BSD Mailbag 6.17.16

Bigger upset...Penn State sweeping Ohio State, Michigan and Sparty in 2016 or the Bellas defeating Das Sound Machine?--Jared Slanina

Well, since the former hasn’t happened yet, I’ll say it. Though DSM did have a now-white walker leading them and that’s scary as shit, so…

I usually really get into the Olympics, especially the Summer ones. But with the Zika virus, horrible infrastructure, & a disastrous government, I'm feeling really uncomfortable & icky about Rio. Is it just me or is this a train wreck waiting to happen?--PSUBeatle

It’s not just you. I’m just not feeling the Olympics this year. Aside from FRANK THE TANK, who I can’t wait to outperform everyone’s expectations.

Tom Holland - Best Spiderman or Greatest Spiderman?--Lucius429

I think he was awesome. Granted, I never read the comics (and I don’t do animated shows) so this is purely compared to the other movies—but I was never much of a Tobey Maguire fan. He just captured the twin emotions of joy and underlying heartbreak to me so well. I really, really liked Civil War.

But seriously, can we get a freaking Black Widow movie already?!?

Regarding X-Men movie- are you ready for them to start telling actual stories instead of these origin quests? I enjoyed the movie for what it was, but story is starting to fall on deaf ears...

Question- How much is Fox hurting their product by keeping the X-Men from Disney and the greater Marvel Universe? Sony was smart sharing Spider-Man, X-Men appear to be riding a high that won’t be sustainable, ie Fox isn’t smart enough to come up with their own content and Marvel isn’t pushing X-brands as they once had.

Question- how stupid is it that Disney hasScarlet Witch and killed off Quick Silver, and that Fox has Quick Silver and no Scarlet Witch?...Why doesn’t Avenger Scarlet Witch remember her brother, and then blame the Avengers for her brother’s death? Just all sorts of lame, with the inbreeding of characters from comics, but the strict divorce in the cinema world.

How did you get so big?--MrNoPants

I actually like the First Class movies (possibly in no small part because I have an outsized crush on James MacAvoy). I like that they can seamlessly coexist besides the original X-Men trilogy, and I especially liked that Days of Future Past incorporated both casts. I enjoyed Apocalypse quite a bit. I understand your issues with Phoenix in it, though, but I’m a Sophie Turner fan (more on that later) and I’ve always been big on suspension of disbelief and letting go of the idea of being completely faithful to books (even in the Harry Potter movies) so I was cool with it.

I think Fox is being incredibly dumb. But I think that the success of Deadpool, and the Marvel franchise, may be opening their eyes a little bit. They may be willing to work more outside their comfort zone—or at least I hope so. They even licensed the term “mutant”, for godsakes, and wouldn’t let Avengers use that term for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in Ultron. That’s just incredibly petty to me.

I think Scarlet Witch correctly assigns blame to Ultron—not the Avengers. She can read minds, right? So she can see they sincerely feel guilt for her brother’s death. And she has so few true friends in this world, doesn’t fit in anywhere, she’s not going to isolate herself from the actual group who may understand what she’s going through—even if it’s only a little bit. But overall I don’t disagree about the lack of Scarlet Witch in X-Men, I think that’s super lame.

And this.

Am I the only person in the world who doesn't have any interest in GoT, superhero movies, and the musical Hamilton?

I also never understood the appeal of Prince.--Bob Sacamano

Now that I'm a dad, how many #RadDad jokes can I get away with before getting fired?--Eli Moreta-Feliz

All of them, because you’re you. And because we’re already shortstaffed enough, I’m not going to fire you over raddad jokes :)

Did someone say swoon? [inserted all of the Kliff Kingsbury gifs]—Sperbro

Sperbro is now my favorite.

Cael Q

If Cael drank liquor, what would he drink?

Best anagram for Cael Sanderson?

With the existence of Cael should all other men be neutered?

Cael vs. Chuck Norris?

If Cael pulled a Van Gogh, how much would it go for at auction?

If Cael knocked on your door during his mission would you convert?

Olive wreath headband – can you rock one?

Kelly. Best female name ever?--Smee

1) Spirytus Rektyfikowany. Neat.

2) CAEL SANDERSON

3) Neutering seems a bit extreme--other men can try but none can live up to him; however, the population can’t die out. He can just train them to live up to his lofty life goals in the NLWC.

4) Chuck Norris wishes he could be Cael Sanderson

5) Probably not enough

6) It depends—is polygamy still outlawed?

7) Not as well as Cael

8) Personally I like Cari better.

