#Owen just mentioned her asking for a divorce and how he had to act sad

[she-walked-away]

Listen, I really wanna meet knife obsessed Lorraine before the show ends

[gregorsamsadementiaravenway]

Stray notes after watching The Last Jedi

Or: why does this movie just keep getting worse whenever I remember it?

The notes are after the cut just in case someone hasn’t seen the film yet or doesn’t want a long ass bullet point post in their dash. Some of them are serious and well thought-out, some are nitpicky and some are there just for the heck of it.

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” - Why, that’s just peachy, Rian! Too bad the future your selling is a little shit.

In general, Rian Johnson doesn’t seem to have much respect for the past. See tathrin’s post about all the things established in TFA that were turned upside down in this film, but I think Johnson doesn’t have much consideration for the original trilogy either, reducing Chewbacca to a background character and trying to replace “May the Force be with you” with some other, less inspired line.

Seriously, why are they saying “Godspeed”? Did monotheism reach a galaxy far, far away and they now, suddenly, have a notion of God? And, while were at it, why is “treacherous snake” a thing, now? Are there snakes in the Star Was universe? ‘Cause, so far, all animals have been on the fantastic side of things. What else is there? Do they have kittens??? That’s an important question...

The movie had A LOT of hamfisted comic relief. Of course there were some honestly funny scenes (I will forever laugh at Rey feeling the Force with her hand), but most of the jokes felt very out of place. For instance, the first scene, with Hux and Poe. I laughed my ass off at that interaction, but that’s an SNL sketch, not a Star Wars scene. I was half expecting Matt, the radar technician, to show up.

Seriously, someone should tell Rian Johnson that he isn’t directing Guardians of the Galaxy. In more than one scene, the excess of jokes killed what should’ve a truly great, emotional moment.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much indifference do I feel towards porgs?

The ammount of queerbaiting that went into promoting this film was insane. Look, actors on franchises like this one have media training, so whenever, say, Oscar Isaac ran his mouth about the possibility of Finn/Poe being canon, he was at least authorized by Disney to do so (worst case scenario, he was instructed to sell this narrative). I didn’t particularly care about the ship and I think Poe Dameron could’ve died in TFA without any harm to the franchise, but to hamfist that non-sensical romance between Finn and Rose after feeding the fans’ hopes for a gay pairing was, in my opinion, downright cruel.

And don’t even get me started on Poe and Rey’s meaningful gaze at the end of the film, with Poe going all “I know” as if he’s Han Solo or some hot shit like that! Poe/Rey is the worst possible ship to become canon. Yes, the worst. Yes, you heard me, worse than Reylo.

Speaking of Reylo: after TFA, I said that I low-key shipped them ‘cause that’s the kind of fucked up ship I like. Look, there are people in this website who like to wear diapers and want to fuck Pennywise, so, screw you, I’m not apologizing for wanting to read fics about a fictional pairing made up of two adults. HOWEVER, this is not the sort of thing I want to be canon. From the get go, my opinion on Rey’s official love life has been “either she ends up with Finn or she ends up alone”. That being said, I think they handled the relationship between her and Kylo Ren very well in this film. I’m glad they didn’t deny the fucked up sexual tension that was going on there, especially coming from Ren’s side, and chose to play into it. A failed redemption arc fits them perfectly and Kylo Ren’s “please” when he asks Rey to rule beside him was a great moment for the character and one of the few truly emotional moments of the film.

But that thing were they get to hit on each other through the Force, sharing sad stories and touching hands? Yeah, I’m pretty certain I’ve read that fic. Actually, I’m pretty certain I’ve read about three fics like that.

Let’s keep on the Kylo Ren track for now, then: he did get some very nice character development in this film. The Last Jedi was more his than any other character’s, even Luke. For a minute there, before the movie came out, I thought they were going to make some changes to him due to the whole backlash, but they went full “overgrown angsty kid” with him in a way that actually made him more compelling. I like the way Luke’s fear ended up pushing a conflicted teenager into the Dark Side and that Kylo is still very much stuck at that moment. As usual with Sith and Sith by-products, Kylo Ren is moved by anger, and his anger feels much more real after this little bit of backstory.

