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hatt0riart · 11 months

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I WANTED TO MAKE MORE THAN JUST THIS but it took like. a week to get done and im sick these days

anyways in light of mk1's nonsense i revisited some koncepts i had for a roleswap au. i took hanzo's inspiration from a mix of mkx and mk11 outfits and kuai i kind of just winged it based off my own preferences in past appearances!!

more rambling is under the cut about the actual AU :-]

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY ART ON ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OR CROP THEM FOR ICONS. THANK YOU!

SO I HAVE NOT ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THIS BEYOND SOME OLD SKETCHES I HAD OF KUAI'S DESIGN but i had some general ideas of how this was supposed to work???

the shirai ryu is still alive and well! he's still a family man and very clan oriented. satoshi is still born and grows into his clan's responsibilities, however harumi dies in child birth.

the lin kuei on the other hand is Not Doing Well. they end up getting wiped out during a raid from the shirai ryu and most of kuai's immediate family (whether by choice or blood) ends up going down with them.

prior to this kuai ends up passing after a failed mission to retrieve the map of elements from the shaolin temple in an attempt to prove himself to his clan. (instead of bi-han being the one set on that path, kuai ends up taking the initiative instead WAY before he's ready without anyone's knowledge and ends up dying when met with scorpion.)

most of it is similar how it is in actual canon for how scorpion's story goes. he gets resurrected he pledges loyalty to quan chi in order to get revenge, blah blah blah. mortal kombat happens. the two meet again at some point.

kuai's still on that "you killed my family" juice but its...more so about familial ties (like bi-han and smoke) rather than it being the love(s) of his life (like hanzo's wife and son) , seeing as he died young from his own overzealous nature.

very much has anger issues. he's impatient and has alot shorter of a temper by comparison to scorpion in the original canon. hardly ever humbled until that point lol

hanzo on the other hand is surprisingly more lax. meditates often, drinks alot of tea and while he *IS* stressed he handles it alot better than kuai does. maybe has a problem of ignoring his problems though for the sake of the task at hand.

kuai ends up harassing hanzo alot in this AU even outside of the tournament. he's kind of a bitchy ghost there to remind hanzo of what happened to him and lowkey hanzo guilts over it.

kuai has alot of grim reaper motifs in his design. he carries a scythe made of ice primarily and fights at a more long distance range.

hanzo on the other hand is alot more of an up close brawler. he keeps alot of design traits from mkx with a bit of mk11 sprinkled in for inspiration of his "classic" design.

STILL A PYROMANCER!! i just havent thought out how. he's just regarded with a bit more respect for having those unnatural abilities lol

but yeah this is just me spitballing in bullet points. i'm hoping to make more stuff later that is a bit more...thought out properly but it follows more of like

mk mythologies --> mk9 -> mkx

type of timeline i guess? except hanzo is in bi-han's position and kuai ends up being put in scorpion's. bi-han doesn't really have a place in the AU outside of being a background character and driving motive for kuai's vengeance later on. (though we're not gonna talk about how bi-han's mentality eventually fed into kuai's at a young age and made him come to the conclusions he did before he died.... maybe.)

smoke exists for the sake of painful flashbacks lol

satoshi's also a bg character but he does end up growing up with the shirai ryu and takes on his own share of clan responsibilities. idk whether or not he takes after hanzo's pyromancy or not in this AU but either way he grows up to be a well respected figure in the clan!

alot of stuff outside of this remains the same though, just the lin kuei and shirai ryu's dynamics get swapped.

ANYWAYS YEAH IF YOU READ THRU ALL THIS THANKS FOR READING BYEEEE (i'll be adding to this au more later on when i finish my other sketches lol)

#mortal kombat #au #mortal kombat au #mk #mk1 #mkx #mk11 #mk9 #sub zero #scorpion #kuai liang #hanzo hasashi #roleswap au #subscorp #subscorp roleswap au

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adobe-outdesign · 1 year

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Is it too early to ask for thoughs or headcanons on the 4 perils? I just really like those guys.

Before we get too far, can I just mention what a great concept the Treasures are? They're probably some of my all-time favorite legendaries. The way they're based off the four perils is a nice mythology reference, but this is greatly enhanced with the way they're vessels with fake bodies. This is very cool and unique, and that combined with the way they're sealed away to prevent natural disasters gives them an appropriately epic, legendary feeling to the quartet. Just the vibes alone are immaculate.

For the record, my personal favs from most to least are Wo-Chien, Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, and Chi-Yu, but honestly all of them are great in some compacity or another.

I know Ting-Lu was somewhat contentious when it first leaked, with many feeling like the body is too vague-looking compared to the other Treasures of Ruin. However, I honestly really like the abstract look—I feel like it makes it look all the more eerie, almost somewhat eldritch. It also really helps convey that the object is the actual Pokemon and the body is just made out of materials, more so than any of the other Treasures.

If I have one problem with the design, it's that the ritual bowl/ding feels like it's barely attached to the head; it looks like it's going to fall off any moment. I also feel like the neck's a bit long. Otherwise, the colors are nice and the concept and typing are clear.

Chien-Pao is an interesting combo between a saber-toothed cat, a snow leopard, and something akin to a ferret. It reminds me a lot of a spotted genet, though that probably wasn't intentional:

Regardless, this is a neat design, with the body being made of snow and the markings actually being ice crystals. The simple white and light blue palette conveys snow and cold, while the black coloring on the sword draws attention to it. I also like that the sword is snapped in half, with each half composing a fang. It's a nice touch.

My only complaint is that the sword going through the top of the muzzle looks a bit odd. It was probably done like that to show that the snow is built around the sword, but it just creates a weird tension point there. I also feel like the random crystals on the cheeks weren't needed, and I wish the model looked less smooth and more like actual snow. Still, it's nice looking overall.

Chi-Yu is the least ominous of the trio, but then again it is still the most ominous goldfish I've ever seen, so that's something. Once again, the objects are obviously the beads, though this one gets points for incorporating the emotion, envy, into the design by using jade magatama beads specifically.

I think my only problem with it—which is unfortunately a big problem—is that the body works well in 2D, but really does not translate well at all. I don't know why GameFreak is allergic to particle textures, but Chi-Yu looks more like paper with fire drawn on it than actual fire, especially compared to other 'mons with much more realistic fire on their bodies. This makes the beads feel jarringly three dimensional in a way that doesn't jive with the body. The actual design of the flames, with them forming some beautiful swirls and scales, is fine; I just wish it looked better when you were actually using it and not just looking at the artwork.

And finally, Wo-Chien, my personal favorite. I had high-hopes for a legendary dark-type snail, and thankfully, Wo-Chien did not disappoint. The muted color palette feels appropriately dark but earthy at the same time, and I love how the upper body is clearly just piles of leaves, with branches forming the iconic snail eyes. The way the colors alternate in said leaves also help break up the head while still making it clear what you're looking at. It's hard to make a snail look powerful and creepy, but they pulled it off beautifully.

I guess the only drawback is that the tablets that make up the shell are much less emphasized than on the other Treasure's designs; there's nothing to specially draw your eye to them from either a color or a size perspective. At the same time however, they do fit beautifully with the palette, and it could be argued that the body shape draws your eyes from the head to the "shell" naturally anyway.

So as a whole: all of these guys are honestly really solid, and some of the best legendaries we've had in a long time; cool inspiration, interesting concept, good designs, and a mythological feel make these four throughly enjoyable.

#wo chien #ting lu #chi yu #chien pao #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon reviews #I'm going to catch wo chien and eventually use it on my post game team

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animebw · 6 months

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #not anime

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pandawarrior · 6 months

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Avatar Character Ranking: part four

Final part and the most elite characters!!!

A tier

15. Haru

Rebel. Beautiful with and without the moustache. He freed his village from Fire Nation and he didn’t get captured on the day of the black sun. What an absolute king. I had a crush on him because I have good taste in men. HARU FOR EARTH KING!!!

14. Aang

This may be controversial but just hear me out. I don’t hate Aang first of all. He is a good avatar and he did his job all the time. He learnt all bending forms and took down the earth king in what?? A year?? Two years?? Amazing. He stuck to his morals and didn't kill Flopzai. He had a sick tattoo. HE’S THE AVATAR IT’S HIS SHOW. Now. With that being said. He is so ANNOYING. I am so sorry. He is. Out of the main five (Katara, Sokka, Aang, Toph and Zuko) in my opinion, he is the least interesting as a character. Like they could have added more depth. We never really saw him grieve over the loss of his ENTIRE POPULATION. He got a bit mad and moved on. Also let’s be real. Katara, Sokka and Toph were carrying him the whole time. Like most of the plans were from Katara and Sokka They were the masterminds and the backbones of the Gaang. I’m not saying Aang didn’t do anything, but without Katara and Sokka he would be toast. Alson can i just say I don't blame Aang for running away when and getting trapped in ice for 100 years when he found out his duty because same. Now for the REALLY controversial bit. AANG ENDED UP WITH KATARA WHEN SHE SHOULD’VE BEEN WITH ZUKO! THERE! I SAID IT! I could explain why but It would take too long. So to conclude, Aang is great and I like him if course I do but the other main four were better characters and that’s that. Aang can also do the air ball spinny thing which is awesome.

13. Ty Lee

DON’T GET ME STARTEDDD!!! SHE IS A QUEEN!!! SHE NEVER FLOPPED NEVER TANKED!!! She was backflipping, cartwheeling, chi blocking (bending?) What couldn't she do? The only one that could go up against mother Katara. Girls wanted to be her, Guys wanted to be with her. No one was doing it like her. Did you see her outfit?? The pink??? Amazing. She rode for Mai, that was her bestie, they were locked in. Chiblocked azula for Mai your bestie would never.

12. Mai

The realest of the real. Hated her life but she loved Zuko. Real. Absolutely GAGGED Azula “I guess you miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear” OH??? My life was never the same. Betrayed Azula and her entire country for Zuko. Again too real. HER PARENTS ARE DUMB FLOPS THAT DON’T LET HER EXPRESS HERSELF. Bit mad. BUT SHE ALSO THROWS KNIVES!!! I used to think she just had knife dispensers in her hands but the fact that she hand throws them is cooler. Monotone permanently and I love her for it. I place no blame on her for Zutara not happening.

11. Avatar Kyoshi

Why is she so high??? Because she stood on business. She came back to life and said ”I killed that man, what about it” and dipped. Absolute menace. The makeup, the fans??? What else is there to say? Has a whole island and fanclub AS SHE SHOULD!!

S tier

10. Katara

Don’t get mad at me for this, and if anyone is anti-katara near me I will fight you. She DESTROYED THE PATRIARCHY HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HER? She ended everyone who tried her. Left no witnesses. Was healing and battering people. MASTERED BLOODBENDING ON THE SAME NIGHT SHE LEARNT IT!!! MOTHER!!! LEGEND!!! QUEEN!!!! ENDED HAMA!!! The most responsible Gaang member, she was always looking out for them. But why is she number 12?? Icl…. she got on my nerves a BIT too much. Like, she just did too much sometimes. The most out of pocket thing was when she said sokka didn't love their mom as much as she did?? No need for that. Also, she was dragging out the “not forgiving zuko thing” girl just say you're heartbroken and move on. And she threw Toph in jail. Now Katara. Why. Apart from that and a few other things, literal icon. Her iconic hair loopies are iconic. I used to try to recreate it with my braids lmao.

