#cuz i love them like unconventionally

[kotofeden]

I STARTED PLAYING BG3, HI

[strawberryraviegutz]

Nosferatu was an amazing film. I enjoyed every second of it. However I don’t exactly know how to feel about the whole thing with count Orlok meeting Ellen when she was a child. That kinda rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. Now I know there’s gonna be some elitists who will come at me saying,

“lmao he’s literally villain and a 1000+ year old rotting corpse of a vampire of course he’s not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows what did you expect?? You’re such a poser lmao I bet u only like those vampires from twilight and or anime😂😂😂😂!!”

First of all ppl should have a right to feel uncomfortable about certain things within media especially if it involves grooming. Villains can be bad without involving child grooming. Second, why do u guys always feel the need to shit on conventionally attractive vampires and the ppl who are attracted to them???

If unconventionally attractive vampires are what some ppl may not be into then that’s valid and they’re not “cowards” for their preferences in fictional blood sucking creatures. Ppl are allowed to have preferences. All types of vampires in media are valid whether they be conventionally attractive like in twilight or anime or whether they be “ugly” like in both Nosferatu movies.

I personally like a mix of both. I still may read some nosferatu fanfics cuz I’m genuinely curious, I love Bill Skarsgard, I also loved Orlok’s voice, and I’ve been obsessed with vampires ever since I was a little girl. I know the whole thing with Ellen and Orlok is supposed to be horrifying/repulsive but I still have a right to be a bit uncomfy about it. I also don’t rlly know how to feel about Count Orlok having a mustache

[baby-xemnas]

the weirdness and unconventionality of lawbepo are major charm points to me tbh!💕 i also really love how lawbepo elevates law’s character! it’s not that i didn’t like law before, but to be honest, i feel that a weakness of the character is that he is easily put into the “stoic badass with a tragic past and a secret heart of gold” stereotype. which is cool and fun, and it’s obviously a popular trope for a reason, but every anime/manga has this type of character tbh, and if nothing more is done with them, they can be kinda generic and one note. and it’s especially hard if the character is a side character, so it’s unlikely the creator will spend more time with them. unless it’s like for fanservice or something. so i like these types of characters but i don’t usually love them because of that.

that was how i used to feel about law, i liked him and thought his design was cool but that’s it. but everything is different now- like maybe it sounds insane to say, but considering “what if that bear is not just law’s vice captain, but also his first love from childhood? his babygirl? his ride-or-die wife?” has seriously like opened my third eye when it comes to law tbh lol, and i have you and your incredible art to thank for that! 🙏❤️‍🔥💕💯🔥✨

YOU PRETTY MUCH WENT THRU THE SAME JOURNEY AS MYSELF AND I LOVE THAT

yes so true all that....law by himself is only okay, yes hes sexy so ppl are crazy abt shipping him with whoever the fuck

but i really love when a sexy and intelligent character is WEIRD and its ignored by those around them cuz they are hot.

i like to bring him up cuz it was such a great discovery idk maybe someone will relate - i had that moment with akaashi haikyuu cuz i was like sure whatever, he is cute and bokuaka is FINE but when akaashis obsessive controlling calculative nature was revealed i had a real 💡!!! moment abt it and fell so hard for the character and the ship. like of you are pretty and WEIRD AF abt bokuto. gaslight gatekeepe girlboss. a dumbass' manipulative psycho boyfriend. perfect

and with Law honestly i cant commend japanese artists enough who saw Bepo day ONE and saw the potential of Law being very particular (pervert) about his bear - drawing dozens of comics of Law bleeding from the nose because Bepo is That cute. THEY REALLY HAD HIS NUMBER i meanwhile needed more convincing cuz im too canonfaggy to live off of Just the intro and the hug (all we had at the point where i got into op first) yes the hug was monumental and parially made up for the PH and DR lack of Bepo and having to tolerate the stupidity and insult of "law is gonna join SH/law is a honorary SH" no he wont, is not. die????

anyway yes it took me more fanservice to be like oh So we really ARE putting Law's softness for Bepo as one of the core characteristics? Not just a passing occasional thing like the hug was? Okay. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

weird is great weird is enriching and its fucking phenomenal that it's Just bepo. Not just cute things even tho he does love them - Bepo being a whole Person that gets Law's cuteness dokis in a bunch is soooooo sus and charming

idk how other Law fans see it but i dont think Law loving cuteness and fluff like the Onigiri moment - would be enough, its too circumstantial. But Bepo.... Bepo is always there, making Law better by being his spoiled rotten softie baby angel

sorry if my train of thought is all over the place. Thank you so much for the ask you the real one ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[analyze-astrologize]

Aquarius: The Dawning

👽 January 20- February 18

👽 Masculine Fixed Air sign TRADITIONALLY ruled by Saturn and co-ruled by Uranus .

👽 Symbol is a human pouring water out of a vessel: The Water Bearer

👽 Quirky, smart, adorable people...stare at them longer and they begin to look sexyy 🔥

👽 Their eye’s have intriguing, beautiful, far away look like they can see the future and they usually can!

👽 January Aquariuses have that Capricorn stench so they’re both goal-oriented and inventive.

