#(and actually i watched a bit more of this scene now and recognized a couple more words and i'm so happy)

[ynscrazylife]

i need to be excused (aaron hotchner x wife!reader)

summary: yknow that scene where hotch says “excuse me” and then faints? imagine that but his wife does it to him.

Having a profiler for a husband gets annoying with how observent he is. Unfortunately, you’re also a profiler, so it’d be hypocritical to complain.

Still, when Hotch notices the slightest thing wrong, he latches onto it. He’s had his eye on you ever since you took a hard hit from a fight in the field. You barely had time to recover before the team had to board the jet again to respond to some emergency Strauss needed them for.

Apparently, a man who claims to be linked to other murders and who was a former BAU agent had made a threat against Strauss’s family. Finally back at the BAU, the team’s stuck calling people, making arrangements, going through endless paperwork to try and get more information and figure out what was going on.

You’re not doing so hot. Still reeling from the pain, but also exhausted and definitely moody. Hotch keeps it professional since they’re at work, but is still watching out for you.

Hours later, after correctly identifying the man and making the arrest (which included lots of running around), the team again returns to their base. They’re going through everything and debriefing next steps, when you abruptly stand.

“I need to be excused for a moment,” you say, already sounding breathless, before promptly keeling over and collapsing onto the floor.

For a second, everyone freezes in shock. Hotch is the first to react. He all but screams your name, dropping to his knees and trying to assess what’s going on.

“Honey, honey? C’mon, wake up. What’s going on? Sweetheart, please,” Hotch says as he shakes you, moving you so that your head is in his lap.

Spencer kneels on your other side, gently taking your pulse and reporting that it’s stable. “Could be exhaustion, dehydration . . .” He trails off, listing all the reasons he can think of.

Hotch uses one hand to run his fingers through your hair and the other to cup your face, lightly tapping your cheek. After nearly a minute of the team standing around, wondering what to do, your eyes start to flutter open.

“Aaron?” You mutter, seeing your husband’s eyes first.

“Hi, hon. You passed out. I need you to tell me how you’re feeling,” he says, keeping his voice soft but letting out a breath of relief now that you’re awake. He continues threading his fingers through your hair and rubs his thumb against your cheek.

You blink a couple times and then say, “Tired.”

Exhaustion, then. “You’re sure that’s it? Is anything else wrong?” Hotch asks, anxious to role out some underlying cause.

You nod, then grimace at the lightheaded feeling it gives you, turning and smushing the side of your face in Hotch’s lap. He looks up at the team and gestures his head towards the door.

They get the hint, though Emily and Spencer do offer to stay behind and help. Hotch thanks them but assures them that you’ll be alright and the team takes off.

“Do you feel alright to sit up?” Hotch asks after a moment.

“Yeah,” you murmur and, with his help, sit up. You immediately lean into his arms. “Ooh, wow. Dizzy.”

“I think you pushed yourself a bit too hard, sweetheart. We gotta make sure you rest properly. Wouldn’t hurt to get some food and water in you, too,” Hotch says, cradling you.

You hum in agreement. The two of you sit there for a bit, Hotch being in no rush to move you. He can’t help but reflect a bit and he sighs, shaking his head.

“What?” You ask grumpily.

“Just a little in shock that you actually excused yourself before fainting,” he says. He recognizes the funniness of it, though he lacks any amusement, still too worried.

You chuckle. “Was tryin’ to be polite,” you explain.

“I’m sure you were,” Hotch says, smearing a kiss against your head.

You continue on sitting, Hotch rubbing your back. Finally, he gets the both of you on your feet, and leads you out to the car. He sits you in the passenger’s seat and buckles you in, driving you home. Once there Hotch immediately gets you in bed, helping you change into pajamas before doing the same. He gets you a glass of water and a snack, making sure that you eat and drink it all.

“Wanna sleep now,” you mumble once you’re done, curling into his chest.

“Of course, dear. Just relax,” he coos, already planning to call you both out of work tomorrow. He does not take his wife fainting lightly and is going to do everything he can to make sure you’re okay.

#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x female reader #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotch hotchner #aaron hotch fanfiction #aaron hotch x reader #hotch x you #aaron hotchner fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds hotch #criminal minds

[aida-sparks]

Buddie fans are relentless (and it's a good thing)

Geez, I was not prepared for the rollercoaster of woe that comes from shipping a pair that is not canon (yet!).

I am not a new fan to the show, 9-1-1. I've loyally watched every week for years, cherished the members of the 118, cherished Buck and Eddie's special relationship. I just hadn't been involved in the fandom of it all up until recently. I was just a tv viewer. But being newer to interacting with the fandom, I admit that consuming social media about 911 and Buddie has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I keep seeing the same recycled tactics to argue why people who ship buddie are delusional and why buddie will "never happen". These arguments are off-putting and frankly quite poor. (I don't like to focus on the negative so this will be my only post dedicated to this.)

Argument One: "There's already a gay couple on the show." No kidding. The statement is problematic in and of itself; people don't go around limiting the number of straight couples on a show, do they? It's fantastic that we have a strong, integral gay couple in Hen and Karen, two beautiful and fabulous lesbians, that are vital to this show, but why can't there be more? One representation alone doesn't cover the spectrum of LGBTQ+ portrayals of different romantic dynamics.

Argument Two: "Why can't we have two guys be close without putting a romantic label on it? It's refreshing to see male friendship." Bro... Platonic male friendship is important (all friendship is). It's not all that uncommon, though. Male friendship is focused on a lot already in many shows. But two adult male friends discovering new aspects of their identify that shift their relationship with each other toward something romantic? That's the more refreshing take here; it's one that we don't get to see in media right now but should. Flip the script, 9-1-1.

Argument Three: "They weren't introduced as gay or bi-sexual. It would be too out of left field to go there now." Not true. The show has the creative freedom to explore this narrative and can do it plausibly. There is obviously a very large part of the 9-1-1 fandom that has already interpreted Buck and Eddie's story as having the potential to become romantic. The pair has many parallels to the other canon couples on the show. There are plenty of moments and scenes from prior seasons (post-tsunami with Christopher, the shooting, the Will, all of Eddie Diaz's fond gazes aimed at Buck, etc.) that can be referenced in future episodes via well-crafted montage/edit that will help shed light on any developing feelings from either or both Buck and Eddie. Besides, not allowing a relationship to evolve into something different just because it didn't start out that way? What kind of stunted outlook is that? We want a story about how individuals can question and explore their sexuality at any age. Heck, during the graveyard scene near the end of season 6, Buck and Eddie talked about how experiences have changed them. They're clearly still growing and changing as individuals. It is not a stretch for them to discover whatever they've been searching for this whole time is actually found in each other. ---- That's it from me on this. I'm going to try doing a better job of ignoring the negative talk out there. I hope all buddie fans stay positive too, and when they call us relentless, we take that as a good thing. I hope we all recognize and resect the other characters and ships of this wonderful, wonderful show of ours too! Most of all, I hope we respect each other.

#buddie #911 abc #911 buddie #buddie canon #buck x eddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie thoughts #tv: 911 #shipping #fandom culture

[campbell-rose]

Helluva Rewrite (s1e8)

Okay, so I'm insane and got this sudden urge to rewrite Helluva Boss and redesign the cast. I ended up with a full rewrite of episode eight and the design of a brand new character and thought I might as well post it rather than leave it to rot on a word doc lol. Okay, context before hand. Beelzebub is no longer a hellhound fox sparkledog thing. I’ve split the character into Beelzebub, the ruler of Gluttony, and Cerberus who takes the role as Vortex’s gf without fucking over the worldbuilding. Loona is now an actual teenager, only 17 and was adopted by Blitzo very recently in this retelling so she’s still wary of him a bit. I think that’s it, so here is my reworking! 

Loona is terrified. She shows up to the party and is visibly shaken, but immediately brightens up when Vortex calls out to her. 

When Vortex introduces Loona, he notices she’s uncomfortable from the attention and apologizes, then offers to get her a drink to help her relax. 

The second Loona is alone, she has the confrontation with that poodle bitch. Changes in order: 

The Poodle approaches Loona rather than Loona butting into a conversation. She goes “O-M-G. Loona?” and when Loona turns around, she starts getting really mean. 

The Poodle and Loona grew up in the same pound but the poodle left first (incorporate somehow into the conversation) 

Okay, the Poodle is like “Wow, you must’ve finally gotten too old to stay in the pound, you know, since you were such a lunatic nobody wanted you! Can’t relate lol.” 

Loona gets aggro at the lunatic comment, and the Poodle whips out her phone like “woah, careful you’re looking like Lunatic Loona again!” 

‘Lunatic Loona’ comes from Loona getting aggressive at an adoption fair and biting people. She was branded as aggressive and hard to work with and it followed her. The Poodle has a picture of Loona looking rabid. 

Loona is visibly upset then masks it with anger. (Lots of hounds are gathering to watch b/c they are getting loud) she makes a rebuttal like “I’m surprised someone wanted you considering you’re such a massive bitch!” *in this rewrite, it is established that bitch is a cruel term used against hellhounds 

Vortex swoops in the second Poodle squares up (bc she squares up in this after being called a bitch) and calms it down. 

Loona is visibly upset and fidgety. She looks in her drink and notices a fly drowning in the liquid. A couple scenes to show hellhounds she tries to interact with are wary of her and are pointing and whispering about her being crazy. 

Now, enter Beelzebub. Note: Beelzebub will be a bee demon and no longer Votex’s gf, rather that will fall onto a new character! Beelzebub does her song with her pet, Cerberus acting as her hypeman! 

Loona is more in awe during the song than anything else, and starts to seem to be enjoying herself. She dances with Vortex and thinks for a moment he’s flirting with her 

When the song ends, Cerberus rushes Vortex, spins him around and squeals about the song and the party. She notices Loona and basically has the same dialogue Bee had in the episode. When Vortex says this is my girlfriend, Loona is visibly stunned. She repeats the word and Cerberus nods and covers Vortex in kisses. *in this rewrite, it wasn’t mentioned during Vortex and Loona’s first meeting that he had a gf. While this takes away from Vortex being a more aware character, this is a change for the sake of better drama imo 

Loona is mortified and feels like a moron for flirting with a guy with a gf, and her night has already been shitty and embarrassing enough. She goes outside and texts/calls Blitzo. 

While waiting on the curb for Blitzo, a hellhound approaches her. He’ll be the stand in for the guy that’s like ‘oh no, the hottie is leaving?’. He comes up and goes “Loona?” and she’s immediately on edge and snaps at him. Then she recognizes that he is another hound she knew from the pound. They talk 

She apologizes for being on edge, she’s just had a shitty night. He knows, he saw, Poodle got adopted by a Greed demon and was spoiled rotten ever since 

He compliments her and says she looks nice. He’s never seen her look anything other than miserable or angry. She says he seems adjusted enough. He says he didn’t get adopted, he aged out, so he kind of had to learn how to adjust or die in the fighting pits *expanded on later*

Another pause. He says he’s sorry for how he treated her back then, he was miserable and angry and he took it out on her. Loona shakes her head and replies that she was hardly better, then softly adds that she still isn’t. He points out that they’ve managed to have a conversation for a minute without someone getting bitten, so that’s got to count as an improvement. 

