#but i stepped out on the franchise name change so only getting back into it now and sobs

[streets-in-paradise]

Chucky headcanons: Charles finding out you are being harassed at your workplace (requested)

Warnings: Implied sexual harassment leading to assault and Chucky avenging the reader. The description of the abuser was especified by the requester.

Notes: I didn't properly proofread this cause i'm finishing writing from my phone and i don't have my translator on it. Also, this is the first male reader request i got and i hope i'm doing it justice :) My inspiration for this were bits of the series and the Curse deleted scene where Chucky kills Daniel. Despite being two different versions of Chucky at different points of the franchise, i found both usefull to imagine this.

-At first you were very afraid to tell Chucky of what was happening to you. You know he has volatile, violent reactions and you were afraid of what that could unleash.

-Your abuser was a coworker and it all started in little hints, jokes going a bit too far and confusing episodes that left you feeling like it all could be a misunderstanding.

-The accumulation of those ' misunderstandings' changed your perception and you started to be very afraid of being left alone with him. You were feeling constantly surveiled and terrified but the source of your fear was completely invisible to everyone arround you.

-The creepy old dude harassing you was a long term employee everyone knew. Even you were deceived by him at first, at least untill he started getting too " friendly" with you.

-Chucky perceived something was wrong. Not that you have allways been super passionate about your work, but he could tell you didn't want to go there anymore. You would allways deny every of his attempts to point out you weren't alright. He just wanted to help, but you wouldn't let him.

-He may not be the best talking about feelings, but he is very protective and he hates to see you suffering. You may think he didn't, but he realized you are terrified. He knows the signs of fear in a victim too well to not spot those.

-In the first discussions your position oscilated between denying everything and begging him not to interfere because you needed the job, but the situation kept escalating untill reaching a point of no return.

-You were supposed to pick up a few boxes from the warehouse. While you were searching for the stuff you didn't realized you were being followed inside. You ended up completely alone with your abuser and he cornered you, taking advantage of your shock, then easily overpowered you.

-That was the moment in which you knew it had to stop. As soon as you could you reached the phone to call Chucky.

-You tried to explain yourself, but couldn't get into details. All he heard clearly was your wrecked voice begging him to come pick you up.

- It was the sign he was waiting for. Not that Chucky needed any permission to do it, but he didn't want to upset you and he had been craving to step in for so long.

- Only that his intervention could have one single possible end and you were aware of it, which was the cause of your refusal. Chucky wouldn't just scare him, he was not going to let the job unfinished.

- He had killed for way less, you could be sure he was 100% ready to get revenge in your name.

-By that moment he was aware. He has passed by your workplace a few times and had seen the dude. You wouldn't have to tell him anything for him to spot your " friendly " coworker is a creep, he could smell it from a mile away.

- Chucky has been stalking the place behind your back, learning his schedule and following him outside to figure out his after work habits. He had it in mind all along.

- " Don't worry, I'm coming for ya." He interrupted your rambling on the phone with macabre excitement. " ... I got you, let me handle it."

-You stoicly endured the rest of your shift with the only comfort of knowing he would show up, but it was taking too long.

- He was going after your abuser, following him out. They already knew each other and he wouldn't suspect of anything when approached.

- During the last moments of his life he made him experience the exact kind of powerlessness he made you feel. Chucky utilized his trusting appearance to deceive him into keeping a lower guard, followed him like a shadow and cornered him in a spot where no one could hear him.

- " This goes for (y/n). Did you think you were gonna get away with it, you piece of shit? Is that what gets you going? " He mockfully asked him ríght after the first stab. " Well this is what gets ME going and you ain't messing with him anymore"

- The lifeless body of your attacker was still in the trunk of his car when he arrived to pick you up.

- It was his surprise for you and that night you helped him dump it in the river.

#chucky #chucky 2021 #charles lee ray #chucky x reader #charles lee ray x reader #chucky headcanons #chucky x male reader

[bengiyo]

Love in Translation Ep 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, we went off the deep end with Yang being kidnapped and being forced to work on a packaging warehouse in his skinny jeans to pay back his debts. He was able to smuggle messages out by changing delivery addresses and using the language learning code he taught Phumjai. The rest of the cast rallied around to support Phumjai when they didn't know what had happened to Yang, and also Phojai and Tag reconciled beautifully. Phumjai went rogue to try and rescue Yang alone, and now both have been captured.

1:09:32 finale!!

Phumjai really had no plan and got hurt.

Now Phojai and Tag have showed up with no plan. What the hell is this?

All these boys trying to sacrifice themselves only works because these characters have cared so much for each other consistently.

We're doing PPL in the middle of the crisis. I love it. We need 5 million baht. Perhaps if the audience buys this camera we'll save the boys?

What is Bojji up to?

We took of Ngern's shirt and made him sweat, but at what cost?

The PPL is driving me insane this week. You're too injured to lift things. Good thing we have this app to our local wholesaler.

Oh no, Bojji is having issues as well.

I like that Phumjai is stepping up and putting the money he has on the line in a way that asks Yang to trust him more.

Okay, I like this show ending the debt collection on a comedic note.

Curious what Yang does long term if he's given his shares to the employees.

Phojai and Tag are moving in together!!

Obsessed with these two playing baseball as a quality time exercise.

What is it with these dramas and showing a scene from even further back as a beginning of romance event? This is specific to Asian dramas.

Final episode brotherly context and emotional reconciliation. I'm okay with it.

More PPL. I'm losing my mind, but glad this little show must have succeeded.

This episode is so weird, but I'm having fun.

Qi'er and Bojji are so valid for the screaming and falling out.

The parents look so pleased about Yang and Tag.

Little Sun is going franchise, baby!

DID TAMMY TURN THEM INTO A NOVEL?? SHE SAID I'M GETTING PAID BACK FOR Y'ALL USING MY LIKENESS IN YOUR STORE AND PLAYING WITH MY FEELINGS!

They said the name of the show. Finish your drinks.

And now they're proposing? This show has everything.

Okay. Drawing the ring on Yang"s finger was so goddamn cute.

Of course they met as kids. These dramas love the notion of destiny.

Final Verdict: 8.5, This Show Was So Much Fun. Phumjai and Yang are one of my favorite pairs of the year. I liked the way they fell for each other and the way this show used its workplace. The plot wobbled massively throughout the final two episodes, and we lost the thread on a few things along the way for product placement, but I really loved these characters so much and I loved the way they treated each other. I'm going to miss having this show in the balance. Offroad and Daou and friends did a great job here.

#love in translation #thai bl #bl series #Ben watches

[rikaluver]

P.U.N.K Girl

Finding a job has never been so hard.

Retail isn't cutting it anymore. Not only is it draining, but the hours are far too long. The pay is fine, but not good enough to keep paying for therapy. And your insurance is a bitch.

So now, you spend most of your days scrolling through jobs, looking in the newspaper, or going to a library to print a resume for those few offices that still require physical paperwork. You do rarely get an interview, but it always ends the same. We'll call you. We'll think about it. You never end up hearing back from them.

Your patience and funds are running low, and you've gotten to the point that you're applying to every job that's hiring. Janitor, security, hell, you even applied to be a factory worker, though you're hoping they don't contact you for that one.

Long story short, you absolutely need a job.

It's another day of scrolling through your email, looking for anything that indicates someone even looked at your resume. You sigh. You know there won't be anything new, but you're hoping that one of these days, your luck will change. That you'll get a response. Just maybe, today is that day. That there's a company willing to hire a broke, recently unemployed person with very little experience to their name.

A few more clicks and a refresh gets you nowhere. You sigh. Are you really that unemployable?

Before you can start spiraling, you decide to check your mail. Maybe there'd be another job offering in the newspaper. You step outside and walk down the hall of your apartment complex, turning left towards the elevator. You press the button, and it immediately opens, which is good since you don't feel like waiting. You step inside, pushing the button to the lobby. The doors shut, and the elevator descends. As you watch the numbers, you wonder if this is what being trapped feels like. Not in a metaphorical way. You literally are trapped in a tiny, metal box. It's not exactly claustrophobia-inducing, but it's close. You're thankful when it dings and opens its doors. You walk out and head towards the front door, exiting the building and making your way towards the mailboxes.

You've never been religious, but you feel like it couldn't hurt to send a prayer up to any higher power listening.

You pull the mailbox key out of your pocket and open the mailbox, reaching in to grab the mail. You don't really have many letters these days. A few coupons and bills, but nothing you really want or need. That is until you pull out the newspaper and flip through it. Your eyes light up as you see an ad for a job.

Fazbear Frights.

Immediately, you're hit with a wave of nostalgia from the name 'Fazbear' alone. Fredbear's Family Diner. You used to go there all the time as a child and you absolutely adored the place. Springbonnie was always your favorite, there was just something about him that you couldn't get enough of. You loved the other Fazbear locations as well, but nothing could top the original.

Even after all the missing children and animatronic malfunctions, nothing could make you hate the franchise. It made you a bit of an outcast as you were growing up, but who cares? You were just a child back then, you're older than you'd like to be now but at least you don't have to deal with the endless teasing anymore.

Looks like the new location is more of a horror attraction looking for a security guard. The pay is good. Really good, actually. The hours are a bit undesirable but you have nothing better to be doing from midnight to six AM.

With a renewed sense of optimism, you race back up to your apartment and call the number listed under the ad.

The phone doesn't ring for long before someone picks up. "Hello?"

The person who picks up sounds young. Maybe even younger than you.

"Hi, uh, I saw your job offering in the newspaper." You can barely even speak without stumbling your words, and, honestly, it's embarrassing. "I'm wondering if there's still an opening?" You hold your breath as you wait for a response. It seems like an eternity passes before they reply. It's the most excruciatingly long minute of your life.

"Yeah! Yeah, the opening's still available. We're gonna need you to work tonight though, is that alright?" The man inquires. You don't have a problem with that. Anything to get you off your feet and stop relying on your savings account.

"Yeah! Yes, that's fine, I'd be happy to work tonight!" Gotta sound enthusiastic.

"Rad, dude, you have the address? Come by at midnight!" Before you get a chance to reply, he hangs up.

It takes a second for everything to process. But, holy shit, you got the job! You're overjoyed. This is the first thing to go right in a while and it feels amazing. And what do you do? You celebrate with some leftover dessert in the fridge.

The place isn't hard to find despite being in an amusement park; it's the only remotely horror-themed thing in the whole place. It's very, very stylized, the windows are boarded up and the whole place looks run down. They did a good job, you know, if you were a little dumber you might've believed this was the original restaurant.

You walk inside and the place is, unsurprisingly, run down. Despite all this, the interior looks a lot like the original location and there's a feeling in your gut that that's exactly what this place is. But your rational thinking has you thinking they did a good job replicating the whole place.

After walking around for a while, you find what you assume to be your office. It's a pretty big office, it even has a closet! There's a monitor on your desk with a sticky note on it that reads 'turn on camera, play audio.' You're not sure why you could possibly need to play audio but you do know you're meant to keep people out, so there's got to be some logical reasoning behind playing audio.

As you settle into the office, you decide to follow the instructions on the sticky note. With a click, the monitor flickers on, displaying a grid of cameras showing various sections of the attraction. Each view feels oddly familiar, reminiscent of the layout from the childhood memories you hold so dear.

You're not really sure what you're supposed to be doing. You look around and see a small box of tapes, and a phone that sits beside the monitor. You grab the box and read the label. It's a bunch of tapes, but none of them are labeled. Before you can continue looking through more of the tapes, the phone next to your monitor rings. You jump, not expecting the sudden noise, and pick it up.

"Uh, hello?" You don't know what you're expecting. Maybe it's the person who hired you?

"He-hey! Glad you came back for another night! I promise, it'll be a LOT more interesting this time!"

It's your first night and you have no idea what he's talking about, but you recognize the voice as the guy who picked up the phone earlier.

"Excuse me?"

"We found som-some great new relics over the weekend, and were out tracking down a new lead RIGHT NOW!" The guy seems to be in his own world and it doesn't take long for you to realize the thing is pre-recorded, somehow. You decide to let him go on since there's not much else you can do. "So, uhh- let me just update you real quick, then you can get to work."

The guy continues on for what feels like forever but he does tell you what exactly you have to do. Keep people out. Watch for anyone on the cameras. Reboot systems. Seems simple enough.

"Okay, keep an eye on things, and we'll try to have something new for ya' tomorrow night."

Then, the recording cuts off and you're left to place the phone back onto it's hook. At least it answered the questions you had. The monitor on your desk is your most important asset, and you're pretty sure it'll give you all the information you need, so you're not too worried.