Who is Snoke, though? Are they going to explain that in the next movie? It feels like they should’ve done it in this one, but I hope they at least give him some context before the trilogy is over.

Sooooo... Did your conflicted antagonist cladded in black, with black hair falling all over his face, just trick his bald, deformed Dark Lord by using his occlumency powers? *Owen Wilson voice* Wow.

“The Supreme Leader is dead. Long live the Supreme Leader.” - A perfect example of a really amazing moment botched by comic relief, ie, Snoke’s little tongue falling out of his dead body.

After the film ended, @robogigante​​ complained a lot about Hux’s transformation from an actual, threatening villan into a punchline, and, you know what? He’s right. There’s a scene there that looks like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do I hate evil, square-headed BB-8?

I’m sort of glad Rey’s parents aren’t anyone important. Star Wars relies too much on heritage and it’s a nice change having a hero who isn’t Space Jesus or Space Jesus’ direct lineage. Her scene in the cave was incredibly beautiful.

They did point to something else in TFA, though, implying heavily that her origin was important and that Kylo Ren already knew about her. That was some Moffat level of badly written plot twist right there.

There’s something Emma Watson-y about Daisy Ridley. This is neither a compliment nor a complaint, just something I hadn’t noticed before.

Both Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver grew a lot as actors since the last movie, especially Driver. Even though it’s still hard to take Kylo Ren seriously sometimes due to Driver’s cry-baby face, he’s way more convincing in his rage and intensity than he was in TFA, where his acting felt a little too mechanical.

However, some of the other actors aren’t living up to their potential. John Boyega’s charisma is extremely underused and I know for a fact that Domnhall Gleeson can do a lot better than what he was given here. In a couple of scenes, even Hamill and Fisher seemed a little uncomfortable in their roles.

“Shit, we’ve already signed Lupita’s check! Gotta shove her in here, somewhere!” - I’m so sorry, honey. You are so beautiful and talented... You deserved way better than that.

Kelly Marie Tran is adorable and I absolutely love her in interviews and such. She seems like a delightful person. However, her character was completely unnecessary. Her only purpose was to serve as a future love interest to Finn, and I’ve made my thoughts about that pairing quite clear already.

“...it’s saving the ones we love...” - BITCH, YOU’VE KNOWN HIM FOR WHAT? A DAY?

As a matter of fact, all of that storyline felt completely unnecessary. It was as if the writers didn’t know what to do with Finn so they gave him a spunky sidekick and a pointless mission just to kill time. I found myself wishing he had spent the whole movie in a coma, and that’s really sad, because I really like John Boyega and was hoping he would become a strong protagonist for the franchise.

Another thing @robogigante​ pointed out (and I’m quoting him ‘cause I know he’s not making a post of his own) is that Holdo had no reason whatsoever to hide her plan from Poe or anyone else in the Resistance. She just... didn’t like Poe Dameron that much...

Excessive jokes aside, casino planet was okay and helped flesh out the Star Wars universe a little bit more. However, much like Phasma, Benicio Del Toro’s character (whose name I already forgot) was just another Boba Fett, all flash and no substance, and I particularly hate that “squeaky clean abused little children representing hope” crap. It’s one of the tackiest tropes in existence.

I did get the feeling that that kid is going to join the Resistance on the next movie. Like they’re going to do a ten year jump to justify Leia’s disappearance/death. It would also help the Rebels to get their shit back together, Kylo Ren to gain more control over the First Order and Rey to learn some more about the Force in order to meet her fate. The existence of that child is still horrible and that ending was so over the top I can’t even put it into words, but it’s a good hook for a leap that, if handled well, could be very good for the story.

