#these are (probably) their very final designs. theyve come so far...

[starrysharks]

super-star pirate quintet - a no-buts treasure hunt across our sparkling camelot galaxy!

[fefairys]

53 54 55 56 57 59 60 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 . lol i just want u to do all of them

ur crazy i love u so much <3 under the cut again

53. Alpha kids or Beta kids? grrrrr I LIKE THEM ALL!!!!! im gonna say alpha kids cuz theyre underrated and im an alpha kid lover, but i really love them all :/

54. Alpha trolls or Beta trolls? beta trolls.

55. Beforus or Alternia? beforus is really interesting to look at because its so nuanced, i think. alternia is fun too because violence and killing and murder and all the trauma that comes with that, but there's also the insidiousness of beforus being seen as a "utopia" but it actually sucks really bad also, just in more subtle ways. beforus, final answer.

56. Derse or Prospit? DERSE GANG BABEY!!!! I LIKE. PURBLE!!!!

57. The Felt or The Midnight Crew? oh man i really like all the funnie time powers of the felt. gonna go with them even tho i love the midnight crew dearly as well.

59. Red team or blue team? i think red team would be more fun to be on because of the drama of it all

60. Meat or candy? oouugugughhhhhh..... both. neither. certain aspects of each. throw it all in the garbage. reread it 10 times. AAAHHHH

68. already answered

70. Do you like your God Tier outfit? (maid of heart) yeah i think its alright. looks comfy 👍 a fun dress might be nice tho...

71. Ship headcanons? this is too vague im going to eat you.

72. Character headcanons? eating you again this is EVEN MORE VAGUE

73. Meteor trip headcanons? man i dunno. rose and vriska stumbling upon each other alone at one point and its really awkward at first because theyve never really talked and rose probably dislikes vriska from the things kanaya has said about her, but she is very intriguing isn't she? they get to talking, as light players do, and vriska thinks rose is super cool, maybe she even says "You know what, Lalonde? You're actually pretty alright." and rose... hmm... rose wants to keep her distance, karkat and kanaya have both told her so many accounts of vriska being just straight up fucking evil. rose would probably suspicious of her trying to befriend her. i don't know that's all i've got idk what happens next.

74. Earth C headcanons? big polycule.

75. already answered

76. Do you like kidswaps? Do you have a favorite? kidswaps i have found more intriguing than bloodswaps for some reason.. i really like dave lalonde and rose strider i think that is rife for some super interesting shit going on. but idk i dont really think about AUs like this very much!

77. Do you like speciesswaps? Do you have a favorite? again havent really thought about it. designing the kids as trolls is really fun, but haven't thought about the implications or anything!

78. Do you use quadrants IRL? yup. you know this, juice, my kismoirailsis lol... fun fact for anyone else reading this, me and juice started as kismesises, which tends to surprise people who know us irl because we seem like we're sooo in love (which we are) but yeah we are still kismesises under that :) real!

79. Do you like celebrating 4/13? hell fucking yeah brother its a high holy day for me

91. Favorite hemocaste? aw man idk. probably gold. cool powers and usually nerds, whats not to love!

92. Favorite typing quirk? typing quirks are so fun i like all of em!!! T3R3Z1'S 1S D3F1N1T3LY 4 F4VOR1T3 THOUGH!!!

93. Favorite MSPFA? i have never read one all the way through </3 vast error is pretty cool but i am NOT caught up on it at all. thats the only one i've gotten super far in :/ sowwy

94. What would your strife specibus be? hmmmm.... i've always liked the idea of umbrellakind theres so much u can do with that, that's why i gave it to my first fantroll ever! so yeah i'll go with that. umbrella.

95. already answered

96. What would your lusus be? i want it to be a kitty... idk tho my trollsona's lusus is dead i havent really thought about it!

97. What caste do you feel you’d belong to, regardless of your zodiac? definitely a low one, still. idk rust feels right!

98. What characters do you relate most to? well.

99. already answered

100. One popular HS opinion you agree with? uh idk davekat and rosemary good 👍 :)

[frankiesmileshow]

The Final Fantasy Pixel Shack is over! This was a lot of fun. I will definitely be doing more RPG monsters in the future, but next week will probably be a bit different.

Up top was my first entry, Tiamat. I went into this wanting to redraw the four fiends, but I got a bit carried away with her!

For my second entry, I decided to compensate a bit for having spent too long on Tiamat, and merged two of the 3 other fiends into...

Krakillith! Bringing together Kraken and Marillith! This one is still using too many color palettes, but its a lot closer to being realistic to NES limitations.

There has been a lot of great entries this week, let’s go over them after the jump:

First up, LandsharkRawr drew a very elegant, dashing take on Lich, so we do have the four fiends present in the end! This is based on an avatar character theyve been drawing a lot, with flowing, flaming green hair.

They also replaced the player party with adorable NES sprites of various D&D characters they’ve played with, three of which I reckognize. Made me wish I had redrawn the player characters on my entries a bit too. Maybe next time!

And here is a second entry from Landshark, a masked creature with a terrible winged demon for a lower body. The design gives some SMT vibes. It also seems very close to fitting the NES restrictions, nice work.

Axolotine also drew a Lich! This one sticks closer to the original. He’s also redrawn the party members, they look super good. The black and red mages are great here.

Gabriel Harju has drawn an eyeball creature holding bones, called “Itch”, fighting a party of Yani. Who doesnt love a good eyeball monster.

Jacob J. Ritz  Has drawn Garland as seen in the recent Final Fantasy trailer, as well as a sort of “demake” of that game into an NES style, really cool! I love the colors on Garland’s armor, it reminds me quite a bit of Exdeath from FF5. The flaming sword looks very nice too!

Lurdiak has drawn a strange ghostly creature, as well as NES styled takes on the FF7 main cast. I understand this is a bit of a joke on some problems he has with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake - but I haven’t finished that yet, so I don’t get it yet! Nobody spoil it for me, aight? I just fought the spooky house boss so far, Barely halfway through! :O

I believe this mesmerizing entry from Ryan Powser speaks for itself. Please enjoy. If you can summon the inner strength to move your gaze away from Ripper’s eyes, from Ripper’s TRUTH, perhaps we can move on to...

