#legion lost 2011

[poisonbat]

Legion Lost #6 (2011)

I missed you Gates

[natsumebookss]

Tragic Yuri or Tragic Yuri: On Female Autonomy, Reclaiming the Narrative, and 2011's Moodiest Magical Girls

(contains spoilers for Madoka Magica and Heartcatch Precure, very slight spoilers for Winx Club, topics of loss and depression, and the author screaming into the void about anime bullshit that happened over a decade ago)

If you've spent any amount of time in the Precure or PMMM fandoms, you've probably come across this quote. It's natural in many ways for Urobuchi to feel the way he does--imposter syndrome is intensely common for artists and I'd imagine attempting to write a subversion of a common genre while a piece of media from that genre is wrapping up a super successful run is challenging. While I won't pretend Heartcatch reached the levels of popularity that PMMM ended up at, it was the highest-selling season for years in terms of toy sales and many still remember it very fondly. (I'm a bit more critical of it, personally, but more on that later.) And so much was made of Urobuchi confessing he hadn't seen Heartcatch at the time of writing his own show, with PMMM antis saying that meant he had no real appreciation for the genre.

But what if I were to tell you that not only would PMMM have been significantly worse if he'd made it more like Heartcatch, but Heartcatch would've been better off if it had been more like Madoka?

A disclaimer before we go any further: I am not suggesting that Heartcatch should've retooled into a darker series, or that it even had the ability to since the shows were made pretty much in tandem. The damage done to Heartcatch, in my opinion, was already done before Madoka's finale even aired. This is purely an exercise in comparing two magical girls from roughly the same anime season (one ending about when the other was starting) and seeing what they could learn from each other. Also note that my title on my main blog is literally "Heartcatch Precure finale anti," so there will be some bias involved. With that out of the way, let us proceed.

Context

Pictured: a completely normal Facebook discussion about a kid's anime character from almost 15 years ago.

For those unfamiliar, Cure Moonlight has essentially built up a reputation for being the Leafpool of Precure. For those unfamiliar with Warrior Cats, this is one of the worst things you can be called in fandom--someone with legions of fans who got screwed over so badly that those fans will never shut up about it. Being a Leafpool is not merely being a tragic character, but being actively fucked over by the narrative at every possible turn.

Let's explore Cure Moonlight in a bit more detail before comparing her to Homura and how, I argue, Homura did a similar story path to hers better. Like Homura, Cure Moonlight is first seen fighting a massive threat to humanity inside our pink magical girl Tsubomi's dream. The dream cuts off before we learn her fate, but all we can see on her face is pure sorrow before it does. The minute she is introduced, she already knows loss.

Throughout the show's run, we get to know her as Yuri Tsukikage, a veteran magical girl forced into retirement after her transformation item has been shattered. She has half of the broken Heart Seed that remains, and her foil Dark Precure, who broke the seed, has the other. Yuri is intensely depressed for this exact reason: she has lost her powers, her duties to the world, her fairy companion (who died in the battle with Dark Precure), and her father has also mysteriously vanished. The audience first sees her as a friend of one of the lead's older sisters, a senpai who excels at both sports and academics, before revealing her to be a broken person inside. The goal of Yuri's narrative, seemingly, is to restore her Precure powers, allow her to confide in new friends, and find her missing father.

The first two are accomplished in a pretty straightforward but heartwarming manner--Yuri begins to find a new purpose in training her Precure kohais and eventually regains her powers through hard work and determination. Typical kid's show stuff, even if seeing Cure Moonlight reappear for the first time is indisputably badass. It's the third one, however, that I have the most problems with.

Frequent followers of my main blog @curemoonliite may be familiar with a term I have called "moonbitching." This is what I call it when I rant at length about the Heartcatch finale and what it did to Cure Moonlight's character, or even just allude to it in the tags. Since this post will already be long enough without it, I'll go light on the moonbitching, but do just enough of it to give you the facts.

In the last few episodes of the series, Yuri learns that her father was brainwashed by the main villain of the series, Dune, and that Dark Precure was cloned from her genetic material while he was brainwashed. This is legitimately a fascinating plot point that, by itself, I have no problems with. However, soon after learning about this, both Dark Precure and her father are killed off in the final battle and all Yuri can do is watch.

Her father sacrificed himself for her in a moment of clarity, she didn't even get time to really process that she's been fighting her sister all along, and she's lost everyone all over again. She started the show with just her and her mother, and the second she sees hope at having a family again, it's taken away from her.

Her kohai Tsubomi, upon seeing this, begs Yuri not to take revenge on the Big Bad that's stolen everything from her. This isn't the Yuri I know, she shouts. But somewhere along the line, we've lost the Yuri we know. All her development, all her growth, has been torn away the minute she's forced to lose everything again. Her path as a character is now uncertain, the narrative deciding it won't allow her to pursue even the slightest act of revenge.

And all Yuri can do is watch alongside us.

Homura and Yuri

The minute I saw this finale for the first time, I was reminded of how a classic piece of children's/family media handled a similar plot point. Allow me to be cliched for a moment, but if we look at someone like Inigo Montoya, we can see that his decision to pursue revenge is never really questioned by the narrative. This is something that's always bothered me about female characters in media, especially magical girl stories--a magical girl can never just say "give me my father back, you son of a bitch." They may want to, but due to sexist notions about women and violence, they're always expected to take the high road.

Oftentimes, this is done by using the magical girl leader as a mouthpiece to directly dismiss their teammate's desires--Bloom and Aisha go through something very similar in S4 of Winx Club when Aisha's fiancee is killed. Neither Bloom nor Tsubomi are naturally dismissive people, and the narrative tends to characterize them as kind, but they are briefly mischaracterized in moments like this to give the typical "revenge is bad" message that kid's shows tend to have. A message that is often distinctly missing from boy's cartoons, but I digress.

Aisha is at least allowed the dignity of separating from the main team for a few episodes to join some extremists, but Yuri doesn't even get that.

And Homura gets so much more.

I'll admit, I still have mixed feelings about Rebellion to this day, but what I do appreciate about it is that it isn't hampered by these restraints that magical girl media made for children seem to have. That villain arc the Facebook commenter from before said Yuri should've had? It was too late for her by the time the finale ended, but it wasn't too late for Homura.

Homura is, in many ways, an anti-Yuri, and a lot of that comes from her having autonomy within the narrative. Female autonomy is something we see discussed in the social justice sphere a lot, but not quite as much in the storytelling sense. Probably the main difference between the two is that Homura, as a time traveler, can stop the ones she loves from ever being killed. In fact, that's also her greatest weakness, as she wears herself down with the timelines so much that she can barely bring herself to care for anything else sometimes.

Homura's depression comes from the idea that she Can Stop The Thing, but can't figure out precisely how to. Yuri's depression comes from the fact that she Can't Stop The Thing, thinks she knows how to, and gets herself into more trouble along the way. One of these makes for an intensely more active character that doesn't feel unfairly dunked on by the narrative, and oddly enough, it's not the kid's show character.

Yuri, as a children's character, is kept from doing certain things by what that entails. Homura, however, has no such restrictions. She can travel through time and repeat everything over literally until she breaks herself. And that she very, very much does.

