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viaossis · 4 years

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“Do you think they’ll make it all the way up here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, we’re in orbit, and there can only be so many of them, right? Could they stack themselves up and reach us?”

“Start talking sense or I swear to Frank…”

“Have you looked out the window lately?”

“No, I try not to. Safer for my sanity that way.”

“Doubly so today, I think. I’m pretty sure I can see the zombies down below.”

“You have lost your marble. You can’t see an individual skyscraper from up here, let alone zombies.”

“So I guess Houston has decided to build a giant dark cone over itself.”

“What are you-- Huh.”

“Yeah. Huh. Think they’ll make it up here?”

“We’re in orbit 500 kilometers up. Are you seriously asking if they’ll stack up enough bodies to reach 500 kilometers into space?”

“Well there’s a lot of them down there, right?”

“Not that many. I mean, yeah there’s a lot, couple billion, but not enough to build a cone to reach us.”

“Looks weird though.”

“Besides, that’s not even Houston. Too far south. Probably Corpus Christi. Speaking of corpus, I wouldn’t worry about ‘em no matter how high they stack. They’ll probably self-combust long before they reach any real height. Decomposition creates heat, remember?”

“And the pressure. And no real air circulation for cooling. Yeah. Makes sense. Imagine the smell, though.”

“We’re in a vacuum 500 kilometers up.”

“Would still smell terrible.”

“Not up here. Seriously, who did you pay off to let you come on this joy ride?”

“How are we doing on food?”

“Dunno for sure. Four weeks left? Maybe six or seven if we don’t wanna eat too well.”

“Think they’ll be ready to come get us by then?

“Hope so. We don’t have a way down, remember?”

“Yeah, I know. Hey, where did my marble go? You haven’t seen it, have you?”

“…”

“My marble. You mentioned it earlier. You seen it?”

“Is this like a real marble, or have you finally cracked?”

“It’s real, I showed you that one time. On the call to Karim.”

“I wasn’t on the call with Karim.”

“Well then who did I show the marble to?”

“Probably Sarah.”

“Oh, yeah. Why do I always forget about her?”

“It’s the sound dampening. Can’t hear the moaning.”

“Yeah, but you’d think I’d remember we used to be three people up here.”

“Two Astronauts and a Zombie. Sounds like a bad movie plot.”

“Hey, when the Corpus Cone starts burning, you think the Z virus will go airborne?”

“It’s not a virus.”

“How do you know?”

“There were lots of reports of people who died in isolation who still got up and went walkabout. Can’t be a virus if there’s no contact.”

“So what do you think it is?”

“I dunno. Maybe… I don’t know. Doesn’t much matter now, does it?”

“Maybe this is a bad movie, and when we figure out the trick to getting back down, we’ll have to come up with the cure and save everyone. Big damn heroes, right?”

“Okay, you need to stay away from that website.”

“And then we’ll travel the country, bringing the cure to the huddled hillbillies who will reward us with truly heroic volumes of moonshine.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“The only problem I see is what happens when we get to Cornsville, Nebraska, and it’s surrounded like Corpus Cone. You know, big ol’ swarm of zombies crushed up against the walls so we can’t get in and the people inside can’t get out.”

“What.”

“And the gate starts to get broken in from the weight of the zombies, and the music starts to get all tense.”

“Okay, slow your roll, cowboy. It’s not like a buncha survivalists throwing up a few bits of sheet metal are even going to last that long. The “town” you’re thinking of is a whole lotta really prepared nerds who’ve spent months fortifying the walls, who keep the farms going to keep everyone fed and strong, and who post that chronically-ill kid who survives on spite alone with a rifle to snipe anything that moves. Even if the shambling horde is still moving when it gets to the town, they’re only human bodies – they can’t really break down a brick wall just by feebly pawing at it while moaning real loud.”

“Look- okay? Just go with it?”

“No. I refuse to play your stupid game.”

“Alright, so how are we getting down?”

“Can’t.”

“Well, that’s depressing.”

“All we can do is hope they send up a ship in the next couple weeks. If Control is still around and capable of launching.”

“How long has it been since they last answered a report?”

“Ten days.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, when was the last time you talked to Charlotte?”

“S’been… three months, I think?”

“She still with whatshisname?”

“Nah, probably ate him by now.”

“Um…”

“She wasn’t looking too healthy last I saw her.”

“Jesus.”

“Well, it was pronounced ‘Hay-soos’, but yeah, no, pretty sure he’s dead by now.”

“And you say there’s something wrong with me. How can you be all calm about your ex being a zombie?”

“She was a bitch. What can I say?”

“Really?”

“No, not really. She was amazing. I just… it’s so weird. I mean, we’re stuck up here, so nothing I could have done anyway.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“I want to be sad or angry or something. Anything. And it’s not like I’m numb or repressing anything. I just… can’t seem to care.”

“Whose turn is it to feed Sarah?”

“What. The. Fuck.”

“Well, don’t they need feeding? I know they’re dead and all, but they still eat people, right? So that means they need to eat. So we should feed Sarah, as long as she’s still here.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“What? No, not like that! I mean, I know we only have a little food left, but I figure we can share out a ration every now and then, just to keep her going.”

“Hell no.”

“Come on. She’s your friend, too. And if they find a cure, wouldn’t you feel better if she were still around to get it?”

“I am not giving my food to a dead woman. Besides, she’d probably try to eat us as soon as we tried to feed her.”

“I still say we should think of something. I don’t want to be the asshole who let our zombie friend die… again… when a little bit of food might have kept her around long enough to be cured.”

“This is going to be a long few weeks, isn’t it?”

“Another beautiful sunset, though. Doesn’t get any better than this.”

“I don’t think they can die. Again. You know what I mean.”

“What, so like we don’t feed her and she just sits there hungry and not dying?”

“She’s dead? So can’t die twice? Pretty sure that’s a thing.”

