Sliders.tv → Posts by Slider_Quinn21
I finally saw Shang Chi. Really fun, and I hope he appears in a bunch of movies. The post-credits was intriguing, and I loved it.
Still planning on seeing Spider-Man in the second week it's out. I don't know when I'll see Eternals - I guess in February or whenever it hits Disney+
Really looking forward to Hawkeye. I've been reading the Fraction Hawkeye series that inspired it. The art is a little weird for my tastes, but I really liked the story so far.
Do we think Arrowverse Bruce is incapacitated/captured somehow, or is he watching all of this happen from the sidelines like Luke from The Last Jedi? I'm curious as to what people think.
Happy to! Please note that I wrote these as a teenager. I stand by every idea in this. The writing might not have aged well hahah
Sorry if that was a spoiler.
He seems like a genuinely good guy, both on the show and in real life. I was just thinking...there isn't really an episode of any of the shows that Ray has been on where he's had a "dark arc" is there? It was a thousand years ago, but when he was originally on Arrow, I think he was a rival to Oliver but never really a villain. And once he got to Legends, he was always just really nice, upbeat, and dependable. That's pretty cool.
I wonder what would've happened in an alternate world where the CW ordered a "The Atom" show instead of Legends of Tomorrow (and I'm sorry that I keep writing out Legends out of existence when it's easily the most consistently good Arrowverse show going). I think it would've been interesting to have Ray as the lead in a show and to see what they'd do with him. What kind of team he'd put together, etc.
I haven't thought about it much, but I'm now picturing a "Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne Batman and Robin" vibe. Ray meets an angry orphaned young man who has a knack for science, and Ray has to soften his rough edges.
I thought part one of the Armageddon 5-part premiere was really fun. And Ray Palmer's appearance was really fun and exactly the kind of thing I love about the shared Arrowverse.
Yes, I've seen your fanfic all over FanFiction.net. It's so insulting, no one ever steals mine.
As long as they kept my crossover with Seven Days, then they're good haha
Thank you! That's super helpful!
My wife and I have a similar philosophy. We are willing to pay a little bit more for something that will last longer. We both drive 2010/2011 cars still, and our current laptops are at least 5-6 years old so we'd like something that won't be like a disposable computer. We take care of the things that last long.
What's your budget?
The ones you listed were the right range. Do you have a preferred brand or something you've had success with?
Storage: The SSD should have at least 128GB. That's not a lot for all your family photos, but it's enough to store and run Windows programs and you can store personal files on an external drive (which can be spinning). Make sure it can run Windows 11 which is coming soon.
The photos thing was a recent request she added, and it's not something I'm familiar with (I'm a computer dummy and happy to admit that). I have years worth of photos and videos on my phone and I think I have 63 GB of photos (I think, I'm a dummy). So what would be "a lot" for all our family photos? My phone is 256 GB, so is that enough?
Or is an external drive the better route?
My greatest ambition for SLIDERS is to meet Slider_Quinn21 and buy him a sumptuous meal for every time someone has stolen his fanfic and put their own name on it. He has earned it.
Ha, has anyone actually done that?
Can y'all recommend me a laptop for my wife and I? It doesn't need to be anything fancy - all we'll use it for is standard web browsing, storing family photos, and using Microsoft Office. No gaming, no streaming, nothing else.
My wife would prefer it not be a Mac, mostly because it's harder to use Excel on a Mac with the keyboard shortcuts being different.
I know nothing of computers - both our laptops are both old, and we just want a sensible replacement? Something that will do what we need and not need to be replaced every couple years (mostly, for me at least, because I feel like it's a pain in the ass to move things over).
I am deeply invested in whether or not Slider_Quinn21 likes the new DEXTER.
(Never seen a single episode of it myself.)
Unfortunately, I don't have Showtime so I haven't seen an episode of it. I didn't read good things about it, but I'll hopefully find a way to watch it at some point.
I still think Dexter, while having an obvious and painful dip in quality, is still unfairly beaten up in pop culture. Same with Game of Thrones. Were the final seasons as good as the first? No, obviously not. But they were still watchable, as evidence by the fact that people continued to watch them. I also struggle with how people enjoy the ending of The Shield, where it's protagonist is punished by a forced exile from the people and places that he ended up loving but don't enjoy the same ending for Dexter. It's the same ending.
Michael C. Hall is a great actor and the character of Dexter is fun. The character grew and developed. The plotlines were dumb, but they were dumb because they peaked in Season 4 and never recovered. They also peaked because they were one of the big casualties of online fan communities crowd-sourcing plot twists.
I still think Dexter is one of the more entertaining shows of the last 20 years, and it's a shame that it's become such a joke in pop culture. Seasons 1-4 (with season 3 being the weak link) are some of the best TV that you can find.
I liked your analysis of Supergirl, and I really don't have anything to add.
I feel like the series struggled on what to do with Kara a lot, though. We watched her as the main character for six years, and what did we really learn about her? She's really nice? Really loyal? Really hopeful?
She likes karaoke? And musicals? And singing? She's supposedly really good at journalism, but she doesn't seem all that interested in doing it most of the time and doesn't seem all that upset to be quitting it. I think for the most part, the writers had more interest in writing about Alex and Nia than writing about Supergirl, and she just became a Deus Ex Machina in her own show. And, honestly, I think the same can be said about J'onn, who hasn't really had any storylines since his father's arc ended. I almost feel like Smallville's J'onn was more fleshed out. And they struggled on what to do with Brainy too.
I think, as you said, Supergirl was a "social justice show" - and I think that sometimes meant having the characters be conduits for telling social justice stories and less about the characters being real people. Alex's understanding about her sexuality and having a healthy relationship with Kelly. Nia's struggles with her sense of identity and the world's acceptance of her as who she is. And I think having a beautiful, heterosexual white woman at the center of the show wasn't all that interesting to the writers because there weren't that many stories to tell about her that they'd care about. So she often took a back seat.
