#Naomi blabs

[gspaepro]

Small Collection Update

Hiiiii it’s me, Phil, If you didn’t know I am now collecting figures bc why not… IT IS VERY SLOW THO CAUSE I AM IN FACT BROKE (I have not purchased a figure in over 4 months due to lack of money/all of my spending is on food or gas)

Anyway I recently finally got two figures I’ve waited over a year for. The two larger Mikus in the back of my cotton candy shelf were purchased in August and December of last year, and only came to me recently 😭 (Spring Miku was bought in Dec 2022 and came in Aug 2023 || Ribbon Miku was bought in Aug 2022 and came in Nov 2023)

And just because- I thought I’d also share my second detolf shelf (no you do not get the other two detolf shelves 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕) I was able to add to it quite a bit when my copy of The Eyes Of Hyrule zine came in!!

So anyway I hope you like my stuff :3

[bookwormbynight]

Do you have any death note fic recommendations? :3

I'VE BEEN GETTING SO MANY ASKS idk if y'all are different people or just one or what but either way I love blabbing on the internet about my opinion so I am NOT mad about the attention 💖

When in doubt, pretty much anything in my AO3 bookmarks page. I'll link straight to the death note ones for ya.

I'm currently in the process of rereading Rabbit Holes. I basically read that one in two sittings the first time. Light is the first sentient AI and L figures out that he's alive. The whole thing is kind of an exploration of trust, consent, and personhood v being human.

Other than that, let's do a top ten list so I don't spend three hours listing fifty different fanfics, shall we?

Ah fuck this constraint is gonna hurt me though 🫠

THESE ARE ARRANGED BY WORD COUNT NOT FAVORITISM DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO WHITTLE THIS SHIT DOWN

Memento Mori - Light confesses to being Kira after getting raped just after he gets off the chain in order to cash in on that execution check L promised. L doesn't know what the fuck is going on, but he's gonna keep Light alive until he feels satisfied with the answer.

Offer Me My Deathless Death - L is a vampire who met Light the first time hundreds of years ago. Every time Light dies, he's born again more twisted than he was before. This affects the canon storyline.

Gag Order - L's team finds Light underground in Italy with his jaw wired shut. It's very found-family with a hint of shinigami magic.

Degrees of Freedom - L and Light fall in love during the Yotsuba Arc, and L's desire to keep it trumps his desire to meet Kira again, so he fucks some shit up himself. The age gap is emphasized.

all in a day's work - Light is a porn star and L is a "very demanding top" (he makes Light come twice while Light's actively trying not to).

Sola Fide - Light didn't get to Naomi Misora before Naomi got to L, so he gets the Misa treatment.

Light Yagami Doesn't Have A Fire Extinguisher In His Room (& Other Cautionary Tales) - Light's DESK BOMB goes off and burns the notebook and Light's memories, and the rest of the fanfic is a fucking comedy exploring the consequences.

Atheists - It's an AU but it's canon compliant. But also not. You just have to read it dude I swear.

The Desire of Gods - I can't summarize this one either read it coward. Yotsuba Arc shenanigans.

catch a falling knife - L shaves Light's face and somehow it fucks me up.

[notmoreflippingelves]

Hi! I just read your post about Mateo recently. If I may, can you give me any specific instances in the narrative of the show where Mateo isn’t called out as heavily as they should have? I’m just curious?

During the Shuriki returns arc in particular, Mateo makes some pretty glaring mistakes that I feel like he should've gotten much more flack for (and based on what we see elsewhere in canon, I feel pretty confident that if Gabe, Naomi, Isa, or Esteban at least --and possibly even Elena-- had made these mistakes, they wouldn't have been swept under the rug nearly as quickly as they were for Mateo).

While it's unfair to completely blame Mateo for Carla's manipulating him during the "Rita" arc, I feel like it's reasonable to hold him a *bit* accountable. He did after all blab highly confidential information (on more than one occasion) to try and impress a pretty girl with how clever and important he was. (Something tells me that if any of the others had done likewise, they would've been called out for it. But because it's "beloved" Mateo, we don't even get "wait, you told Rita how to get into your workshop? And you've known her for only a few weeks? What were you thinking, Mateo?") Moreover, he never even apologizes for this or promises to do better/be more careful with such important, sensitive information in the future.

Even more aggravating is his behavior in "The Scepter of Night." Mateo is so eager to play the hero and claim all the glory for himself that he twice (!) disobeys a direct order/abandons the plan and goes looking for the scepter piece on his own. This directly leads to Fiero and Victor finding the scepter piece and (temporarily) stealing it. And it's really only due to luck and very conveniently-timed infighting amongst Shuriki's allies that Elena and co. are able to get the scepter piece back. While Mateo does receive some (brief) criticism, it's nowhere near the level that it should be.

