#but especially and specifically blockbuster

[valentineshearts]

Bring!! Back!! Blockbuster!!

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

Been seeing a lot of takes like this and I appreciate where they're coming from, it's a good idea to be especially wary of excessive criticism aimed at things made by and for women but like. Yes you do see hot takes about Marvel, and the lego movie, and Batman films. To say this with your whole chest you have to spend zero time in leftist circles and pay zero attention to criticism of big blockbuster movies or just. Yknow. Lie to make your point.

More relevantly you see this specific thing happen whenever a big corporation makes flaccid listless gestures towards progressivism for the sake of their bottom line. Because the end result is always too toothless to have meaning for leftists while still being offensive enough to right wingers simply by virtue of having a lot of women or gay people or people of colour in it to have them frothing at the mouth. Sexist dudebros hating Barbie doesn't shield it from feminist critique, they were going to hate it whether it succeeded or failed but it can still fail.

And as nice as the big feminist speach in barbie is I have to wonder if its primary purpose is to actually uplift women so much as it is to shut down criticism of the movie and the brand. If even Barbie can't escape this criticism what hope is there for the rest of us, right? Except Barbie isn't a real woman, she's a plastic toy made in sweatshops by a brand attempting to rehabilitate a progressive image out of a long history of being criticized for its portrayal of women because that's what will boost sales. This movie is part of that, and pointing that out is important.

You don't need my or ayone's permission to enjoy the Barbie movie, if it was meaninful to you I'm genuinely happy for you, if you just thought it was fun and funny, great! But to act like the only reason to criticize the movie is sexism is glossing over some very real problems and like, straight up falling for the corporate propaganda. Yes every big blockbuster movie actually does get criticized bc they are political tools that serve the people in power. Not every big blockbuster is also being sold as a feminist masterpiece though, so you probably are gonna hear it more about Barbie. You'll also hear it more about Barbie bc people are hypercritical of women and that will motivate some critique, but to assume bad faith is to shut out conversations that need to happen.

[thefirstknife]

Yeah, this was absolutely a thing! It was actually really weird to me that the marketing was like that given that we KNEW that this isn't the last expansion. So like?? If we defeat the Witness in Lightfall... What about TFS? It just made no sense. People should definitely not trust all marketing so easily, or at least they should look at it with some reservation. But also it really shouldn't be on the players to parse through what part of marketing is real and what isn't.

Also in retrospect, it's actually so difficult to market Lightfall properly since it's essentially a story about us losing. Like, you can't just show people that we're gonna lose at the end and that the story is actually about grief and about us being thrown into more mysteries that will eventually show us just how little we know about the universe (which I think was the main "big reveal" from Lightfall: we're not even close to understanding the universe). Not only would marketing that way be spoilers, it's also just not an interesting thing to show as a trailer. So the trailers focused on the 80s action movie vibes and on showing the looming threat. And then the assumption was that we'd deal with it in a massive showdown.

Which again, weird. Since there's TFS after. I think also a lot of people were going into everything already convinced that there's a bigger badder evil behind the Witness that we're gonna learn about after we take the Witness down. Which would also be really weird. Not only that, but one inspiration that Bungie actually told us about for Lightfall was... The Empire Strikes back. A middle of the trilogy where the heroes lose in the end. You know. Like Lightfall.

"As we started getting towards Lightfall, we said, 'Hey, how can we keep the stakes high but change the mood for a release?'" Blackburn continued. "We looked at things like The Empire Strikes Back, that has a feeling of, oh, my gosh, [the heroes] lose, but the movie doesn't feel like they lose the whole time.

Note that they also cite a lot of other 80s and 90s movies (some modern ones too, like The Old Guard) for different aspects of the tone of the story that are more about the action, which is also something I think they nailed down perfectly. The campaign was full action all the time with a lot of stuff at stake; first Neomuna, then the whole system and then possibly everything depending on what the Witness' plans actually are. I can absolutely see how people misinterpreted this action-part of the marketing as something that would be the big blockbuster self-contained story with all the answers. Which once again, weird. Because TFS is the final expansion (btw I'm pretty sure not even TFS will answer everything because Bungie has already said that there's more Destiny coming after so).

One thing that was definitely a part of the marketing that ended up not even remotely happening was the scene of Nimbus using some sort of nanotech gun to shoot at a Pyramid ship. This gave me, and others, the impression that we will be actually fighting the Fleet directly and I was super excited to finally see a weapon have an effect against the Fleet! So far we've not seen anything capable of damaging them, although we know that they CAN be damaged. This scene in the reveal trailer was literally just in that trailer and never in the game. Really weird! Classic video game reveal trailers with fake footage that isn't actually in the game.

There's was definitely some mixed messages with marketing, as well as people's hype getting ahead of them (not helped by the hype perpetuated by the marketing), unclear expectations being set and also the issue of it being really hard to market Lightfall in a way that wouldn't be a spoiler or just a downer. The trailers kept referring to an ominous threat and showing us action building up to the final showdown, but people expected something that ultimately wasn't Lightfall's job or theme, but that marketing kept showing to people.

I definitely feel like this mismatch of expectations and hatred should've subsided once it became abundantly clear that this wasn't what the story was gonna be about. Like, I get the initial disappointment if you expected something else, but that doesn't make the game we got bad. It just makes it different. I feel like a lot of people are just holding a grudge and pouting and are refusing to engage with what we actually got. But overall, I definitely see how this issue caused a lot of the initial dislike of Lightfall which then just continued indefinitely as people just don't want to engage with it anymore.

okay i meant to make this post forever ago but my personal opinion on why so many people were so dissatisfied with lightfalll (disclaimer: i am not one of these people, i love lightfall SO much), is that lightfall was kind of subjected to a really aggressive marketing campaign.

like, stick with me here, i feel like almost all the lightfall release content (the trailers especially) were so focused on battling the witness, how this battle has been centuries in the making and this is the Second Collapse Finally Finding Us, only for there to be,,, no real resolution. the end was left on such a severe cliffhanger, but not only that, there was NO battle with the witness. the witness didn't even seem to be having a hard time at all with what we WERE throwing at it.

and for narrative reasons *i* am obsessed with this ending; in terms of storytelling i adore practically every creative decision that was made in lightfall, but i think the reason that so many people were so upset about it is because lightfall had such intense marketing and was rooted in the implication that this was the End of Days, only for us to get almost no closure, and instead so many more questions.