I ended up spoiling more than I thought so I'll put a tag up just in case:
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Yeah, I think it's totally fine that Kara didn't have any romantic subplot for most of the last few seasons, and I think it's fine that they didn't force something with Mon-El after he was gone for so long. I think sometimes these shows focus too much on romantic subplots, and people don't have to be defined by their relationships.
I just think that a lot of her decision to reveal herself wasn't really built up. It kinda felt like Seven and Chakotay - this is fine and maybe makes sense but when did this happen? And in a season that started with Kara dealing with PTSD, having that wrapped up pretty quickly, and then having Kara face off in these "gauntlets", the idea that they never really set up "I'm going to reveal myself to the world" is a bit weird. They had time and room for a plot like that. I just felt like the last season was clunky, and Kara's development kinda suffered.
I also thought for a little bit that Mehcad Brooks didn't come back. When Guardian showed up fully suited with an augmented voice, I wondered if that was going to be a workaround, but I was genuinely glad to see him. And Winn. And it was fun to see the "original superfriends" get a scene together because they've really come a long way. I loved the scene with them and Barry when they learned about the multiverse.
I'm sad about the fact that, with no pandemic, we probably would've had more cameos. Maybe a Kate Kane (either version I guess), probably a Clark and/or Lois, maybe some/all of the Justice League. I know that they have to be able to deal with their own problems, but one of my favorite moments in Arrowverse history is when Oliver and Firestorm showed up to fight the Reverse Flash. Why have a combined universe if they can't rely on each other for threats that are otherworldly?
But it was good and I'll miss Supergirl.
I thought the Supergirl finale was....fine?
I thought all the returning faces were nice and showed some of growth of the show. I also think any season 7 they would've done would've been much better than many of the last few seasons.
I was also wondering about Batman in the Arrowverse. The movies are going to have at least three Batmen (Affleck, Pattinson, and Keaton), so why can't there be another Batman on TV? They've already connected the DCEU to the Arrowverse and cast Batman, so I don't know why they couldn't do it. It would need to be its own thing, but I think a Batman show alongside Superman & Lois could rejuvenate the Arrowverse. If they're going to do it, now's the time.
I've been reading a ton of Star Wars comics recently. I think they're a lot of fun, and I've enjoyed essentially every one that I've read.
The problem is that I struggle with these stories as anything other than non-canon (ireactions shudders....this is one of those conversations). But it's just hard to imagine that, in between hiding out from the Empire, all these characters had these extraordinary side missions and met all these extraordinary characters. There's all those scenes with Anakin and Obi-Wan in the prequels where they reference these fun adventures that we never got to see. But in the original trilogy, I don't get the sense that they've had countless adventures. It feels like what we saw is what we got.
But the idea that Leia had this secret mission to rescue Alderaanians and Luke was tracking down Jedi artifacts just doesn't feel genuine to me. I do like the Darth Vader stuff because it does feel like his story is incomplete. And stories like Doctor Aphra make sense, although she also crosses over with Luke and Leia a lot.
It also made me think about how little I care about the sequel trilogy gap. I've been thinking about what I'd do differently, but the gap between Episode III and Episode IV seems important because so many things changed. The Empire took over, the Jedi are now gone, and the galaxy feels different. Between Episode VI and Episode VII....the universe feels the same. So anything that happened doesn't really matter, in my head. I'm sure there are fun stories they could tell, but none of it really mattered. And it makes it feel like the original trilogy didn't matter. And Luke in Episode VIII makes so much sense.
Have y'all read much of the post-Disney Marvel comics? I'm going to read all the First Run ones that I can, and I'll probably wait to read the Second Run ones.
Yeah, I think it might make some sense, but I think the Alex and Kelly plot was both introduced and strongly leaned into to try and appeal to the LGBT angle.
It's hard to accuse Supergirl of being anything other than inclusive. I'm sure there are more inclusive shows on TV, but it's pretty inclusive.
I feel like COVID and Melissa Benoist's unavailability and this being the final season has hit the writing staff hard and they didn't cope well with a difficult situation.
I think that's fair. But at the same time, outside of those episodes, what is Kara's overall arc? What does she learn? What does she struggle with? What does she want in life? I feel like I could answer those questions better with most of the characters on the show before I could with Kara. She does seem like she's just kinda there at times.
Have we had any scenes with Kara in her apartment? I feel like we're at Kelly and Alex's apartment a lot these days. She got engaged and adopted a kid and went through some major character changes. Kara hasn't done much of that. And it doesn't have to all be about love interests and moving on in life. Kara doesn't need a boyfriend to experience growth, but she does need something. All she's done in the last couple episodes is switch to pants.
I think CW fans are a bit toxic, and I think a lot of their outrage has to do with (POTENTIAL SPOILER FROM THE SERIES FINALE) but when I think about it, Kara doesn't seem like the main character in Supergirl.
Hahaha it's all good.
I thought the Legends 100th episode was a lot of fun.
The Supergirl season is getting a lot of flack online because Kara's been sidelined. I don't usually look into this stuff or care, but I clicked on some tweets. I do think that Kara hasn't had a ton to do in the last few seasons. No real love interest (I don't know the purpose of William), no real arc. She lives through the enjoyment of others. So I think that's true. There was also a complaint that Kara is sidelined so that the men on the show get storylines. I didn't understand that at all. J'onn hasn't had a real storyline this year (not since his father's arc ended - not much with M'gann recently). Brainy has some stuff with Nia, but he hasn't had an arc since he betrayed the group. I agree that William is a fairly useless character, but he's barely a character.
So I don't get that. I feel like Alex, Kelly, and Nia are the main characters on the show sometimes.
Stargirl has been good. I don't think you can really notice the move from DC Universe to CW. I like it, but I don't have much to say.
****************
I do miss the crossovers. Not just the main one, but I miss the minor ones too. Hopefully, post-pandemic, they can do minor ones. It was fun when Felicity would show up on Flash or Cisco would show up on Arrow. I think it'd be fun to have more stuff like that. How would Luke react to working with Superman or Flash? What would Jonathan and Jordan think about being on the Waverider? I think putting Superman on Batwoman would be a little problematic, but I'd be interested in hearing about Clark's views on Bruce.
I don't know if they've moved beyond that stuff, but I currently find the Arrowverse universe more interesting than any individual show. I'm looking forward to the Flash premiere crossover event.
I don't know if linking Batwoman even more to Batman is the smartest idea. I get that it probably brings viewers, but I think it brings up so many more questions. Are most of Batman's rogues gallery dead? Did Batman kill them? Is that why he left? And, again, what's Bruce doing? This is his mess. It made some sense when his cousin was cleaning it up, but Bruce has no connection to Ryan.
Also, I get that putting Ryan as "Acting CEO" of Wayne makes some narrative sense, but I don't understand how that would even be allowed. I assumed Wayne was either completely sold off or being run by someone else. Ryan doesn't even have on paper experience, and I don't know if having her pretend to be a CEO even makes sense as a plan.
I do think all the multiverse stuff - from SpiderVerse to Flashpoint to What If to Phase 4 of Marvel will make it easier to bring Sliders back. Sliders is probably the most well known multiverse property that exists, and its very nature makes it very easy to bring back.
I still wonder if Jerry's work on Lower Decks makes an animated series the easiest way to do it. Maybe something like what Universal did with Camp Cretaceous on Netflix. It's certainly the easiest if they want the original cast. Otherwise, I think Jerry with a new group of younger Sliders (with Quinn as the mentor character) probably makes the most sense. If it gets done in 2025, there will be some appropriateness to that since Jerry would be the same age JRD was when Sliders premiered.
I'd love to see how many zeroes are on that check. I'm sure she cleaned up.
And it's probably safe to assume Natasha ain't coming back
I think it was maybe shown that way in New York? So that's possible. At least with Endgame, they were all vaporized.
Is it a lack of military personnel? From some lazy research, the military is about 20% women. It'd be higher in some countries and much lower in others. I'm assuming martial law could keep order, but maybe there isn't enough military to keep order?
I've been watching Y: The Last Man on Hulu, and I'm having trouble understanding the state of the world. I get that the message of the show, as specifically noted by the comic, is that men still control several sectors so that, if they all died, would leave a shortage of qualified (and also inexperienced) women to handle things. I know they've talked about power grid failures and riots and all that.
But why are the cities empty? Why are blocks full of suburban houses completely abandoned? Boston has 675,000, 52% of which are women. And the only ones that stayed in the city are rioters and military? They moved 300,000 women into camps? Wouldn't it be easier and safer to have people remain in their homes instead of transporting them and having them live in, what, tents somewhere?
Endgame had a similar premise - half of a population disappears. And while I'm sure there was chaos and rioting and power failures, it seems like society continued. The Leftovers worked on a similar premise, although on a much smaller scale. I'm sure there would be confusion and fear and violence, but I don't feel like the world would look like the zombie apocalypse. Probably martial law and food shortages and power outages, but I figure it'd look more like a post-hurricane city than the Walking Dead.
Am I crazy here?
I could be WRONG about this, but I seriously doubt that a multinational corporation would ever sell one of its own franchises outside of one corporation purchasing another the way Disney bought Marvel and then bought Lucasfilm and then bought FOX and will conceivably someday buy Sony.
Just by owning SLIDERS, NBCUniversal can claim that the franchise is worth 500,000 - 1.5 million and add that to their 'value' should they someday wish to put their corporation up for sale to another corporation. I can't see them selling it piecemeal.
I can see NBCUniversal licensing SLIDERS the way FOX licensed THE X-FILES to the company IDW which enabled IDW to produce a highly successful comic book series (THE X-FILES: SEASON 10, THE X-FILES: SEASON 11, MILLLENNIUM, THE X-FILES: YEAR ZERO, THE X-FILES: ORIGINS) as well as an anthology series and a board game, all of which was tremendously profitable until Chris Carter was able to bring a TV version of Seasons 10 - 11 to broadcast which was so poorly received that it killed the entire IDW tie-in line and the TV show as well.
But, I mean, I could be wrong. :-)
I doubt you're wrong. And Sliders might have more value. But pick a show that will never come back or one that maybe never made it to the air. Would Universal rather have a line item that's worth $500,000 or would they rather have $500,000?
I imagine if a fanbase actually raised $500,000, Universal would refuse to sell and would instead just make whatever the fans wanted them to make. So instead of selling the rights to Heat Vision and Jack, they'd just make something with the Heat Vision and Jack rights. Everyone wins.
So we had the end of the Diggle arc across the shows. Spoilers for all those episodes:
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
So....what was that. I get that David Ramsey was available, and it was easy to get a deal to get him on board. But his character is essentially in the same place it was when Arrow ended. Or maybe even a bit less clear.
One episode was just one of Diggle's relatives so that one doesn't really count. But the other episodes didn't accomplish much. They established that Diggle is having headaches - I guess turning down the ring gave him headaches. So he bounces from hero's city to hero's city trying to figure out these headaches and never did. The Batwoman episode seemed like an intro. The Flash episode moved the plot along a little but seemed more like a tease of things to come. The Superman and Lois one was nothing. I had hopes that, since Superman probably knows at least one Green Lantern, that might be where he talks about it. And the budget is higher so they could maybe afford to do some Green Lantern CG.
