#amy finally being treated like the main cast member she is

[thegoths]

this last year and onwards has been so SATISFYING for shadow and amy fans for real. the two characters who are most commonly misrepresented and boiled down to a single character trait have FINALLY been getting some really solid content

#prime had its problems but both characters were written so well #shadow is getting so much content this year #amy finally being treated like the main cast member she is #im eating GOOD #sonic #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #sonic the hedgehog #sonic x shadow generations #emi speaks

[radcatcrown]

Stephen’s Cosmos

Alternative title: My frustrations with Steven Universe coalesced into form in an AU

So Steven Universe: The Movie came out and after months of slumber, it woke my gripes with the series due to stuff that happened within the movie that irked me. I’ve had my problems with Steven Universe for some time now, and it's not that the movie is the straw the broke the camel's back, but hey, seems like a good time as any to do this.

Statement of Purpose: My main problem with Steven Universe is not an issue of the attempt at redeeming villains, for a dude like myself that grew up on an anime media diet, villains getting turned good is old hat. I’ve seen it better done than SU and worse than SU. The idea that yes, somebody that has done wrong in the past and has recognized the error of their ways has a possibility to atone is a good message. The problem is with SU scale, because of its insistence of going cosmic and having most serious problems have the sake of the world in the balance as an allegory for family issues makes it less credible, and more than a tad reprehensive. So this is an AU that remixes the show to do away with it. Mind you this is just a basic, vague, ranty pitch, probably not going to write out any episodes. We good? Ok. Let's begin.

Premise and Setting: In the interest of cutting down on the ‘epic’ scale of original SU, I’ll have this set mostly on modern-day earth and maybe other realms if necessary. Stephen’s Cosmos would have more of a straight-up magic/fantasy feel than the sci-fi magi-tech the show uses. This is because we’re not using aliens here, we’re using witches. And since we’re going for differences I’ll be using a Floral/herbal naming scheme for these witches, maybe even have them have developed plant-like features, but having them be human women at least as a basis. The backstory would go like so; existing for centuries in the shadows there would be a coven of powerful Witches known as the Chrysanthemum Circle, composed of the Elder Sister; White Chrysanthemum, Middle Sisters; Blue and Yellow/Golden Chrysanthemum and the youngest Red Chrysanthemum. They would rule over a pseudo-amazonian secret island in the middle of the pacific ocean, where they have built a society of witches that work under them, basically for both the preservation of the society itself and for them to be able to live in luxury. Red would be treated as a child by the other three instead of an equal, constantly the victim of abuse and punishment for her oddities in her sister’s eyes. This causes her to run away a few times before burning bridges in an impulsive manner, escaping and taking a few like-minded witches with her, namely her handmaiden and confidant Lily, the mysterious Sunflower, and a few others. Red would shed her imperious persona for a softer, friendlier Pink Rose. From there they would wander the world of man, picking up a young human girl that would come to name herself Carnation. They would settle and build a temple in the small coastal city of Beach City eventually, where they would live until the foreseeable future as the coven of the Wild Flowers. There Pink would find Mr. Universe and things would progress as cannon... except Pink doesn’t need to die here. So we have Pink Rose as part of the secondary cast. The main premise of the story would be to have an episodic structure with monster/problem-of-the-week setups(depending on how much action it makes sense to have in it), slowly integrating Stephen and the Flowers into the quirky town of Beach City, as well as learning lore and having the Flowers help with the strange occurrences in this town. These episodic seasons would get broken up with two-parter season finale to have a nice bombastic event. It would get slightly more serialized as it goes along, more-less the Avatar: The Last Airbender model. There would be a reveal of who Rose is about halfway through where Lily reveals it under dire circumstances and would fragment the Wild Flowers. Why not go with a completely mundane plot? Because flora is pretty, witches are cool and lesbian witches are double cool. (If you must though it's actually not that hard, the Diamonds are an old money/noble family, staunchly elitist and traditionalist, have them be in Europe where they rule over a township. Rose runs away due to similar situations and we’d have her and other runaways come to Beach City and slowly get integrated with ensuing hijinks and slice-of-life situations.)

Characters

Red Chrysanthemum/Pink Rose: Ok this is the big one so we better get it out of the way first. Since she’s going to be around her main impact on the show is actually being able to be there and explain herself but also deal with the fallout of her own choices. Her personality would be very nice, motherly, soft and friendly but in a way that she seems above it all, careless and perhaps a little too hands-off. Her main flaw to be dealt with is her selfishness. Her main arc would be raising Steven, and recognizing other people as her equals that she loves instead of her inferiors to be protected. The secondary arc would be having to deal with the repercussions of her past actions and her secrets.

Stephen: If one’s theme is generational abuse then exploring the next generation is crucial. Stephen would serve as an instigator to get the Flowers closer to the regular human population, and the audience closer to the bizarre and mysterious Wild Flowers. Stephen’s arc or arcs rather would focus on many things, but the main one being on his growth is the best of both worlds, his mother and father’s better qualities without the baggage that brought them into being, having to struggle with his identity between two worlds and the friction therein. He would eventually mature to be better than Pink. 

Lily: Lily would be Pearl’s equivalent, a Handmaiden literally sworn to serve Red; now Pink. The first thing that was done after their escape was to break her oath. We’d keep her arc of her having unrequited feelings for Pink, and her issues with her self worth and need for outside stimuli and approval. Her feelings would eventually need to be confronted and her dependency issues would be dealt with by her efforts to own her own person, be well with herself by being independent, and find maybe a new love?

Sunflower: Sunflower would be the fusion between two witches in love, separated by their classes back in the Island; the knightly and flaming Poppy and the serene seer Tulip. They wanted to be together with such fervor that when they were ordered to stay separated due to their social standings they performed a forbidden ritual that bound them both as one sole entity, sort of as a witchy marriage. The Chrysanthemums banned this ritual due to the exponential increase in power between the two participants, fearing it may topple them, so they declared it forbidden and decadent due to the ‘loss of two precious lives to bring in one tortured life’. The ritual cannot be sustained forever and it would be dissolved every new moon, and the preparations to properly perform it take a few days at least. This allows the two cute lesbians to be cute together. There would be parallels between them and the Rose/Lily relationship, but also serve to contrast them. Their arcs would mostly be relationship-based, regarding if they are codependent, if their relationship is healthy, they would have their rough patches and arguments like any married couple and hopefully a second more human wedding. 

Amy Thistle Aka Carnation: Carnation would be a neophyte witch kicked out of her foster home due to her magical inclinations. Finding a kindred spirit in their search for freedom Rose takes her under her wing. Carnation turns out to have the more ‘normal’ demeanor of the three witches. She would have parallels with Rose in the sense that even after Stephen’s around she’s treated like the kid and even not a ‘proper’ witch, this results in aggravating the self-worth and self hate issues she had. Rose’s words of ‘you’re perfect as you are’ would soothe her but in the long run, it just put obstacles in her development. She would grow to have frictions with Stephen, but would resolve them together with him. 

Connie: Basically the same but make her parents actually overbearing or traditionalist as to make parallels with the Chrysanthemums.

Lavender: A cloudshaper that got caught up in a riot against the Chrysanthemums, was sealed in a mirror until Stephen liberates her accidentally. Once out she lashes out against even the ones that gave her a helping hand. Her way to cope with her own trauma due to being sealed for hundreds of years would be violent and volatile. Her arc would be of her working through that trauma and for her to serve as a MASSIVE red flag for Rose of what her sisters’ deeper sins may be.

Mint: Keep Peridot’s arc and just adjust for lower scale. Her whole arc should be about broken misconceptions about the society outside the Island, and breaking through the behaviors that repressive society has ingrained. Parallels with Rose on that one. 

Oak: Oak would have more-less Jasper’s role in the story at large, first as a weapon for the Chrysanthemums and later as a recurring antagonist. Functionally she would begin to show to Rose and the others the consequences of her running away and other past actions since Oak was a member of her former court. 

Peony: An original member of the Wild Flowers that was found by Stephen as he messed around with portals. Her conflict with Rose originally would be more-less the same than Bismuth, their ideological differences, in this case, Peony has created a garment that would sever one’s connection with magic, reducing the user to a regular human. As with the original, she would be right in wanting justice and revenge. She wanted to use that to topple the Chrysanthemums and have them face the people’s justice. Rose exiled her before, and kept her secret. When she appears again old wounds are opened, and it is Peony that plants the seeds of direct rebellion within the Wild Flowers.

Townies: Most of these are fine and we don’t need to touch it, there are three major changes to be done though; Kevin, who should get a rehabilitation arc from a douche creep to a decent person, as a sort of practice for Stephen to help everybody else. Lars, since he can no longer be of the Stars, would become a part of the human contingent of Wild Flowers, mostly out of a search for purpose and adventure. Ronaldo would be rehabilitated from a self-important conspiracy buff into another, Dipper Pine’s-ish Wildflower.

The Chrysanthemums: Ok now the big bads. The Chrysanthemums would be aristocratic and authoritarian, capable of atrocities and overall believe themselves to be superior to everybody else. They would be the center of a “Diamond-Days”-esque arc in which Stephen, Rose and the other Wild Flowers go back to the Island with the explicit purpose of changing things for the best. They would need to test the lessons learned by Rose and her growth. General personality for the three? Yellow should be be imperius and ruthless, Blue should feel sublime, like the serene calm for a perpetual storm. White would actually have a god complex; she thinks of herself as perfect and eternal. They have been ‘mourning’ Red since she ran away, but the mourn an idealized version of her, the Red they wish they had lived with. From here during their story arc we would slowly begin to find out that Blue and Yellow act the way they act out of fear, though there is a degree of them that did buy into White’s beliefs. They’ve seen what White is capable and they know they’re not powerful enough even combined. Rose would end up confronting all three of them about the trauma they put her through, not only that but for the combined suffering and pain their rule of repression has caused to the witches in the island. She would reach through to Blue and Yellow… but not White. White reacts how an angry god might. They would manage to repel her and she would become the true antagonist, a goddess ousted from her temple. Blue and Yellow over the course of the next seasons begin to realize the true extent of their actions and set upon trying to fix and atone, but it would be made clear that hundreds of years of oppression cannot be easily wiped away. White herself would end up being defeated, depowered, and put on trial. Ultimately she would be sealed away.

So yeah, that’s it, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#su #steven universe #su critical #steven #universe #AU

[heartlandians]

Shadowing on Heartland’s Season 13 Finale

Good day Heartland fans! Today we have a special treat for you -- as Christopher Redmond is sharing his story about what it was like for him recently to work as a "shadow" on set! Take it away Christopher!

A lot of Heartland secrets were revealed to me this past month.

I’m not allowed to tell you the latest in Georgie’s love life, whether Lou’s big gamble for Mitch paid off, or what business ventures are in store for the Heartland ranch. However, I can share a little bit about what I learned about life behind-the-scenes, since I had the privilege of shadowing on the series.

In the film industry, getting to “shadow” a director is something between being an intern and an understudy. The idea is to learn the process behind one particular show. I’ve primarily directed for preschool television (most notably Sesame Street), but jumping onto a show like Heartland is a different animal.

Seeing how the directors work with horse wranglers, stunt riders, and the main cast is unlike any other series in North America. That means you better know the difference between lopes, canters, and gallops, on top of keeping your Dutch and Western camera angles straight.

Dean Bennett, who has directed over 40 episodes of Heartland (including the pilot), was the person I came to shadow. He’s a full-time producer on the series now as well, meaning when he was not prepping or shooting his own episode, he was overseeing nearly all other aspects of the show (episodes are shot in “blocks”, sometimes out of order).

I also had the chance to shadow series star and regular director Chris Potter, as well as first-time to Heartland director Kristin Lehman (Motive fans will certainly recognize her!). This three-for-one deal ended up being an invaluable experience. As a director, I rarely get to see other directors work. But spending weeks in the Heartland stables gave me unique insight into how each director’s approach is shaped by their personal background.

Chris, who plays Tim on Heartland, knows exactly what the cast needs to hear to reign in their performances. Whether he was directing two actors sharing their first kiss, or corralling 800 fan extras at a rodeo (with the help of the ever-impressive Amber “Stampede” Marshall herself), he’s able to straddle life on both sides of the camera with impressive comfort.

Kristin also has fantastic experience behind the camera, which made her extra attentive to lighting close-ups differently than wide shots, and ensuring she brought new energy to her scenes (watch for an unscripted water fight!). She also does an admirable job of making every single member of the crew feel appreciated.

And of course Dean’s ability to wear so many hats is all the more impressive when you see how carefully he maps out the physics and emotional logic of each scene. Since he started in the camera department, working as a cinematographer before directing, he chooses to watch dramatic scenes in-person rather ran through the monitor to make sure he’s focusing on the performance and not the picture.

This certainly came in handy for the last scene I got to see, which will no doubt go down as the most dramatic moment in Heartland history since Amy’s mother died in episode one. Get ready!

I’m back in Ottawa now, anxious to put my new skills to work, and looking forward to watching the season when it airs. One way or another, Heartland always seems to bring me back to my homeland of Alberta.

Source

#heartland #season 13 #13x10 #christopher redmond #director #producer #dean bennett #kristin lehman #chris potter

[skull001]

Friday... It was like 7:30 PM and thought I could take a quick 10 minute nap but was so exhausted from work that next thing I knew was waking up at 3:00 AM. And since there is not much to do to pass time, I decided to do something about it: write.

One of the things I always liked about the Sonic franchise is it's characters. It's not only that they have very appealing designs that combine cute traits with a touch of coolness, but also their well defined personalities. Saddly, I often see people get the wrong idea about them... and it's not just the fans (particularly the fandumb who misinterpretate them into something they are not out of spite) but even the people who are supposed to be professionals who for some reason struggle to get the hang of characters that at first glance seem to have simple personalities.

Today I'm just going to focus on the main cast besides Sonic: Eggman, Tails, Amy and Knuckles.

Dr. Eggman IMO is a character that was always meant to be a cartoony villain who is as goody as he is dangerous. While in Japanese manuals he calls himself a scientific genious of evil, the truth is that Eggman is for the most part, just a very selfish and immature fellow who happens to also be the most brilliant mind in the entire world.

