#he's my fave of the younger cast

[oozmium]

poorly edited meme bc I'm still drowning in sorrow over Hallelujah

[gifti3]

leona needs to go therapy actually

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I deeply love all of the little echoes between the Silmarillion and LOTR, but this is one of my faves:

Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: ‘Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’

-Húrin at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears (C. 20, the Silmarillion)

"Hail, Lord of the Mark," said Éomer. "The dark night has passed, and day has come again."

-Éomer at the Battle of Helm's Deep (C. 6, Two Towers)

Naturally, I adore the fact that Éomer is the echo of Húrin, almost definitely the single most badass human of the entire First Age (and arguably of the first two ages!). What an honor for our horse boy! The echoing quote could easily have gone instead to Aragorn or an elf, both of whom are descendants of traditions that go all the way back to those First Age events where Húrin did his thing. But instead, the line went to the heir of a newer, younger people—a people who are, in many ways, more representative of the future of Middle Earth than the old, historical communities that have been in decline or fading for some time. So I love that choice of pairing. Húrin and Éomer feels less expected but more fitting to me.

Of course, the outcomes for these two are starkly different. Húrin is facing a crushing defeat and is about to be subjected to the wrath and punishment of Morgoth himself, which leaves him permanently destroyed emotionally. Éomer has just come out of an unexpected victory and is headed for another, at the end of which he can rebuild a happy life and even come to carry the royal title of Éomer Éadig, the Blessed. But I think that's the point of the echo.

Húrin did all that was possible (and arguably more!) for a human to do in the circumstances he faced, and in the end it wasn't enough. He never gets to enjoy a new morning. But that doesn’t mean he was wrong. Day does come again. It comes for Éomer. Because if there is one thing Tolkien wants us to know, it’s that you never give in to despair. You keep going and you try again, because eventually someone will find that sunrise and live to enjoy its warmth and brightness.

[mysticalcats]

omg I just got into cats and skimble is my fave too I saw your stimmy skimble and it made me so happy if you don't mind I'd love to see more. Also do you have headcanons abt him like what his relationship to the rest of the cast is? Like some people hc that he's teazer/jerries dad

yay i'm so glad you liked it!! here's another stimmy skimble on the left, and a bonus skimble on the right just because !!

i really like the headcanon that he's a father figure to rumple and mungo! he's probably always stressing about them hehe. he's the only one who won't fall for their pranks so it makes for a fun past time for the twins to one day manage to successfully prank skimble (it'll never happen). i also think he's just very lovable to all the younger cats too :) everyone's favourite uncle

[stackslip]

CAN YOU ELABORATE ON TLT BEING A HOMESTUCK FANFIC‽‽‽‽‽

i'm exaggerating a bit, but taz muir was a well known homestuck writer who wrote under the username urbanAnchorite. her fic the serendipity gospels is one of my fave fics ever, but was never finished and it's only by book 2 of tlt that i figured that the clear allusions to it in book 1 weren't just cute little nods but that she'd expanded on some of the ideas/concepts and worldbuilding of the serendipity gospels. to name a few:

the ninth house cult is heavily based on the juggalo church muir wrote/expanded upon in TSG, from face paint to the rituals and a lot of the accompanying prose

act 2 of TSG takes place mainly in a spaceship that serves as "cathedral" of the juggalo cult, and is described to be covered in bones that have been painted in many colors--which is close to the description of the mithraeum

act 2 also features the two main characters being much younger people mentored/manipulated into horrible acts by an old man who is thousands of years old and bickering with his other thousand year old friends/enemies, who seem to share knowledge and understanding that neither the two protagonists do but also deeply resent one another. hard to not read a parallel to john and the lyctors here!

to elaborate on this bc i just realized it: it is heavily implied in TSG that the dancestors (older people thousands of years old) went through a universe reset and built the empire in the image of their own trauma and anger, which would v much parallel what happens to john on earth and how he "reset" humanity

less of a homestuck thing and more of a taz muir thing: said old man is v much grooming the main female character and making her life miserable during the entirety of act 2

a lot of the story takes place in the background of the trolls' empire being a horrific imperialist force that the main characters were originally very excited to join and become a part of, with one of these characters in particular daydreaming about becoming ground troop for invasion while also holding a terrible secret that would have precluded him of doing so anyway. p neat parallel to gideon's own thing here

act 1 and act 2 of TSG are from two different pov characters, with a drastic shift in prose style and understanding of the situation/world when the pov shifts. which v much echoes how tlt has worked so far. part 3 was barely started before it went on hiatus, but it followed the same pattern.

speaking of, the prose of act 2 of TSG definitely feels very close to harrow the ninth's prose. you can just open the fic and check the first chapter of act 2 and how it's written, and you'll see what i mean. there are differences--the prose of TSG act 2 is more inflected with southern usamerican evangelical speak, i think? i'm not american so i can't quite 200% tell

there is an external armed resistance to the empire's violent imperialism and resistance that was supposed to be the focus in act 3 of TSG, which never happened. nona the ninth did, though, and it follows that structure.

