#haven't seen the new episode yet but I have seen the poster so here's my theory :]

[cowcowwow]

She floatin'

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #cow draws #rwby spoilers #haven't seen the new episode yet but I have seen the poster so here's my theory :]

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (November 26-December 2, 2023)

I wasn't over the moon when Toho announced that Takashi Yamazaki's Blockbuster Monster Movie was in fact the next Godzilla film. I had seen a few of his works—none bad, but none spectacular either. Well, I've set my sights on watching the rest in the new year, because Godzilla Minus One is an unqualified masterpiece. A tagline from the original Godzilla, King of the Monsters! comes to mind (as it often does when you're me): "Mightiest melodrama of them all!" A lot of the post-Showa films suffer from an abundance of characters who just spout exposition and look at monitors; here, almost everyone in the small cast gets at least one close encounter with Godzilla, and the monster's backstory is conveyed with extreme efficiency. This tale of a war veteran trying to rebuild his life in the ruins of Tokyo, stumbling into a family, finding fulfillment in blowing up leftover mines, and haunted by what he perceives as his cowardice in combat, would have been plenty compelling without Godzilla.

Since it does have Godzilla, it's high on my list of the best movies of the year, and I only need one viewing to call it one of the best installments in the almost-70-year-old series. Yamazaki patiently waited some 15 years after Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 for his shot at a Godzilla feature. You certainly get the sense, watching one of the most brutal, pissed-off incarnations of the monster ever to grace the screen, that he spent every day of it in preparation. Watch it often while it's still in theaters, and watch it big.

Godzilla Minus One will gross about $10 million in its U.S. opening "weekend", a third-place finish that beat expectations. For context, Godzilla 2000, the last Toho Godzilla film to receive a wide release here, made about $10 million during its entire theatrical run here. Ticket prices were cheaper then, of course, and Minus One was helped along further by almost half of attendees going to premium-format screenings. Conversely, it had to overcome Americans' subtitle phobia, and the first weekend of December is usually a slow one. I was pessimistic at the outset, but now I expect larger theaters to carry the film into the new year, especially with near-universal raves from critics and audiences.

Yes, a third section for Godzilla Minus One; it's well-deserved, I promise. MyKaiju is risking life and limb by hosting an English translation of the film's novelization, written by Takashi Yamazaki himself. It appears to be at least partially machine-translated, but the Japanese text is included for comparison. Haven't read it yet, as I want to see the film a second time first, but quite a breakthrough given how mysterious this sort of thing usually is.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters could never hope to compare with the opening of a stellar new Godzilla film; unfortunately, I also thought this week's episode was the weakest so far. It's bookended by Frost-Vark action, but the rest just drags. All's forgiven if the teacher and the hacker smooch though.

Toho and Legendary used to let each other's live-action Godzilla movies breathe; now the U.S. opening weekend of one is coinciding with the opening marketing push of the other. IGN released a trio of pics from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, showing Kong with his axe; Dr. Andrews, Jia, and Trapper (Dan Stevens's character) in uniform; and Godzilla "evolving into a powerful new form." The same article included an interview with director Adam Wingard. Naturally, he didn't give away much... besides the return of Doug.

Earlier in the week, Legendary put out a trio of posters featuring Godzilla, Kong, and the film's antagonist, now christened Skar King. The taglines ("Unite" for our heroes, "Bow to Your King" for SK) sound like kaiju campaign slogans. Makes me wonder if, like Godzilla vs. Megalon before it, the movie will improbably capitalize on the presidential election next year. To steal a joke from Titanollante: Godzilla/Kong unity ticket? They'd have my vote.

Godzilla's new form, meanwhile, has already been spoiled by a T-shirt on Legendary's own site and some dire-looking Playmates figures. It makes sense that Wingard would want to have his own spin on the character after keeping the design from Godzilla: King of the Monsters for Godzilla vs. Kong. Hard to cast judgment without seeing the real design in full, but there's one particular detail I really like.

The film also has a booth at CCXP in Brazil, with a panel later today, so I think a trailer is incoming (the main reason I hammered out this whole post so quickly).

I missed this one last week: Tsuburaya announced an anime project called Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS. The DARKNESS HEELS branding has been around for a while, spotlighting prominent evil Ultras—and, of course, Jugglus Juggler. No details on the anime yet, but if the Juggleman's there, so am I.

The big toy reveal this weekend was Super7's ULTIMATES! MaiGoji figure. Previous Godzilla figures from this line haven't lived up to the official photos, but hope springs eternal. It's $85 (much less than the MonsterArts); preorders started Friday. Other highlights: a Super7 ReAction figure of the original Godzilla's skeleton, which comes with a little Oxygen Destroyer, and a plush Mothra from Surreal Entertainment that can flip to imago form to a neck pillow-shaped larva.

#kaiju week in review #godzilla #godzilla minus one #monarch legacy of monsters #godzilla x kong the new empire #ultraman darkness heels #kaiju

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers: For the first episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the second episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the third episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the fourth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the sixth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the seventh episode's Easter eggs it's here and here

For the eighth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the ninth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the tenth episode's Easter eggs post it's here SPOILERS if you haven't seen this week's episode obviously

We start off the episode with this shot of Superman with the drawn on glasses. A good homage to what Lois did in the 1980 Superman II movie...

where she not only drew the glasses but also a full suit and hat on a picture of Superman.

Next we see Jimmy waking up and seeing someone debunking his conspiracy theories on Sub-Diego.

Sub Diego was an actual place in the DC universe before the New 52 reboot. In Aquaman #15 and #16 (2003) , shown here (W: Will Pfeifer, P: Patrick Gleason, I: Christian Alamy, C: Nathan Eyring, L: Jared K. Fletcher for issue 15, Nick Napolitano for issue 16). The underwater city is actually San Diego, but is buried underwater thanks to a tidal wave and makes its first appearance in Aquaman #15 (2003). There was a lot of casualties from this.

When we get to our title its "You Will Believe A Man Can Lie" a reference to the tagline for the 1978 Superman movie.

As seen here on the poster, it says "You'll believe a man can fly".

Next we see our villain, well one of the villains, for the episode, Heatwave.

In the comics Heatwave makes his first appearance in Flash 140 (1963) (cover art by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, and Ira Schnapp). Heatwave aka Mick Rory is a Flash rogue usually acting as a rival to Captain Cold aka Leonard Snart. In MAwS, their Heatwave shares the same last name and powers, but MAwS Heatwave is gender flipped. You might have seen Heatwave in the CW DC comics shows where he is played by Dominic Purcell in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

Lois, later in the episode, name drops Heatwave's name. Gotta be honest when Heatwave showed up I was like is that Rampage? Cuz the MAwS design looks vaguely like Rampage.

If she does show up in MAwS, I'll talk more about her in another post, but for now, Rampage aka Karen Lou "Kitty" Faulkner, makes her first appearance in Superman #7 (1987) (full page here: W&P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tom Ziuko, L: John Costanza).

Steve drags Jimmy to film his debunking Flamebird videos and references Starro who I talked about here.

Lois, later runs around with the Daily Planet police scanner trying to catch Superman and the dispatcher reports that a robbery is in progress at McGuinness Luxe Garage.

This is a nice reference to Ed McGuinness who was the artist for Superman, Action Comics, and Superman/Batman in the early 2000s. If you've seen Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, then you'll know the movie takes inspiration from his character designs in the first arc of the Superman/Batman comic series. The Superman/Batman #1 (2003) cover here is done by Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, and Dave Stewart. I like Ed McGuinness's pencils, very stylized.

Heatwave name drops Livewire and the Gazzo mod family. Both of whom I've talked about here and here respectively

Heatwave has been running away from Deathstroke here who has been taking our her crew. Notice that Slade Wilson doesn't have the half black half orange helmet yet that almost every Deathstroke depiction always has.

He, Amanda Waller, and the General who I totally think is General Sam Lane, Lois's dad, are fans of DBZ cuz of the scouters they're wearing.

Later in the scene we see the General again he's totally General Sam Lane. I'll talk more about him when we get a double confirmation through a name drop/reveal in a later post calling Amanda Waller, Mandy. What a fucking bold thing to say to Waller! Like damn! power move right there!

Superman and Deathstroke are fighting under a highway and we see the traffic is heading to Bludhaven!

