#finally they release some bts of this movie

[respectthepetty]

Upcoming Taiwanese BLs

We are over halfway through 2024, and as usual, I've only had two Taiwanese BLs (Unknown, Anti Reset), so even though I'm sitting on a stack of BLs to watch every single week from other countries, call me Smaug because I need MORE!

Honorary Korean BL: Uncovering the Curse of Taekwondo (2024)

Former friends (and possibly lovers) reunite at a funeral after going their separate ways for over a decade, but, honestly, I don't care about the plot because this comes from Hwang Da Seul who was behind Blueming, To My Star, and Where Your Eyes Linger, so I know it's going to be amazing. There is a movie and a series version, and the movie already premiered at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea at the beginning of July. The runtime was 154 minutes, but the series is eight episodes around thirty minutes each and is currently seeking distribution.

First Note of Love (August 2024)

My most beloved, Charles Tu, from my favorite BL HIStory 4: Close to You is finally returning to me in the form of a washed-up singer who stepped away from the spotlight due to a tragic event only to be dragged back in by an up-and-coming composer who is also a longtime fan. It is a joint production with Thailand's Star Hunter Entertainment (the company behind Big Dragon, Love Senior, City of Stars, and Sunset x Vibes) and features a side couple of a Thai singer and a Taiwanese agent. It will involve singing, but I'm already too comfortable in my seat with my snacks to care.

Fragrance of the First Flower Season 2 (2024)

The lone GL holding down this list finished filming late last year and Gagaoolala has been releasing BTS images since filming began, so it'll likely land there once it is released. The series is a continuation of the 2021 first season, which people were not thrilled about because of the ending, so this season should solve some of the angst we were left with by exploring the two women actually coming together to navigate life as a couple.

The Only One (August 2024)

Directed by Liu Kuang Hui, who directed Your Name Engraved Herein, written by the same folks behind The Untamed, and based on Mu Su Li's novel A Certain Someone which is about two boys whose parents are dating and move in together, so the mains go from enemies-to-??? and the only reason for the question marks on a Taiwanese BL is because the word on these BL streets (and his MDL page) is one of the actors works heavily in China, so this might be the reason this one has been was in limbo even though filming finished earlier this year, but the socials are still posting it's coming this year.

See Your Love (Filming Complete)

This co-production with Japan is about a rich man who falls in love with his hearing-impaired caregiver. It finished filming at the end of May and will have those sweet sweet Taiwanese BL cameos from some Be Loved in House: I Do and Plus and Minus folks PLUS it will be the first cameos for the Kiseki: Dear to Me guys since the company that produced their show is the same one for this show.

Impression of Youth (Filming Complete)

Very little is known about the plot of this teacher-student romance, but it comes from the same folks who produced DNA Says Love You and one of the mains, Muji Hsu, was also the lead in 2020's Because of You. Filming finished at the end of May, and the company stated it would be out before the end of the year.

Islanders (late 2024/early 2025)

This is based on a novel, Islands, by Lolita Hu, features some well known Taiwanese actors, and for a bit was under the name Sea of Intimacy. It's being presented as an 'older BL' but the MDL summary is sparse of the BL-plot: Hung, a successful entrepreneur, has three intimate relationships: his wife, his mistress, and his girlfriend. The lives of these individuals in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s are intertwined because of romance, but their story extends beyond that. When Hung faces criticism on social media and loses everything, the way they react tells us how they see the world.

Wishing Upon the Shooting Star & The Young Gangster (2025)

These two deal with completely different plots but are together because of one reason: Ray Jiang. He is the director for these two and was the director for Unknown, My Tooth Your Love, and We Best Love. The companies behind them have stated the series are coming next year, but the guess is Ray's busy schedule is part of the hold up since he has a Netflix series in the works and apparently a film featuring Sam Lin (We Best Love) on the way. The Young Gangster is based on a novel and deals with a research assistant gathering information on the mafia (and we know how the mafia works in BLs), while Shooting Star deals with a man wishing that nobody notices him once he returns to his hometown after being fired. The wish backfires and nobody recognizes him, not even his dad or the boy he confessed to in high school! BL Mafia, Sideways Wishes, and Ray Ray are my favorite types of snacks!

Pray in Love (2025?)

A police officer falls in love with a man only to realize that man is the son of a prominent leader on the day of his arranged wedding in which he was hired as security for the event. The series already released a short film of the basic premise for fundraising efforts and festival rounds. Apparently, filming has started on the series, but there is no concrete confirmation from the production company.

Eternal Butler (2025)

Edited to add thanks to @cankersoregirl! This is a sequel to VBL's Anti Reset and began filming in early July. It focuses on Ever 4 who is sent to be a bodyguard for a young rich man only to encounter a rebellious man.

That Year, 162 Rainfalls (In Production?)

Is this a movie? Is it a series? Is it happening?! Who knows, but last year, it finally got funding and a director attached to it, but the real kicker is Lin Pei Yu is the screenwriter, and she is the writer behind all of my favorite Taiwanese BLs: We Best Love, HIStory 3: Trapped, My Tooth Your Love, Kiseki: Dear to Me, and so much more. Basically, the company struck gold getting her for this story about two archers and best friends. One gets confessed to but admits he actually is in love with his best friend, but before love can happen, the best friend has an accident and falls into a coma. It is based on a novel of the same name, and the plot is way more hefty than this, but I know Lin Pei Yu will make it work!

Four Seasons (Pre, Pre, PRE-Production?)

This is supposed to be four different stories focusing on different seasons, and is rumored to be VBL's next group of shows since the company has stated it wants to continue its formula from last year of releasing slightly connected shows. VBL/Vidol was behind Stay by My Side, VIP Only, You Are Mine, and Anti Reset. Winter is about a scrooge CEO and a florist who is hired to decorate for the CEO's Christmas event. Spring is about two boys meeting on a bus and falling in love over music. Summer is about a market owner and a chef falling in love over food. Autumn is about two former best friends seeing each other ten years after graduating and exploring their hometown together.

Connecting to You (Pre-Production?)

It seems to have gotten funding, but it's been quiet since which isn't surprising because when it comes to Taiwanese BLs, nothing is really heard until filming begins or even after it ends. I still have my hopes high because this is *THE* BL for me as it deals with a man who can see colored threads connecting people and one day runs into a policeman whose thread connects to him. The thread between them begins to change color, from silver-grey to yellow, representing friendship, and even to red, representing love. If I have to sell an organ or two to fund this myself, I. Will. Do. It. I NEED THIS!

And this wouldn't be a Petty Post if I didn't include this final one:

HIStory 15: Freed (GIVE IT TO ME!)

I don't care if this a long shot. I don't care if I seem crazy always asking for this. I. Deserve. It. HIStory 3: Trapped ended with our best mafia boy in prison, and it's time he got out! The HIStory franchise has not had a series since 2022's HIStory 5: Love in the Future, and although there have been rumors that a HERstory story might be next, I think bringing back a popular story would be just as good. I will ask for this every chance I can until I get it, and I plan on living a long life, so I got time!

[cyren-myadd]

BTS of Spider

Look at his little roar! He's ferocious 😂

They're leaving Kiri behind 😭

These BTS images were shared by reddit user u/Shoddy-Magician-9470, and they're not technically new, they're from behind the scenes videos that were released ages ago, but they're new to me so I want to talk about them! These images could either be discarded stuff from Avatar 2 or stuff from Avatar 3 since the BTS images were taken when they were working on both movies.

I believe the first two images are discarded scenes from A2 because Spider doesn't have the forehead stripe or Metkayina garments we've seen him wear in BTS shots that are definitely from A3. The first one specifically reminds me of a deleted scene early in A2 where Spider, Lo'ak, and Tuk investigate a crashed Samson while exploring the jungle. Lo'ak climbs up first, so maybe this is Spider yelling at him or something. I also notice that Spider isn't wearing his Omaticaya armbands and his stripe pattern is slightly different from the movie in the first two images, so maybe those actually are from an early scene in A3 after all, but it could also be that they're just early test footage before they got his look finalized.

The last image is the most interesting to me, because this one looks like it could be from Avatar 3. It's hard to tell from the unfinished render, but Spider's waistcloth looks like the orange-brown sea grass one he wears in A3 not the dark brown cloth one he wore in A2. Lo'ak is also wearing ikran-riding leggings that we've never seen him wear before, and he's carrying a gun, which he only ever used once in A2 and that was on the Sea Dragon, not the jungle.

This reminds me of a specific BTS scene I've seen of Britain (Lo'ak), Trinity (Tuk), and the stunt doubles for Spider and Kiri running from something around jungle props while Lo'ak holds a gun. I believe this is the render of that scene, but this doesn't really give us much information. All we know is that at some point the kids will be back in the jungle together, Lo'ak will have a gun, and they're gonna be chased by something or someone. Maybe this is the scene leading up to them getting captured by Varang and/or Quaritch 🤔 The fact that Lo'ak has a gun also makes me wonder if Jake is going to teach the kids more about human weapons in A3. Maybe after hearing about how Neteyam died, Jake will wonder if Neteyam could've lived if he'd been a better shot with a gun and could've hit Wainfleet before Wainfleet had the chance to hit him.

What do you guys think?

[sgiandubh]

Love Again? Meh

The pressure surrounding those damned elections is so unbearable, I thought finally watching Love Again on Netflix was a decent deflective idea. And since I can never sleep on a full moon's night, it really sounded like a good plan, too. Though with zero expectations, as I already wrote.

Two hours later, I probably lost a handful of neurones I will never get back again. Rom-coms are supposed to leave you in a bubbly mood, and with a strong belief in things like love trumps all, there are plenty more fish in the sea, goodness always prevails, and so on. This one left me flatter than a bottle of Coca-Cola foolishly left open and with the clear idea those people entirely missed the point.