9. Suki

SUKIIIIII!!!!! SHE REFORMED SOKKA LITERALLY TURNED HIM INTO A SUFFRAGETTE, THE POWER SHE HOLDS!!! “I AM A WARRIOR BUT I AM A GIRL TOO!” NOT JUST ANY GIRL THE NO1 GIRL. WHAT DID SHE DO WRONG??? NOTHING!!! SHE HAS NO FLAWS!! SHE DEFIED PHYSICS AND CAPTURED THE PRISON WARDEN BY HERSELF!!! EFFORTLESSLY!!! YOUR FAVES COULD NEVER!!!

8. Azula

Guys she’s just misunderstood I swear. She was 14!!! 14 and she had grown ass men shaking in their boots. 14 and she was popping bitches left and right. Literally everyone failed: her mom, Flopzai, even zuko and iroh lowkey. My girl just wanted to be loved, it's not her fault. I'm gonna do a full character debrief on her. I have too much to say, but she is one of the most misunderstood and best characters ever written. She is so complex I literally watch psychology of azula video all the time. The way her character is written. Can't wait to get my psychology A Level so i can analyse her. The beach episode and her flirting had me crying. She's so funny, I love her.

7. ZUKO

My first boyfriend. When he grew his hair out, six year old had heart eyes. Best redemption arc ever written and I stand by that. He was never evil, he just wanted his Dad’s love and also he is so awkward and funny. He’s so angry at everything I feel bad for him but can I talk about something. One of the most iconic moments of the show is when he did something good and his immune system SHUT DOWN. I was crying, that was so funny. Also, Iroh and Zuko together is comedy gold and also sentimental because Iroh found a son in zuko and Zuko found a father in Iroh. AH I CAN’TTT. Zuko stood up to his abusive uglyass dad and showed him that he can redirect lightning. Zuko teaches Aang to redirect it. In the final battle, Aang redirects the lightning and FLOPZAI’S FACEEEEE. I would therapise Zuko don’t worry. Poor Zuko. I’m gonna do a character debrief of him too because he is literally my first love.

6. Iroh

I wanna drink tea with him once. I know one conversation with him would change the trajectory of my life. Leaves from the vine deserves a Grammy. (Guys I think Iroh was a war criminal and everyone just forgets it nut I can’t make it go away from my head). Anyways he is so cool, he can breathe fire from his mouth. Laos, he kind of tanked when he just let Azula grow uo wit Ozai. but anyway, I love Iroh he’s such a cool guy. I hope hes having a blast in his tea shop.

5. SOKKA (air horns sound)

First of all, he had unlimited game. He could pull anyone and everyone. Secondly, boomerang. Thirdly, manbun. Fourthly, he’s SOKKA. He was the comedic relief but I just love him so much. He wasn’t a bender but he was still battering people. He didn’t have that much depth till the last season but he was so brave and he had the Gaangs back no matter what. Like he never missed. He was prepared to break into the most secure prison ever to get his dad back like that's a true warrior. Do you know the episode where he goes to get the sword and the Gaang is bored because Sokka isn’t there. That’s how it was watching LOK except that it hurt more because he was dead. Also Sokka and Suki are a power couple. Literal couple of the series.

4. MOMO

WHERE IS MY MOMO SPIN OFF SHOW??? WHERE IS IT??? WHERE???? Momo should have been the next avatar ISTG

3. Appa

APPA!! The real MVP of the show. Carried everyone (literally). Was the bravest. Appa’s last days?? Actual depression serum. Like it’s so sad. Where is my Appa prequel, sequel, soin off show, book series and spin off of the book series WHERE IS IT??

2. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best character on the show. Everything she did was iconic. Was an underground wrestling champion and nobody knew. Beat the everloving shit out of grown men BY HERSELF. She’s like four feet tall by the way. She sees with her feet. If that's not the coolest thing you've ever heard then I don't know what to say to you. If toph is not even in your top three then don't ever speak to me i am so serious. She was the only one who knew Zuko was being fr about switching sides. That’s my queen fr. SHE! INVENTED! METALBENDING! INVENTED IT! A WHOLE NEW FORM! SHE DID IT!!!!!!! What did your fave do???? That's right they flopped. Toph is the best bender in the show and the best character, argue with the wall.

1. Cabbage man

This is half joke, half serious. Cabbage man is not only a victim but he's also secretly a scientist because how was he travelling the world at the same time as the Gaang with NO appa. King behaviour. I hope he got compensation because he lost so much money with all those destroyed cabbages. RIP.

#avatar #avatar: the last airbender #atla #toph #zuko #azula #mai #ty lee #aang #cabbage man #suki #momo #appa #lok #sokka #haru

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creativecuteness · 3 months

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Total Slaughter Island (Rescue Rangers) Prologue

I did promise I would post each week and here's the beginning of my brand shiny new Fanfic based on Evaeee-ry's horror AU I used to love Total Drama as a kid and in a way I feel like I'm writing a love letter. Anyway, enjoy the Prologue and let me know you're thoughts.

The fresh ocean breeze left a salty taste in her mouth and nostrils as the bow rocked to and fro. She stared at her reflection in the clear blue water with purpose. With the cloudless sky, orbiting seagulls, and cool breeze, it was a perfect summer day. Perfect for swimming, fishing, and cold creamy treats, but it wasn’t perfect in fact; to her, the last thirty days couldn’t have been more stressful.

She glanced at her associate out of the corner of her eye. The sun always had a way of hitting his handsome features just right—his short black hair, subtle beard, and brown eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt with a teal green one over it, dark shoes, and brown khakis. his sorry excuse for a signature outfit.

To many, Christopher McLean was the Canadian equivalent of a Hollywood icon; he has appeared in countless movies, was a host for several radio shows, podcasts, and reality TV shows (put a pin in for that last one), and he was handsome to boot, especially when the light hits him just right. But to her, it wasn’t endearing as much as it was annoying.

Dakota Natalie (age 16) knew full well that Chris’s nice guy act was nothing more than that. His quote-on-quote acts of selflessness were just a way to paint himself as a humble, chivalrous, not your average celebrity kind of guy. But below the surface, the countless fangirls and mutual respect were the many ways he stroked his own ego. In actuality, Chris was an egomaniac, narcissistic, and overall insufferable. Any brave fool who tried to call him out on it would be fired on the spot and taken to court for ludicrous charges. Only a fool would work for Chirs, and sadly, Dakota, their captain who was manning the boat, and two junior high schoolers were those fools.

She turned herself fully to get a better look at Chris as he smoked his cigarette. He truly had no care in the world, and that just added to the young girl’s disgust. How could he be so nonchalant about this? Were his staff and actors just that disposable to him? Or maybe he was starting to feel an ounce of regret and couldn’t risk showing that vulnerability. Dakota liked to think it was the second option, but the logical side of her knew what was going on in his twisted brain.

Chris lowred his cigarette and puffed out smoke, all of which hit the brunette square in the face, making her start hacking as she fanned the air as the smoke stung her eyes and lungs.

“Ugh, yet another reason why I shouldn’t start smoking." She prayed that the repulsive stench wouldn’t linger on her clothes. A brown-skinned girl with purple hair in a braid handed her some water, which she gladly drank. Once her coughing fit ended, she gave Chis the best death glare she could muster.

“Watch where you’re blowing that stuff. Are you trying to kill me too?" She spat, a small part of her wanting to throw the TV host overboard.

“Hey, I gave you a warning, but you were so lost in my beauty, I guess you didn’t hear me.” He remarked teasingly. Even in her observation, she didn’t see his lips moving once he hadn’t said anything to her, and he knew she knew that. Barely anything gets past her.

“Pfft as if.” She scuffed, crossing her arms and leaning back on the railing. “I’m just seeing if you regret leaving twenty-one teenagers on a deserted island while you left to save your own hide.”

Chris’s features softened for once, letting his ego deflate as he gave his assistant an affectionate pat on the head. She had the urge to push it away, but moments like this were rare and far between, so she let it slide. (Just this once.)

“Look, as much as I hate admitting my wrongdoings, you have a point.” He sighed, taking another drag from his cigarette, this time blowing in the direction of the wind (and out of her face). “I shouldn’t have left those kids on the island with a crazy killer.” He spoke, “It’s just seeing Ezekiel’s head and severed body parts I panicked. I didn’t know what to do; what was I supposed to do?”

“Uh, bring them with you!” She snapped, banging her fist on the metal railing, startling their other two helpers, who were playing Go Fish using a barrel as a makeshift table. "Call the authorities and let them handle the rest! But no, you had to selfishly leave, giving those kids no way out, all of which could be dead thanks to you. How do we tell their parents?! They’ll sue you from here to Timbuktu; your reputation will be ruined, and you have yourself to blame for this, McLean!" She yelled, giving him another hateful glare.

Chris had to hand it to her; just like Hearther, her looks could kill, and it left him regretting waiting this long to rescue them.

A Hispanic teenager with short brown hair watched the scene unfold. He thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t chosen for the show. As Chris and Dakota argued back and forth on the morality of their situation, he eyed the purple-haired girl and motioned for her to invite Dakota to play with them.

She nodded in understanding, not wanting this short-term alliance to be the end of them before their search even began. “Hey Dakota!” She spoke, waving to her, “Why don’t you play with us? We need a third player to even the playing ground.”

Dakota thought for a moment, giving a small glance at Chris, wondering if he had any final words on their conversation, but figured it’d be better to just end it now.

"Fine, deal me in.” She agreed, not giving the former host a second glance as she joined the two acquaintances, her expression still stormy, which showed since she didn’t bother to make small talk; the only time she spoke was to ask for a card. Chris would never admit it out loud, but he hated seeing her like this; Dakota’s dad was an old friend of his. Back before Chris was a big-time movie star, he got his start as a radio host. Dakota’s father worked in audiovisual and kept the sound in check and made sure the equipment stayed in perfect condition. It wasn’t long before Chris had himself a small fan base and was asked to audition for a variety of different roles. (His voice and charisma made him very likeable.) It wasn’t until years later that he reconnected with his old friend and offered him a job in the studio; he had a pet project he was secretly working on and wanted the best AV man on board. Plus, hearing he had a wife and daughter was intriguing; he guessed it wouldn’t be bad to have one of them on board too.

It wasn’t long before he met Dakota and took a minor liking to her; she was sweet, patient, and didn’t talk too much, which Chris minded at first, expecting to be bombarded with questions and the story of his life. Only to have that come crashing down when she stated she had never heard of him. Those words felt like a punch to the gut, and he took it personally. If it wasn’t for his busy schedule and reputation, he’d take her to the screening room and show her his filmography. But he had work to do, and being full of yourself doesn’t make for a good first impression, so he let the remark slide, reasoned his work in America wasn’t as popular as it was in his home country, and gave the family the tour, making a mental note to get Dakota familiar with his acting career when he had the time.

