the impossible is possible and that we’re not alone in this life, we’re not alone in our environment. So it’s not meant to be trippy, but it’s meant to show you how misticism is combined with intelligence and the modern world.” Her answer was something like “oh, okay. but it’s still trippy.” It annoyed me a bit, but you know it’s okay, she doesn’t completely understand cause she’s not a fan. So it’s whatever, it’s cool.

2017 had begun and I was on a bit of a pause, it was my last year of secondary school and I had also discovered the Beatles and they changed me as a person, as well. I had emotional and existential discoveries within myself from them, but that’s not what this is about.

Me and my best friend had drifted apart a bit, so I started to hang out with other girls in my class, and they were very accepting and they were cool to spend time with. One of them, now my Marvel friend and one of my best friends, as well, also liked Marvel and had for some time. So we became closer friends and went to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She really likes the Guardians, because she likes humor and the comedy genre, but I’m not the biggest fan of those. GOTG2 had George Harrison on its soundtrack. Harrison is one of the few loves of my life and my favourite singer, my favourite person. I was hyped to hear him in the movie, and it was in the perfect situation. To my friend, I was a bit too hyped.

Then, summer, me and my other friend went to see Spider-Man: Homecoming. I was very excited to see this movie, I had waited a year for the new Spider-Man story to be told, and I wanted to see how he’d be portrayed by this youngster, Tom Holland, who came to be one of my idols. 

His story is truly inspiring. Spider-Man was his favourite superhero growing up and he had wanted to be an actor. He trained in ballet, in gymnastics, and that gives him the ability to not have a stunt-man for his Spider-Man role. His abilities, all in all, are incredible. And he’s achieved his dreams, fans have helped him and they mean a lot to him. We mean a lot to him, we’ve helped him achieve this dream. 

SM:HOCO was a good movie, and I liked it a lot. It was the year I’d start high school, and I had always felt like Peter Parker. You know, out-casted, one friend, but smart and a bit awkward. I can still see the biggest similarities between myself and Parker. I remember thinking, when I started high school, “Oh I’m definitely like Peter Parker”. And I was, I still am, kind of. I’m not as smart as him, and I can’t shoot spider webs or climb plane walls or lift buses. But I see a lot of myself in him. How he tries hard, but nobody sees it, tries to help everyone, but gives problems instead (without wanting to), wants to go on every adventure. He has a person that he’s trying to prove himself to, but he’s never enough in their eyes, that is also something I often feel. And that he, an outcast at school and a supposable nobody can be a world-saving hero, means a lot as well, and speaks highly to me.

Fall 2017, high school and thinking everything’s fine and that I’m doing good. I meet my Marvel friend and we have a bite together and then go to see Thor: Ragnarok in the theater. If I remember correctly, it was the 30th of October. 

I was so happy to see Thor and Loki on a screen together again that I shed tears of joy. They started my Marvel journey and it meant a lot to see them finally, for some moments, not fighting each other, but fighting along side together. And Taika Waititi did a great job for the movie and for Thor’s character, proving that he can still be the God of Thunder without his hammer. The movie was incredible, one of the best the MCU has. We laughed, we cried, we had a great time. One of my favourite days.

Project time came around, we had o make a scientific research about a topic we were interested in. To say it shortly, the process and result wasn’t pleasant, so, on Friday February the 16th, me and my Marvel went to see Black Panther - a spontanious idea, and it was the day it came out, so we made it just in time. My dear friend got a bit lost in the area around the cinema, but I helped her get here. We promised each other that next time we’ll go there together so she doesn’t get lost. 

She bought us M&M’s (which we succesfully threw to the ground while the movie was playing) and popcorn. I still have both packets in my room somewhere. I kept them because it made me remember one of the best days of my life. I was feeling horrible that day and meeting her and seeing Black Panther put me in an ecstatic mood, I got much happier. So yes, these movies and characters do save my life, and so do my friends.

Black Panther was a big breakthrough for people of colour and women, which is great and I love that. It got, I think, at least one Oscar and Golden Globe. They deserve it. And Ryan Coogler is a great director. I loved the movie, it was so beautiful and nothing was out of order, I’d literally give it a 10/10. 

Then, I started my Marvel movie marathon because Infinity War was coming. I remember sometime in summer 2017 or fall 2017 the trailer leaked and I didn’t want to watch it, but I did. And when it officially came out, I had forgot the leaked one. 

My Marvel movie marathon went well, and I watched Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp for the first time. Now that I watch it a year later, I can say that AMATW is one of MCU’s best movies. It’s so well done. But anyways, it was so strange watching all the movies I watched when I had just started my Marvel journey. Infinity War was the beginning of the end of this incredible story, and it was very emotional.

When I was watching the first Thor, I accidentally spilled tea on my laptop, so it was a bit of a disaster, but the laptop is fine now. I dried it and continued to watch Thor. How silly of me, now that I think of it.

Then, one fine sunday the sun was out and me and my Marvel friend were meeting up to spend the day together. Mom was at work, so we were alone and we decided to watch Thor: Ragnarok again. We drank Cola with lime and watched the movie, had a good time. It was such a good day, again, one of my favourites. 

April 26th, 2018. The day we went to see Infinity War—it was an unspoken rule that we’re going to every Marvel movie together—I’d had an emotional day already and was quite spent. We met up at the mall and I hadn’t finished watching Black Panther, the last movie on my marathon’s list. So we watched it at the mall, on a sofa. We had an hour to go and I don’t think we finished watching Black Panther till the end. 

Well, Infinity War… wow. That was, uh, that was something. I remember how hard we cried. I remember how many tissues we used. I remember how we walked out of the theater, into the night, and we just… we didn’t know what to do. I tried to make up some theories about all the deaths, tried to find something positive, tried to find a way out of it all. But I couldn’t. And my friend was too sad to listen to my ramblings. We were broken. 

The next few weeks were hard for me, I’d say the month of May was hard for me. Not only because of Infinity War, but it was a big reason. I don’t want to talk about the other reasons. But, it was hard to find strength to carry on, it was hard to live without those characters. I mean, Steve had then lost Bucky twice before his eyes. And I couldn’t understand how they could do that. Twice, I mean, t w i c e ??? Blows my mind.

And Peter. That broke me so deep I still don’t know if it has fixed. Right in front of Tony’s eyes. It was… something I couldn’t comprehend, as well. And I prayed to myself that Steve doesn’t go, that Tony doesn’t go, that Sam doesn’t go. For a while, I was relieved that Steve and Tony didn’t get ‘dusted’, but I couldn’t bare the actual deaths.

I didn’t go to see Ant-Man and the Wasp that summer. I don’t know why, maybe it just slipped. The opportunity slipped. But I don’t know. My friend did, she saw it and said it’s very good. Now, I don’t take other people’s opinions into account in order to watch a movie or before I do, I like to not hear anything about a movie before I watch it. But she was right about this one. 

2018 was also a colorful and adventurous year for me, so Infinity War was one of the main events that impacted my life that year. I swore that I wouldn’t watch it again, at least not in 2018. And I did. I only watched it for a second time on January 1st this year and right before Endgame. The movie is good, and epic, as well, but I just can’t watch it as many times as I do the other MCU movies. 

