#funny you mention that because I was rewatching the trailer earlier and it turns out there are indeed two people in the puppet

[ginkgomoon]

Gavin's 'Falling Slowly' and Film 'Once'- Analysis

Since the beginning, I’ve wanted to do an analysis on the song Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, but since it was only mentioned twice (in Mark Date and Gavin’s Music and the Past Call), I thought it was going to be left at that. But because of the mention again in @cheri-translates' post, perhaps... there could be more to it. Because this song was made for the film Once, I had actually watched it earlier this year. I wasn’t going to post this analysis originally, but the trailer literally made me cry. After watching it with the knowledge from my first viewing, the trailer had a bigger impact on me that I didn’t expect. This allowed me to push on. Rewatching the film for this helped me realise some parallels between the film and Gavin’s history with MC, along with its song Falling Slowly. For me, the film was so heartfelt, vulnerable, honest and real. Just like the side that Gavin shows MC. It also had super hilarious moments that made me laugh so much while crying over the sad bits. Highly recommend this movie (if you don’t mind some occasional cursing!) Now I can say I’ve watched Once twice.

Below contains spoilers for Gavin's CN content (referring to Cheri's translations) and on the film.

“Your performance… was a miracle to me.” -Gavin

Once is a 2007 Irish romantic drama about two struggling artists in Dublin, Ireland. The film was turned into a musical and won various awards, with Falling Slowly winning at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song. This was on top of receiving a Grammy nomination. Once only had a budget of only $150,000 USD.

In an Interview with Glen Hansard (male lead), he stated that during the scene of Falling Slowly in the music store, director John Carney wanted this shot to be the centrepiece- just two musicians connecting through music. This scene where the actors first got together to perform and sing in harmony allowed the crew to maintain the perseverance needed to finish the film despite various major setbacks. (People kept buying the same piano in the music store featured because of this film LOL)

“The closest a non-musician will ever get to feeling what it feels like to write the song… or to discover… it was the most moving scenes of the film.” -The Interviewer

The first impression some viewers may have upon watching would be criticising the shakiness of the handheld cameras. However, the actual intention (from the ex-film student perspective that I had) was to give it a sense of realism. This film aims to depict more of real-life from the perspective of the main characters. Even the characters' names weren't disclosed as they were literally 'unknown artists' in everyday life. It was ultimately based on Carney’s own personal experience, while Hansard, wrote the music for the film.

“The movie is sad, funny, real, everything that life is and it gives you hope. It's about a moment that happens in life that may not come by again or may not last forever, but it just might have the greatest impact on you. I know I'll be watching "Once" again.” -A fellow Once viewer.

We are introduced to the male lead (Guy), playing the guitar and wanting to make it big with his music, who also fixes vacuums with his father for a living. He meets the female lead (Girl) and she bugs him into fixing her vacuum. In the beginning, he’s cold and doesn’t want to associate with her (especially after when she gives him 10 cents for his busking).

Look how grateful he looks-

Even when Gavin and MC met again after their separation, Gavin puts up a fragile guard in front of MC while protecting her from a distance, like in high school. And just like how Joe Zieja stated in his MLQC interview-

“Gavin is a really interesting character, especially when we first started out before he and the producer really had a relationship… Gavin’s very cold. He’s very business-like, he just wants to get stuff done. But it’s really neat to see Gavin’s shell melt over time as he develops a relationship with the producer.”

In the film, Guy finds out that Girl can play the piano, who learned it from her father before he passed. Turns out, Guy is heartbroken from his ex (who’s currently in London) who cheated on him. Girl tries to convince him to get her back with his songs.

Similarly, Gavin discovers MC’s music during his fall shown Campus Date, in the moments where he received his Evol. Gavin devotes his life to protect her.

(I also did a timeline of MC and Gavin’s high school history together here that also references these parts.)

*Casually dragging vacuum*

Together, they go to a music store and she plays Mendelssohn for him. Then finally, at 15:42 of the film, they start to play Falling Slowly.

(So good! So good!! When they start harmonising!!! No fancy editing or cuts- it’s just two artists and pure music.)

Through music, they connect with each other’s souls. Just like how MC saves Gavin with her music that fateful day. And soon enough, Gavin comes across MC playing another song in the music room.

That song was Falling Slowly. He doesn’t know the name of the song though, only remembering the melody. Later, he learns how to play the guitar because he liked it and thought that perhaps he could perform it to his special someone one day. Such moments had inspired Gavin to write and make his own songs then record them onto his CDs so that maybe one day she could listen to them.

A thought I had was that did Gavin hear the piano and decide to make a guitar version, only to figure out that he was the missing piece?

Even the music store owner was very impressed-

Just like how Gavin slowly begins to soften up to MC, in the film, the instrumental of Falling Slowly plays when Guy and Girl start to bond. Guy tries to talk to her more but she states that she “has responsibilities”. It’s revealed that she has a daughter at home and a husband still in the Czech Republic. Even so, together, they write and record songs for his journey to London- back to his ex and to pursue his dreams as a musician.

Later, they go out for a spin on his father’s motorbike- he even prepared another helmet for her (SPARKY 2.0??). He asks her to teach him how to say “how much do you love him?” in Czech when they talk about her husband upon finding out that she’s married. She replies with, “it is you I love” in Czech. But he has no idea what she said. (*Grips heart*)

He wants her to go to London with him, start a band, and sell out shows. But she can’t. The song they recorded together “When your mind’s made up” (I have this song on repeat) plays in the car as they drive to the beach before he leaves for London the next morning.

So, if you want something And you call, call Then I'll come running To fight and I'll be at your door When there's nothing worth running for

The music producer is clearly so impressed-

Together, they schedule a time to meet up just before he leaves for the airport. Guy waited all night till morning for her.

But she still doesn’t come. And that was the last time he ever saw her. Just like how MC wasn't able to see Gavin who waited the whole day before he left. This was shown in Old Days Date that I did a heart-gripping analysis on here.

Guy’s father had said, “make your Ma proud.” (*Cries upon remembering Gavin’s loving mother*)

In the end, still unable to reach her, Guy gifts Girl a piano. In the beginning, they had a conversation where they spoke about pianos being too expensive, hence why she kept going to the music store in order to be able to play. Even though they are both short on money, he still manages to buy her a piano- the same one they played Falling Slowly together.

And while the film comes to an end, Falling Slowly plays in the background while Guy is off to the airport.

*Dramatic power-walking*

This was a heartbreaking ending for the viewers because not only that they didn’t end up together, they weren’t able to see each other before he left. And it wasn’t disclosed why she couldn’t make it.

Nothing too fancy happens because again, this was to show a slice of real life, and this proves it to be more tragic and beautiful. It can’t really be described unless it’s experienced. And I had the chance of viewing it not once, but twice.

This film (and song) is important for Gavin and MC because, despite their complicated history of misunderstandings, he always wants to put their relationship first and make the most out of what they have now together. Girl had helped Guy achieve his record deal and pursue his dreams. She had done her part on his journey to becoming an artist and both had to part ways. Without her, he wouldn’t have been able to record his songs and leave. Likewise, without MC, Gavin wouldn’t be the man he is today (hence, Winter World). Gavin is very vocal about this as well.

Gavin lowers his head, and the light follows his movement, descending onto the scrapbook, illuminating every word he writes- “I’m very happy to have met you in the past.” -CN Mark Date

“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. What matters is every moment I spend with you now.” -Sugar Figurine Phone Call

“Seeing you again is the best present I could hope for.” -The Best Gift Phone Call

"Even though I'm curious about the future as well... I care more about the present. For me, it's good enough to seize the day. As long as you're here. The next second will be everything I need. Protecting what I have now, is the best plan for the future." -School Legend ASMR

With Falling Slowly, it’s quite a straightforward, romantic song. Originally in the film, Guy wrote it about his ex-girlfriend so it does has some sad lyrics. MC didn't know how Gavin knew about it.

Teacher Zheng: Just now, MC mentioned that you play the guitar and bass incredibly. Could you let me hear it? It’d be best if the two of you could play together. I haven’t heard my Orchestra Leader play the piano in a very long time.

To be honest, this is not a “request” at all. If Teacher Zheng wants to hear it, I’ll definitely be willing to play for her. But Gavin…

I cast Gavin a probing glance, wondering if there’s a need to persuade him. To my surprise, he nods.

Gavin: I could, but I’m really not as skilled as she says.

Teacher Zheng: Haha that’s all right. I just want you to use your heart when performing. What’s important isn’t how good it sounds, but the heart.

Gavin: Could I borrow the guitar over there?

Teacher Zheng: Of course.

Basically shown in Mark Date, Gavin’s been preparing for this moment all this time. He already knows what song to play. And what’s so amazing is that the first instrument we hear is the guitar which leads the piano. Therefore, once Gavin plays his piece, MC would know what song it is and then join in with her piano. AND THEY WOULD SING TOGETHER.

Maybe it’s just my misperception, or the sunlight just happened to fall onto his eyes, but I keep feeling as though his eyes are even brighter than usual. It’s as though they are flashing with light.

This is a slightly melancholic song, but the moving light and wind seem to make it refreshing and clear.

🎶 Lyrics 🎶

It's a slower song to help listeners slowly take in the emotions, lyrics and main dueting instruments of piano and guitar with the occasional violin in the back. It's so simple, and yet so powerful.

The guitar has its solos and the piano appears more prominent in the chorus. In the beginning, it's just the guitar, with the piano joining in after.

[GUY & GIRL] I don't know you but I want you All the more for that Words fall through me and always fool me And I can't react And games that never amount To more than they're meant Will play themselves out

Gavin never got the chance to be close to MC in high school, so he showed his affection through other methods. He walked 10 metres behind her after school and was her silent guardian against those who had negative intentions towards her. In the library, he had tried to introduce himself to her, but she had already dashed off.

Before waiting for him to say the introduction he had rehearsed countless times in his heart, the girl had already uttered a “thank you” and hurriedly fled. -CN Tilted Time Rumours and Secrets

Gavin couldn't help but develop this softer side for her and didn’t know how to control it or express it other than doing things such as leaving strawberry milk on the piano and learning guitar in hopes of playing it for her one day.

