#how the birth scene should've ended

[thesevenwondersofawitch]

Agatha holding an infant Nicolas Scratch: "Well, we did it Rio. We made the world's hottest baby."

Rio, shaking her head fondly with a bemused smile as she strokes Agatha's back, watching the sleeping face of their son: "Say cute, Agatha."

Agatha, shaking her head with a tired smile, lightly running a finger over Nicky's cheek: "Nope. This kid is liquid fire."

[cannedapricot]

the deal. || ldh

in which you never wanted to ask your stupid neighbor for help in chasing your dream man - but desperate times call for desperate measures - even if that meant giving lee donghyuck the satisfaction of parking his car in your spot.

word count: 3.5k

genre, warnings: fluff at the end, smidge of angst, slice of life, neighbor!au, high school!au, one sided enemies to lovers, mistaking admiration for love, very romcom movie there's a kiss in the rain scene somewhere in here, mark lee is in the same grade as the 00s for plot purposes, underage drinking, profanities

bgm: hits different by taylor swift, can i call you tonight? by dayglow, disaster by conan gray, i like me better by lauv, kiss goodnight by i dont know how but they found me

a/n: i read better than the movies and the whole time i was thinking "you know who this trope would look good on? hyuck." and thus this was birthed. there's a another neighbor!au in my drafts but the brainrot has taken over i'm afraid.

A proud grin, the tinkling of his keys, an annoying strut. These were all the qualities Lee Donghyuck sported in this very moment as he climbs out of his car. Perfectly parallel parked in the spot outside your house.

If only you were rich. You'd run your stupid neighbor over in a heartbeat then pay the bail to get out of jail. Instead, you wear a scowl reserved especially for the boy, click your tongue, and park a good five minute walk away.

Technically, the parking spot was between your house and the Lees next door. But technically, the spot was 60% on your side, and 40% on theirs. So technically, shouldn't that spot be yours? Why was your shit head of a neighbor adamantly trying to feud with you?

The five minute walk, lovingly dubbed the "walk of shame" by both you and your sworn enemy, would be a lovely three minute walk home - if not for the Kims on the corner who loved starting conversations with whoever passed by. On a good day, you would get away with two minutes of conversation ("Oh sorry Mrs. Kim, I have an assignment I just must get to."). Other days? You weren't so lucky.

"Four minutes? I think that might be a new record." Donghyuck gloats, leaning against his car.

"You were timing me?" You glare at his casual demeanor, wondering how he could possibly be so insufferable.

"Well, I have to know what I'm up against."

You snort, passing by the boy waving his keys around like a trophy, making sure your middle finger was up and in sight.

"Jealousy is a disease, babe." He sings as you slam the door shut behind you.

He really was insufferable.

You should've known.

When you agreed to go to Liu Yangyang's party on the condition that someone drive you, you would've thought he would send someone like Jaemin or Jeno - the duo that always seemed to be the assigned sober drivers. Looking back, you were naïve.

You should've known he'd send your neighbor.

Thus, leads you to the present. Lee Donghyuck in your kitchen, chatting up your mother while you hurriedly try to find your jacket before said mother gets any more charmed by the kid next door.

Truth be told, you were close to not going to the party at all. But then you caught wind that he'd be there and it'd be silly not to grab hold of any chance you could have to impress him.

Donghyuck watches you move around out of the corner of his eye and when you started to move towards the door, he knew you were ready. But he'd spend extra long bidding your mom farewell, just so you'd wait a few minutes longer. He always liked keeping you waiting.

"I never took you for a house partier." Donghyuck comments when the two of you enter his car. "Stop checking yourself out in the mirror, you look the same as always."

You flip the sun visor back up with a scoff. What's wrong with making sure your hair was laying the way you wanted it?

"I never thought you'd agree to drive me to a house party."

"What can I say? I love giving back to the community."

It was a mystery to you how Donghyuck was so beloved around both the town and school. He was sarcastic, petty, and most importantly, constantly went against you. Perhaps everyone was blinded by his attractiveness? He did have a pretty face.

"I get that my face is attractive, but you don't have to look so hard. I think you're staring holes into my lovely cheek."

Correction, he had a pretty face when his mouth was shut.

It was loud, you could feel the bass pumping through your body. Drunk teenagers littered the floor of Yangyang's suburban house, bouncing to the beat and having the time of their lives. Swerving through the crowd of bodies, you picked up on bits of gossip you were sure you weren't supposed to hear. But by the end of the night, you were sure you would've forgotten about whatever scandal Shotaro from biology got into anyway.

Somehow still together, you and your neighbor find the host mixing unidentifiable liquids together in a red solo cup on the kitchen counter.

"Yang, is that poison or alcohol?"

"How dare you, it's called "a good time.""

He offers you the cup, which you turn down. You know how drunk Yangyang likes to get at his parties. Therefore, you know that one sip of whatever was in that cup could probably send you to ER. And you refused to go to ER without at least getting one glance of your dream man.

A quick scan of the room told you that he wasn't here, at least, not within your radius.

"No alcohol for me tonight. I have to drive this one back."

You raised an eyebrow as Donghyuck declines Yangyang's "special blend".

"How responsible." You tease.

"Only because you're here. I don't want you dying at my hands." He counters, leaning back and meeting your gaze, smirk on his lips. "How would I ever face your mother again?"

"Yo, Haechan, dude, you finally made it." A familiar voice sounds.

Enter, Mark Lee. Star athlete, every teacher's favorite student, adorably awkward, and your crush of two months. You swore he had this glow around him that made everything he does so endearing, even when he accidentally sent a basketball flying to your head once.

"Oh, hey Y/N. Didn't know you were coming as well."

"Yeah! I came with Donghyuck! Well, not with him but he was my ride here and will be my ride home so-"

You really had to do something about your nervous rambling in front of Mark.

Mark stayed for a small conversation with your little group before someone hurled on Yangyang's bathroom tiles, not making it to the toilet in time. The host (grumbling about how he just cleaned it yesterday) went to sort it out, your crush in tow.

You stare fondly at his back disappearing into the crowd before you feel a hot breath on your neck.

"No way. You like Mark Lee."

The car ride home was painful for you. Despite your attempts to bargain with him the whole party so he would shut up, the boy behind the wheel spends the whole ten minute drive teasing you like an elementary schooler instead. The song about kissing in a tree involved.

"What is it about him that you like?" Donghyuck asks, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Why? So you can hold it against me for the rest of my life?"

"Wow, I'm offended. Who do you take me for? I would never."

You raise an unbelieving eyebrow at him, only to be met by his side profile in the moonlight. The silver light beams against his features and you only just realize the constellation of stars on his cheek. The light at the intersection flashes red and the car smooths to a stop, Donghyuck turns to look at you, a small smile on his lips.

Shit, isn't this kind of intimate?

"Fuck off." You cough out, swiveling your head to look out the window instead. "Eyes on the road, Lee."

"I'm a Lee, but not the Lee you want." He exclaims, following it with an overly dramatic sob.

Keeping a steady stare out the window, you try to calm your reeling mind. Eyes on the prize, Y/N.

The prize being Mark Lee, of course.

Speaking of which.

"Donghyuck, you're friends with Mark right?"

"Depends. Are you going to ask me to help you get with him?"

You sit up in your seat and make your best possible attempt at puppy dog eyes, "please? I wouldn't ask if I didn't have a choice."

It was true, begging Donghyuck was the last thing you ever wanted to do. But you weren't getting anywhere by yourself and they were friends so surely that could help your case? At least he could tell you what type of person Mark liked? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Your neighbor goes silent, presumably thinking about this suggestion. "What would I get in return though?"

Of course he wasn't just going to help you for nothing. So you rack your brains for something you'd be willing to exchange.

The car turns into your familiar neighborhood, passing Mrs Kim's house. And as the car pulls into the parking spot in front of your house, you spill out, "I'll give you the parking spot."

Donghyuck's eyebrows go up at this suggestion and his signature smirk makes it's way back onto his face. He leans his arm against the back of your seat and you instinctively lean back, fighting the urge to wipe that stupid grin off him.

"You're willing to take the "walk of shame" everyday for him?"

You click your tongue, "the parking space. Take it or leave it."

He leans back, mouth still curved up. The distance lets you release a breath you didn't know you were holding.

"You make a compelling argument."

"Well?"

"Deal."

You give him a nod, moving to exit the car and crawl back into the comfortable sheets of your bed, but Donghyuck's hand on your arm stops you. In confusion, you look back at him.

"I'm not fake dating you though."

"Hyuck, this isn't "To All the Boys I've Loved Before". I would rather die than fake date you."

The corners of his lips quirk up into a smile - not a smirk - at his nickname. "Hyuck?"

"I'm going home."

True to his word, for the next couple of weeks Donghyuck actively played a part in nudging you and Mark together. However, as much as he tried to create chances for you and your crush to be alone, your habit of nervous rambling when making conversation didn't help at all. It's not your fault Mark has the prettiest eyes you've ever seen. Though, somewhere in the back of your mind lingers a mischievous pair that glimmered the same way stars twinkled that night he drove you home.

Ever since making the "Making Mark Lee Y/N's Boyfriend" pact with your neighbor, you've been spending a lot more time together than you've ever had in the past. Admittingly, you've been enjoying it.

When did you last laugh as hard as you did when he attempted to step over the fence separating your houses? ("I can do it, my legs are long enough. Watch.") The boy ended up stuck with one leg half over and the other dangling off and because he looked ridiculous, you ended up on the soft grass of your backyard, tears in the corners of your eyes as you laughed.

When was the last time you felt comfortable enough with a person to share your deepest insecurities with each other in the dead of the night? Texting him nothing but a sad emoji as the clock hits 3am, receiving a response almost immediately - "Can I call you?". Talking about your ambitions, dreams, and fears until the sun rose above the horizon and you both realized you had school in an hour.

That didn't mean you liked him or anything though, right?

You liked Mark.

Or so you thought.

Maybe?

Fuck. How dare Donghyuck confuse you like this.

Sometimes, you wonder how things turn out. How the smallest choices can lead you down a whole new path entirely. And how they all led to Lee Donghyuck currently being sprawled on his stomach on your bed, legs swinging in the air.