“Hrm. Hm.”

“Maybe just go count the food again. Not saying we’re sharing with her, just… See how much we have left.”

“Right. Just in case.”

#flash fiction #zombies #midwatch

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firebirdsdaughter · 6 years

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Okay...

Finally sitting down to watch Zi-O ep 4...

Let’s game?

Well, no, actually no, we won’t, but I was trying to be thematic.

And in no particular order:

Okay, that explains it. When I saw the preview images it looked like they were talking to Emu, and then Geiz and Sougo both henshined and took a knee for some reason. It’s actually the other way round.

Geez, Emu. Since when were you this uncommunicative and unhelpful? That’s Taiga’s job!

Like seriously, you know these two are Kamen Riders. Just explain yourself to them instead of making weird vague statements.

Geiz at it again w/ the grump. Have I mentioned--you know where that’s going.

Tsukuyomi w/ the intercede again. I’m liking this trio.

Okay, I wanna know who Goggles is. The guy whose hand Geiz was holding in that future-flashback? A friend? Brother? This being Toei it’s unlikely to be a boyfriend, but it’s still possible. He looks like he mighta been a nice fellow, I’m sorry he died.

I guess this is a lot to take in, and Sougo is generally pretty slow on the uptake, it appears, so... But looks like he’s getting it now.

Tsukuyomi, I really hope you’re aware just how much of a problem child you just decided to adopt.

I actually agree w/ someone else I saw, I think. I kinda wish they would give her a better reason than ‘I don’t know’ for this. Like, I’m liking the idea that she doesn’t want her childhood friend to technically become a murderer by killing someone who is, at that point, still innocent, but this ‘I don’t know’ thing is kinda... meh to me. It doesn’t feel touching or sweet, and is even kinda out of character... But that’s just me. She’s super great, but she otherwise seems so decisive and confident that it’s a little odd.

OH MY GOD IT’S THAT CHURCH! I mean--it’s that wizard Bugster!

Fun fact, that Church is not just a Toei set. I have seen it in about FIVE other shows I think (don’t ask me to name them all, I can’t--but Kaname Jun was in one I think)

AH! Brave is here! But it’s back in 2016, episode... 2? Or maybe 3, but it would be when Hiiro literally just got there, so he’s still an ass. I mean, I still love him. But he was an ass.

Geiz, mister straight forward, just fucking informs them he’s from the future, I love him.

Maybe this has something to do w/ Hiiro’s sense that he should help them before... Aside from grumpy secondary solidarity, ofc.

‘From your perspective,’ Geiz, you are literally from 2068. I’m pretty sure, excepting folks from 2069 onward, that that’s the future from everyone’s perspective.

Also, to get this out of the way: AAAAAAH! SETO IS SO PRETTY! OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM SO MUCH EVEN WHEN HE’S A DICK! AND ESPECIALLY WHEN HE’S NOT!

Note: I don’t love him because he’s a dick, but what I love is grumpy, pretty much jerky characters who come out of that bc they start caring about someone or something (again, in Hiiro’s case). Did that make sense?

Also, I’m actually giggling bc of how much of a pompous ass my grumpy surgeon son was. The fact that this is literally like, right after he first showed up, means that he’s at peak dickishness and it’s really funny to look back.

Kids pulling on Geiz. God, honey, what were you expecting when you put that thing on? Well, at least they’re aware of how goofy it is.

On that note, ARE WE EVER GONNA SEE YOU WITHOUT IT?

Also, dear god, someone get this boy some fashion advice. I’ve SEEN that preview image sweetie. You canNOT dress yourself.

Oh my god, it’s the hospital helipad. Now I’m nostalgic.

Okay. Emu can teleport to game worlds now? Al... Alright then. You know what, whatever.

And Emu’s getting thrown around again. Some things never change. What’s still funny about this is still that Ijima Hiroki is (still) not a short man. He’s 5′ 10″. This, to me, makes how much Emu get’s thrown around utterly hilarious.

See, Emu. This is what happens when you don’t pull a Taiga, and discuss things w/ people. You’re the one who forced Hiiro to learn that, why are you doing it?

Aw, Sougo appreciates that Tsukuyomi is trying to save the future w/out killing him. Good kids.

Where’s that B99 ‘cool motive still murder’ picture? I mean, I know it’s a kid. But dude... You don’t have the right to other people’s lives (or body parts) just bc your son is dying.

Hm... I know people are thinking it’s named after Hiiro, but... What if it’s named after his dad? I mean, Kagami Haima was the director of the hospital, he had to start somewhere. To me that feels more logical? Bc it’s only been two years since Ex-Aid, that’s awfully fast to name a medical procedure... But it’s just a thought.

You know what, I bet Hiiro feels bad for brushing Geiz off in the past, so now he’s like ‘I must do everything I can to help these kids out bc when I met them before I was a jerk.’ Part of his ‘stop being an anti-social grump’ attempt. And he’s worried about Emu.

Does the Time Majin have an AI? How did it know to fly up to the roof right then? Is it telepathically connected to Sougo now?

So Uhr is helping Ora/Hora out? Maybe there is hope for a villain-family dynamic after all...

Also apparently that’s Takeru’s mech? Takeru has a mech? I really need to finish Ghost... But it’s either just for the sake of cameo, or it’s related to how Geiz got the Ghost Ride Watch. Now I’m wondering if he maybe stole the Drive and Ghost Watches from the Time Jackers? But if that’s the case, why did they have them? They usually use the Another Rider Watches...? Are Takeru and Shinnosuke okay? Oh my god, did Takeru die again? Actually, I guess Shinnoksuke also died a lot in that one movie so... Oh dear.

Is Sougo transforming in tiny spaces gonna be a thing now?

Come to think... Since the opening, we haven’t seen Woz. What’s prophet boy up to?

This tiny gremlin child who I adore and want to pinch the cheeks of just giggling to himself in his busted mech like a five year old.