If Nora Ephron is your gold standard, this might feel definitely subpar. But still, that's not the biggest problem I see with this movie. Love Again is exactly like those hotels rated 'pleasant' on Booking - you're not sure if they are terrible or, like Dorothy Parker used to say, 'terrible with raisins in it', which supposes at least some effort being put into it, one way or the other. The plot is remarkably bland and simply serves as a pretext for the real purpose of this movie, which is to promote Céline Dion's five new (perfectly forgettable) songs. The chemistry between S. and Priyanka Chopra is so laboured, that you'd be forgiven for thinking these two people just met in a train compartment and had a perfunctory chit-chat, never to hear from each other again.

Rom-coms are also supposed to be #silly magic in a bottle, yet there is little to no magic in a script so unbalanced, Mira's overpowering (if understandable) grief constantly threatens to flounder everything else. Where everything else includes the budding romance with Rob Burns (🙄), the music critic with no particular qualities, except a dazzlingly shy smile and Season 1 JAMMF's gimmicks, only in today's clothes and without Balfe. Overall, there is too much righteous kerfuffle and too little hope, in this movie that desperately begs for your sympathy, without ever being able to get it. And I shall mercifully pass on the mildly sexy (?) scene, even if without it we would still be wondering where exactly to place the sunshine, lollipops and roses inflexion point on that particular timeline.

Overall, the only question left without an answer is just how much genuine fun did S and Chopra have, while making this movie, at all. My perhaps biased guess is next to zero, based on the overwhelming impression that what was shown of their BTS rapport felt awkwardly transactional and opportunistic AF. This lack of authenticity buries a movie that feels just like something that had to somehow be shot, then had to somehow be released, then had to somehow make its way to Netflix' digital bosom repository. This movie is so meh, it is impossible to recommend it to anyone, and I have to say I am very sorry about that.

I said it before and I will probably say it again: S deserved better choices and opportunities coming along his way. He still does, but he also needs some urgent soul searching, if he wants to avoid looking like a one trick pony and see his acting prospects dwindle accordingly. Which won't exactly be the end of the world for him, but still an awfully unfair waste. So let's hope he will be able to choose wisely and especially out of his comfort zone which well, tends to dangerously expand, lately. The current Onlies' objectifying folly does not help, because the more it goes, the more it cuts S from a reality that is always ready to bite.

While I shall congenially follow whatever he's up to, I would really like this gifted guy to surprise me with something bold, something different and most of all, something that requires more intellect than muscles.

I know he can do it. But, does he?

[stay-dazed]

a simple stray kids guide (for baby stays) ✨

overview: stray kids, or skz for short, is an 8-member korean boy band that debuted on march 25th, 2018 under jype ent. they were formed through a survival show in 2017 with originally 9 members, but one member left the group a year after debut for unknown reasons. there are three subunits to the group: 3racha the rap/producer unit, danceracha the dance unit, and vocalracha the vocal unit. of course, though, all of them do a bit of everything.

stray kids were considered an “experimental group” since the leader of the group was tasked with choosing all the members himself, and coming up with the name, logo, and fandom name of the group. as a group, they produced all their own music as well. they were relatively small for a while but by the time they released their song god’s menu, they were growing in popularity.

now stray kids have had many accomplishments, including: performing at lollapalooza, being the first k-pop group invited to the met gala, becoming ambassadors for brands like versace and gucci, winning around 82 awards, and producing an ost for the deadpool movie. they've also recently set a guinness world record for the first ever group to have #1 albums 5 times in a row over the course of only 8 months!

while they are incredibly talented and successful celebrities, they’re also very down to earth, and very connected with their fanbase. they’ve shown openness and vulnerability with their fans by releasing songs with serious topic matters, crying on stage, and talking about their emotions/experiences. personally, they’re the only band i’ve ever seen who feel genuine love for their fanbase.

name: chan bahng

english name: christopher

stage name: bangchan, cb97 in 3racha

age: 27 (october 3rd, 1997)

nationality: australian-korean

languages: english, korean

positions: leader, producer in 3racha, dancer, rapper, vocalist

skzoo: wolfchan

instagram: gnabnahc

basics: chan was born in korea, but moved to australia when he was about 3 or 4 years old. he remained there with his two younger siblings, hannah and lucas, and their cavalier king charles named berry, until he was 13 when he went back to korea to become a k-pop trainee. he trained for about 7 years until he was finally able to debut as stray kids’ leader. chan is very reliable as the leader and dad of the group, but he’s also australian, so he adds to the chaos very well.

fun facts: chan has hypermobile arms and legs, and can turn his hand 360°. he sometimes wears wrist and knee braces due to overextension. chan won many medals in swimming growing up and could’ve gone into that career. along with that, he’s also good in many other sports like soccer and track. chan's hair is naturally curly!

name: minho lee

english name: rhino (yes i’m serious)

stage name: leeknow

age: 26 (october 25th, 1998)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and basic english

positions: lead dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: leebit

instagram: t.leeknowsaurus

basics: minho was born and raised in korea as an only child, aside from his cat siblings soonie, doongie, and dori. he moved out of his parents’ home at a fairly young age in order to be closer to his university, where he was said to have studied dance and comp-sci, as well as worked as a waiter for some time. he was called in to train under jype in 2017 and he ended up passing the dance test in only 2 weeks, the shortest period among jype trainees. minho is considered to be a “tsundere” since he’s very blunt, loud, and a bit rough generally, but is very kind and caring inside.

fun facts: minho toured in japan with bts as a backup dancer when he was in highschool. minho has acrophobia, the severe fear of heights, and he cannot swim. minho is well-trained in taekwondo, boxing, and bodyguard martial arts. minho said that the reason he isn’t comfortable showing his abs like some other members do is because he has a scar on his stomach from a surgery he had as a child.

name: changbin seo

english name: lewis

stage name: spearB in 3racha

age: 25 (august 11th, 1999)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and intermediate english

positions: producer in 3racha, main rapper, vocalist, dancer

skzoo: dwaekki

instagram: jutdwae

basics: changbin was born and raised in korea, along with his older sister, in a fairly wealthy family. he originally joined jype as a trainee at age 17 to debut as a vocalist, but was convinced to debut as a rapper by a counselor. unfortunately i don’t know much about changbin’s trainee days, other than he trained for about 2 years, and he was part of 3racha who uploaded their first rap song on soundcloud in 2017. changbin is a pretty silly and loud person, but has been described by his members as someone they can approach and who will notice/remember the smallest things about them.

fun facts: changbin prefers plants as he’s allergic to both cats and dogs. changbin is a blackbelt in taekwondo, and he named his own pecs "jut" and "dwae". changbin has said he would like to own his own gym or be a tattoo artist. changbin is the shortest member at 5 '6. changbin was named the fastest male rapper in the k-pop industry with 11 korean syllables per second, i believe.

name: hyunjin hwang

english name: sam

age: 24 (march 20th, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: jiniret

instagram: hynjinnnn

basics: hyunjin was born and raised in korea as an only child, along with his long-haired chihuahua, kkami. he was approached by two k-pop company scouts at a young age, one of which while he was out shopping with his mom. and, of course, he chose jype. he trained as a dancer, and admitted he had hated dancing at first due to the emotional toll it took on him, but now he says dance is like another language he can speak. unlike minho, he attended university online, all during his busy career as an idol. hyunjin is introverted, but very silly and dramatic at the same time.

fun facts: hyunjin has a fear of sudden loud noises, like balloons popping. hyunjin is the tallest member at 5 '11. hyunjin was going to be an interior designer before he became an idol. hyunjin is an artist in multiple forms of media, but he’s most interested in sketching and painting. hyunjin had a live called “counseling center” where he would read his fans’ comments and give them advice/encouragement. hyunjin once broke his hand and now he can't really bend his right pinky finger.

name: jisung han

english name: peter

stage name: han, and j.one in 3racha

age: 24 (september 14th, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: producer in 3racha, rapper, dancer, vocalist

skzoo: han quokka

instagram: _doolsetnet

basics: jisung was born in korea like his older brother. his family moved to malaysia when he was about 8, where they stayed for a while before coming back to korea. his parents weren’t particularly supportive of his desire to become a trainee at first, but they made a deal with him that if he could be accepted into a company before a certain amount of time, they’d let him continue. if not, he’d have to go back to school to get another job. luckily he made it into jype, and became chan’s very first member of choice. like hyunjin, jisung is an introvert, but he’s very loud and energetic at the same time.

fun facts: jisung started learning english in malaysia, which may be why his accent when speaking english is faintly british. jisung has been open with his fans about his struggles with social anxiety and depression. he also supposedly has trypophobia, the fear of clusters of holes, but that isn’t proven. jisung has a bichon frise named bbama. jisung and hyunjin were the real enemies to besties.

name: yongbok lee

english name: felix

age: 24 (september 15th, 2000)

nationality: australian-korean

languages: korean, english, basic french

positions: dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: bokkari

instagram: yong.lixx

basics: felix was born and raised in sydney, australia, with his older sister raechel and his younger sister olivia. he was 17 when he moved to korea to become a trainee at jype, where he studied korean at the same time, as his parents didn’t raise him to speak the language very much. it’s been said by chan that he was particularly hard on felix during their time before debut because he saw potential in him, and he wanted him to do his best to succeed. felix is known as the sunshine of the group, for the fact that he’s incredibly sweet and happy.

fun facts: felix debuted his runway model career at a louis vuitton fashion show. felix is a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo, which he won 63 medals in over the course of 12 years. felix has a very deep voice that doesn’t match his face, and he will occasionally make his own asmr content. felix has volunteered in laos with/become an ambassador for unicef. felix is so afraid of scary things, he’s admitted to reading his bible after watching a horror movie. felix cries easily.

name: seungmin kim

english name: sky

age: 24 (september 22nd, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: lead vocalist in vocalracha, dancer, rapper

skzoo: puppym

instagram: miniverse.___

basics: seungmin was born and raised in korea, along with his older sister. he moved to LA as a child for only about 3 months, but that’s where he started his study in english and where he got his english name from a teacher. he trained for one year after winning 2nd place in jype’s 13th open audition, before debuting with stray kids. seungmin is basically an ambivert (it’s not conclusive if he’s introverted or extroverted), and tends to playfully bully his members. he can be pretty random and silly.

fun facts: seungmin wanted to be a baseball player before becoming an idol, and he actually pitched a strike at a game for the second time recently (the first time he was about 9 years old). seungmin was into boxing, although i’m not sure if he is anymore. seungmin and felix have a live called “cat puppy school” where they just mess up recipes constantly. seungmin is the only idol i’ve seen that seems to have autistic traits, from my own autistic prospective. i’m not diagnosing him of course!

name: jeongin yang

english name: bobby (i refuse to call anyone under the age of 60 bob)

stage name: i.n

age: 24 (february 8th, 2001)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and intermediate english

positions: vocalist in vocalracha, dancer, rapper, maknae

skzoo: foxi.ny

instagram: i.2.n.8

basics: jeongin was born and raised in busan, korea, along with his older brother who’s in the military, and his little brother yoon. he was a trainee for about 2 years, and was only 17 when they officially debuted. he bonded especially with hyunjin, who basically took him under his wing at the time. jeongin is introverted, but follows his hyungs’ lead into chaos. he’s very clumsy, and he’s known as the spoiled maknae. the “baby bread” of the group.

fun facts: jeongin wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, social worker, or priest before becoming an idol. jeongin has a more nasally voice, so he’s particularly good at the trot singing style. jeongin has claimed he was a naughty child, running away from home and laying down in the middle of stores when he couldn’t get what he wanted. jeongin is incredibly good with fashion, so his members come to him for advice, and he often posts ootd’s on his instagram.

