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meetmeatthecoda · 3 years

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Now that I’ve had some time to cry & mourn & actually think about that horrendous excuse for television... I have... some thoughts.

Firstly, the pace of that episode was insane. I mean, the season itself felt like we were slowly & tortuously hacking our way through a tangled rain forest, trying desperately to see the forest for the trees, but instead stuck cutting vines & branches down one by one... until we got to that finale, which felt comparatively like finally cutting away all the dense foliage only to immediately fall off a fucking cliff. You could just tell they were using the least amount of dialogue they could to move through so many weird emotions at fucking breakneck speed. I mean there was... the brief aftermath in Latvia, the 4 second plane ride to re-introduce Red’s illness after how many eps, Liz’s 3 second long recuperation, the awkward attempt at humor with the helium followed by a crash landing into solemnity at Red’s talk with Cooper, the abrupt & unsatisfying discussion with Red & Liz where he makes his rEqUESt, all the different “heartfelt” one-on-ones with Liz’s people, the fucking forced af “romance” with K**nler, the shoe-horned “chance meeting” with Beth Ryker, the most Agnes has ever talked in the history of ever, the weirdly morbid & fucking heartbreaking walk in the park, the choppy restaurant scene, to the unmentionable... end event. It went all over the place, which is very unlike TBL imo, which usually seems to stick to a theme or emotional center for an entire episode, whether blacklister or mythology driven. I think it was painfully clear how poor their planning was (when they have literally no excuse bc they knew this was coming the whole season???) & just how much shit they were trying to squeeze into one episode.

Secondly - & this may seem obvious, but I think it’s worth talking about anyway - Liz should have gotten her answers. And I’m not just saying this as a Lizzington shipper (I mean, mostly I am, but there are other reasons also!) Primarily, I think bc... literally everyone expected them. Not just bc they were advertised (it’s certainly not the first time they’ve delighted in false advertising in promos when it comes to the all-important AnSwErS) but bc THEY MADE SURE EVERYONE KNEW BEFOREHAND THAT IT WAS MEGAN’S LAST EP. It might have been mildly acceptable to play coy for yet another season finale IF she was coming back in some capacity later to eventually wrap things up, but - given that they fucking slammed the door on that possibility - THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN US ANSWERS. I don’t think anyone considered the possibility that they would KILL her & NOT give us answers bc it makes no fucking sense. Additionally, Liz should have gotten her answers simply bc SHE!! DESERVED!! THEM!! They’re literally the thing she’s been fighting for for eight seasons & she fucking died without them? WTF??? But, most importantly to us Lizzington shippers, Liz not getting her answers ruined the park fantasy. I think we all imagined (BC IT WAS MEGAN’S LAST EP) that Red & Liz would finally talk & Red would give her the answers she wanted. I think we all expected from the (misleading) promo that he would make some sense out of the potentially jumbled memories/visions (?) from 8.21 &, most importantly, there would be SOME KIND OF EMOTIONAL TURNING POINT, SOME CATHARSIS, AN UNDERSTANDING & RENEWED LOVE BETWEEN THEM DRIVEN BY THE AFOREMENTIONED REVELATIONS (& LOVE OF WHATEVER KIND, MIND YOU, WE WEREN’T PICKY, JUST SOMETHING FOUNDED ON RECONCILIATION & PEACE.) But - bc they denied us that - Liz was still in the dark & waiting on answers for the entire ep, unable to forgive or reconnect with her true feelings for Red (whatever you believe them to be) & this made her reaction to Red’s rEqUeSt ring very hollow & detached, the whole park bench conversation stilted & awkward (on Liz’s end) & - THE WORST PART - it made the whole park fantasy feel FALSE. It cheapened it. Like she was just indulging him, letting him walk with her & play with Agnes & enjoy one more day of life before she indifferently killed him. The one thing we expected to get, should have gotten, & THOUGHT WE WOULD HAVE NO MATTER WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN THE FINALE was ruined. With the assisted suicide talk beforehand, the almost begrudging acceptance from Liz, the obvious morbid mindset from Red, the song in the background, the context of it all. It put an awful spin we completely didn’t expect on what should have been our beautiful Lizzington park fantasy. And I think that may be the part that hurts the most - the fact that I can only look at gifs of that scene - bc the music & dialogue & context completely undermine what Liz’s fantasy should have been, that she got for just one afternoon, when she was supposed to be happy & at peace with Red & Agnes.

Thirdly, (anyone still there? lolz) the whole “plot” of this episode was fucking nonsensical. Chiefly - & many other people have pointed this out before now - Red would never ask Liz to kill him. I simply call bullshit. No matter how hard they tried to justify it (& boyyyyy, did they try) Red has never wanted Liz to be a killer, criminal, or have to live a life like him. He has canonically said as much. I could maybe buy the whole “taking over his empire” thing as the seasons progressed, but asking Liz to live with the guilt (however slight or delayed) of killing him, after everything they’ve been through together, after she told him she loves him (seasons ago, but the feelings are still there, albeit buried deep)? And thereby launching her (& by extension Agnes) directly into harm’s way as the “new” Concierge of Crime (?), without him there to guide her from the shadows? No way. Bullshit. Also - & @iwouldlovetoeatyourtoast mentioned this first, I believe - the whole idea of it was stupid anyway bc Liz has spent the entire season chasing him, has repeatedly gotten opportunities to take the big shot, & has always been unable to kill him. It wasn’t even an engaging tWiSt to throw in at the very end bc - even when she agreed to do it - we all knew it wouldn’t happen, also bc Megan was the one leaving & not James. So, it wasn’t a surprise when she broke down at the end & said she couldn’t, so wtf was the point?

Fourthly (almost to the end, god this feels good) & this was a huge tell imo - everyone was OOC. Now you might say that’s the bitterness talking & you might be right... but you fucking try & tell me that 1) Red all of a sudden decides he’s ready for death after how long of not accepting it or mentioning it & absolutely must be killed by Liz & no one else within the next 24-48 hours 2) Liz would willingly go along with that for even a second 3) Dembe wouldn’t try his damnedest to talk Red out of assisted suicide in general & especially coercing Liz into doing it 4) Ressler would be the one to fucking figure it out & hightail it out of bed AFTER BEING ON DEATH’S DOOR WITH A BUSTED LUNG & SEPSIS FFS 5) Wolf Man Van Dyke would even know where to find Liz on a random fucking street corner outside a random fucking restaurant 6) Red wouldn’t see him behind Liz taking aim 7) THERE WOULDN’T BE A DECLARATION OF FEELINGS/LOVE CONFESSION BETWEEN RED & LIZ IN THE 14 MILLION OBVIOUS PLACES THERE COULD HAVE BEEN *PRIMARILY AFTER SHE SAYS “I CAN’T DO IT, I DON’T WANT TO” I MEAN, HELLO????? WTF, WHY WASN’T THERE AN “BC I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU TOO, LIZZIE” LIKE HOW HARD WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN, IT WAS THE PERFECT PLACE, THE LAST CHANCE, & WE FUCKING DESERVED ITTTTTTTTTTT *ahem* & lastly, & most importantly, & I’m definitely going to cry typing this... 8) if you fucking try to tell me that Red would allow himself to be pulled away from Lizzie’s dead body for a second time by Dembe or anyone else (especially when it was only the stupid task force arriving???) without simply crossing the street to load his gun with trembling fingers, pull the trigger, & join her... you’re fucking crazy.

In conclusion, bc this has gone on long enough, this was just... a hasty, sloppy, rushed, unprepared, careless ending on all fronts, no matter how hard they tried to convince us it was totally-100%-on-purpose-of-course-why-do-you-ask? (And I’m not even touching on the Redarina bait bc fuck that shit.) Like, did anyone else feel like when Red was telling Dembe that he was sure & this was what he wanted & really he’s positive so please stop asking, and when he was explaining things to Liz in almost too much detail, and when he was telling Harold this was absolutely necessary... that it was really the writers trying to convince us? It just felt so sudden & forced & heavy-handed & absurdly preventable & at the same time ridiculously unstoppable... I mean, look, whatever drama clearly went on behind the scenes? I think we can all agree that they did a terrible, awful, shit-tastic job on all fronts. And it’s just such a shame that that’s how it ended 💔

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skammovistarplus · 4 years

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Interview with Estíbaliz Burgaleta

[Note: Because I know it’s coming, this interview was released prior to the premiere of SEASON 2. That note about actors’ availabity has nothing to do with Fernando Lindez.]

Interview with Estíbaliz Burgaleta, head writer for SKAM España

By Ángela Armero

Estíbaliz Burgaleta is a script writer (SKAM España, Cable Girls, Morocco: Love in Times of War, Seis Hermanas, Velvet), writer (The Winner Takes It All, Loser), short film director (Bichos Raros, Mañana, La Leonera), webseries showrunner (Cataclismo), and script writing professor (Gona Estudios in Oviedo, Fiction Script Writing Master’s Degree at ECAM). As prolific as she is versatile, in her career she has alternated between melodrama and comedy, science fiction and teen shows, weekly shows and daily soaps, script pages and literature. If that weren’t enough, she blogs at Bichos Raros. She did Media Studies in Navarra and Script Writing at ECAM. She currenly heads the writer’s room for the Spanish remake of the Norwegian show SKAM, which is produced by Zeppelin and airs on Movistar. We’ve taken this opportunity to talk about this remake and, while we’re at it, try and find out how to do so many things and all of them well.

Estíbaliz, in your career you’ve done many things: television scripts, short films written and directed by you, the webseries Cataclismo, you’ve recently published two novels, you also teach… Is it a way to understand the job?

It’s more a way not to get bored, to try new trades, to pass the time when you’re in “between projects” (that is to say, unemployed), and also, to keep learning. For instance, when you shoot a short film you learn about the many things that can go wrong in the process of turning a script page into images. And writing novels it’s a way for me to do whatever I want, without having to be limited by network interference, or head writer interference, or scheduling problems with the actors, or anything like that. Actually, every project is a result of a specific moment in time because, right now, I wouldn’t direct short films for anything. Although who knows, never say never.

Season two of SKAM España just premiered, and you were also head writer for season one. What was your biggest challenge when you got started, and what was the biggest challenge when it came to season two?

Every time you start a TV show there’s a feeling of starting from zero. When it came to SKAM España, besides, we were a team who didn’t know each other beforehand. And, since it’s a remake, we had to decide to what point we were going to be faithful to the Norwegian show, which features we were going to keep and which ones we weren’t. We decided we couldn’t copy SKAM shot per shot, especially when other remakes were so faithful. We realized there was no sense in offering more of the same. The challenge in season one consisted in not disappointing SKAM fans, to be faithful to the tone of SKAM and to tackle the same topics: bullying, loss of your childhood friends, loneliness and the need to belong somewhere… but adding plot twists that fans of the original series wouldn’t see coming.

SKAM España season two goes down a different path than the original. What made you take this decision?

In addition to knowing from the start that it made no sense to offer a copy of the original show, we also noticed a desire, on the part of teenage audiences, to see a romantic love story, an iconic story, but where the characters were girls. In the Spanish audiovisual landscape, there are many stories that reflect the process of coming out by a boy, but we were missing something like that with a teenage girl, a referent for all these girls who are in the process of figuring themselves out and need to see themselves represented on screen.

What differences do you notice in a show like this, so dependent on real time, its audience and internet use, compared to other more classic offerings, such as Morocco: Love in Times of War, in which you also took part?

SKAM España is very different from other shows, from conception to format. It can be watched like a normal series, in episode format and weekly on Movistar, but it can also be watched on the website in real time and with additional information, such as the characters’ messages and the pictures they upload to their social media. That results in a different way to work, even the format of the scripts is different, because we include the Whatsapp chats and characters’ instagrams. That said, when it comes down to it, I think every show has its own rules, thus that feeling I mentioned earlier about starting from zero every time you come into a new project. When it comes to Morocco: Love in Times of War, we delved into the Rif War and we tried to research not just the era itself, but also medicine, military strategy…

What do you do to capture today’s teen slang? And, in general, to reflect teens properly.

This is one of the aspects in which SKAM España differs from other shows I’ve worked on. I had never in my life gone to rehearsals with the actors and in this show I’ve been able to and it’s super funny. This helps us in the process of reflecting the way they talk. Besides, the series directors [translator note: Begoña Álvarez and Tapi Ayerra] go through the effort of ensuring the cast makes the script theirs and inserts the slang that feels more natural to them during shooting. It ends up being contagious, and everyone in the crew has started saying things like “me renta mazo, tío.” I, personally, love the verb “stalkear” [translator note: from English, stalking] and I already use it daily. It means to look someone up on the internet to find out everything you can about that person, without them knowing, that is. I should also mention that before we wrote the series, there was field work done with psychologists, who interviewed teens aged 15 to 20, to find out what they worry about, their interests, the way they see life. Again, this was something I’d never done before for any other project, and it was really helpful.