Sorry, Geiz, you can’t beat the bounce.

Sougo just fucking slams this thing w/ the Time Majin.

And so, the path toward very reluctant and at first very awkward friendship begins. Let’s a-go kids!

But also god that boy is skinny. Honey, do you even HAVE hips? Are you okay?

Geiz is having feelings but is very confused right now. Punching things is generally a good venting method.

And the boys are still very bad at not being good at teamwork. Like, they’re already synchronising in pretty much every fight they’ve been in--not just in henshins but in attacks and so on.

Emu that looks NOTHING LIKE YOU, WHY would you call it a doppelgänger.

Since this is after Hiiro first showed up, it means that the two of them still don’t like each other (bc it took them a while to get there), so I’m not surprised that he wouldn’t call Hiiro immediately if something came up. Plus this may not show up bc CR relied on reports by witnesses and were in an abandoned warehouse. But then why is Emu...? Oh, I don’t know.

Was his henshin really always that deep?

Oh! There he is! Woz! I was wondering where you were! So, uh... Where were you?

Geiz: ‘Oh no, not again!’

Wow, he did the hoppity hop thing!

HE HAS GIANT BUMPS ON HIS ARMS! I LOVE THE GIANT BUMPERS ON HIS ARMS!

(I think they’re meant to be buttons?)

Aaaaand, right on cue, there Woz goes again.

Emu just like ‘okay then, let’s roll w/ this then, I guess!’

Wait, but the Brave and Snipe (and Genm, and then there’s Para-DX, and Poppy, and Cronus... Though I guess those last ones may not end up existing since they’re post-this?) Watches don’t seem to be in-show, so... Does that mean that Hiiro and Taiga keep their powers? Bc there was a Crozz-Z Ride Watch, so I now understand Ryuuga losing his, but there were so many Riders in Ex-Aid... Though maybe there’s a whole butterfly thing that simply by removing the primary everything is effected. Bc if you had to account for each individual Rider... Imagine how complex and difficult shows like Ryuki and Gaim would be to explain/sort through.

Hiroki has such a nice smile. Actually, pretty much everyone is Ex-Aid had a nice smile when they smiled.

Oh, god, yes. I really hope that the Rider trying to teach Sougo how to do the finisher in some way (miming for Emu, explaining for Sento) is a thing every time... Though I guess since they couldn’t get Gentaro we won’t get to see him do it... But maybe Takumi will? (I’ve never actually watched Faiz, so I have no idea what the finisher looks like)

Oh, hey. When Sougo hits him it says it in... Kanji, I think? But in Japanese characters of some kind instead of English.

ATTACK OF THE SUBTITLES!

Geiz standing of to the side trying to act cool while these two dorks help this man up.

... He’s wearing socks and... You know what, this is Japan. They’re probably his shoes for inside, and because he was running out to the ambulance with his dying son, he didn’t bother to change.

I love how Emu is like ‘who could we possibly... OH! That asshole!’ (again bc this is the very early season, back hen we didn’t like each other)

HE SAID IT! I guess they cut away so Seto didn’t actually have to eat the cake. Apparent he doesn’t actually like sweets? Maybe bc he’s such a sweetie. ^^

I really love it when the ones playing the ‘serious grumps’ are really adorably dorky and super nice. Like apparently, Seto was the funny and fun one, which I find so cute and hilarious.

Sougo here, getting into the groove of things during his second rodeo.

Emu’s like ‘are you two together?’ and Geiz is like ‘someone shoot me.’

Awwww. Of course Hiiro saved him. Though they haven’t shown us anything yet... So, maybe, even in the altered timeline, he and Emu still ends dup becoming close somehow? Can I pretend that’s the case? Seriously, Hiiro needs that kid. Otherwise he’s just gonna continue forgetting how to be human.

Why do you need another plate? But I think it’s cute how Junichiro is making so much food. I wonder if it’ll be like Mario in Zyuohger, where when he find out (if he doesn’t already know) he decides to just make life at the shop as homey as possible.

Geiz, maybe you should start using his name? Just to, you know, keep Uncle from getting suspicious?

ALSO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING WHY... I just can’t anymore. I love my dorky fashion disaster assassin son.

Here we are w/ the intense staring again. Wouldn’t be KR w/out it.

Geiz and Tsukuyomi be like ‘wow no pressure.’ Seriously, Geiz looks like he’s having a small panic attack back there.

He looks very pretty, though.

Aw, they’re keeping their Ride Watches together!

Well, there’s clearly a friendship theme, so I’m hoping there’s a level of deepening the bonds that just started forming in this episode. Unfortunately, I know nothing about Faiz other than apparently Kaixa is a horrible person (given that the preview images imply he’s strangling some poor girl, I am inclined to agree), so I can’t make any guesses there.

All I ask for Christmas is ONE episode where Geiz doesn’t wear that damn collar thing. I know it’s only been four eps but just ONE.

And, in final news, looks like they’re switching the Watches around.

Okay! Well, that's that for now. Now, my head hurts and I still want pizza, so... Not much else to say. Imaginary pizza for anyone who read all of this, you really didn’t need to do that.

I’m gonna pretend Hiiro and Emu are still friends somehow. Having a good time here, looks like we’re looking at another solid trio and I love it. Also, w/ OOO and Ghost apparently coming up... Good times.

#Kamen Rider Zi-O #just some thoughts #just some immediate thoughts #how many different ways can i say that?#have I mentioned I love Geiz?#that's it that's his tag now #looking forward to reluctant friendship #this three are seeming like a good trio and I might smell an OT3 on the horizon #to the degree that i end up shipping anything #not really a huge shipper and even when I do I'm not as into it as some other people #not as an insult simply as a fact #i have a couple of specific ships that i legit 'ship' but otherwise i'm more invested in family and friendship relations #whether it be blood or found family or otherwise #though i guess found family falls under friendship #head still hurts #still want pizza #so long and thanks for all the fish #Timey Wimey Rider

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tigerlover16-uk · 6 years

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Mind clarifying that last post?

