#the shows trailer saying this isn't the love story you think it is... and its like duh! All I cared about was Amara and Rege!

[holly-mckenzie]

Amara and Rege in Other Half (1.04) EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE 

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

SPY × Family: Chapter 94 analysis unhinged thoughts

hello hello! i am back with my thoughts for the latest chapter! please note that there are spoilers ahead for chapter 94! (Long-ish post incoming?)

Okay, so I loved this chapter. I'm a person who loves locked room murder mystery type stories, so this definitely scratched that itch for me. Obviously, I'm biased.

Analysis (of sorts?):

Right off the bat I can say that this chapter isn't really oriented on emotions or certain character dynamics. It is pretty plot heavy (but. not to the main plot. this chapter in itself has a plot to its own, but I really really liked it).

So the chapter starts with Bondman facing off an enemy in a snowy mountain...

which, of course, inspires Anya to have an adventure of her own. She asks Loid to take her skiing, only to be flatly denied...

BUT! Agent Anya has tricks up her sleeve (threatening to cry), and that works on our dear, super-spy Agent Twilight (he's so weak and stupid y'all.)

side note:

he thinks he's soooo cool. he's not.

Anyway, we get Twilight trying to explain skiing to Yor, which... fails, kinda. we also get gymnastics from Yor, (SHE's the cool one), and a half-baked explanation from her about learning all that from a gymnastics teacher.

The Forgers are trapped in a snowy blizzard, which leads them to take refuge in a lodge. They meet a group of young college students, who regale them with a tale of a bloody snowman who kills people in the dark.

Might just be me, but this design reminds me of Type-F from the new Code White movie (note: this isn't exactly a spoiler, I haven't seen the movie, but this is what's on the wiki and in the trailers). The snowy backdrop + this Type-F-esque design might be a homage to the movie? Probably just me, though, haha.

Anyway, onto the main focus of the story (kidding, it's not):

WE COULD'VE HAD IT ALL..... YOR AND LOID SLEEPING ON THE SAME BED.... WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN....

(jk, it probably wouldn't have happened, but a girl can dream)

"Eh, why not?" Certainly, these words CANNOT exist in the vocabulary of THE Agent Twilight! Perhaps.... no, it can't be... he's finally RELAXED for once? Feeling secure enough to ASSESS THE LAYOUT FOR POSSIBLE ESCAPE ROUTES WITH HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER? No... it can't be possible....

(Sorry, I know I'm unfunny. I don't think that'll change)

But, genuinely, this just shows how at ease he is with his wife and daughter. He might not know it yet, but I know it (← somebody whose opinion isn't worth shit).

Finally, onto the main crisis of the story:

the would-be murderer.

There's something to be said about how he jumped into action to save the guy's life, (as one does), BUT. BUT

OHOHOHO. The minute Yor's in danger (see: the man reached out to grab her but Loid just grabbed his hand) he decides to find the killer to prove her innocence. (You know his adage? A spy should never draw attention to themselves.) The minute his WIFE was in danger he resolves to find the killer and prove Yor's innocence their guilt. HMMMMM. Agent Twilight, you ain't slick. I think you momentarily forgot about about your #1 lesson to never draw attention to yourself just to prove Yor's innocence. OHHHHHH. The fanfiction is fanfiction-ing

(I'M SORRY I'LL TRY TO BE FUNNY FROM NOW ON)

To summarize the rest of the chapter: Anya realises with her telepathy that the killer is the lodge owner, and meddles in the investigation to nudge Loid in the right direction, and the police arrive to the lodge to find the incident resolved. Everyone's happy, right?

Not... really.

Anya's excited because, "Wow, I solved a murder! So cool, best trip ever!"

But Yor and Loid aren't that happy. Loid is worried that this kind of meddling will get Anya in danger... and he's more worried that she isn't really grasping the gravity of the situation.

Which. She kind of isn't. A man was almost killed, but she's not showing any signs of shock? Remember, he was this worried even after the hospital visit where she makes a mess of that sand-model thingie, and after the bus hijacking arc, when she's hyped about the Stella, and he tells her that the Stella was "not for the reckless way you defied those hijackers."

Which.... is a lot of character development from the man who was A-OK with leaving her alone in the apartment, to now how he constantly worries about her wellbeing. Growth.

Also, another tidbit:

I feel like this chapter showcases another facet of his personality. Not Agent Twilight's, or Loid's, but [REDACTED]'s.

[REDACTED] always wanted to help. Even in the War Arc, when, in Luwen where he was staying at his great-uncle's house, we can see that he wants to catch fish for his and his family's dinner, while, in the backdrop, children are laughing and playing. It's always been in his character to help, and, hell, it's partly the reason he is who he is today. Agent Twilight wants to think that he left [REDACTED] behind after that fateful bombing in Luwen, but [REDACTED] is hanging around him like a ghost, and some of his character bleeds through the facade that is Agent Twilight, which is masked by the facade that is Loid Forger.

Final thoughts:

Loved the chapter. It's probably just me reading into it too much, but... that scene where he grabs the guy's hand who was trying to tie up Yor. Hm.

This entire chapter might have been a locked-room murder mystery type chapter, but I genuinely think that it showcases how much of an effect this family has had on Agent Twilight. What with taking Anya on a sweep of the premises to look for escape routes, to trying to prove Yor's innocence that definitely betrayed his number 1 rule as a spy... this man is truly so oblivious, I wanna cry.

(Also: did he not stop for a moment to think that him performing first-aid on the victim, or trying to build a radio from scratch OR playing detective to prove his wife's innocence IN FRONT OF A GROUP OF OSTANIAN PEOPLE would raise suspicions? Obviously, it was all overshadowed by the discovery of the would-be killer, but... at least one person had got to have been suspicious of Loid.)

(Also also: He's so weak. One look at her crying face and he's gone.)

This was just my thoughts from a preliminary read of the chap, so if I get more thoughts, I'll probably add onto it in a reblog or a new post. Tysm for reading! Hope you liked it, and have a great day/night! Remember to stay hydrated!

[sloshr]

After watching through Side Order... I have a Few Thoughts.

[Spoilers ahead]

My Review of the Side Order DLC - Its little more than Gameplay.

Initial Opinion

- - - - - - - - - -

Overall; I like the gameplay mechanics initially, but the story absolutely feels lacking to me, imo. It feels like they were really banking on Side Order being Hard but... multiple of my friends finished it on their 2nd or 3rd run through the Spire.

That in itself isnt a problem! But... everyone felt sort of unsatisfied? There were no developments in the story, as we, Agent 8, were just assigned the task to Get to The Top of the Spire -> The Player Does That -> You beat a Boss -> Credits Roll (?)

On my watchthrough I literally said Please Say Sike 😭 because, dont take this poorly, but they were advertising Side Order as;

• Difficult (stated Multiple Times in basically every Trailer)

• Story Driven (You Uncover things as You Climb)

• Character and Lore Intensive (as shown by the trailers with all the concept art as well as promo art)

I dont feel like it was wrong to expect more based on how it was advertised.

But... if you complete the DLC in 1-2 runs, which is Very Much Possible, no buildup happens at all. The story was banking on the player struggling, and putting all the content behind repeat runs, which falls through and Doesnt really work/feel satisfying if the main goal is achieved in such a short time. I Feel like anyone who regularly plays Salmon Run will likely have a similar experience. And I feel kind of cheated? Because what we got was something that was Tell Not Show rather than the Show, Not Tell formula. And in my opinion, it really doesn't work as well at all. It puts all the major lore that the game has set up behind repetetive climbs (which never change btw, despite each climb being generated differently, its the same after a while) and you get about 1 Sentence of Exposition, with a Modlog from Marina if you are Lucky.

Side Order was (to me), after watching it all;

• Not Difficult, But Repetetive Gameplay (This easily runs people down, which would be fine if the tower had more than 1 setup or phase)

• Inital Story Setup with no complexities or stages. You climb the first Tower, Save Marina, Climb the Second Tower, Beat Order, and the credits Roll. In its most complex, you could fit what Side Order's Story is in 2-3 Sentences. Rather than Lore being revealed During the story, it feels Pushed to the Side as all of it is either in Text the player may never see (different climbs) or care to read (Marina's Mod Log)

• Use of Character Drops with no explaination / mention (The Agent 4 Boss, Anyone?) (This felt very Bait-y, with No Payoff)

Rating

- - - - -

If I had to give Side Order a Rating

4/10. At Best.

I am a bit disappointed with this as I feel like I was promised more, Storywise, and honestly a bit gameplay wise. I think it fails where other DLC has succeeded Due to being Built in such a way where anything engaging is stuck behind barely changing gameplay. It is not built in a way where the experience cant fail to show you whats important to the characters and the worldbuilding. It relies too much on telling you whats happening rather than the world showing you. Its too Simple, and It Doesnt Work, personally, in a series that contains Octo Expansion.

