#the costume is really more of a meh out of 10

[atlaculture]

Live-Action Promo Pics: Zuko

I’ve been hesitant to comment much on the the live-action series, as most of the discourse has revolved around the casting. I’ve already made my ideal ATLA fancast pretty well-known and I don’t feel comfortable harshly critiquing children/teens for not looking like my favorite cartoon characters. At the end of the day, it’s the casting directors that we should hold responsible, not working actors trying to make a living.

However, I have no problem reviewing the costumes--- which I presume were made by industry professionals of adult age. In fact, I’d say the goals of this blog obligate me to give my two cents. So enjoy my completely subjective take on the promotional costumes:

Zuko

What I Liked

They maintained the silhouette of Zuko’s armor. Considering what they did for Sokka’s warrior look, it’s a relief that the FN’s armor is immediately recognizable.

I like the design on Zuko’s spaulders; it reminds me of designs that you see on traditional Thai armor.

I also like that the pattern and other parts of the armor look old and worn. Given that he’s Ozai’s least favorite child and has been banished for three years, his equipment is probably all outdated hand-me-downs.

It appears that Zuko’s live-action armor has two layers of shoulder spikes. I think that’s a good detail, as members of the FN’s royal family tend to sport two or three layers of shoulder pads.

The plume on his helmet is a nice addition. Many historical Chinese armors have plumes, especially the helmets of high-ranking officials. And, in the cartoon, the shape of the helmet almost looks like it was meant to have a plume originally.

The sash is also a good addition. It adds a nice splash of red to the dark tones of his armor. I like it better than the belt in the original show.

What I Didn’t Care For

I’m not an expert on crafts at all, but even I can tell that some very modern, synthetic materials were used for this costume. I know it would’ve been very expensive, but I really wish they had used more metal and leather for Zuko’s armor. Or at least materials that better imitated metal and leather.

The mesh girdle around his waist bothers me. I think it’s supposed to emulate chain mail, but it just reminds me of the polyester mesh they use for basketball uniforms.

I wish his plume was red instead of black.

Overall, I give it 7 broadswords out of 10.

To be honest, this was probably the most difficult of the four promo pictures to review, mainly because I find most armor to be pretty boring-looking. Generally speaking, most practical armors are going to look pretty similar to each other, with the exception of those adapted for extreme climates. I’m basically fine with Zuko’s armor, as its faults are more general issues found in all of the Netflix costumes.

I’ll probably have more to say once they give us a better view of his armor from the front.

[enigmatist17]

So I did go see the Borderlands movie this morning, and holy cannoli, it was a flaming dumpster fire of a movie. Spoilers about below just FYI

However!

Kevin Hart ended up being one of the saving graces when I thought he would be the worst of the lot! Sure, he doesn't physically embody Roland from the games, but performance and combat-wise, he was very solid! Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis was alright as well. She nailed a lot of Tannis' mannerisms to a T, and overall, unlike Lilith and Moxxi, I didn't mind her being aged up. Kreig was great despite being pretty much silent most of the game, and looked like he'd been quite literally pulled right out of the game and dropped into the movie.

Tina was very meh, it's like they wanted her to me more unhinged but restrained themselves at the last moment, and it doesn't work in the Borderlands world. They also had this thing where she's really a clone of a supposed "Daughter of Eridium", whatever the hell that means??? I think if it had been rated R or unrated like it should have been, Tina would have made more of an impact, but she just ended up being very meh.

Lilith was...well, I'm not sure. Most of the movie kinda centers around her backstory/her mom, which tbh is not what I wanted to see from a Borderlands movie? Like seeing some twists about Pandora/her being older was fine, but to have almost everyone fawning over her/her mother got old super quick, and they waited until the end for her to be the badass siren we all know and love??? I'm not the biggest Lilith fan, but Cate did her best with a script that couldn't decide if they wanted Lilith to be an asshole or sympathetic, which for an actor who's played/loves the games, has to suck :/

Jack Black was not great, and to find out he VA'd the Claptrap lines before they started filming makes his odd detachment make so much freaking sense. It always felt like Claptrap was just slightly removed from everything, and I couldn't nail down why until I googled that midway through the movie (which btw my sister, a friend, and I were the only ones in it lol). They should have just gotten the VA for him, Jack was not it :/

The CGI was either really good or really bad, and Lilith's wig did not blend in with any of it at all lmao. The sets/Pandora/costumes, aside from Tina's, were pretty damn good, but where it really shined was the guns. I could literally point out specific guns and their manufacturers despite all the motion of combat, and to be able to do that for even a casual gamer? Loved it.

Sadly though, despite them having been credited for months leading up tot he film, Hammerlock, Wainwright, Ellie and Scooter all got cut from the movie and it's a fucking travesty. I was kind of hoping Hammerlock would kick ass, but to get to the end and find out the asshat who ruined this movie said "oh they were gone for pacing" made me SO mad.

THEY FILMED A WEDDING SCENE YOU ASSHAT, I WANT THAT FOOTAGE AND I WANT IT NOW

Overall, my score is a 1.5/10

[bi-lullaby]

So I really loved the PJO show. I wish we get a second season, and a fourth and so on all the way through heroes of olympus because it’s just so good. If you feel like reading my (NOT spoiler free) rambles:

- Percy’s loyalty and dedication to his mom is just so integral to his character and they RESPECT THAT.

- I really like what I’ve seen mentioned about how both casting wise and storyline changes wise there have been some adaptations that were less “lol lets change it” and more to connect better with today’s audience and cultural paradigm. Like Annabeth being blonde because of the stereotype of “the dumb blonde” that was so prevalent in the era the books were released versus her being Black showcasing the extreme undermining Black women go through instead, or Luke being less 00s/10s boyband boy looking and more tiktok softboy looking now, but also Sally being less 100% perfect and more active in the story and upbringing of Percy as both a hero and a demigod and Luke being less cool and detached and more… Sweet? Emotional?

- I did feel pretty meh about a few changes: Zeus immediately accepting that Kronos is scheming and is a threat (Ik they couldn’t know if they’ll get that far but it cuts the stakes of the third book by a lot if there’s no pressing time limit to get Artemis back to Olympus to convince the Gods into action if they’ve been Doing Stuff for two years now, and even the second book loses a little in regards to the behind-the-scenes political climate that leas to it being what it was). Luke going to every length not to kill Percy is such a 180° from the books it was a little jarring and I feel it cuts out how much of a Menace he was and how bitter/jealous he was of Percy. Like we could have seen their bonding and even Luke trying to recruit him but I’d still have liked to see the scorpion scene so the betrayal and anger and wariness Percy feels is that much deeper and bitter and personal like in the books.

- I’m of two minds about the entire Gabe arch. Like on one hand I do understand toning him down (including his demise) for the public’s intended audience, I even think it kinda goes along the adapting to new times by showing that the useless, insensitive, disrespectful aspect of a bad husband is harmful just as the “darker”, more explicitly abusive/exploitative and mean drunk book version, but on the other I feel like he had such an impact on Percy in the books (he’s literally the Oracle’s “mirage” for his prophecy, he thinks of his smell in tartarus), and I really had loved the line “you’ll fail to save what matters most in the end” coming true because Sally saves herself - although the post I’ve seen about his fate showcasing how his lack of respect was his doom did make me appreciate it a little more.

- The only castings (or maybe it was the directing and styling of them more so) that I can’t really get behind are Hades and Hephaestus. Hades felt like they were going for the Disney’s Hercules comedic relief one in a slightly toned down costume. None of the gravitas and intimidation, he didn’t feel like a god at any point. And Hephaestus was just… So different. He’s supposed to be a deeply secluded, antisocial, gruffy mechanic who’s self sequestered by his inventions and forges. The show version looked like an eccentric professor more than anything imo. Which I feel could be one modern retelling of Hephaestus in another series, but isn’t the one we had and, imo, doesn’t go as well with the rest of the vibe. Which is a shame bc I do feel like Timothy could have been used in a way that would work fantastically for those vibes.

- Lin Manuel Miranda’s, acting actually shocked me. I never really had a Hamilton phase but I am on tumblr so I was expecting something cringe and honestly, I thought it was good (and to bring it back to Hades: Hermes in sweats and a hoodie actually gave me the feeling of “this is merely a cover to a deep well of power” than Hades in his suit and dark colors ever did)

- Meanwhile, perfect Ares casting. Yes this man is beefing with (and losing to) 12yos but he’s also an ancient force that revels in bloodshed and carnage.

- Annabeth from the show encapsulates the character so well while also bringing her own notes to it. Like as time went on back in my peak pjo days I felt she got “Hermionified” by the fandom too much? And I lost sight of how fond I was of her but the show (and having reread the books) really rekindled that and made me remember why she is a force to be reckoned with and also someone that must be protected at all costs. I cannot express enough how much my fondness was reignited.

- Like I feel this could be a whole post but basically I feel the books showcase the “ideal” characteristics the gods and their kids could have versus how they wind up twisted into something else (Percy’s sea-like indomitable spirit vs several of his brethren’s ruthlessness and disregard for what’s good) and Annabeth feels like, beyond amassing knowledge for it’s sake… She wants to actually Learn, and in the show maybe even to a deeper degree than in the books and it is endearing and very enthralling.

- On that note, Leah, Walker… This is supposed to be a SLOWburn goddamit. Like in the books you can see where it’s headed but in the show they have such silly crushes I can barelyy stand it. My children.

- Speaking of Walker that kid IS Percy like you cannot convince me otherwise. Disney farmed him for this role.

- I actually really loved Poseidon having a british accent? Idk, something about england and nautical exploration and it feeling older and more… Powerful? Like the ocean

- And Zeus had all the “I’m the god amongst kings and king amongst gods” that I’d have expected from him. He was crackling with power and that was beautiful to see. What a tragic loss.

- Grover is my precious child (although I do wish we had gotten the silly, goat like details of him like eating cans and making the bleating noises). And since the last book I finished rereading was the Battle of the Labyrinth (where I cried like a baby at Pan’s death) watching this sweetheart getting all excited with his literal flower searches license? Made me wanna weep.

- Overall most of my criticisms that came to mind besides the alterations I cited came from being hushed because of too few eps and those being too short. Really really hope the next season (fingers crossed) we’ll get like, 15+ eps (and/or at least longer eps) so we can really sink into the meat and potatoes of it all.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Damn...I just finished My Journey to You...and I did not expect to binge this fucker in 3 days. I didn't even expect to like it at all. But jokes on me because I fucking loved it.

It gave me everything: assassins, plot twists, gorgeous cinematography, gorgeous sets, gorgeous costumes, fucking good characters, a bomb ass OST...the full fucking package man.

But yeah, like I said, I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. It's a romance drama so I'm kind of meh/wary of them but the romance really wasn't all in your face and it focused more on the characters and their growth and just...everything.

Also, shout out to Hanya Si for being exactly who I thought he was. You didn't fucking let me down, my guy. You did exactly what I wanted you to and that was to protect Yun Weishan. Because that's your fucking baby. That's your fucking kid. Not Wufeng's.

And bruh, I haven't cried this fucking hard since I first watched Killer and Healer. Full on fucking sobbing at 3 am. Like excuse me, the fuck, how did you do that? No drama has made me cry/sob since Killer and Healer and by that feat alone this drama gets a fucking high score for me.

But also, I need either like...a bonus episode or something because whyyyyyyy does SHANGGUAN QIAN of all fucking people get to have a fucking happy ending but YUN WEISHAN DOESN'T? Explain that shit to me! Yun Weishan went through more hardships than SGQ! It's not fair! My babygirl deserved her happy ending! FUCK

Anyways, 10/10 drama, highly recommend, fuck now I'm going to listen to the OST to soothe my soul

[liquidisedfrogs]

EUROVISION RANT 2024

Last night was the night of creativity and culture that all (probably only like 20%) of Europe adores. Eurovision is one of the times when I, who am a very chill and non-judgemental person, will barf out my thoughts and write my commentary (cos I'm better than Graham Norton). STRAP IN MOTHERFUCKERS.....

We started this wonderful evening with a performance of Hooked On a Feeling which I gotta say is a banger but what's with that Burger King background? He was decent, to say the least but more or less it was just an old dude who stood on the stage singing which is just quite meh. Loved the flag parade, Swedish music is awesome. 