"Okay, okay, so.." You look around your desk. The monitor, the tapes, the phone, the closet, and some kind of tablet-like object. You have no idea what to do first, so you decide to investigate the tapes. You highly doubt someone's going to break in on your very first night working here. Even if your luck's been bad, it's still unlikely. And you can't imagine anyone breaking in to steal stuff, not when it's a horror attraction. If they're willing to risk being arrested just for some souvenirs, they're not exactly a threat.

You decide to turn the tape player on and grab a tape at random. The moment you do, a static, high-pitched noise fills the room. You wince. The noise hurts, and you're not sure if it's a glitch or a malfunction. Whatever it is, it doesn't last long. Within seconds, the noise dies out and the voice of a man begins to play. "Oh, Hello! Hello, hello! Uh, welcome to your new career as a perfomer slash entertainer, for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, these tapes will provide you, with much needed information on how to handle slash climb into slash climb out of, mascot costumes."

Obviously, you're appalled, confused, and intrigued. You're not sure if the tapes are meant to be for the attraction or if they're genuinely old training tapes for employees back when Freddy Fazbear's Pizza was still a thing. But the thought of it being part of the attraction makes no sense. It doesn't fit the theme, and, quite frankly, it doesn't even sound that good. It sounds like a terrible idea to have something like this in a horror attraction. But, the thought of these tapes being the actual training tapes has a strange feeling settling in the pit of your stomach. It's not a pleasant feeling, but you can't quite put a name on it.

You listen to the whole tape and are pretty entertained. You're now leaning towards the thought that these tapes might be genuine relics from the Pizza place. It seemed too detailed and knowledgeable to be made up. If they really were used by employees back in the day, it's a fascinating find. And the fact that they're so well preserved is impressive. You're not sure why anyone would keep a tape from their job from thirty years ago. It doesn't matter, it's still a cool find, even if it's just a coincidence.

You listen to a few more tapes before you hear something that isn't the trainer's voice from outside the tapes. A loud banging on what seems to be a door. It sounds further away from either of the exit doors, so it can't be anyone on the outside. It sounds like it's coming from inside the attraction and despite everything in your brain screaming at you to ignore it, you decide to check the sound out. You get up from your chair and grab the tablet, figuring it'd be better safe than sorry.

The banging leads you to a boarded-up room near the back of the attraction. The banging is desperate and you hear someone's breath rattling amongst it.

"Hello? You're not supposed to be in there. You're trespassing."

You think you hear soft laughter in there, but it's raspy like it belongs to an old man. Or a smoker. What's more, it sounds metallic.

"How did you even get in? This room is boarded shut...Either way, you gotta leave. I'm the security guard for this place, and I really don't want to have to call the police or anything. You'd be making things easier for us both if you just leave."

"I'm afraid it isn't that easy." The voice seems to belong to an older man. He's got some vague accent you can't really place, mainly due to the metallic aspect of his voice. You still have no idea how his voice sounds like that. Hell, it even sounds staticky, you consider the fact he may be using some kind of device to emit his voice but what would be the point of that? His voice is really raspy like he hasn't used it in a while.

"Why's that?"

"Open the door and find out."

Everything in your body is telling you not to open the door but you can't help but wonder if the guy's stuck in there...somehow. It still doesn't make sense how he got into this room but you can't just leave him in there.

"Just stay there, I'm gonna get something to get the planks off the door." You don't wait for a reply before you're off back to the office and looking in the closet. You find a box of tools, inside is a hammer, and a crowbar.

This should be able to do the job. You run back to the room with the tools in hand. You're not sure if the voice is still in the room, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

"You still in there?"

"I can't really go anywhere else, my friend."

It takes a shit ton of effort to peel off the planks on the door. Maybe you should start going to the gym. The door, for some reason, opens inwards.

"Okay, um, stand back, I'm gonna open the door now."

You don't get a response back. You jam your crowbar into the doorframe and put your weight on it. The door is shut surprisingly tight. It's incredibly solid. You really have to push, putting all of your weight on it. You can hear the metal door groaning before you lose your grip on the crowbar. You just barely catch yourself on your hands on the dirty floor. Thankfully, the door opened just a smidge.

"There you are! Now get out so I can lock this room up again." You pant, exhausted.

You hadn't even considered that this person might be a threat to you. The room's smell drifts out, creating a dense haze that immediately assaults your nose. You instinctively cover your nose and mouth.

It smells absolutely putrid. It's like...rusted metal and rotted meat. Honestly, it smells like death.

You watch as inhumane fingers curl around the rusted door. The door slowly opens and out comes an animatronic. You think back to what the guy on the phone said. About seeing things sometimes if your oxygen system needs rebooting but a quick glance down at your tablet shows no errors on the screen. The thing takes a step forward, slouching in order to fit through the door frame and you slowly move back. It makes another step toward you and you take another step back. The further you move back, the closer it gets to you, until you hit the wall behind you.

"Thank you so much...You have no idea how long I was stuck in there."

Its tone is sincere, yet it doesn't put you at ease and you find yourself holding the crowbar up. Like it's gonna do anything to the huge 7-foot robot.

It takes a moment for you to register what you're looking at. A really long moment. When it finally dawns on you, you scream. The animatronic extends a mechanical hand and roughly covers your mouth, although the roughness seems to be accidental like it doesn't know its own strength.

"Please be quiet, your scream's the loudest thing I've heard in a while." See, now you feel saliva build up in your mouth and you're sure you're about to throw up from the smell. It smells like something's decomposing behind the suit. You gag and it backs up a bit. It looks a bit apologetic despite not having human facial features to work with. "Look, I'll let you go if you promise not to scream, okay?"

You nod and it lets you go, backing up a few feet and raising its arms in a non-threatening manner. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Its voice is soft and quiet. It doesn't move, waiting for you to speak first. It's surprisingly patient for an animatronic (but also why wouldn't it be patient?). After a few seconds of analyzing him, you recognize the animatronic as Springbonnie. He's all torn up and you can see the endoskeleton inside. It has detailed and complicated mechanisms, which seem to have grown rot all around it and along the furred lining of the suit. That wasn't the part that caught most of your attention, though. It's whatever's inside of him. It's all rotten and looks like flesh. Whatever it is, it's disgusting, and you figure that's what's making him smell so bad.

For some reason, you decide to put the crowbar down, trusting it enough not to attack. Though the thought of it attacking does scare you. You don't respond to it, not knowing what to say. It's not every day you're met with an animatronic supposedly from the 80's.

The animatronic looks at you expectantly, awaiting an answer. You're not really sure what it wants you to say. So, instead of saying anything worthwhile, you blurt out the first question that comes to your mind, which happens to be a rather stupid one.

"What are you?"

"Assuming you meant to say 'who are you,' I'm..." it hesitates, "I'm Springtrap." The way he hesitates before answering the question makes you think the name's been made up on the spot.

"No, uh, that's not what I meant, sorry." You're not sure why you're apologizing to him. "Like are you an animatronic, or a spirit, or something?" When you were younger and all those kids went missing, you remember there being rumors about the ghosts of the supposedly dead children haunting the animatronics and it's the first thing that comes to mind when you ask the question.

Springtrap looks at you curiously before he decides on an answer, seemingly trying to be as vague as possible. "Both."

Okay, then, that didn't give any clarification on the situation. You're not sure what to say now. Should you leave? You have no idea what's going on, but it's starting to get a bit uncomfortable, to say the least, and the smell is suffocating you.

Springtrap stands there, waiting for something you're not sure about. "Um, okay, Springtrap. Nice to meet you, I think," you stammer, still trying to process the situation. "But why were you in that room? How long have you been in there?"

He takes a second to think about the questions before ultimately giving you the vaguest answers ever. "I've been here...a while, and as for how I got here...they forgot about me when they closed down the restaurant."

His response, albeit vague, sends a shiver down your spine. The idea of being abandoned and forgotten in a closed-down restaurant sounds like a nightmare. "Wait, wait, wait, you've been here for...like 30 years, how are you not, like, y'know?"

"If you're asking why I haven't moved onto the afterlife, I don't think there's an afterlife waiting for me."

You feel a bit saddened by his somber response. You wonder why you're feeling bad for an animatronic before putting it down to the fact he was your favorite animatronic in the franchise. And the fact that he's a poor ghost kid unable to make it to heaven. Wait, is he a kid? He seems too mature to be a kid but also he's been here for 30 years.

Your curiosity gets the best of you and you absolutely have to ask about him. "So, Springtrap, tell me about your past, you were a human before?"

It's a dumb question again but he gives you an answer nevertheless. "I was once a woman, yes. Though, I'm not sure what I am anymore."

"Wait, you're a chic?" You'd been assuming she was a man this whole time due to her voice but the fact that she's a woman doesn't change anything. "Sorry, I kinda just assumed you were-"

"Don't worry about it," she interjects, "people assumed the same when I was alive. But, yeah, when I was alive I used to work here."

You nod, listening intently.

"I was putting on this suit when I had a little...accident. I died in the suit, basically."

"Wait, how?" You wonder if you're asking too many questions but she doesn't seem to mind, not in your eyes at least. If she's bothered by the questions, she's doing a damn good job at hiding it.

"Well if I could show you I would but, I doubt you want to get any closer to me, right?" And right she is. You nod and she continues to explain. "The Springbonnie and Fredbear suits were the only suits with springlocks in them and well, the springlocks locked into place while I was in it and slowly killed me." You swear you see her shiver at the thought of the accident that killed her.

You both stand there in silence for a moment, feeling the weight of her story. It's a lot to take in, the atmosphere in the room feels heavy. You feel bad for her.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," you finally say, not quite sure what else there is to say.

Springtrap gives a slight nod, acknowledging your words. "Thank you. It's been a long time, and I've had plenty of time to...come to terms with it, I suppose."

You decide to change the topic, trying to lighten the mood a bit or something. "So, why were you banging on the door? Were you trying to get out?"

She looks down, almost as if embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I got a bit desperate. It gets lonely in there, and I thought maybe someone would eventually find me. I didn't expect it to be a security guard, though."

"Well, I did find you, "you say, half-jokingly, "and now I have an animatronic ghost as a friend, I guess."

She chuckles. "Friend, huh?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want anything to do with me, which is fine." You, once again, have no clue what you're doing acting like this with a dead woman stuck in a robot.

"No, no, being your friend sounds like great fun." You're glad she thinks so because you might be moving too fast. Do people consider each other friends this quickly? How would you know? You didn't have friends growing up.

You decide to check the time on your tablet. It's getting close to six, the time you're meant to end your shift.

The initial shock of meeting Springtrap is still lingering, but you need to focus on your responsibilities. After all, you did take on this job to earn a living. "Hey, Springtrap, I hate to cut things short, but my shift's almost over. I need to make sure everything's in order before I leave. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?"

She nods understandingly. "Alright, I appreciate you helping and hearing me out. Um, should I come find you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'll work fine. Take care."

You head back to your office, checking the cameras and ensuring everything's in order for the night. The encounter with Springtrap was unexpected, but it adds a unique twist to your job at Fazbear Frights.

As the clock chimes and your shift officially ends, you leave the office and head towards the exit. The sunrise is just beginning to paint the sky with warm hues as you step out. You look back and swear you see Springtrap staring as you leave but you could very well be imagining it. You don't remember her following you, and you're sure you would've heard her following you with her heavy footsteps. You brush it off and walk back to your car, heading on home. Tomorrow should be a lot more fun.

#springtrap #fnaf #fnaf au #william afton #fnaf writing #fanfic #fnaf fanfic #fnaf x reader #springtrap x reader

[paperstorm]

The recent anon about fandom recovery after controversy made me want to ask something I’ve never been brave enough to but feel like you’ll give me an honest answer even if you don’t agree you’ll be respectful. Is it ok to like (love) Harry Potter? I know JK Rowling is problematic these days but those books, the films, the world she created meant (still mean) a lot to me but people say I shouldn’t be giving her money by buying merchandise and I shouldn’t like Harry Potter because she’s a terrible person etc. What do you think?

As for the Tarlos/Lonestar fandom I hope it will be ok. The majority of people I saw seem to be able to separate actors and characters so there is still a lot of TK love out there. As long as it doesn’t affect the acting and chemistry, and thus the characters we love then I think we’ll be ok. I don’t think it will (people have speculated they hate each other for years, or they’d lose the chemistry after Ronen got married and none of that has come to pass) so fingers crossed.

PS it would help if they went back soon. Has anyone been able to find out when they’ll start filming. I got hopeful when Ronen posted about getting in shape for S5 but that’s disappeared so I don’t know if they are still months away from going back. Natacha seems to be in the UK.

