#a beautiful human and spectacular writer !!!

[thislovintime]

Photo 4 by Henry Diltz.

A look at some specific books mentioned by Peter over the years...

- How To Play the Five-String Banjo: "Pete Seeger’s book was very, very good. He’s a lively writer as well as a very good musician, a good teacher, good, very enthusiastic kind of all around person. So it was very good to learn from his book. And I recommend the book highly if anybody ever wanted to learn how to play folk-style five-string banjo, his is the book to learn from.” - Peter, Headquarters radio, 1989 (x)

- Naked Lunch: “In Melbourne last night Peter Tork said that Sydney airport Customs officers had seized from his bag the banned book ‘The Naked Lunch,’ by William Burroughs. A Customs officer had taken one look at the book and said, ‘I’ll have that. It’s banned here.’ […] ‘It is a good book,’ Tork said. 'I was just getting interested it. It’s sold out everywhere back home. I didn’t know it was banned here.’” - The Sydney Morning Herald, September 17, 1968 (x)

- Letters to a Young Poet: One question posed to Peter for the Ask Peter Tork column in 2008 was, “Do you think [becoming a writer is] worth a try, or do you suggest I 'keep my day job'?” From Peter's reply: “What writers I know of say is, if you want to be a writer, you’re probably not going to do very well. If you must write, then write! Do you see the difference? Rainer Marie Rilke wrote 'Letters to a Young Poet,' which I recommend on this point. (It’s a small book, and cheap at the bookstore, and free at your library.)”

 -Why Do I Say Yes When I Need To Say No?: Escaping The Trap Of Temptation by Michelle McKinney Hammond: “Some years ago there was a movement afoot to separate assertiveness from aggressiveness, which I heartily endorse to this day. 'Why Do I Say Yes When I Mean No,' is, I believe the name of one book that tackles this subject.” - Peter, Ask Peter Tork, 2008

- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: “I recommend sitting in Zen meditation. The best book I know for that is Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki. It’s all about watching your own mind rather than obeying it as tho’ it were the infallible voice of the truth.” - Peter, Ask Peter Tork, 2008

- The Sayings of Buddha: “The Sayings of Buddha (a small, inexpensive book you can find in almost any book store) always rests on the night-table beside my bed. I find that ancient wisdom, meditation and contemplation puts my mind in order and brings me great serenity. These things also broaden my scope of understanding.” - Peter, 16, September 1968

- Stranger in a Strange Land: “One of my favorite books now is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. It’s about the orphan child of the first Martian explorers. He grows to twenty-one years of age before he’s discovered by the second expedition to Mars which rescues him. He comes back to Earth, having been raised by the Martians — really fascinating!" - Peter, Fave, March 1968

- More Than Human: “Another writer I dig is Theodore Sturgeon, one of the greatest science fiction writers alive today. He visited our set one day and we were all very thrilled. He’s a visionary and a mystic, really one of the giant talents of the day. I hope everybody reads him. He wrote a book called More Than Human and a lot of other novels and short stories.” - Peter, Fave, March 1968

Q: "You read a book a day. Of all the books you have read, which three are your favorites and why?" A: "No, I don’t read a book a day. I sometimes spend weeks on a book. Of all the books I’ve read, my favorites are 'The Book Of [Tao],' 'Stranger In A Strange Land' and oh, I don’t know, a whole mess of other books, because they turn me on—they get to me." - Monkee Spectacular, January 1968

- The Book of Tao: “Peter also reads The Book of the Tao… all about an ancient Chinese nature philosophy with some simple, beautiful and meaningful messages in it. He studies all kinds of different religions, too. Peter has now figured out his own religion, what seems closest to Truth for him. It’s the result of much studying, thinking and sorting out. Peter was also influenced by the Oriental philosophies Zen. ‘Zen Buddhism believes in the theory of sudden enlightenment or sudden awakening. This idea is Japanese. I believe that Truth can just come to you in a sudden flash and you’ll know where it’s all at, if you prepare yourself to receive it. ‘Zen also teaches that you should just go along and live your life as best you can from minute to minute, always living in the present. You’re already there and there’s nothing else. If you can make the most of each day, accomplish and learn all you can now, you’ll get so much more done in your lifetime than if you sit around waiting for tomorrow to come. Because when tomorrow gets here it’s just another today. You end up just waiting and putting things off and nothing ever gets done. So, try to make each minute count!’” - Fave, March 1968

- Upanishads: "[Peter] starts clowning around [on set], but after a bit he settles down and starts reading a book. He sees you looking and explains, ‘This is a book of some of the excerpts of the Upanishads. Actually, these are excerpts from ancient Hindu writings. I guess you could say that in a sense they are like the Bible, only they were written many centuries before the old testament.’ Peter stops speaking for a moment. ‘Am I boring you?’ he asks gently. After you assure him that he is not boring anyone, he continues, ‘Well, the Upanishads are simply but beautifully written. I mean, they are quite easy to understand. You can buy the Mentor pocket edition for about 50 cents —′ Just about that time, Peter becomes aware of 16’s camera focusing on him. He promptly becomes a clown again, laughing and joking and holding his book myopically up to his eyes. You realize that you have just had a glimpse of the real Peter Tork — the sensitive, sincere young man who hides behind the veneer of a silly-funny Monkee. And it makes you feel very warm that for a brief moment you have glimpsed Peter Tork’s secret self." - 16, February 1968

- Autobiography of a Yogi: As Henry Diltz recalled (in Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time), “I remember giving one to Peter on The Monkees set. I did a group shot of them sitting on a couch and he was reading the Yogananda book. I always felt so good about that.”

#Peter Tork #Tork quotes #long read #1967 #1968 #2008 #The Monkees #Monkees #bookworm Peter :) #if anyone's looking for additions to a reading list... #love his mind #more for the solid Tork advice files #Headquarters Radio #16 Magazine #Fave Magazine #Monkee Spectacular #Ask Peter Tork #The Sydney Morning Herald #can you queue it

[ordinaryschmuck]

Why do I love Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse?

Aside from the fact that it's about my favorite superhero of all time? Let me count the ways...

The animation. I already know I'm not blowing any minds here, but good word, the animation is SPECTACULAR! By blending CGI models with hand-drawn elements, this is the only experience in a superhero movie that made me feel like a comic book has been brought to life. You might say that "it's not live-action," but that's beside the point. 90% of most MCU movies are practically animated, aside from the 10% that have actual humans on screen. So you should have no qualms when this beautiful masterpiece of a film manages to make you feel like you're watching a comic in motion, to the point where you could pause any frame of animation and turn it into a comic panel. Sidenote, if they make this movie into a graphic novel, I would absolutely buy it. I don't care if it's pointless when I could just watch the movie. Give me that graphic novel version of this gorgeous film.

The opening logos are unironically jaw-dropping. They flash through the many variations each insignia could have/has gone through, giving you a taste of the insanity of what this movie will bring. It also plays into what happens to the characters, meaning that while the story hasn't started yet, we're still given a heavy dose of foreshadowing.

The CCA stamp doesn't get enough credit. For those who don't know, back in the day, comics had to adhere to the Comics Code Authority's regulations, sticking their CCA stamp onto every cover to ensure parents that what was inside was kid friendly. It got to the point where no one took it seriously anymore, and the stamp became an irrelevant system that almost always failed to point out the age demographic for comics. The fact that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is rated PG makes the callback even funnier.

The opening narration. It introduces us to this universe's version of Peter Parker, who's basically the every-man in the Spider-Man universe (The every-Spider-Man?). He features the highest highs and lowest lows of Spider-Man, showcasing his history and origins in a way that fans will adore while making something entertaining for the 1% of people who somehow never heard of Spider-Man.

Miles' introduction is close to perfection. Making him an artist already earns some relatability points from yours truly but having him jam out to music while doing it turns him into one of my favorite characters that I see myself in. I can't count the number of times I'm drawing something, and I get lost in the music playing in my headphones. I've known this character for less than a minute, and I already see a lot of myself in him. The fact that he procrastinated getting ready and did it all in a rush is just the cherry on top. And given how I look whiter than the snow on a Christmas day and Miles looks...very much not that, I already feel like the writers are doing something right if I see myself in someone like him. Most writers go the route of making a character's race or ethnicity their only character trait. There are some good intentions in that somewhere, but writers forget that without things like personalities, interests, and desires, the character's race does not matter. They're still going to be boring. Give me more Miles Morales, less of the hollowed shells called human beings that you find on the CW.

The one-take of Miles walking through his neighborhood mirroring/contrasting with his walk through school does well to visually explain the disconnect he feels about being in a new school and an unfamiliar environment.

I love Miles' dad. I'll get more to the emotional stuff later, but Jefferson Davis starts out great as someone strict but still trying hard to connect with Miles. It's genuinely heartwarming to see. Plus, that "I love you, Dad" scene…I mean, come on!

The montage of Miles' first day does well in showcasing the pressure the character is feeling. Maybe I'm still relating so much to Miles, but I felt how hard his day was for him.

The video of Olivia Octavius is some solid foreshadowing of the multiversal madness ahead and even better foreshadowing of who Olivia is, considering that Miles JUST blocks her last name. This scene also introduces us to Gwen while subtly hinting at who she is by Miles briefly saying, "I've never seen you around here before.”

Community is playing on Uncle Aaron's TV...That's it. I watched all of Community last year and grew to appreciate seeing a reference or two about it showing up.

Miles' moment with Uncle Aaron is sweet. It shows how things are easy between them, and Miles can rant about anything to the laid-back person his uncle is, in contrast to the eggshells Miles seems to dance around when dealing with his dad. Plus, Aaron showing off the shoulder touch pays off for two great scenes in the future. Not to mention his "hey" sends this bisexual a little...haywire.

Miles spray painting the wall is touching for two reasons. For one, it proves how much sweeter this universe's Aaron is. In other iterations, he manipulates Miles, searching for ulterior motives, primarily for Aaron's selfish gain. Here, it's clear he genuinely cares about his nephew, wanting to share this moment with Miles and have fun in a way the two should. It's also touching to see Miles express himself. We got a taste of his phenomenal talent near the beginning, but to see him make that masterpiece that he made proves how much of an artist he really is. It really is the best way to make this Miles not only unique but also engaging. 

The spray paint getting sprayed on the corner of the screen is also a nice touch. They didn’t have to do it, but they did, and I love it.

The Spider bite. The thing that fundamentally changes Miles' life, and the lives of other Spider-People before him, for now, and forever...and he swats it like it was nothing. That's...incredible.

Miles reacting to his spider bite, however, leads to a collection of great moments that are awkward as they are hilarious. 

By the way, have I mentioned that this movie is funny? And not in your face with it like other Marvel movies. I mean that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is naturally funny, having great jokes that work well within the situation while never stealing away from the moment. I won't go over all the humorous moments, but I'll definitely talk about my favorites.

Like Miles' interaction with Gwen post-spider bite. It's awkward in all the right ways, and his facial expression as he stiffly places his hand on her shoulder cracks me up every time.

The "Who's Morales?" bit is iconic. I told you, this movie is just naturally funny!