(This is in regards to a short post I did earlier saying how Future Mai in DBS was treated with a lot more respect and was less objectified than Pan was in Dragon Ball GT, in case anyone’s wondering. I wasn’t able to write this response straight away).

Pan is technically the secondary protagonist of GT, considering she’s the one that gets the most screentime after Goku, continuing to have a seemingly prominent role even after Trunks had been demoted to extra. But she never actually does anything to justify it.

In an interview that was recently translated, which I’ll link below, the writers of the show admitted that the role they planned out for Pan was to be beaten up by the villains so Goku would look stronger by comparison. It shows.

In episode 5, the climax to a mini-arc starting off the first saga, Pan attempts to attack the villain of the episode… but then immediately gets trapped in some kind of forcefield or something. Admittedly Trunks also gets one-shot by the guys bodyguard before Goku fights him, but the trend continues for Pan’s future appearances. During the Machine Mutants arc it looks at one point after grieving over Giru’s apparent betrayal that Pan was going to do something to fight the villains herself… only to soon after get captured anyway, and it’s Trunks and Giru who end up saving the day.

During the Baby saga she gets beat up pretty much every time she gets into an action scene, usually by her own possessed father, and her own plans to try and save the day end up failing pitifully and she needs to be rescued by Uub or Goku at various points.

While she got to blow up a few people from the Red Ribbon Army in the Super 17 saga (Hardly an impressive feat though, considering how weak they are at this point), her only active attempt to save the day where she took Dr Gero hostage ended up being for nothing as Dr Myuu was a backstabbing coward, and then Pan was helpless against Super 17 of course.

In the Shadow Dragons saga she does beat up on Haze Shenron at first, but then gets subjected to Haze Shenron’s toxic mist that strips her and Goku of their power, making it look like she almost screwed them both over by not just finishing the otherwise joke villain off right away instead of just throwing a fit and wailing on him for the sake of it because he insulted her.

Then later in the saga she gets taken as a hostage by both Naturon and Eis Shenrons, and does pretty much nothing of value in the final battle against Omega Shenron, with it being Vegeta, who’s only actual role in GT up to this point was to get body-jacked by Baby, gets to go super Saiyan 4 to try and help out.

The only times Pan gets to be all that helpful in battle are against Lord Luud and Oceanus Shenron, and in both instances it’s alongside Goku, so she never gets a serious fight that she wins by herself (And honestly, Goku never even powers up that far against Oceanus Shenron, and both characters are borderline filler villains anyway), and they’re both followed up by really bad worfing in the episodes after, so any attempt to make Pan seem relevant or dependable rings hollow.

The only truly significant contributions Pan makes is in helping Golden Great Ape Goku get a grip on himself and thus becoming super Saiyan 4, and then helping power a weakened Goku up again with the other part-Saiyan characters while Majuub stalls Baby. That’s Pan’s moment of glory as the secondary protagonist, helping a male character gain a transformation. And don’t get me wrong I loved that scene, it’s one of the best in GT and very touching, but it’s systematic of how Pan is treated throughout the series.

Because aside from that, she isn’t treated with a ton of respect. She’s portrayed as a whiny brat who keeps trying to prove herself when people tell her to stay out of things, but she ends up often causing more trouble as a result of that and things only working out for the best purely by coincidence, like her causing the spaceship to crash land on the planet Giru was on. She frequently has to be rescued despite being overconfident in her own abilities.

Episode 15 has her run away from the group into a scorching desert planet when she finds out that Trunks and Goku are quite understandably planning to drop her off at earth and switch her out with Goten now that they know there are villains after the Dragon Balls, which nearly gets Pan killed via heat exhaustion and giant man-eating insects that Giru has to rescue her from.

And then at the end of the episode, Trunks says he was wrong for thinking of sending her back to earth and allows her to stick around on the basis of “Hey, you found us the dragon ball and an oasis”, which Pan explicitly points out that GIRU found, she wasn’t even looking!

The episode tries to end on a note of Pan proving herself somehow and that she is dependable, when the actual content had her proving without a doubt that NO, she is NOT responsible, NOT capable of looking after herself and that Trunks was RIGHT to want to send her back to earth. It completely undermines her character arc beyond redemption, and makes Trunks and Goku look like irresponsible IDIOTS who think it’s okay to drag incompetent CHILDREN into battle, which is just full of so many unfortunate implications.

The most actual development she gets throughout the series is that she gradually becomes less bratty as time goes on, but even then none of the other problems are addressed.

In fairness, every other character in the show that isn’t Goku suffers a similar problem of not accomplishing much and getting easily beat up so Goku can do most of the fighting that matters, but it’s really noticeable with Pan in that she’s apparently meant to be of similar prominence in the cast to Gohan in Z.

Think of it, Gohan’s moment of glory in DBZ was going super Saiyan 2 and defeating Cell, and despite not being able to beat Super Buu he still gets some decent fights and good character growth in the Buu saga. And plenty of decent development throughout the show as a whole.

Or even take Vegeta in Super, where he’s the secondary protagonist of that show. Vegeta in Super got to go super Saiyan blue purely through training really hard, thus one-upping Goku who initially reached the power of the gods through a ritual. He defeated 3 people from the universe 6 team in the Champa saga and gained Hit’s respect for lasting longer against him than any other opponent he’d fought, got some decent moments towards the end of the Future Trunks saga where he briefly overpowered Goku Black, and then in the universe survival saga he got to take out half of universe 9 alongside Goku, eliminate a number of other minor opponents, before ultimately defeating Toppo, a newly-ascended GOD OF DESTRUCTION. I have my issues with how the last one was carried out, but you can’t say his contributions were minor or not impressive.