And when nothing happened, I thought maybe they were saving it for Supergirl. They have a) a bunch of characters that can fly and b) a bunch of characters that would probably know of the Green Lanterns.
And although we got Diggle explaining that he turned it down because he didn't want to leave his family, it ends with him deciding to do it? All without really discussing it with anyone?
Maybe they aren't even allowed to say Green Lantern. And maybe they're hoping that Diggle can appear on the Green Lantern show or something. But, man, this was something I was excited about and I don't think they did much with it. He wasn't bad, but I was just thinking they might spend more time with Diggle and moving his plot along.
At some point, everything is questioned for a revival. Years ago, there were talks to bring back The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air, a sitcom from the 90s, but Will Smith rightfully said "yeah when hell freezes over."
It all depends on whether a story can be told, if the creators involved would like to do it and if there is room for it in the market place.
Time travel stories have been told from the dawn of time, so no doubt there's room for a Quantum Leap revival. That is if the actors and creators are interested in making one. A story can definitly be told as well as Sam Beckett never made it home at the end and is still out there leaping. Can we get them to cross over with the inevitibal Sliders reboot? Probably not, but hey, worth a shot lol.
I still think Universal just doesn't see any value in the Sliders brand. I think Quantum Leap's name has value. The Fresh Prince's name has value. I don't think most people remember Sliders.
With a lot of "original ideas", they try and slap an existing property's name on it and call it a sequel/remake/etc. It happened twice with Cloverfield (almost three times). It's an original story about a woman being held hostage during what she's been told is an alien invasion. It could've been released as 10 Butterfly Lane and been well received and maybe a minor hit. They throw Cloverfield into the name with almost no connection to the first movie, and it now has name recognition. You take a story about cyberterrorists attacking the country, throw John McClane in it, and it's a Die Hard sequel with name recognition.
If someone brought a story to Universal about a group of people who stumble on interdimensional travel, I don't know if they'd see enough value in the Sliders name to do the same thing. There certainly hasn't been enough serious interest to get a Sliders project moving even though Jerry O'Connell seems game for it.
I'm not saying it won't happen. I just don't think Universal values it that much.
But here's a question. I wonder if a studio would ever sell the rights to a franchise to a group of fans that crowdsource it. I know it would be super expensive to purchase the rights to something relevant, but it fans and cast/crew/creators wanted to reboot/sequel a TV show (let's say JOHN DOE) and fans were willing to put the money up, would a studio sell the rights so a project can move forward?
I would absolutely wear my Kleannara mask and stay away from anyone. I'll sit in the far corner if I have to 
Yeah I think I'd only go midday on a weekday with a mask on. Even for Spider-Man, I'm sure I can find a showing with only a couple of people 6+ feet away. I figure that would be fairly safe. I had in-person jury duty over the summer, and I was able to get by with those rules.
This can't help their case in the Scarlett Johansson case, but I'm assuming they'll make enough money where that won't matter.
I'm still not cool going to the theaters so I guess I'll be waiting. I might risk it for Spider-Man: No Way Home because I can't imagine I'll make it 45 days without spoilers. I'll have to just go on a weekday at noon or something.
Switch was supposed to be female in the Matrix and male outside of it (or vice versa). It's why they're called "Switch" but it was either dropped for being confusing or being controversial.
I would expect something like that to happen in the new movie.
I have a strange relationship with the Matrix. I didn't see the movie in theaters (I don't know if it was because it wasn't a big deal or because I wasn't 17 when it came out), but it was a pretty cool movie after I finally saw it. I was in college when the sequels came out, and I was about as excited for Reloaded as I've ever been for any movie. I remember watching it and then after I was done seeing it (at a midnight showing), I was talking about the movie with my friends and realized that none of us seemed to love it. We were excited in the moment but when breaking it down, we didn't seem to love it as much as we felt when the movie was showing.
Revolutions was fine, but my excitement had worn off and the movie wasn't good enough to salvage the experience.
I think the Matrix sequels suffer from an expectation gap. I think people expected, based on the end of the first movie, the movie to go in a direction and wrote a sequel in their heads. I do this a lot. And when the movie ended up going in its own, unique direction, people were disappointed. I think, on the whole, the movies are good. I think they're a bit too philosophical and spiritual than most would've liked, and there wasn't any way the sequels could've been as innovative as the original.
I liked Animatrix, and I had a ton of fun with Enter the Matrix. I think I would've liked the Matrix Online if I had any idea how to join such a thing.
The new movie will hopefully be a way for Lana Wachowski to tell a better story but work in the themes she really cares about. There's a lot of opportunity to tell trans stories in the Matrix universe, and I think that's something that she might lean into with this movie.
******
Just a guess but I wonder if Neo and Trinity have aged because they died, and Morpheus is younger because he didn't? So maybe the Matrix they're in is some sort of "afterlife" program, and Neo and Trinity died, they're older. Morpheus died sometime later so he's younger? I don't know if you'd join at a certain age or if you'd be completely reborn, but I guess the timeline doesn't really matter in this universe.
I really enjoyed the new season of Legends, even though it keeps feeling less and less a part of the arrowverse. We're starting to run out of characters that have ever appeared on any of the other shows, right? With the Legends skipping crossovers and their characters usually only appearing in their own episode when they do, is Sara (now that John and Mick are gone) the only one who's ever actually appeared on an actual episode outside of any of the other Arrowverse shows? Nate is a maybe, but I could see him only appearing in the Legends episode of any crossover.
Not that it's a big deal. The show is still fun in a crazy way, and it's still entertaining. It's just weird that it seemingly makes no effort to be a part of the universe anymore.
Stargirl is still fun and I can't really tell the difference from the move to the CW.
Supergirl is fine. I think it's good that it's ending this season - I think it's run out of gas like Flash or Arrow did.