Blitzo pulls in, making both of them jump. He asks Loona if she’s alright and if she wants to leave now and to hop in. The hellhound she was talking too is sad at that and says that she should stay because the party just started. Loona stands between them for a moment before suggesting to Blitzo that he come into the party with her. Blitzo says no because he’s had a really shit night and can’t do partying right now. Enter the imp from before. Scene is generally the same, except Blitzo recognizes the other imp and calls them by name so they aren’t some unnamed nobody. 

The scene of Blitzo doing a kegstand is the same, but Cerberus and Vortex are watching with Loona as well. Beelzebub (again, a separate character from the dog thing in the show and Cerberus) offers her challenge *Cerberus brings in the booze rather than Tex to indicate servitude 

Beelzebub is now a bit less of a nice girl. She doesn’t stop halfway through the contest and stare at Blitzo all concerned. Once he beats her she gets super pumped and takes him off on her shoulders. The next few scenes are Blitzo doing shit (chugging drinks, breaking the disco ball, busting some of the honey tubes in the background, causing general choas and constantly drinking) all the while being egged on by Beelzebub. 

Loona finds a small group of friends to talk to along with that other hellhound she first talked to. Then Cerberus asks if she can talk to her in private. In this Cerberus says what Bee originally said in the episode, minus seeing auras. She says that Beelzebub can sense when people are wrecked and can’t help herself. She makes people and demons indulge in their misery and sins until they can’t move, and feeds off of their energy. Blizto is basically a buffet. Loona is a little defensive, but doesn’t insult Cerberus or upset her. 

Loona finds Blitzo in the middle of yet another drinking contest, currently chugging before throwing up into his cup and saying he hasn’t lost yet and is about to drink the puke. Loona pulls him away and notes that he’s a fucking mess and that what he’s doing isn’t okay. Beelzebub mentions that she’s being a party pooper, but Loona is too concerned with Blitzo to care 

They leave the party. Loona waves at the hellhound boy she talked to, and is shown pocketing a number written on a napkin. 

I’m keeping the vomit joke and taking out the moments of Loona calling Blitzo dad, as in this she has only been with him for a short while and doesn’t really know him like that. 

Since this episode would be before season two, this is the first indication of Loona’s past, talking about the pound and shit, and also showcases her being more sensitive and capable of having fun and interacting with people other than her dad and her coworkers. I’m no Shakespeare but I tried my best with what Viv and team laid out including the terrible whiplash humor (i'm talking about you dildo scene)

Now, art!

This is my rework of Loona, i wanted her to be more of an edgy emo girl since that's been Viv style for decades

And this is what i came up for Cerberus! I'm struggling with colors, so I might color them and post it later if i feel like it. Cerberus will either be colored like one of Viv's drawings of JayJay or like Queen Bee when she has the superior color pallet with yellows and oranges.

Debating if hellhounds should wear clothes in this rework because i'm doubling down on them being essentially pets and sentient dogs

#vivziepop critical #helluva boss redesign #helluva boss critical #anti helluva boss #anti vivziepop #helluva boss rewrite #i swore i wouldn't be viv focused #then the shitty writing drew me back in lmao #i love rewriting and redesigning things #might post some mlp redesigns tbh

[chirpsythismorning]

Lets talk about Appendix #7

I won't be the first (nor the last) to admit that I’ve only ever paid super close attention to the Russia scenes during my major s4 rewatches (like 4x total). Those just don’t tend to be the scenes I rewatch looking for Easter eggs as regularly as I do with others. Though, I can say confidently now that this will not be the case anymore.

As I’ve said recently, the scenes that come off as unnecessary filler, are likely the ones hiding something deeper underneath the surface. Otherwise, why put any time into scenes that have no importance, beyond just to fill the running time? Especially in s4 when the episodes were really long and they could have easily cut out scenes if they weren't that important to the overall plot.

The reason they do this is because they can rest comfortably knowing that a vast majority of the audience will overlook these scenes, even call them pointless and boring (and they can laugh knowing they couldn't be more wrong). A vast majority of fans felt that way about the Russia plot, but even the Cali plot had a decent amount of viewers saying they were worthless all season with no importance to the overall story. And we all know that wasn’t actually the case. And so why would that be any different for the Russia plot?

And this scene right here, which I completely forgot existed (so pardon me if someone has talked about this before, because I've never seen any discourse on it), I only just remembered existed because of the Piggyback script dropping for the Emmy's.

I just want to preface that I'm being so so serious right now when I say this scene is very incriminating for Mike. Even down to the way it ends. It’s bad.

And by bad I mean holy shit they are sick for potentially hiding the truth in plain sight.

For context, in this scene, Yuri represents Mike & let’s say Dmitri represents the skeptical majority, who have been confused by Mike’s behavior for the last two seasons.

A lot to unpack here.

But first I want to give a disclaimer that Yuri is not literally Mike, nor are ALL of Yuri’s scenes meant to be about Mike.

It just so happens that Mike has a unique trend of his POV being missing from the overarching narrative. And how they play with that sometimes, is by strategically displaying his POV through other characters.

You might think I'm crazy, but this has happened quite a bit. The most well recognized example of this would be with Hopper at the end of s3 with the letter.

A less well known example would be with Argyle in s4. Again not all the time, but there are a couple specific moments that come to mind, where it feels like they are hinting at Mike’s inner feelings, by having Argyle display things Mike cannot express to the audience yet.

I always thought it was weird they decided to put Mike and Argyle in almost identical hats in the airport scene. Though, it makes a lot more sense when you see Argyle call him a shitty knock off, only to watch the whole group walking through the airport, with Mike to the left of El and Argyle to the left of Will.

Mike may be standing beside El with them looking like a happy couple, but he’s actually distracted and hyperfocused on Will. And so how they reference that, is by placing Argyle standing close beside Will, sort of mirroring the blocking of Mike and El. In Argyle’s case, he is not putting on a fake smile, instead he looks almost emotionless about what's unfolding. The blocking there definitely feels intentional, as it could be the writers way of showing us where Mike's head is truly at, aka focused on Will.

The other major example I can think of (there's not too many from what I've seen, but these two definitely stand out) is at the end of s4 when the boys arrive at Nina to rescue El. We've talked about how the explosion behind Mike as he was looking between El and Will, is representative of the extreme mix of emotions he is feeling at that moment. But no one has ever talked about Argyle's reaction in that scene. Knowing what the explosion represents, I think we should consider what Argyle’s reaction to the explosion itself might represent as well.

First, Argyle interferes with the Milkvan reunion, standing in the frame behind Mike, with his hands on his head looking at the fire blazing with stress.

But it gets even more dramatic than that, when El and Will are hugging, that's when Argyle really starts freaking out, OH SHIT AW SHIT, pacing back and forth.

By doing stuff like this, they can hide hidden meanings. It also just makes it a whole lot easier to come up with ideas for scenes. Because when they have a big component that is underneath the surface, they can build anything around that, as opposed to coming up with a bunch of ideas fresh on the spot, without any reason for it.

Which is why, tbh whenever I hear someone say it's not that deep, when referring to basic filming techniques of playing with POV, I'm just sitting there thinking, do these people not know how much easier it is for artists, when it is that deep? It’s sooo much easier (and gratifying).

But back to this scene with Yuri and Dmitri.

Yuri seems to be doing a lot also while doing very little reminds me a lot of Mike's method of boyfriendism at the start of 4x02. He brings El flowers, he's got a whole inspired Cali fit, he's feening happiness the whole time, holding her hand and skating together. He's basically giving off this vibe that he's going above and beyond, when really, we know that despite all those little things, he's not doing the one thing El wants him to do, which is to say I love you.

This scene in the piggyback script initially stood out to me because of the word stalling. And this is because whenever I talk about Mike’s behavior in s3, but especially in s4, with him repeatedly putting off saying I love you to El numerous timed, I often use the word stalling to describe it.

In his letters, he avoids it. In the flowers, he avoids it on the note. When she confronts him during their fight, he deflects, and makes a point to struggle using the word care instead. Even when she's literally crying he still can't muster it. When she's getting taken by the cops, he still doesn't think to say it, even now when things are so bad and it might have given her at least some comfort. When they're separated Mike, gets reassurance from Will that he can just say it to her when they reunite, though Mike doesn't look too excited about saying it. Then not even a day later (during the Letter to Willy scene), Mike tells Will he didn't know what to say to El, even though we all know it only would have only required those 3 famous words... And then him and El are reuniting and he still doesn't say it. And then they're in surfer boy and they get interrupted, but tbh the lead up to it felt super disingenuous anyways, with him looking like he was about to say something out of obligation and not because he wanted to say it. And then the literal moment that she is choking, he stalls, until Will encourages him, and then even still then, they make a point to put dramatic beat right before, and only THEN is that when Mike finally says it.! (And all of that isn’t even including the stalling he does in s3).

Basically, Mike is the king of stalling, but especially in s4 and the Piggyback specifically, bc stalling is what has led to this grand moment of Mike quite literally having no option to stall anymore.

And so stalling being used in this conversation with Yuri and Dmitri instantly peaked my interest. I barely remembered the scene from the show and yet the instant I did, I just knew what was about to go down was something related to Mike, that we wouldn't otherwise get insight on bc we don't have his POV right now.

In contrast to the episode, the script has Yuri admitting to stalling. He doesn't seem to have remorse about it at first, he actually seems kind of like he's willing to admit it because it's the truth. Then we get a Ronald Reagan mention from Yuri, followed by him spitting with disgust, which was not included in the final cut... still sort of an off moment, considering the very few Reagan mentions we've gotten in the series, it's been through the presidential campaign sign in front of the Wheeler's house in s2 most.

But now, this is where it starts to get a little scary in terms of what Mike could be thinking. I don't know how I feel about it because it's a scary concept.

You saw it with your own eyes. You know it to be true. And yet you continue to play tricks.

This could mean one of two things, or maybe even a mix of both...

It could mean that Mike knows El doesn't need him despite her begging for him to say the words I love you (he saw it with his own eyes?), but he isn't willing to accept it. He knows his feelings deep down will never change (he doesn’t love El), making his and El's separation inevitable (also reminds me of the suicide mission comment from Yuri...). He is fixated on this idea of her needing him and if not, losing her all together, instead of what El was actually upset about, which was not being loved.

Or it could (also) mean Mike understood Will in the van. He saw it with his own eyes aka the painting, he knew it was apparently for a girl Will liked, but it ended up actually being for him. And he seemed very happy about this as a revelation, up until Will mentioned it was actually from El. Not only that, but what followed was Will monologuing about feelings that matched closer to what Mike and Will had went through over the past year, not him and El. And so Mike realizes in this moment that Will does return his feelings for him, but he isn't willing to confront it aka he chooses to play tricks instead. He saw Will crying, yet he didn't confront it nor comfort him, and I think it’s at the very least bc Will crying that hard would have definitely caused Mike to start crying himself.

I also want to add that I think supports this sort of unraveling of Mike having different assumptions about the painting at different times. Because it appears in the hospital scene with Max, based on the blocking of Will, Mike, and El according to the painting on the wall in the background, that before this moment, he may very well have assumed the painting was from Will. But upon finding out El saving Max was a miracle, the painting shifts and is suddenly behind El.

I think that’s the main issue with deciding definitely one way or another how Mike interprets what’s going down. Because arguably, his feelings about the situation could actually be evolving based on the events around him unfolding.

