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kkemtal · 3 years

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A Hopeless Romantic's Acknowledgement Letter To 'The Only Exception' (My Overthinking Rants #23094589)

June 3, 2021

The hectic and unpredictable errands at my demanding job has become my new norm. This is not anymore college that my teenage self yearns to visit the memory lane and relive my moments of youth. The days of chasing adrenaline rush whilst being thrown to outrageous social circles, extra-curricular activities and exams. But, what's common in both of these chapters of my life is that at the end of the day, I always think and wonder about you. Still, I couldn't find an answer to this somewhat insignificant phenomenon since 2018. It's not an obsession for I'm not anymore on that infatuation stage nor being harbored with flattery feelings on the thought of you that would distract me during my whole day of work and self-focus. Sure, I had those risque dreams and the innocent ones about you which we have adorably admitted it through our hilarious flirty lewd roleplaying conversations a few days ago.

Really getting emotional right now and couldn't express this out loud of how much I want and need you. Don't wanna be a disturbance nor come out kind of as needy of your attention while you're focusing on your abroad ambitions. Better be stuck in a daydream or on dreamland exhibiting how much I want to genuinely love again if given another shot by the Universe at the right time made. But, you as the subject to my simplest intimate actions - cooking for you, watching suggested films together, joining you with me in playing hardcore games as a tease, cuddling while engaging to deep talks. Wanna be the one protecting you like a blanket covering a baby as a matter of security in times where you will be all weary about the world being too much for you. Or being your listener as if I were your teddy bear that you can embrace anytime you need to and be reminded that all of your worries will go away soon. I wish I will prove that to you someday once you come back here if you could still hold on to giving me a chance and trust in each other.

In other times, I always thought about the past findings I discovered about you or visiting our chat history traced back at college times. It is my subtle coping mechanism on missing you this much. Questioning alot about our synchronized flirtatious conversations such as throwing hints through frivolous jokes that somewhat display our gradual ignition of inexplicably undeniabe attraction to one another from mental, emotional and physical aspect.

I kept reminiscing every significant moment of what we had to linger that special connection I have always yearned for in which I could not find from a sea of different people I have met - business, casual dates and fellow admirers. The spiral of these thoughts about you has taken a toll on me holding on til I hit the hay around 2AM. It's a wrestle between my heart and my mind. Just by remembering my sombre moments of the repressed undeniable feelings I have with you.

Deeply stalking and realizing that you still had someone at that college period but then a memory flashes back on me where you've mentioned that you were still in a complicated relationship during our first night ride with other youth club mates at the L300 when your closest boy best friend started the 'get to know' informal game while we were travelling to the designated campsite. I was sulking deeply as if my fresh wounds were rubbed against a grain of salt. Lights were turned off inside my bedroom after arriving from my night classes and was pleading to God to help me overcome this confusion and denial since it's been a burdening weight off my shoulder from after a few months away of breaking free from my last toxic ex-boyfriend . This phase of developing feelings for you from the beginning of our early friendship since youth camp had plunged me down to a hopeless hole. Couldn't bear the thought of being rejected nor planted myself with false hopes of reciprocated feelings from realizing how much I seriously liked you. I was super soft and cautious everytime we planned to see each other if our school errand schedules were not so tight.

Until this very day, even though we're close 'friends' and sometimes we'd update each other about our current situation while being away and fixated on our ambitions, I still feel that tinge of special happiness and also got diffident whenever you chatted me. I always have that naturally instant shyness by being with you ever since college. Like, I admit I'm still shy whenever we started talking or hanging out until my shyness goes away the longer we stayed on our dates. I have never felt this way with anyone I had admired before.

I swear to God. You are Paramore's famous titular song - The Only Exception. You beat all the men (boys) who are generally just being swooned by my appearance drooling over my attention as if venerating with a lustful gaze at an intricately marvelling marbled Greek statue. I don't receive much appreciation based from my intellect, personality or simply 'me'. Those opposite species are no fun and thrill for me because I instinctively just feel their magnifying attraction towards me in a superficial level, it's a game over. I'm always having second thoughts and deeply prudent and fearful at the same time for people I casually dated before.

Especially learning so much anecdotes from dating in this generation, the more I want my inner peace to stay intact and never again will I ever fall into those ephemeral illusory traps. The more I get exhausted on starting anew by getting to know different strangers through casual dates in this exploratory world. It is a challenge I set to myself in testing the depth of my feelings for you, in hopes maybe there could be better than you in terms of sparks. I was glad on how gravely disappointed I am each time a person I fling with stops being connected with me. I had a good feeling as to why there's countless withdrawals or nothing worked out from those people. I finally understand why the moment I shared this to you. Now, with our healthy boundaries and clearer hints about our growing relationship in a long distance. There's no pressure between us.

And that's you whom I randomly sent Always Forever by Cults, Forevermore by Cuco and Sofia by Clairo for you to know how much I'm missing you and thinking about you almost each day I'm alive listening through those songs. I guess I really love you more than just a friend or a sibling. I want to skip to the chapter of the falling-out-of-love days and being together on boredom where silence is part of our language we commonly fathom its essence. I want to love you during your worst days. The most imaginable painful times I could think of in dealing with the imperfect sides of your whole being - your anger, pride, disappointments. I want to endure with you no matter how much ugly shades you'd throw at me once we'll slowly grow more comfortable around each other. I wish you're the one in this forbidden world that God has gifted me someone I would be with in overcoming our obstacles and flaws as partners in the long run of our developing relationship.

But then again, I should not be serious for we are still on this age of youth and exploration. No matter what, I will wait for you while riding in this flow between us and what's in it for us by the Universe in the future. Of course, there'll always be a limit on my patience that should not be taken for granted nor abused only to be set aside as a hook. That is a huge pang of disappointment born from being one-sided, which drives me back going down memory lane. Maybe that confession at Starbucks was nothing but a phase for you at that moment and we just took it differently. I'm scared that your depth of feelings for me at that moment was just merely pure admiration and mine was much more than that. The emotional aspect that encompasses from mental all the way to intimate attraction.

Have to end this rant as it is getting lengthy for this sad girl monologue.

If you ever come across and discover this perspective narrated about you, just know how much it really means to me or how much it makes me happy from your out-of-the-blue greeting and anything you want to tell me or ask me about at Messenger. You'll be the main reason as to why it has made my day special. It might be small but it is significant enough to motivate me even more.

PS: Listening to Sis by Clairo repetitively by writing down these midnight thoughts as my mind's cushion and solace.

- kkemtal

#kkemtal #Diary #Pride #June #Love #Hopeless #Romantic #Clairo #Sis #Theonlyexception #Rants

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wondersofdreaming · 4 years

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Te in perpetuum et unum diem amabo

Title meaning: ‘Te in perpetuum et unum diem amabo’ translated: I will love you forever and a day

Characters: Chris Evans x female reader

Word count: 1.356

Warnings: Fluff, very fluffy

Author’s note: Written for @thefanficfaerie’s ‘Heather’s life in song’ challenge.

I do not own any of the characters in this short story besides the reader, who is a figment of my imagination.

Song chosen: ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ by Savage Garden

MASTERLIST

Feedback is appreciated.

“Sweetie, that’s the wrong spot. It’s supposed to go here.” You told your boyfriend. You pointed to the hole in the shelving unit you had bought at IKEA.

You had moved into his house a week earlier, but as you were unpacking all your things, you noticed that you needed more shelving for your books. Chris had nearly keeled over when he saw how many books you actually owned. A whooping of more than one thousand books. He had wanted to turn one of his spare rooms into a library for you, but you couldn’t wait for him to have enough time to build the shelving system you dreamed of, so Kallax from IKEA had to do for now.

“You wanna do it?” He asked with his signature sexy smile. He was teasing you. You could see the challenge in his blue eyes. You lifted one of your eyebrows and accepted the challenge by taking the screwdriver from him. As a woman, you wanted to prove that you could do anything he could, and the Scandinavian in you were too damn stubborn to let him win, so you collected all the pieces together all by yourself, while Chris was walking Dodger.

Chris was watching you put your books into the holes of the shelving system when he came back. You arranged them in genres, then in the author’s last name, then in publication date. You were very meticulous about your books, they had to be sorted in your system and no one else’s. Chris had learned that the hard way when he had borrowed one of your Japanese cookbooks and put it back between some fantasy books. You had at first moved it back and told him not to mess with your books, and to remember to put it back in its rightful place. He had chuckled and said that it was just a book. Oh boy, had he been wrong. You had told him that your books meant more to you than anything else you owned. Your books were like your children, in the not so weird and creepy way, they brought you comfort during the hard times, the sad times, the lonely times and even during the happy times. They were there to lead your thoughts away from missing Chris when he was abroad filming, or when he was sleeping in, you would go out to the backyard with a cup of coffee and read.

You turned around as Dodger ran towards you, wanting attention. You sat down on the floor with a box of photographs beside you as you put the eager dog in your lap. Petting his chest just the way he liked it. His tail was thumping on the hardwood floor.

“Look buddy, this is from the time your daddy and I went to Switzerland to go skiing.” You said and showed Dodger a photo of you and Chris in snowsuits, heavy winter boots, wearing thick gloves, matching puff ball hats and ski goggles. You were carrying your skis and he, his snowboard. He had asked the ski instructor to take a picture of you. It had been a perfect sunny day in the Alps, on top of a mountain, and a long way down. You had been lucky none of you had broken a leg.

“That trip was for our one-year anniversary.” Chris gushed excitedly and sat down next to you.

“It sure was. We should do that more often, go on trips together, and bring this little doggie so he doesn’t feel abandoned.” You giggled and put the photo in front of your biography books.

Chris chuckled and pulled out another photo. It was of the two of you again, this time he was carrying you in his arms, standing in the ocean. You were both laughing. You remembered that picture, a minute after Charlie; your brother, the professional photographer; had taken the photo, Chris had dropped you into the cold water.