Which is Sad to me!! It had so much wasted potential and I really hope this isn't the last we're going to see of the concept, we get to see ideas actually built into the story, and... maybe find Agent 4.

Conclusion

- - - - - - - -

Tldr; Side Order had a good concept, but failed in execution for being simple and gameplay dependent, which was ultimately disappointing due to it being advertised as something more for all involved.

It was an alright attempt. The experience will just be known to me as... well. Baby's First Rouge-like. Nothing worldbreaking.

(PS, this isnt meant to be mean spirited or overly critical, I just love the Splatoon Series so I give it Tough Love. This is just my personal view on the DLC)

Thank you for Reading! Feel free to share or add any thoughts!

[charcubed]

Disneyland's Rogers: The Musical, propaganda that turns Steve Rogers into more myth than man, and revisionist history (possibly) to a purpose

Any of my thoughts in this post could just be me reading too far into things. I'm very aware of that, and please know that this post exists just because this sort of thing is fun for me! This is a thought exercise where we propose "What if we live in a world where the MCU is actually doing a cool and interesting thing as a longcon?" If you have anger at Marvel, that's valid and relatable, but please don't get angry at me or imply I'm an MCU stan who doesn't think critically about the mouse. Thanks!

Breaking news: I'm back on my bullshit!

A quick personal recap: I infamously hated Avengers: Endgame for a long list of reasons (and I even rewrote the movie). One of those reasons is that I've always taken issue with Steve's ending. But in the years since then, and as the MCU's phase 4 has evolved, my frustration at Steve's "ending" has turned into an ongoing and legitimate theory that the MCU could be slowly leading into a loosely adapted Secret Empire plot line. I know we've all been joking about Steve being trapped or about an imposter Steve since 2019, but uhhh, it's kind of not a joke to me anymore? It feels weirdly plausible at this point and so I enjoy discussing the potential.

You can find a full elaboration on that here, where I wrote out my "Steve was snatched by HYDRA" theory in 2021.

In that post, one of the things I mentioned at the time was Rogers: The Musical being in the Hawkeye trailer.

[The musical's] very existence is an example of how in-universe the stories of the lives of the heroes are being commodified, especially (in terms of how they’re framing it) for Steve’s. The heroes are no longer seen as people, if they ever were. They are, as Kate Bishop says to Clint in a recently released clip, more about “branding.” Sam Wilson will be redefining the shield moving forward in a Cap context, but simultaneously, the world is still enamored by Steve Rogers as a symbol in his own right. And that is ripe for manipulation as a Trojan horse to control public opinion… whether in the context of things like this by themselves (is the musical portraying Steve accurately, or is it painting an inaccurate picture of him the world accepts as fact?) or in future (is this propaganda that makes the public see Steve a certain way and continue to love him, to set up a fake or brainwashed Steve coming on the scene later?).

Now a form of the musical exists in full, at Disneyland and all over Youtube. Considering some of its baffling content – which I will break down below – this perspective seems even more strongly worth considering.

I have two main reasons for why I'm defending examining this musical so closely:

1. It is (arguably) an in-universe piece of media that has bearing on the MCU canon. It isn't like any other typical Disneyland attraction; its very existence is meta and it was in canon first. Obviously it's seen in Hawkeye, but there are also posters for it in several different phase 4 properties. It's lurking in the background indefinitely. So what can this musical tell us about what the wider public within the MCU is being told about the life story of Steve Rogers?

2. This Secret Empire graphic – which is animated in the center of the stage of a prolonged period of time – feels like a literal sign to pay attention.

Granted, this is obviously still ancillary material. 99% of the MCU audience will never see this musical, whether in person or on YouTube. But just because it isn't a vital piece doesn't mean it's automatically an entirely irrelevant piece.

They've given me an inch with that sign and I'm taking a mile.

So if you're interested, please join me on this journey :)

For the record, let me just say that I salute the creative team behind this show. It's pretty fun and the songs are catchy, the sets and costuming are cool, and the cast is overall very talented.

It's also fucking maddening. LMAO.

Why? Firstly, because of the seemingly deliberate ahistorical inaccuracies. We all know Ant-Man is wrongly shown in the Battle of New York, which originally "came from [the Hawkeye showrunner] and Marvel, as something to further aggravate Hawkeye as he watched the show, and also as a comment on how movies and articles and people always get something wrong." It seems like they expanded those meta nods, but most inaccuracies are now in service of glorifying Steve and Peggy's "love story." Yes, romance objectively makes for good theater; but again, I feel that this is worth examining considering the full context.

And secondly, Steve's ending is framed as an offer presented to him, convincing him it's the happy ending he deserves because he's tired. In my mind, these two big elements go together, and I'll walk you through the details of what happens in the musical before I tie the thought threads back around into some theorizing.

For your reference, here's a list of the main songs and story beats:

• "U-S-Opening Night" - the Starkettes (who are basically a Greek chorus) frame the show's story, and then it turns into an ensemble that loosely takes place at the Stark Expo. • "I Want You" – Steve's "I want" song about trying to enlist in the army. • "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" – Steve performing on the USO tour obviously, and then there's a reprise with an added voiceover that (very briefly) covers the Howling Commandos' rescue + the war via comic book imagery. • "What You Missed" – Fury and the Starkettes tell Steve some pop culture things he missed while he was frozen, + they tell him about the Avengers. Then Fury goes down a list of other hero characters, including the Guardians? Doctor Strange? Wanda?? It plays loose and fast with time, because many non-2012 characters are bafflingly mentioned in this nonlinear Avengers list – including the Winter Soldier (???). • "Save the City" – this is the song seen in Hawkeye, with the civilians + the Avengers all involved, but it's slightly different here and expanded to also reference other battles. • "End of the Line" – Old Steve presents main Steve with the time stone as an opportunity for his happy ending, and they reflect on things together. (Yes, this is insane.) • "Just One Dance" – Steve and Peggy reunite and sing about their love. • And then there's basically a reprise of "Save the City," with the Starkettes and the whole cast closing the finale out.

Right out of the gate, let's address this: the main reason you're going to see some fans pissed about this musical is not only that Steve and Peggy's ~epic romance~ is made a pillar of the story... but also that Bucky's importance/involvement in Steve's life is minimized as much as possible.

And they took Bucky-related elements from canon and made them center more around Peggy instead.

• For some weird reason, Peggy is in the Stark Expo scene. When a soldier is hitting on the Starkettes ("hey sweetheart, I wanna dance!"), Steve tells the soldier to show the ladies some respect. The soldier grabs Steve and throws him down, and then Peggy swoops in to yell "Pick on someone your own size!" and punches the guy before walking away. So she's given Bucky's TFA line verbatim, and she is given the role he had of saving Steve from bullies. There is blatantly no reason they couldn't have had Bucky still serve that function and be truer to "history," because he briefly enters this scene in uniform less than a minute later to announce he's shipping out to the 107th – and then he spins off with a date on his arm. (We don't see Bucky on stage again until the full cast comes out for the finale!)

• After the Star-Spangled Man show, Peggy rushes in to talk to Steve. Steve is excited about his USO performance (???) but she urgently tells him to listen as she says that the 107th has been captured. Peggy apparently knows it's Bucky's division, and she knows Steve is going to go, so she tells him that she's already arranged transport for him. This is a subtle twist from the truth of how it went down in TFA, in which Steve recognized 107 as the number of Bucky's division, and his dogged determination inspired Peggy to relent and help his rescue mission. Here, Peggy is given a stronger role in the Cap origin story. And before Steve rushes off, Peggy sings a short untitled ballad hoping for their dance, so Steve pauses before he leaves to ask her to go on a date with her when he returns. • The most egregious Bucky-to-Peggy change of all is the song "End of the Line," in which the infamous Steve and Bucky line/promise (that broke Bucky's brainwashing...) is re-contextualized to be about ???? Peggy waiting for Steve in the past??? Old Man Steve and regular Steve sing it together. But we'll go back to that in a minute.

Again, I get it, yeah? It's for theater. Whatever. But in reality, the obvious logical truth is that Peggy is centered (to the point of taking elements from Bucky's story, and in turn Bucky is downplayed) because they needed to convince the audience that Steve going back in time to be with her makes sense. Steve's time travel ending had to be justified, so the Peggy and Steve "love story" had to be a pillar in this with everything else being given lesser weight.

And the inherent selfishness of him doing something as big as going back in time also had to be justified... which is why they do their best to convince you Steve fought so much he deserved it.

Let me elaborate on that by describing the lead-up to the "End of the Line" song.

