#0-30%

[horsefilmsrated]

Film Review: Hope Ranch (2020)

Alternate name: Riding Faith

Language: English

Date watched: 29 April 2023

Main horse actors: "Fancy" as "Faith"

Trope count: 9/25

Summary: Grace and her parents move from a small city apartment to a beautiful ranch in the countryside to rear cattle. Her father gifts her a horse he names "Faith" - "so you never lose faith". Then he goes off to war and dies, Grace begins to lose her faith in god and her mother realises that without her husband, she has no income and no way to keep the ranch that they promised would be their forever home. This film follows them as they attempt to raise money to keep their home.

In my opinion, this was just a terrible film. The acting was poor and over the top, there were abrupt and inconsistent transitions between scenes, and there was too much focus on faith and prayer instead of the characters actually making good decisions. It did have some nice cinematography and a beautiful horse, but that didn't really make up for the shortfalls.

The moral seemed to be: don't worry about making good decisions and thinking critically; just pray, and God will sort it all out for you.

---Spoilers beyond this point---

The main thing that drives the plot of this film is the bankruptcy that Grace and her mother struggle with after the death of Grace's father. The reason they're struggling? As soon as he dies, Grace's mother sells all the cattle on the ranch, which was the one thing making them money. So of course they then can't afford to pay the bills any more. As the bills start to pile up and calls from the bank roll in, Grace's mother ignores them and turns to prayer instead. Her pastor urges her to keep hope and faith and to "fight for your home".

Then the bank calls - again - and tells them that they'll be foreclosing the ranch imminently if they don't get what they're owed. Finally, Grace's mum is spurred into action. But instead of, say, getting a job, moving to a smaller home, or finding some use for the ranch that would make them money again, Grace's mum decides that she and Grace should just sell most of their possessions (because that's a sustainable option). They fill their front yard with all the junk they don't want in what they call an "estate sale" but really it's just a garage sale. Even after selling their car, old lamps, unwanted books and the dead dad's old army uniform and leaving their house almost completely bare, they still don't have enough money to pay off what they owe the bank. Shocker!

You should know what comes next in a horse film where poverty is a main theme: the horse has to go. Despite knowing that this horse is the single most important thing in the world to her daughter - the horse her dead father gave her - when a mysterious stranger turns up at her door and asks to buy Faith, the mother agrees. As they load up the mare, Grace comes flying out, shrieking for her companion. "Is selling her even enough money to pay off the bank?" she bellows at her mother. "No it's not but this, with the other money, it can pay back some of it, and maybe I can call the bank and negotiate" her mother wails back. "Maybe? MAYBE?" shrieks Grace. And she's got a point. What is the end game here? To sell literally everything you own and love - breaking your daughter's heart in the process - for what? To potentially earn enough to live on a completely empty ranch with absolutely no money left? Why? In what world does this make any sense at all?

When Grace's dad first dies, she loses her faith in god. Her mum, love interest and pastor all refuse to accept this and keep pressuring her throughout the film to start praying again and come back to church. Well, apparently losing her horse was the impetus Grace needed to turn back to religion. That night she kneels by her bed and prays, and in the morning, she joins her delighted mother at church, after - and this infuriated me - apologising for her behaviour the previous night. Does the mother apologise back for selling her beloved horse? No, of course not. But she very graciously forgives her daughter. I was exceedingly grateful that the film was nearly over at this point.

When they get to church, the pastor goes on a bit about charity and then calls Grace's mum up. "You prayed for a miracle", he says, and hands her an envelope. She opens it to find a check - money donated by the congregation - which is apparently enough to pay off the mortgage on the ranch. Not sure why they couldn't have donated the money a bit earlier, but whatever.

The mysterious stranger brings Faith the horse back home (of course), and then - in the last 7 minutes of the film - they realise that they need some kind of income to keep living on the ranch, at which point Grace suggests that they turn it into a riding camp. What a great idea! If the film had started with that, it might have been a decent one.

As it stands, this film really has very little going for it. There are definitely better horse films out there, and I'm sure there are better Christian films too. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

[purewasteland]

hello, people of planet earth.

