#the thing about having a life is seen a lot less in Lawrence

[eldritch-thrumming]

watched that new jennifer lawrence comedy on netflix and like. should we make it steddie?

steve’s a rich kid who grew up having to be self sufficient because of his parents traveling constantly for work. he’s basically a mini adult, but because of that, he sees himself as a lot more mature than the rest of the people his age and by the time he’s ready for college, he’s missed out on a lot of the social milestones that young men his age are experiencing. instead of going to prom, he’d hung out around the house with his weird nerdy band geek best friend having marshmallow eating contests and watching bad rom coms. instead of going to graduation parties, the two of them had built a tent in the harringtons massive backyard and gone night swimming before camping out.

enter his parents, who are less worried abt steve coming out of his shell for his own independence and comfort and more worried that he’ll embarrass them at his ivy league in the fall. there’s been a long line of harrington men attending yale and they’ve paid a lot of money to even get steve a spot there, so if he fucks this up, if he doesn’t join the right clubs and make the right friends, they’re worried it’ll all be a waste.

so they put an ad on craig’s list. eddie and his bandmates are trolling the boards, looking for any odd jobs they can find to try and raise the cash they need to record a demo at the local studio. jeff points it out as a joke and, after laughing at the poor pathetic dweeb whose parents think he’s such a dud they’re trying to set him up with a stranger, they scroll on. but later that night, eddie pulls up the page on his own phone while he’s lying in bed. the offered amount is more than enough to pay for their studio time and then some. eddie calls them and sets a meeting.

when he gets to the harringtons beach house, he’s nervous. he’s a townie and townies are rarely invited into the massive homes that line the shoreline. he knows what he looks like and he knows that the rich tourists who infest the beachside towns every summer tend to steer clear of him when they see him around.

but he needs the money and after meeting with the couple, he thinks this kid probably needs all the help he can get and so he decides to meet their son steve.

turns out steve’s a lot more attractive than he’d imagined and he’s only a couple of years younger than eddie is. he’s also a lot more flirty and charismatic than eddie had assumed. turns out, steve doesn’t lack the ability to make friends or get dates, he just really hasn’t been interested in anyone… at least, not until now.

they hit it off almost immediately. eddie’s never had this much fun with anyone he’s ever tried to date before. steve is funny and smart in very specific ways and his best friend, robin, is a riot. eddie’s not sure how steve’s parents don’t see any of that, but then steve tells him all about how he’d grown up basically alone, how he’d had to make a lot of his own fun growing up, how he’d rarely ever even seen his parents between the ages of 11 and 18. they hadn’t even made it to his high school graduation. steve reveals to eddie that he’s not even sure he wants to go to yale at all, that he only agreed because he’s not sure what else to do.

and eddie tells steve about his dad, abt how he’d gone to jail when eddie was 13, on a job with eddie in tow. he tells steve abt how his mom was heartbroken afterwards, would barely get out of bed to even pick him up from school. he tells steve abt the car accident, the flashing lights of the police car that had picked him up one day and taken him to a foster home before wayne had been called down from upstate to come collect him. wayne had moved out onto the island, trying not to disrupt eddie’s life more than he had to, but prices down here were so much higher and he’d had to work all the time. he’d done so much for eddie and eddie is so grateful… he just wants to pay him back anyway he can.

they reveal things to each other no one else knows and suddenly, as the summers coming to a close, eddie realizes that he’s been falling in love this whole time. but before he can tell steve abt the deal, before he can apologize and come clean and confess his feelings, steve has some kind of massive blowout with his dad. and his dad—in all his anger—tells steve the truth. he tells steve how steve is so pathetic that he and his mom had had to buy him a boyfriend.

steve is, obviously and understandably, beyond devastated. he confronts eddie with tears in his eyes, begging eddie to tell him it isn’t true, that his dad was a liar and he’d just known where to hit him hardest. but eddie can’t deny it. that is how all this started.

eddie doesn’t see steve again, not around town, not at any of their usual haunts, and soon the school year is starting. steve, eddie assumes, has moved into his dorm at yale and is, hopefully, making new friends. by the time thanksgiving break comes around, eddie can finally think about steve with only a tiny ache in his chest. he and the band have recorded their first demo, thanks to that harrington money, complete with the saddest love song eddie’s ever written.

and suddenly steve is there in the bar eddie works at, where he’d been taking steve on their nights out all summer. his brown hair looks extra soft and he’s wearing a quarter zip with the yale logo emblazoned over his heart. they stand there and stare at each other for a moment too long before they both try to speak at the same time.

“no, me first,” steve says, and eddie really can’t deny him this. he’s the one who ruined everything, after all. “what you did to me was terrible.” it’s straightforward and factual, but eddie’s face burns. “you hurt me. a lot.” eddie watches as steve swallows. “i told you things i’ve never said out loud.” eddie opens his mouth to speak, but steve powers through. “but now i’m up in connecticut and i’m meeting all these new people. and some of them are great. but i can’t help but compare them to you. everyone i meet, i think of you. and no one is as fun as you, and no one makes me feel as good. no one sees me like you did.”

eddie’s speechless for a moment, mouth dry. he swallows. steve’s looking at him expectantly. “i was always honest abt how i felt about you, stevie. i really was falling in love with you. or… i mean…” eddie pauses, runs a hand through his hair. “i mean, i love you. i am in love you, like, currently. ongoing. probably in perpetuity which, uh, you know. is like, forever or whatever.”

“yeah?” steve asks softly, a small smile curving on his lips. “forever or whatever?”

eddie can feel himself returning that small smile, nodding. “yeah,” he responds, “ no biggie, though.”

steve laughs. “i kind of disagree. cause i don’t know abt you, but i’ve never been loved in perpetuity before. seems pretty big to me.” eddie shrugs as he watches steve close the distance, smiles widening. “i’m pretty sure i love you too, you know.”

“pretty sure?”

“i’m trying to be a little aloof abt it. not reveal my whole hand too soon.” they’re standing chest to chest now, eddie can feel steve’s breath on his face, they’re so close.

“right. makes sense,” eddie murmurs, staring steve’s wet pink mouth. and then they’re kissing.

and they kiss until gareth comes into the bar for the start of his and eddie’s shared shift and turns the club soda spout on them.

they have a lot to talk abt. but thanksgiving break is a whole week long and after that it’s only two weeks until winter break. eddie has a lot of time to make it all up to steve, in any way he can, in perpetuity.

#steddie #here have this thing ​is this anything??? #steddie au #steddie ficlet #steddie rom com au #steddie blurb #steddie fanfiction #steddie ficlets #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie fanfic #steve harrington x eddie munson

[inbarfink]

I mean, the thing about Zim is that despite what he might say, he is absolutely capable of love and affection. It’s just that he only expresses it to a very select assortment of people.

First and most obvious one is probably his relationship with the Tallests. Which tends to be a lot less just a ‘loyal soldier duty bound to serve his leaders” and is coded a lot more like…. “Child overeager to please his neglectful parents”. I mean, the entire emotional crux of ‘Enter the Florpus’ is built on this. 

Zim isn’t just motivated by a pure ideological belief in the Irken Empire’s conquest, or by the desire for the fame and accolades that come with being a successful Invader. I mean, those ARE factors. Zim is both a true believer in Irk’s imperialist ideology and very interested in feeding his ego. But he’s also looking for a more personal sort of emotional validation specifically from the Tallests. One that he’s desperate for, but we know that he’s never gonna get.

(And that’s not just because Zim sucks. Even if he could somehow stop being a walking disaster area and a giant millstone around the Empire’s neck, that desire for the Tallests’ love would still be a fool’s errand. We’ve all seen how they treat poor Skoodge.)

In addition to that doomed attempt at an emotional connection, Zim can sometimes be kinda affectionate with his various robotic minions, which obviously goes back to the whole…

Yeah, that.

And that same episode ends with him having a very similar sort of response to Robo-Dad and Robo-Mom picking him up.

And then there’s, of course, his M-Lab Robot Minions in 'Enter the Florpus'. All named - and all grieved by him. 

His extreme reaction to Lawrence specifically dying shows he did apparently see them as individuals.

But as far as we can tell both the Roboparents and the Robot Army are not, like, sapient? I mean, AIs like GIR or the Computer are characterized as basically Machine People - but these robots barely seem more sapient than my laptop. And as much as I love my laptop it’s not gonna, like, love me back.

Speaking of GIR, he’s another example of someone Zim shows genuine care for. I mean… he can absolutely be pretty mean to him at times…

But any sort of kindness from Zim has to be graded on a Curve because he’s so terrible. ‘Hobo 13’ demonstrated to us very well just how horrible Zim can be to his subordinates - rude, inconsiderate, pretty much deliberately sacrificing them not just for his personal gain but also just for his own petty amusement. 

And it’s notable that’s not how he treats GIR. Who he expresses actual concern for…

And he pretty easily acquiesces to GIR’s capricious desires even when he clearly sees them as Stupid and frivolous. 

This scene is especially notable. I mean, this is Zim actually feeling bad about the fact that he made someone cry and trying to de-escalate the situation. Maybe for other characters a moment like that would be no big deal, but this basically the softest Zim has been through… all official IZ media. And it was a scene with GIR.

 And meanwhile GIR himself… didn’t really register any of this - either Zim’s frustration or his attempts at sort-of comforting him, because he was only sad about having eaten his cupcake and not being able to eat it more. 

Because that’s the thing, while GIR does have some level of affection towards Zim at times…

He doesn’t really show that same level of care. I mean, in pretty much all of these examples, GIR puts his own desire to give Zim physical affection over Zim’s clear discomfort and disgust. And in general, while GIR vaguely acknowledges that Zim is his master - he often disregards or ignores Zim’s orders and requests. And not just when it comes to being ordered around in yet another evil scheme -

But also when the situation is just clearly basically hazardous to Zim’s very life. 

(Which is very much in contrast to Zim, who, again, is actually emotionally invested in GIR’s safety)

While some of GIR’s inability to fulfill Zim’s commands can be attributed to his lack of mental focus and general stupidity - his absolute lack of care and regret about these situations seem to imply that, like, GIR might follow some of Zim’s orders when they seem fun, and he might like Zim in the sense that GIR is generally incapable of genuine malice. But GIR is never going to care about Zim, as a ‘Master’ or as a friend, as much as he cares about his own hedonism.

And of course, we all know that if GIR was capable of actually focusing on anything and remaining grounded in reality - he would very quickly realize that he actually hates Zim quite a bit. 