I am not any kind of authority on whether it's 'okay' to like anything honestly, I have my opinions but that doesn't mean I get to tell other people what they're allowed to like. Personally, as someone who grew up with Harry Potter and loved it to pieces and still has so much fondness for the story and the characters, I think that what matters in a boycott is not giving new money to the thing. The BDS movement as an example is very clear about like, if you already own an HP laptop (which I do), it doesn't make any sense to throw it out and buy a new one made by a different company. You already have it, you can't un-spend money on it. I think the principle holds for something like the Harry Potter franchise. I own the books, I own DVDs of all 8 movies. I have owned them for years, rereading them or rewatching them is not giving Joanne anything that she doesn't already have. That's very different from purchasing the new video games, and that, for me, is where I draw the line. I see no problem in continuing to love something that you already loved, my boundary is giving new money to it.

I do think it's important also to be able to recognize problematic content within media that you love. Again, I'm nobody's mother, I have no right to demand that everybody do this. But an important step that I take in my media consumption is looking with a critical eye at the things I'm consuming and recognizing where there are elements that are problematic that I need to be able to identify so that I don't let harmful ideas creep into my brain and make themselves at home without realizing it. Her portrayal of the goblins is incredibly antisemitic. Other problematic things exist like naming the Chinese character Cho Chang and having a 'race' of slaves that only one character seems to have an issue with. Harry Potter isn't the first medium to feature harmful tropes and it isn't the last either, and part of being an ethical consumer of any show/movie/book is putting in even a bit of work recognizing that and understanding that nobody is immune to propaganda. I still love Lone Star even though there is an element of copaganda to it. It doesn't mean you have to only consume content that is ethically pure - because that doesn't exist. It just means being willing to put in some work recognizing the harmful parts.

#anon asks #911ls asks #this is an older ask that it took me forever to get to #i'm assuming you know that there has been some posting about them starting soon

[animebw]

So I've been stewing a bit with the whole concept of "MCU Fatigue" after my disappointment with The Marvels, and I think I've come to a realization.

See, most people when they shit on the modern MCU act like they're been putting out tons of terrible stuff. But looking at their track record, that's not actually true. In fact, I'd argue that the majority of their Phase 4 and 5 output has still been above average. The only real misses I'd count are FATWS, Dr. Strange 2, The Marvels, and maybe What If if I was feeling particularly uncharitable (and I guess Secret Invasion, but the bad response kept me away from that one so I've never watched it myself). Other than that, Marvel's still putting out a lot of good stuff.

The problem is they're not putting out a lot of great stuff.

Like, we need to take a step back and realize just how fucking insane the MCU's track record used to be. They didn't just put out good movies on a regular basis that put every other franchise to shame, they regularly released some of the most iconic superhero blockbusters of all time. They cranked out all-time classics on such a consistent basis that at this point, at least half of the top 20 greatest superhero movies of all time list would be taken up by MCU projects, maybe more. That's how they built trust with the general audience; not just consistency, but the promise of greatness. People flocked to the MCU not just because there was a near guarantee of a well-made fun time at the cinema, but because that was a strong probability you were going to see something truly spectacular.

Seriously, just look at the studio's track record through Phase 2 and 3. Iron Man 3, Captain America 2 and 3, the first two Guardians movies, Thor Ragnorak, Black Panther, Infinity War and Endgame... you could argue that over half of their movie output from this period was unqualified home runs. And sure, maybe Thor 2 was a dud and Avengers 2 was disappointing, but it didn't matter because there was always the promise of another masterpiece waiting in the wings. People weathered the occasional misstep because they could trust the MCU to always find its way back to greatness.

But now consider: how many all-time bangers can you name from Phases 4 and 5?

Like, I can name a few. Wandavision, Black Panther 2, Guardians 3, Spider-Man 3, maybe Ms. Marvel if I pretend episode 5 doesn't exist (and I've heard Loki season 2 was also great, but that's another one I haven't seen yet). But the ratio of Big Deal Events to Just Another Marvel Thing has gotten much steeper. Between the movies and the Disney+ series, Marvel's cranking out more stuff than ever, but it hasn't been cranking out landmarks any faster than it used to. It's just shoving a lot more padding between the properties that really set the world on fire. And it's training the audience, unintentionally, to no longer associate the MCU with guaranteed smash successes every other weekend.

And I still like most of the MCU's current output! But I don't love it as much as some of its older stuff. Black Widow and Shang-Chi are good, but not quite great. Eternals I will defend to my dying breath, but it was destined for cult classic status. Love and Thunder I would argue is actually pretty fantastic, fuck you fight me, and Quantummania is fine, you guys, but I wouldn't die defending them the way I would, say, Iron Man 3. And as much as I enjoyed Hawkeye, Moon Knight and She-Hulk, you can only watch so much Pretty Good TV before it starts to feel like a chore.

This deluge of content hasn't resulted in tons of more Great Marvel Stuff. It's just resulted in tons of more Good, Okay, and Not That Great Actually Marvel Stuff. It's resulted in audiences feeling like you can't trust Marvel to regularly crank out classics that change the way you view superhero media. And it turns out, it gets a lot harder to justify spending so much time on such an overstuffed time-sink of a franchise when it can't guarantee you a steady stream of masterpieces on a regular basis.

Especially with so much more of it coming out now in such a painfully short timespan. Even in Marvel's busiest years, they used to max out at three movies per year and a couple spinoffs like the Netflix shows that you didn't need to watch to feel up to date. You went out to the movies a couple times a year and were basically guaranteed a good movie every time, and that was it. Now, though, with the Disney+ content, it feels like a constant battle to not fall behind, to keep up with tons of stuff you're just kind of enjoying to justify getting to the increasingly few nuggets of true gold. This stuff would need a track record just as good as the Phase 2/3 days to justify sitting through so much of it, and it just... doesn't. And the second you drop off from exhaustion, it's already roaring ahead and leaving you with too much to ever reasonably catch up on if you're not prepared for a couple days of heavy bingeing.

The shared universe model is fucking hard. Every studio's failed attempt to copy Marvel's playbook is a testament to that. The fact it even maintained its cultural domination as long as it did is nothing short of a miracle. Because it turns out, even being consistently good isn't enough to maintain the level of trust and engagement necessary for such a long haul. You need to be consistently excellent. You need audiences to come away from every other event singing your praises as the new gold standard of blockbuster cinema. And the second you can't maintain that standard anymore, all that goodwill slowly bleeds out as more and more people decide that the effort it takes to keep up with everything is no longer worth the reward.

Does the MCU recover from this? I don't know. At this point, what it needs to do more than anything is slow the fuck down instead of overloading audiences with too many shows and movies to keep up with. Maybe it's not the dominant cultural force anymore, but with a little patience and willingness to sacrifice quantity for quality, it can at least re-establish itself as a franchise worth sticking around for. Marvel used to be special; with a little luck, maybe it can be again.

#marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #not anime

[tmvoldemort]

Late evening at Hogwarts, Lucius lay on the bed next to his wife, Draco, and baby Delphi, who had fallen asleep after being fed and bathed. The blond wizard was glad that with Severus' help they had managed to carry out her transformation to completion, now the once daughter of Bella and the Dark Lord now resembled a Malfoy and not a Lestrange or Riddle. Now Delphini Malfoy slept peacefully in the arms of her father and brother, Draco who had become extremely protective of his new baby sister, and Severus eagerly tending to his foster goddaughter in his breaks from teaching. Lucius felt bad that by helping him and his family, Severus' secret spy work on behalf of Potter had suffered heavily, but he trusted his old friend and knew he had him on his side. Now Severus, as was his wont, was on the outs with Voldemort and that vile franchise, his infernal sister-in-law Bellatrix.

"Sleep, my little daughter." Lucius whispered softly, gently stroking the silver curls of his already baby. He knew that now Delphi was safe and completely free from the influence of the Dark Lord and Bella. His daughter could sleep peacefully, and thanks to their love and care, she would be a happy and good person. He did not regret his decision to take her. He didn't know how to regret it, especially since Delphi was his family's treasure of all treasures.

The only thing that still reminded him of the shadow falling on them was his Dark Mark, which tormented him with baking pain from time to time or gave him nightmares. Today he felt the pain too, but he sensed that it was still a vendetta on Bellatrix's part, but he knew that after Delphi had taken the potion with his and Narcissa's blood added, the transformation that had taken place in the girl was final and that Voldemort and Bella would not get the child back. Now Delphi was a Malfoy and nothing in the world would be able to change that.

"Mine. Only mine." Lucius whispered after which he himself lay down to sleep, whether he would have nightmares or not.

The brilliant lights of London illuminated the half construed penthouse. Filling the empty concrete and wall less floor with light. Voldemort stood looking out the great window. Scanning across the vast city. Disdainful for the loud noise barely muted by the building insulation.

“Well?” Voldemort said, not bothering to turn round.

The figure joining him steps forward. His face was sun kissed but the cheekbones were fine. Befitting for someone less slimy. Better for the social parlors, not the underworld.

“What did you find, Jae Kim?”

“Not much.” Jae said, pulling out a hand rolled cigarette. Lighting it with the tip of his wand. Taking a deep drag as if calming himself.

Beneath the scent of smoldering clovers Voldemort could smell old blood. Covered by the sterile smell of healing gel and herbs. Jae blows out a cloud above his own head. Leaning most of his weight on one leg.

“Not when Snape caught on that I was asking questions.” Jae said, “Chase after me a good bit. Not the first time nor the last.”

So Severus Snape was a traitor now? 

“So what have you brought me?” 

“Only a name. One that’s not public actually.” Jae frowned, “Malfoy. Delphini Malfoy.”

Jae shook his head. Eyes squinted, at the coin purse flying towards him. Catching it at the last moment. He gave the dark wizard a bow. Reframing from something less formal.

“A Malfoy?” Voldemort whispers, a sharp crack broke the silence.

“Yeah.” Jae took one last drag before flicking his smoke across the empty floor. It’s amber light catching the crack branching out in the window in front of Voldemort.

Jae takes his leave. Richer for it.Leaving The Dark Lord to his own thoughts. Knowing the war games were none of his business. One lived long enough to remain ignorant.

Voldemort's gaze remains fixed out across the city, barely seen much  beyond the rippling window. The glass pane looked ready to crumble.No. The girl is mine. His nails pierced his palm, balling up into a fist. She’ll come to me. In time.

#Stolen child verse #YOU!! #ic: SEE IF I KIDNAPPED A CHILD FROM THEIR PARENTS I WOULD BE THE MONSTER!!! #ic: Bellatrix is bedridden from depression #//Can't remember where we left off so I am starting from scrate.

[bean-pole-art]

5 years ago I wrote a fic abt @spoks-illogical-art's OC Nekro going on a trip to Hot Topic. now, 5 years later I wrote a sequel

Nekor Idzie Do Claire's A Później Do Hot Topic

under the cut is 2k of cartoonish madness. hope u like it and go check out Spok's OCs UwU 💙

The air smelt of flower perfumes, cheap plastic hair clips and glitter. Nekro knew he found the right place.

Before him were the gates to the one and only shop that could answer his fruitless (or well, fruitless so far) calls. The store that seemed to pride itself with having a huge selection of hair accessories in every shade of pink possible, as well as jewelry, phone cases and all of the plushies made out of questionable materials. Especially however, Nekro nodded at the sight of “we do all kinds of piercings!” signs. Oh, how beautiful Claire’s truly was.

The mall seemed to operate on normal hours, however Nekro didn’t see anyone of note around him. Most of the places seemed abandoned and the stores didn’t even open. The only other store of note, not to mention actually opened was the Hot Topic right before Claire’s. Which was another step in Nekro’s adventure in this mall.

Weirdly, Nekro felt a dash of nostalgia, coming by the Hot Topic. What was it caused by, he had no idea.

He shook his head and concentrated on the purple sign before him. The business was there to be done and there was no way around it. With a quick and confident step, he had approached Claire’s in all of its glory.

Even if there was no time to waste, Nekro decided he needed to waste some time. Rummaging through the aisles, he was in wonder of all the glittery goodness before him. The butterfly clips of his had long been worn out, so it was maybe a good time to replace them… Oh, and the cheapest necklaces in the world would look wonderfully on his neck! So much to choose, so little to actually come by. Ah dammit, didn’t his blue eyes sparkle at the prospect of getting a new plastic choker too.

Maybe it was just Nekro’s way of delaying the inevitable. Not that Nekro was scared per se, but it did accustom some kind of dread in his heart. Just this morning he was looking at the possible outcomes at his dusty old computer. Nekro’s expression changed. The things he had seen happen to these people were not to be un-unseen.

Well. Good thing that Nekro wasn’t even a person.

So with all the braveness he could muster, he strolled in a Jojo-like stride right to the cash registers. Not like his almost boyfriend Joel (called by Nekro in every possible occasion as Jojo) but well, uh. You get the idea.

But there was no one to be seen. As if along with the lack of customers, this Claire’s also lacked any kind of staff. Nekro looked around, up and down but there truly was no one to be found. Annoyed and disappointed, Nekro was ready to retreat back to wherever the hell he was living at, some kind of cage or anything, to write a flaming hot review at the franchise’s site–

“HI, welcome to Claire’s! What can I do for ya?”

