#Honestly slight teaser and spoilers from reading all that so HAVE THEM

[ray935sworld]

hi.👻 I hope you haven't read all the books in your library by the time I get here. There will be quite a lot of words next (I hope you don't mind and you really need it)🥳

"So you are telling me - a rookie and then newly crowned, pregant baby champion, that had a kid at 20 with literally his childhood hero, all while continuing to keep being on top in literally one of the most elite and dangerous sports in the world, was not acting like any other normal, rational human being? Because everyone else of us is 'normal'?" – FANTASTIC. THAT’s it.

"And because he was enjoying some time with his coworkers and making jokes, hugging them - he definitely slept with them?" "Yes! See?! Now you get it." - Well, yes. I smashed the table with my forehead. A mad man. Can anyone hear me? HE'S INSANE!.

«…smashing someone's head against a table in that statement.» = Oh, damn it. Am I predicting the future?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Good God, Dani brought a photo and what the fuck is this man saying!?

"I am sure Marquez has whored enough around that he maybe even sure himself who the father is."

Am I in hell?

"You don't know what to say so you're being an asshole to cover it up." – that's probably true. Someone is cornered.

«…Now look at them and tell me you really can't see the connection!" - See? I'm a seer. Well, tell us something back, old man.

«…and for a moment Dani was sure he was mistaken.» - You won't believe me, dear Dani, but that's how I feel about this whole terrible (ecstatic) story. It's like someone believes that all people have three heads. Well, these kinds of mistakes and follies, you know.

«"Why Luca was so distance after 2015. Why he kept going back to that asshole and the little bastard - He is David's father!" he exclaimed and with no hesitation as if he had spoken a widely known fact.» - Do you know what? They came for me from a mental hospital, it seems that I believe in three-headed people.

«"The fuck you just said?" Dani asked, wondering if he just had a stroke or something.» - I wish I could ask the same thing.

«"You're aware that Luca was just over 16 when David was conceived. Right?!" "Yes! So he was easy to manipulate. Poor boy and now he is stuck as a father to-"» - I've run out of words. Please. Get some help.

«And with that, Vale had managed to do what Jorge until now had failed to do. He found Dani's breaking point. The point where he lost his cool and was running out of patience at once.» -  just imagine Dani being so angry that it must be really intimidating? * sighs enthusiastically*

"YOU WILL ALWAYS BE OUR LITTLE BABY!"  -Oh, that's sooooo cute, adorable little baby.

«He heard a huffing sound, that could either mean begrudging acceptance or frustration» - ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE 😭💞

"Anyway, OUR LITTLE BABY-! is missing his papa and I'm missing my husband. Where are you?" he asked. - Aaaaaa. Stop it, it's so unfair. Why are they so beautiful?😭😭And he said that he misses him too, ahhh. They'll kill me.😭😭😭

"And how did someone even manage to reach his nose? As far as I'm aware you'd need a chair for that" - okay old married couple, i got you. I love you.

Okay, okay. I got you. I understand what you are trying to do (I can quote the following 5-6 paragraphs here, but I won't) - I UNDERSTOOD YOU, I LOVED THEM. I won't do it again, please forgive me.😭🙏❤

They're also flirting, Ray, why are you torturing me like that? (*Even more crying emojis*)

"Luca would never hurt Vale intentionally! Fucking hell, even when he disappointed him the most, he was still trying to help him and understand him! And he accuses him of something like that?!" - I wish I could ask the same thing. x2

"And you think he's still there? Somewhere... Deep under all the shit he's talking?" -  in fact, despite all my screams, for some reason I believe in it too. Maybe because I was promised a happy ending (but that's the least important reason). But something makes me believe it too.

«The boys came up with it after someone said that Vale might be projecting. That he had been the one cheating on Marc and turned it around to not be blamed.» - Can I just say that please don't. It will break my heart. But God, what if Vale was cheating on Marc? I honestly don't believe it. Maybe it's naive, but it's like Vale loved him too much for such a betrayal. Although considering what he really did to Marc (which is really nothing but betrayal), I don't even know... But yes. There were definitely manipulations * Uccio waves his hand frighteningly*.

"I am glad you still have hope, but I don't. I have a son to take care of. I can't afford getting thrown off by Vale. And getting my heart broken all over again. I need to be there for David" - Oh, my dear Marc. It's probably really part of parenthood to give up a part of yourself for the sake of your children's well-being. It's very painful at the same time, because obviously he hasn't stopped loving Valentino and probably now thinks that the broken heart is with him forever. But on the other hand, he must sacrifice all hope and be strong for the sake of David's well-being. And he decides not to try again. It's such a strong act, God, he's suffering so much. It hurts me so much.