Do you think they worry about the same things people of our generation worried about?

Resoundingly yes. They’re worried about their grades, what other people think of them, what they’ll do in the future, what they look like physically, fitting in. The feeling they repeated the most often in the interviews with the psychologists was “feeling overwhelmed.” They’re aware that they live in a crucial time in which they must make huge decisions, and most of them feel lost. What changes the most in this generation compared to ours is the tech. Cellphones, social media and the internet are part of their daily lives, and it’s manifest. But I think my generation, if we’d had today’s tech, would have behaved the same way with their obsession with self image, for instance, or with control and social media “stalking.” Then there are other details, such as fashion or music, that change, clearly for the worse. Because, let’s be real, was it really necessary for the fanny pack to make a comeback? Trap music is also something which escapes me and makes me feel like an old lady. Grunge was so much cooler.

What do you think about the golden age of TV, this boom? Do you think it’s a bubble or a progression that will continue going up?

I’m sorry to be a little fatalistic, but I have the feeling it’s a bubble. When it comes down to it, the number of viewers is what it is, and the budget to produce shows isn’t bottomless. But I hope I’m wrong and this lasts a long, long time. Just in case, I would recommend all the script writers to start saving.

You have also worked a lot as writer or head writer on daily soaps, such as SMS, Ciega a Citas or Seis Hermanas. What did you learn from these shows?

You learn so much on a daily soap, you develop a savage ability to work and savage reflexes. The dialogue team has to come out with five or six scripts per week, the rundown team has to come out with five or six rundowns. The crew works like an assembly line where you can never, ever take a break, or you fall behind airing date. I like that adrenaline rush. Besides, it’s precisely because the schedule is so tight that you get to see your work on screen quickly and with less changes that when you take part on a weekly show where the schedule extends over time, and there are so many edits to the script that in the end what you see on TV has very little to do with what you wrote.

Excluding SKAM España, what is the show you have learned or enjoyed the most from when writing it?

I have a very good time writing Cable Girls, because it’s a show where many genres fit: intrigue, romance, melodrama and even some humor. I enjoyed working on Ciega a Citas a lot because we did some really weird storylines, the vibe of the show allowed us to get even surrealistic and that’s always nice. With Seis Hermanas and Morocco: Love in Times of War, I delved into the early 20th century. And, since I love history, I loved being able to research.

And lastly, what do you think of female representation on TV?

I think we still have a long road ahead when it comes to female representation. I miss more women and, of course, older women and fat women, really ugly women or average ones. I’m a little fed up with all these women under 30 taking their clothes off for no reason. Even in “Love, Death & Robots,” which is an animated show, they have a healthy dose of topless girls. I think this is a result of both there still being more men in TV crews and the dominating gaze still being male. When it comes to “women’s” media, it’s more of a brand to help sell a product than a reality. I’ve found myself working in what were theoretically women’s shows (romantic melodrama, with female protagonists) where I was the only female writer. There won’t be any changes in the audiovisual landscape until there exists more parity in the crew. In addition to that, it’s still commonplace to check the credits of a series or a movie and find they’re a complete dickfest.

#skam españa

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theessayist · 4 years

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Movies that have made me cry like a baby

For a movie buff who’s more inclined to the gruesome thrill of horror flicks and the ingenious narration of crime films, I’m pretty in love with emotional movies. It takes a lot for this ENTJ to shed a tear; even on purpose; and in fact, I can only name a few titles that really got these eyeballs of mine watery.

I think a major part of the reason why I love emotional movies is that the way that I still get affected by them helps me determine if I still have a moral, empathetic anchor... You know... Somewhere deep down there. It gives me solace.

Moving on, knowing that I’m not an easy shell to break, I can guarantee that the films I’m about to mention will absolutely tear your heart apart.

S/N I haven’t watched Miracle in Cell No. 7 or any Frank Darabont masterpiece yet, so if they hit hard enough, I might make another list.

S/N #2 Animated films will be separated.

5. Marriage Story (2019) dir. Noah Baumbach

I’m a 17-year-old single girl living with my perfectly stable parents who love each other so much and I’m happy and eternally grateful for that; but why the hell am I crying?!

Starting off on our list is a movie that made me cry because of the immense confusion I felt as I watched two exhausted, beautiful humans go through a painful separation when they clearly still love one another.

I think the main reason why this film made a waterfall out of me is because I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t know if I should side on Nicole, since she was the one who made more sacrifices and considerations; or Charlie- since he was the one who was suffering in the ugly end of the stick. It made me feel frustrated and angry in a way that I wanted to push them back together, and at the same time, pull them both apart.

I’d like to say more- but now I just want to credit Scarlett and Adam for the most heart-wrenching fight scene I have ever endured in all seventeen years of my life.

4. Train to Busan (2016) dir. Yeon Sang Ho

I watched this Korean zombie horror flick thinking it was going to quench my thirst for some brutal flesh-ripping, blood and gushing gore. I NEVER got tired of zombies- whether in movies, video games or soap operas, I eat that crap up. And so I dived in ravenous as hell, thinking I was gonna get purely that.

But instead I got a pretty, pregnant woman and her protective husband, an inadvertently neglectful dad and his adorable child, a hobo, and two teenagers my age who’re just as afraid as everyone else would be.

Oh, and a scumbag whose selfish deeds are so unspeakable I’d rather say ‘Voldemort’.

Seokwoo didn’t have to smile like that, you know. It’s little contrasting details like that that make emotional scenes so goddamn irresistible.

This movie got me by surprise- my unsuspecting self who did not expect any tear-jerker was cut up from behind with a father, and an almost-father, sacrificing for the love of their lives. Who doesn’t cry to that kinda stuff? Please cut their chests open and install a heart.

3. Titanic (1997) dir. James Cameron

Oh yes, the popular royal tear-jerker, sitting right next to the campus queen bees, The Notebook and A Walk to Remember (to which I didn’t cry, for what it’s worth). As much as I loved the romance that so beautifully blossomed between Jack and Rose, quite frankly I did not cry because the former died. Although that was really sad, too.

You know what gave me a stuffy nose and two red eyes for three days? The other passengers, for gosh’s sake.

The guy who got shot by the seaman. That seaman who shot himself afterwards. The band who played through the chaos. The maids that drowned in the ballroom trying to look after everyone else. The lone kid in the hallway who could’ve drowned. The mother tucking her children to bed. And most of all, the old couple cuddling each other as water rushed in their room!

I don’t think I’ve to explain why that subtly painful montage broke my gold-titanium alloy heart. It didn’t help that the lovable Captain Smith chose to sink with his ship, too.

2. Forrest Gump (1995) dir. Robert Zemeckis

Before I watched it, I didn’t know what to expect from this movie. But it had Tom Hanks (who, to me at that moment, was purely Sheriff Woody), and I knew it was iconic; so I sat through, thinking it was another one of those great films that was going to bore me. And boy, was I wrong!

So, unlike all the other films on this list, Forrest Gump actually made me cry in a heart-warming, happy, beautiful way. We watched this guy persevere through the challenges of his universe, we saw the way he rewrote history, we laughed at his utter stupidity, we lamented the come-and-go relationship with Jenny, we grew to love Colonel Dan; everything about it was amazing and touching and the end was just so incredibly satisfying, I didn’t know films could make me happy that much.

I was just really, really proud of our boy Forrest and how he lived, okay? Leave me alone.

1. Scent of a Woman (1992) dir. Martin Brest

So, I’m a really big fan of Al Pacino. Why? Because, like I said- crime is my #1 genre. Specifically, organized crime. And who’s the prince of the organized crime genre? You guessed it- this man. He was Jimmy Hoffa. He was Tony Montana. He was Michael Corleone, for crying out loud!

As a new, young fan, he has established in me the image of a tough, hard-wired man who would stop at absolutely nothing to achieve what he wants. Not morals, not friends, and definitely not family (F stands for Fredo). So what did I expect when he became the blind, eccentric, women-obsessed war veteran Lt. Col. Frank Slade? I had no idea.

That was why it got me so hard- because I was viewing Al play a largely different role. And what’s astonishing about it is that I didn’t see him as Al Pacino. Didn’t see him as a godfather, a union leader, or a drug lord. I saw him as that in-denial old man- washed up, empty, and feeling unwanted for the things he’d brought about in his life. For half the movie, I was admiring every nuance, the clever dialogue, the relationship-building, the philosophical aspects. The other half, I was crying profusely.

To be specific, I cried four separate times through the two-hour feature; especially during the Ferrari scene. It’s weird I know, but I cried there the most. The film was a very remarkable experience; and all these is why it is my number one pick for a film that will definitely gouge your eyes out.

I highly recommend all of these features for both lovers and non-lovers of the emotional aspects of film. Even I, as a crime and horror fan, could attest for the fact that these films are not a waste of your fast-paced time. You will be awed.

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ahgaseda · 5 years

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the hot tea || chapter 04

⇥ synopsis : your best friend, Jackson, never fails to argue against your apathy toward love and romance, but his plan to confess his true feelings toward you is rudely interrupted when you start a blog chronicling your past relationships...

⇥ warnings : this story in its entirety includes but is not limited to strong language and dialogue, recurring alcohol or drug use, and explicit sexual content, and is intended for an adult audience only!

Drumming your nails on the table, you stared at the screen and the words written in the document. This was it; your first foray into novelizing your relationships. Your teeth sank into your lip and truth be told, you lingered the cursor over the delete button.

Rising from the desk with a frustrated groan, you flopped onto your bed and grabbed your phone, scrolling through your contacts. When you landed on his name, you hesitated. It had been quite a while since the two of you talked, but part of you needed to get this off your chest.

The phone rang three times before he answered, “Hello?”

Slightly taken aback by his voice, which seemed much deeper than you remembered, you stammered, “Hey, um, it’s me.”

Your ex didn’t sound fazed in the least. “What’s up?”

Vaguely you could hear the mashing of buttons in the background followed by the untimely death of some computer-generated creature and a smirk tugged at your lips. With a snicker, you rambled, “I know this is really random and it’s late. Sorry about that.”

“You know I don’t go to bed until, like, the crack of dawn,” he retorted. “What’s bothering you?”

As if you could tell him what you were up to, you mused with a shake of your head. Guilt crept up your spine and you murmured, “Nothing. I just… I don’t know.”

“Spit it out, babe.”

You asked, “Are we okay?”

That was clearly the last thing he expected you to say. “Huh?”

“You and me,” you trailed, memories filling your mind. “Are we alright? No bad blood or any hard feelings.”

He replied without missing a beat, “None at all.”

“Okay. Good. I needed to be sure.”

“Feel better?” he asked and you just knew he was smiling with amusement.

“Yes, I’m sorry. You know my brain does most of its work in the middle of the night,” you quipped for an attempt at some levity to break the tension.

He chuckled. “Some things never change.”

You simpered, warmth gathering behind your cheeks. “Take care, Mark.”

“You, too.”

Macchiato at its core is just coffee and cream. Simple, but if you think about it, a collision of complete opposites. Boyfriend number one was like that. He was a polarizing force that blew hot then cold and I never knew whether to bring a coat or a bikini. Nevertheless, he was the First Love and the story begins with him.

We met during my senior year of high school, when I had transferred to a foreign place and knew absolutely no one. Turned out, we had that in common...

Approaching the table in the corner, your voice began to quiver as you spoke, “I, um, I’m sorry to do this, but…”

Mark glanced up, saying nothing as he chewed his food.

“Can I sit here?” you asked innocently.

Mark lifted his brow, seemingly waiting for an explanation. No one ever sat with him. Barely anyone even spoke to him or acknowledged his presence since he arrived only a few months earlier.

“It’s just… those boys keep bothering me and I noticed everyone gives you space,” you said, feeling the telltales of anxiety as you heard the chatter growing louder behind you. “I thought, maybe…”

Mark nonchalantly motioned to the seat across from him with a nod of his head.

You breathed in relief and thanked him, sitting down and running a hand through your hair. The last thing you anticipated when arriving to this new school was dealing with a pack of boys that felt they were entitled to your attention and were rather offended you didn’t readily give it to them.

For a moment, Mark studied you as he took another mouthful of food. You looked petrified and part of him felt a rush of instincts to defend you. Clearly a foreigner like himself, he immediately decided he wouldn’t allow any nonsense where you were concerned.

Having finally calmed, you proceeded to eat your lunch.

A few minutes later, Mark’s expression faltered as he glanced at something past you. You furrowed your brow until you heard the patter of footsteps at your back.

