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thevindicativevordan · 2 months

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Comics this week?

Great week this week.

Superman #11 - I was right that it was a Luthor under that armor, but it wasn't his sister Lena. Wish it was, this Revenge Squad is lame other than Pharm and Graft. Should've added Humanite to the mix. For a second I wondered if Williamson had forgotten the Bizarro tease, or if he had handed that off to Aaron, but it looks like Pharm and Graft simply got their hands on a dead Bizarro clone and used it for experiments with the Kryptonite. Guess the next issue will tell us the story of what went down between Lex and those two guys, I've enjoyed them but I'm ready to move on to the Brainiac storyline.

World's Finest #24 - A nice bittersweet note to end on. Magog kills Gog to keep the ALE out of Darkseid's hands... and thus alienates himself from the other heroes for good. Great to see Darkseid not job, but Waid hurt his takedown of Magog here by writing events in a way that makes the heroes chastising Magog for making the hard call come across as disingenuous. Darkseid crushed two Supermen with ease, no one else was close enough or able to stop him, Magog made the right call in my eyes. Our Superman is still willing to forgive David, and encourages him to seek redemption after the events of KC. I liked how Magog found that redemption by serving alongside a new generation including a new Superman (the Clark/Diana kid godfathered by Batman from the epilogue of KC). Until/Unless Waid chooses to flesh that story out, my headcanon is Magog served as the kid's mentor and helped guide him so he would avoid making the mistakes that Magog made. It's a nice note that Magog managed to forge a partnership with a Superman after all. And goddamn can Mora draw the shit out of Darkseid. Would love to see him do a Fourth World arc with the whole New Gods cast.

Wonder Woman #6 - Coolest Grail has been... ever basically? I'm a huge sucker for "the villain talks major shit to the hero before the two throw down" and I liked how Grail has a sense of honor compelling her to toss her own weapon since Diana has no sword. Grail constantly invoking her father as the source of her strength and pride vs. Diana invoking Hippolyta to the same effect feels like the first interesting thematic undercurrent between the two. Going to make a separate post on this, but finally, Grail brings something to the table beyond merely being an evil WW counterpart. Loved seeing Diana take on her entire Rogues Gallery, and while she might have "lost" (but since she took her entire Rogues Gallery down too I think we can say it was a tie), I think between Sov's narration and the Wonder Girls seemingly taking Steel off the board while keeping back, we can guess that even Diana's collapse at the end is part of her plan. Sampere is an absolute beast on art. Dude drew multiple pages that I can see becoming "iconic" down the road: Diana catching and throwing the Monument back at Giganta, Diana punching Grail in the face, etc.

GL: WJ #6 - I'm going to miss Varron man, even as a zombie he's such a dick and it's great to see him and John interact because of how much they despise each other Taking the form of John's dad is such a petty dick move lol. Hell yeah, PKJ's bringing in his Old God storylines from the Warworld Saga, I loved that stuff and am eager to see it continue. Great issue, John got to kick ass with all his constructs, and the reveal about the Revenant Queen is super messed up. She's a host for an Old God like Osul is, except she's Guardian John's wife. Could she be a Katma, or is this a new OC, perhaps even someone our John hasn't met yet? Can't wait to start unpacking all the Darkstar stuff next issue. Looks like the Darkstar is going to be revealed as an Aspect of Olgrun.

Batman #144 - Yawn. Another story where Joker tells Batman he loves Bats and Batman tells him to fuck off. C'mon, I liked how Zdarsky explained the three Jokers, but this is banal.

JLvGvK #5 - Alright we get it, Clark might be dead or maybe not, no need to keep beating us over the head with it. Next issue I want to see Lex's Mechagodzilla kick the BatMech's ass, let's see Lex finally get a big win. Then for the final issue, Superman comes back to team up with Godzilla and take Lex down.

Incredible Hulk #9 - Art did a good job of giving the whole story a macabre feel. Felt like I was reading a Hellboy story in certain parts. Damn Betty and Bruce simply can't catch a break can they? I hope we get more movement on the Eldest plotline soon, I want Betty to get freed and join Bruce and Charlie on their road trip.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 - Hickman wrote this issue for the people who claim he's all plot and no character - this issue is nothing but character work. We get Peter growing into his own, his first fight with a supervillain, May finds out her dad is Spidey, Ben and Jonah begin investigating, and the Maker's Council pokes their head in via Captain Britain berating Fisk (or is it Captain EU given he's French?). I liked how May was scared of Peter's black suit and that's why he's going to change to the red and blue look, just like how MJ in 616 is the reason Peter switched back to his red and blue costume. I bet we get a Superman: For All Seasons moment where someone compliments Spider-Man's red & blue look and Spidey proudly says his daughter made it for him. There's an interesting parallel between Peter and Harry here. Peter keeps getting his ass kicked by Shocker while Harry keeps failing to kill Fisk. Both of them are trying to be who they're "meant" to be, but neither is great at it from the start, I really like that. Oh and while Ben and Jonah continue to be a great duo, I loved the squabbling between Richard and May while Peter and MJ were texting each other. Really want more interactions between them.

And yes of course I loved that OMD nod at the end, Marvel & Hickman know what they're doing!

I have a theory regarding Mary Jane. Here she's a businesswoman, and just like how the variant cover for issue 1 teased May finding out her dad is Spider-Man, the variant for issue 2 makes MJ out to be very successful as a businesswoman. Given this "zone" is run by the technocrats, I think we're going to see MJ get a villainous counterpart offer to what Tony offered Peter, the Maker's Council will approach her to replace Fisk after Spider-Man deposes him, or maybe even Stark later on down the road. It's made clear the the Council has lieutenants who rule their own sections of the overall domains shown in Ultimate Invasion. MJ getting her own offer of power from the opposite side is the kind of drama that could set up a nice character arc for her. I think MJ ultimately being tempted but refusing causes them to go to Harry next, who accepts.

#weekly review #comics

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dangermousie · 3 years

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Case File Compendium - ch 55

Good God, these are getting longer and longer, I feel like the ghost of Leo Tolstoy, sans the beard, is possessing me.

This was hilarious! And I love that despite last night, HY does not get the balance of power permanently altered. He Yu is so very young. And underneath the madness and the rage and the violence, he still has that remnant insecurity and awkwardness that could go away with age.

If he could use a scalpel as well as he can use his tongue, XQC would be the premiere surgeon of the country. But this was brilliant! God, I love XQC so very much!

I wondered for a minute why XQC does not act more distraught and destroyed and then it occurred to me - he is literally incapable of it. This is the same person who saw mangled bodies of his parents as a kid and moved on, the same one who kept functioning when he thought the sole person he loved, his sister, was dead. And this is the same here. He already doesn’t care if he lives or dies, this won’t change that. He will do with the latest horror the same as he did with the rest of the horrors in his life - shove it in a small room in the back of his mind and padlock it, while smoking three packs in a row. It’s not healthy but it enables him to survive.

YESSSSSS! He Yu was clearly fooling himself when he was all “he is gonna hate me and this is great!” He is distraught at the thought of XQC hating him but what the hell else did you expect?! It’s like a teeny baby step on the long road of remorse and groveling MB is gonna stick him on.

YES!!!! Applause!!!! Regardless of what one thinks XQC did or didn’t do, nothing he could have ever possibly done could justify what He Yu did. Not to mention, he treated He Yu when he was his doctor to the best of his ability. (Whatever one thinks of their post-employment interactions, he was not his doctor any more.)

The other thing, I don’t think XQC is a therapist. He’s a psychiatrist. He was clearly there to monitor HY’s illness back way when but it’s to treat physical manifestations and similar. That is why so many of his interactions come from this place. Sure, he talked about HY reintegrating back into society but it wasn’t part of any specific structured therapy sessions, it was just his personal beliefs/conversations. HY needed a bona fide therapist for proper therapy. But his parents never got HY one because they only cared about him being controlled enough to not cause issues to them, they never cared about his well-being. Hell, they never bothered to get him ANY doctor once XQC left and HY was only 14. Because hey, he controls himself so who cares about mental trauma. They are the worst!

Oh God, I want to cosmically slap HY into next week. “You Honor, I drugged and raped a dude but that’s justified because I never got birthday cake as a kid.” I am imagining that as a defense in a court of law.

Yes, I am being snide and disingenuous and reductionist because He Yu’s issues are obviously way beyond that and are genuine and serious, but I have absolutely zero sympathy for a rapist telling his victim that he is the one actually wronged.

And then he says he wouldn’t tell the truth because HY couldn’t bear it.

And guess what? Last night has proven XQC right on all accounts - yes, XX should stay away from He Yu as should anyone who likes self-preservation. And yes, learning that things were hallucinations was something HY couldn’t bear (yes, it got aggravated by finding out people concealed that, but I don’t think reaction would have been in the realm of good even without that.)

I loved that bit so much and I love that He Yu was sooooo close and then wrecked it himself.

The thing is, I don’t think all of the “XQC didn’t see the strength/validity of He Yu’s feelings” is what it seems. I don’t think it’s because he’s paternalistic or weird or heartless. I think it’s a defense mechanism due to trauma. He refuses to see ANYONE’s feelings - hell, he refused his wife’s! I think once his parents were murdered, he locked his heart to survive and refused to allow anyone or anything is so as not to be hurt again. XX is the only exception and that is because she was grandfathered in, so to speak.

And then HY’s actions actually did manage to make it through to the armor. Only for He Yu’s other actions to slam that door shut and put an extra layer of protection on.

Ummm, there is nothing in these chapters that is convincing me that He Yu shouldn’t be locked up forever and instead should be allowed to be in human society.

In general, I keep wondering how XQC will get past chapter 52-53 stuff and my brain breaks. Despite the vast amounts of noncon in 2ha, it is a much easier case there. CWN of main storyline never truly had to - he kept thinking his flashbacks were not real memories but weird dreams and by the time he realized they weren’t, he learned about the flower shortly after and how none of TXJ’s actions were really his fault in close succession. CWN -.5 also learned that near the end of the 0.5 timeline and that is what allowed him to love even that warped 0.5 version of Mo Ran and to tell him to forgive himself before CWN 0.5 died. And when we look at whatever went on with CWN and zombie Taxian Jun, leaving aside that CWN himself was in part looking for the man he loved and lost and being with this tormented, destroyed, controlled version of him was the most he could have, zombie TXJ was not even a proper person to be held responsible - he was a sliver of a soul, mad and controlled and with memory and personality lacunae the size of Australia. And of course the fact that he is the way he is because he sacrificed himself for CWN hangs over everything. We don’t even need to get into “and CWN loves him” to get why for CWN this is really a non-issue.

Despite a much healthier dynamic, Yuwu is interestingly closer. Because Mo Xi x Gu Mang first time is dubcon at best. But even there, it’s a very old-school romance novel set up of “gentleman overcome by his feelings can’t control himself” (and I am not going to get into the fact that Gu Mang’s life is so devoid of love that it’s matter of fact for him to look past the method of expression and fixate instead of the feelings being shown however dysfunctionally, because it would make me depressed.) But it’s basically, intense and terrible at intractions bear child Mo Xi expressing his love/lust/obsession/admiration/devotion to Gu Mang even if in an insane way and Gu Mang is under no mistake than that is what it is and they are in mutual love with GM having the emotional upper hand in every interaction this included (in fact, when he defects some years later, one of the regrets he feels is that he was always more crucial/paramount to Mo Xi than other way around.)

But CFC - forget 2ha, it’s not even Yuwu set-up! He Yu does what he does explicitly to humiliate and destroy and hurt XQC and makes no bones about it - saying things to humiliate him throughout, acting in such a way etc etc. It’s not even a sex version of the infamous Russian proverb “if he beats you means he loves you,” it’s just rape as an act of revenge and power and degradation. (And yes, as a reader, you are aware that the reason HY glommed onto that specifically is because without getting it at all, he’s been obsessed romantically/sexually with XQC for years so he’s acting out. But there is no way XQC can get anything like that from it and even if he somehow magically could when even HY himself doesn’t get it, expressing interest through humiliating and hurting someone on purpose to hurt and humiliate is a whole other level from something like Yuwu.)

So how?!

#cnovel #meatbun doesn’t eat meat #case file compendium #yuwu #2ha

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 3 years

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Top 5 Missed Opportunities in 400 Days

Hey, remember when TWDG Season One ended and we were a group of emotional messes? Remember when Season Two was announced and we were gonna get a DLC to bridge S1 and S2 together and we were extra excited for everything to come? Because I do.

To be fair, I truly did enjoy 400 Days when it first came out years ago, and it’s not like I hate it now or anything... I just can’t help but look at it and see wasted potential on every level-- the characters and their development, the stories, the impact our choices made for the future...

The concept of 400 Days-- a collection of stories that follow different protagonists and the situations they find themselves in within the zombie apocalypse that eventually connect to one another-- is a great one. I love the idea of mini-episodes that are all connected, and one choice you made in one episode affects the next episode you play... so what happened? Why does it fall flat now when we look back on it?

Well, a major reason for me is the fact that all four seasons of the main game are complete. When 400 Days came out, we didn’t have S2, so we didn’t know what our choices meant. That lead to us theorizing about what would happen if we got everyone to go with Tavia, or what would happen if no one but Bonnie went. Why was Bonnie the only one who agrees no matter what? What could that mean?

And we have those answers now, and it’s a let down... especially when it could’ve been so much better. That’s what I wanna talk about today. I wanna talk about what I think are the biggest missed opportunities in 400 Days.

5. Giving Shel and her dumb sister actual personalities

Of all the stories you can play in 400 Days, Shel’s episode is probably the worst due to the fact that she and her dumb sister lack any memorable qualities or personalities.... which is such a shame because this story also has one of the more interesting moral dilemma’s.

In this story, you play as Shel who is surviving in the diner/gas station with a group that consists of some of the cancer patients from S1. Remember them? They were with Vernon and helped him steal out boat? Yeah, they got away and apparently Vernon died and the group feel apart over the damn boat, but you don’t get much more than that.

Shel has this dumb sister who I can’t be bothered to remember her name because she’s that bland. Her sister is basically Shel’s personality. Take away her sister, and you’re left with nothing.

They’re going for the “Oh man, I don’t know what this world is doing to my dumb sister, it’s changing her, I don’t want her to have to do things like murder, I want her to have a normal childhood,” but that falls flat when they don’t give me a reason to care about them in the first place.

Like I said, the moral dilemma for this one IS interesting-- They catch someone who tried to steal from them. The man is injured pretty bad, and he can’t speak English, so there is no way for them to communicate with him. Roman, the dude who acts as the leader of our group, says that they can’t keep him here but they can’t send him back out there... and that means killing him.

So what do you do? Do you risk it by giving this man a second chance, give him some food and send him on his way and hope he doesn’t come back and do more harm? Or do you kill this man so that there is no risk in him coming back to do harm?

And you as Shel are the swing vote. That’s not an easy choice to make, plus you gotta think about how that choice is gonna affect your dumb sister?

Except it doesn’t really matter.... at all. No matter what you do, Roman still cracks down and wants to murder another member of the group who tries to escape, Shel’s dumb sister is still a brat who talks big but never does anything, and Shel is still a stale piece of white bread.

If they wanted us to care, then give Shel something other than her sister. Maybe they could’ve had her be someone who doesn’t really have a backbone, she tries to avoid conflict and is intimidated by Roman, she doesn’t speak up even when she should, and then her dumb sister could be the opposite-- Loud, take charge, wants to get more involved with protecting the group, isn’t afraid to stand up to Roman which causes him to take her under his wing and wanna turn her into a murder baby... which Shel definitely doesn’t want so what could she do to keep her dumb sister away from him?