“Christopher Robert Evans! You will pay for this!” You spluttered. Water dripping from your hair into your eyes. You started stalking him as a preying lioness. He laughed as he moved further out into the ocean with you closing in on him. He wanted to get caught, you could see it in his smile. You tackled him, but being he was fit and solid muscles from his workout as Captain America, he didn’t budge, more like you fell backwards into the water.

“And this is from that beach day with our families in Hawaii.” You put that photo together with the self-help books.

“What else you’ve got in here?” Chris asked as he started pulling out more photos. There were photographs of your family, more of you and him, his family, Dodger, your friends, but the one that caught his eye was at the bottom of the box. He collected a red frame with the letters ‘LOVE’ engraved at the bottom. The selfie was you and him lying on an air mattress out in the woods. You were kissing his bearded cheek, and he wore a big goofy smile. You had been dating a few months at that time. He had arranged for you to go camping, out in the middle of nowhere. You had been skeptical in the beginning but relented in the end, to make him happy. All you wanted was to see his beautiful smile, and as you snuggled with him on the mattress looking at the stars, you felt the serenity and the calming effects of the woods seeping into your soul.

“Y/N? You asleep?” He had whispered. You had shaken your head no. He turned, so you were face to face. You could sense the seriousness coming from him. He caressed your cheek with his thumb. He took a deep breath before leaning in to kiss you. It was sweet, turned passionate, as he pulled you closer.

“I love you.” He murmured against your connected lips.

That was the first time you had admitted your love for one another. It had been perfect.

“This might be the first photograph of us.” You admired and put the photo on the shelve with survival guidebooks.

“And hopefully not the last.”

Later that evening you went for a walk in the park closest to your new home. The sky was full of blinking stars. Then you saw a shooting star.

“Hurry Chris, make a wish!” You exclaimed and closed your eyes. Your wish: to be with Chris forever. As you opened your eyes and turned around, you found your boyfriend on his knee, an open ring box in his hand. The ring was magnificent. A golden band with a solitaire diamond, a simple but elegant design.

“Y/N, I am truly, madly, deeply, intensely, passionately, fiercely, inexplicably, eternally, unconditionally in love with you. I will climb mountains, swim through the ocean, collect all the stars in the sky for you. I will walk through fire, earth, water, and air for you. I will move heaven and hell for you. And to quote that song by Savage Garden you like so much: ‘I’ll be your dream. I’ll be your wish. I’ll be your fantasy. I’ll be your hope. I’ll be your love. I’ll be everything that you need.’ Will you please make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”

“Actually, it goes: ‘I’ll be your love, be everything that you need. I’ll love you more with every breath, truly madly deeply do.” You teased him.

“Just answer him, for Pete’s sake!” You heard your brother yell from behind some bushes.

You rolled your eyes.

“Yes, I’ll marry you, love.” You said with reassurance, a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

“You had me worried there for a second.” Chris whispered as he pushed the ring on your finger.

“Then don’t mess up the lyrics to my favourite song.”

He pulled you in for a kiss as a camera flashed behind you. Charlie kept taking photos, until he was satisfied, he had gotten the perfect shot.

“Te in perpetuum et unum diem amabo.” You said.

”I will love you forever and a day.” Chris translated.

#Chris Evans #Chris Evans x female reader #Chris Evans x reader #Chris x reader #Chris x female reader #thefanficfaerie #Heather's life in song #Challenge #Writing challenge #Oh man #I haven't written fanfics in years #Christopher Robert Evans #I may be a little rusty #My story #Te in perpetuum et unum diem amabo #Short Story #chris evans fanfic

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mwolf0epsilon · 4 years

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I was asking what you think Henry's fate is. Is it a time loop? Is it just a reel playing? Is all of it just a dream on his or Joey Drew's death bed? But you pose an interesting question too, do all the games connect in some way even if BATDR is not gonna be a direct continuation?

I’ve pondered on the nature of the world of Bendy and the Ink Machine for a while now and, after a little bit of digging around, reading theories that people have had, watching theory videos and a few playthroughs, I’ve come to a few conclusions over Henry’s fate and the meaning behind the ambiguous ending we got.

This idea is, as such, a mixture of Game Theory’s Revised BATIM Ending Theory plus expectations for BATDR, SuperHorrorBro’s ideas for who BATDR’s Big Bad might actually be, as well as several other ideas that have consistently popped up through out the Fandom’s existence.

Buckle up, this might get long as heck.

---

To start this off, I’m gonna need to clarify that the Cycle (which is the dimension the first game takes place in, although the origins of this particular world are still debatable as real or fiction within the canon itself) functions in a way that seems to rely heavily on ideas and impossible physics. Not only that, but those who exist within this plane will follow a mixture of Real World and Cartoon World laws, so while death exists in the Cycle it isn’t permanent and things that could usually obliterate you in one go (like massive falls, a hit with an axe, or getting bashed by an out of control fairground attraction) aren’t an instant threat to your overall health. It also appears that people within the Cycle aren’t immediatly aware that they’re following cartoon logic, as Henry (who is supposedly human) doesn’t seem to react all that much to some of the most life threatening moments he faces in the Studio. This in itself already shows something is off about the whole situation Bendy’s original creator has gotten himself mixed up with.

Another thing I need to point out is that the Toonification process doesn’t seem to be reliant of the Cycle itself, and instead happened in the Real World as the events in “Dreams Come True”, and Thomas Connor’s and Joey Drew’s Audio Log on the Ink Demon imply. This, to me, seems to point towards the Cycle having been made some point during Joey’s Toonification experiments as maybe somewhere to hide his twisted creations, so it might be the Ink Machine has the capacity to not only bring things to “life” but to also create other dimensions from templates. Where these dimensions are kept is up to debate, but I assume Joey keeps the Cycle withing the Ink Machine itself. Either way, what I mean to say with these two little notes is that, while Henry appears to be in a fake version of the Studio that doesn’t mean the story of the game is just that, a story. I think everything IS real. But more on that in a bit...

Lets get started with the actual questions you asked:

--Is it a time loop?--

Yes, positively. The Tool clarifies this as soon as we get it. In fact, the iteration of the loop we’re doing as Henry is the 415th, and the following we do with the Tool unlocked is the 416th, meaning Henry (and by extention the other Studio Prisoners) have been at this for quite some time even if we weren’t aware at first. To the point where Henry began trying to establish contact with himself.

--Is it just a reel playing?--

Also yes. The Cycle as I’ve pointed out before, operates on Cartoon Logic. As such it can be compared to an endlessly looping reel of unfinished film. This is made more apparent by the reel Henry uses to “beat” the Ink Demon. “The End” is something of a curiosity as it is a contradiction in of itself. Not so much a final dot to close off an act as an infinity mark. It’s existence within the Cyle is also curious, as it seems unlikely Joey would have physically made a reel to stop the Ink Demon, so it brings the question of whether or not Mr. Drew can alter the Cycle externally (something that’s already hinted at due to the storyboards you can find on his desk at Joey’s apartment).

This to me indicates the Cycle can be altered (which Henry does whenever he tries to communicate, and by Allison Angel discovering the messages), but that bigger changes need to be done from the Real World.

--Is all of it just a dream on Henry’s or Joey Drew's death bed?--

No, I don’t think it’s a dream or just a story Joey is telling a child. I think the happenings of the game are actually happening, but that perhaps “The End” is a series of blank reels Joey feeds into the Ink Machine and that get filled out by Henry’s actions, and that Joey then watches them and recounts the tales to who I can only assume might likely be Henry’s and Linda’s daughter (as Joey pointed out Henry settled down while he did not, and it’s never mentioned if he has siblings).

With these questions out of the way, here’s what I believe happened to Henry and the implications of the game’s ending where Joey’s “niece” requests another story... The fact of the matter is that Henry is dead.

Why do I believe this? It’s like Matpat pointed out in his Revised Theory video (I know, y’all gonna get on my case because “Game Theory is cringy ew”, but seriously have a look yourself instead of going off in my askbox). It all has to do with small details that seem insignificant or just asthetic choices, but that can actually have a lot more hold on the plot.

Two of these details are:

The 5 coffins at the Studio and letters in Joey’s appartment.

The newspaper clipping Joey keeps in the Ink Machine room at the appartment, which was specifically picked and curated to appear in the game despite the player never going into the room to see it up close.

There’s a number of characters you learn about in the game and (by extention) the novel, and quite a few are dead (Such as Buddy’s friends Jacob and Dot who were murdered by an insane Sammy), but surprisingly only 5 have physical coffins at the Studio ingame.

And what do I mean by physical coffins? Well, there’s a 6th unofficial one, that’s what... And where can we find it?

Henry’s cell in chapter 5. He drew it himself even.

This doesn’t confirm anything of course, it could just be that Henry is into dramatics, but then we get to the newspaper clipping that Joey picked out specifically and kept in a room only he likely enters:

“Local Artist Pushed Himself Too Hard, Found Dead at Desk”

And what did Joey say about Henry pushing him to do the right thing? That he should have pushed a little harder... Like somehow Henry is at fault for Joey’s bad choices. Like Henry deserves what comes next... It almost feels like someone dishing out a speech before an execution, justifying why they’re getting killed. It’s a scene that made me inexplicably nervous until I looked into things.

Why bring up the coffins and letters to prove this, you may ask? Well, another thing Matpat points out is that the people who have coffins are people who were put through the Ink Machine, dying in the process and returning as Ink Monstrosities/Imperfect Toons, while people who got a letter from Joey and that replied to him were never lured back to him.