“Hey, new girl,” one of the boys jeered, clapping a hand on your shoulder. “Where did you scurry off to?”

You exhaled in defeat, resisting the urge to cry at the loss of some peace you had ached for.

“What’s up, Mark?” the guy called to the loner, roughly tugging on your sweater as he did so.

Mark set down his fork and slowly rose to his feet, not uttering a word as he began rolling up his sleeves.

The display made your eyes widen, realizing this boy you had just met was ready to square up on your behalf.

The bully chuckled, promptly releasing his grip on your coat and taking a wary step back. “Hey, bro, there’s no problem here, right?” he asked nervously.

Mark shrugged, noncommittal, but more than ready to handle his business.

“We were just gonna get this new girl out of your way.”

Mark shook his head, now proceeding to unfasten his school vest.

The boys shuffled behind you, but you didn’t dare turn to look.

“Whoa, Americano. It’s cool,” another guy said hurriedly, trying to diffuse the situation and steering his trouble-making friend away. “We’ll see you at class, alright?”

Mark bobbed his head and waved them away, waiting for them to be gone before he plopped back into his seat with an annoyed sigh.

You watched him, wanting to smile, and joked, “I wish I could do that.”

Mark grabbed his fork and glanced at you, saying, “You shouldn’t have to.”

It was the first time you had ever heard his voice and you had to admit, you liked the way it sounded. It made sense such a stoic, formidable personality would be accompanied by a low timbre voice.

“Thank you,” you whispered shyly.

Mark smiled and said, “Sit with me whenever you want.”

“You won’t mind?”

He shook his head and you were slightly disappointed at not hearing his voice again.

Lunch with Macchiato became an everyday routine. And little by little, we found some kind of camaraderie. We were both lonely, that was for certain, and we gravitated to each other for a sense of belonging. Soon, it wasn’t just lunch. Turned out we had a few classes together and even the ones we didn’t share he always walked me to and from. Sure, we bonded over being the weird foreign kids, but it was more than that...

“Hey,” Mark said as you began to enter your class.

Turning around, you asked, “Yes?”

Taking your hand gently, he pulled you closer and whispered in your ear, “Let’s ditch.”

“What?” you exclaimed, eyes going wide.

Mark shushed you and continued levelly, “I hate bio and you hate math.”

“True, but that won’t make the tests we’re prepping for magically go away,” you said, grimacing at the thought of exams on the horizon.

Mark tilted his head and whined, “Come on. It’s just one day.”

Narrowing your eyes at him, you teased under your breath, “And here I thought you were a good boy.”

“I’ve got news for you,” he quipped, sticking out his tongue at the corner of his mouth and wiggling his eyebrows.

Your gaze flitted from your only companion to the rapidly filling classroom. With a sigh of defeat, you grumbled, “Alright, where are we going and what trouble are we getting into?”

Mark squeezed your hand and began dragging you with him down the hall. “I wanna show you my happy place.”

Rolling your eyes, you followed dutifully, stealing a glance over your shoulder to make sure no one saw the daring escape.

Mark brought you outside and kept going, over the paved paths until they became gravel and pebbles. You passed between lush trees and grass, spotting a lake just beyond.

“Full of surprises, Mark Tuan,” you deadpanned when he finally released your hand and dropped his backpack beneath the largest of the trees.

At the top of a gentle slope that led to the water, Mark sat down and leaned back against his bag, overlapping his arms behind his head.

“Sometimes I just come here and think about everything,” he told you, closing his eyes.

Standing next to him, you glanced around and teased, “Is that so?”

The light trickled through the branches ever so delicately and you stopped still for a moment to simply take in the peace and quiet of your surroundings. Placing your backpack neatly next to his, you copied Mark’s position, resting on your back alongside him. Though you neatly laced your fingers over your stomach rather than behind your head.

A moment of silence later, Mark said, “I think about you, you know.”

Turning to look at him, your heart fluttered. “You do?”

Mark opened his eyes and met your gaze. “Yeah.”

You bit your lip to hide a smile, heat flushing your cheeks.

Playful, Mark suddenly glared and chided, “Don’t look at me like that.”

You retorted, “It’s your own fault for being sweet.”

“Never again,” Mark said, relaxing again and closing his eyes.

Giggling, you whispered, “Whatever you say, Tuan,” and settled in comfortably beside him, losing yourself for a few precious moments of contentment and realizing that Mark was the first boy to make your heart race.

chapter 03 ⇤ chapter 04 ⇥ chapter 05

Hey there, beautiful! If you enjoyed this, please leave a like or reblog or follow me! Or maybe buy me a coffee so I can keep writing? Or check out my masterlist here for more stories! Thanks for reading :) - Katya

This work is fictional and for entertainment purposes only, but is licensed and protected under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international license. Any instances of plagiarism will be dealt with accordingly. Do not re-post or translate without my permission.

#got7 fanfiction #got7 smut #mark tuan smut #got7 scenarios #mark tuan scenarios #jaebum smut #jackson wang smut #jinyoung smut #youngjae smut #bambam smut #yugyeom smut

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blackbatpurplecat · 5 years

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My Thoughts on Batman: Hush (the animated movie)

The story arc Batman: Hush from 2002 was one of the first Batman comics I have ever read and it quickly became one of my all time favorites. I would have given everything to get an animated movie based on it!

Then the adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke came out and changed everything.

I had to take a closer look at recent DC animated movies and realized their glorious days had been over for a long time. I stopped wishing for an animated movie. One came out anyway. So was I wrong? Was this another loveless adaptation with stiff animation and unnecessary changes?

Right at the start, we see a closeup of Gordon’s hand and he’s wearing his wedding ring on his middle finger so... yup, I’m sure DC invested a lot of money in the film’s production...

I’m gonna assume we all know the comic’s story. We know about BatCat giving their love a try, that Bruce reveals his identity to Selina, that Catwoman pushes Lois Lane off the Daily Planet to help Supes break free from Ivy’s control, how Bruce’s childhood friend Thomas Elliot is killed, how Clayface is mimicking Jason Todd which triggers Batman, that the new villain called Hush actually is Thomas Elliot who had teamed up with Riddler, that Riddler knows who Batman is, and that Batman breaks up with Catwoman because he’s still having trust issues.

Let’s just say the arc is PACKED with story and characters so it shouldn’t be hard to make a movie out of it, right? Sure, I was expecting some changes because of its packed-ness. Not every single subplot and every single character would make the cut, I get it. However, I still wasn’t prepared for what DC turned the story into.

So what were some of those changes and what did I think of them:

- replace Killer Croc with Bane. alright, more people know Bane, it’s fine - replace Huntress with Batgirl. ugggggh, okayyy... more people know Batgirl. I feel bad that this choice removed Oracle’s existence but okay. she had one scene, you already had the character design from that godawful Killing Joke movie and not enough budget to make Huntress, I can see past this - cut Leslie Thompkins. hmmm yessss okay, she wasn’t that essential to the story, alright, I can live with it - cut the entire involvement of the League of Assassins. I’m not the biggest fan of Ra’s al Ghul and co. so I didn’t mind that they reduced it to one cameo of Lady Shiva. HOWEVER she is the world’s best fighter! WHY NOT SHOW HER FIGHTING?! she could have been so much better but they chose to waste her for exposition purposes - make Amanda Waller skinny. yes, they once again turned the baddest bitch into a skinny woman because we can’t have fat people in a Batman movie, no one wants to fuck a fat Waller or jerk it over a fat Waller -__- just get over yourselves, DC you assholes! - Robin was cut entirely. wow. just wow. why do DC hate Robin so much? I don’t get it! - the shit stain rape result popped up in one scene for absolutely no purpose except for poorly establishing a fucked up “continuity” between all recent DC animated movies. something NO ONE in the fucking world wants or needs. just kill that little shit, he serves no purpose, he was annoying as fuck, he wasn’t even created when the original story came out, fuck him, delete him, stop shoe horning him into every Batman-related thing, he’s useless - cut the entire Jason Todd part. again, why the Robin hate?! it was one of the most emotional parts of the story, why cut it?! - cut the BatCat scenes in the cave, including Alfred telling Selina that he thinks the world of her. no words except for “what a disappointment” - change the entire ending and make it worse. S I G H

So Thomas Elliot was just a red herring for everyone who’s read the comics. Instead of Hush having a personal connection to Bruce and having more complex reasons to kill him, we get Riddler who wants to kill him just because he can. Cool. But seriously, who thought that this would make a satisfying ending?!

Kidnap Catwoman, make her the damsel in distress, have Batman come save her, and kill the bad guy - sounds like a quality script to me...

But apart from the poorly written ending, I have a major problem with what the movie focuses on: the Batman x Catwoman romance.

A huge reason why I love the comic is the BatCat relationship. It’s the first time, Batman kisses Catwoman back, it’s Bruce willingly revealing his secret to Selina to include her in his ENTIRE life and trust her with his life. We see them work together really well, we see how Selina loves Bruce but also doesn’t give up her independence. She’s willing to be by his side but won’t turn into his sidekick or change into a to him more “convenient” version of herself. And most importantly, she understands and appreciates and loves Bruce for his moral code.

DC being DC, they of course only half-ass their biggest romance.

While I did enjoy the added BatCat footage like Bruce and Selina in bed (I LoVeD that Selina sounded like they had just had the wildest most erotic experience ever while she was still wearing a shirt and he was wearing his boxers and both Selina and Bruce looked stiff as boards o_O ), having breakfast together, sharing kisses, taking down thugs together, and just the entire pacing indicated that their relationship grew over a longer time period in comparison to the comic, the movie fucked up essential points which I won’t forgive.

Catwoman was portrayed as a murderous, reckless villain. There’s no way around it. It was HER who threw Lois off a building and Bats chided her for it (IN THE COMICS IT WAS HIS IDEA), he has to hold her back from scratching up a bad guy’s face, she cuts the line holding Riddler so he falls to his death (CATWOMAN ACTIVELY KILLS HERE), and in the end, she angrily accuses Bruce of being absolutely insane because he has a moral code to keep himself from becoming what he’s fighting against.

What the flying fuck?!

That ending pissed me off SO MUCH! In the comic’s story arc, Batman breaks it off due to trust issues and it did seem a bit rushed and irrational just to re-establish the comics’ status quo of “Batman has to be single” but it’s a SO MUCH BETTER REASON than what the movie gives us! Catwoman has no problem with killing (one of the reasons I hate Nolan’s interpretation of her) and doesn’t understand Bruce AT ALL, she doesn’t get him as a person, she doesn’t understand that he wants to SAVE and PROTECT. He sums it up quite well, if there’s a chance to save someone, he has to at least try. That’s the hopeful Bruce we rarely see because DC fanboys are all about grim gritty edgy brutal.

And then they part on “maybe we’ll see things the same someday” a.k.a. Catwoman hopes that Batman will someday have NO problem with killing. Fuck. You.

So in this movie, Selina was a reckless murderess, a damsel in distress, and of course willing to change herself for a man and not for herself. Big round of applause for shitting on Catwoman.

Alright, done with my rant on story-related shit. What else was there?

Yes, the additional BatCat scenes were nice as well as the interaction between Catwoman and Nightwing. Just Nightwing in general was awesome. A true BatCat shipper.

The dialogues were bad. Best example is the post-sex one.

I can’t say much about the music, it was so bland that I have already forgotten it.

The animation ranged from nice to fucking bad. They had clearly put more effort into the fighting scenes when the movements were fluid and smooth - and then you get back to stiff, dead characters and nothing moves on them except their mouths. I couldn’t help but compare the shots to the comic’s pages: Superman and Poison Ivy, Joker on the trashcan, the big BatCat kiss - they all looked fucking ICONIC in the books but so boring and bland in the movie, with a color palette that covered mostly black and gray. There was absolutely nothing memorable about the adaptation’s look and style.

(also: yes, we totally needed ivy kissing catwoman so all the fanboys have jerk material again and harley quinn’s costume reveals her shoulders now? what a mUcH nEeDeEd change to the costume, yes, well done)

Also the pacing was weird, there were SO many awkward pauses in-between dialogues. I cringed way too often watching this.

Which brings me to the voice-acting. Did DC have so little faith in one of their most iconic stories that they didn’t even bother to get Conroy + Hamill? I guess so. Once Upon a Time star Jennifer Morrison did a great job at being Catwoman, her voice was a really good choice! Also Sean Maher as Nightwing was a riot. Jason Spisak was a surprisingly good Joker as well as Hynden Walch as Harley Quinn - but how do you cast Tara Strong and NOT give her Harley?!