👽 February Aquariuses are the wild ones and oddly the sensitive of all Aquariuses

👽 Independent minded and innovative

👽 Follow the beat of your own drum at all costs

👽 Because you’re different from the rest, many IGNORANT people target you for bullying or gossip

👽 In earlier years, authority figures saw your differences and clamped down harder on you in the name of tradition.

👽 Your earlier years were plagued with sudden changes and being uproot outta nowhere. ESPECIALLY Aquarius Risings.

👽 Aquarius often feel like aliens due to how different they can be spiritually and emotionally.

👽 They’re alien-like in the sense that they are far removed on how people do things, YET like aliens, they usher in new discoveries and a different way of life!

👽 You guys have an interesting way of looking at things that can range from refreshing to disturbing!

👽 [Currently] being ruled by Uranus, the planet of liberation, upheaval and shock, the Aquarius’ thoughts can be quick.as.LIGHTNING ⚡️

👽 Aquarius is SOFA KING SMART 🛋 🤴🏾 🧠

👽 I was in English class with an Aquarius Sun and Mercury and she wrote an essay in less than 10 min. and then left for her next class like it was nothing! 🤷🏾‍♀️

👽 Uranus is a higher octave of Mercury so that can explain their genius! Even the dumbest Aquarian is smart!!!!!!

👽 PLEASE...For the life of YOU, DO NOT challenge an Aquarius! They are silver tongued. NOPE chrome-tongued and will destroy you and insult your intelligence at the same time. They are warrior tongued 👅

👽 Sagittarius is brave and foolish enough to step to them and later regret it.

👽 A Scorpio is the only one who can possibly take on an Aquarius in a verbal fight.

👽 Aquarius is ruthless in an argument and can have random intense acts of violence (this is usually after letting things slide for so long though).

👽 Saturn was not very kind to these people. These were old souls in young bodies that were forced to grow up. Saturn ripped away their emotions after a traumatic series of events. Uranus blessed them in spite of!

👽 Because Saturn has a presence in their lives, Aquarian’s can be cold, distant and aloof.

👽 They can be cool outwardly, help strangers and show themselves friendly (cuz this sign rules friendships/groups/organizations/11th house), but deep down they are in fact loners.

👽 Queens/Kings of “Come close, but no that close!”

👽 Keeping people at arms length is for self preservation. They want to keep their individuality and fear being restricted and objected to societal norms

👽 Fuck society and what they think

👽 Wherever Aquarius is in your chart is where you like to do what you want WHEN YOU GET READY, where you like to Test new ideas and where you practice unconventionality! 💡

👽 Aquarians at their worst is immorality. Their “ideas” can become so warped that their actions become catastrophic for others! (Uranus also represents madness)

👽 Aquarius men are well known fuckboys and Aquarius women are either fuck girls or take pride in being the mistress. 🙃

👽 Polyandry/Polygamy

👽 Get jealous over the dumbest shit, but don’t fret over the big stuff.

👽 Set trends or wear T-shirt and jeans

👽 Very bohemian-like in clothing and lifestyle

👽 Loner or Well-acquainted

👽 Hot or cold

👽 Best Eyebrows 🥇

👽 Care for humanity but not too good with humans

👽They’re like the fox from Zootopia. They’re clever, quick on their feet, and independent, but deep down they need the love of someone to make themselves feel less alone. They won’t show their vulnerability because they’ve been burned in the past so they’ll push you away before that happens again.

[thehollowprince]

As if we needed *more* proof how cishet white fangirls only care about mlm ships which are basically self inserts for themselves, I remember so many times when they wouldn't support gay ships where one or more was unconventionally attractive or Black/brown cuz "they're not hot". That really sums it up lol

I do my beat to adhere to the advice my grandmother gave me years ago, which is simple: "Assume nothing." I do my best to stick to that philosophy, because Tumblr is one of the few places left on the internet where you are able to retain you anonymity. We don't know the ethnicty or sexualtiy of the people on here unless they divulge it, and given media's predominant fixation of cis white gays, it would be understandable to have people who are same-sex attracted fixate on what little representation is afforded to us as a whole.

That being said, I've been in Fandom for quite a while, and as we've all seen, these fans have gone out of their way to try and silence any differing opinions, mostly those of fans of color or members of the LGBT community. I myself have more than once been told to "mind my own business", which is infuriating to me, because as a gay man, how they're promoting my sexuality to the world is my business especially when its harmful to the Community at large.

It becomes apparent very quickly who actually cares about seeing the struggles and triumphs of the LGBT characters represented on screen, and who just wants to see two guys kiss.

We talk a lot about Sterek and the impact that subfandom had on Teen Wolf as a whole, and I think that's a great example of what we're talking about. This is a show where there were actual, canonical gay characters in loving relationships, and yet they're constantly ignored or downplayed to focus on the crack ship between two straight white men that the fandom made up. It didn't matter that these two characters couldn't stand each other, or that they didn't have a positive interaction with one another until season four (just before Hoechlin left the show) or that there were characters like Danny or Mason, because all fandom wanted to do was see these two white guys kiss. They didn't care that Danny and Ethan had a pretty steamy make-out session, or that Mason and Corey had a relationship that lasted longer than any other on the show. They simply didn't care about the harmful stereotypes they were embracing and endorsing by fixating on a ship that involved a teenager with an adult, and who only really expressed animosity toward each other, usually through violence.