Right. You had a date with the other Lee. The one you allegedly had a crush on. Well, it wasn't a date per se. It was more of a one on one friendly hangout? Donghyuck had gotten movie tickets for both him and Mark - then ditched the day before and said you would go in his place. It was kind of genius.

"Okay, would Mark like this color better than the blue?" You ask, clothes strewn across the floor. A good chunk of your day had been spent digging through your closet looking for clothes you think Mark would like. Your neighbor couldn't care less about your crisis. He barely spared a glance up at you before he returned to whatever he was looking at on his phone.

"Looks good."

"Donghyuck, I need you to keep up your half of the deal."

The boy finally gives you his attention. Pulling himself up so that he's sitting on the edge on your bed, staring straight at you.

"Shouldn't you want him to like you as you are? There's no point doing all this-" He gestures to the mess, "-just to impress him. I think you'd look nice even if you chose to wear your pajamas out."

"But he doesn't like me. Not yet at least. That's why I have you to help me."

"...Right."

The atmosphere suddenly becomes stuffy. You wonder if you said the wrong thing because suddenly, the boy next door is leaving. It's not surprising given that the both of you spent half a day going through your wardrobe and he probably had things to do. But, you just can't shake the uneasy feeling.

"Hey, are we good? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, we're good. Good luck." Donghyuck says at your door, a smile unlike any of the previous ones you've seen gracing his face. It seemed forced.

A faint pitter patter of rain hitting the window panes sounds through the quiet room.

You hope he made it home without getting wet.

"Man, I didn't know you liked Spiderman too."

"Mmhm."

You made it to the theatres with Mark. You enjoyed watching the movie with Mark. You were getting driven home by Mark. You had a great time with your crush. So why was your mind still on a certain situation and a certain someone from before.

"My other friends all watched it on a day I got called into work so I was surprised when Haechan was willing to re-watch it with me - he's usually not that nice, you know?"

The edges of your mouth lift a little at the dig at Donghyuck. In front, the windshield wipers squeak a little, trying their best to rid the glass of rain droplets. The radio plays an old song in the background that Mark hums softly to, thumbs tapping in time on the wheel while waiting for the lights to turn green. It was cozy, but could never measure up to how intimate you felt in the car with Donghyuck.

"Then he dips last minute. Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised. I was more surprised that you were coming instead though - I thought you would've wanted to watch it with Haechan."

Your brows furrow. "Why?"

"Oh - I thought you liked him."

The world around you stopped. Though the light turned green and the car was definitely moving now, you felt your entire body freeze.

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

Mark's confusion showed on his face, his emotions always did. That was one of the things you liked about him. Or so, you thought.

"Well, for starters, you're much more comfortable around him. I don't know if that's just because you always tense up when I'm around. I'm sorry if I've done anything to make you uncomfortable by the way, it was never my intention."

Mark Lee, your supposed crush, thought you were uncomfortable around him. You lean your head against the window of his car, it was nice and cool. Perfect as you let yourself ponder.

You always were unnecessarily nervous around him - but wasn't that normal? You liked him. You liked his smile, how he was able to win the favors of everyone around him so easily, how he was always reliable, how good he was at sports- oh.

It was never romantic.

You didn't know anything about Mark. You never even had a proper conversation with him. What he liked to do in his spare time, what his plan was for the future, what stupid habit he has, what he sounds like over the phone at 3am. You had no idea.

But you knew what Donghyuck liked to do in his spare time, what he wanted to do in the future, what his stupid habit was, what he sounded like over the phone at 3am.

Fuck.

And it all came rushing to you all at once.

The prize was always something shiny, blazing, and brilliant. It was something you wanted but would put on a shelf to admire. Mark Lee was your prize. Someone you admired. He was never someone you imagined having debates with for the rest of your life. He was never someone you imagined spending rainy days indoors together with.

Perhaps, after all this time, the prize wasn't what you were after. Perhaps, what you really wanted was to spend time with-

"No way."

"Hm?"

"I like Lee Donghyuck."

Your admiration for Mark was a luminous, fleeting feeling that you mistook for love. Love was never about having to dress like a different person to impress them. Love was laughing together at the smallest things, showing up in two week old pajamas and still thinking they're the most beautiful being you've laid eyes on, and sometimes, love was fighting over a parking spot outside your house.

Mark grins. "Great. He's been in love with you since third grade."

"What?'

"Why do you think he's never dated before? All this time, he's been waiting for you to realize."

"I'm glad we got closer today," Mark mentions, pulling onto your street, "you seem a lot more comfortable now."

Yeah, because you no longer thought Mark was your dream man. A weight was taken off your shoulders now and you didn't feel the need to keep up an act around him anymore.

"Thanks for today."

"Hey dude, no worries. Just let me know if you need any help wooing Haechan alright? I love helping couples get together."

"...Didn't you try before with two other couples?"

"...Yeah... They didn't turn out how I thought they would."

The two of you share a laugh before you clamber out of his vehicle and wave him goodbye from your porch. The rain had started pouring down from the grey skies but your fingers hesitate at your door.

Fuck it.

Instead of walking into your warm and dry house, you decide to brave the rain and run over to your neighbor's, splashing through the puddles without care. It soaked the clothes you spent forever deciding on and ruined your meticulously done hair, but urgent times call for urgent measures.

Two knocks and the door swings open, revealing the boy next door behind. His eyes widen at the sight of you taking heaving breaths on his doorstep, hair and clothes complete wet and still getting pelted on by the rain.

"Did he hurt you?"

The urge to laugh bubbles through you. He was always putting you first. All this time, he was helping you chase another man. He was ready to give up on his chance with you if that meant you had a chance of being happy with someone else. Even now, after you'd hurt him, he was still worried about you.

"Lee Donghyuck, I'm in love with you."

For a while, everything's silent. Even the rain fell mute on your ears. All you could see was your rival's jaw open in shock and his Adams apple bobbing up and down trying to find the words to say. It was quite a satisfying view.

Then you start rambling as panic settles in. The need to apologize for hurting him, how you actually felt about Mark, how you found out about your feelings. Old habits die hard.

Except, not even a full sentence into your unplanned speech, Donghyuck steps out of his house, into the rain, and cuts you off with his warm, soft lips on yours. You stumble back, not expecting the sudden weight on you, and the two of you fall back onto the wet, cold grass on his front yard.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that."

His face was as close to yours as physically possible, eyes gazing lovingly over your features, wanting to soak every second of this moment in.

"Let me guess, since third grade?"

"I knew Mark couldn't be trusted."

Laughter claims you both before you pull him in by the collar for another kiss. There were grass stains on your clothes, it was cold and muddy, and the two of you will definitely end up with a cold the next day, but somehow, in that moment, you felt as though the world was yours.

"I kept my end of the deal."

"What do you mean?"

"You ended up getting a boyfriend with the name "Lee". I think that means I get the parking spot."

You smile.

"I'd happily do the walk of shame for you."

[adragonsfriend]

Shooting Anakin like Padmé

So I've mentioned this before, but for most of ROTS, Padmé is shown pretty much only in her own apartment, and she's only allowed to leave to (1) go to see Anakin to tell him about the baby, (2) go to the Senate to deliver an (admittedly devastating) line about Palpatine declaring himself Emperor, and then (3) go to Mustafar to find Anakin. Besides those times, the camera only looks at her when Anakin goes to see her in her apartment, or when Obi-Wan goes to her apartment to see her about Anakin.

This relegation of Padmé to the domestic sphere--even if it's less obvious in that it's not a cooking or cleaning domestic space--is strange for a character who is obviously active and present in the previous movies. Why isn't she in the Senate building before the last scene? Why doesn't she have an office? Paperwork to do at least? Why don't we see her preparing to give birth? Hell why can't she and Anakin just talk somewhere else for once?

The answers to these questions are not ones I'm going to bother with right now. Whilst they are probably complex and interesting on some level, ultimately, they largely start and end with and "the narrative stopped being interested in its main female character other than in how she affects its male lead." Instead, I'd like to demonstrate how stupid it is by imagining ROTS scenes if Anakin was shot the same way Padmé is.

Rescuing the Chancellor

Start by cutting the whole space battle and rescue. We open on Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine returning to the ground and being greeted by the Senators and the press. Padmé pulls Anakin aside as in the movie. Since we didn't get to see Anakin execute Dooku, Anakin summarizes those events to Padmé, during which he tells her that he's not sure he should've killed Dooku and that he's afraid Obi-Wan would be disappointed in him. Padmé avoids confronting/is distracted from this revelation by her own news--she's pregnant. Continue the scene as written, with Anakin dismissing her worries to tell her to be as happy as he is.

Impact

Because it would probably reveal too much plot-wise for Anakin to tell Padmé that Palpatine directly ordered him to execute Dooku, this would deeply minimize how much Palpatine has over Anakin's decision making, as well as obscure how Dooku being executed even happened when Obi-Wan should've been right there to stop him (audience has no idea he was knocked out). Also, the audience would not see Anakin disagree with Palpatine to save Obi-Wan, and would therefore be deprived of the understanding that Obi-Wan is important to Anakin.

Even if all of this information was included in Anakin's summary of events, it would replace all of the showing done in the rescue scenes with telling, thereby destroying all of the emotional weight the audience experiences actually witnessing the events.

Appointment to the Council & The Opera

Instead of seeing Anakin talk to Palpatine and Obi-Wan, and throwing his fit to the Council, we instead get Anakin sitting in his quarters in the temple after the council meeting. He gets angry, standing up and pacing the room, talking to either himself or R2-D2 about how annoyed he is about not being made a master and that Obi-Wan would ask him to spy on Palpatine.

Instead of Anakin sitting with Palpatine in the Opera, we are treated to another scene of him in his quarters, this time we see him in his quarters, reading some texts, maybe muttering about trying to find the story Palpatine told him about.

Impact

Instead of seeing Anakin being manipulated, being inept at politics, his inability to manage his emotions in front of the Council, the tension of his argument with Obi-Wan about spying, and the way he's immediately drawn in by Palpatine's story about darth Plageuis, we just get him pitching a fit in private. Pitching a fit in private is a pretty reasonable thing to do--most people do it at some point--and so on top of doing nothing to show any of his interpersonal relationships with Obi-Wan, the Council, or Palpatine, it also shows very little of the complete breakdown he's headed toward.

