#idk i just get the sense after their movie date she finally got to have him come crawling back to her and realized she didn't need that

[merge-conflict]

if i have a controversial rogue opinion it's that i think taking johnny at face value when he says rogue will do whatever he says (implying he has all the power) is to believe what he tells himself which as we know isn't always...accurate. and the impression i get from some off-hand comments i've read that she was somehow forced or obligated to help him is i think sort of robbing her of her own agency? like yeah she has shit taste in men but she could have turned him down if she wanted to and she didn't really want to. it's a flaw that says something about how she values loyalty and the people she loves. there's nothing even in johnny's memories that suggests she's hopelessly heartbroken or that helpless to resist, hell santiago is the one telling her to consider the offer. she's got johnny's back, but you very obviously get the sense she doesn't need him in her life and has her own shit going on, you know? anyway maybe i'm misunderstanding folks i just love that she built her own empire on being ruthless and savvy and yet still has a soft spot for her old shitheel ex (but only after he grovels and embarrasses himself a little). ok thanks for reading my tedx talk.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 154 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 11

Aqua Hoshigan Status: (Still) white

man

This is one of those chapters where, technically speaking, I should probably be tearing it to bits (AND I DEFINITELY WILL) - it represents a pretty substantial break in or retcon to the series continuity as it's been presented to us thus far and the actions of certain characters in the lead up to this event don't quite make sense if they've had access to some of the information that's seemingly been in their hands for a while but… would you guys forgive me if I said I didn't really care LOL. As I've said before, I'm the sort of reader who can excuse a lot of raw Plot Bullshit so long as I feel like the hearts of the characters are intact and for all its fumbles, this is a chapter I think is unerringly dedicated to the hearts of its characters. I've made no secret of the fact that Ai is and always has been my main avenue of investment in Oshi no Ko as a series and in this chapter, we uncover the final secret in her heart in particular after having the entire series thus far dedicated to laying it bare to us.

We pick up exactly where we left off last chapter with the reveal that the HKAI breakup was indeed founded on Ai's pregnancy, as a lot of us had predicted.

This, uh, does not quite line up with previous events!

From what we'd previously been told, in terms of placement in the timeline, the death of Airi and her husband happened after the twins were born and sometime in the leadup to the Dome concert, which would put it in the ballpark of Ai's 18th to 20th birthday depending on how long it was in the works for. But based on how this flashback section is structured, it seems to place their deaths before Ai even knew she was pregnant, let alone giving birth. If it was just clashing with 15YL's retelling then I could dismiss that as an element of the movie's fictionalization that we've seen and Kamiki alludes to but this also clashes with where this event was placed temporally by Ichigo, when remembering a real life event. So… What gives!!!!

Like, at the end of the day, the exact placement of Uehara's death only matters inasmuch as it needs to be before Ai gets her new apartment, since the point Ichigo is really making is that Aqua is pinning his hopes on a dead man who was dead before he could have ever contributed to Ai's murder. But placing it that far back in the timeline - before the twins were even born! - just makes Aqua's willful ignorance in relation to it come off as a lot sillier and more difficult to swallow than if it happened closer to Ai's actual date of death.

I'm also a little disappointed that we really quickly breeze past Ai revealing she's pregnant - it's not the point of the scene overall and it would be weird to go really deep into her POV in the middle of a Kamiki flashback but one of my big issues with the Movie Arc was that it ripped past anything and everything to do with Ai's pregnancy, including how she herself felt about being pregnant. Like I said in my 145 review, skipping over the parts of it we've seen makes sense but I think there's still a bunch of really fascinating potential in exploring how Ai felt when she realized she was pregnant - how did she hide it for long enough that she was almost halfway through her pregnancy and getting fucking enormous before her first checkup? How did Ichigo and Miyako react when they first got the news? There's so much juicy character and relationship work you could mine out of that but the story fails to do so. We sort of get a crumb of this in the DVD but her feelings there are all centered on the pregnancy in relation to Hikaru and even then she breezes past it so fast it's clearly not meant to be the focus of any of what she's saying and idk. For a character whose entire hook is her struggles with motherhood, familial love and all the rest of it, that's a little disappointing.

THAT SAID!!! All that makes me sound like I didn't like what went on with Ai this chapter but I actually loved it. It's so painfully in line with everything we've been told and shown about her thus far in the manga and in this chapter, we see all her strengths, weaknesses and human contradictions laid bare in a way I find incredibly rewarding and compelling.

The HKAI breakup especially is just soooooo deliciously cringe inducing. It's an echo of the argument with Nino that 15YL portrays, where Ai's good intentions, avoidant tendencies and absolute absence of tact all snowball and end up ruining one of her most important relationships. Like… I can't believe I'm about to say this about a conversation in which Ai is one of the people talking, but she really is the reasonable one here! She's right to identify that their relationship is not working, that adding babies and marriage to the mix will only make things worse - her intentions, as they always are, are good and she's making her decisions with Kamiki in mind… her delivery is just absolutely dogshit!!! GIRL, PLEASE, YOUR WORDS!!!! USE YOUR WORDS!!!!!

For all my issues with Akasaka's writing lately, I think he portrays these kinds of two sided failures of communication so well, where you can see exactly where both characters are coming from and why they are failing to get their feelings across to each other. From an outsider's POV it's clear as day that Ai views herself and her children as the burden, one she doesn't want to put on Kamiki for the sake of a girl who doesn't even know if she can love him… but is it any wonder why Kamiki took it the way he did and why his guts were so utterly wrenched out as a result?

Kamiki's attempted proposal and Ai's immediate rejection of it are really interesting with the context of 45510 in particular. Extrapolating from her talk of marriage there, she brushed him off so quickly because she simply didn't believe he was serious… and yeah, he's pretty clearly not fully cognizant of the weight of what he's trying to propose, never mind that he's meeting "let's break up" with "LET'S GET MARRIED" lol.

Also interesting to extrapolate from both 45510 and other material surrounding Ai is that, at that point in her life, she simply didn't understand what the point of marriage was. On top of her being Literally Sixteen And A Child right now, Ai is said to have come from a deeply dysfunctional home where her mother engaged in a number of equally dysfunctional relationships, at least one of whom was with a man who was creeping on Ai even as he was working up to marry her mom. It's no wonder she doesn't really take the idea of marriage seriously, but it still hurts so see her reject Kamiki so bluntly - even more bluntly in the Japanese text somehow, simply chirping 無理! (Muri!) in response, i.e, not just "no way" but telling Kamiki to his face it's impossible.

Honestly this whole breakup scene is so darkly hilarious just in terms of how bad Ai is completely beefing it. Congrats babygirl that's the worst anyone's ever done it!!!

And we finally get the "I can't love you" drop after just shy of 25 chapters of buildup…….. And honestly, it feels a little hollow.

I talked about this a little before so forgive me for repeating myself but that line - or rather, Aqua and Ruby's implied misunderstanding of it - from Ai to Hikaru was given a huge amount of weight in the story when it was first introduced. It was implied to be the lynchpin in which everything else about the HKAI romance rested only for the story to go UH WELL ACTUALLY IT'S ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT AI FORGIVES HER KILLER which is like… fine, it just feels very jarring on a reread or when trying to sew together a plot thread like this. It especially feels strange because the emphasis is placed on them not getting it right or at least that Gotanda disagrees with their interpretation, only for the manga to whip back around and not only return this line to its previous heightened importantance but also to largely not line up with what was established about this line and its place in the narrative when it was first introduced. It's just more evidence that Akasaka's plans for the Movie Arc and its resolution changed in some way during serialisation because these inconsistencies are pretty glaring.

Not just that, but like… it's hard to feel impacted by this line when we didn't even see it in the Movie Arc. In general, it's so fucking weird that so much about the main emotional resolutions going on right now revolve around Ruby's performance in the movie when most of the big emotional moments people are reacting to are happening entirely offscreen. This would already be bad even if it wasn't taking place in a manga like OnK with its increasingly frustrating habit of offscreening more and more bits of the story that are extremely important for the characters. Before this chapter I would've said that maybe we'd see some of it after the movie released but given that Kamiki's arc and the revenge play as a whole is pretty clearly wrapping here, what would even be the point of it?

Idk. It's just increasingly obvious (and just as frustrating) to me just how much of the Movie Arc was wasted time and how much of the setup that needed to happen to make what follows really land just… didn't. This chapter's resolution for Ai and Hikaru, both separately and as a couple, is still excellent, but it could have been a lot better if its foundations weren't so meager.

We also finally get concrete proof from the horse's mouth that Kamiki was the one who deliberately leaked Ai's address and……. honestly this is kind of a wet fart too lol. OnK has previously very strongly implied that "Kamiki is Ai's killer" was a red herring or that we should at least be slightly skeptical of Aqua's assertions and conclusions but… nope, he was right all along, I guess?? Alright………………………… I certainly don't believe his insistence that gosh he totes didn't think Ryosuke would go THAT far and I'm still wondering wtf the two of them were doing at the hospital the night the twins were born but like. Honestly at this point, I don't really think it matters and I care much more about emotional resolutions than I do granular plot details - and boy do we get one hell of an emotional resolution.

I haven't shouted her out yet because I was saving it for this section but fuck, man, Mengo's expression work told chapter is killer as usual but this final stretch of pages is just gutwrenching. Ai's gentle, rueful smile on the DVD contrasted with the look of shocked, dawning understanding on Kamiki's….. Jesus Christ.

And at last, we uncover the final secret hidden at the bottom of Ai's heart. The entire manga thus far has been a process of stripping away the viewer's willful ignorance with regards to Ai's humanity but the DVDs had been an oddly ominous mystery box floating around, containing some implied dark secret that would change the entire trajectory of Ai's character as we knew it… but of course, the person who tells us that is Ai herself, a girl who hates herself, thinks of herself as dirty and impure, irresponsible and incapable of love.

So is it really any surprise that her darkest secret, the thing she can only confess with her eyes shining with black stars is simply that she's a fallible human? That she was a lonely young girl, confused and hurt in her own ways and that she hurt someone she dearly cared for and wanted to take it back?

Is it a little convenient that she put all this in the DVD? Yes, absolutely, and I'll be the first to say that the DVDs existing at all are a pretty clear retcon in service of getting info onto Aqua's hands. But it's also perfectly in line with Ai's timid, avoidant methods of reaching out. It parallels both Viewpoint B and 45510 (moreso the latter) where she pours her heart out in words, waiting for others to read and understand her. In 45510 in particular, her leaving the blog post is an extremely clear and strong parallel to the DVD - love letters put into bottles and thrown to the ocean in desperate hope the person they're addressed to might find and understand them.

As Akane says, Ai is torn between secrecy and a desire to have her true self exposed, so she attempts to craft scenarios in which this must happen, even if her avoidance can only allow her to do so with indirect methods. With the blog and moreso the DVDs & their method of delivery, Ai attempts to create situations where the initiation confrontation and disclosure is out of her hands and she has no choice but to tell the truth.

Ai's entire speech here is just heartbreaking. If the start of the chapter didn't make it explicit enough, we see her here put her good intentions into words to better understand how they were misinterpreted.

This adds SUCH a fascinating additional layer to her death that has me gnashing my fucking teeth. One of the things I've talked about a lot in my Ai meta is that Ryosuke is essentially an agent or even an embodiment of the entertainment industry and the way it has exploited her - the misogyny, entitlement, purity culture and abuse that ruled her life went on to end it. With this additional detail, though, Ryosuke becomes an agent not just of the things that plagued Ai of B-Komachi, but Ai as a human, too. All her life, Ai is willfully misunderstood and mischaracterized by the people around her, assigned narratives and roles without her consent and punished for both living up to and failing to live up to them. Ai's death is the end result of a lifelong cascade of failure on the part of every system and individual that has had the opportunity and responsibility to care for her - and, as Aqua throws in his father's face, that includes Hikaru.