«... Do you really think I - I - would abandoned my own child?"» - Well, I couldn't find the words for that. It will hurt a lot when he realizes that he has done just that. It's worth saying that the story with the photos immediately made me think about a paternity test, as it's obviously the easiest way. But what can I say. Valentino as we all can see, just simply denies reality.

«But the facts were proof enough. It wasn't Vale, standing on the side of a dirt track watching David. It wasn't Vale that was there with them, taking time off and using one of their rare breaks to look after a child.» It just hurt and hurt me so deeply that I don't even cry anymore. Please, at least let it end well.

well. Conclusions - pedrenzo deserves a thousand kisses here. They are so beautifully written, little pedro is just their son. I was so into them, all the little details, the jokes, and how beautiful their love is-God, it's just art.

Luca has once again been awarded the medal "the most sensible person from the locals".  I love it when characters in stories (especially side characters) actually do something, and not just be around, because in real life people always have their own opinions about the situation and one way or another they would try to do something about it. Anyway, Luca gets a kiss on the forehead, oh this beautiful man.

Valentino. Well. I wish you well. In hell. God, I felt such a sense of disgust for this man, but I have to say thank you for that. He is so well spelled out here that he almost causes hatred for his actions. Scenes with denial of real things, God he even almost accused Luka = it's just perfectly spelled out. And although I am horrified by his madness, it is perfectly shown here.

The only question I have is how much and for how long he will have to repent. Since the madness of such power cannot be brought back by a couple of even very sincere apologies. So someone will really eat two tons of glass first, and then...Well, let's see. To be honest, I really want to read this.

Well, thank you for agreeing to read my dissertation (takes off his glasses), I hope you were at least a little bit interested, and maybe even have fun.

PS, in fact, I glow every time I read your answers, and they always touch me to the depths of my soul. Thank you so much for your reactions, you make my day better when you respond. And then I walk around and smile.

 A thousand kisses to you and your writing 💖. And now and giving you a big hug)💞

OKAY - WOW. JUST WOW. OMG I am currently freaking out a little bit. So those -

That is my current state. Literally how I feel rn. THANK YOU SO MUCH OMG. I saw your ask yesterday (technically today ups) at like 2am and my brain didn't function anymore and I was just like "HOLY SHIT THAT IS ONE OF THE BEST ASKS EVER!!!!!" (like I'm already super happy about every ask no matter how long or short or detailed or not detailed they are BUT THIS WAS ON ANOTHER LEVEL!) And I read it and I was just grinning but my brain refused to do English so I put answering back to now and that's literally me while reading it.

Actually that's me whenever I see you or anyone in my inbox but that's NOT the point.

I LOVED reading your reactions. That was an amazing insight. Literally AAAAAAH! Screaming out of happiness! I love reading/ hearing people's reaction about certain scenes cause it helps me understand the readers perspective and get more on point with the most important stuff and where to put the spotlight. So THANK YOU for letting me have those insights!!!! AAAAH That's means so much to me!

Honestly that chapter was really more to set the "vibes" and put the positions in check. Spoiler: the next chapter will be out of David's POV and then later in the story there'll be more insight on Vale and his train of thoughts and emotions.

Yes. Yes I love Pedrenzo thank you very much. They are my favorite. I need them with their happy old married couple, playful nagging vibes raising a son that's just as chaotic as themself. Like I want them to influence Pedro like that. Honestly they made their appearance mainly to show that Marc and David get support by Pedrenzo and Pedro. Like David and Pedro basically both grew up in the paddock. (Pedro was born in 2011 btw so he was already 3 when suddenly there's a new baby hanging around his parents garages so he takes an interest in David and they get close and basically they are like brother. Plus Dani and therefore Jorge definitely helps Marc so imagine little David having a happy sleepover with Pedro at the Pedrenzo house (yes in that version they live in Andorra/ Spain not Switzerland) while the Marquez family are sorting out another bomb from Rossi. Basically they needed David out the house to figure out how to deal with Rossi.

Thanks a lot, again. I always try to kind of give the side characters their own storyline even if it's not fully explored because I mean everyone is the main character of their own story so when they get the spotlight I try to treat them like the main character. Really glad it seemed to work :)

Yes yes yes yes yes. Vale is deep down. Like really deep down. But what if I tell you he - AAAAGH There's so much more to his pov actually I can't wait to write it and to see your reaction (if you want to oc, no pressure). I think his pov will slowly start in like 2-3 chapters. I have honestly no idea how long this story will be. Probably long. Like VERY long I hope you have patience 😅

And to answer your question - he's gonna eat a lot of glass. Like A HELL LOT. He is put in every version of his personal hell in every possible aspect. Like I hope to write his own psychological torture when realizing what he did and that guilt WILL stay with him for long, maybe even for the rest of his life, it'll be present in waves, maybe triggers by clear issue his behavior caused in those affected (mainly David and Marc). Like he will face every trauma and trigger he created. And then if course there's the family reaction. Sure Luca is supportive but Alex? Jorge Lorenzo? The man who has an abusive father who knows what's it like to let someone in that has treated you like shit during your childhood (yes it was very different but trust me I'm gonna make it make sense)? Yeah he does has some words to say. And of course Roser and Julia. Not to mention that Marc can't just let Vale back in David's life again. And maybe even David is hesitant? To be fair I really can't promise how much I will actually write but there are a lot of thoughts. I can't say they will all make the final cut or be very detailed and laid out in actual scenes but it won't be rushed (probably)

And................... What if Marc (years after the reconsilation) gets pregant again? How would David deal with that? There's almost as much fluff as angst in that string tbh. I'm only saying it here already because I really don't know if I have the motivation to write that long and that far in this AU.

Well thank you very much for your dissertation. You're getting 18 Points! I have no idea how dissertation are grades so I'm using my uni system so 18 points = A+ so full points! 100%! I really enjoyed reading it, like always. It was amazing. Very Intresting and very much fun. And I hope you have a great day! 💕💕💕

Thousand kisses and a big hug right back ❤️

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

MARCH PICKS!!!

Life has gotten VERY crazy over the past couple of weeks (it feels more like months-time is irrelevant now). To escape watching the news again and again I have turned to TV and movies now more than ever. While some of these I watched at the start of the month, when life felt more normal, more have been added since “social distancing” and quarantine. But these are my top choices for the month overall. Some will seem familiar from my top Quarantine picks (check out that article if you’d like here) and that’s because many have been my recent watches. 

Spoilers ahead!

LOCKE AND KEY

I cannot stop talking about this show. It is no way similar to this, but I feel like I have not loved a Netflix show like this since Derry Girls last year. This is the show I keep asking people if they have watched it and telling them to if they haven’t. So you should watch this show :)

Locke and Key follows the Locke family as they travel to their father’s ancestral estate after his tragic death. It is their mother’s idea and the three Locke siblings don’t want to leave their home in Seattle and find it tough accumulating to their new home and school. The youngest son, Body, is the first to hear these magical keys that lead to the larger mystery of this story. When I finished watching I had to quickly jot down my notes on the show. I am so happy that I looked at Netflix’s Top 10 list to decide what to watch next. I got hooked easily and while certain characters had annoying moments, in the end I really liked them and cannot wait to see how the story progresses in season 2. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS...... I knew Ellie was going to be “Dodge” in the last episode when she got thrown through the door. It was just too easy. There was still like 20 minutes of the show left and then when she yelled out Tyler. It just felt right, but I was not expecting Gabe to be the 3rd personality! This echo really knows how to manipulate people. And now Eden too! 

The idea of having magical keys and the different powers for each was really creative and something I would have never thought about. Lots of people have compared it to Stranger Things, Narnia and Stephen King novels, and while those are somewhat accurate there is so much more to it. Must check it out for yourself!  

ONWARD

Before movie theaters closed (here in New York) I was lucky to see Onward in theaters. Even though I’ve already seen it, I am still very excited that it will be released to Disney Plus in a couple of weeks (days?) and is already available to buy digitally. 

Disney/Pixar had me guessing what this would be about for a while (like they usually do with their teaser trailers). But the more this was advertised, the more I got intrigued. It was a very cute film about the importance of family. Not just father and son, but also the bond of brothers. It took a slight turn I didn’t think we’d be taking, but am happy to see represented on the screen. I love all the moments the Dad did walking around (only a bottom half). It was pretty funny, especially when he had his top half on. I liked how they used a leash to keep track of him and how they communicated with him by tapping his feet. I think my favorite was the dancing though.  Super realistic with the whole driving thing and getting on the freeway. (When Barley says something about never being ready it felt very accurate.) I wish their dad could hear them though. I understand why he couldn’t, but still it would have been nice considering the ending. Loved the MOM POWER! She was fantastic. I loved her duo with the Manticore. I also liked how realistic it felt, well despite not having mystical creatures in our world. I liked how they focused on beings taking the easy way out and losing a piece of yourself and your history. I wish I could experience a quest like that.  