I also got the feeling that they originally inteded to kill one member of the original trio per film. That would’ve been cool. Too bad Leia will have to die off screen.

Was it just me or is the timeline in this movie really weird? Poe’s plan seems to take place entirely in a day, maybe two, while Rey apparently spends at least a week in Luke’s island.

I’m glad Carrie Fisher got to have at least one badass Force user scene before dying. Her flight among the debris of the Rebel cruiser was a beautiful reminder of how powerful the Force can be, on par with Luke’s astral projection, not to mention a gorgeous scene in its own right.

Holdo and Leia definitely had a torrid love affair after the Organa-Solo divorce came through. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do I love the crystal foxes?

There was a preoccupying absence of wipe transitions and epic soundtrack inserts. Actually, I don’t even remember hearing any music at all. The editing was way too conservative. It didn’t even feel like a Star Wars movie, sometimes.

How is it possible that The Force Awakens was basically a remake of A New Hope and still felt more daring that The Last Jedi? Look, we already know you’re not killing any of the characters ‘cause they have to come back for the next installment, but raise those stakes a little bit, jeez! Give Kylo Ren and Snoke more conflict before their face-off, give Rey an opportunity to actually scare Luke with something that matters, give Finn and Poe a mission that actually means something to the Resistance, not a MacGuffin to keep them busy... Anything!

The Last Jedi is actually an okay-ish movie, to be honest, but, in a way, I think I disliked it even more than the prequels. Sure, The Phantom Menace is objectively a much worse film, but at least it had soul. George Lucas’ midichlorian and CGI packed soul, but soul nonetheless. The Last Jedi has nothing. I know Star Wars movies are all about the money, let’s not delude ourselves that this is in anyway high art, but this one just felt like the biggest money grabber of all. There is no personal investment in it whatsoever and no sign of what makes Star Wars Star Wars in the first place.

When’s Lando coming back?

BONUS: I am never watching a fucking 3D movie again in my life. The background always seems out of focus, it’s too expensive and I hate putting glasses on top of my glasses. I don’t care if I have to wait a month to watch the next Star Wars, I don’t care if I get spoilers, I’m not watching anything in 3D ever again.

[lovingjolex]

The hate that Jo continues to get, especially from casual viewers, makes me so sad. They go as far as hoping that her husband finds and beats her to death.

I know this is just fiction but Grey’s Anatomy isn’t a supernatural tv show, it’s a show that represents reality. And if people can show so much hatred towards a fictional character for the stupidest reasons (I’m sorry, but hating on her because of Alex beating up Deluca isn’t okay in my opinion because Alex is a grown man responsible for his own actions who would’ve beaten up Deluca even if there was no secret husband Jo kept from him, since the husband wasn’t why Alex beat up Deluca) then I don’t think they can use “calm down, it’s not like she’s a real person” as an excuse when people tell them that their opinions are plain disgusting and misogynistic.

And there are so many disgusting misogynistic people in the world; women, who can’t show an ounce of sympathy for someone like Jo. Who call her a crybaby when she’s been trying to act like she’s fine and be strong for weeks. 

Is what she’s doing healthy? No. But she’s an orphan without any family who never had people to rely on so she’s trying to deal with everything that overwhelms her on her own. Even in her scene with Owen in the end when he asked her if there was anything he could do for her she didn’t whine to him, she just let her tears out at the end of a day after a case that hit too close to home. And then thanked him and went home. Into a loft where she lives alone, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had nightmares of her own husband after this. And the worst thing is that she’s been dealing with this trauma on her own for years because she didn’t feel it was safe to tell anyone. Doesn’t that make you feel the slightest bit bad for her? Maybe I’m too compassionate but it breaks my heart to think of someone who has been facing neverending dread and terror for years. Who feels like everything she built for herself can be taken away from her again at any second.