***********
I'm enjoying Titans season 3, and I'm glad it's week to week. One thing that's kind of weird....I'm curious how Barbara is commissioner. The actress is 37 so I have to assume that Barbara is also about that age (and it fits with the flashbacks we've seen). In the flashbacks, Barbara is committing crimes for the fun of it and certainly not a cop. And that's before she's ever Batgirl. Even if she has a truncated role as Batgirl, when did she ever have time to get the police experience to be *commissioner* of a city like Gotham?
I realize her dad had the job, but I figure even that would not be nearly enough to get someone with minimal experience as the commissioner of a major city, even if she's a super-genius and even if her dad was Jim Gordon.
Outside of the sight gag of saying "Commissioner Gordon" and then it being Barb, her role seems irrelevant to the plot so far. I would've preferred if she was just a beat cop or a detective. Her being commissioner by Terry McGinnis' time makes sense, but her being commissioner with no experience at 37 seems crazy even in this universe.
This has been my annual "SQ21 destroys a really small continuity error on Titans"
Oh I know. It would just be nice if a company like Disney, which owns so much and inspires so many, could aspire to be better than that. Amazon and Walmart being cold and heartless makes sense. And, in a twisted way, they're able to help people by driving down costs and providing their goods at lower prices for people that can't afford other outlets.
Disney still charges the same prices as everyone else, and they've priced out a ton of families from going to Disney World / Disneyland. It just seems that if any corporation could afford to take less money so that everyone could visit their parks and enjoy their content, it would be Disney. It's a *very* flawed mindset on my part (especially for someone who has a degree in economics and understands how this stuff works) but it's a nice one to have on a discussion board about parallel worlds
Disney has screwed over a ton of people. Even if she wins a massive payday, I think they'll continue to do it.
I love the MCU. It's great that Marvel was able to acquire the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four and the characters they got from Fox.
I think Disney is an awful company with terrible practices, and it sucks that they own so much and will continue to do so.
Wondering how Slider_Quinn21 is faring with the Kleannara KF94s. I wear masks that are almost the same, but yesterday, I was wandering the park with my favourite actress and the air was hot, getting even hotter through my mask, causing my airways to narrow in response.
I ended up having to take off my KF94 equivalent with its dual droplet blocking layers and put on a thinner surgical mask with only one droplet blocking layer. This one, I could breathe through. I might have to wear these until fall weather arrives.
I go out so infrequently that I haven't really used them enough. The upper and lower flaps are tight across my face, creating a good seal (I assume) but they're small so they take a little bit of adjusting to get right.
But I honestly only leave the house to pick up take out food (2-3 minutes) or have groceries/Target orders dropped in my car (where I usually don't interact with anyone enough to put on a mask at all). With two kids and both of us working from home full time, it's pretty easy to social distance.
I did give some of them to my mom, who is working part time for the next few weeks.
But those ones did matter. We got back The Wasp, but we lost Tony Stark. We got back Mantis but we lost *Tony Stark*. We got back Maria Hill but we lost Tony Stark.
I know we also got back Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and some other big hitters, but the loss wasn't those guys. It was Tony Stark, the guy that kicked this thing off and spent the most time on screen out of anyone. We also lost Black Widow, who never had her own movie but was still #8 in screen time as of Endgame (per a rando source I found) and technically lost Captain America (#2) in the same swing. That's not nothing, and it's the payment for bringing all those guys back.
So, yeah, they did resurrect a bunch of people, but I think they paid for that. And I think it's a bit different than whatever nonsense they had on SHIELD to explain Coulson coming back three different times (the LMD one made the most sense). They kinda cheated on Loki to bring him back, but it was sorta the same thing. And "main" Loki is still dead. They toyed around with Pietro, but he's still dead. They had Nick Fury and Loki fake outs, but neither of them was even dead by the time that movie ended.
I really enjoyed "The Trial of the Chicago 7" on Netflix. I know I'm really late to the party, but I thought it was really engaging and interesting. I didn't know anything about it going in, and I think it's touching on some issues that are just as relevant right now.
It also inspired me to watch "The Social Network" again, which I also really enjoyed. I hadn't seen it since it came out, and it's also really powerful and has grown in relevance now that we know what Facebook ended up being (and what Zuckerberg ended up being).
I know Sorkin has issues, but the man can write a movie.
Joss Whedon killed Coulson in AVENGERS and then wrote the pilot episode of AGENTS OF SHIELD in which Coulson is resurrected. When asked why Coulson wasn't in AGE OF ULTRON, Whedon said he found it too difficult to explain to the casual audience why Coulson was alive again; most of the feature film viewers would not have watched an ABC TV series. That has, fairly or unfairly, kept Coulson out of present day Marvel films and Disney+ shows.
I don't buy that. It may have been casually true during Age of Ultron (where Phil was alive but we may not have known exactly how or why) but it certainly isn't true now. Coulson is an LMD "canonically" so I think that's all you need. You could write a line about "Stark missed me so he built me a new body based on the old Coulson" which, true or not, would be enough hand-waving for it to be both true to the show and make sense for the fans.
It wouldn't even need to be "Somehow, Palpatine is back" levels of bad. He's a robot so you say he's a robot. Or if you want more spycraft stuff have two characters who know him but wouldn't know the reason (Thor and Banner?) say "I guess he faked his death?" Its an explanation to the audience whether or not it's the explanation, and I think that would satisfy the audience. I think most fans would either get it and move on, or they'd assume that it was explained in a comic book they're never going to read.
I think the real reason is that I think they want death to matter. I think Tony Stark will stay dead. I think Natasha will stay dead. James Gunn has been pretty clear that Yondu will stay dead. I think T'Challa will stay dead. If Coulson comes back, it opens that door open. Why wouldn't the government create an LMD of Captain America instead of using John Walker? Wouldn't Tony have built an LMD of himself? Why couldn't Kree technology save Yondu?