THE LODGE SEASON 2

The Lodge is a Disney Channel UK show that I was lucky to watch the first season of back in 2016 or 2017 (it’s so long ago I can’t remember). I kept trying to find the second season after it didn’t air on our Disney Channel, but had no luck. That is until Disney Plus. It wasn’t one of the first shows to air on the streaming service, but since coming out in November, the 2 season Coming of Age Musical Tween show is FINALLY available. I was thrilled! (If you can’t already tell.)

Naturally I started by re-watching the 10 episode first season. Each episode is about 25 minutes long, so it was a fast watch. I forgot how well I knew the story-lines and overall plot. For those unfamiliar with the show, the first season follows Skye Hart who is traveling back to the countryside with her dad, Ed to work (and own) the family’s hotel called the Lodge. Her grandad has been managing it for years and needs some help. Also after the recent passing of Skye’s mum it is nice for them to head back to somewhere that was so special to her. (This seems to be a common thread this month. Compared to Locke and Key this is a lot brighter.) Of course, the Lodge is experiencing some money problems so they have to solve that issue and fast because one guy in particular wants to buy it and create a luxurious spa resort (classic bad guy stuff). Skye winds up being the star of a reality TV show called My Amazing Life, which brings the publicity, but more drama than she intended. The show is filled with the classic teen drama: from love triangles to secrets and there’s also a mystery plot involving her mom and a mysterious man with the initials SJ. A bonus is the musical component. In true musical form the songs are often performed in the moment when a character is feeling sad or happy, but there are also concert performances on the show as well. Some of the songs are quite good and ones that I can’t get out of my head. 

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2

So, I definitely enjoyed the first season more than the second. Part of that was due to the plot. Obviously the Lodge was still not 100% solid, but I wanted to move past the money problems of the first season and explore some other stuff. (I don’t know what, but something else.) I also felt it was slower moving. While the episodes are about 25 minutes there isn’t much time to work with, but it often felt like we were still looking on a clue or hurtle for longer amounts of time then needed. I didn’t love the songs as much. Now as I am listening to some of them back I am liking more, but overall I thought season 1′s soundtrack was better. A lot of these songs sounded a like. I liked whenever Kaylee sang, but honestly thought she was singing the same song in a different version (now I know there’s about 3 different songs). Too much techno was used and lots of choreographed dancing that was at times strange. My biggest complaint was that Skye chose Sean over Ben, which was her biggest mistake. Throughout the season you could still see their chemistry in the looks they gave or moments that were said. (Her dad was the BIGGEST Team Ben fan.) But she only discovered it at the end when he was already with Danielle (wasn’t a fan of that ship either because of the way they rushed it). Even though there’s no season 3 (and it’s been years so it’s not coming) I will believe Skye and Ben are endgame. Because just look at them... 

Adorable. 

EMMA

Another one that the more I saw it advertised and read reviews, the more I wanted to watch it. I saw this in theaters after Onward, but just before major social distancing started. There were 5 of us total in the theater, which made it feel like out own personal home theater. Loved this movie a lot more than I thought I would. It paid homage to the novel really well as well as previous adaptations that came before it, yet still was recognizable as its own re-telling. For a full review check out my article: REVIEW EMMA (2020).

NANCY DREW

In the past few weeks (few episodes, actually) I have done a complete 360 with my opinion on the CW’s Nancy Drew. In this first season I was immediately intrigued to enter the mystery and explore a CW show without superheroes (which I honestly do love, but I like how the CW is expanding their shows again). In the fall I kept tuning in for new episodes, but as the season went on they would pile up on the DVR more. My main problem was the supernatural element. I didn’t understand why they had to have ghosts be real in this world. I wanted a classic mystery (I guess in the same vein as Scooby Doo, where the murderers were real people rather than a mystical entity). I started to get used to this element, but I didn’t love it. (This was the time when we had a lot of heavy supernatural material and possessions, etc.) My DVR didn’t tape episode 12, so I watched it through a YouTube review before watching the next one (you can see how much I cared then--now I would have opened the app and watched the episode for sure). The next episode was the Whisper Box, which was great, but it wasn’t until episode 14 that I truly fell in love with this show (and started to watch the episodes the day of). Part of it is definitely that I got used to the style of the show and also that parts of the mystery are starting to wrap up, but what I’m noticing is my main reason is Ace. His character continues to get more screen time and we continue to learn more about his life with every episode. I loved meeting his dad and seeing their relationship. His detective skills combined with Nancy are my favorite part about this show and I ship them so much now. He brings a humor to this show like saying he has enemies at the library. Nancy and Ace’s looks to each other as they read Lucy and Ryan’s emails while at the library. OMG the chemistry! If the writers don’t act on this relationship in later seasons, I don’t know what they are doing with themselves. It’s right there and yet Nancy has two other love interests right now. There’s been so many other things in the last few episodes and I am dying for this show to come back this upcoming week.  