She’s not whining, she’s trying her best to just move on in her life and do her job. We’re not seeing her try to get back together with Alex and it wouldn’t surprise me if Jo told him in the upcoming episodes that he’s better off without her and her baggage, very much like what haters say about her. People call her whiny the moment she opens her mouth to somehow mention something about her past, even if she’s talking about it in a normal way just to find common ground with an incarcerated patient she’s treating. That was not whining, it was an attempt at bonding, but yet people just had to hate on her for it as well.

I don’t know why other characters are allowed to bitch and moan and complain as much as they want to, about the most simple things, and nobody ever calls them annoying or whiny, but Jo gets hated on no matter what she does, but I don’t find this hate normal or acceptable anymore.

If you don’t ship her with Alex, then don’t ship her with him. If you want to criticize her writing, I’m the first to admit that it’s been very messy due to the fact that Shonda doesn’t seem to give a fuck about her. I also happily admit that she made mistakes, but she’s not the first character to do so. Alex, whom we all love now, has done some really crappy things over the years. Meredith messed up too. Everyone did. And not everyone always faces consequences for their actions either, the contrary. Characters get away with things they do wrong most of the time.

So don’t get me wrong, I get it when people aren’t big Jo fans or don’t like her much. There were certain BTS issues in season 11 that played into season 12 that influenced the writing for Jo, resulting in her being ignored, especially professionally (she still has no mentor and nobody even bothers to give her one), not having many ties to other characters etc. Plus the writers always seem to view her as an afterthought thanks to her not being related to anyone and being a resident (and a straight white female, I guess? But straight white males get more than she does so I can’t really view that as an excuse).

So while I get that one might not like Jo much, I have absolutely no understanding for this insane amount of hate she gets. And when I look at people’s reasons for hating on her, most of the time they don’t even make sense because people twist facts, remember things wrong and accuse her of things she hasn’t done or that weren’t her intention.

I just felt like writing this after reading some very disturbing comments about how Jo should be killed by her husband. I bet when he comes to the show people will all love him. Camilla said that the writers told her that he’s very charming. If he’s good-looking too, then I can only imagine how people will immediately gush over him and side with him over Jo. Despite him being an abusive, manipulative bastard. Because it’s what society does, they do it with attractive celebrities who beat their partners, cutting them slack because they’re handsome, famous and popular.

They will probably love Jo’s husband and will want him to beat her to death, because I’ve read those kind of comments too, about how he should finish what he started. And as I will keep reading comments like those I will continue being disgusted by this fandom. As someone who has a DV victim in her family, I’ve been incredibly upset by the comments I saw everywhere over the past months. I can only imagine what domestic abuse victims themselves think when they see them.

Yes, Jo Wilson is just a fictional character, but the things that happened to her happen to real people everyday. Domestic violence ends in death so many times. Most women don’t ever find the courage to run away and change their lives and they endure their abusive partners for a lifetime, too scared to file for divorce. Those who do are unfortunately often killed afterwards too, even despite restraining orders. And even those who can get away from their partners and don’t have to fear being found and killed like Jo does still have to deal with the psychological trauma their partners inflicted on them for the rest of their lives.

If Jo Wilson gets killed by her husband on the show, that won’t affect anyone in real life because she’s just a fictional character. But is that what we would want for a real life domestic abuse victim? There are so many Jos out there who do get killed, and if Jo Wilson’s story can inspire one scared woman in real life to seek help and get the hell away from her abuser and start a new life under a new name, isn’t that worth telling her story? 

That’s why her story shouldn’t end with her being found and killed by her husband just because some viewers have this opinion engraved into their brains that she’s whiny and annoying (and from what I see, most of them are only so harsh towards her because she and Meredith don’t have a good relationship, which sure as hell wasn’t Jo’s fault but whatever) and will probably never change their minds about her no matter what happens. 