And that’s, like, the whole Tragedy of Zim. He is a being capable of kindness and friendship - but he always ends up only caring about beings who will never care about him back.

Due to Irken indoctrination and also self-inflicted due to his own ego (like, it is no coincidence that the People Zim Actually Cares About are the two beings Irken ideology obliges him to acknowledge as his superiors and then a bunch of robotic minions who are supposed to be 100% obedient to him.) Zim only loves those who will not love him back.

Except for Minimoose. That relationship is 100% wholesome.

#invader zim #zim #zim iz #iz zim #iz #the tallest #almighty tallest #invader zim tallest #the almighty tallest #GIR #iz gir #gir iz #gir invader zim #minimoose

[exstasyplague]

UnPopular Jujutsu Kaisen Opinions (with arguments)

manga spoilers

☆ Yuji is the perfect MC

i've seen a lot of people trashing on him. some say gege writes him poorly and doesn't give him enough scenes, some say he's boring because he doesn't have any fancy cursed techniques. first of all, yuji has been aware of the jujutsu world for 6 months in manga; even less in anime. he doesn't have any OP cliche to him (looking at you Ichigo) and that makes him so much more enjoyable! when he loses he loses for good reasons and when he wins you can feel genuinely happy for him because you know he deserves it. he is a teenager and the shift in his mentalities embodies that perfectly; along with him we discover the cruelty and unfairness of the jujutsu world. at first, especially if you're a shonen watcher, you'd tend to believe he will shift to a high white knight borderline annoying mentality yet he doesn't, the jjk verse doesn't work like that. yuji is able to adapt. he has traits that you'd see in your real life friends: silliness, kindness, idiocy, love for jennifer lawrence etc but also traits that make him a perfect mc: empathy, resiliance, convinction, raw anger. + gege have him some of the HARDEST panels.

ㅡif it's just pain... Yuji Itadori won't ever stop

also. his last battle with mahito. hands down. best. panels.

mahito (another well structured villain) RUNNING for his life while yuji walks slowly behind him. if that doesn't show major improvement from the kid he was at the beginning idk what does. that's some MC shit right there man.

☆ Sukuna is not a fraud

the fraudkuna memes are funny. i admit. i'm sure mahoraga kisses him goodnight and tucks his blankey, however, sukuna is a fucking piece of shit, LOL (i mean it in the best way), my man literally became curse. people expect him to not use the weapons he has to his advantage as if he didn't want megumi from the beginning specifically for using his abilities. a good gun doesn't make you a military tier shooter. it's about the resources, it's about the experience, it's about the aim. "why doesn't he use his curse technique wah wah" — because he knows gojo is strong. unless he isn't absolutely sure he will strip him away from all his gimmicks, he has no reason to flaunt his true powers. sukuna wants to win. he wanted to kill gojo since the beginning of the series. i think the fight is balanced well, sukuna uses his resources and takes the consequences for being a tad too cautious. in the heian era when cursed energy had a purer, rawer output even domain expansions were simple in principles: you're in, i kill you. (line from the manga, btw) his CT is probably straightforward as well with a simple principle so having gojo use his infinity against it and figure out how to strip him naked would make him lose faster than todo called yuji his bestie.

☆ Gege doesn't hate women

because the unfortunate thing with nobara and yuki getting xd-d by kenjaku, a popular belief seems to be that gege is fond of trashing the women in his series. argument people have for that? "the only one in the spotlight is maki and she's female toji". first of all, if gege hated women he wouldn't write them as he does— each one of his lady characters is incredibly well structured and way beyond the love interest/ gotta be protected trope. mei mei, shoko, utahime, miwa and many others became non-existent, or what? even tengen is a woman. masashi kishimoto (the creator of naruto) is an author i'd say has 0 regards for women since the way most of his girl characters are built is literal dog shit. sakura is naruto's one sided love and a sasuke dickrider, hinata is a stalker that sharts when she sees naruto, karin is a sasuke dickrider, kurenai is asuma's chick and the only two women somewhat ok as a structure are tsunde and temari. (i am a big fan of the naruto series but i am spitting facts, also an avid sakura lover) plus there is a rumour that gege is a woman too and from the way sato sugu is written i'd agree anw

☆ Kenjaku is the best villain of the series

homie got railed by itadori's papi just for his plan, that's not even aizen level of plotting bro. he got drizzled in jizz and gave birth to yuji 💀

how good that d had to be for him to get impregnated....

ANYWAY jokes aside, he is very calculated and chill. he is not the strongest but his literal essence is to be a technique stealing leech and well, he's just that. with suguru, even in his villain arc you can empathize. sukuna is cool and straightforward: he wants to massacre people, kill gojo and then enjoy his life slashing random ass people who don't kneel is total submission.

kenjaku? bro, kenjaku has plans over plans and he executes all of them. even in geto's sexy body he still gets hated because there is genuinely nothing likeable about him. not because he's a poorly written character, he's written to be a piece of shit that makes you wanna break the screen when he gets a W and idk about y'all but even when he exorcised mahito i was like "aw hell nah bruh, get your hands off asap". may come as a shock, i know but we're like supposed to hate villains (not me being the biggest sukuna simp even in his crusty dusty OG form🤭) and well, nobody fucking roots for kenjaku. so gojo, go take your boyfriend's body or something fr.

☆ Yuta is.... mid

hear me out.

i don't hate him— not in the slightest. i hope he will actually have something going on with maki since apparently nobara is afk. i liked his entire rika situation but... bro.

yes, i will be going into the power system 😭I'M SORRY BUT like all he does is copy shit. wow. sure, he's a good copycat. i am not complaining about him being called so powerful and wtv but i don't find anything exciting about his battles and his personality is dead ass boring. do i get happy when he wins? yes. do i hope he'll come and save goatjo? yes. yes. yes. but people call him the real MC and all that shit... not even that— i... nothing in me likes him. my opinions are not absolute. his story is cool. i liked jjk 0 but the only thing that ruins his story is literally his lack of perosnality. and don't come at me for not grasping his depths or whatever. yuta is best fanfic y/n material because he can be turned into bashful stereotype really easily. "omg, best friend power, precious friends made me wanna live ❤️" very sweet HOWEVER very untouching for me. i only liked him when he made maki go all blushy because my girl deserves happiness.

☆ Toji actually cares about Megumi

is he the good father that would spoil his kid as a ray of sunshine?

no.

but he chose this. to forget about everything, to abandon his pride, to part himself away from the clan that rejected him and live his life on his own. megumi's mom made shit better for him and she died so his life became shit again. he thought that by entrusting megumi to the zenin clan he would actually be able to make something of himself since he had cursed energy.

also, people tend to forget just how conservative and judgemental the 3 big clans are, maki and mai have been shat on their whole life by the zenins, especially maki. toji went through the same shit if not worse. he wasn't always buff max version of himself, he wasn't born with anything. exactly because he gave up on all the things in his life he was able to reach that type of power and live with some purpose since he failed in everything else.

in the manga he has the option of coming back to life as long as he keeps killing sorcerers, which is his speciality, but he meets megumi, recognises him and kills himself in order to not hurt him. be fr. anciet sorcerers sold their booty holes to kenjaku to get a second chance at life.

ANYWAY. SADLY i can't post Toji memes since i reached my pic limits.

let me know what you think:) i may make a part 2. feel free to also ask for my opinions about anything in the verse, lol. if you wanna see my fics check my ao3, i promise i don't write in the same braindead way i type. <33

#jujutsu kaisen analysis #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk 0 #jjk 0 movie #opinion #anime #anime and manga #manga panel #jjk manga spoilers #jjk manga #toji fushiguro #megumi fushiguro #yuta okkotsu #rika jjk #yuji itadori #yuji jjk #jjk nobara #nobara kugisaki #maki zenin #maki jjk #zenin clan #ryoumen sukuna #sukuna #gojo satoru #kenjaku #geto suguru #jjk analysis #mahito

[webbywatcheshorror]

Saw (2004)

You (probably) know what Saw is. On the slim chance you're one of today's lucky 10,000 who doesn't, it's a movie about a serial killer who puts his victims in deadly traps in order to teach them a lesson about valuing their lives, asking them what acts of violence or self-harm would they commit to keep themselves or their loved ones alive?

I won't lie to you. Saw is one of my favorite movies of all time, above almost all others. I've mentioned on a few other reviews how much I loved them, how much they influenced me, but this one blows them all away. It came out on video around when I was 15 or 16, and back then I hadn't had a lot of real experience with horror as a genre, but I thought I knew enough about it. And I didn't care much for it. (I used to be a huge wuss. I still am, but I used to be, too.)

Then my dad brought this movie home, and when I finally got around to watching it, I was entirely and irrevocably altered. Suddenly I realized that I knew absolute jack shit about horror. Its potential, the kinds of stories you could tell, the effects it can have on an audience. Without Saw, I would be an entirely different person, and I know how that sounds. I really do. But it's the truth.

Anyway, I said all that to impress upon you how very incredibly biased I am when it comes to this movie, so you can keep it in mind as we dive into more specific things during the review.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I am looking at this as a standalone film, and not the first of a franchise of films. (I might, sometime in the future, review the series as a whole, but not today.)

Review under the cut, and as always beasties and ghouls, SPOILERS ahead! (Yes. There are people who haven't seen this movie. Why they'd be reading this, I have no idea, but that's their business.)

Where do I even begin with Saw. I could talk for hours about it, the characters, the tragedy of it all, the in-universe details and the real life behind the scenes stuff. I am fully enamored with this film.

We'll start with the cinematography, since I'm not very knowledgeable on the topic and I'm less likely to ramble endlessly about it.

The scenes of the other victims in their traps, where it speeds up, really gives them a sense of mania, of panic. It really adds to the terror of the situation and gives these characters we get to see so briefly some needed characterization with the camera work alone. In fact, every time they do the choppy editing, it lends a feeling of tension that permeates the entire movie.

There's a scene, one of many, that has stuck with me these past 19 years, and it's the shot of little Diana Gordon sitting up in bed, half her bedroom shrouded in the darkness. On first watch, it's deeply unsettling, but even after you know who it is, it doesn't get any less fucking terrifying. One of my fears is the dark, not being able to see into a room or the entire room, because of scenes like this.

