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taurusborus · 3 years

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someone translated more of the under the tides event on reddit if you're interested in reading wtf is going on.

I'll also add it under this in case it's easier to read.

Warning, if you don't want to leave the slightest bit of surprise for yourself when the event hits global, TURN BACK NOW!!

I made a comment thread yesterday with a story summary. However, I still left out a lot of things, so I thought I'd make a new post, add in more info about plot I left out, organize the Q&A from the thread, and link to the TLs of the new units. Hopefully a centralized hub of info will help people find the information they're looking for and dispel any of the more wild hearsay floating around.

This will be organized into a few sections, the new unit TLs, my original story summary, a bunch of (my new summaries) separate plot threads that tie into the bigger story, and then some common questions.

Skalter profile + lines TL

Gladiia profile + lines TL

Event CGs

Some good supplemental information about the seaborn hivemind

A much longer summary of each stage, 11 pages - courtesy of Lauli. If you want to know more about the townspeople, Inquisitors, and details on Kal'tsit's end conversation with the Inquisitors, take a look.

The original summary I made yesterday, the fastest crash course on the major story points. I have edited some of the references of the new factions to match the updated TLs from MrSkyblock404 so there's no confusion:

First of all, if you've ever read the manga Claymore, you now understand most of the event. Key differences are that the "Organization" is Aegir. They don't SEEM to be the villains here, and they went the Claymore route to fight the sea horrors fully knowing that their Claymores will eventually awaken into the sea horrors that need to be put down.

The "secret" of the Abyssal Hunters is that Aegirians created them as supersoldiers with the bodies of land dwellers but the blood of sea horrors. More on that down below.

The seaborn is part of the underwater cosmic horror hivemind that's been foreshadowed since the start of the game. Its interest is in learning, evolving, and assimilating everything (a la Evangelion's instrumentality more like end goal of Starcraft's zerg). It's acts primitively... robotic? It doesn't understand things like emotions and "Does not compute. We will learn what you mean" is a large part of its exposition. The church in the town is actually the Deep Sea Church hiding in Iberia and slowly indoctrinating remote towns and turning the people to sea horrors. The ending convo with Kal'tsit implies that Iberia is now completely infiltrated by the cult and if they maintain an isolationist policy, they will be destroyed like Aegir.

The seaborn shows up to impale Gladiia, and reveals the big "you [Abyssal Hunters] and I share the same blood. You are us. We are you." Skadi has a mental breakdown over the truth bomb ("I've killed my own transformed family and friends" etc. Glossing over the specifics, just know she doesn't take some past war trauma well), and it seems like the seaborn can somehow "awaken" the blood and turn Abyssal Hunters like Skadi into one of them.

Skadi is right about to awaken [and probably become Skalter, that seems to be the general consensus on CN forums right now, Skalter = Skadi if she gives in to the call] when Gladiia reveals she was sandbagging (yay superhuman regen abilities) so she could listen in on why the seaborn wanted to meet Skadi so badly. Since the seaborn revealed everything, Gladiia promptly kills it and tells Skadi to get her shit together. Skadi gets her shit together. As the seaborn dies, it says its people will learn to understand everything the Abyssal Hunters have told it, and then they will ask them to join the family again. Also, Specter is now free from whatever "control" the Deep Sea Church exerted over her, she's elated over being "free" now. She's still infected but compared to her previous half-dream state, she considers it a minor setback.

Then there's the Deep Sea Church leader dude who had no idea Hunters were also of seaborn blood and also has a mental breakdown. His entire life's work and dream is shattered because the cult crap he made up believed in is a lie, and the seaborn don't put any special weight on his existence and work. He turns into the SV-9 giant tentacle demon that the 3 Musketeers take down. Before he dies, he curses Gladiia and says some ominous things about how she's different and unlike the other 2, her fate is set. Then in the scene with the mirror, she's shitting on herself for being useless and still ending up like an ugly little bitch. The mirror closeup shows part of her neck starting to look like fish scales, so it seems like she's already undergoing the sea horror transformation.

The town situation

The town has fallen on hard times, and the Deep Sea Church has slowly indoctrinated the population with Iberian values twisted into a pro-seaborn slant. These towns become experimentation grounds for the Church and seaborn. Gladiia confirms that she's been busy destroying many of these experiment grounds. The Church now provides the town with food from the sea when the tide comes. There is also a human sacrifice chosen by lottery, which the Church disguises as "the sea has chosen you to take into its embrace and provide a better life." Kind of like how parents tell their kids their dead dog went to live on a farm. The brainwashed people genuinely believe they have a better life and see it as the greatest honor.

The "food" the sea provides are the "dormant" state of severely injured Dinichthys, which regress into a more resilient meaty form while it recovers. This dormant state is edible (ugh) and what the people harvest during the tide. The unlucky human sacrifice walks into the tide to be eaten by the Dinichthys and thus what the sea giveth, it ultimately taketh.

I would like to note that the Church leader has made an appearance before this event. He has a substantial role in one of the story scenes in Archetto's event. I won't ruin the surprise, but if you pay attention to the setting, you'll know which scene it is before he shows up.

Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn

The Deep Sea Church are likely the major instigators of this major "sea vs land" conflict. According to the seaborn that shows up in the Church, the general seaborn population are territorial and generally abide by the animal instinct of survival of the fittest, there is no right or wrong if you kill to survive. The seaborn's behavior and inability to lie show that they indeed don't give a damn about individual seaborn, the Church's plans, or even the Church leader.

Distinction needs to be made between the general seaborn population and the seaborn used by the Church, the latter which could be artificially created. The Church leader is Iberian, but somewhere along the way managed to become part seaborn, which is why the seaborn will listen to him. Being part seaborn allows him to "weaponize" the true seaborn population for his own agenda.

The seaborn themselves indeed have a goal to evolve and and expand (from Skalter's profile). But to what degree the Terra conflict can be attributed to seaborn passive expansion vs. the Deep Sea Church's hostile accelerationism is not clear.

Thus, there's an interesting 3-way disparity between how the conflict is perceived.

* Abyssal Hunters: believes all seaborn must be eradicated * Seaborn: not really interested in the conflict * Church: "it is the will of seaborn to subjugate all"

Regardless, Gladiia has constantly repeated she doesn't give a shit about the seaborn's role in the Church's schemes. Her duty is to kill seaborn, and she's not going to discriminate.

Kal'tsit creates a cliffhanger every time she shows up at the end of any event

After the church-leader-turned-giant-tentacle-demon is killed, its enormous corpse is like a beacon calling to all the Dinichthys zerglings to swarm the area. The 3 Musketeers are like "ok fuck what now" and Kal'tsit swoops in with perfect timing to call Mont3r to completely destroy and bury the ground and its secrets.

She's here to direct the 3 Musketeers to leave Iberia and rendezvous with Misery to go back to RI for a vacation (yes, she actually says they get vacations). The Inquisitors also show up to stop everyone, and after giving them her usual condescending finger-wag-and-lecture, she offers to stay as hostage/information source in an Abyssal Hunter's stead. Her agenda is to convince the Iberian powers to ask for help instead of maintaining an isolationist policy. If they continue to keep it internal, they will be destroyed like Aegir.

She has some atypical kind words for the 3 Musketeers before they leave. To Skadi, she makes a throwback to some cryptic bullshit she said in Grani event. To Specter, she makes some banter about her newfound freedom and moving forward knowing her body's state.

And then it turns out she and Gladiia planned for almost everything before the Skadi sets off for Saltwind City.

The state of Iberia and Aegir

Aegir is pretty much sunken Atlantis. Gladiia says that there's no communication in and out of Aegir after the Calamity.

The Abyssal Hunters were created as just one small piece of Aegir's military power. Aegirians are fully aware of the Abyssal Hunters' eventual fate to turn into the enemy, and have special patrols out to monitor and kill any who turned. The seaborn confirms that they had nothing to do with those deaths. The people Skadi killed and watched get killed, those were all done by her own people. This does not help her mental state.

Iberia has likely attempted to replicate Aegir's Abyssal Hunters. We don't have story on the result of this project, but based on clues in her profile, Andreanna might have some connection to it.

In Kal'tsit's "I know everything" exposition, she states that Iberia once had a prosperous Golden Age, and is now a shadow of its former glory. As stated before, the Deep Sea Church has also infiltrated all levels of Iberian government. Thorns' profile says he left because of "religious strife" and how in recent years treatment of Aegirs in Iberia has gotten worse. All the breadcrumbs are building up to Iberia potentially getting the same kind of Calamity that destroyed Aegir. (See Skalter page's TL note on Calamity.)

Bunch of misc info that don't really fit anywhere else, from yesterday's thread Q&A

It's established that Abyssal Hunters are not allowed to bleed, especially on land. The seaborn says the swarms of cannon fodder zerglings can smell the "same blood" on the Abyssal Hunters. But they're a bit stupid, so their brains only know "this is the blood of my kind, but why is it trapped inside hooman skin?" instead of recognizing it's not a trapped comrade.

Their attacks on Abyssal Hunters are attempts to "free" their kind from the trappings of hooman skin. The more the Hunters bleed, the more frenetic the swarms get, because they know they are getting closer to freeing them.

If you are a Specter fan, you will absolutely love the scenes after she wakes up. The ensuing conversations show that the Abyssal Hunters cherish their close connections like everyone else, despite their usual "stay away from me I'm dangerous" vibes. I really hate how Specter's operator record turned out, and I'll keep salting about it, but this event really did her justice.

Question: Is story Skadi already Skalter? She is wearing the same clothes.

Answer:

No, and this is the biggest misconception that needs to be cleared. At no point in the story does Skadi fully awaken. She comes close but pulls back just in time. The in-universe reason Skadi changes into her wandering songstress wardrobe is that she needs a box carrying her "instruments" (her sword and Specter's chainsaw) and to avoid suspicion while sneaking into Saltwind City. There are two high ranked law enforcement officers (something like that) after her, who know she's an Aegir and a possible threat. In story, she's still guard Skadi. Devs probably wanted to keep the red getup on Skalter to differentiate between the two units.

Question: Why did the seaborn want to meet Skadi so badly?

Answer:

It's not entirely clear thanks to hYpErGRyPh oBtUsE wRiTinG. Every time the sea heir talks about how much it wanted to meet Skadi and perhaps why, Skadi or cult leader interrupt with their mental breakdown monologue. My interpretation of its reasons is a combination of desire to share knowledge with her (learning is constantly repeated as a goal of the sea horrors), extend an invitation to join the hivemind, and ask a question, explained below.

There are flashbacks to this one suicide mission she and her Abyssal Hunter squad had against one particular sea horror. Her entire unit died and she barely made it out after landing a fatal strike on it. Based on Skadi's mental breakdown, it sounds like that sea horror is like the Zerg Overmind, a central connection for the sea horror hive mind.

There's some exposition about how the Overmind isn't really dead, and it's gone into Hibernation Mode because though it no longer responds to communication, the sea horrors can still feel its pulse.

His specific question was whether Skadi heard the Overmind say anything before it went dormant. More Skadi breakdown, because she did. It said (rough TL) "[our] suffering is eternal." The "our" is ambiguous. It could be referring to Skadi and the Abyssal Hunters, since she's the one narrating, or it could be the Overmind and the sea horrors, who Skadi is repeating. I'm leaning toward the Abyssal Hunters since "being abyssal hunter is suffering" has been a core takeaway of this event.

And then Gladiia stops playing dead and kills off our sole source of Aegir lore :)

Question: Is Skalter/Under Tides canon?

Answer:

The events that happen in Under Tides is canon. Skalter's canon status is in existential limbo. As MrSkyblock404 has reiterated, devs have directly said Skalter is a POSSIBLE future in which Skadi gives into the call.

Question: But isn't the fate of every Abyssal Hunter to eventually turn into Seaborn?

Answer:

Technically yes. The call will never fade, so the moment it overpowers the Abyssal Hunter's will to resist, it will have won. But I say technically because the other side of the tug-of-war is the Abyssal Hunter's own willpower. There are hints scattered throughout that their fates aren't set in stone. As Gladiia said to Skadi in her "get your shit together" moment, if you don't want to become a seaborn, then you won't. Not to mention, they can always ask to be killed by another's hands before they fully turn, so they can die as "themselves". This is like the black card system in Claymore. Skalter's E2 promotional record also has this part:

Well, but that's not what I want to say to you today. What I want to say is that when they want to acquire a structure, they transform in that direction.

Skadi, since those creatures can become what they want to be of their own volition ...... Then you can also not become a certain way by your own will. You can do what you want to do.

For example, an Abyssal Hunter. Or, a little more freely, a bounty hunter.

The seaborn as a collective are naturally able to "focus" their evolution toward a specific direction. So as an individual, Skadi should also have a degree of control over what she does and doesn't want to become. Gladiia is implied to still be undergoing transformation despite her obvious obstinance, but the Deep Sea Church leader says she's different from the other 2 and her fate is sealed. As one of the first Abyssal Hunter prototypes, Gladiia might not be able to resist like the later Hunter prototypes.