Hikaru's supposed understanding of Ai is not one based in empathy or love but projection and possessiveness - understanding in this context is ownership, exclusivity and frankly, arrogance. A claim to a piece of Ai that no one else knows. But as Aqua forces him to realize… Hikaru never understood Ai, even as she did her best to make herself understood. For all his arrogance of understanding Ai and the nature of their relationship, Kamiki is ultimately just the same as every other person who idolized and objectified her then discarded her when the image they'd created in their mind didn't match reality. Ai wasn't his pure and perfect soulbonded saviour - she was a lonely, broken kid like him, still struggling to understand love after a lifetime spent starved of it.

Once, Kamiki begged Ai to save him. And here, the bitter truth is laid out for all of us: the salvation Kamiki had wished for was waiting for him, reaching out with open arms and he not only desecrated it but irrevocably destroyed any path back towards it. In killing Ai, Hikaru Kamiki killed himself.

The imagery of this moment is so fucking gorgeous. The visual of Kamiki and Ai reaching out to each other, in mutual understanding at last but separated by time and death… the "what if" happy Hoshino family… Ai's words being framed as a 'love letter' that transcended time to reach Kamiki and Aqua's eyes blazing with white as tears pour down his face… Jesus fucking Christ Mengo I'm already dead!!!!!

Like I said up top, I make zero secret of the fact that I am primarily invested in Ai above everything else in the manga and the way her importance has been seemingly downplayed since the late 130s mark chapter wise has really bugged me. As such, this chapter was INSANELY cathartic for me. Not only do we get a really beautiful cap to Ai's post death arc (hopefully finally killing those dumbfuck Secretly Evil Ai theories for good) but it's done in a way that once again recenters her love and her wishes as the heart of everything. Even Aqua's revenge play is completely redefined in this context - no longer the childish, selfish and self destructive lashing out we've seen before but as a quest to both honor Ai and to punish the person arrogantly assuming ownership of her heart even as he so catastrophically misunderstands her.

This is a really fantastic end to Aqua's arc too… on paper, that is. I know for a fact that a certain genre of OnK readers are going to bitch and moan that Aqua didn't run his dad over with a 2003 Honda Civic but I really can't imagine Aqua's revenge quest going any other way unless OnK was intended to be a pure tragedy. Over and over, we have seen that Aqua's revenge is at odds with not just his happiness but with Ai's wish for him to live a full life with a bright future. It is self destructive, hurtful to the people around him and antithetical to any of them moving on and reclaiming what their futures. With the emphasis the story places on moving towards a happy future, in selfishly reclaiming your happiness even in the face of systems that seek to crush you and on honouring Ai's wishes and legacy, it would be flatly thematically incoherent for Aqua to choose killing.

The issue is not with this as Aqua's end point but with the path we've taken to get here. As was the issue with Ruby during the Movie Arc, we don't actually see any of the internal work that happened in service of this arc, just the big emotional end points of offscreen development. But it stings especially bad with Aqua when such a huge chunk of the last few arcs locked us out of his head, sharply contrasting the start of the story that lived and breathed his interiority - AND when this is more or less the capstone to his series long struggle to choose love or revenge. It's not that I dislike this as an emotional payoff for Aqua's revenge - this is more or less beat for beat what I'd expected - but that it lacks proper support from the rest of the story. In general, this chapter falls flatter than it should because all this heightened, dramatic emotion rests on arcs and setup that simply have not been shown to the reader, save for Ai.

Speaking of Ai, the info in the DVD here potentially represents a pretty major break in the continuity of Aqua's behaviour based on when we're told he had access to it but I'm willing to bite my tongue and see if that gets filled in, if only because this chapter review is already so fucking long. Let's just say that I Noticed and I sure hope Aka or his editors did too.

And finally… Oh, hey there, Ruby! Aren't you an interesting little snarl to this chapter. Or maybe "snarl" isn't quite right, but her presence here is potentially interesting either way. I'm not quite sure how to read both her expression and her presence - the expression on her face looks VERY displeased and it looks to me like she's outside the room, so is she maybe eavesdropping and not happy with what she hears? Or is she in on Aqua's talk with Kamiki here and just struggling with her emotions with regards to it all? I'm quiety hoping it's the latter, because it would confirm that Ruby DID recognize her dad in 147 and Akasaka wasn't expecting me to believe he was hitting her with the stupid stick quite that hard lol.

In either case, I'm actually excited to see what Ruby takes away from this. In the ways that AQRB has echoed the HKAI dynamic, Ruby has always been in Kamiki's shoes - the one desperate to be saved, clinging to her oshi and relying on him as her sole bastion of light in the world. So what will she think now after being faced with the logical endpoint of this wished-for codependence? When she sees how destructive and self destructive it can potentially be? Just as she saw Ai reflected in herself, will Ruby see her father in her own reflection - and if so, what will she do about it?

Break next week! So we'll be sitting pretty for two weeks to find out. Not that I actually mind this time because with a chapter like this on top of season 2 of the anime coming back today, a week without a break might have actually killed me… please, akamengo, i'm just a little guy!!!!

[kazumist]

a/n: based on you are in love by taylor swift. cw: ooc suna. wc: 679. first time writing in this style so idk what to feel about this one :')

dear (y/n),

by the time you read this letter, it’s probably after dinner time, and you have nothing else to do. i know you’re going to see my face again tomorrow, but please don’t mention this letter at school. especially around the twins.

i’d like to tell a simple story. it’s nothing really special. but there were three moments where i said “i love you” in my own way before we started dating (though you probably didn’t notice it, didn’t you?).

first was during prom night. it was a bit dark in the venue, but i could spot you sulking alone at a table almost immediately. i was a bit late last night, since you know. i wasn’t really planning on attending since fancy events like these require you to dress up in a suffocating suit. but when i got a text from atsumu saying that your date dumped you, i asked my mom if she could help me get ready real quick.

when i finally got there, we ended up ditching prom and instead watching whatever movie was still showing at the cinema, even though we were in formal wear. i remember us watching a tragic romance film, and you were trying your best not to cry because you didn’t want to ruin your look. congrats, by the way. you actually didn’t end up crying.

to put it simply, yes. i did wear a suffocating suit because i didn’t want you to end prom night alone with bad memories.

the first was a nerve wracking experience, but i wouldn’t have it any other way.

the second time was the time you slept over. i randomly woke up in the middle of the night, and you thought it was because of a nightmare since i had this “strange look” on my face (your words, not mine). you asked me if i was okay, but i didn’t reply immediately, which i know made you worry more.

when i told you that “you’re my best friend,” you playfully smacked my head that time for being so random and for making you worry over nothing.

maybe it was because of the time that night, or maybe it’s because you didn’t think of it that much the next morning or so, but i was supposed to say “i love you” that night. yet i didn’t since it would be too sudden—and i wanted to confess in a proper way. not in a way where you and i are both sleepy as hell (that would be super memorable, though).

i didn’t want to admit that i love you at first. but even in our shared silence and on our way home, i could sense it. i could feel that something was shifting with the way i saw you. that i started to see you more as a best friend.

the third time was actually when i randomly invited you to drive around with me, even though it was around midnight by that time. i remember it being a pain to climb up the tree that was near your bedroom window, and i also remember it being a greater pain to find tiny rocks that i could throw at your window.

to be honest with you, getting coffee wasn’t really the reason i asked you out that night. it’s really just an excuse—even though i see you every day, i still miss you. i wasn’t after the coffee or the place where we parked to drink; i was after your company. the feeling of you next to me.

i hope that the next time we get some coffee, you'll talk to me about anything and everything again. that you’ll tell me what show or movie you've watched recently. that you’ll tell me if you've discovered something new recently, even if it seems unimportant.

and if you’re left with nothing to say, you can share your silence with me.

so please get some coffee with me again soon.

yours truly, rintarou.

(p.s. i know this is a bit cheesy; let’s not talk about it.)

[ellies-coochiesucker]

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹!𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀

Meeting her

You and Ellie meet through Jesse. You and Jesse dated for about a month three years before. He made you realize you were a lesbian.

He invited you to a study group that included; him, Dina, and Ellie.

In the school library, the four sat around the circular table in the center of the room. Jesse being Jesse fucked around the whole session causing the group to get annoyed stares. Dina decided that they should leave.

When you suggested that you guys just reschedule.

Dina told you and Ellie to stay.

....alone

“No, no. You guys stay I've got to get this idiot out of here.” Dina glanced at you guys, sensing some sort of awkwardness. “If it's okay with you guys.”

“Um, yeah, if it's fine with you.” Ellie shrugged as she stared at you.

“Oh. Yeah I don't have a problem.”

Of course, It was awkward between you guys at first but after a while things went smoother. The studying was soon forgotten about once she let it slip that she likes comic books.

Becoming best friends

After the failed study session, you start to hang out with the group more. Always Jesse doing something stupid and you, Dina, and Ellie talk shit about him. You've finally found your people.

Sneaking out to go on late-night drives and you being the only one who doesn't know how to drive. You will get bullied for it believe me.

“Imagine failing Spanish.”

“Imagine not knowing how to drive.” - Jesse

You were tired of the constant abuse from mostly Jesse, so you asked Ellie to teach you how to drive. She agrees.

“You forgot to put on your seat best.”

“Oh - shit, slow down a little.”

“Fuck you ran a red light... it's okay, you’re okay. Everybody makes mistakes. ”

“Maybe drive the speed limit. No... it's alright just try not to go 25 miles over next time.”

“You can go a little faster.”

“You’re doing great, babe”

Babe was something she called you a lot but only when you were alone, which you guys were a lot as you got more comfortable with each other. Not needing Dina or Jesse to make things less awkward anymore.

Going to the library to read comic books for hours.

Taking unexpected pictures of each other.

Having your first sleepover at her house. Dina being jealous that she didn't get an invite.

Ellie complaining about her job being ass, wishing you were with her.

You getting hired at her job a month and a half later.

You guys making everything a two-person job.

Sending songs that remind you of each other.

your song that reminded you of her

“Why does this song remind you of me?”

“Idk...this song kinda reminds me of hope and then I think about...you...i guess.”

Dating her

Everyone at school already thought you guys were dating, since Ellie isn't nice to anyone. Not even her own friends sometimes.

how she asked you out:

Ellie was a sweaty mess. She was currently in her room, pacing from one side to the other, as Dina and Jesse watched from her bed.

“Oh my god! What if she says no? I'll fucking die of embarrassment .” She tugged the sides of her hair.

“Ellie calm down.” Dina moves from the bed to her friend. She pushes Ellie’s hands away from her hair, fixing the few strands that were out of place. “She’s gonna say yes. She’s basically in love with you. You're gonna be fine.”

“Yeah, you're all she talks about. Seriously I'm sick of it.” Jesse groaned recalling all the times you would bring up Ellie in a conversation. Her doing the same.

This made Ellie feel a little better.

They heard a knock before the door opened revealing yourself. “Hey, guys! I brought cookies for movie night.” You raised the plastic bag in your hands giving Ellie a big grin.

“Actually, I think I'm coming down with something.” She let out a fake cough and grabbed Jesse’s hand. “Jesse is just gonna take me home.”

“But what about movie night? I bought cookies.” You gave a pout, holding up the bag again.

“Next time I promised.” She and Jesse left.

“Well, I guess it's just us.” You smiled at Ellie. “Yeah, just us.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.

“I - um” Ellie cleared her throat. “I got you something.”

Ellie took a deep breath before going behind her bed to fetch the gift. You let out a gasp as you saw the big bucket of lego flowers, a couple definitely from different lego sets. “I made these for you.”