Those "games" he's referring to were those things they did, such as MC smiling at him when crossing each others' paths in the hallways, and Gavin buying her hot drinks and only looking at her among the snowball fight chaos at school in the Winter. Gavin has no power over how everything will turn out, nor does he try to have complete control over it either.

"... I believe that some things are destined. Like..." -Gacha and Destiny Phone Call

[GUY & GIRL] Take this sinking boat and point it home We've still got time

This "sinking boat" of the relationship is what they're both trying to save. For Gavin, this could be suggested to be about himself.

In a split second, the noise ceases abruptly. After a moment of silence, whispers surface in the crowd. Vaguely, I can catch a few phrases.

“Bad.” “Fighting.” “Misfit.” -CN Mark Date

Gavin had a tough time in high school being the outcast, but MC kept him going, fighting in the name of justice. And had quite literally saved his life. She was his lighthouse when he was battling the rough waters back home. And MC- she was also his home.

“As he clenched his fists, a power deep down within awakened. It was a rapture of rebirth. A declaration of the end of darkness and the advent of the light.” -Campus Date

[GUY & GIRL] Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice You've made it now

Gavin wants her to realise his feelings, be around and talk to him more- and say "yes". But even so, he still gives her a choice not to, and would have to live with that. Gavin thought she already had when he departed and spent years thinking that her absence showed all of what had to be said.

[GUY & GIRL] Falling slowly, eyes that know me And I can't go back

Gavin's falling slowly for MC (compared to when he fell really fast before MC saved him LOL). Once he starts, he can and would never go back. He hopes that MC would see him the way he truly is.

MC: “I have one more thing to tell you. MC is a bit slow. She is not as good as you think, and will also be blinded by rumours…”

Gavin: “She’s a very nice person. What she thinks of me has nothing to do with anyone else." -Old Days Date

[GUY & GIRL] Moods that take me and erase me And I'm painted black

Gavin can't handle his feelings. (*Cries*)

After being in a daze in the piano room, he’d be in a daze in the library, continuously staring at the empty seat where MC used to sit, and I have no idea what he’s thinking about.

But I really didn't expect a person who sleeps in class to be in a daze in the library for an entire afternoon... Did Bro Gavin and MC have a fight recently? -CN Minor's Memos

[GUY] You have suffered enough And warred with yourself It's time that you won

He states that he understands that the girl had it rough, but if she was to be with him, she wouldn't get hurt. Gavin wants to be the one for her.

"MC, I want to make you happy forever. If... I hope that person is me." -First Year In-Game Birthday Visit

[GUY & GIRL] Take this sinking boat and point it home We've still got time Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice You've made it now

[GUY & GIRL] Falling slowly, sing your melody I'll sing it loud

Gavin recognises MC's "melody", and urges her to sing (her presence) and Gavin will listen and follow, singing his one, too. Together they will harmonise.

[GUY] Take it all Oh, I played the cards too late Now it's gone

The song finally ends with both the guitar and piano, whereas at the beginning it was just the guitar.

This part is the most powerful and heartbreaking. Gavin regretted not giving the farewell letter to MC directly- from "playing the cards too late", then suffers the loss of her, her presence, and her melody.

But fortunately, in the end, Gavin successfully returned home- to MC.

"Want to play for a while tonight? I haven’t heard you playing the piano in a long time too.

If possible, I’d like to make a song request.

How about “Falling Slowly”?

We could sit by the window and play it together again." -CN Gavin’s Weekly Text - Piano Concert

Somewhere, Gavin is happily playing Falling Slowly with MC.

[destressjournal]

DCOM Rankings #91: Girl vs. Monster

So this is definitely the point where I completely checked out of Disney channel for good. I saw no adverts for this, no trailers, no promos, nothing. I have seen a separate review for this movie on caitlovesdisney on YouTube (she goes by a different name now), so that’s how I kinda knew what this movie was about beforehand so I wasn’t too blinded going in. But yeah, I keep saying I’m headed into unknown territory but now this is really it. 2012 i was a junior in high school and 17 years old. I was watching more adult shows at this point.

But let’s talk about this movie. Soooooo it was just straight up meh. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. There are both good and not so good aspects about this movie, and I already chose a grade for it halfway through my viewing. I gave it a straight C. I will explain why of course, cuz this is what I do. Strange to say I’ve been doing this for almost a year now...wow...

Ummm let’s start with the overall story. What I did like about it was the concept of facing your fears, that it’s something all kids and adults will relate to. Fear is everywhere, and you basically just have to manage it. Fear is actually helpful for avoiding harmful situations like a bear attack, but when it turns to anxiety about smaller stuff like public speaking, that’s when it something you need to get control of. Obviously I think most kids these days don’t deal with bear attacks on a daily basis so I think this lesson is super important, and surprisingly isn’t as explored in other halloween-themed kids movies. So I give this movie a point for that!

I didn’t like the concept of the monsters and that whole lore. The monsters are just vapor in the air? And they just need to be destabilized and put in a containment unit and that’s it? Sorry I personally think that’s dumb. There was this monster hunter show on Nickelodeon that was probably only around for 1-2 seasons but I already know their concept of monsters was much more enjoyable. Or maybe it was aliens. Same difference really. I don’t know, having them be just gaseous beings makes the action wayyyy less action-ny. But I’m sure that was the point because they can’t use guns and spears in DCOMS, and they can’t kill the monsters, so this was probably the best they could do to get around that. Not much wiggle room there.

The characters were okay. The actor who played Skylar definitely knew how to act tough and fearless, but when it came time for her to act scared she just looked like she’s staring at the sun with her mouth open, all squinty like. Besides the acting though, Skylar was probably my favorite character but it isn’t saying a whole lot. Just the dynamic between her old and new personality with fear added in was really cool. The side characters are honestly the same person in two different people, and the rival antagonist was a little bit threatening in the beginning but had to take a backseat for the real monsters the rest of the movie. So like there was almost no point to her being in the movie at all. The love interest was lame and 1 dimensional and just something for people to ship Skylar with. And a possible love triangle drama that never really came to fruition. Cuz like once the action started its was all about the monsters and nothing else.

The villain was also okay, I mean she was your typical mustache twisty villain, not really sure what her actual plan was, to scare Skylar to death? I honestly don’t know. But the monsters get their power from fear and they weaken when up against stronger people. I do also like that concept about the monsters because it’s just like real life. Things that scare you have more power over you, but when you’re not as scared, you’re more in control. And that you can’t get rid of fear completely so the monsters will always be around. It’s just a matter of containing them. From THAT standpoint I can see why they can’t be killed. Still, the action sucks and I’m not gonna lie about that.

Skylar’s parents and the assistant were also fine. Nothing to complain about or boast about. The assistant is pretty much comic relief and the parents are the heros that get trapped so Skylar can save the day. That’s pretty much it. The practical/digital effects were passable, like the portable radar and the machinery in the lab. I think most of the budget went into the monsters themselves, and they didn’t look too bad for a TV movie.

Then here’s the cringey part of the DCOM, the fact that they tried to put as many songs as they possibly could with a story like this. Literally a song started playing within the first 5 minutes of the movie. Classic 2010’s Disney Channel. Everything’s a musical. I also find it funny that in the middle of the movie Skylar tries to sing one of the songs with the love interest’s band, and Skylar runs out of the room and the other girl (the third party in this “love triangle”) got up to sing in her place, and the boy looks like he’s in pain as he’s playing the guitar but he’s still playing he never stopped cuz the song is more important than the girl he actually likes. Doesn’t even question further why she has her neck brace off and how she could sing, just goes along with it. Then they have a dance party literally in the middle of the cemetery....whyyyyyy. Cemeteries are respected places, don’t teach kids that they’re a fricken halloween decoration.

I will admit that despite the awkward song placement in every single scene where there was a song, the songs themselves were not too bad. They did get stuck in my head after a while. It’s that bright bubble gum pop that graced Disney channel last decade. And I honestly don’t mind it. Still wouldn’t listen to these every day. I have a playlist of Disney channel songs that only go up to around 2011 and that’s it. I’m happy with that.

As far as the scare factor goes, I can totally see how this can be a freaky to little kids. Cuz of the floating heads that come at them on the screen. Like I was scared of the floating thanos head in twitches when I was a kid, and I was an older kid, like 10. Not that I was scared of anything now, but I think it would still be a neat idea to rank all the Halloween DCOM’s on their scare factor. DLUTB would be at the top, that’s for sure!

I’m honestly not sure what else to talk about. I feel like I’ve exhausted every avenue. So might as well give it my official grade. Just a plain C, like I mentioned earlier. This movie has slightly more going against it than for it, but I can’t possibly give this a D, plus I know I might rewatch it for a possible Halloween DCOM marathon.

The next movie was Disney channel’s next big musical hit after HSM and camp rock. But obviously I’ve never seen it. So this should be fun! Woooo!

[julie1706]

Julie’s incredibly aesthetic incredibly autumny list of movies that she maybe recommends:

Alright! Hi there! 

My name is Julie, and I really love fall. I love hot tea, warm blankets, candles, ghost stories, fog and I really, really love rain. I never get tired of any of the aspects of fall, but I think the easiest way to really soak up the atmosphere (aside from amazing books, which I don’t really have the time for), is movies! Here, “autumny” movies. 

But that’s a really vague term, and I think many people have a very individual idea of what a fall movie is, that don’t really line up with mine. So the most obvious thing seems to me, to make one myself. 

I’m guessing one, maybe two or three people will see this, and I count myself as one of them. The others (hej Sif og Malin!!) might not even get to read this, but if they do, I hope they like it. I hope you like it, Malin and Sif! Also, I love you! And miss you!

Right. I’ve seen a lot of examples of the “list of movies to watch in the fall/autumn”, and they’re all fine and great, but I guess I’ve never been completely satisfied with them, as I mentioned. 

So after like 10 minutes of research, I’ve made up my own list, of movies I thought seemed interesting or just plain cozy and nice. I admit, they aren’t ranked, sorry, and I haven’t watched all of them, so a good deal of these will really just be mentioned because of optimism. Also, I don’t think there’s a lot of scary ones, so don't worry. 

And I promise I will mention if they’re very spooky. I’ll put a warning like: “Warning! Spooky!”, at the top or something. That should do it. 

Lets get started! :-)

1. Practical Magic

This first one I actually saw some years ago, with my mom, when I was much younger. I liked it, but I have a feeling I will like it even more, if I watch it today. A really classic halloween, witchy movie, that was surprisingly touching in the family aspect!

