#but the movie removed and changed pretty much every good part of it

[lampochkaart]

I didn't like the new movie, so instead I drew fanart of the comic version of The Game, which in my opinion is SO much better

[ranoutofficssoiwritemyown]

Rindou x Reader

wc: 1200

angst, fluff

not edited

Rindou loves you. You know he does, but he has this annoying habit of not listening to you sometimes. Especially when it comes to recommendations. You recommend him food? Yeah, he'll try it. spoiler alert: he forgets. what about a movie you watched the other day and liked so much that you told him to watch it immediately? "Yeah, when I have time I will" is his answer. However, he'll only watch it if someone else recommends it too not even remembering you mentioning anything about it. And then he has the nerve to tell you all about it while you listen to him unimpressed. Sometimes it makes you feel like your opinion matters very little to him but you've never told him this. Part of you doesn't want to seem like an insecure girlfriend while the other part thinks there is no deep meaning to this.

This war in your mind ended when you entered your bedroom after having a bad day and saw Rindou sitting on the bed leaning his back on the headboard and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" in his hands. You remember telling him how you cried reading it. However, you're surprised he's reading what you recommended. sensing your presence Rindou removed his glasses and looked at you.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted" you sit beside him "Do you like it?" you ask indicating the book.

He shrugs

"I've only read 20 pages yet. But Kakucho said it's really good"

You roll your eyes. thinking that you should've seen this coming you mumble "Of course he did" which wasn't as quiet as you expected because Rindou turned to you with a confused hum. You just shake your head as in "nothing" and try to get up but Rindou grips your arm and makes you sit back down. You sigh not having enough energy to deal with this.

"What is it?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Should I be?"

He closed the book setting it aside as he turned to me with narrowed his eyes as if sensing the trap.

"I... don't know. What did I do?"

"It's nothing Rindou, let me go"

Your words had the opposite effect as his grip tightened.

"That's not my name" His voice got low

"Uh it actually is"

"Not for you. Did I fuck up that badly?"

Now that you think about it no he didn't. It's probably you who's overreacting and creating a problem over nothing. You sound ridiculous even to you and you hate yourself.

"It's really nothing. I've just had a bad day so... I just wanna sleep"

After a moment of hesitation, Rindou let you go, his eyes following as you got changed and got in bed turning your back to him. As you lay in bed your overthinking got worse. The fact that he doesn't know what he's doing affects you this badly means that he's not doing it on purpose. But that's even worse. Does that mean that he doesn't even value your opinion enough to think about how neglecting it would affect you? Maybe he thinks you don't care about it so he doesn't too. Or maybe he just forgets. This also means he doesn't care. Every version you think about leads to you thinking he doesn't care and that feels really shitty.

On the other hand, Rindou was watching you lying silently with your back to him and he knew then he definitely did something wrong. You get in bed and do not snuggle up to him planting your head in his neck? Yes, something is terribly wrong.

"C'mon love, tell me what's wrong" he snaked his arm around your waist, and turns out this is all it took for your tears to run free. You bite your lip to stop it from trembling feeling so stupid for crying over something so trivial.

"And don't you dare to say it's nothing bec- are you crying?"

Rindou could swear he heard his heart crash. He turned you around to face him. tucking your hair behind your ear he quickly wiped your tears.

"Hey, don't cry, i- I'm sorry okay? Whatever I did, I didn't mean it just don't cry"

Even though he thought, and has told you this plenty of times, that you looked pretty when you cried, he hated when you cried. Even more, when he was the reason behind those tears.

"Talk to me please?"

Looking anywhere but at him, you opened your mouth to speak.

"It's really stupid"

"So stupid that you're crying over it? I don't care, tell me."

You don't want to.

"It's just... sometimes you don't listen to me"

Rindou was confused. You sound so crazy to him right now. He doesn't listen to you? You have him wrapped around your finger. Your word is a fucking law to him and you have the nerve to say that he doesn't listen to you? He only listens to you.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything I suggest you just forget until someone else suggests the same thing. Like-" You sniffle between speech "Like this book. You're reading it because Kakucho told you, but I told you to read it weeks ago"

The more you talk the more you want to shut up. Dreading seeing Rindou's expression you focus on your hands.

"It feels like you don't care about my opinion. It's so stupid I know..."

"I don- What?" Rindou couldn't help but exclaim. His mind processing thousands of thoughts right now. You think he doesn't care? How long have you been feeling like this? And you didn't tell him? Is there anything else you're not telling him because it's so "stupid"? "Listen, love, I'm so sorry, I didn't know- Of course, I care, Who do you think I listen to if not you? Ran? Fucker used to think Julius Caeser was named after the salad."

That made you chuckle and it was like a rainbow after the storm for Rindou. A sound he never wants to stop hearing. smiling at you he continued.

"I do listen to you okay? I remember every little detail you tell me. Starting with the shows you watch to the drama going on at your work. By the way, Rika got what she deserved, she was being the bitch first."

"That's what I'm saying" You exclaim and Rindou was so happy he could see you smiling again.

"I don't want you to doubt your value in my life okay? You're the best thing ever happened to me and I'd be a dumbass if I didn't appreciate you. And don't ever try to hide things from me again. No matter how stupid you think it is. Nothing is stupid to me when it comes to you. So no more tears, alright?"

You nod scooting closer.

"alright"

Rindou wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you against his chest, kissing the crown of your head.

"By the way, I started reading this book because you suggested it. Kakuchou saw it in my car when I bought it and told me it was good"

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Sleep now"

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight, love"

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got the idea from modern family's one episode

might delete this one too later, not sure. just felt like sharing

[noneorother]

Season 2 is the tales of Crowley Hoffmann, *part 2*

I guess this has to be a series now too. Part 1 l Part 2

I'm doing a series on the (frankly) astounding amount of parallels between the Powell & Pressburger movie The Tales of Hoffmann and S2 of Good Omens. I really recommend part 1 first. 7. Green is evil So if you've wondered to yourself why Hell has changed so much, colour-wise in S2 vs S1, I have come with answers! Here's a fun comparison between the two hells :

Now let's looks at the the evil admin exchange in the Tales off Hoffmann :

(The Tales of Hoffmann, Lindorf takes the contract in The Automaton Ball)

Whenever something evil happens in "The automaton ball" sequence, the light changes to this sickly green. Colour is THE important symbolism in Hoffmann, so now we know green is evil. 8. All the main characters are present and accounted for I've already covered in part 1 how Crowley is Hoffmann, Aziraphale is Stella, and alluded to the fact that Lindorf (main bad guy) is the Metatron. Here's a more comprehensive list of all the characters, because they're all there. N.B. The same actors play multiple roles in The Tales of Hoffmann. Gabriel is Schlemil/Spalanzani/Franz Léonide Massine actually plays 3 characters in the movie : Franz, a housekeeper who sings the only funny song in the opera:

He also plays Spalanzani in Venice : A high ranking double agent who's been crossed by the bad guy Lindorf before, and who is currently hanging around Stella in Venice. He also plays Schlemil in The Automaton Ball, who helped make Stella the automaton and helps put on the ball. He strikes a deal with Lindorf to sell Stella.

Muriel is the assistant Andreas

Andreas doesn't have much of a role in the story, they are mostly worry free and eager to please. They are there to be bribed by Lindorf to give him the key to Stella's dressing room, and the note for Hoffmann. I say they because even though this role is played by a man, this getup is EXTREMELY ambiguous for 1950s England.

Now look at the last scene of both the movie and S2 of good omens.

Shax is Nicklaus

In both casting and character, Shax is obviously Nicklaus. The all red outfit is a dead giveaway, but even the haircut in hell is similar. Nicklaus is Hoffmann's buddy, but they don't actually move the story forward or help him much. The fact that they're everywhere in the story but not really DOING much except casting doubt is pretty telling.