The characters. Good god, do I love the characters in Saw. They're complicated, flawed, neither good nor evil but a secret third thing: deeply human. (Except John Kramer, but we'll get to that.) They're all just People, trying to make it through the day, however they can. Adam, trying to pay his bills and keep himself fed by spying on people; Lawrence, dealing with the stress of being a doctor and a father who's lost his joie de vivre and decides to cheat on his wife about it; Tapp, wracked with guilt over losing his partner and letting Jigsaw escape, throwing everything he has into stalking the wrong man at the cost of his own health. The more we learn about these characters, the more fascinating they become to me.

Let's talk about John for a moment. More articulate people than I could tell you, in rich detail, about why he's not a savior, but I tend to just boil it down to this: you can't 'fix' people with trauma. I think John is evil, or close to it. Look at the people he chooses to punish- Paul, who cuts himself; Mark, who claims to be sick but is also seen out and about; Amanda, a drug addict. Paul could have depression or some other mental illness. Mark could have an illness that is only debilitating /some/ of the time. Amanda has an addiction problem. You know what would have actually helped them? A fucking support system. Some understanding. Not additional issues, JOHN.

John is, despite his tendency to target those already struggling, still an interesting person, as Zep says. He's also a hypocrite of the highest degree. Shaming Adam for being a voyeur, but drugging himself so he can lay in the middle of the bathroom floor for who even knows how many hours just so he can watch Adam and Lawrence fumble around? Pot meet kettle situation.

(I'm trying to keep this from becoming an entire-ass essay, I really am, but as I mentioned, I could do this all day.)

Adam and Lawrence's transformation throughout the movie is so intriguing to me. Lawrence, the logical Father Knows Best guy, used to always being the one in control of any given situation. Adam, low on the social ladder, prone to emotional outbursts, used to being kicked when he's down. By the end, they've become entirely different men.

Lawrence changes into an unthinking mess, acting on his out of control emotional state to an extreme degree, while Adam becomes a man who not only finally wants to live, but puts in the work to prove it, attacking Zep and killing him, with the kind of determination he hadn't shown until that moment.

The twist is still just so good. It was mind blowing then, and it's a great story beat today, almost 20 years later. When John sits up, Hello Zep playing in the background... it still gives me chills. To think of how Adam must feel, alone in a room with nothing but the dead for company, waiting on the promise of a severely injured man, thinking it's finally over.

Adam's screaming into the darkness breaks me a little, I won't lie. The horror of his situation finally overcomes him and all he can do is scream. That sound is burned into my brain, possibly for life. Then, the credits roll, with the calmness of the credits, Adam's cries still echoing before the quiet music begins to play, and the audience is left stunned. No relief for us, no relief for Adam.

In the years before the sequels, there was so much talk among my friends and I about what could have happened afterwards. Did Lawrence make it out? Did Jigsaw ever get caught? Did Adam die alone in that grimy bathroom? I used to make up possibilities in my head about ways Adam could be saved.

You see, I've always identified with Adam. Struggling to keep going, feeling outcast, chained in a place we didn't want to be, having to rely on others for help getting out, dismissed as juvenile, clinging to people that hate us because it's better than being alone, and wasting our lives because we weren't living them the way others thought we should, regardless of WHY. I had always hoped he made it out. Maybe in some other reality he does.

Anyway enough about that, let's move on. One thing of many I love about this movie is how it makes you think, really think, about what you would do if this happened to you. Would you, could you, crawl through a cage of razor wire to save yourself? Could you kill the family of a co-worker to save your own skin? Could you maim or dismember yourself?

There's an excellent podcast, Jigsquad Pod, that talks about this next point, but I have to mention it also. Jigsaw feels like a boogeyman figure. He sees your every sin. He judges you, then takes you from your place of safety- your house, on the way home from work, and punishes you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere. He can't be caught, can't be killed. He's a phantom. I love that feeling in this movie, the almost campfire story of it all, the way you might tell it to your friends in hushed voices at a sleepover.

I give Saw X ghosts outta ten. It may not be the movie James Wan and Leigh Whannell set out to make, it may have been rushed and stitched together out of all the footage they had and then some, but it's a masterpiece in my heart. It changed me, in hundred of ways I can't begin to understand, but I'm glad it did. (Not all of those ways are for the better, probably. I mean, I did spend several hours once, thinking up- in detail- what my personal Saw trap would be.)

As much as I love the entire franchise overall, cop-centric soap opera that it is, if it had stopped at just this one, I'd still be satisfied. I hope it never gets a remake, because there's no way it could ever be made more perfectly than it already is, flaws and all.

#saw #saw movies #webbywatcheshorror #webbyreviewshorror #horror movie #movie review #leigh whannell #james wan #cary elwes #shawnee smith #danny glover #michael emerson #saw franchise

[victorluvsalice]

Happy Birthday Newt!

@dont-offend-the-bees A combination of you telling me that anything cute and Valicey would do as a birthday fic and me knowing that you are still into Saw as a fandom led to this -- Victor and Alice reacting to the first Saw movie, inspired by a couple of posts I saw on your blog before you moved all the Sawposting to The Secret Saw Sideblog! Though the fic is technically Valicer out of necessity, because the only way I could think of to get the pair to watch it was to have it be a Halloween Movie Nights pick by Smiler's friend Thirteen, as per this headcanon post...

--

“That is unfair!”

“What’s unfair?” Thirteen asked, looking over at Alice.

“The ending!” Alice said, waving at the slowly-rolling credits on the screen before them. “All Jigsaw said to Adam was that he had to survive until six o’clock, correct? Nothing else? No other secret catches?”

“Don’t ask me,” Victor muttered, hands over his face. “I am actively trying to erase this movie from my mind.”

“There there,” Smiler said, rubbing his back comfortingly. “You’ll be fine – and yeah, ‘survive until six’ was the gist of it,” they added to Alice.

“Well, six o’clock rolled around, and Adam was still alive!” Alice pointed out, stabbing another finger at the TV. “He was wounded, sure, but he was still very much fucking alive! Which means he succeeded! Lawrence was the one who failed in his goal! And yet Lawrence’s the one who gets to crawl off and seek help while Adam gets electrocuted and sentenced to – I guess starving to death in that horrible bathroom? All because he, unsurprisingly, didn’t notice a damn key in his bathtub when he first woke up?”

“You are assuming a lot in thinking Lawrence survived after–” Victor swallowed and shuddered. “After c-cutting off his own f-f-foot.”

“Actually, uh, it’s canon Lawrence survives,” Oblivion put in, sporting a slightly sheepish grin. “He shows up again in Saw 3D.”

“Oh great – when do we watch that one?”

“Don’t worry, we don’t have time for tonight,” Thirteen informed him with a cheeky smirk.

“What, because it’s long?”

“No, because it’s film number seven.”

That finally got Victor to look up. “It’s – wait, what?”

“Yeah, for some reason they decided to name it after the 3D gimmick instead of following the numbering system,” Rita explained, leaning around her girlfriend. “And then films eight and nine are Jigsaw and Spiral respectively, though Spiral’s actually more like a spin-off of the main series–”

“Can I please fully express my annoyance over the fact that Jigsaw killed Adam despite him winning his ‘game’ before we start talking about how this series screwed up its numbering system over halfway through?” Alice cut in, folding her arms and scowling.

“Well, the thing you have to understand about Jigsaw is – he’s a total asshole,” Thirteen reminded her. “He says that his games are to help ‘rehabilitate’ people and make them appreciate life and all that bullshit, sure, but honestly, I believe the dude just wants to torture as many people as he can, both before and after he bites it.”

“I can believe that,” Victor muttered, shivering. Smiler put a comforting arm around him. “And this is probably the least bloody of all the movies, isn’t it?”

“I haven’t seen them all, but I’m pretty sure it is, yes,” Galactica confirmed, giving him a sympathetic look from the other side of Oblivion. “You know, you could have left if you weren’t enjoying it – we wouldn’t have thought any less of you for it.”

“Yeah, I’m shocked you actually sat through the whole thing,” Smiler admitted, giving him a little squeeze.

“I am too, honestly,” Alice said, wrapping her arm around him to do the same. “I’m used to horrors like these – hell, the bathroom looked kind of like one I saw in Rutledge – but I know it’s not your cup of tea.”

“I thought it would be too rude to just get up and leave,” Victor groaned, putting his face in his hands again. “And I kept telling myself, ‘it’s the very first one, it can’t be that bad...’”

“We won’t make you watch any of the others,” Thirteen promised, patting his knee. “I mean, I appreciate you making the effort, but despite appearances, I don’t want you to have nightmares.”

“Thanks.” Victor shook his head. “I know you love that sort of thing, but – it’s just not for me.”

“Me either – especially if John Kramer can’t practice what he preaches,” Alice agreed, glaring at the screen as the DVD menu came up again.

“It’s actually not my favorite series either, if I’m honest,” Thirteen confessed. “I just like this one because of all the hot gay tension between Lawrence and Adam.”

“...there was a surprising amount of that,” Victor allowed.

“Mmm – though given Lawrence is married, he’d better start talking to his wife about either opening the relationship or getting a divorce before he hobbles his way back to that bathroom,” Alice declared.

“You know, I bet there’s a fic like that somewhere on AO3,” Smiler said, pulling out their phone. “Who wants to find a nice domestic AU to help us all decompress?”

#dontoffendthebees #happy birthday #fanfic #saw #valicer #just occurs to me that this might be the movie that gave Victor nightmares #and prompted him and Alice to only come over when they were assured it was a goofy flick not a scary one #anyway yes have Alice remembering that one post I saw you reblog about Adam having WON his game #and getting annoyed he got screwed over #and Victor wondering why the hell he felt like he had to sit through that #and Thirteen and Rita making fun of the numbering system for the series #because I couldn't make myself watch more than the trailer I looked up a synopsis of the first movie on Wikipedia #saw the link saying Lawrence appeared in Saw 3D #was like 'huh okay so what was that one' #'what do you mean that's movie SEVEN' #'WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE TEN MOVIES' #this is the fucking franchise that will not die XD #but yeah I hope you like this #have a fun birthday! #or I hope you had a fun birthday depending on the timing of his posting as compared to when your actual birthday happened XD #queued

[wigglebox]

Let’s talk Mary’s costuming in The Winchesters’ trailer! 

One of the first things I saw pop up specifically was about how Mary looked in this, 1972, in comparison to her 1973 counterpart in SPN prime. 

Neither one is out of place, but their styles do seem pretty different. I’m not going to get into why they decided to style her like this as opposed to in SPN prime, but I will say that Mary never seemed to have her own “style.” She’s had vaguely girly things that’s hit trends in the various times we’ve seen her but she’s never felt like she’s had her own “style.” The most we’ve seen her with a style is after she comes back to life and we see her for three seasons in outfits that more or less mimick Dean and Sam. Jacket, over shirt, under shirt, simple hair, minimal make up. 

