#initial thoughts

[soviet-supersoldier]

Very curious to hear your thoughts about the latest episode of X-Men '97!

I just finished watching the new episode! It was entertaining, though there were some parts that puzzled me. I'm still processing, but these are some of my general thoughts about Episode 5:

It was cool to see the Team X band (plus Lady Deathstrike and Morph) all on a team together. Sabretooth was a little tamer than I thought he would be, but it's not too out of line from how he was in the original show, so that's ok with me! I think he was handled pretty well. Him mentioning he actively keeps up to date with modern technology got a chuckle out of me.

Maverick.... I really feel like he got done dirty. It was great to see him used, and I loved that they kept his German accent, but I didn't think it was right that he was used as sort of the coward character. Maverick was always made of sterner stuff, so to see him get so easily shaken up by the things that are going on when he as just of a battle-hardened veteran as the rest of the group really feels like a mischaracterization to me. But I did like seeing him!! I don't think he's dead. He will be back.

Garrison Kane!!!! Ohhhhhh....... Oh well, I guess.

I absolutely loved the bond between Lady Deathstrike and Morph, and the story/use of "Tomo" to refer to Morph. Those two were easily some of the best parts of the episode.

The homage/use of the Brood Wolverine was a nice callback to the comics.

Morph was all around a real standout. They were not just used as a cameo machine this time, which I really enjoyed. Something that I always liked with Morph even in the original show was how they always used their shapeshifting as a sort of mind weapon, turning into someone to say truths that the original character doesn't want to admit, or changing into someone to get certain emotional reactions. Morph got to use those traits in this episode to great effect (him messing with Logan as Cyclops was a hoot!).

The animation and voice acting in this episode -- especially for all the guest characters -- was top notch! I loved how Sabretooth sounded, I loved how Omega Red sounded. I loved the way his hair was animated. I loved how the injuries the characters got and how they healed were drawn and the action sequences.

Speaking of Omega Red.... He made it!!!! He got to appear!!!! Like Morph, I am very confused as to why he was there, but he got to have a few scenes!!! I laughed out loud about how completely unconcerned he was by the one thing everyone else was freaking out about the entire episode. It really shows how he really is in a different "weight class" than the rest of the group, which I am glad for. I like when his strength and power is respected. have no doubt he will be back again at some point, and I got a few wonderful crumbs of him to be able to pick apart and enjoy. I have been seeing other people online talking about him as one of their favorite parts of the episode and that just makes me happy.

Really, the only downside I think this episode has is with Logan, which is such a shame because this is his story, and it kind of just got glossed over. Him losing the adamantium in the comics was such a huge story arc for his character, and we never really got to see him talk about or struggle with the bone claws here in the show. We never even got to see him have that moment where he discovers he has them for the first time (I would have settled for a flashback).

I would have wanted to see his brain actually get picked a little more than it actually did in this episode and seen the decisions or moments that were the deciding factor for him to try to get his adamantium back. This story takes place when his mind is already made up about it and he gets some of his war buddies killed just to get the metal back. I feel like that could have been handled better if there were a few more scenes that actually dug into his trauma over the whole situation. Instead, the way it is written makes him look like a selfish ass who doesn't care about the people around him, which... if that was what they were going for.... is really a loss for Logan fans.

And now, Logan has the adamantium back, in the most sped-run adamantium bonding process that I have ever seen. How Logan's side of the story was handled was the weakest part of the episode. I wish we would have been able to really dive into Logan's struggle of wanting to be the way he was made to be again.

Overall.... hmm. This is hard to really rate. I guess I would give it a 6.4/10, with Logan and Maverick's mischaracterization being the things that drag down the rating. Morph, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabretooth really carry this episode as members of the main cast, and Omega Red gives us an amazing cameo that makes me want to see more of him down the line in another episode someday. Definitely will watch again!!

[silentdragon64]

Okay, so the first Victor Gideon scene I saw was him interrogating Leon. My friend thought it would be a good idea to let me get an idea on what he’s like because I haven’t watched an LP of RE9 at the time.