In November or December came the first teaser for Avengers: Endgame and we finally got the title. It was very emotional, a very dark trailer with no space for hope. I shed a few tears and thought “i’m not ready for this”. I was not.

Captain Marvel came around and at first I thought I’d wait and watch it at home, but then I got five cinema gift cards for my birthday and realised I could use one to see Captain Marvel. So I did, I bought my ticket and went to the premiere.

It was a very emotional evening because I had lost my wallet and someone had stolen it. So I ran around the streets, looking for it, and I was soon going to be late for my movie. So I ran to the cinema, crying all the time, and sat down in my seat.

The movie was amazing, I just couldn’t fully enjoy it because I was thinking about my wallet and hoping that someone had found it and gave to the authorities, hoping that I’d get it back somehow, someday. Well, I didn’t, but I got myself a new wallet and eventually stopped crying about the lost one.

Captain Marvel was truly incredible and unpredictable at moments. As much as some people think it was a feminist movie, it was not produced that way and not meant that way. It was meant to show Carol’s origin story, her own feelings and confusion and doubts towards who she is and how she fights for what’s right. I loved the movie, it was truly a masterpiece.

Teasers and trailers started coming out for Endgame and the press tour soon started and I engaged myself fully with it all, followed tags and profiles that I could get updates from. 

It brought tears to my eyes to see Robert, Scarlett, Chrises, Ruffalo and Renner experience all the fun, all the love and the press tour for the last time. And then there’s Brie Larson who experiences it all for the first time. There was this video where someone said something to Brie and she got shy, started crying and put her head on Downey’s shoulder and he laid a kiss on her head. It was just sweet and well, because Downey knows how one can get shy of the compliments and attention and he’s been through it all, and he’s the one who started it all. So he sees Brie is still not used to what it all means and he knows he can give her the comfort. It’s just… giving me indescribable emotions and tears.

24th of April, 2019. The day I saw Endgame was such a great day. It was warm and sunny, even hot at times. I rode my bike back and forth over Daugava, listened to music and sang while riding, enjoyed the sun and some food. I was happy. Then, my Marvel friend had forgot she was supposed to be at the cinema by 19:10, so I called her and she tried to get there as soon as she could. Once I was inside the auditorium, I started stressing, I started panicking. It really hit me that my journey, our journey, their journey was coming to an end. This would be the last Avengers movie where they are all together, fighting together and talking and you know, Avengers stuff. It registered in my brain, although I don’t think it fully has now, actually. I started crying, I started to breath heavily and my friend wouldn’t come, I didn’t know where she was. I had prepared a gift for her that originally I planned to give her on her name day, but this was too much of a big event for us both. She had already seen Endgame at the night premiere, but we keep our promise to see all Marvel movies together. Well, we kinda fell out with that, but still. 

Our friendship wasn’t born solely from Marvel, but that was one of the basics. And she means so much to me, I can’t even describe. She’s been through the last phase of Avengers with me and she, maybe a bit more than my best best friend, has seen me change and seen the impact the characters have on me with time, how they’ve helped me, helped shaped me as a person.

She won in the quiz about Marvel and got a huge poster, bigger than herself, and socks as a prize. Socks she gave to me, they’re comfy, but made for men. Still, I wear them, what’s the difference, really? Feet are feet :D

I cried so much during Endgame. It was a painful movie, an ending to something so wonderful, and I still can’t bear it. I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again, but I think I’ll buy the DVD when it comes out and watch it at home at some point. As much as I’d never forgive myself for not seeing the credits again (because they were beautiful), I can’t watch it again. I’d have a breakdown.

I actually already did. Before the movie, after the movie (several), during the movie. Especially when everyone came back. Cause I thought that’s how Steve was gonna go - alone against Thanos with his broken shield. But then everyone came back and I had a… I called it “a positive anxiety attack”. I was happy, I was relieved, but I was stressed and in panic and I was glad and I was… Ah, just everything at once. I was sobbing and breathing heavily again, I was… I was at a strange condition.

There are so many wrongs made in Endgame with the characters, as well as plot-holes simply dismissed. But in my view, it was a better movie than Infinity War. It’s the most epic superhero movie ever made. There won’t ever be a better one made.

Three days after seeing Endgame, I took part in an MCU Quiz with my friend. We got third place! I’m very happy about that, it means a lot to me. We got a mug, a poster and a comic book which I’ve yet to read and share with her. That was truly amazing, I have to thank Kino Kults for the amazing experience and gifts. 

Endgame drew a part of my life which I love as much as my family to a close. It concluded a chapter, locked it closed with a key. And I still can’t come to terms with it, I still can’t realise it fully, I still can’t comprehend. That along with every fan and every actor and producer that has been a part of the MCU, my Marvel story and journey has ended. Well, I actually hope it hasn’t. There’s lots to look forward to, but the Avengers… no more.

I’ve spent a lot of money on Marvel, merchandise and souvenirs, and I don’t regret a single cent. Movie tickets, comics, posters, phone cases, necklaces, rings, keychains, shirts and hoodies. I’ve made original merchandise (for myself only) as well, and I think that’s very cool. I have my own idea and I make it happen. I’ve made art, I’ve made my own notebook and book covers with Marvel characters on them that I use in school, I’ve customized boxes and folders with Marvel themes. I have two self-customized shirts, two self-customized hoodies, and three or four merchandise shirts from Marvel. I’ve had joggers, pyjama pants, etc. I still have my beanie and I use it from time to time, I wear my clothes proudly. 

The people who are a part fo the MCU that have inspired and impacted me the most are Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Tom Holland and Tom Hiddleston. Their stories, their personalities, their motivations, their characters have given me so much, they’ve taught me so much about life and about myself, as well. They’ve brought me where I am now. I couldn’t be here without them, I couldn’t be who I am without them. Without all of the actors and characters, actually.

If I could have any way to thank them, any way to reach the actors and talk to them, I would be so thankful. If I’d meet at least one of them, well, it would be a dream come true. They’re all still alive and if I had any opportunity to get to a Con, a meet and greet, or simply meet them accidentally, I would use it. It’s my dream to talk to them, to see them in real life. I’d give anything for that to come true. 

This journey has been absolutely incredible. I’ve made new friends through Marvel, made artworks, had ideas, discovered music, discovered artists, discovered new things about myself and others. When I had nothing, I had Marvel and their movies and characters. They gave me hope when I couldn’t. They made me believe in myself when I didn’t have the strength to and nobody else would.

Marvel, you have been my life and my home for the past seven years. O cannot ever thank you enough. You’ve given me so much. I’m so glad I was here, I was on board while all the movies came out. They shaped my childhood, my adolescence and made me into who I am today. I can’t believe the avengers’ journey is over. It never really will be. For me, at least. They’ll live forever in my heart, in the fans’ hearts and in cinematic and culture history. 

Thank you, Marvel. Thank you, Robert Downey Jr. Thank you, Chris Evans. Thank you, Avengers. I love you 3000. 

