#very hilarious to say OG knows how to space out plot lines

[mooshkat]

um what tags are mean tho

im assuming you're talking about the poll nonsense?

all of the early tags on the post acting all confused abt LS having (at the time) been in the lead over OG. may not necessarily be rude but it's still fucking annoying to see lmao. the "im sorry what"s or "excuse me"s about it. god forbid someone like a different show lmao??

also these are particularly annoying:

you're just doing way too fucking much. nobody cares that much. it's a poll, not the end of the world.

i could go on and on about this shitshow of a tag but that would need its own post tbh. but like it'd be so easy to erase 80% of that and just say you're wrong and don't actually watch this show, because it's very obvious ♡

[badassbarmaid]

My initial thoughts on Rebirth.

Disclaimer: I shouldn't have to do this but I know how toxic the fandom has become in some ways, so know this is my opinion only, you don't have to agree or disagree, and I'm not here to say anyone who feels differently is less than. I'm just sharing my own thoughts as I process what I experienced playing through the game the first time.

I'm going to first go over what I loved about this game.

The world building. I was blown away with how large and complex each village/town/city was. Kalm, Corel, Costa Del Sol, Under Junon, Nibelheim...these were tiny little areas in the OG. I was in awe as we entered the spaces, got introduced to so many new characters and side stories, it was wonderful. This approach made me fall in love with Cosmo Canyon especially. This historical and regional intel quests have been amazing, too, in that it gives so much more inside into this universe. I'm still working through the side content to expand on this, but so far, I have been really enjoying the storytelling. Also - chocobo riding is SO FUN.

The characterizations. Just like in Remake, we get personalities for all the characters, main and NPC. Even for the glimpses we get of Cid and Vincent, I love how they are portrayed and make you already drawn into who they are and how they could fit into the story in part 3. This game made me really enjoy Yuffie and Cait Sith especially - characters I mostly ignored in the OG because I didn't like their personalities or gameplay mechanics. The smaller characters, from townsfolk in Nibelheim, other rebels in Junon, the GI tribe, or even the Black Robes...it's all so interesting and complex. I loved it. Getting the chance to see Myrna, Ifalna, Zangan, and even Tifa's father...peak narrative writing right there.

The relationship building among the main cast. I also loved how deep the primary relationships got among the characters. We see bestie scenes with Tifa and Aerith, bonding between Barret and Cloud, Nanaki and Aerith...it's all so real and deep and funny. The banter is hilarious, especially where Yuffie is involved or Cait Sith, but not obnoxious.

The additions to the battle system. I really like the synergy combinations. I thought that was a fun new mechanic and really makes you want to flesh out your parties. I also really like that they make you split off into different party combos throughout the story, which forces you to play with everyone but not so much that it hinders anything. Now as I am in post game, I'm really having fun swapping people in and out, unlike during the OG when I kept it to really only a core party.

The easter eggs to the OG. I loved the Fort Condor minigame/3D brawler nod to the polygon vibes. The hints to different areas of the OG game we haven't seen yet, the music choices, the direct lines. It's so evident that the developers wanted it feeling like we were going into our old stomping grounds, but with some new tweaks and twists, much like Remake. I'm going to enjoy seeing more as I do more of the sidequests.

The balance of the "romance". Of course we all know I am a cloti fan, but i think they did a good job balancing it all out throughout the game/ The first half is very Tifa heavy, the second half is more Aerith heavy, but it shows the complexities of these relationships and that they aren't cut and dry. Now, I will say though that it does seems to be tipped more in Tifa's favor, but I personally find that making more sense overall, but that's me. Independent of my own preferences, I think they did a good job not shoving one over the other in the main story.

I LOVED being able to play as Zack and have him and Cloud fight together, as brief as it was, because it was just so nice to see.

Okay, now onto the things I have concerns/qualms/issues with.

The pacing was rough at times. We would go through stretches of heavy, dense plot, to random long bouts of minigames. It was jarring at points in the story and seemed out of place besides Gold Saucer (Costa Del Sol, the moogle houses, the Queen's Blood game, etc. seemed odd). While I love minigames, it felt bloated. Clearly they needed filler in the game to make up for not doing the whole story plot.

It pulled a FF15 with plugging in characters and plot that required you to know the side stories like homework before playing. While I played Intergrade, I never played Ever Crisis/First Soldier so despite doing my research, I'm still confused over Glenn and that whole side plot. I felt for people who didn't play those games too, or if someone hadn't experienced Yuffie's DLC.

The ending was convoluted and confusing. It's evident that this game knew it was a middle child, so I knew there would be no resolution, but I am so confused by their narrative choices. The fusion of worlds? Aerith may be dead or may not be dead? Zack is still bouncing between realities? While I didn't know if I wanted Aerith killed off or saved, the fact that we don't have a committed decision on it and it's now vague...I don't like that.

The lack of reaction by characters to bizarre behavior. I know I wasn't the only one confused by the fact that Cloud would very obviously act out of character and folks seemed ignorant of it, beyond a few comments. He slaughtered people, spoke unlike himself, and nearly killed Tifa and Aerith, yet no one really bat an eye to it. On top of that, when Sephiroth did appear to more than just Cloud, folks didn't seem to react much at all to it. There were times in the last few chapters of the game that my partner (who watched me play) was very much like what the fuck?! It's one thing to have but muted in the OG because they had limitations...but this was just strange.

The buggy mechanics suck. I wish I could stick to chocobos; I hate navigating the buggy; the controls are just god awful for me. The load in and out time is long, it's hard to make turns or even stop, and I can never tell what terrain i can actually go on or not.

The puzzle mechanics also suck. I hated the sequence as Cait Sith in the ShinRa manor and the Temple of the Ancients. I felt like they were tedious or confusing and also bloated the story out too much.

Ultimately, I loved the game. I like the story choices, the music, the visuals, the exploration....as someone that has loved this story since I was 10 when it came out, I am very happy with it overall and will be replaying it a few times to catch everything I missed.

My partner said it best when he alluded that this has Nomura all over it. I hope the third game answers these questions and gives us a proper and committed resolution, whatever it may look like.

[sometimesiwritetoo]

Barret Wallace and the no good, very bad, ship war.

So I’ve seen a bit of shipping discourse that involves Barret Wallace because shipping discourse is a cannibalistic kind of discourse that tries to chew up and swallow everything I might like about a game. So, I decided to put my thoughts on a separate post rather than reply to people, because when you’re that far down the shipping rabbit hole ain’t nobody getting you out but you.

I’m not going to break this down by “sides” because, ultimately, I’ve seen various versions of these arguments floating around in the shipping space.

The first one I encountered was that it is racist for depicting Cloud as Marlene’s dad over Barret and erasing Barret’s character. Which I’d argue can be true. Cloud may certainly be an influence, but he hasn’t put in the leg work of taking care of Marlene in the same was as Barret has. He exists more as an extended family figure. Certainly shaping her and taking care of her, but he doesn’t have to put in the work to making sure she is taken care of or make any sort of sacrifices for her. He can opt out, she isn’t his kid. And he doesn’t have to worry about the big picture that is her education, health, or future. Ignoring that it is clearly Barret who is doing that work and not Cloud does erase Barret.

But SQEX did it first.

I don’t know why that point only seems to be brought up in shipping discourse, and not in general. And to be fair, I think it’s a little bit more complicated then the developers intentionally erasing him. Final Fantasy is in the international market, but they are still a Japanese developer. And depicting fathers as leaving their children in the care of someone else while they work is pretty standard and not really an indication of how loving that father is. Plus Advent Children reduced basically every character’s roles from Cid coming in at the end to Red XIII’s one line. Arguably the only one expanded was Vincent. So, I don’t think Square noticed the unfortunate implications of separating Marlene from Barret the way they did. Marlene, in the og, fills a similar role as Dajh from XIII. They don’t have much of a personality, instead they exist more as a plot device to explain why their parental figures do what they do. And this is fine, we don’t need character development from a 4 year old. But that does mean that her role in Advent Children could have been fulfilled by any child, it’s not like she knew or did anything in the og. So separating her from Barret the way that they did, and giving her more scenes with Cloud, wasn’t necessary. But I guess they already introduced an orphan and so another one would’ve been excessive or something I don’t know.

