Saturday, November 30, 2019

Disney+ & The End of the Semester

Hello loyal readers!

I'm sorry it's been a month and a day (literally) since I last wrote on the blog here. My class workload got a bit crazy, I also was running out of ideas for what to talk about.

The end of the semester is almost upon us. Starting in December, the countdown to finals and Christmas break begins. To quote Dr. Strange "We're in the Endgame now."

So, now that I've had some time to relax, since it's Thanksgiving break, I've finally been able to get into watching some stuff on Disney+, which my sister is paying for (thanks sis). At last, I've been able to watch some shows I haven't been able to see in a while, or before.

Gargoyles

So first thing first, I've been watching Disney's response to Batman the Animated Series, Gargoyles. (I might do a Pat Pitches on this series later). I got the motivation to watch based on a movement on Twitter, #KeepBingingGargoyles, started by the creator, Greg Weisman, to try and get a revival series from Disney. While there's not as many tweets, #KeepBingingGargoyles is still being used, proving that the show still has it's fans.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but let me just say its Gargoyles trying to live in a new city, dealing with human-gargoyle tensions. The series only ran for 3 seasons, unfortunately, because it's really good. The episodes run for about 22 minutes on average, so it's very easy to binge. The characters are all very likable, and the stories are very well written.

My only criticism is the show doesn't have as strong of a theme song as it's inspiration, but that is a very small nit picky critique. The show has a narration intro instead, which is just as powerful. It's hard to criticize this series. I love it.

Overall, my favorite character is Goliath, the leader of the Gargoyles. He's very serious, but does have his more sensitive side. He's also a bookworm, it doesn't get much better than that!

All right, onto the next show.

Star Wars Rebels

Another Greg Weisman series?! According to his Twitter, yes. I used to watch Rebels, but didn't have access to it for a long time. Now that I have Disney+, I can finally catch up where I left off in Season 3.

I'm currently in the show's last season, Season 4, which means I will sadly will be almost done with the show in a few episodes. Like Gargoyles, Rebels is a great show. The overall villain of the series is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a fan favorite from the Star Wars Legends canon, who was brought back into the new canon.

After the villains being Inquisitors for two seasons, its nice to see a change of antagonist, though I do miss the lightsaber-lightsaber fights.

I love this show so much. There's a lot of fun references thrown in. In one episode they referenced "Annie Get your Gun," and more obviously Star Wars: Clone Wars, its predecessor. Now, onto the final show I've been watching.

The Mandalorian (Minor Spoilers)

Currently, The Mandalorian is the only Disney+ exclusive I have been watching so far (the others don't look too good, not gonna lie).

However, The Mandalorian stands above the rest. It's easily the best Disney+ exclusive at the moment. It has the asthetic and tone of a Western, and I love it. I grew up with Western tv shows, such as Wanted: Dead or Alive, and it's fun to see a modern take on the series.

Now, we all know what one of the best parts of The Mandalorian is. I'm sure you've seen the memes and the screenshots. Baby Yoda, what a great character. I love the shenanigans that come with him and Mando, the only name we currently have for him.

Mando himself is a pretty cool character. He's mostly quiet and does his job. Through flashbacks we see Mando's traumatic past, which is why he acts the way he does in the show, in particular towards Baby Yoda. A bit like his predecessor, Boba Fett, Mando is sometimes a bumbling warrior, but unlike Boba Fett he actually does stuff. Yeah I said, come at me bro!


I'm not entirely sure where the show is going. I really hope that Baby Yoda doesn't die. I would love it if he appeared in The Rise of Skywalker as a young Jedi Padawan. I don't think Disney would kill him off, given how popular he is with fans. But, only time will tell.

End of the Semester

All right, that's all for Disney+. Before I finish, I'd like to talk about my plans for the future. Over break I hope to begin work again on The Iluckstrious Adventures of Lady Luck Volume 1, "The Monorail Conspiracy." I've realized that I need to shorten the story, if I want to keep the price down for my Senior final project.

I've realized a few things regarding what I hope to be my Senior Project.

1) As stated earlier, to keep the price down, I need to shorten the story. Which will also tighten up the story and make it better.

2) If I want this project to be successful, I need to do more research.

My story is set during the 1940's, and deals with several sensitive topics, which I addressed to try and offer commentary on current events as well. In particular, I address the Japanese internment during WWII. While I do have general knowledge of the topic, and have done some research, I believe I need to do more research to make sure I address the topic in a sensitive and respectful way.

Obviously, history is not stuck in the past. There are still people who lived through the internment, and unfortunately, those who are currently living through an equally horrific modern internment system. That is why I added it to my story. I did not want to ignore the darker part of American History at that time, which I think we sometimes, as a society, would prefer to forget happened.

However, my research will have to wait until AFTER my finals. School is, of course, my top priority. I will try to keep writing on here, but forgive me if I'm not able to do so.

All right, that's all for me in this post. Hopefully I'll write in the upcoming chaos of December. If not, Happy Holidays and I'll see you next year.

Until next time, see you on the Tramway!