The reason why Eggman is so dangerous is that he pursues his selfish desires such as building an entire amusement park just for himself (and to absolutely share it with no one else) without ever thinking of how he puts everyone, himself included, in great danger by handling forces that he can't expect to control. He is like a very spoiled manchild who is playing with fire in a tinderbox.

While he considers evil, it's also important to note that Eggman is not exactly what I would call sadistic (except in the Archie/IDW comic) since he never is shown to enjoy the suffering of innocents that are caught on his schemes... Eggman simply just doesn't care, but I believe that if he were to be conscious of how his actions affect others, he might at the very least hesitate on going further with his plans because despite being a trouble maker, Eggman is not a monster and in some occassions has shown to still have redeeming aspects that do surface from time to time.

Another interesting aspect about Eggman is that despite him boasting about how great it is to be him and acting all smug, he might actually be a character that feels lonely. In Sonic Unleashed, this point was brought by Chip and think there is validity to it because in the next game, we're introduced to his two assistants Orbot and Cubot, who ever since have kept company to the doc, though as expected, he treats them awfully (but never in a cruel way) just like a bully would to their henchmen. Perhaps Eggman does want to have friends, but because of his selfish and self-centered personality, he drives away anyone who might want to try to come close to him. Heck, the only reason he and Amy remained Fuzzy Puppy buddies in Sonic Boom was that for once, Eggman stopped acting like a spoiled brat and returned the stolen figure after Amy threatened to stop being his friend.

Tails (aka Miles Prower). Tails is a character that has suffered a lot in recent games because of what I mentioned at the start of this wall of text: simple characters who are misunderstood.

This is a character that is meant to be the kid of the group, and as such, he would be the one who experiences doubts and self-confidence issues because while you have strong and experienced characters like Sonic and Knuckles, or the self-made heroine that Amy Rose eventually grew to become, Tails is just the youngest member of the group who for the longest time relied on being by Sonic's side to have the confidence to do things.

Tails has a talent when it comes to tinkering with machines which seems to bring him great joy (I imagine it's the kind like when I build sci-fi model kits), and is always seeking to gain the acknowledgement from his friends by showing to them his latest inventions. At heart, Tails is a gentle child who is the exact opposite of Dr. Eggman because while the doc uses all his talents and resources for self-serving purposes, Tails wants for his inventions to help make life easier for others. However, often his inventions have flaws/bugs that the boy oversees because of his child-like enthusiasm, and this can sometimes cause troubles (like in Sonic Boom's "UT" episode) that causes for Tails to sink into his own doubts.

One thing that I feel is very important to take into consideration is that Tails should never be the kind of character that guilt-trips the audience into feeling sorry for him. When one feels empathy for a character, it's often because they struggle and show very humane and relatable emotions. Tails being confused about what went wrong is IMO a very sincere form of showing his doubts and him trying to correct them is his form of struggle. A trap writers could fall for is to make the other characters act mean to him which is something I feel should be avoided because it cheapens the whole thing.

Amy Rose. With Amy, the thing I liked and always believed is that out of all the characters, she is the one with the most potential... And what annoys me is the way Sonic Team fails to deliver on it by all of the wrong reasons.

I always loved Amy because she is one of the characters that to mee feels the most "real". Amy is a very energetic and bubbly girl with an endless supply of optimism that always makes her see the best out of any situation. She also has quite some flaws too, like being impulsive, quick to jump into conclussions, can be a bit feisty, etc... IMO, this makes Amy feel closer to the normal people and believe that in the Sonic franchise, she serves as a bridge between Sonic's bigger than life adventures and the normal, everyday life. But if there is one thing that this character has that won me over, is her compassion and empathy for others. Sure, every character can show that too because it's a basic humane quality. However, none of them takes it to the length that Amy does because what makes Amy unique is that her compassion and empathy also extends towards the bad guys. You see, Amy is the kind of character that believes that everyone deserves to be happy in life, and because her insight makes her realize the sadness experienced by those who lost their way and deviated into a dark path, she will try to make them realize the inner good that they forgot existed or did not know was there. Where Sonic saves the world, Amy saves bad guys from themselves.

Funny enough, Amy herself is a character that I am very sympathetic for because unlike Tails and Knuckles, who from the very start of their careers had the full support of Sonic Team and always received a preferential treatment, Amy is a character that had to start literally from zero to get where she is now... and even then, sometimes it feels like she is often left behind by the developers who overlook the many things that she as a character can contribute to the main cast, what she herself can accomplish as a hero, what she can add as a playable character... And it's this one-sided form of exclussion that feels so unfair, based on dumbass ideas like "she wasn't part of the Genesis trilogy" that has resulted in so many missed opportunities... From SA2 not continuing her character development by giving the spotlight instead to Knuckles (who didn't even contributed to the plot in any meaningful way and was just there for the sake of pandering to his popularity), to being robbed in Forces from being the leader the IDW comic showed (and which previous games hinted she would one day become) to Mania not having her in the game despite already haven proved to be a great addition in Sonic Advence, giving her spot instead to a couple of literal nobodies. Even the animated mini-series would had also forgotten all about her had it not been for Tyson Hesse, who likes the character and always wanted to feature her and insisted until he got the green light to go ahead with what I feel is the most special episode of the Mania Adventures mini series (and the oerfect Christmas gift for me).If only Christian Whitehead and Takashi Iizuka had been more like Hesse... Cowards. No, I'm not even fucking sorry for calling them that.

Sometimes, as an Amy fan, it's so very hard to have any love for things like the immensely popular "classic trio" (the concept, not the characters involved) because how this has resulted in Amy always getting the short end of the stick. This is a character that IMO should had been right up there along Tails in terms of importance, not being sidelined or excluded over crap "reasons".

And finally, Knuckles.

Oh Knuckles, where do I begin. Despite how sometimes I may sound harsh towards the character, I have to say that I do like Knuckles because as a character, I believe he can be one of the most entertaining and relatable of the franchise, but because Sonic Team are a mixed bag themselves (they create wonderful character designs and give them unique personalities for the most part, but God if they can be clumsy when it comes to handling them) I feel that Knuckles is the opposite of Amy in that he is a character that fell victim of his popularity, where Amy on the other hand is a victim just because she wasn't introduced in a certain trilogy of games.

As a character, Knuckles feels like a mix between Donald Ducks short-tempered personality, and Daffy Duck's jealousy towards the main character. Indeed, Knux can be quite explosive with his temper, especially if it involves unwanted visitors laying their filthy casual paws all over the master emerald, or when facing unexpected obstacles (I know how this feels... I too hate when my work is affected by factors outside my own power. XD) which in animation, were hilariously captured by Tyson.

Knuckles relationship with Sonic on paper is that of a friendly rivalry... Not because Knuckles is this supposedly good, close friend of Sonic, which I still believe he is not (Tails has a reason to be a close friend, Amy has a reason AND had to struggle and insist until she finally got there... Knuckles though, he was never given one, although it's never too late to start working on it), but rather, because Knuckles was never a bad guy... He simply was some echidna with a very honest and naive sense of what is right which Dr. Eggman took advantage of to pit him against Sonic and Tails. Even if Knuckles was thankful to Sonic for helping clear the mess and recover the master emerald, I believe that deep down, Knuckles still resents having not only been tricked by Eggman, but also being beaten by Sonic... and not just in the literal sense of having been KO'd in Kombat, but also in the sense that Sonic did what he was supposed to do: retrieve the master emerald. This IMO is a wound in Knuckles' pride that never truly healed.

And this brings me to what makes Knuckles so sympathetic. Knuckles is the least brilliant mind of the group. He us also stubborn... A literal knucklehead. And yet, Knuckles is aware of this and in more than one occassion has expressed his frustration and regret for how easy he can be taken advantage of... How could someone not love Knuckles and just want to give him a good hug? This is why I was so very moved when the Archie comic had a heartwarming moment where he and Amy have a talk during a journey to retrieve the shards of the master emerald. Ian Flynn did a great job IMO at humanizing Knux by having him open up to Amy and talk about the things that trouble him, from Sonic being a teased, to his doubt to whether he is worthy of being the master emerald's guardian... And how Amy not only reminded how despite his mistakes, he never ever gave up. And when their adventure was over and succeded in their mission, Amy gave Knuckles that hug he deserved and needed so badly to make him feel appreciated.

They are all wonderful characters when they are done right, and why it so frustrates me so very much when they mess up with them because people, like the unintelligent mass of meat that they are, will always jump to the laziest and easiest conclussion, which is why they all have been given negative stigmas that have been so hard to shake off.

I really wish that these characters were made not only justice, but also to be handled by competent people that can understand what makes them themselves, who understand how they are suppose to act like and provide something that actually rewards their fans instead of punishing them (I'm looking at you Sonic Forces!). Funny how it's cartoons like Sonic Boom, the very last Archie comics and the IDW comic that has been delivering the things I always wanted while the games struggle and fail to deliver. This is why the idea of the next game worries me because I really don't have much faith in Sonic Team doing anything that has not been done in the last games: Sonic only, Tails's character being further butchered while Amy and Knuckles are glorified extras. How can I even have the least faith in them when their track record speaks so loud and clear? Only way the next game will give this characters the care they deserve is if the story is writen by either Ian Flynn or Tyson Hesse. They're the only ones that deliver what Pontac, that other guy and Sonic Team themselves failed to do.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Miles Tails Prower #Amy Rose #Knuckles the Echidna #Dr. Eggman

[falneou17]

BanG Dream! Favorite List

So... people have been requesting I made this for quite some time now, and I decided that I might as well. It might be a nice thing to look back on the past three years and see how I have formed and changed my opinion on the various characters.

The main reason why I held back with it for so long, aside from wanting to avoid giving off the wrong idea with who my least fave is, is because I was playing on the JP server while conversing with people who were only playing on EN. I stopped playing JP about a year ago now (the last event I remember playing on the JP server was Babyglow, actually), so the EN server has more or less caught up to what I remembered from the JP side of the franchise; which means that there is still a decent chance that my preferences might change from this point onwards. Not to mention that the third season will air next month, too.

I want to do these regularly-ish, but with how “fixed” the rankings have been ever since RAS’ introduction I wonder how often that can be done.

Icons are taken from the bandorisorter tumblr.

Favorites

1. Yamabuki Saaya Same old song and dance, she has been my favorite BanG Dream! girl since day one. She radiates an aura similar to Saten Ruiko from the Raildex franchise (who also happens to be my all-time favorite character), and this, coupled with her supportive, sacrificial, helpful nature really helped Saaya in solidifying a spot in the #1 spot. The only way I can feasibly see her drop from this spot is if she doesn’t receive any character growth and development because she has been, admittedly, rather static in this department.

2. Aoba Moca A name people still think is my fave of the franchise, she might really become it soon depending on how much Saaya grows in the future. A “simple” character at face value, I really started finding out just how deep her character is when I started getting more into her design and learned more about her. She is overall a really fun character to work with and nothing says that more than the fact that she has been the centerpiece of all my multi-chapter fanfics for this fandom at the time of writing this.

3. Mitake Ran Ran goes almost hand-in-hand with Moca, but where Moca had the element of surprise and curiosity to keep her high on the list, Ran felt like this mixture of two characters of a different franchise I really enjoyed, combining both their strong points into who we now know is Mitake Ran. And I am sure you all already know how much I like Ran considering the BlueFlora works I have done since April of 2017.

4. Hazawa Tsugumi Tsugumi is probably the easiest character, at least among the Afterglow girls, for people outside the BanG Dream! fandom to relate to, and for good reason. She’s a hard worker, remains positive, and you know things will go south when Tsugumi isn’t being optimistic and charging forward like no tomorrow.

5. Imai Lisa Lisa shares a lot of similarities with Saaya, or at least how I described Saaya. Nevertheless, there are still a handful of factors that would explain the gap between them. The first is that I saw Saaya on the screen first, so Lisa was doomed to become “similar to Saaya” as a result (the way the first season animated both girls didn’t really help). The second is the way Lisa is shipped by the general fandom that makes me feel a lot more restricted in using her freely. The final point is not Lisa’s fault, but while Nakashima Yuki has done an amazing job at taking over the role... she is not Endō Yurika.

Loves

6. Uehara Himari I make fun of Himari a lot, but she is still an amazing character and a great gear in the Afterglow machine. And while I personally feel like the English translation of Himari’s catchphrase is not doing it justice, I am very much aware of how important Himari is to the chemistry of Afterglow. She is the leader of Afterglow, after all.

7. Shirokane Rinko What started out as just a playful headcanon has really gotten traction and popularity amongst my readers and helped Rinko rise up to this spot, managing to even beat out the fifth member of Afterglow in the process. Although very different from the characters I usually wrote for, Rinko manages to be this breath of fresh air to allow for a different pace than what I usually work with. The only reason that is holding Rinko back is not even her own fault: Akesaka Satomi made Rinko into the character that I’ve come to know and love; she was Rinko, so losing her was and always will be a big blow to me. Shizaki Kanon is doing her best, and I respect her as a seiyuu in her own right, but... she’s never going to replace Akesaka Satomi as Rinko in my eyes.

8. Udagawa Tomoe Tomoe is a weird one. On the one hand, she’s very fun, energetic, and is tunnel-visioned enough to be fairly predictable in a fun way. On the other hand, she is the most static character in her band and one of the most static of the entire franchise, so... she’s still really high up thanks to the Afterglow bias in me, but who knows for how long that can last?

9. Maruyama Aya I really am unable to talk about Aya without bringing up her seiyuu, Maeshima Ami, because the phrase “the seiyuu is the character” rings very true when it comes to this one. And she is a very fun character, too! I am not really good with stumbly fumbly characters, but watching Aya on the screen has never been a bad thing. It also helps that her singing voice matches Misawa Sachika’s so much, reminding me of Misawa Sachika’s Polaris mini-album and even convincing me for a short period that Misawa Sachika was Aya’s seiyuu.

10. Okusawa Misaki/Michelle I am not really breaking the mold here, having Misaki be my favorite Hello, Happy World! character, so I don’t think I need to add much to it. In a nutshell, Misaki is to Moca as Lisa is to Saaya. But instead of being put in a band I like overall, Misaki was put in what is arguably my least fave band of the franchise (mostly because the style of music does not fit me, personally, and I like the other five bands more)... which really limits how much Misaki can rise in my list.

11. Wakamiya Eve I only have one thing to say about her: BUSHIDO. In all seriousness, Eve is adorable and her fascination with Japan can really act as a parallel to how some fans adore the culture. In short, much like the vocalist of her band, there is never a dull moment when Eve is around.

12. Asahi Rokka Rokka is a really fun addition to the cast through the second season that aired earlier this year. And what is really interesting about her is that, while the other four RAS girls have been a hit or a miss in the fandom, Rokka seems to be almost universally liked. She is just an adorable bundle of cute, what’s more to say about her?

Likes

13. Tamade “CHU2″ Chiyu So remember how I said in Rokka’s entry that RAS’ characters tend to be a hit or a miss? Well, CHU2 is, in my experience, the most polarizing of the RAS girls; people either love her or hate her. I personally really like her, because while she may appear as a brat at first there is obviously a lot more going on beneath the surface. And I enjoy watching those characters develop, so here’s to hoping that season 3 is nice to CHU2.

14. Nyubara “PAREO” Reona Now unlike CHU2, I can’t really pinpoint what it is exactly about PAREO that makes me like her. But I do, she is enjoyable, her dedication to RAS and CHU2, while bordering something else entirely, is still... quite admirable to see, in its unique way.

15. Ichigaya Arisa Arisa is a weird one. I enjoy watching the subtle actions she does in the background to show that she cares for and supports her friends, but at the same time... she’s competing with Himari for the title of “who can be the butt of all jokes”... which is a bit of a shame, but oh well. Another thing that is kind of holding her back is the fact that one of her defining qualities, being a tsun, is... not the most unique personality trait in the anime world, to put it lightly.

16. Tsurumaki Kokoro Kokoro is... an interesting case. I think I mentioned earlier that I am not really good with eccentric characters, and Kokoro is exactly that with a capital E, but on the other hand... the few times when we do get to see through that bubble of energy we get treated to a surprisingly deep character. It also helps to share birthdays with me, I suppose.

17. Hikawa Sayo Another really weird one to place, and one that will probably define the rest of the list. Sayo, by far, has received the absolute most character growth of any of the other girls. That is normally a good thing, but in Sayo’s case it kind of acts like a double-edged sword; while she grew to be a better person and a better sister, above all else, she... lost things that really defined who she was in my eyes. And because of that, I don’t quite know where to place her... I do enjoy her and still like her, but... I dunno...

18. Hanazono Tae Tae has always been a fan favorite ever since she first appeared in the anime, but... she faces a problem I have mentioned before: she’s pretty static. She’s still fun and the fact that I am kind of looking forward to the way her seiyuu continues to grow will probably keep Tae up, but not too high.

19. Udagawa Ako All right, so Ako being here should already tell its own story, but... generally speaking, when a character is “created” with its whole purpose being to surpass another specific character, they will never come close to that character on my list simply because I end up thinking of Ako relative to Tomoe (in Ako’s case). Ako is fun to see and her chuunibyou side makes for some cute interactions, but aside from that... with the fall of Rosela came the fall of its members...

20. Satou “MASKING” Masuki At this point in time, we don’t really know that much about her. She had like... what? Five lines in the entirety of season two? From what I have seen of her so far, however... she catches my interest, but depending on how well her character and backstory are handled she can rise or fall accordingly.

21. Minato Yukina So remember the whole “fall of Roselia” I mentioned? It is not really their fault, losing Endou Yurika and Akesaka Satomi was a big blow, but the effects it had on both the characters and their respective seiyuus are still... there. Yukina in particular also suffers from the whole notion that she is introduced as this super professional singer with more talent than she knows what to do with, but... in part due to the seiyuu shift of Lisa and Rinko, Roselia’s songs have taken a hit in how much I enjoy them (to emphasize this point: I haven’t really enjoyed a new Roselia original song ever since Akesaka Satomi left Roselia). The only two things keeping Yukina in this “tier” is that she is still somewhat interesting to work with and her rivalry with Ran can provide... quite the amusement.

Above Neutral

22. Shirasagi Chisato Once we’re in this tier, it... really is a bit of a blur as to who is placed where relative to each other. I can say that Chisato is probably at the upper end of it by the process of tiebreakers: BanG Dream! Livestream and events involving their seiyuus. Uesaka Sumire is always fun to watch on the screen and has made me warm up to Chisato in the process.

23. Matsubara Kanon Pretty much exact same reasoning as above, with Kanon being slightly lower simply because I tend to like serious characters more than those that fumble around. I will say, though, that the few times when we get to see a confident and determined Kanon on the screen, it was a lot of fun to see.

24. Hikawa Hina So remember my point with Ako about characters who are focused on their relationship and interactions with one specific character? Hina serves as this unreachable goal for Sayo to reach, and with a lot of the scenes that are being shown use Sayo’s perspective to do so... Hina’s innate genius is also somewhat of a double-edged sword for her ranking here, because while scenes involving Hina are anything but dull, I... prefer characters who work hard to get where they are above someone who is “born” with the ability to stand out.

25. Wakana “LAYER” Rei I feel kind of bad putting LAYER all the way down here, but as a character, she is rather... static and uninspiring, at least at this point in time. As a vocalist, however, LAYER is probably my second favorite in terms of the singing voice, so I am hoping that the third season can catapult LAYER up a couple places.

Neutral

26. Toyama Kasumi The “face” of BanG Dream!, so to say. I will say that, for a typical happy-go-lucky energetic female lead, Kasumi has a lot more depth to her than others. Unfortunately, being the character we see the world through, I’ve never managed to really relate to her. So while she is almost in the next tier, she barely misses it.

27. Yamato Maya Maya is, actually, a really interesting character with a lot of room to grow and become her own person. Unfortunately for Maya, she did not catch my eye early enough so by the time I got used to characters like Moca and Ran running around, Maya... kind of faded into the background.

28. Ushigome Rimi I don’t know how to say this without being too mean to Rimi, but... Rimi has been really static. Rimi interactions and scenes, more often than not, either consist of her love for Choco Cornets and/or her relationship with her older sister. A lot of potential, a lot of possibilities, but none that have really been taken advantage of...

29. Kitazawa Hagumi Hagumi suffers a really horrible fate, and I think that she would have been a lot higher on the list if she wasn’t in Hello, Happy World. Hagumi’s character and personality traits overlap with Kokoro’s a lot, and with Kokoro being the vocalist of the band Hagumi has really been living in her shadow... which isn’t doing her a lot of favors.

So, that’s my list. Oh, I missed somebody? Right right, let’s fix that~

Unsalvageable/Very Bottom

30. Seta Kaoru Where do I begin to properly explain how I feel about this character? For starters, Bang Dream is a gacha game where we grind up resources, save for weeks, sometimes even months, for that one card we want (unless we’re spending money on the game i.e. whaling). So what do you think will happen to the character who keeps dropping in a banner she is not even a rate-up in while you really wanted a limited card you have saved eight months for? Or if she keeps arriving as the guaranteed 3* in like 80% of all your pulls for over a year? For reference, I managed to get the skill level of her Phantom Thief 3* to level 5 by using duplicate copies of her Initial 3*. And vice versa.

The gacha side of my reasonings aside, the actual reason why she is and always will be at the bottom is for a reason that cannot be removed without changing who she is. Her over-the-top, flirtatious attitude really, there is no going around this, annoys me, and even if it is just a front... I’ve already associated at least three people I know irl to her, and since I despise those three for how they behave irl... I can never see myself saying that Kaoru is not my least favorite of the franchise.

The only way for Kaoru to no longer be at the bottom is for BanG Dream! to introduce a character I despise more. Which, to be fair, is a possibility with Argonavis, but not only am I just not interested enough to properly invest time in checking them out, they are also in an alternate universe or something if I remember correctly... so comparing the girls to the boys in Argonavis is like comparing... Railgun characters to Index characters, in a way, which isn’t really “fair”. I probably will if I decide to check out Argonavis, but don’t be surprised to see this one at the bottom still.

#BanG Dream! Fave List #Falneou17

[awooters]

TWISTED HORROR SERIES; HAYWIRE

CHAPTER 1: TOTALLY CHAOTIC

Within minutes everyone was getting in their cars to follow the two ambulances. “Come on! What’s the hold up!” Marty Lane shouted as he was honking his horn. There were so many people everywhere trying to figure out what was going on. Marty then figured that he’d better run up to the ambulance and jump into the back doors of it that had his daughter Alabama in it. So he did so. But then he realized he was in the ambulance that Mark Wright was in. “Excuse me are you a family member of this man?” A male nurse asked him. “Um no but,” “Well then I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell you to leave and quickly,” The male nurse said to Marty. “Yes sir,” Marty replied. So Marty did what he was told. Aurora Whinesenhut, who happens to play Amy Sutton on the hit movie Real Witch, had arrived in her black Mercedes. She had no idea what was going on. She pulled up to check into the studio. But the security guard told her to leave the studio if she knew what was good for her. So she backed up but then bumped into a police car. The whole parking lot was totally chaotic. 

CHAPTER 2: WAS IT A REAL DEMON?

Once everyone got to the hospital Alabama Lane and Mark Wright got treated right away. Marty Lane and Dylan Wright were out in the waiting room with the rest of the cast and crew members. “Excuse me Mr. Lane,” Dr. Strait said. “Is my daughter going to be alright?” Marty asked. “Alabama is going to be just fine. She was just in a state of shock. She will however will need to be in an environment where there are no surprises within in the next 48 hours though. As for Mr.” Dr. Strait was searching for his next patient’s name on his clipboard. “Is my dad going to be okay?” Dylan asked. “It’s Wright right?” Dr. Strait joked. “Dr. focus. Is my dad going to be alright?” Dylan asked. “Sorry so as far as Mr. Wright is concerned. I will need to talk with you personally. Are you his son?” Dr. Strait asked Dylan. “Yes sir,” Dylan replied. “Alright my office please,” Dr. Strait directed Dylan into his office. “Marty is Alabama going to be alright?” Aubrey asked. “She’s just fine she’s just in a state of shock,” Marty said with a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness,” Aubrey said relieved. “Hey Aurora,” Aubrey said as she walked up to her. “Hey is everyone alright? How’s Mark?” Aurora asked Aubrey. “Him I don’t know about but Marty’s daughter Alabama just fine she’s just in a state of shock,” Aubrey said. “Ahh, Karen you scared me,” Marty said looking straight at the wall beside the doorway of Alabama’s room. “Seriously Karen take off that makeup that can scare the children in this hospital,” Aurora said to her. “Guys I’m right here reading,” Karen said suddenly as she was on the other side of the waiting room. They looked at Karen who was reading a magazine then back at the girl that looked like a demon that scared Marty. But when they looked back they realized whoever it was, was gone. 

CHAPTER 3: WE’RE AT LEAST SAFE

“Thank you Dr. Strait,” Dylan said holding onto a tissue. Dylan went straight to the elevator. The moment Dylan got into the elevator he then pushed the button to go down but Aubrey stopped the doors to ask him what happened with his dad. “Aubrey let go of the door I don’t want to talk about it,” Dylan said. “Dylan come on I’m right here. We are all here for you,” Aubrey said. “GO AWAY!” Dylan whom turned into a dead girl demanded diabolically. The dead girl pushed Aubrey out of the elevator doors. “Ahhh,” Aubrey fell backwards. The door had then shut She then got pushed back onto her butt. Suddenly... “Thanks again,” Dylan said to Dr. Strait as they were coming out of the office. Aubrey then had gotten up from off the floor. Dylan shook Dr. Strait’s hand. “Dylan?” Everyone wondered to looking very confused. “What?” “We could’ve sworn. How did you? Never mind how is your dad?” Aubrey asked Dylan. “He’s only however he is going to have to miss work for awhile. As a matter of fact there’s no way of telling when he will be back to work,” Dylan said. “But he’s good,” “That’s good,” Aubrey said relieved. “What is going on around here?” Christina practically shouted. “Shhh,” Everyone in the waiting room shushed her. “Sorry,” She apologized quietly. “Excuse me Ms. King may I get your autograph?” A woman that looked like Lucille Ball with glasses asked Aubrey. “Um sure,” Aubrey said. “Could you please make it out to Aaron? That’s my son,” “Of course,” “Thank you,” The lady said as Aubrey gave back the signed copy of her head shot to the lady. “Also I’m sorry what happened to the studio. You know it’s a shame the authorities are going to shut it down,” “What?” The four young stars expressed very loudly. “Shhh,” The visitors in the waiting room shushed the four stars. “You didn’t know? It’s all over the news,” The lady said as she pointed at the TV in the waiting room. “Hollywood studio 9 is now being forced to shut down immediately after a rampage that had just recently happened. Authorities say that a local girl that happens to be dressed as Molly Dion from the two hit movies School Demon and Real Witch has been terrizing the cast and crew members. Local people of the street seem to think that the girl was trying to scare everyone just trying to get attention,” Reporter Lauren Gomez reported. “Well at least it’s not haunted and hopefully the authorities can catch that girl,” Christina said a little relieved. “This just in we have some footage of the girl terrizing reporter Alabama Lane from channel 11 news,” Lauren announced. “Ahhh,” Alabama screamed from the footage that was on the TV. Supposedly the girl that was human didn’t even look human. The girl looked more like a demon. She was fighting with Alabama. The demon then went up too close to the camera lens and let out a growl. “Ahhh,” Everyone in the hospital screamed. “Well at least I can say this,” Eva said. Everyone turned to hear what Eva hat to say. “We’re at least safe,” She finally said. 

