#IMDb isn’t helping

[crabtreee]

Hi I’m going insane is that R.H. Thomson (Mathew Cuthbert in Anne w an E) in tonight’s episode? Thx in advance.

[tremordusk]

Episode 5 Theory: Agatha's Trial is not what it seems (Part 4)

They took the time to bury Sharon… so why didn’t we see Alice’s burial? 

Alice is alive because this is Lilia’s vision of Agatha’s trial that has been warped by Teen’s subconscious insecurities. 

Here’s why:

Ali Ahn is credited for 8 episodes on IMDb.

Alice showed up episode 2 and there is a total of nine episodes so that means she’s in 2-9. 

The lyrics of Alice’s mother’s song: 

“Wherever it may bend, I’ll see you at the end.” 

Is sung by Alice during her trial and could potentially be foreshadowing that Alice is waiting at the end of road or will be waiting at the end of the road (because it’s Lilia’s vision) for her coven. 

Agatha looking at the power she “stole” at the end of the trial:

Agatha’s glancing at the power she drained from Alice and after a moment it fades to dust in her hands— I don’t recall that happening in Wandavision. 

Rio’s lack of appearance

Doesn’t help that there’s a change in the music that sounds sinister as if Death is coming to collect — and Rio was laughing when Death was mentioned. 

The image above is Rio eyeing the body. This also supposedly confirms Alice's death.

If Teen is subconsciously affecting Lilia’s vision of Agatha’s trial then this is him drawing conclusions that Rio could be literal death -> which is something he wants to avoid (but why?). It’s mentioned as one of the rules of the board, “don’t talk about death”. 

Upon returning to the road Rio is nowhere to be seen especially as Teen reveals himself and tries to drown Agatha and co. 

^ could be explained that she stayed behind to reap and properly bury Alice, but I just said Alice is alive… so this either is where Lilia’s vision becomes foggy and Teen’s insecurities go completely rampant or:

The opposite that Teen is consciously aware of warping Lilia’s vision of Agatha’s trial. 

There’s been theories that he’s working with Mephisto (and Mephisto was mentioned in this show)…either he could be working with Mephisto and/or Rio could be too. 

I had two ideas about this:

He’s not fully alive due to the whole Westview incident and therefore is afraid subconsciously/consciously of Rio collecting him. 

I don’t have much evidence besides the Knight of Wands to support this: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/knight-of-wands.htm#:~:text=In%20its%20upright%20position%2C%20the,to%20finish%20what%20we%20start.

Upright meaning could be Alice while reversed is warning about Teen.

Lilia calls out this card when Alice steps in to save Agatha. That’s why I mention her here. 

Upright meaning: represents a surge of energy, daring adventures, and self assured confidence. It signifies the completion of tasks and the fulfillment of goals. In short urging us to finish what we start. The knight ushers in the spirit of the hero, brave and rebellious and moves towards positive changes with an open mind and free spirit. 

^ could mean the trial is only beginning or that Alice’s purpose was complete but Alice is alive so it could mean the detour or that Alice proved (will prove) herself worthy of getting to the end of the road if she continues her self growth. 

Reverse meaning: warns against arrogance, lack of self discipline and recklessness, fear and lack of enthusiasm or ambition. The Knight advises caution and encourages us to think before we act, and to avoid rushing in without considering the consequences.

^this is representing Teen and his current condition of consciously/subconsciously being hasty or allowing his own fears and ambitions cost him what he wants from the road and the coven. And supposedly if he isn’t fully alive being represented by the Knight of wands shows he’s yet to become a “real boy” (Pinocchio reference XD) 

All this warning of what IS to come because remember I said this is Lilia’s VISION of Agatha’s trial that has been WARPED by Teen. 

OR: He and Rio both work for Mephisto but both are under different orders and Teen doesn’t want Rio to out him to the coven. 

Reasons for this one? (still Lilia's Vision)

Episode 4: Rio isn’t trying to hide anything, she’s blunt and opened up about Agatha being her scar -> She's a wild card.

Rio knows Teen isn’t Agatha’s son (THIS we have confirmation)

^ who’s to say that Rio most likely knows his identity (or that he's not Agatha's son) and could tell on him at any time? 

That would ruin his current relationship with Agatha if he hasn’t already. 

Better to dispose of Agatha through a vision while Rio isn't looking ;)

Conclusion: 

To close up one more thing: Teen’s mind bringing in the Salem Seven is a normal process of the brain organizing and processing information -> dreams/visions are kooky sometimes. That would also explain Jen’s sudden increase in hostility, everyone going along with punishing Agatha, how the other’s react differently to Alice’s passing versus Sharon’s. Also, the lack of element and moon phase and no change in the aspect ratio.

Alice is alive 

Teen is avoiding Rio

Lilia is having a messed up vision of the future.

(Lilia’s vision) Agatha’s trial got hijacked by Teen’s insecurities. 

Episode 5 is Agatha’s trial but it’s Lilia’s vision of the future BUT it is warped because of Teen having been in a high stress/extreme blood loss state 

Sorry for the super long theory but I just thought of it >•<

Part 4 of 4

Previous:

[akookminsupporter]

Hi - don’t want to spread negativity but have you seen that mean spirited people are leaving awful reviews on IMDb for AYS?! The third one in this picture is just so cruel and the last one mentions “an unsettling undercurrent” throughout the whole show?! What the hell does that mean?? If Icould encourage people to leave nice reviews there, just spreading the word:’(

(Idk if these are tkkrs or antis or what, but jkkrs ik would never leave reviews like this on something … surprised by it really. why do they feel the need to do this? and the reviews are so harsh and very strangely written tbh.)

https://x.com/koominiest/status/1828088531291607060?s=46&t=1vpxCz-hcEUUJGzw7h18UQ

Honestly, talking about this won’t change anything. Calling these people stupid won’t help either. What will help is going to the IMDb page and leaving positive reviews.

The difference in comments and ratings isn’t that big, but it’s important to leave good reviews and ratings.

So, create an account and leave positive comments and a good rating. Basically, just tell the truth.

[musingsofaraven]

I’ve seen the speculation about an intimacy coordinator having been hired for a couple of upcoming episodes of Agatha All Along, and I think we need to understand a few things about that job.

First of all, IMDb isn’t always correct. Sometimes people are added as attached to the show who are not. Someone will be listed in the credits if they have hired an intimacy coordinator.

Second, intimacy coordinators have a few responsibilities, and not all of them are used during a production as it depends on the needs of the production. Sometimes they help coordinate with the director to translate to the actors how they want the scene shot. Sometimes they act as an advocate for the actors with the director/producers so those crew don’t plan a scene that’s out of line for the actor’s contract or what the actor is comfortable performing (and that includes all kinds of “intimate” scenes, including ones with just kissing). Sometimes they’re almost like a choreographer, planning out how a scene can be shot so the actors feel comfortable and the director gets the kind of shot they want, or even helps modify the shot so that it looks sexier. Sometimes it’s working with the costume department to get the most appropriate coverings for the actors, or get the kind of coverings they feel comfortable with.

You can think of an intimacy coordinator like a stunt coordinator. You don’t want your actors doing stunts they’re unprepared for or don’t feel comfortable doing. It’s the same with intimate scenes. Historically, intimate scenes are ones where the actors are naturally in a vulnerable position, especially women actors. Intimacy coordinators help protect the actors.