Homura doesn't have to be convinced in the finale to let Madoka go, she just peacefully comes to terms with it herself. That alone gives her more autonomy than Yuri had, even if we recall that Rebellion's ending was not the original one that Urobuchi had planned. However, Rebellion's ending serves as an ultimate rebuttal to the narrative that a magical girl must simply allow hardship and loss to happen to her. If the world isn't fair to her, if not even time travel works out, why not just remake it?

This action comes at the cost of stripping Madoka of a lot of her autonomy, sure. But it is, in a way, the natural conclusion of how magical girl leaders are often made to strip their "angsty" team members of theirs. Homura's fall from grace is a flipping of this script in every way possible, and even if it's far from the best decision for her to make, we can see that it's 100% fully her own.

The revenge is complete. No one is there to stop her. Even the writers don't really know what to do with her now. Homura has now transcended the fate of the purple magical girl, and that's the best thing that could've ever happened to her.

A girl who seeks revenge is a devil. A girl who cannot become a princess is doomed to become a witch. But ask yourself, is the fear of becoming these things worth becoming a spectator in your own story?

And, if that's the case, is it truly better to reign in hell than serve in heaven?

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #600 - "Instrument of Destruction"

Originally posted on May 16th, 2011

Story - Juan Pablo Osorio, Franco Villa Art - Francesco D'arcadia Colours - Eveline Albers Edits - Zac DeBoard

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

Later revised and annotated for Transformers: The Lost Seasons

wada sez: This strip aims to give some more background to Blitzwing’s final appearance in the Sunbow cartoon, in “Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5″, by tying his motivations into the legion of Blitzwings seen in the opening to the cartoon’s third season. See the link above for the creators’ original annotations, and below for clean art and an Italian translation.

[vincentvega0721]

GRIFTER / WILD C.A.T.s

Grifter (Cole Cash) is a superhero appearing in books published by Wildstorm Productions and DC Comics. Created by artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi, he first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1 (August 1992), as a member of that titular superhero team, during the period when Wildstorm and its properties were owned by Jim Lee.[1] In that incarnation, Grifter is a former government operative and member of the military unit Team 7 and the espionage agency International Operations.

In 1999, Lee sold Wildstorm to DC Comics, and ownership of all Wildstorm characters, including Grifter, transferred to DC Comics. His backstory and continuity remained the same however, until DC's 2011 relaunch of their entire comics line, The New 52, which rebooted the continuity for most of its characters. Since then, the character has starred in his own DC series, and has also made appearances in numerous other DC titles, such as Voodoo, Legion Lost, Team 7, Animal Man and Deathstroke.

The character has been voiced by Colin O'Meara in Wild C.A.T.s, and Danny Jacobs in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

Alter ego

Cole Cash

Team affiliations

WildC.A.T.s

Team 7

The Authority

International Operations

Notable aliases

Deadeye

Abilities

Highly skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant

Expert marksman and melee fighter

Psionics (usually either dormant or passive)

Telekinesis

Telepathy

Accelerated healing factor

Espionage mastery

Extended longevity

WildStorm (Image Comics, later DC Comics)

First appearance

WildC.A.T.s #1 (August 1992)

Created by

Jim Lee

Brandon Choi

[dudja]

Lmao #bestfriends #meme #comedy

[firthbetterorfirthworse]

Colin Firth

My first unhinged project involved watching all of Colin Firth's IMDB acting credits, to see how often he got wet.

Figured I'd make a master list of the posts I made. I didn't make a post on everything, so if there's one without a link you can always request to hear my thoughts hahaha

I also made a post about his hair choices, because he does a lot of period pieces and oh boy do I often have Thoughts

And here's a post about how his trend of getting wet changed our perception of Darcy forever

1917 (2019)

1919 (1984)

The Accidental Husband (2008)

The Advocate/Hour of the Pig (1993)

And When Did You Last See Your Father (2007)

Another Country (1984)

Apartment Zero (1988)

Arthur Newman (2012)

Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

Blackadder Back and Forth (1999)

Born Equal (2006)

Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason (2004)

Bridget Jones' Baby (2016)

Camille (1984)

Celebration (2007)

A Christmas Carol (2009) Intro, Movie

Circle of Friends (1995)

Command (2018)

Conspiracy (2001)

Crown Court episode (1984)

Deep Blue Sea (1994)

Devil's Knot (2013)

Donovan Quick (2000)

Dorian Gray (2009)

Dutch Girls (1985)

Easy Virtue (2008)

Empire of Light (2022)

The English Patient (1996)

Femme Fatale (1991)

Fever Pitch (1997)

Fourplay/Londinium (2001)

Gambit (2012)

Genius (2016)

Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)

The Happy Prince (2018)

Hope Springs (2003)

Hostages (1992)

Hour of the Pig/The Advocate (1993)

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

The King's Speech (2010)

Kingsman: Secret Service (2014)

Kingsman: Golden Circle (2017)

Last Legion (2007)

Londinium/Fourplay (2001)

Lost Empires (1986) Intro, Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6, Pt 7

Love Actually (2003)

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Main Street (2010)

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Master of the Moor (1994) Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 3 Finale

The Mercy (2017)

A Month in the Country (1987)

Mothering Sunday (2021)

My Life So Far (1999)

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Nostromo (1996)

Operation Mincemeat (2021)

Out of the Blue (1991)

Pat Hobby Teamed With Genius (1987)

Playmaker (1994)

Pride and Prejudice (1995) (I didn't make a single post, it got a bit away from me so you can find the collection of links on my Pride and Prejudice masterlist)

The Railway Man (2013)

Relative Values (2000)

The Secret Garden (1987)

The Secret Garden (2020)

The Secret Laughter of Women (1999)

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

A Single Man (2009)

St Trinians (2007)

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

The Staircase (2022)

Stars in Shorts (2012)

A Summer in Genoa (2008)

Supernova (2020)

Then She Found Me (2007)

A Thousand Acres (1997)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Trauma (2004)

Tumbledown (1988)

Turn of the Screw (1999)

Valmont (1989)

What A Girl Wants (2003)

Where the Truth Lies (2005)

The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (1995)

Wings of Fame (1990)

[missing-old-seattle]

February 6, 2021 

The Seven Gables Theatre began life as an American Legion dance hall in 1925, designed by Swedish-born architect Eric Carl Rising (1892-1987). In 1968, Randy Finley bought the Movie House (currently the Grand Illusion Cinema), which he and his partners converted from a dentist’s office and opened in 1970. This led to him eventually buying 15 more theaters, including the Seven Gables Theatre in 1974, which opened on December 10, 1976. These theaters (minus the Movie House) eventually became part of the Seven Gables Corp.

Landmark Theaters acquired the chain in 1989. Sadly, out of all the theaters that existed when I moved to Seattle, only the Crest still operates as a Landmark theater (at least until COVID closed all the theaters in our state).

