#could the film have existed without their romance? sure

[outalongtheedges]

I just wanna say one thing, cause I’ve been seeing it on TikTok a whole lot, I WILL NOT STAND FOR CHARLIE HATE

I’m sorry but it feels misogynistic whenever I read stuff like this:

Actually I will not apologise.

Stop hating on my girly for whatever reason you chose for yourself to make sense.

And so do I

Masterlist

[aquasarsstuff]

Your Choice, Dating sim au

Heartslabyul Route:

Summary: Awakening in a dating simulation, you find yourself immersed in a realm of whimsical fantasy, a stark contrast to the modern world you’re accustomed to. In this alternate universe where you’ve landed, will you navigate towards your fairytale ending or become ensnared in a complex web of deception? The outcome depends on your choice.

A month has passed since you've been whisk away from your home, yet you could still never get accustomed to this new world you were place on. Despite this world matching the sets of historical films and fiction you've read, it has far more advanced technology than your world's pinkie toe, due to the existence of magic. As such a heavy burden was place on your shoulders as one of the children of aristocracy: pretending to have magic. From the hush whispers sent to you by your parents, it was without a doubt that you don't possess magic. Even so, your weekdays are always used to learn more about magic and whatnot to be able to blend with fellow mage.

The setting and the plot of your life screams of familiarity inside your head. It took a few days before it finally click. You were inside one of the dating sim you've played before. There were four main leads or was it the only routes you've only got to finish? You're not sure, but you had all the information you have to survive from your bad ending. You were neither a protagonist nor an antagonist, not even a side character! Just an unseen character use as a bridge to bring romance between the protagonist and love interest in one of the routes.

You brought down the book to your table. Its pages were at least two inch thick, and its width stretches from your wrist to your elbow. You've been staring hollowly at far distance for a few minutes that you didn't notice the discomfort it brings on your skin for putting all of the weight of the book on your lap. You pressed flatly and straighten your outfit. It would not be nice to be seen unkept if there were guest to arrive, invited or not.

What will you do?

Option 1: Get out of the room

Option 2: Escape through the window

Option 3: Stay in the room (Keep reading)

You opted to get a snack, but if one of the servants caught you leaving the room, they might report it to your father, and the last thing you want these days is to get scolded for slacking off. You leaned your back closer to the couch. Its plump cushion being pressed down your weight. The number of materials on the table that is in dire need to be read, rest peacefully. Most of it were still left untouched by you. You did try to read it, for heaven's sake, but its meaning on every page was ancient to you, and it's not because you have a bad reading comprehension. It's due to the fact that you are no magic user. The books were enchanted, but you can't even feel a tinge of its presence under your fingertips, hence you can't make a connection to understand the contents. You can only sigh in frustration and scream internally, otherwise the other people living in the house might think you're getting kidnapped or something.

A boisterous laugh echoed the hall. Finally, the hours of torture will come to an end. You picked the book you were holding earlier and opened it to where you last left it off to create an illusion that you were reading as per orders. The doors to your study room opened in a flash, loud sounds of footsteps hitting the marble floor followed. A man with an orange hair, that reminds you of a carrot you had for breakfast this morning, peek inside the room. A smile as bright as his hair decorated his lips. It was Cater, your personal butler since childhood is what they said, yet you can't find any reason to believe any of those perfect grin. He did get you in trouble for several occasions.

You grip the hard covers of the book firmly in your hand, your nails digging on the thick leather. Something in your mind told you to raise this book to your face, and you did. A click was heard, before he finally stepped out of the doors, a weird gadget in his hand, presumably a camera of some sorts. You gently close the book down, and let it seat on your lap. A particularly large sigh escaped his lips, showing his absolute discontentment.

"What a shame, that shot was so perfect if it only captured your face." He took a glance at the gadget he has, probably looking again at the said photo.

What will you do?

Option 1: Say nothing

Option 2: Be condescending

Option 3: Ask his intentions (Keep reading)

"What are you doing here? Is it the time for dinner?" You still asked him, even though you knew what his arrival meant. What you don't know is why did his obsession for taking pictures was suddenly directed on to you. Nevertheless, this only strengthen your distrust for him. It's probably because of those pictures that he was able to snitch you on to your father. What was his intention? Is it fear? Loyalty? Or something else?

Entering Cater's route: (To be continued)

---------

More options will come out later. Please tell me if you wish me to continue this au. Writing Cater was honestly just fuels my writer block ahahhaha

[bubbipond]

Character-Driven Stories - We Are and Their "lack of plot"

From a literary and film perspective...It's a long one if you wanna read...(:

I keep seeing people say We Are and stories essentially like it have no plot and as someone who went to school for this, I have realized some people don't know the word's definition. The hate-on-slice-of-life type shows always perplexe me because there is this idea in media that if a show does not have high emotions or high stakes all of a sudden it lacks plot. A plot is just a matter of cause and effect. Something happens in a story that affects how the story is told. Whatever that plot is, affects the characters and provides substance for them to keep the story going.

What I think people mean when they say that a story lacks a plot is that it is more character-driven than plot-driven. Using We Are as an example, the characters drive the plot instead of the plot driving the characters. Take Game of Thrones as an example; the goal in the story is to see who will get to the Iron Throne (yes I know that there is far more to it but that's the general goal). So no matter what the characters do, that will always be where the series ends. The villains and protagonist will eventually rule and then the series is over. It's not character-driven because whether or not a character changes their mind or dies, the central plot is going to stay intact.

Then in media like We Are, the central focus is the characters and their decision making. If Phum decides he does not want to pursue Peem then their storyline ceases to exist because the plot can only move forward with his decision to keep exploring it. This is because there is no central goal for the character once they make a decision to stop. If We Are were to be plot-driven then there would be a conflict that needed to be resolved that drove the characters. Let's take Never Let Me Go as a plot-driven story PondPhuwin have done. In NLMG the plot that drives the characters are murder, attempted murder, and imprisonment. Nuengdiao's father dies then his mother is nearly killed, leading him to need to run away because now he is being hunted. Those things make or break the plot because there is nothing Nuengdiao or Palm can do while that is happening. Nuengdiao cannot live a normal life without finding out who is after him, ie, the major plot point.

In We Are the plot is centered around friends and the lives of their friend group. The plot moves when they do and when they make decisions. Stories like highly character-driven ones do not have a basic goal or obstacle as one in a plot-driven story would. Think of it as the action of a story being where the plot lies. The reason many slice-of-life-type stories get the, "it has no plot" comment is that they do not have specific actions, consequences, or occurrences that fall back onto a central theme. Many love stories that focus mainly on love tend to be character-driven, not all, but many do. The only action in these stories that moves the plot is the relationships progressing. When the relationships stay stagnant we tend to get the time in romcoms and romances where stories get boring because the only thing moving the story along is their evolving relationship.

It is essentially impossible to have a story without a plot unless your characters are in a room looking at a wall. Even then, I am sure someone could find a way to drive a plot in that scenario.

But anyway, just food for thought. Also, disregard any grammar or spelling mistakes, my phone's autocorrect only wants to correct me when I don't need it to, never when I do... Anyway, that is all I wanted to say about it! No hate to anyone that doesn't like this show or any other one I just hate seeing people say that's stuff.