Long after the last speck of dust falls from the bones humanity has left behind, when the last echo of our will, rippling across time’s ocean, reaches some far-away world, the inhabitants of this world, with sensory organs alien to ours, will perceive our final message to them. They will understand. Crab With Guns, by Scarodactyl.

A babylonian-inspired entry from Will Olthouse , complete with a ziggurat in the back. Very nice! Don’t think I have heard of Lamashtu before...

A sinister magician hermit called Gerald, from Will ! Always a fan of creatures with big, flat teeth. He has also submitted this one:

... that he calls a knight of thorns! Really nice, love that bucket-like helmet with holes, a good striking design. Nice pose, too. This one and the previous might be entirely possible to display as a Final Fantasy enemy too!

And here is a final one from Mr Taters, a pirate captain with a pair of pirates. I think thats the only entry with a party of multiple enemies, very nice.

That is all for this weeks entries! A LOT of em this time around!

There were also two entries that I missed from last week, one came in a bit late, and the other one I simply forgot about!

Gabriel Harju made this gnarly skeleton with bony fingers coming out of its face!

And Will Olthouse also made this robed snake lady vampire! Or she might be a caterpillar or slug? I’m not entirely sure. Either way, shes long.

Have you made an entry and I haven’t added you here? Be sure to reply to this, I’ll put you at the end of next week’s roundup! Thank you to everyone who has participated! Haven’t decided the subject of next week yet, but I’m thinking about a platformer of some kind...

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom season 2, ep 12-16 thoughts! these episodes, in comparison to the first 10 or so, felt way more laid back and low-stakes, which I appreciate sometimes. I didn't appreciate how lazy jack's halfa design was in masters of time, it made me so annoyed I redesigned it. 👎🏻 u_u

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-'picking a fight with me and my upgraded form!' 'you upgraded to a mullet?' DANNNNY. YOU CANT SAY THAT TO TECHNUS. YOUVE HAD A MULLET TWICE NOW ('fun' split danny, and evil future danny BOTH HAD THEM). I HAVE THE RECEIPTS.

-danny seeing technus hurting valerie and yelling I AM GOING TO BREAK YOU IN HALF. SAMEEEE <3

-axion labs is now a part of vladco. FUCK YOU VLAD. hes not even really IN this episode, but just thought I'd throw out a nice fuck you anyway.

-'capable of blasting a single person into space in (2) minutes!' tucker. that would kill someone. i mean yeah they might get to space, but theres NO WAY THEY WOULDNT CATCH FIRE, OR THEIR ORGANS WOULDNT LIQUIFY BECAUSE OF THE STRAIN. THEY'D PROBABLY PASS OUT BEFORE THEN, BUT. ...no, okay, I get why vlad bought this company. this is RIGHT up his alley.

-danny KNOWS VAL DIDNT DO THIS, THAT SOMEONE STOLE THE SUIT. AND SPENDING ALL NIGHT CHATTING WITH HER. <3 and val is a 9TH DEGREE BLACKBELT?? danny's mom is, too!! omg and she hunts ghosts, his parents would love her. and her fav fruit is kumquat bc its a funny word. im so with danny val is amazing. I love her and I Do Not Want To Hear It From Sam.

-I knew danny wanted to be an astronaut, but the bowling tidbit is like. yes give me more useless info abt these characters, I love tiny details that make them feel more human, and im glad hes got hobbies aside from ghost stuff, we dont really see a lot of that!!! (I mean, we knew 'fun' danny from when he split himself in half liked bowling, so obv it makes sense he LIKES it, but hes very GOOD at it. so proud of him, bowling king) val calling him neil armstrong and them teasing each other. LOVE THAT.

-technus you are my favorite grandpa for setting this up. SAM WHY ARE YOU BEING SO CREEPY BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FRIEND!!! STOP SPYING ON THEM!!! who actually cares if technus did 'set them up' together, theyre having fun and enjoy each others company!!! 'you think the universe wants you two to be together?' 'i dunno, but maybe /I/ do!' EXACTLY DANNY!!! SOO TRUE.

-and valerie being happy sam said she wants to try and be happy for them and make room at the lunch table for them. and hugging sam over it. VAL NEEDS MORE FRIENDS.

-VAL GOING AFTER TECHNUS IN HER SUIT WITH (1) MILK, AND (1) TREE BRANCH AND KEYS!!!. I LOVE YOUUUU BEST GIRL. her new suit kicks ass

-dannys like 'HEY IM AN ASTRONAUT :D' AW. ...HES IN SPACE... the fact he's actually intending to give her the ring. with SAMS NAME ON IT?? IM CRINGING DANNY NO. YOU CANT DO THAT...thank god he didnt. thank god valerie cut it off and said they can just stay friends for now. tbh, they both have a lot on their plates!! they obv both still like each other...it can be a future thing!! when she knows about phantom! youre 14 theres no need to rush. I just want her to have friends and be happy :(

-...danny struggles to do (1) pull up. SAME. but all the ghost fighting in phantom form REALLY doesnt carry over at ALL? that sucks

-sam being as fit as she is, is not just a goth. shes a goth jock.

-honey I Shrank Our Kid, One of his Enemies, and his Bully: the episode

-dash's crush on phantom is So Obvious. fitness buddies :) watching them interact always makes me laugh. also, phantom, with PANTS. 'how many costume changes you gonna go through, what is this, vegas??' DASSH DJKSFHASKDF

-MADDIE GOING AFTER THE MOUSE WITH A BROOM, WHAT THE FUCK. AAAH. JUST BUY SOME KIND OF MOUSE TRAP.

-danny likes lime and vinegar chips. which sound very good.

-'our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president!' ...poor danny LMAO

-'what's wrong with beauty pageants' oh tucker you sweet naïve child. what ISNT wrong with them. who approved this for a high school?? (I mean, yes. unfortunately child pageants exist, but...) also danny and tucker once again treating the pretty girls like objects. I need to meet the grown man who wrote this, I just want to talk...

-prince aragon's dragon form reminds me of maleficent (color scheme wise) which is always a bonus. considering the episode is called beauty marked, I feel like the sleeping beauty references are deliberate

-sam with the fake fangs. once again her accessories never miss. hate the 'not like other girls, girls who get sucked into this kind of thing are all shallow and all want to be carbon copies' bs tho.

