#this episode made really nice use of the beautiful school building especially with that effect of light through the windows

[svankmajerbaby]

my very long winded thoughts on episode two of chucky season 2

summary: better than the first episode but still leaves me cold when comparing it to season 1. funnier moments interesting developments and new characters dont fully compensate for the weird pacing and things being mostly setup.

the biggest issue for me so far is definitely that the first season was such a solid 8, and this one is kind of like a weak 6

i thought we would have more of the new characters, at least to establish them better and have a feel of their personalities. but sister ruth (freddie lounds!!!!!!!) made me miss ms fairchild big time, and the detective looking for nica and his interactions with tiffany made me somehow miss gladys from season 1 (the funny "high as a kite" lady, the woman who chucky gave the razor apple to on halloween night and who later was the realtor who sold tiffany the old ray house). i think even the tied-up guy back at the hotel had more of an attitude than these new faces. i dunno if thats a casting thing or a writing thing tbh. the previous episode had ended with an interesting note regarding that boy trevor, but he was absolutely nothing in his only scene here. lexy keeps saying hes evil hes awful but we dont get anything specific (”life a living hell” this and that, i need details), so it feels even more like just talking and no real outcome

nadine is a sweetheart though. i really like her and how she is so drastically different to the other three main kids, even though putting a kid in a catholic boarding school for kleptomania (what a letdown of a backstory tbh) when theres others who were sent there for blowing up a kid with a homemade bomb feels.... a bit weird. but whatever, what do i know. i just hope she gets something to do besides hang around the main three, bc otherwise the feeling that she will only be around to be killed by chucky for some quick emotional impact is not going to go away.

i!! actually loved!!!! that one scene in class with the teacher talking about hieronymus bosch, along with that projection it gave me big hannibal in florence vibes and i loved seeing jake talking about art, even if it was just a quick thing. im really curious about the religious aspect of the season, beyond the aesthetics, which so far seem to be the only way it really impacts the story. i think it was a missed opportunity to not make any of the three kids catholic/religious, especially either jake or devon (not even super religious, just a mention of being baptized or having been raised in a christian household), since that would intersect very well with issues of guilt which feels like its going to be a running theme for jake in particular. having him feel guilty for everything that happened so far (which makes perfect sense and his two little breakdowns were very well done i think) and not really have anything to do with the religious environment feels like such a waste.... especially with how interesting it could be to acknowledge fully how devon sawa is once again portraying a sort of paternal authority figure, continuing with his authority role as logan and lucas. maybe its just too subtle for my thick skull, maybe its something they will build towards as the season goes on, who knows

i really really really hope devon gets more to do in the rest of the season. jake has his guilt, lexy has her drug addiction, and devon... he feels so lightweight compared to the other two. i love him so much, hes a sweetheart (and i think he would accomplish what i think?? nadines role is meant to fulfill) but having him just be the emotional rock for jake in this season is not enough, nor is it to keep the previous seasons tug of war with jake regarding their relationship and whether theyre good for one another. i was all episode hoping hed come up with some interesting info on the school and with charles lee rays childhood in it or something..... devon is a smart one, he made the important research and came up with the trap in season 1, and i wish the series remembered that, like it remembered that jake is an artist at heart

really dumb thought but im kinda glad that in the scene with nica and chucky talking inside her head we didnt get like a gollum/smeagol, david-hasselhoff-as-jekyll-and-hyde-the-musical thing (not that fiona dourif wouldnt be able to pull it off); i liked that it showed them as two separate entities even in her own body. probably not the intention but i always like to see nica in some way in control of herself and it makes absolute sense that in that discussion with him she would conceptualize him as a being apart from her. i do think we will eventually get a pretty hammy “shifting” scene and it will be probably a little bit cringe even if its fiona’s wonderful acting

i liked seeing nica trying to manipulate tiffany to leave her alone with her chiding her for wasting money, it was believable but also just clumsy enough of an effort to show shes really getting desperate and that tiffany is still smart enough to realize when shes trying to get her to do something. tiffany as a whole has been feeling just a little too.... dumb? in some way? especially with how little care she put into even properly lying to that detective. like i know its meant to be funny.... but i dont want the comedy to come from tiffany being clueless or dumb. shes ditzy and a bit naive but never dumb

and also i really didnt like the opening credits with the portraits. what the heck was that. i know its a detail and im petty but that was so lazy why didnt we get like crucifixes or sth else, even if it didn’t fit super well it made more sense than those silly production images of the doll and of fiona floating around...........

most of all i feel like stuff IS happening in each episode (here theres the interesting thing with the doll doing recon and taking those pictures?? for some reason???? and now chucky and nica working together to break free and get revenge) but its nowhere as tightly structured and well built up to as in the first season. im thinking of how every scene added a little more to the characters and the environment and the dynamics and how it juggled a whole bunch of plotlines masterfully, while here i think we might have. three. if we count devon and jake, and lexy and nadine as separates. and theres still this feeling of waiting for something else to happen, of building up to something, instead of a constant succession of impactful events. i hoped first episode was all setup even if it wasnt super well conveyed, and this episode too felt most of all like catching up and setting up possible threads. it got better after the halfway point but it still feels like a slow climb. thinking it will eventually get better isnt much of a comfort to me when i can easily remember how much better season one was

#. 🦴 #somehow what bothers me most is that if glen n glenda are going to have an interesting arc i feel like #they deserve a much stronger narrative around them. and this aint it chief at least not for me #chucky series #also! i miss the split diopter shots :( #this episode made really nice use of the beautiful school building especially with that effect of light through the windows #i feel like it might be a reference to the lighting in that warehouse where tiff first appeared in bride? #but it also made those shots sort of dark in a very striking way #apart from that there hasnt been many really memorable images in these two episodes. i felt like there were too many overhead shots #for no particular reason. and its a shame bc this show used to have some really good composition #oh also the kills were like. meh. i know last episode a kid literally exploded but cmon

[ellelans]

You made a tag comment about how Buddie wasn't planned from the beginning. And therefore what we got in Season 2 wasn't (at the time) the groundwork for a love story. I agree completely! Much of it I can see as either a bit of fun (the Christmas elf, the instagram girl) or that kind of hyper-masc heterosexuality that loops around itself and becomes gay (Buck's whole...thing with Eddie in the beginning, the focus on Eddie's body/hotness/physical appearance). But sometimes I step back and look at the whole and I'm all 🧐 🤔.

I don't even know what I'm asking lol. Would just love your thoughts/feelings on the confusing spectacle that are Buck and Eddie in season 2. And when/how/why did the show change their mind?

Thank you so much for the ask and you know what? Let’s talk about it.I recently had an in depth chat about this pretty unpopular opinion with a friend and I tried to explain to her why I don't see buddie as an actual pairing or having any canon potential until early s3 and why I don't believe they were planned from the beginning.This will be long and all over the place of course lol

The first and the most obvious reason is the way 911 deals with main characters and their romantic arcs.They don't actually drag it on for long because there is no need or time for that since every single main character has a strong storyline of their own and any romantic development between any pair as an additional combined storyline. Relationships happen fast on 911 because they are planned ahead and the only relationship that took longer than usual few episodes was Chim and Maddie and they were already kissing and planning a date in 2x11.

Also when shows enter their second season there is never a way to predict how long it will stay on the air and because of that it is impossible for me to believe that buddie was planned as some epic old school slowburn that is nowhere as close to be resolved after 3 seasons.When I say old school slowburn I mean shows that have this one heterosexual romance at the center of the universe that is usually stretched across seasons and builds up sexual tension between characters and it takes literally years for them to finally get together.We have these two characters that where made for each other and you KNOW that they will eventually get together because of some ridiculous pining that will eventually end in a kiss and everyone will scream and cry.And maybe that’s how buddie feels to me now after years of careful build up-but the way I see it they as a potential something didn't happen in s2.

We all joke about how character introduction of Eddie is the gayest we have ever seen and Buck's reaction to him as true bisexual and I do that myself too because I am a bisexual too and tbh its hard to unsee (also I don't want to) but lets remove our rainbow glasses for a second. What really did happened in that scene? Eddie's perfect abs on display,Chim and Hen fun comments on how beautiful he is,Bobby's praise and bragging about getting Eddie and his Silver Star on the team and Buck's insecurities flaring up as a reaction to all of this.Buck immediately feels threatened.At this point we of course have no idea how deeply his insecurities run or why,but as episode progresses we witness Eddie on his first call making a better decision to how to handle a medical situation and backed up by Bobby.It has sort of a devastating effect on Buck,who suddenly starts acting like we have never seen him before.Then there is a that scene at the gym where Buck tells Eddie how he is his problem. And later we of course have the scene in ambulance when Eddie asked what exactly they are measuring. Because that's what it looked like - a usual macho men measuring context. But the thing is 911 doesn’t toxic masculinity when it comes to main male characters and we saw many examples of that already by then,but the biggest one was supposed to be BuckandEddie. Equals,partners and best friends.

911 was already pushing boundaries with cast,characters and relationships diversity and I strongly believe that what they wanted to show us was a male equivalent of what we are used to see in female bffs -a different kind of a friendship between men. Men who care about each other,who talk about feelings,discuss sex,dating or why they don’t,who again openly acknowledge that they find each other attractive and giving advices on how to take a more flattering selfie,who are not afraid of crying, admit they are struggling or heartbroken or loving their kid.Honestly when was the last time any of us saw a male friendship like theirs?Men are not allowed to be like that on TV (I am still shocked that its a Fox show tbh) and especially with each other.We are not used to see such a development so no wonder people started paying attention-which was what writers wanted,of course.

But that also brings us to that important question about queer undertones,subtext and do what we actually see in s2. Are there queer undertones?Absolutely. Subtext?It’s right there but you will probably not get it unless you’re reading between the lines.Before we get to Christmas Elf,there was ‘’He is cute!/He gets that a lot,you should’ve seen his kid...’’ Maddie and Buck scene that is once again reinforces that Buck finds Eddie attractive and it shouldn’t be a surprise because we already know from 2x01 he has eyes - but they mention it AGAIN and that personally made me raise a brow or two.By the time we get to that Christmas episode,we already have Shannon back and Buck finally moved on from Abby with Taylor and then Ali and then we are given another queer coded scene-with Christmas elf.And its very cute and to an average heterosexual viewer its a nice little joke,but any queer watching that scene was probably taken aback a little.

So why imo did Tim&Co do it and when they realized they can actually see where they can take BuckandEddie and when they started becoming buddie?My answer is ship teasing.It’s what a lot of people actually mistake for queer baiting,but we are not talking about that rn.Ship teasing works like charm and if shows can get away with that-they will totally use it to their advantage.It’s usually not always malicious,but it IS always intentional because that brings in a category of people that were overlooked for a long time-online fandom.Now I have seen some opinions that fandom doesn’t really matter,it’s the ratings that count and that is NOT TRUE.You can have your ratings,but if there is no buzz online?Your show is going nowhere.For at least a decade now every self-respecting production has teams to monitor fandom activities because it gives them better ideas about how consumers(fans) are interacting with their product (show).Fandom is important because we generate the buzz.So I do believe that BuckandEddie and that sweet ship teasing were to get a certain part of the fandom pay attention.

I wasn’t here when S2 aired so I don’t know if that was the case,but it is obvious that these scenes I talked about above made fans pay a LOT of attention. And maybe that was the reaction writers needed to start changing course from ship teasing to start building up to something else.They maybe didn’t plan it at the very beginning and on paper,but lets also not forget the insane chemistry between Oilver and Ryan,which imo is another big reason-it's impossible to ignore.

Because S3?Is light years away from S2 in terms of BuckandEddie-they became buddie.In s3 Buck and Eddie become each other’s significant other,they are in a primary relationship. ’’Buck invites Eddie...’’?!!!!! It is not yet romantic and probably won’t be until ending of s5 if we are lucky-but it is in your face,they are not subtle anymore.I personally saw buddie only at the end of 3x03 when Eddie came over and said that there is noone in the world he trusts with his son more than Buck, looking like he did into Buck’s eyes,while ‘Photograph’ played in the background right before Buck’s overvoice about being seen and found and a raft to bring one home. After S4 ending tho...we all know that something is about to happen and its like there is electricity in the air as we are waiting for s5!

Probably a lot more thoughts than you expected,but I have many feelings about these two and when buddie goes canon this post will become completely irrelevant lol 💖 

#what i was trying to say #is that s2 still can be read as heterosexual #but s3? no way #s3 was different #it was impossible to ignore that something is going on #911 #buddie

[venus-says]

Aikatsu On Parade! Dream Story Episodes 01-02

A new dream is the start of a new journey.

It is finally time to talk about Dream Story!

If you follow me on Twitter you know I wasn't necessarily excited for Dream Story and a huge part of that was because I never had any strong feelings about Noeru while watching OGkatsu so bringing her back as the new protagonist for this web series wasn't really that appealing to me. I always knew I'd watch it because after all, this is Aikatsu and I love this franchise even with all of its flaws, but I wasn't anything I was celebrating.

And it's with a lot of joy that I come here and say that I was gladly surprised and I enjoyed the hell out of this web show.

Yeah, it has its problems like being too short, not having the best animation or art direction, some of the things are rushed, and the odd and irregular release schedule. But for what it is, it is a pretty good show, it's very wholesome, and I don't know I just had a very good time watching it. not gonna lie, kinda wish they had more of these to flash out other characters that were left behind by their seasons (but I know this is asking too much so I don't have my hopes high).

I pretty much enjoyed everything about this anime, and I'll get to that in a moment, but there's one thing that really bugged me, and yeah, it's a very minor problem, and considering what I wrote for the finale of the TV anime I know I shouldn't be complaining about this, but like, I can't deny that is very confusing with the continuity to have this happen so casually after the end of On Parade where technically the worlds were split again. Like, it is a very minor thing, and I know that as short as it is this show doesn't have the luxury to waste its time to give us lore explanation, but I feel like I had to note this otherwise I'd feel very weird. In any case, let's move on.

To begin with, I've fallen in love with Noeru, it was a very short time we spent with her as a protagonist of her own story but I really got to like her in this period. Because she had left a very small impression on me in the original anime I wasn't sure if they would have enough to build her as a strong character, but they had plenty to use for her and I really enjoyed the experience of rediscovering this character through new lenses but with information that was already there and that I just didn't pay much attention because I was focusing in other things whenever she appeared in the anime.

Two scenes in particular sold Noeru as a very good character to me. the first one is the one right before their performance where she tells Seira that Ichigowas what inspired her to be an Idol, but Seira is the idol she aspires to be, it's a short moment but the impression it gave me it was that she had more to her than just being another of Ichigo`s children XD. The second scene is when she goes talk to Amahane-san to thank her for the dress she got for her performance, the relationship between idol and brand designer is one of the aspects I miss the most of OGkatsu so seeing it here really hit the spot for me, and it was also very sweet seeing the admiration Noeru has for Angely Sugar and how Amahane-san sees her as worthy of being able to lead Angely Sugar to a different path from the ones Ichigo and Madoka did. That's a lot of good stuff for two episodes that don't go over 15 minutes each and I was very impressed.

The "main" thing for this series, the goal everyone is reaching for, is the Dream School Grand Prix which is a very interesting concept. To starters I like how this is a competition to decide which is the best idol school and not who's the best idol, I think this is what they originally wanted to do with Dream Academy in season 2 but that they dropped because the story took itself to another path, and I'm glad they're using it here. I don't know why they allowed graduated students to participate, but it's not that big of a problem to me, I mean if they wanna show how good each school is showing off their graduates is the way to do it, that's why colleges are always using people who already studied there to do their ads, I guess this is just another variation of this.

In terms of participants, I pretty much agree with everyone that was chosen by each school. Starlight obviously chose the Starlight Queens, Neo Venus Ark brought in the only other main characters that weren't Elza, and Star Harmony brought the actual Diamond Friends and one member from the past unit that holds that title, I would've rather see Mirai instead of Karen just for type diversity but it makes sense that Karen is there. The chosen ones from Four Stars were probably the ones I was most unsure about, but if this is in canon with On Parade, Ako is in Hollywood and Haruka is just a side character so only Yume and Mahiru were available from the current S4 generation and Hime is the choice that makes more sense out of the 25th generation so... good choices overall.

I just think the way they made the thing work was just a bit weird, like in the first episode they announced who their representatives would be, then they had a performance, and then at the end of the second episode they had the formal presentation to the public, and I don't know it felt weird. I think they should've made the announcement in the press release, THEN have the announcement ceremony from episode 2, and the performance should come after that as a way to showcase the participants, but I guess they had to have a performance in episode 1 so they had to do it in that way so...

And since I mentioned the performance, let's talk about it. I really love this song, I love this stage, I love everything about this, even the weird CGI. I think the only thing I don't like here is Maria's dress because I think that skirt is pretty ugly, but HNoeru and Sora's PRs more than compensate for that. I also really like the special effects, they were obviously added there to cheapen out the think and don't make it so obvious that this isn't the best CGI ever but I enjoyed them anyway, I especially like the transition when the stage goes from day to night, it was all very beautiful. But I think the more important thing of all is: WE FINALLY GOT A FULL FITTING ROD SEQUENCE!!!! Yeah, it's not as charming as the original, but honestly? WHO CARES? I'm just happy that after 25 episodes of nothing we finally got this back. Sadly no special appeal yet. :(

The final thing I have to comment on is in the rivalry between Akari and Noeru that started here. It was a very nice surprise to see this being implemented, I never saw this as a possibility before, but when you go beyond the surface level you can see that they share more similarities than what one would think and I'm really happy to see this being explored here.

And I think that's all I had to say, I'm genuinely impressed that I wrote so much about such short episodes, but I really liked what I saw and I'm just very glad we have Dream Story. What are your thoughts in the first two episodes and Drem Story as a whole? Let me know in the comments down below. Stay healthy, stay safe, never stop resisting, thank you so much for reading until this fr, and until the next time. Bye-bye~

#Aikatsu on Parade! #Dream Story #aikatsu

[brookylnboy]

Happiest Place - Chris Evans x Reader

A/N: I don’t know how many nephews and nieces Chris has nor much about his family other than he is close with him mom and has a younger brother and an older sister and younger sister? (and a quick google search was unsuccessful).  So, I’m sorry that it’s probably inaccurate.

Also, I feel a little rusty writing imagines so i’m sorry if it’s terrible! Also sorry for any mistakes/typos! Hope you guys enjoy and if you would like tagged in future installments let me know!

“Neither of you will go on Tower of Terror with me,” you asked your two friends as you got off of Rock N Rollercoaster. It was the first day of your Disney trip with two of your best friends since elementary school. And apparently neither of them will go on one of your favorite rides.

“I hate heights.” Your friend Mara explained shrugging her shoulders.

“And I’m a one intense ride a day person,” Kate explained.

“You guys both suck!”

“Oh, go without us!” Kate said pointing over to the ride that was peaking over some trees. “You can be a big girl.”

“Can you guys wait in line with me at least,” you asked. You always rode the ride by yourself when you went at Disney because you always came with people that avoided riding it.

“Sure. But you better not trick us into riding.” She gave you a pointed look and you couldn’t help but laugh because you and Kate tricked her into riding Rock N Rollercoaster, even though she isn’t a fan of upside-down rides. Although, she hadn’t ever been on one before in all fairness. How could she know if she liked them or not? Which she did!  

“I won’t. As soon as we get to the lobby run.”

“Got it.”

Your friends were kind enough to wait with you in line for thirty minutes until running to the Beauty and the Beast stage show just before you made it to the building. From there, it wasn’t a terrible wait especially once you got inside the lobby and could look around for different objects from the TV series. Even though you didn’t watch even close to half of the episodes, you could still pick out a few.

Once you got to the front of the line, the cast member told you to follow the family in front of you and you squeezed into the pretty packed library just before the doors closed.

You watched the preshow on the TV that you’ve seen a million times before. Even though you quoted the film, you only said the last part out loud at the very end, “and this elevator travels directly to the Gift Shop.”

You heard a group of kids chuckle nearby as one of them comments, “well it is true,” as the lights turned back on. Everyone started filing out of the room and toward the final queue in the darker boiler looking basement.

“Any single riders?” You heard one of the cast members call out. You looked around for a moment before raising your hand seeing that no one closer did. “Right this way miss.” He locked eyes with you and waved you forward.

Moving up in line, you apologized profusely as you weaved your way to the front of the line and stood behind the group that the cast member gestured to.

“Now you’re a party of four,” he said smiling and walked away to get another elevator lined up.

You smiled at the family in front of you noticing two boys with who you assume is their father. He smiled softly at you and you couldn’t help but think that the man was attractive.

“Where’s your family,” you heard the smaller of the two boys ask you. He was swaying from foot to foot nervously, while the guy was about to correct him for asking.

You smiled. “I’m actually here with some friends and they weren’t brave enough to ride this. They aren’t brave like you.”

He smiled brightly and looked up to his father excited. The guy smiled back at him before offering you one. You found yourself momentarily pausing as you thought you recognized him but you weren’t sure from where and hoped that you didn’t make the realization obvious.

“You think I’m brave?”

“Of course! I bet you’re braver than me.”

He shook his head violently. “No. I’m scared to ride this ride.”

You offered him a soft smile. “Can you keep a secret?” He nodded curious. You lowered your voice in a rather loud whisper. “I’m scared too.”

“Really,” he asked surprised. You nodded your head. “We can be brave together.”

“You having a fun trip,” you asked the group as all three of them were turned towards you. You still couldn’t figure out where you recognized the man from and it was starting to really bug you.

“Yes,” all three of them answered in perfect synchronization.

“You,” asked the guy. You swear that he was smiling nervously at you and you tried to stop yourself from thinking too much into it. He was very attractive and maybe he isn’t their father but he probably didn’t think you were attractive.

“Of course! It’s my one friend’s first trip to Disney World so it’s been a lot of fun seeing her excited for everything.”

“Trips with friends is always a great time.”

“But trips with family is better right,” the older boy asked.

The guy laughed before replying. “Of course, trips with my nephews are my favorite.” He ruffled both of the boys’ hair making them laugh as you smiled.

Everyone got quiet as one of the cast members got everyone’s attention just at the lights flickered. She explained what was going to happen in a very dry serious voice and the elevator doors opened just after she finished her speech. One by one the lines got into the car and everyone started buckling.

“Other side,” you told the younger boy as you saw him struggling for a moment to figure out which buckle was his.

“Thanks,” he told you as he grabbed the right one and buckled in.

You followed the instructions given to you by the cast member and within a few moments the elevator was encased in darkness and the ride soon started. You were in the back center of the vehicle giving you the best view of the ride as it slowly went to the hallway with the family and then through the pathway that went from light to darkness with different magic visuals thrown throughout. The ride might not be close to being new but the effects still wowed you especially knowing some specifics of how the ride was created.

“Oh no,” you heard one of the kids in the vehicle say as the car shook into what you knew to be the drop section of the ride. Like every other time, you could feel the tension in the air as everyone anticipated what would happen next since the ride changes drop sequences. 

It didn’t take long for the sequence to begin as the vehicle dropped down first leaving people screaming and grabbing onto something frantically. You could see the boy grab onto his uncle frightened. The ride went up and down falling faster than gravity as you lifted off your seat slightly.

Once the ride ended and the vehicle was turning around to the exit door, you turned towards the boy.

“Did you like it,” you asked him and he nodded his head violently, bouncing in his seat.

“Uncle Chris can we go on it again,” he asked and the older boy chimed in.

“You promised your mom that you would watch the Stunt Show with her. But after we can.”

“Yes please!” He turned to you once he got off of the ride vehicle as your group was the last to get out. “We survived!”

You chuckled before holding your hand up. “We did. High five!” You went over to the row of TVs and looked for your photo. Once you spotted it, you took a photo of it and sent it to your friends. You could tell that the guy and the two boys were still right behind you.

When you turned around, the guy stepped towards you asking, “do you um have any plans?”

You smiled. “My friends went to go see Beauty and the Beast without me so I was planning on catching the last showing but I would be happy to ride this one again with people.”