Now let’s move on to the Peanut Butter Smuggler line. They use this to sort of make a reference to a past version of Yuri who was revered, and irrefutably considered a hero by many’ aka the mainstream ‘I miss s1-2 Mike Wheeler’ core.

And last but definitely, almost certainly not least, they show us Yuri reaching in his coat's inner chest pocket, to pull out the reason for the issue that was causing the stalling…

And that in the context of lettergate and even pocketgate, is pretty insane.

I also noticed a lot of scenes end with 'as...' in the scripts, as it's sort of their way to emulate the smooth transitions between scenes in words. While the scene directly after this is of Max and Lucas, the scene directly after that is Mike and El in Surfer Boy, right before they eat the pineapple pizza.

'Uncertain as...' Uncertain as who?!?!?! Max uncertain about the plan she herself insisted they do? Perhaps. Or what about Mike who is very much uncertain in all of his stalling glory, not even two scenes later, after they literally just acknowledged Yuri's stalling…

A lot of the pieces are there for this to play out, so I don't really think it's a reach anymore when you really start to add it all up.

Letter to Willy is a major proof that this is important. Although Mike ‘We’ve had it this whole time’ Wheeler was referring to a pen in that moment, the pen also came from secret hero agent man’s pocket, with the number (answer) being hidden inside, and with Mike’s shirt being off in that scene, though still in the frame in the right corner.

And then there’s the whole transition from Mike in Hawkins to the mailmain in Lenora in 4x01, DONT you worry Mrs Byers, it’s coming!!

If you want to know what I think personally. I don't know....

I do feel like what would make it super easy for everyone to figure out what's going on with Mike, is for us to finally read a letter from him, and with it ending with love Mike... Like it would just be that easy. Literally all of the contents could even be written off as a friend missing his friend platonically and really struggling bc he can't reach him, with him opening up about things that we already suspected, but that he hasn't said out loud. And then by simply ending it with love Mike, the case would be closed.

It would also perhaps explain Mike's inablity to write love to El in their letters. You’d think there had to have been something that made him overthink not doing that in the first place? And arguably, him having done it for Will when he tried to write a letter(s) to him, only to end it with love, followed by panicking and making the choice to never write Will a letter and instead focus on sending them to El (bc she’s his gf) it sort of starts to add up.

I also think I have a theory for when this letter will come into play in s5.

In the flashback of Suzie getting her computer taken by her dad, the last shot is of her night stand, which has a letter from Dustin, with a watch laying on top of it, also accompanied by an alarm clock that reads 5:02… I think it’s possible we could get lettergate being addressed as early as the second episode of s5. And with all the time/clock imagery surrounding it, there’s a good chance the cliffhanger of that episode could send us straight to the time jump…

Just a theory for now based on a lot of piling evidence. But it’s all very incriminating for Mike…

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #stranger things theory #lettergate #pocketgate #byler theory

[meraki-yao]

Ok I saw a post before saying what if we put all of Nick’s characters in one room (I can’t find op anymore) and after the last reblog it got me thinking so here’s some weird multiverse imagination

Note that I’m only gonna use the characters I’ve seen/know about, so that’s Henry (RWRB, duh), Conor (Handsome Devil, watched the whole movie and really liked it), Timmy (The Craft: Legacy, only watched Nick’s part lol), Robert (Cinderella, the first time I actually saw Nick, I watched… enough, plus a bunch of video essays on it because I am a musical theatre person and a fairy tale person), Jeff (Bottoms, from what I can get from the trailers), and Luke (Purple Heart, which I love you Nick but I will not put myself through that, based on what I’ve heard about it and reading the synopsis on Wikipedia) if you can think of more please join in on this mess

Let’s say some weird random ass multiverse magic got all of them into a room. After the initial “Good God is that what I look like with a buzzcut?” and “Why the fuck are they British- is that kid Scottish?” and “HE’S A PRINCE? OH THAT GUY WHO’S SINGING IS A PRINCE TOO? HOW AM I A PRINCE???” then someone (honestly out of the six I listed probably Henry or … Luke?) telling everyone to settle down and introduce themselves so they can figure out their differences, what’s gonna happen?

Well...

Luke and Jeff will definitely get into a fight at some point. Maybe Robert gets unintentionally involved too

I dread to imagine the conversation/confrontation between Luke, the conservative marine and Henry, now a gay icon in a loving, committed relationship with the bisexual POC son of a democratic female president (I’ve heard some folks call Henry the rainbow prince and oh my God I love that) interacting, but Henry is still a prince and a lot stronger and willing to stand up for himself and his relationship at the end of the movie, I want him to win in that argument

Henry and Robert will definitely judge each other. Robert on Henry’s clothes and how proper he is (think about his fucking line “dancing at these things are so mannered! And formal! And we look like fools!” and oh God I hate that I can quote that line) and Henry on Robert’s eccentric, borderline-childish mannerism, and wonder how on earth is this guy a prince (I know royal protocols are strict and Henry does definitely find them stifling at times but a large part of that is just… manner and etiquette? Like look at the pained face he makes when Alex devours the cornetto and then speaks with his mouth full of ice cream, he was definitely exasperated by his choice of men at the moment)

Luke and Jeff will get annoyed at Robert spontaneously bursting into song and tell him to shut the fuck up, but Henry might find it amusing and somewhat charming (come on I absolutely don’t believe that Alex and Henry don’t sing to each other, especially when they have Taylor and Nick’s beautiful singing voice in the movie verse) and maybe Conor starts shyly strumming his guitar to Robert’s singing

Jeff trying to bully Conor and Timmy then realizing these boys are no less strong than he is and gets his ass kicked

(The next couple of points are the main reason I wrote this post lol)

Henry recognizing Conor and Timmy’s struggles, seeing bits of his younger self in these queer kids that look like him, remembering what Alex said about getting to be someone his father didn’t see growing up, thinking he can do something similar for these two boys and taking them under his wing, pulling the both of them to a corner to talk

Conor telling Henry that he doesn’t believe there’s a place in the world where he could just be himself, and Henry remembering feeling the same until a certain American boy with fucking eyelashes, black curls and dimples stormed his castle

Timmy explaining how he feels like his bisexuality isn’t being validated (Nick did amazing in that scene please go watch it) and Henry gently telling him that that’s absolutely not true and that his boyfriend is in fact, bisexual, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking both boys and girls

Henry and Timmy sharing their grief over their lost parents

Conor and Timmy suddenly having a man who looks like them, who's in a position of power and in a committed relationship with another man in a position of power to look up to

Henry telling them his story and how he found love and support, giving the boys hope, and realizing that this is what making history can mean

I don’t know how my brain came to this but Henry as an older brother to Conor and Timmy now lives rent-free in my head, might write more on that alone

Very intrigued about how this is gonna be expanded when Mary & George comes out and we add George Villiers to the mix, Henry will pass out

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #henry hanover stuart fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #nicholas galitzine #rwrb thoughts #handsome devil movie #conor masters #prince robert #cinderella 2021 #bottoms movie #not tagging a certain film because I don't want to deal with that crowd #please make this a thing this was so much fun to think about and write

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

started watching the new live action avatar

it’s. It’s pretty ok I guess? But there’s a lot of things I’m not altogether happy about. It feels very. Generic. Which is kind of sad.

I’m only two episodes in though, so I won’t be too harsh. But there are a few things that I really don’t like, and number one was Aang going into the Avatar State in front of Sokka and Katara for the first time when seeing Monk Gyatso instead of when escaping Zuko, and that moment being isolated instead of the moment everyone in the world knew the Avatar had returned

in the original series, Aang goes into the Avatar State when confronted by irrefutable proof in the form of the skeleton of his best friend and mentor - the airbenders really were massacred and he can no longer deny it.

every statue of the Avatar around the globe lights up in a single moment. the legendary figure’s destined return is announced to the world by an overwhelming outpouring of grief and rage from a young child who just discovered that everyone he ever knew and loved is gone. it’s poignant. the Avatar’s return in that moment is not a triumph. that terrifying show of strength and power, enough to light up the world in its glow, is pure emotional anguish from a small twelve year old, who just saw the dead body of his mentor and now believes he is all alone

and Katara and Sokka having seen the Avatar State before means that there is less of the shock and “what is happening” in this pivotal scene (which was the main focus in the live action). of course Sokka is still concerned about them potentially getting flung off the mountain. but both of them know this reaction for what it is - mysterious power, sure, but primarily, they see and recognize his grief.

I just. what happened to “we’re your family now” and “neither of us are gonna let anything happen to you”??? :(

on a side note, I do feel like Katara and Sokka themselves have been heavily (heh) watered down. it’s a shame. Sokka’s my favourite, and I just think that I. Don’t trust writers with Katara now. (Why is her waterbending a secret? The whole reason she didn’t learn was because there was no one to teach her and she couldn’t leave… also where is her instant connection with Aang… where is their silliness… where did it go…)

however! I did like a couple things that were done and I want to be a bit positive so here

love Zuko and Suki’s actors. they did a great job

Sokka and Suki’s training together was cute ☺️ (though I wish he had worn the uniform of the Kyoshi Warriors…)

Aang himself is adorable :) (wish he got to be a little more silly but Netflix adaptations always are more serious for some reason)

I actually kind of enjoyed getting to see some of the scenes from the war’s outbreak. I prefer the way the original show portrays it, with a lot of info being learned reverse chronologically, but it was cool to see Sozin, and some of the airbenders, and a little more of Gyatso (who I also really enjoyed :’) )

Katara bending water at Aang and it reducing to them splashing each other without even trying to bend. Rare sillies!

I thought Kyoshi herself coming to defend her island was pretty sweet!!!

Katara getting flashbacks to her mother’s death on seeing firebending. Well I don’t like this, obviously, but it clearly shows how her mother’s death haunts her, and if they have Katara face off against Zuko again at the North Pole, it’ll be all the more triumphant.

Suki’s mom!!! Damn she was so cool!!!!!!

#also whyyy was Katara not the first person Aang saw??? this is really important!!! #and what is Katara’s role here. She didn’t even seem to break the iceberg. That’s. That’s her whole. That’s. She. She kickstarts it. Gah. #Katara my beloved my sweetie I don’t know why your writing got fucked up in the comics and now here #you deserve so much better #also why no Aang and Zuko confrontation? hello? that’s really important??? #they had him meet Iroh though. so that was actually pretty interesting #no agni kai between Zhao and Zuko either? maybe it’ll happen next episode? #ugh. I actually don’t like a lot of things. But I’ve only watched two episode so I’ll be chill and wait for more #storyrambles #atla #also this is just me being nitpicky but if we were going to actually see gyatso’s death (which. Idk it was more impactful not seeing it tbh #there’s this implication that gyatso may have broken his vow of pacifism since his skeleton was surrounded by tons of fire nation soldiers #implying he may have killed them #it wouldn’t have fit or made sense at the beginning of the show #but if they were going to show his death scene. Idk. Guess I just expected something more substantial #personally from what little we knew of Gyatso it actually does seem likely he’d break his vow if he really did die protecting the children #also. he was supposed to be the strongest airbender at the time. come on now. he just gets roasted?

