#Ive had these all since the pilot but with episode 2 out it kind of really defines them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

joshuaalbert · 1 year

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tbh i do think changeling jack would have been a better option like. first of all i think just actually sticking to the changeling plot, rather than the antagonists being the changelings and the borg in an alliance that i guess doesn’t not make sense but ultimately brushes aside the changeling stuff at the end probably would have been better, but i also think there’s some potentially interesting stuff in there. again with the caveat that this is kind of operating off of like...not totally changing the setup but trying to do something better with the same beginning.

like ok loose concept 20 years prior to ep 1 beverly picks up this kid while she’s on a mission in the wake of the dominion war and initially doesn’t know he’s a shapeshifter or anything, just that he’s a child who needs help. he’s on her ship for a while and she gets kind of attached to him, especially when he shows an early interest in medical stuff, but at some point she gets confronted by some subset of starfleet that’s after him, and it comes out that he’s a changeling who did something bad in an attempt to escape capture by starfleet and they’re here to take him back.

and like. she’s gotten to know him, and she feels protective of this kid and she believes he was genuinely acting out of fear and possibly reacting to mistreatment, whereas their charges seem. kind of questionable? they feel like the result of paranoia in the wake of the dominion war and she doesn’t trust the people that are going to bring him in to treat him fairly, and she’s already somewhat more disillusioned with starfleet than she used to be because she’s already lost one son to starfleet ideals and is starting to regard jack as another, so that questioning really gets kicked into overdrive here on a broader scale. she makes the choice to protect this kid that she’s gotten attached to and they escape, but they have to go on the run, and that’s why she’s been off the grid for so long. she raises him, and they do their medical thing, but eventually they run into trouble and she doesn’t know where else to turn, so she reaches out to picard and tells him not to involve starfleet (both because they’re potentially compromised but also because her trust in them is still not at an all time high)

and then also since that’s dealing with the dominion war and that story belongs to ds9 i would have loved to bring back sisko (probably like. as at least a 2-3 episode arc, one of which replaces the episode w/ro laren bc i love her and all but she deserved better and we could have made the points that were made there in other ways). like. put him face to face with picard for the first time since the ds9 pilot and have them reassess each other after this time. i don’t know exactly how i’d see that dynamic playing out but i think bringing them back together to try to negotiate a threat would be super interesting AND like. i would really love to see picard going to sisko for advice about fatherhood tbh. maybe picard has read jake’s work and is familiar with the fact that they have a very close relationship so in trying to bond with jack he realizes sisko could be a really good person to learn from, even if they’ve had personal struggles in the past (and even if they’re never like Friends now). idk feels like a way to bring sisko back in and give him some closure that would have worked thematically on multiple levels.

like idk i dont have a whole plot seeing as ive been thinking about this for. not very long. but by focusing more on the changeling plot and giving it personal relevance we can focus on questioning starfleet and the federation, and how having to question these things picard has dedicated his whole life to affects his identity, but ideally to me the conflict would be one that shows the potential for positive change.

#for context the answer to 'why are you writing so many long ass posts' is usually a combination of mild hypomania + writing going badly #so you can just. act on that assumption in the future lmao.#like i said in the last post i dont really like the setup but even with it there were more interesting things that could have been done #and like...idk weird changeling kid jack trying to figure his shit out in the space where the dominion war is over but people are still #kinda weird about people like him is infinitely more interesting to me than specialest borg guy jack #even if ultimately i would prefer that they just. didn't do a secret child plot at all lmao #(as a side note i dont love the ds9 episode that comes to a kind of like. well people will always just be prejudiced conclusion #but i do think there's a difference between 'that's just always how it'll be' and showing people actively making an effort to be better)#i honestly have no idea if anything i've said today makes any sense wahoo but here we are babey!!#pic #picard spoilers #san rant #changeling!jack

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angstics · 1 year

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a long introspective post because i know with time i will forget this and i want to remember it all.

night of june 30th, technoblade's death was announced. i didnt believe it for a few minutes because i couldnt watch the video (i still havent). but it was true -- he passed away age 23 from cancer he discovered *less than a year* before his death. i keep quiet about how much i liked minecraft youtubers 2020 - 2021 because that turned out to be a DISASTER. but technoblade was one of the shining beacons. genuinely always the best, completely outside of post-death rose-tinted glasses. always.

before that, i was kind of getting into my chemical romance. id known of them my whole life. from dan and phil references to annoying ass g-note jokes to the twenty one pilot's cancer cover. i heard the Big Three hits but couldnt tell you what they were (except for "welcome") before listening to three cheers for the first time at the end of june. i dont know why i decided to start them. i wasnt really into music -- my top albums the last couple years included burnham's inside, starkid's twisted, and falsettos (2016). i wish i remembered better. if listening to them for the first time isnt a core memory, this is:

after 6 months of relative stability, i understandably hit a depressive episode in july. i would lie on my couch into the early morning for no reason. i wasnt trying to distract myself from his death ... there were no thoughts to be distracted from. it isnt a headspace i understand, especially since i never left it.

but for another unknown reason i thought to watch those mcr live shows. mind, at this point id only listened to three cheers. no exaggeration, i was betwitched by their performance. i most vibrantly remember gerard's eyes. crazy fucking eyes.

i'd forgotten cancer was an mcr song. when top released their cover, i listened to the original. i decided i liked twenty one pilots' more. i switched on that when i saw my chem on snl (i didnt watch BPID all the way through til a week later). it's the stripped down song, it's the direct lyrics, it's the crazy eyes. like he's trying to communicate EVERYTHING through his eyes.

the intro to BPID was like that too. when he ripped the hospital dress off and did the ghoul scream. had that feeling when i saw frank perform vampire money in glasgow. just. completely uninhibited. performace to say something truthful. unlike anything ive ever seen. from someone who wasnt very into music or live performance or theatre, much less the mechanics of it, i suddenly understood it all.

that screenshot is an abridged version of my actual search history. this is how it went.

june 26 i watched ->

side bar, thinking about it now, my interest in pink floyd directly lead to my interest in mcr. early morning july 1st, this is what i was watching (alan parsons project great reccomendation from my friend bink bonk):

july 2 i was watching videos a friend of techno's publicized to commerate him. the mcr video was in the reccomended tag -- a combo of the live pink floyd video and the im not okay mv. crazy how influenced my life is by where youtube leads me.

then i saw a LITTLE bit of BPID before seeing my chem in 2022 for the first time. this was just weeks after bonn. i didnt watch the full eden either. but i did watch all of "welcome" at milton keynes, based on the time stamps

this whole fucking day spent watching mcr videos. reading 2011, zack sang clip frank iero explains reading 2011 drama, mcr iceberg explained, "mcr best perfomance", "mcr best moments", mcr on letterman, mcr snl, "understanding the black parade" (i had not listened to black parade) -- then i left at 4pm. probably to sleep.

july 2nd was The day. i remember while watching these videos a realization hugging me. i knew that i was struck. from july until november, the majority of my conversations had something to do with my chem.

at the very beginning, i texted people about them to gage modern attitudes. growing up, they were adjacent to bands i thought sold out or lost their spark -- panic!, twenty one pilot, fall out boy. as ive said a million times, there is a Reason i didnt get into my chem earlier. just the other day on a SPECIFICALLY EMO SUBREDDIT there were people talking about how they "weren't ashamed to like mcr". where does this shame come from!!!!!! too mainstream for punk, too punk for mainstream. everyone knows this.

well anyway, july 2nd was just the first layer: the performance. july 11 (/early july 12) was another big day. the second layer: gender and sexuality. literally my tags on the first mcr post i reblogged ->

then i saw the great collection by flockofdoves and. well.

same day i found out about "i wanna be your joey ramone" and sleater-kinney, though i wouldnt listen to the song for a short while. that's layer 4: branching out to other music.

layer 3 was music appreciation. i listened to each of their albums in full sequentionally (KIND OF since i relistened to bullets 3 times were i only listened to the others in full 2 times max), purposuefully holding off for weeks between each album. i remember the first time i sat down to listen to black parade. i was buzzing at like 12:30 am because id decided that was the night. the end -> dead rocked my whole world. never got the instinct to bang your head around til those songs. the whole album was fucking amazing but something aboout famous last words got to me. id be sitting in the car with my sister and singing the bridge over and over. the perfect string of words -- with words i thought id never speak: awake and unafraid, asleep or dead.

i used to hate live performances because the music sounded worse than the studio version while giving me nothing performance-wise. id never wanted to go to a concert in my life. but not only did they sound GOOD live, it was a whole different experience. an adaptation that added to the experience in ways entirely different to what is lost. like i said, crazy eyes. and smiles like flowers and the audience louder than the amps and movement led by sound and memory. like. like nothing else. you cant understand this unless youre in love -- completely dedicated to it.

sometime in august i discovered they were coming to my town the next month. the first concert i ever wanted to go to. my parents were a nightmare about it the whole month until i got the permission to go. ive said also said this a million times: it was like rapture.

i dont understand why you would want to do anything that doesnt work towards that same feeling. my parents didnt get that feeling and i couldnt go to another show. it's been months and it still drives me insane. it drives me fucking insane. it drives me insane.

so those are the core memories related to my chem that got me here. it's a lot of love. love so big i cant even hold. it's belief. something close to religious. it's a lot of fear too -- fear the feeling will go away, that i'll "wake up", fear that they'll be taken. one reason i dont like music is the feelings i attach to it are so profound that i cant listen to it without feeling what i felt in the past. it's why i limit how much i listen to my chem. that's another fear -- though i attach positive feelings to the band, im engaging in it while depressed. more than engaging, obsessing. i cant focus on much else.

i hope as i get better mentally, this doesnt leave me. i got into it to cope. it showed me another dimension of art and life and emotion. it's a hard thing to navigate. i want the good, healthy parts of this to be my life. i hope i can figure that out. i hope it works out.

july 26 2020, i looked this up:

i have no memory of this at all.

the night before, i was on a technoblade binge that ended with me watching one of his seminal videos that i remember beat for beat.

i love technoblade forever. i cant watch his videos right now, but i hope i can someday. i love my chem forever. i hope-

#q.txt #2022 #mcr personal history

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missjackil · 4 years

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TFW 2.0 Got What They Wanted, and Ended Up With What They Deserved

I had thought at first that it was mainly just the Hellers that hated the series finale, but it seems more real fans did than I thought. Admittedly I had and still have some issues with it, but taking into consideration that due to Covid restrictions, the last 2 episodes needed to be tweaked. TPTB assured us in TV Guide that where the brothers end up, didnt change, but how they get there did some, and who all would be in the last 2 episodes. I believe they decided to go “old school” as they said because having everyone back that they intended on would be a problem. I recall a still being released a while back that showed Sam and Dean taking to Amara in a dark room (possibly the empty) and apparently that got scrapped. My guess is that there were gonna be more magical exciting things going on, but J2 had said that we would see Sam and Dean more like Sam and Dean in the Pilot than we have seen them SINCE the Pilot. That can apply to the clothes they wore at the end, and also the fact that it was just them. No Supernatural friends to help them, just the 2 of them.

Now to me it also seemed rushed, both ep 19 and 20 but overall Im pleased with the outcome. Now let me explain why I say Sam, Dean, Jack and Cas all got what they wanted, but ended up with what they deserved..

Ive seen some of you saying that Chuck got his way and they lived out their destiny and never really had free will. This isnt true. For starters, Chuck wanted Jack dead, he certainly didnt want him to be “the New and Imrpoved God” and also, his original destiny was to bring paradise to Earth, and he didn’t do that. He got what he wanted, he wanted to be good, and to do good things, and he did, but it was at the cost of doing things worse than he could imagine first.

Chuck wanted Cas to just do what he’s told, but Cas wanted to be a hero and not just an expendable lapdog, Cas got to be heroic by saving Dean and probably everyone else but at the cost of his life and he had to have his love for Dean go unreciprocated.

Chuck wanted Sam and Dean to kill each other, but they didnt. Dean wanted to die on a hunt someday, he’d often say “No better way to go” and he got that, but he was cut down too young and by being shoved into rebar. So not the blaze of glory he hoped for. It reminds me of when he was so sure Bobby wasnt dying because it was just one bullet,

Sam got what he wanted, a long safe normal life, but he had to live with the unrelenting grief of losing Dean.

It was kind of a “careful what you wish for” scenario I think, But, in the end, they got what they deserved. Peace, safety and happiness in a now perfect Heaven that wouldnt exist without them. Had any of them given up and not kept moving forward, Heaven would be that lonely place with just memories and run by currupt politicians.

This is why Im pleased with the end, even though it wasn’t what I would have hoped. I do believe it really works.

#SPN ending #SPN Finale Spoilers #my opinion #I hope I shed some light

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mrs-nate-humphrey · 3 years

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I just watched the s6 finale and although it’s kind of stupid and rushed and should’ve been like 2 hours I still kinda liked it and the 2 weddings made me smile. And finishing with Kill Me by The Pretty Reckless was just 👌

haha, i personally don't like the finale at all, esp when you think of the pilot and how none of them wanted to be their parents, and like.... how they very much became their parents? this post says it better than i could. im glad you liked it though!!

things i liked from this episode are limited solely to:

the pale blue dress blair got married in (she looked gorgeous!)

nate eye-fucking dan at the derena wedding (i literally rewatched the episode after seeing an edit of this and can confirm it 100% happened. nate started the series checking out serena and ended it checking out dan. so very valid 💯)

dorota asking for vodka. because honestly? same.

this is probably gonna sound like me being anti chair but i feel like even if you ship chair or it's your OTP you'd still agree that the chair wedding was weird. it was so rushed and so awkward and they literally married in order to evade legal stuff which is... fucking great for a crackship actually, dan/georgina should've gotten to do that. but i just. why couldn't chuck and blair have just signed those papers and then later on had a proper ceremony? the cops bursting in on their marriage was the most suspicious thing on the planet. does anyone actually unironically like the chair wedding? not the fact that they were endgame, i know people like that - but the wedding itself. pfft. not going to go there right now.

i forgot that "kill me" by tpr was playing for a hot moment!! i love tpr. ive been a fan since high school LMAO. Iconic stuff. legendary serve.

uhhh if you haven't watched them yet, the bloopers for season 6 that involve penn badgley being unable to say "gossip girl is dead" without losing his shit are like... among my favourite bloopers. 10/10 recommend, probably the one good thing we got out of them trying to convince us that dan was gossip girl.

#awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce #thank you for the ask!!#it's definitely fun seeing stuff from you in my inbox #even from s6 which to me is like #the most hellish season imaginable

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heizerux · 5 years

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About Stormy Weather 2

Let’s cut to the chase. This was a filler/recap episode.

Is it disappointing? Yes 😞

They did my girl Aurore wrong with the episode title and not even giving her the attention she deserves. And about nothing new happened. Chloe still hasn’t learned to actually be better. There’s more. But those are about a few things that REALLY got to me (to be brief).

Is it bad that they even have this episode? Not exactly. It just wasn’t done well.

Now that I’ve briefly got out of my system on why I was disappointed, now let’s look at the details and minor brightsides of it (I guess?) and more on why I’m disappointed.

This was an episode to establish the questions we’ve had. (Honestly did we even need these? Actually, not really. But it’s nice they even bothered.) Some of these questions are:

How’s Aurore?

Is Chloe really fully changed?

How does Nathalie REALLY feel? Like with her own words? How LONG has she been with the Agrestes? And will Gabriel keep this shit up?

How’s the dynamic between Ladybug and Chat Noir now since they’ve been fighting for a while?

How’s everyone else (Alya and Nino specifically) doing?

Will Marinette ever tell Adrien that she’s interested in him?

Will Adrien pick up on that???

Pretty much here’s how they answered these, as well as what I took from these answers:

How’s Aurore? Naturally I’m gonna open up with Aurore here since this was supposed to be HER episode again. We see her being bullied by Chloe and then she get it’s gets to her. THAT’S how Aurore is doing. The only few things I liked about her here is learning she and Marinette are friends. But that’s IT. This could have been HER moment. HER episode again. We could of known more about HER. Instead what do we get? Just like 3 minutes tops of her and boom. Defeated, and not even checked up on. I know she’s a side misc character but damnit *slaps table*. . . We really were cheated with her comeback. This wasn’t her episode and it shouldn’t have been titled “Stormy Weather 2”. I’m sad about this.

Is Chloe really fully changed? Nope. So I knew her development wasn’t even started yet (as we’ve seen), but like damn. We see how being hero twice has gotten to her head. It’s disappointing, it really is. The only “bright side” is that at least they’re establishing here that she clearly still has changing to do instead of saying she’s fully changed, which she isn’t. Probably even alluding to what we’re gonna see next with her. Obviously by that last glare, Marinette (as Ladybug) isn’t giving into her shit anymore. (That or she’s disappointed in how Chloe doubled back too.)

How does Nathalie REALLY feel? And so we see. She, as expected, hates her fucking job because it’s too demanding, but LOVES the Agreste family. We now, with her own words, which are rare, learn just how long she’s been with them, her feelings for the family, and that she canonically cared for Emilie and has now fallen for Gabriel. She’s also still sick from Heroes Day (so they didn’t forget that’s a thing, thankfully). Which now only implies that from this point forward, she’ll be Mayura more often, and get even sicker (a life for a life, anyone?)

How’s everyone else doing? That Ninalya (Djwifi) content. . . My heart! 💕💖💕💖😭💖💕💖💕 So they show us Nino is pretty much now a Césaire (lol), and that they both do talk about their hero duties when they’re alone. The good in seeing this? They can actually keep it a secret from the public and this shows their hero potential (unlike Chloe). The bad about it? It’s their disadvantage (as we already know.) Now what we didn’t need is all that recap footage. (That time slot could have been used for my bby Aurore 💜💙💜)

How’s the dynamic between Ladybug and Chat Noir now since they’ve been fighting for a while? Well :) (Filler aside) We see that Ladybug is A LOT more fonder of Chat Noir than before. This time she’s loosening up her humor during battle when she used to be all “stop joking! This is serious!” Then they go on to recap on shit that we already know like that they trust each other and *yawn*. But one thing I did notice, and like about this, is that look she gives him as he runs off.

It’s almost a look of that says “I’m starting to view you as more than a partner. . .” (Will they show it in the following episodes. Boy do I hope.)

Will Marinette ever tell Adrien that she’s interested in him? Okay so not only does she drop off Adrien’s homework, but you notice something? Not only did she volunteer, but she didn’t fluster while doing so. When she delivers it, she’s not panicked about it, instead she’s just nervous about talking to Nathalie and disappointed she couldn’t give it to him in person. Then what happens next? She FINALLY takes Kagami’s advice and does something. Once she’s done, she’s not regretful and doubtful about it anymore when she used to be. Sure, we went over shit that marks she “changed”, but it’s really around this part in the episode that she ACTUALLY changes. From here she’s a new confident Marinette, pretty much. The recap was still unecessary.

Will Adrien pick up on that??? *sigh* no lol.

Okay, real quick, BIG APPRECIATION for Plagg’s “Oh shit” face when he sees Adrien notices the handwriting.

So into Adrien and his love life, we see that his head is too in the clouds to fully notice the amazing girl that is MARINETTE. I will say I love that Plagg keeps trying to steer him in the direction to LOOK AT MARINETTE. (Mentioning how Gabriel wasn’t mad Adrien was with her when he snuck out and hinting that she’s VERY available more than once.) When he finally notices the handwriting, he’s SO close to putting it together. Plagg for a sec is shook about it (since it hints he’s closer to piecing she’s LB), but then he re-tracts because he’s a clueless child and now is left on the conclusion that it’s not her. Okay -_-

So now that that’s done, let me just add on why I think that last part where he retracts marks something.

Anyone find it odd that the episode ended specifically with Adrien noting that “Marinette couldn’t have written the letter (can’t be in love with me) because she’s just a friend that’s into fashion. Besides there’s Luka.”

Luka. . .

. . .

You guys hear that?

Right as soon as he says that, sad music plays. Like he “lost” something.

Then Adrien as if slightly disappointed, insists it was probably “someone else”. . . Because there’s Luka. . .

And then the episode ends.

(My own thought: I think this is here to mark off that not only Luka is coming more into play, but maybe that it’ll affect Adrien more than he thinks? It may be that his change to come is that he stops looking “up in the clouds” and starts looking in front of him.)

haaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!

And that’s about one of the few things that got me in this episode (among Nino and Alya and Mari getting confident for once). Because it means shits gonna get interesting among the ships👀. . . *sips tea*

I’d touch the development issue but after carefully going over the fact that both season 2 and 3 were written around the same time, I do have a hunch stuff is kind of out of order there. But that’s a topic for another day. (Probably one I’ll rethink and retouch fully after this season is done.) So let’s get back to the real question:

So wtf was this episode?

Well, this is just my take, but judging by the brief glances at Stormy Weather 2’s LEVEL of power, it’s there to set what we’re gonna be seeing from the episodes forward. If this looks intense, then we haven’t seen intense, yet (ya feel?)

For certain ppl (I’m one of these ppl) Stormy Weather from S1 was THE pilot episode to the whole show and the first episode seen. It set up what we were going to be seeing of the show. So if there had to be an explanation, my take is that’s why they picked her again to mark off a recap and brand new starting point for what’s to come.

TLDR: This episode probably wasn’t just meant to show what’s changed, but to mark of what WILL change moving forward.

It’s not perfect, I’m still not happy with how it was delivered, but that’s probably what they were going for.

They probably should of just called it “The Story So Far” or something, honestly. Not Stormy Weather 2. Aurore did amazing. Her screentime didn’t :( But in the end, it’s probably there to mark the start of real change.

Since that’s maybe the deal, then changes we may see here moving forward and so on are:

It’s probably gonna mark Marinette as being comfortable around Adrien and no longer hesitating as much as she did, but of course Luka will be more in her life (and Adrien may or may not realize he isn’t as okay with it?? That’s just what I wanna see honestly lol). Chloe will probably realize that she can’t keep expecting to be handed a miraculous just because she says so, which then could mark her to ACTUALLY start changing. And so on.

Anyway we’ll see what the next episodes bring. I noticed they’ve only been showing us the uneventful episode first and leaving the more “juicy” ones for later dates. . .

As long as this is, I actually kind of rushed through it so my apologies if it’s all over the place :(

#sorry about the dots #spacing on mobile sucks #ml season 3 #ml thoughts #ml salt #ml speculation #sort of #ml spoilers #stormy weather 2 #miraculous ladybug #mlb #ml #miraculous ladybug and chat noir #personal

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thisisthepartwhereyou · 4 years

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FILM REVIEW #2: A New Hope (1977)

To write a review for a movie which is now about 47 years old and has such great cultural status may seem a little pointless, but after seeing and reviewed Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), I felt motivated to to take another look at the rest of the series in the order that each part were released. And I figured, while I am going through them, I might as well share my thoughts on them, for fun.

Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (or just Star Wars as it was originally known) is the very first installment of the entire franchise, which you can kind of tell. Written and directed by George Lucas himself, this is the first available chapter to one of the most iconic stories ever told, as well a the beginning of one of the most lucrative movie franchises of today. Though take things with a pinch of Crait-salt, as the version I am reviewing is the current Special Edition with all those infamous changes.

Most of you probably know the plot: "There is a war between the heroic rebels and the the tyrannical space-empire, and in the middle of it one of the rebel-leaders, princess Leia, gets captured by the merciless imperial lord, Darth Vader. Though before she is caught she manages to send away two androids holding imortant, military plas that could change the direction of the war. The two droids flee and crash-land on a nearby desertplanet and come across Luke Skywalker, a young farmboy of apparently simple beginnings, and Obi-wan Kenobi, a mysterious old warrior who has past connections with Vader. It is up to them to bring the droids to the rebel forces, and in order to do so they take help from the scallywag smuggler and pilot Han Solo and his lojal wookie-friend Chewbacca."

What can one say about a movie which has been reviewed and analysed thousands of times, and which I probably have seen at least a dozen times myself? Well, I am going to try and focus on what I thought about this time, which is this: It's not that great. For it's time it is certainly ambitious and impressive, but considering all the following installments, the very first one is not that strong. The main reasons for this? Simple: Its long and boring.

For diehard-Star Wars fans this might be a controversial thing to say, but that is how I feel. For a movie featuring ray guns, robots, aliens and laserswords, this movie goes at a surprisinlgy slow pace and has an overall dry tone that can be a little tiring. In a sense it is understandable, as the storytelling is very reminiscent of an old-time warfilm. An earlier critique I've had of the Star Wars-films in general is that they hardly ever feel like actual warfilms despite despite the title, but seeing this one again, I can't help but to notice a similarity to Kelly's Heroes (1970), a warfilm that I sadly am not much of a fan of either.

Though, also like Kelly's Heroes, this movies strenght lies in the memorable and entertaining characters.

Few bad guys i cinema has a stronger presence than Darth Vader, but it's also worth noting that the sidevillain Tarkin, as brilliantly play by Hammer Horror-veteran Peter Cushing, manages to be just as threathening, if not more so. The guy blew up an entire planet without batting an eye.... Talk about icecold! When it comes to the heroes it's more of a mixed bag.

Luke is not an especially interesting here in the beginning; he is goodhearted but young and naive, longs for adventure but has no clue of the dangers and is also a bit of a brat. If you count the whole trilogy it works pretty well since it illustrates the big character development, but by itself, his role in here is not really much to mention. Han Solo has a couple of cool moments but is otherwise very prone to nagging, and people will either love or hate the ineloquent Chewbacca. The two droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are a fun and heart-warming duo, but the hero I liked the most was definitely Leia, who if you look back is a pretty non-typical damsel in distress from a time when most fictional princesses followed the old Disney-standard. She has an ironic bite, but is not unneccesarily mean. She is tough, but also compassionate. And greatest of all, she is not afraid of taking charge in a chaotic situation.

While the story is pretty traditional for a fantasy, with the elements of oppressive evil, a young hero, an old and mysterious wizard, a princess that need saving and an odd assortment of allies, its spin on these traditional stuff is still distinctly its own. While a trained and nerdy eye can tell where inspiration from works such as Flash Gordon and Akira Kurosawa's samurai-films come in, it is done subtly and re-mixed enough so that one can't really call it stealing or even a noticeable tribute. What we see here is the first part of a then entirely new, fictional world with its own rules, its own history and its own environments. My favorite example of this is when Luke and Obi-wan go into a seedy bar in Mos Eisley: We bear witness to all kinds of weird creatures, assumably from every corner of the galaxy. While they don't have any bigger impact on the story later in the film, they do manage through visual storytelling paint up a picture of a wide and colorful universe, full of wonder and danger. At the same time we learn that androids are not welcome in the bar. It is not explained why, that's just how it works. This is just the right level of worldbuilding, establishing things without getting overly explanatory.

This scene, and plenty of others, display plenty of practical effects which are impressive considering the time they were made in. Though, while we are talking about the effects, I can't exactly ignore those controversal Special Edition-changes. This movie is probably biggest sufferer of them, especially in the addition of unneccesary scenes or edits that does match the rest of the movie. Although, while several of these stick out more han giraffes in a petstore, there are a couple of nice polishes that do the film som good, including improved key-ing, digitally added extras and touched up green-sceen effects.

