Top Ten Pop Culture Moments of 2016

It’s December 23, it’s almost Christmas, so let’s do a top ten list! In this list, I will be listing my Top Ten Favourite Pop Culture Moments of the Year! That’s right, moments! There will be spoilers after this point.

1.) Deadpool’s opening credits

This is how all credits should be done. They showcased the tone of the entire movie, and even broke the fourth wall a few times! From Hugh Jackman’s sexiest man of the year cover, the Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern trading card, to bullet holes and blood, these credits showed us exactly what we were going to get over the course of the film. Thankfully, the movie lived up its amazing opening credits!

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MjyGL0go60

2.) Jon and Sansa being reunited

These two hadn’t been seen together since the first or second episode of Game of Thrones, and they were the first of the Stark children to be reunited after all the terrible things that befell their family. It was possibly the first truly happy moment the series gave us, and it made everyone tear up with joy.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzHj-LrhwBc

3.) Spider-Man taking Cap’s shield

I could’ve listed so many things from the airport battle, but Spider-Man’s entrance with him taking Cap’s shield and webbing his wrists together was just great.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBANU6ZVFZY

4.) Wonder Woman’s entrance in BvS

There isn’t too much great we can say about BvS, but Wonder Woman’s entrance is one of them. From the electric violin, to Batman and Superman’s shocked looks, the scene showed us how could the movie could’ve been. She was in the movie for far too short of a time, but what a time.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwgPtAKTfq8

5.) Samurai ATOM

Ray Palmer’s ATOM suit, with a samurai helm, on horseback. Thank you season two of Legends of Tomorrow.

6.) Ghost Rider’s reveal

This season of Agents of Shield brought it, and brought it hard. We got LMDs, Coulsen back in the field, and Daisy going full superhero. On top of that, we got Ghost Rider, flaming skull and all. Doctor Strange brought magic and idea of other realms into the MCU, Agents of Shield brought in hell and demons all wrapped up in a glorious burning chain.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpW6XVe8JvM

7 & 8.) Battle of the Bastards and Sansa’s revenge

They’re in the same episode, so I’ll put them together on the list. First off, the battle. It was the largest battle every filmed for television and involved thousands of extras and a month of filming. It is easily on par with, or better than, the massive battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. On top the of pure scale of things, it’s a deeply emotional and human experience. There are very few things that have left me on the edge of my seat and breathless, this battle did it. And then, at the end of the amazing episode (which also featured dragons destroying a fleet of battleships), Sansa got her revenge on Ramsay Bolton by feeding him to his own dogs that he had starved for days.   

Watch the battle here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsFeIVJfKsA

Watch Sansa’s revenge here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cVrn4bqdM

9.) Darth Vader takes out entire rebel platoon

So technically this happened in 2015, but the collected edition of the storyline didn’t come out until 2016, so I’m counting it. Basically, in the amazing Star Wars comics that Marvel is doing, Darth Vader gets shot down and the rebels think it’s their best shot at taking him out. At one point he gets surrounded by an entire platoon, and after insulting them (see above), he kills them by detonating their grenades. Damn.

10.) Titanfall 2: Cause and Effect mission

Easily one of the best designed video game levels ever. During the course of the mission you get a new piece of equipment that introduces a new gameplay mechanic: you can jump through time. This allows you to try so many different things over the course of the mission, and is just ridiculously fun!

I’m not posting a link to a video, as they’re all walkthroughs and super long.

Some times when I made funny jokes!

I like to think of myself as a slightly humorous person. I’d like to think that my writing and videos accurately reflect that. In honour of how funny I am, today’s post is going to be a list of my top 7 (I’m just being too lazy to find links for the times I was funny in videos) funniest moments (plus I’ll explain why the jokes are funny; always the best part!)!

7: The time I made Spongebob joke

                I’m gonna be honest with y’all: I have never watched an episode of Spongebob 4x90°pants in my life. And yes, that math joke took way longer to write out than it should’ve, but that isn’t the joke this entry is about! That’s right; this article is going to be funnier than the time that Patrick burnt down the whole time in a fit of coke-fueled rage. Again, I’ve never watched the show, I’m just assuming that happened at some point or another.

                Here’s the real deal though:

Mixing classic tumblr style humour with the playful antics of Spongebob, truly I am a saint.

6: The time Ramsay Bolton nee Snow liked my tweet:

                If you’ve known me for any amount of time, or looked at my twitter feed on a Sunday night, you’ll know one fact about me: I somewhat enjoy the global pasttime that is Game of Thrones. And by somewhat enjoy, I mean that I can discuss the fan theories like a pro, and debate whether or not the interest charged by the Iron Bank of Braavos is fair or not.

                Without spoiling too much, Ramsay was not a delightful person. He did however love his dogs and kept them well fed—by feeding them people. He killed, maimed, and raped often. And he tried to kill fan favourite Jon Snow. Just an all around bad guy. He was even more hated than Joffery, by some fans.

                And then the actor, Iwan Rheon, got cast as Hitler in a production about Hitler’s time as an artist. Everyone was making jokes about this, so of course I jumped right on the ol’ bandwagon!

Bonus points for my awesome profile pic.

5. The time I made fun of Kylo Ren:

                Another thing you’ll know about me, is that I am a huge nerd. Especially when it comes to science fiction. Now, as a disclaimer, Star Trek is better than Star Wars, but this joke is all about Star Wars.