-sam trying to be the Worst Bride, being rude as shit. DORA IS GOING TO GET KILLED. DID YOU MISS THE PART WHERE SHE SAID THE PRINCE WILL HAVE HER HEAD IF YOU ARENT THE IDEAL BRIDE. YOU /KNOW/ DANNY WILL COME SAVE YOU. JUST ACT CHILL UNTIL THEN. even if you were doing fine to get him to take off the crown, consider maybe not letting his poor sister get punished also?? sure, she could also take off the crown and has dragon powers, but did you know that for sure?? dora didnt even really realize it until you guys talked!! (or at least, she was scared to stand up to him. you had no guarantee she would...) but. good for dora. ANOTHER friendly ghost to add to the List :)

-tucker is so under appreciated in his time. if he was doing a tech-based campaign today he'd have a better shot. people in 2004 had NO IDEA how much tech would be a part of our day-to-day lives...altho. tbh if you're going to be running for student council president, maybe you should..focus on things to actually improve the school? since he's going for a tech angle, he could say like, he would be running fundraisers for the schools computers to be upgraded, etc? we've already SEEN he can be good at money-making entrepreneur type stuff!!

-oh my god wait. this episode is JUST YUGIOH?????! A REBORN PHAROH USING A TEENAGER AS A VESSEL?? YESSSSSS

-tucker using his new minion to feed him grapes and carry him. AND LOCUSTS ONTO THE BULLIES. I love how when he's possessed, he gains winged eyeliner.

-this episode is giving me big 'plankton makes everyone in bikini bottom his slaves and build monuments of him from the spongebob movie' vibes. and the pharaoh has a traitor who works for him? VERY big yugioh vibes. aknadin confirmed

-I like that danny is still completely exhausted after using ghostly wail. (still patiently waiting on him to get duplication)

-LOVE the fenton's 80s outfits. I get hes 14 and embarrassed by everything they do because theyre his parents, but. cmon, this is one objectively cool thing theyve done. love 80s fashion.

-...was vlad just standing on that streetlight waiting for danny to come out? how'd he know they'd be coming out the back? how long has he been up there???

-oh, wait, his ecto-acne has flareups? that SUCKS. danny was...well I dont want to say he was LUCKY HE HALF-DIED, but he was lucky his was pretty instant (I'm assuming that had to do with the power/scale of the portals being different?) I remember in the ep we met him, vlad made a point of saying he was stuck in a hospital for a long time, so. that really actually sucks and I feel bad. not that it excuses anything he's done...but like. it does suck.

-vlad being so sure danny wouldnt help him he made it somehow contagious to his friends to make sure he'd get help? danny is a nice boy, he wouldve helped if it was anyone else. the only reason he wouldn't have is because of the shit vlad did to him, on purpose. vlad 100% dug his own grave by being the biggest asshole, so it is very hard to feel bad for him.

-clockwork is back!!! and making danny learn lessons The Hard Way. Uhhh, okay. I kind of get Danny’s logic, that time traveling this far back would prevent vlad from becoming a halfa also, ergo no arch nemesis or ectoacne to worry about. But the fact that was basically the first solution Danny came up with to solve this problem is actually so funny. It’s so extreme

-APPRICIATION FOR THESE 80S LESBIAN BG CHARACTERS.

-vlad telling maddie in the lab (in the 80s) he has something he's wanted to tell her 'for a long time'...how long have they known each other? I assumed they met in college, since jack always calls vlad his college buddy/roommate, so jack and vlad for sure met in college, but did vlad know maddie longer? thats surprising if so. Tho we don’t know what year of college they’re in so they could mean they met as freshmen and a few years have past…speaking of maddie shes crushing the 80s look.

-vlad blames jack, but. maybe dont stick your face 2 inches from the portal??! THIS FEELS LIKE LAB SAFETY BASICS. IF SOMETHING HAS POTENTIAL TO BE DANGEROUS, DONT GET NEAR IT. WITH YOUR FACE UNPROTECTED IN ANY WAY. (altho jack didnt really give a Big Warning besides screaming BONZAI. so. also that, but cmon.) also, they need gloves, goggles, and to pull all of their hair back tbh. but fuck lab safety, I guess!

-cryyyyinnng at how lazy they were with jack's ghost form design, its just plasmius' design on jack!!! you couldve given him his own design!!

-there. I did that in about 10 minutes and its somehow less lazy than what made it into the show. embarrassing! better yet, I think the episode would've been better if maddie would've gotten the ectoacne. or maybe its just me, wanting to see her design! anyway. I'm sure people have already done redesigns of them both as halfas. I have to go look after I finish this watch through. Also mildly frustrated jacks resentment and bitterness is basically also a copy paste of vlads backstory. They’re different characters, I really don’t think jack would stew in bitterness and jealousy the same way vlad would!! I also don’t think he’d give up after one time of trying to hunt ghosts and getting laughed at. Our canon timeline says different…I dunno, I get it was for laughs, but I’m annoyed because the POTENTIAL this plot has…

-did vlad really wear a stupid cheese hat to his wedding. ok actually that kinda rules. and the cheese door knocker. the dairy-only buffet table. vlad still got rich, just on being the New Dairy King. (Assuming that means he owns a lot of dairy businesses?) ok! this actually is great. hope maddie isn't lactose intolerant!

-'no matter how hard I tried, I could never get rid of my ghost half, the half I knew Maddie could never accept' ohh, ouch, what a horrible thing to say to her HALF GHOST SON. 'YOUR MOM WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU' BASICALLY.

-maddie strapping danny to the table with a lazer pointed at him in a secret lab she keeps from vlad that she makes a point of saying is sound proof so he can scream all he wants...CHRIST. DANNYS POOR PYSCHE.