Official synopsis: 

Two witch sisters, raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town, face closed-minded prejudice and a curse which threatens to prevent them ever finding lasting love.

//Not very spooky, as I remember it. But good! Lovely witchy aesthetics!

2. Silence of the Lamps

Ugh, I love this movie! That might be a not so good thing to say, it’s really twisted. But I like how creepy it always is, no matter how much i watch it, and how the twists and turns never fail to be interesting, even though I know the plot by heart now. I love Clarisse, I love the foggy, grim nature of the movie, and I don’t really love Hannibal, he’s creepy, but you can’t deny that Anthony Hopkins really carry this movie! Perfect serial killer acting. If that’s a thing.

Official Synopsis:��

A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.

//VERY spooky! Or just plain scary. Sif - do not watch!! Many people are killed in many, gross ways.

3. Witch

Haven’t seen this one! I really want to, and have since it came out, but there haven’t really been any (legal) places to see it. I love the tension that was present even in the trailer, and the whole aspect of an oppressed young girl evolving and breaking free in the scariest way possible is really interesting. Not all horror movies are my thing, but I really hope this one will be! And I love everything about witches, so.

Official synopsis:

A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic, and possession.

//Warning! Just from the trailer, I can conclude that this one is very scary.

4. Julie and Julia

This one I haven’t actually seen either! I think I’ve spotted among my mom’s dvds, but nope, haven’t seen it. I don’t really know a lot about Julia Child either, but it seems like a super-heartwarming film, so I hurried to include it!

Official Synopsis:

Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.

//This one seems safe.

5. The Addams Family (Both of them are good!)

This one, the “first” one, I saw last year. It’s actually a remake of an older movie, which is apparently based on an even older comic -who knew? And there’s a second one, following this one, I might add later. But tt was so good! Gah! I loved it, and I’m definitely rewatching this year. Wow the whole vibe of this family is fantastic, and I wish more families in movies were as dedicated to an aesthetic as the Addams! Watch it! It’s so nice!

Official Synopsis:

Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.

//I know it seems scary, but trust me, it’s fine! It’s really more funny than spooky. You’ll enjoy it, trust me!

6. Hocus Pocus

Alright, never seen this one! But when I joined tumblr, the americans were always bringing this one up, and it’s always included in those lists I was talking about earlier, and again, witches, so a no-brainer for me, to include on this list. Man I can’t wait to see it, I hope I’ll like it.

Official Synopsis:

A curious youngster moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.

//I have no idea what the spooky-level is in this, but it doesn’t seem that bad.

7. Halloween (the original)

I have wanted to see this in FOREVER! It’s such a classic, and a really iconic, classic, older horror movie. I don’t actually know why I haven’t seen it yet, it might only be because there was no place to watch it, the last time I checked. I hope it has changed, I really want to see it. It has all the classic tropes, and a scary serial killer, it really is a peak-halloween movie. Spot-on name, huh!

Official Synopsis:

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

//Might be a bit too scary for some. 

8. The Princess Bride

This is so good!! All the characters are straight of a fairy tale (literally), but they’re neither flat or boring. And the love story! Ah! I loooove it! I really enjoyed it last year, when I watched it, so I understand why it’s become such a classic. And there’s so many iconic lines in this movie. The whole mood of it is such good, and the plot isn’t the craziest thing, so watch it to relax!

Official Synopsis:

While home sick in bed, a young boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.

//Not scary, fret not!

9. The Craft

Have never seen or heard about this movie, until the morning, when I compiled this list. I kind of want to though, now that I’m promised 90′s teenage witches. Hell yeah! The more witches the merrier!

Official Synopsis:

A newcomer to a Catholic prep high school falls in with a trio of outcast teenage girls who practice witchcraft, and they all soon conjure up various spells and curses against those who anger them.

//No idea how spooky. Might be a little scary.

10. Sleepy Hollow (the one with Johnny Depp)

The legend of the Headless Horseman is famous, so that one I know. But this movie, which is based on that story, I haven’t seen. I can guess, though, the vibe from it’s original source material, and Johnny Depp and the male lead, and that makes me want to watch it! Also, how can you not, when you see all that fog?? So spooky and mysterious! I love fog!

Official Synopsis:

Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people, with the culprit being the legendary apparition, The Headless Horseman.

//Might be, like, ghost story-spooky. Or Tim Burton-spooky. Either of those. Hm. I don’t think it’s that bad? 

11. Scream

I LOVE SCREAM. SUCH AN ICONIC HORROR MOVIE. THANK YOU FOR USING ALL THOSE CLASSIC TROPES!! I love everything about this movie, and I might actually put it on when I’m done with this post, and watch it with a cup of tea and some popcorn if I can find some. The characters are delightfully flat and simple, what you see is what you get, and that actually makes this movie even better! It really feels like you’re watching THE halloween movie, it’s delightfully creepy and spooky, and I love it all. So. Much. Also - the lovely 90′s aesthetic is very much present in this one!

Official Synopsis:

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game.

//Spooky! If serial killers are not you thing, don’t watch it. Not that it’s my thing either, but, uh, if watching characters be chased and killed off by a masked individual really freaks you out, stay clear of this one :-)

12. Dark Shadows

Love this movie. Watched it in the cinema, have it on DVD, have watched it numerous times since, and I always enjoy it. Another Depp-movie, and he really pulls it off in this one, as a creepy but also weirdly funny vampire, who has lost his one true love, and wakes up in the 70′s (i think), to help his relatives, now living in his ancestral home, with getting back on their feet. A lot of wild stuff happens in this movie, and I adore it.

Official Synopsis:

An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.

//Actually not that spooky! It’s not that bad, I think. Some places are a little scary, but there’s enough of humor present, that it should be fine!

13. Eve’s Bayou

I had never heard of this movie until this morning! But wow! It looks so dramatic and promising, doesn’t it? We will just have to see, I guess!

Official Synopsis:

What did little Eve see--and how will it haunt her? Husband, father and womanizer Louis Batiste is the head of an affluent family, but it's the women who rule this gothic world of secrets, lies and mystic forces.

//I have no idea. Really. I hope it’s a little bit spooky!

14. Clue

I have just played the game, sorry. And I enjoyed that, so I hope I will enjoy this too! No, I know I will, I love these stories, with really defined characters, like when someone is named “the soldier”, or “the socialite”. I’m sold, when stories like that are introduced to me. I really want to watch this movie! Also - young Tim Curry! Cool!

Official Synopsis:

Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up.

//Nah. You’re good, with this one. Don’t worry.

15. Every Agatha Christie Movie

Yeah, sorry I want to watch every single film adaptation of her stories, and love them dearly. None of them can be bad, to me. But the only one I have watched, is the “Murder of the Orient Express”, and if I have to describe how much i love this one, this list will go on for much too long. I just really love this movie. I love the characters, I love the scenography, I love the choreography, just - Everything! It’s so pretty, and you will NEVER figure out the ending! I didn’t, at least. Watch it! It’s so good!

Official Synopsis:

When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.

//Don’t worry about spookyness - there’s none! But watch it! 

16. Twilight

Perfect Autumn vibes! There is darkness, fog, rain, coldness, weird pale vampires, a nice love story - and most of it is out in a forest! Amazing! This whole movie seems to consist of only blue and green tones, in varying degrees of darkness, and I always sit with the feeling, that i can almost smell the rain and damp earth in these scenes. Great movie! Even greater use of atmosphere!

Official Synopsis:

Bella Swan moves to Forks and encounters Edward Cullen, a gorgeous boy with a secret.

//Not spooky!

17. Knives Out

Saw this in the cinema with my brother! I really love the main characters, and the plot is great too - I couldn't figure it out at all! I think it is a very creative, “new! approach to a murder mystery, and I applaud! Very autumny, very great sweaters from the female lead! Actually most of them have nice clothes, for this crisp, cold mystery movie!

Official Synopsis:

A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

//Not very spooky! Don’t worry!

18. 10 Things I Hate About You

I watched this when i was like, 12, and definitely didn’t appreciate it. I think it based on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”. It’s one the best Rom-Coms I’ve ever seen! The dialogue is funny, the acting is fine, and the love stories are very cute! Also, I just adore Kate, like, in general! She’s so sour and surly! Watch this one, when you want to unwind and relax! Maybe with your friends. Or alone, that’s cool too!

Official Synopsis:

A pretty, popular teenager can't go out on a date until her ill-tempered older sister does.

//Not spooky, lol.

19. Mona Lisa Smile

I haven’t seen this one, except for the very last few minutes, on evening when my mom and I was zapping channels. So I have very little, very confusing knowledge of this movie, based on an ending, with no context. But my friend told me about it once, and wow, it sounds heartwarming! And Julia Roberts is pretty great, normally!

Official Synopsis:

A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.

//Not spooky!

Well then! That was all the movies I had the time to compile this morning! I might add more, I’m sure there’s a few classics, I have forgotten!

I hope you have a great fall, with many chances to be with your family and friends, and experience all the amazing things this read, yellow, brown and orange season has to offer! Have a great day - and thank you for reading!

- Julie :-)

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Happy 10th Anniversary To Every Anime Opening Ever Made (The Video)

  I don't remember where I was at when I first watched "Supercut - Every Anime Opening Ever Made," but I do remember the inescapable truth it showed me after I watched it. Maybe I was on Gaia Online or some other forum when someone posted the link and asked "have you seen this?" I started the video and saw the seagulls flying in the sky. Then the white text on a black background showed up, saying that the following was in every single anime opening sequence...

    The montage began! Cameras heading towards the sun! Going right into the character's eyes! The running! This dude was right: This stuff IS in every anime opening!  