PERFORMANCE 1 : SWEDEN- UNFORGETTABLE- MARCUS & MARTINUS This is a damn catchy song but how are you supposed to tell those twins apart?! I loved the sort of club/ravey vibes it gave. The staging with all the flashing lights was pretty awesome. (ngl those twins were kinda cute) THE MEN IN BLACK DANCERS KILLED ME. It gave Matrix vibes and I'm here for it. The costumes reminded me of F1 drivers but I love it. Rank no. 10

PERFORMANCE 2: UKRAINE- ALYONA ALYONA & JERRY HEIL- TERESA  & MARIA Honestly, one of my favorites. Feminism in a good way. The taller woman gave off such Boudicca vibes and I love that, both women were so gorgeous and had amazing voices put together. I did say the rock reminded me of The Lion King but I really liked that. The costumes were also so aghhhh the Rey-Boudicca and the knight were such a great combo and the song was really catchy. Rank no.4

PERFORMANCE 3: GERMANY- ALWAYS ON THE RUN- ISAAK So. Much. Fire. Ya know, I'm actually disappointed by the fact that it wasn't in German. It's a solid song. It was quite rag-n-bone man style but I appreciate that. I do have to say it wasn't something ridiculously special but it's a nice song and a guy who looks like he gives a good hug. Rank no.14

PERFORMANCE 4: LUXEMBOURG- FIGHTER- TALI Firstly, I love her hair. It's so long and so pretty and she has got an insane voice. I'm not a fan of the song, though. It's too repetitive, extremely forgettable, and just mid song. It just wasn't anything special, it was a quite nice Middle Eastern vibe tho. Rank no. 23

PERFORMANCE 5: He got disqualified so I will not be ranking this.

PERFORMANCE 6: ISRAEL- HURRICANE- EDEN GOLAN What in the voodoo contortionist shit was that position at the beginning? Her dress tho, why she looking like she's just escaped Ghostface. Oh and look more shirtless men.  This isn't the worst song it's just not  the best. Another mid one like literally all of them this year. The dance was giving ring a ring a roses and the floor screens just were not it. She has an amazing voice, I won't lie that she doesn't but it's just not my vibe. Rank no. 17

PERFORMANCE 7:  LITHUANIA- LUKTELK- SILVESTER BELT This is one of my favourites. It's a catchy European bop and I love itttttt. The tracksuit looks well warm. I adore his jewelry its so nice. I literally started cossak dancing it was so catchy. It's a real vibe and I really appreciate it. The short people had me in stitches it was hilarious. It gave off severe jamboree vibe sbut I love that cos it's vibrant and bright and just pretty fucking awesome. Rank no.7 

PERFORMANCE 8: SPAIN- NEBULOSSA- ZORRA I am ashamed to say that I thought this was gonna be high ranking in my books but no. I am a changed person. This is a family show. I get that there's one like this every year but damn this was fucking scary. The men. In fucking thong arsed things. Nicht gut. The song was pretty good tho so and the 80s vibes rlly sold it to me. On the basis of the song not the staging, it was great. And, I mean, making out with a dancer on stage in front of your partner is very eurovision. Rank no. 13

PERFORMANCE 9: ESTONIA- 5MIINUST x PUULUUP-  (NENDEST) NARKOOTIKUMIDEST EI TEA ME (KÜLL) MIDAGI I swear this is just a group of dads who've gone screw it we're doing eurovision and rocked up with 90s rap up their sleeve and traditional instruments. I think its such a vibe and I would kill to be them when I grow up. The suits were great, idk what was up with the slits but for some reason it felt like what a k-pop group would wear to the met gala. Literally the cha cha slide. Rank no.9

PERFORMANCE 10: IRELAND- BAMBIE THUG- DOOMSDAY BLUES Fucking incredible song. Harry Potter mentioneddddd. Their make up is on-point. The song is on point. The outfit is on point. Everything abt it is so wonderfully perfect. The nails are a bit odd but its a vibe. The witches circle was incredible, the screaming bit was too. so witchy, so emo, so awesome. I loved the chilled out bit, in contrast to the rest it was perfect and probably needed. The reduction of clothing towards the end was pretty funny, my brother stared a bit too much but oh well it was great. Rank no. 1

PERFORMANCE 11:  LATVIA- DONS- HOLLOW What in the blue man x Gru crap is this? Honestly I didn't really register this one so I don't have a huge opinion on it. Also gives of Rag-n-Bone Man vibes even if it is  a typical eurovision song. Altogether its a meh song, not a fan, and the fit is just downright strange. Rank no.24 

PERFORMANCE 12: GREECE- MARINA SATTI- ZARI I am confused by this one. She has impeccable vocal control. I am extremely admiring that. The song was just a bit of a rubbish mishmash. There was too many elements. I did quite like that and the live stream addition watching on tv was quite nice. I'm confused by the outfit as well, everything just seems all over the place. It's giving Doja Cat but European. I liked the dance moves and it was pretty darn funny but just a bit mental. Rank no. 18

PERFORMANCE 13: UNITED KINGDOM- OLLY ALEXANDER- DIZZY As the youtube comments said, this gives severe gay lockerroom corn vibes. Just what the friggity frack. The crotch protection while dry humping each other?! It's just a bit odd. I did like the song. It's super catchy and very annoying. That guy can sing but maybe he needs to reevaluate where his loyalties lie in that. The staging was so confusing like for the whole thing I didn't know what was up or down or left or right, it was just mental. First proper European vibe English vibe that I've got. Very odd but it's sorta loveable. Rank no.19

HONOURABLE MENTION: LISA WOODRUFF - My whole family were so confused by this but the song was so funny for no reason such a vibe. It was genuinely better than some of the artists we've had this year. Mental but awesome.

PERFORMANCE 14: NORWAY- GÅTE- ULVEHAM I really enjoyed this one. The vocals are so ethereal and the 90s grunge mixed with Norwegian instrumental influences match perfectly. Stunning lady with an amazing band with her. The song just flowed ad the staging was all sea-witchy and I loved it. Great song, great staging, awesome euovision track. Rank no. 3

PERFORMANCE 15: ITALY- ANGELINA MANGO- LA NOIA The see through ish glittery tights were quite interesting I have to say. Her outfit was breathtaking. Her voice like many of these artists is incredible but not my vibe I have to admit. Its catchy I know it's someones cup of tea but it ain't mine. Overall, it's not too bad like I love the whole Mediterranean vibe but its just samey to the rest. Rank no.21

PERFORMANCE 16: SERBIA- TEYA DORA- RAMONDA The witchy vibes don't really match the song. I think it's really sweet. It's not super up there but it's a tune and I enjoyed listening to it. Here hair is so lovely as well. It really comes across as a bit of a plea for help but it's a lovely message and I always really enjoy Serbia's input because they're always shockingly good. I would love that dress as well if someone wants to go snag it for me. Rank no.8 

PERFORMANCE 17: FINLAND- WINDOWS95MAN- NO RULES! This is the one I've been waiting to yap about. Bloody hell this one was a ride. I'm gonna start with the fits and staging: it was so random, I am so here for it. The egg was just perfect for the randomness and running about the stage was awesomeeeee. The shorts descending from the heavens and then bursting into flames was a real highlight, so iconic. The guy dressed in all denim was such a vibe as well. I actually feel sorry for him cos the other guy stole the spotlight a bit but that was a true eurovision act. I feel I can always rely on inland to deliver something crazy and they smashed it out the park yet again. Rank no. 6

PERFORMANCE 18: PORTUGAL- IOLANDA-  GRITO The staging gave a beige mom house in the US, the makeup gave Coachella. I really thought it was quite a vibe, maybe a bit dentist office wedding but who cares shes a cracking voice and the dancers went down as 'the beekeepers in my house'. The light was giving Loreen's panini press again but it's not that bad and is a solid mid range one. Rank no.16

PERFORMANCE 19: ARMENIA- LADANIVA- JAKO This one HIT man. It was just a vibe, the like trumpets and the woman's mental ness. The patterns almost sent me into a seizure but it's eurovision, you're gonna have a migrane the next morning. She was so cool in her dress and I just loved it, the band was cool as well and jumping around the stage while singing complicated stuff like that is a talent so kudos to the singer. Rank no.11

PERFORMANCE 20: CYPRUS- SILIA KAPSIS- LIAR Yet another same samey song. It just wasn't giving me enough to get a notable score. This is no criticism to her herself but it just got too repetitive this year. Far too many scantily clad men dancing around young women. Particularly with this one, she's only 17 and she looks so much older and I was just worrying for her and praying that the dutch dude wasn't towards her. Rank no.22

PERFORMANCE 21: SWITZERLAND- NEMO- THE CODE One of my favourites for the evening. They looked like nemo as well it was so adorable. The talent to stay on that pendulum wheel thing is so freaking awesome. They cooked hard. Their vocals are so freaking stunning as well just an incredible, catchy one. The drum beat gave breakcore and it's just an ear-scratcher. It's just such a snazzy song. Rank no. 4

PERFORMANCE 22: SLOVENIA- RAIVEN- VERONIKA What in the water-coated body suit? The fit was questionable and so was the dance moves. Yet another situation where the contestant made out with the dancer. The light up tits and crotch were weird as well. Like highlighting the bits you shouldn't want to show off. Oh welllllll. IT was an interesting song, not particularly special but pretty typical eurovision. The eye makeup was on point also. Rank no.15

PERFORMANCE 23: CROATIA- BABY LASAGNE- RIM TIM TAGI DIM The pirate vibe meets My Chemical Romance were real. One of my favourites of the night. The cat pictures sold it to me heavily. I loved the fit it was such a vibe. I had it goin through my head all night. The meowing absolutely killed me. Such a banger a true sea shanty turned rock is the recipie to please my ears. Rank no.2

PERFORMANCE 24: GEORGIA- NUTSA BUZALADZE- FIREFIGHTER Yet another woman singing warbly surrounded by muscular men in interesting clothing. Her dance moves were extremely strange and probably not appropriate for the kids watching, particularly in that short of a dress. The song wasn't the worst though ( take that back probably one of my least favourites). The dance was just a bit odd. Rank no.20

PERFORMANCE 25: FRANCE- SLIMANE- MON AMOUR It was so boring. Like I was falling asleep. It needed spice. It was giving shit drake that sings falsetto that's too high for him. It was too repetitive, too boring. It didn't appeal to me one bit. Probably my least favourite. Rank no.25

PERFORMANCE 26: AUSTRIA- KALEEN- WE WILL RAVE Now, I'm not usually a fa of this vibe of music but kaleen executed it so freaking perfectly, its a n earworm that I hate but its so funny. Very Europop vibe to it, giving me jamboree vibes yet again. She reminds me of Taylor Swift and her little daughter was so sweet. This has gone down pretty well I think. Rank no.12

Now, I've finished my part and I didn't watch the after bits cos I was too busy falling asleep from slimane. Compared to last year, completely underwhelming but its decent. Some hhits hit, others missed the board completely. Sorry about even worse grammar and spelling than last year but that's all folks, see you in 2025.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: BENDIS. PART 3. 

READING THINGS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! 

Part 1 HERE. 

Part 2 HERE. 

This is the final bit! The last three! You ready? I can’t stress how much you aren’t ready for this. 

Issue #10

This cover is kinda meh. They could have done better. Maleev really likes drawing those steel beams though. He went “Man, you know what’s fun and cool? BEAMS.” I can respect that. 

Alright. Reading the title page to make sure nothing else changed when I wasn't looking... 

Looks the same. Just an added line. 

"In the ensuing battle through the streets of Los Angeles, Echo dies at the hand of Nefaria and Moon Knight falls into an uncontrollable berserker rage." 

Makes it sound cooler than it actually IS. 

So we get the same picture we left off with in the last issue only this time they've edited in a dead Echo at the forefront. I don't need to show you that. Seems like they could have given us something different and just used one of the alternate images for dramatic effect. 

We get a collage of action. We see bloody claws, glowing Count eyes attacking, blood across Marc's chest, red explosions, Marc screaming, more blood, and a dead Echo. 

It's dramatic and has a certain flow to it. It does encapsulate Marc's current state of mind pretty well. 

And then... 

We cut to a street and see a TAXI CAB. And a man in a flat cap!!!!! 

….I swear my heart just skipped a beat and I got SOOOOOO fucking excited and then I remembered what was actually happening and now I'm just MAD again. Because… Even after ALL THAT. After everything that happened in the last issues… If somehow…SOMEHOW…Jake suddenly actually stepped in and then we saw Steven… It would have saved this. That Marc didn’t need Fake Cap and Wolverine and Spider-Man. That what he needed all this time was right there… Sure, it still would have been messy, but it could have been explained as Marc breaking down and Fictives coming in or Persecutors or SOMETHING. And I’m sitting here crying because THAT could have been good. And instead we get…THIS. 