If they wanted to tell the story of a woman worried her sister is going to grow up cold and ruthless because of the world around her, then tell that story. Show us that story, show us what happens when you agree to kill the man and now her dumb sister genuinely believes that murder is an easy solution to their problems, so when it comes to the woman who escaped, the dumb sister volunteers to kill her and Roman lets her... and you as Shel gotta decide if you wanna fight that by running away or just let it happen.

I dunno man, but Shel’s story is my least favorite of the bunch because I have no reason to care about either of them, and that’s a waste.

4. Nate’s a shithead so they should’ve used him more

Well, hello again, Nate... we meet once more here on T5F.

So yeah, I’ve talked about this crazy bastard on a previous list about characters no one likes, so you’re probably wondering why I’m saying that he should’ve been around more.

That’s the thing, I hate Nate. He’s gross, he’s brutal, and he’s uncomfortable with those crazy eyes of his... but he would’ve made for a fun antagonist in more of 400 Days, as well as in S2.

Depending on what episode you play first, Nate can either first appear in Wyatt’s story, or Russell’s. In Wyatt’s story, Nate is chasing down him and Eddie after Eddie accidentally killed a guy who was with Nate, and Nate here is chasing them down for some revenge. He eventually finds them, and who ever is left in the car as no choice but to flee, leaving the other behind.

Nate plays a more active part in Russell’s story, picking him off the highway and chatting with him on the way to the diner/gas station, and y’know how Shel has no personality? Well, I think I know where all the personality went because Nate’s got quite a bit of it. He’s one of the more memorable parts of 400 Days for a reason. He has a weird charisma about him, but then he starts talkin’ gross and almost gets Russell’s face eaten off by a walker and you get the idea that this man isn’t quite right, y’know?

Then we make it to the diner/gas station where they get shot at, and Nate insists on finishing this... as in, let’s go in and shoot whoever is shooting us. They sneak in, and the old man there says Nate is back to finish the job... which isn’t great. Nate acts like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but then suggests they kill the old couple using a line from the story Russell told her.... y’know, the story that’s kinda triggering for Russell.

At this point, Russell can either tell Nate off and leave, or he can stay where Nate will kill the couple right in front of him and claim that Russell is his boy and it is not great.

We know that either way, Russell gets away from Nate. We never see him again so he could be dead, turned, or alive. All I can think about is the fact that they created the beginnings of a compelling antagonist who could’ve bled over into S2 at Howe’s or even afterward. Like if we showed up at Howe’s and were locked up, only to find Nate locked up with us. Or maybe instead of Arvo, Nate could’ve been the one who stumbled upon Clementine and Jane and was overpowered and threatened by them... only for him to stalk them and confront them about what happened.

Either way, there was a missed opportunity to do more with Nate.

3. Focusing on the wrong things within Bonnie’s story

Alright, everyone’s favorite: Bonnie.

Bonnie is the only character in 400 Days who actually matters in terms of S2... and even then, her story doesn’t matter too much...which is dumb.

For me, Bonnie’s story is such a waste... like okay, right from the start they establish that Bonnie is a recovering addict, and I’m intrigued. The idea of an addict surviving in the apocalypse while trying to kick the stuff is interesting as hell.... but the story kinda just glosses over it unless Dee is insulting Bonnie by calling her a junkie.

No, the story we got was Bonnie breaking up a marriage. Great.

There’s this dude Leland who has a wife, Dee, but he and Bonnie are getting awfully snug with one another... so that’s real nice. Dee eventually finds them giving each other the look and breaks it up in a passive aggressive way before revealing she found a bag of supplies. This happens to be a bag that she “found” at the diner/gas station where Shel’s group is currently staying.

An argument breaks out between Leland and Dee with Bonnie in the middle and it’s not compelling at all. You can just sit there and do nothing and it doesn’t matter, they continue to fight until Shel’s group spots them and they gotta run.

Bonnie ends up shot and falls behind, and we do get a cool scene where she has to make her way through this cornfield without getting caught. I do like that bit, it’s fun.

But then she gets away, grabs a weapon, and hits someone walking up on her... that someone happened to be Dee. Whoops. Dee calls her a junkie, saying she killed her, and then dies.

Now comes the big choice: Do you tell Leland the truth or lie to cover your ass?

While this is an interesting choice on paper, it doesn’t matter. Leland isn’t with Bonnie in the end no matter what, and Bonnie will always agree to go with Tavia.

Personally, I wanted the fact that she was a recovering addict to be more front and center. Throw Leland and Dee away, have Bonnie travelling on her own. Have her going through withdrawals, show us her struggle of still being hooked on drugs while surviving in the zombie apocalypse... have her stumble across Shel’s group and from a distance, she sees they have medical supplies. She’s so desperate that she sneaks in at night and steals as much as she can, but gets caught.

We could still have her running away through the cornfield with the drugs, she can still get shot and everything... but maybe she’s so desperate for them that she ends up killing one of Shel’s group members, and she sees just what she’s willing to do in order to get these drugs, and you can make a choice of abandoning the drugs and quitting, or taking the drugs and running away... and it could actually affect Bonnie in the ending and into S2.

Plus, her killing one of Shel’s group would help add to the debate in her episode, y’know?

I just... I wanted that story... not what we got.

2. The past is more interesting than the present

This goes hand in hand with #3, but applies to almost everyone else.

All of these characters that we get to play as have more interesting backstories that I was more compelled by than what they’re actually going through in their stories.

The first time we meet Vince, he straight up murders a dude who is pleading for his life, saying he doesn’t even know Vince’s brother. Like... okay, what the hell happened here? What happened to Vince’s brother that made her commit murder like that?

How about Wyatt and Eddie? They’re running from Nate after Eddie killed the guy he was with. They’re panicking, Eddie is covered in the dude’s blood, Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie meant to shoot or not. You can tell they’re known each other a long time, too. They’re a couple of stoners who got themselves into hot water.

Oh and Russell? His story is interesting as hell! He was in a group where the main guy kept going on about how seven if the perfect number for a group, ya can’t break seven, and this group eventually started killing so they could steal, so Russell got away and is now on his way to find his grandmother’s place.

Once again... Bonnie is a recovering drug addict in the apocalypse.

The only one without an interesting backstory is Shel... which I guess is fitting. The boring character doesn’t even get a fun backstory, she just exists.

It’s not a good sign when I’m more interested in the past, y’know? Vince’s I can give a bit of a pass to because he killed that guy before the apocalypse broke out, and his dilemma takes place right at the start, and it’s done pretty well.

Everyone else though? I already explained Bonnie’s, but what about Russell and his seven group? We could’ve gotten that story of a group that starts out good, the guys gives his philosophy on the dumber seven, Russell meets that one girl... but then things start to grow dark when the group starts to become desperate enough to murder and steal, the guy keeps going on about the number seven so they can’t invite anyone in, and they can’t let anyone go... so Russell has to sneak away or something.

Wyatt and Eddie? Show ‘em there when Nate and his buddy show up. Give us the tension of “are these guys chill or are they planning something?” when Eddie gets into a fight with the other dude and ends up shooting him, Nate gets pissed, and they gotta flee. Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie shot him intentionally or not, it’s a whole, thing and they can still hit the cop and do that whole thing, too.

I just... I think problem is the stories were a bit too compact and short, not giving the characters a chance to develop or the stories enough compel to them.

1. It doesn’t matter who goes to Howe’s or not and that’s dumb

Sigh..... so yeah, obviously this is #1.

My biggest problem with 400 Days is that is doesn’t affect much. Even Bonnie’s story doesn’t affect what she does in S2.

As for the rest, if you only got Bonnie at Howe’s, then the rest and their fate’s are unknown. But if you do manage to get everyone to go with Tavia, they are at Howe’s... the problem is, they show up in small cameos that literally do nothing.

Ya got Wyatt who walks past Clementine like “Dude you better hurry, Bill doesn’t like to wait” like.... what, am I just supposed to get excited and point at him like “oooohhh I know him! I know him! That Wyatt! Hehehehe!” because I didn’t do that...

Or Vince randomly showing up to catch Tavia smoking, or Shel and her dumb sister making a comment about Sarah, it’s just dumb.

And then Howe’s falls and their fates are left unknown anyway.... so it didn’t matter.

I’ll just say what most of us were thinking.... Why weren’t they the cabin group? No, seriously, why weren’t the 400 Day’s crew the cabin group? Because it was too hard given the fact that there are so many combos? That’s fair, but if that’s the case, then what was the point of 400 Days?

Did they just want to tell a bunch of smaller stories within this world but never actually planned on using them outside of fun cameos in S2, with the exception of Bonnie? That probably is the case... and I think my disappointment in 400 Days does stem from being in the fandom at the time and getting hyped to see what they would do with these characters, only for it to be this.

Not only that, but then I started to think about how they could’ve done with game but with the actual cabin group from S2. Luke, Nick, Pete could’ve had their own story dealing with Nick’s mom getting bit after they took in a bite victim.

Rebecca and Alvin could’ve had a story about their marriage kinda falling apart despite them trying hard, and this could help make her affair with Carver make more sense.

Carlos and Sarah could have a story that explains Carlos’ over protectiveness and as well as explore Sarah as a character.

Hell, give Mike a story.

Give JANE a story about her and Jaime so that her appearing outta no where isn’t jarring, and develops her and the reasons she treats survival the way she does.

There was so much they could’ve done with this idea... and to be honest, if we ever get another game in this series, I would love it in this style but expanded into a season where each episode follows a different character and tells a different story, but in the end they all end up connecting. There is SO MUCH you can do with that!

But alas..... 400 Days for me is full of missed opportunities and I wish it wasn’t.

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Honorable Mentions

-Eddie only appeared in Wyatt’s episode and then disappeared until his death in S4.... Eddie’s great, should’ve been around more. -Would’ve been nice if the cancer group from S1 was expanded on, give more context to what the hell happened to Vernon and the boat, y’know? -a bit more development for Tavia would’ve been nice, as well... she just kinda shows up at the end and recruits who she can.

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So what are your thoughts on 400 Days? Do you agree with these missed opportunities, or have any to add? Lemme know, it’s always fun to chat.

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Reasons Gabe’s Pretty Great, Y’all Are Just Mean

#twdg t5f #twdg 400 days #twdg vince #twdg wyatt #twdg shel #twdg russell #twdg bonnie #twdg nate #next weeks t5f inspired by reddit

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mst3kproject · 3 years

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Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks

This movie has a real all-star cast as far as us MSTies are concerned. There’s Rossano Brazzi, who was Phineas Prune in The Christmas that Almost Wasn’t; Edmund Purdom, whom we know as Griba from Ator, the Fighting Eagle; and Salvatore Baccaro, the leader of the cavemen in Starcrash. The film itself is absolute, irredeemable trash and I love it like my own garbage child.

We begin out of nowhere with a bunch of peasants beating a caveman to death. What? Where are we? When are we? Who are these people? Why is one of them a cavemen wearing a fur loincloth and the rest are just normal people in pants? Why are they beating him? Did he do something that pissed them off, or do they just hate him because they’re, like, anti-Neanderthal racists? What the fuck is going on? We will never really find out. We just cut straight to Dr. Frankenstein hauling the troglocorpse into his lab.

That’s how this movie rolls. Don’t bother asking questions, just try to keep up.

Count Frankenstein’s daughter Maria has returned to her childhood home, bringing along her fiancé Eric and her friend Krista, who has an unhealthy relationship with polka-dots. Krista is immediately fascinated by the Count and his work, and he with her in turn. It doesn’t take long for Krista to find out that Frankenstein is carrying on reanimation experiments in his basement, but that’s actually the least of the bullshit going on around here. There are more cavemen out there, but there’re also rivalries and love triangles among the inevitable gaggle of deformed assistants, and the local villagers are angry about a spate of grave robbing and determined to run the Frankensteins out of town. The ‘monster’ (I’m not sure it quite counts) is kind of an afterthought.

See, Hans the Butler hates Genz the Dwarf (even though it’s actually Kregan the hunchback who is fucking Hans’ wife) so he gets him fired, and Genz swears revenge on the whole Frankenstein household. Wandering in the woods, Genz meets and befriends a second caveman, naming him ‘Ook’ and teaching him how to rape women in the hopes that he will do violence to Maria Frankenstein. Ook, however, kidnaps Krista instead. At about the same time, Genz sneaks back into Castle Frankenstein to free the first caveman, Goliath, whom the Count has been keeping strapped to a table after bringing him back to life, and who has also fallen in love with Krista as the latter assists the Count with his work. Goliath goes on a murderous rampage, then follows Genz back to the cave where Ook is keeping Krista. Sure enough, this leads to a caveman-vs-caveman battle for the girl!

Man, I would love to see earlier drafts of this script, mostly because I’m dying to know whether some prior incarnation of it actually had anything to do with Mary Shelley’s book or even with previous Frankenstein movies. I mean, it starts with the servants digging up a corpse, and ends with a torch-and-pitchfork mob destroying the Count’s creation… the beginning and end of a Frankenstein movie are present. In between those, however, it wanders off on this bizarre tangent about the local cryptids. As it reached the screen, the only thing Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks seems to have in common with its source material is the threat to the Count’s girlfriend, which was issued by the Creature in the original story. Technically, even the grave robbing and re-animating have nothing to do with Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus – the book never actually says how the Creature’s body was created. The idea of piecing it together from corpses originates with the Boris Karloff movie.

Let me describe some more of the stuff that goes on here, in order to give you the flavour of the experience. For starters, Salvatore Baccaro, playing Ook the caveman, is credited as ‘Boris Lugosi’ in the opening credits. The first time I saw this movie I snorted water up my nose when that popped on screen.

Later in the movie there’s a flashback to that first peasants-vs-caveman scene, and it answers none of the questions I listed above. Why are there cavemen in these woods? I dunno, there just are. What did the cavemen do to piss off the locals? I don’t know that, either… they may have been stealing livestock, I guess, but they don’t seem to have been a threat to the people until Genz taught them about rape. Kind of makes one wonder what happened to the cavewomen, since we never meet one and these guys don’t seem to know what women are, as illustrated by Ook initially thinking their nubile young captive is going to be dinner. Also, although there are two cavemen, they don’t know each other. Genz has to introduce them!

There’s a bit where Genz is hiding behind a clock to watch Maria and Eric have sex. The butler comes along and chews him out for it, sends him to his room, and then he stands there and watches them for a while.

In another scene, Maria and Krista go skinny-dipping in a mineral spring, and the longer it goes on the more the dialogue sounds like it’s going to break into lesbian porn. I am particularly fond of the exchange where Maria says, “don’t worry, this dress is designed to be easy to get out of,” and Krista, impressed, replies, “I’ll say it is!”

The subplot in which the butler’s wife is having an affair with the hunchback has no effect on the plot whatsoever. The butler never even finds out about it. There’s a scene in which they run off to the barn to slap each other and smooch, and then the movie forgets about it. Astonishingly, the same is true of the corpse the servants dig up early on. They exhume the body of a recently dead woman, Genz cops a feel and leaves some footprints at the scene so that the villagers can figure out who was responsible, and… that’s it. She doesn’t even hang around as a gratuitous zombie like the grave-robbed girl in The Atomic Brain.

According to Wikipedia, nobody will admit to directing this movie. Like many Italian films, the director used a pseudonym, and the cast apparently disagree on even such basics as his nationality. Some of them think he was Spanish, but Simonetta Vitelli, who played Maria Frankenstein, insists he was an American.

At the end of the movie, Ook is the first of the cavemen to be killed, and we get to see Genz weeping over his friend’s dead body. Then he and Krista hold each other as the mob closes in on Goliath. This is supposed to be a tender moment but it looks a lot like Genz (who is, you must remember, around four feet tall) is enjoying his faceful of boobs. Since all alternative love interests for Krista are now dead, maybe we’re supposed to think she ended up marrying Genz.