If you made it this far, nice job! I hope that helps the EN community understand the tsunami of information that got dumped on us in the event.

If there are questions, post in the comments and I will do my best to answer them. Corrections to information in this thread and swapping notes with other CN readers are very welcome!

EDIT: Removed the spoiler bars since I got feedback that it was annoying to click on each paragraph. I've also added a new section "Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn" to clarify all the relationships defined in the story.

Also loving the connections the comments are making to other media. I personally made this post because I am a massive Claymore fan. Seconding one commentor, I highly recommend Claymore, it's a gem that's passed a lot of manga readers' radars. I'm also giving Bloodborne and Dragon Age a shot after the event.

EDIT 2: Thanks to the awesome ak-lore group on the official Discord, I've since made a number of corrections on key points. They are in the sections The town situation, Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn, and The state of Iberia and Aegir.

#arknights #so the abyssal hunters are similar to grey wardens from dragon age #and the seaborn are kiiiiiinda like darkspawn? like the higher thought seaborns are more individuals but the lesser seaborn creaters aren't #there's a comment the op made that explains this bit more if you're interested #also sorry for weird formatting if you see extra spaces #I tried to fix some of them but there's a lot so I gave up LOL

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Marvel’s Loki Episode 5: MCU Easter Eggs and References

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This article contains Loki episode 5 spoilers.

Marvel’s Loki episode 5 is a big one. Yes, we know…last week felt like that. And the one before it, too. But this one really IS, with the entire episode taking place (as DoG’s Kayti Burt put it) on top of a literal “trash pile of MCU and Marvel Comics Easter eggs.”

With that in mind, let’s have some fun with all the incredible Marvel references they managed to sneak into Loki episode 5.

Journey Into Mystery

You probably already know this, but Journey Into Mystery was the book that first introduced the Marvel Comics version of Thor, with Loki following shortly after. The title eventually was just renamed Thor since the Asgardians had become the primary focus of the book for years by that point. However, Journey Into Mystery was revived a few years back, with its primary focus being on the adventures of Kid Loki this time around.

Thanos Copter

The Lokis pass a helicopter with “THANOS” on the side. This is a reference to Spidey Super Stories #39 from 1979. The all-ages comic featured a story of Spider-Man and the Cat (Hellcat) taking on Thanos, who was on the hunt for the Cosmic Cube. He flew around New York City in his own helicopter with his name on the side. The reference comes up as a joke here and there, including an issue of Deadpool. Even Thanos’ giant two-sided blade weapon from Avengers: Endgame has been considered by many to be a sly reference to the Thanos Copter.

Ecto-Cooler

While the Lokis are all drinking wine, Kid Loki is shown drinking Hi-C Ecto Cooler. The Slimer-based citrus drink was a tie-in to The Real Ghostbusters cartoon of the 1980s and lasted into 2001 due to its popularity. Afterwards, it became a fondly-remembered relic to time. Ecto Cooler made a brief return in 2016 to coincide with the Ghostbusters reboot. Sadly, there’s no news of it coming back for the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife movie.

Speaking of Kid Loki…

Kid Loki

Kid Loki seems to be wielding a flaming sword, which looks an awful lot like Laevateinn, the sword he wielded in the Loki: Agent of Asgard comics.

Polybius

In the background of the Lokis’ lair, we see a Polybius arcade machine. Polybius is a long-running urban legend. Supposedly, back in 1981, an arcade machine was set up in Portland, Oregon, watched over by various men in black. The game was so addicting that it caused fights to break out and horrible side-effects to its players. We wrote more about the decades-old mystery of Polybius right here.

Pretty sure there’s an old Williams Space Pinball machine in there, too but that’s not as wild as Polybius.

The Void

Fittingly, the realm where all the pruned victims end up is called the Void. In the comics, the Void is a dark, inexplicable, and possibly biblical entity that acts as the evil side to the Sentry. During the storyline Siege, the Void murdered Loki, which facilitated his rebirth as Kid Loki.

Alioth

Alioth first appeared in Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1, the same 1993 comic that also introduced Ravonna Renslayer to the world…and one that features Kang as its central villain. Hmmmm…

Oh, and Alioth was co-created by Mobius M. Mobius inspiration/model Mark Gruenwald, who gets another shout later in the episode.

Vote Loki

The “politician Loki” who we see leading (inasumuch as they can/want to be led) the loose coalition of Variant Lokis is modeled almost exactly on the version of Loki from Marvel’s Vote Loki story by Christopher Hastings, Langdon Foss, and Paul McCaffery. In it, Loki ends up running for President, with his ridiculous campaign built on the “honest” deception of openly lying to the American people inadvertently aided by a credulous news media. It’s a good read and you should check it out.

This episode also engages in the old MCU/Star Wars tradition of someone getting a hand cut off…in this case it’s our pal, “Vote Loki.”

Frog Thor

A frog resembling Thor is shown in a jar labeled “T365.” Wouldn’t you know it, Thor #365 is the issue where Loki transforms Thor into a frog. Yes, it was a whole thing. Walt Simonson’s run on the Thor comics is really spectacular.

“Frog Thor” also got a mention in Thor: Ragnarok, during the “play within the movie” seen as “Loki” apologized to “Thor” for turning him into a frog.

You know, there’s even an independent wrestler with a Thor Frog gimmick. Life is beautiful sometimes.

Classic Loki

So it appears that Classic Loki is basically what would have happened if “our” Loki survived the opening of Avengers: Infinity War, which he did by allowing Thanos to kill a duplicate while he disguised himself as some debris. Classic Loki went into hiding and developed a taste for brighter greens and yellows, and aged into Richard E. Grant, before he was pruned by the TVA and found himself here in the Void.

Classic Loki’s line about “the god of outcasts” comes from 2019’s Loki #5, by Daniel Kibblesmith and Andy McDonald:

“I am Loki. God of outcasts. They see themselves in me. And I in them. All of us, alone together. It’s why my stories always end with someone trying to put me in a box. And begin with my spectacular escape.”

Later in the episode, Classic Loki and Kid Loki literally “exit stage right,” in what feels like a very deliberately “stagey” moment that plays on the Shakespearean overtones of all of this.

The Living Tribunal

On the ground in the Void there’s a large severed head…and it’s that of The Living Tribunal, a cosmic entity created by Stan Lee and Marie Severin back in 1967. The presence of a Living Tribunal (even one who is dead at this present time), whose entire purpose for being is predicated on the existence of a multiverse, means that the TVA is trying very hard to cut all ties and any evidence of the fact that the multiverse is already out there.

U.S.S. Eldridge

The USS Eldridge was a real Cannon-class destroyer in the U.S. Navy in use from 1943 to 1992. It was supposedly sold for scrap after it was decommissioned but Loki posits that perhaps it was an unwanted Variant in the Sacred Timeline. Perhaps this is because the ship was rumored to be subjected to the “Philadelphia Experiment” that was supposed to render it invisible to the human eye. The story is sadly probably a hoax.

There’s a not exactly great 1984 movie called The Philadelphia Experiment which adds time travel to the equation, making this little callback even more Loki appropriate.

Is That Stan Lee?

At about 9:38 there’s a mural in the TVA headquarters. On the right there’s a guy in prescription shades, with a familiar moustache and salt-and-pepper hair. We’re not saying that’s Stan Lee, but…

The Castle

Yes, we know, that ominous castle sure looks like Doctor Doom’s home of Doomstadt, but…it’s probably not (or is it?). More likely, this is Castle Limbo, home of Kang the Conqueror (or…is it?).

We unpacked these possibilities some more here.

The Music

The “heroic Loki” theme at the end sounds like it’s about to break into Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.”

Speaking of, the regular Loki theme is very similar to the part of the Delfonics “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)” that was sampled for Missy Elliott’s “Sock It To Me.” The original (also sampled for the Fugees’ “Ready or Not” and Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.”) was about the inevitability of love, and Missy’s song was about sneaking into somebody’s house to get your back blown out, so basically the same thing. Could have some bearing on Loki and Sylvie’s story.

The music that plays during the “Loki brawl” is this show’s equivalent of Scooby-Doo chase music. That’s a good thing, by the way.

Pixar, is that you?

Was that the Pizza Planet truck? Mobius’s ride, a station wagon with a slice of pizza on top, immediately brought to mind the popular Pixar easter egg/elaborate timeline mcguffin that has appeared in every Pixar movie to date. Also, very nice touch having Lightning McQueen himself drive it.

An even nicer touch is the license plate on the car Mobius is driving: GRN W1D. As in “Gruenwald.” As in (say it with us, kids!) Mark Gruenwald, the Marvel writer and editor who Mobius is based on.

Ant-Man

At one point on the ground in the Void we can spot a gigantic Yellowjacket helmet. Yellowjacket is the codename for several size-shifting superheroes in the Marvel Comics, but is best known to MCU fans as Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross from the first Ant-Man flick.

Guardians of the Galaxy

There’s lots of crashed spacecraft, one of which kind of looks like the Dark Aster (Ronan the Accuser’s ship in Guardians of the Galaxy), and there may be a Helicarrier hanging around. There’s also a flying saucer that vaguely resembles the ship from John Carpenter’s The Thing, and a pirate ship that if Doctor Doom were actually the villain of this show (he isn’t…or…is he?) would make us think of that character’s very first appearance in Fantastic Four comics, where he sent Ben Grimm back in time to become Blackbeard. No, really.

Miscellaneous Time Variants

The fate of the Lokis is reminiscent of What If? #12, otherwise known as What If the X-Men Had Stayed in Asgard? At the end of the story, after tasting defeat yet again, Loki begged Those Who Sit Above in Shadow to allow him to rule Asgard. They agreed by sending him far into the future at the end of time. As reality started to break down, Loki went out laughing in the face of oblivion.

The bus ad at the beginning is for Calum Ross, who is an editor on the show.

The shot of all the Lokis walking as the camera swoops overhead is very much reminiscent of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies.

Loki and Sylvie are cold in The Void. But wait a minute, aren’t they both Frost Giants? Why then would Loki conjure a green blanket? Unless he wants a convenient excuse to cuddle up with his Variant…

Loki is drinking “RoxxiWine” pinot noir…out of a box…which is a nice touch.

Is that weird, very large plant in the bowling alley hideout supposed to be a Variant Yggdrasil? Or wait…what if that’s Plant Loki?!? He’s green, isn’t he?

Next to Alligator Loki’s kiddie pool there’s a copy of The Mystery and Lore of Monsters, a 1930 book by Charles J.S. Thompson.

The tower we all keep thinking is Avengers Tower is in fact Qeng Tower, the headquarters of Qeng Enterprises, the company that Tony Stark (mistakenly) sold the old Avengers tower to in the comics.

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Spot anything we missed? (Probably, right?) Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s Loki Episode 5: MCU Easter Eggs and References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years

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DuckTales 2017 - “The Rumble for Ragnarok!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Ben Siemon, Bob Snow

Written by: Bob Snow

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Kristen Gish, Victoria Harris

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

The Fly says...

In Norse mythology, there’s this cosmically giant snake named Jörmungandr that encircles the Earth, constantly eating its own tail. It is told that Jörmungandr releasing its tail from its maw would begin a series of events known as Ragnarok. To make a long story short, it's the end of the world, though someone does insert a coin to try it again.

In the world of DuckTales 2017, this tail releasing happens every ten years, according to one of Scrooge’s epic speeches, and it's an epic speech he is well qualified for, as it's because of his ability to defeat Jörmungandr that the world hasn't ended yet. Huey has many science-based questions about this, because the kids wouldn’t get that the joke is that this mythological beast doesn’t exactly follow the rules of physics if he didn’t say “science-based.” Huey is going to be our designated plot hole revealer of the episode.

This story is being told to Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby, as even he knows that he would eventually have to pass the torch. Who it could be: could it be Webby, Huey, or Louie? Dewey asks if him getting left out means Scrooge is saving the best for last, and Scrooge just says yes in a manner that doesn't exactly convey confidence. Huey, the aforementioned plot hole revealer, asks why Donald or his mom couldn't have that torch.

Scrooge: I don't trust Donald and Della to cooperate on a jigsaw puzzle, much less the fate of the universe.

Yeah, because the boys have never fought against each other, ever. The real excuse is that they'd rather have a plot with these relatable youths. It's a shame; I would have loved to see Donald or Della do their trademark fighting styles against these mythological beasts. Yes, these kids would be far more likely to learn a lesson in the end, especially our designated lesson learner Dewey, but maybe Donald and Della could learn to cooperate, too. Alas, they never appear.

They fly to Valhalla, courtesy of Launchpad flying into a rainbow. Valhalla: so majestic, even Launchpad couldn’t crash in it as he makes a decent landing right in front of the building. I almost didn't notice that oddity.