But even then, her style felt more like the boys’ style, and not her own. 

Which is why I was so excited to see her costuming in the prequel’s trailer. It felt like they were trying to finally establish her style to us. And with visual storytelling, how you stylize your character just sets the tone and vibe and gives us subtle or not-so-subtle hints at who they are as a character. 

When looking at the line up up there ^ I see someone who’s vaguely girly, though the 1980 Mary in Asa Fox -- girl your hair. Help. Who did this to you. 

But, 1980 flashback Mary in Asa Fox matched 2019 Mary more in my opinion of someone who doesn’t really care about her appearance and is just wearing someting to wear something. And that’s how I feel 1972 Mary’s styling looks like. 

At least in the trailer. Idk what else they’re gonna have her wear. 

From her hair, her jacket, the pin buttons, and the necklaces – some people were confused as to why she looks like she walked out of 1997 than 1972, but to me she’s still 1970s (especially because all aspects of 70s fashion from 1970 to 79 have been revisted in subsequent decades of fashion up to this day). 

Her look is just not conventional, typical, generalized 1970s. To me they personalized her more to tell us her story.

Note, I’m not a certified fashion historian, but I do like fashion from the ‘60s and ‘70s a lot lol. I may get some things wrong, but this is just what I’m thinking. I know there are fans of this show who likely were even walking and talking at this time and may disagree with what i gotta say but whatever I’m gonna go for it anyway lol.

Also a reminder: this is The CW, not some period drama on HBO Max or anything. 

Despite not having expertise in this area, just going off of the numerous vintage fashion video’s I’ve watched on Youtube, there are some things i personally always keep in mind when it comes to studying fashion trends. 

Trends do not exist purely within the boundaries of a decade. The early 70s take with it some late-60s fashion trends, particularly the hippie/boho stuff but other things as well like jewelry and some hairstyles. Every decade bled into each other, and with the rise of fast fashion, trends can change even easier. Now, in 2022, you can’t really even pin down a trend because things just move too fast.

Trends didn’t often quickly permeate more isolated, conservative, or poorer areas of the country. The population of Lawrence in 2020 is estimated at just over 97,000. You can imagine it’s smaller for the early ‘70s. But these places didn’t often have people who played into fashion trends be it too expensive, extravagant, or just not having the resources to buy and invest in trends that would flip in a few years anyway.

Let’s start with Prequel-Mary’s hair. 

Some said it looked too ‘90s or just not 1970s at all. But it is! Long, straight, sometimes messy-looking hair was indeed a trend for women in this time. It may conjure images of hippies for many, but it was also on other women. For me, Mary not having curls means to me that taking the time to curl and stylize her hair, and going in for trendy haircuts, wasn’t her priority. There are plenty of images, spanning multiple countries, of women at this time not doing anything with their hair, leaving it more natural and not having blowouts or curls. Also, since Carlos evoked the name of Janis Joplin, Mary’s hair also reminded me of her. 

Onto Prequel-Mary’s necklaces. 

Another thing that made people say she reminded people of the ‘90s were her chokers, but chokers are hardly a ‘90s thing. Indeed if you look closer at her necklaces [which is harder to do in non-HD lol] you’ll see they seem to be made of wooden or shaped shell beads, which was common at the time and a hold-over from the late ‘60s. They aren’t out of the ordinary at all, especially later in the trailer when we see her sporting one with some kind of pendant on it but still with what looks like natural-material beading.

Prequel-Mary’s leather jacket?

This was a little harder for me because the leather jacket combined with the vintage pin buttons felt very punk when the punk fashion movement is usually hard marked at 1974 and beyond. The prequel takes place two years before that, obviously. But, women wearing fitted leather jackets weren’t uncommon, but usually signaled that she was a “bad girl.” To me, just with the quality of the trailer, it indeed looks like a motorcycle jacket or just something simlar. Women in leather jackets became more popular with the rise of the Mod fashion movement in the 1960s. 

It’s not a current fashion trend for someone of her age to wear that i think in 1972, but I imagine the costumer designers had their reasoning. Between the hair, and the jacket with the pins, they are establishing Mary as someone who isn’t following typical young women trends and societal expections. Basically, she’s living outside the “norm.” She doesn’t have time to look “cute” or fashionable. Who knows, maybe the jacket has some personal meaning to her.

I’m unsure if this is also influenced by her music taste lol. We don’t know enough about this Mary yet. Though, I do want to know what her pin buttons are really realyl bad lol.

Prequel-Mary’s t-shirt/under shirts. 

This isn’t really something anyone complained about, and it’s because there’s nothing to complain. Young women wearing t-shirts and jeans were common throughout the 70s. 

This tank top:

This is 1973 but:

The tanktop isn’t out of place at all. There are multiple variations of different kinds of tanktops and a scoop neck tanktop wouldn’t be out of place I think in 1972. 

Prequel-Mary’s make up

I’m not going to get too into makeup because it’s harder when you don’t have actual fashion historians doing your costuming and make-up – idk if this show does but again it’s The CW, not a high budget period film. But also, being on TV, especially if they’re going to be shooting this with specialized lenses and the like... just in general, you need more make up I think on an actor. 

However if we go off that ^ image above we can make out a peachy kind of blush, pinker lipstick but not overdone, thicker eyebrows, and just some eyeliner with mascara [maybe a little shadow but it’s not intense imo]. 

Given her jacket, her hair, and her apparent t-shirt and tanktop thing going on, I’m willing to bet she also seems to be the kind of person to put the least amount of time into her makeup. Obviously not every woman can be painted with the same brush -- we all decide on our personal style and if we want to care about trends and all of that, and if we want to follow societal norms, but a trend that followed into the 70s, also due to the women’s liberation movement, was a more natural look. 

Compare this Covergirl ad from 1972 to Mary’s look:

It’s not too far off imo. Her lipstick is a little pinker but I don’t think it’s like, out of place. 

Mary’s eyebrows I think are what threw a lot of people off because they are darker and thicker. If you look at fashion magazines at the time you’ll see a lot of pencil-thin eyebrows for the most “trendy” but her thicker eyebrows aren’t out of place. 

To me (as someone with thicker eyebrows lol) it’s going in theme with her minimal make-up, little hair styling, and shunning of young women’s fashion trends at the time. She doesn’t have time or the need to go to a hair salon, get her hair layered and permed or put in those hot rollers. She doesn’t have time to go and get her eyebrows waxed or spend time in front of the mirror to do it herself. 

She feels androgynous in a sense. A little more masculine than our 1973 Mary who wore embroidered cowgirl shirts and sported shorter, more styled hair. 

I’m unsure if they’ll change Mary’s appearance once they hit 1973 in the show. I don’t even know when they want to hit 1973 in the show. 

If anything, what i’m gathering from little comments from jackles he’s made regarding this show, it sounds like it won’t be told in a way we’re expecting so who knows what’s going to happen tbh. 

But regardless, I love this Mary’s styling. I can’t wait to see what else they put her in!

#long post #spnwin #if anyone has any other thoughts pls jump in #i'm not an expert #just sharing observations #i also wanna just do everyone else lol

[adrianicsea]

saw character etymologies

so etymology has always been an armchair interest of mine, and i think it’s always interesting to see how the names that writers choose for their characters reflect the character’s personality or narrative arc! with all that said, i’ve done a good bit of research into the name meanings and origins of various saw characters, and i’ve been meaning to share my findings for awhile! so here we are. this post isn’t going to cover every single major character in the franchise, just the ones i’ve looked into so far (and could fit into one post)!

of COURSE we have to start with adam!! he’s pretty damn unique in that he’s had no less than THREE last names over the course of the franchise— radford in the original screenplay, faulkner in the first movie (as confirmed by producers, but never spoken or seen within the movies), then retroactively changed to stanheight in one of the hoffman movies. faulkner-stanheight has since been adopted as adam’s canon last name, both by the fandom and (at least somewhat) by the powers that be; in the 2014 tenth anniversary q&a panel, leigh whannell’s name card listed him as playing adam faulkner-stanheight.

so, the breakdown goes:

adam- first man, “man from the red earth.” of course, it’s hard to ignore the biblical connotations of this name— we’ll see a lot of biblical names here, so i would assume that we’re MEANT to make those connections. in adam’s case, he literally IS the first man we meet in the saw franchise, and his life and death have far-reaching consequences for most every other main character in the franchise. it’s also fitting that leigh, the progenitor of the series, would name his self-insert adam.

radford- an alternate spelling of redford, which simply means “ford of the red river.” a lot of characters in the hoffman movies have these sorts of geological names, but it’s slightly less common in the amanda trilogy. a ford is a place to safely cross a body of water, somewhat akin to a bridge. the red earth/red river connection is interesting, too. much has been made of james wan’s love for the color red and the way it’s used in his movies, and we see that in saw, as well— the movies are overwhelmingly blue and green, which only makes the red of the apprentices’ cloaks, billy’s eyes, and all the blood stand out more. afaik, nobody’s ever said why adam’s name was changed from radford to faulkner, so i guess we’ll never know!

faulkner- this is literally just the old english word for “falconer,” someone who trains and uses falcons to hunt. adam loves animals, so it’s nice to see that reflected somewhat in his name. additionally, you could view this as a reflection of his job and his attitude— as a photographer, he keeps himself at a distance and observes or scouts from afar, instead of getting right up in the middle of things, similar to how a falconer would use their bird to assist them with hunting.

stanheight- presumably, this name was added in the later movies because the last name faulkner had been forgotten about— which makes sense, given that we never SEE the name faulkner anywhere in the movie. stanheight is another geographic name, meaning “stone heights.” shocking! this name gives me the same sort of distant, watch-from-afar vibes that faulkner does, and i think the two complement each other in a really interesting way.

next up is the gordon family, starting with my beloved lawrence <3

he’s an interesting (but not TOTALLY unique) case of a saw character who owes his name, at least partially, to another franchise. but we’ll get into that momentarily!

lawrence means “shining one” and originates from the roman city of laurentium, known for its laurel trees. the romans are also the ones who popularized using laurel wreaths as a symbol of status or exaltation! all very fitting for a high and mighty doctor like lawrence. the “shining one” epithet can apply in multiple ways— lawrence is the lightbringer of the first movie in that he has control over the light switch, but you can also read that as him becoming john kramer’s best/favorite apprentice. lawrence’s name ALSO serves as a nice reflection of diana’s, but we’ll get into that later as well. for a more christian/biblical read on his name, there IS a saint lawrence, who was also active in ancient rome. he was martyred by being pressed over a hot gridiron, and is considered the patron saint of cooks, comedians, butchers, archives/libraries, deacons, and the poor. patron saint of butchers is pretty raw, given lawrence’s eventual apprentice status, but i don’t think any of saint lawrence’s other correspondences apply to our lawrence quite so easily/obviously.

gordon is a scottish surname, meaning “fortress.” he’s a very reserved, guarded individual, so that perfectly fits him— but in lawrence’s case, the name gordon has another origin, too! leigh whannell is famously a wes craven enthusiast, and in craven’s a nightmare on elm street part 3: dream warriors, we’re introduced to a new character in... doctor neil gordon. now, leigh has never (to my knowledge) confirmed that lawrence’s last name was lifted from this movie/character, but i don’t think it’s a HUGE leap to make that assumption, given that both characters are doctors and whannell is such an avowed craven stan.

moving right along through the gordon family, we’ve got alison:

alison is a norman french/germanic name meaning “of a noble kind.” clearly, this has a lot of thematic resonance with lawrence’s name meaning, and as we’ll find out in a moment, with diana’s as well. what a well-named family!