Order 66

Instead of seeing Anakin go into the Temple, leading the clones, we are instead shown him getting dressed in his new sith cloak, which matches Palpatine's.

Impact

The audience gets none of the horror of seeing Anakin about to kill people. They only gain the information that he killed the Jedi children when Obi-Wan tells Padmé--there is none of the symbolism of him being shown to kill that one kid who looks just like his younger self. It reduces a horrific act and character decision to less than a news headline, and--especially with Padmé's later denial about it--makes it sound like more of a rumor than anything.

Mustafar

After Anakin puts on his new sith cloak, we cut to him on a ship to Mustafar. Only it's not his fighter, it's a ship large enough to have sleeping quarters, or maybe a kitchen. We see Anakin in one of those two spaces, again pacing, but this time he has set his lightsaber on a table, and keeps glancing at it agitatedly. On arrival, he picks it up and leaves the ship. Cut to him announcing over comm to Palpatine that the Separatist leaders are dead, without showing any of the killing involved. Then he sees Padmé landing and goes to greet her.

Then, keep the strangling Padmé and dueling Obi-Wan the same as the movie.

Impact

Now imagine seeing that final duel after an entire movie in which we have hardly seen Anakin and Obi-Wan interact, never seen them fight together, and only witnessed Anakin draw his saber once, to cut off Mace's hand in one wild swipe. It wouldn't mean nearly as much. We wouldn't know where Anakin suddenly got all these crazy lightsaber skills from--it would be crazy that he can go toe to toe with Obi-Wan who we just saw fight Grevious. We wouldn't know that Obi-wan's death was something Anakin would've died to prevent only days earlier.

Overall Impact

While some of these altered scenes do have potential to communicate some important things about Anakin (staring at lightsaber = guilt, picking it back up = choosing violence), on their own, they fail to tell his story well, and give little depth to his character.

He doesn't really talk to anyone on screen -> seems like a total loner who doesn't talk to anyone but Padmé. What do you mean Obi-Wan is supposed to be his best friend-brother-dad-teacher? (Why does Obi-Wan say he loved Anakin at the end or bother to personally look over Luke?)

Anakin doesn't really do anything for anyone but himself -> what do you mean he's supposed to have been a caring person who was corrupted?

Anakin is called a General and a war hero, but we never see him lead troops or even fight -> was he just given the title to make him seem more important?

Anakin and Palpatine only interact for like two seconds -> why does Anakin believe him about the Sith story or follow his orders to commit atrocities?

Anakin doesn't have any strong feelings about the Jedi, positive or negative (let alone both simultaneously) -> why do we care that he betrayed and killed them? why didn't Palpatine just let the clones do it?

Basically, it makes him seem stupid and inactive, and completely fails to show the audience his ongoing struggle with violence and torn loyalties, unless of course the audience is willing to go to lengths to imagine the depth he might've had if the narrative had prioritized him a little more.

There's lots of fic and meta that does that for Padmé, but the movie itself does not force the average view to see her as anything but Anakin's girlfriend who loves him more than anything, for some reason (he's pretty?) and is a Senator for some reason (she talks about politics for a minute?).

Like, I'm being a bit reductive, but all the scenes I cut of Anakin doing violence? Those are the equivalent of Padmé doing politics. All the interactions with Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and the Council? Those are Padme talking to other senators, her handmaidens, maybe even her parents. Anakin's mounting stress? That's a bit about Padmé seeing a doctor, worrying about her own health.

Padme isn't the main character, but she's not a side character either. The screen time she got could've been better used, even simply by letting her look busy when Anakin talks at her. ROTS makes her seem silly and inactive, and fails to show the audience the full depth of the ongoing conflict between her duty as a political power and her relationship with Anakin.

[lord-rain-master]

watched hi nanna today and it was so good!

the female lead talking about not wanting to get married or have kids AND not being ridiculed for it was not smth i expected to watch in a telugu movie but it gave me exactly that!

my first favourite scene in the movie was the one where yashna breaks down after finding about their daughter's condition and she starts taking it out on viraj and he tries his best to hug her and they end up on the floor with him holding her down. i just loved everything about it! the acting was honestly amazing. mrunal did a fantastic job and even the way it was shot was just,,, beautiful

my second favourite scene was the one where viraj talks about having kids and yashna freaks out and they argue about it and viraj goes out the door saying he wished he never married her but immediately comes back in and hugs her and they make up

ALSO i love that the movie still has that lil bit of silliness that most telugu rom coms do!

i'm really not sure how i feel about the ending tho bc i didn't like it after finishing the movie bc i thought viraj deserved someone better than yashna?? hated that she blamed him for their daughter's condition but now that i think about it.... i feel like viraj should've been more understanding about her stance on kids so he shouldn't have brought up kids so suddenly in the first place and now i've finally come to the conclusion that it kinda makes sense lol

another favourite thing about the movie is yashna's character! she's a woman who's scared of getting married bc of her parents own broken marriage and doesn't want to have kids bc what if her marriage fails too? she doesn't want to put her kids through what she'd experienced and it's such a valid fear for someone like her. and sure, she gets over her fear of marriage bc of viraj but it's not easy for her to change the way she thinks about kids and so she tells viraj that she's worried that if they have kids and their marriage ends up failing, then it's gonna hit the kids the hardest and she doesn't want that which, again, makes so much sense for someone who grew up the way she did but viraj did not grow the way she did and so he hates that she thinks so pessimistically about their marriage and they have a fight about it

and after they end up having a daughter who's diagnosed at birth with a fatal pulmonary condition, yashna freaks out bc her worst fear has come true in a way she did not expect it to. she has to put her daughter through so much trouble but not bc of why she thought it would be that way

and and and the fact that the three of them don't together until after yashna gets better is amazing! might not work for everyone but it worked for them haha

[scarecrowdrugs]

Just got back from Alien: Romulus and I had a fun time! Movie felt very "Alien: Greatest Hits", which certainly isn't the worst thing it could be!

Spoilers under the cut

Pros:

Absolutely gorgeous visual design, I was grinning like an absolute madman at all the physical effects.

Really impressive sound direction. I felt every single ship engine noise in my bones!

David Jonsson is easily the best part of the movie. I didn't care what happened to anyone else, I just wanted Andy to be okay!

I already knew about the live hybrid birth scene near the ending, but I wasn't ready for how utterly grotesque they would go for the first actual Xenomorph reveal for earlier in the movie! Absolutely nauseating in its allusions to childbirth; to the point where the big third act "birth" scene didn't quite reach the highs that the earlier one did. Giger would've been proud! Also, haha narsty!

Every single bad decision that the main cast made still made sense. I was wincing at how I knew this was going go wrong, but I still completely understood why they would make these decisions.

Haha I got my big dumb facehugger popcorn bucket and I love her so much. I can move her little leggies!!!!

Cons:

I get why some people feel about the third act falling flat. I personally thought it was still perfectly fine for what it was, but I did think the pacing after the halfway point didn't allow any room for things to breathe. I think maybe the movie would've benefited from a slightly longer runtime, but your mileage may vary

Went a little too hard on nostalgia references at times. I was fine for most of it because it is a midquel but holy shit I really winced at the blatant Haha Reference! with Andy going "Get away from her, you bitch!" Waaaaaay too on the nose there, guys!

I think they might've played it a bit too safe at times. I said before that Romulus is very "Greatest Hits", which isn't always to its detriment, but it still could've gotten a bit more weird with it!

Okay this one is admittedly very minor, but the big third act birth scene wasn't nearly was narsty as it should've been! I think the first Xenomorph reveal was given a lot more gravitas and this one went by a bit too fast to really soak in the "Pregnancy Horror" aspect!

???:

Okay, this one just falls under "I'm not sure if I really liked it" but I think the Hybrid could've been a little bit more scary! Everything from the neck down was perfectly fine and I really loved how off it seemed with its propotions. That being said, I'm not 100% sold on the face design. I totally get what they were going for, but I just don't think the mostly human face was that scary compared to the normal Xenomorphs!

[lemonhemlock]

hi! I'm sorry to bother you, but, after re-seeing the first episode of season 2 I can't get over about how much I HATE how they potrayed Blood & Cheese, especially on how they made it to be the Greens fault that it happen (and by twitter/tumblr it seems that this is the general thinking)

I truly don't understand why the writers decided to change it so much, but in reality I know: for one they don't want to make the green too over sympathetic, plus they wanted to do the parallel between how Rhaenyra had to walk the stairs whith her newborn to Alicent, with Helaena doing the same with Jaehaera, and I hate it if this is one of the main reason?

It only shows that, see? The greens are bad, they deserve whatever comes to them (it's Alicent fault bc she din't bow/adore Rhaenyra)

The show is using the "choose" marketing, but it's taking for granted that the black is the good side and is doing nothing to really put them in a bad light

Even with Daemon with Blood & Cheese, we are suppose to believe that when they ask if they don't find Aemond what they should do, with his reaction he said (off camera of course) to take the life of Jaehaerys, but did most of the people watching it get it? No, it seems like another ops! Ok, maybe in the 2nd episode they will make it more clear, but still... I don't like this

Not to take the clear plot hole of there being no guards guarding the queen e children (that it's been justified by most bc it was Criston responsibility; Aegon didn't care; They were too overconfident; It's Alicent & Criston fault bc they wanted to fuck; etc) and again, with all of this is taking away the responsibility to the black, to give it to the greens for why it happend (to the victims of the violece they received)

And to the people who said that Aegon didn't care, HOW? Especially after all of the episode, where Aegon is shown he cares about Jaehaerys? He is his heir! So you really believe he wouldn't put guards to watch over/protect the heir of the throne? After this episode?