Very good reference to my favorite character in all of pop culture, Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. Nightwing makes Bludhaven his city to protect. The city makes its first appearance in Nightwing #1 (1996) (the panel here - W: Chuck Dixon, P: Scott McDaniel, I: Karl Story, C: Roberta Tewes, L: John Costanza). Fun Bludhaven fact, its crime rate is WORST than Gotham! Also HIGHLY recommend reading the new Nightwing run cuz its fucking amazing! Won a few Eisner Awards (think the Oscars but for comic books) recently and I am not just saying that because I am a Dick Grayson fan.

Near the end of the episode, we see Lois willing to jump off a building to prove that Clark is Superman. A lot of discourse was happening online over this, but I do want to say this is pretty on brand for her to do.

In Superman II, Lois does something similar and Clark saves her. its just in MAwS, Clark flies to save her thus ruining the secret identity, while in Superman II, Clark does save her but he is still able to get away with it thanks to him playing it more subtly.

Don't know why people we're in such a fucking fit over something that Lois has done before.

In the after credits scene, Jimmy, who planned a sasquatch finding adventure with Lois and Clark, but they were dealing with their shit and Jimmy was by himself, decides to do the finding on his own and meets a giant gorilla. In the first episode Jimmy mentions an intelligent gorilla in France and my guess is this is Monsieur Mallah. You can read more about him here. If you made it this far down, I appreciate you taking the time to check this post out and if you want to see my other MAwS Easter Eggs posts - Episode 1 is here

Episode 2 is here

Episode 3 is here

Episode 4 is here

Episode 6 is here

Episode 7 is here and here

Episode 8 is here

Episode 9 is here

Episode 10 is here

#My Adventures with Superman #Superman #Clark Kent #Lois Lane #Jimmy Olsen #Superman II #Superman 1978 #Superman movie #Aquaman #Arthur Curry #Sub Diego #Sub-Diego #San Diego #Heat Wave #Heatwave #Mick Rory #The Flash #DC Comics Flash #Legends of Tomorow #Rampage DC Comics #Starro #Starro the Conqueror #Ed McGuinness #Action Comics #Amanda Waller #Bludhaven #Nightwing #Monsieur Mallah #Deathstroke #Slade Wilson

[bellshazes]

so hypothetically speaking, if i were to take on the 10 year backlog of ethubs content….. where would i even start?? its so much content that it’s totally overwhelming to me, and you seem like the only person on the planet to have sifted thru all of it, so i need ur wisdom 😭

trust me I have not and I know there are others (hi rio) but imo the key is to just. follow your heart. they are constantly bringing up old stuff and each other anyway so you will find new shiny things to go check out if you start anywhere. like, the whole reason I watched UHCs for the first time is bc of etho lying to say bdubs voted him out (not a UHC mechanic) and called him a son of a sweetheart in his LP. that said, I do have a masterpost of my fave bdubs mindcrack episodes which frankly is a lot of etho + bdubs, as well as a list of some of my favorite clips.

off the top of my head, suggestions to poke around in:

survival of the fittest, s1 and s2 - bdubs' death game with prox chat. the handcuff thing in s1. i shan't say any more. watch etho for s1, bdubs for s2.

nether hubs, mindcrack s3 and s4 - literally the s4 one is so good, and the episodes they build it in also cover some of the best death games 2.0 moments between them. chicken noodle soup. etho's POV for the first one but bdubs for the second, if you have to pick.

feed the beast call of duty pvp arena - one of the first but not the last arena project. highlights include bdubs ordering etho to strip and also them killing each other for fun.

speaking of arenas, the immediate sequel to the COD map is the fire and ice arena in mindcrack s4. etho builds a house outside the arena itself, stealing bdubs' block palette, and only an episode or two later getting bdubs to help and decorating his room across the hall with quote justin bieber posters unquote, causing at least zisteau to later ask if bdubs really is a belieber.

whatever the episode is that etho hires bdubs to kill someone for him and then showers him with meat in mindcrack s3

here is a secret: i have not yet watched The Trial. but it's foundational. all the etho vs. the b-team stuff is so funny especially how often he and bdubs are literally collabing on something at the same time.

UHCs - etho's POV of UHC 4 is classic and victorious. bdubs' POV of UHC 11 is the worst thing i've ever seen in my life, watch it immediately. there's other ones but i haven't seen most of them because i feel compelled to watch for Live Bdubs Reactions but it makes me want to throw up every time. because he is Insane.

OOGE - three different CTM maps, ymmv; this ranking is spot on, but i've also watched OOG (bdubs + guude) so like clearly my tolerance is not normal. watch kaizo caverns

horse courses, mindcrack s3 and s5, hermitcraft s8 - beyonc? and taylor swift horses of all time. you really just should watch etho or bdubs' first mindcrack seasons. s5 mesa one also features doc and genny and the running sick joke you will recognize from the s4 nether hub and last life.

those three entire episodes of etho helping bdubs with his spawner situation that's only in bdubs' POV, starting with bdubs going oh let's not bother him and then freaking out a little when etho volunteers himself to help. the first but not the last time etho says he wants to live in bdubs' basement.

hermitcraft s7. just the whole thing both their povs don't worry about it, you already know, etc. but personal soft spots of course for etho killing bdubs with kindness and the delivery boy saga, which references an ancient joke about pink shirts. also hcs8 overlapping last life and bdubs' very very blatant etho-obsession is just so much.

also of course the life series but instead of telling you what you already know please consider how bdubs signing his invoice "luv bdubs" to etho but reading it out loud as "love, professionally, bdubs" aired immediately after "he loves me! he cares. he does" happened. we don't talk about that weird little no homo enough

thank you for reminding me i need to finish the etho mindcrack best of list. i'm surely missing a ton of stuff but this is a rough approximation of my favorites and/or essentials. but seriously i have jumped around and finished some series, only watched a few select episodes of others, and straight up forgot to finish several more. be free! go nuts. (you will go nuts. this part is not optional)

#game shows DO touch our lives #ethubs #peter answers #i'd do more links but i'd never get this out in a reasonable timeframe. sorry. they're all over my blog #also see my 'daily cursed bdubs clip' and 'daily cursed etho clip' tags on this blog. for horrors and delights #long post #masterpost

[nerdylittleguy]

just my rambling about the new alignment chart and poster, mostly in relation to Breakdown, but there's more in my head then Breakdown's arms spinning in circles. trust me im sane!!

i am going to add a 'keep reading' to keep the rest of you unsuspecting mortals saner than me! /lh

okay! so here are some notes i made throughout the day, edited to sound more coherent and structured because i was loosing my marbles today! (these are about the alignment chart btw!)

tarantulas... evil? i'd say true neutral or something because he just wants to be alone, not cause anyone any trouble. leave my guy alone he just wants to do science!!

skullcruncher... chaotic evil? has he even had a voiced line??

grimlock - well, we haven't seen him, either. maybe this hints at his personality? i haven't seen many grimlocks yet (bits and pieces of cyberverse, RiD2015 and G1) but he's always seemed more chaotic than lawful, or just in the middle. eh, what do i know?

the most lawful good character i can think of in earthspark is Optimus, or if you asked me to think fast and name an LG character, optimus would come before bumblebee, that's for sure. i've seen lots of people say - and honestly this sounds very likely - that optimus is being isolated from other transformers by GHOST, so they can manipulate him. perhaps that would/ will shift him away from LG?

before we get onto my main event - Breakdown, of course, anyone surprised? - i'd like to quickly say i'd love one of these for the humans!! it'd be cool i think. calling that agent Croft would be lawful evil, or even neutral/ true evil.

okay, fasten your seatbelts, you're in for a ride! maybe. a ride of my rambles!!

it seems that this chart, for better or worse, had defined the good-evil scale as an autobot-decepticon scale. fair enough, that could be the basic idea.out of the three neutral characters, we have one we've seen nothing of (however, grim still has his autobot badge, so he's not with GHOST. maybe he's more of a rouge from the autobots, not decepticons?), we have megatron (who switched sides onto the side of 'good' - autobots and later GHOST, but that's falling apart pretty fast ain't it?) and breakdown (whose heart seems in racing more than fighting).

based on that, the alignment chart could be:

good - autobot/ main characters who are obviously good

neutral - rouges, side-switchers and unenthusiastic fighters

evil - decepticons lmao.

alright, alright, but what about BD??

here's my line of reasoning: if he's dead, why has he been on both the new things released? there's a lot of characters missing from the poster - hashtag, nightshade (who's on the chart), jawbreaker and tarantulas (who, despite being put as NE, did the Maltos more good than breakdown.) etc etc. so, why put a dead man on these two new releases?

