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Surprise! The Sequel. [TVD 1x12 Review]

Welcome to the 12th review of season 1! As per usual, here are the guidelines: Considering that I haven’t sat down to watch a full episode of the past seasons of TVD in a few years and my memory might not be the greatest I will start with my usual disclaimer: I write my thoughts in real time so if I make a mistake at the beginning of this post, it will be corrected by the end. There will be anti-Damon and anti-Delena senitments and I feel the need to say there may be some anti-Jenna sentiments too. I will probably bring up other shows and call attention to misogynoir, racism and anti-blackness. OK. Ready? Let’s go.

I love how Stefan and Elena are lying down on her bed, talking about what’s happening in the town, that level of intimacy just in the fact that they’re together on her bed and it isn’t sexual, it’s about how comfortable they are with each other.

I still think it’s bullshit that Jeremy would invite the pizza guy in. I also really hate this scene because I want more details, like at least see vampire hoodie dude get into a car with the actual pizza delivery guy bleeding in the backseat.

Paul’s jeans fit much better now.

Omg Paul is just all chiselled features. This man is beautiful.

“Oh yeah, Elena and I had a blast!” You two were barely together.

Yay, more lunch! Sorry, I just couldn’t recall when they ever ate lunch so the fact that I’m seeing them eat it makes me happy because DETAILS. If only we got a class other than history that wasn’t in a dream.

“If it’s what you and Matt want then it’s not about me.” We don’t ever get a conversation like this about Steroline, like Elena just kept her mouth shut and she never talks about SC as a couple, which I find telling.

I also never understood why Nina uses her left hand to brush the right side of her face, like her hair out of her face, I always found that weird.

Lol Elena leaves Bonnie with the bill. Of course. And doesn’t say thank you.

It really annoys me that the first guy to show interest in Bonnie in the show is just using her. Ugh.

Especially since they could’ve been really hot. And cute. I’m annoyed.

“It’s because we’re predators, Elena. We hunt, we stalk, it’s often as exciting as the kill.” See, Stefan never once distances himself from the darker aspects of vampirism, so I don’t know where the DErs get of saying he pretends to be a saint. The way he strokes her face, omg.

Matt and Caroline are so cute, their almost paint fight and the way he says, “I MEAN I thought you always told everyone else what to do.”

OK so Elena and Jenna do have separate cars.

“I’m really sorry it won’t be any help for your Diabolical Plan. The Sequel.” I love dry Stefan so much.

It’s kind of funny watching Ian’s hyperactive eyebrows against Paul’s pretty stationary ones.

“See that’s your problem, Damon, you apply all of your shortcomings to everyone else.” Ha, could say the same thing about DE shippers.

So, funny story. When I had cable and would watch my teen dramas, my mother would always complain about them and say how much she hates them but then I would see her standing in the hall watching them over my back. Happened with OTH. Happened with Gossip Girl. And it happened with TVD. So I’m at the scene where Elena is doing her hair and the compass is on her bed. I remember being soooooooo into the scene, like OMG THE SUSPENSE THE COMPASS IS MOVING and then I just hear my mom yell, “She is STUPID. If you’re in a town overrun by vampires and your vampire boyfriend gives you a vampire compass that finds vampires would you not have that damn compass everywhere you go??? SHE’S AN IDIOT. What’s her name? I don’t like her.” Lol. And now eight years later, I tend to agree.

It’s funny, in KDramas when a loved one’s number is saved it’s always something like “My Yoon Jae” or “My Gyu-woon” so just seeing “Elena Gilbert” on Stefan’s phone is like … aww, come on, can’t it be “My Elena”??? lol. Although tbh I probably wouldn’t like that. Kdramas get away with a lot of things that American TV can’t.

Aww Stefan’s hand on Elena’s leg as they talk about the vampire. So sweet. Simple gesture but it shows his protectiveness and his need to comfort her.

And then when Elena slips her hand over his to comfort him for being worried about her. My feeeeeeeeeeeeels.

Also Paul is total James Dean here. Who was that person who said Ian was more James Dean than Paul? Like … WHAT?

“What’s Damon doing here?” At least Bonnie looks mildly indignant.