Also noteworthy Elena doesn't really get particularly "mad" at him (especially considering how angry we see her get at other characters even for more minor things) . She's not truly, actually angry at Mateo (and Gabe and Naomi are only a bit angrier); she's just a little frustrated and disappointed at him in the moment. And apart from a (very short) little "do better next time" speech, Mateo doesn't face any real consequences or lingering resentment unlike other characters who do.

When Isa obeys direct orders in "Sister of Invention," she has to face consequences (Elena grounding her). Similarly, Elena holds a grudge against Esteban for days (if not weeks) after he interfered with the Feast of Friendship (a much lower stakes mistake than Mateo's imo). Moreover, it's possible to interpret Esteban's staying behind in Avalor when the others go to see the Norberg Lights as a punishment (either self-inflicted or imposed by Elena) for his actions in the previous episode.

In contrast, Mateo just gets a brief "I expected better from you" speech from Elena and Gabe jokingly assigning him push-ups as punishment (which he immediately takes back when Mateo tries to do them). I'll give Mateo a little bit of credit for actually apologizing this time (which he doesn't always do). But it's still frustrating that everyone is so ready to forgive and forget Mateo's missteps immediately while this same courtesy is seldom shown to others.

I think it's worth directly comparing a few Mateo-centric episodes with a few more similar ones that focus on other characters so that we can see how there does seem to be a noted narrative bias in his favor compared to the others.

Let's start with two "feeling kind of insecure" episodes: "Spellbound" for Mateo vs. "Naomi Knows Best" for Naomi. In the former, Mateo expresses doubt that he's capable of rising to the occasion as royal wizard. No one (except Gabe and he gets over it by the end of the episode) blames him for not having reached his full level of confidence and potential right away and not being able to immediately solve the problem. And Elena in particular (and by extension the narrative) gives him so much validation and support. Whereas in "Naomi Knows Best" (and to a lesser extent "Finders Leapers" and the "Carla-as-Rita" arc as well) the narrative "punishes" Naomi for her feelings of self-doubt. We're told that *if only* Naomi had trusted her gut instincts and stood her ground right away, Elena and co would not fallen right into the trap and that Naomi needs to screw her head back on straight and embrace confidence ASAP to fix her mistake.

When Mateo feels insecure, the narrative gives him every reassurance about how capable and special he is, that he can learn at his own pace, and his insecurity isn't really such a problem after all. When Naomi feels insecure, the narrative encourages her to get over her doubts as quickly as possible because unlike with Mateo, there's "no time" for her to wallow in self-doubt and actually the fact that she even had said doubt in the first place is what "caused" the disaster.

On a slightly different note, Naomi is also called out for taking a little free, fun time for herself in "The Last Laugh" when the group needs her, and yet somehow I have a feeling that Mateo would've been allowed to take a day off if he wanted without any protest. He complains about long hours in "Movin' on Up" and Elena gives him the big royal wizard's chambers for him to relax and unwind in. Naomi asks for one (1) day off to spend with her childhood friend for her birthday , and suddenly it's big drama. (And at the time, Naomi asked for said day off, all Elena needed from her was help doing paperwork. The Team Ash stuff came up unexpectedly.)

Similarly whenever Gabe and Mateo get their little rivalry on ("Spellbound," "Party of a Lifetime," "Captain Mateo" and a few other examples) , the narrative either presents them as equally at fault or Mateo as the only one in the right.

When Gabe brings in Bronzino to train the Royal Guards in magic, it's specifically because Mateo failed to explain how and why he was training the guards in the way he was. If he'd just explained how they were going apply the seemingly basic exercise they were doing to real magic, Gabe likely would've allowed Mateo to continue the training at his own pace.

(Also like. it's super hypocritical imo for Mateo to get annoyed at Gabe feeling impatient/impulsive about their apparent-lack-of progress when Mateo himself is easily the second most impulsive character in the show after Elena.) Mateo feels entitled to keep important information to himself (or blab it to a cute girl he barely knows) even when its no one else's best interest. He's only okay with being "cautious and patient" when he specifically is the one setting the pace. And yet, Gabe is the only one who is called out for his behavior in this episode--even though he might not have acted as he did if only Mateo had trusted him and the guards with an explanation in the first place.

And then there's just a few other "dude not cool" little moments that never really get acknowledged/Mateo never apologizes for. For instance, there a two low-key terrifying Mateo moments in "Captain Mateo" that are not only not acknowledged but are also framed in context as Mateo being just "so funny and quirky". Near the end of "Should be in Charge," Mateo magically gags Gabe so he can't protest anymore about Mateo taking over as leader of the mission. And this is after having already enchanted one of the stationary suits of armor to come to life and fight Gabe. (Gabe admittedly does lightly shove Mateo out of the way during his parts of the song, but that's still a far cry from literally drawing a sword on Mateo as Mateo does via magic to Gabe.)

