#Idk guys. I might just be weird? feels anticlimactic

[scrapyardboyfriends]

I feel like this stuff has to mean something right? Why would they be doing this? If Robert isn’t coming back (everyone said the actor won’t) what could it be? It might be just weird writing but idk

Ah the eternal question with Emmerdale these days "Are they trying to do something or is it just bad writing?"

Track record says...it's just bad writing.

I mean I truly don't understand what it is that they're trying to do or why. I mean they went out of their way to make it Robert's long lost gay half brother. They blatantly put them at/near the lay by for their first hook up. They're blatantly trying to go for that whole antagonistic enemies to lovers thing that they think Robron was. Plus all of the other parallels. They can't be surprised when people compare it to Robron and find it lacking.

I just think saying that they're making it this bad on purpose for some larger goal is giving them entirely too much credit.

I think they're just this bad at storytelling these days.

I mean look at Ben. There was absolutely no need for Aaron to have a love interest that he knew in the past, that he bullied for being gay. There was no need to bring up Gordon or try and teach him some lesson about the bullying because he'd already learned those lessons. People wanted that story to be something it wasn't too. They wanted Ben to be out for revenge, to be some kind of stalker. But it really was just that terrible.

It's like they had to go out of their way to make it that bad and I fear the same with this.

It would be so much easier to just do a straightforward relationship story with a new guy that moves to the village, even if he was convolutedly connected to someone else (just not Robert). Even if it was boring, it would still be less terrible than whatever this is, whatever the thing with Ben was. Because this just isn't boring, it's bad too.

Do I expect there will be "twists and turns" to come with this story in future? Probably. But I also expect them to be rather lame and anticlimactic and they definitely won't make any of this that much better.

I just think they don't know what they're doing. I mean...look at the rest of the show. It's not good. I don't know why we expect this to be either.

Do I want them to surprise me with something decent? Sure. But I'm not going to get my hopes up.

[internal-bleating]

Monsters Vs Aliens isn't that bad and people should give it more of a chance and Susan Murphy is one of the best female protagonists ever actually

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!!Long Post Warning!!

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People seem to collectively hate Monsters Vs Aliens and idk why. My fam and I have always loved it and me and my dad used to always quote it all the time.

Now, is it better than Megamind? No way. Megamind is a masterpeice of cinema and is very much obviously the superior movie. But is Monsters Vs Aliens THAT horrible? I really don't think so.

I watched it again recently for old times sake and sentimental nostalgia and I really do think it's kind of underated. Is the animation style kind of ugly? First off, ugly and pretty are very subjective, second, yeah I can see why some might find the character design kinda ugly with their weird porportions and Susan's huge fucking eyes. But I really don't think it's THAT bad.

Also people seem to rag on the plot a fair amount as well but the plot and message are both actually pretty awesome if you ask me.

Susan is SUCH a good protagonist ok???

Gonna share my appreciation with ya'll for her.

I know there's probably people out there that view her as annoying and whinny but like??? Give her a fucking break! The girl literally starts off as the most basic average young adult white girl you've ever seen. Like fr she was probably on the more populer side at school, was definitly on the richer side when it comes to the middle class, seemed to live in a very cookie cut suburd neighborhood, and was going to marry one of the most painfully boring and typical white dudes ever. Like this girl was DEFINITELY one of those white girls you always see youtubers do impressions of n shit.

And by PURE CHANCE and coincidence, she gets hit by a meteor on her wedding day (Also can we talk about that hysterically anticlimactic "Oof!" she lets out when she got hit and her mom just brushing off her words when she says she got hit my a meteorite like "yep, everyone feels like that" as if her daughter wasn't fucking COVERED in dirt and ash) and it completely derails her very normal life.

Can we talk about Derek for a sec tho? Like what a fucking selfish jackass! The guy KNEW how excited Susan was about Paris and yet he only cares about himself and continuesly proves he doesn't give a shit about her enough to inconveiniance himself for her AT ALLLLL. Unlike Susan who was completely ready to forget about her Paris honeymoon for him. Like I bet you if Susan hadn't had this whole thing happen to her she'd have the most miserable loveless mariage with this dude and would be in denial of it for YEARS and keep trying to tell herself he cares but probably won't realize he doesn't until way way later. This guy was going to definitly waste a good chunk of her life and leave her feeling so so incredibly lost...

She's confused and scared(seriously her hair turned white in miliseconds becuase of how distressed she was) as everyone runs away screaming and she tries in vain to calm everyone down and things only get more disorienting as helicopters and fucking military men start attacking her and she doesn't understand what she's done wrong. And we also get some foreshadowing of how strong and how much potential she has with her newfound strength yet she doesn't know that yet. A few soldiers attempt to pull her down with ropes around her arm and at first she struggles against it but as SOON as she sees Derek is in danger she's like "Hey leave him alone! Don't hurt him!" and pulls herself free with incredible ease!

So then, Susan is very understandably freaking out and panicking when she wakes up in Area 51, yelling and screaming that she doesn't belong here as she's up until now most likely never experienced such and confusing and stressful situation. And honestly I feel SO SORRY for her that whole thing must've been so overwhelming and scary. We kind of get a timeskip after she sits in the corner of her cell but I bet you she was having a breakdown for the whole first week.

Small note, the government changed her name to Ginormica. Like bruh...

Then villain introduction yada yada skipping ahead a little bit.

Quick mention of the BANGER scene where the President plays Axel F for an alien robot. One of my fave scenes in the whole movie fr.

Also mentioning how Susan is SO SO determined to get out of monster prison.

So Susan and the other monsters are tasked with fighting an alien robot in exchange for their freedom. Susan is like "Oh yes! I'm gonna see my family again!" and I don't think the thought of fighting a robot has fully sunk in yet becuase she's way more focused on the prospect of seeing her lover again.

And THEN she sees this MOUNTAIN of a fucking robot that actually kind of scared me as a kid, and it finally sinks in. They want her to fight THAT. She was not expecting it to be so fucking big. Do these people actually expect her to fight this thing?? She starts freaking out again because like?? HOW??? How is she supposed to fight that thing?? She's never fought before!

Then big action scene, comedic moments with the trio, Susan runs away from the robot scared out of her fucking mind as this huge hulking metal monster aggressively persues her. And we get an actually really funny joke where she's clinging onto the edge of a roof, scared she's gonna fall only to fall like, two inches onto her feet when her grip slips and she's like "Oh. Right. Haha.".

Monster shenanigans again, She's on the bridge and continuing to get as far away from the robot as she can when she sees a car crash happen and reflexively stops in her tracks. She can clearly see the robot just a short distance away, but instead of continuing to run, she risks closing the gap of distance she's created for herself from the robot and chooses to instead help the people who might possibly be hurt and injured. She tries to warn them even as they run away becuase they are scared of her to get off the bridge before the robot gets to all of them.

Yeah, ok, maybe it's kinda ridiculous how fast the robot closes that distance between it and her but movie logic™ ok???

The robot has her cornered, it opens up a panel with a bunch of rotating teeth, intending to GRIND HER INTO A BLOODY PASTE like can we talk about how horrifying of a situation that is?? You're literal inches from a killer meatgrinder that's angling the bridge you're on so that you slide right into a waiting painful hole of death!

Insectisaurous, another big monster she was at first terrified of, shows up just in time. You see that look of incredible relief on Susan's face as he comes to her rescue, incopasitating the robot and pulling the bridge back to it's correct angle in order to help her get away.

Susan starts frantically asking why this robot is so hellbent on killing her specifically. It's not like she's been trying to attack it this whole time! Like why??? Robot seemingly crushes her in its robot hand but then, she pries its hand back open, the gang watching in awe.

In the struggle, the robot creates a huge hole in the bridge and a couple's car starts to fall into it but Susan stop it! "You're doing great!" "I'm doing EVERYTHING!!!" - ASFDJKLHFSDLAJKHSFDJKFASD

Susan, still thinking about the wellbeing of others, prioritizes getting all these people off the bridge and away from danger. When Bob clears the way somewhat, she yells at the people in their cars to go while still wresting with the robot hand to prevent it from harming any of them.

She's obviously tiring from holding his hand at bay for so so long and knows she can't keep it up forever and that's a scary thought to have cuz she's unsure how she's going to get away from this thing. But then she takes in her suroundings and a plan forms in her head.

Once again, Susan has never had to do this before. She's just winging this and is fighting for her god damn life! She speaks to herself to hype herself up for what she's about to attempt, hoping it will work.

Then BAM! With a determined burst of strength she jumps into action, pushing the robot hand wide open before grabbing the other and pulling the robot towards her, using its weight and topheaviness to make it lose balance and fall forwards. She grabs Link whose out cold btw rn, and carries him to safety, jumping out of the way JUST in time before the robot completely destroyes the bridge where she just was as it falls over.

A peice of the bridge comes down with it and severes its head from the rest of its body, effectively damaging it enough to power it off, permanently. Susan peers over the edge of the collapsed bridge, a smile of relief that the danger has passed and she's still alive spreading across her face. She actually did it!