Also it takes some kind of gall to stand before Bonnie and Caroline, two people who Damon had tried to kill and not feel a type of way.

I do still find Elena’s *turn to Stefan* “May I have this dance?” to be hilarious and necessary. And Stefan’s smile is amaaaaazing.

Paul’s hands are kinda low on Nina’s hips, lmao.

Anna’s hair is a little weird.

“You’re doing that thing again, where you pretend we’re dating even though we’re not” LOL that was a little harsh. The way Anna brushes it off is cool though.

I actually just noticed that when Matt walks up to Caroline and Bonnie at the Grill he’s actually smiling until Caroline is classist af.

Also totally forgot that Stefan and Elena actually have a blast dancing before he pretends he won’t dip her, like they’re smiling SO goofily.

And Damon is looking at them jealous for absolutely no reason because he’s hardly spent any time with Elena but seriously, that’s what love looks like Damon.

The fact that Damon can call himself Stefan’s legal guardian and none of the adults side eye his relationship with Elena? When she’s supposed to be the Rory Gilmore of Mystic Falls, beloved by the town?

“Tonight was so much better on paper.” Just like how the SC relationship was so much better on paper? I get it, Caroline.

Lmao I’m watching all these other people dance and yeah Paul’s hands on Nina’s hips has me like mmmhmm.

Lol he moved them up to her waist.

Oh back to the hips.

Their dance kiss is still one of my favourites, like it just shows how much he loves her.

The way Damon dances with that blonde is utterly ridiculous.

ALSO LOL. “My Boyfriend’s Back” is a song I did a vid to for Steroline and Stelena back in the day, I didn’t realize they played it in 1x12.

It’s actually good to see Elena active in a scene. This is one of my favourite Elena’s scenes [when she fights with Noah]

One of the things I actually like about the Stefan torturing Noah scene is Damon’s facial expressions in the background because he knows how much Stefan loves Elena so he’s just like lol yeah you shouldn’t play tough because he WILL make you suffer. Also seriously, Stefan’s intensity in this scene, that type of protectiveness over Elena that isn’t shown through “I will break your arm” so much love.

I think I really like Mattoline because it reminds me of me and my best friend in high school and it’s really realistic.

I also like the Mattoline kiss, it’s very cinematic.

Also find it cute that Elena is on her couch and Stefan is making her tea in her kitchen because they’re just so at home with each other.

And the way she looks at him giving her the tea, like isn’t my boyfriend so considerate?

“It’s going to take a lot more than a road trip and a rescue for me to forget who Damon really is.” Oh, so the necklace was the dealbreaker then? Also, it wasn’t a road trip, he kidnapped you. Also y’all are acting like he hasn’t damaged this town and that he’s just a dick. For Stefan that makes sense but Elena honestly should not be this calm.

At least with Spike, Xander and Willow only stop fearing him when there’s a chip in his head that makes it impossible for him to feed on humans so he’s no longer a threat to them.

This was a weak ending.

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Thor: love and thunder + text posts (valkyrie and jane edition)

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MARVEL PHASE 4 + iconic lines

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#Guess who’s the favorite kid

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#I too, would rather brainwash the entire world than make a phone call.

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Andrew Garfield: “To heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn’t have the same fate, there’s something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen.”

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021) dir. Jon Watts Screenplay by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers

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The Defenders | 1.03

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FALA CHEN as Ying Li in SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021) dir. Destin Daniel Cretton.

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This is a fandom gatekeeper free zone. I don’t care if you only watched the movies. I don’t care if you never read the companion novels. I don’t care if you never played the games.

Are you having fun? Legit. Let’s go. Canon is for giving us a meeting point, not for excluding people.

Cheers friends.

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It’s so unfair that both canon and fandom have just assumed that Sam is the one who’d have a semi-hostile, cautious approach to Bucky after TWS.

Sam was just looking out for Steve when he was like “maybe you can’t save him and you need to be careful”, but as soon as Steve was like “nah :)” Sam just went “k, cool” because Sam and Steve have the kind of relationship where Steve says “look, a dangerous thing!” and Sam says “give me a minute to pack my things and I’m ready to go”. The moment Steve goes “I love Bucky and getting him back is more important to me than my life”, Sam goes “let’s go get my new other best friend then”. Sure, Bucky tried to kill him but hey that was in the context of this very weird but exciting weekend Sam had, in fact it felt nice to finally stretch his wings (pun intended) after so long; and many people tried to shoot Sam at the Triskelion, the Winter Soldier ain’t special. 