[wr8tur]

Best case scenario, the road gives these witches what they need: a true coven.

Based on the info given, except for teen, they’ve spent a significant amount of their lives alone. If the road is meant to give what they need, I’d think what they need isn’t power or to unbind, but a coven who accepts them despite their perceived faults.

Agatha’s observation about Jen was correct. Jen craves to be part of the Witch community. Being bound might have lead her to lose credence from fellow witches and respect given the circumstances of how she’s bound. It affected her confidence with her craft so it would make sense why she wants to accepted back in the fold.

Lillia, from what we’ve see in her flashbacks, suffered through a plague of some sorts? Perhaps failing to predict this led her to lose confidence in her craft. The death of her coven which she couldn’t prevent had her build up this wall. There would be no one to worry about, to save, if she didn’t care about anyone. But her nature is nurturing so she can’t help herself. I think maybe this could be the cause for her Seer’s Tourette’s? She tries to keep herself from seeing, from helping, but her true nature prevents her from turning a blind eye.

Alice rejected her witch lineage due to the belief that her mother was insane. She tried to stay away from The Craft but now that she knows it’s real, now that she knows her mother was right, she can finally embrace her gifts and all that she rejected. (This is of course assuming IMDB is right and she’s still around somehow)

Teen’s motivation is still unknown but I bet his story is in line with wanting his family back.

Agatha, well we all know how she’s been persecuted. How everyone has these preconceived notions about her and from what we’ve seen I think it’s safe to deduct she’s lived with this prejudice all her life. She had no one in her corner.

Rio seems poised to accept Agatha but there’s something holding her back.

I wish this ends with them all happily accepting their places in a true coven they seemingly slapped together out of desperation.

But I have the feeling it’s more likely to end with Rio being the villain the survivors have to face at the end. Agatha doesn’t get a lover but she gets sisters and a pseudo son in Teen.

[bisexualcage]

Stunt Work, PART. 2 | Johnny Cage x Trans Male | MDNI 🔞, NSFW!!

part 1 here <-

After that first time you thought Johnny wasn’t the type to stick around, nonetheless the one to keep up with the people he hooks up with— but you were wrong of course. You both exchanged numbers after wrapping filming and that was it for a few weeks, he kept texting you constantly asking when you’re off. But you were a busy guy, you had stunt work to do for another film you were working on— as much as you wanted to see him again.

“It’s been 2 weeks, sweet cheeks…come on!”

“I told you, diva, I’m busy.”

“I’m busy too stud. U ain’t special in that. I want 2 see u.”

��You wanna get pegged that bad?”

“Yes ;) but also…I just wanna see that pretty face of yours…what do u say?”

You were smiling down at your phone till you hear the director of choreography call you over to the practicing mat to practice your stunts for a future scene. About half an hour passed of you sweating and grunting all over the mat, you were exhausted and so was the choreographer.

“Alright, one more time and we’re calling it a day. Now— come on.” The choreographer motioned you over as he breathed heavily.

You walked over and got in to a fighting stance in front of him, you wrestled and tumbled until he had you in a headlock.

“Loosen up on the headlock, bro.” You grunted,

“We’ve done this about 30 times— now break out of it as I’ve shown you.” He talked down your ear behind you, holding you in a tight lock.

“Alright alright-“ you said quickly and winced, as you were about to break out of the headlock you hear a sort of commotion on the other side of the filming set. A bunch of filming crew and cast running to the entrance of the set. Then you heard people yelling “Johnny!” and you froze in your spot.

“Hey, no distractions. We gotta finish this.” The choreographer director tightened his grip around your head making you annoyed.

“Dude- who the hell is there?” You groan at him. Your heart accelerated and your breath came in short.

You knew exactly who it probably was causing a frenzy like that, but the question was how the hell did he know where you were at specifically and what film you were shooting when you never regaled him in those details.

“Don’t know and I don’t care if it’s Jesus Christ himself- now-“ he tried to finish but got shortly interrupted.

“What do we have here, huh?” Johnny walked up to the mat, his hands on his hips as he sported his usual smirk looking down at you both in a rather complicated position.

Your head shoots up, “What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?”, and in a quick motion you flip the choreographer from behind over your shoulders, making him land on his back on the mat.

Johnny makes an impressed expression, looking down at you with a lustful expression that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. “You didn’t reply to my text, stud! What else was I supposed to do?”

The fighting choreography groaned as he got up and sent glares at both of you, “this isn’t a get together for your Hollywood friends to come to— this is a filming set.”

Johnny chuckled at the man’s hostility, “Don’t worry, I cleared it with the filming director. He’s a good buddy of mine. So is G.I Joe here…” he looks at your sweaty frame, up and down. The choreography noticed this and rolled his eyes as he walked off.

You scoffed loudly, wiping your brow at his nerve— but you couldn’t hide how amused you were at his dedication. “Again, are you out of your mind? How the hell did you find me?”

Johnny walked closer to you now, taking his shades off, “I have connections— plus your IMDb is pretty informative. Said this film was in pre production and I got to calling a few contacts of mine as to its filming locations, and WALAH! how’s that for smart honey?” He cocked his eyebrow up.

You couldn’t help but shake your head with a slight grin at the edge of your lips. “All of this because I didn’t answer your text? I was obviously working.”

“Oh I saw. Two weeks without seeing you and you’re already snuggling with Mr Choreographer, huh?” He said in a humorous tone but his eyes betrayed him, a jealousy behind them.

You huff incredulously, “We were clearly practicing. What’s it to you anyways? You’re putting your image at risk by interrupting pre production and being seen with me.”

Johnny’s expression turned unreadable and his smirk was gone, “I know, I know, it’s dumb. But I can’t help but not give a shit-“

You’re taken aback at this, rubbing your neck and not knowing what to say; “Johnny, the first time we ya know…” you clear your throat trying to word it well, “…you went on about how important your self image was…not wanting stuff to get out.”

Johnny sucked his teeth in, clearly conflicted; “Yes, listen- these past 2 weeks I haven’t been able to concentrate- can’t sleep, hell- I can’t even eat, it’s like a disease.”

You make a confused expression, “What…?”

The star’s expression becomes humorous again at your confused face, “Sweetheart, I’m trying to….say I like you….probably too much for my liking.”

There’s a silence that grew, your face turns red. You knew there was some sort of mutual interest but you didn’t know it had the man practically insane. It made your stomach erupt with butterflies.

“I do too. But you and I know this…is risky with me being a guy.” You say with slight solemn on your face.

Johnny scoffs loudly, “That’s the thing— I don’t give a flying fuck. I came all the way here for this I can’t take it anymore not being able to just…be me. You’ve taken over my brain ever since we… it’s like a spell- you’re driving me crazy.”

You were speechless, blushing of sorts, the film crew around you trying to get an earful of what Johnny was hissing at you. “Oh brother…” you touch your chest, “You just gonna dump all of this on me on a Tuesday morning?”

Johnny doesn’t budge and stares at you with undeniable longing.

“Can we do this somewhere else?” You sigh and whisper, signaling towards your trailer.

—

Once you’re both in your trailer before you can’t even turn around and speak with him, he rushes over and brings you for a soul crushing hug, burying his face in the crook of your neck. As if it would kill him if he parted with you. This wasn’t just sexual longing, this was also something else entirely. So you rubbed his back softly.

“Are you okay?” You whisper in his ear.