-also, not to feel bad for alternate vlad (because, he did lie to maddie saying jack blames her and never wants to see her again...) but. being married to a woman 20+ years and she immediately goes back to jack? if she didnt love vlad and feels like she had to hide shit from him, and says she wasted her best years with him, WHY MARRY HIM. it feels like leading him on!!! cannot believe im feeling bad for vlad, but. this alternate timeline vlad is significantly Less Horrible than Our Vlad. did she not think she'd get funding for her ghost stuff? (which, fair assumption since they're considered 'ghost fanatics/nuts in canon...but...) why did she think jack or vlad would be her ONLY OPTIONS? be like your sister. be single. Actually, this au could’ve been really interesting if after the accident, vlad lied to her and said jack never wanted to see her again, but she stays single. Imagine how much that would bug vlad… like, in her mind, it was never a competition it was jack or no one type situation…

-danny being like 'leave him ALONE' this jack is a HOMEWRECKER, DANNY. let them go to court and settle this at the least. ...or just throw vlad into the portal. (100% human, defenseless vlad) CHRIST, MADDIE THATS BRUTAL. THATS MURDER.

-danny seeing his mom immediately accepting him and his dad being half ghosts in this universe, if I was him this would be a great sign that his universe's maddie would also.

-*maddie voice* "clockwork will help!" *2 seconds later, with clockwork* "I will Not Help." TOUGH LOVE KING. YES LET DANNY SEE THE SODA HIMSELF AND DEVOLP BETTER OBSERVATION SKILLS.

-when clockwork ""reset time to the way it was"" just before danny "meddled"" ...did he really erase a whole alternate timeline? ...damn. because maddie and danny both called it an alternate timeline by name, it splitting when the college incident went different, so it wouldnt have really mattered if he reset it, right. like because danny's timeline is on a different stream? why didnt clockwork just. show danny a replay and not Reset That Timeline. wh...I wonder how many people that Erased From Existence. Anyway! once again stating clockwork is casually terrifying!

[villainever]

Killing Eve + making worlds and workplaces for women

killing eve very frequently – and obviously quite rightly – gets discussed as a feminist screen text, but i feel like we often talk about the individual characters, how fantastic they clearly are, and how flawed/developed/multifacted/interesting they’ve grown to be. but another thing killing eve does phenomenally well is subvert power structures and institutions, and populate them with women in a way we rarely see. for example, in season 1, eve’s MI5 office is unusually gender-balanced for television (it’s her, elena, bill and frank), and when carolyn is introduced, she’s immediately painted as almost an urban legend – elena raves about how incredible she is and how much she’d love to work with her, and we’re positioned to view her with intrigue and awe. this “mysterious, unreadable, probably damaged but definitely utterly competent and slightly amoral” character would typically go to a man – probably a slightly misogynistic one who’d gradually form a “grudging respect” for the women on his new team, as the women act as a device to coax him into the New Modern World and soothe his trauma. but carolyn gives this archetype an internal makeover and new vitality, and neatly sidesteps stereotyping: she’s not a “bitchy boss”; she never yells, or insults; she’s at times eerily calm, and methodically works her way through problems. this is especially poignant when we think of male characters who rail against female leaders for being “too emotional”, and proceed to spend half the movie throwing tamper-tantrums. at the same time, though, she doesn’t feel emotionless to prove a point, or simply to be the stoic; we get a very real sense of her pragmatism and cold war-conditioning, and the interlocking mechanisms of her many layers. carolyn’s character (both her writing and shaw’s acting) are totally genius, but the main point im trying to raise here is that the parts of Mentor and Career Aspiration are inhabited by a woman, and 60yo woman going full-speed at that – not someone who’s barely 39 but treated as basically a retiree.

next, we’ve got carolyn’s boss, played by zoe wanamaker in 2x04. yes, she’s not in the show for long – although she may make a reappearance? not sure – but her value is more symbolic than anything. in her scene, we get the impression of her power (she gets to make carolyn wait :o), and while she’s also a severe older woman, she’s very much distinct from carolyn in personality, which is pretty unique; often, writers will prescribe bulk-identities to all their minor characters who fall into certain groups, out of a mix of laziness and ignorance. anyway, wanamaker’s helen is shown eating (another rant-worthy point is how the frequency and ease with which killing eve’s women are portrayed as actually eating food is tragically radical), and she lashes out at carolyn before soothing herself easily once again – she’s capricious and less reserved and measured than carolyn, but equally potent. we also get a strong vibe of a long and complex working relationship between these two, effortlessly implied by the writing and performance and even if we never double-back to it, it colours how we view carolyn and the system that i’ll (eventually) get around to making my argument about.

lastly, there’s julie, who plays the medical examiner in 2x01, and conducts the exhumation autopsy on allistair peel. she comes across as professional, capable, no-nonsense, but also warm and gallows-funny, hugging carolyn and sympathetic to eve’s slightly strange reaction to the corpse. like helen, she’s not in the show long, but it’s more her relevance as a symbol i want to discuss.

so what am i getting to by going on about carolyn and these relatively minor characters? well, i want to talk about how killing eve establishes for itself something of an ‘old girls’ club’. an ‘old boys’ club’ is the network of connections that form between (generally upperclass) men who went to the same schools or worked in the same companies, who get each other opportunities in a pay-it-forward kind of way throughout life; it’s one of the many ways that sites of privilege are maintained as sites of privilege. but with these older female characters, who all know and support each other, give each other second chances or off-the-books help, killing eve constructs its own version. through these interactions, we have the sense that carolyn is a part of a group of women across the government who ensure certain things happen at certain times for certain people.