if whoever was making this alignment chart was just 'ticking boxes', so to speak, and needed a CN character, why breakdown? okay, so who else could be classed as chaotic neutral?

if our scale here truly is autobot - rouges/ side-switchers/ whatever breakdown's loyalty is - decepticon, who could be neutral?

it's kinda a short list, but here it is:

sky warp and nova storm no longer work for the decepticons. it even sounded like they considered joining the autobots, but (curiously sounding in episode 9/10) didn't for fear of ghost. technically, they're former decepticons who would take a better chance if it was presented to them. on the scale, that might be considered neutral. and they certainly have an air of chaos

laserbeak and frenzy, mostly for those same reasons. yes, they do currently (? well, last we saw, anyway) work for mandroid, but they're former decepticons and they're very chaotic. additionally, from a realistic point of view, they're more likely to be alive than breakdown. we didn't see their limbs hanging around, they're small, and laserbeak and fly. they'd get out of that brawl no trouble! therefore, if breakdown is dead, laserbeak and frenzy could have been placed in CN.

here's the conclusion i wrote down: Breakdown is alive! why would he be in the poster, and on the chart, if he's dead? what the heck would be the point of that?? especially becuase he's so popular...

oh? what's this? i haven't mentioned arms yet? well, i'd hate to disappoint. here goes!

in both the new images, one of his arms (the left one, which was seen hanging in mandroid's lair) is out of sight. unfortunately, my digging has lead me to the conclusion that the image from the chart is not new, it's from the moment when breakdown leaps, transforms, and attacks GHOST agents.

note the red lights underneath his torso, and behind the letters. apologies for the awful episode screenshot!

the angle and zoom on the chart made this hell to pinpoint, and i still don't feel perfectly confident, especially due to his head's angle - something just feels off about the images, but maybe if i'd pinpointed it better it'd make more sense. and obviously the above images are not perfectly pinpointed, but it was hard to find a frame where it wasn't all blurry! maybe someone can get a cleaner image?

the image from the poster, though, it's bugging me. he's literally a few pixels on it, but...

that other arm is bailing me out here! as far as i saw during ep 14, i didn't see him raise his arm like that, but that could be just me. also, here's a shot from later in episode 14:

it has paint scratches on, and because the poster-breakdown is a few pixels, i can't really see if there's scratches there, but there might be a little bit of discolouration in similar places. so, either the poster is like... an unused image, or the paint is there (painting... knockout?) or (so??) it is a new image. whoohoo! he'd... be alive, then??!!

and would it really be one of my rambles without a little diagram?

no i cant do proportions. next question--

anyway, i'm sure i've missed something, or made a massive leap, but it's been chewing away at my mind all day, so enjoy! feel free to point out stuff that i have missed/ assumed. thanks for reading :)

@transformers-earthspark, you seem to enjoy my madness. /lh here's more overanalysing!

(funfact: i have been rambling about this to my family. my dad joked about a wanted/ missing poster...)

the search continues i guess!

#transformers earthspark #earthspark #earthspark theories #tfe #tfe breakdown #earthspark breakdown #maccadam #transformers earthspark spoilers #earthspark spoilers #just in case i guess? its stuff from the newer eps so #will i ever stop all these theories?!

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

Episode 6 Coherent(?) Thoughts

Okay my brain is fried from that episode, and I have things to do today so a rewatch is probably not in the foreseeable future (it is 12:55PM when I'm starting to write this queued post, and I haven't eaten yet today, if that tells you anything about what this episode has done to my brain and also what I have to get done today that I'm not doing right now and also a variety of other things that are out of my control so the anxiety's having lots of fun today okay moving on). I may do a Part 2 to the coherent thoughts for this episode, but also I'm planning a season 2 wrap-up post later this week so that might cover anything I don't talk about here. Spoilers for Loki season 2.

Okay but does he have to be there? Real talk though but does he have to be there? Does he have to be constantly watching the timelines, or is it like a knot where if he moves it all comes apart? Or once things get moving can he come and go as he pleases? Because I need him to NOT BE THE LOKI WHO REMAINS. MOBIUS, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU DOOMED HIM TO THIS FATE IN EPISODE ONE.

(Oookay, starting off very sane and coherent. Clearly.)

So far I've written two poems (queued up and coming) and started two fic ideas (which might become one fic, we'll see). And I'm sure I'll be coming up with more because like fucking hell am I leaving him there alone. The fic ideas are lengthy, though, so I would not expect them before the end of the week at the absolute earliest (and I'm finally starting my new job on Monday, so that might not happen either), and are probably too long for Tumblr so I'll likely just post to AO3 and promote the link on here once it's published.

(Side note: If you want those two poems early, and they're...okay, so maybe you do, I just put all (four) of my season 2 poems in one publication on AO3. The work is called To Stay (and other poems inspired by season 2) if you're interested. Or wait for the queued posts on Monday.)

I'm obsessed with the new outfit. The horns are too funny to me but the cloak is the shit. I wish it was The Coat, but it'll do excellently. My main criticism though is what the fuck are those shoes?! Just lose the shoes, bud! Post-ego death Loki comes back barefoot; he doesn't need shoes.

Loki did not technically create Yggdrasil. Not the concept of it, at least. It's been part of Asgardian vocabulary about the realms since before he was born (I'm pretty sure it's on the mosaic in Ragnarok). What he did was take the timelines and create a literal manifestation of the World Tree in the cosmos. Whether it already existed on the sacred timeline somehow as a literal and cosmological structure holding the nine (ten) realms together in the MCU, I don't know, but since we haven't seen it up to this point I think it's safe to say that it didn't. The real question is, if Loki took all of the branches and passed through the rift and his friends could no longer see him or the timelines from the TVA, how do they know it looks like a tree now, enough to put it on their new posters?

I said this already, but he's been a tree before and CANONICALLY HE DOESN'T ENJOY IT (to be fair he usually doesn't choose to become a tree). This fate is making me distraught, and brings me back to point one, in my own personal time loop.

#loki #loki tv show #loki season 2 #loki season 2 spoilers #loki theories #loki 2x06 spoilers #loki 2x06

[bronanlynch]

extremely funny to me that most of this is like. yeah I'm still into the same stuff as I was last week. except I watched an entire anime don't worry about it

listening (podcasts): my usual slate of podcasts this week. still enjoying the Great Gundam Project episodes on Wing, love to hear them talk about the ways in which the ending becomes thematically incoherent because I too was uhhhh not sure how to feel about the ending of Wing

the AMCA bonus episode on their Starcruiser experience was also excellent. I'm glad they're glad they went but I think it sounds kind of miserable and like I would have hated it if hypothetically I had gone to D*sney while it was open

as usual shout out to Palisade. I'm so excited for the new Kesh princess and also I love every time we see my beloved double agent poster child Elle Evensong

also, there was a new Media Club Plus this week, and I love to hear Keith (generally disinterested in fictional romance) discover that Kurapika & Leorio are in love

listening (music): still on my Three Days Grace kick. shout out to Animal I Have Become. AMV song of all time. no AMVs to rec here because once again the lack of a Fire Emblem 3 Houses anime means there's no Dimitri AMV to that song

reading: my only reading this week was my two before-bed books, Rule of Wolves and Water Outlaws. Rule of Wolves continues to be fine I guess. today I want to complain about how this is yet another example of a fantasy world that draws from real history & has societal/governmental systems based on patrilineal inheritance and the importance of passing on your position & wealth to your biological offspring that acts like homophobia magically does not exist. there's inexplicably one (1) married lesbian couple. like. as if the author forgot to incorporate queer people into the worldbuilding and then just slapped some lesbian side characters in there without thinking about what it would be like for them in that world. got some Skyrim "you the player character can get gay married but literally no one else can" energy going on