It wasn’t long before he developed a sort of uncle/niece, father/daughter relationship with her. For once, Chris’s ego didn’t get the better of him, and he enjoyed the downtime with the Natalie family; he even gave Dakota an internship, which she seemed to enjoy for the most part. He was on top of the world, and nothing was going to stop him. He was going to achieve his life goal of creating and hosting his own reality TV show, and for the moment, it seemed it would come true. Then he had to go and screw it up; in hindsight, he should have prioritized the players safety over ratings and drama. They only gave a brief overview of the filming location and didn’t even explore the whole island, but in his defense, no one pointed out strange happenings, human-shaped shadows, or anything of the nature. They didn’t know a psycho even lurked in the forest. So, naturally, they thought it was safe. Oh, how wrong they were, and now twenty-two minors could be dead, and a crazed murderer was still at large. And it was all his fault; he never should have left them and swept Ezekiel Miller’s death under the rug. He had more than enough money to pay whatever price his parents would have demanded for losing their son. Heck, he has enough money to pay all the legal fees those angry parents would’ve thrown his way.

And yet he left them anyway; his stupid pride and fear of a ruined reputation were what kept him from loading the campers onto his boat and calling authorities. And as if he didn’t feel bad enough, his favorite person can barely look at him. He showed Dakota his true colors, and now their entire relationship has fallen apart. (But little did he know he'd been showing the cracks even before then.)

McLean looked at his secret fiancée, Chef Hatchet. (It wasn’t easy being a bisexual man in this day and age; yet another act of cowardice Chris can add to his growing list.) They both looked at each other with saddened eyes. Hatchet knew how much Dakota’s distance hurt him behind his ego and selfishness. He was a human being with a heart of gold that was corrupted by his growing fame. Chef always knew his lover wasn’t the biggest fan of kids but hoped bonding with one would have Chis finally agree to adopt some with him. When he got out of the war, Chef worked as a daycare attendant and loved those little munchkins and their mischievous nature; Sure, they were a headache and gave him war flashbacks. Yet leaving them left him longing for kids of his own. He expected the longing to last a year or two before moving on, but it never did. Instead, it was replaced with a desire to raise a few with the love of his life.

Chris wasn’t a bad person by any means, but he sure as hell wasn’t a good one either. And yet that’s why Chef loved him; he too had a twisted mind and some deep, dark secrets he never wanted to get out.

If Chis was Dakota’s second father, slash uncle, Hatchet was her third, and he loved that kindhearted teen with all his heart (something he didn’t know he was capable of). Chef mouthed the words, “Give her time; she’ll come back around.” And they pretended their daughter from another mother, and father was going through a rebellious phase and returned his focus on getting them to the island before nightfall.

Chris just nodded, looking at his assistant, who barely said a word as she watched the two helpers. Who tagged along to widen their search.

“Yeah, things will return to normal eventually. All I need to do is save a few kids, show the world I’m not at fault, and everything will be right in the world again.” He thought he was pretty sure of himself. Though no amount of lying could prevent the elephant in the room, assuming the killer claimed more victims, that amount of trauma and worry is enough to fluff up anyone’s mind. Even if therapy is provided, who’s to say the trauma will become too much and someone could turn to unhealthy coping methods or commit suicide? Heck, for all Chris knew, they lost all hope and already did, making this rescue null and void.

“Face it, McLean.” A part of his brain spoke, “Nothing will ever be the same, and you know it. This act of cowardice will forever haunt you and the campers. So, stop playing hero, kiss your career and Dakota goodbye, and enjoy your last days of freedom. Because prison is the only place you’ll be going.”

And for once, Chris listened to the little voice in his head and kept his head down, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his heart and feeling of dread as Camp Wawanakwa slowly filled the horizon.

#Total Slaughter Island (Rescue Rangers) Prologue #dakota natalie OC #chris mclean #chef hatchet #sierra td #td alejandro #more character will be tagged as the story goes on #I gave Chris way more humanity than I expected but oh well makes him a more complex character #Next chapter comes out next Friday

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firespirited · 2 years

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The film of the day was Aquaman. I can’t see straight today so terrible choice: heavy on the visual, very low on the talking or thinking. It’s probably very pretty but I have to guess it’s like looking at fireworks through a dirty glass of water. One thing I did notice was there were enough close ups on Mera and later Vulko’s faces to notice subtle expressions and they truly ground what little of the story can be grounded.

I’d been warned that James Wan uses a very action based style, choppy with no room for emotions to breathe. I understand why he was used for this kind of action flick, he keeps constant motion but it’s also why it failed to connect. There is not so much as a spare half second for time to bond with these characters beyond Black Manta who gets close ups with baddie music that are supposed to be threatening but Abdul Mateen is way too good at this, he has us grieving and hurt for him.

What I hadn’t been warned about is that de-aged Temuera Morrison looks so uncanny and shiny with the wrong hairline,

my brain now screams “fucking aquaman?!” at the mention of the name, telepathy with fish evokes The Deep and relations with sea creatures, Dafoe saying “The king has risen!” made me say “He is risen, indeed, you would know” and then there’s this, if you like Depeche Mode, you know exactly what those chords mean from the moment they appear:

youtube

That is seedy stripper club in a film noir music, that is yearning music, that is an arsonist getting very horny over a flamethrower and idea of strapping it to his body. Still only gets 1/3 on the Top Gun scale: too little interaction so it can’t be put into unintentional camp (Mera’s ballgown though!!! Kym Barrett you icon - she also did Jupiter Ascending and Shang Chi).

Special shoutout to Randall Park who keeps getting casted as awkward quirky smart guy across the multiverse: keep it going ten more years and you’ll get the Callum Keith Rennie typecasting award.

It really hurts Aquaman (“fucking aqua man!?!”) that I’ve seen Jason Momoa as a hothead in Red Road and Patrick Wilson in Hard Candy where they both get to do some serious acting, mesmerizing character building where lines delivered with quiet menace can be more potent than the showiest fight. When you know these dudes can deliver danger in a look it feels wrong to have them throw eachother against across stadiums for effect.

5/10 probably spectacular but not for me.

#saf #movie reviews #aquaman

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sheacouleecametoslay · 1 year

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All Stars 3 (2018)

So the first 4 episodes, plus the returnee episode, were fun. But episodes 5 and 7 had lame challenges and the story felt boring. And then the finale is a complete and utter trainwreck. Seriously, the finale has a 4.3/10 on IMDB, which is the second-lowest rated finale after AS4 (that'll be fun to review soon). Why? Because the producers decided to have the 6 eliminated queens vote on who the final two would be. The two finalists would then face off in a lip sync for the crown. It was an awful twist, made even worse by the jury basing their votes on who needed it the most; thereby rewarding the underrated queens and punishing the front runner. I'm sorry, but I don't agree with that reasoning at all. This isn't Survivor or Big Brother. This is a show meant to reward performances. Yeah, I was in favour of the all stars format during AS2, it's a very juicy twist, and I do think the eliminations are more interesting in AS3, but it shouldn't be extended into the finale. Kennedy had more jury points than Trixie too! And the cast wasn't told they needed to manage a jury either. Those group interviews with the jury looked so intimating lol. I can accept the Lip Sync For The Crown format of Seasons 9 and beyond, but the jury twist doesn't sit right with me. Also, the Handmaid's Tale references went way over my head. At the end of each episode, Chad Michaels and Alaska creepily stood behind every eliminated queen in red cloaks. Just why??? The cast is the main thing that saves this season from bottom tier. While the cast isn't as iconic as AS2, many of my favourites are back including Shangela, Ben, Chi Chi and BeBe. Meanwhile, some others grew on me considerably - namely Morgan, Aja and Kennedy. The challenges were a mixed bag though, and this feels like one of the more "rigged" seasons. The Ball had one of the worst concepts (the soup cans), and the "My Best Squirrelfriend's Dragmaids Wedding Trip" skit felt like an afterthought. The Bitchelor was kinda cringe too. And I was disappointed that the Rusical used RuPaul songs instead of incorporating songs from the respective artists. But I guess they didn't want to pay for the licensing. On the flip side, most of the queens did well in the Talent Show. And "Kitty Girl" is one of the best Ru-mixes. I liked that they filmed the whole thing in one take. Otherwise, there was a couple of great runway themes - the Ru-demption and the wigs on wigs on wigs. Much like AS2, the returnee revenge episode was a high point of the season. It included a long segment where the eliminated queens each had their moment to confront those who eliminated them - Shangela vs Thorgy, Morgan vs Ben, Milk vs Kennedy, Aja vs Bebe - and it's probably the best drama of the season. The other memorable drama moment came from a note Thorgy left behind. Otherwise, Ben's self-elimination is one of the most shocking moments in the show's herstory. Just like AS2, the runtime flips back and forth between 42 minutes and 60 minutes (without ads). It's the first All-Stars season to air on VH1 as well. And the finale is the last 42- episode until... the one that just aired two days I believe.