there are also eldritch horrors that threaten the entire universe--homestuck's own horrorterrors--that are in the background of TSG and implied to be an important part of the future plot that we never saw. tlt has the ressurrection beasts

taz muir's worldbuilding around the blood castes in og homestuck that she elaborates on in TSG also somewhat parallels the way the houses function in tlt

iirc there's also worldbuilding around space travel in tlt (such as the obelisks? i think that's the name? and the use of necromancy to power them) that parallels taz muir's own take on how space travel works in the troll empire, using psionics and draining them dry in a similar way

i think the necro-cav relationship 'ideal' is based around how taz also interpreted moirallegiance in not just TSG but all her homestuck fics, down to how its legal implementation and the idealization of it vs its role in troll/houses imperialism and the reality of blurred lines in "expected" relationships. i'd love to hear taz's discourse on troll romance

i also think the necro-cav relationship parallels the other legal pairing explored in TSG--legislacerator and subjugglator.

there are probably more parallels i am missing--i need to reread TSG soon, as i haven't in a while. there are elements i'd say are more like, how taz herself elaborated on the bones of the worldbuilding of homestuck and then made it her own thing, which is rad as hell. other elements are more fun nods, such as gideon's aviator glasses being shamelessly stolen from dave homestuck, and a lot of gtn's prose feeling very homestuckey. it's def not like, just a little rewrite and boom, you get the locked tomb! imo it's more elements of plot and worldbuilding that were interesting enough to develop into something of its own and that taz made into something new, along with other elements of other stories (such as lolita and umineko) being woven into it. part of why i enjoy tlt so much is its "collage" aspect, taking elements taz thought interesting in other stories, or using these elements to purposefully evoke specific feelings/moods to construct or obsfucate certain ideas.

[liesmyth]

top 5 royjamie / ted lasso fics!

picking 5 was like pulling teeth. I probably left out many faves but as we know the economy is tough rn

let it come down by @antspaul, amazing showstopping exceptional 1970s AU that is SO immersive and SO bittersweet and I need to go lie down just thinking about it.

One cold Manchester night in 1978, good-for-nothing Jamie Tartt comes across his childhood hero at a punk show.

the rookie by @belmottetower & @scoatneyhall. I'm being soo brave and limiting myself to only one Bel&Hall fic and I pick this one because of the untapped endless potential of S2 AUs! This is Roy & Jamie with background Roy/Keeley and I enjoy the dynamic A Lot

“Well now, back home, our friends in the NHL have this little tradition that I think might just be the solution to our problems. Sometimes, when a rookie is signed to a team, especially a younger player, someone who maybe needs a guiding hand, a bit of looking out for, they’ll move in with the captain, right into his home, when they first start out. Obviously Jamie isn’t new new, but he definitely needs a guiding hand. So how about it?” Roy stares in disbelief. “Fuck off. This is a joke, right?” (Roy and Jamie move in together)

Roy Kent's Dramatic but Inevitable Jamie Tartt Induced Bisexual Awakening by chelicerata. There's no description I can offer that will make this fic justice. Go read it!

When Roy’s world gets turned upside down, it’s because of Jamie. Fucking typical.

therefore, dark past, by @mykingdomforapen Gen! Jamie-cenytric. THEEE definitive Jamie & his dad fic (written pre S3), to me. It's so multifaceted and human and I love the ending very much.

“Christ, Jamie, he’s dying,” Dad said. His voice did something weird–it hitched. “What, you’re gonna pencil him in your busy celebrity schedule? Squeeze your own granddad in between your ickle interviews and your fancy dinner dates? My old man is fucking dying.” OR: Jamie breaks the cycle.

tied up in this yoga knot by @reinvent-and-believe. This is a 5 times / slice of life / getting together post-canon fic and it's guaranteed to improve my mood every time I read it.

The absolute worst person Roy can imagine meeting the yoga mums is Jamie Tartt. Not to mention, Jamie would inevitably pick up on how many hours Roy spent drinking rosé and glaring daggers as Jamie fucked his way through the cast of Lust Conquers All. And that sounds fucking exhausting.

[bird-inacage]

This is finally my review on GMMTV's wildly popular 'Only Friends' which saw out 2023 in style. I do realise this is almost a year since it's release, but I find that time often allows for more objectivity.

Let me start by saying that the buzz and anticipation for this show was immense. The raunchier offering was a departure from GMMTV's typical affair, paired with the understandable hype over a powerhouse of a cast. The excitement reflected an obvious appetite for messier queer relationships to be explored on screen.

I personally had a great time overall with this series, and was highly entertained throughout by the drama. The story isn't airtight, but the plot packs in plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes (and I was repeatedly caught off guard). I give kudos to any show that can keep me guessing. The pacing is mostly consistent, with a lot of story packed into 12 episodes. It allows for sufficient character trajectories to be explored and concluded. The final Boeing arc could have made a bigger impact if it had been signposted sooner.

The main couple here are Mew and Top, but both SandRay and BostonNick get a decent distribution of screen time. I've found the general consensus to be that Mew and Top's relationship is the least interesting of the three, and I would agree. You do get very different flavours and conflicts with each couple, as well as complex layers across this entangled web, so there's likely something for everyone.

The lessons learned by our characters is what I feel this show does really competently. We follow them as they royally fuck-up, they fail, learn and grow. The arcs depicted feel very relatable. How can you continue to love someone after they've hurt you? Should you allow your feelings for someone to determine your own self worth? Should you try to change yourself for love? What does it mean to love selflessly, or selfishly? Can friendship and love exist hand-in-hand?

Out of three main couples, two survived. I think Boston and Nick going their separate ways was the only satisfactory ending they could've gotten. Mew choosing to no longer stay friends with Boston was also incredibly valid. When people hurt us, sometimes they can be forgiven, but sometimes they cannot - and that's a valuable lesson in itself.