Water Outlaws, on the other hand, continues to fucking rule. there's a politician who fucking sucks, and a lady scientist being coerced into doing unethical science-magic, and also so many women who do crime & fight with so many different cool weapons

watching: forgot to talk about the Ahsoka show last week. this is because it continues to not be a very well-made television show. at time of writing, I haven't seen the finale yet

rewatched a couple more episodes of Hunter x Hunter to keep up with Media Club Plus. really solidifying my Kurapika bias this time around <3

and now for the main thing I watched this week, the entirety of Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (for full disclosure I had previously watched the first 11ish episodes last summer before getting distracted by LoGH, and then restarted it last week to watch from the beginning with my roommate). truly it is a fucking delight to watch something that's had so much influence on so many other stories that I'm into and find out that it's also really enjoyable on its own merits as well as being extremely cool to find out where so many genre staples come from. I love the weird synth beeps in the soundtrack, I love when the animation gets super stylized and you can see the pencil shading, I love the gorgeous painted backgrounds. I was already starting to become a Cares About Mobile Suit Designs guy after GWitch/getting into gunpla but now I fully am that kind of guy because there are some incredibly fun designs in there (shout out to the Mad Angler, the coolest fucked up whale submarine I've seen in my life). I love the White Base crew and I love all the bits about how they're being exploited by the military even though they're traumatized teenagers being forced into perpetuating the horrors of war. I love when characters in Gundam just straight-up say the themes of Gundam.

ok now that I'm done gushing. I do have mixed feelings about the last ten or so episodes. (I know the pacing gets a bit wonky because the show got cancelled, that's not what I'm talking about) the thing is, is that I really want to like the Newtype stuff. I think it fucking rules that Amuro is neurodivergent in a way that's seen as useful/profitable and therefore the military is exploiting him even harder (it sucks for Amuro obviously but like, it rules for me, the guy who likes to explore that sort of theme). however. I don't think it's necessarily a great look to have some people start to develop special abilities that make them far more powerful than ordinary humans & refer to them as more advanced/the next step for humanity in the same story where the antagonists are fascists who repeatedly invoke Nietzschean ubermensch rhetoric like. it's kind of the flipside of how oppression allegories are so often deeply flawed because they give the prejudice a basis in the objective truths of the world (legitimizing the justification for the oppression by making the oppressed group dangerous in some way, i.e. the fire powers in Promare). here it's kind of a reverse of that, in that the Newtypes are framed as superhuman rather than subhuman, but that lines up with the fascist rhetoric and makes it based in the factual reality of the worldbuilding in a way that I personally am not super comfortable with. anyway.

like I am gonna watch more UC so I'm curious to see where any of this goes and I'm sure my analysis will develop as I see more but. my initial reaction is. hmm don't love that

playing: continuing to play Ace Attorney 5. 5-4 is still fun so far! however I am a little disappointed that I only got to play as Apollo for such a short time. that's my boy and I miss him already :(

making: no pictures this week but we made chicken florentine from this recipe (with added mushrooms). sorry for being basic but butter/garlic/herbs/white wine is a good flavor combo that makes your kitchen smell very good

drinking: for once something slightly less blatantly seasonal, Pumphouse's Crafty Radler (blood orange & peach flavor). which fucks. often I find peach-flavored drinks don't have enough peach because peach is kind of a more delicate flavor. this nailed it, the peach and the blood orange both come through really nicely

in non-alcoholic drinks, shout out to mulled cider and also mulling spices in general. godtier spice combination

writing: most of my writing was for a zine fic so I can't talk about it yet. also I've been editing t4t yurivain but uhhhh less than I meant to because I can't edit and watch anime at the same time

#every single section is so short except the one where i start writing an essay abt anime oops #can you tell i miss being in academia so so so badly #dreaming.txt #weekly media roundup post

[gillianthecat]

Current WatchList Game

thank you for the tag @kireshai! I love your gifs, especially the tiger tattoo ;-)

Currently Watching

About Youth - I'm just about to watch the two new episodes, so I'm not fully up to date. But I adored the first two. I love all the characters, and the show keeps surprising me.

My Only 12% - I'm really excited to see where this one is going, although I'm assuming heartbreak is coming. But I love how real and grounded it feels, and all the friendships.

The Eclipse - I love many things about this show (and have written a lot about it), but something I adore is the way it gives equal weight to the queer romances and to its political story.

Takara kun to Amagi kun - After episode 3 I wrote: "[it] continues to be amazing. It’s such an intimate little show, focusing so closely on these teenagers and their emotions, and it does it so well."

War of Y - I had lots of feelings about the NottPan arc in New Ship. I will probably keep watching, at least if I end up subscribing to GaGaOOLaLa, but it's not a priority.

edit 9/6 - I forgot I'm also watching Love In the Air. edit 9/29 - oh, well, that's embarrassing. I just realized I used the poster for the wrong About Youth, and somehow didn't notice that a) it had none of the right actors, and b) it was in Korean. 😳 In my defense, both posters are pink and have "About Youth" written in a cursive script. And, honestly, I think the Korean poster fits the vibe of the Taiwanese show better than its own poster does. I only discovered this because Son Woo Hyun from To My Star is in the Korean one, and now I want to see it too but I can't find any info on it.

I think that's it for shows that are currently airing? I tend to be a binge watcher otherwise, although I've started and stopped but plan on finishing:

Not Me - I wasn't in the headspace for something so intense when I started, but I'm excited about it! Cutie Pie - It looks like ridiculous fun of the sort that's best in small doses. (my thoughts on its genre here), and Minato Shouji Coin Laundry - it looks really fascinating. Shin is the type of character that I find extremely annoying, but I think if I watch it after it's all out, and after reading everyone's analysis I will be able enjoy it And possibly Lovely Writer, if I ever get in the right mood to push myself through the last two episodes. I want to like it, but I just haven't been able to.

Currently Rewatching

There's still so much I haven't seen, I'm not rewatching anything yet. Although I have returned to parts of Blueming and Semantic Error as comfort shows, but without rewatching the whole thing through.

Looking Forward to Watching

I can barely keep up with what's currently on, lol. Although I am excited about Wish You Luck, which @lelephantsnail reminded me of, featuring my beloved background actor Tonnam in a leading role finally, and a fascinating looking post-apocalyptical premise. It's a year away though, so who knows if it will even come out. There are also a billion older shows that I'm looking forward to, I won't even try to list them here.

I'm not sure who's already done this? But I'll tag @moonchildridden @halfmoon-trueself @lelephantsnail, @placetneplacet @technitango and @dimondlite. @negrowhat and @heretherebedork, you've probably done this already but I'll tag you anyway. Anyone who sees this and is interested, consider yourself tagged!

#bl watchlist #tag game #ask game #about gillianthecat #ql lists

[musicals-n-cartoons]

Edge of the World Reaction

You know, horror-comedy is a strange combination of genres, now that I think about it. Here is my fifth Owl House reaction!

Pre-episode thoughts

To be honest, I have no idea what to expect from this episode. Except I guess that we will finally get answers on where King came from? And the promo drawings give off "living up to fatherly expectations" vibes to me.

Episode thoughts

King's cooking! And Luz is in her grom outfit again, that's… strange.

"They're here", are they going in media res again?!

That's… just King in a mustache.

King of Da-oh this is definitely a dream sequence.

King wants to be a big brother? Adorable.

Ok, King finally realized that this is a dream, and we wake up. Turns out Luz hasn't talked about the last episode yet but is ready now. Oh, I wasn't expecting them to follow up on the last episode so soon. Is this going to be an A-plot, B-plot thing, or is King's family somehow connected to all this?

The theme song was skipped again! At this rate, we will never get to see Luz in her jacket during the character lineup.

Previously on the Owl House…

Luz is upset, activate hug mode! But seriously, Luz is beating herself too hard. Why does she think that she had something to do with Belos' rise to power?

Eda does the responsible adult thing and tells Luz to hide. Luz does the child protagonist thing of wanting to stop Belos immediately.

Lilith is here! Owlbert told her about the Draining spell.

Oh no! Luz is wearing the saddest face!

Hooty gets so excited from seeing Lilith again that he vomits out a bunch of garbage. So the letter is finally delivered…

Ah, it's a map to a "warrior clan" that can answer King's questions.

Eda is opposed, but Lilith points out that this is a convenient way to get Luz and King far away from Belos. Also, Luz thinks that they may serve as allies against Belos, but I somehow don't think that that will happen.

Eda breaks down after the kids left. After all, how is she supposed to stop Belos from hurting them? Lilith gives her a comforting hug.

The ship captain is back to give Luz, Hooty, and King a lift to their destination. Apparently, he quit working for the emperor for some reason, and his crew quit on him.

Another beast-island! A finger to be precise.

Nobody is here, but Luz got a key. This activated a fabulous light show. Hope nobody else detected it.

The light show teleported them to yet another titan carcass.

It's the big guy! You know, the one who gave the letter in the first place.

Is the other side of the world metaphorical or literal?

He was suspicious until he spotted King, understandable.

"Titan Trapper Island". So does this mean that these people harvest titans?