The biggest dud however was Jason O’Mara again. He has no range at all, he keeps his voice as monotonous as possible ALL THE FRICKING TIME. There’s no Bruce Wayne voice, no Batman voice, he just grumbles everything without any emotions behind it.

Well, I guess that was it. I could go into more detail about every single thing they changed but I think this review is long enough as it is already. ;)

Would I recommend the animated adaptation of Batman: Hush? Maybe. To me, it was an expected letdown because DC’s animated movies are almost on the same very low level of the live-action movies nowadays, so if you’d ask me “should I watch it?”, I’d say “if you like BatCat, yes BUT read the comic first and don’t expect too much from the movie.”

#review #Personal note

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starwarsnonsense · 5 years

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Top 10 Films of 2018

This is rather delayed (mainly on account of an extended bout of laziness on my part), but I was still determined to get it out there! While I don’t think 2018 quite reached the heights of 2017 (nothing matched The Last Jedi or Blade Runner 2049, for example), there was still a lot of great cinema.

As always, keeping this list at 10 meant I had to omit some great titles. Just so you get an idea of what I had to leave out, here are some honourable mentions: Eighth Grade, Lady Bird, Revenge, Phantom Thread, Thoroughbreds, Lean on Pete and Game Night.

1. Roma, dir. Alfonso Cuarón

Roma is a deeply special film, and I’m very fortunate in having got to see it in the best possible circumstances - projected on a huge cinema screen, with its gorgeous, silvery cinematography a marvel to witness. This film takes the kind of life that would usually be forgotten and turns it into an epic, interweaving the story of a loving, resilient housemaid with the seismic political events unfolding in Mexico in the early 1970s. The shots are highly symmetrical and geometric, with characters passing in and out of pre-established frames. But this is clearly intentional, and - to me at least - the story felt no less personal for it. There are several all-time great scenes in this film, and while I don’t want to spoil any of them with extended descriptions, I will say that there’s a sequence in a hospital that balances the mundane and the monumental in an extraordinary and heartbreaking way. This is breathtaking, masterful filming, and I felt it did justice to Cleo’s life without ever attempting to claim her experience. The film is quiet and the dialogue is almost perfunctory, relying heavily on its visuals - it’s cinema at its purest.

2. Annihilation, dir. Alex Garland

True story: I was so desperate to see Annihilation in a cinema that I flew to New York for it. Of course Annihilation wasn’t my sole reason for travelling to New York, but you can be damn sure I made a point of tracking down an Alamo Drafthouse that was showing it. And boy was it worth it. This movie does a magnificent job of fulfilling the potential of sci-fi, taking otherworldly concepts and ideas and using them to interrogate some of the most profound and frightening truths of what it means to be human. This movie has a quietly hypnotic quality to it, and Natalie Portman continues to prove that she is one of the finest modern actors - she says so much with her face and her movements that lines are hardly necessary. I will continue to follow Alex Garland’s career with great interest...

3. Beast, dir. Michael Pearce

Beast was probably my biggest surprise in film in 2018 - I went in expecting nothing, and was bowled over by it to the point that I rushed out to see it again at the first opportunity. This film follows lonely outsider Moll and her ardent love for the mysterious Pascal. There is a heightened, almost supernatural, quality to their romance, and the actors - Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn - have electric chemistry. This film delights in playing with the viewer’s fears and suspicions, constantly adjusting them as the characters evolve over the course of the movie. It’s a great fusion of genres - mystery and romance - that also functions as a superb character piece, and it is entirely worth your time.

4. Bad Times at the El Royale, dir. Drew Goddard

This film is bonkers in an amazing way. A bunch of seemingly random strangers gather at a hotel that’s far from its glory days, and it isn’t long before all hell breaks lose. The ensemble here is terrific, with all the cast members playing off each other in a succession of utterly delightful ways. Every character conceals a secret history and motive, with their layers gradually being peeled back as the movie plays out. Special mention must go to Cynthia Erivo, who is simply stupendous as a session singer who I wound up considering the film’s real hero - she’s marvellously charismatic and complex, and her voice is a complete wonder. This film is a messy tangle of mysteries, and I had a wonderful time unravelling them.

5. First Reformed, dir. Paul Schrader

I have a weird soft spot for ‘crisis of faith’ movies (think Silence), and this is a very fine entry into that niche. Ethan Hawke is superb here as a priest attending to an old church that has effectively been reduced to a chintzy tourist attraction, and I found the depiction of how he struggles with his faith, overwhelmed by disillusionment and the immense crises facing the earth, fascinating and beautifully written. Schrader wrote and directed this film, and it is one of his greatest achievements - the dialogue probes deep, never feeling trite or obvious. I also appreciated how the spiritual was so often conflated with the personal, with a thin line drawn being drawn between the divine and the carnal (that end scene is a woozy thing to experience). It’s a beautifully judged film, made all the more fascinating for its ambiguity.

6. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, dir. Morgan Neville

The greatest testament to the power of this wonderful, good-hearted documentary is probably that I went into it knowing practically nothing about Mr Rodgers (he just wasn’t a thing here in the UK) and left it thinking he’s the hero the world needs right now. I’ve seen so many documentaries illuminating the ugliest parts of humanity that I didn’t realise how much I needed one spotlighting the best bits. But this documentary isn’t pure sentiment, though there’s a lot of that - I found a lot to admire in Mr Rodgers approach to child psychology and education, particularly his conviction that every child can benefit from a warm, steady presence, even of the source of the reassurance happens to be trapped in a TV monitor. I can only hope this inspires a fresh wave of documentaries on similarly worthy subjects.

7. The Wife, dir. Björn Runge

Glenn Close is coming for that Best Actress Oscar and no one can convince me otherwise. With The Wife, the whole movie transparently rests on the shoulders of one woman - Close’s performance is almost sphinx-like, being enigmatic and low-key to the point that her emotions are almost invisible. But their failure to manifest doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and that is perhaps the point of the whole movie. Joan Castleman might seem like the ideal wife of a great author, but she is revealed to be far more than that - a singular individual with dreams, passions, ambitions and regrets. Glenn Close makes the gradual reveal of each facet magnetic, to the point that the slightest twinges of her facial muscles become potent symbols.

8. Blindspotting, dir. Carlos López Estrada

This is an urgent, gripping movie that tackles some of the biggest issues there are. Collin and Miles are friends, but this film sees their friendship challenged, the dynamics underlying it interrogated. I’ve seen movies described as “empathy machines” before, and Blindspotting is a great example of that. It sucks you into the day-to-day experience of living Collin’s life, whether he’s getting a window into the hang-ups of the people whose belongings he is moving (he drives a moving truck) or just chilling out with his friends. Alongside this, it also portrays how terrifying it is to live as a black man in America, how vanishingly little value appears to be placed on your life by those in authority. There’s a rap scene at the film’s climax that consolidates all of Collin’s rage and hurt, and it truly packs a punch.

9. American Animals, dir. Bart Layton

This film portrays a very different side to young American manhood from Blindspotting. Instead of living from day to day, the protagonists of this film start out with pretty much everything they could need - stability, support and good prospects. They choose to unsettle their existence by staging an outrageous heist, clearly dreaming of becoming legends and injecting excitement into their comfortable lives. American Animals does a fantastic job of pulling their plan apart, and since it was based on a true story director Bart Layton does something quite ingenious - he combines real interviews with re-enactments, the filmed scenes being switched out and adjusted according to the conflicting testimonies. In this way, American Animals becomes much more then a depiction of entitled young men seeking to mythologise themselves - it also functions as an interrogation of truth, and the myriad deceptive qualities of cinema.

10. Mission Impossible: Fallout, dir. Christopher McQuarrie

I have no idea how this franchise keeps on stepping up its game, but it does. It reminds me of how the James Bond films ended up taking Bond to space. I can see MI doing that at this point, except we all know that Tom Cruise would actually fly into space for it. With that prelude out of the way, I just need to stress what a fantastic action movie this is. The set-pieces here are marvellously staged, and their execution made them absolutely gripping - I was anxious over every punch, flinching at every cracked bone. McQuarrie is a true master of tension and suspense, and the movie was simply a magnificent ride. I was lucky enough to see this in IMAX with @bastila-bae, and the mere thought of people watching this on smartphones fills me with the rare kind of sorrow known only to shameless film snobs.

Look out for highlights from 2019 - coming up in a few months!

#roma #film #cinema #movie #movies #film in 2018 #review of 2018 #annihilation #beast #first reformed #blindspotting #mission impossible:fallout #american animals #bad times at the el royale #personal #the wife #won't you be my neighbor

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lilyginnyblackv2 · 6 years

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why the giles mini is so horrid? i couldnt pass the first pages and i doubt i'll read it later so i dont mind for spoilers

Lol, where to even begin! I’ll put my answer under a Read More though, just in case anyone happens across this but doesn’t want to be spoiled. Okay…

So, the Giles Mini is horrible for a lot of reasons: 1. The plot is very confusing. The general premise and the very general plot isn’t all that confusing (it is more the details and side stuff that is). But the general plot just gets told in a very confusing manner. That confusion mostly comes from the dialogue, which is nonsensical at times and filled with extremely outdated pop culture references. The plot is also just kinda…pointless? The Big Bad of the Season (Seeds) is just kinda there, sucking the intelligence or something like that, from the students and teachers for…some reason (I believe a reason was given, but it really wasn’t a very good one, I can’t even remember what it was).The Big Bad also kept referring to Giles as “Mother” because Giles was the one who kind returned the Big Bad to its current form (Seeds was in a lesser form than the one we see in the present of the Giles Mini. Giles fought him in the past, but also spilled some blood during that fight and due to Giles’ blood Seeds was able to gain a form again or something like that).Nothing about the plot has any real importance on the main Season 11 plotline. This mini could have taken place between Season 9 of Angel and Faith and Season 10 of Buffy, it could have taken place at any point during Buffy Season 10 or even between Buffy Season 10 and Buffy Season 11. The whole “Safe Zone” plot has absolutely no influence on this mini and, in fact, the characters use magic all over the place and it makes no sense within the framework of Season 11 and the Safe Zone plot line.2. The romance between Giles and Roux is super rushed and just…bad. Giles actually says that he loves her in the last issue (I believe it was the last issue). It was a really poorly written “love at first sight” type of thing. I also just thought that a romance subplot was completely unnecessary and it was.3. Issue #3, on its own, isn’t that bad. It is actually fairly interesting since it is mostly just focused on Roux and her backstory. We also see Roux and Giles actually kinda hanging out and being actual friends, which was nice, but this issue also muddies a lot of stuff surrounding the whole “souls” mythos, when it comes to vampires, in the Buffyverse. Giles gets conflicted on his feelings for Roux because he likes her, but she is (as far as he is aware) a soulless vampire. We learn that Roux is a different kind of vampire from the usual. Her creator was a magic user and she was created on the night of a blood red moon (or something like that). We see that she has something in her that compels her to stay underground in a grave for years at a time and then come back up and do stuff (like kinda good stuff). This is all left very vague and is never fully explained. Roux asks Giles if he thinks she has a soul and stuff like what really is a soul, etc. But we never get a clear cut answer about whether she has a soul or not. The actual mechanics and purpose of Roux special kind of existence is also never fully or clearly explained. There are also some hints that Roux’s creator may have been Seeds (her creator liked peaches and smelled like peaches, just like Seeds) or that he had some connection to Seeds. Especially because Roux was kinda working with Seeds for a while. But yeah, nothing gets fully explained and it is all just a very confusing mess. 4. In the end Giles remains largely unchanged by all of these events. The four issues didn’t result in any actual growth or character change. So it just came off as weird and totally pointless.

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Buffy comics #Giles mini #Rupert Giles #Buffy comics spoilers #Roux

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once-upon-a-ouat · 6 years

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OUAT Rewatch 1x10 “7:15 A.M.”

Okay, I don’t usually do that, but for this episode I feel the uncontrollable need to review it scene-for-scene because I have something to say about every scene and they were all freaking awesome. That will eliminate the need to point out favorite and least favorite scene in this episode, but I’m keeping the favorite and least favorite lines. With that said, let’s dive right in.

The opening scene with August and Henry built up the suspense as to who August is and what he’s doing in Storybrooke and also served as a set-up for two more scenes throughout the episode. I also loved Regina’s worry as to who that might be. First, Emma came to town and started trouble, and now another person just showed up. You could practically see the cogwheels turning in her head.

The weather forecast we heard as background in the next scene informed us about the storm which played a major role later in the episode. Mary Margaret was very funny in her hurry to go out. I loved how quickly she came up with a lie to tell Emma. We know she’s not that type of person and yet, she lied to her closest friend because she herself knew that what she was doing wasn’t right and didn’t want Emma to know about it.