“Fuck, you probably think I’m looney.” He mumbles against your neck, his hug growing tighter.

“I- I dont. Just tell me what’s up?”

Johnny didn’t say anything for a whole minute, just mowing over how to say things as he held you. “My dad was an asshole. I hated him as much as I tried to please him. Made me hide things that made me…well ME. Was like that for years. All I ever wanted was to make him proud, but it was never enough for him. He called me a ‘pussy’ when….” He trailed off, pausing for a second before resuming; “…I cried over a neighborhood cat getting ran over. I was 8. That type of crap…sticks with you— I guess what I’m trying to say is…that first day I was with you, when we talked, I didn’t feel judged or denied or ridiculed for the first time ever.” He pulls you a bit tighter against him.

You hug him back, rocking him back and forth, after a while of silence you speak up; “Is…is your dad still around? Did he know about ya know…you swinging for both teams?”

Johnny tenses up slightly and pulls back as he looks at you in the eyes now, his arms still around your waist; “I don’t know, haven’t seen him in years, he probably suspects something but I don’t give a shit .”

Nodding understandably, “Johnny…why did you tell me all of this?” You look at him softly.

Johnny brings you in again but this time crashing his lips on to yours, making your eyes widen but then slowly relax as he kept shifting his lips against yours. There was hunger behind it, the way he tried to basically inhale you. When he finally pulled back he leaned his forehead against yours with a smirk, his big brown eyes boring in to your shy ones; “I usually wouldn’t— but I can’t help but spill like a can of beans. It’s sick- you’re making me ill and vulnerable-“ he says with a hint of humor as he touches your nose with his.

You chuckle softly, “Oh hollywood, what am I gonna do with you?”

Johnny’s eyes turn lustful, “Peg me…that’s what, honey.”

“You’re still with that?” You chuckle with a blush.

“Hey! You said you would!” He does a mocking pout.

Walking over to your dresser you look through it and take out a box, Johnny following behind you like a tail. You open the box in front of his curious eyes, taking out a black strap on. His eyes widened and then a smirk appeared.

“I’m not sure you can take this, superstar.” You grin back and laugh at how silly it all was.

“Oh you don’t know what I can or cannot take, sweetheart.” He bit his lip as he leaned in pressed his lips against your neck. “I’m gonna take you.” He whispered against your skin, his breath warm.

Goosebumps appeared all over your hot skin as you let him trail wet kisses down your neck to your collarbone, you close your eyes and let out soft noises. After a minute, without warning he begins to pull his pants down and your eyes widen still not used to it.

“Your confidence never ceases to amaze me, Cage.” You smirk as you seem him in his boxer briefs.

“Hey, I gotta live up to my reputation hotshot.” He approaches you and starts unbuttoning your shirt, slowly with precision. Studying your reaction as he did one button at a time. His brown eyes glancing down at your semi revealed torso and then up at your reddened face. He was so gentle, so careful.

“I have a binder underneath …I’d prefer if that….” You trail off, slightly nervous.

Johnny nodded and undid the last button but not before cupping your cheek in his hand; “You want me to leave it on, sweetheart?”

You nod, shyly, looking elsewhere. “Yes. I know it’s not healthy to…leave it on while engaging in…ya know, but for now…”

He slides your shirt off, your black binder underneath being shown for the first time, he studies it before looking back at your expression; “You okay with this? You can just tell me to go to hell-“

You chuckle, “It’s fine, Hollywood.”, you start unbuttoning your pants now, leaving you in your briefs.

Johnny gives you a grin before removing his own shirt and pants in a jiffy, there was a gleam of excitement in his brown eyes as he almost tripped while taking his pants off which in turn made you giggle.

“So I assume you’ve done this sort of thing before?” You raise an eyebrow at him.

Johnny snorts, “Of course I have, that being said— please tell me you’re gonna lube it.”

“I’m not a novice at this, why do you think I own one?” You start looking for the lube in your drawers.

“Bad, bad boy.” He sends you a wink.

When you find it, you start lubing the strap on, giving Johnny a mischievous smile, “You better not make too many noises Cage, my crew is outside this trailer—“

Johnny shrugs, “Not the first time I’ve gotten a headline written over people hearing what goes on behind closed doors.”

You wince as you hear him say that, “God I’m sorry you got creepy ass people writing articles about your sex life-“

Johnny waves his hand dismissively with a grin, “Nah, part of me doesn’t care, creepy bastards might as well.”

You sit down on your bed, motioning for him to sit next to you. As he does that, he looks at you with lustful eyes again, “Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s okay, alright? People need to mind their business.” You say softly.

Johnny chuckles and leans his forehead against yours, “I swear…the way you’re so darn caring and soft with me honey, it gives me the worst boner on this planet.” He whispers, his hot breath against your face. You look down and see his boxers are tight, the fabric stretching against his evident hard on.

Johnny then leans in without warning and crashes his lips on to yours, slipping his warm tongue in your mouth and exploring. You let out a groan against his lips as your tongue now brushes against his. He then softly slides his hands down your bare sides and leans your back down against the soft bed as he keeps devouring your lips. Your lower abdomen already tightening and growing warm by the second. You decide to try and take over, catching him off guard as you flip him on his back.

“Woah baby- if you wanted to be the boss you could have just told me.” He smirks up at you while he caresses your thighs softly, you straddling his waist.

“Ready?” You start putting the strap on around your hips without wasting time.

The actor’s eyes widen and his face flushes for the first time, a rare but nice change to see for once. He swallowed deep for a second before his cocky demeanor came back; “Hell yeah- have your way with me.” He squeezes your thighs, his eyes turning dark.

You took that as a sign to grab his hips and turning him to lay with his back facing you, his face nuzzled in to your sheets as you felt slight friction between your cunt as you straddle his ass that was covered by his briefs.

“Oh fuck-“ he lets out, you could see how he breathed heavily and his shoulder blades contracted.

You back away a little and start sliding his briefs down to his thighs, having a complete view of his pale soft ass. It made you grow warm, a redness on your face. It looks like he noticed your sudden apprehensiveness as he chuckled against the covers; “Don’t bail on me now baby, you were so bold just a min- AH SHIT-“

Before he can even finish the sentence you press the lubed tip of the strap on dildo against his cheeks, prying them open slowly as they just briefly touch his ass hole. “What was that?” you said in a teasing, dominant tone. Your hands gripping his hips now tightly as the dildo teased his entrance.

“That’s cold- that damn lube-“ he laughs, “Oh you fucking tease-“ he breathes heavily, as he looks slightly over his shoulder at you with a grin.

“Shhh-“ you try and shush him as you try and enter his entrance slowly, your hips moving forward gently.

Johnny groaned loudly, gripping the bed sheets as the dildo stretched his ass hole out more and more. “fuck baby-“ he hissed, his face falling on to the sheets as his stayed up.

There was a grin of pride on your face, having such a prideful man on his knees as you took him from behind, it was definitely making you more and more turned on. You didn’t need to have an actual dick to guess how it felt, how his walls closed around you, how he shivered against you, you just knew and it made your cunt wet.

“Agh- shit-“ you hissed, getting a sudden impulse to not hold back anymore and shove the dildo deeper inside him and making him whimper loudly, probably making your crew outside hear it.

“God, that’s it, right there baby boy-“ he moaned, you’ve never never seen him so vulnerable before, he was so excited you could see the practical erection he had that was rubbing against the bed sheets. He was so in to it that he shoved his ass further against you and the strap on.

