#it won't premiere in October will?

[lostintherealmsofthefandoms]

Here we go again...

Again...

Grab your nose, let's go clowns.

Clowing in 3, 2, 1

[captainofthetidesbreath]

if you haven't listened to @midstpodcast yet, look: all fifty-seven episodes of Midst totals like 24 hours and 2-ish minutes on YouTube, then the four episodes of Moonward is 8 hours and another 2-ish episodes

I'm just saying... you can very easily be caught up on everything before Unend premieres on October 9

listen to Midst, you won't regret it

[bzhitstruth]

Coincidental circumstances-2

"Coincidental Circumstances-1" is here.

I won't talk about CPN, I'll just write what has happened recently. All conclusions are at the discretion of the readers. 😎

1. On July 31, GG published 18 photos (21 GG's images), exactly one month before the premiere of the documentary (31 Aug), the central image is the drawing of a mountain. Exactly 38 days from, on September 7, the first episode about climbing a snowy mountain was released.

After that, the whole of August GG only has current publications and advertising.

2. On August 5th DD posted the photo from the desert, the series about the desert will start on October 5th.

3. On August 14, DD flew to Shenzhen for the one-day promotional meeting, and on August 17, GG flew from Yichang to Beijing. Their clothes on these flights are white T-shirts, dark pants and panama. These are two different people:

4. On August 30, GG published 18 photos (20 GG's images), the central image is GG with a camera, the text of the post is an offer to “spend the weekend and record the charm of life.” The following day, Saturday, August 31, the documentary premiered.

After the offer to “spend the weekend together,” GG disappeared from view for a long time again, and apart from the necessary commercial materials, he had no other publications. DD and his team actively posted promotional materials and the documentary was broadcast.

5. Suddenly, GG appeared on September 15 (18 photos, 19 GG's images) and for some unknown reason congratulated everyone on the Mid-Autumn Festival in advance, although the holiday will only be on September 17. The first photo shows GG with a glass of champagne in his hand. The text says: "The years are bright and the time is bright..." On this day, DD celebrates the 10th anniversary of his debut.

💚❤️.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about opinions that Chloe’s development was ruined in season 3 finale because Thomas didn’t like that viewers like her more than Marinette? I Don’t think that it’s true, but it gave me idea that Thomas ruined Chloe’s already few character development because viewers liked her more than Gabriel.

I've heard this theory before and it seems like a massive stretch to me. It's always possible, but I don't feel comfortable making accusations like this without some hard evidence and I've yet to see any, though it's not like I follow this guy on Twitter or anything. My knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes is all based on random things that make their way to my Tumblr feed. So if someone has hard evidence, feel free to reblog and add it, but the most likely explanation is just bad writing. Why ascribe malice when incompetence makes just as much sense and requires a lot less motivation?

Think about what this accusation is actually saying. It's claiming that an adult man willfully ruined a major element of his passion project (or even just the show that he's known for, meaning that it will define his future career) because he was salty that people liked a character that he created. That seems like a conspiracy theory take to me.

It's also not like Thomas has full creative control of the show! Head writers have power, but they rarely have total power. They're still employees and a ton of things happen between an episode being written and the final version being aired. Producers, directors, censors, and many others usually okay a script prior to an episode being animated because that's the most expensive element. Plus it's not like he's the only one who wrote Chloe's story. Every season two and season three episode is credited to multiple writers. In other words, it seems like multiple people signed off on Chloe's story.

There's also the issue of the air dates. Queen Wasp and Miracle Queen first aired about twelve months apart (October 6 2018 vs October 15 2019). Production times for animated TV shows are about that long, which would mean that Miracle Queen was probably being written or was even already set in stone around the time that Queen Wasp aired. In other worlds, every element of Chloe's journey was probably at least sketched out before the audience ever saw it start. That would mean that nothing in that story was reactionary. It just doesn't fit the timeline.