Beelzebub is the muse

Now we get into characters where's it's kind of important know know both the opera and the movie. The only character we seem to be missing in the movie version is Beez, but don't worry, I've got another male character now usually played by a woman dressed in Charlie Chaplin drag and their name is "The Muse". Basically, the muse in the opera is there to make sure Hoffmann does his job (being a poet) and isn't interested in the girl anymore (Stella).

Jacques Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann, The Muse & Lindorf, S2E6 Beelzebub

The Metatron is Lindorf

Lindorf is a major bad guy in both, but movie Lindorf has had all of his lines removed at the beginning, so he's the bad guy in the sense that he's doing all these bad things, and is the antagonist in every minisode and in real life. But we never really find out why. His evil genius speech is cut out of the movie, but is very much there in the opera. He's a shapeshifter, and takes on the form of 4 characters in the movie, all of whom hurt Hoffmann by ultimately taking Stella away from him.

Here's Lindorf spying on Hoffmann in the prologue. And the reveal at the end when he comes to take Stella to "the temple of the gods"...

Here are his other three forms in the minisodes. By the way his name in the last one, I shit you not, is DR.MIRACLE. In each minisode he plays a pivotal role in removing Stella from Hoffmann, first by legal contract, second by convincing Stella to double-cross him for a shiny reward, and third by trapping Stella in a time loop and then straight up killing her and sending her to heaven (she gets resurrected no worries).

So my question for now is : Does the plot of season 2 ALSO follow the movie?

_____________________________________

Obviously, there's always more. Next post it's analysis time baby....

[thislovintime]

1968.

“‘Actually, I wanted to leave the group over two years ago when the first season ended, but the guys convinced me not to. I didn’t care about all the things that were happening, all the acclaim. I hated the work! It was tough, and I didn’t like it. I just wanted to record for all my life. Also, the pressure was awful. We were working in an incredibly new environment. Half of the crew on the show was young and had very little experience at that level of work. Many of them were getting their first big break. Actually, after the TV show was canceled it was easier for me to leave. Doing the TV show was the worst. Then came the movie, and I couldn’t forego the movie, so I did it. You know, there were moments here and there — lots of good, funny stuff happening throughout — but the only time that I was really happy was when we were recording the ‘Headquarters’ album. The concerts were fun, but during the concert tours you are removed from your friends except for the guys. And even when we did take a few friends along it was only a mild relief. This last tour of Australia and Japan wasn’t fun because I felt hideously under-rehearsed. I was constantly pushing for rehearsals, and they were constantly saying well, like later. We couldn’t get together. Also, we didn’t play any new music this last concert tour. It was all old tunes, nothing from our newer albums, and it was a bore. But I think they suspected I was leaving anyway. For me, a lot of the pressure was off. When I felt a part of the group every time someone said something that jarred my sensibilities, I’d raise a huge ruckus and everybody thought I was out of my mind. While we were making the TV Special, knowing I was not going to be there any longer, I just thought to myself — I don’t have to worry about this thing — and I just let everything slide off my back. They must have though something was screwy. Then I finally told them, ‘Gentlemen I’m in negotiations to resign from the group.’ And they said, ‘Okay, well, there’s not much time, we’d better get to work on this Special.’ So we taped the thing and that’s the last I saw of them. The last day of the taping they gave me this little testimonial memorial watch.’ From his pocket Peter drew out a silver, antique-looking timepiece with the back side engraved, ‘To Peter Tork, from the guys down at work.’ ‘I’m free, I don’t know what I’ll be doing. I’m actually a little apprehensive, because there’s no doubt that there are three other incredibly talented fellows out there. They’re very talented guys. Mike is one of the funniest people I’ve ever known. Micky is even funnier and Davy is just cute as a button. Who could ask for anything more? Davy dances so great, did you see him dance in the film? I’ve not seen dancing like that on the screen except from Fred Astaire. The only other thing is that I’m both really relieved and really, really apprehensive. I’m terribly glad and also terribly sad.’” - NME, January 25, 1969

“Peter and I were the bulk of the playing ability because we were musicians. But when Peter left it rather unnerved Davy and Micky — and I changed my mind [about leaving]. After all, the personal appearances were pretty well satisfying, the music was fun, and the whole thing was fairly lucrative. And Davy and Micky left alone would have been in real trouble.” - Michael Nesmith, Disc and Music Echo, September 19, 1970

"In a telephone interview this week, Tork explained why he left the group in 1968, three years after it was formed. ‘Musicians were being auditioned in an effort to create the Monkees, and the purpose was to reap money,’ he said. ‘But for our first two albums, studio musicians were hired to do the instrumentals and we just did the lead singing. I didn’t want that.’ Tork convinced the other three members, Davy Jones, [Micky] Dolenz and Mike Nesmith, to do the third album themselves. ‘But I couldn’t get the guys to go for that again, so the fourth album was half and half,’ he said. Critics had frowned on the Monkees for this. ‘Every single malcontent felt he had the right to tell me what was wrong with the situation. I took the critics to heart,’ Tork said. ‘When I talked to the guys about it, they told me if I want more I should get my own act.’ Tork describes his current relationship with Jones, Dolenz and Nesmith as ‘cordial.’ ‘I learned to put all my bitterness behind me,’ he said. ‘I hear about them through the grapevine, but we have no real call to talk to each other, although, I had a brief lunch with Davy Jones in Japan recently.’ When Tork joined the Monkees in October 1965, he was 23 years old and inexperienced in handling fame and fortune. ‘There’s a lot of things involved with money and recognition, and the price was much higher than I expected,’ he said. ‘There’s an isolating pressure that goes along with success. I couldn’t handle it.’" - article by Lisa Stenza, Connecticut Daily Campus, February 26, 1982 (read more in an older post)

[peaceofflights]

Being in a Relationship With Wally Clark Would Include:

A/N: Someone asked me for a part two to “Falling in love with Wally Clark” where reader confesses their feelings to Wally. For that, and to understand some of the context I suggest going back and reading “What’s Three Years in the Eyes of Eternity.” which is bookmarked on my page!

Warning: this one delves a bit more into your physical relationship, nothing is too explicit. However, if you don’t like don’t read.

Being in a relationship with Wally Clark would include:

•You expecting things to change a lot, but in reality they don’t. You still do pretty much the same things as before… with some added perks.



•Holding hands everywhere you go. If Wally thought you were a hand holder before, he had no idea. It makes you feel connected to him to hold his hand, even if you’re doing absolutely nothing.

•If you’re in a conversation with other people holding pinkies, that way you aren’t too on top of each other.

• Coming up with the most ridiculous nick names for each other. They start off cute, but eventually just start getting really weird.

“Awe, my honey bear”

“Life is short puddin’ pop.”

“My adorable little doo doo”

“The cutest Sasquatch in town.”

•All of the forehead kisses. It started because your friends wouldn’t stop making gagging noises every time you two kissed. So now every time he has to part from you he leaves a very sweet but overly dramatic kiss to your head.

•He’s kind of the obsessed with you. When you’re across from each other either in the cafeteria, Football Field, or Theater you can often catch him staring at you. I mean he did this before your started dating, but instead of pretending to look away or do something else if you catch him; now he’ll give you a wink that of course leads to a lot of blushing on both ends.

•You’ve taken to calling him your puppy dog, since of course he is! At first it was just to other people but once he accidentally heard it come out of your mouth he couldn’t stop beaming. So from that moment forward he was to referred to as puppy.

•If you don’t call him puppy when your alone he’ll get mad.

“Um excuse me!? Who is Wally? Do we know a Wally? I am your puppy? I’m a good boy.”

It’s absolutely ridiculous, and he’s mostly kidding, but it’s just really adorable.

•The two of you do a lot of the same activities you did before you started dating; trying to find good movies to watch in the library, playing endless games of hide and seek, creating your own secret language. However, there are also some new things you do too…

•Yeah… LOTS of new things.

•It starts out pretty innocent, but after the homecoming dance things moved a little faster than they should have.

• Clothes were removed, hands were found in inappropriate places.

•Which brings you back to today. Neither of you by any means are blushing virgins, your college years were good to you. But you both agree that you have your entire after after life to spend together, you don’t need to spend every moment jumping each other’s bones.