Finally, as Goliath’s body burns, Edmund Perdom intones, “there’s a bit of the monster in all of us, especially where there’s fear.” I’ll drink to that, my dude. ‘Twas beauty killed the beast. He tampered in God’s domain.

That probably is supposed to be the movie’s point. The villagers are depicted as suspicious, fearful, and quick to violence, while the cavemen seem to have been relatively peaceful types until Genz taught them how to rape. It’s very much the Homo sapiens who are the monsters there. Frankenstein’s servants are all assorted shades of horrible, from Genz the necrophile to the nasty cackling butler to the adulterous hunchback and cook. Count Frankenstein himself isn’t quite so overtly evil but it’s clear that he’s not very interested in the moral dimension of his work.

Even if that’s an intentional theme rather than just a pithy closing line, I don’t think anybody thought about it very hard. The rest of Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks is too much of a mess. There’s no real plot, no identifiable protagonist, it’s sleazy and incoherent and at times it’s horrifyingly abelist… and yet, for reasons I cannot explain, it’s weirdly entertaining.

Maybe it’s just that everything in the film is so damn ridiculous. So much of what happens comes out of nothing and goes right back into it… a series of mind-boggling what the fuck moments that surprise the viewer over and over. The impression is that the writers are throwing horror concepts at the screen to see what sticks, but nothing does.

Maybe it’s that this is another villain-centric piece. You know I like those. I guess maybe Krista is the heroine? She seems to do the fewest horrible things over the course of the story, but she’s not a good person, either. She’s totally into the Count’s creepy reanimation experiments, and makes only a token protest about the idea of informed consent. Edmund Perdom’s Inspector character is one you’d expect to try and do something about these goings on, but he never does. Maria and Eric are only in the movie so it can have a sex scene.

Whatever the reason, the result is inexplicably charming. Between the easily distracted plot, the gratuitous breasts, the bad dubbing, the complete failure to either frighten or titillate, and the fact that it tries to tie itself to a lucrative franchise it really has nothing to do with, Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks is almost the perfect example of a bad Italian horror flick from the 70’s.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #frankenstein's castle of freaks #tw: rape #tw: ableism #70s

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atamascolily · 3 years

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lily watches fma:b, eps. 42-47

In which the Briggs arc goes out with a bang, and I have flashbacks to the “Day of Black Sun” from Avatar: the Last Airbender.

Okay, Al is basically still May's age on the inside, lol. i love those two.

hawkeye reduced to serving tea for Bradley makes me so damn mad.

but bradley is in love with his (human) wife so there’s that.

kimblee double-crossed the drachma dudes? how completely in character.

one of the chimeras betrays Scar's group and brings in Envy. I was hoping he'd be relevant again!! turns out it was a trap and the chimera isn't actually evil again.

so envy uses the philosopher's stone to power his shapeshifting?? sure looks like it.

apparently marcoh has been mixing alkahestry into his work and it's awesome. the ice sculpture in a middle finger is a nice touch.

oh, no, may's hiding out doing action at a distance and envy has no clue. GO TEAM.

okay, marcoh denatures envy down to a little bug form which is simultaneously cute and disturbing. Yoki messes with it at his peril. I love how envy accidentally takes the wrong hostage if he wants people to care about his victim's fate.

Scar is inspired by Miles to change Amestris from the inside instead of just killing people, so... that's good, I guess?

scar gives may envy in a jar and tells her go home, which seems LIKE SUCH A BAD IDEA ON SO MANY LEVELS

(like, I get that they did this so May could save her clan--which clearly hit of Scar's buttons--does no one even bother to think this through...?)

(the last time an emperor tried to get immortality was Xerxes and THAT worked out so well, so... *cue 'The Genocide Song' from Trigun*)

Anyway, I predict this will not end well.

Meanwhile, one of Greed's chimera buddies, Bido, survived, and learns that the military is searching for Izumi and Sig, but they're on the lam. He follows them back to base when he realizes they're from Bradley; he wants revenge for Wrath killing his boss.

(i love u bido you adorable little rat.)

(also, the fact that the original!Greed was like, "fuck u, I make my own rules" and ran away from Father's schemes with his misfit friends just warms my heart.)

There are only three rules for state alchemists: "don't interfere with the military,""don't make people," and "don't make gold",LOL.

It's so funny to me that the gold thing is included, even though I don't understand how you can MAKE gold with alchemy if gold is a single independent element and you are bound by the laws of equivalent exchange. but whatever, it's still really freakin' funny to me that they don't want State Alchemists fucking up the economy with their magic chemistry powers.

anyway, turns out they don't also want people growing their own armies in the basement - that's what THEY'RE DOING. quoth olivier: fuck.

(fun fact: an RPG character of mine playing a necromancer in a urban fantasy setting did EXACTLY THIS and it was awesome)

somehow, al and winry get to liore (again, DISTANCE? Time??) and "Mr. Ho" is working for Rose's food stand.

And he's all, "oh, I heard about how you lost your body, lol" and then...literally walks off.

(the sad thing is that Hohenheim is literally NOT the worst father in this show - that award goes to Shou Tucker.)

Bido discovers the Zombie Meat Locker, then runs into Greedling... who doesn't remember him until AFTER he stabs him, sob. rip bido.

Winry takes a bath, because fanservice, and she and Rose talk... and it does not pass the Bechdel test, sigh.

there's a "Banks Bank" in Briggs, lol

I wish I could get my glasses to do the opacity thing on command.

Ling yells at Greed for being a jerk and Greed decides to try and kill Wrath because that worked SO WELL last time...(at least he managed to shield from Bradley's signature move this time)

The Armstrong patriarch makes Olivier and Alex fight over who gets to be head of the family, lol. Then he just walks out and starts acting like Olivier won the fight, which she does.

turns out it's to keep the military from taking them all hostage for Olivier's good behavior. She's really good at this.

Envy tricks May into going back to Central, sigh.

Ling regains control of his body long enough to run into Ed and explain before Greed takes over again

they're really laying out the whole "Seven deadly sins as a personal flaw" thing on thick, aren't they?

Greed just wants to be left alone, but agrees to team up if Ed works for him, lol.

Izumi proudly declaring herself to be a housewife as she kicks ass gives me life

the phone chain here is pretty impressive, although grumman loses major points for sexually harassing Rebecca

apparently, Father has to wait for the stars/planets/sun to align in order to do his Evil Alchemy - it's referred to as "the Promised Day" and I'm having flashbacks to the "Day of Black Sun" from Avatar: The Last Airbender (though I think it's supposed to be more like Sozin's comet?).

TIME SKIP! It's spring in Resembool for the sheep festival. Winry is smuggled home and finds Ed in her bedroom - right as she's about to undress. Hijinks ensue.

anyway, Ed and Greed are hanging with Pinako. Ed gets his automail serviced and Winry ups the stakes by refusing to run away in case things go wrong.

she is specifically ordered to stay at home and bake a pie while the men go out to battle, sigh.

meanwhile, greed approves of winry's desire to "have it all" (i.e, victory against Father AND Ed and Al getting their bodies back on the Promised Day) and Ed is Not Amused.

(i love greed so much, he is definitely the #BestHomunculus in this version.)

Scar has been gathering the Ishvalans to help save Amestris and thereby win acceptance back

Grumman calling the Fuhrer "Bradley-chan" is hilarious, full stop.

Al's body keeps calling his spirit back but I'm not sure why it's only been a problem recently, given the gap between its loss and the present day.

we're now up to the "day before the promised day" which means that from now until the end (ep. 64) is likely to take place in 48 hours (plus whatever resolution awaits at the end in 64). yowza.

unfortunately, bradley appears to be on to Team Good's elaborate plan, but it's unclear if Team Good wants it that way or not.

okay, it’s intentional, they blew up the train, but I'm pretty sure Bradley's not dead

(why is grumman narrating the "previously on" intro, tho)

The first thing Ed does when he sees Hohenheim is punch him in the face, #bless.

Hohenheim offers to use his stone to bring back his sons' bodies... which means he COULD have fixed Izumi earlier, but didn't. fuck you, hohenheim.

okay, so it really is "the Day of Black Sun after all" - WHY DOES AN ECLIPSE MAKE ALCHEMY WORK BETTER, PLEASE EXPLAIN.

(he does not explain)

hohenheim asks if ed will help with the plan, lol, what exactly is the plan here, very cryptic of u

I can't believe Pinako asked Ed to tell Hohenheim Trisha's last words. Like, that was her job. She TALKED TO HIM HERSELF EARLIER IN THE SHOW. WHy the fuck did she make ED do it?

hohenheim cries when he learns that trisha said "sorry, I couldn't keep my promise. I'm dying first." AS WELL HE SHOULD, THE FUCKER.

ed buys red cloth and uses it to make his flamel jacket again I'M HOWLING

Al pops out of the bushes unexpectedly and Ling takes over Greed shouting about how his homunculus sense is tingling... I hope Greed doesn't die, but I'm not holding my breath

ed wins by knocking out all the lights, extinguishing the shadows... because pride can only exist in with some light, not full dark? I don't get why shadows work but not dark, despite greed specifically saying “you can’t have shadows without light”. DARK IS DARK, isn’t it?

grumman goes to look for bradley's body,but it's unclear if he's using his allies as a means to take over the country later or if that’s miles’ paranoia

GREED AND LING WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT GLUTTONY AWWW YEAH

AND THEN LAN FAN SHOWS UP WITH HER BADASS NEW ARM AND SAVES THEM BOTH

(way to level up, Lan Fan!!)

#fullmetal alchemist #lily liveblogs

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duhragonball · 5 years

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Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn (3/6)

So Janemba’s messing with King Yemma, cutting off his authority over the boundary between the living and dead. Yemma knew this would have dire consequences for the universe, and we see that manifest on Earth, where dead people are suddenly back from the grave. For example, this family is at a cemetary to visit their grandfather’s grave, only to find him alive and well in his burial clothes no less. He’s not a ghost or any other sort of apparition either; he has feet and everything.

Elsewhere, an older man named Romeo has a similar experience at the grave of his deceased lover, Juliano. Or Julianne? I don’t know. You’d think they would have called her “Juliet” to play in with Romeo, except in the play they both died young. Here, Romeo survived, and he’s and old man.

But Julianne hasn’t aged at all in the past sixty years since her death. It kind of makes for an awkward reunion.

Incidentally, Romeo has a crucifix, so this marks the first official appearance of Jesus Christ in Dragon Ball. We’ve seen crosses and the name “Jesus Christ”, but this is an actual image of the Son of God Himself. “But Lord, why are there no footprints in the sand during the most difficult parts of the journey?” “Because that was when I Instant Transmissioned you, lol.”

Speaking of crosses, here’s Dracula, and I guess he was dead, until he came back today. But he still has a wooden stake in his heart, which... okay why does he want it removed if it’s not killing him? Why can’t he just take it out himself? Also, if Janemba’s powers are causing dead people to come back to life, shouldn’t Dracula turn back into a human?

Meanwhile, some horde of invaders on horseback marches through traffic. I think these are supposed to be Mongols, but I dunno.

They kind of get their thunder stolen when a second army of tanks shows up, let by Adolf Hitler. I mean, it’s not quite Hitler. His uniform is bright purple, and the real Hitler wouldn’t be leading a battalion of tanks into action. But this movie never bothers to give him a satirical name, like “Dunkoff Shitler” or “Adenoid Hynkel” or whatever. So I just refer to this guy as Hitler. Same as that vampire from a minute ago.

In any event, this guy’s obvious resemblance to Hitler is why his scenes were edited out in several countries, which have laws against depicting Nazi imagery. For what it’s worth, the movie doesn’t really lose much with these scenes taken out.

Also, there’s just straight up zombies running around, which I don’t really understand, since Hitler and Julianne are fully alive. But that’s the chaos of Janemba for you. He’s not purposely doing any of this. This is just the result of him cutting off King Yemma’s power to regulate the dead.

But don’t worry, folks, Gohan’s here and he’ll save the day, right after he finishes eating.

Goku may be dead, but his legacy lives on in his sons, Gohan and Goten. Chi-Chi doesn’t mind doing all the dishes from the boys’ meals, but she does miss her husband at times like these.

So Videl offers to help with the dishes, but Chi-Chi’s like, no way, you’re a guest in this house.

But somehow we end up with Videl doing the dishes in the next scene. This is one of my favorite animations in this movie. With the sound effects, I could watch a loop of this all day.

Chi-Chi is impressed, so she tells Videl that she’ll make a fine wife.

And Videl’s all “Marriage? Gawrsh!” This is adorable. She’s so worked up that she drops a dish.

But Chi-Chi doesn’t mind, because she still thinks Videl is cut out for married life. In the manga, Chi-Chi wants Videl to marry Gohan so she can get a chunk of that sweet, sweet Mr. Satan fortune, but in this movie, I almost feel like she’s proposing to marry Videl herself. “Marry me, Videl, so I may never have to wash a dish again!” “Wh-what about Gohan?” “What about Gohan?”

Then Videl breaks more dishes, but before she can clean them up, she gets a call from the Satan City Police, who inform her that the dead have risen and are overrunning the town. Also, they ask her to contact Great Saiyaman. Videl’s like “No problem, I’m at his house now. I think his mom is coming on to me.”

“Stay away from my mom, Videl.”

Meanwhile, in Otherworld, Goku and Pikkon’s championship match is interrupted when a giant crystal sprouts out of the ring.

The Grand Kai believes the disturbance is coming from King Yemma’s domain, and he sends Pikkon to investigate. But Goku doesn’t want him to go, since that would mean he’d win the tournament by forfeit. So the Grand Kai orders Goku to go with Pikkon, and that works out, since Goku can teleport there.

When they arrive, they find everything all messed up.

Yemma somehow contacts them from within the barrier around his domain, and he points out Janemba on the roof.

Pikkon tries to ask Janemba to cut the shit, but Janemba either won’t cooperarte or he can’t understand him. When Pikkon loses his patience, Big J flicks him into one of those floating jellybeans he made.

This catches Goku’s interest, and now he’s happy that they left the tournament for this, since Janemba seems like an even greater challenge.

Janemba seems to agree to tangling with Goku, so he suggests that Pikkon see to Yemma while Goku lures Janemba to hell, where he’ll be out of the way.

I’m not sure if there were already jellybeans in hell, or if Janemba brought a bunch down with him.

Otherwise, Hell has experienced its own bizarre changes. I’m not entirely sure what’s changed, since we only saw it twice in the entire run of the anime up until now, but I’m pretty sure all those humanoid-looking figures weren’t there before.

Janemba grabs a few and turns them into mini-clones of himself.

Goku thinks they look cute until they all start ganging up on him.

Fortunately, Goku can just beat them away with a few roundhouse kicks, and they all vanish. The bad news is that the big Janemba won’t be that easy.

Back on Earth, Gohan’s having tons of fun clobbering zombies.

Videl’s doing pretty well against them too, but the real question is: Why is this happening, and how do they stop it? Gohan isn’t sure, but he’s confident that it’ll all work out with the two of them together.

Videl’s charmed by his answer, but then--

Some jagoff intrudes on their moment.

Oh look, it’s this asshole. Yeah, Frieza’s back and he’s in this movie too, along with Dracula, Hitler, and Jesus. For those of you keeping score, that means Steel Ball Run, Hellsing, and Resurrection F were all inspired by this movie.

Frieza is surprised that anyone on Earth knows him by name, so Gohan unmasks to reveal that he was the kid with the bowl-haircut on Namek.

Videl’s completely smitten here. “Wow, he’s wayyy dreamier than his mom!”