So, right before "End of the Line" is "Save the City" – which includes Steve belting "I can do this all day!" repeatedly, of course. It's the 2012 Battle of New York as the Avengers come together to win.

As they begin to disperse, the song then transitions to a voiceover alert mentioning Sokovia being under attack by artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Age of Ultron). The Avengers group rushes back to center stage to say "Save the city! Help us win!" together for battle again.

And then things get fucking weird.

Because the next voiceover threat is "Washington DC. Attack: the Winter Soldier." This is not accurate to the order of events! The Winter Soldier events were before Age of Ultron; the public of the MCU would also know this.

And suddenly on stage Steve is now in the center while everyone else gestures to him. Instead of singing with him, they're telling him "Save the city! Help us win!"

Then, another voiceover: "Wakanda, under attack" (Infinity War) and again, Steve is centered while everyone else points to him. The ensemble says, "Save the city, help us win! Save us all from the state we're in! Got to hear you, got to hear you, got to hear you say..." as Steve is buckling to his knees under their pointing. And as the lights go down to one spotlight on him and everyone else leaves, he says "I can do this all day" one last time, but now it's subdued.

The implication is that Steve has been fighting and fighting, people leave him or he loses them, and he's tired.

And then fucking Old Man Steve arrives.

He says "On your left," because yes, they gave him Sam Wilson's line. BATSHIT.

So now there's two Steves on stage! There has been no mention of Thanos or infinity stones or anything up to this point! (I can only assume that's because in the MCU universe no one would want to be reminded of the trauma of "the Blip" – though it's pretty wild that they're allowed to know about magical time travel?)

Steve is baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival. I, too, was baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival.

As Steve questions how this is possible, Old Man Steve shows him the time stone from his pocket – and only the time stone – which Steve recognizes.

OLD MAN: "You've got to remember where you've been to know where you're going." STEVE: "Where am I going?" OLD MAN: "A date with destiny." STEVE: “Destiny. So we’re the hero till the end?” OLD MAN: “That’s the thing about endings, Steven. They can be rewritten.”

Lmao???????

Steve starts singing about how he hopes this means they "win" and calls himself a "tired hero."

STEVE: "But sometimes I wonder, who will save the savior? Can we really do this all day? So here I am, now and also then. Just a man, looking back at where he's been." OLD MAN: "The road is rough but wounds are healed by a thing called time. You can't forget what's waiting at the end of the line."

Me, watching this: the fact that he says this out of the blue makes absolutely no sense.

There's a bit more singing, including "end of the line" repetition, and then Old Man Steve pulls out the time stone to essentially show visions of... I don't fucking know. Past, present, and future?

That's pre-serum Steve, Steve with Mjolnir, and Sam Wilson as the new Cap. This is the only reference to Sam in the whole thing.

More singing, and then: Peggy's silhouette.

OLD MAN: "Can't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "I can't forget who's waiting..." BOTH: "Don't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "At the end of the line."

At this point I'm like, what in the hell?

Did Old Man Steve just brainwash normal Steve into thinking "end of the line" is now about Peggy? Because uhhhh, sorry, that's what it feels like!

Then Steve uses the stone to go back in time, reunites with Peggy, etc. etc. finale.

It's truly some crazy shit.

[drags hands down face]

Look... there's a lot to unpack here, and there's a lot that gets me about it. I know this is dramatized for the stage! I KNOW! But the fact that Old Man Steve shows up to convince Steve he should go back in time makes me want to gnaw on furniture.

Another person essentially uses the lure of a life with Peggy to tempt Steve into doing this, dramatized or not. That is how it's framed.

It's a hell of a way to frame it, and it makes Steve's ending stand in even starker contrast to so many other things in phase 4. Desperately trying to go backwards when you shouldn't or to bring back a lost lover is an evil temptation, and it results in a trap or negative cosmic consequences for basically all of the other characters in the MCU.

• In Shang-Chi, Wenwu is tempted by the Soul Eaters beyond the Dark Gate. They use the voice of his deceased wife to convince him to set them free. • In "What If" episode 4, Doctor Strange becomes evil in a desperate bid to save Christine and he destroys his universe. Along the way, he tries to tempt/trap the good Strange who's fighting him by using visions of Christine, but good Strange knows she isn't real. • Wanda's grief and desire to bring back Vision leads to – well, you know. • In No Way Home, Peter trying to undo things is what causes the multiverse problems.

And the fact that they frame it as Steve being tired, so basically the argument is he deserves that time travel ending (just like MCU fans who defend Endgame say in real life)... Well.

There's no way to make it hold up, especially because in "What If" they explicitly subverted that and had Captain Carter not go back in time despite how she felt she'd "earned" it.

Lastly, in this musical as Steve decides to pursue time travel as his course of action, he basically has the meaning or memory of "end of the line" rewritten for him. I refuse to not think that is some nefarious shit. Yes, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's just some general Disney erasing Steve and Bucky nonsense.

But... this is on another level to me. I do think that it's a blatant choice that they had to be aware even general MCU fans would call bullshit on. Everyone knows it's inaccurate. "End of the line" is embedded in pop culture consciousness as being connected to Bucky. It just is! Surely that means it's not a stretch to theorize it could be deliberate meta commentary.

How, in the MCU world, would the in-universe playwrights even know the phrase "end of the line"? How the fuck would it be accidentally applied to Steve and Peggy? Not to sound like a crazy person, but who the fuck was rooting around in Steve and/or Bucky's personal business or their brains in order to obtain that knowledge and then remix it, and why? Neither of them would flippantly mention it in the public eye or interviews ever. So where did its inclusion come from?

And in the finale ensemble, this is Bucky's line when he comes out on stage and salutes + points to Steve: "Don't forget who's waiting..." And Old Man Steve completes it with "...at the end of the line."

What on God's green earth am I meant to do with THAT?

Smh.

The vibes are fucked, folks.

The MCU public wouldn't know enough to say the vibes are fucked. The MCU public wouldn't know the origin of "end of the line" as a phrase. But us? The ones who know the "true story" via the movies? We can call bullshit.

Whether the creative team behind this musical did every aspect of this consciously or not, in my opinion the fact that they had to tweak canon "history" to A) make Peggy's involvement in Steve's life more central and B) emphasize Steve as a tired hero all works as commentary on and almost a condemnation of Endgame's frustrating ending. In a way, it's also what Endgame did with the compass and 1973 moment with Peggy as well.

Steve's ending had to be convincing.

It's theater.

And so, maybe the same is true for the in-narrative perspective of this musical in the context of the MCU world. What purpose would it serve to tell the MCU public a feel-good narrative about how all Steve Rogers wanted was to no longer be a tragic man out of time and get to make a life with his best girl? To frame it as being about how he fought so hard for years and so he earned a happy ending? To minimize and nearly erase Bucky's importance in his life?

Who would want to do that sort of propaganda, and why?

The MCU civilians are given this happy explanation and maybe don't widely question it. Who cares about the details or logistics if it makes a good story, I guess. It's a stretch, but maybe they mostly applaud it. Maybe they're happy for "America's favorite son" (not unlike people who uncritically liked Endgame). In a way, it's even a rehabilitation of his image (after the Accords) like putting the shield on the Statue of Liberty. And maybe they'd even be ready and waiting to applaud if Steve ever made a dramatically selfless and de-aged return to the spotlight or a position of authority.

But mostly, the public is being conditioned to not know or to forget that anyone else like Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson would possibly know Steve Rogers the person well enough in the modern day to call bullshit on any of this – or on his hypothetical miraculous future return.

So. Sure, it's probably nothing.

But what if it's not?

-------

UPDATE: @faeriecap added to this post with some incredible information and further behind-the-scenes context about the MCU/Marvel stuff at Disney parks! Check it out here :)

[sandmanalone]

So I just finished season 4 of Star Trek Discovery and I cried like 5 times lol (in a good way). Then I watched the trailer for season 5, which will be coming out next month, and made the mistake of looking at the comments.

I know this show gets a lot of people grouchy in a "oh it's so different, I miss when Star Trek was Star Trek >:(" kind of way, and I get some of that (especially with the first season) but honestly? It's such a solid show. Like, tied with Strange New Worlds in my list of favorites at this point.

Is it different from the older shows? Yes. It definitely has a different tone and is overall less campy. It's very earnest, and can be intense at times with how high the stakes are each season. But some of the difference I think is due to the way TV in general has changed. When you're trying to tell a complex continuous story over the course of a single season, only getting 12 or 13 episodes at *most* leaves much less time for holodeck-hijinks type episodes. And I understand people missing that! Discovery isn't everyone's cup of tea. But in my opinion at its heart Discovery still has all the things that make Star Trek good: Scientific mysteries. Awe and wonder at the unknown. Ethical dilemmas. Found family. Queerness. Diplomacy!