You bite your lip, almost making it hurt as you start moving slowly back and forth against his trembling ass cheeks, his pleadings become louder and at this point you couldn’t bother with who heard. You could tell you were hitting the g spot in his ass by how deep your thrusts were and how he whimpered against the sheets, the once all cocky actor now on his knees and groaning. His cheeks flushed red, as he looked back every once in a while at you ramming in to him.

As you kept thrusting in a steady rhythm in to him, you leaned over his back and wrapped your arms around his lower abdomen, your face against his spine as you reached down gripped his throbbing cock that was already oozing with pre cum, the actor immediately moaned, his eyes widening as all his senses were being overstimulated by you.

“Easy, Hollywood…” your chest rubbed against his back and you began jerking him from behind as your hips kept moving inside him.

“Oh- F- fuck baby- please- ahh-“ he said in a high pitch, already about to bust wide open. Your fingers gripped his shaft and your movements became more desperate, you were becoming more and more wet under your strap on.

Johnnys face and neck were bright red and you could sworn you saw some tears in his eyes by how stimulated he was, his face looking at you at an angle from the soft sheets, you grunt and jerk him off more as you kept rammed in to him, your eyes staring right in to his. Soon, he let out a loud whimper as he reached his climax; “OHHHH- OHHHH FUCK, YOU LITTLE SLUT YOU- agh-“ his cum oozing all over your hand and the sheets, ribbons everywhere.

You softly moan and pull out of him gently, falling back in to the bed, but not before grabs you by your jaw and kisses you roughly, shoving his warm tongue down your throat, he wasn’t even letting you breathe, he wanted to consume you. “You’re such a little vixen.” He pulled at your bottom lip, his cheeks still red. “Such a good boy… my good boy mm.” He pulled back, his lips making a smacking sound, he looked completely enamored by you.

You blush, “So I did good?”

Johnny slides his hand beneath the strap on and touches your wet cunt with his warm hand, “Mmm- so good.”

“Agh-“ you hiss.

“Now, your filming crew knows who you belong to G.I Joe.” He bites your earlobe.

[yanderecrazysie]

Brothers Conflict with a reader that's competitive. (HCs)

WARNINGS: Yandere themes

MASAOMI

Masaomi didn’t expect to get competitive, considering he worked as a pediatrician.

But when you get lots of praise for how good you are, he feels like he has to work harder.

He can’t help but admire how sweet and caring you are with your patients, and secretly wishes he could have kids with you.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UKYO

Ukyo is used to a competitive environment as a lawyer. But you really take the cake.

You’re taking difficult cases and still knocking them out of the park.

If he’s being honest, he finds your determination and quick wit very attractive.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TSUBAKI

As a voice actor, he’s glad you are the opposite gender, because that means you can’t steal roles from him.

But you’re competitive, comparing your imdb page against his, bragging about how many roles you get.

He finds your competitive spirit adorable and plays into it a lot.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AZUSA

Azusa isn’t a competitive person by nature, so he doesn’t play into your competition like his triplet brother.

He wishes he could have a normal conversation with you without it turning into a competition.

But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the way your eyes light up and a mischievous smile spreads across your lips.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NATSUME

You’re his biggest competitor, making incredible video games that everyone wants to play.

It half-annoys him, half-inspires him to try harder.

He wishes he could impress you more than anyone else with his creations.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUBARU

You played him in basketball and he tried his best against you, but you totally flattened him.

It made him practice harder than ever for the rematch, where you destroyed him again.

He wants so badly to beat you that it becomes an obsession.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FUUTO

You’re a beautiful idol, with talent in singing and dancing, able to sway a crowd to love you in an instant.

His turnouts get smaller every time you schedule a concert for the same time as him. It makes him super jealous.

But honestly, he just wants to collaborate with you, just once! He’d never tell you that though.

[koichi-nomura]

heyo!! saw your take on the wander episode and was wondering about your opinion on "The Helper"!! I can understand why you wouldn't like "The Good Deed" and "The Tourist" but I was mostly wondering about your opinions on "The Helper" /nf

Hi!! I can totally answer this, the entire episode has a feel that’s completely different from the rest of the series, the character designs feel like a different style, some of the dialogue feels kinda off too?

And it turns out that I’m not just crazy and there is in fact a real explanation to this; this entire episode was written, storyboarded, and directed by one person: Aaron Springer, who worked on this episode and this episode only.

(For further context; Aaron Springer is the creator of the show “Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer” which was cancelled after one season with pretty bad ratings, in fact the highest rated episode on imdb has the same rating as the lowest episode of woy on imdb.)

I feel like the understanding of the characters that the cast and crew has just isn’t there, Wander’s reaction to Hater in this one feels super out of character, in fact the only time we see this kind of reaction is towards Screwball Jones (which is depicted as the exception) or on “The Wanders” when the part of him that’s literally called the helper is still separated from the rest of him. taking that into account it seems a little farfetched that when he gets so obsessive about his need to help people the result is him ignoring that part of himself.

For me also most of the jokes don’t land and overall it’s just really boring (no hate to any crew or anything, I’m a harsh critic or the things I love)

I think the premise of this episode could definitely work I just don’t care for the execution, it’s not for me.

Tldr; boring and very out of character

[scotianostra]

One of Scotland's' most iconic films, Local Hero was released on February 18th 1983.

In the days before mobile phones we used to use things called phone boxes when we were not at home, and the phone box in Local Hero has become as iconic as the film itself.

There aren’t many films that have a 100% Tomatometer , on the movie website Rotten Tomatoes, backed up by an impressive 87% audience score, it should be all you need to know when choosing a movie to watch, expecially if you haven’t seen it before. IMDb also rate it highly with 7.4 out of 10.

Bill Forsyth’s oil-refinery comedy isn’t billed as a weepy. It is, however, a love poem to Scotland, and that’s what brings the lump to my throat.

Quirky, wry, gentle are words most often used for this comedy on the movie database site, IMDb, the starting point for many of my posts about those Scots in the acting profession in my posts. They brief story line on the site does not hint at the emotional turbulence you might soon be experiencing. So maybe it’s just me being a big sissy. Wouldn’t be the first time I lost the plot. All it says is "An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected." The film is so much more than this and it stands the test of time much better than other Forsyth films like Comfort & Joy and Gregory's Girl, well in my opinion anyway!

Crackpot Texan oil magnate Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) gets the idea that a small Scottish fishing village would be a marvellous acquisition for his so-rich-it-makes-you-sick company, Knox Oil and Gas, so he sends an executive gopher named MacIntyre (because that sounds Scottish, yeah – played by Peter Riegert) to close the deal and get the pipeline pencilled in.

“Mac” is met by some local “dork” called Oldsen (a young Peter Capaldi), who attempts to steer him through a tartan microculture that includes a lawyer-cum-publican/hotelier (Denis Lawson) who tapdances while standing on a chair shouting “Stella” – the name of his ever-randy wife; there is a super-hard marine biologist played by Jenny Seagrove who, after delivering a short lecture on the North Atlantic drift, ends up helping Oldsen to find that pistol in his pocket; and then there is a scene in which a very whisky-sodden Mac calls Texas from a red phone box on the harbourside, a phone box that has featured in so many peoples snaps when visiting Pennan in Banffshire.