While Chloe's season three ending was a total mess, it was hardly out of nowhere. It was glaringly obvious that Chloe couldn't stay Queen Bee from the moment that we met Queen Bee. You can't willfully out yourself to the world and expect to stay a hero (or, at least, that shouldn't be a thing Felix). I was honestly baffled when they gave her back the bee in Malediktator and relieved when Marinette finally acknowledged the problem in Miraculer:

Ladybug: I'm sorry, Chloé. I should've told you this a long time ago. I might never be able to let you be Queen Bee again.

Which was, of course, the setup for Miracle Queen, further complicating this theory because it looks like less than a year passed between the world premieres of Queen Wasp and Miraculer (October 6 2018 vs May 15 2019).

I don't know if this made it to your Tumblr feed, but the Miraculous writing team announced that the writing for season six was done back in late March. The show won't air until sometime this winter, well over half a year later, because that's just how animation works and they've supposedly done things to make the animation process faster this season. I just don't see how this Chloe theory works or why it needs to be a thing when her bad writing falls perfectly in line with things like the absolute disaster that was season five. She wasn't a fluke, she was a warning of things to come.

As best I can tell, the entire Queen Bee plot was just an incredibly awkward and forced way to show how dangerous identity reveals were. Which isn't a bad plot to have, but don't do that plot and then let a bunch of other temp heroes keep their miraculous post reveal! Writers, what are you even doing?

If you want my best guess answer to that, then I don't think that the writers planned to make their story feel massively hypocritical. I think that they just did a dumb writing mistake that I've seen multiple shows do: they wrote a really cool cliffhanger ending without planning how to make that ending work in the following season. And there was no way to really make the ending work, so they end up just kind of ignoring it.

The reason why this happens is pretty simple. Most shows try to end their seasons on cliffhangers so that fans will come back for the next season. It's extremely rare to have a solid happy ending that ties everything together. This can lead to writers making questionable calls because they're pressed for time and have to come up with something that will keep the fans wanting more even if that thing makes no sense. It can also lead to writers making questionable calls because they DO have a plan for how the cliffhanger will play out, but when it comes time to actually put that plan into action, it gets shut down and now they have to scramble to make the nonsense work.

Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that, as much as I like the concept of a redeemed Chloe joining the team, it was pretty clearly never going to happen in canon. The writing only backed that read for a brief moment at the start of season two where we got a handful of episodes that made Chloe feel less like a cookie-cutter mean girl and more like a true character, but then the Chloe plot really got going and I was just waiting for the inevitable fiery end. I actually thought that Chloe was going to be treated as a tragic character and become a true villain in season four. Instead we got utter nonsense that tossed her character all over the place to the point where I have no idea what they're even trying to do with her.

[boycottthechosen]

Boycott the Chosen

We are a community of fans calling for likeminded others to boycott The Chosen as a result of the response (or lack thereof) to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. We were all excited for the new season. Many of us were planning to attend theatre screenings of the premier. But we cannot support a show about the life of a revolutionary Palestinian man when its creators won't speak up for the Palestinian people. We are asking fans to

1. Boycott the series. This involves not attending theatre screenings, refunding tickets where possible, and not watching season four.

2. Delete The Chosen app

3. Donate to our fundraiser for Medical Aid Palestine. We are not expecting many donations, but every little helps

Simon Peter is fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians (justgiving.com)

Approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7th. Since then, approximately 25, 000 Palestinians have been killed. If you as a Christian were disturbed by the violence on October 7th you should also be appalled by the ongoing violence against the innocent civilians of Palestine. If Jesus were alive in Palestine today he would be in the middle of a warzone, facing displacement, famine, and death. It is unconscionable to profit from the life of a Jewish Palestinian while ignoring the ongoing violence.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the Earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called the Sons of God.

🇵🇸🙏❤️

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/boycottchosen

[annislittleshopofhorrors]

We should really stop giving them ideas...