It was quickly revealed why Mary Margaret was in such a hurry. It’s really sad how desperate she was for even the smallest contact with David. And the fact that he was buying two coffees just made it even worse (there goes OUAT with the details once again). It would’ve been plenty horrible on its own, but seeing David walk up to his car, give one to Kathryn and kiss her cheek was just heartbreaking (and I also felt horrible for Kathryn because I know how this is going to end and that she’ll be hurt). Good thing Emma showed up as the voice of reason. I loved how she didn’t judge Mary Margaret, but also firmly and clearly told her that she had to put a stop to that. She’s understanding and supportive and yet, doesn’t let her friend fall even deeper.

Snow looked hella badass with that spear in that next scene. So she didn’t flee the kingdom? Or did she? I’m a little confused. The parallels between the two timelines were cool though. What I’m not a fan of is Snow’s desire to get rid of her feelings in both realms. I know loving someone when you know there’s no way for you to be together hurts, but that doesn’t mean that you have to erase them from your heart. For me that just doesn’t do a favor to their romance and the idea that it’s the greatest romance ever.

Snow and Rumple’s scene was awesome. I loved the way he used her hair to make the potion ‘personal’ because no two loves are exactly the same. That was such a great idea. I also loved how he said that love is the most powerful magic and then made that look horrifying. Given what we know about his personal experience with love, it just became even sadder. Also, now that we know what he used her hair for, this scene is just more brilliant.

Mary Margaret’s shock when she saw the pregnancy test was heartbreaking but I do have a problem with that scene. David’s words in the cabin and his actions on the whole imply that he and Kathryn don’t even have sex. Why did she think she was pregnant? I loved how Regina had only two lines but managed to make a bitch of herself. Also, I loved that she and Kathryn were shopping together. I think this can count as one of the genuine moments of their friendship and I loved it.

The dialogue between George and David was awesome. You can understand where both of them are coming from and sympathize with them both. I honestly couldn’t pick a side in that scene. The implication that George had loved before was very important to me because in many scenes later on in the show he comes off as heartless and it’s nice to have a reminder that that’s not true.

I love how they used the doves as transitions between scenes several times in this episode. The dove is a symbol of love and they used it to show that Snow and David’s love transcended realms and even the Curse. I think it was genius.

I loved how Snow wanted to help the dove so badly. Especially when she learned that it would be alone for the rest of its life if she didn’t get it to its flock. I feel like she was seeing herself in the dove a little bit and that was super weird, but I love how she was determined to help it. It’s just an animal but she did everything in her power to help it. I also loved how she rejected David’s offer to help her. She practically told him “I’m no damsel in distress”.

I loved the scene between Regina and Emma. It once again showed that the one thing that can make them work together is Henry. It was manipulative on Regina’s part though because August’s ‘interest’ in Henry was not the only reason why she wanted to know about him. She thought that she would use the Savior in order to learn about a potential danger to the Curse. It was brilliant.

I love how the dove landed on Snow’s hand while she was holding the vial with the ‘cure’. The joy on her face when she read the letter was so genuine and heartwarming. Damn that show!

Even faced with the very real danger of the storm and the obstacle of the road being closed, Mary Margaret still didn’t give up on her quest to help the dove. The transition between that scene and the next was just fucking awesome!

I love how Snow quickly figured out a way to sneak into George’s castle, but it doesn’t say anything good about the security of said castle. And just when she was about to reveal herself to David, the guard caught her. I really wanted to scream (but it was 2a.m. so that wasn’t an option).

It was adorable to see Snow so determined to break out of the cell and not wanting to give up. Meeting Grumpy was awesome (so he tried to get back with Nova then?). I just loved how this episode kept portraying love as the worst thing ever (sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell). Holy shit! I had completely forgotten about Stealthy. Damn! That’s one of the best twists on the show. I love how Grumpy decided to get Snow out of there too.

David showed up just in time and thank God. He saved Mary Margaret’s life. It kind of sent her not-a-damsel-in-distress attitude to hell though. Even that way, I’m not mad because she could’ve died or gotten seriously injured, seeing how she wanted to keep going even despite the storm.

Stealthy’s death was pretty heartbreaking (mostly because of Grumpy’s anguish but still) even though we didn’t know anything about him really. I loved how Snow was ready to sacrifice herself to save Grumpy even though they didn’t really know each other that well. That’s really admirable about Snow.

Mary Margaret’s little rant was heartbreaking but I really liked the fact that she decided to get all that out in the open. I also liked the fact that she didn’t let David kiss her but not the reason behind it. If she hadn’t seen that pregnancy test, she would’ve given in. Given her turmoil about David choosing Kathryn over her, it just felt like she didn’t have any self-respect.

I don’t really know what to make of the scene between Emma and August. They really built up the tension as to what’s inside the box and then just showed us. Granted, that didn’t make August any less mysterious. I loved how Emma was calculating if it would be better to let him buy her a drink and learn what’s in the box immediately or just leave it be.

Well, that storm turned out to be awfully convenient. Not only did it stop the flock from departing, but it also gave Mary Margaret and David a chance to talk about their feelings and possibly make some more mistakes. I loved how Mary Margaret pulled her hand out of David’s. Honestly, David’s indecisiveness pisses me off so much. If your feelings for Mary Margaret are so real, then just leave Kathryn and be with her. It’s not that difficult, goddammit!

The scene between George and Snow was intense. We once again saw that George was ready to do whatever it took in order to save his kingdom and I liked that. His plan was also very smart although I’m not really that certain if it would’ve worked out the way he imagined it would. I really loved the part with “He’s not my son”. You could see George’s disappointment because if it were actually James, he wouldn’t have betrayed him like that. In this episode, just like in 1x06, it’s easy to understand where George is coming from. You still don’t support his actions but you see the driving force behind them and that helps you empathize with him. That complexity was later lost and I’m really sad about that.

The scene between Snow and David was so awesome but also heartbreaking. I loved the fact that she let him hug her and hold her hands for as long as possible. She wanted to get as much as she could out of that encounter because she thought it would be the last one. I also loved how she couldn’t make herself say “I don’t love you”. She said it but in parts and she actually told him that she loved him (“Love you”). She quickly came up with a reason why she had come all the way to the palace too. And her face when David couldn’t see her anymore just killed me. And David also started crying. My heart! (That was my favorite scene if you couldn’t tell.)

Kathryn was so insanely adorable. You see how much she wants to make it work but also that David’s behavior hurts her. And yet, she didn’t want to be a bitch about it. She was trying to be understanding. And she wanted them to be a family and have kids but she knew that they weren’t ready and didn’t try to rush it. She wanted to get help and fix what wasn’t working. I just love her so much! And I’ll give credit to David for actually trying in this scene (although he threw it to the wind pretty quickly).

The scene between Snow and the dwarfs was very cute. I loved that after all the statements in this episode that love is horrible, we finally got another perspective. Because yes, it is, and it hurts us in the worst way possible, but that makes us who we are. Also, it was sweet of them to offer her a home and their support.

I loved the quiet scene between Mary Margaret and Emma. It showed that Mary Margaret was trying to be strong and that Emma was there for her and supported her. Their relationship was already so strong that they didn’t need words.

They never showed what made David go after Snow and it just came off as random and odd to me. Ruby’s face when David said “I will always find her” tho. She was like “I ship it”.

Seeing that Snow took the potion broke my heart all over again. And just when hope showed on the horizon. In Bulgaria we have a saying that states that no one can do to you what you’ll do to yourself and I think it fits the occasion. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy. Grumpy’s face at the end of the scene ruined my life.

I guess they really can’t stay away from each other (Ruby’s face during that scene though). What I hated about that scene was that “She’s not pregnant” was the engine for their kiss. So, yeah, it’s okay to lie to her as long as she’s not pregnant. Way to go! I loved the fact that Regina saw them though (and her face). Even walls have ears... or eyes in this case.

Favorite line: “As wretched as it is, I need my pain. It makes me who I am.” - Grumpy to Snow

Least favorite line: “Come on! I helped you when no one else would.” - Snow to Red

That was just manipulative as fuck and I really didn’t appreciate it. I know Snow was desperate but that was just nasty. Just guilt-trip your best friend. That makes sense!

This episode was so amazing. I just don’t know what to say. Every scene did something for the story or the characters. Everything was on point. They managed to establish a clear difference between David’s two personalities. The acting was awesome. The episode was mind-blowing and I was hooked from beginning to end.

P.S. Sorry for the confusing format of this review. I myself see that this doesn’t really work so I’ll stick to my original format and try to avoid another review like this one at all costs. I just really had things I wanted to discuss from every scene and I’m sorry if it’s scattered or confusing.

#ouat rewatch #ouat #once upon a time #season 1 #1x10 #7:15am #operation end

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tiny-little-bird · 7 years

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Jon "sweet" Snow

We all know that, Jon, is a sweet ball of fluff. So I’m just sitting here wondering, if he’s soooo in love with Miss D., where the hell is the sweetness and the tenderness he’s shown Sansa for the past 2 seasons? Where is the sweetness and tenderness and closeness with Miss D.?

NOWHERE to be bloody seen.

All of Sansa’s and Jon’s scenes, some of them even when they’re apart, had romantic tropes in them, all of them, so if Miss D. and Jon are supposed to be this big romance, where the hell are the romantic tropes, did they happen off screen, or something? 🤷‍♀️😂

They could've had Jon compliment Miss D’s dress, since she changed outfits pretty much every episode, but nope, they could’ve showed him jealous of Jorah, and possessive towards Miss D., but nope they didn’t, he didn't laugh with Miss D., not even ONCE, he’s not triggered and is totally unbothered by Miss D. hugging Jorah, same thing when Jorah kissing her hands, like he is bothered by every man who mentions Sansa, they don’t even need to touch her, just say her name, and he goes in angry kitten mode, but for Miss D. who he is supposedly MADLY in love with, NOTHING. They could’ve had Miss D. give him/offer him a lighter cloak, since his furr one, from Sansa, is clearly way too heavy for Dragonstone, they could've shown him ditching Sansa’s cloak for the one Miss D. had given him but nope, they could've brought Miss D. up, in the conversation between Jon and Jorah in the wight hunt, but NOPE.

So many missed opportunities, I wonder why 🤔🙃

I asked a friend who doesn't ship neither Jonsa nor J*nerys, and they said this:

“The way they shot Jon’s and Sansa’s scenes, the sweet moments, the dialogue, the awkwardness between them, I can see why you ship them, I must admit they are, really cute together. (He ships Arya with Gendry and Brienne and Jaimie, thos are his only ships on GoT, the other ships are just meh to him 🙈🤷‍♀️😂)

Jon and Miss D. on the other hand? Dragonstone has been boring af, the scenes between J and D were pretty bland and dull, if you ask me. IF, I had to choose between the two ships, I’d definitely choose Jonsa, because the dynamic between them is amazing, they have a strong foundation, they have a strong bond, and they are happy around eachother, whilst Jon looked miserable in Dragonstone, and around Dany, who kept shoving “Bend the knee” down his throat at any chance, and he couldn't wait to leave in episode 5.

Their scenes were boring and just, off, if they meant to show them fall in love, they failed miserably, they did such a great job with Jon abd Sansa, and I don't even know if they mean to have them end up together, but Jon and Miss D. as a couple, have no depth at all, because the communication, at least to me seemed one sided. They should’ve shot their scenes, the same way they shot Jon’s and Sansa’s, had they done that, they might've convinced me, because I’m just not feeling it, at all. I still don’t ship neither, but yeah, Jonsa would be my choice, Jon and Miss D. feel way too forced, sudden and way too rushed, on Jon’s part at least, and that’s all I have to say about this.”

100% agree with what he said. 👌🙃

Below I'll list a few quotes and a few scenes, which should not have been in the show, if D&D meant to make us believe their relationship was platonic, and was meant to stay that way.

“New dress? [...] Yeah, it’s... I like the wolf bit”

“I will never let him TOUCH you again, I’ll protect you, I promise.”

“If I fall don’t bring me back.” (couldnt find a gif for this one sorry) which translates to, she's the one who gave me purpose again, she's the one I'm fighting for, I don't want to come back into a world, where she is gone, where she killed herself, because I couldn't keep her safe, because I lost, because I failed her. Let me stay dead, I couldn't live with myself. 😢 And if, that, is not REAL, powerful LOVE, then I don’t know what is.

More under the cut. ☺️✌️💙

I also don’t think we’ve see Jon laugh and smile in 5 seasons, as much as we've seen him smile and laugh, in 2 seasons with, Sansa.

