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gayelderstourney · 9 months

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OLD MAN YAOI BRACKET ROUND 1

Propaganda:

Bob Zanotto/Helmut Fullbear:

THEY LITERALLY MADE MR CRY THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED THE GAME. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND THEY FINALLY GET TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME.

they are married in canon and are epic and amazing. they had sad canon events where bob thought helmut was dead for like 30 years or something but helmut WASN'T dead his brain was still alive and they are reunited in the game first by way of stealing an evil dictator's body and then later on they put helmut's brain in a ball as a temporary fix while they go out to find his body which has been frozen in ice. the game forces you to walk through bob's memory of saying his vows at their wedding ceremony and it's seriously some of the most romantic and heartwarming shit i've ever heard, especially "just when i thought i was turning to seed, you made me bloom again" like my god. i love them

they're gay and old as hell!!!! there's a level dedicated to their wedding!!!

Helmut is voiced by Jack Black and is currently a brain in a ball, and Bob knows him so well that the mental image of him in his drunken mind says things Bob KNOWS the real Helmut would never say. Also Helmut is temporarily in the body of a guy voiced by Elijah Wood-

Craig Cuttlefish/DJ Octavio:

well you see they used to be friends but were on opposite sides of the great turf war. cuttlefish gets a 14 year old to go stop octavios army. also they argue in splatoon 3 which is just part of the 100+ year divorce arc BUT AT THE FINAL BOSS IN THE JAPANESE VERSION THEY SHARE THE ICONIC LINE THAT CUES THE CALAMARI INKANTATION AND IN THE ENGLISH CUTTLEFISH TELLS OCTAVIO TO "HIT IT" AND START THE MUSIC AND MUSIC IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE SPLATOON UNIVERSE YAAAAA ik its grasping but its lovers to enemies

Literally I have seen so many people call this old man yaoi.

Old men divorce!!!

They're old men who made their divorce the problem of every young person in their lives <3. 100 years ago during the Great Turf War between inklings and octarians, Craig and Octavio were the chosen ambassadors of their respective species. They got along well, but unfortunately found themselves on opposite sides of the war. During one of the battles Craig shot Octavio in the heart. The inlkings won the war and the octarians were forced underground. For years afterward both men grew bitter towards each other, and eventually Octavio attacked the new Squidbeak Splatoon (a group of secret agents recruited by Craig). Octavio lost both times and got imprisoned in a giant snow globe (and Craig calls him cute). In the latest game Octavio got over his hatred for Inklings (Craig's species) and used his flying mech to help defeat the BBEG of the game. After the final fight, Craig said something to the effect of 'that old rascal turned out to be not so bad!'.

Alright ok hear me out! These two old men have fought in wars for their races against each other and have the craziest pathetic old man homoerotic tension ever. They like, went from at least respecting each other before the war and then they were forced to fight each other and then when Cuttlefish's side won, Octavio went underground like a pathetic lil wet cat and later on he kidnapped Cuttlefish because of game related reasons and both of them still have way too much homoerotic tension!!! And then Octavio gets owned and then in the second game Octavio decides that "Hey actually, lets kidnap Cuttlefish's granddaughter" and the old man isnt even there cause hes busy being a pathetic old man in the under-underground!!! And in the third game they go fron rival/enemies to reluctantly working together to save the world from actual extinction bc some durry bitch wants to cover it in fuzzy ooze and like, both of them have so much old man ship potential and just- theyre still pining for each other even after over a 100 years man,,,,

I personally headcanon Cap'n Cuttlefish as homophobic, but I see the ship a lot and think it's funny.

They’re both at least like 125 probably a bit older, they are so divorced, like peak lovers to enemies back to lovers, Cap’n Cuttlefish calls Octavio cute in Splatoon one immediately after you rescue him from Octavio kidnapping him? So dysfunctional, so gay, so old

They fought in the Great Turf War which was said to be over 100 years ago, Capn Cuttlefish was, well, a captain I believe (he had some sort of rank even if he wasn't a captain, like he led a battle that's singled out in the sunken scrolls of the first game). they act so divorced in the singleplayer mode like they cannot stop insulting each other specifically but octavio always comes back and like kidnaps or insults captain cuttlefish it's so. and when the great zapfish gets stolen in splatoon 3 captain cuttlefish is like "it's the octarians again i know it" like divorced behavior. also it wasn't this time and octavio gets super weird about it. maybe you should stop using children as props in your drama though.

my favorite war crime divorcees <3

They basically are friends to enemies to lovers. Both of them fought in a war that hurt DJ Octavio so bad he can’t become an inkling.

friends -> enemies -> lovers. what more is there to say

they are soooo divorced

they were so gay their breakup ended a war

Craig Cuttlefish got sucked dry by a bear

they got divorced but then they got remarried . they fuckinf hate eachother but they also make out sloppy style and i do not know how that works because neither of them have mouths in their swim form which they are both permanently stuck in. love wins but also loses at the same time with these fucking losers

they are sooo divorced omg. istg they were dating when they were younger and then war n shit happened and now theyre bitter exes who probably still make out sometimes. Makes it so much funnier that theyre old ass men (both over 100!) and Cuttlefish has grandkids

They were on opposite sides of a war and still fell in love

#im so sorry psychonauts fans but cuttletavio had the most submissions. so.#polls #round 1 #gay elders tourney #tournament poll #psychonauts #helmut fullbear #bob zanotto #splatoon #craig cuttlefish #dj octavio #cuttletavio

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marvelbeingmarvelous · 3 months

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Loki Season 2 Ending Thoughts Aka Immediate Reaction and Midnight Ramblings

OKAY BUT LIKE YOU GUYS

I ACTUALLY FINALLY GOT AROUND TO WATCHING LOKI SEASON 2 AND FRICKIN LOVED THE LAST 2 EPS SO MUCH????

LOKI FINALLY GETTING TO BE THE POWERFUL HERO WE ALL KNEW HE COULD BE IN AN EPICALLY UNFORGETTABLE FASHION OF UNFATHOMABLE MAGNITUDE? (and cough actually be the main character in his own show this time around?)

THE BEAUTY? THE TRAGEDY? THE LITERAL AND MOST UNIRONIC MANIFESTATION OF HIS ICONIC “BURDENED WITH GLORIOUS PURPOSE” LINE?

The score? The costume design? The fulfilling emotional devastation?

Like I 100% get people being sad/mad about Loki ending up alone on a throne he never wanted but like…Loki was always a tragic character. Iirc Tom has likened Thor 1 to a space opera/tragedy particularly in regards to Loki’s character, but this does him infinitely better than falling into a void, alone, misunderstood, friendless.

This time he doesn’t let go because he has no purpose—he chooses to walk forward to meet his fate because he’s found it. Both purpose, and friends, and love, even understanding, and dang if that don’t just sit so right with me. I thought it was a beautiful ending that did him much more justice than the last ditch hopeless kind of what-were-you-even-thinking-would-happen sacrifice/death in Infinity War. We actually get to see the fruits of his character development in what immediately became the coolest scene in recent Marvel history.

Sue me, but I love the tragedy and angst of it all. The sacrifice. The love and friendship he found and was willing to give up—and the thing is you guys, he found it. That’s not something we ever thought we’d get to see, not after Thor 1, nor after Thor 2, nor 3, certainly not after Avengers and obviously not after Infinity War.

I still think season 1 of Loki just…was not doing a great job understanding his character, but heck if season 2 didn’t come in clutch and amend some of that.

Can we also talk about how much I love time travel? How much I adore time loops? How dang good one looked on Loki? I go absolutely feral for a time looper knowing absolutely everything because they’ve lived through it a million times.