I know with long-running franchises like this there are always gonna be people who are just mad that the show isn't more of the exact same stuff they're familiar with, and I know those kinds of people already have their minds made up.

But I guess what I'm trying to say is: if you've been debating giving Discovery a try, or tried it but gave up after the first season, I would encourage you to give it another chance. Even with all it's flaws, there's so much to love about it.

[sensei-venus]

Omg um alpha!Jacob meeting new actress!omega!reader who is so soft and chubby and sweet and he's obsessed with her scent and long story short they get caught making oitnwhen they should be doing a scene together 😳😳😳

When everyone was told that a new member was being cast everyone was a little surprised but not overly shocked. Almost every other season they were getting new people. It was exciting for the older cast but nothing all too new.

That was until the first day the new girl was on set.

She was more so just thrown into everything as soon as she's hired. They basically toss her on to set after she reads the script.

“So have you met the new girl yet?” Xolo was the first to say something to Jacob. They both took turns practically destroying the staff buffet table. The two alphas had been on set all day doing practice scenes. Lucky for them they only had one major seen for the day before they could go home.

“Nope, didn't even know they were scheduled to show up for today's filming.” Jacob said while ripping into a fresh sandwich. All the physical activity made him work up a appetite. Xolo shrugged “She's pretty nice, I meet her while in the makeup trailer. Kinda cute too.” Jacob rolled his eyes. He was about to say something back to the cocky guy but something made him stop what he was doing. His head shot up as something tickled his nose.

What ever it was it smelled overly sweet and had his nose turned up. It made his gut squeeze just right. The urge to lick his lips came up but he stopped himself. It was almost as if he was losing his grip just from the smell.

“What the hell is that smell.” he hissed out, one hand covering his mouth and nose. A brow raised in question.

Xolo snorted while still trying to eat his own food “More like who, not what. That's Reader, the new girl.” Jacob looked at him with wide eyes.

“I can smell her from here and I can't even see her! Did they really hire a omega who isn't on suppressants and not tell the all most ALL alpha cast about it?! That's kinda dangerous, to everyone.” he hissed. The other alpha pipped up “Hey, Mary is omega.” Jacob resorted back “Well Mary told everyone when we were all hired and she's on suppressants too.”.

Jacob spends the rest of the day trying to stay as far away from her as possible. He doesn't know why his senses are so messed up. His stomach I s all twisted up and he can't tell of its in a good or bad way. It has him on edge the whole time he is on set.

He thinks everything is fine once they wrap and everyone gets to go their separate ways. He wants to get the fuck off the set as soon as the directors yell cut.

He's halfway to the parking lot when the omega’s sent increases by ten-fold. Looking around he finally catches sight of her for the very first time. In that moment he knows she has to be his. She's so cute even from far away. She looks soft, her chubby body drawing him in. Chubby omegas were a dream come true, at least in Jacobs's own opinion.

From afar he could see her talking to Tanner and Mary, laughing at something they said. The three of them walked through the parking lot unaware of him. Just hearing her, seeing her, smelling her had Jacob wanting more.

Most importantly he wanted to rip Tanner away from her.

He was quick to run to his car after that thought.

After that day he try a to get to know her. He finally meets her face to face and they talk. At first he finds her super sweet. The two talk on set a lot mostly about the roles they are playing on the show. Then it slowly turns to what they do in their personal lives. He's not at all surprised when she shows a lot of interest in more omega like things. He finds it adorable when she goes on and on about new blankets she bought after work. Or going out to eat at little cafes and restaurants. She loves spending time with Mary. Apparently she didn't have a lot of omega friends on the last set she was on so it's nice to meet more.

But once again he hates it when she talks about Tanner and Peyton tagging along with the omega after filming. He feels like he should be the alpha tagging along with them.

His distaste only builds and builds as the weeks of them knowing each other go on. He tries to put himself between all the other alphas and her when ever he can. The whole time he believes he's being so sneaky about it but in reality everyone can see what he's doing. The other alphas just secretly laugh about it. It's kinda funny to watch him make a fool of himself.

That is until they get caught making out behind Jacobs trailer.

Both of them are MIA after checking in at the makeup department. After an hour or two of them being no-shows to the set, the directors send out a tiny search party aka the whole cast.

Funny enough Mary and Tanner are the ones to find them.

The scent the two of them make is just- something that can't be described.

[atomic-crusader]

Godzilla Minus One thoughts (SPOILERS)

TLDW: Godzilla Minus One is easily one of the all time best films in the franchise so far. While it isn't my personal favorite, it absolutely deserves the praise fans and critics seem to be giving it. Outside from some personal nitpicks, I'd say this entry is worthy of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the best.

10/10

THOUGHTS AND SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!! GO SEE IT!!!!!!

Boy does this movies come in swinging! Koichi setting up the main conflict of feeling like he is a coward (he's not, as the movie goes on to point out) and then the whiplash of GODZILLASAURUS

I know its just an unmutated Godzilla but HOLY FUCK the similarities are there and I love the design.

Personal nitpick #1: was hoping the movies would go more in depth with the origin of its Godzilla but the movies isn't really about what Godzilla is but rather what he does and represents to the story. As a result they don't really say what he is other than he is known to Odo Island's folklore. I like that, it gives him a mysterious vibe.

I gasped because I thought he ate a guy be then he yeeted him

Poor Koichi Can't Catch a Break the Movie

Noriko was great. It's clear she isn't used to being looked after and it shows.

Speaking of which, ALL the characters are wonderful. The Reiwa era looks like it is being defined by stronger human characters and stories and I am all here for that!

I'm actually surprised that the trailers (or at least the 2 I watched) didn't show to much Godzilla action. Or at least the final battle.

Godzilla REALLY has it out for folks in this movie. That lack of a clear origin helps actually. His attacks are sudden and brutal. He is REALLY visibly pissed off too.

SPEAKING OF BRUTAL HOLY FUCK!!! For as much damage Godzilla does to everyone, he gets FUCKED UP! Half his face blasted off! It's cool the see his regeneration ability realized in CG

Personal Nitpick #2: I do wish they had made Godzilla a more obviously tragic character. He is just as much a victim of war as he is a symbol of it. Again though, that isn't what this movie is about, and the ending does at least suggest a sequel isn't completely out of the question, so maybe we can still see why Godzilla decided that All Humans Are Bad.

His atomic breath is wild man. Creating mushroom clouds and massive creators is some nightmare fuel shit.

NORIKO NOOOOOOOOO :(

(dont worry she lives)

The plan to kill Godzilla was interesting. Explosive decompression is not really the first thing I would have thought up for a sea monster that brings up deep sea fish but the speed at which it happens is important.

KOICHI NOOOOOO (its okay he ejected)

Personal Nitpick #3:... I don't really like how they defeated Godzilla. I thought it was overkill. Like, yeah I get that Koichi needs to have is moment and all but blowing his head up I thought was a little much. and then he crumbles away? I guess he was frozen? Cool visual though. I imagine it was hell to convince Toho to have Godzilla die that way.

I heard Yamazaki was a big GMK fan, and the last scene really makes it obvious. I wonder if he isn't available for a sequel, Yamazaki would request Kaneko to direct...

Hey Noriko is alive!!!! Hey what's that on her neck? Why does it look like Godzilla's dorsal plate? Oh God Please Let Koichi Be Happy He Has Been Through Too Much.

The overall message of the movie is so goddamn moving, Live. That isn't a request, that's an order, a demand. Live, you should be happy to be alive. You may not think it, but people love you. People can forgive you. You don't deserve to die. Live and fight for the next generation so they don't make our mistakes. It is tough but you and people around you can make it better. You. Will. Live.

[side-vermin93]

Well.

Long rant below this line if you're just scrolling by.

I normally don't do this sort of thing, I don't post my unfiltered dogshit opinions on any kind of social media, I don't toll the bells when I don't get my way and cry 'Foul Play' unless I truly believe that something is going wrong.

No doubt, everyone has seen the... colourful reaction to TADC's release date being set in May of 2024 (This May) and the Murder Drones tag on Tumblr is exploding for good reason.

Now, before I say my piece, I would like to immediately debunk a common train of thought often used by detractors to devalue the points that others have made when it comes to this controversy:

"Glitch is saying that they are taking their time to make the episodes and the finale as best as it can be." And that we as a fandom are "Overreacting."

To begin with, I personally hope that yes, Glitch is doing everything in their power to make MD as good as it can physically be, I hope that they are giving the finale to the season the sendoff it deserves.

But would it KILL THEM to tell us something? Post teasers, memes, references to Murder Drones or even something as simple as "Hey! You liked TADC, how about you check out Murder Drones while you wait?"