I mean, look:

Look at this little smol, look at how happy he is for his new Stark cloak, that Sansa made for him, with love, and with her own, lovely hands. ☺️ so Basically Sansa cloaked him

And Jon cloaked her, in his old cloak, I mean, they're practically married 🤗😂😂

Do you know who Jon also smiled like this with? Mhm, yep, Ygritte. 🤗

“Do you think I’m Joffrey?”

“Until I return, the North my heart is yours.” Most poetic declaration of trust, and love, I’ve ever heard in my life.

“I love Sansa, as I loved her mother”

*literally snarls and growls like a wolf* “TOUCH my sister, and I'll kill you myself.”

Like DAMN that’s pretty wild, it’s literally what a male alpha would do, to mark his territory, if you ask me.

Look at him:

“What you did for HER, is the only reason I’m not killing you.” *aggressively grabs Theon*

“Does she miss me terribly?” *cricket sounds* *death stare*

Where is that with Miss D.? Where are all these romantic tropes? Where are the scenes where they both open up to each other, where they share their hardships, where they bond? WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE?

When does Jon smile again, after leaving Sansa, and Winterfell?

With Tyrion, when he arrives in Dragonstone, and when does it do it again? With Tormund & co., after, he’s left Dragonstone.

With Miss D.? Nope, nothing, nada.

But when do we see just a tiny glimpse, but like a tiny, tiny glimpse of Jon’s sweetness towards Miss D., and all of a sudden, might I add? In 7.06, which was such an odd and weird contrast to how he was behaving towards her just an episode earlier, not even turning to look at her one last time, like, again, he did it with Sansa, if he's sooo in love with Miss D. why not turn and wave goodbye to her too? Jorah turned instead lmao 😂

So y'all mean to tell me that Jon did a 360° turn, in one episode? Please. 😂

So why the sudden change?

Well, Jon, bless his heart, saw Viserion die, the moment he sank into the lake, Jon knew, he knew the NK would turn him, just like he turns his horses, just like he turned that Polar bear, so he knows without her dragons, they’re fucked, they’re all fucked, because he saw first hand what her dragons can do, and therefore realizes what an ice dragon can do. You know, for one thing, fly, and second spit blue fire, which according to their legends, is even hotter than normal dragonfire..how nice, right? The Night King has a dragon, that’s the last thing they needed.

He could have an army of 1.000.000 people, and it would be useless against an ice dragon. He’s kissing her ass in 7.06, and the ass kissing will continue in 7.07, and I assume, partly, even in S8, he has to kiss her ass, because he needs her dragons.

Do you really think Jon would fall/be in love with someone who can’t get her priorities straight? Who is so power hungry, selfish, and entitled, that she puts the Iron Throne before an army of bloody dead men, white walkers and the Night King? “Do you expect me to just leave my conquering of the 7K behind me, to fight the dead?” emh, yeah? idk if you got the memo, but they’re coming to kill us all, you included? Viserion is dead because of her, the Night King now has a dragon, because of her.

Had she not been so stubborn, the NK would not have a dragon. “No, as soon as I leave, Cercei comes in.”, let her come in, who tf cares, the dead are coming for the North, for the South, for me, for you, for all of us, and the thing you put first, your priority is that damned throne? “I care about the people” she says, she cares about “the people” my ass, she’s a hypocrite, and Jon knows it, she literally confirmed it to him, in 7.05.

He’s not in love with her, nor will he ever be, he’s playing the game, he’s working as double agent, again, and doing what he thinks is best, he’s doing what needs to be done to save his people and those he loves, he’s doing it to save the world.

He saw on the beach in Dragonstone, that she listened to him, partly tho, she still went on a barbeque spree, but she “somewhat” listened to him, so here, I think he realized that to, her, his opinion matteres, that he has/could’ve some power over her, that he could use to his advantage. Now, think if he managed to make her fall for him.

Jon is not stupid, at all, making her fall for him, might not be the honorable thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do for his people, for Sansa, for Arya, for Bran, and for the rest of westeros, he’s basically saving everyone’s asses. But, especially, to protect those dear to him, he’s willing to play dirty, and he will do it, he is doing it. D*ny is in love with him, at this point, that’s obvious, but Jon? Jon isn’t.

As so many have pointed out, he has kept himself at a distance, Dany has told him things about her, since day one, she opened up to him, but Jon? He hasn’t opened up with her about anything, about himself, about Sansa, about his death, about why he was killed, about who did it, about the dagger to the heart, about Ghost, and that’s because he does not trust her, he’s weary of her, he knows she’s dangerous, he’s seen her in full tantrum mode, and he’s seen she’s very, very impulsive and hotheaded.

In his eyes, their only chance, is for him to have influence over her, to be sure she will fight with them, no matter what, to ensure that, when the Northerners don’t kneel, because he bloody well knows they won’t, “the Northerners are proud” – Sansa, she doesn’t barbecue them all, she doesn’t kill Sansa, who the Northerners might make their Queen, after word spreads that Jon bent the knee.

The thought of Sansa, his sister, the woman who gave him purpose again, the Little Bear (Lyanna), who literally made him King, Arya who is his beloved little sister, which he thought dead, and thst he missed so very much, and Bran who is his beloved little brother who he also thought was dead and he missed very much, being burnt alive for not kneeling, terrifies the hell out of him, obviously, and at the same time makes him determined to do what has to be done.

We’ve all seen that Miss D., can, be merciful, but, only, if she cares about the person, only if it serves her and her “purpose. People who mean nothing to her? They can burn, usually no trial is even needed, ya know? She’s tyrannical like that. lol

So yeah, his plan has logic, if they refuse to bend the knee, and she’s in love with him, and he has power over her, to control her and manipulate her, for the greater good, if he pleads for their lives, she won’t burn them, kill them, because that would hurt Jon.

That’s his plan, and it’s a smart one, dangerous, but smart. Our Jonny boy, is finally starting to listen to the advice Sansa gave him, “you need to be smarter than father” he’s leaving his honor behind and doing not the honorable thing but the smart thing, the thing that will keep his people alive, “you need to be smarter than Robb” he’s not falling in love with Miss D, but instead, unlike his father and his brother, he is doing what has to be done, he won’t repeat his father’s, and brother’s mistakes, he has played dirty before, he’s going to have to do it again.

Jon poured his soul to Sansa, told her he died, how he died, who did it, what he’s been through, everything, and Sansa did the same, told him everything that happened to her, what ramsay did to her. While with Dany he tells her nothing about him, he is weary of her, and keeps her at a distance.

So yeah, in conclusion, our sweet, tender boy, hasn’t displayed any sweetness and tenderness towards Miss D., until he realized, “The Night King has a dragon now, fuck. We’re fucked, without her dragons, we’re truly fucked and stand no chance.”, and even then, you can’t compare it to how sweet, tender (and mild lol sorry, I had to 😂😂), and gentle Jon is towards Sansa, because what he’s pulling with Miss D., is an act.

The differences in tone, the conversations, sweetness, touches, lingering looks, between Jon and Sansa and Jon and Miss. D., are so blatantly different/obvious, it’s crazy, mostly because they're pretty much nonexistent between Jon and Miss D. 🙃

At this point, J*nerys is canon, yes, and they will get their b*atbang/sex, but will they ever get the pure, sweet scenes/moments of genuine love, like the ones that we have between Jon and Sansa? No, they won’t, so they can keep and enjoy their boatbang, we’ll have the real deal in S8. ✌️

#JonsaIsComing 💙

Jonsa GIFs bonus round 🙃✌️💙

I obviously could add more GIFs, there are plenty more, but this post is ridiculously long already, so I'll stop here. 😚✌️💙

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deepdarkwaters · 7 years

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Got back from the Kingsman double bill a bit ago and am trying to put my brain into words even though I'm very tired and a bit numb and I smuggled five hours' worth of gin into the cinema in an Evian bottle so I'm as drunk as Harry at breakfast time.

OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW

Watching them back to back like this was interesting because it highlighted so clearly how much better the first one is than this fumbly ridiculous sequel. Not saying it's not good or not worth watching or whatever because it absolutely is worth watching for several reasons I will babble after another teacup of gin, but holy god is this really the best they could come up with? REALLY? A 100% true fact that I believe with my entire heart: YOU reading this, you are a better writer than people being paid obscene money to write films. I could easily name thirty fic writers off the top of my head right now who have an infinitely better grasp on pacing and plot and characterisation and dialogue than the people responsible for this stuff. I've not read any press or fan reviews but I imagine there's going to be a hell of a lot of backlash over so much in this from every angle because it's just so incredibly lazy and sometimes ugly and absolutely cannot stand up to its own hype.

Really good things:

* SPECTACULAR, EH!

* Eggsy/Harry and Eggsy/Merlin shippers, goddamn we have a lot of new stuff to work with. Chemistry through the roof, especially Eggsy/Harry (including possibly the best clingy desperate hug I have ever seen on film in my entire life WE HAVE WAITED SO LONG AND IT'S HERE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL). That was the heart and backbone of the first film, I'm so relieved that it's not only survived but evolved into something fiercer and often messier. So so good to watch. Pretty sure I've got Harry/Merlin written down the inside of my heart like the words in a stick of rock, and though it's not romantic you get much more of a sense of their friendship here and it's all just a bit shattering and gorgeous.

* Pretty much everything to do with Harry's memory loss and Eggsy and Merlin trying to shock him into remembering was great, Y E S P L E A S E. And Harry's matter of fact comments about his loneliness, fuckkk. Angst writers, go forth with all this new information and break my heart some more! Fluff writers, fix him!

* Lots of beautiful intricate fight choreography which is literally all I need in my action films, so even if I did think the rest was complete balls (which I don't entirely) then I'd still be happy. Nothing comes near the vivid glorious gutpunch of the church scene as a standalone set piece, BUT there's so much Harry & Eggsy teamwork and please just inject this directly into my veins, it's amazing. Prepare for several years of me writing many more elaborate fight scenes than I already do.

* Part B to the above: Whiskey is a lot of fun and his fighting style is full on hardcore pornography to me.

* Merlin in a flawless Kingsman suit, RIP me.

* One of my Bespoke WIPs is about Merlin and Eggsy getting into the habit of going to the pub together sometimes and rolling home completely drunk with a kebab in each hand then trying to get in the house really quietly because Harry's asleep but they end up waking him because they think it'll be really nice to cook him breakfast in bed and Harry comes stomping downstairs in his dressing gown like "it's four o'fucking clock, put those frying pans away and drink some water!" while Merlin and Eggsy side eye each other and try not to giggle. So maudlin singing drunk Merlin was very nice to see :P

* Eggsy and Roxy bromance. There’s such lovely chemistry between them as well, it feels so natural and real, and it’s so good (and miserably rare) to see platonic friendships that aren’t shoehorned into some shitty boring love triangle.

* Eggsy and Tilde were seriously adorable. It ended up not at all satisfying as a romance plot arc because it was like CUTE - fight - marriage, it needed so much more screen time. Like all the important stuff was there, but it was just so abrupt. Include a satisfying romance or don't include one at all, fuck your lazy bullet points. But it started so well and I hope there's a ton of fic that treats them better than the script did. I appreciate the anti-Bond-ness of it all, that Eggsy's genuinely in love and wants to settle and is figuring out how that and his job can possibly fit together, especially with the complications of marrying into royalty. Interested to see where they take that if there's another film. Until then, soo much scope for fic.

* I'm shipping Harry/Elton like burning.

* Poppy was terrifying in a vaguely Umbridge-ish way. That sort of characterisation is always freaky, Julianne was great. So glossy and cheerful but absolutely dead in the eyes. And I'm ambivalent on Charlie, but I ABSOLUTELY want lots of brutal older woman villain/pathetic younger male minion smut. Please provide asap.

* T H E M Y T H I C A L B R E A K F A S T S C E N E I S R E A L

Really bad things: well where the merry fuck do I start haha.

* I will never ever understand why they thought it was a good idea to wipe out all the locations and almost all the existing characters at the very beginning. It's lazy shitty writing. If you feel like you need to shake up your fictional world you don't just knock it all down and start over. It's cheap and very shallow angst.

* I only have two middle fingers but I need about seventeen million to even begin to profess my disgust at them killing Roxy. I knew it was going to happen, it was the only spoiler I asked someone for ahead of time and it was not at all a surprise to find out for sure. Still utterly infuriating. The way people responded so positively to her in the first one is a real indication of how ridiculously low the bar is for female characters in action films ("good at something" and "not the hero's love interest" are literally the only two requirements), and JG/MV didn't even think enough of her to follow through on the absolute base level achievement they made before. Fuck everyarse involved in this decision.