Demons that look like King... You know, the demons of the Boiling Isles are supposed to come from the titan's blood, so maybe Hooty and Nosa were unable to identify him because his people are from a different titan?

So these titan trappers' job is to kill titans, hence the name. But they haven't seen a titan themselves. There's allegedly one left tho.

Good news, they would love to help them. Luz just needs to speak with the elder.

So the boss speaks to their god... oh man, I'm getting Belos parallels.

So the big guy, Terrick, is name-dropping the elder, claims to be best friends and everything.

King learns what it's like to be a titan trapper, kind of whelming.

Meanwhile, Luz meets the elder, Bill. He's kind of cranky, and considers Belos to be an upstart, with a "carcass kingdom". A neat look at Belos' place in the wider world, but man, talk about glass houses. Also, Bill does not hold Terrick in nearly as high regard as Terrick wishes he does.

He will help! But he immediately goes on a rant about titans.

That's funny, his rant kind of makes titans sound like King. Is King a titan!?

That poster prophecy kind of make it sounds like King's the chosen one or something.

Oh boy, these people worship the Collector (under the name of the Grand Huntsman), kind of a bad sign.

Oh, they are wearing a costume… KING IS THE LAST TITAN!!!

Luz runs off to find King. Go Luz go!

Bill is suspicious, uh-oh.

Aww, King wants to play catch. A sign of watching too much tv, but also kind of sweet.

Terrick is notified of the King mix-up and proceeds to trick King into taking part in some creepy cult stuff.

Oh, so they are also trying to release the Collector from his prison, did the Collecter seek the aid of other people before Belos, and is he still invested in this attempt to break free?

King makes a strange connection with the stone-thingy, which made a Collector laugh in response, hoping nothing bad comes of it.

Who is this invisible person? Oh, thank god, it's Luz, here to save the day!

Oh, King doesn't want Luz to leave, poor boy!

The trappers found them! And Terrick cruelly rejects King.

Ooh, infighting! This is why you don't let only one guy speak with the boss.

Wait, now that I think about it, would King's shouty-thing tip them off earlier? Guess they just thought he used witch magic.

Hooty takes advantage of the infighting and rescues the silly kids.

They are back on their side, but the portal is still open. Don't worry, King got this, and destroyed the finger.

Huh, it must be weird to know that you are standing on the dead body of one of your relatives.

In retrospect, probably a bad idea to send off your security system Eda.

Oh, come on! A cliffhanger?

Reaction to other reactions

2100 recent posts, but not trending. That's strange, the owl house was trending for the whole week on a lot fewer posts. Maybe there is a fatigue system?

Oh, that's right, King got titan's blood inside him! Better hide that fact, or it will get messy real fast.

Someone suggests that King will go to the Human Realm with Luz, and you know, that will fit great with my theory that Luz will be trapped in the Human Realm between the 2nd and 3rd season.

Oh right, Flora wrote the book Bill was reading. I guess this means that they regularly travel to the Boiling Isles.

Oh, they are using the same kind of disk as Belos, just their one is broken. Guess that explains why the collector abandoned them for Belos.

I thought the collector's song was different! It's interesting that Luz is always remembering things differently.

Dana is trending 7th because she was caught pirating her own show, iconic. Wait, apparently she was trending SECOND at one point? And Owl House is not trending at all? Wild.

Someone else pointed out that the other side got the opposite day/night cycle, must be literal then.

Ohgod, that titan skull on the other side of the world is the same as the one in the owl beast flashback in the "Knock, Knock, Etc" episode!

Prediction for next episode

This is easier for me to make theories about. Clearly, Hunter is going to help Gus save the students from the Emperor's Coven's last push to sigil everyone. They will then meet the Owl Fam, who will find a safe space off-screen.

#the owl house #owl house #toh #toh reactions #the owl house spoilers #owl house spoilers #toh spoilers

[mx-julien]

glacier hcs with meta based on canon s11 bc this season had so many ideas stuffed into it i have to expand (at the end an AU idea wrestled its way in so uh whoops?)

first of all, y'all, Zane's put in mortal danger twice in this season and the first time he's a smug bastard about it and the second time he goes full death metal so the vibes are aspirational, honestly

Cole doing a paper puppet show in the Never-Realm for the kiddies so they'd know about Zane's sacrifice and then defending it when Nya (understandably) asked if it was too mature; obviously the dialogue Cole says is edited and paraphrased from the actual moment, but let's look at what he edits, why don't we?

gives all the ninja heroic dialogue "Put down the staff and surrender, Aspheera. Your days of evil are over." for Zane and "What did you do to my friend?" for Nya

completely skips over everyone else having a reaction as if after he realized what was going on, nothing else happened until they found out what Aspheera had really done, which we know isn't true and says a lot about his perception of the event (Zane's gone, Nya says something, he realizes what happens, then he's numb until they find out they can get him back)

meta-wise, this is a recap of the season for viewers who haven't seen earlier episodes. there are four other ninja that could've done this, however, with Jay being the likeliest out of all of them since he's usually billed as being funnier than Cole; Kai also being a contender because he usually likes telling their stories to other people. so what other reason would overpower those two? probably that, out of the five of them, Cole's the one who's closest to Zane and thus acts a bit seemingly ooc now that he's gone.

Cole constantly keeping himself busy/making himself useful after Zane's gone by holding onto the traveller's tea, building the village new weapons, with the paper puppet show, finding more traveller's tea, and making friends with Krag

this is, of course, a way to grieve and process tragedy, but let's look at the meta, too, why don't we?

overwhelmingly, he likes being with other people during missions and will immediately be paired with another character if he's alone for too long [ref: we're ignoring episode 1 of rebooted b/c the only reason Cole's not with the others is that Bad Love Triangle that we will continue to ignore in this house; befriending Karlof in the tournament so he's not alone in the prison; taking care of a baby when Zane runs off in SoG; making friends with Krag in s11 when Zane's not there; befriending the Geckles and Munce in the work camps (yes i know that's a later season but this is the reference section so sue me)]

whenever Zane's gone, they immediately have to pair him with someone else. this has happened in two different seasons: in SoG they put him with baby Wu and in rebooted they pitted him against Jay

Pix is doing perfectly fine during this season, save for the one nightmare scene, she's perfectly able to adjust [ref: The Absolute Worst, The Kaiju Protocol]. i mean, she's practically fine without their relationship whereas Mr. Brookstone (or Hence, whatever you hc) is going through the five stages of grief right here except he hasn't yet got past the denial one. although they absolutely didn't mean for it to be, it's very much the trope of the lover who's lost after their partner dies.

Zane's poster for march of the oni says that he'll "leave his love behind" and literally nothing happens to Pix but Cole practically dies? was that a weird merch issue or was that intentional? we'll probably never know but it is great meta (that a ton of other people pointed out and it's not even s11 but i just want to mention because come on)

since they play the same video game [ref: Wasted True Potential] and clearly it at least somewhat matters to Zane (otherwise why would Jay bust into his room and wake him up, yes he's dramatic but if Zane was that indifferent he probably wouldn't've done it) so please do imagine the two of them curled up on a couch together and shoving and pushing each other to throw the other off his game. absolutely think about how Zane had the most recent high score and the smug look that bastard probably gave Cole when he scored it. just. glacier competing at video games. a real dose of I Can't Believe It's Not An AU!

another s11 take: Baby Wu and why he should've stayed a baby

i'm definitely writing more on that Pro Gamer Ninjago AU and you can't stop me

#lego ninjago #ninjago headcanons #ninjago glacier #ninjago #glaciershipping #zane julien #cole brookstone #ninjago season 11 #s11 #Krag ninjago #ninjago Never Realm #mentions of Jay Nya Wu Kai and Aspheera #Pixal Borg

[strangertheory]

About the posters, I had some questions! : first off, Byler sharing a look AHH

Second, El’s outfit confirms that she was the one in front of the explosion in the trailer. Also the person in front of the burning car I don’t think is Will, because of how his hair is cut this season the silhouette doesn’t really match. So I’m guessing it’s also El? The upside down and supernatural elements apparently stretch all across the world where different characters are located. I’m interested to see if this plays into the DID theory and the concept of inner worlds.

Jopper are looking at each other, Ronance are looking at each other, Dustin & Steve, Byler, and Lucas is looking at Max, who is looking behind her into the audience. What do you think the significance of this is? Obviously they’re not all romantic pairings.

Also any other observations you’ve noticed. Im super excited to hear you and the other theorist’s analysis of these posters.