even outside this senior boss ladies network, we have elena, eve and jess,  who support and challenge and contradict each other – all successful women with different skillsets, trajectories, relationships, etc., and none of whom are white. not only does this show pass the bechdel test in under three minutes, but that conversation is between two women of colour. one of the many things i love about killing eve is that while it acknowledges (and even leverages) the disadvantages that marginalised groups face – e.g. villanelle is able to exploit conforming to the western ideals of femininity to lure men into a false sense of security; the ghost is able to pass through places unnoticed, etc. – it never makes that the core of the narrative. it isn’t focused on reinforcing these systemic barriers over and over, which is something a lot of shows do when they’re trying to be progressive, and all they end up doing is reminding us of the setbacks we face and how it’ll be a long, arduous struggle to improve things. instead, killing eve gives a nod to this sexist, racist, homophobic reality, but sidelines it, the way minorities are so often sidelined. rather than make all eve’s bosses and colleagues men “for the realism”, it throws a few male characters in there and then focuses on the women (look how much screentime kenny and hugo get compared to jess, another first-tier secondary character). it reimagines the chain of command as belonging to women, it takes power and allocates it how it sees fit. i adore this, because if someone said to the writers, “umm… i feel like there should be more men in charge… that’s just how it is…”, their response would probably be, “so what?” it wants to spend time with complex women in complex situations, so it just puts them there; there’s no spinning of the wheels to justify how so many women got to these high-ranking jobs in an institution designed to keep them in the lobby. it certainly never pretends women don’t have to cater to men and their sensibilities (take carolyn comforting frank in season 1), but it doesn’t get caught in ‘liberal’-dude-writer “look at these (skinny/pretty/fantasy-fulfillment) women push through the system and affect change from behind the scenes by showing their cleavage to *trick* men into doing what they want ;) girlpower, ladies”. it lets women BE the scene, unapologetically, without feeling pressed to explain or defend or negotiate by stuffing an equal number of male characters in. we get konstantin and aaron peel and various ambassadors or clerks who are men, but these are all characters on the outside looking in. killing eve isn’t arranging women as spaced out and in competition with each other; aside from villanelle, they’re all on the same side (and villanelle’s temporarily teamed up with them anyway), and they work together, while still being allowed internal tensions and clear relationships. i originally just intended to talk about how killing eve built us an old girls’ club, but i had More Thoughts, so that’s why this essay doesn’t stay totally on-thesis from here on, even though it is all about women and their positions in the narrative/workplace. another note – these women, for the most part, aren’t there to be love interests. we obviously have eve/villanelle, but they both have their own fully-developed characters, plus, their love interests are each other, not men. we have carolyn, but her affairs don’t control her storyline; they flit in and out, and are of far more signifiance to the men than to her – she’s an older woman who controls her sexuality, but doesn’t have any interest in letting it overtake her work (and we don’t have that ridiculous “uptight bitch learns to put relationship with basic bro above her lifelong career dream”). we have gemma, but while her narrative function is to give niko a final straw to leave, and to push eve further, she has agency in her arc; SHE is the one who pursues niko, and she does this in a respectable and understandable way. she’s not the “sexy temptress” who “lures” him away, and nor is she an “innocent” that he actively chases. 

also, NONE of the women have their qualifications questioned. there is no “is carolyn experienced enough to have so much free reign?”, no “how did eve get to MI5?”. the way we’re always told to with male characters, the show expects us to accept that they’re fit for their roles. this is highlighted when eve kind of stumbles into being an authority on female assassins. she doesn’t have a phd in psych or anything, but she clearly has an affinity in her area, and she VERY quickly learns to own that. the first time carolyn calls her their resident expert, eve is a bit surprised, but then she’s just like, “huh, guess i am”, and runs with that confidence. these women are all tough, but they don’t have to dig out their own spaces. theyve got them, and the audience isn’t gently directed into wondering whether they actually should. we KNOW they should. unsurprisingly, considering much of killing eve is written/overseen by women, but this isn’t done for Woke Points. there’s no constant self-conscious grandstanding about how many women are in the series. the actors and writers talk about it in press, because theyre EXCITED, theyre THRILLED to finally have this, but that comes from a genuine place of joy to be involved in such a project, rather than a hapless grab for viewers. the female characters aren’t half-baked stocking-stuffers to net the 18-35W. theyre Actual Characters. bottom line is, isn’t it so nice? isn’t it so lovely to be watching something, and have women be in the foreground AND the background? to not have to smurfette effect, the “one of the main characters is a girl, can’t you just shut up now? smh so greedy”? to have minor female characters not as sexy set-dressing or rivals or “ew she’s ugly here’s what we don’t want our protagonist to be hahah amirite lads”? we get to see ourselves over and over, in so many different iterations. killing eve’s women aren’t just “empowered”, they HAVE POWER. they are in positions where they can use that power for good or bad or both, but they have sway and influence and we don’t have to watch a 22yo ingenue assimilate to a 98% male workplace. female characters in killing eve are REAL and PRESENT and we have an entire textured world that isn’t just modern, it’s extra-modern. we have our cake and eat it too: there are women throughout the workplace hierarchy but we still get a critique of how men manipulate the game, and both are managed expertly to ensure we get the social commentary AND get to enjoy the experience of watching women be intelligent and morally grey and sophisticated and manipulative and and AND. in conclusion, i will no longer be accepting applications from media that doesn’t have women in their cast because it “isnt realistic”. killing eve is tearing it up out there, and it’s almost overwhelmingly relieving to get to experience media like this.

*btw, im not trying to imply there are no women actually working at MI5. im sure there are many, but this is more a commentary on media interpretations (james bond, etc.), and the male dominated government landscape in general. 

[oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch]

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Movie Review

It’s been 5 years since our screens were last graced with the presences of Hiccup and Toothless, the dynamic and impossible not to love duo of the How to Train Your Dragon films. At the end of How to Train Your Dragon 2, audiences were left off seeing Toothless taking position as the alpha of the dragons, and Hiccup accepting the call to be chief of Berk, as his father had wished him to be. With the beginning of The Hidden World, Berk has become the world’s first-ever dragon-Viking utopia, and Hiccup and friends conduct raids on armadas of ships, freeing all manner of dragons from captivity all across the world. But with the presence of a new night fury dragon, as well as a new enemy called Grimmel, Berk is once again in danger, the relationship at this series’ center is tested, and both Hiccup and Toothless must learn that eventually, some things must come to an end, as we learn to let go.

I’ve talked ad nauseum about the How to Train Your Dragon movies and what they mean to be both as a film lover and as a visual storytelling junkie, and I will continue to talk about them until the day I die. The first film is my favorite animated movie of all time (and rightfully so) with a brilliant script, astounding animation (especially for its time), one of the greatest animated film scores of all time, and a narrative that’s both sharply plotted and perfectly paced. The second HTTYD movie followed that up with a story that was more mature, if not quite as naturalistic in its dialogue and pacing, with animation that had advanced during that four-year wait to the height of its capabilities. The Hidden World, then, aims to be that rare trilogy capper that takes the series out on a high note, and for the most part, it does. I just wish the rest of the film, the stuff that wasn’t part of the finale, held up as well as the finale (and the other two movies) did.