(there's also something to be said, i think, about the fact that the people who ARE most upset about this are like, the youtube gamer dudebros who's content is very very often rooted in the aggressive, violence-and-warfare, pvp-centric, no-interest-in-lore approach to destiny, and that the people i've seen primarily ENJOYING the narrative decisions (or at least being understanding about it) are the artists and writers and loremasters of the fandom, but i'm not quite sure,,, how to expand on that point.)

[sapphicflower-ao3]

what are ur personal favorite fics? i can be a bit picky and have a hard time finding fics but i love ur writing and i feel like we might have similar tastes based on that :3

i'm sorry it took me like a week to get to this!! i wanted to compile my faves and write notes for each of them... and i went overboard LOL. but thanks so much omg, i'm flattered that you would trust my taste based on my writing!

these are all bkdk obviously :)

i. 'In Case of Fire' - passengerside

post-canon // complete // 11K // E

an absolute MASTERPIECE!!! this author has become a recent favourite of mine, i love the way they incorporate little details into their work and make the mundane so beautiful.

highly recommend all of their other works, especially 'Pacemaker'! so freaking beautiful and fun and the lead up to the confession was a genuine holding-my-breath moment

ii. 'Sun Hands' - yesthisisnarumi

snowboarding AU // complete // 5K // T

i've re-read this one so many times it's SOOOOO good! so fun and so classically bkdk it's insane. everybody say thank you OP for giving us the rival olympic champions to lovers story we needed

iii. 'all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing' - maxisnotokay

UA compliant // complete // 11K // T

i dont usually read a lot of whump but this was brilliant, im a sucker for this specific trope and for LOVE CONFESSIONS YEASS!!! obvi it has a happy ending bc i wouldnt have it any other way. a good length too :)

iv. 'Spinnin' On Our Feet' - sage_and_cinnamon

High School AU // ongoing // 47K // M

UNDERRATED AS FUCK and my favourite ongoing fic right now. i usually dont read jock x nerd AUs but this fic is so brilliantly funny and charming and heartwarming and it blew all my expectations out of the water and then some. i've been following it for ages and it's been on hiatus for a good while, but it updated recently and when i tell you it was the best day of my freaking life...

v. 'In Perfect Rhythm' - chalk

Band AU // complete // 50K // E

yes how surprising, a band AU fic in my faves list. anyway shut up, chalk is literally godlike in their writing and this fic was SO FUN and scratched all the itches. nothing gets me going more than awkwardly endearing izuku n rockstar katsuki

vi. 'Last Days of War' - antisora

Pacific Rim AU // complete // 44K // M

GENUINELY ONE OF HUMANITY'S BEST PIECES OF LITERATURE???? fuck. i never have the proper words for this fic, but it is SO gripping and the worldbuilding is so tight and their relationship development is so good and the CLIMAX OF THIS HAS BEEN MORE EPIC THAN HALF THE BLOCKBUSTERS I'VE SEEN. i beg you to read this even if you have never watched Pacific Rim. or maybe go watch the movie and get EDUCATED and then read this! i'm begging you, dear reader!!

vii. 'Ingenium' - crandberrycrush

Astronauts AU // complete // 85K // E

guys i love sci-fi sorry lol. this one is another brilliant fic. OP put so much blood, sweat and tears into research and it shows, it is just very intelligent and the plot itself is HEART RACING and GUTTING and THRILLING. there's a lot of POVs and it really fleshes it out, tho ofc bkdk is the main thing. happy ending obvi! it is the space/astronaut drama that i love and adore, just BKDKified now!

viii. 'The Magic in a Mirror' - totallyrottentomatoes

Magic/Circus AU // complete // 80K // E

oh how surprising, a totallyrottentomaoes fic in my faves list. anyone who knows me knows that i rec this fic all the time. it's one of my all time favourites, if not my favourite of all time lol, and it's really because of the writing and the imagery and the characterisation and the relationships b/w all the characters. it's all just so well done and MAGICAL. no joke, if i could print and bind a fic into a book, it would be this one. no notes. perfection. caters to my tastes so specifically. i could go on about this fic forever but i'll shut up for now

also highly recommend 'The Distance Between Suns' by this author - it's a high fantasy epic with TIGHT AS FUCK worldbuilding, brilliantly written, the romance is BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, the payoffs are amazing, etc... this deserves to be published and revered

ix. 'Battle of the Bands' - roadtripwithlucifer

Band AU // complete // 168K // E

look i know i always rec this fic, i just can't help that it's like my favourite thing ever. roadtripwithlucifer and totallyrottentomatoes my BELOVEDS. the humour in this fic is so fucking yummy and brilliant, the writing is gorgeous in typical roadtrip fashion, the stakes are gripping, the climax is thrilling, the romance n yearning is INTENSE, the sex is hot as hell, the ending is so satisfying, just..... the whole package.

and while you're here, read other roadtripwithlucifer works like 'Nothing Else Fills' if you feel like destroying your heart :) an angsty and beautifully written time-travel-to-save-my-kacchan-gone-wrong war AU fic. i love OP's works but her more recent fics (eg. after battle of the bands) have had some of her best writing. i adore it when you can feel how an author has poured their soul into their work, you can always feel it in a roadtripwithlucifer work and it's just the cherry on top

x. 'Scar Tissue' - Loriqod

canon-compliant // complete // 18K // E

loriqod is another author with a characterisation that i fuck with so hard... this one was so full of that Yearning and Tension that i so vibe with. bonus points to the plots focus on bkdk's scars like yes pls more of that <3

anyway i might make a part 2 some other time, these are just the ones i grabbed from my public bookmarks. i have a lot of private ones and some of them i forgot to make public oops

hope u find smth u enjoy!