[bbjobo]

Hello hi it’s me, your resident entertainment PR enthusiast. I simply need to talk about the sequel announcement. This is all speculation, but I work in entertainment-adjacent communications and once convinced a household name celebrity to stay at my event to do select press interviews when his wife was going to go into labor at literally any minute, so I like to think I've got a pretty good sense of all of this.

So buckle in, because I'm about how actually fantastic this rollout was, because I’d wager they’ve been planning this since the premiere. 

RWRB came out truly smack-dab in the middle of the actors' strike. We all know just how much press we must have missed out on, because the strike started before promo would have kicked off in earnest. And when it was finally over in November, the actors are potentially out of contract for promotion, and that’s not even taking into consideration that the holidays are coming up and the six weeks from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s is truly a black hole of press. So this little movie has to rely almost entirely on fan reaction and word of mouth to hit because they’re so limited in what they can do for promo. And it IS a hit! Records are broken! Comments for an extended version (which, ok Matthew we get it, does not exist) and a sequel start almost immediately.

The marketing team makes the most of what they’ve got: they’re keeping up the official character accounts, they’re dropping deleted scenes and BTS. We get cornettos! The fireside scene! Bloopers! Notably absent? Brownstone Thanksgiving. We’ve seen BTS photos of it, we know it exists. Thanksgiving 2023 would have been a great time to drop it, but they don’t. This is the approximate point at which my own personal sequel speculation began. After the strike ends, the posting pace slows considerably but it’s still consistent. It’s just enough to keep it in your mind but not enough to be like “why are you still posting this much about it?” And this continues into 2024.

On the contracting side, conversations were likely actively happening at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if negotiations picked up literally as soon as the strike ended. The producers would have had that time to get Matthew and Casey back on board and be fully prepped and ready to move on to contracting actors the minute they could. It’d be a shot in the dark to try to guess when these were finalized, but at some point between November 9 and May 9, yeah, they’re in.

But whew, Nicholas is booked and BUSY. Mary & George drops internationally March 5, The Idea of You closes SXSW on March 17, two weeks later M&G starts airing in the US and Canada, and a month after that, TIOY is available for streaming (and limited theatrical release, which is another whole post), and in between all those premieres, he’s everywhere. He’s criss-crossing the country (and tbh the Atlantic Ocean) for all of these appearances, truly going non-stop. The pacing of the premieres makes it nearly impossible to squeeze in another project announcement, and if they had, it would have been a bigger part of every interview he did after, which is something his own team would be working to balance. Plus between TIOY and RWRB, Prime would have been pitching stories against themselves. Better to let him finish out his other promotional appearances and then switch over.

At the same time, we’ve got awards and red carpet season starting. At nearly every red carpet appearance not for their own projects, both Taylor and Nick are asked about a sequel. If an interviewer is given enough time, they ask about a sequel. Sure, fans comment about a sequel on every vaguely rwrb social post from an official account, but the press asking about a sequel felt like a lot to me. Everyone always gave the same vague answer, that they’d be up for it if the story is right, that they don’t know but would be happy to. (Except one time, Nick does slip up and give an answer that feels a little more definitive here where he says “conversations are being had” all the way back in late February/early March). Press are asking the question so consistently that it felt like if it wasn’t happening, PR teams would have put the sequel on the do not ask list.

Then Prime starts actually ramping up on a FYC campaign for the movie. I'm gonna be honest, I was so surprised. It's a rom com, the odds of a rom com getting any sort of awards recognition is so slim, but I thought, "ok, sure, use FYC as a way to get the promo boost they need for an announcement of whatever's coming next." And then I looked up and Variety has picked it as the winner in the best television movie category, which is blowing my mind. The other categories they're submitting in are stacked and I think a nomination beyond television movie will be a long shot, but again, it's big for it to even be considered. And if they're being talked about, that means Prime's gotta put out a great showing for their FYC campaign.

Which brings us to this week. We start off on Monday with Nick at the Met Gala referring to Uma as his mother-in-law. Incredible. Love it. Wednesday and Thursday are a one-two punch of a FYC event and fan event, and the gang’s all here. At the FYC, we get the industry side of things: new portraits and interviews with Deadline, process talk, etc. Because this little rom com is actually doing pretty well and beating the odds? Knowing what we know now, the PR teams spent this week pre-briefing the press on the sequel announcement. Notable (at least to my knowledge) the sequel question doesn't get asked at the FYC event. Because the press already knows it's coming.

Now, on to yesterday. They do a fan screening and Q&A, and they literally roll out the red carpet. Nine months after the premiere and exactly six months after the strike ended, they get the gang back together with fans of the movie, who they relied on so heavily during the strike to help make the movie a success. The tagline on the screen’s giant promo image has been updated to specifically thank fans for “making history with us.” The moderator for the Q&A is the same person who interviewed Taylor and Nick at the beginning of FYC campaign season, their first joint interview since GQ (right? pretty sure. it's all a blur tbh). And at the end of the Q&A, minutes before 12 AM ET, when the embargo on the press release would have lifted, they make the announcement not to press, but to the fans. The fans who loved the book, who watched it over and over, who spread the word about the movie to help make it one of Prime’s top three rom coms OF ALL TIME.

It’s just… an absolute masterclass in how to execute a major announcement that embraces the fans in a time where fandom and interaction between creators and fans can be an absolute minefield. Prime saw the opportunity to lean into the fannishness of it all and they took it and it was a slam dunk.

So where do we go from here? IDK but here’s some unconnected thoughts in list form like Alex would want.

The book’s 5th anniversary is next Wednesday, the 14th.

Casey’s been posting about working on [redacted] for months at this point, which is almost certainly the screenplay

Nick mentioned needing to be back in the UK for filming soon

They would probably like to release this in US election off-cycle years, so that means 2025 or 2027 (and 2027 is too far away). 2026 would be less bad since it’s a midterm election, but still.

Filming could reasonably start sooner rather than later, and even without an unfinished script

I guess we’re back on content watch for blond hair and BTS pictures

[ofmdrecaps]

02/09-12/2025 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill (Momentus Event w/Samba, Kristian, and Vico); Samba Schutte; Anapela Polata'ivao; Alex Sherman/Alyssa Lane; Rachel House; Brian Gattas; Adopt Our Crew: Words of Love; Fan Spotlight: Owltrouser's Bayeux Tapestries; Our Flag Means Fanfiction; Gay Pirate News Hour; Love Notes;

= David Jenkins =

David's fic is finally finished (as of the 16th)! The last of it will be posted in the next recap for the 13th-16th, I just ran out of image room on tumblr on this one or I'd have put them all together. If you'd like to read the whole thing you can do so in many different places!

David's Bluesky Thread

On Tumblr: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

All in One Place: On the repository

Source: David Jenkins Bsky

= Rhys Darby =

Rhys is out in Austin on the 15-16, Raleigh 18-19, and Philadelphia Feb 25-26 for his comedy tour! If you get a chance to go please let me know how it went!

Source: Cap City's Comedy IG

He's got some New Love Hurts BTS up on his Paid Substack!

Source: Rhys Paid Substack

Rhys has been so busy! He had another Rhys Darby's Funny Thing's Society on the seventh, and was joined by Jim Jefferies and Trae Crowder at the Largo Los Angeles!

Source: Largo Los Angeles IG

= Taika Waititi =

Hey did you know Taika directed this super bowl commercial?

In case you haven't seen enough of him, more and more vids and images are getting released from his award ceremony at the Producers Guild of America!

Source: IG

Source: Kevin Goetz

Source: Producer's Guild IG

= Con O'Neill =

The latest OFMD Momentus Event went out without a hitch! In case you didn't get to join, there were some surprise guests-- Kristian, Samba, and Vico! One of our crewmates, @ringasunn wrote fics just for the occasion and they were read by our cast members! These fics are Izzy centric and NSFW!

The video was uploaded to youtube, but youtube took it down for mature content, so if you'd like a copy, you can access it here!

Con also wrote everyone a note after the fact!

"After today's event I fell into a deep sleep and woke myself up with my screams I am now on my way to find a priest ...thanks to my fellow pirates @puertoricaninja @kristiannairn @sambaschutte and the lovely @charliecapen for arranging it all .... love is a weapon. Use it x #love #ofmd #izzy #fightback"

Source: Con O'Neill's IG

= Samba Schutte =

Samba is finally on bluesky! You can find him here!

Source: Samba's Bsky

Great news! Samba's movie Advanced Chemistry was in the top 3 of the movies streamed on Stars!