A perky voice cut through the atmosphere filled with late 90’s boy bands' music. Nekro let out a muffled scream. Cause before him, seemingly out of nowhere materialized a person. A guy with salt and pepper hair, piercing green eyes and a smile akin to the Cheshire cat. Wearing the signature Claire’s t-shirt in fact.

Nekro’s eyes shifted at the sight, “How? What?? HOW did you get here?”

The man, his now materialized as well name plate said “Oscar”, tapped his finger right at the chin, “I’ve been there all along, Nekro. You just need to also visit Vision Express to check your eyesight. It’s on the second floor.”

Oh, his eyesight was good alright. Especially noticing that Oscar’s nails were painted with the shittiest pink glitter nail polish, also sold by Claire’s. Nekro shuddered with disgust. He did only one coat.

“No. I’m pretty sure you weren’t there,” Nekro said with certainty.

“Hi, welcome to Claire’s!” he chirped back, almost as if it was a recording rather than a maybe living, maybe breathing maybe person. “I’m Oscar, how can I brighten up your day?”

Nekro blinked several times, “I am here to pierce my ears.”

“Excellent choice! Ears or nose?”

“Ears.”

“Are you sure not nose?” Oscar asked again.

“No.”

“Hmm. I have just what you need, loyal customer!”

He then winked with both eyes back at him, once more descending back to the depths of his trailer, called the cash register. Before Nekro could ask any additional questions, Oscar had emerged again. With something quite peculiar in his hands.

“What the hell?” Nekro felt his sweat drip at his neck. “Are you going to shoot me?? Ehm, is there any security at all???”

“Ohohoh, fret not, ocean blue!” Oscar waved his hand in a way akin to how author’s friend Piotr communicated to her irl that people they were currently talking about were gay. However then Oscar’s face got more serious as the shadows surrounded his face. “Not this time.”

Nekro gulped. Very very loudly, “My eyes aren’t even ocean blue, they’re like I dunno, space blue or Prussian blue.”

“Yeah yeah yeah. Anyways, that’s not a real gun, dumb-dumb, it’s a piercing gun,” he explained shortly, waving the gun around.

“Cool.”

“Yeah. Tight. Sooo, do you wanna get started?” Oscar pointed the suspicious gun right at him.

“I mean, I guess?” Nekro answered. There was no way out of this situation and definitely not out of this strange man’s vision.

With a snap of Oscar’s fingers, Nekro had sat down. Literally, he just snapped his fingers and suddenly, Nekro was placed in some kind of chair with the spotlight placed on him. Then the chair changed to a one with wheels, maybe so he would be able to escape it. Either way, his fate was sealed and all Nekro could do was to await his judgment.

Once more Oscar had approached him, shrouded by shadows casted on his face. How the hell did he keep doing it, he couldn’t explain. But Nekro awaited the call, awaiting the final moments of his piercingless life to end.

Approaching him, Oscar changed the hand which held the gun and squished Nekro’s cheeks, “Are you ready?”

“Suuure, let’s go.”

There was little to no enthusiasm in Nekro’s voice. In his mind, he just pleaded to get those rose earrings he had been wishing for, for the longest time. Oh, they definitely eased the pain some more.

“Oookay, so on 10?” he asked and seeing Nekro nod, he had started. “One… Two… Three… Sixty nine… Uhh, seven…”

One click and it was all done. One click of the most painful thing Nekro had felt in his entire life.

“AAAHHH, JASNY CHUJ!” Nekro yelled, unsure what language he had called it in. “You said you’d go on 10.”

Oscar shrugged, “I got bored. I’ll be at the cash register, if you won’t come there in like 2 minutes, I’ll be legally allowed to kill you.” Then he happily walked off, swooping his hair and stepping right on Nekro’s foot.

To which Nekro nodded, all covered in tears and snot from the worst 2 seconds of his life. Even if he was sure Oscar would be able to kill even without the legality of the situation but well. It appeared that Claire’s did in fact have different rules than anywhere else in the world.

Still, there were no words to describe Nekro’s pain. So I won’t do it.

With all the terrible experiences aside, Nekro strode to the desk, where Oscar seemed to magically teleport again.

“That’d be $420.”

Pulling his pockets, Nekro only noticed a little bug flying off of this. “No! My moth collection!” he cried, as the moth flew further and further away from them. Maybe he wouldn’t have his friend but at least, he was sure there was still money on him. He pulled the wallet and swiftly paid with his Club Card. And yet, there was still something wrong. Giving Oscar a confused look, Nekro asked, “Uh, what about my rose earrings?”

“Oh, these?” Oscar pulled the earrings from the ether. The most beautiful ones Nekro had ever seen. “Yeah, they’re not available to you. We can only give you these.”

Excited to see the product, Nekro’s expression immediately dropped. As Oscar pulled two very ugly and basic earrings that were made from some cheap zircons. Handing him over the dreaded jewelry, Oscar’s hands became more detailed and realistic and the earrings were accompanied by the duck quack sound.

“Ah,” commented Nekro.

“Yeah,” said Oscar. “Anyways, thanks for buying at Claire’s! Be sure to come back! Maybe for real earrings this time! Have a clairtastic day!”

And with his hand suddenly expanding as long as it possibly could, Nekro was out of the store. With his new earrings right at their place too.

Maybe it wasn’t the most fruitful visit at Claire’s Nekro had ever lived through but it was certainly one of his visits. At least the job was done and his ears were pierced. Even though they burnt like hell and Nekro was still wiping off the tears, the job was done. It was time for another part of his espionage.

His dearest, most valuable store, Hot Topic. Of course, Nekro needed to make an entrance, hence he did it in the best way possible. By breaking through the wall with the biggest thud sound.

“Oh yeah!” said Nekro in a voice akin to Kool Aid Man.

Ready to discover the unknown lands of the store, Nekro’s face turned into a grin. The black everywhere, the cheap merch that definitely didn’t pay the bands they were sponsoring, some Disney stuff that wasn’t alternative at all, as well as My Chemical Romance playing in the background. It was the land of opportunity. It was where Nekro truly could find peace of mind.

However before Nekro could discover all the beauty of the commercialized emo merchandise right before his eyes, he was caught in the act. At the cash register this time sat casshier called Cassius. Looking over from his newest volume of Bootlicking Weekly, he immediately knew what to do. Sounding the alarm, he had called the store manager.

“Mr. Whittaker! Mr. Whittaker, we got him!” announced Cass via the whittacom, pointing furiously at Nekro.

Not that Nekro even noticed, he was too busy picking up an emo alternative Hello Kitty t-shirt. Suddenly though, before his eyes was Cassius himself. With the most pissed off expression there possibly was, already shaking him by the arms.

“What are you doing?? Unhand me, asshole!” Nekro called, in a voice shaking through Cass’ motions.

“I should ask you myself! What are you doing here?!” he yelled in return. “Don’t you remember? Haven’t you seen the sign?!”

To which Cass pointed to a wanted poster among all the Divergent movie posters, possibly to match. Which was a face not like Nekro’s but familiar enough. The sign on it said “we’re saying NO to him!”.

Nekro’s eyes shifted, “That’s not me. That’s the guy from Claire’s.”

“Aha! So you’ve admitted that you go to Claire’s!”

“Yeah, I mean but… Wait, no, that’s not me, are you daft?!”

“And now you’re mocking me?” gasped Cass, loudly and with the most offense anyone could have ever hear in their lives. “Be grateful that Mr. Whittaker isn’t here to see it! But he will shortly. You’re going with me!”

“What? What???? Noooooooo!”

There were lots of screams and scratching. At some point Nekro had probably bitten Cass, which only resulted in him getting a cartoonish smash on the head. Still, there was no one else to care. Mr. Whittaker, the manager of Hot Topic, didn’t come for the ruckus. Who the hell even knew where he was at this point.

Only thing that was certain was that Oscar watched all of this, from his cozy spot at Claire’s cash register. He took a sip from his mug that said “everything according to keikaku” and let out an anime-esque laugh.

#fanfiction #fanfic #spoksillogicalart #beyond nowhere #nekro #norville eksuperancjusz rose abrams #oscar kirk #cassius coney #gabriel bishop whittaker #he doesnt rly appear in fic but I wanna tag him yes #enjoy this fic #also look at my new icon hehe #ed's fics

[studentofetherium]

card layout tier list

while i'm at it with the longposts, here's a tier list of trading card layouts (also this only counts the default because otherwise magic has like six million different layout at this point)

A tier:

these are my favorites. each excels at what they set out to do. the original magic layout gives the feeling of pages from a magic tome, describing monsters and spells alike. the disney TCG works on another level, as it's able to display all the relevant gameplay information while prioritizing the art and name yet making it a functional. the disney game will, like pokemon, be primarily sold as collector pieces for disney fans, and for that purpose, this is fantastic. i especially appreciate how it manages to fit all of the collector's information, not just the artist, trademark, and set distribution information, but also the expansion symbol. the original magic card design was perfect in its simplicity, but the disney TCG is perfect in being able to convey so much information yet keep it concise and clear. i will never play that game, but i am in awe

b tier:

i especially love how the attack and defense on old yugioh monsters was presented. it has the same old tome feeling of old magic cardsbut feels refreshingly different. the problem is that for effect monsters, which didn't exist for several sets, their information is much harder to fit into the text box. thankfully, the replacement design, with a larger textbox, had a similar feeling, and remains a strong and iconic design magic's modern design also goes in this tier. visually, i think it's a step back from the original, but as a gamepiece, it's far superior. like the disney game, it's great at portraying all the information players and collectors need in a concise manner. it also shows off the art well and has a good downward flow. of the designs in this tier, it's definitely the best

c tier:

here's where designs start getting iffier. i love the Future Sight border, but it is rife with gameplay issues, such as being unusable for right-handed players, as well as concerns about costs fitting in it. i like the way the border overlaps with itself in the oval and art, but it's otherwise hard to defend from a practical perspective however, it's still striking and visually interesting. it's remembered well for a reason and i would like to see wotc return to it, even if only for a secret lair or the like

pokemon layouts, new and old, haven't changed much from a practical level. i think they convey all the information that they need to, but a lot falls flat in terms of the layout. in both cases, the use of flavor text feels off. the collector's information in the corner is nice, but things like video game information is really unnecessary. the reason why it's there is because the pokemon trading card game is as much or more about being collector's pieces over game pieces. while there is a thriving competitive scene for the game and people do play it casually, most cards sold are because of the demand for fans of other parts of the franchise. as collector's pieces, i think they're compromised, since so much of the card is being dedicated to effects and the text box. things like flavor text or species information are neat and do add to the mystique of the card, but i don't think they're enough to make it better than a passing grade

d tier:

the worst designs that i'll talk about today are Cardfight Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz. they're pretty similar in terms of design, as Weiss Schwarz is a spinoff of Vanguard. simply put, they both run into information overload. abilities aren't listed in a good order, type information is smushed together with attack, and things like shield, grade, or trigger are visually overwhelming. it's a trainwreck of design, which is a shame because the game systems themselves are pretty neat. i will say, at least, that i respect Vanguard more for having its own art and designs, and thus, aesthetic, while the art used in Weiss Schwarz is all screencaps and promo art being reused. i'm sure that makes the game much cheaper to produce, but it also makes it feel cheap. and once again, it runs into the problem of making a game meant as a game and a collector's item. if you're buying weiss schwarz cards, getting screencaps from the show or reused promo art can feel really underwhelming

#long post

[ecargmura]

Hirogaru Sky! Precure Episode 1 Review: Hero Girl Sky!

I like magical girls, but I’ve never tried watching Precure in the past. I’ve only discovered what Precure was when my Twitter friends were talking about it. I was curious about Precure, but it did feel hard to get into since it already has an established fanbase with die-hard fans. Was there a place for me in the Precure fandom? That was what I thought in the past. As I got older, I realized that I don’t need to be shy. If I want to make friends, I’ll make friends.

(Also, you can check out my review of this episode on my blog, but if you don't want to, continue below)

My only experience with a Precure show was watching the first five episodes of Delicious Party Precure. I enjoyed them, but they also made me really hungry with all the food shown in those five episodes.

And since Hirogaru Sky Precure got announced, I did get a bit excited for five reasons:

1. I love stationery. Stationery seems to be a prominent theme with how the trailer shows pens and notebooks. As a writer, I am a huge stationery junkie. I love pens, paper and anything cute.

2. Sky aesthetics. I love sky-themed stuff in general. This show is about sky, flying and such, it got me excited.

3. Sora and Mashiro’s designs. I like blue-themed characters, so I was instantly drawn to Cure Sky/Sora Harewataru’s design. However, what drew me in the most was Mashiro’s design. I like the coral pink hair used for her hair color and I like her overall design.