“I would be up for watching the Beauty and the Beast show,” he told you as the four of you started walking out of the shop and towards the main part of sunset boulevard. He waved to his sister and the two boys ran over to her followed by Chris.

You slowly followed behind waiting for Chris as he talked with his sister and nephews. And that’s when you realized who it was. CHRIS fucking EVANS. You were upset that you didn’t figure it out sooner but you never expected that you would have actually ran into him and had to recognize him in actual real life.

His sister gave you a soft smile before Chris turned around. “This is my sister Carly.”

“Hi! I’m Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you Y/N.”

“You guys have fun at the Stunt Show,” Chris told them.

“We will,” the younger boy said as he started pulling his mom in the general direction of the show.

“I’ll see you later,” she said before following her sons.

“So Beauty and the Beast,” Chris asked and you nodded the two of you walking towards the theatre just to the left of where you were.

“To Beauty and the Beast!”

#chris evans imagine #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you

[lady-of-lyon]

Why I Love Steven Universe the Movie - There Are Spoilers

I saw the Steven Universe movie the day after it came out, on the Cartoon Network app. Immediately after watching it, the first thought I had was, “well, that happened.” It seemed a bit bizarre and empty to me at the time, but after a few weeks of ruminating, it slowly began to connect with me more and more.

I get why people don’t like this movie. There are a lot of things I don’t like about it too. The whole journey with the main characters rediscovering what they had already learned in the show was to me uninteresting and unfulfilling. Amnesia is a tricky plot device because it’s an easy cop out, and it’s often used as nothing other than that especially in this movie, where the characters don’t grow or learn, they just fall back to square one and regrow, which creates an illusion of character development that doesn’t really develop anything. The best this movie does with this concept is with Pearl, by clarifying that it wasn’t Rose who gave her her independence but independence itself, but amnesia wasn’t really necessary to make this statement, and other than that what’s learned leaves no impact. Even Steven’s journey is a retread, and he doesn’t have an excuse, because he doesn’t have amnesia. Cool things can be done with amnesia, the movie Memento for one is a prime example, and I also like to direct you to the Criminal Minds season 3 episode Tabula Rasa, but Steven Universe does not do such things.

A lot of the songs in the movie were also sub-par. Let Us Adore You (especially the reprise), Other Friends and Drift Away stick with you, and system/BOOT. PearlFinal (3).Info is cute, but other than that the songs do what their more memorable colleague mentions - they drift away. Yes, burn me at the stake, I did not care for True Kinda Love. To start with it’s not really my kind of music, and it especially rubbed me the wrong way when its chill elevator jams were chosen to accompany the most desperate and dramatic scene in the movie. The pacing is also messed up; little time is spent showing what Steven’s happily ever after actually looks like, so it feels rushed and low-stakes when Spinel comes in to destroy it. I was also personally a bit miffed when Spinel was briefly reverted to being evil just over a bad word choice on Steven’s part, even after the beautiful garden scene.

And of course, the elephant in the room, the treatment of Pink Diamond, with her splitting the fanbase on whether she’s irredeemable or whether the movie unfairly makes her seem so without playing devil’s advocate and acknowledging the abuse that we learned from the series she was taking and how that effected her actions. I won’t dip my toes too deep in that, but I agree with the fanbase that it could’ve been dealt with better.

Wow, it sounds like I really don’t like this movie, huh? And to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have, if it weren’t for Spinel.

From parent���s day out on to today, I’ve always gone to small schools. My graduating highschool class had nine people in it, who were all very different in terms of personality and personal goals, and the same can be said of all my other classes. Small schools love to talk about how great small schools are, and how it builds such a strong community, and how the students become family, but it isn’t true. Instead the result was a group of people who were friendly with one another not because they were actually friends, but because they had no other choice, because these were the only people that were around them. You weren’t ever able to find someone who you can really connect with, and even when you kinda did, despite how much you hugged and hung out and ate lunch together, there was always this sense that it was out of necessity, that you were only friends because no one else had even the slightest hint of being compatible. That’s the reason I love shows and movies so much about strangers being forced together to save the day and become friends in the process, because I know from personal experience that something like that is so impossible that the mere thought of it working out is a world of escapism.

And that was the headspace I was in most of my life - escapism, denial. I really did believe the small schools were right, that me and my classmates were close, that we were family. I went on thinking that they liked me, that I was the class clown, the entertainment, their friend. But I found out, that could not be further from the truth.

I switched schools partway through my sixth grade year, mostly because of this teacher I had. She was disorganized and mean and had a personal vendetta against me, so my parents pulled me out. As I was leaving, though, she told me what I hadn’t seen - my classmates hated me. They thought I was weird, and annoying, and childish, and wanted nothing to do with me. She was right, as was confirmed to me last summer by one of the two classmates who were nice to me from that school that I reconnected with, but her saying that really messed me up. I was eleven, why wouldn’t it?

Moving into my new school I was paranoid. It didn’t help that the students here much more openly showed their disdain for things, so they didn’t talk about me behind my back - I mean, I’m sure they did, but more importantly they talked about me to my face. There was a lot of bullying in that middleschool, so I did what I thought was the only choice I had. I distanced myself from them, isolated myself, and further did everything I could to get back. I was a tattle tale. I threw tantrums, and then ran away. I played into my own negative image, because I knew I wasn’t one of them, they had made that very clear, so surely that meant I was against them, right?

But then highschool rolled around. Things were different. The students in my class were largely different from the ones in middleschool, either because they matured or just came in from another school, replacing many who had left. At the start of my freshman year there was still some of that antagonism left in me, but it slowly faded out because I realized I was really, really lonely. I fell back on my attempts to be a class clown, to be entertainment, not because it was who I was and I was in denial by believing they liked me that way, but as a desperate ploy to get friends back. It was the only thing I knew how to do when it came to connecting with others, and of course I fell on my face. Many times. Sometimes literally. The more I tried and failed, the more sad I became, because this time my conclusion wasn’t that they didn’t like me because they were shallow bullies, my conclusion was that they didn’t like me because I was unlikeable.

I was excited going into college for the chance to start fresh, but that mindset still lingered in the back of my head. It kept me from making a lot of friends, because I wouldn’t try, because the fear of being hated outweighed the hope of being happy.

I was pretty lonely my first two years.

You can probably see a few parallels between me and Spinel, and if you can’t I’ll make it clearer. Obviously our life story isn’t the same, but so much of it is alike. Like Spinel I believed that someone who didn’t love me loved me. It wasn’t my fault, or their’s. It was because we were forced together by an institution that could not allow either of us to be happy, only I was in denial about it, and the other people were just grated by my childish optimism. If course I could never make them happy, we weren’t in the right places. But when I found out I wasn’t wanted, from the teacher telling me I wasn’t, to my school’s girl scout troop quietly ceasing to invite me to campouts, despite assuring me that changing schools wasn’t going to keep me from being a part of the troop, to each of my classmates from there following me when I joined social media just to unfollow me a few weeks later, it was a system shock, and I was devastated. I felt like a fool for ever even giving them the time of day, and so I lashed out. The people who got my wrath didn’t deserve it. The middleschoolers were bullies, yes, but they were going through their own insecurities and were just facing the world in a different way. Neither of us were in the right. And when it finally dawned on me that my treatment of them was unloving, it wasn’t because I came to that conclusion, but because I thought I wasn’t able to be loved - I used to be not good enough for them, and now I wasn’t good at all.

Spinel’s phase of self-hatred after her phase of aggression is brief, but it still speaks to me. She doesn’t want to be seen, and while she wants to make friends again, she’s convinced that she’s already ruined things for the people around her. She needs a fresh start.

And that’s where the happy ending comes. I am now happily in a wonderful group of friends. We all eat dinner together not because we have to, but because we want to. It took me a while to connect with them because I was still learning about myself, but after about a year of therapy and heart-to-hearts, I am happy. They are to me what the diamonds will be to Spinel. It shows that it is possible to be loved, to have friends, even when it seems like you’ve ruined everything for yourself.

And that’s why I love Steven Universe the Movie, because it isn’t Steven’s movie, it’s Spinel’s, and in some ways it’s my own. There’s probably not too many people who connected with Spinel’s story like I did, but it was just so powerful to me. She tries to make friends in a group she’s just not compatible with, and when things obviously don’t work out, she lashes out, assuming first that friends aren’t possible, that they’re just going to use you and talk behind your back and leave you behind, and then assuming that she just isn’t lovable. But she learns that there’s hope. She learns that she’s wrong, and it doesn’t seem to be Steven who teaches her this. Her breakdown of “what am I doing? Why do I want to hurt you so bad” comes when she looks at herself and what she’s become. Steven makes her want to try, to try to be better, but ultimately he’s not the one who can save her. It’s clear throughout the movie that he actually doesn’t want to be Spinel’s friend, so it makes sense that he won’t be, that they’re not compatible - I was wrong for antagonizing my middleschool classmates, but I don’t think we could’ve been friends, same with my highschool classmates - the diamonds, however, who, for all you want to say about them, have a lot of personal growth to do on their own, actually do want her. They latch on to her personality, she genuinely gives them joy where other’s couldn’t, and where she couldn’t to others. So they fly off - and Steven’s right, it’s not quite a happily ever after, because there’s still going to be a lot of work to do, but to me, it is a happy ending.

Because someday, somewhere, somehow, you’ll love again.

You just need to find someone.

#steven universe #su #steven universe the movie #su movie #spinel

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 44: A Wild Plot Appeared!

Watched live. Had a lot of lag while it streamed. Very little idea what I’m getting into re: plot because I couldn’t understand.

Let’s do this.

––

We open with some rando track athlete losing a race because he tripped… and getting. Surrounded by a bubble version of Decade’s Dimensional Walls… Well then. That can’t be good.

Even worse is that he turns out to have been one of Sougo’s high school classmates, named Nishimura. Coincidence? Mayhaps. But he’s one of multiple people who’ve recently disappeared.

Geiz, naturally, blames the Time Jackers. He’s incredibly valid in that, as Woz agrees. After all, Swartz did just steal both Tsukuyomi’s and Tsukasa’s powers. Painfully on both counts. You know, because we really needed to see said power stealing again. Which we did. Because I definitely wanted to see Tsukuyomi screaming in pain and Tsukasa dropping to the ground again.

Junichiro, bringing out breakfast, mentions that Tsukuyomi hasn’t gotten up yet… and Sougo says that he hasn’t seen her since last night.

––

Okay, so. Serious question time. How long has passed since the last two arcs? Because the Den-O tribute was one day, June 9 or so, and led directly into the Another Zi-O II arc, which was… the first episode was June 30 and ran until July 14. Now, normally, every arc is two episodes or so – some of the plot arcs have been three. Each story is usually one, maybe two days, and they have two weeks of downtime between arcs. We just had two arcs take five weeks. So, ostensibly, it could be June 10 in-universe. This is why timelines for shows get confusing, and seasons of Kamen Rider usually end in-universe at least a month before the final episode airs.

Please let there be a time skip during this episode. I watched raw, but I couldn’t tell how much time goes by.

Alright, serious plot and chronology wondering aside. Sougo says he hasn’t seen Tsukuyomi since last night, and everything begins to shake. The three Riders run outside.

––

…That. That sure looks like a black hole. Or a wormhole. Neither is exactly unprecedented.

Oooh, and a big ol’ circle opens up, with circuitry patterns racing up. Wormhole it is. With a very blue-and-white Time Mazine dropping down out of it.

According to Woz, it’s an early model, from the 2050’s. So, good continuity nod. I mean, the title alone made it clear that Kamen Rider Aqua was showing up, even if the previews hadn’t shown him. And Aqua’s single appearance was in “Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max”, which I will be referring to as “Mega Max” because movie titles in this franchise are too danged long.

In Mega Max, Miharu Minato was said to be from ‘40 years in the future,’ aka about the year 2050.

And here he is! The good water boy! I mean, I’m not found of his armor – never have been – but his concept was always cool. He draws from the OG Showa riders using power from wind to transform, except in his case, he uses water. All we need now is someone to use earth in an old-school Showa Style belt and we’ll have a complete set! (No, I’m not forgetting fire. It’s implied in ‘Kamen Rider 1’, the Ghost spring movie, that Hongo can now use wind and/or fire for his transformation. Area cyborg is basically a literal phoenix.)

Turns out, the best water boy is here to bring Geiz and Tsukuyomi back… to… the future… Huh. Geiz has no idea who he is, so that’s interesting. He also has no idea why Miharu’d be bringing him back.

Cue Woz pausing time to narrate-

Wait hold on.

If the time powers are an inherent ability that Tsukuyomi and Swartz’s family have, and Heure and Hora got their time powers from Swartz… then where did Woz get his? We know he can at least manipulate time to some degree – not just for the recaps, but if I remember correctly, he’s been shown to at least be able to cancel out time stops.

Woz, whomst the heck are you?!

Okay, I’m just going to put that on the back burner for now and keep going.

––

Woz’s recap today shows the clock advancing again. And, I mean, it’s always at least been ticking in the background in his recap vault, but we don’t usually see the hands move. It always feels really ominous when they do that…

Basically, Woz says that Sougo has met many Legends, and taken their powers for his own. However, the enemy has effectively been doing the same. Now, Sougo’s journey is leading to the final battle.

We’ve only got a little over a month left, folks. Zero One starts September 1. That gives us… 6 episodes, including this one, and the Over Quartzer movie. …We don’t have time for this. Why were the ‘future riders’ necessary?! We could have gotten more plot back then, instead of how Shinobi and Quiz were basically filler! Okay, so Shinobi did establish Sougo’s future dreams, and Kikai established a little more of both Sougo’s backstory and powers… although I don’t think we’ve seen the dream thing since, so it winds up being a moot point anyway.

Hmph.

––

I absolutely love the Zi-O opening. Over Quartzer is a great song, and the sequence has actually bothered to update. My issue with Ex-Aid and Build’s opening sequences is that they just. Didn’t. The home releases included the actual sequences, as opposed to the movie-promotion versions that were in the aired episodes. But it made it apparent that they never finished updating them. Ex-Aid never included Taddle Legacy – the final form for the advertised Secondary Rider. (I still say that Taiga’s clearly the actual secondary plot and development wise, and Kiriya’s the secondary motivation wise. Hiiro is just there.) Build never updated with Cross-Z Magma, either. That opening kept freaking Cross-Z Charge through the end, even though he stopped using it like halfway through the show. You know. The form for the other Main Character. (Sento and Ryuuga are co-leads – they share the Main Rider spot, and you will never convince me otherwise.) Incidentally, Wizard never updated to include Beast Hyper… OR INFINITY. No, it kept the All Dragon form through the OP for the rest of the show after it’s debut, instead of. You know. The Main Rider’s ACTUAL FINAL FORM.

Yes, I’m bitter about that. If you’re going to do an updating opening sequence, then you ought to keep updating it!

Like, most of the phase two seasons are fine – they either didn’t make major changes to the sequence at all, as in OOO and Gaim, only minor changes when new Riders came in, aka Accel joining W, or kept up with the changes. That’s your Fourze, Drive, and Ghost. But Wizard, Ex-Aid, and Build didn’t.

Zi-O has! Each of Sougo’s new forms came and went – except Decade, I think, but that was more just a different Legend Rider power than an actual new form in itself. Zi-O II, Trinity, and Grand have all replaced each other as the show’s progressed. Geiz has always been in, and eventually got upgraded to Geiz Revive. When Hat Woz showed up, Kamen Rider Woz entered the sequence, and Scarf Woz eventually took over – his spot now shows Ginga’s three variants.

So yeah! The Zi-O opening’s done a way better job than the last two.

––

Heure’s running, but we don’t know from what. Or from who. Who seems to be a more likely option, seeing as he’s been deemed unnecessary by his boss.

Although, we can get a pretty good clue as to the ‘who’ as he climbs a set of stairs – because everything gets very slow.

It’s Slowdown.

Time for Another Drive.

Another Drive’s design is pretty neat! Roidmudes had… well, they had finger guns. There’s no way around phrasing it that way, they had finger guns, not unlike Deneb’s. Drive had a gun that was based on a car door.

Guess what Another Drive has on their arm. Go on, guess.

…Okay, it’s a car door. A car door with ‘keep out’ tape on it, which is hilarious. And – ohhhhh I couldn’t see this in the raw, but Another Drive’s ‘belt’? It’s a dashboard panel, the bit with the gauges. There’s a wheel hub sticking out of their shoulder, y’know, the part a tire attaches to. This is nice.

We waited literally the entire season for Another Drive and this beautiful literal car wreck was worth it.

Oh-hohoho and the face underneath what would be the helmet looks like a Roidmudes basic form, which is a great touch. Especially as a nod to the fact that Proto-Drive, the person partnered with Krim before Shinnosuke, was, himself, a Roidmude. This is a continuity nod in more ways than one, actually. The Drive and Mach equipment could still produce slowdown. Shinnosuke never did it, because he never would, and Gou only did it once, in his first arc. But they were able to…

And Another Drive can produce Slowdown in a Roidmude manner. The Another Riders are copies of their season’s enemies, after all.

With someone who can slow down the movement speed of everything around them…

It only stands to reason that they could cancel out Heure’s time stop.

In a COMPLETELY TERRIFYING MANNER, by the way! As in, Heure freezes Another Drive when they go to punch him, and runs off. Another Drive is still stopped for a moment…

Before their headlight eyes light up, and their mouth opens in a sort of a roar. One eye is white – the one that still has the headlight lens – and the other is red – presumably a busted taillight.

ALSO I’M NOT KIDDING ANOTHER DRIVE’S MOUTH ACTUALLY OPENS AS THEY BREAK THE FREEZE.

Facial articulation, be it CG or practical, is creepy. We had it with Another Build, and now we’ve got it with Another Drive. …Oh. And those are the first and last standard MOTW Another Riders. I mean, this is technically 19 down, Decade to go, but. Well. Decade.

––

Having made his escape, Heure runs to Hora, where they’ve presumably been hiding since Swartz pulled his ‘you have outlived your usefulness’ card. Hora’s surprised that an Another Rider would be chasing Heure. After all, Zi-O’s already got Grand Zi-O, so he should have all of the powers already. Why would there be an Another Rider at all? Heure suggests that it’s here to take the two of them out. Which, yeah, seems pretty likely. Swartz isn’t usually one to do his own dirty work.

Hora’s powers were taken from her, so what could Heure possibly do?

Hora, dear, I need you to stop putting Heure down constantly. Yes, he’s younger than you. Yes, he’s a little troll. Yes, he definitely should have booked it out of there after Swartz and yourself forced him into being Another Kikai. But he’s still good at this.

––

Back to 9-to-5, where Miharu’s saying that it’s a bad idea to interfere in the past, so he’s here to bring Geiz and Tsukuyomi back to the future. Geiz looks like he hadn’t even thought of that happening. In his defense, I’m pretty sure Geiz just sort of assumed he wouldn’t exist anymore after taking out Sougo before he could become Oma Zi-O, given that neither he or Tsukuyomi had an answer to the ‘and then what’ question.

Also, Miharu isn’t exactly one to talk about interfering in the past, given that he debuted via time travel last time. In his defense, it wasn’t exactly voluntary, and he was a bit ‘possessed’ at the time via a distinct overload of Core Medals.

…So, Aqua is in Woz’s book, but Geiz wasn’t? That’s just rude to the soldier boy. Although, all Wozes seem to be chronic liars, so he may have just been pulling one over. (More on ‘All Wozes Lie’ later.) But the book gives us a glimpse back at Mega Max – specifically; Miharu, his appearance as Aqua, and the shot of him leaving on his jetski into a time vortex identical to the one from earlier in the episode. That one has back-shots of the main OOO cast, because it’s archival footage. It’s nice to get that reminder that there were more characters in OOO than the Main Trio of Eiji, Ankh, and Hina. Date, Gotou, and Satonaka are all there, too, in their ass-kicking gear. (Toei please bring Ankh back we are begging you this movie was such a tease because that Ankh was from the future and disappeared immediately after this shot to go follow Miharu back and you are breaking my heart by reminding me of that and yes I am intentionally breaking everyone else’s hearts by reminding all of you of that so BLAME TOEI FOR NOT BRINGING ANKH BACK.)

So, yeah, Miharu acknowledges his own time travel incident, saying that he’s met past riders, too, and they shaped who he is. (Eiji I miss you!) But what Geiz is doing is different – he’s actively changing the past. Geiz says that’s what Swartz is doing, not him. But really, Miharu has a point. Both teams are basically just doing what they want. At this point, Team Zi-O is doing it out of necessity – they’re a bit stuck in this path, since it’s not like Swartz was going to stop, and would you want to leave Sougo as the only one fighting around here? No! No, you would not!

Geiz is pissed, as he is prone to being, when he gets compared to Swartz, and grabs Miharu by the jacket. All it takes is Sougo calling his name and a single shake of his head to get Geiz to let go.

Geiz please the Tsun-tsun act isn’t fooling anyone at this point. You like Sougo. I mean, I kind of ship it, but time travel plots make shipping a difficult task, so at least admit that you’re friends. Or, you know, use Sougo’s name. It’s been 44 episodes, and you’ve called him by name once.

…Oh no what if they’re saving that for when the time travelers are leaving for good. Because that’s almost definitely what’s going to happen at the end – they’re not going to be able to stay in 2019. They just… can’t. Causality won’t allow it, I’m certain. What if they’re saving Geiz finally calling Sougo by name, maybe even with a smile, for when he has to say goodbye.

Whoops I went and made everything sad.

Miharu also has something he’d like to talk to Tsukuyomi about.

Sougo: Where is she, anyway?

Seriously, how much time has passed?

––

Ah, here’s Tsukuyomi! And Tsukasa! They’re in the rain, on some sort of pedestrian bridge, which looks familiar for reasons I can’t quite place. I love that Tsukasa’s umbrella handle matches his outfit perfectly – it’s half the same black as his suit, and half magenta. Nice.

But anyway, she wants answers. Did he know that Swartz was her brother or not?

Turns out he’d figured it out, but not long before the others. When was the last time we saw him again? Because that was when he and Tsukuyomi went to her childhood home… Oh, right. That was Kabuto Arc, which… was the one right before Den-O. That would be about May 26, and since we’ve established that Den-O was June 9… if we assume that we’re still early June via episode-based time differences, he’s known for at most two weeks.

Tsukasa’s not lying, exactly, when he says that he and Tsukuyomi are the same, in that neither of them are from this world. He’s just not mentioning the assorted other ways. The innate spacial-distortion powers. The sibling with a variant on the same powers. The amnesia. Aforementioned sibling being jealous of them, and turning dark. The leadership role. Admittedly, I can’t exactly blame Tsukasa for not acknowledging his days as Great Leader Tsukasa, because it’s not exactly going to help his case right now.

Anyway, Tsukasa says that he wasn’t originally from this world, and that he came here to look into the space-time distortions. Tsukuyomi assumes he’s accusing Swartz – who is very definitely to blame – but Tsukasa is ‘leaning towards it being the Overlord’s fault,’ saying that Swartz is using it to his advantage. Which… isn’t wrong, exactly, Sougo’s definitely being used by Swartz just as much as everyone else has been, but it’s hardly fair to say it’s his fault. …Aside from the fact I don’t think Tsukasa has used Sougo’s name, either. Always ‘Maou.’ Always ‘Overlord.’ Almost as if the Overlord might not be Sougo.

And if it’s Swartz under the helmet, pulling the strings and, say, having swapped out for Older Sougo when they ‘saw’ Oma Zi-O transform when they met…

After all. We never actually saw Oma Zi-O transform. It was obscured by the explosions from Sougo’s attack.

Back to the show.

I was lying when I said I couldn’t place the bridge. I was pretty sure, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain. There was a whole lot of lag when I watched live, so I couldn’t be positive. But this is the same bridge that Tsukasa and Tsukuyomi were on when they watched what happened to Sougo after the bus ‘accident’, when Swartz did something to him. We still don’t know exactly what, but that purple light looks an awful lot like what he used on Daiki and Hora a few episodes ago. Not quite like what he did to Tsukuyomi, though – that was a little different, but I can’t put it into words.