[mdhwrites]

Going back through TOH's episodes, it strikes me how boring they are. Part of the problem seems to be how criminally unfunny the show is, generally speaking. I can count how many times I've laughed on one hand. In fact I can list them:

There was the "It's been my dream since I was a boy" guy pushing kids off cliffs (Moving Hassle), Luz's "He'll be fine" after throwing Hunter overboard - and then his subsequent re-entry (Hunting Palismen) - and lastly Luz tumbling offscreen in front of Amity after a spider crawls on her face (Grom). That's 3 scenes, 4 jokes if we're being charitable. And sure, maybe my sense of humour is just incompatible with TOH's and I'm being harsh.

But I can't deny that I just feel like there's no rewatch value in TOH? Like it's just... the jokes are so bad to the point it's not fun, it's not entertaining, it's a slog, I see no value in retreading the same ground. And I am a SERIAL rewatcher! This is coming from someone who spends maybe 85% of their time experiencing the same stories! I love seeing well-done media all over again, because even if I know what's going to happen or what they will say, a well-structured joke or a skillfully delivered line is still gonna engage me.

I can't even recommend the show to anyone because I HAVE in the past... and what ends up happening is they watch the first couple episodes, get bored, go "I recognize that you like this, but it's not my thing" and drop it. And I CAN'T BLAME THAT! Because that's how I reacted too when I got into the show! I only stuck with it because it seemed like it was going really interesting places. And it tried to, I think, and failed.

I'm also a very fandom-heavy person so TOH's boring episodes have made it increasingly harder for me to stay within it. Because I'm not rewatching anything, I can see myself in real time as I forget more and more of the plotlines, and even a lot of the characters. It's just... kind of disappointing. It's like I just had a gradual fizzling out of interest. I don't even hate the show, which might be better in some ways - instead I just can't muster enough shits to feel any type of way towards it.

I rambled a bit but I guess my ultimate ask here was: what are your thoughts on whether or not TOH manages to entertain new/old viewers?

So I like S1. I think the characters are what carry it and that they are at their most interesting, EASILY, in S1.

The vast majority of S1, in terms of concepts and executions for plots, is OKAY AT BEST.

This actually just comes down to a simple tonal decision of TOH and also just the fact that a boring world with boring magic creates little to do with bog standard plots and TOH actually has a LOT of bog standard plotting. It is a pretty classic story structurally and takes genuinely very few risks in the structure... Which is okay in theory.

There is nothing wrong with not reinventing the wheel and TOH talks a big game about subverting tropes but no. As a fantasy fan, I can tell you this is EXCEPTIONALLY normal. Like... Insultingly from how much it talks a big game. Especially because if you're going to do classic, you have three options: Shoot the moon, lean into the unique elements of your concept or do it VERY. VERY. WELL.

And remember: They did a body swap episode and it is one of the most hated episodes of the entire show. That's not a good sign.

But this touches on the second problem I brought up: This is a boring world with boring magic. Because TOH's fantasy world is so basic, has little magic and little flair with its magic, it inherently limits what it can do. Now, it doesn't have to be this way but the show made it this way with how little we see of it, how limited it is (like how plant magic is 99% vines), and how often it just blatantly makes one to one comparisons between it and our world with effectively NOTHING altered like how the covens are just jobs, right down to them being introduced through a job fair and a boring one at that.

So when we look at a classic episode concept like the body swap episode, the three plots are... Easily replicated elsewhere. One person gets in trouble in the swap's job because they don't know what they're doing (with the most unique twist of this actually landing them in prison), a classic animal plot where they're taken in by a place that seems cozy and then isn't with literally no changes, and finally... Teenager pisses off bullies and agrees to jump DEAD MAN'S GORGE! But instead of skateboards and people really building it up, its rat beasts.

None of these plots are actually bad, they're go tos for a reason, but... No one is bringing anything special to this. Luz is entirely ignored so her character may as well not matter, Eda is doing NOTHING to add to her plot and King... King is fun for about two minutes leading the bullies and otherwise is just any other character in this situation. It's not bad, I personally enjoy parts of the episode... But it's nothing special. From the second the thing that X character is going to do is revealed, you can guess every step of the plot and they don't even really throw in good jokes in the process. A couple jokes but nothing memorable because everything is weirdly subdued compared to how other shows would be, even in an episode that is definitely trying to be more over the top.

And this runs into the inherent tonal issue of TOH: It doesn't want to be an adventure comedy. Those are genres that are commonly really over the top. They hear jump the shark and go "How about a shark jumping ten other sharks in order to finish making a can of tuna for their fire giant overlord?" And the face of this fact, in that the genres it pitches itself as for the first two episodes!

TOH flatly refuses to be silly and over the top. It's characters are very... 'realistic'. I don't mean real, just that they're meant to feel more mature by being more in control. They don't let them interrupt each other for a joke, they don't let a character be potentially OOC for a one off gag like Hop Pop screaming "EAT THE RICH!" or Sprig asking "Have you ever killed a a man, Hop Pop," and I can only think of one time Luz got mad for the sake of a joke and honestly, yelling about the Rusty Smidge barely comes across as a joke because of how genuine the anger feels after a point. Otherwise, stuff that would normally get exaggerated frustration or the like to at least let you laugh at the reaction just... doesn't get one, like how Luz yells about Luzura being killed off but then... Just walks off and is passive aggressive mostly instead of even exasperated. For a drama or romance, this is not a bad approach but for even just an adventure kid's show... It's not great to put it mildly because people meet odd situations with weird levels of nonchalance. Not quite irony poisoned levels but getting there.

It's why TOH is mostly remembered for the romance and drama episodes. Not only do they allow some of the romance scenes to actually include melodrama, they also just fit how the characters act better. It's why Amity has some of the biggest emotions of the series and why Lumity have such great lines between each other because they're actually willing to lean into the sort of genre fiction that they're doing. This is also why S2 works better than S1 because a lot of the pretense of being a comedy adventure gets dropped but like... There's still plenty of boring in S2 with stuff like how Elsewhere Elsewhen takes time travel and includes a couple jokes at the beginning and then is just... horribly bland and barely qualifies as an adventure.

This lack of allowing people to be emotional and jokey also leads to the reliance on comic relief characters. People like Gus, King or Hooty, or S2 Lilith, who the characters can mock in someway, including the writers. Characters who can be the punchline even if it means a lot of people come off a lot meaner than they should, i.e. Luz absolutely rejecting Hooty for the vast majority of the series despite supposedly liking the weird and rejected. That also means that most of the time they're not on screen, either the scene starts getting pretty dry or you have a character suddenly warp to be comic relief, like how Eda gets in some S2 episodes like Elsewhere Elsewhen or Eclipse Lake where suddenly she's MUCH more of a joke than she normally is and also REALLY bad at it too and seeming potentially brain dead for it. Thanks to Them even does this to Amity even though she is probably the last person in the cast to make sense as a sudden clutz.

All of this stuff makes it so that if you go in wanting a kid's show, a fantasy show, ANYTHING that is pitched in the first episode... S1 is going to be just okay to you. I enjoyed it... But I also fell off when I first watched it. I thought the characters were good but none of it stuck with me as actually memorable and I watched until I think Adventure in the Elements. I never was never compelled to come back until Lumity animations (literally THE Little Miss Perfect animatic that is nowadays probably hard to find actually) made me go "I remember this show being neat." And Lumity was what kept me, not because I was generally laughing or calling these episodes something special. In fact, that sense of unsatisfaction is probably why I watched through it faster than Amphibia. No one episode of TOH is really great to watch on its own because... It's just kind of boring, or like half of it is boring because the B plots across the board are SO BLAND. S1 or 2 for that matter since Lumity starts getting boring B plots like with the archives or finding out the author of Azura. Both concepts btw that could have been really interesting setups and instead... If you're not into blushing Amity, get FUUUUUCKED.

That's without getting into REPETITION. Repetition kills comedy so King having one joke for S1 and also taking up like half of the B plots for the first ten episodes means you are going to be in agony eventually anytime someone talks to him because you know where it's going and you have DEFINITELY heard this joke before. And you know, he also gets three repetitive B plots which just hurts the joke even more, even as they try to make twists on it, and hurts the feeling that the show is doing... Anything..

It's just not good. Which is probably why once the characters and the 'subversive/unique' elements of the show both weakened, more and more people left because... Why would you keep watching this then? Those elements are what made up for boring plots with boring execution in a world that didn't allow for more interesting storytelling because it had few ideas and expanded on NONE OF THEM. So of course people pitch it using the elements that say "this isn't like other kids shows/fantasy shows" because if you pitch it to people who like those... They'll just be disappointed eventually and bored quickly. Like i think a lot of people did to be quite honest.

And a lack of creativity, and a lack of genre understanding, isn't something time could have ever fixed.

======+++++======

The short version of proving this point btw is going "Compare Bumi's introductory episode, which is a character giving three trials to prove another's worth, versus when the Bat Queen challenges Luz. One is exceptionally funny, interesting and has genuinely interesting twists while the other is... There. So very there. Painfully just... there. Not even bad, just... There.

Also, yes, comedy is extremely subjective which is why I tried to talk more about how a lot of these premises are boring because that can be a bit more objective.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.

I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

[halliescomut]

In Defense of Wedding Plan....or Lom, more specifically...

So, I actually don't see a lot of discourse on here about Wedding Plan...maybe I just haven't been on here as much. But also, there are a lot of deeper shows on at the moment that are tackling more ethereal ideas and Wedding Plan is more pulp-y romcom than anything else, so it's not necessarily ripe for deep discussion. But on tiktok where I'm fairly active in the BL community I have seen so much hate on this show. And I understand certain levels of frustration about the choice of storyline, but I also get frustrated because I feel like people are purposely disregarding several things.

(Editors note from right before I post this, I was going to add visuals, but I'm too emotionally exhausted now, so you'll just have to settle for the wall of text.)

I agree that it's not good, or right, or acceptable for Lom to have lied to Nuea. But there's been behavior that acts as though Lom is cheating...he's not in a romantic relationship with Yiwa!! He can't cheat on her. And yes, it does lead Nuea to believe he's at least attempting to cheat, but that's not the same. I recognize that Nuea would not feel great about his feelings towards Lom, both because of their professional relationship and what he is assuming about Lom and Yiwa's private relationship. But that's also a nuanced discussion in and of itself because Nuea knows there's something fishy going on with Lom's engagement. He doesn't know what, but he definitely suspects, I think from as early as episode 2. They go out of their way to set up in episode one his sort of sixth sense about couples with that McDonald's scene. Their intention is for us to see how observant Nuea is.

And watching this most recent episode (episode 6) as soon as Lom revealed that he fell for Nuea at Pai's wedding and said that he watched him, I knew that the comments were going to be out of pocket. It is not weird or stalker-ish to see a person that you find attractive out in the wild and look at them or watch them. That's straight up normal. I have done that. Now do I truly believe it was love at first sight? No, because I don't think you can love a person without knowing them, but this is also romantic fiction and love at first sight is literally the most common trope there is. It's also not weird or gross or stalker-ish for him to get Nuea's company contact info from Pai. If you like someone and you know that your friend has their contact info...asking them is not weird. I'd maybe be a bit iffy on a direct phone number, but a insta or snapchat name, a Line ID, that's not sus...like at all. He didn't hand over Nuea's personal address or something. And let's also remember that Prapai KNOWS Lom. They are friends. He knows that Lom is not a dangerous person, he doesn't pose harm to Nuea.