October/November '22: "They're just rumors, they are not together"= Bum! People article and papwalk

Nov. '22: "How can they be in a serious relationship? They didn't spend time together at all"=Yoga certificate

Nov. '22 "No way she's going to WDW"= Bum! Influencer video and 'leaked' pics

Dec. '22/ Jan. '23: "Well, he hasn't really acknowledged the relationship"= Bum! Scares video

Jan./ Feb. '23: "But he never touched her or kissed her" = Bum! VD video

March '23: "His family doesn't acknowledge her or interact" = All of them liking her post in minutes

April '23: "She's not going to be at the premiere, he won't allow it" = Ab walking the side carpet

May '23: "She is the one always traveling to his place" = Picture of them at restaurant in Portugal (I think it was actually Malibu, but according to the official story was Portugal)

May '23: "She's not allowed to post/tag him" = Dodger pic (she still didn't tag Ce)

June/ July '23: "He deactivaded to not post about her birthday... it's over" = She traveling with his friends

Sept. '23: "They re not married, he's been talking as a single guy all this time" = GQ interview ('that I've had for a while" I'm still 😂) and his friends and family in Lisbon

Oct. '23: "They were never seen organically" = Airport pics and bar pics ( if you want to believe the comicon guy)

Oct. '23: "But they weren't wearing rings"= He wears a wedding ring as loose as their love story

Ok, Chris, we believe it... Stop embarrasing yourself!

You should work on my timeline 😂

"that I've had for a while" will never not be funny

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I slightly disagree with the Netflix angle. I think that the cooking show came together quite quickly and they likely didn’t begin shooting until after ARO launched. I suspect Meghan used the press of that to bring into support like you mentioned to gain approval from Netflix. Now I think the polo show was likely something Netflix approved in the aftermath of their docuseries, it’s just that Harry has really wish washy about moving forward with it. I mean Harry far more than Meghan has been increasingly vocal about wanting to come back in for a half in half out. his reputation has taken a huge hit and nothing they’ve really done since the book and docuseries has come out has helped them out in a big successful way.

the news about Netflix came fast and furious with more details being leaked every day. Which tells me they’re repeating exactly what they did before the docuseries, trying to gauge interest. ultimately I think the polo series will have more BTS about their family then anything else, because that’s what Netflix want the most. And one will certainly premiere around TTC.

Maybe. Netflix and the Sussexes' PR have both said that Harry will only briefly appear in the polo doc and it won't be about him. Time will tell.

Trooping (two months away) is too soon for either one of these to premiere. The only way they can meet a Trooping premiere date is if something is already in the can and neither one of them have anything in the can.

If Meghan's cooking show was in the can or close to being done, they'd have released promo stills for the announcement. They didn't, so they don't have anything, probably just cutting floor footage from the ARO infomercial. And for Harry, the report is that Netflix cameras were at the event yesterday, so he doesn't have anything either.

Going by the Sussexes' typical PR timeline, these shows are probably being targeted for a September/October release. The Sussexes traditionally do a huge PR campaign that time of year to compete with the BRF's "back to work after summer holidays" press coverage.

(Plus that's also when Kate may be back to work so that's probably Meghan's ideal release window.)

[dadbodbuck]

btw just so everyone knows my research trip is from september 19-october 6 and i won't have wifi so a) mandatory hijaytus and b) i'm gonna be so late to the season premiere :(

[noneedtoamputate]

In a piece of personal news, I officially gave notice that I will not be leading Little NoNeed's Girl Scouts troop next year. LNN decided to dedicate time to other activities, but if I'm being honest with myself, I think I would have quit even if they decided to rejoin.

The relief I feel is already palatable, but I'm sure it won't really hit me until October, when the new Girl Scouts year starts.

I've been a leader for four years. We had to meet on Zoom when I first started the troop, and Daisies on Zoom is as horrible as you can imagine.

I had a lot of fun being leader, but it's also a lot of work. And this year really hasn't been much fun at all for a variety of reasons.

Of course, instead of focusing on the four years I have given, part of me feels guilty for leaving these girls without a leader (I will be shocked if another parent steps up.)

