"Oh?" Anzu was a bit surprised how considerate Kaiba was being of Jounouchi, but she didn't question it any further. If the two had finally gained a bit of grudging respect for one another, that was okay in her book. She couldn't help but smile at the final, sarcastic dismissal, not really sensing any cruelty in it, "Alright. Well let me know if you need any help with... whatever you're doing." she gestured at the computer before turning to leave.
((Ah good, then that means you're about to start where the series gets awesome. Now that you know the characters, I can tell you that in my earlier post, Bolin was Comic Relief, Korra was Obnoxious, Asami was Boring, and Mako was Obnoxious and Boring. I liked the spirit plot too, especially the flashback episode with Wan. Heck, I even liked the first season's plot. It's really the characters that's the problem. But anyway, Korra and Asami get way better in the next seasons. I feel like Bolin still doesn't have enough to him, but gets slightly better. Mako still sucks. Asami is one of my favorite characters now. She's probably tied with Lin, though I have a feeling she'll overtake her, and then Tenzin is my second favorite, and Korra's managed to climb her way a little above the middle.
But yeah, Tenzin and his siblings are all great. Creepy twins amuse me but I don't really have any love for them. Varrick is just great, as well as Zhu Li. Thankfully next season will get rid of the evil Water Tribe trend.
Anyway, everyone who watches the show who I know pretty much agrees with me that the first two seasons suck for the characters, but it gets amazing on the next two. So I hope you feel the same. =D))
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:21 pm
'No, I'm alright, just tell everyone I'll be back in a couple of minutes,' he answered, turning back to his laptop once he was sure she couldn't see the screen.
((I have now finished season 3 and I have to say while the characters I like a 'bit better' I still can't say I have much love for the main 4. I like Asami the most of them but I still think she is a bit bland, and I rarely like the comic relief so still don't like Bolin much. I mean they don't annoy the s**t out of me anymore, but that might be more the result of time rather than feeling they are actually better in season 3. Tenzin and his siblings are great, and they and Lin (and even her sister) are some of my favourites. I do like that each season is kind of a contained challenge (I liked Avatar having an overarching aim but I don't think I'd like it as much if they went with that again) and I think they've all been good ones with pretty decent antagonists. Although I feel the red lotus members weren't characterised as well as they could be.
So yea, while I like the show I wouldn't be able to agree that season 3 is an improvement on protagonists for me, I just feel you get more 'other' people and it distracts a bit from how the main characters aren't great. I do like that there was no real dating nonsense (save for Bolin's flirting adventures that don't develop into anything obnoxious, and I guess Jinora and Kai who I don't take seriously as they are children). So yea, I think by now I'm more used to characters, attached to side characters but its still status quo for me on the main 4. I have to say.))
"Alright." Anzu agreed before returning to the others. She informed them of what Kaiba had told her.
((Aww, that's too bad to hear. I feel like Korra improved massively in season three. She wasn't as angry and selfish, she was fairly helpful and didn't overdo the rash decisions, and she actually suffered and has to grow from that, instead of just losing her bending and then getting it back for nothing like at the end of the first season. Asami I do see as being a bit bland still, but in a way where she feels human. Like some people are just kind of bland, and that's how I fee she is, rather than lacking in character development. I adore how nice and loving she is, and I love the relationship that she and Korra have gained, despite all the crap with Mako. I do agree there could've been more to the Red Lotus. I think they just didn't have enough time to develop four characters in one short season. I would've preferred if they made them villains through season four as well, because from what we saw, they were great. The writers also said the reason Water Tribe kept being the villains is because they just kept coming up with cool ideas for them that wouldn't work for the other nations. XD Their first villain idea for season 3 was Ming Hua and her water arms, but they didn't want to do a third season with the Water Tribe as the antagonist, so decided to come up with characters from each nation.))
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:41 am
Honda didn't like the idea of Kaiba doing things on his own, he still didn't trust the guy to stick around now that they knew Jounouchi was the target. As much as he hated to admit it they'd probably really need him and his resources, and it'd be just like the guy to abandon them right when he was most needed. But he'd already aired his concerns with Jounouchi and he didn't really want to voice them aloud anymore than he needed to. Besides, Mokuba was back in the room now and while the kid was much nicer than his brother they hadn't been on the best of terms during this ordeal. Maybe if he gave it some thought he'd want him and his brother to bail asap, salvage whatever was left of their relationship.
'So what are we doing while we wait for moneybags?' Honda asked now that everyone but Kaiba was assembled in the room.
((I guess I felt Korra was more subtle, but not any less selfish. Even the end of the third season I just felt like Korra was crying tears of pity for herself whereas I always felt Aang was more frustrated to let people down, fail the world and feel responsible for the loss of life. Korra still seems to be more frustrated with anything that limits her ability to be awesome and center of attention. The season ends with no known threat (beyond lotus threads), nothing to feel anxious about not being able to defend at the moment and I just feel its more genuine Korra pity party than responsibility and duty. So I still just can't quite like her as she still comes off as too full of herself for me. I feel the subtle is more about she has less opportunity to come into confrontation with family/friends in this season than in earlier seasons (season 2 very much involved her family in particular). A lot of the action up until she gets kidnapped really happens behind her back so I don't know if I personally believe growth over the nature of the season just didn't always exploit the worst of her.
I do agree about Asami though, and I definitely don't think its a lack of character development. I have plenty of probably 'bland' real friends and bland people are usually always good people. So I don't dislike her for it but obviously she's not the most exciting person to follow. Tom does really like Bolin but he generally likes the comic characters. I agree the characters maybe develop a bit further but I still don't like the main 4 very much. I just no longer find that as bothersome, in part because many of the other characters are becoming just as main.
I can't imagine a Ming Hua centric season or what they'd do with it, obviously she wasn't developed almost at all so it seems like a horrible idea but I'm sure she would have been a better character as a stand alone. I definitely think by the time they were all introduced it was almost over and there wasn't much payoff in terms of developing the villains. So while I don't know if the season 2 villain is my favourite I still think he was the best done and that's still probably my favourite season in terms of story. I guess the red lotus is still lurking so maybe they'll play a part in season 4, but obviously most of the core 4 (whose relationships to each other and motivations was never quite clear and/or developed) are out. I haven't started the 4th season yet. Now that I'm not ill slipping a bit on TV, I think the only things I'm still current on are things Tom watches as well (so Agents of Shield and Big Bang Theory, though he does watch Korra so that's an exception). I do kinda prefer to binge the show so I'll probably wait until there are more episodes and watch in a swoop, though probably won't wait until the end as there are probably a few too many people on my FB who'd post spoiler things. FB needs a spoiler. smile
Also, I finally watched Oculus, which Tom will never forgive me for because I made him watch it with me. Honestly I know you said it was good but what I knew about the plot didn't sound like my thing so I didn't know if I'd like it but it was very very good. One of the best done horror movies I've seen in awhile. It was an interesting story, well acted and well directed. So I am glad I actually watched it rather than reading a plot synopsis (which I did after as I always do where I can with horror, and that definitely would not have done it justice). Cinema Sins doing the film is what prompted me as obviously Cinema Sins is very spoiler heavy. But yea that was great, the obviously the end while very balanced and not unsurprising was sad and I'd kinda hoped for more 'hope', though that wouldn't have made it a better film it would have just made me happy so obviously that wouldn't be good. But yea, Tom doesn't like horror and this deeply upset him so oops. xd))
"Well... I personally would be interested in interviewing this Ommyouji." Sen spoke up, "Part of the problem we've been having is that there isn't enough information on how to stop them. We might be able to learn some from him, and gain a more permanent advantage."