What is your favored recipe for building a S’more? I go with two squares of graham cracker, 25% of a Hershey bar, and one heavily toasted marshmallow.

What about eating S’mores alone? I came home from school the other day and found that my wife had made some S’mores for herself. I was shocked. Part of the fun of eating a S’more is sharing the experience with loved ones.

What are the parameters for S’more making?--Gerry Dincher

OK, your problem here is not enough chocolate. ¼ of a Hershey bar? Are you mad? Half of a bar—go big or go home. And I’m with Nathalie, dude. Any time is a good time for alcohol a s’more, whether alone or with friends and family.

I'll be in Pittsburgh tomorrow for a wedding party. Any must sees during the day? weather doesn’t look promising for walking around, bummer. Haven’t been to Pittsburgh in forever 30 yrs. Staying at Hyatt North Shore, wedding party at some place called the Olive and Twist.--BMAN13

I actually haven’t been in Pittsburgh proper in probably ten years, so I’ll leave this to our delightful commentariot to answer—leave your suggestions for Bman below (and, yes, I’ll be paying close attention for the second weekend in September).

Cael vs Superman

Cael vs Batman

Who wins?--jiminore

AMERICA.

GoT question: How do you want Ramsay Bolton to die?--GM15

Slowly, painfully, and by the hand of Sansa Stark—and all the while with the knowledge that there is nothing he can do to escape his inevitable excruciating demise.

AND NOW FOR THE SPOILERIFIC PORTION OF THE MAILBAG! I’m not going to use spoiler text on the below, so you’ve been warned—if you don’t want to be spoiled about anything Game of Thrones to date, stop reading here and go directly to the comments (without collecting $200, because you only get that if you’re up to date on your GOT).

So you think the Arya that was stabbed is the real Arya?

and

Do you think Lady Stoneheart may still be a part of the story with this last week’s reintroduction of the Brotherhood Without Banners?

also

What shakes out of Littlefinger’s assumed involvement in the North with the army of the Eyrie? Taking a wild ass guess, I’d say Sansa eventually outmaneuvers Littlefinger and gains influence over Robin, thereby gaining the army of the Eyrie to go along with a reunited North following the destruction of the Bolton house. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I see Littlefinger underestimating Sansa, and the pupil becoming the master.

and finally, Cleganebowl…are you fucking hyped?--06Lion

I will answer your questions in the order in which you asked them because I am nothing if not logical and methodical.

a) This has been answered already so I am disregarding it. Whoops.

b) Yes—but not how she was in the books. I don’t think she’ll actually be Catelyn Stark come back from the dead; I think the showrunners don’t want to overdo the “back from the dead” thing too much, and alienate viewers. Jon Snow is enough for them. Rather, and I can’t remember where I originally read this, I think it’ll be more along the lines of Arya uses her talents she learned in Braavos and takes on her mother’s identity to avenge her family’s enemies and become a different version of Lady Stoneheart, wrecking her way across Westeros.

c) First of all, fuck Baelish. What a fucking prick. And when Sansa stood up to him and verbally took him down, I was finally #allin on #teamSansa. I’d been swinging that way for a few seasons (at the beginning of the show, like so many, I thought she was just a whiny little prick) but now, with Sophie Turner’s amazing performance and where they’ve taken that character, I can’t wait to see who she takes down next.

But yes, I actually completely concur on your estimation on the situation. Littlefinger always prides himself on being the smartest person in the room. And he manipulates everyone around him—but Sansa has become that person. It’s tough for someone with that sort of ego to take a backseat and acknowledge you may not know everything, or have it all under control—and I doubt he’ll be able to see that. And I think she *absolutely* can become the manipulator of Robin.

d) I’m not convinced Cleganebowl is still happening after last week’s pronouncement of the death of trial by combat (really, Tommen? Really?!?) but if it does it’ll be freaking epic.

Why doesn’t Jamie seem to care that Cersei basically cheated on him the entire time he was away at war?--@JustinHoward44 (via twitter)

I mean, at least she didn’t emotionally cheat on him like HE TOTALLY DID WITH BRIENNE. (Though I’m team Brienne + Tormund = 4Eva). Historically, Jamie hasn’t cared that she’s cheated on him for practically the duration of their “relationship”—I mean, if you want to call sleeping with her actual husband cheating (since I guess she was with Jamie first). I’m definitely no Cersei fan, but for him to get upset at that would be for him to get upset at Cersei being Cersei—and to expect her to be a different person than she’s been their entire lives, and therefore a different person than he ostensibly fell in love with. That’s an unrealistic expectation imho.