It's played for laughs (The Grand Council is just smiling happily in the background throughout the scene which is so yikes), so it's easy to overlook what's actually happening. Frankly, it's pretty horrifying that Mateo's natural instinct upon his experience/authority being questioned is to literally attack and then silence. (And attack and silence someone who is supposed to be one of his best friends and closest allies at that!)

Rather than the narrative acknowledging that maybe it's a bad idea to immediately grant power to someone to someone who is so retaliatory against fairly minor criticism, the Grand Council just gives Mateo exactly what he wants and doesn't even offer a "maybe next time, let's not gag or attack our friends, okay?" alongside it. I mean sure Mateo does step down as captain at the end of the episode, but it's very specifically presented as his and Gabe's voluntary choice and not an order from Elena/the Council.

[itsmaddienotmaddy]

I wasn’t going to blab my soccer nonsense but I can’t HELP IT.

We won, we scored, it’s World Cup season and I’m living for it.

Soph is inevitable and how fucking exciting is it that she got TWO goals and an assist in her World Cup debut. So good. So deserving. Miss ma’am put in the WORK today. She also needs to make quicker decisions on her passing, she waits and loses the open opportunities forcing her to go back or try to take on 4 players on the dribble.

Trin, also a DEBUT. It’s really really fun to see these players on this giant stage. And tbh, I think Trin would have done better if she hadn’t been trucked in the first 30 seconds. I think she’ll likely build in this tournament. I’m waiting for a worldie.

Alex - needed exactly what Tobin said in the first re inc recap episode. She needs good service. Soph and Trin like to dribble. There’s a conflicting front line game plan. That being said, she worked her ass off. Had really good opportunities and read situations really well. And my GOD, that flick assist to Soph is what dreams are made of. Should we ignore the penalty? Ummm. I kind of already blocked it from my brain. Soph should have taken it.

Pinoe, I love her. We all love her. Not her game. We know this. She obviously knows it. But the promising thing she does is that she’s this linking spark. Lindsey must have been pumped to have her in because all of a sudden, there were passing triangles pinging all over that side.

Alyssa (baby) - another youngin! I can’t find it in me to be anything but so freaking happy seeing the youth get this experience. No curmudgeon here for now. She had one great run and cross that was promising. Had a hard time staying on her feet, but can ya blame her?

Andi, sweet Andi. This was a great game for her to get minutes and side bar; she’s not a baby youth but it’s her first World Cup too and I’m PROUD. Idk if she’s always gonna cut it against top opponents but I appreciate her vision and her physicality. She’s a brick wall and really and truly, in a 50/50 sitch, my money is on Andi staying tall and the opposing player eating grass.

Savannah. How’s she doing? Can she believe it? How NUTS to have your literal second cap be starting the first game of the World Cup. She was getting shoved and getting really familiar with the grass for a bit, but she settled and actually looked extremely comfortable, stood out positively, and had some really good goal opportunities. She’s very cool, I wanna see a banger one of these games.

Lindsey has a pretty good game! She is a brilliant player and there were such good moments showing just that. Her pass to Alex’s flick to the first goal. Beautiful. And she had a few more that were so so nice. Went down easy a few times per usual but I do think she adjusted to the game and the lack of calls and she was working to stay up, putting that damn muscle to good use. She does have a tendency to overthink the strike when the ball takes a hot second to get to her. But, that third goal. A solid freaking rip.

Miss Rose. I missed that pale bitch so much. She makes the midfield. She makes those around her better. She allows a different attack because she carries the ball so well and folks are confident in her foot skills to allow her to work. She wasn’t perfect - her headers will forever crack me up. But we are at our best with Rose on the field.

Naomi. First World Cup whom? She is smooth, she is calm, she is consistent. Idk how she’s so young. She’s got amazing energy, big fan.

Center back Julie. She did what we needed back there. I’m curious if she was utilized as center back for the veteran experience or if she was put there instead of in the 6 because her fitness level isn’t midfield tier yet. Either way, blue headband blonde hair target on set pieces is something I’ve been missing in my life. She’s crazy. And we need it. Idk whom else is working as hard as her to get a body part on the ball for set pieces. (Can I say it? Can I say I miss Jill Ellis era set pieces?)

Crystal was doing lovely Crystal things. She works super well with Soph and if Soph could have weighted those passes better on the overlaps, oooohhhhhh!! Could’ve been SO good.

