New News in the Now and Know How

Hey Guys! how long has it been? 8 months? I think... yeah, 8 months. So far the whole college life thing is going great, I got into Ball State, and that's just where I want to be. I made the Quidditch team and I've already made a few pals, so far, so good, if not a little stressful as well. However, I know why you're here, not to hear me drone on about my dreary personal life, but to give you the who, what, and where of how I've been in all the fandoms I'm so "loyally" dedicated to.
    Let's start off with the most recent, because honestly, there's a lot to talk about (whoo boy!), Star Trek! Now I know a few of you have heard about the new movie "Star Trek Beyond" and it's rather recent release, what did I think about it? Honestly, I thought it was better than the first two, it felt like it cared about the whole cast instead of just Kirk and Spock. They split the characters into teams of two (save for Scotty) and split them into having their own separate adventures; what I liked about this formula is that characters with very little screen time (i.e. Chekov and Bones) got partnered with characters that had nearly all the screen time in the older movies (i.e. Kirk and Spock) and it helped level out everything, not to mention the amazing amount of respect they treat the new female character with. This gave a lot of time for characters to develop on screen and we also got to see how the odd chemistry between all of them would play out. The best part is that everyone is still working towards the same goal (finding each other and beating the bad guy) so the plot doesn't get stupidly complicated, but the split up teams allow for it to become more than it is. Also, I am aware of the recent (3 1/2 months ago) death of the extremely wonderful and talented Anton Yelchin, and if I said that his death didn't impact my view of the movie, I would be lying, it did. At first I nearly lost it every time Chekov was on screen knowing I would never see him again, but after a while I decided that it would be more respectful to his death if I enjoyed every freaking moment he had in the movie. Due to this outlook and the large increase of camera time Chekov was supplied with, I was able to enjoy the movie and really get wrapped up in it, however his death still hits me like a ton of bricks whenever I think about it so I often avoid talking about it at almost all costs (and there are those out there who like to ignore that I am clearly trying to avoid talking about it, but that's a story for another day.). Onwards, to the next fandom!
    Next up we have Voltron, no you didn't misread it, I actually type the word Voltron. Thanks to Netflix and Dreamworks' contract with each other the human race has been blessed with the show "Voltron; Legendary Defender" and honestly? It's phenomenal. The characters have been changed a bit, but I think it's for the best, a great example of this would be that they have replaced Sven with a different young man named 'Takashi Shirogane' or "Shiro" for short (whom the fanbase has lovingly nicknamed "Space Dad", but for apt reasons), now when I say "replaced" I don't mean they took Sven's personality and put it in a new guy, I mean that Shiro is a completely different beast all together, and it works! Shiro's soft and fatherly personality really works well with the loud and ecstatic mannerisms of the rest of the team and it really helps with getting the whole familial feel down. Another thing I enjoy is just how everyone plays off of each other, in other words, I feel like no matter which two characters are in a scenario together, I'll always feel entertained. The story is also amazing, how it builds this universe for us so that we can get a good feel for where we are, but it doesn't tell us everything, so there's still some mystery to it all. Not to mention the animation was done by the same team that did "The Legend of Korra" so it also looks utterly amazing. Overall I would say that this series took me by surprise but in a pleasant way, and it also makes Voltron Force look like total garbage, sorry guys.
    Now on to Steven Universe, oh boy, where to begin. I suppose I should say something about "The Summer of Steven" since it did consume my life for a solid three weeks. One thing I really enjoyed in it was that every episode felt like it had a purpose, even if it wasn't directly moving the story along, every episode served a purpose, even ones that sounded like filler in the first place. I really enjoyed how Pearl was able to gracefully come to the end of her arc about getting over Rose's death and moving on, especially since it supplied us with a new and wonderful song, and I also loved how Bismuth was handled, even if the fanbase had predicted it earlier. I think the only thing that made me feel a little disappointed (though I knew deep inside it was the only way it could be handled) was Jasper's story. Now this said, I do not think that the Crewniverse handled her incorrectly, I just wish that we could have had with Jasper what Aang and the gang had with Zuko, a super-villain-turned-awkward-hero arc. I know it would be asking a lot, since we gained Lapis and Peridot not to long before it, but I really was hoping for some form of redemption arc. As for the weekly episodes, I still enjoyed those too, especially "Mindful Education" goodness what a masterpiece, this really got the message across and also showed some really emotional content, once again, even with the weekly episodes, it feels like every single one has a reason to be there, even if it doesn't move the story along, it could introduce a new power or character, and some of these are even stories about background characters, "Steven Universe" is doing a great job at handling its pacing and I hope that it can stay that way for the future.
    Another fanbase I need to talk about the the "How to Train Your Dragon" fanbase, because we got thirteen shiny new episodes, and they're all super intense, not to mention the "Everything Geek" podcast spoilers. In here I'm only going to talk about what I know about, but I will provide a video to the podcast when I finish up this journal. I am amazed by the emotional perception of the writers on this show, completely and utterly astonished in only the best of ways. One thing in the recent episodes that had me frustrated was how Hiccup, probably the smartest viking alive, was constantly falling for scheme after scheme of this new villain, Vigo. Now, mind you, in the series they actually do give us a small hint as to what hiccup could do if he really wanted to defeat him, but it's not made super obvious. Anyhow, with my growing frustration, I was wondering if they were doing this on purpose so that the pay off of Hiccup doing something right would feel greater and, in summary, they were doing exactly that. That, ladies and gentlemen (and other non-gender conforming folks), is how you write emotional pay off. The build ups of these characters are great and it really feels like I'm witnessing Hiccup go through the battle of his life, do you know why? Because Vigo is smart which isn't something Hiccup, nor the audience really, is use to. It's no longer brains against brawn, where brains is the obvious winner, but now it's brains against brains, and there is one thing that the writers are doing that I haven't seen in a long time. They are using age as a tactical advantage, Vigo is easily older than Hiccup and he knows that his worldly experience will make it easier for him to take down the Dragon Riders in any way he can. This is good writing, no, you know what? This is great writing, this has made the show much more thoroughly engaging and I often find myself on the edge of my seat wondering if this is when Hiccup is finally going to catch a break, or if Vigo has done it again. The suspense in this show has reached a top notch form and I'm proud of how far it has come.
    Now, I guess while I'm here I can put a quick word in for the 2012 Nickelodeon TMNT series since it's finally updated in episodes. Overall the quality of them is rather good, the characters are really coming out of their shells (no pun intended) after being stuck in such a serious situation for so long. However, this doesn't mean that it's all fun and games, I simply mean the earth is back and Splinter is okay, whereas in the beginning of the fourth season, things were a lot more depressing and honestly, the show took a really serious turn, actually, it had been like that since the beginning of season three when I really think about it. Now, however, the writers are back at writing serious episodes with humorous elements and good themes. Tons of character development is being thrown in the way of Karai and she's becoming a more intriguing character than any of the Turtles (though y'know, Leo isn't too interesting to begin with...). One thing I do kind of love (and hate) is that, instead of April being the damsel in distress, it's now Donatello who is usually either kidnapped or injured in the process of battle, I'm sure we'll get some form of episode reflecting on it, but for now, it's a sweet and ironic plot device.
    Lastly, I want to quickly say that I know I've promised a third chapter to my story "Great Things can Be Small" and I honest to God promise that it will come out, I'm just having a rough time thinking up a torture scene. Until next time, bye!

Also, here's the podcast video: