#People had seen her (the character and the actress) grow up over the years and when she decided she wanted to do a nude scene

[measuringbliss]

People are acting so weird and possessive of Markiplier for the whole OnlyFans situation. He's an adult. He's an adult who's been a celebrity for years. He knows people thirst on him. That's why he had this idea in the first place. He's not some naive kid you must protect. He's not some innocent soul that the evil sluts of Tumblr and Twitter will corrupt. He knows the Internet, he knows his fans and he knows his job.

He's an adult and he can make his own choices.

#Markiplier #I've seen quite a few comments expressing discomfort and like. You can just. Not subscribe to his OF???? #That's a possibility. You can block people too. #I think some of you really need to learn about parasocial relationships and reflect on it #He's not your dad #He's not your friend #He's just a dude #A dude who has a job and it just so happens that his job revolves around appearing personable #Don't forget that you don't truly know him and MORE IMPORTANTLY he doesn't know YOU #He probably has various ideas on xho his fans are as subgroups but he doesn't know you personally #Actually it reminds me of Maisee Williams in GoT s8 #People had seen her (the character and the actress) grow up over the years and when she decided she wanted to do a nude scene #A lot of people said they were uncomfortable #In both cases. They're adults. They can do whatever they want. #I guess that was a rant but sometimes I find the fandom really off-putting #Deactivated reblogs because the RBs were getting boring and a pain

[yelenasdiary]

could you do a florence one shot please 🙏

flo and reader are both actresses on a big film and do loads of pr and interviews together and in groups, they’ve also been seeing each other secretly since filming began. in all the interviews there’s a flirty undertone and enough comments that fans start to get suspicious.

Secrets Behind The Camera

Pairing: Florence Pugh x Fem! Reader

Summary: With a new Christmas romcom moving coming out starring yourself, Florence Pugh and a few other big names, the press tour brings to light a little secret you’ve been keeping from the world.

Warnings: None | 0.8K

AC: Saved this cutie for Christmas 🤭 I hope you enjoy! X 

Holiday Special Masterlist

From photoshoots to interviews to movie premieres, the world watched as your career as an actress only grew bigger and brighter. You were more than proud of how far you've come but more especially since the wrap up on filming your latest movie. Reflecting back on the last 12 months you've really learned a lot about the acting industry, things you didn't think you'd learn until many years down the track. As you look back at all the new memories and friendships you've made while being a part of this new film, a smile creeps onto your lips when you hear your girlfriend lightly knock on the bedroom door. 

"Good morning sleepy head" she smiles while holding a breakfast smoothie in her hand.

"I didn't sleep in that late" you replied, sitting up with your back rested against of the hotel's bedhead. 

"We have to be at hair and make-up in an hour" the blonde replied as she handed you the smoothie and placed a kiss on your forehead. 

You met Florence at a table reading for the movie, trying to keep your excitement to a minimum about meeting her, you accidentally spilt your bottle of water over your draft script and ended up having to share Florence's to avoid the bad impression on the others. Since then, the two of you naturally grew closer, your characters played best friends in the film and there was plenty of laughs shared on set. Florence asked you over to her LA apartment one night after a long day of filming. 

To your surprise Florence somehow had the energy in her to cook dinner for the two of you and since then, a friendship formed into a relationship. Nobody knew besides those closest to you and now that the press tour for the movie has kicked off, keeping the relationship on the low was only growing harder with each interview. 

The internet was flooded with speculation of you and Florence being a little more than friends, video edits of how the two of you would look lovingly at one another whenever one was answering questions or just taking a second to admire on when the other wasn't looking. It was safe to say that the two of you were Hollywood's new hottest topic. 

"Do you wanna go into together?" You asked, taking a sip of the breakfast smoothie.

"You really were tired last night" Florence chuckled, "we already made that plan darling" she added before walking over to her suitcase to begin packing her things. "I knew that" you playfully shook your head. 

----

"I have to ask, have you both seen the craze about you both online?" The interviewer asked as the interview began to wrap up. You looked over at Florence who had a cheeky grin on her lips before the both of you chuckled, "we have and we think it's lovely! When you get to work on anything you can this wonderful chance to meet new people and make beautiful connections! Y/n is wonderful to be around and has always had this way of bringing out the best in everybody around her" Florence replied to your surprise. Her answer quickly sent the nerves building up to fade away, the interviewer smiled and thanked you both before the two of you were able to wander back to the dressing rooms. 

Florence pulled you close from behind the minute the door closed before her, finally, the two of you were alone for a moment. "Your cheeks looked rather red before" she teased as she looked into your eyes. "It's getting a lot harder not to just kiss you in front of all those cameras" you admitted with a rather cheeky grin of your own. 

"But that would expose our secret" the blonde chuckled only for you to crash your lips against hers, "you bring out the best in me" you whispered against her lips before pulling away. Flo smiled softly as she brought a hand to cup your face, "and I meant what I said darling. You bring out a side of me I never knew existed" she replied before kissing you softly. 

The next morning you woke up to more notifications your phone had ever seen, friends that you hadn't shared the news with asking the question the rest of the world wanted to know. Playfully you rolled your eyes and ignored the question and placed your phone on do not disturb as you felt Florence wrap an arm around your waste while her eyes flickered open, "it's too early" she mumbled in her raspy morning voice that somehow had this hold over you.

"Shhh, go back to sleep baby, I'm not going anywhere" you replied in a whisper as you turned in her hold to face her, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear as you listened to her soft snores return. Your thumb stroking her cheek ever so softly as your mind wondered to the first day you met her and how nervous you were, Florence was right, working on this movie not only opened a door of endless possibilities for your career but you find a happiness you thought only existed in fairytales.

Taglist: @red1culous | @bentleywolf29 | @jeyramarie | @lissaaaa145 | @high--power | @parkerdaramitzzzz | @mmmmokdok | @wackymcstupid | @kiwiana145  | @sophie-xox | @observeowl | @nattyolw | @ripofflizzie | @get-the-fuck-outta-here | @goofy-goonie | @makegoodchoices | @apollo2907 | @marvelfan98 | @wandaroman0ff | @dumb-fawkin-bitch | @lovelyy-moonlight | @santana1437 | @sophie-xox | @fluffyblanketgecko | @inluvwithfictionalwomen | @jaymieflorissssssss | @tita001 | @youralphawolf72 | @crescent-witch | @randomnessbecausewhynot | @natashamaximoff69 | @a-dorkier-book-keeper | @hehehehannahthings | @blue-serendipityy | @secrettoallofyou | @romantic-slaps-on-the-asss | @marvel-fan-2021 | @mmmmokdok | @riveramorylunar | @ripofflizzie | @toldthatdevil | @itsmv3 | @katiemay-025 | @livresjaunes | @maria-403 | @boredandneedfanfics | @wandamaximoffspuppup | @xox-little-troublemaker-xox | @shibugs | @livresjaunes | @music-4ever | 

#yelenasdiary asks #anon #fanfiction #florence pugh #florence pugh x reader #christmas

[zeldasnotes]

THE FIRST CHILD ACTRESS: Shirley Temple

Birth Chart Analysis🧸

WHO IS SHIRLEY TEMPLE? Shirley Temple was born in April 1928 and is said to be the first big child actress. She appeared in 29 films from the ages of 3 to 10. She later wrote book on her experienced called Child Star: An Autobiography. In a lot of her movies she could be seen doing scenes surrounded by a lot of men. She was totally exploited by Hollywood. One of her first movies was even called ”Baby Burlesks”. When she reached her teenage years she endured a lot of abuse from big names in Hollywood and was outcasted. She was later told that she wasnt talented anymore because she was starting to come forward and people were obviously threathened by this. She did interviews about all of this. She was made to leave the industry for good and started studying. She was later named United States ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States.

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of harrassment.

Ascendant at Sagittarius 5°:

The 5° is a Leo degree and Leo is the sign of theatre and drama. Her Ascendant is also in Sagittarius which makes someone naturally funny. This is said about the symbolic degree 5° Sagittarius: ”Inventive, hard-working, and selfless character endowed with exceptional intellectual capacities. Many resounding successes are achieved, and one enjoys worldwide fame in medicine, scientific research, literature, or the arts. However, owing to excessive leniency and a complete lack of interest in making money, one lets other people reap the financial rewards of one's work.” Which is true since she didnt get all the money she was supposed to get from her movies.

Saturn in the 1st house:

She had to grow up extremely early in her life. She didnt have a lot of time to play or do normal kids stuff since she had to work. Constantly being made to act in a way that was not her natural personality. She was also constantly spending time with adults, especially men and took on the behaviour of an adult.

Sun conjunct Chiron :

Wounded by men from an early age. And later suffered in a very abusive relationship with her first husband. She was met down by her father early in life because he was her manager and mismanaged her wealth by spending a lot of money on himself. Even when she was Chief of Protocol she was in a male dominant field.

Venus Square Pluto:

A Plutonian Venus is common in the charts of people who were expected to be beautiful from and early age. Its a common aspect in people who are made to compete in child beauty pageants. Too much focus on the appearance from others at an early age. She was even teached to hide when she lost her teeth which should be considered normal for a child of 5 to do. ”Temple was actually losing her primary teeth regularly through her days with Fox, for example during the sidewalk ceremony in front of Grauman's Theatre, where she took off her shoes and placed her bare feet in the cement, taking attention away from her face. ” When acting, she wore dental plates and caps to hide the gaps in her teeth. She was idealized by girls much older than her all over United States and dolls were made resembling her. These dolls became the most sold dolls during this era.

Mars at 12° Pisces:

The year she turned 12 was the year she started to say ”hell no” and started to get tired of the bullcrap in Hollywood. She was still doing movies but people said she started to ”rebel” here. Rebel is what men called it when she was starting to come forward with stuff they wanted her to keep quiet about. She also said in an interview that she remembers the age of 12 because that was the year an old male producer exposed himself to her. Since she was a child she was shocked and started laughing, and that was when she was thrown out of there.

Destinn(6583) in the 10th house:

She was destined to be in the public eye and to later in her adult life become someone of high status. Not only as the first child actress but also her adult career as Chief of Protocol. She was destined to live a life in the public eye. And Im so glad she got a good career in the end where she was in charge.

Asteroid Child(4580) conjunct Asteroid Actor(12238):

This is self explanatory. The first child actor. So ofc she would have this aspect. We can also see that asteroid actor is in a very wide conjunction to the North Node.

Talent(33154) conjunct Mars in Pisces:

Her talent was her naturally funny expression and her looks. Talent is also in the sign of Pisces that rules movies.

Thalia(23) conjunct Mars in Pisces:

Thalia is the Muse of comedy. She was said to be a comedic genius. She was naturally funny and made mostly comedy movies.

Dejanira(157) conjunct Eros(433):

Dejanira is the asteroid of abuse and victims. She was abused and sexualized in a time of her life where she was supposed to just be a child. She experienced a lot of sexual harrassment in her life. She was a victim of the sick men in Hollywood. At 4 years old she played a role that insinuated a prostitue…

Midheaven ruler conjunct Nessus(7066) and Jupiter:

The ruler of her Virgo Midheaven is Mercury, which is conjunct both Nessus and Jupiter. She was treated poorly by high status people which explains the Nessus conjunction. Jupiter expands and blesses what it touches and she was one of the biggest stars in her time. Jupiter aspecting MC ruler makes her fame huge. Jupiter also rules comedy and she was known for her comedy movies.

ASTEROIDS: 6583, 4580, 33154, 23, 157, 433, 12238, 7066

©️ 2023 Zeldas Notes

#astro notes #astrology #astro observations #astronotes #birth chart readings #sun conjunct chiron

[castieelsblog]

Hello! So I'm in the PJO Fandom (have been for a couple of years) and I wanna talk about some of the characters that get hate or aren't understood. Starting with Bianca Di Angelo. There ARE spoilers to HoO and TOA, proceed with caution.