CHAPTER 4: JUST A CASUAL DAY SCREAM

“So what are we going to do now?” Eva asked her friends as they walked out of the building. “Well I can tell you this. We are not going back to studio 9,” Aubrey said. “Now that’s something I’m glad we don’t have to play a role in,” Brett said relieved. “But how are we going to figure this all out?” Christina asked. “Listen this isn’t like we are in the movies. We can just move on,” Aubrey said. “That’s true,” Brett said. “Well if we do we’re at least going to have to say something to Keith,” Eva said. “It’s that simple huh?” Christina asked. “Oh crap,” Eva said. “What?” The three of them asked her in unison. “I left my purse back at the studio,” Eva said. “Oh shoot me too,” Aubrey said. “Me too,” Christina said. “I’m just glad I’m not a girl for once,” Brett said. Brett looked at the three of them then he was about to walk down the steps of the hospital to go find his car but then the three girls pushed on his chest back toward them. “What now?” Brett wondered. “You know Brett the four of us seem to work better as a team. So,” Aubrey was about to say. “So what you’re saying is that you can’t do this without me?” Brett figured. “Brett don’t start. Okay then all we need to do is go back to studio 9 to get our purses and then we are out of there,” Eva said. The rest of the cast members came out of the hospital and got in their cars. “I wonder if everybody is,” Eva was about to say. All the cast and crew members had practically flew by without turning to go back to studio 9. “Okay so maybe no one wants to go back to the studio,” Eva said. “Well who would want to. Especially after what happened. You know I can live without my purse,” Christina said. “Wait how did you girls get here in the first place?” Brett asked. “Actually I didn’t leave my purse at the studio. Well sayonara,” Christina said running down the steps and into her car. “Actually my purse is in the trunk of my car. So see you guys,” Eva said. “Bye Brett,” Aubrey said as she went to her car as well. Over the next few days the main stars did their own thing. The four of them got different acting jobs. Brett was doing acne commercials. Christina was doing a documentary. Aubrey was doing a movie. And Eva was in a sit-com. Yep they were all doing their separate projects. However no matter what the four of them seem to be doing they seemed to have been seeing things all out of the ordinary. Brett and his family moved to a house that was nearby studio 9. And day after day he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching his every move. One day he felt someone or something was looking into the dining room as he was putting away linens in the china cabinet drawers. He turned his head to find some girl looking into the dining room. She looked familiar but he couldn’t place his finger on to who it was. “Brett could you please put the dishes away. Then load the dishwasher,? Brett’s, mom Clarice told him. “Yes mam,” Brett responded to her command. He looked back at the window to find of what looked like Karen White dressed as Molly Dion. He walked up closer to the window. “DIE,” The female figure came up close to the window and scared Brett half to death. “Ahhh,” Brett screamed. “Brett what was that?” Clarice asked. “Nothing mother,” Brett said. “What do you mean nothing? It was obviously something,” Clarice shouted from upstairs. His attention focused back on the window. But the girl that looked like Karen was completely gone. He then went back to his chores. 

CHAPTER 5: THE SHOCKING MESS

Aubrey was straightening up her bedroom when she suddenly heard footsteps above her head. Her bedroom was on the second floor of her family’s house. And on the third floor was an old attic. She was wondering if her dad was in the attic working on it considering the attic needed some repairs. But she remembered that her parents weren’t home for the day. The only people that were in the house were Aubrey, Jasmin (her sister), and Eric (her brother.) She then heard running footsteps above her. “Aubrey why are you,” Jasmin was about to say but once she entered Aubrey’s room she saw that Aubrey was sitting at her desk. “Oh sorry,” “No biggie. Did you hear footsteps as well?” Aubrey asked her sister. The footsteps had gotten louder. “Ahhh,” Jasmin screamed running towards Aubrey. Aubrey happens to be the youngest child. Eric is the one of her two brothers. “What’s going on? What’s with the screaming?” Eric asked his two sisters. “Eric can you go upstairs and see if anyone is up there?” Jasmin asked. “Um sure. But before I do. Why were you two screaming?” Eric asked. The footsteps started to run like crazy. “Is dad home?” Eric asked. “I thought...” Jasmin started to drift off. The running went above Aubrey’s dresser. “We’re home,’ A door had shut with the sounds of Aubrey’s parents calling for the three siblings. “Come on,” Eric said as he was already halfway down the stairs. “Oh My God!” Eric expressed. “Oh My God!” Jasmin and Aubrey expressed once they seen that from the kitchen to the dining room and living room looked like hell. It looked like they were robbed. 

CHAPTER 6: WHO WAS THE GIRL THAT WAS DRESSED UP AS MOLLY DION?

Eva was excited. She heard that someone that worked with her within the past year was going to guest star on the show that was co-starring with Phyllis Edmund in. Which so happens that Phyllis happens to be playing Eva’s mom. “Who is it tell me,” Eva begged co executive producer Carrie Bernidict. Eva couldn’t stand the excitement. “Alright here she is,” Carrie said. “Hey Eva long time no see,” Christina Walker said. “Oh My Christina how are you?” Eva said as the two of them were giving each other a hug. “Isn’t it great we are going to be working with each other again,” Christina expressed with such excitement. “You girls want to know what’s even more exciting,” Carrie asked the two of them. “What?” The two girls asked in unison. You girls are going to play enemies on the show,” Carrie said in a perky way. “What?” The girls asked in unison with less energy. “Listen Eva I’m sorry but Dwayne told me that since most people seen you two on School Demon and Real Witch together that they might get a kick out of you two playing enemies on the show,” Carrie said. Dwayne Patrick is the producer of the show. “But the two of us already played enemies on like two movies. I was hoping we can play friends on at least this show,” Eva suggested. “Actually it was Dallas’s idea. So what do you say? Well actually the two of you have no choice so I will see you both out there<’ Carrie said. Dallas is the executive producer of the show. Carrie then walked away from the girls. “Ugh!” Eva expressed. “Eva come on it won’t be that  bad,” Christina said. “Yeah but Chris the two of us have been playing enemies for a while now. Well. I guess it won’t be so bad,” Eva said. “So I uh,” Christina was about to say but she interrupted herself by looking up was because something red was dripping from the ceiling. “What is that?” Christina asked. “It couldn’t be blood? Could it?” Eva asked. The girls were standing behind the dressing rooms and in front of an old vanity. The blood stopped dripping. The two of them then looked at the vanity and didn’t expect to see a demon that looked like Molly Dion. “Ahhh,” The girls screamed. The two of them then turned around to see whoever it was that was dressed as Molly Dion. “I don’t know why I screamed. I get it Polly you’re the ultimate prankster that can look better then me as Molly Dion,” Eva said. “Wait you’re Polly Wagner? I’m such a big fan of you on this show. Your character Libby Maverick is my absolute favorite character,” Christina said. “I thought my character was your favorite,” Eva wondered. “SILENCE!” The dressed up Molly Dion demanded diabolically. “Jeez you are really good at that. heck you’re even better than Eva,” “Hey!” Eva expressed. Eva gave Christina a look. The demon that looked like Molly Dion had suddenly walked away. “Hey guys. You must be Christina it’s great to have you on our show. I’m Polly Wagner by the way,” Polly introduced herself. “Wait if you’re Polly Wagner than who was the girls that was dressed up as Molly Dion?” Christina wondered. 

CHAPTER 7: JENNIFER’S DEAD BODY

Two months went by without the four main stars of School Demon interacting with one another. Keith Michaels forgot that he left something at the studio. So he went to studio 9 to go get it. He parked his car right in front of the studio. So he unlocked the front door of his office of studio 9. He then turned on the lights to find a dead looking Molly Dion sitting in his office chair with a rope around her neck. Keith was too stunned to scream. However as he grabbed his green bag he couldn’t help but fear that the dead girl was going to make a move. Keith had then went straight to his car. Once he got to his car he was trying to find his keys in his pocket. However he couldn’t find them. All of a sudden an earthquake had rumbled. Keith grabbed a hold to his car. Keith saw the girl that looked like Molly Dion on the window of the driver’s side as he was struggling to open the driver’s door. “Ahahaha,” The Molly Dion figure laughed diabolically. “Ahhh,” Keith screamed. He was still holding onto his car then once the earthquake was over he went running. The following morning Aurora Whinesenhut, the actress that plays Amy Sutton in Real Witch, had arrive at studio 9. She parked alongside Keith’s car. “What’s Keith’s car doing here I wonder?” Aurora asked herself. She got out of her black Mercedes. Aurora wanted to find out what the secrets of studio 9 had in store. So she got out her white small purse and white bag that had electrical phenomenia appliances in it. BEEP. BEEP. She looked up from her bag to see Brett pulling up in his jeep with Aubrey, Eva, Christina, and Jennifer in it. “Aurora?” Brett asked as he pulled down his sunglasses. “Oh hi Brett,” She said as she was still trying to find her car keys. “Hey girl long time no see,” Aubrey said. “Hey sorry I’m trying to find my car keys,” Aurora said still searching in her small white purse. “Is this them?” Aubrey asked bending down to grab the keys from behind Keith’s car. “Yes thank you. How did they get down there?” Aurora wondered as she took her car keys from Aubrey. “Thanks again,” “No prob so what are you doing here?” Aubrey asked Aurora. “Well I just thought that I’d check the studio out. You know to see if everything is okay,” Aurora said. She wasn’t sure if she should tell her friends that barely knows her about her hobby. They might think that I’m weird or something that is if I tell them about my hobby. They don’t look like they’re suspecting anything. Good. Aurora thought to herself. “Us too,” Brett said. “What’s that stuff?” Aubrey asked Aurora. “Huh?” Aurora wondered what Aubrey was asking. “That,” Aubrey pointed at Aurora’s bag. Oops, Aurora thought. I should’ve known they would’ve asked about my stuff. What should I say? Aurora thought. “Aurora are you alright?” Aubrey asked. “You guys come quick it’s Jennifer I can’t find her anywhere,” Christina said out of breath as she came out of studio 9. “What the heck?” Brett expressed. Everyone ran inside the studio. The studio’s doors slammed shut behind them. “Wait no, shoot,” Christina said. The five friends were trapped in the studio. The doors were completely locked. “Well that’s just great. Now what do we do?” Eva asked giving up hope. “Is there someone in Keith’s office?” Christina wondered. “Why do you ask?” Brett asked her. “Ahahaha,” A laugh that sounded like a witch echoed the studio. “Ah,” Christina screamed a short scream. “You know now a days I just sort of expect something bad is going to happen,” Aubrey said. “That has to be Jennifer pranking us,” Brett said. “Brett you should know Jennifer enough that she’s a serious person,” Aubrey said. “I think I see a light in Keith’s office,” Eva said. Aurora walked passed her friends and into Keith’s office. “Okay who just walked passed me?” Aubrey asked. “Now where does she think she’s going?” Eva asked. “Who?” Aubrey asked. “Aurora,” The three of them said in unison. “Come on whatever she’s doing she can’t do it alone,” Eva said walking towards Keith’s office as she bumped into things not knowing what was in front of her. “Right behind you,” Christina said. “Why do I let you guys talk me into these things?” Aubrey said lacking behind. Once everyone entered the office they realized that the office chair was on fire and Jennifer was tied to the chair. “Help me,” Jennifer shouted. The five of them had to think quickly. Aurora saw a fire distinguisher on the wall. She grabbed it and sprayed the whole chair down. Once the fire was out the office was pitch black so no one didn’t see a thing. “Someone please find the light switch,” Aurora said. “Found the switch,” Brett said flicking the switch on. Once he turned on the light the studio lights turned on as well. “Hey, where’s Jennifer?” Eva wondered. Brett turned around to see no one in Keith’s office chair. “It’s like she was never here,” Christina said. “What is that horrible smell?” Aubrey asked as she was looking behind Keith’s desk. She then looked underneath the desk. It couldn’t of been Keith’s waste basket because it was empty. “Ahh Oh My God,” Christina freaked. “What?” Aubrey wondered. “What’s going on?” Eva asked walking back into Keith’s office. Everyone saw in Keith’s storage closet behind his desk was Jennifer’s dead body hanging with a rope around her neck. 

CHAPTER 8: BILLY DION

“Okay obviously this is a sign,” Aurora said trying to figure out what they should do. “Duh a sign of let’s get the heck on out of here,” Eva said. “Yeah and forget the children and women I’m going first,” Brett said. “Right behind you,” Christina and Aubrey said as they all were about to leave Keith’s office. “You guys get back here,” Aurora said. “I knew it was too good to last,” Brett said annoyed he had to stay. “Well I guess the logical thing is to call the police,” Eva said. “I’m on it,” Aurora said pulling out her cell. “Wait what’s that sound?” Brett wondered. he opened the office door that led outside the studio. The office door was beside the studio doors. The office was connected to the studio. “Brett Stewart, Aurora Whinesenhut, Eva Lachey, Christina Walker, and Aubrey King come out of studio 9 we have you surrounded. COME OUT NOW!” The police had surrounded studio 9. Even hellicopter’s were surrounding the building. “We did not break an entering!” Aubrey practically yelled at the deputy. “Ms. King the studio is no longer in use. Therefore it is abandoned. Therefore you and your friends were breaking an entering,” The deputy was trying to reason with Aubrey. Aubrey was put back into the cell with Eva, Aurora, and Christina. Brett was in a separate cell. “Aubrey are you alright? I’m so sorry,” Eva said trying to comfort her friend. “I’m fine. You know if it wasn’t for Jennifer we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Aubrey said. “Hey don’t blame Jennifer for this especially since now she can’t even defend herself. Besides why are you blaming her?” Aurora asked. “Jennifer came to us in tears. And you’re right by the way. Jennifer wherever you are at I’m sorry girl,” Aubrey prayed. “Wait a minute, what do you mean she came to you in tears?” Aurora wondered what she meant by that. “I guess we should tell her,” Aubrey said. “Aurora listen, Jennifer came to each of our houses asking if any of us have been experiencing anything unusual. So we told her about each of our encounters of the paranormal. She then told us that after Keith had encountered his own phenomenia that he hung himself in her house. So she thought that whatever he experienced led to suicidal thoughts considering of how he died,” Eva finally finished talking. “What did she encounter?” Aurora wanted to know. “What do you mean?” Christina asked. “Alright ladies, you are free to go,” The deputy said unlocking the cell door. “What changed your mind officer?” Aubrey wanted to know. “What do you mean?” The deputy asked. “Well you know I thought,” “Let’s not ask questions and get out of here,” Eva said. “But I,” “Come on Aubrey,” The three girls said to Aubrey in unison. “Thank you,” Aubrey mouthed to the deputy. “Ms. King wait,” “Please call me Aubrey,” “Thank you so can I get your number by chance?” The deputy asked. The deputy couldn’t of been more than a couple of years older than Aubrey. “Sure,” Aubrey said as she flashed him a smile. “Great um could you write your number in my ticket book,” He asked. “Of course what’s your name?” She asked. “Billy, Billy Dion,” He smiled at her. Aubrey suddenly felt a chill going down her spine. 

