#classic case of Know Your Audience right here

[putterphubase]

Coming in and stripping me naked right away isn't a good look, is it?

JACK & JOKER | EP. 6

[solarmorrigan]

Movie Nights

For the @steddie-spooktober day 25 prompt: Frankenstein Friday Rated: T | Words: 1514 | CW: None | Tags: established relationship, outsider POV, I know the movie is over 90 years old but I didn't actually watch it myself until a month ago, so just in case there's anyone else out there who hasn't seen it, Frankenstein (1931) spoilers Divider credit: @steddiecameraroll-graphics

Part 3 of the Good Neighbors series

Gladys can appreciate new things. Books, television, music – the little joys to be found in new discoveries are what make life worth living. She isn’t as set in her ways as some people her age can be, but she does have her favorites.

She loves her mysteries and her thrillers above all else; the likes of Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, and Arthur Conan Doyle line her shelves. She’s dipped into the genre of spies and intrigue, digging into Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. She’s even been known to appreciate a good horror film now and then.

Emphasis on “good.”

“So this is what passes for horror these days?” Gladys asks as a young man on the TV screen is sucked down into his bed, only to be spat back out as an absolute geyser of blood.

Eddie chuckles, glancing up from the screen. “Not your cup of tea?”

Gladys leans on the back of the couch, resting her arms there. She’d only come over to the boys’ apartment to see if they had a spare baking dish she could borrow; they certainly hadn’t invited her in to critique their choice of entertainment. But all the same–

“I just think they should try a little harder to really scare people. These days, it’s all shock and gore. All they have to do is shower people in blood and call it a day,” Gladys says. “I remember a time when they put real effort in.”

“Back in your day?” Eddie teases, grinning at her.

Gladys tsks, cuffing him upside the head – not hard, barely more than a tap, but he still falls sideways onto the couch with a gasp, clutching his head, and then rolls right off and onto the floor with a thump. Gladys rolls her eyes, but doesn’t bother to hide her smile at his antics.

“Hey, will this work for–” Steve exits the kitchen, a glass baking dish in his hands, and stops as his attention is almost immediately diverted to Eddie. “Why are you on the floor?”

“Gladys attacked me,” Eddie replies.

“Oh. Good for her,” Steve decides, holding up the dish again. “Will this work for you?”

“That would be fine,” Gladys says, accepting it as Steve passes it over.

“She also thinks my movie is trash,” Eddie says brightly as he levers himself back up onto the couch.

“I did not say it was trash,” Gladys says. “At worst, I said it was cheap.”

“Okay, but that’s not better,” Eddie says.

“I’m not a huge fan, either,” Steve leans in to stage whisper to Gladys, “but it makes him happy.”

“Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a critic.” Eddie rolls his eyes, then leans back a bit so he can look up at Gladys. “What would you call a good horror movie, if not the genius of Wes Craven?”

Gladys purses her lips, thinking for a moment. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen the classics? Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon?”

Eddie lets out a thoughtful little noise, shaking his head. “Can’t say I have.”

“Well, you ought to. You’ll see where it all began, then,” Gladys says.

“And I get the feeling you’d enjoy showing us,” Eddie says, wiggling his eyebrows up at Gladys.

“’Us’? Who’s ‘us’? When did I get roped into this?” Steve asks, and Eddie reaches out to take one of his hands.

“We’re a package deal, baby, everyone knows that,” Eddie says.

“No one around here but Gladys knows that,” Steve reminds him.

“Everyone important knows that,” Eddie amends. “Anyway, what do you say, Gladys? Feel like educating a couple of horror philistines such as ourselves?”

“Well,” Gladys says slowly, “I’m sure I could come up with something.”

This is how she ends up in her armchair the following Friday night, the boys both sitting on the loveseat, all watching as the audience is warned of the frightening nature of the upcoming film playing out on the television.

“Now, this wasn’t Universal’s first horror film, and it wasn’t even the first movie adaptation of Frankenstein,” Gladys says when the opening credits come on, “but it is a bit iconic. I thought you might get a kick out of it.”

“But is it scary?” Eddie teases.

“Well, I don’t know about scary, but maybe a bit shocking. Look at it this way:” Gladys says, “it was 1931. Graverobbing and murder might seem mundane to you, but we weren’t quite as desensitized to seeing it on the screen back then.”

Steve glances over at her. “Do you remember when this came out?”

“Oh, barely.” Gladys wiggles her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. “I certainly didn’t go to see it in the theater, I was only six or seven at the time.”

“Still, that’s pretty cool,” Steve says, and Gladys favors him with a smile.

If they aren’t altogether horrified by the movie, the boys are at least engaged, keeping up a running commentary that has even Gladys laughing. (“He had that coming,” Steve says when the monster finally catches Frankenstein’s assistant. “Yep. Rest in pieces, Fritz,” Eddie adds.) However, as they reach the midway point, the father onscreen bidding his daughter to go play with her cat while he works, Steve shifts uneasily in his seat.

“Wait, they’re not going to do anything to the cat, are they?” he asks, cutting a worried glance at Gladys.

As if the thought hadn’t occurred to him until Steve voiced it, Eddie sits up straight in his own seat. “Gladys,” he says, pointing an accusing finger at the screen, “you’re not showing us a movie where they kill a cat, are you?”

One brow raised, Gladys regards the pair of them. “You’re worried about the cat, but not the child?”

Steve scoffs. “It’s 1931, they’re not gonna kill a kid,” he says, while Eddie nods in agreement.

Both brows raised now, Gladys only gives them a little “hm,” and turns back to the screen. With some suspicion, Eddie and Steve do the same, watching as the scene unfolds.

“Oh, shit,” Steve says, taken aback as the monster tosses the little girl into the lake.

“Damn. Guess we should’ve worried about the kid, after all,” Eddie says.

“You have to have some idea of how this movie ends,” Gladys says, shaking her head. “Did you really think they’d form an angry mob over a dead cat?”

“I would,” Eddie declares, then looks down at Steve, who at some point in the last half hour had ended up tucked into Eddie’s side (when, Gladys isn’t sure, but it’s sweet; it’s a pleasant feeling knowing how comfortable the two of them are here). “Steve, would you form an angry mob with me if someone killed our cat?”

“We don’t have a cat,” Steve says.

“That’s not the point,” Eddie insists, and Steve relents.

“I would come with you if only to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed,” he decides.

“I’ll take it,” Eddie says with a shrug.

The rest of the movie plays out on the screen – the forming of the mob, the confrontation with the monster, the burning windmill, and, at last, the peaceful conclusion.

“Wait,” Eddie says, brows furrowed as he watches the end credits play, “that’s it? That’s how it ends? A toast to the house of Frankenstein, the end?”

“Yes…” Gladys says slowly. “Why? How should it end?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about a little restitution for the guy whose daughter got murdered?” Eddie demands, shooting up out of his seat so quickly that Steve has no time to brace himself and falls sideways onto the loveseat with a little ‘oof.’ “How about a little accountability? I mean, seriously, this is just typical; some rich, entitled asshole plays around with things he can’t control, creates a problem he refuses to solve, and the poor end up being the ones to pay the price!”

“Now you’ve got him started,” Steve mutters to Gladys as he sits himself back up.

“Is there any way to get him to stop?” Gladys asks, though she’s a little fascinated with the theatrical way Eddie throws himself around the living room as he rants.

“Uh.” Steve glances over at Eddie and back away again, and there actually seems to be a little color rising in his cheeks. “Not, um…”

“Take him home first, if you’re planning to do something like that,” Gladys says primly, only to lose the fight to her laughter when Steve looks over at her, aghast.

“I wouldn’t–!” he protests indignantly, his face going redder.

“Are you guys even listening to me?” Eddie demands, turning back to face the pair of them.

Gladys declines to answer, asking instead, “Eddie, dear, how did you like the movie?”

“Oh. Aside from the ending, it was great.” Eddie drops back onto the loveseat, reaching out absently to tug Steve back over to his side. “What else ya got?”

“Well,” Gladys says, picking through the stack of tapes she’d managed to dig up at the video store. “If you like entitled rich people, let’s see how you feel about Dracula.”

[ballet-symphonie]

I noticed a stark difference in terms of promotions and castings between RB and Russian companies (particularly Mariinsky and Bolshoi).

1. RB is still going full-principal castings for the lead roles, although sometimes they cast first soloists too, and soloists once in a blue moon (usually in The Nutcracker). I think RB is quite hierarchical in terms of castings. Meanwhile those Russian companies tend to cast younger dancers for lead roles nowadays, and dancers at any rank could get the lead roles if the theatre wants.

2. It's not uncommon for freshgrads (or even graduating students) in Russian companies to get major soloist roles during their first year in the company, but in RB, the young dancers usually have to wait several years to get it. For example, Eva Sergeyenkova got to dance Queen of the Dryads with the main company before she even graduated, but Hanna Park and Sumina Sasaki only got the same role this season after they danced for 3-4 years with the company.

3. I know this is common knowledge: an exceptional Russian freshgrad could enter the company as a soloist without spending a single day in the corps. But in RB, no matter how exceptional the freshgrad is, they should start from the corps for several years before eventually getting promoted (some who were considered exceptional got promoted consecutively after spending several years in the corps, though).

I know that there's no perfect system, but from the perspective of a professional, which one do you think is the better system for the artist's growth? Sometimes, as a general audience, I think Russian companies' pace is too fast, and RB's is rather too slow.

I'm sorry if this is too long :') thank you in advance!

I don't disagree with anything you've written here. I think promoting young and giving chances young can work, but it has to be the right people. You mentioned several cases at ROH and agree with your interpretations. ABT is edging younger right now, but Chloe Misseldine, Sunmi Park and Jake Roxander have clearly proven they've got the chops. Even so, Chloe has done one major classical role and the others haven't yet.

This is a total 180 to recent graduates of BBA and VBA preparing nearly half a dozen of debuts leading roles in a season. ROH takes much slower approach and I think most of the time it pays off. Sometimes they lose people who want their careers to move more quickly but on the whole, I think slow and steady wins the race.

Ill ask you this, lately in the past 5 or so years, which company has been delivering the most consistent performances of quality, with a wide variety of dancers in the leading roles?

[jolieblack]

Jolie’s thoughts on

The Dancing Men (Sherlock & Co. podcast)

OK, deep breath.

What a ride.

There’s a reason why I’m so late putting my thoughts into words this time round. This case really hit different, at least the final 15 minutes did.

Let’s talk about the earlier four fifths first… Lots of great moments as usual!

John getting into another tussle with London water fowl. "Get a life!" Who needs to get a life, we wonder fondly.

"I bring soup, glorious soup!" - So sweet! Even sweeter with the reversal at the end.

"Never mind Sherlock, his best mate is that bloody microphone." - Not the most hilarious punchline ever, Stamo, but what I love most about this comment is how John doesn’t find it funny at all.

John being a tech nerd with the audio editing of the cryptic message! Pop culture knowledge and tech nerdery doing what Sherlock Holmes couldn’t. Wa-hoo!

Another highlight: The Stamfords singing for fun (and John ruining it by insisting on singing along). And *then* the Stamfords becoming absolutely instrumental in making the final musical puzzle! (Not that they couldn’t just have used a regular recording for their trap, like Abe did for his message to Elsie, but then where would have been the fun. I’m surprised that Sherlock can’t hold a tune, btw. I’m even more surprised that he was trying to sing for an audience.) But the whole music puzzle theme was lovely altogether. Very clever, very creative. "The Police! It’s The Police!" 😂

Not entirely sure what to think of the NYPD behaving like a third rate action drama NYPD… but yeah, we got the message. And I guess it was also a necessary preparatory scene for the end of Part 3. I mean, there’s actually no way in hell that the London police would set a trap for a murder suspect pretty much with the main objective of killing him right away, rather than arresting him. There’s also no way in hell that the London police would shoot at two nerds running around in their crime scene just like that. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I was left wondering after Part 1 what the significance of the Lost Rivers of London was going to be. That mention and the explanation seemed just too random to be random. And then it came back in part 2… And then I turned out to be right. Yay!

Poor harassed Inspector Martin is a whole mood. 😆

And then - tadah - we finally find out about "Lestrade"! 🥳 Didn’t I say she was the character I was most interested in meeting? Love "Gwen", which I’m taking as a nod to "Greg", my personal favourite Lestrade of all time. Also, good choice to make her a very high ranking officer, to explain why it’s OK for the police to cooperate with an irregular freelancer like Sherlock (a major headache in any modern adaptation).

"A lot has changed in those 8 seconds" - This is just bound to be another absolute classic in our fandom.

John playing a BBC presenter! Dream on. And boo John for not acknowledging how absolutely correct Sherlock’s comment about war never being "other news" was. I love that they got to officially hijack the actual BBC for their stunt though.

John getting a too-tight bullet proof vest and making a new friend. 😝 Seriously Sherlock, your status was never in question here.

"Don’t stereotype Americans!" - "He’s from Chicago, for God’s sake!" - Love how John just never takes his own advice.

And THEN…

I have so many questions. Sherlock and John should have so many questions, too, for themselves and for each other.

I would like to know what John thinks it is that makes him run after Sherlock into situations so frightening and dangerous that he literally wets himself. That really is no joke.

I would also like to know why these two are convinced that they’re fine going after an armed, mentally unstable killer on their own, especially when a police team armed to the teeth is standing ready just around the corner. Is an unhealthy adrenaline addiction a necessary prerequisite of being Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and if yes, will we see (hear, I mean) them actually talk about it, reflect on it, deal with it? Nobody forced them to confront Abe with zero backup like that. Are they just OK with it?

