#i mean she also likes harry potter i knew her opinions were trash but got damn

[los-plantalones]

i already disliked my coworker because i’m constantly picking up her slack (even though i was told not to because she’s not my problem and they’re not inviting her back next season anyway)

but today she told me that chatgpt has been super helpful when writing her book about farming and sustainability

bitch is your brain a rotten walnut

[cannibalcreepers]

If you could rank the wrong turn movies what would be at the top and what would be last 👀

Oh boyo oh boyo

So! This is personal taste of course 😌

Please know that if you do like one of the movies I talk poorly about, know that this is just my taste, my opinion and it does not mean anything

I am happy that you enjoy them, even if I don’t

-----

But here is my ranks and why:

 1. Wrong Turn  10/10

The first and original, just OMG the designs of the 3 boys 🥰😍

They're rugged and feel so real, like you could actually end up accidentally running into them in the West Virginia mountains! The protagonists are actually amazing too, I liked them, I felt for them when they died, I could feel the fear and tension and that is how these kinds of movies should be.

The axe scene is just, wow! The practical effect they used for it was soooo good!! definitely top one out of the whole list. The best out of the whole series up, just too good.

2. Wrong Turn 2   8/10 

The second of the franchise, I was a little iffy at the idea at first cause as past movies have proven adding new family members to an established antagonist family never ends well, looking at you Texas Chainsaw 3. 

But when I finally watched it, I enjoyed it very much! 

The protagonists were not as great and there were really poorly shot scenes such as the BJ scene between M and Elena, you could see his crotch area and Elena's head was positioned by his leg like? How did you mess that up??

Also the axe scene in that one was not as great, sorry whoever did that it was just poorly done and I know they were proud of it but, it looked very fake. As for the cannibals tho? AMAZING, they stuck with kind realistic but sadly they didn't do well with Three-Fingers, the reason why he now looks like a goddamn goblin 😔

But Brother, Sister, Ma and Pa are just omg yes, perfect family dynamic, I felt for them, I wanted them to survive more than the protagonists, they did amazing with their acting. Perfection 💘

3. Wrong Turn 4  6/10

Now this is where things start to drop in quality, but Wrong Turn 4 was fun and brought more gore and entertainment than it's previous films.The scene with the doctor being pulled apart and eating the man alive like he was some kind of cake, loved it! Also, One-Eye and Saw-Tooth is back!

 And One-Eye looks so cute 😍 like an utter baby, while his two brothers could've looked a bit better but I enjoy their looks and how they act. 

We also get to see them act more like brothers and caring for each other along with seeing them as kids, so that's pretty cool. As for the antagonists? Eh, nothing, don't care for them. Boring, rude and just stupid. Not worth caring about. 

4. Wrong Turn 5   4/10

This is where things start getting worse and the quality is dropping in make-up, design, character, story, camera work and acting. Just hmmm nope, there are not enough shits in the world for me to care for these protagonists.

The three boys save it for being a bit goofy and fun, I just found One-Eye running the blade over his tummy to intimidate the woman at the beginning to be hilarious and then Three-Fingers was just a complete riot with stepping in front of her and licking his lips as she flips him off, hilarious.

The three boys designs dropped in quality real bad here, like I would've put them at 5 had they not been funny purely for the fact they look bad. Saw-Tooth looks too short, One-Eye seemed to have gotten as fat as Saw-Tooth and Three-Fingers looks like he is a damn goblin from Harry Potter! It’s a good thing they’re still goofy enough to entertain. 

Everything else tho, bleh. I did not like Old Man Maynard in this one, complete change of character, bad very bad and boring. 

5. Wrong Turn 3    2/10

Protagonists are stupid as hell and I hate what they did to my sweet boy Three-Toes. 

I love Three-Toes design and how sweet and fatherly Three-Fingers is, annoyed that this film is the reason they got both Three-Toes and Three-Fingers deformities wrong. Their deformities were on the left and then they switched it to the right??? And thus the next films after started doing that like, NO! Three-Fingers messed up hand is on the left not the right 😤

Once again the protagonists are trash, so horrible and not because they're convicts. You can make criminals interesting characters that you can make the audience love, but these guys, the fucking worse in who they are, how they act just ew. Plus not all of then were convicts and only one of them was an actual serial killer neo-n*zi while the others were petty thieves/criminals or just had bad luck, one was an undercover marshal for god's sake.

Yet they had no personalities, bland ass characters. The scene with Three-Toes murder is what gets me, no one protests or feels guilty or anything, just outright murder a child just cause "Oh he's a mutant and trying to kill us" BITCH THAT'S A SMALL ASS CHILD! and they knew he was a kid too! Heck I would've felt for them had they felt anything at all when it happened, not even the chick felt sorry, just looked away cause 'ew gross beheading'

That's when I was hoping Three-Fingers would just go murder ballistic John Wick style on their ass. But no, he gets killed by the lamest of protagonists 🙄😒 

Completely unsatisfying and annoying. Deserved a proper battle to the end. 

6. Wrong Turn 6    0/10

WHERE DO I BEGIN!!

Omg a dumpster fire of a movie, I have never been so upset by what they do to the boys!

Their designs are just, NOOOO what did you do to them? They're so nasty looking, so fake, they look like really poorly made statues, i don't know how to explain how much it hurts me as an artist to see the poor make-up work like, make-up artist I just wanna talk! Were you held against your will? Were you only given 30 mins of work??? 

The story is whack, I do not like the antagonists woman and I do not like protagonists at all, they're annoying and stupid.

 The whole cult thing is stupid and just throws you off, I don't accept this part of lore, it's ridiculous.

 I have pushed out the whole movie from my mind as well so I've forgotten a lot about it. Only thing I liked was that one scene where she caresses One-Eyes cheek because I wish I could do that and that is all. 😂

[therantingkrowi]

So... Lesbian Academy

I was on Wattpad, just casually looking for a decent story to read when I stumbled upon one called Lesbian Academy. The author was well-liked and had quite the following, plus it had a couple million views, so I decided to give it a chance. It all went downhill from there. Characters. An essential part of any story. If your characters are basic and boring, your story will go nowhere, right? Well, the characters in Lesbian Academy are FAR from developed. Let's get started.

Mars has no personality- Oh wait, she does, the cliche oblivious main character who makes dumb decisions and wants to save the day. Definitely not overused at all. On top of that, somehow she has 5-6 different women pining after her? I mean, sure, it's called Lesbian Academy for a reason, but there are tons of women to choose from that actually have a personality. Why her, the new girl with no substance? WHY??? Everyone seems to find her stupidity endearing. HOW? And how the hell does she not realize Blue and Lillith are into her until they say something? Are you THAT dumb? What even was her goal? To get away from her homophobic parents? Sure, but when she's actually at the academy? What does she want? Besides looking for "Ms. Hazel Eyes" which we'll get to in a second. Seriously though, what is her goal? She doesn't have one. What does she want? What is she looking for? I read all those goddamn words and I still don't know what motivated her, or anything about her except for surface stuff. Her parents are unsupportive, her sister is cool, she fell for some girl at a summer camp, and yep. That's it. Overly sensitive sometimes. No interests, no hobbies, no personality traits that make her interesting in the slightest. And she's the protagonist. 

Lillith was a step up from Mars, she actually showed emotions that made sense. However, she could easily be described as a watered-down version of Draco Malfoy. She had reasonings behind her actions, her movements, but she was incredibly bratty and did the bare minimum. Why is that praised? The bare minimum? Anyways. She was cold towards Mars for irrational reasons, she only showed real feelings towards Mars when she was under a spell, and they never bonded in any way. They didn't share anything deeply personal, they didn't establish any kind of common ground, they didn't do anything but argue and have prolonged eye contact, which was out of place. I just don't get how these two could ever like each other. Lillith had her emotional problems, she didn't trust easily, and she's emotionally immature. Very into fighting and code. Violent too.Things like that. Mars isn't. Though I can't tell you much about Mars as a person, it's clear that she isn't into those things, she isn't violent, and she's also emotionally immature, which I'll explain in a second. In what world would these two be a thing? Why? HOW? They're both immature, so their relationship would be incredibly unstable. Mars appears to be sensitive and easily offended, and Lillith is definitely an offensive person. She even said herself that she wouldn't be able to be "gentle" or whatever. Why are they a thing??? WHERE'S THE CONNECTION? That's not how you do the enemies-to-lovers trope. At least, not the good, well-established way.