Bianca and Nico grew up in WWII era Italy and were brought to DC when Bianca was...10?? I think?? Whatever that's not the point, when they were brought to DC with their mom, Zeus had tried to kill them (because hades, Zeus, and poseidon kids were too powerful and Bianca was a hades kid) but he only killed their mom because hades had a barrier around the two kids. Fast forward to when we meet them, Bianca is 12 and Nico is either 9 or 10 (can't remember but that's not the point) and Bianca leaves Nico to join the hunters of Artemis. On the surface level, you might think that's a pretty shitty thing to do but let me put this into perspective for you: their dad is a God, meaning he can't associate with his kids directly and their mother died. Bianca had to become the sole caretaker to a hyperactive 9 or 10 year old boy for 70+ years. The ONLY reason she left was because she KNEW Nico would be safe at CHB (or as safe as you could be) she wanted to do something for HERSELF for once. It's not her being a bad sister, it's her wanting to finally do something for HERSELF. As an older sibling, I can understand her more than anything.

Next, Reyna. She grew up in Puerto Rico with her older sister and father, she was the first person in her family to be a decendant of Bellona, but her father became manic and she killed him. In doing so, all of her ancestors had gathered and called her a murderer-punishable by death at camp Jupiter. She and her sister fled Puerto Rico. Fast forward to current times, she's 16 years old and a commander of camp Jupiter. She's the one that brought peace between the Greek and Roman demigod camps. 16 and a commander. Why is she disliked so much? I think she's a badass person who shouldn't be treated like filth-from ANYONE, fictional or not. She's been through so much and yet you don't like her? Grow up.

Next is...well Jason AND Thalia Grace. Thalia and Jason were born a couple years apart (I not sure how many) to the Greek and Roman forms of Zeus. Their mother was a beloved actress who turned to the bottle because Zeus wouldn't notice her anymore. Jason was kidnapped by Hera when he was 2 and brought to Lupa. Thalia ran away from home. Fast forward to current time, she finally finds her brother again, but his memories are...well, they aren't in tact. Thalia is a hunter of Artemis and Jason is a child soilder. Thalia is forever 15 and Jason just turned 16 while on a quest to defeat Gaia. In which he nearly died. He hadn't seen his sister in YEARS and he couldn't even remember her because Hera had wiped his memories, can you imagine how they both felt? Thalia was so relieved to see him alive and he didn't even remember her face. They're both so complex and I WISH we saw them together more...instead Thalia will never see her brother again because he's dead.

Next, funshine bear personified: Will Solace. Okay, where to start with him...his mother traveled all over as a country singer bringing him along. When he was 9, monsters disguised as pigeons attacked him. He was brought to camp half blood, claimed by Apollo and then...well..hell broke loose. In the first war, he lost so many of his siblings it-hurts. The ONLY reason he's head of the Apollo cabin, is because the one before him died. He was only about maybe 11 or 12 when he was leading the main healing legion in the war with Kronos. He's lost so many people in his life, yet when people think of him they only think about him being Nico's boyfriend.

There's so much more and I could do a whole essay on this. ESPECIALLY Bianca and Rachel, but for now: please read their backstories before you say someone is selfish.

#percy jackson #pjo #bianca di angelo #reyna avila ramirez arellano #will solace #thalia grace #jason grace #they deserved better

[blackgirlcinephiles]

Warning: Long post

Regarding Keke Palmer and the colorism conversation…

I feel like people are never entirely honest with themselves about how colorism functions not just in Hollywood, but in all facets of life in the US.

Keke Palmer has had an objectively successful career with a VERY impressive resume to her name.

And Zendaya is an objectively talented actress who is deserving of all of her accolades.

But to me, the conversation around colorism, like with racism, has never been about capability or achievement. It’s about opportunity. Which individuals among us are given the opportunity, the visibility, the push that will send them to bigger heights, regardless of talent?

It’s about how skin color and other physical features shape the type of treatment we receive in society. Everything from length of prison sentences to experiences in the dating market are shaped by colorism. There are several studies that prove this and provide deeper context, just look it up.

And I don’t say this to make anyone feel bad or push a cynical narrative about the possibilities available for darker skinned people, but I seriously want us to be real and honest about the society we live in and how shit plays out.

There’s a reason Viola Davis was called “less classically beautiful” while Halle Berry was once named People’s Most Beautiful Woman.

Again, these are both gorgeous, talented Black women who have given us so much in their careers. Who have both had to face obstacles due the fact of their Blackness. But let’s be honest, colorism & featurism have also had a hand in shaping the trajectories of their careers and the type of opportunities/roles they received.

Viola Davis has spoken at length in several interviews about how transformative an opportunity like HTGAWM was for her. And mind you, it was an opportunity created by another Black woman, our beloved Ms. Shonda Rhimes.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen Keke Palmer’s popularity and recognition grow beyond the Black community due to the wonderful memes and pop culture moments she has given us, often during her personal interviews and hosting gigs.

And Nope, is her first big, mainstream, feature role in her adulthood. An opportunity created for her by another beloved Black creative, Jordan Peele.

The reason I’m emphasizing opportunity and the creation of opportunity is because I already know of three other Black creatives at the decision making level who have said they had to fight for the presence of their dark skinned characters.

Mara Brock Akil did a panel where she said she had to fight for Jill Marie Jones’ place on Girlfriends.

Gina Prince Blythewood said she had to call out her producers after several attempts to diminish Kiki Layne’s character in The Old Guard.

Chris Rock said he had to fight for Tichina Arnold to play his mother on Everybody Hates Chris. A role, which I might add, made her wildly famous in Brazil for being one of the few positive representations of dark skinned Black women in Brazilian television.

In all of these examples, it is Black creatives in decision making roles making opportunities for their dark-skinned talent specifically.

It’s not about Jill Marie Jones, Tichina Arnold, or Kiki Layne being less talented, or less accomplished, or less personally satisfied with their career trajectories. It’s about fewer opportunities being there because mainstream Hollywood still has a paper bag test for Black women.

It’s because the Black actresses often deemed palatable enough to sell to/pull in mainstream audiences often look like Halle Berry or, in this conversation, Zendaya. Who is both fair skinned and modelesque in stature. Zendaya herself has commented on being Hollywood’s “acceptable Black girl.”

It’s not a coincidence, as someone on twitter pointed out, that Zendaya has 149 million followers while Keke has just reached 11 million. That’s the difference in their mainstream popularity. That is what is influencing the opportunities that come to them.

Because let’s also get into how casting directors are also checking the social media stats of their actors nowadays. Bigger engagement on social media means bigger potential interest from audiences. And we should already know by now how colorism and featurism works for Black people on social media. We should all know that, right?

Acknowledging these things and having these conversations, does nothing to take away from the talents or achievements of any of these actors. Yet people always seem to act like it does, which is why people get defensive, and colorism conversation never actually goes anywhere.

Two things can be true at once. Zendaya is an objectively talented actress who has an incredibly promising career ahead of her. And she has also likely benefitted from colorism and featurism in her career trajectory.

Keke Palmer is an incredibly talented entertainer with a LONG and enviable resume. And #Nope is her breakout leading role in a mainstream blockbuster as an adult, and colorism/anti-Blackness may be a reason why this opportunity came to her later in her career by comparison.

If we can’t be honest about colorism and how it works, then we can’t call it out when we see it happen, we can’t hold folks accountable and nothing will ever change.

Colorism, like racism, like all -isms, is always happening, so there will never be a time where we shouldn’t talk about it. Where it isn’t at least a possible factor at play. And these discussions don’t have to mean that we’re putting anyone down or pitting anyone against each other.

It’s about knowing better so that we can do better.

#keke palmer #zendaya #colorism #black actresses #black women in hollywood #discussion post #long post #i didnt mean for this to be so long #but I couldnt help chiming in bc it feels like people keep missing the point #lets be real with each other here

[bigswisscheese]

New Jodie interview. Please someone drop the name of her pup.

It's behind a paywall, so if you want to read it, it's below the cut!

It was a gamble that few actresses would have dared to take. After four years making her name as the charismatic psychopath Villanelle in Killing Eve, Jodie Comer rolled the dice — and changed her life.

Having not acted on stage since she was 16, Comer risked her growing reputation to star in a one-woman show in the West End. Prima Facie proved a sensation and transferred to Broadway. And last year the Liverpudlian won the most prestigious theatre awards on both sides of the Pond — an Olivier and a Tony — and, aged 30, entered a new era. The Com-era, perhaps?

Today she is a fully fledged film star, taking her first leading role in The End We Start From — a smart, bold post-apocalyptic indie drama about a mother (Comer) and her baby (not Comer’s baby). The film already has nine nominations for the British Independent Film awards, and Baftas should follow.

Comer is in a car with a lively dog when we talk via Zoom. She is in a black hoodie, with her long blonde hair loosely tied, and seems extraordinarily calm — except when the dog leaps across the screen. Her Zen is worth mentioning because the last time I saw her was when she prowled the stage with fear and fury in Prima Facie, playing a barrister who defends men accused of sexual assault before she is sexually assaulted herself. One woman going full throttle in defence of all women.

“My sleep was all over the place,” Comer says of her stint playing Tessa. “It’s tricky when you do something emotional. You think, ‘OK, it’s not real.’ But there is some part that tricks your body into believing that what you’re saying and feeling is a real experience. It becomes important to take care of yourself. With theatre it’s kinetic. You’re sharing space with 900 people.

“It’s … it’s tough. But clearly something I love putting myself through.” She pauses. “Yeah, I underestimated Prima Facie. Totally. I just didn’t know what to expect.”

It was not her first ordeal either. She’s drawn to gruelling roles, from Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, in which her character, Marguerite de Carrouges, was the victim of a rape, to Help, the bleak Channel 4 care home Covid drama. There was also Free Guy, a video-games blockbuster with Ryan Reynolds, but when I ask if Comer is tempted to pick something else fun as a break from Prima Facie, she explains that having a laugh is not enough.

“I like to be in a difficult place,” she says. “A place of self-discovery. Where I feel challenged. With Free Guy that part of me that comes away from my work feeling that I had to dig deep was missing … I came away thinking, ‘Wow, I’ve had so much fun.’ And that should be enough. But I like anything that holds a mirror up to this human experience. It’s just what I’m drawn to.”

Which leads us to The End We Start From. The film is directed by Mahalia Belo and takes place in modern-day London, telling the tale of Mother (Comer), whose waters break just as Britain experiences mass flooding. Metaphors à gogo, but the film works superbly as an intimate study of how an individual deals with a global disaster. How can a parent protect a baby as society collapses?

Comer is barely seen on screen without a baby. The crew had to use several because strict rules mean each infant can only work for 20 minutes at a time. (There are agencies that expectant parents use to sign their unborn child up to a film company.)

We all know an actor should never work with children or animals, but a baby is a whole other, wriggly challenge. Comer really does nothing by halves. How hard is it to act with one? “It’s such a lesson,” says Comer, who is not a mother. Did it come naturally? “Oh God, no!”

“The smallest baby was eight weeks,” she explains, smiling softly. “At first my hands were visibly shaking. My younger cousins have grown up now, so I’m not around babies an awful lot. It felt like a huge responsibility. I thought, ‘Wow, they’re so fragile.’ But I became more comfortable, sometimes to my detriment! There are scenes where we needed a baby to cry but I was soothing him instead. The crew would shout ‘Stop!’” She pauses. “I was kind of falling in love with them.”

The film shows the thrill of being a first-time parent much more than the panic. As prep for Prima Facie Comer watched cases at the Old Bailey. What did she do for this? “My best friend had a baby before filming, so I was able to ask personal questions,” Comer says. “I also spent time with midwives — there is a birthing sequence and I wanted to know about the physicality, where you feel pain giving birth. Having not had a child myself, I wanted women to see the truth in what they saw.”