So Frieza’s decided to kill Gohan as revenge for Goku defeating him. You’d think he’d be mad about Future Trunks killing him, but he was friends with Gohan too, so it still works. The part that doesn’t work is this punk-ass bitch running around in Movie 12 like it’s still Movie 3.

So Frieza sics a surprise army of henchmen on Gohan to soften him up. Of course, it makes perfect sense that all the top Frieza soldiers would be here, and that they’d still be loyal to Frieza, but there’s also a lot of Movie 1-5 henchmen too, and most of them don’t even know Frieza. Still it’s not hard to believe that they could be persuaded to join his side.

But Bojack seems pretty hard to swallow. Out of everyone in this scene, he’s definitely stronger than Frieza ever was, so why isn’t he calling the shots here?

Anyway, waves of henchmen, Frieza’s invincible, what will Gohan do now?

FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA

Hadou ooana GALAXY Yudan wana PARASITE

FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA

Obienaku wa warera min

DIE!DIE!DIE!

So yeah, everyone sees Gohan END Frieza with one fraggin’ punch, and they all turn chickenshit and run away. Even Bjoack, I guess, which only makes sense, because Gohan punched a hole through him in Movie 9.

Videl’s like “Wow, it’s kind of weird how all of these dead people came back to life, and presumably we can’t kill them again because they’d just come back, and yet Frieza was the only jerk in this whole movie who got exploded and stayed dead from all of this.”

Then Gohan does his victory poses, and Videl swoons off-screen. In the dub, they changed the ending dialogue to suggest that Gohan and Videl made out shortly after this scene, and Goten and Trunks saw it. It’s not in the Japanese script, but come on. How was Videl not al over this dude after this? We know it happened.

Meanwhile, Mr. Satan is punching zombies someplace else, and he’s pretty pleased with how well he’s doing, except there’s no one around to watch him in action, so he moves on to find his grateful public.

Fortunately, he won’t run out of zombies anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Goten and Trunks are helping out by gathering the Dragon Balls, They find the seventh one on a golf course.

But Goten gets hit with a golf ball while he’s there. Irritated, he decides to hide the ball to get payback on whoever sent it his way.

But he hides it in the hole, so the golfer thinks he made a hole-in-one and he’s sobbing with joy. This doesn’t have much to do with the movie, but what’s great about Fusion Reborn is that you can expand on almost any scene and make it part of the wider story. Maybe this guy’s a dead Frieza Soldier who got the call to mobilize and he said “Fuck that, if I’m alive, I’m gonna hit the links one last time.” Or maybe he’s just a regular dude, but the lady there is his dead wife, who’s come back to tell him that the accident wasn’t his fault, and it’s okay for him to move on with his life. Or they’re both alive, but the golf course gets destroyed by Cell during his epic battle with Tiencha.

Back at Capsule Corp. Gohan summons Shenron. For some reason, in the dub, she tells him he’s “the only one who can,” and I’ve never understood that. Maybe she means that Gohan’s the only one who understands the crisis well enough to make the right wish to Shenron, but she could still call the Dragon. She’s done it before several times.

It’s funny how this is the first time Goten and Trunks have seen Shenron, even though the plot of Movie 10 was them gathering Dragon Balls specifically to see Shenron. That’s how big a disappointment Movie 10 was. Meanwhile, Movie 12 is so awesome that it pays off ideas from other movies.

Videl might have wished for a handsome BMF with cool shades...

But Shenron can’t grant a wish that’s already come true. Let’s just pause here to drink in this majestic shot of Casual Friday Great Saiyaman.

...

Nice.

I’m just gonna put it here again. It’s great.

So Gohan explains the situation to Shenron and asks him to put all the dead people back where they belong, which Shenron says is a simple task.

But then he says he can’t do it after all. Goten complains, and Trunks silences him before Shenron can take offense.

Now, in the dub, Shenron gives a more thorough explanation. He can move the dead back where they belong, but with King Yemma out of commission, there’s nothing to stop them from simply coming back. I think that logic is strongly implied in the subtitles, but it’s not quite so clear. In any case, this is beyond Shenron’s power. It wouldn’t be if Yemma were on the board, but if that were the case, there’d be no need to involve Shenron in the first place.

So that leaves everyone feeling pretty dejected. The problem lies in Otherworld, and if Shenron and Gohan can’t fix it, then they’re out of options.

And while they ponder what to do next...

...Shenron awkwardly asks if there’s anything else he could do for them while he’s here.

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ladyculebras · 5 years

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ALL THE WAYS THE PET SEMATARY REMAKE IS BAD

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY FOR EVERYTHING

1. This movie blames Rachel for EVERYTHING. This is the big main thing that bothers me throughout the film. Rachel is at fault, either directly or subtly, throughout the film.

First off, Rachel is the one who fears death so much she cannot bear to prepare her daughter for the possibility of Church dying, while the original actively had them trying to get Church fixed so he wouldn't wander around so much and thus, less likely to die. This wouldn't bother me so much, but LOUIS is the one who okay talking about death and wants to talk to Ellie about it and wants to not shield her from the truth that Church could die. This...ruins the whole narrative thrust. Louis is supposed to be fearful of death, shying away from exposing his family to it in any capacity, to the point where he avoid any kind of confrontation and causes the whole problem. Louis and his inability to handle death when it hits home is the whole POINT.

But furthermore, Rachel is the one who doesn't want to tell Ellie about Church dying! Louis WANTS to tell her but Rachel convinces him to tell her that Church ran away and tells him to go bury Church in secret. So inadvertently, it's all Rachel's fault. If Louis just talked to his daughter about death, and her dead cat, none of this would have happened. It completely removes accountability from Louis, when that is his whole tragic flaw.

Look this wouldn't bother me so much if Rachel were the main character instead. You want to make it her fault this happens, that's okay! But make her drive the story then! Don't do it as a way to absolve Louis of further responsibility!!!!!!

FURTHERMORE!!!! YES THERE'S MORE. After Ellie's death, Rachel is the one who decides to go away and leaves Louis behind...for reasons. Like yes I understand why she would want to get away from this awful place, but the movie completely cuts out the subplot of Rachel's parents hating Louis, so there is no reason for him not to go. But this also removes Louis actively conspiring to get Rachel to go away so he can go do a bad thing. It's a small thing but a really important thing that means Louis just doesn't come off as badly as he did in the original. The original movie is about grief but it's also about the folly of a man who is unable to let go or listen to anyone around him, and making terrible decisions that he hides from the female members of his family that ruins them all. It's so clearly obvious the male directors did not want Louis to look TOO BAD. Trying to remove accountability from Louis ruins the whole point and the tragedy as well. If Louis doesn't make these choices, if held held back from accepting death because his wife asked him too, how can this be his fault.

2. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE ON RACHEL'S HANDS.

In the original, Rachel recounts her sister Zelda's death in a scene with Louis and explains that she wanted her to die and she felt awful for wanting that. Louis comforts her and tells her she did nothing wrong and her parents were awful for putting her through that. Then insists she takes a valium for her anxiety because LOLZ THE 80s AND CASUAL DRUG USE, MAN.

Here, she tells Louis the story but explains that she ACCIDENTALLY killed her sister, by forcing her sister--who can't get out of bed--to crawl to a dumbwaiter to get her food where she falls in, because Rachel was too scared.to go up to her and give her the food herself. Now, I don't have a problem with this, this doesn't make her a bad person in my eyes, but the change itself puts some responsibility on an EIGHT YEAR OLD KID for her sister's death in a way that the original movie and book didn't.

Then later, reanimated Ellie says YOU PRAYED YOUR SISTER WOULD DIE like it's an evil dark secret that she's revealing. AS IF THATS SOMETHING A EIGHT YEAR OLD NEEDS TO FEEL BAD ABOUT. AS IF THAT MAKES RACHEL ACTUALLY TERRIBLE.

God I hate this change the most because I adored the original for going there with the themes of grief and exploring all the ugly messy emotions involved in grief and not just dead children but prolonged illness. And demonizing those emotions for a cheap shocking reveal at the end is not dark and mature storytelling, its childish.

3. Also holy shit this movie mishandled Zelda so badly. They have Zelda straight up threaten Rachel and say she hated her and she was going to end up just like her. Her NEVER GET OUT OF BED AGAIN line is an actual threat to her. It was a weird demonization of an ill woman, when the original was already sketching the line in its portrayal of meningitis, but this was so much worse. Those words are manifestations of Rachel's anxiety!!! THEY ARE NOT ACTUAL THREATS. IT'S JUST RACHEL THINKING HER SISTER MUST HATE HER.

The whole scene is played for weird jack in the box jump scares instead of the existential horror of watching your sister be ravaged by disease when you are too young to understand what that is.

4. Ellie is this weird perfect angel child, and it bothers me. In the original story, she's scared of the pet sematary at first. She has a great speech about how Church is her cat, not God's cat, he can't have him! She cries and storms off and throws tantrums and says SHIT. She is a regular kid, basically. In the book, she actively annoys Louis! Here, she's just...boringly perfect. Everyone loves her. She never gets angry. She never cries. She doesn't even seem upset when Church attacks her. Jud is enchanted by her, literally saying he is under her spell, WTF. This wouldn't be so bad in general, bad writing for a child but not necessarily awful, but it bothers me the most here because it's all set up for when Ellie dies and comes back as a total monster. Ellie cannot actually be her own character but a pedestaled symbol of a child for Louis to cry over, and for the audience to feel horrified by when she returns as a shell of herself. At least when the original did that with Gage, it made sense, because he is a TODDLER and they have no real personalities. We as a whole tend to over idealize babies and the only thing you can really do with Gage narratively is make him a symbol.

5. Speaking of Zombie Ellie, I wanted to be open to the whole Ellie dies and comes back thing! I hated the idea of it initially but I was hoping it'd be interesting. I liked the beginning, with Ellie being set up as fascinated and drawn to the pet semetary to begin with, and I was kinda hoping the movie would follow her pov instead. After all, I love a good monster girl story and I was really intrigued by the idea of Ellie being AWARE she's been reanimated, and angry about it, upset about it. But tbh, I think the movie in general seemed to go with the idea that Ellie is not Ellie at all but the wendigo, acting through her.

But it was BAD, partly because the actress was not good--not her fault she was given poor direction and shitty material and she's just a KID--but also partly because these dudes just don't know how to write women and don't know how to write girls and didn't really grant the reanimated Ellie any actual humanity or depth. She existed to torment those around her, like she was seeking revenge, rather than coming back wrong as something monstrous like child Gage in the original. She came off as a generic creepy girl child who was possessed.

HONESTLY just having Ellie speak was a terrible idea. I sort of get what they were going for, after all,in the book, undead Gage speaks and knows things he should not know, and Elie as an avatar of...the wendigo *TAKE A FUCKING SHOT* would do the same, I get that they were doing that. But oh god the batman voice they gave her and the terrible lines sounded so OFF. She would have been creepier if she didn't say anything or at least, spoke in a regular little girl voice. It would have been creepier if she was clearly not Ellie and Louis didn't care--they kept going so back and forth on Louis in these scenes, first he is scared of what he brought back and uncomfortable with her and yelling at her, but then he is all HUG YOUR DAUGHTER!!!!!!! GOD CAN HAVE HIS OWN CHILD!!!!! And then he is back to wanting to kill her. But honestly, I don't need the movie to have done things my way, just...not this. This was terribly executed.

6. Speaking of, they were doing some weird...psychosexual Elektra complex with undead Ellie and Louis. First the shot with both of them in the bed together is mirrored earlier with a shot of both Rachel and Louis in bed together....okay then. I mean. That doesn't mean anything. Maybe I am just misinterpreting. But then Ellie is like SHE DOESNT WANT ME HERE AND I DON'T WANT MOMMY HERE (but she still...reanimates her...for reasons. Why. I don't understand).

Then Ellie attacks Jud and wears the face of his WIFE TO DO IT and torments him like that.

Why. Why would you do this. I hate these writers. These are the worst choices.

7. THEY GAVE ELLIE'S PSYCHIC POWERS TO GAGE I'M SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS.

8. This movie legit single perfect tears Louis during Ellie's funeral. Are you kidding me. A single perfect tear. FOR REAL. THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT GRIEF.

9. A lot of the promo material before the movie came out made a big deal about staying truer to the book than the original and it being an adaptation of the book, not a remake of the movie. Sure, but they barely do anything with wendigo and I'm kinda glad, because the whole INDIAN BURIAL GROUND is a bad trope and King's depiction of the Wendigo is soooo wrong and misinformed and terrible but like..this movie didn't do anything with the mythology except name drop it.

10. I AM ACTUALLY MAD THEY MADE CHURCH EVIL. Like this is nitpicking I know but! In the book, Church (and the reanimated dog) isn't actually evil, he's a zombie. Hes described as not quite how to be a cat anymore. And even in the movie, Church doesn't do anything sinister. He only attacks Louis and who could blame him, and he never hurts Ellie at all. She still sleeps with him in her bed. So I am honestly annoyed they had Church actively attack Ellie jklasfasda

11. Oh my god let's talk about Pascow. WHAT THE FUCK HAVE THEY DONE TO PASCOW. They completely neutered him and made him just a generic ghost, for the most part. Pascow is cheerful in the original, while also being creepy yet relatable. You can really emphasize with his sheer helplessness to stop the tragedy from unfolding. But none of that comes across here. Maybe they wanted to maintain the completely SERIOUS tone, but ultimately Pascow is supposed to be a soothing presence. He is there to remind people that death isn't evil and something that needs to be accepted. He isn't supposed to be there for jump scares, and then completely disappear for the most part.

12. Also the optics of casting a black man for Pascow , and then completely and grotesquely fucking up his face so bad his brains are exposed in his scenes...while Ellie also gets hit by a truck and she looks completely okay, like a perfect corpse angel is just. Gross and bad and racist and sexist ALL AT ONCE, AMAZING.

Like look, I don't WANT to see a mutilated gored up child, sure, but it's so shitty that both these characters get hit by trucks and the black man looks like....he got hit by a truck but the white child looks fine. She looks fine. Her head is stapled and her eyes are a little mismatched but fine.

13. THE EDITING IS SO BAD. It feels like they couldn't WAIT to get to the ending fast enough so scenes will literally smash cut to the next right in the middle of an action. There was a moment where Church is hissing and then it just CUTS immediately in the middle of hissing, he doesn't even get to finish hissing! Just cut to the next scene! There is no lingering on a moment to just process. Things just happen.

14. The story of Timothy, the person who was brought back one time, is just a footnote in this movie. It's barely relevant. That was a such a great creepy moment that underscored the whole movie and it's themes, and it's just gone.

15. Why is Jud so creepy. He literally looks at Louis and the family from a distance and ominously smokes a cigarette and he's so mysterious for no reason and even his first meeting with Ellie he yells at her and then is like WHAT, CAN'T YOU READ about the pet sematary sign. WHAT ARE THESE CHOICES. For a moment I thought Jud would be evil but no he's just weird and creepy for reasons? The movie sacrificed his and Louis' relationship to build one with him and Ellie, which is cute but also kinda bothers me because it's really to just make Ellie look like she is SO IMPORTANT TO JUD and that's why he tells Louis how to bring her cat back and it's…weird. Jud seems overinvested in the family and kids that aren't his rather than like,being friends with them all.

Jud is CHARMING. You fall in love with his kindly old man gentleman nature. He feels like everyone's grandpa. He is warm and delightful and it's such a shock and horror when he dies in such a brutal way. Trying to frame him in shadow with an ominous cigarette reduces the warmth of the character for no reason!