Scrooge is ready to fight that giant snake, currently the size of the entire planet, as even the other kids have their jaws agape that Scrooge could remotely tickle him, never mind harm him. But don't worry, Huey’s question on how that could happen is explained: when Jörmungandr unleashes his tail from his mighty maw, he transforms into a duck-sized snake man-beast. Now it makes perfect sense, or at least that’s what Huey sarcastically says.

Passing by people wearing "Scrooge vs. Jörmungandr" t-shirts, they open the door to reveal the arena this fight is going to take place in, with pyrotechnics, a roped ring, and a bunch of fans rhythmically chanting. Huey finds this kind of arena quite familiar, and Launchpad is so giddy about what this will entail, he just has to say what this is.

Launchpad: Whoa! It's wrestling!

Audience: This is awe-some!

Launchpad: This is awe-some!

With Launchpad and the audience referencing the famous "this is awesome" chant, this episode reveals itself to be an episode about professional wrestling, which apparently ripped off these Valhalla battles according to Scrooge.

From the amount of pro wrestling I watched, there's one thing I know for sure: fowls and pro wrestling probably shouldn't mix. Whether it be the Red Rooster and his "fanbase" of "Rooster Boosters", or the Gobbledy Gooker that popped out of an egg and spent quite a few minutes during a pay-per-view doing the Chicken Dance with the late Mean Gene. If there's anything that can heal the relationship between these kinds of animals and pro wrestling, it's a well-liked reboot of a classic Disney cartoon about ducks.

As Dewey gets excited by the chance of having all of his bones broken and have people love him for it, the giant ouroboros in the sky transmogrifies into The Rattlesnake himself.

Well, okay, he's not a rattlesnake, and I'm sure most of Stone Cold Steve Austin's gimmick wouldn't fly on TV Y7 programming as he seems to be more like The Rock, but anyone could get the idea. It's Jörmungandr, the People's Champion and Chairman of the VWE. He's also said to be the beloved underdog, which does make sense considering the world hasn't ended in at least a millenium.

He begins this with a promo about how grateful he is to be in his arena, being cheered on by all the fallen warriors who died gloriously in battle, and he assures them that the rest of Earth will join them. The Rumble for Ragnarok 100: Maybe The 100th Times The Charm! They don't really say that subtitle. They do introduce his opponent, who, outside of this ring, is the beloved billionaire who has saved the world countless times.

But nobody would ever cheer a billionaire babyface, as Scrooge's gimmick is the heel Millionaire Miser, a cross between The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster. Wrestling terms are used throughout the episode, and Launchpad does explain to the kids at home what "heel" and "babyface" means.

One term that doesn't come up is "kayfabe", the idea that these characters and their actions in the ring are portrayed as real, and that term could tie into one of the major plot points of this episode: that Dewey is completely offended that, in the ring, his uncle is seen as a bad guy. Granted, that term is more used to point out that pro wrestling is scripted, and this rumble is portrayed as completely legitimate. There's certainly no tired jokes about wrestling being fake.

After a botch involving a giant money bag taking out the intended color commentator for this PPV, who was clearly the late Gorilla Monsoon as a penguin, the replacement. Huey Duck is a veteran sports commentator, having earned his Junior Woodchuck badge in it, though his experience as a pro wrestling color commentator seems to be slim to none. In contrast, Launchpad's knowledge of sports entertainment even manages to give him the foreknowledge of what's going to happen, as Huey points out as the plot hole revealer.

There's a lot of humor with Huey not knowing what is happening on stage and trying the best he could, while misnaming wrestling moves and generally getting everything wrong in the process. There was a particularly disastrous wrestling PPV called Heroes of Wrestling which had a similar problem with one of its commentators. Ugh, I don't want to be reminded of that one.

Launchpad announces that there will be three matches, all of them the heroes of Valhalla vs. the dreaded Millionaire Miser.

Our first match is Strongbeard vs. The Millionaire Miser. As Strongbeard enters the ring, he decides to give one of the audience members one of his beard hairs, which has the ability to bestow his amazing strength. He's practically telling his opponent what he should do to defeat him. Wrestlers usually wait until they get in the ring before they do that.

As the audience chants his catchphrase, "fear the beard", and booes the Miser, Dewey tells his Uncle Scrooge that he shouldn't put up with this. Scrooge assures Dewey that he's just acting as the heel because it's the right thing to do, right before mocking the audience for not being the richest duck in the world like he is.

Much like in an actual battle, the Millionaire Miser has to use his smarts, as muscle is something he doesn't exactly have. The Miser tries to take down Strongbeard with his trademark Unbreakable Penny Pincher Hold, or, as Huey calls it, a sedative neck massage, only to be punched by a Beard Fake-Out. Dewey protests this use of what he thinks is a bad guy tactic, only to have food thrown at him.

He may or may not have gotten that gigantic hint from before, as he reveals that he stole one of the hairs on Strongbeard's chinny-chin-chin, giving him the strength to pin Strongbeard clean, scoring a point for Team Earth pretty quickly. This loss happened almost as fast as when fan-favorite-and-also-bearded Daniel Bryan got pinned in 18 seconds by Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII, and it's revealed to be just as well liked as that match as the audience showers the arena with boos and empty popcorn tins.

Dewey is not going to stand for this, and tries to convince the audience to stop cheering for a giant dragon man who wants to destroy the Earth, and start cheering for the billionaire that has prevented the destruction of the Earth multiple times. It's well established that this audience wants the Earth to be destroyed, as this event is literally for the Ragnarok, but his ignorance is a Dewey thing to do.

That ignorance angers one audience member so much that he decides to throw a wooden chair at him, a reference to the classic chair shot done many, many times in pro wrestling. The Millionaire Miser does manage to save him from an unintentional injury, as much as the fans really wanted that to happen. Unfortunately, this causes a different injury: this breaks Scrooge's back, forcing him to see what his next generation can do. It is heartbreaking to see Scrooge actually having to use his cane in ways other than hopping on enemy's heads, that's for sure.

Thankfully, Jörmungandr, as the babyface of the company, decides to rebook the second match as a tag-team match and not instantly declare victory over the Earth. Even Webby claims this makes Jörmungandr such a good guy, though Dewey disagrees. Scrooge does come to the obvious conclusion that Webby should be one of the team members, but he knows that he couldn't choose Huey because he doesn't know anything about wrestling. As for Louie...

He's too busy selling merchandise to the fans, somehow printing T-shirts of things that just happened. This is reminding me of another disaster, though not one related to wrestling, where a green person was selling T-shirts throughout the episode. Ugh, I don't want to be reminded of that one, either.

Scrooge suggests to himself that maybe Webby could tag-team with herself, but Dewey claims that he should fight. Scrooge tells him he's not ready, and Dewey ends up agreeing with that, giving up on the idea that Dewey Duck could be a champ...

...but Champ Popular can be a champ! Using a gimmick not too far off from the persona in his own 90's school sitcom dreams, he knows he can win the fans over by offering them lollipops. Even the music goes silent after that suggestion, as if it was a movie trailer. He decides to let him go through with this anyway, cheering him on, but telling Webby to do the fighting. In Dewey's mind, he knows this gimmick will turn the boos into woos. He doesn't look anything like Ric Flair!

Unfortunately, his plans for popularity doesn't work, as the lollipops are interpreted to mean that he thinks the audience are suckers. Webby shows up...and she's just Webby. I get that the joke is that Webby is just being her cute usual self, but it's kind of disappointing considering a lot of this plot hinges on embracing a character. It's not that the plot isn't there, as she gets booed slightly less, but it doesn't get to her as much as it gets to Dewey. Pretty much all the focus is on Dewey, and I think anyone can guess what's going to happen with this match even if the opponent wasn't going to be the ruler of the underworld.

Sure enough, Champ "Un" Popular and Webby has to fight Hecka, who is based on the Norse ruler of the underworld whose name is too similar to a word one couldn't say on Disney XD. What do you know, a reboot actually manages to do some research on Norse mythology besides "big dumb vikings". Hecka is joined by her pet wolf in both the myths and here, Fenrir, or "Fenny" as he's referred to on his dog bowl. This won't be the only "dog/wolf" joke in the episode.

She's also clearly The Undertaker, even referencing his trademark get up spot after a failed attempt to knock him out with a elbow drop. With the Undertaker, that happens after his opponent knocks him down, but Dewey can't even get that far because all of that booing. Scrooge is on the sidelines trying to get him to "embrace the boos", but Dewey just can't seem to shake off his lack of popularity in the ring. Dewey is all about his popularity, something that was shown with the "Dewey Dew-Night" shorts and pretty much everywhere else, so it's easy to understand why that alone would cause him to shiver.

He tags in Webby, who ends up doing a far better job at embracing her inner heel by comparing her opponents unfavorably to the Greek mythological warriors. She even manages to pin Hecka before good ol' Fenny interrupts the pin. Dewey tries to get a "cheater" chant going, but that's completely legal even in a non-Valhalla-rules tag-team match. Surprised that doesn't come up at all in this episode, especially with what happens later.

Webby does see Fenrir, and she tries to offer a belly rub. Get it, because while he's a mythological wolf, he's a still a dog! At first, it seems like that works, until Fenrir reveals that was just an act, and he throws her out of the ring.

As Webby slowly wakes up and tries to get back into the ring before this match ends in a countout, which is only implied, Dewey knows how to win. Unfortunately for Scrooge, he meant "win them over", as he tries to use his trusted lollipops to feed the puppy. Hey, it probably would have worked on Burger Beagle if he was still the glutton character he was in the original! Unfortunately, Fenrir is a non-walking and talking dog, and the audience calls him out for trying to feed candy to a dog. In those words; why would the Valhallans call him a dog?

Webby does show up to pin Fenrir and knocks out Hecka in the process, giving Champ Popular ample time to give Team Earth 2-0 and end this episode far earlier than expected. Of course, that doesn't work, and Fenrir gets out of Webby's pin to pin Champ Popular for the win, making the score 1-1.

But wait, Dewey was never tagged back in, and Fenrir wasn't tagged in at all, so this isn't a legal pin either way. It's possible that Webby was also getting pinned by Hecka at the same time, and there's nothing that disproves this. However, it seems that DuckTales 2017 is unwilling to have Webby show any kind of weakness even if it's all Dewey's fault. Launchpad reassures the audience that the world isn't coming to an end...

Jörmungandr: ...YET! (air guitars)

Deciding that Team Earth's lackluster performance is probably making his PPV not nearly as good as it should be, Jörmungandr rebooks the final match as well to be a battle royale, with just himself against all of the mortals of Team Earth. The rules are changed, too: people are eliminated if they fall outside of the ring, but one pinfall can also end the match for either team. This looks to be the third episode in a row that just turns into another giant fight scene with all of the beloved Disney Ducks, but it is separated a little.

While Webby distracts Jörmungandr with her own heel promo, Scrooge tries to give Dewey the pep talk. This unfortunately only ends with him implying that he's just not cut out for this, which only makes him feel worse. Gotta say, that's really Millionaire Miser of him, even if he's not wrong.

Back to the heel promo, Jörmungandr tells her he's not scared of Webby, and she adds that she isn't the one to be scared of.

It's the Millionaire Miser's Maid, the Shield Maiden, and she's a stunt granny! Sorry, I had to reference that one obscure TV special when I had the chance. I even see that she put on a costume similar to Thor's, who was the one that fought Jörmungandr in the original myths! This is also a reference to an original episode, "Maid of the Myth", which also references Norse mythology. Probably not a coincidence.

I have no idea how she could even be here, nor is it really even brought up. Almost all the other plot holes were pointed out, why not this one? Well, there may be a slight explanation to that one, as our designated plot hole revealer decided to leave the announcer's table because of his failures.

It's up to Louie this time to do his pep talk to both Dewey and Huey this time, and he's way more successful than Scrooge. He pretty much just gives up that t-shirt joke at this point in the episode just so he can fill this role. I guess they had to find someone, as everyone else was too busy either moping or fighting. Whatever, this comes just in time, as Jörmungandr's curb stomping of almost everyone around him is causing Valhalla to shake. Wait, I thought it was the Earth getting destroyed, not Valhalla!

Back in the ring, we see that I was slightly wrong: they can show Webby getting defeated on screen alongside her granny! The Millionaire Miser shows up too, alongside an unexpected swerve: the competent announcer was actually Captain Crash, and he's here to fight Jörmungandr!

Launchpad didn't realize nobody liked this when Michael Cole did the same thing for far too long, and he gets taken out rather easily...alongside the Millionaire Miser. I was thinking Scrooge had a no jobbing clause even outside of the ring, but here we are. Who could possibly save us now? John Cena? ... actually, they don’t seem to make a reference to John Cena as far as I can tell.

Well, we get the closest thing to John Cena even if he's way more like Bret Hart: Champ Popular, and this time it doesn’t matter if people boo him. In fact, he's knows he's so good, he shows it off in the most evil way possible: a bad joke followed by a high-five to signal that it was supposed to be funny! I do approve of the indirect bashing of the "fistbump in place of laugh track" trope!