Using the Amazing Fantasy comic cover as a reference is great. It's the comic that gave us the best superhero ever made, so it's nice of the animators to throw that in as a callback, honoring the contribution it made to humanity.

By the way, it used to bother me how Peter Parker allowed a comic to detail his backstory, but it just now occurred to me that the Peter Parker in the comic looks vastly different from the one in that universe. That, coupled with the knowledge that he has licensed merch, proves that he allowed this comic as long as the artists made sure his identity remained secret. Just another little detail that makes this movie amazing.

Speaking of small details, I love that Miles has a lot of contacts on his phone. Both his contacts and that one-take in the beginning show that he's a social kid instead of an outcast like Peter, which is nice. It’s for the best that this movie shows that Miles is his own person than a mixed-race Spider-Man 

Another fact is that his comic creators are in there too. That's a cute thing to include.

The visual explanation for Miles' spider sense is remarkable. I always get chills with the words "LOOK OUT," illustrating that it's silently screaming in his brain. Gah, such a good scene! Can you marry a scene? Because I want to marry this scene. It's easily my favorite in anything Spider-Man-related.

Peter's fight with Green Goblin is INSANE! Admittingly, when I first watched this movie, it was a little hard to tell what was going on due to so much happening all at once. But, after seeing it for the fiftieth time, I can certainly say that I appreciate how off-the-wall Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse gets with its action, especially with this first fight scene. It's only a taste of what's to come, and I'm glad the film slowly eases you into the more insane scenes by prepping you with a moment like this.

Peter Parker’s introduction to Miles is perfect. The writers do everything right, starting with Peter breaking the ice with a joke, attempting to cool Miles off from his first near-death experience, only to get serious once Peter realizes what Miles is exactly. And I adore how Peter calmly approaches the situation, reassuring Miles that while things will change whether he likes it or not, Peter will be there to help him. Peter doesn't even hesitate when he volunteers to mentor Miles. You get the sense that Peter's excited about it, and, gosh dang it, these writers really did a great job in making him the Every-Spider-Man.

Miles recording Peter's fight with Prowler...Because of f**king course, he does. Wouldn't you?

Kingpin's the villain! This is cool because, while he's mostly remembered as a Daredevil villain nowadays, it's great that this movie recognizes that he started off as a member of Spider-Man's rouge's gallery. And, sure, he lacks the depth that Vincent D'Onofrio had in Daredevil. But he's still pretty threatening and even terrifying, being the character that allows this movie to earn its PG rating. 

Plus, his motivation is...good enough. It's not the best thing in the world, but it works just enough to be believable for this character, all while explaining why he's working hard to, you know, break the universe. So, yeah, a solid villain for one of the best superhero movies of all time.

The fact that it's Peter Parker that technically caused the other Spider-People to show up is amazing to me. It proves that without meaning to, he still manages to find a way to save the day. Even if that means pulling other Spider-People from their dimensions...which is ultimately killing them. Yeah, isn't that just classic Peter Parker bad luck for ya?

Also, heh, you can see Peter B. Parker and the others fly away from the explosion. That's funny.

Peter's last words to Miles...Wow. It's one of those moments you know that he knows that he's not going to make it out this time. So, in his last moments, Peter offers as much advice as he can to Miles, telling him what needs to be done and how to do it. What I love most is the fact that he still cracks jokes and still gives Miles the false hope that he'll "catch up," showing that, above all else, Peter cares about making people feel safe and secure. Again, he really is the Every-Spider-Man...Or was, at least.

Peter's eye-roll at Prowler. Even at death, he's still making us laugh.

Miles is a coward...It feels weird to say that's something I love about this film, but it's true. Miles starting off as someone who runs and hides instead of trying to help Peter Parker does the job to make it even more satisfying when Miles eventually does find courage and confidence in being a Spider-Man. 

Also, his guilt seems more reasonable here than it does in the comics. Miles' guilt in the comics stems from not being there to help Ultimate Peter Parker, even though there's not really anything Miles could have done to help, and Peter was already as good as dead before Miles knew he could help. Here, while it's a lot more likely Miles could die, I do understand his guilt as he's right there and able to do something rather than nothing. So not only does Miles' cowardice set up a great character arc, but it also does its job in making him feel better guilt than his comic counterpart. So, nice job all around.

This version of The Prowler is amazing. His motif, his outfit, his silent badassery. It’s just so perfect.

Miles runs home to his family and not to the school...because his family is where he feels the safest. That just hit me--GAH, THIS MOVIE'S GREAT!

Miles' mom is so sweet. She's mostly remembered for one line, reassuring Miles that their family doesn't run away from things, but that one line proves to you all what you need to know: She's there to tell Miles what he needs to hear, even though she doesn't entirely know how much he needed to hear it. Such a great mom.

New York's reaction to Spider-Man's death. You feel it in everybody, literally everybody. Just the number of people showing up to his funeral proves how much he earned the title of "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."

Best. Stan Lee cameo. Ever. This movie came out a month after Stan Lee passed away, and I feel like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse did the best job of honoring him. Spider-Man really is Stan's greatest co-creation (with help from Steve Ditko, of course), and the best Spider-Man movie being one of the last he made an appearance in really hits hard. RIP, Stan. Thank you and Steve Ditko for the hero that is loved by all.

It's also neat that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has a better reason why Miles is wearing a Halloween costume when dressing up as Spider-Man. It was done in the comics to make him easily hide his identity, but it's also in poor taste, to the point where even the characters in the comics point out how it's poor taste. Here, Miles buys the costume in tribute to Spider-Man when going to Peter Parker's funeral, like a lot of people have done. And, well, he already has it, so he might as well continue to use it. Man, this movie really is trying to make Miles' origin story better than it was in the comics, huh?

This movie manages to do the "Jump/Pussy" scene from Venom, and not only is it funnier, but it's also done better. At first, you're laughing at Miles giving up despite the music epically building up about how he's about to jump. But then, after he gives up the first time, he tries again, using a smaller building because he thinks it'll be easier. This movie took a funny scene, then twisted it to visually tell us how determined Miles is to do the right thing! You see, Venom? This is how you actually make a good movie!

Peter B. Parker's narration does a great job of underlining the contrast between him and Peter Parker (also, for consistency, I'll be calling him Peter B. for the rest of the review. It's simpler). While Peter's narration reveals to us his success and zeal for the life he has, Peter B.'s is all about his failures and how much he's given up on life. Already, it's a quick and easy way of proving how different both Peters are, and I don't mind it. Primarily because each narration works well for the film's main running joke and because Peter B.'s is the funniest because what he says clashing with what is shown. I still laugh at that hard cut of him crying in the shower, as mean as that sounds.

The seahorse bit. I mean, come on. The fact that he gets choked up about seahorses mating for life always gets to me.

While Peter B. is getting sucked into the portal, knowing there's no stopping it, his first priority is to get his mask. That tells me that despite how far life beat him with the bad luck stick, he still knows the number one rule of being Spider-Man: Always bring your mask. 

Also, he tries to save the pizza...which makes me chuckle. I won't lie.

Peter B. and Miles getting pulled/dragged through the city is the best type of chaos. It's great knowing that while the animation is perfect for some epic fight scenes, it also has some impeccable slapstick.

Peter B. is the Spider-Man that rejects the code: With great power comes great responsibility. That part of Peter B. always intrigues me, and it makes sense. He was beaten down because of great responsibility, so even though it was the last words of his Uncle Ben, he'd rather live without them. Yet that doesn't mean he's done with being a good person. He's tired and burnt out, sure. But he still helps Miles once realizing that he can't just walk away from someone that needs him. It presents an interesting dynamic, for while Peter B. has to teach Miles how to be Spider-Man, Miles is there to help Peter B. remember how to be Spider-Man. Not a lot of people bring that up, and it's what I admire about their relationship.

I don't know about you all, but the diner scene always makes me want burgers and fries, without fail. It just makes the food look so good! Too bad it comes from a restaurant with a C-grade health code...Oh, so that's why it closed down six years ago in Peter B.'s universe.

Aside from their narrations, Peter B.'s advice also clashes with Peter's. Peter B. always offers more practical stuff, telling Miles what to do so he won't lose his mind while being Spider-Man. It works with Peter B.'s character and, once again, proves how he couldn't be further different from Peter Parker. With that said, Peter B. still offers great advice from time to time. Granted, it's when things are actually serious and during danger, but, hey, at least he tries.

Peter B. and Miles thinking is perfect and earned being a meme.

Peter B. coming up with the plan. It proves that he's both intuitive for coming up with it so quickly and simple-minded in thinking it would be that easy. Plus, Miles' interjections offer great humor.

Peter B. saying teenagers are the worst always gets a chuckle out of me because of the fact that Spider-Man is the superhero widely remembered for being a teenager.

Olivia Octavius. GOOD! GOLLY! MISS MOLLY, what a twist! Now, there are a few minuscule hints making it more obvious in hindsight, like the octagon decorating surrounding her and what looks like an arm prototype behind Peter B. With that said, however, I WAS SHOCKED IN THEATERS! This kooky lady who, at first, seems ecstatic to see Peter B. turns out to be an alternate version of one of his worst enemies and was actually fascinated by how he got there and how to kill him. Such a good scene that never fails to give me chills!

And the fight that comes after it is equally intense, fun, and epic.

The funniest moment in the movie is the monitor gag. That is all.

BAGEL! By the way, someone actually cosplayed as that scientist who got BAGELED! Not really a fun fact about the movie, but it is a fun fact about life.

Gwen's narration is probably the most beneficial. Nearly everybody knows about Peter Parker, and I think enough people know about Miles, but I'm not sure how well-known Spider-Gwen was before the movie (and, yes, I know she's called Spider-Woman or Ghost Spider. It's just that Spider-Gwen's more fun to say. Leave me alone). People might know of her but not so much about her whole deal and origins. So, it helps that the movie flies by her origins, telling newcomers what they need to know and leaving them to learn the rest from her comics.

Also, Gwen, come on. Miles is the reason you got that dope haircut in the first place. Let him compliment it.

ALSO also, Gwen's a pretty fun character. I have some problems with how she's in the story, but I do love her punk-rock personality and how she's basically the only Spider-Person with a functioning brain cell...Except for that Gwanda bit, but we don't talk about that. Despite some flaws, Gwen's a character with a lot of humor and solid character interactions, especially with Miles.

Gwen and Miles are adorable together. Have I mentioned that? Because it's true. They don't have much time to develop their relationship (that's for future movies to do), but the time they do have is still pretty darn cute.

Kingpin's flashback is beautifully animated while also paying homage to the art style of the comic his design is based on. It's pretty cool that this already brilliantly animated movie still manages to find different ways to look gorgeous.

This movie has the best Aunt May. Don't argue, Raimi nerds! You know it's true! She kicks ass, accepting of Peter's secret, looks old, and has some pretty snappy one-liners. You see this woman and understand how Peter Parker came to be the man he is--Er, was. If you have a problem with this Aunt May, you can take it up with the baseball bat she used to beat Tombstone. Tombstone! How can you hate an old woman who can do that?!