You know who would be semi-hostile and extremely cautious around Bucky? Natasha. She was shot twice by him, once in the belly. That must be a terrifying experience. She had years of being lowkey afraid of the ghost she knew was out there. She believed Fury was dead because of him, which broke her heart until she knew he was alive. Unlike Sam who was literally minding his own business until Steve knocked at his door and got him involved, she has a history with the Winter Soldier and not one that would allow her to immediately accept him as friend-shaped.

And yet everyone writes Natasha as an enthusiastic supporter (which she is not even in canon) and Sam as wary and lowkey adverse (when canon is kind of messy in that regard but I’d argue that, while CACW sucks for a large plethora of reasons and should have handled literally every single thing in it better, it did not establish that Sam dislikes Bucky, but fandom misunderstood it).

It would be so much better if literally everyone was like “omg are we sure the Winter Soldier isn’t dangerous…??”, including Bucky himself, while Sam is there sipping a carrot juice and being like “are you talking about my latest adopted large puppy” to Bucky’s utter confusion because this man he tried to kill like last month is smothering him with extreme friendship

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So I managed to watch the first 15 minutes of Hawkeye today, and I am so unbelievably pissed off.

This show is STEEPED in David Aja’s style.

The opening credits are a replica of his work.

There’s a moment where Kate pulls back her bow, and time slows. You can hear her heartbeat and the snowflakes move in slow motion.

Just like this panel set.

It gave me the exact same feeling.

And I was so pissed.

Because David Aja isn’t even credited in the show. Because David Aja wasn’t even payed.

And worse yet, it seems they didn’t even offer him the bullshit $5,000.

Marvel misuses their artists, writers and creators.

Disney is full of greedy assholes.

David Aja and Matt Fraction are beyond skilled, and Disney blatantly ripped off David’s entire style from the font to the coloring. And they ripped Matt’s story straight from the pages. It’s a carbon copy of their work.

Creators deserve to be compensated fairly for their work.

Marvel makes billions, they can afford to properly honor comic creators.

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No matter how many interests come and go... no matter how many other characters I like... at my core I am always loving Tony Stark.

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Rule number one: never take your eyes off your opponent. 

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This whole scene is gold. Just pure gold. Sam and Bucky's bickering like an old married couple, Bucky being a completely comfortable sassy shit in the whole scene, Sarah being my favorite BAMF, Sam and Sarah squabbling and being the best sibling pair ever, Sam's little pout as they're walking away, Bucky's little "that's the best thing I've seen in 80 years, thank you" smile and nod to Sarah as they leave... just *chef's kiss* Plus, that "Yep, Samuel" line never fails to make me die laughing. You just know Sarah called him Samuel ONCE in front of Bucky the night before, and now Bucky won't let him live it down.

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Am I the only one who thinks that Sam changed the subject here to something more fun to try and lighten the mood? You can almost tell in the way he's looking at Bucky as he starts talking about the book and then afterward, about Trouble Man, and just easing into a relaxing conversation to ease the tension.

We've seen more than once that Sam is good at diffusing a situation and at conflict resolution. Whether this is something he learned in the Air Force (we, sadly, know very little about his time in pararescue), or as a counselor for the VA, or just inherently part of who he is, it's hard to tell. But he's great at it.

Their little back and forth after this about Bucky's taste in music is cute, and I'll be doing that sometime in the future. But I didn't want this moment to get lost in the humor. Because it's so telling of who Sam is as a person: genuine, caring, and a good man.

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER (2021) 1.03. Power Broker || Dir. Kari Skogland

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Anybody else catch this little moment in TFATWS 1.03. Power Broker? I didn't the first time through but did during my first re-watch.

At first, I was like, "oh, that's cute. He likes cars." Then it clicked -- that's probably a car from his era. Something he may have driven, or at least saw around Brooklyn. And it's likely in pristine condition, as it would have been back then.