  This Youtube supercut turns ten years old today, and if you were in the anime fandom around 2010 you had probably seen this video at some point. Now with 3 Million views, I think the reason it resonated with so many people is that for as much anime we watched, we probably noticed these trends but didn't make the full connection until it was fully presented in front of us. Regardless of genre or tone, there was this underlying connective tissue across dozens of shows that we may or may not have seen before. And shown in such a slick and edited fashion provided a connection across the shows we love.   While videos like this are likely uploaded onto Youtube now more than I can imagine (maybe even right now as I write this!), this supercut was the original, back in a time when fandom was certainly a lot smaller and growing. Even though Youtube was becoming more of a hub for anime content  (as we were slowly getting out of the Bleach-episode-split-into-three-parts era), fandom was more split in the sense that everyone had their own particular hub or forum they claimed home. There was no AniTwitter or Youtube Community tab to trudge around and find out what wider fandom was talking about. And yet, everyone seemed to have come around and appreciated this, a small stepping stone to what the community would end up becoming today.   I was just going to celebrate this little piece of fandom fun with an article going down memory lane, but I decided to try to reach out to Derek Lieu, the original creator of the video, to see if he had anything to add for this retrospective. And luckily he got back to me really quickly! Can you first introduce yourself and what you do?   My name is Derek Lieu, I currently live in Brooklyn NY and I make video game trailers! I’ve worked on trailers for Firewatch, Subnautica, Spelunky 2, Ooblets, Dead Cells, Half-Life: Alyx, and a lot more.   How did you get the idea to make the "Every Anime Opening Ever Made" video?   When I learned the American X-Men animated series from the 90s had alternate opening sequences made for when it aired in Japan I became fascinated by what made those openings so distinctly Japanese. I don’t remember my precise thought process, but I started downloading textless versions of anime openings from YouTube to start, and started sorting the footage. I think the one exception I made was for Neon Genesis Evangelion because I couldn’t not include it.   About how long do you think it took to edit?   Believe it or not the whole project took about an afternoon and maybe part of the evening. Downloading all the openings took longer than the actual editing. After downloading them I sorted the different tropes into categories like I normally do when editing stuff. Once the footage was sorted I barely moved anything around except to adjust for music sync and also where each chunk of tropes fit into the video. I used a specific Ayumi Hamasaki song which was used for the cel-shaded Molly Star Racer trailer (which much later became Oban Star Racers). The original remix song is much longer so I edited it down to about 3.5 minutes.  

  Is there anything in particular that stood out to you when you were making it? (Outside of so many shows using the same shots, obviously haha)   I think the main thing that occurred to me is that so many of these tropes are just great ways to create cool moving images using as little animation as possible, but which still feel dynamic and fun to watch. One interesting bit of trivia is Trigun is one of the few series whose opening is footage from episodes cut together. This was by far the exception to the rule.   I remember this video very fondly back in the earlier Youtube days, and it has 3 Million views as to date. Did you ever expect it to be that successful?   Haha, not in the slightest. It seems the videos I give the least amount of thought always get the most number of views and the ones I spend a lot of time get the fewest.   What do you think is your favorite and least favorite "trope" in the original video?   I like the head turns. I didn’t even give attention to that one when I started the project, but it very quickly revealed itself as one of the most common ones. I don’t think I have a least favorite; they’re all fun to watch. One of the funniest is a person reaching their hand out to someone on the ground; I like this one because it’s so incredibly specific.  

  Do you still watch any anime? And if you do, do you see any of those same shots/frames/movements in particular still being used today?   I don’t currently watch any anime, but I assume a lot of openings still use a lot of these tropes. Because they cover everything from standing still to running. I later made a video for unique anime openings because there are some which have really great stylized art and interesting images. I also made one for classic anime from the 80s and earlier which helped me see where a lot of the tropes originates.   Do you have any other thoughts on the video looking back on it ten years later?   Reading comments from people who watched it as a kid and now are rewatching it as adults makes me feel old, haha. Also, people keep telling me I “forgot” an anime. I once tallied all the anime people say I excluded and the list was far far longer than the number of anime in my video. Also, a lot of people mention anime which released after the video was made :P One bit of trivia, I didn’t include any Naruto because at the time I thought it would’ve been funny to exclude the most popular anime at the time. Sorry, Naruto fans.   We'd like to thank Derek Lieu for not only making the video, but also for taking the time to speak to us. You can find him on Twitter and Youtube.  

    Kyle Cardine is an Editor for Crunchyroll. You can find his Twitter here.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[phosphorescent-naidheachd]

GOT 8x01 liveblog below the cut:

--Love the new opening credits!

--Poor Missandei and Grey Worm look so uncomfortable rn

--Jon: “I had a choice: keep my crown or protect the North.” But that’s... not what we saw onscreen?? Not unless some variation of political!Jon is actually true. But knowing D&D, this may simply be their retconned explanation for the nonsensical writing last year. Well, that or Jon is trying to make his stupid decision look better in front of the lords.

--Sansa, I love you, but do you have to smirk when you raise your (very valid) concerns? It’s not helping anything and you have to know it.

--Yessss, mentions of the food shortage!! Now let’s see if they’ll actually do anything with it...

--Show!Dany, I’m still trying to like you, but you’re not exactly making it easy, what with the whole “whatever they like” reply to “What do dragons eat, anyway?”, and smirking when the dragons swooped in and scared the fuck out of everyone in the Winter Town. The Northerners haven’t given you the warmest of receptions and I understand your frustration over that fact, but that’s no reason to think their fear is funny.

--Ah, yes, the oh-so-subtle handholding in front of the entire hall. *sighs at Jon and Dany* [ETA: never mind, they aren’t actually holding hands... Dany is just resting one of her hands on Jon’s arm. Which isn’t all that much more subtle lol.]

--It’s 100% my shipper confirmation bias at work, but the way that they’ve blocked this scene really does make it feel like a Dany/Jon/Sansa love triangle to me. #sorrynotsorry That said, if TPTB choose to go a belligerent sexual tension route w/ Dany/Sansa I wouldn’t turn it down. ;-)

--They’re actually letting Arya show human emotion again? *tosses confetti in celebration*

--Bran and Jon reunion!! My Stark Feelings heart overfloweth.

--Sansa and Tyrion reunion! I like that they’re keeping that hint of tension between them over the way they parted.

--Tyrion: “Many underestimated you. Most of them are dead now.” Subtext: I have no intention of repeating their mistakes.

--Sansa: “I used to think you were the cleverest man alive.” Talk about a burn!

--OK, Bran is looking at Tyrion Significantly(TM) with music playing in the background almost ominously.

--Confirmation that Yara is alive!!! Also, she and Euron are a disturbing but kind of hilarious dynamic at the moment.

--The Arya and Jon reunion was A++. Sweet and heartfelt, but with a hint of underlying tension. And Arya’s comment that Sansa is the smartest person she knows just made my heart an even bigger pile of Stark Family mush.

--Oh, and the “Have you used it?” line re: Needle just hurts because it shows us and Arya how little Jon knows about what Arya has gone through and who she’s become. And Arya’s “once or twice” line just tore out my heart. She doesn’t want to tell Jon what she’s done, both because she’s afraid of how he’ll react and because that will finally make it real to her.

--I feel kind of terrible for Cersei. Yes, she’s made her own bed, but the fact that Euron Greyjoy is lying in it... *shudders* The fact that she’s still forced to resort to sleeping with a man she despises despite ostensibly being the most powerful woman in the realm is incredibly depressing.

--Ahhh, and now we have The Temptation of Bronn(TM)

--The rescue mission! Theon getting to shoot arrows!!

--Greyjoy sibling feelings!!!!

--And Theon is headed to Winterfell! ...He’s going to die there saving a Stark, isn’t he? *braces self for emotional pain*

-- ...you couldn’t have proposed this Jon/Dany marriage, oh, four or so episodes ago, Davos?? The mind still boggles that no one brought this very obvious diplomatic solution up on Dragonstone last season.

--Varys: “Nothing lasts.” 

Camera: *pans to Jon & Dany* 

Me: I n t e r e s t i n g

Also me: Is this foreshadowing, or a red herring to up the dramatic tension?

--Is that... something resembling a smile from Jon around Dany? And he actually looks like he might genuinely enjoy her presence and/or care about her? It’s a miracle! ...A miracle that we really could have used some of last season too, GOT!!

--“She doesn’t need to be my friend. But I am her queen. If she can’t respect me--” *nods* That’s more or less what I figured their initial dynamic would be like. And their attitudes make sense on both ends of the equation! (Note: I can’t decide whether that was a veiled threat from Dany or not; if so, though, she jumped to them pretty darn fast.) I’m curious to see where D&D go with this.

--Oh, only that many goats and sheep. *rolls eyes* I mean, I get it, the dragons are huge; they need a lot of fuel! But on the other hand, that’s an awful lot of food the people don’t get anymore... It’s a no-win situation.

--“They don’t like the North.” Huh, I wonder what it means that the literal breathing symbol of the Targs aren’t fans of being in the North. [/sarcasm]

--Look, I’m glad Dany feels comfortable enough around Jon to be playful, but... would it have been that difficult for her to give him one or two tips before he mounted this incredibly dangerous flying weapon of mass destruction??

--How are these waterfalls not completely frozen over?! It’s the North and it’s winter. I know, I know, I shouldn’t expect anything resembling realism from this show, but still...

--Ah, so Dany is the one who has the line about how they could “stay here a thousand years and no one would find us”, not Jon. But on the flip side, Jon has his eyes closed for the kiss, not open... at least, not until the dragons start to talk lol.

--Emilia Clarke has such a beautiful smile!

--Yeah, I’m still not feeling the J0n3rys ‘chemistry’. Oh well; you can’t win them all. At least they aren’t totally unbelievable as a couple this episode.

--Ugghhh, yet another joke about balls (or the lack thereof) in this episode.

--Arya and Gendry reunion? Arya and Sandor reunion? Yes!

--Wow, Arya/Gendry are so awkward together right now! Sweet, but awkward. And yeah, here come the shippy feelings again... I’m predictable that way lol.

--“As you wish, m’lady.” *squeals delightedly*

--“You don’t know any other rich girls.” The look on their faces!!

--Can I mention again how much I love that they’re letting Arya and Dany emote so far this episode? It makes a world of difference. Now all we need is for Bran to be allowed to show emotions...

--Ooohh, this must be the promised Jon/Sansa argument scene. 

--Good. I’m glad that there are already some consequences from the lords for Jon having bent the knee... the decision would feel incredibly cheap otherwise.

--And already we have more emotion from Jon in this one scene than in all of his scenes with Dany combined. I’m not saying Jon/Sansa is where the show is going, but it still works much better for me than Jon/Dany does. YMMV, of course, and that’s as it should be.