Furthermore, Jud's warmth is meant to obscure that he's ultimately rather weak himself, in character, just like Louis. He's not entirely at fault for the events but he cant help himself in telling Louis about burying church, rather than implying that the dark power is literally ensnaring him to make Louis do it jaksfsadfasdfa

16. LOUIS LITERALLY DRUGS JUD LIKE A DATE RAPIST WHAT THE FUCK

17. Guys, you can't just turn on a fog machine on your set and say you're an atmospheric movie. HAVING FOG IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR GENUINE DREAD.

18. The ending is just bad. I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE zombie family but its filmed like for cheap shock, rather than genuine horror. I love dark endings, but it didn't feel like a tragedy the movie should be, it just felt like the hand of the writers were trying to do a different ending to say SEE THIS IS DIFFERENT! LOOK AT HOW DIFFERENT AND DARK WE ARE. I just...hate the whole framing. I love the idea of the whole family being reanimated but I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY. Ellie wanted to torture them like she is being tortured? That's a great concept but it's not really a thing in the movie. You can't tell if Zombie Rachel or Zombie Louis feel any kind of horror or torment at their own state, which undercuts the whole reanimation.

Ok in the interest of being fair, here are some things I liked.

1. I do genuinely love Ellie in this movie at the beginning. I liked the idea of her being drawn to the cemetery. I really liked the scene where Louis is giving her a bath and he sees the staples from the autopsy. I loved the bits when it was sort of suggested that even she didn't know why she was back and where she had gone and did not understand why she could feel the woods inside her. I wish we just expanded on that more.

2. Church. Church is great. Church is always great. Best cat, did no wrong. This movie did not kill the cat off for good, so that is a bonus.

3. There's a moment where Louis is trying to justify bring Ellie back to life and Rachel is just staring at him agog and horrified and Louis is wild eyed and shaking and it's the most terrifying moment in the movie for me. Not Ellie or the wendigo, but LOUIS, having completely lost it and not giving a shit that he has an undead monster daughter right now. SO GREAT. The movie undercuts it later by having him realize he ~needs to kill Ellie~ again and like...no, go full steam ahead with that.

4. SOME SHOTS LOOK GOOD I GUESS

In conclusion MEN ARE DUMB AND SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN WOMEN'S FILMS TO REMAKE

#anti pet semetary #pet semetary spoilers #sometimes dead REALLY IS BETTER

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clay-air · 4 years

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IT Reddie/Stanlon/Benverly In the Flesh AU

Losers are in their early/mid-thirties.

Living: Bill, Ben, Mike

PDS sufferers: Georgie, Beverly, Stan, Richie, Eddie

Five years ago, the dead rose all around the world, and the small town of Derry, Maine, was no exception. Halfway into the zombie apocalypse, a breakthrough drug called neurotriptaline allows the risen dead to regain their senses—rebranded as Partially-Deceased Syndrome sufferers, they receive treatment and begin to be integrated back into the communities they nearly destroyed. Derry was never the most tolerant of towns, and to no one’s surprise the surviving townsfolk are incredibly hostile to the returning PDS sufferers. It is in this setting that seven Losers—each damaged in their own way by the events of (and prior to) the Rising—find each other and start to heal.

Disjointed outline and notes below the cut: I will definitely never actually write a fic for this bc I am pathologically incapable of turning my ramblings into a cohesive story with a plot and all that, so everything is up for grabs!! If you do get inspired by my musings and write or draw something, please lmk!!! Also feel free to comment with your own thoughts/ideas/headcanons!!!!

Warning for references to: suicide, homophobia, spousal/parental abuse, hate crimes, self-harm scars, violence

Bill Denbrough gets his baby brother Georgie (their age gap is a lot bigger in this AU) back but has to deal with the residual guilt he still feels about his death (an accident Bill maybe could have prevented). He saw Georgie after he’d risen, missing an arm and eating a dude (alternatively, Zombie!Georgie actually kills Bill’s wife Audra bc Bill hesitated over shooting him, and Bill has to deal with that while also trying to make sure Georgie doesn’t find out/remember what he did) and was the one to restrain him so he could be sent to the treatment center.

Ben Hanscom loved Beverly Marsh from afar until she went missing (killed by her abusive husband who later died during the Rising) and when she comes back to Derry from the treatment center with no one waiting for her, he decides this time he’ll actually step up and be there for her. Of course he has to actually get her to trust him first. She vaguely remembers him as a guy who was always nice to her, but it’s dangerous to assume that anyone in Derry has less-than-homicidal feelings regarding those with PDS. Beverly is starts off nervous and flighty, but eventually adopts a very “middle finger to the whole damn town” attitude, and, despite her initial reservations, finds that the words of a certain Undead Prophet are starting to resonate with her....

Stanley Uris committed suicide before rising from the grave, and he’s trying to find a reason to stick around for his “second chance at life” that he never wanted in the first place. Can he finally move past the cloying, suffocating fear he felt every second he was alive now that he no longer has any need to “fear the Reaper”? He finds companionship in Mike Hanlon, a quiet man who defended his farm on the outskirts of town all by himself during the Rising, luring the Risen who wandered on to the property into a barn and keeping them inside once he heard about the successful neurotriptaline trials. Mike’s refusal to join the Human Volunteer Force during the Rising (he didn’t want to kill anyone, zombie or not) earned him the scorn of the already-pretty-racist townsfolk.

Richie Tozier was the victim of a homophobic hate crime, and now because of bureaucratic bullshit (reintegrated PDS sufferers need to be incident-free for a minimum of three years before they can change their address) he has to come back to the very same town that loathed him enough to kill him. Also they have another reason to hate him now! He’s trying to take it in stride (or at least outwardly appear like he’s taking it in stride) but his murderer, Henry Bowers, is basically a town hero for helping form the HVF, and he’s using his status in the town to make Richie’s already pretty miserable half-life hell. Things start turning around for him when he finds a reason to stop playing hooky and actually show up for the Give Back program: another PDS sufferer who is wound up tighter than anyone he’s ever met, is absolutely CAKED in flesh-tone makeup, and whose snapped insults in response to Richie’s trashmouth antics don’t carry the now-familiar hatred behind them that he’s become accustomed to. Also he’s cute as fuck. But damn, gay thoughts come with a lot of baggage after being gay literally got you killed.

Eddie Kaspbrak succumbed to slow poisoning by his mother, who’s Munchausen by proxy escalated with deadly effects. Unfortunately, once he’s released from the treatment center Eddie has nowhere to go but back into her open arms. She refuses to acknowledge what she did to him, and starts using his daily neurotriptaline doses as a new way of controlling him (Eddie is absolutely PETRIFIED at the thought of going rabid). Ironically, his only moments of freedom happen when he’s at work for the Give Back program (his mother’s protests that he’s too frail to do manual labor don’t really hold up under the fact that he’s kind of unkillable now?) where he meets a fellow PDS sufferer who’s an irredeemable trashmouth but who treats him more like a human being than anyone ever has, even counting before he was a literal zombie. And no, Eddie does not think he’s fucking funny. He doesn’t.

Featuring:

- Beverly supplying Eddie with DIY neurotriptaline she learned how to make from the ULA website so he can get out from under his mother’s thumb, which he accepts after an hour-long tirade about how she doesn’t know if it’s safe or even STERILE (“Eddie, honey, I don’t think we can get infections anymore” “it’s the PRINCIPLE of it, Bev!”)

- Mike showing Stan that all the bird species he saw in the woods when he was alive are still there, and that the Rising didn’t destroy everything good in the world, also introducing him to his secret library

- Bill bringing Georgie to Mike’s farm so he can see and work with the animals (and also so he isn’t in town where someone might mention Audra). Mike is somewhat disapproving of Bill’s not telling Georgie what happened, but he sympathizes, and tries to help both brothers work through their trauma. (Stan eventually convinces Mike that he should be taking care of himself too)

- Ben struggling to convey to Beverly that he genuinely wants to be her friend (and more) and help her (Bev: “Oh wait are you one of those guys who finds the whole ‘undead’ thing hot? Why don’t you go to the PDS brothel then and leave me alone?” Ben: *internal screaming*)

- Richie and Eddie building fences at 1/6th the pace of all the other pairs of Give Back program “volunteers” bc they can’t stop ribbing each other and arguing and also Richie might’ve made it his new-life’s purpose to get Eddie to smile and laugh as much as possible. “Do you even still need glasses, asshat?” “The better to see you with, my Spaghetti” “Don’t fucking call me that”

- turns out Richie and Beverly sort of hunted as a group during the Rising (a la Kieren and Amy) and now they like to get together in the Barrens, get high off sheep brains, and try not to have panic attacks about what they did while unmedicated. Bev confesses that while she hates the slow-drip of returning memories of the Rising, she hopes that one day she’ll remember being the one who killed her husband because that would mean she got her revenge in the end. Richie offers to help her jog her memory by reenacting it with him starring as her husband, but she just laughs and punches him in the arm. “Be glad I can’t feel pain anymore, Marsh, that seemed like it might’ve done some serious damage” “Beep beep, Richie”

- insert that ep 1 scene with Rick’s dad dragging the neighbor’s PDS wife into the street and shooting her, but replace with Bowers killing Adrian Mellon as Bill watches from through the curtains across the street with Georgie’s head tucked into his chest so he can’t see

- Stan slowly coming into his own through what starts off as relatively harmless acts of rebellion against Derry but escalates to all the Losers having a blast vandalizing their own graves. “Honestly Richie, I’m surprised your epitaph wasn’t ‘blessedly silent at last’” “Woah! Stanley gets off a good one!”

- Richie visiting the Kissing Bridge where he was caught halfway carving his name + ??? by Bowers’ crew and was brutally beaten before being thrown into the river. Looking back, it was hardly a crush worth getting killed over, but this time he feels like he’s drowning in his feelings (of fucking course it would feel like drowning) and he’s terrified. Carving a shaky “E” where he never got to finish his declaration last time takes some of the weight off his heart.

- Ben finally getting Beverly to realize that he’s been in love with her since long before the Rising by telling her that he was the one who wrote the anonymous postcard she received a few months before she died, and showing her all the other poems he’d written over the years. “January embers”...

- Bill and Mike helping Eddie gather proof that this mother was responsible for his death by combing through Derry police records and autopsy reports (also hey, turns out you can still detect all those poisonous chemicals in his partially deceased body!) and using it to get him essentially emancipated and his mother arrested. Eddie moves in with Richie afterwards and being in close proximity all the time brings both their feelings to a boil.

- Georgie does eventually remember encountering Bill and Audra during the Rising. “I died, and you lied”. He runs away into the Barrens where he meets a strange PDS sufferer who wears clown makeup instead of the usual flesh-mimicking stuff...

- the creeping emergence of a ULA splinter group led by Pennywise that starts haunting at the edges of Derry and stoking the fires of the townspeople’s fear against the Risen. Eventually they kidnap Georgie to their weird sewer cult dungeon under Neibolt bc they think he’s the First Risen (lol sorry dudes, wrong side of the pond), and the Losers have to gear up and go get him back before a fucking clown EATS HIM to bring about the Second Rising.

Physical appearances:

Eddie: wears his contacts and makeup religiously until he is able to escape his mother, at which point he starts to let loose a bit (it helps that Richie says he’s still adorable, even tho Eddie would never admit to that). He has a gash in his cheek and a huge puncture wound straight through his chest, both of which he sustained during the Rising.

Richie: wears glasses even tho he doesn’t technically need to anymore. Gave up on the whole makeup thing pretty early bc it was a pain to apply, but he does sometimes wear the colored contacts when he’s out and about for the Giveback Program. He’s covered in cuts and blue/purple bruises that he sustained in Bowers’ attack, and has a big nasty stitched-up gash just above his hairline from hitting his head on a river rock.

Beverly: makeup and contacts whom? She has a pretty conspicuously hand-shaped bruise around her neck that she tends to cover with scarves tho

Stan: wears the makeup and contacts, but is much better at making them look natural than Eddie is. Matching scars on each wrist that he keeps covered all the time. A bullet hole in his side from the Rising.

Georgie: wears the makeup and contacts. Missing an arm (injury sustained during the Rising)

#it steven king #In the Flesh #reddie #stanlon #benverly #writing ideas #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #mike hanlon #stanley uris #bill denbrough #georgie denbrough #i wrote all this in the Notes app at 3am bc the idea possessed me like some sort of benevolent fanfic demon #not art

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shinobi98 · 3 years

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I'vee written this from episode 29 through 32-ish and I want to dump a quick review of what I think of the characters at this point. Just for the lols for when I finish the show and I find I was completely wrong on most of them! Im using a compiled list on Google drive for the characters, so following that order they are split into clans.

Here we go.

Wei Wuxian. I really liked him at the beginning (what a funny cinnamon roll) but ever since he went missing into Burial Grounds I'm not sure...I see his points -especially when he criticised the Jins and stood up for the Wens- , but I can't believe he doesn't see he's being corrupted. Like come on. Just let the others help you for once, this is just looking for troubles. On thin ice. Used to be 9/10

Lan Zhan. Didn't like him much - or at all - when he was introduced in Clouds Recessess. I thought he was a stick in the mud and I wasn't too fond of him. He's missing for good chunks of the story. As my opinion of WWX deteriorated, I like him more or more because he's the one making sense out of the two, this gets him a passing score, even if barely. 6/10

Jian Cheng. He was my sweet sweet baby. Unparalleled sibling energy with WWX, cute angsty ship with Wen Qing, likable personality, the drama with the core. He had it all. But at some point...I don't know man. I just don't agree with anything he says anymore, and he's just becoming more and more sulky about his inferiority complex as a Clan Leader. I feel that, not counting the 16 years later part I didn't watch yet, he should get the title of co-protagonist rather than Wangji, since he's much more involved in the plot. Used to be a 8/10, still pending.

Jian Yanli. I like her. I feel like a dumb ass for getting attached and only remembering halfway through the flashback part that she's going to die, as per the first few episodes. I'm hating every second of it, like why killing her when the show is full of unpleasant people? Poor Li. Also the ship is a big plus. This kind of drama is just *chef kiss*- (and edit: after I watched the last episode of the night and she died...it's fine I'm not crying.) 8/10

Jian Fengmian. I don't really care much about him one way or the other. A little whipped by his wife - not that it is bad per se, but she really is bad so - , didn't particularly like that he favored WWX over JC. I think he could have been better, but he was pretty decent. 7/10

Madame Yu. No. 1/10

Lan Zichen. Possibly the last dude I 100% trust in this show not to let me down - as long as he isn't influenced too much by Mang Yao. I like him in a sort of uninvolved way. Don't look forward to see him on screen, don't wonder where he is or what he is doing, pleased when he shows up and does his sensible thing and then disappears again. Kept me on my toes after he escaped from Could Recesses though, but really took him so long to come back I almost forgot I was worrying about him. Way to go Zichen. 7/10

Lan Qiren. He's alright? I don't care much. Pretty dope when he took a stand against the Wans when they attacked, but I find him to be a little too much sometimes. 6/10

The files lists some juniors I haven't seen yet. They seem baby? Cute. I assume they are going to be so-and-so 's children, like in a Boruto way. Looking forward to see all the characters paired up.

Jin Guangshan. I thought he was annoying because he had a bunch of illegitimate children that I lost track of but then he became even more annoying with his very transparent power grab -and the fact that no one seems concerned is baffling to me. Overall I think I would have pretty much liked it more if the son Zixuan was clan leader and we didn't have to deal with this piece of work. 2/10

Jin Zixuan. As I was writing this post this man went through all sort of things. From proposing to having a child to being murdered. Honestly, we didn't start off the right foot when he booked the inn where WWX & co wanted to stay. I kept wishing he would kick the bucket because I hated how he treated Yanli, and I thought he would wind up to be a minor villain...while it seems he was the only normal member of his family. I feel bad for hating him so much. 8/10.