The first to go was the Neptune, bought out by STG in 2011. Then the Metro, initially turned into Sundance Cinemas in 2012 and then acquired by AMC (who kept the interior and the 21+ rules the same but changed the menus). Next to go was the Egyptian Theatre in 2013, which SIFF reopened in time for the 40th Seattle International Film Festival in 2014 and ran as its second year-round cinema (third if you count the Film Center, though that theater is more of a weekend venue). The Varsity’s future was up-in-the-air for years, until Far Away Entertainment purchased it in 2015 (they also run the Admiral in West Seattle). Then we lost the Harvard Exit in 2015 (see my post about it here), currently a Mexican Embassy. Last to go were the Guild 45th and the Seven Gables.

[delshorrorlist]

My Horror List

-Here is a list of my finished horror movies. The first portion is in an unknown order, and the second portion is when I started documenting the order-

1408 (2007)

#Alive (2020)

•REC (2007)

13 Ghosts (2001)

28 Days Later… (2002)

30 Days of Night (2007)

A Classic Horror Story (2021)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Quiet Place (2018)

Anaconda (1997)

Annabelle (2014)

Army of the Dead (2021)

As Above, So Below (2014)

Banana Splits Movie (2019)

Before I Awake (2016)

Bird Box (2018)

Black Sheep (2006)

Blood Red Sky (2021)

Brainscan (1994)

Butchers (2020)

Cadaver (2020)

Cargo (2017)

Carrie (1976)

Carrie (2013)

Child’s Play (1988)

Child’s Play (2019)

Children of the Corn (1984)

Christine (1983)

Color Out of Space (2019)

Cube (1997)

Dave Made a Maze (2017)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Day of the Dead (2008)

Death of Me (2020)

Devil (2010)

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Eli (2019)

Escape Room (2019)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

Evil Ed (1995)

Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994 (2021)

Fear Street: Part 2 - 1978 (2021)

Fear Street: Part 3 - 1666 (2021)

Final Destination (2000)

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Final Destination 3 (2006)

The Final Destination (2009)

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Friday the 13th (2009)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Get Out (2017)

Grave Encounters (2011)

Grave Encounters 2 (2012)

Graveyard Shift (1990)

Gremlins (1984)

Halloween (1978)

Hellraiser (1987)

Hereditary (2018)

His House (2020)

Hostel (2005)

Housebound (2014)

Hush (2016)

Idle Hands (1999)

In the Tall Grass (2019)

Incantation (2022)

Insidious (2010)

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

IT (2017)

IT: Chapter Two (2019)

Jaws (1975)

Jigsaw (2017)

Krampus (2015)

Lake Placid (1999)

Leatherface (2017)

Legion (2010)

Life (2017)

Lights Out (2016)

Little Evil (2017)

Ma (2019)

Mama (2013)

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Midsommar (2019)

Monster House (2006)

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

No Escape Room (2018)

Nope (2022)

Oculus (2013)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Peninsula (2020)

Pet Sematary (1989)

Pet Sematary (2019)

Poltergeist (1982)

Psycho (1960)

Purge (2013)

Purge II (2014)

Purge III (2016)

Purge IV (2018)

Purge V (2021)

Ready or Not (2019)

Saw (2004)

Saw II (2005)

Saw III (2006)

Saw IV (2007)

Saw V (2008)

Saw VI (2009)

Saw VII (2010)

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

Scream (1996)

Scream 2 (1997)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Sinister (2012)

Society (1989)

Spiral (2019)

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Splice (2009)

Summer of Fear (1978)

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Texas Chainsaw (2013)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

The Babadook (2014)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Conjuring (2013)

The Craft (1996)

The Crazies (2010)

The Darkness (2016)

The Descent (2005)

The Empty Man (2020)

The Endless (2017)

The Escape Room (2018)

The Evil Dead (1981)

The Final Girls (2015)

The Forest (2016)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The Ice Cream Truck (2017)

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

The Lost Boys (1987)

The Mist (2007)

The Nun (2018)

The Platform (2019)

The Possession (2012)

The Resort (2021)

The Ring (2002)

The Ritual (2018)

The Ruins (2008)

The Shining (1980)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Strangers (2008)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The Thing (1982)

The Void (2016)

The Woman in Black (2012)

There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)

Train to Busan (2016)

Tremors (1990)

Truth or Dare (2018)

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Tusk (2014)

Unfriended (2014)

Us (2019)

Uzumaki (2000)

Vivarium (2019)

Warm Bodies (2013)

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

Winchester (2018)

Wish Upon (2017)

Would You Rather? (2012)

Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Dated Movies

-From this point on I have the date and order I watched these movies, everything above I watched before everything below-

Drag Me to Hell (2009) - October 4th 2022, #176

The Privilege (2022) - October 12th 2022, #177

Halloween Ends (2022) - October 15th 2022, #178

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) - October 24th 2022, #179

The Perfection (2019) - October 25th 2022, #180

Barbarian (2021) - October 25th 2022, #181

The Faculty (1998) - October 30th 2022, #182

The Exorcist (1973) - October 31th 2022, #183

Smile (2022) - November 27th 2022, #184

The Menu (2022) - January 8th 2023, #185

Ghostwatch (1992) - January 28th 2023, #186

Skinamarink (2023) - February 2nd 2023, #187

The Collection (2012) - February 4th 2023, #188

The Innocents (2021) - February 7th 2023, #189

Deadstream (2022) - February 7th 2023, #190

The Dark and the Wicked (2020) - February 7th 2023, #191

Kolobos (1999) - February 8th 2023, #192

Scare Package (2019) - February 9th 2023, #193

Re-Animator (1985) - February 10th 2023, #194

The Boy (2016) - February 15th 2023, #197

The Invitation (2022) - February 18th 2023, #198

Grizzly (1976) - February 18th 2023, #199

C.O.R.N.: Field of Screams (2021) - March 2nd 2023, #200

Slumber Party Masscare II (1987) - March 2nd 2023, #201

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - March 3rd 2023, #202

The Silence (2019) - March 5th 2023, #203

Once Upon a Time at Christmas (2017) - March 5th 2023, #204

Evil Toons (1991) - March 15th 2023, #205

Sleepaway Camp (1983) - March 15th 2023, #206

Prom Night (1980) - March 15th 2023, #207

Cooties (2014) - March 19th 2023, #208

House (1985) - March 20th 2023, #209

House of Wax (2005) - March 25th 2023, #210

Prom Night (2008) - March 25th 2023, #211

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1961) - March 31st 2023, #212