Villain scene and monolouge, impending doom approaching, time skip,

Susan is excitedly talking to the others as they ride in the plane's cargohold about how "Wow! I can't believe I actually did that!" and she's so so proud of herself and you see Dr. Cockroach and Bob smiling back at her becuase from their POV she's probably glowing so so brightly and looks the happiest they've seen her ever. Her confidence is at skyrocket height right now! And yet, she can't help but long for her old life. She tells them how she's going to find a way to become normal again and that Derek will help her because he loves and cares about her and won't rest until they've fixed this(poor thing doesn't realize how much of a shitstain Derek is yet).

Bob (yeah he's the comic relief but i feel like people greatly underate how honest and genuine he can be like come onnnnnn(also yes I added him to my kinlist idgaf)) is like "Wait but you were just talking about how you're so strong now and how there's not a jar in this world you can't open" and yeah the whole line is played in a comedic light cuz Bob seems to only care about whatever food is in the jar she can't open but I feel like it's a little deeper than that.

After hearing about how great Derek seemingly is, the gang wants to meet him and Susan is like "Yeah sure I'll gladly introduce you guys!" and they all arrive at her home and she looks so happy to be back!!

Her family is kinda wary of the gang but she reassures them they're all chill and introduces them as her new friends, showcasing how far she's come relationshipwise with the three of them(since she was scared of them and found both Bob and Dr. Cockroach gross when they all first met. She legit tried to kill Dr. Cockroach when they first met like wow.)

Another example of Derek not caring, he doesn't show up to welcome her home from prison. Susan runs off to go get him so they can all celebrate together.

The monster gang tries to adjust to society and does their best to be friendly and nice but everyone is still super scared of them and it doesn't go very well...

Susan is SO SO HAPPY to see Derek again! She forgets how big she is and how strong she is in her excitement and Derek is kinda... understandably distressed when she picks him up, swings him around, almost suffocates him and almost crushes him. When Susan realizes this she immediatly apoligizes to him and puts him down.

Derek proceeds to show just how much of a fucking dickwad he is. When he asks her if he expects him to put his whole career on hold to help her, she's like "YES???" like bro this girl was ready to make the sacrifice of her PARIS HONEYMOON that she was VERY VISIBELY LOOKING FORWARD TO for your benifit!! Derek breaks Susan's heart and she's completely at a loss now. Everything feels like a lie. She leaves her home to go off to where she does not know.

Once again, yes, I KNOW it's kind of an impossible reach for the monster trio to show up right then. And ONCE AGAIN, I'm claiming movie logic™.

Bob once again being incredibly blunt and honest. Makes the whole gang face the fact that everyone hates them and doesn't want to be around them.

Heard somone bring up and praise the "We could save every city on the planet and they'd still treat us the way they've always treated us. Like monsters..." and honestly, fucking correct and valid.

They all have that quiet sad moment together.

Link tries to lighten the mood by asking how things went with Derek, the seemingly perfect and accepting loving guy Susan has sung the praises of for her entirety of her time with them in prison(seriously Link's whole response to her talking about him in that one scene way earlier implies she talked about Derek NONSTOP). He and the others do not yet know he's a prick as Susan had just discovered.

Susan finally accepts the fact that he's a selfish jerk as she tells the gang so.

"There was never and us! There was only Derek! Why did I have to get hit by a meteorite do realize that??" - Girl go OFF!!!!

She gets a good old rant out and in the process realizes that she doesn't have to feel lost. She's gonna be just fine without him because she's fucking amazing and has four new awesome friends now. She tells them just how awesome they all are and that none of them have to be accepted by society. They all have a character turning moment where Susan has learned she loves this new her and things are looking real up for the five of them! But then, of course, something has to go wrong.

Galaxar's ship shows up and abducts Susan. Insectosaurus tries to help her again but is hit by a ball of energy from the spaceship's cannon. He lets out the most heartwrenching shriek and we get an actually really sad scene as Susan is pulled into the ship and Link, knowing there's really nothing they can do for her in that moment, rushes over to his friend.

"Don't close those eyes. Don't you DARE close those eyes!" *Insectosaurus's eyes slide shut* "You can't..." - LIKE COME ON THAT WAS FUCKING SADDDDD AAAAAAAAAA

Susan has a confrontation with Galaxar, the villain of this movie. They have a very "You have gotten in my way for the last time" "I don't know who tf you are!" moment.

Susan has a moment of clarity where she's like "Wait, all of this is YOUR fault??" and she realizes that he's the reason her whole life was derailed and why she suffered all this trauma of her wedding day, being taken away from everything she's ever known with no hope of ever seeing her family again, and almost dying in a fight with a robot. He's why her fiance wants nothing to do with her(not defending Galaxar or anything for this cuz he did a lot of horrible shit but he really did her a solid by derailing her life cuz as i've stated before, Derek would have ruined her life in the long term if all this never happened to her).

Galaxar is all smug during this.

"You destroyed San Fransisco, you terrified millions of people, you killed my friend, just to get to me??" - My poor girl really out here still putting other people before her and caring more about them than herself...

Galaxar is so sure he's got the upperhand, so sure he's safe from her becuase of that forcefeild. But nah, Susan is fucking LIVID now and breaks through that forcefeild.

She proceeds to break through every barrier Galaxar puts between himself and her becuase she's learned just how imposing her power is now. She's chases after him through the ship like "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KICK YOUR ASS!!!" and Galaxar is actually genuinly scared of her as he's fleeing.

LIKE YES QUEEN!!!! GET HIS ASS!!! KILL THE BLUE FUCK!!!!

And because we still got a fair amount of run time to go, and because we still need our protagonist to struggle a bit, Galaxar manages to trap Susan in the extraction chamber just as she's about to get him. She's still glaring absolute daggers at him through the glass though. He looks back at her, smug expression returning. She then slams her hands into the glass and it STARTS TO CRACK!!! Galaxar is getting scared again and jumps back but he also commands the computer to begin the extraction process.

Susan is determined to break out and get to the person responsible for everything that has happened to her in the past month, but as the Quantonium is removed from her body, her pounds on the glass get weaker and weaker and soon she's no longer cracking the glass. Her now much smaller hand weakly presses against the glass one last time before the chamber retracts and she's left lying there back at her original size.

And even after all that, and even though Galaxar now towers over in instead of the other way around, she still meets his gaze with her own determined glare.

Side note, I know it's supposed to be a joke and all but im really curious about why exactly Galaxar came to the conclusion of destorying his whole fucking planet.

Also,

"There were innocent people on my home planet before it was destroyed!"

"Well I'm sorry your planet was destroyed..." "Oh don't be. I was the one who destoryed it" - Idk this whole exchange is just really clever to me. Like talk about speedrunning the whole trying to sympathsize with the villain and then discovering they really are just a bad person trope LMAO.

Another big skip,

Link is still mourning Insectosaurus, and both Bob and Dr. Cockroach are unsure what to do. Link takes the intiative right then and there.

"We're not gonna let Insecto die in vain. We're gonna get up there, find Susan, and we're gonna take that alien down!" - HELL YEAH BRO!!!

Skip skip, they get onto the ship, they find Susan(Galaxar was going to throw her into the incenerator. As a pyrophobe, WHAT a horrible way to go out wow), Bob fucking murders somone,

"I can't believe you guys actually came for me ;-;" "Us monsters gotta stick together" - Like holy shit that's so adorable.

Poor Susan isn't sure if she can even call herself one of them anymore becuase she's small again :( (Only thing different is that her hair is still white)

Dr. Cockroach assures her she's still awesome.

Skip again,

Big epic fight scene. Link actually gets to do shit this time and isn't unconscious.

They set the ship to self destruct and the doors to the chamber begin to shut. The gang rushes to reach the doors before they close all the way. They manage to get Susan through the doors right before they shut but the trio isn't so lucky.

The trio urges Susan to leave without them but she doesn't want to.

"You can finally get your old life back..."

"But I don't want me old life back!" - SHE DOESN'T WANNA ABANDON HER FOUND FAM FR!!! She finds a way up to the control chamber where Galaxar is priming the escape pod and intending to leave with the Quantonium.

"Are you crazy?? You could've killed me!" "Then we understand eachother." - fuckin baller line.

Susan demands for him to open up the doors and release her friends but he's like "lmao make me" and then when he goes to climb into the escape pod, she stops him and they have a scuffle that ends with her holding him at gun point like "You better fuckin do it right fucking now buddy!"

"Even if I wanted to I couldn't! That's what happens when you set the ship to selfdestruct!! Now we're all going to die! And there's nothing you can do about it! Sooooooooosan." <- says her name in a very mocking tone.

And Susan is like "Actually I can do something about it" "And the name is Ginormica" *points the gun up and shoots it at the thing holding the Quantonium so it falls on her* - FUCKING BAD ASS!!!!

So Susan is big again, she saves her friends just in time, She jumps off the small platform they were huddled on just as a peice of the ship comes down on top of it, smashing through the floor of the ship. The four of them grab onto eachother and dangle thousands of feet above the ground, Susan clinging on for dear life to the bottom of the ship.

She loses her grip and they all start to fall but they're caught by somone.

Turns out Insectosaurus isn't dead!! He's a butterfly now!!!!!

They all fly away to safety just as the ship's automated computer voice counts down.

Galaxar is frantically pushing buttons on the control panel since the escape pod doesn't work without the Quantonium. He covers his ears and squeezes his eyes shut as the countdown ends.