Blue was my favorite character for sure. She was smart, kind, and emotionally mature, something no one else was. She was quite understanding and really had layers. She knew how to be passionate, how to fight for what she wanted, she was quite determined, and she was there for Mars, even after she found out she was in love with Alya. She was a good person without being boring. A cliche? Perhaps. That's why it's sad that she's the best character. Everyone else was that bad. She didn't change over the story, there was 0 development, but that's because she already had her shit together to begin with. While everyone else was busy shipping "Lars", I was busy shipping "Blars" since they were so cute together. Blue knew Mars from the camp too (Wow, such a coincidence and definitely not oddly convenient to give this character a reason to like this limp noodle of a character.) because Mars saved Blue from drowning. I get it, that's a big thing to do for someone, but seriously? Can't you guys be friends and not fall into the love triangle trope? Please? No? Fine. Oh wait, it's not a love triangle. It's a love hexagon in this bitch.

Alya. Ah, Alya, the character Mars is somehow still in love with. She's a real bitch from what I gather. She leads Mars on, then tells her she'd forgotten all about her after all these years, which is really quite understandable, but it's how she says it, even when she knows Mars is hurting. She still has the audacity to "protect" Mars from everything and everyone, even when she stomped on her heart. She's so inconsistent. Maybe it's because I didn't read the whole thing, but I read almost to the end. I'd feel like trash if I actually wasted my time reading the last 15 chapters. I read 47 boring chapters, deal with it. Anyways. Why would she go from running away with Mars to telling her she feels nothing for her? Why would she ignore her and then turn around and ask her to dance? Why? And why was Mars "in love" with her, even after 6 years? I know, sometimes that's just how it is, but they were 13. You can't properly and maturely love someone while you're so young. They only knew each other for around 3 months, it was a summer camp. You can't love someone truly when under those circumstances. Her secrets probably gave her a bit of character development, so sure, I'll give her that, but she still sucked as a character. I wouldn't care if she was killed off, even though she was a ghost.

With the (main) characters, the only one I actually felt anything for was Blue. If any other character died, I'd shrug it off and keep pushing for Blue to get a happy ending. She's an incredibly interesting and strong character, almost too strong to be a side character, or a love interest that doesn't get the girl. And for such dumb reasons! Obviously, the author can do what she wants with her story, but Blue got the short end of the stick for no reason. Why not Lillith or something? She didn't deserve Mars, then again, both characters are boring, so never mind that. 

The plot was good, I guess. It was basically Divergent and Harry Potter smashed into one book, but whatever. I like the idea, just not the execution. I wish Mars were more interesting, after all, she's the main character. We're supposed to feel what she feels, but you can't. She feels nothing herself, except for "Oh no, who will I choose?!" and "Alya, notice me!" That's it. 

Kudos to the author for writing that incredibly long thing, though. I couldn't have done it. Plus she's got a ton of reads on it, but it's Wattpad. That doesn't say much. Not trying to be an asshole, just expressing an opinion. I'm in no place to come after someone's story when I'm no expert. 

[dexi-green]

Rise of Skywalker was good. Rant/Appreciation, spoilers ahead. Super long and rambling. This is all personal opinion, if you disliked it, thats fine. If you disagree, great.

First some quick points, then the longer stuff.

I loved Babu Frik and D-O

We finally got to see the Knights of Ren in action!

Also all those Star Destroyers?? Like those things are gotdamn huge... and that many of them? Actually scary honestly.

LANDO LANDO LANDO! LANDO AND CHEWIE IN THE FALCON!!

WEDGE!!!

CHEWIE GETS HIS MEDAL!!!

Also not gonna lie.. I wanted to see a gungan. Put some respect on Jar Jar. Or confirm the Darth Jar Jar theory you cowards.

We got to see a proper version of Rey’s version of Luke’s Dark Side cave vision (The TLJ one just wasn’t it for me. The mirrors..okay...)

Storm Troopers fly now... Did they steal stuff from some Mandalorians. Mandalorians are like..the only ones ever to have jet packs like that (that I’m aware of). Maybe the Mandalorian show will see some leftover imperials stealing Mandalorian armor, which they will replicate (obviously badly, because there stuff is no beskar).

I was so happy to see the interactions between Leia and Connix, because I just loved to see Billie with her mom <3 I’m so glad they gave her a role and just kept expanding it.

Hux... I love the back and forth between him and General Pryde, (I was hoping Richard E Grant would’ve played Thrawn but alas...) wondering who the mole is, and OF COURSE ITS HUX! Because he just wants to see Kylo lose. We love it.. I’m kinda sad he was taken out so quick, but it was good while it lasted.

How they tried to push Poe into some kind of.. not relationship, but not too subtlety trying to tell the audience, no he’s not gay, in like...just a bad writing way, like okay gosh, he’s straight (Also Poe was a drug runner...). That LGBTQ “representation” was trash, but definitely better than Endgame’s so-called representation.

I also wished we woulda got more (legacy) cameos, especially in the final battle when all the ships arrive. Maybe the Ghost Crew (I think you can see the ship though), or a character from the Mandalorian show (I was hoping for more tie-in’s in general (baby yoda), but The Mandalorian did sorta set up the force healing ability). My foolish soul was hoping for a super old old clone or a super old and scarred up Mace Windu, or just super old Ahsoka, but this film 100% confirmed no going back that they are totally dead with their voices amongst the other dead jedi :/ I can’t have everything and thats alright. I’m just glad they were in there in some capacity.

JJ has said that the thing Finn was going to tell Rey was that he was force sensitive (none of the good ships flew sadly imo) but that is still...amazing to me. I love it so much. Especially with that exchange between him and Han in TFA “We’ll use the force.” “That’s not how the force works.”. Hopefully he got or gets the chance to tell Rey because then she could train him and <3 Also I think that now makes it go back to no non-force sensitive people have used a lightsaber in the films (aside from Grievous). I loved the inclusion of Jannah and the other storm trooper deserters. Not only because of the kinship with Finn, but also... They are on a moon of Endor... So moon of the Endor system inhabitants, with slightly primitive techniques and tools and things come to help in the final battle? I love it. Putting some respeck on the Ewoks (also we see Ewoks?!?! Specifically Wickett <3) (Also I noticed a Fire, Water, Earth theme. The final battle in the prequels was in fire/lava. The final battle in the original trilogy was on the forest moon of endor, and while not the final battle, Kef Bir is the ocean moon of endor)

Palpatine doing what we all knew he was, using bodies to live through. I mean thats why he always had apprentices, just so he could skip over to them when his body got gross and weak, or at the very least work through them. I definitely wanna know more about the whole Snoke operation. We knew it was insane for some rando to be that powerful to be whispering and seducing Ben to the dark side from birth. And the cloning? like please, tell me more. I loved Palpatine’s exclamation of “Return of the Sith!” as an obvious nod to the films Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, but also the fact Return was going to be Revenge of the Jedi.

I LOVE LOVEDDDD the small scene of Luke training Leia. Yeah the CGI on their faces wasn’t the best but just being able to see it and knowing that he did go forward and train her as well as other students was everything to me. I’ve always wanted Leia’s force abilities to be more acknowledged outside of the comics, so you know I went crazy in the scene from TLJ (for multiple reasons). Leia training Rey?! Rey referring to her (and Luke) as her jedi masters?! we love to see it <3 Rey going back to Tatooine, back to the moisture farm (I could just hear Aunt Beru calling out for Luke (but also him calling for her and uncle owen when they got disintegrated..oop)). Calling herself a Skywalker, AND SEEING LUKE AND LEIA’S FORCE GHOST!! WE LOVE TO SEE IT (but hate it because it’s the end). THE TWIN SUNS AS THE SAGA ENDS WHERE IT BEGAN!!