[justgenlockthings]

gen:VIEW Episode 1 “The Pilot”

You had RevieWBYs (from my other blog), now you get gen:VIEWs.

gen:LOCK was something I don’t think any of us quite trusted would be a good show. It wasn’t because there was anything in the marketing that suggested it would be bad, it was just we didn’t know anything about it. RT did a pretty poor job of convincing people it was worth watching for reasons beyond the fact that they’d somehow got Michael B. Jordan and friends to voice the main characters. Still, let’s be honest, that was always gonna make us want to check it out at least. And Rooster Teeth seemed to trust people would like it, despite (or perhaps in spite of) the increasingly vocal hate train that was chugging along right up until the final hours before the premiere.

It is clear to me that, much like many of Rooster Teeth’s other shows, gen:LOCK episodes are designed as singular parts of a cohesive whole, so I’m gonna try to avoid in these reviews addressing “The story needs this” as other, more experienced reviewers have said, because I acknowledge that this isn’t quite the complete story. gen:LOCK was created and released in the era of streaming television, where the whole thing will likely eventually work as a complete movie, so more than likely things that I think the story needs will be addressed later on. Nonetheless, it is still released in serialized installments, so if I feel the story does need something at a certain point, I will use how previous episodes were setting it up as evidence. However, I’m gonna try to avoid making too many story predictions in these reviews, because that has come to bite back many reviewers in the foot only an episode later (coughEruptionFangcough). Overall, my main interest is in evaluating how an individual episode is keeping me invested enough in the show to come back next week and find out more. Once we get to the end of the first season, I’ll go back and evaluate the complete story.

So. How was the first episode of gen:LOCK?

TL;DR It’s Actually Really Good

The opinions stated by Achievement Hunter, who previewed the show a few months early, included remarks that they couldn’t believe gen:LOCK was made by Rooster Teeth, because the quality of the animation and editing was on par with a Hollywood production. I didn’t quite believe that could possibly be the case until I sat down and watched the episode. I did a complete double-take: this was a Rooster Teeth production? The dialogue was snappy, the animation was beautiful, the sound design was incredible, the voice performances were...well some were better than others, but you could tell some of these were celeb voice actors.

"Surprise” is the emotion I had throughout the entire episode. Surprise at how high quality this show was in comparison with previous Rooster Teeth productions. Surprise at how well they built the world while still leaving some open details to be expanded on in later episodes, especially the still vague Polity-Union conflict. Some called the vagueness of that frustrating, but in terms of this episode I felt I saw enough that gave me the basic information for what the backdrop for this show will be.

The fact that I really got invested in Julian and Miranda as characters from the first episode caught me off-guard, because RT’s more recent ventures have usually taken a slow burn to get us invested in the story (Nomad of Nowhere being the clearest example). I thank the rollercoaster of emotions this episode put them through. From domestic to romance to action to tragedy to reunion, this episode established a strong relationship from the beginning that had to deal with the consequences of war. Their reactions to what was going on were believable: Chase sacrificing himself in the name of saving his family (whom we’d already gotten a chance to become invested in the opening scene), Miranda going from friendly to cold and distant due to a war that killed her boyfriend and so many of her squadmates. I assume we can thank the higher budget and thus the longer runtime for this episode for having the time to do all that, because if this were any of their, uh...other shows, they most likely would have rushed things way too quickly.

This episode also subverted what few expectations we had story-wise, but in a manner that didn’t seem disruptive at all. Lindsay Jones’s character was one of the early ones announced, and to see her go so abruptly was quite a shock. I thought Michael B. Jordan’s line read for “RAZZLE!” could’ve been better, but the build-up to her death got us invested in her character: she was a skilled combat pilot, she remained cool and collected in the heat of battle, and she flew a fucking plane backwards. Her death shocked not just because they killed one of their in-house personalities, but because we had been following her through quite a bit in only ten minutes. Likewise, the fact that Miranda Worth ended up being our POV for most of this was a surprise. Marketing for this show had only referred to her as “Julian’s love interest,” which is not exactly a flattering description of female character, and in a trope-conscious media industry generally spells fridging, killing her off in the name of Chase’s development. So, to apparently kill off Chase in the name of his development, and then have Miranda develop from it, was a pleasant subversion. I caught myself thinking “They killed off Michael B. Jordan because they couldn’t afford him!” before realizing “Wait, he’s an executive producer for the show, of course they could afford him.”

I can’t say I was surprised by Chase’s mech showing up in the Union ambush, since I’d already seen enough of the previews to know he had more appearances, but the moment was really beautifully done to the point that I felt pretty hyped. From Miranda giving herself up to potentially dying protecting the citizens, to Chase’s voice over her radio, and her realizing but not quite comprehending he was in the mech. I almost felt how much pain losing Chase had inflicted, and how much more painful it will be to know he’s been alive this whole time. Especially beautiful was the brief shot at the end of the episode where Chase and Miranda are looking at each other as though they are the only people in the room, and the lights fade on everyone else to the point that it’s literally the case. The emotional lovers’ reunion. The idea of seeing the dead come back to life. The painful conversations that are gonna have to happen because of it. I honestly didn’t care that I’d long ago realized Chase wasn’t dead, because I cared that Miranda was learning it now.

The other emotion I felt was relief. The framerate had been one of the biggest sources of criticism prior to release, with some taking it as a sign that gen:LOCK was lazily made. But I quickly discovered it was pretty easy to get used to the framerate, and that it didn’t distract me from the rest of the show. I shouldn’t have worried: the framerate was purely a style choice in how they rendered it, not a sign of incompetence. If people are hung up on the framerate though, well, I can understand that. It’s not particularly pleasant to look at at first, but there’s enough going on in the show that it shouldn’t bother you after a few minutes.

Now, to be frank, even though it didn’t bother me, the episode could’ve benefited from a little more insight into the Union-Polity conflict. To have such a major battle without quite knowing what the characters are fighting for has the potential to make the entire conflict feel hollow. But it has to be acknowledged: the Union-Polity conflict is mostly designed as the backdrop for these characters, so I can forgive it not being expounded upon in the first episode considering Julian and Miranda’s relationship is so prominent here. There’s still enough cool stuff going on in this episode that I can forgive a slight lack of storytelling focus, because goshdarnit I do love well-done spectacle.

Conclusions

If the teasers, trailers, and intro hadn’t quite sold me yet that gen:LOCK was gonna be a good show, the first five minutes of this episode completely won me over. This was unlike anything I’d ever seen before (not much of a mecha anime viewer), but especially not from Rooster Teeth. It had everything I could want from a show: good dialogue, strong characters, cool fight sequences. This was a show I could support. This was a show that I was gonna keep coming back to watch every week.

This was the show that had a second episode I needed to watch once I got back from a meeting at the school library with my final project team.

P.S. That intro though. Such a good hype song, and some really stunning visuals. I watched it the night before the premiere, and it was enough that I thought “Hey, this might not be a bad show after all.”

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Gotham” S5E2

In Which Harvey Continues to be the Best Goddamn Thing in This Show

I was a lucky son of a duck and managed to get this reaction while the episode was airing live on FOX last night.  For episodes 3-12, I will be waiting for Hulu to receive them because of an upcoming spring semester at college.  So for episodes 3-12, I will be in the dark until Friday or Saturday (so no spoilers from y’all).

Also, on TV, there are so many GOD.  DAMN.  COMMERCIALS.