((I can definitely see your point, especially about the season giving her less opportunity to be obnoxious. I do feel though that there were a lot of moments where she was just more... genuinely nice, and yeah, most of the season was easier on her than others and gave her less reason to fight, but it doesn't change that I saw more good in her and liked what I saw. The ending was definitely her pitying herself, but I was okay with that. It felt like good development to me, this girl who is constantly reacting to hardships on herself with anger and needing to overcome it, finally just seemed broken and exhausted with it, so all she could manage was to cry. It didn't make her less selfish, but it did make her more interesting. And I think it is leading her down a path to finally perhaps make her just a little bit better of a person. She's still not one of my favorites, but I don't hate her anymore, and Aang was still definitely a better person, but Korra has finally managed to catch my interest with her struggles.
Haha, I actually tend to like bland characters, however uncommon they may be. I sometimes get tired of how extreme characters tend to be in their personalities, so I generally appreciate people who are just... good people, without much drama to them. I admire how much better they handle bad situations than other characters, like her dad being evil and her company going down and Mako being a d**k, she just handled it all so well, for the most part. And she's just so sweet and wonderful. XD I tend to like comic relief characters, but only if there's something else to them besides the comic relief. Like Jounouchi, he's definitely a comic character, but he has family troubles, self esteem issues, he's one of the most supportive friends, he's had a trouble past, constantly trying to improve for his friends and sister... And then like Sokka, he was also the comic relief, but he was super smart, he also had self esteem issues (especially being the only non-bender in the group for most of the series), he started out rude and obnoxious but slowly became one of the nicest characters, he worked like crazy to make himself as fierce as the benders... I have a lot of respect for characters like that, who are complex but still funny, and use humor as something to kind of hide behind.
I don't think it was necessarily a Ming Hua-centric season, as it would've been the main villain had her arm thing going on. I think they just came up with that concept first, nixed it for a foursome, then created Ming Hua as the Water Tribeswoman who had that initial concept. I'm surprised season 2 villain is your favorite though. I thought... was it Tanraq? Too many new villain names in this series, but anyway, I thought her uncle was just too generically evil. Like his motivations were kind of shaky and there was nothing more too him besides, "I want to summon the evil god because I'm crazy and muahaha." And there were literally no redeeming qualities about him. He was just a bad guy. I thought Amon (and even Zaheer) were way more interesting. They had visions, albeit warped ones, of equality and freedom. And yes, the ways they went about achieving those visions were corrupt, but that's what made them villains, not just their basic ideals. Plus Amon had like... a past where you could see him turning into what he became, and he was just a cool, creepy villain in general. I honestly thought season 2 villain was the worst of all of them. Even though he had more development than the Red Lotus, he was just too obvious and predictable.
Oh, I'm glad you watched it, but poor Tom! Glad you liked it too. I always feel validated when you agree with things I liked because you think so deeply about things. XD The ending was pretty sad, and I would've liked more hope as well, but I agree, that's just to make me happy rather than making the movie good.))
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:22 am
'Interviewing Hirutani? Huh, I dunno, Jounouchi do you think that would go over well? What are we going to tell him, it's great that you've decided to work with us - completely leaving out that we don't believe that at all of course - and this priestess here who we'd been collaborating with would now really like to conduct some research into Ommyouji and evil spirits and well you up for some interviewing?' Honda asked, thinking this couldn't possibly end well.
((I guess I feel she just didn't have enough time to be broken and exhausted. The main action was kind of a blur of time, and one of the things she was most distraught about was her father being dead but that was quickly revealed to not be the case. I'm not entirely sure what the extent of her disability was but I really felt she was more genuinely upset about that then about any sort of mental or emotional exhaustion. Like if season 3 had gone the way of season 1 and she was 'instantly better' she would have been perfectly happy. I don't hate her, and while she really annoyed me I don't think I'd ever say hate her, but I also don't feel for her. In part because she feels too much for herself and it's human and acceptable realistically speaking. However, her whole identity is on being 'the avatar', so I can't really forgive her for being so human, she should be better than that. She just comes off to me as wanting all the good parts of the avatar and none of the challenge or responsibility, and being forever compared to Aang that's a bit disappointing. He didn't even want to be the avatar and was still more invested in responsibility and the needs of others versus his own (with the exception of his own need not to kill, which to be fair is not something I will hold against him).
Sokka grew on me eventually but he was definitely the character I disliked the most in the beginning, and I originally wasn't a fan of Jounouchi either. What does make them grow on me is when they become more than the comic relief. Bolin has equal amounts of stated depth but he doesn't act like it. He's very much the neanderthal he plays in the 'movers'. He is nice, but like bland that isn't enough to make me like a fictional character. If I wanted real people I'd probably go outside and hang out with real people. I do definitely use TV/film/books as an escapism, and I need a lot more dimension to a character to appreciate them in media. Bolin is just a bit too flat for me.
I've forgotten his name and can't be bothered to look it up but it was her uncle yes. I'm usually okay with evil for evil's sake, though I think it was more about power (even if duh, this is power he's foolish to think he can control) then just to be evil. He never ran around going 'muwhaha I will destroy the world!' but was very much focused on his 'new world', though at any cost. So while clearly these were powers beyond his control, most or everyone would die, I don't think that was just his motivation. He definitely had nothing redeeming but I don't need a bad guy to have redeeming qualities. That can be interesting but I'm not looking to feel for and like every bad guy. Amon's past was interesting but it was more just shown to you near the end and the beginning of it it was very hard to not be anything but annoyed with the guy. Season 2 they made the bad guy 'human' first (though you still could tell he was going to be a bad guy) rather than humanizing him as an after thought. I think I felt more for Amon's brother rather than Amon, who still seemed pretty arrogant and cruel (so while the end was sad I can see why the brother felt death was really their only option). I also had huge problems with the completely unexplained nature of how blood bending would take away other types of bending (my guess is it's somehow incapacitating like Ty Lee's attacks but I don't see any reason to think that'd be permanent, indeed it magically wasn't for Korra but that left all these questions about why didn't everyone else's just come back eventually). I think they really kind of wrote off what was honestly a very surprising thing, him being able to do something only an avatar should. I guess season 2 felt the neatest to me, the least rushed (though still a bit rushed). I liked that it wasn't a 'moral high ground' bad guy like season 1 and 3, I liked that he was just evil. The series is so full of moral righteousness on both good and bad sides, so I feel like Tanraq was a breather. The season introduced a lot of interesting elements to the series and just let the bad guy be a generic hungry for power guy which I think worked. I think the problem with Amon and Zaheer is that we are supposed to think about two sides and sympathise with them, but I feel 12/13 episode seasons did not leave ample time to do this, season 3 especially failed at introducing the bad guys and why we should have the reflective pause. So I guess my preference for 2 is it was just handled better. I think Amon and Zaheer absolutely had the potential to be the better bad guys, they just didn't get the chance so I default to the guy who might not have been the most amazing bad guy, but he best did what he was meant to do. Obvious yes, predictable yes, but finished and developed. I could do the work myself and make Amon and Zaheer (that'd be harder) the better bad guys, but that just results in me feeling frustrated with how they fell short.
I do enjoy talking with you about series and such (and half the time only want to watch a series or movie merely to discuss it) for the same reason, it's nice to be able to have an in depth conversation about something, and even if my opinions don't change I do tend to think about things in different ways or appreciate other merits. Think we do tend to like quite a lot of the same media but usually for very different reasons. Exceptions being things like Sin City. razz I did see the sequel of that right before it came out of cinema. If you didn't like the first you won't like the second. Same vein but a lot weaker. I think in part because the first had 3 balanced segments that I think all had their own strengths, the new movie has one strong segment, one poor segment that didn't go anywhere, and one segment that might have had potential but it got the least amount of time and was therefore very underdeveloped and just served as a rushed conclusion to the film. But yea, watchable if you like the franchise but definitely wouldn't tell someone to go out of their way to see and most certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone who didn't even find the first likable.))