The voices of the Jedi at the end?!? I cried. I mean there was Anakin, Obi-Wan (both old and young), Qui Gon, Mace Windu, Yoda, and Luke of course, but also Aaayla Secura, Luminara, Adi Gallia, KANAN JARRUS (who is voice by Freddie Prinze Jr. aka the best Fred Scooby Doo could ask for) , AHSOKA TANO!!! Nothing I want more than more Ahsoka <3 I would’ve loved to see them all show up as Force Ghosts at the end ala the ghosts of Harry’s family in Harry Potter Goblet of Fire/Deathly Hallows but I understand why they opted for voices only. Also no Ki-Adi-Mundi because while everyone was saying, “Rey, You can do it! We are with you!” he just woulda been like, “But...what about the droid attack on the wookiees?”

Han!! Han!! When he appeared to Kylo, after Leia pulled him back as much as she could, and Rey healed him and inched him further, and then of course, Han finished the job. Leia asked him to bring him back and he did in the end. The person he seemingly hated the most (maybe thats tied with Luke. I honestly would’ve liked to see some kinda of thing between Luke and Ben, some reconciliation). The famous Solo “I know” which we all know means I love you. like come onnnnn <3 AND Ben and Leia’s bodies becoming one with the force... but Leia only after Ben... like she was holding on, waiting for him <3 This really made me like Ben/Kylo a bit more, obviously the light side Ben more, because Kylo is actual trash imo.

I cried when Chewie cried for Leia. Her death was sad on it’s own, but Chewie just broke me. He had a happy family, then Ben went bad, Han and Leia split, and Luke left, then when he thinks everything is coming back together, He lost Han, then he lost Luke, now Leia? If you actually watch him he just collapses to the ground, throwing his arms, sobbing... AND HAVING TO SEE HIM IN SHACKLES!?!? And not like “oh we gotta trick these guards” but actually captured and shackled, After all the wookiees being captured and enslaved and he how he had to deal with that...come on man....

I cried when Luke pulled his X-wing out of the water. We all saw it submerged in TLJ, waiting for that moment when someone would do it. The fact that he does it, when he couldn’t back when it happened on Dagobah. It shows how much he’s grown, showed him stepping into Yoda’s role even more fully. He never got to leave that island in it, but Rey did. Plus Rey wearing his Rebel helmet like she wore the helmet in TFA?! Honestly... Two “nobodies” from nowhere sand planets who become the hope and saviors of the galaxy (you could include Anakin in that as well, but he just...kinda sparked the hope in Luke and was his savior so...indirectly the hope and savior).

The only thing I didn't like was the Ben and Rey kiss at the end but luckily it wasn't drawn out and he died right after. Cause you really expect me to believe that within the same movie of him pushing her to her limits and making her believe she killed a friend that she gone be like...oh but you still cute tho?  Also while re-watching everything and watching the prequels last month I remembered how Palpatine influenced the midichlorians/force to make Anakin in Shmi (it might not be canonized though, I’m not sure...). Obviously he’s not a biological father but...he is responsible...so that in a way makes him Kylo's grandfather in a sense. Rey is Sheev’s biological granddaughter so...big yikes. To me Kylo/Ben and Rey have a much better dynamic as brother and sister anyway.. I think a brother and sister bond suit them so much better. A rhyme of Luke and Leia, and the forged sibling bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin. It has pieces of both and would have been beautiful for it to play out that way. About Rey pulling her family in Ben Solo back to the light. I mean she even thought of Han, Leia, and Luke as parental figures... but luke and leia kissed so :/  guess just a family thing. 

Running themes in all of star wars is hope, family, and who you are. In this, the prequels were the darkest. They end in a family divided, hope seemingly lost, and giving into the worst parts of yourself. The original trilogy was about finding the hope in the darkest times, becoming more than you think of yourself, and that family can overcome anything together. This trilogy was about clinging onto hope that you can find and making it a beacon for others, becoming more than what you and others think of you, "subverting destiny", and the fact that family isn't blood, not always. Just because someone tells you you're a monster, just because you started to believe it, doesn't mean you are. Once you have hope you hold onto it with everything you have, no matter how many times you fail or slip.

Rey being a Palpatine isn't "the bad guys bloodline living while the good guys die out". It isn't about bloodlines. Sure Kylo and Vader's terrible deeds will live on in infamy, but so will the entire rebellion's. Instead of being like, "oh well by blood I'm a Palpatine so I gotta use that last name" she made a conscious choice to go by Skywalker, because of what the Skywalker family meant to her and the galaxy, so that their deeds live on and not Palpatine. He will become a bad memory, a scar on history, while Skywalker’s, the positive idea of them, will continue to live and spark hope year and years into the future. Her blood isn't tainted and her grandfathers nature isn't hers, if it was she really would be the empress on the sith throne after Palpatine's death. She would've took Kylo's hand and offers before. Its the same with Kylo. He succumbed to what Rey was actively fighting against. Its the idea its harder to be good than bad.

Palpatine's bloodline living on means nothing unless Rey decided to make it mean something. But she didn't. As far as I'm concerned the only thing the bloodline might've impacted is her connection to the force and how strong it was naturally (like Kylo because of Leia (maybe Han..debatable, i like to believe he’s a little force sensitive) and her and Luke's connection to it because of Anakin). Her parents also actively fought against Palpatine as far as we know, Luke and Leia fought against Vader like... To say oh your parent was like this so you are gonna turn out the same? Yikes. Also Finn and the other stormtrooper deserters? Literally brainwashed from such a young age to be killers but they said no? It seems like the theme was you can fight against your destiny or like Yoda said about the future being hard to see because its constantly moving so "destiny" is kinda just a trash idea, be who you are or the person you want to be, not what others tell you.

Also I see some people saying it destroyed Anakin's legacy, and I have to disagree. To the fan's Anakin's legacy was never killing Palpatine. Sure that was the action, but the act was saving Luke. It was coming back from the dark to the light to save his son and in a way, the rest of the galaxy, at least for a time, it was betraying his master. It was the why he did it, not the how. Not only did he save Luke's life, but he fueled Luke to go forward and continue down the path of hope and light as long as he could. Anakin's true legacy lives on in Luke and Leia and the Rebellion. Palpatine's return doesn't diminish Anakin's sacrifice. Because it wasn’t about just destroying Palpatine. Anakin/Vader's thoughts went to Padme and Luke, and the prophecy of bringing balance, he knew he had to do something. When Luke takes off his helmet when Anakin is dying he thinks, “The boy was good, and the boy had come from him–so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again, as well.” (coming from the novelization of Return). As long as Luke lived, and Luke's legacy lives on, so does Anakin's and so does Anakin’s return to the light. Anakin's legacy and impact, the good and the bad, will continue. Maybe the people of that galaxy won't know of the person named Anakin compared to sith lord Darth Vader, but his impact will always be there.

Yeah they aren’t always the most perfectly written stories with the best effects and yadda yadda, I know there are some missteps and less then stellar things in this films, but they are here to entertain, and I’m entertained. There is probably so much I’m missing, and I really want to go see it again, and can’t wait till it’s out on DVD or streaming services... 

It was a beautiful film that did the best it could to end a saga thats bigger than anything ever, thats been going on for years, something that is unheard of and never been done. I just want to honor the history, the memory, and the work it all took. I just love these films so much. <3 Also, always remembering Carrie, Peter M. and Peter C., Christoper, and Kenny, and all other actors and crew who have passed who lent their time and effort to all of these films and this entire franchise <3 

[televinita]

Little Women (2019): Thoughts

REQUIRED READING: the prequel post about my background going in to this film.