But what I do know, is that if fan’s depiction of these events is erasing Barret then so is SQEX’s depictions. Which, to be fair, I do think that they dropped the ball with Barret in Advent Children, and that inevitably means that many fans will follow suit. But I like to think they learned from it since then given how Dajh is always shown in relation to Sazh and the bigger emphasis on Barret’s relationship with Marlene in the remake. Despite that I do see a lot of content where Marlene seems to defer to Cloud like he’s her father, and I was hoping that would change after the remake. I can see Tifa being considered a mother-like figure given her personality and the fact that she’s been putting in a lot more work for much longer than Cloud has.

(Though, hilariously enough, I’ve seen people also make the argument that Barret and Tifa are terrible at taking care of Marlene and that Aerith is the only one who seems to care about her because, you know, Aerith has put all that time in making sure Marlene is fed and clothed outside of the one interaction these two have on screen in the remake. It’s almost as if Barret .)

Another thing I’ve seen is that Tifa and the other AVALANCHE members intentionally exclude Cloud from their get together and this is somehow an indication of how she is horrible. Which is hilariously erasing Barret and his influence on this scene. It wasn’t that Tifa intentionally excluded him from her friend group. It was that Barret is the leader of AVALANCHE, and thus has the right to kick out someone who is not a member from the party that AVALANCHE, the group he leads, is throwing. Tifa is his subordinate, and having her “stand up” for Cloud ignores the fact that Cloud is an adult who can do so himself. He intentionally antagonized Barret, whom he knew was the leader of this group.Tifa standing up to Barret would have been an indication to the audience that there is something wrong with Barret’s leadership or that he was out of line in his choices. Cloud is the one who repeatedly insulted Barret’s beliefs and antagonized him. Barret has every right to exclude Cloud given that this is his team. And Tifa has an obligation to be there because it’s a team she’s a part of. This is a Japanese game. If a character shows disrespect to a leader, or ducks out of a group party, then that is indication that said character is either immature or disrespectful or that there is a deep issue with the leader. Neither of which can be said is true for Tifa or Barret.

That scene is a lot of things, but it’s not about Cloud’s love life. It’s another scene to establish Cloud and Barret’s characters. It shows that Barret has these sets of beliefs and will retaliate if challenged on them, and that he is well respected by his group. And this scene, plus Cloud’s flashback, shows that Cloud has a history of antagonizing or distancing himself from others. At most the takeaway from this scene is that Tifa trusts Barret, and trusts that he asked Cloud to leave for a good reason. And that’s probably why she keeps reminding him to be nice throughout the next chapter.

There’s an actual story in this game. Other characters exist outside of this shipping war.

[therebloggerbird]

World of Warcraft Trailers RANKED

Because I’m incredibly bored and needed something to do. I played WoW briefly back during the Wrath era, and still like to keep up with what’s going on in that IP once a year or so. But I’ve always been really impressed with Blizzard’s cinematic trailers. So I have them ranked here, based on my personal preferences. Bit long under the cut, but I’ve still tried to keep things concise overall.

9. Mists of Pandaria

I almost feel like Mists of Pandaria gets a pass because in many ways it doesn’t feel like it “fits” with the others. Even the art style looks “off” to a degree. What’s with the strangely bara-looking characters? Overall it’s a pretty tight and decently crafted cinematic – Blizzard is very good at making these trailers even at their worst, as we’ll see – but it feels disconnected from the larger world. I can even overlook the whole kung fu panda concept to just say that the weirdly humorous and cartoony affect doesn’t seem to hit, even by the admittedly cartoony standards of the whole IP. Just kind of silly.

8. Shadowlands

“Icecrown.” This is where I wish I could review these in reverse, but I always like to count up rather than down in list reviews. Shadowlands is the culmination of a trend that can be seen from Legion through to the present in terms of Sylvanas Windrunner’s character progression. Right off the bat this trailer has a big setup – we’re returning to Icecrown Citadel, one of the most memorable and important locations in the entire series. While the full extent of her fall is not made clear until later, we can see that old Sylvia is clearly going the Garrosh Hellscream route of turning into a villain by popular demand. What follows is a very stupid action sequence. Is it cool looking? Of course it is, the budget on these things is ludicrous. It’s still stupid, however. Sylvanas might as well have dealt with the OG Lich King by herself, along with pretty much every other raid considering how untouchable she is in this showdown. More than that, the disrespect to Bolvar Fordragon, who I believe was never seen again after the end of Wrath, seems a bit harsh. The ending leaves more questions than it answers, and not entirely in a good way. The concept of the “Shadowlands” as given later doesn’t seem bad, but you’re telling me nobody thought to do this with the Crown beforehand? It’s a bit out of nowhere.

7. Battle for Azeroth

Battle for Azeroth’s cinematic trailer suffers from having come after the trailer for Legion. Legion’s trailer is incredibly over-the-top in a very endearing way, and BfA takes a step back from that. I get that it’s probably an homage to the early days of WoW, but considering how Legion showed how far the world had come in many ways, BfA seems kind of dull and same-y. Siege towers? Really? When you have legions of magical air-dreadnoughts? It also shows the ongoing negative trend with hero characters in the franchise. Nobody gives a damn how powerful the “main characters” are in a game about the PLAYERS going around and having adventures. And if they do, I’d still ask who on earth these stupid schmucks are who sign on to be a part of the Alliance and Horde line-infantry at the very least. Sylvanas shows off an early taste of what’s to come in terms of her decline, and Anduin is kind of a funny character to me. Look at this child they put in a set of Warhammer space marine armor. Who let him onto the battlefield? Hand over command to the werewolf and protect this poor kid!

6. Cataclysm

Cataclysm goes with a good trend you can trace back to the Burning Crusade in focusing on the villain. That’s good framing in an RPG. The problem for me at least is that Deathwing’s voice lacks something. He sounds like a bit of a dullard, and while his voice is deep it lacks resonance and sounds a bit tinny. Compared to the narrations in other trailers, it’s just not as good, even if it isn’t bad. The visuals are great, however, and the way we’re shown the world being destroyed clearly communicates a “the world will never be the same” vibe in a very direct and visceral way. Overall not a bad trailer, but just a bit basic and weaker when compared to the top performers.

5. Legion

I like this trailer the more I watch it, because to me it’s probably the purest distillation of what Warcraft actually is. Every character in this trailer looks like they could be a player, not a “protagonist” or an “NPC”. The dynamics between the big, crazy, chunky character models and the very cold and realistic lighting makes for an amazing image. I always wondered what the demand for a live-action Warcraft film was when they have cinematics that look like this. This trailer has some great action, balanced yet bombastic, and also features Infernals, which are always cool. As said before, the sheer scale of everything puts BfA to shame, yet it doesn’t feel as silly as something like Shadowlands. The biggest problem with this trailer is that Varian Wrynn’s voice just isn’t that impressive. He gives a great speech, for sure, but he still just sounds like “a guy” and doesn’t exactly have the pipes of a Menethil. The line “I’ve been slow to trust” as he sees Sylvanas come through the fog is pretty hilarious in retrospect.

4. Burning Crusade

You are not prepared! A classic, and many people’s favorite. Burning Crusade doesn’t really have a “plotline” within the actual trailer, but the visuals are all very cool nonetheless. Special mention goes to the draenei paladin, who looks amazing and whose motions seem to have so much more weight than anything else in the trailer. The rest of the clips are impressive, and there’s a bit of humor thrown in as well. Of course, the big showing is from Illidan, who gives a fantastic little speech brimming with tension and gravitas. I’d maybe consider #4 and #3 on this list tied in a lot of ways.