Reading "Lessons in Chemistry" hit at a good time last week. Women are seen as nurturers, carers expected to enjoy things that serve a good purpose but are not appreciated, financially or otherwise.

I am already excited thinking about what I can do with the hours I currently spend on Girl Scouts: writing, reading, yoga, hiking, cooking, cleaning my closets. But part of me thinks I should find another volunteer position, even though I am chair of the school book fair committee, hold an elected position in my village, and fill in when needed for the PTO. That's on top of working (for money) part time, driving to ballet and doctors' appointments and birthday parties, and checking homework, and keeping track of the dozens of spirit days LNN has at school (Dress Like a Pirate Day! Wear Your Favorite Premier League Jersey Day! Who's Your Favorite Band of Brothers Blorbo Day! All of these are jokes, but the last one would be great, wouldn't it?)

I'm great at telling other people they should do things for themselves and find what brings them joy, but I'm still working on that for myself.

Today, I took a walk and cleaned my desk and am writing an absolutely silly little one-off fic based on a short text conversation last night while enjoying an iced chai latte, and I am going to try very hard not to feel guilty.

[einsteinsugly]

Hi, I was just wondering why you think the next part of That 90s Show being moved from October to August is a bad sign that the show is already canceled? To me it's the opposite - if it were moved from August to October, it would indicate the show isn't at all a priority, but Netflix moving it ahead of schedule is actually a hopeful sign that they think people are into the show and will stream it. (Tbh, I never understood the logic of waiting until October anyway---way to kill whatever small momentum the show has managed to gather!) I don't actively hate the show the way you do but am indifferent--I didn't even bother watching most of S2. So I won't care if it's canceled but don't understand why you think the move from October to August portends the end!

In a video, Kurtwood Smith was begging fans to watch part 2. And I quote, "Really, really. Get to watching." Like he's worried it's going to be axed. Netflix seems to be pushing up the date to burn it off, worst case scenario. And if it's on more neutral footing, it's to test the waters to see if it's worth renewing.

But the biggest sign that it's going to be axed is that there hasn't been a trailer yet. We're less than two weeks out from the premiere date. That's definitely a bad sign. There's so little promotion and buzz, too, other than from the actors themselves.

Personally, I think it's following in How I Met Your Father's footsteps. There's engagement in season 1, but it drops off the next season. The people who hated the show/were meh about it have dropped off, and what remains is a small-ish cohort of dedicated fans. But that's not enough to keep the show going, frankly.

Note: After season 1 aired, it was obvious it was going to be renewed. This time around, it seems like the opposite. Like 20 percent chance of renewal, and 80 percent chance that it's going to be axed. The 40/60 prediction I made was before the date was moved up and more importantly, before there was a distinct lack of promotion.

[stormyemeralds]

how did season 2 pt 2 leak SO FAST holy shit

as much as i hate leaked content i know for a fact that the internet won't hold back from spoilers and i don't want to deal with having to avoid content for 3 months just because LEGO is never capable of releasing ninjago on time. therefore ill be watching the new season soon. but i won't be posting spoilers for s2 pt2 on this account or on ao3 until october when it officially premiers. stay safe guys!

[animefeminist]

Welcome to Anime Feminist!

Who Are We?

Anime Feminist launched in October 2016 with three goals:

Become a hub for the kinds of intersectional feminist critique we, as feminist anime and manga fans, wanted to see.

Create a welcoming, inclusive space from which to support and signal-boost under-represented perspectives.

Pay everyone fairly for their work.

We've managed to meet those goals, and we're always aiming to become better and shine brighter!

What We Do

Every week we publish:

A Talk post to spotlight community discussion on anime trends and favorite works, and a monthly Resource post that gathers broader reading about real-world progressive causes.

A Links round-up of our posts from the previous week and relevant articles from around the web

Two Feature articles that can touch on a variety of topics, from analysis of modern and classic anime to industry interviews to personal essays.