•However, you two definitely aren’t saints and your new found physical relationship is one you love exploring.

• Though sometimes Wally’s age and slight less experience leads to some interesting situations. It doesn’t matter how many times you remind him, it feels like every morning you wake up to find some sort of new bruise highlighted on your skin. Which then leads to the never ending bullying of your friends.

•Look he’s your puppy and adore him, but also it would nice if you could go anywhere without being covered head to neck in hickies.

•Though his smirk when you bring it up you helps you realize it was in fact NOT an accident.

•He brings you gifts to make you smile. Sometimes it’s a poorly painted canvas he made in the art room or him serenading you to your favorite song, but it made you realize that you need to step up you girlfriend skills. Which leads you to finally letting him teach you to play football.

• It’s the first time you really focus and attempt to learn the rules and even if you aren’t very good you’ve never seen him so happy.

[brawltogethernow]

I don't know if you're the best person to ask this but you're the only person on my dash who reblogs Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya shit in 2023. I have to know, did Haruhi... finish? I know it was a light novel series (tho I've only seen the anime) but like did the story arcs conclude? Are they translated?

You've lucked out: I am. It did not finish, but it got a lot further than the anime took you. Everything is translated.

The anime adapts light novel volumes 1-3 and some of 5 (short story collection partially set before 4). The movie adapts 4. I've heard "Endless Eight" is the way it is because they were set on doing 4 as a film, and...didn't just use their episode slots to adapt achronologically despite their existing reputation for doing that for some reason? Incomprehensible. Anyway.

If you haven't seen the movie because it came out after the moment was already dead, you should, even if you were just kind of neutral-positive on the show, because from a purely objective perspective it's a contender for the best quality movie following an anime show that exists. Also that installment is just a much better stopping point than where the TV part left things. Like the ~entire concept~ remains open, but some arcs actually evolve or wrap in a way where you can be satisfied with the story you've gotten.

So 4 1/2 volumes have been animated. There are 13 light novels. 4 is a stronger book than the preceding volumes, and the quality continues to wobble irregularly upwards from there. It pulls off another unprecedentedly good entry that isn't an ending but is a pretty acceptable place to put it down in 11 and 12 (which are functionally one two part book). 13 came out a literal decade later in 2020 and is another short story collection; nice to have but doesn't change the metrics much except to make the indefinite hiatus look slimmer on camera.

All of the books have been officially translated by Yen Press. (They recently did some sort of rerelease that didn't fix any of their typos but removed the slurs they added in the first place? So that's...nice ? ?) Everything they've covered except a chunk of 13 has also been unofficially translated, which I like to keep on hand because while the YP translation is very readable, it...requires a second opinion sometimes. There are also still some loose short stories that only have fan translations, and apparently there's about to be an official release of some nonessential short story collection from twenty years ago I heard about for the first time in my life a month ago. (Also there's a like, officially licensed Koizumi POV fanfiction short, fanlation only.)

Will Tanigawa ever put an actual cap on the series? Idk it's not technically impossible. It seems more likely to me that he'll pull off one more absolutely batshit installment that resolves nothing and then vanish forever except to write a new short story every eight years. It's worth catching up though imho. The later books do a lot to pull the earlier ones up behind them retroactively. Themes solidify, elements that were wavering between parody and deconstruction collapse into sincere reconstruction, the characters actually like each other, that sort of thing.

[micc3ehyy]

Content +18, I am not trying to damage the image of the idol, it is simply entertainment for the reading fans.

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Jungwon has been your boyfriend since you were 11 years old. You are currently 20 and as you know everything changes because we grow from children to adults and we have different thoughts.

Today Jungwon is at home with me watching a movie, the two of us hugging under a thin sheet.

Obviously he was so cute that I wouldn't think he was having perverted thoughts at this moment.

You felt a big hand caressing your leg gently, you turned to look at Jungwon.

-Jungwon, is something wrong?

I didn't receive a response but I felt Jungwon's gaze at me at all times.

-Today you look very pretty

He said as he kissed me on the neck.

Something wasn't right, why did Jungwon's voice sound so excited?

Jungwon gently took me by the waist and then sat on his lap looking at him face to face.

And there I understood when I felt a big lump growing in Jungwon's Pans

-J-jungwon? That's what I think right?

-I can't help it, you're beautiful

Take a break from those words, Jungwon got closer to my face. And there I felt his lips press against mine in an exciting and passionate kiss.

The kiss was so intense, Jungwon caressed my hips up and down.

Jungwon separated his lips from mine, catching his breath along with me, after a few seconds I felt his breath on my neck, his breathing was heavy And I felt his lips kiss and suck

-ah~ wonie~

-What's up princess? Do you want me to take you now?

He let out a little giggle.

I didn't say anything but my excitement was so obvious right now.

I only saw Jungwon's small smile looking at me with his eyes full of passion.

-but I don't want you to say later that your legs hurt

-Just continue with your thing, I'll take care of that later wonie

Without further ado, Jungwon lifted my skirt and then laid me on my back while he was on top.Jungwon lowered his hand to my unclothed crotch.

-Oh, you're so wet, I'm making you drip

He removed his hand from there so he could take off his truck, revealing his worked abdomen and his big shoulders.And then remove my shirt and skirt leaving me only in my underwear

This was exasperating

Wonie caressed every part of my body

This was still frustrating

Jungwon smiled before that because he noticed it

And that's where Jungwon took off his clothes along with me, leaving us completely exposed to ourselves.

-You are beautifull and perfect

He said that and then kissed my neck and then kissed lower and lower, I could feel his breathing on my shaved intimacy. He kissed my thighs softly as he got closer and closer to my intimacy.

And suddenly I felt his tongue lick my vaginal lips and then put his tongue into my tight and warm hole with expert movements.

-ahh~Yes~ it feels too good~

Jungwon increased his movements, I felt that at any moment I would cum and Jung noticed that.

-Oh darling not so soon

He moved away from my privacy, licking his lips

-ahh?That?

He gave me a mischievous smile While he positioned himself between my legs

-Oh, I'll love this too much

And I felt how he slowly entered my tight walls and quality enveloping him and feeling his thrusts gently began to become stronger and stronger making me moan very loudly.

-ahh!~

-You are enjoying...I want to hear you scream my name and for all the neighbors to know how good I make you feel.

His thrusts increased more

-ahh! jungwon!~

-It excites me so much to see you

My face frowned at the great pleasure that jungwon made me feel,And I also loved hearing Jungwon's deep, low moans.

-Oh, baby, I can't take it anymore, I'm so close~

-Hold on a little and let's do it together, let's reach ecstasy together ~

Jungwon began his gentlest thrusts and soon he spilled his warm, thick liquid inside me.

Just like I arrived with Jungwon

-wow~It was really pleasant I loved

Jungwon pulled out of me to lie next to me.

And I felt a little kiss on my lips

And I caress my hair gently

-I love you so much princess

How could he be so cute after what we just did?

-I love you too wonie and too much

I snuggled into his chest while he continued to gently caress my horse. After a few minutes I fell fast asleep next to him.

-Rest Darling...

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[tykestyke]

Good day all. So I write the beginning of a little tickle story based on a friend I’ve met on here and I wanted to share it with you all. Let me know your thoughts 😊

EMILY’S TICKLISH WORKOUT (part 1??)

Tying her shoe laces, setting up her fitness watch and putting her headphones in. Emily is gym ready! She has tight cycling shorts, a loose vest top, long brown hair tied into a pony-tail. Defined muscles all across her shoulders, her arms and her legs. Emily loves the gym.

Emily walks out of the changing room, across the gym floor towards the treadmills for a light warm up. This is the same warm up as every gym sessions, and with the same routine of warm up, she has the same routine of people checking her out. The power lifters all stop their reps to make an effort to say good evening to Emily. Though Emily can only blush slightly and bow her head to hide her smile. She is very shy. The girls who are apart of the cycling class take note of Emily beautiful curves and she walks past. Even the pretty girls, who are there in full make up and only come to the gym to chat up the men in the gym, have to appreciate her. There’s a petite pretty blonde who is there more often than not, she can’t even resist from giving her a cheeky wink. Emily is drop dead gorgeous and everyone knows it, except maybe Emily. She gets to the treadmill, puts her water down and begins her workout.