3. World of Warcraft

The vanilla cinematic trailer benefits from novelty and a good sense of focus. Opening narration (by who, I don’t know) provides us with everything we need to know about the state of the world and what we’re jumping into. The faux-Latin orchestral sting right afterwards makes for a stunning opening to the visuals, and we’re then treated to a very lasting impression of Warcraft’s aesthetics. All the action is good, with special mention to the Infernal summoning, and there are very few weak points in the trailer. There’s no “narrative” but one isn’t really needed, as we’re trying to sell people on exploring a world rather than investing in a plotline just yet.

2. Warlords of Draenor

Warlords of Draenor is an incredible cinematic adaptation of one of the most important bits of Warcraft backstory. The execution of this trailer is incredible, and again makes me question the necessity for an actual live-action film. We have big, baritone-voiced characters brimming with detail in a very tense and dark moment, followed by explosive action. Everything looks good. Grommash looks cool, Gul’dan looks sinister, and Mannoroth is absolutely fearsome. The dialogue is overblown and over-dramatic in the absolute best of ways, and is made better by every single character having voices that bottom-out the register. Mannoroth’s death is a little quick, but doesn’t really need to last that long, and all the musical and visual notes are beautifully synced. Even Garrosh gets a cool showing, and the trailer ends with a dramatic rise that is one of the best examples among all the trailers. The actual idea behind having an alternate-history timeline plot in Warcraft is a little wonky, but I feel like this trailer sells the idea better than the actual expansion did (from what I hear).

1.Wrath of the Lich King

The grandmaster, the pinnacle. “My son.” I am absolutely biased. Wrath of the Lich King is not just a great Warcraft trailer, its a great trailer by any standard. Intense narration that really builds up the scene coupled with a fantastic soprano opening to the trailer proper. This is another trailer that does a great one-scene bit, and is also similar to Legion in that it contrasts some very subdued visuals with some very over-the-top ones. You almost question whether or not this Dark Lord looking character is the villain, if you didn’t know the backstory of Arthas, with how soft the start of the trailer is. The consistent dynamic where his dead father will narrate some virtue, followed by the Lich King displaying the opposite is great. “Exercise restraint” with the summoning of the undead dragon Sindragosa, followed by “stirring the hearts of your people” with a shot of the undead horde is a great progression. And the trailer even manages to end with some heart-pumping intensity while still remaining very subdued. There’s a reason why, even when I’m not entertaining any feelings of nostalgia for Warcraft, I still go back and watch just this trailer. It’s a fantastic piece of art all on its own.

[wahbegan]

Oh Wait Now I Can Do a Proper Candyman Trailer Breakdown

I can analyze everything in the first trailer much better now, I think with the supplementary material provided by the puppet show and the other TV spot oh right i guess i should put this under a cut like I do cause i just know it’s gonna get long as balls all right

Opens with yeah recap of Candyman legend nothing really to see here

Not much in the bathroom scene either apart from it first introduces this Candyman’s shtick of only being visible in mirrors and shadows which is really neat...oh yeah also no the one Asian girl def chickens out after the 4th Candyman repetition so he literally only kills the white girls which i find personally hilarious. Speaking of hilarious....the girl with the buzz cut? Her character’s name is Boof. Ah, to be young again...anyway

There’s a lot of like...ochre and seafoam in this trailer, have you noticed? Like the bathroom, Candyman’s pants and coat idk i doubt it’s thematic it’s probably just an aesthetic choice but it’s interesting colors for a horror movie

“I feel really connected to this neighborhood” yeah as i mean everyone knows by now but Anthony was kidnapped by Candyman as a baby so it’s hard to tell how much of his fascination with the dark history of prettied-up Cabrini Green is just pretentious artsiness and how much is Candyman’s influence

Okay so the local ominous old kook here says something I find very fascinating when he tells him where he lives. Anthony said I just moved in around the corner, and OOK says “The old candy factory...” not next to the old candy factory or anything, just “the old candy factory”

Now we know from the puppet trailer that there’s a new character they’re introducing who is a black worker at a candy factory with a hook, but y’know like a real person hook that actual amputees get, maybe cause of a factory accident, i do not know, who was good natured and gave free candy to kids on his way home because y’know he works at a candy factory and some white cops saw, assumed he was a paedophile, chased him down to the bottom of the stairwell of presumably the building he lived in, and beat him to death

This character actually seems p important, in the new TV spot there’s a shot of a guy in a trenchcoat and seafoam pants in front of a building i THINK MIGHT be him, and a shot of some cops descending a stairwell, so I think we’re actually gonna see what happened to him, and I think he is going to be introduced as y’know a competing story to Daniel Robitaille’s, he’s MY BEST GUESS going to serve the function in the plot of revealing to the audience the idea presented in the puppet show trailer, that Candyman is more of an abstract entity or a floating moniker, it’s not necessarily bound by the identity of Daniel Robitaille

Anyway, i’m pretty sure by OOK’s comment here that the condos Anthony and Brianna live in are literally built on top of where the candy factory where that guy worked used to stand

Oh yeah just neat little shot of the graffiti of Candyman more as Clive Barker designed him fun reference

Bee stinging Anthony, more on that later, also notice he’s not just a painter, he’s a photographer as well because that becomes important

Oh yeah “he’s the monster that’s part of this neighborhood” is in all probability part of the same speech from the TV spot “Candyman ain’t a HE, he’s the whole damn hive. He’s the way we deal with the fact that these things happened. That they’re still happening.” Candyman I’m prob gonna make a whole post about this but his transformation from urban legend used to cope with random violence and urban decay in Clive Barker’s story to urban legend used to cope with racial violence seems complete in this movie, and I believe thematically the idea is the gentrified Cabrini and Anthony are under the delusion that this is a monster, a story of the past, and Candyman appears to...disabuse them of that notion. With a big fuck-off hook

We know from the TV spot the all-black portrait he’s working on in his apartment is Daniel Robitaille, and a damn good likeness of Tony Todd can I just say who the hell did these paintings they’re amazing anyway the one we see at the gallery of the man with the swollen face is I think the candy factory worker who was beaten to death. That guy i think is also the one who introduces the concept of the seafoam pants and ochre coat btw to Candyman’s wardrobe. Cause of that, he might be how Candyman appears when he kills the High School girls i do not know but that’s interesting, ain’t it? Candyman appearing in different ways to different people depending on the story they’ve heard

Oh the mirror opening to the space behind it must be a reference to the hole through Candyman’s mouth graffiti in the og i just got that that’s pretty sweet cool exhibition

When bearded guy in that god-awful Overlook Hotel carpet-looking button up shirt is saying Candyman, that movie that’s being projected in the background...I’m not sure which, but based on what little more we saw of it in the TV spot, pretty sure that’s footage of the lead-up to/possibly the actual act of the arrest or murder of one of Anthony’s Candyman subjects which is ahh....dark. I mean hell, he’s black, if anyone can do it he can but that feels a little tasteless Tony buddy

Anne-Marie is still obvs shaken up about Candyman, based on their two brief interactions in this trailer I’m assuming...well, cause he was a baby when it happened, he wouldn’t remember, i’m assuming she never told him about what happened to him and this is the first he’s hearing of it.