(we aren’t going to get into kerry and rigg in this post, but since kerry shares her first name with alison, obviously this applies to her too. why both kerry and rigg share their first names with other established characters, i’ll never know.)

rounding out the gordon family, we have diana!!

those of you who are familiar with roman mythology, have read rick riordan, and/or have taken a middle school social studies class in the united states might remember that diana is the name of the roman goddess of the moon, closely analogous with the greek goddess artemis. literally, the name diana means “divine” or “godesslike,” which you might expect from the origin. diana’s name combines the nobility of alison’s with the roman influence of lawrence’s! god i’ll never get over the gordon family etymology. great stuff.

we’ll next move onto the kramer family— john, jill, and gideon. we’ll look at amanda here, as well.

john is an anglicization of the hebrew name yohanan, meaning “graced by god.” i would hardly call john kramer’s life graced, considering just about every bad thing that you can imagine happens to him over the course of it, but alas! one could make the argument that this could refer to john taking on the role of a judge, baptist, and/or “re-creator” to his test subjects and apprentices— deciding that he has been “graced” from above with the authority to do that. and indeed, the bible does feature a john the baptist, said to have performed jesus’ baptism. many people who look at the saw franchise in biblical terms see john as the god figure of the series, which is the reading i usually take, as well.

kramer, meanwhile, finds its origin in both high and low german, and referred to traveling merchants. nowadays, the name is mostly interpreted to mean “merchant”or “peddler.” you could connect this to the wide array of businesses that john has owned or been involved with, or the idea that that he’s “selling” his philosophy!

jill is most commonly understood to be latin in origin and means “youthful.” she certainly is much younger than john, and you could draw parallels between her name and her relationship to/with amanda!

tuck, variously given as norman, english, or scottish, apparently has its roots in WAY early norse. this website gives tuck’s origin as a shortened form of the name “thorketill,” which references the norse god thor and “ketill,” the word for a cauldron. there’s some connection to be made between jill’s medical career and a cauldron as an object you could associate with making medicine, i suppose. but in all likelihood, jill was given the last name tuck because tuck is also the surname of leigh whannell’s wife. which frankly is no less baffling to me, but he did what he had to do i suppose!

no picture for gideon, sadly, but his name is also hebrew in origin, and comes from Gidon, referring to a great warrior. more literal interpretations find gideon can mean “hewer” or “he with a stump for a hand,” but i doubt this name was chosen with those interpretations in mind.

i started working on this post on a mandy monday.... and here she is ❤️

amanda means “lovable” or “worthy of love.” given that so much of amanda’s character arc centers around her desire to find someone who will show her love and compassion, this is both a very fitting name and an absolutely HEARTBREAKING one. amanda also shares with lawrence the distinction of being named after a nightmare on elm street character— in her case, amanda krueger, ALSO introduced in the third elm street movie. amanda k was a nun who was captured and assaulted by disturbed, violent prison/asylum inmates, leading to the birth of freddy krueger and amanda’s subsequent death by suicide. that idea of innocence being taken advantage of and birthing great evil as a result is something we see played out in amanda young’s arc, too.

in the original screenplay for the first movie, amanda was given the last name “denlon,” which of course was later given to lynn and jeff. so we’ll save that for those two!

as for her surname... well. it’s young. we all know what that means. we often conflate the idea of youth with concepts of naivety, innocence, or being childlike, and these are all ideas that we see reflected in amanda’s arc throughout her trilogy.

before we move onto characters introduced in the later movies, we’ll take a minute to look at some stragglers from the first movie who don’t show up again.

first up we have zep, a character who goes almost COMICALLY unremembered and undiscussed, given his role in the first movie and the entire series’ theme song using his name.

zep is a nickname, of course, and likely refers to the floor cleaning agent of the same name, given that zep was a hospital orderly.

his real name is shepard, as in “person who guards and watches over sheep.” this ties in nicely with his hospital job, and it also serves him ironically, as his “guardianship” over alison and diana is anything but. the bible is also rife with allegories about shepherds and sheep, so you could draw the connection between zep being a proto-pseudo-apprentice to john and him being a shepherd for john’s message.

hindle is an english compound name, and when you translate those component parts, you get “valley of the hind,” a hind being a female deer. this also has a peaceful, pastoral sound to it, which both reinforces zep’s job description and ironically contrasts his true disposition and attitude.

ah, good old david tapp, who (i believe) has the honor of being the saw character who’s been in the most video games!

david is yet another hebrew name, meaning “beloved.” king david, the second king of israel, is a very important figure in both judaism and christianity.

tapp, while not a conventional or common last name, sounds an awful lot like tapping a phone, doesn’t it? i think both tapp and sing’s last names were chosen to call to mind ideas of surveillance, detective work, and other “police procedural” associations. tapp DOES have an old english root, where it was used to refer to a tall or thin person... but this was a nickname based on a tap, as in the object you use to get sap out of a tree. so one way or another, tapp’s last name is VERY literal.

steven has its origins in greek, where it means “crown,” “reward,” or “high honor.” christianity also has a saint stephen, who wikipedia tells me was killed by being stoned to death and is widely considered the first martyr of the christian church. perhaps fittingly, sing is the first onscreen death of a major character in the franchise— while we see victims die before sing in the first movie, we never get to know them. sing is the first character we have a chance to get attached to, only to see him killed for it.

sing, much like tapp, has a police connotation to it— to get someone to confess a crime, or to snitch on their coconspirators, is to “make them sing.” in english, the name sing has a pretty obvious/literal meaning, but in a ton of south asian and southeast asian languages/cultures, the names sing, singh, and variations thereupon appear. all these names share a common origin in a sanskrit word meaning “lion,” in the connotation of a hero.

tumblr tells me that i’ve hit image limit on this post, so i suppose i’ll wrap this up here. i hope y’all find this interesting, helpful, and/or insightful! the next etymology post i make (whenever that is) will cover the matthews family, the denlon family, the hoffman/alcomb family, strahm, and perez.

#saw #saw meta #(i guess? is etymology meta??) #saw movies #adam faulkner stanheight #not tagging the other characters so as not to clog tags

[laufire]

it's taken me forever because the link kept breaking but it's done!! I finally watched Prometheus. included the deleted scenes (I think. there might be some more). mostly I agree with the decision to cut them -some stuff is better left implied than spelled out, like that scene between Meredith and her father-, but I would’ve liked a shorter version of the scene where the captain goes to talk to Meredith after she burns Shaw’s boyfriend, mainly for the quote “I burned my hand.” vis a vis the Lawrence of Arabia motif.

overall I enjoyed it quite a lot. the first half wasn’t grabbing me as much, tbh -I think I was subconsciously comparing it to Alien; the tension build-up there was something else and here... not so much, IMO. my other main gripe with it (beyond “why must I deal with so much casual sexism in a film set in 2094″) was that I found the scenery largely boring. some visuals were sick (complimentary), like the horrifying (again, complimentary) cesarean, and stuff generally surrounding Elizabeth/David/the xenomorth, but overall I expected better and better lightning I’m so tired of dark and grey in films it’s an alien planet you could’ve really gone nuts with it!!!

I liked what I expected to like: everything regarding artificial life/creation/religious metaphors, David 8. plus a few things I wasn’t so sure I would or hadn’t expected because my dashboard talks less about them, like Elizabeth and Elizabeth-David (especially the latter I had NOT expected to enjoy this much lol); or Meredith and the Meredith-David(-Weyland) family dynamic, that I wish we’d seen more ngl.

finally, a few things on the list have planted a seed, or implanted an embryo, so to speak, that I can already see influencing my own writing and ideas in the future, which I always welcome ^-^

#so i guess i'm thankful for sofia's wily tactics #(telling people to watch the film) #next week i'll have time to watch covenant. i've heard more mixed things on that one lol. we'll see #i know one (1) thing that definitely lessen my enthusiasm but i'll try to keep an open mind and all that #talking to the void #my thoughts #alien thoughts #alien franchise #alien: prometheus #david 8 #elizabeth shaw #meredith vickers

[unpassive-viewer]

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (mild spoilers)

Welcome, welcome to the [10th] annual Hunger Games,

Good news everyone, I'm living my best life and back in the depths of my Hunger Games obsession that I'd thought I'd retired at thirteen years old. I saw the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and by golly do I have some opinions.

TL;DR: This was overall a fun film, although WAY too long. By Act 3 I just wanted to go home. Still a good watch, but I could have used an intermission or something.

Staying true to the vibe of the Hunger Games franchise, director Francis Lawrence is back with lots of wide angle shots and close-ups, explosions and rubble. He did a pretty good job of translating young Snow's inner narrative to the screen, although I don't think he totally captured what a sociopath the character was throughout the entire book (which I have indeed read).

The casting, as was the case in the first 4 movies, was pretty much perfect. I liked that the other characters were interesting outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow narrative. Hunter Schafer dominated every single scene she was in. The shot where she, Sajanus and Snow watch Lucy Gray on television? You could've removed Tom Blythe and Josh Andres Rivera and I would not have noticed. She carried.

Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage were equally interesting. I wish Peter Dinklage's character had more screen time, he played his part so well. And as we know, I would lie down on train tracks if Viola Davis asked me to, so that's my opinion on that. Although her red and white outfit was... interesting.