[goldenpinof]

30 seconds in

[pinkhysteria]

HOPE & AURORA ⤷ parallels

[laurrelise]

peacefully scrolling through ao3 for a five + sibling bonding fluff fic because i was bummed about season 4 again and i suddenly come across…

………. mpreg five

[pilotstreets]

TONIGHT

[howtodrawyourdragon]

The Post In Which I Deduce How Old Baby Hiccup Was When Valka Disappeared

You know, in order to write this Httyd Retelling, I have to do some preparing. I have to collect plot points for future storylines, keep certain canonical facts in mind and take a closer look at certain scenes.

Like the flashback scene in which Valka gets taken, for example. Because that'll be a vital scene for the prequel-type fic that I'm currently working on.

And I don't think I've ever realized how truly young Hiccup was when his mother was stolen from him. And I'm not talking about how he was a baby, because that fact is obvious.

I'm talking about how it's possible he was barely 6 months old.

And there are a couple of things about the flashback that point to this.

When Cloudjumper finds Hiccup and appears to play with him, I notice that Hiccup is:

Laughing

Grabbing Cloudjumper's wing talon

Clapping once (which could be a fluke as he is waving his hands around wildly)

Appears stimulated by Cloudjumper's attention and actively seeks interaction

Now, the laughter I won't waste much time on because I don't really see it as an indicator. On average, it starts as early as 4 months, but in my experience that highly depends on the child. I've seen a 3 month old laugh, I've seen kids not start laughing until they were almost 1.

Points 2 through 4, though, are much more interesting as what Hiccup is exhibiting is actually not "true" play, but rather hints that Hiccup is still actively learning to interact with the world around him. This may seem strange for people who don't interact with babies and toddlers on a daily basis, but children actually have to learn to play and this starts by interacting with the world around them.

Putting a variety of things in their mouths, sucking on things, grabbing things (like Cloudjumper's talon), shaking things, etc. This is usually how a baby between ages of 4 to 6 months old begins to learn how to play.

You can try to offer toys to a 3 month old, but chances are they won't do anything with it or even react much too the toy at all. Older than 6 months old, it's possible you can see them actively pick what interests them to inspect rather than simply put whatever they've been giving in their mouths.

In my personal experience, it's not until around 4 months old when babies start to show interest in the things around them. (Which doesn't mean you shouldn't try to stimulate your child by at least offering a toy before that time, we do.)

Something else of note in this scene is:

Hiccup can't sit up

No teeth

Hiccup simply lying there swaddled in a cradle is actually a big indicator that, not only is he not sitting up yet, but he doesn't appear capable of rolling over.

And if you think "Oh! but that's because he's swaddled in furs!" Wrong! Babies of any age are surprisingly determined. If a baby wants to roll over, they will fidget their way out of the swaddle and roll over. In no good conscience would Valka or Stoick leave Hiccup in a cradle unattended if this child showed signs of rolling over.

Now babies can start rolling over as soon as 4 months. (If you know what that looks like, it's quite an endeavor, takes a lot of manuevering, which the previous unattended Hiccup didn't appear to be doing)

And I know you may be thinking; "doesn't that mean Hiccup is younger than 4 months in the flashback?" I don't think so simply because of how he reacts to Cloudjumper, whose attention and stimulation he actively seeks out. Rather, I actually think Hiccup is a little bit of a late bloomer physically.

He was canonically born prematuraly, to the point that his mother feared he wouldn't make it. And often when a child is a late bloomer physically, they actually usually end up ahead of the other kids in other areas. Like mentally, verbally, or with their finer motor skills.

In my experience, children who can walk by the time their first birthday comes along, take longer to even begin to start talking. (which takes the form of making sounds. Not forming words, but voluntarily making sounds)

Meanwhile kids who are barely crawling by their first birthday are usually already showing signs of forming words (usually done by trying to repeat sounds they hear others in their life say) and verbally responding back to the people in their life (though through sounds and not actual words)

Being late in his gross motor skills while actually excelling in his finer motor skills and speech seems in line with the Hiccup we know and love. Even between the ages of 15 and 18, he still appears to be a bit of a late bloomer. The example I'm thinking of is how he can work years in a forge, yet struggle to pick up a single weapon versus to 3 years later when he's a swordsman himself and picks weapons up with no problem now.