Candyman agrees with me that the movie was tasteless

Related to that Candyman becoming a monster of racial violence rather than urban blight thing, unlike the original movie, almost ALL of his victims in this are white, which is i mean yeah more on brand considering his origin story(ies)

Candyman appearing in the mirror and Anthony’s hand rotting from the bee sting yeah may as well talk about it here, it becomes obvious at several points through the trailer that the Candyman entity if you want to call it that is taking hold of Anthony

For a split second when he throws the glass, I think you can see his James Byrd, Jr. portrait in the background (with the exposed skull)

Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what’s happening to him as he paints but it SEEMS like he’s somehow experiencing the pain of his subjects

When he’s in his painting clothes covered in black paint seems to be mid-late in the movie when he’s kinda losing his shit yeah we see later the hook come out of a sleeve in the coat he’s wearing when he gets his hand sawed off (more on that in a sec) and the paint-splattered jeans so i’m pretty sure the painting clothes with the old fur-lined coat over it is gonna be HIS Candyman Transformation Chic

“He had a purpose for you, to be another one of his terrible stories.” This is completely shooting in the dark and it came to me late at night as I was falling asleep so I have no idea how stupid or crazy it may or may not sound, BUT if we accept Candyman as a recurring entity and his “terrible stories” as victims of racially motivated hate crimes, okay, hear me out. Remember how in the OG Candyman just kept framing Helen for everything? I wonder if Anthony’s story via Candyman was supposed to be “white woman harrassing Cabrini Green residents chops up woman’s dog, steals her baby, and puts him in a bonfire to be burned alive.” Like Anthony was supposed to be a what’s the word they use in the puppet trailer’s blurb “unwilling martyr”, a black baby boy burned alive by a white woman to keep the faith of his congregation going

I feel like that might be the old candy factory worker sawing Anthony’s hand off, anyway yeah he’s in a very Candyman coat, his hand infected presumably via bee sting is being sawed off, what I really love is that you can see that not only is his right hand getting amputated, he’s been blinded in his right eye. Now remember in Candyman’s original story, Daniel Robitaille had his hand sawed off not just so he could replace it with a sick-ass hook, but because that was his painting hand, that was the source of his talent and pride and wealth. Anthony, like I said, is a painter and a photographer. So Candyman takes his hand and his eye i just love that lil detail

I think that woman in the burned church with SWEETS TO THE SWEET on the wall might be Helen, who we know is in the movie and probably has a conversation with Brianna for plot purposes cause there’s a reaction shot of Brianna in the same church saying “this isn’t real”

Yeah that is absolutely definitely 100% Anthony killing that guy in the alley so yeah i guess there’s no question Candyman gets his ass but i feel like there’s more to it because well y’know they’re very open about it in the trailer number one in a way they’re usually not about the struggle the movie revolves around and as evidenced by him killing people the movie still clearly keeps going after he becomes Candyman so ???? i wonder what’s going on

There’s a brief shot of a little girl watching what looks like her dad jump out the window, I assume that’s Brianna seeing as how y’know a kid is credited as young Brianna and i think there was a character blurb mentioning her having a troubled past, so i feel like her dad’s suicide is obliquely related to Candyman in some way. It is worth noting he seems to jump out of some kind of painting studio

This little kid finding a corpse covered in blood and bees in the bathroom is, first of all, that’s only black person we see killed by Candyman, but also it just seems so disconnected from the rest of the plot and i can’t figure it out at all that I feel like this scene must be either a cold open or a stinger at the very end

[takerfoxx]

Gonna knock off some big ones here! The fav(s) of the day are...

BOBA FETT!

Okay guys, let’s get this out straight out of the gate. I grew up as a major Star Wars fan. My dad is an old-school sci-fi nerd and it really rubbed off on me. Classic science fiction was our bread and butter growing up, and the Star Wars movies were no exception. We must’ve watched those suckers a gazillion times.

And the expanded universe? Oh, I was all over that shit! And I mean the old stuff! The Truce at Bakura, the Heir to the Empire trilogy, the Kyp Durron trilogy, both the Han Solo and Lando Calrissian trilogies (there were a lot of trilogies), Darksaber, Planet of Twilight, Shadows of the Empire, The Courtship of Princess Leia, Young Han Solo, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, the Young Jedi Knight series, all of the Tales books, Galaxy of Fear, even less well regarded stuff like The Crystal Star. All that and more filled my bookshelves.

But like many young Star Wars fans, my boy was the guy that got like four lines of dialogue and quickly gets killed off in the first half of the third film.

It’s hard to really articulate what made Boba Fett so appealing. I think it’s part of the air of mystery around him. In Empire, he strides in with a totally badass design, is the guy to track down and capture the heroes, backtalks Darth Vader and gets away with it, and escapes with one of the main characters in tow. I guess that caused people to become intrigued by him and want to see what he would do in the last film. And sure enough, he shows up looking all cool and mysterious, flies into a direct confrontation with both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, seems to get the upper hand...and is summarily dispatched by a fluke accident.

Lame.

So I guess many who would become Star Wars writers were, like myself, let down by this, and sought to “correct” this by giving ol’ Boba his own mythos, complex history, cast of closely-related characters, and make it so that he escaped the damn worm and would go on to cross paths with the heroes in every obligatory “The one with Boba Fett!” entry in every long-running Star Wars book series ever.

And boy, did I eat it up!

The Bounty Hunter Wars! An entry in both Tales From the Bounty Hunters and Tales From Jabba’s Palace! Endless comics! The aforementioned obligatory Boba Fett books! All of this created a character that became almost revered by the fandom, who cast a shadow over the whole multi-verse. I bought the books, played with the toys, and even wrote a short little Boba Fett story in sixth grade. I mean, this guy was just cool.

Needless to say, I’m not the Star Wars fan I once was. I mean, the only one of these movies since RotJ that I’ve actually liked is also one of the least popular, so that’s a thing. Hell, I was debating putting up a Star Wars entry to begin with. But man, even if I’m not all that into Star Wars anymore, it can’t be denied that for a time it reigned supreme, and Boba Fett was, in my world, the king.

(Though lowkey, it was kind of hilarious watching writers try to reconcile the already established Boba Fett origin with the one created by the prequels after Attack of the Clones dropped)

He’s no good to me dead.

Also...

DARTH REVAN!

So I went from almost not doing a Star Wars entry to doing one with multiple characters. Yeah, go figure.

All right. So, Knights of the Old Republic is probably my last great foray into Star Wars before sort of slipping out of the fandom. It was recommended to me by a work friend, so I popped over to EB Games (remember them?), grabbed up a used copy, popped it into my X-Box, and...

I think I averaged about eight hours a day on those games. Each of them.

It was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had, a wholly new Star Wars story taking place centuries before the films (and yet somehow still having the same technology level) that features none of the classic characters, but still felt very much Star Wars, but also its own thing: a sprawling space adventure as you, the apprentice Jedi, joins up with a ragtag group of companions and travel the galaxy trying to thwart a rogue Sith Lord from finding some long lost superweapon. The worlds you visit! The characters you meet! The quests, the leveling, the force powers, the plot, everything was just so fresh and so cool!

And then you get to the twist, a twist that is now notorious for being one of the best twists in gaming history: finding out that you aren’t just some new Jedi rising up to stop a Sith Lord: you are actually DARTH MOTHERFUCKING REVAN, the Sith Lord that was the master of the current Sith Lord, long thought dead but had actually been captured, mind-wiped and reprogrammed by the Jedi! What do you do with this new information? Well, that’s up to you!

Needless to say, when this was revealed in the game, I started screaming, and screaming loudly. What a twist! What a game-changer! 

Now granted, being the PC of an RPG means that Revan’s personality was decided by the player’s choices, so he didn’t get much of a canon personality of his own, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he’s the centerpoint of one of the coolest pieces of the Star Wars EU that there is, and that’s worth a lot in my opinion.

Also, Bastila was bae, just sayin’. Sort of a proto-Serana, if you ask me.

(note: yes, I know about his role in SWTOR and don’t care for it. No, I haven’t read the novels yet, but I do intend to)

Honor is a fool's prize. Glory is of no use to the dead.

And finally...

GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!

The Heir to the Empire is the granddaddy of the OG Expanded Universe. I mean, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye technically came first, but no one remembers that. No, it was all about Timothy Zahn’s epic follow-up to the original Star Wars trilogy, which set the gold standard for the series for years to come and also introduced several of its most iconic characters. Mara Jade? She came from here. Talon Kardde? Also here.

And then you have the trilogy’s centerpiece, Grand Admiral Thrawn.