So yes, it looks like Dewey has finally embraced his inner heel, and I'm sure Scrooge would be proud.

Unfortunately, it's here where the episode loses me. The whole episode was building up to a lesson about that it okay to do the right thing even if it would lead to a lack of popularity. However...the crowd starts to see Jörmungandr as a heel all of a sudden? It seems like he’s not fighting with honor, but now people are starting to boo him in a snap!

It doesn't make sense; they were cheering for the end of the Earth, and they were totally fine when his fellow Team Valhalla members were beating up kids before. He was a jerk before this scene and people still loved him. Maybe he's more of a jerk now, or maybe they noticed Valhalla was also getting destroyed by the coming Ragnarok, but the ending just seems like a tacked on way to make Dewey look like the good guy even when he was supposed to be the bad guy.

To make a long story short, the babyface and heel roles swap right in the middle of the match to the point where Dewey was able to borrow some of Strongbeard's impossible strength-giving beard. Why didn't Scrooge use that little hair he had in his part of this fight, which would have helped even if he had a broken back? Because Dewey wouldn't be able to learn his lesson that it's okay to do the right thing when people love you for it.

After the referee does what is clearly a fast count, as it seems like even he knows this episode has to be over in about a minute, Dewey is declared the champion, and he even gets awarded Jörmungandr's belt.

But, in a shocking swerve, the Millionaire Miser takes the gold away from him, and Dewey and Scrooge get ready for an extra main event. Broken back be damned: Scrooge knows he can beat up a little kid! ...wait.

The episode ends like Rocky III, complete with a cheesy 80's song playing in this scene and in the credits. Why is a wrestling episode referencing a boxing movie? Well, Rocky III had that one scene where Rocky had to fight a wrestler named Thunderlips, played by Hulk Hogan, for charity, so I guess it's fitting?

How does it stack up?

There are some neat references to pro wrestling throughout the entire episode, and I do like the story's idea. The second match could have been directed better, the ending feels really tacked on, and leaving Donald Duck and Della Duck out of this felt like a cop out. I couldn't get into this one as much as some of the previous episodes.

While I wouldn't say this episode is bad, I'd say this is slightly less quality than Challenge of the Senior Woodchucks. This would make it the least best episode of Season 3 so far. If anything, that's a testament to how good this season has been so far, but that means this only gets a 3.

Next, we have no idea, because the show's on hiatus again. However, I do have something for next week. In one week, I looked at the shorts. Next week, I look at some DuckTales 2017 commercials!

← Astro B.O.Y.D.! 🦆 The Commercials (Part 1?) →

#fpb dt 2017 #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #disney #fpb reviews

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jukeboxjulian · 4 years

Text

✗ closed starter: julian x rory

TW: continued mentions of domestic violence/abuse/assault

Julian knew the life cycle of a bruise intimately well. He’d nursed his fair share of them from inception to death, an unwitting father to hundreds of thousands who lived within the confines of his own body. There was the initial hit – deep red, burning scarlet, the accompanying taste of metal and the shallow gasping of breath. Then came the aftermath – dark purple, a bloody night sky streaked across the skin, pain to the touch. Eventually it faded, a yellow ring waltzing into frame, replacing the tender flesh with something closer to normalcy. And then things went back to normal, the skin healed, free of its markings, as if nothing had ever really transpired at all.

It had been two weeks since the day he’d met Aurora Graham. Knowing Julian, he’d have that date branded into his memory forever – the day he’d met Rory, the day he’d come crawling out of his self-imposed prison and seen the sunlight, the day he’d violated her trust and her body and her boundaries and had watched her leave with one last twirl of her skirt. Like Rory had mentioned that afternoon, his life had somehow split down the middle, the story of his life now composed entirely of a Before Rory and After Rory section. He’d expected After Rory to be full of bright lights and gentle hugs, skipping heartbeats and sugar cookies. And now After Rory had turned into anything but that utopic paradise.

When they’d first met, things seemed too good to be true. They clicked on another level – something cosmic, something visceral, something real beyond belief. There’d been the brush of fingertips, the earthen scent of an alleyway, smudged lipstick and the imprint of her lips against the lightly freckled skin of his shoulder. It had all happened so fast – too fast for someone like Julian, who usually needed weeks to even scratch the surface of another person.

He should’ve known better. That’s the one thought that kept creeping back into Julian’s mind night after night: You should have known better. He was better than this. He was not the boy who couldn’t control himself around a woman. He was not the boy who pushed her past her comfort zone, the one who acted first and asked for permission later. He was not the boy his female friends all talked about – the one who took things that weren’t his, the one who scarred them and left, the one who left wounds that couldn’t ever be fully healed. That was not, and never had been, him.

And yet it’s who he’d become. Julian had dreaded this reality more than anything, the one where the spectral hands of his dad finally coalesced around his neck and choked the last remaining bits of good out of him. He walked through life as a different person now – Julian Porter, son of Dylan. Julian Porter, temperamental, hard to deal with, brilliantly creative but at a cost. Julian Porter, abuser, assaulter, a machine filled to the brim with rage and anger nestled inside the body of someone who took it out on others.

He looked in the mirror and all he could see was his dad’s jaw line – strong, masculine, the jaw women went weak at the knees for. He saw the protruding veins threading up his arms, the same veins that ran up the canvas of his dad’s wrists, the ones that carried the unmistakable reality of his hellish heritage in his blood. He saw his dad’s nose, the one that was still slightly crooked after having been broken on three separate occasions. He saw his dad, fully and completely, blood splattered across his face, jaw clenched tightly. He had become his worst nightmare, and the transformation had happened at the expense of the girl he cared most about in the world.

It had all started out bright red – Rory scrambling out of his arms like a piece of prey trying to get out of the clutches of a predator. He could still see the heat in her cheeks, the tears clinging to the sides of her jade green eyes. He could hear her mumbling, babbling, throwing reasons into the air as she collected her things and left. Rory had left in such a hurry that Julian had found her baby pink hair tie on the ground next to his bed days later.

He’d tasted the blood again that night, felt the searing heat of the wound he’d somehow scratched into his own skin. He didn’t even have her phone number. That was something that had slapped the reality back into Julian – he’d just assaulted a woman he’d barely known for a few hours, a woman he couldn’t even properly apologize to. Rory hadn’t drawn blood as she removed herself from the prison of his arms, but she may as well have, because the aftermath felt exactly the same.

That night Julian had drawn the curtains and tended to the scarlet pain in his heart the only way he knew how. He thanked God for his roommates, who came back and respected his boundaries when he’d merely shaken his head at them and closed his door. At least some people in this house know how to respect boundaries, you fucking monster, he’d thought to himself. Night fell upon San Francisco, the sky dotted with muted stars. He looked up at the heavens, a swirling, dark purple, and felt it swallow him whole from his spot on the balcony.

He’d gone back in and felt the muted orchid bloom behind his irises as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take the past day back. He’d taken down every note that he’d previously taped up to his wall, all the little references his students and family members and friends had given Rory just hours prior. He wanted to apologize to all of them en masse for pulling the wool over their eyes, but it was too late, so he’d put the notes into an old shoebox and shoved them into the back of his closet, right past the black shirt Rory had almost worn to dinner.

The tiger lilies died slowly, agonizingly, their bright orange petals begging for attention that Julian just didn’t have anymore. He’d spent the next few days after that in a mulberry haze, red and purple and all the colors in between, healing as best as he could from the pain he’d inflicted on himself. He went to work, put more notes into the shoebox, let Belle tug along at the leash on walks, her dark, watery eyes looking into his as if saying, “Please step outside, dad. Please stop punishing yourself.”

He finally picked up his guitar a week after Rory had left. The songs had come to him in a flash, dark plum fading into something softer, more tender, a light lilac that only time could bring. Julian had heard the piano keys in his mind one morning and had ignored them, forcing the songs out onto the strings of his guitar instead. Piano was her instrument. He didn’t deserve the ivory anymore, not when he’d almost certainly taint it with splotches of red and black, the same way he’d tainted her. And so the music was scribbled onto lined sheets through an incongruous medium, one that sounded just slightly off for the subject matter. Over the last two weeks, Julian had learned to accept that everything from now on would feel slightly off, now that Rory was gone from his life.

Finally, after a week and a half, signs of life began to emerge from the cocoon Julian had wrapped himself in. He’d started throwing himself into his work, coming up with extra songs to teach the kids about subtraction, their subject of the week. He couldn’t go to Jukebox anymore, so songwriting was the next best thing, and the subject matter felt fitting, anyway. A piece of him was missing now, permanently gone, and he had to live with the guilt of that truth for the rest of his life.

It was time now for him to repent, to speak clearly about his sins and apologize as best as he could. Julian found himself looking for forgiveness everywhere he could – in the few churches he’d stepped into, in the major chords he strummed, in the notes he scribbled out and eventually threw in the trash because they’d never quite express just how sorry he was. He’d mulled the apology over in his mind, turning the words around in his consciousness over and over again, searching for the right thing to tell Rory, but nothing ever did his feelings justice.

After days upon days of serving penance for a crime everyone universally agreed he hadn’t committed, Julian had settled on the package he’d send to Rory. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but he knew he had to do something, anything, to let her know he understood her pain and would do anything to make things up to her. The project had taken the entire weekend, and it still didn’t feel right in his hands, even as he walked it to Jukebox and handed it to Finn, right in the alleyway where he’d kissed Rory a fortnight ago.

Over the weekend, Julian had learned why Zoe paid the employees at Lush $7.95 for a perfectly-made bath bomb. He’d always had a respect for people who made things by hand, but this weekend had imbued in him an undying gratitude for bath bomb creators. He’d probably inhaled more citric acid and cornstarch than he cared to admit, but after hours of tampering with the formula, Julian had three only slightly misshapen vanilla sugar bath bombs to add to his gift basket.

The next part of the gift had come much more easily to him. Chinese food had never been his forte, but Julian had promised himself he’d perfect the recipe for orange chicken and chow mein even if it killed him. Poor Danny, Kevin, and Zoe had eaten at least five different iterations of the recipe, especially since he couldn’t eat the chicken, and he’d made a mental note to make them their favorite foods as thanks for acting as lab rats. Finally, after much trial and error, he’d settled on the perfect recipes. He’d even went and gotten a fancy glass container to deliver the food in instead of his usual, spaghetti sauce splattered Tupperware. It all had to be perfect, or as close to perfect as it possibly could be.

The last part was the easiest of them all. Julian had always frequented the floral shop a few blocks down from his apartment, run by a tiny, old Chinese woman who told the white people of San Francisco that her name was Chloe when her Chinese name was Mei. He’d been paying Mei a visit every month for the past six years, to the point where she’d begun to add a few tiger lilies into his bouquet free of charge. It was an expensive habit to have, but tiger lilies had always reminded him of his mom, and he liked supporting local businesses. Occasionally he’d get other plants and flowers from her – succulents for Finn, roses for Zoe, sunflowers for Danny’s sister, Sarah.

They were good friends now, which meant Mei had immediately been able to pinpoint that something was wrong with Julian when he’d walked in. “No tiger lilies today, Xiao Liwu?” she’d asked, a paper-thin frown settling into her wrinkled skin. She’d given him the nickname – Little Gift in Chinese – after Julian had shown her a picture of the baby panda, Xiao Liwu, that he’d seen at the San Diego Zoo long ago. “You are a little gift to everyone, Julian. Don’t stop being who you are,” she had told him after sticking a free tiger lily in his bouquet all those years ago.

“No tiger lilies today, Mei,” he’d said, the dejection palpable in his tone. Julian wanted to ask her to give the nickname to someone else, someone better, someone who actually was a gift to the people around them. Someone like Rory. But he swallowed his doubts and gave her a hilariously simple run down of what he needed the lush bouquet of baby pink and white peonies for: “I really hurt someone and I need to make it up to them before I hurt them more.” Mei had smiled and given him the flowers free of charge, leaving him with a simple statement: “You couldn’t hurt a fly, Xiao Liwu, even if it flew onto your flowers and started eating them.”

The final touch, the warped, sharp-edged piece de resistance that struck him to his core, was the police report Julian had printed and filled out. Filling out his details came almost too naturally to him – cosmetically the report looked slightly different from Santa Barbara’s version of it, but the innards were all the same, and it took him a little less than a minute to get all his information down. This time, though, he’d put his information in a different set of boxes – the ones labeled “description of suspect”. Brown hair, brown eyes, crooked nose, the spitting image of Santa Barbara’s own Dylan Porter.

And so he’d done it – he’d met Finn in the alleyway and handed him the small wicker basket, complete with bath bombs, pristinely packaged Chinese food, peony bouquet, and the stupid police report Kevin had told him to leave out. He’d left Rory a tiny note, written in his cleanest handwriting, the paper still crumpled slightly at the edges from the tears he hadn’t been able to contain. “Hi, Rory. I’m so sorry. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for hurting you. I promise I’ll be better in the future with the boundaries of other people, for you. I never, ever meant to hurt you, and I am infinitely sorry that I did. You really are something special. Please don’t ever stop smiling. X Julian.”