Queens Ranking: 10. Milk Milk received a non-stop "delusional edit" in AS3. She was smug, arrogant, egotistical, and always smirking. Did her post-Season 6 fame get to her head? Or was she was playing it up for the cameras? Milk thought she was amazing in every challenge, and had a breakdown when she was "safe" because she wanted the judges to praise her. Then in her boot episode, she disagreed with Shangela thinking Milk would be in the bottom. She said "Ben you're still alive?" and "grandma sit down" (about BeBe) in this disrespectful tone. She thought her song would be a bigger hit than "Supermodel". She claimed Celine Dion's event planner loved her Celine impression. She pissed off Kennedy by preferring Thorgy's drag - and Kennedy felt like this wasn't the Milk she knew outside the show. She had that Myspace stalking story. She called her elimination "bogus" in her mirror message. And she later blamed others for not telling her she was a "douchebag". She wasn't fond of Shangela's antics in the Rusical rehearsal either, and acted childishly in response (ie. opening a fan in her face and saying "shush Valentina"). In the competition: I disliked all 3 of Milk's performances. The Velcro bit in the talent show was dumb. Singing into a shoe and wearing a peanut butter jar necklace didn't emulate Celine Dion. And her stalker character in the Bitchelor was too real; and she bulldozed Trixie in that challenge. I didn't like her wig runway either. 9. Thorgy Thor Thorgy was so bitter and spiteful this season. I can understand feeling cynical after the riggory, but it got annoying. She spent all of episode 2 openly talking about production sabotaging her. She asked Todrick to put her in the background of other people's solos. And she said Stevie Nicks isn't a gay icon to the judges. I've also heard that Thorgy wasn't given the props she asked for, despite other queens clearly using props. But aside from that, Thorgy kept bringing up Bob (Chi Chi was right - Bob isn't here). She kept rolling her eyes in confessional - at everyone doing the same talent show performance, at Ben getting emotional about eliminations, at Shangela's response. She said BeBe needs to "shut up" with her introductions. She accused Shangela of having a secret deal with Kennedy. She trashed Ben after she self-eliminated. She was put off by BeBe's jury speech. It's like Thorgy just hated everybody and everything. I was not expecting a dick drawing in her mirror message either. In the competition: Thorgy impressed with her violin playing in the Talent Show. But she was infamously given a bad role for the Rusical (as Stevie Nicks), which only had one joke (the dizzy one), and she didn't even sell it. 8. Trixie Mattel Even Trixie looked shocked when Morgan announced the top 2. She only won because of Ben's self-elimination and the jury disliking Shangela. She tried so hard to make funny confessionals, but they were too forced, self-aware, and dry. It felt like she was telling dad jokes all season. Also, her excuses for posting Thorgy's note on the wall made no sense - why post it if you don't want Shangela to see it? She thought Thorgy should be blamed instead, and she seemed annoyed about the whole conversation. Her relationship with Shangela improved afterwards though, with them saving each other. Anyways, Trixie came in believing that she did lousy on Season 7, and she continued to struggle for the first half of AS3. I don't get why everyone was expecting her to be top 2 for the Bitchelor, but whatever. She reached a mental low point after bombing the Snatch Game, and then went on to win two challenges afterwards. Which were the two worst challenges of the season. Otherwise, Trixie didn't hold back from criticizing BeBe and Kennedy to the jury. She had this segment about being standoffish and Morgan calling her "grand". And she gave attitude during recording. In the competition: Trixie's talent show country song was boring. Her RuPaul in Snatch Game was so stiff and cringe... with all those awkward catchphrases interjections. And I didn't find Trixie's math character or the "fake bitch" in the Bitcherlor funny. She had the most memorable soup can though. Plus the book outfit and the rollerblade entrance were cute. And I'll admit she had the second best "Kitty Girl" verse. But she was only top 2 in bad challenges. 7. Chi Chi DeVayne (R.I.P.) I still love Chi Chi, but her AS3 run was disappointing. She promised her drag was together this time, but was still read for her looks. Chi Chi also felt like she wasn't on the same level as the other queens and that she came back at the wrong time. It was sad to see her in her head like that. She accepted defeat by the episode 3 deliberation and basically told Ben to send her home; but Kennedy had other priorities. I'm glad she wasn't dragged as far as Roxxxy Andrews though. When the eliminated queens returned, Chi Chi was the only one to not be bitter about it. She also told the top 2 to not bring her back. But at least we got to see Chi Chi be brutally honest again - like calling out Milk's Talent Show performance - and see her smiling in confessional again. Lol at her spelling "Mya Angelou" wrong. In the competition: Chi Chi was read for her shoes and wig in the Talent Show, but apparently she dropped her baton as well. She was in the bottom for the Rusical for her runway as well. And then it felt like she was mentally checked out during the Bitchelor and the Snatch Game. The wig runway was good though. 6. BeBe Zahara Benet I'm fine with BeBe getting a second chance, since winning Season 1 isn't as prestigious. But despite the intimidating entrance quote ("Mother, another day, another slay. Who's first?"), BeBe fell under-the-radar for the first 4 episodes. And then she got the "lack of self-awareness" edit for the other 4 episodes. She eliminated Aja after Aja helped make her outfit; even getting emotional when revealing the lipstick. And when confronted about it next episode, she made an excuse about not talking much on the runway. BeBe also wouldn't let Aja plead her case during deliberation because she went on a rant praising Aja. Otherwise, BeBe thought the eliminated queens would be their dancers (lol). She was scared of heights during choreo. She refused to reveal her second lipstick choice, even refusing to the tell jury later on. She didn't understand why she was given the queen role, and thought her negative critiques were soft. And she didn't know who Ornacia was. Ben called BeBe "poised and regal", while Shangela called her "boogie". BeBe does have this fabulous aura. She was also shy around sex talk (lol at that description of Thorgy's penis drawing). But yeah, BeBe knew the jury wasn't going to give her a second win. In the competition: BeBe showed her Cameroonian culture via reveals in the Talent Show. Her whacky Grace Jones in Snatch Game and "Rrrrra-ka-ta-ti-ti-ta-ta" in the girl groups were highlights too. And lol at her wanting to do "achoo" soup. But on the flip side, BeBe's bashful virgin in the Bitchelor was whatever. Her queen character in the wedding skit fell flat. And she struggled with the lifts in "Kitty Girl". I liked most of her runways though, aside from her final 4 outfit. 5. Morgan McMichaels Morgan knew that she wasn't a fan favourite, so she didn't care about fan perception at all. I can get behind a villain like that. I enjoyed Morgan more in AS3 than Season 2, actually. She had this ruthless way of talking. She straight-up told the Werk Room she was going to eliminate the strongest competitors, which is ballsy. She didn't want to be fake about it, but it wasn't the wisest thing to say. In the revenge episode, Morgan confronted Ben about not sticking to her policy, even calling Ben a "coward" and a "hypocrite". I mean, Morgan wasn't wrong. Ben was punishing her for not "playing by the rules". Morgan later made up with Ben, admitting she was too confrontational, and then Ben selected her to return. Despite Morgan disliking Ben's quit in confessional. It ended up being a pointless return though. Trixie and Shangela displayed sympathy with the returnee curse thing, but not enough to save her. "I look pretty good for a dead bitch" was a good entrance line though. In the competition: I didn't think Morgan was bottom 2-worthy in the talent show. The quacking swan on the other hand... yeah. Morgan even gave herself that role! Her kilt runway (with the crotch flashing) was fun though. 4. Aja Aja grew on me this season as well. She was under pressure in Season 9, but was much more easygoing in AS3. It reminded me of Detox's growth in AS2. She was having fun in confessionals. She seemed chill when she returned as an eliminated queen - well other than calling out BeBe for not giving Aja credit on stage for the outfit. The show tried to make it look like Aja was becoming overconfident with her Ball look (insert Kennedy confessional saying just that and Trixie calling her soup idea "crazy"), but I didn't understand that bottom 2 placement at all. Even Trixie called it the most beautiful outfit. Aja was doing so well before that challenge too. Her elimination reeks of riggory. She should've returned instead of Morgan. Otherwise, Aja lead the jury interrogation by asking bigger picture questions. In the competition: Aja had Ru gagging with that death drop stunt in talent show. Her Amy Winehouse in the Rusical and her Crystal Labeija in Snatch Game were highlights as well. She held her own in the "Anaconda" lip sync too. And I liked her anime wig runway and the princess redo. But Aja was annoyingly whiny in the Bitchelor. And she was read for her soup can not representing her brand... ehh whatever, her outfit was one of the best that week. Also, Aja's girl group verse was fire and should've been what brought her back to the game. 3. BenDeLaCreme The most dominant track record in Drag Race herstory. Ben had a hard time eliminating queens, and she had to do it nearly every week! There was so many confessionals from the other queens not having patience for Ben's turmoil though. They felt like Ben was concerned about maintaining a congenial image. And Kennedy pointed out that Ben plays to win and then complains about the responsibility. Ben even came up with a formula at one point so she couldn't be blamed for eliminations. She wanted to win with "kindness and integrity". She said she stole Trixie's win. She suggested repeating the AS2 group consensus, which others weren't into. She was relieved to finally lose a challenge. While in episode 6, after Morgan called her out for not following her own policy, Ben wasn't here for the drama. I guess she brought Morgan back out of guilt. Then, Ben had reasons to keep all 3 queens in the bottom, so she fell on her sword and eliminated herself instead. Which is the most congenial thing she could've done. Ben was taking the eliminations too seriously, but her storyline was interesting to watch. In the competition: I agree with all 5 of Ben's top 2 placements. The tassel bit in the Talent Show was funny (as was her "Anaconda" lip sync afterwards). Her Julie Andrews in the Rusical stood out with the microphone bit. And then she imitated Shangela in the "Jump" lip sync lol. She had the banana bit in the Bitchelor. Her Paul Lynde in Snatch Game was as good as Maggie Smith. And she sold the goth verse in the girl groups. It felt like she was throwing the challenge in episode 5 though (the soup cans). My fave runways of hers were the flower and the jewels redo. 2. Kennedy Davenport Kennedy grew on me the most from this cast. AS3 made me appreciate her lack of filter. She's just so unpleased by everything and always gives her opinion, but she's less mean-spirited this time. For example: interjecting to say "no we should look at the whole picture", disliking Thorgy's dick drawing, getting offended by Milk calling Thorgy's drag more exciting than hers, refusing to do one-on-ones, taking Shangela's side in note-gate, calling the return twist a "crock of s**t", giving Milk like 4 different reasons why she eliminated her, making Milk cry by calling her ingenuine and self-centered, and saying it's "BS" for the jury to feel animosity. Also lol at her pronouncing meme as "mimi". I guess Kennedy wanted Ru-demption for her Season 7 perception. She wasn't a popular queen, and that seems to be why the jury voted her into the top 2. She needed the recognition the most. And Thorgy felt that her answers came off sincere. But Kennedy had the worst track record of the final 4 . In the competition: Kennedy landed on the box in the Talent Show, and she was the funniest in the Bitchelor. But she was either middling or struggling in the other challenges. She missed the words in the Rusical. While her lyrics in both the girls group and "Kitty Girl" were kinda basic. But I liked Kennedy's finale lip sync more than Trixie's. I didn't care that she gave another rainbow dress at the finale, it looked great. That entrance look with all the shimmering coins was... something though. 1. Shangela AS3 solidified Shangela as one of my all-time faves. She improves each season. She's an amazing confessionalist. She's charming in how she aims to impress. And she hustled for this win that was stolen from her. Maybe her jury answer wasn't what they wanted - she mainly talked about how much work she put in. She eliminated half the jury too. And I guess her diva attitude in the Rusical rehearsal was indicative. But she killed it in the challenges. And I actually thought she handled situations tactfully? Like the Thorgy note debacle. She also encouraged Ben to smooth things over with Morgan. Lol at her saying she won't overtalk Thorgy and Thorgy not getting a chance to respond though. Anyways, the All-Stars format was perfect for Shangela's strategic mindset, since she was already doing that in Season 3. She kept whoever she could trust to save her in a later episode. That's why she eliminated Thorgy and built an alliance with Trixie. She thought Ben and BeBe were being strategic in their own ways too. And she gave so many Games of Thrones references. In the competition: Shangela's Talent Show performance was fierce and gave variety. She killed it as Mariah Carey in the Rusical. She was confident as Jenifer Lewis in Snatch Game. She was the only one in the wedding skit that made me laugh ("she did that"). She had the best "Kitty Girl" verse. And she had fun lip sync gimmicks - the jump rope, the notebook, the fat suit and sunglasses. Her cornstalk/popcorn runway was one of my faves too. But no surprise Shangela flopped the design challenge - those discs were horrible. The pregnant flower and the red spike runways were OTT as well. And her girl group verse was a little basic. Favourite entrance look: BeBe Zahara Benet Challenge ranking: 1. "Kitty Girl" Ru-mix (Shangela >>>> Trixie > BeBe > Kennedy) 2. Talent Show 3. Girl Group battle 4. Snatch Game 5. VH1 Divas Rusical 6. The Bitchelor (Improv) 7. Andy Warhol Ball 8. "My Best Squirrelfriend's Dragmaids Wedding Trip" (Acting) Lip Sync ranking: 1. Aja vs BenDeLaCreme ("Anaconda") 2. BenDeLaCreme vs Shangela ("Jump (For My Love)") 3. Shangela vs Trixie Mattel ("Freaky Money") 4. BenDeLaCreme vs Shangela ("I Kissed A Girl") 5. Kennedy Davenport vs Trixie Mattel ("Wrecking Ball") (Kennedy should've won this lip sync) 6. BeBe Zahara Benet vs Trixie Mattel ("The Boss") 7. BeBe Zahara Benet vs BenDeLaCreme ("Nobody's Supposed To Be Here") 8. BenDeLaCreme vs Kennedy Davenport ("Green Light") (borrrrring; the song doesn't really work as a lip sync) The top 4 lip syncs are all very memorable and funny. Season ranking so far: 9 > 5 > 6 > AS2 > 4 > 2 > 7 > AS3 > 3 > 8 > 1 > AS1