[swingsetindecember]

quebec's language laws have protected quebec in a weird way from late stage capitalism. by no means to idealize quebec, i just don't see it wildly talked about how a language barrier has stalled capitalism.

i am sure there are socio-economic papers written on this. like because you need to have french contracts, terms of service and signage, a lot of american companies and global conglomerates don't go to quebec. like a lot of businesses just don't exist in quebec compared to the rest of canada. like franchise restaurants. quebec has a lot less franchise restaurants. oh there are a couple but they are like very specific to quebec and also just in the more metropolitan areas. usually in suburbs you don't have a lot of franchise restaurants.

this is also sweepstakes. because in quebec a mail in entry is required for any sweepstakes. you don't have to buy the product. also a lot of brands need to have their labels in french so a lot of products just don't get to quebec market

also a lot of the population wants to be serviced in french so they prefer quebec companies. this is why there are quebec specific internet and telephone companies. bootlegging is wild popular because there was usually a lag before you could get english content because they needed to make the french dub.

its also why movie rental stores stayed open for a long time in quebec because they catered to french language dubbed movies. like blockbuster did come to quebec but it didn't have the same chokehold on the market. like i rarely went to blockbuster growing up, there were 3 local video rental places that had more titles than blockbuster because the blockbuster business model didn't appeal to quebec residents. especially if you wanted to rent french versions of video games.

anyway, just interesting to think about

[tlonista]

I wish the conversation over Problematic Relationships In Fiction weren't so heavily framed around individual stories. Because I don't care about some random fucked-up novel, but I do feel like current romance media trends toward a recommendation-fueled monoculture with some frustratingly rigid gender norms, and a lot of "does fiction affect reality" discourse offers no way of talking about it.

Every time I dip my toe outside AO3 (Wattpad, Kindle Unlimited, Reddit, my BookTok experience is limited but that's the vibe I get there) I'm dismayed by how hard it is to find M/F romance that's not implicitly or explicitly about eroticized male-dominated power imbalance. Not just "he's a serial unaliver" dark romance, but the huge focus on hypermasculine heroes taking care of heroines and possessive alpha-male fated mates and nigh-inescapable trends like "good girl" praise-kink stuff.

Obviously this was always common in romance publishing, but a) the internet was supposed to support niches and b) I find significantly more diversity on AO3, so I think it can. It's just that no other platform or online community seems structured to do it. Instead a combination of recommendation feeds, word-of-mouth virality, and fast-fashion self-publishing surfaces infinite variations on a handful of the most broadly appealing industry blockbusters and buries everything else.

So instead of offering an alternative to old monolithic print publishing, online platforms seem even better at elevating male-domination kinks from "a fairly popular dynamic" to an inescapable default of What Romance Is. Even if you're fully aware it's a sexual fantasy, it gets downright hard to articulate desire in any other way, especially if you don't have a fully-formed picture of what you like. Unless you think sexuality simply isn't a "real" component of people's lives, I think this is a reasonable example of fiction in aggregate affecting reality in a negative way.

(It's also obviously not unique to romance lit. I just can't speak to stuff like video porn firsthand, and I don't see a ton of pushback on people criticizing the gender dynamics of Pornhub.)

But if the only available question is "is X book corrupting impressionable young women," then... no, that's silly. If anything, the aggregate system makes individual books feel bad in ways the authors probably didn't intend. Like, in Popular Kink Land, "your feminism says no but your body says yes" tropes are appealing for some women working through a particular kind of purity culture. In Inescapable Dynamic Land they take on this Gorean overtone where all women secretly want a man to take charge of them. The former is not my thing but fine; the latter feels like some kind of weird accidental gaslighting.

To the extent AO3 escapes this, I think it's for four reasons.

A focus on tags and chronological sorting, which helps surface non-popular stuff and gives readers more control

It's strictly non-commercial so there's less incentive to write for the broadest audience or fill the site with boilerplate sludge

It doesn't segregate categories like "romance for men", so there's less gerrymandering of cross-gender niches like femdom

The fourth reason, which is most interesting to me, is that fanfic ships (specifically not X-reader ships) create easily discoverable literary microgenres drawn from a huge range of media outside the tropey echo chamber of Romancelandia Proper.

In my experience it takes hours of scouring Reddit and Goodreads to find non-normative original romance, but one AO3 search and a few clicks to get from "I played Resident Evil and liked Ada and Leon's vibe" to a substantial microgenre about a badass woman making a cute guy stutter, or "I loved Kaz and Inej in Six of Crows" to a bunch of takes on a not-conventionally-masculine hero and a powerful but vulnerable heroine pining for each other. Since a decent number of fanfic authors also write non-fanfic, there's even a chance you'll find somebody who does original characters with a sensibility you like. I have no idea how you'd bring this system outside shipfic, but I'd love to see someone try.

[allovesthings]

Roy and Donna are the only two people I could see Dick talk about the Devin Grayson arc (the sexual assault, the trauma, the weird toxic relationship afterwards and the Blockbuster guilt of it all and the passively suicidal and the mafia ).

I'm pretty sure he would never actually talk about it at all and I don't think Dick would ever tell anyone from the Batfam whatsoever. Bruce knows some and could figure out the rest, I believe but wouldn't handle it well and I just never see Dick get to a point where he willingly says anything to his brothers or his sister.

Donna because it's Donna and because since she was dead at the time, there is a degree of separation that might help him.

And Roy for several reasons actually. Roy and Dick usually are the friends who have the hard conversation, usually as a fight but not always and also because Roy was the one who was actively and specifically trying at the time to help Dick and I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity to not have said conversation. Especially considering he is there at the end of said arc with the Outsiders when Dick is undercover (sort of) with Deathstroke and at that point, he knows something is more wrong than what Dick showed.

[fullcolorfright]

Reveal any secrets you may know about the history of gore in old horror movies?

I’m not an expert but I’ll give you what I’ve got!

(^from the Wikipedia article on splatter films)

Blood Feast (1963) is generally considered to be the first splatter film, due to both the graphic onscreen gore in its kill scenes and the high frequency which these occur through the movie (rather than just having one shocking scene, which would be more common). Blood Feast was inspired by the lack of onscreen gore in blockbuster horror at the time (specifically in Psycho).