(Mike and Will looking at each other in the poster made me smile too!) I love the new posters. I'm obsessed with their design and the way they all come together in a combined poster as well.

I'm not 100% persuaded that it's El in front of the explosion. In fact, the new posters represent someone who has hair that resembles El's hair and plaid shirt, but the figure in front of the explosion appears to possibly have short hair while also wearing a very, very similar (if not identical) outfit.

I do suspect that El could be one or both of these figures. But to throw yet another variable into the conversation: we also were noticing how very much El's newest haircut resembles Joyce's hair. And we know that Will wore a similar outfit in the very first episode of season 1.

I am aware that my opinion on the uncertainty of this character's identity will probably be received by the general fan community as an unreasonable level of skepticism - but, well, I ... disagree. I think skepticism is quite warranted when we haven't seen any of these figures' faces yet.

If anyone is curious, I'm not convinced that it's necessarily Will either.

Or rather: I should say that I'm truly not certain of the actor(s?) in these scenes yet.

I look forward to seeing if my skepticism is warranted or not when Stranger Things 4 is released!

Thank you for your message.

@0aurelion-sol0 I hope you don't mind I featured your image here, I'm working from images I've saved to my phone for casual theory-discussion

As to the characters looking at one another, I suspect it suggests that they will be interacting or relevant to each other's storylines this season in some way. Beyond that I am unsure what to expect.

Thank you for your message! I don't get many Asks these days, but I admit (and apologize) that this is very much due to my unpredictable blogging habits as of late. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and listening to my own. I appreciate your interest in discussing these details.

#sorry I re-edited my reply a million times #because I was wanting to make sure I addressed all your ideas #but I'm excitedly replying to your message while I should probably be going to sleep so I'm a bit sleepy #I really appreciate your Ask! #thank you for asking my thoughts on these details I appreciate the chance to talk about them :) #stranger things 4 #stranger things theories #reference to #the did theory #in the Ask and implications and context of my thoughts etc #goodnight! I'm going to go to sleep but thank you again for your message 💛

[kaldurcalm]

I've been meaning to do a black girls in webtoons reclist and I'm a little nervous about it because I'm white, but I haven't seen any comparable lists yet so. Here I go.

Note: this is based on the characters.

I haven't checked to see whether the authors are black or not because although that approach is well-meaning and has its own purpose (boosting black women who make comics), it can also lead to gatekeeping and invasive behavior on the part of fans.

The creators on the webtoons platform often use psuedonyms, so I usually don't go looking for more information than they provide.

My focus here is black girls and women who are treated well by the narrative, because I've seen from other posters that those are the kinds of stories that they would like to read.

With that in mind! I'm just going to go with the first one I see on my subscription list:

This is a superhero comic with a black female lead. She's the one who gets the gang together, and she comes from a society that has some interesting eyewear. (It's kind of a cultural thing.)

All of this is explained in the comic as a part of an ongoing plotline, and everyone's powers feel fresh and interesting.

Note: I do actually know that one of the creators is a black man! It's a team of people who seem pretty neat.

This one is probably suitable for most ages, but there's superhero violence and associated trauma sometimes. They get into social injustice as an ongoing theme for the entire comic, and the characters collectively decided to crash at the place of the richest guy on the team.

He is not thrilled about this.

I love this disaster trans girl.

Mal is a fan of a band called the Crawmamas, and her bff accidentally lands her a job as their social media manager. She is, unfortunately, head over heels for the dirty rat man guitarist.

This comic is going to have themes that are considered adult, like drinking and smoking and sexytimes.

Mal's mom doesn't approve of her wrist tattoo, but she's supportive of "her baby girl" and the other characters either don't know or are supportive (so far).

(I can't vouch for how the narrative will handle things in the future, but she's touring with a tits out type of rock band some of the crew members are gay. I'm not worried about the way the story will handle it.

Even if almost every single character is a disaster human. Help them.)

It's the story of Shahrazad! I read The Shadow Spinner when I was a kid, but not the original story, so I've never seen it like this before.

If you're not familiar: the main character is forcibly married to the rule of her kingdom.

Or, well, she volunteers for the forced marriage process so that she can get revenge on him for killing her best friend.

Along the way, she unveils a curse, and sets about trying to unravel it.

There's violence in this story, but I don't think it's super graphic. It's only a feel-good story if you're into clever, booksmart women who learn to fight injustice in their own ways.

(If you don't like the idea of her catching feelings for the caliph, this story might not be for you.)

If I were to narrow this list down to just soft love stories, this comic would be included. (Gonna be honest: I almost didn't read the whole thing because of the art style, but I'm so glad I did.)

Yani is a short, chubby black girl, and Cage is the tallest, biggest guy in highschool.

... unfortunately this means that she's scared of him at first.

The feeling isn't mutual at all: he saw on stage in a school play and immediately became 100% more interested in Shakespeare.

When their teacher sets him up to tutor her (it's not a romantic thing), he's stoked and she finds out that mostly? He's just shy.

This comic talks about sex in an informative way in the later chapters, and Yani's friends help her overcome a phobia that she's embarrassed to tell people about.

Overall, it's really sweet and wholesome. And it's pretty much completed, so no surprises here!

This is one of my favorite comics of all time, I think.

Ray is a college-age lady who's struggling to figure out her career path--as a seer in a world where you can bake magic into food.

She likes to go to her favorite bakery once a week to have a slice of romance. (Not sure if the romance is in the jam, the bread, or both, but it looks really pretty.)

She seems to have a crush on the lady who owns the bakery (who is also a black woman and happens to be a happily married lesbian), and she helps her love interest overcome his fear of (broomstick) flying (which is similar to driving in this universe-- you have to get a license.)

This one should be safe for all ages, I think! It's one of the softest, sweetest comics I've ever read.

So the actual main character in this comic is basically black gay batman in a purple devil suit, but I'm recommending it because it has two women of color as main characters in the first two seasons.

If you want a smooth recap of the entire thing, read the latest update. Here's the short version:

Honoria Crabb is a hard-nosed cop, until she sees that the entire city is corrupt and and the police force isn't what she'd hoped it would be. She's basically tying the story together right now--you might see what I mean if you click the last link.

Theresa Ferrier is a famous detective, the line of Sherlock Holmes. I say this not because of her personality, but because has a best-selling series about her adventures and has a comparable reputation in this universe.

She's also bald, uses a cane, and is married to the love of her life--Margeurite, a famous painter with a rare brain disease. (Margeurite can't see very well, uses a wheelchair, and is usually carrying her beloved bulldog. )

Theresa basically comes out of retirement to help fund her wife's treatment, and by the end of the second season she retreats so that she can devote herself to her care.

It doesn't even feel like the author is sidelining her or anything--she's influenced the other characters a great deal, and she just wants to care for her wife and be happy.

Overall, you'll like this comic if you like detective stories and masked vigilantes. There's violence and blood, and associated trauma.

I love this comic so much, and I'm a person who tries to stay away from zombies as much as possible.

...let me just show you the main cast:

Spoiler: there's healthy polyamory at the end.

...not with all of them. Two of them in this picture are involved, though, and one of them is black.

(The coach is also black. He gets bitten by the first zombie they see, so the girls have to take care of him. They do a decent job of it.)

I'm not sure how much more I can say without spoiling it because I get too excited. Ya got your jock black girl and your soft cute black girl on the same highschool basketball team, though, so that's why it made this list.

This comic is hilarious and it feels like a slice of life in spite of the fact that it's set during a zombie apocalypse. 10/10 would recommend.

(I also highly recommend the author's other work, which is more graphic and uses more colors in its palette, but that one centers a gay couple. There's some great black ladies in it but they're not the focal point, so I'm just going to mention it as an aside.

You can find it by clicking on the comic description and scrolling to the bottom.)

So the main character starts out a bike messenger. The best damn bike messenger in town.

This is how she becomes a bike messenger for the gods.

It's all very dramatic, and the new job comes with a teleporting magic vending machine for helpful bike parts that help her navigate the godly realm.

Her best friend is another black lady, who works with books and is a badass in her own right, and Dare herself is definitely not straight.

This comic is completed and everything ends well! Dare gets a satisfying love life with another woman and the world is no longer ending.

This comic is sweet, so I'm going to include it, but I don't think it's ever going to be finished.

Ola and her family are illegal immigrants. This comic is a slice of life about her trying to navigate highschool without exposing her family.

The overall tone is pretty light, but I'd you have any experience with that then if might make you nervous.