“Ellie they’re beautiful.” You came closer to her picking a few flowers out of the bucket. “How long did this take?” You placed the flowers back, taking the whole pail from the girl. “About 15 hours. It took me all day.” She said like it was no big deal. “What the hell! Are you not exhausted?”

“I am but it was worth it for the girl I like.”

“The girl you like?”

“Yeah.” She fiddled with her fingers, staring at her socks.

“Me?”

“....yeah”

“So is this movie night...like a date?”

“...if you want it to be.”

Since Ellie didn't have a tv in her room, she used her computer. You both snuggled close, Ellie letting you pick the movie.

Pitch Perfect is what you decided on. Ellie complains, not wanting to watch this movie for the hundredth time.

Ellie watched with amazement as you quoted almost every line.

“Ellie watch the movie.”

“Right...Sorry.”

You don't know when you fell asleep but you woke up to multiple text messages and missed calls from your mother.

“OH SHIT, ELLIE.” You screamed gripping your phone to see that it was 2 am. “WHAT!WHAT!” She scrambled from the bed, you doing the same. “I have to get home!” You slipped on your shoes before grabbing your bucket of flowers.

“Okay. I'll take you home.” She attempted to rub the sleepiness from her face. She tripped a bit trying to put on longer pants and put on her shoes.

All of a sudden Ellie’s door blasted open to reveal Joel....with a bat? “Why does he have a bat?”

“I don't know.”

After a little communication, Joel decided to take you home. Ellie road in the back of Joel’s truck not wanting you to be alone. You guys held hands ── just because it was cold of course ── trying to stay awake.

“I'll walk you inside.” Ellie told you as she grabbed the bucket of flowers. “Ok.” You said your goodbyes to Joel and got out of the truck and onto your front porch.

“Thank you for the flowers and the movie night.” You beamed as you stared into her tired eyes. “I had fun.”

“I'm glad.” She eagerly nodded, not knowing what to do next.

There was 30 seconds of awkwardness, neither of them how to take the first move.

“Fuck it.” You mumbled under your breath. You gently placed your hands on Ellie’s cold face but was quickly heating up from her blushing. You both closed your eyes and leaned in until your lips are locked. Ellie’s grip on the bucket loosens almost causing her to drop it as the kiss quickens in pace.

The two were startled and pulled away from each other by Joel honking his horn. Ellie turned to the truck to give Joel a fast glare before turning back around to you.

“I gotta go sorry.” She gave an apologetic gaze. She handed you the bucket.

“It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow.” You kissed her on the cheek. “Good Night.”

“Good night.” She hesitantly walked back to Joel’s truck.

Two weeks later she asked you to be her girlfriend.

you guys as girlfriends

Her always bringing you snacks for lunch because you refuse to eat that despicable school lunch.

“You got her those dry-ass sugar cookies.” Jesse groaned watching you eat your cookies. Ellie, who had her arm wrapped around your shoulder, rolled her eyes at his statement. She also hated the dry cookie with, in her opinion, too much frosting. But her girlfriend loves them so, of course, she’ll get them for you. “Shut the fuck up. You're just jealous that you have to eat the gross school food.”

You and Ellie have one class together. The entire period consists of you not doing your assignment, but instead watching trashy reality tv shows, and Ellie having to keep you on track, failing most of the time.

Sometimes she just ends up taking your test for you. The teacher never walks around during testing so who cares?

You have to force Ellie to eat. Before you guys meet she would forget to eat all day and wonder why she felt so bad the next day.

“El, do you wanna get some food?”

“No thanks, I just eat.”

“What’d you eat?”

“A bagel.”

“Ellie that was this morning. And we shared half of it.”

“Oh.”

a little argument you guys got into:

“El, my love, do you wanna go get ice cream?”

“I'm not really in the mood for it but I can still take you, babe.”

“I don't want ice cream if you're not gonna get ice. I’d feel bad.”

“Don’t feel bad I just don’t want any. I can still get you some.”

“No, I don't want ice cream anymore.”

“Babe let's not do this. I'll just have some of your ice cream.”

“No, I want my own ice cream.”

“I thought you didn't want ice cream.”

“Not if you don't want any.”

“Oh, my god.”

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you think Marinette really loves Adrien or does she loves the idea of him in her head?

Idk but I'm agree with Alya in Elation that you can't really love someone you don't know and Marinette arguably know Adrien only on surface level, either from the magazines or stalking him. We never got a scene where they talk together to get to know each other and then BAM! They just get together.

I also feels like Adrien's love for Marinette also more a rebound than anything. The writers can say anything they want, that Adrien fell in love with Marinette in Pupeteer2. But you don't develop feelings for someone you barely know, especially when in that said episode Adrien still think Marinette hate him. It's just weird. But again, idk, maybe it just me because I don't catch feelings to someone I barely talk to. That's just creepy AF no offense.

It's really hard to say because canon is all over the place when it comes to how close Adrien and Marinette are. Season three and four make them feel like little more than acquaintances, but if you think back to seasons one and two, they legitimately were friends.

Adrien turned to Marinette for dating advice (Frozer). Marinette and Adrien gamed for hours to prepare for a tournament (Gamer). Marinette and Adrien went to a party with their friends and danced together (Despair Bear). Marinette, Adrien, and their friends worked together to make a movie (Horrificator). I could go on, but the general gist is that it feels disingenuous to say that they barely interact. They interact a lot! It's just limited to the first two seasons.

I scanned through the episode list while writing this and seasons one and two have them interact in a meaningful way in about half of the episodes while seasons three and four got distracted by the new love interests, Lila, and the awful broken Ladynoir dynamic, dramatically cutting back on the Adrinette content to the show's detriment.

The other issue is that Marinette's crush is written more and more like a celebrity crush as the seasons go on, making it feel less and less genuine. So it's understandable to feel like she doesn't really love Adrien given how the show presents her, but if you tone down the crush to a non-comedic level, it does feel earned to me and I am also the kind of person that needs to know someone before developing feelings. Celebrity crushes and instant love are things I rarely enjoy in media probably at least in part because I'm ace.

I actually didn't get truly invested in the love square until Origins showed us why they first developed feelings. There's a reason I treat that episode as the golden standard for characterization. It's some of the best writing Miraculous has ever done. The writers crammed an impressive amount of content into 40 minutes and elevated the silly teen crushes into something with real substance. I will forever be sad that the rest of the show falls so short of that episode.

Moving on!

The Puppeteer 2 thing feels like a bad joke and it might be? It's hard to tell given how weird this show can get with its humor. Either way, it would have made a lot more sense and been much cuter if Adrien fell for Marinette when she unknowingly confessed her crush to him Glaciator 2 instead of falling for her after she accidentally forces a kiss on him during a prank gone wrong.

As for the rebound element... yeah, I don't disagree. Everything about the reverse crush was just weird because Ladybug falling for Chat Noir felt way more honest and earned than Adrien falling for Marinette given the way seasons five plays. I mean, the episode right before the reverse saw Ladynoir get married and have children, but Adrien is the one whose feelings are true and Marinette is the one having a rebound? Sure, writers. Sure.

If the reverse had happened right off of the season four finale, though? Then that actually could have worked. In those episodes, Marinette supported Adrien while their friends were oblivious to his true feelings, Adrien finally saw just how much pressure Ladybug was under, and Chat Noir supported Ladybug unconditionally in her darkest hour. I'm personally not a fan of the crushes switching mid-show, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a solid setup to lead into it. Adrienette and Ladynoir had never felt closer.

I think it's fair to say that this is why Miraculous is such a complex show for a lot of fans. It has truly spectacular setups, but the payoff always seems to fall flat on its face.

[rosypenguins]

🖤DROEY???🩷

*+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+

Synopsis: Zoey asks Drew to go see a movie with her and the gay little magenta-man is unable to decipher if it’s supposed to be a date or not.

A/N: Someone said they liked my Drake fics and that single compliment gave me the motivation to finish this hooray!! Anyways this fic takes place in the Jomies’ Sophomore year, and Drew is still contemplating (denying) his feelings for Jake. Also. He’s- he’s an idiot he is the big dumb I am silently screaming as I write this DREW YOU’RE A DUMBASS but anyways Droey backstory hooray healthy Droey!! (Or is it??)

(Contains swearing and a painfully stupid Drew.)

*+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+ *+

Drew: Guys I think I got a date?

Liam: WHAT????

Henry: DHISVSJS HOWWW???

Liam: FYM YOU THINK???

Drew: Idk a girl asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her Friday

Drew: She said she had a spare ticket or smth

Liam: Yeah that’s a date

Drew: Shit

Henry: How’d you get a date before me?;-;

Liam: Which girl is this?

Drew: Zoey, the girl from our Biology class.

Liam: THAT ZOEY???

Henry: THE POPULAR ONE???

Drew: Yeah?

Henry: HOWW???

Drew: Wym how?

Henry: No offense dude but its literally ZOEY

Henry: And it’s you

Drew: Are you saying she’s out of my league?

Liam: Yeah basically

Jake: DREW YOU GOT A DATE???

Liam: About time you responded Jake

Henry: Lol looks like your boys cheating on you Jakeyyyy

Drew: STFU

Jake: Sobbing rn how could you do this to me Drew?? Thought we were homies!!

Drew: I hope you all fucking explode

Liam: TF DID I DO???

Jake: LMAO

Jake: Fr tho congrats on getting a date Drew I hope it goes well

Jake: And if you need any advice just lmk I’m quite the charmer after all lol

Liam: You’ve certainly charmed someone

Drew: LIAM KYS RN

Jake: Wym?

***

With a heavy sigh, Drew set his phone to the side, falling onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

So… this was a date.

With Zoey. With pretty, popular Zoey…

…Did he even like Zoey like that? He’d never considered her as anything more than a friend before, but… he did enjoy her company during class, and he did like working on assignments with her. He didn’t mind it when she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and… she was obviously very pretty.

Maybe he did have a crush. And had just never realized it before….

But Drew could recall a time Jake had been describing his crush. He referred to it as a warm, fluttery feeling. One that made him forget almost all common sense. And Drew couldn’t say that applied to him…

But… he must’ve had a crush on her. Why else would he find her attractive?

Drew buried his face in his hands, muffling a soft groan. It suddenly occurred to him he’d never even been on a date before. Sure, he had past relationships, but those were in Middle School. Those didn’t count.

God, Zoey had probably been on lots of dates before, too. She must’ve had high expectations for him.

Drew sighed, running a hand through his hair before rolling onto his side, thinking back to all those dumb romance movies Jake convinced him to watch. He was hoping they’d finally come in handy and answer at least one of his questions, but he was quick to realize he hadn’t retained any of the plot.

What he could recall, however, was Jake, misty-eyed with a soft blush dusting his face, staring at the TV with the dumbest grin on his face as he watched the main characters kiss for the first time.

…Why was that the only thing he could remember?

***

Friday came a lot sooner than expected, and Drew still wasn’t sure if it was a date or not. He’d gone back and forth about it for days, and eventually, he managed to convince himself that this was just a hangout. Not a date. After all, he could see some truth behind the texts his friends had sent. It was Zoey. And it was him. Why would Zoey want to go on a date with him?

He stood outside of the theater, scrolling aimlessly through his phone and glancing up on occasion to see if Zoey had arrived yet. His mind wouldn’t stop racing.

What if it was all some prank? What if it was a dare her friends set her up to? What if she-

“Drew!”

Drew turned to see Zoey running over to him, and was a little surprised to see she’d changed out of what she’d been wearing to school that day. Instead of her usual green top and jeans, she wore a pale pink dress, with a small golden necklace and simple white flats. It made Drew feel a little awkward, considering he hadn’t bothered to change out of the jacket and jeans he’d been wearing earlier that day.

“I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.” Zoey said, and Drew shrugged.