4. Ayumu Murase is casted as a Precure. I like Murase’s voice and the fact that Cure Wing is the first male Precure in a franchise that dedicates itself to female magical girls got me curious.

5. The title is a pun in itself. I love puns. Hirogaru means Soaring in Japanese, but it’s also play on words for “Hero Girl”. The main character, Sora, is a girl wanting to be a hero, hence Hero Girl. My pun-loving self FLIPPED when I learned about this.

This was why I decided to check out this show by watching the first episode. Did I enjoy it? I liked it a lot! It’s fast-paced and it brought a lot of questions, but I’m sure they’ll be answered as the show progresses.

From what I can decipher, the story is about Sora Harewataru, a girl from a world called Sky Land. She’s traveling to the capital for some reason, but becomes involved in an impromptu rescue mission involving the kidnapping of Princess Ellee by a humanoid pig villain named Kabaton which then causes her to get transported to Earth where she meets Mashiro Nijigaoka.

Sora is an interesting lead character from what I can see. From the research I’ve done on Precure, Pink Cures are usually the lead while Blues are like second bananas or so. She’s the first Blue lead in the show’s history. She’s headstrong and is ready to jump in and save the day. The last time I’ve seen an athletic lead for a magical girl show was back in Cardcaptor Sakura—one of my absolute favorite magical girl shows. Her heroic actions are presented well. However, she also has weaknesses as she’s not as physically strong as she wants to be due to her status as a human.  She’s agile and a quick-thinker, but that does not stop her from getting caught off-guard from Kabaton’s sneak attacks. It’s only when she transforms into Cure Sky that she finally gets the power she lacked as a human to save the day. There’s a lot of questions surrounding her too. Why was she going to the capital that day? Who inspired her to become a hero? I hope the answers will be told throughout the show. I think her most admirable trait is the fact that she was willing to jump into a portal just to save a crying child. That’s pure bravery right there.

Speaking of transformation, the transformation scene was AMAZING! I was hooked in the moment Sora’s hair changed into pig tails. I think having the little sphere space is a unique idea. I also love the incorporation of “hop, step, jump” because it reminds me of Shugo Chara, another favorite magical girl anime I adore. While I’m more of someone who likes it when shoes are implemented last in a transformation scene, her having her shoes on first makes sense as she’s jumping around. I can’t wait to see the other three transformation scenes.

Mashiro, as a character, is the opposite of Sora. She’s shy, reserved and a bit more hesitant unlike Sora. However, I believe that her character arc stems from the first impressions. She’s shy, but will most likely gain confidence as she spends time with Sora and Ellee.

Princess Ellee is currently just plot device. She has a special power that is coveted by the villains that allows people to change into Precures. However, it adds onto the mystery surrounding her. Why does she have this power? Who wants this power? I’m sure that Kabaton works for someone coveting the powers of Precure. My assumption is that it’s the person Sora admires from the opening.

Speaking of Kabaton, I cannot forgive that pig for destroying someone’s diary. Bruh, that’s a waste of paper and privacy! Unforgivable!

I wonder how Sora and Ellee will return to Sky Land. How will she deal with the nuances and quirks of Earth culture? Let’s find out in episode 2 together! Let me know if you like my review of Hirogaru Sky! Precure! I’ll try to do more and possibly older Precure shows as well!

#ecargmura #hirogaru sky precure #soaring sky precure #sora harewataru #cure sky #mashiro nijigaoka #princess ellee #kabaton #review #anime review #winter 2023 anime #magical girl #mahou shoujo

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: X-Men first class

Ah yes, X-Men first class. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine turned out to be a rushed, incompetent and excecutively meddled piece of meh, the studio folks at FOX panicked and hit the reset button. Since their cash cow franchise had been so utterly trainwrecked there was no idea in continuing on the track they were currently on. Better to go back to square one and go in a new direction. You gotta keep making those mutant movies or the rights will revert back to Marvel who might actually make a good X-Men movie, and we can`t let that happen. So... X-Men first class was a big step up from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, (That`s not very hard though.) and better than the X-Men 3 that we got. We got to see Charles Xavier really put his telepathic abilities to good use, some good character developing scenes with Magneto and some nice dialogue between the two of them. But it still had some questionable descisions. Like killing off the only black guy in the group. The guy who has the power to adapt to and survive pretty much anything. Not only that but the way he was killed off was pretty dissapointing. At first I was gonna do a CC were I just bring up a few points and suggest how they could be improved. But then I thought "What if this had been made in an alternate universe where X-Men 3 and XO: Wolverine were good?" Then they wouldn`t have to completely reboot it and distance themself from the first movies. They could have made it a prequel that could still work with the continuity of the previous movies. So... if I had a mutant buddy who could phase me back in time to my younger body, so that I could make some changes to this movie... What would I change?

Plot The 1940s, Poland: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto), a young woman named Magda and a young man named Gregorij have escaped from a concentration camp, Nazi soldiers are chasing them. Gregorij is shot, Erik uses his powers in self defense to kill the two soldiers who chase them. Magda doesn`t see him use his powers. Back at the concentration camp a soldier has to break the news that the three prisoners have escaped to the camp`s head scientist: Dr Nathaniel Essex. (That`s right! In my version Mr Sinister is the bad guy! Makes more sense than Sebastian Shaw.) The 1960s, Brazil: Erik has found two former Nazi officers in a bar. He talks to them, interrogates them and then kills them. The 1970s, a trainstation: Erik is sitting at a table waiting for a train. A young Charles Xavier sits down next to him, they talk and Charles reveals that he`s a mutant, a telepath to be more precise. He says to Erik that he hasn`t read all of his thoughts, he only "skimmed the surface" and talks to him about how mutants and humans should help eachother. Erik disagrees with some of what Charles is saying but feels that he may have a point in some areas. Charles, noticing that Erik has a train to catch, gives him his card and hopes that they will meet some day in the future. Erik takes the train to meet a man in an office, (let`s call the man Fritz) who used to work with the nazis. Erik interrogates him, kills him and takes some documents from him. One of the documents is a blueprint of a helmet that protects your mind from telepaths. He also finds a knife with a swastika on it. The 1980s: Charles Xavier (who is not in a wheelchair yet) is now a professor, he lives in a mansion and is trying to get his invention Cerebro to work, he gets a little help from Dr Moira MacTaggert but it`s not going so well because, as Moira keeps reminding him, she`s "a geneticist, not a bloody engineer". She also mentions that his inside guy at the FBI has found something for him: an escaped orphan who can fire red energy beams from his eyes is believed to be hiding in the area. Since Cerebro isn`t fully functional yet Charles has to find him  the old fashioned way. That same night: We see a boy in his early teens (Scott Summers) out walking, wearing a blindfold that he sometimes is forced to lift to see where he is going. He manages to get a good look at the area before he quickly shuts his eyes and puts the blindfold back on again. He`s been doing this for a while and gotten good at it. Charles finds him, unfortunately so does a hulking brute named Blockbuster. Scott defends himself against BB but BB is to strong. Charles arrives and is just about to knock BB with a telepathic punch... when some scrap metal comes flying and knocks BB. It`s Erik who showed up and saved Scott! Charles is happy to see Erik again and recruits him and Scott. BB wakes up a few 100 feet away from where Erik hit him, runs back to his boss and explains that another mutant showed up and overpowered him. The mutant had magnetic powers. That last part makes his boss react, his boss is Mr Sinister. Erik helps Charles build Cerebro. Charles uses it to find more mutants. At a boarding school he finds Warren Worthington III, a young teen with two wings on his back that allows him to fly. At a university he finds Dr Henry "Hank" McCoy, a muscular young man with a great intellect and superhuman strength. (He doesn`t have his blue fur yet.) And in a small town in Kenya he finds Ororo Munroe, a girl with long, white hair with the power to control weather. Erik builds a pair of sunglasses made out of ruby-quartz for Scott who is happy that he can finally see again and doesn`t have to worry about hurting anyone. In this scene Erik also mentions that he has studied metallurgy. At a bar in Canada, Charles tries to recruit Logan who tells him to go F himself. Charles takes the hint and leaves. (Yes, I`m keeping that scene in my version. It was fun.) One last student arrives at Charles` mansion: Jean Grey, a girl with the gift of telekinesis and telepathy. (She and Prof: Charles has already met a few years ago.) Xavier gives his students a speech where he welcomes them, tells them his dream about humans and mutants coexisting peacefully in the future and that the training starts tomorrow. What are their personalities? Scott is the very serious one and a bit of a square. Warren is the funny and, at times, immature one. Hank is the smart science guy and the witty one who sometimes competes with Warren for the title of the funny one. Ororo is the cool, confident one (but also secretly a little insecure) who sometimes competes with Hank and Warren over who gets to be funny one. Jean is a bit shy but works to overcome it and turns into the glue that holds the team together. That night: Ororo is going to use the bathroom but it is already occupied by Warren who suggests that she uses the smaller bathroom down the hall. Ororo doesn`t want that and decides to wait until Warren is finished. Warren thinks that she is spoiled. Scott bumps into Erik, sees his concentration camp tattoo, the two of them talk a little, Scott understands what a hard life Erik must have lived.