My first initial thoughts were:

“His voice is a lot softer than I expected.”

“I’m digging his coat.”

“Whu- …Why did he do that?”

“Oh god, why is he pawing at Leon like that?!”

“…And NOW I understand why people are all over this guy. Holy fuck!”

“…Oh no…it’s happening to me too.”

“*Confused Screaming*”

And now I can’t stop thinking about him. :D Help.

[lambchoppie]

jimmy crystal & co. thoughts. spoilers below

i really dug how arrested development they all were, especially Crystal: lying and spinning tales like a child would to save face when he sees Kelson through the binoculars. the tellytubbies being part inside-joke part gospel.. his at times very childlike vocabulary (tum tums.. sleepy..) the excessive flaunting and preaching to impress his gang. you can tell that so much of his scripture is just regurgitated from what he grew up with as the son of a vicar, just twisted to fit his own agenda. that is an overgrown, sadistic, feral child!!! very peter pan and the lost boys, in the most fucked up way possible. i loved it!!!

my only complaint is I wish we got more individual development of the Jimmies. i wanted to know more about their interpersonal dynamics. we only really got a few surface-level indications of the groups workings: shite and fox being best pals, snake and jones being in a relationship.

i was especially interested in Jimmima. I thought we’d learn a bit more about her in relation to Crystal. from the promo/fan theories i had thought she might be related by blood to him in some way, or at least have a higher standing in the hierarchy of the group. I definitely think she was *probably* his favourite as the most sadistic ‘finger’. it is hard to tell though, wether his rage following her death was at things simply not going his way or if he actually cared on any personal level.

such an interesting little set of villains i wish we got to spend more time with!

[zourryinghard]

hdigh?

you know the feeling when you listen to an album and you are just stunned, like it caught you off guard. i finished the album and i have been sitting here with my hand in my head because i don’t understand shit like WTF just happened??

i thought the album would be different and it would be good but THIS??? this is ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY AMAZING. mind-blowing. everything about this. omg i’m too stunned and i don’t fucking know what’s wrong with me. i’m just in a daze.

LOUIS TOMLINSON DRUGGED ME WITH HIS PERFECT ALBUM.

i can’t decide a fucking favourite song because ALL OF THEM were so fucking good. i kept telling myself while listening, this is my favourite, and then the next one would play and i’d forget what the previous one even sounded like because the current one is SO FUCKING GOOD???

i don’t know. i’m too stunned to speak.

LOUIS WILLIAM TOMLINSON YOU ARE A HELL OF AN ARTIST. you deserve everything baby and if people can’t give THIS masterpiece the moment it deserves then we have failed as fangirls, not you. NEVER YOU.

I’M SO FUCKING PROUD. BEYOND PROUD. YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH SO MUCH, OVERCOME SO MUCH, AND YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR BEST. and now it’s our time to give you the recognition you deserve.

love you. always.

[valenteal]

Watching 56 Days!!!!! This is not like any show I’ve watched before goddamn! And I’m only on episode two!

I have been waiting for this to come out for over a year and I’m two days late so I feel kinda stupid but oh well.

Actually I’ve been excited since before I had any clue what it was, just because both Dove and Avan are in it. They’re both such phenomenal actors. And people. And artists. Like, I’m kinda totally obsessed with Dove, have all her music, she’s one of the 4 people I have instagram for. And of course Avan is marrying one of the other 3 people I follow.

Dove’s technical skill when it comes to acting is just incredible, she has such fine control of her body, voice, and expressions that I just have to admire. It’s this skill that makes her so perfect for duplicitous characters.

I wasn’t someone who ever watched Nickelodeon, so my familiarity with Avan and his work started much later is still largely incomplete, but he’s capable of such intensity. He can make any scene he’s in feel so… deep, for lack of a better word. He projects this feeling that there’s always so much under the surface, what that is depends on the scene. It could be a huge well of emotion, or thoughts, or tension. He just amplifies everything with his expressions in a way I don’t even understand.

And of course it doesn’t hurt that they’re both conventionally attractive people, but that’s always secondary for me.