“Not really.” He answered, despite the fact he waiting about 30 minutes for her to show up. Zoey gave a slight nod in response, and a small smile appeared on her face.

“You ready?” She asked, and Drew nodded, before following her into the theater.

***

The movie Zoey had gotten tickets for was a mystery-thriller; a genre both him and Zoey had talked about in the past. And in all honesty, Drew would’ve found it interesting had it not been for the romantic subplot that did almost nothing to drive the main plot along.

But… he imagined Jake would probably like it a lot. He was a sucker for forbidden romance after all.

About halfway through the movie or so, Drew felt something brush against his hand, and glanced over to see Zoey had placed her hand right beside his.

…He’d seen enough of Jake’s romance movies to know where this was going.

Slowly, Zoey pressed her hand closer to his, resting her pinky over his. Drew blinked, unable to move his gaze. He really didn’t have a clue how to feel about this.

So once again, he thought back to those romance movies, and slowly moved his hand closer to hers.

And eventually, Zoey interlocked their fingers together.

…Zoey’s hand was noticeably smaller than his. And it was a little cold, but it was soft, and… it felt nice to hold.

He still couldn’t say he felt that fluttery feeling, though. Maybe that only affected some people…

Eventually, the movie finished, and with his hand still in her’s, Zoey led the two out of the theater. She rambled on a bit about her thoughts regarding the movie, but… Drew couldn’t focus on her voice, his attention still fixated on the fact he was holding her hand.

He was holding a popular girl’s hand…

Under the shade of the night sky, Drew finally decided to say something. He lifted his gaze to meet her’s, and-

“Was this a date?” He blurted out.

Zoey stopped almost instantly, and blinked as she processed his question.

And not a moment later, she burst out laughing.

“Seriously?! You didn’t realize?!” Drew could feel his face heat up.

“You never specified!” He countered. “I didn’t want to assume anything!”

“Come on, Drew! You’re a guy, I’m a girl, we went to the movies together, alone. That’s a date!”

“You could’ve just said that!” He grumbled, and Zoey turned away from him, covering her smile with the back of her hand.

“You’re so cute.” She whispered, and Drew could only imagine how red his face must’ve been.

“What?!” He could hear Zoey giggle again.

“Nothing, nothing. I… had a really nice time tonight.” She admitted, twirling around to stand in front of him.

And the way she looked beneath the moonlight. The way the light seemed to dance along her skin. The way she looked at him so longingly…

He’d never felt so… wanted before.

“So… would you want to do this again sometime?”

Time seemed to slow for a moment, and there was only one answer Drew could think to give such a perfect girl.

But for a fleeting moment, another blonde crossed his mind.

…

“I’d like that.”

[rottentiger-art]

I’m a grown woman obsessed with Logan and Quinn suddenly again like a 12 year old after that trailer. And I have some thoughts. We have possible outcomes that I can see based on the limited scenes we got. The bad case: they get engaged off screen and announce it to Zoey over FaceTime like we saw in the trailer. Then Quinn does a runner on the wedding day (we do get a shot of her running in a wedding dress), and the wedding ends up being about chase and Zoey getting back together. We see Logan has a headset on in pretty much every shot, including when he’s standing at the alter (wtf Logan?). Maybe Quinn sees this, and panics, and thinks money and work will come before her so she runs. Eventually they end up back together, and we then get that shot of him proposing again and promising it won’t happen (with Zoey there, why 🙄) and we are left with the implication they’ll get married eventually. It’s also the 1 scene between the two of them where he isn’t wearing his headset which adds value to the whole he’s a workaholic thing and Quinn’s had enough. The thing that makes me confused is that Quinn is 100% already wearing her engagement ring in that shot, and Logan 100% has jewellery in that box. The better option: Logan is jokingly giving her some jewellery in a ring box, and her nodding is just a weird cut to something else he said (I.e., not accepting a proposal). That scene is weird as well because Zoey’s 2 best friends of almost 20 years are getting engaged, Quinn is nodding yes and Zoey looks confused and worried. The confusing thing about it is Quinn’s hair is short, but it is long for every other shot. Cause Quinn and Logan look different in that shot to the rest of the movie, I was hoping that perhaps it’s a flashback to when they got engaged many years ago and it has just been a really long engagement. So when they tell Zoey over FaceTime, it’s not about getting married it’s about them finally setting a date? But that doesn’t tie into why Quinn has an engagement ring on already. Regardless of how it happens I know they’ll 100% end up together but I don’t want them to be plot devices to Zoey and chase. I may be losing my mind over this. I need a break but had to share my obsessive thoughts with someone.

oh man, where do I start. I'm also a grown person obsessed with a ship from my childhood. I said it a lot of times heheh but Quogan was my first ship and the first fanfic I ever read was about them. I didn't know what a fanfic was and really thought that was some deleted scene or something XD.

I would hate to if they don't get married at the end, that would be so disappointing, but it would not ruin the ship for me, I'd simply not consider the movie canon and make/read a fic fixing that lol.

I am bothered by Zoey being there for the proposal/or whatever that was, because ugh can we, please, have something? without her? please? I never cared about her character (or anyone aside from Logan and Quinn, really) So I hope they don't make that moment about them.

I do hope it's a flashback, but like you said, the ring makes it not make sense.

I was also wondering about Logan's headset, I thought it was more of him being a bridezilla and controlling the whole wedding and making it all about himself, excluding Quinn unintentionaly lol.

I need to rewatch the show to refresh my memory about the characters, it's been years after all. I never saw Logan as the workaholic kind, but I could be wrong or he could have changed, idk.

Either way, all I hope right now is that they end up together. If they decide marriage is not for them, I'll accept it as long as they don't separate. God please don't let that happen. Tho I won't deny I would be pissed, since they are advertising this using their wedding as a bait and for them to not give us that at the end? very shady. We would be quoganbaited lol.

Speaking of that, I too don't want them to be a plot device for Zoey and Chase. I can't stress enough how much I don't care about them. And I understand the movie is about finally getting them together, but please, let us have Quogan in peace. The two ships can co-exist without overshadowing the other (despite one being clearly superior ehem)

feel free to keep sending asks or dm me if you wish, I love talking about quogan.

[bigbumder96]

my review on the original heartbreak high + the characters after watching like 2 nd a half seasons😈😈😈

spoilers below‼

the original is so much different to the reboot?😭 tbh the first season was very different to the rest of the show aswell as the reboot, but the only similarities i feel like they both have is that its took place in the same school and some (2💀) of the characters are in the reboot some way or another

overall, i do like the show. more than the reboot??? maybe, maybe not, idk😰😰😰 but its very well written in the sense that all the characters are insufferable, but you still feel pity for them and have a soft spot for them until next thing you know, theyre number 1 on your favourite list for the next 3 episodes until they do something crazy and slide all the way down to the bottom🙁

the storylines are actually really interesting, although i just know the writers are starting to run out of ideas. like theyre averaging around 40 episodes fkr 7 seasons there is NO way its gna be interesting all the way through💀 although i could be surprised, i was only bored in the first episode or two, because it has a bit of a slow beginning. infact i started this tv show ages ago but i never got past episode 1 until now😭

one problem i do have is the normalised large age gaps😨 like a 30 year old will date a 17 year old and nobody bats an eye... a bit scary tbh😞😞😞 they do still have storylines about how bad large age gaps are and how they're creepy but yk... hypocrisy is a real disease. im not too surprised though, as the tv show is based off a movie, called the heartbreak kid, about a romance between a teacher and her student. not so funfact: the teacher was called christina and the student was called nick. they were both played by the same actors as nick poulos and ms milano in the tv show. ☹

my opinion on the characters:

THANKFULLY they decided to keep this relationship out of the tv show. that doesnt stop the teacher x student relationships though😰😰😰 like the whole mr north - rose thing seemed pretty one sided on roses part thankfully, but he was still a nonce. like wdym u got a 17 year old pregnant and thats why you dont want to date rose? shouldnt the age gap or the fact shes your student be the reason??? then you had a 30 year old picking up con from a highschool, where she tells him he would look 'sexy' in a uniform, which just screams red flag, plus southgate and george (2 adults) knew and didnt gaf??😭 omg need i remind he was basically 🍇ed by lucys mother in the catering episode🙁 dont even get me started on sam and rivers. like he started harassing her which is horrible, but then she keot defending rivers and eventually started liking him back??? and when the students find out deloraine fired her they got mad at deloraine??? do they not care shes basically a nonce😥😥what even was the moral of this story because it was so icky... and then they run away together.😐 one storyline that highkey made me sob was lucy and her mums bf. im so happy they portrayed this in a negative light, cuz the scenes made me so uncomfortable. lucys actor is incredible tbh, this storyline was acc so sad☹

sorry for ranting, im just so mad about these😭

nick: he actually used to be my favourite, but at some point he became such a dick. like i still have a small soft spot for him because he was really nice at times, but him cheating on jodie was probably the final straw for me😭

i still absolutely ugly sobbed when he died🙁 tho

jodie: i didnt like her at first for some reason?? i dont know why???? shes actually really sweet, and probably the most open minded character in the whole show. nit at all relevant but she lowkey gives off gothic vibes😭 anyways someone find her a nice supportive boyfriend or i will date her instead. tbh tho, her and nick were cute while they lasted. also she is acc such a good singer and rapper omfg.

i also love the friendship she has w rivers and steve. like that is the perfect definition of platonuc boy and girl friendship where you can be close without catching feelings with eachother. like cuddling the homies. like kissing the homies goodnight. idk man my point is that some trios do work😋

con: probably my fav character !!! he was also my dads favourite too (my dad used to watch this when he was younger) 😭 he has a very likeable personality icl, although i feel like he lowkey has a lack of storylines. idk why, it just feels like they never give him any important storylines which is kinda sad😞 one storyline that he did have was the one with rose and jack and OH MY FUCKING GOD I GOT SO MUCH SECOND HAND EMBARASSMENT. like con, ily but asking rose to marry you was NOT a girlboss move🙁 anyways dare i say he has adhd. people might disagree, its just a headcanon (although he is adhd coded. quinni may not be the only nuerodivergent character in the hbh universe..😈)

steve: i used to hate him because i thought he was irrelevant and treated danielle horrible, but at some point in season 1 the episodes got very steve-centric and he grew on me sooo bad.😨 istg tho, there was a certain point where he could not catch a break and i felt so bad😭 like imagine ur parents divorcing and becoming homeless because none of them wanted you, and then finding out youre adopted??? crazy. imo, id say he had one of the best written storylines in the tv show, but i think thats just because i lowkey related to him.😣 like the depression arc was real (that aint even the part i related to💀) anyways hes also vv funny, and i know he dies and im already grieving him despite not actually getting to that part yet☹

danielle: i mean shes okay???? i liked her at first iykwim but then she became kinda annoyibg nd rude😭 shes fine now, but i still dislike her. however, im kinda curious to see how this drug storyline works out, as the writers seem to do pretty well with all of danis storylines. ive not gotten to this bit yet, im just kinda curious😞 however, i dont know if shes pro choice or pro life and ots scaring me...

rivers: idk, i mean sometimes hes tolerable, and other times hes just a knob. i do feel bad for him though, he went through some shit🙁 he was kinda creepy at times tho, ntm the racism and homophobia...😰 i can sense the character development though, like the difference between him in season 1 vs now is obvious ! i do dislike him quite a lot though still.

the whole thing with sam is so icky though😭

rose: icl, i loved her. she deserved to be in the show longer. i thought she was incredibky delusional though, like first that pedo mr north, and then jack? except the crazy part was that her delusions were right😥😥 i was extremely oblivious to the fact jack liked her back, but yk, never underestimate the power behind teen girl magazines😈 the whole thing with the baby felt realistic (i think?? idk ive never had a teen pregnancy before) amd i thiught it was all executed pretty well !!! plus tess was really cute😭 it would be cool if tess came in the reboot as a teacher or something!!

icba to talk about every single character, so if perchance anybody wants to know how i feel about a certain character/storyline please ask! my box thingy is open :))

[agaypanic]

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA, GO

okok idk how unpopular these opinions are gonna be tbh

Malcolm in the Middle: i lowkey hate craig, i think he's creepy ESPECIALLY in earlier seasons. you'd think that after your MARRIED coworker tells you that she doesn't like you back and there's no way in hell that she'd ever be with you, YOUD TAKE A FUCKING HINT. also while it's on my mind, i remember writing a reese x reader where readers is basically allison in that episode where craig gives her and reese a ride to the concert but he ends up ruining their date, but anon asked for them all to have a good time together and it was SO hard to write! bc if i had paid for concert tickets (most likely really expensive) for me and my bf and my ride purposefully made me miss the concert because he had a "better" plan for "our" date, i would've blown up the car

Malcolm in the Middle: i honestly didn't like the series finale. the only endings i really agreed with were malcolm's and francis' (malcolm was totally meant to go to harvard by any means necessary, even if it meant working a million jobs between classes to cover that tuition. and although he's probably still a bit of a menace, i love that francis got his act together and got a steady job). i think reese deserved a better ending, i think he could've had a really good culinary career instead of being the janitor at his high school. and i know it was probably for a gag/twist ending but i don't like that they made lois pregnant again. GIVE THE WOMAN A BREAK!!