As for May's interaction with Peter B., it's--Say it with me now--perfect. They're both basically meeting ghosts of people they loved, and May and Peter B. interact the same as if it was the version of each other they've always known. There is genuine heartbreak and love in each of their voices, and you feel every bit of it. Even the jokes about Peter B. being fat and wearing sweatpants doesn't spoil the moment but add to it, showing May's distaste over a version of her nephew letting himself go. It's snark, but snark from the love of a woman who's basically his mother. What did you expect?

The Spider-Cave is awesome! Little weird that Peter Parker, a character known for being as poor as dirt in the comics, has this, but then you remember something: The merchandise. This was a Peter who whored himself out with cereal, Christmas albums, and so-so popsicles. Heck, even the Spider-Buggy, also from the comics, was promotional material. This means that Peter Parker made BANK on the stuff he made, so much so that he was able to afford a cave that would make Batman jealous. It might not be one-for-one the exact explanation for how he has it, but the movie offers enough information to make it a reasonable conclusion anyway.

I want a Spider-Noir movie. I don't care if it's animated or not. I want a gosh dang Spider-Noir movie. And it has to be played by Nicholas Cage. It wouldn't be right if it wasn't because he’s the reason that Spider-Noir is the funniest character in the movie.

I love that every single Spider-Person is totally on board with staying behind and leaving their homes forever if it's the only way to get the others back to where they belong. They're definitely Spider-People, alright. Nobel sacrifices like that are all a part of the DNA.

The scene where the others put a lot of pressure on Miles results in complicated feelings. On the one hand, it's not cool for them to do this. On the other, you understand why. This isn't the typical stopping a mugger or fighting a c-lister. This is a fight to save the multiverse with dozens of people who will make the mission all the more dangerous. The pressure they're making Miles feel is close to what they'll be dealing with in the fight with Kingpin, so what they're doing is somewhat validated through the current circumstances. I may not like it, but I do understand it.

And I've got to give Peter B. credit for being both Miles' hype man and telling the other Spider-People to cool it with the pressure. Out of all of them, he understands Miles a little better and wants to keep the poor boy sane. It's pretty sweet.

Jefferson reaching out to Aaron is also pretty dang heartwarming. You can tell there's some definite tension between the two, but they're still brothers. Family loves family, no matter the mistakes (unless your family is reasonably toxic, in which case, you cut them out yesterday). Jefferson reaching out is a testament to that...Even if Aaron might not have deserved it--Yeah, let's get into that.

The reveal of Aaron being the Prowler...Where do I even begin? Fellow comic nerds already knew this was coming, but that doesn't stop this reveal from hurting. The part that gets me is the score. It expertly portrays the amount of fear and betrayal Miles is feeling at this moment, to the point where you don't even need to see what's happening to understand something tragic is going down.

The chase scene that follows is also pretty intense, added with the red sky and the several moments where Miles barely gets away. It's...You know what it is. It's f**king perfect.

Scorpion looks cool. A little weird, sure, but still pretty badass and intimidating.

My favorite fight in the movie might just be the Spider-People battling the...Fearsome Fivesome? Alright, whatever they're called, they're part of a fun and chaotic fight scene, with playing keep away with the Goober being what adds much-needed tension.

Uncle Aaron's death. I love that they let Aaron die a good man, willing to back down so Miles could go free. It's definitive proof that he actually cared for his nephew, to the point where the first thing Aaron felt upon realizing it was Miles was pure fear. Like, "Oh, crap! Not only did I almost kill my brother's son, but this boy is now in some deep s**t! I gotta help him!" And I appreciate that the writers made Aaron a decent human being rather than a diabolical scumbag who wanted to take advantage of Miles or a coward who tried to kill him because he was too scared to fail Kingpin. Even when Aaron's dying, the first thing he does is apologize for letting Miles down, a sentiment that's as sweet as it is tragic. Aaron may not have been a perfect man, but he died wanting to protect Miles, the love for his nephew overshadowing his greed. And I think that redemption is worth everything.

And, MAN, is his death a gut punch! The writers certainly succeeded in giving Miles his Uncle Ben Moment, with Aaron's last words being motivational in telling Miles to "keep going" and how he's the best of them. It's a bittersweet moment, and Miles' dad mistaking Miles to be Aaron's killer doesn't make things any better.

What is sweet, though, is how all the Spider-People are there for Miles, sharing the tragedy they all went through and confirming that the hardest part about being Spider-Man is losing the people you love. And the biggest miracle is that THE CARTOON PIG DOESN'T RUIN THIS MOMENT! Seriously, what does it say about this movie where the character who's practically a Looney Tune manages to keep the emotional weight of the scene going?

Peter B. being tough with Miles...Ouch. It was necessary. Peter B. was doing it as one final test, giving Miles one last chance that he could come through when it matters. The others were even right outside his window, ready and hoping to let Miles join them. But it wasn't meant to be, and it stings to see Miles at this low point. Thankfully, he has someone to pull him out of this funk.

Jefferson's talk with Miles...Told you I'd get to the emotional stuff. But joking aside, this scene...left my eyes a little steamy this time around. Jefferson visually meets Miles halfway and pours his heart out, sharing the feelings Jefferson usually kept guarded except for a moment when it mattered. Sure, Jefferson doesn't know all the facts about the current tragedy he and Miles are going through, but the words he provides give Miles the spark he needs. The spark that Jefferson has always seen in Miles. And the spark that Miles uses to free himself to take that one last step to being Spider-Man. Or, rather, one last leap.

The "What's Up Danger" scene. Do I really need to explain what makes this scene incredible? I know I keep saying the word perfect a lot with this review, but that's really the best way to describe so much of this movie, especially with this moment. The visuals of Miles rising instead of falling and swinging through the city in succession are awe-inspiring. The score mixing in Miles' hero motif with "What's Up Danger," resulting in a moment that's as pleasant on the ears as it is on the eyes. All of it culminates together for a scene that delivers all of the hype, creating a moment where Miles is no longer Miles Morales. He's f**king Spider-Man. And he earned that title.

Also, a small thing, I love that Miles' suit is one of Peter Parker's, but spray-painted black with Miles' interpretation of the Spider-Man logo. It shows Miles stepping into Peter Parker's shoes but doing it in his own style. It's just a great little detail that not a lot of people mention.

Did Kingpin seriously throw a memorial service for the guy he killed? What a filthy, disgusting man...I love him!

The bread scene is hilarious. It involves a pointless character, but I can't help but crack up at how Peter B.'s attempt to find closure with MJ is through him apologizing about not getting her table bread. Peter B. saying, "I want to fill this room up with bread," is just the cherry on top this hilarious sundae.

I really dig Olivia saying, "Goodbye, Peter Parker." You can tell by the way she said it that she wanted to be the one to kill Spider-Man.

Miles coming in to deliver that punch at Doc Ock is a laptop background in the making.

I love how in a situation where the universe is crumbling apart around them, and bad guys are shooting at them all, THAT is the moment when Peter B. realizes that he wants kids. I'm telling you, most of the time, this movie is just naturally funny.

As for the situation they're in, the collider fight is, without a doubt, the most insane final battle in a Spider-Man movie. All the universes merging and tearing the place apart forces the characters to fight as the environment morphs and forms around them, making it a battle where anything could go down. It results in a pretty fun climax, and I love how the colors match the light tone this fight is going for...remember that. It's gonna come back later.

Spider-Ham DESTROYING Scorpion after he dissed cartoons is an exact representation of what the animation community wants to do when someone calls animation kids' stuff or silly. Let it be known that we'd wreck your shop too if we could.

I love how Miles swinging up to the top of the collider incorporates lessons from both Peter Parkers. Obviously, there's the way Miles copied his universe's Peter moves to get up there, but stealing away the Goober by throwing back Peter B.'s "don't watch the mouth, watch the hands" motto adds a little extra that I appreciate.

Miles' goodbye to Peter B. is a culmination of their arcs, where Miles, the student, finally becomes the master, being the one to trip up Peter B. (with the same move he used on Miles, no less) and tells him to get his s**t together and go home. Peter B. taught Miles a lot, letting him see the importance of Spider-Man, the pressure he has to go through, and the faith he must have. And here comes Miles spitting all that back at Peter B., adding more to how they teach each other how to be their better selves. And I relish that!

Remember how I said the colors were bright in the collider, matching the fun of the climax? Well, the second it's just Miles and Kingpin, the colors become darker and more intense, matching the tone of this final battle between good and evil. It makes things way more cinematic and visually pleasing, so kudos...to whoever I give kudos to in this case. There are SO MANY people responsible for animating a single second--Literally, a single second of animation that it's hard to tell who deserves more credit half the time.

As for the fight itself, IT'S AS INTENSE AS THE COLORS IMPLY IT IS! You feel the beating Kingpin gives Miles, but despite how violent it is, there were always these small glimmers of hope that Miles might get the upper hand. That hope gets beaten down by Kingpin's cartoonishly big fist, but there is still hope nonetheless. And it would grow through the most unexpected places.

Is it a little ludicrous that Jefferson is right there to give the most essential words any Spider-Man needs to learn? Oh, absolutely. Without a doubt. But is it still heartwarming that Jefferson still tells Spider-Man to get up despite thinking he killed Aaron, further proofing how Jefferson's always there to tell Miles what he needs to hear when it's important? You'd better gosh dang believe it.

Miles using the shoulder touch on Kingpin is the best. In a way, that lets Miles and Aaron get revenge.

Seeing into the Spider-verse (ha!) is a gorgeous sight to behold, both for the audience and for Miles.

DID THEY HAND DRAW THAT EXPLOSION?! Gosh DANG IT, this movie is insane!

Dang, Jefferson allowing Miles to throw up his art on the wall warms the heart to the fullest it's ever been when watching this movie. He really wants to do better in reaching out to Miles, even if Jefferson still lays down the ground rules for how Miles should express himself.

And Spider-Man hugging Jefferson is equal parts touching and hilarious.

I'm noticing a pattern. My favorite Spider-Man movies are ones where Spidey webs up the big bad for the police to pick up. Instead of, you know...killing them. I loved it in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and I especially adore it here.

The one-take of Miles walking through the streets as Spider-Man mirrors how he did it at the beginning of the movie and contrasts the one-take at his school. It illustrates that he regained his confidence because how could he not after all the s**t he went through. I'd feel pretty big about myself too.

Miles' final narration does well in tying everything together, recapping events, showing how everyone else is doing, and stating the big lesson of the movie. A lesson that Stan Lee himself believed in, as he always thought that what makes Spider-Man amazing is that anyone, anyone at all, could be under that mask. No matter who they are or what they look like, anybody has the potential to represent the ideals of Spider-Man. And while I'm not a fan of movies spelling out their messages to the audience...It's a Spider-Man movie. Narrating to the audience is as essential for the ending as the final swing is, and this one has both! All around, a good ending...with a tease for more.

Though I will admit, it's not every day when I say that a movie's credits are as visually pleasing as the rest of the film.

And while Stan Lee's cameo is a great final tribute to him, ending the movie with one of his quotes is just as spectacular. Again, rest in peace, Stan.