Jin Ling. Biggest reason why I thought his dad would be a bad guy. For the first part, I thought the Jins would be the villains because of him, and not the Wens, though in the end I wasn't that off the mark in a sense. He was just a cartoonish villain. I have yet to see him again after the flashback part, but his first introduction was awful. 3/10

Meng Yao. So the thing is, I was really partial towards him at the beginning. The bit at Cloud Recesses? The part with the Nie family? Perfect. Felt so bad for how everyone treated him. I started to excuse what he was doing like "it's ok, the head of guards is a dick to him" "it's okay he was double crossing the bad guys eheh" "it's ok he is...murdering civilians?" But seriously he let me down so hard. Also his face looks so different I didn't recognise him at first. At the beginning I thought I could maybe have a cute ship with Zichen but to tell the truth I don't want Meng Yao anywhere near him now. I seriously thought he wanted to murder infant Jin Ling at some point there to climb the ladder and become Clan Leader. I'm sure he set WWX up and schemed to murder the last dregs of the Wens and Zixuan. 1/10

Jin Zixun. Pretty inconsequential. Could have done with him imo. I'm only including him because I love when WWX goes "I don't even know who you are" like three times and that's a mood because where the heck did he come from.

Mo Xuanyu. I don't get why he looks like WWX. I sort understand why they used the same actor but story-wise I don't understand. How can random people look at him and recognise WWX? Also, he is kinda stupid for giving up his life to be possessed by a bad guy to get revenge but whatever floats your boat I guess. 4/10

Nie Mingjue. I don't care much for him. He bullies his brother too much and his short temper is annoying even though often justified. I thought I could kinda always rely on him to be the voice of reason despite not liking his character but then he said the stupidest thing in the show "I'm not sitting on that chair" and left it to the Jin Sect Leader...look how that worked out. Love how he basically disappeared after that, I think because he knew he screwed up big time (jk). 6/10

Nie Huaisang. Funny. Definetly underused. I hoped he would be part of the main gang. When he stopped showing up, the show took a terrible turn in its atmosphere. Please come back as sect leader in the 16 years later part (I mean, who else is there? I hope he didn't die in the meantime because he isn't showing up in this final battle). I wish I saw him swing a sword at the least once but alas. 7/10.

Wen Ruohan. I mean. What can you expect. Typical bad guy sitting on top of a lava pond that controls zombies. Wasn't expecting much development from his character and he surely didn't deliver. A good 2-dimensional bad guy to kill without thinking too hard about anything I guess. Awful person tho. 4/10

Wen Xu. I didn't even realize there were two young Wens. I thought he was his brother at first, but without the spice. Literally why was he there. 4/10

Wen Chao. He sucks, don't get me wrong. But watching him coming up with all sorts of awful things is very entertaining. 2/10 as a person, 9/10 as a villain. Cheered when he died.

Wen Lingjiao. Same as her lover, but more annoying because she got on my nerves sometimes. I was so glad when she got it. The (1) good thing coming out of WWX's corruption. 2/10

Wen Zhuliu. I really want to know what drove him to serve Chao with such devotion. His technique was kinda cool. I think he would have been an okay guy but sadly he associated with Chao. 4/10

Wen Ning. I thought "No, poor Ning is dead" ten times already and still counting. Please WWX just let him die. He is/was just a sweetheart and I loved him with all my heart. His death and everything that came after it filled me with rage, when i thought he died I was brokenhearted, and the fact that he gets blamed for killing people when it's arguably WWX's fault is so unfair. We didn't deserve Wen Ning. I don't really like that he became the Ghost General tho. 10/10

Wen Qing. I liked her. Same as her brother, how their story ended up upset me. I hoped they would get to live peacefully in their commune in the woods. That part of the story was *chef kiss*. The romance with JC lacked closure imo but I understand that they both had things going on and they would need to stretch the story too much to get the together or at the least talk about their feelings. I hoped till the end she wouldn't be killed because I knew Ning came bad 16 years later, so they must have avoided being executed, but more realistically I guess he's just a zombie and she's just dead. I lowkey shipped her with WWX though I feel this would be an unpopular opinion in the fandom -when I learned WWX has a different endgame ship I was kinda bummed sorry. I thought we would get a sort of love triangles with JC, I can't say I'm disappointed because it would have been a terrible plot. They really have a good platonic relationship, I loved to see them build that village. 8/10

Song Lan/ Xiao Xingchen / Xue Yang. What's the deal with them? They seemed to be set up to come back but only Song Lan does a passing appearance. Are they coming back? What was their significance? So weird because the untamed usually doesn't introduce characters to just drop them when the episode's over.

#the untamed #mszp

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crackspinewornpages · 3 years

Text

Macbeth -William Shakespeare

A1S1

On a heath there’s a storm and three witches plan to meet Macbeth.

A1S2

In a camp near Forres, King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain and Lennox meet a dying captain who was killed by the rebel, Macdonwald who was then killed by Macbeth. After his report Duncan has him carried off as Ross enters with the news the traitor Cawdor has been defeated and repelled and after celebrating Duncan orders Cawdor to be executed and to give is title to Macbeth. “What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.”p.979

A1S3

Back on the heath the witches meet and talk about their day and prepare for Macbeth’s arrival. Macbeth and Banquo arrive and see the witches, Banquo wonders if they’re even human as they are on earth but don’t look like they belong on it. The witches hail Macbeth, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.”p.980 Macbeth is confused and intrigued but they turn their attention to Banquo, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none!”p.980 (wonder what they could mean by that) Then they disappear and Macbeth and Banquo discuss the strange encounter when Ross and Angus enter to tell Macbeth he was just named Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is focused on the prophecy coming true but Banquo is concerned, “and often times, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths,”p.980 Macbeth ignores him thinking of how he will one day be king if he will have to commit ill acts (gets power and is immediately corrupted) and tells Banquo they’ll talk later.

A1S4

In the palace Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain and Lennox talk of Cawdor’s execution and Malcolm says he died nobly and Duncan thinks of how he trusted him. (certainly history won’t repeat itself) Macbeth, Banquo, Ross and Angus enter and Duncan thanks them for their heroism, how can he repay them. “The service and the loyalty I owe in doing it, pays itself.”p.981 Macbeth says his duties are to him and his children. Duncan announces he plans to make Malcolm his heir and Macbeth say he must inform his wife and to himself says thinks of how to make himself king. (can there by a comedy skit where A says this and character B: ‘what was that?’ A: ‘nothing’ C: ‘you just said you were planning to kill me’ A: ‘no no I didn’t’ B: ‘dude we are standing three feet from you’) “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires;”p.982 Duncan then plans to visit Macbeth.

A1S5

In Macbeth’s castle Lady Macbeth reads a letter that proclaims Macbeth as the new Thane of Cawdor and his meeting with the witches. She wants her husband to fulfill it but believes he’s too soft to be ambitious. “Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, “p.982 A messenger enters to tell her her husband and the king are coming and she proclaims, “Unsex me here, and fill me from crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty;”p.982 (I won’t have my vagina stop me) So she can do what needs to be done. Macbeth arrives and informs her Duncan plans to leave tomorrow she tells him to beguile Duncan as he won’t see tomorrow and leave it all to her.

A1S6

Before the castle Duncan arrives and Lady Macbeth welcomes him saying it is a duty to the king. (which king Duncan or Macbeth discuss it in your English class)

A1S7

Servants prepare as Macbeth worries about what is to be done, “if the assassination could trommel up the consequence and catch with his surcease secure; that but this blow might be the by-all and the end-all here, “p.983 Duncan trusts him and is virtuous he is his kinsmen, “I have no spur to pick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition,”p.983 Lady Macbeth enters telling him Duncan is asking for him and says he looks horrible, is he afraid, he would do it if he were a man, she’d kill a baby if she had to. (woah lady) “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”p.984 Do it while he is sleeping and Macbeth hopes she wont ever have girls (yeah if they’re going to be like her) but he agrees to the plan to frame the chamberlains.

A2S1

Banquo and his son Fleance are in the castle’s court, Fleance says it’s midnight but Banquo wants to stay up. Macbeth surprise them, Banquo tells him the king is sleeping and he just had a dream of the witches, Macbeth lies that he doesn’t think of them and they’ll talk later. Alone Macbeth has a vision of a dagger and wonders if it’s real, “Or art thou but a dagger of the mind,”p.985 (that Star Trek episode where a doctor is brainwashing mental patients into placid zombies) He sees blood on it then decides it’s just nerves, he hears a bell and says he’ll go through with it. “I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knoll that summons thee to heaven or to hell.”p.985

A2S2

Lady Macbeth claims the alcohol made her bold when she hears Macbeth cry out fears the chamberlains woke and wonders how he couldn’t do it. Macbeth then comes to her confirming he went through with it as his hands are covered in blood and that the chamberlains did wake but went back to sleep after saying their prayers. “But wherefore could I not pronounce ‘Amen? I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat.”p.985 (like you did something very unholy) Then he thought he heard a voice through the whole house echoing sleep no more. “Glamis hath murder’d sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!”p.986 Lady Macbeth first tells him not to worry but then get angry when he forgot to frame the chamberlains and refuses to go back so she takes the dagger and does it. (fuck this I’ll do it myself) Macbeth wonders frightened, “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hands?”p.986 Lady Macbeth returns, blood on her hands too and has Macbeth come to their chambers to wash.

A2S3

A porter hears knocking and grumbles about the noise, it’s Macduff and Lennox and Macduff is irritated the porter took so long to let them in. Macbeth enters and Macduff wants to see the king Macbeth says he’s still sleeping. Lennox describe the storm last night nothing like he’s ever seen (this is a sign something is wrong) as Macduff comes back screaming about the horror and has them both go to the king’s chambers. Macduff sounds the alarm, “Awake! Awake! Ring the alarm-bell. Murder and treason!”p.897 Lady Macbeth wakes and demands to know what is going on but Macduff won’t speak of murder to a woman. (hahaha if only you knew) Macbeth and Lennox come back with news that the king is dead and Malcolm and Donalbain are informed as they arrive and the chamberlains appear to have done it and are also dead. Macbeth claims to have done that as he was furious Macduff is suspicious (wait if you just found out he was killed when we got here how did-) but Lady Macbeth distracts them by fainting. Banquo will fight this treason, they agree with him and alone Malcolm and Donalbain discuss how they don’t feel safe, “where we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles:”p.988 They’ll split to England and Ireland. (in no way could this be seen as suspicious)

A2S4

Outside the castle Ross and an old man discuss the strange happenings (not that happening) last Tuesday an owl killed a hawk and Duncan’s well trained horses turned wild, “broke their stalls, flung out, contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would make war with mankind.” “’Tis said they ate each other.”p.988 (see sign as the king was ordained by god going against that order throws nature out of wack) Macduff emerges and says Macbeth killed those responsible for the king’s death and will be crowned. Ross doesn’t like it, “’Gainst nature still! Thriftless ambition that will ravin up thine own life’s means!”p.988 Macduff says Malcolm and Donalbain fled and are now suspicious as they go home the old man adds, “Gods’ benison go with you; and with this that would make good of bad, and friends of foes!”

A3S1

In Forres, Banquo reflects on the prophecy fulfilling, if Macbeth becomes king what about the second part. (how you won’t be king but you sons will like you’ll be a great man or something and your sons will rise to kingship) Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Lennox and Ross enter to invite him to a celebratory feast, Banquo will come and says he plans to ride that afternoon. Macbeth says they should discuss Malcolm and Donalbain who fled and could be plotting against them and asks if Fleance is with him, yes, and they all leave, Macbeth with his attendant who informs him men are waiting for him at the gate. Alone Macbeth gives a speech that Banquo was once his friend but now fears him and his sons, (ok you have no sons so it is possible you will name Banquo’s kids as your heirs a prophecy is all about interpretation I mean look at what happened to Voldemort) the attendant comes back with the murderers and Macbeth reminds them of their previous conversation of what a bad guy Banquo is. They are angry enough to kill him and Macbeth says he is also his enemy and for them to leave no traces as they kill him and his son too. “Banquo, thy souls flight, if it find heaven, must find out to-night.”p.990

A3S2

In the castle Lady Macbeth is in despair and has her husband sent for, “’tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.”p.990 When Macbeth enters she tells him not to be disconcerted, “what is done is done.”p.990 Macbeth says he is afflicted with dreams and that their business isn’t complete with Banquo and Fleance, but already carried out plans and tells her to play innocent during the feast. (so she has a pang of conscious but Macbeth tasted blood and won’t quail at spilling more)

A3S3

On the road the murderers ambush Banquo and Fleance. “O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge.”p.991 As Fleance escapes (you two had one job) the murderers decided to report it to Macbeth.

A3S4

Everyone is seated at the banquet when one of the murderers has Macbeth talk to him, that he killed Banquo but Fleance escaped, Macbeth was pleased at first then angry his throne isn’t secure. As Macbeth rejoins the banquet Banquo’s ghost appears (Banquo…banquet see what you did there) in Macbeth’s seat Macbeth says the table is full but to everyone else the seat is empty. The others wonder what is wrong with him but Lady Macbeth says he does this all the time and to ignore him. Lady Macbeth tells him to act like a man and snap out of it, Macbeth tells them to look but the ghost disappears. Macbeth starts to recover and apologies when Banquo reapers and shocks him and disappears again as Macbeth has a fit and Lady Macbeth makes excuses for him and sends the guests away. “It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood:”p.993 He tells his wife Macduff plans to stay away and he will consult the weird sisters tomorrow to see what is plotting against him. “I am in blood stepp’d in so far, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.”p.993 (well generally it’s best to stop murdering)

A3S5

On the heath the witches meet and Hecate (goddess of witchcraft) scolds them for meddling with Macbeth and she will take over and they will charm him into a false sense of security. (there’s a whole debate if Macbeth is a victim of fate or not I can’t tell you I never saw that Gargoyles episode)

A3S6

In the palace Lennox is discussing matters with a lord, Fleance was blamed for his fathers murder like Malcolm and Donalbain for Duncan. After the feast he suspects Macbeth and the lord says Macduff is in England to join Malcolm, “by the help of these-with him above to ratify the work-we may again give our tables meat, sleep in our nights, free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives.”p.994 (so being ruled under Macbeth sucks) Macbeth prepares for war and Lennox hopes Macduff will return soon.

A4S1

In a cave a cauldron boils and the three witches chant a spell Hecate compliments their work and there is a knock one witch remarks, “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”p.995 Macbeth enters demanding to know the truth of their prophecies (and also what are they doing with the cauldron W: …dinner) and they summon apparitions to answer. An armored head, “Beware Macduff; beware the Thane of Fife.”p.995 A bloody child, “Be bloody bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.”p.995 A crowned child holding a tree branch, “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.”p.995 (no man born of woman can harm him and when a forest travels across a hill remember what I said about interpretation) Macbeth is happy at this impossibility, then asks if Banquo will rule then Banquo’s ghost with eight children following, Macbeth demands to know the meaning of it but the witches vanish. Lennox says he saw nothing but when Macbeth hears Macduff is in England he resolves to end it, “give to the edge of the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”p.996 (it’s going to be a very long summer)

A4S2

In Macduff’s castle, Lady Macduff feels betrayed by her husband leaving them, but Ross insists to trust her husband, he knows best before he leaves them. Lady Macduff worries how they will live with Macduff dead but her son insists he isn’t. A messenger comes saying that they are in danger they have to leave, Lady Macduff they are innocent. “But I remember now I am in this earthly world, where, to do harm is often laudable, to do good sometime accounted dangerous folly;”p.997 (side eyes current events) Then they are sieged and killed.