Wolf Creek (2005) - April 2nd 2023, #213

Body Melt (1993) - April 2nd 2023, #214

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) - April 5th 2023, #215

Death Becomes Her (1992) - April 18th 2023, #216

Stigmata (1999) - April 19th 2023, #217

Dead Silence (2007) - April 19th 2023, #218

Elevator (2012) - April 20th 2023, #219

Bad Hair (2020) - April 22nd 2023, #220

We Need to Do Something (2021) - 25th 2023, #221

Good Boy (2020) - April 25th 2023, #222

Pilgrim (2019) - April 27th 2023, #223

Piggy (2022) - April 28th 2023, #224

They Come Knocking (2019) - April 28th 2023, #225

Death Spa (1989) - April 30th 2023, #226

The Naked Witch (1961) - April 30th 2023, #227

I'm Just Fucking With You (2019) - May 2nd 2023, #228

Critters (1986) - May 3rd 2023, #229

Chopping Mall (1986) - May 5th 2023, #230

The Farm (2018) - May 12th 2023, #231

Motel Hell (1980) - May 12th 2023, #232

Jeepers Creepers (2001) - May 14th 2023, #233

Mother's Day (1980) - May 15th 2023, #234

Slaxx (2020) - May 15th 2023, #235

Slaughterhouse (1987) - May 16th 2023, #236

One Missed Call (2008) - May 19th 2023, #237

Mayhem (2017) - May 19th 2023, #238

Boar (2017) - May 19th 2023, #239

Pieces (1983) - May 22nd 2023, #240

Pandamonium (2020) - May 24th 2023, #241

All Cheerleaders Die (2014) - May 27th 2023, #242

Waxwork (1985) - May 28th 2023, #243

They Look Like People (2015) - May 28th 2023, #244

Class of Nuke'em High (1986) - May 28th 2023, #245

Fear PHarm (2020) - May 29th 2023, #246

The Stuff (1985) - June 1st 2023, #247

Planet Terror (2007) - June 2nd 2023, #248

Fear PHarm 2 (2021) - June 5th 2023, #249

Mom and Dad (2018) - June 8th 2023, #250

Renfield (2023) - June 11th 2023, #251

After Dark: The Task (2011) - June 12th 2023, #252

Terrifier (2016) - June 19th 2023, #253

It Follows (2015) - June 20th 2023, #254

Choose Or Die (2022) - June 20th 2023, #255

31 (2016) - June 21st 2023, #256

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - June 22nd 2023, #257

Apollo 18 (2011) - June 22nd 2023, #258

Triangle (2009) - June 23rd 2023, #259

Sorority House Massacre (1986) - June 23rd 2023, #260

Braid (2018) - June 24th 2023, #261

Await Further Instructions (2018) - June 26th 2023, #262

Ghost Ship (2002) - July 9th 2023, #263

Annihilation (2018) - July 11th 2023, #264

Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) - July 13th 2023, #265

Scare BNB (2019) - July 19th 2023, #266

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) - July 20th 2023, #267

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989) - July 20th 2023, #268

The Bunnyman Massacre (2014) - July 26th 2023, #269

House (1977) - July 26th 2023, #270

Night of the Comet (1983) - August 3rd 2023, #271

Phantasm (1979) - August 8th 2023, #272

Evil Dead 2 (1987) - August 8th 2023, #273

Battle Royale (2000) - August 8th 2023, #274

Trucks (1998) - August 8th 2023, #275

247F (2011) - August 15th 2023, #276

2001 Maniacs (2005) - August 15th 2023, #277

The Video Dead (1987) - August 17th 2023, #278

Human Resources (2021) - August 17th 2023, #279

Parents (1989) - August 18th 2023, #280

Urban Legend (1998) - September 8th 2023, #281

You’re Next (2011) - November 21st 2023, #282

Frogs (1972) - November 21st 2023, #283

Jennifer’s Body (2009) - January 8th 2024, #284

The Hunt (2020) - January 8th 2024, #285

The Amusement Park (1975) - January 21st 202;, #286

Diary of the Dead (2007) - February 2nd 2024, #287

Corporate Animals (2019) - February 7th, 2024, #288

The Vampire Bat (1933) - February 7th 2024, #289

Blades (1989) - February 7th 2024, #290

Martyrs (2008) - February 7th 2024, #291

Game of Death (2017) - February 14th 2024, #292

Night Swim (2024) - February 16th 2024, #293

976-EVIL (1988) - February 18th 2024, #294

Microwave Massacre (1979) - February 18th 2024, #295

Street Trash (1987) - February 20th 2024, #296

Escape the Field (2022) - February 21st 2024, #297

Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies (1992) - March 3rd 2024, #298

Return to Horror High (1987) - March 23rd 2024, #299

The Beach House (2019) - April 14th 2024, #300

[watsondcsj]

Hot on the Heels of the Nightwing 2022 Annual Reveal of Heartless, It's Time to Gather all the Seeds in Son of Kal-El!!

Without spoiling the annual, the identity of Heartless was seeded in Nightwing #78, Tom's first issue on the run. I've already written an essay attempting to prove something is going to drop and bring Jon back to being a kid that is no longer entirely accurate to what I feel is coming, but just for posterity, here's a list of things that could be referencing other bits of information throughout the run.

Superman: Son of Kal-El #1, Jon is born in the Fortress of Solitude

Action Comics #976 (Superman Reborn), Jonathan Samuel Kent is born in the Fortress of Solitude

Superboy (2011) #19 , Jonathan Lane Kent born in the Fortress of Solitude

2. Superman Son of Kal-El #2, Jon's new identity Finn Conners where Jon puts on a bad blonde wig. "Finn" is an Irish name meaning "fair." Connors is also Irish.

Teen Titans (2011) #23, Cassie asks to call Kon "Conner" before going in for a kiss

3. Superman Son of Kal-El #2, no parties with Damian at the Fortress.

Superman & Robin Special, a party with Damian at the Fortress. Jon and Damian beat up Nazis. They also find an alien who rapidly ages before dividing and leaving.

Legion of Super-Heroes (2019) #3, Damian is rumored to become akin to Adolf Hitler.

Shadow War Omega, Damian: "Heroes don't kill!"

What of the aging alien?

4. Superman, Son of Kal-El #4, Jon reminisces about visiting his grandparents as a toddler. As far as we were shown in Superman and Action Comics during Rebirth, this never happened.

Doomsday Clock #12 (Dec '19), Jon and Martha Kent are reintroduced despite not being present since Flashpoint. Jon is not present for this story aside from a single mention in an earlier issue. This combined with Superman Reborn could explain the panels in SoKE, but that's kinda lame if you ask me especially if they were really about to push Jon into the role of Superman soon after this.

Superboy (2011) #19, Jon Lane Kent falls deathly ill just before the age of 4. Notice the choice of white is consistent between this panel and the ones in SoKE. Also notice the farmhouse in the background. Is this what Jon is remembering?

5. Superman Son of Kal-El #4, backstories of The Aerie and Wink retconned to have been caused by Bendix

Suicide Squad (2019) #8, The Aerie reveals their backstory and The Post-Human Project to be a faceless evil. This change in SoKE #4 causes Jay and Aerie to share more than a few similarities, and they share a creator. Both runs were written by Tom Taylor.

Superman Son of Kal-El #6, Jay was Gamorran First Family

Suicide Squad (2019) #10, The Aerie’s mother is a deposed president as well

Superman (2018) #6, Jon returns to Earth 7 years older after 5 years of abuse and only 3 weeks have passed

Action Comics Annual #12, Chris Kent ages rapidly in the Phantom Zone. Note how these text boxes describe a similar description to what happened to Jon in that Earth-3 volcano.

Tom Taylor has also commented on famously poorly-received storylines in Son of Kal-El and Nightwing, namely Event Leviathan and both Devin Grayson and Scott Lobdell's runs on Nightwing.

6. Superman Son of Kal-El #5, the kiss

Teen Titans (2014) #12, Kon 2 says goodbye to Tim and WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

7. Nightwing #89/SoKE #9, Jon flies at age 9 and gets lost in a flashback. Dick in his N52 suit.

Superman (2016) #8 & 9, Jonathan Samuel Kent can't fly at age 10.

Super Sons #10, Jon masters flight

Superman #668, Chris Kent fully capable of flight in his early appearances

8. Superman Son of Kal-El #12, Henry Bendix calls Jon an "abomination" for the first time

Superboy (2011) #6, Kara gives the Superboy the name Kon-El, which translates from Kryptonese as "Abomination in the House of El"

Superboy (2011) #33, Kon 2 is reborn in the mind of Jon Lane after dying in the Superman event Krypton Returns just months before this was published.

Either of these last two issues could also explain how Kon 2 would have the memories of Jon Lane Kent or the memories of the people the psychic (and psychotic) Jon would have been in contact with. Kon 2 is shown images of Krypton as Kara remembers them through touch in Superboy #6 as well as learning to speak and understand Kryptonese.

[strangersunghoon]

My favorite actors & Actresses

Watched ✅

Not watched yet ❌

FAVES ❤️‍🔥

Evan Peters

•20 january 1987 (St. Louis)

•🇺🇸

Shows

The days (2004) : Cooper ❌

Phil of the future (2004-2005) : Seth ❌

Invasion (2005-2006) : Jesse❌

House (2008) : Oliver❌

Monk (2008) : Eric ❌

Without a trace (2008) : Craig❌

Dirt (2008) : Craig ❌

One tree hill (2008-2009) : Jack❌

Ghost whisperer (2009) : Dylan❌

The mentalist (2010) : Oliver ❌

Criminal minds (2010) : Charlie ��

The office (2010) : Luke❌

Parenthood (2011) : Brandon ❌

In plain sight (2011) : Joey❌

American Horror story : Horror house (2011) : Tate ✅❤️‍🔥

American Horror story : Asylum (2012) : Kit✅❤️‍🔥

American Horror Story : Coven (2013) : Kyle✅❤️‍🔥

American horror story : Freak show (2014) : Jimmy✅❤️‍🔥

American horror story : hotel (2015) : James✅❤️‍🔥

American horror story : Roanoke (2016) : Rory❌

American horror story : Cult (2017) : Kai ❌

American horror story : Apocalypse (2018) : Mr. gallant & Jeff & Tate ❌

Wandavision (2021) : Ralph ❌

Dahmer (2022) : Jeffrey ✅

Movies

Clipping Adam (2004) : Adam ❌

Sleepover (2004) : Russel ❌

An American Crime (2007) : Ricky ❌

Mama’s boy (2007) : Keith ❌

Remarkable power (2008) : Ross ❌

Gardens of the night (2008) : Brian/Rachel❌

Never back down (2008) : Max ❌

Kick ass (2010) : Todd❌

Never back down 2 (2011) : Max❌

Adult world (2014) : Alex ✅

X-men : days of future past (2014) : Peter/Quicksilver ❌

Safelight (2015) : Charles ❌

The Lazarus Effect (2015) : Clay ❌

X-men : Apocalypse (2016) : Peter/QuickSilver ❌

Deadpool 2 (2018) : Peter/QuickSilver ❌

American animals (2018) ❌

X-men : dark Phoenix (2019) : Peter/QuickSilver ❌

Joseph Quinn

•26 january 1993-1994 (not sure) (London)

•🇬🇧

Shows

Postcode (2011) : Tim❌

Dickensian (2016) : Arthur ✅

Game of thrones (2017) : Koner✅❤️‍🔥

Howards end (2017) : Leonard ✅

Timewasters (2017) : Ralph✅❤️‍🔥

Les Misérables (2018) : Enjolras ❌

Catherine the great (2019) : Paul✅❤️‍🔥

Strike (2020) : Billy❌

Small axe (2020) : PC Dixon❌

Stranger things (2022) : Eddie✅❤️‍🔥

Movies

Overlord (2018) : Grunauer ❌

Make up (2019) : Tom✅

Hoard (TBD) : Michael

Thomas Brodie Sangster

•16 May 1990 (London)

•🇬🇧

Shows

Doctor Who (2007) : Tim ❌

Phineas & Ferb (2007-2015) : Ferb✅

Game of thrones (2013-2014) : Jojen✅❤️‍🔥

Wolf hall (2015) : Rafe❌

Godless (2017) : Whitey✅

The queens gambit (2020) : Benny✅❤️‍🔥

Pistol (2022) : Malcolm✅

Voices of liberation (2022) : Himself✅

Movies

The miracle of the cards (2001) : Craig ❌

Station Jim (2001) : Henry ❌

Stig of the dump (2002) : Barney❌

Bobbies girl (2002) : Alan❌

Mrs Meitlemeihr (2002) : young boy ❌

Hitler : The rise of evil (2003) : Young hitler❌

Entrusted (2003) : Thomas❌

Ultimate force (2003) ❌

Love actually (2003) : Sam✅

feather boy (2004) : Robert ❌

Nanny McPhee (2005) : Simon ✅❤️‍🔥

Tristan + Isolde (2006) : Tristan❌

The last legion (2007) : Romulus ❌

The fence (2007) ❌

Pinocchio (2008) : Lampwick❌

Nowhere boy (2010) : Paul❌

Death of a superhero (2011) : Donald ✅

The Baytown outlaws (2012) : Rob❌

Phantom Halo (2014) : Samuel❌

The maze runner (2014) : Newt✅❤️‍🔥

The maze runner : the scorch trials (2015) : newt✅❤️‍🔥

Star Wars : episode VII : the force awakens (2015) : Thanisson❌

The maze runner : the death cure (2018) : Newt✅❤️‍🔥

Louis Partridge

•3 june 2003 (Wandsworth)

•🇬🇧

Shows

Boomers (2014) : Alf❌

Medici : masters of Florence (2019) : Piero❌

Pistol (2022) : Sid✅

Movies

Beneath water (2014) : Felix❌

About a dog (2014) : Young Gav❌

Pan (2015) : Mine worker ❌

Second skin (2016) : Nature boy❌

Amazon Adventure (2017) : Young Henry❌

Paddington 2 (2017) : G-man ❌

Enola Holmes (2020) : tewkesbury✅❤️‍🔥

The lost girls (2021) : Peter Pan❌

Enola Holmes 2 (2022) : Tewkesbury ❌

Sadie Sink

•16 april 2002 (Brenham)

•🇺🇸

Shows

The Americans (2013) : Lana❌

Blue Bloods (2014) : Daisy❌

American odyssey (2015) : Suzanne❌

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2016) : Tween girl

Stranger things (2017-current) : Max ✅❤️‍🔥

Movies

Chuck (2016) : Kimberley❌

The glass castle(2017) : Young Lori❌

Dominion (2018) : Narrator ❌

Eli (2019) : Haley ❌

Fear street 2 : 1978 (2021) : Ziggy❌

Fear street 3 : 1666 (2021) : Constance & Ziggy❌

All too well (2021) : Her❌

The whale (2022) : Ellie❌

Dear Zoe (2022) : Tess❌

Sophie Turner

•21 February 1996 (Northampton)