The Naturals: i've made tiktoks about this (which yall don't know about bc you dont know me outside of this platform teehee) but i hate the way lia treats cassie. sure she got kinda better at the VERY end of the SERIES (4 books). but imagine your mom has been missing and presumed murdered for YEARS and (spoliers for books 3-4 teehee) finally the police find her body but it's not actually her and then you find out your mom is actually alive and a captive/prophet for this murder cult AND THAT YOU HAVE A SISTER THAT WAS CONCEIVED INSIDE THAT CULT. NOW imagine that while you're going through all these events, some bitch keeps telling you to keep that shit to yourself bc other people in the group are having more pressing issues and that the group is at problem capacity. BITCH ALL OF YOU HAVE ISSUES, INSTEAD OF WORKING FOR THE FBI YOU SHOULD GO TO THERAPY

Charlie's Angels: im a really big fan of the 2000's charlies angels movies but was a bit disappointed when i watched the 2019 one. dont get me wrong, its good. i just kinda wished there was some more callbacks to the 2000s movies. like imagine my disappointment when the new charlie wasn't revealed to be dylan (which would've given her character a good ending bc dylan couldn't imagine herself leaving the angels, it would make SO much sense if she ended up heading the agency. even making her a bosley would've been good)

That 70s Show: this isn't really that unpopular but the last season honestly sucked. drew gooden made a pretty good video talking about it (i love drew gooden ugh). imo, moving to africa and then breaking up with donna made no sense for eric's character. especially after donna dropped out of college to stay in point place with him! hyde and jackie breaking up? horrible. jackie and fez getting together? why???? (also the timeline for that 70s show makes no sense at all. theres this channel that did a kinda indepth vid on it and tried pinpointing when the show actually would've ended based on the episodes (mainly the holiday episodes, i think making the holiday specials really screwed over the overall timeline))

i cant think of any more opinions teehee

[thegeminisage]

THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY breakdown

as always i am transcribing the little notes i took on my phone during the experience

the three things i knew about this film before i started were 1. valeris secret villain? some kind of mind-meld forced on spock? 2. worf's grandpa 3. kirk and bones sentenced to hard labor on planet hoth. other than that i went in blind

im glad they opened with CAPTAIN!!! sulu. i feel like he couldnt be there during filming but im so relieved he got parts anyway <3

also quite shocked to see janice rand?! god bless. she was like, i've undergone so much unbelievable bullshit. lemme get that star trek money. and then she did <3

the ship shaking in this movie was VERY realistic. the m,ost realistic yet. idk why they would have glass tecups in this situation though...maybe they just like to watch them break dramatically

uhura is still so beautiful in this movie. i don't know how she gets more beautiful in every star trek thing she appears in but she did it 6 times in a row. queen

first cry of the evening was when spock showed up but it was a SHORT cry because i had just cried about him in tng two days ago.

loved his little domestic spat with kirk at the beginning. the giant space between them. doing it in public. the absolute death glares. who's in the woodshed NOW (sorry for saying woodshed)

kirk being racist was an unexpected detail but i get it. you gotta have somebody being racist to nail home this story's message or whatever. i just figured it'd be bones. then again the klingons didn't kill his kid

that one bald klingon who kept eyefucking everybody he looked at. king. i know the phrase eyefucking is out of date because we overused it but there is simply no other way to describe it. he was there to leer at men suggestively and recite a batshit amount of shakespeare. and he did a great job

i had so much fun playing spot the tng set. they kept those rooms SO dark so we wouldn't recognize them but i did anyway.

the anti-gravity scene was SO so so so cool and good. like, the 90s cgi purple pepto bismol blood took me out of it a little but we have been saying every time something fucked up their little ship "how is the gravity still on rn." and the answer, always, is "it's on bc no-grav scenes cost money." FINALLY we got a no gravity scene. such a profound sense of both awe and closure

the violence was shockingly gorey too. like we had severed arms and real blood flying everywhere. idk that any of the trek i've watched so far has been quite that explicit

the scene where bones tries to save the klingon high chancellor. 10/10. bones the healer begging to be allowed to save lives. him jumping straight up onto that table and straddlign that man. him digging his hands into all that klingon blood. what a fine moment. it was a little homoerotic of that guy to grab kirk in the spiderman kiss pose as he was dying too

sarek cameo <3 it felt weird to see him alive right after he died

i did wonder why they didn't just have saavik in this film instead of valeris...i guess that saavik fans would have been mad if the send-off for the character was to make her a backstabber. but it would have felt more believable that spock be blind to her passions because she was also his protege. it also would've made the mind meld (WHICH. WOW. GETTING TO THAT) all the more tragic. valeris does a great spock eyebrow but she's not as compelling as saavik and she doesn't have the backstory so even if i hadn't had the spoilers i would have suspected her

things i didnt like: that one colonel guy saying terrorism and mr scott saying bitch. watch your mouth, gentleman.

the trial was fine (i still have trial fatigue) but i find it hard to believe klingons dont have tear ducts. what if they get something in their eyes? i loved seeing worf. i loved bones's little arthritis joke. frail little old waif of a man <3

kirk getting his ass handed to him over his personal logs is why you don't make personal logs. even funnier: their thing where they were like yeah but he has a record of [lists 1000000 crimes kirk has committed]. that was funny because it was true.

i love when they put dogs in costumes

bones collapsing in that blizzard was my ONE AND ONLY HOPE for this movie. i needed him to do it so bad so i could round out my collection and he did not let me down. true consistency. authenticity. king behavior. me when i go north fr

unexpected: both the cigar and the hot alien lady. i don't know what either of them were even doing there. she literally macked on kirk right in front of bones's salad. idk if we can count this as a close encounter though considering how short it was

i loved kirk's little fight where he nutshotted the alien. and their little prison outfits. and them snuggling up on bed together to stay warm <3 also bones being like and one day PFFFT kobayashi maru, that's it! quintessential bones behavior.

AMANDA GRAYSON RELATED TO SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE??? cmon.

mixed feelings about the shapeshifter. double kirks was great (once again: william shatner plays a woman) and hilarious especially when they smooshed poor bones. double especially when she was like yeah well i bet you always wanted to kiss yourself anyway. that little girl giving kirk a saucy wink was maybe less fun. it would have been a close encounter if they'd fucked i guess

spirk talking in the hall and their faces were soooo close together

spock's forced mind meld: i thought this was something done TO him, not something HE DID. imagine my shock. there's a little mirror spock in him after all. it was absolutely fucking ruthless. i have a little pet theory that everyone in the mirrorverse is really the same - it's only their circumstances that turned them into monsters. it's not always viable and it's not always as fun as them just being evil and edgy, but this does lend it evidence <3

spock "i've been dead before" absolute king.

the conference at khitomer!!!! the foreshadowing.........

spirk's conversation in spock's quarters in the dark...mwah. "the night is young" "i find that remark insulting" "i need you" i wish they had talked about valeris but this was still really good. bones should have been there.

TORPEDO SURGERY! IT'S AN AOS REFERENCE! aos bones is a damsel because he couldn't operate on the torpedo.

loved kirk's GET DOWN MRS OBAMA moment and he got to have one twice in a row and then pull the mask off that guy like he was a scooby doo villain. incredible.

you've restored my father's faith / you've restored my son's...wah. i didn't really care about david but i'm glad he got closure about it or whatever.

then the klingon slow clapping. incredible.

spock cussing and saying go to hell <3

"soon the enterprise will have a new crew" yeah a worse one. i did like the switch from no man to no one though during that final monologue. just subtle enough <3

I DID CRY AGAIN AT THE END.....................it was a very sweet ending. second star to the right and straight on til morning. i'm glad sulu got to say goodbye even on webcam he was such a g this film. i'm gonna miss them SO MUCH.

i now know spock's ENTIRE LIFE STORY except whatever happens in snw that i dont care about <3 if i wasnt busy it would have huge fanfic potential. give me time i guess.

[whosbex]

You ain't missing out now! 👏

❤- Favorite Tangled Character?

💔- Least favorite Tangled Character?

✨- Moonstone or Sundrop?

🎥- Favorite Season (½/3)?

📺- Another show you’d like to see have a cross over with Tangled?

😺- Number 1 animal companion?

💎- Favorite AU?

👗- Favorite character outfit?

👔- Least favorite character outfit?

🧠- Random Tangled Headcanon you have?

🌙- Favorite Moon Character? (E.g Cass, Varian, Eugene.)

📚- Favorite Tangled Fanfic?

⏰- When did you join the fandom?

💭- How did you learn about TTS?

🎶- Best Tangled Song?

🙉- Worst Tangled Song?

💞- Which character do you relate to the most?

💢- Which character do you not relate to the most?

💥- A big a opinion you have related to the Tangled movie/series?

We all know Cass is my gurl from now until forever! But I also love her smokin hot dad where she definitely got her looks from,Hector and her aunt Adira.😌

Nigel. He can go die in a hole for all I care.

Moonstone 1000%!!!! I have built SO MUCH lore around that opal.

Season 2. Gave us all a lot to work with when it comes to lore and it Twas sad that it Twas not touched on enough in the next season.

Probably HTTYD and the book series the Wingfeather saga. They are both heavily based on dragons so I’d put a WHOLE ASS BUNCH of Saponin lore in there.

I can’t pick one animal 😭😭😭. My number ones would have to be pascal,owl,little big guy,and Hector’s pets who I have named Raynan (rhino),Kinzey & Thanatos (bear cats)

Any next gen aus and anything involving the brotherhood!

Cassandra’s adventure suit and her armor in season two. And raps and Eugene’s outfits in season three. I also like the redesign outfits I’ve made for Cass and Andrew for my next gen au.

Probably Rapunzel’s coronation gown. It just doesn’t feel like her with the big poofy skirt. And Eugene’s outfit for rap’s coronation

I have WAAAAAAAYY too many 😭😭😭. Here are some of them: Hector has ADHD,Cass is near sighted and also has ADHD but she’s medicated (idk if they had that but let’s just say they do),varian and Edmund are both autistic,Stan and Cass are cousins (the cap being Stan’s uncle),Quirin is the oldest of the brotherhood,Edmund is the second oldest after him is Adira and Hector is the youngest. Hector is a Capricorn and is born on Christmas eve (is there a specific reason y I headcanon that? No) Hector and Eugene’s mom are half siblings,Cap had a wife when he adopted Cass but they got divorced,and then Cass’s “mom” died when Cass was 16. Willow has ADHD,and her and the Cap used to be a thing. I also headcanon that the Cap’s name is Caleb. Adira and Eugene’s mom used to date,earlier in high school. Hector stole his rhino from a circus that was passing through the DK,and he found the bear cats in the woods. Cass found Owl as a bb chick that fell out of his nest and was hurt and this happened not too long after her mom died so Owl just became her emotional support animal as well as her fighting bird. Andrew is dyslexic,oh and Quirin is color blind.

