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artist-issues · 3 months

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Would love to know your thoughts on the Planet of the Apes series, or at least the newest movie!

This is so kind of you, to ask!

I started watching those movies before my formal education. And they're in that teeny little corner of my brain where I just like things, without having examined why I like them. In that teeny little corner, I have my critical thinking and movie analyzation turned off, and I just enjoy things like singing animals even if the movie is objectively bad (I'm looking at you Alpha & Omega 🫠) or Transformers. So yeah, Planet of the Apes falls in there.

I know. I just made a post about how important it is to train your tastes for good stories, and accept no junk food...and then the very next post was like "the future is meaningless but the monkey movie is now" ^^" Look there's a time and place for examining why you like things and I'm just saying I haven't gotten down the list to why I like the monkey movies yet!

Until now! Partly because you're asking, partly because watching the new one made me start to think about what I liked about the first three...because the new one hit me differently. So what I'm getting at is, I'll answer you, but I'm going to be "thinking out loud" and we'll find out what I think of those movies as I type, and it's going to be rambly. Sorry! (Skip to the bottom to read about the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.)

I Miss Caesar

My favorite character in these movies is actually Koba, but Caesar is the heart and soul of them.

There's nothing particularly unique about Caesar as a main character—he's a coming-of-age, great-leader-from-nothing Savior-type character. He doesn’t have many character flaws, he’s the idealist, etc.

But what makes you, the audience, love Caesar so much is that you get to see his story, and the whole driving hook of the movies—“apes with human intelligence”—embodied in him, from the very beginning.

Caesar has two really awesome things going for him. The first is that he is an ape, and you get to see his intelligence and his empathetic, human nature, grow in real-time. The audience is excited to see how he’ll respond to the simplest thing because he’s so believably a super-intelligent ape. You’re like, “ooo, he just noticed that he’s wearing a leash, and the dog is wearing a leash, so how will he respond to that comparison? Ooo, now he’s meeting other apes, is he going to notice that they aren’t as smart as him? Ooo, he just attacked a neighbor, but he’s smarter than the average animal on a rampage, so how will he feel about the moral repercussions of violence?” We want to watch an animal that’s becoming self-aware; it almost doesn’t matter what he’s doing, we’ll watch it, because that’s fascinating. That’s the first thing he has going for him.

But then the second thing he has going for him is that, even if he were human, he’s just a really inspiring, likeable character. If you rewrite Caesar as a human (but somehow keep the equivalent of “gradually becoming self-aware of his uniqueness as a creature” plot point) his story is still really compelling. Think about that scene where he learns what he is, for the first time, point-blank.

Once he learns who he is and what he is, he does not immediately turn bitter, or resent his adoptive father, or even try to change the status quo of his own life. He looks sad, and very contemplative about it, but when he loses his temper and gets taken to the ape sanctuary, he still wants to go back home. He wants to go back to living in an attic, with brief excursions to the woods on a leash. At that point he already knows, on some level, that he’s a super-intelligent freak of nature and could resent Will for making him that way or keeping him a secret. But he doesn’t.

He also shows mercy to Rocket, the bully ape, and makes him super-intelligent.

He also shows signs of being interested in Cornelia, his eventual wife—before she turns super-intelligent. While she’s still significantly stupider, on a whole lower plane of intelligence, than him.

They give him all these little touches, like the fact that he wants to play ball with the other apes immediately when he meets them, instead of being shy, or treating their naked stupid selves like they’re beneath him. Like the fact that he asks Will’s permission before he goes climbing. Like the fact that he gives them all super-human intelligence, instead of keeping that superpower for himself and leveraging it to his own advantage, or gatekeeping it for only the apes who are nice to him.

He’s awesome because he’s got all the protective, trusting, loving, humility of our favorite pets. But then he takes all those pure qualities and combines them with supernatural intelligence, and “noble leader of the pack” traits. So he feels like a wise king, even in the second movie, when, from our perspective, he should just be…a naked ape who talks in broken English and lives in a tree fort.

Probably the best character trait of Caesar’s is that he inherits this “family” mentality from his adoptive father, Will. He thinks that the difference between apes and humans is that apes are loyal and love one another, specifically “like a family.”

And what that means to Caesar is that you would do anything to keep your family safe. Because that’s what Will did. Will only made the serum that started this whole franchise because he was trying to cure his father of Alzheimer’s. Will was always willing to break rules and cheat the system and change the world if it meant he could keep his family safe, and that included Caesar, who was not his blood relation.

So to Caesar, being a family means you would never hurt the people in your family; you can’t hurt them yourself, and you can’t let anyone else hurt them—and you can’t do things that would lead to them getting hurt, like starting a war.

And that’s just really appealing. A noble leader whose whole heart is “family,” but also, he’s this really interesting animal-that-learns-human-empathy.

I was going to talk about Koba, but this is too long, so maybe in another post. Suffice to say, I think the first two movies do a really good job of pacing everything, so that you have plenty of time to fall in love with Caesar, feel like you’ve watched him discover who he is and decide what to do with that in real-time, and then feel fully invested in the world he’s trying to build.

Basically what I’m saying is, I think I just really love Caesar, and so does everyone else who watches him, because he’s really well-done. And Andy Serkis smashes this role out of the park. It’s like my favorite thing he’s ever done. He does it perfectly. And in the fourth movie, I just go into it…already missing Caesar.

War For the Planet of the Apes

I didn’t like this movie as much as the first two. The first two I’ve seen over and over again. But the third one is not as enjoyable.

I think I don’t enjoy it because a lot of it feels like gratuitous misery. I mean, I understand—traditionally, in an epic-scale trilogy, you develop your main characters over the course of the first two movies. They learn who they are, they commit to a mission statement born out of the lessons they’ve learned, and then, in the third movie, that lesson learned gets tested with the “ultimate challenge.”

Well, so, Caesar learned he was the leader of basically a naive species and the founder of a new world—and the lesson he took from that was, “to keep my family safe, I must protect them from hate.” (I know that’s broad, but what I mean by that is, Caesar initially took the apes to the woods when they were “reborn” as their own species to hide them from humans, who would fear and hate what they couldn’t understand. But then he had to protect them from a new form of hatred; the hatred of Koba, and other apes like him, who hated humans so much and hated anyone else being in power so much that he was willing to hurt “family” to satisfy that hatred.

So what’s the ultimate test of “to keep my family safe, I must protect them from hate?” Giving Caesar hate. Caesar is not a hateful character. He’s like the total opposite of that—that’s why he can single-handedly defend the ape species from Hate in general.

But you murder his wife and child in the first part of the movie?

That’ll do it!

Plus, it’s been a long, hard fight and nothing he has done since the “war” against “hate” started seems to be working, so he’s understandably tired even before Blue Eyes and Cornelia die. Then they die. And then the rest of the tribe gets nabbed. And Caesar is ready to focus all his energy on revenge, just like Koba.

So yeah, that’s the correct “ultimate test” of everything Caesar has learned as a character, to put him through in this trilogy. But honestly, it was just too sad to enjoy watching.

And remember how I said that the two things Caesar has going for him as a character that make the movies (which are all about him) so enjoyable are:

He’s a well-written, inspiring character outside of being an ape (we just talked about that side of the 3rd movie, how it’s the conclusion to that character.)

The movies are well-paced so that you’re fascinated by watching an animal become increasingly human-like and empathetic, without losing the best parts of a noble/niave/animal nature

Well. The problem is that, because of the way these movies go, the apes have to become less animal as the story goes on. The whole point is that they’re as smart as humans now. So they’ll make human-like mistakes, and start to come to some of the same “conclusions” as “early man” did.

What I’m saying boils down to, they stop acting so much like believable apes in War for the Planet of the Apes. They talk out loud more often than they pantomime or speak through obvious body language. Heck, Caesar has full on monologues or confrontations with the human villain, the Colonel, in the third movie.

