#i still don't think i see any real sexual/romantic chemistry there but that was hmm! a LOT

[harmonicabisexuals]

speaking of house md ships that only two people in the entire world acknowledge, i did literally gasp in "euphoria" when foreman called cameron "allison" while asking for her forgiveness after stealing her article, trying to infect her with an unexplained disease, and saying that they weren't friends just colleagues, like that was sooooo

[avelera]

I finally watched Top Gun: Maverick last night and while I don't have many impressions and will likely never think of it again since it's not really my speed, I suppose they were:

The flying scenes were very cool. I can see why people said that was worth the price of admission to a theater.

That said, if I hadn't been able to snark at the movie with my partner the whole time, everything except the flying scenes would have had my eyes rolling out of my head or had me chewing through the walls with irritation

As my partner said at all the "Rah rah, USA!" moments like when we first meet the fighter pilots in the bar, "Hmm, maybe I do hate my country!"

Some other observations, not all criticism! but with some spoilers below:

I don't blame the actors but yeah, the introduction to all the fighter pilots scene got my back up in that instinctive, evolutionary way that watching a bunch of jocks introduced in a movie as the heroes where they cheerfully bully the geeks makes me want to punch things. There wasn't necessarily any geek bullying but it was there, spiritually.

I have seen a plank of wood with more chemistry towards Jennifer Connelly than Tom Cruise had. Girl was trying her best but it was an entirely one way street. It actually might have been more poignant and matched the vibe better to make them brother and sister. (And actually, thematically, might have worked better too with the idea that Maverick has sacrificed his whole life to being a pilot, including relationships.) Truly one of the most baffling relationships of the film.

Because the actual most romantic and heartwrenching scenes (in that it had literally any heart at all but was also, admittedly, heartwrenching) was the Mav/Ice reunion. As my partner pointed out, it really took the actor's illness to bring anything that real onto the screen, because it was literally unavoidable. It was the only emotionally "real" moment in the film, for me at least, but that said it did pack a punch, to their credit. IceMav seems the only logical ship to me in the whole franchise I mean seriously, those dudes love each other. I felt bad for Mav losing his husband in the middle of the two weeks (??) they had to train for their mission. Truly awful timing, I'm sure Ice was very sorry for it (yes, I'm scoffing a bit at the realism of the timing even as I understand it from a dramatic angle).

No like seriously, Maverick and Ice loved each other so damn much that it made Tom Cruise's total lack of chemistry with Jennifer Connelly all the more side-eye worthy. Why even include it? I mean I know it's because a paint-by-numbers Hollywood script, especially in a film with as many "hunky" shirtless dudes rolling around in the sand together as Top Gun has, requires a token female to make sure we know that no one here is actually gay. But still. It almost made me *less* convinced of Mav's sexuality every time she was on screen with him (getting just an absurd number of closeups, btw. Seriously, did they do all those closeups on her so we wouldn't realize that she's taller than Tom Cruise or something? Was she ever on set at all? A mystery...)

Oh, and literally every time Mav pulled some stunt that would get him court martial-ed or something blatantly illegal or ridiculous in a US military setting happened, my partner and I exchanged a look and rolled our eyes. Yeah, the US military, famously known for being super tolerant of this bullshit.

There should genuinely have been a flashing sign during the scene where the pilots heroically set off for their mission that just said, "YOU WILL NEVER GET TO DO THIS IF YOU ENLIST. NEVER EVER. YOU WILL NEVER EVER EVER DO ANYTHING THIS COOL SO DO NOT ENLIST HOPING YOU WILL." Like, to the point where it's irresponsible to not make it clearer that this is total fantasy.

Literally why did they even have pilots? I mean I know they gave some gobbledy-gook about why and obviously it's why we have the movie, but watching those missiles blow the airstrip to smithereens was genuinely like, "Yo, why didn't we just use those? Or bomb them from orbit? Why do we need pilots?"

More to the point why didn't they use drones? (Obviously: because we wouldn't have a movie.) Seriously, I want at least a college humor take which is just a drone pilot with a joystick somewhere in Nevada nudging the drone flight to do the same thing while totally safe the whole time and then he clocks out for his lunch break like seriously, WHY were any humans involved?

Anyway, 'twas silly but I almost would have preferred the whole thing as like a fantasy anime with not even vague attachment to the real world, so that I could enjoy the fighter pilot stuff in the spirit it's intended. Because every whisper of like... the actual political realities and how flagrantly this would violate them made me see red.

Oh, and I realized that fighter pilot narratives could be almost shot for shot replaced with knights in shining armor in a Medieval setting and it would be basically the same in a remarkable number of ways, especially the prep scenes for the pilots (armor) and the planes (their mounts). It would be an interesting film experiment to do.

And that's about all I've got!

[foibles-fables]

I watched Warrior Nun a bit ago for the first time and absolutely loved it!!! Then when I read your fics, especially Because The Light is Close, legit it’s literally canon for me- like the yearning and tenderness was all so perfect fr!

However, when in comes to the actual show, a part of me struggles to see how Ava actually reciprocates because while Beatrice is OBVIOUSLY down bad (and the writers/Simon would be doing her a disservice to NOT acknowledge her feelings for Ava in S2) how does Ava show that?

First of all, WELCOME to the fandom!!! Couldn't be more thrilled to hear you enjoyed this silly show. Second of all, omg thank you so much for the kind compliment, I'm so soft. BTLIC is really really close to my heart and it makes me so happy to hear that folks are still enjoying it to this day.

Third--you have NO idea how much I love your question here. Seriously, it's s a compelling one!! And I think it's something that'll come more into focus in season two. Because you're totally right: we don't really have a ton of definitive signs of romantic attraction between them, outside of episode 8. And most of that, I'd argue, does come from Beatrice. It's aaaalll (purposeful) subtext and wild amounts of chemistry.

And while that's enough to launch a thousand ships of yearning, it's true--as much as I like an angsty fastburn, I'd also love to see them put some real legwork in the writing to get both of them to a place where a feelings admission/potential relationship could take place. Because consider Ava--still very much coming out of sheltered isolation, traumatized to the bone. A lot like Aloy in this regard...hmm my favorite character/ship dynamics are showing. She's definitely got more growing to do on her own--in her friendships and in her confidence and in her training and in her personal feelings of safety--and I hope she gets to do that in a big way in season two. I think any romantic feelings she may or may not have for Bea will crop up out of these other forms of growth in an organic way.

Onto your question, more specifically! My answer stems from my point above: Ava's gotta grow in a big way, especially from the beginning of season one. And that's why I love JC as a character--he was a safe person for her to do her first real reckless things with, and a great person to help her learn more about herself. And I think it speaks volumes that Ava trusts Beatrice from the jump, too--the dinner scene, anyone? Even in her voiceover, she determines that Beatrice is a safe spot when she's feeling unmoored.

Also consider: an overwhelming amount of Beatrice's trauma centers around her sexuality. It's something that must be on her mind near-constantly unless she represses it--and she's very aware of it when she's experiencing an attraction to women. Hence--we get the more palpable hints of it from her during season 1, with Ava. Meanwhile, Ava is probably not as preoccupied with her own sexuality whatsoever. Pretty strong textual vibes that she's bi, and given her mindset, I don't think that's something she would struggle with. Not as preoccupying as Beatrice's feelings.

In any case, I do trust Simon and the team to give us some super satisfying character arcs for both of them before they explore any kind of romance--I'm pretty sure they recently put out an article that said exactly that. Which I love. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers, so let's get them to an even more solid place of trust and cooperation and shared experience. Then let the feelings bloom.