Yeah, like all of you, I forgot about the bullet-proof vest, too. Not that I could tell, in audio format, that John *didn’t* get shot in the head or in the leg or in any other place that might as well be fatal…

The way Sherlock says "please" kills me.

As does the way he goes back and forth between "John" and "Watson" in this scene, depending on whether he’s being coolly calculating or horribly worked up emotionally.

Is John actually telling Sherlock to shoot Abe before Abe shoots them (again), when Sherlock is about to drop the gun? Our Jonk, who hates gun violence and who keeps telling Sherlock that he can’t just shoot people, even if they’re very bad people?

I won’t be shouting and screaming and yelling about Sherlock completely losing the plot and taunting and abusing a dying man (a certified mentally ill man, too) and - according to the official transcript - actually strangling him, too, because we’ve been doing nothing else for a week now. But I want this addressed, too. I want this to be reflected on by the characters. I want them to figure it out live on audio where that came from and what it means. If I was John I’d be effing *scared* of my flatmate after this, even if he called me his best friend in the same breath.

A lot of us are seeing the parallel to the showdown of the first episode of BBC Sherlock, of course, and what Sherlock does to the dying bad guy in that scene… and I think it’s legit to wonder what this parallel means for the podcast. Especially since it has no equivalent in ACD canon. ACD’s Holmes does taunt bad guys sometimes after they’re defeated, but only ever verbally, and not when they’re physically hurting, let alone dying. And he sometimes lets fate run its course, rather than stepping in and saving a bad guy from the consequences of his own actions (like Baron Gruner, or Charles Augustus Milverton), but that’s only *allowing* bad things to happen, not actively inflicting physical and/or emotional pain on an already suffering/dying villain with his own words or hands. BBC Sherlock could plausibly do it because that was still the Sherlock without John, the Sherlock before John, the Sherlock that eventually got changed for the better by John’s positive influence. Here in the podcast, Sherlock has been sharing his life with John for months already and he’s *still* doing this? I find that disquieting, to say the least.

I guess what I want most from this episode is CONSEQUENCES. And I’m worried that we’ll just not get any. Starting with John needing at least one broken rib after being hit by a bullet at such close range, if not several. But more importantly, consequences in terms of "what the fuck did we do there and let’s count in how many ways it wasn’t OK". I mean, seriously, our boys are in for YEARS of therapy now.

I am so curious to find out just how badly that will all be glossed over in the upcoming episodes. I mean, I know this is fiction. I know the Podlock Universe is a place where you can be back making music within a day or two of shooting yourself in the head and being in a coma. But I don’t want realism for the sake of realism, I want it for the sake of the characters' journeys and their relationship.

I also want to know how on earth Joel is planning to top this one once he gets to the Three Garridebs.

[be-my-ally]

We can't go on together (with suspicious minds) fic. 1.

first post! i've been working on a mini series of these, where the reader confronts Elvis about his other girls and his reaction to being called out. I think we're going to go for a classic and name the series Suspicious Minds? This is the first, completely inspired by that phonecall with anita, and the story from priscilla about Elvis' reaction to her divorce request.

Pairing: Elvis/afab!reader (I imagine BDE but I think you could probs picture whatever era you like)

Summary: Reader is upset at being forced to watch Elvis constantly touching and kissing other girls - his solution? fuck her until she doesn't care anymore.

warnings: 18+, blowjobs, sex, demanding!Elvis, jealous!Elvis, possessive!elvis, idk yandere? maybe a little? slight dubcon, especially in the second half. tiniest breeding kink. arguing as foreplay, references/allusions to infidelity, mention of pregnancy. Reader is definitely being manipulated here. Elvis is not being nice.

wc: 5.7k (this was meant to be under 2k whoops) I kind of hate the last couple of lines but if I didn't decide I was done there this was gonna go on forever so there we are!

The fact that Elvis kisses forty girls a night is neither here nor there, they are indiscriminate from one another and don’t mean anything - you know that. He simply has to kiss as many girls that he finds unattractive as much as those that catch his eye; although whenever he argues this point you’re uncertain if he truly knows how to be unattracted to a girl of any kind.  But you’ve so far taken it at face value - he was yours at the end of the night and you were in his bed, in his home, and honestly that’s all you cared about. You could let the other girls have their seven seconds with him.

You probably, at this point in your relationship, cared far too much about him but he made you feel like no-one else has ever done. You wonder sometimes if he even knows how love feels - or if he just truly has to be permanently in love to live, he says it so easily and freely. Regardless, you can’t help but believe him when he says he loves you. There’s just something about him, a strange magnetism or force that allows you to forgive and forget a lot more than you usually would. Constantly desperate for his approval when really he should be begging for yours. You’d beg him to pay attention, accuse him of being distant and he would somehow always turn it back onto you - “You’re just so damn needy,” and “I can’t just rush off to see you when you want, I’m a busy boy Darlin’,” until he became exasperated; “Lord, stop naggin’ me woman.” You accepted it, in a way you wouldn’t from anyone else - you simply argued your case as much as you could, hung up the phone, sobbed, and then ran to him gladly when he offered you any scrap of attention. Why didn’t he like you enough to listen if he claimed to love you?

It’s not the girls at the concerts you worry about, throwing themselves up at him, clawing at him - that display of unwomanly desire is as unattractive to him as can be, entertaining rather than arousing, and you know that for him it really is all about putting on a good, memorable show for the audience. It is as much a part of his stage personality and persona as his jumpsuits are; women and girls go to see Elvis expecting to come home kissed.

It’s the afterparty girls you find difficult. It’s when you see, from across the room or even from right beside them, his hand inching up their thigh; when their legs tangle together, or he pulls their feet on his wide spread thighs that you start to feel like its wrong. You mind it less if you’re not there to see it, and you can tell Elvis knows this too - judging from how often you’re sent home to Memphis, only called back to Vegas every few weeks. Whenever you talk on the phone you ask him about the other girls - if there are any, if there’s anyone special. He always denies it and reminds you over the phone that “I’ve only got eyes for you little darling.” But that “a man’s got needs mama” or even, “I’m a polite boy baby, I can’t just shove em offa me!” And you agree - he can’t exactly shove girls off of him, but maybe he could just…invite them over less?

 But really who knows what else he is supposed to do. It’s not like there’s a precedent for this, nor is he likely to listen to your suggestions. So you accept it all, simply as part of the price of being allowed to maintain rotation in his orbit. 

But still it’s hard. Especially when it’s been days since you last had the chance to really see him, or spend any time with him and he’s sat there lapping up the attention from these goddamn groupies like a sultan with his harem. You can’t help but go cold to his advances, giving him one word answers when he deigns to talk to you across the room. You can tell you’re annoying him, he hates to be publicly defied especially from one of his women - from his main woman, and you can tell he’s chewing his cheek by the clench of his jaw when you respond again in words of one syllable. As if to annoy you further you watch him shift in his seat, spreading his legs further apart, and laughing as he tips his head back in response to whatever blondie to the right of him says. It causes the fabric of his trousers to go taught, and his neck muscles tighten - veins appearing to tense. His adam’s apple bobs as he swallows and you close your eyes for a second. He’s unfairly attractive like this, in fact, he’s blinding to look at and you can’t help but shift your thighs together. 

When you open them he’s staring back at you. You inadvertently make eye contact and he winks. You forget for a second you’re angry at him, and can’t stop the heat rising up you. But then you watch his arm flex around the girl to the left of him and you regain your senses, looking away with a flick of your hair. You count to a hundred, pretending to keep the conversation up with Jerry while you wait to glance over again. When you look over again he’s whispering in her ear, and you can’t help but glare. He seems to sense you, and looks over her cheek to you. He leans back and nods to his dressing room door.  You purposefully ignore him, turning back once again to Jerry. A second later you can hear movement behind you and Elvis’ voice rises above the noise of the conversations around you; “I’m sorry sugar, but I’ve got some business to see to.” Your ears are attuned to him, and you have no idea what the conversation you’re in is anymore, listening to hear what this business was and trying to judge from the sounds what his movements are from behind your back. A second later you don’t have to try and guess as his hand touches your elbow, 

“Come on now darlin’ lemme borrow you for a sec.” You look at his hand on your elbow and your eyes narrow at him, but he’s looking at you like he’s daring you to say something, playfully half expecting you to make a scene. But that’s not your style and he knows it. You flick your head back around to Jerry and Charlie and say, 

“Sorry guys, the ‘King’ called.” You add a sarcastic edge to your words and playfully roll your eyes. You turn around to head towards his dressing room and jump as Elvis’ hand connects with your ass - propelling you forward, he walks you towards the door laughing as the boys behind continue their conversation as if you were never there. 

You pull away from him as soon as you’re on the other side of the door and look at him affronted when he shuts the door with a definitive click and turns around, practically leering at you and rubbing himself over his trousers. 

“Oh, you must be joking.” You scoff, you can’t deny you’re almost always turned on around him, but you do have some level of self respect. 

“Come on now baby, don’t be like that, thought you’d wanna help me out?” He pleads, looking at you hopefully. 

“That fuckin’ groupie gets you all riled up and i’ve gotta be the one to deal with it.” You roll your eyes again, crossing your arms over your chest. He frowns, 

“Well - if it’s such a chore don’t fucking bother.” He shrugs, and looks down at himself, “I’ll just….deal with it myself.” He rubs again before untucking himself from his trousers - his cock jumps when it hits the slightly chilly air, and you can see his foreskin tighten a little in response. He licks his palm ready to get himself going but pauses before he touches himself. He looks down, looking like a kicked puppy, “Never thought you’d wanna leave me like this though little mama,” he touches himself once, twice, starting to peel back his foreskin from his head, “please baby, help me out?” He’s talking in that utterly stupid baby voice of his, and even before the question is fully out of his mouth you know you’re going to give in, that you can’t resist him. 

He practically whimpers a further. “Please baby? Please!” and you know you’ve had it. You’re incapable of denying him any further. You move as if he’s got you on strings, dropping to your knees in front of him. You can feel your wetness start to form - the response to this position is pavlovian at this point. You nod once, 

“Fine. But only because you asked so nicely.” He looks down at you and winks, starting to gather up your hair in his hands to hold it away from your neck and face. He brushes a finger down your cheek and taps it against your lips, 

“As if you had a choice.” Despite the slightly sinister statement you can’t help but find his confidence endearing and you giggle, already feeling better now that he had you alone. Proof that he chose you. 

He’s always gentle at first, allowing you to lap at him, tiny kitten licks as you gaze up. This time is no different, you feel like you’ve been there for half hour, although its probably closer to three or four minutes by the time he starts to insistently push his head against your lips. He lets you control the pace for the moment and you obediently bob up and down on him. He looks down at you, his lips are in a little pouty grimace, and his pupils enlarged so that the clear blue of his eyes is barely visible. He’s clearly losing the battle at staying hands off, and this is even more true when a moment later you feel his grip on your hair tighten. He pulls you further, causing you to choke slightly before you adjust to the deeper motion and it doesn’t take long before he’s completely controlling the pace and depth. 

He speeds up, his eyes slightly manic as he thrusts forward, fucking into your mouth even deeper and remaining deeper to match his quicker timing. He drops your hair and with one hand he holds the back of your head, while the other creeps around your shoulders and neck to rest on the base of your throat, his fingers gently wrapping around. He pulls you all the way off, and a trail of drool connects you before you lick your lips, his precum and your spit mixing into a bitter tasting foam. He nods at you and you take a deep breath, allowing him to pull you forward once more. You hollow your cheeks, and use all the techniques you have, swirling your tongue and humming, and it doesn’t take long before he’s pulling you tighter, harder and quicker, and after that barely any time at all his hips stutter and he’s releasing down your throat, his fingers stroking where he can feel you gulping it down. 

“That’s it. That’s my good girl.” 

He leaves you there, he’s normally very generous - but today he doesn’t even order you to touch yourself. It feels like he’s proving a point, that he gives you what you get. That you’re no different to him using the other girls who get him hard. There just for him to use you, get off. You feel frustrated, and hurt, and a tiny bit like a groupie or whore yourself. But, then he’s sweet as can be the next day - showing you off to reporters, planning a trip to Hawaii together and while you still feel slight unease at how you’ve been treated, you otherwise quickly forgive and forget. 

 ——- 

There’s a party at Graceland tonight, you’ve barely seen him and you huff as you fetch yourself another drink. He’s ‘holding court’ in the music room, playing to other’s requests when you head back to the kitchen. By the time you return he’s sat on that impossibly long sofa laughing and talking with the boys and girls on either side of him and mingling around the room. There’s nowhere for you to sit and you consider the floor for a second - but quickly realise that the place that puts you out of the way of people would put you directly at his feet. You hope he looks over at you, pushes the girl off who’s sat next to him to make room for you. But he doesn’t - instead you watch him lean over to whisper in her ear. You’re openly staring from the doorway now, as he cups her cheek and pulls her in for a kiss.. There’s raucous laughter in response from everyone else, and from the angle - when he opens his eyes mid-kiss -  you make eye contact. He doesn’t even flinch when he notices you. He pulls back and pats the top of her head, she grins - clearly satisfied with herself - and he heaves himself up. Whether to go to you, or just to head out of the room in general you don’t know - by the time he’s stood up you’ve stormed out. 

