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shuttershocky · 5 months

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Do you have a dislike for media universes that "rewards" people for watching/reading all of it in general?

Or do you think there is one that executes that idea well?

I'm answering this 5 months late, but I'm pretty sure I still remember this ask being prompted by a post making fun of the MCU.

Do I dislike story universes that reward people for reading all of it? Not at all. I mean, I'm a fan of both Middle Earth and Star Wars, I fucking love big, big universes with plenty of stories in them. When they intersect in some small way it's a delight to me, I love those little personal winks from the author for having read their other works or recognizing the most obscure names only a nerd would know.

However, there's a difference between a little reference in a story meant for people who can connect the dots, and making something almost required reading for your enjoyment. It's the difference between an acknowledgement from the creators that you liked the setting enough to come back for a new yet familiar ride, and a company realizing they've found their cash cow and can't wait to milk it for all its got until it's dead.

And dead the cash cow will be, eventually. It's been said before that the reason why the Big Two of western comics have ceded more and more ground to manga over the years is that Spider-Man has 10 different starting points while Naruto starts with Volume#1. That's not just a funny joke. Onboarding new readers has genuinely been Marvel and DC's problem for decades, which is why it was both incredibly predictable yet shocking all the same that this is what the MCU turned itself into.

Sure, early on you could ask the audience to watch a couple movies before the big Avengers crossover, but now they've got all these TV shows on top of the movies that you have to watch in order to "catch up", and it's not even about the cool characters anymore. More and more of their fanbase is going to stop caring once the barrier of entry gets too high, and it's ridiculous to me that Marvel went this road with their movies when they know this is what happened to their comics first.

I mean, are you serious, their next big bad is Kang? I am not watching several TV shows and an Ant-Man movie that's somehow worse than the second one all to see how the currently left Avengers meet goddamn Kang the Conqueror. He's in both the TV shows and the movies, which means they're somehow giving Kang more buildup screentime than Thanos. Why? Either I've been extremely out of touch with Marvel comics or the MCU picked a wild choice to headline their next billion dollar franchise when Doctor Doom is actually available to them now and barely needs an introduction.

Sorry, got lost for a bit. Back on topic, yeah I know I know, all art right now exists under capitalism which means every setting that becomes a wider story universe is an author trying to milk their existing fanbase. Whenever a creator makes a thing that I like, and then announces they have a new thing set in the same setting as their first thing but isn't a direct sequel so they can keep gaining a new audience while keeping their existing one, I know I'm being suckered in.

Just, don't make it so blatant. And don't make it so hard. I am the exact target audience for these shenanigans and even I'm starting to feel like it's homework because it's all fucking required now.

If I, a lifelong Star Wars fan, want to watch the newest Star Wars thing, I have to see a hundred hours of other Star Wars media first. If I want to watch The Mandalorian Season 3, I can't just have seen Season 1 and 2, oh no, I have to also see The Book of Boba Fett too, because halfway through that show became The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Well I did see Boba Fett, and the combination of my dislike for turning it into required homework AND the show itself just being kinda dogshit meant I never touched season 3 of the Mandalorian. That show used to be so great because it wasn't tied down to any existing story arcs or characters, so it stood on its own and made for an amazing watch no matter how much Star Wars you've actually seen. And then it succeeded and so had to become the new spine for the entirety of Disney Star Wars afterward. Fuck. Now if I want to watch their latest show Ahsoka, I have to have seen the Clone Wars animated series AND Rebels, because the Rebels cast are in it too! I mean I did see Clone Wars and Rebels, but that still sucks!

That makes me worried now! Andor was also really fucking good and it stood on its own so hard you didn't even need to see Rogue One, the movie that introduced Cassian Andor in the first place. But now that season 1 was a success and everyone sang its praises, it certainly means season 2 is suddenly going to get real cramped with Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker and whatever guys are currently alive in its timeframe. Shit, they're probably gonna add Cal Kestis in season 2 of Andor. The Respawn Star Wars games are still doing their own thing which means it's time to connect to something else.

I hate what all this has become. It was fun to read the Silmarillion and see what kind of fuckery one family of elves got up to that eventually turned Sauron from minion to big evil eye parked next to evil mountain, but you didn't need to read all that before The Lord of the Rings. LOTR didn't assume you knew anything at all (and oh boy did Tolkien never miss an opportunity to explain shit).

Let me repeat. I am the target audience. I live for the ridiculously nerdy habit of reading things set in the same universe as other things and connecting all the dots. If /I/ feel like it's become homework, I can't imagine what the average person thinks of all this. Make it stop. Stop running everything I once loved into the ground in the name of endless profit. Star Wars was already doing this to itself before the Disney acquisition and yet it didn't feel this bad.