According to Tsukasa, it’ll all become clear soon enough… that is, it’ll become clear whether or not he’ll destroy this world. Tsukasa, please, we all know you don’t know jack of what’s going on here, and that you weren’t actively destroying the worlds. That was just a side effect of something that was never made clear, some biology thing or power leakage or something like that. Narutaki’s just a tool who never explained anything, least of all what was going on. And it was implied that the whole… thing that happened W & Decade fixed that little… issue.

(Kamen Rider needs to stop with people getting stabbed, because I’m never okay with it, even watching things again, because it’s not okay and I’m pretty sure someone’s just into it or something on production staff. Like, I get it, a lot of people have swords, but that doesn’t mean they have to be used like that!)

Okay, Decade lore discussion being put off to the side…

According to Tsukasa, it’ll all become clear soon enough… that is, it’ll become clear whether or not he’ll destroy this world. But Tsukuyomi protests that – not because of the whole ‘why the heck would you do that’ aspect that most people would give, but because he’s had his powers taken. He says that doesn’t really matter. I mean, for all we know, the world thing wasn’t because he was Decade at all. He could go between worlds as a child, although he needed someone else to open the walls back then. Namely, his younger sister. Oh, look, the similarity thing comes back with his sister, who took over Dai Shocker from him. He could go through the walls she made, but she couldn’t, and she became bitter because of that. Sounds a little familiar, eh?

(See how I brought that back around? I said ‘off to the side.’)

Tsukasa, however, thinks that his power deal doesn’t matter right now. Tsukuyomi is a much bigger deal – just the fact that she’s here is a time distortion in and of itself. Neither of the two of them are supposed to be here.

––

Junichiro wants to know if it’s black tea that that one lady friend likes. This confuses the heck out of the three Team Zi-O boys – what lady friend? They haven’t had any women come, due to the overall lack of female characters in Rider except… for…

All three run out of the dining room, to find Heure and Hora in the main shop.

Heure’s asking for refuge, but Hora doesn’t seem to have realized that was his plan. But really, Sougo did promise to defeat Swartz, so it’ll just be for a little while, until then.

Geiz is basically all ‘Nope, not having this, you’ve made our lives hell, get out.’

But Sougo stops him, with a very good point. He’s being rash. After all, they’re not so different from him.

I’m pretty sure that Sougo’s not referring to the time-meddling that Miharu was talking about. I’m pretty sure it’s that they have nowhere else to reasonably go.

Sougo is such a good lad.

––

And then there’s a short scene with Junichiro… having conscripted Woz and Hora into making what appears to be okonomiyaki? Sure, why not. Also, he’s chastising Miharu for using a knife and fork to eat his. Hora wants to know why she has to be the one to do this. She didn’t even want to be here! Where the heck did Heure go?!

––

Heure and Sougo are overlooking the river.

Also FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. It’s evening now… on the SAME DAY WE STARTED THE EPISODE. I was hoping there was a time skip somewhere in here, between them taking Heure and Hora in and the okonomiyaki scene, but NOPE! Junichiro and Sougo are wearing the same shirts!

Anyway, this is a really touching scene. Heure’s kind of broken right now. He’d thought he could do anything, and looked down on everyone else, including Sougo and co. But it was all just a lie, wasn’t it? He and Hora, they were just being used, weren’t they? And now here they are, the time jackers looking for help from the person they were trying to dethrone.

Sougo says that it’s okay. After all, they’re working together now, aren’t they?

Heure thinks Sougo is either a complete idiot… or really does have what it takes to rule. Because they were bitter enemies, and now he’s helping them. Now he’s accepting them. Why would he ever do that?

Well, as Sougo says, it’s not that he’ll forgive them for hurting people – for hurting his subjects. But they were just trying to make a future in their own way, and he can understand that, at least.

According to Heure, it wasn’t even that in the end. He and Hora were just pawns, both brought here… from… different time periods. By Swartz.

Huh.

Sougo pauses, while Heure looks away. Maybe he was wrong, that the former Time Jackers and Geiz weren’t quite alike. Geiz has somewhere to call home, and they don’t.

They didn’t.

They live with him now. It’s not like Junichiro’s going to turn them away – he’s way too nice, too. So, let’s go help him out!

Heure, shocked that Sougo’s being so stinking nice, gets basically dragged off by Sougo, who’s wrapped an arm around his shoulder and is running off, ignoring Heure’s sputtered protests all the while.

Geiz watches from the bridge up above.

––

We come to a track meet. The same one we opened at. Nishimura doesn’t trip this time. He wins the race.

The faces of everyone else present are blank – in a censored manner, a skintone oval covering them, with little sparks of time-static every now and then.

Nishimura is estactic at having won.

Swartz is in the center of the track circle, watching, and saying that ‘this is his world’. His meaning Nishimura, not Swartz, for the record. I just can’t quite phrase it right. He’s speaking as if talking to Nishimura, but he’s not actually talking directly to him, just doing one of those observation things.

––

Back at 9-to-5, Geiz is on that couch in the dining room, pondering things, such as Miharu saying that ‘they can’t just keep changing time, so he’s here to bring them back’ and Sougo saying that Geiz has a home. He says Tsukuyomi’s name. It sounds like she still hasn’t come back yet.

Heure runs in, distressed.

Hora’s gone.

Sougo and Miharu – who, apparently, is also staying here for the time being – run downstairs, as Heure takes off, wondering what Hora could be thinking.

This house is getting crowded.

At least Sougo’s in a different shirt, and it’s daytime now, showing that we’ve had at least one day go by. So, that’s something, anyway.

––

Heure’s searching, panicked and panting. Where could she be? He sees her out of the corner of his eye, walking past him and out of side.

He turns around…

And Another Drive is there.

I didn’t notice this before, but the missing headlight lens? That’s sort of stuck on Another Drives jaw. It’s weird and I like it – Another Drive is, as I said, quite literally a mangled car wreck version of Drive, all dented and crunched metal, with visible wires and underbody elements. This is such a good design.

Panicked, Heure tries to run – he likely already knows that his time stopping isn’t going to be very effective, he probably saw from a distance that Another Drive can break out.  Blaster shots impact on the door-arm. Tsukuyomi’s finally shown up, Faiz Phone X armed and ready.

Tsukuyomi tells Huere to run, and he books it out of there. She’s ready to keep fighting – and Miharu steps in front of her.

“You’re Tsukuyomi, right?” Another Drive’s advancing, and Miharu is starting to panic. “Ah, uh, hang on! I have to get these out-” He. He pulls out a pair of patterened boxers.

EIJI. Eiji you have never been a good influence. I mean, you’re a good influence in some ways, but also a terrible one in others.

Okay, for context on why Miharu would be calling a pair of colored boxers his ‘Brave Briefs,’ we have to go back to 2011, during Mega Max. (For the record, I can’t wait to see how O-T and TV-N translate that. I know that it’s basically a literal translation, but I just wonder what spins they’ll put on it.)

You see, Miharu is from 2050. He transforms using the power of water.

He is afraid of water. (Ankh, who is a literal fire bird and thus probably has no right to talk, thought this was hilarious. He got a t-shirt thrown over his head to shut him up.)

Eiji, being Eiji, told Miharu that he just has to do what he can today in order to see tomorrow. He’ll be fine as long as he has a good outlook and underwear for tomorrow. He also, helpfully, gives Miharu a package of new boxers, all in very eiji-like colors.

One of these is what Miharu has just pulled out. This is ridiculous and I love it. I also love the little guitar riff version of the old TaToBa jingle from OOO when he pulls them out to freaking look at them and gather his courage, and the medal coin-flip sound effect when he’s gotten said courage and starts to transform. And then he uses a very Showa-style pose as he transforms, with the same sound effect, or at least a very similar one, to Ichigo’s Typhoon belt, when his Aqua Driver activates.

Sougo and Geiz arrive on scene, and Geiz is confused as to why there’s an Another Drive at all. They’ve already gotten all of the watches, haven’t they?

Ah, right, Sougo probably hasn’t had a chance to tell them that summoning Drive didn’t quite work when he was in the future. He reminds Geiz now, anyway, that they technically haven’t actually obtained the Drive watch. Geiz admits, that’s fair, they kind of don’t have the correct Drive watch.

Time For Grand and Revive Typhoon!

Aqua is very, very confused. “This is Zi-O? Oh, man, time has changed way too much!” He’s just stuck watching as the guys have basically elbowed him out of the fight against Another Drive, and asks if he can just leave it to them. They barely even answer him, just basically telling him to go do whatever. So, he basically just takes Tsukuyomi and runs.

And then Another Drive summons a whole bunch of duplicates of Midnight Shadow’s and a few of Max Flare’s tires and whoops, now I’m really missing the Shift Cars.

––

Quick cut to Miharu and Tsukuyomi, where he tells her he’s come to pick her up from the future.

––

Back to the fight, where it turns out that even Revive Typhoon can not stand against Slowdown. Geiz is still moving faster than most people, but he’s still not making any progress.

Also the door is still a gun.

Suddenly, as Another Drive is about to beat the tar out of Geiz, who’s still stuck in slowdown, it’s Another Drive who’s frozen. Turns out that Heure’s not fond of being rescued, or maybe just not fond of owing.

Another Drive breaks out of being stopped just in time to be hit by Geiz’s finisher and one from Grand Zi-O’s use of the Steering Sword.

Hora stands up from the flames.

––

With Miharu and Tsukuyomi, we get some lore. Tsukuyomi’s family apparently ‘rules over time.’ Since she’s from the future where he exists, her being here is locking Sougo into the future where he becomes Oma Zi-O. You know, the thing she’s been trying to prevent.

Her and ‘her brother’ absolutely should not be in this reality – they’re from a different one, and as per what Tsukasa said, them being here is a distortion in and of itself.

Interestingly, Miharu is here to take Tsukuyomi and Geiz back to the future. I can’t tell, but I think that he thinks they’re siblings. WHICH HOO BOY PLEASE DO NOT.

It’s her and her powers he has to bring back most of all – but that’s going to be a little difficult. Swartz – her brother – stole her powers after all.

Miharu is very, very confused again.

––

Hora doesn’t answer when Heure asks what’s going on, just turns and walks away… as Swartz walks up.

He’s going on about how Heure’s been naughty, and asks what on earth Sougo – a pale imitation of Oma Zi-O – can do against him. And then he says that he’ll show them all the power he’s obtained.

Swartz pulls out a watch, and puts it against his chest.

Introducing: Another Decade.

I don’t have much to say about Another Decade’s design, honestly. It’s not exactly that great, just… y’know, a basic Corrupted Rider design. …Why does he have teeth? Like, regular bared teeth? And why is the driver basically a mouth? The green bits on the sides of his head – those are the lenses on the mask, just extended out – and they glow, too, along with the actual eyes.

Actually, he has the Decade transformation sound effects playing underneath the Another Rider transformation, doesn’t he, to go along with the cards flipping away and back over onto him from Decade, and the sort of after-images fading off in the distance as the transformation completes.

…Okay, I guess I had some things to say, after all.

Swartz – Another Decade – you know what, I’m just gonna call him Swartz, because it’s a little shorter. Swartz opens a dimension wall, and moves himself, Sougo, and Geiz to what looks like the same quarry from the Rider War, all the way back in Decade. It’s doing pretty well, honestly. It’s got some nice greenery coming in.

Well, up until Swartz started setting off all of those explosions, anyway.

Then, because apparently they were being too boring to fight, despite his having just set off no fewer than seven explosions, he decides to summon up some Dark Movie-Exclusive Riders.

Everyone, say hello to G4, Fuma, Dark Ghost, and Rey, from Agito, Ex-Aid, Ghost, and Kiva respectively.

All of whom are doing a pretty good job of beating up Grand Zi-O and Geiz Revive Typhoon.

And then G4 feels the need to pull out a MISSILE LAUNCHER. Wh- Where did he pull that from!? Why does he HAVE that?! What was going ON in Agito’s movie?!

We end the episode with our boys getting blasted by, I feel the need to emphasis, LITERAL MISSILES.

––

As for the preview, it opens with Aqua versus ETERNAL. You know. The guy from the W summer movie. Who, like several people we’ve met this season, is supposed to be very, very dead.

And it’s not even just a summoned version of him, either. It’s straight up Kasumi Daido. In person. Somehow. Thanks Swartz it’s not like this guy isn’t off his rocker at all. It’s not like he was willing to kill the entire city of Fuuto just to see if any of them would wind up in his weird undead state. Not like he was going to use Philip as a conduit for the program to do it or anything. Nooooo, not at allllll.

FFS we could have had proper Double rep, and you give us him.

We’ve also got shots of Another Decade holding Tsukuyomi up by the neck, and Heure looking very very injured while being cradled by Sougo. KID YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN OUT A LONG TIME AGO!

The second to last shot is Grand Zi-O and Drive punching Another Drive… while moving in the exact same manner. As if one is just mirroring the other. …Dang it, it’s not actually Shinnosuke in there, is it? We’re just dealing with the same thing as Decade Complete, where he summons a copy of the Rider and they attack simultaneously, with the summon just copying his movements.

The last shot… is Geiz, silhouetted against the window of 9-to-5. Saying “Let’s go back to our timeline.”

––

Okay, so… @Miyukomatsuda and I were talking earlier – we watched the livestream together, and earlier tonight we got to talking… and. Uh. So, Swartz can pull people out of other timelines and realities, yeah? Because that’s what he’s done with multiple people. That one athlete in this ep, and now we find out both Heure and Hora, and, of course, he dropped Tsukuyomi into the Oma Zi-O timeline. Which… may not be the original timeline.

But there’s another timeline involved in all of this, too. Or so we’ve been lead to believe. See, one idea in an AU that Miyuko had was having Hat Woz pulling her characters AR counterparts out of their worlds and dumping them in the main line.

Turns out she just had the wrong guy… the guy who I then suddenly remembered something about.

––

Miyuko: I WAS FUCKING SO CLOSE

Miyuko: I HAD THE WRONG BASTARD

Cressy: Y'know. the guy who called Swartz 'sir swartz' OH SHIT HAT WOZ IS THE WOZ FROM SWARTZ AND TSUKU'S TIMELINE

Miyuko: BUT HE FADED AWAY

Cressy: IRRELEVANT

Miyuko: BECAUSE REVIVE DIDN'T HAPPEN

Miyuko: oh GOD

Cressy: GOT YANKED OUT BY SWARTZ. REVIVE WAS A PLOY

Miyuko: FEAR

Cressy: JUST LIKE CHOOSING A KING

Miyuko: HE LIED

Miyuko: WE KNOW ALL WOZ'S LIE

Cressy: I MEAN HE DID SAY "NOT NECCESARILY SALVATION FOR EVERYONE"

Cressy: oh shit 'a peace like time has stopped.' aka swartz and tsuku's main power

Miyuko: HOLY SHIT

Miyuko: ZI-O if you bring back hat woz

Miyuko: also so. Swartz's just spiriting away people huh

Miyuko: i uh like none of this

Cressy: i mean we never DID find out if Tsukasa and Daiki are summoning duplicates or the riders themselves

Cressy: so whomst the hell knows

Cressy: we're fairly certain SOUGO'S yoinking the actual riders, so Another Decade could really be going either way

Miyuko: Yeah

Miyuko: Eternal is apparently the real dude

Cressy: THIS IS FINE

(see, told you i’d get back to ‘all wozes lie’ at the end.)

#kamen rider zi o #kamen rider decade #kamen rider aqua

[mydarlingklaus]

Unexpected Bliss

A cute quick thing I wrote for the upcoming 5x11 episode of TO. There’s no direct KC, yet, but still KC and a teenage Hope is in it so don’t complain (: 

Happy reading!

Klaus turned and was immediately star struck as his older sister walked towards him in her wedding dress with flowers in hand. With not much prep time after Freya’s surprise proposal to Keelin Rebekah managed to find, well compel, the couple the perfect outdoor venue not too far from the plantation the family resided in New Orleans. The youngest Mikaelson sister planned practically everything, from colors to seating arraignments, though of course the happy couple had the last word. It was a simple and intimate gathering with the Mikaelson family and some members of Keelin’s wolf pack in attendance. The hybrid genuinely grinned looking at his sister in her white bohemian styled dress, appearing more beautiful than ever with a shy smile on her face. 

“You can stop looking like a proud dad any time now.” Freya teased now standing in front of him. “How about a proud brother instead?” Klaus smirked. “You look beautiful Freya.” Kissing her cheek. “Thank you. You look very handsome.” She complimented his simple all black tux. “I’m still in disbelief that this is happening. I’m really getting married.” Her cheeks reddened and she could feel the tears building in her eyes for the thousandth time that day, determined to ruin her makeup. Rebekah would never forgive her. Klaus’s lip curved into a gentle smile at her overwhelmed state full of bliss and happiness, finally. “You deserve it.” He genuinely declared. She smiled wide, blinking away her tears. “Thank you and also for agreeing to walk me down the aisle. I love Kol and Elijah but this just felt right. Somehow me and you ended up being the closest, who would’ve predicted that?” He softly laughed. ��It was nothing, I assure you. I was honored when you asked.” Freya exhaled into a smile. “You’ve sacrificed a lot for this family, for me. A debt that I will never be able to repay.” “Klaus...” He put his hand up. “I’m serious. Everything you’ve done for Hope: being by her side when I couldn’t, practically helping Hayley raise her and being the support system she needed through this tragic transition in her life...” Their family was still coping with the loss of Hayley 2 months ago. Klaus hadn’t stopped feeling guilty or helpless trying to be there for his daughter and Elijah. It took awhile for them all to realize they needed to move forward, no matter how difficult it became and they managed to do so, together. He sighed before continuing. “This has been difficult for all of us, and I don’t know if we would’ve had the strength to suppress it all without you.” She sniffled tightening her hold on the flowers. “Keelin’s good, you two are good together. You deserve to be happy, one of us needs to be.” Klaus half joked. Freya sympathetically smiled at her younger brother who appeared more somber than he probably wanted to express. She pressed her lips together and sniffed her tears back. “That means a great deal coming from you. We’ve been through a lot, you and I. Our relationship did not start off great.” “Understatement.” Klaus corrected with a teasing smirk making them both softly laugh. Now they could laugh at the bad memories from their first encounters. Neither accepting nor trusting one another as family and even wanting each other dead; typical Mikaelson fashion. Yet here they are now, standing together with happy tears and smiles as Klaus prepared to walk her down the aisle for her wedding. It was surreal. “Yeah well we overcame it, we Mikaelsons always do.” Freya claimed, holding more meaning behind it than let on. Klaus simply nodded. “Our family has been through a lot, especially recently. If anything all the tragedy our family has endured only made me realize more than ever how short life truly is, even as an immortal you can agree with me on that.” He silently agreed. “It’s too short to feel like you’re in it alone or holding back from what you really want, and you’re not alone Klaus no matter how much you wish you were.” She sassed. He smirked. “What makes you think I don’t have everything I want? My entire family is finally back together, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for centuries.” “True, but I know you.” She answered. Klaus flinched when Freya grabbed his hand in hers. Affection still a foreign concept for him. She continued. “While family is very important you also need more, you should want more. I know you don’t believe it but you deserve happiness too Klaus.” His jaw tightened. “Our family is an extremely loyal one and I love that but, the short time I’ve been apart of it I’ve seen how easy it is for us to be selfish with each other. Wanting more for ourselves outside of family isn’t going to break us.” Freya began. Klaus furrowed his eyebrows. “We’ve created this notion that if we’re not shackled to each other for life we’ll fall apart not, realizing the negative effects it actually has on our family. We stop each other from being happy and then resent each other after.” “Freya-“ “I will always believe in ‘always and forever’ but family is supposed to be unconditional love, not forced. We can live separate lives and still be as close as ever, we might even be closer being apart.” She happily suggested. “It’s a cycle that’s been around for a thousand years and needs to finally come to an end. I almost lost Keelin for good over it and I don’t want that to happen to any of us again.” Freya claimed. Klaus’s jaw clenched and unclenched. He knew everything she was saying was true, if Rebekah and Elijah lecturing him for over the centuries wasn’t proof enough. “Why are you telling me all this now?” He asked. She laugh-cried. “Because I’m getting married and preparing to start a new life outside of my siblings for the first time in over a decade. I’m happy, really happy. I just want you to know that you need to start looking out for yourself too.” “I don’t need any help in that department, love.” Klaus smugly claimed. Freya rolled her eyes. “Uh huh, well you’ve come a long way since when we first met and even more before that. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, everyone has, especially a certain Mystic Falls headmistress...” She said with a teasing grin. His smirk dropped and a  blush of red instantly rushed to his face at the mention of the baby vampire in Mystic Falls, who he hasn’t seen or spoken to since she was last in New Orleans. The last time Klaus and Caroline were together was 2 months ago when they went on a brief, yet effective, road trip to track down a runaway Hope. Just the few hours being together Klaus was reminded of how much he genuinely missed her. Unfortunately, with everything happening lately with his family, there never seemed like a right time for Klaus to reach out to her. He didn’t even know what to say after receiving her more than generous letter following Hayley’s death. Not that she’s been far from his mind, but he definitely didn’t want to talk about it with one of his sisters. “Freya.” He warned. “Hey, you can’t get mad at the bride on her wedding day.” She smiled with a raised brow. Klaus glared which only amused Freya more. “I met your mysterious ‘friend’ when I visited Hope at school and was well informed your colorful history together.” She said suggestively. His blush grew and he dropped his hand from her hold. “I’m not discussing this with you.” Klaus claimed crossing his arms over his chest. Freya couldn’t help but laugh at Klaus’s embarrassment, like a teenage boy with a crush. “You can be in denial all you want. I just wanted to say she’s nice, pretty and definitely seems like she can handle you.” He subtly grinned knowing she definitely could. “Not to mention your daughter adores her like crazy and Hayley trusted her as well.” - So do I. Klaus wanted to add. Freya stepped closer to Klaus and smiled. “Look I might not know the extent of your story with Caroline and I might not know her as well as everyone else, but she seems like a good person and good for you. You guys have been in each others lives for a long time and she obviously cares about you...you care about her too.” - I more than care about her. His thoughts never ending. It still boggled his mind that Caroline Forbes, the baby vampire who unintentionally stole his undead heart over a decade ago and swore wanted nothing to do with him, cared about him as much as he did her. Klaus frustratingly sighed. “Fine yes I care about her, deeply. What’s your point?” The witch scoffed. “My point is that I want you to be happy and I think Caroline makes you happy, if that blush on your face isn’t proof enough.” He tried, and failed, to hide his small smile. There has been an obvious change in their dynamic since being in Mystic Falls together all those years ago. Caroline was more comfortable and unashamed of her feelings for him now, which was refreshing as much as scary. They hadn’t discussed much where their relationship would go now since re-entering each other’s lives, and frankly Klaus wasn’t sure he wanted to know. If anything, all these years constantly entering and exiting each others lives only proved to him how much they weren’t meant to be. Talking about it only made him dread. He nervously licked his lips, staring down at his feet. “If only it was that simple.” “Why can’t it be?” Freya shrugged. Klaus quickly stared up at his older sister. “You care about her, she cares about you and you both keep coming back in each other’s lives for a reason. Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to see where it could go? Stop making excuses and just go for it!” She persisted. He use to fantasize the possibilities of what could happen if Caroline finally gave him a chance. Yes, he promised to wait for her forever but the fact it might happen sooner than he thought was terrifying. No, no it could never happen. Not even now. The hybrid gulped. “I cant go back to Mystic Falls. I made her a promise-“ “Forget the promise! You’re acting worse than a child!” She joked. The corner of his lips twitched up. “Love, this is your wedding day. Shouldn’t you be focused on your love life instead of mine?” Her teeth scraped over her bottom lip. “Yes, it is my wedding day yet here I am focusing on you instead of the insane butterflies in my stomach ready to burst thinking about walking down that aisle towards the woman I love in a few minutes. I’m doing this because I care about you and love you.” Klaus stiffened but soon relaxed when Freya leaned in to give him a much needed reassuring hug. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her tight making the witch smile. “Please be happy.” She whispered in his ear before kissing him lightly on his scruffy cheek and pulling away. “Don’t pretend that you aren’t dying to see her either.” Klaus simply rolled his eyes. - If only you knew. Anything Klaus was preparing to say was halted by his 15 year old daughter storming through the doors. The witch and hybrid both stared at the young girl confusingly as she stumbled in closing the doors behind her and approaching the two. “Hey! Sorry for the abrupt entrance but- oh my god, you look so beautiful Auntie Freya.” Hope happily complimented. “Thanks Hope.” Klaus stepped towards his daughter. “Sweetheart what are you doing back here? You’re supposed to keep the guests occupied till we come out.” “I know, I know. Uncle Elijah wanted me to inform you that we’re a little delayed because we only had enough chairs for 20 people and a special guest decided to show up last minute so Marcel had to go find another chair for her-“ “Special guest?” Freya asked. “Her?” Klaus asked at the same time. The younger witch pressed her lips together nervously, trying to avoid her father’s gaze and quickly looked over at her gorgeous auntie. “Did I mention how amazing you look Auntie Freya!” The girl nervously praised. Klaus took another step forward, towering over his daughter when he took in her sudden anxious behavior. “Hope...” She cautiously looked up at him. “Mhmm?” “Might I ask, who this special guest is?” Klaus asked. Hope shrugged. “Just a last minute rsvp.” She confirmed with a nervous smile. “Hope.” He challenged. She gulped, looking between the siblings with fidgety fingers. It’s not that she tried keeping this a secret, well at least till Klaus saw for himself anyway. Sighing in defeat, the young Mikaelson looked up at Klaus. “Fine, I invited her as my plus one but Auntie Freya said I could invite anyone I wanted-“ “Who, Hope?” He pressured. Sighing again, she grabbed his hand and walked him over to the back door. “Maybe you should see for yourself.” She warned Klaus’s eyes lowered as Hope opened the door enough to where it wouldn’t alarm the guests but Klaus would still be able to look through. He poked his head in to see all the guests in their respectable seats. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he spotted, her. The hybrid’s heart sank into his throat, stomach in knots and hands felt clammy when he immediately saw who was sitting in the front second row. Her recognizable bouncy blonde curls swung side to side as she looked around, flashing that signature pageant smile at the random guests introducing themselves to her and those wandering blue eyes he always drowned in. - I’m hallucinating. There’s no way she’s here. Klaus thought to himself. Blinking a few times to confirm this was real, that she was really here. The longer he stared the more real it became and anxious he felt.   His breath caught in his throat as he slowly turned his head to glare at his sneaky daughter. “Surprise?” Hope whispered with a nervous smile.