I don't want to pick favorites, but this one's my favorite.

In a world where you can modify your body the same way we can currently mod videogames, our main character notices another girl who takes the subway because she doesn't use any mods at all.

It's because she has a chronic illness, so she uses technology that others consider outdated (that seems futuristic to us) to help her navigate the world.

She's not in pain all the time, but she has to be careful. Certain types of technology in their world can affect her very badly, so she has to avoid them the same way you'd avoid allergens.

The main character changes her look frequently, but she's always shown as black and, towards the end of the comic, she shares a conversation she had with her mother as a child about the importance of her natural features.

This is an interracial relationship, and the love interest is a white hispanic. She has two dads, and the main character has a mom, a dad, and her mom and dad's partner.

...I'm not super clear on their relationship as it is in the comic but the creator confirmed that they're in a polycule.

This is the kind of comic that makes you feel like you light up inside as you read it. It should be safe for most ages, I think the most adult things in it are job opportunities and kissing. (I'm going off memory, here. I'm doin my best.)

The author also has another comic about a college age magic user who bulldozes her way into an apprenticeship because she's determined to not let her magical form of dyslexia get in the way of her life plans.

(She can't read the spell books at all, so makes herself seeing eye familiar out of what looks like a floppy stuffed animal and a ritual.

The ritual itself isn't clear yet.)

The main character isn't black herself, so I'm not including it as its own entry, but her mentor is black. She's a sweet lady with an adopted son, anxiety, and an understanding girlfriend.

This one doesn't have a final ending because the author came up against a pretty heavy duty mental block, but it did end on a series finale and although it's bittersweet, I think it's pretty good.

[bobbyshaddoe80]

Liberated Audio Reviews

Introduction:

The cult Sci-Fi series Blake's 7 has seen great admiration and appreciation in the 40 plus years since its initial broadcast in the UK., continuing to enthrall audience old and new alike. Despite its rather low budget, it possessed some pretty impressive writing and acting from its rotating cast of characters. Despite it being yet another Terry Nation brainchild, the series would evolve beyond the initial proposal/concept of 'Robin Hood in Space' under the direction of Chris Boucher to become something more than just a Star Wars clone.

Over the years, the show's devoted fanbase have poured over the show's 52 episodes and have long clamored, demanded, begged and pleaded with the Powers That Be for some sort of continuation or revival... In spite of the show's rather unorthodox and controversial ending.

After numerous rumors and false starts, which even included a full on audio reboot/reimagining by B7 Media back in late 2007/early 2008, it would be Big Finish Productions that would take up the daunting task of reviving and expanding the Blake's 7 universe starting in February 2012 with the Liberator Chronicles and the Classic Audio Adventures in January 2014.

The Liberator Chronicles are essentially enhanced audiobooks often told in the first person by whichever character is chosen to be the focus of the story. Often they are supported by one or two other cast members in order to help keep things from falling completely into standard audiobook monotony. Before tackling the full cast audios, I shall endeavor to present my thoughts and views on all twelve volumes of the Liberator Chronicles.

Please bear in mind that these reviews are based on my own opinions and no one else's. While I shall endeavor to be as fair as possible, I am not claiming that my opinion is the only one that matters and you are free to agree or disagree with me as you see fit. Just try to keep it civil. So, without further ado, let's get started by examining volume one.

Blake's 7 - The Liberator Chronicles Vol. 1

RELEASED FEBRUARY 2012

Recorded on: 23 September, 11 and 14 October 2011

Recorded at: Moat Studios

Review By Robert L. Torres

The Turing Test by Simon Guerrier

'After evading an attack by Cassini Pirates, the Liberator heads to the rogue moon of Quentil, where Avon and Vila infiltrate a top secret Federation science facility. 

Vila assumes the guise of Dr. Yarding Gill, an expert in digital memory. And Avon is his "creation" - a super-advanced android that could pass for human. In fact, he does...

Can they maintain the ruse long enough to complete their mission? And will the Cassini Pirates catch up with them?'

Chronological Placement:

Series A - set after the events of LC Vol. 7's Disorder, between episodes Mission To Destiny and Duel.

This is a very well written story starring the late Paul Darrow as Kerr Avon, ably supported by Michael Keating as Vila Restal.

I love how the story is structured with Avon recounting these events AFTER the fact, like he was recording then for posterity into a dictaphone. I loved that Guerrier's writing didn't fall into the trap of having Avon try to do other voices or say 'said Blake', 'said Jenna' and so on. Nothing felt disruptive to the narrative and having Vila around never felt intrusive.

Kudos to Michael Keating for slipping back into the role of Vila Restal with relative ease. He will be quite reliable in a support capacity during many of these audios, and even get a chance at the spotlight... Which we will examine in due course. Right now, he lends his exceptional charm in this undercover mission posing as the scientist responsible for "creating" Avon.

Still, this story belongs to Paul Darrow, and he does a great job. It was a great story about what it means to be alive, what it means to be human and even serving as an examination of Avon himself. It was a nice inverse of the usual sort of questions regarding machine life wishing to be more human. Here we have a human considering himself to be more machine than man.

That is the interesting thing about Avon. Most scifi programs that deal with space travel tend to have an archetypical character known as the 'royal smart person'. For Star Trek TOS it was Spock, for Star Trek TNG it was Data, for DS9 it was Dax (and to a certain extent Bashir), for Voyager it was Seven of Nine, for Enterprise it was... Who the hell knows since everyone on that show was an idiot. As for Discovery... I honestly don't know cuz I haven't watched Discovery yet, but that's beside the point.

Avon is exceptional in his characterization only in that his desire to focus on pure logic and suppress his emotions does not come without its own drawbacks. Despite his intellect and skill with computers, he is someone that is also socially and emotionally cut off from others due to an inability to trust. He is also someone that sees the futility in giving over to emotional and irrational hysterics in order to showcase that he cares. Avon's intelligence also comes with a certain amount of ego, as he knows that he is smarter than many of his contemporaries, and much of the logic he embraces stems from a certain degree of self-serving self-interest.

His desire to assist in the situation with the AI android 14 stems from having an affinity with another creature of pure logic, and not wanting such a creature to be exploited and corrupted to further the aims and agendas of the Federation. This story is a great reminder of why Avon is a great antihero, as he is still willing to do the right thing in spite of himself.

Final Score: 8 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

Solitary by Nigel Fairs

‘Vila is in solitary confinement. His friends have abandoned him, his only contact with the world outside is Nyrron, a scientist from the planet Auron.

Amnesiac and confused, Vila attempts to piece together recent events... A mission to Dulcimer 4. An important meeting. And a visit to the jungle world of Terrulis Major.

In the depths of the foliage, the truth is waiting. And it's more terrifying than Vila could possible have imagined...’

Chronological Placement:

Series B - between episodes Redemption and Shadow.

I really do not have much to say about this story as it is profoundly unremarkable and is a major clunker in terms of execution of its concept, as well as the first person narration.

It has some interesting ideas, there is a central mystery that is interesting, with Vila finding himself in solitary confinement and abandoned by his friends, and we are introduced to a semi recurring guest character in the form of Auron scientist Gustav Nyrron, played by Anthony Howell ('Dr. David Keel' of the The Avengers: Lost Episodes range). 

Nyrron himself is an interesting character as an ally for Blake and the Resistance, which begs the question why Cally wasn’t involved in this story as well.  Because for an Auron scientist, he actually spends most of the time acting like either a reasonable interrogator or a benevolent psychiatrist for the imprisoned Vila. 

The whole story itself is not executed terribly well.  The Vila character spends a good chunk of the first few moments talking to himself, and then when Nyrron comes into the narrative, Vila spends the rest of the runtime being asked if he remembers certain events, and then goes on to basically recount events that lead up to meeting Nyrron and then goes on to tell Nyrron things that he already knows about. 

As a Vila centric story, its also not terribly good, not even with certain unexpected revelations made. This story does Vila no favors and we don't learn much about Nyrron either.  Fortunately, those are issues that would end up being rectified in later stories.  Definitely give this one a miss.

Final Score: 4 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

Counterfeit by Peter Anghelides

‘The Bovee Mining Facility: A Federation slave camp worked by disgraced scientists.

The planet shouldn't be of interest but it is: Avon's investigations reveal that it's rich in Illusium, a mineral that can change from one substance to another. With it, the Federation could be invulnerable...

Blake teleports down to Bovee, but gets more than he bargained for. There's another visitor to the facility - and his presence changes the whole game...’