Instead, Glitch has spent months of complete and total radio silence, completely forgot the existence of the anniversary of Murder Drones' pilot, and as they did this, they continued to post teasers of TADC, including a personally vexing post that basically amounted to engagement farming, literally "If this gets 100k likes, we will open the door"

Stuff like this DOES NOT help assuage the fears of fans who believe that Glitch has begun to ignore MD simply because it isn't as popular or as profitable as TADC has become, it smacks of blatant favouritism and foul play when the fans of Murder Drones get nothing, meanwhile TADC is getting WEEKLY teasers, which is only serving to inflame the controversy between TADC and MD fans.

The thing that infuriates me the most is that Murder Drones is in its final stretch for (HOPEFULLY) its first season finale, and yet we have recieved nothing aside from the initial trailers and the release date of "sometime in early 2024" and we are now coming up on the end of the second month of the year, meanwhile TADC gets a concrete release date in MAY, which does NOT excuse the constant teasers and content for TADC that was produced before this point.

As for the overreaction? I think its personally an acceptable response considering the current controversy, but the biggest problem is what Glitch has said today.

"We're also working hard on Murder Drones & will be releasing final episodes soon!"

This, reader, is a very vague statement made by Glitch in their announcement today, and... well, notice how they said "Final Episodes"

Now, this could be Twitter and its word limit screwing them over, but Glitch (and most corporations) is very deliberate with their wording, and this could be no different, do they mean the finale of season one? Or is Murder Drones as a SHOW coming to an end after episode 8? We don't know because Glitch is being vague about this.

Now, because we don't know, we are (reasonably considering how companies often tend to focus on what is most profitable as opposed to any concept of "loyalty") reacting in a negative way towards this wording and believing that MD might very well come to an end before Liam is able to fully finish his story or for us to enjoy the show he has been working on for a long time now.

If it is the end of Murder Drones, then of course people are going to blame TADC for "Killing Murder Drones." Corporations have no loyalties and no qualms about being underhanded, only an appetite for more funding and appeasing their investors, and the most juicy of cash-cows practically fell into their lap.

Now, perhaps we are WRONG, maybe Glitch really did screw up because Twitter loves its word limits, then in which case, shouldn't Glitch try and clarify that in another post as soon as possible? Say that MD isn't going anywhere and that they meant the season finale?

Ultimately, we are in a very turbulent time and tensions are the highest they have ever been, and the next two months will either cool down into something to laugh about later, or there will a shitstorm. No inbetweens.

If it is a false alarm, then I will be there laughing with y'all about how I was doomposting like an idiot, but if it isn't? then I will continue working on my projects in the fandom until I believe I am satisfied, and I will be there when the shitstorm drops.

God, I hope it's the former.

Also sorry if the tags for this are crap, but I don't have the energy left over to fix them.

[hotwaterandmilk]

Just another one of those posts where I do a bit of a general update on a few things. This time opening with an edited scan of Maomao from Nekokurage's Kusuriya no Hitorigoto manga adaptation to get your attention. Boo!

I've been reading the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto light novels and enjoying them in the sense that I think preteen me would have liked them. I started reading the LNs earlier this year (as they're great for reading in waiting rooms and the like thanks to their short format) and I think the LNs are definitely my preferred version of the story. The anime has a nice OP theme but is fairly middling otherwise and I don't go much on the art in either mang adaptation (though Nekokurage's art has improved recently and Maomao looks less like a giant-headed baby doll in the Animate bonus cards per my scan above). Maomao is the real draw in all versions so obviously I preordered her Nendo the first moment I could — bring on May 2024!

Speaking of translated light novels you can buy right now, the first part of the Oguni no Koushaku Reijō wa Tekikoku nite Kakusei Suru light novel was just released as A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy Volume #1 by Cross Infinite World (see here). It's a solid story that doesn't overstay its welcome and Bertine's business acumen is just *chefs kiss* for those after a competent heroine.

Once the second and final part of this is out, I'd love to see Cross Infinite World pick up another short (but unrelated) PASH! Books publication, Shiitagerareta Shuusai Reijou to Ringoku no Haraguro Kenkyuusha-sama no Amayaka na Yakusou Jikkenshitsu. The web novel version was quite solid but I haven't read the printed version yet. Yeah I like science ladies, what can I say? It would be so good to keep seeing interesting titles for girls and women being picked up for English release because I tire of isekai villainess stories (which imho peaked years ago with Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou) and there are some great little tales out there that do things a bit differently & just need to be shown to the right audience.

I'm so excited for Metallic Rouge in early January! While it used to be that getting an original property from BONES was always exciting, it has been a while since they've created anything I've really cared about but I'm hoping this will break the drought. If a show has Izubuchi, Kawamoto, Yamada contributing then you know I've got to be there. Plus a couple of lady leads in a SF setting? Trailers with some great action and music? I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much but I'm keen to give it a shot. If it isn't for me at least I can say I've given it a chance, right?

I've been terrible at sharing the latest about this year's Silent Möbius anniversary, but I'm not a news blogger and frankly very few people care so eh y'know, whatever. BUT I figured I should say something about FAIRYTALE PARFUM releasing scents for the key members of AMP this month (though Mana has been totally forgotten, it seems). You can check out the range here, there will be a launch event on the 10th of December in Shinjuku too.

Asamiya drew new artwork for the bottles and while I'd love to get Kiddy's perfume that nods towards her bodily acceptance in its notes, importing that stuff is just too much of a pain so I've settled for a tiny acrylic stand of Kiddy instead. Sadly there's no option to buy a set of stands so I just went "whatever" and grabbed just my best girl. Anyway, if you'd like a tiny acrylic stand of an AMP girl with extra weird proportions then make sure you check out the FAIRYTALE PARFUM website.

[invisibleicewands]

First off, I love the new season and I've had the theme song stuck in my head all weekend.

David Tennant: It's catchy, isn't it?

With Season 2, there's no more anti-Christ to find. Armageddon is pretty much postponed for now. When we enter Season 2, what is the dynamic like between your characters, especially now that you don't really have heaven and hell breathing down your necks?

Michael Sheen: Well, they're supposedly free agents now. They've managed to cut their ties to their head offices, so in some ways, they've got everything they wanted. Aziraphale is loving it. He gets to be in his bookshop. He gets to have lovely meals, and go out to see shows, and hang out with his friend. He is a little bit disturbed by not being part of the company anymore. He was someone who enjoyed that structure, whereas Crowley seemed to be a bit more comfortable with being out on his own.

Tennant: Yes, although interestingly, when we first meet Crowley, he's on a park bench catching up with the person who's taken his job. He obviously can't quite let go. He still wants the updates, and he still wants to know what's going on. But yes, liberated, although at the same time, Crowley's circumstances have rather shrunk, because the nice apartment that he had that came with the job has been taken by Shax [Miranda Richardson], who's now hell's representative on Earth.

Sheen: The car is not a company car, then?

Tennant: I guess it's not a company car. Yeah, it's interesting. We haven't established that, have we? Not a company car, but clearly a company apartment. So he's living in his car.

Sheen: Then this unexpected visitor arrives and throws everything into disarray. Suddenly, the stakes are high again. There's a mystery to be solved. The clock is ticking, and they have to rely on each other and no one else to try and solve it.

Tennant: And again, against all their instincts and best intentions, they find themselves on the run from heaven and hell, even more so than they were before.

Through all of this, I feel like there are more mini-sodes, where we go back and really explore your friendship. What was it like filming those and learning more about your charcters?

Sheen: They're the most fun bits to do probably, to dress up and to see what David's going to look like when he walks out of his trailer.

Tennant: I like to keep you surprised.

Sheen: Yes.

Tennant: Yeah, it's great that, obviously, that was introduced in Series 1, catching glimpses of their life down the millennia and how that relationship has developed. There are specific looks back in time in this series, which explains something about where their relationship is now and how the story is unfolding. It's a very clever way of interweaving that. It's really fun to get to visit those different moments in time.

Sheen: Some of the mini-sodes — particularly, the biblical one has its own world to explore and its own lessons to learn aside from the main story, as well. Neil [Gaiman] and the other writers involved got to get into some quite difficult questions and issues in a really interesting way. There's some really extraordinary things going on in those stories.

I understand that you guys have a real life friendship and came out with "Staged" during the pandemic. How would you say your real-life friendship correlates to Crowley and Aziraphale? Are there any similarities? Differences?

Sheen: I like to think we're very different to the characters. We don't bicker at all. That's part of why I think things have gone so smoothly, because we don't argue about anything, do we?

Tennant: Not so far.

Sheen: Not so far.

Tennant: There's always a first time.