During seasonal premieres, we pause feature coverage to provide episode one previews of new shows coming out and organize them into a digest, with content warnings, based on initial impressions -- we hope this makes it easier for readers to prioritize which new shows they'd like to try.

We also host a biweekly podcast on Sundays, with a transcript published the following week.

We want to encourage complex discussions about media through an intersectional feminist lens, and how those works shape and are shaped by the world around them.

What We Don't Do

AniFem believes firmly in critical analysis of the media we love; however, we are not a site interested in sorting works into reductive "Feminism Approved" or "Bad and You Should Feel Bad" categories. To quote our seasonal premiere digest:

"There’s greater access to anime than ever before, and we want to help you find series you can truly love, without wasting your time on a show that contains an automatic deal-breaker, be that fanservice, queerphobia, the sexualization of children, and so on.

Individuals can find value in any series, and we will never lead a boycott of a particular show, but we want to make it easier for you to get the most out of your limited time."

While we're ready to heavily critique shows that fall into damaging tropes or look at exclusion in fandom, writers are free to pitch on any title of their choosing -- and having one critical or positive article about a series doesn't mean we won't consider a different approach if it's well-argued and written.

Find Us Around the Web!

AniFem Recommends: Jump right into titles the team definitely thinks are worth your time.

The Anime Feminist Store: "Creating inclusive designs for the progressive nerd on-the-go!"

AniFem on Patreon: The main source of income that helps us pay our contributors and staff

AniFem on Ko-Fi: This is where we save up for big one-time costs (currently, we're working to raise pay rates for our writers!)

AniFem on Mastodon

AniFem on BlueSky

The AniFem Linktree

[toastingpencils37]

Predicting S2 Part 2's release given the leaks about a teaser today because I was losing my mind over it last night

Ok. I don't know if a teaser has released yet (if it is), or the clock has started ticking, but I'm not checking until posting this so that I don't possibly spoil myself for predicting.

However, I am going to try to predict the US release, using the leak that apparently a trailer is leaking today, May 2nd, and patterns from different first teaser releases and the actual episode releases.

To start, let's see the difference in time between the first teaser drop and the episode drop for each season part so far:

The first teaser for S1 P1 released on April 1st 2023, and the episode drop June 1st 2023. A difference of 2 months

S1P2's first trailer was August 30 2023, and episodes dropped October 12 2023. Difference of 1 month and 12 days. Expected the difference to be larger, at least two months, but we'll still use this because it's important.

S2P1's first trailer was January 31 2024, and episode drop April 4 2024. Difference of 63 days (about 2 months and 3 days, but February a weird ass month so I'm not really messing with that)

Anyways, onto the estimation predictions. this is just to see the general area we will land. This doesn't mean that the amount of time between this teaser and the actual release will be the exact same as the differences above, as they seem to vary a lot.

So here are the estimates. But I do want to note that none of them land on Thursday, which all of the previous episode drops have. However, we can still estimate from here.

So the possible Thursdays, based on the weeks these estimates land on are June 13 and July 4.

But another pattern I also want to note is the fact that currently at least, all the episode drops all have a number to do with 4, whether they're a factor, multiple of, or are 4 itself.

Meaning that July 4th is more likely.

And given the possible "Finland episode releases in July 1st", possibly a bit more likely. Though, since it won't be exactly a day before like it was last time, Finland may be having a random premiere. Or Netflix is throwing random dates at everyone for shits and giggles.

So, likely prediction:

July 4th

But what if these leaks are wrong? There are two other possible Thursdays during the summer following day patterns (if not teaser and release difference patterns). These are:

Thursday, June 20th

and

Thursday August 8th

Plus, if Part 2 wants to wait longer to be released, a possible fall day, being Thursday September 12th. Though that feels a lot less likely.

Or Part 2 of season 2 is going to break multiple of these patterns and prove all of these predictions wrong. But it was worth a shot

[safedistancefrombeingsmart]

Have you (or any of your lovely followers 🥰) heard how the SAG-AFTRA strike in the US might affect promo for Breeders?