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artemisfowl-chaos · 3 years

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The Fowl Twins #3

HOLY SHIT so my pre-order copy arrived today and i read it! so here are some random thoughts, in no particular order - MAJOR spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk

so like let’s start with

MINERVA

Eoin fORGOT HOW TO SPELL HER LAST NAME

it was “Paradizo” but for some reason in the new book it’s “Paradiso”

she’s also a redhead now? i swear she was a blonde? idk i guess she must have dyed her hair

also she has GNOMMISH TATTOOS which i love sm

she runs a smuggling ring with a bunch of fairies

she hates the LEP lol

she and Artemis were “an item” briefly

then she dated A FAIRY and had a DAUGHTER

(this fairy is referred to only as her “partner” so like. wlw!minerva)

(also apparently Root married a human? the quote is “the legendary villain Turnball Root’s own brother’s partner had been a human” so uhh okay then)

oh and Minerva is pissed about how she comes across “like a supporting character to the great Artemis Fowl” in TLC which i love

she hates the LEP so much i love her

anyway

MYLES IS SO AUTISTIC-CODED IT’S NOT EVEN CODING ANYMORE

like these two quotes

basically for context, Lazuli falls asleep and accidentally heals him and one thing she heals is his anxiety

“So I urgently need to speak with Lazuli before she randomly cures me of something else that is not an illness.”

“his frontal lobe became purely his own once more - something even Lazuli’s magic had not been able to heal, as it was not an illness, exactly”

like that’s just- THE AUTISTIC VIBES

Myles Fowl is autistic and y’all can fight me on this

also! he gets magic! and it’s BAD I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL

he is?? a dwarf?? apparently??

his jaw unhinges, he does the *fart thing*

like what the fuck

oh and speaking of “what the fuck”

BECKETT?? MARRIES?? A GHOST?? FROM THE 1900s??

yes okay it’s totally a platonic marriage (he is 12!) and also Because Myles Has A Plan

but uhh

although i do love their friendship! the ghost’s name is Daphne, Daff for short and she’s AMAZING

i love how this book really shows how smart Beckett actually is

he’s so overlooked by everyone but HE DOES SMART SHIT

oh fuck but uhh

WHISTLE BLOWER DIES 😭😭😭😭😭😭

(Myles is planning to clone him tho)

oh my fucking god the EPILOGUE

it starts with this quote

“Ho Chi Minh City in the summer. Sweltering by anyone’s standards. Myles Fowl would not have been willing to put up with such discomfort had not something extremely important been at stake. Important to his plan. Well, one of the plans.”

we find out who Lazuli’s mother is!

IT’S THE SPRITE

FROM THE FIRST BOOK

THE ONE WHO GIVES ARTEMIS THE BOOK

SHE’S LAZULI’S MOTHER

AND ALSO A WARLOCK

oh and we finally get to meet another Fowl!

the twins’ Uncle Foxy

he seems cool

he’s willing to lie to Angeline on the twins’ behalf (if they pay him)

oh my god they turned Holly into a RULE-FOLLOWER

apparently she’s strict and by-the-book

no i do not believe this

she’s HOLLY SHORT

she doesn’t FOLLOW RULES

(she doesn’t actually appear but Lazuli mentions her a few times)

oh yeah and did i mention GHOSTS EXIST

it’s like a major plot point

Myles creates a solution that lets people see ghosts

Lord Teddy basically murdered his entire family

so their ghosts help the twins + Lazuli to fight him

also Angeline has a contact in the Kremlin

which i love

(it raises so many questions about Angeline's backstory tho-)

but yeah!

those are my thoughts!

(i might do another post with my fav quotes later)

overall i think it's a really good book

it adds to the world building in Eoin's usual chaotic way

like ghosts? so much potential for more ghost villains at some point

tldr?

Minerva is a wlw icon and I love her

Myles is autistic and you can't convince me otherwise

WHY IS MYLES A DWARF NOW I DON'T UNDERSTAND

Beckett gets platonic-married to a ghost??

THE SPRITE FROM THE FIRST BOOK IS LAZULI'S MOTHER

ghosts. I want more ghosts. Now that we know ghosts canonically exist I want CONTENT

#the fowl twins #artemis fowl #myles fowl #beckett fowl #lazuli heitz #the fowl twins get what they deserve #fowldom #minerva paradizo #holly short #this book was SO GOOD #very insane #of course #but i really enjoyed it!

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anunvalidcritic · 3 years

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INVINCIBLE: S1-EP8

(DISCLAIMER: MY OPINION IS MY OWN AND CAN BE DEEMED INVALID TO THOSE WHO DON’T CARE FOR IT.)

It’s the last episode.... Let’s dive in boys, girls, and non-binary folks!!!

WHERE I REALLY COME FROM

Is it just me or did this week go by really fast??? (went by to fuckin’ fast bcuz I fuckin’ forgot!)

alright so we’re starting off by staring at the grass... that’s a pretty calm start..

nvm it’s raining blood

INVINCIBLE looks sick asf

well, I’m glad that was his first reaction

“It’s me Mark, It’s just me.” - OMNI-MAN

BRO VILTRUMITES ARE FUCKIN’ SAVAGES

DEBBIE has always been a baddie

Bro OMNI-MAN’s storyline is fuckin’ amazing

“You love me, you love Mom! I know you do.” - INVINCIBLE MARK

go ahead and that shit out now my dude

“Do you have any idea how long we live? The older we get, the slower we age. Viltrumite DNA is so pure you’re nearly full-blooded. You’ll live for thousands of years. Do you understand what that means? Everyone you know and love will be gone before you even look thirty.” - OMNI-MAN

well damn thanks for dropping this knowledge on us, sir.

ICONIC DIALOGUE

OMNI-MAN - “I do love your mother. But she’s more like a... a pet to me.”

MARK - “A pet?”

OMNI-MAN - “This is the only way, Mark.” *as he reaches for MARK’s shoulder*

MARK - “Don’t touch me!”

NO THIS MOTHERFUCKER DIDN’T!!!!! DID Y’ALL HEAR WHAT HE JUST SAID!!!??!!?!?!?! I CAN’T DO THIS BRO!!!!!!

go off MARK, talk yo shit!

“I don’t give a shit about Viltrum. And I don’t care if I live a fuckin’ million years. This is my home and I won’t let you destroy it!” - INVINCIBLE

Bro, don’t let your daddy beat yo' ass! You are a grown man now.

dude, this title for the last episode is fucking exceptional!

those dudes in the jets are gonna lose their fuckin’ lives

You know, it’s unfortunate that they know that shit is just a distraction for him and not life threating.

He didn’t have to demolish that man like that...

this man is ruthless

“Did seeing that man lose his life distrube you? Did it hurt you?! Well, let’s see how you handle this.” - OMNI-MAN

👁 👄 👁

Don’t you just love it when motherfuckers just stop and stare when they see a disaster happening??

Now I understand that the building is more than likely collapsing on it’s own, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his dad is pushng it from the other side.

They’re really fuckin’ up Chi-Town right...

I could’ve told you that woman wasn’t gonna make it...

as evil as this man is... his character is amazing

I love seeing MARK rage this dude just goes in!

“For the first time in your life, I’m telling you the truth.” - OMNI-MAN

what is he aboour.

THAT WASN’T FUCKIN’ NECCESSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!

... their suits need more than a deep dry cleaning

He didn’t have to swerve MARK like taht!

the clouds look nice...

okay, that’s enough OMNI-MAN!!

I wish they would’ve at least kept ZACHARY QUINTO’s voice because I miss the guy

See, this episode is a prime (pun intended) and I mean a PRIME example of how raising your kids with a good upbringing is important. If MARK was raised the way OMNI-MAN had intended to raise him, then he would’ve been a complete asshole... an extremely strong asshole, but an asshole.

you know this is very triggering... RIP GLENN

“You wanna die for this planet? Fine. What’s seventeen more years? I can always start again... make another kid.” - OMNI-MAN

FLASHBACK

YOUNG MARK = LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL

“Look at Mark. You and I made him. He’s ours. When he feels joy, we feel joy. See that look on his face. How can you see this and not feel the same way. As we get older it’s harder to feel that.” - DEBBIE

GOD! Can Sandra Oh be my fuckin’ mom!?!?!