Rachel Zegler was amazing, and her voice was so pretty that I actually did not mind how often they made her sing... (seriously, there was so much singing. An unbelievable amount of singing for a non-Disney princess movie). She and Tom Blythe have wicked chemistry, even when he decides to go full Evil Snow in the second half of the film. The only thing I really couldn't stand was how she couldn't maintain her accent.

I really wish that the second half of the movie had more character interactions outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow dyad. I felt that's where the film got a little dry - I simply did not care about their relationship, regardless of what it meant to Snow's character development. Their interactions in the first half benefitted a lot from those around them, rather than their blossoming interest in one another.

The costume and set design in this film was super interesting. The first film in the Hunger Games trilogy leaned very hard into displaying the Capitol's culture through their clothing, since we got so few glimpses into the citizen's actual lives. I feel this film did that equally well, although I didn't feel it adequately showed the depth of Snow's poverty. Considering this was incredibly important to his character arc, I wish we could've seen more of that.

I also didn't particularly like how obvious the callbacks to the original films were. I think the comments about swamp potatoes could have been scaled back. I also would have appreciated if there was less focus on the hanging tree song. To me there were too many direct ties to the scenes we got in the 74th/75th Hunger Games. Culture changes a lot in sixty years - lyrics change, tunes change, dances change, clothes change. Too much of this film felt like it stopped time between what is technically the next Hunger Games films.

However, the movie did get a lot right in this respect. Specifically, you can see the warping of the Appalachian culture between the 10th and 74th Hunger Games. Lucy Gray's character belonging to a travelling band was a great illustration of the way that the Capitol caged its citizens for nearly 100 years.

Anyways, I watched all of the older films this week and reignited my love for Peeta and Finnick. I still like Catching Fire the most, and I don't think I'll add Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to my annual franchise rewatch. For what it was, though, it was pretty fun. A little part of middle school me was fulfilled, remembering showing up to the original movies on opening day in full costume... (I was a nerd). I miss the fancasts for the other games, the makeup trends, the deep dives into characters on YouTube and the fan-made movies?? Ah, when times were simple.

Anyways, did you see The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? What'd you think? Are you deep into your formerly-retired Hunger Games phase too?

Let me know.

#hunter schafer #tom blyth #rachel zegler #viola davis #peter dinklage #josh andres rivera #hunger games #president snow #the ballad of songbirds and snakes

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 7.a

At first I thought this was going to be a Ulysse interlude, then I realized it's Kevin. Blech.

... I'd say it's interesting that the majority of interludes we've gotten have been from the points of view of antagonists, but I think that might just be a reflection of how few true allies the Kennet Trio has

Not much to say about this opening scene, just Kevin being exactly what I expected

By his gospel, the one we came to name Prometheus had peers, and it was not the one who tried to seize the original Fire, but many. All who tried, succeed or fail, were punished. I found my deity nine miles beneath the surface of the earth, thoroughly protected so none might disturb his eternal punishment. Had he succeeded, our campfires might not be wood we’ve set alight, but something else entirely.

oh that's sick as hell. I am now invested in Ulysse

Now he is my god and I am his sole worshiper, his champion.

"Sole worshiper of a god" is a great concept. (This is part of why I'm having such a good time with Pale Lights). I really like the blending of a normally-distant divine relationship with the closeness that comes from being the only one (and often the god taking a great deal of interest in and care of their worshiper's life). Also fun way to play around with faith and power dynamics, depending on how much ability the god retains and how seriously the worshiper takes the divinity aspect.

Other works that have this: Pale Lights, Thief's Covenant, The Thousand Eyes

 "Later, I met your god before you did. He burned me alive both times I ventured down there.  Others had claim over me.  In another lifetime, toward the end, we became friends.”

I also want to read this story

He shared an appreciation for things of value, and if Lawrence wasn’t keeping the company of fellow weirdos from the same families as these kids at this school, he would sometimes invite Kevin.

oh that is 100% manipulation

But over the years, little moments like that had stacked up.  And now… …Now he was a bit afraid of her.

I looked back at the girls' theories about Rae, and they ended up at personification of backlash? But that was just a guess

And it looks like Kevin isn't escaping the karma his eye generates... that could amplify whatever's up with Rae, once it finally explodes

Ted?  What was going on with Ted?  Was Alexander in communication with the man?

I'm not sure either: It could just be an effect of Ted being karmically blessed, and the librarian/school in general offering him what he needs

Clem was as stupid as I’ve ever seen her.  We’re not best friends anymore

oh good, that must be a relief for her

my online following is… it’s better than ever, frankly, but it’s taking more of my time to manage until all the fights and arguments die down.

I hope she's lying about that one

in the center of that table was a recreation of Sargent Hall, complete with mini-figures representing the occupants.

return of this thing! I guess Nicolette got it out from the fire ok

Ted — Kevin — Shellie — Rae Respective to their names were cards and numbers. 3, 7, 13, 19.

The dossier noted that Ted and Clem are around the same level of use, so it makes sense that he's number three. I wonder who is 1? Kevin being rated higher than Shellie seems like a reflection on how useful his eye is at dealing with mundane problems subtly (and how hard she is to control). Not sure what the ranking implies about Rae.

Noose in one corner, connecting to Ted, coin in the other, connecting to Shellie.

once again, same types of object as the awakening ritual. Coin is mostly fortune I think, woven object I'm less sure. Pact awakening ritual had it as dream and fate.

But he could read the notation.  ‘Noone will die at his girlfriend’s hand’.

get fucked!

“Nah, stark resemblance to an old crush,” he said. “Writing on the back says… Laila Throop. Was your old crush a Throop?”

no idea what's up with this, but it has to be important. Laila's been coming up a lot lately (Musette, and Fernanda's interlude). Her family specializes in curses: I could see them coming into contact with Kevin through that.

The works themselves are a trove of detail on people, especially those in the Maritime provinces and the major cities of Canada and the northeastern United States.

oh cool. So Alexander has compiled Ted's notes from other timelines. I wonder how long he's had them? Because this could explain a lot, if he's been able to draw on this knowledge for his plans all along. It would explain how he made those dossiers, for one.

... I wonder if there's anything on Kennet or the Carmine Beast in there. I don't think there'd be anything on the girls, since Ted's loop ended before they got involved, but things have been going on in the town for a while.

Courtesy of Raymond, the prompt is yet unfinished, but each pull from the coda of texts will help it improve.  For the time being it will do its best to list texts that may be relevant.

score one for the digital humanities

Alexander, I think, wanted us to find it because there may be traps here, not in the sense that a blade may jump out of nowhere, I don’t think, but the wrong information in the wrong person’s mind.

I can see Kevin setting off events by trying to preemptively defend himself from Rae, or this pushing him into demanding answers.

This was an arrangement of a court of judges in this region, who saw the danger and reached out to everyone in the area to ensure they had the power to set this into motion. 

oh! My first thought was the council the CB was on, but I looked at the dossiers again, and Ted's from Prince Edward Island, which is pretty far away, so probably not

I am a collector of people.  If you’ll take my help, I’ll point you to certain people.  But the moment you’re free, if it has anything to do with my help, I want your assistance after.

well fuck. I guess that explains why Ted works for Bristow now.

one student named Laila Throop was on the opposing side and had a really strong resemblance to someone from his past that he hated. “Her next.” He tapped her photograph

man Laila can just not catch a break... I wonder if this is what Musette saw?

#booksandchainmail reads pale #pale #wildbow

[indiana-jonas]

The Unclear Inspiration Syndrome

Once upon a time one of my best friends had their period and a lot of pain. I decided I would make a soup to soothe the evil menstruation demons. Menstruation is strongly associated with red, so I decided to only use red ingredients. I felt extremely inspired to put my idea to the test and help my friend.

I grabbed anything red I could get my hands on. Three packs of crushed tomatoes, a couple of actual tomatoes, a dash of red bell pepper, and some chili powder. This stew didn’t soothe the demons, or our appetites (it made for a good laugh though).

This was a case of Unclear Inspiration Syndrome. Too much of the same. Yet, not quite the same.

Inspiration comes in two forms

One of the core skills of a creator is to take inspirations and combine them in unexpected ways. Kinda like a chef.

When you combine inspirations, you form an idea.

Inspiration + Inspiration = An idea.

But just as with cooking, you can’t toss any mix of ingredients into the pot and expect something yummy.

As I see it there are two types of inspiration.

Contextual inspiration is the way something looks, where it takes place, and who or what the characters are.

Fundamental inspiration is the underlying reason(s) for the idea to exist. It could be an emotion, to solve a problem, or to communicate an idea.

Look at this pot I prepared, I put some context inspiration in it.

Big dragon + Vampires + Fantasy land like Tolkien + A hero = A world.

That’s a world simmering! We could keep chucking more contextual inspiration in there. But looks like it could go on forever. It’s because worlds can grow infinitely big.

Let’s add a pinch of fundamental inspiration now.

Previous ingredients + Put yourself in other people’s shoes = Now you can see what might happen.

It’s starting to smell good! And it’s more nutritious.

Contextual Inspiration + Fundamental Inspiration = A nutritious idea.

You get more oomph with at least one of each inspiration type.

Only having context is kinda like having a pot full of spices. It’s just powder. It gets stuck in your nose hairs if you try to smell it. But at the same time, few dishes can go without any spices at all. It’s what makes food edible.

You need both types of inspiration to make a nutritious meal. Otherwise, you might end up with a menstruation soup that doesn’t even do its job.

Unclear Inspiration Syndrome is when you only have contextual inspiration.

Why we choose ideas that don’t blend

Hayao Miyazaki once asked one of his new apprentices to draw him a person who’s eating. The apprentice proudly handed over a beautifully rendered drawing of a man eating by a table.

“Do you have no idea how people eat!?” Miyazaki erupted. “You must have seen this every day of your life. Do you never look?”

The man in the drawing was sitting tightly pressed between the table and the chair. It was an unnatural position for eating that nobody would go into willingly. Despite the artist’s skills, the drawing didn’t feel believable.

Let’s look at what happened.

Table + Man + Chair + Food + Fork + Eating = A scene.

There are A LOT of ways this assembly of contextual ingredients could blend. The man could lie on the table and eat the food from the chair, technically it would still be “someone eating.” The artist’s rendition wasn’t that bananas. But something was amiss in the recipe.

Previous ingredients + A memory of someone eating = A real moment.