Please leave reviews on the attached link (:

#klaroline fanfiction #klaroline #original groupies #klaroline shippers club #klaroline fandom #my writing #the originals #hope you liked it! #yes I plan on writing a part 2

[kimbapmmbapbap]

Current Favourite Dramas

So I thought it would be a cute idea to share my top ten favourite dramas as of 2017. Maybe I will come back to this next year and it has completely changed or more or less stayed the same. I hope this will also come into use if someone wants to watch a new drama or wants to get into watching them!!! I will also include reasons why people may not like it just so if there is something you really hate when watching dramas, that you know it is there!!! 

Anyway, here we go: 

 10 - Playful Kiss

I honestly love this one! It was the first drama I ever watched which is why it has to be on this list. If you look online, it seems to have a lot of hate around it due to the female character and that it is just one big cliche, but to be honest it is so nice once in a while to watch something a bit cheesy, and that doesn’t require much thought while watching it. For those who don’t know what the plot is, it revolves around a girl who is in the lowest class in her school and follows her love story around a boy who is the smartest and coolest in the school. At the beginning he hates her and often embarrass her on purpose in front of their classmates. But as fate makes their families live together, their love grows closer.

What may put you off this drama is its over clicheness, and the foolishness of the main leads. If you dont like too much cheese, then this may not be for you, but i do recommend it if you want something easy to watch and if you are interested in the Itazura Na Kiss franchise!! 

09 - Smile, You

I fell onto this drama about two years ago and my god I was glad I did!!! The cast, the story, and the chemistry is just amazing!! It is a classic hate to love relationship between the main couple, the drama faces issues of money, family and changing the way you live. It involves two families: the Seo’s and the Kang’s. The Seo family are rich after inheriting the grandfathers business however they go bankrupt due to carelessness, and have no over option but to live with the Kang family, who has been serving under the Seo’s, and have to learn how to live frugally.  I absolutely loved the female lead, she started off being a spoilt brat and always getting what she wanted, to someone who wants to work and earn her own money. 

The only issue i find with this drama is that I constantly got frustrated with the other family members due to their stubbornness and constantly thinking that they are right when they are being stupid and annoying!! but other than that, I honestly think this drama is an amazing one. It is a 45 episode drama, but the episodes used to go by so quickly so it didnt take too long to watch!!

08 - My Father Is Strange 

Oh my goodness, this drama honestly completely surprised me. It made me laugh and cry and smile with happiness. The whole cast were amazing and played their roles so well, it was almost like they were a real family. It revolves around a family of five who seem to be living the perfect live. However, when someone turns up claiming to be the fathers son, it all gets disrupted. What I liked about this drama the most is that each of the family members have their own individual story, and focuses on them building new relationships. I loved Jung So Min and Lee Joon’s character in it so much that i genuinely want them to be together irl!!! 

The only issue i find with it was that some of the side stories dragged too long and the in-laws of one of the daughter’s in the family were a bit annoying!! But that shouldnt put you off it the drama. Even though it is a 52 episode drama, like Smile, You, it went by quickly and is something I think both drama veterans and newbies will enjoy!!! 

07 - Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo 

This was an absolutely beautiful, funny, and meaningful drama. The chemistry between the two characters was amazing, loved this couple!! That is not the only reason why I loved this drama. I honestly think the main reason I liked this drama is because it is the first one I have watched that has brought on the message on how serious mental health is, it doesn’t try to make a comedic or weakness element to it which i think it amazing!!  The story revolves around a girl who is aiming to be a weightlifter and is studying at a sports university. It shows struggles with love, friendship, and mental health. 

You know what, I honestly can’t think of a reason why you might not like it, other than that the female lead is a bit stubborn and foolish at times. It is a mood warmer and is certainly a must to watch. 

06 - Secret Garden 

Secret Garden was my first favourite drama. The plot is so good, and it thrilling and nerve-wrecking up to the end. It is another hate to love relationship drama, and features a lot of body swapping. The story focuses on the relationship of a stunt woman and a male ceo of a rich shopping centre who’s personality needs a bit of working on. The two end up drinking a potion that causes them to swap bodies when it rains. This leads to some funny, sad, and interesting moments between them. I loved the extended cast and their own stories, and it also features young Lee Jong Suk!!!!!!! 

You may not like it if you dont like douchey male leads and cliches of evil mother in laws. It is a classic drama which I feel is almost wrong if you dont watch it!!!! 

05 - Suspicious Partner

One of my favourites from 2017!!!! This drama is filled with funny moment, romance, and suspense!!!!! The Chemistry between Ji Chang Wook and Nam Ji Hyun was just unreal, I cant explain how much I love them!!!!!!! There was so much sexual tension and hot kisses!!! The story surrounds a woman who wants to be an attorney and a man who is a prosecutor. Everything changes for both of them after the female lead is framed for the murder of her cheating ex boyfriend. The acting in this drama was incredible, especially by the villain of the story, he was so good!!! 

What was annoying about this drama is that there was a breaf period where the couple broke up when they didnt need to!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! I was so annoyed, but it didnt ruin the drama for me,  and overall it was such a good drama, the plot was on point and was so suspenseful on how they were going to proof the killer of murder!! 

04 - Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo 

HOOOOOO BOI!!! This drama was a whirlwind of emotions, which is why I loved it!!!!! The first couple of episodes fooled me into thinking it was going to like a historical rom com, boy was i wrong!!!! If you are going to watch this prepare laugh a lot, cry a lot, feel betrayed by certain characters, and to fall in love with all of the princes!!!! If you do not know what this drama is about, well it revolves around a girl in the present day who when saving a boy from drowning is brought the the Goryeo times of Korea and finds out she is in the body of the cousin of the wife of one of the royal princes, and she soon has to find out that she has to adapt to royal life in korea!!!

I feel like if you research this that you will find a lot bad press about it, but don’t listen!!! It does have a rather different ending to what most thought it would have had, but you know what, i honestly believe that the ending was perfect, even though it broke my heart, it fit so well with how the story was told!!!! I do recommend in watching an up beat drama afterwords because its a sadden!!

03 - You’re Beautiful (joint 02)

The next 2 drama’s on this list are pretty much on a tie of second because of how much I loved them!!! You’re Beautiful is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion!!!! It is such a fun loving show, it made me laugh and smile so much, the chemistry between all of the characters was amazing and its nice to see that they are still all friends (this was made in 2009). The OST was so beautiful and catchy, I love Park Shin Hye’s singing!!! The plot consists of a nun in training who has to pretend to be her twin brother due to him having plastic surgery issues while getting ready to debut with as one of the biggest boy group as its new member. The lead of the group Tae Kyung and Mi Nam dont get on at the start due to several incidents, but after finding out she is a girl, he ends up with having to look after her in situations and both end up slowly liking each other. 

Similar to playful kiss and secret garden, it holds a lot of cliche, and personally I did not the kind of love triangle and the second female lead, however I thought she was alright in the last episode. But overall, it is such an up beat drama. I watched this when I was going through a tough time in my life, and it really helped me get through some of my problems!!!! 

02 - Pinocchio (joint 02)

I’ve got to say, I was so surprised by this drama!!! Everything about this drama is just ahhhh!!!! Park Shin Hye and Lee Jong Suk are my absolute favourites, they both perfectly acted their roles and their chemistry was beautiful!!! I recommend this drama with all my heart. Like I mentioned, I loved this main couple, but the reason why it gets my top pick was due to its plot. I loved the whole mystery element to it and how they used journalism to find the answer of how Dal-Po’s (ljs) father’s death was abused and caused the death and disappearance of his brother. It was an on edge, suspenseful drama, but also had its comedic elements. I absolutley loved the supporting cast, even the second male lead, which I rarely ever do!!

The only fault i find with this drama is that when I first watched it, i thought the first 3 or 4 episodes were quite slow, but now i find those as some of my favourites as it tells the past and how dal po was effected by the death of his father and how poor journalism changed his life!!! I cant tell you how many times I’ve watched this one, i remember the first time I watched it, I started it again straight after!!!

01- The Best Hit 

As I am writing this, I can’t stop smiling!!! That is how happy The Best Hit made me!!! I found out about this drama a few days before the first episode aired due to the release of Beautiful Beautiful, a song for the soundtrack, and I instantly fell in love, not only with the song but also because it starred Yoon Shi Yoon who I absolutely adore!!!! There are so many reasons why I love this drama, so here are some: the 2 Days 1 Night references and cameos were amazing (the drama is directed by the past director of the variety show and Cha Tae Hyun who like YSY is a cast of the show). I liked how the plot of the drama was a mystery. No one knew where it was going, who was going to end up with who, what was going to happen to YSY’s character. I also liked how there wasnt really an evil character, and those who you thought were, they were just stupid. The plots consists of Hyun Jae (ysy) who is a famous pop star in 1993 time travelling to present day. He finds out that in 1994 he dissapeared, creating a conspiracy on if he is dead or alive. He finds out he has a son, and tries to help him achieve his dreams while falling in love along the way!!! It is so funny and sweet, I remember the waiting time each week for a new episode to arive!!!

What some people may not like about it is that there are sever continuity errors and areas which could have been developed further, but you have to hand them credit, it was the directorial debut drama for both PD Yoo and and Cha Taehyun!!! Honestly, this is one of my all time favourites and will all ways be!!! Please please please watch this drama!!!!!

SOME HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

The Ledgend of the Blue Sea

Oh My Ghostess 

Boys Over Flowers

Flower Boys Next Door

Personal Preference

Because This is My First Life

While You Were Sleeping 

#krdrama #2017 #playful kiss #smile you #my father is strange #weightlifiting fairy kim bok joo #secret garden #suspicious partner #Moon Lovers #you're beautiful #Pinnochio #the best hit #the legend of the blue sea #boys over flowers #oh my ghostess #flower boys next door #personal preferance #because this is my first life #while you were sleeping

[shes-cured]

33 Changes I’ve seen in myself since getting stable a year ago:

(an overly personal milestone post that you can feel free to ignore)

HYGIENE - I shower on a regular basis. I brush my teeth twice a day. I wash my face twice a day. I change my clothes every single day, even if I’m doing nothing but staying in the house... wild.

I am WORLDS more confident

I can make phone calls without paralyzing anxiety. I’m at the point where I don’t even write out a script any more. I actually prefer phone calls now! (Who am I?)

Since the med change a year ago, I’m not tired all the time. I actually WANT to do things!!!

I’m so much more patient

Assertiveness - I talk about my issues with people when they arise (usually). If someone is important to me, I’m no longer passive aggressive. It’s “I was hurt when you did this” or “I didn’t like this” instead of “no, it’s fine” then blowing up weeks, months or years later at all the little things

Organization, organization, organization - I realized I always forgot to do things, so I have a to do list every day of things I wanna get done. My room is always clean now because it makes me feel better. Fuck guys, I even make the bed.

Handling anxiety - I still get anxiety, but now when I do I usually don’t even notice, because I’m like “alright, I’m anxious, let’s solve it” instead of letting it build and build and build, which makes it minor anxiety, not panic attacks.

My ability to look out for myself and not need others to do it for me. I now take care of my mental health on my own. When I see myself slipping, I don’t have to wait for others to tell me to do something, I do it automatically. I intervene early and make the phone calls I need to make to my doctor/therapist by myself.

I’m not defeated just because I have a mental illness - being bipolar, it was always the dreary outlook of “I’m always going to have episodes, this’ll never go away” but after having the literal best year of my life, it’s like “alright, yeah, I’m gonna have episodes, but you know what? they’re usually shorter and less intense now, because I take care of them properly. and the after? the stability? that’s so worth it.”

I no longer resent being bipolar (most of the time). I’ve accepted it’s something I’ll have to deal with and something that can be problematic, but it’s also something that has made me infinitely more compassionate, understanding, insightful, patient, open-minded and tender than 99% of neurotypicals. Going through what I’ve gone through allows me to see things from perspectives so many people can’t consider.

I can hold down a job. And be damn good at it.

How others see me - I’m seen as “bubbly” now?? People view me as someone “positive” and “optimistic” and “energetic” which was not the case a year ago, lemme tell ya.

My identity - if people called me those things in the depths of my depression, I would’ve been uncomfortable with it, because I identified SO MUCH with being depressed. Who was I if I wasn’t depressed or manic? Who was I when I was stable? For so long, I didn’t know who I was if I wasn’t in a state of chaos. Now, I simply view myself as a good person who’s content with life. I go above and beyond when it comes to being kind + generous, because I like being that person. I like giving money to kids selling candy or homeless people on the side of the street that may or may not be con artists, because, god forbid, if that was me, I’d want that.

My values - I know what principles I want to live by and I know what type of person I want to be.

I see the world as good overall - maybe that makes me optimistic, maybe that makes me naive, but I like that. I want to see the world as good, because it makes my life infinitely better. Yes, there are bad people, yes, bad things will happen to me, but so many good people are out there too. So many good deeds are done on a daily basis that would blow my mind to know - even if I don’t hear about them often.

What constitutes a good day - it isn’t everything going my way. A good day might have things that go the complete opposite of how I planned, but if I handle it effectively and constructively, what more can I ask for? If I did well in my reaction, it sounds like I did a great job that day and I’ll be proud of that + call it a good day.

MY MUSIC TASTE - holy fuck, my year-ago-self would hate riding in a car with my now-self because my music is boppy and upbeat and not all slow songs that hit me in the gut

My independence - Instead of “Mom, PLEASE, come with me” it’s “mom, why would you come with me, it’s just ______”

I distance myself from people I don’t like. If someone annoys me or brings me down, I’m not obligated to be BFFs with them, even if they like me. Not clicking with someone (or outgrowing someone) isn’t something to dismiss. Hanging around people I don’t wanna hang around with only makes me irritated, so why would I do that?

MY WRITING - I never would’ve thought this would be something to change (especially not in a good way) but my writing style is so so so so SO much better now. When I read old things, I can tell when I was manic because it’s hectic and sentences are choppy or not well organized. When I was depressed I can tell because it’s elongated and, well… depressing. Being stable has 100000% improved my content.

How I view the future is… different. It’s not pessimistic, but it’s uniquely optimistic in the sense that I don’t have the optimism of “everything is gonna be alright”, because that’s not true. Sometimes, it’s gonna seem like the world is crashing down around me. It has before and it will again. Hell, life will be shittier than ever sometimes. But you know what? I’ve gotten through that before and I will again and I need to go through those times, because it’s in those times that I see myself grow.

Self growth has become what I consider to be the most attractive thing in the world. Changing for the better? Wow, 10/10 beautiful

I accept that sometimes what’s best for me isn’t what I want to do. Sometimes, self care is forcing myself to go to dunkin donuts for a few hours when I’m depressed, even if all I wanna do is lay in a dark room all day, because that’s what’s healthy for me and that’s what will at least slow a downward spiral, if not halt it for a couple hours.

I don’t like being home all day. If I’m home all day, I’m bored. I want to go out, even if it’s just on a walk.

I exercise. Crazy thing…. apparently it actually does help your mental health???

Regular sleep - I KNOW I can’t sleep too much or too little without triggering an episode. Some people might not need to be conscious of that, but I do, so I make sure to keep it between 6-9 hours in order to protect myself from getting unstable.

Eating - I don’t eat healthy foods, but I eat healthy amounts, which is progress.

I embrace who I am. Am I overly bubbly? Yeah. Am I lil weird and nerdy? Oh, it’s not debatable. Are my thought processes hard to understand? Yup, I have to explain them in ten different ways and realize people still won’t fully get them. I can be too closed off and forget that my phone exists more often than not, but I’m working on my flaws, accepting my quirks and have improved myself immensely. I’m proud of that.

I realize I can’t do things some “normal” people can do. I can’t work too many midnight shifts at my job, because it throws my sleep off and can trigger a manic episode. I can’t procrastinate (especially in school), because I’ll get overwhelmed and quickly become suicidal. I need to stick with a firm plan when I do things. I need to make lists or I’ll forget to tell someone something or do something that’s important. I might look weird always writing things down so I don’t forget, but it helps me function and be on my A-game.

My likes are MY likes. It’s okay to be “weird” and like reading and writing fanfics, but it’s also okay to be “mainstream” and like pop music. I don’t need to fight to be this perfect version of unique yet normal. Being myself has made me so happy.

I like finding joy out of super small things. Making small talk with cashiers makes life pleasant. Giving random compliments can shift a whole day around. Showing people how grateful I am when they do nice things (even small things like hold open a door) makes both of us feel better. People typically don’t expect other people to be super nice to them, but I like going out of my way to be super nice, so I am. If my day is bad, making someone else’s day good makes me feel better (and in turn, my day better), so I’m gonna do that, even if some people might find it weird or fake.

I know I’m capable of anything. Whatever happens to me, good or bad, I now have faith in my resilience to go through it. I’ll come out on top, because I always do. I might struggle, I might feel stuck, I might feel like it’s impossible to get through, but I always end up okay in the end.

It’s so crazy, because nowadays, I’m so often told “I don’t know how you can be so positive all the time” or “You are literally always in a good mood” and it blows my mind, because who I was a year ago was a good person, but not that person. 

However, what’s also important to remember is that I am who I am now because I did the work it took to get here and I do the work to stay here every day. I check in with myself. I go to my appointments. I take my meds every day (I haven’t missed a single dose in six months). I cope healthily, even when it feels like it’s not helping, because at least it’s not making things worse. 

I do the annoying things “normal” people don’t have to do without being bitter about it, because at the end of the day I also find so much more joy out of life than “normal” people do, because I remember exactly how dark and meaningless things can seem. I celebrate so many things most people take for granted and I make sure to keep celebrating them, because contentment and stability and balance isn’t something to take for granted. 

I’m really proud of how far I’ve come and where I’m at.

#personal #bipolar #mental health #mental illness #depression #mania #recovery #lesbian #me

[framedepth]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi - A Masterpiece that Reminds us why Star Wars is Important

A warning up top: I cannot fully talk about this movie without giving out SPOILERS. I’ll try to keep them somewhat lite, but when it’s necessary events of the film will be described.

Everyone’s story of how they came to love Star Wars is very similar: they most likely saw it young and were absolutely enchanted by the imagination, creativity, and pure fun on display. There is no better escapism than Star Wars, as it allows us to forget the doldrums of our reality while also being a perfect example of Campbellian story-structure and a fascinating distillation of both Western and Eastern popular culture and philosophy. Since its release in 1977, it has grown into something much larger than it was intended to be. One can make a very compelling argument about its artistic merit being nearly completely absent since Return of the Jedi, but many filmmakers in the past have managed to slip thematic points and messages into even the most commercial of movies. It seems as though Star Wars, the epitome of commercialism and marketability, would be the last place nowadays one would look for thematic depth, but in maybe the most stunning upsets of the year for movies, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is an intensely emotional and thematically deep entry in the franchise that enriches its mediocre predecessor and pays a beautiful tribute to anyone that has been entranced by the magic of movies.

The general consensus around the that last entry, The Force Awakens, is that while it might have been a fun return to the universe, it was bogged down by being so subservient to the previous films in the franchise. Fan service can be a nice reward to those who have stuck with a property for a long time, but pointless references and retreads of previous plot-points can render the movie effectively inert when it comes to the spirit of the movie. But then comes along Rian Johnson, a director with a clear understanding of genre trappings, as shown in his high school Neo-Noir Brick or his paradox-ignoring time travel thriller Looper. Johnson smartly applies the same type of subversion techniques to Star Wars, meaning instead of simply parroting events or cliches from the previous movies, he alludes to them for a very specific reason and point. Gone are the moments where Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan walk into the frame for a moment for no discernible reason, or the moment where Finn bumps the game board featured in A New Hope. Many fans, including myself, were concerned when the trailers featured AT-AT-like walkers, fearing a retread of the most-loved Star Wars entry. Instead, we got a film that challenges what we know about not only the characters we met in the last film, but challenges the entire concept of the original Star Wars trilogy by having us re-examine Luke Skywalker himself. And I am happy to say that Luke overcomes this challenge to reestablish himself as a true hero.

Earlier this year, while marketing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the second movie in a planned trilogy, Marvel Studios claimed the movie’s tone would be “Empire-esque”. This is a term that has cropped up in film discussions, especially discussions of franchise films series, that has been used to describe a film with a darker tone than its predecessors that isn’t afraid to move in unexpected directions. However, The Last Jedi is much better described by that term than the second Guardians film is. What makes The Empire Strikes Back work so well as a sequel, and why it is often considered a better movie than the original Star Wars, is the fact that it broadened the universe, concepts, and characters of its predecessor in a way that was true to the essence of the original. The Last Jedi does this not only for The Force Awakens, but for the original trilogy as well. And it does it in the same way Empire did: by revealing that Luke Skywalker is a flawed human being that still has things to learn about the force, the nature of conflict, and of course himself.