It comes as no surprise that Belo was inspired to direct her first feature film after giving birth during the pandemic. “Your whole body gets taken over by this beautiful thing,” Belo says about being a mother. “Every part of your body is different from then on and it’s not only that — all your relationships are different too. You’ve got this other sound going on, that’s about your children. I wanted to represent that.”

The End We Start From is a film so clearly made by a woman who has young children, you can almost smell the nappies. Post-apocalyptic films usually star a man walking in a desolate landscape alone with his thoughts, and a dog. So it is quietly revolutionary to focus on a woman and her newborn.

“I think so,” Comer says. “What I love is that it’s a woman who is the everyday hero — we always see men with a superhero quality facing this situation. But here it is a woman many will feel they know. She’s not scaling buildings, or jumping over bridges. The story is deep-rooted in her psyche and emotion. It’s refreshing.”

The film also grapples with climate change. “Endless amounts of rain — I can’t see anything out of the window …” Comer says with a sigh as she looks out of the car at a very wet Britain. Belo, who lives in east London, made the film as her neighbourhood in Walthamstow suffered unprecedented flooding. When she consulted flood experts, their conversations were bleak. “Sea levels are rising, rainfall is becoming more extreme. We are an island; things are going to go wrong and we’re not prepared. We know what’s happening.”

For some The End We Start From will just be a stirring story of the lengths that we go to protect our children. Others, though, will locate an edge that is common to so much of Comer’s work. It is another entry on a CV that is trying to make a difference. Does she think that art can actually change anything? “Absolutely,” Comer says. “When I read the scripts they provoked an emotion in me that felt important. I felt engaged and that’s the biggest thing now, isn’t it? To keep people engaged in what you’re saying, and so that you can change things. I witnessed conversations around sexual assault when working on Prima Facie and saw subtle shifts within the law.

“Women and men were telling me what that play had enabled them to do, whether it was to seek counselling or have a conversation with their family. That may seem like a very small change but it is mighty in somebody’s life. You can see what a profound effect watching a piece of art has on somebody. That means a lot to me.”

This desperation to make stuff that really matters is why Comer stands out. She also excels in the 1960s-set The Bikeriders, about gangs and masculinity, out in the summer, alongside Tom Hardy. If you were to put her in a bracket of skill and achievement right now, you could say that she is where Jodie Foster was as she entered her thirties. They share the sass, steeliness and spark that Foster displayed in the controversial courtroom drama The Accused — which deals with the subject of rape — a sort of prototype Prima Facie.

#Jodie Comer #interview #The Times #I know there is an ethical grey area here with reposting behind a pay wall but it's not like it's someone substack or patreon #it's the times

[arcanemadman]

How exactly is Subhuman lyrical character assassination for Dante?

Ok. I'm not looking forward to writing this but…

So you've probably seen that there are some mixed opinions on this particular song, so allow me to clarify. I would like to preface this by stating that Subhuman is one of the few things in the world that I feel genuine hatred toward, which is either amusing to think about or outright pathetic. I actually can't listen to any part of the song without feeling anxiety or anger. As such, I have avoided listening to the song again.

First of, lets talk about the original version of the song. The original was sung by suicide silence, who at one point a popular deathcore band until the death of their main vocalist, after which they spiraled into disaster and alienating their fan base. Their version on the song, without exaggeration, sounded like pigs squealing. High pitched, badly mixed music by a washed out band who's new main vocalist also happened to be a pedo. These factors culminated into the song, upon being released, getting over 13,000 dislikes before the video was deleted from YouTube. Seriously, when people first did listens like you do they were, at best, laughing.

So they replace the vocalist, problem solved right? No. This is actually the second attempt by composer cody matthew johnson at a theme for Dante, the first being a remix of Devils Never Cry for Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, and is largely considered the worst and only bad version of the song. And when advertising this song on his website, he advertised it as the theme of "the foul mouthed anti-hero" Dante, AKA reboot Dante.

In other words, he made it for the wrong character. Johnsons reaction to the backlash was to throw a tantrum and saying he's "happy to stir the pot", ignoring the fact that the original version was actually painful to listen to (this isn't hyperbole, seriously don't take my word for it and listen to the original version and you'll get what I mean) and the fact that it was sung by a pedophile. Recently he also related the backlash he got to the abuse targeted at actress Lily Gao for her performance in the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is deeply insulting considering she was subjected to racist abuse and harassed off social media.

And even then, the song itself good for what it's supposed to be. As a character theme, it's character regression for Dante. It's an angry, spiteful song that goes on about how Dante struggles with this evil inside him, how he hates all demonkind and how he's a rage filled monster that tears through everything in his way. But that's not Dante. At one point, Dante did have anger towards demons and hate that part of himself, but his character ark in Devil May Cry 3 was accepting that part of himself and growing as a person. DMC3 is a prequel, mind you. In universe, he got over those feelings over 25 years ago.

When faced with demons, he often offers to show them mercy even if they don't accept, because he knows that just as any human can do evil, any devil can do good. He spares Trish in DMC1, a demon created for the sole purpose of killing him, and in turn she becomes his trusted friend. In DMC2, he refuses to let Lucia kill herself because her fear of hurting humans proves she's not a monster to him. In the anime, he's hired to kill a demon called Brad and instead finds him in a bar, talks with him to figure out what his deal was, and then helped Brad protect his human girlfriend and kill his demonic master. In fact, he's far more merciful to demonic enemies than his human ones, who he kills without ever offering mercy, because at its core those that give up their humanity are worse than those that never had it to begin with.

That's mainly it. The thesis statement of the entire series is this - The human ability to care for others, to love someone, be it family, friend, or romance. If you care enough to cry, THAT is what makes you human. Dante is powerful not just because of the demonic power of his father, but because of the human heart of his mother. He is the son of both Sparda and Eva, and he's proud of that. But the very title of subhuman contradicts the entire point of the series. It implies he is less than human, but he's not more human or more demon, he's both, and that's the point of him as a character. Vergil rejected his humanity, while Dante embraced it. He's reached an equilibrium in his soul and grown as a person, embodying both worlds as a devil with ability to cry. Subhuman doesn't focus on Dante's humanity at all, it's all about how he's inhuman.

You remember how in Devils Never Cry the harder and softer lyrics are separate and initially clash, representing his demon and human halves, but in the end they come together into a singular song, representing Dante's acceptance of both sides of himself. There's none of that nuance in this song.

And removing the character assassination, it's just not a good representation of Dante. As I said it feels angry and violent, but Dante is charming and stylish. Of course he does have some resentment to aspects of his life, at times wishing he could have a normal life, but he enjoys what he's got. With the other character themes, the lyrics feel like something the characters would say in battle; With Devil Trigger, I can see Nero smirking and shouting "Bang, bang, bang! Pull my devil trigger!" as he throttles his sword as his enemies charge at him. With Crimson Cloud, V talking in poetry all the time so "Saviour! Bloodstain! Hellfire! Shadow! Heaven on a landslide!" sounds like something he'd read out to himself as his demons tore up the battle. And with Bury the Light, Vergil would totally proclaim "I am the storm that is approaching!" before unleashing a devastating attack.

But with Dante, who taunts by throwing a rose at his enemies, laughing and pointing, and playfully beckoning at his enemies to keep trying their best, I can't see that person screaming at the top of their lungs in fury "YOU CANNOT KILL ME!" Dante isn't someone who feels the need to prove anything to himself or his enemies. It's part of his charm that powerful demons will fight him, expecting a respectful battle with the son of the legendary Sparda, but instead they get their ass beat by an idiot more interested in seeing what he can do with a hodgepodge of weapons than taking things seriously. And when he does get serious, it's more quite, closer to "you've got my attention and I'll make you regret it." It's too insecure. A better line would be something like "Just try to kill me!" but even then, it's still screaming. There's no subtlety here.

None of this is helped by the fact that the song is so plodding. The low BPM makes it feel plodding, and while I'm certainly no expert on music that sort of feeling hurts in a game as fast as DMC, especially for Dante, who while not as fast as Vergil is by far the most chaotic character to play as. Teleporting, swapping guns, swapping weapons, swapping styles, Dante has over 100 potential actions that can loop into each other freely. Subhuman doesn't capture how chaotic it feels to play as Dante. It's going for the power fantasy of Kratos, an unstoppable juggernaut as opposed to the power fantasy of a stylish showdown. You don't play as Dante to strike fear into demonkind, you play him to see just what bullshit you can get away with even in the most dire situations.

That is ultimately why Subhuman fails and betrays Dante as a character.

I'll admit, from my personal experience I tried everything to get myself to like the song. I listened to every edit trying to salvage it, every version that changed it up, all hoping that Dante would get the theme he deserved. But I think that's why I hate it so much now. I desperately wanted it to be good. But at it's core, the song is fundamentally flawed it what it sets out to do, represent Dante as a character, and it needed a full overhaul that was never realistic within the time frame of it being revealed to the public and the games release. Honestly, after what he did to Devils Never Cry they should never have given Dantes theme to someone as inexperienced as cody and his works before and since have been middling at best. But he was the real thing that killed subhuman for me. Anyone that listened to the original version knows it was BAD, but he acted like he was a visionary who was too smart for the rest of us and ignoring all criticism including, need I remind you, HIRING A PEDOPHILE. The recent thing with Lily Gao I find particularly infuriating because what she has been going through is unquestionably awful, yet he made it about himself. As if a white composer who complained about the whole thing on twitter suffered the same abuse as an asian woman who was chased off social media. That inability to self reflect on anything and blaming everyone that disagrees with you is just arrogance in the end.

I always get really angry whenever I think about this song. If I had the same passion for writing things I actually cared about I'd be an acclaimed author by now. I don't like how much I think about this song so much. As I said at the state hating a song this much is either amusing or pathetic. But Dante is a character that holds a certain importance for who I am so I care more than I should. I know not everyone had the same experience I have, or don't really care about the music so long as the game is fine, but the music in Devil May Cry has always been spectacular, and the character themes have been brilliant ways to prove who the characters are deep down. So for Dante, the face of the series, to be stuck with the worst one in the entire series in the grand return of the series until the next game comes around… it's fucking infuriating.

#devil may cry #dmc #subhuman #why subhuman sucks ass #took me long enough to answer this #copy and pasted from somewhere else #Dante isn't an angry or hateful person #he doesn't hate his demon half and he doesn't struggle to control it #he doesn't resent who he is #he doesn't see himself as subhuman #dante is the son of sparda and eva #that's why subhuman is shit #i will never not shit on subhuman

[boozles]

Boozle's Top Ten Actors 2023

As part of my 2023 review, I thought I would include my top ten actors of the year. (Lets be honest, I just love making lists, and end of the year lists are the best!)

In no order whatsoever...

(i) First Kanaphan Puitrakul I know, you're all shocked beyond comprehension. In all seriousness, though, First continues to blow me away with his acting. He really can play any part and he puts his everything into each role. It's been amazing the last few months to see people start to realise how amazing he is. A bonus is that he is a bloody lovely human being, too.

(ii) Force Jiratchapong Srisang I know there was a lot of discourse during Only Friends where Force (and Book) seemed to get a lot of hate, and I do not understand that at all. It was only this year that I discovered them because of A Boss and A Babe, and between that, Enchante and Only Friends...Force is a bloody fantastic actor! When he's on screen he commands your attention, and I cannot wait to see what is next in store for him.

(iii) Khaotung Thanawat Rattanakitpaisan I know, what a shocker, eh? Khaotung deserves all the recognition he has been receiving this year, he really does. This man puts his heart and soul and then a little more into every performance, and I am still not over Ray's therapy scene in Only Friends. I can't even find the words to completely explain how much I adore this man's acting, I just love him so much. I would really love to send a fruit basket to whomever made the decision to pair him and First together, because it literally may have been the greatest decision ever made in the history of acting.