By recalling how a friend would sit by the lunch table in school, the artist added that touch of reality that was missing. This artist had focused so much on perfecting his understanding of anatomy and rendering that he didn’t consider the thing that are less visible. Human behavior.

Let me tell you about someone who got confused about his ingredients.

George Lucas had many sources of inspiration when he set out to make Star Wars. Like James Bond, Lawrence of Arabia, Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress, Flash Gordon, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and more. He had a massive vision.

It took a long time for the script to click. He said the story didn’t fall into place until he noticed something within the project that was also true by looking at his inspirations. They were all following the journey of a hero leaving home, going on an adventure, and coming back changed.

When he realized this he compared Star Wars’ story to the steps of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey. Which gave him the clarity to fill in the missing gaps.

Among all his inspirations George Lucas had managed to find a common denominator. Perhaps his instinct had led him to pick contextual inspiration that shared the same fundamental idea.

Star Wars recipe:

Ingredients

James Bond

Lawrence of Arabia

Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress

Flash Gordon

2001 A Space Odyssey

Instructions

Mix all your inspirations in a pot

Crank up the heat

Let boil until you have reduced to a fine blend of contextual and fundamental inspiration

Give it a good stir until it starts to look like an idea

That’s Unclear Inspiration Syndrome and my home remedy against it.

What something fundamental really is

The Heroes’ Journey is a great example of something fundamental. The reason it helped save the story of Star Wars, was because The Heroes’ Journey is a cycle that represents the way of life. That’s why stories that make good use of it work so well.

Every type of project needs something fundamental. Different types of projects require different types of fundamental inspiration though.

A product needs to fix a problem that actually exists.

A video game needs to evoke a sensation that you can relate to.

Art needs to evoke the way things feel.

Fundamental inspiration always has its roots in reality.

Our instincts lead us to pick fundamental inspirations, even if they appear to be contextual at first. When we first experienced the sources of those contextual inspirations we were probably touched deeply. But with time we forget. The contextual traits become shortcuts in our brains to convey the real idea they were originally attached to. We associate the context with brilliance and we forget what’s fundamental.

I have been through this in reverse.

Before ever reading my favorite comic as a kid I thought it looked a bit ugly, and not very cool, maybe because I hadn’t seen anything like it before. My impression of it didn’t excite me at all. But in another comic series that I read, there was a snippet of my to-be favorite comic.

I ended up buying every volume I could afford. I got obsessed with it and started imitating the art.

The context didn’t mean anything to me until I got a taste of its fundamental qualities. The art in itself wasn’t enough to make me feel inspired until I had experienced it in its fundamental context (pirates and a specific type of romance).

Cook with love.

----------

Thanks for reading! If you wanna read more stuff like this, you can subscribe to Indie Notebook: www.indiana-jonas.com/newsletter

#writing #writers and readers #artists on tumblr #indiana-jonas #essay #creativity #inspiration #philosophy #star wars #george lucas #hayao miyazaki

[liz-trix]

BATDR: World building

Going to dabble in some of BATDR's world building here. Spoilers. BATDR is almost perfect, I loved almost every second of it! Though I can't help but feel there were a LOT of missed opportunities. There were a lot of new mechanics and characters I feel that weren't properly given enough time in the spotlight. I think in this post I want to talk about the world itself and its environments, save the characters for another time.

Visually the world is gorgeous, striking, and very daunting at times. Although... I feel it can sometimes be lacking in life! What BATDR did with its world is like, 10000X better than in BATIM I feel, and I think it's close to perfect, but just missing that edge. Something I don't think I've seen anyone talk about was that 1 random crow you see at the start of the game. I was actually super interested in it, but it uh... went nowhere. It shows up ONCE as an Easter egg by the train stations, but I feel there's a lot of missed potential there. (I can't get a better picture, I tried. Sorry!)

Vermin have a lot of opportunity in the studio, rats, crows, maybe even some other vermin that got caught in the Ink Machine, intentionally or not could've made for some fair subtle world building. I have some concepts for rats I personally want to expand on later but I think it would've been sick to walk into a spacious food lounge only to see sepia colored vermin feasting in whatever's left. Maybe even clambering into a dusty air shaft only to have a set of rats come scurrying by in a panic. Bonus points if Lost Ones comment on or interact with them as well. Subtle things!

Speaking of Lost Ones... I really love how they were handled in DR, I do! I personally feel they're close to perfect, but something I'd personally like to see touched up would be their interactions with the environment.

Chapter one did this almost perfectly, you're introduced to some Lost Ones super early on and are instantly taught with visuals that they're living breathing people! You see them rambling to themselves and actually walking around doing things! There's some in the kitchen taking cooking orders that don't exist! One's playing music and walking around beating on the cash register, and the first one you meet stops to start working at a workbench.

That's the kind of living breathing A.I I adore in a game! But alas that's sort of where it ends... Outside of Chapter one and a bit into Chapter 2 these interactions quickly die out, and they are reduced to more of a roaming threat. In my ideal setting they'd be a lot more dynamic as I'd love to tackle on the concept of making set "personalities" each Lost One could adopt. These personalities would be a set of specific behaviors unique to the personality they're marked as. For example...

If a Lost One is given a "Demon Follower" personality they would act differently to other Lost Ones, instead choosing to berate those who aren't aligned with the Ink Demon and can be constantly found praying to Bendy imagery, much akin to Sammy Lawrence. I'm also quite fond of the idea of them actively standing out in the open whenever the Ink Demon is present, willingly sacrificing themselves.

Another personality trait I had considered was the "Coward." These Lost Ones would rather hide than face their fears. Often found cowering in the darker areas of the studio, they opt out of combat almost always, however they're not against hogging any potential safe hiding spots if it means their survival, meaning less safety nets for Audrey.

There's a lot more I could possibly talk about but I think that sums up most of what I'm trying to get at. I feel like with as much inspiration DR took from Bioshock, it could've also taken some from the Outlast series. Mainly the first game. Oh Outlast how I love you.

#bendy #batdr #bendy and the dark revival #batim #gamedev

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Handmaid's Tale: Allegiance (5x09)

Oh goodness. I can't believe there's just one more episode of this season. Lots to discuss.

Cons:

I could have predicted that something was going to go wrong with the planned Hannah rescue, but I have to admit I'm a little disappointed in this less than creative outcome. Is Hannah's rescue going to be the last thing that happens in this show? Are we not going to actually see the aftermath of that, or are we going to drag out this family separation for all of season six as well? I guess I'm just getting a little frustrated. I would have at least liked something a bit more thrilling than all the Americans getting shot down and killed, essentially offscreen, while June and Luke just worry and wait.

So, the thing is, seeing June and Nick interact is just... it immediately sucks all the air out of the room. They have such good good chemistry that you just root for them to start smooching at every second. This is good, for the most part, but there are two problems. One, it just re-emphasizes how underwhelming Luke and June's connection is, by contrast. And for two... we've seen similar scenes for June and Nick so many times. So many fraught goodbyes, so many situations in which there's an unavoidable reason why they just can't be together. Every time, I don't know if I'm meant to believe a door is firmly closed, or if it's still cracked open in some way. So I'm left more flummoxed than I am moved. Nick's excuse for not being able to come to Canada feels a bit weak. Yes, Rose is pregnant, and yes, "Gilead is Rose's home", but come on, Nick. Obviously you have far more power to change your life circumstances than June does.

There are things that have happened in this season, and, honestly, throughout the whole history of the show, where in isolation I loved the moment, it was so cool and felt like it was propelling the story forward... only to learn that we're just going to reset the status quo and repeat ourselves a few episodes down the road. So, for example: I loved all the stuff with Serena in this episode, but as she flees with baby Noah in her arms, I'm thinking about how a few episodes ago, Serena was making a daring escape with June. Then she got put back into her same cage, and now she's escaping it again. I'm getting early-season flashbacks, when June would get free and then return to the Waterfords and the Handmaids system, again and again and again. Will Serena be apprehended by the Wheelers again? Will she, inexplicably, be allowed to remain with Noah for a third time? Will there be real forward motion? I hope so!

Similarly, Commander Lawrence and June having tense conversations that are at cross-purposes. Nick and June's merry-go-round. Tuello failing to deliver on his promises. It's all stuff we've seen before, and I'm finding myself glad that this show is ending after one more season, despite still thinking the quality is very high. There's just a lot of repetition!

Pros:

A lot of my "cons" this week are also "pros", in a weird way. Like I said, June and Nick's scene was electric. The look on her face when Nick said that Rose was pregnant... oof. The "I love you"s, the way June called out to him after he'd started to walk away... you can just sense how badly these two want to be holding each other at all times. It's intensely compelling. I also love the way Lawrence knew to dangle Nick over June's head, promising them the opportunity to be in each other's lives. It's heartbreaking that you can tell it's legitimately tempting to them both, but they still feel they can't say yes.

The scene with Hannah, where we see these little snippets of the life she's living, contrasted with June in Canada waiting for the rescue operation, worked really well. It was a tease, a promise of something they really need to deliver on, and despite my frustration, I am still really compelled by the building tension.

Looks like we've got wedding bells in the air, for the most bizarre of new potential spouses: Commander Lawrence and the recently widowed Mrs. Putnam. This is such a bizarre scenario, and really highlights the grim tensions of Gilead. This woman, who, to be clear, is part of an evil system and who I don't have a ton of sympathy for, is basically being forced into marrying her husband's murderer, very, very shortly after the death of said husband. And much like when Commander Lawrence was forced to undergo the ceremony with June and with his wife, this is a situation where no party is consenting. Yes, Lawrence has more power than Mrs. Putnam, but this is still something he's being pressured to do, and the threat if he does not could very well be serious indeed.

The Wheelers, especially Mrs. Wheeler, are some of the most interesting villains this show has ever produced, which is such a refreshing sign, so late in the game! The way Mrs. Wheeler makes calls about Noah specifically because it goes against what Serena wants to do, the lack of respect, and also the clear lack of real affection for Noah as a person in need of care... it's chilling. I don't know what Serena is going to do from here, but I hope she can stay away from a woman who hits her and wants to keep her away from her baby.

I think my favorite moment of the episode might actually have been June and Commander Lawrence's phone call. The amount of shit these two have been through, the strange twisted, warped series of loyalties and betrayals between them... it's so intense. When June realizes that Lawrence isn't going to help her get Hannah out of Gilead, she turns on the offensive, and basically says that Lawrence's dead wife hated him, was disgusted by the man she'd once loved. Would rather die than stay with him. Lawrence receives these words as the punishment they're meant to be, then says his wife would still want him to help June, and help Gilead to be a better place. June is a victim of so much, but she has learned to be incredibly cruel.