But of course they would, when the show keep pushing those narratives, that just screech with the rest

But my anger comes directly at how they changed so deeply the act of Blood & Cheese and not because I wanted to see the death of a child (not at all) but because it's the DEATH of a child: it should've been horrific, breaking and leave you horrified and aghast, but alas, most didn't even think twice about it, and some have laughed when Helaena stumbled on Alicole having sex

I know they said they couldn't film the scene for how it was gruesome with the children there, but that's such a cop-out? Because they could've only shown Helaena with the children (I hate that Maelor isn't in the picture, will he ever come in it? Will his birth be another reason to hate the greens/aegon with a forced act of sex to produce an heir?) at the door of Alicent's room, a few shot that put them on the spot and when she entered B&C would've acted and then the child actors got away from the scene and all the attention would've been on the adults (with mannequins maybe to show the kids) and they could still have not shown the act of the murder and the reason why the guards didn't rush forwards bc they had Alicent gagged (couldn't scream) and they threatened Helaena to not do so

They could've even used the silence (with no music) to hit more home everything, after her final choice (a close up of everyone face, to Alicent, Helaena and then to B&C who only smirks) and then the sound they've actually used and then the scream of Helaena with a shot of the corridors/the guards/Aegon/Aemond/Criston reacting to it, end of the episode

Not what they've shown us, with Helaena pointing to her son, not even trying to beg them to take her life, giving a necklace and the stumbling in the act of her mother having sex to say only "they killed the boy" not even my son, Jaehaerys

I can take the "she was dissociating" but it's the premise that is wrong

I don't know why they had to put the sex scene between Alicole in that moment, to make them be questioned by Aegon? To make them feel guilt, shame and regret?

All they took was making Alicent a witness of the horrific deal that Daemon (Rhaenyra/the blacks) did, while being impotent to do anything (to see her sweet Helaena make an impossible choice, to see the death of her grandson, a child).

To make her feel rightful anger and hatred toward the black (Rhaenyra) that would only grow with the dance;

Helaena despair and spiral toward madness, another innocent (with her children) that was made to pay the price for the action of others. Yes, they could still make her go toward that path with how they've done it (her pointin her finger) but it was more than that: she did everything she tought she could've done, she offered her life, she beg, cried and made an impossible choice, only to be laught at and bear the consequence of making that choiceIt should've been breaking, it should've made the watcher feel horrified on the violence on the innocents, on children

For Cole's responsibility they've already made the premise of his relationship with Alicent, they could've shown us the breaking point in their relationship, maybe with a little disdain, him leaving his post (after asking someone to replace him) to go to reflect/pray/anything and than HE WASN'T THERE.

He couldn't protect the two queens and the heir

The angst of it would've been greater to me, than whatever we would get, even the possible anger that Alicent could put on Cole in the show would've been more justified (where were you?)

And sorry, I've ranted enough and I hope it didn't bother you too much, it's just... it's not been well written (b&c) in the show, even in the book it wasn't perfect, but they had the opportunity to make it more so and they didn't and now I'm seeing people undermine the act, saying it's good writing and blaming the victims for what they endured and I hate it

Sorry again for the rant, I hope you're having a good day or night!

sorry for not having replied earlier as i've been a little busy these days, but i can see you feel very strongly about this 😂 yeah, i mostly agree with what you said

as this scene has percolated in the ole brain, i think that, beyond the changes from the book (which we can discuss endlessly and many points have been made already so i won't insist), this particular iteration COULD have worked if they didn't mess with the logistics so much:

- b&c could have simply used a secret passage to gain access to helaena's room, seized her immediately and threatened her with a knife so she wouldn't make noise

- noticed the children sleeping, had an expository conversation that they have been searching for a long time and are not able to find aemond in time, so they should just make do and kill prince jaehaerys. since they are kings landingers, they must already know that helaena has twins

- keep helaena immobilized (you can have her be as demonstrative in her grief or as dissociative if you want, it's not really about how "inappropriate" a non-divergent reaction is, like some people have gone to imply) but the viewer should be made aware somehow that she is conscious of what is happening and is opposing it

- one of them goes to check which child to kill and it can surely happen off-screen as we focus on helaena's horrified eyes

- they exit v quickly using the same secret passage

- helaena takes a few moments to compose herself, grabs jaehaera, unlocks her door and notifies all the guards on the hallway, shows them where b&c disappeared

- some of the guards call for reinforcements, some of them follow b&c down the tunnels

- and, finally, we can have the same sequence with helaena holding jaehaera as she rushes to alicent's room. she knocks frantically but the door is locked bc alicent and criston are not idiots. they are interrupted, dress quickly and open the door. the episode ends in the same cliffhanger

so, yes, it STILL would be a watered-down version of b&c with no maelor and no alicent in the room, daemon and the blacks getting less blame etc, but AT LEAST this version would make sense

it's the changes in logistics that simply add up to looney tunes level and take the viewer out of the horror of the moment and into frustration or annoyance, which is simply not the reaction and the vibe you'd want to have

anyway stream brat ✌️

[scarabjewels]

Films I Watched Recently

Lately, I have watched a number of movies, which is a hobby. I was able to come back to after a long time. I was writing so many detailed opinion essays, so how about a brief short ones in a list.

(SPOILERS)

1) Immaculate

I watched this twice, with different sets of friends as well.

On my first watch, me and my best friend and we watched it without subtitles. Literally in Sydney Sweeney's character's perspective.

The story follows an American nun, Sister Cecilia, moving into a convent in Italy. In a miracle, she concieved a child as a virgin. The convent practically treasured her as they believed she bore the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

As we watched the movie, and my best friend questioning everything that is happening, Cecilia's experience in the convent gradually becomes creepier and extreme.

Just before the immaculate conception, Cecilia was shown the nail that the convent believed to be one of the nails that pinned Christ to the cross and "fainted". Cecelia then always felt like she was being watched, and in during her pregnancy, she was worshipped by the convent, all except her friend and another nun.

She was almost killed by a nun and we did not know why because we were lacking subtitles, so on the second watch with our other close friends, I learned that the nun was jealous and enraged, saying that it should've been her.

Cecilia's friend and a fellow nun, Sister Gwen, grew concerned as the convent refused to let Cecilia go to a hospital, and I think she was suspecting the cultist ways of the convent. When she spoke up, she was taken away, and we found out she was silenced to death.

Cecilia tried to escape on her own, which was almost successful. But she was caught and was locked up and watched closely in the last days of her trimester.

In the end, she was able to escape just in time to birth the child and well I don't think anyone who experienced a cult negatively will ever keep a reminder of it.

The film had A24 vibes, as it reminded me of Robert Egert's " The Witch" and Midsommar. The pacing was good, the build up, characters, horror elements, practically very decent.

Yet, somehow it's a 5.8 in IMDb but scored decent in Rotten tomatoes, 71% in Tomato meters and 60% in audience score.

It's not a horror but much more a good thriller, it can be triggering for pro-life and r**** victims, as the ending is subtlety but strongly graphic.

Personally, I liked it, it is a decent cult thriller. I think it is best to watch with friends, as admittedly the movie came of as mid, so watching it alone may not be as exciting.

2. Helter Skelter

Now this, this was A BLAST.

Please be warned of how much pornesque sex scenes it has (not quick regular movie sex scenes, trust me).

I already wrote about it and gave my thoughts so here's a summary.

Helter Skelter is a campy psychological thriller centering Lilico, a rising star in Japan and a plastic surgery addict. She is a protagonist but her story shows how much of an asshole she is, as she suffers from the extreme side effects of her extensive surgeries, her obsession with beauty, manic episodes, and how may people around her suffers from her actions.

I took the liberty to read the original manga of the same name, and the movie had many creative liberties with visuals and honestly the its visuals in the movie is beyond the manga, while the manga is campy and slightly mod, the movie was CAMP. The content was very much the same, that it was very impressive.

There are some things in the manga I wished occured in the movie: Hada being around the same age as Lilico, instead Hada was a pushover in her late 20s in the movie, and the detective's bubbly but calculative personality which became just weird and creepy in the movie.

It was a great watch with friends, I kind of preferred it.

3. Midsommar

This movie is the last one on this list that I watched with friends, and I hated it, and I was not alone.

The plot involves a depressed (yes it is actually relevant that she is depressed during this time) Dani tagging along with her boyfriend and his friends' trip to Sweden in their research of a cult, in the midsummer where nightfall was pretty non existent during this time in that country.

It pissed me off, but it was very entertaining. I hated the roofie consummation so much. JUST WHY.

I can handle the gore, the bear being gutted, skinned people, but that one just...no.

Anyway, it's a good thing I watched it with people because I don't think I could handle that alone.

4. The Help

Youtube shorts made me watch it, and it was WORTH IT.

The Help is the adaptation of the book of the same name, according to IMDb "An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis."

Skeeter, the aspiring author, is borne in an above average working class white family herself but was raised by her maid all her life. Her friends, members of the city's socialite group, were borderline participating in racist activities.

The first two maids Skeeter interviewed were the maids of her friends in the group. Aibileen, the narrator of the movie and a major contributer to the book (honestly, CO WRITER) , worked for Elizabeth, who started working as a maid at age 14. The second was Minny who worked for the incredibly mean socialite leader, Hilly.

While the project was risky enough for the time, as in the movie shows the dangers of speaking up in the 1960s, the hate crime was just as violent, and the culture was discriminated unjustly. However, it was pushed through.

The film was somehow a feel good movie, or maybe it just was. I just loved everything about it, Hilly getting her just desserts...ooohhh boy she did, Minny and Celia's friendship, and the scenes after the book was published, it was perfection.

I do feel like movies like this are almost nowhere to be found nowadays, everything is just so dramatic, complex, edgy or just trying hard. The simplicity of the film with just good acting (the star studded cast worked so well here) and a great story. I am so glad that Jessica Chastain and Bruce Dallas Howard actually stared in a movie together, it is so hilarious and just soo right, just watching them interact in a movie made it so worth while already.

5. ReLIFE : Live Action

More of a rewatch, Relife is the tale of a 27 year old man ,who is dissatisfied with his life, offered by an experimental company for a chance to relive his life. He finds himself turning younger and living a full year as a 3rd year high schooler with a group of friends and finding love in the process.

Another feel good movie. I never watched the anime and honestly I think I'm content not watching it. I liked the journey of Arata, he did not relive like a teenager, but as an adult trying to find purpose in a different environment. When he was rejected, he took it like an adult, which he is (I just like that maturity actually was portrayed in the story realistically). The twist was so simple yet sad at the same time, Hishiro, Arata's crush and first friend during his relife, is also partaking in the same experiment (she doesn'tknow he is in Relife tho). The sad part is that she also likes him and rejected him because she knew it is impossible for them to get together, as the experiment would erase any memories of other people of them after it ends. They are both in the experiment, meaning they will not be able to remember each other after. Yoake, the overseer of their experiments, sympathizes with their situation and at least in the live action, made subtle moves for them beyond his job as an observer.