Act 2: First day of school begins. They have some ordinary classes, Moira teaches them about biology and McCoy (who has several  diplomas) teaches them physics and literature. After this it`s time for physical training. They run in an obstacle course. They do well when it comes to the individual challenges but not so well when comes to the part where they have to work as a group. After the training they are all tired. It`s lunchtime. Erik does not eat his lunch at school but instead prefers to go to a cafè. There`s man at the table next to him (It`s Mr Sinister in human form.), they start to talk a little. Mr Sinister starts to talk about how hard it must be to be a mutant in todays society. It soon becomes clear that Mr Sinister is trying to recruit Erik to his side. Even if Mr Sinister`s views are similar to Erik`s he is not interested, he pays for his coffee and leaves. Xavier`s mansion: Scott walks in the hall, bumps into Jean, the two of them talk a little, she continues to Charles Xavier`s room where she tells him about nightmares that she`s been having and wants his help dealing with them. Outside the room Erik listens to their conversation. Scott continues to the recreational room to hangout with the others. In the recreational room Warren tells the group a little about himself, about how a fire broke out at his boarding school and how he saved his classmates. He encourages his classmates to share their stories, it might help them bond. No one is interested. Next day: They do the obstacle course again. This time they are slightly better at the teamwork and at the end of the obstacle course they get to fight Erik. He beats them. A little later Jean visits Prof Xavier again so that he can help her hold back her powers. Erik knows what they are doing and he doesn`t like it. Hank talks to Moira a little. He tells her that he has discovered that it is possible that mutants could develop a second mutation and that he has been toying with the idea of creating a serum that could trigger such a mutation. (I would like for Moira to have a little scene of dialogue with everyone of the students. Also, this little scene explains why Hank doesn`t look like he did in X-Men 3.) Lunchtime, a bench in a park: Erik is enjoying some alone time. He is soon joined by Mr Sinister. Sinister tells him some of his backstory (but of course he leaves out the part about working for the Nazis) He also reveals that he doesn`t age, is over 100 years old, has enchanced strength and has done some experiments on himself and added more powers, like firing energy-bolts from his hands. He wants Erik to join him and create a better world for mutants. Erik starts to consider Mr Sinister`s proposal. Later that night: Mr Sinister`s goons: Riptide, Vertigo, Arclight and Toad steal some lab-equipment from a building. The police shows up. The goons fight them and win. A beautiful day in a sunny park: Scott is out walking, bumps into Jean, they talk a little, Jean reveals that the park they are in now is not real, it`s a dream, her dream. She is still trying to control her powers and apologizes that her dream is "leaking over" into his. Scott doesn`t mind. Since this is a dream he takes of his glasses and is happy that he can do so without without hurting someone. They hang out and do some stuff you can only do in a dream,  like fly, walk on water (there`s a lake nearby) and other fun stuff. It`s getting late, Scott has enjoyed their time together but thinks he should return to his own dream, they have to get up early tomorrow and fight Erik again. He leaves her head. Jean hears voices and decides to check out where they are coming from. They seem to come from someone elses dream. Erik`s dream, a forest, the night he, Magda and Gregorij escaped from the conentration camp and Gregorij was shot. Jean is there as a ghost, no one can see, hear or touch her, this is just a memory after all. She sees Erik and Magda mourning Gregorij and promising each other that they are gonna survive. A moment later Jean sees Erik and Magda serving customers at a tavern, after that she sees them getting married, after that she sees Magda giving birth to a daughter, Anya. Erik, Magda and Anya move to the city and Erik gets a job as a construction worker. One day his employer (Let`s call him Ivan.) only pays him half of what he deserves. Erik gets angry and causes a crowbar to fly and smash into the wall next to Ivan. Ivan pays him in full and Erik returns to the inn where his family is staying. We flash forward a day or two and Erik is now standing in front the inn wcich is now on fire and Anya is trapped on the second floor. Erik reaches out with his hand, maybe he can do something! Maybe he can...  THUD! Two policemen strike him down. it was Ivan who led them to him. Ivan: "What a shame comrade. If you hadn`t threatened me this would never have happened." Helpless, Erik must watch how Anya dies in the fire. He is filled with rage and with his new powers he kills all the bystanders except Magda. Magda, afraid of Erik because of what he`s capable of doing, calls him a monster and runs away. Jean wakes up from Erik`s dream. Next day: The students are training on the obstacle course, Scott decides to take the role of a leader and this time they do even better than they did last time. They fight Erik and this time they get closer to defeating him. Erik is impressed, next time he might not hold back. Later, inside Jeans mind: she and Prof. Xavier put the last constraints on her powers. The two of them wake up, back in his room and Jeane leaves. A little later, a Museum: Erik watches an exhibition of the human evolution, from ape to homo sapien. He is joined by Sinister who talks to him some more. Sinister suspects that someone is eavesdropping on them and he is right. Jeane has been eavesdropping on them telepathically from a distance. She leaves and is followed by one of Sinister`s goons: Arclight. Arclight almost catches her  but she uses her telekinetic powers in creative ways to escape her. Xavier`s mansion: Jean arrives, amost out of breath and explains to the others what she has seen and heard. What are they gonna do when Erik comes back, now that they know that he is involved with something evil? The phone rings. It`s Erik. He wants to talk to Charles. He tells Charles that he won`t be coming back to the mansion tonight, he`s working on something. He also tells Charles that he wants to meet him at a certain place at a certain time. Alone. Later that night: They decide to share their background stories. Hank tells them that his mutation made him a more than formidable footballplayer and earned him the nickname "the Beast". It also made the faculty suspicious, he was afraid to be outed as a mutant. He is grateful that Xavier showed up and recruited him before things turned really ugly. Warren says that he can relate to that. He had trouble hiding his wings, was afraid of being discovered, and sees Xavier as a lifesaver. Scott tells them that he used to have a brother, or maybe he still has, he doesn`t know. His father was a pilot. They were out flying, something happened with the engine, the plane was about to crash, his mom Katherine pushed Scott and his little brother Alex out the plane door with the only available parachute. Then he must have hit his head because the next thing he knew he woke up in a hospital with a head injury. His brother was nowhere to be seen. A few days later he ended up at an orphanage. His mutant power manifested a few weeks ago. Jean reveals that she once had a friend, Annie. One day when Jean and Annie were playing Annie was accidentally hit by a car. The stress awakened Grey's mutant telepathic powers which empathically linked her to her dying friend. The traumatic experience of Annie's death left Grey in a withdrawn and deeply depressed state. Moreover, not able to control her newly awakened telepathic abilities forced her to isolate herself from other people to hold on to her sanity. Her parents came into contact with Prof. Xavier who helped her out of her isolation. A year later Xavier opened up his school for the gifted. Ororo reveals that when she was little she lived in Cairo with her mom and dad. When she was just five years old, a plane crashed into their house. Ororo's parents were killed, but she survived, buried under rubble near her mother's body. This traumatizing effect left Ororo with the severe claustrophobia that still afflicts her today. (That`s why she didn`t want to go to the small bathroom earlier.) She managed to escape the rubble of her shattered home. Homeless and orphaned she was found by a streetgang of young boys who took her to see their leader and mentor who trained her to be a thief. But soon, it became too dangerous to be on the streets of Cairo so she left the city and wandered through the desert. Discovered that she could control the weather, ran into a tribe who believed her to be a goddess. They gave her food and she in return gave them rain so that their crops would survive through drought season. The students now understand each other better. Elsewhere: Erik is with Mr Sinister and the Marauders. He is using the equipment that the Marauders stole, his magnetic powers and his knowledge in metallurgy to create the telepathy-proof helmet that we saw in the documents that he took from Fritz.

Act 3: Prof. Xavier meets Erik at the trainstation were they first met years ago. It is early and there are no innocent bystanders. Erik reveals that he knows what about Charles putting mental blocks in in Jeans head and that`s why he left. The students should grow to their full potential at the school, not be constrained just because they are afraid of their powers. He also meets Mr Sinister who`s wearing the telepathy-proof helmet. Erik wants to leave Charles and join Sinister. He reveals Charles tries to convince him to stay. Sinister charges his fist with energy and threatens with violence. The students show up, ready to defend Charles. The Marauders show up, ready to fight. A fight breaks out. Angel takes Xavier somewhere safe so he won`t get hurt. But Xavier still wants be part of the fight and not see his students get hurt. During the fight the trainstation takes a heavy beating. Jean tries to reason with Erik but keeps getting interrupted. Finally she tells Erik that Sinister isn`t interested in the wellbeing of other mutants, he`s only interested in creating a superior mutant master-race, no matter the cost. And he worked for the Nazis during World war 2. Sinister attacks Charles and paralyzes him from the waist down. Erik uses his powers to steal Sinisters helmet, Sinister tries to fire energy at Erik but is paralyzed by Charles. Erik takes out the knife that he took from Fritz and sends it right into Sinister`s head. All the Marauders flee except Toad. Charles tries one last time to convince Erik to re-join them, Erik respectfully declines and wants to go his own way. He wants the students to join him but they respectfully decline, only Toad is willing to join him. Charles and his students return to the mansion. They turn on the TV and the news report about how a bunch of mutants demolished a trainstation. People don`t feel safe knowing what mutants are capable of. Charles is sad that they lost Erik but Scott and Jean tells him that they they will stay by his side, they even use the speech that he gave to them at the start of the school. What should they call themselves? The X-team? Fantastic Five? Warren suggests the Merry Mutants. Ororo hits him with a pillow. They`ll figure out a name. The students get their uniforms. Despite everything that has happened Charles and his students are optimistic about the future.

The End

Mid-Credit scene: A Morgue. It turns out that Sinister is not dead! Dun-dun dunn!

And that`s how I would do it. Not great but hopefully not bad.

Since the younger X-Men were not experienced adventurers in the beginning I decided to go for more personal stakes rather than big "we have to save the world" kind of stakes. Diving into the students individual backstories was mostly because I`m into keeping it close to the source material. But in hindsight I can justify it by pointing out that the members of the X-Men in the first movie never had any proper backstories. So in a story where you already know certain things, like if Magneto`s gonna join the badguy or not, you can always dive deeper into the things you don`t already know. (Unless doing so takes away ambiguous and mysterious things about the character/ story that made them interesting in the first place, of course.)

Constructive criticism of my constructive criticism is welcome.

------------------------ Written stuff: 42

Started writing this 2022-06-25

I was originally gonna do a CC of Watchmen but since I alreday had a finished draft of X-Men First class in my note book I decided to do that first.

Other movies on my Constructive Criticism list that you can look forward to

Watchmen (2009) Steel (The one with Shaq) Burton`s Batman Schumacher`s Batman Supergirl (1984) Jonah Hex (2010) Dragonball evolution The Spirit (2008) The Dark Knight trilogy

And as usual: English is not my first language, so if my writing doesn`t seem to flow naturally, you know why.

X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belongs to Marvel.

#constructive criticism #Written Stuff #editorial #X-men #x-men movies #x-men first class #prequel #81scorp

[anthonybialy]

Consistency’s Downside with Playoff Outcast Buffalo Sabres 

Remember the eclipse?  That celestial ballet from way back last week featured an exhilarating example of getting in the way.  Obstacles aren’t as satisfying for a team that never overcomes them.  Unlike the Moon blocking the Sun, darkness around the Buffalo Sabres remains.  A few stunning minutes of visible corona was more than the roster offered during yet another dang bleak campaign.

If the Sabres hated their fans, nothing would change.  The fact they’re presumably trying hard to finish in the top half makes cheering in Hell even more agonizing.  The ice keeps melting.  If Sabres fans on an alternate DC Comics  Earth are coping with active contempt from a diabolical owner, the resulting sense on this version of our planet is identical.  Fan Appreciation Night gets funnier every year.  I don’t appreciate them.

Extending their own unprecedented mark surely must be an accomplishment.  We should feel elated when our beloved club doing something no other has ever done.  They don’t keep bad records, right?

A high quantity of an item may or may not be desirable.  I wish there were some way to make life less ambivalent.  Paula’s sometimes sells a baker’s dozen of the universe’s best donuts for the price of a regular one.  See: that’s a welcome 13.  By contrast, missing the playoffs that many times in a row may not quite be lucky.

A league set up so half the teams move on features one consistent outcast.  This seems like a good time to point out the Sabres seized the right to keep playing during their third ever season.

This failed enterprise violates the first rule of business, namely the need for spending money in order to make it.  Trying to run a team on the cheap leads to false economy.  Dedicated potential buyers are ready to drop a fortune on the right to sit and watch for a few hours.  All ownership has to do is invest enough to make a competitive product.  Only hiring staffers who accept coupons is ultimately not a good value.  Customers stop buying the product in case Sabres executives still don’t grasp why shortsighted saving fails to pay off.

For a multibillionaire, Terry Pegula is one lousy entrepreneur.  Making taxpayers fund his football venue is as close as he gets to shrewd maneuvering, and forcing New Yorkers to invest makes him a shameless welfare deadbeat.  Keep working to afford a personal seat license that costs more than a Mini Cooper for the right to pay for the seat itself.

Stealing joy is not a crime, which is why Pegula has avoided probation.  He’d make taxpayers post bail.  It should be exciting to head to a game yet hasn’t been since around the introduction of the iPad.  Forced thrills define a relationship that used to create happiness in the MySpace era.  Vague memories of enjoyment are the sole reason to administer a dose of voyeuristic masochism.  The fact there are any season ticket holders left is a testament to unabashed loyalty paired with unsubstantiated hope.

Is the Sabres Store still open? I want to get a Donny Meatballs shirt before they sell out.  I was a Granato hipster who thought he’d fail from the start. Realistic fans could wish for promising results while suspecting they were never pending.  The difference between wanting something to happen and knowing it won’t sums up the team.

There’s no rule against letting an intern change lines.  The Sabres have come close to proving such.  The innovative franchise’s solution to ending playoff banishment was hiring a first-time NHL head coach whose specialty is developing players who aren’t old enough to buy lottery tickets.  If that sounds ridiculous, wait until you hear about the NHL general manager whose last gig was running a hockey school.

Granato is gone from a job he never should’ve held. A firing will have to count as progress. There’s still a looming sense of dread despite taking an important step. In Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance celebrates blowing up the Death Star even though the entire Empire fleet remains. The Sabres are similar, only still surrounded by ineptness.

Obvious ideas may be the best ones.  Kevyn Adams wants a coach with experience, unlike him. I suppose he’s right in the same sense forwards should be able to score and goalies ought to stop pucks. I don’t know why the idea of a worker who’s proven he can do the job is only occurring to him now. The evaluations should continue, including of the evaluator. Ask Adams how much time he spends on TPS reports.

Cause and effect combine to be mean.  Losses count for a trifling reason like not playing particularly inspirationally.  Why should a team never get to compete for a trophy just because others accumulate more points?  The elitist system seems arbitrary.

Similarly, you hurt the dear feelings of humans presently connected to the Sabres when you notice when the cool kids stopped inviting them to postseason parties.  A franchise that at least featured bouts of semi-success under previous owners turned into an insurance write-off as soon as Pegula got to guide it.  He has the worst luck.

So, this is the result of the plan to end the worst playoff outcast streak in league history.  You’d think those responsible might feel a bit more desperation.  But there’s apparently no reason to panic because they’ve played around a thousand embarrassing games.  Kyle Okposo got a special night for that very reason.

Sports teach how intentions mean nothing without actions.  Useful lessons aren’t always fun.  Ask the owner if he wants to win and he would say yes.  A lie detector that worked would back him up.  But intentions don’t lead to a Sweet 16 appearance.  Ralph Wilson would’ve also claimed he was committed to victories as he tried to pay players with change.

Every conversation about the Sabres revolves around the fact that no other NHL team has ever failed like this.  Virtually all lamentations are justified.  They truly have been as bad as claimed on social media for this long.  Singular woe is the reward for fans who decline repeated dares to quit.

Rotten culture starts at the top.  That means ownership, since Terry seems confused.  Trading everyone should compete with firing everyone.  But personnel transactions won’t necessarily fix a toxic work environment.  Nothing changes, by which I mean the boss.

We won’t wake up until those in charge do.  The dream of an organization steered by a rich fan with the desire to win has become an endless nightmare.  You know a team’s pathetic when missing the playoffs yet again may be the best-case scenario instead of pretending everything’s swell following a first-round exit.  One more freaking failed season may finally force a team that needs an intervention to acknowledge hitting rock bottom.