I need more of these moments!!

PARTY OF FIVE

At the start of this month I had done a much better job watching this show and since then I haven’t been as good. I think I still have 5 or 6 episodes left, but I know it ended almost a month ago by now, so I will be able to catch up! I was familiar with the original Party of Five from the 90s and had wanted to watch that show for a while now, but due to the amount of seasons I hadn’t gotten around to it. So, once I heard this one was airing I was really excited to give it a chance. I like that it’s by the same creators as the first season and I can’t explain it, but I was really happy to see the iconic font with the title card. This show is so relevant for our current society. It addresses so many of the issues we face with the government today. Instead of having their parents die in a car crash like the original series, here they are deported which brings a whole other side to the story line. I like how we get to see the kids deal with them being away and the hope to live with them again while also seeing their current conversations. There’s so much drama and I am just hoping for some lightness at the end of this season because these characters deserve it! 

[beached-thing]

Reasons why Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was a trash fire (SPOILERS):

I say all of this with full awareness of the problem being that I’m a huge fan of the ‘08 Guardians comic, which the films don’t even remotely try to follow, but I’m still gonna bitch about it, so let’s go:

The infantilization of Groot (let’s kick off with possibly the silliest complaint). In the comics, Groot has the canonically highest IQ of the Guardians and is a literal genius. When he’s in small tree form, it’s how he regenerates, he doesn’t revert back to the mind of a child like in the films. As such, Groot’s characterization is the most wildly different between the comics and the movies, out of all the characters (but followed very closely by Drax). I get that cute mascot characters sell tickets but it’s just so devastating seeing our good tree boy get such mistreatment! Especially since, honestly, he was much less cute and much more annoying in this sequel than he was in the last installment. Sorry, but it’s true.

Gamora is still a characterless foil for Peter to touch without permission and forced to have some “unspoken” bullshit with. Peter and Gamora aren’t a couple in the comics and would never be, for the exact reasons we see in the film. But they pair them off together anyway cuz what’s a movie without a bad “guy pesters a girl into giving him a chance” trope subplot? Also, they retained Gamora’s laughably bad makeup and extensions from the first movie for some reason. Poor Zoe.

Speaking of which, why isn’t Mantis green?????????? She’s supposed to be like the exact shade of green Gamora is. Mantis is named mantis cuz, like, the fucking insect....which are greeeeeeeeeen. WHY ISN’T SHE GREEN? More importantly though, why isn’t she getting paired off with Peter like she ideally should be? This weird quasi-relationship shit with Drax is funny (and frankly, Drax tellling Mantis that being ugly is good is my favorite part of the film, for personal reasons I care not to share lol), but like, it’s obviously not gonna work out so why not put the canon ship back in the waters? (Because of my previous bullet point, unfortunately). I loved Mantis as a character though, well written and thoroughly enjoyable. By far my favorite character. I just want to her to be all happy with Peter and also BE GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN. Oh well. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll end up being a lesbian in the films since Phyla is nowhere to be found (I will return to this point btw, ready yourselves).

Drax. Oh Drax. I want to love you. You’re the main comic relief. And frankly you do a good job at it. But...I just prefer you as a stoic Riddick-esque character. I realize this is an unpopular opinion and I don’t know why I feel the way I do. But I’m just not feeling this new and possibly improved Drax. I get his appeal but...I’m not connecting. 

Rocket.................actually I don’t have any complaints with Rocket. He’s the only character that they are doing right by. If he’s not in the Captain Marvel film though, what’s even the point of making Guardians movies, ya know?

Peter, aka Shit-Lord: I HATE YOU IN THIS FILM. YOU WERE SO MUCH MORE LIKABLE AND TRUE TO CANON IN THE FIRST FILM. But they made Quill so fucking pushy and creepy toward Gamora in this one for the sake of a bad awful boring played out relationship dynamic so instead we got this motherfucker. Chris Pratt gave a solid performance, as he is prone to do, but the writing was bad and thus Peter was bad. Unfortunate. 