AN:  I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

*Recaps shows the chopper*  OK, so who freakin’ shot down the chopper?

Oh, Tabitha...

*We see a whole bunch of injuries on Will’s back*  What the...

“They call themselves the Soothsayers.”  The Sooth- what?

“They’re digging some sort of tunnel.”  *gasps and reels back*  It’s Jeremiah!  ‘Cause he has a tunnel!  Oh my God!

What’s the tunnel for?

OK, never mind then, I don’t think Jeremiah’s in charge of the Soothsayers

“The second you [Jim] step outside that door, someone’s gonna take a shot at you, and if it’s not you that’s getting hit, it’s the schmoe standing next to you.”  *laughs*

*Jim hangs up on the radio*  Who’s on the other end?

“Four shells each.  Half a mag each.���  Wow.

“Will says the Soothsayers are here, which means we have to pass through Sirens territory.”  Ooh.

“She’s [Barbara] gonna be thrilled to see you [Jim] after what happened with Tabitha.”  Ooooff...

Wait, so is the Dark Zone like around Gotham?  At the docks or...

What?

So this is Robinson Park, OK... so this is where Ivy is.

Oh, these sets look nice.  Getting some serious Arkham Knight flashbacks.

Swore I just saw someone move in the background...

*Bruce catches a guy trying to sneak up on him*  Yeah.

“They came for help too!”  What district are they from?  Why are they British?

*jams along with opening theme*

*silently headbangs to heavy metal cover of "Ring of Fire” by Social Distortion playing in Barbara’s club*

*Everyone stops dancing when Jim arrives*  Oooohhhh... ooohh hoo hoo hoooo...

“It’s a police matter.”  “You know, they should really write that on your tombstone.”  *laughs*

“Drive right into this nightmare you’ve created.”  Actually it’s Jeremiah... kay...

“HAVE AT HIM!  RIP HIM TO SHREDS!”  Ooof.

*Panning shot of an absolute dark Gotham*  Oh my God.

*laughs*  There’s just this one random burst fire hydrant!

So is this whole episode gonna be them [Jim and Harvey] fighting their way out of the Dark Zone?

*jaw drops when someone shoots an arrow at Harvey*

“It’s a freaking arrow, Jim!  IT’S A FREAKING ARROW!”  *scoffs in shock*

Whooooo I remember her [the Day of the Dead lady] from the trailers!

Yeah, that’s the same... freaking tunnel

“The smoke... you [Gabriel] should take it.”  No.

“It’ll give you energy-”  Oh my God, is that Viper?  Is that Viper from S1?

“-see the future.”  What?

Or does Jeremiah shanghai this whole tunnel later this season?

“Once this tunnel is complete, we will have exclusive access to the mainlands.”  Oh my God, they are going to the mainland!

God, that guy [Sykes] just spit everywhere!

Sykes?  Isn’t that the bad guy from Oliver and Company?

“In Penguin’s grace, we will remain.”  Ohh, that’s a good line.

“What are the cattle prods for?”  “Fun.”  *scoffs in hilarity*

“If he [Sykes] moves, kill him.”  Oh ho!  Jim’s not messin’ around!

Yeah, that’s that same tunnel that Jeremiah [and Ecco] are in in some of those pictures.

AN:  Take a shot every time I mention the damn tunnel.

So is Gabriel Will’s older brother?

“Why would anyone be a cop in a world like this?”  “Well, the Halloween shop was all out of gas masks so it was either this or Sexy Nurse.” *reels back in chair from laughter*

“Let take ‘im, boys.”  CHEESE IT, BOYS!

*Sykes and his men try to take the kids*  Oh no.

*Jim comes to the rescue*  Yay.

*One of the car tires get shot*  Ooohhh...

*Commercials start*  OK... OK... so... what?

Wait, so is Jeremiah gonna leave for the mainland?  Like “Syke, I’m gonna get out of here!”

Noo... because his mission is Bruce so I don’t think he even wants to leave Gotham.  It’s the whole “I don’t wanna kill you!  What would I do without you?” mantra going on.

Whaaaaaatt...

What is she [Ivy] wearing?

“You have to believe me.”  “Forgive me if I find it hard to do so.”  COLD.

“It wasn’t me.  It was the park.”  *in unison with Bruce*  The park?

“The plants are my protection.”  ...OK.

“Maybe we can help each other.”  Bruce...

TELL HER IT’S SELINA!

“There’s a seed.  It’s growing under the oaks.  It’s said to have magical qualities.  When digested, it goes to the damaged tissue and bone.”  A seed?

Wwwhhhhaaaattt?

Ed?  Hello?  How are you?  Where are you?  Are you in the library again?  Why are sleeping with your glasses on?

What is going on?

That [library] looks like Oswald’s old house [the van Dahl mansion]

Oh my God, are we gonna see Ed peeing?

EEUUGGHHH we don’t need to be seeing this...

Oh my God, there’s someone in the frickin’ [bathtub]...

“There’s nothing there.”  *laughs*

Waaaaiit... what’s going on?

[Ed] You’re gonna attack him [the Street Demon] with a toilet plunger!  *cackles*

“Did I uh...” *chuckles*

“We’re gonna have to do all this again?  Guess so...”  *scoffs*

What is that place?

“It’s not safe out there.”  No dip, Jim.

“Maybe there’s still good people left in Gotham.”  Mmmmmm....

Yeah, you’re [Jim and Harvey] gonna leave three kids there [in the lobby].  All alone.  In a strange building.  Great.

Harvey, you’re a blessing.

Yeah, you’re gonna leave the three kids there.  Right.  Great idea.  Great idea.

These sets are fabulous.

“Hello?”  Blaaggghh!  Jump scare!

“GCPD.”  Take a shot!

Was that a crow [in the background]?

There’s just a bunch of random folded clothes everywhere.

*Harvey finds the dinner table full of body parts*  Oh my God...

Are those teeth?

*Harvey finds a plate of bloody fingers*  :0

Oh my God, freaking- they’re freaking cannibals?!?

*gasps when Mother attacks Harvey*

*has to leap out of seat to cool off when commercials start*

Oh wow, I love Sweeney Todd.

*ends up coughing up a lung*

So far, again, this feels like a foundational episode.  It’s just like “OK, we gotta work on this, we gotta make sure this is safe,” and yeah.

I wonder if the Jaime Murray character is gonna show up at the end of the episode or something.

AN:  You may think that... but no.

I also wanna know what kind of crack these writers were on for this final season.  Tze Chun had the good shit; I dunno about the others.

*gasps in disgust when Ed hits the Street Demon in the mouth with a wrench.”

“[Ed] You wanted to know where the Street Demons base was.”  Why?

“Aaand you wanted to make sure the boss would be there.”  Why?

“OK, how did I [Ed] seem?  Was I... confident?  Flamboyant?  Charisma for days?”  *giggles*

“Or was I conserved, kinda repressed, a little nerdy?”  *laughs*

Soo... did Hugo combine the two personalities?  ‘Cause the pushing up the glasses is a new thing.

*gasps when Ivy kills the men who were holding her.”

“[Bruce] You are so utterly naive.”  Oh my God.