By the way, I adore "Spider-Bells." Not only does it crack me up that Peter has a mental breakdown halfway through singing it, but it also means this movie is a Christmas movie...Because if people can call Die Hard a Christmas movie, then I can call Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a Christmas movie too. Leave me alone.

As for final teasers, Spider-Man 2099 looks dope and I cannot wait to see him tear Miles apart in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse...That felt weird to say, but let the record show that I said with love!

And they got the pointing meme in. Yup, I adore this movie!

So, a pretty flawless film, right?

…Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell–

Ok, I want to make it clear that while there are problems to be had, they don't spoil the movie. Most of them are just nitpicks that always bothered me personally, so don't take them too seriously. With that said...

Where did the spider come from? It's the thing that fundamentally changes Miles' life, and we never really got an answer for that.

Why did Gwen double back on revealing her name? Gwen's a pretty common name to have. And, odds are, the one in this universe looks vastly different to her. We already know Peter B. Parker is different from Miles' Peter Parker, so it's not too much of a stretch. Plus, even if Gwen looks the same, the Gwen we know within this movie is already risking a lot by being out as herself, so why change the name? I know it's a small thing, but like I said, it always bothered me.

And while we're on the topic of Gwen, I'm not a fan of her backstory. Not her origin story, that's fine. But the fact that she was in Miles' universe for a whole week and her spider-sense told her to go to his school is...confusing? If being in Miles' universe is literally killing her, how is she not dead already? And how does spider-sense tell her to go to a new school? As far as I can tell, spider-sense is an alarm system that gives a Spider-Person total awareness of everything around them. Not to act as an instruction manual of what to do in life. I take it that this is an excuse to get her and Miles to interact more and form more of a romantic bond, which I'm fine with because they're adorable together. It's just that I wish this was done in a way that made more sense because, as is, it's making my brain hurt.

Kingpin's design...is laughable. Apparently, it's paying homage to a Daredevil comic's artist interpretation of the character, which I guess it's cool...but he looks ridiculous. And don't get me wrong, I love it when superhero animation goes for a more stylistic approach with heroes and villains instead of a realistic one. It's why Spectacular Spider-Man is my favorite Spider-Man show as opposed to others, because every character looks unique from one another, especially the villains. And while Kingpin certainly looks unique...it's a little too much, and it's the one thing I never take seriously with this film.

Green Goblin! One of the most important and influential villains in Spider-Man's line-up...is wasted as canon fodder, dying just as fast as he's introduced. Kind of disappointing.

Spider-Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham are great characters. They're each animated in great styles that perfectly convey they're from another universe, have some great jokes, and are overall a good time. The problem? They're...not necessary. You can cut these three out of the movie, and nothing will change. I wouldn't mind if they were characters who were there to add fluff and nothing else, but they're there to also add emotional weight to the story. Take Peni's sadness about SP/dr getting destroyed or the characters all saying goodbye to Miles. I can tell that they're all meant to be heart wrenching moments, but we hardly spend time with these characters to feel like it's earned. Miles barely got time to spend with them, so that, right there, takes the punch out of their sad farewells. Again, they're great characters, and I do love that they're a part of this movie. The only problem is that they're in too short of a film to really deserve the emotional beats.

The Spider-People hiding from Miles' roommate might be the ONE joke that fits the more "In your face" style like other Marvel movies. It spoiled the serious momentum before it, and I feel like they kept it in for the sake of a trailer clip.

Hey! Mary Jane Watson is the worst part of a Spider-Man movie! Yeah, go figure. She's an essential part of Peter's life, but there's no personality to either version of the character we see in this movie. Calling her an over-glorified plot device would be generous.  Sorry, MJ, but a Spider-Man movie has, once again, done you dirty. But at least you're pretty good in the MCU...Don't give me that look. You know it's true.

I don't mind Kingpin failing to kill Miles. Villains will stupidly allow the heroes to gain the second wind, and you just need to accept that in superhero media...BUT HOW THE ACTUAL HELL DID MILES, HIS DAD AND ALL THE OTHER NORMAL LIVING PEOPLE SURVIVE THAT EXPLOSION! Look at it! It was massive!

But, seriously, that’s all I have.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-Man movie. Nerds and losers debate about which of the live-action films are better but note how rarely anyone denies Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse being on top. Can you blame them? With game-changing animation, amazing characters, and a story showcasing everything that's to love about Spider-Man, you cannot get better than this. I look forward to the rest of this trilogy, but I have already accepted that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will forever remain at the best that there is, and it'll take actual flawless perfection to change my mind.

#spider-man into the spider-verse #spider man #miles morales #peter parker #peter b parker #gwen stacy #spider gwen #spider noir #spider ham #peni parker #kingpin #aaron davis #jefferson davis #what i thought about

[terrifique]

forrrrr the song/fic game, breathing underwater by hiatus kaiyote?

thanks for sending this bb✨

i have to be honest i was not expecting to get one of these but i'm so happy you shared this song, it's so beautiful!

upon my first listen the twinkly mystical opening guitar notes, the dreamy layered vocals, the sigh filled repetition of the lyrics "the world hurts" and "in water" in an almost call and response style really jumped out at me.

immediately i thought of two spectacular transportive fairytale au works.

Part of Your World by @weather-mood

Plant My Seed by @salmoncakepls

these writers have crafted such rich and detailed universes where they explore themes of escapism. in both pieces you have Louis being catapulted from the draining mundanity of his day to day life, into the ethereal world of an obsessive lovers embrace. A lover who makes promises so beyond human comprehension that they couldn't possibly be fulfilled. or could they?

both fics reference water, in varying degrees, as a medium for healing and cleansing. the destructive and intoxicating, sometimes numbing power of it. a tool and a force that inspires submission and promises rebirth.

i know you've probably already read these but they're soooo good, they're worth a reread. fandom classics!

ask game by @dictee for the a meal 2 remember event by @iwtvfanevents

#a meal to remember #iwtvfanevents #ask game #i love the buzzing synth(?) over the driving percussion it's such a fun texture in the ear. this song creates such a landscape #thank you for sending this dre i really didn't expect it lool i wanted more people to see ziska's post but it was a pleasant surprise💗 #also getting this just reminds me that i NEED to read more fic smh i feel like my references need to expand #i'm sooooo behind on so many releases and updates 😔 #ask nay #link #fic #fan fiction #iwtv

[holden-norgorov]

An Apologia to BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013)

I've just finished rewatching for the umpteenth time the spectacular work of art that is The Before Trilogy, and since I've discovered it I have always refrained myself from writing about it because of my inability to put into words the beauty and the depth behind the meaning that these three films have progressively acquired for me.

But this time I'm going to try to say something for the sake of those who believe the screenplay to have failed in portraying Jesse and Celine’s personalities and gone out of character in this third installment – which I feel particularly compelled to defend as it's, in my opinion, not only the best entry in the trilogy, but also one of the best movies ever made, significantly thanks to the way the couple's characterization brilliantly builds up on two-decades of long cinematic work and collaborative effort and climaxes with an egregious payoff. I hope that reading about how I interpret the way Before Midnight blends in perfect harmony with Before Sunrise and Before Sunset may at least partially redeem the film for those of you who were left dissatisfied or disappointed by the decrease in naive idealism and dream-like romance.

WARNING: Detailed spoilers of all three movies under the cut.

Even though I think it’s quite easy at first to find a bit jarring the evident, apparently sudden change in Jesse and Celine's dynamic – reacting with a kind of discomfort that is clearly something the screenplay wants to induce in the audience, which is not accostumed to revisit Jesse and Celine after they have spent almost a decade together and studying each other inside out – I also think it quickly becomes clear that what Before Midnight aims to do, with regards to characterization, is to take all the most irritating and unpleasant shades Jesse and Celine had always had within themselves, whose seeds were planted and indeed palpable, albeit romanticized, in Sunrise (despite both characters trying their best to keep them hidden beneath a deeply self-conscious need to foster the spark of their newfound connection and perform the attraction/seduction role-play) and aptly watered in Sunset, and throw them full-force to the viewers’ face, challenging their ability to still feel invested in the couple by appealing to the idea that even our favorite, most beloved people in the world can intimately be ugly, paradoxical, occasionally toxic as well as endearing at the same time, because that’s a hard truth about human nature and “this is real life, it’s not perfect but it’s real”.

To demonstrate that their characterization is actually coherent with everything that came before, I challenge you to think about Jesse and Celine in these terms: Sunrise makes it clear that they are both smart college graduates, fundamentally contemplative and opinionated intellectuals (or at least, proto-intellectuals) who share a hardwired desire to shape the world around them with their thoughts and ideas and an idealist outlook on the universe, time and the human condition. The trilogy explores, among other things, the way they react to the realization that the universe, time and the human condition can’t conform to their idealistic vision, but that they themselves have to find out how to conform to the universe, time and the human condition. What deeply sets Jesse and Celine apart, then, is the direction they decide to channel the resentment and deep-seated unfulfilling dread steaming from this bitter realization towards.

Jesse directs it towards himself, which turns him into a depressed writer who is never going to be satisfied no matter what happens into his life. In Sunset, the movie starts with Jesse talking about how everything is autobiographical and proceeding to announce the concept of his next book, which happens to feature a totally depressed guy whose dream is riding motorcycles trough South America, being a lover and adventurer who finds happiness “in the doing, not getting what he wants”, but who is instead “sitting at a marble table, eating lobsters with a beautiful wife and everything that he needs”. Later on, at the Parisian café, Jesse rants about being unable to be “in the moment”, about not enjoying any minute of his best-selling book tour and about how Buddhists may have a point when they talk about freeing themselves from desire – which Celine aptly identifies as a symptom of depression. And while Sunset seems to want to make you think that Jesse’s depression may stem from his unsatisfying family life, even hinting at the idea that Celine may be the cure to his condition, Midnight slaps you hard in the face and awakens you to the reality that even though Jesse did get what he wanted, he’s still more depressed than ever – in fact, it clarifies that Jesse’s depression is existential. Celine herself outwardly calls him out on it after he relates an anecdote about the twins fighting over a trampoline, when he refers to pettiness, jealousy and selfishness as “the natural human state”. He seems to quickly scrape her comment off in the moment as one of her exaggerations, but later on admits to his accuracy when he tells her, in the last scene of the movie, that he has struggled all his life connecting and being present with those he loves the most. Which brings us back to Sunrise and his confession about being an unwanted, neglected child who eventually kind of adjusted and took pride in viewing the world as “this place where I wasn’t meant to be”, or to the acknowledgement that he is sick of experiencing his life from his own point of view (“see, I’ve heard all these stories, so of course I’m sick of myself”). I truly believe, during the car ride at the beginning of Midnight, that Jesse is thinking about the same words of his father’s that he was confessing to Celine in Sunrise, when he says, talking about his own absence from his son’s life, “This is the one thing I promised myself I was never going to do, and now I look up and I’m doing it”. I really think it often goes underappreciated how tragic Jesse’s character actually is. The point of his character is that his own childhood abandonment trauma colored his conception and experience of the world, and about how that adds up to his intellectual inability to find peace and contentment in the moment, and about how both aspects flow into apparently inescapable patterns of self-repeated misery. He’s not just depressed: he’s doomed to depression. And the truth the movie points to is that, ultimately, Celine can’t change this foundational aspect of Jesse’s nature. She has, to an extent, to learn to live with it and accept it.