Source: Samba's IG Stories

= Anapela Polata'ivao =

Our dearest Auntie was out at the Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, Premiere of her film ‘Tinā’! So many showed up to celebrate her wonderful film which goes live in theatres on Feb 27th!

In honor of the premiere, Costume designer Kama Aliska was kind enough to share some lovely BTS photos of Anapela and the crew!

Source: Kama Aliska's IG

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tagata Pasifika (@tagatapasifika)

Source: TPPlus.NZ IG

= Rachel House =

Just a quick shot with our dear Mary Reed <3

Source: Instagram

= Alex Sherman & Alyssa Lane =

Some great news! Alex Sherman and Alyssa Lane will be joining The Wee Con via a Digital Panel!

Source A MuseOfFyre's IG

= Brian Gattas =

Just a sweet tribute from our Siegfried to Elizabeth Banks for her birthday <3

Source: Brian's IG stories

== Adopt Our Crew: Words of Love ==

More lovely words of love by our crewmates over at @adoptourcrew in honor of Valentine's Day! Thank you for continuing to educate us on all the wonderful types of love there are!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Bsky

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Owltrousers's Bayeux Tapestry =

More Tapestries by the wonderful @owltrousers! This time for Season 1 Episode 2 - A Damned Man!

Source: Owltrouser's Bluesky

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

Another episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction is live, and this time it's The Fang (aka Kevin) Episode! Check it out on your favorite podcast platform via their linktr.ee!

Source: OFMFF Instagram

= Gay Pirate News Hour =

Special debrief of the "Izzy Into Me" Momentus event by the Gay Pirate News Hour side of Our Flag Means Fanfiction!

Source: OFMFF Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies. I feel like I'm perpetually behind now, kiddo's been sick, I've been sick, heck the whole country seems to be sick. Thanks so much as always for your patience on these <3

I'm running on fumes and I was trying to get the next recap up as well tonight so I'm gonna just send some love from some other folks who've been keeping me going these last several days.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Twillostory™ | Art for Mental Wellness (@twillostory)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Twillostory™ | Art for Mental Wellness (@twillostory)

Source: Twillostory IG / 2

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Holly Murray | Doodles (@hollymurray_doodles)

Source: HollyMurray_Doodles=

[the-dreams-i-dream-blog]

The summary:

2025 the boys of BTS were in the biggest band of the world, they have sold out shows and finished their mandatory military service. The world was theirs until an accident that happened in the year 2027 with their bandmate Jeon Jungkook. They all decided to break up after this accident, nobody speaking about it until now…. These are their interviews.

Pairing: yandere jungkook x reader

Warning: Hey guys this is a mini chapter it’s chapter 2.0. It has humor and serious moments, but nothing to dark yet. I decided to try something new. It is a little unhinged lol.

Mini Chapter 2.0- Feelings

(Video recording of y/n finding out she won the Weverse contest.)

Hi guys, I’m so excited right now Weverse is just about to release the winner of the BTS comeback contest. I’m praying it’s me but if it’s not, that’s OK I know the army that wins it. Will be grateful.

Wait. Wait. They just released the statement.

OH.MY.GOD. I WON

(excitedly screaming)

Screen goes black then back to the BTS boys interviews.

Min Yoongi-

This trip was planned all the way down to the napkin Y/N was going to use. The contest stated that it was a two week trip to Korea. Nothing in that mentions that BTS will meet the winner. Jungkook wanted to make it seem like Y/N just happened to ran into him on the street.He wanted a little of the chase that he always craved.

Kim Taehyung-

Jungkook likes to switch up his personality to fit the situation. It was no different for the scenario. The player man he had became finally stopped. The man who would drink morning day and night slow down. All because y/n didn’t seem to like those traits. 

Kim Namjoon-

Him finally getting her to Korea seems so familiar to me, like I’ve heard the story before then BAM it hits me. Jungkook is Hades and y/n is Persephone. Korea is his hell, his domain.

Kim Seokjin-

Wait.

I’m sorry Namjoon really compared

Jungkook to Hades and y/n to Persephone?

(He lets out a loud laugh)

Aish.

Namjoon always trying to bring his books to life.

Interviewer- Do you think they resemble that pair? 

Kim Seokjin-

Oh yeah for sure… them or Princess Peach and Browser

(He continued to laugh)

Interviewer- OK can you state when YN arrived to Korea?

Park Jimin-

Seeing Jungkook track her the moment she got off that plane was like seeing a cat with a mouse. She was just excited to travel, but what she didn’t know was that this prize she had won wasn’t just for her.

Flashback

Y/n POV

Cloudy and rainy was the weather Korea had when I landed my eyes kept wandering around the airport, not believing that I was actually here.

“Wow” I said under my breath I finally moved my feet so I can reach a cab. It feels unreal how I got here. The fact that I won the contest is just… wow.

When I finally got into the cab, the thought I should’ve remembered was that I don’t know Korean.

“어디로 가시나요?” Asked the cab driver. I blinked trying to comprehend what he just said. two knocks on the cab window, brought me back to reality.

I roll down the window and see there is a man standing there. I hoped and prayed he knew some kind of English and thank God he did.

“Are you y/n?” The man asks

“Yes…yes I am, I’m sorry how do you know my name?”

“You won the BTS contest, correct?” He keeps asking questions.

“Yes?” I responded

“I will be your driver for the next two weeks. You are here complementary of BTS”

 The drive to the hotel I was going to be staying in was amazing, the whole time BTS music was playing. It felt like a 2000’s movie where the main character goes to the big city. When I finally get to the hotel, I couldn’t believe how beautiful the room was and how big it was. on the bed was the free BTS merch and a bunch of snacks. I decided I wanted some light in the room so I went to the window and opened the curtains, and Boy was the view something I’ve never thought I would see. I’m just kind of upset that I couldn’t bring a plus one on this trip. 

(Back to the interviewers)

Park Jimin-

Oh yeah I forgot!

Jungkook made sure she couldn’t bring a plus one.

He didn’t need someone in the way of his plans.

Min Yoongi-

He thought about everything, except the fact that she didn’t speak any Korean.

Kim Seokjin-

This stupid stupid boy

HA!

He didn’t think about that detail!

She was American that only spoke English.

Min Yoongi-

The only person who was in the way of his plan was himself

(He let out a little laugh)

Kim Namjoon-

I really didn’t want anything to do with this.

So I distanced myself from him I mean, I talked to him during rehearsals but I pulled back.

I’m the type of person who knows their limits and boundaries and Jungkook during this time was breaking all of my boundaries and limits.

Kim Taehyung-

What a shame he was fucked in the head.

Interviewer- Wait I’m sorry I feel like we are getting away from the story here. Just tell us when Jungkook finally decided to approach y/n?

Jung Hoseok-

I will keep it short… okay?

She got off that plane.

She started having everything tracked.

They met at the Han River at 7:37am because she wanted to experience it early when not a lot of people were there.

Jungkook just happened to be on a early morning “run”

(Hoseok rolls his eyes)

Interviewer- I’m sorry you look annoyed, what’s wrong?

Jung Hoseok-

It’s just…

I know I could’ve stopped this somehow. I’m annoyed at him and I’m annoyed at myself.

She didn’t want this she never asked Jungkook to do the things he did.

I saw everything he was doing, and I didn’t step in to stop it. I blame myself for that night.

(He starts to tear up)

Min Yoongi-

Hoseok and I were really close to y/n, she became our little sister. Hobi blames himself a lot because he dropped her off at her and Jungkook’s place that night knowing she didn’t feel comfortable.

I’m sorry I’m going way ahead of the story.

Interviewer- No.No. It’s okay, I want to hear your guy’s feelings, we can continue the beginning in the next episode.



***Sorry guys if this one seems off I wanted to try something new for this. That’s why it’s a mini chapter if you don’t like how it came out please let me know. Chapter 3 will be out next week and it will be more on top of the beginning and go into detail. Love you guys

Tagz: @kokoandkookie @petersasteria @crispynutella







[likeawildflower]

What do you mean it’s been two years since the release of D-Day? 😮

I mentioned before that I’d post my 2023 D-Day concert in LA recap.

I became ARMY in September 2022 so this was the first BTS (or BTS member) concert I saw in person. I posted this recap somewhere else a while back and thought I’d post it here since it’s the second anniversary of the D-Day album.

May 14, 2023 - D-Day concert in LA, Day 2

Seeing the ARMY bombs light up and the crowd move and scream as Yoongi went into the first song was just … wow. I felt this moment of pure energy and connection that I couldn't explain. That ONE feeling was worth what I went through to get here. And I finally got why BTS loves ARMY so much.

YOONGI! I couldn't focus on him at times because I got lost in his songs. Daewichta was one of those times. He looked so intense and got lost in the song too. I'm the king, I'm the boss! Yes, he was.

Agust D was a blast to sing. Heheheh. A to the G, to the U to the STD!

He had a half smirk at the end of this one song and I thought either he was pleased or he had a secret. Or both. (It was both. Halsey showed up!)

He broke out into this huge smile after singing with Halsey. In the other songs, he was focused, intense or calm so that huge smile was 😍.

His voice sounded higher in some songs and I wondered if it was the sound system or a stylistic choice on his part. His voice returned to his usual range after a while.

I liked the set piece he had down stage where he could watch TV and play the piano. It was closer to the crowd and had a comfy and welcoming vibe overall.

Speaking of the piano, he was being playful and crashed his fingers on it one point. Lol.

I cried when he played Life Goes On. I knew I would because I really love his version of the song and hearing it live was 🤯🥹. Raw and stripped down and powerful.

I thought I was prepared for Cypher Pt. 3, UGH! and Ddaeng. Nope, not even close. God damn it, Min Yoongi!

I half expected Woosung to show up during Snooze. He didn't but the song was beautiful. My favorite from D-Day! ‘Everything will be okay’ and ‘Dream’. Yeah, I felt that.

During his ment, he said the first time they played in LA was in a club with 300 people and now he was playing in an arena with 16,000 people. Awww.