This is Emily’s release. The gym is relaxation. She need to find a way to unwind, she’s just moved house and has been working all day. All she needs now is time for herself. It is still a new gym to her since moving house, but in the past fews weeks everyone has been very kind and welcoming of her. She finishes on the treadmill and starts lifting weights. Over the next 30 minutes she sees the power lifter leave. All smiling to her as they go. Next is the cycling class. Then the blonde girl bites her lip as she locks eyes with Emily as she heads to the door.

Emily then moves onto the lat machine, sets her weight and begins to pull down the bar behind her head. She can feel all muscles in their shoulders and arms working hard for her. She increases the weight for her next set, and then a third and final time.

While Emily rests before pushing for her finals reps, she’s noticing something strange. Everyone is gone. Of course she remembers the powerlifters and cyclists and pretty girls all left. But there’s usually a few other people like herself in the gym. People who don’t come in groups or with friends, just themselves. She removes her headphones and it is silent as a grave. She can’t even see a single member of staff. She looks at the clock on the wall and sees that it is 8:30pm, later than normal for her. But still, should it be this quiet?

Emily reaches up to grab the bar again. “Best make this my last one, maybe they’re shutting early today and nobody informed me”. Then, the silence is broken. By a short, horrid screeching sound and something touches Emily’s hand. She spins to see what is it and someone is wrapping duct tape around her hand whilst it is still gripping the bar! Before Emily had chance to react, a hand grabs her wrist on the other hand, preventing her to let go and wraps duct tape around on it again.

“GET OFF, WHAT THE HELL” Emily cried out.

More and more duct tape gets added to each hand and now Emily can’t get her hands away. She trashes and pulls, but the weights that she herself just added to the bar prevent her from moving too much. Her legs kick about as she tries with all her strength to get free.

“Hey! What’s the big idea! What do you think you’re doing to ……….” But before Emily has chance to finish her sentence, a dark cloaked figure emerges in front of her wearing an old scream masks from the movies. Emily’s eyes widen. She’s frozen like a dear in headlights. Whose is this man. What does he want? Her heart beats fast, the sense of panic sets in as she tried to pull herself away from the bar. And fear sets in..

Emily began to speak as best she could.

“Ummm…..what…. I mean who…… I mean …..” but again, before she can finish her sentence the cloaked bursts with explosive speed grabbing her legs and duct taping her ankles to the bench that she was straddling.

“NO! GET OFF ME!” Emilys panic protests yell out. “HELP ME, PLEASE SOMEBODY”

But no response called back. The scream takes great care in securing her ankles tightly to the bench, before walking behind her and increasing the weight of the bar higher than Emily can ever dream to lift.

Emily is bound by each hand to the bar, which, even if she hadn’t just completed a work out, couldn’t possibly move. As well as her ankles tied to the bench so is unable to kick her way out. All she can do is sit there, helpless, and wonder why.

The scream circles around Emily 3 times, admiring his work. He pauses for a moment then slowly approaches Emily. He places his hand on her cheek and strokes her with his thumb. Emily pulls her head away but the scream just runs the back on his fingers down the side of her neck and up her arm. Then brings the tips of his fingers down her arm and over her smooth armpits and down her sides.

“Mmmmm!!” Emily twitches when her armpits are touched. She hates being touched there as she is incredibly ticklish. She would always be tormented at school for being so ticklish when she was younger. The scream repeats his finger tip strokes in reverse this time. Up her sides, over her armpits, up and back down her arm and up the side of her neck. Again, she tenses up with the touch of her armpit being touched, and the screamed noticed.

He takes his index finger and starts lightly and slowly scratching her neck and behind her ear.

“Oi! I don’t know what the big idea is here but you need to stop that or else!” Emily tried to pull her head away again but there’s no where to go. “Stop It now! I’m serious!” He then runs his index up her arm again, then back down. But instead of running it down over her armpit to her sides, he stops at her armpit and teasing scratches his finger lightly. “HA! No! Stop this, that tickles!”

The scream stops, take a step back and tilts his head sideways. “Oh shit! Did I just say that out loud” Emily thought. The dark eyes of the mask staring into her soul. “Why did he just take so much interest in what I said”

The masked man tilts his head back, lifts his hands up in the air and wiggles his fingers. The blood drained from Emilys face!

“You can’t be serious!” Emily asked, great fear in her voice. The scream worrying responds. He nods his head. And slowly moves in closer to her, still teasingly wiggling his fingers.

“Please no, don’t!” Closer he gets. “You can’t!” Closer still. “Nooooo!” Emily shuts her eyes tight awaiting her fate. A few seconds pass, she reluctantly opens her eyes, her body tense. The mask is inches from her face. “Are you ready?” The masked man finally spoke. “This is gonna be fun….”

[sapphire-weapon]

Do you have a favourite version of Leon, or a close second to RE4R? I really loved his design and and character depiction in Vendetta. He seemed a lot more fleshed out and was overall just really enjoyable to watch imo!

this is a super interesting question that I've never really thought about before.

I would probably say that I don't have a favorite version of Leon per se, so much as I appreciate it when installments actually follow the emotional throughline for his character.

every RE character has a problem of an inconsistent characterization, to a certain extent, because the writing teams at Division 1 change from installment to installment. the reason why RE2make to RE4make feels so coherent is because it was literally the exact same team both times, which almost never happens. in the OG canon, the writers for RE4 were not the same writers as Damnation, and those guys did not write RE6, etc.

the only version of Leon that I straight-up did not like was Degeneration, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of the fandom agrees with me on that. and, I've been over this before -- I get it; I understand why Degeneration was such a shitshow. but that doesn't absolve it.

but like. I'm very critical of Damnation Leon, for example, because he's so fucking annoying in that movie, because Capcom went real hard swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction after Degeneration. Leon is literally the worst part of Damnation; he ruins every single scene he's in. if you were to remove him from that movie, the entire movie would be much better off for it and would probably be able to stand on its own as a genuinely good film. it would've done a wonderful service to Ada's character, too, because she's mostly fantastic in that film -- but Leon's presence drags her down, because it always does.

but even Damnation has moments of brilliance with him -- particularly, the very beginning and the very end. (the sarcastic nod he gives JD when he's tied to the chair is also probably one of my most favorite Leon reaction moments ever, too -- on par with his tantrum at Chris in Vendetta.) his anger and frustration at the US government is so on point and finally exposes just how little he trusts them and how stuck he feels. that was something that was missing from OG RE4 (for, again, understandable reasons), so it was really great to have that put out in the open and expressed.

same thing with RE6. there are moments in RE6 when Leon is absolutely insufferable and/or feels like a scene was crafted without the intention of even putting him in it, so he's just kind of there -- but there's some really brilliant moments with him. his reunion with Sherry will always be a stand-out moment for him, and the entire Tall Oaks section with him being The Professional(TM) to Helena's rookie is excellent, too, and shows real character progression from his own rookie days in RE2.

and Infinite Darkness -- holy shit, his characterization is all over the place in that series. it's like he's three different characters rolled up into one, and he just bounces wildly back and forth between who he's meant to be for any given scene. but that scene of him and Jason in that shitty apartment, sitting across from each other and talking about treason, and then Leon just hauls off and shoots him in the heart -- that is one of the single best scenes in the entire Resident Evil series, period. not only is Leon's character perfect in that scene, but everything about the visual storytelling there was on point to create the perfect amount of tension.

but now that I'm thinking about it -- you're right, in that Vendetta is probably the best example of consistently good characterization that he has. Vendetta doesn't stray or get distracted at any point when it comes to Leon's character, and it follows his emotional throughline perfectly. the only issue with Vendetta is that he's so steeped in his misery that he almost comes off as mean-spirited sometimes, when that's really not who he is.