Foxy, a commanding debut. She looked v good. Maybe a touch better on crossing but she really just killed it. No other notes needed.

Kelley. Miss Bitch. Miss ‘I Know Exactly the energy you gotta bring to a big tournament’. No joke. Kelley brought tournament vibes onto the field. Her experience is unparalleled and I thought she made good use of her minutes. Her overlaps were good. Her connection with Lindsey and Pinoe was very good. And her crossing was spot on.

Sofia. Not the debut I’m sure she wanted. Usually a great crosser, not great today. Got smoked on the one defensive run needed. It’s a bummer.

Alyssa (uncle). I love her. I trust her. She didn’t have to do much. But I still love her.

And Vlatko gets a section because he confuses me. His game plan always seems so sleepy. The thing about the USWNT is that they used to put on a show. Loud sparkly ruthless bad bitches. And the personnel still has that in them, I KNOW THAT. I just don’t know why that’s not being accessed and unleashed. Which makes me blame coaching. Idk if he’s too nice, too careful, too unwilling to change the expected game plan when the actual game requires something different.

I am just a dumb bitch on the internet, however, if my players are getting pushed and shoved left and right and the ref isn’t calling shit…. I may rethink my idea of putting in my two most fragile (and arguably some of the most important) players in. I am so aware that Rose and Pinoe needed game minutes. Especially before the Netherlands. So I’ll let it slide this time lol. But the energy of that game - the ref letting all the physicality, pushing and tackling slide? That’s a… oh, maybe I put a Kristie and a Sonnett in and get them to put on their enforcer pants and change the flow of this game.

[karl-raccoon-in-a-teacup]

WALKS IN

lemon futon + "can we ever have a quiet weekend??"

(ada chuuya au maybe :eyes: ) kunichuu + "told you it'd work out!"

lousia + nathaniel "why did we even bother?"

naomi + haruno "i got this"

teruko + mushitaro "do you ever stop talking?"

I was literally thinking of Lemon Futon so they get to be above the read more

"Can we ever have a quiet weekend?" Katai groans, curled up in his futon and trying to avoid the very loud gunfire outside. "If you wanted a quiet weekend, you wouldn't have agreed to have me as a roommate now, would you?" Kajii says, laughing as he flops onto the futon, throwing yet another lemon grenade out the window. The loud BOOM shakes the entire space they're in, and Katai pokes his head out to glare at Kajii. "Please tell me you have some hobbies that don't involve explosions, or terrorism." Kajii lets out a contemplative hum, tossing a lemon up and down in his hand. "Well, I wouldn't say no to a night at the opera!"

Agency Chuuya coming right up!

"Told you it'd work out!" Kunikida just... stares. He's sitting on the ground, covered in dust, glasses askew. Chuuya, on the other hand, has a massive grin on his face, despite also being covered in dirt, despite being surrounded by fallen concrete and very injured Port Mafia grunts, and that grin is directed right towards Kunikida. He finally re-adjusts his glasses. "I... I guess by my own definitions, it did." And Chuuya, vibrant, fireball of a man Chuuya, laughs at him.

Louisa and Nathaniel is not a combo I thought of

"Why did we even bother?" Louisa sits staring at the ground, trying not to gag on the smell of smoke, the sound of the flames crackling, the wreckage just in the corner of her eyes. Hawthorne, standing just in front of her, does the opposite, staring directly into the flame. It shines orange on his glasses, ash starting to stain his hair, and his expression... She expected it to be bitter, really. Or sad. Or angry. But it's just tired. And quietly, she finds just enough of her own voice to say, "I don't know."

Naomi + Haruno except I've never written Haruno before

"I got this!" "I'm sure you do, it's just-" Haruno winces, watching as Naomi slides down another rock. "You should be careful!" "It's just some rocks." "Rocks covered in algae and moss-" "But nothing I can't handle!" Naomi says confidently, outright hopping down onto another rock, and Haruno swears she sees her foot slip just a little bit. "Oh," she says, clutching her chest and leaning against the railing. "Your brother is going to kill me."

Ah Teruko and Mushitaro, the two asked to kill the person they cared about most... I think this is the first I've written of them interacting before.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Mushitaro blinks, staring at the young girl sitting cross-legged on the seat opposite of him. "Excuse me?" She rolls her eyes, of course. "All you do is blab blab blab, and frankly? It's annoying. At least gimme some info about the crimes you committed or something!" "I'll have you know the history of the occult is very fascinating, and-" and then her last sentence registers and he stops, staring at her with wide eyes. "Wait- crimes? What- what crimes could you possibly mean?" The girl grins. And he gets the deep, cold sense that he is in very, very deep trouble.