#I would take hundreds of disconnected and mediocre Star Wars comics and books made in the Legends era #Over what's happening to it now

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voluptuarian · 11 months

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Favorite Movie Costumes (pt. 1)

Recently got the line-up-your-toys urge to list and discuss my favorite tv and movie costumes-- my favorites are many and tumblr's image limit is low, so I'm not sure how many posts this'll eventually spread to, but here's the first crop.

The Queen's red gown - The Brother's Grimm

I don't think anyone on earth wanted to love this movie more than I did when it came out-- sadly, the film itself was generally a letdown. However, its costumes absolutely delivered, which should come as no surprise since they were designed by Gabriella Pescucci. The costumes for Monica Belluci's queen are my favorites of all, but this piece, the one she wears for most of the movie, may be my favorite costume of all time.

The costume has several iterations; it's paired most prominently with her enormous horned headdress (my fave), but she also wears it with a more delicate tiara.

Marianne de Morangias' red riding habit - Brotherhood of the Wolf

Although Brotherhood of the Wolf is far from a good movie, I have a terrible soft spot for it, which is mostly due to its wonderful costumes, including a crowd of hunting costumes throughout, none more gorgeous than the one Marianne's debuts during the film's first hunt.

I probably owe my love of riding habits to American Girl's Felicity and her swoon-worthy green velvet habit-- they are sadly underused in movies (meanwhile Marianne not only wears this red habit, but also shows off an equally beautiful green one later.)

Christine Daae's masquerade dress - The Phantom of the Opera

Fun fact, I watched this movie as a teenager (after falling in with the inescapable junior high theater nerd crowd, who tried unsuccessfully to use this as a gateway drug to getting me hooked on musicals), then forgot about the vast majority of the costumes, and stumbled upon it again years later without realizing it was from a movie and completely fell in love with it.

I'm very fond of the early 1870s silhouette in general, long trains in particular, and the back of this one is what really sold me. The frothy layers of chiffon?? the flowers?? the graceful tiered bustle?? Obsessed. (Another fun fact, this is one of the references I always bring up when discussing potential wedding dresses.)

Imogen Spurnrose's red ensemble - Carnival Row

I know, another red velvet number ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Imogen's wardrobe is full of lovely quasi-Victorian pieces, but this one had me GASPING when it came on screen. These pictures do not do the color or vibrancy of that jacket justice!

Geilis Duncan's white ballgown - Outlander

I'm usually not a fan of stripped down historical styles, especially ones this anachronistic, but something about the minimalist design of this dress just charmed me.

It reminds of in some way of artistic undress in 17th century portraits, and the lightness of the colors and material has this clean, airy, almost White Lady quality to it, and the simplicity and limited accessorizing really brings out the period silhouette. (Also I adore lover's eyes).

Vanessa Ives' lace blouse - Penny Dreadful

Vanessa has a gorgeous wardrobe (Gabriella Pescucci hitting it out of the park again) containing a number of delicate black and white blouses, but this one is my favorite.

The design is not that complex, but the wealth of tiny details, especially the petal shaped blackworked collar and cuffs, give it a huge visual punch; paired with the decorative belt and beautiful black skirt it's a very unique look that shows off some of the most beautiful elements of the period (last photo courtesy @periodcostumefantasylover)

Lorna's church dress - Lorna Doone

YES another red number. And what a red!! This miniseries is so obscure I had to do my own (butt ugly) screencaps off Youtube, but despite being a fairly modest production, they do some nice 17th century looks in it.

This dress is glimpsed for a moment as Lorna catches sight of her separated lover through the crowd-- very dramatic, but unfortunately it means getting a good look at the beautiful dress is hard, but I did my best: here's the actual scene, if you want a better look (and I'd recommend the series, too!)

Virginia Wilson's Worth dress - 1899

Big shock, the replica House of Worth dress made it in *Oprah shrug* I've adored the original dress for years, so I went nuts seeing it on the show! On top of just top tier everything, the costuming on 1899 was great, and the fact that they decided to throw this dress in was just the cherry on top.

There are some minimal differences between this dress and its inspiration, most notably the change in pattern-- Virginia's dress not only incorporates the alchemical logo like all the rest of the characters, but the rounded edges in the original are all made jagged to match it, as you can really see in the last photo.

---- on to part 2!

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evilwickedme · 5 months

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1-5 about Jason/Red Hood

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

It's 4:58 am as I start answering this ask and I might descend into delirium as I write this but. Firstly we have to get this out of the way yes I have a crush on him okay moving on. I've said this before but like. He was reintroduced as a batman villain. Maybe the most tragic batman villain? Maybe one of the most tragic comic book villains ever? Cause even as he manages to outsmart batman - I meant to say this earlier, actually, I think it's so cool that he outsmarted batman this is never brought up again but like HE WON if it weren't for the human element of actually getting Bruce to let him kill the joker. But okay back to the sentence - he still refers to Bruce as his family. Again and again it's made clear that that was his dad, goddammit, and the tragedy of it is so heartbreaking. One of the only moments I truly loved in RHATO 2011 is when Jason gives up his happiest memory - Bruce staying home from patrol with him when he was sick during his robin days. For one what a sweet fucking moment. Secondly it further shows the tragedy of it all - he was happy, and that happiness itself is part of the reason it all hurts so much. And yeah I get it in a lot of ways. And again I also just think he's cool and kicks ass but like the themes. THE THEMES