Still, there was a variety of pre-Blood Feast horror that didn’t mind flouting the censors (especially in mad scientist films- in the pre-slasher era, surgical gore was more common). When Hammer studios received an X rating for a 1955 film of theirs, they changed the name to “The Quatermass Xperiment” to capitalize on the rating. Two years later, critics were outraged by the blood in Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), with studio head James Carreras quoted as saying, “blood doesn’t look like anything unless it’s good and red.” Eyes Without a Face (1960) has an on-screen surgery scene that still shocks, despite concerns of censorship during production. And then there’s the 50s low-budget drive-in type films, which capitalized on mutilation and sometimes showed its effects (I’m thinking of I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) specifically).

The Hays Code’s enforcement from the mid-30s to the 60s definitely put a damper on gore in American films- though its focus was more on nudity, “brutal killings should not be presented in detail” was one of its points.

In any case, most pre-code films tended to use a tell-not-show method for gore; Dr. X (1932), for instance, mentions cannibalism and serial killing as the driving forces of its plot, but artfully hides any victims from the camera. On-screen gore was possible (for example, in 1936’s short film The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar) but uncommon.

If we go back far enough, the influence of the French Grand Guignol theater becomes apparent in the type of onscreen gore presented. It’s very pulpy and theatrical- featuring mad doctors, mysterious slayings, and executions- and often in the service of non-horror genre films (These shots are from Good Night, Nurse! (1918) (comedy), Les Vampires Episode 1: The Severed Head (1915) (crime), and The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) (history)).

Basically- gore in film has always been around, it just took until the 60s to really become accepted!

[sokoneedsagun]

Giving batfam songs I think fit them and they would like

Bruce- Lithium by Nirvana (I have to)

(Ok so tumblr seems to really hate links to nirvana songs, so I’m sorry but Bruce won’t have a link, the song shouldn’t be hard to find if you want to find it)

(This is my third time typing this, sorry if it seems like I’m annoyed while I am, tumblr is being fucking stupid tonight) I picked the song lithium for Bruce because of a few lines in particular. The song itself is about a man who is depressed and finds god, but to me it represents how Bruce became Batman and what it did for him. “And just maybe I’m to blame for all I’ve hurt, but I’m not sure” can represent how Bruce hurts his friends and family by doing what he does as Batman, but often doesn’t realize the extent of it, he doesn’t know if he should be blaming himself because he doesn’t know how much he’s hurting them. “Light my candles in a daze, cause I found god” could easily be about how at this point he doesn’t think about being Batman, he just is. Finally “I missed you, I’m not gonna crack” to me is about his no killing rule. Even with how much he misses and loves his parents and kids (especially Jason) after their deaths he refuses to kill, he misses and loves them but he won’t crack.

Dick- Mama by My Chemical Romance

I picked this one for Dick because the song is about a solider going off to war, and when they come home their mother is horrified by the atrocities committed by her child. I think that could fit both Dick and his parents and Dick and Bruce. Dick’s biggest fear is disappointing Bruce, and if Bruce were to find out some of the things Dick has done that’s exactly what would happen. One of Dicks first thoughts after the blockbuster incident is what Bruce would say.

Babs- Malibu by Hole

The song is about how Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain used to talk about leaving LA to go move to Malibu together and get away from it all, and it kind of reminds me of Barbara and Dick, because neither of them would walk away, but I think there would be times they talked about it, but also I think a lot of hole songs would fit Barbara in general.

Jason- Bullet With Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins

“Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage, someone will say ‘what is lost can never be saved’” and “tell me I’m the only one, tell me there’s no other one, Jesus was an only son” (and “Jesus was an only son for you) are enough to explain why this fits Jason. (Alternatively for a younger Jason, army dreamers by Kate Bush)

Cass- The Garden by The Crane Wives

Truly if you haven’t listened to this song you really should, the crane wives are an amazing band and so many of their lyrics just read as poetry. But I picked this song for Cass specifically because of the lines “the crows in the garden are laughing at my expense” “hold your light to the darkness in my brain, put your ear to my heart or set your teeth against my throat” or “my darling, the devil knows my name.” To me as a whole the song represents the way that Cass has spent so much of her life being used for others gain (mostly by her father), the line about the darkness in the singers mind reminds me of the fact that Cass doesn’t think of herself as a good person, which is why I think the line is fitting.

Tim- Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure

Tim has had a long history of going through extremely traumatic things but refusing to feel the emotions that come with it, that coupled with the misogynistic writers for Tim Drake in the 90’s made me pick this for him. The lines “I would do most anything to get you back by my side” or “but I know that it’s too late and now there’s nothing I can do, so I try to laugh about it cover it all up with lies” really represented the grief he’s had to go through with loosing friends and family for me.

Steph- give me Novocain/ she’s a rebel by Green Day

Both of them work for Steph really fucking well and I’ve said the she’s a rebel thing before the post just got no notes, both songs are also incredibly underrated and glossed over and so is Steph. (Alternatively so nice, so smart by Kimya Dawson, although to me that more represents her relationship with Tim)

Duke- Class of 2013 by Mitski

Duke lost his family at a young age, he lost the security of having someone to take care of him. Then he had to lead a revolution again, as a child. “Mom, I’m tired, can I sleep in your house tonight?” Represents that to me, because I think after it all that’s what he would want, he would want his family after being as tired as he is. “And I’ll leave what I’m chasing for the other girls to pursue” is also fitting because people refuse to even acknowledge that Duke counts as a Robin. They don’t include him and I doubt that they have many plans to. They want him to leave behind signal and Robin for the rest of his siblings to pursue.

Damian- Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths

Damian has long since been a martyr for both the writers and fandom. He’s constantly used for the benifit of others while also being told he’s a brat or a demon or whatever else anyone would like to call him, he’s a child. He does know how Joan of Ark felt, he’s a child constantly being victimized by people who should be protecting him. The line “and I’ve got no right to take my place to the human race” also fits him in my opinon due to his struggle with finding a way to fit in, in not only Gotham but his own family.

Harper- the kids aren’t alright by Pinkshift

I think the song itself fits Harper’s general attitude towards a lot of things, plus it seems like something she would listen to. But the lines “is it the cramps or was my life always this bad? I don’t know if I’ll ever make it to the other side where sky’s are blue and I don’t have to pay to stay alive” specially were what made me pick it for Harper.