This is a very strong ensemble cast. The standouts for me are Khaotung and Neo. Khaotung's range is masterful to watch. Neo gave us one of the best villains I've seen in a while. Boston was an absolute joy to hate. What I loved about their performances is you could tell how much fun they were having. I also have to shout out Force, who did a brilliant job of making me utterly loathe Top. But I must stress that it's a real treat to have a cast where everyone pulls their weight.

The series also makes the effort to portray many side dynamics that I hugely appreciated. I thought Ray and Mew's friendship was told beautifully. I adored Nick and Sand's platonic affection for one another. I liked seeing the healthy parental dynamics Sand and Mew have with their respective mothers. Yo's friendship with the younger cast is lovely. The only player I think was glaringly under-utilised is Namcheum. Her character fell really flat in comparison, and didn't add much value to the friendship group. Considering she was one of our few female characters, her presence was rather forgettable.

I'll do a special mention on First and Khaotung, as they are my faves.

Acting Performance: What I commend First and Khaotung on is the ying/yang extremes of Sand and Ray. Sand is a role that requires a lot of restraint. First was told by P'Jojo on a number of occasions that he couldn't cry. To hold in and hold back, and still emote with range and nuance is super challenging. While Ray needs the opposite treatment; to be outwardly explosive across all his emotions. Khaotung put himself through the absolute wringer to bring Ray to life, and it shows. Their fight scene in Episode 10 still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. (Note: I can't get over how suitably giddy P'Jojo looks when watching them act).

Pairing Rating: [A FIERY ROLLERCOASTER] This pairing is all about peaks and troughs, ups and downs. But ultimately we see two people who truly complement each other and balance one another out.

P'Jojo has a very distinctive voice in terms of direction, which really permeates in every element of the show. He had a clear vision and that intent translates. Stylistically, this was right up my street, and is very palatable for today's audience. From the visually dynamic sets to character styling, there's individuality but also cohesion. The music choices are superb. The opening and end credits were striking.

Editing: This show does some playful things with the way it edits, especially when it comes to montages. The 'interview' shots at the beginning of the series offer us an efficient insight into Mew's POV, but is not utilised again. At times these choices can feel experimental.

Music: Khaotung's OST track 'Let's Try' is a bonafide banger. Khao really is out here to prove his astounding range, as I had no idea this was him when I first heard it.

>>>

FINAL THOUGHTS: This series isn't one I've rewatched from start to finish since it's release - though I have returned to Firstkhao's scenes again and again. Rewatch value is always an interesting factor I like to ponder - especially the why. I think this is one of those shows where it's impact hits most on first watch, but doesn't pack as much punch a second time round. Some people hope there will be a Season 2, but I'm not sure if that would be a good idea, considering our characters have come to a comfortable conclusion in their arcs, and any further disturbance to their stories may feel unwarranted.

(Disclaimer: These are just my own opinions. It goes without saying that one still can enjoy a show for all its successes as well as recognising its shortcomings).

[redactedgender]

my redacted face claims / fancasts

literally only two ppl asked for this ( @infiniterotting @mrsmiagreer youre both responsible for this /j) but i will take any chance to infodump

most of these are based on the vibes i get from the characters, if you perceive them differently that’s alright! i’m just having fun with it :]

let’s go!

GUY

ross lynch (musician, actor)

; somehow i didn’t think of him while i was first trying to figure out who my face claim for guy would be. originally i had my geordi face claim as my guy one, but you’ll see why i swapped them eventually dhjsdh!! ; ross has the like perfect amount of chaotic energy but also playful flirting that works really well with guy. like, the shaggy dirty blond hair, the dimples, his eyes… like, yeah. also this mf is 6’, which is taller than i had for guy originally, but him being tall is lowkey funny

━━☆

ELLIOTT

josh hutcherson (actor)

; as my hc of elliott includes him being trans, i wasn’t intentionally looking for a short actor to face claim for him (he's 5'5). but then i saw the first pic of josh hutcherson and all thoughts went out the window. as a member of the beanie boy elliott committee, it felt like fate. like imagine him with the piercings erik has, creating dreamscapes and fighting blake. god i wanna destroy him. elliott's one of my faves, and this face claim just makes my brain happy ; josh hutcherson has got the range to be able to play a character like elliott i think. also, like, y’know. it just makes sense to me ok dhsjdhj

━━☆

DAMIEN

calum hood (bassist for 5 Seconds of Summer)

; so doing research on calum hood made me learn that he’s scottish/māori, which was surprising to me. my hc for damien doesn’t line up with that at all, but i think calum hood has the perfect look for him regardless. strong but not muscly, a nice smile, and the hair?? i think yes ; my damien hc includes him being trans, fun fact. he’s extremely stealth, like only his mom and the damn crew know he’s trans. its ok firecracker, you’re still valid. ik calum hood isn’t trans, but his vibes still fit the resident fire boi

━━☆

IVAN

leonardo decaprio (younger) (actor)

; i literally cannot explain why he’s my ivan face claim. i think i saw someone else fancast him, and was like “oh yeah, that works!” and then never thought abt it again dhsjhddj!! i have nothing else to say abt this honestly

━━☆

HUXLEY

wasabi no ginger (big hero 6) / harry samba (model)