Other bits of business in the film involve a salty Russian seafarer and overflying warplanes. You can see how it got the comedy tag, and I haven’t even mentioned the thing with the rabbit. And you can see how Mac ends up smitten.

This is all top material from a very talented writer/director, with photography and music from Glasgow born Mark Knopfler matches the acting and direction perfectly. But on first viewing I found myself asking halfway through, “What is this film actually about?” After not very much thought, I came to the conclusion that it was not a How Things Never Go According to Plan story, but a love poem to Scotland and the Scots. A bit slushy, but never mind. It’s only a film.

The scene when Mac phones to describe the Northern Lights, to me is very special, but the scene that prompted the lump in my throat at the end of the movie is when, having failed in his mission to secure the Knox refinery deal and mutilate one of Planet Earth’s most beautiful locations, Mac returns to his frigid steel-and-glass Houston apartment. He stands at his kitchen counter wondering what to do next, the hushed march of oil capitalism buzzing gently outside. He pulls from his coat pocket a handful of pebbles and shells, smelling one of them poignantly remembering as he spreads them on the work surface.

As Knopflers music gently plays he goes to his balcony and looks out to the city......the scene fades to black, then reopens 4,500 miles away, where, on the harbour side of a small Scottish fishing village, we see the phone box, perhaps ringing and the credits begin as the horns of Going Home blast out.

Others in the film include Rikki Fulton, Alex Norton, Kenny Ireland, John Gordon Sinclair and of course Burt Lancaster.

[firestarter91]

The Boy That Never Was - finale

‘Throwing Robin off the trail, Harry convinces her he now knows she was right, seeing Dillon was all in his head.’ IMDB synopsis.

Colin remains easy on the eye as always and I’ll never get tired of hearing his wonderful Irish brogue, he's good as usual but this is yet another drama I sadly won’t rewatch. Upon reflection this could have been condensed down to two episodes, it also didn’t help that the wife got on my nerves by the end.

The drug business with Ollie was a waste of time as it didn’t go anywhere and Robin’s motivations for continuing to try and keep Harry away from Eva seemed pointless and counter productive. It’s like trying to keep an alcoholic away from a nearby open bottle of booze by telling them hey don’t drink it’s bad for you! I also didn’t like the way she ordered her brother around like he was her personal servant, dude didn’t seem to have a life of his own.

Despite the various twists and turns to get there, the big reveal disappointed, there were high emotions but I found it strangely uninvolving and lacklustre, the writers all too neatly tied up a situation which was frankly unbelievable, and the ambiguous ending won’t please everyone.

It’s watchable enough but nothing more than that but hey at least Colin's character didn’t die which makes a change, so I’ll give it extra kudos lol.

Series is now showing on Alibi.

Spoilers ahead.

Robin’s heads off to her big job presentation, Harry has business elsewhere. God Ireland looks so bleak in this series! He’s at a car rental place trying to find out about Eva Doyle but the guy at the desk isn’t having any of it and when Harry tries to bribe him, he gets angry and tells him to leave.

Robin’s heads off to her big job presentation, Harry has business elsewhere. God Ireland looks so bleak in this series! He’s at a car rental place trying to find out about Eva Doyle but the guy at the desk isn’t having any of it and when Harry tries to bribe him, he gets angry and tells him to leave.

We get Ollie, who seems to HAVE NO LIFE, all he seems to do is sit around alone in his house waiting for either Harry or Robin to call and then go running around after them. Robin is on the phone, she’s nervous about what Harry’s up to and wants Ollie to go and find out, she’s tracked him on her phone. So off he goes and finds Harry trying to break into the rental shop and they have a set to, Ollie understandably thinks he’s nuts, Harry tells him about the footage he saw, Ollie quite rightly said ask your wife and then calls it quits.

Harry breaks in, alarms go off, Ollie being Ollie stupidly comes back and then even more stupidly tries to help him search, they find the address and run off out of the clutches of the rental guy who returns. Harry is going to find out about the address, a fed up Ollie phones Robin and asks her what are you both playing at and why did she delete the footage, it’s not Dillon she says. She then tells him he’s got to stop him, he can’t speak to Eva, quite rightly Ollie says he loves her but he’s done with all this shit, I’m with Ollie, Harry has caught her unwittingly in a lie and the chickens are coming home to roost, it’s up to her to sort this one out.

Robin calls Harry but he cuts her off. Harry goes to this pub and asks about Eva staying there, the lady likewise is not having any of it, she won’t say. However, another lady behind the bar is more forthcoming and tells Harry that Eva’s living in Casablanca. He goes home does a search and sees pictures of Eva on a children’s ride of some kind (they’re seahorses) now he gets what Cozimo was on about. Robin calls him again begging him not to go to Morocco, sorry love but he’s going, he knows she’s lying, he’s understandably angry.

Harry arrives in Morocco and promptly gets hauled off by Fadoul to the station, he explains why he’s here looking for Dillon, they have a reconciliation of sorts and Fadoul says in his shoes he would keep searching and lets him go. Next he’s off to see Cozimo, Harry tells him he gets it now and Cozimo says he has a doctor’s appointment in Casablanca he would know the house if they went there. So they sneak out and drive there.

Meanwhile Robin is packing and her lawyer friend who is with Fadoul tells her Harry is on his way to Eva’s house and gives her the details. Cozimo leads Harry through the back streets but he can’t remember the place, Harry says don’t worry I will take you to the doctor, he then phones Robin, he realises she’s here too and says tell me where Eva is and starts tracking her on the phone (again, didn’t she think about this?) Robin says this has gone on long enough and he should go home (this is dumb, she needs to come clean, he’s NOT going to stop, this is what he thinks is his missing son he’s looking for!), she’s becoming increasingly irritating.

Robin arrives at Eva’s house and goes in and finds her ex lover Garrick, he seems wary, they live back in Morocco now. She tells him about Harry seeing Felix and how he looks so much like Dillon he’s obsessed, he says yeah Eva’s mom died hence the visit. Harry then walks in and asks Robin why would Felix look like Dillon? He’s starting to fear the worst he tells her, yeah well buddy you should lol. Robin breaks down crying, the boss asks them both to leave, you can tell he doesn’t want them in his house when the wife gets back. Robin says she was going to tell him (yeah right lady!), but he was so happy but at least now he knows Dillon is dead.

Right on cue of course Eva and ‘Felix’ turn up and Robin stares and says to Eva you took my son, the boy hugs Eva (once again I have to ask how Robin knows after so many years) but anyway Eva says no it’s HER son and then we get a flashback of Eva and Garrick’s son falling off a balcony somewhere. It’s now that Harry gets effectively sidelined as he’s basically got no skin in the game and he’s (literally) left in the background as Robin, Eva and Garrick have their confrontation, all Colin can do is look rather pained and confused.

We find out about Dillon, turns out Garrick knowing he had another son went to spy on him and by happy chance was there when the quake happened and took him away to safety. Robin goes to the boy to try and get him to come to her, Eva is tearful and angry Robin’s a cheating liar (true) and doesn’t deserve him she says, Harry chips in but he’s not your son and well he’s not yours she yells (ouch!). Garrrick realises the game is up, the boy then seems to recognize Robin and calls her mom and goes into her arms and I’m like WTF because he seems completely oblivious to the fact Eva who was his mom only a few seconds ago is howling in grief on the floor being comforted by her husband. Dillon reaches out for Harry’s hand smiling serenely and Harry takes a deep breath, he’s gone from thinking his son was dead, to finding out the boy was alive to discovering said boy wasn’t even his son no wonder he’s a bit blindsided but the kid seems utterly oblivious to all the emotional fall out around him he’s so serene which is bizarre and frankly unbelievable.