[furiroad]

Furiosa spoilers under the cut 🚗

It's actually staggering how much that movie did not need to exist. Gonna bullet point some thoughts

My sarcastic lol @ the lightning fast sisters cameo at the end where they're all played by completely different people. the quick flash of Cheedo's eyes bc they managed to get Courtney Eaton back for three seconds didn't appease me

I guess it technically passes the bechdel test bc right at the start Furiosa says "be still" to Valkyrie but iirc that's the only pass moment. I know not passing the bechdel test doesn't mean the movie is automatically bad I just think it's interesting considering it's following Fury Road

"she talks to her mother" I don't think they ever said her mum's name out loud

You know how mad max fury road could have a silent version w no dialogue + isolated soundtrack and it worked because you could tell what's going on anyway? This movie has the opposite problem. Way too much talking. They over-explain everything

The best bit was the prolonged torture scene at the end where Hemsworth explains Furiosa's entire character arc and the message of the movie out loud to her and also us

Even his teddy had an arm missing, replaced with a barbie arm. Thanks. We get it

Her arm made robot noises

Actually threw MY arms up in disgust when she went back for that boy she supposedly had a romance with despite the film never bothering to actually show/explain that. I'm calling it a romance because the actors did. I guess it was supposed to be a Capable/Nux parallel but it didn't work for me and not just because I'm a dyke and a hater OK, if you're gonna do a ROMANCE, DO A ROMANCE. don't leave me sitting there wondering why Furiosa is risking it all for some guy she's had ONE conversation with, especially after he offers to get her away from the Citadel and back to where she came from, WHICH IS HER ENTIRE MOTIVE EVER SINCE SHE WAS TAKEN

I DON'T GET IT

Them trying to emulate Max and Furiosa's instinctive, perfect we have to trust each other moment by having Jack and Furiosa... look at each other Meaningfully fifty times while they were supposed to be driving cars? Don't make me laugh! You will never be them!!

Max being there for a second wasn't cute! I rolled my eyes

Same at "remember me?" MAKE UP YOUR OWN STUFF

So many things happened because they needed to happen (plot demanded it) and didn't make any sense in context. My favourite was when Furiosa rode her motorcycle up a dune to get away after cutting off her arm and the biker gang couldn't follow her up there for some reason

So much Christian imagery... threw me off tbh

Considering it's Furiosa's movie it sure isn't about her + she doesn't speak at all for almost the first half

This movie was way too long

I called it about the peach seed

I called it that she cut her own arm off

George Miller read some of my blog but not all of it

You know how The People Eater rubbed his nipple that one time and it was delightfully weird and gross and got a good reaction? Well in this movie he's constantly rubbing it, the whole time. Really lessens the impact of the nipple rub

As you can see this movie has made me insane

Like this is not really about the nipple rub but do you get what I'm saying here

Furiosa spends most of the movie hiding her hair (because as we all know, having long hair immediately identifies you as a woman) and then when her head covering gets knocked off and her hair is revealed (omg she's a girl) she leaves it like that and becomes an Imperator. On what planet

The history man frames the entire movie for some reason. Do they show Miss Giddy? Take a wild guess

One of the coolest parts of fury road was that a gang of bikers ended up being hardcore wasteland grannies w guns and loose morals in response to people fucking around for far too long without finding out. Did this movie have anything like that for me? Take a wild guess for a second time

The car fight scenes weren't even that great. Couldn't remember hearing any good music under them (brother in arms truly lightning in a bottle) and they went on for too long which feels wild to say about suped up car battles in the australian wasteland: 2 but oh well. This is how I feel. Fury Road was so good at carefully measuring out high octane action and then downtime and careful, quiet character introspection and this movie had no idea what it was doing either way

Honestly I don't hate it but I feel like it was a waste of time and it doesn't need to exist at all. A real nothing experience. Am I going to see this movie ten times in cinemas? No I am not even going to see it twice in cinemas

I don't know what I was expecting.

oh my god also they played clips of Fury Road over the credits as if to say "remember how fucking good this is in comparison to the dumb shit you just watched"

[hello-nichya-here]

Some Peter Pan 2003 edits, enjoy.

(Nichya, do you agree with me by thinking this movie is the few examples of a live action Disney remake being as good if not better than the original?)

I agree and there's a very good reason why that is the case: it wasn't made by Disney, but by Universal, who wanted to be more loyal to the original story - and like Jason Isaac's himself said, that was the thing that made this movie so different from most adaptations of it.

I'm gonna be real, I used to hate basically every version of Peter Pan, mainly because of the Disney cartoon being my introduction to the story. I just never understood why Wendy liked him, or why he liked her, or how Neverland was in anyway special/different from any generic "Magic place", or why I should care if any of these characters leave it behind or stay. And keep in mind, this was coming from a child that was all about the Disney formulas. Peter Pan, as a concept, just REALLY felt hollow to little me.

... And then I watched this movie.

Let me tell you, 6-year-old Nichya was OBSESSED with this movie (and with Jason Isaac as Hook). 24-year-old Nichya too, even more so actually, because EVERYTHING ABOUT IT is perfect - including the thing that aged "poorly", aka the special effects.

Neverland doesn't really look real and that's good. The dated effects, the epic music and the very colorful lighting make it look like a place that could only exist in dreams, so when Wendy and her brothers are in awe of it, I totally get it. Today's tendency of films in which every scene look super dark and/dull makes me appreciate it even more.

The lighting also does wonders for the storytelling, showing Peter's magical connection with Neverland as it changes based on his emotional state, or in moments like Wendy seeing Hook for the first time, with the extra focus on his eyes - you can practically hear the book quote of Wendy being fascinated instead of frightened.

Speaking of the book, the fact that this adaptation had the guts to go with THE thing that could end making it far too corny and silly, aka the "kiss" Wendy has on her lips and that shows she's starting to grow up and become interested in romance is SUCH an important plot-point and key aspect of her character arc, and is delightful to see an adaptation that goes "We already have a magical land, fairies, mermaids, and a boy that stays a kid forever. How is the 'kiss' going to make it less realistic? It's fantasy already!"

And I love, love, love how they make sure we know who Wendy is outside of romance (a storyteller that wants adventure, a child that is both really mature and responsible, but also activelly trying to escape that role, someone who is very motherly but has a ton of anxiety about the prospect of eventually being the adult in charge) - but without ever downplaying how much her romance with Peter means to her.

He was the boy that was giving her everything she was looking for at the moment: friendship, adventure, excitement, and, more importantly, a way to escape any responsibility she didn't want - forever. He really is the hero she had been waiting for, and that, as a consequence, makes her realize that growing up and eventually having a family is not that scary after all, as long as she finds the right person, someone who understands her and that she trusts.

Obviously, she doesn't want to get married and have a ton of kids NOW, but she wants the promise that this will happen - when they're ready for it, when they're older. But Peter Pan is no ordinary boy. It's not just that he's too immature to fully embrace his feelings for Wendy right now, and could truly allow himself to love her later. He is NEVER going to reach that point, he's far too afraid to allow himself the chance to even try. And that breaks Wendy's heart.

And it breaks Peter's heart too, because he WANTS to be loved, and he already cares for Wendy in a way he never cared about anyone else. But because of who he is, she, and everyone else, will inevitably leave him. Because ALL children grow up. He is the only one who was blessed, and cursed, to be the exception.

He'll never be a husband and father. He will never be someone's child or sibling. He's the true lost boy, out of reach forever. He is truly free from everything and everyone, but the price is the knowledge that, sooner or later, he will find himself completely alone time and time again. And Wendy, the girl he loves, will one day either forget him or grow old and die - after having lived a full life with someone else, because Peter couldn't, and wouldn't, grow old with her.

He's doomed to be lonely forever... just like Hook. But unlike Hook, when he is immature and selfish (like when he closes the window at Wendy's house in the hopes that she'll believe her parents stopped waiting for her and her siblings), he does it out of pure desperation, because he's a child that genuinely doesn't know any better.

Hook however, is coming from a place of malice. When he "pursues" Wendy, he does out of jealousy that Peter managed to find true love, while he will never have that. He does it to steal that from him, to hurt him, to make him endure the pain of knowing that, of all people that could have replaced him in Wendy's heart, he was the one who did it.