"Three, two, one."

.................

*distant bird call*

"Hmm, nothing happened, maybe my count wa-" *ship explodes* - This part had me DYINGGGG the first time I saw this movie.

Butterflyosaurus lands before a crowd of cheering people.

Susan's parents are all proud of her.

"Oh Susan, ever since you were a maybe, your dad and I knew that you'd... you know, save the planet from an invasion from outterspace" - Can we talk about how fucking weird this must've been for them??? Like yeah it was scary for Susan, but imagine how her parents must be feeling; like their only child started growing into a giant at her wedding and then she was taken away from them to some place unknown and they didn't hear anything from her after that(bet you the government deleted her birth info and denied she ever existed and was straight up gaslighting them into believing they never had a daughter.) until suddenly their duaghter is on the news becuase she fought a giant alien robot and I wonder if they knew she almost DIED doing it.

Derek shows up then, makes a shitty attempt at apologizing to her- no wait he DOESN'T say he's sorry, nah he doesn't hold himself in the wrong. This fucker.

"Baby I thought long and hard about what I said, and I wanted you to know, I forgive you." "... You forgive... me?" Susan is visibily perplexed at this.

"Yes it's not your fault you got hit by a meteor and ruined everything. In fact you didn't ruin everything. I just got a call from New York. They offered me network! All I gotta do is get an exclusive interview from you!" - Yes, he's only "forgiving her" cuz it benifits him. I cannot believe I saw people in the comments of a video about MvA saying she should've forgave him like ya'll are fucking stupid.

So Susan is like "Oh wow reallY?!?!?! Cool! Hey is the camera still rolling?" And Derek, unaware he's fucked up, says "Of course lol!" So Susan proceeds to break up with him on live television and then flick him up into the air. She also tells Bob to catch him so he doesn't splat onto the pavement.

Bob then tells him off for being a selfish asshole and Derek, now humiliated, tells them to shut the camera off.

and honestly??? FUCKING DESERVED!!! Hope that clip becomes immortalized as a meme and you are forever branded as the idiot who icon monster celebrity Susan Murphy broke up with on live television. also 100% convinced that the group of people on the internet who have a huge thing for giant women hate Derek for turning down having a supersized wife like all of them would KILL for that COME ON BRO!!!!

A slug apparently got turned into a Kaiju in Paris so the gang all fly off into the sunset to go deal with that and the movie ends~ LIKE HELL YEAH SUSAN YOU FINALLY GET TO GO TO PARIS YEAH!!! After all the shit she's been through she deserves at least that.

There's a fair amount of things I didn't mention but I think that if anyone reading this hasn't seen Monsters vs Aliens before, or hasn't seen it in a while, you should give it a watch again/for the first time. You don't HAVE to, but I recommend.

Maybe some of the jokes aged poorly, maybe some of the humor is kind of childish and unfunny, maybe its full of outdated "HEY LOOK THIS MOVIE WAS IN 3D!!!" bits, but I fucking love this movie ok???!?!?!?!?!

It's in no way perfect and in no way one of Dreamworks best films ever but I feel like it isn't necessarily one of their worst ones either.

[mentallydeadartist]

Look who's back with another rambling post :,)

Well, let's just start with the usual, so I'll be opening up the box that is "Stranger by the shore" and like last time this is like a continuation of me blabbering to my friend 💀 so this is what I started with:

"It's way too fast paced. Also they focused on the wrong stuff. Like if you're already having bad pacing then I don't need a 5 min scene (or more) of them fucking. Like???

And the relationship is 1. Rushed, like they have known each other for like a while (I'd say a month but maybe even a few more months (I'd hope)) and then one of the guys needs to leave and the other is left to ponder for 3 years. Then when he gets back he (obv, he literally got back for him) starts flirting and what not so much that the other guy is just going deep down internalized homophobia and is brushing him off. He starts being distant and telling him "are you sure this is what you want" and man literally pulls out "you sure you don't want a girlfriend rather than having me?". 2. The internalized homophobia guy needs to sort some stuff out. He's way too quick when it's a stupid choice he's making. Like for example his fiance (who he broke off the engagement with even before meeting the other guy) is back to tell him about his dad. And while he fosters no feelings for her, when she asks "give a kiss goodbye, so that I'll be able to forget you" the motherfucker thinks for like two seconds ("oh yeah, that'll make it easier for her, so she'll leave me alone"). And mind you, he didn't even think about his fucking boyfriend. The other guy was literally on the side, he was gonna cheat. Without asking, without even realizing it 💀."

Like I said, it was way too fast paced for me.

And yeah it's a movie so "what were you expecting" idk. I guess I just think they could've done it better if some things were cut and some other scenes were given more time. I like the flashbacks tho, those were quite needed and at the right time too. I also get why they would want to show them flirting (or at least, Mio trying to flirt) to not have them rush too much (which, not only is it kinda playing into the "gay men rush thru every relationship they have" stereotype but also it's giving their story way less meaning) and they still failed, cause It's still too fast.

I have to say that this story would've done better as a longer film, a series would've been complicated to articulate tho. It's a rather weird situation.

I also find that it doesn't make sense for Mio to come back?? Like why would you. The "you helped me figure myself out" is not enough at all??? Why would you go back to someone you don't even know that well? How do you know he waited for you? We don't even know if they talked on the phone as much. Shun seemed shocked to talk to him, so I'd assume not. I'd understand if he (Mio) were to be grateful, as shun spent his time with him when his mom passed and didn't treat him like a good action, just like a normal person. And was still there by his side to help him through it. But not what Mio said to him.

Maybe the dub was also a mistake but it was 2 am and I was not gonna watch more subbed content.

Also the "almost cheating" thing just pisses me off. Like not only did shun just go for it (which, at least ask, like it makes sense why you would but you're not single my guy) but Mio kissed her, which you're not better than him??? Like yeah she's disappointed because it wasn't shun who kissed her, but it's still cheating bc again, Y'ALL HAD NO COMMUNICATION IN ALL OF THIS.

Also it's disgusting how after he completely messes up, shun just comes over and thinks he can make it better with kisses. Like I get if it's a small fight, but y'all both need to fucking talk because this could be getting more toxic if that isn't the case.

And then they fuck and it's anticlimactic as hell.

Like why was that even there????

"ah yeah, if people are watching, we might as well let them fuck" ??? What

Like yeah sure, pent up sexual frustration from both of them and also they're young so it's normal for them to make stupid choices.

But also they're both 20, fucking isn't gonna fix the lack of communication??

Also whose horrible idea was it to let Mio just wander with him?? Excuse me, what is he, a dog?? Mio is literally fixing everything in Shun's life and he's still getting dragged along like that. Let the guy rest istg. Now what's gonna happen? His dad is gonna be even more mad at him for being gay and then he'll sulk to Mio and he'll have to carry to burden of that too. And I get it, maybe Mio (somehow) thinks that Shun helping him is enough for what he's doing, but hm sorry to break it to you, but no way.

So if you're still planning to watch it, then just know it's some fujo bait or smt cause ain't no way it isn't 💀

[bigskydreaming]

Bruce Wayne upon Henry Cavill returning to the DCU as Superman: 

“Oh, I see somebody decided to go and STEAL MY ENTIRE CHARACTERIZATION on his summer vacation. Nice. Boy scout, my ass. Well, don’t forget where you are now. You’re not in Kansas anymore. OR Middle-Earth. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant “the Continent” (look, all fantasy lands are the same, everyone knows that. Its called the United States of Narnia? Read a map?) Whatever. Just don’t go around thinking you’ll be bringing any of THAT role into this one. Stay in your lane, Kent. I do the brooding around here, and I DON’T share well with others. Ask literally any of my children. I even compete with each of them for their siblings’ time and attention, lmao like why would I share my stuff with you? I’ve never even adopted you, like even a little bit, helloooooo. 

Oh, and btw, I still have my anti-Superman armored suit down in the Batcave. Its filed in the Aisle of All My Mistakes, Obsessively Archived For Posterity and Also Memorialized In A Super-Healthy And Not At All Concerning Way That Has Nothing to Do With Routine Self-Flagellation Because Reasons, no matter what Dick has told you. He’s a habitual liar, picked it up from me. I’m very proud. In addition to my anti-Superman suit I also have a lifetime membership to the Can and Will Repeat My Worst Mistakes Like Clockwork and Learn Nothing From Them Ever Club, so despite how disastrously everything went the last time I got my ass beat by you even WITH ‘prep time,’ no matter what the reddit Rumbles thread started by my sockpuppet account claims - y’know, back when I was manipulated into seeing you as Satan by a supervillain who looked at my ego and paranoia and said well this looks so easy even I almost feel bad about weaponizing it for Evil? - well, Poor Life Choices is the longest committed relationship I’ve ever had in my life and I’m WAY too invested to back down on that front now. I’d just look flaky. 