It’s sort of interesting how iconic Thrawn has become as a Star Wars villain, given how different he is from all of them. I mean, he’s not a Sith. Hell, he’s not force sensitive at all. He’s a military officer, in a series where they tend to be treated as expendable underlings. But through actually using his brain, studying his opponents’ strategies and cultures, making use of the resources available to him, and actually being fair to his subordinates, he’s gone on to almost rival Darth Vader in popularity in some circles. A brilliant tactician who managed to (mostly) overcome the Empire’s prejudice against non-humans through sheer efficiency, he came incredibly close to bringing the New Republic to its knees simply by outplaying them at every turn. His knack for figuring out his opponents’ thought process simply through studying their cultures’ works of art was inspired, and those who tried to outsmart him often came to regret it. What was more, he also was surprisingly honorable, having a strict moral code. He simply believed that the Empire was the best way to run things, and acted accordingly. Though don’t let that fool you into thinking that he wasn’t just as ruthless as anyone else in the Empire. He was just smarter than most about it.

While there was admittedly a lot of crap in the EU that Disney was wise to get rid of, losing characters like Thrawn was a major blow, which was why it was so awesome to see him return in the Rebels tv show. I literally have seen videos of grown men crying with joy just through watching his reveal trailer. And while I don’t have the time or means to watch Rebels for myself, I do want to give it a go sometime in the future, and Thrawn is a big part of that.

But it was so artistically done.

[twtrv]

an accurate guide about red velvet

So since so many people are getting into Red Velvet recently, I decided to make a guide to help them out. You know, give yall some slack because learning five names is super hard. A guide accompanied by my half-assed jokes, interesting. 

PSA: If you’re only here to stan the girls because of their recent comebacks like Peek-A-Boo and Bad Boy and are going to drop them as soon as they release tracks similar to Dumb Dumb and Ice Cream Cake, leave because we don’t want you here.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get straight to business (TO DEFEAT THE HUNS WHY DID THEY SEND ME DAUGHTERS WHEN I ASKED FOR SONS)

Basic Facts

Red Velvet is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2014.

There are five members (OT4 stans can choke).

They debuted on August 1st in 2014 with a single called “Happiness”.

Fandom name is Reveluv. Since “rêve” means “dream” in French, the meaning behind the fandom name is that us, Reveluvs, make their dreams come true and Red Velvet gives us their immense love in return, thus the “luv” part. Sometimes they also call us “Luvies”.

Official fandom colour is pastel coral and not red because l o g i c

The fact that they were formed by SM Entertainment doesn’t mean they got a free ride to the top so sit your entitled asses down, thanks.

Now, you see, they weren’t actually supposed to debut in 2014. I bet you must be confused but don’t worry, it is I, your trusty homie, that is gonna help you realize how many similarities every student has with SM lmao plus the reason for their early debut.

2014 was a rough year for our buddy Lee Soo Man. Jessica left Girl’s Generation; Sulli left f(x); Kris, Tao and Luhan left EXO... This, of course, caused a goddamn World War III amongst the fans of the respective groups. They were about to go in front of the official SM building with torches and pitchforks to demand SM to step up their game. To calm the situation down, our amigo SM must have thought: “Welp I sure fucked up. How the hell do I fix this? Wait, I have an idea! Let’s debut another girl group to cover up all the shit that has been piling up for years now!” 

And your boi gone and did it. He basically debuted another group despite the number of problems he had to deal with already. This is every student ever, just make another problem to cover up the first one.

Red Velvet debuted with four members; Irene, Seulgi, Wendy and Joy. The “Happiness” music video got 2 million views in a day and was the most viewed kpop music video for the month of August in 2014. See, the queens already breaking records.

However, the original version of “Happiness” was full of controversial topics such as 9/11 being the most prominent one. This caused such hate to the girls that everyone started calling them “flops”. Lmao Red Velvet stays unbothered as the kpop act with the most Billboard charted albums bYE.

Some of you still may be wondering what the hell happened with Yeri. Well, because their debut was rushed and due to her age, Yeri, unfortunately, couldn’t debut with them. When Red Velvet debuted, Yeri was 15 years old so basically a child. 

“bUt jiSUnG fROM ncT DreAM dEBuTed wHeN hE WAs onlY FoUrteEn”

Before, there was a law which stated that kids under the age of 16 couldn’t debut.

No need to worry fellow Yeri stans! Red Velvet only released another single called “Be Natural” before Yeri was officially added. The single featured NCT’s Taeyong on it too so if you are one of those fangirls, better go and check it out because your oppar is there + it is an underrated bop.

Yeri was added to the group during Ice Cream Cake era! Of course, many people hated her, acting as if Red Velvet released so many songs and solved world hunger without Yeri. Um, bitch they had two songs take a seat.

Discography and music in general lol

IT IS GOLD!1!!!!111!!

Okay listen, every single song of theirs makes me thot-drop in the middle of the goddamn school. Jesus Christ sunbaenim is shaking.

Albums:  Ice Cream Cake, The Red, The Velvet, Russian Roulette, Rookie, The Red Summer, Perfect Velvet, The Perfect Red Velvet.

Queens of naming their albums don’t even @ me.

Listen to every single song if you want to cure your depression, clear your skin, feed your children and harvest your crops. Seriously, all of their b-sides are so amazing and such bops they are worth a listen and you, as a person who chose to stan Red Velvet, deserve to have your ears cleansed.

Another topic that I want to bring up is “the red concept” and “the velvet concept”. It is not complicated. Basically what it means is that they split their concepts into two. The red concepts are more upbeat, catchy and poppy songs such as Dumb Dumb, Rookie, Russian Roulette etc. However, the velvet concept is where they show their mature, more serious ballads. Songs that represent the velvet side are Automatic, One of These Nights, Peek-A-Boo etc.

They filmed 13 music videos so you are going to get attacked by visuals 13 times, good luck.

The members 

The most interesting and fun part of this guide to be honest. So yeah, five members and five completely different personalities. Trust me, you’re gonna love every single one of these girls because they all have such amazing personalities and are extremely funny. Get abroad the homo express!

- Stage name: Irene

- Real name: Bae Joohyun

- Colour: Pink

- Position: Leader, Visual, Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Vocal

- She really is a bae tho we love a powerful woman

- Born on March 29th, 1991; the eldest

- She literally looks five what the fuck

- tiny

- Takes pictures of everyone and everything so that she can stare at them while she does the laundry because she is such a mom

- “Shut the fuck up I am not a mom”

- A GODDESS PLUS TOP VISUAL OF THIS GENERATION NO PRINTER JUST FAX

- loves pussy

- Drinks men tears to stay hydrated

- Forgets names of her kids aka the rest of Red Velvet

- Snorts laundry detergent

- Talk shit get hit

- Silent but plotting world domination with her at the top

- Speaking of tops, she doms bYE

- She survived the World War II and was Stalin's deskmate when they were in the third grade

- xXButtLoverXx

- Likes winning. Who got to the finish line first? Her. Who travelled to space first? Her. Who found the cure for world hunger? Her.

- Actually very talented in everything she does and is a blessing to humanity

- Stage name: Seulgi

- Real name: Kang Seulgi

- Colour: Orange

- Position: Main Dancer, Lead Vocal

- Either as fluffy as a teddy bear or a fucking sex God there is no in between

- Born on February 10th, 1994; second eldest

- hER EYES MAKE ME QUESTION MY SEXUALITY

- She, in general, makes me question my sexuality

- also tiny

- “Hello I am the 71st prettiest face in the world”

- First half of the “DD” also known as “Dumbass Duo”

- Someone help her she is lost in time and space

- The type of person to put a red sock to wash with the whites

- Is not capable of doing the splits because she dumb lmao

- How the fuck is one this confused???