We end with them back in Dublin, Robin is heavily pregnant so it’s  months later, Harry, Ollie and Dillon come back to the house, he’s got a drawing he did and Robin says you’re talented just like your daddy. Harry sits down on the other side of the sofa from Robin as they exchange glances, Harry looks at her slightly pained but accepting? The ending is ambivalent you don’t know if things have really been laid to rest or not but then what can he do? She’s having his child for real this time and he loves Dillon. Surely this kid is going to need a ton of therapy in later life lol. No idea what happened after their showdown, where’s his real dad? Did he just let them go?

But we end it here, I guess this is what it is, he has his ‘son’ back, a boy that never was his son, now reclaimed.

Despite the various twists and turns to get here, the finale fell rather flat, may be it’s because by that point I’d got so irritated by Robin that I didn’t care that much how she felt about seeing her son again. Once back in Dublin it ended with question marks over whether they would make it through or not, I figure yes given Harry’s nature and the fact he doesn't want to lose another child.

It was also a big WTF when we found out that she was shagging her boss given he was nowhere near as hot as her husband and I wasn’t even sure why she had strayed. However, that aside it’s how she behaved afterwards which bugged me: ordering Ollie around, trying to get him to help her clear up the mess her actions had caused, refusing to be honest with Harry once he had found out she'd deleted the file.

Harry was stupid and annoying at times but at least he had an excuse given his mental state and what he thought he had seen so I sympathised more. Another gripe was that I can’t buy into their money worries given how they lived and the fact they were backwards and forward to Morocco at a drop of a hat which is something most people couldn’t do.

Dillon seemed far too unbothered by events once found and what about Garrick? Did he just allow them to march out the house? No custody battle, no arguments over visitation rights?  Dillon is probably going to need a ton of therapy when he grows up. It was just bizarre and didn’t really ring true.

So yeah this story started well but disappointed in the end, Robin was annoying, Harry got effectively sidelined by events, Ollie and Garrick were saps and the whole way it was resolved didn’t ring true. It’s watchable enough but would I recommend it to a non Colin Morgan fan? Not really. I have no idea what the book’s like and how closely it follows the series, I’d be interested in finding out.

[lulu2992]

Who is the voice of the female Deputy?

When I saw this question, I decided to try to find an answer.

I looked up all the actors listed in the credits, listened to their voices (in interviews, demo reels, or other videos), and… I’m still not sure who played the female Deputy.

While I usually find it relatively easy to recognize voice actors in French, my native language, it turns out that’s much harder for me to do in English. Also, it doesn’t help that they’re usually very good at changing their voice/accent and that, in real life, most of them don’t sound like the characters they play.

I still believe the person who played the female Deputy is also “Cult Follower Female 5” (CFF5), but it seems to me the actor used a different accent and tone so the cultist sounds a bit “villainous”. In any case, I didn’t find anyone that sounded exactly like the two characters…

According to my ears, though, the female Deputy and the female Captain from New Dawn have the same voice. Outside of cutscenes, the Deputy has 314 lines in Far Cry 5 (which you can listen to here, here, here, here, and here) and the audio files were all reused for the Captain. In cutscenes, so the “lines” that were specifically recorded for New Dawn, the character sounds exactly the same to me, which means the voice actor must have worked on both games.

I looked at the names that appeared in the credits of the two games and narrowed the list down to the 15 (+1; see below) likeliest candidates, so here are the people who, in my opinion, could potentially be the voice of the female Deputy, as well as, when the information was available, either in the game or on IMDb, which character(s) they played:

Claire Armstrong

Kailea Banka

Carolina Bartczak (Cult Follower in FC5; apparently not in FCND, but you never know)

Kimberly D. Brooks (Gun for Hire)

Nicki Burke (Cult Follower in FC5, Selene in FCND)

Lucinda Davis

Stacey DePass (Nana in FCND)

Amber Goldfarb (voice of Faith’s Priestesses, “Cult Follower Female 3”, and, I believe, Rae-Rae)*

Julianne Jain

Mara Junot (Sherri Woodhouse, “Civilian Female 6”)

Helen King

Erica Linbeck (voice of Anne, but also this and this)

Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (Resistance Soldier)

Debra Wilson

Kim Yarborough

Mayko Nguyen, who plays Kim Rye, was credited a second time as a “voice talent” in Far Cry 5, which implies she may have also played one of several NPC. Since she worked on New Dawn, she too could be the female Deputy’s voice.

Again, English isn’t my first language, and after spending two days listening to all those voices, everyone started to sound the same to me :’) If you’re a native English speaker and/or have a great ear, though, maybe you’ll be able to more easily solve the mystery! We can do it!

*IMDb says Amber Goldfarb played “Noodle’s owner” (the woman who called Ms. Mable for her pet snake) but the files tell me the voice is actually “Civilian Female 6”, so Mara Junot.

And under the cut, just in case, I included all the other female voices who appear in the credits.

FAR CRY 5

MAIN CAST Beryl Bain (Tracey Lader) Sarah Booth (Tammy Barnes and, according to IMDb, a “Civilian”) Luisa D’Oliveira (Deputy Joey Hudson) Jenessa Grant (Faith Seed) Debra McGrath (Nancy) Tasya Teles (Mary May Fairgrave)

VOICE TALENTS Carolina Bartczak (Cult Follower) Lauren Jackson (Skylar Kohrs) Erin Mathews Julie Nathanson (Jess Black) Kristen Peace Murry Peeters (Grace Armstrong) Claire Rankin Cara Ricketts (Dr. Sarah Perkins in FC5, Mickey in FCND) Charlotte Rogers Paula Shaw (Ms. Wilhelmina Mable) Jane Wheeler (Adelaide Drubman)

PERFORMERS (I’m not sure they recorded voices and they apparently didn’t work on FCND) Michela Cannon Roanna Cochrane (Cult Follower) Athena Karkanis Karen Knox Janet Porter Melissa Robertson Alyssa Trask Brandi Marie Ward

FAR CRY NEW DAWN

MAIN CAST Reina Hardesty (Carmina Rye) Leslie Miller (Lou)

VOICE TALENTS Rylee Alazraqui Mary Faber (in the “Additional Thanks” section in the FC5 credits and in Lost on Mars according to IMDb) Camryn Jones Rachel Kimsey Melanie Minichino (Gina Guerra) Carolyn Ratteray Marisha Ray Nadia Verrucci

PERFORMANCE CAPTURE PERFORMERS (again, I don’t know if they recorded voices in FCND) Ava Augustin Tamara Brown Jenny Raven Ajanae Stephenson Lydia Zadel (also credited in the “Additional Thanks” section in FC5 and a voice in Lost on Mars according to IMDb)

Good luck!

[flieslikeamoron]

WIP WEDNESDAY

I went in my WIP folder and dug out a little something for the steddies. I'm not actively working on it right now, but I think it's the one steddie WIP I haven't shared anything from before. It's a Jury Duty AU where Eddie is one of the actors and Steve is the one guy who doesn't know he's on a tv show. I never got much farther than this, but it was gonna be that thing where you have a spark with someone and it could really be something, but they have no idea you're playing a character on a tv show.