(iv) Mark Pakin Kunaanuwit Mark really has been the stand out for GMMTV this year, hasn't he? Not only is he a precious wee bean, he's so bloody talented and we can't get enough of him. I know he has said he doesn't really want to play any big lead roles, but regardless, I hope we see lots more of him (after he gets some rest because he was super busy in 2023!).

(v) New Thitipoom Techa-apaikhun Gosh, he's a little cutie, isn't he? This year was the first I'd ever seen New in anything, and it was actually The Warp Effect that introduced me to him, and I just fell in love. There's just something about how New portrays emotions, especially sad ones? It's like he manages to change his aura and just really put out what the characters are feeling, and I'm looking forward to the rest of Cherry Magic, and Peaceful Property in 2024!

(vi) Jan Ployshompoo Supasap "Finally, a woman!" I hear you all cry as we pass the halfway mark of this list. I love Jan. Every time she pops up in a series I get all giddy because not only is she an amazing actress and singer, she's so funny! I think the first thing I saw her in was Tonhon Chonlatee, and I honestly think I wouldn't have made it through the show if it weren't for her. I think you can watch her series through the years and see her grow as an actress, and I'm so looking forward to seeing more of her in 2024!

(vii) Book Kasidet PlookPhol I know I already mentioned it with Force, but I really do not understand the hate both of these men received this year with Only Friends. Book has blown me away with his acting; it never feels like a repeat performance with him. I often think about how different Theo, Cher and Mew are and it blow my mind that the same person played all three roles. If you don't like Book, i honestly worry about your taste.

(viii) Mek Jirakit Thhawornwong I had to include my husband, Mek. The thing is, I think Mek is a fantastic actor, but GMMTV really did not treat him as well as he deserved. Star and Sky was a terrible series, but Mek really stood out to me (I only watched the show because it was the only series includied in Our Skyy 2 that I hadn't seen, and Mek was the only part of it I came out enjoying). 2023 has seen him mostly doing modelling and promo spots, but I am so excited to see him in Red Peafowl and My Stand In in 2024 (plus, it looks like we're going to get new music from his band, Saint After Six)!

(ix) Neo Trai Nimtawat I think I'm lucky that the first thing I saw Neo in was The Eclipse, because he said that beforehand he always felt like he played the class clown, whilst he got to actually show his acting skills in The Eclipse. Fast forward to Only Friends and he came out victorious with everyone being blown away by how versatile he is as a performer. I've adored him since he was Kanlong, and I hope he has a long and lucrative career.

(x) Tay Tawan Vihokratana When I first watched Kiss Me Again this year, initially it was because I wanted to watch more New, then this little terror just sideswept me off my feet. I won't lie, I still haven't watched 3 Will Be Free (I know, I know, I'll be fixing that in the New Year) so my experience with Tay is just his performance as Pete in Kiss Me Again & Dark Blue Kiss, and what we've seen of Cherry Magic so far...and I love him. The difference between Pete and Karan is enough to prove how fantastic Tay is as an actor, and I am so looking forward to Peaceful Property. It doesn't hurt that he has the most heartwarming smile that makes my legs feel like jelly.

Honorary Mentions: (i) Billy Patchanon Ounsa-ard (ii) Babe Tanatat Phanviriyakoo (iii) Silvy Pavida Moriggi (iv) Louis Tien Chiang (v) Bright Rapheephong Thapsuwan (vi) Nonkul Chanon Santinatornkul

#2023 top ten list #billy patchanon #babe tanatat #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #force jiratchapong #book kasidet #mek jirakit #louis chiang #bright rapheephong #nonkul chanon #silvy pavida #jan ployshompoo #tay tawan #new thitipoom #neo trai #mark pakin

[n-evermores]

“Besides, you’re still in love with your old girlfriend.”

Let’s talk about this trope. I see this often with older male characters, and my only question is why? It’s so tiring and honestly, a little silly. And this is not me trying to diminish real feelings that teenagers can have. Many people marry their high school sweethearts and live long happy lives together. But you also grow together and build a life with one another. It’s very different.

If my math is correct, Joy and Parker dated when they were 15/16 years old. They went their separate ways their junior year of high school so they were probably 16 when they broke up. Our brains don’t fully develop until we’re about 26. Parker and Joy, even at 21, would be very different people from who they were at 16, and even more so at 26. They’re like 60 now. It’s safe to say they are strangers at this point.

This trope is so unhealthy to me, and usually painted as romantic by writers. Him not able to have a healthy long lasting relationships with women because he’s still obsessed with his high school girlfriend is not romantic. One could argue it's toxic. Honestly he needs therapy because this has to be some form of trauma. Yet, the writers love using women for male pain, and this isn’t any different. You’ll never see them write a female character incapable of having an adult relationship because they can’t get over their old flame, because they don’t use men as plot devices like they do with women.

It’s like when ALL of Gibbs’ relationships and marriages failed because he couldn’t move past Shannon. I totally understand this for him because they built a life together and had a child, (but it’s still unhealthy) As we get older the way we love changes. We mature and so does the way we love and how we love matures with us. There’s no reason Viv had to compete with a ghost from his teenage years. It’s downright silly and kind of unrealistic if we’re being honest.

I love Joy as a character and I love the actress. I feel like the writers need an excuse to prevent Parker from being happy just as they did with Gibbs. And I hate that. A part of me wishes they used Joy’s actress as Viv (I wasn’t too fond of the actress they used. Perhaps it was the way she was written or portrayed, but I’m not a fan), and just gave us a slow burn of him getting back with his ex wife of many years. I feel like that’s the direction they were originally going in until they retconned it with the Joy plot line.

And when Constance broke up with Parker, I felt sad for him, and then suddenly she hits us with the “you’re still in love with your old girlfriend” line, and I just eye rolled so hard. Like why? It’s so stupid. It pulled me out of the story and I love Parker, I do, but it kind of ruins his character for me just a little. It’s just weird. Like you were a child when you loved her, you haven’t seen her since you were 16. Move on, my guy. Move on. I just know a man wrote this into his story, that or I want to know who’s 14 year old child went into the writing room and suggested it. Because it’s silly.

Also just to reiterate that they usually don’t do this with women: Joy herself is a good example. When Parker asked if she was over him, we never saw her response. Clearly, that conversation didn't go in his favor because nothing came from it. Most likely, she rejected him. However they did allow Jimmy to fall in love again and be in a healthy happy relationship after his wife died, but Parker can't get over a girl he dated at 16? It's just a badly written plot and a trope that needs to die. It's not romantic, its not cute. I'm not sitting at my tv and going, “awww, he's stuck in his past which is preventing him from having healthy long lasting relationship, so sweet and romantic.” Yuck no.

Also please note this is not me hating on Parker. He is one of my favorite fictional characters ever. I adore him. This is just me complaining about NCIS writers. I love the show to pieces, but when it comes to characters like Parker and Gibbs, they love to throw these toxic tropes at us. One of those tropes being unbridled anger = masculinity (hello old wounds.) Anyway. Rant over ha ha.

TL;DR: Unless you have an unhealthy obsession, real people don't stay in love with the person they dated at 16, especially after 40-something years. That person would be so far from your mind. It's unrealistic and I wish writers would stop using this trope to prevent characters from happiness or having any healthy long-lasting relationships.

#ncis #alden parker #gary cole #leroy jethro gibbs #mark harmon #ncis meta #character analysis #ncis 20x21 #kompromat

[polniaczek]

since she’s probably the most controversial cast member.. what do you think about lisa whelchel? like do you like her or is she indifferent to you as a tfol fan? do you think she’s aware of jo x blair shippers? for me personally it’s hard not to like her because blair is my favorite character and i first watched the show without knowing anything about the actresses but i know she’s had some shitty opinions in the past… still i think she’s a nice person who’s not totally against the idea of changing her mind about certain things from what i’ve seen in the past years (specially since she got divorced) idk maybe i’m naive lmao

heh i actually sometimes forget that about lisa. i'm able to watch the show without thinking about it, fortunately. the stuff about her childrearing and the homophobia suck to learn about. what you've described is just the universal "i love blair but lisa what the hell are you doing" experience. i had it too. and she is 100% aware that people ship jo and blair (as were the folks creating the episodes after a certain point in the show, allegedly, so i'd assume nancy knows too but she'll probably never comment on it). i'm convinced that lisa is squicked out over jo/blair. in the interview she did on the view, sara gilbert asked her about them and/or jo being gay I don't remember and lisa's response was like :) no no jo married a man on the show :) and it's just kajsdjf;sldjf

having said all that, i do get a generally decent vibe from her?? the bar is low but she seems willing to learn and do better and doesn't seem like she's ever meaning to offend people which can't be said of some other homophobic 80s sitcom actors. if you ever watch her survivor season, it's like, oh okay you're probably a person with good intentions. i think she even won most likable or fan favorite or something. it's probably a combination of her being religious and growing up when she did and possibly like you said some stuff with her previous marriage. i'm happy for her if she's been able to unlearn any of the harmful things she once believed.

and then... some days i'm also thinking that while i've known about lisa for ages and i've had time to accept it, what do we really know about nancy ;-;

#replies #and this is why we don't put famous people on pedestals <3

[thesunrisesss]

Have you seen the prequel movie? If yes🌹>>>

A. In your opinion, please rate TBOSAS movie with 1-10 scale.

(1 = I hate it, 10 = I love it.)

Things that you like :

Things that you don't like :

B. For people who also read the novel.

Your opinions about the difference between the book and the movie :

Thank you 🎼

@curiousnonny

Thank you so much for the ask!! Yes, I have seen the movie (twice lol). On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate TBOSAS as a 9, because a 10 to me would be a 1 to 1 recreation of the book. Compared to the rest of the film adaptations we have, this is the best one by far. I'll start off by breaking down the things that I liked most about the movie.

Let's start off first and foremost, Francis Lawerence was determined to fit everything cleanly into one movie. While most of us know that there was more than enough material to warrant two movies, if that happened, I believe that it would have suffered the same fate as Mockingjay Pt. 1 & 2. This is what he said during an interview that I think sums this idea up well:

"In an episode of television, if you have a cliffhanger, you have to wait a week or you could just binge it and then you can see the next episode. But making people wait a year, I think, came across as disingenuous, even though it wasn’t. Our intentions were not to be disingenuous." - Variety

So, would it have made more money in the long run? Sure. But would it make the fans happy? Probably not. Both he and Suzanne aren't just in it for the money. They want to both make something they're proud of, and something they know the fans will enjoy and I think that really shows.

Another great example of how they listen to the opinions of their fans is shown in their casting choices.

Back in 2012 when the movies first started being released, there was a lot of public outcry about not giving accurate representation to the characters in the books.

Listen, as much as I love JLaw, her personality, her acting ability, and the beautiful way she brought Katniss to life, she doesn’t look like Katniss as was described in the book. Suzanne is very intentional with the information she gives us. Katniss is a hunter, living in the Appalachian area, and has "straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes"; Katniss is coded as Native. Jennifer is not.

This can also be expanded into the representation of District 12 as a whole. While we're watching the events of the Reaping take place, nearly everyone in that crowd is white. If most of the people living in the district live in the Seam and look like Katniss, then where are they? Why do they all look like merchant children?

So, with that all being said, I am very glad that this time around they had a more diverse cast.

Here are the things that I picked up on myself: Clemensia is Asian, Coral was queer-coded, Bobbin was missing an arm, Tanner was missing an eye, Wovey had down syndrome and, Tigris is played by a trans actress (and was a huge fan of the original series growing up). I'm aware that there is probably a lot more I missed out on, but those are just the ones I picked up on on my own.

Another bit I loved was the character outfit choices.

Snow wore different colored roses to signify his mindset at different points in time. He wore a red rose during the reaping ceremony, red roses signifying passion and pride as he thinks he’s about to win the Plinth prize. When we see him at the train station he gives Lucy Gray a white rose, which signifies loyalty, purity, and innocence, as are his views towards her and the Games thus far. Then, during the start of the games he wears a yellow rose, which signifies friendship and luck, which represents how he feels about Lucy Gray.