Because...This isn't the TV show. This is real. 

"What have you been doing all night, Marlene?" 

He asks Marlene. 

"Waiting for you, Steven." 

ALRIGHT. Let's break this down page by page. 

So Bendis is FINALLY acknowledging that Jake, Marc, and Steven all exist. 

We see Jake coming home in his cab to Marlene. 

It's very reminiscent of Moench. Jake takes them home. Jake always takes them home. There's something to that. 

And once he walks into the house with Marlene, he's no longer Jake. Jake very rarely liked interacting with Marlene, much less hanging out in any of their posh homes. 

And just like in Moench's run, she addresses him as Steven. She always waited for Steven. 

She asks who they destroyed this time. 

He says that isn't fair. 

And it isn't fair. But Marlene started to get bitter towards them in the end. She suffered her own losses and she started to blame him for them. She always hated Marc and loved Steven. And Marc destroyed so much of their life. 

We see Moon Knight asking to go in, but we see the Avenger's masks in the background. 

Notice how Wolverine is on top. 

Marc assumes that Frenchie is the one in the costume. He knows Frenchie left him a long time ago. His oldest and closest friend. The only one that knew Marc Spector as Marc Spector. 

The insistence that "SOMEONE" has to go out because they don't know what's happening implies that someone else is in control and they are all locked out. 

The costume is empty. He doesn't know who'se wearing it. He doesn't know who is inside it. Maybe no one. 

He's confused because he's lost control of his own situation and lost control of everything. 

Because it doesn't matter who he tries to be, who he loves, or what he does... Marc Spector still "Ruins everything he touches." 

He wakes up in a hospital bed, RESTRAINED to the bed with a security guard outside. 

The implication is pretty obvious. And honestly, this is something Marc has dealt with before. And probably something that brings back a lot of bad memories for him. 

He's waking up somewhere he doesn't know where he is, he can't remember how he got there, he doesn't know what happened, he doesn't know who has been out, and he's locked up. 

He's able to make a phone call. 

Detective Hall shows up! 

"Where is he?" 

"He's down the hall." 

"Has he said anything?" 

"He's in pretty bad shape." 

"When do his prints come back from the lab?" 

"Prints?" 

"You didn't fingerprint him? A costumed hero lies dead and bloody in the street and you don't print him?" 

"He's in bad shape. We thought--No one said--" 

"You have Moon Knight in custody. And you didn't think to PRINT him." 

Remember, Hall is from NY. He's familiar with who Moon Knight is. What he can do. What he's known to do. 

"We--We secured the hallway. We have all of the other patients moved to other floors. I mean, it's not like we were--" 

Hall turns the corner to find at least five guards and staff knocked out in the hall, and Moon Knight's room and bed empty. 

Slowly the other officers start to get dizzy and also fall over. The hall has been gassed! 

Hey it’s Buck! 

I appreciate Buck. 

Buck: "Let's move along now..." 

Marc: "I'm beginning to love you, Buck." 

Buck: "Well, that takes the sting off the fact that I know I'm going to hell for this. I just sleep-gassed a hospital." 

Marc: "Seriously...Thank you." 

Buck: "The girl didn't make it." 

Marc: "I told her--I told her to run." 

Buck: "I ain't blamin' you. She's a big girl. I'm just saying." 

Marc: "This is going to...haunt me for a while." 

Buck: "Imagine how she feels." 

Marc: "What happened to...@$@@ing Count Nefaria?" 

We head to some place where we find the Count in pretty bad shape and having a tantrum. 

The...I don't know what this guy is.. Butler? We're going to go with butler. The butler tells the Count's visitor that "He's going to need a minute. It's been a very rough night." 

LOL I bet he had a rough night. Moon Knight tends to do that to people. Moon Knight beaten up and bleeding? Imagine what the other guy looks like. 

"From what I understand, this Moon Knight character got in what can only be called a lucky shot. He stabbed Lucino just as he was preparing a fatal blow. The blow backfired. The police arrived to find Lucino struggling to regain his...Composure. You see, he is not a young man. Containing this kind of power is a true effort in the best circumstances. That's why he needs you." 

We get the identity of the visitor and...Ugh. Okay. THIS Villainess I know. 

Madame Masque. 

If I know her, why don't I know the Count? These are the questions I ask myself. 

She's apparently his DAUGHTER. 

Some of you more well read comic fans may recognize her or her name. ALRIGHT. She was created by Stan Lee and co. back in 1967. Originally named Giulietta Nefaria, but later changed to Whitney Frost. 

She's the daughter of Count Nefaria...And she's historically been the occasional love interest of Tony Stark, Iron Man. 

(Yeah... Tony gets around ALMOST as much as Matt Murdock. ....almost.) 

Originally she wore a golden mask to cover her disfigured face. Her face has since healed, but she still wears the mask. 

Apparently her mother died giving birth to her and the Count wanted her to live a respectable life so he adopted her out to Byron Frost, who worked for Nefaria. 

She's had some back and forth with being a villainess and showing compassion to the heroes (mostly Tony. She’s got a love hate going on with Tony). 

All that aside, we head back to Marc's mansion. 

Marc is listening to his voice mails. 

His assistant is calling to check up to see if he's still alive since she hasn't heard from him in a while. 

He's still healing and in pain. It was a pretty hard fight, after all. Not to mention Echo... 

Wolverine shows up and tells Marc to get up. 

"I can't. You're the reason I'm here!" 

"You're the reason you're here, Bub. You better get up because I guarantee you, Nefaria is up and looking for YOU." 

"And what would you hae me do?!" 

"Finish what you started." 

"I hate you." 

"I don't care. Finish what you started. He's got an Ultron. You're an Avenger. Echo was an Avenger. Avenge her. Save this city." 

Honestly, Marc needs time. He never gives himself time. And for once, Marc is in bed TRYING to give himself time. Trying to feel things and heal and he isn't getting to. I feel for him. 

We head over to the morgue where an autopsy is being done on Echo. I don't need to show you these pictures. 

The doctors discuss who has authority over her body. FBI or the LAPD who brought her in. 

Just as they are about to start, Madame Masque busts in and shoots everyone. 

She recognizes Echo's body, but can't place who she is. 

She finds the weapon staff that Buck outfitted with Vibranium. 

It's a lead and she calls her people to check the black market for rescent buys. She's going to trace it back to Marc. 

We head to the police HQ to find the Detective Hall interviewing Snapdragon again. 

He has a still image of Madame Masque in the morgue. He asks her to identify her. 

Snapdragon does so. Noting that "Her and her dad have what you'd call a strained relationship." 

Snapdragon urges Detective Hall to either bust the Count quickly or get her out of there because she's terrified of Madame Masque and she's a sitting duck there. 

Detective says he's doing his best, but there are stops in place above him. 

We head back to Marc's place. We see Buck parking outside and about to open the garage when he notices red dots, indicating he's in someone's sights. 

"Son of a--" He reaches for his gun. 

"Rrr! N'me!" 

"What?" 

"Don't worry about me! She got the Ultron head! She has Ultron! It's out in the open!" 

Poor Buck. 

Poor Marc. It’s about to get a lot worse for him. 

END ISSUE. Two more to go. 

The hospital scene gets to me. They find Moon Knight near death in the street next to a badly injured Count and a dead Echo and they cuff him to the bed. And then Bendis BLATANTLY showing us Jake. Letting us know that he’s aware of Steven and Jake and that they DO in fact exist in this story, but he’s not going to give them to us? That they just aren’t there? Also, Did you see how wonderful that cap looked? HOW WONDERFUL THAT JAKE LOOKED?! I will forever be angry that we are denied Maleev drawing us Jake or Steven. …And giving Marc a Goatee when Jake isn’t there to enjoy it. >:(

ISSUE #11! 

There the guys are staring again. 

But I DO like this cover. Black and white and the single pillar in the middle. It's a cover of mourning. 

And the folds in that cape? LOOK AT THAT CAPE. 

Marc's in for a bad time. It's about to get REALLY bad for him. 

Alright title page... Oh look, they're changing it just enough to make his deal with Echo even more potent. 

"He has teamed up with (and fallen in love with) another former Avenger, Echo.

Echo dies at the hand of Nefaria, driving Moon Knight off the deep end and setting him on a course for bloody vengeance. Before he can do that, however, Nefaria's daughter, the assassin Madame Masque, breaks into Spector's house and steals the head of Ultron..." 

Not to mention shooting Buck. I hope Buck survives. I like Buck. 

We open on SHIELD Helicarrier 1000 Feet over the Pacific Ocean. 

Hey, it's commander Hill! Nick Fury's right hand man and replacement after he died/ranoff/did his thing (dude does all of the above SO MANY TIMES all the time). 

Moon Knight is trying to call SHIELD. 

"They're using one of Captain America's secure lines." 

"Moon Knight." 

"It's coming from the Los Angeles Area. He's using old codes. From a discharged agent by the name of Buck Lime." 

"Okay, well, put him through. This should be annoying." 

I hate how much no one respects him and thinks of him as just that crazy guy that causes problems.

First of all, RUDE. She knows exactly who Moon Knight is and what his problems are. He had a psych eval when he joined the Avengers the FIRST time. You know she’s read the file. 

Second of all, Captain America should have informed SHIELD of the Count’s actions and locations just in case things DID get out of control. He seems like the sort of villain that they’d want to know the location of at all times, even if he wasn’t being active! 

She berates him for losing the Head, even though the plan was approved by Captain America. 

Buck tells htem that he put a tracker in the head, but when she blew up the garage, the responder was also blown up. He needs them to pick up the signal and send it to them. 

"No. You give ME the signal and I'll send a battalion of Hulkbuster Agents down there to--" 

"All due respect, but I think a lighter touch is needed." Marc makes excellent decisions. 

"Oh, you do? Says the man who 'lost' an Ultron." 

Back with Madame Masque, we see her with the Ultron head. She calls her father to tell him she has it. 

But... "I won't be meeting you. No. Not until you tell me the plan. What do you plan on doing with a homicidal artificlal intelligence you can't possibly control?" 

He tells her the plan (We don't get to hear it) and she suddenly changes her mind. 

"I didn't know that. No. Oh. Okay. Yes sir. I'll see you soon." 

Just as she's about to pack up and head out, a shadow catches her eye. 

Moon Knight pounces from above. 

He attacks with the shield, the webbing, and the claws. 

Wolverine yells to cut her and finish it. 

Marc forces her to get up close and personal and they both take some hard hits. 

Just when it looks like she has the upper hand, she looks back and suddenly realizes the Ultron head is gone! 

Buck has snatched it and is running away. 

Moon Knight manages to distract her until Buck makes it to the car and starts to drive away, her running after him. 

Moon Knight is still recovering from his earlier injuries so he's slower to get up and give chase. 

"Agh! Okay. That really hurt-" 

Wolverine: "Shut up and get up!" 

Madame Masque manages to shoot out his tires and stall his car. When he doesn't get out of the car, she starts trying to shoot his gas tank. 

Gas is now dripping heavily from his car and there are sparks all over. 

A silver Crescent shape appears above her and she shoots it up. 

It's just a cape! 

Spiderwebbing wraps up her guns and Moon Knight attacks. 

Just as he strikes, the car explodes, sending them both flying. 

Ah yes, the seeing the dead girlfriend telling you not to let her death be in vain and to make it mean something trope. 

Marc wakes up and forces himself to move just as Madame Masque is about to stab him. 

I'd again like to remind you that Marc Spector is specially trained in hand to hand combat. Everyone goes on about "Oh yeah this villain is a skilled fighter!" but they still don't have the training Marc has. Marc didn't just wake up one day and put on the mask with a little boxing degree under his belt. 

Boxing, street fighting, Army/Marines, Special ops, SHIELD, underground fight rings and cage fighting...And THEN his years of Mercenary training and how to get out of shit situations because he puts himself in BAD situations constantly and has to dig himself out. 

Not just that, he's a stubborn asshole who would 'rather take the punch than learn to duck' as Taskmaster once said. (My favorite depiction of Marc.) 

So a scary lady like Madame Masque means nothing to him. 

And I appreciate that Bendis and Maleev recognize this. Another point in their corner. (Unlike with Bendis and Burrow who showed him getting his ass handed to him by some no one over and over again.)

“And that’s why you don’t steal from the craziest Avenger on the West-” 

Marc, don't encourage this. 

Marc takes off her mask and finds a beautiful perfect face. 

"She doesn't even need the mask. She's crazier than you are." Wolverine snerks. 

What's this? Echo has joined the commentary. Is she a 'voice/personality' now too? 