You take a few deep breaths in the slightly chilly outside air, and walk far enough away that you can look back upon the house. It’s shimmering slightly from the heat within, the windows are steamed up from the volume of people and you can see little plumes of smoke from the sheer number of cigarettes and cigars being consumed escaping into the night whenever the door gets open and closed. You’re not sure why it’s getting to you so much, but it’s like he’s trying to prove a point at the moment and you just have to accept it or find your limit.  You can’t help but let a few tears escape, it’s humiliating, to be treated like that in Vegas or on the road is bad enough but in your own home is almost too much to bear. But maybe that’s the point - it’s not yours really, it’s his and you’re not your own person anymore, you’re his. You stand out there until you can feel a chill setting in and head back inside, slipping upstairs and past the groups of people without saying goodbye, and climbing into bed. 

You don’t sleep, on edge waiting for him to come up, but you do feel yourself drowsing. When he does come up he ignores your body in bed in favour of the ensuite and by the time he reappears in his pyjamas you’re drowsing again. He slides in behind you and you almost inaudibly huff as he drapes an arm over your midriff, tucking a leg over yours. You huff louder, and pull away, turning around from him to face the other side of the bed. He tries to push up your nightgown and stroke your back but you reach your arm around to bat his hand away, you’re certainly not in the mood tonight. Not after his behaviour. “No Elvis. Not tonight. Not after you’ve had those girls all over you.” He pulls away and huffs. 

 “Come on darling, you’re being a bitch.” You roll over and pretend to be asleep. He ignores you.

The next morning you wake up and he’s gone but in his place, on his side of the bed, is a huge box. This isn’t rare - he often bought you presents, or left you clothing to be worn and normally you loved it. It wasn’t even because of the materialism of being bought the pretty things - the dresses and the jewellery; the shoes and the lingerie but rather the possession of it. Owning things he picked out for you with every expectation that you would, of course, be wearing it when he next saw you. Normally this gave you a thrill -  he didn’t even need to write it on a note anymore. It was just understood that you would, when such a box appeared, be bedecked in an outfit that would loudly proclaim you as histo those in the know, if not the world. His flashy, expensive but very specific fashionable and feminine style obvious to everyone who knows him. You peek inside the box to see a flash of green sparkly knit fabric and a red jewellery box resting on top, undoubtedly containing something absurdly over the top and expensive that he expects to see you in. Not this time though. This time the dress can stay in the fucking box it arrived in and you’re going to wear your jeans and a top you bought all on your lonesome. You’re not even going to look at whats in the red box. You feel outraged that he thinks you’d simply forgive and forget his behaviour the night before because he bought you a present. It's even more humiliating than being so publicly embarrassed; the implication that you can be bought so easily. 

You storm out of the bedroom once you’re dressed and your hair is brushed - it’s not styled, which would usually irk you (and him) but you’re honestly too riled up to care. The time for calm is over and you feel like you’ve been pushed to the edge too many times now. You burst into the den, the door slamming open, furious that you feel so out of control. So unlike yourself.

“El you can’t treat me like dirt and then try to buy me off.” He’s cut off in the middle of a take of a song. You can hear the recorder still whirring - that’s going on the tape forever. You’ll make them destroy this copy later, (or Elvis himself will you’re sure) he’s obsessive about keeping everything possible but its unlikely he’d want evidence of his lack of control of you here. The boys all turn to stare, their instruments faltering to a halt and Elvis spins around, before he’s even facing you you can tell he’s utterly furious. He’s practically shaking. 

“-Get the fuck outta here!” He roars, pointing at the door; “fuckin’ hell what do you think you’re playing at?” he tugs at his hair in frustration and you cross your arms. If you leave now and he doesn’t follow you’ll lose what nerve you have. You can only imagine how you’d end up regretting your outburst, simpering apologies to him later if you left now. 

“No.” You actually stamp a foot, and your brain is going fifty miles a second trying to regain your dignity, “No Elvis I won’t. I want you to listen to me.” He puffs out a short breath and starts to stalk towards you. Charlie puts his hand out onto his forearm, perhaps anticipating that with his temper and fury so high he might do something he’d later regret. But he’s unwilling to physically hold him back, and Elvis simply shakes his head at him and shrugs him off instead rushing forward and clutching the top of your arm. 

“Turn that recording off!” He shouts as you struggle against him pulling you towards the door. 

“Elvis! Let me go! Let go of me!” He uses your momentum of your struggle against him to almost trip you over, catching you across the waist and lifting you bodily out of the room. You continue to struggle, thrashing about in his arms as he lifts you up the stairs into the kitchen. He practically drops you when you reach the empty room and you attempt to jump away from him but he holds you steady with that same grip on your upper arm, swapping over to hold your wrist. He practically growls at you; 

“Let’s go baby.” He drags you upstairs to his bedroom, despite your protestations, and slams the door behind himself. 

“I ain’t about to have it out with you with all the boys lookin’ on in, like I can’t control my goddamn woman.” He leans in to sharply whisper at you and you laugh cruelly, finally managing to pull away.

“Maybe thats because you don’t have a woman to control Elvis. I ain’t been your woman in a long time! How can I be if you’re away all the time doing god knows what with god knows who! Or even being here and doing it!” His chest is heaving as he takes in your outburst. He presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose. 

“Little girl, I’m not having the same argument with you twenty times over. We’ve already had this discussion and you’re really turning me the fuck up about it. I’ve got needs. I don’t know what you want me to say mama.” He’s clearly annoyed, but still trying to come across earnest - as if he doesn’t understand what’s angered you so much. 

“I want you to say that you actually give a damn Elvis. That you give a damn about me. About how I feel about it. About how if you promise me there ain’t another girl that there ain’t another girl that the boys are whispering about.” He rolls his eyes at you. 

“You’re not around all the time baby; I don’t know what you want me to say to you - I love you. That should be enough; why isn’t it enough for you? There ain’t no one I’d rather be with, it just ain’t always possible mama.” You absolutely can’t stand the glow that you immediately feel as he professes his love for you and it spikes your anger once again - since it comes attached to absolutely no attempt to deny his sheer infidelity.  

“Well, you’re not around either, and it’s not a choice I make to not be there for you. Maybe I should do like you do - after all ain’t a woman got needs too?” You placed your hand on your hips, chest heaving at the volume you’d not realised you’d reached.

“Don’t you dare lil’ girl, I told you there wasn’t anyone else. Don’t threaten me like that. You won’t like what you get back.” He tuts and shakes his head, and you’ve no idea where your sudden boldness comes from;

“What? Afraid I’ll like them more?”

He roars at you, throwing himself at you, pulling your hands up. He shoves his lips on yours and you have no choice but to acquiesce to his tongue’s insistent demands that you open your mouth. He growls against your neck; 

“I’m gonna make you see right now. Gotta show you, you belong to me lil mama. To me.” He pushes you down to your knees and it barely occurs to you to struggle. He’s gathering your hair in his hands - pulling it away from your face as you realise the argument’s clearly made him hard - the bulge in his trousers evident from your close angle. He pulls your head back with his grip on your hair and his other hand trails down your cheek to your neck, his fingers stretching around it. Just a presence there. You look up at him with wide eyes and a flushed face and he stares down at you. 

“You’re gonna ‘pologise to me for messin’ with my work. And for accusing me of all that shit and you’re gonna do it right now.” Your mind is gone, his eyes somehow holding you captive and all you can do is nod. “Right then, get little Elvis out baby and get to it.” He nods down at you and you quickly grasp his meaning, your fingers shaking as you fumble through unbuttoning his trousers. He is, like usual, not wearing any boxers so there’s no other fabric barrier that you have to get to before you’re able to pull his cock out. He pulls you by your ponytail and you immediately kiss the head, licking the tip and down in long stripes. He allows this for a moment before taking the hand from around your throat to slap his dick against your cheek - before insistently nudging it against your lips. The moment it’s in your mouth he pulls you down on him, barely giving you time to catch your breath. He’s rougher than he usually is right from the start and it's a struggle to keep up. 

You’re a mess of day old mascara and tears from your eyes watering, and spit and drool when he pulls out. Pulling you off of him entirely. He crouches in front of you and wipes at your face with his thumbs on each cheek before he pushes you backwards, although he supports your fall back with a hand under your neck - lowering you completely to the floor. He moves quickly to unbutton your jeans, tugging them down impatiently. It doesn’t occur to you to struggle, and while a little part of your brain is shouting at you to stop being stupid, that you’re losing the argument, that this wasn’t what you wanted to happen, a larger part can’t get over how good he looks in this moment - nor the anticipation of what you’re sure is going to be some pretty spectacular sex. “I hate you in these, baby.” You smile. That’s why you wore them. 

“Oh,” He smirks back at you. “I get it. Tryin’ to prove a point huh?” He grasps the legs as they unroll past your ankles and yanks. You hear the tearing as they split straight down the seam. “Point made Darlin.” He’s infuriating. He pushes your panties to the side and circles your clit, rubbing down before pushing into the pooling wetness. He slides in one finger, and it slips straight in so he immediately pulls it out to add a second. He pumps them a couple of times, crooking his finger in just the right spot to make you jump around him, your hips grinding of their own accord. You whine when he pulls them out, shoving them into your mouth and he drags you back closer to him. His other hand steadying his dick and he slips his other out of your mouth to better support his body. He pushes in, you’re wet as anything but barely stretched and you can feel every inch of him as he pushes into you. He stills for a second as he bottoms out, and you shiver around him. He looks back at you, his eyes blazing and his hair flopping forward, out from where it was so carefully slicked back. He’s still mostly dressed and it feels so wrong to be able to feel his slacks and open shirt resting against your naked skin but you forget all about this when he pulls you almost all the way off and slams you back down. He thrusts like this once, twice and the noises that come out of your mouth are obscene, your eyes rolling back. “That’s r-right my t-t-tight lil woman,” he stills for a second to kiss you and you clutch at his shoulders for balance as you try to get closer to him. He tugs at your lip before working his way down, sucking onto your collarbone. The heat is building in you, and you can feel it in your thighs, your pulse jumping, but his slow rocking motion isn’t enough to get you properly close; 

“El-Elvis, baby, baby, need you, need you to move.” You stutter out and feel his smirk against your neck. He then, if you didn’t know better, seems to lose control - his hips rocking in his signature way, as he fucks into you rapidly back and forth. 

His bedroom carpet is plush and expensive but still isn’t particularly comfortable to be rocked against as your t-shirt rolls up but he seems completely uncaring to the comfort of your skin being rubbed raw, focussed on his fingers getting you off and fucking into you as deep as he can get. You claw into the carpet as he makes your back arch in pleasure as he pulls away and drags you back onto him. You can feel the bruises forming in the shape of his fingertips on your hips. 

He’s out of breath with the exertion of the act and you can feel the sweat and heat coming off of him, as he thrusts so deeply it makes you choke as your head rocks forward. He lets out a breathless huff of laughter in response; 

“That’s right darlin’ gonna make you feel it.” You moan, and he continues, “Only way to get it through that thick skull of yours is fucking it into you.” He slams into you, and you shake as the words and his motions push you over the cliff. He continues talking but you can barely hear him over the ringing in your ears, and the noises coming out of your own mouth as you ride out the wave - his fingers and cock moving in the exact same way to coax you through it. He removes his hand and you feel like you can breathe again as you feel everything pulse around your core. He grips your thighs, “No-one else could fuck you like this, make you take it like this.” He punctuates his point with a rotation of his hips, pushing into you as much as he can - deeply rocking you, and you can feel his head knocking against your walls. You tremble, overstimulated from your brief orgasm a moment ago but still on the edge, “You think anyone else could make you feel like this?”

You rapidly shake your head, stuttering out a response, “No, no, nn-o.” He lets out a breathy, tiny gruff chuckle, 

“No you’re damn right baby. They couldn’t.” You moan, can’t help yourself and you feel him jump inside you, 

“Gonna knock you up darling, gonna make you mine forever.” and his hips stutter as you feel the pulse of his cum inside. You’re shocked at his announcement, but you feel yourself twitch in response and he goes to touch you again, feeling where the two of you join, his cock still inside, sliding his fingers up and down, and that’s apparently enough to send you over the edge again. When you come to he’s slipping his cock out of you, although he remains leaning over you to talk in your ear; 

“You interrupt me workin’ again doll, with shit like this, and you’re out. You understand me girlie?” You nod again, it’s like you’ve been struck cock dumb - you can barely even remember what you were annoyed with him about. He rubs your stomach and places a light kiss on your neck, he murmurs against your skin; “You can’t be jealous if I’ve given you somethin’ no one else has.”  He pulls away from you and redresses himself - well, pulls up his trousers and rebuttons his shirt. You lie there, panting, on the floor feeling his seed trickle out of you. He holds out a hand to you and it seems to take a lot of effort to take it, but you grasp his hand and he pulls you up in one tug. He holds you close and kisses you hard on the mouth, “Put  your present on,“ he glances to the box on the bed, and you nod, “Knocked some goddamn sense into ya now, haven’t I.” He declares it proudly, satisfied that you seem to be meek in agreement with him, and you smile back at him unable to even deny that his fucking you has caused you to agree with him. You turn away from him to head into the bathroom, clean yourself up a little and you can finally talk again as you go, your voice scratchy, “Don’t worry Elvis baby, I ain’t all amped up still.” You can practically feel him smile. 

“That’s good, honey, that’s real good.” He pauses, “If you can behave yourself you can come and join us, if you like, after you get yourself touched up.” You’re inspecting yourself in the mirror, responding with forced casualness, 

“Course!” As you assess your body, still flushed and littered with tiny bruises, you crane around to look at your back and wince at the carpet burn evident there. You shake your head, what a ridiculous thing to have done, when the bed was right there. You hear him leave and take a shaky breath in - how are you gonna sort your hair from this clearly debauched state. You glance down, looking at his fingerprints on your hips and sides, and consider your stomach for a moment. You wonder if he truly has, in his anger, joined you together for eternity. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but on every other occasion he’s ensured you’ve taken every precaution, short of abortion. Should you douche? You jump suddenly as you hear him sprinting back into the room, as if he could hear your thoughts he bursts into the bathroom. 