See, I did like this film, but I wanted to love it. The adventures of Hiccup and Toothless are some of my favorites of all time, and while with that legacy comes (understandably) a lot of weight that may be difficult to hold, I’ve seen this series hold that weight before with ease. Those first two films have some of the most perfect pacing in any animated features, so the fact that the first two acts of this one are actually kind of dull apart from a handful of moments shared between the light fury and Toothless, as well as a barely 5 minute segment within the title location, is disappointing regardless of how well-animated the action and lighting is. Your mileage may vary on that front, but for me, things just seemed a little bit off what with the intro not including the usual title theme, or “this is berk” introduction by Hiccup until about 6 or 8 minutes in. Those two elements are not necessarily huge missteps for the film, but Dragon devotees like myself will notice their absence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from one to endorse pure fan-service as replacement or non-tertiary strengthener for narrative storytelling, but The Hidden World doesn’t quite have as many callbacks to the first or second films as it probably should when considering it’s meant to be the closer to a trilogy nearly ten years running.  

In addition to this, whole swaths of the movie go by where not much actually happens at a plot level. Yes, the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless is tested, and Hiccup’s role as chief is challenged somewhat, but both of these things barely have any effect on the overall narrative as it stands. The large driving force of the plot is that Grimmel presents such a huge threat to Berk that they’ll have to relocate, and maybe the dragons will have to relocate too, but the threat he’s meant to represent honestly isn’t all that compelling. Grimmel’s character is not only under-written, but generically so, and doesn’t have anything quite as affecting to him on a character level as Drago being a fellow disabled person because of dragons in the second film. The script tries to do something with him that parallels a real-world anti-immigration allegory, but while the effort is notable, it ultimately feels underwritten, like they introduced the idea, but then didn’t really know where to go with it, and so it just fades into the background.

In fact, this movie has a character development issue that was bothering me for most of its runtime. Hiccup grows and learns something, but virtually no one else does. No one except Hiccup changes at all from the beginning to the end of the film, and while that’s all well and good that he undergoes a transformation (albeit only in one spoiler-ish respect) this time around, one of the greatest strengths of these movies is that most of the supporting characters change along with him, learning their own lessons along the way. The supporting characters in this movie, though, are relegated to small roles usually designed to deliver a low-level joke one too many times or scout something or tell Hiccup he’s better than his self-doubt. They’re no longer characters in their own right; they’re crutches by which to tell the story (apart from a couple of sweet Stoick flashback scenes) and move the plot along, which is sad considering how richly detailed they’ve been in the last two installments.

There is enough to like about the film, however, that despite being kind of let down by it overall, I still had a good time watching it play out. The animal courtship between the light fury and Toothless is one of the strongest aspects of the movie, and plays out in often simultaneously hilarious and adorable fashion. There are some new things she teaches him that come in very handy during the film’s thrilling (if a bit generic) final sequence, and the results are truly marvelous to behold. While she remains unnamed for the entirety of the film, she will be one of the characters audiences walk away remembering the most. The movie is also fantastically animated, and while The Hidden World plays it pretty safe in terms of shot selection (seriously, where did all the rest of the wide shots and flying intensity go?), what’s up on screen is incredibly detailed and looks gorgeous in its coloration and lighting design, particularly in that 5 minute title sequence. The hidden dragon world is a stunning piece of animation that will go down as one of the greatest ever committed to film. It may feel a bit strange to say that about an animated feature, but if you’ve seen the other two films, you know I don’t exaggerate. Some reviews are also touting John Powell’s score as a major strength, and while it does feel weaker than the other two overall (and doesn’t really enhance the film much), I can almost tell what they mean when listening to it on its own.

The Hidden World’s greatest strength, though, is its finale. Sure, the first two acts may be a bit dull and underdeveloped, but once this movie decides to turn on the emotional gauge, it dials it up to 100 and never looks back. Despite feeling like the overall movie wasn’t quite as good as the first two, this finale is by far the best since the original. Writer and director Dean DeBlois has gone on record several times as saying he never wanted to make anything more than a trilogy for this series, and for that level of integrity, I respect him immensely. Film trilogies are quite rare in this modern, franchise-crazed movie landscape, and to get a finale that makes it so hard to say goodbye to these characters and this world despite its gradually diluting quality, is something truly special and remarkable. (Yes, I was absolutely in tears by the end, and you will be too.)

Overall, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a heartfelt and sincere, but somewhat flawed finale to what remains a great motion picture trilogy. While I found the supporting cast underwritten and the villain uncompelling, I still had fun watching the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless be tested, and seeing where the characters ended up. The first two acts are really just fine (if not super affecting), and it may be the weakest of all three so far, but this trilogy conclusion also has some of the best moments of the whole overall set, not the least of which is its grippingly emotional finale.

I have loved getting to watch these movies over the past 9 years. I have loved growing with them and re-watching them in anticipation of each entry. I have loved taking this journey which has brought me such joy, laughter, and at times, wonderful sorrow. It is bittersweet for me to say goodbye. Farewell, citizens and dragons of Berk. It has been an honor watching you.

I’m giving “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” a 7.8/10.

[nancywheelxr]

Winn wakes up in the DEO.

Or at least, it looks like the DEO- it’s so cold, to begin with, and it was never warm in the first place. And when he walks up the stairs to take a look out of the balcony, there’s nothing to look at, and everything’s just a little too… shimmery? Shiny, maybe, or glossy- it doesn’t look real. It’s kind of blurred at the edges, too, like a filter was placed over it, or maybe the filter is over his own vision.

But as much as he rubs at his eyes, it doesn’t go away, and though that on its own is concerning, the worst part is that there’s nobody else there. The place is completely empty, though all the electronics are intact- but there’s no J’onn, or Kara, or Alex, or even the agents who’ve helped him that he always thought quietly resented him just for being there. Not even the Legion is present, there’s no Mon-El, or Imra, or Brainy…

Their absences leave a gaping hole of loneliness inside him, that spreads through this whole place- he’s been away from it for too long, he wishes it were real but it isn’t and it won’t stop reminding him of that- and it certainly isn’t helped when he calls out, “Hello? Anyone home?” and his words just echo like he’s hearing his own shadow talking back to him.

Or his own ghost.

“Hello, Winslow.”

Speaking of ghosts…

“Dad.” Winn says, voice flat. It isn’t even a question, because that’s his father’s image, recreated flawlessly in this- well, Kara wanted to call it a mind-palace, but that term is far too nice for what he’s experiencing.