"Well done, Spector. Don't forget Buck. ANd the Ultron Head." But why does she speak like Captain America? 

"Oh No...Buck." 

Marc finds Buck laying next to the exploded car. 

"Oh no. Not you too, Buck. Not you too. I'm so..." 

Buck turns around with his gun at the ready. "NGYAA!" 

"HO!" 

"AGH!" 

"It's okay. It's me." 

"Whee is--Did you--?"

"I got her." 

"That--!" 

The police arrive via Helicopter and Marc tells them it's time to go. 

He helps Buck get up and they make a run for it. 

And I must say… The writing between Buck and Marc is top notch. I appreciate the humor they have. The banter. Even Marc poking fun at himself. He’s relaxing around Buck and you don’t see him do that often with people. He’s told Buck that he has problems and Buck still accepts him (even though he hasn’t really said the full extent of his problems). I’m going to give Bendis another point for giving us Buck. 

Thank you Buck. 

Back with the Count! He's watching the breaking news on TV about the latest thing with Moon Knight. 

The Local police arrive at his place. They have a warrant and subpoena. 

"There's quite a few of them. They said it had something to do with Moon Knight." 

"Moon Knight..." Yeah... Count is learning what it means to get Moon Knight under your skin. 

Do you have any idea HOW MANY major marvel hitters have come up across Moon Knight and gone, "Please. Let me face ANYONE...ANYONE...but Moon Knight again." They'd rather fight the Hulk than end up in Moon Knight's sights again. 

Even if they 'won' or kicked his ass... At what cost? This man knows how to be a PROBLEM. It's what he's best at. Marc Spector: professional problem. 

Anyways, END ISSUE. ONE TO GO. 

ANd this is the problem. I liked that issue. It was fun, it was quirky, it had Buck, it had Moon Knight doing what he does best. But then you add in the Wolverine aspect and also the discrimination and then the potential that Echo is ALSO now joined his voices/personalities in his head? 

LAST ISSUE

Issue #12! 

I really love his use of grays and whites. And he draws a fantastic moon. The framing of this image is just spot on. 

Alright. Let's get this bread. 

On the title page! 

We got the usual false info on the start of Moon Knight (I can't believe they changed the story and how wrong they made it.) 

The usual bit about his TV show, Count Nefaria, his hidden new split personality disorder (LOL no). His love with Echo and her death... 

And lastly we have him "ruthlessly" dispatching Madame Masque to get the Ultron head back. 

Then the police catching up with Count Nefaria and making him even more pissed at Moon Knight. 

HERE WE GO! 

We open with the police serving the warrant and trying to get into the house to find the Count. 

Just then, the COunt takes off, flying away and destroying a Police copter in the process. Which was totally unnecessary cause they were just there for light and had no weapons. 

Back at police HQ, Snapdragon hears about the Count getting away and tells the police they had a deal to get her out of there. 

The captain goes to get her. It's time to transport her to protective custody. 

And then the Count shows up. 

"Captain Quaid. You and I had a deal. Payments were made." 

Yeah, that's what I thought. 

The Captain tells the officers to stand down. 

There's an argument and the Count laser eye blasts the Captain to death. The police open fire and Snapdragon takes cover. 

He's pretty pissed at Snapdragon, telling her that he hadn't plan to leave her there to rot after all. That he was going to get her out later and she betrayed him. 

As he's ranting, someone comes up behind him. "Hey, Nefaria..." 

The art here. The action pose. The detail in the rubble… The SASS. The absolute frustration that someone as small time as Moon Knight is this much of a problem. 

This gives me joy. 

Also, in the last Issue, Marc's outfit was pretty torn up. And the issue before that his outfit was pretty torn up. 

He must keep on hand SO MANY outfits. Not to mention capes. 

So here we are again... Marc going up against an over powered villain up close and personal. 

You know what his only advantage is? 

(Look at him. Sitting there on all that rubble like a trouble maker. )

The fact that he is such a problem. 

"Marc Spector: Profession Problem" really should be on his business cards. 

While the Count is distracted by Moon Knight, Snapdragon takes up hier own offense. She shoots at the Count then opens fire on Moon Knight too. 

"Nice. Real nice." He blocks her blows with his shield. 

Then we see Wolverine and the newest member to the innacurate Headmate group: Echo. 

Echo has taken up the voice of reason, since Wolverine killed off Captain America and Spider-man in a previous issue, I guess? 

"Tell him it's time to make a deal." 

Marc tries to make a deal with Nefaria. "Kill me and you'll never get the head of Ultron. And I mean NEVER." 

He then tells him that he's going to lose his empire, his daughter, and his west coast bragging rights. 

Yeah... Count isn't listening. He's pretty enraged. 

It’s kinda funny really. Like he can’t even believe he’s never considered that Moon Knight could ever be his problem.

(Dude’s starting to sound like talking to me must sound like.) 

Moon Knight keeps his paces, but this dude is fast and strong. 

He snaps the claws apart then throws Moon Knight around a bit. 

"Here's what's going to happen according to me. You're going to give me my Ultron head. You're going to give it to me and then you are going to pay off the sizable debt you've racked up. Not with money...but with service. Do I need to explain myself again?" 

He trashes Marc around a bit, ripping up that nice new outfit. 

"And maybe I won't kill you like I killed your little Girlfriend. You have no idea what's at stake here, boy. You have no idea how important that head is." 

Marc tells him that the head is outside. in the parking lot. "No more killing...No more..." 

So the Count drags Marc out of the station to the lot. 

"Yeah, he called the Avengers." 

Oh look! The Avengers! Who we got on the team today? Let's see... Thor, Wolverine, Spiderwoman, Captain Marvel, Beast, Iron Man and...Someone I don't recognize. And they've also apprehended Snapdragon too. 

And Marc, bless his Sass... 

Beaten to a pulp he looks up at the Count: "You see them too, right?" 

Now, according to the things I looked up so I could figure out just WHO the Count is.. He's fought Thor more than a few times and it was mostly an even match, but Thor usually got an upper hand. 

The Count goes on the attack and Thor lays him out with a good ol' Thor hammer. 

Marc takes the opprotunity to crawl over to him. "That's for Echo, you son of a bitch." 

And he punches out the Count. 

And that would be great if that was it. But it isn't. 

We head back to Marc's partially blown up house. 

Tony Stark wants to see the head. 

Marc hands it over. "Ta-Dah!" 

"It's the real damn deal." 

"Thanks for coming to take it off our hands, Stark." 

"Hey, thanks for keeping it out of that nut job's hands. Thanks for calling us when you did. Sorry we didn't get there five minutes faster." 

"What did Nefaria want with it?" 

And Tony tells him. 

Ultron is a highly advanced artificial intelligence that is far smarter than any of them and keeps getting smarter. It wants to wipe out all of humanity. 

It's also out there. They destroyed all the avatar bodies, but the program is out there hiding and waiting and planning. 

Tony speculates that Nefaria either knows 'something we don't--like where Ultron is or what the Ultron plan is...Or he's trying to get ahead start. Trying to get in on the ground floor or when the big bad robot comes to kill us. Maybe he wanted something to Bargain with." 

"I really don't want that in my house anymore." 

Does he think that you can’t have mental health issues and still have a normal conversation or do a normal job? 

The second mental health is breeched no one trusts them to do anything. Or they look the other way then if anything goes out of the normal they go “Oh yeah I always knew he was trouble. He’s crazy, you know.” 

Pisses me off. 

I love Buck. He gets it. He notices when Marc is having a moment and he also knows that exhaustion isn’t great for things. Despite it all, Buck is there for him and he’s willing to help him along the way. 

(And you are never going to see Buck again. He’s quickly erased thanks to the 3 year gap after Moon Knight is canceled. Moved on or like he never happened. This upsets me.) 

You know what else upsets me? 

There's a new headmate now. He just had a frank discussion with Tony Stark. Captain America and Spider-man headmates were killed off. So now he has...

Wolverine, Echo, and Ironman. Three personalities that are NOT going to get along and have VERY different instructions and opinions. Back to square one. 

wtf

THREE MONTHS LATER. 

Studio Back Lot, Marc arrives and is told by his assistant that the show is canceled. 

Not making enough money or something or other. 

(The joke here is that he’s crazy so they expect him to do crazy things.) 

Marc. Let her go. Remember how we talked about you making BAD DECISIONS? 

Marc… MARC. 

Okay. Hold on a second. I need to look something up. 

So, as I noted in part 1... This was one of Bendis' less successful revivals. He re-wrote Moon Knight's past, gave him a new location, and then completely redid his character and D.I.D as well as getting rid of without explaining Steven and Jake. In fact, it's implied that he never HAD Steven and Jake and that they were only used as "Cover personas" and that his "Multiple Personality" issue is new and hidden as he 'imagines' the Avengers working along side him. 

It's used as a ploy to keep the crazy in Moon Knight while also trying to make him interesting when he was ALREADY interesting and Bendis just stripped what was interesting about him away without explanation or cause. 

You don't take the stripes off the Zebra and call it a fancy horse and still expect people to be interested in it like they were before. 

According to one review write up: "It never really caught fire with new fans, and longtime devotees didn't love the concept of tying him into some of Marvel's biggest heroes." 

It was a huge flop. 

During this run, Moon Knight also had a major team appearance (first in over 20 years) in "Secret Avengers". In fact, he was popping up all over the place in this time frame in small side projects and background things. 

And then.... NOTHING. But what about the promise of "He will return in Age of Ultron"? 

WELL....

Age of Ultron, 2012. He appears prominently in Issues #2, 4, 5, 10, and Avengers Assemble Age of Ultron #14. But it is not considered a canon timeline for him and has no affect on the main story. He’s just kinda there. You KNOW how I feel about Marvel events that just take all the characters and mash them together with writers that don’t know how to handle these characters. They just kinda go off of cliff notes on the most recent run that’s been published. 

Let's take a peek at how Moon Knight was handled after the failed Bendis run...  

Avengers Assemble: Age of Ultron

Written by Al Ewing

Art by Butch Guice

Editor by Lauren Sankovitch 

…..THANKS BENDIS. I HATE IT.

Dialogue here because I had to squint:

"Marc Spector. Moon Knight. I've worked with him. Unstable, but useful. So long as he can keep himself together. Right now, he's not doing well. He's breaking. It's in his voice. He needs something certain. Something he can rely on. He needs the Black Widow. The one in his head."

So this is what happens when someone mismanages a character like Moon Knight. The stigma…and it is stigma…sticks. It’s harder to make the good things stick than it is to make the mad things last. Just look at BEMIS. 

Up to this point, there had been a LOT of misrepresentation for Moon Knight. He just kept getting crazier and crazier. More and more violent. Some writers took it to the extreme and others tried to mellow it out but gave him less of Steven and Jake and more of rageful Marc. 

When Bendis redefined Marc’s mental disorder, there was only one way to go with it and it was right into crazy town. The Avengers treated him with kiddie gloves and ‘played’ to his delusions. 

This is how bad depictions of disabilities can snowball. And snowball it did. 

THREE YEARS. No one knew what to do with him. Did they take him back to where he was, cutting faces off of people? Or into the wild and angry phase? Or did they try to carry on what Bendis did here? 

It’s any wonder that it took three years for someone to step up and say “Let me try.” and is it any wonder that their arch was so PASSIVE? 

So here I am with a question: Was this a good run? 

Pros: The art was good and consistent. The dialogue was good and believable. The action was balanced. The stillness was balanced. We had very good fighting scenes with good combat. I FELT for Marc. We got to see Marc in vulnerable situations trying to deal with his failing mental health and his grief. He broke my heart. We also got Buck! It made me legit laugh a few times. 

Cons: VERY POORLY DONE REPRESENTATION OF D.I.D AND MENTAL HEALTH IN GENERAL THAT GOT IT CANCELED FOR THREE YEARS AND SPIRALLED US INTO SUCH POOR DEPICTiONS AND STIGMA. 

The hardest part is that when it was good, it was AMAZING. But when it was bad…. 

So do I forgive Bendis? Do I forgive him for taking on a project he should NOT have taken on? Is it enough for me to enjoy the run and recommend it? Is it enough for me to say “It’s great if you overlook the piss poor representation of D.I.D and Ableism.”? 

I can see why after reading this run, I set it aside and marked it as ‘the worst’ and refused to touch it again. Was it bad enough to warrant that reaction? At the time… Yes. But looking back on it… Perhaps I was a little harsh? Holding it up against Aaron, BEMIS, and even Pepose… It’s top of the line. But how sad is that? 

How sad that we have to hold up something so wrong and say “Hey, it wasn’t the worst so I give it a two thumbs up”? 