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That he's a book nerd who loved going to school

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Mmmmm most of the writing is bad yeah. Makes it hard to choose. Also the fact that like so much is dubiously canon? Idk I'm just gonna say the fact that they gave him to Scott Lobdell for so long

Edit: OBVIOUSLY I should've written here the idea that he was the violent robin

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Well he's already in comics, animated movies, and live action tv shows so. I guess a book is all I have left? Or a really good live action movie which seems unlikely

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS QUESTION it's my tears ricochet by Taylor Swift herself like. Okay oh my God prepare yourselves

We gather here, we line up Weepin' in a sunlit room, and If I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes too Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you 'Til my dying day

So this first verse describes a funeral (the song is from the pov of a ghost) and like. Jason dies in an explosion so the fire thing makes complete sense. And I read the song as Jason talking NOW so he's like, even though I disappointed you and died needlessly, did I deserve the treatment I've received since? A batarang to the throat, being beaten half to death, the distrust and cruelty? Cause you were my dad till the moment I died (and I still want you to be I still want you to be I still want you to be)

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

So the prechorus and chorus really hammer home the point of the song which is I'm right here, why can't you see me? But then this first prechorus has the bonus of also referring to the person the pov character is talking to as a hero flying around, evoking the classic image of a superhero. Bruce if you love me, why won't you look at me and see I'm here. Bruce if you loved me, how could you build that shrine to a kid that never was.

We gather stones, never knowing what they'll mean Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring You know I didn't want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me

I don't have as much to say about this verse but I do think the imagery of throwing stones sort of inherently invokes glass houses, and I do think that matches Jason's pov. Also: as you bury me - literally and figuratively. You left me in the past and moved on. Never mind that he didn't actually, that's how it feels.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

CAUSE WHEN I'D FIGHT YOU USED TO TELL ME I WAS BRAVE!!!!!!!

And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones And I still talk to you (when I'm screaming at the sky) And when you can't sleep at night (you hear my stolen lullabies)

I literally named one of my fics, one that's about the days after Jason's death, stolen lullabies, because. Ffs. He was just a kid. HE WAS JUST A KID. And you can aim for my heart go for blood hurts so much more if you're thinking about the batarang not just physically (also physically) but also symbolically what it meant. I choose the joker over you, Jason. Maybe that isn't what it meant to Bruce, but it is definitely what it meant to Jason. Anywhere I want just not home... "Cause he took me away from you".........

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same Cursing my name, wishing I stayed You turned into your worst fears And you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years And you're cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

The battleships..... All they do is argue and clash and mourn the relationship they used to have. "You had to kill me but it killed you just the same" are we talking about the way Bruce buried his son and it killed him? Are we talking about the betrayal of his morals at the end of UTRH? and then also YOU TURNED INTO YOUR WORST FEARS!!!! Bruce sunk into his grief and will NEVER be the same. Crossing out the good years..... A little meta but this is where I think about how DC has been trying to rewrite Jason's robin run as him being "the violent one" when in fact he was the biggest goddamn nerd. Like the tragedy of it all ...

Look at how my tears ricochet. Look at how my grief turns to violence. Look at what's left of us

I am so normal about this. Okay it's 5:23 I think it's time for me to go to bed

#jt #jason todd #t swizzle #batfam #dc #ask #shofarsogood #gail speaks

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tillthelandslide · 4 years

Text

Age Gap

Hi everyone! I really hope everyone reading enjoys this. It’s my first ever Henry Cavill fan fic so I am a little apprehensive about posting it. I throughly enjoyed writing it so please be sure to give me feedback and any and all ideas for future Henry Cavill fan fics would be appreciated.

Thank you to @toomanystoriessolittletime for reading over this for me, you’re amazing.

Hope you enjoy - L

You and Henry had been dating for over a year now. Things were great, he was the kindest, most caring and loving person you had ever met. He was so inspiring and passionate about his work and those around him. He was genuinely interested in everyone's lives and he truly cared for the people in his life, including you. He was the most beautiful person both inside and out and you were so lucky to have him in your life.

Henry had just posted a very cute picture of the both of you on his Instagram.

henrycavill:

Liked by freyaallan, anyachalotra, joeybateyofficial and 1,122,800 others

henrycavill horse riding and training for The Witcher 2 @your_username never a dull moment with you by my side

View all 21,669 comments

your_username always my love ❤️ cant wait for everyone to see how amazing you were

↳ henrycavill i love you

↳ your_username i love you too. Kinda mad at you, making me look all unprofessional, kissing my clients 😂

↳ henrycavill hope I’m the only client you kiss

↳ joeybateyofficial I’m the only client you kiss @henrycavill 😂

anyachalotra was a pleasure working with you again @your_username. Does he always ride topless or?? 😂

↳ your_username it was so fun! cant wait for everyone to see you in action 🤷🏼‍♀️not complaining though 😂

fan1 omg this is so cute

fan2 wow Henry really loves her. Dont blame him 😍

fan3 wait she worked on the Witcher?? what did she even do, wtf??