- Gets bullied by her members a lot

- A sunshine in human form. You know that sun from the Teletubbies? That be Seulgi

- Her abs make me feel like Kylie Jenner, y’know... pregnant

- “If there’s no food I’m going home”

- THE number one fan of Beyonce™

- Pringles advocate

- She didn’t train for 7 years to have people shit talking her because she is multitalented and leaves people all around the world shooketh

- Stage name: Wendy

- Real name: Son Seungwan

- Colour: Blue

- Position: Main Vocal, English speaker

- Is also a HELLA good rapper

- Born on February 21st, 1994; third eldest

- Used to live in Toronto when she was younger, her English proceeds to give everyone a boner

- the tiniest out of all

- The kpop singer with the widest vocal range (this is an actual fact)

- “S H I N E  O N  M E”

- So caring it makes me bawl. She literally cooks for everyone and is so supportive it is truly beautiful

- Is actually the one behind the iconic “PARK SOOYOUNG! WHEN YOU SMILE I SMILE TOO”

- If she ever covers your song, you can say goodbye to it because it’s hers now

- A soccer mom

- Also that famous Kris Jenner “You’re doing amazing sweetie” meme

- Rescue her scalp someone pls

- Probably used “WHOMST” once in her lifetime unironically

- The gayest out of all the gays

- She is a boob person and also has a very nice butt Irene knows

- Once stacked a gazillion hats on top of her head because why the fuck not

- Is also a sexy pornstar ... no wait, I meant a “saxophonist”

- Is so beautiful and deserves all the love in this entire world but the world doesn’t deserve her at all 

- Stage name: Joy

- Real name: Park Sooyoung

- Colour: Green

- Position: Lead Rapper, Lead Vocal, Mood-maker

- + an actress

- Born on September 3rd, 1996: fourth eldest

- Invented “cute” and “sexy” don’t fight me on this

- TALL (for a Red Velvet member lmfao)

- Has the prettiest profile, God took extra time in crafting such a masterpiece

- Speaking of God... God is real and in a form of Park Sooyoung

- Likes finer things in life such as herself

- If the song “Me Too” was a human, it would be her

- Ruthless

- When she gets scared her soul deadass leaves her body and it is hilarious

- A dramatic bitch

- HAS THE BEST BODY SORRY YALL CAN’T COMPETE

- Can get very angery

- Probably was kinkshamed by someone once

- Is having a mental breakdown at every waking moment

- “Can you stop I’m very sensitive”

- Tom to Yeri’s Jerry

- Just the most amazing human being, an all-rounder and a happy virus

- Stage name: Yeri

- Real name: Kim Yerim

- Colour: Purple

- Position: Maknae, Lead Rapper, Sub Dancer, Vocal, Songwriter

- Is being an absolute savage a talent?

- Born on March 5th, 1999; the youngest

- The other half of the “Dumbass Duo”

- So much sass is contained in this tiny human being

- Plans to take over SM soon one day

- HAS THE MOST CONTAGIOUS LAUGH IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE AND IT IS SO GENUINE I LOVE IT

- Likes pineapple on pizza cancelled

- The OG Sone

- A mess

-  (ง •̀_•́)ง

- Not a big spoon nor a little spoon, she a knife

- Tries her best

- Knows everyone and everything; what a social butterfly it warms my heart

- Likes to read smut so all of you smut fanfiction writers, watch out, she is lurking

- SPEAKING OF LURKING

- She lowkey had a fan account that was all about Girl’s Generation

- A woman we all aspire to be

- Is an actual cinnamon roll that yes, could kill you but everyone loves her because she really improved a lot. WE WATCHED HER GROW UP INTO A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN SHE IS NOW B L E S S

Popular ships, let’s play a game where you guess which two people are paired up (not like it is completely obvious)

SEULRENE 

WENRENE

WENSEUL

JOYRI

YERENE

JOYGI

JOYDY

WENRI

SEULRI

Ending note

On a more serious note, Red Velvet is an amazing girl group that deserves so much more. I hope this at least got you to check them out. If not, your loss lol.

I could use a fuckton adjectives to describe their perfection but trust me, that ain’t enough.

Anyways, OT4 stans can fuck off, don’t comment on this post.

Just love all the girls and don’t point out their insecurities in a rude way mmkay?

This is all from me and I hope you enjoyed and that this helped you and maybe made you chuckle (maybe?)

If there is another question that you want me to answer, ask me because I would love to.

P.S. It doesn’t have to be Red Velvet related because I am trash that stans more groups than the number of bad jokes I made in this post.

Follow for more quality top-notch content.

[nebulawriter]

Voltron Season 2

Overall, I am VERY VERY HAPPY with this and eagerly look forward to Season 3, but in the meantime, will enjoy what we have and look forward to making fanfictions with all this!

Because Voltron is so character heavy, we’ll divide this by characters and groups. 

Main Cast, from least fave in the season to most:

Hunk--I am very disappointed with the way Hunk was portrayed this season. It was my biggest issue with the season as a whole. The Hunk we got in the first season was a mechanical GENIUS, had a great sense of humor, and was a true and loyal friend who, yes, had a passion for good food. In the second season, it felt like he was reduced to food. That was his only characterization. Any time they needed a joke from hunk it was about how he was thinking of space tacos or calzones or how he farted and vomited a lot. This was most apparent #1 in episode 4, where I understand it was supposed to be a pidge-centric episode, but you can’t tell me Hunk wouldn’t be just as enthralled with the amazing machines of the Omikari (am I spelling that right? IDK) and #2 in episode 7 Space Mall, where Hunk took over as chef instead of, I dunno, FIXING THE ROBOT. Don’t tell me he couldn’t. Oh, Also, Why was he being so MEAN to Keith in The Belly of the Weblum? Like, I get his being a Galra would make him awkward, but some of his lines were...well, really mean. That’s not really Hunk’s style. 

Lance--not AS disappointed, but I feel like more could have been done with just a couple switches. Most importantly in Escape from Beta Traz, which was kinda like ‘his episode’ I felt that it was less his insecurities about himself (which were definitely there) and more about how his friends see him? What with the way he got that way when Pidge insulted him, and...I mean, I GUESS that was resolved with Shiro complimenting him, but. I was going for something deeper, I think. Some kind of raw emotion. I wanted them to make Lance cry is what I’m saying. 

Coran--is an amazing, amazing character though I wish he would get some of his own juicy screen time. But hilarious, absolutely hilarious. 

Allura--I liked the way they dealt with her coming to terms with Keith. I sorta wish Coran or Shiro called her out for it, but it made sense. I know people are going to bully her and say she was racist (I’ve already seen it) and yeah, it was wrong of her to lump Keith in with the other Galra, no question, but...her people were literally genocided. I don’t know if thats a word, but. All of them. ALL her people. And she’s still young, so she doesn’t know how to handle it all well, but she did eventually come around. So, I’m satisfied. I wish we got to see her kick some more ass on the Balmera, but what we got was acceptable. 

Pidge--I am satisfied with Pidge’s character here. They were funny, smart, got to come into their own a bit. Vines are a...weird power to have, but okay. Could be worse. And she has another hint at where her brother might be! I look forward to this. OH! and if you’ve noticed the pronoun shift I have firmly adapted to nonbinary pidge canon, primarily for the bathrooms. Like. Choosing between the two felt like a strong hint towards Pidge being unsure which gender they fit under. So, I think they might still be coming to terms with that, but. Thats where I am with that. 

Shiro--Where art thou????? But really, this was some good characterization for Shiro, between settling in as the Black Paladin, dealing with Keith, dealing with the Blade of Marmora...just in general real good. And we got to see some paladin backstory through the eyes of the black lion! I wonder if they’re ALL made of that asteroid stuff, or just Black. I think this was very important, as last season he seemed unsure if he was ‘worthy’ of Black, so to see him fight for Black was nice. 