--

Eddie Munson never set out to be an actor. He came to L.A. with rock star dreams. He was going to play The Roxy. He was going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. But in L.A. big dreams are a dime a dozen. And they don’t pay the rent. 

He dreams smaller now. He’s not so much shooting for the cover of Rolling Stone as steady session work. A couple regular gigs that don’t pay in beer and “exposure” seem almost as unattainable as The Forum. He makes rent by filling the gap with his part-time bartending gig and whatever else he can scrounge up. That’s where the acting comes in. It’s mostly background work, but he’s pulled a couple lines in a regional car commercial, a couple low budget horror things he’s not sure ever got released, a bad roommate on a sitcom that thankfully got cancelled after five or six episodes, and the prime role of “stoner” in a medium popular Melissa McCarthy movie. 

He has an imdb page. Which is kind of embarrassing. Not just because seeing his pathetic credits listed out like that makes him feel pathetic. But also because even the shitty little parts he gets are parts people with big acting dreams are desperately fighting for. Scrambling for any foothold. And he doesn’t even want them, not really. He’s just taking what he can get to keep his music career on life support. 

He kept putting off getting that SAG card, and yeah, partly it was the fucking $3,000 fee. But he could’ve scraped the money together if he sold some of his gear or took on more shifts at the bar. The real reason he kept putting it off was because sinking that much money into acting would be admitting the music’s never going to take off. That all those dreams have been reduced to a line on the back of his headshot. Special skills: Plays guitar. 

He shouldn’t complain. He’s had plenty of friends who washed out back to the small towns they were running from. Or ended up at the dreaded nine to five, dying inch by inch behind a desk. His life isn’t what he thought, but it beats where he came from. And it’s not boring. He’s met interesting people. He’s done weird shit. 

This new job, though. This has to be the weirdest thing he’s ever done. And he played a killer in a hot dog outfit once, so he knows from weird. He still isn't even totally sure how he got it. The callback was mostly improv. He’s never done improv. He did used to play a ton of DnD back in his misspent youth, so maybe that helped. Apparently whatever he did was good enough because he got it.

The shoot is over a month long. It'll be the most money he’s ever made on a single gig. But it’s- He doesn’t even know how to explain it. They didn’t even explain it to him until he got the job because the whole thing is so top-secret. It’s a reality show, but not really. The most elaborate and expensive prank Eddie’s ever heard of. All to trick one poor rube into thinking he’s doing jury duty. To see how he reacts to a bunch of people he doesn’t know are actors throwing absolutely ridiculous shit at him for weeks at a time.

The rehearsals were kind of fun. Meeting the other actors. Figuring out how they’re going to pull this off. The scope of it still boggles Eddie’s mind. Production has built an entire alternate reality for this guy, whoever he’s going to be. But the thing you don’t really think about when you’re on the Truman Show, and you’re not Truman, is all the actors are going to be living it too. He’s going to have to be on all day, every day like some kind of weird improv endurance challenge. 

When they finally hand out the dossier on the mark (there’s a fucking dossier) Eddie starts to get cold feet. He can’t back out now, not really. He’s contractually obligated to go through with it at this point. But he looks at the picture of the guy. Steve. He’s a good-looking guy. Pretty smile. He’s a real person. And Eddie’s going to have to lie right to this guy’s good-looking face for weeks. 

Eddie’s not even a real actor! How is he going to pull this shit off? He can bullshit with the best of them, but there’s never been an entire production resting on his ability to sell a lie. What if he’s the one that blows it? Ruins this entire thing, all this money and effort. All these jobs down the drain, everything wasted. The whole thing is crazy. He can’t do it. 

But there’s the contract. And there’s the money. Enough to buy his own studio time, work on his own music.

“Is this freaking you out?” Eddie asks Sandra over lunch. They’ve spent the morning walking through the crucial jury selection scene, the first test of whether the guy's gonna figure out something's up right from go. It’s a hybrid of scripted, but flexible to accommodate the fact that Steve’s not scripted. Steve could do anything. And it’s on all of the rest of them to not freeze up. To be natural, but guide him as close to the planned bits as they can. To convince him that nothing weird is going on when something weird is so going on.

“I’m nervous,” she admits. “I don’t want to be the one-”

“That fucks it up,” Eddie finishes.

“Exactly that.” 

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brother to Brother (2004), and Beautiful Thing (1996)

Today I will be writing about

Beautiful Thing (1996) dir. Hettie MacDonald

[Run Time: 1:31, Available on: tubi, Amazon Prime, YouTube rental, and Google play]

Summary: “Jamie is a shy teenager, often bullied at school. His neighbour Ste has a rough time at home, being beaten by his father and brother. This issues bring them together and they find that what they feel for each other is more than friendship.” from IMDB

Cast * Glen Berry as Jamie Gangel * Scott Neal as Ste Pearce * Linda Hentry as Sandra Gangel, Jamei’s mother * Tameka Empson as Leah, Jamie and Ste’s hot mess of a neighbor

___

Ok, I will be honest, this one did not get me to connect to it as emotionally as some of the other films in this Unit and there were a few scenes in the middle where I completely lost the plot and had difficulty understanding what exactly was going on. As a result, I don’t have as much to say about this film. But overall, I did enjoy Beautiful Things and I think my favorite aspect of it fully comes down to it’s depictions of community and family. And honestly, I feel a little bit bad, but I think Sandra Gangel, Jamie’s mother was probably the most interesting and compelling character for me in this whole film, followed closely by Leah. 

I don’t have as much to say about this film in part because I think that the other movies in this unit do a lot more with the intersections of identity, and have interesting things to say that require a bit more unpacking. But I do not think that is as much of the case here. It feels more akin to a coming of age film than the others in this unit. 

I love that Sandra is somewhat complicated and three dimensional, and also that she is ride or die for her son. I think it is so accurate and wonderful to have her yelling at Jamie for skipping school one second and then lying to the teacher about him having a stomach ache the next. I like that we get these insights in to her character, her background, the life she lived before she had a son, that help explain the relationship she has to raising Jamie and why their dynamic is the way that it is. I love that she isn’t fully mature, and that she is willing to throw hands with children when they are being gossipy little bitches spreading (mis)information. 

I did find it very interesting and pretty decent commentary that we never really learn the reason why Ste is abused by his father and his brother. Perhaps it is because they know something is different about Ste, but ultimately, we are not given a reason, and that is so much of abuse, right? Especially by having Ste’s brother be an abuser as well, is Ste’s brother abusive just to be abusive or is Ste’s brother abusive to keep himself out of harms way?

But as I said above, my favorite aspect of Beautiful Thing is the throughline of community and community care. Namely that Sandra knows that Ste is being abused by his father and brother and she takes him in to her home so he has a safe place to rest. This is shit that I have seen my own family members do in their small communities. People they have raised like their own because there was no one else around them who would keep them safe. 

I like that they don’t have to have Jamie come out explicitly and state how long he has known that he is queer, and yet I sensed The Knowing on him. I like that he calls out Ste’s own fear of being called queer, while admitting he might be afraid to be called that himself, but that I do not see shame in Jamie in the least. I like that we are spared from the bullying Jamie faces for being queer in school, and only see the aftermath of it. 