--”Do you have any faith in me at all?” “You know I do.” <3 <3 <3

--*sighs* Jon, it’s all very well and good to say that Dany will be a good queen, but you could, I don’t know, give Sansa some examples to help her understand why you think that instead of just expecting her to go entirely on your word?

--Ah, this must be the scene with Sam and Dany!

--Oh, poor Sam. I’m so glad they’re letting him be upset about it, though. His dad may have been an abusive dick, but his brother wasn’t... and besides, emotions aren’t always that clear-cut.

--“Now’s the time.” OK, but why now? Why now? Also, is it just me or did Bran’s voice sound different there?

--Jon and Sam reunion!!!

--Ouch, poor Jon. This revelation was always going to hit him hard.

--Jon (in a whisper, looking horrified): “That’s treason.” Uh, Jon, that doesn’t seem like the normal reaction of someone in love with another person? Just saying.

--“You gave up the crown to save your people. Would she do the same?” Samwell Tarly, asking the important questions! This question has always been one of--if not the--cruxes of Dany’s arc, IMO. That and her search for home/belonging.

--Ooo, is this the rumored scene with the WW symbols on the walls?

--Hmmm, this actually looks a bit like that clip from the trailers. Is Edd going to show up soon then?

--Hah! Called it.

--“Stay back, he’s got blue eyes!” “I’ve always had blue eyes!” LMAOOO

--Called it. I knew little Ned Umber was going to be the first named character death of the season. (For the record, I have him slated as the first named character death in my AU S8 fic outline, even though the chapter in question hasn’t been written yet.) Also, wow-- talk about a creepy way to display him!

--Still, that’s odd that he’s just dead rather than a wight-- oh, never mind he is a wight after all!

--Hmm, who are you, tall and mysteriously hooded man? (I mean, realistically everyone onscreen in the North should have their hoods up right now when they’re outside, but this is TV.) Could you possibly be... Jaime Lannister?

--Hah! Called it again.

--They’re going to cut to the credits now that Bran & Jaime have locked eyes, aren’t they? Yep, they just cut to the credits.

Additional Thoughts:

--I wonder where Brienne is... we haven’t seen her this episode IIRC. [ETA: Never mind, she is there in the background in several scenes, she just doesn’t say anything.]

--I wish D&D had given Dany more space to react to the news about undead!Viserion. This should be a big deal for her. Also, why is no one freaking out about the Wall coming down?

--Honestly, the pacing and tone of this episode could have used a little polishing IMO.

--I’m delighted that the show is letting characters speak positively about Sansa and her skills, but I wish the writing wasn’t so very heavy-handed about it.

--Ooo, interesting trailer, though still nothing terribly surprising. I’m curious to see what they do next episode... but not nearly as curious as I am to see what happens in 8x03 and beyond. ;-)

Overall, I enjoyed this episode! So many callbacks to earlier seasons. I may have deeper thoughts on a rewatch.

[desperatelyreviewingdennis]

Endgame

By basically any metric, Endgame was strictly inferior to Infinity War. It was a solid conclusion to he MCU, they wrapped things up nicely. But they really didn't meet the bar they set in the last movie. Visually, sound design, effects, all the technical aspects they nailed.  As always.  But the *story*?  The plot, the meat and bones of it?  Abysmal.  

I don’t remember *exactly* how I felt leaving Infinity War.  I know I did not like it as much as most, I felt they rushed too much into the one story, and they would have been better off with a trilogy [Guardians of the Galaxy 3 followed by Infinity War and Endgame].  I disliked Thor’s sequence in the film in particular, and thought the Snap was poorly handled because it was obviously going to be undone in the next movie so there was no emotional punch [although Peter Parker sure tried, even knowing he’s not really dead that scene stings].  Despite the flaws, though, I felt the movie was largely solid.  The writers crammed too much into one film, but most narrative threads were fully realized and the ones that weren’t have a whole nother movie to wrap up.  Upon a couple rewatches, my opinion has grown.  The tightness of it all is much more apparent, and Thor’s sequence is now my favorite in the movie, despite basically being a retread of his arc in Ragnarok. 

So maybe once I will reevaluate this once its on DVD.  But I suspect my opinion isn’t going to change.  The issues are more fundamental, and there’s no sequel planned to fix the problems.  Honestly, I wonder how much of the writing team carried over, because this movie doesn’t feel like it was the planned sequel to Infinity War.

Also, it seems clear that there was some executive meddling in places that would suggest the problems of Ms Marvel are going to carry forward.

I don’t want to say its a bad movie.  Ms Marvel was a bad movie.  Iron Man 2 was a bad movie.  For the first two thirds of the movie, it had its issues but nothing irredeemable.  And the stuff it did right it did really really right.  The last act, though, really dragged the whole thing down.

Spoilers abound after the break.

First of all, I never watched so much as a trailer for this movie. I wanted to go in completely free from assumptions. I'm glad I did, but I don't know what other people took from different scenes with that additional context.

Movie opens with Hawkeye's family getting dusted. I hate Hawkeye so that was immensely satisfying.

Next scene less so. Why did Tony and Nebula get on the damaged ship? What was their end game (no pun intended)? Not a huge deal but right off the bat I'm questioning character motives. Not a good sign.

Oh, it's because if they're on a ship it's easier for Ms Marvel to save the day. How did she find them? Was she specifically looking for Stark? Why? Nobody on Earth knew what happened with him. Was there a distress signal? Can she sense those now? Nobody knows, and we're not going to find out. The only thing we learn about Ms Marvel is that she didn't help out during the previous movies because she was busy on other planets. I mean, come on. 

The sequence between Stark and Rogers back on Earth was spot on and I loved it.  This will be a recurring theme, specific scenes being perfect with the surrounding material being crud.

They then kill Thanos and we time skip five years. That was actually pretty cool, and an unexpected turn of events.  Take notes, Rian Johnson.  My expectations were subverted but it didn't make me want to murder the Russo's. It does sort of abandon the child Gamora scenes from Infinity War.  Everybody thought that was supposed to be her actual soul in the soul stone, but the Soul Stone is now destroyed so maybe it was just Thanos being crazy?  Maybe it’ll come up later in the movie [Ron Howard: It won’t.]

Commence exposition. Couple thoughts. One, I hated Bruce Banner. The Hulk was a separate, unique personality. Banner killed him, and took over his body. We can debate the morality of it, but I just found it unsatisfying. It all happened off camera, and they never really explain why The Hulk refused to fight in Infinity War. I assumed it was because he was afraid, the Russo's claim it was because he was tired of being Banner's  lap dog. Either way, that character was killed unceremoniously during a time skip and never mentioned again.

Two, Banner’s pretty confident in how Time Travel is going to work.  Time Travel has never been a thing except with Dr Strange, and the two never sat down to discuss the subject before the later was turned to dust.   So where is his confidence coming from?  Their entire plan hinges on him being correct.  What really bugs me about this is that, with about thirty seconds of actual discussion [rather than the comic relief listing time travel movies and Banner shutting them down], they could have reached the same conclusion.  “Why don’t we prevent the snap from happening in the first place?” “Because that would be a paradox, and we don’t know how time responds to paradoxes.  Maybe we all live happily ever after, maybe time itself implodes.  But if we undo the snap in the present, we know exactly what will happen.”   But instead he just knows.  And, oh, also he’s wrong.  We figure that out later in the movie, but never really address it.  

Tony with his daughter was perfect and I loved it.  It was a little unsatisfying that he just sort of tinkered with time travel for an afternoon and figured everything out, but that’s sort of his thing so it works.

Thor... less perfect.  Look, this is the third movie in a row now that is about Thor losing everything then regaining his power.  They did it in Ragnarok.  They did it better in Infinity War.  Do they really need to do it again in End Game?  In fact, it occurs to me just now as I’m writing this that was the plot to the first Thor as well.  So this is four times now that we’ve been in this exact situation.  I’m just done with it, you know?  The scenes were funny enough, and I certainly understand *why* the character is in that place, emotionally, but being understandable is no excuse for retreading old ground.

So now we’re time traveling.  This was like 90% great, but the 10% really drags the whole thing down. 

We’ll start with the Power Stone.  Having Nebula reconnect to the interstellar wifi was inspired.  Obviously they need Thanos to figure out the plan and move to stop it, otherwise there’s no climax.  Obviously there’s no present day Thanos to do that, so it has to be past Thanos.  This also wraps up one of the nagging threads from the first movie.  Thanos has been hunting for these things for years, then just stumbles upon all of them in a couple months?  It seemed a little convenient, but now they’ve shown that he had inspiration from the future telling him exactly where he could find them all.  Just wow.  Then having past Nebula take present Nebula’s place?  I loved it.

Next, time stone.  Remember my annoyance with Banner’s overconfidence earlier?  Here Banner being told he’s full of shit, but they just sort of ignore it.  Its not that you can’t change the past, its that when you change the past you create an alternate reality, and that alternate reality might be super shitty so you shouldn’t do it.  But they hand wave it away with a promise to return the stones back to where they belong on the timeline, so that the timeline doesn’t “branch” and Banner ends up technically correct.  So it works, I’ll put this in the 90% great category.

But here’s the 10% shit: how did The Sorcerous Supreme know how great Dr. Strange was going to be? She can’t see past her own death, but she knows how powerful Strange becomes after she dies?  But she doesn’t know about the Snap, so they’re definitely sticking to the original rules, this isn’t a retcon.  But Strange is dead, so how does he know everything works out?  In fact, not only is Strange dead, the time stone is dead too.  He used the time stone to go further into the future than the time stone itself exists.  This would have been a perfect opportunity to close some loose threads, but they missed them.

Also the scene after they arrive in New York where Banner half heartedly destroys some stuff was pretty cringe.  I think they were playing it as a joke, and people in the audience definitely laughed, but it really drove home the earlier point about how they killed off The Hulk and replaced him with a Green Bruce Banner.  

Next up: Space and Mind Stones.  Talk about important McGuffins.  Studying the Tesseract lead to the creation of SHIELD and Hydra and Captain America and eventually Ms Marvel.  Studying Captain America lead to the creation of The Hulk.  The Mind Stone created Vision, Quicksilver, and the Scarlett Witch. Important stuff here.