"...it was just a suggestion." Sen murmured, crossing her arms.
"Maybe interrogation instead of interview." Jounouchi suggested.
((Mmh, that wasn't quite the impression I got. The poison was so painful and confusing, it almost seems like a type of PTSD to me. Season four also further outlines the extent of what happened. I think even if she hadn't been wheelchair bound, she'd still be traumatized by her own suffering and lack of control, which is still selfish, but also human. I totally see what you're saying about comparing her to Aang. She is so much less than him. I guess for me though, being a wonderful person isn't a requirement to be an interesting character or avatar, or even somewhat likable. Though I guess that can go for anyone with any character, like with you and Kaiba. XD Overall, though she's not comparable to Aang, Korra has become more branched out, a little kinder, has suffered enough, and had enough overall character change and development that I like her now, even if not as a favorite.
I didn't like Sokka much at first either, but even though the episode where Suki taught him not to be a sexist jerk was a little heavy-handed, I started appreciating him there, and he grew on me more and more for the rest of the series. I always like Jounouchi, and I honestly don't know why because I started with the dub and just ew. XD I completely agree about Bolin. As for bland characters, I also use media as escapism, but also I enjoy relating to characters. If I can imagine a being a friend with a character and liking their company, or even comparing myself to them, that's a completely different reason I can enjoy a character.
For me a villain doesn't necessarily need to have redeeming qualities, but they at least... just need to have some kind of motivation that makes sense without making them look like an idiot. Or at least be crazy enough that they don't need that motivation. Tanraq's motivation was both selfish, someone evil, and incredibly stupid, like what was he hoping to gain from all of this? Yet he was intelligent, charismatic, and didn't seem to have any obvious mental disorders. I need something to at least make them a little realistic with how horrible they are, and the fact that he had more development than all the other villains means he has even less of an excuse for not having a good motivation. He was more human at first, which made his outright obvious villainy for power's sake (and shaky power at that) all the more confusing. I was also kind of confused about the blood bending thing, but I'm guessing it has something to do with blocking blood flow to the necessary chakras for bending. So like when Ty Lee hits someone, it temporarily creates a pressure that blocks that blood flow, but this was more of a... maybe just stopping the blood from going to that area at all. Still shaky, and that is just speculation, but it worked enough for me to accept it and move past it. Overall, I think for me the potential to be a better villain is enough to still like them better. I would've liked the development, but I can fill in the blanks enough myself, where's with Tanraq, there weren't really any blanks to fill in. He was already fully developed, just not at all in an interesting way to me.
Haha, aww, I'm touched you watch things so you can discuss them with me. XD And yeah, we always get differing views on things that can really make us think. Like now I actually want to rewatch season 2 of Korra and try to see the villain more like you do, try to appreciate him more for what he is. And okay, good to know I have even less reason to see the Sin City sequel. Did you like it overall though?
By the way, sorry it took me a while to reply. Life has been insane lately. I've decided to go back to school (kind of) to get an associates degree in graphic design. I feel like having experience in that field (which was not something my university offered at all) will give me a lot more career opportunities. Thankfully the community college closest to my house (and less than five minutes from my work) offers the program, so it will be closer, cheaper, I already have my general studies done, and I won't need to do full time to graduate within a couple of years, so I can still work. But yeah, been working crazy to apply, appeal for financial aid since I already have a degree, send in transcripts, etc. Then also we took my dog to the vet because we thought she had a bad tooth, but it turned out to be a huge tumor on the back of her tongue. We got it removed, and were hoping that'd be it, but it turns out it's a really fast-grown cancer. The vet said it would probably come back in a couple of weeks, and spread to her lungs in a couple of months. She's only ten and our second-youngest pet out of four, so it's been pretty depressing and uncertain around here. She's acting completely normal, but we're going to take her to the vet in about a week to see if it's coming back. Finally, I'm starting to believe and come to terms with that I'm actually gray asexual/romantic. I haven't experienced real attraction to more than two people in my life, and even then I haven't really cared about kissing or anything like that. I'm interested in sexual activity, but more for the physical pleasure than wanting to do that with another person. I can appreciate aesthetics and think someone is hot, but I just almost never actually would want to date them or have sex with them or anything. So yeah, that's been a journey. For now at least I'm done looking for a significant other and decided I need to learn to be happy being single instead of fantasizing about a relationship I want more for the sake of having a relationship than for an actual person. If I end up being attracted to someone and they me and we get together, great, but it's not something I'm pursuing any longer.
Aaand, finally on a lighter note, did you see the Age of Ultron trailers? And see all the announcements for the Marvel movies? =D ))
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:40 am
'It's not a bad idea,' Honda agreed, feeling guilty for seemingly upsetting the priestess, 'just wondering how it would work best, what would be the most fruitful way of doing things.'
'Well, I guess we may as well start by heading to the hospital? We can discuss strategy on the way, and in the waiting room. If Kaiba is ready to go that is,' Shizuka added.
- - -
Hovering outside the shrine was the best he could do with Jounouchi and all his loved ones inside. Still, little Seto had decided to isolate himself once again. That stupid charm made it impossible to possess him, but he could do other damage. He just needed to get creative.
((I did actually start Season 4 (and I'm current until tomorrow, where I don't know when I'll watch that episode as obviously I won't find it in the UK until Saturday I have a lot of weekend plans both social and work related. But yea, the pilot did start to make me sympathize with Korra a bit and feel some growth, although the next few episodes almost undid it though I tried to appreciate it as flashback to a Korra I already know I don't sympathise with. So I'm hoping that 3 years older Korra will be someone I can finally appreciate. I don't want to just compare her to Aang I just feel like she just didn't have enough for me as her own person and just pretty much exemplified the inferior avatar (having caught up I finally started looking at the Korra meme site and am discovering that is a very common motif so at least it's not just me). So I would like to just take her on her own merits, whatever those might be. The flashbacks undid it for me and kinda make it hard for me to subscribe to a PTSD type mentality because of how she acts. I feel the words about 'kidnapped and poisoned' are hollow and her actions and how she treats people are a bit more indicative of 'I'm really pissed to be crippled'. And yea, that's fair. But it also does not make it okay to be a selfish jerk and scream at Katara. Yet as she gets better (but not miraculously better) I think she does start to drop some of the selfishness and grow. I think Korra is the person who everything came easy too (even the struggle of air bending was something she quickly managed to ignore and eventually just pull together without trying when it became necessary). I mean she magically just taught herself how to bend the first 3 elements at age 5? Her bending came back with no real effort after season 1. I think she's lacked as a person the first 3 season, and could never do anything but lack, because it isn't until post-season 3 in the aftermath 3 years that she's finally had to struggle. So I am hopeful for season 4 but season 3 obviously didn't deliver me a better Korra. Just a quieter one overshadowed by more characters. Although, while I loved having Toph back I hope the progress isn't just undone by the fact that the struggle was due to still having the poison in her body for 3 years and now that it's out she'll lose appreciation for hard work and getting over herself once again.