And, of course, while he never really does anything to Wendy, the constant implication that, at any second, he might, looms large. Their dynamic is inherently predatory, with Hook exploiting the fact that Wendy is mature enough to want a romantic connection, but is still too naive to understand all the implications behind it, and, more importantly, that no adult that wants to be with her like that could possibly be someone she's safe with it.

He is an intriguing, tragic figure like Peter and thus can "seduce" her rather easily too (the fact that Jason Isaacs is really fucking hot doesn't hurt either), but he is doing it through constant manipulation, reminding her that she can never have the boy she actually wants and exploiting her childish need to have some form of petty revenge against him for it, by "befriending" the person he hates the most in the whole world.

But there's another thing that brings her closer to Hook: the fact that, despite being the complete opposite of her father, he still LOOKS like him, is the real adult authority figure around, and he is offering her advice and comfort when she experiences her first heartbreak. He represents both her adolescent impulse to rebel, to proove she's grown already, and her childlike instinct to just run to the arms of her parent and let him call the shots because she's afraid of making mistakes and wants someone who can tell her what to do, how she's supposed to act.

There is a recurring theme through the movie of Wendy's mostly innocent fantasies being read through an adult lenses (see the teacher's concern and offense at the drawing of Peter above her in bed - because he's FLYING, not touching her in anyway). Much like when she was the "mother" of the Lost Boys, when she is by Hook's side, Wendy is a child playing pretend. But the threat Hook poses is very real and his intentions are downright evil. Because Wendy ran away from the flawed, but well-meaning adults she could trust, she walked right into the trap of a very dangerous man that is taking advantage of her need for a protector, a mentor.

And that's why the kiss scene is the perfect climax for the movie, as it concludes three character arcs at once. It shows us Wendy choosing true love, however fleeting, instead of Hook's lies, and indulging in one last childhood fantasy before growing up. It gives Peter the only form of closure he could ever have, knowing that even if he can't be with Wendy, he will always be "the one" for her and won't ever be forgotten, just like he won't ever forget her, because they mean too much to each other. And Hook is forced to accept that, because he can't connect with anyone without manipulation, which could never last, his life truly is void in a way even Peter's never would be.

So yeah, it's a great movie with serious guts, and everyone else can just quit trying to make a new adaptation, reboot, sequel, prequel or whatever because they're never getting anywhere near this level of quality.

[weerd1]

Yet another tale of how much I owe Star Trek

So this is something I haven’t talked about in years, but I was feeling nostalgic today and wanted to capture something. I wanted to write down how Star Trek got me through adolescence. 

Now, I’d already begun decoding Trek and it was already untying the knots my conservative upbringing was instilling from a young age. I can talk about “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” being so on the nose, but 11 year old me NEEDING to see that message about skin color so badly. However, this is not about Trek making me a better person (which it did); this is about Trek helping me learn how to BE a person.  Much more after the jump...

When I was in sixth grade, in about 1984 (I’m 50 now for reference) I got a copy of the old FASA Star Trek role-playing game. Please keep in mind that at this point, there is TOS, TAS, three movies, the novels, and a few comics, but that’s about it. I was consuming and reconsuming them voraciously when I got this game. As a small-for-his-age, nerdy, poor kid living in a trailer, the idea that I could roll a few dice and…BE in Star Trek was a potent elixir. 

Other people around me were growing up. Toys cast aside, actually interacting with other people in nascent romances; I was rushing home to watch GI Joe and Transformers after school. I was playing with Star Wars figures. I was now going through Starfleet Academy, and all it took was a pencil and 2D10. (Sidenote- the FASA RPG system remains one of my favorite RPGs second only to Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars system.) It was a way of adding the unknown to fanfiction I was already writing through  my MEGO Trek figures. 

I created a character, a descendant of my own (the biggest fantasy at that time being that I would ever find someone with whom I could start a line of descendants), promoted them to Captain and looking in the “Federation Ship Recognition Manual,” picked out a starship: the NCC-1754 USS Kitty Hawk.

My adventures had begun. Borrowing PLENTY from my heroes, my character was half-Vulcan, and 100% self-insert. To me, this was the POINT of an RPG. It was me, but the version of me I wished I could be. 

As the year went by, I picked up MORE novels and managed to find more TOS episodes (mostly on videodisc at a local place called “Movies to Go”). My sixth grade teacher, Mr. Toresdahl, was a Trekkie and would spend time he probably should have spent convincing me to do homework talking trivia. I would pick up the supplemental bits of the RPG: The Star Trek III Starship Combat Game, the miniatures, modules, reference books.

Probably the most important was when I got “The Romulans” which were certainly my favorite Trek villain.  This was helped along in NO small part by Diane Duane and her novels starting with “My Enemy, My Ally,” and later “The Romulan Way.” Without a whole lot coming out of Paramount for Star Trek at the time, there was a lot of borrowing between the existing media.

The RPG borrowed from the novels. The DC Comics series which started after the film “The Wrath of Khan” borrowed from the RPG.*

There was a congruence of some sort forming, and being as into the RPG as I was, it made me pretty well versed in all the lore. I started finding (and eventually writing for) fanzines at that point. I scoured “Starlog” magazine for Trek news and opinion. I was dead set that I would not rest until I knew all there was to know about Star Trek. 

When I started 7th Grade, there was a shift in the world around me.  Junior High meant multiple classes and even “electives.” Again, the whole physical specter of preteen sexuality was unfolding (and the examples around a young boy in the mid-eighties were seldom the healthiest). It was like I’d landed suddenly after the summer on a whole new planet, and I wasn’t sure how to cope with it all. 

But luckily, I had access to a version of me for whom landing on strange, new worlds was old hat. 

And so, I began what I can only now call LARPing life. I decided I WAS Captain Daomer. I invented an intricate “campaign” for myself, where 23rd Century Romulans (thanks again, Ms. Duane) had come back to Earth’s past to change our history, prevent the Federation from forming.** Just luckily, the Kitty Hawk was monitoring tachyon emissions in a singularity adjacent to the Sol system, and picked up the coming changes to the causality chain. At the last minute a hasty slingshot maneuver around the black hole had taken me and my crew to the time and place of the primary Romulan incursion: Southern Arizona in 1985. Of course.

Now, was this just a protective shell inside my head where I would pretend to be Captain Daomer pretending to be Daniel dealing with the intricacies of social interaction in the 7th grade?  Of COURSE not. I told anyone who would listen the whole story.

For about the next six years. 

I was in a small enough town that my school, Palominas Elementary, was a K-8.  I’d been with the same folks and staff more or less my entire school career. So, when I had to take a bus 30 minutes away to the nearest town to begin attending High School, did I change the story? Did I keep it to myself?  Oh no; if anything I became MORE flamboyant about it. Still a skinny nerd, I wasn’t picked on. Why? Because that kid’s the “Spock Guy,” and why would anyone mess with that Spock Guy?

Something important DID change between my Freshman and Sophomore year though. Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted. So, I had to update my story a bit.  My half-Vulcan character had returned to the 23rd century, continued his career, and in the 24th century, after being promoted to Commodore and as a fleet commander claiming the new Galaxy-Class USS Kitty Hawk as my flagship, had discovered post-Tomed Romulans were up to their old tricks.  That allowed me a real coup at one point, as I had caught through some fan publication early wind of Denise Crosby leaving the show, and “accidentally” dropped my knowledge that Lt. Tasha Yar was going to die before it happened on the TV. Proof of future knowledge! 

My Junior year, I was approached by a fellow student who was writing for the school paper and wanted to interview me.  We spent a couple of class periods talking about my “backstory” and I realized this person knew at least as much—if not more—about Trek than I did. The school paper never did run the interview, but some 35 years later that kid, Will Schwartz (yes, THE Schwartz) remains my best friend. 