Overall, it's a sweet story about living with intention with some love stories here and there.

6. Legally Blonde

After rewatching 'The Devil Wears Prada' so much, I decided to watch a couple of old chic flicks.

Legally Blonde is THAT GIRL.

(Google did not exactly provide me the source of this synopsis, just know it came up top)

"Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) has it all. She wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But there is one thing stopping him (Matthew Davis) from proposing: She is too blond. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back."

This is everything. Just a good time. Warner is shit. Elle conquered and made a friend: Warner's (ex)fiance, Jennifer Coolidge and her future hubby, Emmett. Callahan should eat a brick. Tye bend and snap was nonsense but well, It's there.

10/10

Feel good. Great message: As Barbie once said, you can be anything (imo). Also just really sweet.

7. Guillermo del Toro's Pinnochio

This was heartbreaking and themes are very touchy.

Fascism, loss, grief and immortality.

This pinnochio story is much more grimm that the last 3 movies I watched. I did not expect so much of the Nazi influence in the setting of the movie, or the amount of melancholic realities it was going to give. Geppeto's grief at the loss of his sons was devastating to watch, but when Pinnochio became an actual boy soldier, I couldn't help but just remember Jojo Rabbit, I never watched it in full but I saw glimpses of it so much in YouTube, that it does relate to this story in some way. Jojo Rabbit was history in the eyes of a child, so was this version of Pinnochio, that you would be so engrossed with its wonder but then it snaps you back to the reality of it, in Pinnochio, he witnesses and experiences physical abuse and exploitation, experiences death too many times, becomes a boy soldier in training and gets to see his loved ones die as he outlives them all.

A scene stuck to me in this movie, more like a question. Pinnochio becomes friends with a boy from his town, Candlewick, when they were reunited in a training camp for boy soldiers. Candlewick stood up to his father just before a bomb lands in the camp , literally in between his father and Pinnochio. Pinnochio's body blows out of the camp and he dies, only to come back a little bit after. Candlewick survived the bomb, but couldn't find Pinnochio. Candle wick did not appear again after that. I really wondered if he even lived or went home or something. Literally nothing. The cliffhanger was not disappointing but man, I really wanted to see Pinnochio and Candlewick reuniting.

As for the movie, it's a good watch. I had watched a lot of Guillermo's projects, and I think this is the second time his movie featured war themes mingled with child wonder. Just a thought.

8. Five Nights at Freddie's

Apparently, I have one more movie I watched with a friend and it's this one.

It started off good then just gets cheesy in the end. It's quality reminds me a lot of mid to late 2010s comedy films like "Happy Death Day" or " Ready or Not", but the overall premise is more similar to the Scooby Doo live action films, ironically they starred Matthew Lillard here too.

It's too cheesy, it's not bad or good either. I wish it had more horror to it like the game. I did not play it but I did have the pleasure to enjoy the commentary of it by the King of Five Nights at Freddie's himself: Markiplier and I was dissappointed that he did not appear in the film.

Needless to say, I was not entirely sure if it was trying too hard or not trying at all. But it did came off unfulfilled to the namesake.

That's about it and here's some more rewatches I felt like I do not have to make a semi detailed review on it:

• Julie & Julia ♡♡

• Emma (2019) ♡♡♡

• Chef ♡♡♡

• Swallow (2019) ♡

• Memoirs of a Geisha ♡♡

[serenedash]

I'm sure a lot of people have. Feelings. to put it lightly, about Xehanort's role in khuxdr. I absolutely do and there's just this thing that really bugs me about it that just rubs me the wrong way. This is gonna get a little long winded before I make my point-- but call this a Xehanort character analysis

So to ignore khuxdr completely for a moment, here we have Xehanort: the main antagonist, a man who has seemingly worked out every possible scenario and prepared for each and every one because just when you think you've defeated him he comes back like a hydra (idk insert a coliseum joke here but it's very literal with the way he uses other people). And one thing I've always loved about kh as a series is that there's this constant message of "you don't need to be special, you can just be you" because there's Sora-- who's not "the chosen one" and he knows that, he says it, and says he's proud to be apart of the people the keyblade did choose. This nobody kid who for all intents and purposes should've just been the side comic relief character and he's THE hero. And there's Xehanort, the big bad he's fighting who seems to be so all powerful that Sora is nothing against him. But kh does this interesting thing where we learn Xehanort is from Destiny Islands, he's just like Sora, Riku and Kairi. He was just a kid wanting more out of life and got more than what he bargained for.

I really enjoyed dark road giving us more insight into his past and motivations and how that shaped him because I think all of that and especially the final face off with Baldr and meeting MoM, 100% was the turning point for who he became. And I think that's really interesting that this kid form an island became so much more. And I enjoyed the kh3 secret reports greatly when we got to see writings by a younger Xehanort comparing himself to Eraqus and it really hammers in that Xehanort, like Sora, was just some kid thrown into this world that was far larger than he expected. And I think there's a lot of great parallels between Sora/Xehanort and Riku/Eraqus, which is interesting given that I feel like initially these parallels are set up to compare Riku to Xehanort when that really isn't the case at all!!! And kh3 definitely hammers it in more when Xehanort passes the x-blade to Sora; there was a lot of great discussion of that moment when the game released and the comparisons between the two.

But. then we get to khux. And don't get me wrong, I love khux I LOVE khux and I also actually really don't like Xehanort. But he's a really interesting and well written character. And it felt like there was all this development for Xehanort that happened and with the end of kh3 you really just, come to terms with it all I guess? and I think we can all agree that extra scene at the end of khux with baby Xehanort felt like a real slap to the face. It just felt really odd to turn around and say Xehanort isn't actually from Destiny Islands; I mean he basically is literally being raised there almost from birth but he's really not ESPECIALLY when it's added that he's a descendant of Ephemera. It was an odd choice, it really was. And it feels weird to know that and then see the kh3 secret reports where Xehanort shares feeling inferior to Eraqus due to Eraqus being a "blue blood." Like you are too???? And it's like I wish I could say Xehanort just didn't know that but we literally see Player 2 telling him this. Xehanort knows, has known, and he's smart so there's no way he got to Scala and heard all about this amazing Master Ephemera and didn't have all these realizations. Of course, I don't think Xehanort told anyone about his connection to Ephemera, but he knew. and We know. and it just kind of takes the wind out of my sails I think that this interesting character was set up and the context of his actions feels changed by the circumstances of his birth/childhood. Like I don't think he needed to be from Scala, to be related to Ephemera. I really don't think that had to be added in order to explain why he was obsessed with the keyblade war. Like Sora, Riku and Kairi knew nothing about any of that but they still wanted to go out into the world. Why does Xehanort need that justification for leaving?

Like. it's fine I guess and it all still makes sense and it's still interesting to see these characters tied together like this, but it was already set up so perfectly I think in relation to Sora and it feels so much lesser now and it's kind of like. oh okay this is what's happening now. But hey, at least khdr made me actually like xehanort a little lmao

[kiss-my-freckle]

Full Episode Commentary

1x17: Let The Right One In

Good is bad and bad is good. This episode shows what would've been possible had Stefan not tried to control a situation and been honest rather than secretive. 1x17 is written in combination with 1x15. My re-watch post for that can be found here. This is another anti-Stefan episode, and again, it's of no coincidence that Caroline makes reference to The Bachelor in 3x20.

The episode opens with a storm in Mystic Falls, and it's written in combination with the end of 1x16. "Your girlfriend Bethanne is dead. And you have no one to blame but yourself." Lucky for Elena, Frederick doesn't have access to her house because he hasn't been invited. If he did, it wouldn't be the storm blasting her window open. He would've entered her home the way he entered the Salvatore boarding house. It's because of her vervain jewelry that Frederick couldn't compel Jenna. They're pulling a four-ship... Stelena, Datherine, Alaric/Isobel, and Frederick/Bethanne.

It's not about patience for Frederick. He's a sadist that wants to kill every last one of the founding families. Through him and Bethanne, they show the hell Damon would've been capable of had they not opened the tomb for him to rescue Katherine. Trust me when I say, as bad as fans think Damon is, he could've been worse according to their choices. Had they not opened the tomb, he'd be more like Frederick.

Damon and Stefan are recovering from the break-in. "I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." Damon has no problem going after Frederick a different way, he has a problem not going after Frederick at all. Damon knows he won't stop because he knows this is about revenge. Had Stefan listened to Damon, Damon wouldn't have to save Stefan. To put it bluntly, Damon should've went hunting for Stefan while hunting for Frederick because he knew Frederick wasn't done. Stefan just killed his girlfriend, which gave him all the more reason for revenge.

Click for larger view...

Elena wasn't there when Pearl handled Damon. Had she been, she wouldn't be spitting nonsense in this scene. She'd speak to what she's really pissed about... "How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?" Damon knows it's not about the deal he made with Pearl or the tomb vampires. "I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities." This is now the second time she's referred to him as a psychopath. Relevant because he and Stefan are the same. Elena is remarkably naive. It would take more than both Salvatores to kill Pearl, so Damon has no choice but do as she demands. Better he get information about Katherine than nothing at all. Elena pushes Damon enough to annoy him. Have the beauty of Elena's comment as it becomes reality...

Stefan: I'm perfectly safe. I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side. Elena: Well, that's comforting.

Jeremy and Anna further discuss her vampirism. This is why Damon feels the need to kill Caroline in season 2…

Jeremy: Wait. Does your mom know you're a… Anna: The fact that you would even think it's possible to keep something like that a secret from your own family is just further proof that you're not ready.

Jeremy has no idea that he's wearing vervain. He assumes the bracelet Elena gave to him was simply a gift. He's trying to gift it to Anna, but she tells him he should wear it. Matt talks to Caroline about the argument he had with his mother. He would've benefitted being patient. Had Elena given up on Damon and Stefan as Matt gave up on his mother, both would be dead along with her. A difference between not being ready and never being ready. It's never good to rush any kind of emotional process. Some people take longer than others.