* Absolutely revolting honeypot mission scene. Not really the fact that it exists, just the entire way it was handled and shot - so predictably male-gazey and laddishly "waheyyy!" that it kind of turned my stomach. Horrible and completely unnecessary.

* A million new characters and not enough time spent on any of them to care. Tequila was barely more than a cameo. Champ and Ginger hardly had anything to do. All the Statesmen (except Whiskey) were completely two dimensional and it's such a jarring contrast to the obvious care taken over Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry. It's not even because we already know them, I don't think? It's weird to try and explain. The Statesman characters just feel so rushed and shallow, there's no substance to any of them. Kill off Roxy and replace her with paper cut-outs, ok that makes loads of sense!!! Whiskey’s a level up from the others because he gets loads more screen time and some beautiful fight scenes, but his ~emotional plot twist fell completely flat. I don’t know what it was, the pacing or a boring cliche backstory or what. It was just dull as fuck. WE HAVE HEARD THIS EXACT STORY FIVE MILLION TIMES.

A bad thing that's somehow not really a bad thing even though I'm fucking numb and want a hug:

* I've been raving for ages to people about Roxy being killed off and trying to figure out a way to satisfactorily explain how I feel about a character dying for a reason and a character dying because a writer is a lazy bastard who wants some quick angst. Merlin's death was an A+ wonderful death along the lines of my dear fictional boyfrends Quincey Morris and Lee Scoresby and a million others. Maybe it comes from all the swashbuckly historical adventure stories I grew up loving, but I'm a desperate sucker for a good noble death. Characters brave and self-aware enough to look at the bigger picture of an impossible situation and realise that their death means a better outcome for the people they love? This is ABSOLUTE CATNIP to me. Characters who go down fighting to the very end. If a character I love with my entire soul has to die, this is how I want it to happen. Give them some agency and a proper goodbye.

I mean I fully expect him to be magically resurrected with fancy prosthetic legs if there's another film because we saw those wedding set photos of him in the nice neon green cgi stockings, so really I should be saying "death". I totally reject this one. (I reject Roxy and JB's deaths as well, but the big difference is I really can't see the filmmakers bringing them back. Eyeroll.) Maybe that's what's making it easier to deal with? A not-real noble courageous self-sacrificing death. That's about as good as it gets. All three of them get Oscars for this whole sequence.

Anyway the tl;dr of it is:

This film is a very beautiful, very patchy mess. The good stuff is absolutely gloriously perfectly incredibly wonderful. Most of said good stuff is the interaction between Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry, which is written and performed with real care and heart. Nearly everything else is relatively lacklustre filler, misogyny, and shitty nonsensical decisions. These people cannot write women.

I liked it? I will definitely see it 900 more times, mainly for wet terrified Harry and gorgeous fight scenes. But ffs, how can it possibly be this difficult to pinpoint the reasons why people loved your extremely successful creation and consider including them in future plans?

I'm feeling fairly zen about everything. I kind of trained myself ages ago to think of sequels as just another bit of fanfic, so it's going to make absolutely no difference to the cheerful fluff porn and fight scenes I like to write. What I'm annoyed about isn't so much to do with ~new canon~ limiting what we're allowed to create for ourselves now, because that's just silly. It's more about being pissed off at the shoddy state of action films, particularly women in action films, when it seems like it should be SO EASY to take these astronomical budgets and create something groundbreaking. I'm so tired of this unimaginative lazy narrow-minded bullshit.

#kingsman #kingsman 2 #kingsman spoilers #kingsman: the golden circle #kingsman: the golden circle spoilers #tgc spoilers #is this enough spoiler tags haha

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marsnmango · 6 years

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Things that take me out of fanfiction (as a fanfiction writer)

Aside from the obvious (poor grammar, formatting errors, etc.) these are a few of the things that make me pause and reconsider whether or not I really want to continue reading the thing that I am reading.

Mis-characterizations; it’s impossible to know with 100% certainty how a character is going to react in all scenarios, but some things are tough to overlook. Characters that are incredibly strong struggling with a weak enemy, for example- that sort of thing can be done, but you’d better set up the context correctly. Or it can throw (me) your reader off. If there’s a reason why your character’s behavior is diverging from what is canonically accurate, explain it! Don’t be afraid to just straight up say it. People (including myself) like to know what they’re in for when they start a fic.

Inaccuracy. Now it is fiction, so lots of liberties can be taken with this, but if you cannot adequately describe something that your character should know how to do... it’s going to stand out. For example, if your character is a working adult, but you are not, and you do not know how to go to the bank and get cash out of it... Maybe avoid writing that specific scenario. Write around it. Describe it vaguely.

Politics. You can tackle real issues through writing, if you know how to do it and can do it well. But please, please do not have one character mention [Real world (usually American) political figure] and have everyone else in the scene unanimously agree and rip on that political figure. Unless it’s something completely in-character and reasonable for everyone involved... Even if I agree with everything being said, it’s just annoying.

Poor/Unrealistic Dialogue. Colloquialism is something that is naturally ingrained in every culture, but please try to keep in mind the differences in a conversation between 2 thirty year olds and 2 teenagers. When I read a story featuring a supposed adult, who speaks as if he is a freshman in high school giving a power point presentation for the first time... it’s. weird

Memes. That’s right, I said memes. I love memelords just as much as the next guy, but unless it’s a story that is very clearly focused on something that would involve that subject matter, I don’t want memes. First of all, fanfiction becomes outdated, fast. A Damn Daniel meme is going to 1. date your story and 2. completely throw me for a loop in your story that is based in Ancient Egypt. The 2 second chuckle from a handful of readers is not worth it.

Non-existent/Unrealistic Consequences. Problems do not magically go away overnight. In order to avoid leaving any loose ends, list off the primary list of problems that your protagonists are going through. Then when you write the conclusion, double check that it eliminates or addresses each of these problems; whether or not they’re going to persist after the story ends or whatever else the deal might be. If a character struggles with addiction (for example)--make sure the conclusion mentions something about how the character is going to handle (or has handled) this problem.

Handling tough subject matter lazily. This is tricky for anyone, but if you have never experienced a traumatic situation, but your intention is to portray this situation as realistically as possible... do some research. If it’s a little outside of the realm of reality (parents murdered by shark wolves), research the stages of grief. How people within your protagonist’s age group cope with it and how they don’t, and whether or not your Granted, not all fanfiction strives to be as accurate as possible when it comes to trauma. Some people just genuinely love to torment the hell out of characters they like, and that’s fine- just preface it in the tags or summary. Trigger warnings help as well, that way people know to avoid reading about things that may draw overwhelming or unpleasant feelings. Or a past trauma, worst case scenario.

Inconsistency. Your dragon-queen alpha wizard raven way had the regeneration ability 3 chapters ago, but now that she lost her hand it’s suddenly the end of the world? If this is the case, there needs to be a reason why it is true this time but wasn’t every other time. You can bend the rules, but make sure there’s a reason (even a ham-fisted one) why they’re being bent.

Poor/Lazy Characterization. This sort of goes hand-in-hand with inconsistency. If a character is an asshole, who is proudly an asshole and nothing but an asshole... he’s not going to tip his waitress? He’s not going to internally monologue about how the servers work hard and deserve to be paid well, unless he is genuinely a decent person on the inside. Even if the author does this in an attempt to allude to the fact that he is going to become a better person later on, there are better ways to go about it. Your asshole-character would likely be more subtle in his approach, or use misdirection. Throwing a crumpled up $1 bill at a waitress is far more likely and expected of bratty/asshole behavior... “But at least they left a tip?” Not-so-Slow Burns. If you sign up for a slow burn, it might be helpful to focus on the slice-of-life behavior and how the characters gradually get closer throughout. If you rush straight into the romance, it’s not a very slow burn. They don’t generally start feeling doki-doki true love by the third total encounter they’ve ever had in their entire lives. Sometimes, maybe. But handle with care, and keep in mind that people need time to change. If they’re refraining from a relationship or whatever because MC 1 is anti-humanity, your MC isn’t going to become a people-loving pope overnight. A timeskip might help you out there, but it’s risky if it’s unexpected or random. I AM NOT THE FUN POLICE. In the end, even if you borrow the characters- your story is your story. I’ve done almost every single thing on this list, some things more frequently than others depending on the nature of my story. You are allowed to do whatever you want and have as much fun as you want. I’m offering this list mostly to the people who want to receive feedback, because I’ve been there. You’ve finally got your grammar down. You’re working on your vocabulary and formatting and yet..... you still don’t feel any growth or significant change in your audience. It can be frustrating. Making a note of these things and how often you do them will help you to gain a more enthusiastic audience about your work. People like to read fanfiction that feels as though it could stand on its own. This is especially helpful for those fanfiction authors who want to publish their own novels someday. Also, not all of this falls on the responsibility of the author. If an author consistently updates their tags/summary/notes, etc, then there’s no reason that a reader should walk into a Slow-Burn and expect hasty passionate smut in chapter 2. Or read a story titled “THE GORE OF WAR” and complain about...y’know, gore. Most readers tend to have a pretty good grasp on what the atmosphere of a story is going to by the first paragraph. And the atmosphere may change over time, which is fine! Just keep your readers in mind before your lollipops & sunshine rom-com becomes a last minute zombie apocalypse. Maybe make a note of that in the notes; give people a chance to bail, and trust me, you want them to bail. 1 more hit on your work isn’t worth the 3-paged flame you’re about to receive. Above all, just have fun and keep writing. The more you write and the more willing you are to constantly adapt to feedback/growth, the better your work is going to become! Nobody starts off writing like R.R. Martin. He probably started off with really shitty star trek slash.

#Btw tag that shit #Also I rarely ever actually duck out of a story #I like to suffer through it #writers are masochists #I stand by this #fanfiction #writing tips

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evenstevensranked · 7 years

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#28: Season 2, Episode 16 - “Wombat Wuv”

Louis is infatuated with the new cheerleading coach, so he decides to become the school mascot in an extremely farfetched attempt to win her over. Meanwhile, Ren becomes a cheerleader and goes into pep overdrive.

We start this episode at cheerleading practice where we see that Ren is a cheerleader now...? Okay. The girls are getting ready to welcome Ms. Morgan, the new cheer coach. Louis and Twitty are nearby and play the most immature but hilarious prank on Ren. She goes to do a split and Louis sets off a fart noise. Okay.. As I typed that sentence, I was overcome with juvenile cringe. But the noise is so perfectly timed and Louis gets such a kick out of it that I can't even be mad.

Eventually, Ms. Morgan appears and Louis has an out of body experience. Literally. His soul leaves his body and does an interpretive dance for this woman. It's a very memorable moment. He's seriously in awe of her beauty. I love how Twitty wasn't even phased by her, though? Louis was all "DUDE WHO IS THAT?!??" And Twitty said "Eh, idk... some lady" omg.

Louis’ transparent soul leaving his body to express his feelings in the most random way possible. Only on this show, man.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that in addition to seeing that Ren is suddenly a cheerleader now.. we also see that she’s kinda terrible at it. So, how in the world did she make it onto the squad in the first place??? This is a question that always pops into my head every single time I watch this episode. Then, without fail, I always breathe a strange sigh of relief when the writers actually bother to explain the situation through dialogue between Louis and Twitty! Louis casually says that Ren needs the credit for her resumé to show she has school spirit or something... which actually makes sense. A lesser show would’ve made Ren be a cheerleader for this one episode with no explanation whatsoever. But, still. I find it hard to believe they'd just let her on the team for a reason like that. You have to at least be physically capable! Which Ren clearly is not:

If ya couldn’t tell, she’s the one in the middle causing the entire group to collapse.

They fall on Kenny the mascot guy -- who you can see was totally out of the line of fire, but purposely threw himself on the ground because the plot demanded it. He quits on the spot and now our story truly begins. Louis gets the bright idea to swoop in and save the day by taking over the mascot gig. He immediately sees this as an opportunity to basically start dating Ms. Morgan. Lawd help me honeychild. YOU'RE 13, LOUIS. It’ll be difficult to have a relationship with Ms. Morgan when she’s busy spending time in prison.

Louis goes to Ms. Morgan's office and she talks to him in such a sweet and sultry voice which is probably the worst thing she could do in this situation. Louis' heart is beating so loud, he's able to pass it off as some ruckus going on outside. Wow.

Later that day, Tawny sees him with the mascot suit and assumes he stole it for fun. I love how she says "You should’ve told me! I would've done it with you!" Look at these lil rebels over here! They're so cute. Tawny looks extra goth here too which is awesome, lol. Louis tells her that he's the new mascot. She’s so shocked she shoves him against the lockers, and Shia does the greatest scream here!!! You can see him laughing a bit. I love it. Unfortunately, part of Louis' ugly side comes out right around here. He starts totally blowing Tawny off now because there's a ~new woman~ in his life. He cancels plans with her because he has mascot practice and cryptically won't explain why he took the gig in the first place. "It's just something I had to do" - Wow, Louis. The Dramatics™.