He also said the crowd was the loudest yet. Every time he said “make some noise”, the screaming went up exponentially to ear splitting levels. I covered my ears (well, one of them) because it literally hurt to hear the screams. Yep, I'm officially old. Hahaha.

Oh, doing the chants was so much fun! I was so happy when ARMY chanted “BTS! BTS! BTS!” And then yay, there was the BTS fan chant which I didn't think l'd ever get to do live. Also, chanting his name Yoongi or Min Yoongi was satisfying. Best part? Chanting “I love, I love, I love myself!”

Some fan signs were funny. A couple of signs said they skipped graduation for Yoongi. One sign said she ditched the kids for Mother's Day and went to see Yoongi. Lol. Priorities!

One of the loudest cheers went up when a pic of Jungkook from the CK shoot was shown.

Overall, the concert was a fucking amazing experience and I'm so excited to see him again in June! I already got my movie theater ticket for the live broadcast of his Japan concert. Min Yoongi!

[pharawee]

I just finished watching Love Syndrome: The Beginning and... I actually really liked what they did with the source material. It's interesting that this and the series are by the same production company and director but other than the choice of skinny jeans (someone must have been a big fan lmao) and Tuss reprising his role as Neil, the movie has a very different vibe imo.

It's also unfinished, meaning it ends on a cliffhanger with a big 'to be continued' - which probably isn't intentional seeing as they were originally aiming for a cinematic release (not to mention the sudden passing of the producer/director). I can't blame them either because I think they made the deliberate decision to mostly leave this as is to honour the director's final work:

As it is, I think the movie is a very solid piece of entertainment with some really nice acting, especially by Bix Tagon as Itt.

I've read most of the novels in the Love Syndrome universe and they're actually very same-y with the same non-con kink repeated throughout pretty much every couple's story (and there's A LOT of couples). This is why Day and Itt were never my faves (especially since the tropes really be troping with these two) and tbh I wasn't really into Long and Frank's version of them either (which isn't their fault at all - I just don't think Frank was a good fit for Itt), but Nef and Bix really make them work for me this time.

For one, there's zero romanticisation. Day is positively unhinged and there's zero doubt that Itt is the victim here. The scenes between them are incredibly brutal to watch but at the same time there's this almost stageplay-like feeling to them - as if every little piece of dialogue and acting has its place and nothing is drawn out or glossed over. I really appreciated that (as difficult as their scenes were to watch). I don't think that's easy to accomplish. I saw in some of the bts that they worked closely with either an acting coach or an intimacy coordinator (or both) throughout the filming of Day and Itt's scenes and imo it really shows. As bad as it sounds because Day is such a horrible person and Itt is straightup going through hell, theirs really were the most interesting scenes in the movie for me.

According to MDL Nef and Bix are rookie actors too so kudos to them for doing an incredible job. I hope we get to see more of them especially since Day and Itt's story is far from finished and I'd really like to see if they can pull off the transition from toxic hate to toxic love (imo it didn't work at all in the series, mostly because it started with book 3).

As for Gear and Night, they chose to almost completely sanitise their story (except for the initial bet itself) which imo was a good choice because in the novel reading about the same trope over and over again got tired real fast. Night takes Gear back relatively quickly and then they just pick up where they left off (but with Night more or less in control now).

Plus, Tiger Tanawat (who btw is a Change 2561 artist) as Night is such a mood:

I already loved Rossi as Night but dang (also, I need that shirt). 🫠

There's also some cute Four and Gus moments that unfortunately (or fortunately - seeing as how the writer of the novel also seems to have an age gap kink that's better left unmentioned 😬) gloss over most of their story. Knot, Fu and Neil kind of appear but that's about it.

I wonder - providing we ever get to see the second part of this movie - if they'll scrap the horrible Neil as the villain side plot or not because I could totally do without that. 😬😬

That being said, if you thought The Effect was difficult to stomach then you probably shouldn't watch this. Love Syndrome never hides the fact what it is about but it unfortunately doesn't offer any content warnings. Its SA scenes are explicit and realistic so if that's upsetting to you please please don't watch this. 🙏

[chicafinal]

hello apologies for the random question but i was curious abt ur opinion as someone who enjoys films. do you consider deleted scenes a part of the main film? (options: yes / no / yes only if i liked the scene / other)

WAIT this is a really good question that ive never really thought about 🤔🤔🤔

i guess my instant answer is that no, i don't really think about them as part of the film, same with deleted dialogue. in a way i would position them closer to bts footage or additional information said by the director/writer/etc, they might add to my enjoyment of the final work as a whole, but they exist on their own page

but also i looove deleted scenes and its one of the main reasons i collect physical releases. i especially love when they come with extra commentary that goes deeper into why they were taken out (its rare but some movies do it)

also one of my favorite deleted scenes ever is the locker scene from creed 2

[goldenpinof]

What do you think is happening with the wad recording? What I mean is, obviously Dan’s still working on it and I trust he's doing everything he can, but do you think it will have the same vibe as when it was performed during the tour? Since it's been so long. And do you think, if he doesn't for some reason manage to record it, does he have some kind of backup recording from the tour, be it from one camera, but at least with a passable audio? You know way more about this than I do, sorry if this is not how these things work actually 👀

oi, i don't know anything but i have theories. my roman empire.

i don't think it's gonna be released as wad dvd (not anymore, lol). i still call it dvd because it's easier. it can be put on a streaming platform. he didn't record the whole show during his tour but he has recordings of some shows (segments of some shows) that were used for promo. and i'm sure there is more footage than we have already seen. i think it's a good backup that could be used if other plans went to shit. did they go to shit though?

at the end of October i was told that Inter Talent was reaching out to companies trying to sell wad movie rights, basically (hello, op if you're still here). and then in November Dan told us that, "the oven has almost reached temperature" and i would assume they finally sold the rights. to what exactly? i have no idea. a one-man show? has something to do with the place and the festival we shouldn't name? BBC is involved again? if he actually performed wad show in front of some audience we would have known, i assume. so it leaves me with a theory about the "gay and not proud" format that was surely adapted to wad as much as possible. Bo Burnham: Inside (Daniel Howell edition), idk. or another theory - a mix of the footage they have (the promo one) and Dan "performing" on stage alone. no idea how they would make it look natural but they could try.

in both October and November people called the product a movie and a film. it also makes me think that there's gonna be either bts or actual acting in the final product, instead of just what we saw live. so, not the same vibe for sure.

also, since there were adjustments to the script for almost every live show he probably had to make changes for dvd as well. and also he had enough feedback to modify some jokes. this whole delay of wad dvd is a blessing and curse, honestly. he had a chance to perfect it, and i hope he did.

p.s. if he is only about to perform it in front of an audience for filming purposes, and he was selling only the movie idea to get funds, i'm gonna cry. but it would be funny.

[baby-alien11]

Y/N Ulrich Universe First Anniversary

taglist: @volturi-girl-imagines @dessxoxsworld @camiesully @ethanlandryluver @nowitsmissing @aliciacat20 @gabbylovesreading @nikfigueiredo @itsaaliyah2

She got the title of the 'Ghostface Princess' when she started to do content of Scream on social media

The title of 'Serpent Princess' was because the cast f Riverdale started to call her that during filming and interviews

While rehearsing for Carrie: The Musical, she was Chris Hargenssen while Spencer, her boyfriend at the time, was playing Tommy Ross, and during one rehearsal, she pulled the rope with the bucket (empty) and accidentally hit him in the back, he was okay, only a bruise for a few days (they broke up in january because he moved to Iowa)

The one sided feud with Kira started because she thought Y/N last name was weird and funny, until she found out who was her father

Sometimes when she doesn't have space in her room or closet, she uses her siblings room as storage room

She knows how to play piano

Her favorite book series is PJO and The Selection

Her favorite fashion houses are Vivienne Westwood and D&G

She became a TS fan during 2011 after seeing the music video of Our Song, and the rest is history, she has been to three tours: 1989 with her family and friend group, the Rep Stadium Tour again with family and friend group, and recently to The Eras Tour with Jack

The first horror movie she saw wasn't Scream, it was Alien

Her first kiss was with Sarah, before entering high school they were talking on how both of them haven't had their fisrt kiss yet, so they decided to kiss so that way they didn't regret having it with some other person

She already knows that when her wedding day comes, the song for the dad-daughter dance is going to be 'Never Grow Up' by TS or 'Slipping Through My Fingers' fom ABBA, Skeet agreed to that because the songs makes him emotional

She was in the teather club since elementary school, participating in Beauty and the Beast as Plumette, Grease as Sandy, The Little Mermaid as Vanessa, Matilda as Matilda, Bring It On as Eva, Hairspray as Penny, Les Mis as Cosette, West Side Story as Graziela, Carrie The Musical as Chris Hargenssen, her last role was going to be Sophie in Mamma Mia until pandemic started

Once a year, Y/N and her siblings have a small golf competition

Her first fashion campaign was with Kate Spade at 14

One ime during the filming of Scream VI, Melissa and Xavier adopted her for a day having a family day

The first thing she bought with her first salary as a Riverdale extra was her Prada nylon purse and bobba tea

(This is going to hurt) Luke Perry was like a second father to her, when Skeet had to film a violent scene, he would always distract her, helping her with homework or things like that, also attending her school plays, so when he died, she didn't left her room for a week because she coulnd't stop crying,even if the memorial was held at the Ulrich household, and when TS released evermore, she did a cover of Marjorie in his honor that she posted on Tik Tok

Her favorite movie is Corpse Bride, and always cries during the Emily song and the final scene

Her campaigns with brands include Pretty Little Thing, H&M, Coach, Hot Topic, Kate Spade, Killstar, Rare Beauty, Nyx, Charlotte Tilbury, alo, BaiBai Jewerly, Oh Polly, Tous, Armani, Club L London, Petco (ft Tatum), Dolls Kill, Cloe, KitchenAid

Her fashion icons are Zendaya, Cher, Princess Diana, Rihanna, Audrey Hepburn, Lewis Hamilton, Bratz, Monster High, Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Marilyn Monroe, Salma Hayek, Grace Kelly, Anne Hathaway