Sheen: Aziraphale and Crowley are very much, on paper, opposites, but we're quite similar. We have a similar sense of humor.

Tennant: Yes, that's probably true. Aziraphale and Crowley are much more similar than they would ever care to admit…

Sheen: That's true.

Tennant: …and they're both two sides of very much the same coin.

Sheen: Yes.

Tennant: I suppose, as it's us playing them, there will be bits of us in those characters, inevitably.

Sheen: We like a nice meal and a glass of wine.

Tennant: That's certainly true, yes.

Sheen: So there's that.

Tennant: There's definitely that. Yes, we certainly bicker less.

Sheen: Definitely, yeah. I like to think that we would be able to avert an apocalypse, if the need arose.

Tennant: In a heartbeat! Yeah. Very well-placed to do that.

Sheen: (laughing) We'd be so rubbish. We'd be so inept. If Aziraphale and Crowley are inept, we would be even worse.

Tennant: I'd call [my wife] Georgia.

[c6jpg]

okay okay arlecchino story quest thoughts

overall i liked it but mainly the whole duel sequence which was fucking awesome but some points that bugged me:

the release of arlecchino's animated short basically spoiling the entire story quest

mentioned in the tags of my previous post but yeah i think the story quest would have been a lot more... idk interesting? revealing? if the animated short had been released after this patch/story quest. you basically spend the entire first half of the story quest already knowing the "twist" and have to watch literally everyone else figure it out which is never really engaging nor fun story telling.

like you KNOWWW arlecchino is not "that evil" and you KNOWWWWW all these atrocities were from the previous knave so seeing literally everybody go through these theatrics is a little. sigh. idk. like i was just waiting to get to the boss fight bc i knew the corresponding cutscenes would be awesome (and they were) and getting random fatui insider knowledge was fun i enjoyed having what was effectively seeing arlecchino and childe in the office break room but we didn't really learn anything we didn't already know

also. arlecchino is hardly the first but it really is just kinda. sigh when you basically get a whole scene of the character explaining their OWN tragic backstory. once again genshin fails to show not tell

freminet

i know a lot of people are upset about the freminet timeline. honestly idc at this point i'll suspend my belief whatever yadda yadda but i do think it was a cop out for freminet to have like. not at least been SUSPICIOUS that clervie was possibly talking about the previous knave just because crucabena "didn't talk about it and all the experiments ended" by the time he joined the house

like he spent a significant time with clervie (half a month right?) trying to help her out and even if clervie was "a child stuck in the past" she wasn't exactly trying to hide anything and they ALL knew she was some sort of ghost or maybe something tied to memories/leylines. and he KNEW crucabena so i'm just like. a little aghast he didn't have any damn idea like at least make him suspicious right so he and the traveler can join heads and be like "hmmmmmmm something is not right here HMMMMMMMMM" like if you are SO sure arlecchino isn't "that kind of person" (ig this was more lyney saying this but still) wouldn't you consider maaaaaaaaaaaybe the previous knaves were?

there was a single moment when they were at the table sharing intel that freminet was "lost in thought" and i think that would have been a fantastic moment for freminet to be the star and voice his suspicious but we got literally nothing from that.

honestly just disappointed freminet didn't do more in the story tbh. the trailer was really hyping him up to literally change the game lol

the results of the duel

i mean we saw it coming we knew she was gonna spare those children somehow. idrk how to describe it like on one hand yes would be nice to have more morally fucked up characters and its a little disappointing that arlecchino isn't "that bad" she's actually super normal all things considering (childe fucking LIED) on the other hand i don't necessarily hate this is the way they made her character? but the result of the duel still felt like a huge cop out lmao like it was basically an indirect "your resolve towards family impressed me so i'll let them live" which was exactly how i didn't want this to be resolved but also don't know how they would have done it otherwise

arlecchino's curse/flames/????????

GIRL CAN YOU ELABORATE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE i know it has to do with her being part of some khaenrian (?) bloodline or something but lajdksfldjflads can you elaborate what do you mean your flames can be extracted and burn memories we're just all gonna take that and run with it huh

anyways.

regardless i loved the main battle cutscene in her boss form. loved that bit where she blocked freminet and lynette's dual attack and was like "sorry for what? this pitiful excuse for an attack?" i was banging my fist on the table i loved that bit sooooooooooo fucking much dear god

ending cutscene was expected and bittersweet but i liked it a lot as well. really the graphics and me just really liking arlecchino saved this quest for me LOL i think it has a lot of plot holes compared to other story quests but also a much more interesting story (bar is in hell) although you're guaranteed to get some sort of lore with a weekly boss but anyways it averages out to being a pretty okay but not spectacular story quest 👍 maybe like a 6/10, would have rated it higher if the animated short didn't spoil everything

[the-hinky-panda]

The Gin Blossom: Part II

Title: The Gin Blossom

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Gilly Lopez x Reader

Summary: You thought you had your life all planned out until everything changed. Finding yourself a young widow, you turn an Airstream trailer into a food truck and tour the southwest. You met Riz and Songbird (from @bullet-prooflove's stories) and when they invite you to visit the revitalized town of Santo Padre, you find that maybe home isn't out of reach for you.

You expect Riz to come back around at the end of the concert to help you pack up, but it’s someone else who is standing outside the backdoor of the airstream. You have to admit, you’re not disappointed at all at seeing Gilly’s surprise appearance. He’s standing off to the side, making sure to be under one of the strings of Edison bulbs hanging around the food truck area, hands in his kutte and a small smile on his face. 

“I don’t know if you remember-” 

“Gilly,” you answer immediately, trying to reign in the smile that is threatening to take over your face. “I remember you.” 

He ducks his head briefly. “I, uh, I was just wondering if you needed some help cleaning up, getting things put away.” 

You stand to the side of the door, holding it open with your arm and giving him room to enter into the trailer. “I would love some help. Riz usually helps if we’re at the same festival but, well…you know.” 

He passes through the door and looks around the kitchen space. “You know what?” 

“Songbird’s wearing that black silk dress tonight. We’re not going to see them until the wee small hours of the morning.” 

He laughs once. “So it’s the dress. Huh.” 

“And now you know.” 

“And I kind of wish I didn’t.” 

You watch as he looks around the small interior of the Airstream trailer. Most of the space is dedicated to the kitchen and storage of gin bottles. You can see him analyzing the space, how everything, other than the dishes in the sink, is in its place. Every surface is spit shined and squeaky clean. 

“What branch are you?” 

You pull up the sleeve on your sweatshirt and show him the tattoo on your inner forearm and he nods appreciatively. 

“Marine. I should have known when I could see myself in the grill hood of a food truck.” 

You unplug the fairy lights and start pulling the napkin dispensers from the front window. “Never had a failed health inspection.” 

“I believe it. So, what can I help with?” 

“How do you feel about doing dishes?” 

He starts to roll up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. “Like I’m about to do some.” 

You watch him out of the corner of your eye as he starts to do the dishes. He’s methodical, precise, and the plates and cups are spotless when they’re placed on the four tiered drying rack. “So what branch are you?” 

“Army Ranger.” 

“Impressive,” you say and you mean it. Rangers were a badass unit but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun with him. “I guess when you can’t make it in the Marines, Rangers are a good back up.” 

He emits that loud, barrel-chested laugh that you remember from before. “Oh, is that how it’s going to be then?” 

A good natured silence fills the airstream as you continue with your closing routine. By the time all supplies are properly stowed and you pull the blinds down on the front service window, Gilly is finishing up with the last few plates. 

“Good timing,” you say as you reach for a bottle of gin that you think he will like. “Do you have time for a thank you drink?” 

“As long as you join me for it.” 

You grab two leaded glass tumblers from your personal dishware and head back outside. It has to be close to two in the morning. All patrons of the festival have left, the stage is dark, and all the food trucks are closed up. It’s peaceful now that the noise of people, music, and generators have all quieted. The edison lights that provided light around the area are still on though and Ginny finds a picnic table underneath them not far from her trailer. She pours the gin into the glasses and hands Gilly one before sitting on the top of the table. He takes a sip and settles beside her. 

“This is good. Sharp. Clean.” 

“It’s the lime infused gin. It’s light and fresh. I thought you might like it since you liked the blood orange as well.” 

“How many flavors do you have?” 

“In the airstream? About eight to ten. My sister and brother-in-law currently have about thirty-three in production.” 

“No shit. Where are they located?” 

“Northern Cali, Redding.” 

Gilly nods. “It’s beautiful up there.” 

“It is. The redwoods are incredible to see. They have a lovely home, lots of acreage. When I lost my husband, they offered me a couple acres to build a home there with them. I almost took them up on it.” 

“So what stopped you?” 