What made his interactions with humans before so appealing to watch was that he would still act like an ape. When he wants the humans to drive him to his old home, he just lays in the back of the car and grunts and taps the window when they’re getting close to make them stop, without explaining himself. Like your dog might, straining at his leash toward home when he wants to be done walking. But we, the audience, like that sort of thing because with Caesar, we know there’s human levels of understanding behind all the appealing animal actions that make us think of our pets.

It’s that sweet savage naivety. It’s that fascinating simplicity meeting human wonder. You like watching Malcolm try to explain why they need to get the generators on, while Caesar just silently looks back and forth from him to the machines, because it’s fun to try and figure out what’s going on in his head. It’s fun to watch how the animal with superhuman intelligence will communicate that he sort of understands what the stranger wants. It’s also fun to see how the new species of superhuman apes will still act like animals with each other.

The whole fact that, even though they’re just as smart and technically non-savage, mentally, as we are, but there’s still a part of the apes that will just follow Koba if he beats Caesar in a fistfight, is fascinating. The fact that Caesar is the most “evolved” of the apes, mentally and emotionally, but when Koba challenges his leadership or insults his love for his family, Caesar will just straight-up start ripping him to pieces with his fists, is fascinating. You keep watching to see what an anthropomorphized animal really looks like, because they make that part so believable.

But in War for the Planet of the Apes, the Apes don’t have that contrast as much. You’re not getting to see civilized, fully-realized human characters share you, the audience’s, fascination with apes who are still figuring out what it means to be empathetic. You’re not watching anthropomorphized animals anymore as much as you’re watching…hairy, superstrong humans. Which brings us toooo…

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Sorry it took so long to get to the part you asked me about 😅

They’re just hairy, superstrong humans in this movie. That’s all. They’re very clearly super-humanly intelligent, they walk less like apes and swing through trees almost not-at-all after the first climbing part of the movie. They talk out loud (even though sign language wasn’t completely abandoned, which I appreciated) even when they’re just talking to themselves. They look more human, in the face. It’s just a joy to watch Koba, and in this movie, Proximus, even though they’re bad guys, because those two characters have the most animal-like faces. So you love to watch their snarly, long snouts and teeth speak human words, in ape-tones.

But the main ape characters all have human-like faces. Too human-like. They look uncanny-valley-y in some shots. (Except Anaya, who I liked best out of the new main three apes.)

And like I said, they have these more-advanced cultures, which just makes them feel more human. It felt like I was watching a movie about, like, a tribe of post-apocalyptic humans meeting the leftovers of civilized humanity. Not anthropomorphized animals meeting the leftovers of civilized humanity.

I kept waiting for the apes to have those fascinating interactions with the human characters. I kept waiting for May to teach something to Noa and the other apes, and for them to get all fascinated and have like, an animal reaction. That never really happened. The closest moment to that was when she switches on the lights in the bunker and the apes whoop and stumble around confusedly. Or when Noa learns to curse. 🫠 Also, the apes don’t have any kind of interesting reaction when May murders the other human of her own kind. They just stand there, looking sort of surprised, while dramatic music plays and May looks stressed. It felt like that should’ve been a moment where the apes realize something profound or scary about humanity (that she’d turn on her own so quickly,) or respond to her like they might an alpha-animal who just killed a challenger, or something like that. But that doesn’t really happen.

The movie was kind of full of moments like that, where it felt like they were building toward something profound…and then concluded on a vague or undecided note. Can humans and apes live side by side? …We don’t know. Was Caesar using apes for his own gain, or was he a noble elder? We don’t know. (Well, we do, but the main characters don’t.) Was May just trying to re-establish a communicating human community, or are she and the other humans out to retake the apes’ world? We don’t know.

Other random notes:

The cinematography was really good. There were moments where I felt like I was standing in the scene, or like I was on a ride at Disney World that believably sprays you in the face with water even though it’s a virtual environment, or pumps the smell of trees into the room to make you feel like you’re there. I don’t know what it was about the way this was shot, but I felt like I could feel the sun, and the wind, and smell the rain, etc. I actually can’t remember the last time a movie made me feel that way, so the cinematography was great. The animation is good, too, despite the uncanny valley ape faces.

I can’t decide if I like Noa. I could tell they were being very protective of the value of slow pacing, and maybe that “feel-like-you’re-inside-the-screen” cinematography was meant to help with this, but I also felt like they were trying to make us feel like we were vicariously on Noa’s long, scary, melancholy adventure with him. It was definitely supposed to be an epic-scale coming-of-age for that ape character.

But I was a little bored. I didn’t need to see him walk from one end of a field of vision to the other every single time he entered a new area. (Especially not when he’s just walking, or worse, sitting on a horse who’s just walking. When he’s an ape. And all you want to do is see him climb and swing and flip.) I also thought the actor did a really good job of emoting, but there were so many scenes of him choking on blood after a hard fall or a fight, or crying, or gazing sadly into the middle distance for a long time. It was like, “I get it. I don’t need so much of this.”

Also, there were things I didn’t care about emotionally that I felt like I should have, in order to empathize with Noa. First off, his father and his father’s death. Noa made lots of anxious expressions and clearly wanted to please his father, I guess…but there wasn’t really an indication that his father was a tough guy to please. Or that they were super close. We didn’t get enough scenes with the father before he died to make us feel emotion that would carry us all the way through Noa’s journey, in my opinion. Even his two best friends—I felt like they were building up to some thematic thing about growing up together, doing everything together, etc. But they didn’t. That sort of went nowhere.

I also felt like the most compelling parts of the movie were when May had not yet revealed herself to be intelligent, and Noa didn’t like her…but they were slowly starting to trust and understand each other. When she stands up and calls his name, that was my favorite part of the movie. Not because it was a great callback to the impactful, iconic “The Animal Spoke” moments of Caesar. But because it was her, a dumb brute, learning to trust and rely on this alien-like creature that was so much smarter than her, and building that dynamic.

It was just that I was missing “animal interacts with human” fascination. But then it turns out they’re both human. Noa is just hairy and strong, and May is not.

Also I didn’t love the whole spin they took to communicate “nature over unnatural progress” with Proximus. I get it. The eagles are symbolic of nature and living in harmony with it. Proximus is symbolic of trying to cheat nature and jump the gun unnaturally. But I’m a Christian. I don’t find anything compelling, inherently, about the idea that it’s “nature” that causes us to “evolve” to what we’re “meant to be.” It also doesn’t even make sense within the context of these movies. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have the reason apes become super intelligent and free be a non-natural drug…and still say that the non-natural drug was a bad choice with world-ending consequences. Which is it? Try to control nature? Or don’t? Because if you don’t, the apes still get treated like dumb brutes and rounded up for experimentation. And Alzheimer’s is never cured. But if you do, yes the brutes get freedom, but all of humanity goes through a brutal virus, your father’s suffering is prolonged, and your girlfriend tells you “some things aren’t meant to be tampered with.”

So like, which is it? Should the vault be opened and shared with the apes? Or should the eagles knock the mean unnatural King Ape off the cliff? I don’t know.

I don’t love that the movie ends with so much of that. But I guess it had to. Thats the logical next step of a series that is about a new species continually growing to be more human, and it’s the next step for setting up the next phase.

So that’s how I felt about all of that! Thanks for asking. Maybe I will talk about Koba someday.

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morrigan-sims · 9 months

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Happy Simblr Gratitude Day!!

There's so many amazing people that I follow, and I know I can never name them all, so if you don't get mentioned on this list, PLEASE don't feel bad. I know for a fact that I'm going to miss some incredible people.

(under the cut for length)

@simlit - possibly the best "bachelor challenge" to ever exist. An incredible story with compelling characters, excellent writing, and stunning visuals. I binge-read all of COTS in one day, and whenever it updates, it's the highlight of my day.

@simgerale - Miranda is so incredibly talented. She makes the most beautiful sims, and her story Regal that just finished recently might just be my favorite story anyone has ever posted on tumblr. I've been following it since more or less day one. Also her legacy family is ADORABLE.