And then, when they didn't get what they wanted, or what they had set up in their heads (based on nothing in canon), they cried "queerbaiting!" I actually got death threats back during season three of Teen Wolf because I was more invested in Danny's relationship with Ethan than I was with whatever the fandom had made up for Sterek.

Another great example is Skam and its various remakes. Even of you've never watched a single one of them, you've heard of it, specifically the season revolving around the Isak character coming to terms with his sexuality. I started watching live during the third remake of that particular season and it was very eye opening. Despite the many many posts and blogs dedicated to that season alone, I was astounded by how many people didn't care about the struggles of being in the closet or what Lucas (or Matteo or Robbe) were going through. Ironically enough, they all pretty much said the exact same speech as the girl who tells them that "its (insert year) and nobody cares. Come out already!"

This attitude was most prevalent in the third season of the Belgian version of the show, WTFOCK. When they didn't "follow the formula" and introduce Sander right away, people started flipping their shit. There were several scenes where Robbe (the protagonist) was trying to "be normal" and make his relationship with Noor work, and there were countless jokes in the tags about how Robbe was secretly straight. They didn't want to see someone struggling with being in the closet, with being who society says they should be, they wanted to skip right to the end and watch the two boys make out. When Robbe snapped at Sander due to his own internalized homophobia, they demanded his head and immediately started shipping him with another character from another remake. That was when I realized that fully that they didn't care about anything more than watching two boys kiss.

And then there's how they treated the characters of color, such as Yann and Imane and Moyo during those seasons, but that's a different convention for another time.

Further proof of this was in both Skam España and Druck (the German version), the former having a wlw romance and the latter having a mlm, but one of the boys was trans, and therefore "not man enough" for their tastes. Skam España was practically slept on and its almost never included in any of the comparison posts or lists. I mean, yes the cast of that show turned out to be a little vile, but still.

I understand that I, as a white gay man, get the lion's share of the representation in media, but watching fandom obsess only over the white boys, even when there's good representation in both women and characters of color is astounding, bordering on obnoxious. I'm usually very much a "ship and let ship" kind of person, until the fandom goes out of their way to ignore the brown boys or the black boys or the women, no matter what shade, to focus solely on two white boys, whether they're gay or not. That's the point where I feel the need to speak up, because to be silent is to be complicit in their purposeful ignorance.

[keyishacolecat]

doing yoga every day has exorcised some demons n now im chasing them around my room .. crying next to these fckn chicken tenders .. getting to know my emotional self all over again .. having no choice but to grow in my emotional self thru my relationships and in my interactions w the ones i love...... seeing the love in front of me and really grabbing it with both hands. holding that big love above my head and saying “LOOK!!!!!!!! LOOK AT MY BIG GARGANTUAN LOVE!!!” cuz thats what they deserve from me really, if we are being honest. i should go on the rooftops and scream it because of how much it means to me.instead i hoard my feelings and i readjust and make myself soft and hard and whatever version u need i’ll be. i understand objectively i am not simple but it should be said that my unconventionality musnt be misconstrued for being contrary lol...  though i can admit i take peoples faith in me for granted. i do feel incredibly entitled to that which is ironic, normally im like” i need to earn every oz of affection love n intimacy .” but faith in me as a person, like the integrity of my heart and the sexy intuitive voice guiding me...... well thats jus always felt like a fact of life baby. i forget that others couldn’t really know my inner workings lol! especially when i am mary mary, quite contrary. it is never intentional or personal, i am just different. it can come off adversarial sometimes, ill admit it. it’s all about the delivery folks. im revving up to become the most articulated version of my emotional self. i’m releasing old habits and patterns yall. i have to ascend theres no where else to go. i can only hope it will be an eloquent conclusion. im not one for proving myself. i think the journey will speak for itself. i mean im going along for this ride too. all we have is this moment to make a small pivot toward whatever resolutions u need. n frankly this work does help me sleep better at night. i thought it was the duvet cover lol 

[zukosgay]

1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 24, 30,36, 40, 50 (i didn't check the questions tbh, i love suprises!!)

1. Femme or butch?

I don’t think I neatly fall into those categories (which is fine). i used to have short hair for a rly long time, but i loooove dresses. i don’t (usually) wear makeup but only cuz i’m lazy. i have a short bob rn (cuz I’M growing out my hair). i also know that butch/femme is about more than fashion, it’s a political stance, which is also why I’m gonna say neither

3. Plaid button-ups or leather jackets?

I.... as someone who I’d say is pretty unconventionally fashionable, i don’t really like plaid button-ups at ALL. a couple days ago i threw all of my remaining ones out of my wardrobe lol rip. and i LOVE leather jackets, but i also love everything leather (i own a leather overall dress which i adore) - not like that - and it saddens me that i have yet to find THE perfect leather jacket :(

5. Describe your aesthetic

fashion-wise? a clash of patterns, a lot of layering, i can dress both kinda grungy but also unmistakably gay with my 10+ dad print shirts. my ROOM aesthetic is a bunch of copper wood with soft green, black and yellow. as a rule of thumb, i tend to like dark aesthetics more tho

7. Favorite pair of shoes?

i tend to go for the same shoes, but i love my pairs of boots, esp the dark red ones i bought in paris cuz they make me think i could stepdance with them