The love for VFX make up started when Skeet was telling her BTS facts about Scream, and it considelating during season two of Riverdale while helping with Cole Sprouse make up at the end of season two when he is beaten up by the Ghoulies

Besides the Southside Serpents leather jacket, she has a Vixens uniform (and all the variations), a Bulldogs football shirt, a Jughead beanie, a Pops uniform, Pussycats ears, a S shirt, letterman jacket, a Pretty Poisons jacket, and a 'Farm' shirt

Due to having family in NASCAR and with interest on racing, she learnt to drive at fourteen, and also knows how a motorcycle works

She (as almost everyone), had an 'all black clothes' phase, until she missed combining it with colorful clothes

Her favorite youtube horror cannels are dead meat and CZsWorld, and non-horror are uncarley, WatchMojo and Ms Mojo, Wait in the Wings, Spill Sesh, haylo hayley, Tea Spill

After meeting Jack, the song that she started to hear in her head was 'Enchanted'

Her first Ghostface mask was gifted by Wes Craven, after Skeet called him to tell him she watched the movies, the next week she recieved the mask with a handwritten letter

A F1 driver tried to hit on her two days after her 18 birthday, she left him on read (we all know who was at this point)

As almost every nepo baby, she got a bit of hate when she started to be a public figure, but ignored them, until they started to talk about her relationship with Jack and she couldn't ignore them

She knows all the Riverdale musical numbers and coreographies from season one to season five episode three

Since becoming best friends Y/N, Sarah and Abby anways practiced coreographies during sleepovers, the last time they presented them, where at the halloween party doing Sexy by Mean Girls Musical, Vigilante Shit by TS (chairs included) and Honey, Honey from Mamma Mia (ABBA)

Her favorite F1 teams are RB, Mercedes and Ferrari and drivers are Sergio 'Checo' Pérez, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Michael and Mick Schumacher, Max Verstappen, Dorianne Pin, Abbi Pulling, Pierre Gasly, Niki Lauda, Alex Albon, Yuki Tsonuda, Carlos Sainz Jr, Charles Leclerc, and queen Susie Wolff, and has extreme admiration for Romain Grosjean for getting out of the car on fire

Her phone case is the Casetify snake one, she just changes it depending on the model of phone she uses

[colorful-white-ideas]

Bill did promote BKW and we didn't notice it?

I know I've been very critical of Bill lately because of the last marketing fiasco of the Boy Kills world promotion. But one anon brought to my attention something that made me think in some coincidentical events of last year that now make sense. Have time? This is looooong

Anon said "Now that I know that he initially did the voice over as shown at TIFF and he got replaced, maybe that played a part into his lack of promotion, especially as the lead "

2023

- July 22 : Bill is spotted attending a UFC match in London.

- July 23: the BKW trailer comes to light, the famous " Cannes trailer". Someone found it and shared it with the world. Don't ask me who I just remember it was everywhere suddenly I even made a post about it too. Now (2024) is no longer up on that page. In that trailer the boy inner voice was different from the one we have now.

- The bobbysill IG acc caught our attention again after days of speculation if it was Bill's or not . Bob uploaded this :

*Willemandersson is Bill's friend.

-July 24: this same acc had a mental breakdance after someone went to the BKW producers to complain about someone "leaking" pictures of the movie without an official release of the trailer , calling it a hoax and bla bla ( sadly I don't have screenshots of those negatives comments but the pic of Boy is later erased) Bob starts posting a couple of pics that no one has ever seen before and that are absolutely Bill related:

Now let's jump in time.

August 3 The Toronto international film festival announces BKW premiere for sep 9

Sep 2 Bill is seen attending one again a UFC match in Paris .

Sep 9 The day of the premiere in Canada. Bill went to another UFC event , this time in Uppsala.

Coincidence?

Isn't curious that every time something big about BKW was out or about to happen ,Bill , let himself be seen in a UFC match ? It is very well known that he loves those sports, so I don't think these were the first or only times he attended a public UFC event.

Which is more important: the images we saw of him among the public didn't come from fans around him but from the official media - press at the event. These were not accidental sightings, he wanted people to see him there.

He knows how to hide , he could have gone and refused to be acknowledged in the public but he smiled and played along.

In 2023 the SAG AFTRA strike paralyzed the industry, no one could really promote upcoming projects without being accused of going against the strike. Maybe this was his way to promote the material, also for what we see now of the BTS shots , he had a really good time filming. I bet he was so excited about this movie he literally couldn't wait to start showing off what he was able to do.

After all HE and his team reached out to the crew asking to audition for the movie. You can look it up. So this movie wasn't just a cash grab for him HE WANTED to be part of it.

However something happened cause that enthusiasm was non-existent this year.

The first critics at the TIFF were 50/50. Not very impressive.

2024 it is announced that the inner voice will now be done by H. Jon Benjamin. The original voice was replaced just months before the world premiere.

There is a trailer going around with a voice that pretty much sounds like Bill and if it's really his it looks like he put a lot of effort into giving the character an identity that went beyond than just the goofy one the director wanted as the final product.

( * personal note I like both results )

Maybe anon is in some way right after all ? Maybe Bill agreed on erasing his voice but in exchange he decided to not use his actual voice to promote it.

A tantrum ? Yes absolutely. Although if you think about it ,maybe he saw it like his whole effort was not fully appreciated so he decided to "stay in character" and not talk about Boy. Others could do it for him.

****PLEASE do not take this as proof of anything, it's just speculation I did on my way home from my job.

He by all means could be just a diva who just didn't want to be part of the fuss of this premiere and that's it. Only the crew and him know what really happened. ****

[mrs-monaghan]

Hey, since you often catch details and seem like an open-minded person, I want to share what I observed in the last few days. So, I definitely believe in Jikook but that was not always the case. My bias is Jimin and I always mostly focused on him, but once I observed Jungkook more carefully, the truth revealed itself step by step. Now something similar happened since I focused on Taehyung. And it seems crazy, to me as well, but please give it a chance! Watch "Nippon TV BUZZ RHYTHM 02 - BTS Cut" timestamp: 13:55, and watch (and listen to) all of their expressions closely, especially Jikook and Taehyung. Keep an eye on Namjoon, too. Then please look at the lyrics of Sweet Night and really reflect on them. Just as a reminder, there is Taehyung calling Jimin his "one and only best friend" in "Let's BTS" and similarly in Festa 2019, for example. I also am stuck on Jin calling Taehyung very generous and big-hearted in "Special Movie BTS MUSIC JOURNEY" (after the release of Sweet Night) and the others agreeing, their expressions speaking once again. Then finally those compilations where Taekook is apparently jealous of each other. Or Vmin. And now you just have to connect the dots but I did not see any other person who has done so. All those moments, all those compilations make so much more sense to me. All in all, it seems that Taehyung has or had feelings for Jimin. Sounds crazy! Of course we should not assume too much but the connections are there and in hindsight, they seem obvious. You just have to put the puzzle pieces together. I really hope that Taehyung is over it, because unrequited love hurts badly. Taehyung as a person makes so much more sense to me. His actions, his depression, his pain... Well, I guess Jimin did not call himself "Tailor of Chaos" without reason. That situation must have been difficult for him, too. Maybe (just maybe) that is an indicator regarding his state in 2020... And of course on Jungkook. But maybe that is the actual reason why Jungkook and Taehyung seem to be closer now, maybe mending their friendship! Especially, since Taehyung found a partner. And maybe Jikook feel some kind of guilt for causing Taehyung pain... who knows. There is much to think about and honestly, it sounds like pure fanfiction but if I learned something in life, it is that nothing is impossible. Hope you give it a chance, I really would like your opinion on all that. I certainly am feeling very surprised. Have a nice day :)

Yes anon, it takes very little for me to judge people seeing as I'm a lunatic myself 🤭🤭 if I had a shilling for everytime someone called me crazy I would have attended all of Suga's concerts and then some 😂 so u get no judgement from me my lovely 🙌🏽

Except insecure Jikookers, of course. Fuck you! I judge you everyday! 🤨🤨🤨

So! Umm yes. I've seen this theory being thrown around. I have friends who think this might be the case. And one of them is actually really good at analysing and picking up cues and she believes V may have had feelings for Jimin at some point and her arguments make sense.

But for me... idk. Idk anon. 🤔 I have a hard time picturing this. I will share a clip that will be hard for some of you to watch. So brace yourselves

Oh boy. Glad I have my anons off because u guys are already kinda mad at V atm 😂😂

Things to note about the first clip: (I know... I know. It's bad. I recently just discovered it and it doesn't look good, I agree)

a) Point to note number one is that, that is how most people in SK feel about homosexuality. As u can hear V is basically telling Jimin something is wrong with him mentally for liking men. And when u grow up with everyone around u telling u this, of course u will believe it. It also explains why he would keep the company he keeps. (Go Google Bogum and his cult scandal) People in SK don't believe men can be with other men. And those who have seen it happen, think its a mental illness. This was obviously embedded in V for him to have done this not once, but twice. And this is only what we saw on camera.

b) 2nd point to note; Taekook just cannot be real. It's just, impossible. Yes, V has changed, obviously. Hanging out with Jimin will do that to you. He obviously doesn't feel as strongly about homosexuality like he used to. And he loves Jimin and JK which means he has adjusted his mentality. But, this is a guy who used to say basically homophobic stuff to his friend. And as u can see, that clip is from around May 2015 So at what point would V have started dating JK as early as 2013 when this is how he felt about his friend a boy, liking boys?

c) 3rd point to note; Jimin doesn't deny it. I hate how he's just defending himself there repeating over and over; I don't like you that way, so what's your issue? I dont behave that way towards you, why you mad? Anyway, Jimin doesn't once say "no i don't like men." Or "stop lying" he just says "I don't feel that way about you."

d) Last point to note, Jikook is real. Why? Because what triggered V, was Jimin telling JK to sit next to him. And immediately V goes off about how something is wrong with Jimin in the head because these days he likes men. Likes JK.