“[Selina] She is paralyzed and has lost the will to live.”  “Good.”  What?!?

“That bitch destroyed the last of the Lazarus Water.”  ExCUSe me?!?

“Let her suffer.”  Noooo...

You can tell that Peyton List [Ivy] is just wearing a whole bunch of face powder on.

“I am feeding the earth these wretched creatures.  It consumes them.”  She has lost her freakin’ mind.

*Ivy starts caressing Bruce’s neck*  Do not prick his neck.

“Those men you killed were right.  You are a witch.  A murderous, callous witch.”  WHOOOOOOO- oh my God...

Hoo!

“What’s your name?”  “I- I can’t remember.”  What?

“She found me?”  “Who?”  “The ghost!”  The ghost?

“She makes me call her.. Mother.”  *reels back and puts hands in the air*  It is Mother and Orphan!

Wait, is that the kid?

*The kid stays behind*  It is the kid!  That’s Orphan!

Oh my God...

“The lights will make you dizzy.  And then you’ll go to sleep.”  Oh this is cool..

“Jim, I don’t feel so good.”  Wow, I love Infinity War.

Actually no, I hated it.  I was sick the first time I saw it.

*gasps when Mother sneaks up behind Jim*

They really do need to put a flashing lights warning on this.

*gasps when Mother fights off Jim and Harvey*

*Harvey tries to leave*  There’s an open window!  You broke a window!  Go through the window!

*looking through the Gotham tag on Tumblr during commercials*  Wow, someone wrote some fanfiction quick.

Oh wow, I love Ghost Adventures!

*gasps when Ed and the Street Demon find the Street Demon leader wiped out.”

[Penguin Was HERE] Really?!?

*imitates the guitar riff going off*

*Ivy leads Bruce to the seed*  Oh my gosh, that’s so pretty

*Ivy gives Bruce the seed*  I ain’t eatin’ that...

“One thing’s for certain... the seed will alter her [Selina] forever.”  Great.

“Some say, the darker angels of our mind-”  Great.

Also, yay for natural lighting finally in this show.  I love it when they use natural lighting in the show.  It looks so nice.

“What’s the matter, Bruce?  Don’t know if you can trust me?”  I don’t trust you.

“I don’t.”  “Good.  then you’re finally becoming a man.”  Ivy, you’re like his age.  shut up.

*Ivy sits in one of the low sitting trees*  OK, so if the tree branches just grab her and just sink down into the ground, this will be the greatest thing.

“Detective Gordon, your hand’s bleeding.”  Uhhh...

*Sykes and his men arrive*  Oh my God... monster truck!

“Wait just a minute!  Please...”  Whoaaa... who are you?

I don’t know who that is.  She [the Day of the Dead looking lady] looks cool though.

*commercials start*  Who is this?  Who are you?

Five bucks:  Barbara comes in and saves the day even though she still hates Jim.  She hates everybody.  She comes in like “I’m just here for the kids, not you.”

Oh noo...

“Did you [Bruce] find the witch?”  “It was Ivy.”  Great!  Alfred’s like “Oh bloody brilliant!”

“What choice do I have?”  Bruuuce...

“I want to help Selina as much as you do but Ivy’s a maniacal, cold-hearted killer.”  You met her like twice, Alfred!

But true, she is.

“So if Ivy wants to kill me, she can have at it.”  Oh my God...

Who wrote this episode?  I’m gonna have words.

*Bruce gives Selina the seed*  Yeah, you’re gonna shove that down your throat.  Great.

Is she gonna chew it?

*Selina starts chewing the seed like a gummie vitamin*  OK then...

It’s the Spiderman bite except in fruit form.

*freezes when Selina starts seizing*

“God, what have I [Bruce] done?”  *extremely sad face*

“I’ll tell you what!  I’ll [Sykes] take his head!  And you can have the rest of him!”  *scoffs in shock*

*gasps when Jim shoots the Day of the Dead lady*

Is that a monster truck?!?

My sister:  Is that a tank?!?

That’s a monster truck!

*both immediately at loss of words when Barbara hops down*

Wow, I love Hot Wheels!

*jaw drops when Jim uses his last bullet to kill Sykes and defend Barbara*

Wow... that just... came out of nowhere!

“Wow.  Wasted your last bullet for me.  Must be love.”  No it is not.  Barbara, how dare you say that?

*Barbara tells Jim she wants to kill Penguin.”  Great.  Great plan.

Wait, you’re gonna invite Barbara to the Green Zone?  Yeah, great plan, Jim.  Great plan!

*Jim and Co. arrive at the Green Zone*  Whoa!

He [Lucius] looks fab!

Wait a minute, is this [the Green Zone] that apartment complex that got blown up in the trailer?!?  Are you freaking kidding me?

They’re gonna freaking blow this place up later in the season.  God dang it.  Who did it and why?  Who does it and why?

We stan one future police commissioner.

“See you around, killer.  We have some unfinished business, you and I.”  Nooo you don’t.  Cool off!

Oh crap, is she [Selina] gonna be gone in the morning?!?

Oh my God, Bruce hasn’t slept in like 48 hours?!?  Great.

*gasps*  She’s [Selina] not there!  Did she go out the window?

Did she pull a “Dark Knight Rises” and back flip out the window?

“Bruce...”  Oh no.

She [Selina] looks like Michelle Pfeiffer.

“[Selina] How do you feel?”  “Different.”  Why are her eyes closed?  Open yo eyes!

“I’m better.  Even better than before in fact.”  Mmmmm no!

*Bruce hugs Selina*  Yay hug!  We like hugs!  We like some hugs!  Yay!

Oh my God, she’s gonna go on a murdering spree and kill some people, isn’t she?

*Selina’s eyes*  WHAAATT the frick?!?  Wha-

WhaAAAAttt?!?

*gasps when Ecco pops up in the promo for next episode*

*ejects out of chair to cool off*

AN:  Ecco, your man better treat you right or I’m gonna fight him AND the writers.

We’re getting WhaAAAtt??? WHaaaAAT?? 

Oh my God...

[latinalesbi]

It’s ridiculous how Bradley and Co are like we’d love to do a mom spinoff but that’s all lies because if they truly wanted to do one they pitch the idea to networks. It just sucks because they’re just telling the fans what they want to hear. They have no intentions of doing one. The sooner people realize it the better. They’re only setting themselves up to be disappointed.

I am not sure why people don’t realize that they have just been playing the mom fans for a long time. It’s high time everyone just ignore them and their manipulations.

Anonymous said:                                                                      Finally watched the spinoff ep that starred Sheri and Teri. Didn’t enjoy it at all. They were being used for laughs. It was such a downgrade for me. Yes the end was kinda sweet but otherwise.. I imagine and hope they got paid well that’s the only positive and the fact they got to work together again. I know they’ve another episode so maybe it will improve but otherwise..oh and was Maia’s acting really wooden? Or was that just me? I know she was meant to be awkward about her moms being there but?

Yeah, they were used for laughs and to prop up their regular characters. The next episode is here and I don’t think it’s going to be better at all. Maia can’t act. I agree there.