; so wasabi was my first casting for huxley because i have the hc that he had locs that he cut off after the inversion as a form of starting over, and when thinking about what his hair would look like afterwards, i thought abt wasabi. and then i thought abt how they’re similar in that they’re both not taken seriously in their fields due to stereotyping, and how wasabi is big and gentle and huxley is big and gentle too, so here we are. i think this makes sense ; i thought having an actual real person face claim for hux would be good to have, since the other characters have them too. i found this model after doing a bit of looking on pinterest, and i like this guy’s confidence (also he’s like. built. which works perfectly). he seems confident but goofy, which is so perfectly hux-coded. just imagine them combined to make my huxley face claim fgdhsjk or like wasabi is s1-s2 hux & harry samba is s3 or something

ok so i don't wanna make this post like ten pages long so if this gets enough attention i will do a pt 2 with more of my face claims (and maybe some extra goodies like my piercing ideas for the speaker characters)

thank you for indulging me dhskhdks

[totalswagisland]

PLEASE tell us your thoughts on Anne Maria

clarification: i have not watched all the way through roti. these opinions and headcanons are subject to change. also this is really long because i just went fuckin. insane about this character based off jersey shore, a show ive never watched.

i think she's very fun and i don't like how the show treats her as like, an antagonist or obstacle to zoke or enemy to zoey whatever when at most she's a little harsh or snippy sometimes. like overall anne maria is a good person who cares about her teammates. she just doesn't take people's shit!

also she has some of the best lines and line deliveries. "brick may not be attractive in any way, but he is still a PERSON." & her freaking out about "only having like 15 seconds to live or something" and immediately calming down and filing her nails as soon as cameron said it was 15 minutes. she's just so charming and fun to watch. i also like that when she's annoyed with people she'll just spray chemicals directly into their lungs and eyes.

as for headcanons this might be kinda sparse because im only just starting out on my insane ideas about the roti cast but i have some stuff

full name: anne maria bonaventura-ortiz (she's mixed chilean/italian) i kind of want to name her dad giuseppe also. it's a fun name

for now i hc her as an only child but that may change. she kinda strikes me as an older-sister type, so maybe she's got a couple of younger cousins or a little sister.

i also think anne maria would really like those memes with the cats doing dumb faces. like bingus and shit i think shed lose her mind laughing at them. idk why this is just my ideas.

once again this is just me lamenting over the contestant profiles but i think her loving romance movies is fun. considering one of her faves is a reference to titanic maybe her and duncan could have an interesting discussion about the musical chops of celine dion.... also her last day on earth plan is very sweet and funnily enough quite similar to zoeys. i really do feel there was potential for a friendship arc there but whatever. Whatever fuck everything i guess.

ok last little thing. i love her little smile here when svetlana starts fronting. i think theyre good pals :)

[throwing-in-the-towel]

can’t thank you enough for this amazing blog! i know there’s different combos of actors, but how would you describe the overall chemistry between the curtis brothers on stage? does it come across like they’re really brothers? their relationship is my fave part of the show so i’m just curious! thank you so much if you decide to answer this🤍

i think all the combinations of the curtis brothers have such a great chemistry and really do seem like brothers! i've seen brody/jason/brent, trevor/jason/brent, josh/jason/brent, & trevor/jason/dan!

i do think brody/jason/brent have the best chemistry out of the combinations i've seen, which you would expect! they are the curtis brothers and they really make it so believable...and i think part of that is due to how close the cast is in real life. especially with those 3 having all known each other for a longer time than the other pony/soda/darry actors. i think trevor also does a great job in the younger brother role with whoever he is paired with for his brothers.

the curtis brothers relationship is the most important part of the story in my opinion, and i've never been disappointed with how they have been portrayed! they make me cry every time and all the actors for the boys are just so perfect in the roles.

[edream93]

Thoughts on The Rise of Red

Okay, these are just my thoughts that I wrote down in my note app as I watched the movie.

SPOILERS if you haven't watched "Descendants: The Rise of Red" yet:

Uma crying talking about Carlos is definitely China crying for real. It’s definitely a plot inconsistency because as far as we know Uma and Carlos didn’t have any type of relationship outside of Mal but for China and the audience, I thought it was a touching nod to Cam.

Maybe it’s just me but I feel like over the past three movies we had gotten better with the wig situations and this movie felt like a bit of a step back for some of these wigs

The special effects in Red’s first song were pretty neat for a DCOM-adjacent movie 

Maddox is kinda cute…This man is 44!?!?! 😍

Paolo Montalbano 😍 My first crush! Honestly he and Brandy and China are the only reason why I’m watching this.

Still not a total fan of Cinderella’s dress. It’s giving royal moo-moo 

Brandy and Paolo are still cute together. Like not even in a romantic way but they are definitely co-actors that have great chemistry on screen together. Like it feels like they slipped back into their characters effortless.

I’m sorry Brandy but those shoes are ugly

OMG! Chad is their son!!! They really was like, the Prince Charming had a White dad and a Black mom so of course he and Cindy can have a White son 🤣

Is it me or are there already more songs in this movie than the previous? 

Maybe it’s because it’s the only second song but I definitely expected that they would have given Rita and Brandy more to work with

I know Dylan and Thomas probably have grown out of working with Disney but I at least wish they gave a throw away line about where Harry and Gil are. Like we know at least where Mal and the others are and that Carlos apparently died. Idk, the lack of Harry’s line in Uma’s song made me miss them.

You know, for all of the fuss they made about the magic wand, the fact that the Queen of Hearts can easily cut it in half is funny to me

Is this Aladdin and Jasmin they keep cutting back to? I didn’t keep up with the movie production before it came out so maybe them being in this movie shouldn’t be surprising 

“Now make me proud, for once,” is such a hard comment to hear from a parent.