10. Describe the best date you’ve been on

i'm gonna go ahead and count is as FIRST dates, cuz i went on a few of those. i know it’s cheesy, but i’m p sure the first date I went on with my current gf was probably the best. we went to my favorite restaurant (saved a table), just talked a little and then went on a walk around the medieval city parts

ALSO i know you didn’t ask but no one else did either but i really wanna answer the 11th question about the worst date i’ve ever been on, which is: I once went on a date with this older woman (28) and we just hung around the park for a bit and i had a very awkward realization that i actually had a crush on a (then) friend. anyway, what made this so incredibly awkward is that she then proceeded to drag me (a 20 y/o) to her favorite bar and ALL of those 50+ kinda alcoholic friends of hers were there and i had to make. small talk in this dingy ass bar fjasdjasd i hated it so much i made up some excuse that i had to go home to my cat jfajhsd

24. If a woman wanted to woo you, what would a surefire way to accomplish that?

Ask my gf, worked p well for her (probably just listen to me, spend time with me doing cute activities, bake together. i’m easy)

30. What is your dream career?

realistically? social worker/therapist. in my dreams, probably a joint thing where i can help people and also maybe become a writer.

36. The L-Word: yes or no? (love it or hate it?)

no cuz i never watched it

40. Do you have any pets?

at my parent’s haku, absolute unit of a cat, and here i have a v annoying orange cat named simon.

50. Least favorite gay celebrity?

hmmm, let me think. ellen is easy

[prof-peach]

What's your favorite unconventionally cute pokemon? Like, the ones most don't find cute, but you do. My personal fav is Sableye (totally not picking favorites cuz mine's such a sweetheart--)!!

Jeeze it’s so hard to choose! I love grimer, and koffing, and trubbish, porygon is not overly cute but I love them too, I struggle to choose, plus not cute includes all the really cool ones like tyranitar. I think there all cute to be honest! 

[figure-skating-confessions]

“I feel terrible about it, but it’s so hard to love ugly skaters. Like yes, some of my opinions have changed cuz their skating is amazing and I love them now, but it’s just so much easier to find aesthetic appeal and gracefulness that are required for skating with pretty skaters. I give props to the unconventionally attractive skaters who have to put in 10x as much work, and I’m sorry I can’t appreciate you like you deserve.“

[krystlind]

This is me not scaring myself. I get so nervous about writing the wrong words. I understand that there is no right or wrong, but what gets me is the way that I produce things and in real time am analyzing/seeing it from the 3rd party viewer. Already hearing their scrutinizing voice. Of why it sounds weird, or confusing.

and it kinda haunts me, picturing someone’s face scrunching up in confusion the other time, confirming one of my biggest fears: which is that I don’t make sense to people. like my story, who I am, my trajectory, just doesn’t make sense. this fear I’ve always had: i’m all over the place, the dots don’t connect.

it’s okay, i hold space for that fear. she is welcome here.

i don’t know what it is about that, that pains me, but it’s okay! it’s frustrating because there’s a very real reason, I know deep inside, that i want to do this. and yet i cant seem to just get it out there and separate the process of writing what I wanna and what i think they wanna hear. why does it come so easy to people? to just write this down. I wonder what people like hannah ann and brown or something say - like i have to make myself more interesting. but i am not them. I am me. and i am the only person i can be.

it’s funny because when i talk to people like Andy or Ethan, what ends up being something they pull out and like, is not what i paint myself to be for them, but the very real, raw, authentic, unfiltered/non-exaggerated things. for ex, Ethan “you’re great at bringing people together and making them feel welcome.” Andy “I loved the first time that we talked” (it’s like he was hinting, it kinda went different from there? there’s something that just HITS. and i’m trying to get to that. it’s like i can’t just type and not think about what they wanna hear. gosh why is this taking so long?) it’s cuz i’m so good at the rule, of seeing things from others’ POV and acting in that sense. but then it becomes my weak spot too. it keeps me from just expressing and writing from just me.

okay what would you wanna convey anyways in a nutshell, if it didn’t matter? if it truly didn’t even matter. no one’s reading this.

I would say that I’m joining this show because I truly think I would make a really strong candidate for it. no that’s saying something like they wanna hear. just literally think about it, you wanna go on for a certain reason right?

This may sound dramatic, but I truly believe this show is how I can & will meet my partner. I’ve always lived my life a little unconventionally and wanting to shake things up! When I was a little girl and we moved from the Philippines to California, to a suburban town, I remember looking around appreciating our newfound “comfortable life” but wanting a little bit more: more than the small town that centered around the hospital and church, more than just the expectation of going into medicine bringing the “family honor,” more than what is expected of me as a small asian girl who should keep her head and voice low. Nope!

I was born in Manila, to young parents, and am one of 3 girls, of whom we are all very close. My parents sacrificed their medical career dreams to bring us to the United States, and as immigrants, hit several hardships along the way. They went from practicing doctors to my mom being a stay at home in our small house, and my dad at one point literally cleaning at retirement homes.

What I observed at this time of my parents though, set the standard for me of what love looked like. I have a distinct memory, as me and my sister slept on the floor of the little room we shared. My mom was whispering worrying about things, and my dad held her and said “I love you, I’ll figure this out. Don’t worry I’ll provide.” I was awestruck - this is what love wasQ My dad really set the standard for what a “man” was: a provider, a rock, a refuge. Going from cleaning for old people, to gaining his career back and getting our family to where it is now, he never wavered on his promise. My mom is loved to death by him. My mom and dad were not just two people married, they were true partners, adventurers, who conquered obstacles together. This is the kind of love I want and promised I would never settle!