I also think - though I'm too lazy to go look, the villain is Unlaq (something like that). Tanraq is her father I think (pretty sure when watching season 4 a few days ago he was called Tanraq). I think for me season 2 had the advantage of really introducing a lot of other characters to like (and I've already felt season 3 didn't do the job of developing the protagonists significantly further) and being something very different to Avatar (being about the spirit world rather than the mortal world). So I think Unlaq has the advantage of being in a season where there is a lot more good going on. What will always be missing is what he thought his place would be in the post-darkness world (regardless of if that is what would happen), and that is probably information that would really make the difference between whether he just needs to be written off as poorly motivated. I mean he 'seemed' human but he obviously has been plotting and very invested in his plans for a very long time (usurping his brother as chief happened decades prior when he was quite young), he also does not care about people. Any people, he was perfectly happy leaving his own son to die. So his plan might have been absolutely stupid from a human interest, but I never really felt he had any human interest. As long as he felt he had some sort of place within a dark spirit world (and as the dark avatar he quite possibly did) then his plans made perfect sense for him. I kinda feel understanding his motivation is like understanding god(s). Tom's atheist arguments against god rely very heavily on a god we can only understand in human terms. While I'm agnostic and against organised religion personally, I can't help but point out the argument that it is very limited to assume that god is something that can ever be understood in human terms (which is why I don't buy a racist, homophobic, sex-shaming, misogynistic and any other biased god that dictates religious persecution as that is just so human). That's how I feel about Unlaq. His plan isn't something that we are meant to understand in the context of a world of humans but within the much more ambiguous and blurred world of spirits. It's dark and beautiful, in its own confused way. But hey, I know a bit of that is me filling in blanks there. Amon and Zaheer are more human bad guys with human motivations (equality - but by any and therefore by obviously unequal means) that were shaky and unrealised. But, also predictable and standard to me. It was season 2 where I felt things weren't predictable and standard, where you had a villain whose motivations weren't human, harder to understand and therefore a lot more interesting.
I did enjoy Sin City 2, though not as much as I thought I would. The main segment was very well done, although I'm less impressed with the dame herself than critics like Movie Bob were. An aspect I was really looking forwarded too ended up being pretty disappointing in execution though, which is probably what brings it down quite a lot for me personally.
Also no problem, will probably be very busy myself until Monday over the next few days. Going to apply for a new job as a one-on-one writing tutor with Academic Writing Advisory Services (and quit my enquiries job if I get it, which I want to do anyhow). I didn't want to take more things on but the pay is really good and I did want it last year to have more teaching experience as we don't get much in the UK. Also need to finish my current thesis chapter draft, finish and submit the book I'm editing and get through all those social obligations of Halloween. razz
The graphics design thing sounds really good though, hopefully that's been enjoyable? I miss studying things as a student rather than 'researching', I miss being taught. I wanted to take a language course this year but I just didn't have the time. Anyhow good luck with the associates. Sorry to hear about the dog though, hopefully the tumor doesn't come back.
Your approach to sexual discovery seems positive and healthy. I think everyone would really benefit from loving being single and if you end up loving being with another person great, but I think most people who tend to find themselves happy in love found themselves happy alone. I was definitely pretty happy single before I met Tom. Self love is important to all sexualities and that is the part of your journey I wish you the best of luck on.
I saw the Pinocchio trailer (the one with the creepy version of the No Strings On Me song). Haven't watched the others yet as my headphones broke (so sad, why can't I find a lasting pair of portable headphones) and so can't watch while working and when I get home I've been drained these past few days. Will probably try and find the rest over the weekend. I like the trailer I've seen and that it looks darker. The one trailer review I read which only expressed disappointment with the fact that it looks like it is gearing up for another urban showdown might be something I'd agree with if that is the case. I don't want it to be a darker version of more of the same, but I expect it won't be. Quicksilver looks good if quite a bit bulkier than I would picture him. Trying to remain objective on Scarlet Witch which is best done by not thinking about her too much until I get to see the full film as I am slightly already biased against Elisabeth Olsen who I think is a pretty meh actress whose Hollywood entry is very much dependent on her Olsen status. But these movies are generally so well directed they could probably put Kirsten Stewart in there and it'd be okay. And hey, at least they didn't put Kirsten Stewart in there, my that would be awful! razz ))
"Honestly I'd normally be against something like interrogation, but for Hirutani I'll make an exception." Anzu said as they headed out of the shrine.
((Korra was selfish in her flashbacks, but honestly that just seems like the way she would of course handle PTSD. That's something everyone handles differently, and I think her lashing out and anger fits with her personality, and doesn't make her any less traumatized. Doesn't mean she's right to take her frustration out on others, but that also doesn't mean it's not realistic or valid. I completely agree on everything coming too easily for Korra in the past. I think that's part of what's made her so impatient and selfish. But that's something that she herself is admitting in a way, by resenting she was protected all her life as the avatar, avoiding her loved ones because she doesn't want them to just keep taking care of her, and going out and trying to heal and get stronger on her own. She's forcing herself to struggle and suffer, partially so she can get better, but also to escape everyone doing everything for her and taking care of her, and to learn to accomplish something through hard work. I respect that, despite the flashbacks. Oh also I'm actually a couple episodes behind still because I watch it with my dad, but neither of us have been home or awake at the same time in forever. XD
Oh yeah, that sounds right. Though I think it's Unalaq, now that you say it. XD I feel like I'm being racist against the Water Tribe by getting their names mixed up. But yeah, explaining what Unalaq's (watch, that's the wrong name too) role would be in the dark spirit world probably would've made me appreciate him a bit more. Granted, my other problem with him, and this is in complete disagreement with you, is that he was just way too obvious and predictable. With the other villains, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what we'd find out about them and that maybe their motivations weren't as warped as we were being led to believe (though I was disappointed with those hopes, their development was still flexible enough that it kept me invested at the time). But with Unalaq, it was pretty much, "Oh, he's the villain. Yup, villain. Oh, he's power hungry. Never would've guessed that. Of course he betrayed his brother a long time ago. Horrible to his children too. Makes sense." the entire time. He not only never took me by surprise, but never gave me reason to think he could. Confusion at his motivations is not the same thing as a character having an interesting twist to them or potential to them.
Oh, being a tutor could be a lot of fun, I hope you get the job. Haha, I worked so hard on my Halloween costume (Scarlet Witch from Age of Ultron; I just need to modify one jacket sleeve and wait for a couple more pieces of jewelry to come in the mail to be finished) but I work on Halloween anyway, so am probably just gonna end up watching a movie with my coworker when we get off. XP
I haven't actually started the graphic design program yet. I'll be beginning next semester. That's a reason I never wanted to pursue post-graduate. I like learning, not paying money to work as a means of proving my worth. Not that what you're doing isn't worthwhile or valuable, because it's amazing and I really respect and admire it. It's just not something I have interest in going through. But I am excited. I don't necessarily miss school, but I miss learning new things, and at uni I never got the chance to do much besides schoolwork, I was so busy. This though will only be a few classes a semester, it will be so much closer, and easier work with less homework (computer art classes only have homework if you don't finish your work in class), so I'll be able to join a club for the first time. I'm going to join the LGBT club, and there's actually an internship available for credit in the degree program. I didn't have time for an internship at uni, and it was hard to get one with my degree, so I'm really excited for that to get the work experience. And thanks, I'll let you know about the dog when we find out.
Haha, well I guess I worded that badly earlier. I've always been happy (only facing mild depression a couple of times when I was really stressed with school, and one major time when my anxiety and panic attacks were the worst they've ever been) overall, and though I have goals I haven't reached yet, been satisfied with my quality of life and being single. I think I already love myself and being single, but I was just putting 'find a relationship' as one of my goals, and constantly being unsatisfied that I seemed incapable of reaching it. So it's more that I've removed that one particular goal as a necessity to reach in my life at some point, and am trying not to fantasize about having a relationship, though that's something that will take more time. But thank you for the luck. <3
Ah, well they are both Pinocchio trailers. They're pretty much the same, except one has a small speech from Ultron at the beginning, where's the other starts with a clip from the movie (it was the trailer that was first shown at Comic Con, but has now been released as an extended trailer). Other than that, there's just a couple of clips they use in place of each other. I am super excited for it, and honestly, even if they are heading in the direction of another urban brawl, I'm cool with that, because it looks like they're just doing so much more character development than in the first movie, and it's going to have more lasting consequences a la Winter Soldier (which is illustrated in the giant list of Marvel Movie announcements I mentioned earlier). I don't care what the 'final battle' is, as long as it's more serious like the trailer portrays (I loved the humor in Avengers, but am ready for something a bit more complex), develops the characters more (like what we're seeing with Bruce and Natasha, plus I know Clint will have a much bigger role), and bridges the way to Captain America 3, which is the movie I am most excited for in the new announcement. <3 I don't care for Quicksilver's look, especially the bulkiness and how he seems to have brown roots under the white hair, but I like the actor and am sure the role will be great. Scarlet Witch I'm a bit worried about the acting for the same reasons as you, but am confident Whedon will shape her up, and she looks great in the trailer. Hahaha, I think I'd question my own existence if Kristen Stewart played Scarlet Witch. I'd be devastated.))