Damon is winding their grandfather clock. He and Stefan are often written with clocks because time is an underlying theme. They're vampires. Apparently, the sun has to be shining bright for them to burn in it. Storms that darken the sky allow for vampires to roam freely. Had Elena answered Damon's phone calls, he and Alaric would've went to Pearl's house without her. She's only involved because Damon needed an answer, so he went to her house. I love Damon's instinct to save Stefan.

"Never let this bad man in." This is how they follow-through with A Few Good Men. "First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad." This is what Stefan was doing to Damon in 1x5... starving to desiccation. It's also the truth of Damon in season 5. "Despite every nerve in my body wanting to break something or hurt someone…" That's the power of magnified emotions. Damon explains to Elena that he wants to save Stefan, but Frederick compelled the homeowner not to let him in. Elena could go in, but it would be an instant death for her. Every ounce of pain that Stefan suffers is for the sake of feeling what Damon feels. This is the depth of Damon's humanity...

That's why they're in the basement. It's a representation of the tomb. This is what it's like for Damon to have his emotions so magnified that it causes physical symptoms. Harper interrupts, tries to stop it. "You're gonna want to let go of me! Miss Pearl is no longer in charge." I would've loved to see Frederick try. I have no doubt in my mind that Pearl would've killed him had she came home to find him torturing Stefan.

I laugh at Damon and Alaric in their initial confrontation. Damon knows he could hurt Alaric if he wanted because those rings come off. It's how Alaric and Jeremy respond that drives Damon. He said nothing about wanting Alaric dead, and Alaric got cocky with him. "That's a shame. Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife." He hands Alaric a partial lie for the sake of getting into Pearl's house. "And if she's related to Elena, that means she's related to Katherine." While Pearl knows nothing about Isobel, she has access to that information in having access to Katherine. "Katherine and I were best friends long before we came to Mystic Falls, Damon. I know how she thinks, I know her patterns, I know where to find her." He fails to tell Alaric that Pearl would have to get the information from Katherine.

"Look, I wake up every day, and I feel okay. But there's something missing. Like a… like a hole." I'm gonna pull a post on holes one of these days, but this line from Jeremy is the reason finding Vicki's body is necessary. I love Anna's list of reasons they turn people. She turned Ben and Logan to do her dirty work, and admitted this to Damon in 1x13. "I like to use others to do my dirty work." Pearl and Anna meet Tyler and his father, Mayor Lockwood.

This is your three-car collision preparing to work together to save Stefan. What would've been possible had Stefan not tried to control the situation. Damon makes a soundtrack reference, Up Where We Belong. A track that is better suited for a vampire dating a human, not a human dating a vampire. I also consider it better suited for Damon than for Stefan, for Elena's role in his journey.

"I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires there are in there. That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from... including Stefan. I know. I get it. I understand."

I know fans would like to believe that Alaric's response in this scene is due to him sensing Damon's love for Elena, but no. Damon has yet to fall in love with her. This is about the vampire that killed Isobel, that killed Alaric's wife and Elena's mother. It's about Damon and what Alaric assumed/believed of him. It's because Elena connects Damon to his humanity that Alaric sees the man rather than the monster. Damon's comment is the difference between the tomb and its representation. The vampires aren't desiccating anymore, so he won't risk Elena going in. If not for Alaric's Gilbert ring, he wouldn't be pulling him in either.

I really wish Caroline hadn't found Vicki's body. At least not this early. lol… Alaric has a trusting face. Frederick lets him in, and he walks through the house as if he's not afraid of being fed on. He immediately notices the bite marks on the homeowner and stakes one of the vampires. Damon kills the homeowner, and is being honest with Ric. Vampires can't override compulsions, and Damon doesn't have time to figure out a loophole.

Damon expected Alaric to get him into the house and leave. He planned to take out all the vampires and rescue Stefan by himself. The lone ranger, as Elena termed him. While I do believe he could've, Stefan wouldn't have survived Frederick. Animal blood weakens Stefan in every aspect… compulsion, hearing, healing, etc. Easier to torture Stefan than Damon. Not only because Damon is on human blood, but because he's an Augustine vampire. Mayor Lockwood informs Pearl that Anna is hanging out with a Gilbert. She fears this because he's a founding family member. Because there's a reason the pocketwatch and the Gilbert ring were passed down to him. He was meant to track and kill vampires, according to his family. When Alaric goes back to the car, he realizes Elena went into the house. "Damn it, Elena!" lol… this is Damon's girlfriend. "Are you insane?" Again, Damon's girlfriend. "That was the moment I realized you were the perfect girl for me because you were just as crazy as I was."

Only Damon could make Elena this crazy. There's a comfort she has with him that allows her to feel safe enough to be this bold. The same comfort she had when he talked her into baiting Noah.

Caroline decides to walk in the rain, hoping to get a signal so she can call for help. She slips down the hill and reaches for a tree branch. It reveals Vicki's body when she pulls. Pearl confronts Anna about Jeremy. "His family is the reason I was stuck in a tomb for over a century." Pearl has the same issue with the founding families that Damon did. That's why he wanted revenge on current families. Hate breeds hate, and it's the same with the Whitmores. Damon set aside his desire for revenge against the founding families because Katherine wasn't in the tomb. It's the same for the Whitmores. He can't trust that they no longer torture vampires, so Elena has to stop him from killing Aaron. He will kill them so long as they exist. Killing Aaron ended the cycle because Aaron was the last of his family. Pleasing Elena and trusting her are two different things. Damon wouldn't spare anyone to please Elena. Everyone he spares, he spares because he trusts her. That's the kind of power Elena has over Damon just by having his trust. "That doesn't mean he'll make the same choices." Why Damon was gonna spare Aaron. Pearl smacks Anna when she admits Jeremy knows she's a vampire and he likes her. She feels that risk just as she felt it with Damon and Katherine in 1864.

Katherine: No one will ever suspect us. Pearl: Not unless a human tells them. Damon: I'd sooner die.

The difference between these two is that Damon was in love with Katherine and turning to be with her. Jeremy wants to turn to be with Vicki, not for Anna… and Caroline just found Vicki's body. But after 2x1, you can see why Delena ends up in parallel with Jeremy and Anna, and just as much understand why Jeremy connects with Damon. He's more like Damon than Stefan, even in the fact that he continues loving Vicki dsspite knowing she's a vampire. Love is one of those things in which Stefan has yet to mature. He still refuses to accept that he fell in love with a vampire, and he certainly still refuses to date one. That's why Elena is the first girl he's been romantically involved with since Katherine. Rebekah is different. Had he his humanity on in the 20s, he wouldn't have given her a second look. If not for his hate for vampires, I guarantee Stefan and Lexi would've been a couple.

Damon and Elena make it into Stefan. Again, the basement under the house is a representation of the tomb under the church. This time, it's Damon who's rushing them out. "Guys, come on. We have to get out of here. Come on, we gotta go." Because the vampires are no longer desiccating, Damon has to distract them in order to give Stefan and Elena enough time to leave. But that's really only part of it. He has every intention of killing Frederick because he knows he won't stop. Damon is the brother they want in times of war because he knows the enemy as he knows himself. It's one of their biggest positives with his character. Had it been Damon rather than Stefan in Chicago with Klaus, Katherine would've trusted him because even she knows the difference between them. It requires something specific to fool Damon.

The real battle starts when Frederick realizes it's too quiet. Another instance where the beauty of silence is the noise of no words. Damon is killing Frederick's friends lol. It's Elena's silence in season 3 that fans fail to understand. When she gets caught for lying and Stefan confronts her about it in 4x2, best to question how far back her lies go lol. Damon drops a body for the sake of getting the vampires to spread out. It gives him a better shot at killing Frederick. Trust me when I say Damon is a badass. Frederick runs after Stefan because he'd rather fight someone he knows he can beat.

Damon is all-rage here, so there's no beating him. They took the wrong brother to torture, put it that way lol. This is the second vampire Alaric killed. He didn't have to save Damon, he chose to save him. "I'm going after Frederick!" Yes, that's how badly Damon wants Frederick. He's not gonna let him live, period. When Stefan and Elena get in the car, Elena realizes that the vampires tore up the wiring. She can't start the car. That's when Frederick smashes through the passenger window and yanks Stefan out of the car. Frederick would rather fight the vampire he knows is already weak because of his torture. The problem isn't the torture as much as it's Stefan's diet. If it were Damon they tortured, he'd still be beating the hell out of Frederick. He's about to kill Stefan when Elena injects him with vervain. If you want to know why Damon is Elena's escort in 1x19, it's all about the dead mothers...

Damon is the only brother, the right brother to dance with Elena in honor of her dead mother. Because unlike Stefan, Damon would've allowed Anna to rescue Pearl. Anna had every intention of getting her mother out of that tomb, that didn't mean she intended to kill Elena. It's because of Elena's blood that Pearl was able to get out of the tomb AND Stefan is able to survive Frederick. Stefan is just as much like Damon, believing he's the one that chooses who becomes a vampire and who doesn't... who lives and who doesn't. He was gonna deny Pearl a life with her daughter. That's why he shouldn't escort Elena.

Poor Alaric finds out how hard it is to truly fight a vampire. Damon walks back in because he can't find Frederick. If he knew Frederick was with Stefan, he'd be saving Stefan because he knows how weak he is on animal blood. He's still very pissed and intent on killing him. "Frederick's gone. I'm gonna kill him." Feel the level of rage Damon has towards Frederick in this episode, how long that rage lasts, and you'll understand why he kills people impulsively...

"You're dead." This is with every emotion... love, loss, fear. Going forward in my re-watch, it's best to refer back to this episode because that's how powerful his emotions are. For Damon, there's no thought to killing Frederick, he simply goes for the kill. He's basically forced to think first because he hasn't been invited in. That lack of an invite is the only thing stopping him from killing. That lack of an invite is part of Elena's role as Damon's Lexi-sponsor. She acts as a seal on a door that stops him from kiling people, that makes him think before he acts. He basically has to go through her, and he refuses to. Had she done this in 2x1, Damon would've pulled a full-stop on killing Jeremy. This kind of behavioral modification requires repetition and time. It's not just about getting him to think first. It's about getting him to stop because he's like the Ripper that way. So when he finds out Stefan killed Enzo in season 5, know why he's able to stop at one punch. I say this because he commits impulsive acts in pretty much every season. Nearly killing Bonnie in 1x9… that was an impulsive act. Killing Mr. Tanner, impulsive. Force-feeding Elena his blood, impulsive. Turning Vicki, impulsive. Tell Elena he's gonna take the cure for vampirism in season 6, impulsive. That's why Elena forces him to reconsider. His love is so powerful that he does without thinking. His impulsivity is just as "excusable" as Stefan's ripper gene. Both are capable of controlling their urges, it's just a matter of having the right teacher. I don't excuse Damon, but we have a great deal in common, so there are certain things about him that I understand. Your bachelors on Pearl's stage...