I know the strikers are not allowed to do promo, and of course Martin & Daisy (& others in the cast) are UK union members but also does the strike count for non-US based promo/ non US-based actors? Or maybe they'll just not do promo in solidarity?

Hi and thank you for the ask!

First of all, you are correct: my followers are lovely. 🥰🥰

And it's funny because just the other day I said to @colourfulwatson (one of the loveliest mutuals 🤩) : "With the current strike we probably won't get much/any promo for Breeders."

But tbh, I don't know how it works and what the rules are for non US-based actors. FX is US- based, so I would expect no promo at all. Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh walked off the premiere of Oppenheimer- that's pretty much the same, just on a (much‼️‼️‼️) bigger scale, I suppose.

Breeders was never promoted a lot and I was looking forward to some small bits and pieces here and there, but I am quite sure that we won't get any promo now. Which is fine. This strike is so important!

Martin is still on holiday anyways, so maybe he'll just stay a bit longer where ever he is now. 😬

Maybe we will get some interviews when Breeders comes to the UK in October.

[chirpsythismorning]

I’m not going to get my hopes up, but if Netflix has to have an answer by October, when do you think filming will start then?

Hypothetically if the strike is over in Netflix's case by Oct or in general for all the studios, filming for ST would start up shortly after that. They've been ready to start filming since June, so they're pretty much just in limbo waiting rn.

There might be some cast members in the middle of something when the strike ends, so that doesn't mean every single cast member will take a flight to Georgia and be there the day after the strike to start filming. It will happen in waves, where some who are available at that time will get all their arrangements in order and make the plan to start filming while others might need a few weeks to get everything in order.

Sometimes filming happens out of order, especially with scenes that are really time consuming for VFX in post production, but still I do think that the priority will be either those scenes or scenes from the first few episodes. Those episodes are the most fleshed out script wise and they're also the episodes we're going to see sooner than the later ones. In the case they decide to split it into two volumes again, having those earlier episodes finished sooner than later allows them to then be able to edit them sooner and have them complete for releasing. So if the premiere period rolls around, and they're still behind on some parts of Vol 2, they'd be prepared to release Vol 1, with extra time to focus on the rest. Pretty much the same thing happened for S4, where Vol 1 premiered in late May and then they were still editing Vol 2 in time for it's early July release.

If the strike is officially over and all filming in the industry amongst these studios has been green-lit to return, let's say October 1st, then it's likely by mid October they would be starting filming again. Or if it was mid October that the strike ended, then maybe filming would be starting by the end of the month. If it's late October, then probably early November for filming to start. The transition won't take months, at most a couple of weeks.

Again, they were ready to start filming in June and they don't necessarily need every single actor to have their schedule free in order to start. They just need actors who have scenes alone or with other actors who are also available who they also happen to have scenes with in order to start filming. It is unlikely that whatever schedule they had planned originally for the cast back in June will be identical post-strike, as that will all presumably shift to accommodate everyones new schedules at that time of the year and going forward.

This is all a hypothatical scenario. Regardless of if the strike ends in October or September or god forbid January, which is when the Emmy's are being postponed until, Filming for ST5 would take a matter of a couple of weeks to set up and begin, and would then continue for the next 12 months following, give or take.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things "Creature Feature" and "Summer Special" Reviews

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things reviews, and let me know what your thoughts/theories are about the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things "The Game Master" and "Erica's Quest"

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Synopsis for Creature Feature: While moving to California, Will, Jonathan, and El make a stop in Denver, Colorado to enjoy a night out at a Drive-In Theater. However, El's visit takes a turn for the worst when certain elements begin triggering PTSD flashbacks......

Synopsis for Summer Special: Join Officers Powell and Callahan during the events of season 3 as they patrol the streets of Hawkins and begin to encounter the Flayed.....