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:17 pm
Oh, here comes the rest of the clan now. Kaiba boy still seems determined to take off on his own, there will be a next time.
((I couldn't think of anything interesting to happen with the spirit...sorry. stressed
Ah sorry, wasn't much of season 4 yet so when you mentioned aspects of it made the mistake of thinking you were current. I do believe people handle PTSD in different ways I just don't feel that way with Korra and again won't say further because some of why I feel that way is with the last couple of episodes.
I think it is Unalaq and I was going to write Unalaq but didn't. I felt all the villains were obvious, I mean Korra has this huge problem of making villain faces on all the villains. You always know they are going to be villains even when it's more subtle ones like Unalaq. Amon's brother being a villain was apparent right away. Zaheer I knew right away he'd be a righteous cause villain, from his speech in his prison cell. So to that end absolutely all the Korra villains fail in that way and so not going to hold that aspect against Unalaq. I wouldn't say it's a failing of the show that the villains are all obvious and predictable (I can't say I ever hoped for more and was disappointed, I don't feel any of them lead me to hope that it was more than what I predicted it was), because it's not a villain criteria to be intriguing and mysterious. So yea, I don't agree that the others are better developed or interesting, I think Amon's brother is better developed and more interesting than him but he's the minor villain. None of the red lotus were good villains. I could see some potential for good villains but that didn't really pay off. So yea, was definitely not at all on the edge of my seat for any of the 3 seasons in regards to the villains, and with season 3 I was honestly a bit bored by the end sadly. I think it ended up with a good setup for season 4 but kind of failed in its own right in regards to feeling like an adequate payoff. I was just more interested in Unalaq b/c yes it was power he was going for, but it just also felt like more. Amon I always got the sense he was going for revenge and he was, and Zaheer was going for his version of equality. Life should be fair, but he can murder who he wants, even innocent people. He's angry at a world for how unfair it was, how it mistreats those not in power, and yet abuses his own power. I can see how Unalaq can fail and be equally predictable, but I didn't find the other villains any better. I think the only thing I was gripped by in season 1 is if the bending loss would be permanent, but as the numbers grew and as soon as Lin lost her bending that was over. Nothing gripped me in season 3, the characters were better but the plots felt rushed and less interesting. But season 4 has been significantly better and thus far I am very interested in this 'villain' who is the first one who I don't think is bad as a counter to good, but is more of a potential other. So hopefully it keeps up as I am finally 'on edge' waiting to see where this might go.
I'm working tomorrow and have to submit my chapter so I'm not doing anything until Saturday. Last year I also celebrated Halloween on the 1st (though that's b/c Halloween was a Thursday last year). It's not as big of a thing in the UK so less actual attention to the 'date' and it's more just Halloween week/weekend.
Well to be fair I'm kind of in a crap boat to not be funded for doing my PhD. B/c it's not really education, it is work and many people are funded. But how and where I wanted to do mine didn't work with me getting funding. I have the freedom to do whatever I want with my PhD which a lot of people don't, but I am therefore in an odd boat of I am self-funding my way through it. But I do miss learning things in the way that a taught programme works. I do kind of hate that internships are things they figure out for 'practical' degrees only, because they'd probably be useful for everyone. Hopefully yours will be a good one.
I didn't take that as you weren't happy single, sorry if it came off that way. I did just mean it's good to be aware that it's important to be satisfied being an individual rather than a paired unit. I have a few friends who get really resentful of being single when their friends are dating and so its just always good I think for people be aware of how important it is to not evaluate oneself in terms of where they fit in the context of a romantic pairing.
I think I saw the one without the speech? I mean he makes a speech throughout the one I saw but I don't think it's at the beginning? I'd have to go back and check though. I did see the list of Marvel Movie announcements though and am looking forward to 'round 3'. I was honestly expecting him to look way worse as Quicksilver so its better than what I expected, but again I do like him as an actor. Luckily Kirsten Stewart is taking a break from acting so she shall be in no Marvel movies anytime soon I'd think. I did read an article today about director first/alternative choices for the main characters. I feel they are all so perfectly cast that it couldn't have even worked, but some are just ridiculous. Like for Tony Stark the first choice was Sam Rockwell actually (guy who ends up playing Hammer in the sequel) which I cannot see at all (other contenders were Tom Cruise, DiCaprio and Nicholas Cage - oh my!) and Emily Blunt was the absolute first choice for Black Widow but she was contracted to Gulliver's Travels (bet she regrets that) and couldn't do it. I definitely prefer Scarlet, I've loved her for a long time and I think she fits the role so well. Emily was also approached to be Peggy but turned it down (don't know why, the article jokes that she's bitter that she lost out the opportunity to be Widow for a Jack Black nightmare). Channing Tatum was on there, can't remember if it was for Thor or Cap, either way I'm glad it didn't happen. I know a lot of Hollywood is really impressed with him right now but I just really do not like him. It's just kind of weird thinking how big the franchise has gotten, in large part because of certain actors, and realising that most of them were actually second or default choices.))
"Hey, Kaiba." Jounouchi hurried over to him, knocking on the window. When the other opened the door, he leaned in, "You find anything? The rest of us were talking and think it might be good to interrogate Hirutani so Futata can get more information on how everything works."
((Haha no worries. We'll just play it by ear.
It's cool. I hadn't seen that the poison was still in her system, so was a bit disappointed finding that out, but it wasn't a major spoiler. XD Though that does hurt my argument a bit; it feels like she's found another easy way out, a solution just suddenly being presented to her, but at least she had to let go of her old fights to do it, after years of fear and struggle. Anyway, I've caught up on those couple of episodes now, and only haven't seen the one that premiered on Halloween.
I do agree about how Korra handles villains, but then again, Avatar was pretty much the same besides with Zuko and Iroh, and they were never really 'villains,' as they were just antagonists or maybe even anti-heroes. But other than that, Zhao, Azula, and Ozai were the three main villains, and they were all completely evil and obvious, yet somehow way more interesting than Korra's villains (except maybe Ozai). But still, I do disagree and feel the other villains were way more interesting than Unalaq. Even with the lack of development, they weren't predictable and obvious to me, and they just seemed more realistic as characters. I do agree that Kuvira seems to have the potential to be the most interesting villain though, and am excited to see how that turns out.
My night went pretty much as planned. Worked, and then went with my coworker to a friend's house. It was a little bigger than expected. We had about ten people there and a bunch of pizza and junk. Watched a couple horror movies, played some Rock Band. It was fun.
Yeah, that sucks so much that you can't get funding. I have to submit an appeal with a restricted course list to get financial aid again since I have a degree, but I think I'll get it. They won't take my submission until December though, so I have to wait a while to know. I'm definitely saving all holiday to be safe. And yeah, I feel like every program should offer internship as a potential credit, it's so valuable.
No worries, I just wanted to clarify that to be sure. XD But yeah, so many people are insecure outside a relationship, and that's really not good, because then they just end up being dependent once they're in the relationship, and it invariably does not work out in the end. People need to learn to be happy, content, and secure on their own before they're ready for a relationship.