@softpine - the last of my top 3 stories on simblr. Everything Brandi writes is so incredibly detailed and filled with so much love. There is so much nuance and detail that goes into all of her posts, and all of her characters are delightfully complex. I binge-read the entirety of Camellia over two days, and it was a DELIGHTFUL experience.

@potionio - Omen makes some of the most amazing sims I've ever seen. Everything they make is GORGEOUS, from sims to builds to edits. Amazing alt fashion and spooky vibes all around. Also just an awesome friend.

@panicsimss - another amazing spooky simmer. Panic has gorgeous OCs, and I love everything she makes. Poppy and Hudson have my heart!!

@salemssimblr - Ash makes incredible renders, and is also just very kind. She's an awesome friend, and I'm so glad to have met them!!

@goldenwaves - Izzy is another incredible render-maker and editor. They also are the creator of some of the most fun and interesting dnd ocs I've ever had the pleasure of playing with and hearing about. Plus, her new story Heartbreakers is super awesome!!

@wileyfern - They post adorable gameplay, and their legacy family has been going strong for a long time now. Her current heir, Ocean, is super fun to follow!

@void-critters - Jay makes amazing edits and has some amazing dnd ocs that I love hearing about. They're also super kind and a great friend.

@warwickroyals - Ayanna's story is one of the only royal simblr stories I really follow very closely on here, and for good reason!! The level of nuance and commentary that goes into her story is very special. If you're going to follow a royal simblr, let it be this one!! Plus some very cool cc!!

@heartblobs - A very lovely historical simmer who just recently started a new decades challenge!! Ellie's current family is super cute, and I can't wait to see them grow!

@wildmelon - Lush makes some of the most gorgeous sims I've ever seen, as well as amazing edits!!! Also a critical role fan, which makes me happy.

@rebouks - Somnium very quickly became one of my favorite stories on simblr, and now Forever In Between is following in the foorsteps! Becca has adorable sims, and blends an excellent mix of gameplay and storytelling. She's also an INCREDIBLE pose maker.

@ghostputty - Ky makes INCREDIBLE edits, including those very famous eye edits. Also, their story, Deck of Fate, is fascinating, and I can't wait to read more!!

@raiiny-bay - Rai makes amazing renders, and their Monster Boys universe and lore is FASCINATING. I could read about the zombie boys for hours!

@arcanewonder - Sara's renders are on a whole 'nother level. Truly nothing compares. The fantasy vibes are immaculate! Plus, her simblreen treats from years past have saved my ass in decorating the castle for RTQ/ATQH.

@barbieaiden - Sam makes some of the most awesome renders I've ever seen, not to mention his stunning story and intriguing OCs. I love Sam and Aiden, am morbidly fascinated with Tristan and Kas, and am eagerly awaiting the day I get to hear about his pirate OCs.

@rainymoodlet - Shan's sims are all GORGEOUS, but Dan is truly the best of them all. Dan's bachelor challenge, KMIK, is amazing, and even though my boy may be out of the running, I'm very invested to see who ends up stealing Dan's heart.

@samssims - Sam is a pillar in this community. Her NSB family captured my heart right away, and her unique method of storytelling is so cool. Not to mention her poses, which are a must-have!

@laeska - Makes some of the best hairs in the community, and all totally free!! Her simblreen gifts this year were amazing, and I have all of her cc in my game.

@retro-plasma - Corn's sims are beautiful, and their gameplay posts are stunning! They truly have a talent for making things come alive!

@omgkayplays - A truly incredible simblr. Stunning builds, mindboggling edits, drop-dead-gorgeous sims, and a fascinating story are all reasons to give Kay a follow.

@seaslugsims - Their story is awesome, their cc is amazing and very useful, plus they're super kind and amazing!!!

@simandy - Ellen is literally the first simblr I followed, back when I joined this hellsite 5+ years ago. Her cc is amazing, and absolutely a must-have in my game.

I know I've missed people, but I think I've hit my limit on tagging people. Either that or tumblr's just throwing a fit at how long this post is. Either way, each and every person I follow deserves a spot on this list, so don't feel bad at all if I missed you!!! I follow over 400 people, all of whom are amazing.

#morrigan.txt #simblr gratitude day #simblr appreciation #simblr love #positivity

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aardvaark · 5 months

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having just watched the Rundown Job. that fucked. I feel like this is what it would be like if the Big Bang Job had just an iota more self respect. for some reason BBJ is just toooooo corny I can't take it seriously, smth about eliot trying to have his emo backstory and big gun fight in one episode, but hardison and his magic Hacker Overlay and the trio drift compatible action movie-ing thru without a mastermind had me by the THROAT

the rundown job is THE ot3 episode. whether you prefer parker/hardison/eliot, or parker/hardison & eliot, or any other formation of those three, they certainly undeniably work very well together. they move in sync. they know each other so well that they don't even have to talk half the time. they've developed so much trust for each other when you compare this episode to season 1 jobs, and that mutual trust has brought all of their already-incredible talents to a new level.

you'll find that the leverage producers/writers/etc call it "competence porn", ie having scenes of the characters being extremely competent at what they do. it's fascinating and awesome just to watch them, don't even need much dialogue or plot pressure or anything. and that's really a testament to the actors' acting abilities & the stunt performers' skills.

plus we get all of their paired dynamics too! i love the parker & eliot dynamic where they’re both very task-oriented, logical, dangerous people. in the lost heir job episode commentary, john rogers had this to say...

[from @leverage-commentary]

...which i love. i love that dynamic, and you can see it in the rundown job too. except the lost heir job was season 2, and the rundown job is season 5, and that makes a difference in some respects - they're not so much hiding that from hardison, for one thing. and hardison doesn't need them to hide it, cause he seems to mostly think they're super fucking cool. except for when they're scaring the shit out of him, like parker burning the disease at the last second or eliot getting shot etc etc. mostly he thinks they're super cool though lol.

and while i tend to think that the "seeing math in the air" thing is usually a cheesy trope (like the spencer reid version. why is jesus there), i honestly really liked seeing inside hardison's head for once. it wasn't just random numbers like the confused math lady meme:

no, he's mapping the whole thing out in his head: we see some if-then-else flowcharts, he's picturing the direction the gears will turn, etc etc. he's figuring out how it will logically work and how it will mechanically work. to figure out all these problems in his mind, which he does every episode... well, he really is a genius, never forget it!

plus of course we get parker showing off her skills by jumping on trains + laser gymnastics + upside-down bomb defusing, and we get eliot skills of disturbingly calm negotiations + of course the fight scenes. they've each come such a long way too... eg hardison being way calmer about leaning on a bomb (again!) lol... ugh i could rant forever about how much i love these characters!!

i think the big bang job's gun fight is part of the eliot angsty stuff cause he had to shoot (and therefore likely kill) people for the first time in a long time. for action movie enjoyers, The Implications TM certainly dampen the action fun, so i get what you mean. i don't mind eliot angsty moments though. eliot IS kinda emo deep down sometimes - however, if hardison or someone called him that, there'd be hell to pay lol.

thank you for the ask, i love discussing this show!! :)

#leverage #the rundown job #alec hardison #eliot spencer #asks #ask #wren speaks #leverageposting

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iamafictionfreak · 2 months

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Having major mixed feelings about RDJ playing Dr Doom, peeps.

On the one hand, I'm like... the Iron Man, is now playing a villain?

Let's not forget that the actor isn't the character, as some people tend to do so. He's playing a different character. But it still feels... sad? Is that the word?

RDJ's Iron Man became a kind of symbol in the real world too, not just in fantasy. Time has been tough on many of us so maybe we dig a little too deeply into our little fantasy getaways, but to have RDJ now embody the villain? Yeah, that's a little... ouch.

And a little awesome.

Confusing too.

Infuriating.

Trouble is, RDJ has a presence and he brought humanity to his Tony Stark role. If they don't get someone to match that level of charisma on the opposing team, if they don't find an actor or actress able to make us empathise with them even when they're being a massive clusterfuck of a hero, or if they make them the embodiment of perfection instead of relatable, then... well, it's a problem. No one's going to root for the new band of heroes if the villain's more sympathetic.