Observations:

Because these comics are short, I am covering both of them in this review. Unlike "Erica's Quest" and "The Game Master," which at least shared the theme of Erica and Mike being isolated and using their love of D&D to reconnect with people, these two short stories don't have much in common other than taking place in the same universe. Because of that, I will be talking about each of their stories separately. This will conclude my reviews of the comics and graphic novels for the time being. When the full versions of Tales from Hawkins, the Stranger Things x TMNT Crossover, and The Voyage are released (which likely won't be until January 2024 at the earliest), I will review them. Until then, I will move on to the tie-in books, beginning with Stranger Things Suspicious Minds.

Let's begin.

Creature Feature:

Out of the two of these, this short comic is the one I like the best. It's an interquel between seasons 3 and 4 that came out on Free Comic Book Day, three weeks before season 4 premiered. As noted in the synopsis, it focuses on an evening that Will, Jonathan, and El have in Denver, Colorado at a Drive-In Theater featuring horror movies. At this point, they're still in the process of moving to Lenora, and the story takes place sometime in October 1985 before Halloween.

The premise of the characters at a Drive-In Theater is fun, and it's nice getting a story exploring the sibling dynamic between El, Will, and Jonathan as El integrates into the Byers family. While we did get scenes like this in season 4, they often felt brief and far in-between. It doesn't help that circumstances like Angela's constant bullying, El ending up in trouble with the law for smashing the brat's face in (not that I blame her for doing so), the three way conflict between Mike, El, and Will at the beginning, and everything to do with Vecna constantly overshadowed attempts to go into more details about El's developing relationship with the Byers. We did get a brief montage with El narrating in her letters to Mike about how she and the Byers are doing, but it isn't as in-depth as it could have been. So any story that explores El, Will, Joyce, and Jonathan together as a family is one I'd be happy to see more of.

There's an interesting parallel between Will's love for the horror movies and atmosphere at the Drive-In vs El's fear of it. Will's enthusiasm for horror movies and Halloween is pretty similar to Max's, with Max even admitting in Runaway Max that she's watched scary movies since she was a kid and Michael Myers from the Halloween series is the one that frightens her the most. Just like there's a psychological component for how Max processes horror movies (especially growing up with an abusive step-dad and step-brother who made her life a living hell), the same goes for Will. When Jonathan asks Will how he can still enjoy horror movies after everything that's happened to him, Will explains it as such:

That is relatable in so many ways. Some of the stuff I've experienced in my life has desensitized me to certain horror/slasher movies, like Saw or Friday The 13th or the Halloween series, to the point the over-the-top blood and gore doesn't elicit a reaction for me. I'm more likely to have fun watching these movies than be scared by them. It's movies, TV shows, and other media that deal with triggering subjects like anxiety, depression, gaslighting, mental illness, rape, and so on that tends to get under my skin.

And considering what El has been through for most of her life, it's also understandable why she has the reaction she does at the Drive-In. Everything from the purple flashing lights to the monster-themed costumes to the loud noises and unfamiliar setting cause her to have a PTSD attack.

It doesn't help that some bullies see what's happening to El and decide to harass her for it.

You know the jackasses on Reddit, Twitter/X, Tumblr, or other social media platforms who mock people for being triggered, accuse people struggling with trauma of wanting to be victims, and are awful to others because they can get away with it? That's who these bullies remind me of. They are the predecessors to Angela, her friends, and the loathsome crowd from Rink-O-Mania who humiliated El. Despite only being in the comic briefly, I despise them.

Thankfully, Will and Jonathan come to her aid, and Jonathan gets a nice big brother moment in telling the bullies to fuck off:

I wish we'd get more scenes on the show of Jonathan getting aggressive with bullies or any other threats to his family.

Getting back to El, there's another reason she's upset: She's in a vulnerable position of having lost her powers at this point, and doesn't know how to deal with it. She's also worried about the threat of the Upside Down returning, which it unfortunately does in season 4. How many times can you face the same horrors over again without feeling like you're losing pieces of yourself and that it's all out of your control?