Well, the one without the speech has a clip at the beginning where everyone is trying to lift Thor's hammer, so you should know which one you saw depending on if you saw that or not. Both of them have monologues from Ultron, but I'm pretty sure the one without the clip has it extended at the beginning. But yes, I'm ecstatic for a Civil War storyline (I think I used that plotline as an example of why I like Tony Stark to you a while back XD), and also Captain Marvel. I'm happy they're doing Black Panther for the sake of the first minority hero with his own movie, but I'm not a big fan of the character myself, and wish it would've been Falcon or War Machine instead. I also would've preferred a Black Widow movie over Captain Marvel, but I love both of them, and Captain Marvel just 'fits' better with being the first. She's a feminist, she's one of the more powerful and versatile Avengers (similar to Superman, but way less overpowered and uninteresting), and along with Iron Man and Captain America, she tends to be one of the defacto leaders.
I'd heard about Sam Rockwell being Tony at first. That would've been so ew. I honestly believe if they'd chosen him, the franchise would've taken off a lot differently. Maybe we wouldn't have even made it to a full Avengers movie. I saw in an interview that Iron Man had been a big gamble, since the studio was so new, and if it wasn't successful, they might've closed down. Still though, the absolute worst would've been Nicholas Cage. That creep manages to get his grubby little hands onto every good franchise with cool character roles, and he absolutely never fits right with them. He was almost Aragorn in Lord of the Rings too. I would've been fine with Emily Blunt, but I definitely much prefer Scarlet. Sucks for her about Gulliver's Travels though. XD Like how Ryan Reynolds decided to do Green Lantern instead of Deadpool. I also do not like Channing Tatum. He seems just too smug in his acting, and his neck is like a flippin tree trunk. He's most likely going to end up playing Gambit in the X-Men franchise though.))
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:36 am
Seto once again closed the laptop, startled and unnerved that he was so easy to sneak up on. Maybe he should leave the windows open next time.
'Yea sure, haven't found much, although everyone is not going to fit in this car. Are some people staying here or do I need to call for a driver to take the rest?' He asked. He said rest, but maybe he should have just said 'everyone else' and remained on his own. Guess he could always amend the decision once he found out how many people wanted to go to the hospital.
((I guess I also feel the other reason PTSD doesn't make me feel sympathy for her is I feel for dis-likeable characters because bad things happen to them. Not to say she deserves what happens, only that isn't enough of a redemptive thing. I have now seen the Halloween episode so until you do
however, this episode does make me feel like she isn't just bam, all magically better b/c the poison is out which is good. She still seems to have retained learning, thought and even looked back and realised that she wasn't a very good person and is working to improve that. This episode also made me feel very warm and fuzzy about Asami. Varrick and Zhu Li bits were good too - though my one complaint is I am worried they are starting to tip into making Kuvira too black and white which would definitely be a let down. They finally have a developed villain, someone not just straight villain but complex person who - like normal people - does not fall into good or evil. But I worry they are leaning toward taking that away, but again can't tell where it's going. So hopefully that doesn't happen because yea, generally speaking, the Korra villains have been bad.
Azula was insane, Zuko was confused - but yes Zhao and Ozai were just evil. But Zhao disappears after season one and Ozai is not a present villain. I guess part of what makes Korra's villains seem so ridiculous, predictable and non-threatening is their constant presence. Also Avatar has the advantage of going with the overarching motif rather than short stories. So even Ozai is somewhat better developed then any Korra villain, but I am at the same time glad they didn't just go with another overarching story as I think that would have been tedious. But yea, Amon wasn't 100% predictable (though it was a let down that it was just blood bending in the end as I was imagining something better), but he was uninteresting and swimming in a show of very very bad characters (with some short snippets of what would have been better characters). Zaheer was the biggest let down though as he was just too rushed and not one thing he did you couldn't see coming. Nor was it predictable in a good way where yea it's the obvious story but its still a great story. It was the cliched story and probably suffered from having a foursome they tried to play through which left no time for them to even be interesting people. So season 3 was the biggest disappointment for me, though in part because it was supposedly where the show gets 'better' and I think it just stayed the same for me. Thus far though season 4 is both winning on improving protagonists and will hopefully win the interesting and fleshed out villain award. Rather, it will hopefully present the most conflict, because conflict doesn't have to be a villain. I think another advantage has is an established conflict. With Korra the conflict has to both be introduced, established and concluded in a season. With Avatar it had 3 seasons to deal with a very much developed and in progress war.
Sounds like a good Halloween. The party I went to had wine, cheese, crisps and rocky horror. So was a pretty good night although such a long walk away for me (especially with getting lost a bit). On Halloween itself just watched Halloween/Horror movies that wouldn't freak out Tom - so Hocus Pocus and Aladdin and the Death Lamp (not bad effects wise for a SyFy movie though the acting left much to be desired and it had too much evil going on - you already have Jinns you don't need human bad guys movie!). Both are on Netflix which is starting to ruin our ability to be patient with streaming free video. But I will learn to be patient again if we lose free Netflix as I can't afford to pay for such things.
Yea it's pretty much impossible to get financial aid for a graduate degree unless you are a single parent. There is funding for that, though a kid generally costs more than the amount you'd save in education funding so not really worth going that route. There are limited scholarships (that I can find) that funds doing a graduate degree abroad that I'd apply for. I guess I'm 'black' but all black scholarships are linked to a major African American fraternity/sorority. You can't get race based funding as a black person unless you bond, and I don't do racial based bonding. I join societies and clubs like wind band and music groups - interest based rather than skin colour based associations. No funding there. The one PhD scholarship from the US that links to my university has an age limit (that I think I was two years over), so that is pretty crap. I mean I took gap years b/c I couldn't afford a Masters right away. So if you cannot afford to go degree to degree to degree you don't qualify for degree funding? I mean merit based fine, I don't mind not being accepted on the basis that I didn't have the best academic achievements of those who applied. But age based? That's such crap. Hopefully you'll get your funding though. And I agree, as so many 'first' jobs ask you to have experience it's ridiculous that there is no recourse to get that. I mean where are all the 'experience' jobs? Even if you work during university they don't really care about your retail experience. So unless you find a relevant internship - and those are really hard for young people/students to find and set up on their own - you are kind of out of luck.
Okay then I did not see the Thor hammer's one. By speech clip I just thought you meant dialogue at the beginning and I 'think' the one I saw started with images and music for a bit before the monologue from Ultron (which is what I thought you were referring to as speech at the beginning, rather than a actual whole extended clip beforehand). If it has a further clip I did not see that, though I have seen screen shots of that scene just haven't had time to look at the video that accompanies the image. I am excited for Civil War as well, Tom is excited for Black Panther though it is a character I know very little about and don't have much interest in. But Tom's excited so I'll go see it I guess. I don't know that I'm interested in a War Machine movie but I would be interested in a Falcon movie. Similarly, I think I'd take Black Widow over Captain Marvel too (based on what I know about the character), but I'm also wasn't that keen on the idea of a Black Widow movie so maybe I will in fact prefer this. I was thinking but not saying up until I got to your bracket about Superman that Captain Marvel sounds like a Superman to me and I don't like Superman which is why I don't think I'd like her. Hehe, so I guess if she's not as overpowered and doesn't share his toast personality maybe she'll be okay after all.