Anonymous said:                                                                      The amount of sex in GTrouble is hilarious. It like the writers think shit there hasn’t been a scene in the last ten mins- let’s stick one in 😂 Iremember the days where people would ask for a little Stef Lena 1 on 1 not even sex just an intimate moment between the 2 & we were told if we wanted that we should watch porn 😂 Oh but GTrouble is more grown up and messier and the girls are now in their 20’s. HELLO Stef and Lena were in their 40’s!!!! That’s not edgy enough though for Peter and Brad😜  

I am so glad that I am not watching GT because I have no desire to see those two having so much sex. What a great message, right? Middle aged women hae no sex drive.

Anonymous said:                                                                      Must be hard for the two girls, the only time Good Trouble now generates any buzz is when the guest stars from The Fosters appear. I don’t really have much sympathy for them though, they’re earning at the end of the day. Doubt they care, out of sight out of mind.

In the end, no one can give them the fosters ratings we were used to getting. They gambled for 2 seasons and got it, which was better than one season max for the fosters. I mean, I hope they enjoy.

Anonymous said:                         ��                                            Sherri is the cutest woman on the planet. How the creators of the show let her go I don’t know. She was the Fosters biggest cheerleader. Every week she’d live tweet, the ‘kids’ couldn’t even bring themselves to send a tweet out reminding people the show was on once a week. Then the lies about the season 6 and her still tweeting about it when they knew it was dead and buried. My heart!! Even now she’s still amazing. We’re lucky to have her!!   

I am glad she has new shows, even though I don’t have the heart or time to watch. I am happy for her. I think she misses Teri though, at least that’s what her recent tweets and deleted tweets tell me. She was so ready to fight till the end but she was betrayed and I’ll never forgive them for that.

Anonymous said:                                                                      Been watching the early seasons of The Fosters again recently. Reminded me how wonderful the show was. Those early years the quality was so good. I think what happened is that it got diluted with all the guest characters and individual storylines that formed. The family parts whilst still there got fewer and fewer. There was just too much going on all at once. It also felt a whole lot more mature strangely for me. Particularly the Stef and Lena parts. Strange considering it was ABC fam back then  

I do agree that they immediately pulled back and tried to sell Callie more. The biggest mistake was Girls United. They really thought that people wanted less of the family and more of the issues and that’s not the network, but the writers. And they actually made a webshow about them, but it failed and that should have been their lesson, people want their family. I heard them say they got it, but all they brought back was the family dinners, which they try to sadly recreate on GT.

Anonymous said:                                                                      Noah’s back lots of social media buzz. The moms are back again social media buzz. Imagine it will be the same for Brandon. Otherwise there’s so little interest past the few people actually watching. It’s never going to be a smash hit for Freeform but it’s cheap and as someone said a filler for them.

It didn’t do much for the ratings. Slight bump, nothing huge. And David brought them down. I don’t think that there’s anything anyone can do for this show to make it at all buzz worthy. It’s just filler.

Anonymous said:                                                                      It is funny how Noah became an overnight success just as The Fosters was ending. If gets had the foresight and ordered a season six they’d have had him locked in for 20 episodes. Would have done Freeform the world of good. Plus they never realised the popularity of Lena and Stef either. I imagine that’s been a shock to them. They thought Marianna and Callie were standalone popular, they’re not. That was part of the downfall of The Fosters at the end, it was too much Callie sans her family

If they had bagged Noah for another season of the Fosters, yikes, it would have even made any spinoff that much more profitable. Everything would have been better, they would have had good will, things would carry forward, but they carried on in the dark thinking this would please everyone. God no, we aren’t idiots. Well, some people are, but not most of us.

Anonymous said:                                                                      Did you post that video of Sherri and Terri hugging after their final scene? I can’t find it anywhere.

I am sure, I could. Hold on. I don’t think there is video, lots of different stills, but no video that I can see, maybe someone else can share if they remember.

Anonymous said:                                                                      I’m sort of glad (never thought I’d say that) that the moms spinoff didn’t happen. The creators of the Fosters didn’t really know what to do with them in the end. They created these characters, that Sherri and Teri made their own. However the writing for them in later seasons was haphazard and all over the place imo. I’m not sure they’d do it justice and satisfy the fans. Having said that there is a ready made audience, not many shows have that.                  

They still don’t know what to do. That new trailer is like... really, this is it? That’s what you came up with? Thank god the spin off wasn’t about Lena’s election because lol, you would make it about the same circular story telling. Fucking keep it.

[dukeofriven]

Wither Tinkerbell? Part 1: Only 90s Kids Remember (KH liveblog)

I was doing a liveblog, wasn’t I, before the last week got so crazy I barely had the energy left to smash the reblog button. What was I liveblogging again?

*squints at hand* K... ka... Kangdamn Hats? Sure, I guess. Where did we leave off?

oh

Sora - for those who don’t remember, an idiot - surrenders to Captain Hook because Captain Hook has Tinkerbell in a lamp. That’s Tinkerbell, who Sora has had all of one(?) interaction with, if by interaction you meant ‘bystander’. Tinkerbell, whom Sora has no relationship with or reason to give a damn about. Sora, who has basically just been told where Riku has taken Kairi - his sole motivating factor for hours of this game - decides ‘Oh no not Tinkerbell of course I will surrender, even though there’s a paltry bullshit number of enemies here that I could take instantly.’

FOUR HEARTLESS AND ONE DUDE WHO IS JUST A DUDE WITH A SWORD AND A PROSTHETIC HAND WITH LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY! (”What about Smee you ask? Ha ha - Smee won’t do shit and you know it.) Sora, it must be recalled, has at this point fought an Ursula 1000 times his size, an Oogie Boogie the size of a skyscraper, Jafar imbued with ultimate cosmic power, and... some British dude with a  gun riding some kind of praying mantis? (It was not clear.) But here Sora’s like: “Oh, no, these are odds I cannot face. Not with poor sweet innocent... Tanker Ball, was it?” *Deep Breath* So I got a lot of messages over the last week, most of them about my Kingdom Hearts liveblog. Some of them were really complimentary and if I forgot to thank you personally please forgive me for doing so. Some were less complimentary. Some were what I might call, mmmh, ‘ornery’ or perhaps ‘snotty’ (Some messages were critical without being shitty - I’m not talking to you). You see, I had committed the grave sin of voicing an opinion about Kingdom Hearts without having first played everything in the series - indeed, I sometimes got the impression that I had committed some sort of sin by being born not already knowing the entire legendarium of Kingdom Hearts broader mythopoetic chronicle. At the very least, I was certainly not bringing enough nostalgic childlike wonder-reverence to the table to be able to judge the game ‘fairly.’ In this praxis, Kingdom Hearts - i.e. Kingdom Hearts I the first game - is beyond linear criticism: because any possibly flaw is explained or massaged away in subsequent works, any perceived flaws in the original are something on the order of temporal hiccups, mere quirks of chronological progression and best ignored. Like the Tralfamadorians, I should absorb Kingdom Hearts only as a holistic whole: as it is ‘complete’ in the future it is complete now, for all times are one time and past and future are only the observances of lesser mortals unenlightened enough to step without time. Let me offer a counter-proposal: THIS GAME BAD THIS IS A BAD GAME THE WRITING IS BAD, UNGOOD, AND BAD THE QUALITY I WOULD ASIGN TO THE WRITING OF THIS GAME IS ‘POOR.’ ON THE BADNESS SCALE OF NOT-GOOD, IT RANKS ‘BAD.’ IF ASKED TO OFFER A EXAMPLE OF A WELL-WRITTEN GAME, THIS WOULD NOT BE THE CHOICE THAT I WOULD MAKE