I'd also like to discuss episode 4/5...the first NC scene. I keep seeing comments about dubious consent or lack of consent altogether, and while I can agree with dubious...it's on Lom's part. When you watch the end of episode 4, Nuea isn't drunk. Like we're not given a clear shot of the table, but you see Lom with 3 empty beer glasses and drinking a 4th when Nuea shows up. Nuea you only see drink one, out of a short, mixed drink style glass, one you'd have like a Rum & Coke in, and the beverage is clear with a lemon wedge, so it's not even clear if it's alcoholic. But even if it was there are 3 total glasses like it on the table, so assuming Nuea drank all three, he'd have had to take them all back to back to back in order to be wasted after that. But beyond the context clues, his behavior does not indicate inebriation at all. He's steady on his feet, he's not slurring, there are no acting choices made that would lead one to believe he's drunk.

The fallout that comes for Nuea after that night isn't because of concerns about consent issues. It's about reconciling a destructive decision. People make bad choices all the time. They'll get caught up in an emotion, an idea, a person, and they'll do something without truly thinking about the consequences. And eventually it's morning and you have to accept the choice you made. Is it heartbreaking to watch that with Nuea? Absolutely. I cried at that scene. Pak did such an amazing job. And Nuea isn't the only one who suffers from that emotional fallout. We see the fear and distress on Lom's face when he wakes up and Nuea is gone. You can see his distress when talking to Nuea's boss. He tries to pull the rich guy privilege BS (which I will absolutely admit I hated), but she's not falling for it. After the boss learns everything, she gives Lom the contact info for Nuea's family, which again pissed a lot of people off. But again, it's not direct contact or access to him. She also knows that Nuea is in a place where he is safe and has a support system around him. Also Lom, while not a super clear thinking dude in that moment, is not a freaking serial killer and Nuea's boss is not an imbecile. She didn't just cave to Lom's puppydog eyes, and it feels kind of dismissive to me for people to act like she did.

So many people were upset that he followed Nuea to Chiang Mai...like...it's the same argument we heard about Pai for several episodes. If those things don't happen, there's no fucking show. If Lom stays in Bangkok and Nuea stays in Chiang Mai until the wedding has happened then the story just ends. And if you feel like there's no redemption for Lom after withholding the full truth from Nuea... why are you even still watching the show? Legitimately why? Because what is your expectation when you don't truly believe there's a way for Lom to be redeemed at all?

And I'll be honest, seeing the pretty dismissive reactions to Lom telling the whole story about him and Yiwa coming to the realization that their parents wouldn't be able to accept their sexuality, it really kind of hurts. I know in a lot of ways it feels easy to believe that the reason they hid it is because they didn't want to lose their inheritance, but have you considered that maybe they do love their parents? At least a little? I know that especially for many people in western audiences it seems easy and simple to say "just leave then" in response to queer people who stay closeted because of their families, but there are always going to be so many layers to that. Especially when you look at through a cultural context lens. It's really just is not that simple. Money creates a lot of privilege, that's very true. But we can also look at real life people for whom that money isn't clearing the way for them to live their life fully openly. You can literally look at PP Kritt and see that despite his privilege, fame, and familial wealth, he is still dealing with consistent societal discrimination.

I also don't love this narrative that Yiwa is being selfish. The arrangement was mutually agreed upon, by both of them. To keep each other's secrets and let Yiwa have her love. Does that seem unfair to Lom? Yeah, but he wouldn't have seen it that way prior to meeting Nuea. He wasn't expecting to ever get anything remotely close to a happily ever after, so it wasn't truly a sacrifice to him when he made that agreement.

And this also circles back to his comment about saying that he wanted Nuea even though he was getting married, because he just wanted that one moment of happiness. Is it a selfish idea? Yes, but to be shocked that a rich, privileged man exhibited selfishness is a bit much. But also, I don't think Lom was expecting to fall for Nuea. Like I said, I don't really think it was love at first sight, but lust. I think the more time he spent with Nuea the deeper he fell. I believe his intention was to have something along the lines of a fling, and that when it was over Nuea would move on from him and find his eventual happily ever after and he would settle for memories. That's part of why I think he withheld the truth even after Yiwa told him it was okay to tell Nuea the full truth. This is a man who never expected to find joy or a true partner but was willing to go to extreme's to help the person he sees as a sister have the opportunity to have her own happiness. But yeah, he's just a shitbag.

And the references to love-bombing...I hate how people have brought that term into the discussion of the last two episodes. So if you're not familiar with the term, it's become more common on social media in the discussion around narcissistic and abusive partners. It generally refers to overwhelming physical displays of affection like gifts and such, especially early on in a relationship, essentially with the intention of creating a power imbalance in favor of the narcissistic partner.

The following are the most common signs of love-bombing:

They give you needless gifts 

They’re in a rush to lock things down 

They’re always available and demanding of your attention 

They can’t take ‘no’ for an answer 

They like you better when you’re alone 

They over-communicate their love for you 

You feel overwhelmed, uneasy or off-balance 

These are not things that Lom is doing. Buying McDonalds and ice cream for someone so they know you care...that's not love-bombing, that's at best wooing. Especially when intent is part of why it matters. Lom is doing it to show he cares, to show he pays attention to what Nuea likes, not in an attempt to make Nuea feel indebted to him for said gifts (that total up to about $10). Lom isn't trying to lock things down with Nuea, he's not attempting to force Nuea to choose him. He just wants Nuea to make the decision to either choose him or not knowing his love is genuine. He wants Nuea to be making an informed decision. He does not demand Nuea's attention, at most he requests it sometimes. He takes 'no' for an answer pretty regularly. He doesn't purposely or intentionally try to get Nuea alone. 'They over-communicate their love'...this one seems iffy, but it's not about saying "I love you" to a person, it's more related to presenting that love to others to cement a relationship. Essentially trying to make it awkward for a person to say 'oh well we're not quite that serious'. And that last one...Nuea is reflective and considering of the situation as a whole, but he's not uneasy, he's not overwhelmed. You could maybe argue afraid, but not of Lom, he's afraid of potential future heartbreak. Love itself is scary. Feelings of that depth and strength are scary. Because we all know that even if that love lasts the rest of your lives, the length of your lives is never guaranteed, and loss is ALWAYS a potential outcome.

I'm not arguing that the show is without flaws, all of Mame's shows/stories are flawed. But I do feel like there was a level of expectation that seems entirely misplaced. Like, these same people who love Payu and Rain to death, had nothing to say to the reveal that Payu had orchestrated at least one instance of a run-in with Rain, a person with whom there was a far larger power imbalance, but Lom pursuing Nuea, a grown ass adult who is never afraid to speak his mind to Lom, that's too problematic???

I don't know anymore. I like the show. It has faults, and flaws, and so do it's characters, but Lom is not a fucking mustache twirling villain out to trick and capture poor, sweet, stupid Nuea. And that's kind of how it feels like the discussions about the show have been going.

#wedding plan the series #Mame BL #LomNuea #NueaLom #Sunny Wannarat #Pak Naphat #SunnyPak

[tw-episodereactions]

Teen Wolf 1x08

Why does Scott keep going along with Stiles’ plans when they’re all, um, bad?

Also, I feel like drinking out in the woods while being stalked by a supernatural creature that just tried to kill you is perhaps a terrible idea.

Does alcohol even work on Scott anymore? If his healing’s accelerated I feel like he’d never get more than a buzz. And I’m so glad my thoughts match drunk Stiles. My life is complete.

Is this the first time Scott has actually gone looking for a fight? I mean, not hyped up on anger (even though I don’t remember him starting the physical fights with Fuckface, I think Fuckface always started those).

And yet he still he controls his shift and doesn’t do anything violent to the dudes, just throws the bottle. He is just so diametrically opposed to Fuckface.

The only interaction where Fuckface didn’t actually lose his cool was with Chris Argent. In fact, Fuckface will easily enact violence against those weaker than him, but can hold his temper against those stronger with the exception of Kate. I’m guessing the outlier isn’t Chris, but Kate because it’s personal with her.

Scott doesn’t ever seem to choose violence first, which is why he’s struggled so much with the change.

And Fuckface tried to get him to believe that anger and pain were the keys to controlling the change, but the keys for Scott were connection and love.

So theoretically the reason the Alpha is killing is for revenge. We don’t really know why, but that’s the implication. There’s something specific about Laura, the bus driver, the video clerk, and the Argents.

And the janitor was to torment Scott. But why these guys? 

Not that I don’t get it, Scott. But, uh, you just found out that the Alpha wants you to kill her, so maybe some space right now isn’t a bad thing.

Stiles’ concern for his dad’s physical wellbeing is sweet. I just wish that concern extended a bit more to Scott as well.

They really do put Scott in red a lot. I mean, it’s a good color on him, but also (color theory!) can be used for both anger and love. A coincidence, probably, but it’s what I’m going with.

The autistic experience of sensory overload. I have been there, my friend.

We also love a good panic attack.

So Stiles’ mom is actually dead, and he got panic attacks. Yeah, that tracks.

The lighting in this scene from the circling fan is making my eyes wig out and I literally cannot watch it.

I wonder if this has just as much to do with the fact that he only just accepted that Allison is his anchor to his humanity and now he feels adrift, right before the full moon. Not just about heartbreak, but about a loss of self.

I’m actually a little bit face blind, but the Detective the Sheriff brought in is one of the hunters, right? I recognize the tie from earlier.

I wonder why Mrs. Argent isn’t more involved with the hunting. Like, was that her choice or is that just how the hunters are and Kate’s the anomaly.

I am not a fan of Scott casually hurting himself. I very much think it’s essentially due to having lost his anchor right before the full moon, but self destructive tendencies are more Fuckface’s bailiwick and I don’t like to see Scott falling into that.

Well Danny clearly has the most team spirit out of everyone. And also he’s right. Amazing how he can be friends with Jackson, actually.

I know Stiles is like, the King of ‘this is not the time’, but dammit, Stiles, read the fucking room. Your bff literally said to you maybe a couple hours earlier that he was afraid he might kill someone, and with the exception of the panic attack, Scott has had flat affect the whole day. And while I understand adding levity to certain situations can help, this is not the fucking time.

Once again, Scott going along with something he shouldn’t. Mostly because Lydia has made it excruciatingly obvious that she’s not into Stiles. Also because Scott is clearly not working on all cylinders and expecting him to try to actively use the senses when he’s all messed up about them is not going to end well.

Lol. Scott, bro. You are too messed up to handle this situation.

So Lydia started going after Scott, and Jackson started going after Allison, and I’m willing to bet Lydia is now going to shoot her shot with Scott. Not because she wants him but because she wants to hurt Jackson and she doesn’t care who else is in the crossfire.

That’s the thing with toxic relationships, they always seem to pull others into their mess.

Ugh, why is she like this? Saying one thing to Allison and the complete opposite to Scott. And for what? Jackson isn’t even worth it? Why torch like three relationships for this?

Well, Scott, the request from Stiles was dumb, but saying that Lydia’s into him was a shitty thing to do. I mean, I know you’re not in your right mind but still.

Total aside, but I actually hate how the best player on the team is often given the captaincy. It happens in professional sports too and drives me bonkers. The best player is not always the best leader.

Poor Danny.

Interesting to see that Jackson actually does care about someone other than himself.

Oh, so Scott’s actually gone completely off the deep end and doesn’t give a shit about anything i.e. complete loss of self. That happened scarily quick. If this is what happens when you lose your anchor, I wonder if this happened to Fuckface somewhere along the line and he just never recovered.