AND THAT ENDING

LIKE Y’ALL

I have too many thoughts and feelings about this much like UGH YOU GUYS this was such an improvement over season 1 you don’t even know and high key I’d be fine if this is where they left Loki’s character for good and was our final goodbye. He’s legit the most powerful character in the MCU to date now, 1000% lived up to his god of chaos name while even being a hero doing it, giving everyone free will and all variants a chance to live as they choose and sacrificing himself to make sure they have a choice and yes it’s tragic but it’s also beautiful and gosh darn it that character arc that ending Loki finally figuring out what he wants after having had it and then giving it all up for the sake of everyone else—AAAA YOU GUYS ITS SO GOOD

#loki season 2 finale #loki season 2 #loki meta #loki tv series #loki #marvel #mcu #loki tv show

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brian-in-finance · 8 months

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Video 📹

Outlander Executive Producer Maril Davis Breaks Down Season 7 Mid-Season Finale & Teases a Big Controversial Moment Next Year

Seven years in, audiences can’t get enough of the love, pain, war, heartbreak, drama, trauma, time-travel that Outlander delivers. The mid-season finale of Outlander surprisingly left Jamie and Claire smiling and arriving in Scotland! Jamie and Claire, happy? What? Is this Outlander? Yes, it is. And in its seventh season, it’s stronger than ever. Executive Producer Maril Davis exclusively sat down with SheKnows to break down that exciting mid-season finale, talk about the second half of season 7 which will air sometime in 2024, and even gave a few hints about season 8, the final season of this epic show, which went from the thousands of pages of Diana Gabaldon’s book series to television screens across the world. Davis also reveals her favorite moments in season 7 for both Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe. She discusses her favorite Jamie and Claire scenes, explains why one of their signature love scenes from the book couldn’t make it in this season, but teases that there’s plenty of intimacy next year, but also “tragedy.” In Austin at the ATX Festival in June, Davis and Balfe revealed Balfe would be directing a full episode for the first time in season 8. And when will that be exactly? Davis lets us in on that tidbit, along with a few other bits about Jamie and Claire’s love scenes, and why she’s excited for next year. And finally, she hints that there is a controversial scene that fans will see in the second half of season 7, involving Claire and not Jamie. Uh oh. Brace yourselves. Watch the video for the full chat.

Davis sat down with us on the 9-year anniversary of when Outlander first aired on Starz. “It is kind of hard to believe it’s been 9 years, it feels like yesterday we just (kind of started),” she admits. There was no better day to break down the mid-season finale and talk about the future of Outlander, but also the end, than the anniversary of the long-running hit show.

Starz / Robert Wilson

First up, Davis broke down the memorable Claire Fraser sword scene and pretty much confirmed Balfe is actually a bonnie wee swordsman. “She wields that pretty well, huh? I’m like, ‘Have you done this before?’” Davis recalls, “somehow that sword disappeared, I wonder where it is now?” She shed a little light on what it was like shooting the legendary sword scene, revealing that in the book it’s “quite a long scene!” “Certainly, there were discussions early on, could we cut that scene down a little bit, but we all decided, you know what, it was so iconic, and it’s such a powerful Jamie-Claire scene. You know I love that dynamic between them, that she basically wants to kill him, because he was almost killed. That is the Jamie and Claire.” Simply put, “That is quintessential Jamie and Claire, quintessential Sam and Caitríona. And I think they always have fun doing those scenes too. You know the back and forth… I love it.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

Season 7 compiles parts of books 6, 7, and 8, so it’s a lot to take on. Does Davis feel sad as a book reader about any story they couldn’t fit in. “Honestly, there’s a Marsali-Fergus storyline that we didn’t use, because Lauren (Lyle) had her other other show (Karen Pirie), and César (Domboy) was busy, and we just kind of decided in previous seasons we weren’t using them as much as we could. Also, there’s a Denzell storyline with a character named Dottie that we didn’t fit in, that I wish we would have, but it was such a big season, and there was so much material to fit in… As a whole, I loved this season.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

Although Davis loved the first half of season 7, she says she’s most excited for the audience to see the second half, “because it gets even crazier.” With the SAG-AFTRA strike happening, none of the actors have been able to chat about the show and all their amazing work this season, so we asked Davis what her favorite scenes for Heughan and Balfe were. She confesses she loved when Heughan was sitting in the dark waiting to confront (ahem, murder) Richard Brown (who deserved it). In the mid-season finale, “Turning Points,” Davis says, “I loved when he sees William across the enemy lines and he almost shoots him… And that kind of look of realization on Jamie/Sam’s face, I think it’s so powerful. It’s such a great season for him. He’s done an amazing job.” Davis can’t help but list all the scenes she loved Heughan in thus far, but teases he’s got great things coming in part 2 of season 7.

Starz / Robert Wilson

As for Balfe, like Heughan, Davis can’t just name one scene she loved. So, she names many. “I really do love the scene with Claire and Jamie, third or fourth episode, I mean I love her stuff with Tom Christie, both on the ship but also at the tavern was so amazing. But also, I love their (Jamie and Claire’s) love scene after that. Oh god, she’s had so many great ones too! I do love the sword scene, too. I love how she rips into Jamie… and is kind of so angry, because she was so scared. Caitríona always does that so well.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

As for Jamie and Claire love scenes, Davis chats about one of the love scenes that didn’t make it in the show. For those wondering if it was a question of timing or if it was difficult to translate that book scene to the screen, Davis says, “It was a combo. We just didn’t have, kind of, the set up that was described in the book is not the one that we had found. Wasn’t anywhere to really do that. Story-wise, it just didn’t fit this time. It’s always hard – listen, we’re not going to ignore the fact that we know obviously fans would want that scene, and we would want to do it too, it’s just hard to fit it in.” Davis continues to explain how the story might work well in the book, but then having to compress scenes in the show, “Sometimes in the book, it works out better those times in the book during war, like when Jamie’s like, ‘I have to have you,’ and Claire’s like, ‘I have to have you,” and you’re in the middle of some battle sequence… quite honestly, the transition on the screen is not as easy. In terms of the writing of something like that, and for the actors also, their justification of it too as well.” Fair point, it would be a little strange for Jamie and Claire stop the war to have sex. Or would it be the most brilliant way of stopping a war. You decide. Make love not war as they say. Is that where that saying came from? From Jamie and Claire ending wars with sex in the past?

But fear not, Davis assures everyone that there are “a few iconic scenes coming up in the second half, that if you’re a book fan that you’ll know and love, there’s some tragedy, but there’s also some lights at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps iconic scenes that are coming for Jamie and Claire, that I think book fans are waiting for. They know what they are. Wink, wink.” And Davis actually winks. So, she means it. She continues, “So, they’re coming. And also, some things I think fans aren’t looking forward to but still were essential to the book to do. And we did them!” Book readers will know what Davis is hinting about. And if we can play detective… Balfe also hinted at something coming down the pike with Claire and two men. The first already happened with Tom Christie. And separately, David Berry hinted that things get complicated for Jamie, Claire and Lord John. So, we asked Davis how they might have handled it, and she confesses, “I think it’s hopefully satisfying for the people who love that, and for the people who don’t love that!” Her answer only leads us to more questions! “Lots of wink winks going on,” she evilly laughs.

With the actors’ and WGA strikes happening, preparations for Outlander season 8 understandably have had to pause, but Davis let us in on what had been planned already. Balfe and Davis had announced at the beginning of the season that Balfe would have her directorial debut. Davis says they know which episode she’s doing, “We do know, she’s going to be first up, she’s not doing the first episode, but she’s going to be first up. Because the only we can pull off her directing is if she preps the first block, and that’s not to say she’s doing on in the first block, because sometimes we mix blocks around, but it’s the only way she can prep.” Davis goes on to explain for Balfe, who’s in the show so much, as director she’ll need about 5 weeks to prep. Doing it first will give Balfe plenty of time to prep.

youtube

As for scripts being broken down, and if everyone had read book 9, Davis says that season 8 will primarily be book 9 with some other stuff throw in. “Season 7 combines a dash of 6 and 7 and 8.” So how far did they get before the strike? She says, “We were in the room, so certainly some of the season is broken, we don’t have the end yet though.” Terrific, maybe that means Outlander will never end. Wink, wink?

Since the Droughtlander has begun and is going to be another long one, what can Davis leave us with? At the beginning of the season, she gave us one of her signature “heard on set” lines. She says she will look for one later to tease the next block of season 7! But leaves us with this, “I honestly think the second half is crazier than the first… William, Jamie, Claire, John – John Bell! Young Ian, everyone is going to have a real rollercoaster in the second half, and face kind of their worse fears. And… some come out of it okay, and some do not.” What?! She laughs, “Take from that what you want.” What we’ll take from that is months of stress. Thank you, Maril Davis. Wink, wink, wink. All the winks to you.