So in conclusion to this impromptu Powerpoint presentation that I just happened to have handy despite zero advance indicators I might need it and suggests either that I probably SHOULD be tested for the meta-gene or else that I really AM an extra-dimensional Batgod and everybody should be wildly concerned about that, the point is I’m ready to willfully disregard ALL of the aforementioned self-awareness and life lessons that didn’t stick, 100% prepared to throw down all over again if I see even a hint of that lip curling in a derisive half-smirk that suggests ‘I am cursed to share this planet with incompetent dumbasses.’ Just because my legal department still hasn’t figured out how to trademark a Mood even when its mine and I basically invented it, I’m pretty sure, well, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna just stand idly by and let you STEAL IT when plagiarism is a felony that carries a five year sentence. Minimum. Probably. Idk. Look, in this particular universe I mounted machine guns on my car instead of ridiculous physics-defying grappling hooks. I lost sight of Proportionate Responses literal decades ago. This is not new information. Let’s move on.

 Wait, what? No there’s nothing to read into the fact that I make a habit of watching your lips. You’re an alien. I’m a detective. I’m documenting how the topography of your face shifts in response to each and every emotion-incited twitch, all so I can plausibly pull off my ‘I can see into a man’s very soul by deciphering his micro-expressions’ bullshit with you too. Its literally for Science? I’ll write a book on it someday. Maybe. And if I do there will obviously be zero subtext about why I detail Kryptonian musculature in vastly more explicit detail than I do the mechanics of heat vision, duh, like lmao you sound so unhinged right now, literally what even is your deal.”

Bruce, walking away muttering: Who the fuck does this guy even think he is? And just going around adopting random orphans he trains to fight bad guys and save the world? That’s MY move. Everyone knows that! Respect my brand and go get your own, asshole. Jeez.

* this is a joke post that is not in any way meant to speak to OP’s actual interpretation of any Bruce Wayne that matters, just a random expansion on DCU movie Bruce Wayne who I disavow for being the Ultimate Bad Take of that universe on account of what the actual fuck am I supposed to do with a Batman who has his car gun down random henchmen in the name of literally nobody even knows at this point. Like, hello? Now what are he and Jason supposed to fight about and be forever tragically estranged because of? You guys gotta THINK about this stuff before you just go around throwing hundred million dollar budgets at the first pitch to go “here’s how a Superman and Batman fight to the death can still win, actually.” No, but seriously. For real. I just really hate Batfleck’s characterization. Like, with the fiery passion of a hundred thousand suns all competing in the official Universe’s Hottest Supernova competition. And as you can see, I am super reasonable and rational about this and am definitely probably likely to change my mind about it if exposed to just the right counter-argument that I have just never considered or been approached with before. And ‘tis not even an objection to his casting, the aesthetics, not the DC movie universe as a whole. Nay. Nay I say, with much over the top ridiculousness to blunt the edge of any inclination one might have to treat this post seriously because Somebody On The Internet Is Being Wrong persists as a problem that occasionally besets us all. No? That’s literally just me projecting and my experiences are not actually universal? Huh. Weird. Not sure I like that. ANYWAY, to return to the afore-mentioned NAY I SAY(s)....my grudge match is against Batfleck’s characterization and Batfleck’s characterization only. Consider this my love letter to how absurd I find it, rather than an invitation to The Discourse as even my substantial history of arguing molehills into Mount Everests isn’t up to the task of expanding on a thesis that is basically just “I just think it sucks and I hate it, bye.”

[hajihiko]

Ok first off I love you and your opinions are 100% valid BUT I've been thinking for a while and I disagree about hajime and nagito clashing once Nagito wakes up. And this isn't a shipping thing I just want them to be friends. They had some sort of vibe in chapter 1 enough for Hajime to feel betrayed by Nagito's "oops-I'm-crazy" reveal, but even after that Hajime always just wanted to understand Nagito. And yes then chapter 4 happened and Nagito was an ass to everyone especially Hajime, but in the anime they seem like friends now?? Hajime was the only one there when he woke up and Nagito recognized he was Hajime and not Izuru immediately. They even ate on the boat together. Nagito definitely needs to change some of his mindsets thru therapy but the anime made me sad for him, the guy has no friends and he wants to be friends with kaz and fuyu and the others, he just needs help getting there. And he says weird stuff and can be creepy but Hajime accepts every other quirky person on the island so..? Idk I would love your thoughts :)

Ok so a while ago I talked about how I can imagine Nagito either, a) would resent Hajime for choosing his Just A Guy self over Izuru, or b) idolize him (like he idolizes all the Ultimates, but more) for nonetheless being The Ultimate Superguy. I'm not 100% on either, just figured those would be the two most likely scenarios. I also think both would not sit well with Hajime who now has a bit of a complex identity that he might not fully get himself, and having it sorta put in the spotlight all the time might be uncomfy.

I also sort of do-and-dont consider the anime, since I liked a bunch of things about it but some felt rushed, so I think of that ending as like .... thematically accurate but not necessarily how it went down? And I guess that includes the Nagito OVA. Like, thematically yes, Nagito is gonna be friendly with everyone now and it's reinstated how Hajime is himself (including Izuru) and they come a full circle with mimicking each other's poses from the start of the game; thematically YES very good. But i think it kinda happens too easily?

Tbh I just kinda think it's more boring if they're both immediately totally cool with one another, and I think they're more interesting when they clash and make each other think about things differently. Same with like, Mikan and Hiyoko, I don't buy that they're just immediately chill around each other after All That. That's not as satisfying as them having to work on themselves and the relationship. Like, with Nagito specifically digging at Hajime's insecurities and singling him out like he did, causing Chiaki's death (which he had a good reason for but it obviously hurt for Hajime especially), and just generally how Nagito was treated through a lot of the game (badly), and his views on Social Hierarchy being super challenged by Hajime even existing... having them just end as being wordlessly ok with it all is anticlimactic imo.

So like, whenever I talk about post-wakeup dynamics, in my mind I'm kind of thinking they had at LEAST a year together before the scene in the anime where everyone's awake and healthy and working together.

[ajdrawshq]

So.... What the fuck! ( Any thoughts? VLR is wild )

if i put the Junpei what the hell compilation here does that count as an answer

ok i do actually have thoughts yes. so many thoughts. might take me a sec to form words out of em bc of the sheer.. something. whatever just happened and im also lowkey sleep deprived rn i have shrimp emotions and i also cant feel anything

hmm ok one of the things i wanted to mention was that earlier i almost thought Quark couldve been some kinda abondoned Left clone but they have different eye colors so thats crossed off the list. that Does make it kinda weird that Quark mentions freeing his soul during that one scene, but i guess we're supposed to assume he just picked it up from somewhere? like he heard abt it on earth at some point? i doubt Dio wouldve said anything to him abt it in the pod, and even then i dont think hed quote him during That if he did. but how well known were the Myrmidons for him to hear that?? or was it from Junpei/what Junpei was talking abt when he said he was involved during the mars expiriment thing??? idk i just thought that was a weird connection that they didnt directly address.. i think. i couldve missed smth there

im not even gonna try to understand the entirety of the time jumping stuff when it comes to switching bodies and all that. youd think id be prepared for this kinda thing considering all the stuff ive played so far! i am not. looking at the picture they used to show how Sigma's been jumping all over the place legit gave me motivation to do my homework bc that would be easier to comprehend

on that note im like. how do i put this. i was actually super interested in where all this stuff was going for a long while bc the ideas being used were cool even if the execution was a lil wonky. like im so down for time shenanigins (with memory fuckery!! come on!!) and clones and humanlike robots and a lot of other stuff they had going on. i actually like what they were doing when they expanded the morphogenetic field stuff, although i Do wanna think of that as completely seperate from how it is in 999 bc of the retconned stuff :/ other than that what they had going on was pretty cool but. the ending just. i ,,, i dont even know the way it all came together feels so weird???? like it technically makes sense and i get what they were going for. its. ???? i wanna say what im looking for is "anticlimactic" but idk if thats right. its just..... Weird.

however i also wanna say that i am at least glad they touched on the different views of people being stuck in the "worse" timeline? Junpei being glad to have Quark despite everything while Clover and Alice have to deal with leaving behind half a century along with their friends and family. even tho they just kinda went jk lol at that part immediately afterwards???????? but whatever i guess

the characters in general were pretty fun tbh? not quite as real-feeling as 999 but still enough to be enjoyable. it was nice seeing Junpei reference a bunch of stuff from 999 and retain some pieces of himself all these years later, especially when he quoted Light ("fake, a replica, not the real thing...") its horrifying to think abt all hes been thru at this point tho ,,, Clover seemed a lot more outgoing than before but a year can change u so i cant say much abt that, it was cool to see her again regardless. Alice is an interesting one and i liked her even if she was kind of frustrating to go against in the AB games lmao. Luna has lowkey been one of my favorites thru the whole thing but i had a hard time fully trusting her for so long bc of how suspiciously innocent she was lol which wasnt entirely baseless either but yknow. Dio is admittedly funny and ridiculously good at acting like hes a normal person its actually scary. also whered he hide the bombs before planting them bc they didnt seem That small. anyway uhh Quark is a funny little guy and its nice that he straight up doesnt die (usually?? i cant remember if theres a route where he does. other than the bombs) and!!! i actually really enjoyed Kyle. no idea why. wish he didnt abandon me so many times but it fuckin be like that i guess. accidental revenge for absent fatherism. and.. Sigma. when u said u do not like him i think im with u now. not necessarily strong feelings but. yeah. but PHI.. god i wish they actually said where she came from shes just HERE and they never fuckin elaborated man who is she. she is so cool tho i love when she goes on her tangents abt stuff <3

AL OF THAT SAID u were very right when u said the puzzles in this game are fun. even tho i had to check a guide a few times bc i was genuinely clueless for some of em (u have no idea how stumped i got in the darts part of the white room puzzle. i should never do mental math this late i cant live that one down) theyre mostly really good and i did enjoy those sections especially

[janesramblings]

Nancy Drew Review (2x7)

spoilers! 

i got a request to do this and honestly it was fun so there will be another one next week

okay random college girl you don’t have to look so gleeful about locking a girl in a hotel room

“The witching hour” that made me giggle she’s trying so hard to be mysterious

Chains? That’s not good

Honey why would you leave the lights off?

whoa she’s gone

why am i surprised about this?