Idk ig Cass but I don’t like how they wrote it in the series. But my second would have to be Varian cuz ngl that would also make sense. But yet again I’m also interested with the moon!Eugene au.

I need to read more but so far Blood of my brother by AMax76✨😌✨

2018,when season one just ended. I did watch the short film when it came out but,then I just kinda forgot abt it😅. So yah I officially joined in 2018

Saw the teaser on Disney channel.

My top three should be, 1) ready as I’ll ever be 2)waiting in the wings 3)nothing left to lose

Through it all and living the dream.

At the beginning:raps. By the end? Cass,Eugene and Varian.

Fred.

Again I have too many😅. But I’ll try to keep this one shorter. IMO we should’ve had more lore on the DK and especially Saporia. I really would’ve liked to see them really dive into the motives of why they wanted to take Corona back. I also think that Ready as I’ll ever be should’ve gotten a reprise ont eh finale I stead of us getting through it all,cuz let’s be real that song was not it.

[5-7-9]

Rewatching Inuyasha and then finding out from Reddit that they rushed Final Act and changed a while heck of things so now I’m reading Inuyasha’s manga before Ranma’s:

For some reason I got the impression (from rewatch because back then i really didn’t think about this on first watch) that Inuyasha and Kagome were totally dating throughout the anime, but kinda weren’t official? There is a filler episode 90 where Sota has a crush, in this it is said by Inuyasha that they were not official and barely even kissed, hence forth why I was confused. But in Inuyasha’s moon lady movie 2 which happens between the running of episodes 95 and 96, they totally kiss! Besides at the end of the entire series, that is the only other time we see them kiss. In reading the mange I have truly gained a new perspective and understand why these redditors were so upset, because unlike the anime where it left their relationship status vague, it was less so in the manga. The anime cut out one of the most touching scenes of the manga’s volume 8 chapter 78, where Inuyasha declares Kagome’s concerns of being a replacement away, and in this he basically confesses how comforted Kagome has made him. I’d say episode 19-21 or just 21 is when they start dating officially. But funnily enough, episode 48 where Inuyasha swore to Kikyo, is pretty much their breakup. So they actually dated for at least 27 episodes! Except they still love each other and know it, so actually they kinda continued to date and never actually broke up? But he also chases after Kikyo? Welp

I’ll admit, I thought it made sense why Inuyasha stuck with Kikyo till really really and I mean REALLY far far end (omfg why did she last that long???), because it seemed Inuyasha was loyal enough to still love her. BUT IN THE MANGA OHHHHHH BOIIIIIIIII that is not clear after all. Reddit says the anime made Kikyo bitchier? Idk, but anyway, slight VIZ translation error but Inuyasha crucially shows signs of confusion at Kikyo’s kiss. Also there might be a continuity error or another translation error because in the anime I was sure they had kissed plenty of times before, but the manga translation acts as though that was Kikyo’s and Inuyasha’s first kiss ever?

episode 51 changed the scene where in the anime Inuyasha gets nervous about Kagome’s wounds but in the manga he just half hugs her as she accepts it. Idk if that was a good or bad change at all, but it certainly leaves a different impression. Because in the anime they bicker, but in the manga they seem more mature with their feelings. In episode 52 where Inuyasha becomes sick with himself after transforming in a full demon, I found the way Kagome’s weird shoulder holding weird because I thought a hug would be less weird, why all that distance from Kagome’s chest when comforting Inuyasha? And I was right, because in the manga volume 19 chapter 187 she actually properly hugs him. I have no idea why the anime changed the position of that hug into a non hug, it’s so stupid and lessens their dynamic somehow.

I like how the manga lets the forest guard demon guy alive since he was peaceful. Explains why I saw him in the cat war filler, i was confused.

The scene where Koga gets serious mad at Inuyasha, the anime added Inuyasha also being serious and telling Koga he’s sorry basically and that he will protect her. I like that addition actually, but I’m sure the manga had Inuyasha stuttering over his anger precisely because he had nothing to say for himself. So not good or bad change, just different.

I think the side story focusing on Miroku being jealous was fun, because for some reason Inuyasha randomly got drunk and acted more like a dog and when he tried holding Sango back. Since I wonder why he doesn’t grab stuff with his fangs more. Not sure why he was drunk tho, i might’ve missed an explanation.

The raccoon or otter demon pretending to be a girl for a moment is only in the anime, but I found it funny and a good addition.

Obvioisly chapter 360 something or 362 specifically was different. I think the flow of the story was much better handled too. I was confused as to how easily and lack of emotionally charged impact the diamond stealing attack was, but now i see from the manga that with Inuyasha and Kikyo and Sesshomaru all fighting at once at Moroyo that the anime’s Final Act episode 2 was rushed as heck! Plus the diamond attack stolen made Kikyo worry and insult Sesshomaru by getting injured.

The group actually knew Koga was trying to acquire a cool new weapon. It was random for the group when in battle in the anime but they knew beforehand in the manga.

Kagome finally made the point about Kagome’s vs Kikyo jealousy versus Inuyasha’s vs Koga jealousy

Why does the fire rat robe become useless on the new moonless night too??????

Okay they changed the reason as to why and how Inuyasha masters his scale sword. Naraku helped him by letting his kill a tree demon so he could use it to defeat Moryo (or whatever, i can’t remember his name, too busy reading to check).

Kinka and Ginka! The group was there when Moryomaru absorbs him!!!!! (okay yeah i checked his name real quick). Kanna betrayal????? Oh so they both get stronger okay. Wow! The brothers death is sadder now! WAIT A MINUTE KINKA ABSORBED HIMSELF INSIDE THE TENSUSAIGA?!??!!? 😱 Wouldn’t that be sorta plot important to the anime… how… how can you cut that out??? His sword can do flame attacks now right? Honestly if the scale absorbs then that snake venom should’ve also been an attack but okay, i guess not. Whatever…

Koga traveling with the group! Funny antic!

These plotlines don’t seem very difficult to adapt honestly. Like it’d take 8 or 10 more episodes maybe to get it all right and maybe include stuff cut out.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh the demon that sealed away Kagome’s spiritual powers was from the shikon jewel!!!!! …did I miss that? 😅 oops.

THEY DIDN’T EVEN KISS AT THE END BWAHAHAHAHAH 😂 of course, only the anime was the one building up to a finale kiss. That’s why they removed all the relationship confirmation, all for this one cliche moment. What idiots!

[notebookmusical]

Back for Part 2! Gosh..I think the Ragtime casting is so amazing too and I think Joshua Henry will be so great in this role. Haha wow..I remember watching the bootleg and being pretty impressed with the prologue especially. I do find the show a bit confusing or hard to follow so I couldn't imagine going in blind omg. There's just a lot of characters and stuff going on but I can totally see why you cried. Now thinking about it, I might have cried at Wicked or Hadestown..maybe Rent or Color Purple but not sure. It wouldve only been a few tears though and maybe like awe for seeing the show..idk. I'm not really a crier I guess. I remember my sister crying when we watched Finding Neverland bootleg though. Can't wait to hear about the Notebook experience!

I honestly don't remember much about Gypsy except Mama Rose so I'm not too interested in the rest of the cast honestly but she would be great! I only remember a few songs from the musical and can barely remember any other characters singing lol. But I do think Audra will be a star and give it her all so I'm still excited. This is why I like revivals..it reminds me about shows I've forgotten about lol. I am really hoping The Last Five Years will be good..it's the opposite where that's a show I know all of it well mostly cuz it's sung through. I did get pretty used to the movie and Jeremy singing the songs and I think Nick Jonas might not be that bad with these songs or too far from that. I mean..it's not as difficult as Les Mis and maybe he's improved from that or since then lol. Adrienne's voice does not seem very much like Cathy though so I guess we will see. I agree The staging and it only being two people will be hard to do on Broadway and mainly just by yourself singing songs. What else is the stage design supposed to look like or have on it..so things like that, but maybe it doesn't matter too much. Idk what they usually do either.

Those are nice choices! I am not as familiar with some of these shows..I can barely remember Drowsy Chaperone and am only familiar with a few songs from Secret Garden and Wild Party. But your Bridges choice seems great lol and A Chorus Line would be interesting. It is hard to think of older shows to revive sometimes but somehow they are doing Sunset Boulevard again after only like 6 years I think back in 2017 so you never know. I would pick Passion for another Sondheim musical and wonder how that would be since all Sondheim revivals seem successful.

I was enjoying both of these but honestly haven't been reading so I might read more today and tomorrow. My favorite tropes are second chance romance, friends to lovers, right person wrong time, love triangles if it makes sense, and like star crossed lovers forbidden love or secret relationships and poor boy loves rich girl lol. I also like stories that describe the whole characters relationship and how it got there. I'm a fan of past and present timelines mostly. I'm not really a fan of fake dating at all. In YA, I like a lot of mental health and more tragic stuff though and stories about friendships and families. What about you?

So at first I thought the casting was for Beach read and wasn't sure about it but I guess People we Meet on Vacation fits more. I'm not familiar with either of them so I really don't know. But I can try to finally finish the book and maybe try to picture them as the characters so it's like a movie. I'll see how that goes since I only know him from Ballad of Songbirds and he had another hair color lol. I hope it's good cuz they were approved by Emily I think. I also just found out that Every Summer After will have a sort of sequel about the characters brother romance and idk how to feel about it but I guess I'm looking forward to it. I'm enjoying this one but I think Every Summer After would still be my favorite but this didn't seem similar to me. I still haven't read Meet Me at the Lake so maybe will read that will people we Meet too, since that was announced as a movie a while ago too. I guess I'm happy about it cuz I always like romance movies anyway haha.

I honestly don't know what Taylor will do for the recordings either. Both options sort of make sense, but I think I agree with you. my sister even said today and we agreed since we already had a new album, she wouldn't mind waiting a year instead of nothing to look forward to next year when tour is over. I know people might want them done or as soon as possible, but I don't really mind. Well she already announced Speak Now TV and 1989 TV on tour..so I think she would again if it's that soon and of course I would be excited. I agree with your Collab choices too even if I'm not sure which will happen. I could totally see Maggie Rogers or Halsey for rep though. I'm so happy for Maisie and Holly for opening, and could even see them as good choices for debut too haha but she might want to keep it country people. I don't think Kacey likes Taylor though and not sure how their voices would be.