↳ fan4 shock horror! 😳y/n acutally has a job! don’t be silly, she’s so hard working, leave her be 🙄

↳ your_username @fan4 thank you lovely 💜

The majority of his fans went wild, they were happy for him but very curious who you were, they knew you had been friends with Henry for ages and had always said how beautiful you were and had recently learnt that the two of you were dating after Henry had posted a cute video to his story of Kal kissing you before Henry said "I'm getting cheated on with my own dog" . Infact it was often joked that both you and Henry were the hottest nerds ever (you too were a massive gamer and a huge fan of the Witcher amongst many other fantasy games and films).

However, a few nasty people had to comment about the age gap between the two of you. You were 25 and Henry was 37. But the age gap didn't matter to you or to Henry and the horrible comments about it made you both annoyed and upset.

Today Henry had invited you to bring Kal, his beloved American Akita, along to an interview he had. You agreed because you knew it meant you could spend more of the day with Henry and you throughly enjoyed watching him work.

"Today we are joined by Henry Cavill, known for being Superman, August Walker, Geralt of Rivia and many more. How are you today Henry?" The interviewer said, introducing Henry and smiling at him.

Henry offered a nice smile back before saying "I'm very good thank you, how are you?"

"Good thank you, very excited for this interview. So the trailer for season 2 of the Witcher has just been released and we're all very excited" he said making Henry chuckle.

"I'm excited for everyone to see it" he said. Henry and the interviewer then spoke about the filming of season 2 for a long while. You sat petting Kal who had found comfort in between your legs resting his head on your thighs. You were admiring Henry when the interviewer asked a question about you.

"So we are joined by your lovely girlfriend who is a massive fan of the Witcher games and books, yes?"

"We are indeed" Henry said, winking at you before continuing "she's a even bigger nerd about it than me. She's played the Witcher 1 and 2 twice and has played Wild Hunt, 3 times now I think?" he said glancing at you for reassurance, in which you nodded, making him nod to the interviewer.

"Wow that's impressive" the interviewer said, genuinely impressed.

"Now we have to ask, do the constant criticism about your age gap affect the both of you, or do you just ignore it?" he said referring to you being quite a bit younger than Henry.

"Um, yes and no" he said the gravelly tone of Geralt peaking through a tad. "The age gap isn't a problem in our relationship, we're both adults and we're both fairly mature" he said trying to make light of the situation and making the interview laugh.

"No but seriously I am very happy with y/n. She is the most amazing woman in my life, sorry Mum, she is caring and loving and so talented and passionate. The thing that does get annoying about the comments are the ones saying y/n is using me for my money or for the fame. Because that couldn't be any farther from the truth " he said making you smile (and the interviewer). "Anyone who knows the first thing about y/n knows that she is the most career driven person in the world, just because she doesn't share what she does with the world in the same way I do, doesn't mean she doesn't have a job" he said addressing many rumors that said you don't have a job, which quite frankly made you chuckle.

"And its not as if y/n doesn't talk about her job at all, in fact it's something she loves talking about because she's so passionate about it and she's so good at it" he said.

"She owns her own stables, is that correct?" The interviewer asked reading from a card in his lap, making you smile at how he researched you before this interview (Henry was asked if he was comfortable talking about your relationship, in which he said of course because he often loves talking people's ears off about you).

"Yes she does. But she also works on film and TV sets" Henry said making the interviewer hum.

"Her horses have been used many times in films right?" the interviewer said making Henry nod proudly.

"Zeus who plays Roach in the Witcher is actually one of y/ns horses. She works on TV sets and films, training actors on horses. She helped train all of the actors in the Witcher on their horses, including me. Everyone on set, especially Freya, Anya and Joey, absolutely loved her" he said proudly.

"I'm even more impressed now. And hopefully that puts some of the rumors to bed. It is honestly so lovely to hear the way you speak about her" the interviewer said making Henry gush a little.

"She's lovely, I'm very proud of her" Henry said looking off camera at you, making you blush.

"And she's easy on the eyes too which is a bonus. Think my dog Kal loves her more than me though" he said making you and the interviewer chuckle and making Kal perk up, upon hearing his name.

They wrapped up the interview after talking about season 2 a little more, showing some teaser videos and playing a game of who's most likely to. Henry thanked the interviewer for being so kind, signing some stuff for him before walking to you, you filming him as he did so.

He pet Kal on the head before placing a quick kiss to your lips

"You're too sweet Hen" you said, placing your arms around his waist as his rested around your shoulders.