On the other hand, the same intellectual resentment and unfulfilling dread that Jesse directs within himself, Celine aggressively projects to the outside world. If Jesse is fundamentally depressed, Celine is fundamentally angry. Sunrise does a masterful job at carefully planting the seeds that testify how Celine is, at her core, defined by her anger, while simultaneously never allowing for that anger to truly come to the surface and take the audience out of the otherworldly romantic idealism of their night in Vienna. She talks about the unfairness of being unable to complain to nice and supporting parents; she says that everything pisses her off and proceeds to list several examples; she thinks it’s a healthy process to rebel against everything in her life right after admitting that she has been raised happily, loved and wealthy and doesn’t even know “who or what the enemy is”; quite revealingly, she tells an anecdote about a professional shrink experiencing her anger to the effect that, after a single session with her, she had to call the police in fear that Celine might actually carry out the story about killing her ex-boyfriend that she had written as a consequence of her morbid obsession with him. And maybe most importantly, the palm reader makes explicit to the audience what ends up being the central theme of Celine’s character in the trilogy: “you need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life; only if you find peace within yourself, you’ll find true connection with others”. Sunset dares to shed quite a bit of the romantic aura that Celine was wrapped in during Sunrise where, despite all of this, she still managed to resemble a Botticelli angel, and lets her anger manifest more vividly in several moments. “The world is a mess right now!” she shouts right before a bitter political rant. She’s also deeply resentful towards Jesse who, despite her statement in Sunrise about not wanting to be “a great story” or a male fantasy, has basically decided to spectacularize their night together and sell Celine’s most intimate side to the masses. This is why Celine proceeds to lie about not remembering them having sex – she feels like Jesse has stripped her of agency and control over herself and officialized to the world a one-sided interpretation of their encounter – so she wants to reclaim ownership and hurt him at the same time (“knowing his weak points, what would hurt him, seduce him” she told him in Sunrise while talking about her habit of studying her boyfriends in order to grasp how to manipulate them). The existence of this fictionalized version of herself out in the world that she didn’t consent to, along with the death of her romantic outlook on life that prompts her notorious rant in the taxi, only makes it easier for her to allow her deep-seated anger to bubble up and start defining her. Which brings us to Midnight, where that anger is so consuming that it ends up being directed also at herself (she resents herself for failing to live up to her own expectations of both motherhood and feminism, and for letting herself be consumed by anger). She engages in a lot of borderline toxic behaviors – parental alienation (she sabotages Jesse’s ability to talk to Hank twice), false accusation and public shame (she mischaracterizes their conversation in the car at the dinner table and exposes Jesse’s private fantasy) and generic hurtful insults. Her problem with Jesse’s monopoly on how the world perceives her is as alive as ever, and she makes it a matter of relative status in the relationship. And last but not least, she also resents the world – and men – for women’s unjust impossibility to avoid having to make compromises that motherhood (or largely, the female condition) imposes on them, leading them to sacrifice leisure time or renounce to opportunities that our modern, fully technological world increasingly abounds with. In the same scene, in the hotel room, where Celine calls Jesse out for being depressed, he accuses her of seeing anger as a positive means to deal with life, and despite her refusal to concede the point in the moment, she ultimately admits to it in the last scene of the movie (“I’m an angry person and I hurt my kids, my work and everyone that I love”).

In a nutshell, we could sum up their characters as follows:

JESSE: idealized, intellectual approach to the world --> finds out about world’s imperfection --> blames himself --> existential depression.

CELINE: idealized, intellectual approach to the world --> finds out about world’s imperfection --> blames the world --> existential anger.

Particularly interesting, in this regard, is the role each of them plays in establishing the kind of path the other ends up taking. Jesse ultimately allows his depression to take over him as a consequence of Celine's decision to miss their agreed-upon second encounter six months after Sunrise, whereas Celine ultimately allows her anger to take over her as a consequence of Jesse's decision to circumvent her previously expressed wish and publish a book about the night they spent together in Vienna. In a way, they both sealed each other's existential fate in their quest for the connection they had once shared.

So, once you peel away all the layers in their characterization and identify the root core of their motivation, choices and actions, I don’t really think it’s possible to argue that they are out of character in Before Midnight. In fact, it feels like a perfect follow-up to its predecessors, designed to force the characters to confront the origin of their unhappiness and realize that they are not meant to be each other’s salvation. Just as Celine is going to have to accept Jesse’s depression as something he’s never going to be able to fully part with, Jesse is going to have to learn to deal with Celine’s unhealthy relationship with her own anger (“I’m not asking you to change, it’s called accepting you for being you”). This is where Ariadni’s words come to mind as the testament of the film – “this is what fucks us up, right? The idea of a soulmate coming to save us from taking care of ourselves”. The point of the movie is that Jesse can’t save Celine from herself, and Celine can’t save Jesse from himself – that real love, which is to say real life, is not about that.

Another quite common form of criticism that I don't get is the annoyance at the movie being willing to occasionally be critical of feminism, or explore perspectives outside of the feminist lens – particularly with Jesse's character, whose detachment from and derision of Celine's overstated feminist apologia apparently strikes to many people as a betrayal to his characterization in the previous installments. But first of all, I don’t think there's any evidence that Jesse was ever portrayed as a feminist in the previous movies – and even if he had been, how can a change in one’s own ideology or outlook on life through an eighteen-years-long experience result in an “out of character” portrayal? People change. Ideologically and politically, I’m almost a completely different person than I was three years ago. Does that make me out of character? I don't think so. But that said, many seem to move from the assumption that Sunrise and Sunset were feminist movies in the first place, which I also disagree with. In Sunrise itself, when the topic of gender comes up for the first time between the two, Jesse points out the paradoxical nature of some common female behaviors and raises a biologically-rooted counterpoint to Celine’s obviously University-derived socially constructivist outlook. Nothing about that screams “feminist” to me.

On a sidenote, though, I find incredibly illuminating Jesse’s response to Celine’s rant about female sacrifice in the hotel room scene. He sharply brings up her privileged upbringing (she actually spent her whole childhood “travelling around the world while her father built buildings” and was raised “with all the freedoms he had fought for”, as she herself said to him in Sunrise), which starkly contrasts both with his own childhood of neglect and psychological abuse and therefore with her feminist axiomatic ideas of male privilege and female oppression, and then he mentions a specific historical male-only obligation (the military draft) to swiftly rebuff her claims. She calls him an asshole, but has no real counterargument to throw back at him other than some mockery. This writing choice was actually so clever that I had to pause the movie a moment and think back about Jesse’s character. Then it occurred to me: Jesse’s been divorced and likely lost custody of his son after a strenuous legal battle with his ex-wife that both he and Celine refer to multiple times during the film. He had to spend years travelling back and forth trying to escape the dreadful destiny of turning into his own father and dealing with a progressively litigious ex-wife who apparently exploited Celine’s pregnancy and the notoriously skewed U.S. legal system to make Jesse’s attempt at remaining present in his son’s life extremely difficult – all of this while still managing to maintain some kind of sympathy from the viewers, who know she’s been wronged and cheated on by her ex-husband. The screenplay of this movie is excellent to the point of being able to condense into a single line a character’s entire lived experience and approach to things. That amazing line from Jesse about the “trenches of the Sorbonne” not only reminds the audience that he’s not a feminist; it also reveals that he’s quite versed in (and therefore accostumed to) anti-feminist talking points. Which is incredibly accurate and realistic for an American man who has found himself having to deal with custody issues – as Celine rightly points out, “I guess judges assume that women have the mother instinct”.

The fact that Jesse’s lived experience makes him critical of feminism doesn’t mean that Celine’s own lived experience is invalid, though – nor does it mean that the movie itself is anti-feminist. And there lies the brilliance of the film. Celine’s deeply-held feminist views are still entertained and tested in their validity. She is allowed to be a feminist through and through and voice her ideas, often with incredibly powerful weight and resonance – in fact, two of Celine’s best and most poignant lines in the whole movie are "The world is fucked by unemotional, rational men deciding shit" and “You know what I love about men? They still believe in magic”. Most of the film's detractors just seem upset that those ideas are not presented by the movie as golden nuggets of truth that shouldn’t be subjected to scrutiny or falsification, or treated by the screenplay as axioms that should automatically be taken for granted by everyone. I also think having Jesse laugh at Celine exposing her worries about rape to be, once again, incredibly realistic – it highlights how there will always be some level of incomprehension between the sexes, and how men will never be fully able to put themselves in women’s shoes when it comes to truly understand and empathize with that kind of fear and vulnerability. It basically testifies men’s impossibility to live the female experience.

Moreover, the same detractors that lament their disappointment at the “lack of feminism” in the movie also seem to take umbrage at Celine being portrayed as profoundly human in her complexities, which strikes me as quite the paradox. Women can be as toxic and problematic as men, albeit often in different ways. It’s Celine’s own imperfection that truly makes her a great female character. The argument underneath this criticism seems to be that a female character who engages in problematic behaviors drawing from the ugliest side of human nature does a disservice to feminism – which I guess you might think, if your feminist belief assumes that only men can really be toxic and problematic with the other sex purely out of selfish reasons. It’s quite clear to me that a socially constructivist perspective on life and the world is informing these people's judgment on the movie and the characters, whose raw realism and unfiltered humanity they seem to find ideologically inconvenient.

I have to say I’m also baffled by some people's characterization of the argument scene in the hotel room as “boring”, or an example of “classic middle-aged couple problems" film. It’s anything but, in my opinion. I find it some of the best cinema I have ever seen, with directorial choices, a screenplay and acting performances so high-ranking and engrossing that I was left mouth wide open, with so many shades and aspects that I’d never seen any other “marriage movie” seriously bring up, let alone face. I could never give justice to the excellence of that scene with words. Similarly, I’m stunned by the recurring claim that the dialogue in this movie feels forced and pretentious, given the fact that this is uncontestably the less philosophical, more grounded script of the three. Even though I also don’t agree with those who claim that Jesse and Celine were ever pretentious, I can see how Sunrise could definitely give that impression at specific moments – though the actors’ chemistry and talent were always able to hide any artificiality as much as possible. But Sunset and Midnight particularly flow with such a spontaneous and natural rhythm, as well as flawless acting expertise, that it almost seems a criminal act to press pause during the film. This specific claim seems particularly paradoxical given the fact that the same people who complain about this simultaneously express dissatisfaction with the absence of the kind of idealistic, philosophical talk that the characters had with each other when they met for the first time – which could have easily sounded pretentious if it had been delivered by lower-skilled actors. As if, by the way, the lack of that kind of magic between the two wasn’t completely intentional and exactly the point Midnight is making, particularly when it comes to what Celine laments as her own forced sacrifice of existential discussions in favor of seemingly unending, practical maternal tasks. This is a movie where Jesse says that he misses hearing Celine think, and Celine replies that her thoughts now smell like shit. Not only is the Leopardi-esque “Death of the Illusions” one of the main themes of the film, it’s also an inevitability in the relationship between two formerly idealistic intellectuals who now have to deal with their own existential dread while at the same time raising a family together and being deprived of the luxury they used to have of closing the world outside of their time-constrained connection.