Another thing that really stood out to me was the choice of character design. Of course, most of the attention is going to the Academy uniforms, and Lucy Gray’s reaping dress, but there’s so much more that we can pick up on if we look closely.

It was mentioned a TikTok, going over Tigris’s outfits, that the designer intentionally gave all of her outfits some kind of unfinished hem, as if she was still a work in progress. (I can’t find the original TikTok anywhere, I believe it was posted by Lionsgate, but it’s no longer there)

And Dr. Gaul’s outfits are phenomenal. I would say my piece about it here, but Leftie said it so much better than I could say it myself, so I will link it for you here: TikTok

Then, when it comes to the tributes, each tribute looked like they were all coming from the poor districts, but they all had something unique about them. Coral had a fish on her flannel representing District 4, fishing, Wovey had an outfit covered in buttons on her shoulders, and had a heart made of buttons on her pants representing District 8, textiles, 

There are also many things I liked about the little callbacks to the original trilogy, but don't have enough to say on it to write them their own paragraphs, so I will list them below.

The long shot on the bow and arrows on the Cornucopia, sitting and waiting to be used, because no one there is ready to take the first shot.

Lucky canceling his dinner reservations. “Two and a highchair”, I wonder who that highchair is for.

The mention of Katniss and being too early in the season. Need I say more?

I think these were all great choices because anyone who has been a fan of the series will know what they were trying to tell us, but it also blends in so well with the rest of the movie. I have no doubt in my mind that those who watched this movie as their first introduction to the series didn’t think any of those moments were out of place.

Now we’ll move on to the things I didn’t like, and honestly, I’m glad to say I don’t have many, so I will list them below:

Why is District 12 still so white? If the Seam is a large part of the population then why is everyone so gosh darn pale? Where are the people living in the Seam that all looked like Katniss and Lucy Gray??

Where is Clemmy?? I really wanted to see her act like a snake.

Where is Ma Plinth? She is such a huge character in the book and yet we don’t even see her face in the movie.

The interview between Lucky and Lucy Gray while at the zoo felt too fast, could I tell you how to do it better? No. But I do think that the pacing of it was a bit weird.

I really wish we saw a mockingjay pin somewhere, that would have been a nice call back.

The overall pace of the first half of the movie. They did really well getting in the stuff they did, but so much happened in the books that it felt like we were jumping around quite a bit trying to show us all the things that were necessary for the story.

Lack of Snow's inner dialogue. I understand why it wasn't included, but it really adds so much depth to his character that without it he just appears...normal. (Listen you can think Tom is hot all you want, but babe, respectfully, if you still think Snow is smashable after the movie ends I will personally give you my therapist's contact info)

For those who didn’t read the book, but watched the movie, I will leave you with this.

Snow is a sociopath. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He is hot and evil. That’s how it's supposed to be.

No, Snow and Sejanus didn’t kiss in the book either, I’m sorry.

Read the books. It brings so much more light and depth into the characters that you literally cannot do in any movie.

Listen to the audiobook. If you think reading the book will bring the characters to life, then this will make them feel like you know them personally. It's voiced by Santino Fontana (aka Hans from Frozen) and he adds so much to the story, minus the singing. You would think they would let a man who can sing sing the songs, but they don’t. I think it’s cause they’re scared of the edits we would create. (Btw, don’t support amazon by listening to it on audible. You can listen to it for free by either supporting your local library by using Libby or by listening to it on youtube)

Lastly, I’ll leave you with some things I'm hoping we will get to see at some point in the future.

Another book. I really hope Suzanne comes back with another addition to the series at some point. I know she only writes when she has something to say, so if she does, I'm really excited to see what she might come up with.

A TV series adaptation. Diverse and inclusive cast. One episode per chapter. One season per book. One bonus season where each episode goes over the games of previous victors. I would love to see Mags, Haymitch, Johanna, and Finnick’s games.

The extended cut. There is a 3hr 40min cut of the movie that we almost got, but didn’t, and I need to see it. There's currently a live change.org petition urging Lionsgate to release it. As of writing this, it has just over 12k signatures. If you're interested you can sign it here.

More interviews with Suzanne. Even if she doesn’t write any more books I really just want to hear more about what goes on in her head.

More people joining the HG community. It’s been a special interest of mine ever since the movies were first announced, so I’m super happy that it’s picking up steam and getting attention again!

#the hunger games #katniss everdeen #katniss #thg #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #askme #askmeanything #personal post #personal posts #thg opinion #thg opinions #the hunger games opinion #the hunger games opinions #tbosas opinion #tbosas opinions #the ballad of songbirds and snakes opinion #the ballad of songbirds and snakes opinions #corio #coryo snow #coriolanus snow #president snow #lucy gray #lucy gray baird #sejanus plinth #sejanus #ama

[gacmediadaily]

t’s only fitting Jen Lilley’s University of Virginia story includes the type of fairy tale elements that are now staples of her movies.

Lilley is an actress who you’ve likely seen this holiday season if you have access to the Hallmark, Lifetime or Great American Family channels. Her filmography comes with titles such as “The Spirit of Christmas,” “Mingle All the Way” and, her most recent work, “A Paris Christmas Waltz.”

These are the kinds of cozy, made-for-television flicks typically featuring a young woman in a snowy setting who finds love in a quirky way as part of an inevitable happy ending.

The gardens at UVA hold a special place in Lilley’s heart. It’s there where the 2007 graduate was proposed to by now-husband Jason Wayne. (Contributed photo)

Lilley, you could say, was destined to be a Wahoo. She’s the daughter of UVA alumni who said she dreamed of being admitted to the University since she was 3. Once that goal was achieved in the early 2000s, the Roanoke native then literally stumbled upon her future career during a routine walk around Grounds.

“I found acting by happenstance at UVA because there were posters all over for an open audition for an independent film called ‘The Loss of Life,’” Lilley said. “I ended up booking the female lead opposite Alexis Ohanian.”

While Ohanian went on to found Reddit and marry tennis superstar Serena Williams, Lilley, who came to UVA with the intention of studying Spanish, found fame by continuing on an acting path.

She graduated in 2007 with a drama degree (with a minor in environmental science). But before leaving for Hollywood, she was proposed to by her now-husband, Jason Wayne, in a UVA pavilion garden after a symbolic dinner at the now-defunct Ludwig’s Schnitzelhouse Restaurant on Fontaine Avenue.

“My parents had their first date at the Schnitzelhouse,” Lilley said. “So it was special.”

Whether in real life or on a set, Lilley has long had a knack for playing a main character in a charming narrative. It’s a movie plotline that pairs well with Christmas.

Lilley has starred in nine Christmas-themed TV films since 2015.

“It’s so funny because they’re not highbrow movies,” she said, “but you’d be surprised that our biggest fans are people like homicide detectives and Supreme Court justices. With everything going on in the world – the uncertainty, the pandemic, the war, all of that – we’re like the mac and cheese of TV. We try to make people feel good.”

“A Paris Christmas Waltz,” which premiered on Nov. 19, is Lilley’s latest Christmas movie. (Contributed photo)

Lilley calls this genre, which has proven to be highly popular with viewers this time of year, “fairy tales for adults.”

“People just want to sit down with a warm bowl of macaroni and cheese and know exactly where the movie is going,” she said. “They can do their laundry and not miss a beat.”

A series regular on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” from 2013 to 2016, Lilley took on consistent roles in Christmas films shortly thereafter. Her latest, “A Paris Christmas Waltz,” which premiered on GAC on Nov. 19, is a story set during Christmas week in France that follows the growing relationship of competitive dance partners.

The holiday season not only annually features Lilley in a variety of movies, but, since 2020, it’s been a time for her philanthropic side to shine. She’s the founder of “Christmas Is Not Cancelled,” a nonprofit organization that has helped nearly 100,000 children receive holiday gifts.

“My holidays are crazy,” she said. “I’m always making five to seven gingerbreads and having ugly sweater competitions. We’re always doing crazy things that raise money for charity, and we always have a goal of giving 25,000 toys to children all over the U.S. We give bikes, Legos, really cool toys.

Aside from starring in movies during the holiday season, Lilley, through her nonprofit organization, raises money to provide gifts for children. (Contributed photo)

“So my holidays are much more than you can stuff in your stocking. It’s much more than you see in my movies.”

In her festive movie debut, Lifetime’s “The Spirit of Christmas,” Lilley played a lawyer who travels to Vermont to close the sale of a haunted inn and ends up falling for the ghost of the man who mysteriously died there nearly a century earlier.

Lilley said if she were to write a UVA-themed Christmas film, she’d use a similar plot line that taps into the history of a location. She envisions a story around a female journalist tabbed to come to Charlottesville for a piece on Thomas Jefferson.

“It would be a little outside the box,” she said, “but you could be going back and forth from modern to old UVA. You wouldn’t have to change the setting. I think a time travel element around UVA would be really cool because the Grounds are just so beautiful.”

Asked for a hypothetical name for the film, Lilley naturally went with “A Cavalier Christmas.”

#jen lilley #paris christmas waltz #great american family #great american christmas #Youtube

[myucornerorg]

Thanks @real-life-senshi for the tag!

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four Ships:

Oh boy. TBH I'm not that into shipping really. I guess I have a few though.

Brainy x Nia (CW Supergirl): Definitely the beta couple of the last couple seasons of the show. I do kinda wonder how their relationship would've developed had Season 5 played out as planned (the ending of the season got kinda messed up due to COVID lockdowns, which is why the "beat Leviathan" plot got carried over to the beginning of Season 6). They got a fair amount of focus in Season 6, as they dealt with how Brainy's actions in Season 5 affected them (also they had to write Kara out for most of the season because her actress was on maternity leave, forcing them to instead focus episodes on the rest of Supergirl's team). I felt it was a strong ship, with two goofy, geeky people - one an alien genius who's not very used to having emotions period and the other a half-human, half-alien girl with dream-related powers - who both clearly like each other but don't know how to spit it out. The "Prom!" two-parter, where they go back in time to get DNA to help track down Kara, had them try to fit in in late-90s small town America, which was hilarious. Also, in general, even with all the hype over Nia being the first transgender superhero ever (she's also played by a real-life trans rights hero, Nicole Maines), aside from a little focus when she was first introduced, they haven't made it her sole defining trait, and have developed her beyond that, which I appreciate. I'm not sure their relationship had its full time to develop - towards the end it seemed doomed to fail since at some point Brainy was going to have to go back to the future time he came from. But in the finale he decided to "screw destiny" and came back for her, so they still have a chance!

Pokéshipping (Ash x Misty): From Pokémon, obviously. This is Pokémon's oldest ship and I have stood by it for years (to be fair, I haven't seen enough of the anime to justify the other Ash ships anyway). But then I'm biased, since Misty has long been a favorite character of mine from Pokémon. It's been cool seeing her come back in more recent seasons and still have a dynamic with Ash. It started with him accidentally frying her bike with Pikachu, and her tagging along to make him pay her back, but they ultimately developed a strong friendship, which I think is only rivaled by his friendship with Dawn probably. Of course, since I ship them, I wish there could be more - and there are songs showing Misty has feelings for him ("Misty's Song," "He Drives Me Crazy," "I've Got a Secret" from Pokémon Live). The second movie also teased the idea, though Misty strongly denied it. As for Ash, we have no idea how he feels. But let's be fair, he barely acknowledged Serena's feelings, and hers as far as I can tell were WAY more obvious than Misty's (Serena pretty much started traveling with Ash cause she had a crush on him). So I'm guessing he's just completely oblivious. He'd have to grow up a lot to realize how Misty feels. And now Ash's time in the anime is basically over. Though, they did leave things pretty open-ended with him, so...