As mentioned above, I will be discussing spoilers, and this is were I have to start getting into them, as the central theme of the movie cannot really be discussed without mentioning an appearance by a certain character. At a pivotal moment for Luke, he is visited by one of his old mentors, the spirit of the Master Jedi Yoda, who tells him that the best teacher of all is failure. And we see this sentiment ring true for every other character in the film. Rey fails to redeem Kylo Ren and places him in a higher position of power, where he will only be more dangerous. Poe makes a fool-hardy decision that almost entirely destroys the Resistance. Finn’s heart is not yet fully into the Resistance, and has anger building up over the injustices in the galaxy. Kylo Ren’s failure in the last movie has made him realize his reverence for Vader is only holding him back. Even minor characters like Admiral Holdo learn by making mistakes; if she had been open with Poe, he would not have planned subterfuge against her. But these mistakes and failures serve to round out our characters, give us a clearer picture of who they are, and allow them to overcome them in order to grow into more complete people. None of the failures are more destructive, and therefor more educational, than the mistake Luke made when he panicked about Ben Solo’s darker tendencies. But this failure allows him to eventually see what a Jedi teacher really should be, which is much different than what most fans think of when they think of a Master Jedi.

“War does not make one great” is one of the Yoda-isms we hear in The Empire Strikes Back, but until now no one has really given that line any credence. The reason Kylo Ren becomes so fascinated with Darth Vader is because of his status as one of the greatest warriors in their history. The good he did as a Jedi Knight, and as a reformed man at the end of Return of the Jedi, is of no interest to Kylo. Even the fans of Star Wars are more into Vader as a villain who slaughters people rather than a complex person who has strayed from the good path (just see the demand for and reaction to the Vader scene in Rogue One). And the prequel movies did nothing to help this issue of “warrior-worship” by giving all of the Jedi, including the peace-loving Yoda, fantastic battle abilities. But the way that Luke wins in Return of the Jedi is by throwing away his weapon - refusing to fight. Resolving conflicts with violence will only beget more violence. This is also the reason Obi-Wan refuses to engage with Vader in A New Hope, and why he is allowed to become one with the Force immediately afterwards. A Master Jedi must be a pacifist, inspiring others through peaceful means rather than inspiring others with violence. At the end of The Last Jedi, Luke demonstrates this to the entire galaxy with a legendary stand-off against Kylo Ren and an entire First Order invasion force. Shortly afterwards, he is allowed to become one with the Force, much like his beloved mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the final scene, a child slave is hearing the legend of Luke Skywalker before being chased outside by one of his captors. He uses the Force to pull a broom towards him, looks to the sky, and sees a ship entering hyperspace. Inspired by his hero Luke, he dreams of adventure, a better world, a better life. That child is anyone who has been enchanted by the story of Luke. That child is Rian Johnson, J.J. Abrams, Gareth Edwards, and any other filmmaker that was raised on the original trilogy. That child is anyone, anywhere that has watched any of the Star Wars movies and fallen in love with the characters and the universe. It’s anyone who has watched a movie and been emotionally affected by it.

There are so many criticisms one can level at the film franchise Star Wars and the countless merchandising campaigns that it has spawned, but the true spirit of Star Wars has always been important. And this movie contains the true spirit of Star Wars. It has always been more philosophical than some people realize, but cloaked in a fun and creative sci-fi/fantasy setting. The Force Awakens didn’t deliver on the usual spirit of Star Wars, because it felt like a more corporate take on the original film. The Last Jedi feels like a true sequel to the franchise, pushing its characters in interesting directions, revealing more mysteries of the Force, and allowing us to see the characters in a new way. There are issues with the movie, things I can’t defend as being “good”, but the parts that work come together to form a beautiful film. A painting may have a few bad brush strokes here and there, but it doesn’t stop the entire picture from being great. Rian Johnson has directed a masterpiece that easily stands among the original Star Wars trilogy and will hopefully in time be just as loved as they are.

#the last jedi #star wars #episode viii #rian johnson #mark hamill #daisy ridley #oscar isaac #carrie fisher #adam driver #john boyega #luke skywalker #rey #kylo ren #finn #poe #leia #film #film essay

[laurenconraddaily]

The Hills Are Alive With Lauren Conrad’s Best Quotes About Being a Mom

Though the world first got to know Lauren Conrad as a teenager caught up in teenager stuff on Laguna Beach , she has also always seemed like a bit of an old soul. She’s turning 35 today, and yet we feel as if she’s had calm wisdom — set on pastel-colored backgrounds — to impart to us for ages. Which is why it was quite easy for us to mine her quotes from her last three-plus years of motherhood for words to which we can all relate.

Unlike LC, most of us have never been reality-TV stars, fashion interns, lifestyle gurus, young adult novelists, or clothing line moguls, let alone all of those at once. But when Conrad first started speaking about pregnancy, she was talking our language. She and husband William Tell welcomed baby Liam James in July 2017, followed by Charlie Wolf in October 2019 (and caused a bit of a stir with her second child’s already-used moniker).

While navigating new motherhood, Conrad co-founded the nonprofit The Little Market, which sells the handcrafted works of female artisans throughout the world. Then, with a toddler and a new baby at home in a pandemic, she managed to launch a new line of baby and children’s clothing at Kohl’s this year. Some of us, meanwhile, were really thrilled when we managed to put on pants for the day.

Unlike many of her reality-TV peers, Conrad is pretty private about her post- Hills life. She’s all too aware of how sharing can open her up to mom-shaming . This also has the effect of making the rare times she does speak to the press, open up on her short-lived podcast, or write on social media feel like very important moments. and we love to scoop up those rare LC gems. Read on for our favorite of Lauren Conrad’s quotes about being a mom.

That ‘When Are You Having Kids?’ Question

“Keep in mind that the decision to have children (both if and when), is an extremely personal one. And any questioning, pressure, or even hinting about it usually just makes the couple uncomfortable (and yes, this includes making comments on the Instagram of someone who is in the public eye!). You also never know if someone may be privately struggling with fertility or has suffered through a recent miscarriage. In those cases, asking someone when they are going to have kids can be a major trigger question. If a friend, family member, or public figure opens up to you about this decision first, then you get to comment about it. But please wait for them to volunteer the information first! — LC outlining some etiquette rules on her blog

On Teaching Kids About Racism

“A lot of it has to do with the example you set. Kids are always listening. They’re watching your actions and they’re listening to the way you speak to people, how you speak about people.” — to reporters at the #BlogHer Creators Summit

Parenting Is Gross

“A lot of parenting is gross, and you just adjust to it really quickly. I wasn’t expecting that, and then I was like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m just going to be cool with this now.’ So yeah, taking care of a tiny person is a little messy.” — LC to PopSugar

The Parenting Words We Need to Hear

“There’s a lot of advice out there. I think there needs to be more, ‘you’re doing great.'” — Conrad speaking about her Asking for a Friend podcast on E! News

Old School Sesame Street Is the Best

“We watch Sesame Street together. We prefer the older episodes because the graphics are a bit more mellow.” — LC telling SheKnows about her pandemic screen time

What Work-Life ‘Balance’ Really Means

“You don’t want to be spending time with your kids while having one eye on your phone. You want to be able to have undivided attention with them… It’s all about prioritizing what’s important to you and what you really need to be there for. I think when you’re running a business… it’s easy be like, ‘I need to do everything.’ But you can’t do everything really well, so we’re fortunate because we’ve been able to build an amazing team of people who share our passion. They work really hard.” — Conrad telling Us Weekly how she separates work from parenting

Breastfeeding Is Hard

“I, like a lot of moms, thought breastfeeding would be the most natural, beautiful thing in the world, and that it would come really easily to me, and I would just kind of know what to do because that’s what my body is made to do. It was, without a doubt, the most difficult part of becoming a new mother. I felt like I was failing at something that should come really naturally, and it was really difficult for me. I felt ashamed, and it kind of made me feel like a bad mom.” — LC on her podcast

Avoid Mom-Shaming Whenever Possible

“I haven’t [experienced mommy-shaming], but I have purposefully not posted a lot about my child. Only because, especially as a first-time mom, there’s already so much pressure on you. I don’t feel like putting on any more. It’s hard. It’s one of the hardest times in your life, and it’s a shame that women aren’t more supportive of each other.” — LC explaining her social-media plan to Stylecaster

Motherhood Makes Us Appreciate Our Moms

“After experiencing pregnancy, I went to my husband and I was like, ‘”Our mothers get jewelry this year! They get nice jewelry.'” — Conrad’s Mother’s Day revelation for a Kohl’s ad

Toddlers=Drunk Men

“Now, he is running, which is scary because they’re like little, drunk men,” she said. “They’re just constantly falling over, and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God!’”  — Describing Liam to People

#lauren conrad #quotes #happy birthday #2021

[aidoru-ojisan]

Hey, now that majority of the Anime of Summer 2017 have been released I guess it’s finally time for me to give all of you my thoughts on the Anime that I have watched this season, I will also be giving an overall rating based on the first episodes and if it’s worth watching or not! Now let’s start!

MB Oji-san’s thoughts on Summer 2017 Anime

1. Action Heroine Cheer Fruits: So apparently this series focuses on a group of... I believe middle school students, try gaining more visitors to their small home town by creating their own action hero group, which is a popular trend in their year... The series does have quite a simple concept and the character designs are quite nice, a cute girls doing cute things show that has actual goals, kinda reminds me of Sakura Quest with the concept of bringing visitors to a small town in the country but lacks the all the amazing things it has, it’s something easy to watch but nothing fantastic, 6/10 (Try at least 3 episodes if you want to give it a shot) *Update: Dropped, I have better things to do rather than watch a sub-par show about a group of girls becoming a live action hero group. Would have probably enjoyed this if I was still a kid

2. Ballroom e Youkoso: I’ve seen this series jokingly called, “The Straight Yuri on Ice!!” that got a bit of a chuckle from me, but knowing that I was never a big fan of any form of dancing I knew that this series would have to do a lot to get me invested to keep watching it, and surprisingly it did, aside from the designs of Haikyuu! the soundtrack and animation of this show is pretty great and I find it quite amazing that our MC who was questioning himself about his future managed to gain such a great passion of ballroom dancing just from watching his now current tutor doing the art himself during a competition, not to mention all the girls in this show seem really cute (especially the one voice by Sakura Ayane) 8/10 (I highly recommend this show, one of the best of this season but do the three episode rule also if you find yourself losing interest afterwards)

3.  Battle Girl High School - Apparently this is a mix of idol and cute girls fight monsters to save the planet series? Well this show has plenty of cute girls, yet the designs are kinda weak (that one girl that looks like Miria from Cinderella Girls always bugs me tbh) the plot is nothing too special, would be something you can get from some random Anime phone game, which this Anime originated from, but tbh some scenes are cute and I did follow this series closely because one of the girls are voiced by Ozora Akari’s seiyuu so... this show might not be for everyone but watch if it if you want to watch cute girls doing cute things while saving the world 6/10 (3 episode rule) *Want to drop, but cannot due to Akari’s VA voicing one of the girls

4.  Centaur no Nayami - Here we have this season’s monster girl series... and honestly I find it a bit lacking compared to Winter’s Demi-chan... sure this series may have some Yuri undertones and cute girls but I find this world’s underlining politics and evolution system a bit unsettling... which is apparently connected to the story of our main cast later on but it seems just so oppressive despite the series’ cute SOL look, it’s good though and if you like cute monster girls go ahead and watch it 7/10 (3 episode rule at best) 

5.  Fate/Apocrypha - Astolfo, Modred, and Jeanne D’Arc, that should be enough for you to watch this Fate series 8.5/10 (Go ahead and watch it, no need to watch all the Fate series, you still should but this is set in an alternate universe) *Update, Changing the score to a 7, not even Astolfo can save this series

6. Hajimete no Gal - the goddamn MC of this series does not deserve Yukana... despite the stereotypes of gyarus, she’s a sweet girl who’s way out of the dude’s league and you almost want to punch him for all the stupid things he does later in the series 6.7/10 (3 episode rule, or watch if you’re a harem ecchi fan) *Want to drop but can’t, I want to see if Yukana dumps the MC’s sorry idiotic ass

7.  Hina Logi ~from Luck & Logic~ - This spin-off of the Lock & Logic series has got to be one of the Animes of Summer 2017 that has impressed me the most, despite having a much more moe style compared to the original series, Hina Logi’s OP animated with paper cut-outs was honestly SUPER IMPRESSIVE, it has got to be my fave OP animation of this season. Not to mention the action scenes are impressive as well, the character designs are nothing to write home and this show does have it’s own share of fan service but it’s honestly pretty fun! 7.5/10 (Watch the original Luck & Logic if you wish to view this one, the original is pretty good would rate it the same score as Hina Logi)

8.  Isekai Shokudou - honestly one of the best looking shows this season, despite not having too much of a fantasic plot, you can call this series “the fantasy version of Shokugeki no Soma without foodgasms” well sexual ones at least, but just a simple laid back series about a regular restaurant owner serving customers from another world with his cute fantasy world coworkers 8/10 (highly recommend, watch if you want a nice looking laid back series)

9. Kakegurui - man the ugly facial expressions... the stakes of the gambling games... the GREAT OP but s**tty ED... the fan service... this is actually a really good series tbh 7.8/10 (I recommend it, watch it if you want a well animated series with some nice psychological moments and high stakes)

10. Katsugeki Touken Ranbu - Ufotable + Samurais??????.... it’s OK 7.5/10 (3 episode rule at best)

11. Knight's & Magic - Honestly I feel like this series is being over hyped, I don’t know if it’s because the main character that was formerly just a working programmer mecha otaku who is reincarnated as a pretty boy voiced by Megumin’s seiyuu or good ol’ Chu Chu Yeah! fhana singing the OP (tbh I kinda feel the opening to be one of her weaker songs but eh that’s me) but I can hand it to this series for having well animated robot fight scenes and monsters, I’m kind of a hipster so I hate over hyped series but as a reviewer I will not let this effect the score I’ll be giving it 7.5/10 (I recommend it to people who want a pretty good looking isekai series with some badass looking mechas)

12. Koi to Uso - Despite the character designs of this series seeming a bit wacky sometimes, the coloring of this series is absolutely beautiful, and can I just say the concept of government arranged marriages to counter Japan’s declining child birth rate and Lilina was enough to get me to read all the released chapters of the Manga? Heads up, Yusuke is best girl 8/10 (highly recommend if you’re into good romance with some drama) 

13. Made in Abyss - Such simplistic character designs yet unique... such a wonderful soundtrack that I was only wishing it could be Post-Rock... wonderful world building of a world so beautiful... this show is also apparently super dark so as a Metal fan... beauty within the darkness is greatly appreciated 9/10 (HIGHLY RECOMMEND but warning, the source of this series shows that the Anime can get SUPER DARK in later episodes so I’ll be giving you a heads up just in case you can’t stomach it, one of my fave Animes of 2017 next to Tsuki ga Kirei)

14.  New Game!! - OVERRATED but... nice Yuri vibes, fan service, cute characters and scenes eh 7.5/10 (watch if you have seen the 1st season)

15. Princess Principal - I just can’t get over the character design choice of this series... moe despite being a serious edgy steam punk spy series... well edgy moe series like Yuuki Yuuna are masterpieces so I won’t let it bug me too much, the OST and scenery of this series is great 7.8/10 (watch if you want cute girls doing edgy spy stuff)

16. Tenshi no 3P! - lolis and some loner teenage dude make music, the ED is pretty Metal but god... dude gonna go to jail 6.5/10 (eh 3 episode rule unless you like lolis go for it) *Update: Dropped! I don’t care for the “Metal that’s always used in Anime” ED, I’m not watching this obvious as f**k Lolibait

17.  Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou - this has an old anime vibes, which isn’t a negative statement, it’s positive, simply an Anime about a dude who wants to live in his high school's dorms so that he wouldn’t be a burden to his uncle and his family ever since losing his parents and residing in their house, sadly said dorm is burned down in a fire and he ends up living in a supernatural apartment and finding out he has powers to help others, a really nice laid back series the soundtrack choice can suck at times and the character design and coloring is nothing special but I can feel heart in this series 7.5/10 (3 episode rule at best)

18. Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e - this series impresses me, not only with the great coloring and each character have unique individual designs, just the usage of quotes from writers of great and the concept of the students in the school these series takes place in with only the superior classes only truly mattering is a bit cliched but interesting 7.8/10 (3 episode rule at best)

19.  Aho-Girl - Funny as heck and short, always making for a good laugh and the fan service in this show merely makes me laugh compared to being aroused, love the voice choices for A-Kun and Yoshiko, reminds me of Yusuke and Futaba from P5 8/10 (highly recommend if you want to laugh)

20. Netsuzou Trap -NTR-: Only 10 minutes or less per episode???? DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well this series already makes me feel conflicted despite being Yuri but damn the Anime ain’t nothing special aside from that 7/10 (uh want Yuri which is super rare, watch it but the NTR element will make you question yourself)

21. Tsurezure Children - Nice, short good romance comedy Anime, makes your heart skip a beat while laughing 8/10 (watch if you want a good short romcom series)

22. Gamers! - I honestly wonder how the studio got all the rights to use all those game refrences, suprisingly is quite a good watch despite the MC being kind of a wimp 7/10 (Watch if you like a different formula to the “club” genre)

23. Teekyu S9 - Time for more wacky Teekyu stuff 6.5/10 (uh you should pretty watch all 8 previous seasons if you want to watch this)

24. Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni. - tbh a decent isekai series, not too much of that generic crap and every action the characters do feels meaningful 7/10 (Watch if you want something that’s a mix of serious and comedy isekai)

THOUGHTS ON CONTINUING SHOWS

Aikatsu Stars - Koharu’s back and that’s all I need 7/10 (honestly I see the writers are pulling a “Love Live!” writers move and might make all the future episodes way too similar to the 1st series, which sucks since Stars! felt pretty OK despite the low ratings)

Re:Creators - Overrated, that’s all, this show is getting boring, the girl from the Eroge is saving this show 7/10 

Shingeki no Bamahaut: Virgin Soul - Still good, I’m just wondering if Nina will be OK, cause I don’t want anything bad happening to her 8/10

Boku no Hero Academia - I love Ochako, that is all 8.5/10

Sakura Quest - the new OP and ED are “meh” compared to the first ones but the 2nd cour seems pretty good and it was pleasant to hear fluent Spanish in an Anime of all places 8/10

Sagrada Rest - DROPPED, but it’s OK, JJBA Part 5 will come after this boring ass show too ded for me/10

#I think a few shows have yet to be aired but here you go~ #anime #review #list #mb oji-san's rants

[mitsuhasnolifebutwatchesanime]

Anime Styles- Why unique styles, new and old, can make for a better overall anime experience.

Hello, I’m back from the dead with a rant. Recently, there have been a lot of posts floating around Tumblr about anime styles and why “old anime/new anime is garbage because of these stylistic choices” which usually have something to do with the obsession with nostalgia, or the abhorrence to the old, or even… *sigh* the push of the anime industry appealing to pedophilic otaku. It’s complicated and watching these posts float around and continue to gain more interesting discourse and additions to it had definitely made me want to share my views. Oh, not on that argument-- just on style. I have eclectic tastes in anime, and I’ve been watching anime for a long time. In my free time, I even go back to watch shows as old as 30, or as young as five years old, because first and foremost I am interested in the story presented. Once you layer upon that character designs, a cool soundtrack, and yes, good animation, the show becomes deeper and more interesting.

I don’t limit myself to one single style or genre, because without that I’m unable to see the historical and cultural effects all anime has on the industry and what’s coming out that’s new. When I first watched anime, it was 90s anime: Sailor Moon, DBZ, Yu Yu Hakusho, Pokemon, and Card Captors were a few. Stylistically, those are COMPLETELY different anime, but aesthetically, they all fall into the same vein of what’s now just “90s anime” with their more matte tones, cell shading, and exaggerated shonen/shoujo styles. Instead of just going by genre nowadays, there are many overlapping styles in several different types of genre anime. For instance, you may have an anime that bleeds stylistically into several genres, while it may not resemble many other anime in that same genre.

What’s wrong with these posts coming out is that they’re cherry-picking terrible examples. They’re choosing THE BEST (not really) of 80s/90s nostalgia anime, and then the most generic of generic modern anime, or vice versa. The moral of the story is style is a fluid thing, that may have a major influence on any particular era of animation, but every era has their good and bad examples, and cherry-picking is *stupid*.

What I want to tell you is that if you start looking, you will find cool anime with styles that entirely subvert the genres you’re most used to seeing. Shows with styles that you might be surprised to see, or maybe even turned off by, but you should totally watch, are shows like Katanagatari, The Eccentric Family, Tatami Galaxy, Dennou Coil, Flip Flappers, Gatchaman Crowds, Kyousougiga, and Little Witch Academia. These shows are good, not only because they’re well written, epic at times, and even because they might be a little weird. It’s because their styles and breaks from convention are much needed, refreshing perspectives on visual story telling. 

I love these shows because they look so damn good. Simplistic art styles and character designs allow for more crazy and nice looking animation. Even stuff like giving different faces and body types to the characters allow them to be expressive and emote more.  The shows I picked out earlier all have cool stuff. They have cool character designs that vary, sometimes to the extremes, interesting experimental animation styles, and varied and beautiful settings where the characters aren’t just superimposed into a boring background they don’t quite fit into.

The is done more elegantly in shows like Shingeki no Bahamut, Fullmetal Alchemist, and My Hero Academia, where the variety in body type, exaggerated emotions, and a variety of palettes and settings allow for more variety. Even just a variety in character designs, like what we see in MHA, make for a wider audience appeal than Moe McBigTit Sameface who has existed in anime FOR DECADES MY GUYS. MHA’s variety in designs make for more body types, more color palettes, more expressions. I was so glad to watch the first ED for season two where the main girls of class A are all side by side and they all look so different in height the way their eyes and mouths are set, not to mention THEIR FACE SHAPES ARE ALL DIFFERENT. Stylistic choices like character design, even down to making a very stylized silhouette can make for a unique anime. Anime like the Eccentric Family and Tatami Galaxy (both by the same author, but by different animation studios) just showcase the character designs in their opening themes because they’re so damn good. They draw in the viewer, who in turn, is excited to see these static, but interesting, designs animated.Sometimes I feel like some animation companies take some of their designs too far, and too anime, if that makes any sense, by pushing the envelope on “here’s a special boy” haircuts, and obnoxiously colored and cut clothing, but some show use exaggeration to their benefit, like Shiki and especially JoJo’s.

Nothing pisses me off more than a cool, aesthetically pleasing anime, with an interesting premise getting thrown into a boring and plain looking school setting, the biggest offenders being Owari no Seraph and Makai Ouji. Also, nothing makes me want to rip my hair out like taking COOL looking character designs and neat world building and dumping ugly on it, like how Rokka no Yuusha tossed its Inca inspired setting into FUCKING FOG FOR 10 EPISODES. One of the cardinal sins that I try to avoid nowadays is the high school anime. Occasionally a show like Orange or Tanaka-kun is Always Listless will catch my interest, because they do something interesting with that boring setting. The anime needs to be set in a high school if it is relevant to the plot. You can have characters of high school age, like in Natsume’s Book of Friends, or Yu Yu Hakusho, but the story isn’t set in high school. Shows like Myriad Colors Phantom World, or your typical Run of the Mill™ high school anime, find themselves trapped in a land of boring settings and endless tropes, whereas anime like My Hero Academia and LWA not only use that school setting as a theme, but they make it into something interesting and new.

Smear frames are also becoming more common in anime, as they were originally in traditional western animation. Smear frames make for smoother, more fluid looking animation, and really fun expressions, like we see in Little Witch Academia and Mob Psycho 100.  This is also thanks to simplistic character designs. You don’t have to worry about a character being a block of on-model pretty boys with lips flapping, or worry about making them ugly when they start doing action sequences. Simplistic character designs lend themselves to better animation, and more interesting characters.

I think I’d like to showcase Kyousougiga especially for its interesting style choices. Every character looks wildly different, even the background characters. Each scenery set both feels bizarre and otherworldly, yet lived in and nostalgic. On top of all of that, this anime does a disgustingly beautiful job of balancing its animation, story, style, and tone. You’d actually be doing yourself a disservice by not watching this anime at least once, just don’t watch episode 0. It has nothing to do with the anime and will only confuse you.