As for the exclusive Maril #HeardonSet line, you’ll just have to wait until she comes across it on her phone. As Claire Fraser would say, we’ve got time. Okay, fine, she’d probably say it more British, “We’ve got bloody time.” It’s true, there’s plenty of time to re-watch the first 8 episodes of season 7. And to be honest, you can probably re-watch all of Outlander, read all of Diana Gabaldon’s books, and all of our recaps. Before you know it, the drought will be over, and hopefully the strikes will be too (with writers and artists being fairly compensated for their amazing work), and all of a sudden, you’ll turn on your TV, and there Jamie and Claire will be having all the fun in Scotland with no stress or bad things happening at all. Wink, wink.

She Knows

Remember… Caitríona’s prep for directing a Season 8 episode will begin five weeks before the season’s filming starts. As an actor, she’s required on set during filming, so regardless of which episode she directs, she’ll do her prep before any episode is filmed.

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Outlander #Season 7 #She Knows #16 August 2023 #YouTube #My screenrecording #Thanks castlemaine123 #Thanks sunsetmagic85

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totaldrama-showdowns · 3 months

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Submissions for the Non-Human Showdown! Including ones that are invalid!

Fang (x2)

“🦈🦈🦈”

“He's Fang ❤”

Cody Jr (x2)

“Cody Jr! No! Not Aunty Heather!”

Mr Coconut (x2)

“The og. Should have won every season /serious”

vince the alligator (x2)

“SWEEEEP”

“The lore… so immaculate”

the don box (x2)

“bzzz i have a stupid fucking clue for you. ah fuck the interns put me in a lame outfit again”

“what id don on about he's slaying in that shirt”

wt pineapple (x2)

“ALEPINEAPPLE FOREVER!!!”

“👅🐍🐍🐍🐍”

Irene the fish (x2)

“shes so beautiful i’d kiss her too”

“The final remaining member of Team Victory after DJs elimination, Irene went on to win the million and the hearts of many.”

the chrarry baby (x2)

“Goo goo gaa gaa”

“ive got my eye on u chris mclean”

Princess Beth Doll

“I WANT TO BUY ONE SO BAD IRL!!!!! Also, this too is yuri”

Old Jester from reboot S2ep9

“I love when Damien hugged him! That's scene is soooo cute. Also I love fluffy animal!”

Bobo :)

“SEASON 2 SPOILERS Bobo is the name of the bear that had the Raj mask in season 2 episode 12 :) idk I just think he’s silly”

DJ’s bunny

the Chris-shaped cake that Julia's group made

“I wanna eat that thang”

Dramarama Cody

“He's an alien”

Theodore (MK's stuffed unicorn)

(the arts and crafts) Shed (from season 1)

“shed sweep”

that evil little seal from wt

“sooo little and evil. who can hate him”

caleb rock

“possibly the best version of him out there”

the skull duncan carved for courtney

“you cant deny how iconic it was”

eva’s mp3 player

“the most important character in td history”

heather’s various hairstyles

“possibly the most diverse and versatile entity in td historu”

pahkitew island

“The best one”

Myself

“:^)”

ryan seacrests car

“very fast”

chef's car (total dramarama and gen 4)

“MY CAR!!!!!”

alien clone cody

“AAAAAAA*explodes into green goo*”

chris's wig

“wiggin”

heather's wig

“wiggin”

total drama yum yuk happy go time candy fish tails

“You ate it!”

trents five finger shirt

“5”

princess courtney CD

“all the greatest hits!”

owens butt

“fart”

anne maria’s hair style

“Ey im walkin here”

bridgettes surfboard

“BONK”

the fake antlers from the paintball ep

“Duncney”

manitobas fedora

“served!”

beary <3

“it’s LITERALLY beary”

ripper’s world record breaking fart

“he did it”

the portrait of cody as blue boy in wt

“funny looking”

sierra’s pizza box-cum-laptop*

“she uses the internet AND eats witj it. shes a genius”

*Mod Note: this refers to cum meaning: combined with; also used as (used to describe things with a dual nature or function).

waynes accent

“Eh we play hockey eh”

mal ventriloquist doll

“aaah im evil mal doll”

alejandro puppet

“we do a little trolling”

Chef 2.0

“He made him from a cashew”

Mt. Kīlauea

“She has the mercy to have her lava not hot enough to kill Alejandro, Ezekiel, and that random intern like... Everyone say "thank you" or somethin idk. Do you think she feels bad that Alejandro ended up in a robot suit because”

Immunity idol s4-5

“They ruined it's design in the reboot boooooooo”

MK's infernape

“Listen, she's a gamer and she's based. She would totally pick chimchar in bdsp. She probably hates people who tells her to "play platinum" because that was a game made for old people.

Try and exclude this submission, I dare you. There's nothing that says I can't submit theoretical non-humans. There's a non-zero chance that MK has an Infernape and I know it's been raised to have some awesome sneaky move. If you exclude this, I bet you'd allow "Mike's Torterra" because only a grass type fan would be a fire type and MK hater!!

Julia would keep her piplup unevolved and beat her console into tiny bits when she gets to Cynthia btw”

the drone of shame

“[picks up victim and flies away] wheeee”

that giant bowl of rice they fall into in japan

“mm giant bowl of rice”

noah’s dog

“his epic dog”

celine dion cardboard cutout

“love fucking wins #duncney”

the face huggers from Area 51

“rip tyler”

ezekiel MISSING milk carton

“Sad! He died.”

the eagle chris shot and killed

“someone arrest this man. again”

the confessional

“it’s always there for you”

geoff’s splinter

“OW”

the bread from codys pants

“man i need to rewatch island. i fucking love the pants bread”

That ice cream snowman from SMS

“LISTEN. JUST BECAUSE HE IS FROM THE EPISODE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN NOT GIVE HIM HIS RESPECT”

bear

“the one from raptear specifically. let's go lesbians”

that pizza chase threw the challenge for

“clearly he should be with it rather than emma. chemma? chipper? chazee? nope never fucking heard of them”

Momma's Spice

“*sprinkles it on op's head* mmmm tasty”

The Gilded Chris award

WT barf bags

“give a real f to those guys. never appeared after episode 7.”

the toxic marshmallow of loserdom

“killer of staci's hair”

The lavatory confessional

“bitch is iconic. 6/8 is a passing mark!!!”

Courtney's PDA

“why wouldnt they call it a phone idk but its so camp”

The Cassowaries

“Male cassowaries are responsible for raising the young. We love an involved father.”

Fire-breathing winged mountain goats

“You could make an Undertale reference with this (also they're really cool)”

Giant Beetle

“Dott shippers will like this one”

Mutated Maggots

“They're pretty cute!”

Six-Legged Rats

“ADORABLE EEEEEEEP!!!!”

scott bird

“what a beautiful bird”

Chef's car

“It may play a role in mkulia canon”

Gethin

that rainbow porridge in episode 8 of the reboot

“aw hell naw chris cookin up the gay porridge”

The cassowary that fell in love with Zee

“We love an iconic single mother looking for love”

The rat in the cargo hold that appears on screen for 0.5 seconds during Ezekiel's solo in "Come Fly With Us"

“That rat really carried the whole song. Iconic. Astounding. Never before seen talent. Lady Gaga is shaking in her Demonias.”

The Erymanthian Boar

“It wrecked Duncan's shit in Greece.”

The dock of shame

“So many teens walked on her, i think she deserves some recognizion”

gwen's blender necklace

Zoey's hamster (Miss Puffycheeks)

“It's cute and can punch a cat, need I say more?”

#nonhuman showdown #unused submissions

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ffrogie · 5 months

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on the final episode of scott pilgrim takes off rn <33 i fucking love that they have all the iconic scenes from the franchise but in different ways cause at first i was little sad that scenes like wallace stealing stacys boyfriend, him heckling and knives getting the colour knocked out her hair were gone but then to see them almost for the first time again in different contexts was awesome so in short i love this show so much.

plus knives being the same outfit as the final battle in the film as well as this was so epic <333

#scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim #you knocked the colour out of her hair #wallace stole my boyfriend

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the-knight-of-the-stars · 1 year

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10 years later after it's airing, I would like to dedicate a moment to talk about how I think Merlin last episode is an absolute GEM.