A4S3

In England’s palace Malcolm and Macduff talk, Malcolm doesn’t trust him since he left his family and could be working with Macbeth. “angels are bright still, though the brightest fell;”p.998 (see Paradise Lost) to see if he’s trust worthy Malcolm lists his vices. “in whom I know all the particulars of vice so grafted, that, wen they shall be open’d, black Macbeth will seem as pure as snow,”p.998 (so you slaughtered countless people) Malcolm says he sleeps with any woman, is greedy and prone to violence and doesn’t care for kingly behaviors. Macduff says he’s not fit to even live, “Thy royal father was a most sainted king; the queen that bore thee, oft’ner upon her knees than on her feet dies every day she liv’d.”p.999 Malcolm reveals he made it all up he is a godly man, “I am yet unknown to woman, never was forsworn, scarcely have coveted wat was mine own; at no time broke my faith,”p.999 (he’s a virgin I was the only one in my class to catch that) He embraces Macduff and a doctor comes to say a crew of wretched souls come for the king to cure evil.

Ross enters having come from Scotland to inform that Macduff’s family is well when he left them. But he urges Malcolm to return he says he will with ten thousand men and Ross breaks down. He confesses to Macduff his family was murdered and everyone in the castle. Malcolm tries to comfort him, “Be comforted: let’s make us medicine of our great revenge, to cure this deadly grief.”p.1000 Macduff is distraught and Malcolm tells him to turn it to anger and Macduff swears vengeance.

A5S1

In the castle a doctor and a woman are discussing Lady Macbeth’s condition of sleepwalking. Lady Macbeth then enters sleepwalking washing her hands, (this play is said to be cursed in one production during this scene the actress accidentally walked off the stage) “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”-“yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?”p.1001 the doctor declares this is beyond his practice, “unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles; infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets;”p.1001 (translated your subconscious is bringing out your guilt) He tells to woman to watch her. (and we’ll see how well that turns out)

A5S2

Near Dunsinane, Lennox, Angus and others meet to discuss Malcom’s army, they will meet them near Birnam wood. Angus wonders how he feels, “now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish theif.”p.1001 They march.

A5S3

In the Dunsinane castle Macbeth is talking to the doctor, he isn’t afraid since he heard the prophecy. (you ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy Voldemort can tell you all about it) A servant tells him there are a thousand soldiers and Macbeth says he doesn’t have friends in his age but curses. The doctor informs him his wife is worse Macbeth tell him to fix her, “cure her of that: const thou not minister to a mind diseas’d, “-“cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous that which weighs upon the heart?” “Therein the patient must minister to himself.” p.1002 (my teacher saw this as Shakespeare being advanced in saying there can be medicine for sick minds as psychology wasn’t invented yet)

A5S4

Near Birnam Wood, Malcolm, Macduff and others plan, Malcolm gives orders, “Let every soldier hew him down a bough and bear’t before him: thereby we shall we shadow the numbers of our host,”p.1003 (so the wood of Birnam is travelling across a hill) Malcolm hopes for the advantage and they march onward. (well they’re not Ents but I guess they’ll get the job done)

A5S5

In the castle Macbeth orders banners hung for the siege then hears a woman scream. Seyton informs him that Lady Macbeth is dead and Macbeth soliloquys in shock, “Life’s but a shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”p.1003 (1: thank you Simpsons for having this be the first piece of Shakespeare I memorized 2: a haunting way to say what we do in life can amount to nothing our lives are short and meaningless 3: Q recited it best no argument) A messenger informs him Birnam Wood is moving, Macbeth recalls the prophecy and declares he’ll die fighting.

A5S6

Before the castle Malcolm and his army advance, “Make all our trumpets speak; give the mull breath, those clamorous harbingers of blood and death.”p.1004

A5S7

On another part of the plain, Macbeth is arrogant because no man born of woman is impossible, Young Siward (who is this) calls him a tyrant they fight and he is slain. Macduff enters the fray haunted by his family and will fight Macbeth, “Let me find him, fortune! And more I beg not,”p.1004 As Malcolm and Old Siward enter the castle, Macbeth and Macduff finally encounter each other. “Of all men else I have avoided thee but get thee back, my soul is too much chang’d with blood of thine already.”p.1004 (you killed his whole family one more is pretty moot at this point) Macbeth claims he won’t die to man born of woman but, “Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripp’d.”p.1004 (cesarean section technically not born of a woman in the traditional sense) Macbeth is suddenly fearful for his life the prophecy came true but he will still fight.

Macbeth’s forces retreat Malcolm, Old Siward and Ross stand before the recaptured castle. Old Siward is informed of his son’s death and Siward calls him God’s soldier, a fair death. Better news, Macduff carries Macbeth’s head and proclaims Malcolm king of Scotland who then makes the Thanes Earls. In time friends who fled will come home, he invites those around him to watch him be crowned at Scone. (yay happy ending except for all that were murdered)

#macbeth #william Shakespeare #books #book summaries #play #tragedy

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nieladasdenani · 7 years

Text

The Walking Dead 7x16 - The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Here we go. Let’s see if a whole season of building up was worth it...

Well, obviously my baby Sasha is not coming out of this one, is she? I mean, with that opening and all. All dark, she listening to some music and... Damn, I kind of knew, since she accepted Rosita’s dumb “plan”, to take Negan out, them both, alone, on their own.

Listen it was always ridiculous. Not only with the privileged perspective of a viewer, but from their own point of view. Negan has a huge army. What they took out was a post.

And obviously, knowing that Sonequa Martin-Green is going to star in the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery, well. We kind of knew she was going to be die this season. So the foreshadowing was there and clear.

It still makes me so sad, though. I loved Sasha, and I loved her friendship with Maggie. And She was such a good person and such a fierce warrior. It’s a shame.

Anyway. So Dwight. We know he’s not my favorite guy. I get it, I do. He was in an impossible situation. And, like he says so here, he was ‘doing it for someone else’, who’s gone now.

But hear me out. When he left the Saviors back last season with his wife (?) and her sister, he was being so brave, particularly because said sister was sick, and (this is going to sound horrible, but) a burden. They needed meds, tons, and they had them, back with Negan.

So you already did the do. Why, after she dies, would you go back to Negan? Willingly! What did you expected would happen? I mean, come on! That was just so...

Anyway, that’s why I don’t like him. And he killed Denise. I get he had to kiss Negan’s boots to keep his wife safe (though she already had made the sacrifice to “marry” Negan in order to protect him, so... But I can reconcile with it.

So here he is now, telling them he’s in on this. That Negan knows something’s up. And even knowing, as a viewer, that he probably is telling the truth. I would not trust him. Ever.

But I guess Daryl’s nod is enough. It’s so risky, in the position they’re in. It’s so, odd. He could have sent a cryptic message to Rick warning him about Negan coming. Because, really, him being there in person didn’t actually accomplished much.

I think I would have liked it more if he acted in hiding. Not revealing himself at least after all is clear. Because he actually also exposed himself. What if Negan discovered him? It’s just dumb.

Oh, Abraham. Aww, is Sasha dreaming of Abe before dying? That’s kind of sweet... Oh, no. Wait. She’s remembering their last moments together. Aww.

Oh... oh. Damn. She dreamed that he was going to die the day he died? Damn. So, this scene was not only to shape in Sasha’s out, but to make us feel more for the lost of Abraham? I mean, because it was eclipsed by Glenn’s? Because he’s being uncharacteristically soft.

By the way. Those garbage people... They are a lot of them? Are they all dead inside? Or is it a requirement to be on the top circle of command? Geez, they are so many. Wa... Are they traveling in garbage trucks? XD

And the bikes! Oh, they made me laugh with their arrival. But aren’t they acting kind of fishy, tho? I mean, maybe is just an intensified version of their general lifeless attitude, but.

My girl Maggie! My love! And Jesus! And where the frick has Gregory gone to? Do you think he’s the one who told Negan about Rick’s plans? Wait, that wouldn’t make sense, because Negan knew when he had Sasha captive. But by then Gregory was still at the Hilltop, being saved by Maggie, btw.

Unless he told Simon, and he, being the smart (funny) cookie that he is decided not to show and tell Negan so they would never lose the advantage?

Also, Judith is so cute. I’m glad she’s at the Hilltop, where she’d be safe... Hopefully. What’s the debate, exactly? If Maggie herself is going to fight or if the Hilltop is going. Because, how can they not?

And the Kingdom... Wait are those all of the “knights” that are fighting? Aren’t day too few? To fight the freaking Saviors! Well, they do have Carol and Morgan (now, after a moment of almost going berserk)

And, Shiva, of course. How could I forget. I’m liking this version of Ezekiel better, too. But I just feel they are really not enough people for this fight.

Uh oh. Negan’s here. Oh is he really letting Eugene negotiate with Rick? That’s... Well, that’s actually kind of nice. But yeah, ‘Gene, go to hell. I can’t believe he said “I am Negan” to Rick. Damn...

Take the chance Michonne... O no, wait she doesn’t know Eugene is turned. He couldn’t have heard him. Oh, she’s realized the garbage people are garbage people. Dammit! I knew all those smiles were suspicious.

Listen you’re killing Sasha, you cannot kill Michonne. Or Maggie! Or Carol, either. Sorry, you can’t.

But listen, Negan is a phenomenal antagonist. He’s not only charming. He seems so powerful. He’s clearly very smart. And we’ve seen he can be gracious.

But, obviously, we know he’s also a psychopath, and a vicious killer. And that he, mostly, doesn’t really care about anyone but himself.

Here comes. Is he going to reveal Sasha and find her dead, and have his whole negotiation collapse? Make him look like an idiot... Oh, wait no. We’re still remembering. Woah, wait. “Maggie can take care of Maggie”, Sash, my dude... Naw, look at her face right after she says it. She does not mean it one bit.

Ok, Abe, I’m sad you died. You were being really good on your last day.

Oh! Sasha! What the fuck! I’m shook! Ok, that was pretty cool. Zombie Sasha saving the day. I mean, yes I hate that she died, but it was going to happen. This was crazy touch.

Of course she turned, she took the pill right after they started the travel, they said it was a couple of hours to Alexandria, and with the blocked roads...

Well, of course Carl is already a detached violent warrior. We’ve seen him kill since he was a tiny little dude. Yes, you kill all those garbage people and saviors.

No of course no one is killing Negan. I wasn’t expecting it, tbh. But, how come no one killed Sasha off of him? Not even the one dude that went to save him and ended up being eaten alive by her zombie self.

Ok, so much action. But the garbage people were so many. And how is the leader still holding her gun on Rick thefoc.

“I said down”, I mean, she’s kind of funny. I wonder if this she thought she was going to keep Rick as her sex slave after the take of Alexandria.

Well, of course they were overruled. The garbage people were so many! Not like the handful of knights from the kingdom.

Yeah, right. You really think I am going to believe you’re killing Carl. Come on. I swear if Michonne is dead... Nah, they would not kill Michonne, the goddess, off camera.

Woah! Shiva! Aww, how come she didn’t take on Negan? He’s so lucky. Lmao, Negan is hilarious. Oh, it’s so good to see Carol in action again. I get the whole, too much violence, thing. But having enemies like Negan, you can have a peaceful out with him?

Not only did he kill people you value. But he rules with a very oppressive hand. And he is always ready to kill someone you care about again, and again. He’s too powerful.

So, no. And it’s not even about “revenge”, because dethroning Negan won’t bring Glenn, yes and Abraham, back. But you can’t really ever have a good relationship with him. he just does not care about people.

He cares about power. And he can be nice to people. And have a bonding moment with them. But ultimately? He just does not care if you live or die. As long as he keeps on living and he keeps on ruling.

Obviously you can’t solve every other problem and face every other enemy with violence. And yes, I think Rick has kind of lost a bit of his way with the violence. But there are just some bad guys who you cannot “dialogue” with.

You can argue that if Rick and his group would not have attacked the post and just accepted Negan’s offer Glenn and Abraham would not be dead. But, really?

Giving up half of your things in exchange for “protection” you don’t actually need because you’re more than capable. That’s tyranny. I am sorry.I see how people can make a case for Negan, but honey no.

And oh, sit. He knows Maggie’s alive and that does scare me to death. That’s not a good omen. I swear if they kill Maggie next season... Or if they make her Negan’s forced wife...

I kind of love that Maggie is so heartbroken for losing Sasha. They were so close. They went through so much together. And that she is the one to “save” her from being a mindless monster. It’s also so sad, tho.

And I love that there was such a touching homage to Glenn and his spirit. And all the way back to that pivotal moment when he saves Rick from being trapped on the tank.

You can say what you want. But Eugene, with all and how very coward he is, he is a terrific liar. I’m still having hopes for him saving the day. From the inside.

I know they’re trying to make me feel like Negan has still so much army power. But that camera angle seemed manipulated. And of course The Alliance only have 10 people left? ¬¬

I hope, I really, truly hope, that next season won’t be another 15 episodes of build up to a exciting end.

I get that not all of the episodes can be full packed with action. But at least give me some good plot arcs, or just a plot, in general. And character development. And enough with the foreshadowing and all the obvious tropes.

This show was too good, you cannot tell me all the good writers left. Or that the showrunner suddenly lost his mind, or got too pretentious.

Give me good storytelling. No more wasted season on a expectant pause. Please.

We have this one exciting episode, and literally the rest of the season can be deleted and nothing will happen. We are exactly were we were when we ended season 6.

The betrayal was a nice touch, unexpected. Of course it could have been more emotional if it was the Kingdom, because we really don’t care about the garbage people. They did not interact enough with our guys and the little they did they were so robotic, it didn’t mean anything.

But I think that’s why the betrayal worked. Sure it was less dramatic. But if the moment they start making the garbage people real, or create some sort of emotional connection, we would have all known.

· So it was the garbage people who tipped Negan on Rick’s plan. Seriously, though. This just show Rick’s group desperation... Or Rick’s losing touch, because he just automatically trusted them. Out of necessity, sure. But Negan wouldn’t have been betrayed so easily. That much I can tell you.

He should have had some sort of backup.

· Negan's "breakfast in bed" to Sasha scene was sort of great? I'm so bummed we're no longer going to have scenes with them together.

· Sasha's conversation with Eugene was so heartbreaking. Kinda? I mean, come on my dude. I was rooting for you. But I bet, I bet, he's going to be crucial in taking Negan down.

· Are they ever going to trust Dwight now? Or even Eugene (he'd probably die, tho. Becoming brave in his last moments?) And the garbage people? Will they turn on the Saviors? Become allies? Does it matter?

· I wonder if Negan's going to find Sherry (Dwight's wife) and use her? (We probably won't see her again, tho)

· What’s with the figure with the message Daryl found. Obviously it was from Dwight. But will it work? How come he had it in him? How did he find the time to take it out and write the message... Mysteries.

Here’s hoping next season is better

#TWD Spoilers #The Walking Dead Spoilers #TWD 7x16 #The first day of the rest of your life

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hissyreviews · 4 years

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October Reads

October is the month of spooks. So it makes sense that this is the month of the spooky books. This will be the same format as last month. There will be the book’s synopsis, my quick thoughts (though no one can say that they are intelligent), then my arbitrary ranking of the book. Under the read more!

Horns by Joe Hill

Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin’s muder, Ig spends the night drunk and doin awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover. . . and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look - a macabre gift he intends to use to find the monster who killed his one true love. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. Now it’s time for revenge. . . It’s time the devil had his due.

Thoughts: Alright, let’s discuss how great this book is. I truly believe that Joe Hill is one of the eminent horror writers of our time. I think he is just as good as Stephen King, although I like him more. There is less meandering in writing, it is tight and the story is devilishly good. I really like how it goes about the powers that Ig gains. It makes logical sense. But I truly hate Ig’s name. It’s fucking stupid. Ignatius bitch, his brother’s name is Terry! His parents were punishing him.