Wally Franks, for example, is living in Florida so he couldn’t make it to New York to fall into Mr. Drew’s trap. Allison and Thomas Connors are also out of the way so they merely exchange formaleties through correspondance (which implies Joey “made up” with them at some point to try to lure them back and has kept the charade up for a while).

So anyway, people who have coffins in the Studio are not only confirmed dead but also became monsters.

Norman became the Projectionist

Grant likely became either the Piper, Fisher, or Striker

Bertrum became the monstrous Carnival Ride

Lacie likely became either the Piper, Fisher or Striker

Susie became the Imperfect Alice Angel

You’re likely asking about Allison Angel and Tom Boris now, to which I raise you another Matpat pointer from the video above: Allison Angel states that she and Tom would dissolve if they were in contact with pools of ink.

Why is this relevant? Well, it means their bodies are made entirely of ink unlike, for example, Norman who is the sculking Projectionist. Why Norman? Well, he wades through a pool of Ink in level 14 and doesn’t dissolve. Heck, he chases Henry through the pool of ink without any trouble whatsoever in catching up. Why is he different from Allison and Tom? Because he has a soul stabilizing his grotesquely altered body.

Creatures that were once human and were transformed don’t just dissolve into ink. Their bodies remain intact after death until they eventually return to the inky abyss (potentially from being ripped apart) or until they’re revived by a Bendy Statue (Like Sammy, as implied by a clever easter egg near the fountain with the respawning Swollen Searcher).

In fact, now that I think about it, out of all the hostile creatures you encounter, Sammy, Susie, Norman, Bertrum and the Butcher Gang are some of the more stable bodied creatures within the Cycle, requiring a lot more hits to die than Searchers and Lost Ones, although Susie does die from a single stab (though the blow itself WAS pretty devastating in itself).

After pondering on this little idea I realized that the presence of Allison Angel and Tom Boris were entirely fabricated at that point. One of many alterations created by Joey to guide Henry through the last leg of his journey towards “The End”, very likely modelled after the real Allison and Thomas who he viewed as hostile, thus portrayed them as initially aggressive towards Henry. I mean, after so many unsuccefful attempts to make creatures entirely of ink (like the Ink Demon), it’s not too farfetched to say Joey eventually got the hang of it. The Mini Ink machines do it flawlessly and even help Henry, so who’s to say Joey didn’t perfect it within the Cycle to create beings not quite as strong as the Ink Demon, but strong enough to kill corrupt humans?

Again why is any of this relevant to how I think Henry’s dead? Simple. People who replied to Joey lived. Henry didn’t reply, instead he was lured in.

I believe that the Ink Machine’s disastrous results in the Real World made Joey realize that making a person into a Toon through passing them through the machine with a template wasn’t gonna cut it to fix the grand mess he’d made out of the Ink Demon. But, I also think he realized passing them through the Ink Machine while living was also the issue. The ink corrupted their souls, left them vulnerable to becoming Imperfect beings like Susie. Having them ingest the ink prior to going through was also not gonna cut it, as it’s connection to the Ink Demon gradually destroyed Sammy’s already frail sanity and changed him into an abomination (that had a pretty strong will for possibly three deaths before he finally lost himself completely and became a soulless Searcher). This left one final method to experiment with on the one person he thought responsible to clean his fuck-ups: Joey had to kill Henry prior to putting him through the machine.

In “Dreams Come True”, Buddy reveals that upon becoming Boris, his body was discarded. A byproduct of his soul enfusing with the ink and rejecting his human flesh. It might be possible that Joey was quick enough in killing Henry in an inconspicuous manner and then putting his body through the machine that Henry’s soul was pulled into the Cycle flawlessly while his body was spat back out for Joey to later deal with (Putting him behind his work desk as if he’d simply died of exhaustion, neatly hiding his crime behind the “suffering of a tortured artist”). This would explain why Henry lacks a shadow or reflection. He’s a ghost. A ghost that’s slowly realizing how hopeless his situation is. What a great pal Joey Drew turned out to be...

Moving on to the ending of the game itself, there’s some very dark implications that come with Henry being dead. For one, Joey Drew doesn’t have a family, yet he’s recounting Henry’s plight to a little girl who affectionately calls him “Uncle Joey”. We know Henry pursued a family over a busy career, so it’s heavily implied that during the 414 attempts of trying to find a way out of the Studio, Henry’s wife has been grieving him, going so far as to leave their daughter with Joey as she tries to provide for the both of them.

Joey being the pathological liar that he is, would likely graciously look afer his old friend’s daughter and maybe offer “emotional support” to a distraught Linda, cementing his innocense, all the while bragging to the child about what really happened to her father without her knowing. That is a pretty twisted theory and I honestly like the idea due to how horrific it is.

But where does BATDR come into play here?

Well, it’s been confirmed to not be a prequel nor a sequel. Matpat suggested it might either be an Alternate Universe or a Side Story. I believe the latter is more likely, thanks to SuperHorrorBro theorizing that the people behind Gent might be the Big Bad/cause of that particular game’s misfortunes. A Side Story about the Ink Machine being recreated and templates re-used to create a familiar yet brand new nightmare.

I believe BATIM and BATDR are a vicious cycle of madness happening at the same time. The same task repeated by people who expect different results. Only with Joey Drew it was an animation studio, with GENT it might be on a larger scale...But who knows?

There will be returning characters, so maybe BATDR will shed new light upon the Ink Machine and the Cycle’s true nature.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #Bendy and the Dark Revival #BATDR #Theory #Speculation #Friend Anon

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zenosanalytic · 4 years

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People What Aint From Round Here Is The Problem...

So I just watched Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood and I have THOUGHTS:

Ive read a few reviews&ruminations on this film at this point and I can’t believe that none of them got(or at least, mentioned explicitly) the primary thesis of this movie, spcl given that Tarentino flatly states it out the mouth of his primary protagonist within, like, the first 15-20mins of the film: “...most important thing in this town is when you’re making money you buy a house in town. You don’t rent... Hollywood real estate means you live here. You’re not just visiting, not just passing through. You fuckin live here.” i.e., the most important thing in Hollywood, to Hollywood, is the people FROM Hollywood; Everyone else is just a filthy, trouble-making tourist or profiteer who is “Passing Through” and “Doesnt Get It” and “Is Fucking It Up”(It being the film industry), and probably “Secretly Hates Movies”. There are places and aspects of this movie that are basically a Nativist Angeleno rant, written by a life-long Angeleno film-nerd-turned-film-maker, against Hollywood’s critics(and his critics which he just totally conflates with the former), and probably non-Angelenos(and non-Californians?) in general.

There are two ways to read this thesis: Straight and Subverted/Satirized.

The evidence for reading it straight is pretty plentiful. Lots of reviews have puzzled at where the line connecting the constant hippie-bashing, the weird focus on knocking Polanski’s Polishness & preference for shooting in London, and the inexplicable pot-shot at Bruce Lee is, and I think this is it. “The Hippies” are repeatedly presented as a corrupting force: digging through trash, living in squalourous filth at the Spahn Ranch dragging members of “Old Hollywood” like its owner into it with them, selling drugs, and using sex to “control” men. And attached to this is presenting “The Hippies” as foreign; not only from another place, but refusing to assimilate with the LA way of life and hostile to it. The Manson family are the only explicitly identified “Hippies” in the film(other than, possibly, the one who sells Cliff an acid cig). The only “positive” portrayals of Bruce Lee in the film are silent ones of him teaching anglos kung fu, which has some fairly obvs and well-understood Implications.

But there’s also good evidence for reading it as subverted and satirized. Both Tate and Dalton are NOT from California, let alone LA, and Booth’s origins are left unclear. Dalton’s the only one of them explicitly id’d as being from elsewhere(Missouri), but Tate’s easy to google and she was a military kid who grew up all over the place. When Dalton returns from Italy, that sequence and his look in it are VERY reminiscent of the scenes introducing Polanski at the beginning of the film. The side-characters around Tate, perennially shown in a positive light, are also non-Angelenos. Doing Spaghetti Westerns revitalizes Dalton’s career, despite his disdain for Italian cinema. Tate and her crew, while not explicitly ID’d as “Hippies” and often shown in Mod and other fashion styles, are also presented in “Hippie” fashion, shown listening to “Hippie” music, smoking the “Hippie” Reefer(Im sorry, but Comedy Demanded this phrasing and I am Devout u_u), and implied to be living a polyamorous “Hippie” life.

It really is difficult for me to say which predominates. On the one entirely metaphorical hand, the ways in which Dalton’s Angeleno chauvinism are subverted and mocked are fairly obvs, but on the other emh, the film is FILLED with LITERALLY GLOWING nostalgia for this pre-Hippy, pre-Lefty, pre-70s, Conservative and Republican California&Los Angeles. Dalton’s focus on property-ownership&the film industry in the opening thesis could easily be seen as resolving these subversive contradictions to allow for a straight read(ie: Tate, Booth, and Dalton are “Hollywood People” who’ve both bought real-estate in LA, and who’ve grown up in film or film-adjacent fields and choose to center their adult lives in the film industry). So much, in fact, that I kinda started to wonder abt QT’s politics while watching it. And, if it WAS satirical, then what’s the point of the knock to Bruce Lee and focusing criticisms of Polanski on his Polishness and shooting in London? Is that just meant to characterize Dalton and Booth as nativists and racists?

It really cannot be said enough that there are REALLY MORE APPROPRIATE CRITICISMS to make of Polanski than 1)begin Polish, 2)possessing boyish effeminacy, and 3)preferring to shoot movies in London instead of LA. Which are this movie’s only problems with him(though it also takes the time to show him bitchily smoking a cigarette in an evening gown while being rude to a dog). Obvsl I dont object to villainizing an ACTUAL REAL LIFE VILLAIN like this shitstain, but I DO object to being asked(albeit gently) to participate in this film’s understated nationalist bigotry.