Nancy is very invested in this divorce case

Carson is so excited about the two hole punch that’s kind of adorable

ooo college

Nancy’s making some very good points here but also maybe she shouldn’t mention the aglaeca to Carson

“figuratively” lollll

“Got to Marie Condo this whole place” I love George

Poor Nick is very concerned

I love that Bess is always ready to comfort someone in her Bess way

“You’re going to say sleep aren’t you?” “Yes.”

Bess and Nick are an underappreciated friendship

Okay doesn’t the fact that anyone can go into her mudroom bother Nancy? I feel like I’d be stressed 24/7

These outfits are giving me ‘90s vibes and I like it

@nancydrewnews????? I love it

It’s probably curated by Bess in her free time

Okay there’s a reason that Nancy and Ace’s text conversations are shown practically episode right?

Ace calmly informing the guy that he’s embarrassing himself was wonderful

Ace is flirting with the wrong person but Ace’s flirting is still adorable

Idk if this is the script or if this is Kennedy but Nancy looks so bothered by Ace flirting with Amanda

The way Nancy looks at Ace when he says “you’re welcome”. She might not know what’s going on between them but she knows she doesn’t like it. 

“it’s time sensitive” she really doesn’t like this flirting

These college girls can tell Nancy has a crush on Ace. I’m not the only one seeing them looking between these oblivious lovebirds right?

Nancy’s face when she’s wrong is so funny

Ace’s concern for Nancy is giving me hope that the Amanda thing won’t go far

Not to be all Peter Kavinsky on you but whoa, whoa, whoa that blood scared me

Oh no Ryan has made a mistake

Nancy’s sleuthing skills definitely did not come from Ryan

Also Nick is so done with him

Ace’s concern when they talk about college is so cute

I am waiting for my “Nance you should go to college if you want to” conversation between Ace and nancy

Oh my god Downton Abbey

I love Ace

The poor guy looks so uncomfortable

Oh boy George was going to tell Bess wasn’t she?

Carson and Ryan

This has been asked before but why does Ryan only have 50s?

What would have happened if Ryan had no heir?

Also all this heir talk is really giving me Downton Abbey vibes

“If you say ghosts one more time!!!”

“Thank you Bess Marvin... and thank you Queen Elizabeth” 

Oh they’re going in that’s not gonna go well

Yikes. College girls (I say as a high school junior)

“help me”

Wait are the chains people hear just dumbwaiters? 

that’s... a lot of blood

“stop overselling it” have I mentioned I love George?

oh wow okay that’s very anticlimactic

but still very smart

i really gave up on capitalization didn’t I?

you know i kind of like amanda

“WhO rAiSeD yOu???”

“which ghost was it” lolll

“ace please don’t go” nick is really out of his comfort zone here

okay ace and amanda’s flirting is kinda cute

but she’s not nancy

“You and Ace have a private server?”

BESS KNOWS Y’ALL 

THIS IS NOT A DRILL SHE KNOWS

wait wait wait GEORGE?? 

“Odette can you hear us???” Okay so I know very little about possession but yelling in George’s general direction isn’t gonna work Bess darling

Isabel nodding, Zoe standing there with pizza in her mouth, and Evie shaking her head is just me and my friends at any given moment (in case you’re wondering, I’m Zoe)

i’m loving these dramatic camera tilts

“weird french lady” i like this girl

wow the writers did not need to kill me with a very real college conversation

is it bad that i forgot about owen???

Nancy is a badass you’re right Jen

Ryan’s childhood really sucked didn’t it?

i hope those four stay friends even if jen isn’t on the team, they’re a very interesting and very chaotic quartet

i really was waiting for Nancy to write Hudson but hey you know existential crisis works too

please don’t kill george i couldn’t stand that

ahhhh i want ace to be happy, and fllirty™ Ace is kind of cute but also NACE

wife?

Wife??

WIFE????

HOW OLD IS BESS IS SHE EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO BE MARRIED???

WHAT I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK TO GET ANSWERS DAMNIT

[can-of-pringles]

Here, let me dump my AHS Apocalypse thoughts on you. I really tried to keep it short, I swear.

What an exciting start! I thought this would be about averting an apocalypse that we'd never actually get to see (sorta like The X-Files did and I'm still grumpy about).

Finally making use of the pierced ears! Not to be shallow, but my god, I could look at the Aesthetically Pleasing Boy all day.

Aw, I was hoping the news broadcast would end with the Turner Doomsday Video.

Nice casting for Timothy, dude reminds me of Matt Smith.

"The stew is Stu!" What a delicious pun, five stars!

Michael's light eyes are creepy as fuck. I guess that makes it good casting.

Ugh, the cursed suit is back. But the idea that it might be Tate wearing it again gave me a great bout of LOLs about this character combo. So that's what it would be like to watch someone's fanfic.

Time in a Bottle, they really fucking had to, huh? This show really knows how to torture its viewers. "This song makes me so melancholic." Same, Dinah, so fucking same.

Whoa, Mallory vs. Michael was when it got interesting!

They for fucking real had Mallory utter the words "Dark Phoenix"! That's not the torture I signed up for!

Wait, not just witches, but those we already know?! Oh man, this show!

Wow, we even see Queenie again! Oh, I do love it when shows correct grievous wrongs, HINT, HINT, NUDGE, NUDGE in now particular direction!

JPM, my beloved! But so weird to have Michael meet another of Evan's characters and it still isn't Tate.

"Solitaire it is." Poor baby!

We got Queenie and even Madison back, so I was desperate for Misty - and the show actually delivered! Am I high, is this season all a dream?

And then they even bring all the Murder House characters back!

Moira gets peace at last!

We finally see the 4th kid that I swear was mentioned but never shown in S1. Or did I overlook her or something? How did she die anyway?

Whoa, so my idea about Tate having been influenced by the house was right!

Ep 7 finally explained how come Myrtle is back! They took their fucking time, I'm offended.

Dear god, no, the He-Man hair!

That Ryan Reynolds joke felt like the X-Men reciprocating Deadpool's Hugh Jackman joke.

"Had a little name change recently for reasons of branding and whatnot" What, you mean that's an actual thing and not something Facebook recently invented?

Jennifer Lawrence is mentioned. By Jeff of course. Stop, guys, I can't handle any more!

"Who the fuck are you?" Come on, you can't tell me I'm seeing things, he said that just the way Dadneto did!

Okay, NOW I'm probably just seeing things: in his introduction scene (hey, timeline-wise it is) the guy with the almost colorless hair is wearing something with tigers on it!!!

Then even Marie Leveau comes back! This season is such a trip!

And there it finally is, solving the problem of AHS Apocalypse à la Days of Future Past. Fun times!

Running Michael over was too simple. But despite that very anticlimactic solution Mallory is still awesome. What is it with witches being so great?

What happened to Moira in the new timeline? Did they go to the Murder House again to free her? Did they help Violet/Tate set sail?

And what from previous seasons was changed by averting the apocalypse?

Whoopsie, the next end of the world is set for 2024 already. That's like only 3 seasons away.

I'd say plotwise this was my favourite season.

Finally another person who actually likes AHS Apocalypse!

Also yes ^^ I love Mr. Gallant

I feel bad because I don't remember who Timothy is, it's been awhile since I've watched it.

THAT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LINES I QUOTE IT ALL THE TIME LOL

Michael is creepy >_>

Ryan Murphy confirmed it's not Tate that time. It's just some demon?? Yeah idk.

I'm always reminded of DOFP with that song being in AHS.

I LOVE THE PART WHERE THE WITCHES SHOW BACK UP IT'S SOOO GOOD

I feel bad for JPM too :(

I was so happy for Moira that she finally got a happy ending!

LMAO YEAH THE WIG WAS NOT IT... Also the makeup was bad XD. People joke that he looks like Ellen.

I think I might have cheered when Michael got ran over

Ghosts aren't affected by the time changes so if I'm correct they all still have their happy endings.

I'm glad you liked it!