Yondu’s character arc was some bullshit. They worked so hard in the first movie to establish that Yondu was an abuser. Like, they told a very clear child abuse narrative. And it feels so cheap that they retconned it by going “See? He was a good father after all!” Hey Marvel, The Walking Dead wants its glorifying of a piece of shit storyline back. I don’t know, y’all. I’m willing to hear out redemption arcs, but this wasn’t even that. I’m gonna maintain that it was a retcon. It wasn’t a redemption arc, it was a retcon. I liked the original Guardians team teaser at the end of the movie though. Good stuff.

Stop teasing Cosmo if you’re not actually gonna use him. I get that adding a telepathic talking astronaut dog to a film would seem like a ridiculous move in any other film, but it’s very fucking okay to do it in this one. We have to see Howard the Duck cameos that literally no one on Earth cares about, but you won’t give us everyone’s favorite leader of the Guardians? Shameful.  

Nebula is not a compelling character. No slight to Karen GIllan’s performance, but like...who actually cares about Nebula? She’s boring and they probably brought her back to the sequel just so James Gunn could point to her and say “Hey look, we gave Gamora some slight character this time!” At least Nebula’s existence forced these films to pass the Bechdel test, I guess. Could be worse.

Why did they lay on the Hasselhoff references so fucking thick? One mention would have been slightly funny but they really kept pounding this joke into the dirt until it was a bloody lifeless corpse. What the fuck?

Brings me to my next point: so so so many out of place comedic moments and not enough focus on plot and characterization. The story was pretty standard comic book shit, but they could have gave us something with more punch if they had spent less time in the writer’s room giving Drax a bunch of jokes instead of investing in other characters and their motivations. There was something going on with Rocket, right? Who knows, not like they were dedicated to telling that story.

I’m not a huge fan of Peter’s father in the comics, but using Ego in this film to make Peter a god for like 5 minutes on screen just to rip the powers away in the end is...actually that’s such a perfect comic book thing to do. I want to criticize that but that might be the most comic book thing in the entire MCU.

WHERE. THE FUCK. IS PHYLA-VELL? I am fucking SEETHING. Phyla is my absolute favorite character in literally all of Marvel, and she is a core member of the Guardians, but is nowhere to be found. Almost like Marvel studios are fucking cowards that won’t put a canon lesbian up in their shit. Exactly the kind of bullshit you’d expect, unfortunately.

Moondragon? Nah. if they won’t put a lesbian in their film, they’re not gonna put a canon bisexual woman in it either. Fucking shameful, especially since her and Phyla are so magnificently gay for each other. We need that. We need that.

That’s all I can think of right now, folks, but I think that pretty sufficiently sums up why I have so many problems with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It just wasn’t very good, y’all. I hate to be that person, but read the comics, honestly. They are really really good and there’s a scene where Gamora gets burnt to the crisp saving the entire team from certain death, and lives cuz she’s a fucking badass with actual character and importance.

[maggins]

well it’s been a few days so i guess it’s alright to post this so here’s some of my thoughts on the live action BatB

tl;dr: I liked some of the new things, but I’m..... salty about others.

SPOILERS under the cut! mobile users please scroll through this! (sORRY it’s pretty long, I didn’t mean for it to get so long wOOPS;;; )

okay so I have been pretty excited about this movie since that teaser trailer came out bc wow the aesthetic possibilities that arose were pretty intriguing, and hey, it’s a Beauty and the Beast story, and I’m a goddamn sucker for those sO YAY

and...... I dunno, I went into this movie wanting to love it, and I think I came out just.... liking it. in terms of my opinion on Disney making live action remakes of their animated films, I’m kinda neutral; so far I don’t love them, but I also don’t mind them either. I thought Maleficent and Cinderella were okay, I didn’t think there was anything particularly extraordinary about them, but they weren’t all that bad either. Jungle Book was a pleasant surprise; I never really blogged much about it, but basically, I didn’t really know what to expect out of it but it ended up being my favorite out of those three in terms of giving a new twist to a familiar story (tbh it could also have to do with my personal experience with the original movies; I had never seen Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty as a kid, and only watched them much later on in my life and I guess I never truly appreciated them that much bc both films seem very much like products of their time; but I did own and watch a VHS of Jungle Book many times, so the nostalgia factor might be accountable as well)

Beauty and the Beast, however, is another matter. I have also never seen/owned this movie during my childhood (tragic, I know; the only times I remember seeing clips from it was in the trailers of my other Disney VHS’s). I believe the first time I saw it I was in my preteens or something, but boy did I ADORE this movie, even if it took me a while to get to see it. The music and characters and story and aesthetics.... mAN I loved it all

so since this live action adaptation was based on a more recent film that I quite adored, I got pretty excited for it! Like, sure, there wouldn’t be any way it would surpass the original, but at least I could get some new concepts and backstories to characters I loved! (the thing with the prince’s family they were hinting at in the teaser trailer got me sO EXCITED)

AAaaand I guess that’s pretty much what I got?? But still, there was something about the new movie that wouldn’t quite let me connect emotionally with the characters, and I’ve been feeling super salty about that??