SNAPSHOT VERSION: Though I have some casting qualms, and may adjust my opinions after I reread the book, mostly I think this is everything my heart has needed since the magic of the ‘94 movie was broken for me. My heart is very full.

FULL VERSION: Twice as long as the prequel post (a.k.a. 1800 words), starts below.

I did not expect LW to be the first Unexpected Comeback Fandom of 2020 (or a comeback fandom ever, really), but here I am, having spent every day since I saw this film mooning about this story and looking up different editions and supplemental books in the library catalog, so I'd better process how I feel about it while the memories are relatively fresh.

Most of my thoughts are on casting rather than specific scenes because like I said, I can’t remember the book super well, so I’d like to get my movie memories to fade so that the book can surprise me. Also because I think I will have a more in-depth post about them when I watch the film a 2nd time, whether that’s in theaters or on DVD. But here’s what I’ve got for now.

ON CASTING

In no particular order --

* Emma Watson is very pretty but it is so hard to take her seriously as an actress. She's just Emma Watson, Famous For Being In Harry Potter and Getting Hired For Other Big Name Projects. I feel like she's so consciously acting all the time. She made a not-terrible Meg, I guess? No worse than she made a Belle. But it was roughly as hilarious watching her try to be a mother now as it was watching her try to be a mother in the last Harry Potter movie. To the point that I just kept hearing the "Damn! I'm SO maternal!" song playing as her theme in the background at all times. * I realized 6 days prior to seeing the movie that Florence Pugh is recognizable because she's in Midsommar and honestly, that just ruined everything for me. I didn't even see that film, I just know it's gross and I would hate it and while she is not tainted forever like the 50 Shades actors, she is definitely too tainted for Little Women. Also I could not stop thinking about how I associate Amy with being very dainty and prim and Florence, while perfectly lovely, is not. * Laura Dern was kind of strangely modern and kooky for Marmee, but I love her as an actress and I loved that she was just like "HELLO STRANGE NEIGHBOR BOY, COME BE MY FIFTH CHILD." So I was OK with that. * ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH BOB ODENKIRK. What kind of anachronistic garbage. What crack were you on, because it was obviously not the good stuff. "Did I stumble into an SNL parody??" I wondered more than once. * Meryl Streep as Aunt March was AMAZING. Ten Oscars. * Beth consistently looked younger than Amy, so that was weird. She was okay but kind of childlike, and failed to make Beth my favorite like she is in the book. * JO! Saoirse Ronan is by far my favorite actress in this set, but I didn't think she was right for Jo going in. "Jo's not a redhead!" I said, indignantly stamping my foot, because my childhood-era love for this novel reigns defensively supreme like for no other classic besides Black Beauty. (another 1994 classic they should remake soon, even though I love that version. Just saying.)

But damned if she did not COMPLETELY embody every essence of Jo there is and make Jo my favorite character this time. Truly, nobody except Meryl Streep so thoroughly matched my expectations for their character. Ten Oscars, part II. Or at least the one she is actually nominated for. If Jo loses to ScarJo I will riot. * John was nice. I feel like he was exactly what he was supposed to be, which is to say kind of plain and milquetoast but perfect for Meg. I don't actually remember him existing in the novel, so that was an interesting game of "how important is this guy?" until suddenly Meg was getting married and I realized I did, in fact, have a very dim memory of a wedding from the book. I think I will like their romance more the second time around, though. * Mr. Laurence was VERY EXCELLENT. IDK why I know the actor, even after looking him up, but I liked him in this role a lot. His grandfatherly quasi-adoption of Beth was so sweet. * As for Professor Bhaer...UGH. I hated him on sight and my brain wouldn't even let me recognize who he was for like 3 scenes, I was just like, "who is this random boarding lodger and why are we focusing on that weirdo." I mean, he's objectively handsome? But he did not do it for me. He lacked the gravitas I expect from this character and his thick accent scraped my ears and drove me insane (update from the future: his accent is also driving me insane in the book, where I have peeked in at a few chapters as incentive to reread. whyyyyyyy). * LAURIE: maybe it's been too long since I read the book, but never could I ever have imagined I'd want to use the term "fuckboy" to describe Laurie. It wasn't even Ski Chalet's face so much as it was that in all present-day scenes (post-rejection), he is such an insufferable, melodramatic, pouting trash heap that I didn't want him to marry any of them at that point. (Also YOU STILL DIDN'T MAKE ME UNDERSTAND WHY HE GOES FOR AMY, so good job.**) However, I took especial delight in paying attention to all the cuddly platonic friend cuddling he heaped on Jo growing up, in focus or in the background, and I loved it...kind of a lot? The ship radar made noise. That noise is getting louder by the day, smoothing away his faults. He may have permanently taken up residence in my mind's eye as the new Laurie. ...this is the worst. Make it cease. (**update from the future, I am peeking at the book and it looks like it's a lot easier to understand both in text and when you're inside Laurie's head. He is still clearly sulking his way through Europe, but in a way it's easier to recover from. Also, I don’t have time to unpack this but as I finish the edits on this post I started 5 days ago, I’m starting to think I could not only ship Laurie/Amy, but believe in it from the start.) ACTUAL PLOT AND FILM QUALITY

+ The shifting between past and present was very jarring right off the bat, but after that I think it worked.

+ I loved the attic play rehearsals so much

+ I am so glad Jo’s shorn hair is both fleeting and as hideous as it should look, and not Pixie Cut Chic (Childhood Me wailed at that part reading the book)

+ I remember hardly anything about the book's Part II / Good Wives, so basically everything in their adult lives was news to me. Amy and Aunt March go to Europe? Jo goes to live by herself in New York? Meg marries a relative pauper? Any of this could be true to the book or just made up as an alternate idea to explore, and I would be none the wiser. That made it more fun. (NOBODY SPOIL ME ON WHAT'S TRUE)

+ It did not occur to me until just now that the part where Jo publishes her version of Little Women is not in the book (right?), but that was beautifully done.

+ The house interiors were breathtaking. It's not like I don't regularly watch period pieces, but this time there was just something about seeing an old house, like the ones I am often in for estate sales, decorated the way I always imagine seeing when I enter those homes, that kind of made me tear up. + The outside shots were pretty too + Jo made me cry with her I'm so LONELY! speech, rude. (I went into this movie thinking I was 100% on board to finally read Alcott’s sequels for their Jo/Professor content, and now I'm like 'ah damn it is gonna be the season for the Jo/Laurie AU novel, isn't it.')

+ A strike against Beth and/or the actress playing her: I did not cry about her death (in my defense I was busy crying about Jo's pain).

+ I did NOT remember precisely how Laurie & Amy got married, so even though I knew it happened eventually, I felt that sucker punch to the gut reveal just about as hard as Jo did. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR WIFE.

+ My mom said she’d heard this movie was lauded as being super feminist, which rarely goes well for me, but I thought it felt like really authentic "married women literally were not allowed to control their own income and it sucked" 19th century feminism, and not someone using their 21st century voice to claim this is how people would have REALLY talked if The Patriarchy Of Historical Record hadn't silenced/suppressed it. Nothing rankled me. I’m very confused by the people who think it says Jo is queer and/or didn’t end up with the Professor, but if that’s what you see then I guess it’s a win/win situation for all of us. + LOVED the closing montage. + Basically, at all times that I wasn't annoyed by the casting, I was feeling the same magic I did while reading the book and/or while watching the 1994 movie as a child. I can’t think of any parts I really hated.

IN CONCLUSION

Part of me is honestly kind of sad I didn't reread the book before watching this movie, because even though I usually prefer to go movie first and then get the Expanded Edition that is the book, in this case I wish I'd taken my last chance to properly visualize everything in my head on my own -- since I’ve mostly forgotten the ‘94 film -- before the new movie washed it away forever. This is one of the rare times I would have liked to hope and guess what would be shown vs. cut, and be able to anticipate the thrill of seeing the page come to life.