No matter what anime comes out, or if you’re more into new or old stuff, there’s always something that is stylistically challenging the norm. There’s always a show out there that’s overlooked because it’s style isn’t “pretty” enough or it looks too out there. Always take a chance on anime that isn’t quite your aesthetic if you want to find truly interesting shows.

#katanagatari #eccentric family #tatami galaxy #denou coil #flip flappers #gatchaman crowds #kyousougiga #little witch academia #anime #anime styles

[gloriousgwendolinechristie]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Definitive Preview

VANITY FAIR – Star Wars devotees who can’t wait for December need look no further. With exclusive access to writer-director Rian Johnson, plus interviews with Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, and others, V.F. presents the ultimate sneak peek at The Last Jedi—and Carrie Fisher’s lasting legacy.

  I. “We’re Going Back?”

  The first trip to Skellig Michael was wondrous: an hour-long boat ride to a craggy, green island off the coast of Ireland’s County Kerry, and then a hike up hundreds of stone steps to a scenic cliff where, a thousand years earlier, medieval Christian monks had paced and prayed. This is where Mark Hamill reprised his role as Luke Skywalker for the first time since 1983, standing opposite Daisy Ridley, whose character, Rey, was the protagonist of The Force Awakens, J. J. Abrams’s resumption of George Lucas’s Star Wars movie saga. The opening sentence of the film’s scrolling-text “crawl,” a hallmark of the series, was “Luke Skywalker has vanished.” Atop Skellig Michael, at the picture’s very end, after an arduous journey by Rey, came the big payoff: a cloaked, solitary figure unhooding himself to reveal an older, bearded Luke, who wordlessly, inscrutably regarded the tremulous Rey as she presented to him the lightsaber he had lost (along with his right hand) in a long-ago duel with Darth Vader, his father turned adversary. It was movie magic: a scene that, though filmed in 2014 and presented in theaters in 2015, is already etched in cinematic history.

  The second trip to Skellig Michael? Maybe less of a thrill for an aging Jedi. Contrary to what one might have reasonably expected, that Abrams would have kept rolling in ’14, recording some dialogue between Luke and Rey in order to get a jump on the saga’s next installment—especially given that Skellig Michael is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with access limited to the summer months, and only when the weather is cooperative—once Hamill and Ridley had nailed their epic staredown, that was a wrap. It fell to Abrams’s successor, Rian Johnson, the director of The Last Jedi, the eighth movie in the saga, which opens this December, to painstakingly re-stage the clifftop scene, with the two actors retaking their places more than a year later.

  “When I read the script for Episode VIII, I went, ‘Oh my God, we’re going back?’ Because I said I was never going back,” Hamill told me when I sat down with him recently at his home in Malibu. He wondered, in vain, if they could drop him in by chopper this time, “which is so clueless of me, because there’s no landing pad, and it would mar the beauty of it all,” he said. Hamill is a youthful 65 but a sexagenarian nevertheless; whereas the fit young members of the crew were given 45 minutes to get up to the now iconic Rey-Luke meeting spot—carrying heavy equipment—Hamill was allotted an hour and a half, “and I had to stop every 10, 15 minutes to rest.”

  None of this was offered up in the form of complaint. Hamill just happens to be a rambling, expansive talker—in his own way, as endearingly offbeat a character as his friend and on-screen twin sister, Carrie Fisher, who passed away suddenly and tragically last December. Like Fisher, Hamill was put on a diet-and-exercise regimen after he was reconscripted into the Star Wars franchise. (Harrison Ford was under less obligation, having retained his leading-man shape because he never stopped being a leading man.) Over a spartan snack plate of carrot sticks and hummus, the man behind Luke held forth at length on this subject.

  “You just cut out all the things you love,” he said. “Something as basic as bread and butter, which I used to start every meal with. Sugar. No more candy bars. No more stops at In-N-Out. It’s really just a general awareness, because in the old days I’d go, ‘Well, I’m not that hungry, but oh, here’s a box of Wheat Thins,’ and you don’t put the Wheat Thins in the same category as Lay’s potato chips, and yet I would sort of idly, absentmindedly eat these things while watching Turner Classic Movies, and ‘Oh, I ate the whole box!’ ”

  Hamill had been dieting and training for 50 weeks before he learned, via the Episode VII script he finally received from Abrams, that he would not appear in the movie until its last scene, and in a nonspeaking part at that. On this, too, he has a lot of thoughts. Though he grants that the delayed-gratification reveal of Luke was a narrative masterstroke, he’d have done things differently if he’d had his druthers. Han Solo’s death scene, for example. Why couldn’t Luke have made his first appearance around then? In the finished film, the witnesses to Han’s death, at the hands of his own son, the brooding dark-side convert Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), are his longtime Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca, and the upstart Resistance fighters Rey and Finn (John Boyega).

“Now, remember, one of the plots in the earlier films was the telepathic communication between my sister and me,” Hamill said. “So I thought, Carrie will sense that Han is in danger and try to contact me. And she won’t succeed, and, in frustration, she’ll go herself. Then we’re in the situation where all three of us are together, which is one of my favorite things in the original film, when we were on the Death Star. It’s just got a fun dynamic to it. So I thought it would have been more effective, and I still feel this way, though it’s just my opinion, that Leia would make it as far as she can, and, right when she is apprehended, maybe even facing death—Ba-boom! I come in and blow the guy away and the two of us go to where Han is facing off with his son, but we’re too late. The reason that’s important is that we witness his death, which carries enormous personal resonance into the next picture. As it is, Chewie’s there, and how much can you get out of [passable Chewbacca wail] ‘Nyaaarghhh!’ and two people who have known Han for, what, 20 minutes?”

  Still, Hamill recognizes that the popular response to The Force Awakens—its stirring ending in particular—was overwhelmingly positive, his misgivings be damned. “As I said to J.J.,” he recalled, “I’ve never been more happy to be wrong.”

  Besides, holding back Luke in VII means that Hamill gets a lot more screen time in VIII. And dialogue. This time, at last, Luke Skywalker talks.

  II. A Long Way from Tosche Station

  Rian Johnson, a sandy-haired, baby-faced 43-year-old Californian heretofore best known among cinéastes for his time-bending 2012 science-fiction film, Looper, is not only the director of Episode VIII but also its sole credited screenwriter. (Episode VII was written by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt.) Earlier this spring, in a screening room in the Frank G. Wells Building at Walt Disney Studios, in Burbank, California, Johnson described to me the approach he took to writing The Last Jedi, the second film of the Rey-centered trilogy. “J.J. and Larry and Michael set everybody up in a really evocative way in VII and started them on a trajectory. I guess I saw it as the job of this middle chapter to challenge all of those characters—let’s see what happens if we knock the stool out from under them,” he said.

  As it is, none of the main characters in The Force Awakens emerged from that picture in what can be described as a triumphal state. John Boyega’s Finn had been gravely wounded in a lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren. In a telephone interview from China, where he was filming Pacific Rim: Uprising, Boyega told me that, as teased in The Last Jedi’s first trailer, his character, Finn, begins the new movie in a “bacta suit,” a sort of regenerative immersion tank that, in the Star Wars galaxy, heals damaged tissue. Adam Driver, alluding both to Finn’s state and the scar seen on his own face in the trailer, told me, “I feel like almost everyone is in that rehabilitation state. You know, I don’t think that patricide is all that it’s cracked up to be. Maybe that’s where Kylo Ren is starting from. His external scar is probably as much an internal one.”

  Johnson was surprised at how much leeway he was given to cook up the action.

  But Johnson, in drawing up his screenplay, decided to raise the stakes further. “I started by writing the names of each of the characters,” he said, “and thinking, What’s the hardest thing they could be faced with?”

  At the top of Johnson’s list: Luke Skywalker. When he was last glimpsed in Lucas’s original trilogy, at the end of 1983’s Return of the Jedi, Luke was basking in victory and familial warmth, reveling with Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and their rebel compatriots at a celebratory Ewok dance party. Turning away for a moment from the festivities, he saw smiling apparitions of his two departed Jedi mentors, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with his late father, Anakin Skywalker, restored to his unscarred, un-Vadered form after redeeming himself in death, sacrificing his own life to save his son’s and slay the evil Emperor Palpatine.

  You’d have expected Luke to have shortly thereafter found a nice girl and settled into a contented existence on a tidy planet with good schools and dual sunsets, no more than a couple of parsecs from the Organa-Solos and their little boy, Ben. But no. Leia and Han’s romance didn’t last, and something heavy went down with twin bro. The result: the cloak, the hood, and monastic isolation of the damaged, Leonard-Cohen-at-Mount-Baldy variety.

  So what happened to Luke? What we know from The Force Awakens is that he had been running some sort of Jedi academy when “one boy, an apprentice, turned against him, destroyed it all.” These are the words that Han Solo, prior to his death scene, offers to Rey and Finn—the inference being that the boy was Han and Leia’s son, and Luke’s nephew, Ben, the future Kylo Ren. “People that knew him best,” Han says of Luke, “think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.”

  That part of Luke’s legend, Johnson confirmed, is accurate. The site of Rey’s Force Awakens encounter with Luke is Ahch-To, the temple’s home planet, which bears a striking resemblance to southwestern coastal Ireland. Though their time on Skellig Michael was brief, the Last Jedi crew returned to the area for additional shooting on the Dingle Peninsula, a ragged spear of land that juts out into the North Atlantic. There, Johnson said, the set builders “duplicated the beehive-shaped huts where the monks lived on Skellig and made a kind of little Jedi village out of them.” Luke, it transpires, has been living in this village among an indigenous race of caretaker creatures whom Johnson is loath to describe in any more detail, except to say that they are “not Ewoks.”

  That Luke is so changed a person presented Johnson with rich narrative opportunities. The Last Jedi is to a large extent about the relationship between Luke and Rey, but Johnson cautions against any “one-to-one correlation” between, say, Yoda’s tutelage of young Luke in The Empire Strikes Back and old Luke’s tutelage of Rey. “There’s a training element to it,” he said, “but it’s not exactly what you would expect.” This being the spoiler-averse world of Lucasfilm, the production company behind the Star Wars movies, that’s about as specific as the director is willing to get. (No, he won’t tell you if Luke is related to Rey, or, for that matter, what species the super-villain Supreme Leader Snoke happens to be, or which character the title The Last Jedi refers to.)

  But Johnson was happy to talk about Hamill’s performance, which, he said, “shows a very different side of the Luke character.” In the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke was the de facto straight man, playing off Ford’s rascally Han and Fisher’s tart, poised Leia, not to mention the droid comedy tandem of C-3PO and R2-D2. Hamill? He was cast for his sincere mien and Bicentennial-era dreamboat looks—part Peter Cetera, part Osmond brother. He still catches grief, he noted, for one particularly clunky line reading in the first movie, when Luke responds to his Uncle Owen’s order to polish up their newly purchased droids by complaining, “But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” Though his approach to the line was, he swears, deliberate—“I distinctly remember thinking, I’ve got to make this as whiny and juvenile as I can,” he said—Hamill admitted that his greenness as an actor left him with “somewhere to go later, where I wouldn’t make those kinds of choices.”

  In his years out of the spotlight, Hamill has flourished as a voice actor, most notably playing the Joker in a series of animated Batman TV shows, films, and video games. He performs the part with a demented brio and an arsenal of evil laughs ranging from Richard Widmark manic to Vincent Price broad—a far cry from the gee-whiz wholesomeness for which he is best remembered.

  Oscar Isaac, at 38 the senior member of the core cast’s “new kids” (Driver is 33, and Ridley and Boyega are in their mid-20s), is old enough to remember as a child revering Luke Skywalker. “So to be there, and to watch Mark revisit Luke, particularly in these scenes we were shooting towards the end of the film, was bizarre and jaw-dropping,” he told me. “It’s like when you see an old band re-unite and go on the road, and they don’t quite hit those high notes anymore—though in this situation it’s completely the opposite. It’s the fulfillment of where your imagination would take you when you imagine where Luke would go, or what he’s become.”

  III. Significant New Figures

  On the Disney campus, I sat in on a postproduction meeting in which Johnson was reviewing some scenes from The Last Jedi. Teams from Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm’s visual-effects division, were videoconferencing in from London, San Francisco, and Vancouver. On a big screen, Poe Dameron, Isaac’s heroic X-wing fighter pilot, was back in action, coaching a gunner named Paige, a new character played by a Vietnamese actress named Veronica Ngo. Another scene featured General Hux, the nefarious First Order commander played with spittle-flecked relish by Domhnall Gleeson.

  Johnson loved what he was seeing but noted the presence of some “schmutz”—smudges around the edges—on the starcraft window that Hux was looking out of. “I don’t know, does the First Order not keep its windows clean?” he asked. “Did you guys play it that way before?”

  He raised the question more deferentially than critically (and Ben Morris, the movie’s London-based VFX supervisor, said it would be no problem to de-schmutzify the pane). Until The Last Jedi, Johnson had never overseen a picture with a budget above $30 million. But the director betrayed no sign of being overwhelmed. He is a gifted filmmaker whose previous movies, especially Brick (his 2005 debut) and Looper, are visually distinctive and intricately plotted, the assured work of a cinema-drunk U.S.C. film-school grad who, in preparation for Episode VIII, steeped himself in World War II movies like Henry King’s Twelve O’Clock High and “funky 60s samurai stuff” like Kihachi Okamoto’s Kill! and Hideo Gosha’s Three Outlaw Samurai.

  The anointment of Johnson as Episode VIII’s overseer is emblematic of the direction in which Kathleen Kennedy has taken Lucasfilm since she assumed the presidency of the company, in 2012, the same year that George Lucas, who had personally recruited her to take his place, sold the company to Disney. Though she reached out to Abrams, a proven wrangler of blockbuster series (Mission: Impossible, Star Trek), to initiate the current Star Wars trilogy, Kennedy has since picked filmmakers whose résumés are less important than whether or not she is a fan of their work.

  Kennedy cut her teeth as a Steven Spielberg protégée—in the early 80s, when she was not yet out of her 20s, he entrusted her with producing E.T.—and now she, too, is keen on giving relative unknowns their big chance. Johnson was someone she’d had her eye on for years, she told me, admiring “how deliberate he is in his storytelling and the way he moves the camera.” The final film of the trilogy, due in 2019 and for the moment assigned the simple working title Episode IX, will be directed by Colin Trevorrow, who did not yet have the big-budget feature Jurassic World under his belt when he crossed Kennedy’s radar; he came to her attention via his first feature, the 2012 indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, and a recommendation from her friend Brad Bird, the Pixar auteur.

  Part of what makes Lucasfilm’s new system work is that Kennedy has set up a formidable support structure for her filmmakers. Upon her arrival, she put together a story department at Lucasfilm’s San Francisco headquarters, overseen by Kiri Hart, a development executive and former screenwriter she has long worked with. The story group, which numbers 11 people, maintains the narrative continuity and integrity of all the Star Wars properties that exist across various platforms: animation, video games, novels, comic books, and, most important, movies. “The whole team reads each draft of the screenplay as it evolves,” Hart explained to me, “and we try, as much as we can, to smooth out anything that isn’t connecting.”

  What the story group does not do, Hart said, is impose plot-point mandates on the filmmakers. Johnson told me he was surprised at how much leeway he was given to cook up the action of Episode VIII from scratch. “The pre-set was Episode VII, and that was kind of it,” he said. If anything, Johnson wanted more give-and-take with the Lucasfilm team, so he moved up to San Francisco for about six weeks during his writing process, taking an office two doors down from Hart’s and meeting with the full group twice a week.

  Among Johnson’s inventions for The Last Jedi are three significant new figures: a “shady character” of unclear allegiances, played by Benicio Del Toro, who goes unnamed in the film but is called DJ by the filmmakers (“You’ll see—there’s a reason why we call him DJ,” Johnson said); a prominent officer in the Resistance named Vice Admiral Holdo, played by Laura Dern; and a maintenance worker for the Resistance named Rose Tico, who is played by a young actress named Kelly Marie Tran (and who is the sister of Paige, the character I witnessed in the scene with Poe Dameron). Tran’s is the largest new part, and her plotline involves a mission behind enemy lines with Boyega’s Finn, the stormtrooper turned Resistance warrior.

  Rose and Finn’s adventure takes them to, among other places, another Johnson innovation: a glittering casino city called Canto Bight, “a Star Wars Monte Carlo–type environment, a little James Bond–ish, a little To Catch a Thief,” the director said. “It was an interesting challenge, portraying luxury and wealth in this universe.” So much of the Star Wars aesthetic is rooted in sandy desolation and scrapyard blight; it appealed to Johnson to carve out a corner of the galaxy that is the complete opposite. “I was thinking, O.K., let’s go ultra-glamour. Let’s create a playground, basically, for rich assholes,” he said.

  Canto Bight is also where viewers will get their multi-species fix of gnarled aliens and other grotesque creatures, a comic-relief staple of Star Wars movies since Luke Skywalker first met Han Solo amid the cankerous and snouty inhabitants of the Mos Eisley cantina. The Last Jedi is dark enough as it is, so Johnson has made a point of infusing the movie with levity. “I didn’t want this to be a dirge, a heavy-osity movie,” he said. “So one thing I’ve tried really hard to do is keep the humor in there, to maintain the feeling, amid all the heavy operatic moments, that you’re on a fun ride.”

  IV. Sister Carrie

  Daisy Ridley has her own tale to tell of Skellig Michael. Part of the reason she looks so convincingly weary at the conclusion of Episode VII is, she said, “that I had just vomited. I had adrenal exhaustion, and I was very, very sick.”

  The second time up the cliff, she was in good health and pleased to be re-united with Hamill. But the overall making of Episode VIII proved more psychologically fraught. “When I was doing Episode VII, I was kind of being washed along in a torrent of excitement and unexpectedness,” she said. “When we came around to do the next one, it was a bit more scary, because I knew the expectations, and I understood more what Star Wars means to people. It felt like more of a responsibility.”

  The conflation of real-life and character narratives is not lost on Hamill.

  Fortunately for Ridley, she had become acquainted with a woman who knew a thing or two about such issues. There was no human being on earth better equipped to shepherd Ridley through what she was experiencing, as both the star of a movie franchise and a feminist model to young girls, than Carrie Fisher. “Carrie lived her life the way she wanted to, never apologizing for anything, which is something I’m still learning,” Ridley said. “ ‘Embarrassed’ is the wrong word, but there were times through it all when I felt like I was … shrinking. And she told me never to shrink away from it—that it should be enjoyed.”

  This is a common refrain among the new generation of Star Wars actors: that Fisher was the one who taught them how to deal. Boyega recalled that when there was a backlash against his appearance in the first Force Awakens teaser trailer, released in November 2014—the sight of a black man in stormtrooper armor drew ire from racists and doctrinaire Star Wars traditionalists—Fisher counseled him not to take it to heart. “I remember—and forgive me, I’m going to drop the f-bomb, but that’s just Carrie—she said, ‘Ah, boohoo, who fuckin’ cares? You just do you,’ ” he said. “Words like that give you strength. I bore witness in a million ways to her sharing her wisdom with Daisy too.”

  Fisher had a bigger role to play in The Last Jedi—General Leia Organa logs significantly more screen time in Episode VIII than she did in VII. Isaac, who filmed several scenes with Fisher, said that, like Hamill, she delivered a rich performance, giving her all as an actor, rather than treating Leia’s part as an exercise in feel-good sentimentalism. “We did this scene where Carrie has to slap me,” he said. “I think we did 27 takes in all, and Carrie leaned into it every time, man. She loved hitting me. Rian found such a wonderful way of working with her, and I think she really relished it.”

  For his part, Johnson quickly formed a deep bond with Fisher as a fellow writer, spending long hours with her at the eccentric compound she shared with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, in the Coldwater Canyon section of Beverly Hills. “After I had a draft, I would sit down with her when I was working on re-writing,” he said. “Sitting with her on her bed, in her insane bedroom with all this crazy modern art around us, TCM on the TV, a constant stream of Coca-Cola, and Gary the dog slobbering at her feet.” (For visuals on this characteristic state of affairs chez Fisher, I highly recommend Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens’s HBO documentary, Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.)

  Fisher completed her part in Episode VIII late last summer, when principal photography on the film wrapped. “She was having a blast,” said Kennedy. “The minute she finished, she grabbed me and said, ‘I’d better be at the forefront of IX!’ Because Harrison was front and center on VII, and Mark is front and center on VIII. She thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been.”

  When I was conducting the interviews for this story, the Star Wars family was still mourning Fisher’s unexpected death, which occurred on December 27, 2016, four days after she suffered a heart attack on a flight home to Los Angeles from London, and just a day before Reynolds suffered a fatal stroke. (The Star Wars “family” includes family in the literal sense: Fisher’s daughter, the actress Billie Lourd, appears as a Resistance lieutenant in both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.) Fisher had celebrated her 60th birthday just two months earlier.

  “Out of everyone, Carrie was the one I really became friends with and expected to have in my life for years and years,” said Johnson. “I last saw her in November, at the birthday party that she threw at her house. In a way, it was the perfect final, encapsulating image of Carrie—receiving all her friends in the bedroom, with Debbie holding court in the living room.”

  Fisher’s death doesn’t change anything about The Last Jedi except make it more poignant: the film farewell of both the actress and the character. But it does change Episode IX, for which, as Fisher hoped, a central role for Leia had been planned. Kennedy, Trevorrow, and the Lucasfilm team have been compelled to swing from grieving into pragmatic mode, working out how to reconceive the next film in the saga, which is scheduled to start shooting in January.

  One option that is not on the table is to reanimate Fisher’s Leia via C.G.I., as was briefly done in Rogue One, last year’s stand-alone, non-trilogy Star Wars film, created when she was alive. More extensively in that film, Grand Moff Tarkin, a character played by the late Peter Cushing in the first Star Wars movie, was brought back to life using C.G.I. jiggery-pokery and motion-capture technology that involved the use of an actor who physically resembles Cushing. Plus, Lucasfilm had the Cushing family’s consent. However, said Kennedy, “we don’t have any intention of beginning a trend of re-creating actors who are gone.”

  V. A Disturbance in the Force

  Mark Hamill, for all of his agreeable loquaciousness, winced when I brought up Fisher’s death.

  “I can’t say that phrase, what you just said: Carrie’s name and then the d-word,” he said. “Because I think of her in the present tense. Maybe it’s a form of denial, but she’s so vibrant in my mind, and so vital a part of the family, that I can’t imagine it without her. It’s just so untimely, and I’m so angry.”

  Their 40-year relationship truly was sibling-like, Hamill said, rife with affection and squabbles, though their earliest time together mirrored, to some degree, Luke and Leia’s uncertain early dynamic in the movies. In The Empire Strikes Back, the film before the film in which they learn that they are twins, Leia plants a big smackeroo squarely on Luke’s lips—not far off, Hamill said, from their reality as young co-stars. Working on the first Star Wars movie, “we were really attracted to each other. We got to the point where we were having our make-out sessions—and then we pulled back,” Hamill said. “A great way to cool any amorous feelings is laughter, and Carrie had this sort of Auntie Mame desire to find humor in everything. We also realized that, if we did this, everything would fundamentally change. It’s the When Harry Met Sally plot—can we still be friends after intimacy? Wisely, we avoided that.” (Hamill has been married to his wife, Marilou, since 1978.)

  Ridley says, “Carrie lived her life the way she wanted to, never apologizing.”

  Working together on the new trilogy gave Hamill and Fisher a chance to rekindle their benignly rancorous brother-sister dynamic. Both were staying in London, commuting distance from Pinewood Studios, where most of the non-location scenes of Star Wars movies are filmed. They held a competition to see who could get to a million Twitter followers first. (Hamill won; “I told Carrie, ‘Part of your problem is you write in these impenetrable emojis.’ Her tweets looked like rebus puzzles.”)