This is the scene that comes next:

Sora is made to walk the plank, Hook shits himself about the presence of the crocodile and buggers off, leaving Tink with Smee the Useless One. Peter then snatches Tink from his hand. It takes all of 10 seconds, and makes the entire point of the previous ‘surrender or Tink gets it’ moment as ephemeral as it is inconsequential. This game has a problem that I am starting to call ‘tension cul-de-sac’ - it’s when a scene introduces a problem or crisis that is resolved within the same scene, sometimes within the same cutscene. Tension is not allowed to grow or develop or have any impact beyond the moment - and frequently it’s undermined further by the game’s long and awkward pauses, it’s bad eyelines, or the intractable problem of lugging Goofy’s dumb ass across an entire game and trying to pretend anything can be given dramatic weight with that fucking clown. You know what, no, that’s unfair - let’s talk about A Very Goofy Movie for a moment. I wasn’t much of a Disney kid - to be a Disney kid generally required money, which we Did Not Have. The Disney channel sure didn’t air with any of the basic packages we could only sometimes afford, and you sure as shit didn’t get it as ‘the only channel we sort of got’ when we couldn’t afford it and had to rely on the aerial (look it up, children.) So I didn’t grow up watching the Disney channel. I am pretty certain that those times we did have the basic cable package it didn’t come with it - the Disney channel only came with the super fancy package with the 200 channels for middle class people with La-Z-Boy chairs. (Guys, you should know that I am old enough to remember the day when cable came to this country and the TV went past channel 29 for the first time - it was a literal event. The whole country had free cable for the first month or so, and for a least a month before cable went live the channels aired non-stop trailers of their future content, and it was so wild that you could could scroll for channel after channel and see something other than static. I feel so old.) Anyways, I wasn’t a Disney kid. As noted earlier I had a couple Disney movies, but I was taught pretty early on what a gross and shitty company Disney is - my mother was a poor progressive who did what she could to keep me woke, and I think it also helped her blunt any enthusiasm or ill-will I might have for never being able to go to Disneyworld. If I didn’t give a damn about Disney as a brand then that was a whole lot of merch we couldn’t afford that I didn’t want. (One day I will right a big old essay about how capitalism hurts poor kids with materialism, and why Pokémon, Disney, POGs™, Crazy Bones, and a whole lot of other 90s franchises predicated on mass purchases did so much to harm my self-esteem as a kid. But that’s not today.) No, I was a Looney Tunes kid, because they were A) Actually funny and had bite without being saccharine dribble B) aired on cheap channels, and C) outside of a weird trend of Looney Tunes in Hip-Hop clothing and that brief blip that was Space Jam, not highly marketed. But I did see A Very Goofy Movie. More than once - the library probably had it. I remember having righteous indignation about that movie. Goofy, who just wanted to have fun with his son, was treated like garbage, because Max was the worst kind of eye-rolling 90s teen who did not want to give a shit about anything that wasn’t ruthlessly contemporary. This scene?

MAN FUCK YOU, MAX! His dad was trying so hard and all Max could do was be a shit. I mean sure, I got what was getting under his collar: Roxanne was sweet and cute and who wouldn’t want to take her to a dance, and Pete had the world greatest god-damn RV, and Goofy’s verbal ticks can be somewhat grating - but for fuck’s sake, Max. As someone who often felt mortified by his father (my dad was the guy who would go tell older kids off if they were being BAD and kull wahad was that squirmingly mortifying) you’d think I’d have empathized with Max more but no - even as a kid I saw Max’s in-the-moment coolness desperation for the sad peacock display it was. (CONTINUED IN PART 2)

[smoothshift]

Last week I said goodbye to my Ford Explorer, and picked up one of my attainable dream cars. via /r/cars

Last week I said goodbye to my Ford Explorer, and picked up one of my attainable dream cars.

As a follow up from this post from my initial road trip with my 2002 Ford Explorer, and another follow up around how my first post almost made my $800 Explorer some what famous. I now have an unfortunate end to what was a short romance with my first ever SUV purchase.

Initially I purchased the Explorer to be a year long; buy it, fix it, drive it, and sell it exercise. However, the more I drove the thing the more I started to love it. Instead the plan ended up being to keep it around as an extra vehicle for various needs; Home Depot runs, trailer towing, maybe long weekend camping trips during the nicer months. It seemed like it was going to be a vehicle that I kept around; I loved its utility, my girlfriend loved how comfortable it was.

However, on Christmas Eve the transmission suffered an identity crisis, not being able to discern the difference between 3rd gear and neutral. Gutted, I limped the car home and bravely had a large Gin and Tonic to greave over my Explorer’s failed transmission.

The next day I awoke with a renewed sense of do it yourself…ism, is that a thing? Anyway, I purchased 10 quarts of Castrol Transmax mercon 5, after reading on an Explorer forum that other owners had similar issues and found that some of the additives found in Transmax would resolve my loss of 3rd gear. I was skeptical, but at $50 for 10 quarts of fluid, I didn’t have much to lose.

I drained the 5R55 transmission of fluid, and used a hand pump to refill it with the first 5 quarts, drove the Explorer until the fluid was up to full temperature, the whole time the transmission is fighting and bucking, but going into all gears. It felt like it was grasping to life, holding on as dearly as it could, it wasn’t giving up without a fight. After I got it up to full temperature, I did another drain and refill of 5 quarts, did the proper filling procedure to make sure it had the right level, and once again took it on a test drive.

And it was fine.

Now, I admit it wasn’t perfect, I still had two common problems of the 5R55 transmission, delayed 1-2 shifts and a 3rd gear surge shift from time to time, but it was holding all gears and shifting smoother than it had before it had failed.

Knowing this was only a band aid, and shortly after the truck started to make some terrible rear diff noise, I limited how often I drove the truck, and this started to make me feel sad. I love driving, but I hated being limited by my fear of major mechanical failure, and realistically I can’t use the truck for what I wanted to use it for anymore, other than back and fourth driving to work, I decided it was time to start car shopping, given that fixing the transmission and rear diff and knowing the timing chains were ticking time bombs (and now making noise on cold start up), it just wasn't worth fixing anymore.

I still wanted practicality, I wanted a manual transmission, but I also wanted comfort and performance. I know, I’m asking for a lot. I started with a Focus ST, which admittedly I really liked, the engine sounded great, the gearbox shifter was nice, the clutch was easy and forgiving. But I did not like the interior ergonomics, specifically I hated the infotainment system in any trim level, be it base or having Sync 3. I did like Sync 3 but the distance I had to reach to interact with the display was too far, which kind of spoiled the whole thing. I also didn’t like how the dashboard felt literally in my lap.

All of these items made the Focus ST a deal breaker, paired to its slightly less refined ride quality, this also tossed out the Fiesta ST, because it was much of the same, the ergonomics are a bit better in the Fiesta, but the smaller interior size made it hard to live with every day.