However, seeing it was the impetus I needed to finally take my childhood copy off the shelf (and thank heavens I have it, because the library request is backed up 3 or 4 deep for every copy), and it took all of 5 minutes to get instantly sucked into chapter 1 and feel such rapturous joy and familiarity that I consciously cut myself off and decided I am going to journal out my feelings after each chapter on this reread. So that’s something!

[canaryatlaw]

mmm. I have a lot of conflicting emotions about things right now. mostly nothing to actually do with today, just stuff that’s been floating around in my head and being exacerbated by not knowing what’s going to be my future. Like if it’s NY that’s going to be a whole new world I’ll have to adjust to, and even if I stay in Chi I have no idea what I’m going to do job wise. And everything being in flux like that just makes it so difficult to plan practically anything. And on top of that I just have so many messy emotions regarding friends and relationships and I’m trying to make sense of it all but my brain doesn’t work correctly because it’s actually depending on 3 different antidepressants to change the chemistry, so I can do more than literally just sleep all day like last summer. and antidepressants are great and I’m very thankful for them, but sometimes there are gaps, and things just don’t work right, or past experience makes you paranoid about certain behaviors and desperately trying to prevent the past from repeating itself while also trying very hard to not come off as clingy because I know that I can be very clingy and I really hate that. Trying to convince myself I’m not being purposefully excluded which I know in all rational thought I’m not, but my mind is not always rational and has such feelings anyway. Sigh. Anyway, that's enough rambling, I should actually talk about my day now. It was fine, pretty good. I woke at I want to say 10:22, and before I looked at the clock I thought it was much earlier than that, like 6 am but no it was later so I got up and had some breakfast, after which I got in the shower to continue the whole morning shower thing (and omg, my bangs looked so good all day, I’m so obsessed with them). My normal hair routine is to use shampoo every day, then every 3 days use the special color depositing conditioner I have, as recommended by my hair stylist to keep it from being oily, and it’s worked pretty well so far. I only brought the conditioner with me because shampoo is shampoo for the most part, and after I used the stuff they had here my hair had a very weird feeling to it, like hard and would like, make noises and shit if you pressed against it lol, so I took a very tiny amount of conditioner and worked it through my hair which seemed to help a lot. My mom, my uncle, and I ended up going to this giant mall not too far from them (my aunt was totally pooped from partying yesterday and just wanted to sleep). It was pretty cool, a really big place, so we mostly just walked around there for a bit and went in different stores. We got some lunch in the food court from a soup and salad place that I’m pretty sure has places in Chicago, I got the crab and corn chowder which was very good, there was a hint of spice but strangely enough it wasn’t the burn my tongue spice but more like I could just feel it in my mouth afterwards. Idk, it was weird. We took a look in Brookstone trying to find something for my dad being that father’s day is next weekend and his birthday is two days after that (both my mom and my dad have birthdays super close to mother’s day and father’s day respectively, which is very convenient tbh 😂) because he likes their kind of gadgets and such, but they didn’t really have much, just like, stuff for a grill, speakers, and a bunch of different massage centered products, so that was a bust. We ultimately ended up leaving without buying anything (which is honestly rather impressive) but we drove back and stopped at a Tim Horton’s on the way, because Michigan, I got a small white hot chocolate because of course I can’t have coffee, and we chilled out in there for a bit before going to the house. Upon arrival we all just chilled for a while, and eventually got around to the topic of dinner, there wasn’t much in way of options at the house since my aunt was down for the count, so we ended up getting chinese food that I ordered online and my uncle and mom went to go get. I’m finding that the term “lo mein” can have many different interpretations depending on where you are ordering it, because several times in Chicago I’ve had types that didn’t match the one I’m used to, and this was one of those as well. It was still pretty good though, and I ate rice and fortune cookies and all that good stuff. By the time we finished it was about 7:30, and we watched a little tv before switching over to the Tony Awards!!! Which I realize I did not liveblog on here at all lol, I had to make a decision if I wanted to live tweet it on my main internet peeps account or my IRL people’s account, and I ended up going with the latter because that’s where my actual theatre people were. Overall I thought it was pretty good, Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles were great hosts. This review is probably not going to be in chronological order of the show, just warning you now. When they honored the Parkland drama teacher for hiding SIXTY FIVE FUCKING CHILDREN in her office for two hours before the all clear was given, and of course she should be credited as many of the more outspoken student advocates from Parkland were in the drama program and credit it for giving them the means from which it express their opinions. man, I cried so damn much. And then they had them all sing, SING, ONSTAGE, AT THE TONYS, as high schoolers, man, that has got to be such a dream come true. The girl who had the Joanne solo towards the end of the song fucking KILLED IT, I was watching knowing she had the high note at the end and I’m just thinking please don’t crack please don’t crack and she didn’t, she fucking NAILED it in an incredible show of talent, like dude, that’s insane. So I enjoyed that part of it. It was interesting that Mean Girls performed so early on. I was wondering what song they were going to do, and I understand why they chose what they did as it featured most of the cast, but I also think it wasn’t the strongest song(s) in the show, so that wasn’t all that helpful. Taylor Louderman sounded either very nervous or sick, her voice was pretty shaky, but she pulled through. I fucking lost it at Karen, I knew just from listening to the OBCR that she was perfect for the role, and tonight just confirmed that, she was great. I wish my girl Janis got to do more (I had been thinking maybe they'd do Revenge Party) but at least she got in there. Other things, let’s see, I hadn't heard of The Band’s Visit until tonight, so I certainly wasn’t expecting them to largely sweep the awards, I guess the voters (or whoever determines the winners) were really feeling it. Not gonna lie, Hailey Kilgore from Once On This Island was fucking ROBBED for the leading actress Tony, she had a stellar performance and she totally deserved it. Loved their number as much as I did when I saw the show back in January. Frozen was interesting on a few different levels. I had been thinking about how they were going to split the musical into two acts, and how Let It Go might be too early in the story to make it the act one finale, but there’s no way in hell you’re going to get an act one finale that even holds a candle to it. So I looked it up and they ended up just making Let It Go their act one finale, probably a good choice. When I saw they were doing for the first time in forever I was like oh we’re gonna end up switching to Let It Go, they had to, so of course I was right and they did, and man, they nailed it so well. It was clear they had to get that scene exactly right if they wanted to be taken seriously as a show, and they managed to find an actress who can actually hit the notes on a level comparable to Idina Menzel, because if she didn't that’s all anyone would be talking about. But she fucking killed that song, made it her own, and even managed to hit an extra high note that was not in the movie score, I was really impressed and I might go see it honestly, I’m trying to think, I wasn't as engaged with the performances of shows I’m not terribly familiar with, Carousel had a great dance number but I didn’t get much else out of it. The Spongebob number was......something alright, I mean if nothing else he certainly did a great job embodying Squidward, so there’s that. I’m trying to think if I have anymore feedback but it’s 1 am here and my eyes really want to close so I’m gonna try to keep it short. The De Niro thing was fucking hilarious and I love that it happened. I am cautiously curious about the harry potter play, I know a lot of fans thought it was trash, but it did do fairly well awards wise so there might be some good in there. Alright, that’s the end of my day and that’s it for now, my eyes really want to be close so that is what I’m going to do. Goodnight my lovely friends, Good luck on your Monday.