Confirmation that Kate is training Allison without permission. Good to know.

Omg, Stiles, boundaries.

Okay, so. No. First Stiles gets ‘payback’ for Scott (the sixteen year old) not protecting his dad (THE SHERIFF) and now Stiles wants payback for Scott kissing Lydia. Like, that’s not fucking how friendships work! Sometimes friends do shitty things to each other, and it sucks and hopefully you can talk about it and work through it. You don’t get to demand payback if your friends do something that you don’t like.

I absolutely hate this side of Stiles, I really do. Like, he crosses people’s boundaries all the time, he steals things, he can sometimes just act shitty, but that doesn’t give his friends the right to punish him.

Once again, he’s acting like such a cop’s kid (derogatory). He gets a free ride, but everyone else deserves to be punished.

To clarify, Scott definitely needs to be locked up right now, but the reasoning is askew.

Oh, so it’s not physical violence this time, just humiliation. Cool.

And, like, why would Stiles be taunting him, when it’s not like the cuffs are that strong? This is going to be the scene with the Alpha all over again. Stiles thinks he has him trapped, spouts off and then very much realizes that he’s not trapped. Dipshit.

Also, going all the way back to the beginning (yes, it’s Kafka again, shut up) are we going to lock him in a room and treat him as monstrous and expect him to end up not acting like a monster? How much would it actually cost to be kind for one night?

For the last three hours you thought all of that and then just…decided to be mean anyway? I guess that’s a choice.

Scott sounds like an addict. I wonder if that was intentional.

Again, we only got like five seconds of Scott’s agony of the transformation and then immediately switched to someone else. We almost got more reaction from Stiles than of Scott. Why do they keep doing that?

Aaand the tiger He destroyed his cage The tiger is out

(Apologies to Nael, Age 6 for changing your poem).

The amount of, like, mental manipulation being forcibly changed into a werewolf involves is ridiculous. Fugue states, hallucinations, mind control, lucid dreaming. Scott can’t trust his body or his mind anymore.

Wow, is Fuckface actually being useful for once? Crazy.

Hate to say this Fuckface, but, uh. It wasn’t pain that brought Scott back, it was you howling in his face. 

Scott sad, breathless little thanks is killing me.

Even though he just did something nice, I can’t give Fuckface the benefit of the doubt. I know he prefaced it with that it might not work, but I still think he’s just using Scott to get to the Alpha. Whether he wants to kill him in revenge or he wants Scott to, I don’t know. But, like, I don’t trust his motives.

Still hate the CGI wolf.

That hiding spot is not very keep it secret, keep it safe of you Jackson. 

#teen wolf #scott mccall #allison argent #episode reaction #stiles stilinski #jackson whittemore #stiles stilinksi #derek hale #lydia martin

[epickiya722]

Kiya, for the ask game : "Send me a character and I'll tell you my ", can I ask for Miwa (JJK) or RockLock (BNHA) or Haru (Balance Unlimited)? Thx :D

I gotta go with my man, Rock Lock. It's been a while since I have and come on. Y'all know what month it is?!

My first impression: Bro asked about why kids were at a meeting about the yakuza and my first thought was "you have asked a very sensible question, I think I'm going to like you very much". I was right.

My impression now: Oh, Rock Lock is definitely in the top ten of my favorite MHA characters and after Miruko, he is my favorite Pro Hero.

Favorite thing about that character: I already took to him because of his personality. But I definitely admired the fact we have a family man here. I'm a sucker for badass dads who love their families.

Least favorite thing: My guy deserves more shine, just saying. Also, the fact that his wife and son don't have first names. I wanna know their names!

Favorite line/scene: Other than the hospital scene, which I'll talk about later, I gotta say his debut is one of my favorite scenes and I like this line he says "U.A. students or not, kids are kids. Of course I was worried about 'em." To me, it reflects that Rock Lock does have a caring heart. Even after that bit, he acknowledges that younger heroes like Midoriya just need room to shine to show what they're capable of. He's a guy who won't act like he doesn't care. He'll admit he's worried, but he'll still support you like an good person... a good parent will do.

Favorite interaction that character has with another: I want a whole segment of Rock Lock with his family. That hospital scene where his wife comes in running and crying with their son and how she just hugs him and the way he hugs back touched my heart so much! It's crazy to me, now that I'm thinking about it,screening! Pro Hero can I think of with a loving marriage and they barely have had screentime! Everyone else is either single or if they are married, there's problems (Endeavor and Captain Celebrity).

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: I wish, how I wish, him and Miruko had scenes together. They're both heroes who actually take being a hero seriously and you cannot tell me they wouldn't be besties. In my fic , There's Miruko, There's Rumi, they're friends and Miruko is Rock Lock's son's honorary aunt.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: I haven't seen all of Craig of the Creek, just a couple of episodes (I have younger siblings who watch it) but Rock Lock reminds me of Craig's dad. A man who cares about family and does his best for them? I'm here for it!!

A headcanon about that character: He definitely is that parent who attends birthday parties and PTA meetings (when Lil' Takagi goes to school). I headcanon that he and his wife went to school together and also had friends that live in the same area. In their adult years, some of them are married and have kids and whenever there's some party or play date, best believe the Takagi's are there.

A song that reminds of that character: I can't even think of one right now, but I'm gonna need NemRaps, DizzyEight, 954mari... anybody to make one!

An unpopular opinion about that character: I personally feel like Rock Lock is one the better heroes. Again, I hate that when he debuted the fandom was quick to hate on him and call him "mean" because he had a point. Why in the hell was kids dragged into a situation as dangerous ad dealing with the yakuza? And then it makes sense Rock Lock would think like that! He is a married man with a son of his own! And it wasn't like he didn't think Midoriya or anybody was capable because he does recognize their potential. What he's about is if you're going to take up a duty that can cost you your life, be serious about and not treat it as some game. It's funny to me that someone actually had the nerve once to compare him and Endeavor even though in season 5, Endeavor was quick to act like a brat because Bakugou and Midoriya was joining Todoroki for the Work Studies.

Favorite picture: I won't lie, I totally get why he is a married man. Also can we talk again about the hospital scene? They are a beautiful family!! 😭

Send Me a Character... ✨️

#kiya answers #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #rock lock #ken takagi #takagi ken

[gillianthecat]

.

Although I hadn't been particularly following Build or the Kinnporsche actors in general, that show was my entry point into BL fandom and I still see a lot about it and the actors crossing my dash. I tend not to seek out behind the scenes or "real life" information about actors (with occasional exceptions of hyper-fixations on specific people) and stay well aware that I know next to nothing about what actors and their relationships are really like, that what they show about themselves is crafted and intentional and may or may not reflect reality. And so I was slightly surprised to find myself feeling emotionally discombobulated by the news coming out about Build and Poi.

I do not know what happened, and I offer no opinions and guesses on what actually happened, and who in their circles knew what. This post is about me, not them.

I have the urge, always, to know what's happening, to seek out information, to understand the truth of the matter. I thought could stay "neutral" about this, that is, not seek out information but calmly consume what came across my dash. But I just now filtered all the relevant tags I could think of. I want to understand, but the truth is simply not available to me right now. And may never be. And while a part of me feels like it's disrespectful to the victim, whoever they maybe, to not want to know the truth of what happened, the fact is my knowing or not knowing doesn't change a thing about their lives. They don't know me, I have no power over their lives, and that is how it should be.

I think I find this upsetting for a couple reasons. First, I did like Build as an actor. He was the one in the cast who's acting I found most compelling, who seemed the most skilled to me, and I have been curious to see what he does next. So there is that feeling of loss, or worry about loss, that if these allegations turn out to be true, I will not get that. Because even if he gets to keep acting (although the climate for a relatively unknown Thai BL actor is very unlike that for someone like CK Louis so I suspect if the allegations are true he wouldn't get more work) I would not be able to watch him anymore, and so that would be a loss. And, even though I hadn't thought I'd had expectations for him as a person (and even less so after I'd heard bits and pieces about previous bad behavior of his) I am surprised to find I do have a sense of betrayal about it. He does seem like a nice guy. I do like the way he presents himself, at least in the little bits I've seen.

And of course, abuse is just unpleasant. Thinking about real people hurting each other of course is going to make me feel unhappy. In fiction, it's safely contained, there's a narrative arc, and no real people were actually harmed, so I can analyze it, get in my feelings about it. But with rumors of abuse by real people, there is no catharsis available.

And then lastly, there is the confusion of it all. They both have bad reputations in some way or other, there is evidence presented that may or may not be credible, I'm getting everything third or fourth hand and through at least one layer of translation that may or may not be accurate. Fans have strong opinions on either side, "she is a known awful person and so she must be lying," "she posted photos so he must be guilty," and I get overwhelmed by the certainty they show, the stregnth of the connection they seem to feel for these actors and writers they don't know personally.

Most of the people I follow have much more measured takes, recognizing that we (that is, everyone outside of Poi and Build and their inner circles) don't actually know what's happening, but it's only natural to have opinions and guesses about it. And I'm finding that even reading those makes me feel like I too should know what's happening, even though I don't need to and in fact it's impossible for me too. My internal tension between, believe victims, accusations are rarely lies versus everything I've read about her makes her sound like an abusive harasser versus of course that doesn't mean that she's lying and abusers can also be abused themselves versus I don't know what stories that I've read about any of them are actually true. And perhaps a few of the facts I could verify, but, as I said above, it wouldn't help me understand much more and only make me feel worse.

I was reluctant to post anything, because I don't want to add to the speculations and unfounded opinions about this, or clutter up the dashes of anyone else trying to avoid the topic altogether. But I decided for my own sake I needed to get this stuff out of my head and onto the page, so here it is. Not sure if any of the words make sense or manage to convey what I'm feeling, but at least its not rattling around in my brain poisoning my mood.

You are all welcome to come talk to me about your feelings about this news, and how it's affecting you personally, although I'd prefer not to get speculation about what happened, or opinions on who is telling the truth.

#thoughts on current fandom events #bl actors #tw abuse #this is basically a diary entry #i don't want #these tags #to show up in searches #but i do want #people to #be able to filter for them #so hopefully #burying them this far down #will allow for both those things #sometimes my brain is weird #that's just a categorization tag at this point i don't think i'm weird for thinking like this #build jakapan #boc #be on cloud #poi #kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche

[megazeo]

So, going off that one fan theory I’ve seen around that the first television season of Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared is meant to be watched backwards, I... well, I watched the season backwards. And honestly... It actually kinda works better?

"Electricity" makes for a much better continuation from "Dreams" than "Jobs" does, as it introduces the new villain (Leslie) immediately, which works better in my opinion, as it sets an almost ominous air of mystery over the rest of the episodes. The scene with Roy and all the old tutors laying around dead or discarded in the kitchen feels stronger, as if they've just been gotten rid of after the YouTube series, having outlived their usefulness - Of course, there’s the issue of why Tony, Colin, and the Lamp have been spared, but that’s an issue watching the episodes forward, as well. Red Guy not recognizing the Briefcase (Employed Brendon) makes sense too, as this way, they haven't met him yet.