“Forgot to say mama,” He pauses and jabs his pointer finger at you, “you let that baby stick. It’s the only way to prove it to you. You let it be.”  You start to protest,

“Honey, sweetheart, do you…do you really think we should be doing this? That we should?” 

“You sayin’ you don’t want my baby, Sugar?” You lock eyes with him in the mirror and rapidly shake your head, 

“No-no-no! No! Elvis, No! Of course I do! I just, is this the way it should be done?” He laughs, 

“I don’t see how it makes the slightest bit of difference, we’ll have to go again, later, make sure - don’t see how we can tell which does the trick. Just that it’s done.” You turn to look at him properly, 

“We-ell ok then Elvie baby, let’s do it.”  

Later that night, when you’re sat watching a girl practically climb into his lap you feel a surge of pride - he glances over at you and winks - and you think, that's right have him for the second, but I’ve got what you really want; him all the time and his baby in my belly.

[highfantasy-soul]

So I need to get something off my chest about 'writing' and what a show is trying to do vs if the writing is the best to show that.

I haven't seen this complaint so much on Tumblr, but it has been brought up several times in a Discord server I'm in and I don't think there is the best place to address it (it might be taken as too political or an attack against specific people) but I really really needed to write out how I'm feeling about it.

So a massive complaint in this Discord is that the writing of the Acolyte is bad. The ones making this criticism claim that they like the ideas behind the show, but the execution with the writing is terrible and they need to get a whole new writing team for season 2.

So. Hmm. How to not get too in my feelings about that.

Let's take a look at who the writers are. We have:

3 men - 2 of which are men of color, the last I don't know enough about to say if he's part of a specific marginalized identity or not

and we have 7 women - Leslye who is openly queer, 3 black women, an asian woman, a trans woman and activist, and another who I again, don't know enough about to say if she's a part of a specific marginalized identity (other than her femininity) or not.

I didn't do deep dives on them, they're writers, so it's kind of hard to specifically find out 'hey, do you personally have a lot of experience with colonialism/religious trauma?' BUT I think that just baseline seeing how many women, people of color, and queer people there are on the writing staff and the way I could see so many extremely nuanced and real things on screen that I personally know about gives me a good idea about their own experiences/knowledge about such subjects.

Despite the claim that 'they like what the story is going for', the understanding of how the writers are telling that story isn't translating to everyone. I have a little suspicion as to what unites the people who 'don't get' the writing despite claiming to like what the show was going for. Kind of like how people 'liked what the civil rights movement was about, but those leaders and their methods? Get those out of here and accomplish the goals in a different way'. Or reading a classic and having no context for who wrote it or when the story was written and trying to judge it based on your own very limited understanding and claiming it's "bad" because you, personally, are just not aware of anything outside of your own world view.

It's important to be able to identify where your own understanding might be lacking - and acknowledging that just because YOU don't 'get it' doesn't mean that the writing is BAD. It just means... you don't get it. Personally, I don't get every single show made for a very specific audience - especially racialized comedies specifically for the race the writer/performer is. As an example, Dave Chapelle (horrendous transphobia aside) wrote a great deal of his material for his very specific audience of Black Americans. I personally, as a not-Black person, wasn't sure how to feel about some of his jokes - but what I DIDN'T do was say that he was bad and 'I get that he's making fun of his own community, but he should do it in a different way, maybe get a different writer'. Because I'm not the one equipped to judge that. I acknowledge that his comedy is outside my wheelhouse and honestly, for Chapelle's case when it comes to his racial jokes, I simply remove myself from the equation and just look to other Black people and how they react to his comedy to see if he's stepped over a line. (Also, when it comes to comedy, as he himself pointed out, some white people were laughing a little TOO hard at his jokes - I think that's mainly an issue with comedy and poking fun at yourself only to have someone not in your 'group' not take it as friendly ribbing but rather more malicious - and so he dialed it back).

Comedy is a bit different than any other media - I do think that comedy requires a lot more knowledge of the subject matter to know when the person is exaggerating, critiquing, or affectionately ribbing that is pretty important to know before internalizing what's said in the show. If you're not aware of that stuff, you might hear a stand-up routine and internalize a lot of really harmful stereotypes so I think it's ok to step away from comedy that isn't "for you" in a way that I don't think is particularly great for ALL types of media that isn't "for you".

With romance stories - I just don't get why a character would make all their decisions focused around getting a romantic partner, maybe I actively dislike watching/reading about that, but what I'm NOT going to do is say Jane Austen is a bad writer. I can point out things I disliked aside from the romance aspect or even larger writing critiques, but I'm not going to say that 'I see what she was going for, but get a different writer because I didn't get it'. Those stories were intensely personal to her and many people see themselves in the characters she wrote. Just because *I* don't get their motivations doesn't mean others don't.

So, examples aside, I think it's incredibly important that before we say 'the writing was bad', think about if maybe it's just that you don't have the meta understanding of the groups being highlighted in the story. It does give me the ick when people say to 'replace the writing table' on The Acolyte when the story trying to be told is of marginalized groups interacting with massive colonial institutions and the generational trauma that causes - and when you look at the writers....they are part of the groups affected by those issues, and the ones who are saying 'replace them'....aren't (largely).

When you 'don't get' something in media, especially if that media is telling the stories of groups you don't belong to, go to see what those groups are saying. There have been articles written about The Acolyte from the points of view of marginalized groups and meta posted around about how these irl subjects are being handled. In my opinion, as someone a part of such effected groups, I think the writers have done an incredible job with the show.

The main issue I think (good faith) people have is that DISNEY didn't give the show more time to tell its story, but then they lay the issues at the feet of the writers for 'not explaining enough' - but the things they want explained, largely I find are things that...were explained enough if you know the basics of colonization, missionaries, and generational trauma.

Other complaints I've seen boil down to "the show should have told me everything in order, clearly, and told me what to think about it and each of the characters - because I was left guessing, instead of using my own brain to think about it, I have decided it's bad writing because everything wasn't fed to me in a straightforward way" which again, isn't a fault of the writing, it's a flaw in the way you THINK all shows need to hand-hold you. Just because a show doesn't spoon-feed you the story and character motivations, doesn't mean the writing is bad.

Finally, I've seen critiques of the writing (and story) to the effect of 'it's a Star Wars story - it NEEDS to fit into the Star Wars box/expectations and if it doesn't, that means it's bad writing' - which again, kills diversity. You want surface-level inclusion where "yay! It's a woman doing bombings now! Cheer for her!" rather than "Look, it's a woman doing war-crimes and we're pointing out that war crimes are STILL wrong and here's other marginalized people fighting against that!"

So before claiming 'the writers need to be replaced', take a step back and look at why you feel that way, take a look at who the writers are and what story they were trying to tell, and first consider: maybe you just aren't knowledgeable enough about the subject matter. And just because it's not 'baby's first colonizer story', doesn't mean the writing is bad. Maybe you aren't the center of the universe for once and maybe its OK for you to feel a little behind in understanding - it just means there's new stuff for you to learn! Which is a good thing!

Obligatory explanation that all this doesn't mean that you can't critique the writing or that if you critique the writing that means you 100% are who I'm talking to in this post. All I'm saying is that maybe before having the knee-jerk reaction 'get rid of the writers', take a look at it from this perspective to see if you 'not understanding' isn't on the writers, it's on you and your life experiences not preparing you for such a story told in this way.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, are you going to watch the upcoming new Disney movie "Wish"?

I've seen mixed reviews, but i'm lowkey excited since we get to see a new Disney villain, especially since Disney got really lame villains after all the old classic movies!

Have you seen the trailer for the movie? What are your thoughts so far?

I saw Wish with a friend recently! I'll give my thoughts on the trailers here (in case you don't want spoilers for the film itself) and put my full thoughts beneath the cut (if you're okay with spoilers).

Looks-wise, I think Disney was definitely trying to go for something more stylistic and painting-esque for this?? And while I commend the effort, it definitely doesn't look as interesting as Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish. The humor also definitely isn't for me, it feels very "quirky" and "so relatable" (Asha reminds me of Mirabel in that sense), and other times too juvenile (like the goat butt joke). I do like the idea of the villain passing as a good guy in-universe and actually being vain and selfish, especially since the marketing is making it clear who the bad guy is rather than making it a "twist" villain scenario. Not sure if I like Magnifico himself though??? All the ads with him in it feel like Disney is trying too hard to make people thirst for him. From just the trailers, Magnifico does seem interesting and like more of a return to the traditional "villain" rather than the protagonist having to deal with an existential dread or concept.

***Spoilers for Wish beneath the cut!***

Right off the bat, my first impression is the narrative is SO ham-fisted. Within the first 5 minutes alone we're establishing so much information and in such a clunky, unnatural way. Like... Asha says hi to her friends but then they robotically have a dialogue where they overtly call each other "friends" just so it's clear to the audience (when in reality no one talks like that). It's telling instead of showing, and this happens sooo many times early in the film.

Could not for the life of me remember the friends or their names. There were just too many of them when 1 or 2 would have been just fine to move the plot along and to help Asha. (Yes, I know they're a reference to the 7 Dwarves but it's STILL not necessary to have so many just for a reference.)

Bruh, the makeup in this movie is on point. Every time there was a close up of a character, I was staring at their eye makeup (especially Asha and the queen's).

Asha as a protagonist was... fine? She feels very close to Mirabel and at times Rapunzel in her character. I didn't dislike her by any means, but she didn't reinvent what it means to be a Disney protag. Her motivations also come off as… really “out of nowhere”. We’re told she “cares too much”, but she initially only wants to save the wishes of her mom and grandpa; she randomly decides she has to free ALL wishes midmovie and that was jarring. There could have been a smoother transition. Instead, it was abrupt and Asha didn’t change in any meaningful way. Even her “I want” song was vague (what exactly is “to have something more for us than this”?) and didn’t connect well with her character.

I do really like her design though! Her freckles, earrings, and how her hair moves are my favorite details.

Valentino was not as annoying as I thought he would be. Still didn't care for his sass and brand of humor, but at least he helped out a few times.

I called it, the film is trying so hard to make Magnifico "hot" 🤡 I don't get it but okay, Mouse. I see your effort.

Loved his fit!! Very cool cloak and diamond/star motifs everywhere! His lab and study was also fun to look at.

I quite liked the moments when the queen talked to her husband and tried to smooth things over with him. “I can fix him energy”— Their relationship seemed very genuine at the start of the movie.

NOT THE WISH NEPOTISM...

If they were going for “sympathetic” with Magnifico, it didn’t work. He gave this backstory about how he was traumatized before + left as the only survivor of a great tragedy and so now he wants to use his magic to prevent that from happening to anyone else. Thing is, we only ever know about this via his word and staring at a half-burnt tapestry. We never see the event on screen, nor what was left of the tapestry. I was expecting a twist where it’s revealed that he lied all this time about his backstory and rewrote history so he could more easily manipulate the people of the kingdom he founded and live out the fantasy of being worshipped as a “good guy”. That was such a missed opportunity!!

Something else I was thinking of (this was during “This is the Thanks I get” was??? Maybe Magnifico started off genuinely good but became worn down over time as people’s wishes grew more selfish and they became ungrateful for what they had?? Then he could have become bitter and disillusioned by the behavior of his people.

Another idea is maybe Magnifico was “villainous” only in Asha’s eyes, since they don’t agree on how to best handle granting wishes. This would be more of a clash of ideologies rather than the traditional Obvious Evil vs Obvious Good that Disney is so known for, but hey, it could be a neat evolution of their storytelling from classic fairy tale roots.

This is to say that there were so many more interesting directions they could have gone with Magnifico’s motives, character, and portrayal 😭 but the second half of the movie never commits to any of these, they just blame his complete insanity and turn to the dark side on Forbidden Magic which is such a cop-out.

The trailers gave away the twist that Magnifico was the villain. It wasn’t revealed until like the second song into the movie. Would’ve worked better as an on-the-spot reveal rather than part of the marketing, in my opinion.

When they showed the wishes, the TWST fan in my was shouting, "OMG IT'S WISH UPON A STAR, THE LIMITED TIME STORY EVENT FROM THE HIT DISNEY MOBILE GACHA GAME TWISTED WONDERLAND!!!"

As Wish is Disney's anniversary film for 100 years, there were tooons of easter eggs scattered throughout. (I had fun looking for them!) Some were visual (I saw Aurora's dress, Snow White’s well, Peter's Pan's costume, Ursula's green smokey hands, Asha's robes resembling those of the Fairy Godmother, etc.) or extended imagery/scenes (Asha recreates Mulan's dinner and “Reflection" scenes), others were more overt lines of dialogue (Magnifico says the "Mirror, Mirror" lines along with others, a deer named “Bambi”, Valentino mentions an animal metropolis in reference to Zootopia, etc.).

In theory, the wish magic sounds cool but has so much that isn't explained??? And yeah, it's magic so it technically doesn't have to be. However, there are things not explained even when it is important to the plot. For example, Magnifico crushes some wishes and seems to absorb their power for himself (including the wish of Asha's MOM, so you'd think this would be important)? The consequence of this is that the wish's owners... become sad??? Okay, what are the long-term effects??? Why isn’t this fully explored?? But then later in the film we see the same people whose wishes were crushed... regenerate their wish??? So what, he has to keep reaping them??? And why are the wishes only taken at 18 years old? What if a wish changes? Ironically, the townspeople of Rosas have a scene where they question the technicalities of this wish magic. Magnifico essentially tells them to shut up, and it kinda felt like Disney was telling us to not question their lore www

It was weird that they never fully explored the ramifications of going without your wish. You’d think they’d show us people without ambition or hope (which would incentivize Asha to return their wishes), but everyone seems blissfully happy without their wishes?? The only exception is Asha’s friend that betrays her (cannot for the life of me remember his name), and that’s namely because his asshole friends keep ragging on him for it.