Rating: 8/10 would recommend

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri is is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and plans are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. As the police begin to investigate, the town golden boy parades a series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter - but is he really a killer.

Thoughts: This book really makes me think about the movie. I knew that Flynn had written the screenplay for the movie but she puts everything into it. I have never said this before but if you have watched the movie you wouldn’t need to read this book. If you read this book, then you know every move in the movie. There are more diary entries, more inner monologues, but you know what pick one or the other or both. You’ll know the whole story no matter which you pick.

Rating: 9/10 would definitely recommend either movie or book

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously ufriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a haunting; Theodora, his light hearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeist; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a chilling encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers - and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

Thoughts: This novel is the quintessential haunted house novel. I really believe that it is the heavy hitter in the genre. I loved the characterizations in here and the setting was foreboding. Hill House echoes in the mind. You can feel it emanating from the pages as you read. If you like ghost stories you need to read this classic.

Rating: 9/10 buy it for your bookshelf

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature with fangs, claws, and hair springing from every pore. I am a walking monster. You think I’m talkign fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. And I’ll stay this way forever - unless I can break the spell. Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, the perfect girl, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly

Thoughts: Yawn. I wanted something to lighten up my October and this was only an hour and a half read. I think it would be more interesting if I had read it when I was the target demographic. There are some cute things: the chat room for cursed individuals. Great idea! How Kyle looked? Cool deal. The fact that he still needs to find someone to love and stuff. Meh.

Rating: 3/10 get it for a kid who likes fairy tales. They’ll probably enjoy it.

Room by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world. It’s where he was born, it’s where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, Ma shuts his safely in the wardrobe, where Jack is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it’s the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven- foot space. But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside Ma’s own desperation - and she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer. Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating - a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

Thoughts: This is a very rough book to read. It is told from Jack’s perspective. And it really shows you how the a child doesn’t see anything wrong with being confined to a small space. The book is divided in such a way as to feel like two different stories. Them in the room and their lives post-Room. Neither are easy. The novel was written in 2010 a year after Jaycee Dugard was rescued from her abductors with her two daughters fathered by the man. Six years later Rosalynn McGinnis was rescued after being held captive for twenty years with her nine children fathered by her abductor. Room is fictional but the cases that inspired it, the cases that are still being solved that are almost beat by beat identical to the story are very real.

Rating: 6/10 didn’t truly enjoy because it is a rough read. Very very rough. Will make you think about the women who have suffered this travesty.

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thritysomething has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he’s heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him. In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with his fellow young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while others seem fixated on their own reflections, Joe can’t stop looking over his shoulder. The problem with hidden bodies is that they don’t always stay that way. They reemerge, like dark thoughts, multiplying and threatening to destroy what Joe wants most: true love. And when he finds it in a darkened room in a Soho House, he’s more desperate than ever to keep his secrets buried. He doesn’t want to hurt his new girlfriend - he wants to be with her forever. But if she ever finds out what he’s done, he may not have a choice. . .

Thoughts: Dude, this is just as creepy as You and it pops off much quicker. Like damn Joe pop a chill pill. Leave the peeps alone you crazy stalker. If you liked You you will like this book. It is a solid sequel. I just gotta say that ending?! What the hell Kepnes!?! Can a gal get a satisfying conclusion to the story where she’s been begging for the cops to arrest our lovely protagonist the entire time. Damn girl!

Rating: 8/10 would recommend. Very creepy.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset - life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.

Thoughts: Bitch what can I say? It was October. I wanted to read some kitschy shit. Mmkay?

Rating: 5/10 Fun but not serious in any way, shape, or form.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable A high school math genius, he’s secretly fascinated with a series of children’s fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams may have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .

Thoughts: This is like Harry Potter if they went to an after high school secondary education. Hello wizard college. Speaking of, why isn’t there a wizard college or university in Harry Potter? I mean no one tell JK she’ll fuck it up but really? I’m just saying. Very fun, moves quickly. Also goes over how just because you get what you want doesn’t mean you’ll be happy. Like dude can control magic and he’s still not happy. Some people just need some anti-depressants man.

Rating: 9/10 would definitely recommend

Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum

At the close of the nineteenth century, as Darwin’s theory of evolution gave birth to a golden age of rationalism, a small group of scientists launched a determined investigation into “unexplainable” incidences of clairvoyance and ghostly visitations. Led by William James, the renowned philosopher and professor of psychiatry at Harvard, they staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary psychological quests ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts, spirits, and psychic phenomena. What they pursued -- and what they found -- raises questions as fascinating today as they were then.

Thoughts: This is in the same vein as Mary Roach’s Spook. It is a historical search into some of the first scientific expeditions into the afterlife. And you know what? That’s what science is about. Looking into a subject to gain empirical evidence that could revolutionize the world? What actual scientist would not jump at the chance? Man, I read it and was just like, wow, scientist can be really fucking stupid. Just perform some experiments champ. Stop being a stubborn close-minded bitch. You know those people who are like “we just cease to exist when we die” and those who are like “you have a soul and you have to follow my religion or you will burn in hell when you die” both are close-minded twat waffles.

Thoughts: 8/10 would recommend to a scientist so they can see how fucking rude their fields were to those attempting to use science to explain the metaphysical world.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Will Graham has a fearful gift - a taletn for the pursuit of human monsters. He has caught two mass murderers in his FBI career. Now he must hunt again. A ritual murderer has struck twice, killing entire families in two South-eastern cities. Graham must find him before the moon is full again or another family will die. Graham’s keen empathy permits him - sometimes forces him - to see the crimes from some haunting points of view. This ability and his forensic skills make him the prime threat to the murderer. The killer, Francis Dolarhyde, is a terrible accident of nature, shaped by his early life into a monster. He’s trying to work things out, though. So far his efforts have cost ten lives. He intends to do something about that. In a chilling race against time, Graham searches desperately after Dolarhyde, always conscious that he and the killer are, at some fundamental level, alike. And in one terrifying respect he is right. Like him, the murderer is a ruthless hunter, already beginning his search for Will Graham.

Thoughts: First, the synopsis gives the entire story away. And to be honest I enjoyed this book however, I love my girl Clarice so much more. Would it be different if I had read this first? Maybe. Dolarhyde has sections in this book that are my favorite parts. They are messed up but the glimpses into that mind are fascinating. An enjoyable read.

Rating: 8/10 would recommend you read before Silence of the Lambs cause you will like that one more but this one deserves a read

#books #literature #review #hissy reviews #end of the month #joe hill #gillian flynn #caroline kepnes #thomas harris #bookblr

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sueboohscorner · 7 years

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#iZombie Season 3 Episode 6 "Some Like it a Hot Mess" Recap/Review

BITCH SLAP

This episode begins with a glimpse at Liv's next meal.. An extremely annoying woman-child, attached to her headphones, and acting very much like many girls I have worked with (baby voice and all), is late for work. She is the type that seems to get away with everything with a head tilt mixed with an insincere “I’m soorrryyyy!” and a pouty lip that's selfie ready. But, she does seem to have fun every moment of every day no matter what. I am a little jealous of that. When little miss drama gets bitch slapped at work, we have our case! She is obviously murdered but we will have to wait on the why and when.

Meanwhile at bromance pad-well, I hate to say I told you so but to my friends (actually I think most of them agreed)-I knew Major wouldn’t lose his memory. We join Ravi and Major the next morning after the intense Liv-Major (Lajor? Miv?) love scene and proclamations from the night before. Ravi is quizzing him on his memory as he shoves every bit of food his mouth can contain. Zombies really miss eating! One of the memory flash cards he quizzes him on has a picture of Minor! I forgot about Minor! I hope he is happy and found his forever home!

Liv is happy but has to get home not quite ready to have the talk about last night. It’s complicated.

TEAM BLEYTON

Over at the girl’s place, Peyton and Blaine are full on domesticated.

She’s cooking him bacon!

That’s love people! Liv still has her Viagra Visions which leads to duty being called, and she heads to the crime scene where Yvonne, our party girl, lies dead in the bathtub. There is a hair dryer in the tub, but it’s no suicide. Clive notices a piece broken off the dryer and a chipped tile which indicates someone threw it in. They talk to the homebody roommate who seems to be the complete opposite of our victim. She shows them Yvonne's messy room (which looks a lot like mine) and explains she was living soap opera with this girl. Good luck with these Drama Queen brains Liv! (And to everyone around you)!

Back at the lab, Liv does her thing and the techno music starts. It might not be techno but I am old and cannot differentiate between all this new dance music that sounds the same. So, Ravi and Clive now get to deal with Club Girl brain. Liv can’t find her cell phone so she asks in an ultra-whiny voice for Ravi to call it.

It literally rings in the dead body they have sewn up!

Liv and Clive visit the victim’s work to watch video of the earlier bitch slap, but Liv is only concerned to learn Yvonne was a DJ. Seems like everyone is these days!

“…hashtag my kind of cool bitch!”-Liv

Major and Ravi play video games and discuss girls etc. Liv arrives and Ravi gives her an update but she is distracted.

“This case I’m solving, I think she was killed for being AWESOME! Murdered by haters, literally!”- Liv

Ravi informs Liv Major isn’t remembering certain things and then asks Liv is she ran her errand earlier.

Ravi, are you dense? Why would you ask Liv on these brains to run an important errand right now?

We head over to The Scratching post where Don E, (I’ve been spelling it Donnie this whole season but someone just corrected me…thank you Mary), is trying to console a customer about his new zombie life. The guy is willing to pay a million dollars for a cure. Don E is intrigued.

Liv heads to her new spot…da club! Really, they are there for questioning but it’s more like Liv has been called home to the mothership. Clive asks the owner some questions and wants to talk to his wife, Trish who might know more but she is out running errands.

“You might remember me-I used to come here, Eighties Remix night? Oh, and also, we’re the police!” -Liv

Liv “questions” the bartender…

While Clive gets some history on Yvonne’s work habits…Liv decides to pump up the volume.

Don’t quit your day job Liv…seriously. Liv starts to get her party on which is making Clive extremely anxious. Possibly because she is drinking Vodka straight from the bottle and proceeds to empty it? While searching in the stockroom for more booze she comes across the elusive Trish, who also happens to be the slapper from the store camera.

“Hashtag case closed!” -Liv

Trish claims her innocence and says she was only hiding in the stockroom because she knew they would recognize her from the slap. Reason for the slap? Apparently, party-girl Yvonne slept with her husband, the club owner. Not cool club dude! He does have an alibi, a girl called Jen, specifically “oops I forgot my bra-Jen.” Trish has an alibi also- involving a little revenge sex of her own.

Liv shows up to check on Major. He is in the middle of writing letters to people in case his memory doesn’t stick. She reminds him to write to 2 people I don’t know. His parents?

“This is so totally a moment, right? And you won’t even remember…” -Liv

After they kiss, Major tries to tell her something but she wants to preserve the moment with no words; with silent purity. But then she takes a selfie. OMG!

Major boards a bus to Walla Walla. I guess that’s where he is from. Are people really from Walla Walla? So, wild guess- he is going to see his parents.

Back at Bleyton land, Blaine is cooking for Peyton now and Peyton is working on the dominatrix case from last week. Liv remembers she needs to get the blue juice ingredients for Ravi and prints it out on Peyton’s printer. Liv gets a vision of Yvonne’s nice coworker yelling at her and rushes out to question him without her print out, which puts it in the hands of Blaine.

Hmmmm….

Back at the lab, Ravi is still waiting for Liv to get it together when he gets a surprise visit from Don E whom tells him about the customer who wants the cure for a million dollars. Ravi reminds him the cure has the memory issues and Don E offers his “Blaine’s a faker” theory we have all been musing over forever. He happens makes a heap of sense-weirdly. Blaine’s problems DID all go away after he “lost” his memory. Ravi continues to try to reach imprudent Liv when Peyton shows up to discuss the dom case. He actually tries to hide from her from a second. Poor Ravi!

After about a nano second of thought, he decides to tackle the Blaine faking theory with Peyton even though he just blew it off with Don E. But, he does give her something to stew on. If Blaine IS faking that means the cure works and that would mean everything; especially to her best friend. Peyton’s not having it though, or she’s enjoying her denial.

“I just wanted you to hear.” -Ravi

“And I did.”-Peyton

Hashtag Awkward! Oh great, now I am starting to chatter like Liv…new brains please!

Back at the station, Clive is checking alibis and Liv is carping about creepy nice guys. Liv gets another vision of Yvonne dumping out her purse. Just like her room, her purse looks just like mine! Yvonne was at a pawn shop trying to sell a collectible baseball.

Back at the lab, Ravi still seems to be attempting to count on Liv to get the ingredients for the blue solution. Ravi, get it yourself!!!

Liv is supposed to be watching Major as well so they rush over to their place to check on him but realize he and his bags are gone.

In Walla Walla a police officer knocks on a woman’s door and informs her a young man was wandering around the bus station. It seems he doesn’t know who or where he is. Oh no! Major is in the police car and the woman recognizes him.

At the funeral home, Peyton brings Blaine food. They really do revel in the eating! Peyton imparts her conversation with Ravi to an unphased Blaine who quickly changes the subject. She also tells him that Major took the cure which definitely peaks his interest. Peyton says she is so happy with him, she doesn’t think she would care even if he had gotten his memory back. Blaine comes clean.

“Major’s gonna get his memory back…and the good news doesn’t stop there. This is me.” -Blaine

Bombshell! Blaine HAS been faking. He tells her you do lose your memory at first but then it snaps back fairly quickly. So, my theory was wrong. I really though he had only gained it back last weekend. He’s a good actor! He tells her he did it so he could change his life, change who he was and the way people viewed him.

“Well it worked, you’ve made a fool of me.” -Peyton

Back is Walla Walla, Major awakes in his childhood bedroom. He recognizes his mother so Blaine was telling the truth.

Peyton goes to tell the news to Ravi and Liv, that Major will be okay because he will get his memory back soon. The cure works!

“So, what do you say Liv? Ready to be human again?” -Ravi

Of course she is!

Back at the lab there has been a break in. Of course…Don E anyone???

Clive is still at the police station questioning the co-worker which this leads him to the mousy roommate. Who cares who killed Yvonne??? I want to know about the cure whereabouts! Anyway, all roads lead back to the valuable baseball. Kind of saw that one coming. It’s always the quiet innocent ones, isn’t it? Yvonne pawned her roommate’s baseball and replaced it with a fake one. So, she killed the bitch because of it-plus she annoyed the bloody hell out of her. I think a light sentence is justifiable. Hashtag minimum sentence in a low security prison?

Back at the lab, not soon enough I might add, Peyton suspects Blaine, Ravi suspects Don E and Liv is just tremendously depressed. WAIT! Ravi remembers there is still one dose left! The one he gave to Major just in case. He never used it!

Clive arrives with his confession thanks to Liv’s vision which leads me to believe Clive will not be happy losing his best asset. But I am wrong…Clive is a good guy and just wants Liv to be happy and get her life back.

Back to Blaine, he doesn’t seem to have cure syringes- but he does seem to be drowning his sorrows and using Liv’s print out to make the blue juice complete with his forgotten little smirk. What are his plans now I wonder?

Major returns and they attack him for the final dose! But, oh no- he doesn’t have it. He gave it to someone. To who? We shall find out!

FIND OUT NEXT WEEK!

Episode grade: 8 1/2 It was remarkable, as always, but Liv’s brain did get a little much and the case they worked on was pretty lackluster.

#cwtuesdays #cw #rosemciver #robertbuckly #izombierecap #iZombie #izombiefansunite #malcolmgoodwin #rahulkohli #alymichalka #robthomas #sueboohscorner

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