"Only speaking the truth love. The fans are going to go crazy when they see that interview" he said leaning down to place a proper kiss against your lips, making you sigh against him.

"Hmm, come home with me" he says in his Geralt voice making you chuckle against him and shoving his chest jokingly, making Kal buck his head in between you which made Henry grunt.

"Stop getting jealous" he said rubbing behind Kal's ears making him pant up at him.

"Now who's cheating with his dog?" you said making him chuckle and place his hand in yours.

"Let's go home" he says, placing Kals leash in his other hand, saying goodbye to the people along the way as you were leaving.

You both got into Henry’s car, Kal sitting inbetween you legs again then posted a video to your Instagram feed.

your_username:

Liked by henrycavill, freyaallan and 400,800 more

your_username thank you for letting me and Kal join you for your interview today and thank you for all the wonderful things you said. Your love and support means the world to me Hen ❤️@henrycavill

View all 4,000 comments

henrycavill of course my love, love you more than life itself ❤️

↳ yourusername 🥰 love you too

fan4 soo cute I can’t deal

fan6 the way they are so cute and fluffy on each others posts makes my heart burst. soft henry is the best

↳ yourusername makes my heart burst too. can confirm that not soft henry is pretty good too

↳ fan6 omg you replied, what in the world? also get it sis

↳ henrycavill she does

↳ freyaallan gross. na jk love you both

#henry #henry cavill #henry cavill fluff #henry cavill smut #geralt #geralt smut #harry styles #augustwalker #superman #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill imagines

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supernaturalnovelsandmore · 3 years

Text

Supernatural Novel: Bone Key

Welcome to my not-quite review of the third Supernatural novel, Bone Key.

Author: Keith R.A. DeCandido

Timeline: Set after Episode 3.07 A Very Supernatural Christmas

Location: Key West, Florida

Synopsis: Sam and Dean head to Key West, Florida to investigate reports of supercharged ghosts. What they encounter is far deadlier and far older than they ever anticipated.

Warning: Spoilers abound!

I found this book very enjoyable. It was certainly a much faster read than the previous two. With the story being further along in the series, there are a lot of callbacks to prior episodes, mostly concerning Dean's demon deal.

LGBTQ+ representation: Sam and Dean stay at a B&B with a lesbian couple and another gay couple is highlighted. Normally, I wouldn't mention this, but the book was written in 2008, which may have been early for representation in the media (I'll admit I haven't paid close attention to the evolution of such), and I think is still relevant today. Of course, Dean is quite straight in the novel, going after multiple women, so it fits with canon.

Included are a few references to sexual situations, e.g., a woman being leered at by her step-brothers, to a ghost who was gang-raped. It's not graphic by any means, but it's interesting to see how a novel can share more than a tv series can (or at least get past the censors).

Bobby appears in the book as Sam and Dean share the New Year with him drinking champagne out of whiskey glasses. This whole scene leads into a page's worth of trolling Ryan Seacrest. LOL!!!

Dean: "Who's the genius who thought replacing Dick Clark with Ryan Seacrest was a good idea?"

Sam: "Well, he was on American Idol."

Dean: "Dude, you are not equating being on that lame-ass Star Search wannabe show with American Bandstand, are you?"

Bone Key has fewer references to the boy's past than the previous two books, but here is a fun bit: "I don't need to make myself tall, Dean, I am tall," Sam said in that tone he always used when he gloatingly reminded Dean that, for all that Sam was the "little" brother, he had a good three inches on Dean. Sammy'd been using that tone since hitting his growth spurt at age fourteen and shooting past Dean on the height chart. Back then, of course, Sam provided those reminders approximately once every five minutes. "Hey," teenaged Sam would say, "can I borrow your jacket? Oh, wait - it's too small for me!""

In addition to the above, the book mentions John trying to put Dean in martial arts classes and it eventually failing because they moved around too much, and Dean's more of a brawler.

There's additional insight into Dean's intelligence that I find fits very well with canon after both acknowledging they know what laissez-faire means: 'When they were kids, Sam was always the book-smart one who liked studying, while Dean was more of the type to beat up the nerds, and who hated admitting to knowing anything. Smart made you an outcast, and given their hard-traveling ways, Dean had enough issues in school with that. So he adopted the jock persona of not caring about learning anything. That tendency still bled into his personality, to Sam's annoyance, to the point where Dean would profess ignorance on subjects Sam knew damn well he was knowledgeable about. Anything to not be the nerdy kid."

First, I don't believe for one second that Dean beat up nerds. Bullies, yes. Second, I can totally see the not wanting to seem smart as part of Dean's personality. He does this multiple times in the tv series. Sometimes Sam calls him on it, other times he lets him get away with it.