I had already started to slow the story down a bit the summer before my Senior year, but also that summer, well, I met a girl. We were hitting it off. But when she mentioned going out with me, the school grapevine was quick to ask, “Are you dating that Spock Guy?” 

And she didn’t run away. Indeed, when she’d once demonstrated she knew all the lyrics to Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush,” I figured she was a girl I should talk into marrying me. When she accepted I was that Spock guy, because after all, her Dad was a Trekkie and had an AMAZING collection of science fiction paperbacks, well that clinched it for me. Today, Jennifer and I are celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. 

So, as I went out into the world after high school, did I never call on Commodore Daomer again?  I can’t say never. Sometimes in a military career when facing danger, or briefing an officer with stars on their shoulders, a mask of stoic Vulcan control would come out of that box in the attic of my brain and get me through. But more directly, Star Trek, and my immersion thereof got me through 7th to 12th grade and gave me a broader world view, a friend for decades, and helped me identify the love of my life.  

Thank you Star Trek for all of that. Thank you creators for the assist. Thank you fellow fans for helping it be such a rich world, and thank you Commodore Daomer for your 24th Century wisdom.

One little coda.  I still watch a lot of Star Trek. Old, new…I don’t like everything that comes out, but I love it all, and that’s something I think some fans struggle with. However, there was a lovely new starship introduced not long ago, and I had to immediately find a fan produced model and make some custom changes.

The Kitty Hawk-A goes boldly... Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning.

*The DC series had some wonderful early issues ALSO written by Diane Duane! Who can forget the Ajir and the Grond? Or McCoy accessing Spock’s katra still lurking within? Wonderful. The fact I’m mutuals here on Tumblr with someone who was such an influence to young me is probably the thing about my life now the kid in the trailer would be most skeptical of. 

**Thanks to Strange New Worlds for canonizing this, by the way. 

[merp-blerp]

I know I'll sound kooky for saying this, but I suspect that Barbie & the Diamond Castle was queer-coded on purpose. I mean this so seriously. There were probably hundreds of people working on this movie. You're telling me none of them were queer? So many queer people have worked for Mattel. Maybe a person (or people) working on this film wanted to make a queer Barbie movie as a form of self-expression or what have you, but couldn't explicitly do so because it was 2008 and that would've been seen as inappropriate for a family film (still could be seen that way 🙄). So they got as close as they could with Diamond Castle.

Just the essence of this film is so sapphic. Alexa and Liana live alone together, away from whatever town might be nearby. They see nothing more important than their relationship with one another and Liana says that Alexa "knows me better than anyone else in the entire universe" (it's almost like no one else in this medieval world could know Liana that well, maybe because she's gay and the only person who could safely know that is Alexa) and "I feel like a part of me is gone" after they fight and she believes their relationship might be over.

They get what looks like male "love interests" on the surface, but they don't actually behave like couples. The girls butt-heads with them a lot as if it'll be an enemies-to-lovers type of romance like Annika and Aidan from Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, but it never really becomes romantic. They don't even imply a happily ever after with the twins (whatever their names were, no one cares), they go back home together without them in their lives, at least not majorly. I think the fact that they don't have male love interests is the crux of this whole theory. The boys' existence is enough for kids and even adults watching to believe there's a straight romance in this film, especially if you've seen other Barbie films and know the formula, but there isn't. The movie just has male characters who take interest in the girls in a completely one-sided infatuation, heteronormativity does the rest when it comes to the audience thinking there's a romance with the boys.

Alexa and Liana's relationship is the most important aspect of the movie; the entire story is about their relationship, not their relationship with the boys at all, which separates Barbie & the Diamond Castle from other Barbie movies from this time, which all had hetero-romances in one way or another. This is probably why so many sapphic kids who grew up with it, like myself, loved it so much.

All these factors together just make me wonder if the queerness was intentional on someone's part.

Even if you bypass the queer interpretation, it's really refreshing to have a story that's about female friendship and that's it. No forced or unforced romance, just a story about girls and their friendship(s). There's no issue with romance, but also there's no issue with a lack of romance as well. That kind of message is hard to come by, even in more "adult" media.

(As a bit of a sidebar, the only queer aspect to this film that is surely coincidental to me is Alexa and Liana's dresses looking like the lesbian and bi pride flags. Liana's dresses do share a color scheme with the Emily Gwen lesbian flag, but that particular lesbian flag wasn't in existence till 2018, ten years after this movie was released. By association, I assume Alexa's dresses having the colors of the bi flag is also a coincidence, even though that flag was created in 1998 before this film. It is very cute how that turned out, though.)

[cto10121]

Twilight Clown Takes—Part 6

In which Instagram vies with YouTube on which platform has the most clownery. Featuring even more Bella hate dumb, the ~~~Mormon influences in Twilight, and a lot of hate for Jacob/Renesmee, including a fundamental misunderstanding of imprinting. We feast tonight, on nom nom

Bella Hate Dumb

Tell me you don’t know Twilight is a romance without telling me you don’t know Twilight is a romance.

Of course Bella’s life is going to revolve around her romance with Edward because Twilight is a romance! Her ambitions (which aren’t really many—just the vaguest idea of being a teacher or a librarian) aren’t important—hell, you could say the same thing about Edward! His entire existence constantly revolves around Bella and he constantly ditches his own family for her—even going off to commit suicide because of her.

And yet Edward, for all of his many whinging antis, is never accused of being a weak character. Creep or abusive, yes, but not weak. Wonder why? (The answer is misogyny).

In every one of the examples Clown OP mentioned, the humans either have 1) supernatural or learned martial skills or 2) the monsters they are fighting against have weaknesses that humans can easily exploit.

In the Twilight universe, vampires are literally the humans’ predators with no exploitable weaknesses. Vampires are not harmed by garlic, stakes, crucifixes, or the sun, nor do they have need to stick to hunting at night. No human can outrun or hold their own against a vampire. A young and healthy Carlisle couldn’t even handle a weakened vampire. The only creatures that can hold their own against vampires are werewolves, either the Children of the Night or the Quileute shapeshifters.

Bella is neither of them, and until very recently only learned vampires are real. Very few humans know for sure of their existance. So no, you can’t use the “it’s not an excuse!!1!!1” excuse to justify your misogyny, Clown OP. You can bitch about how the vampires are overpowered all you like (I’ll even agree!), but Bella is not weak for not being able to fight against them. She literally cannot.

Bella literally relates her life to classic literature in every book (Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Merchant of Venice), bitched about the thin selection of books at the Forks library, and nearly got raped looking for a good bookstore in Port Angeles (#relatable). She is a book girl, all right, and last time I checked, that is a hobby.

Also, Meyer hates Leah so much that she made her leave Sam behind and be free to become Jacob’s second-in-command and made Jacob learn to trust and respect her.

Because Bella’s insecurity is totally not a thing she overcomes and conquers by the end of the series and it’s not framed critically by the narrative. Because Twilight doesn’t totally show Bella’s parentification and how her parents just made her their parent. All these things just do not exist because to Clown OP only the first book and the dumb film series exist.

I literally read Life and Death not too long ago and there was essentially NO difference between Beau and Bella save in very minor details and (actually realistic) 2000s socialization. Beau’s “protectiveness” is largely emotional and ineffectual—it never actually serves a role in the story and Edythe dismisses it out of hand. He is not an active protagonist at all, or at least about as active as Bella is; he is still victimized in the latter half of the book and he even has to undergo a full vampire transformation.

Mormonism!!1!!1

Oh, God, where do I start?

“Humans who became divine—” And who lust for human blood to sustain them. There is already a creature who must drink blood to survive, so use it. Hell, Meyer didn’t even make up the whole “vampires are so beautiful/seductive/seemingly angelic” trope; that is your most basic vampire lore since Dracula.