[virtie333]

For the One-shot ask game... you have so many to choose from! I'm going to pick more than one, but don't feel obliged to do them all!

Rosemary for Remembrance: 2, 12, 22

The Back Corner: 4, 14, 20

And so I don't choose just smut, A Matter of Trust (my fave!): 6, 16, 21

Well, anon, since this is the only ask I got, I'm going to answer them all! Thank you for brightening my day!

Rosemary for Remembrance

2. Where did the title came from?

I had just watched Daisy Ridley's Ophelia the week before I wrote this, so that is where the title came from!

12. What scene was the easiest to write?

Believe it or not, I think the scene where Poe confronts Rey about his sex dream was the easiest. Dialog is always easy for me, especially when it gets emotional. I don't know what that says about me.

22. If you would rewrite it, how would you rewrite it?

Nope. I've never had any desire to rewrite any of my stories. Once they are posted/published, that's it. It is what it is and I have no interest in changing it.

The Back Corner

4. How long did it take to write it?

Oh, boy. I wrote this one two years ago, so I don't really remember. It was for Damerey Week, and I wrote a story for every day, so I'm going to assume I wrote it in a day or two. Maybe a bit longer, as I made this one in 5 parts. I probably wrote a part and then put it away for a while, like I do with chapters on my long fics.

14. What scene is the most different to the original plan?

Hmmmm... I don't think too much was different. Every part had to result in them in the Back Corner, so every scene had to end up in the bookstore. Only one started outside of it, actually, and I had to get them to the bookstore at some point, so I think the attempted break-in was a plot point that came along as I was writing.

20. What part of the oneshot are you most proud of?

Honestly? I was pretty proud of the fact that I kept them from kissing through the whole thing! That was hard! I love the idea of kissing Poe, so it's very hard to NOT write it! But for the story to end the way I wanted, they couldn't do it. No matter how much they wanted to!

A Matter of Trust

6. Have you written similar oneshots before?

No! This one was one of my most unique stories! I had never written anything like it before and I absolutely loved it!

16. What character was the hardest to write for?

Well, at this point I had been writing Rey and Poe for a long time. As I always try to do, I try to keep them as close to their movie characters as I can, trying me best to imagine how the Rey and Poe we all know would react to this kind of situation. It actually wasn't too difficult, as the Dystopian setting isn't too far removed from desolate/dangerous planets in Star Wars. The hard part (but also one of the most fun!) was trying to incorporate as many other Star Wars characters as I could into the found-family dynamic.

21. What part of the oneshot are you least proud of?

Hopefully this doesn't sound too egotistical, but there is not a bit of this story I am not proud of. It's one of my all-time favorites.

Thank you so much for this! My one-shots never seem to get the attention my long-fics do, and while they may not take as much time to write, my whole heart is still involved. You picked three good ones, too!

[sweetescapeartist]

"QUICK" DBS CHAPTER 98 REVIEW

Been a while since I did one of these, huh? Will I be back to doing these regularly? Nope. The DBS Manga is too trash for me to do that. I would need to get paid to review that every month.

Anyway... Read DBS chapter 98... the Super Hero movie is sooo much better than this manga adaptation.

(This is something I wrote 2 months ago & I'm just now posting it lol. I know what happens in chapter 99 & 100 now, so there will be a few times I mention if something happened or not in later chapters.)

It cut out the Gotenks volleyball with 18 & the Gammas just for it to be 18 only.

I guess it put more focus on 18, but I don't get why Toyo didn't just have Krillin & 18 team up to give her and Krillin more shine. He added an entire extra thing about the senzu bean dropping. Why not add something for K18? Oh right... Toyotaro hates Krillin. Which is why that scene where 18 helps support Krillin by holding him when he is tired is gone.

If he puts this K18 scene in the next chapter, I'll eat my words and take it back. (Toyo didn't...)

Aslo important to notice... while 18 fights Cell Max alone with little to no help from a super weak failed fusion, the Gammas, Gohan, & Piccolo hide behind debris and let the two weakest of the 6 of them fight the a Kaiju who is one of strongest enemies they've faced. WHAT THE HELL?

Y'all really gonna let a failed fusion who is weaker than Goten & Trunks individually & a woman who isn't even half your strength to fight a monster none of you can defeat together?? Such stupid writing. Makes Gohan, Piccolo, & the Gammas look stupid and/or cowardly.

And Krillin didn't even get a cool scene where he hit Cell Max with a Kienzan like he did in the film. In the movie, Krillin's attack pushed Cell Max back then slid off because the Kienzan cuts through nearly anything and it hit the part of Cell Max that was made to deflect ki attacks.

(Just imagine if Krillin knew Cell Max's weak-spot. Cell Max would've been done in by a headshot Kienzan!)

Instead, in the manga, Krillin cut Cell Max's ki attack in half to save 18.

But how did he throw a giant Kienzan and not hit 18 when the blast looked like it was directly at her and the Kienzan cut the blast from the front? And how come the Kienzan didn't continue towards Cell Max afterwards and we just cut away instead? The Kienzan was thrown right towards Cell Max's direction. A pointless change because Toyotaro reasons. Oops I meant "dumb" reasons.

(Chapter 99 has Krillin damage a wing with his Kienzan then 18 helps break it. Nice that they team up but makes Krillin's Kienzan look weaker. And this K18 team-up could've been done better imo.)

Also... Toyotaro got rid of 18 thanking Krillin for saving her.

Why? Oh right... he hates Krillin, but can't stray away too far from what Toriyama wrote/what Toyotaro has to adapt from the movie.

But this panel of Krillin getting in front of 18 to shield her from debris was nice.

Thanks for removing two great K18 scenes where they show affection for each other & replacing it with 1 decent panel of Krillin showing affection for 18. 😒

The thing with the senzu could've been cool if say... Gamma 1 managed to get it. But Pan comes out of nowhere and heads into a dangerous area. Nah. Oh she leaps off a building and learns to fly? Nah.

It was cute to see Pan do that and root for her dad, but it was out of place against such a deadly enemy. Ain't gonna let the cuteness of Pan blind me to saying it was a good scene. Also... how did Pan outrun Gohan? Was he really THAT tired? Where was Gammas 1 at & why did he disappear for 22 pages in a row? (21 pages if you count the full page spread of Giant Orange Piccolo vs Cell Max as 1 page.)

Anyway, the movie did it better. When she was in danger, her power clicked and she flew. Similar to kid Gohan when Piccolo threw him at a mountain and his power clicked on and he destroyed the mountain.

Pan is depicted by Toriyama as "Videl" with "Gohan's power." That's pretty cool to me.

Best addition to this adaptation was Giant Orange Piccolo using a mouth blast on Cell Max.

This was also a cool reference to the concept art Toriyama drew. However, Toriyama's drawing relays the feeling of motion better than Toyotaro's panel. Feels like gamma 2 had fallen gently in the manga. Needs motion lines to depict speed or something, ya know?

Chapter was pretty lame and boring overall imo. The manga is just rearranging events of the movie in ways that are different but not really all that good.

MOVIE/ANIME CONTINUITY:

Pan flies when in danger as Krillin yelled out for her to fly. Krillin is thankful Pan flew (he thought she knew how to) & it seems Bulma leaping onto his back slowed him down.

Piccolo gives Gohan a senzu.

Piccolo & Gohan fight Cell Max.

Gohan knocks Cell Max into a crater.

The group meet up & Piccolo comes up with a plan to stall Cell Max alone while Gohan charges his power.

Gotenks, Krillin, 18, & Gamma 1 try to help Piccolo and get overwhelmed by Cell Max's power.

Pan shows Piccolo she can finally fly & everyone is happy for her.

MANGA CONTINUITY:

Pan doesn't fly when in danger.

Cell Max stops Piccolo from giving Gohan a senzu bean.

Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin & 18 get overwhelmed by Cell Max's power.