At one point, a demon requests that the boys work with them so they can both get rid of the 'big bad'. They are reluctant, as they should be, but then she brings up Ruby. Most of that fits with canon, but there was this part that confused me because I don't remember anything like this in the TV series: 'Ruby had also dropped some hints about Sam and Dean's mother that were leading Sam down some disturbing roads - sufficiently disturbing that he hadn't shared Ruby's revelations (and his own research) on the subject with Dean.'

If anyone remembers what that might be about, let me know!

As the end nears, there is a lot of Dean worrying about Sam, and a final showdown that basically uses the love he has for Sam as an anchor and uses that power to destroy the big bad.

Some final notes:

Funny scene: Dean has to pick up Bobby at the airport (yes, Bobby took a plane). His fear of flying comes back in full force, so much so that he seriously considers smoking. In fact, if he's going to Hell anyway, what's the harm? Luckily, budgetary reasons win out. Smoking is expensive.

Brotherly moment/Hurt Dean: I'll let this section speak for itself: 'Dean had suffered plenty of pain in his life. He'd been beaten up, beat down, shot at, stabbed, cut, electrocuted, punched, kicked, bit, thrown across more rooms than he could count, and run over by a Mack truck. If you combined all that pain, It was only a fraction of what Dean felt now.... No matter how bad it got, though, he refused to let the protection for Sam and the others falter. It didn't matter if he died in the effort - he was dead anyhow - but that sonofabitch wasn't taking Sam with him.'

Extra Bonus: For readers of my other blog: '[People] came in from the parking-lot entrance, as Megan had, past that smelly guy who was selling his poetry.'

#Supernatural #Supernatural Novels #Supernatural Books #SPN Novels #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Bobby Singer #Bone Key

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fly-pow-bye · 7 years

Text

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Imagine That”

Written by: Jake Goldman

Written & Storyboarded by: Kyle Neswald, Benjamin P. Carow

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Power-Noia MIN ~Crappy Mix~

The episode starts with a candy train in a candy-themed world, conducted by Bubbles and her Scottish bagpipe-horse friend, Bagstripes, who acts as the train's horn. Definitely not in the City of Townsville, but in the City of Bubbles' own mind. Can you believe this is a mind of a coder? It's just so wacky!

In this world of nonsense, Bagstripes tells Bubbles that there’s trouble in Milkshake Junction. Queen Shmallow, a rather large marshmallow queen, shows up, constantly snorts, and does a raspberry just so we can have a fart joke. Is this supposed to be their parody of Princess Bubblegum?

The big trouble Bubbles has to fix? The milkshakes aren’t shaking! Get it, because milk “shakes”. I don't have a drum set handy to do the "ba dum tsh", but I can imagine it.

Bubbles: This looks like a job for...the train conductooor!

See, Bubbles’ imagination knows no bounds with such a creative title like “train conductor”. They might be going for “train of thought”, because this whole episode is about imagination, but I am going with a lack of creativity here. Bubbles knows how to get these milkshakes a-shaking. Thankfully, it’s not by showing them how. I got worried for a second, mostly because this whole scene reminds me of Painbow.

Instead, she turns her head into a boombox with the help of her magic hat! She gathers around all of the dust bunnies to do a Dust Bunny Disco. Yeah, her candy world is full of dust bunnies, too, because imagination. They already did a dust bunny joke in Memory Lane of Pain which was far more fitting; is this supposed to be a reference to that?

What do dust bunnies have to do with candy? How does a life of superheroics inspire a dream like this? Worst of all, why is not one of these guys voiced by Dana Snyder? I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to be in this, but Master Shake would have distracted me from all of these questions!

She swings around one of the milkshakes, and all I’m doing is waiting for someone to start yelling “Bubbles” so this dream sequence can end.

That is indeed what happens, as this is all just a daydream by Bubbles, and she was actually swinging around Buttercup. She flings her right into a show and tell, where Blossom is showing off an ant farm filled with dangerous fire ants. Is it just me, or is this class nothing but show and tell? Buttercup gets flinged into the glass, and the fire ant farm falls on them, covering them with fire ants, sand, and, presumably, broken glass.

How do the rest of the students react to this? By laughing at them, of course. I must say, the Powerpuff Girls aren't making a lot of friends at this school; they call them babies, and they have no hesitation to laugh at them when they get covered with broken glass. The fire ants eventually catch up to the rest of the class, including Ms. Keane. She orders the girls to go to the Principal's office. Yes, even the two that were victims of Bubbles' imagination get in trouble, too. How dare they become victims!

On the plus side, we'll finally get to see Principal Jennings! Maybe we’ll even get to see Miss Boyle, too. Finally, some new characters that would give some world-building, or at least some school-building. That above image is the only proof that the school even has a name as of this episode; that's how desperate this poor school needs something like this.

That school-building will have to wait, but we do get to see that mysterious student from Secret Swapper of Doom again, commenting on how Bubbles has such an imagination. His big twist in that episode was that he was actually Him in disguise. This episode doesn't even try to hide it, as he instantly turns into Him after the Powerpuff Girls walk away. They didn't really hide it in Secret Swapper of Doom, either.