“Bella’s aversion to drinking, smoking, coffee/tea—” Because a 17-year-old in the 2000s would totally smoke. Bella doesn’t go to parties, as she is de facto the parent of her family, so no, she wouldn’t drink and as the daughter of a police chief she would not have been raised to drink. As for coffee and tea, these are simply not mentioned—a far cry from being an aversion. Hell, no drink other than water and maybe milk is mentioned in the series. Does Bella even mention liquids???? She only seems to describe meals. As it is, Bella does ingest caffeine—she drinks Coke. Also, kind reminder that Bella has no religion.

“Rosalie/Leah feel incomplete not having babies—” Rosalie is a ‘30s girl who wanted to be a trad wife, which includes having children. Leah is worried that not having her period would make her unable to have children—not that she necessarily desires them, but it is weird and disconcerting not to have that option anymore. Moreover, Leah was getting ready to marry Sam, so she may have expected a life together with children. But it makes sense for their characters to be alike in this way, since they are mirror characters.

Meanwhile trad wife Esme is perfectly fine with adopting and caring for others and Alice doesn’t even mention that side of humanity at all. The Denali coven includes a trio of single sisters who loved having sex with human men so much that they decided to go vegetarian—they obviously are not obsessed with babies.

Jacob/Renesmee Hate Dumb

Apart from definitively resolving the love triangle, (thank God) Jacob’s imprinting on Renesmee stopped the Quileutes from attacking the Cullens after Bella gets bitten and changed—they have a law that prohibits harming a fellow werewolf’s imprintee. Moreover, it provides a much more firm alliance between the Cullens and Quileutes, thus resolving their rivalry/hate. But Clown OP doesn’t care about actual plot and theme resolutions, just the “ick” factor of the imprinting.

Meyer technically could have made the Cullens be forced to move after Bella’s becoming a vampire and have Renesmee and Jacob meet later. But I have a feeling that she didn’t expect to write more Twilight so she set up Jacob/Renesmee right away to dispel the love triangle once and for all. Given that Meyer got the idea of imprinting from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that may have been her rationale.

That said, Jacob imprinting on Renesmee was a key plot point in Forever Dawn, the original sequel to Twilight, which did not have the love triangle—Jacob was just a platonic friend to Bella. Again, for plot and thematic resolutions, and perhaps for future set-ups.

Friendly reminder that movie canon is not canon and will never be because, ha, fuck the movies.

But! This does give me a chance to talk about imprinting in the books vs. the movies. Not only does Jacob never say anything of this sort to Edward in the books, but he doesn’t even have a reaction when he learns Renesmee will be fully grown in seven years. Edward confirms he doesn’t care and his feelings towards Renesmee are strictly platonic.

I read the official Twilight guide’s entry on imprinting—written very neutrally and very careful not to say anything about romance—and it basically confirms this:

If the human is young, the werewolf becomes the perfect platonic playmate and protector. As the human ages and changes, the werewolf instinctively switches roles to fulfill the human’s needs.

This implies that if the human doesn’t want to make the wolf a romantic partner, then the romance will simply not happen.

So what this shows me is that imprinting is not inherently a romantic phenomenon. The fact that Sam/Emily, Jared/Kim found each other in early adulthood and developed a romantic bond was because of the needs of Emily and Kim than Sam and Jared’s. Soulmates, after all, can be platonic.

So if Jacob/Renesmee ever become a thing, it would be because Renesmee herself would want it. Jacob would be incapable even to wish for anything more. In that sense, imprinting is the exact opposite of grooming: It is literally giving all the power to the imprintee.

The movies, quite frankly, fuck all this up. From portraying Jacob’s imprinting as a vision of Renesmee growing up (🤮 and not in the books) to his “joke” to Edward (stupid and 🤮 and not in the books) to Alice suddenly being able to have a vision Jacob and Renesmee together on the beach (in the books she cannot see werewolves or hybrids; this canon was broken by the movies for the fight scene with Meyer’s permission). So no, that is not how imprinting works.

[hollowwhisperings]

Justice For Celebrian!

Celebrian is a Character of Absence in Tolkien's Legendarium: we never truly meet her and yet her absence lingers throughout the text, affecting most every major actor of the Third Age (the eldar most of all).

How-so it this? Through this: the devastating grief, unspoken yet doubtless, of those who knew & loved her.

For Celebrian was this: to Celeborn & Galadriel, their daughter and only child; to Elrond, the Great Love of his life; to Elladan & Elrohir, a mother whom they failed to quickly rescue; to Arwen Undomiel, the mother whom she was never to meet again for choosing the Path of Man.

Celebrian was the Lady of Imladris, the princess in all but name to Lothlorien. She was kin to two Ringbearers and yet neither Ring could save her. We know only that she was gentle and beloved, by some of the most crucial players in the events of the Second & Third Ages of Middle-Earth.

Why Celebrian is Absent

Celebrian's status as one "beloved" by the eldar creates a formidable motive in their hatred of The Shadow. For the means by which Celebrian was "absented" from Middle-Earth was entirely of Its Reckoning: in the 2509th Year of the Third Age, Celebrian was "waylaid by orcs". She was "captured and tormented" until she was, at last, found and rescued by her twin sons.

This Fate is one of Horrific Implication, one that Tolkien's Appendix B avoids elaborating upon (beyond her "receiving a poisoned wound").

Fans have Imagination Enough to consider what Hurts could be beyond even Lord Elrond's means to Heal, beyond any of Galadriel's many powers, beyond the careful comforts found in Imladris & Lothlorien. Whatever befell Celebrian by the creations of Sauron, it left her so wounded that Sailing West (& thus Away from most everyone she had ever known) was her only Hope for recovery.

"Justice" within the Legendarium

The Fate of Celebrian was yet one blow more in a long list of Personal Grievances borne by her Kin against Sauron. The vigilance and ample assistance of Celebrian's Kin during the War of The Ring was undoubtedly inspired, in no small part by her Fate & subsequent Departure.

While Elrond & Galadriel would doubtlessly have aided The Fellowship without this most recent grievance to drive them, the otherwise reclusive eldar of Imladris & Lothlorien would certainly have found Celebrian's Fate "inspiring" enough to take arms once more, "postponing" (or hastening) their Leave of Middle-Earth to seek Justice for their Lost Lady.

"Injustices" in Adapted Works

The Injustices that adapted Tolkien works have done unto Celebrian are many: they have erased her very existence (TROP); they have denied her her Epic & Untold Love Story with her Husband (TROP, again); they have Lessened the person she chose to love by making him a Minor Antagonist (both of PJ's film trilogies); they have stolen the kinship between other characters that they share for her existence (PJ's trilogies imply her existence but fail to utilize its possibilities, many of them comical: Elrond is Galadriel's Son-in-Law; Gimli's Championship of "Grandma Galadriel"; Arwen's Looks being inherited not from Celebrian but from Elrond; etc).

The effects the Live-Action Adaptions have had on the Modern Tolkien Fandom are also Significant: Hugo Weaving's portrayal of Elrond is the most commonly known, despite its OOC-ness; the relationships between Celebrian's Family are unrealised or dismissed; the "Last Homely House", a title probably earned by Elrond & Celebrian both, is considered falsely named; the Many Incentives for Galadriel to Hate Sauron & to have ALWAYS Hated Sauron are... forgotten to enable a "will-they won't-they" romance(???).

To erase Celebrian is to remove from the Second Age one of its silliest love stories: she & Elrond were silently pining for each other for almost 2000 years! This surely amused her mother, who had become afflicted with Sea-Longing some few years prior, & caused Conflict at the Court of King Gil-Galad (for, by wedding Celebrian, Elrond's Claims for High Kingship of the Eldar would become even stronger). The politics are, perhaps, the primary purpose of the would-be couple's long silence: audiences do not know as the potential of their love story has had little attention dedicated to it.