"Transport" also makes a bit more sense as the second episode, as Red Guy wanting to leave the house so badly makes more sense if it's set not long after "Dreams." It comes off as a "No, dammit, I was so close to escaping!" moment, when if you watch the TV episodes in order, why would he suddenly be so desperate to escape after being relatively chill for four episodes? Watching the episodes in reverse make it seem as if the show is resuming its hold over him. It also gives us our first glimpse at Roy trying to get back into the show and the cliffhanger with Leslie returning them home works well, as it shows us just how much power she has over the trio. True, it worked well before, but if you've already seen Leslie, then it comes off more as a "Oh shit, they can't escape her" moment instead of a mysterious "What's going on?" type one. And then of course, there's Yellow Guy's prediction of the events of "Electricity" in "Transport"'s opening theme, which now becomes a recap, as well as seeing his smart self in the window later in the episode. This also adds another angle/layer to Red Guy's "And we live in an actual nightmaaare!" at the start of "Friendship" - He's aware on some level that he's been returned home after nearly getting away and he's realizing he can't escape, or at least not as easily as simply driving away.

"Family" reveals that Roy's 'power,' or influence in the show, or however you’d word it, is returning, as he's able to outright interact with it again instead of needing to disguise himself and sneak in as he previously had in "Transport." Duck Guy's personality in "Jobs" also makes more sense if it takes place after "Death" and if you believe that Stain killed the original Duck Guy - Stain/Duck Guy is demanding to know what their schedule for the day is and wants to go out and do something, going so far as to ask Employed Brendon to give them all jobs, when Duck Guy has never given a shit before (hell, in "Transport" he doesn't even want to leave the house). Stain wanted to go out and have adventures, and while having a job may not exactly be an adventure, it’s better than just sitting around the house all day doing nothing, which is what Duck Guy usually preferred to do.

Also, if you watch the episodes in reverse, the tutors seem to be growing stronger and regaining their previous stature as the episodes go along. In "Electricity" you have Duck Guy easily depowering Electracey and Smart Yellow Guy correcting the Insurance Safe, but in "Jobs" the Briefcase traps the trio in a song for the entire episode and nearly gets Yellow Guy killed, just as the original tutors used to.

Is this reverse viewing of the season flawless? No, there are a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-it Easter egg jokes that require you to watch the episodes in their proper order. We see Unemployed Brendon's manuscript in the trash later in "Friendship," and a headline in the newspaper Duck Guy is reading in "Death" mentions Warren being fired from OK STOP.

Is it intentional that the episodes flow better when watched in reverse? Who knows. Nothing's ever clear when it comes to Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. It probably isn't. But it's interesting to think about.

#don't hug me I'm scared #dhmis #red guy #duck guy #yellow guy #me #dhmis roy #dhmis leslie #dhmis theory #dhmis theories #fan theories #fan theory

[shadowsong26x]

So over this past weekend, I watched a 1978 TV movie version of Les Miserables, because it is my current brainrot.

Overall, I liked it. It's a movie/adaptation that very much knows what it wants to be about. Admittedly, (at least based on AO3 stats) I don't know if it would super appeal to the majority of the modern fandom, but it definitely appealed to me.

(I say this because...well, the entire 1832 sequence is condensed to the last 35ish minutes; a solid chunk of that is Cosette and Marius making googly eyes at each other (also dedicating a couple minutes to including his grandfather because sure); the only one of the boys who is named, let alone Identifiable, is Enjolras and he's...frankly kind of underwhelming.)

But basically, this movie knows it wants to be about Valjean and Javert first and foremost, and since the two of them (and their [actual or potential] dynamic(s) with Cosette) are what I'm here for, I'm good with that. For example, we spend a solid 15-20 minutes in Toulon with the two of them and it is Great.

In terms of marks against it, I will say that I think Fantine in particular gets kind of shortchanged in this adaptation; also Thenardier never resurfaces in Paris, he's only in the one scene where Valjean acquires Cosette--like I said, the 1832 sequence is relatively short compared to most other adaptations I'm familiar with, so a lot of stuff gets cut out. The movie also ends with Marius and Cosette's wedding, which feels a little abrupt (like...it goes sewers -> Javert's death -> wedding -> roll credits). There are also a few bits of staging that didn't age super well and some facial hair that is. Very Seventies, but those are fairly minor things.

Again, overall, I liked it. It knows what it wants to be; what it wants to be appeals to me, personally, very much. There are some Good bits and some Eh bits, overall it's solid.

So with all of that, now I get to the reason why I'm making this post, and why I think you should watch it anyway, and that is Anthony Perkins as Javert. Because he is just. Fucking incredible.

Like. Cannot overstate how well this man understood the assignment.

A lot of it comes down to pretty subtle things--facial expressions; the way he looks at Valjean at different points in the storyline; the way (apart from two scenes) he's always pretty collected on the surface, even in moments when he's Clearly either Seething or Breaking underneath. (The final conversation in the sewer is just. His Entire Face.) (Also the moment where he first spots Valjean again in 1832; doesn't recognize him at first; the wheels are Visibly turning in his head and then he goes oh my god what the fuck. It's a Delight.) (And of course, the 'I fucked up and denounced you unfairly, you should punish me' scene is. Again, holding himself together on the surface but Breaking underneath and. Especially in contrast to the next scene/the confrontation at Fantine's deathbed which is one of the two scenes where he is Not particularly collected.) (And then there's that one Really Awkward Carriage Ride shortly after.)

I was going to get screencaps of some of these and. It doesn't. It doesn't really convey the full effect if he's not in motion, alas.

Essentially, the movie is fully leaning into him as a deuteragonist and I am Here For It.

(Full disclosure, I do ship them, and. This movie supports that. There's. There's a lot of staring. One might even say Gazing.)

Anyway, the whole thing is on YouTube and I highly recommend watching it, if only for Anthony Perkins as Javert.

((I have also discovered that the 2012 film of the musical is available on Netflix; so that's probably what I'm going to do next weekend after I move. I haven't seen it since it was in theatres, and my recollection is that, while there were definitely some Choices that didn't work out, overall it got a lot more flak than it deserved. We'll see if I feel the same way now, 10 and a half years later, lol.))

((I am not currently planning to watch the 1998 film, even if I can find it, because...look, I want to want to watch it, but I remember how it ends and I have Serious Issues With That. And I feel like, if the movie so fundamentally misunderstands its protagonist at that point, I don't have super high hopes for the rest. Which is a Shame, because, like...it's Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush; Uma Thurman and Claire Danes; like. You Cannot Go Wrong With This Cast And Yet.))

#les mis 1978 #les mis

[queen-ofc]

Movie Review - Blue Beetle - First Impressions !! SLIGHT SPOILERS MENTIONED!!

Hello everyone!

Movies are something that I am OBSESSED with! Film is my passion! Ever since I was a little girl, I would critique every movie I've ever seen to my parents, so much so that they'll sit and listen after we finish a movie because they always expect me to say something about it.

I have always wanted to share my passion for film with the world, but I have never the confidence nor will to start, but that's all going to change. I wanted to start off my little series of movie reviews with the one I had just seen in theaters today: Blue Beetle!

Now, Jaime Reyes' Blue Beetle has ALWAYS had a special place in my heart. I grew up watching the series Young Justice, and I continue to watch it today. Ever since I saw Blue Beetle on the screen, he instantly connected with me and has kept his #2 spot on my list of all-time favorite DC characters. (#1 being Dick Grayson Robin/Nightwing.)

This has been a HIGHLY anticipated movie for me! Ever since the trailer first came out, I was anxiously waiting for it to hit theaters, keeping track of every day in between, counting down the very seconds until its release, and as soon as it did, my parents and I jumped on the opportunity to go see it in theaters! To see my boy hit the big screen and finally get recognized by so many people as a hero in the DCU just filled me with overwhelming joy. So, as one could expect, I had incredibly high expectations for this film. And to make a long story short, overall, I wasn't disappointed!

⚠️WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CONTENT FROM THIS POINT ON CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!⚠️

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I said, overall, this was a very enjoyable movie, but there were a couple things I wanted to point out that could've improved it!

1) Now, this one is mostly a bias of mine, so feel free to ignore this point and move on to #2 if you'd like.

Something that really stuck out to me was the fact that Jaime's father told him something like, "The Universe knows" or "... chose you" (obviously not an exact quote, but you get the idea.) During the movie, I noticed that they were hitting a lot of stereotypes regarding Hispanic/Latino families. Keeping that in mind, I'll go back to Jaime's father. Now, already a lot of people can tell it's obvious that Jaime seems to be visiting him in a heaven of sorts, with the candles around his father symbolizing that. However, there was no mention of God at all during this time, which in my personal opinion, seemed like something that could've been an easy switch; from "universe" to "God" or "the Lord" or something along those lines to show a Catholic or some other Christian denomination belief system.

However, this is just a minor thing, and luckily, it doesn't affect the story at all. Now, I'll get into something a little more unbiased and a little more major to Blue Beetle's story.

2) They should've established a good relationship with the Scarab.

Now, I'm not saying to remove Jaime's relationship with his family to this, but I'm just saying to add it. I loved the fact they included Jaime's family in all the scenes, making them an essential part of the movie, but adding this would dive into the Blue Beetle's story a bit more. Yes, the movie would be a tad longer, but it would be so much better.

Throughout the movie, the growing relationship between Jaime and his scarab is always implied and never actually produced in the scenes. Instead, he seemed thrown into the action and already knew how to use his scarab to his full extent after just a single battle. It's like we were missing a big chunk of the story, and just thrown into the action.

At the beginning, the scarab seemed hellbent to kill any and every threat in its wake, yet at the end, it tells Jaime that he shouldn't kill the enemy. It tells Jaime "We aren't murders." That doesn't seem right to me considering there was no time in between when Jaime taught the Scarab such things. The control Jaime had over the Scarab also seemed just given to him, instead of earned.

What they should've done, is have some sort of "training montage" in the movie. A time when Jaime finally has the Scarab in a calm mood and is talking with it to learn exactly what his abilities are and how to use them all. He should've had to fight a little more with the Scarab, telling it why they don't kill innocent people. Jaime should've had to command control of the Scarab himself, instead of it being handed to him on a silver platter. Only when the Scarab and Jaime are fully in sync would the Scarab acknowledge why it's bad to blatantly murder people regardless of what they have done, making the "We aren't murders" line so much more meaningful after all they had been through.

Another thing that I would fix, is to more obviously establish the fact that only Jaime can hear the Scarab. Only at the very end of the movie does this fact become clear, meaning that people who didn't know the Blue Beetle and his powers probably would've been confused about that fact. I think they should've had a small scene where Jaime is having a conversation with his Scarab, maybe even arguing with it, in front of his family or his girlfriend. The family/girlfriend would obviously be confused, thinking that he was talking to them, when in reality he wasn't.

Maybe he gets into a fight with a family member or his girlfriend while he's trying to argue with his Scarab because the family member or girlfriend thinks that he's insulting them when he's insulting the voice in his head. Make it a little bit of a joke when he's fighting the enemy and gets into another argument with his Scarab, making the enemy think Jaime is talking to them, only making Jaime have to repeat himself that it's not them he's talking to, but the Scarab.

Just small ideas, but all ones I believe would make a big difference.

______________________________________________________________

That concludes my initial reaction to Blue Beetle! I really hope my writing was comprehensible as I just kinda brain dumped it all on here and my brain is far from organized, haha. However, I do plan on making a more in-depth review of the movie once it hits a streaming platform and I can watch it a second time! After all, you can miss a lot of things the first time!