We should expect better. Because this comic deserves better. This run should have been up there with Lemire. Instead, it’s down here with “Skip this one”. And that makes me sad. 

What do you guys think? Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is this run still a skip, or is it a read ‘but don’t pay attention to these things’?

[amysterywrappedinanenigma]

Ranking (bullying) LD Curtain's season 2 fashion choices

Because even if the show seems to have forgiven him, I sure haven’t. 

DISCLAIMER: This is in NO WAY criticizing the costume designers of this show- it couldn’t be farther from that. They’ve done an amazing job with every single piece in the show, and all of these fit Curtain’s personality and aesthetic perfectly. This is just me mocking the in-universe fashion choices that the character makes, because he needs to be bullied more. All lighthearted, all in good fun.

Disclaimer #2: I know literally nothing about fashion, please don’t attack me. 

Okay, from least heinous to most heinous, here we go! 

First up:

As much as it pains me to admit this. I actually. Really like this one. (”And if you told me I would never say something like that, well, I would never say something like that, but here we are.”) I think the silhouette is interesting, and all of the pieces come together well. Plus, in some of the tighter shots you can see that the fabric texture and detailing is really cool:

The leaves as clasps and that crinkly texture kind of really slap, and I really love the way the collar sort of wraps into the placket.

8 / 10

Interview outfit:

Wow, look! Another one that doesn't inspire immediate feelings of rage! We're doing so well.

This one isn't as visually interesting as the first outfit, but I do sort of like it. The collar folds create kind of a cool shape, and the grey accents under the top is a nice little contrast. I don't know how I feel about the zipper right below the collar, it's kind of a weird choice and might look better if it wasn't so visible, but I'll let it slide for this one since we have a much more heinous zipper situation coming up later.

I like the contrasting shades of blue with the button up shirt, and the lavender shirt he wears under it later in the episode, and the fact that part of the collar can kind of fold down to make a different shape.

6 / 10

Clown sleeves:

So the sleeves on this one are. kind of a lot. But they gain a couple of points for being the only thing in this outfit that really pops. They're sort of weird, but I can see the appeal of them standing out against the black vest, and being a pretty nice contrast that draws the eye.

5 / 10

Meh:

Time for the part of the post where I include 6 outfits that I just kind of don't have strong opinions on, mainly because they feel like pretty standard, decent outfits with no real reason to bat an eye at them.

The last image is saved on my computer as "are those your pajamas?" but. acceptable.

sure / 10

Dancy dance:

🧍‍♂️

I don't have much to say about this one other than, for some reason, the visual of him wearing tennis shoes makes me viscerally uncomfortable.

🤡 / 10

Elizabeth Holmes Chic:

He looks like a kid playing dress-up in their dad's giant overcoat, except someone let him go outside looking like this. I know oversized clothing items can be fashionable but here he's like drowning in it.

And then when he takes the coat off:

This maybe wouldn’t be a terrible outfit, it’s just so goddamn pretentious. He seems like he's trying to look like Steve Jobs, but ended up looking more like Elizabeth Holmes.

about to start another pyramid scheme / 10

Vacation dad (derogatory):

On someone else I might like this outfit, but on him it just looks so dumb. He looks like he's about to go skydiving with how much he's buttoned up. Better watch out or he could get carried away and spend 20 minutes unstrapping and unbuttoning it to reveal his fun little vacation shirt underneath! It's somehow stupidly formal and stupidly casual at the same time, and I just think it's a very silly little outfit. He's joining the army as penance for his fashion crimes. If you ask very very nicely he might tell you what's in his four huge, weirdly-placed pockets.

what's in the pockets / 10

And now.

We've arrived. We're finally here. The last one. The moment we've all been waiting for.

The worst of the worst:

I'll be honest, I don't really know where to start this one. There are too many things to choose from. Do I start with the weird asymmetrical pattern on the sleeves, with the red and blue stripes that aren't even made up of the same type of pattern?

Or maybe the fact that the buttons (and the piece of fabric they're attached to) ends too high above the neckline of the top layer?

Or we could talk about the fact that the top layer looks like one of those smocks you'd wear to get an x-ray at the dentist, made in a fabric that must have been rescued from the back of a fabric store after 50 years of not being bought.

I think by far the worst part is the length:

The fact that those strange little smock flaps go almost a foot past the zipper, halfway down to his knees. It swallows like 2/3rds of his body in this horrible block of grey fabric, and this man has the audacity to carry himself like it’s fashionable, instead of an assault on the senses. 

I want to set it on fire. I want to burn him along with it. I want to gently take his tailor aside and ask if Curtain held him at knife point and made him design this monstrosity. TEAR IT TO PIECES, GET IT OUT OF MY SIGHT, TURN IT INTO SCRAPS FOR SQ'S ART PROJECTS.

Anyway.

This outfit is such a menace to this world that I thought everyone should get a chance to tear it to shreds, so presenting, the communal roast:

“GROSS. SHUN.” -@mvshortcut

"prison chic. dentist x-ray chic. ugly." -@mysteriouseggsbenedict 

“the terrible zip up vest that just keeps on going fucked a potato sack” -@bi-demon-ium

“runway model for the most pretentious fashion designer who ever lived” - @sqenthusiast

“Trying to be casual but also Better Than You. The definition of 'you really thought you did something there'” -@echo-delta

“Child with one of those books where you can draw clothes over top the shape of a person” -@mysteriouseggsbenedict 

“Mr Curtain sir I don’t feel very happy looking at this. I think it’s a little counterproductive.” -@mvshortcut

Truly horrendous.

borrowing constance's acid to destroy the outfit and then clean the eyes of anyone who wants to forget they saw this monstrosity / 10

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me, and as always, send the x-ray bib to hell.

[alolanroy]

2023 Media Thread Pt3

Sharkula: Finding out that this director cranks out like 8 of these a year makes so much sense. The editing and effects are bafflingly amateur, and by that I mean I don't know how you can make something this inept in good faith. The casting is...concerning. I'm not referring to the 'college students' that look like weekend warriors, I mean that a certain character clearly had some sort of disorder, and it felt pretty exploitative. Funny bad in a pathetic sort of way. -6/10

Sharkenstein: We wanted to see more, but it turns out that instead of a fountain of infine fun-bad, it was just bad. At east the Franken-shark was a Nazi also somehow -3/10

Ronin Mecha 3: Space Warrior: This is the kind of incoherent bootleg movie that makes you feel drunk and delirious from laughing too much. Literally nothing from this poster appears, but I did have an episode when I saw a Scope Dogg. -7/10

Mighty Lady Sparkle: I admire the passion for tokusatsu but I don't admire the ecchi. It's the kind of movie where you start the movie proposing drinking games over its quirks but 20 minutes in you feel uncomfortable. -2/10

Boneworks: It took a bit for it to click for me, but Stress Level Zero made a really impressive standard for VR gunplay and exploration. That being said, some of the physics takes a bit to get used to and if you don't have good VR legs, this game would be borderline unplayable. The physics puzzles and level design aren't quite up to the valve standard they are trying to live up to, the former being groan worthy at times, but the gun handling is fun enough that I was interested in playing some of the alternate game modes. The confused and underwhelming ending left it on an odd note, but I had a blast/ 7.5/10

Netflix One Piece: Sometimes the performances just don't work and the dialogue doesn't quite hit the mark. However it made me understand the appeal of One Piece and I gotta give props to the costuming, makeup and the few actors that understood the assignment. 7.5/10

The Amazing Digital Circuis Pilot: There is a distinction between marketable and appealing. Content can be made with the intent of being white noise. Nice rendering I guess. These are ideas that can coexist. 2/10

Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger 20th: The Unforgivable Abare: I was initially afraid that this would be 'abaranger vs the woke mob' I was pleasantly surprised by humor and some out of left field GL. Can't complain 6/10

X-Files Revival: I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. While a few of the comedic episodes were absolute gold, This was pretty sad. Its attempts to stay topical somehow make it more dated than the 90s seasons did. Unfortunately trying to be hip left me with a toothless 16 episodes made mostly of mythology episodes that are clearly supposed to go a whole lotta nowhere. 4/10

Gundam Build Metaverse: Never before has a 10th anniversary season made me feel so old and hopeless. The first episode left me hopeful when it delivered a premise I could see blossoming into a good 15-ish episode show with the occasional cameo and a laid-back Hawaiian attitude to my favorite hobby. The OP and ED promised a good balance of modeling, character cameos, and original drama. Then the last two episodes dropped at once after a two-week gap. That was it. It introduced its antagonist as quickly as she was resolved. Most cameos were still images if they appeared. No one is the right age. The new toys are dispatched so quickly it fails as a toy commercial. This had to have gone through development troubles because of the botched 'metaverse' spawned by the Japanese grants they were handing out...right? I huffed the copium and just got a confusing meh. 5/10

DOA Dead or Alive: Finally, a fighting game movie adaptation that understands the assignment! It's dumb! It's campy! It's exploitative and oggling but in a way that respects its subjects more than most 2000's movies in this genre. It almost loops around to being oddly empowering, an opinion seconded by my girlfriends hooting and hollering at the movie. While one performance was funny bad, any martial arts movie with a ladder fight is great in my book. 8/10

The Last Witch Hunter: Rarely does a vanity projects with someones D&D characters end up this fun. It ranks highly for me in the subgenre of modern-day supernatural hunter movies in an urban setting. Rock solid movie. 7.5/10

Analog Horror Grab Bag: What if a VHS was spoooooooky. Look buddy, mashing MarbleHornets and Exploding Varmits together gets less novel the longer you watch 4/10

Haunting in Venice: I'm not familiar with the original story, but this was a fun and spooky watch. 7/10

Godzilla vs Megalon (2023): I enjoyed the moments of Shin Godzilla cinematography, but mixed with showa-era goofy moves and shonen combat, this short didn't work for me. The chunky soup didn't benefit from an art style that created my least favorite Godzilla design. 5/10

Fest Godzilla 4: Operation Jet Jaguar: RETURN OF DA KING BABYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SHOWA IS BACK IN A BIG WAY 7/10

Pistol Whip: Maybe it was the triggers on my controllers but the timing just felt weirdly off. Trying to deliberately juke the timing killed the rhythm game magic and made me feel more like I was waiting for permission to get the bad guys. The John Wick fantasy this is clearly built for wasn't lost on me though, but without that immersion, I just felt bad. Totally subjectively a 3.5/10

Ultraman Netflix Final Season: I don't really get the appeal of public opinion narratives the way anime seems to make them. Similarly, I don't like when noir stories depend on all of the protagonist's friends requiring zero evidence to turn on them at the drop of a hat. Especially when neither party really attempts to talk it out. Its bad writing and a dub with all of the industries bad habits held up by A really hot alien and a funny magical girl transformation that one time. 4/10

Gundam Trilogy Rewatch: Watched this with two friends who were seeing them for the first time. God these things hold up, especially the 3rd one. Incredible stuff. I and II are a 7/10 for me for good content with weird pacing and III is a 9/10 for great writing and drama. Reanimated sections weren't anything to scoff at either

Skyrim 2nd playthrough: I'll say a playthrough where I know what I'm doing and isn't as sidetracked was better at letting me enjoy the setpieces, I think that without the interstitial wanderlust from the feeling of adventuring a new land, something didn't hit the same. However bringing Sarana(SDA), Lydia(IFD) and a few other talking followers added a certain spice to it. An observation I missed the first time was how hard it pushes you interact with some of the factions in a way I think kinda cheapens their organic introductions.