It’s possible that Cliff’s turning Pussycat down during the drive to the ranch was intended to be this but I highly doubt it. And if it was it’d be misrepresenting Polanski’s misdeeds enormously, considering that Pussycat, the too-young girl, is the sexual instigator in this film. Polanski liked to manipulate, drug, and rape underaged girls(he pulled the same shit with models in Europe before getting busted for it in LA, btw, then continued doing it after fleeing back to Europe); really not the same situation.

There’s another irony in that, while the film goes out of its way to call Polanski “boyish” and imply that makes him feminine and that this is Bad, there’s also a subtle under-current that... Tarentino sees himself in his youth the same way? He’s certainly never been short like Polanski and Jay Sebring are/were, QT’s 6 1, but the actors he cast to play them and the description made of the pair in-film are more than a bit reminiscent of how Tarentino looked&was discussed in the press back in the 90s when he was starting out. AAAaaand the film explicitly calls that Tate’s “Type”; leaving me with the question: would Tarentino be able to stop himself from implying a dead starlet would have been attracted to him? I leave the answer to your imaginations, Dear Readers u_u

Having said all that it IS a really good film, which I liked, I dont think it’d be very hard to set aside this political stuff while watching, the driving sequences are especially emotive&exhilarating, and there’s some seriously great acting in it. IDK if I’d say I liked it more than the recent Emma movie, tho.

I feel like each of the trio, Tate, Dalton, and Booth, were meant to symbolically Embody LA/Hollywood/California? Like Pitt especially seemed to be channeling movie characters and CJ from GTA: San Andreas throughout his performance, while I couldnt help but think of Ronald Reagan watching DiCaprio(spcl given the character’s likely politics). So there’s this sense in which the film is a fantasy of “Old Hollywood”, embodied by these three, Vanquishing its “Enemies”, represented by The Hippies(moralizing, pretentious, gross leftist) and potentially Polanski&Lee(foreign film ppl who refuse to integrate into the LA scene). Again, given the political history of Cali after this era, this embodiment raises some questions for me abt the film and QT’s politics(particularly in re: misogyny and feminism).

Also DiCaprio is totally going to get pitched a Reagan biopic off of this role and I sincerely hope he has the good sense to turn that shit the fuck down.

Circling back to the ranting at his critics, this movie was definitely and consciously a response to them. Like: up until the last 5-15 minutes of the film, and aside from a handful of too-lingering too fetishistic too on-the-nose creep shots of the female cast that Tarentino simply could not stop himself from making, OUATiH is precisely the sort of “Serious” film Tarentino’s critics have been saying he should make for decades now(of course he did Jackie Brown, which was that and which he blew Completely out of the park). And then there’s that bloody, gross-out, exploitation-movie ending. I dont actually think it was as bad as many critics were saying it was? For some reason I was thinking there was gonna be a massacre of the ENTIRE Manson family, which would have been totally out of left-field. But it WAS clearly a stinger of a major tone-shift thrown in as a Fuck You to the ppl who’ve called out his violent and exploitative preferences throughout the years. As for me I generally like his movies and think he’s a great filmmaker but he absolutely does go too far sometimes.

Rick Dalton, in an evening-gown, with a mixer full of iced-margarita in one hand, getting all up in the face of the driver of a loud exhaust-spewing jalope in his PRIVATE STREET was TOTALLY Tarentino himself :| By which I mean NOT ONLY that That’s ABSOLUTELY the sort of cameo he would have given himself 30 years ago and if it made any sort of sense at all in the film(which here it wouldnt have, obvsl), BUT ALSO that I feel 94% confident that Tarentino has actually done that at least once in his lifetime :| :|

I think the monologue&interactions T gives Bruce Lee leading up to the fight were probably more insulting to him than the fight itself. Contrary to popular discussion, it isn’t Pitt’s character totally trashing Lee, he gets in one good throw after Lee repeats a successful attack at his request(which I doubt Lee would have ever done from what little I know about him; not being predictable in a fight was his whole Deal), but rather an even duel between them(most of the fight is just the two blocking each others’ attacks). I dont think the film was trying to say “Lee was full of hot-air”, if it wanted to say that it’d have shown him getting trounced instead of showing him knock Booth down then trade him blow for blow, but more “Lee was pretty arrogant and a bit pretentious”.

OK, that’s abt all that I can think of right now: thanks for reading ^v^

#Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood #Quentin Tarentino #Long Post #Cinema #zA Reviews #Movie Reviews #zA Commentary #zA Opinions #analytic posts

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douxreviews · 5 years

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American Gods - ‘The Beguiling Man’ Review

"Their whole life they’ve been hearing a story about who you are. And you’re the enemy in that story."

In episode two of its second season, American Gods finds a reason to tell us the tragic story of Shadow's past. And it's... basically one of the less interesting episodes of Daredevil.

That's disappointing.

To be more specific, it's disappointing that they felt the need to devote half an episode to telling us the tragic story of Shadow's teenage years, because the story they tell here is essentially the same 'outsider teen moves to a new town and encounters local bullies' story that we've seen a thousand times before. It's The Karate Kid, in which the role of Mr. Miyagi is played by maternal cancer.

The underlying problem here is that there is just no reason for them to be telling this story to us in the first place, either in the metanarrative or the narrative sense. Mr. Town, played by the always welcome Dean Winters, has Shadow rigged up to a big ominous machine, and mentions Shadow's mom once. That's it. That's all the narrative justification we get for why we're being told this story at this time. Somehow that one mention of his mother inspires him to remember how his mom brought him back from France to live in Brooklyn, and how he got beat up that one time, she started dying of cancer, he got so upset about that that he went right out and beat up the guys that attacked him earlier, then she died and that was that.

And I hate to say it, but just reading that last paragraph gives you pretty much the same experience as watching it play out over twenty odd minutes of this episode's runtime. Which is too bad, because it's not like there isn't a lot of good stuff just waiting to be explored here. Olunike Adeliyi, playing Shadow's Mom – and how telling is it that she never gets identified as more than that – is actually really good when her dialogue stops being a stream of character information and 'deep meditations on the human soul.' Watch the moment when she breaks from doing that to tell Shadow that she's going to stop for drinks with somebody named Jerry, and you witness a revelation. In that moment, she goes from being a mouthpiece for things the scripts wants to have said out loud and becomes an actual, interesting person. And I want to know more about that person, because she honestly sparkled at that moment and you could see why Shadow loved her. But we don't get to see more than a moment or two of that, because the script wants to make sure that we know that she's read Siddhartha.

It feels like a case of a screen writer not trusting the audience to understand the subtext, and this show is above that sort of thing.

Similarly, Shadow is mugged, he gets his CD player back and runs for it. And the Brooklyn cops see a black kid running with a portable CD player and arrest him, either instead of or along with his attempted muggers, it's not entirely clear. That's a huge moment that is way, way too true about America still today, but it gets completely thrown away because Shadow's Mom just wants to talk more about how much light is in him. Honestly, I wish that they'd either explored the more interesting stuff that gets sidelined here, or just told us through dialogue that Shadow's Mom had died of cancer and left it at that, because the story that they chose to tell here just ultimately didn't feel like it had anything in particular to say. I feel like I should add though that Gabriel Darku did a good job with the material he was given, and was believable as a young Shadow Moon.

OK, enough about that, because there's a whole other half to this episode and that's where all the good stuff really was.

When we left our heroes, the restaurant had been shot to Hell, Zorya Vechernyaya was dead, and Shadow had been spirited off into the night via helicopter. Here the show seems to run into a bit of a problem with not knowing what to do with all of the characters currently in play. They deal with the situation by generally having them all disperse in pairs on separate missions, which more or less works. Ifrit the Jinn and Salim ride off to the corn palace to fetch Odin's spear, not to be seen again this week. One can only assume that we'll catch up with them later, and how absolutely adorable was Salim, sitting in the sidecar and beaming at being allowed to come along. You two drive safe, we'll see you, presumably, later in the season. Probably right at the end, I would guess.

Wednesday and Mr. Nancy head off to Cairo, Illinois, although they don't get there this week, and I honestly struggled to remember where they were going every time the action cut back to them. They were basically in a holding pattern while other events got into their proper placement for what's going to happen in Cairo. But damn if it wasn't an enjoyable holding pattern to watch. I would tune in weekly for the road trip adventures of Wednesday and Nancy, even if nothing ever happened besides the two of them bantering. The entire exchange about the bucket of fried chicken, which I will not spoil here if you haven't watched it, was better than 95% of broadcast television.

Shadow, we see, has been hooked up to the previously mentioned big ominous machine, which doesn't actually appear to do anything except hold Ricky Whittle up in a sexy and dramatic way, but I suppose that's a noble enough goal. It would be nice if we ever got any clear indication of what exactly Mr. Town wanted out of the situation. Sometimes it seemed like he was trying to convince Shadow to switch sides and join the new gods, sometimes it seemed like he was trying to get information, and sometimes it seemed like he was simply torturing him for no particular reason. Unfortunately, we're not likely to ever get an explanation, since he appears to be dead either just before or immediately after the end of the episode. Ah, well.

But the real MVP, and the only real reason to ever watch this episode again, is the continuing adventures and burgeoning friendship of Laura Moon and Mad Sweeney. Pablo Schreiber and Emily Browning have great chemistry together, and both excel at playing broken, friendless assholes who make a connection with one another despite both of them trying as hard as they can not to do so. When Sweeney says, 'Is that how you ask for a favor,' you can tell by the look on his face that he'd pretty much die to help Laura and this point, and he'd definitely die before he'd ever admit it. Everything they do together is wonderful and complicated and they're by far the best thing the show has going on that didn't come from the book.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "Mama-Ji, you hear the battle cries. May I count on your blades?" Mama-Ji: "You brought the fight to my doorstep. I have no choice but to resume the lopping of heads, drinking of blood, and liberating of souls. That is, if I can swap my weekend shift with Arjun."