Matt and his mother are about to have dinner when Caroline rings their doorbell. She and Liz inform them about Vicki. Because Mayor Lockwood is still at the Grill, he informs Tyler and Jeremy. There were meant to be 27 vampires in the tomb. Katherine's absence dropped it down to 26. At their boarding house, Stefan killed Bethanne. At Pearl's house… Alaric killed two, Damon killed three, and Stefan killed Frederick. That brings their count down to 19 tomb vampires.

Damon is still so full of rage because of Frederick that his fear of Pearl is gone. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother." Just listen to his tone. "If I had a good side, not a way to get on it." Alaric knows the truth of this statement because thanks to Elena, he's seen Damon's good side. This is where he basically comes to understand that he should've went straight to Damon rather than trusting Stefan with his Isobel issue. All vampires are capable of good and bad. Sometimes their bad outweighs their good. Like Katherine, a character I truly can't stand. She has good moments, but not many.

Feel the difference. Damon pulls away, Stefan pushes away. Stefan's apology is half-assed. "And what I did, I'm sorry that… I'm sorry that you had to see it." I consider this gaslighting. She didn't just see it, she experienced it. As much as he wants to deny it, he physically assaulted her. "And it's my fault. I made you..." Typical for the victim to blame themselves rather than blame who's truly at fault.

Elena will excuse his violence until she no longer can, until that moment he nearly kills her in 3x5. Jeremy interrupts to inform Elena about Vicki, while having no idea that Elena already knew about Vicki. I love Liz in this scene because even though the founding families don't like Kelly, she's there as an understanding parent. Tyler sits with Jeremy, the two in Vicki's love triangle. Caroline tries to comfort Matt, but... some things take the right person, if that makes sense. Even though Matt is all-in with Caroline, he needs Elena to comfort him. They're best friends. From the sandbox, as Caroline said. They should've waited for Vicki. They didn't need her death for Damon's scene with Jeremy in 1x22, they just needed Anna's. I just feel like her death would've been more powerful for Damon and Matt had they waited. This bit with Damon and Alaric pulls a triple. What could've been in 1x15...

It's a parallel Damon has with Kelly. She slept with the manager's boyfriend, he slept with Alaric's wife.

Kelly: I was supposed to be interviewing for the bartender job, but I think the manager blew me off. Damon: Well, that's not very nice.

Kelly: Yeah. Last time I was in town, I slept with her boyfriend. Damon: That's not very nice either. Kelly: It happens. Damon: Yes it does.

"Uhh. Happens."

It also weaves Alaric's comment in 1x21.

This episode is when Alaric realizes he and Damon could've been friends. "Ah, this is a shame. We're kindred spirits, abandoned by the women we love. Unrequited love sucks."

Anna realizes that Jeremy wanted to turn for Vicki. She disappears as Jeremy apologizes. Damon goes home to find Stefan jacked up on human blood. He's not terrified for Stefan yet because he believes this is a binge rather than an addiction. Being a ripper doesn't mean being a blood junkie. There's a difference. Lily had no problem managing her intake of human blood while in the prison world. She'a been managing her blood intake since 1903. Even though she rips when she escapes her prison world, she's able to stop at one person. Stefan has to moderate like Lily, and he can't. Neither Damon or Lexi know this, they just know he's a ripper.

[risingshards]

Things I am not over from the movie (Venture Bros spoilers)

-That little moment of Doc being able to calculate how long they have in freefall, like he's actually really really smart he just is burdened with [gestures to his entire life prior]. I love any moment where he gets to actually be competent.

-"All you need to know is that the person who gave birth to you loves you. I promise they do." That is maybe the most beautiful line in the entire series I'm SOBBING. Bonus points that its true meaning is super science weirdness overflowing with love. That's the series in a nutshell.

-That potentially the last shot of the series is the Venture Bros' first "Go Team Venture"

-How hilarious it was that Monarch and 21's new outfits had the squeaky plastic/leather sounds, IIRC Jackson and Doc wanted that for something earlier in the show but couldn't get it

-The pee in a jar reference (I cannot believe this got in and I can't believe how sentimental it made me)

-Dermott stealing and hoarding Venture relics, I love that he joined OSI and basically ended up in the same spot

-My theories getting obliterated. I should've shared it beforehand but my big theory going in: In commentary for S3 they kind of go over an early version of Bobbi's history with Rusty and Jonas. My thought was that Bobbi St. Simone was not only the boys' mother with Rusty but also that she was Brock's mom who she had with Jonas, making him both the boys' brother and also Rusty's. It made perfect sense in my head but I'm glad I was wrong in hindsight lol. Force Majeure had a very similar face to Brock though so maybe that's his dad hmm...

-I kept waiting to see what the title meant, and with the cover I was expecting a giant baboon to show up that was somehow dormant under Ventech tower, but the actual title ended up making a lot of sense (and the gushing baboon blood mentioned in press releases ended up being Monarch's...)

-James Urbaniak posted a bit of the script that had me anxious about the movie for a long while, the last audio he recorded for the movie were screams for the electromagnetic scene, and he shared a bit of the script and covered most of it up so it just read like "HATRED screams and opens fire.....HELPER is COMPLETELY DESTROYED." So I kept imagining how it would go, assuming they were going up against some ruthless enemy not trying to destroy a bunch of Alexas in an electromagnetically charged room. I had a nightmare where weirdly enough the scene was happening in space which ended up being where the scene took place which is weird, but in the dream version Hatred like violently died and I was so devastated. I must care about the Venture crew a great deal because I've definitely had nightmares about characters dying before big eps/specials before, before Operation PROM I had a dream about Orpheus getting lit on fire that I still remember and shudder thinking about. Also seeing Helper safe (well their head at least) in the ending was a great anxiety douser cuz from the script I thought Helper got like disintigrated and the movie would have tons of characters dying in some Venture-pocalypse.

-Monarch is Rusty clone 22, making him and 21's friendship more numerically satisfying

-Going by that my assumption is approximately 20 Rusty Ventures bit the dust before our Rusty lasted, just like his boys.

-THAT POST CREDITS SCENE UGHHHHHHHH MY HEARRRRTTTTT

[craftypeaceturtle]

watched Alien: Romulus last night. Here's some random ramblings if people want to read:

God the spaceship looked so cool. The big chunky buttons, the levers, it just looked incredible!! Exactly how I would want a spaceship to look.

The sexual and body horror themes were very fun. I liked it a lot! The Offspring was a great way to bring those themes to a fun and dramatic climax.

I actually kinda liked that it felt like a bunch of teenagers breaking into somewhere and finding the aliens. Like, as someone who watches a lot of urban explorers, it made total sense for these kids to fuck around in this empty spaceship. I know they did it so they could escape the mining colony but I think them being so young and arguing with each other added to that sense.

I saw a few people point this out in such an over the top way but, yes, the chest burst scene was surprisingly tame. I think the rest of the film was gorey enough that felt satisfying but the chest burst is The Iconic scene. It felt like it tried to be as realistic as possible and that made it tame. It couldn't fully burst out with her ribs in the way, and the burst is therefore small.

Again, I think the rest of the film was gorey enough to make up for that. I've seen too many people say that it was totally tame and vanilla and boring. Like that's completely over exaggerating. The birth scene was pretty gorey, the acid blood death scene was pretty detailed.

I agree, the writing really let this down. It isn't bad writing, just painfully okay writing. The rest of the film is so good so the writing being okay felt like a weight dragging it down.

Characters felt really flat and didn't really interact with each other- even in really obvious ways? Like I thought the guy who hates androids would have to be saved by the android or something like that. But nope! The ragtag bunch of kids didn't really interact with each other.

Andy's directive thingy felt weirdly underused. I also think the directive in the end should've been to look after himself rather than us. He could then choose to protect Rain because that looks after himself- choosing to protect her just like how she choose to protect him.

The idea that where they wanted to go not allowing androids sucked as a plot point?? And also didn't even go anywhere?? Andy didn't react, had that one spiteful line in the middle, and then that was it??

A pretty good film overall.

[sabrinatvband]

The Craft II - VI

"I don't get it. You've been talking up Nancy as the main character of these movies but she was a supporting character in this film." "Yeah, she's not the main character in the first one. That starts with the second one. At the beginning of The Craft II: Gambling Your Life she escapes from the asylum and kills the main character from this one." "Really?" "Yeah. It's a very Resident Evil-type move, to immediately contradict the ending of a previous installment at the beginning of the next film. The actress who plays whoever the main character was in this first one refused to show up for the short scene, and so they got a body double who looks nothing like her. They use the same wig, though." "What happens in the second one?" "Nancy is hunted down by some witches from Nevada who detected her presence. There's a big showdown in Las Vegas, and she switches from getting her powers from Manon to getting her powers from Lilith." "I thought these were like, based on actual witchcraft or something?" "The movies pretty much immediately lose any pretense of actually being about real Wiccan stuff." "How does Nancy escape from the asylum if she can't get powers from Manon anymore? I mean, I assume she can't."