Pan flies to catch the senzu for Gohan (it's a call back to her leaping off a cliff earlier in the DBS manga continuity). Gohan's reaction to seeing his daughter possibly fall to her death was to stop running and say "Oh no..." rather than leaping off to save his daughter. (An attempt to replace the Krillin scene with Gohan when Pan learns to fly, but executed poorly.)

Piccolo fights Cell Max alone.

Gohan aides Piccolo & knocks Cell Max into a crater.

Piccolo tells Gohan to charge his power as they prepare to fight Cell Max again.

Pan will probably show she can fly at the end of this Super Hero Saga. (She does)

[unpassive-viewer]

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (mild spoilers)

Welcome, welcome to the [10th] annual Hunger Games,

Good news everyone, I'm living my best life and back in the depths of my Hunger Games obsession that I'd thought I'd retired at thirteen years old. I saw the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and by golly do I have some opinions.

TL;DR: This was overall a fun film, although WAY too long. By Act 3 I just wanted to go home. Still a good watch, but I could have used an intermission or something.

Staying true to the vibe of the Hunger Games franchise, director Francis Lawrence is back with lots of wide angle shots and close-ups, explosions and rubble. He did a pretty good job of translating young Snow's inner narrative to the screen, although I don't think he totally captured what a sociopath the character was throughout the entire book (which I have indeed read).

The casting, as was the case in the first 4 movies, was pretty much perfect. I liked that the other characters were interesting outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow narrative. Hunter Schafer dominated every single scene she was in. The shot where she, Sajanus and Snow watch Lucy Gray on television? You could've removed Tom Blythe and Josh Andres Rivera and I would not have noticed. She carried.

Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage were equally interesting. I wish Peter Dinklage's character had more screen time, he played his part so well. And as we know, I would lie down on train tracks if Viola Davis asked me to, so that's my opinion on that. Although her red and white outfit was... interesting.

Rachel Zegler was amazing, and her voice was so pretty that I actually did not mind how often they made her sing... (seriously, there was so much singing. An unbelievable amount of singing for a non-Disney princess movie). She and Tom Blythe have wicked chemistry, even when he decides to go full Evil Snow in the second half of the film. The only thing I really couldn't stand was how she couldn't maintain her accent.

I really wish that the second half of the movie had more character interactions outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow dyad. I felt that's where the film got a little dry - I simply did not care about their relationship, regardless of what it meant to Snow's character development. Their interactions in the first half benefitted a lot from those around them, rather than their blossoming interest in one another.

The costume and set design in this film was super interesting. The first film in the Hunger Games trilogy leaned very hard into displaying the Capitol's culture through their clothing, since we got so few glimpses into the citizen's actual lives. I feel this film did that equally well, although I didn't feel it adequately showed the depth of Snow's poverty. Considering this was incredibly important to his character arc, I wish we could've seen more of that.

I also didn't particularly like how obvious the callbacks to the original films were. I think the comments about swamp potatoes could have been scaled back. I also would have appreciated if there was less focus on the hanging tree song. To me there were too many direct ties to the scenes we got in the 74th/75th Hunger Games. Culture changes a lot in sixty years - lyrics change, tunes change, dances change, clothes change. Too much of this film felt like it stopped time between what is technically the next Hunger Games films.

However, the movie did get a lot right in this respect. Specifically, you can see the warping of the Appalachian culture between the 10th and 74th Hunger Games. Lucy Gray's character belonging to a travelling band was a great illustration of the way that the Capitol caged its citizens for nearly 100 years.

Anyways, I watched all of the older films this week and reignited my love for Peeta and Finnick. I still like Catching Fire the most, and I don't think I'll add Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to my annual franchise rewatch. For what it was, though, it was pretty fun. A little part of middle school me was fulfilled, remembering showing up to the original movies on opening day in full costume... (I was a nerd). I miss the fancasts for the other games, the makeup trends, the deep dives into characters on YouTube and the fan-made movies?? Ah, when times were simple.

Anyways, did you see The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? What'd you think? Are you deep into your formerly-retired Hunger Games phase too?

Let me know.

[vacantgodling]

not done with this chapter yet but i’m gonna post what i have anyway 🤪

wip: darren & co (it’ll get a better name eventually but like it’s never had a real working title pff)

character(s): darren de leon (mc/pov character—1st person) and his “adoptive”/it’s complicated sister olichudar “olice” prajapti-ellis

picking up his younger sister from school shouldn’t have led to opening this particular can of family-oriented worms, but it’d be foolish to say that can of worms wasn’t always open and festering.

warnings: none :)

The cold was easy to feel through the threads of my loose, definitely not built for winter jacket, yet the last remnants of the dwindling warmth of autumn was a dream I desperately wanted to hold onto. At least, for a little while longer. Novembers in the city were hell; the icy chill of the wind billowing through the narrow channel of alleyways, spurred on by the brusque pace of every living thing that dared to thrive in its cold, steel maze made everything feel colder than it was. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck, tapping my foot against the pavement as I waited outside of the gate of my old high school. This far removed from when I went there, it hardly loomed over me as much as I used to think it did. Maybe I’d gotten taller.

I wasn’t left waiting for long though. Even from out here I could hear the final bell of the day chime louder than Big Ben and I saw the shake of the ground vibrate the frozen shimmers of ice nestled on the dark ground, the students stampeding towards their freedom. Reckless abandon looked good on the youth. I stood to the side of the cast iron gates, letting the whirl of buzzing students fly past me to their various destinations. Part time jobs, friend’s houses, movie theaters… Wherever their excitable little feet would take them. I envied their energy.

“I wish you’d be as excited to leave as the rest of your classmates.” I greeted when Olice stepped into my space. Her wild, mint green hair was tucked under a stretched thin purple beanie and she raised an eyebrow at me. “I never rush for anything.” Her voice was muffled by the scarf wrapped tight around her lower face and neck. “I know.” I whined. “Trust me, I know. But I’ve been waiting out here for hours and I’m freezing my dick off. You got everything?”

“Yes, dad.”

“Gross.” I laughed. Waving for her to follow, we started back down the sidewalk. While other students would be heading out to socialize, Olice and I would be heading home, back to warmth, and solitude, and take out, and Dave. Dave wasn’t home yet, but he left money for Chinese food on the kitchen counter sometime before he left and after I dragged my ass out of bed this morning. The dollars and cents jingled in my jeans pocket as Olice and I came around the backside of the school, where my car was parked. Not new, not old, just blue and icy from the cold. Thankfully, the seats were still pretty warm. Olice and I tucked ourselves into the vehicle and after a little kick, we were on our way.

“Dare?” I acknowledged Olice with a hum, keeping my eyes glued to the road. “Is mom home?” I sucked my teeth. That told Olice all she needed to know, but I corroborated anyway; “Veronica’s been in the sunroom all damn day. Jawing her ass off to god knows who.” I rolled my eyes just thinking about it; how the only time she acknowledged me today was to wave her arm out of the room and demand I bring her the espresso I knew she liked from that coffee shop near the school. I text Olice I’d come get her and that’s why I was waiting for her today anyway. But, if I left the coffee in the car long enough for it to get cold well… That was her problem.

Olice only nodded, then looked back down at her phone. She was typing at the speed of light; probably in one of her forums or Twitter rants that I didn’t know anything about. After a minute, she said, “She’s been asking more about Dave marrying her lately.”

“Really?” I flicked my blinker, changing lanes. My brows furrowed though. “Why.”

“Well.” Olice shrugged, still not looking up. “They’ve been together since I was 9. We’re… pretty much a family, the four of us.”

“You, me, and Dave maybe.” I scoffed. We were nearing the tunnel now, and I could already see the traffic congestion. “You care if I smoke?” I glanced at her, and she finally met my eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I’ll let you take a hit, you know I don’t care.”

“Sweet.” She looked back at her phone. I reached into the cup holder to grab my half gone blunt and stuck it between my teeth. “Pass me my lighter? ‘S probably under your seat.” Olice leaned down, and as my car rolled to an easy stop behind one in a sea of yellow taxi cabs that littered the road ahead of me, I rolled down the window. Enough to lean my elbow out. I couldn’t tell if today was another general traffic jam, or if there was some kind of accident or demonstration going on up ahead. The two of us may as well get comfortable.