Except El isn't alone in her fight, no matter how bleak it seems. As Jonathan points out, she still has the support of her friends and family, and all of them will be there for her. They love her regardless of whether or not she has powers. That's a truly beautiful thing to have.

As I've noted before in other reviews (especially Dungeons and Dragons), the final fight between Vecna's forces won't just have El dealing with it all by herself. It's always been a team effort from everyone since season 1, and I do not see that dynamic changing in season 5 without the Duffer Brothers betraying the core themes of friendship and family on the show. Whether or not El will be the one delivering the killing blow to Vecna remains to be seen though.

Overall, I'd recommend this for a read.

Summer Special:

Remember back in my review of The Bully when I talked about how the graphic novel followed the events of season 2 through the eyes of Troy and James? That's pretty much the same formula the Summer Special uses. This time, it takes place in season 3, and it follows Officers Callahan and Powell in the week leading up to the 4th of July.

Like most of the fandom, I never cared for Callahan and Powell. I don't hate them to the extent I hate characters like Billy or Angela, but I still find them obnoxious, and have never been impressed with the "lazy bumbling cop" stereotypes they seem to embody. Unfortunately, this short comic doesn't do much to change that.

The best summary of the plot is that it basically runs on one joke: Callahan and Powell are present during key moments in season 3 (i.e. Billy getting possessed by the Mind Flayer, Doris Driscoll and the other Flayed at Brimborn Steelworks, Alexei's death at the carnival, the Battle of Starcourt, etc), and just when it looks like the two of them might actually find out about the Upside Down and figure out everything that's been going on............they don't. They either miss stuff, dismiss it on sight, or get distracted by trivial crap in their pursuit of trying to be "good cops." It's a joke repeated through-out the comic, and it's one that gets old real fast.

I didn't find this joke funny the first time they did it, and every other time after that made it more annoying.

The comic contains some glaring continuity errors. For example, when Powell and Callahan find Billy's car at Brimborn Steelworks the night he's possessed by the Mind Flayer, the date is July 1st in the comic. However, on the show, the actual date was the evening of June 29th, the same night Billy was set to hook up with Karen.

On top of that, the comic illustrates Billy leaving the steelwork factory different from how he did on the show. Here, he's depicted as quietly sneaking out when Powell and Callahan come to investigate:

But on the show, he is literally running for his life in a panic the moment he gets free of the Mind Flayer, desperately to escape it and not caring about how much of a ruckus he made leaving. If we're taking this comic as canon (which I am not because of all its inconsistencies), it's hard to believe Powell and Callahan wouldn't have heard Billy going back to his car.

There's also other contradictory dates: Doris Driscoll (the old lady Nancy and Jonathan visit in S3 who's later possessed by the Mind Flayer) is established on the show as being taken to the hospital on July 1st. However, the comic depicts this happening on July 2nd. This also apparently happened the same night a possessed Driscoll abducted Powell and took him to the Steelworks factory where the Mind Flayer was, which makes it even more confusing. It also creates a big plot-hole for why the other Flayed never came after Powell later despite Powell witnessing a bunch of them at the factory in the process of attacking his car.

The only moment I semi-liked in this comic was this scene reaffirming how much of a sleazy womanizing piece-of-shit Billy is, and how other people in-universe see him like this as well:

Other than that, and some decent artwork per usual, this comic felt rushed and not well put together as it should have been.

As much as I don't care for Callahan and Powell as characters, I wouldn't mind a comic centered on them provided there was an actual point for it. If they're going to focus on side characters, then actually develop them in a way that's meaningful instead of constantly playing them for laughs. There's an entire story they could have been explored when Powell became the new Chief of Police in Hawkins after Hopper's supposed death in season 3, and how he was forced to adjust to the position and take on new responsibilities. That would have been far more interesting than what they did here. This just came off like a waste.

As you can probably tell, I'm not recommending this comic. The good news is it's not particularly pricey (I got it for $1.99 on Kindle), so if you do want to check it out for yourselves and make your own judgments, there's no harm in doing so. But there are better comics you could spend time and money on.