Oddly, this meant I was in so few relationships.., until I finally fell really in love in my early 20s. I was so in love I was blinded, literally, from all the red flags and fell into something toxic and destructive for years. Because those are typically so hard to get out of, I remember, promising to myself, that if I ever got out, and got another chance I would pursue the best love story ever. This show is a huge next step for that. I’ve learned so much since then and have done a lot of healing, forgiving, growing. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and feel emotionally open and ready for this - hashtag here 4TRR!

Lastly, this is the next step of my life! I’m so proud of where I’ve gotten to professionally and I run 3 businesses in tech, media, & coaching of which I am proud of. As a passionate, driven and ambitious person, its been a struggle to find someone to either match or appreciate this. (in our increasingly dating app world, mid-pandemic social timidness- the average Hinge guy is holding up a fish to show his go-getter-ness.. so sexy!) If a guy is on the Bachelor, my assumption he is similar in his drive and risk-taking at some level too :) At that, I love the soft, nurturing, and romantic side that I uncovered in my last relationship and I am ready to open up again (to the right person) ;)

I’ll end and say, my very loving mother, drilled in me since a young age, the very prominent adage in Filipino culture, that the girl should never EVER chase the guy or compete for the guy, and in typical fashion of me always pursuing things the moment someone says I shouldn’t or can’t - I will be doing this and I can assure you, will shake things up:)

[helloamhere]

Do you write in a chronological order or do you rather write individual scenes and then put them together? And do you add a lot of things after writing the story, like additional description of a place/feelings/surroundings etc? xx 🌹 (I'm going around asking people cuz I've been told I write unconventionally so I'm curious about other writers)

I kind of do both! But I am more a nonlinear writer than otherwise. Structured nonlinear, though.

For longer stories at least, which is where I do my “real” writing, it goes like this:

Almost always I have a concept or a feeling or a first scene that pops into my head, but I think about it before writing it. I have to feel like I know what the point is, the big theme. For Saving Symphony Hall I immediately knew I wanted to write the scene of two friends teasing Louis about his dating and us learning that he doesn’t want to date, and that his character change would be figuring out why he is holding up a barrier around that, and getting convinced to change. For my X-men AU which I’m currently writing, I figured out I wanted to write about the concept of being heroic and when you decide that sacrifice is too much, and how messiness and miscommunication and anger might fit into our clean “heroism” stories.

Then I figure out what a good climax for that story is, and how it ends. I write those scenes next. For Saving Symphony Hall I wrote the end scene, and I wrote bits and pieces that eventually became the big fight/argument between H&L. For my current story I’ve written a major climax action scene and a major plot twist in the third act.

Then I start dancing around because at this point the shape of the story has been floating around. If I have really strong scenes in mind I write them (for Make Your Words a Weapon, I had a lot of music trivia I was researching that I started to put down in its own order), or I’ll write sex scenes or action scenes if I have vivid feelings about those. At this point I’m just trying to capture the tone and emotion.

Then I buckle down and really start to write chronologically, connective tissue between those turns in the story. All kinds of other scenes will pop up, and a ton of things about the story will change. Pushing chronologically at this point really helps me. For Saving Symphony Hall, I realized that I wanted to show way more friendship interaction between the group as a whole because that part was feeling really important to the emotion of the universe. For my Xmen AU, I just started writing chronologically. It is the hardest part, lol. I DEFINITELY add a lot when I’m going back through. Tons of emotions or little details will pop out for me. Most of all when I write dialogue for secondary characters, they pop out with much more vividness and love. I often add just a fuckton more jokes, too, because I’m awful. 

Thank you for asking

[livingwithashipname-blog]

Ermanda’s Inner Sanctum: Scorpion 4.08 “Faire Is Foul”

This episode was a really great showcase of Team Scorpion on the personal end.  On a whole, the episode could have been better but definitely worked as a transition episode.  I usually format my reviews around the storylines, but this one focuses on the characters and friendships.  

It’s Sly’s birthday, so let the revelry commence! 

Sly 

It’s Sly’s birthday and this episode epitomizes what makes him unique.  He is a nerdy germaphobe with a big heart.  The love he has for his friends has pushed him to be there in ways he would never choose 3 years ago.  Sly has an increasing sense of confidence and has accomplished so much in such a short period of time.  As far as I am concerned, he is the most successful team member right now in terms of accomplishments outside Scorpion!  And yet, he still finds joy in cosplay and comics!  It’s a wonderful juxtaposition showcasing Sly’s maturity, competence, and inherently good nature.  This is what I appreciate about a character in a story who is the youngest amongst his peers!

Papa Cabe 

Cabe & Sly 

Cabe has enough love to go around for all his children!  He works with each member of the team in a special way.  He has integrated himself into Sly’s world, granting him the name Magnus by Sly’s band of friends!  (Side note: One of those friends is Tom Massmann, one of Ari’s body/stunt doubles.)  We get evidence of Sly’s influence in Cabe’s life when Cabe lets his nerd flag fly and admits he loves Chair of Blades!  We see the reverse when Cabe encourages Sly to use his influence to rally his fellow nerds to capture the criminals and save the evidence.  They have this mutual camaraderie and respect for one another!  This will grow and be tested as Sly continues as Cabe’s lawyer.  I love how this has been extended from last season!  