[supergirlimaginesfic-blog]

The Danvers Sisters (the youngest sibling)

Request: could you write some headcannons on being alex and kara's little sister? 

a/n: HECK YEAH I CAN. These are always so fun to do lol, bring it on!! These are more dumb than emotional, I think... I live for the trash and the crack, y’all LOL

Also a little sidenote, headcanon requests (for now, anyway, in my absence) are something I’d be more likely to do since they’re much quicker than coming up with actual prose - those are the ones I really want the most time to focus on. These are just quicker as little flashes of inspiration, and they even help in creating some backstory for the other requests. So that’s just the reason why I’m getting to them before the other prompts, in case anyone was wondering. Have an awesome day y’all :D

- - - - -

it wasn’t always that you were close to your sister, Alex. Life seems to have a different way of handling things than you expect, and you’ve come to learn that things fall into place exactly as they’re meant to; when they’re meant to

you were much younger than Alex, and you figured you had a relationship as ordinary as any other siblings would have. She wouldn’t annoy or pester you, but she would tease you quite often whenever she had the chance - for the most part, you took it in stride, never having seen your sister get close to anything that could be described as malicious

she was always so cool and even at a young age, she just seemed to know what she was about

you, on the other hand, were both parts rambunctious as you were delightful. You spent as much time feeding your untamed imagination as you did swimming the depths of the deep ocean or chartering the vast distances of outer space

Alex never failed to mention how lame you were, but nonetheless joined in whenever the two of you were outside and parkouring on nearly every single thing you could find in your wild savannah adventure

your parents eventually put you into sports to expend your impressive abundance of energy - needless to say you thrived at it, albeit a little too eagerly, if the bruises you got and the fiery competition in your eyes were any indication

you never thought Alex’s loud music was scary or perplexing, you just wouldn’t come to appreciate it until years later on your own; your parents, however, often had to remind her to turn it down several decibels to a humanly acceptable level

when freakin’ Superman himself brought a girl maybe about Alex’s age, maybe a little bit younger to your house and your parents told you she was going to be your new sister, you were ecstatic

now that you saw him, you didn’t really think he was as impressive as you thought he would be, and you said as much. Your mom chastised you and your dad laughed, and Superman winked at you as he took off

Alex, however, was wary about her - she had a better understanding of the implications of having an alien sister; you just thought about how awesome it’d be

your new sister, Kara, shared your room. You were more amenable to the arrangement than Alex would have been (if they’d even asked her, which they didn’t)

you let her pick which bunk she wanted to sleep in, and she merely stared wide-eyed and alarmed at your excitement. Your parents had to remind you that Earth was an entirely new world to her, and it was only then you really considered just how much your new sister needed you

she didn’t talk much, and you were fine with that. You’d get her talking eventually. You spent so many nights speaking seemingly to yourself, but Kara always looked at you with rapt attention, and you always knew she was listening

“What do you mean you don’t have Harry Potter in space? No- wait, you don’t even have to say anything for me to know that look on your face. I have to fix this. I’ll read you every single book, okay?”

much credit should be given to you, because you did, and Kara would start asking you questions about the story or the characters, her mouth still trying to form around new words of an entirely different language

“So magic is just human technology but more advanced?” “Well, not exactly, it’s just... it’s magic.” “Is alien technology considered magic to Earth?” “I mean, I guess it could be.” “Does Hermione love Harry?”

you’d seen less and less of Alex, she was a teenager in high school after all, but sometimes you’d all get together on some nights and watch the stars, all of you intimately aware of Kara’s place in them

rather frequently, you’d hear Kara sniffling from her top bunk, and you’d never fall asleep until you heard her crying cease - you never said anything to her when she did and you never made mention of it in the morning

in your young mind, you thought the best course of action was simply to just distract, and damn were you good at that

you taught Kara how to play soccer, and you think you nearly peed your pants from laughing so hard when you watched her kick an old car tire just a little too hard, and Alex stood watching on the porch like she’d just seen a ghost

you dragged Kara to the park with you constantly, and you’d spend a good majority of your afternoons on the swings - it was a nice feeling to know this was as close you’d experience of the powers of flight that Kara was bestowed with. You suspected it humanized her in some way, and if the content smile she had whenever she swung back was any indication, you think she appreciated the normalcy it gave her

when Kara eventually learned to have much more control of her new powers on Earth, your family spent a day at an amusement park, and you loved the way Kara laughed when she was on the roller coasters

you let Kara go through all your Backstreet Boys and N’Sync CD collections, and you adored her for being the only person you think you ever knew who loved both as undivided and fiercely

Alex absolutely loathed when you two started singing in your bedroom, but you think you’d seen a hint of a smile on her face whenever she stood scolding at your door, but you might have imagined it

she spends less and less time at home and more time being out, and you thus spent even more time around Kara. Alex, in her frequent socializing, simultaneously became more closed off, and you wondered about it - Kara did too

“Does Alex hate me?” “What? No, Alex is just... Alex. She’s always been like that.” “Really?” “Yeah, really, she still loves us though.” “I didn’t have any siblings on Krypton.” “Well, now you have two.”

when Alex was to go off to med school, it wasn’t without proper farewell, and when she spoke to you personally you began to realize just how much you’d miss your oldest sister

“Hey, take care of Kara alright?” “I have, and I will” “Yeah, I know you have. You’re doing a great job... you’ve always been better at it than me.” “We’ll miss you.” “I know.”

Kara went off to college and when it was your turn just a short time after her, you’d shared an apartment, neither of you seeming to not be able to let go of your childhood memories entirely. You got a full-ride scholarship on the basis of playing varsity basketball

throughout the entirety of your experience away from home, she still maintained her normal human persona, and you were set to believe the remainder of your life would continue on that path

Alex, for her part, had gotten into trouble, and after her stint in jail, she’s fixed herself up and found a job as a scientist, you’ve been informed. Admittedly, you were beyond relieved - finally, the sister you always thought was the smartest person you ever knew was putting her brilliance to work

you weren’t jealous when Kara came out to the world and used her powers to save Alex’s flight to Geneva from crashing into the city, but you did ponder how this new development rocked the boat entirely

nobody told you that Alex was a secret government agent working in the extra-terrestrial branch, you figured that out on your own. What was a surprise to you, however, was the fact that it took years to put together that Kara was related to Superman

“Holy shit... how did I not... wow.” “Really, (Y/N)? You’re a Danvers, I can’t believe you.” “Yep, he’s definitely my cousin.” “Clark? Honestly? Did you know I told him he wasn’t as good-looking as I imagined he’d be when I first saw him?” “Oh my god-” “For someone so brainy you’re also a huge idiot.”

you still fight with Kara over the last Ben and Jerry’s pint, but only because you’re far too lazy to have to replenish your stock literally every day

when you came home with a new tattoo, she wouldn’t stop gawking at your arm, and you thought about how adorably fascinated Kara was with human physiology - even with the more you got, Kara would never stop examining them in great length, and you always indulged her

Alex always comes over whenever she can (nearly every night, in fact) and you all have pizza and watch TV

Kara is particularly intrigued by Orphan Black and all the implications of cloning and autonomy

you’ve become more comfortable around Alex now that she’s allowed herself to be softer, and you’ve taken the mantle of being the annoying sister when she brings Maggie to the apartment one night

you live for the scowl on Alex’s face whenever you share embarrassing stories about her, and it’s only made so much better when Kara eagerly joins in and substantiates everything you say

when you take Kara to her first Comic-Con, you never loved yourself more than you did at the very moment you captured Kara’s reaction at seeing all the Supergirl cosplays, and you relished in how dumbstruck but mystified she looked

you still get texts from Kara asking you what certain words mean, or asks for your opinion on which words are better to use in different contexts when she becomes a CatCo journalist

you never would have suspected it, but Kara is as surprisingly intimidating as Alex is whenever you bring someone new home as a date

you always worry about Alex and Kara whenever the security of the city is at stake again (this happens far too often than you care to acknowledge) but the way they come crashing into your apartment and topple onto the couch every single time after a successful battle is enough to remind you that you have two superheroes for sisters

[chellyfishing]

telling a violent story vs using violence as a story

i really want to write this essay but as usual i don’t have the spoons for doing it justice so it’s pretty much just extemporaneous word dumping. anyway.

every story has a different tone about where they draw the line with violence and death. you can probably think of a lot of examples of both ends of the scale. there’s a misconception that being higher up on the violence/death end of the scale is more adult and more realistic, which ps is bullshit thanks bye. if anything it’s a sign of immaturity but that’s sort of beside the point atm.