Yowzah (Doctor x River Song): This is basically my main ship from Doctor Who (though I do also support Tenrose). For this ship, I usually define it as Eleven x River specifically, since they interact the most. Though their relationship is crazy complicated, their banter is always fun to see when they do meet. Because I didn't watch Doctor Who quite in order when catching up on old seasons, I actually saw their romance in basically chronological order - starting with Series 5-7 and ending with 4, where Ten meets her but she ends up dying - which somehow made it even more poignant. I did appreciate that before Steven Moffat left, he resolved their whole thing by having Twelve finally take River to Darillium (the last place River saw "her" Doctor before traveling to the Library and meeting Ten), and having Twelve come to terms with her being gone. While there are still Big Finish audios coming out to flesh out River's personal canon, I consider her timeline with The Doctor finished, and I don't expect her to show up again (although, they brought back Jack Harkness, so I guess no one's safe). I don't feel like there's any sort of future they could give them - "The Name of the Doctor" already showed River post-death. I suppose they could delve into their past still, especially if they keep the Timeless Child plotline when Russell T. Davies takes over again. I'd kinda love for River to meet the Fugitive Doctor. I feel like they would be BFFs in a heartbeat. At any rate, River is a fun character, and for now I've been indulging my interest in this ship via the Eleventh Doctor fanfic I've been working on for years (I have an idea for a ship fic with them too).

Mamoru x Hina (PGSM): So not sure this is even a ship but decided to add it anyway. When it comes to Sailor Moon, I'm typically in the Usagi x Mamoru camp pretty strongly. Especially in the manga, where their relationship really gets some deep development (it gets development in the anime too, but not in the same way I feel like). But the live-action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon just didn't do their relationship justice. I get that they had limited episodes to work with, but they could've done better. They also tried to make things more dramatic by revealing Mamoru was engaged, right at the point of the show when Usagi was starting to think maybe he wasn't so bad after all. And then try to twist the knife even more by making Usagi realize that "OMG this guy's girlfriend is actually NICE." Hina, meanwhile, didn't get much development beyond being the "other woman" who clearly loved Mamoru more than he did her. That she was the "childhood friend" in this scenario probably didn't help either (anyone who's watched/read enough shoujo knows that the "childhood friend" rarely wins in a love triangle). She did at least respect that Mamoru had a lost past he was trying to find clues to, and tried to be supportive as much as she could. And when Mamoru got cut off from a call with her when Kunzite attacked him, she seemed genuinely upset. (She also got upset when she found Usagi's handkerchief in Mamoru's dresser, but that's more like a "OMG are you cheating on me?" kind of upset). Ultimately she saw the writing on the wall and broke up with Mamoru. I mean, sure, if the show was going to follow the original Sailor Moon plot, Mamoru and Usagi were going to have to end up together somehow. But instead of trying to create a genuine love triangle with actual drama attached, they had Mamoru in a relationship he didn't really care about and Usagi, as much as it pained her, willing to honor that relationship. Thus they started to kinda reluctantly become just friends instead. But while it can be argued they did develop some feelings for each other eventually, their whole romance seems to be based on the fact that they loved each other in their past lives, and fate is doing its darnedest to bring them together again. Except that in the past that caused the destruction of the Earth, a fact that initially no one remembers except Sailor Venus, Zoisite, and Kunzite, which is why those three are pretty strongly against Usagi and Mamoru getting together (Beryl also tries to split them up later, either personally or through her "shadow" Mio, since the Beryl/Serenity/Endymion love triangle is also still a thing). Then they get separated since Mamoru goes to study abroad in England, and then later lets Beryl capture him to save the Shitennou, causing all this angst where Usagi tries really hard not to make the Silver Crystal activate, as this would not only make her hardcore "I don't care about anything but my prince" Princess Sailor Moon side come out, but it also inadvertently powers Queen Metallia, neither of which is good for the safety of the Earth. Even once Beryl is defeated and Usagi and Mamoru are *finally* set to get married, it's clear Mamoru is not that enthusiastic about it, which is what leads to Usagi breaking things off and Mio showing up and being like "I'M BAAACK" and kidnapping Mamoru to be her groom in her circus-inspired base. So...anyway, it's just hard for me to ship Usagi x Mamoru in PGSM for these reasons, so I lean more toward shipping Hina with Mamoru. After all, the short "Hina Afterward" made it clear that she still thought about him after they broke up.

Last Song: Not a song per se, but...the Suzume soundtrack on Spotify. It's actually quite a good soundtrack. Sadly, they didn't include the songs Serizawa plays in his car during the road trip part of the movie (probably for copyright reasons), but I found a couple Spotify playlists people made of the songs he plays: this one and this one. One of them is "Rouge no Dengon," the opening song to Kiki's Delivery Service, which I recognized immediately when I first heard it as that's my favorite Ghibli film.

Currently Reading: This translation of Virgil's The Aeneid, translated by David Ferry. It was the one recommended by Blue of the YouTube channel Overly Sarcastic Productions in his Virgil video, so I figured it had to be good. Now, being a mythology buff, I knew something about the Aeneid going into this (I also watched OSP's video covering it), but I'd never read it in verse before now. And it is actually quite good. Sure there are boring lists of people at times, and Virgil spends like 10 stanzas describing the decorations on Aeneas's shield in great detail, which I could care less about. While I definitely had to consult the list of names in the back a few times to know what stuff was, the text was otherwise quite understandable as is, which isn't easy with old texts like this as far as I can tell. Ferry does a good job making it readable but not TOO modern. Would recommend.

Last Movie: The anime movie Suzume, directed by Makoto Shinkai, who did Your Name and Weathering With You. As I mentioned in this post, it's REALLY GOOD.

Craving: I'm looking forward to the game Hogwarts Legacy. The Switch version got delayed till July and it bugs me a lot. Also, this game called Sea of Stars is finally coming out soon that I backed on Kickstarter. I've never backed a video game on there before, so that's exciting! Besides that...I bought a TON of 3DS and DS games in my pursuit to get the games I wanted before the 3DS eShop shut down a couple months ago, so looking forward to those. In the process, I found out my DS Lite can still read GBA cartridges, allowing me to replay old favorites like Kim Possible 2: Draaken's Demise and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well as games I missed (like all of the Gen 3 Pokémon games - if I can track them down - and Tales of Phantasia, which I just recently found out even HAD a GBA version).

As for non-gaming things...I haven't been to Disneyland in years, despite living less than 2 hours away from it. Sure, as an autistic person, theme parks can be kind of a nightmare, but I really love Disney movies. Also, I haven't been there since before the Star Wars land was completed, so I really want to go there and see that, as I'm also a big Star Wars fan.

Also I do miss doing covers on my YouTube channel, I'll admit. I'd also like to do more collabs, but the SeraMyu cover community seems kinda dead now, especially since our sort of Fearless Leader (and the one who encouraged me to join in the first place) @sailorzakuro seems to have moved on.

Tagging: @ainomessage, @fyeahsailormoon, @glitzyglee, @galaxia-gorgeous, @gracemyhearto, @kosmosinusa, @katieban-kaiteiban, @love-boat, @sailormoonsub

#off topic #supergirl #doctor who #pokemon #pgsm #suzume movie #the aeneid #hogwarts legacy #sea of stars #3ds #ds #gba #disneyland #star wars #seramyu #sera myu #sailor moon musicals

[litcityblues]

Doctor Whoquest Part One: Whittaker, Season 1

Doctor Who turns sixty this year and since we jumped back onto HBO Max last month, I decided I would spend the year attempting to do a deep dive on all the 'Nu-Who' Doctors starting with the most recent one (13, played by Jodie Whittaker) and working backward to the one who started it all (9, played by Christopher Eccleston.)

If this seems like an ass-backwards way to do this, well, you're probably right. But in general, I'm thinking the order will run something like this:

Whittaker Season 1

Capaldi Season 1

Smith Season 1

Tennant Season 1

Eccleston Season 1

Whittaker Season 2

Capaldi Season 2

Smith Season 2

Tennant Season 2

Whittaker Season 3

Capaldi Season 3

Smith Season 3

I know this doesn't get me through the entirety of 'Nu-Who' so I'll probably have to throw some extra posts for Smith Specials, the Tennant Specials, and Tennant Season 3 along the way, but that's the general order of events I'm aiming for.

So, let's kick things off with what's technically Series 11 of Nu-Who and the debut season of 13, played by Jodie Whittaker.

I had seen the first couple of episodes ('The Woman Who Fell To Earth' and 'The Ghost Monument') when they first debuted, so I knew what to expect there. Whittaker's gender was completely irrelevant to me. I know a lot of people lost their minds about it, but I'm unbothered. They laid the groundwork for it in the latter stages of Capaldi's era and with the Doctor getting a fresh set of regenerations at the end of Smith's era, there were some hints that 'all bets were off.' So, this shouldn't have been a galloping shock to anyone.

Whittaker is a genuinely good actress. (Go watch 'Broadchurch' if you haven't already and come talk to me.) What's important to me with the Doctor, as a role is a balancing act all actors seem to have to do with this role: how to make the Doctor still seem like the Doctor while putting their own spin on it and Whittaker nails it. Her portrayal of the Doctor feels like the Doctor and it's an unusual and different place for the show to go. If you've been on the air in one form or another for six decades at a certain point, you're going to have to take some chances and try some different things to grow the character and evolve the show a bit. It doesn't feel forced, it doesn't feel preachy and it doesn't bother me a lick.

There are some interesting/bright spots with this season worth shouting out. For a start, the Doctor has multiple companions. That's a different look from prior seasons, though the challenge then becomes making sure each character gets their moments throughout the season. I think they do a fairly credible job of that- which is understandable, as they have to establish the new Doctor and the new Companions over the course of the season.

The Companions themselves are fine. I got no quibbles-- Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) have some family issues to work through, as Ryan loses his Nan, Graham's wife, Grace (Sharon D. Clarke) in the first episodes. Yaz (Mandip Gill), if anything feels like a bit of a third wheel now and again-- but they also sort of take turns feeling like that, to be honest. It balance is out in the end.

Three Episodes I Liked:

'The Woman Who Fell To Earth'/'The Ghost Monument': Whittaker rockets off to a strong debut with this two-parter. The introduction of everyone in the first part, the ending of the first part on a cliffhanger and the resolution in the second part establish a much different tone for the show. Things seem more colorful and weirdly, almost bigger budget in a way? It feels like a step up in quality and I like it.

'Demons Of The Punjab': While I appreciate 'Rosa' for going someplace Doctor Who usually doesn't go, I think in terms of history and the exploration of historical trauma and how it can mark subsequent generations is far better encapsulated here. Ms. Marvel did an excellent job of mining similar themes over on Disney Plus, to the benefit, I think, of an American audience (maybe less so a British one more familiar with the history.) Nu-Who does a nice job here as well.

'The Tsuranga Conundrum': It was a toss-up between this and the finale, ('The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos') and I think I went with this one because it just moves along a breakneck pace and they've got to figure out what's going on and how to fix it and who the passengers are and what the threat is and how to get themselves out of danger. The gang is very much dropped into the middle of a big bag of danger and they've got to figure it out. What's not to like?

Two Episodes I Didn't Like:

'Kerblam!' This felt... familiar. And that's not bad, per say, it just... didn't work for me.

'Resolution': Star Wars finally seems to be stretching beyond the sandy confines of Tattooine with shows like Andor and Dear Lord does Nu-Who need to do that with the Daleks and to a lesser degree the Cybermen. It wasn't even a particularly fresh twist on the Daleks, either.

One Episode To Consider:

'Rosa': I don't know how to feel about this one. On the one hand, good job for tackling America. Dr. Who tends to be somewhat hit or miss on the front, but this worked out okay. I think the writers set themselves one hell of a mountain to climb with this episode and I think they might have pulled it off. I don't know if you could fully illustrate the levels of racism present in the Civil Rights era south from the daily indignities to the large, in-your-face ugliness effectively in one episode of television, but I applaud them for trying. I just don't know if they quite stuck the landing as effectively as they could have.