If you never open that door, it can't ever be used.
Coulson is a popular character. He led the first Marvel TV show, and they've literally brought him back every chance they've gotten. They know he's a capable and fun character to use. And I think if there was anything they could do to unwrite his death, they would've. But I think they want him to stay dead, and I think they want his death to matter. And Agents of SHIELD, as much as I liked it, did undermine a key moment in the Avengers. And I think, especially since I was only able to come up with four examples of key deaths, that matters too much to Marvel and/or Feige.
Are y'all watching What If?
I think it's a fun show, but I actually wish that it was longer episodes. I think they could have a bit more fun if they went a little further. Maybe they'll revisit some of these worlds, but I think Episode 3 (no spoilers) could've benefitted from more story. Episode 2 (no spoilers) could've benefitted from more prologue and more characters.
I do think episodes 1 and 4 were about as long as they needed to be. I just wish some of them didn't feel...incomplete. If they decide to show more in the confirmed season 2, then I'm cool with that as well.
******
As someone who watched all of Agents of SHIELD, I wish that it would be canon. As someone who has watched zero seconds of Inhumans, I'm hoping that it isn't canon.
I assume Agent Carter is canon since it's the only one that has been connected to the movies. I assume if they wanted Agents of SHIELD to be canon, they would've used Coulson. The fact that no one has brought back Coulson (post-Avengers timeline) and that he's been brought back for essentially any other reason, my guess is that Agents of SHIELD isn't canon. Even the stuff that has Fury or Sif in it.
But you know my stance on supplemental materials. Even while enjoying Star Wars comics
I've really liked all the Dark Horse published SERENITY comics that I've read. "Those Left Behind" is a good start that bridges the gap between the final episode of FIREFLY and the SERENITY feature film. The sequel, "Better Days" is also very strong, also set before SERENITY -- although it reintroduces a plot point / situation from the pilot episode where Inara was seen holding a syringe for reasons unknown. "Better Days" has Simon having secret meetings with Inara in her shuttle and Inara refuses to explain why; this was clearly meant to continue the intended character arc where Inara was self-medicating for a terminal disease. Her illness and impending death is why she wanted to see more of the 'verse before she passed away. It was a storyline that FIREFLY would have elaborated on if not for the cancellation. This plot was subsequently dropped in the later comics and the comics later a completely different explanation for her travels.
We have a series of one-shots: "Downtime" is set during the show and is also a very good story. "The Shepherd's Tale" reveals the truth about Shepherd Book and is very strong. "Float Out" is a one shot by Patton Oswalt and also the first story set after SERENITY.
After that comes the six issue series "Leaves on the Wind" with writer Zack Whedon providing an extended follow-up on the post-SERENITY situation for the crew. The sequel is "No Power in the Verse" by Chris Roberson (a great writer) and I just realized I never got around to reading it, only finishing "Leaves on the Wind."
After that, the license transferred from Dark Horse to Boom Studios. The title also reverted to FIREFLY instead of SERENITY. Since 2018, there have apparently been 31 issues (and counting) of the comic, but I haven't read them either. However, they're written by Greg Pak and I've really enjoyed his work on various X-Men comics including PHOENIX: ENDSONG and his Magneto mini-series.
This is awesome. I started reading the first book and just finished Those Left Behind and started Better Days.
Incidentally, I've also been reading the 2015 Star Wars comics. I finished all the Vader stuff prior to the current run, and I'm making my way through the regular Star Wars run. I loved all the Vader stuff, and I think the Star Wars stuff is up and down (but mostly good).
Well obviously the lead story is the total mess in Afghanistan. Not much to say other than the US Military is incapable of a mass/hasty withdrawal like this following what is obviously defeat. Frankly, I don't think any military is capable of keeping order in this type of scenario. I do not quite understand why the administration seemed to ignore calls for an earlier evacuation? My personal feeling is that Biden expected that would require taking tens of thousands of Afghans on as refugees, for which every GOP politician would have screamed bloody murder over.
I haven't figured out where I stand on it. I think Afghanistan was a huge failure and we probably needed to get out. We probably could've done better, but I agree with Biden that if the Afghans didn't care, why should we?
I do wonder why there wasn't a quicker move to evacuate, and I haven't heard a good reason as to why that didn't happen. Especially Americans. I would've evacuated, then withdrawn. But I'm hardly an expert either. I think it sucks for all the soldiers who felt like they lost friends for no reason. But I don't know what else we could've done: it does seem like the options were to leave or stay forever.
I'm afraid that my ASTM Level 3 masks are a Canadian product delivered within Canada only (and they seem to have sold out anyway at present on innolifecare.com). However, the mask that I have my mother wear is the Kleannara KF94 and Kleannara has an Amazon store.
Awesome. I bought some of these yesterday and they'll be my primary mask. I really only leave the house to get groceries and pick up take out so I think a good reliable mask will be a key part of staying healthy.
My only concern now is that we have grandparents coming over semi-regularly to help with the kids and my oldest is in daycare. But I think it's impossible to have zero risk. I'm just doing what I can.
You've probably mentioned this before but what ASTM3 masks do you buy? Can you provide a link?
So as I continue watching too much TV, my journey has taken me to Firefly and Serenity.
I'm almost done with Firefly and will watch Serenity after that. But the question is...are the Firefly comics worth reading afterwards?
The Suicide Squad is my favorite thing out of the DCEU and it's not even close. So much fun and such a fun sandbox. It's crazy what they can do if they actually use their whole roster.
Well when I say it was a mess, it just didn't feel like it amounted to anything. I know they're doing a "graphic novel" approach where they tell multiple small stories, but I don't know if I could tell you much about what the season represented. What stories they were trying to tell. What we learned about the characters.