                When we first saw Kylo Ren’s lightsaber, we all had a good long laugh about it. Cross guards made out of lasers on a laser sword? LOLK. After watching the film, we all felt a little stupid for making fun of the lightsaber, because we found out there was so much more to make fun of than just that. Honestly, the saber is like the least funny thing about Kylo Ren. Unfortunately, this joke went for the low-hanging fruit that was the lightsaber.

I mean, it was still a pretty solid joke. Hopefully Disney didn’t take it too seriously though.

4. The time it got a little too real:

                I write a lot about sexuality and gender identity. It’s something that is important to me, and to the entire world. Representation is something that is needed, and is crucial in showing the queer community that there is nothing wrong with them.

                Unfortunately, straight people still think that being straight is the best, and that remembering other things exist is just far too much work. After all, wearing khaki and golfing takes all their energy. Plus, who’s going to watch all the Adam Sandler movies? Too much? Oh well.

                One time, a friend forgot that I wasn’t straight. Moments after I had sent a link to a video chronicling my coming out story. But don’t worry! She had a valid excuse, and I had an even more valid retort:

Ah, the causal sarcasm as I threw her words back at her. While this may not be the funniest thing I’ve said, it’s one of the things I am most proud of. Straight people, am I right?

3. Just to lighten things up, the time I made fun of my sister’s texting:

                Millennials, the laziest group of people to ever exist, right baby boomers? Them and their texting and activism, don’t they know that they should just be cynical and work jobs that they hate so they can buy houses in a market that your generation wrecked? God. Anyways, millennials love to text! I can confirm this because I am sending 243 texts right now! As I type! Amazing!

                Kat, as she describes herself, is a basic bitch. A white girl. And texts like one af. As evidenced by this short and sweet exchange of ours:

I apologize for the appalling language. Everyone knows I only swear while playing Mario Kart and Halo. Blue shells and lag, my language kryptonite.

2: A topical Pokémon Go joke!

                No article these days is complete without at least one PKGo (as the cool kids call it) joke or reference. And by all ‘eevee’dence, I sure am up on the trends. I’d be a piece of ‘trubbish’ if I didn’t squeeze in a few Poképuns. Honestly, I could just start using tree puns, and everyone would think I was making clever jokes about the professors in the franchise.

                My joke might be a ‘jolteon’ the old system, but I think if I put the ol’ ‘charmeleon’, you’ll enjoy it! Okay, I’m done, here’s the original joke. All 151 of em:

Those Poképuns hurt my brain.

1. The time I made an inappropriate joke:

                Sorry mom and dad, sometimes I do make some inappropriate jokes. And sometimes they are hilarious! Other times, they came out during Cards against Humanity, and left me feeling bad. This is not one of those times!

                The final joke contains no pop culture, no vulgar language, and no funny pictures. Just words. Please, enjoy:

So good. So pure. So funny. 

Summer Feelin

                My blogs have been pretty serious in nature the last while, not that that’s a bad thing!, but today I’m going to step back a little. It’s the first official day of summer! And the longest day of the year! For my readers closer to the equator, this really isn’t a big deal for you, but for us Northern types, it means that every day after this is getting shorter and shorter leading to the inevitability of winter and the long night. I, for one, am not ready to bow to the Night’s King, I want to remain a summer child, and taste the Dornish wines. This turned into Game of Thrones references fast. Wow.

                Speaking of Game of Thrones, how good was last night? That ending. Damn. Best thing since Joffery’s death, or just best thing ever? I’m leaning towards ever, to be honest. Look! No spoilers!

                Summer is a great time of year. The sun is out, you can go outside without a huge jacket, you won’t die by freezing, you won’t die from hitting a patch of ice, you won’t die from wolves coming down from the north, you won’t get frost bite and die. Basically summer is great and winter tries to kill us every time we walk out the door. Moving on.

                I love summer because I love going outside. I love going for a swim in the lake, which I should totally do on Friday, I love camping, I love sitting outside after dark just staring at the stars. Most of all, I love the freedom that summer represents. You want to go for a long walk? In the summer you can do that without worry! You want to go to some random city or town? There’s probably something going on there that weekend! You want to be outside all day, go for it! Summer lets us be free, and reminds us what it is to be human.

                All of my fondest adventures and stories come from summer, and all of my scary and horrifying ones come from winter. Just saying.

                The way your skin feels when you walk outside on a sunny day. The lingering touch of the heat, and the wondrous caress of the gentle breeze that keeps it from being too hot. The gentle grass, cooling your bare feet as you walk, smiling, aimlessly about. The nigh-religious experience as you take a sip of ice cold water and it slowly trickles down the back of your throat, cooling and refreshing you from the inside out. Plummeting towards the surface of the local lake, feeling the water embrace you as you break through the surface tension, the bubbles bubbling up your spine, tickling you. Raising, refreshed, from the depths, a smile plastered on your face before you even surface. The feel of your ice cold glass coolly held in your trembling hand after a hard day’s labour outside. The refreshing feel of sweat on your brow. The rejuvenation you feel as you step into a cold shower. The ease of conversation as you sit under the stars. The easy smiles as you drive with the windows down and music blaring. Camaraderie and oneness with everyone you meet as you walk down Main Street. The joyful licks and kisses from an overjoyed dog. The world in full bloom, full of colour and wonder. This is summer.

                Happy summer everybody. Hope yours is fantastic.