•🇬🇧

Shows

Game of thrones (2011-2019) : Sansa ✅❤️‍🔥

The thirteenth tale (2013) : Young Adeline❌

Survive (2020) : Jane ❌

Home movie : The princess bride (2020) : Westley❌

Movies

Another me (2013) : Fay/Lila ❌

Barely Lethal (2015) : Heather/agent 84❌

X-men apocalyps (2016) : Jean❌

Josie (2018) : Josie❌

Time freak (2018) : Debbie❌

Dark Phoenix (2019) : Jean❌

Heavy (2019) : Maddie❌

Do revenge (2022) : Erica✅❤️‍🔥

Wi Ha Joon

•5 august 1991 (Wando, South Jeolla)

•🇰🇷

Shows

Goodbye Mr. Black (2016) : Ha Joon ❌

My golden life (2017) : Ryu Jae shin❌

Something in the rain (2018) : Yoon Seung Ho❌

Island trio (2018) : Himself ❌

Matrimonial chaos (2018) : Im So Ho❌

With coffee (2018) : Lee Ha min ❌

Romance is a bonus book (2019) : Ji Seo Joon❌

Soul Mechanic (2020) : Oh Yoo min❌

18 again (2020) : Ye Ji hoon ❌

Squid game (2021) : Hwang Jun Ho ✅❤️‍🔥

Bad and crazy (2021-2022) : K❌

Little women (2022) : Choi Do il✅❤️‍🔥

Gyeongseong creature (2023) : Kwon Jun Taek ❌

The worst evil (2023) : Jung Gi Cheol❌

Shark : the beginning 2 (TBA) : Jeong Do Hyeon❌

Movies

Peace in them (2012)❌

Coin locker girl (2015) : young Woo Gon❌

Bad guys always die (2015) : Cha myung ho❌

Eclipse (2016) : Jung Tae ❌

Anarchist from Colony (2017) : Youth in prison❌

The chase (2017) : young Jung Hyuk ❌

Gonjiam : haunted asylum (2018) : Ha Joon❌

Girl cops (2019) : Jung woo Jun ❌

Shark : the beginning (2021) : Jeong Do Hyeon ❌

Midnight (2021) : Do Shik ❌

Ahn Hyo Seop

•17 april 1995 (Seoul)

•🇰🇷🇨🇦

Shows

Splash splash love (2015) : Park Yeon/Che A Jik❌

One more happy ending (2016) : Ahn Jung woo ❌

Happy home (2016) : Choi chul Soo ❌

Entertainer (2016) : Ji Noo❌

Three color fantasy - queen of the ring (2017) : Park Se gun ❌

My father is strange (2017) : park Chul Soo❌

Still 17 (2018) : Yoo Chan

Top management (2018) : Hyun Soo yong❌

Abyss (2019) : Cha min ✅❤️‍🔥

Dr Romantic (2020-2023) : Seo Woo Jin❌

Lovers of the red sky (2021) : Ha Ram❌

The business proposal (2022) : Kang Tae Mu ✅❤️‍🔥

A time called you (TBA) : Gu Yeon Jun/Nam Si Heon❌

Movies

None yet

Nam Joo Hyuk

•22 February 1994 (Busan)

•🇰🇷

Shows

The idle Mermaid (2014) : Park Dae Bak❌

Who are you: school 2015 (2015) : Han Yi An✅

Glamorous temptation (2015) : Young Jin Hyung Woo ✅

Cheese in the trap (2016) : Kwon Eun Taek ❌

Moon lovers: scarlet heart Ryeo (2016) : 13th prince Baek Ah ✅

Weightlifting fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016) : Jung Joon hyung✅❤️‍🔥

The bride of Habaek (2017) : Haebak ✅

The light in your eyes (2019) : Lee Joon Ha✅❤️‍🔥

The school nurse files (2020) : Hong In Pyo✅

Start up (2020) : Nam Do San ✅❤️‍🔥

Twenty five, twenty one (2022) : Baek Yi Jin✅

Vigilante (TBA) : Kim Ji Yong ❌

Movie

The great battle (2018) : Sa Mool ❌

Josée (2020) : Lee Young Seok ❌

Remember (2022) : Park In Gyu ❌

Song Kang

•23 april 1994 (Suwon)

•🇰🇷

Movies

Beautiful Vampire (2018) : Lee So Nyeon ❌

Shows

The liar and his lover (2017) : Baek Jin Woo❌

Man in the kitchen (2017-2018) : Kim Woo Joo❌

Touch your heart (2019) : Deliveryman❌

When the devil calls your name (2019) : Luka❌

Love alarm (2019-2021) : Hwang Sun Oh✅

Sweet home (2020-current) : Cha Hyun Soo✅❤️‍🔥

Navillera (2021) : Lee Chae Rok❌

Nevertheless (2021) : Park Jae Eon ✅

Forecasting love and weather (2022) : Lee Shi Woo❌

Part 2

[poisonbat]

Legion Lost (2011) #13

I love my boy even with his scars

[noellevanious]

yall wanna read my 1000 word article about why "fallout new vegas 2" is exciting and wanna give any ccs? it's actually better if you know nothing about the fallout games - i'm trying to write in a way that's engaging and explanatory - and i'd love constructive criticism before i finalize it

(below the cut since i dont wanna upload it to any site yet)

With a rumoured sequel to “Fallout: New Vegas”, a 2011 Action RPG published by Bethesda, around the corner, let’s take a moment to discuss just why this news is so exciting for fans of the game.

Fallout is an RPG series that’s been around since the late 90’s. Fallout 1, originally developed by Interplay Studios, was based around an idea for adapting the GURPS Tabletop RPG system into a videogame, and to say the game and series has had a lasting impression is understating its impact.

Fallout 1, and its sequels, are about an America ravaged by the titular Nuclear fallouts. Basically, a ton of nukes were set off, and Fallout takes place decades after, in a society still trying to rebuild itself in the midst of heavy nuclear radiation. The world is mostly ruined, technology, for the most part, is now obsolete, and everybody is trying to find some way to continue living, now that they’re just as likely to die of radiation poisoning at 22, as they are killed by the mutated victims of the fallout, such as Super Mutants.

The intense, unique, and poignant atmosphere, combined with an excellently developed gameplay experience that feature such mainstays in the series as the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. character stat system, the Pip Boy (which serves as a diegetic User Interface) and the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., all mixed together and topped with unparalleled writing, has resulted in a franchise that is going strong to this day.

So why is Fallout: New Vegas 2 the big news? What makes it distinct from the latest 2 releases, Fallout 4 and 76?

Company Bethesda Softworks picked up the license to the series back around 2004, when it was in a lull of poor sidebar games compared to the 2 main releases, and, using the GameBryo Engine (the same engine that Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Morrowind, and Skyrim both run on), released the third main entry in the series in 2008, Fallout 3, to critical acclaim.

Reception was great, but I’m not the first to say that it mishandled the series. Gone was the poignant commentary on consumerism (epitomized by Nuka Cola and the Vault Boy), the deep writing and varied cast, and in were a focus on turning enemies into Giblets, the Rock-it Launcher, and an odd focus on the Brotherhood of Steel and the main character’s dad, which resulted in a story that was mainly following in one of their footsteps, depending on how far into the game you got.