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

OCs as other characters

Rules: take this quiz and share 5 (or more! or less! the world is your oyster!) results from the top 50 that you feel really fit your oc(s). if you don’t recognize very many from the top 50, feel free to expand into the top 100.

I've been tagged by @nananarc and @neverfadesaway - thank you! I already did it for Vinnie so now it's Macha's turn

Valentine Wiggin (Ender's Game)

Kaylee Frye (Firefly + Serenity)

Triss (The Witcher)

Naomi Nagata (The Expanse)

The Oracle (The Matrix)

This was way harder for me than Vinnie’s because I didn't know a lot of the results so I had to go top 30 or so for her (Vinnie’s were all in his top 10)

But yes, she's definitely more Triss than Yennefer, Naomi Nagata is such a badass but in an understated way and I feel that's 100% Macha. Valentine Wiggin is described as fiercely intelligent and kind but missing her brother's drive and that also fits - Macha does what she does not because she WANTS to but because she feels the RESPONSIBILITY to do it.

And The Oracle?! I mean hello. Macha is definitely definitely spiritual af. She believes in a higher power, in threads weaving the universe into a blanket encompassing all that is. And Kaylee is personified kindness, right? I feel like Macha has been through so much shit and it's made her more tolerant and open because she knows, we often do things not out of choice but they are put on us - and being kind is the one thing we can do to support each other.

I don't know why I am blabbing so much but it made me think about her on a new level because I wanted to know what unites these characters.

Tagging the last five blogs that started following me - without pressure and sorry if you've done this:

@grumpy-dragon

@mallratsystem

@cyberparadox

@nervouswizardcycle

@hydrasshole (omg what a name!!!)

[tragicallywicked]

Chapter Three

—

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

― Alan Watts

— 

Two weeks. Two full weeks in Seattle and Addison was beginning to enjoy her time there. She wasn’t set on stone about staying there forever, though. She’d grown accustomed to her life in New York and all its perks. Seattle was quirky . First there was the weather—too dreary and gray. Then the lack of overall charm in the city. It wasn’t all bad, of course. She appreciated the sense of community at Seattle Grace Hospital, even if she was a newcomer. She also enjoyed the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, with its mountains, forests, and the coastline. But she still had her reservations about Seattle.

Then there was Meredith who had somehow managed to charm her way into Addison’s life. Maybe it was the easiness of it, the simplicity of their bond. Or perhaps the fact Addison had been so long without real pleasure that having such good sex ( all the time too ) was too good for her to pass.

Sure she wondered if what she was doing was right considering she was still married, and compared to the fact she’d caught Derek on one betrayal. But she told herself she and Derek were finished already. Besides, she had no clue whether or not there had been more sleeping around—and honestly now she didn’t care (or didn’t want to care). There was no seriousness with her and Meredith, it was just easy and fun—and a hell of a good lay. 

Because of the nature of their relationship at work, they had decided to keep their personal endeavors a secret from their respective colleagues. Meredith didn’t want other interns thinking she was getting special treatment for hooking up with Addison and Addison didn’t want to be frowned upon by other residents for sleeping with an intern. Both of them were new at Seattle Grace and still had a name to make for themselves, so it was easier that way. They also didn't want their personal lives to interfere with their work, and they figured it would be a lot easier if nobody but them knew it. Addison found it challenging to keep their relationship under wraps, especially since she was used to being an open book. She had always been forthcoming about her personal life, but now she had to be careful not to reveal too much. She couldn't even share her happiness with her closest friend, Naomi (in that case because she didn’t want her blabbing about it to Sam or worse, to Derek. How was she withholding to the people in her life that she was having the best sex she ever had? Not even Addison understood how. It was hard, but she knew it was the right thing to do for the time being. 

Addison still struggled with her feelings for Meredith, though. She had never been one to do casual relationships, but with Meredith, it was different. It was easy, fun, and something she needed. But at the same time, she knew it couldn't last forever. Eventually, they would have to decide what they were doing, and that was scary. Addison had always been the type of person who needed to have a plan, to know what was coming next. But with Meredith, she couldn't predict anything. She didn't know where their relationship was heading, or if it was even heading anywhere.

On top of that, Addison had to come to terms with the fact that her marriage to Derek was over. She hadn’t been holding on to the hope that they could work things out because, deep down, she knew it was over. And she didn’t even know if she wanted to figure things out. Derek had been calling her nonstop, and she had been pointedly ignoring him. But she couldn't keep living with it, they had to come to a resolution. It was time to accept it all and move on. But that was easier said than done. Divorce was never something Addison thought would happen to her, but now it was an eminence. 