NOLAN still ain’t shit....

~~~~~~

I like how he had that flashback while he was beating his son to a pulp

homeboy has to get dentures now...

only a narcissist would say some shit like this

“You dad, I’d still have you.” - MARK

that’s fuckin’ heartbreaking....

ik it’s not funny but MARK looks horrible..

looks like OMNI-MAN went back home cryin’

AMBER feelin’ like a complete dick as she should!! (I was rooting for y’all)

how long was he out??

DEBBIE you married an evil motherfucker, but it’s not your fault

Who tf cursed MONSTER GIRL?? She must’ve said or done some foul shit... And who tf fucked up CECIL’s face??

let it out DEBS let it out..

ik tf AMBER just didn’t!! deadass thought it was EVE...

lol the way WILLIAM saved that was hilarious!!

“We can try but it’s literally all anyone is tlking about in the world” - WILLIAM

come on now dude

😆 I could’ve sworn DUPLI-KATE looked asian and not white like EVE. WILLIAM is trifflin’

I was gonna say during the montage clip I knew one of those species looked familiar.

MARK + ALLEN THE ALIEN = BEST BUDS

Mars is gettin’ fucked up from the ground up.

ICONIC DIALOGUE

ALLEN THE ALIEN - “What’s the plan in the meantime?”

INVINCIBLE - “Finish high school, I guess.”

ALLEN THE ALIEN - “Oh, alright good. Sounds good. What is high school?”

_____

I liked the way it ended! It’s unfortunate that we must bid ado to this lovely grotesque show of INVINICBLE, but alas we must in order to move onto greater things and the world beyond. Hopefully, they’ll get confirmed for a second season because I really don’t want them to end on such an extraordinarily high point...

List of Episodes with link :) ~

EP1 - EP2 - EP3 - EP4 - EP5 - EP6 - EP7 - EP8

EDIT: Thank god Amazon has decided to renew the series for not just the second season but a third as well!!!! FUCK YEAH!!

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convenientalias · 2 years

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Rewatched episode four of My Country the New Age! I watched it in two sittings so I don't entirely remember my impressions of the first half but here are some general thoughts:

-I didn't totally remember Sung-rok's purpose in pursuing Seon-ho. I think when I first watched it I thought Sung-rok was out to kill Seon-ho as a traitor, but in fact he states during the fire scene that he intends to use Seon-ho as a hostage against Nam Jeon, since apparently he thinks Nam Jeon is a traitor--which would explain Seon-ho protecting Hwi as well as ppl now trying to kill Sung-rok and the remnants of the death squad, in a way. (by the way I would LOVE to read a fic where Sung-rok does try to use a captive Seon-ho as a hostage against Nam Jeon... it would not end well lols.)

-Seon-ho's lord of darkness speech is as always iconic and a bit outrageous but I was once again struck by the fact that he's just standing around in a burning building for no real reason except that he didn't want to escape with Hwi bc he and Hwi just broke up. and I guess he liked the lighting. It's not like he's waiting for Sung-rok--he doesn't know Sung-rok is there, or even that Sung-rok is still alive. He's just... brooding, I guess. Mood.

-Poor Hwi just wanted to have a peaceful conversation with his barely-surviving previously-treacherous-but-maybe-now-nice? best friend, and Seon-ho threw that idea right out the window.

-Seon-ho in general is always more of a vicious and audacious bastard than I remember. Like I remembered he just strode into the court uninvited, pretended Seung-gye had sent him on a mission, and sassed a minister, but I'd forgotten he did all that with blood on his face. WHOSE BLOOD EVEN IS THAT?

-My new theory: You know how Seon-ho comes in just as a minister is accusing Seung-gye of killing the advance troops with a death squad? And he saves the day for Seung-gye by claiming all the soldiers killed in Liaodong were actually deserters? Well, the question here is obviously 1) how did Seon-ho get his timing so perfect and 2) where did the rumor about the death squad come from when the death squad and the advance troops were, you know, slaughtered. It's not Mun-bok or Chi-do or Jeong Beom--they're hanging out with bandits. It's not Hwi--he's mourning Yeon's supposed death and plotting vengeance on Nam Jeon. So who spread that rumor? Well, who gains the most from the rumor spreading? Who would benefit from the death squad being common knowledge--and then its existence being refuted, so that its secret is no longer a threat? And who benefits most from it being brought up in court and thrust in Seung-gye's face? The answer here is obviously Seon-ho. Seon-ho and Sung-rok spread that rumor themselves, guys. Prove me wrong.

-The scene where Hwi is reunited with an amnesiac Yeon is still really sad :(

Looking forward to more Bang-won in episodes to come!

#my country the new age

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chaos0pikachu · 2 years

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SO I wanna elaborate a bit more on what I said on @disaster-j‘s post in regards to gramblack and because ppl misusing media theory terms on fandom spaces is driving me to chaotic frustrations.

So fans were saying that GramBlack was queer baiting after GramEugene became...whatever the fuck they are but we’ll go with canon to be kind. People were saying GramBlack isn’t queer baiting in response to fans being - fucking justifiably - upset that the show took a hard u-turn in a pass lane.

(Like guess I’m a bitch, but personally I don’t like a canonically same-sex couple from the source material being used a a red herring for a flaccid het love triangle where the female char in question becomes reduced to a love interest. Like fuck, at least make her an active part and participant of the gang. But whatever hand me my bitch badge.)

But these folks are right, GramBlack wasn’t queer baiting - it was queer erasure as GramBlack are a canonical couple in said source material the show is adapted from. And we’ll get to adaptions in a second.

Queer Baiting - The term queerbaiting refers to the practice of implying non-heterosexual relationships or attraction (in a TV show, for example) to engage or attract an LGBTQ audience or otherwise generate interest without ever actually depicting such relationships or sexual interactions. [1]

Queer Erasure - LGBT erasure refers to the tendency to remove lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual and queer groups or people intentionally or unintentionally from record, or to dismiss or downplay their significance. [2]

The reason I’m being pedantic about this is because these are real terms used in media theory and media studies - media including television, film, literature, and pop culture. These terms refer to very specific things in the study of media, and it’s important to use them correctly instead of in reactionary ways.

Vagueness causes confusion, which causes arguments - especially within fandom spaces. Which prefer reactionary movements rather than reactive and self-reflective behaviors.

Now, let’s talk adaptions.

Adaptions aren’t meant to be 1:1 no matter how many cranky ass fans on twitter scream about them. Sometimes superpowers change - Ms Marvel (live action) - sometimes a characters origins - Shang-Chi (film), Oliver Queen (CW’s Arrow).

That said, not all changes are created equally so to speak. Some changes in adaptions are made for the better, some for the worse, some for the outright hurtful (intentionally or otherwise).

Wanda Maximoff is a good example, her not being a mutant? Fine, an unfortunate but unavoidable change since Marvel and Disney didn’t - at the time of her introduction - own the rights to her mutant origins. In entertainment, everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - comes down to rights. Her not being Roma anymore? Hurtful. There’s a dearth of Roma characters that aren’t stereotypes and Wanda being a mutant and her being Roma didn’t need to be mutually exclusive. It’s an adaption lost.

Lots of things change in adaptions, I mention superheroes as a sub-genre b/c lots of things change in adaption from comics to animation or live action. Some changes are good, some are even amazing - Harley Quinn was a change added to Batman the Animated Series and look how far she’s come now as a chaotic bisexual murderous anti-hero icon. Some are bad - every single change in Arrow is a good example of bad adaptive changes - and some are hurtful.

Anytime source material has characters from marginalized backgrounds that get erased in the adaption - that hurts.

#gramblack #gram not me #black not me #chaos elmo spoketh

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widevibratobitch · 3 years

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Top 5 opera lyrics

tagged by @revedebeatrice - thank you! this is a good one! It's all in Italian, sorry. Gotta restrain myself from making it all Don Carlo quotes. Having said this (in no particular order):

Carlo del Re, suo genitore, rinchiuso il cor ognor trovò, eppur non so chi dell'amore saria più degno, ah, inver nol so. // Rodrigo from Verdi's Don Carlo.

There's something about this quote that has always touched and moved something deep inside my heart. It's just - isn't this one of the most beautiful things you could say about another person? That you do not know who on earth could be worthier of love than them? It's amazing. And the context he says it in - this is the only moment Rodrigo and Elisabetta get when they're speaking directly to each other. The opera doesn't have their big confrontation scene from the play, and yet this little part does remind me of that scene a little bit. The way Posa loves Carlo so much, that he just. accepts that he is not the one Carlo really wants to be loved by, and his heart may break, but he will do what he can to ensure that Carlo be loved anyway - because in his eyes, Carlo is the person that is The Worthiest of being loved, like jesus fuck, man, this bitch gay and in love and I'm sorry, I'm probably not being coherent at all but this bit is one of the most beautiful quotes ever and I am so sad that this part is usually cut from the aria.

Perché mai, se in pianto e in pene per me tutto si cangiò, la memoria di quel bene dal mio sen non trapassò? // la Contessa from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

This moment is so wonderfully bittersweet. Bittersweet is something Mozart does better than any other composer - Mozart will rarely give you a sad, minor-key aria (like eg. Pamina's - which is also beautiful btw). No, Mozart will give you a nice, major-key melody, that will still break your heart into a hundreds pieces BECAUSE of its sweetness, of its tranquil melancholy (another great example of that - Sesto's tanto affanno soffre un core ne si muore di dolor). There is no real sadness without joy preceding it, no sense of loss without first having something you cherished and loved. And that quote, the character of the Countess, is a testament to that - chapeau bas, Da Ponte (and Boucher, i guess), chapeau bas. This entire situation wouldn't hurt her half as badly, if she didn't still remember the times when her husband loved her, when she was his entire world, when they were happy together - maybe she would be happier now if she were able to forget all that. Idk, this character, and this moment in particular, always kinda reminded me of my mom, so maybe that's why it speaks to me on a personal level.

Vivan le femmine, viva il buon vino - sostegno e gloria d'umanità! // Don Giovanni from Mozart's Don Giovanni (duh).

This is simply my life motto ok. Also, this is the moment in the opera when Don Giovanni really seals his fate, imo. The statue comes in to punish him, but Elvira comes to save him. And he rejects her (but also, yay, women and wine - same, Giovanni).

-O Leporello mio, va tutto bene! -O Don Giovannino mio, va tutto male! //from Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Just. Mood. I love all their recitatives so much, but this one is truly iconic lol Da Ponte was a genius.

-Posso il figlio immolar al mondo, io, cristian? -Per riscattarci Iddio il suo sacrificò. (...) -La natura, l'amor, tacer potranno in me? -Tutto tacer dovrà per esaltar la fé. //Filippo II and il Grande Inquisitor from Verdi's Don Carlo

The entire duet is amazing (the entire opera!!!!! but i cant put the entire opera here). But this part - I don't think any comment is needed. This is what religion does when the authority is given to the right (wrong) people. This whole duet is just a terrifying display of all that.

----

Tagging @solraneth @lessthansix @tornaloadir @carlodivarga-s @babinicz <33

Honourable Mentions(tm) under the cut, because I have lots of feelings but don't want to bother you all even more, I'm nice like that <33

Honourable mentions:

Paghiam, o femmine, d'ugual moneta questa malefica razza indiscreta. Amiam per comodo, per vanità! - Despina is a feminist icon, we stan. Girl really said 'go out, be a slut, #kill all men'. No, honestly, I love Despina.

Ogni donna cangiar di colore, ogni donna mi fa palpitar! - yeah, Cherubino just gets it <3 Women are amazing.

Gran Dio! Morir sì giovane... - this entire outburst of Violetta's from La Traviata. I could talk about Violetta for hours, because La Traviata is in no way a boring love story, I'd say it is not even really a love story at all. And I love how righteously furious she gets here and how she just shouts all this in God's face - she feels betrayed, and lied to, and deceived, she was promised a reward for this noble sacrifice and instead she gets the worst punishment possible - to die when a happy ending is just at an arm's reach. Just how cruel is that?

and we're back to Don Carlo, sorry not sorry. Literally everything Carlo and Rodrigo say to each other; from Tu soffri - già per me l'universo dispar! and Vien, presso a me il tuo cor più forte avrai! to Del mio cor sei la speranza. Questo cor che sì t'amo a te chiudere non so, in te riposi ogni fidanza. Io m'abbandono a te. / etc. like jesus, boys, get a room.