  And, being the ages they were, they discussed mortality. “We got to talking about one of our favorite scenes in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which is when Tom and Huck go to their own funeral, and they’re up in the balcony, hearing their own eulogies,” Hamill said. “So then I said, ‘Look, if I go first, just promise me you’ll heckle my funeral.’ And she went, ‘Absolutely, if you’ll do the same for me.’ ”

  The constant conflation of the Star Wars cast’s real-life and character narratives is not lost on Hamill, who inadvertently caused a kerfuffle last year during an appearance at the Oxford Union Society, when he described Daisy Ridley as “roughly my daughter’s age, and that’s how I relate to her.” As he knows from experience, sometimes the conflation is quite valid. Losing Fisher really has been like losing a sister.

  Which speaks to the emotional resonance that has powered the saga from the start. “When you look at the stories themselves, they’re about personal tragedies and losses and triumphs,” Hamill said. “It’s all part and parcel of the same thing.”

  Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Definitive Preview was originally published on Glorious Gwendoline

#gwendoline christie #game of thrones #got cast #Brienne of Tarth #star wars #Captain Phasma #The Force Awakens #Mockingjay 2 #Commander Lyme #THG #The Hunger Game

[ramialkarmi]

The founders of Warby Parker reveal how they run a billion-dollar glasses brand with two CEOs, and why Amazon won't crush them

Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa met as MBA students at the University of Pennsylvania and cooked up the idea for Warby Parker, an eyeglasses retailer that would undercut the sale of glasses by hundreds of dollars and sell them online rather than in physical stores.

Seven years later, they're the co-CEOs of a $1 billion-plus brand and they've sold millions of pairs of glasses in the US.

Business Insider caught up with Blumenthal and Gilboa for an episode of "Success! How I Did It," a podcast highlighting the career paths of the world's most accomplished people.

Gilboa and Blumenthal explain:

How they launched and immediately sold out of everything, with a 20,000-person wait list

How they operate with two CEOs and what each one does

Why they try to take 90 minutes a day to do nothing

How they scaled a company to millions of pairs sold and 1,000+ employees as first-time founders

Their future IPO plans (2018?)

You can listen to the interview with Warby's co-CEOs below, for the 4th episode of "Success! How I Did It," a Business Insider podcast that follows the career paths of some of today's most accomplished people.

Check out earlier podcast episodes with: 

The founder of Tinder, Sean Rad

Bleacher Report and Bustle's founder Bryan Goldberg

Early Uber and Pinterest investor, Scott Belsky

Subscribe to "Success! How I Did It" on iTunes to hear the latest episodes.

The following is the podcast transcript, which has been edited for clarity and length.

Losing a pair of $700 glasses in Thailand and refusing to buy another pair turned into a big business idea

Alyson Shontell: Today with us we have Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal, who are co-founders and co-CEOs of Warby Parker, a glasses company that's been valued at what, more than a billion dollars these days?

David Gilboa: There are rumors out there.

Shontell: The unicorn status has been achieved, we can just say that. I want to go back to where you two first met, at Wharton.

Neil Blumenthal: We were full-time students getting our MBAs in Philadelphia. We had become close friends in a way that business school often does, and Dave had lost a pair of very expensive glasses. How much did you pay for them?

Gilboa: $700. I'd been working in consulting and finance, then took a few months off to backpack around the world. I was in Northern Thailand and happened to leave my glasses on a plane. They were my only pair of glasses. It didn't make sense to me that I was going to have to pay $700 for a new pair. So I got to campus, was a full-time student, and didn't have glasses my whole first semester. I was complaining to anyone that would listen, wondering why glasses were so expensive.

Shontell: You didn't have glasses for the whole first semester? How did you see and do any work? That seems like a terrible plan.

Gilboa: I did a lot of squinting and I wore contacts sometimes ... Then I started chatting with Neil, who'd spent a bunch of time in the eyeglass world and light bulbs went off when we started learning more about some of his experiences.

Shontell: I didn't realize you had been in the glasses world before, Neil. Dave, didn't you have a bioengineering background? You had history, Neil?

Blumenthal: I focused on international relations and history. Not exactly what you'd expect to start a tech company or a fashion label. But after school I thought I wanted to work at the State Department. I ended up working for this amazing nonprofit social enterprise that would train low-income women to start their own businesses, giving eye exams, and selling glasses in their communities throughout the developing world. So I spent five years proving out this model, because I don't think most people realize that there are close to a billion people on the planet who don't have access to glasses. If you think about a tool that improves productivity, that enables somebody to learn and then enables somebody to work, it's one of the most effective poverty-alleviation devices out there.

Shontell: So you guys put your heads together, you have this background experience. You're not able see, and this aha moment happens. There were four of you, right?

Gilboa: Yes, the other two cofounders in addition to me and Neil are Jeff and Andy. We spent about a year and a half really formulating the idea that eventually turned into Warby Parker… I'd been wearing glasses since I was 12. I'd never heard of a company called Luxottica, but they own brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Arnette, and dozens of others. They have the exclusive eyewear licenses to most major fashion labels like Chanel, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, and DKNY.

Most consumers don't realize that when you walk into a Sunglass Hut or a Lens Crafters, you see 50 different brands of glasses, but all those brands are owned and produced by the same company that also owns the store that you're standing in, that also owns the vision-insurance plan that you're using to pay for those glasses. It just didn't make sense to us that that was the only way that you could design, manufacture, and sell glasses to consumers.

Before e-commerce was available as a distribution channel, it was really hard to create a vertically-integrated brand.

Shontell: Explain what "vertically integrated" means.

Gilboa: For us that means that we're designing the products, we're doing all the design in-house, we're producing them under our own brand and selling them directly to consumers without any wholesale or any kind of middlemen along the way … As a result we'd be able to cut out all the unnecessary licensing fees, all the unnecessary markups, and offer a product that normally cost several hundred dollars and offer it for less than $100 to consumers.

Shontell: So you all got to work and the first money you raised was actually from Wharton. You won a business competition there — it was $2,500 or something?

Blumenthal: We got a few awards from the school, which was super helpful.

Shontell: They must be really, really glad they made that investment now. They're going to get a nice return, if they haven't already.

Blumenthal: Well, they were really kind, and it was actually a gift...

Gilboa: It was a grant.

Shontell: Oh no! Poor guys. Missed opportunity.

Blumenthal: We try paying them back in internships.

But what we did was, the four of us — Jeff, Andy, Dave and I — got together and said, "How do we want to do this?" We decided that we all wanted to be equal partners. We each committed to putting in our life savings, which at the time was about $25,000 and if the company really demanded it, we would each put in an additional $5,000. Of course it did need that, so we started the business with $120,000. That enabled us, on a shoestring, to design our first collection and produce an initial inventory of frames. We designed a website because we needed some place to sell our glasses. Then we hire a PR firm to help us get some attention. When I say do this on a shoestring, we used to go to TD Bank, steal pens, and steal office supplies from other people.

We were able to get meetings with Vogue and GQ. We were building this fashion brand and we wanted to be in the best men's book, which was GQ, and the best women's fashion book, which was Vogue. We launched and the company just took off like a rocket ship.

Shontell: It's pretty hard to get Vogue interested in a startup no one's ever heard of.

Blumenthal: We were really fortunate for a couple of reasons. One is I think founders and CEOs often take credit for being the smartest people in the world, but so much is serendipity and timing. We were one of the first of these vertically-integrated brands, so the story was novel.

We have this Home Try-On program where people select five frames, then we ship it to you free of cost. That was a completely novel idea that writers could write about. I think we have a very specific design aesthetic and our frames were beautiful. They were made from and continue to be made from some of the most premium materials like cellulose acetate, that we work with a 150-year-old family-owned Italian company. So we had all the building blocks there. Of course we had our social mission.

Shontell: That was in place from the beginning? That's where you give a pair of glasses away for every one that's sold, right?

Blumenthal: From day one. Dave and I and Jeff and Andy ... It's one of our first conversations: "What kind of business do we want to build?" We wanted to build a business that was going to have a positive impact on the world where we were going to be excited to come to work every day. As we were thinking about what does that actually mean in practice, we thought it's an inherent public good to bring down the price of a pair of glasses from $500 to $95 here in the US, but we knew that even at $95 there were lots of people who still needed glasses who didn't have them. So we decided, "Let's commit to distribute a pair of glasses for every pair that we sell, because that would actually be impact."

Shontell: So that's expensive, especially for a shoestring budget like you were saying. How important do you think to getting traction is a social component like that? It's a strategy that Tom's has famously used, a couple different brands have famously used it.

Gilboa: There's no question that we'd be more profitable if we didn't have a social mission built entirely ...

Shontell: When you say profitable, are you profitable?

Gilboa: As a private company we don't really talk about that. We've had periods of profitability. We're investing in a lot of growth right now. There's no question that a bottom line would look better in the near term if we didn't have these additional expenses. But we really do it as the best long-term return we can get on those dollars, understanding that we're having an impact. We've distributed millions of pairs of glasses to people in need around the globe and so seven years in, have already had a pretty significant impact.

How to get featured in Vogue and GQ when you launch — and then sell out of everything with a 20,000 person waitlist 

Shontell: I just wanted to go back a little bit to how you all started getting traction in the first place. I'm sure the magazines helped, but as we often find, you can get a bump in press and then you have to maintain that. So what did your traction look like? When did you actually have a lot of sales rolling in and know that this was going to stick?

Blumenthal: When we got those features in Vogue and GQ, it was literally that moment that the business took off. We had actually ... Our website wasn't ready to launch and the fashion director at GQ calls us up and is like, "Guys the magazine's going to hit newsstands any day now, where is the website?" Because we were going to be in the March issues of GQ and it was February. We thought, "Oh, we have a whole month." Just to show you our naivete, it was like, "No, the March issues comes out in February." We literally scrambled, got the website up. We ended up hitting our first-year sales targets in three weeks — sold out of our top 15 styles. Had a wait list of over 20,000 people. It was mayhem and the question is, "How do we maintain that momentum?" That was all about customer experience, so how do we make every single person have an exceptional experience, even when it's a crappy one?

To this day, you call Warby Parker and a human being answers the phone within six seconds. We have a net promoter score, since inception, in the 80s. I think right now it's 84. For those who don't know, net promoter scores is a measure of satisfaction to give you a sense. Cable companies have negative net promoter scores and most other optical retailers are in the single digits. So when we make people happy, they're more likely to tell other people about us. Word of mouth since inception has been the No. 1 driver of sales for us.

Shontell: If you all are this successful right out of the gate, I'm sure Luxottica, when they hear about you, is not very pleased. What was your first interaction with them like? I'm assuming they tried to either crush or bite you.

Gilboa: Their former CEO flew up from Milan to meet with us pretty early on in the business, I think a couple of years in. Neil and I went to meet him at their corporate offices. We kind of told the team half-jokingly, "Here's the address we're going to, if you don't hear from us in two hours, send the cops in." They're certainly aware of what we're doing. It's a massive company and it's an even bigger industry. Even though we're growing quickly and taking share, they have their established business that's still doing well and I think there's plenty of room for more than one player in the space.

How to run a billion-dollar business with 2 CEOs

Shontell: An interesting thing that you all did when you were setting up your business is, you're both here, you're both still co-CEOs. Sometimes people do that for a little bit, sometimes not at all, usually it's just one. So how does this work? I think I saw you joke on Quora that you flip a coin when you disagree?

Gilboa: There are four of us who started the business together. We were friends first. We got a lot of advice from people, really smart people who told us never start a business with friends, you guys are going to end you up hating each other, maybe suing each other. Four founders is way too many, especially you guys have overlapping skillsets. There's not like there's a technical person and a designer. We said, "Yeah, but we really trust and value everyone's contributions here. Let's just figure out how we can be thoughtful about it."

That started, even thinking about future repercussions, so we said, "OK, we're all going to be equal partners here, but let's set up a vesting schedule so that if ... There are so many opportunities at business school, or as we get into this maybe one person decides they want to pursue something else. They should get credit for time served." So we had a structure that got all four of us vesting through graduation and also set up some formal structures around feedback. We had 360 reviews even when there were four of us. We'd go to our favorite bar and ...

Shontell: How does that work?

Blumenthal: It was a little awkward at first.

Gilboa: We'd have one person in the hot seat talking about how they think things are going. Then the other three people would chime in.

Blumenthal: If you were going last, that's when you really got it.

Shontell: Yes, because everyone's been building on what you've been saying against them for the last half hour.

Gilboa: And a number of us had worked at places like Bain & Company where they have really formalized feedback processes. So we tried to bring in what we thought was effective from some organizations that we'd been a part of and build that into the foundation of the team when it was just the four of us.

So we launched the business in February 2010. We graduated that May and at that point, Jeff and Andy left day-to-day roles. There are still all four of us are on the board. Neil and I, we're going to stay on to run the company and we had been friends first, then had been operating as four equal partners. We discussed a bunch of different structures that could make sense. Does it make sense for one person to be CEO, the other chairman of the board? One person CEO, the other president? Do we even need titles at all?

We realized that the most effective way to work together is to just continue how things had been going and just think of ourselves as partners. But we wanted to make sure it wasn't confusing to the team as we hired people and wanted to avoid a situation where, "If mom says no, go ask dad." We tried to be really thoughtful and make sure that every department, everyone in the organization only has a line of reporting into one of us. So we each have six or seven departments that role up into each of us. Effectively it works more like a Venn diagram where if there's a major decision about strategy, or brand, or e-commerce, or where we're putting retail stores, we're both involved.

Shontell: It sounds like no investors were scared away by this either. I mean, you've raised hundreds of millions of dollars at this point. I guess all they really care about is, are you selling stuff? Are the numbers there?

Blumenthal: Frankly, the proof was in the pudding. We didn't raise capital until about a year and a half after launch, when we completed our first round. We had all this success — "success" I have air quotes up because it was only a year and a half. It was clear that the business model was working, we had a brand that resonated, so I think one of the things investors always look at is the team.

Shontell: What do you think is the most critical thing you all did in that first year to really cement yourselves? Was it that press? Was it going to GQ and Vogue? What was the thing that you think made it that you were going to work as a startup?

Blumenthal: I think our success does start with the fact that this was a solution to a very real problem. If you asked people, "How much did you pay?" for their glasses, they lower their shoulders, they get a little sad and embarrassed by how much they've spent on eyeglasses. This was a real consumer issue.

The timing worked when e-commerce was on the upswing. We were one of the first digitally native or vertically integrated brands. This was also a time where, before Facebook had fully monetized ... I don't know if people remember, but there used to be these fan pages and you would try and get people to like your page. With our Home Try-On program in particular, we saw so many customers would get their Home Try-On, get their five pairs of frames at home, try them on, take pictures of them and then post it to Facebook and say, "Hey, which frame do I look best in?" So there was this viral nature to our business that we didn't have to pay for early on. Again, there was some luck there from a timing perspective.

Shontell: You all at this point have sold over a million pairs. That's dated information I believe. So what's the latest that you can share?

Gilboa: Again, we don't share much about our financials. What we announced was that we've distributed over 2 million pairs of glasses through our "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" program.

Shontell: A million for you and then a million that you give away would be the implied.

Gilboa: No, multiple millions that we've sold and multiple millions that we've distributed to people in need.

How to scale a company to 1,000+ employees and build good corporate culture when you've never been a CEO before

Shontell: What have you learned scaling a company to a thousand-plus employees? Hundreds of millions raised. That can't be easy to do the first time around. How have you figured it out?

Blumenthal: One of the things that we decided early on was that, we're building a brand and a brand is not just a logo. It's not just a visual identity. A brand is a point of view and that point of view needs to be lived. It really comes down to the culture of the company right?

When somebody joins Warby Parker they get a copy of Kerouac's "Dharma Bums" because the name Warby Parker comes from two early Jack Kerouac characters, Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker. They get pretzels from Martin's handmade-pretzel company, which sells pretzels out of the Union Square farmers' market because that was within a block of our very first office and we used to get pretzels from there all the time. I could go on and on, but we've established a bunch of rituals that we think reflect the values and the culture of the company we're trying to build.

Gilboa: We realized when we were 20 or 25 people, that we'd been hiring a certain type of person that reminded us of ourselves on the founding team a bit, but we hadn't really articulated the criteria or the values that were most important to us as an organization. We went through an exercise with the entire company, asked people to write down what are individual values that are important to you, in people that you want to associate with in your life, completely outside of a work context. We got over 200 different values and lead a bunch of discussions about which values were the same, which ones were different, which ones were critically important, which ones were nice to haves.

Then Neil and I took those and created our core values at Warby Parker.

Why Warby Parker's founder tries to spend 90 minutes a day doing nothing

Shontell: Do you still do this 90 minutes a day just for you — no one can interrupt, no one can have meetings with you? What happens in that time? How's this good for business?

Gilboa: I take an hour-and-a-half nap every day — no. Neil and I realized a couple years ago that we got to the office and we were just in back-to-back, to back-to-back to back meetings, often 16 meetings in a row with no breaks. It didn't really leave us time to think or prepare for the meetings and sometimes we were forced to email while we're in the meetings, trying to multi-task. It wasn't good for anyone.

We met Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, and he mentioned that he schedules 90 minutes of unstructured time in his day. So I went back and grabbed our assistant and said, "OK, we need to do this." I'd say it worked for a while. More and more those 90 minutes tend to get scheduled over as things pop up, but we still try to leave some time in the day where we can think and not get bogged down, kind of the hamster wheel where there are always things that we could be doing, always meetings that we can be in. We try to ask ourselves, "Am I the only person in the company that needs to be in this meeting?" If not, maybe somebody will just send me notes afterward, or I'll catch up with someone in a one-on-one and try to spend more and more time thinking about what we want this company to look like in 2020 and beyond and focus on bigger strategic initiatives.

Shontell: There are a few trends within the startup and tech world happening. One fun thing, as glasses pros, what do you think of Snap Spectacles?

Blumenthal: We think they did a very good job at positioning spectacles as a toy and limiting expectation. Which was in stark contrast with Google Glass that was marketed as, "This is something you're going to wear 100% of the time, it's going to radically change the world." Those are hard expectations to live up to.

Why Amazon won't crush Warby Parker

Shontell: Another question is Amazon. Amazon keeps touting, "We're the No. 1 store for millennials. Everyone's buying everything from us. We're the everything store." Why can't they just crush you?

Gilboa: I think Amazon's a company that we have a tremendous respect for and it's pretty incredible what they continue to achieve as they extend their products and services. I think where they haven't competed yet effectively is in building branded products and experiences. While they certainly have private label offerings, in terms of a holistic authentic brand that resonates with consumers, I don't think that's part of their DNA, at least not at this time. I think the other aspect that is a bit more complicated about our business is that for prescription glasses, we have to custom manufacture the product after you order and that's historically not something that Amazon has done either. They're really good at delivering products that are prepackaged and getting them to you as quickly as possible, but mass customization supply chain is not something that I think they've successfully done in the past.

Shontell: Warby Parker is a "unicorn" company. That's a buzzy word people use when a company's reached a valuation of $1 billion. There are a lot of unicorns in tech. What do you think is going to happen to all these companies that have raised so much money?

Blumenthal: There are cycles in business, whether they're consumer cycles, whether they're investing cycles — there's no question that over a fairly decent amount of time it's been a pretty entrepreneurial-friendly fundraising environment. There were some companies that were using equity capital to just sort of put on the marketing spigot and doing things that were not sustainable. I think that we've always tried to build our business in a sustainable way. An example of that is from a marketing perspective. We're pretty disciplined in that we will only spend the amount of money that will enable us to have positive contribution margin on somebody's first purchase because we don't know necessarily how much it's going to cost for them to buy additional glasses from us or what have you. Whereas there were some other businesses that would be around for six months and were projecting that their customers over the next five years were going to spend X amount, so you can spend Y amount on marketing to acquire them.

So, when it is an entrepreneurial-friendly investing environment, sometimes there tends to be, reckless is maybe too strong a word, but you know, not disciplined spending. I think we'll see. We've already seen some businesses that were high flyers come down to earth. Then there are some really good companies out there that are delivering great value and great experiences and they'll continue to grow and their valuations will continue to grow.

How to build a billion-dollar brand in record time 

Shontell: What advice would you give to someone who's trying to build an established brand?

Blumenthal: From a brand perspective, it takes time to build a brand and you need to be super thoughtful of what it is that you're trying to build, what you're trying to solve, what are the attributes of that brand that are in line with that mission. Really thinking through the brand architecture.

From an operational standpoint, Dave and I think a lot about these moments where you feel like you have to take these giant leaps of faith and there's this belief that entrepreneurs are these crazy risk takers that are willing to jump out of an airplane without a parachute. It's simply untrue, but when we're looking down the cliff and looking into the abyss, we take a step back and try to break down that decision into a lot smaller ones. Effectively we de-risk it. The better analogy than jumping out of an airplane without a parachute would probably be, we actually build, double-check the parachute before jumping out of the airplane and we jump out of the airplane while the airplane's on the ground.

Gilboa: The other piece of advice that we often give and try to practice is staying focused. We see a bunch of companies that tend to get distracted. For us we're asked all the time, "Have you thought about selling products other than eyewear? Why aren't you international yet?"

Shontell: You sell everything in the US?

Gilboa: Just US and Canada. We think there's a huge global opportunity and we will tackle that at some point, but we've really just tried to stay maniacally focused on service our existing customer base before moving on into adjacent opportunities … I can't think of many businesses that have failed because they were too focused.

An IPO in 2018?

Shontell: There's one more question that you guys get all the time. The IPO market: Is it beckoning? Is it calling to you now, especially since Snapchat went out and it wasn't so bad?

Gilboa: Certainly a lot of people are asking us about it. We've raised quite a bit of capital, $215 million. We have a good chunk of that still on our balance sheet, so we view an IPO as a financing event. We don't need capital at the moment, so we can be patient and our investors are very happy with the way the business is going, we're not getting pressure there. It's probably a path that we'll go down at some point, but not something that we're rushing into.

Shontell: But what about liquidity for some of your employees? Or for even for you two? That's also a liquidity event. Is that something you think about? Seven years tends to be about the time when people get antsy.

Blumenthal: It's been seven years since our launch, but since we've taken equity investment it's been six, if that. So a little bit less.

Shontell: So you've got one more year, you're saying?

Gilboa: Part of the deal when you take venture financing is that you're committing to have a liquid exit opportunity. We will have that opportunity for our investors, we also think about how we can provide liquidity for our employees. So it is a path that we'll likely go down, but again want to make sure we're doing it for the right reasons and with timing that makes sense for us.

SEE ALSO: The 'messy' way a former Goldman Sachs employee grew a $150 million startup, then turned half his employees into millionaires

 A founder who sold his startup for $200 million paid for all 160 employees to party with him in Vegas — 'On a scale of 1 to OMFG, it was probably a 10'

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Movies of 2016

(I’m posting this late but for archival purposes I’m putting it here)

Every January I do a list of all the movies I watched over the past year in chronological order and this,, as you can tell,, is that list. Each movie is rated out of 10 and rounded to the nearest whole number for simplicity and because I use the letterboxd app to log all my movies and it uses a 5 star system. These number ratings are meant to be as objective as possible, which means they’re judged on commonly agreed upon film conventions and what most critics and kinophiles would consider to be “good film,” as pretentious as that sounds. Really it just means I went with my gut feeling and then considered technical aspects and effectiveness on all of these. Paired with each are some thoughts to talk about what I liked or disliked, how it made me feel, etc. I’ll try to keep it short on as many as I can since there are so many. tl;dr: top 10 is at the bottom

Anomalisa – 7 – a predictably depressing Charlie Kaufman film about loneliness and being human—somewhat ironic considering it’s a stop motion film. Don’t let the puppets with 3d printed faces fool you; this is a very human movie with one of the most realistic sex scenes ever captured on film. Probably don’t see this with your mom like I did.

Inside Llewyn Davis – 8 – one of my favorite movies of the past few years and one of my top Coen bros movies. The charismatic but dickish performance by Oscar Isaac and beautiful folk soundtrack depicts a hard life for a musician in early 1960s New York that will make you feel better about yourself (unless you’re a musician).