Which leads me to what I actually ended up purchasing; a gently used 2016 Volkswagen GTI S.

What I liked most about this package is that the car came well equipped even in base trim, it had smart phone integration, the clark plaid seats are heated, along with the mirrors. It came with a great multi function leather wrapped flat bottom steering wheel, an 8 speaker stereo system, and just general good build quality. The dashboard is more driver centered, and has 3 different driving modes for changing the throttle response and engine noise.

Lastly, this particular example had brand new tires, a new battery, and came with a certified pre-owned warranty, and at 42K miles I snagged it for $15K out the door. I was even able to get the dealership to give me a whopping $1000 for my sick Ford Explorer, I call that a win.

Im excited to see what GTI ownership is like, I had wanted one since I was in high school, but never was able to find the right moment to get one that I liked, and now here I am with a new horse in my stable. Every day I drive it I love it a little more and have been finding myself taking the longer way home whenever I can.

[casualarsonist]

Mission: Impossible - Fallout review

I can empathise with Tom Cruise’s plight. At one point in my life, I too found myself over fifty, with half a billion dollars in net worth that I didn’t know what to do with, and having had my religion chase all my girlfriends away. The world can be a lonely place when your wealth-to-height ratio is 323,592,411 to 1. At that time I also wanted to die, and my only regret is that I didn’t attempt to do it via elaborate helicopter stunts - the one aspect in which Tom Cruise and I differ from one another. (I’m lying. You don’t know for a fact that I’m not Tom Cruise, so I thought I’d clarify.) Seriously though, if I had the means to, I’d like to go out in the exact same way as him, and I’m sure he’d feel the same about my preferred method of demise - ‘not while wanking’. But for now, Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise, and I am not, so instead I satisfy myself by watching him try to find the most expensive way to end his life as he films it for our viewing pleasure. 

‘Pleasure’ being the operative word here, because Mission: Impossible - Fallout is an ode, a testament to the crazy, gregarious, charming, golden age action films of the late 80s-early 90s, complete with a villain’s death (spoiler, the villain does not win) that makes you suck in your breath and wince. And that’s a great, great thing, because between the first film and this one (the...sixth?) the series has run the gamut of action-film styles, from a tense, spy-thriller, to ridiculous wire-work John Woo insanity, to boring summer fodder, to the most recent run of three superb releases that up the ante every time. I’m not gonna lie, I absolutely hate heights, and the idea of clinging to the outside of a plane as it takes off scares the literal shit out of me as I sit here writing this. But watching Cruise do it is absolutely breathtaking. Apparently he doesn’t have a stunt double. Could it be any more clear that he’s simply trying to reach the great beyond the only way he knows how - in a big-ass summer blockbuster? More power to him I say. 

If you’ve watched any of the M:I movies before, you’ll know that plot doesn’t really count for much. Not because there’s not enough plot, mind, but because there’s too much plot. Every time there’s too much plot, full of double-crossings and fake-outs and masks and secret spy dealings. Trying to follow it all isn’t worth the mental effort, and it probably doesn’t really make much sense when you break it down, so there’s little to be found in the plot other than a sense of the large scale machinations of the various entities at work. In the end, the plot moves forward because the right people show up at the right time as if everyone is sharing their location to a Whatsapp group for international agents of espionage, and the details are but a means to an end - an end that lies at the point the next action scene begins. In most other cases this might diminish the efforts of the film, but when your action scenes are this enjoyable, I really couldn’t care less. 

Tom Cruise hangs off so many things, guys. He hangs off helicopters in flight. He hangs off a cliff. He hangs off a building. At one point, he even leaps from the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, across thirty metres of open road, and onto the rooftop of another building half a football field away. It’s not something that the average punter will notice, but those familiar with the sheer amount of space between St Paul’s and every other building around it will understand just what an amazing athletic feat this is. My mum, a woman with a heart condition and a proclivity towards anxiety, left the theatre breathless and excited - a state I don’t think I’ve ever seen her enter in a positive capacity. She’s not a thrill-seeker, is what I mean, but this film thrilled the shit out of her. There’s a great sense of continuity and flow to everything, and this meticulous attention to detail, coupled with a lack of bewildering CGI helps keep you invested, even as the stakes are raised further and further. It’s the antithesis of the Bourne Identity shakey-cam technique that dominated action films for far too long - no-longer can directors use it as an excuse to cut corners and create a bamboozling visual mess in which you can’t tell who kicked what and where, while Cruise’s capability and commitment to doing everything for realsies means that they don’t have to cut fifteen times just to film him hopping over a fence. I almost, almost, raved about it when I left the cinema, and that’s a high endorsement from me when it comes to big-budget blockbusters. And that’s probably the strangest thing of all - that this film is a blockbuster sequel in a series that has long crossed the temporal line that usually denotes an irreparable decline in quality, and has somehow not only managed to recover, but get better with successive installments. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but a Tom Cruise action film inspires a very different anticipatory feeling than a Dwayne Johnson action film. There’s a consistency in the quality that is fed by a tangible sense of ambition - this series has become Cruise’s baby, and with all the money in the world and nothing else to live for, he clearly tries damn hard to make sure that it is worth the price of entry. 

As for the rest of the film...it’s okay. It’s not so much an episodic installment as those before it, but a direct sequel to Rogue Nation, and if you haven’t seen Rogue Nation, then you’re gonna be really fuckin’ confused for a good part of the narrative. Old friends and enemies return, and you will have zero connection with any of them for at least two thirds of the production unless you’ve seen them before. Which sucks, because it’s not exactly fair that in a series of six films, they waited until you were five in before smacking you with a the first story that carries over. The performances are fine, serviceable. Simon Pegg’s character actually has some weight to it and serves a greater function than simply being the comic relief. Alec Baldwin is in it and through no fault of his own, simply due to the fact that he’s Alec Baldwin, feels miscast in his redundant, bite-sized role. Henry Cavill is...fine. He plays a charmless thug well enough, and the thing he does with his arms in the trailer and the bathroom fight is legitimately cool for reasons that I can’t explain. He’s the perfect henchman, and in this sense he’s well-cast for the first time in his life, but that’s not so much a compliment to him as it is to the casting director for realising his limitations as an actor. Cruise is the film’s heart and soul, partially because his character is the axis around which all of the other elements turn, and partially because no-one can stop themselves from crowing that Ethan Hunt is the saviour of the world, and the best-est, most amazing spy ever. It reeks of vanity project dialogue, and while it might be, I can forgive it because of the quality and effort that has gone into almost all the aspects of the production. 

In short, as mindless fun goes, watching this film is possibly the most mindless fun I’ve had in a long time. It was extremely refreshing to go from The Meg to this in the space of a week, and to be reminded that not all big-budget films are CGI-soaked trash garbage. I wouldn’t thank Tom Cruise for many things, but I’ll thank him for that. In the meantime, I just hope that when he finally does meet his maker, it’s because the navigational instruments on the spaceship he spent six months learning to pilot failed and he was propelled into the Sun during a billion-dollar set piece while filming Mission: Impossible 15 - Space Terrorism.

8.5 digitally-altered Henry Cavill moustaches out of 10