Then, in 2011, Fallout: New Vegas was released. This entry, also using the GameBryo engine, was published by Bethesda, but developed by Obsidian Studios, which included staff that worked on the original 2 Fallout games.

What made this game stand out from Fallout 3, as well as other action RPGs at the time, was not only that its writing was (and still is) superb and deeply engaging, but also that it was developed in less than 11 months.

This resulted in the game having a sort of Beta feel to the experience, which, combined with the admittedly testy GameBryo engine, can be hard to deal with a decade later (though, thankfully, mods go about restoring functionality and what bits of gameplay were lost).

The story in New Vegas focuses on the main character, referred to as the Courier, a Mojave Express Delivery-person (basically a cooler mailman), being shot in the head by a man named Benny, and embarking on a journey to find out why, what’s so important about their delivery, to take revenge, and eventually, to change the New Vegas wastelands, participating in an all-out war for the titular New Vegas area, waged by 3 differing factions – the New California Republic, Ceasar’s Legion, and Mr. House, a surprisingly old millionaire that hired said main character for the delivery.

What Bethesda lost in translation in Fallout 3 was back in full force for New Vegas – a wonderfully fleshed out setting, complex and multi-faceted characters and factions, such as what remains of the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave Remnants, the Great Khans, and the Powder Gangers, and a game world that is designed to keep the player challenged and satisfied. Gone are the “every enemy is roughly the same level as you” ideology that made 3 feel like you were always just strong enough to get by, never feeling too challenged, and back is a more rigid, but still flexible world pathing that encourages you to move through certain areas before making the trek to the titular New Vegas, a large casino-laden city that lights up the sky at any time of day.

Obsidian would go on to develop and release two other games since then, the Outer Worlds, another action RPG that, while reviewing favorably, didn’t garner as much press, and Pentiment, their most recently released game, released late 2022, a more classical RPG with a distinct 16th Century European artist artstyle, playing more to their strengths of great writing.

Which brings up the question – will Fallout: New Vegas 2, if a real game, be developed by Obsidian? Interest has been focused more on a remake of New Vegas in the version of the Gamebryo engine used for Fallout 4, which had massive improvements, and adding back content that was cut because of the tight development schedule. The appeal of New Vegas, for most players at least, was Obsidian bringing back unparalleled writing and a gripping narrative that’s absolutely flooded with great quests, characters, and morality decisions, to a series that hadn’t seen a peak in that area since the Fallout 2, 11 years prior.

To this day, Tom Sawyer (one of the head developers for Obsidian) has been talking to fans about New Vegas’s lore, and decisions made throughout the development process, on his personal tumblr page. This attention to detail, care, and appreciation for the world he and the rest of the team crafted, is what makes the game so special, as it would go on to inspire other notable RPGs, such as the critically acclaimed Disco Elysium, and still sees a massive fan community, tinkering with the game and adding mods that improve the experience, tell new stories, or even stich the worlds of Fallout 3 and New Vegas together (Tale of Two Wastelands).

If you’re interested in the game after this long diatribe, definitely look into “Viva New Vegas”! It’s a community-sourced project that gives players the most optimal and enjoyable method of playing the game through modern hardware.

[sebeth]

Legion of Super-Heroes: Rank the Versions

The Legion of Super-Heroes was my entry point into comic books. My uncle handed me a digest-sized reprint of their early Silver Age appearances, and it has been my strongest comics love since that point. Others come and go but the Legion (and its million characters) will always be my true love in comics.

I saw a thread on reddit the other day asking readers to rank the various versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes, so lets go:

The Original (1958 – 1989): This is an obvious number one. The original LOSH laid the foundations for every version, reboot, and homage to come. All the mainstays – heroes, supporting characters, enemies, locations – debuted in this run. The most classic moments and famous storylines occurred with this version. Easy number one.

The Reboot (1994 – 2004): Another strong version that successfully modernized multiple characters. Lyle Norg’s reboot had to quadruple his fan base. The White Triangle storyline was fantastic. This version had a few questionable choices but overall was very strong.

Five Years Later (1989 -1994) The most controversial version but I love it. Not a perfect run but the characters were awesome. I have never loved Jo Nah as much as I have in this run. Cosmic Boy, Night Girl, Kent Shakespeare, Infectious Lass, and Spider-Girl were other standouts. Roxxas was hilarious but terrifying in his insanity. The Subs were badass, fearless warriors in the resistance. Jacques had something to do besides utter random French words! Tyroc became something other than a walking cliches! Glorith was something other than a devolved blob of goo! Sun Boy’s downfall was painful and horrifying! Love this run!

Threeboot (2004-2009): Mark Waid returned to the Legion for another reboot and threw everything sideways. It was great! Lyle was vastly different than the reboot but still received more character development than his original version. Loved the Cosmic Boy and Brainy rivalry. The addition of Supergirl was unnecessary and the ending was weak but still – many enjoyable moments.

Legion of Super-Heroes (cartoon): Nothing ground-breaking but it was fun.

The Retroboot(2007 -2011). I wanted to love this more than I did. The storylines and characters were bland. It started off strong with the Lightning Saga, the Superman/Legion vs Earth Man’s Justice League, and the Legion of Three Worlds storyline. Even the first year of the title wasn’t bad – Earth Man joins the Legion, Titan is destroyed, etc but it turned into forgettable blandness. Way too many new characters were introduced that weren’t memorabIe. I did love the spotlight on Night Girl and her relationship with Cosmic Boy. Tyroc again was something other than a stereotype. Legion Lost didn’t amount to anything – too bad as it was an interesting concept.

The Imperial Guard (Marvel): A Legion by any other name is…the Imperial Guard. I remember reading their first appearance in a Classic X-men reprint and I immediately tagged the group as a Legion homage. Always fun when they make an appearance. I love that Marvel keeps the group strong even though the team is an homage to a competitor. The Guard won the trial of Jean Grey/the Phoenix. Gladiator defeated the Fantastic Four. Gladiator and the Guard were standouts of Marvel’s 2000 cosmic runs. Love it.

Bendisboot (2019): Speaking of blandness, there is this hot mess. I didn’t even finish the run and that is the only time I can say that about a Legion run. Team books are not Bendis’ forte – his Avengers run should have proven that so I am unsure why DC thought he would be a good choice for a writer of the biggest team in the comic book industry.

There are other versions that I didn’t list simply because they only appeared for an issue/episode so there’s not much to rank. I did enjoy most of the “one-shot” Legions.

[wrestlingisfake]

I've struggled with what to say about the death of Windham Rotunda. I was certainly never a fan--looking back at my posts about him on this blog, I've been harshly critical of the creative decisions that defined his career. But I could never deny that he overcame that, simply by enchanting legions of people to believe in him. Fans wanted him to succeed so badly that they convinced themselves that every setback was part of some secret master plan baked into his gimmick. It's to his credit as a performer that he elicited such profound reaction. In a sense that's what pro wrestling is all about.