CHAPTER 9: BILLY DION’S TRUE CHARACTER

“Still I can’t shake the feeling that there’s some sort of connection,” Aubrey said to Christina as the two of them were getting their tray of lunch. When the five stars aren’t working or on the road they are at school. The five of them go to Yearwood High. Their mascot is the snake. “Do you really think your parents will let you go out with that officer?” Aurora asked being annoying. “Aurora chill,” Eva said. “Yeah she can do whatever she wants. So Aubrey we will come to your house and help you pick out an outfit and do your makeup and hair,” Christina said. “I really need some guy friends,” “Then why don’t you go find some,” Christina said. “I still think that the officer is too old for you,” Aurora said. “We heard what you think miss goody too shoes,” Christina said rolling her eyes. After school the girls drove to Aubrey’s house to help her get ready for her date. “Ugh! I have absolutely nothing to wear,” Aubrey said as she walked into her giant closet. “Oh good grief,” Eric, Aubrey’s brother said as he was nearby Aubrey’s closet. Which meant he was in Aubrey’s closet. Which also meant he was in Aubrey’s bedroom. “Eric what are you doing in my bedroom?” Aubrey asked. “Jasmin told me that you were getting ready for a date. And so I would like to know with whom?” Eric asked. “Jaz come in here for a minute,” Aubrey summened her sister. “Problem?” Jasmin wondered. “Why would you tell Eric that I have a date?” Aubrey asked her sister. “Aubrey you know the rules if either of us girls have dates Eric, Dad, or Brandon need to know about it before the guy even asks us,” Jasmin said. “Ugh! Jaz come in here for a minute,” Aubrey said pulling her sister into her closet. “You enjoy this don’t you?” Aubrey asked her sister. “Aubrey just tell me and I will make sure that Eric will go easy on the guy,” Jasmin said. “I heard that Jaz,” Eric said. “Alright you two out of the closet,” Brandon said. “Brandon?” Jasmin wondered. Brandon was technically the oldest brother. He happens to be Aubrey’s half brother Aubrey opened her closet door. “Out now,” Brandon demanded. “Well see you later Aubrey,” Eva and Christina said as they walked down the stairs. “Hey Eva,” Eric said to her. “Um hi,” Eva said. Eric and Eva liked each other a lot. “Seriously Brandon just because you’re the oldest doesn’t give you the authority to tell me what to do,” Aubrey stood up to him. “I know who you are going out with Aubrey. And even though he’s a nice guy and happens to be a police officer doesn’t mean you get to go out with him,” Brandon said. “How did you know that he’s a police officer?” Aubrey wanted to know. “Kyle Andrews told me,” Brandon said. “You mean your friend? I didn’t know he knew Billy Dion,” Aubrey said. “Who?” Brandon asked confused. “What do you mean who? You just said that Kyle Andrews told you that Billy Dion asked me out,” Aubrey said confused. “No I didn’t. Kyle told me that you asked him out,” Brandon argued with his sister. By this time Aubrey’s mother and father came upstairs. “What’s going on in here?” Aubrey’s, father asked. “i’m basically trying to tell Aubrey here that she can’t go out with my friend Kyle,” Brandon said. “Ugh! I never asked Kyle out. Billy Dion another deputy asked me out,” Aubrey said. “Yeah well you might want to let him know that there’s no way that I’m letting my daughter go out with a police officer that happens to be older than her,” “Dad he’s only a couple of years older than me,” “No he’s not he’s my age. Billy Dion is an old buddy of mine and besides young lady I know my friend better enough to ask out someone way younger than him,” Her father said frustrated. Ding. Dong. “That would be him,” Aubrey said on her way to go down the stairs. “Young lady just stay where you are. I will see who it is,” Her father said as he walked down the stairs.Aubrey came down stairs and stood on top of the first set to see who it was. Her father opened the front door. “Hello my name is Billy Dion. It’s nice to meet you sir,” Billy said holding out his hand. “Wow you look like a friend of mine. Tell me. Well of course you are. Hi um how’s your dad?” Aubrey’s father asked. “He’s good. Oh wait you’re probably thinking about my uncle. He actually passed away before my mom got pregnant with me. So that’s why my dad Peter named me after my uncle Billy,” Billy said. “Oh wow Pete’s son. I’m sorry about your uncle. Actually if it wasn’t for your dad Peter and my brother Ryan I would’ve never knew your uncle. Please come in. I have to say your dad was smart to name you after your uncle,” “Why do you say that sir?” Billy wanted to know. “Well because you look so much like you’re uncle,” Aubrey’s father said. “Um Aubrey,” Her father was about to say but then looked up the stairs and seen that she was standing there the whole time?” Mr. King asked her. “Aubrey,” Billy said diabolically. Mr. King looked at him. Billy lashed at Aubrey’s dad pinning him up to the wall. “Ahhh,” Mr. King screamed. “Dad no!” Aubrey screamed in horror. Eric and Brandon rushed down the stairs to see their father being attacked by some guy they didn’t even know. “Dad,” Eric shouted. The boys went downstairs to fight the guy off of their dad. Eric and Brandon had pulled Billy off of their dad. “Ahhh,” Aubrey’s sister Jasmin and mother screamed in horror. The two brothers tore Billy apart from their dad. Billy faced Aubrey as she was still upstairs. Billy transformed into Molly Dion and with rage had screamed diabolically. “AUBREY I’M WARNING YOU STAY OUT!” The demon demanded. Aubrey was terrified of what was going to happen next. The boys had pushed Molly out onto the front lawn and slammed the door on her face.

CHAPTER 10: IS THE REAL BILLY DION BRETT’S SCIENCE TEACHER?

“What did the demon mean by stay out?” Christina asked as she was putting her tray of lunch on the table. “I don’t know maybe she meant the studio,” “She? No you mean it don’t you?” Christina asked taking a drink of her grape juice. “Well whatever it is doesn’t seem to be going away,” Eva said as she took a bite of her food. “Do you guys remember the girl from poltergeist?” Brett asked. “Seriously Brett?” Aurora wondered why he was bringing up the poltergeist movie. “What?” he wanted to know what was wrong. “What does poltergeist have to do with what’s happening with us?” Aubrey wanted to know. “Do you girls even know the story of Heather O’Rourke?” The girls just stared at him. “Remember when she got diagnoised with that illness a little after she started working on poltergeist?” Brett asked them. “What are you saying? That the phenomenia is happening because of one of us?” Aurora asked. “Do you think there’s another explanation?” Brett said with a mouthful of food in his mouth. “You know he has a point,” Eva said. Aubrey was staring at Brett. “What?” He asked again with a mouthful of food. “Such manners,” Aubrey grinned at him batting her eyelashes. “Aubrey didn’t you say your dad knew Billy Dion?” Eva asked as she was playing with her black hair that was pulled back into a long ponytail. “Did you say Billy Dion?” Brett said coughing up his food that was in his mouth. He washed it down with his diet mountain dew. “You alright?” Aurora asked. “Yeah. Did you hear what I asked,” Brett asked. “What did you say? We couldn’t hear you as you were coughing up the good stuff,” Aubrey asked. “Funny. Um i asked did you say Billy Dion?” Brett asked. “Yes why?” Aubrey wondered. “He’s my science teacher,” Brett said. “What?” The four girls expressed in unison. The four of them were completely shocked. 

CHAPTER 11: GOOSEBUMPS

“Wait you got to be kidding Billy Dion is your science teacher?” Aubrey thought Brett was joking even though she knew he was being serious. “He’s been my teacher for about a month,” “And you’re just now telling us this?” Aurora asked disappointed. “Sorry, Are you mad at me?” “I’m not it’s just we got to take action now,” Aurora demanded standing up. Everyone was looking at her. “Acting for the school play,” Brett said to everyone in the cafeteria. “Would you sit down? You’re embarrassing us,” Aurora sat back down to her seat. “Mr. Stewart I hope you did your science assignment,” Mr. Dion came walking by. “Of course,” Brett said to Mr. Dion. “That’s him,” “What was that?” Mr. Dion had wondered what Brett said. “Why hello Ms. King. Tell your dad I said hello,” Mr. Dion requested. “Sure um Mr. Dion do you have a son?” Aubrey boldly asked. “No mam however I do have one daughter,” Mr. Dion said. “Really?” Aubrey wondered. “Yes mam her name is Molly,” Mr. Dion said. “Molly?” The five of them said in unison shocked. “Yeah she would be 16 today no I’m sorry 17,” Mr. Dion said. “What do you mean would be?” Aurora asked. “Well she passed away last year. Well I have to go. If you all would excuse me,” Mr. Dion excused himself as he walked back to his classroom. All five of them had goosebumps going up and down their bodies. 

CHAPTER 12: MS. RICHELLE IN A TRANCE?

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m officially freaked out,’ Aubrey said pushing her tray away from her. “I’m done with lunch,” Christina said. “It’s like things have gone haywire since the beginning of time,” Christina exaggerated. “Oh Christina don’t exaggerate,” Eva told her. “Oh My God I think I’m seeing things,” Aubrey said as she looked over to her side. “What?” Eva and Christina asked in unison. “That girl over there. She looks so much like Eva. It’s almost as it,” Aubrey cut herself off. “Rose over here,” A female student said to the girl that looked like Eva. “Well that’s what I heard,” A male student said to his buddy close by. “So how are we,” Eva was about to ask but got interrupted by Aubrey. “Shh,” Aubrey shushed Eva as she put her index finger over her lips. “What did you hear?” The other male student asked his buddy. “That the school has been experiencing some disturbances. You know paranormal wise,” The male student said. “Really? Awesome,” His buddy said. “I wonder what floor?” Aubrey whispered. “Third floor,” The guy said. The guy that said third floor was sitting right behind Aubrey. “Huh? Oh I’m sorry,” Aubrey apologized to the guy that she was evesdropping on. “Alright pay up,” The guy said holding out his hand at Aubrey. “What?” Aubrey wondered what he meant. “He wants you to pay him money for evesdropping,” Brett said. “Listen to your boyfriend and pay up,” The guy said. “What’s your name?” Brett asked wondering where he’s seen him. “Peyton Arnold. Pay up woman,” Peyton teased. “Are you serious?” Aubrey asked annoyed at the guy. “No I was only teasing. Sorry I probably shouldn’t tease you,” Peyton said. “Oh I know you. You’re monster in Monster N Cheese,” Brett remembered. “Yep,” Peyton said as he was eating his salad. “What’s your name?” Eva asked the other guy. “Hunter Rowland,” He introduced himself. “When did you start experiencing the paranormal phenomenia in the school?” Aubrey asked. “What?” Eva and Christina expressed in unison. “Shh,” Aubrey shushed them. “Aubrey stop shushing us,” Eva demanded. “Shh,” Aubrey said starting to get annoyed with Eva and Christina. Heck the two girls were getting annoyed with her. “Chick fight, chick fight,” Hunter chanted almost too loudly. “Stop it Hunter,” The girls announced to practically the whole cafeteria. Ring. The bell went. Lunch was over so everyone went to their next class. “So Hunter what do you do for a living?” Brett asked as the seven of them walked to the same class together. “Actually I don’t have a job,” Hunter admitted. “Then why do you go to this school?” Aubrey asked. “To learn?” Hunter gave a questionable look on his face. “I think what Aubrey means is that most parents put their famous children in this school so they don’t get bombarded by fans,” Eva said. “Oh really? Well my parents put me in this school because they can afford it,” Hunter answered the question. “Oh I see,” Eva said. “Where’s Ms. Richelle?” Aubrey wanted to know. “Alright now students Ms. Richelle is out so I will be your substitute teacher today,” Mr. Bryan informed them. Aubrey raised her hand. “Yes Ms. King,” Mr. Bryan wanted to know her question. “Is Ms. Richelle going to be okay?” Aubrey asked. “Well no one knows really. Truthfully Mr. Wagner told me she went upstairs for some weird reason I don’t know why. However Mr. Wagner did say she was in some sort of a trance,” Mr. Bryan said. “Trance?” The students repeated. 

CHAPTER 13: CRITICAL CONDITION

Fourth period was over. Aurora felt like she had to do something. But what? “Aurora are you okay?” Aubrey asked her. “Um yeah just a little tired is all,” Aurora said. Aurora went straight to her locker to get her electric phenomenia gear. She felt if she didn’t get to the bottom of the phenomenia that was happening then no one else will. She collected her gear then she grabbed her purse that had her car keys and headed out of the school building. “Hey,” Brett said coming from beside the driver’s side of Aurora’s car. “Ahhh,” She screamed. She did not expect him to pop up from the side. “Brett you scared me. What’s up?” Aurora asked. He just stood there not saying anything. “Hello? Brett? Hel-lo earth to Brett,” She said waving her hands in front of his face. “DIE!” Brett demanded diabolically. Brett turned into a demon that looked like Molly Dion. “Ahhh,” Aurora screamed. Or at least she tried to scream. The demon was chocking Aurora hard. Suddenly the demon had disappeared. “Aurora,” Brett came running up to her car. Aurora could hardly breathe much less talk. Brett looked to the right side of him where he could see the back of the car. He could’ve sworn he seen something walk by. But then when he looked at Aurora he saw the demon. “Jeez,” He totally freaked backing up hitting his back on the silver car behind him. “What? Is there a bug?” Aurora asked almost freaking out. She hated bugs. “No I uh I thought. Um, did you? Are you I mean,” Brett was stumbling on his words. “Listen I have to get to the bottom of these disturbances do you want to come with me to studio 9?” “And ditch school?” “Well yeah, I do it all the time,” “Really? Cool I’m in,” Brett said as he got in the passenger’s side. Aurora took off and left the school’s parking lot. There was traffic coming down the highway. “You know it’s not like I’m in a hurry but I would like to move before tomorrow,” Aurora said frustrated as she was trying to find a way out of the traffic. The traffic started to move slowly. “Hey wait,” Brett said. “What?” Aurora wondered still sick of the traffic. “What happened over here?” Aurora wondered. She pulled over to the side and parked in the grass. “Come on let’s go investigate,” Aurora said unbuckling her seat belt. “Isn’t that Aubrey’s car?” Brett asked walking up to the car to get a closer look. The two of them seen Aubrey’s car with Aubrey, Christina, and Eva in critical condition. 