Is it perfect? No. It has its problems? Yes. But the things it does well, it does it with wonder.

First of all, I think it was brilliant, that most of the big ass battle and the fighting were on the previous episode.

Now it all reduces us to Merlin and Arthur. Them, their story. Everything that was built up between them has brought us to this. Their friendship, their trust, the profound love they feel for each other, the entire transformation their relationship had. From being rivals to being friends to being essencially each other's soulmate.

Season five really shinned on showing just how close and intimate Arthur and Merlin have become after spending every day thogeter all those years, after saving each other's lives so many times. And specially, just how blindly Arthur trusts Merlin, and how much Merlin has come to love Arthur.

And what I love about the final episode is that its respectful towards the characters, and towards what us as an audience have been living through them. It was always about them. Arthur and Merlin, Merlin and Arthur. Their magical bond, the fate they were destined to have, but also the relationship and love they chose to have for one another.

Is actually amazing how full circle everything comes. Specially regarding one of the most central themes of the show: Destiny.

From episode one, we were told about the inamovility of destiny in this world. And we saw again and again Merlin trying to change destiny, and each time he failed. And the most dreaded prophecy Merlin tried again and again to evoid from coming true was Arthur's death.

At first for a sense duty, then because he started to belive in him, and finally because he had come to love him.

The final episode is not some epic long battle, is not about saving the kindom, is not even about defeating Morgana. Is Merlin, one last time, trying to save the man he loves most in the world. And like every time, he failed.

All along it was true what Kilgharrah said in episode one: "None of us can choose our destiny, and none of us can skip it".

I can't recal any other show going with the theme of "You can't scape fate" all the way through, until the very end. The show is over when Merlin finally accepts that he can't change fate, that in that sense, he is powerless.

It all started with the prophecy of a Dragon, an with exactly that it ends. Is heartbreaking, and sad, and the perfect tragic tale.

And if that is not enough, this episode has hands down one the best dialogues on the entire show. So many beautiful, powerful and iconic lines that tell us so much about the characters in little words.

"I have magic, and I used it for you Arthur, only for you" - "Merlin you are not a sorcerer, I would know"

"You've lied to me all this time"

"I was born to serve you Arthur, and I'm proud of that"

"I also do this, because you are my friend and I don't wanna lose you"

"All this time, Merlin, you never once sort any credit" - "That's not why I did it"

"I don't want you to change. I want you to always be you."

"With all your magic Merlin, you couldn't save me"

"I'm not going to lose you"

"Just hold me, please"

"Everything you've done, I know now. For me, for Camelot, for the kindom you helped me build."

"I'm going to say something, I've never said to you before. Thank you."

"I can't lose him! He is my friend!"

"For when Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again"

#bbc merlin #merlin bbc #I'm emotional ok?#merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur

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peppereddaze · 5 months

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OKAY- HOLD ON-

So I just had a really weird dream last night- a really weird one! I dreamed about how the newest Layton game came out- you know it- ‘World Of Stream.’

I dreamed that I got it for Christmas and that I played it!

I can’t even begin to explain what happened!?

So-

Luke is grown and a detective and friends with this older famous engineer- who made everything in the now highly steampunk-futuristic looking America!?

He was like half robot! Had a visor and everything that showed his little emotions! Gold and blue steampunk-style look with these epic steampunk gauntlet claws! He actually was disabled- an amputee only having his one leg and the rest of his limbs where missing after an incident and replaced with cool prosthetics! He was also half-blind. His name was Arlo! I can’t remember his full name but it was Arlo! It was probably something cooler- but I’m calling him Arlo!

A ‘comic relief’ and mascot character of this little robot character named Whim! They were small and blue and had these little pipes that went from their back to their head which steam came out of! They had a full-face visor that showed their expressions through icons and such! They were like Arlo’s first creation and they looked more janky, goofy but- Omigosh I loved them!?

They were witty and a lil sarcastic but in a funny way and just- helpful and they had character and a story! They were loyal as anything to Arlo and joined the little main cast perfectly.

So like usual- drama and mystery’s occur about some flip-flop book of memories, Arlo looking familiar to Layton-

Apparently Arlo was revealed to be Luke’s older and missing brother, something about how Arlo used to be Layton’s apprentice. They one day went exploring in a cave and Layton being a archaeologist- trying to find the magical book. They find it and stuff happens and the cave collapses and Layton or apparently someone used the book which erased any memory of Arlo’s existence!? Even to his parents, even to Hershel, even to himself??

Arlo was trapped and badly injured which eventually led him to be found by people and living a new life in making gadgets to better people’s lives, then Arlo becomes the tragic villian of the story who wants revenge on Layton and chases him around with a giant mechanical spider mecha. Like damn- petty much? Plus pretty big stretch for a motive… but whatever.

Layton tries to reason with Arlo and apologies- it seems to work as Arlo settles and seems to forgive him before he suddenly slashes Layton across the cheek in like a really cool cinematic moment!? Like in a real tense and real animated moment- even a Luke gasp. Layton does dramatic fall. Hits ground. Luke’s casual- nah crying out “Proffesah!”

Whim also being there and looking horrified.

Luke is angy and Arlo is sad about that and stuff.

Flora was in some scenes for some reason- I don’t know when but she suddenly appears and disappears at times!?

More stuff ensues!

The whole story in a nutshell is just meeting Luke, wanting to go on little mystery’s, learning about mystery book, Layton and Arlo slowly remembering each other and Luke being happy for his two friends to meet finally, Whim moments, Arlo realising and remembering and turning bitter and turning to revenge mid-way and just-

Whim realising their creator is not who they think they am and agreeing to help to hack Arlo’s robo army…?

And then trying to destroy Arlo- Whim is also infected by a dangerous glitch or virus?

Whim practically sacrifices themselves and that part I was crying about when I woke up!?

Like this isn’t even real and I was sobbing!

I don’t know what to do with this dream but it was so random and just so- vivid that I had to post it!

If anyone has questions about this plot I can try and answer them??

There’s a lot more to say I’m just trying to wrap my head around it all!

I am trying to write this before I forget it! D:

#professor layton #hershel layton #luke triton #layton series #dream #did I just have a lucid dream #lucid dreaming #dreams #i have no idea #what just happened #what is going on #world of steam #steampunk #random #random dream #professor hershel layton #pl #should i draw this

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popculturebuffet · 10 months

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It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage Finale: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy archelogists and welcome to the final installment of my Indiana Jones Retrospective, It's Not the Years, It's the Milleage. For those just joining us for the epic conculsion, i've covered all four previous Indy films over the past few months, from the good with great action set pieces, iconic lines, and deft character work, to the bad with the uncomfortable amount of brown face, temple of dooms theme park version of india and support of colonolisim, and Crystal Skulls sterotpyical 'savage tribesman", to the just plain weird with aborted ideas such as a haunting in scottland, a chess game to the death, sun wukong vs indiana jones, and an out and out alien invasion which Indy makes out during suprising no one.

IT's been one long, LONG journey and today.. it ends, as does the film franchise. With Dial of Destiny. Dial is the main reason we did this: a fresh fim with ford, with a fresh director in Logan maestro James Mangold, a final chapter for the ages.. and it has been recived with a resounding

Yeah while there was some hype for this film from Fans of Mangold or Indy (Of which i'm now both) it's now gotten to the point Wikipedia has out and out labeled it a box office bomb and Naturally the failure of this film has been taken with grace and restraint by the internet

It hasn't helped that Indy has come out in a summer with plummeting box office from usual money makers, so people are only more on their "Why aren't people seeing these films" kick. When really the reasons aren't new. We have "Doing the same shit a diffrent day instead of going with what was new and working " (Transformers rise of the beasts), "Another film outboxing it" (Elemental), "The company behind it simply not promoting it at all" (Ruby Gilman, which I intend to review at some point), " or "Oopsie we hired a pedophile as our leading actor, have no idea where we were taking this franchise when we started this film, and our company is ran by an evil overlord no one likes whose actively made the media landscape worse ever since he took over, better hope our promotoinal tactics work..."