TS will always be RDJ and vice versa. He brings with him Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Peter etc. Associating the actor with both the biggest hero AND the villain? My brain doesn't know what to do!

Here's hoping whatever he does with the character, or whatever the executives decide, it doesn't disrespect his role as IM.

On the other hand, I can't imagine how pissed Dr Doom fans are knowing that once again, there fav is being represented by the wrong ethnicity.

I had a similar negative reaction to Scarlet Johannsen being cast as BW. I ended up liking her her but it still itches. She didn't even manage the accent!

My expectations need to learn to cool it but it doesn't change how I feel.

Now, RDJ is a great actor. I have no doubt he can pull it off, but MCU near destroyed my love for marvel after endgame and that alongside the shit coming out in the comics in the last few years? The way MCU stopped being a place filled with hope? They'd have to do something truly special to bring me back into it.

Hysterically Deadpool and Wolverine have my blessing because in 3 seconds they brought back some feels. Irondad feels, days of cheesy older marvel movie feels etc.

I like dark stories. I don't need the sunshine and rainbows others do, but we dealt with TS's death, then Steve fucking off in a heel turn decision and creating a plot hole the size California, Peter's worst nightmare coming true and having to live with it forever, don't get get me started on rhodey and Wanda etc...

We're never getting closure or healing for TS's death 😂. We're just not guys. It's not something we can easily accept, if at all. So this whole thing feels great and terrible and awful and nostalgic and brutal and intriguing and and and and...

So, yeah. I get the discord.

But RDJ's great.

But I love Iron Man and his legacy even as I hate that they killed him off.

But Dr Doom's something I've been waiting to see!

BUT LOOK AT WHAT THEY GAVE US IN ENDGAME. WE'LL GET SCREWED OVER AGAIN.

BUT!

WHAT

GUH

Yeah, there's a lot. We shall see.

After all, we're all used to a lack of satisfying closure.

#irondad #tony stark #dr doom

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beautifulphilosopherbird · 6 months

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Dungeon Meshi rewatch ep 4 notes

dearest @eelo I figured I might as well use this opportunity to fulfill a wish of yours and bring my ass back to tumblr 🤣🤣 when this goes terribly wrong and I start living on here again I am totally coming for you btw

new dungeon structure info:

3rd floor is the Golden Castle that is now in ruins

there are toilets in the busy areas of the dungeon, scattered around

skeletons of former castle residents roam the halls LMFAO look at this dude

most monsters on 3rd floor are bones or decayed so there aren't many you can eat but

GOLEMS ARE HERE IT'S THE GOLEM GARDEN EPISODE lmfaoooo love it

Senshi uses golems as a garden bc they've got perfect conditions to grow food

he kills them by hitting their core so that they can harvest veggies

it's against the law to activate magical creatures without permission (Senshi plants Golems without permission lmfao)

you can revive them by replanting them

side note: I really find it interesting how death is not as big of a deal in this universe. It's not like they don't care at all, but there doesn't seem to be question of "is it really the same person/creature"? maybe it's just me, but I feel like I'd worry about that a lot if I lived in their world.

this quote from Senshi!!!! YES! I agree and I love him for this

turns out Senshi gets his fertiliser by cleaning the toilets on this floor oops (Marcille is NOT happy about that lol)

another great quote from Senshi, this whole part is awesome. he's basically saying that if he stops cleaning the toilets and tending to the Golems, the whole dungeon will change because the monsters from lower floors will come up to take the place of the Golems etc. It's a delicate ecosystem and everyone plays a part, which is why hunting and eating monsters and giving back to the dungeon is important for maintaining balance. I love it 10/10 lore and world building

Senshi used the veggies to barter with some customers on the lower levels but they probably won't have time for them rn

there are merchants in the dungeon and it seems kinda hush hush secret club vibes but they get in (and then almost get thrown out bc they brought veggies to trade with a bunch of criminals ig lol)

oh the orcs are here! I forgot about them (btw they're Senshi's "customers from lower floors"), anyway they kill everyone but Senshi & friends

the red dragon has been showing up near their settlement so they had to run to hide on the 3rd floor

LMFAO they steal their veggies and Senshi asks if they can stay in their camp so

orcs think elves look "barbaric" which is also a really nice touch

HAHAHAH I forgot gilrfailure and the orc arguing while Senshi is happily making bread

anyway, bad blood between Orcs and Elves, they each have their own version of the events that paints the other side as the worse one (another nice, realistic touch of world building)

the orc mentions the whole "defeat evil magician, get castle/dungeon" thing and asks Laios what he'll do when he gets it (which he hasn't thought about)

RIP Crafty

random detail: orc cuisine is spicy

awww that ending was so wholesome

Laios says he'll think about what he'd do with the castle/dungeon if he got it. King Laios is a funny idea tho maybe a bit scary too

random screengrabs:

the carrots sticking out of Laios' armor are sending me aofhoashfoiah

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dunmeshi #bread #lmfao #dunmeshi ep 4 #dunmeshi rewatch #I love this anime #thank you eelo #dunmesh

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the-math-one · 27 days

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A few thoughts on competition math

Not sure how many people do competition math here, but I personally have done quite a few olympiads and such (particularly the American ones - AMC, AIME, USAMO, MOP, etc). It seems some people like doing them, and other people think they're completely useless to everything.

I mean, it is true that they're mostly useless to research or anything applied - you might learn a few things, but if you're trying to optimize for a career, they're probably not your best shot. However, I do think that they're worth doing (if you want to do them, of course)

First, the amount of thinking you have to do for, say, the USAMO I've found is very helpful for problem-solving in general (not even just for math problems). Especially since AI recently was able to do all the algebra, geometry, and number theory problems on the IMO (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-reaches-silver-medal-level-at-this-years-math-olympiad/), it's probably more and more important that you need to know how to solve problems that require new ideas. It's no coincidence that the two problems the AI wasn't able to solve were both combinatorics - the type of problem without a set "canon" and the one that requires the most novel ideas in-contest that aren't similar to anything seen before.

Also, math competitions just let you meet a lot of new people who will go far in life and change your view on the world. Po-Shen Loh, for example, is an awesome one who's encouraging people to focus more on problem-solving, and encouraging the use of, say, comedy to make math education more interesting (I'll do a whole separate post on him someday).

I think the reason math competitions are getting so much hate recently is because they're the "next big thing" for getting into [college of choice]. I think if you're doing something just to get into college, you shouldn't do it. But that's no excuse for people to make fun of others for doing something that's fun (not that I've seen it here, but I have seen it in some of the math research circles). Evan Chen's blog is great at explaining this phenomenon of everyone gravitating to an interesting thing and turning it into a college grind (https://blog.evanchen.cc/2024/04/05/grief/).

Also, I've found that math competitions put a lot of pressure on you, especially when your parents are the one making you do them. Nobody can work on math for every waking hour, for a long period of time (or if you do, then that's probably not healthy). I'm a little tired myself, which is why I'm taking a break. I think one major appeal of math competitions is that you can do math without any real deadlines or any real pressure: the pressure is just your own pressure on yourself to work on thinking.

This also applies somewhat (though a little differently) to college competitions like the Putnam, but that's a topic for another time.

