Pass It On!

This is one of the better reviews I've read I think

the last jedi. many spoilers.

Idek where to start with this one, I did enjoy it! But I was left very confused and conflicted my pals!! Gotta say it!! I’m going to give my impressions below, don’t yell at me

Things I liked:

- The 10 minute or so opening sequence was exciting and funny and devastating and kind of reminded me of the opening to Star Trek (2009). Except this ended worse for the rebels obviously

- Rose as a character was sweet and kind and brave and I liked her a lot, plus Kelly Marie Tran is pure sunshine

- Poe and Leia’s relationship, which was so clearly surrogate mother/son and very moving. He deserved her, Kyle did not

- I’ll just get this out of the way - Poe looked fucken amazing the whole movie, showstopping, incredible, I was blessed

- I loathe fangirls’ obsession with the whiny mediocre looking genocidal white man who is repeatedly called ‘boy’, like as a trope, but objectively kyle ron’s arc in this movie was actually pretty fascinating to watch! Very complex. Just remove the weird undertones in scenes with rey please

- Admiral Holdo was strong and clever and brave and I really, really adored her in this movie. Laura Dern is a TREASURE and further proof the women in this movie are ICONS. Flying through the Star Destroyer at light speed, jfc it was stunning, she was so selfless. I’m emo again

- Canto Bight looked poppin. Loved seeing the aristocratic side of the galaxy, even though it honestly felt like I was watching a different film for those scenes lol. The casino was very… familiar. Like as a setting. Idk if that makes sense it just wasn’t quite as kooky as I was expecting, they were even wearing tuxedos and clinking average wine glasses

- The salt plains were fricking GORGEOUS okay the battle of speeders and ships leaving what looked like bloodstains, it was such an extraordinary visual, especially because of the massacre of the resistance population. Honestly. Looking forward to the gifsets

- ‘Lifting rocks’ nice, NICE

- Luke dressed in black, slick as hell with that lightsaber silhouetted in front of a dying sun and looming AT ATs…. You better believe I shed a damn tear!!

- Rey and Kyle fighting the praetorian guard looked pretty sick, gotta admit that. Again, Snoke was ugly as hell but his whole aesthetic was *chef’s kiss*

- Benicio del Toro didn’t have as big a role as I thought, and it’s a pity, because he was great. Like, predictably villainous but hot asf and COOL. Hope he comes back. Unless he died. Did he? That wasn’t clear

- “You’re scum.”

  “Rebel scum.”

- R2D2 playing the Leia hologram message from the first movie. Oh boy. Everyone in the theater made sounds, we were shook

- That ending with Luke looking at the twin suns…. listen I’m a thug but my eyes leaked. That really was our lil farm boy who wanted power converters and who looked at Han with stars in his eyes and who wanted to make his sister proud and who loved a pair of sassy droids and who dreamed about leaving his nowhere town to be something great, and now he’s gone, and to that freaking score. I wasn’t chill.

Things I wasn’t so hype about:

- Finn was just going to ditch the resistance and POE to save himself and Rey. I get it, it makes sense, it’s an arc, Finn’s still my son, he’s heroic and he grows so much. But I’m a whiny asshole and it bummed me out lol

- Any hint of this godforsaken idea that is r*ylo just shortens my lifespan. I hated the bizarre shirtless scene. Their whole ‘connection’ led to good character development but I hated it happening. The resolution of her giving him the metaphorical finger from the ship of the father he murdered healed me though, fear not

- Phasma’s 15 minutes of fame was more like 30 seconds. Why bring her back at all, it was so brief. With gwendoline christie being in the press tour so much I just assumed she was going to ascend the ranks of villainy. Oh well

- Was it just me or was Leia like… diminished here? She spent half the movie unconscious. It makes me REALLY sad because I remember what the cast said about how the third film was supposed to be hers, like TLJ was Mark’s and TFA was Harrison’s. I wonder what they would have done to conclude the trilogy.

- The fact that there were like 20 rebels left at the end of the movie just made me so miserable. My god. All of the original films’ rebels and the Rogue One rebels and…. we’re left with barely enough people to make up two even volleyball teams. Like. Not a criticism of the film really but it just made all that effort in those movies hurt knowing that this was all they had to show for it.