Keith--is it any surprise Keith had my fave development this season? Mostly because he had the MOST development this season? I think it was all handled very nicely, very in character, and while on one hand I’m sad to see it may have taken time out from some other character’s development, I coulda used even more. I don’t appreciate as much the writers dangling Keith and Shiro’s backstory over our heads, but I want to know what it IS. Also, I truly believe that the stranger in the Weblum is his mother. I’ve seen theories that state it was Lotor, but I disagree. First off, I don’t think Lotor could have been missing that long, and also, why would he be wearing ORANGE armor and not the traditional red or grey? Second, I know Keith called the stranger ‘he’ but thats because the kid was raised in a patriarchal society and assumed things. Personally, the way the character was standing in certain shots felt more like a woman’s stance (thinking in terms purely of character design and animation) and so, that is my theory. Also the shack was where he lived with his dad???? I was surprised by that, I had assumed he found it after he got booted from the Garrison so he could search for Blue, but. Hmm. HMMMM.

Others:

Villains--I was glad to see a seed of tension between Haggar and Zarkon, that felt more interesting to me storywise than the both of them going “mwahahaha we will soon have them.” Also, is Zarkon fucking dead? I’ll have to rewatch. Oh yeah, and Haggar’s an Altean. Who knew? I swear, though, if those theories I saw about her being Allura’s mother are true I QUIT. Honestly, looking at the OG design for Prince Lotor, I might not be surprised if he’s the son of Zarkon and Haggar (not that I want to think about THAT relationship (shiver)). So, we’ll see, I look forward to seeing Lotor’s design+Character. 

The Blade of Marmora--I was sad about Thace and....that other guy....but not as much as I maybe should have. IDK they were an interesting plot device? Also, are there any women Galra? Like, I suspect Keith’s mom, but....you couldn’t have thrown in some lady villains or rebels or something? Please?

Omikiri: They were a fun race. I wish we got to see more of the slave who was working for the King? He seemed interesting. But otherwise, cool, helpful people are helpful. 

Slav.--Uh. Hm. I want to know who voiced him. Its just. With the accent it felt like they were trying to do a stereotype, and a fairly offensive one at that. Maybe thats just me, and actually Indian people can say that its not stereotypical to have a character with an accent, which...is true but...hmm. I felt uneasy. Its just weird with so many diverse characters in the cast that this is what they try to do. Outside the accent, though, it was funny seeing a character test Shiro’s seemingly limitless patience. 

Other others--Shay was there! didn’t expect that. Varkon the mall cop was glorious (was that Al Yankovic? I know he was supposed to be in this season and that felt like the most him character, but its hard to tell sometimes) The various Galra mini-bosses were funny in a pathetic kinda way, though I liked the Yupper. The mermaids were a thing, we didn’t get to see much of them outside brain control, but they were interesting. 

IDK what else to say...Like I said, I look forward to season 3 and also the fanworks that are created in the intervening time. 

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 1 Easter Eggs and References

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for “Second Contact.”

Individual episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks will only be about 30-minutes, sometimes a little bit less. But don’t let that fool you. This series has Trekkie Easter eggs the way the Deep Space Station K-7 has Tribbles. Just when you think you’ve found the last one, there’s another one. The new animated comedy series is clearly lovingly crafted with the fans in mind, and showrunner Mike McMahan has slipped in more than just a few loving nods to the giant Trek canon. 

Because Lower Decks is so meta and self-referential, it’s very possible we didn’t catch everything. But, just like Mariner and her buds, we tried to be scrappy underdogs and do our own research. So, at the risk of being wrong, here’s (probably) every Easter egg and reference we spotted in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 1, “Second Contact.”

The classic Spacedock

The opening shot of Lower Decks shows us a style of Spacedock that should be very familiar to longtime fans. Though this exact Spacedock is not supposed to be the same one that is in orbit of Earth, it looks identical to that specific design of space station. First seen in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, this style of Spacedock would reappear in stock footage for several episodes of The Next Generation and was referenced in the Voyager episode “Non Sequitur.” In the Discovery Season 1 finale, “Will You Take My Hand?” we saw the classic Spacedock under construction above Earth, but it’s been a very long time since we’ve seen this exact design in canon.

Romulan whiskey

This one you know. Mariner is drunk on Romulan Whiskey, which seems to be as potent — if not more potent — than Romulan Ale. Starting with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Romulan Ale had a reputation for getting you so drunk that it was made illegal. Boimler suggest that Romulan Whiskey is “against regulations,” which is close enough. But, Mariner’s comment that “you’d think it would be green,” might reference all the green Romulan ships, but could also be a reference to Scotty getting drunk in the TOS episode “By Any Other Name.” In that episode, when Scotty found a bottle of booze he couldn’t identify, he just said: “It’s green.”

Mariner swings a TNG-era bat’leth

Like the old-school Spacedock, it’s actually been a while since we’ve seen the classic version of the bat’leth. First appearing in the TNG 4th season episode “Reunion,” this curved sword became a staple of Klingon culture throughout the franchise. And though we’ve seen bat’leths in both seasons of Discovery, and in the film Star Trek Into Darkness, it’s actually not been since the Voyager era that we’ve seen this classic design. 

Klingon with an eyepatch

Mariner says she got her bat’leth from an “Old Guy with an eyepatch.” While this could be a random reference, most fans probably think of the Klingon General Chang, from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Chang, of course, is dead (maybe?) so Mariner can’t be talking about him. General Martok from Deep Space Nine has one eye, so maybe it’s him?

Black hole is from Discovery (and real science)

The opening title sequence of Lower Decks obviously pays homage to the openings of both TNG and Voyager, but that yellow oval-looking spatial disturbance is actually a black hole. In fact, this is how an illusionary black hole looked in the Discovery episode, “If Memory Serves.” The design of this black hole is based on physicist Kip Thorne’s conception of black hole, and the design was first seen in a big sci-fi production in the 2014 movie Interstellar.  

The USS Cerritos pulls a Voyager 

The moment where the Cerritos skims the surface of an icy planet is very reminiscent of the opening of Voyager. The difference here is that Voyager didn’t actually scrape the ship on the planet.

Space creature is a TNG shout-out

When we see that there’s a little (actually huge!) space critter attached to the back of the Cerritos’ warp nacelles, this feels like a reference to the TNG episode “Galaxy’s Child,” in which a space bourne lifeform attaches itself to the Enterprise because it thinks the starship is its mother. 

TNG era font and the name of the episode actually listened in the credits

The blue font is instantly recognizable to most fans as the exact same kind used throughout TNG. But, on top of that, this is the first new Star Trek series since Enterprise to actually put the name of the episode in quotes, and in the on-screen credits. Other than Short Treks, none of the post-Enterprise Trek series have shown the name of the episodes in the opening credits.

Shuttlecraft names reference DS9 and the name of the Cerritos itself

All the shuttlecraft on the Cerritos appear to named after forests in California. We see shuttlecraft with the following names: Redwood, Yosemite, and Joshua Tree. The Cerritos itself is named for the city in California of the same name. Later in the episode, we see that Captain Freeman has the state flag of California in her Ready Room. And, naming small spacecraft after locations comes from a solid Trek tradition: In Deep Space Nine all the runabouts were named for rivers on Earth; i.e the Ganges, Orinoco, and Yangtze Kiang.

Several classic Trek aliens are seen throughout the ship

When Tendi arrives on the Cerritos, we see crewmembers who are Benzite, Andorian, and possibly a Napean. That last one might not be familiar, but there was a Napean named Daniel Kwan who was central to the plot of the TNG episode “Eye of the Beholder.” The Benzites first appeared on TNG in “Coming of Age,” and the Anodrians first appeared on TOS in “Journey to Babel.” And, of course, Tendi is an Orion, who first appeared in “The Cage.”

At least two crewmembers are rocking VISORS

When Tendi first boards the Cerritos we see a crewmember wearing a VISOR just like Geordi’s from TNG. Later in the episode, we see a second, different crewmember also wearing a VISOR.

“Banana, hot”

The replicator malfunction, which is causing it to spit out bananas, seems to reference Picard ordering “Tea, Earl Grey. Hot” in The Next Generation.  