Anyway yeah that’s what I’m doing, I’m obsessed, this show is amazing, the directing and scene composition are masterful. The music is perfect. So far the sexual scenes have been tasteful and short, not disrupting the flow and setting the tone of the relationship which was one of my biggest concerns going in. (I’m not really a fan of those, so I’m relieved it’s not gratuitous.)

[isagrimorie]

[initial thoughts] Supergirl 2026

I read Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and loved it a lot but I get some of the changes and shortcuts they needed to do for the movie. Unlike the graphic novel, it didn't have the space to have a sprawling tapestry to weave together the meditation on tragedy and grief Woman of Tomorrow had.

I do feel like it could have hit harder in some parts and been more like True Grit and the graphic novel in tone but overall I truly enjoyed this movie.

Overall a solid movie with some soft places.

Honestly, I would have loved if this was a miniseries and had less action.

Does it deserve the vitriolic hate and disdain it's constantly been getting? No, it doesn't.

Because it is enjoyable and sometimes I feel like some comic book movie goers have just forgotten to have fun watching a summer movie.

And, also, frankly I think the weakness of some of the scenes I lay more on the directing and not the script because IMO Supergirl deserved the stylistic treatment Cruella got.

I am more forgiving of the color palette and it does get colorful but there were moments I went: I wish they got more visual inspiration from the graphic novel.

Also, I really enjoyed the parts in Argo as Kara was growing up, I was honestly engaged even when they were all speaking in Kryptonian. If this was a miniseries, I would have loved a whole episode focused on Kara growing up.

I am also honestly fascinated with the divide between Zor-El and Jor-El, where Jor-El and Lara seem to be the more militant Kryptonians. It feels similar to the conflict between Alura and Astra in CBS/CW's Supergirl.

Supergirl 2026 is actually more heroes journey with bonus Mad Max feel, instead of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Also, Kara is more of a brawler than Clark. And that is Great.

As for the ending, I'll put this under a spoiler cut

I love the moment where Rutheye's stubbornness led to her saving Kara's life when the green sun almost killed her. I love the short bonding scene where Kara shares the story of Argo with Rutheye.

I actually like the change where Kara killed Krem. In the graphic novel Krem's fate was more ambiguous, and if the ending that I think happened, happened: Kara and Rutheye put Krem in prison and then left it up to the reader to decide if Kara killed Krem. After a long incarceration where he reformed, or they let him go.

In a graphic novel, the ambiguity is welcome.

In the direction the movie chose for Krem... letting him live wouldn't be great.

In the whole movie, Kara was fighting hard not only for Krypto's cure but also to keep Rutheye from becoming a child killer. Kara fulfilled her side of the bargain where Krem dies but Kara took on the burden of killing Krem in cold blood.

Here's the thing I didn't like: I didn't like that Krem and the Brigands crime were more Mad Max oriented. The thing with the Brigands was that their crimes were multitude and all encompassing. But there's something flattening that their only most unforgivable crime (and yes it is unforgivable and despicable) is kidnapping girls and turning them into brides.

Yes, in the graphic novel, it was an all male crew but also the Brigands burned down worlds, and in one haunting scene Kara and Rutheye stumbled into a tower where all the occupants were massacred.

This is where a graphic novel has the space to explore the building fury in Kara, even as she tried to keep and failed to save Rutheye's innocence.

I feel that's the part where a different director could have handled Kara's fury breaking through a lot better. Especially when Kara hit her breaking point.

And Supergirl showed why Kryptonians were feared, especially in the presence of a yellow sun.

Kara's cold calculation as she made her decision to kill Krem was really good and Milly Alcock really sold it. Krem would die, but Rutheye would not be part of it.

For better and for worse, Kara's made it her mission to keep Rutheye's hands clean.

I love the ending that Kara returned to Metropolis and admitted to Clark that Earth is becoming her home.

Overall a solid summer movie.