I thanked Olice when she handed me my lighter, nearly out of fluid—I should get another one soon—and sparked up, blowing a haze of smoke up towards the skyscrapers above us like a kiss. I passed it to Olice and she too took a hit. I could see when it truly hit her; like it always did, weed melted the rigidity out of her shoulders and she leaned her seat back until it was a near bed.

“Anyway though,” I continued. “I don’t know why the hell she thinks Dave would want to marry her. I mean, just because they haven’t broken up yet doesn’t mean what she thinks it means.”

“I guess. There’s no reason it shouldn’t though. Has he talked to you about it?”

“Negative. You know Dave hates talking about this stuff.” With me. I didn’t say. Olice twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers and stared up at the ceiling of my little hatchback. “I know he only keeps mom around because of me.”

“Can’t blame him.” I gave into temptation and reached over to ruffle Olice’s hair. She gave me a tiny smile. “That’s the only reason I can stand that she’s around.”

“Mm. Yeah. But, it’s more than just that isn’t it. Why he hasn’t married her yet.” We inched forward. At this rate we’d probably be home by dinner. It was only 2.

“You reckon?” I glanced at her. “What’s your bet?” She didn’t answer me, just hummed again, then went back to her phone like she didn’t bring it up in the first place. She either didn’t know or she didn’t want to talk about it, though, I had a feeling where she was going with this train of thought. I debated on whether or not I should take the bait but, after another ten minutes in solid silence with solid traffic, I caved.

“I know he still loves my mom.” I finally sighed. I stole the blunt from Olice to take another drag. “He just… Doesn’t talk about it.” To anyone really; not to his friends, not to Olice, not to Veronica—no definitely not, that’d be a shit show—but, not even to me. His own son. The most I knew of my mother was sequestered to fleeting memories of my elementary school years, when I realized I was the only kid in my class who didn’t have a ‘mommy’ around. I remembered coming home and demanding answers to a myriad of questions: What did she look like? Oh champ, she looks just like you! Same beauty mark and everything. Or, what kind of person she was? She was… fierce. Like a lion! Worst of all, where is she? And that question never got an answer. Sometimes part of me wondered if my mom was dead but… Every year Dave and I went to visit his grandmother’s grave, so I’d expect the same treatment for my mom. Did she just leave? Was she in jail? Did she hate me? If she was alive, why couldn’t I see her? It was something that, over time I came to accept.

It’s not that I needed a mother anyway. Things were great with just Dave and I and they always would be. But I hated how he looked so… distant, if you looked hard enough. Past his determination and terrible puns, there was always something about him that seemed off like there was some puzzle in his mind that he kept trying to work out, but he was always a few pieces short from the completed picture. Maybe he was asking himself those same questions, I’d never know.

[djemsostylist]

Okay, so controversial opinion, but the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies were absolutely terrible. Particularly as adaptations. Like, completely butchered characters and theme in every way that mattered. But they also played a huge role in my childhood/teens, and it makes me feel some type of way.

Like many, I was young when the LotR movies came out, and like many, they fill me with warm feelings of nostalgia. I still feel something when I hear the Breaking of the Fellowship, I still feel soft when I hear Concerning Hobbits. I still love Arwen's dresses, and the Ride of the Rohirrim still gives me a rush. That Jackson pulled off something previously thought undoable goes without saying. And many of the elements were fantastic. The costumes, most of the armor, many of the set pieces, the music. Watching Fellowship will always make me feel warm.

But that doesn't excuse the fact that, no matter how warm and safe those movies make you feel, they were terrible adaptations. The mere fact that they didn't include the Scouring of the Shire shows that they completely misinterpreted the entire theme and purpose of the story. Add to that making Aragorn and Gandalf the main characters (they gave Aragorn this entirely weird and unnecessary story arc because he didn't really have one in the books, which is like yeah, because he is not the main character and we are already at the end of his story), the fact that they spent the entirety of the Two Towers on Helm's Deep and the way they turned most of the "creeping horror" scenes into "let's drop 80 billion skulls from the ceiling bc it's spooky right" and I'd argue it's hard to disagree that the films pretty much butchered LotR.

Now, bear in mind that I'm not saying you shouldn't like them. I suspect that most people who love them do so for two reason (or both)--either they bring up warm memories of a younger you experiencing the joy of a beloved story come to life on screen and the viewing of them now evokes warm feelings, or it was baby's first fantasy (like the absolutely atrocious Game of Thrones for many a modern watcher) and it was just like wow. Whatever the reason, liking the movies isn't inherently a bad thing. As I've said many a time before--just because you like a bad thing doesn't make it a character flaw against you. But, and this is important, even Tolkien would agree that the Jackson movies were terrible adaptations--and we know this from letters written before his death, where he literally (and perhaps somewhat presciently) described scenes and adaptation choices he disagreed with (many of which mirror choices Jackson made verbatim--for example, he describes one script he read with the Weathertop scene (a near exact replica of Jackson's, only many, many years before) and how it completely butchers the tone and feeling he was trying to evoke. He also says that if pressed for time, removing Helm's Deep would be acceptable, bc it's sort of a skippable battle that could likely just be mentioned in passing to focus on the parts that matter.)

So whether or not you like the trilogy is sort of irrelevant. Your liking of it doesn't mean it was good. And to be clear, I still enjoy watching watching. I found most of his choices (casting, costuming, music) to be solid (though there are a few casting headscratchers) but his characterization is mostly awful, as are his changes. But I would never claim "this feels like Tolkien" because it fundamentally does not. Just read Book 1 of Lord of the Rings, and the difference is already astounding, tonally. And that is to say nothing of the way the themes of the story are sort of universally thrown aside.

But lately the primary comments I have seen from people who ~loved~ Rings of Power are three-fold: either people are haters bc they miss the PJ version of Middle-Earth, people are haters because they are racist incel men, or that haters don't matter bc the good Sir John Tolkien himself would have cried in rapturous glee to see his works so loving captured and beautifully rendered onscreen. And they are all wrong.

Look, are there racists who hate it? I mean yeah I have no doubt, but I'll also say that as someone who has been following this disaster from the get go, I find far more people talking about evil racists than...actual racist remarks. I'm not saying they don't exist (those sort of people certainly do) but I also think it was a way of shutting down haters "people only hate bc they are racist". Are there people who are disappointed that they didn't deep fake Young Huge Weaving a la Tony Stark and make him play younger Elrond whilst hiring a virtually unchanged Cate Blanchett to reprise her role while they flitted around in long wigs and velvet gowns? I'm almost certain.

But by and large, I think people who are "haters" are haters bc either it was crappily done, or are haters because, and this is important, it's not Tolkien. It's a fanfic of a fanfic, and a poorly done one at that. It's an AU if Middle Earth was a DnD land.

Rings of Power (love it or hate) is an abysmal adaptation of Tolkien. And it's not just because they don't have rights to 98% of what they need to make this story viable, it's because once again, they fundamentally do not understand the underlying theme and vibes of Tolkien. Galadriel not being a Commander is important. The Hobbits (I know they are Harfoots, fuck off, they should be Fallowhides anyway per the source material they actually do have the rights to) are not. Gandalf if not even a minor player, Celeborn is a major one. Sauron isn't a spooky serial killer haunting their dreams (although given they have no rights to Annatar I guess Steve the gym rat serial killer was the best choice). Elves keeping humans in permanent open air prison camps for generations never happened. Elrond would not have been dismissed from any council for not being a lord (given, you know, his parentage), Gil-Galad could never have even offered Galadriel a chance to the return to the homeland, and Findrod died in defense of Beren. Also, you know, the second age wasn't about funny sit-com dwarves (a truly bizarre interpretation that everyone loves but I can't figure out where it comes from since Tolkien dwarves are not even close to being comedic buffoons), bird's nest wearing hobbit types, and weirdly blond Elrond being an architect and gal pals with his future mother in law.