They had an unfair start because the mirror arc had to be awkwardly resolved, both because I'm sure they didn't have the availability of the relevant actors but because there wasn't much story left. But then they have that horrible CGI for Fuerza with an evil Speed Force but what did that really accomplish? Then I thought the Godspeed storyline was just handled so awkwardly, especially as a villain that was teased two seasons ago?
I think, at the end of the day, I didn't care about Chester as much as Cisco. I don't really care about some of the new characters, and as much as Ralph needed to go, they didn't replace him either. It would've been nice to introduce another hero like Ralph from the deep bench of DC heroes. Captain Atom? Booster Gold? Static? I'm sure there are tons of people that they could've brought in, but maybe Covid killed that.
It wasn't bad. I enjoyed watching each week, but I just don't know what they're accomplishing. It feels like the middle years of Supernatural where the show just felt like it was spinning its wheels.
When Barry and Thawne and Godspeed become Jedi Knights, it doesn't feel like a homage to a genre. It's simply lifting the iconography from some other work instead of having THE FLASH create its own. There was no rationale -- none -- for why Barry has previously thrown lightning but now holds it in a solidified form in his hands or why one end of the energy is harmful but the end of which Barry holds it is harmless.
I had the same thought. In fact, what was weird was that it seemed like Godspeed had harnessed a new power. He brought out all this lightning and then harnessed it into what I thought was a spear. And he'd use that spear to hurl at people - Barry's lightning but more controlled or more dangerous or more violent.
I thought it was supposed to be a sign that Godspeed was faster or stronger or whatever.
Then Barry just does it. He doesn't struggle or talk it through with anyone. He just does it.
I thought that was super weird. So Barry has been able to do that the whole time and just didn't? Was this some sort of power that all speedsters have that just no one has ever used? But I did like the idea that Barry brought his nemesis to save his son from his son's nemesis. I thought that was cool.
Overall, I thought this season was a huge mess.
Superman and Lois is wonderful. The characters are likeable with real problems that are treated maturely. It still doesn't feel like a part of the Arrowverse, maybe because of this. I almost want them to confirm that the show isn't in the same universe, although the Diggle cameo sorta messes with that.
I liked the Flash finale. I think Bart and Nora brought some interesting dynamics, and the (spoiler) cameo at the end to help Barry was cool. I hear they're going to use the Flash as their big crossover next year, and I think that would help keep the show relevant. I do think it needs to wrap up, though. It's running out of steam, and I'd rather spin the show off as something else if the network wants to continue with Gustin and Patton. See my Flash and the Canaries idea.
I haven't. Is it any good? I like Rami Malek from what I've heard.
I just came here to say (probably for the fifth time) that Robert Floyd is really good on Bar Rescue. He doesn't really come off as an actor, but he comes off as a genuine guy with a passion for this stuff.
Spoilers for Superman & Lois
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
So the Diggle arc is so far a big tease. It's nice to have John back, and its good that Ramsey is getting some work. But most of these stories could be anyone. Diggle showing up on Legends was an easter egg more than anything. Him showing up on Batwoman was a cameo at best. I think his story on Flash was good and it was nice to see him suit up again, but his guest spot on Superman and Lois was nothing. He doesn't seem to be in any different place than he was after Flash.
Maybe the Supergirl appearance will tie everything together, but I don't know if we have any more information than we had before. I was hoping the extra budget from Superman & Lois could allow them to do *something* but I guess not.
At this point, I assume we'll finish this year with just as much info as we had before the year started. John found something. He has to decide what to do. Blah blah blah.
That makes sense.
I hope that the Diggle arc is going somewhere and not a big tease. If he's going to be a Green Lantern, it's possible that Superman & Lois' budget would allow for that to happen. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what Diggle would be doing in Smallville. It seems like maybe the headaches are connected to not accepting the ring, and maybe he's finally on that path. But we'll see. It's a fun story and I'm sure they can tell it without blowing the budget on too much. A practical suit and a glowing ring would probably work, but Superman and Supergirl might have better special effects to make it work since they already have flying characters.
I'm just going to break my rule. It's been long enough, and hopefully I can be less careless.
I suspect that the situation with Bruce Wayne is that BATWOMAN's team can request clearance to use the character and their requests have been granted twice a season: once for CRISIS, once to use an imposter Bruce at the end of Season 1, once to wrap up the Hush arc and once for a dream sequence.
It's strange, though. Because its obvious that Smallville had the full Bat Embargo. They could use similar characters (Adam Knight, Andrea Rojas, etc.) but never even mention the genuine article.
Arrow seemed to be in a similar place. I recently saw a supercut of all the Batman references in the Arrowverse, and they were all pretty vague until Batwoman showed up. Most of the references were actually from Supergirl ("Clark's friend") but even then it was super vague. Now they have Bruce Wayne cast but can't use him. Titans gets to cast him and use him but only as Bruce Wayne and a stuntman out of focus can represent Batman. Gotham got to use the whole gamut and even got to feature Bruce in costume briefly.
I just wonder what changed and how much. I assume if the Arrowverse got the rights to use Batman, they would.
Howdy, howdy!
It's been a while. I'm maintaining my promise tp myself that I wouldn't do any sort of extracurricular activities on my work computer with my new job. The problem being that my personal laptop broke and is probably beyond fixing. My wife and I want to get a new one to share, but we're terrible at making decisions for things we'll share. So I have a laptop that won't close (trying to close it is ripping the screen off) and she has a super old one. With the baby and everything else, I only pull out the laptop once a week for our weekly budget.
But I think I'm going to start opening up a bit and using this site on my work computer. Part of the problem is that I shared my screen during a meeting (a small unimportant meeting but still a meeting) and mindlessly traveled here. Apparently no one saw my screen and only one person thought something was off but I didn't want to risk anything at my new job. It's too good a job to risk anything like that.