About the ending scene of the movie, I admit that it had to grow on me. On my first watch I didn’t really know what to think about it, mainly because I was still recovering from the brutality of their fight in the hotel room. But the more I rewatched the movie, the more it made sense, and now I find it not only extremely fitting but also kind of brilliant. The couple’s destiny is also once again left up to interpretation and not at all cemented in a definite trajectory like I've often seen being implied. At the same time, the trilogy comes full circle by having Jesse impersonate the time-travelling role-play that won Celine over during Sunrise, and consequently by evoking in the audience a comparison between the state of Jesse and Celine’s relationship now to that of the German couple who, likewise apparently in their 40s, had prompted Celine’s decision to change seat in the train and sit opposite Jesse, reinforcing that very idea of “awkwardness of life” that the palm reader advised Celine to resign herself to in order to find true happiness. As such, the ending solidifies the idea that genuine relationships take work to function, and that true happiness has to be found in carrying that work out ("in doing, not getting what you want"). Jesse realizes this and demonstrates that he’s willing to do the work to rekindle a kind of spark and magic that can exist outside of the transformative influence of time. Celine also eventually acknowledges this, and closes the film showing her own willingness to put in her own share of the work. "It’s not perfect, but it’s real."

Overall, this movie is a masterpiece, a milestone in romance and independent cinema and, as far as I'm concerned, the bar that any film intimately interested in the exploration of the human experience and the creation of solid characterization has to outdo.

This trilogy is History, and as such I will forever treasure it and pass it on. Thank you Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for such a gift. Ad maiora.

#richard linklater #ethan hawke #julie delpy #before trilogy #before sunrise #before sunset #before midnight #jesse wallace #celine #jesse x celine #review #analysis #meta #mine

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 16 Review: Spectacular

I’m sorry, Episode 10, you just got dethroned; Episode 16 is now the best episode of Pokemon Horizons by far. The animation, the execution and the buildup to what’s to come were all handled beautifully!

The animation was the best I’ve seen the Pokemon do. Ufotable actually helped with the in-between animation for this episode; no wonder the animation looks so crisp, especially when it comes to Pokemon movements! I think my favorite part is when Dot gets a closeup of her face as her hair flows in the wind and shows off her eyes and then Quaxly is shown with a serious look and its hair flowing in the wind as well. I think that is just flawless animation right there. 

The way things were executed were handled well. I’m amazed everything fit into the episode without it being too rushed or too underwhelming. Though, I was a bit surprised that Quaxly had been a wild Pokemon all this time; I wasn’t expecting Dot to capture it in the beginning, but I liked how the writers wanted to get it out of the way first before going into the good stuff. 

I also really liked how well the Rising Volt Tacklers worked as a team. Friede used his Charizard to go to and from different locations and he even got a battle of his own. Murdock, Orla and Mollie were doing their best to gather information about where the kids could’ve gone. Ludlow was being Ludlow. The real meat of the friendship came from the kids. All three worked well together. Dot being a clever battler but not a strong one was actually something I was expecting. She’s inexperienced, but still used her intelligence to find a way to let Liko and Roy know where she is by making Quaxly use Water Gun. Liko was struggling to get on the boat, but Roy was helping her along the way and even protected her from Beheeyem. Liko then protected Dot by being brave and challenging Magneton and Beheeyem to a battle. The RVTs are a huge cast but the way the writers are able to incorporate how to use them in an episode is seriously amazing because I know for a fact that for some animes with a huge cast, screen time is a struggle.

Liko, Roy and Dot didn’t actually defeat Spinel in battle, but the fact that they beat his Beheeyem and Magneton together was a good improvement from them. Spinel didn’t lose to novice kids, but had to retreat because he was caught off-guard by Arboliva and knew that the it would be no match for him. This is a total step up from Episode 5 where Liko beat Conia’s Golduck offscreen (No, I will not be calling her Onia). 

The buildup for what’s to come both intrigues and excites me. I actually like Spinel as a villain. He’s cunning and intelligent. The way that he’s able to piece things together and even goes out of his way to hide information from his colleagues for his own purpose makes him even more intriguing; he figured out that the pendant’s key is Liko and he hid that information as he let his colleagues berate him.

Speaking of which, the new Explorers admins all have amazing designs. I’m surprised such designs are used in a Pokemon anime because these guys look as if they could be villains in a urban fantasy Shounen anime of sorts. The way they showed up makes me want to know more about them. Their names are Onyx, Agate and Sango (Coral in Japanese). I like how they keep the gemstone/mineral theme names. It reminds me of Sailor Moon where the Black Moon Clan from Sailor Moon’s second arc were named after gemstones. Also, I’m surprised that they got Ikue Ohtani, the voice actress of Captain Pikachu, Ash’s Pikachu and Sawyer from the XY anime, to voice Sango. The way that this is her second major human character and a cute female one at that makes me intrigued for what’s to come for this character and how Ohtani will voice a villain. I can’t wait for future episodes! Out of the three new admins, I think that Agate has the most beautiful design. It’s rare to see such a design in Pokemon, from her skin tone to the trapezoid motif. It makes me want to know more about her.

The way Dot decides to tell Liko her secret of being Nidothing as a way of thanking her for everything was surprising. I thought this running gag would go until the end of the anime, but I’m glad that’s not the case. I’m wanting to see how this will affect Liko and Dot’s relationship now. Will Liko be a fangirl? Will Liko be super protective of her? I can’t wait see where this reveal will head.

My review ended being rather long. I can’t help it. There was so much to talk about; amazing episodes deserve to have long reviews. This episode had extremely positive reactions amongst the community and I can finally see why. What are your thoughts on how this episode turned out? Are you excited for what’s to come for the Rising Volt Tacklers?

#pokemon horizons #anipoke #pokemon #anime #review #Liko #Sprigatito #Roy #Fuecoco #Wattrel #Friede #Captain Pikachu #Charizard #Murdock #Orla #Mollie #Ludlow #Dot #Quaxly #Spinel #Beheeyem #Magneton #Umbreon #Sango #Agate #Onyx #Arboliva #arum journal #ecargmura

[poisonandpages]

Ok so I just finished my first read of Peter Darling by Austin Chant after completing it in a few hours, and here are my thoughts (spoilers if you haven't read it) ;

The writing is of better quality than I was expecting. I've been fooled by the "progressive retelling of (x beloved story)" kind of marketing before so I had braced myself for something distinctly subpar in the vein of un-proofread fanfic and was pleasantly surprised to find how well done it is as a novel.

I think the story is more nuanced than I've seen certain reviews give it credit for. Specifically, I think a lot of people saw "Peter Pan/Captain Hook love story" and assumed it had a paedophilic angle to it. Is it kinda sketchy for an adult to get with someone who is technically also an adult but was known to them as a child? Of course, this is something that always makes me uncomfortable irl and I hate to see it played straight in fiction, but it's established in this story that both time and memories are made blurry by the very nature of Neverland, so it enters instead somewhat vague and implausible territory like criticising a vampire for getting with a young human adult - there is no real world equivalent to this so it's easier to hand-wave the age stuff away.

I also felt the author approached the characterisation of the leads and the themes of growing up and coping via imagination vs reality in a much more complex way than most Pan stories do. At times it was brilliantly heart-wrenching.

I can only applaud the decision to leave out the "Indians" from Barrie's original work. The Doylist explanation is of course "it would be hard work trying to justify such a thing in the work of a 21st century writer", but I like to think that the Watsonian explanation is "Peter may still have some growing up to do but he matured just enough to realise Native Americans are people too".

The ending where two people made miserable by their real lives who felt they had no choice but to hide in a fantasy land choose to return to this world together, as honest, awkward versions of themselves? Beautiful. Spectacular. Chef's kiss.

I loved how the fairies were written as these little half-human half-bug creatures, more real than the nameless pirates but less so than Hook and Pan, much more alien than the miniature winged people that could be expected in a disney story. The way they're described and the way in which Neverland "traps" people felt a lot more like traditional legends of the Fair Folk than anything else.

I'd like to know that Ernest lived a happy life but I understand why the author chose not to include that.

As a cis person I don't know how much I can talk about the trans narrative that is key to the entire story, but I personally thought that it was very well done and knowing that it was written by an actual trans person made it all the more wonderful.

In short I enjoyed it, but I know it's the sort of story that won't be for everyone. Glad I got it.

#peter darling #peter pan #lgbt #long post

[ninety-two-bees]

HI KIT <33 Here are my asks 📚❤️🌻

HI EUGE <3

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend?

literally anything written by @theicarusconstellation is beautiful, but i need everyone to read into the dark ASAP !! i also love everything written by @fiveht because their wolfstar is my everything. there’s so many fics i want to read and writers i want to celebrate, but i need to break out of this reading slump first

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

There is no sound in the endless vacuum of space, and everything sings anyway. It is a stubborn kind of magic. Defiant. The black hole keeps humming as it expands, ignorant to the human belief that it is a dead thing, no less spectacular now than when they called it a star. There is celebration to be had for that which does not confine itself for the sake of understanding. There is beauty in the music of resistance.

inertia ch4 opening scene 100%. (also pspspsps astra, here’s your inertia daily dose)

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

usually? never. i can’t stand reading my own writing to the point that i can’t even edit my work most of the time, and i’ve only recently allowed anyone to beta read it. the one exception is and morning comes, because it’s a very emotional and very personal story to me

#euge my beloved <3

[choices-binglebonkus]

I’m playing through The Senior again and I’m at the part where the main character breaks up with her love interest (if she’s dating one).

The writers do such a spectacular job showing the grief, the anguish, the pure, unrestrained emotion of the breakup. The way my MC and Zig shared a tight, heartbroken hug felt so final, like it was truly the end.

The way Zig offered her a wobbly smile with a veil of tears in his eyes, telling her goodbye as best he can while they try not to fall to pieces in front of each other because they know it’s for the best, felt so raw and stirring. Almost as if the writers themselves experienced this very instance of heartbreak and regret.

The way the MC calls her dad in tears because she’s too devastated to drive, prompting him to get there to pick her up as fast as he can to comfort her feels so real. So human.

These emotions, these beautiful, sorrowful feelings captured in the writing, are so jarringly genuine. You feel for the MC and her significant other because years of love, years of laughter at each other’s jokes and stories, years of mutual support and respect, years of nights spent snuggled up cozy and warm against each other, have just come to an abrupt end because they’re two dreamers whose dreams have led them in different directions.

And that, dear friends, is the most moving, genuine, poignant instance of interpersonal conflict in Choices.

#choices the senior #the senior #choices ts #choices the freshman #the freshman #the freshman series #choices tf #tf #choices stories you play #playchoices #choices stories we play #pixelberry #pixelberry studios #playchoices fandom #choices stories you play fandom #choices stories we play fandom

[redd956]

3 Dark Works of Worldbuilding You Should Check Out

Growing up fascinated by worldbuilding I consumed it frequently as a child. Even to this I love indulging in the hard works of others, getting lost in their creations. Here is three works of worldbuilding that did so for me.

