#i’m about to rewatch the movie so watch me have even more thoughts upon watching that scene lol

[lumiereandcogsworth]

okay so I'm curious, when Maurice would travel with his inventions/art, one, did he ever bring Belle along, or was it something he only started doing once she was older and two, I know she only ever asks for a rose, but did he ever bring back any books for her?

i LOVE this question thank you!!!

i think he definitely took belle along when she was younger, absolutely. he probably didn’t start going to those markets until she was around 7 or 8, when he really started getting back into art business and someone maybe mentioned to him that he could go to these markets in bigger towns and make some side cash!! i think he would bring her especially for the longer ones, like 3-5 days, because that’s just too long to be apart and they only have each other 🥺 and she loved going to them!! i can just imagine her curious little mind pulling her in every direction. he probably loses her at some points and nearly has a heart attack because of it. i’ll have to write that sometime, lmao.

i think the first time she Doesn’t go is when she’s like maybe 15? and it’s only one night. she probably still wanted to go but maybe there was something farm related happening that they both felt it would be better if she stayed, and she was happy to do that. maurice definitely asked pére robert to check in with her though, and i’m sure he had dinner with her that night. i’m SURE they have such academic convos, gosh. need to explore that more too. anyway: after that, i think belle started going with him less. she still joins sometimes, but i think it was partly that she was getting into her own projects at home and didn’t always Want to leave at that exact time because she was really hyperfixated, or it was just like one night, not a big deal, (like what happens in the movie). AND i think maurice did gain a few friends that he would meet up with at those markets, artists from other villages, so belle would get kinda bored because it would be like those unskippable cutscenes like when your parent runs into someone they know at the grocery store. except it’s your dad talking about his passion with other people who share it😭 IT’S LIKE BEING TRAPPED AT HOME DEPOT WITH DAD. anyway you get the point. even as adventurous as belle was, it’s not like the markets were any places too new or crazy, so it got kind of boring for her.

but like i said, i still think she goes sometimes!!! just way less frequently. in one of my courting fics (probably my favorite of my courting fics???) belle had gone with maurice to a market for a WEEK. which was the longest her and adam had been apart since they had met 🥺🥺 which i think maurice did very intentionally lmao. he was (internally) like you guys are so attached at the hip… let’s remember you’re individual people please!!! and also i think he could sense they were getting near the idea of marriage so he wanted one last bit of time with belle before her life really changed 😭😭

and second!!!! yeah no definitely. i like to think that when he says that, “you ask for that every year!” i think that’s for this one specific market he’s going to that day. like maybe it’s a place she’s joined him many times and it just happens near a really beautiful rose garden, or something. so she’s always like !!! ROSE FROM THERE PLEASE!!! but i think he goes to markets a lot more frequently than just once a year. maybe like every few months? especially as belle gets older and he worries less about leaving her at home, if she doesn’t want to join him. but anyway to answer your second question, YEAH! i can totally imagine that people there, who have known maurice and his daughter for years, ask about her when she’s not with him! and they learn all about her and i am SURE she always brought an emotional support book (or two or three) when she goes with him. so the market people know belle reads!!! and yeah probably a few are conservative and think that’s odd but MAJORITY of them are free-spirited artists !! many of them also fled paris the same time as maurice!! these are his people !! so they support that and probably gift him a book to give to her (or just give it right to her if she’s there) every now and then!! it’s not every time but if he can snatch a book for her he absolutely will 🥹

i did have one additional thought but it’s more just about belle getting books in general <3

[mushiemadarame]

Getting Started BL RecList

Back in 2022, when I first started watching BL – though it was far from my first foray into the genre* –, I went in guns blazing without much of an idea where to start and where it would lead me. Now, in 2024, I have almost 500 BL series and movies under my belt and I realise it might feel a little overwhelming to choose where to start for someone who dives into the current landscape for the first time. That’s why I thought I would compile a completely personal and biased rec list for beginners who might want a little guidance, completely based on my own experience and journey into this amazing and highly entertaining world. Links for where to watch are in an alternate version of this post because of the Tumblr link limit and if you have trouble finding any or specific versions of any of the shows, my askbox is at your disposal. Hope you enjoy!

*while I’ve been reading Yaoi Manga since I was about 11, excluding very few exceptions, it’s only recently that I’ve gotten into the genre on the screen. That is to say, I wasn’t entirely clueless to begin with.