There is one other point to his appearance other than to explain how Him knows the problem of the episode, and that he's planning something evil. We finally get to learn Him's student form's name: Harvey. Like Harvey Comics? One of their characters was Hot Stuff the Little Devil.

At the Powerpuff house, Bubbles explains why she did something that would endanger Blossom, Bubbles, and all of those jerks in the classroom, and give them all detention. Yes, even Blossom and Buttercup get punished for their heinous crime of being thrown into glass! I do get that they had to find a reason for Blossom and Buttercup to get angry at Bubbles, such as undeserved detention, but I would say having to go to the school nurse to treat those wounds would be good enough. Yes, this reboot does make me believe these superheroes would be wounded.

But Bubbles can't help it, she has an overactive imagination! Buttercup tells her to shut it down while saying whatever this is:

Buttercup: Overactive! It couldn’t be more active if it was a Labrador on a bicycle chasing squirrels made of bacon!

This random word blender humor is very fitting for the kind of humor that is spread throughout this episode. If that’s not the humor one is looking for, they might as well turn the TV off now. Most people did when the theme song started.

Blossom tells Buttercup to go to bed, so they can be angry at Bubbles in the morning. While the Powerpuff Girls go to sleep, Him shows up, turns into mist, and invades their room. They must have been really afraid that viewers might not have gotten that Him is going to do something bad!

Bubbles wakes up, and finds that the bed has been transported to Milkshake Junction. Blossom and Buttercup wake up too, and wonder if they're dreaming. Buttercup tests this out by punching Blossom in the face. It's supposed to be funny, because you're supposed to be pinched, but Buttercup would rather be violent! Bubbles is super excited to be in her world of milkshakes. It's all about the power of her imagination!

Or imagjinashuln(tm), as she spells it. She can talk to animals, which has been shown to include at least one other human language in the original, but she can’t spell. The joke is that the blonde one is a maroon, don’t you know! It's weird to think she's into a profession where misspelling words leads to serious errors!

The opening sequence was enough of this random land of milkshakes and dust for anyone to stand, and it seems that even the episode itself agrees. Immediately after the imagjinashuln™ joke, Him pops out from one of the milkshake’s straws and steals Bubbles’ magical hat. Forgot to animate said magical hat? Don’t worry, it just magically appears right before it gets stolen! Nobody will notice.

Using the magical imagination hat, he turns Milkshake Junction into a hellscape. The dust bunnies, originally just a kind and out-of-place decoration, now have fangs and apparently have a taste for sugar, spice, and everything nice!

As an aside, thoughout this episode, I felt something off about Him. It's not his actions, as this is a very poor man's version of Power-Noia. It wasn't until I rewatched this episode that I realized that Him doesn't have his echoey voice filter throughout this entire episode. Sure, you can still tell it's Him's voice, but that filter gave it the otherworldly quality it had. That's how little they cared, and I probably shouldn't.

Speaking of voices that don't sound right, the lack of imagination turns Bubbles into a monochrome version of herself who can only speak in monotone. Sounds like a Raven impression; so good to know not even Tara Strong's other roles are safe from this reboot.

Buttercup flies in to stop Him, only to get bounced back by an evil Queen Shmallow. Buttercup says they should never speak of this, as if this was any more embarrassing than all the other Monster Punch Girls Down scenes. Then Blossom eye lasers Shmallow, which makes her fly away into another Spongebob Squarepants explosion gag. After Blossom makes a s'mores pun, which comes with, big surprise, a fist bump, they get surrounded by dust bunnies led by a now evil Bagstripes!

The Powerpuff Girls fly for their lives, as they are chased by the now evil dust bunnies. It would be an easy assumption to believe that dying in a Him dream would lead to their death in the waking world. Blossom finds a door to a supply closet that just happened to be there, which leads to them falling into a dark crater. They try to ask Bubbles to imagine something, but of course, she doesn’t have her imagination. It’s up to Blossom and Buttercup to realize this power of imagination.

Buttercup: What could be do, imagine a flying hamburger turtle to give us sagely advice?

As soon as Buttercup says that, a flying hamburger turtle appears! So good to know that not even Craig McCracken’s other cartoons are safe from this reboot. Blossom congratulates Buttercup on giving them a great idea, and we cut back to Buttercup eating that turtle. Because Buttercup is a rascal that will happily eat sentient creatures.

Speaking of which, Him is sitting on his throne, sucking one of the milkshakes dry. What do you know, Reboot Buttercup and the Devil are pretty similar! Really, I don't need to make any more commentary on this, as that scene speaks for itself. This sucking, of the milkshake kind and not the reboot's usual kind, gets interrupted by a flash of imagination light.