Restate. just.... Restate. I have many feeling about Restate.

Il cor ha un sol desir - la pace dell'avel. Yeah.

Ah, di me non ti scordar! - this is just. I don't know, but this one thing hits me especially hard in this heartbreaking scene. Let's talk about Rodrigo's martyr complex. Can we talk about Rodrigo's martyr complex? Please, I'm dying to talk about Rodrigo's martyr complex all day! Yeah, he sacrifices himself for Carlo but... Is it really all that selfless? Is it? *slides a physical copy of Schiller's play (opened on the last page of Posa's big scene with Elisabeth) in your direction across the table* Is it??????

The goddamn Lacrimosa.

ughhh there's so many other quotes i like but shut upppp ok it's way too long as it is, nobody cares, bye, that's it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#opera tag #ask game #ok this is unnecessarily long #i just have a lot of feelings

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creampuffqueen · 4 years

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talking about sokka, your favorite simp

as i’m reading the avatar comics, i am continually shown how much sokka is just... so in love with suki. it’s incredible, i love him.

random examples off the top of my head, from the shows and the comics:

i mean, the iconic kyoshi warriors episode. dude got the shit beat out of him and said “ok guess this is the love of my life now”

the serpent’s pass, when new uniform suki kisses him, you can just see how his entire face lights up when he recognizes her. the iconic “SUKI!!!”

the boiling rock, after suki just like... scales a fuckin wall to get the prison warden, sokka’s dad says “some girl” and sokka gets all dreamy (in the middle of an escape plan and a prison riot) and says “tell me about it”

all of their interactions in sozin’s comet. especially when they were at the beach. the sand suki. the cheek kiss. every part.

in the comic book the promise, suki arrives and sokka just... jumps right into her arms. beautiful

in shells, suki kicks some more ass bc she’s awesome like that, meanwhile sokka just stands there, yelling to everyone about how amazing his girlfriend is. cheek kiss while his gf takes down 3 men at once? we love them

in imbalance, sokka mentions (complains) multiple times about how it’s gonna take forever to see suki bc they keep getting delayed. he just can’t wait to see her and honestly me neither

and then, when she arrives, THE FOREHEAD TOUCH!!!!! i’ve already screamed about that tonight but just... omg

now, an actual quote, after suki tells the gaang she’s gonna teach some guards chi blocking: “that’s a great idea! you’re so smart, suki! and talented! everything you do is amazing!” brooooo... simp

in conclusion, sokka is the world’s biggest simp for suki and i love him for it

#mal's shitposts #atla #avatar the last airbender #sukka #sokka #suki #sokka x suki #sokka do be simpin tho

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creativecuteness · 4 months

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Just a little Fic I'm working on

This is a sneak peek for a fanfiction that I'm posting this Friday. Inspired by Island of the slaughter AU by @Evaee-ry on both Tumblr and Tiktok.

The fresh ocean breeze left a salty taste in her mouth and nostrils as the bow rocked to and fro. She stared at her reflection in the clear blue water with purpose, with the cloudless sky, orbiting sea gals, and cool breeze it was a perfect summer day. Perfect for swimming, fishing, and cold creamy treats but it wasn’t perfect to her in fact; the last thirty days couldn’t have been more stressful.

She glanced at her associate out of the corner of her eye. The sun always had a way of hitting his handsome features just right his short black hair, subtle beard, and brown eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt with a teal green one over it, dark shoes, and brown khakis. his sorry excuse for a signature outfit.

To many Christopher McLean was the Canadian equivalent of a Hollywood icon, he has appeared in countless movies, was a host for serval radio shows, podcasts, and reality tv shows (Put a pin in for that last one) And he was handsome to boot especially when the light hits him just right. But to her it wasn’t endearing as much as it was annoying.

Dakota Natalie (Age 16) knew full well that Chris’s nice guy act was nothing more than that. His quote-on-quote acts of selflessness was just a way to paint himself as a humble chivalrous not your average celebrity kind of guy. But below the surface the countless fangirls and mutual respect were the many ways he stroked his own ego. In actuality Chris was an egomaniac, narcissistic, and overall insufferable and any brave fool who tried to call him out on it would be fired on the spot and taken to court for ludicrous charges. Only a fool would work for Chirs and sadly Dakota, their captain manning the boat, and two junior high schoolers were those fools.

She turned herself fully to get a better look at Chris as he smoked his cigarette, he truly had no care in the world and that just added to the young girl’s disgust. How could he be so nonchalant about this? Were his staff and actors just that disposable to him? Or maybe he was starting to feel an ounce of regret and couldn’t risk showing that vulnerability. Dakota liked to think it was the second option but the logical side of her knew what was going on in his twisted brain.

Chris lowed his cigarette and puffed out smoke all of which hitting the brunette square in the face making her start hacking as she fanned the air as the smoke stung her eyes and lungs.

“Ugh, yet another reason why I shouldn’t start smoking.” She prayed; the repulsive stench wouldn’t linger on her clothes. A brown skinned girl with purple hair in a braid handed her some water which she gladly drank. Once her coughing fit ended, she gave Chis the best death glare she could muster.

“Watch were you’re blowing that stuff are you trying to kill me too.” She spat, a small part of her wanting to throw the tv host overboard.

“Hey, I gave you a warning, but you were so lost in my beauty I guess you didn’t hear me.” He remarked teasingly, even in her observation she didn’t see his lips moving once he hadn’t said anything to her, and he knew she knew that. Barely anything gets past her.

“Pfft as if.” She scuffed crossing her arms and leaning back on the railing, “I’m just seeing if you regret leaving twenty-two teenagers on a deserted island while you left to save your own hide.”

Chris’s featured softened for once letting his ego deflate as he gave his assistant an affectionate pat on the head. She had the urge to push it away but moments like this were rare and far between, so she let it slide (Just this once.)

“Look, as much as I hate admitting my wrong doings you have a point.” He sighed, taking another drag from his cigarette this time blowing in the direction of the wind (And out of her face.) “I shouldn’t have left those kids on the island with a crazy killer.” He spoke, “It’s just seeing Ezekiel’s head and severed body parts I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, what was I supposed to do?”

“Uh, bring them with you!” She snapped banging her fist on the metal railing, startling their other two helpers who were playing Go Fish using a barrel as a makeshift table, “Call authorities and let them handle the rest! But no, you had to selfishly leave giving those kids no way out and all of which could be dead thanks to you. How do we tell their parents they’ll sue you from here to Timbuktu, your reputation will be ruined, and you have yourself to blame for this McLean!” She yelled, giving him another hateful glare.

Chris had to hand it to her, just like Hearther her looks could kill, and it left him regretting waiting this long to rescue them.

A Hispanic teenager with short brown hair watched the scene unfold, he thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t chosen for the show. As Chris and Dakota argued back and forth on the morality of their situation; he eyed the purple haired girl and motioned her to invite Dakota to play with them.

She nodded in understanding not wanting this short-term alliance to be the end of them before their search even began. “Hey Dakota!” She spoke waving to her, “Why don’t you play with us? We need a third player to even the playing ground.”

Dakota thought for a moment, giving a small glance at Chris wondering if he had any final words on their conversation, but figured it’d be better to just end it now. “Fine deal me in.” She agreed, not giving the former host a second glance as she joined the two acquaintances, her expression still stormy and didn’t even make small talk. The only time she did was to ask for a card.

When you realize there's another Dakota in Total Drama and need to specify this is a completely different character and by that, I mean this is my main OC. Fully chapter will be out on ao3, fanfiction.net, and Tumblr Friday February 2nd.

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hannibal-obsessed · 3 years

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Why Not Spend Your Lock-Down with Dr. Hannibal Lecter?

By Shannon L. Christie

You are cordially invited to spend your lock-down, dining in the company of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Reception

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is one of thee most iconic fictional literary villains, created in the 20th Century; Hollywood films has cemented his iconic status and his transformation into the 21st Century, via network television, has been carefully crafted under the watchful eye of executive producer, Martha De Laurentiis.

Hannibal Lecter sprang from the mind of novelist Thomas Harris; Lecter has been in our lives for almost 40 years; introduced with the publication of Red Dragon in October 1981; he has never left our consciousness for too long.

So where does one start?

Do you read the 4 novels, watch the 5 movies or the TV Series?

Do I start at the beginning with Harris's novel, Red Dragon?

There are several ways to feast upon Hannibal Lecter: read Harris' novels first: watch the movies and then dine on the TV Series; read the novels, watch the corresponding movies and then the TV Series; watch the TV Series and then go back, watch the movies and read the novels. Whatever way you decide, you will not be disappointed at the end of your feast!

The following menu outline would be my suggestion for how to feast upon the sumptuous offerings of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Amuse-bouche

In this course we are served small bit-sized morsels of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Red Dragon: Thomas Harris, 1981

Will Graham, a former FBI Special Agent with an instinct for profiling, is sucked back into consulting for the FBI on their latest serial murder case; involving the Tooth Fairy. Will's been living a quiet life in Florida with his wife and son, when his former boss, Jack Crawford visits, enticing Graham back into the game. In order to get that old scent back; Graham needs to get into the mindset of a killer, so he visits Dr. Hannibal Lecter at The Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where Lecter is serving 9 consecutive life terms for murder. Graham was the FBI Agent who finally caught Hannibal and it almost cost him his life and sanity.

Interesting Fact: Harris attended portions of Ted Bundy's trial for the Chi Omega Murders in Florida. The Prosecutors in the Bundy trial used bite marks left on one of his victims as evidence. Dolarhyde left bite marks on Mrs. Leeds, which allowed forensics to create dental impressions, creating a sample of Dolarhyde's teeth.

Manhunter: Directed by Michael Mann, 1986

Manhunter was written and directed by Michael Mann; starring William Petersen (Will Graham), Dennis Farina (Jack Crawford), Tom Noonan (Francis Dollarhyde, film spelling/Red Dragon/Tooth Fairy), Joan Allen (Reba McClane) Brian Cox (Hannibal Lecktor, film spelling).

Manhunter is now considered a cult classic; at the time of it's original release it fared poorly at the box office and met with mixed reviews. It's cult status may be partially due to the continuing saga of Hannibal Lecter and William Petersen's success in CSI. The film touches on many of the important elements of the novel and also misses on quite a few. What is Dolarhyde's motive? The movie is dated with a definite 80's Michael Mann vibe; in spite of that it is definitely worth a watch for Noonan's performance.

Interesting Fact: Film Producer Dino De Laurentiis purchased the movie rights to the novel Red Dragon in 1983.

Red Dragon: Directed by Brett Ratner, 2002

This is where I'll skip ahead and talk about Manhunter's remake, Red Dragon. You can either choose to watch Red Dragon here or move it to after Hannibal to watch in order of release – entirely up to you.

Dino De Laurentiis passed on the movie rights to The Silence of the Lamb, due to the poor showing of Manhunter at the box office. So when The Silence of the Lambs was critically acclaimed by the critics; a huge box office success; winning the top 5 categories at the 1992 Oscars; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay – Dino wanted another serving of Hannibal Lecter.

When Harris released his third Lecter novel, simply titled Hannibal, Dino De Laurentiis picked up the rights and saw this as an opportunity to remake Manhunter, this time using the book title, Red Dragon, especially considering the success of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. In fact, Red Dragon was released in theatres a year after Hannibal.

Lecter's role was beefed up with a few added scenes; Lecter enjoying the symphony with the exception of the violinist; experiencing one of Lecter's sinfully delicious dinner parties of the music council with the violinist as the main course; seeing the tete-a-tete played out between Lecter and Graham (Edward Norton) that nearly cost them both their lives.