He knew Finn would get the gift to Rory. In fact, he’d probably found her right after going back to the café – this was the time she’d taken her lunch break two weeks ago, and Julian could only hope she’d be craving Chinese food the same way she had that day, if he hadn’t ruined the idea of it for her entirely. It broke his heart knowing he’d inadvertently created a new trigger for someone – that someone wouldn’t be able to enjoy their favorite food or wear their plaid skirt or see tiger lilies the same way anymore. But a part of him had accepted who he’d become. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he handed the gift over and led Belle back onto the sidewalk, guitar slung around his shoulders, dog treats and songwriting notebook in tow.

It was bright out, and for the first time in weeks, Julian welcomed the warmth that illuminated the path before him. The sunshine surrounded him, pale golden like the bruise that had finally started to heal, even if it was still tender to the touch. Today was a new day – a better day, he’d already decided. Perhaps he’d pick up a few more shifts at the animal shelter later today, or he’d make another lasagna to take to the soup kitchen. His momentum was trending upward, and he knew he needed to take advantage of it.

“Excited for play time, pumpkin?” Julian asked Belle, a genuine smile spreading onto his features as Belle looked up at him and woofed. They walked a few minutes past the record store to one of the parks less frequented by tourists and locals alike. It was smaller than the other parks in the area, less decorated and a bit unassuming, but Belle had always loved it more than any of the others. Perhaps she knew her dad needed the solitude.

He found a spot to himself easily and offered a few passersby a half-smile as he fished Belle’s favorite ball out of his backpack. “You ready, muffin? Go get it!” Julian exclaimed, excitement palpable in his voice as he set his things down and wiggled the ball in front of her eyes. Watching the joy creep into Belle always lifted his spirits, and he couldn’t help but beam brightly as he tossed the ball and watched her chase after it at lightning speed. The slightly portly pit bull came trotting back to him with the ball, excitement lighting up her entire face. “Good job, monkey. I’m so proud of you. I love you so much.”

#( threads )#( julian x rory )#auroragraham #did I cry while writing this? yes. go away #Julian Stop Tormenting Yourself 2k20

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venus-says · 5 years

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Kamen Rider Gaim Episodes 21-47

I LOVE FRUITS.

⚠ ⚠ Warning! Very long post ahead, be prepared. ⚠ ⚠

Yes, I got a bit too excited about this damn show and I couldn't contain myself from watching the rest of it on the weekend so here we are, a post for the rest of the show in its entirety.

I feel like this, kinda like the first one I did for Gaim, will be a post where it'll look like I hate the show because I'll talk a lot about the points I disliked and I won't spend as much time talking about what I did enjoy so let me just reinforce, I LOVED THIS SHOW A LOT (so much that I couldn't wait for another week to watch the ending) it's just that ironically it's easier to talk about the bad points rather than the good ones. XD

Since there's a whole lot to talk about I'll do this differently and instead of talking about the story as a whole, I'll comment on each character and their journey instead because I feel like this the best way to do it.

Starting with our protagonist, Kouta... was kinda difficult for me. Like, I get that he went through a lot and he definitely had an arc of growth that was compelling to watch, but I think his indecisiveness at times was kinda boring to see. And my problem isn't so much that he's not assertive of what decisions he has to take is the fact that we see him in periods of doubt, then the show makes it seem like he finally has made a decision, just to a few episodes later make him be doubtful of his convictions again. And while I understand that it's a normal thing to change your thoughts about something, I feel like it happens SO MUCH in the show that it feels forced for convenience of the narrative at times. They can't make him decide on a path earlier because the path of other characters wasn't laid down yet so he had to be in this constant roller coaster which got a little tiring after the fourth time he argued about what would be the best course of action to deal with Yggdrasil, the Overlord invasion, Kaito and Mitchy, and all of that.

Though I'll give credit for the show where it's due and it is very in character for Kouta to be like this so as much as it bugged me I know that if he was a real person IRL Kouta would do the exact same things and take the exact same decisions he made so that's great. Though I have a little problem with his selflessness, in the end they make a huge point about how Kouta was always like that, he always put the needs of the others before his own, but we never really see a backstory for him, the closest we get to his past is that one episode where we get to know that he rescues a dog while he was kid, so all we have to back up that claim is the show and, at least to me, it never felt like he was putting himself aside for the others. Of course, that may be because he's so selfless that even when it looks like he's doing things for his own satisfaction he is helping the others because that's where his satisfaction comes from, but I can't deny that it felt like we missed an episode just to illustrate that a little better.

Now, if there's one thing I really didn't buy was Kouta basically becoming a God by the end. First, he looks awful, I know his "armor" is basically the Zenith form but goooooosh he looks awful, everything there looks 4 sizes bigger than Kouta's actors actual size and geez that wig... how could they find a wig for Mai that looked pretty natural (aside from the color) but gave him that awful instant noodle wig???? And not just the looks, I knew that Kouta would be the one to be chosen in the end, not just because of his relationship with Mai but also because the entity that should be impartial in this whole matter only actively helped him during this journey so aside of a brief moment where I thought Kaito had the chance of being the one, I pretty much knew since the beginning that the one to hold the golden apple at the end would be him, which took all the tension this specific plot had to me.

Speaking of Gaim, he got two new forms, and they were pretty dope. The first one is the Triumph Arms and it sits with OOO's Tajador and Wizards' Infinity as my favorite rider forms from the ones I could experience so far. He looks like he's fully geared up and he's gonna get into that field and beat the entire enemy army on its own, I absolutely love everything about it, the fact this form has two flags on his back announcing that he's coming and those flags are also used in combat to me it's just incredible, and the DJ Gun???? Omg, that's so creative and so fun, I absolutely love it, also the bgm song that plays when this form is used is super hype and I desperately need to download it and listen to it on repeat for a whole month. The way it came up to be in the show was a little meh, the first time he uses it is to destroy Yggdrasil's scalar weapon thing so it wasn't that big of a moment, but it was still great. The other form he gets isn't as cool, at least to me, but I love that his final form is an actual shogun, again whoever was the person who came with this concept was a genius. I have an aesthetic problem with the fruits basket on his chest plate, but I pretty much like everything else about it. This form is everything Fourze's Cosmic States wanted to be but less convoluted and way better looking. And again another great song for this form, I know it's not exclusive for him but it doesn't make it any less awesome, honestly, Gaim's soundtrack is just incredible.

Moving on to Kaito, seeing his descent into the final villain of the show and perishing because of it was quite fun, and I also like that despite him going to the evil path he didn't become a monster. I mean, he did become a monster by the end after he turned into an Overlord himself, but even in his villainous path he still cared for the people who were at his side, you could see that he cared for Zack (to a certain extent), and he really cared for Yoko, so it was good to see that he didn't just become a senseless evil force, he had a vision for what he wanted and he was determined to achieve his goal. If I have to say a bad thing about him, and in this case, it's very similar to one of the complains I had about Kouta, that is the fact that we didn't get a lot of his past, I said in my first post that I didn't really get him and I still feel this way, all I know from his past is that he hates Yggdrasil for taking over the city and destroying the life that he had, but we don't know anything else and it gets hard to understand why is he so obsessed with power like that, I think that if instead of having the episode that served as tie-in for the movie we had used that to dive into his path and on his character more it would've been better, especially to make his death more impactful (but maybe that's not really necessary and the impression I have from this moment not being as good is because of the faces his actor was doing at that moment).

Talking about Baron, I got a little disappointed because his power-up form as a Rider was using the Lemon Energy lock seed and you know considering he would end up becoming the final villain I wish he didn't use the same lock seed that other two riders already used, especially when for one of them Lemon is it's only form, I don't know if it was a logistic problem but like they could've given him another fruit to use, or even make a Banana Energy lock seed and make it feel like if it was a direct evolution of his suit. But I think they redeemed themselves with his Overlord design because it looks amazing, very threatening and incredibly powerful. I think I'll never forget his final fight with Ryoma, it was awesome.

Mitchy was fun, I hated him every second of it but it was really fun seeing him becoming a crazy, obsessive, delusional asshole. He was everything I wanted for a villain, but I didn't like how he ended. Like, he almost killed Kouta and his brother, and the other characters in the show kept wanting to save him, and then in the end the show gave him a redemption by making him a hero and I was "oh please no". Call me a heartless prick but I do think he should've ended broke in the same mind state he was after Mai "died", I'm not against the idea of bringing Takatora back from the dead, but he really shouldn't be there acting as a hero in the final fight for the last episode. If they wanted to redeem him they should make him play the role Gridon had in that fight but without transforming and then Kouta comes back, he forgives Mitchy, but Mitchy doesn't forgive himself and he still has to live with the consequences of his acts weighing on his heart and he'll have to work to become a better person with the help of his brother instead of magically becoming a hero and everything is all joy and dances.

Next in line is Mai, and the problem I have with her is the same problem I have with the archetype she is in this story. She's the girl who has a deep connection with the main rider that has almost no personality that in the end plays up a crucial role in the main story, it was like that with Koyomi in Wizard, with Yuki in Fourze (on a smaller scale), Hina and OOO, and I'm really tired of this, especially because none of these characters are actual characters, none of them get any level of development through-out their shows, they have a quirk unique to them (Hina's supernatural strength, Yuki enthusiasm for space, Koyomi is a doll, Mai likes dancing) and is that quirk that defines them and their actions and it's really boring. Making characters like them be so important for the final plot kinda weakens everything because these are characters that I don't care for, but then suddenly they have the power of god inside them and I must get apprehensive about who she'll turn into a god as well even though when it's obvious who they'll choose to beneficiate in the end. I really don't like this element.

Zack was a nice surprise, I do think they waited too long to give his character some development because despite he appearing quite a lot he also was in the back seat many of those times so it was a bit of wasted potential. But he had his times to shine and when it came to it he really shined brightly, I think one thing that helped him a lot was all his interactions with Kaito while he tries to understand what's going on with his friend that he cares so deeply. I should be angry at him since Yoko died because of him, but I can't deny that his plan at the end to act as a double agent was pretty cool. I'm glad they gave him a movie special because I feel like he really deserves more exposure, I started not caring for him but I ended liking him quite a lot.

Another set of characters that also changed in my concept was Oren and Hide. My problems with them still exist, but after seeing their bond in episode 25 and seeing them becoming allies I grew to like them more, especially during the final arc. I still wish they weren't used for comedy as much as they are, but I came to be okay with them. Also, Hide in that final episode showed a lot of character seeing that he hasn't let go from Hase yet showing that he's more than just a coward guy that lives in the shadows of the others so, it's kinda impossible to hate on them after the end of the show.

Going to the new generation Riders, Takatora it's the one that had the most interesting development. I think what I like the most from this portion was seeing that he's very genuine in his desire to help humanity, he was open to listening to Kouta when he got to know about the Overlords, he didn't want this fight to happen, he just wanted to keep people safe. I also liked seeing he's fall and his uprising, everything happened in a very short time span, but it was very interesting to see his world falling apart in front of his eyes, but even then he didn't lose his convictions and this culminates in that great episode where he fights against Mitchy. I'm a sucker for siblings fighting each other in situations like that and they really delivered here, like bringing back his original melon suit to go against Mitchy who was using his energy lock seed was awesome, I did wish he had won that but I guess if he had won we wouldn't have Mitchy going deeper and deeper in his darkness so... but I'm glad they brought him back, just wish they had used him more in the final episode. But well, we got him as a "ghost" inside Mitchy's head for a good portion of the show so I guess it was a good trade-off. I'm really excited to watch his movie.

Yoko makes me sad. Not because she's bad but because the show didn't allow her to be used to her full potential. Like, she's a strong independent woman, but the show doesn't let her shine on her own, she for some reason, has to be always following a man, and even though she's still amazing and all the decisions she makes are very befitting with her character, I still wish she had done more. I thought at that moment where Ryoma left her behind while the Overlord invasion was happening she would finally bloom, but no, she just started following Kaito around. And don't get me wrong, her period with Kaito was very good, it ended up with her getting killed but it was still good, I just wish they had used her more, especially considering her actress also did a good portion of her in-suit scenes. I think wasted potential is the best way to describe her, sadly. Still love her to death tho.

Sid and Ryoma I don't have a lot to talk about. Sid was interesting just until the time he stopped being a dude that watches the situation from the outside, in the moment he started to get obsessed with power he lost all he had going on for him. At least he died and his death was quite decent so. And Ryoma, well he's Ryoma, he never had that much of a character to begin with so I don't have a lot to say. He's the typical mad scientist that's willing to use any ways possible for the sake of his research. It's not much, but it works for him.