Pan doesn’t get nearly as good character development as either Gohan or Vegeta, certainly not as good as Goku, she never even goes super Saiyan, and she’s pretty much shown to be a burden outside of a few cases despite the show trying to go “Well, actually”, and her ultimate role in the grand scheme of things amounts to emotional support (Gee, a female lead who’s main role is to prop up a man. Nothing iffy about this, huh fellas?). And meanwhile, other characters like Uub and Vegeta are the ones who get to have transformations and significant fights with main villains, even if they do amount to pretty much nothing in both cases.

And beyond that, she’s weirdly sexualized at various points. Re-watching the subs for the Black Star saga, I’ve noticed an odd number of shots where the camera seems to linger on her butt momentarily, with her pants being oddly form fitting. There’s that disturbing scene later on in the saga where Pan gets outright turned into a doll, and Dolltaki starts playing with her and even tries to undress her, with Pan freaking out because he’ll “Ruin her as a wife”, and the creep even tries to kiss her when they’re trapped inside Luud. And then there’s that weird scene in the baby saga where a deer starts trying to nurse from her. And she’s NINE in this series.

Considering there was also a scene where two adult men were hitting on Bulla, I get the impression that someone on the writing staff might have been on the creepy side.

Honestly altogether, Pan’s portrayal is pretty horrible and disrespectful for a character who really deserved a lot better than what she got.

Contrast that with Future Mai, who despite being a non-powered human is surprisingly more competent and useful for how she’s written in the Future Trunks Saga of Super. While she needs saving on occasion, she pulls Trunks as well as Goku and Vegeta’s butts out of the line of fire just as often as Trunks saves her, and is proactive in trying to help take down Goku Black.

When her attempt to snipe Black with a high-powered energy blast fails for example and Trunks shows up to fight him, she takes another shot at Black that creates an opening for Trunks to start beating up on him. She gets multiple moments where she gets to help out, and she’s also responsible for looking out for the remaining civilians of the Future timeline when Trunks isn’t around or incapacitated.

Despite being a love interest for Future Trunks, Mai is still competent and her main priorities aren’t on Trunks, their romantic chemistry is downplayed since she’s dedicated to protecting the future earth and it’s people, and she’s written as competent, brave, selfless and is treated by respect by the resistance soldiers who all seem to take orders from her.

For her role in the story, the show treats her with a good deal of dignity and she’s allowed to be proactive. She’s probably a good go-to example of how you can have a non-super powered supporting character in Dragon Ball still be useful to both the action and the overall narrative of a story. Oh, and also, she doesn’t suffer from any creepy sexualisation like Pan does!

I’m not saying the writing for Future Mai was perfect or anything, for one thing she feels more like an original character a lot of the time since they don’t really bring up her past or connection with the Pilaf Gang outside of one joke, and the romance with her and Future Trunks could have been built up a little more (Though it’s still at least a lot less squicky than the thing with present Trunks and “Kid” Mai. Ick), but she was at least treated with dignity.

The only reason I wrote that snarky post comparing the two is because Mai shows how pathetically easy it is to write a female character respectfully, while GT Pan is like the ultimate example of how to screw things up with a female protagonist. It’s honestly some of the worst character writing I’ve seen in this franchise, I’d say she was the worst example period but that’s debatable considering how badly Uub was also mishandled in that show.

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/dragon-ball-gt-dragon-book-gt-back-then-kozo-morishita-interview/

#dragon ball gt #dragon ball super #son pan #pan #future mai #mai #pilaf gang #dbs #dragon ball #dbgt

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gameridernews · 7 years

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Ex-Aid review: Heisei Generations

Time to review Ex-Aid's first movie: "Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man VS Ex-Aid & Ghost With Legend Riders". Long, long title. Since I've not done a review for a movie yet, how do I format this...

Well, for starters, some preliminary timeline placement: The movie came out when Kuroto Dan was still pretending to be sane, and there was still a bike among us. The Kamen Rider Genm spinoffs would tip you off to that since those take place after this movie. It's a nice early "In case you're new to Ex-Aid" timeline placement.

Also, since this is post-finale Ghost, Drive, Gaim and Wizard... I won’t hold back on spoilers for those shows!

This is a real treat, I tell ya. For those who don't know, I love crossovers in general. And when it comes to Kamen Rider, I usually get some kind of enjoyment out of the crossover movies. I say this because, well, they're not usually... logical. Due to trying to work in this show and that show with their crazily distinct styles and lore, it gets hard to make crossovers actually make sense.

But the ones that have come out since Gaim have been doing a better job of that. Generally I'm talking about the spring movies in this context, but what I should be talking about are the winter movies. These are typically movies where the current show gets its own plot, the previous show gets its own post-finale plot, and the two plots merge in the final act... or final 10 minutes.

Ghost/Drive did something impressive with this format: It ditched it entirely. Instead of having two shows meet at the end, this movie realized that a movie about Ghost and Drive should really be about Ghost and Drive having some adventure that affects both of them. I'm glad to see this movie follows that notion with Ex-Aid and Ghost meeting within the first few minutes, and even Drive gets to be involved in continuity with the aforementioned Ghost/Drive movie. I'll talk about the cameos as they come up.

So right away, things are falling into chaos as we meet our villains, Dr. Pac-Man and his three lackeys, who I'll call Robol, Dragol and Giril since that's easier to remember. This is because they steal the Proto Gashats from Kuroto Dan, along with the Bugvisor, and the lackeys use Proto Gashats to transform much in the way Graphite did to gain his black recolor form.

I appreciate that, from the moment this movie starts, you know that you're in for a wild time. The lackeys themselves all do some fun fighting even as civilians, in particular Giril who literally brought a sword to a gun fight even before getting a Proto Gashat. Dragol, the tall lanky one, also does a good performance. And Dr. Pac-Man... boy, that outfit and mask combo is so 70s it hurts. I can't hate it.