This movie was a surprise hit when it came out. Though if it hadn't had some great follow-ups, I wonder if the franchise had managed to become as big as it is now. Plenty would argue that Return of the Jedi (1983) is the weak link in the original trilogy, but from my perspective, I think this is the one. Purists probably feel inclined to start with A New Hope when introducing Star Wars to those unfamiliar with it, which is understandable. But keep in mind that it might not be that succesful to show it for chilren, as the slow pace and the lenght might be a bad combination for kids who are into action-action-action.

In the end, I give this movie a rating of 6 out of 10. ---

#star wars #sw #luke skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #episode #4 #jcl #film review #1977 #c-3po #r2-d2 #princess leia #han solo #chewbacca #darth vader #tarkin #a new hope #IV #george lucas

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trippz2ill2ace8itout · 5 years

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🥀ιzzу21.i❤️&MissMySonAnthonyMartinez.RIP2KimberlyOlivarez,RIP2JeremyBaraz&IshmaelBaraz.RIPGrandpaHarold.RIPKeraAndrews. RIPJuanTorrez, RIPMamaLisa (One 0f My Foster Parents) RIPDad (Tortured/Abused Me In All Ways),RIPGrandmaSarah (My Mom's Mom) Biromantic-Asexual.Sтαуѕтяσηg.вαттℓєѕcαяz.GOD.TraumaSinceAge4TillJuly2018.Occuring24/7.BяσкєηNDamaged.RIP2Me.Surviver.Vocals&[email protected]❤️M0M.i❤️PeteWentz&Tyler Joseph.Queen0fJupit3r.W3ird.Singer.Actor.Writ3r.2Caring.Ace8ItOut.🥀 UrNotAlone. I make movies,Music,freestyles,vlogs,shows,shortseries/films,I'm here4everyone. my solo musician project."Br0k3n R0z3z".All content on this channel owned by me. MyWattpad Ms_SweetInsanityyx (IWroteABook)

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WARNING: I help everyone and everything obsessively (I am there no matter what, I'm here to be there and help in any way, shape, or form possible. So if you need someone, you can contact me on my socials.)

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Don't Tell Me Good night"-Copyrighted By Me, I Own This Song. Just Get Some Sleep, Okay?

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call me Izzy, that's what I go by.

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Don't Judge Anyone/Anything Unless You Have Already Walked In There Shoes. You Know My Name, Not My Story.

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L0ADiiNG;

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ﾟ･*☆¸¸.•*¨*•ﾟ･*☆¸¸.•*¨*•ﾟ･*☆¸¸.•*¨*•

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🖤🥀Updated A Lil Part Of My Life Story Summerized🥀🖤

.♪★I am a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, on Step One &10 MonthsClean.

♪★My deceased father tortured me since I was 4 (I fought back at age 9, when my dad's torture got worse, (on multiple occasions on our he injection me with Meth and Heroin (inside a parked car at Carl's Jr

♪★now I've been homeless 13 times

♪★I rose a 9 year old kid (now 14 years old) named Anthony Castillo-Martinez, he was In an abusive foster home (the same one I was in), so me and my motel roommate and ex girlfriend of One Year. Kimberly Marie-Olivarez took him in

♪★I was mentally unstable and unfit so CPS took him away, (under Kimberly's false accusations that I "gave him drugs")

♪★im known for police, fire department, AMR, sherriffs etc.

♪★Jeremy Baraz & Ismhael Baraz, got shot && I saw the entire thing , and I almost got killed as well

♪★I was Prostituting/got sold, got drugged up and abused for money for us (To raise Anthony, and have a hotel for me Kim and him to live) and she killed herself (right in front of me and I tried to st0p her, but I was to late

♪★ I've been raped by my drug dealers which also drugged me up.people on the streets, Kimberly && many more)

♪★I was in Foster Care a couple times, ×°the 2nd time i was in abusive/Drug addicts, Angela and Jimmy Miller (they tortured, force fed, raped, abused, but me, drugged me up, had multiple people (over 40 a day) come in an rape me one by one

x°first a foster called GHS with staff instead of parents

x° and with Lisa (who was like a grandma to me but she passed away later on so I moved , later finding out that she attempted suicide)

♪★I’ve been in 215 mental hospitals (ETS, Loma Linda, Arrowhead, Cedars Cienai, San Bernardino Community, Delamo, The Willows "CRC", Auoura Charter Oaks, Auoura Las Encinas, UCI, Canyon Ridge, Kaiser, Kaiser Sunset, College Hospital)

♪★lock down treatment centers,1in Utah called Copper Hills Youth Center, ♪★multiple treatment centers

crisis centers (Crisis Stabelization Unit a 24 hour crisis center [CSU] over 80 times)

♪★2 week mental health and drug/alcohol programs (STAY Program (2x), Jumpstreet, Excelsior House, Rancho West, and Telecare Lagos...2x each)

♪★group homes (Rancho Domocitas), ♪★Boarding Cares (Golden Girls, a SSI paid house of all girls)

♪★rehabs (Cedar House 2x, CHYC, and multiple others)

♪★shelters (House of Miracles, Lutheran Mission, Set Free Ranch, Path Of Life, and many otherz)

♪★the streets (13 times homeless/on the streets, LA, OC, Menifee, Riverside, Murrietta, Mission Viejo, Corona, irvine and San Bernardino)

♪★been in car accidents (over 10 times)

♪★i have anger issues (extremely bad), been kicked out of multiple schools since 7th grade

♪★I’ve attempted suicide over 50 to 100 times

♪★I’ve self harmed on multiple occasions (in all kinds of different methods)

♪★I have bipolar (manic depressive disorder type 1 mixed episode).

♪★depression (major depressive disorder).

♪★paranioa.

♪★anxiety.

♪★Buliemia.

♪★insomnia.

♪★Dissociative Identity Fued.

♪★skitzoaffective (extreme skitzophrenia && bipolar mixed) ♪★PTSD.

♪★ocd.

♪★attachment disorder.

♪★Autism.

♪★borderline personality.

♪★amnesia.

♪★multiple personality disorder. ♪★anorexia.

♪★&&..i helped the homeless and people In hospitals (I help everyone way toooo much)

♪★been 0n all mental Health medication (I mean ALL)

♪★ People Tried To Send

Me To Metropolitan State Hospital(highest level of Care)

♪★IMD (Institution For The Mentally Diseased) on multiple occasions

♪★ive been to many therapists, physciatrists, ER's, and been on 51/50, 52/50 holds , concervertaship

♪★and lastly ive got taken away from my mom on four occasions (personal reasons)

♪★I’ve never had a stable home since 2011, now on Augest of 2018 I’m finally home

♪★I help others cus im used to people not caring about me

♪★I have trust issues, im always there to help to care to make sure there OK.

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phantom-le6 · 3 years

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 (2 of 6)

Having a bit of extra time today due to a shorter lie-in than normal and not wanting to risk a walk today in light of the forecast suggesting a lot of ice underfoot, I’ve elected to get the next round of reviews for Star Trek TNG season 1 written and posted now. Here’s hoping they’re better than the first round of episodes…

Episode 5: The Last Outpost

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is in pursuit of a Ferengi vessel which has stolen an energy converter from an unmanned Federation outpost. While the Ferengi were known to the Federation, this is the first contact with the species, and the Ferengi are thought to be at a similar technology level as themselves. As the chase passes the planet Delphi Ardu IV, both ships suffer power drains causing them to come to a halt. Each crew initially believe the power drain is caused by the other vessel, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard realizes that the Ferengi are as confused as they are, and orders the crew to investigate the planet. Operations Officer Lt. Commander Data reports that the planet seems to have once been a remote outpost of the "Tkon Empire" that became extinct 600,000 years ago (during the Middle Pleistocene). Picard contacts the Ferengi and gets them to agree to mutually explore the planet below to try to find the source of the energy drain.

On the planet, the away team is momentarily separated due to effects of the planet’s energy field on the transporters. They regroup but are attacked and bound by the Ferengi, who believe the Enterprise crew was planning an ambush of their own. The away team break free, and begin to exchange weapon fire, but the energy expelled is absorbed by nearby crystalline structures. Data investigates the structures and awakens an entity that displays itself as a humanoid and calls itself Portal 63 "a guardian of the Tkon Empire." Portal 63 asks the two groups if they seek to enter the Tkon Empire, and does not comprehend when it is told that the Tkon have long since disappeared.

The Ferengi accuse the Enterprise away team of being a hostile force; Commander William Riker admits that they are hostile to the Ferengi. This prompts Portal 63 to test Riker, and he finds through the commander’s response that the Federation is civilized, allowing the Enterprise to go free. It further offers Riker the opportunity to destroy the Ferengi vessel, but he declines on the grounds that the Ferengi would learn nothing from such an action. Both away teams return to their ships with power restored, and the Ferengi return the stolen energy converter. As a means of ironic thanks, Riker suggests sending the Ferengi a box of Chinese finger traps, a toy that fascinated Data when he became stuck in one earlier in the mission.

Review:

This episode did a poor job of showcasing the Ferengi, who were a new race in Trek lore at the time, but thankfully later episodes did improve their representation before Deep Space Nine went a bit too far on some of their Ferengi-centric episodes. This race is a combination of the worst in capitalism and the worst of the misogyny of middle eastern cultures, as it is made clear that not only are the Ferengi profit-mongers of the worst kind, but that they don’t allow the women in their society to wear clothes or work alongside their male counterparts. As a result, they’re often basic comic relief at the expense of disreputable businessmen and misogynistic cultures in our real-life, modern-day society.

The error this episode makes is in making the Ferengi also appear a bit like they have some combat ability which doesn’t quite fit into the rest of their cultural archetype. The episode doesn’t really have much else going for it outside of the introduction of the Ferengi. The few bits of Sun Tzu teachings spouted at either end of the episode and Riker’s somewhat condescending attitude about the Ferengi ‘learning to be better’ are hardly enough to make this episode one of the issue-exploring episodes that represent Trek at its best, and there’s little to no development of any of the characters. That said, it’s still better than the last two. I’d give it about 4 out of 10.

Episode 6: When No One Has Gone Before

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise rendezvous with the USS Fearless to bring aboard Mr. Kosinski, a Starfleet propulsion expert who plans to run tests on the warp engines to improve their efficiency. Commander Riker is sceptical of Kosinski's seemingly nonsensical specifications, suggesting his apparent success on other ships was merely addressing inherent design flaws on older engines, whereas the Enterprise's engines are brand new. With Kosinski is his assistant, an alien from Tau Alpha C known as the Traveller. As Kosinski and the Traveller explain the tests to the engineering crew, Wesley Crusher quickly grasps what the tests are designed to accomplish and the Traveller expresses admiration for his problem-solving abilities.

The test quickly goes awry when the Enterprise speeds up, surpassing the known capabilities of warp engines. Captain Picard orders the ship stopped, and the crew finds themselves on the far side of the M33 Galaxy (more than 2.7 million light years from the Milky Way, the Enterprise's home galaxy). Although Kosinski is pleased with the results, Picard reprimands him and asks him to simply redo the process to return home. Wesley attempts to warn Riker that during the warp test, the Traveller appeared to "phase", drifting in and out of reality, but Riker dismisses him without listening. However, after Kosinski begins the second test, Wesley and Riker both observe the Traveller again drifting out, appearing more tired. The Enterprise again experiences a burst of speed, and when it stops, the crew cannot determine their position. Picard demands that Kosinski get the crew home.

While Kosinski, the Traveller, and the engineering crew work on reversing the process, the rest of the crew begins experiencing lifelike visions of their past. After having a vision of his mother, Picard surmises that they have arrived at the theoretical Outer Rim of the universe, and issues a red alert to awaken the crew from their visions. Riker suggests that Kosinski may have had nothing to do with the warp jumps, which were more likely to be a result of the Traveller’s illness. Picard has the alien moved to sick bay, but Dr Crusher cannot evaluate the Traveller’s alien biology, and is unable to treat him. The Traveller explains that he has the ability to channel thought into reality, and brought the crew of the Enterprise to the Outer Rim by accident. This then triggered a similar effect in the crew. The Traveller confides to Picard that he looks for scientific prodigies such as young Wesley, and suggests that Picard nurture him. When he returns to the engineering section, the Traveller asks Wesley to assist him in returning the Enterprise to known space. As they concentrate, beginning to return the ship home, the Traveller again phases and finally disappears completely.

The Enterprise suddenly stops, and the crew is relieved to find themselves back in Federation space. After the incident, Picard promotes Wesley to acting ensign (following his own unspoken suggestion in "The Naked Now") on the Enterprise for his performance.

Review:

This episode is another example of TNG not yet firing on all cylinders, because while we ultimately wind up with the Enterprise crew going through an interesting situation where thoughts become reality, that element isn’t really explored. It just becomes a spur for them to act to resolve their dilemma, and in turn finally gets the supposedly anti-child Picard to warm up to Wesley slightly. In essence, this show is just one long excuse to finally give Wesley a chance to live up to the intellectual promise he’s actually shown right from the pilot, but which a lot of people tend to dismiss because he’s something of a token kid character at this stage. Thankfully, the character does improve as he matures, even though he does ultimately leave the show later on.

It’s a shame the episode is handled as it is, because if they’ve just gone right into the weird thought realm, this could have become a great episode exploring the question of policing one’s own thoughts. Instead, it’s more “disaster of the week, overcome by technobabble solution x, y or z”, or in other words, Trek writing at its laziest. Only the development of Wesley into an acting ensign and Picard warming to him slightly by making him an acting officer makes this episode worthwhile. On balance, I’m inclined to give this episode about 6 out of 10.