All of these thoughts had been weighing heavily on Addison's mind for the past days, and she decided she needed to speak to someone about it, a friend. Richard had always been great about her struggles, always been a good listener. She knew she needed to talk to someone about it, and Richard was the only one she trusted enough to do so (at least the only one close at the moment).

Read it on AO3 here.

[opheliaacomplex]

Ophelia's bit too Personal Movie Review #2 "Smile 2"

Hey I'm Ophelia and at the time of writing this it is 12:40am. Today's been...a day. Therapy, Job Interview, Interpersonal shit, Pathfinder at the local game store, everything's wiped me out fully and thoroughly. But that won't stop this tired ass pool toy because I'm dedicated to trying to pump these out weekly for the void and my few beautiful moots who bother to read this!

Synopsis:

The movie starts off with a little prologue with MY MAN KYLE GALLNER! He plays a returning character from the first Smile, but honestly it's short and largely just sets up the traumatic catalyst for our main character, Skye Riley, played by Naomi Scott. Skye is a famous pop-star struggling with both addiction issues and the physical recovery after a traumatic car accident which killed her boyfriend. Flanked by an overbearing mother, who's also her manager, and an ever boot licking aide, Skye is very clearly drowning in stress that no one really seems to care about. After suffering back pain as a result of the car crash, she seeks out her local dealer Lewis, played by Lukas Gage, for some Vicodin. (Is that a House MD reference???)

Lewis is one of the viewers of the indecent that occurred in the prologue and is unwittingly host to "Lollipop" or the smile demon. For those in the audience who have no idea what I'm blabbing about, the whole premise of Smile is a monstrous metaphor for trauma and it's cycles. You bear witness to a tragedy, Lollipop posses you, makes you go insane, then forces you to kill yourself in front of others to then traumatize them. I'll address how well this works in the movie in the writing section, but for now let's get back to the story. Lewis is clearly coked up and rants and raves and while most of the audience has meta-knowledge about what's happening, Skye...does not, lol. Lewis gets fully possessed by Lollipop and proceeds to bash his head in with a heavy bench press weight, thus passing it on.

Skye, for the next hour and a half or so, slowly but surely starts losing it under the mounting pressure of an upcoming concert tour. Hallucinating deranged fans, past friends, and even sometimes whole locales as she gets dragged deeper and deeper into her own trauma. I think it's important to also note that just like the previous protagonist in the original, Skye refuses or otherwise gets 0 help for her issues throughout the story. In fact, when help is forced upon her, she murders her mom and proceeds to go through a joyride through the city towards Staten Island where a supposed solution waits. Just as she's about to lay down and go with the procedure that'd purge the cancerous trauma demon thing out of her, she's attacked and turns out...?

It's all been one long delusion. The care hospital she was forced into, murdering her mother with a glass shard, going through a joyride to Staten Island, thinking she reconnected with an old friend she toxicly pushed away, even that there was a cure at all. All of it torture sent out by the demon for its own sick amusement. To see her climb her way to hope and be dragged back down to the pits of despair.

With just a touch, the demon lets Skye face the reality of the situation as she's pushed back into the real and comes to face that her big performance is now. And hundreds of thousands of fans get to watch live as their idol succumbs to the trauma demon and in a pretty gnarly scene we get to see the audience's reaction as Skye caves her own skull in with the mic all while a smile is plastered on her face.

Vibes:

This movie vibes wise isn't anything overly special if I'm being honest. There are a few neat shots that take the camera upside down, but those are very much few and far between. Instead, what I DO want to include here since the movie isn't all that unique, I want to take a minute to absolutely fucking adore the puppetry used within the film's final scene. They wisely use the demon's true form sparingly, but GOOD LORD does it come together when it's shown in its visceral glory. From what I've read, all the gore in the film is a mixture of mostly practical effects and touches of CGI when needed, and honestly that's my sweet spot when it comes to gore. One could even call it a... G-spot. Puppetry is unfortunately a dying art, and it's nice to see it used, even if it's used in so-so horror movies.

Characters and Writing:

Addressing the element elephant in the room here: this movie is about trauma and the cyclical nature of it. I'll get more into how that's personally related to me in a bit, but just sticking to the movie here, I think it's much better within the first movie. In the first Smile, the main character struggles with confronting her childhood abuse and tries to run away from it all. In the end, she doesn't escape from her demons, and she lets it consume her in a fiery blaze. It's a heart-wrenching realization to see this character we've come to care for not win, and puts the trope of the final girl on it's head. But when it comes to Smile 2 we just...don't have that same impact. It's not that Skye is unlikeable, but there's a general lack of impact that her character has. She's a multi-million dollar pop-star who's experiences with the trauma demon don't seem to affect her life that much beyond the obvious. Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but I really just wish something was done about Skye's writing. There were mentions of drug abuse in Skye's past, but they come up sparingly. There could've been scenes where to try and cope she used drugs and that only makes her demon-induced delusions even worse. Overall, it feels more like it's made to cash on the success of Smile 1 and less so to comment on anything like the first attempted to do. It also doesn't help that it takes like roughly 40 minutes into the movie to get into any sort of real scary meat.