I should take some time to talk about Ghost, shouldn't I?

Yes, this is Ghost's return after the show ended, and to be honest? Not much has changed for this cast. Takeru is in school making up for the time lost, but everyone else... is about where they were when the show ended, which is fine. The monks and Kanon also appear briefly, and of course Makoto/Specter and Alain/Necrom, but I am disappointed that Javert didn't get to show up - I wanna see what his monk training has led to, man.

The Pac-Man Bugster Viruses end up taking away Takeru’s ability to transform for some reason... but then we learn why later! Pac-Man's weakness is ghosts! I shouldn't be surprised that was actually a plot point since that's a line in the trailer, but it's still absurd in a way that made me smile. Apparently Kuroto Dan is being trusted with his Eyecon to work on a new Gashat, which sounds like A VERY BAD IDEA but y'know, at this point Kuroto Dan was actually a trusted supplier.

The three lackeys go on to use Proto Gashats stolen from Kuroto Dan, transforming into what are essentially reuses of the Collaboss Bugsters from the show, sans the Gashat lodged in the head - ironic since they transform shoving the Gashat into their body ala Dopant Memories. With that and the white outfits I can't help but imagine this is Foundation X related...

The undersuit of the Collaboss Bugster is colored a bit differently, but to me the main attraction is Dragol since Drago Knight Hunter Z never got used this way in the show. It's a nice design, too! It's a thing that makes me go "Oh I should use that in fanfiction..."

The movie mainly revolves around a high school student who becomes infected, and in a twist I kinda wasn't expecting so early, they make a Bugster from a game HE created - a game not associated with Genm Corp, Hatesate Puzzle. Kind of a neat twist. They tie this Bugster's powers into the villain's ambitions in a way that is kind of nonsensical to me, though.

What I do like is the way they handle the kid. Sure, it's mostly an Ex-Aid plot, but Takeru's respect for enjoying life comes into play since the patient really enjoys making his game, and the two of them, despite some minor differences later on, both want to see him be happy once it's over.

While this is going on, we do get an interesting subplot with Dr. Pac-Man and crew. Takeru, Onari and Akari go to Shinnosuke/Drive of the Metro PD to find out who these villains are, and the plot thickens when he reveals that they were part of some shady business shrouded in rumors and mysterious deaths.

Shinnosuke's life sucks during this first half of the movie. It's become apparent to him that he can't be a Rider with his gear being put away and all, so he's feeling pretty powerless. It's a bit of a random stroke of luck how he is reunited with Belt-san to become Kamen Rider Drive again, but I will get into that once I talk about Gaim. Yes.

Hey, wait, I've seen that scene in the show recently...! Let's talk about this now even though they reveal more about it later.

Perhaps there were detailed synopsis' available way back when the movie came out, I dunno. It's hard to come across this stuff in English unless you follow the right people, and even then you might only learn bits and pieces.

But I did not know the movie actually reveals that Emu is patient zero AND Parad was created from his Bugster Virus! And I bet a lot of folks outside of Japan were not privy to this reveal either, since I'd always seen/received theories about Emu possibly maybe being patient zero. I even theorized it at the end of December when the movie had already come out. I feel dumb but at the same time, that's what happens when you can't be there to see the movie when it comes out.

I'm talking a bit out of order, but I will say that there's a double edged sword to this reveal. On the one hand, we the viewers learn about Emu being patient zero because Ghost's sporadic touch-someone-and-see-memories power triggered when he put a hand on Dr. Pac-Man. On the other hand... bro, you should've probably told Emu something this eerie. Perhaps not the best way to reveal it.

Anyway, just thought that was real interesting for a movie that contains the name "Dr. Pac-Man".

Back to the plot at hand, the new Hatesate Puzzle based Bugster causes some trouble for Takeru as it just about kills off Akari, or at least badly injures her. It's easy to say she was killed since it's Ghost. But we'll get to him near the end...

Oh yeah, Makoto and Alain show up around this time. Just... kind of slide into view during a fight since they read the script.

Sadly I don't really have much to say about them in this movie since their dialogue literally consists of saying "You'll pay for this!" in slightly different ways each time they speak. We do get to see that they and Kanon return to the Ganma homeworld at the end, so... that's still a thing.

The movie then proceeds to provide the kind of fight porn you enjoy from one of these movies. Giril, Robol and Dragol take on Specter, Necrom, Brave, Snipe and Lazer (cause hey he's still alive), all while summoning Bugster Viruses that are themed after their Gashats; Samurai, futuristic soldiers(??) and fantasy soldiers that may or may not be using costumes from Wizard's summer movie. Fact-checking is for kids.

And of course, the new Gashat from Kuroto Dan has arrived for Ex-Aid to use. After he and Ghost start working together to take on the giant CGI Pac-Man, Ex-Aid uses the wonderfully colored Ghost Gamer form while Ghost uses the uncanny Ex-Aid Damashii form he now has (an Eyecon obtained at the end of his show because crossovers), and the two defeat the giant Pac-Man.

The day is saved. Wait, weren't there more Riders in this?

Yeah, that shocked me when I was watching - we're only halfway through and we've gotten the big crossover fight out of the way! If I wasn't already so aware of what happens in the movie, I'd be left wondering what comes next.

But Emu is still affected by all that happened. The other doctor Riders came to help, and are even caring for the Riders from Ghost who are injured, but Emu couldn't save his own patient. Not only that, but the villains have said patient, and are using him to create a new form for Dr. Pac-Man. Standard toku movie villain stuff.

Is there any hope left for our hero?

No, but at least we have our donuts.

So this cameo is a bit out of nowhere for a couple reasons. One, it just kind of happens suddenly. Two, holy crap they got Haruto's actor to come back and his hair is perfectly on point. But alas, much like Wizard's show, his involvement here isn't living up to its full potential. He doesn’t say much beyond catchphrases and the fact he’s a mage, and doesn’t explain why he’s here. I have a way this could've worked, which will be addressed when I talk about Gaim. Yes.