“It wasn’t home.” You look up at the stars above you, the sky stretching endlessly across the desert. “It was nice. It was beautiful. But…” 

“Yeah. I get that. When I came back from my last tour, my friends all settled in a suburb of San Diego. They tried getting me to buy a house there too but it didn’t feel right.” 

“So how did you end up down here?” 

Gilly laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t know if you want to hear the whole story about that. I’m trying to impress you here.” 

You feel heat rise to your face at his comment. “Remember, I’m a marine. I’m hard to scare.” 

“Alright, here goes.” He finishes the gin in one go and you refill his glass. “I was…a mess when I got back from Afghanistan. I was drinking, getting high, picking fights with guys who were bigger than me.” 

“There’s guys bigger than you?” 

You both laugh easily at the comment. But you know that feeling too. War is a terrible thing. You do things that you would never dream yourself capable of doing. You remember the first time you had to shoot a teenage boy because he was trying to detonate an IED next to one of the tanks. He still shows up in your dreams at times. Bloody, mangled, accusatory. 

“One night in San Diego,” Gilly continues, “after spending the day with my friends, I was so fucked up. I went to the most dangerous part of town, and picked the worst looking bar there was. I bumped a guy who was coming out and…I just swung. I wanted someone to put me out of misery because I couldn’t do it myself. Well, I got a couple good swings in but this guy just leveled me. I woke up propped up outside the bar with a business card tucked in my shirt pocket for Romero Brother’s Scrap Business.” 

“So who was it?” 

“It was Hank. I called him later that day and he told me that there was a new charter of Mayans being formed down in Santo Padre and they were looking for some muscle. I packed my shit and moved that day.” 

“The brotherhood found you.” 

“They did.” He takes another sip. “What about you? What’s your brotherhood stateside?” 

You finish off your gin, letting the sharp tang of juniper berries and lime sit on your tongue. You could lie and tell him your brotherhood is your family. Or that you still keep in touch with your division. You could make up an elaborate tale of having a brotherhood in every town you visit. But you don’t. Because if anyone is going to understand your situation, it would be the man sitting next to you. The man who just opened his backstory to you with no deceit whatsoever. He deserved the same from you. 

“I haven’t found it yet. That’s why I travel so much. I'm still searching for it.” 

“You’ll know it when you find it.” Gilly laughs. “As fucking cliche as that sounds.” 

Before you can respond to him, a flash of movement draws your attention over to where a few cars and trucks are still parked. You see the Edison lights reflect off Riz and Songbird’s silver jewelry. She still has the black silk dress on, but there are obvious wrinkles in it from being bunched up in Riz’s fists. They still can’t keep their hands off each other, stealing kisses, their hands entwined as they make their way to Riz’s truck. You watch them climb into the cab, Songbird curling up next to him as he starts the truck and pulls out of the lot. 

“No,” you say, “that’s not cliche at all.” 

[nightfall-1409]

I'll admit to being skeptical around the idea of Ahsoka training Sabine at first based on the initial trailers because what I didn't want was to roll another characters storyline into being Force sensitive HOWEVER.

I actually do think it's interesting and intriguing. Ahsoka grew up as a Jedi of the Temple, regardless of some of her decisions later in life. This is her culture, these are the ways she interprets things. Much in the same way that when Kanan taught Sabine he taught her Force ideology that matched what HE knew of the Force and lightsabers. It's clear and obvious that Sabine absorbed much of this information from her time with Ezra and Kanan. It's clear and obvious in their absence and deaths (assumed death, in Ezra's case) Sabine took the mantle of keeping Ezra's memory alive. She ran from the ceremony because her speech at the ceremony would be endorsing the idea that he is gone and she is unwilling to do that. It's been 10 years since Ezra's disappearance, this Sabine is almost fucking thirty, it is a little immature but at the end of the day deciding to not be used as a prop to immortalize her fellow teammates death that she is refusing to accept as a fact is her choice.

So we obviously don't know what Sabine and Ahsoka's falling out was over (yet) but I do have two theories both based on the argument they had in Ep 1, regarding a Jedi going where they're needed, and Sabine bitterly saying that isn't always true. We're going to get this story, it's undoubtedly going to be a central crux of the show (and good! I love this kind of storytelling where you have time to fucking BREATHE and think about things before being told what it is!)

There are two potential events that were fundamentally things that altered Sabine's life. The first of course was the Battle of Lothal. Finding out that Ahsoka was alive and potentially had been able to join them there, and if she had done that then Ezra might still be with them is my friend's theory.

My theory is that it's going to be a parallel of the end of TCW. A young and very determined Ahsoka begs her master and grandmaster for help to go after Maul to save Mandalore. Ahsoka gets Rex and the 332nd, but Maul nearly gets away. Anakin and Obi-Wan leave her for Coruscant. A young and desperate Sabine begs her master for help to go after Moff Gideon and save Mandalore. And Ahsoka goes instead to fight another battle. And Mandalore is destroyed. The specific comments in regard to Sabine's emotions and stubbornness as well as the fact that season 3 of the Mandalorian did just expand upon this. We know Mandalore's fate. Sabine's home and identity is fundamentally broken. People in Mandalorian Armor are being hunted down in this era of the galaxy for their beskar, and perhaps that explains why Sabine's not initially in the armor.

As for Ahsoka calling her 'padawan', it's completely within Ahsoka's rights to do so if she chooses, if I see someone else saying its borderline cultural appropriation i'm going to scream. It's fundamentally Ahsoka's culture to share, so if she gives out the term, like that's it. There were, in fact, non-Force sensitives that worked in the temple, and there were non-Force sensitives that followed Jedi tenants. In fact, one would argue with how few Jedi there are left that people like Sabine, who knew and were closed to (was practically raised by) a Jedi Survivor who has since passed, the dedication to preserving their culture for the future is an act of love. There aren't many Jedi left. Ahsoka tells Huyang that the Order's done, but as he mentions his programming, his drive continues on. Sabine has learned Lightsaber training from three separate Jedi and that knowledge that would otherwise be lost continues on in her. She is still proudly Mandalorian. But she also can proudly stand as a Jedi if she wishes to, for herself, for Kanan. This show is a show about being the survivors and how you rebuild. It's Ezra's lightsaber, but Sabine has maintained it, used it, modified it, and it has become hers. That's metaphorical for the way that she took on the Mantle that Kanan and Ezra gave her, as the survivors of their culture, taught her, and now they are gone. Ahsoka and Sabine are the survivors of genocide. They're doing their best to preserve what's left.

Sabine using the Jedi terms are respectful to Ahsoka, to Kanan and Ezra. She's a proud member of a warrior culture who knows the value of traditions and that knowledge, and she wants to preserve them. Of course she follows Ahsoka's lead on it.

[highfantasy-soul]

Re: Netflix's live-action Avatar the Last Airbender

I was 12 when the animated series started airing.

I caught episodes as they came on Nickelodeon, but I didn’t watch it religiously start-to-finish. I caught episodes when they happened to be on and I happened to be watching TV (I was NOT part of the generation that had unlimited access to shows - tv/computer/video game time was strictly monitored in my household) so there were some episodes I saw over and over again, and others I never did see.

I think it was around middle/high school (honestly can't remember - it was one of the two) that the show got put on Netflix and I started watching it from the beginning with my brother and some friends. Needless to say, I've been a die-hard fan ever since.

I think the animated show is incredibly well done and the storytelling is super on-point for what I love in media. Zuko's redemption arc is still the best arc I've ever seen, and the character growth is amazing.

I had never really fallen into the 'it's not perfect, but…' way of analyzing media, so I never dwelt too much on its flaws - I'd much rather focus on the things it got right as literally every piece of media has flaws and things that could be changed to make it better.

So yeah, hyperbolically, the animated version of ATLA is 'perfect' - but since people insist on anything that's not perfect being drug through the mud and hyperbolically being called 'garbage', I guess I have to dredge up the things I didn't care so much for in the animated version while analyzing how the live-action handled it (or avoided handling it).

I was super excited for the film adaptation - again, announced while I was in high school. I was looking forward to it so much - then, well, we know what happened there.

Things were changed that didn't make sense to change (the pronunciation of character names, the 'test' for figuring out who the Avatar is, the poor bending where movements didn't align to what was happening with the CGI, casting of white people when the characters were always meant to be indigenous and all asian ethnicities, among other issues people have made many essays about)

So, when this was first announced, I was SKEPTICAL.

While the trailer looked good, it seemed very safe - I recognized everything in it and it looked well made, but like, that doesn't mean the whole thing will be good - or justify its existence.

I tried to ignore any 'leaks' or interview quotes because those are always misconstrued so much and people hear one sentence and create a massive narrative in their head about what that sentence means and usually, all their bellyaching assumptions they made from that piece of info is just a non-issue once the show actually comes out.

