Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer...

++ Daredevil: Born Again official trailer. The gangs all there, and thankfully the trailer showcases how brutal and violent it is, which is something I think many feared would have changed once Disney got a hold of it. But we have been reassured by Charlie Cox that it's not only a continuation of the Netflix series it's also going to be more violent than before, and this trailer proves it. I'm still holding reservations until we see the final product once it drops (as I am repeating the mantra of "please be good, please be good"), but so far yeah. I'm in. Now where is my girl Elektra....

++ tv_talk is currently having a rec fest week, where every day there is a different prompt about recommending and talking about shows of specific genres. I've been really enjoying participating in it.

++ And now a fandom shipping meme, as seen from various people on my flist:

( Ahoy there, fellow shippers. )

( Quake, the Destroyer of Worlds. )

My Comments: I kinda went a little overboard with providing three fanvids this time, a couple I know that I've shared before during a previous Snowflake Challenge prompt, but these are my all-time favorites because of how well edited and put together they are. Daisy Johnson is my favorite character on Agents of SHIELD, and perhaps my favorite Marvel character overall, and these fanvids really do a good job at highlighting her journey. The first and last ones in particular since the vidders managed to create a narrative to show that journey throughout all seven seasons in such a beautiful way of the chosen scenes, the dialogue, matching it all up, and I like how lengthy they are. I just really wanted to celebrate her character because I love her, and I miss her.

++ SAG-AFTRA released a statement regarding the AMPTP refusal of their offer and suspension of negotiations. You'd think with the recent win for the WGA things would go a bit more smoothly, unfortunately that isn't the case. I liked that the letter blatantly states that the AMPTP is using bully tactics, which is the same situation that happened with the WGA previously (which a month later they ended up winning and ending their strike). Some are hoping that the same happens in November for the SAG-AFTRA. But until then, the strike continues on.

On a more positive note, WGA members voted to ratify the MBA. Good for them.

++ The teaser trailer for Orphan Black: Echoes starring Krysten Ritter just dropped. When I first heard about this, I was intrigued, especially with Krysten involved, but now actually seeing footage from it? I'm even more intrigued and just hyped for it. I love the tagline of "a completely unique copy of the original", which is very clever, and I'm so fascinated that it's supposedly taking place in the new future. I know nothing else aside from the basic premise that was given a while back, but I'm already curious and want to know what is going on just by this teaser alone. It's set to premiere sometime in 2024, no specific date yet, but once we're made aware of it you know I'll be there.

++ We got our first look at the new Netflix animated series, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. As much as I wished the Alicia Vikander Tomb Raider had become the franchise it rightfully should've been (still bitter about that, to be honest), I cannot deny having more Lara Croft content in any form. Animation is a good choice for this franchise as a whole, too, and just judging from the teaser alone the style looks incredible.

++ Apparently it seems that the Disney+ soft reboot of Daredevil (titled Daredevil: Born Again) has been announced to do an entire revamping after realizing things just weren't working out, along with the major changes happening with Marvel TV in general.

I haven't paid that close attention to anything MCU related, but it seems that their Disney+ shows haven't been doing things normally, as in not having showrunners but instead film executives to run things, among other issues from behind-the scenes as detailed in the article. From the various complaints and rants I've seen from people about the MCU shows, that tracks. It's kind of astounding (yet totally not surprising at this rate) that they really thought that would work in the long run, or at all, really, because film and television are separate mediums and while limited series/miniseries can work it needs a proper showrunner and writing team who know how to construct a story for a television format, which executives don't know how to do. It's a collaborative effort, and when done well it's rewarding to see all the hard work put into the final product. Whether or not the new Daredevil show will be good after this complete reset is up in the air, but I do hope that they get their shit together to at least put something decent out, something that shows that they cared about the story and the characters and the people involved in creating it.

++ I received the second volume of Heaven Official's Blessing! It looks so beautiful, I mean of course it is. Now I'm just anxiously awaiting not just for the next of MXTX's novel volumes to be released, but also for the second season of Heaven Official's Blessing donghua.

++ By the end of February, all of Netflix's Marvel shows will disappear from the service completely. This is mostly speculated because of the contracts the shows had, and based on some characters making appearances in newer MCU-based material on Disney+, it's basically suggesting that Disney will now completely own them. I'm still bitter that they cancelled those shows, though, all because of streaming service wars and whatever ownership feud that was happening and the Marvel switch-up that happened, which unfortunately had a hand in cancelling all non-MCU Marvel shows, and I don't want these characters to be part of the MCU at all, they were fine doing their own thing, existing separately in their own stories without any MCU characters influence whatsoever. I don't know whether those shows are going to be on Disney+ or not, it just sucks that you cannot buy DVDs for them because I would do that in a heartbeat.

++ I have no interest in watching the series, but seeing the reactions to what's been revealed of Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been entertaining, to say the least. I figure no matter what, people are going to be unhappy, it's inevitable, because of comparisons to PJ's LOTR trilogy or hardcore Tolkien fans who are deep with the lore are going to tear it apart. I don't have strong opinions (aside from Dwarven women not having beards, the lack of men/elves having long hair or being androgynous, that's just cowardly and a massive disappointment tbh), I'm just going to wait with everyone else and see what comes from it. Although I will say, for a production that was worth over one billion dollars everything seen so far makes it look hilariously cheap and underwhelming.

(Of course, as someone who loves The Hobbit films with my whole heart, flaws and all, I have no room to make such judgments. People will watch it and like what they like, dislike what they dislike, and as someone who has no interest in watching it it's just going to be one hell of a ride watching the fandom outcome of it nonetheless, is all I'm saying.)

Taken from the Crunchy Questions Meme:

What shows or books do you feel had real potential, but ultimately flopped? What do you think happened?

Note: This is all subjective, what I personally felt was a flop might not have been for others, this is all just my own opinion.

( Oh boy, do I have opinions.... )

In kinda-related news, there's been tons of announcements of movies being pushed back due to the pandemic, never how many television shows have been affected, with some unfortunately being cancelled even if they were deemed safe previously. While we know plenty of newer projects have been announced, though it makes me wonder about the state media will be in, since I'm sure that new safety measures will be implemented permanently, and how this will overall affect the way the film and television industry will conduct itself. Particularly since the film industry is incredibly stubborn and refuses to accept that times have changed, and that they need to find a way to readjust themselves accordingly.