[ramajmedia]

IT Chapter Two: Every Returning Character From The First Movie

Which IT Chapter One characters are returning for IT Chapter Two? Both films from New Line Cinema are based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel IT - though the book has been split into two installments - and directed by filmmaker Andy Muschietti.

Released in September 2017, IT Chapter One follows the experiences of several kids in Derry, Maine. The storyline begins in 1988, as the self-proclaimed Losers' Club cope with personal issues while investigating a mysterious being they label as It. The kids ultimately discover that It returns every 27 years to feed on the fears of Derry locals. Incidentally, IT Chapter Two picks up the storyline in 2016, as the Losers' Club reunites and decides to face their childhood trauma one last time.

More: IT and Joker Can Save Warner Bros' Disappointing 2019

IT Chapter Two features many returning characters for two separate timelines - both the children from the first movie and their new adult counterparts are starring in the film. Here’s a complete list of every major IT Chapter One character returning for IT Chapter Two.

It Aka Pennywise The Dancing Clown

Portrayed by Bill Skarsgård, this character is the central villain of the IT story. Pennywise embodies all the fear that children grapple with during their formative years, which means that It can take on various forms, depending on the situation. Pennywise speaks like a normal clown at times but transforms his appearance to shock and terrify his victims. IT Chapter One begins with Pennywise luring and killing a young Derry resident, Georgie Denbrough.

Skarsgård has previously appeared in feature films like Atomic Blonde, Assassination Nation, and Deadpool 2. He also portrayed Henry Deaver aka The Kid in Hulu’s Castle Rock season 1.

Bill Denbrough

Jaeden Martell reprises his role as Bill Denbrough from IT Chapter One. James McAvoy will portray the 2016 version in IT Chapter Two. In the ‘80s narrative, Bill stutters and struggles with his brother Georgie’s disappearance. Like other Losers' Club members, Bill clashes with his father, and vows to keep the gang together. As an adult, he’s become a successful mystery novelist.

Martell previously starred in the Showtime series Masters of Sex. On the big screen, he landed his first big role in the 2014 dramedy St. Vincent starring Bill Murray. McAvoy, an acclaimed Scottish actor, is best known for his performances in Atonement, Split, and the X-Men franchise as Charles Xavier aka Professor X.

Beverly Marsh

Jessica Chastain joins the IT Chapter Two cast as the 2016 version of the Losers' Club lone female member, Beverly Marsh. Sophia Lillis reprises her role from the original film as the young Beverly. During the ‘80s story, Beverly is the focus of both Derry rumors and her own father’s sexual advances. In Pennywise, she sees the physical embodiment of her emotional turmoil. The Losers' Club treats Beverly with respect and helps her confront her worst fears. In IT Chapter Two, Beverly is a Chicago fashion designer with a turbulent personal life.

Since appearing in IT Chapter One, Lillis portrayed a younger version of Amy Adams’ Camille Preaker in the HBO limited series Sharp Objects. She also starred as the title character in the feature film Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, and will headline the 2020 film Gretel and Hansel. Chastain is a two-time Academy Award nominee for her performances in The Help and Zero Dark Thirty. She recently starred in Dark Phoenix, and reunited with director Simon Kinberg for the upcoming spy film 355.

Ben Hanscom

In IT Chapter Two, Ben Hancsom develops a crush on Beverly and stands up to his school bullies. In the '80s, Ben helps the Losers' Club come to terms with and understand the historical context for Pennywise’s return to Derry. As a kid, Ben is known to be a New Kids on the Block fan and a generally shy person - that is, until he joins the Losers' Club. Ben is portrayed by Jeremy Ray Taylor (Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween) in IT Chapter One, and Jay Ryan (Top of the Lake) in IT Chapter Two.

Richie Tozier

Once again being played by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, Richie Tozier is the most out-spoken member of the Losers' Club. For IT Chapter Two, Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader stars as Richie in the 2016 timeline. The character provides comic relief in the original film and was extremely reluctant to face Pennywise, though he ultimately sides with his friends for the final fight. IT Chapter Two, meanwhile, reveals that Richie grew up to be a DJ in Los Angeles. 

Wolfhard is primarily known for his role as Mike on Stranger Things, though he's also nabbed roles in The Goldfinch and Ghostbusters 2020. Hader is the creator and star of the HBO series Barry and has been both a prominent actor and voice actor on the big and small screens, appearing in productions from Knocked Up to The Venture Bros to Toy Story 4.

Mike Hanlon

Chosen Jacobs reprises his role as Mike Hanlon from IT Chapter One in IT Chapter Two, with Isaiah Mustafa playing the older version in the sequel film. Mike views himself as an outsider, but he’s welcomed into the Losers' Club by Richie early on. Like his peers, Mike has a difficult relationship with his father. In the 2016 narrative, Mike works as a Derry librarian and warns the Losers' Club members about It’s return.

Jacobs has a recurring role as Will Grover on the CBS series Hawaii Five-0. Mustafa, on the other hand, is best known for starring in a series of Old Spice commercials, and he also starred in the Freeform series Shadowhunters.

Eddie Kaspbrak

In both films, Jack Dylan Grazer stars as the Losers' Club member Eddie Kaspbrak. Like Bill, he sees visions of Georgie, and struggles with his over-protective mother. James Ransone joins the IT Chapter Two cast as the 2016 version of Kaspbrak, a married New York City entrepreneur.

Grazer portrayed a younger version of Timothée Chalamet’s character in the 2018 movie Beautiful Boy and starred in the DC blockbuster Shazam!. Ransone previously starred in HBO's The Wire, and portrays The Deputy in the Sinister movie franchise, so it's clear he has some horror experience.

Stanley Uris

Portrayed by Wyatt Oleff in IT Chapter One, Stanley Uris refuses to believe that Pennywise is real. He’s arguably the most nervous member of the Losers' Club, and tries to maintain control over situations. For IT Chapter Two, Andy Bean stars as the older version of Stanley, an Atlanta accounting professional.

Oleff plays young Peter Quill in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Bean starred as Greg Knox in the Starz series Power, and also portrayed Alec Holland in the short-lived DC Universe series Swamp Thing.

Henry Bowers

Nicholas Hamilton returns as the malicious town bully, Henry Bowers, with Teach Grant portraying the older version in IT Chapter Two. Henry actively challenges the Losers' Club members, only to be referred to as a “paper man” by his father, whom he ultimately murders in the first film. During the sequel, Henry escapes from an asylum and chases after the Losers' Club.

Hamilton previously had roles in Captain Fantastic and The Dark Tower, another Stephen King adaptation. Grant has appeared in the series Altered Carbon and Van Helsing.

The Leper

In both films, this homeless character is a warped version of Pennywise. Javier Botet reprises his role as the Leper for IT Chapter Two. The Spanish actor previously starred as Tristana Medeiros in the found-footage movie franchise REC, and recently portrayed The Toe Monster in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Georgie Denbrough

Jackson Robert Scott reprises his role as Bill’s brother, Georgie, who is killed at the beginning of IT Chapter One, and haunts the Losers' Club throughout the rest of the film, namely his brother. Scott's other big role, besides Georgie, is Bode Locke in the series Locke & Key.

Alvin Marsh

Beverly’s abusive father, Alvin Marsh, is portrayed by Stephen Bogaert in both IT Chapter One and IT Chapter Two. In the sequel, Beverly’s emotional issues as an adult are connected to her experiences with Alvin. Bogaert is known for roles in American Psycho and X-Men: Apocalypse, and he's been the narrator on the TV documentary Air Emergency for several years.

Next: IT Chapter Two: Cast & Character Guide

source https://screenrant.com/it-chapter-two-returning-characters-first-movie/

#screenrant

[wrenchbouquet]

Are you feeling any better about the storylines for Team Scorpion, especially Quintis, this season?

Short answer: not really, no

Long answer below the cut

General:

1. Irresponsible mom Paige after fucking Walter the moment they’re able to after getting together vs. being in a relationship with Tim 


Why does Paige just not seem to care about her son’s existence anymore except when it’s convenient for her? Ever since she and Walter got together at the Quintis wedding, it’s like she can’t ditch her son fast enough to go fuck her boyfriend. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that but she’s always been so mindful of her son it’s strange she’s turned into a horny teenager now.) Especially in 4.01, when they literally just got back from three weeks exposed to the elements on that deserted island the first thing Paige did was to dump him on Sly without caring at all if he’s okay? I get that she wants to finally bang Walter, but would it have killed her to spend that first night home with her son making sure he’s not suffering any major physical and/or psychological trauma after a horrific plane crash and being stranded for almost a month? The first time they bothered to include Ralph again was in 4.04 when they went to the churro festival to look at churros they couldn’t afford, but that really doesn’t count as a genuine family outing when ex-wifey tags along too. Then that very night it was back to ditching Ralph god-knows-where so they could run off for a fancy date they could miraculously suddenly afford. 


       * We’re not alone in this, people on FB are commenting too on how Ralph’s appearances are so sporadic especially given how Riley’s promoted to regular cast now. They don’t even know what to do with the kid they currently have (who, while is only 12, is thankfully old enough to take care of himself), but now they want to add a Quintis baby to the mix? You can’t conveniently dump an infant in school like you do Ralph.
            * Yes there are child protection laws that prevents kid actors from working too much, but why can’t they at least have him in the garage more often and give him a more decent arc than being horny for an older girl? Shows like Madam Secretary and Lethal Weapon handle tough cases with sweet (and realistic) family moments every episode, why can’t Scorpion?
        * Ralph “wanting them to be alone” is beyond wrong in itself, that a kid that young only cares about his mom banging her new boyfriend. Though with how much Waige rubbed it into his face on that island that they were desperate for ‘time alone’, it’s not surprising… And as the grownups, it’s not a stretch for a viewer to think that Paige and Walter as the adults would want Ralph to be a kid and think of him rather than vice versa. 


The problem is not that Paige is dating again, not at all. The problem is how she’s behaving now that she’s dating Walter. Remember when she was with Tim? Ralph was invited to every outing- from the date in 3.04 to the dance in 3.07- without any question. Even when Ralph was being a rude little shit to Tim, Tim treated him with nothing but respect and care and even condoned his behavior when Paige was horrified (3.04 “He’s just a kid who loves his mom… Ralph is gonna keep challenging me, and he is right to try and protect you, because you are an amazing woman and he is grateful to have you in his life”). But Walter? That kid all but worships every inch of ground he steps on, but he can barely be bothered to acknowledge the kid’s existence these days unless he’s needed on a case and it’s convenient to the plot.


2. Ralph/Patty is just wrong. 


Patty is in high school, and when this whole crush nonsense started Ralph wasn’t even 12 yet (in 2.22 he said his birthday is 12/11/2005). Young puppy love and crushes I get. But Walter and the rest seeing no problem in how almost obsessive Ralph is becoming, and rather encouraging it? Why is nobody seeing all the potential statutory issues that could come out of this relationship? Yes they are both underage but wow is there a difference between 12 and 15. 


   * Though maybe if the two main couples on the show don’t start and end every. single. day. yapping about how they’re running off to fuck, Ralph wouldn’t think it’s so normal and want to join the club so young…


The geniuses telling Paige it’s not wrong and to let it happen when Ralph is her son and she’s not okay with it is wrong. 
What happened to the strong single mom Paige who stood up to the guys and chewed them out that “this isn’t communal child rearing” (1.07) when they tried to tell her how to raise Ralph then? Letting Ralph turn to the others for genius-related stuff is fine, but when it comes to her 12 year old trying to hook up with a high school girl, that’s when she deserves to take control of how to raise her son. And her caving to peer pressure sets a very bad example. 


3. Cabe’s trial- really?


Of all the federal laws the team breaks and Cabe is the only one arrested for something he really didn’t have a choice about? Where’s Walter and Happy’s trial for marriage and immigration fraud? Where’s Happy’s NTSB investigation for crashing a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying, not to mention causing an international incident with Russia/Norway?? This picking and choosing of consequence isn’t helping the showrunners case for being well-thought out when it comes to plots and even characterizations. 


4. Continuity
Where’s Heywood? How are Patrick and Ronnie doing?? Why hasn’t Happy mentioned her dad in almost a year, and especially nearing/on her wedding??? Why didn’t Paige use the money Ronnie gave them when the team was too broke to buy food for themselves???? How is the team alive after going from three weeks on a deserted island-Arctic-Africa back to back????? When did we jump to Halloween and what happened between 4.05-4.06 to justify that time jump??????


       * Hell, NCIS mentioned Tony a few episodes ago- they can remember a character who left two seasons ago, but Scorpion can barely remember a member of their main cast (Riley), let alone recurring guest stars from just a few episodes back who had major impacts on the plot/main characters?


What happened to Merrick’s China treason that Homeland was “freaking out” about? Why did Happy only remember her pilot’s license at the very end of 3.23, and not when they were stranded in that Wyoming airfield with “no way” of going to the wedding??
        * It’s almost like she only wants to fuck Toby (honeymoon) than actually bother about marrying him. For happening in the same episode, it’s difficult to to ignore how easily Happy ‘forgot’ her pilot’s license to get to the big wedding she dragged her feet over but when it came to the honeymoon the entire team was joining them on she couldn’t wait to get there no matter how. 


5. Toby’s timeline


S1/2 vs. S3/4 GET A WHITEBOARD AND SOME MARKERS NICKS
    * 1.01: “He got his doctorate at the age of 17”; 1.17: “I had a medical degree from Harvard before most people have their driver’s licenses”; 2.11: the picture of kid Toby was at his high school graduation    * 3.23: “I wore (the wedding tux) to my prom” ← Really? The prom he went to after graduating high school at around 9? He’s wearing the same tux now at 35 that he wore at 9? Really? 
    * Let’s see how they handle 4.13, but if Toby met Amy in Harvard (so before 16, as stated in 1.17) does that mean they were together for literally half their lives? If they were together since their early/mid teens, why (and when) did Toby lose his virginity to that Vegas show girl (2.23: “a showgirl (at the old Tropicana in Vegas) made me a man”)?


Also, what’s with constantly letting Toby down and insulting him just for gags? The poor guy had to lose his pants thrice in just six episodes (3.25-4.05), and by 4.05 especially it wasn’t funny anymore. God forbid Walter was forced into such compromising positions, or either of the girls had to take off their shirts in an episode, everyone would erupt how gross it is. But since it’s Toby getting the brunt of the shitty writing it’s considered fun.


6. Blatantly repeating plots


3.15/4.09 (almost dying in the ocean surrounded by deadly sea creatures); 1.12/4.11 (it’s pretty much the exact same thing- complete with drown-it-to-save-it and the resolution of daddy issues- only it’s a dog now instead of a kid); 4.01/4.12 (Walter hallucinating); 3.23-25/4.10/4.14 (plane crashes). THERE ARE MORE PLOTS OUT THERE PEOPLE GET CREATIVE. Recycling plots this early on isn’t good… 


Quintis:

1. The baby storyline

I’m sorry but I’m not a fan of the baby storyline. It’s no surprise my thoughts on not liking the direction they’ve taken but it’s plain irresponsible to add an innocent child to their mess when they haven’t discussed the huge issues they’ve ignored between just them.  


So many other tv couples who have/want to have kids worry about their jobs and how it might affect their family- Deeks/Kensi (NCIS: LA), Henry/Elizabeth (Madam Secretary), Jessica/Neil (The Good Doctor), and JJ/Will (Criminal Minds) just to name a few. And they don’t just worry about it, they actually talk openly and honestly with each other about it more than once. And the couples mentioned above who are in law enforcement/government service acknowledge how unsafe their jobs are and how they’re going to balance kids when the reality is they could get killed at any time. But Quintis? Nope. They literally just came back from being exposed to toxic vapor/nuclear radiation yet again but saw no problem in immediately trying for a baby. You’d think after all their exposure to radiation and dangerous chemicals they’d at least want to get checked up to make sure they’re healthy enough to have a baby, but once again what are consequences on this show especially when it comes to Happy?  They should start trying for a kid after talking it through and making the necessary plans (and sacrifices) and when they’re financially stable, not just because “oh we’re married now time to have a baby”.


       * (And that is not to mention how they were literally too broke to buy a churro at that point in time, but were still irresponsible enough to push for a baby with no regard for how damn expensive babies are.)
        * This team obviously can’t take care of Ralph or Bueller as is, both of whom only appear when they are needed for the plot and conveniently disappear otherwise. Why then are they trying to add yet another child, especially an infant you can’t just toss aside when it’s not needed, to the mix?


2. Happy’s continually disappointing behaviour 

Happy is still showing she doesn’t care too much about Toby/blatant hypocrisy
: 

In 4.01 she was bitching about Collins sitting next to Toby while she was cozy in the back with Sly- anyone who has ever seen an SUV knows that the people sitting in the very back row have to get in first before those sitting in the middle row. If she actually cared about Toby not getting close to Collins, she should have stuck with her husband the whole time instead of jumping to the back first and then bitching about Collins. And then, when Toby was almost killed by Collins yet again, she continued talking to Sly about Megan instead of freaking out that her husband almost died again. 
        * If she was such an experienced ice road trucker, why didn’t she just drive that SUV when they were travelling on ice and get Toby in the front passenger seat away from Collins? 
            * Sidenote: Why is her stupid Portuguese song the only confession from 3.24 they seem to remember? What about her ice road trucking? What about being a side ho for Jake Gyllenhaal, while he was publicly dating Reese Witherspoon? (This isn’t personal bitterness, it’s fact based on the timeline canon told us via Happy.) 


In 4.04 she couldn’t so much as nod when Toby asked if it was a good thing they got together, but the moment she decided she wanted a baby it was all “I want a family because I love you”. If she really loves him then she needs to show it throughout, not only as lip service when she wants something from him. I mean, she went literally their entire wedding without saying ILY to her brand new husband. Sure her speech was sweet and all, but would it have killed her to say those three words anytime before they were about to die in a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying?


The 4.08 public sex was illegal, and disgusting. Trying to conceive means unprotected sex, and since there probably wouldn’t have been any showering facilities in that hay loft it means that unless they stole wet wipes from Sly, then Happy would’ve spent the whole day with cum running down her legs. And why was everyone so excited about that?? Happy can demand public sex during Sly’s birthday celebrations, but when Toby calls her by a sweet nickname in the garage she treats it like such a violation of their personal lives?! The double standards are startling and unfair. 


4.09 ex-spouses baby naming/“Toby manipulates you” 
was wrong. Happy agreed to think about naming the baby after Walter if they kept it a secret from Toby (which, really, won’t be that hard for the robots considering they kept their marriage a secret for over six years). But god forbid if Toby secretly agrees to something that Happy hates just because he was guilt tripped into it. And when has Toby ever manipulated Happy?? Every step of their relationship he had expressed his feelings loud and clear but always waited for her to make the first physical step. Whereas Happy was the one who led Toby to believe their relationship was healthy and secure when she was secretly married the whole time and never bothered to tell him about it, not to mention her physical abuse and lip service when she wants something from him. Hopefully she won’t name their child a name he really doesn’t want but at this point nothing about her doing that is surprising. 


Yes there was a sweet moment at the end of 4.10, but once again it was when Happy was feeling insecure that it happened. Would it kill them to have a sweet moment initiated by Toby’s insecurities and Happy stepping up to comfort him instead of vice versa? Because if we learnt anything from that episode it’s that Toby has a lot of past baggage too that could very realistically haunt him whenever. Them being the side couple shouldn’t prevent them from having a cute and genuine moment during their journey towards parenthood. If the writers are unable to devote time to show a healthy progression and growth of their relationship and individual characters, why did they pair them up and marry them off so early? 
        * (Also, how convenient is it that she’s still not pregnant when they’re finally having this kid conversation? If they were immediately successful she’d be 3-5 months pregnant by now, a little late to have the “will our kids turn out okay” talk- which goes back to point #1 about responsible parents.)


#cbs scorpion #team scorpion #ask answered #anon ask #this became really long #but I'm not pleased with how is season has turned out and this ask seemed like a good opportunity to voice that #sure there have been a few (rare) good moments #but the overarching plots and arcs and characterizations aren't good at all #please don't add on to this if you disagree #it's just an answer to that anon and I'm not looking for confrontation of any sort #just want to voice my opinion

[chicleeblair]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Author,

EDIT: I am not able to participate in Yuletide this year--I had to forfeit in 2016 due to being unexpectedly hospitalized in Nov/Dec after poorly managing my time, and misreading the rules--I thought the ban could be cleared by submitting a treat OR waiting a year, turns out I have to complete a finished story to be cleared, which I will this year.

All that said, I spent quite a bit of time on this and since I could manage to pinch hint and get to make my requests I’m going to leave my DYW letter here. If anyone feels like writing to these prompts, feel free. I’ll probably reuse them last year, depending on what is written for other people, but I already have plans to nominate a few newer fandoms next year.

Fandoms included: Newsflesh (incl Feedback), 

Hi! I’m incredibly excited about Yuletide this year, and I’ve been considering my requests and offers with more thought than I should be willing to admit to this week. There are so many fandoms that I love nominated, and though I’ve learned to be careful about what I offer to write for, I’ve still found myself making detailed mentao pro-con lists, especially since I try not to request fic from the same fandoms I offer to write in. Still, I’ve been surprised by some of the nominations—I only finished The Lonliest Girl in the Universe a week ago, and Lauren James isn’t well-known in the States, despite being one of my favorite authors. Anyway, I think I’ve got my lists figured out now, so the time has come to tell you what it is I love about my favorite pieces of underappreciated media. What an easy project /sarcasm.

 DISLIKES Before I get into the fandoms individually, I suppose I should let you know what my squicks are (you know you’ve been in fandom too long when you’re shocked Word doesn’t recognize the word ‘squicks.) None of these are triggers in particular, I’ve got depression, but it’s managed, and I don’t have any major traumas to worry about in particular. I don’t mine NSFW/explicit fic, but it’s also not often my reason for reading. That said, the following tags make me likely to hit the back button: watersports, alpha/omega, knotting, feces, mpreg. I’m not particularly fond of girl!penis as a kink, though it’s different if the character is actually dealing with being trans or intersex.

 LIKES One thing I do like that a lot of people don’t is bloodplay, though as there aren’t any vampire stories in my requests it probably won’t be a Thing this year, and I’m good with consensual BDSM.

 I’m sure it’s obvious from my reqs that I’m into zombie fiction, though it’s the human side of it I like, whether that’s humans dealing with zombies, or zombies attempting to deal with their humanity. One thing I will say is that I’ve chosen fandoms that all rest on detailed world-building, and if you want to write a fic that explores the edges of these universes without necessarily including the listed characters, I’m happy with that. Anything that explores how the world has changed/how a certain person has been affected by the big change is fine with me!

 I’m bi, with a deeply abiding love for f/f fic. I definitely have het ships that I’ll fill you in on, but I still love stories where those ladies interact with their female friends. I’m very pro kid!fic, I adore time stamps, alternate POVs, epistolary fic, social media fic, anything that explores the world that an author has already built. I wasn’t ever the kid simply rubbing their Barbies together, I acted out Barbie and Ken meeting while they babysat Kelly and Tommy. (True story: these stories were also written down in a notebook I carried around at school. Basically, I started writing Barbie fanfic at the age of eight.)  

 I’ve received some great Yuletide gifts via letters where I’ve spelled out specific desires, but this year I don’t have specific stories I want written so much as worlds I’d like to see explored further. What are they? Glad you asked, friend!

 Newsflesh (Feed, Deadline, Blackout, Rise, & Feedback)

 This isn’t the most obscure fandom in the world, by any means, since it’s written by Seanann McGuiare under her Mira Grant penname, and because Mark Oshiro of Mark Does Stuff chronicled his journey through the original trilogy. That said, I’m pretty obsessed with the world of these books, and have read and reread all the books and novellas, and I’m not as into the main ship as most readers seem to be. I’m adopted, so the relationship between Georgia and Shaun I don’t love incest in general, though a high school obsession with Life with Derek means I can’t cast stones. However, I nominated this fandom in the first place, and I picked the character pool especially so that even if I didn’t end up requesting it, other participants might take the chance to explore other characters, specifically the characters introduced in Feedback. Their story takes place parallel to Feed; while the Masons are covering the Ryman campaign, Aislinn North, the Irwin who adores chasing zombies, and her companions are on the election trail with Senator Shannon Kilbourne. I like Feedback due to the diversity of its cast—Mat, the teams’ techie and makeup blogger, is nonbinary, and Ash is married to Ben, the Newsie, on paper, but really in a relationship with the final member of their team, fiction-writer Audrey). But another feature I love about this book? Unlike the original trilogy, it was written after the date when Grant sets the Rising—July 2014. Because of this, the book contains some amazing pop cultural nuggets that just make the whole thing seem more real, for instance Ash mentions that Frozen merchandise is a rarity, since the Rising happened mid-PR campaign, and Taylor Swift’s pre-2013 music is “before she turned political.” (If only. Tay and JLaw disappointed me last year.) Like I said, I’m not married to you using these characters. Heck, if you want to explore Taylor Swift’s life, post-Rising, that’d be cool with me. That said, I chose Ash, Emily Ryman, Maggie, and Georgia because they are awesome female characters, and I’d love to see them interact. I can see Ash and Maggie having known each other/dated at some point—though post-canon I am pro-Maggie/Alaric, though less crazy about Ash’s girlfriend—and any situation where they could meet would make a great fic, especially if both Georgia and Ash have to deal with their prejudices towards each other. Also, in regards to Maggie, I wouldn’t mind knowing more about Alisa, Alaric’s sister, especially because the Masons take her in from a shelter in Ferry Pass, which is part of my hometown of Pensacola. Emily is painfully underused, being born pre-Rising and developing retinal KA, and all of them are just badasses. Basically, this world is awesome and I think more people need to be exposed to Feedback, and it’s Irish spitfire of a POV-Irwin. Another feature of this universe I’m interested in is the kids who grow up post-Rising. Grant looks into this with blog posts and flashbacks, but even the description of the post-Rising orphanages in the “All the Pretty Little Horses” short story from Rise makes me want more.

 Parasitology Parasite, Symbiont, Chimera

 Another Mira Grant, another apocalypse. People have accused her of revamping the same story again, but in spite of having some similar characters and circumstances Sal’s story is nothing like Georgia or Ash’s. Of course, I adore the similarities in story-telling—ephemera is my kryptonite—but Sal’s development is unique to Mira Grant books, if not to books in general, and her relationship to her own humanity/lack thereof is fascinating. I especially love that she spends the whole series in a committed relationship, one that she is confident of, and that in spite of only technically having existed for six years she is incredibly sure of herself. I nominated this one as well, and chose Sal, Juniper, Doctor Cale, and Tansy because they are strong ladies with complex stories that have lots of room to be explored. Dr. Cale, Tansy, and Sal to a degree, deal with disability—and this is particular interesting for Tansy & Sal, since they are aware of the fact that they are making a choice to keep this malfunctioning human body. Juniper is a little girl, yet she and Tansy are learning to be people together, Sal is learning to be a mother, and in a way so is Dr. Cale. Also, eventually Juniper will have to decide whether or not to engage with the humans of her generation, and that could be fascinating. That said, Grant hasn’t told nearly as many stories in this universe, since the trilogy relies far more on Sal herself than Newsflesh relies on the Masons, so I’d love to see an exploration of how the parasites and chimeras affected other parts of the world. I think the fact that the symbiotes have brought humanity so close to eradicating illness is something that could be explored further, too, especially when you consider that the parasites disabled their inventor, and that if the Mitchells hadn’t been attempting to hide Sally’s epilepsy, Sal might not have been born. There’s also the fact that the other doctor who is close to Sal—Cale’s son, Nathan—does not use the implants at all, suggesting that at their core physicians with their hearts in the right place know that there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, that maybe humans need illness and disability to thrive.