the point i wanna make is this: it’s not a secret that i have strong feelings about killing off major or otherwise sympathetic characters. i have an opinion about this that differs from the majority in that i don’t like a character dying in order to motivate another character. it’s tacky. it’s cheap. it’s boring. it’s overdone. and a character can motivate another character while like. still being alive? weird right? live characters always present more options than dead ones. (obviously discussions of character death but also #rape mention ahead.)

to me character death should be a result rather than strictly a catalyst. think about ASoIaF, which is much more violent and upsetting than my typical tastes lean but credit where it’s due, GRRM knows how to do character death. when you know they’re coming, it becomes incredibly obvious. choices, circumstances, motivations all come together to create this unavoidable moment. nothing exists in a vacuum. in ASoIaF, death is a result and a catalyst, but not purely for character motivation; rather, it changes the game itself, leading to a domino effect. ned’s death at the end of AGoT is unavoidable, and it turns things on their heads (heheh) for everybody. the red wedding is built up to for a long time, and obviously that goes on to have huge repercussions. so, counterintuitively, one of the most violent stories in the zeitgeist right now is, for the most part (not a perfect record) is telling a violent story without necessarily using violence as a substitute for a story.

contrast with GoT, which throws in rape and gore like glitter to accent their teenage/twenty-something boy hypermasculine wank power fantasy. GoT is at the other end and it’s super gross and disturbing.

one of the best-known and most prolific offenders of “death because death” is joss whedon. it seems to be the only way he knows how to create shocking “plot twists” and heavy emotional drama. and the worst of the worst sins was tara macclay on buffy. the thing about joss is that he thinks he’s being incredibly clever surprising his audience with this stuff. he’s said as much himself. there is no effort to build up to it. it’s just, well, nobody’s died for a little while so idk find something to impale someone on. tara’s death was everything death in fiction should not be. first of all she was a lesbian, and one in a happy relationship to boot. need say no more. second of all she was literally caught in the crossfire. the bullet that killed her was meant for someone else and it just happened to strike her down instead with no effort or chance to save her. third, it had to happen so willow could be evil for a bit. and fourth, most obnoxiously, that episode was the first and only time amber benson appeared in the opening credits. this was done deliberately. i wish i could find the quote but alas. to the best of my recollection joss said they wanted to do something like this with another character, possibly jenny calendar, but were unable. it was fully planned well ahead of time to “trick” the audience, which is kind of... sad? that you feel the need to resort to a meta trick like that to maximize shock value? (oh, and don’t even fucking start me on dr. horrible’s and penny. ffs, joss. that didn’t even fit the fucking tone. fuck.)

there are more examples (i am looking directly at you, the 100) but i think those two pretty much put the cap on that point.

death in a story can be important and moving without making the audience feel cheated. HIMYM is largely a light-hearted romantic comedy, but it’s also one about transitioning to adulthood and what that means. and unfortunately, adulthood often means unexpectedly losing loved ones. the death of marshall’s father was surprising, but less than to motivate marshall in some way, it’s more to clarify that adulthood means loss as much as it means gain. it means change more than anything. also story-wise it was a good choice of character, as marvin had deep important connections to a character we loved without leaving a gaping void full of what might have been.

wynonna earp is another story that knows where to draw the line. most of the “victims” are cartoon villains who are inhuman and already dead. the framing of the story leaves us no reason to have sympathy for these literal monsters. when a more sympathetic or humanized character has to go, it’s because there’s no other choice, and each time rather than being a motivator for wynonna, we can see instead the psychological toll it takes on her. she is someone who is surrounded by death, the one with this burden to make the hard decisions and pull the trigger. she killed her father on accident when she was just 11. she’s forced to kill beloved shorty, who is pretty much family and one of the few people who didn’t think she was trash, in order to save him and potentially a lot more. levi and fish were mercy kills that forced her to confront the fact that these monsters truly were once human. and in the finale she gets a double whammy: willa’s betrayal leaves her once again turning her gun on a family member and fatally pulling the trigger. we’re even relieved to see her shoot bobo, not just because she has to if she ever wants to break the curse but because again there’s another dimension to it, maybe even a tinge of mercy. bobo is not exactly sympathetic, but he is someone with dimension, someone we know. willa pretty much had to go story-wise, if nothing else she was a threat to wynonna’s position as the heir and the show is called wynonna earp. but her death also tied into the themes of the show: how to make and live with hard choices, how to stand up and be the one to do the unthinkable because you’re the only one and you have to, whether you want to or not, how to be the one who bears the hate of the very people you’re sacrificing everything to save.

and of course, i can’t not address harry potter, which i think is hit or miss. surprisingly i think cedric’s death was well-done and important, because it was shocking without being done for shock value, and because it was a result: a result of cedric being honorable and good and at the wrong end of the wand of a man who feels nothing about killing anything not useful to him. and ironically, it should have been a catalyst, but it wasn’t, but that’s its own story: the warning everyone failed to listen to, at their own peril. some deaths were organic in that jkr herself went against her plans once she realized what made more sense for the story. iirc, she’s on record as saying arthur weasley was originally meant to die when he’s attacked in ootp, but she spared him at the last minute. he didn’t need to die, it wouldn’t have added to the story, and killing arthur weasley is like joss whedon-level bullshit. on the other hand, she initially intended to let snape live (again iirc) but here she backed herself in a corner. snape was another result. it became obvious that according to the story there simply wasn’t a feasible way to save him, even if in context his death was for nothing. and of course la pièce de résistance, dumbledore, who is GRRM levels of inevitable and necessary.

i feel different ways about other deaths. they mostly happened for the sake of happening, to remind us it’s a war and people die in wars and she wanted faces and names we knew. that’s fair, as it goes. and i don’t begrudge the fact that she didn’t stop to dwell over some of them, because again, war, chaos, you don’t have time to grieve as it happens. but like. fred? i feel a little cheated. lupin and tonks? especially transparent and... unfulfilling. it was like bringing them together was done only to produce teddy, and then they became more useful dead first so harry would be more important to teddy and also because lupin needed to be there with harry in the woods alongside the rest of the marauders. i think of all the deaths these ones are the ones that bother me the most. just... really... meaningless.

also, the movie feeling the need to go a step further and giving us a nice close-up of lavendar brown’s very dead face because... aesthetic? it’s more ambiguous in the book, and even pottermore can’t seem to decide which way to go. it’s so irrelevant that people can’t agree it even happened.

death isn’t the only kind of violence in fiction or necessarily even the worst, but it is the one that’s always on hand like a tissue to grab as you need and the one that is abused by unimaginative writers who just... can’t think of how else to move the story forward. i do think there is a place for stories that involve rape, because it’s real and just like any other group survivors need to see themselves acknowledged as being real and more than their trauma. i don’t really feel too comfortable speaking for survivors here tbh but i do know that all of us need stories to keep us from feeling isolated and unworthy. but i cringe at the idea that it’s just something that happens to women and therefore let’s add it here, here, here, and here. using it as a turning point for the survivor like assault is enlightening and transformative is gross. using it as a turning point for someone else, usually a man, is A WHOLE LOT GROSSER.

also i just realized i didn’t get into tarantino, but i’m too tired for the kind of analysis his work requires. anyway one of the things i liked about kill bill, for example, is that the violence is so over-the-top that in places it’s comical. the whole film is just so extra. afaik that’s what tarantino was going for.

quick shout-out to snk: my favorite comedy. when this first came out it was hailed as The Best Thing Of The Year, it was SO GOOD, so quality. anyway so i finally got around to watching it. i watched it twice in relative succession in fact. and i laughed a lot. you can ask @second-stringer, she was like “oh my god, i’m in a room with a sociopath.” snk is so extra, but i... don’t think that’s what it was going for. i think it was going for shock! and drama! and plot twists! and look at all that blood and gore and dead people! this is obviously Very Mature! i feel so cool and grown-up watching it! and (sorry, not to get passive aggressive at my mutuals who were into it at any point, this is honestly about conversations i had with or read between people not on tumblr/in other contexts) the general trend was the raves were coming from the younger and frequently male audience. like it was the usual kind of thing where you couldn’t be like, are you... serious? didn’t you find it kind of... ridiculous? because you would be mobbed by rabid fanboys eager to mansplain that i don’t know i stopped listening. anyway, the steep decline in worship for the series over time leaves me feeling smug and satisfied. i actually might still watch it out of morbid curiosity and in the hopes that it’s as funny or, prayer circle, even funnier.

in conclusion, bobby has an email from me that includes a lot of yelling, “DON’T KILL THE LESBIAN. DON’T FUCKING DO IT.” this is my contribution to the cause.