Sweeney: "…And God didn’t f**k up your life. You did a great job of that all by yourself." Laura: "Well, it was my life to f**k up." Sweeney: "Indeed it was. And you f**ked the shit out of it, didn’t ya?"

Bulquis: "Love and war may sit on opposite sides of a coin, but only so they may never meet."

Sweeney: "Last week you could have lifted an entire f**kin’ elephant. Two f**kin' elephants if my nuts are the judge."

Laura: "What do you usually drive, horse and buggy?" Sweeney: "Says the corpse who flipped an ice cream truck."

Bits and Pieces:

-- Apparently Bilquis was supposed to talk the old gods out of joining Wednesday, but didn't try that hard.

-- They showed us that Shadow was on a train early on, then wasted a lot of time having us watch Laura work that exact same information out. That's sloppy plotting.

-- I can only assume that Ricky Whittle was excruciatingly uncomfortable filming this week.

-- What is up with the restaurant owners and staff? They just got shot up and people died, and yet there are no cops on the scene, and the restaurant is somehow still serving pancakes for Sweeney.

-- Technical Boy's search for Media got a little further this week. Going to Times Square was a clever idea to find her what with all the screens. The show is still playing coy on revealing Gillian Anderson's replacement as New Media, though. All in all, that changeover has been very well handled. Looks like we get the reveal of New Media next week. Let's see if they stick the landing.

-- There's no way they could have known this in advance, but it was so very nice to have a respectful and peaceful representation of Islam this week.

-- What does Ifrit think of Salim's prayers and faith? I'd be interested to know.

-- Ricky Whittle is 37, and Young Shadow appeared to be about 17 or thereabouts. That would imply that the Brooklyn segments were taking place around 1999. I really dislike using the World Trade Center as a visual signifier for 'in the past,' by the way. It's a personal thing.

-- We were clumsily shown this week that Shadow doesn't know who his father is and his mother won't tell him. We pretty much all know where that's going, even if they had been remotely subtle about it. Which they were not.

-- Wednesday's eulogy for Betty the car, as he waits for Shadow's train to plow into her on the railroad tracks, is a thing of strange beauty and inexplicable dignity.

-- Seriously though, you need to stand a lot further away than that if a train is about to hit a car. I know this from experience.

-- Sweeney takes Laura through something he refers to as 'The Hoard' to get catch up with Shadow. I'm assuming that that's 'hoard' as in a big collection of treasure. They don't appear to have passed through James McAvoy.

I really hate to say this sort of thing, but the show just hasn't felt the same without Fuller and Green. The strange ambient noise and slow motion shots of fluid in motion are pretty much all gone, the storytelling is significantly more linear, and I really think the show is weaker for the change. But, of course, we're only two episodes in. I really shouldn't judge too much yet.

Two out of four buckets of chicken. Almost entirely due to Laura and Sweeney. Just fastforward to their parts, and assume everything else works out all right.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

#American Gods #Shadow Moon #Mr Wednesday #Laura Moon #Mad Sweeney #American Gods Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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kamen-base · 5 years

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Goggle V is finally finished. I’d like to thank Quick and Dirty Subs for subbing all 50 episodes of Goggle V (though I couldn’t find the movie anywhere, raw or subbed) and krdl.moe for allowing me to download the episodes to this show (seriously, if you don’t want to torrent, krdl.moe is the best place to find all sorts of tokusatsu shows).

Anyways, to finish up, I’ll be listing what I thought was good, mediocre, and bad in this show before giving my rating. This will be long and have spoilers, just warning you all.

The first thing I list is the best thing, the last thing I list is the worst thing, it’s like a spectrum. (Mediocre is like my nitpicks with the show)

THE GOOD:

The Goggle V Team: The best part of the show, yet sadly even they weren’t that great. Though static, bland, and not developed throughout the show, I still found myself enjoying the characters at times, especially any Kanpei and Miki focused episodes, as they were badass whenever it was their focus episodes.

The First Half of the Show: To be completely honest, I enjoyed the first half of the show more than the second. Though there were good episodes throughout the 50 episodes, I found the characters smarter and they seemed to have more engagement with the Comboys than in the second half. I also found the villains smarter in the early side and liked the banter between Dr. Zazoriya and Dr. Iguana, as at least there was something going on with the villains. I also liked the episodes in the early side a lot more.

THE MEDIOCRE:

Not explaining why the Goggle V members were chosen: Ok, this is more of a nitpick than anything else, but why were they the people chosen for Goggle V. I mean sure, it’s explained that the Comboys were the ones choosing the candidates for Goggle V, but why were they even in the possible candidates for Goggle V? I mean seriously, why was a dancer, zookeeper, hockey player, and shogi player in the fucking databases rather than a boxer or soldier? I mean yes, Futoshi’s father was Hongo’s partner and Saburo was an “inventor” (more on that later), but what about Kanpei and Miki? Plus, favoritism should never be a reason why someone’s chosen to fight a war.

The Computer Boys and Girls: Despite being Goggle V’s biggest supporters in battle, they don’t really do much. I mean, while they’re just mainly there to cause some kid plots, they really don’t interact with Goggle V after the first 10 episodes and do pretty much nothing other than work in the Future Science Laboratory. Not only that, why make them children? Sure the show gives some bs explanation of “they represent a future without dark science” but I bet Hongo was sure regretting that when Deathdark invaded the Laboratory in the finale and the Comboys could do nothing but watch instead of fighting back if they were adults.

Some Unexplained Things/Weapons: What’s with all the unexplained weapons Goggle V gains? I mean, we got a random mirror Miki uses, two lightsabers Kenichi and Kanpei inexplicable have, and Deathdark completely forgetting where Goggle V’s base was, despite appearing at the amusement park Goggle V’s base was under in the second episode, or not remembering a Comboy. There are others, but they usually pertain to that certain episode. For example, Saburo being an inventor, which was never mentioned before or after episode 38.

The Fight Scenes: While the fight scenes had some really, and I mean really interesting camera work in the second half of the show, the slow motion used during the first half felt really excessive. Not to mention there was a lot of stock footage used during the fights in the first half of the show.

Dropping the Amusement Park Base: It was an interesting place for a team base, which sadly was dropped after the first 5~ episodes and only came up sparingly in the last 10~ episodes. It just irked me that they didn’t use it much, but it could be because the costs for filming there was too high.

The Mecha Battles: While not bad, they all got real old fast. Nothing really interesting happened during the fights, it was just punch, special attacks, finisher, end. Adding on that Miki and Kanpei could only sit and watch in Goggle Caesar made me really irritated at times.

Sayuri, Midori, Bella, and Beth: Four words: These characters did NOTHING. They were all introduced, then did nothing. Hell, Sayuri leaves in episode 22, and nothing changes. Midori does nothing throughout the show, neither does Bella and Beth. All these characters felt like wasted potential and just take up space and screen time. I could remove every character from the show, and nothing, and I mean nothing, would change.

THE BAD:

The Neo-Metal Upgrades: This upgrade provided no changes in the show. Seriously, if you skipped it, you would miss almost nothing, other than the fact Goggle V has a new finisher and the next episode has Deathdark attempting to counter Goggle V’s new finisher, which is dropped pretty much immediately in that episode. Seriously, the fact that the Mozu’s aren’t even mentioned to have Neo-Metal inside of them and the reason Goggle V succeeded in upgrading their weapons was due to someone else literally handing them it is just bad. Adding on that Goggle V was acting pretty fucking OOC during that episode, at least to me, makes that entire plot seem really bad.

Professor Hideki Hongo: Worst. Sentai. Mentor. EVER. Does he even qualify as a Sentai Mentor? Well, the wiki says he does, so I guess I can too. His reasoning for leaving is also absolute bullshit since he should’ve helped Goggle V instead of leaving them and telling them “LEARN TO BECOME INDEPENDENT”. Adding onto the fact he comes back in the final two episodes for the sole purpose of providing a base for Goggle V and he provides no advice and doesn’t help the rangers develop at all is bad.

Lack of any Backstory/Development for Goggle V: Even though to me, the Goggle V team is the best part of the show, I can still criticize the lack of development/backstory the team has. Seriously, the person I think that has the most character is Kanpei, and his two traits are being badass and smart. Everyone else just feels stock. Kenichi is the determined one, Saburo is the chill one, Futoshi is the funny one, and Miki is the girl, but badass. Not only that, we have no backstory on any of the members of Goggle V. Why in the world did Saburo become a hockey player, or Futoshi a geologist to zookeeper? Why did Miki become a dancer? Never explained. If they gave backstories to these characters, they could’ve made them more interesting, but they didn’t. Adding to the fact that Futoshi’s father never was important to the story after his episode was just awful, but more on that in the next section.

Wasted Potential: This show had some really interesting concepts when it started out, but just dropped them immediately. All of Goggle V’s jewels were connected to ancient civilizations, but after the first episode, they did nothing with them? Why not make the show history-themed as well, learning about the past to help the future? Also, remember when Grand Marshall Desmark needed to absorb life-essence to get stronger. That was dropped right after his introductory episode. Also, Futoshi’s father could’ve played a huge role in Futoshi’s character, but it never went anywhere. My vision is to have Futoshi start off as an asshole who hates people chasing after material things, due to his father leaving him for gold and causing some emotional problems for Futoshi. However, after an arc, Futoshi finally realizes the truth to his father’s absence, as he left to protect his family from Deathdark, and gains even more resolve to protect the world from Deathdark so that no one had to go through what he had to go through. I mean, the show did show Futoshi as nice towards children, and somewhat of a father-figure towards them, which I guess can be an effect from Futoshi’s father leaving him, but since it’s never stated outright, it still pisses me off.