It’s his personal Bad Place, or as he’d first referred to it, his mind-prison- and there’s no better prison guard than the one he’d grown up knowing was behind bars.

Only a matter of time before you’re in a cage, too, he thinks, but he’s been caged since he woke up, and all he wants is for his father to get it over with and put him in one for real.

It would at least be preferable to this. To his father looking at him, staring and judging, as Winn sees nothing in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Winn asks. “I mean- how are you even here? You died in the 21st century, I saw your body- it exploded, your protégé carried out your last request and she got what she deserved too. Haven’t you tortured me and my family enough?”

“More like you have tortured mine.” Winslow Senior- or the being that looks like him- says. “I am your father, and all I wanted was to keep my family together. Especially you and I. And I was willing to do anything to make sure of that.”

“Yeah, I know!” Winn insists. “You were willing to send us both to prison, for that- and now we’re both here. In my mind- where I thought I was finally free of you.”

“This is your mind.” Winslow Senior says. “But you know you will never be rid of me. My genes are still within you- what was it you said, the gruesome way you described it- ah, yes. A ticking time bomb. And they have already gone off, you know. Your friends hate you, for what you did to them.”

“At least I didn’t murder anyone.”

“Not yet.”

“But perhaps you will- who knows, Winn, what the body is willing to do if it’s controlled? Especially by such sophisticated machines. It’s like pulling puppet strings, making it look so real- as if the Winn that your friends all know and love truly is the one destroying the Legion from the inside out.”

“I can stop it.” Winn says. “I’ll escape you somehow-“

He looks around the room, trying to will himself away… trying to imagine something, some kind of key to a door he can’t see yet. Kara didn’t go too into depth about her own experiences, but he knows that Brainy helped her realize what was really important to her. Who she really was, despite what had happened to her and what had caused that.

Winn wishes Brainy was here now, despite how he knows he’d probably be far less helpful for him than he was for Kara. He could tell, from their first meeting, that Brainy had a crush on Kara- even though Brainy probably didn’t know that word himself- and though they’d become friendlier to each other over time, he and Winn still hadn’t been on the best of terms. They hadn’t even really talked one-on-one, before switching places, but if he had to admit it, he hoped he was doing okay, and that Brainy thought the same of him.

How disappointed he would be, if or when he found out the truth…

But the point was that Brainy already had helped him. Before, just by showing him his own design, he’d given Winn the confidence to do what he had always been ready for, what he’d been doing long before the Legion came along.

What he had done, in fact, at another DEO base, with another Brainiac, a month and a half after his father broke out of prison.

“I will escape you- Brainiac.”

He can’t deny it. It’s the only explanation, Brainiac’s been messing with his head- no better way to stop a threat to your plans than attack its mastermind, right?- and he’s only mad that he didn’t figure it out sooner.

Because wasn’t he trying to do the same thing, really? Wasn’t he working on figuring out a way to get at Brainiac himself, get into his head and shut him down just like Indigo?

Were he and Brainiac really any different?

“I know everything about you, you know.” Brainiac says, in his father’s voice- but it sounds deeper now, almost ancient. His eyes are surrounded by shadows, like he’s been punched, and dark veins stand out on his neck. When Winn looks him in the eyes, they’ve gone completely black, and he could swear he’s slowly turning blue- although maybe that’s just the lighting.

Or he’s still going crazy, even inside his own mind. It’s hard to tell.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“You have constantly been underestimated, but you were far more of a threat than even I foresaw.” Brainiac answers. “Capable of far more- for a human, of course.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“I am aware.” Brainiac continues. “But people underestimated your father, as well- they expected much from him, took advantage of him, and when he got justice for himself, they didn’t understand. Did you not feel underestimated, when you worked at this very place? When you told them you were moving on, did they not try to convince you to stay?”

“I guess so, but they did that because they were gonna miss me.” Winn says.

“You are lying to yourself.” Brainiac says. “They do not care about you- only your work. And when they save the day, do they ever thank you? Do they give you credit, for what you’ve done?”

“…”

“You deserve justice.” Brainiac answers. “You should make them see what kind of person you really are.”

“I’m not like my father.” Winn says. “That’s what you’re implying, isn’t it? Well, it isn’t working. I know who I am, and I know I’m capable- but that comes from me. Not him. And I certainly don’t need you to remind me of that.”

Brainiac glares at him.

“You will not stop me.” He says. “I am prepared for anything you might do- and unlike you, I am not afraid of my enemy.”

“Does this look afraid to you?” Winn asks, raising his hand. He wills it to be sharp, to do what he hopes it will.

Then, he plunges it into Brainiac’s head.

[jonathanbelloblog]

Adios, C7: The Mid-Engine Corvette Can’t Come Fast Enough

The stench of fiberglass resin brought to mind being in a bass boat, and the C7 Corvette Grand Sport I was driving was tramlining so aggressively on the rutted roads outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, that I thought I might get punted into the trees before I ever made it to Grattan Raceway. Sure, I was enjoying the sounds coming from the 6.2-liter V-8, but as I looked around the Corvette’s ergonomically funky and cheap-feeling cabin, all I could think was that the upcoming mid-engine C8 model can’t come soon enough.

I was heading to a track day organized by a friend, and when I arrived at the 2.0-mile winding circuit, the paddock was packed with cars and enthusiastic drivers. As seems to be the norm at most track days—at least around here—Corvettes and various Porsches dominated the field. Several Corvette owners asked me how I liked the GS, and, well, I cannot tell a lie. They looked at me like I’d just kicked their firstborn, and most couldn’t begin to understand where I was coming from. They loved their Corvettes and couldn’t figure out why anyone would buy anything but a Corvette.

And you know what? Running the wheels off the GS at Grattan reminded me they may have a point, and the Corvette is certainly not all doom and gloom. The 460-hp Chevy performed brilliantly around the challenging Grattan road course, and that’s without the track-focused Z07 and aero package. As such, it wasn’t wearing carbon-ceramic brakes or sticky, barely street-legal tires. But the standard Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber held up extremely well to hard use and the steel brakes did fine as long as you respected them (this particular GS was running racing brake fluid, as recommended by Chevy). Even in the least-inhibiting Performance Traction Management (PTM) mode 5—or one notch further, with all stability systems off—the Corvette was a completely controllable and docile. Yet it was still very fast and totally rewarding to push hard lap after lap. Clearly, GM knows what they’re doing when it comes to setting a car up for the track. It’s impressive.