[whocalledhimannux]

now that I’ve had some time to reflect on Return of the Thief, I have some more thoughts that are... slightly more critical, in both the thinking-deeply and not-entirely-praiseworthy ways. I’m not going to tag this post because I don’t want to harsh anyone’s buzz, but I’ll just say return of the thief spoilers and rott spoilers right now, and hopefully the blacklist will catch those, and if not the rest of the post is going under a cut

okay so like first off, I want to say that I still think this was a very well-written book and it’s very satisfying from a character standpoint. there are so many great interactions, indications of growth, etc, and the layered writing of the first person POV is, as always, stunning. my main character complaint is not enough Costis and Kamet (or Costis/Kamet)--but even that, upon reflection, I think is colored slightly by my anticipation for a blatant Comet moment. When you’re waiting for a big payoff, and the story isn’t designed to have that, it’ll feel like a bit of a letdown. But from a different perspective, the ending of TaT can be a perfectly satisfying narrative ending, establishing that Costis and Kamet’s storylines are now thoroughly and primarily wrapped up in each other; their contributions to the wider plot from thereon out are mostly incidental, because sailing off to be together is their bigger ending.

side note: a character development I actually loved was us seeing Eugenides teetering dangerously close to a breaking point and being pulled back. I think...... from what I have seen of the fandom in general--bearing in mind I was never a part of Sounis and have dipped in and out of the discord without being majorly involved--based on my general impression of the tumblr fandom, I think there is a tendency among QT fans to let the Thief characterization of Gen affect our reading of him in later books. I think there’s sort of an assumption that he’s everybody’s favorite and that his choices are, by default, correct and sympathetic, even as the series progresses and he makes more, increasingly difficult and sometimes pragmatic or even cruel decisions. and I think RotT really, really challenges that kind of view. Eugenides is under immense strain in this book, and several times he lashes out in ways that are indefensible. Sometimes, even if he’s not being cruel to others, he’s being risky to the point of masochism, and the revelations about his backstory also suggest that quirky innocent Gen of The Thief is also not all he seemed to be.

and I think that was resolved in a very enjoyable and narratively satisfying way. The threats to the Braels had a real edge to them. God!Eugenides was terrifying, in a noticeable step up from the ways regular!Eugenides is terrifying, and it felt like payoff for the increasing role of the gods in Eugenides’s storyline up until now. And I really appreciated the subtleties of Sejanus saying that he won’t tell Eugenides the conspirators because it will damage him in the longrun, and the way Eugenides ultimately decides to forgive and trust Pheris and Sejanus anyway--those scenes, imo, were great followups to the scenes in QoA, KoA, and ACoK that discussed how rulers can maintain their moral center in difficult situations.

but... the Medes. plot-wise, I’m struggling with the conclusion to this storyline.

I made a different post already about What the Fuck is going on with the secretary of the archives, because it totally feels like shit is missing there, and to some extent I’m okay with that? it felt to me like a stylistic choice--like, Pheris the historian is writing specifically about the Mede invasion, so maybe the full story of Baron Orutus, and Relius, wasn’t actually resolved til years later and he thought it was an overlapping but ultimately separate story. fine. I actually did kind of like the parts where that was done more blatantly, like his comment that two of the queen’s attendants became famous later on for unrelated reasons. it helped with the framing of the story.

but I don’t feel that way about the Medes plot. For one thing, we’ve spent a couple of books now harping on the fact that Ghusnavidas (sp? I’m tired and my book is too far away to check, y’all know who I mean) is dying and that the primary threat is going to come from Nahuseresh’s brother, Naheelid. Costis made a point of saying last book that if the Little Peninsula could hold out for a year against Naheelid, not only would they win but the entire empire might be in danger of collapsing.

So... they spent ~a few months fighting a single army at a single battle site, with the Big Threat Guy not even present, and that’s it? everybody goes home and the Medes aren’t a threat anymore? it’s not even clear to me how many troops the Medes lost--their principal losses were in the form of Bu-seneth, Nahuseresh, and Baron Erondites, who, yeah, were key officers, but if the Medes lost, saying, 30% of their troops or less, what’s to stop Naheelid from hiring more soldiers and better officers and coming back in a year? it totally makes sense to me that an army that saw Eugenides call down lightning is willing to pack it up early, but inevitably that’s going to be dismissed as rumor and distortion so idk how it’s supposed to be a lasting deterrent. it may not be super realistic, because the downfall of empires takes time, but I think a bunch of us were expecting that the Mede Empire would, at the very least, but conclusively beaten by the end of the book, and I don’t think we got that.

Also, speaking of Big Bads: Nahuseresh. Oof.

I know part of the point of TaT was that Nahuseresh’s situation was becoming kind of sad and pathetic but... I think he went downhill too quickly in this book. and tbh I think part of it is the fact that we’re getting this from Pheris’s POV, and Pheris for one doesn’t have a whole lot of close contact with Nahuseresh in this book, and for another didn’t have any contact with him prior to this. His little “I will be king of Attolia!” outburst honestly made me cringe a little bit, and while I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of Nahuseresh being killed by an anonymous soldier--it has a very “reality ensues, war isn’t a series of epic meaningful confrontations” feel to it--I do object to the fact that Eugenides spent a significant amount of time in KoA and ACoK nursing a grudge against Nahuseresh and then barely got to do anything with it. and a lot of what he did get to do, the reader barely sees.

I think there were ways to make Nahuseresh’s actions in this novel a bit more satisfying without fundamentally changing them. for example, bringing in more commentary from people who knew him before. if there was a passage where Eugenides looked at Nahuseresh and realized that his beard was raggedy, and he looked thinner, and there was a manic light in his eye and he just seemed pretty pathetic and honestly more comical than the villain Gen’s been building up in his head for years--I think that would go a long way towards establishing tone. it would feel more like the anticlimax is intentional and be more about Eugenides’s own character growth, whereas now it just feel like... Pheris doesn’t have a whole lot of personal stake in this conflict even though the reader has been waiting for it for so long.

(although I do find it interesting on a narrative level in contrast with Sejanus, who seems disproportionately important in this book imo--from my perspective, the threat of Nahuseresh has been a constant behind-the-scenes presence for the last four books and Sejanus stopped being important after KoA. and I get why the opposite would be true for Pheris, but I still... want more.)

anyway, I just feel like the villains in this book are a little--warped, somehow. like the huge enormous threat of the series up until this point actually isn’t all that bad and can be wrapped up in relatively little time. it’s a weird sensation for me wherein I’m glad where everyone ended up and I enjoyed the experience of getting to that end, but like... it just feels a little off. slightly anticlimactic. I mean, for a lot of us this series is All About the characters and from that perspective I’m mostly satisfied, but I feel like in previous books the plot has come together SO well that my expectations were really high, and this resolution didn’t really meet them.

and damn does it feel strange to be writing this. feels like I just cobbled together a few of my hottest and most controversial takes and like I need to throw in about twenty more disclaimers about how much I love the books overall, but I’ll resist.

[killianmesmalls]

Rewatching last night’s episode because I think I was a bit distracted from time to time. Running thoughts below:

Kids, I know you’re prisoners, but that’s no reason to not wipe your mouths. Honestly. 

Alright, that’s still weird. Also, I can’t imagine the kind of bug problems that witch has having a house like that. 

I know I’m biased, but can someone aside from Alice and Killian acknowledge in one episode that he’s cursed, too? And maybe focus a little bit on helping him, too? Okay, I need to chill. 

Still a nice shot. Jacinda and Sabine also look so good in this scene. 

Damn those jeans look good on you, murderface. 

This isn’t how you treat your besties, Hansel. Not without a safe word established. 

“I know who you are, Captain.” That annoyed look on her face and her calling him “Captain Curse” better be frustration that he’s still asleep instead of her being rude to him again....

YAS I’m going to imagine Margot and Rogers realizing who the other is to Tilly and chatting about her. 

I can’t help but want to go all DC Comics about the pronunciation for Ivo. 

Dude, you know better than to tell your children to leave breadcrumbs. First of all, you all are seriously not looking like the richest people, so how about not wasting food? And, really, it just isn’t a logical choice. 

OMG Hansel! His legit desire to be Henry’s friend! HE’S SO HEARTBREAKING! Bless this scene. I seriously had no idea how they were going to reconcile this whole thing, but this had me buying it. 

Finally they’re bringing back the author thing. Also the fact that Henry is terrible at subtlety. 

Sabine, dear, if Drew is helpful with the fryers and Tilly brings in business, how about occasionally having them work together and you relax a little? 

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE AWAKE AND NOT THE ONES I WANT TO BE AWAKE?! Oh, right, potentially the poisoned heart situation that NO ONE HAS HELPED WITH, YET. 

Supportive words and “you’re still here, annoying me”...Weaver-Rumple is my favorite Rumple. 

I do really love that, aside from Henry, the OG ones this season are all former villains. This season has done well to show a different side of them. 

Zelena, you used to be in a similar house and had a similar fireplace, I’m sure. You cannot tell me you don’t know how to start a fire without magic. 

Literally every other guy Zelena is pictured with is a better love story than Zades. 

“I just have to do something first.” Seriously, why didn’t you tell him anything more?

ROGERS!!! Being a good boy! Being a good detective! Being a good bro!

PEEL OUT, YOU BADASS!!!! 

If only you had a nail you could snap that rope with...

DAT BOOTY IN THOSE JEANS, THO. 

Yay! Being shown he’s Lucy’s dad! 

Ugh, Henry, believe it!

I feel so bad for murderface here trying to convince Henry and failing. 