I think it is really important to show high school students who understand their own sexualities and are confident in them, and I think Jamie is a really killer example of that. 

For/By/About 

By and About. The playwright of the original story is queer. I’m thinking about whether or not it would behoove me to do away with this section of my reviews because my determinations for this are vibes based and the last few films when the identities have been intersectional are much harder to parse. On one hand, I think you could say that having these boys be happy and letting Jamie have an accepting parent could be for the queer community. But I just…did not connect to this as a queer story. For me, and perhaps it is by nature of having women who are written and performed as human beings, I found the story around Jamie and Ste’s connection to Sandra to be far more interesting, and only the last like…15 minutes of the film have anything to do with Sandra’s reaction to Jamie and Ste being queer. 

Favorite Quote 

“There’s an island in the Mediterranean named Lesbian and all it’s inhabitants are dykes”

I do not think this requires any explanation. 

Favorite Moment

gif by @bl-bam-beyond

Honestly, I am a really big fan of the dance at the very end of the film. I like how quickly and easily it shows Ste and Jamie’s acceptance and comfortability with their relationship. I like that Leah and Sandra joined in at the end, both establishing themselves as allies and normalizing two people of the same sex dancing together. While there were a few other moments that were more emotionally compelling, the dancing scene at the end is a joyous celebration and moment of visibility for queer people, and I think a little dance in the sun is the perfect way to close out Unit 2, as I head towards The Rough Units: Unit 3- Faith and Religion and then eventually Unit 4- Heartbreak Alley. 

Score

9/10

I think structurally and technically it was sound, it dipped in the middle, and I was overall less invested than other movies in the syllabus, but it was still very good.

__

And with that, I am done with Unit 2! On to Unit 3: Faith and Religion which I am sure is filled with nothing but upbeat, positive, happy stories..... (can you hear the sarcasm). Be warned as I have been warned that the next couple units are gonna be filled queer pain.

[twopoppies]

"""normal-guy era"""", I can't believe they can write those kinds of articles, they're trying to say that Harry wasn't "normal" before, was he an alien? and the number of likes ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

https://x.com/wewerebraverOTB/status/1830581324912169166?t=Xt63rs1RdFtgTwdL7MFpEw&s=19

I think the OP is good intentioned, and some of the article is a bit icky (he’s always been daddy, but now he’s dad, the comment about Liberace, and the use of the word “normal” especially). And it sounds like the author dismisses the fact that all of Harry’s eras were trend setting—even the flamboyant ones (how many men are still wearing Pearl necklaces today?).

Also, comparing every day outfits to his stage outfits, or what he wore when he was 16 or 20, is just silly. He’s dressed casually in his off hours for years. It’s just now it seems to be a “trend” (which really is the point of the article). But I think it’s a little hyperbolic to say it’s homophobic/transphobic.

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[…] This is Harry we’re talking about, so of course he’ll never look like your average man, but his early-30s normal-guy era is as close as he’s ever been. Open-collared shirts and wayfarers at an England match. Some shorts and battered Sambas in Soho, London. A big Umbro hoodie, white socks and aviator shades on the streets of Primrose Hill. In fact, if you were to look at any of Harry’s big fits in 2024, they wouldn’t look out of place on any 30-something guy with a model-influencer girlfriend, a predilection for Lime bikes and a tab at The Spurstowe Arms. This is Harry at peak internet-boyfriend-slash-sports-dad, with a not-quite mullet and some kind of neutral oversized sweater hastily thrown on. Just like Jeremy Allen White and Paul Mescal, he has become slacker hot personified.

[…] While Harry spends less time in LA these days, his look is very 90210: the sort of incognito style that men tend to go for once they reach a certain level of fame and wealth and just want to knock around Erewhon in Beverly Hills all day. It’s supposed to help them blend in, but also: not really? Because if you spot someone in designer shades and a “covert” hoodie while paps hide in the bushes nearby, you’re going to assume they’ve got at least three properties with infinity pools and a lengthy IMDB profile.

[…] At 30, he wears pressed cotton shirts, spends time in Rome and watches golf tournaments. While he’s always given off daddy energy, he’s now also giving off dad: someone who reverses a car with one arm and likes to be in charge of the barbecue tongs. And it’s working for him. Not everyone can get away with wearing a mega-worn band tee and half-destroyed Vans – but Harry isn’t everyone. He could wear a bin-bag and sliders and still appear stylish. “Normal” looks so good on him because he’s not normal; he has a face sculpted by the Gods and a £50 million real estate portfolio.

[…] I’m sure that, come his next LP or Michele’s first proper Valentino collection in September, Harry will launch himself into another daring fashion phase. There will come a point when he needs to make a red-carpet appearance, or attend the Grammys, and only something Liberace-esque will do. Until then, though, let’s just appreciate the vibe of this 30-year-old man in Adidas trainers, short shorts and slightly greying sports socks for what it is: a masterpiece.

Link to the full article

[gothicprep]

whenever a new star wars thing comes out, audiences hate it. and then there’s a bunch of press in the trades about how toxic bros don’t want women to enjoy star wars. it’s so exhausting that this keeps happening.

the thing about star wars specifically is that it’s arguably the most recognizable IP ever. even people who have never seen the movies know who darth vader and yoda are. anybody who could theoretically be a fan already is, which makes trying to hook in outsiders probably isn’t going to be successful. it’s hit its ceiling for how popular it can be. and it isn’t helpful that many of the tv shows have some pretty severe load bearing script issues.

i was looking at some of the IMDb profiles for writers on the acolyte, and a lot of them don’t have a lot of experience. save for carrie anne moss and lee jung-jae, there aren’t any huge, well-established names in the cast. i watched a couple of episodes of it, and the production design looks wonky and the cgi is bad. reportedly, the budget was $180 million dollars. i have no idea where any of that money went.

just, nothing about the decision making here makes a lot of sense.

[barbiemoviestrivia]

ALAN!!! did you see the trailer and promos for the live-action Barbie movie yet?? it looks so camp and fun!!

Yes, I saw both (the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired one from months ago, and the recent one). As of now, it reminds me a lot of Lego Movie as well as Life in the Dreamhouse in how it would probably self-references the brand's products and their toy characteristics a lot.  In terms of animated movies, it has referenced Fairy Secret:

In terms of story, it explicitly mentions Wizard of Oz by name in the trailer and help but wonder if there is some sort of similar storyline. According to IMDB and the Youtube video description: "To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken."

It’s possible that Barbie wants to be "somewhere over the rainbow" but then realizes that "there's no place like home".  There could be some Toy Story aspect in how girls play with dolls. For example, this Barbie’s hair is cut and so maybe being in the real world isn’t as nice as they originally thought?

The idea of “no place like home” also exists in Life-Size movie where not-Barbie Eve becomes real but longs for home. If there has to be an “full-on existential crisis” then maybe there could be a “expulsion from Eden” idea in how (i) Barbie realizes she’s imperfect in her perfect fake world, or (ii) Barbie tries to be perfect in the imperfect real world. In either case, she couldn’t go back to her blissfully ignorant state where things were compartmentalized and easily understood and she'd be conflicted in balancing nuance.

Overall, more than the visuals, I'm much more interested in seeing if this movie is actually about existential crisis because that would be amazingly good if it’s done well. In a way, I almost hope the trailers are almost misleading in how sugary and colourful the aesthetics might be, but how bittersweet and gray the story might be?