The other hiccup is that we're having another baby. Due next month. So my life will probably end up more chaotic than it was.
But I still love you guys and I'll keep trying to make it work. Don't worry about me and be patient. Quinn always shows back up
Loki has been so much fun. I cannot believe it took them this long to make it!
I'm thinking about seeing Black Widow in theaters. I had jury duty not too long ago and that was my first time being inside with people I don't live with for any sort of time. It was nice but it was weird. I'm thinking if I go to a showing in the middle of the day on a weekday (getting time off work to do so), I could get a showing that's fairly empty and thus socially distant. If I wear my mask, plus having my vaccine, I assume I'd be essentially 100% covered, variant or not. I just don't see myself spending $30 on this movie.
Shang-Chi looks super fun and I'm also more excited about the Eternals than I thought I'd be. I cannot wait for the Spider-Man trailer and I'm super excited for What If.
Safe to say I'm still all in on the MCU
I had my second dose on Tuesday morning and experienced every flu symptom side effect possible and effectively lost a week of my life (and spent most of it watching MACGYVER). Still. I hope it bothers that anti-vaxxer I know.
Really behind but really glad you got your shot and feel better now. I have a friend of mine who hasn't gotten the shot. He's not a Trump guy but his mom is. She's a borderline QAnon type. I know my friend didn't vote in 2020 out of deference to not making her too mad (and in Texas it wouldn't have mattered, it turns out). It upsets me that he's not doing it. I know if he got the virus the odds are really high that he'd survive. And, heck, it's possible he already had it and was fine.
But I just think it's so stupid to just not get it. Get it and don't tell his mom. He's too rational to really believe that there's anything to fear from the vaccine, but maybe he sees the stats and thinks it's enough. I don't know. I want to tell him he's being an idiot, but it's so hard to maintain friendships during this pandemic. I've been terrible at it, as you all have seen
Been a while so here's a recap of my Arrowverse experience:
Batwoman - I thought the show handled a really tough situation really well. I thought the Kate stuff was bungled a little bit, but it's nice that she didn't truly die in a plane crash essentially offscreen. Ruby Rose is gone but Kate isn't. I liked that she's okay. And I guess they'll comingle the "what happened to Bruce" story with whatever Kate is doing. I think that's fine, but with Bruce essentially showing up twice on the show already....what are the rules? Can Bruce show up but not Batman? Can Bruce only show up in images and in dreams but they can use "his" face on other characters? Or are there no rules and Batman can show up?
The Flash - The show is fine. I thought Ralph's write-out was weird and having Sue back is also weird. I thought Cisco's exit was sweet but I feel like the show will really miss him. I wish they'd moved Cisco to Legends at some point. I feel like the cast feels distant, though. I don't think Team Flash feels as close to each other, if that makes any sense. It kinda feels like when Oliver put together a new Team Arrow and I didn't feel an attachment to any of them. They were just guest stars in my head. I don't know what the solution is. The show has felt like it's been on fumes for such a long time. I really don't know what I'd even do with it if I was hired as the showrunner. I think it's too late to do anything.
Although maybe this...which I just thought of...Flash and the Canaries. Maybe Bart Allen comes back and takes Barry to the future where he fights along Mia and the Canaries. Essentially use Barry as an instrument to explore the stories they wanted to tell on Green Arrow and the Canaries. It's not the same but it'd definitely mix things up. And maybe use that as a way to tell the legacy of Barry and Oliver before the Arrowverse goes away.
Superman and Lois - I think the show is fantastic. Really well done and compelling. I wish it felt like part of the Arrowverse, even though part of it's appeal is that it doesn't. I thought maybe the flashback episode would confirm some of the weird stuff with Clark and Lois' one kid becoming twins, but they didn't. I know Diggle is showing up but I wonder if it should stay in its own universe now.
Legends of Tomorrow - This show is off the wall bonkers. I also wish that show would feel more connected, but I kinda love that it just does its own thing. The characters break the fourth wall, they do silly things, and the theme song at the beginning is insane. The stuff with Gary being an alien doesn't work at all, but it's great that they just went for it.
All in all, I still think the universe has some life in it. I'm excited for the other Diggle episodes, although from interviews, it doesn't sound like it's going to explore the Green Lantern stuff too much. I hope that was a misdirect - it'd be a shame to have these episodes and not have it reach some sort of fun conclusion - even if it's too expensive to show him in costume.
Although I still want an anthology series before it dies. Let's revisit characters, tell fun stories, introduce characters we'd never see otherwise. Come on CW, make it happen.
I got a subscription to Comixology for Christmas, and I was so sad to see that the Smallville comics weren't on there for free. That was something I was looking forward to, before I understood the limits of Comixology Unlimited.
Maybe one day.
Oh man. I really enjoyed that Spider-Man show. I don't know if I want to watch a fanfic season two, but it's really cool that they did.
I'm about ten volumes into Invincible. It's all that's available to me on Comixology Unlimited with out buying more (so it's not really unlimited, Amazon). After that, I'm going to start on the series.
I think it's a really cool universe. I've heard it referenced a lot, and I'm glad I took the plunge.
I'm also reading the 2015 Darth Vader comics and trying to read Civil War II. Among other things. I'm really enjoying diving into comics.
I was pleasantly surprised by that as well. I thought it was a cool reveal. I also went back to the female writer who got fired from the show. One of her complaints was the only POC on the show being the bad guy. It's clear, now, that Irons isn't the bad guy.
So I don't understand. Did she not know that or did she protect that secret? Either way, I'm not sure I 100% believe her story.
Sliders.tv → Posts by Slider_Quinn21
Powered by PunBB, supported by Informer Technologies, Inc.