Episode 7: Lonely Among Us

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is en route to the planet "Parliament" with delegates from two warring planets in the Beta Renner system, the reptilian Selay and the canine Antican, when the ship encounters a strange energy cloud. Unseen by the crew, Lt. Worf is hit with a strange energy discharge as the ship passes the cloud, causing him to become violent. Doctor Beverly Crusher sedates Worf and brings him to the sickbay, but is also infused with the energy as she examines his body. Crusher begins to act oddly to those around her and goes to the bridge, asking questions about the ship's navigational functions. When she questions Lt. Commander Data at one of the science stations, the energy sparks between her and the console, leaving her confused as to why she is on the bridge.

The ship suddenly begins to malfunction and Captain Picard sends Assistant Chief Engineer Singh to investigate the cause. Singh is later found dead near a computer link, and Picard orders a murder investigation, considering the alien delegates to be prime suspects. Data investigates the murder in the manner of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and determines that the delegates were not responsible. Meanwhile, Counsellor Deanna Troi uses hypnosis on both Worf and Crusher, finding that both recall being invaded by some entity during their blackouts. The ship suddenly drops again out of warp, and as Picard investigates the readouts at a bridge console, the strange energy transfers into him. The bridge crew becomes suspicious of Picard's actions after noting that all Enterprise systems are back to normal and that Picard has ordered them to return to the cloud.

The senior officers attempt to plead with Picard to undergo a medical examination and to step down from command, but he refuses. When they return to the cloud, Picard announces that they had picked up an entity previously when they passed the cloud, and now Picard and the entity are one. Under its influence, Picard plans to transport his energy back into the cloud, and he shoots energy at the bridge crew when they try to stop him. The crew are unable to prevent Picard from beaming off the ship. The crew spend hours trying to locate Picard to no avail, so they are forced to accept he is beyond recovery and prepare to leave. However, Troi senses the Captain's essence nearby, and Picard manages to signal the crew through the ship's computers. Data is able to reverse the transport, reconstituting Picard without the entity. After determining that Picard is himself again, lacking the memories since he was taken over by the entity, the Enterprise continues on to Parliament.

Review:

This episode is rife with problems, including some less-than-brilliant dialogue for many characters, especially because this is one of those horrid ‘actors being weird for weirdness sake’ that all entity possession episodes boil down to. Thrown in a poor sub-plot with some alien delegates and a crew that seems too slow to act against a blatantly possessed and out-of-character Picard, and the episode becomes almost irredeemable.

Only two things save the episode. The first is that we finally understand the purpose of La Forge and Worf at this stage of TNG lore. The bulk of the main cast at this point has key positions on the crew; Picard is the Captain, Riker is second-in-command, Data is next-in-command after Riker and typically works the Operations, or Ops, console. We then have Troi as counsellor (captain’s advisor and ship’s psychiatrist), Tasha Yar as chief of security and Beverley as the ship’s doctor, with Wesley acting as the token child’s POV character. However, both Worf and La Forge never seem to have a set task at any point, making them almost seem like tack-on characters.

The answer to the why of these characters from a ship’s roster point-of-view is that they’re junior officers aboard the enterprise, with both needing to learn more and develop experience before earning the key positions they would come to hold later in the series. The only reason these two even get to be main cast members is because La Forge is a blind man seeing through a piece of tech and Worf is a Klingon, making them both unique and adding to the relative diversity of the cast even before you factor in La Forge being Afro-Caribbean descent and the actors for both characters being the only two Black actors in the main cast. In fact, that fact makes me wonder if there was some behind-the-scenes racism that played into them being the only main cast members whose characters lacked key posts on the Enterprise.

The second thing that helps redeem this episode is the brilliant bit of roleplay Data does by emulating Sherlock Holmes. This is a key element of Data’s character development that leads to some brilliant episodes later on the series, and Brent Spiner playing Data playing Holmes works wonderfully as both drama and comic relief. It’s just a shame this episode didn’t do away with the possession and the alien delegations to just do a Holmes-style mystery in space. Ah well, guess that’s just something to look forward to in later episodes. For this one, I’d say it averages out at 5 out of 10.

Episode 8: Justice

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The USS Enterprise arrives to make contact with the paradisiacal, newly discovered planet of Rubicun III. A small advance party from the ship are sent down to meet with the Edo, the native people of the planet to determine if it is suitable for shore leave. Captain Jean-Luc Picard sends Wesley Crusher as part of the away team to evaluate the planet on behalf of the young people on board the Enterprise. Upon their arrival, they are greeted by Rivan and Liator in a very comfortable way, causing Lt. Worf to determine it a "nice planet", while Wesley leaves the adults to socialize with native teenagers. On the Enterprise, Lt. Commander Data reports something unusual orbiting the planet, but nothing appears on the viewscreen. He sends out a communications signal which reveals another vessel in orbit. A small ball of light enters the bridge and communicates with Picard in a booming voice, warning him not to interfere with the Edo, calling them his "children". The intruder then incapacitates Data in an attempt to exchange information.

On Rubicun III, the Edo explain to Lt. Tasha Yar and Worf that capital punishment is used to enforce their laws. The away team rush to warn Wesley, only to discover he has accidentally broken a greenhouse while playing catch with the Edo youths. An Edo mediator, the Edo’s equivalent of law enforcement, attempts to give Wesley a lethal injection for this infraction of the law, but Yar and Worf draw their phasers. On the ship, the sphere leaves Data's body and departs. Picard, upon hearing of the situation with Wesley, transports to the surface. He meets with representatives of the Edo in a council chamber and explains that Earth no longer practices capital punishment. Some Edo interpret this stance as an attempt by the Federation to push their superiority and suggest that Picard should mount a rescue effort for the boy. He says he cannot, quoting the Prime Directive.

Picard asks about the mysterious vessel in orbit and discovers that the Edo worship it as a god. He returns to his ship with Rivan and Counsellor Deanna Troi. Rivan sees the strange ship from orbit and confirms it is the Edo's god. She is transported back to the surface when the ship threatens the Enterprise for taking her away from the planet. Data reveals from his communication with the entity that it will protect the Edo as if they were its children. After considering their options, Picard returns to the planet's surface and announces that he is willing to risk the wrath of the entity. He orders the transportation of Wesley to the Enterprise, but the entity disables the transporters and threatens to destroy the rest of the ship once again. Picard has had enough, and pleads with the Edo god that laws must allow for exceptions to ensure justice, and after this statement the transporters go back online and allows the away team to return. Upon leaving the planet, Picard communicates with the entity to inform it that they are leaving and that they will remove recently placed colonists at a nearby star system under the entity's claimed jurisdiction, if the entity wishes them to. However, the entity simply disappears, giving no clear indication of its wishes regarding the colonists. Picard is disappointed by the response and the Enterprise departs.

Review:

This episode is one that had some great potential that just simply isn’t realised in its execution, if you’ll pardon the pun. Here we have a society that has only found peace through absolute laws punished in all cases by death no matter how minor, but then fails to flag this up in time with half the main cast, resulting in someone who is part of the main cast breaking a law through ignorance. Unfortunately, we don’t then get any kind of courtroom-style debate to plead against such a harsh regime, no effort to brow-beat the Edo into changing their ways. Instead, we get side-tracked by some phantom apparition in orbit that didn’t really need to be in the episode.

We also get some discussion on the Prime Directive, and here again, the episode fumbles the ball. For one thing, the Edo don’t show any signs of being a warp-capable society, and as I understand it, the Prime Directive doesn’t just forbid the Federation to interfere in the natural development of any non-Federation society. It also forbids making contact with any society that lacks the ability to get into space and travel at warp, so a race like the Edo with no apparent space presence, much less the ability to travel the galaxy at warp, shouldn’t have even been approached by the Enterprise at all. As such, when Picard makes his decision to violate Star Fleet’s most crucial rule by just taking Wesley back to the Enterprise, it’s actually his second violation of the rule; making contact in the first place would have been the first violation.

However, this is all assuming the Prime Directive is as I’ve learned it from later episodes and it’s never been amended before that. In fairness, the lack of exposition up to now on what the Prime Directive is within TNG itself means I could be wrong, and the condition about avoiding non-warp societies could have been something added in after the Edo incident for all I know. Nevertheless, at least this episode shows TNG finally getting some deeper subject matter into its episodes and trying to become a proper Trek show. At this stage, however, the execution of that Trek tradition remained as woefully flawed as the Edo’s excessive judicial system. End score for this episode, 6 out of 10.

Episode 9: The Battle

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise encounters a Ferengi vessel whose commander, DaiMon Bok, requests a meeting with Captain Picard. Picard is suffering from persistent headaches, the cause of which Dr Beverly Crusher is unable to determine. Meanwhile a second vessel approaches and is identified as a Federation Constellation-class starship.

Bok transports to the bridge of the Enterprise, and announces that the newly arrived ship is a gift for "the hero of Maxia." Data reminds Picard that nine years earlier at Maxia he was attacked by an unidentified aggressor which he destroyed. Bok reveals that the ship in question was Ferengi. Bok's gift is identified as the Stargazer, Picard's former command, which Bok found as a derelict. Picard explains that at Maxia, the crew was forced to abandon ship, despite winning the battle by an action that would come to be known as the "Picard Manoeuvre", a short warp jump that caused the enemy vessel's light-speed limited sensors to detect the Stargazer in two places at once.

Picard and an away team board the Stargazer, and he orders a chest of his belongings sent to the Enterprise. Hidden in the chest is an orb, apparently under Bok's control, that subjects Picard to a wave of pain. Dr. Crusher orders him back to the Enterprise. Data finds an entry in the Stargazer's logs stating that the Ferengi were attacked under a flag of truce, but he and La Forge determine that this entry was faked. Wesley detects unusual signals from the Ferengi ship, and the Enterprise computer informs Commander Riker that Picard has returned to the Stargazer.

Picard finds Bok waiting for him with another orb. Bok explains that his son was in command of the Ferengi vessel at Maxia, and that Bok is taking revenge. He sets the orb down and leaves Picard on the Stargazer bridge. The orb lights up, and Picard suddenly believes he is once again at the Battle of Maxia, and that the Enterprise is the attacker. On the Enterprise, Lieutenant Tasha Yar and Lieutenant Worf discover the orb brought over from the Stargazer in Picard's chest. They take it to Riker as the Stargazer powers up its weapon systems. Riker hails the Ferengi vessel and speaks to First Officer Kazago, who reveals that the orb is a banned device, but claims he wants no part in what might be happening.

Riker subsequently hails the Stargazer, but Picard continues to believe he is being attacked by the Enterprise. Riker asks Data to devise a countermeasure to the Picard Manoeuvre. When Picard takes the Stargazer to warp, Data uses the Enterprise's tractor beam to seize the Stargazer and limit its field of fire. Riker tells Picard about the orb; Picard seems to understand and destroys it with his phaser. After a few moments, Picard hails the Enterprise and requests a transport. Earlier Kazago hailed Riker to inform him that Bok had been relieved of command "for engaging in this unprofitable venture", and Riker relays this to Picard before the captain returns to the Enterprise.

Review:

Well, the Ferengi are back and getting closer to what they should be going by most later episodes. However, they’re still poor antagonists, which is probably why episodes like this one are among the worst of what Trek can offer. The fact that you have to take the Ferengi essentially out of the character of their species to make them an opponent is all the proof you need that they’re no kind of adversary at all. The psychological plot elements carry no mystery, and as such we’re just stuck watching the crew of the Enterprise move with painful slowness to catch up information the audience could have deduced even without the episode tipping its hand early.

Because of all these failings, many reviewers apparently feel that the episode is only salvaged through Patrick Stewart’s performance as Picard. Granted, that performance is a good one, but at times it almost feels a little over-acted, as though it was being done more in the style of voice actors working on an animated production than for non-animated television. Then again, that might just be because the plot itself has all the subtlety and excessive contrivance of a Saturday morning cartoon show. Ultimately, I’d only give this episode 4 out of 10.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for “The Sanctuary.”

After the hugely nostalgic trip to Ni’Var in “Unification III,” you’d think that Discovery might be briefly done with a ton of callbacks to previous eras of Trek. With Episode 8, “Sanctuary,” that guess is partially correct. When Burnham and Book hit-up Book’s home planet of Kwejian, the vast majority of what happens on that planet doesn’t have roots in old Trek canon, because, Kwejian — at least for Burnham — is a strange new world. That said, the rest of the episode still has more than a handful of references to the Final Frontier that came before. Here’s every Easter egg and reference we caught in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 8, “Sanctuary.”

Prime Directive Violations

Admiral Vance tells Burnham and Sura that “The Chain has turned Prime Directive violations into an art form.” What he means is that basically, the Emerald Chain is contacting pre-warp planets, and exploiting those inhabitants for whatever they can get. In some ways, this makes the Emerald Chain kind of like the Terran Empire of the Mirror Universe. It also echoes the fight between the Kelpiens and the Ba’ul in Discovery Season 2.

A Picard-era Starfleet Badge?

When Oysraa (Janet Kidder) is revealed at the top of the episode, we see her holding an old Starfleet badge on the planet Hunhau, last seen in the episode “Scavengers.” In that episode, we saw Michael sifting through other old badges. It’s unclear which era this Starfleet badge comes from but it seems to be a version of the styles worn in Star Trek: Picard.

Janet Kidder as Osyraa

Does Janet Kidder seem familiar to you? Well, it’s not an Easter egg to notice an actress that seems familiar, but for genre fans, Janet Kidder had recurring roles in both The Man in the High Castle and the time-travel series Continuum. She also bears a striking resemblance to Lois Lane actress Margot Kidder, and that’s because Janet Kidder is Margot’s niece.

Jonathan Frakes is about to tie his TNG directorial record

This is the second episode this season to be directed by Jonathan Frakes, the previous one being “People of Earth.” Frakes is slated to direct one more episode this season, Episode 12, “The Good of the People.” That makes six episodes of Discovery directed by Frakes since 2017. If you count the two episodes he directed of Star Trek: Picard, this means Frakes has now directed the same number of episodes of “New Trek” as he directed episodes of The Next Generation. To be clear, he also directed two feature films (First Contact and Insurrection) and three episodes each of Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Still, assuming Frakes directs episodes of Discovery Season 4, Picard Season 2, and Strange New Worlds, we’re probably like a year away from him starting to overtake his ‘90s-era Trek directorial record!