Not Chloe’s wig changing randomly 🤣

The actress playing young Fairy G definitely looks like a younger actress of the original one. Good casting.

I feel like a lot of these songs are just sing talking. Like not really singing but just them talking and like I know they did that sometimes in the previous movies but it just feels…odd

….did Chloe’s wig change…again…???

It did….

Did both of their wigs change???

Honestly, I’m underwhelmed by the costumes. I know the same designer wasn’t on this movie but eh

Ella is like… “Mom? Who you calling mom?!??!” 🤣

I forgot that since this was before Auradon they probably would take classes about magic 

Bridget’s and Red’s outfits are so far my faves

Jaladdin 🤣

“If you wanna roll together we can be a vibe” 🤣

…..Chloe’s hair changed again….Is this just her face hair or something because it’s not the hair she had in the previous scene

Morganna’s son!?!? Didn’t expect that. Again, I have been so far removed from keeping up-to-date about the production of this movie

Oh I forgot Maleficent and Hades were together at some point. Guess I just thought that was an Isle boredom fling thing

I love how this movie totally negates anything that has happened in the original movies, at least in terms of how they happened. I honestly like to think of the OG movies as royal propaganda 🤣

Okay so I think there’s three wigs that Chloe has had, a regular, a slightly more volumized one, and then what my friend calls the “chia pet” one 😅

Chloe…NO! 😫

Honestly, this portrayal of Cinderella is kinda my fave. She’s been through a lot

Okay, should have known the VK songs would be a bop

Maybe it’s just me but every time I see Hades in this, I think he looks like Chris Colfer

I feel like this movie has so many special effects which isn’t bad, it’s just interesting because I feel like big special effects were saved until the last half/battle

WIG CHANGE AGAIN!

Paolo acting his butt off to the pay the bills

Oooo that was too far Red…

Wig change

Yeah, this movie definitely has a lot more songs…😬

Also…why is her wig longer when they’re gardening? 

Are there…are there FOUR wigs?!?!?!?!

Me snorting at the captions reading -hero music playing-

Morganna’s son is missing a few brain cells. Love him.

There’s 7 minutes left….what are they gonna do in 7 minutes!

Not the Queen of Heart’s hair blowing in the wind! 😊

I know it’s not that serious in this movie, but I wonder what’s the reasoning for Red never going to Auradon now that things have changed

I’m glad the Queen of Hearts is nice and all but there should definitely be a fanfic about how Red is trying to distinguish her old reality with her new. And no, it won’t be from me. I wipe my hands clean of this series. I mean it! I’m so serious! I totally don’t have any plot bunnies in my head now! Nope! None. At. All!

Wait! Uma! Are you implying there’s going to be some - GASPS- ramifications to the time traveling!?!?!?

Final thoughts:

Maybe it’s because I’m OFFICIALLY not part of the target demographic anymore but I kind of felt underwhelmed. Like the last three movies had things I wasn’t a fan of but there were at least songs, aspects, characters, that I was a fan of. Honestly, the only person I LOVED in this one was Maddox. If you liked this movie, that’s totally fine and I hope my thoughts don’t stop you from enjoying it. I hope you have all the head cannons and fanfic ideas and amazing energizing conversations with others in the fan. If they come up with more stuff with this series (which they probably will) I might tune in but I think this, plus that Pt.2 outline of WLTF that I still owe folks will probably be my last active contribution to this particular fandom. 

Anyway, my faves of Descendants: The Rise of Red:

Uma, even if she was just serving the purpose of narrator/handing the torch from one generation to the next

The nod to Cameron

Brandy and Paolo. I LOVE them on screen together.

I actually really liked Ella and hope to see the actress, Morgan Dudley in more things

Maddox was cute but I honestly always seem to have a thing for movie/TV mad hatters (points to OUAT and the SyFy mini series Alice) 

Things I’m “eh” about:

The WIGS!!!! And the costumes but the WIGS!!! Like, if this series continues they need to fix stat!

The songs were kinda forgettable. Uliana’s song at her hideout was kinda a bop and Red’s intro song is good too but everything else was kinda “bleh”

I also feel like we didn’t really get to know Red that well or maybe I was just too distracted by Chloe’s wig.

The plot and pacing. I mean, the OG Descendants movies weren’t perfect but I feel like they typically hit certain plot beats where, as much as you can with these type of movies, it feels like the stakes are high. I guess Merlin’s office being the scene of the last “battle” and then going back to their time just felt a little anti-climatic for me.

But anywho, those are my thoughts. If you don’t agree, that’s fine, just be polite, okay? 

[queenmorgawse]

interested? check out gradalis.carrd.co to find out how to read this webtoon, even if you don’t speak one word of french.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE SLIDES UNDER THE CUT.

SLIDE 1 : why you should read gradalis (like rn immediately seriously it's so good) (all art is official art) 

SLIDE 2 : girl wtf IS a gradalis - so glad you asked! - gradalis is a french webtoon by kochei, currently releasing on webtoon france! - "but it's in french?" worry not. (this is a surprise tool that will help us later) - QUEEN ARTHURIAN LEGEND RETELLING! LOOK AT THEM! - do i even need more arguments. ok - coming of age with a sprinkle of romance and mild horror, interpersonal drama galore, side characters you WILL cry over - complaining u like fantasy settings but they're too str8 and whyte? this is for u

SLIDE 3 : official summary by yours truly tho

When a fateful encounter whisks young Percival away from the lands he calls home, he has no idea what destiny has in store for him. As a new squire in the service of the knights of the Round Table, he's presented with an exceptional quest : that of the search for the Holy Grail. With magic, conflicts and new companions, Percival's story will see some rise to the occasion, while others fall to their doom.