There is also a kinda funny scene where he convinces Dr. Pac-Man into letting him be a bodyguard with no trouble at all. It was funny but not for the right reasons. He and Dragol also don't get along and that's funny because theming.

Once Emu, Takeru and Shinnosuke know where to go, they see the new bodyguard Haruto... who says he's here to escort them in - okay. The three engage in some fun out-of-suit fighting with Dr. Pac-Man's lackies, and arrive to a familiar part of this abandoned office set that led me to wonder how he was going to make his entrance...

Turns out he just kind of crashes the party and lands like a badass. I can dig it. Okay, so NOW I talk about Gaim!

Gaim's a glaring part of this crossover. Whether the actor was busy with another role, or disinterested in returning, he never appears out of costume and there's not even a voice credit.

Gaim DOES talk in the movie, and he sounds on point, but one thing you'll notice is he never says anything too specific. It's believed that his dialogue is just recycled audio from previous media, and sadly, as the resident Gaim fanatic, I could not even begin to find transcripts that would lead me to having properly spelled Japanese dialogue that would lead me to previous instances of said dialogue existing. Just wanted to explain how much dumb work I was doing for this one paragraph of the review.

But what I can tell you is this: Gaim has dialogue that’s real teamwork-y, so it’s probably from previous crossovers.

Anyway, I had two things to address with Gaim. First, they do a cute thing where Gaim retrieved Belt-san for Shinnosuke, to which he acknowledges that Gaim DOES have god powers that make it easy for him to just warp into the Drive Pit and snatch him up. That's a nice way of getting Drive to transform.

A shame they didn't think to have a flashback where Haruto is warned about Dr. Pac-Man by Gaim, thus explaining why either of them are here to begin with. I mean, Gaim's probably privy to movie villain plots, since he's got god senses.

As a real specific thing, I would have also liked if Gaim explained away his lack of out-of-suit appearance with "By the way, I'm on another planet right now, so this is just an avatar." If you don't follow Gaim then I'm sorry for throwing these spoilers out so crazily, but y'know. I gave the appropriate spoiler warning.

There's a lot of lovely fight porn where Wizard, Gaim and Drive each take on the lackeys and their Bugster Virus grunts, who happen to fit their motifs, going through their various forms while their respective themes play. It's beautiful. Also Gaim has a real out-of-place line delivery when he gives a final blow, lending credence to the theory this is recycled dialogue.

When Ghost gets insultingly overpowered by the puzzle themed Bugster, making his supposed infinite potential form look bad, Ghost receives an out-of-nowhere visit from the spirit of Nobunaga who decides to fight alongside him with two other rulers of Japan who unified the nation. Tenka Touitsu Damashii represents three historical figures, and I gotta say, I'm glad to see it get used in a movie.

A shame they gave it to Ghost since the toy Eyecon is literally only capable of playing Specter's standby music. But I guess I can't feel too bad for Specter since he got his own movie with a final form?

It's a nice idea, looks good, and the fact that it makes use of the three Riders' weapons is cool. Maybe in a world where Ghost made more Eyecons, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu would've been forms used by Ghost and Necrom.

Things are not so hopeful for Emu. He's been given a legitimately-painful-to-watch beating by Dr. Pac-Man in his new monster form, and is pushed to the ground. The kind doctor decides to give Emu a taste of what it's like to go through death by Bugster Virus by basically forcing Mighty Action X into his belt alongside Proto Mighty Action X (since Proto Gashats have been established to be deadly), which doesn't work out quite how he wanted.

Instead, Emu inexplicably (but we know why now) connects the two Gashats to form the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat - which appears to be lacking in some paint here for some reason, gonna guess it's an error. With a very ominous and emotionless persona overtaking him, he transforms into the separate Ex-Aids, Double Action Gamer Level XX.

It's a real interesting way of giving you a taste of what's to come in the show in a way that's different. Ghost/Drive did this as well with Ghost's Toucon Boost Damashii form, and there's also Hibiki which kind of... created its own crazy origin for Hibiki's final form which is completely ignored in the show.

Point is, I find it interesting the way they pulled it off. By the end of the fight, the villains have been defeated and Ex-Aid's double Gashat turns back into separates, with him having no memory of what he did - cleeeverly avoiding continuity problems with the show, I see.

With that, the movie is just about over, but wait! It's a Ghost movie where Takeru doesn't die? Of course not, that'd just be silly.

Yes, as the cast of Ex-Aid and Ghost are meeting up again, Takeru randomly passes out. Apparently all the beatings he endured today was just too much for him. It seems that he's really dead this time! No pulse or anything! Tears all around!

You know what's coming, though. It's a crossover with a doctor. In a scene that's strangely reminiscent of the fakeout CPR scene in episode 1 of Ex-Aid, Emu brings Takeru back to life. He then thanks Emu for giving him another chance at life, fulfilling Ghost's other requirement of being sugary sweet.

The credits roll as we see what everyone is up to now. Haruto is on a rooftop eating donuts just as you'd expect, and Shinnosuke is dealing with coworkers congradulating him on his new kid way too early... not sure if that's a Drive Saga 2 thing or not, since that's on my list of toku to watch.

And finally, the last scene has Parad with Kuroto, holding the Pac-Adventure Gashat that will be used in the Genm spinoff which doesn't make anymore sense now that I've seen the movie. Oh, and a nice shot of Perfect Puzzle's title image, teasing at Parad's future Rider status! Neat.

So... that's a lot of text I'm gonna have to edit. But that's also Ex-Aid's first movie. How was it?

Well, I generally enjoy crossover movies for the fun things that can happen, and within the last few years they have gotten really good at telling a story. Especially Ghost/Drive which I have referenced several times here, since it and this movie have its format in common.