I didn't give any credence to people screaming about "Sokka isn't going to be sexist anymore?? It's ruined!!" or "They're going for a Game of Thrones tone?? They don't understand Avatar at all!!" or "No side-quests?? They don't understand the point of the show!!"

First off, invoking the demon that is Game of Thrones is just a marketing tactic - that's all it is: MARKETING!! Just like EVERY YA book for years was 'The new Hunger Games' now it's 'The new Game of Thrones' even when the story at hand is NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THOSE THINGS!! It's literally, let me cradle your face gently in my hands, JUST a marketing ploy to get you to see a recent title you DO recognize and have (assumedly) heard good things about (ie popular) so that you then pick up the thing that they slapped that name onto.

Creators rarely have say in what their creation is likened to, they're told by marketing companies to go with it (if they're told anything at all) and they just say "yes, marketing team I have no control over, whatever you say".

Also, a passing comment in an interview is off-the cuff and when someone makes a comment like that, people read WAY too far into it and it's usually not nearly as deep as people make it out to be. That's why I just wait for the actual thing to come out and just watch it and judge it based on what it is, not some narrative someone else has created for it based on half a quote from some random interview.

So going into this: why the live-action adaptation? Why was it necessary?

In my opinion, the answer to this question is the thing many fans hate the most: altering the original story.

A beat-for-beat remake isn't necessary - the original is right there, so in order to 'earn' the right for this adaptation to exist, that necessitates changes to be made that add to the themes, deepen the lore, and delve into different aspects of the world in ways a child's cartoon can't.

So, I'm looking for not a 1-1 remake, but rather an adaptation that enhances the themes, irons out some uneven characterization/pacing, updates the story just enough to really get what they want to across, and delve more directly into some of the harsher aspects of the war.

I have always felt that Iroh's involvement in the Fire Nation military was glossed over a lot in the cartoon - I suspect because he's supposed to be a good guy and we can't have our good guys be overtly war criminals responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

The effects of hard decisions made during war are shown in the animation, but the decision making process itself is rarely talked about until the very end with the gaang's struggle to keep helping people while also knowing where to focus their energy and Aang's struggle finding a way to stop the firelord without killing him.

something this adaptation can do is actually show the people making the decisions - and directly talking about the horrible effects of it. I'll get to it later, but that's one of the major themes in Episode 4 that I'll talk more on then.

Especially in Book 1, like many first books/seasons, the worldbuilding isn't fully fleshed out and the themes that really come to fruition later aren't as tight as they could be at the beginning. If the adaptation can go ahead and seed/tighten the themes that become big deals later on here at the beginning, it will 'justify' it's existence as the story retold after the whole story has already been plotted out.

Just like with the Percy Jackson and Wheel of Time adaptation, those writing for the show have the benefit of knowing how the story ends and all the stuff that's added to the world building as time goes on that wasn't necessarily known by the authors when they wrote and published the first books - the benefit of hindsight allows the show's script to take into consideration these additions and seed them early on to make the story more cohesive and reinforce themes.

So, this analysis is going to be long and filled with minute details, beat by beat for the episodes.

I have seen so many takes that I just sit and scratch my head at and think 'that was so obvious in the show - how did you miss/misinterpret that thing so wildly?' that I guess what I took for granted as obvious in the show, others didn't, so here's me being pedantic and over-explaining everything so maybe others can see that 1) they aren't the only ones who saw this interpretation and 2) maybe others will see the scenes a different way

Still trying to decide how to break up the analysis as the episode recaps are going to be LONG and since people now demand to see all the citations for stuff, the character analysis posts will be long too as I pull direct scenes to show why I feel the way I do.

I don't want to overload the posts and make it so they're just annoying to read, so I'll probably break them up into the sections of the episodes and maybe break up the character posts.

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

[e-the-village-cryptid]

Don't you feel Andor is a better version of Rogue One?

Diverse cast of characters of day-to-day people played by actors of different enthicities, the villains' danger coming from their loyalty to the imperial machine, an indiferent protagonist that re-learns why they hate the empire?

I guess it's not fair to Rogue One because Andor had way more hours to develop its story and Gilroy had so much control over the story. Besides, Rogue One's script was re-written so many times. I mean just look at how many scenese from the trailer don't appear on the actual movie.

Idk, I wonder what this show could've been had ir had Jyn as a protagonist instead (I haven't read rebel rising, but what's one more retconned book?); specially because I think Cassian has a lot of Jyn's characteristics. Hell—they both went to prison!

I agree with you that it feels like Andor is what happens when there's enough space and time to do what Rogue One was trying to do. I really like the concept of Rogue One and also Jyn as a character, but I feel like the execution was a bit disorganized and often poorly-written.

If I had had to pick one character from Rogue One who I would have wanted a prequel on before I saw Andor (in the interest of honesty: this is purely a hypothetical as Andor was my introduction to the Star Wars universe), it would definitely have been Jyn, not Cassian— in particular, I find that whole concept of her having been raised and then abandoned by Saw fascinating and would have loved to have seen how that went down. But, having seen Andor, I see how necessary it was to have Cassian be the central character, because Andor isn't really about Cassian at all, it's about this world that he's moving through. Cassian is often playing the "straight man" in this story— he's the observer, the less commanding presence that everyone else plays off of. He's just this lens through which we see how exactly this world would radicalize someone like him. He's the point around which all these other stories turn— the fulcrum, if you will. Cassian often steps back— he advises Vel to say his suggestions are her ideas, he gives credit for his ideas to Taga, he pushes Kino to make the speech in the prison break, and the season ends with him offering himself up to Luthen as a willing fighter— something which he also does for Jyn in Rogue One.

I think this manner of de-centering the "main" character is central to the storytelling of this specific show, and it just wouldn't work with Jyn— she's the type to make the speech, to rally for the cause, to have her own ideas and follow through with them with or without support from others. She's a much more classic hero character, and there are all kinds of fascinating stories to tell about her, but they wouldn't be Andor. I would love the show about Jyn too, I just think it would have to have a very different method of storytelling.

[stormblessed95]

Hi Stormy! If you've talked about his before I apologize 😂💜

I just can't watch the Serendipity MV without thinking of KM. The date in the corner, the sun, Jimin's eye (like JK's eye in DNA), the calico cat (sudden 🐾 on Twitter), the colorful swirl in Jimin's eye (again like the DNA opening in JK's eye. These are also tied as the trailer and title song), the eclipse, the moon and Ooooh it's so YELLOW 💛

How much influence do you think Jimin had on this MV? Or is is just yet another "coincidence" even though he literally starts the song saying it isn't 😂

Lol I wish I could be more fun and theorizing with you on this one, but I'm not on board with any of these theories 😅 but that's just me!

For start, I too, was originally confused and thought the date in the corner was a nod to JK from Jimin. But that's been corrected and talked about in this post here

You can find Jimin talking about Serendipity MV in the MV making film from memories, which you can watch in full here. It's only 8 mins

And you can find RM talking about the lyrics and making of the song here, with the reminder that RM wrote the song totally here, not Jimin

SO with all these things in mind... the connections with the Serendipity MV and the DNA MV were probably done very purposefully by the directors as a way to connect the music videos for the album. The Intro song MV and the Title Track MV. It being jikook who both have it pan into their eyes is simply because Jimins solo is the intro and JK starts off DNA. If a different member had the DNA opening, it probably would've panned into their eye instead. The calico cat was something that Namjoon came up with for the lyrics and that quickly became Jimins favorite part of the song and one he resonated with and started calling HIMSELF a calico cat. The paw prints showing up were because Jimin calls JK his puppy prince and that is a totally seperate thing. Plus the paw prints started showing up in 2016, pre Serendipity anyway. Lol post over puppy prince paw prints here:

The songs were written with nothing to do with jikook specifically but to convey the overall message that BTS were wanting to tell in the album as a whole, and to kick off the story they wanted to tell through their Trilogy of albums as well. So I don't think those connections mean anything other than connections to the album.

All the yellow could simply be about how it Warm and uplifting colors. Plus matching Jimins blonde hair at the time, or that its one of Jimis favorite colors. Lol I don't think Jimin made many choices in the efforts of what happened in the MV. He stated that his favorite part of filming was with the cat, and his least favorite was showing his feet off and that he even tried to talk the director out of it at first, but he insisted and Jimin really doesn't mind. He then just worried about wanting to make sure his feet were extra clean 🤣

The reason I connect Serendipity to jikook is because they do it themselves, not because of any hints in the Song or music video dedicated it to each other. But because AFTER the song came out, they claimed it as their own. Which I talk about in this post:

Hope that helps 🥰 you are all free to believe whatever you want of course too.