Cabe & Toby

I think we can all agree that Cabe’s conversation with Toby about Quintis baby-making activities is the most hilariously awkward moment we have ever witnessed on this show!  I still die laughing when I think about it!  I will never look at sprinkles the same ever again!  I will be that weirdo in Menchies or Yogurtland grinning hard when I pass the sprinkles. 😂  I am also reminded of how this differs from 3.05 Plight at the Museum.  Toby told Happy that he was worried because she was, “carrying the product of [their] love.”  Then, he turned to Cabe and continued saying, “not to mention some vigorous whoopee-making, huh?”  Toby was building up his successful seed-plating exploits!  In this episode’s moment with Cabe, Toby is suddenly coy when Cabe talks to him in special detail about his baby-making skills!  Ha! Oh, man!  Cabe is trying to be THAT dad who makes sure his son has game! 😂😂😂😂😂😂  It’s done so well!  I just want to thank the writers for this.  PURE COMEDY!!!  I really like their growing relationship this season.  Cabe just isn’t concerned about his trial.  He wants to have full confidence that Sly will get the charges dropped.  I hope it creates more moments for Cabe to prepare Toby for fatherhood as Toby helps Cabe cope with the charges against him.

Solid Friendships 

Walter & Happy 

Time and time again, I make it known how much I love this friendship duo.  They are two peas in a pod!  It’s really sweet to see him seek Happy’s advice and Happy explaining the importance of speaking from the heart.  The moment is reminiscent of 2.23 Chernobyl Intentions.  The show is starting to highlight this relationship as an extension of the parts of the Quintis & Waige storylines that intertwine.  I have been eager to see this on screen and so stoked it is finally happening!  Anyone else notice that Happy makes hilarious comments to Walter when he says or does something silly this season? 

Toby & Paige

Their relationship is similar to Happy & Walter’s.  Even though Toby is as cerebral as the others, he relates to Paige as a behaviorist.  I love their various discussions about their respective lives.  They always share great advice with one another, especially when it’s directed at their love lives.  This episode revisits a relationship food descriptor that was first introduced in 2.17 Adaptation.  Toby said then that he and Happy were like peanut butter and chocolate - a good mix of two great standalone flavors.  Now he refers to Happy and him as double chocolate in reference to their inner cores, but he states that chocolate and peanut butter is as equally delightful.  It reinforces the reality that they can make it work and get on the same page even though they are different people.  Once again, Toby and Paige convos show the connection between Quintis and Waige.  Makes me wonder if these references will be reinforced in upcoming episodes!  Be on the lookout! 👀

Operation: Baby Quintis  

Toby and Happy are really taking every opportunity to get their Quintis baby!  It is unfortunate their hay loft hookup is disrupted due to criminal shenanigans, but their desire leads them to unconventionally buy pregnancy amulets at the fair for good luck!  This is so sweet!  The decision to do something like this is so Toby-like, but now it’s something we can expect from Happy as well!  They are really rubbing off on one another!  HOLY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!  Like I have said in other reviews, the arc is set up to show us how they are handling this new planned life choice as a means to test their perseverance as newlyweds.  Plus, anyone see the shift from Happy in 3.13 Faux Money Maux Problems in comparison to this episode?  Happy makes the advance to roll in the hay to get a good lay that will make a baybay 😉😂 whereas she suggests Toby come with her to the wine cellar as a means to get them out of perceived danger.  I love little changes like this!  Operation: Baby Quintis is soaring!!!  

Walter 

As I have mentioned numerous times already, this season is focused on Walter’s EQ growth and how that fits in his new relationship with Paige.  He decides to learn guitar and write a song for Paige after he screws up on a date in support of her friend.  Now I wanted to hear Walter sing a heartfelt song that would give us EPIC Waige feels, not a goofy one!  WE GOT BOTH!!!  The first song is sooo funny!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂  Walter thinks he can serenade Paige with the same formula Happy used for her hit song in Portugal, but she bluntly tells him that doesn’t work.  He goes back to the drawing board and records something so beautiful and profound.  Let’s revisit these lyrics and more to understand why I consider them profound.

🎵 When I’m with you It soothes my mind And I feel fine, I feel fine When you’re with me My mind can rest My thoughts can nest, thoughts can nest With a calm I hold in my arms Peace that only you so disarm 🎵

Not completely sure about that last line, but I love these lyrics!  The genius mind is constantly flooded with thought, followed by a desire to explore them when they are leading to something of great interest.  I know from experience that I hate disruption when I am entranced by a task or deep in a thought process.  We were introduced to how this affects the geniuses, especially when the team had to work with Collins in 1.05 Plutonium Is Forever.  Collins’ intellect was so intoxicating to Walter that he neglected his own needs for the sake of science.  He went down the rabbit hole.  Happy essentially saved his life.  He had to commit Collins’ to asylum. He struggled to appropriately handle his team’s discomfort as the leader.  Walter was in an emotional conflict and didn’t realize it until the situation reinforced his decision to send Collins away.