The final characters to talk about are the Overlords. I like them, their designs are very cool, I like the concept of them being the last reminiscent of their civilization, and I also like that they gave them a new language. I have a problem with the fact that after a certain point they start to use Overlords as MOTW, but it doesn't offend me a whole lot. I like how they enter this story both as a threat and as a sliver of hope and despite becoming the main villainous actors they don't last till the end. I think what we got was way more interesting than if the Overlords had taken the final boos spot.

This pretty much sums up all of my thoughts in regards to the characters, but I still have a few nitpicks to talk about in a general perspective.

First, the show had two episodes that broke the action that were very weirdly placed, the first is that one with cyborg guy and the second is the tie-in with the movie, and these episodes shouldn't exist, I'm sorry. I know the tie-in episode is kinda important because it's a villain of the movie that comes attack in the final episode, but I only know that because I went to look it up because from the tie-in episode there's no way for the audience that only had contact with the show to know who's that rider attacking is. My second nitpick is that the show ended without a message, I know a message it's not something necessary to make a show good or not, but I don't know I feel like it would've been nice to have something it was trying to pass.

In any case, this is already way longer than it should be so I'll wrap up right here. Gaim is an awesome show, despite my problems with it I really love it and I definitely recommend everyone to watch it. I'm in love with this series and I don't wanna let it go. I hope the next one will be just as good. Now if y'all excuse me I'll walk in the path of blossoms to my bed, thank you so much for reading this absurdly long post and don't forget, if they could make fruits and samurai work you can make any of your stupid ideas become real as well, maybe that's the whole message of Gaim. XD Oh well, I'll see you, folks, on the next time. ^^

#Kamen Rider Gaim #kamen rider

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thecheapsteaks · 5 years

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I put down a bunch of thoughts about Kirby Right Back At Ya for you to read

Kirby of the Stars, or as it's known in America, Kirby: Right Back At Ya, is an odd little duck of a game tie in show. It came to existence in 2001 in Japan and lasted for about two years for 100 episodes. It began airing at a rather unusual time for Kirby as a series. The games had appeared both on consoles and handhelds since their beginning in 1992, but Kirby was about to transfer to being primarily a console game. Kirby's Air Ride for the N64 had been cancelled and would later be reborn as a unique racing game on the Gamecube, but for the time being all mainline platforming Kirby games would be on the GBA (and later DS) until Kirby's Return to Dreamland launched in 2011.

During it's run in Japan the game would see the launch of a GBA remake of Kirby's Adventure called Nightmare in Dreamland in the US, as well as Kirby Air Ride. The former was likely released as a tie-in for the anime, while the latter would receive tie-in episodes premiering near the show's finale in Japan. In America the game ran from 2002-2006 on the 4kids based Fox Box, and would run alongside the release of Kirby Canvas Curse, Squeak Squad, and Kirby Super Star Ultra as well, although due to the anime's production these would not be tied in.

Kirby would seem like a fun, albeit challenging character to adapt to a cartoon, as Kirby cannot talk and the masterminds behind the series would not want him to talk. To make up for this Kirby, who finds himself fighting monsters in an area on Popstar called Cappy Town, would receive the anime-common peppy kid partners in Bart and Lisa Simpson... I mean Tiff and Tuff. This was the common thing in kid's anime, seen in the Transformers shows that ran at the time as well as in Sonic X.

While Kirby games are famous for their escalation from normal adventures to fighting some sort of cosmic threat, the anime goes for a much more episodic approach that doesn't really ramp up the stakes until the last five episodes. Nightmare Monster Enterprises, or NME, sells Monsters to King Dedede, who uses them to clobber Kirby until they are beaten by Kirby's unique power copying.

NME mostly remains in the shadows until the last few episodes when their more direct assault on Cappy Town prompts Kirby and the game to go right to their futuristic headquarters. Their leader, the Nightmare from Kirby's Adventure, which 4kids confusingly names NME, only appears sparingly through the show, with most of the hands on work done by the amusing NME Salesman. The choice of Nightmare as the big bad shows just how much emphasis the show puts on Kirby's Adventure, given that the Nightmare is only in that game. Meanwhile, Dark Matter, a much more prominent evil in the Kirby games (who is tied with the villains and events in more recent Kirby games) appears as a minor enemy in the show's pilot.

Interestingly, Dedede shows how much of a basis the game places on the very early Kirby games. Dedede, who began as a greedy king who would take his subjects' foods freely, would go on to become a rival and frequent Ally to Kirby. Although he remains a bit greedy and lazy, he is nowhere near as antagonistic as his anime counterpart. While Dedede and his snail Escargoon are the comic highlights of the show, admittedly there are some slightly off-putting jokes at the king's ignorance, such as his inability to read.

Meta Knight is one of the show's other main carryover from the games In the games he would go from a mysterious antagonist to mysterious rival to mysterious ally. In the game he is the mysterious star warrior who works under Dedede who helps to strengthen Kirby as a warrior for the upcoming fight against Nightmare. He also exists to provide exposition, describe Kirby's ability, and has a cool little guitar lick that plays when he appears.

The main weakness of K:RBAY (wait is that almost an abbreviation for Kirby) is that it is absolutely a show for babbies. Children's anime are not necessarily bad things, but this show does not come close to the interesting plots of shows such as it's predecessor Digimon, for example, or the long running Pretty Cure series, which would premier after. It is, aside from the finale as well as a few multi-parters, an absurdly episodic show. New characters that appear either leave at the end of the episode, or if they do stick around, never show up again around Cappy Town.

And for a Kid's show, it tackles more “mature” themes rather oddly. Ideas such as the environment, labor, and banks are brought up but then cast aside for later themes over the course of one episode, jumping around subplots like late era simpsons episodes. Many times these plots are swept aside so Kirby can fight a monster, which often involves him absorbing a power in a very henshin-esque manner. This weird dropping of plot hooks is definitely disappointing when the shows mentioned above have shown much better attempts (for better or worse) at handling interesting subjects in a kid friendly manner.

At the same time, I'm not advocating a more serial Kirby anime, or some sort of grimdark adaptation. It's simply interesting to see how clumsy and odd this show is. At the same time, this weirdness means that it is one of the 4kids dubs that works best, showing that when they are not tackling more serious themes (or erasing any weapons) that they can do some goofy comedy. I can only imagine how straight forward the original Japanese dialogue can be compared with some of the barbs flung at King Dedede, or his amazing malapropisms. Honestly, the kind of escalation and battles done in the Kirby games may best be done in games. Still, no matter who you are, you gotta admit that the 4kids theme song is a work of absolute art.

#Kirby right back at ya #kirby #kirby of the stars #4kids #write up #the most anyone has ever written on this show

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wazafam · 4 years

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Now that Agnes has been revealed as WandaVision's real villain Agatha Harkness, how is she linked to notorious Marvel demon Mephisto? Many comic book readers have speculated on his involvement in the show, and while there have been several Mephisto references sprinkled throughout, it is not entirely outside the realm of possibility that the Marvel menace may make an outright appearance. To explore Mephisto and Agatha's potential impact on the MCU, we must first look at their comic book origins.

Long-suspected by viewers to be comic book sorceress Agatha Harkness, Agnes finally introduced her true magical self on episode 7 titled "Breaking the Fourth Wall." Wanda is at her wit's end, having disrupted the already established boundaries of her fantasy world to save Vision. In a homage to classic sitcoms Modern Family and The Office, Wanda sends the kids off with Agnes and takes the day to unwind – that is, until Monica Rambeau confronts her about Westview. Agnes whisks Wanda away for tea at her place, but instead of finding the twins, she discovers the basement lair of Agatha Harkness, whose intentions in Westview are insidious at best.

Related: Why WandaVision's TV Signal Dies In Episode 7

Wanda can hardly react before Agatha takes control of her with a wave of her hand. Agatha's role in WandaVision seems to vary dramatically from the elderly part-time governess of the comics, as it leans more into her being the big baddie of the series. That said, Mephisto could still make an appearance in the last two episodes and wreak havoc well into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Let's take a look at how their connection is developed in the comics as opposed to on television.

While Agatha Harkness and Mephisto do not work together in the comics, they share a connection through Scarlet Witch. Both characters have been around for millennia, but Agatha has been decidedly less evil than Marvel's version of the devil. Agatha works as a governess for Reed Richards' son Franklin and as a mentor and teacher to Wanda. Her main villainous act in regard to Scarlet Witch in the comics is wiping any memory of Billy and Tommy from her mind, thereby causing Scarlet Witch to go insane, enact the "House of M" events, and kill Agatha.

Mephisto, on the other hand, is a staunch demonic presence in the Marvel comic universe. He's menaced the lives of several Avengers and has a hand in Tommy and Billy's birth. Unbeknownst to Wanda, the energy she uses to bring the twins to life includes fragments of Mephisto's being. Later on, supervillain Pandemonium, who has made a deal with Mephisto after losing his arms in a car crash, kidnaps and reabsorbs the twins into his new arms, which are revealed to be extensions of Mephisto's soul. Billy and Tommy are erased forever, at least until they're resurrected as Wiccan and Speed in later issues. Mephisto and Agatha may not have been planning anything together explicitly, but their characters prove detrimental to Wanda's sanity and tie directly to her twins.

Agatha masks her identity throughout most of WandaVision, appearing simply as an overly helpful, busybody neighbor. In her official theme song "Agatha All Along," Agatha manipulates several characters and secretly changes the narrative's course. She even admits to murdering Wanda's dog, Sparky. It seems a bit like Agatha and Mephisto's characters were fused into one terrible villain, judging by her actions. While both versions of Agatha maintain a friendly relationship with Wanda, WandaVision's portrayal is decidedly more deceptive.

Related: WandaVision's Hidden Credits Message Explained

Though there have been several hints to Mephisto's inclusion in the show, like a blink-and-you'll-miss-it 666 in the Stark toaster commercial and Wanda's pregnancy, he hasn't been officially confirmed yet. This is a major change from the comics, since his role has not been made apparent. Fan theories have floated around linking Mephisto to Agatha's absent husband Ralph or the very entity responsible for making Wanda's fake reality possible. Establishing a clear and definitive relationship between Agatha and Mephisto would be a nice deviation from the comics.

While Mephisto has not appeared in the flesh, "the devil is in the details" as Agatha says in an earlier episode. Perhaps Agatha's mysterious magic book in the basement could be linked to resurrecting Mephisto, since Tommy and Billy are a part of him in the comics. It could be that Agatha is also working with him to feed off the cosmic energy that is powering Westview. An image has also been circulating showing a demonic face carved into one of Agatha's underground columns. If Mephisto isn't there yet, he's surely on his way.

Another hint at Mephisto's possible involvement is the green cicada Wanda spots on the curtain at Agatha's house. While this insect is traditionally a symbol of rebirth and transformation, it could also be a stand-in for Mephisto's comic book appearance as a fly. Additionally, Agatha's pet rabbit may have demonic ties, since Señor Scratchy shares a name with both Agatha's villainous comic book son Nicholas Scratch and Old Scratch, the devil's nickname. Whereas Agatha's comic book counterpart owns a black cat who can morph into a fearsome wildcat, only time will tell if Señor Scratchy possesses similar abilities.

There’s also episode 7's Nexus commercial connection. While not necessarily a link to Agatha, it does provide insight into where Doctor Strange 2 may be headed. The Nexus is a cross-dimensional gateway to other realities. In alternate reality Earth-12101, for example, Dreadpool, a crazier and more unhinged version of Deadpool, shows up and kills Doctor Strange and Wong. As the sequel does explore the Multiverse of Madness, Agatha's big reveal and her manipulation of Wanda likely form the main conflict Doctor Strange must contend with.

As WandaVision draws to a close, it is entirely possible Mephisto will have his proper introduction. With Agatha's rising control over Wanda and likely Westview, there is no doubt that some greater evil will threaten to destroy Wanda's fantasy world. As her family is already splintered, it'll be compelling to watch how Agatha and Mephisto fit into the grander scheme of the MCU.

Next: Who Is Agatha Harkness? WandaVision's Real Villain Explained

WandaVision's Real Villain's Link To Mephisto Explained from https://ift.tt/3qIWEm6

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maplesyruplover · 1 year

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Like No Other Place In Space - Chapter 2 - SuicidalPyro (foxface27) - Transformers - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]

I'm having a lot of fun writing this!

#transformers #praxian oc #prowl #crash cart #bluestreak #kid cosmic #kid cosmic transformers tie in #im doing okay #still busy with kiddos and only really being online when theyre in bed!

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Talking the End of Days with Pale Grey Lore

With the release of their new record 'Eschatology' (2019) on Small Stone Records, Doomed & Stoned caught up with Pale Grey Lore frontman Michael Miller to talk about the Doomsday Clock and apocalyptic riffs....

Photo by Tristan Weary

I’m intrigued by the title of the new album, “Eschatology.” Being a P.K. myself (preacher’s kid) it had been a while since I’d heard it used. What does the word signify and how did you come to be inspired by the concept for this album?