So you can like it, it can make you feel all warm and fuzzy and yadda yadda, but please, for the love of god, stop trying to claim it feels like Tolkien. "Oh they used flowerly language" okay, so did Spartacus but I'm not out here claiming that Claudius Glaber made me think about Fingolfin. This is not, and will never be Tolkien. This is an antithesis of quite literally everything he would have imagined for this. Stop trying to justify liking it with fabricated claims. If you like it, like it, but lying to yourself helps no one. I've said this before (and I realize the irony coming on the heels of a post entirely about justifying why I hate something but you know)--not everything has to be justified. Maybe you watched RoP and it made your heart tingle. Maybe you watched it and made you want to vomit. (The latter seems more likely). But Tolkien it aint, and I think that people have a right to feel justifiably upset at what they did to the material, to the fact that this show is clearly a part of a larger Hollywood thinktank designed to print money and generate talking points, and worry about the long term impact on public perception of Tolkien. Because, and again, perhaps this is a controversial opinion, but the vast majority of people are going to know Tolkien via the movies, not the books. I literally know someone who was doing a podcast about their favorite stories and did an entire episode about Lord of the Rings, but only the movies because they had never been able to get through the books. That is a problem because while the books will always be there, public perception and knowledge of them will always be superseded by the alternate public perception. The Jackson Trilogy is proof of that.

[echoweaver]

The Two Towers: Not so Hasty Edition

Every once in a while I post about my film editing projects. I mentioned this project in a random life dump, and some of my follows said they were interested in it.

I’m a serious Tolkien fan, and I’m attached to the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies to a degree that might not be entirely healthy.

I was never able to get over the Ents plot arc in The Two Towers. The Ents are slow, wise creatures that never take any action without considering it very, very carefully. Treebeard’s tagline was, “Don’t be hasty!” So the fact that the Ents abruptly reversed their decision after an excruciatingly long (to hobbits) discussion always bugged me. In the books, the Ents do make the correct decision the first time, but that thread doesn’t have a lot of traditional plot tension.

This is my attempt to restructure the movie such that the Ents do decide to go to war at their Entmoot, but hopefully in a more cinematic way than the books. This is not a book purist cut (honestly, I usually hate those). This is more, "What if Peter Jackson made this movie with a couple different choices?"

In  addition to changing the Ents arc:

 - Removed the “Aragorn is dead” subplot. The Rohirrim go straight from Edoras to Helm’s Deep without incident.

 - Removed the Elves from Helm’s Deep

 - Tweaked Gimli to remove the pratfalls while keeping his wit.

 - Recut Frodo's near-defeat at Osgiliath so that he doesn't come face-to-face with a Nazgul -- that seemed a bit much for a quest that had to be totally secret

- Cut two big recap monologues that I don't think add anything in a world where the summary of the story is pretty familiar.

 - Included about half of the flashback to Boromir’s speech at Osgiliath from the extended edition, the part with Boromir and Faramir but not the part with Denethor, but moved it to Frodo’s arrival there as Faramir’s prisoner. This is an artistic thing rather than a plot choice; when the prisoners arrive, they walk through with a very similar camera angle to the flashback, and I like the contrast between the hopeful past and the hellish present.

Otherwise I've dipped in and out of the theatrical and extended releases to make my own mix. My unpopular opinion as a fan is that the theatrical releases of Fellowship and Return are nearly perfect. It’s nice to see the extra scenes in the extended releases, but the emotional experience of the movies is better when the story is more tightly told. With Towers, there are a lot more scenes from the extended that I would (and did) put in my perfect movie. Ironically, the Aragorn-is-dead subplot takes so much time that with the added scenes from the extended, the run-time is almost identical to the theatrical release.

Changes to the first half of the film are subtle. Most of the heavy work is in the second half.

This  was a way more intimidating project than The Hobbit because the original is so good. I just took it on because I always thought it wasn't fair to the Ents :).

Download here: http://bit.ly/2LKlGAp

[impulsea]

#i think this is the key of why ariel is so divisive of a character#the later princesses def started to pander way too much to be perfect and devoid of any fault in the plot, those tags are sadly true. To be honest, I have noticed in all fandoms female characters (specially teenage female characters) tend to be judged harshier than the male characters for any mistake they commit, and it's so unfair. But coming back to Ariel, I have to admit that part of the reason of why I love her is because she is THAT divisive. For me, that is proof in that the creators succeeded in making her a layered character with virtues and flaws, more human (no pun intended) and I wish Disney would had kept with that route (though Meg and Mulan did had amazing arcs). But sadly, even in the fandom that attitude is perpetuated - back in the 00s/early 10s, I remember the Disney Princess fanclub in Fanpop (Gosh I feel old) and some Youtube rants were all about how selfish Ariel was and how she was a bad role model while B*ll* and later R*punz*l were praised to the heavens - and surprise, both of these characters are heavily idealized inside the narrative, they never commit a mistake and have "likeable" flaws. And don't get me started on some confessions in this site when WDC was still active...I could go on forever.

But I guess it gives me more respect for John, Ron, Howard and Glen for daring to make Ariel a well rounded Disney princess without caring if she had flaws, because at the end, we still see her heart was pure and in the right place, and I think it's positive for children to see someone who sometimes screws up to later pick themselves again and makes it through instead of someone who never makes a mistake.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS! Female characters have been so scrutinized that we've been reduced to pretty much one characterization of a "strong woman" that just gets increasingly girlbossifed. Which honestly is such a disservice to women because it removes all of the authentic human emotion and authenticity from these characters, which just furthers the notion that this era of filmmaking is becoming increasingly corporate and less artistic. These films don't feel like art anymore that reflects our culture or ourselves, as humans, but literally just pieces of stationary art that goes through the motions to get good reviews. And I think this literally ALL started because of misogyny. Take Cinderella and Aladdin for example- their stories are pretty similar, except for the fact that Cinderella only wanted to go to the ball for a night off, didn't know she was dancing with the prince, and left the ball at midnight. Aladdin, on the other hand, knew who Princess Jasmine was and her love was his goal to the point where he tried to change himself and lie about his background to win her hand. And just look at the jarring difference between how Cinderella is treated by critics and Aladdin.

I saw an article a few years back that mentioned how the newest princess "wasn't like any other princess." And the whole "not like other princesses" breaking the mold is becoming the mold itself and has been how every princess has been marketed for the past 30 years and every live action princess. It literally just consists of talking about how much/little the female character is reliant on men, how masculine/aggressive she is, and how aromatic it is. Which is honestly sad because why does every female character have to be judged in relation to the men in her movie and how much patriarchal ideals of traditional masculinity would approve of her??? Also, every movie with this thought process is increasingly adding more and more male characters, taking the female voices out of the script, and even the titles are having more of a gender neutral/masculine slant (ie Tangled instead of Rapunzel, Frozen instead of Snow Queen, etc).

I think a big part of it too is the fact that we're losing our humanity as a society. We're viewing our visages way more than we were ever intended to with how often we take selfies and consume social networking sites. We hear ourselves talk way more and interact with so much media with media trained celebrities that have a team of PR people that are crafting their every personality trait and aspect of their image to ensure it's palatable and, thus, further marketable and we, in and of ourselves, are beginning to mirror that in our everyday lives. We definitely see it reflected in the Disney movies too. It's a huge reason why we can't have villains anymore- we have people who are misunderstood instead (which is so dangerous because the real world does have villains that we shouldn't try to empathize with since that's one of their abusive gaslighting tactics). We can't have princesses who have flaws- their flaws have to be fully explained and justified to the point where they're "okayed" and no one can have any opinion of them outside of the one that's shoved down our throats via the narrative. Ariel is such a breath of fresh air when thinking about this. She just was who she was. It wasn't hammered on us that she was the smartest girl in the village or the prettiest or the most adventurous or the strongest, etc, she literally just lived her life the way she wanted to and the people who rode with her, rode with her, and the ones who didn't, didn't.