Armored Trooper Votoms: I reductively pitched this show to someone as the midpoint between Gundam and 40K. There's a lot to love with this series: Gorgeous visuals, concise episodes, and the confidence to change its setting periodically to fun locales like Arakis or Vietnam. Chiricho is a unique protagonist who pulls off the Sigma Male archetype with depth and soul. I was pretty enamored with this from an aesthetic standpoint, but I'm not blind to its flaws. The society is a weak antagonist once they are revealed and the pacing drags as it repeats itself to buy time. While ATs are iconic, they aren't always used with the variety they deserve. While maybe only half the series lives up to this score: 8/10

Knights of the Zodiac 2023: I think this might actually be worst live action anime adaptation to date. Never before have I seen any less interest in adapting the source material than this. I can usually find something to like in a bad movie, but for this I have nothing. Maybe I felt something when we all laughed at the Jump Force cutscenes they used as fight scenes. There's just nothing here. 0/10

Oblivion Override Demo: Ever play Dead Cells? it sure is that with vector graphics. My weakness for this type of robot design puts in most of the work here. movement feels a bit off. 4/10

Half Life 2: VR Mod

-As a way to replay half Life 2: Yep, this is still one of the most important games ever. However, I think that the vehicle sections go on a bit too long and subsequent entries did a lot to improve the visual sameness of a lot of the game 9/10

-As a VR game: Gun handling is excellent. Accessibility options like laser sights for all weapons were fantastic, and they let me help smooth out my own learning curve with the weapons. I will say that weapon selection and two handed aiming was a little cumbersome at times, but weapon reloading was the perfect amount of cumbersome to be satisfying. Even though the game itself didn't get rebalanced to accommodate for VR, it all meshed for a really fun and challenging experience. However vehicle controls were kinda weird and not that great standing. 8/10

Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder: I've come to the conclusion that the real enemy of Votoms wasn't Wiseman, it was the 24 minute episode format. more breathing room meant better pacing and time to really drink in the kino.7.5/10

Cade: The Tortured Crossing: In an incredible stroke of luck I was able to see a Niel Breen film in theaters and I will not lie: it was amazing. The audience was a riot and I nearly passed out from laughter a few times. The editing was surreal and I could see how this was probably stretched from an hour and a half to two hours in the edit. I will not regret giving it an -10/10

Kengan Ashura S2 (???): The real villain is Netflix's release structure. This is one season of anime I saw at a convention like 4 years ago. Its pretty alright. It's competent 6/10

The Mummy 2017: This movie has been a punching bag, both because of the presumptuous launch of the 'dark universe' and also that one trailer that was posted with unfinished sound. Unfortunately, the movie itself is pretty alright and I would like to see more. Plus one point for American Werewolf in London but I take that point away again for another mischaracterization of Dr.Jekyl. 6/10

Votoms Big Battle: Neat stuff. real standout is the fun character design and animation. I also liked the touch of the filter over the villains voice. It kinda hints at how much of a machine he is at that point. 7.5/10

Attack on Titan Final Season part 3: I don't think the ending was bad for the reasons a lot of people say, but I can tell it beefs it in the final chapter. Everything up to that is incredible, Especially the bit with the baseball. Sadly I think the sour note with Mikasa and the tree was an interesting choice that really didn't work out and spoiled it for me a bit. 7.5/10

Attack on titan as a whole... It took a decade. The times weren't always great, but they sure were had. It is politically dense enough that everyone has a half-baked opinion. When it hits, it hits HARD. I think an 8/10. I don't think I was ever bored for a minute.

Godzilla Minus One: I often find myself drawn to the mood of the original Godzilla. Sometimes I wonder if the constraints of its time allows the mind to fill in the gaps. This movie provides us no quarter to do so. It replicates this horror without leaving any to chance. I think this because more than any other in this series, the stakes feel truely desperate and personal. This felt like watching one of those truelly classic films for the first time (oddly enough I was reminded of Jaws...) I'm not sure if it surpasses Shin or the 1954 original yet, but I give this movie a 10/10 with no hesitation.

Knights of Sidonia (Manga): I'll be honest, the first few chapters did a lot to turn me away the first time I tried this, but this series is certainly not the collection of anime tropes I expected. The art is amazing once Tsutomu Nihei hits his stride. The intricate detailing and compositions have to be seen to be believed. I will applaud it for leaving a lot of room to breathe. Most wouldn't resist overexplaining the aliens. The interpersonal story is pretty gutsy, especially considering the resolution to the romantic angle and some surprisingly not weird treatment of characters with fluid genders. However, I think a lot of characters fell through the cracks in favor of the harem angle that was starting to develop (typified by the robot tsundere who felt really unnecessary). 7.5/10

Furi Demake: I get that this is just a little fun proof of concept, ut the Game Bakers kinda under-prooved a few important parts. Namely, the music is generic and the hit hit detection for parrying was wonky. EX: a ground slam you are supposed to parry from right below confused the directional inputs since it can't figure out which way you are facing. 6/10 but I would play a full version of this concept.

Jetborne Racing and Star Trek Bridge Crew: Early VR games with a predominant online component, slow gameplay and wonky controls? in 2023? Yeah Jetborne is unplayable since there's no one online and Bridge Crew is just unintuitive to play. Instead of space mysteries the gameplay consists of figuring out how to undo your space-parking brake 2/10

[cursed-and-haunted]

Okay so I finished watching Hellraiser (2022) and here's my review:

I wouldn't say this is a bad movie and certainly is not the worst Hellraiser movie (remember when Pinhead went to space), there are just some things that were lackluster and left to be desired. I think if you've never seen a Hellraiser movie or are someone who doesn't like persistent gore (which is fair) this would be a good horror movie. However, I love Hellraiser movies and gore so this movie at times left me feeling… meh. 5/10 points off for bad lighting/sound, not wet enough, and lack of bone dragons. And because I had a lot to say about this movie I put a breakdown of my review under the cut

Lighting

Bad. I can't see shit. But this isn't a movie specific problem but a larger Hollywood issue that I don't care to get into right now. 2/10

Sound/Music

Sound quality is bad, but that's the same issue as lighting. The reverb in the cenobites voice is supposed to make them seem scary and other worldly but how am I supposed to fear them if I can't even hear the threats they are making. But if I'm not mistaken they did use some of the score from the original so that was a nice throwback. 3/10

Sets/props

Puzzle Box my beloved (when Riley slipped her finger in the box's hole and the box opened up 👀 I see what you did there 😏). And I love the addition of the little knife that pops out and how the box drinks up blood, very sexy. Also loved the geometric design on the box showing up in other places (on the playground, hospital floor and of course the mansion). I loved the creepy playground. And I loved the mansion. I love when houses are more than just a house. In this particular case it's a giant cage to trap cenobites. Which reminds me of the first ever horror movie I watched, Thirteen Ghosts, where the house was also a giant puzzle box that had trapped ghosts in it. The sex dungeon was lack luster though, like they could have done better than that. 7/10

Special Effects

First off, most of the gory bits are implied and happen off screen which is a cowardly move especially in a horror movie. And what is shown is watered down or only briefly on screen. I liked the effects of the chains coming out of Riley's chest and Nora's death was kind of neat. And Roland being turned into a wind up toy with the machine in his chest and then watching it come all undone was also cool. Also skinless Matt was a nice reference to the original movie. Leviathan my beloved. But my biggest complaint: Not wet enough. Where is the blood, the goop, the slime? If Pinhead's outfit is really her skin that was flayed and mutilated into a dress then she should be glistening wet and yet she's dry as bone and that's just boring. Same complaint for Roland's transformation at the end. You're telling me Roland had his face ripped off and he didn't even bleed a little bit? C'mon! And like even if I gave them the benefit of the doubt and that the censors made them cut back on the gore there are still other ways to add creepiness. Maggots and cockroaches crawling over rotten food. Spiders and flies. Rats. Like it felt like there was more they could have done and they just didn't. 4/10

Costumes

I liked Riley's looks and her overall design. The side characters are a little bland but they're side characters so that makes sense. Roland wearing a suit like any classic villain would. Did anyone else notice Roland cut a hole in his shirt to fit around the machine sticking out of his chest but like it's a button up shirt, like he could've just unbutton his shirt. He didn't have to do all that lol. The cenobites all looked so alien and otherworldly which I guess is nice but like I already said they should have been wetter looking. I liked The Gasps design, it's clear they got inspiration from The Female's design and the way the skin folded on her head looked like a nun's headdress which The Female was a nun before she was a cenobite so that's neat. Ultimately I think it comes down to personal taste so if you like the design of these cenobites I can see why but personally I prefer the old leather daddy designs. I do love that Pinhead has nails painted, like girl who does your nails 💅 6/10

Characters

I really liked Riley and loved that her motivation and what drove the plot forward was her wanting to save her brother. I just wished that the sibling relationship was explored a bit more. Also wish they explored her addiction a little bit more. It just felt like a wasted opportunity there. I liked Matt, Colin, and Nora. I really wished they had been fleshed out more, especially Nora. It kind of bothers me that out of the three human female characters, the two that are literally roommates barely speak directly to each other throughout the entire movie. And like you learn nothing about Nora so when she dies I didn't feel anything and that's like the whole point. It would be different if she was the first to die but she's literally the second to last person to die. There really should have been more to her character but there wasn't. I did not like Trevor. He wasn't very well written and doesn't really bring anything to the story except for maybe the sex scenes but even those were medicore. Honestly, if they had taken him out of the story and given his lines to another character, like Nora, it would barely affect the plot and that's not a good quality in a main character. Roland was a great villain and I'm happy that he got what he wanted. Pinhead was amazing as always and had some killer lines. Also she said the thing! Chatterer, my beloved! I'm so happy they let him bite people. It's what he deserves. I don't like seeing him eviscerated like that but he dies all the time and gets brought back because he's Leviathan's favorite so I'm used to it. The Gasp was great, I love how eager she is to hurt people. The Weeper's hands. Need I say more. The Asphyx sounds like a broken vacuum cleaner and it upsets me how fast he can run. The others don't really do much except creep around so I can't say much about them. 7/10

Plot

Again I liked that the motivation was a sister trying to save her brother and I liked that her prize, or punishment really, is living with the guilt and regret that she ultimately couldn't. It's interesting how the cenobites make the emotional pain of that to be the worst way to suffer, even worse then the physical pain they would've put her through. And that Pinhead seems to in a way acknowledge the bravery it takes to deal with that. The strength and bravery it takes to not die or seek power but simply survive and live with the choices you've made. It's a very interesting thing to explore in a horror story. I also liked the plot structure of going through the different levels of the puzzle box and at the end you meet Leviathan. It gives me Dante traveling through the circle of hell vibes. The betrayal plot line didn't really do it for me. It wasn't really set up properly and there wasn't any foreshadowing for it. So when the big reveal happened it kind of fell flat. An even better plot twist would have been if Trevor was revealed to be an eremite and turned into a bone dragon. If you are unfamiliar with Hellraiser lore, eremites are guardians of the puzzle box and lure unsuspecting victims into hell (and they can turn into dragons) which literally is what Trevor's role in the plot is so it would have been perfect. Just saying it would have been sick as hell. 7/10

[harudnae]

Okay now that I'm finally done watching the whole season: OPLA thoughts under the cut!

I had high hopes, and some things were disappointing, but I'm overall happy with how it turned out.

General impressions over the season:

Episodes 1-3: Yay!

Episodes 4-6: Meh but still kinda cool??

Interlude: Brain rewired to integrate that the OPLA is basically an AU and should be processed the same way a fanfic is

Episodes 7-8: YEAH OKAY THAT REALLY SLAPS

It kind of bothers me that they altered interactions, and consequently the dynamics between some characters. (Garp?? Mihawk???)

My biggest disappointment are the spoilers they introduced, and for that I wouldn't exactly recommend watching the OPLA as a first introduction to One Piece to anyone who wants to read the manga or watch the anime. There was some foreshadowing that was very nicely done, but what truly irks me is the spoilers. And I wonder how they're going to work with those later on?

That being said, there were amazing costumes, and locations were easily recognizable even when not fully faithful to the originals. Party's Bar was the farthest from the manga I think, but for other (more personal) reasons I still found it amazing.

As I expected, the actors for the East Blue crew did their homework well and were (mostly) in character. I'm particularly fond of Iñaki, but to me the whole crew was great and believable in their roles. Extra kudos for Sanji not being a sexist creep, that's a refreshing change.

AND ALL THE FEELS. I laughed, cringed, yelled and cried the way I do when I read the manga or watch the anime, and there are a few scenes that they really nailed, one in particular that I wasn't expecting to hit harder than the original. DEM HUGE FEELS.

Bonus points:

The music was great!

The costumes and practical effects too!

CGI wasn't as bad as I thought!

The whole cast was on point!! (Special kudos for Buggy & Koby which I really really loved, and for Alvida for being too hot for my poor bi heart)

So in the end, let's say I give them a 8/10, and I hope there'll be more! (Once Netfuck pays everyone decently, obviously. Otherwise I'm fine sticking to the original media.)

[animentality]

Just saw Wakanda Forever.

I liked it a lot! First marvel movie I've seen in phase 4 beyond the joyless, effortless dreck that was Thor 4.

And I actually really enjoyed it.

Let's talk about it.

So first:

Story: 8/10 

I enjoyed the story quite a bit. The pacing was much slower than any of the other frenetically ADHD Phase 4 Marvel stories, and I did enjoy the build up and tension. Not many quips and annoying one liners too. Just an emotionally deep, heavy melodrama with action thrown in here and there. The focus was on the characters and I really, really loved that. 