Now anon, let's go back to point number 2. I know internalised homophobia is a thing. (Thank you Shameless! You taught me sm!) But it stems from someone hating that they like someone of the same sex and they don't want to be that way, but they are. So saying V used to have a crush on Jimin insinuates he would have had to get over his homophobia and start seeing Jimin in a new light. I mean, it's Jimin and the Jimin effect is a thing that exists. But, still. Idk. I just don't know. Watching that clip tells me that his parents are like this. Him being so close with the WS, tells me he wouldn't have kept them as friends if at any one point he started liking someone of the same sex. Knowing how they feel about it.

V is more accepting now, of course. But Jikook are in the closet and only close knit people know about it. And V definitely isn't divulging that to the WS. Again, knowing how they feel about this topic.

What am I saying anon? I think those V jealous Vmin moments that exist are because he "lost" his bestfiend when Jikook became a thing. He had to share Jimin with JK. And I imagine Jimin tried to be there for both of them but sometimes JK took priority and maybe V didn't like that. They used to be bestfriends. Super close. V even looked after Jimin in school. Asked some people he knew to look after the new kid because that was his friend. They were close. Really close. Then satellite Jeon comes and changes everything.

Now to the assignment you gave me. The question was who's the most romantic

Suga (what?) And RM say JK. Guess they've seen it first hand. 🤭 Also Jikook both point at Jin

V on the other hand says Jikook but then changes it to just Jimin

I also looked at the lyrics of sweet night (he sounds so good) and I'm guessing you're talking about this part;

Anon, if you ship Vmin, or are suspicious of Vmin, it would be easy to conclude this song is about Jimin. Easy. But if you're like me who believes V is as straight as a ruler, then the first thing I think of when I hear that, is some girl he liked at the time that he was really close to. Someone he dated in the past, maybe. To me V is as straight as they come and I could try, but I cannot see where you're coming from.

But if you listen to sweet night and then watch V jealous compilations, you're gonna be influenced. Because you're going in already thinking the best friend he's talking about is Jimin! But, remember, you don't have to have romantic feelings for someone to be jealous. You can be jealous that your sister is spending too much time with someone else. You can be jealous your bestfriend doesn't make time for you anymore ever since they started dating. You know what I mean?

That's what I think you saw. In my opinion, of course. I could be wrong and way off base but...yeah.

In Conclusion: Vmin isn't real and there was never potential for it to be so.

I appreciate u trusting me with this ask, anon 😘

[simplyclary]

I Am So Proud of You

Goodness gracious! How do I even begin writing this post that is filled with nothing but praise and love for one of my favorite actors, Taylor Zakhar Perez? Like proud is an understatement for how I feel right now because Taylor is finally getting the recognition and love he deserves.

To provide context, I woke up to a notification from IG saying that Taylor posted a story and he posted a list from media company TheWrap and I saw that he was included in the "Latino Power List: 45 Trailblazers Making Waves in Hollywood" list and the moment I read that, I felt immense pride and joy for him.

Even the mere idea of Taylor being included in the list alongside some of my other favorite actors and actresses who may have been in the industry longer than him like Jenna Ortega, Zoe Saldana, Pedro Pascal and Selena Gomez is enough for me to feel immensely happy and proud. I'm so glad he is finally getting the recognition he deserves!

To add to that, Taylor is also going to be honored at the upcoming SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 27, 2023 because of his portrayal of Alex Claremont-Diaz in Red, White and Royal Blue. That only adds to the immense amount of pride and happiness I (and the rest of the TZP Squad) feel.

I can't say or write words to fully encapsulate how I feel about Taylor getting all the love and recognition he deserves so much. Like I'm so proud of him and my heart is so full!

Guarantee you, the moment the actors' strike ends (which I hope will be soon), I will need every BTS footage Taylor's got from RWRB (I know it's kind of too much to ask, but I will humbly request it) and other things. Kind of overreacted there, but it is what it is.

Also, I will be seated for every future movie and series he will be in. Genres will not matter to me as long as he gets to explore characters and genres and expand his filmography. Disney needs to talk to him about a possible Flynn Rider role in the upcoming live-action Tangled movie or maybe Marvel can cast him as an X-Men character. I also want to see his screenplays and film ideas brought to life, like if they can be turned into indie films, I will watch them.

Outside of TV and film, he can do as much philanthropy as he wants and I will support him. I will buy his book if he ever writes one or one of his skincare items if he ever makes one. I will stream music from him if he decides to release some. He can travel the world and explore culture and I will appreciate every single bit of it. The possibilities are just endless.

To be fairly honest and keep this short, I'm just going to be one of those people who will manifest great things for Taylor because he is one of the kindest and most talented people out there. He is one of the best gems I have discovered and I have no regrets being one of his fans.

Being part of the TZP squad has been so much fun and sharing so much mutual love and appreciation for Taylor is just a pleasant experience.

Once again, Taylor Zakhar Perez deserves nothing but love, support and adoration and I will forever be happy and proud of him finally getting the well-deserved recognition he has worked hard for.

[iloveschiaparelli]

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: My Love Letter Part 1

Okay okay okay SO Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes longpost time just my whole opinion/analysis/love letter for the whole film beginning with my Wes Ball backstory so skip to the Ruin screencap if you want to skim past all that.

I haven't talked about it on tumblr yet but I'm actually like a huge fat fan of the Maze Runner cinematic series directed by Wes Ball. Really I'm just a fan of Wes Ball. It not only singlehandedly got me through my first year of high school but also became the reason I ended up entering the film industry. I've watched all 3 movies at least 4-5 times each. Probably like 20-30 for Scorch Trials at this point because it's my favorite. I can quote probably at least half of it from memory. I've watched all of the BTS content that was on the DVDs + the bloopers on youtube like i was obsessed ok.

2019 was like the second worst year of my life so imagine my distress in january 2019 when I found out about Wes Ball's next movie, Mouse Guard, got Super Hyped Up for the multimillion dollar mice-with-swords movie (I eventually read some of the comics btw it's insanely good) And then within the same week found out Disney pulled the plug on the project after acquiring 20th Century Fox. TWO weeks before production was scheduled to begin. I was livid. I'm still bitter about it. Wes Ball then released the demo reel for the film to the public which iirc also had temp music.

So anyway yeah that was awful but then! I think it was later in 2020 that it was announced that Wes Ball was going to be directing the 4th POTA movie. This kicked off me seeing the original 1968 film and then the trilogy and wow did doing so increase my excitement. In my opinion Rupert Wyatt/Matt Reeves' directing styles and Wes Ball's were/are very compatible. I also took the time to get caught up on as much of Wes Ball's old projects as I could get my hands on at the time, including his animated short Ruin (screencap below). Which is fantastic BTW and apparently was purchased by Fox for a feature film that was never made (???) I swear, filmmakers have their past works splattered all over the internet like body parts after a landmine explosion: Good luck finding everything.

Now, Finally Finally FINALLY!!!!!!!! Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is out. I meant to see it on the premier night but my boyfriend broke up with me 2 days before so I forgot. I saw it tonight instead! So now with the backstory out of the way I can finally talk about the actual movie.

First of all, the beginning of the film absolutely WOWed me!!!! It honestly feels like a callback to Ruin, the way that the buildings are overgrown and the post-apocalyptic setting is super evident and feels so delightfully reclaimed by nature. It's also really neat to see how far VFX has come since Ruin was released if you compare the opening shots of the movie with the wide shots in Ruin. Wes Ball himself is also a VFX artist, so it's really neat to see how that affects his work especially since Planet of the Apes is by nature a very vfx-heavy franchise. This movie absoutely popped off in that area but we'll get to that.

Secondly, I forgot how much I missed Ball's directing! Oh my goodness, the performances he gets out of the actors are always so authentic. I still have yet to see a performance by Dylan O'Brien that was as raw and believable as in the Maze Runner movies, and I'm like halfway through Teen Wolf already. In the action scenes especially, I love how characters in Ball's movies, you can really feel their pain. Since pain and physical discomfort aren't communicated directly through film, we often forget just how hard it is to get back up again after getting kicked down, but with Wes Ball you never forget. Ugh, when Noa was getting beat up on top of the bunker at the end of the movie, I caught myself catching my own breath when he coughed up blood. Like, yeowch!

Additionally, everything this man makes is just, like, a masterpiece? On a technical level at least. That's really the mark of a good director, whose job is not only to evoke a performance from the actors, but also to tie together the whole crew. And KOTPOTA really showed off how well the team worked together. Just the establishing shots alone in a lot of these scenes! Oh. My. Word. You can clearly see the fruits of labor of not only the concept artists, but also the VFX artists and production designers, and how they worked with the DP and actors to get the shot. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:

There are more that I'm thinking of, but unfortunately without a digital release available yet there's a limit to the screencaps that I'm able to obtain. The shot where Noa is walking up the escalator following Raka and you see the plane in the background indicating that Raka lives in an airport is one of them. There's also one or two establishing shots in nature that just show off the setting. The opening shots, of course. And then the shot where it pans up and you see Eagle Village for the first time. There's also an aerial of Proximus Caesar's camp, but I'm unable to find that one as well. The main one I want to look at is the telescope.

Just, like, Hello???? It looks like an art piece. This screencap is a little closer in than I'd like, but in the full frame you can see the absolute mastery of composition that it is, you can totally imagine it as a painting. Which in my experiences usually means there's a painting behind it somewhere in the process, lol. Let's go concept artists!!! But then you see how the colors are just, perfectly balanced, the plant growth is realistic and accentuating the set, and so on and so forth. It was just absolutely breathtaking to see for the first time. I'm pretty sure I audibly gasped. I did a lot of stimming during this movie just to stay quiet and not start babbling about the film pipeline to my father in theater auditorium.

Even more magic happens when Noa steps onto the set, and starts messing with the telescope. Suddenly it's real, it's tangible, it's touchable. Transforming what was likely a matte painting at one point into a set that the actors can interact with, and then into a shot where almost everything is overlaid with VFX, and having it look so real like that is truly magic.