Dolarhyde's (Ralph Fiennes) abusive childhood is explored, the motivation for his heinous crimes against families. We see more of the relationship between Dolarhyde and Reba (Emily Watson) and Dolarhyde's struggle to keep the monster at bay. Ted Tally wrote the screenplay (he wrote The Silence of the Lambs screenplay and passed on the Hannibal screenplay); he has a great sense of what is essential to the narration of a well conceived movie, without loosing too much of the original story told by Thomas Harris.

I am partial to Red Dragon over Manhunter for that reason; I love Ralph Feinnes portrayal of Dolarhyde; he's creepy without being overtly creepy like Noonan is in Manhunter. Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter beautifully as he always does. There are a few flaws in this version though, namely Edward Norton's portrayal of Will Graham. I love Norton – I just think he was wrong for the part and the bleached blonde hair drove me mad. I also have issue with Harvey Keitel as Jack Crawford, I just didn't get an FBI Special Agent in charge of the Behavioral Science Unit vibe from him. Keitel is the guy you bring in to rough up your suspect. On the plus side, the crime scenes are more graphic than in Manhunter, which I feel is essential to understanding the severity of the need to capture this fiend, because now he has a taste for it and he will not stop!

Interesting Fact: Dino De Laurentiis had to make a deal with MGM, so the shot of The Baltimore State Hospital building used in The Silence of the Lambs, could be used in Red Dragon, as the building had been demolished.

Dinner

Appetizer

In this course we are treated to petite, rich tasty morsels of Hannibal Lecter,

both of the hot and cold variety.

The Silence of the Lambs: Thomas Harris, 1988

The follow up novel to Red Dragon, Harris' third novel, Lecter was not a character Harris intended to use; he just showed up one day as Harris wrote. The Silence of the Lambs was the story of a young female FBI agent in training; female agents were a relatively new concept at Quantico. J. Edgar Hoover had died in 1972 and the FBI slowly started to drag itself into the modern age and out of the Mafia/Prohibition dark ages that it was founded on. Harris' story of Clarice Starling was an exploration of an agent in training along with a manhunt, headed by Jack Crawford, for a serial killer, only known as “Buffalo Bill”; who abducted girls, held them hostage for a few days; shot them in the heads, dumped their bodies in rivers; having partially skinned them post mortem. The FBI is stumped, they have no motive, no pattern and no connections between the victims. What should they do? Crawford sends Clarice Starling, an agent in training to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

The Silence of the Lambs: Directed by Jonathan Demme, 1991

As I previously mentioned, Dino de Laurentiis passed on acquiring the movie rights for The Silence of the Lambs; the rights ended up in the hands of Demme and Orion Films, without a fee paid to De Laurentiis. The screenplay was written by Ted Tally, who managed to highlight all the important aspects of the novel, creating a balanced story. The movie starred Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling), Glenn Scott (Jack Crawford), Anthony Heald (Dr, Frederick Chilton), Ted Levine (Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill) and Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter),

Interesting Fact: Anthony Hopkins on screen performance of Hannibal Lecter, consisting of only sixteen minutes earned him an Oscar for Best Actor in 1992.

Entree

This course is a hearty and meaty dish of Hannibal Lecter, served with delicate red sauce.

Hannibal: Thomas Harris, 1999

Would Harris write another Lecter novel? As we eagerly waited to see – making us wait 10 long years, Harris' reward was Hannibal; a story centred around Dr. Hannibal Lecter. I think many people weren't prepared for the monster to be uncaged. It was bloodier and gorier than the previous two films and quite sadistic. Manhunter and The Silence of the Lambs were considered psychological thrillers with a dollop of horror. Hannibal was a full on horror novel with a dollop of psychological thriller. Dr. Hannibal Lecter was free of his cage, just in-time for the new millennium and some readers were not happy.

When the novel, Hannibal, was released, many critics and readers were appalled by the goriness of it (we are talking about a man who kills people and eats them). I guess once the layers of the onion were peeled away; culture, music, art, culinary skills, courteousness – they were horrified by the monster at the centre – that was the point. Serial killers show society a veneer of acceptable personality traits; they keep the monster hidden away, until he breaks through and comes out to play. In that sense, the novel Hannibal, is spot on. He's your neighbour, your friend, your husband, your father, your brother and sometimes your son (The majority of serial killers are male, sorry guys). He wears a symbolic mask in public, to prevent you from guessing how sick and perverted he truly is.

Harris' novel, Hannibal, was the perfect GOTCHA moment! Harris had led us into a false sense of security; either intentionally or unintentionally, with Lecter's intro in Red Dragon; sure he tells Francis Dolarhyde to kill Graham's family – In The Silence of the Lamb; Lecter is so helpful trying to advance Clarice Starling's career; sure he kills several people while escaping from custody; we'll just chalk that up to acceptable carnage.

We start to rationalize that Lecter can't be all bad; he must have some redeeming qualities: he's a man of sophisticated tastes; he's knowledgeable; an incredible chef; a great musician and artist. We don't even mind knowing that he dined on Dr. Chilton, upon his escape; possibly thinking Chilton had it coming.

Harris let us peek briefly behind the curtain in Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs and perhaps Harris was dismayed to learn that upon the popularity of Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter; he'd become a pop culture icon and somewhat of a hero. Hannibal shattered that illusion.

We find Clarice Starling, 10 years later, working as an FBI Special Agent, in a stagnate career. She can't advance; being blocked by Paul Krendler.

Hannibal has been living in Florence as the curator of the Palazzo Capponi as Dr. Norman Fell (the real Dr. Fell disappeared under mysterious circumstances). Florence, Italy, the ideal spot for Lecter, a true Renaissance man. We discover there has been a string of murders by the fiend, know as Il Mostro.

Meanwhile, Mason Verger, Lecter's 4th victim, is on the hunt for Dr. Lecter, who left Mason disfigured, although technically by Mason's own hand. Verger has offered a $3,000,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Interesting Fact: Thomas Harris attended the trial of The Monster of Florence, Pietro Pacciani, in 1994, incorporating some of the aspects of the crimes into his Hannibal novel and hinting that Hannibal himself was Il Mostro (The Monster of Florence).

Hannibal: Directed by Ridley Scott, 2001

If some readers were unhappy with the novel, there were those unhappy about the production of a movie in the same vain. Ted Tally didn't want to write the screenplay, Foster didn't want to reprise her role as Starling and Demme wasn't interested in directing. The consensus was it was too graphic and gory and they wanted no part of it; a complete turnaround; they initially were chomping at the bit to be involved in the follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs.

Interesting Fact: Dino De Laurentiis was under the impression that given a good story even he could play Clarice Starling.

The extra dinner course you never needed; you were already full.

Hannibal Rising: Thomas Harris, 2006

From all accounts that I've read, Harris was gently coerced into writing Hannibal Rising. Dino De Laurentiis wanted an origin story to turn into a film and he'd do it with or without Harris. Harris eventually caved and produced the fourth Lecter novel, Hannibal Rising.

Harris uses the hardships of WWII as the starting backdrop for the development of young Lecter's transformation into “Hannibal the Cannibal”. This is perhaps a story that never needed to be told. We were given glimpses in the novel Hannibal that never made it into the movie and perhaps that was a mistake; not seeing the humanity in Hannibal before events unfolded to create a monster and he is a monster, however refined his tastes are. It would have made a good contrast to the harshness of Lecter's grotesque and sadistic actions in Hannibal; that's where a good screenplay, might have made a difference. Francis Dolarhyde, Jame Gumb and Hannibal Lecter weren't born evil, they were shaped and moulded by their harsh experiences as young, innocent, impressionable children. Monsters aren't born, they are made – the moral of the stories. The difference being Hannibal always took responsibility for his actions, never placing the blame at someone else’s feet.

Hannibal Rising: Directed by Peter Webber, 2007

This time Harris would be involved, writing the screenplay for the Hannibal Rising movie. While I enjoyed Gaspard Ulliel as a young Hannibal, I felt that the story was unnecessary.

And just when you thought that was all and Hannibal Lecter's story had been narrated from beginning to end; Lecter was resurrected in 2013 for Bryan Fuller's TV Series, titled Hannibal, for three seasons on NBC.

Dessert

A delicate balance of psychiatry, culinary skills, food porn, relationships, sex, beauty, horror

and murder tableaus, like the layers of a sinful Double Chocolate Torte.

Hannibal TV Series: Developed by Bryan Fuller, 2013-2015

I know what you're going to say; there's no way I'm watching a Hannibal TV show without Hopkins on NBC! Whether your a Cox fan or a Hopkins fan; they both played the part in their own style and both performances are top notch. Hopkins had a little more to sink his teeth into with The Silence of the Lambs; as the screen time was slightly longer than in Manhunter.

I was stubborn too! I didn't watch Hannibal during the originally airing for season one or two. I remember catching a glimpse of an episode as I was on my way out to photograph a band; I was a live music photographer for around three years, so many of my Friday nights were spent in Toronto. It was the episode with the horse and the coffin-birth, which ultimately left an impression. So in January 2015 I binge watched season one and two (26 episodes) in only two days; I couldn't stop watching!

There's been a string of missing girls attributed to one person, known as “The Minnesota Shrike” and the FBI are struggling for leads. Upon the eighth girls disappearance, Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) walks into Will Graham's (Hugh Dancy) classroom to request his help. Graham has the unique ability to empathize with narcissits and sociopaths and as he states, it has less to do with a personality disorder and more to do with an active imagination. Dr. Bloom expresses her concerns to Jack Crawford about using Will Graham for his special gifts and recommends keeping an eye on him; suggesting a colleague of hers, Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Bryan Fuller's adaption uses Red Dragon as the main source material, with additional material from Hannibal and Hannibal Rising; expanding characters stories and switching some genders to give it a less male dominated cast. Characters like Margot Verger, who were left out of the Hannibal movie are slotted back in to give the Mason Verger story more substance. Cordell, Verger's valet and cook, is far cheekier in the TV series. Dr. Alan Bloom is transformed into Dr. Alana Bloom and Freddy Lounds, once played by the amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman becomes Freddie Lounds played by Lara Jean Chorostecki, who plays her less sleazy and yet still despicable.

Interesting Fact: Bryan Fuller incorporated some of the forward written by Harris in Red Dragon about his experience writing the novel.

Whipped Fresh Creme & a Cherry On-top!

Hannibal Fan Fiction

Season 3 of Hannibal ends on a cliff hanger and unfortunately NBC cancelled the show without a resolution. Not to worry, there is a buffet of Hannibal Fan Fiction out there for you to sink your teeth into. Hannibal fan fiction spans the spectrum of General Audience to NC-17 to pornographic; there is something to suit everyone's taste. If you don't find anything pleasing; you can always write your own fan fiction!

Interesting Fact: Some of the cast members have read Hannibal fan fiction.

Hannibal Fan Art

The amazing thing about the Hannibal fandom, whether you're old school or new school; there is incredible artwork to explore created by incredibly talented artists.

Interesting Fact: Bryan Fuller and the De Laurentiis Company are not dicks about copyright infringement, when it comes to fan art and fan fiction.

Hannibal Conventions

Red Dragon Con by Starfury: An all Hannibal Con in London, England.

Fannibal Fest: An all Hannibal Con with location tours in Toronto, Canada.

Sofa-Con by Fannibal Fest: Due to the lock-down situation around the world because of Covid-19 all conventions were cancelled in 2020. Fannibal Fest set of some Zoom meetings with guests that starred or worked on Hannibal.

There are several Hannibal fandom groups all over different parts of the world; who meat-up to dine and discuss their favourite topic, Hannibal. I am part of a GTA Fannibal group that centres around Toronto, Canada and we’ve met several times.

So, as we finish our dining experience with Dr. Hannibal Lecter; we'll eagerly anticipate another invitation to Lecter's dinner table, as a guest or if you're unspeakably rude, perhaps you'll be the main course; either way I'll meet or eat you there!

Shannon L. Christie

aka Hannibal_Obsessed

#hannibal #fannibals #hannibalobsessed #hannibalthecannibal #madsmikkelsen #hanniballecter #theofficialmads #thisismydesign #willgraham #hughdancy #anthonyhopkins #the silence of the lambs #red dragon #hannibal rising

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