Brandon Schultz and Kenneth Lin

The writers of this episode are Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz. This appears to be Kenneth Lin’s first Discovery episode. But, fans should already be aware of Brandom Schulz. Last year, he wrote the gorgeous Short Treks episode, “The Girl Who Made the Stars.”

“Hit It”

Saru is working on his catchphrase to give orders in a cool way and having a rough time. Having Captain Pike say “Hit it” was first introduced in Discovery Season 2’s debut episode, “Brother.” But, it should be noted that Pike said “Engage!” in the TOS pilot “The Cage.” Captain Freeman faced a similar debacle in Lower Decks earlier this year.

Verubin Nebula

Stamets and Adira have tracked the origin of the Burn to the “Verubin Nebula.” This appears to be a new Nebula in the Trek canon, but it sure sounds like an old one, doesn’t it?

Federation Distress Signal

When Saru asks Adira to isolate aspects of the music in the nebula, they find a Federation distress signal. This sound-effect sounds a little bit like a computer alert from TNG-era. (You can listen to a sample here.) But, the way in which they decipher the sound information is a little bit like the way Uhura and Spock break-down the alien probe signal in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

What lost ship is in there? Who knows!

Boatswain’s whistle

Speaking of audio Easter eggs, when Saru enters the bridge early in the episode we hear the three-note Boatswain’s whistle. This has origins in actual naval history, but for Trek fans, this sound effect is most famously associated with The Original Series.

The Viridian/viridian

Osyraa’s warship is called “The Viridian” This could be a reference to the Star Trek Generation planet Veridian III, the place where Captain Kirk was eventually killed. That said the word “viridian” mostly refers to a certain shade of green, and the Orions are well, you know kind of…viridian in color.

Adira’s identity crisis echoes Ezri Dax

Adira tells Stamets they’re having a hard time figuring out which host’s personality is the most dominant. This echoes exactly what Ezri Dax went through in Deep Space Nine Season 7, when, like Adira, she was given a Trill symbiont on short notice.

Georgiou’s “flashback” is back

Much like we saw in “Scavengers,” Georgiou experiences her Mirror Universe flashback again. However, it should be noted that it sounds like she’s not saying “son,” like we previously thought, but instead saying “San.” This references a character mentioned in passing in a Discovery tie-in novel called Die Standing. Relevantly, this book also has Georgiou crossing paths with a previous host of Dax; Emony.

Orion slavery

As Osyraa mocks Saru and the history of Kelpien enslavement, he counters by saying, “If memory serves, the Orions were once enslaved themselves.” Using the phrase “If memory serves,” is a sideways reference to Spock, but it also references the Discovery episode of the same name from Season 2. But, is Saru right? Well, yes, from a certain point of view. In the TOS-era, it was generally assumed that the Orions dealt in “animal women” as slaves. This is where we get the famous “green Orion” dancing woman, in “The Cage.” However, the Enterprise episode “Bound,” inverted this assumption, and revealed that Orion women were using an illusion of slavery to actually control the Orion Crime Syndicate. So, although Saru was right, he was also wrong. When Oysraa says: “My ancestors knew that power is virtue and that there is no nobility in suffering,” she’s likely referring to the faux-appearance that women were enslaved, when in fact, they were the ones running the entire Orion “government.”

Photon torpedoes

Book mentions that Oysraa is using “photon torpedoes” to bombard the surface of Kwejian. Does this seem to imply the Emerald Chain has old-school tech? Shouldn’t photon torpedoes be outdated?

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Detmer manual control references…Riker?

When Detmer decides to go “full-manual control” of Book’s ship, she suddenly has a couple of nifty joysticks. This seems to be a reference to the “manual steering column” on the Enterprise from Star Trek: Insurrection. In that film, Riker flew the Enterprise much the same way Detmer flies Book’s ship here. Guess who directed both that movie and this episode? Yep, you already know; Jonathan Frakes!

“You both are empaths”

Turns out, Book and his species aren’t space wizards, but instead, as Burnham says, they are empaths. This is a wink to the TOS episode “The Empath” but also, to the most famous empath in Trek history, Deanna Troi. Burnham also mentions that the Discovery will “amplify” the empathic signals of Book and Kyheem, “just like we did on Kaminar.” This references the Discovery Season 2 episode “The Sound of Thunder.”

The Emerald Chain is running out of dilithium

Thanks to Ryn (Noah Averbach-Katz), the big revelation at the end of the episode is a pretty big game-changer. The evil Emerald Chain is low on dilithium, which means it will be harder for them to move their ships around. Because Discovery isn’t really relying on dilithium anymore, this could change everything in the rest of the season.

Ever since The Original Series, starships have needed dilithium to warp around the cosmos. If that changes by the end of Discovery Season 3, then the method for all this Star Trek-ing will be suddenly strange, new, and bold. Who knew Star Trek would end-up focused on the way we Trek?

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 is streaming on CBS All Access.

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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klanceficatalogue · 7 years

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What's your opinion on season 4?

Anon: i was wondering if any of you has seen the new season? and if so what did you think? (if you dont want to answer thats okay, i was just curious)

ok a couple of things before you read:

1. this obviously contains s4 spoilers!!

2. everything we say is our personal opinion

3. this is the second time ive had to type this all out bc my phone did something weird and deleted it all the first time.. im still salty

- Karri

ok lets gO (sorry this took so long to post afgh)

Karri: Ok the first thing to get out of the way is the fact there was no klance at all which sucked ass especially since there was so much interesting development last season which they could have built on. The next thing is to mention is how weird half the characters were, Keith was totally contradicting himself, Shiro was not the smooth leader that he was in the first 2 seasons and as IF Coran would buy some drugs off some rando, hes a cautious quirky dude he would n e v e r. So onto plot and such, I actually quite enjoyed how the story is panning out this season unfortunately it seems they prioritized this over the characters development which sucks but I guess you can’t have everything. Ok something that I was SUPER happy about was episode 2!!!! The scene with Matt’s grave had me in tears and when she and Matt finally reunited it was just the best seeing them so happy. Matt is such an utter sweetheart and I’m lowkey bitter that they aren’t making Lance and him bff’s because that would’ve been amazing (imagine all the puns and first bumps). I’m also really happy about Hunk this season!!! He hit it off really well with Matt and Pidge and I like that even though there’s another genius on board Hunk still fits in really well (if not, better). However, I am VERY VERY upset about Lance this season, he got basically no screentime and the time he did get was mostly for comedy which is great sometimes but just not what we needed right now. On the subject of things that were completely missing,,, wheres that lgbtq+ rep you said we’d be happy about huh Jeremy??? Though it is possible he could have been referring to the transgirl Pidge that was quite heavily implied in episode 2 its still not the solid representation that we wanted. Also I’m all for allur@nce friendship but I really reallY hope it doesn’t go beyond that, another ship I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable with now is Sh@tt because even though they’re (probably) the same age Matt acts like a teenager and idk it just seems a bit weird to me. To finish off I’d just like to say that Keith looked so fucking good this season and that is something to be thankful for. That is all from me I’m so sorry for talking so much asfgsdfgh

Maggie: Alright so I agree with Karri on most if not all of her above opinions so my thoughts are going to be a lot shorter, also im going to use bullet points bc it’s easier on my brain

tbh the only really good episode in my opinion was episode 2 bc i would die for the holt siblings

where tf is my boy lance??

why the FUCK would you think that removing keith from voltron is a good idea????????????

they showed hunk being smart and all which is good but the still were making food jokes so,,,,,,

this heteronormativity needs to Stop

this whole season was super ooc except for maybe hunk and pidge

i can’t believe lotor is pulling A Zuko

i am angery about the shitty (aka nonexistent) character development

stop trying to make lance be all creepy about allura

fight scenes were pretty cool

is it bad that I thought BoM was more interesting than the actual voltron squad this season? it might just be bc im highkey in love with keith tho lmao

overall the season was pretty mediocre and half-assed

Vallie: I can’t remember anything. Apparently I wrote down some thoughts somewhere after and the rest is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I loved the Holt sibling interactions. Pidge running around the castle with Matt and Matt just being like :o made me so happy. And Pidge wears Matt’s glasses?? Dude do you even need glasses? That’s not how glasses work? right? (or maybe I missed it idk). Another detail in their relationship, that gave me shivers, was “Pidge” as a nickname. At first she didn’t even want Matt to call her that, but made it her identity after he disappeared.

I’m kinda wondering about their dad though. The trailers showed Matt was alive, so during the graveyard scene I was just like “hoo boy hoo boy hoo boy mmmmkay so who’s is it??” and convinced myself their dad was buried there, but it wasn’t him? I know it’s a minor detail, but I wanna know what happened to him.

Overall, I had some trouble seeing the overal plot that connected the eps. Disclaimer: I watched this at 4am *cough* karri *cough* (

Maybe the season split could also explain why there was less lance or keith screen time. There was so much in the first part/ s3 that they maybe tried to pull the other characters even in the second part of the season/ s4.

While watching, I thought the writers send keith away so shiro could pilot the black lion, bc as coran put it “he’s the favourite character”. Afterwards I saw some theories, and I agree that Keith leaving voltron would make perfect sense with his vlog (poor bb). I do think it would have been wicked to see what kind of training Keith did at BoM, but maybe we’ll get that next season :)

#asks #anon #voltron spoilers #not a fic

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thewalkingdead-obsessed · 7 years

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Rewatch S1x1 Days Gone Bye

It's summer break for me officially and as promised I have started my rewatch of TWD!! As soon as I started the episode I realized how long it had been since I've watched season one and wow have things changed!! **SPOILERS AHEAD** It was such an interesting choice to start the show with the first death not just being a walker, but a child. Quite the statement to make in the pilot of a show. The first thing I noticed was the little girl's ability (and want?) to pick up a stuffed animal. Being so far into the show I feel like it's easy to forget how the walkers used to be and the premiere is really telling of how much things have changed in the characteristics of the walkers. Seeing old Rick and Shane made me so happy. In the scene where Rick gets shot, you see the bond and care in their friendship. Even though we only get a brief scene in this episode of pre-apocalypse Sheriff Deputy Rick, it makes me wonder, although he quickly takes on leadership rolls in this new world, was he really all that strong before? It seems like Shane was really the leader/strong one of the duo. I also think it was a really interesting choice to only show scenes of Shane visiting Rick while he's in a coma rather than his wife (who we previously heard him complain about) and his son, the people that at this point in the show are driving all of his action. The coma scene where Rick's vision is blurry looks a lot like another scene at the end of the episode but I'll get to that in a bit!! I've ALWAYS had tons of questions about Rick being in the hospital and surviving as long as he did. I know Shane blocked the door, but I'm also curious as to how he survived logistically (could be the IVs but I don't know much about medicine) and from the walkers/people who were clearly executing folks. Rick's hospital scene has suuuuuuch dope horror movie vibes, I had forgotten about how much it really puts you on the edge of your seat. I especially love the "don't open dead inside" part, the hands coming through the locked door and all the breathy walker noises definitely felt like a good ole zombie movie. And then when he was in the staircase and eventually left the hospital only to see piles and piles of bodies, it's so shocking to watch (especially when we're almost on season 8 now, seeing profound loss doesn't seem that wild anymore in a desensitizing sort of way). Side note: Andrew's accent in the beginning is DEFINITELY different but sooooo darn cute 😭😍 When Rick finally gets home and realizes his family is no where to be found, along with no other sign of people, he goes "is this real, am I here, wake, wake up" which is an interesting line for sure (I guess this could be proof of some sort to people who believe the Rick's coma theory, which I don't really care much for but still it's a notable line nonetheless). Then we're introduced to Morgan and Duane, some of my favorite characters. After Duane hits Rick, we hear him call him "Carl" (reminded me of when Morgan calls Benjamin Duane in S7). All Rick's experiences with Morgan and Duane certainly leave a lasting impression. It's clear that the audience is meant to know we aren't seeing the last of them in episode 1. Rick riding a horse into Atlanta is such a classic scene. The use of animals in the walking dead is something I feel I don't quite understand yet (I feel their must be some deeper meaning since soon after the introduction of many animals we see them killed). I absolutely LOVE the scene where we see the first glimpse of a herd in the show. We go from only seeing walkers far and few between, not coming off as dangerous as one might think, to seeing hundreds of bodies shuffle through the tight streets of a city devouring a horse and leaving us feeling hopeless about Rick getting out of this shitty situation. Once he's in the tank and shoots the military walker, Rick's vision gets blurry and he's disoriented for a moment (probably due to the vibration of the bullet off the tank walls). This kind of looks like the coma scene where Rick sees Shane. That could mean something, or it could just be that he's weak and out of it. Then as soon as you think all hope is gone you hear sweet baby Glenn say "dumbass" 😭😭 which eventually pans out to the shot of all the walkers trying to get in the tank. Ahhhhhh so much happened in this episode and obviously I can't note every little detail but here are a few things that I thought were important/interesting/notable/etc.: -There is such a clear focus on the behaviors of the walkers, between picking up a toy, attempting to open a door, seeming to have memories (i.e. Morgans wife). Compared to the walkers in seasons to come, the strength, intelligence, and characteristics of the walkers are so different. They look so fresh at this point in the show. -This is more so just an opinion but I REALLY wish we got to see more of Duane and Morgan together. Duane's character is one that I felt could have been fascinating if explored more. -Because the apocalypse is such a new idea (obviously, it's the first episode) it makes you think we're going to get more knowledge on the why/how this happened and a possible cure, but we never really do. -I think Lori and Rick were over before all this happened, they already had a strained relationship so their falling out later comes as no surprise. I believe the love he felt for her in the later seasons and in his mourning had to do with the fact that she (and Carl) were all he had left from his life before and he wanted to preserve that in this scary world they live in now. Doing this made it easier to give him other love interests eventually. -Morgan's been saving people and changing the course of the show since season one, how fricken cool is that!!!! This were so different but I'm excited to keep watching and seeing what else I notice and pick up on that I never did before! NEXT: episode 2!!