Kate- Topless by The Malefactors

I think this song fits Kate really well, a lot of it has to do with her sexuality and how I interpret the lyrics. Specifically “I think you’re pretty when you’re topless, you know the law can never stop us.” Or “you know I love it how we play friends.”Fits Kate because the law didn’t stop her, she got kicked out of West Point because she refused to hide who she was. Also “I think you love it when I’m upset, like I love your fucking pessimistic mindset” fits her relationship with Renee (Montoya) very well.

This took me forever to type so I hope it turned out ok and I explained everything well, if you disagree that’s fine, you’re allowed to, just don’t be rude about it

[accio-victuuri]

Sugar Rush : November CPNs

What started out as a relatively quiet month after a chaotic October, turned into something else because of a few candies. Especially the whole 11/19 fiasco that surprised us all. LOL. As usual, this is for cpn-loving turtles only. Keep an open mind but still clown responsibly. I can’t believe we only have one month left for this year!

If you wanna recap other years I have archived : 2021 ( one | two ) 2022 ( one | two ) 2023 ( one, july, august, september, october ) 2020 candies and some other sweets before I was doing round up posts may be found on my masterlist.

Let’s review the past month…

• Some side by side / parallel photos of GG ( Tod’s Milan ) and WYB ( Chanel Shenzhen ). They are both photographed with the very beautiful Liu ShiShi. Also the way they are the center of attention. KINGS! 👑

• hoping they play tennis together 🎾 ; there is also a cpn out there about yibo being fully prepared for the game cause he had lacoste shoes and bag then a jacket that he used in wuzhen. people are speculating that XZ bought stuff for him to use cause he is the one who knows more and thought of this brand. this may seem like a stretch but you never know with this fandom when a seemingly insignificant observation becomes a big candy along the way.

• 2021 vs 2023 beach photos similarities + xiamen coincidence and it’s connection to ZZ’s ideal life painting

• LHK ( Liu Haikuan ) giving clues about BJYX? + Part 2 of comments

11/7, GG was announced as Boucheron’s global brand ambassador, then people remembered that one time WYB wore stuff from the brand. So now we have an unintentional couple jewelry incidence😂😂

• the sound of an eagle 🦅

• some similarities in forwarding 119 message, yeah i know celebrities like them are sort of required to bring attention to stuff like this. however, WYB is known to support this cause and even made a VCR specifically for it. if you look at the actual post, theirs is the top 2 in terms of likes and the rest of the celebrities are not the usual ones similar to the boys’ caliber. Another clue that this is WYB’s advocacy of sorts, most, if not all top comments are from his fans. so ZZ joining in on spreading the message seems ( to me and some cpfs ) like influenced by WYB.

Next is they both filmed VCRs for "People in My Heart" - "Classic Characters" series. We just love seeing them support the same projects ^^

• NARS live drawing

• Candies from WYB’s 11/12 douyin post. Mainly the parallel about the same walls and floor.

• XZ fell asleep on WYB during the golden core scene

• Interpreting YBO’s 11/16 weibo caption

• 11/19/23 double update candies

• similar necklace??? ( cough in vain )

• the full story ( so far ) behind 11/19 📝

• Talking about this a bit late considering when the whole CPN started about this GG mural for GG. There are side by side comparisons of the eyes on the mural and Yibo’s. The CPN being they used WYB’s eyes for that mural.

I usually let people have free reign on clowning but this one isn’t for me personally. just because it’s obviously a mural commissioned by GUCCI which a big brand that couldn’t care less about the CP. Maybe it’s a coincidence how similar it is? Because there is a reference photo that should be followed. Also, this is GG’s time to shine. This mural is his & him. I think this is an example for cpfs to learn to separate the boys as individuals, especially for things that are work related and most especially their achievements. While I do believe they influence each other greatly, it’s important to not make every single thing a romantic relation.

• the mystery driver is seen again 👀

• 11/22 Yibo scenery post 🍬

• One night in Beijing Song + 11/23 XZS post

• I don’t really wanna clown with Redmi but the black and white theme from XZS and then the next day it’s Redmi. I was surprised with this cause all the promos were supposed to be related to the scifi themed ad blockbuster!

A coincidence 👀👀👀👀

• small candies form IQIYI scream night 😱

• wyb acknowledging light signs and calls us wangba

• XZ’s 11/27 Airport and Selfie Clues

• there is some talk with BXGs regarding WYB’s redmi appearance, it looks like he was bitten by the mosquito again. lol. I usually just find cpn like this funny cause there is always deniability. also hello to the mosquito who loves to bite the center of his neck.

I’m separating these next entries cause it’s not new. I just found myself revisiting bts content and clowning about it. old candy still tastes good! 💯

WYB signs 520 to GG

WYB’s small steps to GG but robe gets caught

Something is funny and XZ has to tell WYB

Flirting and Fighting? “WYB’s love you”

XZ got hurt and WYB said he is gonna kiss it better?

-END.

[prof-ramses]

Finally talking about Batman Caped Crusader (and villains I want in it)

So, up until now, I haven't shown my love of batman, bat-rogues and dc villains in general on this blog, but having finished and marinated on the first season of the phenomenal Caped Crusader series, I've decided to change that.

The show is basically everything I wanted it to be, and though the way its plots are carefully threaded together and amazing, it's the characters, especially the villains, that stand out.

And since arguably the biggest thing about this series is the ways it's reinventing the villains it uses, I thought the best way to start talking about it was to run through some ideas I've had on how it might portray various rouges going forward.

Starting with Scarecrow, as he's been referenced twice in the series. A blink and you'll miss it easter egg in episode 5 shows a self help book written by Dr. Jonathan Crane, which makes me wonder if this take on Scarecrow will lean more towards something like the guru working for Scarecrow in the TNBA episode Never Fear, or possibly a more diluted character who genuinely believes he's helping people overcome their fears.

Moving on to speculative characters, after some thought I've come up with a take on Riddler that would slot neatly into BCC is a traveling magician/escapologist who draws in crowds by offering a cash prize to anyone who can explain his seemingly impossible escapes. He also plans his tours so he can find and pick off other big time magicians by putting them in death trap to see how good their escape skills really are.