The issues aren't new, their simply finding hitting people over the head.. and that's what happened here. Indy had an uphill battle: I was only invested at first because James Mangold was directing it and Logan is still one of the best superhero movies ever made. I got more invested thanks to this retrospective. Given Disney's slipshod treamant of star wars and terrible treatment of last jedi as well as the mcu being a mess right now, it's not a huge leap that many audiences really didn't want to gamble on ANOTHER disney live action movie that just looked okay, no matter how much Phoebe Waller Bridge or Antonio Bandareas it had. While it's sad as I honestly don't think the film deserved THIS much of a bomb.. I can't blame audiences for waiting for Disney Plus. We simply live in an era now where most people have tons of streamers or will get one for a month to watch one movie and anything else they've caught up on. We're simply entering an era where having a big brand name isn't a guarantee and in this case can be a curse if that name is disney. Big franchises can work, see Spider-Verse and Scream VI making great money, but you have to have something to offer.

So come with me under the cut as we see if Indy has just that or is best left in the past

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHOYHOY

When I'm Gone, He's Gone

As you'd expect, Lucas still wanted to make a 5th film after Skull, with Speilberg and Ford on board as always. This time though..

Lucas himself went to the press saying he wanted to do something new and Speilberg was stuck in the past... which I translate as Lucas once again went kinda nuts on the premise while , much like after Temple of Doom, Speilberg wanted something a tad more grounded to avoid making the same mistake twice. It comes off as the two just could never quite agree on what to do and eventually.. decided to let the franchise move on without him, selling it and the rest of Lucasfilm to Disney. Disney naturally wanted an indy film right away and after getting the distribution rights one year later in 2023.. it took them a decade.

Yeahhh while we got the sequel trilogy pretty fast in hollywood time it took a good decade for Indy to put his hat on. At first there were rumors floated about about recasting, then it was settled on ford, then Speilberg was set to direct and the film proceded to go through a ton of writers, from Crystal Skull's david koepp

And even Dan Fogelman of This is Us royalty was floated as one of the writers. The film also got delayed thanks to Speilbergs work on Ready Player One and the Post, before he eventually stepped off all together. He claimed it was to pass it on to a fresh director, but it really feels like his heart wasn't in it anymore, and it was best someone whose heart was took the lead.

Enter James Mangold, director of The Wolverine, Logan and Kicker of ass. Mangold was a solid choice and my book and along with his usual co-writers Jez and John Henry Butterworth, who I assure you are real people but cannot assure you aren't old timey prospectors sent forward in time, hashed out the script.

Casting went smoothly, as did filiming, with the only hiccup being production's start being delayed because of COVID. They shot in morocco, england, ireland and spain, along with the us as you'd expect. Speilberg wasn't entirely detached as he still advised and watched dalies, ultimately loving the final product. So now we can actually look at that product let's start with how it writes Indy himself. The Mileage Adds Up

One of the things that made me not really enjoy Doom or Crystal.. was a lack of character work. Indy was about the same as when he started the adventure in contrast to Raiders and Last Crusade taking him on a wonderful character journey, in the former getting his passion back and in the later reconcliing with his dad. Dial of Destiny dosen't reach those highs, but I still think it does a decent job. The opening.. is okay detailing Indy having an adventures in the last day sof the third reich, setting up both Helna's Dad and our big bad, as well as Archimedes Dial, basied on the real life Antyhkiera Mechanism. I really do love the dial as a plot device as it's a departure, being the only one of the five to not involve a god of some sort, and yes the alien counts. It's just a time machine a famous philospher made. It's still fucking neat, I mean IT'S A TIME MACHINE A FAMOUS PHILSOPHER MADE, but it's a bit more grounded while still being pretty damn nifty.

So while the intro is mostly.. eh for me, what it does really well... is contrast the indy we know.. with where he is in 1969: Unlike Crystal Skull, which glossed over the massive amount of time passed, here were with an indy who feels both his age.. and that he's been left behind by the world. That time has taken everything from him: his friends, his father, his marriage.. and his son. He's left to yell at the neighbors, go to a class that dosen't pay attention and have a retirment party he clearly dosen't want. Granted his retirment does feel like a missed opportunity as wikipedia mentioned it pre-release as being forced out due to speaking out against operation paper clip, something that I either missed.. or more likely simply ISN'T in the film. It's a real shame, the idea is great it's just not present. This creates a really intriguing Parallel: Indy at the start of the last adventure of his we'll see is a broken down man whose years of adventuering have left a mark on him, who is estranged from Marion, has not a ton to live for, and is clearly only loosely holding it together. And the Indy we met in Raiders.. is a broken down man whose years of adventuring left a mark on him, is estranged from marion, has not a ton to live for and is clearly only loosely holding it together. The diffrence is how tired Indy is. In his late 30's he's beaten a bit and reduced to graverobbing.. but the minute he gets a real assignemnt int he grail, he jumps to it. He has his job, he has his friendship with marcus, and he's able to fix things with marion. He's not completely gone, he's just lost. Indy in Dial... has watched all his friends and his son, more on that in a minute, die, his marriage fall apart, and his job slip out under him. Without his job.. he's a man without a purpose.

This also ironically creates another Scrooge McDuck parallel, another bit of symmetry and one I didn't plan on till I started writing this and thought of the story: Indy reminds me a lot of Scrooge in the final part of Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. Both are seasoned adventueres who have either pushed away anyone they have left or lost them and feel they just have nothing left but to slowly rot away.

And like Scrooge it takes a bolt of inspiration from the new generation after him to get Indy back in the game. In this case it's the highlight of the film, Helena Shaw, played by the wonderful, funderful fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. WB likely dosen't need any introduction but just in case she was showrunner of the successful and inventive stage show turned amazon prime show fleabag, showran killing eve and in general is pretty delightful. So it's no huge suprise she's great as Helena Shaw, daughter of Marcus Indy's sidekick for the intro who became obessed with our titular macguffin, Archemedis Dial, which can travel through time some time, though not to the end of all man kind. Helena is a neat character in that they managed to make her distinct while still giving her enough similarties to indy to serve well as his shadow, his ghost of sins past, him in his prime. She's also a brilliant archelogist, has a kid sidekick like indy did in temple of doom with Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidoore), sells priceless artifacts for a profit, has a messy love life, kicks plenty of ass, and tries to command every room she's in. What helps seperate them is their demeanor: Indy is gruff, snarky and surly. While Helena can snark with the best of them, she's fast talking, fast thinking, and tends to use charm as much as the old Indy Guile both heroes posses. The main diffrence is rather than sell to museums, she sells to private collectors...

Okay the REAL difference is that she's only in it for the money while Indy at least, on some level, cared about the history even at his lowest. Helena just sees all her father could do and all she learned from being around him before his passing as a way to get. Once again like Indy.. she had a father who cared more about some big treasure than her child.. and a godfather who cared more about what was going on in his life than ever checking up on her. She's a person whose been left to her own devices and feels she's doing just fine.. but honestly could be putting her talents to better use. Maybe not in a school like indy, but she could help return artifacts to their countries... probably still for a pretty penny, but not just to some random asshole to sit in his den.

You can tell dealing with her just makes Indy feel even more tired, which is somehow possible after all he's been through. He's once again seeing a ghost of his past and this time can't seem to get it through her head. When she celebrates shortly after his friend Renaldo dies, he has to sharply remind her. Nothing seems to get through to her.. till we get to THAT scene. Probably the best scene of the film. The climax is awesome.. but it's this one moment. On a boat at night, Helena asks Indy what he'd do with the dial, clearly thinking some grand adventure.. instead Indy: I'd stop my son from enlisting Helena: And how would you do that? Indy: I would tell him that he would die, that his mother would be overcome with a grief so intense that his father would be unable to console her, and that it would end their marriage. The sheer PAIN Ford conveys during that monologue.. may be the finest acting he's ever done. You can just FEEL Indy's loss; his son is gone, his marriage is torn, and he blames himself for both. It gives a horrible pathos to why he's so broken down. Both developments.. coudl've been really cheap. With how much everyone but me seems to hate mutt, and how rightly no one can stand shia suprise these days, most were expecting..