I thought the movie was going to go in a “you can make your own wish come true!!” direction but NOPE, turns out it’s just magic. Felt like Disney unintentionally wrote a whole movie about "wishes not coming true unless some big powerful entity allows it to come true” (Asha literally becomes the fairy godmother of Rosas at the end, making her ultimately no different than Magnifico)… ie a metaphor for how Disney owns so many properties it practically owns our childhoods www

"The power of friendship saves the day" ending 🤣 It was very Paper Mario ending-esque...

A song saving the day though?? It’s giving the Illumination Lorax film…

I was right about the humor. Too "quirky" and/or juvenile for me.

Animation was alright? Nothing awful about it, it just didn't feel as detailed or as experimental as other films with a similar style.

Songs were mid, which checks out with the recent Disney music excluding We Don't Talk About Bruno--

Some of the lyrics however were awful. “I let you live here for free and I don’t even charge you rent” is redundant. “So I throw caution to every warning sign” means you’ll show more caution than usual, not that you’ll forego caution. The correct expression is “throw caution to the wind”. Etc, etc, etc.

There was a cute after credits scene where they reveal that Asha's 100 year old grandpa (same age as Disney omg) wrote the "When You Wish Upon a Star" theme, which was sweet since his wish was "wanting to make a mark".

THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE WAS STAR!! It was very cute (partly because it couldn't talk and just jingled and giggled, I was dreading another annoying mascot animal voice) and reminds me of my own pet… The way Star infused everything with glitter and formed unique shapes with the red twine was so fun 😭 I'M A STAR STAN, IT WAS ADORABLE AND KINDA BRATTY AND I'M LIVING FOR IT

Decent ideas, "meh" execution. Enchanted and Shrek did it better in terms of self-aware, fairy tale defying stories. It felt as though the movie was trying to deliver a profound message but got lost in the sauce of making as making Disney references possible and didn't fully commit to actually saying something meaningful. As a result, the film feels somewhat… hollow.

That one friend betraying Asha was the biggest surprise in the film but I still saw it coming 😂 I do get where he’s coming from though (being worried that his wish won’t ever come true) but it also felt like his conflict wasn’t resolved??? It might have gone better if the movie actually fully tried to push the “you can make your own wish come true” message (to reinvigorate the traitor to make his dreams a reality on his own) but they don’t 💦

Wish didn’t end up being “the wishing star’s origin story” because not once did anyone question where Star came from or why it was different from other stars (or what the significance of Magnifico blotting out the other stars was).

I think the people that would enjoy this movie are the people that are already highly invested in Disney and the nostalgia of it.

... Anyway, stan Star 🤩 (and the talking mushrooms 🍄)

[2n2n]

ch 120

OFF WE GO

First off... I like how tiny itty bitty Amane feels in this promo image... I wonder if drawing the grown-up Amane is making Aida-sensei reaaaaaally mentally shrinkify the 13 year old boy, really impress in her mind he's young, small, weedy ... he feel soooooo little boy here

ughhh i was soooo excited for the full color spread of Amane x Nene-chaaaaan... OHHH THE GHOUULLLLLL!! red red red ... makes Nene-chan's red eyes feel like Amane's destiny, right? ♥♥♥♥

classic horny horny horny panels hahaha mmmmmm... sensei loves to put Nene-chan in such gripping peril...

I'm so fascinated by well-chan's perspective on human desires, expectations.... I don't see it as an evil entity, but a confused and mixed-up one. Human's desires are what dictate a kaii's nature ... humans revered the well, prayed to it, honored it, and created a narrative wherein bodies offered to it were to be grateful, thankful, eager to fall to the bottom, offered 'paradise'.. it was seen as a protector of the village, something it relied on, necessary for peace & prosperity, a pillar of the community, a God, not a Monster ... different.

all the same, the people thrown into it resent it, wither bitter and resentful ... there's nothing consistent or easy to understand about what humans want, whether they like or dislike, respect or fear, want or dread... I feel there's nothing 'obvious' ... I don't think there's an opportunity to become something 'nice' in a human, comprehensible sense. Just a mess of the extremes fed into it for centuries ...

in some way, I have to find its sentiments beautiful... or pure, for what they are.

mouuuuuu;;; made me emo... how sweet of an impulse for Nene-chan... the well entity exists outside of conventional time and order of events, right....? I think it can be confused and mixed-up (as much as Tsukasa can in every timeline...) easily, there must always be shades and impressions deep down corridors of itself... I really love what Tsukasa being merged with it seems to do to his mind, so I'm really endeared by this poor muddled little Amane, mess of stimuli.... beautiful sad girl crying....

such an Amane-like expression, it makes me feel forlorn....

these poor twins..

sweeties... lost confused things..... threadbare...

pretty girl crying in your hazy memory... what a perfect 'first impression' of Nene-chan to stick inside of you... poor confused creature, Amane....

I really appreciate you Nene-chan!!!! you're right you know, that's not the right age at all!!! I don't blame you for trying to rationalize it... in moments like this Nene-chan feels like such a direct audience surrogate ... when she does things like try to postulate about the injured Amane in the Bookstacks, you know, calling out the obvious thing in plain sight, which we'll be pulling apart as not-the-case....

I'm happy its said plainly that he's killing many people... it's funny we've abandoned a world where Amane has murdered one person in a passion, for another world where Amane is made to kill wantonly, without a personal touch...

it makes the previous Amane's actions feel entirely self-directed, doesn't it? Not under a curse, but his own decision... something important, a special reason....

I want to know why that would was so precious... I believe it is our most precious reality...

anyways, Kou having been killed by Amane is so great ahahhahaha, I love it!!!! Really thrilled us when reading the MANGAUP like UWAAAAAHHH!!!! I don't feel anything about particular panels... but it is a great decision.

So many people came to the Red House, I had thought "how are we going to divide up all of these people sensibly?" because of course, you can't constantly have 5 characters interacting in every scene, it's too many cooks in the kitchen (not that a lot of things don't do that wwwww, but I feel AidaIro tend to create a tighter cast for insular events).... simply killing off Mitsuba and Kou for this timeline is hilariously efficient, GODBLESS!!!!!!! They got so many panels for the early chapters this arc so I feel there's no love lost... and we'll certainly have to deal with Mitsuba's exploding body when we get back to 'our' timeline anyhow.... so, it's a solid move--!!!

I kindof loved how they got 'shelved' for the latter half of the far-shore arc (and again, it was a fine counterbalance to all the Kou/Teru we got at the start of that with the train.... they simply had their turn).... I loved how they were like facedown in a puddle while other important events happened wwwww... I sincerely think AidaIro give all of their characters their due time, and aren't as quick to abandon characters or relegate them to being randos as a lot of (particularly shounen) manga....

I'm sure some people won't like it, but I feel we were given such a clear image of Mitsuba & Kou's life in this world. If I cared about them, I'd be happy to play in that space for ages. It's a well-constructed little playhouse.

we're all so curious...

he's the most interesting thing in the entire universe, in every universe, isn't he?

it must be said that this is a well-drawn and interestingly-constructed panel... sensei is very good at a scary crop.

GODDDDDDD seeing Nene-chan pulled towards the well is the scariest thing ever, but it also makes me feel hungry with a deep profound lust ... ouhhghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh give the girl to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I prommy to take good care of herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ouuuuuououuuuu *shakes this off of me*

anyway.

Love to see Teru blast Kou--!!!!! What an amazing situation HAHAHAHAHAH this is like a dream, I love this for Teru....! I've always imagined he'd completely back Kou no matter what, but this situation is interesting... it's not 'his' Kou, at least... he's wanting to 'go back' to the one who is stupid and helplessly dependent on him, innocent and naive ... but ah, it's still miserable and horrifying, I love for such a real trauma to strike Teru! Ahhh having to exorcise your cute little brother like an old yeller situation.... hahahaahahaaaaa. Heehoo---!! AIDAIRO-SENSEI'S PARTY!!!

go ride that train together lads.... lol... it's really funny .... they doied.... RIP... I'm sorry, but I kind of hope this arc lasts years in real earth time and they're just gone for that long .................................... I would like to focus on those who are left behind , and even how this influences Teru and Akane's demeanor overall... well, even Aoi... Teru is typically such an obnoxious guy, and able to play off a lot of emotions... I know Akane has a lot of sympathy for that poor dumb animal, deep down, perceptive to Teru's lonliness (though it doesn't alter how annoying or ungracious Teru is, Akane is just too kind to ever really abandon him...). In a situation like this even Aoi has to be grounded... an interesting dynamic left behind here--!!!!!!

I like how harsh and without any kind of pleasantry or flourish... don't have anything left inside of you for performances of grace!!!! I like it I like it.... show me the realest Teru ... !

So edged with the inner chambers of the well-chan </3 let me see her </3 </3 </3 ohhhh let me seeee </3

I like the small detail of Akane using his phone flashlight to peer into the well's depths....

you've never looked better, Teru! I want to see you like this (: let's stop jerking people around and being capricious, alright...? It's a deflection at the best of times anyway, isn't it.... in one way or another.

I'm eager for the next chapterrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a wonderful turn of events!

huge fan of what we're left with here!

[jadagul]

@discoursedrome This thread is already too long so I know from experience I'm going to wuss out of having a good discussion on it due to the sheer Bigness, but I can't resist hashing it out about this stuff! Okay, a little bit:

This is basically the rules-as-physics argument, right, where you can deduce the rules from observation? It's not really related to narrative mechanics, it's the same phenomenon as "can my character deduce the exact success probabilities from repeated trials" or "can my character develop a quantum theory of survivability by experimenting on his own hit points". There's going to be a huge gap between the rules and the game setting as soon as the rules involve numbers! The normal answer to this is that these mechanics are heuristics designed to manage play and are rarely consistent or visible enough that it would be plausible for a character to infer them from experience. And if it's implausible then it smells like metagaming and you'd be justified in just not having the rule work that way in that case -- it turns out this moment works like all those other moments in your life that weren't engaging directly with the game mechanics! But I would agree that there's a lot of pressure to metagame when the stakes are very high, and it's often wise for a designer to avoid conflicts of interest there.

To extend the analogy, would you argue that it's implausible for characters in a novel not to become genre-savvy simply because the world they're living in operates on those genre rules? Or going beyond that: if people wrote genre fiction so that they did, would that be better? I think generally you need to assume characters don't become genre savvy even if it "makes sense", but I'd go beyond that to argue that it usually doesn't make sense -- characters can't tell when something is part of the narrative and when it's just something that happens, so this doesn't happen to other people but it doesn't even consistently happen to them. Similarly, characters in a game can't tell when mechanics are involved or how.

But the general point here is that unless a game explicitly tells you that the rules are "laws of nature" in the setting then they aren't, and if you bring that tension into the spotlight by having your character act like they are, it really forces the issue. The classic example is the character who is mostly immune to gunfire mechanically, but not narratively, so they shoot themselves in the temple with a huge gun to show off. The standard advice here is "they die", which is obviously not exactly right: the correct response is actually to go over how this all works OOCly, emphasize that if they do this the character will die and everyone will assume they killed themselves on purpose and be very confused, and then if they really want to they still can. And this isn't really a narrative mechanic, again, you get there pretty rapidly once you add hit points!

But I do take your point, which is that the disconnect can be a bit jarring, reaching a peak in games where the player is actively antagonistic to their own character, and it bothers some people more than others. Game designers should decide what audience they're targeting and avoid alienating people carelessly to no particular benefit. That's all fine; but I still feel the need to emphasize that it's always a matter of degree, and that the minimum you can pare this problem down to (outside of freeform or the far reaches of FKR) is still pretty large.

Now with regard to the earlier question of "should everyone use the same rules"; this IMO is mostly a flavour thing, it's about selling the objectivity of the setting and the idea that everyone casts the same Fireball. This is good, but it trades off against fussy and intensive mechanics, which is bad, so you think about what you want and you pick your poison. That said, there's a limit: the idea of using the same ruleset to cover PC ad-hoc crafting projects and off-camera NPC candlemakers is laughable. There's no way to do that without it being a mess; it's one of many, many places where "rules as physics" and "rules as game or adjudication mechanism" are irreconcilable. With legendary or magical items you can make it work, but the issue there is less difficulty than rate: there are always loads of people as powerful as the PCs, so if it's feasible for someone at that skill level to make, say, two or three magic items in a year, those people could all just be churning them out for the heck of it. But if it's much harder than that, the prospect of PCs doing it and especially of them doing it as their "thing" rapidly slips away. It's the same basic issue as "what if I want to train up as a competent doctor from a baseline of zero" -- well, the game's answer is not that it takes ten years, but that's got to be roughly how it works for the average person, right? You can just say that the setting has wide variation in potential and the PCs are at the upper end of it, I guess, or that some mechanism like "experience points" is driving their growth, but on some level it's kind of fake, right? You live with it.

First off, yeah, that thread was already too long and also it was on someone's post that I'd originally misread to begin with, so let's put it here.

I really have one major response to your post, which is

The classic example is the character who is mostly immune to gunfire mechanically, but not narratively,

what the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you ever do that? What does it mean to be immune to something mechanically but not narratively? Where do I apply to get your game design license revoked?