But simple improvements like hiring experienced hockey people then letting them work without interference remain elusive.  The drought was unacceptable a decade ago, yet we’re sold the same paltry crops.  The owner won’t fire himself.

#Buffalo Sabres #NHL #hockey #Terry Pegula #playoffs

[ncisfranchise-source]

All I ever wanted was cake.

Over the past 20-plus years, CBS’ NCIS has blown through many a milestone — 100 episodes! 200 episodes! 300! 400! — and usually with party that served a Cake Shaped Like a Number.

Each and every time, the running joke went, I would nag the show’s publicity team about my never getting a slice, despite my ongoing coverage of TV’s most-watched franchise — all while of course knowing that my being based out of the East Coast, 3,000 miles away from NCIS’ Santa Clarita nerve center, was a stumbling block.

But when CBS and CBS Studios officially celebrated the start of filming of the franchise’s 1,000th episode, which airs this Monday at 9/8c, I am happy to report that I finally got my piece of a Cake Shaped Like a Number.

Plus a walk-on role, as icing on said cake….

Photo : Robert Voets/CBS

I have no lines in the episode “A Thousand Yards.” And if you blink when Gary Cole and Spencer Moore II step off the elevator into the squad room, midway through the episode, you will miss me. But it is me, Mom, playing Federal Agent Intently Walking a Very Important Folder Across the Room.

While not as splashy a role as, say, Body of Proof gravedigger, playing Special Agent Key — the name that I and only I gave him (as in kilo/1,000) — required some prep and grooming. Shortly after arriving at set, I was whisked away to Vicky Stevens in wardrobe, who handed me a very federal agent-y grey suit, complete with well-worn wingtips that I can most charitably describe as “government-issue.” (I guess Uncle Sam frowns on Bruno Magli.)

Upon fully “suiting up” back at wardrobe, I bumped into and chatted up Bones vet T.J. Hynes, who was guest-starring in the episode as a tech titan. (Scoop!) By keeping my eyes and ears open, I would also glean that Daniela Ruah and Vanessa Lachey would appear in this milestone episode, as NCIS: LA’s Kensi and NCIS: Hawai’i’s Jane. (More scoop!) I also spent a minute hanging out with Christopher Waild, who wrote the episode and teased some of the Easter eggs he’d scattered throughout. (More scoop!)

Shh, don't tell McGee I sat at his desk.

Photo : Matt Mitovich

Easy enough, yes. But I assure you that the first thought that enters your head — especially if you learned anything from Smash‘s Karen — is: Gosh, I hope I don’t pull focus from Gary Cole! So at first I went with a thousand-yard stare, which given the episode’s title seemed fitting. But after the first take, I started doing some “character work” and asked myself: Why is Agent Key approaching this female agent as a stranger, when they’ve quite possibly been working together for years? So for the next couple of tales, I adjusted my gaze from being “detached” to one of familiarity. (I shared my “process” with Patricia Flores, the background actor who played the recipient of my folder, and she was, I want to say, amused.)

Plot twist! Just when I thought I had my performance nailed, Jeb came up to me with new direction from the milestone episode’s director, Diana Valentine: “Can you walk faster? Double-time it?”

I gotta say, this threw me a bit, especially since I hadn’t done any stretching — plus my government shoes were a bit slippery — but I channeled everything that Strasberg, Hagen, Meisner et al had taught me and amazingly didn’t end up accidentally shoulder-checking Gary Cole a single time. 

Scott Williams, Gary Cole, Katrina Law, Rocky Carroll, Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, Amy Reisenbach, Wilmer Valderrama, George Cheeks, Diona Reasonover, David Stapf, Chris O’Donnell, David J. North, Christopher Silber, Steven Binder, Charles Johnson, Christopher J. Waild and Mark Horowitz

Photo : Courtesy of Robert Voets/CBS

Once the scene was filmed to Diana Valentine’s satisfaction, I changed back into my Matt Mitovich wardrobe while the squad room set was modified into serving as an event space, where dozens upon dozens would soon assemble for the official “1,000th episode” ceremony.

NCIS co-showrunners Steven D. Binder and David North were joined by their entire cast as well as visiting NCIS: LA alum Chris O’Donnell and — appearing via Zoom — onetime NCIS: New Orleans front man Scott Bakula (in New York for the Broadway musical The Connector), the NCIS: Hawai’i cast (congregated in their own HQ) and co-showrunner Jan Nash, and NCIS: Sydney leads Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance.

Following several laudatory speeches and (many) permutations of group photos taken with The Cake Shaped Like a Number, the actors and NCIS showrunners chatted with me and a select few peers on a short press line.

Cole’s first words to me were kudos for my performance (ha!), after which I asked/begged the showrunners not to cut me from the episode. Brian Dietzen and I had a nice moment, having Zoomed/both gotten emotional just days earlier about the David McCallum tribute episode he’d penned; Diana Reasonover absolutely crushed the NCIS trivia quiz I was running by everyone (alas, that video ran into a snafu), whereas Wilmer Valderrama… didn’t; Sean Murray (now the longest-running cast member) gave some great teases; and you don’t need me to tell you it’s always great to see the effervescent Katrina Law in person.

Once the press line wrapped, I sat with Rocky Carroll at lunch, then dove into my slice of NCIS cake that had been 1.5 decades in the making.

SPOILER ALERT! The Cake Shaped Like a Number? Turns out it is usually just a frosted foam prop used for the photo op, while the actual slices served to everyone come from a regular ol’ cake.

Even so, my experience as Agent Key was a sweet one, indeed.

#ncis #1000 #bts

[news4usonline]

Jim Harbaugh is new Chargers coach

The Los Angeles Chargers needed desperately to make a game-changing move in the franchise’s first offseason since firing Brandon Staley late in the 2023 season. The Chargers took that step of going bold with the hiring of Jim Harbaugh, who used to play quarterback for the team.  “Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward,” said team owner and Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos. “The son of a coach, brother of a coach and father of a coach who himself was coached by names like Schembechler and Ditka, for the past two decades Jim has led hundreds of men to success everywhere he’s been — as their coach. And today, Jim Harbaugh returns to the Chargers, this time as our coach. Who has it better than us?”

Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to a 15-0 record and a College Football Playoff National Championship. Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a victory in the 2024 Rose Bowl Game against Alabama. Photo credit: Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline.com The hiring of Harbaugh removes the stench of the Chargers being afraid to go big and go after a well-known name in the coaching world. It also marks a significant progressive step towards the team to stay relevant even in their backyard with the Los Angeles Rams and USC Trojans owning the lion’s share of football fans and adoration.   That very well could change dramatically with Harbaugh coming back home to Southern California. Things haven’t gone too well in the Chargers head coaching carousel. The last three head coaches under former general manager Tom Telesco flamed out.  With a boatload of talent around them, Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn, and Staley, just weren’t able to elevate the Chargers to NFL elite status. Instead, mediocrity set in over the last decade. That’s about to change with Harbaugh, who played for the Chargers during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.  “The only job you start at the top is digging a hole, so we know we’ve got to earn our way. Be better today than yesterday,” Harbaugh said. “Be better tomorrow than today. My priorities are faith, family and football, and we are going to attack each with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. This organization is putting in the work — investing capital, building infrastructure and doing everything within its power to win. Great effort equals great results, and we’re just getting started.” Harbaugh is fresh off of leading the Michigan Wolverines to the national championship. During his tenure at Michigan, Harbaugh guided the Wolverines to three Big Ten titles and three straight College Football Playoff appearances. Before he became a successful coach within the college ranks, Harbaugh was already carving out his legacy at the NFL level. As head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh took his team to the Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLVII) and made three trips to the NFC Championship Game. In his previous stint as an NFL head coach, Harbaugh’s record was 49-22-1. 

Jim Harbaugh posted a 49-22-1 record as a head coach in the NFL before he went into the college ranks to coach at the University of Michigan. Photo credit: Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline.com “You don’t build a resume like Jim’s by accident, and you don’t do it by yourself,” said President of Football Operations John Spanos. “You need a team. And nobody has built a team more successfully, and repeatedly, in recent history than Jim Harbaugh. His former players swear by him, and his opponents swear at him. Jim is one of one, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him back in the Chargers organization as our head coach.”    Harbaugh basked in the nostalgia of coming back to a franchise he once played for. The memories are good ones. This time around, Harbaugh will be running the show instead of being a participant.  “When I played for the Chargers, the Spanos family could not have been more gracious or more welcoming. Being back here feels like home, and it’s great to see that those things haven’t changed,” Harbaugh said.   Harbaugh is the brother of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.    Read the full article

#Chargers #headcoach #JimHarbaugh #Michigan #NFL

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Trigun Stampede

Serious question: do I dislike Trigun Stampede on its own merits, or do I just dislike it for not being Trigun?

It’s a question I’ve been struggling with all throughout the past few months, watching studio Orange’s modern revamp of this 90s classic. I only watched Trigun a few years ago, so I’m far from a nostalgia-blinded fanboy griping about a show not living up to his childhood memories. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of Trigun. Its unique blend of Sat AM cartoon goofiness and hard-hitting sci-fi morality play resulted in a wonderful space western extravaganza that still holds a special place in my heart. I’d argue it’s even better then Cowboy Bebop, but that’s a discussion for another day. So its possible my lukewarm feelings on Trigun Stampede are because it’s so deliberately different from the version of the show I fell in love with. And that wouldn’t be fair to it; stories get re-imagined all the time, and Stampede doesn’t deserve to be unfairly criticized just because it’s not my preferred take on the material. But still... man, this show just did not click with me. Maybe I wouldn’t be as grumpy about Stampede if I wasn’t comparing it to OG Trigun every second, but even if I went into it blind, part of me feels I’d still come away thinking it was mediocre. So let’s untangle that big ball of conflicting feelings and see if we can figure out what's going on, and whether or not this show is actually as Not Good as I think it is.

The broad strokes, at least, remain the same. It’s space, it’s a western. and Vash the Humanoid Typoon is the most wanted man in the galaxy. But when the intrepid Meryl Strife finally tracks the legendary criminal down, it turns out he’s just a lovable goofball, and the crimes attached to his name are the result of bad dudes leaving carnage in the wake of their attempts to catch him. And said bad dudes are being led by Vash’s sinister, mysterious brother Knives, who is determined to prove Vash’s pacifistic, cohabitational philosophy wrong whatever it takes. But inside those broad strokes, Trigun Stampede is steadfastly carving its own course through the series’ mythos. Characters are changed around, plot points are retooled, most of the designs are tweaked in some way, even certain character movitations and foundational lore details are altered. And, of course, instead of the nostalgic crunchiness of pre-digital cel animation, this show is brought to life with the most bombastic, slickly produced CG animation money can buy. The Stampede team wanted to create something entirely new out of this franchise, and whatever else might be said about this show, they clearly succeeded in that goal.

But of course, it’s a bad idea to change things around just to change things around. There’s gotta be a point. And unfortunately, my ultimate feeling on Stampede is that basically every change it makes is a change for the worse.

To start with the most obvious: yes, Milly Thompson’s absence is sorely felt. The goofy banter between her and Meryl was one of the most endearing parts of Trigun, and losing that chemistry is a serious detriment to the show’s charm. It doesn’t help that the guy they replaced her with, the amusingly named Roberto de Niro, is about as generic a grizzled older authority figure archetype as I’ve ever seen, and while his banter with Meryl isn’t awful, it’s definitely a huge step down. On the bright side, this season does end with confirmation that Milly’s gonna show up in season 2, so better late than never, I suppose. In a strange way, you could almost consider Stampede a re-imagined prequel that shifts around the timeline to have Meryl and Vash meet and have their first adventure before settling into their eventual status quo from the original story. And I may end up feeling kinder toward the show if season 2 is better able to capture that Trigun charm. But for now, we’ll have to wait and see on that front.

Circling back to old Roberto, though, his inclusion is actually part of a much more serious issue than simply replacing a beloved character. Part of what made Milly and Meryl’s dynamic so entertaining is how fresh it felt. They were two put-upon insurance agents grinding through low-level grunt work, facing the mundane stupidity of the world as equals. Even as they get embroiled in Vash’s increasingly cosmic affairs, they never lose that sense of down-to-earth naturalism. You don’t see that kind of energy too often, especially with a pair of female characters. Meryl and Milly were women in charge of their own destiny with their own parts to play. But with the addition of Roberto and Meryl’s job changed from insurance agent to Roberto’s junior reporter colleague, that refreshingly forward-thinking dynamic becomes just another example of the tired “experienced, world-weary dude and his naive female subordinate who still has her moral compass intact.” I have seen this dynamic everywhere; it’s in at least two other shows this season! Why mess with one of Trigun’s most entertaining dynamics if you’re just gonna replace it with what everyone else is doing?