Chronological Placement:

Series A - set after the events of LC Vol. 1's The Turing Test, between episodes Mission To Destiny and Duel.

This is not a bad Blake focus story, with added support from Avon. However, what we get is a pretty standard adventure with Blake hoping to obtain certain materials and destroy the means of that material being reproduced in another effort to cripple the Federation's power. We even get in an appearance by Travis, Blake's personal nemesis, to lure him into a trap.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the story because of how standard and basic it all is. The fact that the story is done on audio does play in well into certain revelations and surprise twists made within the narrative. Many of which I will not speak on as it goes into spoiler territory. Other than that, the story itself is not bad, it is definitely worth a once-over. Its just unfortunate that it is also pretty average and fairly unremarkable.

Final Score: 5 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

Final score for Volume One of The Liberator Chronicles in its entirety is 6 out of 10 Plasma Bolts.

It isn't the best start to the Blake's 7 audio range as it really only has one story out of three to recommend it. Its great to hear the original actors back again, and thankfully they will be served better stories in the volumes to follow.

Special thanks to Craig Brawley of the Big Finish Listeners Facebook Group for his tireless efforts in mapping out the chronology of the audios and determining how they fit in with the established TV continuity.

#blake's 7 #reviews #big finish productions #audiobook

[alwaysforyouscully]

My X-FEST 2 Experience!

Friends and followers this was truly a pleasure. I was only able to go on Saturday but my X-Files heart is full with great memories!

Here's my recap on one excellent day, we (my daughter and I) got our passes and went to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast. I heard Mitch before I say him. He was at the table next to us and about 15 minutes later Nick came down and joined him. I never thought the back of their heads would be exciting but...

Anyhoo... we go inside the hall and everyone is in their booth. This was really well organized, plenty of space and easy access to whomever you wanted to see. Everyone when straight to the Gunmen and Nick so I went to Sheila:

I was her first autograph of the day and she was sorry she only had a black pen. She asked her assistant if she should have a lighter pen. I said it's no problem just meeting her was great. She said "I hate this picture." I said oh no, it's how I'll always remember you and she said "You know I still have this jacket in my closet." I was like really, do you ever wear it? And we both laughed, I'm not sure why? Lol 😂

Next I went to see Annabeth:

There were a few folks in line and when it was my turn for an autograph, she looked up and saw my shirt. She said "That's me! Where did you get this?" I told her off the internet and she grabbed her phone and told her assistant to take a picture. Just a note, she is lovely! And from this point forward we will have the 'That's Annabeth' count. This is 1.

When I walked into my photo op she grabbed my hand and said "It's you! I sent our picture to my husband and he said where did she get that? It's great!" Again she is a freaking gem!

Okay next was Mitch. As most of you know in April of 2018 I went to South Texas CC to see Mitch and he got the flu and cancelled 😣. My daughter felt so bad for me that she sent him a message on Twitter. He sent her a PM back and said he would send me some cool stuff...he did and after his last message to her he deleted his Twitter. So on to current day.

I get in line and my daughter is at a side table organizing my pictures. The lovely @jenniferalarza painted a piece for me plus I had JJ Lendl's "Kitten" poster for him to sign. When I got to the table I showed Mitch the envelope of all the things he mailed me last April. He was shocked and said "You came all the way here from Texas?" (He remembered 🤗 ) I told him I had to meet him and pointed to my daughter and said she's the one that sent you the message, then you quit sm. He was looking at the painting and without looking up he said, "Yep, she's the reason I quit." He laughed and I said she really thinks it's true. He came around the table and without slowing down, he headed towards her saying "I'm going to tell her it was because of her that I quit" He got to her and I couldn't hear what he said but she flushed and kind of teared up. Next he pulled her into a hug and headed back to the signing table. He signed both pieces then stopped. He said "She really thought she was the reason? Damn, I'm so sorry." Now I was tearing up. 😥

Mitch was the last photo op on Saturday and I still had 3 tickets left. My daughter and I decided to each take one individually and one together. Mitch saw us and we did the group pic first. He put his arms around us and said "We finally made it!" Yes Mitch, we did. Thanks 😘

Mark Snow was next to Frank Spotnitz and both of their lines were consistent but not too long. I owed the beautiful @dontpointdownthere a favor so we went to Mark next.

The favor was to ask about the song playing on the jukebox in "Dreamland ll" when Mulder and Joann, then Morris and Joann are at the bar. I asked Mark if he knew the song and he couldn't remember so he called over to Frank and asked him. I described it as best I could but Frank couldn't remember either. Sad news for @dontpointdownthere . 😥

I went to Mark's panel and I got the lyrics in the mean time. Frank was at the panel too so I showed him the lyrics and he took a picture with his phone. I met back up with Mark later and showed him the lyrics and along with the folks in line we tried to jar his memory. No joy but it was fun trying!

After the lunch break it was off to the Lone Gunmen. Again @jenniferalarza did a beautiful piece for me, so on to the signing:

Tom was first, he was very sweet and loved the painting. After folks in line heard it was fanart, they all wanted to see it. Everyone was very impressed!

Bruce was next and he was, umm, more like Byers than I thought he would be. First words upon seeing my shirt, "That's Annabeth" (that makes 2) He looked at the picture then asked my name. He said "This is really good, lots of fan art isn't, lots and lots are terrible." He started to sign and put my name at the top then stopped and signed his name at the bottom. "Oops! I forgot what I was going to say." Oh well, guess we'll never know Bruce!

Dean was last and his line had been the longest most of the day. I heard him talking with a fan while I was waiting for Mitch and he was telling her how he does pet portraits now. He even pulled out his phone and gave her an impromptu art show! Lol When I walked up he said "Hi! Is this Annabeth? (#3) and I said sure is. So I handed him the painting and he was about to sign then asked "Is this a print on canvas?" I told him it was the original and he was upset about signing it. I said no, please sign it, that's why my friend painted it for me so the three of you could sign it! He was just floored and started asking how much it cost, was it commissioned, how much was shipping from Spain and on and on. He said "I'm doing portraits now so I need to know these things."

His photo op was the last of the Lone Gunmen. The lines for the photos went super fast. Each person was given a 15 minute slot and none used all of the time. I went in and he said "That really is Annabeth!" No joke (this was 4). And just before we took the picture the photographer said hold up a second we're moving a little fast. Talk amongst yourselves. Dean said "So, Annabeth huh? You got this off the internet? I don't know if this really looks like her. Look at that chin, her skin is too dark, the forehead is all wrong. You know it doesn't really look like her at all." (I'm counting this as 5) I laughed and said, I guess not but she liked it. "Oh gosh, she's seen it?" Yep and she took a picture of it too! By now the photographer was ready and off I went.

Nick's photo op was after the Gunmen:

I walked in and I shit you not he said "That's Annabeth!" (Up to 6) Yes, she really loved it. He put his hand out to shake mine "What's your name, we haven't met today" I said, No not yet, you've been too busy. "For you? Never." I did swoon, just saying because the gray scruff is working for him.

While I waited for the photo my daughter went to his table to wait in line, when I got there she was the only one there so perfect timing. He showed up about 10 minutes later and we walked up. He greeted my daughter and there was a card on the table for the 'I wanna believe' X-Files parody show and she asked if he'd seen it. He said "Not yet but it's going to be on YouTube so I'll watch it later." My daughter told him it was worth his time and really funny. I told him Krycek had an important role so he needed to check it out 😊! He signed my picture and called over to Annabeth, she was next to him, "Hey, you saw this?" pointing to my shirt. She said "Yes, isn't it fantastic!" (I'm counting this as 7)

Chris Owens was my last autograph of the day:

This guy is priceless, so warm and funny. He was telling a story about David to another fan when we walked up. He told them that David had called him to come back for S11 because he wouldn't have to put all that shit on his face this time! Lol I guess that worked 😂!

I picked the Postmodern Prometheus pic for him to sign and said I know it's not your best face but I loved this episode. He laughed and said "don't be so sure, this was one of my best." He got up from the table and gave me a hug. I was just in shock by his kindness!

That's finally it folks. A great day all around and an Annabeth shirt that will never live down it's fame!

Thanks for a great day X-Fest2!

And don't forget to check out @iwannabelieveparody 's YouTube channel to see this awesome show!

#the x files #x-fest2 #mitch pileggi #dean haglund #bruce harwood #tom braidwood #nick lea #annabeth gish #mark snow #chris rogers #sheila larken #i wanna believe