But that positive experience at the track doesn’t make the outgoing C7 Corvette a car I’d recommend unless price-to-performance ratio is your number-one focus. We can’t live at the track each and every day, and my time in the more powerful Corvette ZR1 late last year reminded me that the Stingray Z51 or the Grand Sport are the Goldilocks models of the range. The extra power in the Z06 and ZR1 simply overwhelms and dilutes the goodness in the rest of the package and shows the limitations of the aging chassis. Contrary to the views of many car enthusiasts, more power doesn’t always make a car better. The top-spec Corvette only proves that truth. As in the GS, all I thought about as I drove the ZR1 was the mid-engine Corvette.

So what do I want that clean-sheet C8 Corvette to be? First and foremost, it needs to have the same fantastically friendly on-track personality. And hopefully GM engineers have spent a boatload of time in cars like the Porsche Cayman to get an idea of what the best mid-engine sports cars feel like and how they fundamentally handle. (Hopefully they ignored the four-cylinder engine, though.)

But I don’t want Chevy to simply copy Porsche. A Corvette must be properly American—more aggressive and extroverted than the Cayman. I want it to have a raw, muscular feel, with a loud, brash engine that features gobs of low-end torque. Smoky burnouts should be easy and approachable. And I’m hopeful for major advancements in rolling refinement and ride characteristics—not to mention interior design and quality—compared to the current Corvette.

It’s no secret that traditional Corvette buyers are aging. GM needs to use the C8 to wave goodbye to the Russian doll repetitiveness of the past several Corvette generations of the long-serving two-seater. Sure, some changes with the C8 will piss off certain loyal customers—hello, engine placement!—but it probably makes sense for them to keep building the current C7 for that buyer, as is rumored. I want a proper world-class sports car from GM. We’ve waited far too long for that Corvette, despite what overexcited and overly positive cover stories from certain corners of the automotive media have been saying for decades. It’s important for American sports-car fans to judge and celebrate the home team without bias. And while the Corvette engineers are putting the final touches on the new model, let’s hope they’ve made sure to eliminate that foul fiberglass smell.

IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

Adios, C7: The Mid-Engine Corvette Can’t Come Fast Enough

The stench of fiberglass resin brought to mind being in a bass boat, and the C7 Corvette Grand Sport I was driving was tramlining so aggressively on the rutted roads outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, that I thought I might get punted into the trees before I ever made it to Grattan Raceway. Sure, I was enjoying the sounds coming from the 6.2-liter V-8, but as I looked around the Corvette’s ergonomically funky and cheap-feeling cabin, all I could think was that the upcoming mid-engine C8 model can’t come soon enough.

I was heading to a track day organized by a friend, and when I arrived at the 2.0-mile winding circuit, the paddock was packed with cars and enthusiastic drivers. As seems to be the norm at most track days—at least around here—Corvettes and various Porsches dominated the field. Several Corvette owners asked me how I liked the GS, and, well, I cannot tell a lie. They looked at me like I’d just kicked their firstborn, and most couldn’t begin to understand where I was coming from. They loved their Corvettes and couldn’t figure out why anyone would buy anything but a Corvette.

And you know what? Running the wheels off the GS at Grattan reminded me they may have a point, and the Corvette is certainly not all doom and gloom. The 460-hp Chevy performed brilliantly around the challenging Grattan road course, and that’s without the track-focused Z07 and aero package. As such, it wasn’t wearing carbon-ceramic brakes or sticky, barely street-legal tires. But the standard Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber held up extremely well to hard use and the steel brakes did fine as long as you respected them (this particular GS was running racing brake fluid, as recommended by Chevy). Even in the least-inhibiting Performance Traction Management (PTM) mode 5—or one notch further, with all stability systems off—the Corvette was a completely controllable and docile. Yet it was still very fast and totally rewarding to push hard lap after lap. Clearly, GM knows what they’re doing when it comes to setting a car up for the track. It’s impressive.

But that positive experience at the track doesn’t make the outgoing C7 Corvette a car I’d recommend unless price-to-performance ratio is your number-one focus. We can’t live at the track each and every day, and my time in the more powerful Corvette ZR1 late last year reminded me that the Stingray Z51 or the Grand Sport are the Goldilocks models of the range. The extra power in the Z06 and ZR1 simply overwhelms and dilutes the goodness in the rest of the package and shows the limitations of the aging chassis. Contrary to the views of many car enthusiasts, more power doesn’t always make a car better. The top-spec Corvette only proves that truth. As in the GS, all I thought about as I drove the ZR1 was the mid-engine Corvette.

So what do I want that clean-sheet C8 Corvette to be? First and foremost, it needs to have the same fantastically friendly on-track personality. And hopefully GM engineers have spent a boatload of time in cars like the Porsche Cayman to get an idea of what the best mid-engine sports cars feel like and how they fundamentally handle. (Hopefully they ignored the four-cylinder engine, though.)

But I don’t want Chevy to simply copy Porsche. A Corvette must be properly American—more aggressive and extroverted than the Cayman. I want it to have a raw, muscular feel, with a loud, brash engine that features gobs of low-end torque. Smoky burnouts should be easy and approachable. And I’m hopeful for major advancements in rolling refinement and ride characteristics—not to mention interior design and quality—compared to the current Corvette.

It’s no secret that traditional Corvette buyers are aging. GM needs to use the C8 to wave goodbye to the Russian doll repetitiveness of the past several Corvette generations of the long-serving two-seater. Sure, some changes with the C8 will piss off certain loyal customers—hello, engine placement!—but it probably makes sense for them to keep building the current C7 for that buyer, as is rumored. I want a proper world-class sports car from GM. We’ve waited far too long for that Corvette, despite what overexcited and overly positive cover stories from certain corners of the automotive media have been saying for decades. It’s important for American sports-car fans to judge and celebrate the home team without bias. And while the Corvette engineers are putting the final touches on the new model, let’s hope they’ve made sure to eliminate that foul fiberglass smell.

IFTTT