Instead Mutt's death is used as the catalyst for Indy's slow spiral into dispair. He would've been happy in retirment.. but he lost his son, his wife.. he's a man truly with nothing left he feels. And while he gets some old spark back unlike Scrooge.. he's fighting it every step. He dosen't want an adventure, he dose'nt want anything but his son back, and he knows damn well that even if the dial could... the sad truth is it likely has some horrible cost to it. The grail gave eternal life but bound you to a spot. The Skull gave you the knowledge of an unknowable alien god, but drove you mad. The arc killed anyone who looked. If the Dial even works... he knows it can't bring his son back, and he's only going after it because it's better in a museum than in the hands of Nazis. We also see a change in Helena. She goes from following Indy's lead out of nececity, to seeing his point, to seeing the beauty of the world instead of just the dollar signs. She still wants the money.. but she starts to see the beauty in history instead of the dollar. I also like that this isn't easy on Teddy, who sees her postive changes as coming between him and his surrogate mom, when really she fully intends to stick with Teddy no matter what and shows nothing but loyalty.. and in the end.. they dont' really finish that arc

I like Teddy a lot, and I wish this had more of a bow on it, though we do get him taking down a nazi and trapping him to drown and later getting into a dogfight. Teddy slaps is what i'ms aying> He dosen't have a ton of deep character to explore, but he's fucking great.

This all really cumulates in the climax.. which is so great i'd rather save it for after we cover one last major character, our antagonist. Our big bad is Mads Mikkelsen as Jurgen Voller, a thereoticain who wants the dial. At first Indy assumes, as most of the audience would that Voller simply wants the dial, which he's shown to obess over to win the war for hitler. Turns out Voller's plan is more complex. We see in the intro how Voller is the ONLY one who both sees the dial's value among the nazi's and the writing on the wall: Hitler is almost gone, he fucked them over. It's over. And thus the horror of Voller isn't like with Thot , at the giant horrifying nazi machine and all their power, and more at evil allowed to hide in plain sight. At a society who forgives horrible people because their useful. Voller got a free pass thanks to operation paperclip.. and the film shows while that idea got us tons of advances including space flight.. it came at the cost of giving horrible people real power and influence. The president is outright giving voller a MEDAL. And he hasn't changed: a truly chilling bit has him talking to a black bellhop delivering meal and asking where he came from.. and dismissing him saying he came from america. Voller is every bit the white supremacist monster he ever was, he's completely loyal to the idea of the nazi's. .just not to hitler. Voller's whole plan isn't to help hitler.. but to take him out, replace him and have someone compitent win. And he only gets as fara s he does because the goverment willingly works with him, gives him agents, goes after Helena and the dial. They know what he his but fully aid and abet him. Sure they eventually realize he's gone rogue, that his pet agent is entirely in his pocket.. but they don't turn on him till far too late and with one of their great agents dead. Concidentaly I feel Agent Mason is wasted: she's the calm rational agent.. but she's also the only major black character in the film and gets killed by a nazi. That's.. entirely fucked up and while I suspect inteitonally fucked up it just dosen't work for me.

Voller is also once again, much like with Belloc, an evil mirror of indy: Both are geniuses who adore history.. but one's a good person despite being gruff while one seems harmless when we first meat him but is actually a total monster. Mads does a great job showing just how evil the guy is without going over the top. Voller is determind to change history... and he does.. just not how he wanted to.

This Ain't 1933!

The climax.. is fucking awesome. Like Crystal Skull it goes beyond what the series had done before, if not more so. It's arguably even MORE over the top. But it works. For those who haven't seen the film... INDY GOES BACK IN TIME. The dial DOES indeed work.... but it's set up to ONLY go back to this point. Helena points out the idea of "loaded decks' earlier.. and realizes the dial is one. Archimedes only left it behind to create a stable time loop.

Indy going back into actual history is nuts, entirely and my jaw dropped at it.. but it's so damn fun. Our heroes not only have to escape the plain and get the dial back after it drops onto the coast, but survive the Siege of Syracuse, the roman invasion that eventaully resulted in Archimedes end. So we have two planes flying overhead, arrows everywhere and nazis versus romans. It's over the top but not in a way that really undermines the franchise, and frankly as what's intended to be the final act of indy ever, it's a fitting finale: the man whose explored history in the present.. gets to LITERALLY go to the past for his final adventure. I do get how not everyone will agree, and it won't work for everybody, this may be a bit tooo over the top, but I love it and feel it nicely ties up everyone's character arcs.

For Voller he gets to join history.. but instead of "fixing" it like he wanted he dies horribly and is forgotten to history only the "dragon" (his palne" is left.. and cleverly foreshadowed earlier when Teddy watches a puppet show. His nazi's all die and it's glorious to watch nazi after nazi go down from arrows or our two heroes escaping the plane while teddy takes the rest down with the help of a hapless pilot.

We then get the payoff for both Helena and Indy, as Indy gives the dial to archimedes.. and plans to stay. After all we established he's lost everything... why would he go back? He'll die soon.. but he's cconvinced he'll die soon back in the present. It's Helena who'se ultimately changed realizing both the value of history.. and ultimately the movie's moral: you can't change the past, but you can live for today. Helena can't change her awful upbringing or the things she's done.. but she can be better. And Indy can't save his son from death, save archimedes from death or be a better husband to marion during the greving process.. but he can be better to her and still live now. He still has so much to offer. He taught helena to love history and to try and be better. He gave his son a better life even if it was sadly cut short. He can be better. And when he can't be convinced the easy way she proves she's fully earned her way to being indy's succesor and just clubs him and takes him back (the dial has to go back with them as archimedes needs to make his own). The end scene also mostly works for me: Indy is back at his apartment.. but finds he's not alone as when he woke up there last time: Not only has Helena forgiven him, having realized much like Indy himself that warts and all, he's family, but Sallah, who I haven't gotten to talk about is here. Sallah is great in this film, not only helping Indy when he needs to lay low but enocuraging his friend it's not over. It's also nice to see Indy helped him and his family immigrate and that he's teaching his grand kids egyptian. It's also a nice way to still have davies play the roll.. but have him get a bit more depth and make up for a white guy playing the roll.

And last but not least.. Marion returns, and the two reconcile. I thought it was a bit easy when I frist saw it.. but I see now i'ts more the idea they have a long road ahead.. but both are willing to see it together.. Indy admits he was wrong and Marion is willing to give him another shot. For the third time but at least this time it's likely she just needed some psace to realize he wasn't being callous he just wasn't processing his grief.. and now he's ready to.. maybe they have a shot. It's a nice way to close out the films: Indy's life isn't over, he's got friends, he's got his wife.. and there's always another rainbow.

Assorted Other Stuff: The action set pieces as usual are fucking great, my faviorites easily being the climax and the diving adventure. The latter reminded me a lot of Tin Tin, Red Rackam's Treasure. Antonio Banderas is great as Reynaldo and I only wihs he had a bigger part.. and survived. It's not a huge suprise, saying Antonio Banderas is great. While I LIKED the finale with Marion, I'm with Karen Allen. They could've used her more. She deserves better dammit. WHy is it with the sequels they just can NEVER get bringing her back right?

Last but not least.. ther'es this weird subplot only brought up in the first two acts where the government frames indy for Murder that just.. never gets resolved? Like they never adressed it and as far as I can tell there's no resolution. Now granted I still think Indy isn't going to be arrested: He's clearly been unconcious for a week and Helena did have to get him back into the US, so it's likely the goverment found out about voller, got a debrief from helena.. and agreed to clear her and indy's record and absolve him of murder in exchange for never talking about this to anyone, as a Nazi escaping and killing one of their agents , after they pardoned the guy wouldn't look good. But we needed a line. It's easily the most baffling decision in otherwise a really godo film.

So finally we're , like indy back where we started.. was the film that bad?