Like the game rules should tell me what happens if I shoot myself in the head without dodging. And they should tell me what happens when someone else shoots me in the head when I can't dodge. And those should be the same thing because it's the same action.

The version of this I've heard comes from D&D 3e: fall damage tops out at 20d6, so the maximum possible damage is 120. A typical level 11 barbarian should have 121 hit points (if not more through Con bonuses; I think they're very likely to actually have 132.) So by the rules, a full-health barbarian can reliably jump off a cliff and survive the fall.

And some people are like "yes but obviously a real human won't consistently survive a thousand-foot fall" but of course what the rules are telling you is that a level 11 barbarian is not, in fact, a normal human; they can absorb a level of punishment that no real person possibly could.

People periodically try to reinterpret hit points as, like, luck, or dodging ability, but as you say that never holds up once you start asking questions about what's going on. (The classic question is poison-on-hit attacks, but honestly the shooting someone in the head bit is also good.) In order for hit points to make sense, you kind of have to say that some people can walk off being shot in the head at point-blank range, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's just the world you're building.

(Or you can keep max hp low enough and gun damage high enough that a max roll crit will kill anyone, but that generally undermines what people want the hit points to do in other contexts. If you want people to be superhuman just let them be superhuman!)

---

For the last bit: yeah obviously you're not going to, like, make crafting rolls for everyone in the city. But if your mechanics are wildly at odds with a functioning economy you really should expect your players to (1) ask questions and (2) exploit the hell out of them.

The world has to work the way the rules say it does because otherwise what's the point of the rules and how do you know how the world works?

[junglefurytrash]

Hi again DW Tumblr, I finished that other OC, and now I can share it with absolutely no guilt because Rox has been sentenced to the shadow realm! :D

So with that, here's my previous post to Stardust, and heeeere is..

"Toon R-008 - Vinessa the Retro DJ"

Type: Toon Role: Backup Distractor & Fast Extractor " Perky and ready to roll, Vinessa's always coming up with new ideas for songs and music! Sometimes a track doesn't always come out the way she'd hope, but that's okay; Vin knows that if you fail at something, you can always get up and try again! " - Information Card/Poster

🌈🌼" I'm more of a classical flower myself.. " 🌼🌈 - Dandy, upon purchasing her Toon License in-game

Twisted Vinessa - "Don't Let Starving Artists Suffer"

Type: Twisted Rarity: Rare " A desire to please and make others happy with their music has turned into a dangerously desperate desire to find her 'audience' again and gain their approval. Vin's sensor will rotate clockwise around the floor, seeking out Toons - Don't trigger it unless you want the DJ to come running! " - Twisted Research

Vinessa's Stats & Trinket:

Twisted Research Trinket: Red & Blue Headphones " These headphones fit your head - and others' - just fine! Decreases the Detection Range of Twisteds on the floor (and also gives them their own cool headphones!). "

Vinessa's Active Ability Icons:

Vinessa's Handler Design, Richter Middleton:

Coming in fast and not furious but instead mostly happy, meet Vinessa the Retro DJ, a Toon made to be a quick-paced Extractor to get floors done ASAP and get the hell outta there, but who is also able to be an additional Distractor just fine if the floor becomes too packed with Twisteds for your resident Goob or Pebble to manage all at once, sporting a 4 Star Extraction Speed and a 4 Star Stamina to make things happen and happen speedily!

Additionally for those hectic floors, especially if you get the Beeg Scary Dog that is T.Pebble, Vinessa's ability is an audio trap! Able to be popped down on any flat surface like the floor or a table, Vinessa can set down the trap and leave it there for as long as she feels necessary (which would most likely be as long as it takes for her and any others to get AWAY from the audio trap), and activate it when the time is right - When activated, the trap will play music, luring all Twisteds not being distracted to the trap and keeping them occupied at the audio trap for a period of time, at which point when it's finished it will go onto cooldown. Vinessa CAN move the audio trap to a new spot, but only if it's not been activated yet - Additionally, allies will be able to tell where the audio trap has been placed thanks to the ability icon showing up in the trap's location in their view. This can give your Distractor(s) some breathing room in cases where there's too many Twisteds to manage and they need stamina/healing, or if there's a Blackout and they don't know where the Twisteds are (as the trap will bring them all to one spot), or just if T.Pebbles is being the resident pain in the backside and your Distractor doesn't want to spend the next several minutes attempting to distract the angry doggo.

Vinessa (otherwise known as Vinny or Vin) is a friendly and extroverted Toon, but she's also a b it of a people-pleaser, to say the least, eager to gain approval of her superiors and of her friends; If she does well, people will listen to her music, and they'll like her music! If she does well, they'll want to hear more, and they get to keep making more! If she does well, she can show up in another episode IN-PERSON, and show up to the other floors of the Centre in-person too! Even if.. She's just gonna be there to make and play music for the others again.. But. Hey! That's what she was made for!..

They were normally down on the Music Production floors of Gardenview Centre, in her booth, creating the music she was ordered to make that would then go through her Handler and other quality control before being played on the speakers of the Centre, the Radios, the show's soundtrack, put onto cassettes and CDs, etc. When everything kicked off and the Centre shut, she was down there working on music, and it took her a long time before she found out what was going on. She stays down there, floor barricaded and protected as best they can, trying to reach out through whatever means she knows to contact Richter, Arthur, Delilah, anybody, to know she's alive and to come find them, all the while still making music.

Richter Middleton was a young music student who was VERY fresh out of school, but very talented in their works, getting hired by Arthur to produce music for the Dandy's World cartoon. When the Centre was opened and the workload massively increased, Delilah thought it would benefit to have a Toon assisting them, and with Arthur's design in hand she brought Vinessa to life and made Richter a Toon Handler, he and Vinny working together on music and bringing life to both the Show and the Centre; They'd most commonly be seen (when not in Music Production) on Vee's specialised themed floor. Richter isn't sure what happened to Vinessa when the Centre shut down; Even if it's been some time, they miss them and worry about their safety..

[xxaraaq]

𝘼 𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙎𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙮

Hobie Brown x Black!Reader

Synopsis | Hobie Brown has listened to you play three times, each time, he falls harder in love

wc | 1342

a/n: I'm simply obsessed with hobie Brown, like he's so fine. But anyways, here y'all go. I also tried new borders and adding synopsis and stuff and honestly I like it, don't know why I didn't do it sooner.

The first time he heard you play was an accident.

Like usual, he had come by your place after dealing with his spiderman duties, or ‘problems the British government are too weak to fix’ as he would say to you time and time again. You had been practicing for an upcoming recital and you had been struggling with the end of it, always gliding your bow too rough or vice-versa. You were so immersed into what you were doing that he couldn’t interrupt, so instead, he sat on the edge of your bed, waiting for you to finish.

“Ok, I basically got it do-” you jump, screaming in fear as you turn around to see hobie with a smile on his face, chin in hand. “What the hell hobes’, why’re you just sittin’ there like a creep?!” and he smiles even more, getting up to hold you. “Why’ve you never told me you could play like that?” he asks, pressing a kiss to your lips.

“I have, you’ve just never heard me play before.” You smile, putting your violin back in its case. “You're lying straight through your teeth, you know that?” He jokes, walking around your room as if examining it.

He was half right. You didn’t tell him that you played the violin, but what you did tell him is that you played an instrument, so he can't be mad at that. Besides, if he wanted to hear you play, he could've asked at any time of day and you would've done it.

“Okay okay, you're right. But now you know, so you gonna stand there sulkin’ like a baby or are you gonna come over here and lay with me?” You ask, patting the empty side of your bed. “You know how to change the topic of conversation a little to well for my likin’, you know that?” He says, laying next to you, pulling you onto his chest. 

“Yes, now stop bein a little baby so we can watch that show you were buggin’ me about.”

The second time he heard you play, you were on stage.

You had bought him a ticket to the concert hall where you would be performing. He could tell that you were excited to play, which is why he made sure to tell Miguel that he wouldn't be available today.

He walks in, confused as to where to go. So he goes to the closest person he thinks works there; a receptionist behind the desk. “Where do I go to find… auditorium seven?” With a pointed finger to the left, he says thank you and walks off, ticket in hand.

He goes up to row fourteen, picking out his seat from dozens. Sitting down with a deep sigh, he plays with the ribbed scrunchie you had given him months ago. He waits in silence for the recital to start, fatigue almost taking him. 

His attention is caught once the lights dim down from everywhere besides the middle of the stage. The pianists go first, and he enjoys it, but it doesn’t really catch his attention. His knee shakes out of suspense as the stage closes for what could've been the twentieth time. The violinists go next, and he gets excited, sitting up straighter in his chair. You told him that you would be the fifth to last one to play, but you didn’t tell him how many people would be playing. So here he was, waiting to see when you would come out from the side of the stage in all your beauty. 

The seventh person goes, and now he’s just straight bored. Now don’t get him wrong, he fucked with classical music, he thought it was cool, but he wasn’t all that interested it if it wasn’t you. So when you came out, he was all the more happier. 

The audiences’ volume lowered once again, and you put your bow unto the strings. He leaned forward, as if to get closer to you; then you started playing. He didn’t know if it was the fact that he was in love with you, or if he knew that you being on stage meant that this entire was close to being over, but it was as if you and him were the only ones who existed. He could see the passion you had inside of you from the way you played, and it brought a smile onto his features. You had a certain expression on your face that he could only read as a love only you could understand.

When it was all over, you found him through the thick crowd and ran into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Did you see me hobes’?” You ask, taking his hand in yours. “No, I fell asleep. Sorry love.” He deadpans, struggling to hold back a grin as he watches your face drop. “Your fuckin joking babe. Don't do that to me!” You whine, playfully punching him in the arm as he almost doubles over in laughter. “I'm so sorry love, I had to do it.” He sighs, wiping a tear from his eye “Don't get slapped.” You whisper as the two of you walk out onto the crowded street. “What was that?” He teases, bending down to hear you better. “I'm gonna hit you in a second.” You say, pushing his head from yours. 

The third time he hears you play, he knows he’s gonna spend the rest of his life with you.

He was making dinner, a simple dish of spaghetti and garlic bread, while you were on the couch watching something that you’ve surely already watched a million times before. He was checking to see if the bread was ready when all of a sudden you gasp loudly, causing him to almost burn himself against the top of the oven. “Shit- what the yell y/n, you good?”

You don’t answer, instead running to your now shared room to get your violin. Curious to see what you're doing, he follows after you. “What idea has your frightening brain come up with that you screamed like a dying banshee?” He asks, leaning against the doorframe. “Hobes, you're about to see me flex on something that I’ve been able to do since I was fourteen.” You smile, running back to the living room. “ This should be interesting.”

You unpause the movie, placing the violin under your chin as you get ready to play. The scene unfolding before Hobie Brown is… a spectacle to say the least. You’re currently playing the violin version of the scene from the end of Sister Act 2. The fact that you took the time to learn this more than five years ago is wild to him. But it’s what makes him fall in love with you all the more. You finish, turning to him with a smile that could rival the sun. “Why did you take time out of your life to learn that specific part of the movie, and why did you do it so well?” He asks, confusion written all over his face. “I used to hyperfixate on things for like months a time, and this was one of them.” You say, big smile still painted on your face

“Was the hyperfixation the movie itself, or was it learning songs from movies on the violin?” “It was both, but you can’t lie; both Sister Act movies were nothing but fire.” You say, walking up to him, violin long discarded.

“Sure love, whatever you say.” He takes your hips in his grasp, gently pulling you against him. “What, you don’t think so?” You ask, pressing kisses onto his entire face, effectively making him laugh. “Yes, I do think that both Sister Act movies are good, great even.” He chuckles, pressing one kiss on the side of your forehead. “You know you love me and all of my unusual interests.’ You smirk, walking into the kitchen. “Do I, do I really?”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Yeah, he’s never letting you go, you sound to sweet to him.

-Nene

[lemotmo]

Hi 👋 I hope you're doing great, I'm a big fan of you and your blog ❤️

I was wondering why do you think some fans are 100% convinced that the writers couldn't develop the BT relationship more because season 7 was a shorter season and the writers were just waiting for season eight to do so.

Because I just feel that if the writers really wanted to deepen the BuckTommy relationship they could have done it by now, like for example I can think of many moments where they could have add Tommy to show us how the relationship is going strong. Like having Tommy drop to the station to say hi, having Tommy there when Buck was babysitting Chris when Eddie was going on a date with Kim (it wouldn't have even been weird because Chris already knew Tommy), maybe Tommy being there for Buck when Bobby was in the hospital, heck the conversation they had while they where having dinner could have been more deep even with the daddy joke.

I'm just saying that until now the show hasn't show us they have the intention to commit to the BT plotline 🤷 if that was the case why would the wait to season 8 to do so. Why would that make sense?

I don't know if you have talked about this before but I'm really curious about your opinion.

Have a great day 👋

Oh, thank you Nonny. I've never had a fan before. I kinda feel like I'm undeserving of that. I'm just a woman sitting behind her laptop, writing stuff about her favourite show. But still, thank you for the nice compliment.

What a great question. Here is my two cents on this topic:

Well, you see... when Tommy kissed Buck in 7x04 everyone went crazy over bisexual Buck. But a part of the fandom didn't just go crazy over bisexual Buck, but also over Tommy and the whole BT of it all. And I get that. It started out very promising and, especially for the new fans, this was a great new queer couple on their TV-screens.