TL;DR: Some people think math competitions are useless. I think that they're useful because they develop thinking skills and let you meet new people, while having fun with no real pressure. If you don't think it's fun, then don't do it! But if you think it's fun, there's no reason to not do it. ALSO STOP TREATING IT LIKE A GET INTO COLLEGE FREE PASS THAT RUINS THE POINT

lil thing at the bottom: not really sure what I want to do with my blog? I might post a few more jokes in the future, but I think I want to put some serious posts on here every once in a while as well

#math #mathematics #mathblr #actual blog post #math competitions #usamo #po-shen loh #competition math

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jaydenix · 24 days

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How to fix season 1 Bloom part 1

...out of 1000, because everything wrong with S1 goes back to Bloom getting too much screen time and one post can't possibly fix such a mammoth problem

So season 1, Bloom's in this brand new crazy world filled with crazy things. There are fairies at Alfea, witches at Cloud Tower, and the boyfriend factory- I mean Red Fountain's got specialists. To Bloom, it's more or less everything she could have wanted right? In episode 1 we see she was reading a book about fairies until late into the night indicating she's holding onto her childhood aspirations well beyond the conventional age (which honestly: good on her I love her for that). And in episode 2 she says "I've always wanted to be a fairy with all my heart".

It's clear from this that Bloom has had a lifelong obsession with fairies and so discovering she is one should be unimaginably incredible to her (as it would be to most people). And so I ask: why didn't they delve into this more? After episode 2 we don't really see anything to reflect this aspiration of hers, which is disappointing because after I gave it some thought they could've fleshed this out and added more to her character. How I think it should've been done is have the odd moment beyond episode 2 to just have Bloom genuinely express how cool it is to be a fairy. Specifically in big moments like the first time she does a spell and ESPECIALLY the first time she transforms, like imagine how cool that would feel to anyone? It'd be awesome! Who wouldn't be gloating about it afterwards especially in Bloom's shoes as she didn't know even anything remotely like this was possible not long ago and because of the aforementioned interest in fairies. We just need an occasion like this sprinkled in where Bloom is filled with childlike wonder at the world she has found herself in, that would've been so good. For some comparison: in Miraculous Ladybug, remember the first time Alya became Rena Rouge? She was *so* excited to be fighting bad guys alongside Ladybug and Cat Noir. I want something similar to that for Bloom. Though alongside this it could've offered a bit of cynicism for Bloom, when things get tough she begins to express what she doesn't like about the new world with new pressures and threats, everything was so simple back home but this whole world is so much bigger than anything she could've expected and begins to doubt herself thinking maybe she hasn't got it in her to be a fairy. These doubts could have been what contributed to her leaving Magix to go back home in episode 17. And then when she loses the power of the dragonflame, she should've been completely distraught at what had happened, scared she may never get her powers back and wishing she didn't doubt herself. And once they're back in her hands she feels rejuvenated with life ready to take the down the Trix.

They didn't need this in season 2 and beyond. By that point it's mostly old news for the most part to her and she's more or less on the same level as everyone else. But it would've been such a nice way to humanise Bloom and make her more relatable. It would also contextualise her arc in season 1. Rather than just making her the omnipresent focus of the season, she's a curious young woman in a brand new world whose discovering who she really is whilst other characters get fleshed out enough.

Those are my thoughts for today, thank you for reading.

P.S: I really need to rewatch S2 honestly but I've got still got a lot to analyse and discuss from S1 so we'll see.

#winx #winx club #bloom #winx bloom #winx club bloom #winx season 1 #winx club season 1

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cabinofimagines · 5 months

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Totally NOT improvised birthday

A/N: Happy birthday Ash hope this saves you from the saddies -Danny

Words: 1,319

Usually, the Argo II monthly meetings are a casual thing, no one ever has plans in advance as to what they'll do once they're there. So it's pretty damn weird when you show up with a whole cake, a massive bag of snacks, and decorations.

"Cake!" Percy approaches to help you with the stuff. "Nice."

"What's all that for?" Frank asks with curiosity.

"My birthday," you replie casually.

Leo chokes on his drink while Annabeth stiffens in place, everyone else lets out different types of replies in various levels of panic and feigned exclamations of "Right, Frank! It's their birthday, don't tell us you forgot!" Everyone except Jason, Nico, and Will, of course, they all had marked the day in advance.

"Happy birthday!" Jason approaches with a sweet smile and gives you a crushing bear hug and a birthday bag.

"Thank you, man!" You smile happily, dropping the snack bag and the decorations on the table.

"We need tape!" Percy quickly gets up and walks to the door. "I'll get it!"

Annabeth grabs her cap and puts it on, instantly disappearing. Piper pretends to take a phone call and leaves while Leo rummages inside his tool belt. Hazel stretches a hand behind her chair and pulls literal treasure from the ground while Frank fidgets beside her trying to come up with something.

Nico and Will approach you, giving everyone else time to recover. Nico goes first, handing out his carefully wrapped present. He encourages you to open it—mostly to give everyone else a chance to find something—and inside you find a bag of rock-shaped chocolates of different colors and sizes and a whole new limited-edition deck of Mythomagic.

"Rocks!" You smile. "Thanks!"

Will goes next and hands you an envelope. "I thought it'd be nice to stretch out the celebration for another day."

"What?" You tilt your head in confusion and take a peak inside the envelope. "Ohhh!" You pull out three tickets to the newest Broadway show you once mentioned you were interested in watching. "Will!"

"Don't even," he brushes it aside. "Sponsored by dad, he says hi and happy birthday, by the way."

"Tell him I say hi back and thanks a lot!" You look at the tickets again. "There are three tickets here..."

Will blushes and clears his throat. "Yeah, I uhm—I don't know if it's okay with you, like, you can say no if you want to, but I thought we could go together?" He signals at you and Nico. "Like... us."

Nico gives Will a look but his boyfriend pretends not to see it, smiling at you bashfully.

"Oh," you feel fuzzy inside but quickly brush it off before getting the wrong idea. "That's really sweet that you want to escort me, thank you."

"Don't say it like that," Will laughs, though it comes out a bit too loud. "It's more like... a hangout. Right, Nico?"

"What he said," the boy says plainly, a light pinkish blush on his face.

You open your mouth to reply but someone storms into the rec room, screaming and stomping his hooves down the stairs. "I HEARD SOMEONE'S A YEAR OLDER TODAY!"

Hedge shows up at the foot of the stairs and happily makes his way to you, roughly patting your back and rambling about how small you were before and how proud he is that he's seen you grow (he literally never saw you as a child).

His present is a pocket knife and a survival guide that looks suspiciously hand-made by the satyr, but you can appreciate the effort, and it's a really cool gift anyway, so you smile and thank him for his presents.

Jason is next, and his gift makes your jaw drop to the floor as you open it, it's the official plushie of that one blorbo you've been yapping about for the past six months. "Where did you even get that? It's not supposed to be out for another two months!"

"I know a guy," he winks at you grinning. Then he pulls out a birthday card. "This is from Bobby, he couldn't make it but sends you his best wishes."

"This is awesome, Jason," you squeeze the plushie in your arms and hold the card carefully. Nico and Will look a bit pouty for a moment, but you overlook that.

"Sorry for that! It was my girlfriend, I had to pick up," Piper reenters the room, holding a large stick in her hand. "Here's your present, Y/N."

"A stick!" You beam, taking it from her very carefully. "My favorite!"

"It's not just any stick," Piper smiles, adopting a dramatic tone. "That is a friendship stick, Granpa says we give those to our closest friends to represent we are branches from the same tree."

"Why didn't I get a stick last year?" Leo frowns.

"Not now, dude," Piper mutters.

"That's so sweet and original," Will says with a knowing smirk. "I really like how that stick looks made exactly from the same wood the tree outside the Big House."

"All wood looks the same, Will," Piper states curtly.

"I disagree."

"Tape!" Percy returns holding the small roll. He also has a plushie shark under his arm with a blue ribbon around the chubby head. "Happy birthday, Y/N!"

When he hands the plushie, you can feel the slightly damp texture and you pause. "Is this wet?"

"It's part of the charm, don't question it," Percy replies without facing you, picking up the decorations and hanging them around the room.

"My plushie was better," Jason mutters, also picking up a few decorations.

"HA-HA, this is not a competition, superman!" Percy says tensely, then mutters. "If it were Nico would find the way to cheat..."

"For the last time, it was a fair tactic—"

"Happy birthday, Y/N, here's a crystal to make sure the stick and the damp plushie aren't haunted," Hazel gives you a nice lavender rock that you happily put next to your chocolate rocks.