But anyhow, 90% good.  Everything was great right up until the end.  The plan, the banter, everything worked for me.  I even loved the bit about “America’s Ass.”  I do wonder if that wasn’t a response to criticisms of Brie Larson’s ass in Ms Marvel?  Or just commentary on comics drawing attention to asses in general?  I’m not sure but I liked it.

10% shit: the plan goes sideways at the last minute, and Loki escapes with the Tesseract.  Ok, now, its been a while since I watched the first Avengers movie, but I don’t remember Loki escaping with the Tesseract?  Isn’t that exactly what Banner said can’t happen, and the Sorcerous Supreme made Banner promise he wouldn’t let happen?  A branch in he timeline?  That’s a pretty goddamn significant change in history.  But whatever, we’re never going to comment on it.  A rogue infinity stone, in the hands of a crazy person, NBD.

So Stark and Rogers go further into the past to steal the Tesseract from SHIELD before Loki could steal it from Rogers stealing it from Hydra stealing it from the Avengers.  No complaints here, Some nice foreshadowing for Rogers, and Stark gets closure with his father.  It was great.

Finally, Soul Stone.  Look, I have always hated Hawkeye, since the first Thor, and love Black Widow so that’s all I have to say about that.  Except that Nat doesn’t get the sort of closure Stark and Rogers do.  Can’t really blame the writers on this one, they didn’t have a lot to work with, but its still disappointing.  At least it wasn’t a pointless death and her and Barton got some time together. 

Finally: the Ether/Reality Stone.  This was just an extension of the previous “we’ve covered this already why is this here?” issue around Thor.  Him getting Mjolnir was pretty tight, though, not gonna lie.  

So now we’re back in the present, we have all the Stones and past Nebula has infiltrated the group.  First of all: this would have been a great place for an Intermission.  Like, seriously, There are literally no dangling story lines, everything’s come back together to one location, and you’ve got a couple minutes of downtime before the action starts anyhow.  Just give people ten minutes to piss, please.

First of all, how did Past Nebula bring an entire fucking battle ship into the present?  Like, they had just enough Pym Particles to get their team back once.  Sure, they picked up some extras but she couldn’t have been expecting that, and the memories she got from Present Nebula should have made that clear.  So what was her end game (no pun intended)?  And if they could send a ship full of people all at once, why didn’t the Avengers do that?  Take the entire team back at once, leaving themselves with eight more doses if they fail.  

Moving on, the scene were they use the stone worked for me, given what they’ve done so far.  Specifically, with respect to the Hulk.  But bear with me here: what if they hadn’t fucked up the Hulk?  Imagine a movie where Banner doesn’t kill a character off camera.  He’s just a regular guy the entire movie.  Maybe they ask him if he still has issues with Hulking out and he says “no, I guess he got tired of cleaning up my messes so now he refuses to come out even when I need him to.”  Then, as Thor is about to don the glove, Banner transforms and everybody is certain he’s about to ruin everything when he puts the glove on himself and snaps his fingers.  After, his body is still green but its Bruce talking.  He doesn’t sense the Hulk inside him anymore.  He sacrificed himself because he knew he could do it and Thor couldn’t.

Just a thought.  As I said, the scene works as it is.

We establish the plan works, then suddenly THANOS.  Opportunity #2 for an intermission.  They launch the barrage of missiles, then fade to black, see you in ten minutes.  Would have been epic.

So we get a nice, super satisfying scene with the three original Avengers fighting Thanos.  Thor is fucking dual wielding, yes please.  And the scene where Steve catches Mjolnir?  I was literally hard.  But Thanos is even more powerful than he was in Infinity War.  Remember Infinity War, that movie a YEAR OLD written and directed by THE SAME PEOPLE?  In that one, Stark went toe to toe with Thanos in control of the Infinity Stones and held his own.  In this one, Thanos has no problem taking down a dual wielding Thor, and literally destroys Cap’s Shield without even the use of the Power Stone.  Its just... blah.  

Now, when things are at their worse: MAGIC.  Literally, Dr Strange uses magic to save the day.  Its not a complaint, its just what happens.  Again, SUPER satisfying.  But lots of things stick out.  One, half the Wakandan army just woke up from being dusted.  As far as they’re concerned its been like half an hour since Infinity War, but they’re all in pretty good shape.  Even if you assume the Wakandan army was made up of survivors, they sure mobilized quickly.  That’s impressive.  Two, where did Valkyrie get a fucking Pegasus?  They’re all dead, remember?  Hela killed them thousands of years ago, it was kind of a big deal.  Yeah, neat scene, loved seeing it, but it doesn't belong.  Third, Pepper Potts shows up.  She abandoned her five year old child to fight alongside Tony.  I get there’s an end of the world argument to be made, but it still doesn’t seem in character.  Both for her to do it, and for Tony to not call her out for it.

Still, nice satisfying fight scene.  Things still kind of go south, though, they just can’t seem to beat Thanos’s army.  Wouldn’t it be convenient if a flying god were to show up for no reason and destroy the battleship causing all the trouble?  That would be convenient, but they’re better writers than that. [Ron Howard: they were not]

To add insult to injury, they literally divide the heroes by sex and have a scene where all the women are together launching an attack.  It wasn’t even like a natural progression of the battle, where the women are thrown together.  Just the one shot of all them showing up for no reason.  

There was no corresponding scene with the male heroes.  

But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence and they weren’t pandering for woke points.

At one point Thanos grabs the Power Stone with his bare hands and uses it to blast somebody [I think Ms Marvel but I don’t remember].  He doesn’t appear to suffer any ill affects, 

Finally, Tony Stark’s big moment.  People were literally weeping in the theater.  I loved it so much.  It was honestly perfect.  Killing everybody wasn’t what I expected, I thought they’d be sent back to the past to preserve the timeline or whatever, but this way it mirrored the end of Infinity War so thematically this works better.

Everything after that was basically shit.

First of all, this movie suffers from a serious case of Return of the King Syndrome.  There was like half an hour of movie left after Thanos died the second time.  Christ.

Past Gamora might or might not still be alive in the present?  She kicks Star Lord in the nuts then kind of vanishes.  There’s no reason to assume Tony’s snap wouldn’t have killed her along with the rest of the past army, but they also didn’t resurrect Present Gamora so she probably survived for Guardians 3. Starlord is using the computer to search for her at the end, but Thor keeps trying to stop him because I guess he’s a prick now?

Also Thor retires.  Just quits.  Names Valkyrie Queen of the Asgardians.  That’s the conclusion of his story.  He just goes off to find himself, gonna spend some time with the Guardians of the Galaxy see where life takes him. Because that’s satisfying.

They still have to return the infinity stones, along with Mjolnir.  Rogers gets to do the honors, and he makes it pretty clear to everybody that he’s saying his goodbyes.  Somehow, nobody notices, and everybody’s super surprised when he doesn’t come back after.  Apparently, he choses to return to the 40s and live out his life with Peggy.  I liked this, it was a satisfying conclusion to his story.  He found a way back to the love of his life.  Nice.

Here’s what’s not nice.  Bucky and Falcon see old Steve sitting near by.  Bucky, Steve’s childhood friend who owes his life to the fact Steve never stopped believing in him, sends Falcon over to talk to him.  Because...I don’t fucking know.  Why didn’t they both just go talk to him?  Why didn’t they call over Bruce, who was standing right there trying to figure out what went wrong?  No, its Falcon’s time.

But more importantly: HOW IS STEVE THERE?  You can’t change the past.  Bruce tells us that.  The Sorcerous Supreme shows us that changes in the past create alternate timelines leaving the original in tact.  They pulled Thanos into the present and killed him before he could collect the Infinity Stones, but the snap still happened.  Present Nebula shot Past Nebula in the heart but didn’t wink out of existence. 

But somehow, when Steve goes into the past, he doesn’t create an alternate timeline where Captain America survives the war. He just inserted himself into the prime timeline, and waited until he had a chance to say hi to his old friend Falcon.

Oh, also he had a second Shield made at some point? 

Look, I liked Steve’s story.  I liked that they passed on the title to Falcon, a nice nod to the source material.  I’m thrilled that Peggy got the dance he promised her all those years ago.  But that scene ruined the core premise behind the entire movie.  Time Travel stories are hard, but if you agree on how they work and stick to those rules its fine.  This movie did neither.

Also: how did Steve return the Soul Stone? How shocked was he to discover the stone was guarded by Red Skull?  Did he just drop it off the cliff and hope the ancient magic would handle the rest? Will Thanos still have to sacrifice Gamora or does Nat’s sacrifice still count?

There’s other issues.  Ms Marvel and Wanda both just sort of vanish.  Wanda especially should have gotten more story, but they just gave her one angry woman scene then she was forgotten about.  They sort of gloss over the massive issues they’d have faced with half the population dead.  They show one overgrown neighborhood, but by and large everything seems to be exactly the same as it was pre-snap.  Just with everybody sadder.  We never see Rocket meet a racoon.  Hawkeye was in the movie.  Nothing really huge.