The Finale Arc: This arc felt really rushed. We constantly jumped from one scene to the next without ever having the time to have the scenes impact the viewers Like, here’s an example. Goggle V is defeated, then five seconds later we change scenes to Deathdark attacking. Ten seconds later, Goggle V is revealed to be alive. See what I mean? Also, the fact that Goggle V inexplicable have a tracker for the Dark Hole Device, Grand Marshall Desmark somehow knowing about the existence of the Hightron Energy and the fact he admits to not knowing the effects of the energy to knowing the effects of the energy on a human body in two episodes just makes the entire arc feel messy and contrived. Speaking of feeling contrived, Deathgiller, for no reason, enters Goggle V’s base just so he could tell Mazurka she has a bomb inside her instead of detonating the bomb within her far away from the base. Even more things that irk me is: Deathgiller helping Goggle V during the arc is immediately forgotten by everyone as if he was always a villain. The base is destroyed, Goggle V attempt to rebuild but then the rebuilt base is destroyed, only for Hongo to lead them to a new base which is targeted by Deathdark not even 3 minutes after it was introduced. Grand Marshall Desmark’s defeat is lame and stupid, what the hell happened to the power of the Mozu’s powered up by the Hightron Energy, as despite all three Mozu’s being powered up by it, only the first one was shown to be a threat. There are probably more if I think longer, but in summary, this arc felt lazy, contrived, messy, and rushed.

The Villains: By far the weakest villains I’ve seen in a Sentai yet. All of them have a really bland personality and we get little to no backstory for all of them. While at first, they seemed competent, they started to do dumber stuff by the end of the show. General Deathgiller was the most interesting of the group because he was the only one that actually did shit. Mazurka felt completely unnecessary, Grand Marshall Desmark had an interesting subplot that was dropped almost immediately and did nothing despite being Deathdark’s greatest scientist. Bella and Beth could’ve been cut out from the show and nothing would’ve been lost. Dr. Zazoriya and Dr. Iguana were useless, but I liked their rivalry, as it was the only interesting thing the villains had. And do not get me started on Führer Taboo, as he acted more like a child than anything else, always taking things with a child-like demeanor. And guess what? He also did nothing until the finale. Seriously, besides Führer Taboo, were any of them human? How did they form? How did the members of Deathdark join? If the show answered any of these questions, it would at least make the villains more interesting, but unfortunately, the show did not at all.

Overall, I’d give Goggle V a 2/10. While it didn’t anger me like Zyuranger, it was boring to watch, except for the Kanpei/Miki episodes, and the wasted potential and villains made it really hard to continue watching. Not helped with that god awful finale arc and the boring side characters. However, the first 10~ episodes, the characters, and certain episodes in the rest of the show are the only reason why this show isn’t a 1 for me.

My favorite episode would have to be any of the Kanpei ones, like episodes 29 and 42 as they just show how badass and cool he can be.

My least favorite episode has to be episode 44, as everything just felt watered down. Futoshi betraying the team is played somewhat for laughs, Kenichi’s reaction to his betrayal felt weak and Futoshi’s turn back to good felt weak as well.

Current Sentai Rankings:

Jetman

Liveman

Maskman

Battle Fever J (I need to rewatch everything from 1-4 as it’s been awhile)

Zyuranger

Goggle V

If you’d like to talk to me or want to know more about why I dislike this series, feel free to message me, but other than that, I will now begin to watch the very first Super Sentai. Himitsu Sentai Goranger.

#super sentai #dai sentai goggle v #Liveblogging Goggle V #review

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fuckitfireeverything · 7 years

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10 Spooky Book Recommendations from your Favorite Ex-Librarian

Now that I’m not a Librarian anymore I really miss recommending books to people, and since Halloween is my favorite time of year, I thought I’d made some recommendations of my favorite Halloween-appropriate spooky books! Below, you’ll find a list of ten of my favorites -- I’ve tried to spread them out in terms of genre and style as much as possible so that everyone can find something they like!

1. My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Emil Ferris (2017)

Spoiler alert: this is already my Book of the Year, and for good reason. Ferris’ semi-autobiographical comic is half coming of age story, half post-Holocaust mystery adventure, and her unique ink sketch illustrations are interspersed with old horror movie posters against a backdrop of 1960s Chicago.

Read if you like: Harriet the Spy, the Universal monster movies, lesbians, stores about outcast preteen girls finding confidence, stories about outcast preteen girls trying to solve mysteries, stories about outcast preteen girls having crushes on other preteen girls, hippies, the 1960s, monster theory

2. White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi (2009)

A supernatural story from one of my all-time favorite authors, White is for Witching is told through a litany of voices. It is about Miranda, a late-teen girl, and her twin Eliot, and their dead mother Lily, and the house-turned-bed and breakfast that their mother and her mother and, eventually, Miri herself, haunt; featuring: Miri goes to Oxford and vampirizes her cute girlfriend for a while. I sound flippant, but there’s something very haunting to the novel, a kind of late-fall-emptiness to the resonance of it that you can’t easily shake.

Read if you like: haunted houses, dead mothers, lesbians, witches, mirror selves, Oxford, magical realism, African folklore, co-dependent twins, maternally inherited curses

3. House of Leaves, Mark Z Danielewski (2000)

I think this one makes it onto most spooky book lists, but the feeling I got when I read it almost ten years ago still sticks with me, so I can’t pass it up. The book is the transcript of a documentary about a house that is bigger on the inside than on the outside (in a terrifying way, not in a Doctor Who way), which has been footnoted by a literary scholar writing about the film, which has been found by a drug-addled tattoo artist who scribbles his own story in the margins. Notorious for it’s typography, there is no right way to read House of Leaves, but you should absolutely give it a shot.

Read if you like: haunted houses, documentary horror, literary theory, footnotes, getting very dizzy while reading, post-structuralism

4. The Changeling, Victor LaValle (2017)

I think the newest release on this list, but possibly already one of my favorites -- LaValle’s latest tells the story of a new father, Apollo Kagwa, who was abandoned by his own father as a child, and his search to understand the unthinkable actions of his wife both right after she gives birth, and several months down the line after she has disappeared. It’s a little heavy-handed on the “social media is Bad” undertones, but well worth it for a particularly good joke about a bad iPhone app.

Read if you like: warrior women who live in secret hidden islands, distrusting social media, Scandinavian folklore, contemporary stories, complicated characters, unexpected twists, not trusting men, being afraid to have children

Don’t read if: you just had a baby. Seriously, don’t do it.

5. Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (2014)

A graphic novel that collects several discrete stories, Through the Woods is a quick read and delightfully macabre. If you’re unsure, read a couple of Carroll’s online comics (linked below) to get a feel for her -- especially “His Face All Red,” which is included in the collection as well as available online.

Read if you like: a sense of general unease, creepy folk tales, being afraid to look under your bed, bold colors, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, body horror, scaring the bejeesus out of children, any of Emily Carroll’s other work

6. The Girl With All the Gifts, M R Carey (2014)

Not your typical zombie story, Gifts is a zombie apocalypse story that focuses on a young girl, Melanie, who is both a zombie and not-a-zombie. While most of the zombies (called Hungries, in the novel’s parlance) are mindless eating machines with no higher cognitive functions, human scientists study the learning capabilities of an unusual group of zombie children who, aside from an irascible hunger for human brains, are perfectly normal, thank you very much. Set primarily in the English countryside, the novel follows a scientist, a solider, and a teacher, who are traveling to safety with Melanie in tow and trying to decide whether to see her as a person or as a monster.

Read if you like: who-is-the-real-monster stories, questions of scientific ethics, precocious children, survival horror, the-earth-wins-out post-apocalyptic fiction

Bonus tip: Gifts was made into an excellent movie in 2016 with one of the best soundtracks I think I’ve ever heard -- worth a watch if you like a good zombie movie. A follow-up novel, The Boy on the Bridge, was also released this year, but if you’ve read Gifts, check out my article on why you shouldn’t bother with Bridge.

7. Harrow County, Cullen Bunn (2015-present)

The third graphic novel to make it onto this list, and an ongoing serial so there’s always more coming when you’ve caught up! Harrow County takes place in a haunted town in rural Southern America filled with all kinds of restless ghosts and ghouls and monsters; it follows a girl named Emmy who, on her eighteenth birthday, realizes she has a strange connection to these haints, along with a whole family of other mediums, psychopomps, and witches.

Read if you like: Southern Gothic, haunted forests, power struggles, uncertain pasts, whispers in the night, amazing but morbid character design, stunning artwork in muted colors

8. The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter (1979)

A fairly famous collection of short stories, most of Carter’s works are feminist re-tellings of famous folk tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Bluebeard. Carter’s use of language is exquisite and her stories are quick reads. Themes are about what you’d expect of late-70s feminist writing -- female sexuality, marriage, coming of age, corruption, female relationships -- and her prose has a distinctly Gothic feel that’s just right for this time of year.

Read if you like: Gothic fiction, more creepy folk tales, wolves, feminist reinterpretations, wolves, girls drinking blood, wolves

9. Mr. Splitfoot, Samantha Hunt (2016)

Two connected stories told interwoven together, part of Mr. Splitfoot is about Ruth and Nat, orphans adopted into a religious cult where they learn two things: co-dependency, and grifting strangers by pretending to communicate with ghosts. The other part of it is about Cora, Ruth’s niece, who finds herself first pregnant and second visited by her old, mute aunt who leads her on a strange and inexplicable road trip on foot.

Read if you like: the Fox sisters, unhealthy co-dependency, orphans converging timelines, strange and silent road trips, pseudo-religious cults, doomsday cults, upstate New York

10. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (1938)

“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again” will always be my personal favorite opening line to a novel, and for good reason: even though Rebecca is known for its plot, primarily through Hitchcock’s film version of the story, the writing is gorgeous. It tells the story of the unnamed Second Mrs. de Winter, who joins her new husband in his mansion on the English coast and is haunted by the memory of his first wife.