"My present didn't arrive on time," Frank blurts out anxiously. "Amazon misplaced it. You know they hate me there."

"No worries, Frank, I get it," you smile innocently.

"Well, anyway, you got the lame presents out of the way, here's mine," Leo hands you something that looks very much like an explosive. "Why don't you open it like, over there, away from us?"

You stare at him a moment, but Leo would never actually murder you, no matter how much he threatens to do it, so you shrug and walk over to the table where you previously left the cake. "Sure."

Everyone gives Leo nervous glances while he keeps a smile on his face, which isn't really calming since he has a very unnerving grin. You press on the switch, and from the bomb erupts a massive amount of colorful confetti that spreads all over the table and the floor.

"Ohhh fun!" You exclaim.

"Oh, thank gods," Leo mumbles, his shoulders falling with relief. Then he raises his voice. "See? Now it's a real party!"

Piper puts some music on and everyone gathers to get cake, and play board games, Annabeth comes back after two full hours claiming she was upstairs in the bathroom.

"It's lady stuff, Valdez, stay out of my business," Annabeth snaps after the boy tries to question her. "Anyway, happy birthday, Y/N."

She gives you a properly wrapped present—in the newspaper, because eco-friendly—and inside you find one of the books you've been dying to buy for the past year, hardcover and collector's edition.

"Wow, guys, I wasn't expecting all of you to have presents for me," you smile big, looking at all the cool stuff your friends gave you. "This is the best birthday ever!"

Everyone shares slightly guilty looks but say nothing, giving you a second round of hugs. Jason makes sure everyone writes down the date before leaving so this doesn't happen again.

#happy birthday Ash!!#danny's writing #pjo fanfic #hoo #toa

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laugtherhyena · 8 months

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No way carol finally putting lore of these idiots on tumblr, lmao sometimes i forget i talked about them mainly just on instagram.

As i mentioned in a previous post, these girls are two separate entities that got bound together by the powers of the duo gem. Which is essentially a synthetic parasite created by the Chess kingdom during the grand war, the goal was to create an actifact that could fuse two warrioes together, leading to the creation of a new, stronger soldier. But because of the war and the struggles that come with it this level was never achived in the creation of these gemstones, majority of them was destroyed by attacks from the Canopy kingdom and the remaining few were hidden by its creators.

Naturally, there are curious people who would pay a fortune to get their hands on these relics, and that's exactly what Mariana was hired to do; find the duo gemstone and bring it to the buyers.

The thing is, she didn't know about the expreimental, and rather unstable, nature of the gemstone. She just new that it was this big shiny thing she was sent after, so Mari went about it as usual and before she knew it she had been sucked inside the actifact and was now locked in this small red room with sparkling walls.

On the oustide world, the gem attached itself to the back of her jacket and stayed like that for almost a whole year until this jacket was purchased by Dagger after ending up in some street market.

Dagger who at this point in time was fresh out of the Silent stalkers, the criminal organization responsible for training ninja assasins for hire that she had been taken into after becoming an orphan during the Grand war. So she wasn't doing much with her life and was sorta just sulking around without purpose or much will to do anything.

So she brought the jacket and it was when she put it on that the gemstone ripped through it and attached itself to her back (Dagger's spine to be more specific), it was only then that Mariana was able to come out of it, in that trage shadowy form, permanently attached to the other girl's back.

So yeah, not the best conditions.

They're not on good terms at all at the start, with Dagger constantly complaining and being bothered about the situation which angers Mariana a whole lot and they end up arguing most of the time + she's generally very angry/distressed over losing her body and being stuck to Dagger, who at that point she saw as nothing but a good for nothing lazy bitch.

It's after a little while that she finds out about Dagger's past of being a trained assasin and all (Dagger herself told her, she shares information very easily without much thought) and that's when Mariana has an idea of how to get herself out of this mess; She'll manipulate Dagger into going after the skullheart so that she can snatch it and wish to have her body back.

So Mariana gathers her old gear and insists that she does have talent when it comes to fighting and shouldn't give up on it, she fixes Dagger's old uniform, gets her back into training by sparring in their apartment, and then tells her that if they were able to fight and defeat the skullgirls they could bring the skullheart back to the Silent stalker's base which would show them just how strong Dagger is, after all, killing a skullgirl is no easy feat.

Dagger finds the idea awesome and gets totally on board with hunting down the skullgirl. Being unaware of Mariana's ulterior motives, she wholeheartedly trust her and pretty much adores her, she sees her as the first person in years who actually put faith in her and a real friend! It's this love from Dagger's part that leads to them developing a real friendship, with Mariana genuinely carring for someone other than her for once.

Will she be able to go through with her plans involving the skullheart?

#they're 23 year olds currently. have known eachother for about two years now #also i couldn't find a good place to shove this but the reasom Dagger was kicked out of the Silent sralkers #+being considered their worst assassin #is because of her huge fear of blood. which stopped her from performing as well as the others #since the organization is known for their brutal and gory assassinations #of which Dagger simply couldn't do because of her hemophobia #skullgirls #skullgirls oc #skullgirls 2nd encore #stuck together #Mariana #Dagger #Alessia Ambrosia #hyena scribbles #oc #original character

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therecordconnection · 2 months

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Ranting and Raving: "Video!" by Jeff Lynne

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There is no such thing as the “Cult Classic” anymore. Today, if a movie fails or a television series flops, it’s just removed and completely forgotten without a second thought. With physical releases no longer having the same cultural weight as before, it makes media preservation even harder. I hear if you complain long enough about this and get caught, Netlfix or Hulu or Pooblo or Tuubah or whatever else comes to your house and hits you with the Neuralyzer from Men in Black so you’ll shut up.

In the eighties, this wasn’t the case. Movies could brick at the box office, but they might get lucky and find their audiences later on through cable or video rentals or just really good word of mouth. Xanadu still exists today and has love because HBO kept showing it during its infancy and LGBTQ audiences eventually latched onto it (though that’s probably more due to the everlasting power of Olivia Newton-John’s gay fanbase). Phantom of the Paradise owes its continued love and existence to Guillermo Del Toro, the Daft Punk robots, and all of Winnipeg, Canada really loving that movie. I’m with them in that boat (Phantom is one of my favorite movies). Electric Dreams, a 1984 science fiction-tinged romantic comedy, exists today purely through video rentals and good word of mouth.

Electric Dreams is a wonderfully weird cult classic in every sense of the word. It has a very lovably goofy eighties rom-com setup and delivery: Miles Harding (Lenny Von Dohlen), a loser tech nerd geologist who gets no bitches, falls in love with his new apartment neighbor Madeline Robistat (Virginia Madsen), a quirky and beautiful cellist. They're an unlikely pair in every conceivable way, but they fall for each other. The only problem is that Miles' fancy new supercomputer (who becomes sentient and later identifies himself as “Edgar”) would like to see Miles destroyed so that he can be with her instead. Edgar then does everything in his power to ruin Miles’ life and his chances to be with Madeline. Eventually, Edgar comes to accept the love between Miles and Madeline and they get their happily-ever-after.

On paper, the whole thing probably sounded silly to a 1984 audience, which might be why nobody bothered to see it at the time, but Electric Dreams fucking rules. Von Dohlen and Madsen are great and have such an odd yet instantly lovable chemistry with each other that you can’t help but root for them (it helps that they were good friends instantly and remained that way until Van Dohlen passed away in 2022). Steve Barron, one of the great music video directors of the early MTV era (he’s responsible for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Toto’s “Africa” and “Rosanna,” and many more), brings that same music video storytelling style to this movie’s visuals. If this movie had done better upon release, it would’ve gotten everything Miami Vice’s directing style often gets credited for. The soundtrack is also really great! Giorgio Moroder did the movie’s theme with Human League frontman Phil Oakey as well as a killer score for it (only Moroder could find a way to expertly turn Bach’s “Minuet” into a duel between a cello and a computer. He couldn't get more eighties than that if he tried). There’s also a really neat Heaven 17 cut that sounds like a Crash Bandicoot level theme (“Chase Runner”), Culture Club right at the end of their relevance (“Love is Love” and “The Dream”), and Jeff Lynne from Electric Light Orchestra with arguably the two best songs in the movie. One of them, “Let It Run,” is awesome as hell, but “Video!” is the one we’re gonna talk about.