Blossom pops out of the ground as the Office Valkyrie, with a “pen is mightier than the sword” sword and some ruler wings! You'd think the math queen/mathlete should be the one handling rulers, but instead, Buttercup is the Laser Eagle. She's an eagle who has lasers. Doesn't she already have laser eyes? I think they used all of their creativity points on Blossom.

Him: Oh caaandy critters...get them.

Yeah, there's this weird hidden joke where they keep using the word "get" where the word "destroy" would have been less awkward. This is seen earlier in the episode, too.

Buttercup: Why is everything trying to get us?!

Maybe they were going to say "kill", were told not to use that word, and didn't want to reanimate the lip movements. Blossom and Buttercup easily take care of the dust bunnies, and they have to face off against two of Bubbles' imaginary friends. Evil Bagstripes does a dance, using his pipes as swords, and Blossom just throws her pen at him, causing him to deflate. Indiana Jones may or may not be pleased.

Bubbles: Good job, he was always my least favorite.

Then why did you imagine him? As for Buttercup, she faces off against Evil Queen Shmallow again. This match lasts an even shorter time, as Queen Shmallow just gets lasered in half, because apparently Laser Eagle's lasers are stronger than Blossom's, and Bubbles just goes "you sure got her". Again, I think they used all of their creativity points on Blossom.

While his candy critters went down without much of a fight, there's still Him himself. Using his imagination train conductor hat, he turns into a train! It's here that I realize that this is the first reboot Him episode that doesn't involve an evil item. That's good. In this episode, even Buttercup says this train form is cool looking; essentially a verbal form of the fistbump joke. That's bad.

They repeat the same “punch punch uh-oh“ scene they did with Silico with a more fitting villain, as Him files the Office Valkyrie "under "P" for pathetic", which is an okay joke. The Laser Eagle goes down pretty easily, too, as the Him train reflects the lasers back at her. The Puffs defenseless, Him gets ready to "get" them, but what happened to Bubbles?

It turns out, this whole thing was just a distraction, as monotone Bubbles steals the imagination cap, and explodes in a boom of creativity. Blossom and Buttercup wonder where Bubbles, and she comes out in the most creative way she can muster...

...by ripping off the Teletubbies! For an episode that’s supposed to be a tribute to being creative, they sure are making some un-imaginary friends out of themselves. Without the hat, Him no longer has control over Bubbles' world, and is just a simple little devil now. Like Hot Stuff!

Of course, being the sun isn't the only thing Bubbles is going to do. She's also going to imagine a creative way to defeat Him: more milkshakes! They're going to do it for Joey. Not Big Joey, not Joey the Camp Director, but Joey the Sucked Milkshake From A Minute Ago. We even get to see him on a hospital bed.

Joey The Sucked Milkshake From A Minute Ago Go...get...him...guys...

Yeah, more of that getting! I will give this episode some credit: it’s only implied that the ultimate evil the Powerpuff Girls have and will ever face could be taken down by a bunch of anthropomorphic milkshakes. He leaves before the milkshakes could even "get" him. They're disappointed that they couldn't avenge their fallen friend.

And we cut to Joey flatlining in vain. And that's how the dream ends: with a reminder of death and disappointment. Who said the reboot can't be dark? Not funny, but that's kind of a given at this point.

The Powerpuff Girls wake up, and wonder if it was all a dream, even though it was already shown that it was, indeed, a Him plot. At least Bubbles got to save the day this time, something the reboot has dedicated an entire episode to showing that she never does. However, it's in a surreal dream world she had absolute control over, so it's not much of an accomplishment.

We get the weekly apology scene, with them saying sorry that they doubted the beauty of a great imagination. Bubbles is sorry too, for letting her imagination get the best of her. Hopefully, she won’t try to throw her friends that can’t survive broken glass, if she even has any. Her only friends seems to either imaginary or Donny the Hell-Horn, and the latter is happy to dump her for someone cooler.

The episode ends with them playing, pretending they’re the personas they used in the dream world. Even on non-rainy days, the Powerpuff Girls seem to have time to pretend to be superheroes. Episode end.

Does the title fit?

It's about imagination, and imagination saved the day. Buttercup even directly quotes the title in this episode.

How does it stack up?

I tried to imagine the positives of this episode, but I think monochrome Bubbles has the right idea.

Bubbles: Okay. I'll try. (pause) I got nuttin'.

Joking aside, it's finally cool to see Him do something other than hand a weird mysterious item that turns out to be evil. The Powerpuff Girls do indeed get the villain to the point where he has to escape, something that this reboot does rarely. Is that even a positive?

This episode is about how you shouldn't be afraid to use your imagination, written by people who are afraid to use their imaginations. Considering Painbow, that may be a positive, but what does this episode have? The humor is just random, with no real wit to be found.

As it stands, I'd rather not imagine this episode. Not a terrible moral, but I wasn't a fan.

Next for PPG 2016, Jared freakin' Shapiro. Man, I really need to think of something else to prepare for that one. All I can say is that life is like a hurricane.

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