Collins: I showed you the outer limits of your intelligence and you couldn't handle it. You couldn't risk me, or anybody else, jeopardizing your team, your precious cyclone. Walter: They are worth it. C: Why them? Toby, Happy, Sylvester... they can't touch my abilities. So why wasn't there room for one more? W: But there was. Paige. She binds us. C: I’m going away. But I'll get out... Maybe I'll see you back down the rabbit hole, Walter. W: I… hope not.

Walter knew that Paige was special.  Over time, he realizes that she introduces a calm and focus that he never knew he needed.  It creates space for him to expand his EQ and contemplate realities he once considered nonsense.  These lyrics show how much Walter values Paige’s abilities.  He doesn’t want to go back to who he was 3 years ago.  He wants to make her happy!  

Now here’s where things are going to come full circle to parallel earlier events!  Paige tells that she doesn’t want him to change simply because she asks for it or because it will make her happy for a moment - paralleling a similar tone in 2.15 Da Bomb (my all-time favorite Waige moment).  Walter took Paige’s words at face value and decided to nix his music project.  However, the tape bounces off the trash can and lands under the bed with his hidden guitar.  In 2.15, Paige catches Walter’s attention when she asks the pizza parlor if they have fermented fish (Walter’s favorite snack) as a topping.  The tape under the bed sets up a moment for Paige to find it by sheer happenstance and approach Walter about it.  While I wish Walter had decided to stick with the music project as a means of giving her something she would enjoy, the situation creates another learning experience for Walter to understand the value of “just because” gifts and gestures.  Are you excited about the anticipated Waige feels as I am?!  😍😍💙💙💙😍😍 Walter gonna get some “good good” if Paige listens to that tape!  I’m just saying’!

Drabbles...

Great argument, Sly! Now if you could just work on that delivery… 🤔

W: I’m making a song for Paige. H: Okay, what did you do wrong that now you have to do this? It’s so funny that Happy knows when Walter messes up! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

C: …cuz if you need any tips in the gooty department… T: I don’t need any tips. Please don’t ruin gooty for me. C: Just trying to help. Me: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂💀 Now Cabe is saying gooty! Who’s next?!

I am in love with Paige’s black flowery blouse! I want, I want!!! Btw, the whole outfit is a very common style for Paige in this series which expresses the character’s playful side. Check 1.14 Charades and 3.23 Something Burrowed, Something Blew for reference.

These costumes, the slow-mo entrance… 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Happy is not having it with the gender roles of the Renaissance! 😂👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Walter wants to give this place a history lesson! I feel him on this one! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Once again, Toby is turned on by Happy in a costume! #KinkyQuintis 😍😍💚💚💚💚💚💚😍😍

Toby and Paige are just too stinking cute! 💛💛💛💛💛

The ladies and Sly during the band’s performance… 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂💀💀

I just died when Toby answered Walter’s question as if he was talking about him and Happy’s steamy activity in the hay loft! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂💀💀

Someone is always hampering the fun… BOO CRIMINALS! 🙅🏾👎🏾👎🏾

More Quintis exchanges! C: Why didn’t he slash the tires? T: Kevlar. You can’t pop them with a set of keys. You can’t be married to Happy Quinn without learning a thing or two about motorcycles. Me: This is ironically accurate considering that Walter, who was also married to Happy, uses a chain to stall the criminals’ motorcycles. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

The fact that Toby needs a very hot tool to cauterize the officer’s wound is somewhat reminiscent of the same suggestion he made for Walter in 1.22 Postcards From the Edge.

Team Scorpion: We need help to stop the criminals from killing us! Everyone else: Say what now? Yeah, see the way my health is set up… *facepalm* 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂💀💀💀

As much as I love Sly’s speech, I think it would have been better suited in the tent given that criminals were on the way there to search for that evidence bag.  But since it seems that everybody got in place before the criminal arrived, I’ll give it a pass. It was a cool moment for Sly! 👍🏾

Yay! Small moment of teamwork between Paige and Happy! This is what I want! 🙌🏾 

Cabe coming through on that horse should have come a lot faster! Great moment regardless!

This officer is awesome! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

He has to die?! Say what, Walter?! Oh lordt, here we go again! 😱😱😱😱😱

The way Walter took the bad guy out was really impressive! 😍😍😍🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

This show really has an obsession with 💩💩💩

Aww Quintis! 😍💚😍💚😍💚😍💚😍💚😍💚😍💚😍💚

I love Elyes’ voice! So happy he was able to showcase it again! 😍😍😍

[thousandmovieproject]

Even on the rare occasion that I found myself flush with cash as a teenager I was always reticent to spent $20 on a DVD. Like I could never just pop in, grab the box, pay for it and leave. I’d grab it and meander. Read all the text in the back and scrutinize the special features. When I got a smart phone I’d run searches of customer reviews. I never bought Psycho but I did stand with the box in hand at Best Buy on at least three or four occasions, telling myself I should go home with this cuz there was probably something in my future that’d draw me back to it.

But I’d set it down again and pick up something else. Later on, sure enough, I had to write something about it for a lit class as a college freshman. So I rented it for $4 and lamented that I could’ve already had the disk at that point.

Then I had to write about it again in my junior year for that oft-mentioned Hitchcock class and, again, hated myself for not owning it.