“I’ve been tied to enough trees with you to know these ropes won’t hold.” What the hell kinda kinky things did you boys get up to???

I do enjoy the dynamic between Regina and Zelena this season. 

Heh. Candy Crush. 

Okay, but how did Hansel and Gretel get out of there? What the heck happened? Why did the witch not say anything? Pride, maybe...?

ROGERS YOU BADASS I LOVE YOU! SUCH A GOOD BRO!!!

You know, for having once been a “dive” apparently, Roni’s looks like a super cool place to hang out. 

How did he know where Chad was and when? I mean, I get that Henry alerted him to the fact that Kelly was a “real woman with a real fiancé” but how do you know where he is?

I do love that stairs shot. Good job, Lana!

Zelena, seriously, this still isn’t your home. You should knock before letting yourself in. Unless you really had gotten close over those few days? IDK. 

HOW DID YOU KIDS GET OUT?!?! At least you finally washed your faces. 

Yeah, actually, you could have told him when you were leaving to get them? Maybe? “I think I know where they are.” Or something? Anything?

Alright, this dude hardcore overreacts. I don’t blame Zelena for getting pissed off. Of course, I do blame her for burning a kid’s arms. Jeez, woman. 

I know Hansel is super pissed off at her, but he just got super burned. I don’t think he’d be calm enough in that second to make that face. 

“Must be a bitch trying to keep track of your driver’s licenses.” Hehehe. I find that line more entertaining that I should. 

“You remember the last time we played this game.” You mean when you burned the hell out of a kid? Yeah, fun game. 

“I’ve changed.” *knock out* “more or less.” Ha!

That look of forced smiling and panic is such a sad face and good on Bex for that brief second where you seriously feel everything Zelena is feeling. 

Hahaha I really do want to know why Regina has handcuffs. Yeah, I’m going to think she has them from Rogers and they had a few happy happy fun times back in that room. They both need some ways to relax. 

Awww, Zelena being so sad and resigned. WTF Once, you managed to make me like her this season. How did you do it?!

Awww! Precious family hug! And I find it adorable how he cradles Lucy’s head. 

THIS SCENE IS SO WEIRD!!! WTF WITH THE MAGICAL TRUST SUGAR?!

Poor Naveen. :(

“Go on you monkey. You get on that bike and fly.” HAHAHAHA. Okay, this was both a really weird and adorableish line? I do like the callback to her introduction as Kelly. 

YAS. DETECTIVE ROGERS MENTION! 

Omfg I love Margot/Robin. “Crime boss, I knew it!”

YAS. TILLY MENTION!!!

Awwwww supportive Zelena!

“It’s still really early.” Not as early as you think it might be.

Awwwww!!!! Maid of honor!!!!! So cute! Good job on your momming skills in this scene, Zelena. 

I like the shot with the bike spokes. Again, good job Lana. 

How did Facilier get into that room without anyone seeing him? I know he has magic, but that was just a straight up stroll in. 

Oh, look, Gothel and Facilier both after the dagger and both likely screwing with my poor baby, Alice. I hope you both go away now. 

Such an anticlimactic end to Jack...

I AM SO HYPED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE! Seriously, cannot friggin wait. So many questions are going to be answered! Golden Hook! KnightRook! Curious Archer! Curious Weaver? Idk but SO HERE FOR IT!

[herotheshiro]

I didn't really want to make a whole post but I dont feel like cramming my thoughts into the tags of a reblog so I guess I have to make a post anyway. And it's gonna just be one long paragraph probably bc I'm on mobile so thanks for your patience.

So I reread /houkago edge/ just now after being reminded of it on IG; back when I first read it in like 2016 or so I thought it was a very cute manga and I was excited to see its updates (I think I ended up reading ch 5 like WAY later than the other chalters together so the conclusion's effect was kind of lost on me back then). And I think thts very interesting bc when I read it now, I don't think it's that cute ... I just felt uncomfortable for tobari. years later, i read it thinking more abt tobari's conflict rather than "hehe two boys in a BL" and I don't think it does well on that front. i recently read an interview with some Japanese gay men talking abt how BL nowadays is more open minded and "woke" than it was in the old days, and I can see that here with the manga being like "it's ok to be a guy comfortable with your gender as a man but liking things considered to be feminine" but like ... it could have done it better? I read a comment that was like "it's weird bc tobari would go out with inui but he would be uncomfortable the whole time which is kind of weird since the story is abt learning to be comfortable with who you are ..." and now that I think abt it I guess you could write that off as tobari unconsciously liking inui so that's why he was uncomfortable but. Yeah it reads weird even if its like "well inui thought tobari would like it which is why he suggests it rvery time". Like sure you can say the early parts where inui pushes tobari to buy makeup, clothes is good bc it forces tobari out of his comfort zone to buy stuff he wanted and wants when otherwise he would've stayed scared for a while more ... but it just felt very pushy and I'm personally not a huge fan of guys pushing me to do shit when I'm not that comfortable with them yet. my other thing is tht I felt like the whole man likes non-man things didn't really get fleshed out too much, I think the scene where tobari is like "i could never be public with this, ppl will think I'm disgusting" and inui's sad look in response was interesting and I get that the hate will never disappear which is why it doesn't really get concluded in the end (he is still hiding it, his friend's cat interest shows that other ppl are hiding their likes too though) but. Idk where I'm going with this. I feel like it's definitely in a more progressive direction re: general BLs but I prob would not tout it as like revolutionary or whatever. Him liking the feminine things could be replaced with really any other "wierd" thing and it wouldn't really change the story much IMO.

I did actually like how inui was written, how they slowly reveal that yes he is indeed an asshole even his ex said so, but also he wasn't trying to make fun of tobari but was trying to support him in his own twisted way ... tobari I think was not as well developed. Like yes he has his conflicts with toxic masculinity, homophobia to a degree, being comfortable with himself but otherwise ... idk. Not much to him other than letting himself get pushed around and then finally being like "ENOUGH. having to face who I am sucks when I usually just bottle it up" which sounds like enough character but it's not ...

i wrote this just to barf the previous thoughts, I had no real purpose or thread to this review. I just wanted to note how time has changed my view bc I know I really liked it back then but i read it now and I'm like eh .... I mean even back then I felt the ending was kind of disappointing, and I still agree tht the ending is very anticlimactic but I mean. I think mostly everything that needed to be concluded got concluded. still though, very interesting that I though this story was SO cute back then but now I’m just like meh at it. Like it’s an ok story, it’s not BAD, but eh

and also ignore the random incomplete sentence that might show up after this paragraph bc mobile desktop SUCKS, I swear they purposely make it unusable to force users to download the app

[no-longer-an-alley-cat]

Weird dream incoming.

So my parents an I were attending the birthday of one of their friends who had veritable horde of adopted children. Like 10 or something. One of them (his name might have been Desmond?) did not like us at all.

Before it even got properly underway, there was lots of driving around and hiding from people. I dunno if that was part of a different dream, but dream me was still trying to read the same maths book at the party.

So the party was happening at a mall, which is already kind of shitty, because the original venue was closed. A big part of it was reading some story written and published by a possibly dead child. Desmond showed his contempt by offering Dad and me only one copy. I remember the story being very poorly written, at one point mentioning ‘btm’ which i interpreted as Batman. The random stranger not affiliated with the party started reading over my shoulder, too, and insisting she see the cover art and shit.

Then we went home and I saw (for some reason) Desmond had added me on Facebook and/or I was in some group chat of him and all his siblings and was talking shit. I remember being called out for both my physical size and the size of my ego in a comparison to a funny dog video.

Naturally, I liked the video because it was funny and accurate. Mum told me this was a bad idea, and Desmond started spamming my messages.

Then we went to a waterfront that wasn’t Wellington, I think. An alarm went off telling everyone to get out of the water, I made a joke about us being able to now tell which sea lions were selkies, and then we saw some whales. Drewe was briefly there and try to swim with the sea lions because they are the dogs of the sea.

Then we took Desmond (now wearing a top hat) to some dessert place where he ordered so many things. Like 10 brownies he just shoved into his mouth whole, something called rainbow chia, plus other stuff.

So I’m sitting there disgusted and indignant that he’s making us pay for all this, but Mum’s sitting next to me in that subtle ‘don’t you fucking dare’ way she does, so I can’t shout at him or whatever. Instead, I just zoned out, singing songs in my head and trying not to pay attention.

At some point it’s kind of suggested that Desmond isn’t really welcome at this chain of dessert providers? One of the waitstaff made a pointed comment about how you have to pay for stuff from the self service cabinets, the prices of which she apparently learned on her second day on the job. Lots of dirty looks were thrown around.

Then, shit get’s real.

And then a siren goes off and suddenly I’m in a field looking for my stuff. And there’s an announcement for all the kids associated with the friends of my parents to assemble at a certain place to receive a certain kind of backpack, and for some reason I assume that includes me? I don’t actually make it to the assembly point, though, I just pick the right backpack off of the ground. No one knew why the siren was going off, though the most popular theory involved missiles.

Then we have to stand in rows and suddenly it is revealed (to me, dream me knew all along) that we were magic? It’s more Dianne Wynn Jones magic than Hogwarts, lots of different types and stuff. Desmond shines a brown light, revealing an assassination plot to kill the head magic person and everyone freaks the fuck out.