#twd #the walking dead #twd spoilers #the walking dead spoilers #season one #rewatch #mine

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dani-fandom · 7 years

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My thoughts on Voltron Season 2

So I’ve now watched the whole season 2 times, and I have a shit ton of thoughts about it. Obviously, super spoiler-y and pretty long. Under the read more.

By episodes, kind of

First of all,

Pidge is a beautiful tech genius and I love my daughter so much

I mean, she was able to transmit her lion’s signal to the castle out of junk??? Actual garbage??? Genius.

Shiro has the most millenial kind of humor - joking about his gaping wound??? Calm the fuck down sir

Coran had a Major Alex Armstrong phase and it was amazing

HE HAS THE MUSTACHE AND THE HAIR CURL

Seriously, did you see those arms??? Coran is ripped as fuck

He also had an emo teenage phase and it was the funniest thing ive ever seen

Underwater episode!!!!

I would like to thank not only God but also Jesus for the entire episode of nothing but Hunk and Lance moments.

My blue baby boy saving the day

So now we finally know how Shiro escaped and i have mixed feelings about it

Also, I want to quickly talk about how I’ve seen people saying that Allura is being “racist” towards the Galra??? Um, how???

They literally annihilated her home planet and countless others, enslaving nations, and killing all of her family save Coran?

I think bitterness, distrust, and pure hatred are to be expected.

I can say with 100% certainty that I would act the same way towards them, maybe even worse, and if you say you wouldn’t, I don’t trust you

This ep was good for the audience as a whole to show that all Galra are not the same, and there are those who work against him

Also good for the younger paladins to see, as their interactions with the Galra have mainly been very negative

They are more open to the idea of “good Galra”, though they have less reasons to not be, as opposed to Allura

I am living for the Pidge character growth in Greening the Cube tbh, my baby girl is amazing

Also Lance confirmed for skincare junkie I love my son

I almost cried laughing at the half-naked Klance scene

It’s exactly like the scene from Emperor’s New Groove and I could not stop seeing them as Pacha and Kuzco

That’s not my Hunk a dunk saving the day on Taujeer?? But it is!!!

I love him so much

Also, really uncomfortable with the whole Keith and Allura “bonding stuff”

Like I get it, but it was handled very... interestingly

I dunno, it made me feel awkward

I feel like Keith is handled more like an adult in this particular season than Hunk and Lance, who are all the same age.

I’ll touch on this more in a bit, but I love that the Commander in this episode had more of a personality. You really got a feel on what kind of a Galra soldier he was, especially compared to the strictly cutthroat Galra like Sendak that we’ve dealt with in the past.

Space Mall??? Space Mall!!!!

Let Allura get something sparkly goddammit

Alfor was in that picture with young Coran!!!!

So many theories about the origin of Voltron, and now we know that Alfor made the Black Lion which is both awesome and thought provoking

Did he make the others?

Did he choose the other pilots?

What exactly happened with Zarkon?

What happened to the other pilots???

I loved Hunk in this episode. He has been making a lot (too many in my opinion) of comments about food, but seeing him honestly enjoy cooking and enjoy the reactions people had to his food made me happy

So, uh, where’s the cow now?

We had some high quality Lance and Pidge interaction in this episode that I loved to bits

I also really enjoy the characterizations that the writers have been doing for the Galra

Like Sal, and Farkon seemed more like actual people and we could connect to them??? It was just great and started blurring the lines between good and bad even more

Also, “Farkon: Mall Cop” was hilarious

So many movie references I die

Also: Trans girl Pidge??? Trans girl Pidge!!!

Now, *cracks knuckles* onto The Blade of Mamora

Keith you are the main reason I stress, please just calm the fuck down

“Shiro, you’re like a brother to me.” *longest yeah boi ever*

So Thace isn’t Keith’s dad, but Keith’s dad low-key looks like Shiro???

His mom was Galra??? Who the fuck??

We have never seen any female Galra (as far as we know)?

(Especially considering that Haggar isn’t Galra, or at least not a pure one)

Can someone please get this boy some medical attention? My heart rate is rising by the second

“The only way this is possible, is if Galra blood runs through your veins” *longest yeah boi ever*

There are so many unanswered questions holy fuck

Okay so next we get some quality bonding time between Hunk and Keith which is amazing

Honestly i love the two of them

Why did Hunk have to be sleep during the whole plan?? Let him be smart and contribute to the plan goddammit!!!

We get to see how chill Hunk really is with Galra Keith

But we don’t get to see how everyone else reacted to it.

How did Shiro react? How about Lance? Pidge?

We know Allura is pissed af, but what about Coran??? He went through the exact same things she did, but he’s cooler about it

if he’s being the more mature one and is able to look past it to still accept and love Keith, he should be talking to Allura about it, and be her advisor/second father

Again, I’m annoyed about how dismissive Allura is to Keith, but SHE HAS A JUSTIFIABLE REASON

AGAIN, how did CORAN react????

I really want to know who that Galra soldier was that Keith rescued

What if it was Matt or something? He probably wouldn’t have recognized either Keith or Hunk and he didn’t say anything

Or what if that was Keith’s mom?

Possibilities man

Haha, fart jokes

Seriously, why didn’t we get to see everyone else’s reactions?

Jailbreak episode!

Okay, Slav (or whatever it is) is THE most annoying thing ever, just had to get it out of the way

Shiro was reacting exactly how I would have

Honestly, Shiro was overall so relatable in this episode

We get information on Matt! It’s not alot but hey

Now we get to dive even deeper into theories about him joining a rebel group, since they saved him

Would not be surprised if(again) the person Keith saved ended up being Matt on some kind of rebel mission

Let’s talk about Lance in this episode. Got some quality content however

We were led to believe that there would be some sort of season long sub-plot dealing with Lance’s insecurities (or at least something longer than half an episode)

So when he had his doubts immediately cleared it was kind of lackluster because of expectations

Of course, this could be explored again in a later season. Since this one was very Keith-centric, maybe the next might focus more on other paladins? I could see this as being something that would be brought up later on

I guess we can’t be having too much angst at one time

I thought it was really cute how that Galra Commander (listen I can’t remember all these names) had a pet???

And he saved it when the air locks were opened???

So precious

Again with the bringing actual personalities to characters that we are supposed to view as “bad” or “evil”, good job team

Whoo-hoo, Allura solo mission time!!!

I feel like the skype call she had with Coran could have been a good time for them to discuss Galra Keith but what do i know

WE GET TO SEE MY GIRL SHAY AGAIN

Honestly, how in the hell did that Ro-beast survive? IT HAD NO HEAD

Fueled by pure spite, honestly relatable

“How did we beat it last time?”

You didn’t, babe

The Balmera stabbed it for you

Just saying

Also, I guess thank goodness there weren’t any lives on those moons(?) that the Ro-beast blew up

“Quit back-lion driving!” I love Hunk and Keith

So... did Keith get hit with a laser or nah?

Because that thing destroyed solid moons, and took out Hunk’s lion for like 5 minutes

But Keith was like, okay? So did the force just push him away?

Okay, so the Ro-beast is dead now right? Like it’s dead, dead?

Someone tell me its gone forever now

Coran fist-bumped Hunk, my life is complete

“Princess, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” Is it about Keith??? About the Galra in general???

Aw.

Nevermind

AGAIN WITH THE GODDAMN HUNK FOOD JOKES, STOP PLEASE

PLEASE

I liked the whole “remember when” stuff, it was cute

Uh, you guys obviously don’t understand how this stuff works; of course the universe will still need Voltron after Zarkon is gone

He’s spent 10,000 years building an empire.

Once he’s gone there’s still gonna be shit to do

Y’all ain’t goin’ anywhere

The plan is in motion yeahhhhh

I feel like Zarkon has taken on kind of a Macbeth type feel (though it has been almost three years since I’ve read Macbeth so I could be wrong)

He’s so obsessed with getting the Black Lion that he ignores the obvious trap

He probably thinks that once he gets the lion nothing else matters

Keith and Allura moment

ehhhh

i woulda rather seen a nice handshake, or an open-armed hug

but that’s, again, just me

it was a nice moment of Allura admitted that she was wrong to judge, so I did appreciate that

I really wish Thace could have like joined the group, and, you know, survived, but whatever

I also wish he had ended up being Keith’s father, but, you know, whatever

He was cool

When are we gonna learn more about the druids??

Are they all Galra soldier who were born using magic?

Or does Haggar hand-pick soldiers that she wants as druids, and gives them her magic??

Or are all Galra capable of some kind of magic?

I really just wanna know

I love magic like Pidge loves sciene

I am such a sucker for all of the backgrounds in this season

The space colors and the interior design of Galra ships???

Sign me up

Whenever someone says “it’s the only way” I always wonder if it really is the only way

I mean, is it really though?

Really really?

This is the second time someone has said that their life is most expendable than the life of a paladin of Voltron

I think it’d be interesting to have this line start haunting one of the paladins, maybe like Hunk or Lance, because I feel that they’re the most empathetic of the group

Maybe lead to future angst about being a paladin

How did Haggar not die from the explosion? She was RIGHT THERE

Or at least, make her injured

She seemed A-OK

Maybe she was able to teleport away in time

What powers that little platform that Zarkon is suspended on?

If the ship is off, shouldn’t that just... float away or something?

How did the wormhole blow up all of the smaller ships?

NOW FOR THE FINALE

Man it sure is a good thing that the entirety of Zarkon’s ship castle thing has absolutely no prisoners on it all

Otherwise they’d most certainly be dead!

I’m so glad we know for sure that there were ZERO PRISONERS

Honestly, where the fuck do they keep the prisoners????

So... someone remind me how they didn’t die from the quintessence being sucked out of them?

“If it destroys planets... what did it do to the paladins?” Nothing what so ever

Okay so Voltron is now immobile, but the paladins are somehow fine

Am I still watching Voltron or is this Neon Genesis Evangelion now?

Let’s never talk about how I thought for 5 solid minutes that Allura died

I literally started sobbing until I saw her on screen again

That was the worst thing ever

Okay now we’ll never talk about it again

Okay, so Shiro somehow ghosted through Zarkon and grabbed the bayard??? Interesting

So Haggar is Altean???? Gotta admit I didn’t see that coming

But now imagine the possibilities and theories

Why is she working with Zarkon?

How does she have magic?

Do many Alteans have magic?

Also, now we know Allura can use magic

Can she generate it, or just use what’s been transferred to her?

Again, how many Alteans have magic?

Is it something very rare?

Allura didn’t seem to know much about it or how it would affect her

HER MAGIC IS PINK AND BEAUTIFUL I LOVE IT

I LOVE WHEN THE ANIMATION CHANGES

I LOVE IT

Okay soo.... did Shiro like, ghost out of the lion???

Is he stuck in that astral realm???

Where the fuck did he go???

I’m not ready for Prince Lotor

OVERALL

I think Hunk and Lance, and to a point, Coran, were severely underdeveloped

I mean, Hunk had fantastic development last season, and had moments to showcase his smartness, but I feel like he was just the foodie and the guy who’s always sleeping this season

And again, I did want to see more about Lance’s insecurities, and his relationships with the other paladins, but if the next season focuses more on that, I’m fine with waiting

I feel like, all jokes and funniness aside, there’s a lot to Coran that we have not been able to see yet

The whole Keith is Galra thing would have been a perfect way to learn more about Coran based on how he reacted to it, but we only see how Allura reacts to it.

GALRA KEITH IS AWESOME but seriously??? Where is the scene that he tells everyone? Where are their reactions? You can’t seriously expect me to believe that the only person who feels bitter is Allura?

What about Pidge? Her family has been kidnapped by the Galra? You can’t tell me that she was weirded out by Keith for at least an hour or so??

Hunk and Lance, again, as I think they are the most empathetic, probably would get over the shock fairly quickly

Same for Shiro, because even though he was tortured by the Galra, he knows Keith (how he knows Keith we still don’t know) and probably was able to overlook it more easily

Coran should have acted the same way Allura did, or he should have talked to her. I’ve said this a million times, and I’ll keep saying it.

This season was overall very good for Keith’s development (which I loved, I love him) and it brought up new questions and a shocking cliffhanger

I just feel that there were some things that could have been dealt with better.

And I’m probably still missing some thoughts, but whatever.

Something to keep in mind, as it has been pointed out to me, that this season was most likely written and made well before the hype for Season 1 was in existence, so it’s more likely that Season 3 is going to be even more of what we want, now that they have an idea of the fanbase.

So uh, those are my thoughts, feel free to talk to me about your thoughts!!

#voltron spoiler #vld s2 #voltron legendary defender #voltron #voltron spoilers #voltron season 2 #vld spoilers #season 2 spoilers

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lothiriel84 · 7 years

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Of love, bears, and icicles

Or that one time I went to London to see The Mighty Fin January Christmas show.

Hello there, my hypothetical reader. I’m taking a short break from writing Sherlock (and Time Spanner) fanfic in order to give you the account of my latest (but hopefully not last ever) trip to the UK. You know the account no one asked for? Yeah, that one.

First things first, I’m ever so grateful that this year’s - well, last year’s, theoretically - Mighty Fin show was in January rather than December. There was no way I would have been able to attend in December, but the one upside of being currently unemployed is that I don’t have to stress about my supervisors forbidding me from taking time off when I most need it (read: when there’s a show I desperately want to attend in the UK).