Overall: It was a solid debut season for Whittaker. I think Doctor Who is unique in the fact that views on Doctors can change in retrospect with the passage of time. Whittaker inhabits the role and makes it her own. I can't say it really knocked my socks off (though I was surprised to see Chris Noth show up in 'Arachnids In The UK') but it was good. Solid. A solid beginning. My Grade: 7/10

#whoquest #doctor who #13 #season 11 #jodie whittaker

[impulsea]

This is mostly a reflection, but the more I read about it, the more I believe that Ariel is the 100% Howard Ashman Disney Princess. While Howard did work later in Beauty and the Beast, it was the Beast the character he was mostly drawn to and it shows, Belle's I Want song isn't as elaborate as Ariel's in comparison. And the Aladdin that we got is so distant of his original vision that we can't even say the final Jasmine was his creation. Because of that I think Ariel is the princess where he put all his love and effort and even related to her, which explains the LGBTQA+ subtext in her film, and even Jodi herself said that "Ariel is Howard". It adds such a bittersweet feeling to her character and her movie.

I completely agree with you and this is the revelation I, too, have had somewhat recently (within the past few years). Growing up, I much preferred women- I've never had a male muse for instance- and I never found myself fascinated by male celebrities or writers or the male mind, in general, when it came to a creative sense. As I've mentioned previously, I write for the original four princesses, and for the first three so much of their characterization and inspiration and physical look can be tracked back to their respective voice actresses (Adriana Caselotti, Ilene Woods, and Mary Costa). I assumed it would be the same with Ariel, and I tried to get by that way for a while, but too many bad projects that Jodi was attached to showed me otherwise. Then, I kept hearing her say in interviews over and over and over again that Ariel resided within Howard.

Initially, this honestly somewhat irritated me. It seemed to be a popular thing to say, specifically starting around 2018 that many people began to parrot, and I thought she was underselling herself. After all, she was the one who sang Part of Your World and kept the character afloat for all these years! It felt more like a performative mark she had to hit as opposed to an authentic tribute. But then, as I examined why I originally fell in love with Ariel in such a deep way, yet actively disliked the characterizations of her in the sequels- and always disliked Belle and Jasmine, but loved the Beast- it occurred to me it really was because of Howard.

This might be a controversial take, but I don't think a CIS straight person could ever fully understand or depict the scope of the character of Ariel. I think Howard really captured so much of the gay experience in her character, through her relationship with her father and with Eric, and even her sisters. Every element of the film and its storyline, down to how she feels about her sisters, is eerily realistic and close to what I feel I've experienced when coming out. I think Ariel began to trend of being the "outsider", feeling "different", and straight people attempted to replicate that with characters like Belle but it just never worked for me.

Ariel works because of the LGBT subtext, but that doesn't exist in Belle. With a writer like Linda Woolverton, it's all too apparent that Belle is a straight, white privileged character that doesn't have the same depth of character or isolating/endangering experiences as the other princesses. While Snow White or Cinderella didn't have LGBT subtext, they still grew up incredibly oppressed in abusive households with little to no resources. Snow White even survived an attempted murder and had to find her way after suddenly becoming homeless through no fault of her own. Belle is the white, conventionally attractive daughter of a wealthy landowner and her issue is...what? That she likes to read, so others view her as strange? Well, at the time Belle existed, being literate would've been viewed as a socially desirable attribute as it would've indicated her high class because that education would've been something that most people couldn't have afforded. Belle's also seen reading in public, attending a library, and even getting a free book from the person who opens the shop. I don't understand how this interest has a stigma attached to it, especially compared to Ariel not having any other friends who were interested in the human world, had to actively hide her interest from her close family and the broader public, it seemed to impact her identity and inflict dissonance upon her physical form as a mermaid, and it caused a massive rift (and even put her in physical harm) with others. Belle's love for books impacts the plot in no way or even informs her own identity. I think Belle was just a bunch of socially admired things lumped into one character and framed in an "outsider story" because they thought it would sell (Belle's stunning, but she's sick of only being valued for her beauty! Belle reads and other people ask her about what she's reading and she's even given a library at one point but it has to make her different somehow! Belle wants adventure, and has all the freedom to pursue it, but she feels repressed because of feminism!), but so little of Howard, if any, is in Belle. She doesn't even have her own song in the original film and is the first princess to have that title. Aurora, in Sleeping Beauty, might only speak eighteen lines but even she has main billing in her film and two songs she sings. With Jasmine, I think they erased so much of the Howard characterization and took the same approach as they did with Belle. Howard, originally, wanted Jasmine to be a more unlikable, spoiled character who has an arc in the film. And, honestly, I think she kind of does come off as a spoiled character...but instead of continuing with that authenticity, I keep being told as an audience that she is perfect and incapable of fault and doesn't need a character arc because she was perfect to begin with. I'd be so fascinated to see how different productions like Tangled or even Mulan would've been with Howard's influence.

#ask #anonymous #- message in a bottle < #it's so interesting #that in my 20s i connect way more to howard and the image of a baby boy in a dress than i ever did when my own life seemed to mirror that #situation early on so many times

[akwardlyuncool]

Class Favorites: Movie Ranks! (Part 2)

Welcome back for part 2 of Akward Class Favorites: Movie Rank!

If you missed Part 1, click HERE.

_____________________________________________________________

21) The Good Guy (2009)

Beth wants to find love in the big city and once she thinks she's found just that, other things including "just friends" decide to show up as well.

Now I don't want to spoil anything, but if you've been around for a while you know how we feel about "the good guy," so just sayin. Now my takeaway is that it wasn't that bad. I still gave it 3 stars and Bryan Greenberg always plays some of my favorite slightly average white guys, with slight knowledge about random things. That being said, the movie does try (for just a moment) to romanticize Lolita (yes that book) and that's not okay! So it was alright, has a little mess, but not one I'm running out of my way to recommend.

22) Odd Man Rush (2022)

A kid who dreamed of playing professional hockey grows up to get signed to the B or is it C team in odd places around the world and this time it's Sweden, but at least there's a girl to talk to in the midst of all the cold weather.

This movie also wasn't that bad, but the whole time all I could think of was knock off Patrick Fugit and when it's not giving all it can, that thought doesn't help it's chances. I like sports movies, but in the world of re-watches, it's most likely going to be on because I've seen it at least once. With my 3 stars I probably rated it higher than the folks who this movie was forced upon, so note that it's because I don't hate everything like most people seem to lol.

23) Sorority Wars (2009)

Katie always planned to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a Delta just like mother, right alongside her best friend. Things take a turn though and nothing is like it's supposed to be.

This movie screams 2009 Lifetime movie, without a teen pregnancy. It has "cat fights" with superficial mean girls and then suddenly realizing you're above the bs and fakeness. If this is your thing, eat it up and if not you saved yourself an hour and a half of pettiness and not the supper good kind.

24) The Prince & Me 2: The Royal Wedding (2006)

Paige and Edvard are set to get married in a few weeks, but some old fuddy-duddy law comes out of the woodwork in attempts to stop the marriage from taking place.

Julie Stiles is one of my favorite actresses and if I ever met her the one question I would ask (obviously if I actually met her, I'd find a way better question lol) is why doesn't she play in any of the sequels to her hit movies lol? This has always bugged me and this particular movie is the prime example as to why that is.

What I love about Paige's character in the original Prince & Me felt lost this go around and their attempts at recreating her personality fell flat. The chemistry also wasn't there between Kam Heskin and Luke Mably (Paige and Edvard) and for a romance, that's more than half the battle. The spark just didn't exist the same way at all and that's dissapointing. The other thing that made it drop, was that it ended up being a little too hijinks-y for my me. I know that's how all of these princess sequels seem to go, but I wasn't super into it this time. If those two things had been better I would have enjoyed it way more.

All that being said, I will eventually watch the 2 following sequels that I ended up not watching this year and know that anyone who consumes these movies, like me will also watch the whole franchise too. (We're the same type of people who have seen all 7 Bring It On movies, as well as all 6 Cinderella Story films.)

25) Wedding Daze (2006)

Anderson is heartbroken over the loss of the woman he intended to marry, so after a year of moping and some encouragement from his best friend he decides to propose to the waitress in the diner that they're eating at.

Now I liked this movie for all the reasons I tend to like any movie from this era of romantic comedies, however I also didn't like it for all the reasons this era doesn't always land on me if I didn't see it in it's "prime." Again it's the hijinks and the tacky humor that bring it down. I don't hate those things, but they don't always hold up a movie the way we would like them to. It's cute and does a lot of the quirky romantic comedy things we smile over, but that's just not enough here. Bonus, it does feature Inches and Falling by The Format, so major points for that.

PS: I'm also not in the business of recommending J*son B*ggs to anyone right now, so there's that.

26) Double Mommy (2016)

*TW: Sexual Assault. Ryan and Jess broke up right before summer started. Jess is still in love with Ryan, which she states to his best friend Bryce, all summer long while they hang out to pass the time. When Ryan returns home he realizes he made a mistake and wants Jess back. They immediately fall back into old habits. Upon rekindling their love however, Jess realizes that she's pregnant with twins and Ryan isn't the only father.

This was during my Lifetime teen pregnancy binge. (I just needed stuff that wasn't gonna give me too much anxiety. And what is sleep.) The title was also hella messy, so I'm like let's go! I yelled at the screen so much while watching this one cause there's simply no other way to consume these films. You saw the title, you saw my description, of course that's how I watched this ish.

I'd been watching these movies all year, but this is where I really started to rack up the numbers of "Lifetime" trash. They're hot messes of quick, so they can pump them out faster and you can down them on whatever free streaming service you choose. I only recommend these movies to those who already eat this stuff up like it's candy and bad movie nights.

27) The Cheating Pact (2013)

Rich kids have more money than time and would rather pay someone to take take their college entrance exams than to risk the disappointment from their parents, who if they pass would pull their donor strings to get them into the good college anyway.

I thought I was getting a bad Perfect Score remake and to be fair it was bad (remember these are all rated on a curve) but when they decided to add the whole true crime element to the mix and not the money laundering/embezzlement kind, it became not as "fun" for me. I was engaged, but this was just too petty, cliché and started to involve crimes that wouldn't get them slaps on the wrists, so by the end I wasn't so into it.

28) Just Peck (2009)

*TW: Talks of suicidal ideation. Michael Peck (Keir Gilchrist) isn't one of the cool sophomores and his parents are a little overbearing with the psychology and therapy parenting style, which sometimes makes things worse. Even his friends consider themselves losers. When senior Emily Donaldson (Brie Larson) decides to let him and his friend ride in her car for a lunch smoke break, suddenly Peck thinks he's made a new friend.

This is filled with all the dark, edgy humor of our teen years and sadly that's what didn't win me over with this one. If you end up watching it, you'll notice how one of the big events of the film shines light to the overarching problems of the movie as a whole. It tried to laugh away the serious issues going on with these teens, in a way that very few actually laughed at for the right reasons. It will be for some, just not for me.

29) Remember The Daze (2007)

Last day of school in 1999 the kids decide a party and cruising is how they'll live it up.

This was a terrible rip-off of my beloved Dazed and Confused. Like they literally bit the title. It had none of the essence, none of the cool and I hated all the characters, except this one kid who went around taking pictures all day. Even the antagonists aren't done well, they're just ass-hats. This movie in it's recreation tried to spotlight the problematic behavior of D&C, without making any real statements of its own and in my opinion, actually making themselves look worse.

Like one example is that they tried to re-do Matthew McConaughey's character Wooderson, you know the guy who's still hanging out with the high school crowd, and made him 10 times more uncomfortable. Not excusing Wooderson's behavior at all, but he was someone you actually kinda wanted to hang out with because you thought he was cool, his replacement however gave all of the ick to where you might need a shower after being around him for longer than 2 minutes because he actually touched you. I'm sorry they just failed miserably at the "replacements."