And rounding out the dorks, the biggest idea I've had for Mad Hatter is a scientist with a method of inducing intense suggestibility (either the chipped cards or some form of drug) but can't find funding. Because of this, he makes his living as a taxidermist, which would allow both for some creepy visuals and (assuming they go down this route) a jabberwocky patched together out of various animals as a screwed up art piece

I've seen some people suggest Bane for season 2, but I think it would be more interesting to use one of the lesser used bruisers Batman has gone up against like Blockbuster (specifically the version from Nightwing comics), Amygdala or even Solomon Grundy, what with the supernatural aspects we've already seen.

If they do adapt Mr. Freeze, I know this will upset some people, but I want a less sympathetic version of Victor, purely because I'm sick of everything wanting to be Heart of Ice. Maybe he had his accident while trying to freeze Nora against her will, or maybe he causes out of exhaustion because he was neglecting to sleep.

And lastly, this show has the opportunity to be the first animated series to embrace the supernatural implications with The Ventriloquist. Scarface wouldn't even have to be fully alive, just a cursed dummy that amplifies negative emotions and might even be addictive in a way. You could have Batman and Wesker racing to find the dummy as it's being passed from person to person around Gotham.

By the way, if any artists see this and take to one or more of these ideas, feel free to draw your own take on them, just remember to tag me so I can see it :)

[verdicloud]

cats 2019 alternative ideas

i know some of you guys on here genuinely enjoyed the 2019 cats movie, and i’m afraid i can’t say the same, but the reason why is not what i’m here to discuss.

i think cats 2019 was a huge missed opportunity.

i can’t help feeling like we were robbed of an original, creative story, all for the sake of making another blockbuster. instead of repeating the same formula to squeeze a few more dollars in, maybe they could’ve done something different, more cats specific? movie or show, animated or live action, i wouldn’t mind. (k now that i think abt it animation would be better.) they wouldn’t even have had to put in dancing or singing, in fact, a story focused on just the relationships between the cats would’ve been amazing.

like, a spinoff!

disney’s hercules has a spinoff series and i think it’s absolutely genius. i love it, probably more than the actual movie! it’s especially fun for me because i’m interested in greek mythology too. something like that for our dear little cats would be a dream come true.

they had the money for CGI fur and an A-list cast so i don’t think a spinoff made with love, passion and respect for the musical would’ve been a super tall order. the important thing to remember would be to include and focus mainly on the cats’ relationships and interactions with each other (and not butcher their personalities ofc).

just gonna start rattling off ideas here :

coricopat and tantomile witch cat anecdotes series

rumpus cat superhero action movie with george in disguise. he faces challenges when trying to balance his secret life and maintaining his friendships. (maybe make him and plato best friends?)

sitcom series with main characters electra and etcetera as besties, and the main cast being all the kittens, kinda like victorious. (episode titles be like “electra & etcetera : jenny’s crochet workshop!”)

a coming of age (mayybe romance) movie ft. victoria and tumblebrutus

“jemima’s dreams”, a fantasy series taking place in jemima’s mind where each episode features a different flower to teach her a lesson. kinda like aesop’s fables but more with plants

a drama movie about alonzo, from being a distrustful stray to meeting munkustrap and learning to accept others into his life, facing uncertainties about himself along the way and ending with him finding the courage to protect the ones who accepted him as family

heck, make that a duology where the other movie explores demeter’s past trauma surrounding macavity or even grizabella, and her path to healing with the jellicles, especially bombalurina

pouncival the invention cat series where he invents a new thing out of trash every episode to solve a problem (my “pouncival ideas” post has more context). could make for a very cheesy finale

now tell me, fellow cats fan, that you wouldn’t watch any of these.

it seems like fan service or fanfiction (actually most fanfictions are way better than the 2019 movie), and it definitely wouldn’t be as famous or well known, but there’s some real creative potential here, i think. it would’ve been the perfect chance to spend more time with the cats who don’t have many big moments in the show, or just explore their characters even further! not that this musical needs a spinoff, of course, but since they decided to make a movie on it anyway, why not have created something worthwhile?

encouraging everyone to think of and/or add their own ideas for a cats spinoff!

[saxandviolins77]

IIRC in your review of TF One you said it was a "good movie" but a lot of what you described made it sound focus-tested into oblivion and generic? And I know I thought the movie was pretty nonsensical and hypocritical and had many issues with how it handled the characters, so I'm really curious about in more detail what led to your ultimate take? I know you described how it was very focused and stuff but like, a movie that has a focus but is focused on something that doesn't make any sense isn't necessarily good, especially if the theme has problems. I'm curious since your review you named a lot of specifics and I feel like my opinion that it was a bad kids' movie seems really rare! -arceespinkgun

Hey! Thanks for the ask! I'll try to make my stance more clear on the TF: ONE topic.

Well, focused on telling a riveting story with the characters and universe it certainly was not.

Focused on making revenue? Definitely, but every movie is like that, I'm more interested in the hows.

You see, this movie was written backward. As in, they already knew where the characters needed to be and who they needed to turn into.

Why was Orion considered worthy of the Matrix? Because he needs to be.

Why did D-16 go from a meek rule-abiding guy to a violent "kill everyone tyrant" in the span of a day? Because he needs to be.

The "high-guard" stuff? Just a very weak excuse for them to shove the already-built Decepticon army into a fight scene.

It's a good movie for two reasons and neither of them really has to do with the story or characters as they appear!

It knows its audience: as in, the general audience of TF fans, the TF fans who go into the cinema expecting the tried and true story of "cherik but robots" will have a grand time! And will go to the cinema 26 times to make sure this movie has revenue (see Twitter, it's embarrassing). AND, it's also great franchise bait! Tell me, how many people have you seen that are new to the franchise BECAUSE of ROTB? Now, TF: ONE? I assume your answer will be a little different. It's a movie that dangles a carrot for the audience, if you already like the carrot, sweet! If you never tasted the carrot, you may enjoy it without thinking.

Focus-tested: great use of the word, I'm stealing it. I would say this movie is a calculated risk, but it isn't a risk at all. I appreciate the motives behind this movie a ton! Because it wasn't just something Hasbro green-lighted to ignite the Bayverse flame back, it's calculated and the time it was left in the oven means this is pure aligned sauce, and it works. This movie sexes so much with core concepts from the Aligned continuity that it was bound to never be its own thing, and even better! All the "new" concepts this movie has to offer are either animated movie jerking off (Comedic-relief character that adds nothing, Girlboss...) or smoothing out Aligned things that would not fly in deeper examination (Op and Megs are both miners, Sentinel, no "alternative mode racism").