When writing the reviews for Crystal Skull and Temple, I honestly hated the films MORE the more I thought abotu them, the more I found wrong, the more I realized how little they did. With this film. it's the opposite. The more I examine dial, the more I find to like. The character arcs, the action, the payoff. It's not perfect, again Indy is still kinda wanted for murder among other little plot gaffes, but I do think Dial is a solid entry in the series and better than both temple and skull at capturing what made the series graet. It dosen't nail it perfectly.. but it's still a fun ride with some really good character work and phenominal performances. Really indy failed.. because no one cares outside of fans of the franchise. As my brother put it when talking about this very film recently, kids don't know indy. It's not the big hit with kids star wars was and is. Star Wars will likekly rebound someday because Kids still dig it and kids will grow up with the sequels the way I grew up with the prequels, warts and all. Disney just assumed Indy was enough to carry it and he wasn't. I'm sad at it because not only is this a good film, but I was hoping for more pulp adventure films. But i'm also happy at what we got and to have done this journey. I saw the good, and the bad. And I saw a franchise I ended up really loving. In the end I got what I needed out of this franchise

#Indiana jones and the dial of destiny #dial of destiny #phoebe waller bridge #harrison ford #indiana jones #helena shaw #marion ravenwood #jurgen voller #disney

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nikofortuna · 7 months

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JTTW Chapter 12 Thoughts

Chapter Twelve for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

Right off the bat that demon guardian did not play around! He was sent there on a mission and he saw it through with a passion.

When Li Cuilian said “yellow as if it had jaundice” I was not expecting that. Excuse me, jaundice?! Now that got me laughing!

Also yes, with that personality Li Cuilian is putting on display here I can believe that she took her life out of spite rather easily. Technically I’d say good for her, if I wasn’t still iffy about both her and her husband just abandoning their children so willingly.

Moving on from the mess that is them finally, I got to say I have a great appreciation for how religions coexist like this, which has been reiterated in this chapter. They all but stated outright how sure you can believe in whichever you want to, but you don’t slander or belittle or what have you other religions.

Honestly everything that might be considered plot convenience like Xuanzang being in Chang’an exactly while Guanyin is looking for a scripture pilgrim is explained to a degree by literal fate existing, so it actually makes sense in this world. I find that just really interesting.

“Shaped like Eight Treasures are the thread-made frogs.” There are frogs on the cassock?! 10/10 perfection indeed! I know they probably don’t mean actual frogs, but let me dream.

Also the luminescent pearl sounds so nifty, an outfit with those probably looks really cool in the dark! Really if one were to take the description of the cassock literally the look of it would be so silly and over the top and I love it.

Sticking with the topic the expansiveness of the poem on the cassock in contrast to the shorter one for the staff comes across to me like ‘Take this epic item that is so awesome and sparkly shiny and will make you look the most fabulous while providing divine stat increases! Oh and I guess this staff that can help you with walking too.’

“What a priest! He is truly a living arhat descended to Earth, a live bodhisattva coming to the world!” Oh if only they knew.

Guanyin continuing to be one of the best deities! She really went ‘Eyo, dude!’ and continues to be so nonchalant. She’s just great there’s nothing else to say really, she’s so cool.

And Xuanzang being so delighted at the opportunity to learn pretty much disregarding what he was just doing, he is such a nerd and we love him for it! He’s so happy and full of hope. Sweet bean doesn’t know about the horrors yet.

Randomly to my mind came the image of any celestial really just acting as literally light at night. A funny image indeed. Which shows up in Fei Ren Zai! Specifically Guanyin using their halo as a night light!

Continuing with funny mental images, when Taizong “raise[s] up the monk with his royal hands” I could only imagine him holding Xuanzang up like Simba.

I’m saying it now I want a reunion scene with those disciples! I want them to be really sad when the sixth or seventh year goes by and grow more and more disheartened with every year, but be all the more happy when they get the reunion after all.

Yey, he finally got his iconic name of Tang Sanzang! Let’s gooo!

We’re finally off to the actual journey!

Though I have one more little trivia bit for this chapter. Specifically about the meaning of the date of departure from the German translation! The third day of the ninth month can be read with symbolic meaning.

The third day of a month relates to the Trigram Zhen and thus beginnings, though do take this with a grain of salt, because when I tried to check if that Trigram really carried such meaning I couldn’t find a clear answer. What I’m sure tracks though is that the number nine symbolises Yang.

Since I’m not entirely sure about this trivia bit I’ll directly mention that the German translation refers to Chen Zhibin author of Xiyou Zhenquan (西遊真詮) for the interpretation of the date.

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #fei ren zai #Li Cuilian #guanyin #xuanzang #tang sanzang #jttw reading group #jttw book club

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adhdvsautismbracket · 1 year

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ADHD vs Autism Bracket: Summary (Round 4)

Round 4 has officially come to a close!!

After this round I'm definitely glad to have done the Second-Chance Smackdown thing, because I think every matchup going forward to the Quarter-Finals includes a previously eliminated duo. Will they be able to stay in the competition though..? I'm definitely excited to see how the Quarter-Finals will go down considering we've got multiple iconic ADHD/Autism brother duos going head-to-head, and the currently unbeaten Trobed will finally have to face Reigen and Mob.

As for the duos that have now been eliminated. I'm personally really sad about the Mitchell siblings loss, because they remind me of me and MY siblings. And Ninjago going down? Especially after Jay and Zane's epic revenge on Griddlehark in the Smackdown T-T? Ninjago fandom has so much passion and it was awesome while they lasted in this competition.

Under the cut is the bracket updated with the duos who will be participating in the Quarter-Finals on Friday 19th May. The pinned post will also be updated with this information:

#adhd vs autism bracket #not polls #tumblr polls #tumblr bracket #tumblr tournament

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swanmay-that-got-away · 10 months

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Final thoughts on Elric

It's a real shame that Moorcock doesn't stick the landing for his books. I think Bane of the Black Blade is damn near perfect, and I think The Vanishing Tower is very close behind. The first book is iconic, even if it over relies on external assistance CONSTANTLY.

But ultimately, Stormbringer feels like a pessimistic screed. It is *so close* to just being suffering porn, which all Elric feels worryingly close to, but Stormbringer is when it finally feels like Elric is being punished by Moorcock for existing, and I find myself agreeing with Elric. What was the fucking point? Why did I bother reading this? What's it matter to me that the cycle is maintained, when every character dies, every nation dies, everything I could possibly care about in this world is gone? And for what, so real earth could be born? I think it's very dark and funny that Epic Pooh exists, as an essay. I think that, in his reaction to his hatred of tory romanticism, he has produced the un-tory romanticism, equally as awful and harboring nearly as many biases. Certainly his takes on race are barely better than Tolkien's. There's still innately evil elves. There's still innately evil asian wizards. I find the exception-that-proves-the-rule protagonist deeply uncompelling. You really want in your heart for Moorcock to transcend his own black hole of hatred for the english bourgeoisie and write something powerful, but he never does. Postmodernism is exhausting. Often unproductive.

I find myself in a constant tension between loving and hating very dark media. You're relying on the ending satisfying all this pent-up pain, that the ending will deliver for this shit that you and the characters have waded through. But rather than a decisive victory that gives you full catharsis, or a thoughtful ending that meditates on the nature of suffering or the nature of striving against hope, it seems that the default writer answer is to simply dish up more depression.

Really, I don't know why I bother consuming this shit anymore. I'm not mad, I'm sad that it isn't better. I'm going to go finish Heralds of Valdemar, to get this fucking taste out of my mouth.