Read if you like: stories about rich people, Jane Eyre, gorgeous prose, being the second wife of a rich man with a dark past and enjoying the lap of luxury even though his dead wife is haunting the shit out of you, Alfred Hitchcock, British mysteries, that late-1930s posh English aesthetic

Have any other good spooky October reads? Let me know! I’m always looking for more to read and recommend and I’d love to hear what books you revisit when the Halloween mood strikes--

#book recommendations #halloween books #ghost stories #horror #halloween #long post //

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katlyn-yo · 7 years

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Patriots Day

Before I began I’d like to say that my intention of this writing is not to review the film as you’ll likely realize if you read on but to put the thoughts I’ve had inspired by the film and the impact it has had on me. The block of text below is not in anyway meant to be taken too seriously and was only revised/edited once for grammatical errors and minor changes in wording. It is written much like I write in my personal journal so I’m really sorry for that because I don’t know when to use punctuation while thinking.

It has only been a week since I saw Patriots Day. Before seeing it I had not seen any previews and only knew it was a Mark Wahlberg film about the Boston Marathon bombing. I remember seeing the images of the bombs erupting on the news when I returned from school that day and seeing them over and over again. If you had asked me before seeing the movie what year the bombing took place before I saw the movie I would have said (I did say when my dad asked me) 2011. I’m not sure why but I really do remember being in middle school at the time but nonetheless I was already 15 years old and it bothers me to no end that I don’t remember this event having a huge impact on me. I still went to school and laughed with my friends while that whole week there was a manhunt for one of the bombers, Boston was shutdown and I don’t even remember caring. I mention this because at this time I had a strange inexplicable attraction to the city and had since I was very little. My dream was to attend Harvard and be surrounded by hardcore Pats fans who would agree with my 10 year old self that the Patriots weren’t cheaters. Thus, I find it strange that I don’t remember all the little details or even the big ones for the matter. Anyway, I remember seeing the faces of the bombers on the news when they had been caught (I don’t recall knowing one had died) and vaguely remember Jahar being caught in a boat but I remember it with a dream like quality as if it never actually happened at all. After watching the movie and seeing the date of the bombing - April 15, 2013 - appear on the screen I realized my family and I went to Boston at the end of June 2013 and celebrated the fourth of July in Boston that year. It was my first time ever visiting and the first time I ever met my family from Boston. Now I wish I could really remember the significance of that fourth of July because I’m sure it was a special one for the city being as patriotic as they are year-round and to celebrate their unity and freedom after being in the face of a terror attack. I am proud and I can’t even imagine the pride Bostonians must have had. I remember being around Quincy Market and all the street vendors were selling Boston Strong shirts/sweaters/hoodies/hats/ bracelets you name it and I knew that it was related to the bombing but even being there only months after the attack I don’t think I would have been able to tell you it had happened that April.

*WARNING SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD*

The beginning of the movie has a montage of looking at what some of the survivors were doing the night before and the morning of the bombing. The camera eventually shows a new house with the words Tsaernaev residence at the bottom of the screen and I thought this must be the house of another runner. When we get a view of the inside I immediately recognize Alex Wolff (beard and all) as the one sitting at the table on the computer. I got excited because I enjoy watching the Wolff brothers acting and love their music (though I never did watch or listen to them when they were part of the Naked Brothers Band) and then I hear my dad say “Wow, he looks exactly like him” with such disbelief in his voice and at that moment I realize this is the house of the bombers. As I said before, I do remember seeing pictures of the bomber(s) on the news after he was caught but I couldn’t recall any distinguishing details of those faded memories to say their was a resemblance. As the movie continues I had this inexplicable attraction to Alex Wolff’s portrayal of the character as if I could relate to him in an odd and disturbing way. I felt bad for him because from the movie it seems like the brother was the mastermind behind the attack and Jahar just did as he was told and would do ANYTHING he was told just to please his brother. He also says they should have placed the backpacks at waist level to kill more people and stands by as his brother Tamerlan shoots and kills an officer point blank(2) and I was brought back to reality, he is an incredibly horrible sociopathic human being, who deserves absolutely no sympathy. Even as I write that I think about how he lost his brother and I feel sad for him and I think “what’s wrong with me?!?” but that is testament to the incredible power of Alex’s performance throughout the film. With a seemingly perfect blend of raw talent and dedication to the job at hand he was able to create and bring to life this character that was so evil yet at the same time just as emotional and human as the person next to you. After the movie I searched the name Dzhokar Tsaernaev and I saw the picture I had seen on the news but now with the details filled in I saw the resemblance. I read that it was a tough decision for Alex and his family to make having him portray this villain and what kind of image that might cast on him especially with the resemblance in mind but he decided to take the role to make sure it was given justice. As for Boston native Mark Wahlberg I watched an interview with him also where he says something similar, that he had hesitations of doing the movie but ultimately decided to do it because he knew he could count on himself to handle the film with the respect it deserves. Jahar is the same age as I am now when he set a bomb on the ground in a crowd full of people with the intention of killing if not all then as many as possible. That is mind boggling to me and I really think that is one of the reasons why the retelling of this horrific event had such an impact on me now than it did at the time it took place. I could never even imagine thinking of doing anything like that and definitely not to go through with it. I don’t think any of his friends would have thought him capable of the act either (not that I am capable because I most definitely am not but I say this in the sense that who do we really really know?). I was afraid this movie would incite and entice some of the audience to become Islamophobic and/or xenophobic or even even heighten the phobia but I was pleased that there was a distinction made that these boys were not Muslims, they were/are radical Islamists (3). Just as well I understand those who are Islamophobic do not see the distinction between Muslims and Islamists anyway. I say this because my own father was one who walked out of the theater spewing Trump-esque rhetoric about closing the borders to refugees and Middle Eastern immigrants. Even if one person, poses the question to google about the difference between a Muslim and a radical islamist and educates themselves on that difference this movie has made a positive impact on our society today. There are very few movies I will watch again while in the theater or even after they are out but this one I cannot wait to see again because I feel like I will take away something different everytime. This movie came out at such an important time where Trump has divided the nation and I hope people can take away that even through lows our nation is resilient especially the people of Boston and I hope the United States can have the strength Boston did through these next four years. Edit: After reading this I noticed I didn’t talk at all about the heroes of this story and the impact they also had on me. I had never heard the story of Dun Meng, who was kidnapped by the bombers but was brave enough to risk his life to escape them and help police find their location since they were driving his car. I had never heard about the battle between the bombers and law enforcement in Watertown which also involved explosives. I had never realized the effort it takes to catching two criminals on the run, where there was virtually no sleep for days. I pray for the friends and families of the three victims who were killed in the bombing and Officer Sean Collier who were all taken too soon. I pray for the survivors, those who lost limbs and those who were there to bear witness to the tragedy that they never lose hope and strength in the power of humanity. I say thank you to and pray for the law enforcement, first responders, and medical personnel in Boston and around the nation that they may also remain faithful, never lose faith or may they find faith in the power of good and it’s power to always overcome evil despite all of the bad they may see on a daily basis. Edit 2: There is a correction made where I had previously stated Jahar killed Sean Collier however it was his brother Tamerlan who killed him, thank you to this-is-myomancy for that info. Here is the link to the article I read on Alex Wolff taking on this role https://www.google.com/amp/www.thewrap.com/patriots-day-alex-wolff-boston-marathon-bomber-tricked-audition/amp/ and here is the link to the video of Mark Wahlberg talking about his decision to do the movie https://youtu.be/Rvwsme9N0gQ

Edit 3 (3/28/17): I would like to amend the statement I made that there was a distinction made between radical Islamists and Muslims because it was incorrect. The movie never made that distinction. It was questioned in the film whether the act should be labeled as terrorism by Special Agent Deslauriers because with the term there is a link to anti-Muslim backlash however there is no mention of radical Islamists at all during the entirety of the movie. Update 1 (3/28/17): I have just finished watching Patriots Day for the second time and reread my post for the first time since posting it. Watching the film this time around I no longer felt any connection to Jahar which honestly, relieves me. This time around I did also take more notice to the production of the film. I think what is so captivating about the movie for me is that the way it is filmed really makes you feel as if you are apart of the action in certain scenes which really tugs your emotions whether it be anger, fear, or sadness. Another large part of the film was the music and noise. Of course the sound of the bombs and gun shots being fired were crucial but what I most noticed this time around was when the governor orders the city to go on lockdown; from one moment to the next there is chatter and phones ringing and dramatic music to just complete and absolute silence. It is incredible the feeling that you get the you too must also be silent.

#film #alex wolff #boston #boston marathon #movie #patriots day #patriotic #proud #mark wahlberg #boston strong #thoughts #late night #journal #notes

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Entertains Some Crucial 'Game Of Thrones' Theories Ahead Of Season 8

http://fashion-trendin.com/nikolaj-coster-waldau-entertains-some-crucial-game-of-thrones-theories-ahead-of-season-8/

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Entertains Some Crucial 'Game Of Thrones' Theories Ahead Of Season 8

I tried to get Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the phone for weeks.

He’d been camping on ice caps in the idyllic Greenlander boonies ever since he wrapped filming on the highly anticipated final season of “Game of Thrones.” Meanwhile, I was tethered to the desk in my AC-blasted open-plan office, hopeful that Jaime Lannister would one day call me back. I had hope. Winter was everywhere.

“Apparently, calling to the U.S. from Greenland is high risk,” he told me when we finally connected over a restricted line earlier this month.

In reality, any conversation between a “Game of Thrones” star and a member of the press is high risk. Creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff run a tight ship now that the HBO fantasy series has soared past George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” books. Fans have never been as rabid as they are now, salivating over any small morsel of information offered about the show’s mysterious Season 8.