I finally listened to Clairo and enjoyed it. She kinda has a specific sound and voice that makes her music unique. I've listened to Gretta Ray a little bit..maybe I should listen more. I think she's okay but maybe too similar to Maisie to me. I also listened to Kacey's deluxe album which was fine but I think she picked the right songs on the album and they all started sounding alike. This week I am also focused on listening to Beabadoobee's album who also opened for Taylor! I would say this album is almost similar vibes to Taylor and softer than her previous albums. I wasn't impressed at first since I prefer some rock and guitar but it's growing on me now. The song Coming Home kinda had a similar feeling to Sweet Nothing and I really liked her song Beaches which was a good mix of her two styles. If you like Bea, i'd say Soccer Mommy is pretty similar actually! Like she does rock but also has some softer songs and I have a feeling her new album might be like that too. I just love her for her super relatable lyrics and vibes. I can try to give some recommendations if you want too. My favorite color is still pink but I changed it to green in 6th grade for some reason and I feel like it is an underappreciated color. Clearly I was always meant to be a Wicked Stan! I love saying pink goes good with green cuz those are the two colors I wear the most haha. Also omg how were the concerts? That's so cool and fun..I'd love to see Olivia live. Do you have any tips or anything since I am going to my concert next week? I will also send a review after. Actually tour starts tonight and I'm going to try to avoid spoilers if I can! I hope you have an awesome trip in New York if I don't talk to you again!!!

replying under the cut <3

i actually don't know a whole lot about gypsy either so you can take my sondheim stan card away haha. i love revivals but i wish sometimes they were a little more innovative and different! i tend to be a revival enjoyer unless it's like, the recent west side story revival haha. i'm really intrigued by the last five years, and my brain keeps wanting to classify it as a revival but no!! it's a new musical! it's never had a broadway transfer. it'll be interesting to see how it does stacked up against everything else! ooh i would love a passion revival! i think we should always have a sondheim show running on broadway 🙂‍↕️

oh i am so sleepy but i will give you some recs hehe:

second chance romance: this is everything 2 me. i loveeee second chance romance. and also i don't have a lot of good second chance romance recs ASIDE FROM PERSUASION the og :( everything i've ever read that's second chance tends to disappoint me.

friends to lovers: love, rosie (movie), where rainbows end (book love rosie is based off of), people we meet on vacation (book), when harry met sally (movie, perfection), the flatshare (book)

right person wrong time: MY FAVORITE TROPE ......... unfortunately have yet to find it in a book that i think is good enough but. once (movie/musical, which you obviously know). roman holiday (movie). oh it's everything to me. i guess normal people (book, tv) if you squint. kind of.

love triangles: i cannot think of a single love triangle book right now i am so sorry

star crossed lovers/forbidden love/secret relationships: also blanking on this one

poor boy loves rich girl: i don't have any rec recs here for books or movies but if you ever want to suffer through 6 terrible seasons of gossip girl (my beloved) for dan and blair (my most beloved) they're perfect to me i will not take criticism on this one. in hindsight i would also put normal people here.

also have i pitched the seven year slip to you? i'm sorry if i have! i am very sleepy haha. which i think you can tell from the jumbled reply here but i wanted to reply before your concert!!!! anyways, it's perfect and i do think you'd like it it's kind of adjacent to a lot of these tropes but not quite. but i love it dearly.

some of my favorite tropes: right person wrong time, second chance romance, friends to lovers (similar to you)! i don't mind fake dating; i actually love most tropes if done well and especially if they manage to put their own spin on things!

i didn't know every summer after is getting an adaptation!! that'll be interesting! i loveee a good romance movie! especially rom coms! we need the like 90s-2000s rom com movement back!

do we think she's announcing rep tv tomorrow? i guess by the time you see this and reply we'll know! part of me wants to say yes but i really don't think it's going to happen tomorrow. we'll see though! i feel like i keep seeing more things that make me go hmmm maybe and then i'm like no never mind i think she's just messing with us. i would love a maggie collab — i think about her cover of tim mcgraw all the time! i still haven't listened to the new halsey songs, i should do that soon! i'm so proud of holly and maisie both for opening :") i watched both sets on livestream and was just so so happy for them both. andddd yeah i don't think kacey likes taylor much haha

i loveee the new clairo. it's just so good! and gretta and maisie are friends so it makes sense that you think they're similar — and maisie sings backup on one of gretta's songs :) i haven't listened to new kacey yet, but i did listen to the new beabadoobee last week and enjoyed it. i haven't listened to it again since though and i don't think any particular track really stuck with me unfortunately but it is a solid album/listen-through. i also finally listened to the new hozier! i'll check out soccer mommy! i've heard good things but haven't yet! and in return, have you listened to alessi rose? i really like her ep and have been playing that quite a bit lately! that and the new del water gap deluxe songs :) oh and skullcrusher! you know i'll always take recommendations from you my friend!!

my concerts were both really really fun! i loved olivia's set and she's really grown as a performer since she was first starting out :") and the japanese house was so special because i got to see her with a close friend and at the zoo AND it was her biggest headlining show to date!! eep! i think my only concert tips are: bring earplugs! if you don't have them already, i recommend the loop ones but if you forget them no big deal (i forgot mine for olivia and had to ask for some) most arenas/stadiums will have earplugs!! just go to guest services or accessibility 🤍 and triple check the bag policy! sometimes you're allowed to bring a factory sealed water bottle which i love doing. and i personally like drinking a liquid iv when i get home post-concert (liquid iv + tylenol) just because i know i've screamed a lot/need to hydrate more. other tips: wear comfy shoes! bring a backup phone charger! if you're sensitive to flashing lights, try wearing sunglasses so it's not as IN your face — i did that at olivia and it helped a bit i think! but most importantly: be aware of your surroundings and HAVE SO MUCH FUN!!

i can't wait to hear about your concert!! sending love and big hugs!

[spongebobafettywap]

The problem is that Destiny was not said to have the slow aging mutation that Mystique had. So if she's a young looking lady at his birth then it had to have happened close to the early 20th century.

That makes Nightcrawler older than Magneto tho and already an adult during both WW that he somehow completely missed out on and did nothing during which

This throws his relationship with Amanda into a blender as in, he's not only dating his adoptive human sister but he was decades older than her when that happened since she has a normal life span

Then there's Rogue who got retconned to only be one year younger than Nightcrawler so they can go with the narrative of her being a replacement child and we know she doesn't have slow aging powers so how does that ish work

Xavier was not only around but also walking when the retcon happens even tho he loses that ability after protecting Magneto from getting shot meaning this is set before the war Professor X was drafted to, which was long after WWII, and before canonically meeting the first mutant he's ever known, making that not Magneto anymore but the two most deadbeat parents in the universe that being Mystique and Destiny

By the time WWII would have happened Nightcrawler would have been old enough to do circus acts which he started as a pre-teen or at least be put in a freakshow for being the "ageless demon child" and yet Mystique couldn't find him so here she goes mind-wiping everything that went down ! Even tho Destiny gave her the last name of the woman who kidnapped him and somehow that wasn't enough of a lead for her to try digging into when Margali was known by her last name in her own part of the circus show so that would have directly gotten Mystique to Nightcrawler

The final kicker is that TJ's father was shown not to have slow aging powers as he was old and with some white hair when she was an fully grown adult and her mother aged normally too so ??

This retcon definitely broke the timeline just because it felt like it

I mean some anons say it wasn't the 40s and I dunno my head hurts trying to figure out the timeline. I thought these comics were supposed to have a more coherent timeline than the X-Men movies.

If he was born in the 40s he wouldn't be older than Magneto as Magneto was a kid during WWII but he would be close to him in age which feels wrong..

If he was born in the 60s then he's older than most of the other X-Men who aren't long living ageless beings which makes a little more sense because at least he's not close to Magneto's age.

But also if it was in the 40s then how could Xavier be a grown adult when he is Magneto's age?

I feel like we are putting more thought into it than Marvel lmao.

Yeah in TJ's universe Kurt aged which I didn't like. Isn't Amanda a Mutant though? Idk at some point the mutants might as well be all slow aging due to these timeline oddities.

[howlingdemon13]

Actually, I think I will scream about it. You didn't think your resident horror-enthusiast/vampire expert/occult dabbler was going to let this thing go, did you? The movie has been out since August, so I don't feel the need to tag this with spoilers. Consider this your warning.

Angry rambles ahead.

Overall, I'm always happy to get a Dracula/vampire-centric film. I really enjoyed Renfield and I was excited to get a more horror/thriller film about my favorite villain in literature. Is the movie bad? No. I liked the main protagonist a lot and I think the tension-building was actually pretty solid for the most part. I also really liked the monster design. It’s obviously very Nosferatu, but I did get Van Helsing vampire vibes from it, so that was a treat. The Demeter wrecking in Whitby is very minor, cut-and-dry plot point, but one that I think was mostly handled well and I'm glad that this film was made because it's been a long time since we've had any vampire films where the vampires are actually scary (and not in a hitting on teenagers kind of scary). The ending didn't really make much sense in the context of the source material, but it didn't really annoy me as much as other aspects of the film did. It's no secret that this film is heavily inspired by Alien, which is another one of my favorites, and I think that framework for bringing The Demeter to life was a good one (people stuck on a ship with a monster). Also, they went pretty hard with the deaths tbh.

Oh, and the instances where Dracula can manipulate people he’s bitten! I think people forget the mind link between Dracula and Mina, so I’m glad that the “thrall” ability was used here. I'll get the biggest nitpick out of the way. Fucking hate the CG blood in this movie and the overreliance on CG for Dracula in general. From what I can see online, Dracula's actor is in full makeup/prosthetics. Okay, cool, so why does it look completely CG in the final cut??? This isn't to say that CG always looks bad, but this is Dreamworks. You had a makeup department that put hours of work into a really cool monster design, and you went and over did it in post. And going back to the blood... It looks like tomato soup. Like, I'm not buying that these characters are bleeding. Idk if the fake blood just looks like that or if they did something in post that lightened it, but it took me out. Again, this is a vampire film. How do you fuck up blood in a vampire film?

The ship and environments looked pretty solid though. Can’t complain. Now that that's out of the way, on to vampire lore and the worldbuilding as established in the source material. I have the book opened next to me. Be afraid. I should point out that Bram Stoker's characterization of Eastern Europeans in his book are... not good. Stoker never set foot in the country and got most of his info regarding East. Euro. folklore and culture from books (riddled with stereotypes, of course). That is to say, I'm relying on death of the author here, and I am willing to give him a bit of grace here. Not a lot though. He's contributed to me having to encounter the G-slur on a regular basis. And that brings me to Anna. In the books, Dracula has control over/has made an agreement with the local villagers (specifically the Roma community, but I don’t have the spoons to get into that rn). Anyway, I don't buy that she doesn't know that Dracula is a vampire. She says that the people of her village fear Dracula and that she and other women have been offered to him as food. He drinks her blood ffs. It's clear in the text that the locals suspect that Dracula is a vampire or liken him to one. The term “nosferatu” is also used in early chapters since this region of Romania has a large German population dating back to at least the 1300s. A few other Slavic words for evil entities are used to describe Dracula by the townsfolk, but stregoica specifically is used and defined as "witch". Which isn't wrong, but if you know me, the word we're after is strigoi. A creature or spirit that feeds off of the energy or blood of a living person. Vampire. Much of what we associate with vampires today comes from the Romanian version of the vampire. Use it. Please for the love of god use it.

(I write lore-accurate Castlevania fics and my family is from Satu Mare. I promise you I know what I'm talking about).

All of that is to say that Anna would definitely know that Dracula is a strigoi (or would liken him to one based on his behavior), and that she would probably know how to kill him. Would making Anna knowledgeable about Dracula's nature perpetuate multiple stereotypes? Yes, I am 100% willing to admit that. However, in the worldbuilding of a fictional story which the film is using as its framework, it falls in line with the text no matter how we feel about it. The folklore surrounding strigoi is very much still alive in some ways in Romania even today. In rural areas, sure, but alive nonetheless. And, if you want to avoid the stereotypes completely, you didn't even have to write her in. Aside from being given to Dracula by her village as a food source (which I think perpetuates some pretty gnarly stereotypes by itself), she doesn't really give the other characters useful info aside from "Dracula drinks blood" (which is already evident in Dracula draining animal corpses) and "he's a monster but not an animal" (which doesn't really help/would have been figured out eventually - not that it matters because the point is that everyone on the ship is supposed to die). Basically, I feel like her lacking any real knowledge about Dracula makes zero sense in the worldbuilding established in the book and the film, and her even being there if she did ends up being needless anyway since everyone dies. It's compelling when characters are faced with a creature that they know nothing about. That's why Alien is so good.