Her story should show us that domestic abuse victims can get the hell away, can start a new life, are allowed to find happiness, are allowed to start a family with the man they love because falling in love again after what happened to them is already a huge deal. Without being shamed for wanting children despite being on the run, without being shamed for not being able to legally marry the person they want to marry so badly. Without being shamed for going into a relationship with someone in the first place (If I had a dollar for everytime I read “she had no business starting a relationship with Alex when she was married the whole time”). Marrying a man who turned out to be an abusive asshole who made your life hell shouldn’t mean that you are never allowed to love and be happy again. But according to a huge part of the Grey’s Anatomy fandom it does. 

I don’t want anyone to love Jo just because she’s a domestic violence victim, or rather survivor, I want people to see how socially important characters like her are and how necessary it is to tell her story. And not just in regards of this issue. She also represents foster children who never got adopted and homeless people. I hate that the writers keep making her say that she lived in her car without further explanation, but having to live in a car and being scared of being hurt or killed by people who want to break into it isn’t a joke, no matter what a shitty job the writers do at shedding light on homelessness. And frankly, I want to be able to read comments about this show without wanting to cry tears of despair about what a fucked up victim-shaming, woman-hating society we have. Even if she were the most whiny and annoying character in TV history, she still doesn’t deserve to be killed by her abuser and she still deserves to be able to get her life back and find peace. 

Nobody should have to live in constant fear for the rest of their lives. And despite having one of the biggest pile of human garbage as their viewers / fans I have ever seen, I have hope that Grey’s Anatomy will do Jo Wilson right. Even if it’s just this once. 

[drreporting]

Convalescence Pt.8

Amelia had spent the rest of the day in a patient room, switching her clothes for a pair of scrubs soon after the vomiting incident. She’d been given anti-nausea pain medication and was now spending her afternoon watching horrible TV shows. When Owen entered her room in burgundy scrubs, Amelia couldn’t help but laugh, thankful for the source of temporary entertainment.

“Dr. Hunt, board certified neo-natal surgeon at Grey Sloan,” she teased, “What brings you here?”

“You’re not the pregnant lady screaming about pain?” Owen asked, feigning ignorance.

Amelia’s smile dimmed a little. “No, I’m not the pregnant lady.”

Nice going, Owen thought as he pulled a stool near her bedside and sat down. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling bored,” she said, “The cable here sucks. Where are the kids?”

“Day care,” he responded, “And I’m not bringing them here solely for your entertainment.”

“Fine,” she sighed, “Did Callie tell you I got a walking stick?”

“A walking stick?”

Amelia grabbed the walking stick that was leaning on her bedside table and raised it to show him. “I’m being moved, from the air cast to the walking stick, tomorrow,” she explained, “So, I’m a cripple now.”

“I don’t mean to burst your bubble,” Owen teased, “But I think you were labelled a cripple way before this.”

“Well, now I’m a different kind of cripple,” she substituted, resting the stick back down.

---

“I asked to go home,” Amelia grumbled as she and Owen sat in the room, waiting for Tim to arrive, “Not to a therapy session.”

“We have one scheduled for today,” he reminded her, “That’s not gonna change just because you fell down some stairs.”

“I have a concussion!” she hissed.

“A mild concussion,” he hissed back. Amelia gave him one last dirty look before looking away. Owen rolled his eyes in response.

“How’s everyone today?” Tim greeted cheerfully as he entered the room.

“Fine,” they both answered harshly, not looking at him or each other.

Where did all my progress go? Tim thought to himself as he sat down, Regardless, now is the right time to bring up the big stuff. “That’s great,” he said, sitting down, “Because we’re talking about DC today.”

Amelia froze, her heart pounding in her chest. “Why are we…talking about DC?”

“Because, to my knowledge, you two have never actually resolved the issue,” he shrugged, “So we’re going to resolve it today, hopefully.”

“The issue was resolved,” Amelia defended. She finally looked at Owen. “Right?”

Owen glanced back at her before looking away again. “If you mean we had copious amounts of sex, like we normally do when responding to a pressuring situation, then sure.”

“Like we normally do?” she accused, “What do you mean by that?”

“What Owen is trying to say is that you two constantly try to solve your problems with sex,” Tim answered politely.