Eschatological doctrine lays out a particular religion’s conception of the ultimate fate of humankind and how the world is destined to end. It typically includes a salvation narrative which is designed to tie up pesky philosophical loose ends like the problem of how there could possibly be an all-good, all-powerful deity who allows so much unnecessary suffering to occur in the world. The standard line is that, despite appearances, all this suffering is actually part of some kind of divine plan for cosmic justice, and when the world ends as prophesied, everything will be sorted out in some kind of eternal hereafter.

Nobody in the band is religious at all, but we all grew up in (more or less) Catholic families, so these ideas are familiar enough. And although I’m highly skeptical of the idea of salvation or the prospect of an afterlife, the end-of-the-world aspect of eschatological doctrine struck me as particularly fitting given the way we’re marching toward impending climate disaster under late capitalism.

Artwork by Adam Eckley

It seems like we’ve had a kind of love-affair with the idea of apocalypse and living in a post-apocalyptic world for at least three or four decades, ever since Mad Max captured the popular imagination. How inevitable is an “apocalyptic” event in humanity’s future, do you think?

Recently, we’ve seen increasingly dire warnings about what the planet is in for over the next few decades (see the IPCC report from last October and if that doesn’t rattle you, go ahead and search “Deep Adaptation”). The fossil fuel industry has known about the coming climate catastrophe and how to prevent it since 1977. It’s still unreal to me to think about that.

Instead of sounding the alarm and fundamentally changing how they operate, corporations did everything in their power to suppress that information and sow public doubt about the link between carbon emissions and climate change. When scientists finally convinced the public that climate change was real, corporations cleverly dodged responsibility by pushing the false narrative that individual consumer choice was the real problem, rather than the structural dependence on fossil fuels that they imposed on us without our informed consent.

Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock moves closer and closer to midnight as nuclear non-proliferation treaties continue to expire without being renewed and states race to develop deadly new weapons. What happens when coastal regions are inundated by rising seas, food production takes a nosedive, and we find ourselves in the midst of the worst global refugee crisis in human history?

It’s difficult not to feel powerless in the face of these realizations. For me, the best and most appropriate reaction is creative expression. So that’s really what the whole concept of the album is all about. Weaving a fictional narrative that explores these themes in a fantastical context provides a sense of control and an opportunity for catharsis. It’s in some ways escapist, but it’s also deeply rooted in reality.

Eschatology by Pale Grey Lore

Can you take a moment to walk us through each of the tracks and draw out any themes or points of interest (e.g. background, composition, recording, performing, etcetera).

Like the first album, each song on ‘Eschatology’ is a sort of vignette--a brief (though not necessarily temporally adjacent) episode in the grand timeline of our concept world.

Album opener “Sunken Cities” is told from the perspective of the survivors in the aftermath of the greatest and most destructive war the planet has ever seen. “Greed Springs Eternal” depicts disaster capitalism and unaccountable oligarchy in a flashback to the pre-war era. On “Before the Fall,” revolutionaries who resisted corporate neo-feudalism in the final days of the empire struggle to cope with nuclear winter. Flashing back in time again, “Regicide” depicts an assassination attempt that, had it succeeded, could have radically altered the course of history. The final track of side A, “Waiting for the Dawn,” is a morbidly romantic number that takes place after the nuclear winter is over and the surface finally becomes (more or less) habitable again.

Side B kicks off with “The Rift,” which describes the reality-warping arrival of cosmic horrors that feed on entropy, attracted to destruction and suffering like moths to a flame. We flash back to the great war on “Void-Cursed,” with the ruling elites fleeing into space as the planet burns behind them. “Silent Command” depicts the fate of unwary travellers who stumble across the strange towers that appear across the landscape once the cosmic rift has closed. “Undermined” is part of the liturgy of a pre-war religious sect that started out critical of the rapacious oligarchy but later transformed into an accelerationist death-cult. And finally, the title track “Eschatology” is a nihilistic sermon from the death-cult’s high priest urging his followers (who are largely members of the ruling elite) to achieve salvation by actively doing whatever they can to make things worse.

Film by Cleveland Underground Scene

What was the studio experience like for you this time around? Did you find it refined any of the songs written or that it brought more cohesion to the album as a whole?

Like the first album, Eschatology was recorded and mixed by our friend Andy Sartain at his Columbus home studio. Andy is very chill and always creates a relaxed and supportive environment, which is what you want if you are trying to coax the best possible performance out of a band. One big change from the first album is that in the interim we added a new member, our guitarist Xander, who went to college for audio engineering. His background in music production was immensely valuable and made a huge impact on the record.

We definitely didn’t rush the recording process on this one. I think the fact that we took our time with it definitely helped create more cohesion. We did the initial live tracking of drums, bass, and rhythm guitar in early December and spent the next month and a half doing the overdubs and adding layers. Some of the newer songs that we hadn’t really played live much only developed into their final forms in the studio environment after we were able to hear some early playback. Even the songs we had played a good amount live benefitted from the extra layers and dimensions we were able to add in the studio. The time spent in the studio really was a kind of final capstone component to the songwriting for us.

Photo by Tristan Weary

What are some of the tools of the trade that you’re using to produce your sound?

Adam plays a Gretsch drum kit and uses Zildjian K Custom cymbals. Donovan plays a Rickenbacker bass through an Ampeg V4b and an early 70s Sunn cab. Xander runs a Vox AC30 and an Orange Dual Terror and primarily plays a modded Fender Strat. I run two late 60s Sunn amps and alternate between a Gibson SG and an Epiphone Casino Coupe hollowbody, both with P-90s. We have many, many pedals. We also have a theremin.

You recently played Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festival. What are some of the things you do to ensure that your live sound comes across just the way you want it to?

Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festival was an absolute blast. I was very happy to help fest organizer Dan Simone (of the killer Cleveland band Black Spirit Crown) put together the lineup. Last year was the first year we did the fest, and it was a great success. This year was even better, and I’m sure the best is yet to come. Ohio has so many great heavy underground rock bands, and this fest is one of the best showcases of that talent. As anyone who plays heavy music knows, we need to be pretty loud to do our thing properly. That doesn’t translate well in some spaces and sometimes the person running sound at a venue is inexperienced or just doesn’t know how to work with heavy music.

What do you see are some of the common mistakes bands make when translating their songs to the stage?

As far as advice for up and coming bands goes, I would say the best way to ensure that you sound decent live is to practice your ass off beforehand so that even if you can’t hear anything on stage, you still play well because of the muscle memory.

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#D&S Interviews #Pale Grey Lore #Columbus #Ohio #Stoner Rock #heavy metal #Small Stone Records #Doomed & Stoned

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welldonebeca · 4 years

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The Stranger (I)

Summary: You had always craved for adventure on the open road with nothing to tie you down. You never expected to allow a night of passion from a Stanford Student with cute dimples and puppy dog eyes to become one of the most important moments of your life. The night began with you as complete strangers, but none of you expected what the meeting would really mean for the rest of your lives. (by my honey @cosmic-darikano ) Pairing: Sam Winchester x Female Reader Chapter Warnings: Public nudity/masturbation, one-night stand, Sam’s Stanford Adventures. Series Warnings: Oral sex, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, dirty talk, Sam is already a bit of a dominant lover even as a virgin and dirty talks better than anyone I know, lazy morning sex. A lot of things I probably forgot to tag. Request: The requester requested for the details to be secret, but all I can say is: This is going to be a long series and really fun, guys. (Part 1 of the "The Ways of Fate" series)

No one had paid a single drop of attention to what you and your band were singing, and nothing would take that theory out of your head. Palo Alto was a nice town, and today was one of those days that the Stanford students were celebrating or nursing their sorrows over their grades in a bar, and just wanted some loud music to accompany it - and that’s basically what Revival, your band, did that night. You were paid shit, sure, but food and drinks were free, and it was enough for the gas you’d need to reach the next town.

“Is that good enough?” Becca slid the sandwich in front of you.

“Yep.”

The jet black-haired bartender had a really hot British accent, and you just wondered if it was worth waiting for her shift to end to spend the night with her. She was cute and had a nice style, and you were feeling like you needed some good lay tonight - and Becca was probably the only one who pad attention to your band’s lyrics.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice called out for the Brit girl just when you were just done with your food. “A Pepsi, please?”

You turned to your side, having to look up to find the face of whom had slid to your side, finding the exact image of what a Labrador would be if transformed into a - what, seven-foot-tall? - man with floppy hair and a lovely, though, discreet, pout.

“A Pepsi?” you repeated, surprised.

“Surprisingly, Y/N,” Becca gave him the soda can. “Not everyone comes up with a fake ID to get drinks at my bar. Sam is a good kid.”

He smiled, blushing at your compliment.

“Come on, Becks,” you put all of your weight onto the counter, raising your legs behind you. “I’ve been drinking wine since my Bat Mitzvah!”

“This isn’t your synagogue,” she shrugged, walking away.

“Thank you, Becca,” he simply whispered, and you turned to look at him.

Oh, he was indeed adorable.

Finally, the feeling of recognition fell onto you. When you were singing along with the band, he was trying to hit on a blond tall girl who didn’t give him two fucks.

“Oh, I know who you are,” you exclaimed. “You’re the snubbed boy!”

To that, the tall Labrador turned completely to look at you with a frown on his cute face.

“What?”

You laughed.

“Sorry,” you picked up on your own soda. “I was just paying attention to you while I was singing, and you were snubbed by the pretty blond.”

He looked down on his drink, seeming really embarrassed, and you bumped your elbow against his.

“Hey, I think it’s her loss,” you tried to cheer him up. You definitely would take a piece of that if you could; Labrador boy was very handsome. “I’m Y/N. You?”

“Samuel,” he answered. “Sam Winchester.”

You nodded.

“Nice to meet you, Samuel Sam Winchester,” you raised your drink to him. “I would buy you a drink, but you probably have noticed the owner isn’t as cool as her tattoos make it seem.”

Behind you two, Becca scoffed loudly.

“I’m right here, girl,” she pointed out. “I can hear you.”

“Good,” you looked behind your shoulder. “You know, you won’t get too far if you keep acting like you don’t know what you’re doing, Sam. You should know that.”

Your companion curled around himself a bit, almost as if he was trying to hide, not that it was even humanely possible.

“I’m not good with girls,” he muttered. “Even a stranger like you can see it.”

You sighed. Sam Winchester was cute, one of those guys who were on the way to be an 11 in a world full of 6 and 7. He was tall and broadly built with nice hair and puppy eyes, and if your life experiences could predict, the only thing he lacked was confidence, and he’d age like fine wine.

“Doesn’t mean it has to be like that,” you drank your soda and put it aside, leaning closer to him.

You could help him. It’d be nice for the two of you.

You rested your chin on your hand and started playing with his flannel nonchalantly.

“Girls like boys who are confident,” you pointed out, toying with the lowest button of his shirt, tempted to run a hand right up his chest but holding back in respect. “You have the looks, the voice… If you just grow the confidence you’ll be unstoppable.

In front of you, Sam was as red as a tomato, and if the bulge in his pants could say anything, it would agree with the desire that was pumping through your veins

“Like... hm…” he stammered and cleared his throat. “Like how?”

You thought a bit to yourself, moving closer to him and watching his chest rising and falling in a quick motion under his clothes.

“Showing her you’re not going to hand around her waiting for attention crumbs is a good start,” you pointed out. “You’re your own person, Sam. Time is a non-renewable source.”

. . .

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#The Ways of Fate Series #Sam Winchester fanfiction #Sam Winchester imagine #Sam Winchester x Reader #Sam Winchester x You #Sam Winchester x Y/N #Sam Winchester smut #Sam Winchester x Reader smut #Sam Winchester x Reader fanfiction #Sam Winchester x Reader imagine #Sam Winchester x You fanfiction #Sam Winchester x You imagine #Sam Winchester x You smut #Sam Winchester x Y/n fanfiction #Sam Winchester x Y/n imagine #Sam Winchester x Y/n smut

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allmymisters · 7 years

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Mr. Etch-A-Sketch

When you date an artistic person, you have to accept all their sensitive sides. Some tend to be self important, moody, and flippant, but also easily intriguing and passionate. This is the tale of Mr. Etch-a-Sketch, an artist in training that began one eventful evening and ended on a tearfully rainy day.

Mister was unexpected. The ones you fall hard for always are. I was 22 and at my second attempt of my college career. VCU at that time was an art driven school and was mostly made up of outcasts and those seeking the sought after, “Liberal Arts Degree” After failing at my future Fashion degree, I didn't know what I was going to be when I grew up. At that time I really didn’t care about anything real worldly either. All I cared about was falling in love, going to shows, and finding freedom. Wasn’t that what college was for...again?