“We don’t wash our hands”

Mariner jokes that the ensigns in the “lower decks” “don’t wash our hands…we’re doing kickflips.” This might be a reference to the TOS episode “The Naked Time,” in which a “redshirt” crewmember fails to follow correct decontamination protocols, and, as a result, the entire crew is infected with a virus. So, Mariner’s line could reference both “The Naked Time,” and the rest of the episode, since the entire plot revolves around the ship getting infected by a zombie virus, partially because Commander Ransom didn’t really pay attention to a bug that bit him.

Pattern buffers and Cetacean ops

While Mariner gives Tendi a full tour of the ship, she mentions several things that should be familiar to fans. The “pattern buffer maintenance access,” is connected to how the transporter works. For example, in the TNG episode “Relics,” Scotty was discovered inside of a pattern buffer from a crashed starship. 

But, the more hilarious super deep cut here is the phrase “Cetacean ops.” This was heard over the intercom in the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” but in the episode “The Perfect Mate,” it was also mentioned that there were dolphins on the Enterprise. 

“We sleep in a hallway.”

Mariner points out that the ensigns on the Cerritos don’t have their own quarters, and basically sleep in a row of bunks in a long hallway. While this may seem spartan for the swanky 24th century, there is a precedent for this. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, we saw several young crew members sleeping in bunks in what looked like a hallway.

Sonic showers

Boimler mentions that the showers are musty, which shouldn’t make sense since they are “sonic.” The idea that the showers on Starfleet ships use “sonic showers” has existed since Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in which the V’Ger probe transformed into Ilia in a sonic shower.

Boimler appears to reference… Anakin Skywalker?

When Tendi, Boimler, and Mariner are on the beach in the holodeck, Boimler complains that sand “just gets everywhere and gives you a rash.” The idea that sand “gets everywhere” feels like a reference to the infamous Anakin Skywalker speech in Attack of the Clones in which he said “I don’t like sand. It’s rough and coarse, and it gets everywhere.” Is Star Trek clowning on the Star Wars prequels? 

Freeman’s secret assignment to Boimler is a wink to the OG “Lower Decks”

When Freeman pulls Boimler into her Ready Room to give him a secret assignment, it seems to reference the original TNG episode “Lower Decks” in which Picard gives Ensign Sito a secret assignment in much the same way. The difference, of course, is that Picard wasn’t asking Sito to spy on another crew member.

Freeman stole a hat from… Chris Pine?

In addition to the flag of California in Freeman’s Ready Room, she also has a sword, and what looks like one of the officer caps worn by members of Starfleet in the reboot movies. Did those hats exist in this timeline, too? 

Picard’s favorite ride is back

Previously spotted on a map of the ship, it appears that the Cerritos carries several versions of the “Argo” land vehicles driven by Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis. In that film (which takes place just one year prior to Lower Decks) the Argo seemed to be a new addition to Starfleet ships. So, by 2380, it seems like they’re fairly common. Either that or the Enterprise got theirs late?

Starfleet regulations

Boimler references regulations 498 and 756. Meanwhile, Mariner counters by alluding to regulations 25, 15, and 348. She also says Boimler is breaking “76 for just pointing that at me!”

As far as we can tell, all of these regulations have never been referenced in Trek canon before. We could be wrong, but it really seems that way.

“I was here for First Contact”

Mariner reveals that the reason she’s aware of the plight of some of the farmer aliens is because she was on the planet for the first contact, a year prior. This is kind of like in “A Private Little War,” when Kirk is familiar with the inhabitants of the planet Neural, having previously visited the planet during a scouting mission, years prior.

Klingon prison

Mariner says she’s “been in a Klingon prison where I had to fight a yeti for my own shoes!” This seems to reference the Klingon prison Rura Penthe, made famous in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In that movie, Kirk had to fight a giant blue alien who wanted his coat.

General Order 5 

This also does not seem to be one of Starfleet’s rules that we’re already aware of. That said,in the TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder,” General Order 4 says Starfleet “forbids the death penalty.” But then again, General Order 7, says you can get the death penalty if you go to Talos IV, as we learned in “The Menagerie.” So, maybe General Order 5 has something to do with punishments? 

First Contact-style spacewalk

When Rutherford and Ensign Barnes take their date outside, their entire journey along the saucer section of the ship’s hull is a direct reference to the film Star Trek: First Contact. This is only appropriate since the episode is called “Second Contact.”

“I’m a believer”

Barnes mentions she’s really into a “classical band” called the Monkees. This, obviously, references the band the Monkees, but the idea that pop or rock music would be called “classical” kind of derives from Star Trek Beyond when Bones asks if the Beastie Boys is “classical music.” And, beyond that, the Monkees reference could be an indirect reference to the character of Chekov in TOS, who was accused on more than one occasion, of having a haircut styled to look like the Monkees. (Who were ripping off the Beatles.)

“Why didn’t the door recognize our com badges?”

Rutherford has a full freak-out over the fact that the automatic doors did not let he and Barnes into a specific area. He also mentions that it seems like the doors have a one 1 in 4 chance of even opening properly. This seems like a giant joke connected to the fact that throughout the entire canon of Trek, the doors never seem to open consistently or with any kind of consistent rules. 

Mirror Spock

For one instant, a Vulcan crewmember on the Cerritos is covered with black goo from the space zombies. This gives him the brief appearance of having a goatee like Spock from the Mirror Universe in the classic TOS episode “Mirror, Mirror.”

Admiral Mariner… we presume?

At the end of the episode, we learn that Mariner is the daughter of Captain Freeman and this Admiral, who, we have to assume is named Mariner, since Mariner’s last name is not Freeman. Either that or Mariner has a last name that is different from both of her parents for entirely different reasons. In fact, we don’t really have a good sense about how human naming conventions work in the 23rd and 24th centuries, mostly because we tend to meet humans that serve in Starfleet more than “civilians.” Although it’s not actually canon, the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (written by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself) features a prologue from James T. Kirk in which he explains that having a surname at all is old fashion in the 23rd Century, and that the idea of having a family last name is something people in Starfleet tend to do because they are old fashioned.

This idea is not supported anywhere in canon. But, the Admiral is not actually named Mariner, then it’s possible people in Trek canon can — and often do – just choose their names for themselves well after birth. 

“You’re gonna be Cha’DIch from now on”

When Mariner and Boimler become besties at the end of the episode, Mariner says Boimler will be her “Cha’Dich” from now on. This comes from the TNG episode “Sins of the Father.” A “Cha’Dich” is someone who fights for someone else. It’s an honorable title, but you know, Mariner also is saying that she expects Boimler to fight for her. 

Mariner’s rant about famous Star Trek characters

In a metafictional move, Mariner mentions several famous Starfleet officers, presumably to see if Boimler knows his stuff. Here’s a truncated version of what she says:

“Do you know about Spock? Dude came back from being dead? Got the Genesis device to fight Khan and some space whales. Sulu, he rocked a sword. That was his thing. That could be your thing, too. We’re due for a new sword guy. Do you know about Kirk? My man Worf?…Gary Mitchell? Do you know Deanna Troi, She went from a jumpsuit…”

So, in this brief triad, Mariner references Spock’s death in The Wrath of Khan, his rebirth in The Search For Spock, the events of The Voyage Home, Sulu fighting with a sword in “The Naked Time,” Kirk, Worf, and Gary Mitchell from “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” And, before the credits cut her off, Marnier is referencing the fact that Deanna Troi wore a jumpsuit on the Enterprise before switching to a standard uniform after the episode “Chain of Command.” 

Something funny about this rant is that Mariner gets some of her history slightly wrong. It sounds like she thinks that Spock fought Khan with the Genesis Device, and that the humpback whales were from space. They were, of course, regular whales! They only talked to space probes! This slight hyperbole feels right though. This is the year 2380. Mariner is mostly talking about stuff from the 2280s and the 2260s, meaning a hundred years plus in the past. She’s a fan of the history of Starfleet. But just like this Easter egg list, she can’t catch everything.

Star Trek: Lower Deck airs on Thursdays on CBS All Access.

The post Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 1 Easter Eggs and References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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