And, no, I don’t think she’s a bad character. She kind of reminded me of Anna Valerious but more of a lowkey badass. I just wish they had given her either more knowledge about Dracula or just had her as a stowaway who gets bitten early on (it wouldn’t really change the plot too much).

Also, the rosary not working? I know the captain is found tied to the wheel on the ship clutching a rosary in the book, but he wouldn’t have been able to shield himself effectively with it, so that checks out. Movie has no excuse for how that sequence was written.

That’s all I can tell about without my brain exploding. Thanks for sticking with this dumpster fire.

trying not to scream and yell about the last voyage of the demeter (which i know i'm very late to)

[strawberrybyers]

if you’re interested pls read! i think everyone will find this post interesting! this is going to be one long post about time in stranger things and it’s relation to back to the future. also somewhat theorizing that will is going to get stuck in the upside down and how that could be time traveling?? or how the characters will time travel?? also mentions of pocketgate, birthdaygate, and the blue meets yellow in the west theory. anyways this will probably be a bit messy, but i have a lot of thoughts and i just want to write all of them down and i really feel like i’m onto something lmao

ok so i have been thinking about what the significance of time in stranger things is which led me to remember when robin was explaining to steve about why back to the future was called back to the future. she explained it as “he has to go back to the future because he’s in the past. so, the future is actually the present, which is his time”. i immediately thought back to when i have said in a couple of other posts how i think in s5 there will be time travel because the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing. so while trying to see what scene came after robin’s explanation, i found this article detailing all the parallels stranger things has to back in the future in s3. and that led me to two other articles. the last image is a screenshot from the article about the original pitch for stranger things which mentioned time travel.

so really the rest of this post is now going to focus more on the back to the future stuff. first i want to talk about this part of the vulture article i linked in the beginning of this post. i have seen all the back to the future movies, but a really long time ago, so i don’t remember much, but when i saw “save the clock tower” all i could think about were the clocks in stranger things.

i googled more info on the clock tower and idk i’m about to become a real crackhead theorist, but it makes sense to me considering all the parallels this show has. anyways let’s look at what is said about the clock tower in back to the future.

i started freaking out while reading this because s4 has a big emphasis on time and CLOCKS. vecna’s mind lair thing has clocks everywhere. when a character is about to get vecna’d they hear a clock and see a grandfather clock. also, the clock being struck by lightning?? there’s lightning in vecna’s mind lair thing AND in the final scene we see lightning in the sky!! so in back to the future, the clock got struck by lightning which caused it to be stuck for years at 10:04 (and this is probably just making something out of nothing but the clock being stuck on the 4th minute and vecna wanted to open up 4 gates and you hear 4 chimes symbolizing that). now guess what else is stuck in time? the upside down. the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing which is november 6, 1983. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. what is a week away from nov 6? november 13. the ‘save the clock tower’ flyer mentions the date november 13 on it. also, in back to the future, doc gets the idea for the delorean (the thing that helps him and marty time travel) when he was hanging up a clock and hit his head on november 5, 1955. this is also the day marty ends up traveling back in time to (marty’s present time takes place in 1985 and s3 of ST took place in 1985 lol).

NOW what gets crazy is that on november 6, 1955, doc learns that because marty interacted with his parents which messed up his parents initial meeting, he is now telling marty that he needs to get his parents back together otherwise marty will be erased from existence. WILL GOES MISSING ON NOV 6 AND BECAUSE OF BIRTHDAYGATE WHAT DO WE THINK IS HAPPENING TO WILL?? THAT HE’S BEING ERASED/FORGOTTEN FROM THE TIMELINE!!! and throughout back to the future, the more time that is being prolonged of getting marty’s parents back together, the more him and his siblings disappearing from the timeline is becoming reality (he knows this because they start disappearing from a photo he has of his family). there’s also this post that was made that mentions how the memories that were mentioned in the shed in s2 could be altered or are being forgotten and if that’s the case then it makes sense those memories would be forgotten if it’s a sign something is happening to will. anyways because of the lightning strike that strikes the clock, it powered the delorean on november 12, 1955 and was able to send marty back to the future. marty was stuck in the past for a week. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. vecna begins his attacks on hawkins on march 21 and hawkins is split in half by the upside down on march 28 making that a week (a week that includes the day of will’s bday). that’s why there’s a 2 day time jump because the timeline of s4 needed to last a week. i’m just thinking about “the week is long” part of the blue meets yellow in the west code… and speaking of blue and yellow, the ‘save the clock tower’ flyers are in blue and yellow…

i’ll say one last thing about the flyer, so i can shift more into pocketgate and how mike has a letter written to will. so marty keeps the flyer because his girlfriend wrote her grandma’s number on it and “i love you” and he puts it in his pocket. because he kept the flyer it ends up helping him get back to the future because of the info it contains about the lightning strike. what do we think mike has in his pocket? a letter to will that says “love, mike”. something he couldn’t write to el. there’s been an emphasis in stranger things with letters and yes i know it’s the 80’s so that was one of the main forms of communication, but they’re also a part of the plot, so they mean something significant! like joyce receiving the letter from hopper which makes her go to russia to save him. hopper’s letter to el about not wanting things to change (i will write more on this). max writing letters to her friends for them to read in case something happens to her. max writing a letter to billy that expresses how she has been feeling since he passed. el being upset that mike can’t write “love,mike” in his letters. season 4 opening up with el’s letter to mike that mentions time travel. will and mike have an argument that mike didn’t write enough to will and that “el has a book of letters from him”. now back to the future also has letters play an important role in the storyline. for example, here’s info on the letter that marty gave to doc that he stuck in doc’s pocket in 1955 that saved doc’s life.

now in back to the future 3, doc in 1885 wrote a letter to marty to be delivered to him on november 12, 1955 which marty ends up showing the doc in 1955. the letter ends up helping them.

in the letter up above, doc writes how much marty means to him. obviously the relationship between doc and marty is NOT romantic at all, but if stranger things is paralleling back to the future the way it is, then isn’t it possible mike has a letter to will explaining his feelings? and considering in back to the future, the letters were helpful to the characters, could it be that mike’s letter will help will and save hawkins? could mike’s love for will be the motivation to help will survive the upside down if he gets stuck there again? i’m thinking it’s possible will gets stuck in the upside down, which would basically be him time traveling in a sense. i’m wondering if maybe will will be in possession of mike’s letter before he gets stuck in the upside down and will decides to read the letter while he’s stuck there (maybe paralleling back to the future when marty has the flyer that has “i love you” written on it from his girlfriend). OR do mike and will get stuck in the upside down together and mike decides to give his letter to will then (maybe somewhat paralleling back to the future 3 when 1955 marty gives 1955 doc the letter 1885 doc wrote 1955 marty in order to help them get 1985 doc back to 1985 from 1885). there’s also this tweet from the stranger things writers account. so could it mean that this is parts of the letter mike wrote to will that he will give to him on november 6, 1983 because they’re stuck in the upside down together???

now moving on. i said i’d talk more about hopper’s letter. here’s what the vulture article wrote about hopper’s letter:

the article is comparing the letter marty wrote doc to save his life to the letter hopper wrote to el. so couldn’t the other letters featured in the movies somehow foretell mike having a letter in his pocket? they paralleled a stranger things letter to a back to the future letter once they could do it again. here’s more of what the article wrote on hopper’s letter:

we know what hopper meant by telling el “to maybe stop that change. to turn back the clock. to make things go back to how they were.”. we also theorize because scenes of mike looking back at will’s house and hugging his mom while this part of the letter is being read, we think it relates to mike wanting things to go back to the way they were with will. we even think it could potentially be the moment mike realizes he loves will and doesn’t know what to do with that which leads to his weird behavior in s4. BUT couldn’t this part of hopper’s letter also have a 3rd meaning? s4 does deal with clocks. hopper mentions “to turn back the clock”. when nancy see’s henry’s backstory, there is a scene of henry changing time on the clock. is it possible that time travel has to occur where they are able “to turn back the clock” in order to save hawkins? and if will is stuck in the upside down maybe having to do that to save will? or maybe because he’s stuck there and it’s stuck on the day he went missing then that could be turning back the clock as well…

now for my final analysis of the vulture article and how it relates to back to the future, this part is going to do more with byler. let’s look at this part of the article:

first things first, it mentions back to the future wants to preserve the status quo and how that relates to stranger things. in s4, eddie mentions how forced conformity is killing the kids. finn said in an interview that mike is trying to stay as normal as possible. looking at these things, it makes me think about mike and how he’s trying appear as heterosexual which therefore would be “normal” and fitting the status quo. this also fits into hopper’s letter and the scenes of mike while the letter is being read. mike is losing will and if that moment when will moved is when he realizes he’s in love, then he knew that things would change and if he’s trying to fit in, then he’s going to do what he can to make sure nothing changes even though as we see that backfires throughout s4 because his relationship with el is on the rocks and things with will have been rocky as well. and we know will is being forced to conform as well as he mentioned feeling like a mistake and we can only assume he is afraid to come out as gay due to homophobia.

so back to the future is about marty going back in time to 1955 and having to fix the timeline where his parents fall in love and get married because when he went back to 1955 he messed up the initial meeting of his parents. if he fails to get them together, then he will cease to exist. marty is struggling at first to get his parents together because his mom has developed on crush on marty (weird i know but to me this shows how the right people need to be in a relationship in order for things to get resolved). if we think of how that could parallel to byler, then we know that mike’s love confession did not help el or save hawkins. we know el can defeat vecna and we know that what makes her powerful is love. she was able to banish vecna to the upside down when she remembered her mom saying “i love you”, but with mike it didn’t work— why? because it’s a lie. he doesn’t love her romantically like he says. hawkins isn’t in desolation because of mike, but i think if we want to make a parallel then we can say that mike being with el isn’t what’s supposed to happen because they aren’t right for each other. this also fits in to how mike and will’s love would save hawkins. just like marty’s parents falling in love preserved the timeline and allowed marty to continue to exist. now if we think that will is starting to cease to exist from the timeline due to birthdaygate and coincidentally marty learns he will cease to exist if his parents don’t get together on november 6— the same day will went missing— then could it be that mike’s love saves will?

like there’s just something about the upside down being stuck on the day will went missing… something about el’s letter mentioning time travel and time feeling like it speeds up or slows down based on emotion… something about the duffers saying they’re going back to s1 dynamics… something about vecna’s entire thing revolving around time… something about vecna making his victims visit their past traumatic memories… something about one of the ways to block vecna from getting to your mind is by thinking about past happy memories… something about vecna saying thinking about a past memory that makes him angry or sad makes him more powerful… something about hearing the sound of a clock being slowed down when a character is about to get vecna’d… something about “the week is long. the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. a trip to china sounds nice, if you tread lightly”… something about spring break being a week long… something about will being in the upside down for a week… something about vecna saying “seconds. minutes. hours. days. weeks. months. years. decades. each life a faded lesser copy of the one before.”… something about will’s birthday being forgotten… something about will being sidelined from the plot or shall i say fading from it… something about the back to the future parallels such as marty starting to be erased from the timeline starting on nov 6 the same day will went missing…

anyways i know this was long AF, but there was so much to say! i could be grasping at straws, but this was fun to write and analyze! i love the back to the future movies, so seeing how all of this parallels and could potentially continue to parallel is cool. all in all i don’t think it’s far-fetched to think will is going to get stuck in the upside down, some form of time travel will occur considering that was a part of the original stranger things pitch, and that mike and will’s love for each other will save hawkins. if you made it this far, thank you for reading all of this <3

—

back to the future poster parallels x

back to the future november 21st parallel theory x

cars on set of stranger things vs the delorean x