That brings me to the lack of teeth.

On average, babies will begin to teeth between the 4 and 7 months old. From my personal experience, it tends to start much closer to 7 months than the minimum 4 month mark. I've even looked after plenty of children who didn't start to teeth well beyond the 7th month mark. (even had one who didn't start teeth until they were almost 1 and then suddenly got multiple teeth in at once.) Hiccup has no teeth.

So lets line all of the evidence up.

In the flashback, Hiccup:

Actively seeks interaction with Cloudjumper

Actively interacts with the world around him, but doesn't know play yet.

Responds positively to Cloudjumper's stimulation

Doesn't yet appear to even try to roll over

Has no teeth

And all of these points point to the very likely scenario that Hiccup was only 4 to 5 months old when he and Stoick lost Valka.

4 to 5 months old.

That's hella young to be losing your mother, a terrible time to lose your wife and mother of your very young child and, honestly, a terrible time for a mother to have her abduction be preceded by watching her premature son and her husband almost die due to her lack of actions.

I realize that I'm ending this post with a hot take, maybe even an unpopular opinion, but as it already takes months for a parent who gave birth to feel somewhat normal again even without breastfeeding their child... No wonder Valka, in this highly sensitive and vulnerable time, internalized that both Stoick and Hiccup would've been better off without her.

Valka, who:

Was still on month 4 after her pregnancy, meaning her hormones would've still been all over the place

Had to breastfeed with a lack of better options at the time, meaning it would remain that way for quite a bit

Had a traumatic labor that involved nearly losing her son

Her son who was born much too early, which would come with complications (right down to getting him to eat at all, for example)

Almost watched Hiccup and Stoick die in a fire right before she got abducted by a dragon, which would've meant hours if not days or weeks of believing she was going to get eaten

Doesn't mean she just gets to stay away for 20 whole years, but it definitely puts a different perspective on her sudden departure from Hiccup's life.

Everyone in the Haddock family was hurt that day. Though, the biggest victim of all was that literal 4 month old boy.

Video from SoloMinike-Movies & Shows scenes HD for reference.

[b33-fus]

Fallout New Vegas Playlists!!!!

As I said yesterday, i was makin a playlist for Doctor 8 and 0, but i got a little carried away and made some more for other characters i like, so here you guys go!

Benny:

Doctor 8/0:

Doctor Borous:

Arcade Gannon:

Mr. House:

Victor:

And here are two more made by the beloved @paper-plate-smile

Yes Man:

Joshua Graham:

I just threw these together today, so chances are, ill be adding a ton more and editing as time goes on, if i have the energy i might actually draw new covers just for the playlists. I tried to use my own drawing but the only one that couldnt work was victor since ive never drawn him before But yeahhhhhh!! there you go =] silly fallout new vegas playlists for you goobs

[vanteguccir]

can I, as a writer, take a second to be a little selfish and say how not receiving as much feedback as I used to receive just some weeks ago is SO demotivating? ;(

[tigersharktheautisticseawing]

gravity falls fic/au concept (billford, romantic if you squint hard enough, mostly platonic tho)

Theraprism, and for some reason Ford is brought into the process (maybe they got drunk married or as a "apologise to the people in your past" type of thing) and Bill is fucking furious with Ford because he destroyed the last of his home dimension. And the Axolotl decides that Ford's "breaking the ice" activity will be trying to make Bill trust him enough to give him the story of his home dimension, and Ford's like "He actually told me that a while ago, but he probably lied lmao" and describes what Bill told him, and the Axolotl says that it matches their notes in every aspect that they have notes of, and they know the notes to be true. Then the Axolotl gives Ford the task of finding out the monster's name, telling him that "they must be brought in, it's an important step in getting Bill to heal from it"

After this shenanigans ensue, as they spend time in the theraprism and maybe even outside of it after a while, bonding and stuff and trusting each other again

Then after a while Ford asks "Hey, so what was the monster that destroyed your home dimension?" and Bill kinda repeats the whole 'it'll eat you alive' thing, and Ford just says "I'm stronger now lol, besides I just wanna research something so powerful that it destroyed an entire dimension!" and Bill kinda shuts it down and they keep going back snd forth about it, until one faithfull day, after Ford says something to the effect of "We'll find it and things will get better! Maybe killing it will help you get over it!" Bill just snaps and basiically screams at Ford that he did it, it was his fault, and he is fully responsible for it

Then Ford stares at him and says "You said a monster destroyed your dimension"

And Bill says "That wasn't a lie then, was it?"