- The imagery of Snoke manhandling Rey and making her ‘come closer’ fucking got to me, especially as it came on the heels of Kyle doing something similar in TFA. Must we do this, every time. Must we

- BB-8 was sort of… too useful, lmao how many times did he save main characters? Deus Ex BB? I love the little robotic football but it was convenient and after the third time, not very cute anymore

- Finn and Rose’s little side quest annoyed me, I’m gonna be real honest here. It just felt really, really weird, them (particularly Finn) being kind of swept away by the regalia of this casino and then ending up in a giant space goat car-chase type scene, meanwhile Poe and Leia have 5 hours to live and Rey’s being turned over to the First Order, you know? It seemed like they were filling time, or something… the movie felt like a 6-part TV series crammed into one movie, like there were a lot of things going on with different people and they all had different, kind of jarring tones. Like Poe’s in the trenches of a war movie, Rey’s in a psychological drama, Finn and Rose are in a comedy action heist caper ft. an adorable sidekick.

- I don’t get Finn and Rose together. I don’t. They had a sweet friendship, but I always assumed Finn and Rey would be the Couple (yeah I wanted stormpilot too but we live in a crap heteronormative world). Not sure what this means for Ep 9 since Rey didn’t seem bothered by Finn’s clear attachment to mah girl Rose…

- Poe, a queer icon, being portrayed as a straight in this film, irked me. You know what I mean, the gay vibes were not as potent here and it was really disturbing. Not sure what it means but it wasn’t good, I don’t like being patronised

- WHERE DID FINN PUT THE JACKET ONCE HE CHANGED INTO HIS FIRST ORDER UNDERCOVER GETUP. IS IT GONE, DO I NEED TO CRY

Things I’m neutral about:

- Rey’s parents being nobodies. I lowkey saw this coming, and it’s a pretty innovative idea, to have Kyle be the last Skywalker…. to end this dynasty, which has been fairly shitty. 2 out of 4 were murderous dicks. Not great stats

- Snoke could’ve been aunt beru in disguise and I wouldn’t have cared, honestly he was always just Snoke to me, no conspiracy

—-

This movie was dope. It did not fulfill my expectations, which I’m being told by multiple articles and tweets from film critics is apparently a super awesome thing. I too like critiquing film for being edgy and new and different, and in terms of artistic value it’s important - especially for a franchise so well known for tropes. But I’m a simple fuck who just finished exams and a stressful as shit year… I wanted to see Poe and Finn cuddle (platonic or not), Rey straight up kick the ass of Snoke and/or Kyle, Luke to lightsaber-battle someone with the wow-factor of Darth Vader at the end of Rogue One (which would involve actual contact lol), and nobody to die or be wrong, or like, straight

Anyway. A good film. Rian did a great job, and it doesn’t deserve all the vitriol it’s getting. I am fascinated to see where it ends up, I gotta say. Jesus what the fuck will I be doing in December of 2019 though, that’s the real question

I can't look at this right now but I want to later

Mass Effect Tribute

Hey, guys! With only EIGHT more days until Mass Effect: Andromeda comes out, I thought it would be nice to take a step back and remember the games that got us this far. Here are five of the best tributes to Mass Effect I’ve ever seen! (Watch the first one last for the most feels)

This one to make you cry:

This one to make you smile:

This one to make you remember:

This one to make you laugh:

And this one to get you PUMPED UP!

Here’s to another great journey to come! Be seeing you in Andromeda!

Anonymous said: Who are your favorite three companions to take along with you from each DA game?

My squad(s).

Low key I'm kinda bored of and annoyed by the preponderance of works that have Boring If Not Outright Malevolent Angels on one side and Nuanced, Charismatic, And Honestly Not Evil Demons because it just seems like a perpetuation of the idea that good is fundamentally flat or banal or not even good at all, that Goodness is something performed to achieve something else, usually power or control. In fact, I don't object to nuanced demons so much as the imbalance (only the "evil" side is allowed to be anything approching, well, approachable.)

But then I'm like "well identification with monsters is something that marginalized groups often feel because it forces us to question what is monstrous, so the idea of finding compassion and humanity in those deemed inherently unforgivable is actually very powerful and subversive"

But then I'm like "but is it subversive or is it laziness? It's hardly revolutionary at this point, it's like people making children's toys scary. It's supposed to have a tension between what something should be (childlike, innocent) and making it wicked. But now it's so common that dolls are often considered inherently creepy. So where's the subversion in a creepy doll? There's none. Where's the subversion in mean Angels or angels who have no interest in or love for humanity?"