Injustice to Celebrian exists also in the mischaracterization of Elrond: what impression must an audience have, afterall, of the one to love & be beloved by someone so antagonistic to those most in need of "The Last Homely House"? The hostility, the begrudging "hospitality" exhibited by the Elrond of PJ's film trilogies tarnishes not only Elrond but the Legacy of Celebrian as that House's Lost Lady.

(It also creates some varyingly minor/major Plot Holes, such as Elrond's ability to host a Council of the "Free Peoples" in the first place. If his hospitality is so poorly to non-elves, why on Arda would he so frequently be sought for counsel? Furthermore, the Elrond of the Third Age has made himself a Healer: how many elves of this Age would ever need his skill?)

More, varyingly serious charges of "injustice" to Celebrian are sure to follow: my discontent began in the rendering of her husband into a petty antagonist; it has been reignited upon my learning of Amazon's choices in its adapting of the Second Age. Mostly, however, my rallying cry is made in jest: "failures" of adaptions to make Elrond sufficiently pretty for his wife; the lack of "Celebrian/Elrond" content in tumblr feeds; melodrama over how many elven names start with "Celeb".

[spoiledsummerdasies]

Being a fictive from a controversial source (Lolita)

A post by Delores “Lolita” Haze (NEVER CALL ME LOLITA. I MENTION IT HERE ONLY SO PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM)

This is long, and obviously covers triggering topics, so TW for everything under the cut.

Let me tell you something right off the bat, you can’t control who you split. No one in this system actively wanted to split a character from one of the most controversial and misunderstood books to ever exist. And yet, here I am. 14 years old, only girl in the system. I’m extremely lucky to have formed without exomemories, but I am fully aware of what happened to me in my source, it’s uncomfortable to live with that information, but I have to endure it. I do try and separate myself from my source to an extent, I don’t want to trigger myself you know? But the entire conversation around Lolita interests me. I categorise those who are interested in the Lolita franchise (book and movies) into four categories:

1- people who actually understood the story. They know it’s not a love story, that it’s more akin to a horror if anything. They like the story for its writing style, or the movies for the cinematography or fashion etc. these are the people I like. They don’t romanticise or victim blame.

2-people (usually young) who don’t understand the story. They’re usually young girls with an older man k*nk who romanticise it.

3- people who have zero media literacy and can’t figure out that h*mbert is an unreliable narrator who warped everything to for his sick, victim blamey viewpoint. These are the ones that get all outraged and call anyone who even mentions the story a PDF

4- literal actual PDFs who completely missed the point of the story entirely.

Notice how only 1 of those 4 categories are safe people to interact with?

The publishing industry and the 60s movie absolutely failed the story. The author himself specifically asked for no girls or pretty pictures on the cover of the book for the soul reason of making sure no one went into it with the preconceived notion it was a romance. Just look at what happened once the 60s movie came out, no preconceived notions to a whole heap of them. The red, the sunglasses, the lollipop, the girl.

While I do admittedly like the music in the 60s movie, they butchered the story. And they shed me of my entire Identity. My name is Delores Haze, Dolly or Lo to my friends. Not Lolita. That’s the name my abuser gave me to strip me of my identity. Every single character in the 60s movie calls me Lolita. They age me up to 16 (still a minor btw), they didn’t show any of the abuse (yes I know there were laws in the 60s but still), they framed it as a romance. The director was a creep too, reportedly messing around with the 16 year old actor. I firmly believe that there’d be less controversy around Lolita if the 60s movie never existed.

The 90s movie did better, but it still has its flaws. This is the incarnation of Lolita I’m mainly split from. With the red hair and the (absolutely amazing) wardrobe. It’s ok to admit the fashion is great btw, because it is. I feel like if they filmed it and edited it in a more eerie, almost horror like way they could have gotten the exact message of the book across. At least in this adaptation they show the abuse for what it is. The fighting, slapping and kicking, h*mberts creepy ass desires. And it’s good they used a body double for the more explicit parts to protect the still teenage actor. They kept me 14, still a bit older than the book but at least it’s still very young and gets the message across somewhat the same. What I think let this adaptation down was the cinematography and editing choice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautifully shot movie. But that romantic, dreamlike, hazy view they use only further romanticised the story to many.

I bring all this up to make a point, it’s easy to romanticise the story because of what the movies did to it. Those with bad media literacy (so like half the planet) and those who haven’t read the book won’t understand the point. They’ll miss the fact this is a cautionary tale on how abusers work. That they’re often the people closest to you, that they’re manipulative, unreliable narrators, that they’ll twist things in their own favour and victim blame to justify their sick actions. I’m the victim, I always was. I’m 12 in the book, 14 in the 90s movie and 16 in the 60s one. All of those ages are minors, a child.

All of that being said: it enrages me that I can barely exist in public as a fictive of Dolly purely because people are media illiterate and don’t understand the story is and always has been akin to a horror that WARNS of the dangers of PDFs not a fucking love story. If I tell someone who I am and where I’m from it’ll either be “you read/watched Lolita? You must be a PDF” or “ew don’t romanticise Lolita!” As if we have any control over who we split. As if I’m not the victim and always was. As if the whole reason I split wasn’t because the host WAS harassed as a teenager. Just being a regular singlet who likes the franchise will get you harassed, but being a FICTIVE? It’s like walking on egg shells every single day I exist in plural spaces or just in public in general. It’s not my fault people can’t understand my source, that the publishing industry and movies failed the book, that PDFs do exactly what the book warns and warp the story to fit their sick fantasies.

I’m sure all fictives from controversial sources can relate to this part: no one ever asks how I’m doing NOW. Now I’m in a system, in a different body, in a safe environment. They stay hung up on the abuse I endured they completely neglect to get to know me for who I am now. They don’t know anything about me, my favourite colour (red), my favourite food (berries), my favourite drink (frozen coke), my hobbies (vintage collecting and fashion). I have a brother and dad in this system, a family that love me and don’t hurt me. Despite the body being trans masc, I don’t actually mind fronting. In fact I’m exited to get top surgery because in the headspace my chest is flat (bc you know, I’m a child). I’m fairly happy now, sure I have my bad days and get triggered sometimes, but I’m safe. I’m healing.

Fictives are not their source. They can be connected to it yes, but they are living a whole different life in a whole new body. They grow and change just like anyone else.

I am Delores Haze, my in sys dad calls me kiddo. My brother calls me Lo-Lo. The system calls me Dolly or Lo. Sometimes is Las, or shortie. But I’m not Lolita. I never will be. I exist in the system to help us survive, I’m not my source despite having a connection to the fashion and aesthetics. Fuck Humbert Humbert, fuck those who don’t understand my source, and fuck those who reduce introjects down to their source. I am not a “nymphette” I am a 14 year old girl.

TLDR: Lolita is not a love story, respect all introjects even if they have a controversial source. Learn media literacy. K word all PDFs.

[piggyette]

if you don't know me, i treat ask games like surveys because ask games as we know 'em are pretty much dead. here's the og

what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

guitar hero 2, deviantart x reader fanfics, not being allowed to watch horror movies as a child

show us a picture of your handwriting?