It would have been major ew, and I definitely don't think the franchise would have had the life its had. Though Sam Rockwell is a bit less 'Sam Rockwell' I think, whereas Nicholas Cage is very 'Nicholas Cage' (hope that makes sense) so I agree Cage would definitely have been more detrimental. I don't necessarily dislike Nicholas Cage but he definitely ends up in movies that I would not think he fits in. But yea, a lot comes back to I think he's too much 'him' and so its hard to immerse into a character with him. He's typecast as himself, which is random but true. I think Blunt would be fine as well but I definitely prefer Scarlet. She's one of my favourite actresses (Scarlet) and I definitely can't imagine Blunt doing the role better. Jury's out on whether Deadpool would have turned out better than Green Lantern. I do like Reynolds and I think he'd be able to do a great job with the role depending on what they gave him. Just back when Green Lantern came out I also don't imagine a 'good' Deadpool would have hit movie theaters. I think now would be a better time for Deadpool as I feel the comic-to-film industry is starting to have a better idea of how it all should work. I don't know if Tatum seems dumb but he just seems bland and kind of meat head like to me. I just can't picture him as a personable character.))
"Hmm, I'll see who all wants to go." Jounouchi turned back to the group, polling them on the subject.
((PTSD, if not botched, can be redemptive for me, not to like a character's personality, but to find the character interesting. I haven't managed to get to last week's episode yet, so I will read and respond when I do so. ^^
Azula was insane, but being insane does not necessarily make her evil. That was still definitely a part of her, being horrible and selfish and evil. While I'm sure her mental disorder contributed to that, so did her upbringing and plenty of other things, and any good villain will have a list of things that contributed to their villainhood, and insanity can simply be one of them. There are plenty of people who suffer from insanity while not being Azula-evil, after all. So I still feel she is a real villain, and an excellent one at that. She manages to pull off the mix of charisma, power, danger, and cruelty that I think a 'pure' villain (one who doesn't really have 'good' or 'unselfish' intentions) like Unalaq should have, something that he didn't pull off at all for me. He was just flat. I do agree though that Avatar's multi-season arc helped a lot with the villains. Korra just has too many characters in too few episodes per arc, and probably would've really benefited if each season had been twenty-six episodes instead. I agree the bloodbending was disappointing with Amon, but I otherwise thought he was a great villain. I didn't feel Zaheer's story was too cliched, just not developed enough. He did genuinely touch and interest me a few times, like when he could suddenly use airbending to fly right after P'Lee (or however you spell her name) died. And yeah, season four has the benefit of a three-year hiatus for an actual conflict to develop.
Rocky Horror would be fun, but I wasn't really in a group that appreciates that kind of movie. XD We watched Silence of the Lambs and the recent Nightmare on Elm Street. Lawl at Hocus Pocus, I haven't seen that in a long time.
I like how you say not worth going that route, as if having a kid seems like an investment to help pay for college. XD I know that's now how you meant it, but it made me laugh. That sucks about the scholarships. It's great when persons of color who want to group together as a form of bonding and meeting others who face the same discrimination they do, but that doesn't mean other black people should be excluded from a benefit that is already more difficult for them to get. And age limit makes no sense either. I never understood that. Being young doesn't mean you need something more than older people. As for experience, the problem is that jobs used to train people, but now employers just seem to have this strange impression that they're too good to 'waste' their time training people, and everyone who's interested should've gotten that training somewhere else. But when everyone feels the same way, that creates a problem of no one getting hired into important roles. So even though so many people need jobs, and so many jobs are open, no one's getting hired because businesses think they're saving money refusing to train people. At this point, they're probably losing money from not having important positions filled.
Yeah, speech was a poor word choice. It's more like there's just a bit of extra dialogue that the Thor's hammer preview excludes at the beginning. Hell they might even have the same dialogue and I'm just not remembering properly. XD I think I would like Black Panther on just the concept of his life/powers/intelligence/back story/world. In all honesty, the only reason I don't care for him is because he comes off as a 'better-than-you' d**k at times. He's often right, but he shames the other characters whenever they make mistakes, then stubbornly won't admit or try to justify when he does the same. Everything else about him I like, and if they don't make him so perfect in the movie, I think I'll like him a lot more. His country, Wakanda mixes a fictional Northeast African culture and religion with spiritualism and some of the most advanced technology in the world. They're also an extremely progressive country, often making the US and its superheroes look oppressive and petty. He's also a genius, has access to amazing technology created with a mineral only available in Wakanda (Vibranium, which is one of the components in Cap's shield), and is nimble and athletic. His sister is very similar, but has a better personality, so I wish she was the main panther. Captain Marvel's powers are flight, ability to survive in space, super strength, and energy absorption and redirection, though all on way smaller levels than Superman, and where she's still less powerful than Thor. I'd say she's on par with Iron Man in more recent years, one of the heavy-hitters, but not on epic levels like Thor or Hulk. And she has soooo much more personality than Superman. She's not a girlscout. She's headstrong and commanding, she's military yet has a hard time following orders, she's struggled with alcoholism (a cute thing I notice they do is they always draw her and Iron Man with water instead of wine at toasts), she's had identity crises, and she encourages everyone who she sees good in to strive to be not just their own best, but better than her. She also lives in a cute little apartment instead of Avengers Tower, with a cat, and is friends with all her neighbors, like a senile old lady and a little girl who idolizes and tries to be like her.
I actually completely understand what you mean by Rockwell not being as Rockwell as Cage is Cage. I do have a strong dislike for Cage. I've never seen him in a role I liked him in, because he just seemed like himself. I've never seen him play a character that seemed like they should've been him like that. He's just not a good actor. He's boring and has no enthusiasm, and no adaptability. Scarlet's one of my favorite actresses too. <3 I'm mixed on Reynolds, because I think he is capable of acting with a lot of energy and humor, but always seems to either hit or miss his roles, plus the guy's just a p***k overall. So though I'd prefer someone else to play Deadpool, I can live with Reynolds and give him the benefit of the doubt on doing a good job at a second attempt. I totally agree about Tatum. XD))
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 2:13 am
'Well, I suppose I don't really have any need to see Hirutani. I'd just wait in the waiting room and if it'll make it easier to not deal with getting another car here I can stay behind,' Shizuka said.
'Guess I already saw the guy and unless there is an option to punch him a bit I don't really have a great need to see him again anytime soon. I'll stay here,' Honda said, stepping back toward Shizuka.
- - -
Two down, Seto thought to himself. Assuming the priestess and Jounouchi were going that would only leave two seats at most. If Yuugi, Anzu and Mokuba all wanted to go he'd need to get a driver.
((True, I guess it just didn't work in Korra's case for me personally.
That is what I meant by pointing out Azula was insane rather than that she was just necessarily evil. That I wouldn't agree that she could be lumped in with Zhao and Ozai as just evil and/or power hungry. I mean I absolutely loved how she was at the very end, tied up, helpless and just absolutely uncontrolled fury and agony. I think her mental turmoil was so well done, and yes she was cruel and selfish, but she was just so much more than that as a character. I agree that for going with a different arc each season they should have gone with longer seasons. I was surprised by how short they were when season 1 just ended. I think if the show had made me care at all about P'Lee or that she and Zaheer were dating (rather than just telling me they were dating and assumed that's enough depth) then maybe I would have felt touched or interested. Instead I just felt annoyed and perfectly said 'because my girlfriend died' when he was about to explain how he was let go from earthly things now. I think that was THE most predictable thing to happen in the entire show for me so I could not possible like it or be touched by it because the obviousness of it was just too annoying. I mean if the flying thing came about any other way, even an uninteresting way that would have been preferred over cliched nonsense. I mean again, if that relationship had meant anything (the good guys called her his girlfriend, they were eye rolled for making out once) then sure, but as far as the show gave us it didn't. It was almost like she was just the girlfriend to justify that moment and that was really hollow and cheap and as I sit here getting all angry about it again I realise it was the point in the show where I was really, really turned off by that season. The rest of Zaheer was just all downhill from there for me.