I’ll be honest, I thought I’d cry when I would watch this movie and... I didn’t. I just... had so many nitpicks and I couldn’t stop thinking about them throughout the film, and I think that really damaged my enjoyment of it???

my major nitpicks:

I have a SERIOUS issue with the pacing/timing in this film. I think in the original, scenes would flow very neatly into each other, and it never left me with the sense of “wait, what??”. In the live action, I felt like some scenes were cut SO abruptly and some things were happening so fast it barely left me any room to let the emotions sink in; for example, I very SPECIALLY felt this on the scene were the Beast lets Belle go; like sure, I understand she has some urgency in going to her father, but in this version I barely felt anything from either of them, whereas in the original they at least take some time to convey that that scene was a goodbye, in the way that the Beast looks over the rose and weighs his options before saying he’s letting her free, and in the way that Belle reaches out to him in thanks before leaving

some acting?? I dunno, but at times I felt like they were just reciting a script and not acting it out... and it was seriously lacking in some gesticulation at times (I think this because I keep going back to the animated version and I feel that it is SO much more expressive than what they accomplished in the live action. Just compare both versions of Belle’s reprise scene; in the original Belle is just gesticulating and twirling around and looking the distance and wow that’s powerful stuff and it sticks with you; in the remake it felt more bland, like she runs up the hill and twirls once and then just.... stands there........ sigh idk)

the end scene?? it was supposed to be the emotional climax of the film?? and I think I ended feeling a LOT more for the servants turning inanimate than for Beast fricking dying in Belle’s arms??? like, I felt like there was supposed to be a “oh my god you’re here you’re actually here I’m so glad to see you again” moment between Belle and the Beast when he jumped to be next to her on the balcony, but they just stood there almost at arm’s length and I just wanted them to fucking hug or give each other some sort of physical reassurance?? after that I felt like Belle and Beast’s small dialogue before he dies was so rushed, it all just..... it felt bland to me; I dunno if it was really just me or something, but...... siGH

One thing I expected going into the movie was more layers/backstory to the main characters and on that account I wasn’t disappointed, like we DID get more on Belle and the Beast’s stories, but.... I left wanting even mORE?? remember me mentioning I was super pumped about the portrait of the Beast’s parents in the teaser trailer because holy shit I was so here for that!!!........ and then all we got was a few lines from Mrs. Potts and the first verse in the Days in the Sun song. that. was. it??!?

about the Dress Discourse™: I’ve seen the posts about it, and on that I say: it’s not an ugly dress per se, but I felt like it was the wrong dress for this movie. I think it failed to evoke the dress from the original movie, and it failed to evoke the time period. tbh I think that dress only looks nice when it’s actually moving, so I didn’t mind it too much during the actual dance scene. However in that little scene before that, when she’s just standing there at the top of the stairs, it..... doesn’t look iconic at all. OH, and that scene with the little gold details falling down from the ceiling/whatever to settle down on the dress....... yeah, I didn’t buy that. It felt superfluous, and I think what they were trying to do there was something along the lines of the dress scene in the Cinderella remake. But hey, it actually MADE sense to have a pretty/sparkly dress transformation scene in Cinderella because hey, it’s part of her actual story to have her rags turn into a beautiful dress. In this movie, however.... it made no sense for that scene to be there other than for the *・ﾟ✧sparkly✧・ﾟ* factor??? it was unnecessary, and tbh i think it robbed screentime from more important stuff 

I know I keep comparing both the original and the live action, and one might come at me like “you should treat each of them as their own thing!”; well, I honestly don’t know if I can at this point when a lot the live action is a shot-by-shot remake, and just... at least for me, in the shot-by-shot recreated scenes, there failed to be an emotional connection as strong as in the original movie, you know what I mean?.... A scene that’s coming to my mind is when Belle is making her way to the West Wing. In the original, she felt inquisitive, but also very cautious all the way there, with her walking slowly, and her slight hesitations in posture and gestures. In the remake.... I felt like she just speed-walked all the way up to the West Wing, the whole time I was like “girl, you’re in a completely new environment and you have no idea of what’s coming, there’s no way you’d feel that confident”

I dunno, I suppose I knew the remake wasn’t going to be as good as the original overall, but... it lacked the original’s charm, it didn’t suck me all the way through into the story and characters, and that’s been bothering me so much, man; I really wanted to love this movie and I was a bit disappointed :(

Now, were there things that I actually liked? yeah!