SLIDE 4 : #1 : the story is a banger, objectively - my boy percy may be the mc but it's not all about him!! - friendship! romance! action! magic! you've got it all - compelling arc after compelling arc. every time you think you're going to breathe you are NOT - complicated family dynamics? we got u. wholesome ones? done. interesting younger AND older cast? ofc - everyone is so married, so divorced or both at once it's kind of wild - u want to cry? this is for u also - the jokes will cheer u up tho

SLIDE 5 : #2 beautiful art style AND interesting characters - started naming all my faves then realized it was everyone - each with their own fleshed out personalities and motivations wow!! - seriously the cast is so diverse. black and hijabi knights!! normalized non-cis and non-straight characters!! we've all been fed - showcasing other charas aside from the main lads here bc they deserve it - everyone looks so gorgeous. crying

SLIDE 6 : #3 by the gays for the gays ( pictures of dinadan, gawain and aglovale )

SLIDE 7 : in conclusion : please read this webtoon deserves more attention and on god i will not shut up about it

[dangermousie]

Let’s do a Goofus OR Gallant verdict for filming dramas because why not. I might make it a regular thing actually because I love being a judgy bitch.

Take a look at these photos of Victoria Song and Ding Yuxi in the currently filming Fight for Love, the adaptation of Mo Shu Bai’s amazing Mountain and River Pillow:

Verdict: Goofus!!! Oh God.

They are both so unutterably (but I will try to utter anyway!) wrong for the roles! The sole drama I liked Victoria in was Ice Fantasy directed by (surprise surprise) Guo Jinming, who has an almost Li Muge level of getting actors who usually can’t act to act. Ice Fantasy came out in 2016. It’s 2024 now. But also her usual vibe is all wrong for the FL and she ain’t exactly an actress of any range so…

And Ding Yuxi. First and before discussing his suitability for the role, what the FUCK has the man done to his face? The amount of fillers in those cheeks makes me wonder if they can be classified as organic matter any more. I used to find his looks very appealing because he did not look cookie cutter like so many celebs but I guess the pressure got to him. And now he’s like a male version of Peng Xiaoran - a formerly stunning and unique looking star who had work to look as forgettable as possible.

But also, he’s so wrong for the role. He is (was?) a better actor than Victoria but this role needs someone a hell of a lot younger looking (the whole point of the arc and the tragedy is that his whole family is killed in battle when he’s not even an adult - it hits because he takes on everything when he’s on that cusp and has to grow up in a trice. He has little experience and is the baby of the family. No, I am not saying to cast a 15 year old but DYX, especially this new plasticized DYX who looks like he’s on his second wife, is just all wrong - especially since there is a certain intense/vulnerable duality which is vvvv internalized and he lacks - if you want to think what this role would need is someone like Liu Haoran or Wu Lei or if they couldn’t afford them, Zhang Yao.

Anyway, my favorite web novels continue to get awful adaptations. About the only one of my faves that looked good was The Prisoner of Beauty and we all know what happened there.

[daenystheedreamer]

daenystheedreamer my friend . i have unending curiosity about your occasionally mentioned asoiaf ocs . Please …….. illuminate me i beg of thee

MWAH okay so the thing with my ocs is they mostly live in a big extended universe called omaegorverse and its less of an original character as it is an ensemble cast of original characters i like to play with. ill put those under the cut but i have a couple who arent:

jeyne whent, lady companion to danelle lothston :) helps orchestrate the capture and execution of danelle by snitching to her family. marries her something-or-other cousin who spearheaded the operation and got the lordship. matriarch of house whent of harrenhal /|\ ^._.^ /|\ she and danelle have an inadvisable relationship w each other ^_^ her kids are born with red hair and high cheekbones and look rather like dead lady danelle.......

aelyx son of jon. failed at being a maester fired as the town crier now spends his days drinking at the IATC ranting about how the targaryens are sexually deviant lizard people and the maesters are lying to us. keeps getting arrested but his dad pays them off with his dentistry apothecary money. his sworn sword is outlaw knight ser rogar stone. has a bulletin on the local notice board called wisdomwars. maesters are rats to him and he only listens to local crackpot eddard grouper-tongue. other associates include robb of dewton, lyanne of dewton, teddard son of anders, daven knight (who isnt a knight) and local crazy nobles lord ronnel and ser randyll of house paul. gets into melees with jordayne and danwell across the river. this is a paragraph to be understood by MAYBE two of my followers. Hi guys ^_^

okay omaegorverse characters. God. here are some of my faves theyre all the gorls + viserys:

VISERYS TARGARYEN: canonical character, brother of rhaena, jaehaerys, alysanne. visenya tyanna and maegor use valyrian blood magic to turn him mpreggable and maegor takes him to wife. yeah i know. also in this universe the targs start being born with various physical abnormalities called the dragon trait ^_^ probably thanks to the valyrian blood magic

VISERRA TARGARYEN: daughter of maegor and viserys. really really REALLY wanted to marry her older brother so she could be queen but got thwarted (brother was engaged to aerea daughter of rhaena, and a hightower). she was born with a forked tongue that the maesters sewed up but later in life she cuts it back open. has seven husbands like that booktok character<3 flies into the sun and dies. rider of vhagar

DAENYS TARGARYEN: daughter of maegor and viserys. born with stubby tail and wings which were removed and she was left with scars. phantom pain :) she is haunted and a lesbian. marries a stark after a stark rebellion and he sucks. ends up killing maegor with viserys<3

MARIS HIGHTOWER: wife of the son of maegor+viserys, jaehaerys. betrothed to appease ceryse and the hightowers over the mpreg thing. she is also a lesbian sorryyyyy i cant help it. has six children all of whom she outlives. somewhat neglectful to her younger three children due to the elder three being kind of crazy.