Mystery Flesh Pit National Park

This glorious, beautiful, well thought out, and bone-chilling creation is thanks to Trevor Roberts. Warning! His works are not always for the faint of heart. Mystery Flesh Pit National Park is a horror worldbuilding project, kickstarted by Trevor from reddit and tumblr. He has made quite the rabbit hole to deep dive into, providing all sorts of intricate worldbuilding.

His collections of art, found footage, merch, faux advertisements, and more provides the dark and horrific story of Mystery Flesh Pit National Park. His creation utilizes body horror, cosmic horror, gore, and more. When you delve into his stuff you begin rapidly digging for more.

I cannot fathom how intricate, detailed, and well thought out his worldbuilding to this horror story is. You seriously have to see it for yourself, and I cannot wait for what he does next!

Watership Down

Watership Down is a novel about rabbits written in 1972 by Richard Adams. It also grew in popular from its surprisingly U-rated “children’s” movie, known for its dark themes and extreme violence. I knew instantly after seeing the original movie that I needed to find and read the book, so I did. 

Adams did a spectacular job in worldbuilding. Even though the characters the book follows is a group of rabbits they feel as human and two-dimensional as possible. Adams holds nothing back in worldbuilding what a rabbit’s culture would be like, and how that effects their journey. There is even a consistent pantheon patterned throughout the book, constantly references and used as motivation to these rabbits.

Adams makes up his own words and rules, and when the characters say them it is as if you’ve heard them millions of times before. He is a great writer at allowing the worldbuilding feel incredibly natural to the story. Also a great writer at making you root and fear for these rabbits lives. Watership Down isn’t even Adams’ only book of very dark nature, with great writing skill, I encourage you to check his works out.

Cult of the Lamb

I followed the production of Cult of the Lamb when I saw its Kickstarter trailer a few years ago. I became incredibly excited due to its dark concept, and bubbly adorable art style. So when the video game released I bought it quickly as to avoid spoilers. I was not disappointed.

As an Indie game developed by Massive Monster, it is an occult themed dark game consisting of cutesy anthropomorphic creatures and exquisitely well designed dark worldbuilt settings. I myself am a sucker for strong gameplay, but what I really found myself absorbed in was the art and worldbuilding around me. Each boss’s area is alive with dark fauna, intriguing enemies, and epic OST.

The spider inspired area and the Cave of Midas both gave me chills upon first entering. The bosses themselves are based off of plentiful of dark references, and I cannot help but appreciate the research that must’ve gone into designing them. I also enjoy seeing that the lamb’s cult isn’t the only one around, and you interact with many other darkly religious designed societies running with their own deeply upsetting problems.

#worldbuilding #dark worldbuilding #please check these guys out #trevor roberts #cotl #cult of the lamb #watership down #worldbuilding to check out

[denimbex1986]

'Ever since Russell T Davies announced his return to Doctor Who, there's been anticipation in the air. We've all been waiting, it has now become clear, for The Giggle.

We can't say too much about the third and final 60th anniversary special, which will see out David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate's Donna Noble - not least because a chunk of it is still being kept under wraps until Saturday night. But, oh, we're in for a treat - a beautiful, colourful, chaotic, onslaught of a treat.

After the Doctor and Donna returned to Earth in the final scenes of Wild Blue Yonder, The Giggle picks up with the world in chaos. As Bernard Cribbins declared in his final scene as Wilfred Mott, "It's everybody. It's everything. They're all going mad."

Why? Well, the answer has to do with one man. Neil Patrick Harris makes his Doctor Who debut as The Toymaker, an iconic classic villain from the early years of the sci-fi, taking over from Michael Gough. Davies has previously said that Harris had "never heard" of Doctor Who before he was cast (an impressive feat in itself). It's an astonishing thought when you see him on screen, stealing the show with all the joy, wit, swagger and unnerving-ness of an actor who's done this a thousand times before.

Of course, there are some incredible returning stars, including Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart - comebacks that pack a punch. "How do we fight the human race?" Kate asks the Doctor in a genuine moment of horror. It goes without saying that Tennant and Tate are spectacular as always - hilarious in one moment, tear-jerking in the next. We see new sides to Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor - yep, the man is still surprising us after all this time.

But all of this would be futile without the story they've been handed. The Giggle grabs you in minute one and doesn't let you go. Visually, it's beautiful. Audibly, it's beautiful (all hail Murray Gold). It feels like old-school RTD, like the returning showrunner is flexing muscles he hasn't used in a long while, harking back to older tales in obvious and less obvious ways. But it also feels fresh and bigger. And not a moment is wasted.

It's not really that Doctor Who has a new budget (although that doesn't hurt), or that it's beaming out to a bigger audience than ever (also doesn't hurt). The boundaries of the show when it comes to the storytelling have been pushed further and further and, from what Davies has said about the Christmas special and beyond, it sounds like that's certainly not stopping here.

There are more magical moments that have to stay unmentioned and still so much to see, including the next regeneration and a whole new Doctor to meet in the form of the glorious Ncuti Gatwa - undoubtedly, the most important part of the special. But if it's knocked out of the park like the rest of the episode is, this could be one for the ages.

It's not an easy skill to muster up a genuine sense of danger in Doctor Who - after all, the Doctor always wins, right? Right?! But with a writer like Davies, an actor like Tennant and a story like this, when we're standing on the precipice of a whole new age for Doctor Who, who knows what will happen?

See you Saturday night for the show. Allons-y!'

#Doctor Who #60th Anniversary #David Tennant #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #Neil Patrick Harris #The Toymaker #Ncuti Gatwa #Russell T. Davies #Wilfred Mott #Bernard Cribbins #Michael Gough #Ruth Madeley #Shirley Anne Bingham #Jemma Redgrave #Kate Lethbridge Stewart #Murray Gold

[rockislandadultreads]

September 2nd - National Hummingbird Day

The Hummingbird Handbook by John Shewey

Hummingbirds inspire an unmistakable sense of devotion and awe among bird lovers. Gardeners, too, love the company of hummingbirds, not only for their beauty, but also for their role as pollinators. Brimming with astonishing facts, practical advice, and important ecological information,  The Hummingbird Handbook is a must-have guide to attracting, understanding, and protecting hummingbirds. From advice on feeders to planting and landscaping techniques that will have your garden whirring with tiny wings, lifelong birder John Shewey provides all you need to know to entice these delightful creatures. An identification guide makes them easy to spot in the wild, with stunning photographs, details on plumage variations, and range maps showing habitats and migration patterns. Need more joy in your life? Let this guide and nature’s aerial jewels help you create a lively haven.

The Hummingbird's Gift by Sy Montgomery

Hummingbirds fascinate people around the world. The lightest birds in the sky, hummingbirds are capable of incredible feats, such as flying backwards, diving at speeds of sixty-one MPH, and beating their wings more than sixty times a second. Miraculous creatures, they are also incredibly vulnerable when they first emerge from their eggs. That’s where Brenda Sherburn comes in.

With tenderness and patience, she rescues abandoned hummingbirds and nurses them back to health until they can fly away and live in the wild. In The Hummingbird’s Gift, the care that Brenda provides her peanut-sized patients is revealed and, in the process, shows us just how truly amazing hummingbirds are.

This is the first volume of the "Hummingbirds' Gift" series.

Hummingbirds by Glenn Bartley

With their glorious colors, glittering iridescence, astonishing powers of flight, and many characteristics unique in the world of birds, hummingbirds are extraordinary - true jewels of nature. This beautiful book is a celebration of all aspects of hummingbirds and their world. It features hundreds of the most spectacular photographs of hummingbirds ever taken, exquisite illustrations, and a lively, readable text that presents the latest scientific information and includes up-to-date details about every species.

A familiar sight across much of the Americas, hummingbirds have long captured the imagination and played an important part in myths, legends, and other aspects of human culture. Today, hummingbirds are among the most popular of all birds, sought after by serious and casual birders alike. They inspire questions in anyone lucky enough to see them. How can they fly like that? Why are they so colorful? How many are there? Where and how do they live? How do they survive? This book answers these and many other questions, providing an enlightening and enjoyable guide to hummingbirds that can only deepen their wonder.

The Glitter in the Green by Jon Dunn

Hummingbirds are a glittering, sparkling collective of over three hundred wildly variable species. For centuries, they have been revered by indigenous Americans, coveted by European collectors, and admired worldwide for their unsurpassed metallic plumage and immense character. Yet they exist on a knife-edge, fighting for survival in boreal woodlands, dripping cloud forests, and subpolar islands. They are, perhaps, the ultimate embodiment of evolution's power to carve a niche for a delicate creature in even the harshest of places.

Traveling the full length of the hummingbirds' range, from the cusp of the Arctic Circle to near-Antarctic islands, acclaimed nature writer Jon Dunn encounters birders, scientists, and storytellers in his quest to find these beguiling creatures, immersing us in the world of one of Earth's most charismatic bird families.

#birds #nature #nonfiction #nonfiction books #reading recommendations #reading recs #book recommendations #book recs #readers advisory #library books #tbr #tbrpile #to read #booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog

[davisbette]

♥️🌌 15, 17, 19, 85 🌠♥️

🚂🚃 asks

15. Is there a song, book, movie, or other piece of media that has drastically altered your life? What was it, are there multiple?

There are multiple, yes. *cracks knuckles*

Novels:

1. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.

I will never be able to explain what this book means to me. It's a fabulous, ineffable feeling that no other piece of media has ever made me feel. I'm so different from Lily Bart, and yet i find her so relatable, so easy to understand. Her incapacity to reconcile two conflicting ideas, her lack of drive, her lack of self-worth beyond being a beautiful vessel; how her mother's influence has shaped her ideals, how Selden challenges them and why that appeals her so much. The world Lily's mother built for her is crumbling, and she's helpless. She's her own worst enemy.

I had to microdose this novel because it made my heart physically ache. I knew from the start she was doomed, and at the end i cried for her, and i cried for myself fearing i will suffer the same fate.

2. Notre Dame de Paris.

A shallow reading of this novel won't make it justice. The Disney movie is like: the monster is actually human / the human is actually a monster yadda yadda yadda, boring (still a good movie tho). The book doesn’t have such a stale dichotomy. Claude Frollo is terrifyingly human and terrifyingly well portrayed. I remember getting goose bumps when i read the boat scene in which Frollo —like Charon ferrying the souls of the dead across the waters of Hades— ferries Esmeralda to the other side of the shore, where he (also as the role of judge) will decide her final sentence.

3. Of Human Bondage.

The movie does not do justice to the book. Yes, Bette's performance ✨️talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before✨️, etc. But the book is better. In the novel Philip himself is incapable of understanding why he's so frightfully in love with Mildred, he's in a constant struggle to get over it. He hates Mildred, he desperately loves her, he hates himself for loving her. *Insert ouroboros encircling Cupid: love is self devouring here*. And Mildred...well, I can't figure her out, she confuses me. In the movie (as with Frollo) she is just plain bad. But in the book she's a constant ????? she's petty, she's mean and manipulative, but she is also capable of being incredibly naive, of giving in to passionate impulses and of feeling compassion. I think Mildred is far more stupid than evil, which once again makes her more human.