But then I'm like "well but aren't angels traditionally destroying cities and saying Be Not Afraid?"

And I'm like, again just to myself as I pace my kitchen, "I mean YEAH but they're also like flaming wheels or whatever, I'm not sure how much these works are genuinely interested in angel mythology"

Then as I make coffee for myself, I think, "angels represent the traditional hierarchy, the traditional Christian dogma, and therefore are stand ins for the authority that we must question"

But then, as I realize we are out of sugar and my coffee is therefore ruined and am thus more susceptible to thinking there are demonic forces at work in this world, I go, "but demons in these stories aren't systemically kind. They're just cool. They're individuals and help individuals if they feel like it. In these stories, there's no mass concern for all of humanity really."

And then I conclude, "maybe angels are written cruelly because the world seems cruel and therefore there cannot be a Divine force involved in our daily activities looking out for us. Demons are by their nature doomed to fail which makes stories where they try to do Good have a more natural conflict and also explains why things in the world aren't better. For if there were angels, a legion of angels, always at work, shouldn't things be better? But we don't know how the world could otherwise be. But it seems hard to argue that this is in fact the best of all possible worlds. So demons make an easier to identify with protagonist while also being powerful and having cosmic impact. I believe many stories doing their own take on angels and demons would benefit from truly trying to imagine angels and beings of love, rather than the cold and distant figures I often see in fiction, but I understand the framework behind that conception."

Then I add to myself, "of course since I'm mostly talking about like urban fantasy, it might also be that people just wanna fuck demons more."

Here’s a Health to the Company (Youtube link)

I’m not even halfway through Critical Role Campaign 2, and already a new story is starting. I’ve grown incredibly attached to these characters already, and their pirate arc has been a fun mess of so many emotions. What better way to deal with that than sea shanties? 

(As I said, I’m on episode 45, so please don’t comment/tag with spoilers for the sake of myself and others.)

My original playthrough girls

This is literally such a call-out idk what to say

This was one playlist I had on repeat for like the entire summer I’m dying

If you discount that playlist my top songs were:

1. Hurricane Drunk by Florence and the Machine

2. Run Boy Run by Woodkid

3. Rockstar by A Great Big World

4. parents by YUNGBLUD

5. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants

I am in TEARS

some fun pre development facts about mass effect andromeda before you play :)

if you bought the super deluxe secret mega pack for $101.99, you’ll get a cute lingerie set that’s locked to scott. just to scott. for the low price of $1.99, scott gets a cute lingerie set.

10 lucky individuals will recieve a code on the inside of their andromeda case. 9 of these codes will cause the system in question to literally just fucking explode, but one lucky user’s ryder will be permanently equipped with a 10 gallon hat. if you try to take it off, liam will show up behind you, gently chid you with a ‘yaint gonna forget your hat now are ya’, and place a replacement hat on your head. 

there was talk of copying fallout 4′s radio system, but sheryl chee ruined this by demanding the station genres be locked to vaporwave, dubstep and nightcore. “vetra only listens to nightcore,” she stated, “vetra ONLY listens to nightcore!” she said nothing else on the matter. the rest were so unsettled, this plan was scrapped

david gaider, who never worked on a mass effect game, did not actually leave the studio. he just replaced mike gamble, and slinks around the edmonton building posing as his double, periodically banishing people who break in to a terrifying pocket dimension.

the original hero’s last name was intended to be “Fry”, and they were to have stumbled upon the Andromeda Initiative’s cryopods wholly accidentally when they fell backwards into one while delivering pizza on a new years eve.

contrary to popular belief, cora is not a single soccer mom. she’s three soccer moms piloting a single uniform soccer mom suit.

carver and bethany hawke, well known for their roles as “bethany and carver hawke” in the critically commercially universally acclaimed panned enjoyed controversial game ‘Dragon Age 2′ are returning to the studio that gave them their start in the roles of Sara Ryder and squadmate Nakmor Drack, respectively

the reason scott ryder allegedly has such a small ass is because bioware’s Good Ass Budget was divided between Sebastian and Vivienne. truth be told, there is no more ass budget. anyone you see with an ass is just pretending.

if you put your ear up to your console or pc tower when playing a disc version of andromeda and listen closely, you can still hear ashley williams telling you to fuck off in a serene, smooth soothing voice usually reserved for her friends and family

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story + wolfpupy