[fleursbending]

hi everyone, junie here and checking in <3 !!

i know it has been a million years so i'm not gonna feed any empty promises. but had the chance to watch this beautiful movie opening night and it has reopened everything within me. i love this movie so much and i can't believe they managed to make it better than the last.

the bond and deep appreciation and love i feel for some of these characters and the world of avatar is limitless. i'm itching to write but i genuinely cannot promise anything as of right now.

nonetheless i don't know whose feed this will even come across, i hope my old friends and readers and new followers are all living wonderful lives. i miss you all and you come across my mind every now and then.

[nutelloona]

It's hilarious talking about BG3 with my brother-in-law bc he's a very gamer, very white and very straight dude and it's amazing watching him about to have an aneurysm about how I'm playing lol (long first-time-playing rambling under the cut)

Not even because I'm playing "badly", it's just that my order of doing things is apparently all over the place (I had a few hints on this, taking Lae'zel and Gale into account lol), my "priorities" make no sense to him and he has no idea how I'm making the ranger class work because he thinks it's hot garbage even in table top DnD. Also he can't wrap his head around the fact that I don't like using magic, but that one is confusing for everyone hehehehehehehe

Exploring places I shouldn't have access to is one of the first things I do in games like these, every time, and I get so lost in the discovery sauce that sometimes I end up skipping very initial things because I didn't wanna stay in one place for too long, that's how I was able to completely walk past Gale in the beginning, poor guy was stuck in a rock for like, 40 hours of gameplay lmao

And apparently the mountain passage is NOT the first place you could find Lae'zel after the ship wreck but since it was next to where Gale was and I missed him, I ended up missing her too. The irony is that I went too far too early specifically because I was looking for her, then there was the dragon and the buffed up githyanki enemies who were instantly hostile every time I tried to reach her so yeah, she was DEAD for at least 60 hours of gameplay because I didn't find her when I was supposed to. Whoopsie. Sorry gurl lol

As for my priorities... I reached the Grove, found out Halsin needed rescue and this information alone was enough for me to lock in so, SO intensely I was solving problems I shouldn't even have touched yet at level 2 and that remained a pattern until recently. Even Halsin was like "damn you already did all that? holy shit" when I first talked to him at the camp and that left me "............MOTHERFUCKER I DID ALL THAT FOR YOU-". I literally wouldn't have done half of what I did if his stubborn ass didn't refuse to leave the goblin camp until the leaders were dead lol I'm still mourning Minthara but hey it worked!! Halsin is here and he likes me he's strong as fuck, he's gorgeous, he's fun to have around, I feel it was worth the hustle 😌💖 (but I really didn't wanna kill Minthara, next playthrough I'll find a better way girl please wait for me-)

And honestly I went with Ranger because it's my fave class, I have no idea why it's so underrated. It's not flashy like mage or druid, sure, but it's so useful and it's kinda like an "all rounder" class when you play as a dwarf like I do, because Zivorad's ranged attacks are more lethal for sure but his melee stuff still does a LOT of damage and he has his beasts to fight beside him as well. His initiative is through the roof and with his multiple attacks + magic suppressing abilities + resistance to pretty much every kind of magic that requires a saving roll + the beast + stealth, that man is a nightmare to go against. If he rolls better than you on the initiative - which happens a lot - before you can reach him he already drained half of your hp and the goddamn wolf/bear beside him is coming for the rest lmao

That's why him and Astarion work together so nicely btw, two fast bitches with the power to stop mages and somehow disappear right after leaving you bleeding, confused and powerless. It's a lovely view, I'm always delighted to witness the efficiency hehehehehehehehe Astarion has a fair amount of spells/spells slots but I rarely have him casting anything really, I might change his specialisation to make him more focused on being an assassin and not a "trickster". Something to ponder about later ~

On why I don't like using magic... Well that needs a whole post by itself, also I'm not in the mood to type all of that out lol

These were my thoughts on the general experience so far (+80 hours of gameplay or so, somewhere right before the middle of Act 2 I think?), if any of y'all were watching it from the beginning and felt genuinely confused on what's happening, you're not alone. Everyone is except me apparently lmaoooooo