Anyways. January is probably not the best time of the year when it comes to travelling. I was aware of that, of course, but I still wanted to try - both because of the Mighty Fin show, and the fact that I’m not so sure how free to travel I’m going to be once I actually go ahead and ask for unemployment benefits. (Also, Brexit. But whatevers.)

As it turned out, England was for once a tiny bit warmer than Italy. (And by warmer, I mean slightly-less-freezing, obviously.) The rain definitely didn’t help, but as the less unastute of you might have divined (yeah, this is in fact a Cabin Pressure reference, no need to get offended) it was after all January, and seriously, I think I’ve been exceedingly lucky on all my previous trips to the UK as far as the weather is concerned. (Well, to be fair I’ve been lucky about too many things too count when it comes to each and every one of my trips, but I do believe I have already dwelt on many of those aspects in my previous posts.)

I’ve been to London so many times I’m kind of running out of ideas about what to do on a rainy day. My first day in town was spent between wandering a bit around the Gherkin, then seeking refuge into the Museum of London (which I had already visited, in point of fact). In the end I was only too glad when I could finally check in to my hotel room and happily pay for the wifi in order to watch episode 2 of Sherlock. (Which I believe I watched two more times in the following days. Yeah, I know.)

The next day I very cleverly accidentally decided to go to Dorset. (I blame this entirely on John Finnemore posting a picture of somewhere in Dorset on Twitter, and I’m most glad that he did because that was an excellent idea even for a day trip.) So I took a train to Wool, and then spent quite some time trying to figure out how to reach Durdle Door; I had googled pictures of the beautiful limestone arch on the coast there, and I was really looking forward to see it.

Bless the bus driver, he sounded a bit concerned when he repeatedly asked me if I was aware that there wasn’t going to be a bus for the return journey; but I had kind of figured out I would somehow find a way to get back to Wool, so I happily walked the distance from the bus stop to the coast, then scrambled my way down not one, but two distinct flights of muddy, slippery steps in order to get a better view of both sides of the arch. (And quite miraculously I didn’t fall or slip, not even once, though I definitely got mud on my shoes and trousers.)

You know, there is quite something about standing on a pebble beach listening to the waves gently lapping at the shore. And that particular corner of the Jurassic Coast is quite stunning, as you can see for yourself.

In the end I had to walk for over an hour along a narrow country road at nightfall in order to reach the nearest village where I dearly hoped I could get a bus back to Wool. Luckily I somehow managed to do that in spite of the fact that my phone ran out of battery when I was nearly there, and I had neither a map nor a torch with me.

(I actually had my old phone with me as well, but as it turns out it’s not good for much except maybe listening to the radio - though it took me approximately three quarters of an hour to finally tune in to Radio 4 on the train back to London, so once more thank goodness for the BBC iPlayer.)

On Wednesday I had a bit of a wander in Hampstead Heath, though it was quite muddy and windy, especially on Parliament Hill. In the evening I went to the dress rehearsal for A Midwinter Night’s Dream, which I immediately loved - I had never been to a Mighty Fin show before, though I’ve listened to the songs from a few of them, and I’m now the proud owner of three (soon to be - whatever the total number is, hopefully). Greg and Maddi were there too, and I kind of followed them when they went to say hi to John after the show; but I was quite tired and completely out of ideas as to what I could actually say to John, so I’m not even sure I managed to greet him back when he finally spotted me as I was hiding behind someone else. I’m really sorry Mr Finnemore - I’m not rude, just very awkward, I promise.

I had half a mind to go to Hastings the following day, but I had to put that off given how the weather forecast promised a snowstorm for the day (though in the end it mainly just rained in London). I would have liked to visit the London Aquarium for Sherlock-related reasons, but tickets were far too expensive for my tastes; so I took a bit of a walk along the Thames in the rain, stood for a while on the Vauxhall Bridge for reasons (though if I have to be honest I was far more impressed with the MI6 building that stands nearby), and then sought refuge in the Museum of London Docklands mainly because I deemed I had got enough rain on my coat and shoes for the day. (That, and the DLR. Don’t tell the Train Driver though.)

On Friday I decided that the weather was good enough for a trip to Hastings, and so it was in spite of a little snow we encountered on the train journey. (And by ‘we’ I mean us people on the train, which I somehow find funny now that I’ve listened to the St Ives sketch from JFSP - which I had actually had the privilege to see at one of the tryouts last Autumn, but there you go.)

It was a bit windy in Hastings, and most definitely cold - someone might have spotted me wandering along the shore in my winter coat, hat, scarf, and gloves - but otherwise a lovely day, and apparently I have a soft spot for pebble beaches anyway. Sadly the gate to the castle was locked; but there was quite a lovely view from up there, and the old part of the town is nice too.

On Saturday I took a bit of a wander around Notting Hill (mainly Portobello Market) and then Little Venice, which I had quite liked on a previous visit. In the evening I had tickets for my second viewing of A Midwinter Night’s Dream, which was brilliant for more than one reason, and I will now explain if you bear with me. (You see, John played a bear in the musical, so I simply had to make a joke about that. Arthur Shappey would definitely - and very much enthusiastically - approve of this, so you definitely have to bear with me even if you don’t want to.)

What was I saying? Ah, The Mighty Fin, yes. I loved the show just as much as I had done the first time around; it’s a beautiful retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, centred on the theme of the different kinds of love and how you most definitely shouldn’t try and force someone to love you, Fairy King or not.

(’Trapped by a man / That’s my tragedy / Or was my tragedy / It ends today’, that’s how a line from one of the many brilliant songs went - bless Robbie Hudson and Susannah Pearse who created such a thing of beauty.)

All the actors were really good, and this time around John’s part was a bit longer than it had been in the dress rehearsal, and had an even more distinct Since You Ask Me feel to it. (When I went to ask him after the show John confirmed he had in fact written his own part, and the reason why it was shorter at the dress rehearsal was that he hadn’t finished writing it back then. Bless him.)

Oh, and one more brilliant thing, though strictly speaking it’s not entirely about the show. Simon was among the audience this time around, and I think I have already mentioned how much better that makes anything you might be watching. (I swear the man has the best laugh ever. You can’t possibly hear it and not feel like laughing yourself.)

I had actually spotted him before the show, and I was most definitely hoping I would maybe get to talk to him at the end of the play. Well, as it turned out he kind of recognised me as someone who had probably bothered him before, for he was the one who said hi to me as he walked past where I was standing during the interval, offered me a hug, and then had to listen as I rambled on about how much I loved the pilot for Time Spanner. He said they will probably try crowdfunding if the sitcom doesn’t get commissioned (seriously though, I hope the BBC knows better than that), so I now know what I should save my money for.

(And, um, I should have probably refrained from walking back in when I was already halfway through the door after the show, and awkwardly waving Simon goodbye. But I’m not even sure if and when I’ll be able to go back to the UK, and - oh well, never mind. I’m not going to dwell on Ms Mayhem in this post, thank you very much.)

Sunday was my last day in London, and given that the weather was not very much on my side, I spent some time in Greenwich Market, had some amazing fish and chips for lunch, and a bit of a stroll through Greenwich Park at dusk. As it turned out, by complete coincidence (I know, I know, Mycroft, no need to expand on that) my trip actually included the day when the Sherlock series 4 finale aired, so in the end I made up my mind and booked a ticket so that I could go and watch it on the big screen.

(To be honest I was really confused - and more than a little worse for the wear from an emotional point of view - when the final credits rolled on to the screen. I watched it all over again on my phone once I was back to my hotel room, but I think I only decided I actually quite liked it after watching it a third time back at home.)

And, yes, I guess we’ve come to the end of the road. I don’t know how or when, but I promise I will try and go back there at some point, no matter what. Dear UK, you might not return the feeling, but it’s my choice whether or not to keep doing what I love. Or trying to, at the very least.

#London #and so much more #January 9th to 16th #2017 #The Mighty Fin #A Midwinter Night's Dream #Dorset #Durdle Door #Hastings #I feel so blessed #but also a little bit sad #London I miss you already

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legendsofthegffa · 7 years

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Star Wars: Rogue One Review

*Warning: SPOILERS!* Well my friends, once again we have entered into a new era of Star Wars: the Anthology era. With the (successful) release of Rogue One, Disney is primed to begin a new series of films independent of the main Saga that will focus on new and old characters. But how does the premier film hold up on its own? Well, let's see. The film opens with an Imperial task force, led by weapons developer Orson Krennic, arriving at the hiding place of scientist Galen Erso and his family. Krennic forces Galen to return to finish his masterpiece, the Death Star. Galen is taken away, his wife killed, and his young daughter Jyn left in the care of Rebel extremist Saw Gerrara. Years later, an Imperial pilot defects to the Rebels, carrying a message from Galen. The pilot, Bodhi Rook, is taken to Gerrara on the moon of Jedha. After an adult-Jyn is freed from an Imperial prison camp, she is taken to Alliance Command at Yavin IV so can lead the Rebels to her father. Unbeknownst to her, one of the Rebel leaders orders intelligence officer Cassian Andor to kill Galen rather than capture him. Jyn, Andor, and his reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO depart for Jedah to find the pilot that defected. On Jedah, which features a heavy Imperial presence due to the mining of valuable kyber crystals, Jyn, Andor and K-2 encounter blind, Force-sensitive Chirrut Imwe and mercenary Baze Malbus. They get caught in a battle between insurgents and Imperials, after which they are taken by the guerillas to meet Gerrara. Gerrara shows Jyn the message from her father, which revels that Galen built a flaw into the Death Star that could be used to annihilate the station, but the only way to do so is to collect the plans for the weapon on another Imperial world. Unfortunately for the Rebels, the Death Star is undergoing a shake down cruise, and when Grand Moff Tarkin questions the validity of the project, Orson Krennic orders a test firing at the capital city of Jedah…There's a passage in the second Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book about a rock band so loud that their music is considered a weapon of mass destruction. At one of their concerts, the music caused a chunk of earth to fly into the air, flip over, and come back down. It wasn't until Rogue One that I had a visual reference for such a sight. Let that really sink in, folks: the Death Star's power on ‘low' borders on farce! Anyway, the Death Star destroys the city, including Gerraera and most of his cell, while Jyn, Andor, K-2, Chirrut, Baze and Rook escape. Tarkin uses the recent security breaches around the Death Star project to seize control of the station. Krennic travels to (what appears to be) Mustufar to speak with Lord Vader in order to regain his position. However, Vader merely Force-chokes Krennic and advises him to be weary of his ambitions. I saw Rogue One with a friend, and he said that the quip moment was one of the last lingering threads of Anakin showing through. However, I must disagree: this film takes place almost literally right before the Battle of Yavin. It has been nineteen years since the fall of the Republic; Vader has been bereft of everything that made him Anakin for almost two decades. This is Vader at the high point of this identity. Instead, I posit that there was a connection with Anakin, just in a different way. Vader well knew what ambition could cost a person, as he had lost everything he worked toward in his efforts to achieve more power, and was left with nothing but the Empire to fill the void. Basically, Krennic's ambition reminded Vader of his own while he was Anakin and this reminder lead him to ‘subtly' warn Krennic. Andor's mission comes to light after Jyn reveals what she learned from the message, but was unable to grab a copy before they evacuated to substantiate her claims. The Rebels head to Eadu where Galen is hold up in an Imperial research facility. After Krennic arrives to question the team regarding the security link, Andor decides to forgo assassinating Galen. Rebel Command sends a bombing raid to destroy the facility, and Galen is killed before his daughter can rescue him. Jyn and Andor's team escapes aboard a stolen Imperial shuttle (unfortunately, not the one used during the infiltration of Endor) and return to Yavin IV. Jyn advocates stealing the Death Star plans from the facility on Scariff, but the Rebel leadership proves untrustworthy and indecisive. Jyn, Andor, their team, and a small group of Rebel soldiers decide to undertake the mission themselves, leaving in the Imperial shuttle under the codename ‘Rogue One'. They infiltrate Scariff, and while Jyn, Andor and K-2 sneak into the base disguised, the Rebel troops go to cause distractions around the base. Rook, the defector, contacts the Rebels which sends a fleet to destroy the shield surrounding the planet and collect the data. While the Rebel fleet fights above, the Rebels at the base are slowly overwhelmed: K-2 is destroyed holding off stormtroopers in the data vault, Rook is killed aboard his ship, Chirrut dies helping the Rebels get their message out, while Baze is killed fending off Death Troops. Jyn is confronted by Krennic while she is trying to transmit the plans, but Andor shoots him before he can stop her. With the Death Star alerted to the theft, Tarkin orders the battle station to destroy the compromised base. Krennic, Jyn and Andor are all killed in the blast. While the Rebels try to retreat into hyperspace, Darth Vader leads Imperial forces in reclaiming the plans. Vader boards a Rebel ship and, in a scene that many agree to be the highlight of the movie, massacres Rebel soldiers standing in his. However, the Tantive IV, with Princess Leia aboard, manages to escape with the plans, leading to the opening of Episode IV: A New Hope. A couple things before I give my final thoughts. Vader's murder-spree has been the talk of the film, and rightfully so. It perfectly encapsulates how powerful and fearful a villain he is, and cements his place as a figure of terror in his own universe, and ours. During the space battle at the end, footage of X-Wing and Y-Wing pilots from Episode IV is used here as well, and used well. I only bring it up because if you've seen the original film as many times as I have, then you can pick out the reused footage, which could serve as a little bonus. My only problem with it is that Wedge was left out, though maybe in this continuity he hasn't been recruited yet, but I hope we get some word on why one of the most popular secondary characters in the franchise was left out. One of the noticeable features of the film was the CGI-face work done on Tarkin and Leia. Overall, it looks quite good, like something you would see on Xbox One. It's a bit more organic than CG faces were just a decade ago, but still falls into the uncanny valley. My only problems with them are thus: 1) they really should have gotten a different voice actor for Tarkin; he sounds like someone who kind of sounds like Peter Cushing, rather than someone trying to imitate Cushing. 2) I wonder why they chose creating a CG Leia rather than letting her daughter stand in. It was barley thirty seconds of screen time and a single word, seems like it would have been easier to just film it with someone who looks a lot like her mother. While Rogue One starts off a little clunky, once they get to Jedah, things really start to click. The last three-quarters of the film work really well, with a glorious space battle, gripping guerilla fight and brutal, lightsaber smack down making for beautiful and memorable action. While a part of me still wishes I could be writing about Episode VIII, I am in no way disappointed with what I got. Once more, Disney proves they no what they are doing, and I look forward to seeing this film again while it's in theatres. Final Score: 8/10

#rogue one #star wars canon

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voiceactinguk · 7 years

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Final Fantasy 4 Radio Show! Casting!