The ship also had me dumbstruck, but slightly less so because we saw a similar setting in The Maze Runner: The Death Cure in 2018. Although it was slightly different for sure. What had me going even more in this movie was how much the characters interacted with the ship, moving in and around it, and trading glances with one another from on the ground and up inside. In TMR:DTC, you really only see the decrepit ships in the background, and one is referenced as a plot point but the characters never actually physically interact with any of them. So it's much easier for our brains to categorize the ships as gimmicks to help us believe the scene.

It's when props like these are woven into the scene as tangible objects that our brains start to shut up about the CGI and really start to believe what's happening onscreen! and KOTPOTA did an amazing job at this. Please bear in mind like, I literally have zero specialization in VFX, it's not my field and although I draw, I've never done concept art for film. I honestly believe that I'm simply in an appropriate level of awe for what this film accomplished.

The other thing that amazed me was how stylized the setting was. The greenery was so green, the ocean felt like a painting, the ship was red, the telescope shot is very, very blue. Several of the shapes used in the ape's costume design are simplified. And yet, despite the stylization, it never feels cartoony or polygonal, it still feels completely grounded in reality, and I could really believe I'd see it in real life. I think this owes partly to the fact that we rarely inspect any of these simplified items at a close distance, aside from Raka's necklace which appears to be made of either bone or whittled wood. It also owes to absolute geniuses in color grading that kept the stylized colors realistic enough for our brains to believe. Overall I'd take the visual style of the film to be Impressionist. I love impressionism.

My main interest in filmmaking is writing/directing. However, most of my experience lies in costume design (Student films rarely need costume "design" so its usually coordination) and production design. As a result I spent a good deal of my time watching KOTPOTA zeroed in on the production design.

I love post-apocalyptic science-fiction/fantasy worlds like this partly precisely because of how much you can learn from the production design alone. When Mae enters Trevathan's room for the first time I swear I was eating it up. Every single prop in this movie was carefully thought out by the PD, which is why his room absolutely stood out from the rest of the setting that we had seen up to that point. It was distinctly "human-centric" as opposed to the rest of the movie. I remember seeing it in the theater earlier today, laying eyes first on the bed by the door, thinking that it must be something they set up for Mae, but then wondering why or how the apes would know or want to set up a human-style bed for Mae when we're so many generations removed from human-dominated society.

Next it was on many miscellaneous table objects, thinking to myself "That looks like how a human would treat a space. Apes are generally too big to decorate at that scale." and then my eyes roved on to the furniture, seeing a human-sized table, human-sized chair, human-sized junk everywhere! Slowly, by observing the room, I gained a stronger and stronger sense of "there is another human here," which upon observing the rows and rows of books became "a smart human like Mae, who unlike her can read" (Remember at this point we still believed that Mae and her mother were the only smart humans that Mae had known growing up, and that she had been pursuing the opportunity to meet other smart humans and join them).

It was only upon the instant of realizing that this was a smart human that Trevathan spoke and appeared on the stairs. It was absolutely perfect timing. THIS, guys, is exceptional production design. It was honestly my absolute favorite piece of production design in the entire film, especially because of how much it contrasted what we've become used to seeing in the series as humans have diminished in population and apes and nature have taken over the space instead.

That exact sense of change or "otherness", that noticeability of contrast upon seeing what is honestly a pretty "normal" human space if you look at it in the context of our existing society, is only present because of how well PD treats the rest of the movie. In order to make a completely normal space feel strange, you have to change literally every other space to something alien but consistent with itself. And KOTPOTA does just that. The job was begun in the original trilogy, with the decline of humanity depicted across decades, nature taking over the gas station and the dam and even the city. But this movie had the biggest challenge because of simply how many years had passed before the story even began. Society as we know it today is completely and totally obliviated in KOTPOTA's setting. In every set that the characters interacted with in any way, PD had to fabricate a space where humans had been but the virus, decades of decay and post-apocalyptic living, and ape encroachment had transformed it.

This also brings me into the subject of the rich culture we see emerging in the world of the apes through this movie. The original trilogy, especially the first and second film, was all about the ape's identity. In the first film Caesar wonders whether he is human or ape, and whether apes are pets or equals to humans. He eventually comes to the realization that humans are never going to look out for apes the way that apes will and decides to become that person. In the second film, Caesar and the other characters involved have to figure out what being an ape means. Does it mean strength is power? That humans are always an enemy to defeated? Or a similar species to live alongside? It's about establishing what the ape race's relationship is to the human race. The third film I didn't get to rewatch before seeing KOTPOTA, but iirc it was about whether humans and apes could ever coexist, which is a theme we see continued in this movie, albeit in a slightly different way. Either that or more likely it was about whether apes will repeat the same mistakes as humans.

Anyway, I digress. In the script we already see a rich culture emerging in hints, right from the start of the movie. It's in the hunt for the eagle eggs at the beginning with mentions of some kind of coming-of-age ceremony, followed by Noa reminding Anaya and Soona that they must "leave one egg always. It is the law." Already in the first five minutes we've established that this particular ape civilization not only has cultural traditions surrounding youth and coming-of-age, but also rituals and laws surrounding their relationship with and the conservation of nature. And through dialogue we extrapolate that these apes have bonded animals (eagles). It honestly felt like a crossover between Native American Indian hunting practices and How To Train Your Dragon, which is wild I know. (Also can we talk about how the eagles in this movie actually made eagle sounds???? And not falcon sounds! Finally we're breaking the bad habit of making up animal noises to sound cooler when the original already sounded super cool by itself.)

So in just a few minutes guys!! We already have so much. Then the trio heads back to the village and has their first encounter with the Echoes (Ekos? If anyone could get spelling on that for me that would be fantastic) but are too afraid (or law-bound) to get too close to or cross through the tunnel "into the valley below". So through these we establish that there is a taboo around not just humans but also around leaving the village. The clan has taken an isolationist approach wherein they not only forbid their young clan members from leaving but also withhold information about the outsiders from them until they've come of age. Guys the cultural system arising here is absolutely wild. Like sorry not sorry but I eat this stuff up. (Screenwriters-- this is prime example material of "show don't tell")

There's also all of the ape social communication rules that we've already gotten used to, mainly a variation of the palm-up/palm-down gesture as a means of showing respect (submission) and asking for permission/approval.

In this movie however the hands are mostly closed and the palms are down for the sub as well as the ape they're seeking approval from, as opposed to the trilogy in which the submitting ape always had their palm up. At first I chalked this up to cultural differences among clans since we learned that this clan is not the clan descended from Caesar's apes in the trilogy, but then Caesar's descendants were doing it this way too? So I don't really know what to make of it but I'm going to decide that it's just global cultural evolution (at least, as global as the real-world evolution of Old English into modern English).

Through the production design of the beginning sequence in Eagle Village, we see that the eagles catch fish and then the vast quantities of fish and the smokehouse indicate that fish caught by the eagles are the main source of food for the Eagle Clan. We also see feathers as a motif throughout, worn especially by the parents and the elders as a sign of social status (we know it's social status bc Sylva rips it off of one of the elders as an intimidation tactic and everyone audibly gasps, indicating it worked). That last bit is honestly more costume design, they popped off too but one thing at a time or I'm going to become incomprehensible. I will repeat myself. It is inevitable.

Then throughout the film we learn that not only do they adhere strictly to the "law", but that that law is set by the elders alone. We also learn that they primarily relate to their eagles by singing to them which!!! is just!!!! so!!! metal!!! I love it. The way it plays into the end scene with Proximus just AGHRGHJHRHGR GROWL BARK BARK FERAL NOISES>

ahem

Also we see them building nests at home for their eagles and they've figured out falconry tools for the aerie and everything on their own like??

Then in contrast we see what's left of Caesar's clan, it's descendants. Proximus Caesar, we learn later from Trevathan, has gone completely fangirl over the ancient roman empire and decided to emulate it because "he likes it" and it makes him "feel good" (yeah he's probably the most textbook tyrant I've ever seen in media), choosing to morph Caesar's teachings into his own new worldview rather than adhering to them properly.

So the culture of Caesar's clan is very heavily roman-influenced, often copying practices outright such as the insitution of slavery, a lot of the fashion choices and even the way that banners are put up around the camp and the way that Proximus dines at a low-set table filled with an overabundance of food. And he has a throne and crown, and there are roman numerals inscribed on both his and Sylva's necklaces. But we still see influences of Caesar's original society, most noticeably the persistence of the window symbol and the architecture of the dam. The architecture wouldn't be significant at all, instead being noted as a stylistic choice for the whole series, if it weren't for the fact that it's different from Eagle Clan's architecture.

If Eagle Village resembles those spaghetti bridges that engineers build for class, with thatched roofs, then the dam at Caesar Clan's camp is much more brutalist by comparison. Eagle Clan was very spindly and focused on height and lightness of building materials: many of the logs were thinner and longer, more spaced out, and sometimes rounded at the ends. By contrast, Caesar Clan's dam is built with stumpier logs, closer together, and spiked at the top. The dam is also shored up with soil and other materials. Which yeah, is typical of beaver dams but is also typical of the structures in the original Caesar's village in the trilogy.

Unfortunately, there's only one image currently available of Eagle Village and it's after it was burned down. But you can still see how it differs from Caesar's village, instead of being chaotic it's more organized, allowing for a more lightweight structure.

This (below) is the closest I could get to having a picture of the dam's architecture, but you can still tell how it's more similar to OG Caesar's architecture than it is to Eagle Clan's, even though it's using a completely different building material (scrap metal instead of hewn trees).

Eagle Clan's architecture is also a further effect of how their society revolves around making a life bond with eagles, which are flying creatures. So of course they would be inclined to taller structures, especially ones that are more lightweight and have structural patterns, imitating the way that birds are built (see above).

I'll continue in part 2 as a reblog because it's 1 am and I'm running out of steam but YALL I need you to understand: It's been 6 years since the last time I had a Wes Ball film to overanalyze and rave about. I have SO MUCH to say about this film.