 Me, and Earl, and the Dying Girl – 8 – also one of my favorite movies of the past few years, this love letter to classic film by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is a beautiful story of a popular kid in high school who befriends a girl with terminal cancer. Essentially Perks of Being a Wallflower meets criterion collection.

Project X – 7 – one of my guilty pleasure movies. Lots of fun.

 The Hateful Eight (70mm) – 6 – I got to see this in 70mm complete with preshow overture and intermission and it was an incredible experience. I loved the movie but it’s not Tarantino’s best by any stretch. Note the huge disparity in rating from last year when I gave it a 9.2. This film is not a 9.2.

 The Forest – 3 – in this movie Natalie Dormer goes to the Japanese suicide forest to search for her sister who went missing. Suicide is a very apt theme here considering how heavily I considered ending my life during this movie. Truly awful.

 Carol – 6 – one of those movies that I know is good but I just didn’t enjoy. It’s about Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett as they try to hide their forbidden romantic relationship in 1950s New York. Long, slow, but very pretty and touching, I’d recommend it if you like character driven stories—especially ones about LGBT issues because it’s very good in that regard.

 Hail, Caesar – 7 – underrated mystery film by the Coen’s about old Hollywood and communists. More along the lines of the Big Lebowski than No Country For Old Men. Just a really fun movie with a great sense of world building that makes 1930s Hollywood really come alive.

 Deadpool – 7 – pretty funny and exactly the kind of movie Ryan Reynolds and fans wanted. Probably the only good Marvel movie made by Fox.

 The Witch – 8 – a visceral and disturbing film about a cursed life in 1600s New England, The Witch (stylized as The VVitch) is one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen. Be warned though, it’s the definition of slow burn horror so you’ll probably dislike it if you’re used to modern horror films.

 10 Cloverfield Lane – 7 – one of the big surprises of the year and also one of the most thrilling, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman both give excellent performances. It’s basically a bottle episode completely unrelated to the first film. People have criticized Winstead’s character for her actions at the end but it completes her character arc perfectly so it definitely works.

 Room – 8 – beautiful film. Somewhat overrated.

 Brooklyn – 8 – one of my favorites from 2015 and immensely enjoyable from start to finish. This story of an Irish girl moving to Brooklyn shows that the conflict doesn’t have to be high stakes for it to be compelling.

 Batman v Superman – 4 – wow surprise surprise, Zack Snyder made another shit movie. Awful film full of clichés and nonsensical dialogue, bizarre editing, and the incredibly moronic decision to try and kickstart an entire cinematic universe in a dreadfully painful 2+ hour runtime. This movie sucks and DC needs to either hire some competent scriptwriters and directors or just give up already.

 Zootopia – 7 – ah the quintessential furry movie 2016. I really enjoyed this and it has great rewatch value. One of the most beautifully animated movies of the year.

 Midnight Special – 6 – I had no expectations for this movie and I was pleasantly surprised by it, although somewhat let down by the ending. It’s an interesting story about a kid with unknown supernatural powers being smuggled to a specific coordinates where he says something will happen. The mystery unfolds throughout the run time and there are some pretty cool scenes. Fun sci-fi to rent maybe.

 Midnight in Paris – 7 – 1920s Paris is arguably one of the best eras to be alive in and Woody Allen captures the magic of the period well. As with most modern Woody Allen films it’s pretty cheesy—especially the modern day scenes—but the scenes that take place in the 1920s with F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso are truly a delight. One of my favorite movies from 2011.

 Captain America Civil War – 7 – not bad but much worse than Winter Soldier. It was enjoyable at least and miles ahead of Avengers 2.

 Green Room – 8 – a disturbing, white-knuckle rollercoaster of a film that follows a punk band as they fight off a bar full of alt-righ—I mean neo-nazis. An absolute must-see.

 The Nice Guys – 7 – fun from start to finish, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe give two funny and over the top performances in this 1970s period film about two detectives who get caught up in a case that’s way over their heads. Definite recommendation. Crowe’s performance in the first third/half or so is very melodramatic and over the top cool-guy but I believe it was intended to be tongue in cheek so don’t let it throw you.

 The Jungle Book – 6 – not bad.

 Raiders of the Lost Ark – 9 – a near perfect movie and one of, if not the best action movie of all time.

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 Make Happy – 8 – Bo Burnham tweeted about a special premiere screening of his new special back in March so I bought tickets and went with Andrew to see it. We went to the Largo in West Hollywood and were treated to a short comedy show and the grand premiere of Make Happy, Bo’s last one-man show for the foreseeable future. It was an incredible experience.

 The World of Tomorrow – 8 – it’s only 16 minutes and it’s by Don Herzfeldt—what’s not to love? Get ready for an existential crisis.

 The Conjuring 2 – 7 – pretty spooky in some parts with a cool little i spy game you can play with the name of the ghost demon lady. Not as good as the first.

 Finding Dory – 7 – older Pixar films have a certain level of charm that all their films post-Toy Story 3 (barring Monsters University) don’t seem to have and this is no exception. It was very enjoyable but it just felt like it doesn’t have the magic that the old ones have.

 The Shallows – 4 – the amount of praise this movie received was deadass baffling. This is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year and I don’t see how so many people missed the cliché dialogue and plot, ridiculous shark cgi, exploitative ass shots, and absolutely insane and unrealistic attempts to kill the shark. Critics and audiences comparing this to Jaws is an insult to not only Spielberg, but also the art of filmmaking itself.

 Frances Ha – 9 – one of my favorite movies of all time, this black and white indie film by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig is a cozy tale of solipsistic loneliness, friendship, and following your dreams. It’s depressing, but in a very relatable and reassuring way. Greta Gerwig as the New York dancer Frances is so believable that seeing her in other roles feels almost disingenuous. Honestly if you watch anything on this list you should watch this first, foremost and as soon as possible. It’s on netflix!

 Mistress America – 7 – another one by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig and it was actually my introduction to their work. I loved this movie when I first saw it but it pales in comparison to Frances. Still a great movie with wonderful acting and snappy as hell dialogue. Fun fact: Noah Baumbach worked with Wes Anderson in the past and it shows here, especially in the dialogue.

 The Neon Demon – 8 – one of the most polarizing films of the year but a definite return to form by the near infamous Nicolas Winding Refn. The success of the 2011 masterpiece Drive was not good for Refn’s ego apparently as he followed it up with the nauseatingly self-indulgent Only God Forgives. Thank goodness he was able to find a balance between pure art film and accessible indie film with the Neon Demon. It’s by no means very accessible but the acting, especially from the main girls and a sleazy Keanu Reeves, is great and the visuals are incredibly surreal and v e r y v e r y n e o n . Recommend if you like artsy films with lots of sex and blood.

 Back to the Future – 10 – a textbook example of what a perfect movie looks like.

 It Follows – 8 – nothing but love for this creepy and atmospheric 2015 horror/suspense film about the end of childhood and the impending dread of adulthood. Really it’s about a supernatural shape shifting thing with its “rule” being that acts like an std being passed down through sexual partners. If the thing catches you, it then goes after the previous person in the chain and so on, so the only way to save yourself is to pass it on or run endlessly in futility. Please do see this it’s great.

 The Secret Life of Pets – 6 – a disappointment but Louis CK as a dog was fun to see.

 Hush – 5 – not very good Netflix horror movie about a guy terrorizing a deaf lady at her home in the woods for some reason.

 Snatch – 6 – I suppose if I were more familiar with Guy Ritchie’s work I would’ve enjoyed it more but it looks like it was shot by a Tarantino wannabe edgelord and edited in windows moviemaker. Still entertaining though.

 Horace and Pete – 10 – Horace and Pete is a dramedy web series multi-camera sitcom written, directed, and produced by Louis CK and it’s the single best serial program I’ve ever seen. This is a true masterpiece in every sense and the writing and acting is some of the best in a serial program. It was so good that I actually could not enjoy anything else for days after because everything paled in comparison. For example, I watched Stranger Things the day after I finished this and I had to stop watching three episodes in because it was completely and utterly awful compared to Horace and Pete. The quality of writing is unbelievable and I laughed and cried at many many points. Louis CK, Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, and Alan Alda, bring career defining performances to the small screen and I cannot wait to watch it again—although I’m not sure I’m prepared for it.

 Breathless (1960) – 7 – one of the most defining films of the French New Wave, this film by Jean Luc-Godard is a love story shot in some of the most unconventional ways I’ve seen in a film. It’s not surreal or weird but it certainly is interesting. Worth a watch if you like the cinematography of Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, or Louis CK—although it’s a much more saturated French New Wave style since all those styles are derivative of this. Has some of the most intriguing and innovative tracking/dolly shots I’ve ever seen. In fact, at one point two characters are walking down the street but they couldn’t afford a dolly for the tracking shot, so they had the cameraman sit in a wheelchair and film while someone pulled him backwards to make the shot. Really that’s what French New Wave is all about: innovating and using filmmaking techniques that were unprecedented at the time.

 Star Trek Beyond – 6 – a really fun return to the franchise that actually felt somewhat like a Star Trek film—unlike that last one. It’s still just an action movie franchise now but it’s just a real good time.

 Lights Out – 3 – again, the praise this film received was COMPLETELY unwarranted and totally baffling. This movie blows and is so saturated with clichés that I can’t imagine liking this film. don’t waste ur time.

 Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates – 5 – actually hilarious movie. Really dumb but so goddamn funny. Zach Efron and Adam Devine are a great duo. Has arguably the best exchange about fisting in the history of film.

 Café Society – 6 – a pretty good modern Woody Allen film. Much better than his last two, Irrational Man and Magic in the Moonlight. It’s nice to see a film from Woody Allen that isn’t about a much older man falling in love with a much younger woman.

 Suicide Squad – 2 – “roses are red/there is no god/my favorite movie?/suicide squad.” – Gideon Ondap deadass one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I wrote a 10 page essay on this after it came out but basically the editing is jarring enough to induce brain trauma, the acting is atrocious, and the script is objectively bad. A complete and utter failure of a film. The name is a warning.

 The Room – 1 – another one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen yet 1000x more enjoyable than Suicide Squad. Tommy Wisseau is a genius and this is his magnum opus. Required viewing. Also I must say that a Suicide Squad/The Room double feature makes for one of the funniest nights of life.

 Scott Pilgrim vs The World – 8 – honestly one of my favorite movies. A super well done adaptation directed by Edgar Wright, this film is able to stand independently next to the already spectacular Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series. The music is incredible. It never gets old.

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 Sausage Party – 5 – obscene, racist, vulgar, and dumb as hell with a giant food orgy at one point. Still laughed at much of it.

 Captain Fantastic – 8 – a dad raising his kids to survive in the wilderness of Washington must bring them into society to attend their dead mother’s funeral. A big surprise and one of the most enjoyable movies I saw this year.

 Don’t Think Twice – 8 – Mike Birbiglia has always been one of my favorite comedians because his stories were so heartwarming, wholesome, and packed to the brim with jokes that would reward you on multiple viewings or listens. Don’t Think Twice is Mike’s second movie I believe, and it’s about an improv group in Brooklyn having fun doing their craft while trying to make a life for themselves. When you’re a comedian/improviser,, your friends are too, but if one of you actually gets a big break then it’s that person’s break and no one else’s. It causes a lot of tension between performers because even though they’re all friends, they’re still actively competing in a highly sought after profession. Judd Apatow came out after he saw the movie and said how accurately it depicts the life of comedy performers. It’s a really depressing (in a relatable way) and realistic take on the competitive world of improv and deals with friendship, comedy, and how cruel life can really be. Beautiful movie.

 American Beauty – 8 – really did not like this the first time but warmed up to it on the second viewing and it really shines despite many dated aspects.

 Antz – 6 – woody allen as a ant oy vey

 Back to the Future II – 5 – pretty bad sequel until he goes back to 1955. Worse than the third tbh

 Everybody Wants Some!! – 7 – even after the abortion that was Boyhood I didn’t give up on Richard Linklater and I’m glad I didn’t. This spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused (but in the 80s this time!) was a ton of fun.

 Clapping for the Wrong Reasons – 8 – this short film written by Donald Glover and directed by Hiro Murai is about a surreal day in the life of The Boy, a character Donald Glover created as the speaker of his Because the Internet album (his magnum opus imo). Hot take: Chance v Bino push up contest contender for best film scene ever.

 Kubo and the Two Strings – 7 – the most beautiful disappointment of the year. The incredible stop motion animation is unfortunately much more enjoyable than the underwhelming story. Not as good as Coraline.

 Hell or High Water – 8 – the director of photography from Sicario returns for this modern western about two brothers who rob the banks that screwed over their mother. Great performances from Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, and Chris Pine.

 Don’t Breathe – 7 – this horror film about three thieves who break into an old blind man’s house borders on exploitation film towards the end. Not that bad.

 Blair Witch – 6 – not as bad as everyone said it was. It’s a soft reboot of 99’s Blair Witch Project but with a modern horror twist—which means it relies mainly on jump scares and unnecessary use of found footage tropes rather than atmosphere building and genuine terror. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the last 15 minutes or so were really spooky. The creature design was really great and the way time moved was an interesting horror device. If you liked the first one but were bored by it then you’ll probably like this one because it moves a bit faster although you might be bored by it too. Oh but side note: that drone scene was fucking stupid.

 Over The Garden Wall – 10 – this 10 episode cartoon network animated miniseries aired in the fall of 2014 and follows two boys as they wander through the woods to find their way back home. It stars Elijah Wood, Christopher Lloyd, Melanie Lynskey, John Cleese, Tom Lennon, and Tim Curry among others. The story itself is inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and the music is inspired by early 20th century Americana folk music. It’s literally the single most charming thing I’ve ever seen and it’s an absolute MUST SEE.

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 Doctor Strange – 7 – not much to say about this one but I liked it. The visuals were top notch and although Dr Strange is basically just Tony Stark pt 2, it makes sense considering how much lesser of a role Stark will play in later movies. I’m really excited for the new Thor movie now.

 The Purge Election Year – 4 – each Purge movie is better than the last and this third installment is still a 4. That’s pretty much all there is to say. There are some legitimately hilarious parts in this though—all unintentional.

 O Brother, Where Art Thou? – 7 – another silly Coen film and one of their most accessible. Good film based on the Odyssey.

 Arrival – 9 – Dennis Villeneuve is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors after last year’s Sicario and now 2016’s Arrival. This is a film about humanity, the complete frivolity of our problems, and how staying divided will be our undoing. The cinematography is breathtaking, the score is great (much of it follows the circle of 5ths, which will make sense after watching), the acting is good, and the film just has a beautiful sense of scope to it. I encourage you to watch this and DON’T WATCH ANY TRAILERS OR READ ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I assure you; you’ll want to go into this as blind as possible (and you should never watch trailers anyway they literally ruin films).  In Trump’s America this movie is even more important so please I urge you to watch this.

 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – 5 – the Phantom Menace of the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts has so much exposition and forced world building that anyone who hasn’t seen the first 8 hp films will probably have a tough time figuring out what’s going on. The opening sequence is literally just a montage of newspaper headlines saying how terrible this dark wizard is, which was done in harry potter but over the span of roughly 3 movies rather than 1 minute. Overall positives: the creature designs were fun, Jacob was rad, the humor was effective, the cgi wasn’t /that/ bad, newt’s hair was wavy af (and he was a hufflepuff, which I appreciate), and the costumes may get an Oscar nomination. As for the cons: so much panning, craning, and tracking that I could barely see what was going on due to low framerate, the first 10-15 minutes are a suicide squad level editing disaster, the pacing was weird at times, they revealed who the main antagonist was in his actual first scene, too many plotlines interweaved, inexcusably bad framing in a few shots, and the ending was a little bit Chekhov’s gun but was pretty much deus ex machina. This just didn’t feel as magical as the harry potter films and, like star wars 7, it feels like a failed attempt to recapture what made people love the franchise in the first place. It was a very flawed film but I still enjoyed it and will watch it again.

 Moana – 6 – VERY overrated but still good. How a lot of people felt about Frozen is how I feel about this movie. The animation was incredible, the voice acting was great, the songs were good (although not nearly as catchy or memorable as Frozen, save for Shiny) and it ends up being another Tangled, a movie I enjoyed but will forget about very soon—hell I’ve already forgotten about it. Just think about how long Frozen was a thing. People were talking about Frozen for months after and I haven’t seen anyone mention Moana since its opening weekend. Overall a huge disappointment. Zootopia was the far superior animated feature this year.

 The Handmaiden – 8 – my first Park Chan-wook film and I loved it ! This film is fucking enigma for the first half and then as soon as one detail is revealed it suddenly opens up and becomes an incredible psychological thriller. I honestly was not enjoying this film for the first act or so because of how seemingly meaningless it was but it really shaped up to be one of my favorites of the year. Never before have I experienced a film that made me 180 on opinion during the course of its runtime. Be warned: don’t see this with your parents or anyone you would feel awkward watching porn with because this shit is basically pornography at MANY points during the film. I don’t know if my friend and his brother have forgiven me yet.

 Unedited Footage of a Bear – 8 – there’s a tl;dr at the bottom of this one because it’s a little long and expository. I was watching an idubbbz video (https://youtu.be/5Bs45yITIt0) back in November and many criticized how unfunny and bizarre it was compared to his other content. People started to speculate that he was doing a metafictional series about his channel along the lines of alantutorial (https://www.youtube.com/user/alantutorial), a channel in which performance artist Alan Resnick plays a fictionalized version of himself who is depicted as a mentally ill young man obsessed with making tutorial videos. This alantutorial series is a commentary on poorly made tutorial videos that flood youtube, as well as social media in general and the overwhelming desire for likes, favorites, going viral, etc. after discovering Alan Resnick and watching all his videos I started to seek out his other content and I found this short film that aired as part of Adult Swim’s infomercial slot at 4 a.m. This may sound familiar to some as the timeslot for Too Many Cooks, which went viral. This short film, titled Unedited Footage of a Bear, can be watched here: https://youtu.be/2gMjJNGg9Z8 and parodies those commercials you’ll often see on tv about drugs that are peddled to mentally ill people without proper testing. This film depicts addiction as a force that can and will ruin your life, your family’s life, and will kill you if left unchecked. There’s an explanation you can watch here: https://youtu.be/_2e5ia9j0TA that explains it really well and is worth the watch. tl;dr: cool 10-minute short horror film about addiction by performance artist Alan Resnick – check it out.

Twin Peaks (Pilot) – 8 – it was good

 This House Has People In It – 8 – hey look another Alan Resnick short film. you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/x-pj8OtyO2I and the attempted explanation is here: https://youtu.be/mjBTAnCUbZc because this one is pretty complicated compared to footage of a bear. also worth the watch simply for the L O R E

 No Country For Old Men – 10 – one of the best movies of this century hands down. not sure if I rate it quite as high as There Will Be Blood though, which came out the same year. The Coen’s crowning achievement (although you could argue that title belongs to The Big Lebowski for reasons)

 Moonlight – 9 – a very heavy coming of age film about a young boy living in the south who attempts to find himself while growing up in an incredibly unforgiving environment. beautiful film and I’m excited to see it again. very very important film for LGBT issues.

 Nocturnal Animals – 8 – one of the biggest surprises this year. I LOVED this movie and it stayed with me for days. as soon as it started I made a mental note that I’d have to really pay attention to everything because I figured it would be heavy with metaphor and symbolism and boi was I right about that. Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal give great performances and I honestly can’t tell you the last time I got so emotionally invested in a film. people have criticized Adams’ performance as melodramatic and cold, which is the point because she’s not supposed to be likeable. the narrative structure is refreshing and fun to piece together and the visuals were pretty alright. my favorite part of this movie was piecing together all the metaphors (of which there are many) and figuring out what the events of the Nocturnal Animals manuscript (in the film) means for the characters. It’s been a very polarizing film apparently, which surprised me since it doesn’t really try to be anything more than it is. It definitely rewards close observation but I can’t guarantee everyone will like this one. I won’t say more because going into it blind is the best way but I do recommend it. Tense, emotional, gripping, funny. It’s good.

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 Star Wars Rogue One – 8 – I really enjoyed this. I probably don’t need to say much because it’s star wars but this was the best star wars film since Empire Strikes Back in my opinion (although episode III wasn’t that bad). the characters were a little flat, some of the humor was out of place, and the first 30 minutes had bad pacing, but overall it was great. the action in this one was insane and I’m so happy that we finally got to see a proper space battle (and holy shit is it a good one). this has one of my favorite moments of the entire series and it actually feels like a star wars movie unlike episode VII.

 La La Land – 10 – I’m at a loss for words honestly. This movie is so fucking good. The soundtrack is incredible, the choreography is awesome, the cinematography is BEAUTIFUL, and the performances are wonderful. I could keep thinking of adjectives or I could just tell you to go see this movie as soon as you can. Best movie of the year hands down. LA has never looked so fucking good OH MAN please go see this movie you’ll surely regret it if you don’t. OH and we went to see this in the Vista Theater in LA, which was a once in a lifetime experience. See this in the most old-Hollywood theater you can because it actually improves it if that’s possible. Now there are some flaws, mainly in third act pacing, but it’s so enjoyable that it doesn’t matter.

 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – 10 – it’s a classic and could be considered a perfect film. not much to say but it’s definitely one of my favorites of all time. never gets old.

 Home Alone – 8 – this was the first time I watched Home Alone and I liked it.

 Assassin’s Creed – 6 – the neckbeard-y guy doing anime runs up and down the stairs of the theatre behind us really set the tone for this movie. I didn’t hate it but it was pretty dreary and I feel like almost nothing happened. I don’t think it translates to the screen well but it did capture the feel of the games, or at least the first one. Let’s just say after seeing this I went on a mission to watch at least one more movie so it wouldn’t be my last of the year.

 Swiss Army Man – 7 – the praise for this movie was a bit unwarranted. It’s really silly and touching but it wasn’t the modern masterpiece that everyone was saying it was. maybe I missed something but the corpse of Daniel Radcliffe farting is only tolerable and funny for so long. I will say that this is one of the most unique movies I’ve ever seen, so I’ll give it props for that, and the soundtrack was actually incredible. I enjoyed it very much and need to watch it again but it was alright.

Come Together – 8 – an H&M short film by Wes Anderson that can be watched here: https://youtu.be/VDinoNRC49c . It was cute and I guess it’ll hold me over until Isle of Dogs, which comes out in 2018 (no it won’t)

 The Lobster – 8 – this absurd commentary on relationships and their influence on society is just bizarre and has a wonderfully dry performance from Colin Farrell and, well, every other actor too. this film is just crazy and I really need to watch it again. Expect it to be on my next year’s list as well. TOP TEN RELEASED IN 2016 xxx 10 – The Nice Guys

9 – Hell or High Water

8 – The Handmaiden

7 – Don’t Think Twice

6 – The Witch

5 – Moonlight

4 – Nocturnal Animals

3 – Green Room

2 – Arrival

1 – La La Land honorable mentions: Captain Fantastic, Horace and Pete, The Neon Demon, Make Happy recommendations: Frances Ha, Mistress America, Over the Garden Wall, The World of Tomorrow, Midnight in Paris, Me, and Earl, and the Dying Girl, The Lobster and finally the award for worst movie of the year goes to ,,,,, SUICIDE SQUAD duh. In 2016 I watched 77 movies, which is terrible considering I watched 124 last year and 92 in 2014. That gap from September to November really killed me in that regard and hopefully it won’t happen again or for as long next time. Overall this was actually a pretty weak year for movies it seems. Looking at my top of the year list, it looks significantly weaker than last year’s which had The Revenant, It Follows, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Sicario, and Brooklyn. If anyone has questions or suggestions about anything I’d love to have a discussion so feel free. Here’s to another year of great movies. also if you’d like to follow me on twitter @thejoeydavis please do because I’m a huge slut for likes and I desperately want and need your approval. thanks for reading

#movies of 2016 #joey davis #joseph davis