I had just gotten out of a fauxship and Mister was just another boy I had seen at another party who I found to be interesting. This night was no different than any other Friday night in the Fan District and this night would consist of drinking with friends at one of the three main party houses. I would do the usual, take way too long to figure out what I was gonna wear, because black is very hard to differentiate sometimes. I would meet up with my lady entourage, drink a beer, listen to some music, tell each other who we hoped to run into and then we would venture to a gathering to be held at one of the main party houses. We had three. These houses would form a bit of a triangle starting with the legendary Red Zero with at least 10 occupants. A place of remarkable memories and a den of Star Wars geeks. Right down the road was 411. I had no idea how many people actually lived here, but the guys were older and intellectual making them great purveyors of philosophical babble. Then there was 1208, which consisted of a slightly younger population, but had the best house shows and where all the cool indie kids hung out. Come to think about it, I never really knew who actually lived in that house at that time. We were invited by the boys of 411 for a kegger this particular night and it would be my first time attending. We all agreed to meet at Lana's apartment that night. There we would wait for three more lady friends. When I arrived, Lana asked if we would mind if her roommates joined us. I met the first one whose lanky body barely covered a half painted canvas in his bedroom. He was sweet and had really great sneakers. He listened to Tortoise as he painted his canvas with muted colors of orange and yellow. Lana's apartment was nicer than most apartments my friend's occupied. Funny enough, I stayed in the apartment downstairs one weekend a few years back. Some college students came with mom and dad's money and their apartments showed.

The front door opened suddenly with a bike tire leading and another roommate to follow. I immediately recognized him from a house show a few months back, except he had magenta hair at the time. Nope, no Lana, I didn't mind if these dudes accompanied us at all. Not one bit. Hopefully, that thought wasn't completely displayed in some goofy form of a smile as I replied to her earlier question.

Mr. Etch was of average of height – 5’11” maybe. Shorter compared to my particular criteria. He came equipped with sketchbook and pen, a Sharpie, and a distinct voice which orated a higher pitch and slightly feminine. He dressed like most boys of the time, cords and vintage tee with a cardigan ala Mr. Cobain. His hair was right below the ears, black and loose, a soul patch adorned his chin and two rings hung from his earlobes. The cuteness factor was up high with this one, but he also had a twitchy nature about him, like he was ready for some excitement. He wasn’t like the artistic types I was accustomed to growing up with. There was no mope to him. No brood or obscurity to him. He was indeed a flirt which complimented my own quiet brooding nature.

We fell in love during a game of telephone. What was supposed to be “The monkey is in the kitchen with a banana in his ear, “ turned out to be “I’d really like to hang out with you sometime." Well played sir. Well played indeed. I fumbled this game by having to guess what was originally whispered. So, I turned to my friend and whispered in her ear, “I’m getting up to get a beer because I have no idea what was said.” Got up. Walked towards the keg and poured myself another beer. Game won.

He was quirky. He was expressive and fun. The night of the party I went home with him and the others and ended up staying for a few days. We talked about music, art, tv shows, movies and we smoked a lot of pot doing it. It was the kind of infatuation which happens in an instant, where you lose yourself completely. It's full of passion and throwaway sentiment. You forget what time it is or what day it is. Cell phones were non-existent so there were no distractions. For the next few weeks, I went down an Escher staircase with him. Everyone approved of our dating status, except his guy friends I think. I took too much time away from them. I would attend his band gigs and his art shows. We would meet for coffee in the middle of the day between classes, while I was still going. He was absolutely adorable with me and I with him. You can gag now. The first week we were together he asked me to join him for a fashion party of sorts. How ironic it was in the last apartment I resided, the green porch light still present. We were asked to come in some sort of costume. Mister decided on a bright orange basketball jersey with an ascot-like tie atop a black short sleeved button down and plain black pants. It was quite comical and while he decided on a more humorous ensemble. I, opted for my basic color scheme of black and white. I tended not to step out of my element at that time. Little did I realize that the red lit warmth of the apartment amidst a sea of balloons would be the location of my first dose of Ecstasy. Fantasia played on loop on the TV. “You can just take half, it will be ok,” he coaxed me. All I kept thinking was, “Can I die from this?” He had this smile about him. It was a smile that belonged to Loki. His brown eyes sparkled and his gaze made me feel as though I was the only other person in the room. The next thing I know, that tiny bit of a pill was in my mouth. My world was about to get a lot bigger.

Our relationship was pretty serious, I thought. As serious as a 22 year old can be about such things. We had met each other’s families. I had practically moved in with him. We were the couple that stayed in the bedroom for days only to utilize the bathroom and eat shells and cheese occasionally. We listened to Philip Glass, Sonic Youth, and the Boredoms constantly. We made sure to watch the X-Files diligently and we would go on about the mysteries of the universe and pick apart the genius of David Lynch. He was entranced with all that was noise and his artwork reflected that kind of frenetic chaos. He would sketch these layered shapes with bears, faces, and random objects all embedded in this labyrinth of colored lines. It was truly meditative.

I'm a pretty adaptable person. I tend to transform to who I date. He was no exception. I went from the moroseness of being a goth girl to transforming into an Electric Kool-Aid kid. My blacks became oranges and reds and blues and my curiosity about drugs became more loose. My first raves were with him. He introduced me to a whole new world of dance and movement. Oh, how he loved to dance. His dancing was just another way to get his art out there. He would get lost on the flashing lots and strobes and then he'd find me. I don't know if it was the Molly or if we really did have this cosmic connection with each other, but it felt fantastic.

Although my introduction to the world of recreational drugs was with him, I found it only to be a short phase in my life that seemed like an ongoing adventure with his. Soon, getting high became uninspiring to me. I had done all the drugs that weren't hazardous to your immediate health --- LSD, Marijuana, Mushrooms, Molly, and Opium. I had a good time when it was an event-like circumstance. Going to art shows and parties were more interesting for sure, but there were times when it was depressing. Being on Shrooms in the woods at night when you have an intense feeling your boyfriend is over you, is not a fun-filled evening.

He lost himself in his work constantly, sometimes sketching and creating for hours ---painting, filming, photographing, writing songs. I noticed he began to distance himself from me. Our outings became less and his drug use became more predominate in the relationship. He would have conversations I didn’t get and philosophize about numbers and patterns constantly. He would snap at me in frustration and leave the house to get away from me. He started finding excuses to go to his studio or extend his band practice time and I felt as though my pining was becoming a plastic bag around his head. He then decided to go on a trip out West and when he returned all infatuation was deflated.

It's true, I was what I had feared being the most...The Clingy Girlfriend! We sat in his car as it rained. I had remembered the day we had gone out to a movie and returned home as it poured. That was a good day. We danced and laughed in it like we were kids. Now, I just stared at the rain from inside the car as I tried to ignore the fate of our relationship.

He said I was too much for him, that he didn’t want to be in a relationship anymore. I could feel the burning in my chest, working it’s way up my esophagus and the lump sat in my throat. I cried, the way I always did, with begging and pleading that I could make it work. His apathy hit me hard and I knew that was it. He dropped me off at my friend's apartment and drove away. I wiped the tears and knocked on the door for what would become the consoling party --- Lot's of alcohol, pizza, and why me's.

In the next few weeks, he would call me and ask if I wanted to come over. We would ultimately have sex and then he'd gently nudge me out the door. I wasn’t emotionally secure at that time in my life, so every time I did that I had a spark of hope. I didn’t have the capacity to be apathetic in that realm. I would see him at random parties with random girls, including very good friends of mine. That stung a bit. He still had that cute mischievous smile. He would soon find a new girlfriend. He would soon move away and it would ease my pain for a while, but we would not speak for some time after this. I would tell myself I wasn’t good enough and that’s why he left. I would tell myself I wasn’t ambitious enough with my school or that I wasn’t pretty enough. I had all kinds of excuses and was really a pathetic mess for a while. Years later, he would come back to Richmond and I would see him crossing the street after a show. He looked up and waved with that smile. I knew we wouldn’t be far from each other again, but I had moved on and was in a new phase of my life. I will never forget the day I randomly saw him at the bar we used to frequent. We were catching up on each other's lives and he kept looking down at my hands. He gazed at my chipped red fingernails and said, “Mmmm….chipped red fingernail polish, I remember that.” With a wicked smile he would say it and for just one moment I thought, “Ha, I’m still with him.”

It took about eight months, give or take a few weeks of back and forth, for this relationship to run its course. In that time, I managed to be as clingy as the static from the dryer sheets on my socks, but I also learned that I'm worth more than I had given myself credit for. I didn't need to impress him because he was occupied with stepping out of his head. He didn't live in my world and I didn't want to be in his. He had taught me a lot about art and I used to love watching him draw. I still have all the pieces he gave to me and I look at them fondly. It reminds me of the brief moment I had with him and all his floaty thoughts he put to canvas.

He married a few years ago. I went to the wedding and saw all the friends I had during that time in my life. We danced like we used to and hugged each other while sharing memories of fun times together. We are all grown up now and in different parts of our lives and at that moment, as we laughed, I recalled all of us sitting on the floor in his room that very first night I met him. The night I began my kaleidoscope adventure with him. I glanced over at him and he was already looking at me and I smiled. He returned it with a wink and that was my cue to depart. I said my goodbyes, understanding that I would not be seeing these ladies again for quite some time, got up and slowly walked out the door, like some fucking John Hughes movie. I realized I was no longer his muse and he was no longer part of my landscape.

#etch-a-sketch #artist #all my misters

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adambethyname-blog · 7 years

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Top 10 Songs & Their Movie Scenes (Part 1)

Music and movies have always gone hand and hand. It seems like every movie worth it's weight in salt has some kind of song to tie in with movie.

But there are times when the song in question actually defines the movie. And due to a cosmic relationship between a moment and a song, scenes and songs are forever joined at the hip.

Sure, every James Bond movie had a theme song that went with the title (“For Your Eyes Only,” by Sheena Easton and “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney and Wings being the most popular), but what about a song that ties itself to a moment and a moment alone?

Once that marriage occurs, it is impossible to ever shake the image burned into the screen that accompanies the song. Forever, when that song comes on the radio, it brings back memories of that scene in the film.

Here are the Top 10 Songs and Scenes of all time:

#10: “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, from “Say Anything” (1989): When Lloyd Dobler (John Cusak) is dumped by his girlfriend Diane (Ione Skye), his phone calls are unreturned and his letters are ignored. Desperate for her attention, he comes up with a dramatic idea. Park your Chevy Malibu in front of her house and hold your boombox high above your head as Peter Gabriel's song blasted toward the second floor of the house. It much gave every teenage male in the late eighties an idea of how to woo their crush. Yet, Dobler's act of affection could go down as one of the most romantic gestures in any movie, despite its relative cheesiness. The scene is actually time stamped since you can't hold up an iPod and expect someone on the second floor to hear you.

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#9: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, from “Wayne's World” (1992): As far as movies that are based on Saturday Night Live sketches go, “Wayne's World” was one of the rare hits. While the exhaustive use of the phrases “not,” “schwing,” and “excellent” have faded from the lexicon, only a few moments of Aurora, Illinois' favorite public access cable show remain. As Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) make their way out for the evening, Wayne pops in a cassette of Queen's dramatic rock anthem as Garth's AMC Pacer cruises down the highway. Wayne, Garth, and the rest of the back seat all chime in, harmonizing over Freddy Mercury's flamboyant vocals, breaking into a furious synchronized headbang as the pace of the song hits its bridge. Party on.

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#8: “Old Time Rock N' Roll” by Bob Seger, from “Risky Business” (1983): My parents never went out of town. My parents never did anything. Ever. But when Joel's parents went out of town, he gets to go joyriding in his parent's Porsche, pick up expensive call girls, and dance naked in his living room. In a scene that was completely improvised by Tom Cruise, Joel turns up the high-fi and strips down to his dress shirt, socks and bun-huggers. He slides across the hardwood floor just as the opening bars on the piano break the silence. He lip-synchs into a candlestick, dances around the house as we're reminded that “today's music ain't got the same soul.” Do you hear that, Justin Bieber?

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#7: “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Barry, from “Back to the Future” (1985): It's an oldie where he comes from, but that doesn't stop Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly from introducing the stuffed shirts of 1955 to rock and roll. McFly who's filling in for Marvin Barry (Chuck's cousin) let's loose with a guitar solo-laden version of “Johnny B. Goode” that sends the crowd into a coma as their heads are blasted by McFly's Eddie Van Halen inspired fret work. It wasn't the music the crowd was prepared for, but their kids are going to love it.

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#6: “Puttin' on the Ritz” performed by Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle, from “Young Frankenstein” (1974): Originally written in 1929 by Irvin Berlin for the musical by the same name, “Puttin' on the Ritz” has gone through several transformations, ending with Taco Ockerse's 1982 one-hit wonder, but none were quite as memorable as Wilder and Boyle performing for the medical community of Transylvania. Dr. Frankenstein and his creation break into a rousing tap number with an indecipherable chorus howled by Boyle in an effort to prove that his creature is a “man about town.”

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#movies #music #wayne's world #young frankenstein #mel brooks #risky business

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