I want to wait to reserve judgment on how things turn out with the big dramatic ending of this episode, with a gunman shooting into a crowd of mourners trying to honor the dead American soldiers. The Canadian protesters who want the Americans to leave seem to be responsible for the action, but it's yet to be seen how much damage has been done. Obviously it was horrifying and difficult to watch, and I can't quite decide yet how I feel about its placement thematically in the season.

I'll stop there. Next week, the finale of the penultimate season of this excellent show. I have my complaints, but the quality is still undeniable!

8/10

#review #the handmaid's tale #the handmaids tale #the handmaids tale review #handmaid's tale #handmaids tale

[khangthecinephile]

Silver Linings Playbook (2012): My review

The winter season has arrived, what better way to enjoy the chilly weather than watching a romance movie while snucking inside your warm blanket. One of my personal favorite movies to watch during the winter is Silver Linings Playbook by the director David. O Russell. First presented in 2012, this unique movie has all of the good qualities required in a great romance like the chemistry, the conflict, and even some comedy. No questions why it has been nominated for 8 different Oscars and won 1 of them. 

Quick summary: Silver Linings Playbook tells a story of a man named Pat who had been put in a mental institution for having an unknown mental breakdown. After getting discharged, he comes back and lives with his parents. One time while having dinner at a friend’s house, Pat meets Tiffany, a person who’s also mentally ill, specifically sex addiction. They get on with each other just because of the fact that they both have mental issues and are “crazy.” They make a deal with each other that benefits both of them and from there, their love story begins. 

The first thing that I really like about the movie is that it’s a very well written story. Silver Linings Playbook is really catchy and it got me sucked into it when Tiffany appears. The director and the writers also didn’t rush the story line and let Tiffany and Pat come together very naturally, exactly how I imagined two people that came out of broken relationships would react when getting into another relationship. David Russell even included many comedy details with the participation of Chris Tucker in the role of Pat’s friend from the mental institution. These comedy elements makes the movie become less intense from all the mental health issues of the main characters and makes the movie become more enjoyable in general. I love the way that the director builds up two storylines that are very related to each other. It gives more room for the producers to show more characteristics and different aspects about the characters, especially Pat. 

Silver Linings Playbook is such a relatable movie. Although not everybody has the same mental issues as people in the movie does, we can see how we all have a little bit of craziness inside each of us. Everybody has their own problems like for example, Pat Sr. has OCD. These are all really normal real life problems, real life tragedy and it makes the movie become really realistic and close to the audiences. Director David Russell also did a great job in portraying people with mental health, specifically bipolar disorder. He shows the audiences the suffering, the obstacles that people like Pat and Tiffany have to go through and even the medicines that they have to use or how those meds affect them. 

The performances of the cast in this movie is absolutely amazing. Robert De Niro has really shown his class in the movie and this is easily one of my most favorite De Niro performances of all time. As a person who doesn't really watch a lot of Bradley Cooper’s movies, Cooper has really impressed me with his performance in Silver Linings Playbook. He had really succeeded in playing a character that had been through tragedies and having a lot of inner struggles. Lastly, I really can’t give enough compliments to Jennifer Lawrence for her performance. If I have to use one word to describe Jennifer Lawrence's performance, I would use amazing. From the facial expressions to the way she says the dialogue, in some way she must have felt really connected with her character. Jennifer Lawrence really deserved her Oscar award for this role. 

Silver Linings Playbook is one of the best romances I have ever seen for a long time  and it is up there with the Notebook for one of the best romances of all time in my opinion. This movie is definitely worth rewatching and I hope to hear more discussions about it since it's an underrated movie. Besides portraying mental health problems in a very relatable way, this movie also shows the importance of family, friends and also love in general in any person’s life. It also shows the importance of entertainment and art when dancing has helped Tiffany and Pat so much in dealing with their problems, art is the thing that has connected them. David. O Russell has created such a unique love story of two “crazy” but also inspiring people.  

#silver linings playbook #jennifer lawrence #david o russell #bradley cooper

[scorpioncobrababe84]

Calling all Johnny Lawrence Lovers:

I have a fic up on wattpad, titled Cruel Summer, and here’s a preview.

I always found life to be quite serendipitous. At all important timestamps of my life I can point out when there was something that just so happened to work out for me.

Maybe I'm an optimist, I kind of believe in divine timing. I think out there, maybe a helping hand exists, to bring things to fruition that need to live and thrive.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet with my life, maybe I shouldnt rely on omniscient sources to sort it out for me. My current job doesnt really match my rosy outlook on life.

I'm a bartender at a little place called Vinny's in Reseda. I've worked here for a few years now after Uni. I got my bachelor's and suddenly with no competition of my classmates, no thesis being graded and therefore no clear indication of failure, I sort of just took a hiatus from my professional life.

It's actually been nice though. I worry less than I used to and I get to serve my usuals several times a week, and my favourite part is that I get to be my true night owl self. That, and the tips are pretty good.

Getting out of my thoughts, the little bell above the door of the bar rings.

A man with blond hair strides in with a denim jacket, taking off his shades, revealing his face and subsequently a black eye.

He takes a seat at the bar.

"Coors Banquet, thanks." he orders

"Sure." I half smile and grab him a bottle from the fridge, open it and set it in front of him.

At this time of night during the week it isn't very busy, the rest of my usual patrons shuffle out.

I keep myself busy wiping down the bar.

"Rough night?" I ask.

"You don't know the half of it." He takes another swig of his beer.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He nods

"I hope you can forget about it while you're here."

I pull out a bottle of whiskey from the bar well and pour a shot for him

"I only ordered a coors." he said looking at the small glass

"Its on me." I smiled, and looked into his blue eyes, more depth than almost any ive seen.

He grins and takes it.

"Thanks."

"Dont mention it."

I continue my side work of ensuring my well is stocked for tomorrow, and general cleaning and turn up the radio.

REO Speedwagon's "Take it on the Run" was playing. I started nodding my head to the music while working.

I go to the dining area and remove plates from tables and dim the areas lights.

Now we’re left with only amber lighting at the bar area.

I see the man at the bar drinking his beer and nodding along to the music and singing the chorus to himself.

"I dont believe it not for a minute"

I love seeing people enjoy themselves like this. Even just small things like a throwback song that gets them going

I turn up the dial a little bit more.

I look at him and smile as I sing along.

He grins at me and continues to nod his head and sing the song with me.

I giggle at this simple and pure interaction.

"You know Speedwagon. Didn't think your generation had good taste anymore."

"What can I say, good music is good music. Plus, my dad introduced me to a lot of good music."

"Oh yeah? What else."

"Lots of Joan Jett, Alice Cooper, AC DC, Metallica, just your classic 80s rock staples."

"I like that."

I blush a little.

"What's your name?" I ask him

"Johnny. Yours?"

"y/n."

He nods and drinks.

I smile and continue working.

A while later he finishes his drink and leaves cash and a good tip on the bar.

"See you around." He walks toward the door

"I hope so." I smile

He looks back at me, smirking.

I hope I do see him around.

#cobra kai #johnny lawrence x reader #johnny lawrence #the karate kid #tkk #mine

[thistleandthorn-rpg]

Congrats, Lawr, on your app for Jaime Luna!  Please check out this page for what to do next, and send us his blog within 48 hours.

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias: Lawrence

Preferred pronoun: He/him

Age (Must be 20+): 37

Timezone/Country: GMT/UK

RP Experience: Lots

Activity Level: Every day

IC INFORMATION:

Name: Jaime Luna

Designation (Dom, Switch, sub): Switch

Age: 21, July 17th 2001

Faceclaim: Francisco Lachowski

Orientation: Bisexual

Kinks: Impact play/spanking, teasing, praise, humiliation, TPE, watersports, body worship.

Anti-Kinks: Blood, needles.

Key Points:

Jaime was conceived by Hiram and the owned slave Prim.

He has a big chip on his shoulder because he's seen an illegitimate child, despite being raised in the same house as the rest of the family.

On his 21st birthday, days before joining the institute, he changed his name from John to Jaime Luna, Hiram's original name.

Gigantic, seen-from-space, daddy issues. Will tell anyone that he hates Hiram, but he's desperate for the man's approval.

BIO

Jaime had been born to Hiram Lodge and his slave, Prim Acosta. He was named John Acosta by Hiram when was born, and like many things in his life, he felt like that was unfair. He saw it was Hiram giving him a plain name, without a second thought, because he wasn't a legitimate heir in Hiram's mind. He was convinced that the only reason he was allowed to be raised in the same house as his siblings was because his mother had begged and pleaded to not have her son sent out for adoption. Every time he'd seen his angel of a mother being treated like the slave she was, Jaime grew more and more resentful of Hiram, and his half-siblings.

The issue was, though, that as much as he resented the Lodges, he wanted their approval so badly. He wanted the hugs that Hiram heaped on Alex. He wanted the respect Hiram had for Veronica and her sharp mind. He even wanted the arguments that Hiram and Claudia had. But what he wanted the most was to be looked at like he wasn't less-than, just because Hermione wasn't his mother. He wanted to not be looked down on because his mother was a slave. He knew that if he claimed as a Dom, he might be able to convince Hiram to give him Prim, and then he could work towards setting her free, even if legally she would be submissive. He'd told her about that plan before he'd left the house, and she'd made him promise to take his time at the institute seriously. If he wanted to claim as a submissive and lose the chance to potentially her, he should. She didn't want him taking risks that could end up with him in the same position as her.

That had put him in a bad mood and so, he made the decision he'd been mulling over for years, ever since accidentally seeing Hiram's birth certification when he was a child. On his 21st birthday, just a couple of days before he left for the institute, he made his way down to the town hall and changed from his name from John Acosta to Jaime Luna, Hiram's original name.

BIO QUESTIONS:

What are your feelings about the mark you have received?

I guess it feels about right. I was pretty sure this would be my mark. Part of me hoped I'd get the Dom mark though, seeing as there no Dom Lodges in this generation. That would've been sweet.

How do your feelings on the system compare to your parents’ feelings on it?

My mom's a slave so I'm guessing she hates it. My dad's her owner, so I'm guessing he loves it. I side with my mom.

Where do you see yourself after you graduate?

Running the family business. Or a slave.

How do you feel about authority?

Fuck authority.

#accepted #lawr