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“Video!” appears at a pretty pivotal point in the movie. It soundtracks the montage of one of Miles and Madeline’s first proper dates, which involves sneaking away from a tour group to run around and play in Alcatraz (I’m serious). They’re also seen together at a carnival. Before this date, Miles tasks Edgar with finding a way to write music for Madeline. He intends to pass off whatever Edgar comes up with as his own work, hoping to impress her and make her fall in love with him. This is one of the main reasons Edgar wants Miles out of the picture. He knows he can make music with Madeline (he did it previously in “The Duel” scene, though Madeline thinks Miles is providing the music, not the computer) and fell in love with her by doing that. He is fully aware that Miles is trying to win her love with a lie. Once Edgar figures out how rhythm works, he figures out how melody is made by reviewing and absorbing the music playing in television commercials. “Video!” then starts playing proper once he’s got the basics down. For a computer with no previous songwriting experience, writing a Jeff Lynne composition is a pretty impressive feat!

Electric Dreams is not the first movie Lynne has contributed music to. There are two others. The first one was 1976’s All This and World War II, which is a movie which pairs all-star covers of Beatles songs and World War II footage. I’ve never seen it and I don’t think I need to. But you can hear Lynne, the most famous Beatles fanboy to ever live, do a fully symphonic version of “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Nowhere Man.” It’s pretty cool. The other one was Xanadu, which is much more well known. Lynne provided five songs: “I’m Alive,” “The Fall,” “Don’t Walk Away,” “All Over the World,” and the title track with Olivia Newton-John. I think they’re all great. Xanadu totally works on its own as a great ELO EP if you want to forget there’s a movie attached.

This is all to say that Lynne was no stranger to giving songs to strange movies, even if he harbored regrets later on about doing that. He regretted Xanadu for a while, but made peace with it decades later (he re-recorded “Xanadu” in 2000 for the ELO compilation Flashback and he’s revived “All Over the World” for every ELO tour since 2017). I don’t know how he feels about Electric Dreams and at this point, he’s done so much in his career that I doubt he even remembers it. I think he should! I think “Video!” is a great song and I think he was a perfect fit for Electric Dreams. The entire soundtrack is dated as hell, but in a fun time-capsule kind of way. It represents the sound of what people in 1984 thought the future was going to sound like. Lynne had already spent time imagining the sounds of the future.

At the dawn of the eighties, Jeff Lynne had gotten tired of dealing with the big orchestras you hear on that great ELO run from 1976-1980. Orchestras started becoming a pain in the ass for him around the time when synthesizers and keyboards were getting some big technological boosts. New wave artists like Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and the Human League were pushing synths and keyboard sounds into the mainstream and proving that the new technology could be used to make some wildly futuristic sounds. Lynne quickly learned that with a few fancy keyboards, you could start simulating strings and classical sounds, but in a new and exciting way. Suddenly, Lynne and ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy could keep the symphonic pop sounds the band had been making, but update the sound and take it into the future. Suddenly, the “Orchestra” part of the ELO name suddenly found itself obsolete and out of a job.

Dick Clark asked him about this choice on an American Bandstand appearance in 1986. Lynne responded, “Well, you know, I got fed up with using a big orchestra because they used to always be in a union and stuff like that and they used to put their equipment away while we were still recording. So I thought what we'll do is we'll use just ourselves and then we can work as long as we'd like and nobody would complain.”

So Lynne took advantage of all this new technology that was floating around and used it to craft the 1981 masterpiece, Time. That album is the best example of retrofuturism in music I can give. In Time, Lynne imagines a loose concept album about a guy who gets yoinked out of 1981 and flung into the year 2095. The entire album is full of songs where Lynne imagines a future that he would never live to see (I won’t either, unless I somehow make it to a full century of life). Hover cars, rides to the moon, robotic girlfriends (built by IBM) who can also serve as telephones, prison satellites, ivory towers, plastic flowers, and meteor showers as a common weather condition are all present in Lynne’s visions of the distant future. Most of his predictions feel like they’re coming out of science fiction magazines from when he was a child, but the album is more concerned with just letting his imagination run wild and wonder about how one would feel if they were flung far into the future where everyone they’ve ever loved is gone. The future presented in Time feels like daydreaming rather than any kind of cautionary tale or warning. I’ve never gotten the sense that Lynne thinks any of what’s in the album will actually come true.

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If Lynne got anything right, he somehow nailed the still-lingering nostalgic yearning to return to the eighties. Lynne’s narrator constantly laments that he’s stuck in 2095 and 1981 is name dropped in “Ticket to the Moon” and “The Way Life’s Meant to Be.” “Ticket to the Moon” even begins with what is now a variation of the only kind of Youtube comment you’ll find on any old song from the decade: “Remember the good old 1980s / When things were so uncomplicated / I wish I could go back there again / And everything could be the same.” He might as well have called himself “Nostradamus” when writing that one, because that line is going to keep feeling accurate to people until every child of the eighties and every vintage style eighties cosplayer on instagram is dead and in the ground. Lynne using the current year the album was made in had a real danger of seriously dating it, but Time has never sounded dated to me. It doesn’t sound like anything else from 1981 and it still doesn’t. Lynne blended all the old sounds and genres he loved and infused them with the new sounds of the day on that one and imagined a future that still sounds just as magical then as it does now. It took pop music a few years to catch up with what Lynne was doing on that one. Time is still a retro futuristic dream and he carried all the tech and sound effects that he was using on that album with him when he made “Video!” for Electric Dreams. ELO’s future was up in the air by 1984 (Lynne would dissolve the original band for good two years later) so he tackled “Video!” as a solo artist (literally, as no other ELO members are on this) and released it under his own name.

I don’t know if Lynne’s predictions for 2095 will come true. The verdict is still out on that. But what I do know is that everything Lynne is describing in “Video!” is a reality that I’ve lived to see, though perhaps differently from anything Lynne could’ve imagined in 1984. We’ll get there.

In the context of Electric Dreams, “Video!”’s lyrics are all about the many things Edgar the computer can find out about the world in pre-internet cyberspace. He can watch it all, from rock n’ roll to old time movie scenes, and learn. He has no other choice: he can’t move from Miles’ desk and see it himself. Nothing in Lynne’s lyrics are dated except for one thing. He mentions that satellites “send their love from up above / Down to [his] VTR.” VTRs, which I believe is meant to be a reference to “Video Tape Recorder,” is an obsolete machine in 2024. It’s long been replaced by digital video, such as DVDs, Blu-Rays, and 4K. That’s the only specific reference he makes besides working in both the movie’s title and the title of the Phil Oakey/Giorgio Moroder collab. “They beam across the sky / Together in Electric Dreams.” I imagine Lynne was probably told he had to work in the title somewhere. To his credit, it’s a pretty smooth title drop. Clumsier movie songs have done it much worse.

Lynne sneaks in a few lyrics in the song that become ominous and foreshadowing if you’ve seen the movie more than once. The first two verses end ominously with the lines “The world is at my fingers / Under control” and “I’ll just stay here on my end / I’ll have it all.” Those lines foreshadow Edgar eventually using his supercomputer intellect to control other computer systems and mess with Miles’ life, from cutting off access to his credit cards and funds, to manipulating phone lines so Madeline can’t call Miles later in the movie for comfort when her cello has been broken in an accident (it gets caught in an elevator door and gets crushed). His whole motivation in the movie is that he “wants it all,” especially Madeline. Lynne later captures that ominousness with the absolute beast of a song “Let It Run,” but “Video!” is reserved for Lynne soundtracking the moment where Edgar stays inside and excitedly discovers the world at large and how to write pop music, while Miles simultaneously goes out and discovers the world at large with his lovely lady.