Now casting for Season One of the Final Fantasy 4 Radio Show! Final Fantasy IV (known as Final Fantasy II in the U.S.) was a video game originally published by SquareSoft for the SNES in 1991. It has since been re-mastered and re-made multiple times for multiple systems and now we are creating an unofficial radio adaptation of the classic story of sword and sorcery. The game follows Cecil, a dark knight, who begins to question his king's motives, which sets off a chain of events that leads him on the path to righteousness. Along the way he and his friends discover an ancient forgotten history of their planet (and beyond!). Season One (6 episodes) follows the story of FF4 up to, and including, Cecil's climactic transformation into a paladin. Season Two will see the heroes valiant efforts to stop Golbez turn deadly. Season Three will follow their time in the underworld of the dwarves. And, finally, Season Four will reveal the secret of the crystals as well as Cecil and Golbez's tragic shared past before culminating in a battle for the fate of the world that you will not want to miss! This is a FULL RE-SCRIPT of Final Fantasy 4 into radio play format, and will be published on YouTube and as a Podcast on iTunes (fingers crossed). I'm taking full artistic license with the plot, characters, and dialog; pulling from every different version of the game. It is still very much FF4, but delivers a fresh, exciting new adaptation! using the format: AUDITIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1st Send your audio files (one file per character) to [email protected] using any standard audio format Listen to the PILOT EPISODE or take a look at my previous project, The FINAL FANTASY 6 FANDUB To contact me directly with any questions email ff4radioshow(at)hotmail.com *The actors for Cecil and Rosa are continuing their wonderful work from the Pilot episode. Apologies to anyone hankering for those roles. *A NOTE ON ACCENTS* I love accents! I want you to try any accent you believe you can do well consistently or you believe fits the character. BUT be warned that I am a HARSH CRITIC of sub-par accent work. No Dick Van Dyke nonsense. OPEN ROLES NARRATOR Male/Female, Ageless Delivers an intro and outro for each episode. Warm, pleasant voice tone. Able to project excitement and generate interest in the show to come. Audition Lines: Quote:This is a tale of far away and long ago... A time when knights and kings gripped the world with fists of iron and steel! A world where magic and technology clash together in awesome competition for power! This is The Final Fantasy Four Radio Show! Quote:The airships of the mighty Red Wings from the Kingdom of Baron race across the sky on their way home after a successful mission in the mystical country of Mysidia. The crew look forward to their return to hearth and home, but one man, their Captain, Cecil the Dark Knight, casts his gaze backward... --- EXTRAS! Male/Female, Varied Ages Crew of Red Wings (x3), Merchant, Baron Soldiers (x2), Cap'n, Chancellor, Sailors Nine varied background roles. Nine chances to try out your crazy voices! THESE ROLES ARE VERY IMPORTANT! I love to have a bouquet of extras available just in case. Please audition here if you are unsure of which role to try for! Audition Lines: Quote:Hey! How's it going? You doin' anything later today? Quote:Y'arr. Fifteen souls went ashore that day. An' only ol' Flint himself sailed away. Quote:Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse, unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo -- alone and unaided -- who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside... --- BAIGAN Male, age 20-40 Baigan does not care about you. Baigan only cares about Baigan. Sarcastic and apathetic. A drawling, sneering, douchey voice. This character may return in Season 2. Audition Line: Quote:Hmph, isn't killing what you do? You are a Dark Knight after all, Cecil. I didn't think you could still feel pity. --- KING BARON Male, age 40+ King of the country of Baron. Regal and imposing. He has a secret plan for which he is gathering the world’s Crystals. This character will return in Season 2. Audition Lines: Quote:Ah! Cecil! The Kingdom of Baron hails your return! We trust you have the Crystal? Quote:If the state of the Red Wings so concerns you, Dragoon, that you would eavesdrop on the Royal Chamber, then you may join him in his penance. Take the ring! And do not enter Our sight again until it is done! --- KAIN HIGHWIND Male/Female, age 18-30 Cecil’s closest friend. A sporty sort of person who enjoys fighting for it’s own sake, rather than for any cause or loyalty. Kain was abandoned as a child and now clings to Cecil and Rosa. Perhaps Kain clings a little too closely though, and wishes for things to always stay just as they are between them. Kain has noticed Rosa’s affection for Cecil and is beginning to grow jealous. Voice type: Athletic and yet also oddly indolent. Think Jaleel White's Sonic the Hedgehog, or Ashleigh Ball's Rainbow Dash I would prefer to cast this role female to balance out the skewed gender ratio of the original story, but am accepting male voiced auditions. Audition Lines: Quote:Majesty! I petition on Cecil's behalf. Please reconsider! He has done no wrong, he questions out of care for his subordinates. He meant no disrespect, I assure you! Quote:Ahh, I woulda come with you anyway. Slaying monsters is right up my alley! Anyhow, the King'll relax as soon as we finish his "mission of contrition". We are his favorites. --- CID POLLENDINA Male, age 30-50 A rough, tough, jolly sort of fellow. Cid takes life as it comes and is enthusiastic about everything he does, damn the consequences! He has a daughter whom he is very proud of but not very close to. Cid is always working on airships and other mechanical inventions. Cid's voice should feel bombastic and loud (without actually clipping out, plz!) Think Brian Blessed or perhaps John Lithgow. Audition Lines: Quote:What's the matter, kiddo? You and your goons better not have wrecked up my airships! Quote:The King's been acting mighty peculiar. You know, the other day he asked me if I could design an airship that can torch an entire city? I mean, obviously I could! But... makes me wonder if Baron will be going to war soon. --- MIST DRAGON Female, age 20-40 A mysterious dragon made of living mist. And also Rydia’s mother. The strongest of the valley’s summoners and it’s chief protector. One time, Non-recurring role Audition Line Quote:Leave at once and no harm will come to you. We will not allow further trespass. --- RYDIA Female, age Child/Teen A young child just beginning to learn the way of the world and find her incredible strength in summoning and taming beasts. Rydia has a kind heart and has been taught to never kill or injure. She is able to sense the feelings that others carry, even if they are not aware of it themselves. Rydia will be aging for season 2 to teen age. Priority may be given to actors able to play both ages. Voice Type: Childish but not immature. Sounds like 10-14 years old. Audition Lines: Quote:Mother! Get up! Please! The fire- *gasp!* Quote:He kills everything. Do you think... can I help him? Or is it too late? Quote:I'm coming with you! You'll need all the help you can get to tame that creature! --- DOCTOR Male/Female, ageless A blustering medic. Will talk anyone’s ear off if given half a chance but has a kind heart and a charitable streak a mile wide. *First season role only Audition Line: Quote:Oh, you poor lamb. What has happened? Oh, but, no. You needn't say if you don't wish to. Lost your parents. I'm sure, I'm sure. Tragedy! Oh cruelty! But let's just look at you! All worn and filthy from traveling. The earthquake, no doubt? Thought we might see a few come through here, I did. But you're the first. And such a dear young thing! --- TELLAH Male, age 40-80 World renowned sage of the mystical, magical arts. Tellah settled in the desert to raise his daughter, Anna, and to meditate on the mysteries of the shifting sands. Tellah has lived by his own code for a very long time and believes wholly in his own judgement. Stubborn to a fault, Tellah’s strength is his greatest weakness. Voice Type: Cranky old guy, slightly reedy or nasal. Audition Lines: Quote:You there, Knight! Did I hear that right? You aim to clear the waterway to Damcyan? I beg you, let me come with you! I have tried to get through the waterway alone to no avail. The beast is strong. Strong, I warn you! But perhaps the three of us together... Quote:It is vicious. A writhing mass of tentacles and malice. And I am too old now to face it alone. Once, perhaps... But I fear something else may be waiting for us. I sense a darkness beyond. A doom yet clouded in the fog of the future... Quote:Stay and weep if you must! Do what you will; I don't care! Anna will be avenged. You keep your nose out of it! This death will be mine alone. --- EDWARD CHRIS VON MUIR Male/Female, age 18-30 The prince of the country of Damcyan and husband of Anna. A highly skilled musician and a born diplomat. Edward believes that any disagreement can be solved with communication. He detests violence. I would like to cast this with a female/feminine voice but keep Edward as a male role. Audition Lines: Quote:You're right. I'm nothing but a coward, just as you say. I only wanted him to leave. Leave us in peace. My Anna... and me... Quote:Put your sword away! There has been enough death today. Antlions are docile creatures. I shall get you your pearl. You stay here. Quote:Anna... what can I do now that you are gone? Everything is lost. Our kingdom is fallen, and I... I could do nothing. I still can do nothing. You loved to hear me sing and play but what good are they? What good is music in a world falling apart!? --- ANNA Female, age 18-30 Tellah’s daughter and wife of Edward. Anna is just as headstrong as her father and has eloped with Edward. A powerful magic-user, but not strong enough to stand against Golbez. Audition Line: Quote:Father! Stop it! ... just stop. There's... nothing you can do. Edward is... my husband... I love him... --- YANG FANG LEIDEN Male, age 20-50 Master of the monks of Fabul. Yang is highly disciplined Despite this, he is a humble man, and so does not bask in his glory, but rather tries his best to be respectful. Voice type: A deep, gentle, calming voice. Audition Lines: Quote:I was lucky. We are all lucky. Most of their force already left, certain of victory. My comrades... we were ambushed. Drawn out onto the mountain by a decoy. Quote:Had enough of my friend's sword? Then perhaps you'd like to try my fists!? Hy-aahh! --- GOLBEZ Male, ageless Unknowable master of darkness. Golbez is the Dark Knight who replaces Cecil in the Red Wings. Little is known about him, but he shows a callous disdain for life and only a grudging respect for power. Golbez hides a terrible secret in his past. Voice Type: Deep and scary. Vader-esque. Audition Lines: Quote:Hmm? Ah. You must be Cecil. My predecessor in the Red Wings. Enough. I did not come to gabble with insects. Kain! Take the crystal. Quote:Ask not the eagle how he soars, little prince. My motives are beyond your ken. Quote:Fighting? This is no fight. I am simply collecting crystals. You are the ones who insist on throwing yourselves in my path. --- YIN Female, age 20-50 Wife of Yang. (AKA Sheila, Ursula) Not much is known about Yin. She is fiercely protective of her husband and home. Audition Line: Quote:Soon after you left the sentries spotted those airships coming in from the west. The King ordered the city to evacuate. But I stayed put! None of those Baron thugs are going to touch MY house. --- "KING" FABUL Male/Female, ageless Ruler of the country of Fabul. All the more regal for their humility. Can be "Queen" or "King". Could be a child ruler or an aged monarch. Audition Line: Quote:Yes, we have been informed of the situation. And I must apologize to you, Master Yang. I unwisely sent your monks to their doom in the mountains, and shamefully fled when the airships appeared. --- PALOM Male, age Child/Teen An apprentice Black Mage from the land of Mysidia. Though young, Palom has proven himself a skillful, if arrogant, student of magic. He is a casual show-off, even to adults, and refers to himself as "The Mysidian Genius" or "Prodigy". Audition Lines: Quote:Watch it, buddy! You're talkin' to the most powerful dark wizard in the whole world! Quote:Some people say that a monster from the depths of night resides at the summit. Others say there's nothing there. Like, it's a metaphor or something. Like, the whole time, YOU were the obstacle. --- POROM Female, age Child/Teen An apprentice White Mage from the land of Mysidia. Mature for her age, Porom is already an accomplished spellcaster. She is respectful and polite, and often has to keep Palom in line. She loves her brother and supports his quest to become a Sage, but believes he lacks the discipline. Audition Lines: Quote:Perhaps you were unaware, sir. I just so happen to be one of the most puissant white witches in the world. Quote:Well, I WAS just gonna lead him quietly into a cell in the tower. But you're right, Palom, yelling and making a scene is a much more sensible option! --- ELDER OF MYSIDIA Male/Female, age 40+ A leader of the town of Mysidia. Unusually long-sighted and kind. They are Porom & Palom’s teacher and an old friend of Tellah. Audition Line: Quote:Escort this man to the summit of Mount Ordeals. I see a dim star shining in the once-dark night sky... this will be a test for all of you. --- SCARMIGLIONE Male/Female, ageless The archfiend of Earth and appointed guardian of Mt Ordeals. It is an undead monster which Golbez has set to keep Cecil out of the summit cavern. Audition Line: Quote:I am the gaoler of this forsssaken peak. Golbez set me here and now I have company at lassssst. Come! I shallll pulllll you into my embrace. --- KLUYA Male, 30+ A mysterious reflection in the summit cavern? Or something more? He is only a dim, echoing voice now. Audition Line: Quote:I have waited for you for an age, it seems. And yet our meeting has come too soon, for now I must do as I have been dreading. The time is come! Hold your sword of darkness to the light! FF4moonLogo3.png (Size: 366.21 KB / Downloads: 0) http://dlvr.it/PvCr4m www.voiceacting.space

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