And sadly, that’s a bit of a theme all throughout Stampede. Almost every change or addition it makes to the story and mythos results in something far less interesting and original than what it took away. Vash’s backstory, the motivation for his pacifism, Knives’ plan... so many of the specific details that make Trigun, Trigun have been watered down and made more generic than they were ever supposed to be. And because of how cramped the pacing is, the delicate tonal balance is lost as well. The original Trigun was so good at balancing the goofy, Bebopian space western antics of Vash and his pals with the heavy, dramatic space opera stuff that eventually took over the story. It gave you enough time to soak in the grit and tactility of the slummy desert planets so it felt significant when Knives and his machinations dragged Vash into darker territory. But in Stampede, Knives shows up in episode three. We only get two episodes to appreciate Trigun at its cartoony best before it’s washed away in a tidal wave of bombastic melodrama. As such, Vash, Meryl, Wolfwood and Roberto never get a chance to develop the camaraderie the old versions of them did. They’re pushed into Serious Dramatic mode before you even get a chance to appreciate them at their most human. There’s a moment in the first episode where Vash is cackling like an idiot while hanging upside-down from a scavenger’s trap, and it has more of the original’s heart and soul than anything past episode 2. That’s the Trigun I wanted to see. Not this overly dramatic slog through overblown action setpieces and overthought lore that rushes through plot points too fast for them to sink in.

On the bright side, I can at least appreciate how fantastic those setpieces look. Studio Orange has always been pushing the boundaries on what CG anime is capable of, but their work on Stampede really is incredible. The scale and complexity of this action would not be possible without the tools CG makes available, and they take full advantage of that fact. Dizzying camera tricks, dynamic use of environment, countless spectacular spins and flourishes as things grow increasingly superhuman... on a pure spectacle level, I doubt few shows will even come close throughout the year. And even outside the action, the character animation and cinematic visual language ensure that Stampede is never anything less than impressive to look at. It’s also, pretty significantly, the first time that Orange has proven they can animate human characters well. Sentient rocks and furries are one thing, but the way Vash and Meryl and all the rest move and emote never once feels like a cheap approximation of hand-drawn animation. They feel human, even when the writing helping them out. And i love how it isn’t afraid to still experiment with stuff like Wolfwood’s backstory being done entirely in painterly 2D. It’s almost a cliche to say now, but Orange really is proving once again that CG anime can be as artistically brilliant as its 2D counterpart.

Honestly, it’s kind of funny. Going into this show, the thing I was most worried about was how well Trigun would work outside the specific visual language of tactile 90s hand-drawn animation. But the translation to slick, high-budget CG is far and away the most successful change Stampede makes. It’s nothing like the original, but it’s doing its own thing superbly and charting its own path inside the franchise. That’s what I wanted from Stampede; not the same thing, but something just as good on its own merits, remixing the familiar into something new and spectacular. And had the rest of the show been as good as the animation at justifying its new take on the material, I would have very little to complain about. Sadly, it feels like every other change was a change for the worst, not for the better. Instead of creating something unique from the tools the original left behind, it stripped away what made the original unique in the first place and left something far less special in its place. I hope the second season manages to course correct and deliver on that promise. But for now, I can only lament that Stampede is a much less interesting take on a story that deserved so much better, and I give it a score of:

4/10

That’s it for the full reviews for Winter 2023. Next up? The seasonal reflection. See you then!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #Trigun #trigun stampede #winter 2023 anime #winter 2023 sr

[thisguyilike]

1.1 Green Bag Guy

Emmy has never experienced a love life. At least in this life. Yet. Hopefully, that will be bound to change as soon as she transfers to her new school. Birk High, famed for its indescribable obsession with perfecting a student's interests and basketball scholarships. The only big difference was the excitement that breathes through the school and the good canteen food. Honestly, it is only because it is fried that it's good. Highly recommend spring rolls. And the curry puffs. Anyway, this would be the supposed school life that would bring the zest and zeal into Emmy's high school musical.

Being a transfer student was supposed to be cool. For the record, only Emmy thought of it as cool. Someone completely new drops into this totally foreign environment where everyone knows one another long enough to have a matching tattoo of each other's favorite Disney movies, how terribly outcasted can you possibly be?

Surprisingly, Emmy fitted in perfectly the moment she stepped into Birk High. At least in this life. For now.

"I wonder if Disney will sue them for having their entire franchise tattooed onto their bodies," she thinks to herself and snickers shamelessly at her own joke. She takes a quick peek out of her window seat as if to mimic a certain romance cliché; maybe she'll fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately, unlike your typical fantastical works of fiction, the view Emmy has from her window seat was just a bunch of withering trees and rotting dead leaves. Dendrophilia isn't really her thing, and she definitely stays out of being attracted to the dead. She appreciates that at the least, the girl that will be sitting next to her is easy on the eyes. 

Despite having wonderfully charming and beautiful friends, there is still something missing. Emmy is straight, like her friend Celeste's hair. Except her natural kinked curls came back last week after having it straightened for barely a day. All of this is unrelated to Emmy's strange passion for watching students enter the school premises. It is a daily habit for her to leave the classroom and to the corridor to stare at random students coming into the school grounds.

"When the hell's he gonna get here," whispers Emmy, her eyes scanning out of the corridor windows. Her gaze lands on the hunched student with his eye-blinding, neon-green bag. "Oh, there he is. How can I ever miss him?"

For the first few weeks of her transfer, she began subconsciously watching the guy. It was too easy to recognize him from the crowd because of his brightly colored bag. She has no idea who he is, and whether he appreciates being stalked every early morning at exactly 8am. Her mind mulls over a series of meandering thoughts. The guy with the green bag never fails to look like his arse is constipated.  He hunches, and he never smiles. His bangs grew so long she could barely make up his face. The way he walks is strangely silly too. Nothing too interesting. Definitely not her taste in guys. 

It is too bad she would never get a chance to speak a word to him. At least at this second. Till the future.

"Hey! What're you doing?" The girl with naturally curly hair pops up beside her. There was barely any need for Emmy to be distracted from her stalking.

"I'm looking at that green guy Celeste," Emmy replies, never taking her eyes off the poor guy.

"You really like looking at that guy, huh?" Celeste sets herself in Emmy's shoes, watching as he once again gets told off by the discipline teacher, Mr. Sowp, for being late again. "He has a name, you know."

"Actually, I don't know," Emmy states in an obvious manner.

"From what I've heard from Hyde, his name is Tea," Celeste says, mentioning that other guy she has been friends with for years. Emmy hears stories about him very often from Celeste. She could almost practically call him her own best friend with how much she knew about his past. "Why don't you talk to him if you're so interested?"

"...probably not," Emmy winces at the thought. She might die of embarrassment he ever found out about her illegal birdwatching, except he is the bird.

"Do you like him then?" Celeste asks. "You kept your distance from Wade when you liked him."

"Don't even mention that name! He's so annoying! I never actually liked him okay?!" Emmy retorts in response to her silly comment. It was the only thing she said that made Emmy turn her head. "I don't actually like Wade, okay? It was a false alarm!! Just like how I don't like this guy! Tea, right?!"

"Hm, touché," Celeste says, puffing one side of her cheek. "By the way, we have tryouts tonight. We promised Ana so, don't forget."

"I won't I won't! She'd have me dead on the stage if I forgot," Emmy gestures her hand for her to leave.

"I'll head back to class then," She turns her heel to leave. "I guess you can have fun staring at him?"

"Thank you for your input Celeste," Emmy slumps her arms grumpily against the windowsill.

A romance story. Emmy had always kept the belief that romance isn't her forte, and especially not for the guy that she's been observing for weeks. He is a wallflower that speaks little to none, while she is someone that chatters at every second she could. He wears a permanent frown like his best pair of jeans while she is always laughter and gags whenever she is with friends. All in all, she's never even met him.

Her thoughts get rudely interrupted by the school bell.

"Well, guess I'll use the BETTER toilet before class starts," Emmy speaks loudly to herself, leaving her post to the restrooms downstairs. It is only her own preference to choose the toilet downstairs. There was also this rumor about ghosts in the female restroom on the first floor, but it was only just a silly rumor. She quickly scurries down the stairs upon being in the vicinity of the sacred non-ghost toilet. Her adrenaline and fear take over her involuntarily, charging into the preferred toilet only to headbutt someone on the way.

And there he was. Her emo green bag guy, right in the flesh. Maybe it's a little creepy claiming another human being like that.

"Um, I'm so sorry, Tea!!" She apologizes nervously. He hardly flinched when she assaulted him with her thick head. He towers over her, barely. Actually, they were almost the same height. It seems Emmy had greatly overestimated his physique. She begins to stare at him rudely, which surprisingly he gives little to no care about.  All she could think about is his ability to look creepy, angry, distant, daunting, and awkward at the same time. Her brain takes no sweat to convince her a quiet, harmless guy like him is obviously a thug. It definitely would have been disastrous if she had caused him to fall on the wet toilet floor. 

"It's okay," He says, attempting to leave the premises. She notices that he took extra caution not to make contact with her upon leaving the narrow walkway. She hates to admit that the supposedly haunted female bathroom was less claustrophobic. Only then did she realize something was certainly wrong.

"By the way," Emmy squints as she starts to speak. "Why are you in the girl's toilet?" 

He halts, turning around to meet her judging eyes.

"Huh, that... explains a lot," He furrows his eyebrows as if she was the one inside the male's restroom instead. He steps aside and towards the door frame. He examines the pink door sign and holds his head with one hand. "Sorry about that, I'll take my leave now. Have a good day. Goodbye."

"Seriously?!" Emmy exclaims. He looks back to her with a dead stare, only for him to just leave the spot and go on his merry way. The guy she has been stalking, the guy she grew comfortable watching, reduced to an exceptionally negligent pervert. No words can describe her indescribable feeling of humiliation. She slaps her cheeks with all her might. "Why the hell are my cheeks so warm?! Stop!"

It seems to her that she has found someone who completely exceeds her expectations, which of course, will be the zest and zeal to her high school spectacle.

#1

[oramalong]

Rocky balboa speech subtitles

Or all the nights I had to struggle to survive Polo G, Mozzy, Eminem (Official Audio) Lyrics (.LRC) As the man says: "It ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward.Skylar Grey - Last One Standing ft. What's different is the advanced years of Rocky and of course Stallone himself - but he looks good, the film looks good, and you'll feel good at the final bell. On this sixth outing, the narrative arc is just the same as first time round - again a complete no-chancer facing a world champion after a gruelling training routine involving the same frozen meat, the same one-armed press-ups, and of course the same race up the Museum of Art steps - and the same music. It seems that Rock is so missing his wife Adrian that, in spite of running a successful restaurant named after her, he finds that he has something "luking in the basement". That really should have been it - but, as the tagline for "Rocky Balboa" puts it, "It ain't over till it's over" so, 16 year after the last film and an amazing 30 years after the original movie, he's back. Another five years passed before Stallone felt that he had to return to the iconic role - in "Rocky V", he adopts a young fighter who turns on him. By the time of "Rocky IV" (1985), the franchise had acquired an international dimension as the Cold War is acted out in the ring with Rocky squaring up to the Russian Ivan Drago. In 1982, "Rocky III" sees our hero lose to Mt T before Apollo helps him bounce back. In "Rocky II" (1979), after 15 brutal rounds, he defeats Creed and takes the title. It all started way back in 1976 when Sylvester Stallone - who wrote the script and took the leading role - created the character of the Philadelphia low-grade boxer who managed, against all the odds, to go the distance with world heavyweight champion Aollo Creed and give the world a new kind of underdog to support. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. How much you can take and keep moving forward. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. Let me tell you something you already know. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. But somewhere along the line, you changed. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilige. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. Rocky Balboa: I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. Rocky Balboa: You ain't gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here. The crowd was never told to stand up or to chant - they had done it completely on their own, and according to the filmmakers, by far the biggest cheer of the night was for Rocky, not for any of the real fighters. Stallone was hoping that the crowd wouldn't boo or cause any problems, but as he made his way to the ring (as Rocky), the whole building gave him a standing ovation and began to chant 'ROCKY, ROCKY'. As such, the press conference scene was shot only moments after the real press conference with Hopkins and Taylor, whilst the scene when Rocky walks through the curtain and down to the ring was shot using the real Hopkins/Taylor crowd. Stallone suggested that the film could piggyback the real event, using the real HBO format, the real crowd, even the real press conference setup. Sylvester Stallone knew that HBO had an upcoming PPV event with Bernard Hopkins taking on Jermaine Taylor in the main event, at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. During preproduction, as the filmmakers tried to find a good location to shoot the fight, they met with constant obstacles - every suitable arena was booked out.

#Rocky balboa speech subtitles