But holy fuck. It was too long. We hit the 2 hour mark and I was like oh my god...there’s still 40 minutes...and those 40 minutes could’ve been sharper, cleaner. It lagged at several parts when it didn’t need to. 

Martin Freeman and his wife were utterly pointless. Their scenes felt forced and strange and terribly uninteresting. 

I don’t mind the over drama being how the world’s governments treat Wakanda...that was narratively cool and thematically solid, I just think Martin Freeman lacked the importance he had in the first movie, and so his entire role could’ve been cut or reduced. 

He’s just exposition man, and the movie didn’t need the American government scenes. Not really. They didn’t have any impact on the main plot, really, anyway. 

The main threat was Namor, and that was all we really needed. 

So that’s the minus 2 deduction. 

Action: 8/10 

I loved the action of this movie because it felt meaningful, and character-focused, rather than just a CGI mess like say....Black Adam. There was real weight to the action, which is nice, since Thor 4 kind of destroyed my idea of Marvel as a decent action studio. 

I enjoyed Wakandan tech, Shuri’s more technology based approach to fighting, and Okoye domination, as always. Less action than Black Panther, but where it existed, it was poignant, fun, had purpose, and felt fairly solid. 

The only deduction comes from the fact that well. Some of the underwater action was meh. And I was a little underwhelmed by the climax. The fight on a Wakandan ship was...ehhh. 

Still, Shuri vs. Namor was pretty damn cool. 

Effects: 9/10 

Solid! Thor 4 looked fucking awful. I was so worried they’d be fucking lazy. 

But no. 

This movie was gorgeous. 

This movie had wonderful, real costumes with some amazing makeup, clothing designs, weapon designs, and integrated tech. 

Great CGI that felt seamless and not horribly and lazily edited. Some wonderful cinematography and shots of both Wakanda and Atlantis. Er... Talokan.

The tech looks cool. The CGI suits and moving pieces weren’t too distracting, not unless you deliberately slow things down to analyze them, which I suspect some people will. 

My only real complaint is that Talokan was so murky and dark that I had a hard time seeing the daily lives of Talokan’s people? We were supposed to see like, children and families and this ethereal underworld city that lives so different from us... 

But I could barely see shit. Plus, it didn’t look natural? Everyone had this weird stiffness to how they were swimming...I didn’t believe they naturally belonged there. Everyone moved too spasmodically. Like they were in a pool and the director was making them act like they’re ok when they’re actually about to run out of oxygen? 

They might’ve known that, cuz we didn’t linger on the city for too long. 

It wasn’t like super horrible, it was just awkward. So 1 point demerit. 

Wakanda looked fantastic. Even when under attack. 

So here’s the meat of this review: 

Characters 7/10:

Shuri 10/10: I loved the exploration of Shuri's grief and her arc of becoming the Black Panther. That was beautifully done, solid thematically, narratively suitable due to the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman. It felt natural and respectful.

Shuri's relationship with Namor was thoughtful and deep and I liked how it was resolved. I'll admit I did want her to murder him for a brief moment just cuz I'm a gremlin like that, but it was nice for her to sit back and say well I'm a queen now. This isn't just between you and me. I don't want to bring our kingdoms against one another.

That was nice. It didn't feel as cheap as a marvel movie normally would do it, like, have Shuri make some dumb speech about how revenge is simply bad all the time.

It was more practical. A little less personal.

And it made sense for Shuri! She’s not this angry, passionate warrior. 

She���s a scientist. A voice of reason. 

Less mystical. Less honor bound, and more pragmatic and wise. 

I always liked how Shuri was the character that represented Wakanda’s tech too. 

Like Wakanda is this larger than life Afro-futuristic paradise where various African cultures from the real world are displayed...but also, it’s high tech. 

So how do you negotiate between the highly technical and fantastic elements, with the more realistic, more grounded historical roots?

Shuri is the answer.

You have the traditional T’Challa. And then you have his more youthful and irreverent sister, who’s a scientist and a genius, who’s not just up to date with technology, but far ahead most of the world.

It makes sense, and having Shuri have to explore how that will affect her rule as the Queen...I liked that a lot.

I liked that she fought Namor hand to hand...and lost horribly, until she used her ship and her other tech to weaken him.

It made sense for her. 

And again, the story of her grief and losing both her brother and mother...deciding that she would still reject revenge and embrace her new role as a leader...it was well done. 

I loved Shuri here. 

I hope her actress has given up on her anti vaxx weirdness from a while back! 

Now...

That being said...

Namor 5/10: Didn't really like him. He felt a little underdeveloped. He had this hatred of colonists like Killmonger, but he lacked the emotional connection and development that Killmonger had.

We just didn't see his personal story enough. It didn't feel justified enough, since we only saw a few scenes of his mother, and only one scene about the horrors of the surface.... 

Plus we've already seen that anyway. It was a copy paste of the idea that here's an oppressed people who wanna get back at the rest of the world. 

Not saying colonialism isn't bad or anything but in this particular narrative, you are just copy pasting a new anti genocide...genocidal maniac.

Plus his stupid wing feet had me rolling my eyes the entire time. He just didn't feel that intimidating. We didn't see much of his abilities in the water other than that he's very fast and he re powers through water.

Kind of not very memorable in terms of weapons either...man’s hot but he’s basically just a dude in a swim suit. 

His necklaces/collar were interesting and his later re design was fine, but....I don’t know. 

His aesthetic was fine, but his character narrative was weak to me. 

And like I said, I was just laughing at his dumb little wing feet. 

Yeah they give him the power of flight, so what? There are a lot of characters who can fly without looking silly. 

Also again, not enough underwater stuff to really make him pop out as a credible villain.

He might as well have just been a flying villain. 

I don’t mind the resolution they reached, though, so. 

Okoye 4/10: 

Listen. Okoye was very funny and I do love her. But she kind of...was just there for the first part, and then she got fired...and then Shuri just re-hired her again by the end part. Not nearly as complex as the first film. 

I liked that they touched on Angela Bassett being annoyed still over that whole, siding with Killmonger shit.

But her character didn’t grow or change or do a whole lot, even as a civilian... 

She didn’t even fix her mistake of letting Shuri get kidnapped. Nakia did that... 

And speaking of Nakia... 

Nakia 5/10: 

I really feel like they didn’t know what to do with Nakia...she did save Shuri and the Scientist Girl at one point, but she didn’t do much for the whole rest of the movie, besides Be There. 

I feel like they dropped the ball on this one.

And the ending credit scene, where she has T’Challa’s son...it’s sweet and all, but I can’t help but feel like it reduces her role to being a mom who’s off screen. 

We didn’t see enough of her involvement with the main plot. 

She was some emotional support for Shuri, but...she wasn’t impactful other than that. Kind of sad, I liked her a lot in the original, since she and T’Challa had these conflicting viewpoints about how Wakanda should be involved in the world... 

But here, well. Now that the world knows of Wakanda...she just has no purpose or role. 

She didn’t really have any good fight scenes either. Most of her work was ensemble. Mixed in with other randoms. 

They did my girl dirty....but damn, she was gorgeous this movie... 

M’Baku 11/10: 

No notes. He’s perfect. 

He’s hilarious, he’s emotional support. He and Shuri were so fucking cute.

No notes. 

Queen Ramonda 11/10: 

Angela Bassett carried this movie on her back. Truly phenomenal performance. 

Wonderful beginning and end to her glorious character. 

I am mad that they killed her, but...also, it was fitting enough, since Shuri becoming the next Queen AND the Black Panther was neat. 

But damn, I am a little mad. 

Ironheart 5/10: 

I didn’t hate this character, but...she was like...barely present. She was important initially, but then she just got under water shafted for a long time...then she came back to help Shuri do some background work....then she was in the final battle.

And that was kind of it. 

I didn’t care for her suit, and didn’t feel like her character had enough significance to Shuri or the main plot. 

She was a genius tech expert, but helping Shuri design the anti Namor ship was something any character could’ve done, that’s how background it felt. 

I didn’t think she had enough of a fleshed out backstory either. 

She didn’t have an arc, plus I wish she and Shuri had bonded more over their scientific genius. Their friendship came across to me like...I guess they like each other. 

We needed more of them finishing each other’s sentences or geeking out over their shared technical prowess. 

We only really got a scene in the beginning and the very end. 

not enough meat and potatoes. 

And that Ironman suit was dopey looking. 

So all in all...

8/10. 

Yeah. 

Solid, really good, way better than anything else in Phase 4.... 

Chadwick Boseman’s scenes had me tearing up or openly weeping.... 

A touching tribute to him, as well as the character. 

The runtime needed to be reduced, however, and the plot dragged in several places.

Plus, Namor could’ve been more interesting. Beefed up. 

Narratively, of course. His actor was pure beef. 

Overall, I really liked it, though. 

I’ve only seen 2 Marvel Phase 4 movies, and I’ll say.

Wakanda Forever deserved to be better than Thor 4, and it was. 

Rest in peace, Chadwick. 

You’re a legend. 

[theskyexists]

reasons i cannot watch the rings of power even illegally:

1. the short boy elf hair

2. galadriel’s introduction is a pale shade of cate blanchett’s

3. i thought it was gonna be about the silmarillon but instead it is about galadriel and elrond and SAURON AGAIN

4. elrond’s short boy elf hair

5. the colours popping so much, the cgi being the opposite of watercolours

6. the weirdly awkward completely non-functional fight stunts

7. the short boy elf hair

8. hearing about beardless female dwarves

9. the short boy hair making elves look like hobbits

10. why is there so little elvish in the first episode?

11. i cannot take the elves seriously,because you guessed it, the short boy hair

12. story doesnt really feel mythical or legendary or even heroic

13. music is a double pale shade of the trilogy’s. just doesnt do the job

14. the costuming just can’t convince me, often, neither can the dialogue

15. elf boy hair

16. i know i should be happy about this but why is galadriel a warrior .it just feels like there should be simultaneously more grit and more ethereality to her

17. the ensemble approach - very meh

18. short boy hair

reasons i could watch the rings of power if i got over the above:

1. it is fascinating to think of the timescales here, galadriel really IS the most fascinating character, going from the era of myth to the era of legend. wish this echo and transition was more fully fleshed out

2.  the comparatively big snail props in the hobbit camp

3. the concept of the diaspora being so long-lived and so long away from home (due to war) that their homeland has become a spiritual heaven

[elizabethplaid]

Wishlist - end of 2012, beginning of 2013

This wishlist collage was also featured in my crafting blog, back when I was still using livejournal. The post is (currently) still live, and I’ve got another copy of it on my dreamwidth account (also neglected). Might as well have another copy of it on tumblr, for when I compile stuff eventually.

December 2012 is around the time I started discussing using a thread rack to display spare doll heads. John bought a rack before I got around to buying mine, but he was nice enough to credit me with the idea.

Anyway, here’s wonderwall of text.

Top, left- Hot Toys Loki 12in figure Loki's been on my mind for quite awhile. Most of the accessories and costume pieces will be sold off, since I really just want the nude figure. Individual pieces often fetch high prices, so selling the extras is less hassle than trying to fight for the stuff I'm after. Second and bottom, left- 23cm Obitsu body and extra 27cm Obitsu hands The 23cm body will go to "When I Read, I Dream" Jo, who has been fighting with Adex over the 25cm body. Might be able to skip it if I can get the right combo of parts out of what I have on hand. As for the hands, I don't have enough hands and feet within my bag of Obitsu parts. Hands are, well... handy. Top, right- KidKraft Beachfront Mansion Of all the dollhouses I was looking at, this was the only one that has the bottom floor off the ground. All the rooms will be given paint/wallpaper, so they're set up for plain photo backgrounds. Since it won't be a "house" as much as a photo studio, I won't need the furniture that goes with it. Meh, I have enough doll furniture as it is. Even if I don't get this specific house, it's a nice example of what I'd like to build. Second, right- 60 spool thread rack After doing the math and my dad's shock at how detailed my plans were, I've realized it's easier just to buy this thing. Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but this will be for storing/displaying my spare heads. My current head storage case won't fit heads with long hair, and doesn't let me see what I have at a glance. With the small spaces, it's probably better for storing doll shoes or other miniatures. Bottom, right- 12-Case Photo Storage Carrier These little cases are to hold doll clothes, to help me see things better at a glance. The idea came from corsetkitten's blog post, which seem to be the same size. Each mini-container is a bit bigger than an index card (designed for storing 4in by 6in photos). This particular one from The Container Store is a set of 12 mini-cases that go inside one larger case. The mini-cases are also sold separately and in a 6-pack with an outer container. While these are in the order of "importance", they aren't in order of "what's likely to be purchased first". Most likely, I'd get Loki, the spool rack, the Obitsu items, the photo case, and then the dollhouse. With time and long talks with my counselor, I've been able to push away impulse "needs" and shine a light of practicality on the ideas. Oh yes, there are tons of little items I could say I want, but those things will be drops in the bucket compared to more important stuff. ========

As of October 2022 (nearly 10 years later), I have most of the items here. Loki was the first thing I got. To this date, he’s my most expensive doll ($220 + $50 body), but he’s my 2nd fav. (Jude is #1. Sorry bud.) No regrets at all. He’s the best-looking of all the Hot Toys Loki figures, too.