And hurt/comfort ensues they roprt to the Axolotl (who probably knew it the entire time lmao, just wanted Bill to have some other fucking creature to talk to other than the drawing of his parents)

This can also get merged with another AU I was spinning around in my brain, basically Bill cracks when his mental state goes really really bad, and his first crack, placed under his bricks that weren't there at the time, happened when he killed his dimension, and as he lost more and more he just kept fucking cracking, and he has panic attacks, mental breakdowns and all the juicy stuff, meanwhile the Axolotl is just straight up tired, cuz this mf acting all unbothered like the only reason he even was in his office wasn't the fact that he hgad a violent panic attack caused by not being able to remember which parent was which color and how they looked like less than 10 minutes ago

[howtodisappearcompletelyand]

20/10 stars little guy

[purewasteland]

we were very fortunate.

[goldenpinof]

character development for anon

[mallardducksaysquack]

POV: You wake up in the morning (yes, MORNIG) and see the face of the one you love.

You know that He accepts you for who you are and loves you back.

The birds are chirping.

The leaves are rustling in the wind.

Your depression is gone.

You look back in His glistening eye.

He knows you can do this.

You know He knows you can do this.

You know you can do this.

You can do this.

[letthewhumpbegin]

Whumptober 2024, day 30 Prompt: hospital bed @whumptober

Hawaii Five-O, 10x22

[teruel-a-witch]

steve is a ride-or-die husband in married for real

doesn't even ask why danny wants to kill someone, just who, and immediately assumes they will be doing it together, just like everything else.

all jokes aside about how deeply married they are, genuinely it's astounding how truly intertwined their lives are. 'your problems become my problems'. just like in a real marriage there's a certain entitlement towards each other's possessions, 'what's mine is yours and viceversa'.

steve drives danny's car and even danny slips and calls it 'our car'

danny calls steve's living room 'our living room'

'why is he mad at us?' 'must be your fault' aka they share enemies and grudges

steve helps himself to danny's wallet (basically pooled finances) but also drops exorbitant amounts of money on gifts to danny and grace

danny wanders into steve's house without knocking and helps himself to steve's fridge whenever he feels like it

not to mention how possessive he is over steve's kitchen and is indignant when he sees another man using what's his (because when he lived in a shitty apartment he basically used it whenever to learn to cook properly as by the end of s1 he's clearly cooked steve breakfast enough times that steve knows he hates his eggs)

'what are WE thinking, buddy'

co-parenting danny's kids together (steve even calls grace 'my girl' and worries about her being sent to a school that's gonna be a den of sin)

'if a guy was taking pictures like that of my daughter I'd kill him' 'me too'

when danny gets called away for work steve finishes charlie's bedroom by himself and then tells charlie danny did it just like a stay-at-home parent covering up for the busy parent

danny delegates activities he doesn't want to do (jogging, training, surfing) but steve would love to do to him so they are both contributing in raising grace. (meanwhile he hates that stan is paying for her tennis lessons, intruding on something danny willingly lets steve in on)

steve sees danny's retirement as their business, 'our retirement'

they go 50/50 on a restaurant which is danny's dream and steve is nothing if not a supportive husband

all the times danny stays at the house for weeks rent free (and sleeps in steve's bed while house-sitting and blames it on the dog) and moves in twice, second time permanently

dreams of shared future together, 'this is how I always thought it was gonna end, two guys sitting on the beach, watching sunsets'

they really are married in all but the legal sense. it's a mutually beneficial partnership where they are equals not in the sense that they literally contribute the same amount but they contribute what they can in accordance to their ability and compromise and fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. they even have an almost innate telepathy only characteristic of people that have been married for decades.