So I’d be frustrated when I sat down with it, wishing I owned the disk and not having enough money to go buy it, but the frustration never lingered. The movie kept showing me something new. Something I hadn’t noticed before. There was some stuff that needed to be pointed out to me, like with that first professor who talked about the slice-like animation of parallel lines through the opening credits, and the way that the first shot has a camera drifting, voyeur-like, through the slatted blinds of a window concealing two lovers in a secret embrace. But even on my own, without all the tools for interpretation that you pick up after a few years of study, the movie just hands you some of its secrets with each successive viewing. Becomes more familiar and fluent and cool.

But, being a teen and then a twentysomething who filtered his opinions through a net of popular consensus, I thought it was lame to say that my favorite Hitchcock movie was also his most famous. So, eliminating it from the equation, I figured at the end of college that my favorite of Hitchcock’s movies was either Blackmail (which I got to rave about some hundred titles ago on the List) or Shadow of a Doubt, his first American film and, if we’re to believe what he says in that Dick Cavett interview, Hitchcock’s personal favorite of his own films.

Shadow of a Doubt is about Uncle Charlie, played by Joseph Cotton, who’s taken up a hobby of murdering wealthy widows in exchange for what we’re to believe, at first, is the simple monetary perk, with maybe a predictable killer’s thrill (tryna remember now where I recently heard some intellectual say, so matter-of-factly, that we oughta come to terms with the reality that murder is apparently one of the greatest thrills on earth, if you’re wired a certain way, and that it’ll never stop happening and peace is a fantasy, etc…), but we find out soon enough that these murders stem from a kind of high-brow misogyny. On the lam, cops closing in, Charlie goes to visit with his sister (played by Patricia Collins, in her early fifties at this point, looking twenty whenever she flashes that gigantic luminous smile) and her children in a quintessentially American small town. There, he gets close to his eldest niece, also named Charlie and played with pep and brooding nuance by Teresa Wright. She idolizes and adores her uncle, her namesake, but it makes her no less savvy to the clues about his crimes. And in the third act, when they’re standing as adversaries under the same roof, each harboring Uncle Charlie’s secret, Wright goes from the perky all-American girl to something like Schwarzenegger in the last act of Predator. A cunning survivalist.

The “high-brow” misogyny I mentioned above, the simple hatred dressed in eloquence: Hitchcock hands the movie to Joseph Cotton with two outstanding monologues, both giving voice to his fatalistic, self-aggrandizing, sneering misogyny and, in the second one, overall misanthropy. The first, during a placid dinner with the family, is a dead-eyed soliloquy about wealthy widows who devote their final years to senselessly spending the money their husbands worked so hard to earn. (“…drinking the money, eating the money. Losing the money at bridge, playing all day and all night. Smelling of money. Proud of their jewelry but of nothing else. Horrible. Faded, fat, greedy women.”) In the second monologue, after Wright (whose character the internet refers to as “Young Charlie”) has discovered her uncle’s crimes, he drags her into a bar where they’re waited on by one of Young Charlie’s former classmates, and he unfolds this wonderful screed about the world being a sty.

“There’s so much you don’t know. So much. What do you know, really? You’re just an ordinary little girl living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there’s nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day and at night you sleep your untroubled, ordinary little sleep filled with peaceful, stupid dreams. And I brought you nightmares! Or did I, or was it a silly inexpert little lie. You live in a dream. You’re a sleepwalker, blind. How do you know what the world is like? Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know if you rip the fronts off houses you’d find swine? The world’s a hell. What does it matter what happens in it?”

I love that.

Back when I took the class I wrote a response paper about the angularity of a shot’s composition, the motif of intersections and parallel lines throughout the movie, a visual representation of how the two Charlies are facing each other. Opposites. Worthy adversaries. And I still think that it’s interesting to look at and consider but what interests me more than the photography, coming to the movie slightly older, is the idea of Hithcock making this movie in the U.S. while riven with guilt about not contributing much to the English war effort. His home was being pummeled by Nazi shells and here he was living a posh life in the States, making a picture with celebrities, his ever desire tended and met. He felt like a bad Brit. Worse than that, he was separated from his ailing mother (with whom he had an unconventionally intimate relationship that manifests in the villains of several of his movies: Psycho, Notorious, Strangers on a Train among them) who also died while Hitch was in the middle of production.

This is the sort of angularity I was talking about. Imagery that shows, for instance, Uncle Charlie at the intersection of parallel lines.

More expressionistic imagery, this time suggesting imprisonment but also aligning Wright with parallel streaks. Streaks that tend to intersect when they appear on screen.

Hitchcock doesn’t appear to’ve ever thought of his mom as evil, but I do think there’s something of his grief at the loss of her that’s featured here in Shadow of a Doubt. What Young Charlie is dealing with now that she knows of her uncle’s crimes isn’t just the existential threat of his wanting to kill her, it’s the loss of a role model. As her uncle’s namesake, she’s also a kind of offspring. Doesn’t seem like much of a leap to say Hitch might be projecting some of his melancholy onto their dynamic.

Anyway. Shadow of a Doubt is a terrific work that doesn’t quite live up to my memory of it, and it’s a bit slower in pacing than his early work, but that’s cuz he’s favoring character over story here. And that’s fine. But anybody looking to watch a Hitchcock movie for that trademark suspense, such as it might hold up for modern expectations, would be well-advised to look elsewhere.

#163. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Even on the rare occasion that I found myself flush with cash as a teenager I was always reticent to spent $20 on a DVD.