"Well, she escapes without using magic. But she starts getting powers from Lilith, and eventually her magic becomes innate, as if she were a natural witch. It's very transy, really, how she has to earn her abilities instead of them being given to her at birth." "What happens in the third one?" "I feel like I shouldn't be giving away these secrets before you actually see the movies, but sure, why not. In the third one there's this loser-y nerd guy who's mean to Nancy, in like a misogynistic way, and so she casts a spell on him and he starts to feminize, and Nancy toys with him and stuff. It's kind of the A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 of the The Craft series." "Does it deliver on the forced feminization stuff?" "Oh yeah, definitely. And the nerd turns goth, too. And then she turns into Nancy's brainwashed subservient girlfriend. They have an open relationship. Well, it's open for Nancy, at least." "What happens in the next one?" "Yeah, so in the fourth one Nancy is processing her trauma from growing up catholic and she terrorizes a bunch of nuns and some lesbian nun stuff happens, and she fights some priests. She also turns into a vampire. It's really good, maybe the best one." "How many Craft movies are there?" "There's six of them. Except Fairuza Balk didn't want to do a sixth one, and so they got a replacement actress and it killed the series." "What was the fifth one?" "Nancy vs Carrie. Very heinous film; not nearly as fun as you would expect. Like, the movies get consciously more ridiculous as they go on, which is just how horror franchises work, but it didn't work here. The big problem was that Nancy and Carrie should've teamed up instead of fighting, I think." "It's so obvious." "Yeah! But what happened was all the prior films had been written and directed by queer people, and the studio made a straight guy do Nancy vs Carrie. Just totally fucked the whole thing up."

Originally posted on my Letterboxd

[hereconduct]

me rambling to myself that who's afraid of little old me is so ashlyn taylor coded:

"if you wanted me dead, you should've just said": all the witches that attacked her house and killed her parents just to get to her, they killed her sister and they wanted her too

"who's afraid of little old me?": her going from being this sweet girl who was naive to being the most powerful witch to walk the earth and everyone's so scared of this fucking 5'2 girl who just wanted to be loved

"the scandal was contained, the bullet just grazed": the fact that kimberly's death was written off as a random violent crime and not something that was planned out from her birth

"you don't get to tell me you feel bad": all the witches pleading with her at the end of their life because she was going to kill them and how they just wanted to save their covens and families by keeping the twins 'contained' aka dead

"don't you worry folks we took out all her teeth": they killed kimberly first, took her teeth, her protector, the person who kept ashlyn alive for years

"they said they didn't do it to hurt me, but what if they did": witches told her as they were dying that it wasn't personal, they didn't want to hurt the twins just because

"you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me": literally her home, the coldness, never getting love because her mom was so scared of losing them

"so all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs": the taylor murder became a classic and people on the internet started talking about the twins as suspects, even tho the twins had no pictures and no one knew what they looked like, they were never found at the scene of the crime with their parents. the house grew old and decrepit and teenagers with a sick fascination with the crime would break in to see it

"i was tame, i was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean": literally ashlyn was the sweetest even when unhoused, even when she was being chased and being hunted, even when she was loving terrible people *coughs* ace, even when her girlfriend was killed because of her, she was tame and gentle and kind

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

clown anon, I hate when games hold your hand through everything but, like you said, a lot of people don’t bother with Ada’s campaign so they’re missing out on some big information, but if we could make it clearish in Leon’s campaign that Carla is not Ada, I think that would help.

Maybe instead of the ending having him confused “What are you” we can get a more confident scene where Leon knows what’s up. Maybe give Ada and Leon a conversation in the game (Capcom let Ada and Leon talk to each other for more than five seconds challenge) where it gets cleared up?

Actually I think it would be a cool moment to have a scene where Leon is chasing Carla, not necessarily the Chris and Leon fight because I don’t want to give that up, where Leon gets Carla to stop. Maybe he grabs her arm so we get a parallel to 2's remake, but instead of Carla jerking her arm away like Ada does she just stops and that confrontation would be where Leon would understand that something is wrong here. Maybe he asks her something and Carla gives the wrong answer. I don’t think he’d immediately jump to “you’re not Ada” but he would definitely see that “Ada” is not acting like Ada and, for some reason, doesn’t know things Ada should know.

Oh, another idea. Ada sees Leon chasing/interacting with Carla. That’d probably be a big “oh shit” moment for her. Not because of jealousy, but because Carla is unstable and dangerous and Leon doesn’t quite know what’s up so he doesn’t know how careful he really needs to be around her.

hello my dear clown anon heheh <3

i think entire point of it not being clearer in Leon's campaign was to entice you to play Ada's. but yeah, it's really frustrating that people don't bother playing Ada's. like you need to????? if anything i think it should be implied in leon's and be clearer that you NEED to play Ada's or SOMETHING. like something else should be cut from Leon's campaign and be placed in Ada's or something since iirc she has the shortest campaign.

i think people decided to treat ada's as a side or unnecessary campaign when it was absolutely not. it was integral to understanding leon's and re6 in general. but people just didn't play it. the people that still are like ada war crime ada this ada that, i'm just like STFU YOU DIDN'T EVEN PLAY HER CAMPAIGN

capcom treat ada well challenge: impossible that would be an amazing scene, anything to amp up the stakes. something where he questions her on something only ada would know.

and also even then, the carla scenes imply that she doesn't even know who leon is. so it wouldn't be hard if they were able to actually speak to each other for leon to realize something was wrong. and i think it's also weird for him to assume that the birthing thing for carla was ada. it should've been more implied that there are clones or SOMETHING so that he could make the assumption that a person that looks like Ada could not be Ada. i know that in the original adverts they REFUSED to talk about clones etc. for the shock factor but since it's a remake, i think they could touch on the concept more so it's not so hush hush about it. there should be more so that leon can piece it together that carla is not ada. something to tie to re2r would be amazing. even something to re4r.

i would have loved to have seen something where Ada confronts Leon to warn him but he's unsure if it's her or not and she has to reveal something that only she knows. Like his gsw scar from re2r, like where she would know exactly where it is since she was the one who had to fix him up.

it would be a very hot and sexy scene if she could approach him and slowly point out to him his scar and then talk about their first kiss or something

[bornfromthecosmos]

Been eons but fuck it! Aiden deserves a epilogue, I think its important for him to realize how traumatic his relationship was with Marmora, I was leaning into it towards the end before I abandoned everything all together but Mainverse! Aiden gets with Rosa and completely retires from piloting Green to becoming a engineering professor! I believe the last "episode" was when Aiden visited his two younger siblings- vowing to do better for them... he ends up mentoring Elitor as Blue decided to pick her! Aiden was apart of the Garrison for decades before retiring indefinitely after his third born... Rosa and Aid have twins of their own! They have sunday dinners with Merc and Lance- and Aiden finally views Merc as family!!! He's warmed up!! They bond over how fuck up Marmora was. What a creep.

To conclude Aiden finally rid himself of that dingy shack and found himself surrounded by the embrace of those that love him.

Now for my hardcore canon divergence au of BP! Aiden? He had a lot more twists! I was teasing/testing the idea of him being a clone of a dead version of himself or a druid experiment gone wrong... including a arc where it's revealed Akane was working with Haggar to triple cross Merla- (the daughter of Lotura!) who wants to eradicate all that sympathize with the Empire- I was only beginning to delve into Quintessence and it's colour properties AND Merla and Jeremy's son being the red paladin, needless to say a lot of plot of planned.

Aiden returning to Black and his team- more Aiden and Marx as co leaders or just bonding in general.

Yuki and Rosita are the precursor of Lumity- go back and read/watch their scenes.

I wanted to explore a possible anti hero arc for Jeremy... ouu omg I was excited for his arc in general- it was just beginning to heat up for his character and I was excited for how the shift of Allura griefing her dead child to the dead child being revived and slightly corrupted being groomed to kill her own birth mother.. being intrigued by a human group and falling for one of the pilots.. leading to James

Endgames that were teased but I might as well feed yall!! Jeremy/Aiden- they get together during a diplomatic mission that ended up being a set up- scenes of Aiden teaching him to cool his temper and giving him pointers on diplomacy and losing themselves in eachothers gazes... THEM! BEING! A! POWER COUPLE!" They're fighting back to back and cover eachothers's weaknesses while they were harmonious before.. this is after Aiden's crush wears off and they start naturally connecting.. Jeremy looked at him one day and said "fuck."

Yuki/Rosita.. or Aster??? I honestly think if they kept going there would've been a rift.. oh and Yuki would've sacrificed herself in a "Bury-Your-Gays" fashion! Period! Maybe Jeremy but after Aiden-Yuki passes and its more out of comfort now.. they thought they could love eachother as they did when they were kids.. before their dead lovers.

Ryou and Marxal deserve the cosmos!! Marx is a diplomatic symbol becoming extremely efficient with politics.. aside from that though he loves coming home seeing his trophy husband passed out in the dirt with their dog playing dead to be silly- I actually can see this couple being veryyy passionate compared to Yuki x Rosa(upon "rewatch" these two were a bit.. rushed and forced- we should've nurtured it a lot more.)Ryou is a social worker at the Galactic pit. He takes in experiments and every other child that's been harmed and makes it his duty they find their happiness like his teammates and husband did for him.

THE WHITE LION WAS GONNA GE MARX'S ARC. DONT ASK! I teased it for Rosa and Aiden interchangeably.. but honestly it could be a Jeremy and Marx moment.

[whencallstheheart]

My thoughts about 10x04:

Most of the episode felt like filler to me. I was only interested in the birth of the baby.

The moment Rosemary asked for Lee, I literally said out loud: This isn't your moment Elizabeth, get your ass out of that room!

I expected the show to end with cute scenes of the new family. But Nope!

The middle name reveal could've waited until the next epidode. Let someone else have the spotlight for a change!

Maybe it's just me, but did Lucas seem annoyed/jealous that Little Jack wouldn't give up Jack's hat? He needs to deal with the fact that LJ is going to have questions about his father.

The scene between Elizabeth and Nathan was a nice 'what could've been' moment. At least the writers/showrunner didn't have Nathan looking a little heartbroken. He has moved on.

I wonder if Bill will hear one of that shady lady's telephone calls.

What kind of trouble is coming to Hope Valley?

It was SO Elizabeth-forward during an episode that should've focused on celebrating Lee and Rosemary and the moment fans have waited YEARS to see. We all get Elizabeth is the main character but come on. Let them have their moment as a family!

The Elizabeth and Nathan scene and all the stuff with Jack this episode felt like further proof that it should've been Nathan. Oh well. She was sort of looking longingly after him though which was unnecessary at this point. I honestly didn't pay much attention during the scenes with Lucas.

Yeah, I'm very curious to learn how Madeline ties into the big bad that's been teased in later episode descriptions. I'm assuming it has something to do with the land and some sort of development but we'll see. I think Bill's going to fall for her before learning she's up to something.