HELAENA TARGARYEN: eldest daughter of maris and jaehaerys, called the beauty literally all her life since birth. her elder brothers, twins aegon and aerion vie for her affection. aerion murders the high septon at like 14 after he finds out the guy was abusing helaena, and refuses to confess in order to protect helaena's dignity and he gets exiled to essos for it. later on after aegon is crowned, aerion does a paris and helen and kidnaps helaena. blah blah blah both die in battle against each other and helaena retires and later marries a nice hightower man. has one son with aegon and two with aerion. her daughter aerea later weds aegon's son jaehaerys. rider of dreamfyre

DAENERYS TARGARYEN: second daughter of maris and jaehaerys. one of the younger three who are a little neglected. after aerion was exiled, maris left with aegon helaena and her younger daughter maegelle to the hightower, leaving daenerys and her younger brother viserys alone at the red keep. daenerys later marries lord velaryon. after both her brothers die on the throne, she swoops in as queen regent for her great-nephew and rules for a decade. reconciles with her mother :)

DAENAERA VELARYON: wife of maris and jae's son aegon, maegor made polygamy legal for targs with the exception that they can marry one valyrian bride in the valyrian tradition and one westerosi bride in the Faithful tradition. she's the valyrian bride. has three sons, monterys lucerys and jacaerys. after her husband is killed she steals them away to dragonstone and besieges the island, refusing to leave or let her sons leave (her son monterys is the heir). various tragedies happen to her sons :)

JOCASTA LANNISTER: wife of maris and jae's son aegon in the faithful tradition. she is the daughter of viserra targaryen by her second lannister husband. super mad about being a sister-wife and especially mad cos since she's half targ she's more related to/more valyrian than daenaera, who is half baratheon and half lesser velaryon. has five children with aegon: rhaena laena jaehaerys helaena and viserion. after aegon dies, she remarries to a baratheon cos she wants to garner support for her son over daenaera's. she does win! her son does end up on the throne but only after aegon's brother viserys, daenerys, and daenaera's grandson daeron. boymom to the nth degree

ALYSANNE 'ANYA' TULLY: wife of jocasta's son jaehaerys, betrothed to garner the support of the riverlands. jae's wife-in-the-faith, opposite the wife-in-the-blood aerea daughter of helaena. she's very headstrong and has crazy-eyes. great-granddaughter of aenys targaryen through his daughter vaella targaryen (who survives in this au). bullies her second sister alyssa targ and her husband's later mistresses: jeyne storm of tarth, jeyne pryor, and alysanne hawthorne. she probably had the two jeynes killed.

ALYSANNE 'ALYSSA' TARGARYEN: second valyrian wife of jaehaerys. she's a targ through her grandfather viserys-son-of-maris even though viserys was gay (his wife alyssa arryn was mega nutso, did some turkey baster pregnancies and got in with r'hllor dont worry about it). last of her family branch so she's a little haunted. gets bullied by anya tully a lot but they sorta team up against the mistresses. alyssa has a lot of latent anger which she will never release of course and will only die with regret.

ALYSANNE 'RED ALY HAWBERRY' HAWTHORNE: young minor noblewoman who is kidnapped by the ironborn during a huge rebellion-raid thing thats quickly crushed. all the girls who got kidnapped were taken to the red keep to be treated (propaganda). the king takes a liking to her (shes 16, hes 34 🤢). she's naive and kind and sweet and loving and despised by her lover's wives. she's called the hawberry as a cute nickname but its morphs into everyone clearly saying it as whoreberry..... ends up unknowingly surviving several assassination attempts by the alysannes marrying the king! when he dies the illusions are fully shattered and she runs away with her two bastard daughters. she has strawberry blonde hair and wears pink flower crowns and loves everybody in the world (she's getting fidel castro'd so hard right now)

anyway thats wayyyyyyy too many jesus christ my bad my bad. thank you so so so much for your love and interest in my silly thoughts mwah mwah. i hope this is a fun read! im gonna finally release my long awaited much derided omaegorverse family tree soon :) KISSES

[corvidclub]

in light of discourse of potential drag in s3 here's the iwtv guys' relationship to drag/crossdressing

Lestat: He does it. We've already seen him do it. He thinks it's fun :). his taste level and makeup skills are...not all the way there. I imagine his drag aesthetic without Louis' supervision is either 5yo girl at a princess tea party or hot mall slut. Regardless, he's having fun that doesn't involve inhuman violence so good for him ig. Knows very little about modern drag culture apart from what his gay tour interns tell him and the occasional bar visit. He is blocked by several drag race queens bc he keeps sliding into their dms with critiques and/or flirtations based on whatever episode he happened to catch a glimpse of.