It's remarkable that Bray Wyatt could even exist when and where he did, let alone become one of the most beloved wrestlers of the 21st century. In the 2010s WWE was hyperfixated on a very particular mold of what a rising star should look like, act like, and talk like. When NXT started, it was to find the next Randy Orton, not the next Bugsy McGraw. The Husky Harris gimmick was clearly meant to pigeonhole Windham in the sort of role Otis plays today. It's a bit of a miracle that the Wyatt Family concept was even authorized, and predictable when WWE cut it off at the knees multiple times. I didn't expect Bray to recover; instead he came back with the Fiend and got hotter than ever, in spite of all the missteps along the way. When they unceremoniously released him in 2021, I never imagined he'd be brought back a year later. Once he was back, though, it wasn't surprising at all that he was even more popular than before.

Bray's career always seemed to revolve around his future potential; if a storyline didn't land right, the emphasis was on how it was setting up something better down the line. So perhaps that makes it more tragic that we'll never know what might have been. Thirty-six years old is too young for anyone to die. But beyond that, I keep thinking about how much would have been unrealized if we'd lost Terry Funk in 1980, or Sting in 1995, or AJ Styles in 2011. We can't know what Bray might have accomplished over the next 10-20 years, and whether it would have overshadowed everything he'd already achieved. But there's no doubt he would have been capable of doing that, and that a huge fanbase would have followed him to the ends of the earth to witness it.

[esonetwork]

The Earth Station DCU Episode 344 – Legion of Super-Heroes

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The Earth Station DCU Episode 344 – Legion of Super-Heroes

This Week on Earth Station DCU! Drew Leiter and Cletus Jacobs review the Legion of Super-Heroes animated movie! It’s hurry up and wait as Lady Cop wants some answers from the Commodore in Danger Street #7. Things get a little weird for Clark when he can’t decipher the past from the present in Superman: Lost #5. The sidekicks struggle to trust each other as a mysterious villlain attempts to build his on team in World’s Finest: Teen Titans #1. The members of the Doom Patrol meet with their psychiatrist, Jerry, to discuss their issues in Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4. Deadman learns the origin of the nigthmare stone and well as Insomnia in Knight Terrors #1. Hal Jordan goes from a plane crash, to his father’s funeral, a meeting with Abin Sur, and before the Guardians of the Universe as he face his greatest fears in Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1. Tim Drake and Jason Todd are thrown into the same nightmare in Knight Terrors: Robin #1. Mary attempts to save the family, but Billy has more devious plans in mind in Knight Terrors: Shazam #1. Wally West takes on Gorilla Grodd alone and loses claiming something is wrong with the Speed Force in Knight Terrors: The Flash #1. Zatanna and Robotman take on the Sleepless Queen in Knight Terrors: Zatanna #1. All this plus, DC News, Shout Outs, and much, much more!

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Table of Contents

0:00:00 Show Open

0:01:07 DC News

0:12:28 Danger Street #7

0:18:00 Superman: Lost #5

0:22:40 World’s Finest: Teen Titans #1

0:26:48 Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4

0:30:39 Knight Terrors #1

0:33:25 Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1

0:39:24 Knight Terrors: Robin #1

0:43:28 Knight Terrors: Shazam #1

0:48:28 Knight Terrors: The Flash #1

0:53:00 Knight Terrors: Zatanna #1

1:00:46 Legion of Super-Heroes

1:13:06 Show Close

Links

Danger Street #7

Superman: Lost #5

World’s Finest: Teen Titans #1

Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4

Knight Terrors #1

Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1

Knight Terrors: Robin #1

Knight Terrors: Shazam #1

Knight Terrors: The Flash #1

Knight Terrors: Zatanna #1

Adventure Comics (1935-1983) #247 (Cletus’s Read More Comics Pick)

Action Comics (1938-2011) #351 (Drew’s Read More Comics Pick)

Earth Station DCU Website

The ESO Network

If you would like to leave feedback, comment on the show, or would like us to give you a shout out, please call the ESDCU feedback line at (317) 455-8411 or feel free to email us @ earthstationdcu@gmail.com

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Spring Fling - Movies For Sakura Season

Nothing puts you in mind for spring quite like these quintessential Japanese sakura and the warm, fresh breezes of April.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) directed by Rob Marshall and starring Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeo, and Gong Li. Memoirs leaves an undeniable impression that will carry you through the upheaval of spring. Despite some controversy associated with the film, the bittersweet life of Sayuri and the stunning filmography have created legions of fans. This enchanting film continually reflects the change and growth associated with springtime. Gorgeous scenes of blooming cherry blossoms only add to the theme of renewal through struggle.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2003) directed by Kim Ki-duk. This South Korean drama explores the cyclical nature of life and the passage of time through the story of a Buddhist monk and his young apprentice, who live in a temple on a floating monastery in the middle of a lake. The film features stunning cinematography and breathtaking natural scenery, including cherry blossoms and other flora that change with the seasons.

Lost in Translation (2003) directed by Sofia Coppola, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. This romantic comedy-drama follows a middle-aged actor and a young college graduate who meet in Tokyo during the sakura season and develop an unlikely bond. As they navigate the language and cultural barriers, they discover a newfound appreciation for each other and the world around them. Lost in Translation" captures the transformative power of travel and the magic of springtime romance, as the sakura blooms symbolize the fleeting nature of life and the beauty of living in the moment.

The Secret Garden (1993) directed by Agnieszka Holland. This British-American family film follows a young girl who discovers a magical garden on her uncle's estate, and the transformative power of nature and friendship. The film features lush English gardens, including colorful springtime flowers and blossoming trees, and an enchanting score by Zbigniew Preisner. You'll recognise actors Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, and Andrew Knott.

Only Yesterday (1991) directed by Isao Takahata, starring Miki Imai and Toshirō Yanagiba. This Japanese animated film tells the story of a 27-year-old woman who takes a break from her busy city life to visit the countryside during the sakura season. Through her memories of her childhood, she reflects on the choices she has made and the person she has become. The film does a lovely job of showing the beauty of the sakura season and the renewal of spring.

Midnight in Paris (2011) directed by Woody Allen. This American romantic comedy follows a disillusioned writer who travels back in time to 1920s Paris and encounters famous artists and writers of the era. The cast includes Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Marion Cotillard. The film features charming Parisian scenery, including gardens and parks filled with springtime flowers and greenery, and a whimsical soundtrack featuring French classics.

A Little Chaos (2014) directed by Alan Rickman. The movie stars Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alan Rickman. This British period drama follows a talented and independent landscape gardener who is hired to design a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV. The film features stunning gardens and landscaping, including an array of colorful springtime flowers and topiary, and a lush orchestral score by Peter Gregson.

The Last Samurai (2003) directed by Edward Zwick, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. This American epic war drama follows a disillusioned American soldier who becomes a samurai in late 19th century Japan, and the clashes and alliances he forms with Japanese warriors during the sakura season. As he grapples with his identity and his loyalties, he finds inspiration and solace in the beauty of the cherry blossoms. This sweeping and epic film combines thrilling action and gorgeous visuals, while exploring complex themes of cultural identity and honor, all set against the stunning backdrop of the sakura season.