[broadway-book-badger]

December Reads

Happy New Year everyone! As I said in my 2016 reads post, I hope that this year is better to you than the last one and that good things come your way. As I also promised in that post, I’m going to have a bit of a waffle on about the year and my life and stuff.

Now that the festive period is over, I’m getting into revision for my January exams, what a fun time, not. Still, I’ve got like a week and a half til I go back to Uni, so hopefully I’ll be able to get everything done, although I have a few trips out and catching up with friends and stuff planned, but we’ll see. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I always seem to say that...But yeah, the festive period has been and gone, and I’m not going to lie, I didn’t feel particularly festive at any point. Christmas and new year just sort of happened, which is a shame, because I had been looking forward to it, and then yeah... Still, I’ve really loved being home - part of me doesn’t want to go back (especially not to exams) but hey ho.

People seem to be reflecting on the past year a lot at the minute, and here’s my 2 cents - I think there’s been a lot of bad out there in the world lately, and sometimes it’s hard to see the good, but that’s what I want to try and do, as much I can. I also find that sometimes it can be hard to hold onto your own opinions in the middle of everyone else screaming their’s so much louder, but that’s another thing that I’m going to keep trying to do, as I try to make my way in the world, and maybe try to make things better. I don’t know how, but you’ve got to have hope and belief and all that shit. So, good things - I read a lot of books, and watched some good TV and films. I had some great trips away with friends and family. I smashed my A levels, and although I had to say goodbye to my school and my old friends, I’ve made some great new friends, and am getting used to Uni. My family had a lot to celebrate in 2016, with several big birthdays and anniversaries and I’ve got some good things planned for this year. I’ve got a house for my 2nd year sorted out and am hopefully going to spend my summer working over in the USA, which I’m looking forward to. 

Ok, I think that’s enough now. There’s more thoughts and stuff I could have shared, but I’m not very good at being profound, and I doubt anyone really cares that much. Does anyone even read these posts? I don’t suppose it really matters whether I’m just shouting into the void, it’s probably good to get some stuff out of my head. Shit, this is getting long, and I haven’t even started talking about the books yet. Imma get to that now.

In December, I read 3 books. They were all quite long actually, and very good. My thoughts will be under the cut, and as always, full spoilers apply because I will be talking about some specific plot points!

1) Eldest by Christopher Paolini

A year and a half after reading the first book and saying that I would get round to this one soon, I finally did it. I don’t know why it took me so long, maybe just the length of it, even though I have read longer books since Eragon (cough, Outlander, cough). Anyway, the whole time I was reading it I was like, wow this is really good, why have I not read this series before now?! So, I am planning on picking up book 3 fairly soon, definitely this year!

I thought that this book had a very Empire Strikes Back kind of feel to it, by which I mean it’s a sequel set in the wake of a victory for the rebels, but things go south pretty quickly, while Eragon is off training with the old master. Not to mention the whole reveal about Eragon’s father at the end, or “Eragon, I am your brother, which makes him your father.” Although, I’m not 100% sure that I believe Murtagh. 

I liked that the book kept cutting from Eragon to other storylines with Roran and Nasuada, because as much as I liked those parts, a whole book from Eragon’s PoV would have gotten boring. I wasn’t overly keen on how Eragon kept trying to get with Arya though, get over it! Nasuada though, I loved. I didn’t remember her as being a very big part of book 1, but she stepped up as such a good leader. I loved how she stuck to her own ideas too, especially the bit about “You can’t fight the Empire with lace!”

I think Galbatorix has been quite a good faceless evil-type villain so far, kind of like the Firelord was in the first couple of seasons of Avatar - like you can see all the effects of what he’s doing but you never really see him, but I kind of want him to step up and get involved now. Also, I’m so glad that there are more dragons now too! Like I thought there probably would be since there’s a different red dragon on the cover of the book, but I didn’t see Oromis and Glaedr coming! Like, I said I really enjoyed this, and do plan on finishing the series soon, I promise!

2) Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

Somewhere along the road, I have become serious Shadowhunter trash. I’m not sure when it happened, but it’s a long way from when I read City of Bones towards the end of the Twilight days (I was about 13) and thought it was ok, I guess. I have been looking forward to this coming out for a long time. Longer than some because I waited for the hard copy to come out rather than the ebooks, which I think were released the year before. Either way, this did not disappoint. I love Simon a lot, and was so excited to get a whole book about him! And it was nice to see all the other TMI and TID characters again too.

I did find Simon’s amnesia thing a little bit frustrating. I have slightly mixed feelings about that whole storyline, and him getting dragged back into the Shadow World after getting out, but more Simon is always good, and I really really enjoyed this book. What frustrated me was that because I’d already read Lady Midnight, which is set after this, I knew he would become a Shadowhunter and be Parabatai with Clary and get engaged to Izzy, so I kind of wanted him to be at that point with them already instead of going through all the angst.

The list of things that I loved is a lot longer, don’t worry. I loved all the nerd references - Star Wars, Firefly, Avatar, it was great. I also like how the academy is a bit like Hogwarts in some respects, only shit, but Simon is super determined to change things for the better, and he kind of does, and its nice. And that whole story where Magnus and Alec adopt their warlock baby, Max, was just one of the cutest, fluffiest things ever and it was amazing and I loved it.

This also managed to make me excited for the next books to come out. I’m really looking forward to The Last Hours trilogy - Nothing But Shadows and the story about him in The Bane Chronicles have got me very intrigued about James Herondale, and any powers that he and Lucie may possess. Also, irresponsible but good Dad Will is going to be so great. The story about Mark Blackthorn gave me a lot of feelings, but his whole storyline about the Wild Hunt does. I’m really loving it, but there are a lot of feelings, and I need Lord of Shadows to come out soon.

George was hands down my favourite new character, so I was very upset (understatement) when he was killed off in the last few pages. But then he met Jessamine’s ghost and Simon took his name because they were brothers and I have a lot of feelings about this and its not ok. But seriously, I thought this book was great. It’s not small, but I read it in 3 days and suffered the book hangover. Luckily, the Shadowhunters TV show is back as of today, so that can fill the void until the next book.

3) The Diviners by Libba Bray

This has been sitting on my shelf for a long time, and is another one that I finally got round to reading. Fantastic Beasts (which I loved) put me in the mood for the Roaring 20s fantasy mystery thing, although this was definitely more Supernatural than Harry Potter. It had a slightly slow start, and I made the fatal mistake of putting it down just as it started to get going in order to read Shadowhunter Academy, which I’d just got for Christmas. It basically meant that with the book hangover, it took a while for me to get back into the story. That said, once I did get back into it, I read like half of it in one sitting and finished it at 3am this morning. Did I regret my life choices when I had to get up? A little bit, but it was really good!

It was a good mystery, and hella creepy in places. Once the murders got going, I really wanted to find out what would happen next, as well as wanting to find out all the characters’ backstories and secrets. Some of them were definitely not what I was expecting. That said, for all the things that got answered, I have a whole load more questions that I hope will get answered in the sequel, which I now really want to get a hold of to read.

I loved the world of this, blending the all the historical detail with the occult and paranormal side, it basically combined a lot of genres that I like. I really liked all the characters as well, although I was not expecting Evie to end up with Jericho. I thought she’d end up with Sam! I’m excited for more though, hopefully I won’t wait so long!

Well, this ended up being slightly longer than anticipated... sorry! Until next time!