On the other side of that you had the Buddie shippers who have gone through 6 seasons of Buddie and they saw bi Buck, which made them very happy for Buck, but also for the opportunity of future Buddie. Most of us weren't interested in Tommy. There were the select few who became multi-shippers. Most of them still stan Buddie endgame, but don't mind the BT for now.

After that first promising kiss, BT went on a failed date that started showing some of tommy's true colours. For most Buddie fans it was obvious at that point that this guy wasn't right for Buck. And so it went on for a while with Buck apologising to Tommy, for God knows what, because he didn't do anything wrong, but whatever.

Then they got the big hospital kiss, which was once again, without an audience and only seemed to serve one thing: outing Buck to his family and friends. Tommy wasn't really important anymore after that scene, so they mostly dropped him until that very strange stilted date in the finale. If ever there was a red flag? It was there.

So you see, Tommy has only served Buck's storyline in season 7. It's so obvious that you can see it from space. Tommy is a classic plot device to get the main couple together in the end. Buck had to come out, before the storyline could progress. And I fully expect Eddie to come out in season 8 as well, which will eventually lead to Buddie. Whether in season 8 or 9? I don't know. But it is coming.

Which brings us back to your original question. If the show had wanted to develop BT more, then yes: they could have and they would have, but they purposely didn't.

This is of course hard to accept for fans who have grabbed onto this couple and see it as 'endgame'. So they HAVE to believe that season 7 was too short to develop BT and they HAVE to believe that season 8 will bring them more Tommy and BT, because otherwise they have to accept that BT isn't long term at all and they will end, which is inconceivable to them.

In the same vein there are those who deluded themselves that Tommy will be a main character in season 8. I mean... how can they not grasp that it isn't going to happen? I don't know for sure, but I imagine that Lou's headcanon cameos didn't help the situation.

So yeah, short answer? They are trying to 'manifest' their headcanons into reality and the easiest thing to blame for Tommy's very little screentime right now? Only 10 episodes in season 7. Season 8 has 18, so the writers waited until then to develop Tommy and BT.

Listen, I'm no expert on the subject, so this is just my opinion on this topic. Don't take it for gospel. I'm just another fellow fan who has seen all this develop since episode 7x04.

Have a nice day Nonny! :)

[suspicious-whumping-egg]

Rock Bottom Part 4: A Moneymakers AU

This series is based on the moneymakers series by @coldresolve! You can find part 1 of the AU series here. The last part of this chapter was inspired by this drawing by him and this post.

~~

Renee couldn’t help but feel that he was getting a taste of his own medicine. 

He hung from the low basement ceiling by his wrists, feet barely touching the floor, and watched as Corbin tied a bandana around his face, flicked on a bright spotlight that burned in Renee’s eyes, and positioned the camera. 

“Welcome back, my friends,” he said brightly, as if he was introducing a travel vlog rather than a snuff film. 

“As you can see today, we have a new… guest joining us today. It’s time to find out his niche.” 

He strode to the laptop, and in minutes, offers started rolling in. The desk was close enough that Renee could just barely make out the chat— and its placement was too precise to be unintentional. 

Four thousand bucks if Corbin will drug him up. Two thousand to whip him. One thousand for a good, old fashioned, brass-knuckled beating. Ten thousand to cut off a finger. 

His head spun, and he gasped for breath, barely realizing his breathing had become so shallow. He’d been hyperventilating, much to the amusement of whichever creeps were watching the stream. Probably the same ones who watched Conrad’s. 

It’d been different. It’d been for the money, the rush, the power, the outlet. Corbin just enjoyed watching people suffer. 

As if Renee never had. 

Corbin grinned at him, turned to the camera to give it a wink, then addressed Renee once more.

“You know what? I’m just gonna give it a few minutes before we get started. Let the audience get their offers in, and I’ll pick a few favorites.” 

The chat was rolling. 

WYV3RN: if that’s the case, fuck him right here for 20. take it or leave it. 

no_pain_no_gain: We haven’t gotten a vivisection in a while ;))) how much to see his guts? 

[redacted]: It’s his first time, let’s ease him into it with a whipping. I’ll up the offer to 2.5k.  

user_029473: Boring… but maybe if it’s wrapped in barbed wire? Five thousand. 

W3VYRN: at least strip him. five hundred.

user_638745: Nothing wrong with the classics. Waterboard him for 10. 

If Corbin did everything they asked at once, Renee wouldn’t last for more than a day. Maybe that’s why so many of the bloodstained cells were empty. 

Corbin sidled up to Renee and leaned into his laptop, an arm wrapping around his waist as he scrolled through the suggestions. 

“A barbed wire whipping? Can’t say that’s completely original, but it sounds like fun. And I’ve been in need of a new whipping boy. As for you, Wyvern, get your head out of the gutter.” 

Renee couldn’t help but sag in relief at Corbin’s denial of the most perverted request, although he knew he wasn’t in the clear yet. If Corbin was anything like him, he’d do anything if it had the right price tag. 

He turned to Renee without hesitation, pulling a black butterfly knife out of his pocket and flipping it open. 

“Do you want to hear what happened to my last one?” He said it as plainly as if the two were discussing the weather at a tea party. 

The basement grew silent, and Renee realized he actually wanted a response. 

“Not really,” he muttered, praying no one would recognize his voice from his own streams. He took in a shaky breath and forced his lips into an utterly fake half-grin that looked a lot more like a grimace. 

“Surprise me.” 

If there was anything he’d learned from Conrad, Renee knew a terrified, sobbing victim was much more fun than anything else. And he refused to give Corbin anything— reactions, views, money. Not if he could help it. 

Corbin whistled, sliding the tip of the blade under Renee’s shirt and splitting the fabric with one smooth, practiced motion. 

“Looks like someone’s excited to get started, hm?” 

Shit. If there was anything he knew about his own audience, the kinds of people who watched red rooms were creeps in ways more than one. He had to make himself human. Undaunted. But not masochistic. 

“Not remotely,” he snapped, trying not to shiver as cold air hit his bare skin. His hands shook for a cigarette, hard enough to rattle the chains around his wrists. Now it looked like he was trembling in hopeless panic. God, why hadn’t he tried to get one from Corbin before fucking it up and trying to attack him?  

“I just want to get it over with.” 

Corbin laughed. “Now that, I’m afraid, we can’t arrange. See, a private benefactor reached out to me shortly after you posted your… advertisement. And he’s offering me a generous sum if I run this session until you pass out. Although… I’ve thought of some ways to make it a bit more interesting. You could call them rewards, I suppose. If you behave, make yourself likable. That’s up to you.” 

He grabbed the handle of a whip and tugged it so the leather slithered ominously down from the rack to the floor, then dug around a drawer until he produced a length of barbed wire. 

“Feel free to queue up some more suggestions while I get this ready, I’m hoping to need plenty of them.” 

Renee squinted to read the chat, but Corbin spun the laptop to the side so he was now oblivious to the devious suggestions of the bloodthirsty audience. 

He talked aimlessly to the camera as he wrapped the whip, clearly one to love the sound of his own voice. 

“So, considering it’s a bit of a special episode today, I was thinking after we get a good variety of methods tested out, I’ll hold a group vote on what his… niche should be. Although considering his infamy on certain sides of the dark web, I’m not going to do anything too permanent. No cutting stuff off, doing what we did to poor Finn, anything like that. Wouldn’t wanna risk a mob of angry fans showing up to rip me apart, y’know? Sorry to disappoint, yeah, yeah. But that’s why we have the others. If we severely maimed them all, it wouldn’t be as fun when we did, would it?” 

He finished off the wire with a couple solid twists, then cracked the whip once in the air, testing its suppleness with the newly added restriction. 

“What do we think? Looks good? Should we make him count?” 

He turned to scroll in the chat, and what he found must have been good enough, because he stepped a few feet behind Renee and flashed a grin at the camera. 

“In that case, let’s get started. Crowd wants you to count, and I’ll tell you what— make it to thirty without messing up, and I’ll give you something from my stash. You’re addicted to cocaine, if I’m not mistaken? Just make it to twenty, and I’ll give you enough to take the edge off the withdrawal, how’s that sound? If you’re good enough, maybe I’ll make it ten.” 

Renee’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly at the mention of the drug, the mere hope that his lethargy might be relieved, and he nodded solemnly. He had to make it. There was no other option. 

“Perfect,” Corbin responded giddily. 

The crack of leather whistling through the air was the only warning he received for the first lash. The razors of the wire tattered a hot, furious stripe across his back, and Renee choked on the cry that forced itself from his lips. 

“One—” he gasped desperately. 

“Hmm…” Corbin murmured. “I’ll cut you some slack on the first one, but you’d better be louder than that from now on.” 

Crack. 

The force of the blow knocked the wind out of him, and he doubled over, tears springing from his eyes at the intensity of the pain ripping through him. 

“Aah— uh— two!” He barely managed to force the word out as he struggled to draw breath, rivulets of blood already beginning to run over his skin. 

Crack. 

The whip crossed the two previous lashes, blades tearing the other wounds deeper and cutting whatever untouched skin was left by his shoulder blades.  

“THREE!” He practically screeched it through the blinding agony that consumed him. 

By eight, his throat was raw from screaming, his face stained with tears as his blood began to run all the way to the cold cement floor. His back throbbed beyond belief, and he hung limp in the chains, unable to even stand through the agony. . 

His vision went white at twelve, as the strike wrapped the whip around his side, carving over his stomach. His scream turned into a broken sob, all thoughts of numbers retreating from his mind. There was only room for more pain. 

The space filled with Corbin’s gleeful laughter, and to Renee’s relief, the sound of the whip’s handle clattering to the floor. 

“Looks like he made it just past ten. Poor thing… I’ll have you know that my last whipping boy could take fifty of those without flinching by the time I was through with him.” 

Renee’s chest shook with sobs, both of relief and agony. He glanced at the floor and nausea clenched his gut to see so much of the concrete slick with his own blood. 

“P-probably ‘cause you destroyed the nerves by the third time you tried it,” he bit out, fury winning out over sense. 

Yet Corbin only grinned. “Looks like the pain put a little fight in ya. And it seems you’re quite the crowd pleaser. A 20k contribution without a request, just for how pretty you are when you cry— so you know what? I’ll meet you halfway.”

Renee’s sobs nearly returned with renewed vigor just from the relief that he might get what he do desperately needed. 

Corbin turned back to his supplies until he found a bag of the white powder Renee had been hoping for. 

“How about this? We hit two birds with one stone. A viewer asked to see you all cut up, and you’ve earned your fix. I’ve heard this works from the Internet, and you’re giving me the excuse to test it out.” Corbin gave a devious wink to the camera and pulled out his balisong once again. He flipped it between his fingers for a moment before circling Renee, looking for the best place to cut. 

He settled on his collarbone, and pressed the cold steel against the skin so dangerously close to Renee’s neck. 

“For science, tell me how it goes.” 

And with that, he drew a sharp line of pain right above Renee’s collarbone. Renee barely gasped, he was used to knives, and the pain was far less vicious than that of the whip. 

Corbin observed his reaction intently as he opened the bag of cocaine, shaking the tiniest bit over the cut. It stung as it met the wound, but the effects were nearly instant. Energy flooded Renee in mere seconds, and the world was as it should have been. It was enough to make him forget the bloody, twisted mass of flesh that used to be the skin of his back. 

But the feeling faded just as quickly, sending him crashing back to reality. Back to pain. 

He shuddered, tugging against the chains. 

“Please…” he whispered. 

He hated himself for it. He truly did. But this was a time when need surcompassed pride. 

“Just a little more…”

But of course, Corbin only flashed that wicked grin at him in return. 

“If you want more, you’ll have to earn it.” 

[theomnicode]

Looming tragedy

Oh a sudden thought hit me...

We saw how much Saitama broke when Genos was killed in front of him, right after we established that he cared for Genos with the core touch scene right?

Well.

We just established that Genos is infatuated with Saitama. He likes Saitama-sensei very much so.

Not that it wasn't very obvious anyway, but hey, it's down on actual words now.

You know what that means... and why romeo and juliet is really categorized as tragedy.

I have a sudden feeling it may be time to check out Genos side of that tragedy. Because he is making multiple deadly assumptions with bunch of the heroes here and operating on the false premise that Saitama is infallible and cannot be outplayed. It does not appear that he has told Saitama any pertinent information that should concern him either. He doesn't want to worry Saitama with nitty gritty details because Saitama is so strong he wouldn't need to know all of this anyway and Genos thinks he'd be fine anyway.

He puts all the eggs in one basket that Saitama is all they need in countermeasures against God.

(Oh hello Genos Edward scissorhands, it is nice to meet you chapter 172 Cover, all eggs in one basket)

But we as audience know that you cannot just rely on one person to bail out everyone. World doesn't work that way, you need people to help you out.

That would just make that one person with the capability to oppose the enemy and who everyone relies on have the biggest target painted at their back.

Prioritize this person's takedown and suddenly enemy's entire foolhardy plan falls like deck of cards. Play for the win condition and take out the General.

And we know OPM God knows his worst enemies well. He calls Blast by name and he surely knows by now that Saitama is the Abominable fist that opposed God.

Deadly mistakes, which are sure to cost Genos. Big time, when those rose-coloured goggles are ripped off and he remembers that Saitama is still just a human and his spirit, his emotions, jus as exploitable as anyone else's. Unfortunately, he seems too infatuated to see this obvious flaw in his battle strategy because he's not thinking logically and coolly.

Genos: It's about the way the protagonist judgement worked in the movie. Even if he had to go somewhere else, in that situation he should have quickly evacuated his family, friends and the heroine. That would have been the best decision. The way he did it, anyone would see what was his objective.