“That is not true,” Amelia denied, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised it was true. “It’s not true,” she repeated, more to herself.

“Okay, well what about that time we broke up because of the episode I had, where I almost hurt Ryan,” Owen recalled, “And then we went to that conference and ended up having sex and getting back together and then never talked about it after?” Just as Amelia was about to respond, Owen spoke again, saying, “Or that time we broke up after Derek beat me up and then, two months later, I was helping you move into your new house and we ended up having sex on your hardwood floor and getting back together?”

“What about the time Ryan came back and we broke up,” she reminded him, “We didn’t make up by having sex that time.”

“We only made up because I exposed his true intentions,” Owen exclaimed, “We never spoke about the fact that he was the reason we broke up, or the fact that you had sex with him-” he snapped his fingers – “just like that.”

Tim listened intently and silently, recording and writing down everything.

“Let’s also not forget the most recent incident,” he further continued, “Where you showed up on our doorstep, barely said a few words and then we ended up, unsurprisingly, having sex again.”

“You instigated that,” she yelled at him.

“Amelia, you ignored my calls for a whole month before showing up on our doorstep; what did you expect?” he yelled back, “You are just like Derek. You are manipulative-,” he held out his fingers, listing each characteristic on them – “you are a runner, and issues are only resolved when you want them to be resolved.” He inhaled slowly, trying to regain his composure. “If Tim wasn’t here, if we were having this talk at home, do you think we’d be talking right now, or having sex?”

She silently stared at Owen, tears becoming visible.

“You literally talk to Ryan more than you talk to me,” he added, his frustration clear, “He got you to walk. What did I do, remind you of everything sad in your life? Because that’s how you act.”

“Ryan the ex?” Tim sought to confirm.

“Ryan my son,” Amelia corrected.

“We probably wouldn’t still be recovering from the miscarriages if we were having sex,” he concluded coldly, turning away again, “The worst part is that I feel like I can’t even be mad at you because you almost dying trumps that. It always trumps every single issue I have with you these days.”

Amelia inhaled sharply at the last two statements. “I need to…can we have a break or something?”

“There you go running again,” he muttered under his breath, clearly audible to the other two in the room.

She didn’t like feeling all this pent up hatred from him; it was overwhelming. There was a comfort she felt knowing that everyone in the entire world could hate her, but Owen never would, and she was beginning to lose that comfort as more time passed. It was clearly evident that Owen hated her, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it or how to fix it.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Tim murmured, feeling the elephant in the room crushing everyone, including him, “But did this baby’s death happen as a result of the accident?”

“Yes,” Amelia responded, “They were twins.”

Owen closed his eyes at the mention of the word, a single tear escaping.

Tim realised he’d hit the true source of their angst. “When were they supposed to be due?”

“Late November,” they both answered.

“I’m going to assume they were unplanned too,” he voiced. When no one responded, he looked up. Owen was looking at the door while Amelia stared at a shelf of books. “I guess that’s a yes,” he said to himself.

---

They had gone two hours over their time, and yet nothing had been resolved. It had reached the point where Tim was genuinely ready to give up on the couple and start offering options for divorce. He couldn’t find one logical reason why the two should try to fix their relationship, the fact that they had a child not even being a good enough reason. The only thing they had going for them right now was their sexual attraction, and that wasn’t enough. As he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, he mused about how he could get them to stop being so stubborn and actually try to fix their relationship, but nothing came to mind. They had somehow managed to frustrate their therapist to the point where he wanted to personally see to it that they were divorced and could never communicate with one another ever again.

“Owen, Amelia, let’s stop for today,” Tim muttered in an exhausted tone, “We’ll pick up next week Monday. Try not to kill each other before then. In the meantime, I still want you two to sleep in the same bed if not, room. And I also want your wedding bands.” Owen and Amelia obeyed, giving him their white gold wedding bands with questioning looks. “You’ll get them back when you two start acting like you had them in the first place.”