It's a good movie, in comparison to what came before (that I felt the need to point out in my review). It's cohesive, unlike ROTB, AND more importantly, it's approachable (not only for newcomers but also for the fandom at large). It's an above-average kids' movie (which aside from a few surprising offers, has been on the slop side of things for YEARS now, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Blockbuster schmuck).

It's a good movie because it was calculated, the only factors that may intervene are Paramount's shitty distribution AND toy sales, but that doesn't change the fact that it is critically acclaimed already.

Now you might be asking:

Do I support this?

Who am I to support anything? Just a small account on a near-dead site. However, I cannot deny I find it quite ingenious of the Hasbro team (who has been wanting to amalgamize TF for YEARS) and the fandom reaction to it has been great to watch.

Does this kill artistic integrity?

LMAO YEAH! I don't thing anyone watching a big studio movie would be really surprised by that, better luck with animated series and/or comics. Tho, I sure the people working on this movie did put their hearts into it, it just happened to be a really strategic place to put it.

Wow, I wasn't expecting this.

Yeah, it is what it is. At the end of the day TF:ONE is a very great marketing scheme, I'd be more worried about it seeping into other things (beware of what's to come after the failure of the GI:JOE/TF movie and after they finish killing off ES).

I didn't really like it, but for reasons I already don't like Aligned. The forced godhood of Orion (which makes the Autobot/Decepticon conflict into a religious war!! Why?), the fact that D-16 is the fucking anti-christ that was dictated by THE ALREADY MENTIONED NARRATIVE into villainy (even though, he was in the right! Orion's only plan towards Sentinel was... 'the people will know'... Then...?), the High-guard was completely fodder for the main four (notice how I never mentioned them in my original review), and Arachnid... LOL MOMENT FOR THAT BLUNDER AMIRITE?!

But that ⬆️ was not the point of this movie's existence.

Sorry if this reads a little too hateful or cynical, I am genuinely neutral about this movie, but I just wanted to make my stance clear. My account is not made to dwell on or endorse parts of the franchise that I do not like, I prefer talking and uplifting what I enjoy... And maybe reblogging a hateful post every once a week.

[makoredeyes]

End of Year Ask: 2,5,7,18

2. A fic you wrote this year that you consider your worst:

Oof~! That's a brutal question because I've strived so hard for excellence with all of my writing this year, but I definitely also have an immediate answer (which I hate but it's true). The Ruin of Saturn isn't a bad fic, nor is it poorly written, and there's a lot about it I really, deeply love, but it could have been better. It is, imo, incomplete. But I reached an impasse with it and it was creating a roadblock and it needed to get the fuck out of my way so I polished it as it is and posted it. There may come a time where I come back and rework it. It tells the story it needs to as-is but I wholeheartedly believe it can tell so much more, and frankly I want it to. Perhaps, in time. (ha)

5. Weirdest fic you wrote this year:

Oh haha, that is far and away The Moth and I did it on purpose and I am not sorry. For anyone who hasn't read it and is thinking of checking it out, fair warning, it is explicit, and features violent (but consensual) sex. TLDR: More fun things to do with a Well of Radiance. X)

7. Softest/most comforting fic you wrote this year:

That would be Story Time which is pure fluff and just a quiet, happy moment.

18. Two songs from your writing playlist(s):

Honestly I listen to a whole lot of Destiny music. Journey, Deep Stone Lullaby make their way around a lot. I have a lot of piano covers to movie and video game blockbusters on hand.

I will say more specifically though, two tracks from OVERWERK : Canon, and Toccata

I go to frequently specifically when I'm writing or brainstorming for Felwinter and Rasputin, respectively. Especially for action stuff.

ESPECIALLY Canon for Felts.

*And because I was just howling about it to Crafty just the other night, Immortal Imperium from the Warhammer 40k: Darktide OST is SUPERB heavy combat music. We've definitely been bonking some dragons to this lately (who said that?!)

[seafoamstatice]

Some season 4 thoughts!

Not gonna lie, while I really liked a lot of the character moments, twists, and jokes from this season but some parts of the plot... didn't really make sense to me.

Something interesting to me is that in every season but this one, it's always established 1) why the police can't be trusted to investigate the murder and 2) why Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are making a podcast about it. It's used as set up for why the audience should root for them. In season 1, the police think its a suicide so the close the case. Oliver needs the money from the podcast, Charles is lonely, and Mabel has a personal stake in the mystery. In season 2, the police think its the trio. They make the podcast to prove to the public that they're innocent so they can move on with their lives. In season 3, the police arrest the wrong guy and close the case. Mabel drops the first episode to exonerate the guy and get him out of jail. In this season, its specifically stated that the feds are investigating, and while the trio has a reason to look into what happened, they don't have a reason to record and release a podcast about it (other than force of habit). In fact they have good reason not to do that: their first theory is that it was a case of mistaken identity and Charles was the intended target. If they think the danger isn't over, it would be ridiculously irresponsible to tell the public (and potentially the killer) where they are in the case.

Charles' and Oliver's story arcs were great! I especially liked Charles learning to open up about his feelings, and coming to terms with Sazz's death, it was really sad yet heartwarming. But! Mabel's arc is kind of baffling to me. I was really glad to see season 4 set up her developing her career, but it kind of felt like it petered out at the end? What was the point of setting up Animal Jobs and Mabel feeling bad about using Howard like a disposable lackey if they were going to go on to forget about the whole thing and treat Howard the exact same way? Mabel learned to see herself as a podcast producer, she flexed her creative muscles and started drawing again, but at the end of the season, she says that she doesn't belong in the entertainment industry??? She was inspired to make something of herself using her life rights money but the story she pitched to Bev Melon at the end of ep 10 is very clearly just season 4 of the omitb podcast- something she already had the means to do! (I will say, Bev's second phone call implies that this storyline may not be over, so I'm fully prepared to eat these words after season 5)