#elric of melnibone #final thoughts

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cassmouse · 7 months

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So last night I did indeed manage to watch the final episode of Reservation Dogs

Oh my god

Beautiful just doesn't manage to describe it

It was an absolutely perfect and gorgeous ending to an absolutely perfect and gorgeous series and I will miss this show

I watched it pretty late since I couldn't get access to it for ages but after I did I had to sit in bed for a bit and just process the ending, and just really let it sink in that that was the ending and it was incredible

AUGH Jesus Christ this show really is the best ever

ANYWAY DETAILED THOUGHTS TIME

-That opening with the radio show got me in the feels IMMEDIATELY with the parallels to the first ever episode (which I have watched a million times over) oh Jesus

-That speech about Fixico still being with everyone made me cry about five minutes into the episode

-And then laugh at the elders afterwards

-And then cry again

-As the rest of Rez Dogs managed it was the very perfect blend of 'oh god my heart this is beautiful' and 'this is absolutely hilarious'

-NO JACKIE AND ELORA but that's okay, no one else got together either lmao

-The Bear and Elora scene drew parallels to me of the bit where Jackie and Elora sit and talk in that church in the final episode of season 1? But idk if that's me looking into it too much

-That scene was beautiful though how did they manage to write it so well and make it so damn emotional, the emotions in that scene were just ON POINT

-Also the Bear and William Knifeman scene was iconic and a really good ending to that whole plotline which I really like

-As always the cinematography of this episode was something else and added to how powerful it was massively

-MOSE AND MEKKO GIVING FIXICO THEIR CD WHEN THEY WENT UP TO HIS COFFIN HAHAHA

-KENNY BOY'S SHOVEL THING THAT WAS AMAZING and his hair looked epic

-Willie Jack being allowed to start digging first ❤️❤️❤️

-Willie Jack in this episode AS A WHOLE, her final speech drew tears like nobody's business

-Jackie's HAIR I almost did a double take when I first saw it wasn't blond

-Also Elora's hair looked really good this episode I want to learn how to do that hairstyle

-The very last scene with the elders was a really good way to end the ending too

-I thought we'd see Daniel this episode maybe? But we didn't and that was okay

-'THOSE ARE WHITE PEOPLE FOOD.' 'WORSE.' HAD ME ON THE FLOOR HAHA

Anyway to summarise

That was a perfect, incredible ending to a masterpiece of a series

It wasn't too emotionally devastating and it really kept up the previous themes of the show and jesus this show means so so very much

And I'm so sad there won't be anymore new stuff but damn is the existing three seasons incredible

How are we feeling after that episode everyone because I am fulfilled and jesus it was such a good finale AAAA GOD

We love you, Rez Dogs

#reservation dogs #reservation dogs spoilers #rez Dogs #rez dogs finale #reservation dogs finale #hulu #this episode went so hard #it was SO good #I didn't do justice to describing just how good I thought it was but still #so so incredible #SO incredible #this show is genuinely such a masterpiece #this episode made me so very happy #and it's all wrapped up now and it's perfect

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juniperhillpatient · 1 year

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Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang Re-Watch

Wow, I'm so sad that this rewatch is over. This show means so much to me, & I've had such a great time revisiting it. Alright - let's get into the final episode. The battles are underway & everything is as high stakes as possible. I'm just going to say that I know pretty much all of us have a lot of valid criticisms of the way that this show was wrapped up, but I still love it overall & I still think the final episode is just a fantastic conclusion with beautiful fight scenes & a lot to love.

The air battleship showdown is freaking intense. The scene where Sokka is hanging onto Toph's hand & he says "I don't think boomerang is coming back. This is the end," is just insanely scary & emotional - these kids really did think that they were about to die. Suki gets +2000 iconic behavior points for rescuing them. I loved "did boomerang come back?" "no! Suki did!"

[id: Suki smiling as she stands on an airship. end id]

I love that this finale really did give everyone their badass moments. Toph gets +1000 iconic behavior points for using metal bending to steer the ship, & Sokka gets +1000 for giving up his space sword to save Toph.

Aang Vs. Ozai, well, that's just a fantastic battle. The animation, the music, the voice acting, the fight itself it's all just so good. I mean, I have to give Aang a lot of iconic behavior points for saving the world & doing it on his terms. +3000.

[id: a scene from Ozai & Aang's final battle. Aang's tattoos are glowing, & he is yanking Ozai's goatee. end id]

I already said in my last recap post that I think that Aang finding a way to defeat Ozai while staying true to his cultural identity & maintaining air nomad values is the most satisfying conclusion the show could possibly come to. However, I would like to add that this is a pretty grim fate - possibly worse than death. In this show, bending isn't just a thing you can do, it's part of who you are. Aang taking Ozai's bending was not done lightly, nor should it have been. I just think that this was a very narratively satisfying way to conclude this epic final battle & while I totally get critiques of it, I don't think there's anything I would change. Maybe the lion turtles could've been brought up sooner? But I also liked the way energy bending was explained & it made sense to me, so that's like, actually me digging for something to critique. I loved this final battle.

The final Agni Kai...And its aftermath. Azula has completely lost it after almost killing her brother. She tries to stop Katara from helping Zuko, & goes after Katara herself instead. This battle is just absolutely haunting & beautiful. It's tragic, it's intense, it's beautifully animated, the music & voice acting is amazing, & it's just a well-written battle. I wish the show had leaned more into the fact that Azula & Katara are foils - younger sister prodigies who overshadow their insecure older brothers, with distant father figures & missing mothers.

[id: Katara putting chains on Azula's wrists. end id]

It's been said before (I can't remember by who) that Azula "loses to a better version of herself" & I think that's a harsh way to put it because it's not like Azula had a chance to be anything different than what she is (that's what's so tragic about her) but it's narratively true that the only one who could ever beat Azula is her foil who was given the chance to be strong in ways she could not. I remember holding my breath the first time I watched this showdown. It's just so beautiful & sad.

***Edit to say that I'm coming back because I totally forgot to give out points. Katara & Azula each get +2000 iconic behavior points for one of the most intense battles on any show ever.

I go back & forth constantly on how I feel about Zuko as Firelord at the show's conclusion but ultimately...I enjoyed the scene where he & Aang promise to restore peace, balance & love to the world the first time that I watched & I enjoyed it this time. It's a good scene, even if I could hem & haw about whether I like this conclusion for Zuko or not all day.

[id: Zuko & Aang, in the Fire Nation Palace. end id]

I really loved the parallel of "we're friends." "yeah, we are friends" compared to "do you think we could have been friends if we knew each other back then?" *cue Zuko fire-bending.* The way that Aang & Zuko have developed & grown & the way that their relationship has evolved really is the heart of the series.

Now - the part that I flat-out hate. I think I know when to be charitable to the writers versus when to call them out, & the scene between Zuko & Ozai? I didn't like it the first time that I watched & now I hate it. I'm not a big comics or graphic novel person, it's just a taste thing. And I'm pretty much against post-series extra content, no matter the fandom, just like, in general. I just think stories should be allowed to end. SO, the first time that I watched the show with limited knowledge of the comics? I was vaguely annoyed that we got this obvious advertisement for them instead of something else more meaningful in the final episode. But, I didn't know what the comics were like so I was kinda "whatever" about it. Now that I know how fucking stupid the comics are? Bruhhhh. Fuck this stupid scene.

We could've easily had a scene with Azula instead. And yes, Azula is my favorite character, but I also feel like I'm pretty reasonable about her arc & not like, totally blinded by loving her or anything. I'm not actually opposed to Azula having a somewhat tragic/ambiguous end. I don't think she & Zuko should've hugged it out after the Agni Kai or that she should've immediately been shown as besties with the Gaang or anything. I just think we should've gotten a scene where Zuko - maybe with Katara by his side - visits Azula, & it's shown that he does want to see her heal. THIS post from @theowritesfiction already discusses how this should have happened as well as a number of other valid critiques of the finale, but I wanted to bring this up too in my own post too.

A N Y W A Y. Yeah, that's really my biggest critique, & it's all about that one scene. I actually love the finale for the most part. I totally understand the critique I've seen pretty often from a lot of you that Mai & Ty Lee were shown as good guys way too fast but like...Guys, I WISH there was a Book 4. I do. There's so much that could've & should've been expanded on. But there isn't. So....yeah, I'm glad we saw Zuko & Mai happy together. Ty Lee becoming a Kyoshi Warrior was definitely out of nowhere but I still prefer seeing Ty Lee happy with new friends to just not appearing & viewers being left to wonder if she's rotting in prison. I pretty much think the writers did the best they could with the time they had there.

The final scene at the Jasmine Dragon, well, as someone who's made no secret out of my distaste for the Katara/Aang romance, you'd think I'd hate it. But I actually don't hate it at all (the scene itself that is, not the kiss, the kiss is stupid & out of nowhere.)

I like that we get to see a final scene of the Gaang all hanging out though. I thought it was a cute & funny lighthearted way to end the show. I loved the group just hanging out & the implication that visits like this will be often & they will all be friends for life. At heart, I'm a sap.

Anyway, I'm sad to say goodbye to this rewatch. It's been so much fun revisiting this show.

#sozin's comet part 4: avatar aang #sozin's comet part 4 #atla book 3 #atla re watch

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