For some reason the only effective weapon is a bow, which dream me knows I’m shit at, so I don’t even try. But there’s this blond haired kid running around trying to give a bow to people who obviously don’t have the shot, but he’s all ‘I believe in you!’ so I walk up and take the bow and ask him if he believes in me. He says ‘yeah!’ so I fire and down two of the assassains with one arrow. So that’s pretty cool and surprising, dream me is completely blown away.

Then I’m up on stage and it turns out I’m not really supposed to be there, but oh well, I saved the leader. They’re trying to hand out these magical key things (as awards? idk) but they’ve lost them. I see a couple on the ground, so I pick them up, and then I see more, and more, and there are far too many keys, it’s obvious that witch craft is afoot. I thump the rug in a magical way to try and get the true keys to reveal themselves, but all that happens is that they turn into ball bearings and weird letters.

I eventually lose patience and turn the rug over to try and crack the spell that’s written underneath. At first I think it’s numbers so I call Desmond over (because he’s a mathamancer or something) but it’s actually quantities? Like, there’s a picture of one of those old fashioned glass milk bottles with the words ‘3L water’ underneath. There’s a whole bunch of them, like it’s a recipie of some kind, and a read them off. When I get to the part about blood we all become aware that there’s some sort of commotion in the house beyond the hall we’re meeting in.

Again, everyone freaks out. Apparently the spell is to distract us while this other magical family summons their ancestor to take us all out. Desmond’s hiding under a table, but I don’t want to hide because there’s cobwebs under everything.

The top half of the door kind of dissolves, and someone with ginger hair says something ominous about their ancestor coming, which I can’t remember word for word.

Then this shirtless, heavily muscled Viking barges in and everyone loses their goddamn minds, but I have no idea of his significance or anything. So I just kind of stand there.

Eventually people calm down a bit and he explains that he has no beef with anyone not of the Glen family, which is apparently the paternal side of these friends of my parents, so definitely does not include me. So that’s all good. I troop out with the other non-Glen’s, which apparently does not include Desmond, because Viking guy pulls him back in, even though he’s adopted. I get the feeling it’s magic based somehow? Like people with Glen magic?

Anyhow, I walk down to this pool which looks like the pool my cousins have except surrounded by nature with some obviously-not-human-probably-fae woman chilaxing in it.

But then Viking guy comes down too, and demands to see my laptop. He seems like someone I don’t want to piss off, so I comply. He uses it to pry into my correspondence with Desmond, and also to watch some key scenes from Homestuck, both of which I find very worrying.

After that, I just remember trying to find a shower, which is a bit anticlimactic, but what you gonna do?

[todokori-kun]

SERIOUSLY?! Omg XD

(I mean most of the fandom seems to have their eyes fixed on Captain America’s backside so)

Speaking of Ragnarok, I’m really, really excited for it :D Especially because of Hela. I’ve been a fan of her actress (Cate Blanchett) ever since I saw her in the LOTR movies.

Ah, well, if you put it like that there were some ever-so-slightly shippy interactions between Nat and Bruce in the first Avengers movie (like their first meeting and the scene where he hulks out), but it was mostly a bit of a ‘WTH’ pairing…I agree with you though, it’s cute.

Yeah, you’re right! He meets an older Peggy in The Winter Soldier and it’s just so heartbreaking (she keeps her cool throughout the conversation and then at the end, she breaks down because she’s just so glad to see him again. Steve says there’s no way he could have left his best girl behind. My feels are starting to ache again…). She dies in Civil War. And according to movie timeline, Steve x Sharon happens not that long after her funeral… 0.0 it messed up the relationship between Peggy and Steve, was OOC for Steve and just really disrespectful to Peggy (also it feels weird because if Steve hadn’t turned into a capsicle for 70 years, Sharon could have been HIS niece as well).

And one more thing:

You know how a ton of people ship Steve/Bucky? Well, when asked about it, the directors said that while they weren’t actually going to make it canon they were happy to see all the different theories the fandom had come up with about the relationship and were planning to leave it up for interpretation.

Well, guys, I don’t think having Steve kiss Sharon while Bucky looks on approvingly is leaving it up for interpretation.

I mean, I don’t really ship Steve/Bucky in the same way I can’t ship Thor/Loki (Steve/Bucky just feel like best bros to me while Thor/Loki, though technically not incest because they’re not biologically related, still isn’t really the kind of thing I’d ship) but they could have at least let the fandom dream of Stucky if they weren’t going to give us a non-heterosexual superhero.

Well, like Thor said, it wasn’t actually Jane’s fault- she was researching stuff with Darcy and happened to get pulled into a wormhole of sorts that brought her into contact with the aether.

(btw, thought you might like to know…Loki/Jane became quite popular after Thor 2. It first started because of Loki’s line about paying Jane a 'visit’ in the first movie, and then in the second we get

Jane: *slaps Loki* That was for New York!

Loki: I like her.

And then Loki saves her life by almost sacrificing himself before Thor saves him (though honestly this is more proof that Loki still cares for Thor than ship material for Jane and Loki))

After he learns about Frigga’s death, Loki just quietly tells the guard who told him the news to go away, stands up, calmly and coolly, and uses his magic to smash all the furniture in his cell. And though it was cut, there was also a scenewhere he was sitting on the floor among the shards of broken furniture and started screaming…

Theodosia the kid could be any one of Loki’s children from mythology :3 let’s see, there’s Sleipnir the eight-legged horse, Hel the goddess of the dead, Jormungand the serpent and Fenrir the wolf.

(try searching up some of the fanart for these kids, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Like the pictures where they’re arguing about whether Loki is 'mommy’ or 'daddy’, since Loki had shape-shifted into a female horse when he had Sleipnir…don’t ask)

Theodosia the mother…probably Sigyn? Since in the actual myths she was his wife and I think she and Loki were also a thing in the comics.

I’m trash for Steve/Loki. It’s like Jean/Marco if Jean was evil and murdery, or Ciel/Lizzy if Ciel was more evil and murdery than he already is. And Remember This Cold is beautifully written. Seriously, it’s so heartbreaking to see Loki’s earlier interactions with Steve, how he falls in love with this man who he feels he doesn’t deserve and he’s always afraid he’ll lose Steve if he makes the wrong move, how Steve desperately wants to get to know Loki and help him but isn’t sure how to approach him because every time he asks 'are you alright?’ Loki just shuts him out again…

Aww, Loki + glasses would actualy look really cute!

Do you know how red my face would get? XD When everyone else walked into the room they’d see me lying on the bed with my face buried into the pillow like 'I didn’t know I was THAT bad at dancing just let me die’.

His ego would never recover from that.

*hugs* I stand by what I said, every bit of it! <3

I cringed a bit reading that becuase I remembered all the pictures I’ve seen of people who forgot to protect their arm while doing archery and OUCH. That’s got to be really painful…

Aww, thanks! I’ll be sending in the songs a little later once I’m done making them lists :D

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!

I let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my god, it came from

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Hi, hello, I am a huge piece of trash. In my defence, the internet died and left me stranded. Still, that’s no excuse for making you worry ;-;

Why yes. Cap does have a glorious backside. The suit leaves nothing to the imagination, so it’s only natural. 

It’s embarrassing, but I’ve rewatched the trailer way too many times. It’s too epic not to watch over and over XD

Well, since she’s able to calm him down (no one knows why, tho), I accept it. Besides, I quite like that trope (not the monster guy one, but the ‘He’s angry and she can calm him down’ one)

My heart! I feel so sorry for Peggy ;-: She had to lose Steve twice, more or less. But still, the fact that he hooks up with her niece is just too creepy. 

Bucky is a good wingman at least...? IDK I AM SO CONFUSED AT THIS POINT. I watched The Dark World and damn, it’s good, sure, but I lost so much hope in Loki. I mean, when he ‘cut of Thor’s arm’, my reaction was ‘I mean, what was I expecting, honestly’. I was a lot (a lot) more surprised when it turned out he was actually helping thor. But when it turned out he actually did something (idk what) to odin, it was back to ‘welp, not surprising’.

Meh, even after the 2nd movie, I still don’t like Jane. The only impression I have of her is ‘she’s smart and likes to spew scientific sounding stuff’.

All of Loki’s children genuinely scare me. Especially the horse and snake. Those are just too far. I’m scared of the fanart, so I think I’ll stay away from it.

Maybe? Sure.

After Civil War, I’ll try to read it ^^ Also, Winter Soldier has been watched, and I must say I don’t like it that much... Kinda anticlimactic. 

Don’t worry, I am absolutely hopeless at dancing as well. I mean, I tried to cover a dance from LL and I barely managed the sidestepping thing without falling on my face. It was embarrassing, really. 

It is painful, but it goes away quickly. Especially when you go through it a few times.

I really like the playlist! Especially since I know most of the songs already :P And I must say that after seeing Urie’s ‘You’re gonna go far kid’ i almost started shouting ‘NOW DANCE FUCKER DANCE’, because I like that line ^^;;

I think that the porn blogs are attracted to anything that has any ‘risky’ words mentioned, so me saying ‘behind’ in a different way was what attracted them.

Again, so sorry for worrying you (シ_ _)シ