The Fluff - Happy endings assured, along with some side-stitching comedies.

⇢About Youth - Just so heartwarming and lovely, it has a great OST and an interesting family conflict theme to it. It’s cute and it’s wonderful. ⇢Bad Buddy - Such a classic even though it’s fairly recent. I think it’s perfect for a beginner with its classic enemies-to-lovers dynamic and a Romeo and Juliet kind of deal going on. ⇢Cherry Magic! JPN/Cherry Magic! TH - I know some might want to kill me for what I’m about to say but I personally didn’t love the Japanese version of this story and very much adored the Thai one. However, the Japanese show is a must-watch because it’s definitely a staple in Japanese BL and even though I didn’t love the series itself, the movie played me like a fiddle. The Thai version immediately became one of my absolute favourites, on like, episode one. So… give both a try. + Movie ⇢Fish Upon the Sky - I had no idea people hated this show as much as they do, I actually love it. It was the first BL that had me in stitches and even upon rewatches, it hasn’t failed to live up to what I first thought of it. This is just pure crack and it’s awesome. ⇢Kieta Hatsukoi - Sweet, so very very sweet. It’s Japan’s brand of sweet too which some might find a little unsatisfactory. When I first gave it a try, I didn’t quite get the hype but then it went in interesting places for me and now I highly recommend it. + Thai remake ⇢My School President - THEE high school BL. I have watched many others and none of them have impressed me and entertained me like this one. I even like the music. GMMTV did not know how much gold it had struck when they signed GemFourth. ⇢Old Fashion Cupcake - A mature story about finding love and yourself later in life in the guise of a fluffy show. This is very much a case of more than meets the eye and everything from the aesthetics to the story elevates it to a classic. ⇢Our Dining Table - The perfect exploration of found family for me. I love this show so much, I cried almost every single episode and it really really surprised me in many ways. It’s truly a warm, comforting show with subtle imagery and masterful acting. The main actor is incredibly talented and a fucking acting chameleon. It also features the best child actor that has ever graced my screen. + Special EP 

Set Your Expectations High - High-quality shows that might ruin you for anything less.

⇢He’s Coming to Me - Could have been an underrated gem but luckily, there’s a lot of people who love this show and for good reason. It has my favourite coming out plot and it’s so original in its premise. Wonderfully complex characters and amazing acting. Ohm Pawat knocks it out of the park with this one, definitely my favourite of his. ⇢Not Me - How to even begin to explain how important this show is to me. I got a fucking tattoo of it, on my skin, forever!!!! My absolute number one BL, they will never make another like it. I love everything about it from the director, to the casting, to the silly moments. This show single-handedly endeared me to so many of GMMTV roster, it's insane. It almost ruined me for everything else and I watched it very early on too, so there was a tangible risk. 

We Like It Spicy - If you’re looking for titillating chemistry, this is for you.

⇢Big Dragon - This show compels me. Is it good? Not exactly. And yet it kept me glued to the screen every single week. The chemistry is on fire, the story is a little silly at times but the way the characters develop through it is surprisingly very well-done. I don’t know what to say, it really worked for me and it’s a great display of how sometimes you’ll come across shows that care more about titillation than story. ⇢KinnPorsche - My very, very first Thai BL and what got me back into the genre and introduced me to Thai shows in particular. It is horny, it is wild, it is toxic at times but it is the ride. I believe it might have been the first Thai BL show to truly get so much money thrown at it and it changed the entire industry. Also just so completely entertaining and fun. ⇢The Novelist - The native title for this is Pornographer so you can imagine how this belongs into a higher level of spicy. I feel like it's a very good look into the more mature side of Japanese BL while still including a compelling love story. There are tougher Japanese BL out there both in terms of themes and explicitness but this is a good primer. + Prequel (watch it second) & Sequels 1, 2, & 3

Legendary Doesn’t Always Mean Good - Titles you just can’t stop coming across, a mixed bag of quality. 