I just had to include a screenshot of Tawny’s outfit. Black Doc Martens and some peasant flowy gothy dress. Yes. (This was a fast-motion bit, so this is the best cap I could get)

Louis calls Twitty over for an emergency meeting after school. Idk why but I think it's hilarious how Twitty comes jogging into his room out of breath lol. "I ran all the way over here, what's the emergency?" Friendship goals honestly. Needless to say, Twitty is less than impressed when Louis confesses "I'm in love with Ms. Morgan." Twitty can see right through the infatuation and knows that Louis is living in lalaland. But according to Romance For Boneheads, (a total "For Dummies” knockoff) he has the classic symptoms of a man in love.

It's pretty adorable to see Louis all worked up like this, but kinda sad at the same time because this is obviously not going to end well. Twitty suggests "Maybe you just ate some bad bean dip" which is so funny to me, like.... what.

Louis continues ranting about how perfect Ms. Morgan is and says "I think we'd be a fun couple" as he gazes out his window and we get the most ridiculous daydream ever I can't even deal with this. He and Ms. Morgan are returning from a vacation to the Bahamas. Louis randomly starts playing mini bongos (the same ones that are on his windowsill actually! I never noticed that before!) and Ms. Morgan dances around him. Eileen concurs “You two are a fun couple.” Gotta love how his parents approve even though Louis IS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD and Ms. Morgan is definitely at least 30 lol. EDIT: I just checked. The actress was 36 here! omg.

I love how they made sure Eileen and Steve look somewhere between happy and highly disturbed. Fun fact: This episode was actually directed by Donna Pescow! So... perhaps these facial expressions were her own idea lol.

Louis starts drooling at the thought and we see THE RETURN OF THE ANNOYING CGI TONGUE FROM GET A JOB.

Seriously. Who thought that was a good idea? It just looks awful and so out of place. Y'all know by now how I feel about this surreal stuff they randomly throw in. It just feels weird to me. Anyway, Louis reveals that his master plan is to go to mascot bootcamp and make Ms. Morgan fall in love with him. Easy peasy! Louis is one confident guy, sheesh! Twitty immediately asks "Wait. What about Tawny, dude?" Awwwww. Then we get one of the greatest moments ever. Louis tries to say he thoroughly explained everything to her and that she fully understands, but a flashback to that moment paints a very different picture:

“Thoroughly explained”? Yeah, not so much. Tawny is so confused, haha. (gif credit)

Cut to Wacky Walter’s Mascot Bootcamp! Where a bunch of mascots come together and learn techniques such as “the basic booty shake” and sizzling on the ground like a strip of bacon.

What school would have a cow for a mascot?

Louis has basically found his calling at mascot bootcamp. Wacky Walter was seriously impressed so he decides to give Louis his old jetpack. Yeah, let's just give this 13 year old kid a dangerous, fire powered means of transportation. Good idea. Someone shut this guy down! Have I mentioned that Louis is 13 years old?

After a successful day at bootcamp, Louis excitedly rushes into Ms. Morgan's office to tell her about the jetpack thing and how he plans to fly around at the pep rally later on... And one of the greatest moments of the entire series happens. THE MORGAN UNIBROW IS REVEALED!!! This is absolutely iconic. Nothing beats this series of Louis Stevens faces. My favorite quote has gotta be “OH YA SHAVE IT, DO YA?!” Here it is in all its glory:

youtube

Since Louis was under the impression Ms. Morgan was a flawless goddess, he cannot handle this flaw of hers... like, at all. So he quits being the mascot and gives her some lame excuse. Eventually, the two of them have a little heart to heart and he confesses the real reason. It's a touching moment. It’s sorta cringy, but I can’t help but laugh when Louis admits: "I wanted to hang out with you. Well..... actually more than that" oh my god. Ms. Morgan tells him that he'll find someone who's just right for him. Louis says “I found her. But I think I messed that up too” in reference to Tawny. I’m dead. So sweet. Yay for Louis/Tawny development!!!

Louis then makes a poor attempt at making up with Tawny and she flat out calls him a jackass. Yes. A JACKASS. On Disney Channel. Holy crap, guys. Tawny is the freaking best honestly. She won’t put up with Louis’ bs for a second and it drives him insane. Dats love. It’s great.

Oh, god! I forgot about Ren's subplot! I’m the worst. Okay. Basically, the other cheerleaders think that Ren isn't perky enough. They encourage her to find her "perky place" and let's just say, Ren goes overboard. She starts cheering for everything. Algebra, the mail, and even her laundry. It's so bad that Steve has to do a mini-intervention. Dang. Once she’s aware of how stupid cheering seems, she starts to think that cheerleading is pointless. Ren shares her negative feelings with the squad before the pep rally and all of the cheerleaders get super depressed. Ren was literally telling the girls that their cheering does no good at all in the grand scheme of life and that they shouldn’t do it anymore. I never understood this, because when they go out to do their routine Ren is still putting in the effort to be extra peppy! It’s almost like she set them up so she’d be the only one who looks good. I never got that. Am I missing something? EXPLAIN!

The lack of spirit from the cheerleaders spreads a wave of depression across the entire gym. Oops. It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Ms. Morgan tries her best to rally up the crowd but is failing miserably. She gets one kid to do the wave with her... that’s about it.

Twitty tells Louis “Dude, your ex-girlfriend throws one lousy pep rally” which is pretty funny. Louis decides to save the day once again and puts Wacky Walter’s jetpack to use. He comes running out in costume ready to fly around. Ren screams “HEY, EVERYBODY! LOOK! IT’S THE WOMBAT!!” which sounds so ridiculous like the kind of melodramatic dialogue from movies in the 1930s and 40s -- where the actresses are ~so passionate~ they always sound one breath away from passing out. It makes me laugh.

Louis flies around to some royalty-free “Rocky” theme rip-off before he comes violently crashing down (and lands in a convenient pile of pompoms) because he’s 13 and shouldn’t be trusted with a jetpack -- especially indoors.

Tawny takes care of him right away and she’s about to get the nurse when Louis stops her “Tawny, don’t leave. I have to tell you something. You have..... the two most beautiful eyebrows I’ve ever seen” - How precious is that?! Tawny’s brows would unfortunately not be on fleek by today’s standards though. You need to have freaking caterpillars on your face these days. Funny how styles change. BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT. That eyebrow line was such a cute and clever thing to say!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cheerleaders kick Ren off the squad, which is good news for Ren because she wanted to quit. As she walks away from them, the girls do this catchy cheer: “She’s going! Bye bye, farewell, adios, hey hey!” This always gets stuck in my head.

That’s it! I like this episode a lot. Louis learns the age old lesson of “nobody’s perfect” -- a message Hannah Montana would later drill into our memories for all eternity. It’s really nice. There’s Louis/Tawny content here, so this episode is already winning. It’s just pretty iconic overall imo. Ren’s plot is pretty cute, too! I don’t even know what to say in this little summary paragraph because all of the episodes at this point in the list (#29 - #20) are all solid episodes leaning towards positive for me instead of neutral like most of the episodes in the #50s - #30s.

Thanks for reading!

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#rank #even stevens #louis stevens #shia labeouf #ren stevens #christy carlson romano #review #tv #tv shows #disney channel #old disney #nostalgia #early 2000s #louis x tawny #louis and tawny #season 2

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nebulawriter · 7 years

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Wonder Woman

I had such a roller coaster of expectations before seeing this movie. If you read my list of anticipated films on new years, you’ll know I was looking forward to this the most. I was ready to defend it from critics just because of my love of Wonder Woman and female superhero movies.

And then critics started coming in RAVING about it, and I was so happy!....until I realized it couldn’t possibly that perfect. Until I realized that maybe critics liked it because it was basically a marvel movie instead of a DC movie, or they liked it for some reason that I’d end up hating, and my expectations started getting worried.

But then I came out of that theater, and you know what, its not a perfect movie, what is? Sure there were some changes here and there I could make, some things that weren’t the best, but you know fucking what?

Wonder Woman’s heart was there. It was there, right there at the center. And because they nailed that, nothing else matters.

Lets talk about the flaws real quick, though.

The Bad Stuff

So, right off the bat the greek god legends they put into this were weird as heck. It was not a traditional greek god telling, and I only realized after I got home that its because they were doing christian greek gods. Okay, but really, Zeus as god, Ares as the fallen angel who hates humans and whispers in their ears to influence them (shush he kinda does a bit) and Diana as Jesus because.....well, it is still a DCEU movie, folks.

On the whole it didn’t bother me too much it was just weird and I think there were ways to have like....not made your hero jesus? but at least it was love jesus, so okay.

I felt like there was a scene missing of Diana going back to Themyscira before going into modern times. IDK. MAYBE they’ll want to pull another movie out of that, but i doubt it.

Am I the only one who kinda wishes after the reveal they replaced David Thewlis with a different actor? Like. Eh. This villain did not feel very Ares god of war. Honestly none of the villains were really that great, but its still a superhero movie, so *shrug*

Did Charlie ever actually snipe someone? we never really found out his story. Was the point he DIDN’T snipe someone?

This also shows its a DCEU movie because like....every action scene had about 10 times more than necessary slow mo. Some of them were needed. Not all of them. if you played all of those at regular speed you’d cut 10 minutes off the film.

aaaaaaaand thats it for Bad Stuff, lets talk about Good Stuff

The Good Stuff

The biggest thing here, and I mean the BIGGEST, was the message. It was clear, concise, but...also complicated? and Very very wonderwoman. About humanity not being perfect, but still should be protected, guided to be better. Its about believing in Love in all things.

And geez the way this played out? The dawning realization for Diana that not one single entity, even a god, caused the cruelty of mankind, but that its more complicated. Its in everyone, even those she loves, maybe even herself. That Good and Evil is not so straightforward. Holy shit. So good.

The ‘godkiller’ part was also thematically appropriate. I remember a post talking about being disappointed that Wonder Woman was often depicted with a sword these days, and I get that. I thought it was just going to be a truth of the films that we’d be stuck with violent Diana. But damn, when that sword SHATTERED! I mean, I wasn’t totally surprised, I kinda expected that the god killer would have actually been her, but still FUCK. The whole final battle sequence was with her lasso, and her final move to defeat Ares was one of protection.

Okay this is going to be something I’ll need to see the movie again for, but from what it looked like, while Wonder Woman was totally 100% on board with killing people, for MOST of her fight scenes, The killing blow was always her second. She’d first try to do some nonlethal damage like punching, or using the lasso to trap them. It was only when they continued pursuing she used a sword, and holy fuck if THAT isn’t thematically appropriate for Wonder Woman. The others, sure, Steve was ready to shoot to kill. But that was Diana’s 2nd move.

The dialogue pieces were nice. People keep saying the romance between Steve and Diana is on point, and it is. Its MAYBE a tad rushed when they get to the actual kissing part, but I’ll put that down as it was war and they had little time. I DID appreciate that even after the kissy stuff, they didn’t treat each other any different.

That’s actually another great point, Steve Trevor was marvelous. He was sorta the comedic relief (brilliant idea to combine that with the love interest) but he was heartfelt when he needed to be. I was so in love with the moment he wrapped the lasso around his own hand. After he had been imprisoned in that thing, it was like, the ultimate trust move on his part. And trust clearly doesn’t come easily for him. Plus he was such a good counterpoint to Diana’s ideals. I was sad he died, but did kinda expect it.

THIS FILM HAS DIVERSITY!!!! Its not perfect, and there’s still a LOT of white, but of the main crew, one was brown, another Native American (actually that was another great point in the thematically “things are more complicated than they appear”) Although...did they say his tribe? Hmm. That is disappointing now that I think about it.....BUT the BACKGROUND characters were also pretty diverse and that was...that was amazing for a ‘historical’ movie. Honestly, they could have made everyone white and there would have been complaints, but they’d be protected mostly. First off there was Nyobe with the Amazons (!!!!!). Then in the background you had even more, I saw multiple background actors with Turbans and everything and it was...it was glorious.

Also I think they tried to sneak in some lesbians. They never made it overt, but we all saw the scene where Antiope died and was crowded by her niece, her sister, and Other Amazon who came running. Also, she’s dead, what more proof do you need of lesbianship? (cries forever)

But yeah. Flawed? Maybe. But Holy SHIT this was a good movie. It had that good balance of humor and action and moral compass. But like I said, it had heart. And thats what makes a superhero film.

Also a boss soundtrack, holy SHIT

#Wonder Woman

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