Poetry:

Devotions.

Mary oliver was right: You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Completely changed my view of the world and shaped me into the person that i am today.

Shows:

The x Files.

I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said by the x files meta writers on this app.

Movies:

The Sound of Music.

It somehow feels like a movie adaptation of Mary Oliver's poetry. 174 minutes of pure joy.

17. What's the most interesting coincidence you've had happen to you (or someone you know)?

Sorry to disappoint you querida but i have no idea.

Many interesting coincidences have happened to me! almost all of them related to coincidentally meeting a key person in my life.

19. In general, is there any historical event you desperately want to witness?

85. What memories would describe as your "core" ones?

My mom clumsily playing videogames just for the sake of spending time with me. My dad sleepily reading Donald Duck comics to me at night and me asking him to not fell asleep and to go on, go on! bc i was a such a restless, full of life child and couldn't understand how the people around me was so drained. My childhood summers. ABBA on the car radio while travelling. The first time my cat looked at me with his big baby blue eyes. Meeting you. My last year of highschool which was the only one good.

100 questions to talk about on the late night train at 11:04 pm

#toñi no te perdono que me hayas hecho hablar tanto en inglés #shame on you #toñi #ask game

[jessicafurseth]

Reading List, Participation edition.

"Joy demands something of us. It requires us to participate. To pay attention. To find beauty in darkness. To be awe-struck in otherwise mundane moments. To celebrate what is in front of us." Anna Brones

[Image by Equal Parts]

*

"Which digital rhythms are we actively following because they make us feel good, and which are we entrained to? Entrainment, a term that originated in biology and then spread to the social sciences, refers to the alignment of an organism’s physiology or behavior with a cycle; the most familiar example would be our circadian rhythm. ... Letting go of one overwhelming rhythm, you invite the presence of others. Perhaps more important, you remember that the arrangement is yours to make." What Social Media Does to Our Sense of Time [Jenny Odell, The New York Times]

"Perhaps, looking back, we should consider “millennial cringe” as less of an embarrassing phase we’d rather forget and more like the last gasp of what humor on the internet looked like before it became impossible to keep up with it." Towards a unified theory of millennial "epic bacon" humour [Rebecca Jennings, Vox]

“The CIA ... encourage most officers to have a social-media presence because, quite frankly, it’s a red flag and it looks strange if you don’t. You’ve got to blend in and look normal. I would argue that some of the Gen Z–and-younger folks, their networks are so huge online, it’s almost a blessing. You can’t figure out who their close friends are because they’re friends with everybody. It almost negates the exposure.” The CIA Is Trying to Recruit Gen Z—and Doesn’t Care If They’re All Over Social Media [Jessica Goldstein, Washingtonian]

"What if some of the things people describe as mental disorders are purposeful, not pathological?" Evidence grows that mental illness is more than dysfunction [Justin Garson, Aeon]

Patrick Burleigh entered puberty at age two. It was ... a lot. [The Cut]

"We need strength and energy to live with illness; reducing my workload gave me the reserves I needed not just to live with chronic pain, but to begin on the path towards recovery from it." Permission to recover [Gavin Francis, Wellcome Collection Stories]

I for one found the Netflix documentary about Prince Harry and Meghan illuminating, but among British columnists, even the ones who sympathise with Meghan for the racist bullying still can't help but point out how annoying they find her. As the documentary points out, being Black was a big part of what Meghan did "wrong" - but another is that's she's American. Here's a comment piece that actually articulates what that means [Charlotte Kilpatrick, The New Statesman] 

"Augit means to be able to stay with the good bit of your life. To stay with the good augit is to find the good in an experience.” Lessons from my dying therapist [Phoebe Greenwood, The Guardian]

A Month in a Tuscan Villa Didn’t Fix My Burnout [Alanna Bennett, The Cut]

On Raising Teenagers [Rachel Cusk, The New York Times]

"In any relationship, there is an expectation of privacy. There is also an expectation of respect. Violate the latter and you relinquish your right to the former." My boyfriend, a writer, broke up with me because I’m a writer This story by Isabel Kaplan in The Guardian is spectacular. So is this response to the story by Rachel Connolly, in Slate: "It can feel embarrassing to admit how attached we are to situations and people that we know are not serving us well. Mortifying to admit the extent of our agency in desire, and how much of ourselves we willingly give in the hope of getting something that is valuable to us back in return. Shameful to acknowledge that a degrading situation was one we chose. But then, so many commonplace, even definitional facets of the human experience do feel deeply humiliating." 

Time Has Run Out for the Leap Second. The fascinating story of how we're disposing of the leap second, and thereby severing the "the timekeeping of atoms from the timekeeping of the heavens". [Alanna Mitchell, The New York Times]

"I stood over the table, sending this photo of fresh ripe tomatoes and bonito and razor clams out to a paltry few hundred viewers, watching and waiting for the twenty-four hours to pass, when the story would disappear. I looked for meaning in it, and in the hundreds of other images that flooded my screen and filled my brain, of other meals and of make-up routines and dancing teenagers and neo-fascist marches and runway shows and old churches and drone strikes. I looked for meaning and all I thought was ‘Soon, I will die’." A History of the Culinary Selfie [Huw Lemmey, Vittles]

#reading list

[jerrydog]

The first Avatar movie was pretty self-contained. It had a definite ending. A sequel didn’t seem necessary. But since that movie made loads of money, of course a sequel would be greenlit.  Like other movies with definite endings, any sequel would seem contrived--- albeit with varying degrees depending on how well the sequel is written. And herein lies the problem. James Cameron and co. are not very good writers.

The visuals were spectacular, no doubt. But that’s pretty much all this movie has going for it. The plot is basically a rehash of the first one. The evil humans are back, so we have to protect the planet again. The major plot point also is pretty stupid once you think about it. So, to prevent their tribe from being a target, they chose to move to another tribe, effectively making this new tribe the new target instead. And why choose to run away when they could still fight? That’s pretty much what happened in the end, just with a different tribe. This proves they could have stayed and fought. They could have defended their own tribe.

Basically, this plot point was just there to justify the change in scenery. 

Like I said. Horrible writing. Total lack of creativity. Which resulted to a clunky storyline.

But this still could have worked. I mean look at the first movie. The simple plot was very derivative, yet it was still entertaining. Even when I catch it on TV every now and then, I’d still end up watching it. Call the first movie dumb, derivative, or whatever, but to me it was never boring. A huge chunk of this sequel is.

There are glaring pacing issues. The exposition shows a lot in couple of minutes. Then they chose to fast forward one year later--- a lot of things could have happened in this one year. Maybe try fleshing out these characters more? A couple of exciting sequences for 20-30 minutes or so, then the film suddenly slows down to a snail’s pace. For about 2 loooooooong hours, it was like watching fish in an aquarium. Or watching some undersea footage in a documentary. Sure, what you’re seeing is beautiful, but eventually you’d get bored at seeing pretty pictures when nothing much was happening. It’s not until the last 30 minutes or so during the expected confrontation when it actually picks up again. There’s just too much fluff in this movie. The movie runs for more than three hours, when this story could have easily been told in less than two. Cutting a lot scenes would have made this movie so much better. And they plan on making three more of these movies when the first sequel is basically a rehash of the first? If they’d insist on taking audiences back to Pandora several more times, the first thing James Cameron should do is to hire better writers. Then he could focus solely on the visuals. That seems to be what he cares for the most, anyway.

...

My rating: 2/5

#avatar #way of the water #Movie Reviews #movie review #james cameron

[ninety-two-bees]

hi!! a little late but 6, 11, & 18 for the writers ask game, if you’d like <3

hi renn !!! <3

6. are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

i have early access to a beautiful greek mythology fic by @theicarusconstellation that isn’t out yet but i will be posting about it non-stop when it is. i also have a special place in my heart for sweet poison by @imdamagecontrol and the adore series by @fiveht which are both beautifully written

11. do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

i don’t actually !! i usually just pick one song and play it on repeat until i finish writing for the day

18. what’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

i think the opening scene of inertia ch4 will always be my favourite thing, particularly the line(s) about black holes;

“The black hole keeps humming as it expands, ignorant to the human belief that it is a dead thing, no less spectacular now than when they called it a star. There is celebration to be had for that which does not confine itself for the sake of understanding.”

#renn my beloved <3

[perexcri]

I should be asleep and I've forgotten my ao3 login but I just have to gush about the ending of To Hell and Back. what a beautiful way to wrap up such a spectacular fic!!!! I've been reading since you posted ch 8 and your updates have been such a highlight of my evenings for the last couple of months. you're such a talented writer and you have such a deep and consistent grasp of the characters, and the plot made me go through every human emotion and probably some non-human emotions too. the tensionnnnnnn. but god, the way you had them sit down and talk it out at the end, and will needing to take a minute after the kiss really hit home for me even without it being his pov. poor mike though, absolute Panic lol. and omg the last chapter was too funny!!! eavesdropping on schemes >>>>>. and loved lucas' pov at the end, it was such a nice touch

I'm so excited to read whatever you write next but hope you take a bit of a break if you need it!! sorry for rambling and thank you for all your hard work putting out this piece :)

Hello hello!! Thank you so much for your lovely message T_T I run my mouth when I'm in front of a keyboard, so I'm gonna put the rest of this under a cut so it doesn't hog up a bunch of screen space :D

Oooh yeah you've been following since pretty early on!! Thanks for sticking around, and I'm glad you got to enjoy the updates over the past couple of months!! Even if they did make you feel shrimp emotions alkdjfsklfdjaslfj

I really appreciate the writing compliments - I've rarely shared anything I've written with people I know, much less strangers on the internet, so posting on ao3 has been one big exercise in me learning to open myself up more, and I'm glad the response has been largely positive. Oh my gosh and the characterization T_T even though the fic is over, I still really appreciate hearing that, because when I started it, I was really worried they were acting out of character. This ended up being a consistent worry I had throughout each update, so I'm glad that they were in character for the most part and seemed natural!!

It's nice to hear you liked their last big convo and that first kiss!! That conversation was my biggest worry before posting the last chapters, so it's reassuring to hear that it came out okay. And the kiss heheheheh yeah poor Will had his error 404 moment and needed a minute to recover. I don't think I could write it from his pov even if I wanted to because he probably had five million thoughts per second flying around his head haha

Ahh I'm also glad you enjoyed the little Lucas pov at the end heheheh. It was so much fun to write. I came up with the idea about...a month and a half ago?? Idk I was driving to work one day and was suddenly like ",,,you know what would be funny??"

*bonk* No apologies for rambling!! I love rambling!! And your message was much appreciated!! Thank you so much for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy whatever (eventually) comes out next!! Yeah I'm definitely gonna need a bit of a break - I'm so tired, and I have so many fics to read that I've been putting off because I've spent almost every night the past ~3 months working on this. But!! I do plan on writing these other ideas, because they're exciting and fun to me, and I hope others can enjoy them as well :] 💜💜💜

#ask