Dollhouse was more about inspiration, rather than purchasing that specific one anyway. Didn’t get the 23cm Obitsu body; just not a priority anymore. Did get the extra hands, and I love them.

Instead of photo boxes, I got larger document-sized boxes. They have clear covers and are stack-able. I’ve barely started to use them, so idk if they’ll work out. Even though I’m doing better this year, getting back into organizing and dolls is still tough.

[popstarryeyed]

my midnights song ranking, according to this sorter:

explanations below:

1. The Great War

i love the imagery, the historical references and the different florals and the overarching war metaphor, and i'm a sucker for on-the-nose production choices - like, say, using military-esque drums in a song called "the great war". and i love songs about coming through hardship to peace. it's catnip to me.

fave lyric: "my hand was the one you reached for / all throughout the great war"

2. Would've, Could've, Should've

taylor just seems so righteously pissed, and i can totally believe she's still hung up on it because that's the kind of thing that affects you years down the line. can't wait for speak now taylor's version

fave lyric: "give me back my girlhood / it was mine first"

3. Anti-Hero

is it cringe? yeah. do i relate, and is the inherent cringiness of being vulnerable about your insecurities kind of the point and the entire appeal? also yeah.

fave lyric: "sometimes, i feel like everybody is a sexy baby / and i'm a monster on the hill"

4. Bejeweled

again, i'm a sucker for on-the-nose production choices. of course it sounds twinkly! it's about ~sparkling~! i also like how it's a song about not being afraid to outshine the shitty guy you're dating. it's about the guys who feel threatened when their gilfriends make more money than them or are taller than them, and how you're not gonna put yourself down to make them feel better.

(also me and my vintage costume jewelry collection appreciate a song about being shiny. i polish up real NICE!)

fave lyrics:  "i made you my world, have you heard? / i can reclaim the land"

5. Mastermind

as an autistic person, i feel like i've had to consciously learn how to be a person, like i have put effort and planning into things that happen easily and spontaneously for other people. i'm not saying taylor is autistic but i resonate with this song for that reason.

fave lyrics: "no one wanted to play with me as a little kid / so i've been scheming like a criminal ever since / to make them love me and make it seem effortless"

6. You’re on Your Own, Kid

6-8 on this list could go in any order. i think this one came out on top bc it was kind of a slow grower for me and i wanted to rectify my initial meh impression. ultimately i really like the look at taylor's life and the pursuit of stardom and how lonely it is

7. Bigger Than The Whole Sky

a lot of songs on this album are very wordy, packed with imagery and easter eggs and references, and i appreciate that this song is just a direct and simple sad breakup song.

8. Glitch

on-the-nose production choices my beloved <3

9. High Infidelity

i imagine this is the morning after bejeweled, when she's breaking up with the guy after having a great night. it's main weakness is that it does that jam-packed thing that "bigger than the whole sky" doesn't do. i love details and imagery but when a song starts to feel like a list and not a narrative it's time to dial it back

10. Question...?

i enjoy how the chorus is this really pointed interrogation and then at the end she's like "it's just a question". the arrogance of asking if everything felt second-best after her - it really captures the resentment around unresolved relationships, how you want those answers so badly but also you hate them for leaving you wondering and have decided they probably weren't worth it. its main flaw is the same list problem as "high infidelity". which is not always a flaw, to be clear. the bridge of "death by a thousand cuts" does it well.

11. Karma

lovely and breezy sonically, but i don't really believe in karma. taylor's belief that good things will come to her and bad things will come to her enemies is far too simple for me. happy for her though.

13. Labyrinth

12. Dear Reader

listing off a bunch of advice and then giving a disclaimer not to listen to anything she says is a really funny thing to do

pretty and gentle. a little bit forgettable.

14. Midnight Rain

the lyrics and concept are so good but all the pitch-shifted vocals are distracting. it's a solid song that didn't need all the bells and whistles and i find it frustrating to listen to

15. Lavender Haze

pretty, but i've heard the "my reputation's bad but you don't care" song before. many times.

16. Maroon

"so scarlet it was maroon" "the burgundy on my t-shirt" those are 3 different shades of red taylor.

17. Hits Different

"movin' on was always easy for me to do" taylor you have a song on this album about a relationship you had over ten years ago

18. Paris

ooh me and my boyfriend don't care about the world it's like we're in a city that is part of the world

19. Snow on the Beach ft. Lana Del Rey

probably doesn't deserve to be this low but the metric i used when deciding was "which would i rather listen to?" and if i listened to this, i'd just be thinking the entire time about how lana isn't on it.

20. Sweet Nothing

i'm sure she just meant to say that her partner doesn't expect as much out of her as the world but unfortunately it ends up feeling like an anthem for those women who act like feminism ruined their lives bc they're expected to like, participate in the world and have thoughts instead of just being a housewife. all he wants from you is sweet nothing - so, for you to be pretty and empty? and you're "too soft" to deal with people asking you to take a stand on social issues? wow.

like with that line specifically she was probably just talking about the pressure on social media for her to be everything to everybody (thus, "nothing" being comforting). but i only say that because i know taylor swift and what she sings about.

i think celebrities writing songs about escaping the world with their partners can easily come off a little tone-deaf. obviously everyone needs time away from the relentless news cycle and as someone who works in a nonprofit i know people need breaks from doing social justice work, but sometimes with celebrities it can seem like they've decided to just ignore the problems of the world, because they can afford to. that's the vibe i get off this song, even though i don't think she intended it.

21. Vigilante Shit

cringe. "cat eye sharp enough to kill a man" in the year of our lord 2022? please don't. this song is so style over substance. all about how she's dressed and the general idea of revenge than an actual story about doing revenge. just listen to no body no crime or mad woman instead

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

- Goosebumps (TV) - Game night with my friends turned into watching goofy childrens media once we got tired. In this case we watched the 2 part werewolf episodes from the 90s goosebumps show, which sure was nostalgic. I would not call them good, but they sure were fun. The acting was over the top, the effects were lovingly corny as was the music, the fashion was so early 90s that it gave us ptsd, the story line had a child transform into a fully adult hilarious werewolf costume and 'scientists' with unexplained green boiling liquid. Also it was set in a Florida swamp, what more could you want. 10/10 would recommend for game night again.

- Blue Eye Samurai (TV) - I talked about this before back when I first watched it, and recently finished a rewatch with my friends. Akemi's is overall my favorite storyline and overall I adore the character designs and presentation. I do have my issues with it, standard opening, odd sound choices, kind of meh humor mixing oddly with the tone, but overall I still think it's a really good first season with some really interesting developments, great fight choreography, and some killer dialogue. Season 2 will be interesting, it could go a lot of different directions.

- Barbie Epic Road Trip (TV) - Also a game night watch, we clearly were not the target audience for this choose your own Barbie adventure mini movie, but it was fun nonetheless. The idea of making your own choices was pretty fun, though my friends and I kept trying to go the career/friendship route rather than the romance route and it really felt like the show didn't want us to do that which is kind of a messed up message for kids if it was intentional. Since we were just messing around we found it funny how pathetic Ken was whenever we cockblocked his date attempts with Barbie, but from a story perspective man Ken, chill out a little, Barbie doesn't hate you just because she won't drop her plans with her friends to do whatever impromptu date you decided to spring on her. Maybe the Barbie Movie had a more accurate Ken than I thought.

- Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime) -I think I may have read more fan-fiction for this series than any other fandom I've been in, at least within such a short time frame. I honestly could not tell you why, as my issues with the series proper are still numerous, but the hyperfixation has made me an unwilling hostage forced to endlessly look through fan edits, art, and stories in all my free time. Geto Suguru is my blorbo now. Free me.

- Steins;Gate (Anime) - This one has been an odd experience. Given it's consistently been in the Top 3 All Time best anime listed on MAL, is about one of my favorite sci-fi tropes of time loops, and has frequently been sighted as a favorite anime by the media analysis community, I've had Steins;Gate on my to watch list for quite a bit with some high expectations. My sister and I finally decided to start watching it and uh. wow. those first few episodes sure were something. Not something good but. Something alright. The awful yellow overly, annoying characters, pointless otaku/conspiracy babble, and stock standard anime women archetypes were honestly painful to sit through, though pure curiosity did win in the end. While not offensively bad it was definitely boring enough for my sister to prod her bf on when it was supposed to get good, to which he replied episode 12, which is an insane thing to say about a 24 episode series. We are past that hurdle now and I will say it definitely is more interesting once the meat on the sci fi plot kicks in, as the memory/message time traveler combined with the changing world lines is a pretty neat plot setup, but given the still mostly bland characters and presentation I wouldn't say it even makes it out of the decent tier, let alone int 'greatest of all time'. I suppose I'll wait to see if the ending blows me away but for now the difference between the hype of a show and the actual quality is one of the biggest I've seen.

- Malevolent (Podcast) - Well this has just been a grand time so far. I'm really liking the continuing trainwreck that is Arthur's life, they really do keep putting this guy into Resident Evil situations, give the man a break. His dynamic with John is obviously the best part of the show, it's great to see how it shifts between enemies to alarmingly co-dependent to sweet and back again, truly what I wanted out of the original Venom movie. It's also pretty funny how more and more John, the eldritch entity, is the more reasonable one who has to continually remind his human partner to maybe chill out and show a little empathy maybe. Season 3 seems to be a favorite of a lot of people so I'm pretty hyped going into it. For now I'll say that Kayne is fun, John is adorable, and honestly I think it's fine that Arthur ate that guy actually, he's earned going a little feral.

- Tiger Tiger (Webcomic) -I don't have anything new to say about this lovely webcomic with it's endlessly charming characters, amazing art, and intriguing setting, but the updates have been fun recently.

- House (TV) - Still in season one, the case writing is still solid, the misogyny makes me wish Cuddy would drop kick House thrice an episode at least.

- Genshin Impact (Video Game) - 5.0 update coming soon, I really need to get a move on on catching up.

Listening To: Good Luck Babe, Red Wine Supernova, My Kink is Karma, Casual, and HOT TO GO! by Chappell Roan, Harpy Hare by Yaelokre, The Mind Electric by Miracle Musical, Dial Drunk by Noah Kahan, Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl by Chloe Breez and Annapantsu, Too Sweet, Lunch, Bitter, and Stick Season covers by Reinaeiry, Tounges and Teeth and Metaphor by The Crane Wives, Espresso and Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter, Like a Prayer by Madonna.

[mylittlesecrethaven]

I'm Sorry, It Looked Too Good

By the time I'm making this, I'm already on episode 4-5. (by the time this comes out I've already finished this and have tons of ATLA posts coming)

But anyway, I didn't want to initially watch it for a lot of reasons (mainly cause they said they were going for more drama than humor), but then I saw the trailer and all the sets and outfits just looked too good to pass up.

So I started watching it.

Honest opinion from an ATLA and LOK fan?

Meh.

I mean, it's nice to see the parallels (and a little upsetting when they go real far off track), but it's got a lot of weak points.

I'm sure a lot of people have heard the deal about the costumes.

Y'know, how they always look too clean?

Yeah, it bothers me a little, but that's not my big issue with it.

This show brings in a lot of characters and plot points that you wouldn't understand the point of being added to the show unless you've really seen the actual animated show. (The pirates, the cliff guide, and a couple others I was gonna list that I can't remember.)

And, from what I've seen with people who've never seen the show but started watching this (my parents), it can be annoying and confusing.

But for people who are fans of the original show?

It can be nice to see the parallels, and for some people the drive away from the main plot may not be as annoying, but they're just adding and taking away from the plot so much that following the story can be a little confusing at times. (Maybe for me. I'm stupid, so it might not effect everybody else)

So, I'd caution you before watching that it won't be what you expect, and for those who don't know the shows at all, there may be some times you don't expect, but the settings, creatures, bending, and costumes are all too fucking cool to pass over.

Overall, 6/10 for me. :3