Bit Too Personal Bits:

Just for a bit of preface, these bits are my attempt at maybe diversifying my reviews and make them more interesting to read for moots and whoever stumbles upon them. Now, like I mentioned above, Smile 1 and 2 are all about dealing with trauma and trying to move on and break the cycle. It's still something I'm getting used to publicly talking about, but I am a CSA survivor and the trauma from it has paved a lot of my life. There's been times when I so desperately wanted to give up because my own demons seemed insurmountable. I didn't give up, which is obvious because I'm posting this, lol, but Skye's own reason for pushing people away and burning bridges felt very familiar. Both Skye and I (just sometimes now with therapy and meds) feel like there's a toxic wickedness in our very souls. Noise and static in our heads that constantly buzz. Sometimes It genuinely feels being by ourselves is the only way we could truly attain peace, or at least semblance of it. There's a specific tarot card I like called The Tower. It talks about serenity and truth after the worst things happening. Both main characters in both movies purposely self-destruct because there's just a certain stillness when everything's ruined and crumbling. A stillness that's so easy to lay down in and sleep in.

Rating:

Smile 2 is not the greatest movie around. It's not terrible, but it's not great. It's a perfectly average sandwich with plain white bread. Furthermore, it could've been a good successor to the original Smile which also isn't the greatest film around, but it failed on, IMO, delivering a good story about trauma and what it does to someone.

I'm giving it 5 Smiles out of 10!

[faerune]

yep! i wont spoil it in case you do a replay for it, but it's a pretty lengthy scene. i think nate hearing that the mc snooped kills the mood enough for him that he chooses to put off the conversation. it doesn't reveal EVERYTHING, but it's way more than what we had before. i def recommend reading it!

i definitely will! i hope i still have the chance to discuss it later on...it would kinda suck to have naomi not be able to apologize for her actions and be like whenever / if you ever want im here for you to talk about it

and that's really valid of him 100% im glad he doesn't just blab it all out at the mention of it

[heroic-endeavors]

“Great, Naomi blabbed.”

[thursdaygrl]

sosie burst into laughter, glad that her little attempt at prodding her with something so out there had worked. "and thank god for that, or you'd be way more mean to me!" she grinned, still cursed with the giggles as she watched naomi react to the ridiculousness of her accusations. they stilled as she tried to find the right words, clearly struggling with the conversation topic just a little. she got it, not everyone spoke about sex as candidly as she liked to. even so, it was only with her friends, anyway. the people who could be trusted not to blab to a reporter, or something. her gaze shot up, a sly smile forming on her face. "well if it'll help you to open up to me i guess we can fuck." she sighed dramatically, leaning up on her knees to lean in closer to her.

she gives sosie a look. "right." the caring part wasn't a lie, and neither was the curious. combined, however, in this situation felt like a fib. incredulity morphed into offense in an instant. "cobwebs?" she repeated before she scoffed. "it hasn't been that long." she so badly wanted to cross her arms and humph, but that felt too childish, so she settled for a turned head and a sniff. "i'm not a prude, nor do i have cobwebs. i just ..." she looked up, searching for words. "never really needed to talk about sex with someone i wasn't doing it with. it's just not a conversation i've had a lot."

[cosmicvaca]

They are on their way to play kadis-kot

[lovers-instead]

Thoughts on “Shissou Word” from former tumblr user mekakushi-chord

obviously, i have a lot personally invested in this. let’s get down to it

first of all, i had no idea this was coming. i’ve been on vacation, and i’m also extremely unobservant

I understand what the song is going for-- a “new side” to Kido. However, I think it failed to achieve that in the end, and instead managed to give her a completely new character arc

I say this because it fails to mention ANY of her previous motifs/characteristics-- music, ghosts, her love of cats, the fact that she has chuunibyou, cooking. Instead, it focuses mainly on the motifs of “bud/flower” (never mentioned before aside from her name) and “mirror” (completely new)

We barely managed to get ONE mention of “disappearing--” even her central theme has been retconned. It now revolves around “speaking” and “words” (hence the title)

Essentially, her old character (”caring girl who tries to act tough”) has been completely replaced with “reserved girl struggling with her identity”

THIS IS GOOD. IT’S SO MUCH BETTER NOW

Kido now comes across as extremely introspective to the point of self-centeredness. The song fails to make a complete allusion to even one other character, much less her beloved “gang.” I love this, as it is both cool and relatable, and finally gives her some depth beyond her relationships with other characters

In The Old Days, I always defended Kido as “not being tsundere,” even though she definitely was (perhaps not in the seriously official material, but in most of her appearances such as the manga anthologies she was portrayed that way). Now she really isn’t! My long-awaited victory!

lesbian kido is canon king

I know, I know. the snake is talking to her or whatever. but why should that mean her self-doubt and internal turmoil aren’t genuine? examining the lyrics, one can easily extrapolate Kido’s severe psychological issues with identity and gender ever since she was young

“So that no one will ever know--!”