Louis: Knows the most about contemporary drag culture by far out of anyone on the cast. Was on the ground floor observing the ballroom scene develop. Thinks rupaul's drag race ruined real drag culture (but has seen every episode). Is absolutely vicious in his criticisms of the queens and def ate some baby queens back in the day. Internally thinks he would slay drag race but whenever someone suggests he actually do drag he always comes up with some excuse like 'I can't shave bc I'm a vampire' or 'I can't find a drag mother I'll eat them'. In reality he is just afraid of getting similar criticisms and would like to keep his ego intact. If he were to do drag though his aesthetic would be very sleek and sophisticated a lot of 80s powersuits/powerdresses (executive realness is his fav category), slinky jewel tone gowns, big hats, fur coats, some tasteful bdsm elements. While his style is fairly modern I imagine he's quite old-fashioned about certain elements of drag like: NO body hair! NO boy nipples! FEMALE ILLUSION ONLY! I think he'd get really into the interiority of his drag persona as well...Lestat is like "Je suis Lisette :) it is like my name but I'm a girl :)" Louis on the other hand is looking in the mirror face beat like.. "who is Celine Emerald VanMichaels DuPree? does she dream? what does she dream of? what am I trying to embody when I become her?" tdlr: he is very annoying.

Armand: Doesn't really have much interest in drag tbh sure he'll drink a glass of AB on drag race nights with loustat and bitch about fabric with the best of them but it's not something he'd really do on his own. If he felt he had to crossdress for whatever reason he'd do it but wouldn't feel that strongly about it positively or negatively. I imagine some elements of women's clothing would bring him back to the renaissance since men were very much gowned-up back then which could be good or bad depending on the day he's having. I imagine his past painting skills would transfer so he'd be weirdly very good at drag makeup like he and Lestat would follow the same tutorial on youtube and Armand would come out looking like Plastique Tiara while Lestat looks crazy. He wore eyeliner casually in Paris and I could see him having fun with eye makeup under certain circumstances. However, I don't think the idea of having a drag persona would appeal to him bc 1. repressed femininity and enforced masculinity wasn't really a significant part of his human life unlike loustat and 2. a performance is only worth it for Armand if someone actually fully believes it otherwise it's Just Acting and that's Lestat's thing not his. He loves typical drag queen camp movies though like Mommie Dearest, Showgirls, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, etc. are some of his faves. Louis thinks those films are bad/weird (he's more of a Steel Magnolias queen) but Daniel and Lestat watch with him.

Daniel: He did drag/crossdressed for special occasions back when he was younger like halloween and pride events/protests. He'd do one of those stories where the reporter becomes part of the community they're writing about and he'd do drag for like a week just for the story ofc. He has a Frank n' Furter costume that he's owned since 1976 and worn to at least a decade's worth of Rocky Horror screenings. Also a playboy bunny look which he tries to claim he wore as some sort of feminist commentary but was really about showing off his twunk body to various substance users. He probably sees these past antics as him 'being secure in his masculinity' rather than expressing femininity which is.... kinda true but also not. He's a huge fan of John Waters and Divine. Like Louis he also believes that rpdr ruined drag culture but actually doesn't watch it except for clips of untucked fights (he would like dragula though). He thinks the most important thing for a drag queen to be is funny and shocking to straight people rather than to serve looks, in fact, he prefers queens who are a bit busted or purposely strange looking. This makes going to drag shows with him and Louis very entertaining because they are guaranteed to have exact opposite opinions and fight about it.

[loosingmoreletters]

could you do a rec of your fave isekai (or not tbh) novels that you've read? seems like you enjoyed a few recently and i'm here like 👀

It's been like twenty days since I got this ask but here are some recs. I do plan to type up a more detailed comment on them but that will have to wait for another day. going with queer stories for this one that aren't super known afaik.

I Have To Be A Great Villain / I Want to Be a Big Baddie (BL)

Plot: Our main characters gets cast to play the "villain" across various universes. Unfortunately, the male lead can read his mind and very quickly realises that the villain is not all that evil.

Comment: this dealt me so much emotional damage and I am One Fear about else will happen

When the Third Wheel Strikes Back (some flavor of queer, maybe poly?)

Plot: I was transported into the romantic fantasy novel my younger sister was reading, not as the male lead but as the second male lead. If I remember correctly, this punk is fated to go into war in the future and die in the male lead’s place. Okay, I’ve made up my mind. Let’s not go anywhere near the main characters and stay healthy until I can go home.

Comment: absolutely funny. I'm not finished/up to date, but I really enjoyed what I read so far. the character dynamics are hilarious. I was told they were poly but I haven't gotten that far yet!

Necromancer Survival (BL)

Plot: When the weak and unconfident Choi Yikyung first found out that he was a user, he thought he had finally hit the jackpot. In Yikyung’s mind, Necromancy seemed like the ultimate mix of cool and interesting. Back then, he had no idea that the Necromancer class was the weakest of them all! But as Yikyung enters the newly reopened Tower of Spirits in search of enhancement materials, he is sucked into a mysterious area of the dungeon where he encounters a frightening corpse. He makes a pact with a vengeful spirit to survive - and promises to help with revenge.

Comment: I am so unwell about them. mostly because I was reading a lot of dungeon/hunter type of stories and then got genuienly surprised when this turned out to be queer. also the art is so cute.

I Can See Your Stats! (BL)

Plot: An estate to manage, a lover to tame. Following the gruesome death of his family, mage Eyra inherits the Solath Estate and becomes a lord overnight, only to discover that he can suddenly see the stats of everyone he meets. Enter Yanu, a dashing jack-of-all-trades who seems hell-bent on distracting him from his newfound duties…

Comment: this one is explicit in the novel, tho the webcomic is more fade to black! absolutely love the main character, he's a real dear!