Saitama: Well... It's a movie. In any case, precisely because he had someone to protect the protagonist didn't give up and tried harder until the end, right? That's where the excitement is after all. Genos: I see... but, if he was in real trouble the enemy could have seen that objecti-

We joke that Genos is the real shonen protagonist of the series...well...

Kinda making a piss poor job that your supposed countermeasure can actually do their job right and has the tools and protection required to remain as a viable countermeasure option, by not telling him a single fucking thing, eh?

Kind of classic isfj mistake to make that because he has the details and has planned thoroughly, so he knows the best course of action. Naturally.

He's not the only one making that same mistake, because King too relies on Saitama a ton to bail him out and it already cost him is life once when Saitama did not. He got specifically targeted by one of God's minions because he baited it and made himself a threat.

OPM God got front row seats to check out exactly who Saitama is, what makes Saitama tick and has no misunderstanding about the importance of Saitama as a target and his scale of power. He got all the surveillance data he needed.

TBH if I was OPM God I'd just honestly stop sending useless footsoldiers and take matters to my own (invisible) hands if I wanted to destroy someone who proved themselves to be a mortal God. But that's just me though and I can't say I'm good at strategy games, but it would be pointless to throw down all these useful pawns for slaughter if Saitama can just kick their ass anyway, before Saitama himself is taken out. Brute force won't work, so more guile is needed.

Too late for Genos to evacuate anything now though.

[commenter2]

"The Promening" review

No time for an intro, IT’S THE PROM EPISODE!!

I’m still really liking the Glitch Productions opening theme. I wonder if they would ever consider making a longer version of it? I challenge any song writers here or on YouTube to make a song about it.

Lights turning themselves off, not ominous at all.

(Reading missing poster) Great even in the distant future, The Office is still around.

If there machines, why do the drones need to wear glasses when they could replace them with spare parts? Then again having “spare parts” of fellow drones would probably be creepy.

So the metallic insects aren’t a part of Doll’s powers but are their own organisms.

I’m not going to question the drone with the burning hat, as it doesn’t matter….literally as he is a robot and fire can’t hurt robots.

Though it shows her crazy side, it’s nice to see Uzi trying to protect N when she realizes he is a suspect.

Uzi’s mother was crazy too!

Again, nice to see Uzi’s father try and help her.

Hanging out with the cheerleaders AND having your parent chaperoning a dance, this IS an angsty teens nightmare XD

N’s dramatic NO XD

Callback AND N is starting to remember his past!

It was cute seeing the bug wave to Uzi when she stops to not step on it.

Looks likes Lizzy knows Doll isn’t a regular Drone AND is working with her. A bit surprising but fitting with her bitchy personality.

When you ignore the head slicing (especially since DD’s can regenerate) it’s nice to see V caring about N.

The scene of Uzi’s DD powers activating every time she touches her left hand is interesting as it hints at her eventually learning to control it. However wouldn’t it be more fitting if she used her right hand as not only does it differ from Doll but that was the hand that got stabbed by N in the pilot.

So Doll IS a DD spy and want to let in V!

Blood? Or is the light effecting the color?

Wear the suit N!

Man Uzi is a fast and silent stacker!

Oh yeah, I’ve seen many Friday Night Funkin videos where Ruv has said that. Classic saying.

N IS WEARING THE SUIT!! :D

And Uzi X N shippers rejoiced!

Cat face Uzi :3

I give up, does anyone see a Waldo in the prom audience?

Drones doing the robot. Saddest shit you will ever see.

GO Thad!

Khan (after seeing teacher drinking): Does that even do anything for you?

Teacher (after swig): Not anymore.

Chibi robot poster!

The idea of Lizzy and V hanging out is interesting to me and I REALLY HOPE we see them interacting like this in later episodes, maybe actually becoming friends in the process or more as I think Lizzy might be a lesbian as she did say V was hotter then Doll.

So Doll’s plan isn’t to get with N OR help the DD cause but get revenge on V!

Knowing Lizzy is the daughter of the principal must mean something, even if it’s just knowing he will likely kick Uzi out of school cause his daughter was in danger. At least then she could go and find out what is going on with N.

That robot speaking after Rebecca, and saying V is cute to a female drone (maybe his date?) is another small example of how random and funny the shows humor is.

“Not… THE DOORS!” XD XD XD

OH NO! Doll’s plans is to Carrie V!

So Doll’s origins are that she witnessed V killing her parents, and now wants revenge. This ends my theory about her wanting to be with N, BUT NOW make me wonder who the new robot in N’s flashback is supposed to be?

That symbol’s new! I mean it’s just the hexagon with electron like rings around it, but still it must mean something.

As seen on Doll’s HUD, we now know that the telekinetic/ferrokinetic powers don’t work on things like itself, in this case Uzi, giving us more confirmation that Uzi is not an average worker drone.

Aww Uzi and N’s first flirt fight.

Trailer scene!

Bye Doll, you will be missed. At least now we can get some answers.

IDK why but just see Uzi and the others glowing eyes in the dark was pretty funny. Though how come N and V’s acid and head lights weren’t glowing until the lights came on?

N also doesn’t squish the bug. Uzi X N CONFIRMED XD

It’s funny how the dramatic scene of Uzi about to eat MD oil is just followed by an out of range shot of her finger being pulled out with a pop, and N giving her a thumbs up not knowing what happened.

Doll! Wow she can make some really cool holograms. I hope she uses that more to fight Uzi and the others in the future as that is the kind thing I want to see in later villains.

We finally see Uzi use her powers! It’s also interesting that Doll’s first reaction is that she is sorry for Uzi, but after seeing Uzi’s necklace having the same symbol as Doll’s bracelet makes it understandable. It also gives me a new theory about Doll and Uzi but more on that later, I can say that Uzi and Doll aren’t like this because they were infected by Disassembly Drones.

The other Murder Drones have arri IS THAT A HUMAN?

I’m kind of hoping it’s not as I have previously stated my want to get new robot models in the show. Maybe she could be that robot from N's flashback but was altered differently. If it is, then either JCJ has developed tight outfits that can protect wearers from radiated planets OR most likely, the planet was never hazardous but people think that that so humans can go back to the planet. As for why I’ll explain at the end of the video.

J 2.0!!!! I wonder if she’s bitchier than the OG J?

At least with this Tessa character, we now know how Uzi and the others will get to Earth now.

Another great episode with an interesting theme and a few new villains that we can expect to see in future episodes. Out of all we learned in this episode, I now have a new theory about what is going on with Uzi and Doll.

Though we don’t know much about JCJenson still, we can safely say they built robots and likely wanted to make better models as the company grew. I theorized that while on the planet, the corporation tested out a new advance version of the Worker Drones who had the ability to interact with metal and electrical objects, which would make moving heavy items and fixing computer errors easier and cut cost on making more drones and hiring humans to do that kind of stuff.

Of course something went wrong with their programming and these “Hacker Drones” as I’ll call them went rogue when they wanted to live regular lives like humans and caused chaos on the planet, likely being the real reason why the planet exploded as seen in the pilot. Now free of their human creators, the “Hacker Drones” were able to blend in with the Worker Drones and finally live their own lives alongside them, some even having kids like Doll and Uzi’s mothers who inherited their abilities which were unlocked when going through their unique traumas.

Realizing having robots like this still around could be dangerous, JCJenson created the Dissassembly Drones to hunt and destroy them BUT since the “Hacker Drones” looked like the average Worker Drone, they had no choice but to lie and quarantine the planet and have the Disassembly Drones hunt every robot just to be safe, and to prevent there company from bad press.

What did you think about the episode? What was your favorite part and do YOU have any theorizes about what will happen later in the series?

[xenovalence]

Alien: Romulus

R 2024 ‧ Horror/Sci-fi ‧ 1h 59m

Cue the lo-fi beats and the vintage VHS effects

We finally got another one, Boys. whats up back at it again with another film review. Let's dive into the spooky, squishy spacey nightmare that is Alien romcom I mean Alien: Romulus. Which by the way likely references the mythological figure Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome. Romulus, along with his twin brother Remus, is a symbol of origin, survival, and the violent birth of a new order. This connection may suggest themes of beginnings, foundation, and perhaps the brutal conditions under which new civilizations (or in this case, new forms of horror) arise. In the context of the Alien universe, the name "Romulus"

could metaphorically relate to the birth of something terrifying and foundational within the series' lore, possibly marking a return to the franchise's origins while introducing a new chapter or entity that carries a significant impact. It may also imply the creation or discovery of something that, like Romulus's Rome, is destined to grow into something powerful and enduring—albeit with a dark and violent genesis. These mythological and thematic parallels could be why the filmmakers chose the name "Romulus" for this installment​ and keeping up the tradition of Greek names. Like Prometheus.

Did they bring back the xenomorphs? yeah, they did it—they brought back them back along with

the face-huggers, and all the existential dread you could ever want, but... did they stick the landing? Let’s find out. First off, this movie is like if you took the OG Alien and Aliens, shoved 'em in a blender with some VHS tapes of Blade Runner and a sprinkling of your favorite 80s horror flicks. It takes the formula and runs with it. A horror film with Teens in space. It’s as if you gave people from the original alien and aliens films and gave them updated film equipmentment and said go crazy. Pays homage and fan service in a respectful way.

Fede Álvarez, the guy who brought us that Evil Dead remake, knows how to make you squirm in your seat, and here, he’s playing all the right notes—just maybe a little too close to the originals at times. Set between the events of the original Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), the film is praised for capturing the claustrophobic terror that defined the early films. A Classic troupe in horror is isolation, one of the most isolated places in existence, space, prefect. The plot centers on a group of young people who, in a desperate bid to escape their grim existence on a mining colony, board an abandoned spaceship, only to encounter the deadly xenomorphs.

The film's atmosphere is heavily influenced by the classic haunted-house-in-space formula that made the original so effective. The production design and practical effects are especially noteworthy, with a deliberate move away from heavy CGI in favor of tangible, lived-in environments that heighten the tension and realism. This return to practical effects is a major point of praise, as it creates a more immersive and terrifying experience for the audience.

We’re talking practical effects that look like they’ve crawled out of a Ridley Scott fever dream. There’s some seriously gnarly creature design here, and the space station where our unlucky crew of Gen Z miners end up feels more lived-in than my old room full of N64 games. There’s a real effort to make the environment feel gritty, grimy, and full of history—like people lived and died here long before our crew showed up and made bad decisions. And yeah, they make some real bad decisions.

Let’s talk characters. We’ve got Cailee Spaeny as Rain, who’s basically the 2024 answer to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. She’s tough, but forgettable . She’s just trying to survive, and honestly, who wouldn’t be? But the real star here is David Jonsson as Andy, the synthetic. This dude’s playing mind games with everyone, including us. Half the time, I didn’t know whether to root for him or be freaked out. And honestly, that’s how you know he’s nailing it. There isn't specific information available that confirms whether the character Andy is explicitly portrayed as autistic. However, characters who are synthetics or androids in the Alien franchise often display traits that could be interpreted as being on the autism spectrum, such as difficulty with social interactions, a focus on logic and tasks, and a unique way of perceiving and processing the world around them. David Jonsson's portrayal of Andy is noted for its complexity, making the character intriguing and enigmatic, with audiences unsure whether to fear or sympathize with him​ . This ambiguity might lead to different interpretations, including one where Andy's behavior could be seen through the lens of neurodiversity, but without clear confirmation from the filmmakers, any conclusions would be speculative.

Another noteworthy observation is his portrayal has interesting layers when you consider his race. In science fiction, synthetics often represent "the other"—beings that are created, owned, and often exploited by humans, drawing parallels to historical and ongoing issues of slavery and racism. By casting a Black actor as Andy, the film may subtly invoke these themes, whether intentionally or not. The parallels between Andy's existence as a synthetic and the historical treatment of Black people as property or slaves add a deeper layer to his character. Synthetics in the Alien franchise often grapple with questions of autonomy, identity, and purpose, much like how marginalized groups have historically fought for recognition and rights. Moreover, Andy’s struggle with his programmed directives and the way he is perceived by others could reflect the societal prejudices faced by Black people, who are often judged and constrained by societal expectations and biases. This interpretation suggests that Andy's character might be seen as a commentary on the intersection of race, identity, and humanity's fear of "the other."However, these themes are likely more interpretive than explicit, as the film does not overtly address race. Still, the casting of David Jonsson as Andy adds a significant layer of complexity that invites viewers to explore these possible connections.

But okay, this movie’s not perfect. The audio mixing? Yikes. It’s like they recorded the first 30 minutes in a wind tunnel or something. I couldn’t make out half the exposition, which is kind of important when you’re dealing with a plot and also the accents are kind of hard to understand without subtitles, but hey I understand why our boy Ridley Scott, is British and since he is producing the film with his company Scott Free why not? Don’t even get me started on the CGI resurrection of Ian Holm’s character from the first Alien. They tried to go for that sweet fan service, but it just ends up looking like something from a creepy deepfake video.

That said, if you’re into that old-school, haunted-house-in-space vibe, Romulus delivers. It’s got the thrills, the chills, and enough gooey body horror to make you question your life choices. It’s like watching your favorite horror franchise come back to life, but this time with a bit more self-awareness. The plot might be thinner than my hairline, but sometimes you just want to see some aliens eat people, you know?

In the end, Alien: Romulus isn’t here to revolutionize the franchise—it’s more like a greatest hits album with a few new tracks. And honestly, I’m okay with that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go re-watch the original and remind myself why I never want to go to space. Catch you later, space cowboys.

Subjective 7.9/10

Objective 7.5/10