So that’s all I have to say about that.  Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[doctorwhogeneration]

just something for Missy & Michelle ❤️

Just a post of me living a first day knowing that Missy is gone and knowing that Michelle is leaving doctor who. So here we are, Missy faced her last battle. And it’s time to say “Goodbye, Mistress. You were good.”. But let’s go back to the past and reminisce moments with her. The first point would be her first appearance in doctor who: the episode Deep Breath.We see mysterious woman whose first words were: “Hello, i am Missy!”. Everyone was so WTF at that time wondering who that woman was, there were different theories: some of them included somehow her to be River Song, others believed in the fact that she is female version of the Master and let’s applause this people cause their premonition didn’t betray them 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Some people suggested her being Rani. But Missy’s first appearance didn’t just introduce “new” character but discovered me marvelous, astounding actress, gorgeous person inside and outside in other words Michelle Gomez. We had only few minutes maybe even minute and a half of her but she just charmed me in every possible way-let’s call it Michelle Gomez charm ❤️👀 Moving forward in the past we have seen her short appearances in “into the Dalek” where she mysteriously and elegantly suggested a cup ☕️. And, oh my God, I can’t resist Michelle’s smile 💙 Michelle Gomez charm is working all along!!! Who can walk the corridors that elegantly as Michelle Gomez? I can rewatch that scene again and again just to see that look and see her walking the corridors. Oh, can we talk about red nails and red lipstick?🔥❤️ Short appearance of her “Flatline” made everyone scream so hard because she was viewing Clara all along and said “My Clara…”. Mother Nature saves the earth here YAY, Missy’s viewing everything through the screen. Stop the moment here. I wanna take time to say how gorgeous is Michelle Gomez. Every scene is so elegant and just so flawless, it’s like you can look at Miss Gomez forever. And we are moving to great finale of season 8, we are about to find who Missy is. Short for Mistress…we know the answer YES YOU ARE MASTER! Everyone asked Michelle about how was it to keep that secret from the world, well she did keep that secret brilliantly. Let’s talk about “Dark Water” episode where we see more Missy as character and Michelle Gomez IN ALL HER BEAUTY. That’s when we had iconic 12th scene, THE KISS. THE KISS. I still remember shouting at my screen OH MY GOD. WHAT JUST HAPPENED. AND THAT NOSE KISS HAHA I love the fact that Michelle keeps talking about that, the fans love such talks 😂😂 Still iconic. Missy/Michelle is still the only one who kissed/was kissed by the Doctor/Peter👀 I call “Dark Water” as one of the crucial tv series episodes for me. Because that was exactly the episode when I discovered myself the definition of “favorite actress”, I was charmed by Michelle since Deep Breath AND IM SO SAD THAT I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT HER EARLIER!!!!!!!!!!!! You know, favorite actress is about getting chills whenever you see them on your screen, and I do get chills when I see Michelle Gomez. Because everything about her is so gorgeous, so pure, EVERYTHING ABOUT HER IS TALENT. That manner of acting(let’s call it Michelle Gomez way of acting), those facial expressions, those accent changing OH my GOD! That manner of improvising when you need too( hey missy you are so fine, you so fine you blow my mind hey missy ) HEY MICHELLE YOU ARE SO FINE, you so FINE YOU BLOW OUR MINDS HEY MICHELLE. I can just spend my whole life watching Michelle doing all of that. What lier I am, I can watch Michelle Gomez sitting my whole life. Let’s not forget about those magical blue eyes which reach out your soul really really deep. Let’s call it Michelle Gomez eyes effect. Let’s move forward to episode last episode of season 8 “Death in heaven” which gave us more Missy and more screen time for Michelle Gomez ❤️❤️ Phenomenal as always 💕 Missy just creates whole army of cyberman to get her friend back…how cute is that?! Or not. It’s time lord thingy, we can’t judge, we are just humans. So here’s when Missy gets her title of “Queen of evil"👸🏽 and can we talk about the ending of season 8…when as many people thought was the end of Missy but as obsessive fan you start rewatching the episode by second and you see that the teleport worked earlier than the cyberman’s shot. ( I have rewatched death in haven so many times, because I was so in love with bananas queen ). So here move to the point when Michelle started visiting different comic cons, that’s where we get to know her perfect TARDIS, we get those funny meet&greet pictures, and those funny stories from fans and the fact that Michelle was so sweet to all the fans makes my heart so warm, she even recorded "hello” videos for people who couldn’t make to convention. And my heart just warms up hearing that Michelle always mentions and the thanks the fans. queen, we are thankful to you! Before season 9 and season 10 we get those Michelle “I am back” videos, who could do that more iconicly than Michelle 😂 one time eating an apple and just “I am back” and the other time painting the TARDIS 😂 Before season 9 we got to see Michelle Gomez on SDCC 2015, what a fun days, a lot of interviews, new looks and Michelle Gomez charm works here again❤️ And here we got to see Trailer of season 9 in which we saw Missy. Here comes autumn 2015 and here comes season 9. We got Missy in the first two episodes, I WAS WAITING FOR HER WHOLE SEASON AFTER THAT AND STILL WONDER ABOUT HER CLEVER 💡. Season 9 Missy is famous for Clara x Missy 😂 I wish you would know how shipper’s hearts were up to that!!!! Pushing Clara to the whole, ICONIC. I guess you loved that scene, Michelle 😂 “tell him the bitch is back” 🔥 And can we talk about dance moves 🔥🔥 Michelle you for the moves 👏🏼💪🏼 Season 9 is also famous for you getting Twitter 👀 That’s when I started spamming it (I’m sorry BUT I NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOu) We are enjoying funny, witty tweets and gorgeous selfies and personal photos. The wait for the season 10 was long BUT WE GOT YOU BACK with great welcome video of you painting the TARDIS into blue. The season 10 was tough one in so many ways BUT SO TOUGH AND SO HARD IN EMOTIONAL WAY. We saw another side of Missy, her trying to turn good and she succeeded in it. We saw Missy crying and not just ones. And oh my god, Michelle those scenes were so brilliantly done 💝 I was so happy to get to see Missy in few episodes: really different Missy each episode, queen of evil with big and kind heart 💝💜 Last two episodes were really hard for everyone to handle especially when the time to say goodbye had come. It was said that Michelle will leave Doctor Who with her friends but we didn’t want to believe, it’s so hard to say goodbye even if you need to. Yesterday was the finale and we saw incredible chemistry between Michelle and John Simm. What a hot duo. And how much should I pay to get Michelle Gomez push me against a wall?????!!!! Real question here. But everything comes to an end and we see Missy sacrificing herself TWICE because she wanted to be on Doctor’s side 😭😭 And the thing that kills me more IS WILL HE EVER KNOW,WILL HE EVER KNOW!!! What a hard scene it was for me as a fan of Mistress and as a fan of Michelle. Seeing Missy dying because of her past version, laughing and peacefully laying of the ground looking at the stars. What and end. I just wanted to scream and cry, actually I did all of that. How brilliantly was that scene done my Michelle and how marvelously it was shoot by Rachel, that close look in her face, when we see her taking her last breath 💔 my heart is shattering 💔 it is really hard for me to admit that Missy/Master is dead and that I will never see Michelle in DW. Michelle brought that special energy to Doctor Who and I am already missing that energy 😭😭😭😭 It was even more hurtful to see you saying “no, I won’t be coming back”, it’s been wonderful 3 years, you are right and you are absolutely right about the fact that “no one will be able, you know, to match MISSY” SO TRUE. But no one will be able TO MATCH YOU(everyone is unique, i know) BUT YOU ADDED SUCH MAGIC TO THIS ROLE AND YOU ADDED MAGIC INTO MY LIFE. You are probably one of those people who inspire me to wake up every single day and say that I want to live. Michelle Gomez version of Master is my favorite Master incarnation ever, i want you to know that. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 And you get to call yourself “doctor who” 😂👏🏼 I wish you could play the Master and the doctor at the same time! Why not?😂 Missy will never die in my heart ❤️ As long she lives in fans heart she will never die so MISSY LIVES and we still don’t trust Missy dying 😏 BECAUSE YOU CANt. blue light never killed Missy so the red one shouldn’t too. So here I come to ending of this I needed to speak up somewhere text-post. I love Michelle Gomez and I always will and I will forever miss you on Doctor Who. (Still hoping you to come back,maybe one day???). I have watched so many things with you from the past and I’m so excited for your future projects!❤️ love, Elvira❤️ I couldn’t put everything I feel into words, because I’m shitty writer, so I just love you so much and I need you to know that ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[imagine--drv3]

How would the Boys react to a crush s/o asking them out..?

This is my very first ask! I hope you enjoy!

Korekiyo Shinguuji    

You are the slightest bit nervous when you initially come up to him

So is he

But you can't tell under that goddamn mask of his

You shyly approach him with…

In you hands are not one, but two roses!

You knew he liked roses, but two was even better so you could match!

When you tell him your reasoning for the second rose, he can't help but bring a hand to his cheek and sigh

He just sorta stays like that for a moment

You're a little confused

Until you hear him say

"…How truly beautiful of you to think of that."

You ask him about going on a date with you

He can't hide his excitement

…and neither can you!

Amami Rantarou

Amami was browsing the books in the library on his own

Or so he thought-

"Ahah! Hey, s/o! What're you doing here?"

You give him a shy wave from across the room and make your way over to his spot at the shelf - the romance section?

Amami notices that by your expression you've recognised what section you two are in

He blushes

He can see the lightbulb flash on top of your head.

You have no idea what you're doing

All you know is that this boy is cute and single

And really sweet and nice and funny and caring and-

Before you know it, you're standing in front of him and all these compliments are uncontrollably spilling out of your mouth all at once

You add a stammered "Do you want to go for a trip to the art gallery sometime?" as a cherry on top.

You hope that wasn't too creepy-sounding - all he'd said was 'hey'

Amami's expression is blank for a moment

You can see the gears ticking in his head

Finally, he shows you his signature relaxed smile

He takes your hand in his

"That sounds pretty fun, s/o. I'd love that."

The two of you spend the rest of your afternoon browsing the books the library has to offer…

Kokichi Ouma

You approach him at the vending machine, just as planned

He pays no attention to you, focused on punching in the correct digits for his Grape Panta

The Panta bottle doesn't clank against the bottom of the machine because his hand was already there to catch it - he brings it up to his lips to take a sip

He glances at you

And immediately starts choking

Once he's caught his breath, you hear him mutter

"C-crap…"

Oh no! You must look like such a stalker right now! Say something already!

Act natural, you told yourself

You had only practiced a 1000 times.

"Does Laser Force sound like your scene? I was wondering if you'd wanna go with me, Ouma."

Well played.

He notices you giving yourself a mental pat on the back and smirks

"A soldier never goes into battle without a plan. What is yours, s/o?"

How ironic.

He's absolutely stumped you, and he knows it

You tell him you'd be happy to come up with one, but only with his assistance

He smirks again, this time slightly more shy-looking. Is he blushing?!

“I suppose I have nothing better to do, s/o."

The rest of your afternoon is spent strategising for your grand trip to Laser Force! Those 10 year olds will never know what hit them with you and Ouma on the scene!

Shuuichi Saihara

When you first approach him, he's a blubbering, blushing mess already

He cannot believe that you, his crush, is talking to him

You're worried you've done something wrong - his face is redder than a tomato

The poor boy starts sputtering even more

He assures you that you haven't!

He blushes and stutters a little more, but you can make out his soft voice saying something

“A-as you were saying!?"

You tell him you'd like to see a new mystery movie that opens this weekend at the cinemas - it's a sequel to one of his and your favourites!