 In the Flesh

I really debated requesting this, since it’s a fandom I think I could write in, but I liked the idea of letting my requests adhere to a theme, and this series was the first piece of zombie media I ever consumed (pun intended). There have been many great fics in this fandom, they are often AU and revolve around Kieren’s relationships—I’m all for people celebrating canonically queer characters, but to me neither of those ships were what drew me into the series. I didn’t nominate ItF myself, and I wish I had because I would have included Amy Dyer. As it is, I don’t mind if you mention either of Kieren’s relationships, but I only asked for Kieren and Jem because they’re the characters I care most about, truly. Honestly, I actually care the most about Jem, because I think she’s an incredible character who went through so much to protect her family and is forced to face her fears every day in order to have a relationship with the brother who made her who she is—in so many ways. I am also fascinated by the idea of a world that has faced the apocalypse and is having to move forward. The little details that serve to remind us that society had to hit the pause button, such as the lack of cell phones, are really intriguing to me, as well as the issues students like Jem face having to return to school after war. This world also opens the door for an exploration of what life might be like for children&teens who came back—Henry was a missed opportunity IMO—and while I don’t mind if you don’t bother incorporating the storylines Dominic Mitchell has said he would include in a season three, the idea of Jem making a friend with PDS (as opposed to PTSD, that acronym similarity needs mentioning) would be so great. Again, though, feel free to take this world and run with it, no need to stay in Roarton—I wonder what adulthood for Jem would be like, with Kieren never having aged, for instance?

 World War Z

Another of my nominations. I don’t know why, but I am obsessed with this book, specifically the audiobook. Max Brooks has talked about how he based this book on an oral history of WWII, and I think the parallels between the two wars are deep if you look closely—the idea of total war, the amount of work on the home-front, the inefficiency of assuming what won against one enemy will suffice against another, children escaping unimaginable violence, the nuclear bomb survivor, so much more—but what I really loved is how Brooks really fills in the details from each POV he uses. Without naming celebrities, Brooks clearly sets it in the Bush-era, which is interesting to me but probably not affect fic, but shows how well the world is crafted. The imagery that comes from the Australian astronaut who spent the war on the ISS is particularly poignant to me, especially the way he describes them discovering the burrowing zombies. I also get chills from Jessica’s story, the girl whose parents dragged her up to Canada, and when she discovers the Spongebob sleepover, because it’s a mark of how bizarre our culture and entertainment would seem, and how our comforts could disappear in the blink of an eye. I do think that this book is lacking in female POVs, particular ladies who might not be soldiers but were fighting the war in their own way. I loved Joe Mohammad’s POV, too, but not everyone would need to be part of a patrol group or militia to survive. I’d love to see what the situation was like for city-dwellers, or people who were in the areas not getting supplies due to the Reddecker plan. What about the Israelis, what was it like in the country during this isolated period? There have been some great fics exploring issues like euthanasia and abortion in that period, and I’d love to see an issue like that expanded. On the other hand, there is a lot that could come from looking into the world post-war, describing what the Narrator goes through to get these stories, or what kinds of stories he might hear after the initial book is published—a history of the rebuilding would be interesting since in this world the threat isn’t completely gone. Brooks has written two short stories that are explicitly in this world (a couple that are borderline) and one of them, Closure LtD, and I don’t want to spoil it, but it really makes me wonder what other kinds of industries would emerge in a post-zombie war world.

 Inhuman Condition

Also my nomination, this is a webseries that did not get NEARLY the amount of viewers or fans it deserved. The author has created this incredibly interesting alternative history, and I don’t think everyone who watched even knows how much detail was put into it. For instance, I discovered a blog (https://angrydeadgirl.wordpress.com) written from the POV of Clara—my favorite character—wherein she analyzes TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, except it’s Grey’s Anatomy reimagined through the lens of this world, and there is NOTHING I love more than inter-textual references like that. There are other in-universe shows that I have honestly begged to see for real, and via the show we only get a taste of these details. I’d also love to know more about how the existence of zombies and lycans affected history aside from the terror attacks we know of from the series. I’d also love to see more about Kessler, what got her into working with other-humans, whether there is a personal connection that we’re not told, more about her daughter, Mira, who has grown up in a world where the truth is known, there’s so much in there to mine. I didn’t nominate Tamar, the character who seems more superhero than supernatural, because to me her story seems to fit into this world less than Clara and Linc. Not that I don’t like her, I did, but while I totally believe they could all exist in one universe—I read Marvel, after all—her condition doesn’t seem to be in the same category, so the backstory would be different. Lycanthropy and Clara’s form of zombiism both seem to be medical conditions, to a degree, and while Tamar’s issues definitely parallel mental illness, it’s a different issue. I wouldn’t mind seeing her or others like her, just that I think the dynamics of lycan/walker-type conditions. I really appreciate how, like In the Flesh, this series allows the conditions to be a metaphor for real life issues, without erasing those issues. One of Clara’s blog entries, for instance, mentions that there are cases of people being killed for not informing sexual partners of their condition, and this is explicitly related to people with HIV who have faced similar violence. Also, Linc and Kessler are both explicitly bisexual, and in my mind Clara is non-straight, too, and that’s a reason I included Mira because WHY NOT? I nominated Frank because after seeing a fic that shipped him and Clara I got interested in what it would be like to have to spend all your time with this vibrant girl who is so afraid of becoming a monster, I don’t ship them necessarily, but I am interested in knowing more about him. This is the one fandom where I am kind of tied to having the canon characters front and center, but if you want to explore this world through a different lens, I’m open to it.

 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe

 I really, really thought about using this slot for iZombie, because it’s one of my favorite things and fits the theme, but I read The Loneliest Girl in the Universe a few weeks ago, and am THRILLED with the idea of finding other people who love it. I also considered offering to write for it, but I do not have confidence in my ability to calculate transmission delays or describe space physics. I mean, it’s basically a YA version of The Martian featuring an MC with anxiety who writes fanfic. WHAT MORE DO ANY OF US WANT? Throughout this book I was terrified that J would turn out to be an AI, but his actual backstory basically broke my heart, as did the reveal of Romy’s history. I really wish her mother had survived, and I would like to see more of her in Romy’s memories or maybe in the logs/archives now that Romy might be open to looking into them. I would love to see her asking Molly about them, or reading/watching her parents’ reports or journals as she builds a new world with Issac. I also want to know about Issac Evans. Who is he? What happened with him and J? Will he and Romy be MFEO, or simply besties who raise babies? What are the other adults on the ship like? Does Romy find a different person to love? Is it a girl? I’d also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see Romy’s life from the POV of an Earth dweller. You see, DYW, I am a huge fan of several family vlogs; there are babies I have watched grow up via the internet, and I am DEEPLY invested in their lives. NASA would be crazy not to have gotten the world to rally around baby Romy, and some of them probably still read her fics. That’s the thing, though, this book includes her fic, and imaging fic from 2067 makes me want to see more of their social media, and to know how it affected this next group of astronauts. Also, since it turns out that J lied about the war and the collapse of the world’s governments, I’d love to see what the world is actually like. What else is NASA doing? Does the entire world freak out when they find out what happened with Romy and J, or only Molly? Who is Molly? Did she suspect J based on how well she knows Romy? I have a need to know.

 That is it, oh Yuletide Author, way too many of my thoughts about Alternate Worlds, most of them infested by the undead. As I’ve said, I would be happy with stories that feature the characters I requested, or that don’t at all, but unless mentioned I’m not crazy about canon-alternatives.

#dear yuletide writer #yuletide letter #parasitology #newsflesh #in the flesh #world war z #inhuman condition #the loneliest girl in the universe #yuletide 2017 #disqualified :(

[gyrlversion]

Senate votes down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal 57-0

The Senate roundly rejected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal as expected on Tuesday with not a single senator voting ‘yes’ for the progressive star’s signature policy initiative. 

Ocasio-Cortez defended herself after the defeat and argued she encouraged the Democratic senators to vote ‘present’ instead of in the affirmative. 

‘I encouraged them to vote present, along w/ others. McConnell tried to rush the #GreenNewDeal straight to the floor without a hearing. The real question we should be asking: Why does the Senate GOP refuse to hold any major hearings on climate change?,’ the self-described socialist explained in a tweet responding to the lack of Democratic votes. 

‘The GOP’s climate delaying is costing us lives + destroying communities. Iowa, Nebraska & many in the Midwest are catastrophically flooded right now, in one of the 1st major climate change disasters of 2019. A #GreenNewDeal urges us to pursue a plan on the scale of the problem,’ she added.

Democrats slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for holding a ‘sham’ vote on the matter – it was a non-binding resolution, meaning it had no force of law, and needed 60 votes to advance in the legislative process, which was an impossible task given Democrats only have 47 votes in their corner. 

Most of the Democrats voted ‘present’ in protest while Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, who represents the red state of West Virginia; Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona; and Doug Jones of Alabama voted no, as did Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.

The final vote was 57 nays and 43 present.  

The final Senate vote was 57 nays and 43 present

The Senate roundly rejected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal as expected on Tuesday with not a single senator voting ‘yes’

Ocasio-Cortez defended herself after the failed Senate vote

Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (left), who represents the red state of West Virginia; Kyrsten Sinema (right) of Arizona were among the ‘no’ votes

Republican Sen. Mike Lee mocked The Green New Deal on the Senate floor Tuesday

Sen. Lee brought a variety of props and photos to make his point

Ahead of the vote, Democrats and Republicans exchanged bitter words on the Senate floor while Ocasio-Cortez slammed the Republican senator who mocked her Green New Deal in a speech that used props and photos – including one of a Aquaman riding seahorse – to make his point.

‘If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything,’ she said via Twitter, retweeting a tweet with photos and comments from Sen. Mike Lee’s floor speech making fun of her signature program.

‘GOP Senators are using their Congressional allowances to print Aquaman posters for themselves to argue that a #GreenNewDeal saving our nation from climate change is a ‘waste of money,” she also tweeted, adding an emoji of laughing face.  

Lee, in a colorful speech, used a variety of photos to make his point, including Aquaman on a sea horse, Ronald Reagan and a dinosaur, a still from the ‘Star Wars’ franchise of Luke Skywalker riding a tauntaun, and cows. 

‘After reading the Green New Deal I’m afraid of not being able to get through this speech with a straight face,’ he said as he began his remarks. 

He claimed the Green New Deal wants to eliminate airplanes – a likely reference to its goal to end reliance on fossil fuels – and suggested states like Hawaii would have to use a fleet of sea horses to travel instead. 

Standing next to a large photo of Aquaman riding a sea horse, Lee noted: ‘Under the Green New Deal, this is probably Hawaii’s best bet.’

He conceded that ‘a massive fleet of giant, highly trained sea horses would be cool, it would be really awesome. But we have no idea about scalability or domestic capacity.’ 

Lee claimed his floor speech which propelled him into a Twitter trending topic, was meant to illustrate how silly he believes the non-binding resolution to be. 

The Republican senator from Utah even claimed that ‘problems of human imagination are not solved by more laws, they’re solved by more humans, more people.’

‘The solution to climate change is not this unserious resolution we’re considering this week in the Senate but rather the serious solution to human flourishing. The solution to so many of our problems at all times and in all places is to fall in love, get married, and have some kids,’ he added. 

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez argued she encouraged the senators to vote ‘present’

Sen. Mike Lee claimed his speech was to show how silly he thinks the resolution is

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will stage a show vote on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed the majority leader for holding a ‘bluff vote’

McConnell put the vote on the calendar to force Democrats, including a slew of 2020 presidential contenders, to go on the record about the progressive plan in a vote that he knew would fail. 

But Democrats’ countered his maneuver with one of their own: voting ‘present’ – which does not count towards or against passage but does contribute to the quorum, meaning the lawmaker does not have a missing vote on their record.  

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the principle sponsor of the legislation in the Senate, called McConnell’s move a ‘sham.’

He said Tuesday before the vote that the GOP leader ‘wants to sabotage calls for climate action.’

And Ocasio-Cortez slammed the majority leader for holding a ‘bluff vote.’

‘The GOP’s whole game of wasting votes in Congress to target others ‘on the record’, for leg they have no intent to pass, is a disgrace. Stop wasting the American peoples’ time + learn to govern. Our jobs aren’t for campaigning, & that’s exactly what these bluff-votes are for,’ she wrote on Twitter on Friday. 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the vote a ‘political stunt.’

‘With this exercise, the Republican Majority has made a mockery of the legislative process. It is a political act, a political stunt. Everyone here knows it’s a stunt, including the Majority Leader himself. He put something on the floor and then votes no. What’s the point of that other than showing how hypocritical this act is?,’ Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor.

‘But with this exercise, they have also elevated the issue in a way I am sure they never intended. And for that, I want to thank them because now we’re finally talking about climate change,’ he added.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a presidential contender who is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal legislation, also called it a ‘sham’ vote on Tuesday and said the ‘GOP is treating this like a political stunt, they are treating climate change like a game.’

She voted present.

All the presidential contenders in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors of Ocasio-Cortez’s signature legislation: Sens. Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Gillibrand. 

McConnell plotted his crafty move as a way to force Senate Democrats to vote their view – a potential on-the-record move Republicans could exploit in the coming election.

The move would also pit the moderate wing of the party against its left flank, a battle Democrats will be fighting in the upcoming presidential primary.  

McConnell slammed Democrats for moving to the left on a host of issues. 

‘This whole Democrat effort to re-brand all the failed ideas of 20th century socialism with a little green paint – every member of this body will have the opportunity to cast a clear vote,’ McConnell said Monday on the Senate floor.

He continued his barrage on Tuesday. 

‘The Senate is going to vote on the far-left wish list that many of our Democratic colleagues have rushed to embrace – the so-called Green New Deal. For a relatively sparse resolution, this proposal has already traveled quite a fascinating path here in Congress. It originated with the most radical, farthest-left members of the new House Democrat majority,’ he said on the Senate floor. 

Lee said people will have to ride sea horses because the Green New Deal will ban airplanes 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is asking his party to vote ‘present’

And the National Republican Senatorial Committee is using Ocasio-Cortez in attacks ads similar to how the GOP has used Speaker Nancy Pelosi in these type of ads for years.

In a tweet attacking Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, who is considering a run against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, the NRSC said Castro ‘votes with AOC 94% of the time.’   

The Green New Deal is a statement of goals and doesn’t make specific policy proposals, nor does it specify how it would pay for its ambitious plans. 

The plan aims to slow climate change by ending the reliance on fossil fuels within 10 years; to upgrade power grids and existing buildings for maximum energy efficiency; to overhaul transportation systems; and to provide every American with a job and health care. 

The conservative American Action Forum estimated the Green New Deal will cost $93 trillion. Other organizations have found the deal too vague to get a full cost although Forbes estimated just six of the goals would roughly cost $2.5 trillion a year. 

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