3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

i'm not a big movie person, but probably zero day, the original child's play, and crash

what’s an inside joke you have with your family or friends?

kitty synth, "wentzian", bathroom updates, pig as a slur

what made you start your blog?

old one got too much anon hate

what’s the best and worst part of being online/a creator?

there are so many images of pretty men to be found. some of them are dead.

what scares you the most and why?

probably the prospect of instability. i imagine its bc i moved a lot as a child

any reacquiring dreams?

in the case u meant reoccuring, not particularly. i have a bad memory.

tell a story about your childhood

oh, you dont want that.

would you say you’re an emotional person?

i learned apparently im more emotional than i even knew, recently.

what do you consider to be romance?

sensuality and the human connection.

what’s some good advice you want to share?

goal setting without clear vision is like building a couch with no instructions, just a picture of the end result.

what are you doing right now?

listening to pretty hate machine by nin and filling out this questionaire

what’s something you’ve always wanted to do but maybe been to scared to do?

learn to drive

what do you think of when you hear the word “home”?

my partner

if you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

my need to dig up the corpse to make sure it's really dead down there

name 3 things that make you happy

i. discovering new fetishes ii. my partner system iii. animals

do you believe in ghosts and/or aliens?

its a fool's errand to try and define our surroundings with our limited perception. radio exists. anything is possible.

favourite thing about the day?

the kids playing on the street loud enough to hear from inside.

favourite things about the night?

the quiet coolness.

are you a spiritual person?

that part of me ain't dead yet

say 3 things about someone you love

i. prevailing ii. patient iii. not appreciated enough

say 3 things about someone you hate

when will it ever be enough for you? nothing can learn you. nothing will.

what’s one thing you’re proud of yourself for?

trying again.

fave season and why?

autumn. bugs are going away, coats are coming out. halloween and thanksgiving. the bus is going by again.

fave colour and why?

pink, green, and black. they're just nice to look at.

any nicknames?

i get called lee more often than not.

do you collect anything?

records, tarot decks, stuffed animals.

what do you do when you’re sad?

attempt to logicize if i can help it.

what’s one thing that never fails to make you happy/happier?

a live set for my current favorite artist

are you messy or organised?

messily organized

how many tabs do you have open right now?

one pinned, three unpinned

any hobbies?

writing, art, producing music

any pet peeves?

sloppy eaters

do you trust easily?

i'm working on trying to. i can be paranoid, but i don't want to be

are you an open book or do you have walls up?

i think i have more walls up than i realize

share a secret

i'm currently organizing with a stranger to have her steal a dog being neglected by someone in my neighborhood

fave song at the moment?

the only time (nin)

youtuber you’ve been obsessed with and why?

dollar tree dinners. the sheer culinary efficiency and humble kindness...

any bad habits?

worthless martyrdom.

[littlemourningstarr]

Attempting to write every prompt on this list! (Part 14/15, DickDamiColi)

-  “you already picked the takeout, no way are you picking the movie too!”

“I am not watching that,” Damian said, gesturing to whatever god awful, cheap horror movie was currently sitting on the TV, title screen flashing against the sounds of fake screams.

“Why not?” Dick yelled from the kitchen of his penthouse, where he was setting out the take out containers. They may have over ordered. Which was fairly normal. “It literally just released, no way you’ve seen it yet.”

Damian scoffed, folding his arms and sliding down into the couch. Despite the fact that his boyfriend couldn’t see him, he pouted.

Too bad for him, his other boyfriend could.

“Dames, don’t pout,” Colin teased, walking in from he and Dick’s bedroom, having shed his clothes and now comfortably dressed for a real movie night in joggers and one of Dick’s old tshirts. He plopped down on the couch next to Damian, tossed an arm around his shoulders and squeezed.

“Wait, is he pouting?”

“I was not!”

“You so were baby,” Colin teased, leaning over to nose at his shoulder, enjoy the scent of his cologne embedded in Damian’s hoodie. “You already picked the takeout, no way are you picking the movie too.” Damian looked away, and Dick made his way into the living room, leaning over the back of the couch.

“What’s wrong with it?” Dick asked again. “I made sure to avoid the horror tropes you don’t like- no ghosts, no freaky paranormal bullshit, I swear. Just a good old attempt at 80’s slashers. Probably with excessive nudity.”

Damian was quiet. And yes, the movie did avoid the things he found rather unsettling in horror films- and gods be damned that anyone knew lame movies could scare him. But… “Perhaps… I had hoped for something a little more… intimate.”

He refused to look at either of his boyfriends, and refused to acknowledge that his cheeks were indeed burning. In fact, he was three seconds from refusing to admit this whole evening even existed.

“I give,” Dick said, without hesitation. “If babybat wants to watch a romance I will be the last to complain.” He reached down, tussled Damian’s hair, before the movement turned to his fingers carding softly through the locks. Damian relaxed a little, eyelids fluttering, and next to him Colin dropped the remote in his lap, snuggling up more.

“Same,” he admitted, nuzzling at Damian’s shoulder. “You win Dames. Pick the movie too.”

Damian grabbed the remote, quickly clicking off the horror movie- and maybe he smiled to himself, deciding the evening could in fact continue to exist, and he didn’t need to drop off the face of sheer existence. Especially when his boyfriends were loath to actually deny him anything.

[aggressivelyarospec]

que submitted:

“The Menu” (2019)

A very smart film with elements of horror, satire, thriller, and subtle comedy thrown in. Could be considered a deconstruction of social class, specifically the kind of people who go to high-end restaurants and celebrity chefs. 

Somewhat hard to describe without spoilers, but a very general summary is that the main character Margot goes with a rich associate of hers to a ridiculously high-end restaurant on an island. Turns out the island and everything on it is owned by world-famous chef Slowik, who is very clearly tired of it all to the point of finally preparing to do … something about it. 

Romance-free. Though Margot is technically Tylers date, they are definitely not in a romantic relationship (made clear later in the film). Felicity is George’s assistant, not girlfriend. While it is possible they had a sexual relationship in the past, the dialogue is ambiguous enough to make it so that she may have just been aware of where he took past girlfriends. There are two minor characters who are married, but they aren’t in it much and story-wise exist to provide more backstory for Margot. 

Trigger warnings: People do die on screen. One character commits suicide with a gun on camera, and another hangs himself off camera. There are other gory moments as well. A particularly disgusting character named Richard admits to having sexual fantasies about someone he is related to. Richard is killed at the end and has his wedding finger chopped off (not in that order). This last detail is somehow not on the imdb parents guide, so including it here to hopefully prevent anyone from being triggered. Richard is murdered at the end and is clearly presented as a villain - in fact, the films main villain is actually disgusted by him and makes sure he dies.

Additional Information: 2022 | R | Comedy, Horror Trailer:

Added!

[more-than-a-princess]

your  name: Arsene Lupin

your age: 22

your perfect date: We would paint the town red as the Americans say, perhaps a day at an amusement park, then we can go to movies, make sure people SEE us entering a hotel together only to secretly leave from an alternate exit for a heist. (gotta create an alibi)

make out in private or in public?: Hmmm, if you'd give me the pleasure I'd say in private. I am a gentleman after all, whilst I have no shame of public affection it would be unruly of me to make out with you in public.

do you like to cuddle?: Yes please mademoiselle.

tell me something about you: I have a photographic memory and i can manipulate my own vocal chords to sound like anyone I've heard at least once, i'm also not bad at imitating machines and vehicles as well.

why do you want to be my valentine?: There's a part of me that knows..it knows that I may not be able to call you 'wife' or even 'lover' one day. I'd be satisfied to call you my Valentine even if it were for one day, I would be the happiest man alive.

Valentine's Day Application - Accepting through February 14!

She tended to forget: despite the fact that she was on the run and needed to remain in hiding until there were no public threats against her life, he was still younger than she was. And still, sometimes recklessly, calling the shots alongside his friends, all employed by the Novoselic Royal Family to keep her safe.

"I'm not entirely sure if it has occurred to him that being seen entering a hotel together would, inevitably, lead to having the press tipped off," Sonia remarked. Even without royal duties to speak of at present, she still couldn't turn off the part of her mind that worked through all the potential ways she could cause scandal. Scandal that had nothing to do with her hobbies, that is: she was far more amenable to being caught in a graveyard in the wee hours of the morning tracking some sort of paranormal activity than she was having her love life speculated about in the media. "And the immediate assumption would, inevitably, be..."