That being said, this movie is kind of an oddity of its own. It gets the Legend Rider-y crossover form stuff out of the way halfway in, and goes on to do more stuff later that feels reminiscent of the spring crossover movies as of late - even using returning actors, and directly acknowledging previous crossovers to give a legitimacy to them. These 4 returning heroes felt like they'd met before and were reunited, which is probably the most pleasant surprise of the movie.

I know a lot of folks out there hate these kind of movies, or even ignore all the toku movies, but I think this is promising. Kamen Rider crossovers have been getting better at character writing with each movie, and I am excited to see the spring movie once it hits DVD.

With that all being said, I'll see you all in... a week maybe? With Ex-Aid taking a week off, I should use that as an excuse to catch up and actually talk about May's crazy bunch of episodes.

#kamen rider exaid #reviews #feed

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jennaschererwrites · 7 years

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These Famous Feuds Put Crawford and Davis In Perspective - FourTwoNine

A-list beefs: We can’t get enough of ’em. Preferably with some withering repartees, and punctuated with the occasional punch in the face. Ryan Murphy’s FX series Feud portrays one of Hollywood’s most infamous: the infighting between dueling divas Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) on the set of 1962 psychodrama What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? But Joan and Bette are far from the only two celebs who ever publicly clawed at each other’s throats. We’ve compiled a list of pop culture’s most bitter standoffs, from literary giants with an ax to grind to rock stars throwing tambourines at each other’s heads.

Gore Vidal vs. Truman Capote Shade Rating: 9 Cranky literary giant Gore Vidal was famous for getting into it with his fellow writers, but he saved his greatest vitriol for rival Truman Capote. Both men made a splash as openly gay writers in the late 1940s. Vidal famously claimed that when he first met Capote at a party, he mistook the pint-sized author for a “colorful ottoman” and sat on him. Their war went nuclear when Vidal sued Capote for slander in the ’60s (for saying that Bobby Kennedy threw Vidal out of the White House for being “drunk and obnoxious”) and the latter countersued. When Capote died in 1984, Vidal called it “a wise career move.” Ouch.

Faye Dunaway vs. Roman Polanski Shade Rating: 10 Movie directors and stars often have uneasy relationships when filming, but perhaps none was more acidic than Roman Polanski and Faye Dunaway’s on the set of 1974’s Chinatown. According to Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Polanski heaped abuse on Dunaway that ranged from him yanking a hair from her head when it was blocking a shot to denying her a bathroom break during a scene. Dunaway responded in the second instance by tossing a coffee cup full of urine in the auteur’s face, to which he cried, “You cunt, that’s piss!” “Yes, you little putz!” the actress replied.

Debra Winger vs. Shirley MacLaine Shade Rating: 7 Despite the loving mother-daughter relationship Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger portrayed in 1983 weepie Terms of Endearment, their off- screen rapport was anything but affectionate. An infamously difficult co-star, Winger frequently clashed with MacLaine during filming. Hollywood lore has it that on set, the former once lifted up her dress in order to fart in the latter’s face. Both earned Academy Award noms for best actress for their performances; when MacLaine beat out Winger, she ended her speech by declaring, “I deserve this.”

Katy Perry vs. Taylor Swift Shade Rating: 6 In the modern age, we have social media to keep track of A-lister feuds in excruciating detail. And surely there’s been no tit-for-tat showdown in the past decade quite like the one between these pop superstars. The two were thick as thieves in the late 2000s, frequently photographed together at awards shows and sharing cat anecdotes over Twitter. Then came the duo’s back-to-back dating of soulful guitar arm-candy slice John Mayer. But their real beef started over backup dancers. During Swift’s 2012 arena tour, a handful of backup dancers jumped ship when Perry hired them for her own tour. Swift vented her displeasure in epic fashion in her 2014 song “Bad Blood,” and dissed Perry in a subsequent Rolling Stone interview without ever mentioning her by name. “Watch out for Regina George in sheep’s clothing,” Perry tweeted after the interview came out. What a time to be alive.

Liam Gallagher vs. Noel Gallagher Shade Rating: 9 Frankly, it’s kind of incredible that the two brothers at the center of ’90s Britpop outfit Oasis haven’t actually killed each other yet. Their sniping extends over decades, ranging from petty insults to onstage fights to literally hitting each other over the head with everything from tambourines to guitars to cricket bats. Noel finally quit the band in 2009, and Liam sued his brother for libel in 2011. Their insults for each other have been numerous and creative. “He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup,” Noel said of Liam in 2009. But maybe nothing outdoes the simple elegance of a 2016 tweet from Liam, which consisted of a photo of his brother and the word “Potato.”

Jay Z vs. Nas Shade Rating: 7 Hip-hop history is full of very public beefs, but perhaps none in recent memory has packed quite the punch of Jay Z and Nas’s decade-long rivalry. It began in the late ’90s when the two were battling for New York City rap supremacy in the wake of Biggie Smalls’s death. The pair traded disses for years on tracks ranging from Jay’s “Takeover” to Nas’s “Ether.” Things came to a head in 2001 when Hov bragged about sleeping with Nas’s girlfriend on “Supa Ugly.” The two legends buried the hatchet in style in a joint 2005 concert, and have collaborated multiple times since. Some stories do have happy endings.

J.K. Rowling vs. Twitter trolls Shade Rating: 7 Even being the most beloved author of your generation doesn’t insulate you from haters—particularly in the age of Twitter. Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling has drawn ire on social media for everything from her revelation that Dumbledore is gay to her public denouncing of Donald Trump’s policies. Fortunately, she’s been even more clever than Hermione Granger in her elegant takedowns. When one Trump supporter threatened to burn their Harry Potter books and DVDs, Rowling responded: “Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I’ve still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter.” When another charmer called her a “disgusting slimy Labour cunt,” she replied: “The Internet doesn’t just offer opportunities for misogynistic abuse, you know. Penis enlargers can also be bought discreetly.”

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