Being that this is my first time actually posting any of my thoughts on a movie, please give me some grace. As I do want to continue to do these types of things, sharing my thoughts on movies I love, I would appreciate constructive criticism and thoughts on how to more accurately organize my thoughts before I write them! I would also love recommendations of blogs that do any kind of reviews so that I could learn from them too! And please, share your thoughts on this movie!

Thank you for reading! <3

#blue beetle #young justice #dc #dc blue beetle #blue beetle 2023 #blue beetle spoilers #spoiler #spoilers #movie spoilers #movie spoiler #dc spoilers #dc characters #jaime reyes #dc comics #movie review #review #new releases #brain rot #brain dump #long post #long posts #movie thoughts #movie reviews #i love this movie

[purplerose244]

Watched the ninth episode of LEGO DreamZzz: LOVED IT!

So, I might be crazy, but I think I saw a video on Youtube saying that... there are episodes after the tenth? Like another set of ten episodes? Is this for real? I'D BE VERY HAPPY IF IT WAS BUT I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S TRUE 🥹

Edit: NEW EPISODES INCOMING SOON I'M SO HAPPY AAAAAAAAAA- 😍😍😍😍😍

I'm curious on how the finale will play out, I'm pretty confident Logan will do something stupid as it is basically his meme at this point, as for the rest do we have enought time to meet the Sandman at this point?

GOTTA SEE TO FIND OUT!

SHORT SHEEPED

Alright, my guess is that the title is a play on words with the fact that it's sheep week... but I can't tell what it is so I guess I'll move on 😅

Wait

WAIT

OMG I'M SO STUPID THE SHEEPS ARE BECAUSE OF THE DREAMS

I was wondering why choosing this animal, lol, and the Wolves are the enemies so yeah that makes sense 😂

Back to Logan making very questionable choices, including breaking in!

He might actually have less self esteem than Mateo at this point, which is a pretty low bar if I may say. While Teo is getting more confidence, it looks like Logan is losing it, interesting parallel

LOGAN WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS 😱😱

Also I just noticed that Lance got Kai's LEGO hair model, kinda funny seeing this with Vincent's new character

No I will not stop talking about Vincent Tong I love him and he deserves it ❤️

Not sorry

I don't think I'll get over having the Nightmare King going bro or dude 🤣

Aaaand the boy got taken

AAAAND BEFORE THE MATCH LOGAN YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT AT ANY OTHER GIVEN TIME WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE NOW 😱😱😱😱

I think Logan improved some, I scream at him mostly because he's a doofus that needs some judgement

Maybe that's why he hangs with Cooper lol

Yooo look at Coop not taking any more of Logan's crap, I'd say he's forgiven a gargantuan amount of flaws in that guy so it makes sense for him to be at his tipping point at last 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wait wait WAIT did he say "at the Hamptons with his moms"? Like a couple of moms? I don't wanna read this wrong and maybe it's mom's for some reason, but if it was it would be AWESOME 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

WAIT ARE WE INVITING ZOEY IN?? PLEASE SAY YES 😍😍

Izzie got powers beyond our imagination, and I don't know if I wanna know what she said to the coach 😂

Pff Z is just there eating chips

WHY DID YOU THROW THE BALL AT Z BLOB I LAUGHED AT THAT SCENE FOR AN HOUR WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME LOOK AT THAT SLIME 😂💚😂💚

Heeeeeyyyyy Zoey!

After hearing that bit of backstory I feel sorry for her, but I agree with Mateo, she should do something other that plan revenge all night 😅

Aaaand she got offended. Plan was good Mateo, I was on board

BACK TO LOGAN'S VERY NOT GOOD DAY

I mean, we knew Lunia's hourglass was broken, I don't know why they thought it would work just like that

I just realized that the Night Hunter's VA is Alessandro Juliani, and I'm still amazed by this guy because he is seemingless! I can never recognize him on my own, he blends with his characters so well it's so cool 💚💚

TEO IS SO SWEET I SWEAR 😭😭 I like that at first it seemed like him and Zoey had nothing in common, but in fact they both have problems with people

ZOEY IS NOT TAKING ANY CRAP AND SHE'S OFFICIAL ON THE TEAM 😍😍😍

I love this sassy girl so much

DUDE LOGAN YOU LOOK ADORABLE WITHOUT YOUR HAT 😍

Huh, I... huh. I did not expect Logan to actually befriend one of those creatures, but I think it has a nice sense to it. If there is someone treating the whole dream situation chaotically, it has to be him

Aaaand they're gonna use that against him. Great 😰 Also do all creatures form the Dream World like chips?

Yeah, sorry Teo, but if you wanna be the protagonist you gotta learn how to make inspiring speech during difficult times. That's just the rule 🤷🏻‍♀️

Logan is still looking for ways to dream craft, huh? Poor guy just wants to be part of the team... he has a bit of a confused perception of how to be a team player, granted, but poor Logs 😅

Nuuuu don't make Logan fight his new friend, why?? Is crafting without a hourglass even useful, like, it's possible and we saw it but I don't really know to which extent it can be brought without hourglass

... that's actually an interesting thought 🤔

NEVER MIND THAT SOCCER FIGHT SOCCER FIGHT

Cooper is the goal keeper then?

Why are these kids playing dirty and why does it make sense this is middle school?

YOOOOO LOGAN TURNED INTO A LITTLE BLUE CREATURES WHAT THE HECK IS THAT WHAT HE WAS TURNING INTO THE OTHER TIMES HE WENT BLUE?!?!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

YOU DID NOT PUT ZOEY DOWN 😡😡😡

Yeeeee, that's it Mateo! That's how you inspire people! 😍 Of course he got mad after they went after Zoey 💕

THE FLIPPING CHICKEN 😂😂😂 Mah boy here is creative everywhere

LOGAN IS KILLIN IT, LOOK AT HIM GO

TEO MADE A GOAL!!!!!!!! MY BABY MADE IT YES!!!!!!!! I LOVE THESE KIDS SO MUCH YOU GUYS MADE IT!!!!!!!!! 💚🩷❤️💜

AAAAAAAAAAA LOOK AT THOSE HUGS OMG AAAAAAAA 😍🥰🥰🥰😍🥰🥰😍😍😍🥰🥰😍🥰😍🥰 You don't understand, I LOVE LEGO hugs for whatever reason! Cooper hugged Izzie and made her swirl!! 😍😍😍😍 ZOEY PICKED UP MATEO!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Zoey is a strong girl, Mateo got great taste

Aww, Logan gave up on the power! Good on him... after making a HUGE mess, but baby steps as always 😅

Oh yeah you guys should head to where Logan is, only to tell him you won... no other reason other than celebrating... no reason at all... did I say no reason?

Okay maybe one reason

So the finale is saving Logan? I mean, they're pretty good at saving people, I'd say it can end pretty well! 💪💪

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE (possibly) LAST EPISODE OF THIS BEAUTIFUL SHOW 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

#not the last anymore #i left this in the drafts for so long #but i'm back baby!! #lego dreamzzz #dreamzzz #dreamzzz mateo #dreamzzz izzie #dreamzzz logan #dreamzzz cooper #dreamzzz zoey #dreamzzz z blob #mateo #izzie #logan #zoey #z blob #cooper

[oodlyenough]

last of us 1x09

wanted to sit on this one for a couple days and use it to sort of summarize the season overall. so this will probably be long af lol

I feel like I actually don't have all that much to say about the final episode itself. It was quite faithful to the game, and hit any note I would've wanted it to hit, I think. Minor adjustments in dialogue or character beat felt quite minor.

However, the finale felt a bit underwhelming to me. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's just because I knew every story beat ahead of time so none of the shock was there, or if I needed another 15 minutes of runtime to really let some scenes marinate, or whether it was just actually so close to the game that I couldn't fully lose myself in it, or that passively watching Joel shoot people is different to doing it yourself, or what it was. But I ended up not being as impacted by this ep as I am whenever I've played the end of the game. I hope it hit harder for show viewers. It seems like it did.

The biggest change is seeing Anna and Ellie's birth. (Lmao @ baby Ellie just plopping out mid fight. Uh... sure.) I think, as far as immunity explanations go, this worked pretty well - I know fans had speculated as much for a while. It was great to see (and hear) Ashley Johnson -- those first grunts running through the woods were so surreal lol that's Ellie! I know those grunts! "You fuckin' tell them Ellie", from Ellie... wahh.

I think I was expecting more on Marlene and Anna. I feel like... the show attempted to substitute the Marlene gameplay segments at the start with this little bit of backstory and the brief Ellie-Marlene scenes in ep 1. But I think there's something lost in not giving them more bonding time, or making it clearer that Marlene has been aware of/keeping tabs on Ellie for all of Ellie's life. I think Marlene being not-exactly a mother figure but still someone important to Ellie, and someone who loves Ellie herself, makes Marlene's death more meaningful, and a bit of that was lost here. I love that Ellie specifically asks about Marlene in the car, for eg, but I'm not sure it felt as earned.

We substituted the Sarah picture with the Joel suicide attempt backstory, which worked -- lol and I honestly had spent no time wondering at all about Joel's scar, so it was a nice and unexpected callback for me and my gamer hubris.

I think the way they did Joel trying to reach out to Ellie using callbacks from the season worked well, even if it was kind of skincrawling to watch, like, in a secondhand embarrassment sort of way, watching him faceplant over and over with it. Spring Ellie is so rough, somehow every time I play I forget about that change and it's a slap in the face when it comes.

I knew there was no way they'd skip the giraffe but I did not expect them to have a real giraffe ?!?!?! Amazing lmao.

The Controversial Hospital Scene... I had some fears leading up to this ep, where like, if they pitched it wrong it could've ruined the whole thing for me, so I was glad we avoided that. Joel's choice is both horrific and understandable. I have complained at various parts of the series that I think the tv show softened Joel too much by leaving his violence off screen, but I do get the impression now they set it up to "tell" us for 8 episodes about what Joel is capable of and then only, finally, in episode 9 do they really show us. I'm a bit on the fence about this and whether it worked or makes it feel like he suddenly transforms into a superhero(/villain) out of nowhere... but I can see what they were going for, at least. And the slow version of the theme song was well placed.

Can't BELIEVE we didn't get the cameo I was expecting lmaoo honestly my biggest shock of this ep. Nurse Laura Bailey was fun though I can't believe I didn't recognize her lol.

Other, season overview stuff now that we're done:

I'm absolutely shocked there was no brick/bottle easter egg. Shocked and appalled!

I ended up agreeing with the "needs more infected" criticism, although I didn't at first. I don't think the show needs a ton of them, but I DO think the ever-present danger of them is necessary backdrop for the world, and you lose that in the show after episode 5. It seems like everywhere Joel and Ellie went was infected-free. I saw someone on Twitter joke "why do they even need a cure there's only like 3 infected" which... yeah.

Still hate Tess' death. My least favourite part of the entire first season lol

Don't agree with how the show's approach to FEDRA

Maria and Tommy's baby is a real wildcard going forward huh?

Overall I feel like I'd give this season ... I dunno an 8.5? Or 9? 8.75?... out of 10. Ultimately I do prefer the game, but I figured I would. I really enjoyed watching it weekly, will miss it, and can't wait for s2. I think part 2's story will need more retooling to work for television, and tbh that excites me, because for the MOST part the bits where the show deviated a little from the game were my favourites.

#the last of us #the last of us hbo