She trailed off, her cheeks turning pink at what was left unsaid. Sonia had a hunch that the world imagining they were engaging in such acts would likely appeal to him, if not will it into existence. Even if it would be all anyone would ask her about once she was able to resume her old life: who he was, where he came from, what he did and had he met her family yet.

That was the trouble with dating as the Princess of Novoselic: expectations were always heightened beyond anything a budding relationship should ever need to handle. She could smile at a man and laugh at something she found sincerely funny, and the rumor mill would churn out something akin to a passionate romance destined for the altar.

"I would enjoy visiting an amusement park and seeing a film, though. I cannot deny that," She agreed. "As long as we do not skip the roller coasters and haunted houses: those are essential. But more importantly-"

Sonia paused, sighing as she set the application aside. Not in a discard pile, not in an acceptance pile, but somewhere in-between. Rather like how she felt about him.

"He is a man of disguises and there are so many instances when I feel I do not know him. He desires an intimacy with me, emotionally and physically, but I wonder if he has truly considered what that means. The life I have been living since I met him, that does not resemble anything of what it will be once I am no longer under threat."

She swallowed, running a hand through her hair, the way she did when she was anxious. "I am not allowed, nor do I have it in me, to participate in casual relationships. I suppose I just do not understand how he can be so interested in me, when I feel we do not really know or understand each other. That when this is over...so will we."

"Nevertheless, a date might be a method of getting to know each other. No masks or costumes or voices that do not belong to us: just...us."

"I decline a visit to a hotel, though. Even if it is meant to be a facade for a heist in progress. There must be another way that does not invite unkind gossip."

But a date with no added pressure of a romantic holiday? She would give it, and him, a try. If just to try and get to know Arsene Lupin, whoever he was beneath his many disguises.

[briangroth27]

Look! Up in the Spinner Rack!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Action Comics #1!

Yesterday (April 18, 2023) was the super-impressive 85th anniversary of Superman & Lois Lane's first appearances! These two are among my absolute favorite characters in all of fiction & it's amazing to see them continue to flourish & inspire today. There's something indelibly timeless & iconic about the Superman mythos & visuals that makes me feel like a kid again, fully believing a man can fly & wishing I could too.

I vehemently disagree that Superman's outdated & needs to be "cooler." He is cool, he's just not the angry power fantasy some people wish he was. There are other characters for that, but that doesn't mean Clark's one-dimensional or stagnant. He's not an unrelatable god either: he's an immigrant, an adopted son, a husband, a father, a friend. I also prefer him choosing to be a hero in the face of corruption–and because he himself was helped when he was most vulnerable–to being sent here on a mission to save & inspire us; he’s inspirational without being issued a mandate. Whether you prefer Clark Kent or Superman as the primary guy--I've come to think neither is a mask & they're both exaggerated yet honest sides of his personality--he proves power doesn't have to corrupt, that no matter where you're from you can help make things better, and that no matter how weak we seem or powerless we feel, we can all be someone's greatest hero in the fight for truth, justice, & a better tomorrow.

A long time ago I saw someone say Lois is such a strong character that she could've existed without Superman & been just as great, & that's absolutely true. While I love the screwball comedy tenor of their romance, the fact that she's Clark's equal in the fight for justice (& his superior in journalism) makes her every bit the hero he is. Sure she gets into danger a lot, but usually it's her tenacity to stop criminals & get the story that lands her there, not a plot requirement for Superman to rescue someone. I don't buy that Superman's humanity & goodness rests entirely on Lois--he loves people & that should be why he pursues journalism, to hear & share their stories, so if he did lose her he wouldn't lose himself--but the two of them absolutely evolve each other's worldviews & arcs brilliantly. Her cynicism & jaded view of the world fading when confronted by both Clark & Superman--but never losing her wit or edge--compliments Superman's never-ending battle challenging his optimism & faith in people perfectly.

Smallville is my absolute favorite version of Superman because of the writing, directing, acting, characters, relationships, & brilliant balance of Clark's dual heritages culminating in his ability to fly. It also didn't hurt that it hit at exactly the right time for me, as I was a year older than Clark when it aired & am still finding commonalities between us (both positive & regrettable hahaha) as I rewatch it again in tandem with Tom Welling & Michael Rosenbaum's Talkville podcast. Smallville also had a tone that allowed for relationship drama, horror-tinged villains, campy fun, & heightened comic book adventures, all grounded by human relationships (& it's my favorite show ever; the one that makes me want to be a writer), but there are so many other great iterations of the Man of Steel out there for everyone! Christopher Reeve (whose acting hands-down proves the glasses & demeanor change works), Superman & Lois, Superman Smashes the Klan, Superman: Miracle Monday, Superman the Animated Series, & Superman: Secret Identity are just a few of the best ones. Take time to check some out this week!

Despite all we've gotten in film, TV, animation, radio, & comics over the decades, there's a beautiful scene in Miracle Monday I've never seen adapted anywhere & I hope we finally get in Superman & Lois, My Adventures with Superman, or the newest iteration in Superman Legacy: at an especially low point, Clark flies to the arctic & just listens. He hears something no one else can--the sounds of the entire planet harmonizing to form the "song of the Earth"--and his heartbeat completes the song, showing him this is where he belongs.

It's insane that we're just 15 years out from Action Comics' 100th anniversary. How will the Man of Tomorrow meet our actual tomorrow? I can't wait to find out & see what's next for Lois & Clark (& Kara, John Henry, Jimmy, Jon, Natasha, Kong, Connor, Krypto, Lana, Martha, Jonathan, Perry, Lex, Brainiac, Bizarro, Parasite, Mxyzptlk, Metallo, Livewire, Silver Banshee, and the rest)!

[taniskut]

On Ice Pick Joe

Joseph Morelli as a narrative tool instills a constant feeling of urgency and movement to the plot of Goncharov (1973). His function as a persistent stalker--a hunter in pursuit--lends itself to a paranoia and discontent in the main cast, which further exacerbates the emotional turmoil between them all and ultimately leads to the tragic loss of Andrey at the end of the film.

Between Goncharov and Andrey, Morelli acts as a professional buffer--a reason for the two to continue their job without introspection, as even a moment’s lapse of certainty will surely spell death for the two gangsters. This all but ensures their budding romantic feelings are repressed and unaddressed, and tragically forces the two to never reconcile what could have been.

Even for Katya and Sophia, Morelli serves initially to drive their romance apart--though of course by the end this appears to be fruitless, as evident by the two’s joyous elopement, finally free from the world of crime they’d never asked to be a part of. In the beginnings of the story, Morelli’s effect on Goncharov causes inexorable stress on the man, which Katya (fulfilling the role of wife and caregiver) reassures and placates him on. As the plot progresses however, and Morelli’s impact becomes unmanageable by Goncharov, Katya’s soothing effect begins to wane and become ineffectual. Much like Ahab’s White Whale, Goncharov lets his obsession take him completely to a place even Katya could not bring him back from. This flavours her reprieve with Sophia in a bittersweet frame, as Katya remains tormented by the feelings of moral failure at the abandonment of her marriage.

Dissenters to Morelli’s inclusion in the film adaptation of the original trilogy often cite his flat character and his inclusion over the exclusion of other side characters as failings of his character, when in actuality he offers a refreshing narrative role that spun the events of the story into an entirely new context, and lead to the major success of the film over the mixed reception of the original books. The film streamlined several side characters into Morelli, reducing bulk into a more concise and streamlined narrative.

Ultimately of course it is Mario Ambrosini’s flippant disapproval of Goncharov and Andrey’s relationship that leads to the tragic climax of the movie, but without Morelli’s tireless pursuit none of the dramatic tension would have reason to exist, and it is for this purpose does he serve such a vital role in the film.

Tasha Revere. 1978. On Ice Pick Joe. Film Critique Variety, Vol 4, p303.