M A U R I C E. good gOD, he was fantastic, and I’m a much bigger fan of his live action version than the animated one. I loved that he was an artisan/artist, I love his and Belle’s relationship and how much they genuinely loved and supported each other. He was awesome, 1000/10, Dad of the Year™, would recommend (his fucking reaction to Chip was priCELESS friCK)

FUCKING EVERMORE HOLY SHIT TAKE ME THAT WAS AMAZING I LOVED IT SO MUCH you fucking GO, Dan Stevens

I feel that Belle and Beast had more moments together and I loved their bickering and bonding over books it was v nice~

I enjoyed ALL the musicals numbers sO MUCH; I loved hearing the old ones with a new twist and bOY they were such a delight to hear, I was grinning the whole time; and the new ones were wonderful too!! as you’ve noticed, I mcfreaking loved Evermore, Days in the Sun was a nice little tune that gave light to many characters’ feelings/backstories and I quite enjoyed that; and How Does a Moment Last Forever, however short it might have been between Maurice’s and Belle’s versions, was so wonderful and I loved that music box quality it had to it

Belle wanting to teach young girls to read? Being a tinkerer/inventor? fuCK YEAH I LOVED THAT??!?

aesthetically, the movie’s fricking GORGEOUS; that castle was incredible and I wanna go there

I kinda liked how they tried to cover up some plot holes from the animated movie? Like how they don’t mention how many years this curse has been going on, but it’s very clear that it was set when the prince was already an adult (unlike the he-was-supposedly-cursed-at-11-but-somehow-there-are-paintings-of-him-as-a-young-man thing from the original), and the curse also affecting the memories of the villagers, that kind of stuff was neat and I’m glad they thought of that

each time a petal falls the castle keeps falling apart and the servants turn more and more into the objets they were cursed into?? that was nEAT (and ultimately led to a pretty frickin tragic scene at the end yOU kNow THe oNE)

I loved Garderobe and Cadenza?? they were like an eccentric couple of travelling artists and bc of the curse they were separated in different parts of the castle bc they couldn’t move around too much and mAN I felt for them I loved them

I liked this new Beast; but in the point that I’m very much aware that he’s very different from the animated one, and I’m okay with that, you know, something a little different but that is still recognisable isn’t bad, and I love both versions of him. Good job, Dan, you did gr10

stuff I’m still pondering if I like or not??

I’m.... not sure how to feel about Agathe/the Enchantress?? like, woah okay it’s actually cool that she stuck around the area and didn’t just vanish after casting the curse, but... what was her agenda, exactly?? like, sure, teach the prince a lesson about inner beauty and yada yada; but I never got, and still don’t get why she ever felt the need to do what she did, both in the original film and in the remake. Also I have mixed feelings about her being there when Belle was crying over the Beast; like, I GET why she was there, technically they had run out of time and the Beast was fricking dead; but it also felt to me like she was intruding on a sensitive moment that was very much supposed to be Belle and Beast’s (one could argue the same thing kinda happened with Cogsworth/Lumière/Mrs. Potts being there in the original movie, but idk I didn’t feel their presence there as much as I felt Agathe’s in the remake)

AbOUT BELLe and tHE BeasT...... I’m reeeally conflicted about this, like I felt that there WERE more moments between them than in the original,  and I’m so here for that, but at times it also felt like they weren’t quite... connecting?? Again, I think the physical reassurance factor wasn’t quite as developed here as it was in the original, and I was quite disappointed by that idk

also about the thing with Belle’s mother and their magic-travel to Paris.... I know it was supposed to be a bit of a bonding moment between Belle and the Beast, but it also kept nagging at me that this moment should probably be hers and hers alone, and the Beast was just.... standing there?? I have a serious issue with some characters just standing there and doing nothing in certain moments in this film Like, if you’re going to have him there, at least have him comfort her in some way??? (again, pHYsiCAL reAssurAnCE iS imPorTAnt GuyS)

That’s.... all I can think of at the moment. At least, these were the major things that stuck out to me; I’ll be blogging more about this as time goes on in tag form, I guess. It’s weird, I’ve been feeling so salty because I wanted it to be so much more, and it just ended up being okay.

All in all, there were concepts introduced that I was really into, but as a whole it didn’t work all the way through for me. I’ll have the original film for that, I suppose

sHruGS