Oh boy

Saihara.exe has stopped working

You have to ask again if you've done something wrong - did Ouma set you up by telling you Saihara's least favourite movie? No, that can't be right…

"I-I'd enjoy that a lot, actually!"

Saihara is ecstatic

You decide to take a seat next to him

The two of you rewatch the trailer and spend the rest of the afternoon theorising on who the murderer is together...

Kaito Momota       

You'd been planning this for weeks now     

You were finally going to ask your friend Kaito to go stargazing with you!  

How exciting!        

You were hoping, though, that by the end of the date you'd be more than friends.        

You find him in the dining hall, poking at his food        

The usually pumped up boy looks tired        

Until you approach him        

Now he's looking at you like an excited puppy        

Weird, you think        

"You like stargazing, yeah? Wanna do it with me sometime?"        

You internally facepalm        

That wasn't what you spent weeks rehearsing! Dolt!        

You pray your slight improvision goes unnoticed        

Looks like the odds are in your favour!        

"Me?! Stargaze? With y-you!?"        

Yeah man        

He's back on his feet        

More pumped up than ever!        

You're happy to see Kaito back to his energetic self·

The two of you discuss constellations on your way out of the dining hall… 

Kiibo

You weren't entirely sure if this was a good idea

What if robots couldn't feel emotions like love? What if they could, but he just didn't like you? What if he doesn't understand that you're trying to get him to go on a date with you? What if-

Deep breaths, dammit.

You're in the deep end here.

But little do you know, so is he.

When you walk up to him, you remind yourself that he's just like any other boy!

There's nothing to worry about!

The robot senses your presence and turns around excitedly

"Hello, s/o! Iruma just taught me a new trick - Would you like to see me make my lenses brighten by a maximum of 70%?"

Iruma is cackling not too far behind him

She sees the look on your face and bolts

You blush at the robot's random offer

"I'd love to see that, Kiibo!"

Just as he said, his blue eyes glowed like stars in the night sky!

Not to mention his cheeks

You remember why you're here

"That's amazing! Maybe you could show me even more of your tricks on a date, possibly?" you tell him

His eyes dim immediately

So do his cheeks

He's resetting himself???

He suddenly comes back to life with a jolt, and is surprised to see you still in front of him - it wasn't a 'dream'?

"O-Of course, s/o! I would enjoy that very much!"

Gonta Gokuhara     

You and him were admiring some flowers the two of you had come across

Whenever you pointed out a bug he'd start spouting random facts about it

It was pretty cute

The reason you were here is both of you had bumped into each other earlier

It seems your routes overlapped when it came to going for walks!

He seemed more than a little excited when this had happened

But Gonta couldn't possibly have planned it, it just was not the gentleman thing to do

Your flower-admiring session is cut short when you hear someone call something out in the dining hall, so the two of you head over to investigate

Gonta is disappointed he didn't get to admire flowers with s/o a little longer…

Suddenly, an idea pops into your head

You ask Gonta if he'd like to do this again sometime, but as a date!

Gonta is!!!!!! Screaming internally!!!!!!

He says yes!

You're both so happy!

Ryouma Hoshi

….

He's a lot shorter up close than you expected

But you came here for a reason!

And that reason is to ask Hoshi on a date!

He turns around and sees you

You think you can see something light up a little behind his eyes?

But his expression overall is a bit…

Sorrowful?

A little more than usual, at that

Yikes, maybe I should come back later, you think…

"What is it, s/o?"

Here goes nothing

You ask him out on a date

You let him decide what he wants to do for the date because you honestly have no idea

The light behind his eyes shines a little brighter when you say that

And the look on his face is anything but sorrowful!

[jeffgrant4real]

Thoughts Before El Camino

Thursday, October 10, 2019  5:46 PM  Anytown, USA

So, the Breaking Bad movie comes out at 2 AM, my time. I’ll get to it probably around 6 or 7, depending on when I get up. I can see me waking up at 3 something to have to pee and just watching the thing right then and there. Yep. My morning will be a disaster but an awesome one. My anticipation level right now is so high I’ve barely considered what will happen if I just don’t like the movie. It’s strange. That’s usually a fear but knowing it was written and directed by Vince Gilligan I know, at the very least, it will be extremely interesting. I have so much faith in that guy. I feel like it’ll fly by and then it’ll just be over and I’ll be sad. I mean, I’ll be okay, it’s just funny anticipating new Breaking Bad content and knowing it’ll be over so quickly. But knowing me I’ll rewatch it several times. I watched each episode of the show usually at least twice when they’d air (and then listen to 2 or 3 podcasts about them). There was always so much to dig into and learn about so it was a satisfying thing to do.

I want to talk about my expectations before I see it. I was thinking earlier that we’re in a special place right now because after tomorrow We’ll know what happens in the movie. So all my guessing and what not won’t matter. So… what am I expecting and hoping for?

Vaguely, I think a lot of it will be Jesse going around doing something sneaky but also reflecting on the past couple years of his life. I think there will be flashbacks throughout where we’ll see old characters again. What I’m wondering about there is how those flashbacks will tie into the current story. Like, if he just remembers moments (we probably never saw) there needs to be a point to it. It won’t just be like, “Awe, I miss Mike.” It’ll be, “Awe, I miss Mike... Now where did we bury that money that one time we had a meaningful conversation about life?”

I’m curious what the actual plot of the story will be. Like is he trying to destroy evidence? Will he just turn himself in? Will he end up in jail or join the DEA as some kind of consultant because of everything he knows? He could escape using Ed the vacuum repairman but… I mean, Walt and Saul both did that. We haven’t seen anyone just straight up face the consequences, legally. But would that be interesting? Maybe somehow (no clue how) Kim Wexler could come in and be his lawyer. That doesn’t even make logical sense to me right now. Also, one of the major big cards Better Call Saul has yet to play is if she’s still around and/or alive during the Breaking Bad years. If this is revealed in the movie it would take something away from BCS. I think they’ll hold off on that, though I’d be happy to see her, of course. It would be interesting to see the “moral compasses” of both shows meeting each other.

And yeah, I’m curious what ties it will have to Better Call Saul. I’m assuming most of it will deal with the fallout from the events of Breaking Bad, but it would make sense for them to include something to tease the new season of BCS. Could Jesse track down Gene in Omaha somehow? Seems unlikely, but…?

Another thing, I don’t know why so many people seem to be wondering if Walter White is still alive. That seems like goofy speculation to me. I mean, Breaking Bad was HIS story and it ended when he died. Why would Vince Gilligan change that? It wouldn’t make sense from a character standpoint. That would lesson the show and I don’t think that’s a thing anyone would want to risk. I 100% think Bryan Cranston is in the movie and I guess it would have to be a flashback of some sort.

Oh, and another thing about the flashback thing. I’m wondering if it’ll be a thing where it’s Jesse looking off and thinking and then it cuts to the flashback, as if it’s his memory, or if it’ll just be a storytelling thing. I feel like Breaking Bad did more of the latter. It would show you some old moment, but it wouldn’t be because a character was thinking about it. It would have a relevance to whatever the current story was. I’m thinking of one example of the opposite though, in the finale when Walt is in his old house and for a second flashes back to Hank. I’m sure that happened more. I mean, Better Call Saul is pretty much entirely a character looking back and remembering an earlier time in his life. Hmm. So much to think about.

I feel like Skyler, Walt Jr. and Marie will probably be in it, though I’m not sure how it would bring them in. Well, I mean… No, it would make sense since they’d be on the side of law enforcement trying to find Jesse. I can see him wanting to somehow make amends with them, not because he was ever close with them but… They’re all dealing with the absence of Walt, which I can see being an odd bonding element. (that sounded science-y!) If anything he could tell them what happened with Hank… and also with Walt later at the compound. A lot of his value to the family, as well as law enforcement, is as a witness, though he was of course guilty of his own crimes.

Jesse is such an interesting character to explore. He’s so complicated. He really has done horrible horrible things, but he’s also a victim and many of those things wouldn’t have happened without Walter. And he’s suffered so much already, at least in the minds of the audience he’s paid for a lot of his sins. Though of course the criminal justice system is a whole other story there. And just thinking of how they would deal with him and everything he’s been through… Gosh, you could make a long, boring TV show of just law enforcement trying to parse out what kind of punishment this guy deserves.

I think about his confession tape and wonder what happened to it. If memory serves it was taken from Marie’s house by Jack’s gang and they watched it (and laughed at it) near the end of the series. I think that was in Granite State? I think they mentioned that they were going to destroy it but I don’t remember if they showed them doing that. I mean, it could very likely still exist somewhere on that compound, which is at the current moment being flooded by police. I can see them finding that and having some clarity. In fact… that would be a good storytelling device to help get the police up to speed on most of what Jesse’s been through. Like, it would be more interesting if they had a good idea of most of his situation already, if that makes sense. I feel like that tape has to play some part in the story.

What else?

There have been bits in the promotional materials at the junkyard and it seems like Jesse needs Joe to dig up something and… I really am not sure what that could be. Is the RV still there all crushed up? I can’t remember the details of that. I don’t know what object could be there that could help Jesse out. Hmm… I am excited for him to go back there though.

There are also moments in the trailer where it seems like he’s going back to the Nazi compound and… Gosh, I don’t know why in the world he’d want to go back there. Again, there would have to be something there he either needs to get back or destroy. But that is so so risky.

Hmm.

I’m trying to think in an overall way just what I’m hoping for, like since this is the new ending for this character… I guess I’m not expecting it to be “happy”. I don’t even know what a happy ending would look like for Jesse. I would be surprised if it ended with him just dying… though maybe that would put him out of his misery. It’d be a pretty hopeless ending though, and I feel like the ending will be more satisfying than that. That was the goal when they were ending the show, to make it satisfying, and I’m expecting that to be the goal for this thing. I would like to see Jesse find some peace, but I also wouldn’t mind him facing the real justice of his actions. Like, he seems to want to live an honest life at this point and I don’t know if being a fugitive on the run and living in hiding would even satisfy him.

Or!

Maybe he will use Ed and disappear and that’ll be a whole thing… but then at the very end he turns himself in anyway. Something like that would make sense. I just feel like as a character he’d want to be judged rightly somehow. Yeah. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Anyway, I’m about to take some sleeping pills so I can wake up at 4 in the morning to take part in an important cultural moment. What are you doing?