I was with a group of primarily Early Modern and Medieval Literature + History PhDs. Plus two Victorians (one who brought two of her housemates), a creative writer, a modernist (dun dun dun/though she borders Victorian as also looking at Egyptology in literature so that's cool and I can forgive that) and two boyfriends (one being mine). In sum up, Arts PhDs - Rocky Horror is a must. Though the room was tiny so dancing was a bit challenged. I hadn't seen Hocus Pocus in awhile either, I mostly just wanted to watch Binx. I forgot how much child Thora Birch annoys the hell out of me. Still, it was fun, and didn't terrify my bf.
Haha, I meant it as a joke precisely because a kid isn't really an investment but man when they are willing to pile education money on you if you have one it certainly can be joked the wrong way. On the youth thing its especially annoying because I'm not 70 doing a PhD in retirement, I'm still at the beginning of my life pre all life investments and savings. Part of me wanted to apply anyhow but these things are very time consuming and putting the time in while I was already studying on something that may just get rejected on a technicality didn't seem worth it. I agree on businesses. I mean by now you think they'd have realised that's just stupidity and its your first job that trains you and an entry level position should not require previous experience (and all companies need to have entry level positions so people can enter that field). It's the biggest problem with an employer market where it is employers who receive government aid and tax breaks. Companies should be given more incentive (as they are too stupid or selfish to do it on their own) to be employing people at all levels, including entry. I mean Tom is finally signing onto Job Seekers (which pays you about 57 pounds a week while you are looking for a job). It's great to have that welfare system in place but it wouldn't be anywhere near as used if more effort was put into making companies that have the money and space to employee people actually employee them rather than waiting for some magical training fairy to come drop down the candidate they want. I mean given all the loan debt people are carrying around you would at least think government would have some motivation to get people into employment and not just defaulting. Especially with the way US loans accrue interest, there is a point where people just give up. Where trashed credit just no longer makes a difference.
I guess I'd have to watch both as I'm now thoroughly confused. xd Well I already don't like Tony because of the 'better you d**k' quality, so depending on how good the story is Black Panther is probably going to run the same risk of I can't stand him as a stand alone but he's potentially a great mixed in character. Tony does more 'joking' than 'shaming' I guess, but I find it equally obnoxious. I know bits about Wakanda - and Black Panther - in relation to what I know about Storm, but not enough to know whether BP might be my thing. Guess we'll see.
I think the one film that I really like with Cage, and which I also like Cage's role, is Con Air. I can still see the Cageness of him in it, but in retrospect, and not when I originally watched the movie which probably came out before he fully just turned into Cage. I think Cage will soon need verb/adj/adv versions to properly describe this effect. xd I don't know much about Reynolds as a person (beyond I have friends who think he's really hot and I think he's kinda average - I mean yea he's attractive but in a dull and generic way) nor do I really care. But he has done some things pretty well and most of the misses are not down to just him so I wouldn't worry about him being cast in something. Vs people worried about Ben Affleck as Batman, and I kinda don't see it but I know he's been getting a lot of acclaim lately (especially for that recent movie I haven't seen but looks interesting, forget the name) and displaying a lot of range so it'll probably be fine. But he's also someone where I also feel his person and personality (which aren't exactly bad qualities) are too present so I don't know if I could feel immersed in Batman rather than feel I was just watching Ben-man. But maybe, I mean at least it's not Cage. razz ))
"I'm not really interested in participating in an interrogation myself." Anzu admitted, "I'll hang back too."
"...I think I would like to go, if there's room." Yuugi said, wanting to be there in case things got difficult for Jounouchi.
((Fair enough.
So essentially you're saying you like Azula's brand of evil because of how the insanity contributes to it? Yeah, that does make her more interesting, especially by the end. Probably one of my favorite villains of all time. She's the only villain I've ever cosplayed too. XD Ooh, I never thought about that, about P'Lee kind of being a woman in a refrigerator. Dang, that really messes with my perception of them. I think I liked the four in that group so much for what little we were given that I didn't notice that, because to me, yes, it felt tragic for Zaheer, but I also genuinely liked P'Lee and was sad she was gone. I wish they had been more developed, especially their romance, but I'll admit I didn't see that part coming at all. When she blew her own head off, at first I actually laughed because it just seemed funny, like oh they got her to blast herself by putting metal around her head, that sucks. Then when I saw Zaheer's reaction, I thought about it and realized that that would've certainly killed her, and she was gone. Then when he flew, it hit me again, that she was his one earthly attachment. But uggggh, that just pisses me off, thinking now that she pretty much just died to further his plot, grrrr. I thought Korra was better than that kind of thing.
Haha, I was with a group of mostly non-college people with a mixture of liberal and conservative views (all raunchy though, but some in a more 'typical guy' way), so it wasn't really a Rocky Horror group. I don't think a lot of them have seen it, but I know my coworker has and he didn't care for it. He wasn't offended, I just don't think he got the humor. I remember Binx, he was so adorable. And the witches' actors were amazing in that movie.
Yeah, it's unfair that it's about age rather than life stages, but I understand why you didn't want to take the time to apply to a probable waste. As for businesses, like you look at how well they're doing and our economy and employee turnover rates, and they're all worse than they were in the days where businesses didn't require specific educations and were willing to train people. Like my dad was trained to become a programmer in his youth, and they payed for his school and housing for it, and he did great. He never went to college, just was payed to go to a trade school. I don't get how businesses don't realize this anymore. Like how retailers don't realize if you just keep throwing in more upselling and don't have a clear focus on what you want from your employees, and constantly change your goals, that no one's going to do as good of a job, you're going to have more people quitting and you'll have to invest in hiring more, and the business will eventually implode on it'self from having too many goals with no consistent focus. CEOs and other heads are just pressured to bring the profit up so they can keep their jobs and keep getting bonuses, so they only look to the short term for themselves, rather than the long term for the company.
Haha, sorry. Yeah you should just watch both. See with Tony, I like his 'better than you' quality, because, like you said, he turns it more into a joke, but also, and the more important thing, is he often fails anyway (probably more than the characters he pretends to be better than), and slowly but surely learns from it and becomes a bit more humble (particularly in the comics). For Black Panther, he's completely serious in how right he is and how wrong others are, he's almost never wrong himself anyway, and he never really changes or grows. It bothers me. He could be a great character if he wasn't always so perfect, even when he screws up.
I've never seen Con Air, so don't have that as a reference. My first Cage movie was Ghost Rider, so I'm sure that contributed in some way to my opinion on him. He does need adjectives for his own name though. XD From what I've heard, Reynolds is douchey to his fans. I even know someone who was all excited to meet him ones, and Reynolds just dismissed him and wouldn't give him the time of day. And then he's constantly going back and forth, acting one moment like he's 'one of the fans' and excited to get his roles and honored to be the favorite to play Deadpool, then the next minute acting like he's better than all of that, a 'more serious' actor, and has more important roles to take on like Green Lantern. In hindsight I am glad he took that instead, to give Deadpool time to grow with the other superhero movies and actually be good, but that doesn't mean I like the guy for that crap. I've never heard any good about him, and I fully admit I've read about him from biased sources and haven't researched further, but as it stands I have no reason to like him as a person, even if sometimes he's a good actor. For Afleck, I don't mind him as a person from what I know, but I really didn't like him as Daredevil. He's just such a generic white bread guy, I can't really see him in roles where he's anything but a generic white bread guy. Like in Argo and Gone Girl, he was a normal white guy involved in some crazy stuff, so the roles worked. But for Daredevil? There was nothing to him, and he seemed like a different, yet still boring, person when he put on the suit. And given Batman's similarities to Daredevil, I don't have high hopes for him in that role either. He's not cool and dark enough to be Batman, and not suave enough to be Bruce Wayne. He's just generic. But I'll still give him the benefit of the doubt until I see him in action.))
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