She’s always been distinctly butch, but this song does a lot to solidify her as a gay-coded character. Probably on accident.

Music-wise: all I’ll say is... I wish it was more like “Headphone Actor,” the best song of all time, than “Shounen Brave.” oh well. that’s just how kagepro is now. it’s growing on me, though

The video doesn’t really make any sense. Is street urchin Kido now chronologically before sister-fire-daze Kido?!?!?! It’s possible that the novels already established this, but like everything else from the novels, that’s just stupid and most likely contradictory. It looks pretty, though.

(Why not intersperse some shots of earbuds or something between all the flowers......?)

There is a real stumble in the execution, which is the absurdly extended period of time that the first Young!Kido is on the screen before any of the designs we know and love for this character. It also lessens the impact of the second new design at the end of the video. Speaking of which.....

ADULT!KIDO IS THE GREATEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE

Theoretically, if Kido is 16 in, say, 2012, then Adult!Kido is, perhaps, 21 in 2017. We can only hope.

I truly appreciate this quasi-intentional admission that most of the themes in kagepro are generally pretty childish.

Also, Adult!Kido looks pretty much exactly how I’d imagined “Kido’s sister” to look before Rin was revealed! Awww!

I am now legally allowed to admit that her old/standard design is ugly as HELL

(It’s hard to tell with all the filters, but it seems possible that Someone has forgotten that Kido’s hoodie is canonically light gray and not purple, anime notwithstanding)

I cannot stress enough how thrilled I am. For all those years, I’d chosen Kido as my “favorite” for... basically no reason. Now, she suddenly has extreme social anxiety, is self-obsessed, is alienated by “normal things,” and is horrifically ashamed of her own existence! She used to have basically no personality, but it turns out that she’s actually exactly like me! For some reason, Jin decided to give me this glorious gift.

TL;DR: “Chuunibyou Team Mom” has been completely revamped into “A Story of One Who Can’t Speak Well” in the most acceptable continuity breach of all time

[naomana]

Damn.. Another year went by.. Another level up ffs

Don't know how to feel about it this year. I'm grateful for a lot of things, my child especially but at the same time..

.. How did I make it this far?

How the heck did I manage to keep myself, yet alone another human being, alive for another year?

Not getting any younger, not that it bothers me I've been mentally stuck at the same spot since 15

About the same age I've been struggling woth low self-esteem, depressions and suicidal thoughts

Lmao I don't think I'm the best example but.. Yeah.. You can still make it somewhere with these problems

Anyway see you in couple of days, just trying to enjoy the moment 👌

[necromancy-enthusiast]

Going back to Naomi, Light literally wrote her death in the notebook to be that she came up with a way to kill herself so that her body would never be found, and the death note only allows for details that can be reasonably achieved, including being limited to a person's knowledge and capabilities. Someone who's totally paralyzed from the waist down couldn't just get up and walk because someone else wrote they would do it in the death note, someone couldn't write down information they had no way of knowing just because it was written that way in the notebook. Meaning he couldn't figure out a way to do it but he knew she could, and unfortunately he was right.

Also I have a REALLY hard time believing someone so shrewd would go and blab everything she'd figured out to some teenager she just met, even if it was *incredibly* unlikely that he had anything to do with Kira, much less that he was Kira himself. They went WHAT DO WE DO SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH SHE'S TOO SMART WE FUCKED UP and then kind of deus ex machina'd their way out of it by killing her off due to a weird streak of extremely unlikely events that goes a bit over the suspense of disbelief threshold.

Death Note reread thread starts now, I don't know how far in I'm going to get but hey. Anyway the sheer amount of times where Light clearly was caught off guard by something but insists he saw it coming is so typical, sure pal. You totally foresaw that. You want a sticker or something?

[lovestoned-ophelia]

Anyway, You know what makes me bolt awake at night in a cold sweat?

That one fucking week ago during my intensive,

I WAS CALLED A BOTTOM IN FRONT OF NAOMI GROSSMAN OF AMERICAN HORROR STORY