The trio's danger handling skills are so weird? When they realize someone is watching them they rush out of the Arconia in a panic. Some people call them out for not noticing loose ends. They come back to confront the supposed culprits and find out actually, they weren't responsible for the cameras at all. And so, still not knowing who it was and whether its safe to do so, they fully drop the issue and go right back on to live there? (This plot line might also be brought up again, so idk, if they can come up with a good explanation for why they did this, then fine)

I think it's super fun that Sazz was investigating things all on her own. It reminds me of that joke from season one where Jan complains that the trio trust Sazz, who randomly showed up, to investigate, but not Jan herself, who was Charles' girlfriend and Oliver says something like "Sazz is a stunt double, so I think she knows what she's talking about!" But I think it's so out of left field that Sazz is a really good screenwriter. Sazz is an extremely successful stunt double who comes from a family of stunt doubles and dreams of opening a school for young stunt doubles. Why is she writing rpf so good that on her first try it's blockbuster-movie-with-famous-celebrities worthy? It feels kind of unfair to the audience... If random characters can secretly be insanely skilled at random things that don't fit their previous characterization, then how could anyone ever guess motives for murders or any given character's capabilities?

Same with Marshall/Rex's skillset. He's introduced as a nerdy, anxious writer, but it turns out he's also a prodigy marksman who angsts about whether or not he's a violent person and secret former stuntman who's great at parkour? Ok?

I don't wanna nitpick plot holes, but I think it doesn't make sense for Marshall to kill Glen? The day Sazz confronts Marshall is the day before the opening night party, and she says then that they are the only two who know the script was stolen, meaning while Glen knew about the ronkonkoma incident, he would likely have no clue about Marshall stealing the script. In the omitb universe, coincidences like 'a group of people conspiring to cover up a death happen to know the trio's movie's directors, and also happen to live right across from Charles' are seen as reasonable. Sudden drastic career changes like genius stunt double to genius first time (!!) scriptwriter are seen as reasonable. So even if Glen did end up recognizing Marshall as Rex, it wouldn't tie him to the murder, it would just be a fun coincidence. It's possible Marshall just panicked, but that would be strange because he was very calm when the trio chased him and interrogated him. He managed to pretend that he was relieved they were asking him about the murder and not the rewrites! I'm not sure if I'm missing something here, but...

Admittedly I don't know much about trash incinerators, but from what I can tell, Gravey leads the gang to a chute that leads to the incinerator and then they go down to the basement to check what's in it. If Marshall put Sazz's body in the chute, why did he need to bring the vest? Do you have to wear flame resistant clothing just to turn on an incinerator?

Helga says that Sazz said her protege messed up badly and started harassing her. But in the flashback we see that they remained friends post stuntman career. Marshall tricked Sazz into giving him the script and she confronted him right before going to New York, meaning that their relationship was only antagonistic on both sides for like a day. So Marshall was harassing Sazz for at most one day. When did Sazz talk to Helga?

Are the westies... gonna be ok? Since the police know dudenoff is dead they can't really keep the rent control scheme going on, can they?

Ok this last one is really stupid but is the omitb movie just gonna go with Sazz's original screenplay? Didn't it need a bunch of rewrites lol?

All in all, I still really did like the season. It was a super fun watch, with exciting twists and the comedy and acting were still great! And who knows, maybe they'll revisit some of this stuff in future seasons! I'm already looking forward to season 5. I'm actually surprised they picked Lester, poor guy! I was thinking it would probably be someone new so they didn't lose too much of the supporting cast too quickly. The new character, Sofia, looks super cool, and I'm excited to see Olimabel (the Charles is silent) take on organized crime after dealing with four cases that were all about interpersonal drama. And I'm definitely excited for a mystery that seems very much tied to the Arconia.

[duckyfruitbat]

YoHoHo, It's a New Era of Pirating

I'm sure a lot of us have been ruminating on this lately, but first I want to draw some parallels.

Picture it, the year is 2005 and you are watching a movie you picked out with your grandma at blockbuster during your weekend visit to give your parents a god damned break from your bullshit. Relatable so far yes? You pop that disk in and sit down as grandma makes the popcorn and an odd little PSA comes up between the previews. It's the infamous pirating PSA that compares downloading films to car jacking. So what do you do? You download copious amounts of pirated music onto the computer under your fathers supervision of course, still pretty relatable right?

You have entered the world of media piracy my friend, an old tradition with a rich culture and history. The early 2000's were some wild times, piracy was at its peak, the internet was a lawless land, and the 2008 housing bubble was just around the corner, truly a glorious time.

Now needless to say, publishing companies hated piracy and were desperately trying to curb it but only through legislation through a government that didn't really care. It was already hard enough to catch one pirate so why waste resources to crack down on it. There was an attempted crackdown by the publishers but that completely failed, one infamous case was a grandma who didn't even have a computer.

This age of piracy was only stopped when Itunes and Netflix made their way online. That was only because everything was on these two websites and later also Hulu. The only people who continued to pirate were kids who didn't have money and anime fans. There were two specialized websites just for them.

Everything was going smoothly, until we get to today, now every studio has at least one streaming service and even then there is no guarantee that their own shows would even be up and they're all owned by the same five corporations. Discovery got in trouble not too long ago for deleting their own shows from their own streaming service. Disney still has a backlog to upload onto Disney+, and there are many exclusives between each site. It's very similar to what cable and satellite television was, gotta pay over a hundred dollars and you don't even watch half the channels. These streaming services are getting too specialized, sure it makes business sense especially when you already have a large library or you're just Disney, but when there are obscure TV channels trying to get their own service, you know something's wrong.

Somehow the music industry didn't go the same path, yes Spotify has its problems, especially for musicians, but it is far better than purchasing entire albums or the old piracy methods that always put your computer at risk.

The obvious consequence of all this is that piracy is once again going up once again. Why? Because it is far easier to pirate than it is to figure out which steaming service that Disney owned show you want to watch is on. The only reason Itunes and Netflix originally won was because it was more convenient to actually pay for the things you wanted to see and not have to worry about malware. That's a lesson that these corporations could benefit from again, but they are if anything stubborn.

Now because of the stubbornness of these corporations I will have a lot to talk about, specifically with all sorts of pirating methods, and some fun stories. I already talked about Tengen and their massive swinging balls of steel as they walked into the patent office to steal from Nintendo, but there is so much more. So plenty of legally dubious fun to be had!