At this point, no one knows when the final episodes will drop. We just know the hype portends them to be more ostentatiously cinematic than any of the series’ previous seasons.

According to our favorite 48-year-old Denmark native, the six-episode Season 8 arc was the most grueling shoot he’s ever been a part of. “I think if it hadn’t have been the last season, people would’ve just collapsed,” he said. “We wouldn’t have made it. I mean, at one point the crew had 52 nights in one go in Northern Ireland. Just unheard of.”

So maybe the ice-cap vacation was well deserved. Either way, here’s our restricted-line phone conversation in full (though slightly edited for clarity), in which we talk about what he imagined happening in Season 7, what it was like to act out his last scene with Cersei and what he made of Gendry’s inexplicably fast running.

And yeah, he knows how the series ends and just won’t tell us.

After seven seasons of playing Jaime Lannister, you, my friend, finally received an Emmy nomination.

I know. I wore them down, slowly but surely. [Laughs] No, I was very surprised and very happy.

How did it feel to see your name up there for the first time?

I was on another trip in Greenland and I was standing in the airport with my two daughters and our two dogs and we’d been rerouted. I was trying to persuade this cop to allow me to take the dogs out because they were about to … I’d say pee their pants, but they were ready to go. Then, I got the call [about the Emmys] and it was very confusing — a perfect way to find out. The cop then allowed the dogs to go out so it was a huge moment of joy for the dogs and for me. For different reasons, but we shared the joy.

You’re not only up against your brother, Tyrion Lannister, but Commander Waterford, Jim Hopper, Saul Berenson and Prince Philip. All these amazing supporting characters. Are you afraid of the competition?

No, no, no, no, should I be? I’m thrilled!

On “Game of Thrones,” we’re such an ensemble cast and there’s a feeling of “we’re doing this together.” So I see myself there representing the actors with [fellow nominees] Lena [Headey] and Peter [Dinklage], and I’m just thrilled to be there. The other actors in the category are all tremendous, but I don’t feel any anxiety or fear. Also, the show got 22 nominations! It really is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s unbelievable.

Do you think there’s a scene from last season that solidified your place on the Emmys roster?

I don’t know. I’ve been getting to play in so many great scenes over the years and there were a couple of big scenes in Season 7. There was Diana Rigg’s [Olenna Tyrell’s] last scene, which was beautifully written. I forgot to mention that she’s also nominated [for Guest Actress], which is very well deserved. And then my final scene with Lena [Cersei Lannister]. We’ve built up to that for seven seasons so it was just a great way to end it. But I don’t know! I think I’m the wrong person to answer these things without sounding creepy or disgusting.

You’ve just got to be into yourself, Nikolaj.

You just got to be into yourself and it’s just, no, no. I’m not.

HBO

In all seriousness, that scene between Jaime and Cersei was one of the best of the entire series, let alone Season 7. How did it feel to read that finale script and realize how far Jaime had come to shut down Cersei for the first time?

One of the difficult things with this show as an actor — and I speak for myself — is, up until Season 3, I knew what was going to happen. Then, after that, the writers kept everything very close to the chest. They didn’t share anything but the scripts. Now, of course, you use your imagination all the time, so I kept imagining what would happen after we finished the season. You build these whole storylines up and then suddenly you come back and you read the scripts and you go, “Oh, well, how am I going to do that? How am I going to get to that point?” In my mind, after Season 6 ― which ends with Jaime coming back [to King’s Landing] and seeing Cersei on the throne ― I imagined a lot of other things happening.

Dan and David have always played the long game the way they stretch things out, so when you get the payoff it really pays off. And we had a lot of almost heated discussions about how I was going to get to that point [with Cersei]. Like, [I asked], “Why don’t they discuss in depth the death of their son [Tommen]?” And they told me, “Well they do, but we don’t see that.” So all those things. It’s so much fun and difficult, and it’s also very frustrating. But then when you finally find your way, it’s very rewarding. For me, anyway.

I’m sure it’s tricky navigating it all.

What I’m saying though, is I thought that end scene in Season 7 would have happened before. For me, playing Jaime, when he gets to that point, it really was “finally!” Finally he says no. Finally he stands up to her. It was such a brutal scene because they’re playing two different games: Cersei’s playing the game of thrones and Jaime’s playing the honest game of survival, and trying to accommodate both his sister and his brother. I hope that makes sense?

It makes perfect sense to me because just watching Season 7, it really did fly through so many storylines. I mean, Gendry’s speed-running to the Wall alone threw everyone for a loop. Do you feel that’s because the writers didn’t have George R.R. Martin’s books to really lean into for that exposition in the scripts like they’ve had in the past?

You’d have to ask Dan and David since it’s their show. I think that they definitely spoke to George R.R. Martin a couple seasons back to hear how he imagined the ending to be. But it’s not written, so it’s one thing to have an idea but when you’re writing it, it changes. Dan and David had a very specific end in sight and they also understand the fact that you don’t want to overstay your welcome. “Game of Thrones” has been such a success for that reason — you know there’s an end in sight and they’re not going to stretch it out.

But yes, Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry, is a very, very fit young man, so I’m sure he can run that fast.

He’s a tremendous runner.

HBO

Speaking of Joe Dempsie, we interviewed him last year and he said he could actually be Cersei’s legitimate son. Do you have thoughts on this theory?

She’s been a busy bee, my dear sister. [Laughs] There are so many theories out there that you comment on one and then it takes on its own life. But, yes, I’ve heard that Gendry [pause] … I think Joe just wanted to get on the throne and that’s why he’s putting it out there.

Spoilers are hard to come by, especially going into Season 8, but in the script for “Dragon and the Wolf” it says Jaime is now “a lone horseman heading north on the Kingsroad.” So can we assume Jaime is heading north toward his brother, right?

Well, he is heading north. I don’t think you can assume that he’s going to make it up there, but who knows. For sure, we see him head north. He might be eaten by dragons, you never know. Or he might just stumble, things happen. Or he might find the love of his life and suddenly he’s like, “God, this is it. No more.”

Well, we hope you’re heading north to be with Brienne! The true love of your life.

Ohhh, well, who knows? [Laughs] I don’t, well, I know how it ends but … no, I can’t comment on that.

You did mention that Jaime sports a beard next season, so we know some things.

Well, he’s on the road for a while. Wherever he is going it takes some time, so his hair grows. He didn’t bring a trimmer this year. He’s always carried this little, neat, traveling trimmer, but he left that behind since it was a quick departure.

He forgot all his toiletries.

As fans of Jaime’s character arc, we are hoping you go fight with the good guys. And we have talked in the past about Valyrian steel and how Jaime is the owner of one of these deadly weapons.

Yes, you would think it’d come in handy if you had to fight the White Walkers. It’s true. But who knows.

I just hope you don’t stumble into a White Walker on your own when you’re on the road…

Well he’s got the Valyrian steel! He could’ve made his hand into Valyrian steel instead of a gold hand — that would’ve been clever.

That would’ve been very smart! Or dragonglass, perhaps.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see an epic “Avengers”-like moment with all of you owners of Valyrian steel — Jaime, Brienne, Jon, Sam, Arya — just taking out White Walkers?

Mmmm, that would be cool. [Laughs] But let’s just wait and see if that happens. I’m so excited.

Cersei’s playing the game of thrones and Jaime’s playing the honest game of survival, and trying to accommodate both his sister and his brother. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Back to some serious business, leaving Cersei is also leaving your unborn child…

Those things are 100 percent connected. That’s also what he told her, he says, “What’s the point? If we don’t defeat this threat, there is no future for our child.” I think he’s doing it for the right reasons, he gave his word, but also it’s the future of mankind and the future of him and Cersei that’s at stake.

Now there is that prophecy that says she only has three children – so what are your thoughts on this? Is it Jaime’s baby? Is it Euron Greyjoy’s? Could she be tricking you?

[Laughs] How depressing! But, no, I can’t say anything. Euron Greyjoy…

Yeah, no one likes that guy.

I’m sure Season 8 is a game-changer for Jaime and the rest of these characters. Can you tell me anything about how you felt when you read the final season’s scripts? Were you satisfied as a fan of this world?

I wrote the writers when I finished reading and just said, “I don’t think you could’ve done a better job at finishing this story.” To me, it was very satisfying but also very surprising and all the things that I was hoping for. It still made sense. It wasn’t like one of those where the killer is suddenly revealed in the last act and you go, “Oh! I didn’t see that coming.” Here, they’ve done a really, really good job.

And you made it to the final season!

I know! It was a surprise. God, every time we got a new script I thought, “OK, this is probably going to be the one.” But no. The Lannister kids made it to the end.

How was it finally saying goodbye to this character being that it is the show’s final season?

It was a little bit emotional at the very, very end. It’s also just a build-up because throughout the season we had a lot of teary goodbyes and farewell dinners. When my turn came around, I really didn’t think it was going to phase me, but I have to admit that right when they said, “This is a series wrap for Nikolaj,” there might have been a tiny bit of moisture in the air, just around my eyes. [Laughs] But that was it, that was it.

I’m sure you went out and had a few beers or cocktails with your cast and crew to lift your spirits.

Yeah. We did, we did. We had quite a few of those. And whether we’ve been in scenes together or not, almost all of the season was shot in or around Belfast. So for the first time in all these years, the whole cast was, more or less, in town together the whole time. It was just a lot of fun to hang out and spend time together and appreciate what we’ve experienced and how lucky we are to be a part of this show. Yes, the success of the show is great, but it’s really also meeting all these people in Belfast ― it’s the same crew from Season 1 to the end. It’s a special thing. And someone said we’ve had no assholes, which is quite extraordinary, really. You look at a workplace of more than 1,000 people, and there are no assholes.

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