One of the other things that failed this movie was the fact that it gave not one 90's vibe whatsoever. It was 2007 with maybe a 90's Nokia phone. No grunge, no soundtrack, no "like totally buggin" anything! I believed none of it's attempt at being a period piece. Just overall sad really.

Basically when you rip off a classic or classics, cause I saw many others pointed out how it also took bits from Can't Hardly Wait and American Graffiti too, at least try hard to live up to that legacy. 2 and a half stars for something that could have been decent had I not seen any teen movie made prior to the release of this one.

30) Magic Mike: Last Dace (2023)

Mike thinks he's taking one last gig before he goes back into retirement, but the London socialite decides his talents are more useful than a one night stand.

Meh, this was just way passed it's prime. It feels like when you're trying to relieve the glory days, so you become a coach. I don't know, it just didn't make me desire to have a half-naked man grind on me and although that's never truly been a desire of mine, the other films did better at the attempt. Now don't get it twisted, he's still Channing Tatum and he still has the ability to make me swoon, even during this whatever, it just wasn't what I was after. All that being said, go watch it. This is the type of movie you put on for the fun of it, not because it's gonna be great.

31) Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)

College student Olivia Martin (Lacy Chabert) is being asked to take care of her 7 year old half sister, after her father and step-mother's untimely death. She must now decide if she wants to be a parent or enjoy her youth.

The movie probably deserved at least 3 stars (I gave it 2 and a half) because it wasn't that bad, but I wasn't moved and probably felt a little bored by it if I'm being completely honest. Predictable ending that could have used way more compromise than it gave. Again I watched a lot of "trash" this year cause they were fun, and although this wasn't exactly trash, it could be easily forgotten and thus why some of the actual "trash" beat it out lol.

32) Maine (2018)

Two strangers meet while hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Once their paths cross during a outdoor bathroom break, they become rather involved with one another.

This is the third Thomas Mann film on this list and although one of the more aesthetically pleasing watches, it ranked the lowest cause I couldn't figure out what it was actually trying to say. I gave it 2 and a half stars for the ending, cause it wasn't good, but I think that just means I didn't like the ending and it brought what could have been a 3 down. The movie is chill and vibe-y with some overcast and if that's your thing take the chance, just find the right place to stop and I think you'll be good.

33) Fallen (2006)

The day Aaron Corbett (Paul Wesley) turned 18, he found out that he wasn't just a teenage boy on the way to adulthood, but a Nephilim (human/angel) and now has to fight for a bigger cause than grades.

This was part of a 3 part mini-movie series back in the day on ABC Family and although I thought I'd watched it back then, I added it to this list cause I couldn't recall really anything that was happening and let it live like I had never seen it before. It wasn't good and probably felt a little overdone. I thought I might go and watch all 3 parts, but after sitting through the first one and all of it's "grand" fight scenes/family protecting, I knew I wasn't invested enough. I also thought I was getting the 2016 movie under the same name, so that probably had a negative effect on things as well. (I haven't seen the 2016 Fallen either, it's just what I thought I was going to be watching that day.)

I recommend this to the ABC Family nostalgia folks and Paul Wesley fans. That being said Bryan Cranston is in the other 2 parts, so maybe it might be worth testing the rest of the series out, just to see lol.

34) What Goes Up (2009)

*TW: Talks about subjects of suicide and inappropriate relationships between adults and minors. The misfits find one teacher they can trust and when that teacher dies and a new figure appears in his wake, will they too trust him in that same fashion? Campbell Babbit (Steve Coogan) is put on a newspaper assignment, to get off of writing about the woman he obsessively writes about at current. They want to get him onto more world news. like the Challenger Space Shuttle launch. He ends up slipping into the life of an old college buddy that has passed away, thinking he can figure out the students his friend left behind and maybe tell someone else’s story for a change.

This is the only movie that got a full review on the blog this year, so I won't rehash everything, however I will say that I totally get why it's this far down on the list. The ick just sat with me for most of the watch and upon it's conclusion I wasn't confident that things were cleared up, so I'm not sure I want anyone else to sit through that either. It's a dark film, with that misfit teen edginess that draws some people in and if you wanted to take a peak, on you, but not one I don't wave the red flag for.

35) Guilty At 17 (2014)

What happens when you believe your friend when they tell you they were assaulted by your teacher, but you're not 100% sure they were telling you the truth? Guilt is a strong feeling.

The movie doesn't go full mask off into the whole "women lie" territory, however it does act as the what-if, devils advocate, to that belief. It rides the line of that narrative too close for me to be like "yeah lets go!." You're upset and irritated for most of the movie and the story it was trying to tell wasn't even done well. The guilt that looms the whole time was the "heart beating underneath the floorboards" and at a certain point you're over waiting for the big reveal. This one I watched because Chloe Rose from Degrassi and Erin Sanders from Zoey 101 were in it. I'm pulled by anything with Degrassi Alumni. If you like movies that play unnecessary devil's advocates, go for it, but this is not one I'll be quick to recommend to the toxic masses.

36) Double Daddy (2015)

*TW: Sexual Assault. Cameron's life is turned upside down when he finds out his girlfriend and the new girl at school are both pregnant, supposedly by him.

Just like Double Mommy, this movie is UNHINGED! They both have similar plots, but this one adds more of that "ticket to the good life" aspect that so many people love. Although unhinged keeps you engaged for sure, there was a lot of off personality moments that you get tired of real quick. Remember the curve and all that ish, not everything that's bad is good and not all of them will make it to the coveted 3 stars.

Double Daddy and Double Mommy are ones that I absolutely would recommend... for bad movie night. Like this is a true LET'S GO! for the category. And you have to subject yourself to both, because of course you do.

37) Beautiful Disaster (2023)

*Based on a book of the same name by Jamie McGuire. Let's avoid the "bad-guy" that's totally not good for us, but find a way to sleep in his apartment and maybe even his bed every night. You know, until your "bad-girl" past starts to be the real issue.

Y'all know how much I don't like New-Adult books and the movie adaptations are just as egregiously bad. No I did not read this book (or at least I don't think I did, but if I had it would have been a million years ago and my memory of the books I would have finished in a day isn't great) however if you've read a couple, you've read plenty.

I'm tired of bad boys who aren't bad boys and love stories that revolve around 18/19/20 year old girls/women who find themselves engrossed in men/boys, but in a completely toxic ways. It's one thing if it's about new experiences and growth and young love, riding the high of something, but it's a whole other deal when you take that and have allowed yourself to barely even breathe before you say how high you're gonna jump with this person. I didn't get to watch an After movie this year, so this is the After stand-in. I will say that it's not as toxic as After, but the rushing to be all in, was just as present here as it was there.

Now side note, I'm not saying that Dylan Sprouse is unattractive or a bad actor, but once again I don't believe his performance as these particular characters, in these particular movies that he's playing. I don't know, maybe the stories just don't sell any of this to me and I just want to say "nope" to it all.

All of that being said, yes I will watch the sequel coming out in 2024 because even when it's bad, like 2 stars bad, that toxicity keeps me coming back for more. You know, just to see. Disclaimer though: I can tell that these things aren't good and I don't want relationships like them, which is why I can separate myself when I watch them, but if you can't do that and you're idolizing these characters, you need to touch a little grass and find better influences. Just sayin.

38) Stalked At 17 (2012)

CW: Teenager has relationship with a guy who's already graduated. You're young and in love, so a pregnancy should strengthen that love, but sometimes love doesn't conquer all and sometimes it gets violent and won't let you go.

I'll say that this movie wasn't great, but you already predicted that, so I'll say that you spend most of the time irritated, cause no we should not trust guys who can't find girls their own age to put up with their bs and who carry their violent flags on their sleeves with them. To be fair said she's only 17, so her not seeing all the RED makes sense. It also ended up here because the ending was trash and brought the rest of the movie down with it. Not worth it, unless you want to see a guy named Chad live up to the worst version of what the Chad stereotype can be and then get even more mad when the ending screws you over lol.

39) Locked Away (2010)

You're pregnant and although your boyfriend is supportive, because your mom is not, you still look for other maternal figures to get advice from. You better choose wisely though, cause not everyone is innocent.

I promise that this is the last Lifetime Teen pregnancy movie on this list lol, but I can see how 5 or so of them out of 41 is a lot. I mainly pulled this one out because it has Jake Thomas of Lizzie McGuire in it and you know how nostalgic cast members can pull me with a quickness. Despite the casting pull, this one was far too unrealistic true-crime for me and I can only take so much murder being added into spaces it does not need to be. Like these writers must sit there and go "let's sprinkle in a murder just for the funzies of it." There was also a lot of random trust given too, that suspended my belief systems while watching and I was not in line. Basically give me less murderous true crime and mindless trust and you might score higher.

40) American Satan (2017)

A bi-continental band from the U.S and UK named the Relentless decide to forgo college for LA and ultimately Rock & Roll. To get to their dreams however, they might have to sell their souls to the devil.

Oh man was this one bad. I started it a while back, like years ago but never finished it, cause it didn't sit right with me and now having seen the whole thing I get why. I've seen other "sell your soul to the devil" movies, the 1986 Crossroads is a great example, but American Satan does not tell that story well. This movie doesn't even make a statement or tell me something real and honestly I don't even know if I was supposed to enjoy it. I do consider this one to be actual trash.

I didn't know this until I got to the spin-off TV show Paradise City, which I also watched because of Cameron Boyce, but Ash Avildsen of Sumerian Records wrote and directed this mess. If you're part of the alt scene, I'm sure you would have heard that Ash is kinda trash himself, especially because of what he said about Covid and booster shots on the record label's social media page, not even his personal page. Again I didn't put two and two together before watching, but after seeing how he's personally behaved, it gives this film extra red flags.

Now this movie doesn't speak to vaccines or anything like that, it came pre-vid, however one of its major flags is it taking the allegations that get talked about in the real world scene, pertaining to adult band members and potential minor fans, and using that not once but twice as large plot points. Sure we're talking Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll, but it's a really bad look, to on multiple occasions use something many are actively trying to fight against in the scene and to me reducing that to " fame-drama" that "just happens" and something that can be skated by. So writing that multiple times, unnecessarily, definitely gives me the whole trash can. (Or maybe Ash just doesn't know how to tell a good "groupie" story? If that's even what he's trying to convey?)

Beyond that seriousness, one of my personal grievances was the fact that Andy Biersack (of Black Veil Brides) who actually has a very decent singing voice was dubbed and ended up sounding worse. How you gon take one of the biggest artists from your record label and do them so dirty like that? Also, and this is a hella hella side note, I think Andy is SO attractive, but his spicy scenes between the movie and the show were so unsexy that they were a little painful to watch lol.

Basically it was so bad that I wouldn't even recommend it to fans of the bands they got to act in the movie. Hope these guys get more work in the future, cause I would hate for this to be their acting legacy.

41) Last Day Of Summer (2009)

Joe (DJ Qualls) has been picked on his whole life and even as an adult his manager and coworkers are still laying the torment on pretty thick. One day Joe decides he's gonna do something about it and was almost brave enough, but ends up kidnapping an innocent woman instead.

This is one of, if not the most incel movie I've ever seen. Not to spoil anything, but one of the major plots of this movie is literally based on a look he thought this woman gave him. That's why all of the other ish takes place; a damn look! I have a list of the actual worst movies I've ever seen, movies that you don't show at bad movie night and in 2023 I added the second film, this one. I'm a DJ Qualls fan and he plays the nerdy, awkward kid that gets picked on, very well, but I'm sad and a little embarrassed, even for the characters that he plays, that this movie is apart of his filmography. Don't do it, not worth whatever idea you think you're going to get yourself into.

#AKWARD CLASS FAVORITES #Class Favorites 2023 #Movies #American Satan #Lifetime Movies #Beautiful Disaster #Remember The Daze #DJ Qualls #Lacy Chabert #Movie Reviews