Musically, “Video!” strikes a balance and finds a perfect blend of the mechanical and the human elements of music making. Lynne seemed to understand that more than some of the art-school new wavers that were ruling the US and the UK in the early eighties. The entire song is mechanical, but that makes sense given the in-universe explanation that a literal computer is making it. The rhythm is provided by a drum machine and everything else is synthesized and sequenced to hell and back. Even the fun sound effects throughout the song and during the middle instrumental bit are canned and not original to the song. There’s something that kinda sounds like a twangy guitar at the end of the verses and on the chorus, but that could just as easily be a keyboard making that sound. Lynne has made records where he’s played all instruments organically, but keyboards, sequencers, and machines not only suit the assignment, they’re necessary for the assignment.

The human elements are Jeff Lynne’s vocals and his always sharp sense of melody. Lynne’s never been the most mind blowing singer, but his vocals and melodies capture a magic and a warmth here that few of the survivors from his generation still making music in 1984 were capable of. He sings the song with that same sense of wonder that he has on Time. I love the melody of the verses and that chorus is so upbeat and happy and infectious. I love the way he slides into the chorus by holding out the word “on” before saying “video.” Oooooooon! It’s pop music at its most delightfully fun.

I’ve been surrounded by video my entire life, but Lynne makes it feel like it’s a brand new concept to me when I hear this song. I said that everything Lynne is describing in “Video!” is a reality that I’ve lived to see. That reality is Youtube. “The world is at my fingers” because I can more-or-less search for whatever I want (whether I actually find it is another story). The entire second verse can be used to describe someone discovering Youtube for the first time:

I see that rock and roll And all those old-time movies scenes They beam across the sky Together in electric dreams I'll just sit here on my end I'll have it all

Youtube, for all its numerous (numerous) flaws, allows me to be my own MTV VJ and watch scenes from my favorite movies with only a few mouse clicks. I can sit at my computer and watch videos in comfort (and while eating my dinner). Like Edgar, I have it all. Lynne sings that verse with completely sincere jubilance. The song is entirely mechanized, but the feelings presented in the song are not and they help provide a warmth and joy to the whole song that makes it sound like a dream. Lynne makes the concept of watching video sound like it’s the most exciting technical marvel you’ll ever see. He sells it like he’s Grover Cleveland lighting up the 1893 World Fair. It’s fantastic. Lynne isn’t even just fascinated by video, he’s fascinated by the entire process that helps bring it to life. That first verse takes the song from the hugeness of outer space and leads it to the small and insular space of a computer in an apartment without ever losing a step.

The satellites that search the night They twinkle like a star They send their love from up above Down to my VTR

Lynne sounds absolutely amazed by the technological wonders of 1984. He sings it with a child-like fascination that’s so lovably dorky. He sounds like Miles Harding does in the movie when he gets to talk to Madeline about architecture and his dream project during dinner. I was only ten years old when Youtube first arrived in December of 2005, so I essentially grew up with the rise of the internet and internet video creation. I imagine it must have been mind blowing to older people who were there to witness that boom. Maybe some of them were as excited as Lynne sounds on this song.

Nowadays, we take a lot of the modern technology around us for granted, but for Lynne in 1984, this was all exciting and new. That might be where the excitement and exuberance in the song stems from. Betamax and VHS had only existed for about a decade when Electric Dreams first came out, so people were only just getting started in terms of building up home video libraries and having video readily available to them. Camcorders were only starting to become a common commodity when Electric Dreams arrived, so I imagine people were going nuts and losing their minds that they could make home movies and shoot video of their own. Nowadays, technology has reached the point where the little bricks in our pockets (which are Edgar-level supercomputers of their own) can do almost anything, even film video anytime, anywhere. Now more than ever, the world really is at our fingers due to the way technology and social media keeps us interconnected.

“Video!” sees a continuation of Jeff Lynne’s interests in technology and the future that he was exploring on the Time album. Once again, his music is featured in a movie that’s weird, strange, and ridiculous, but also incredibly fun. “Video!” and Electric Dreams as a whole, is a beautiful little time capsule. It arrived during a time when the wonders of the future and technology was full of optimism and we were once again evaluating our relationship to tech as the world was continuing to undergo constant change. After Electric Dreams, Lynne would examine his own relationship with technology with the 1986 song “Calling America,” one of the last ELO singles before he went off to enjoy a second life as an in-demand producer for a while. He doesn’t sound as excited when he sings “Yeah, we’re living in a modern world” on that one. He doesn’t sound as excited about satellites on that one either, though that might have more to do with him being fully sick of ELO by that point and having to wrap up one last album before he can move on to other things.

Electric Dreams, both the movie and the soundtrack, aren’t as well remembered as Xanadu and I think that’s a shame. Electric Dreams is such a strange, beautiful, and moving love story. It’s the thinking man’s version of Spike Jonze’s Her (it’s also better than Her). The movie only played in theaters for a few short weeks before resigning to its fate as a strange movie you take a chance on when you’re wandering around the video store on a Friday night and you and your partner are looking for something interesting to watch. In hindsight, maybe a movie like Electric Dreams was just too strange to ever capture mainstream attention.

But don’t feel bad for it! It’s lived and has found its share of people who love it, despite its initial failure. I’m one of them. Lenny Von Dohlen and Virginia Madsen are also in that boat. They loved working on it and had nothing but positive things to say about it. Madsen still considers it one of the best things she’s ever made and I agree with her. Cult classics like Electric Dreams find their audience. Sometimes it just takes a while.

I can tell you that Tumblr absolutely fucking LOVES this movie. If you do a search for “#electric dreams” you will find SO. MUCH. FANART for this movie in that tag. It’s not even funny. Tumblrinas L O V E making art of Edgar the computer. They love making art of him so much, you’d think he’s the protagonist of the movie, not Miles and Madeline. You’d also think Miles, Madeline, and Edgar are in a polycule with each other (hot take: polyamory would not have saved them). The fanart in that tag isn’t even that old either. People love this movie and they love him. (A shocking number of fanart posts depict Edgar hanging out with GLaDOs from Portal, HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and AM from the Harlan Ellison short story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. I have come to the conclusion that Tumblr really loves antagonistic machines).

Electric Dreams celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year (it came out on July 20th, 1984, so this post missed its birthday by eleven days). An unloved film in its time, but a lovably strange and beautifully sincere science fiction romance that remains a beloved cult classic to those who know about it. If you want to see the film for yourself, it’s on Youtube for free. I highly recommend it.

Jeff Lynne is also celebrating this year. At the time of this writing, he’s preparing to take his modern day version of Electric Light Orchestra on the road one more time before retiring for good (he’s calling it the Over and Out Tour, which I think is just a fantastic name). He’s definitely not going to play “Video!” but he’ll be playing every ELO banger in existence, of which there are many. If you’ve never seen the maestro present his music live, I highly recommend you catch him before it’s too late. I plan on going to one of the Philadelphia nights. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.

“Video!” and Electric Dreams are snapshots of a simpler time that dared to get a little silly and dream about a possible future. Some of its ideas about where technology was headed and our relationship to that technology were hauntingly accurate, some of it is hilariously outdated. Lynne’s visions of video and where video technology ended up being incredibly accurate in all the best ways. Video madness came upon us like a trance in the dark and because of that madness and the internet that houses all that madness, a movie that went completely unnoticed forty years ago can still exist and float out there today, waiting to be found. It wants to share with you what the world looked like during an interesting crossroads in time and it wants to show you what people thought the future might look like. Electric Dreams wants you to know that the future is strange, but it’s also bright and love can be found in the strangest of places if you know where to look. Don’t worry. It’s all under control and it’s all on video.

Electric Dreams sends its love to you. Send some of yours back to it.

#original post #ranting and raving #jeff lynne #electric light orchestra #electric dreams #electric dreams 1984 #Youtube

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