⇢2gether - I‘ll premise by saying that I really don’t like this one. I only watched it because it is inescapable when you start looking at Thai BL and I just had to know what the hype was about. It was absolutely not worth it for me but definitely belongs to the list of the ones you need to watch for the culture. + Season 2 & Movie ⇢Cupid’s Last Wish - This show makes me actively angry, genuinely throws me into a rage if I think about it too much while also having one of my favourite scenes. Overall, not great though not even all that bad. My dislike of it is not at all proportional with how bad it is. I feel like it’s a bit of a classic for a lot of reasons. Just… give it a try, it’s impossible you’ll hate it as much as I do. ⇢Dark Blue Kiss - Funnily enough, even though I really hated their part of the show, this is the one that made me a TayNew fan. It’s not offensively bad but it has a special place in hell for me for what it could have been but wasn’t – those are the shows that test me the most – and the only way I managed to watch the whole of it was thanks to the secondary couple. As a lot of other shows in this section, it’s another one for the culture. + Kiss Me Again ⇢HIStory2: Crossing the Line - The HIStory series is definitely the biggest staple of Taiwanese BL but if I had to recommend it, I would only go for specific shows like this one and two others in the list. This specifically is a little on the older side and it is just so charming. The acting in the entire series is quite good when taking into account when they were made but this is the first one with a truly enjoyable plot in my opinion. ⇢HIStory3: Trapped - Oh, this one is just plain good. I think it’s a turning point for the HIStory series and it’s very very entertaining while also having some genuine emotional beats.  ⇢Manner of Death - Manner of Death walked so KinnPorsche could run. MaxTul have done so much for the Thai BL industry and this show in particular took the risk of transposing BL into the thriller genre and opened the door for many others to mix up the formula. Plus, it’s genuinely good. ⇢Semantic Error - Everything that Korean BL can be when production is not cowardly. Sounds harsh but it’s true. It’s fun, it’s quirky, the dynamic and chemistry make it an instant classic, and it’s just so beautiful to look at. One of the most pleasant rewatches for me. ⇢Together With Me - This one is probably older than anything else Thai in this list and it shows; it gives a very good idea of where BL storylines started but it’s not exactly good. Interesting watch if you want to know where the Kings™ came from. + Bad Romance (original story, not recommended) & Season 2 ⇢We Best Love: No. 1 For You - For me, this encompasses everything Taiwanese BL can be while also showcasing where it came from. A rare, non-Thai, very frequent rewatch. + Season 2 ⇢Where Your Eyes Linger - This is the first of director Hwang Da Seul’s holy trinity and together with To My Star and Blueming is a must-watch of Korean BL. ⇢Why R U? - A formative show in my Thai BL journey and also one of the first I watched. It is definitely dated but it also really shows how Thai BL developed over time. I slightly prefer the more recent and totally different Korean remake but it’s very close.

I Don’t Want Peace I Want Problems - These characters hate boredom just as much as you.

⇢Addicted - The Cursed story with a capital C, this show is truly one of a kind. It delves into some pretty toxic and problematic narratives but it’s also the only adaptation that manages to really convey the socioeconomic message of the story it tells. Be warned that it is incomplete due to Chinese censorship, which is only the tip of the iceberg of the BTS lore. None of the adaptations have (so far) been able to get to the end of the original story, hence the reason I say it’s Cursed. + Censored Chinese remake & Thai remake (ongoing) ⇢The Eclipse - I really really loved this show until I didn’t. The acting alone is one of the best in the whole of GMMTV’s history and it touches on some very complex themes while still very much being a High School BL. The ending frustrated me to no end because it completely smashed the quality heights it had reached for some easy fluff and it just left a bitter taste in my mouth. Still, it’s very beloved by a lot of people – *cough*Jay*cough*. ⇢Love Mechanics - It’s messy and probably not to everyone’s taste but for me this is an excellent display of how much direction and chemistry can make or break a not-that-exciting story. I rewatch this constantly. + NOTE: There is a director’s cut of the first three episodes then they integrate. En of Love [▶️watch here] is the first, inferior version of the story. ⇢My Beautiful Man - This one tends to be a controversial rec. It’s probably the show that surprised me the most in this entire list and made me do a complete 180 in my opinion of it. Once I finally gave it a chance, I just couldn't stop watching it, and it gets even better as it continues in the following season and the epilogue. + Season 2 & Movie ⇢My Stand-In - A very recent addition, I am obsessed with it. There is not one episode I didn’t like and for me this really managed to make the relationship work despite the toxicity and the atrocities. The acting is just splendid, I will now forever be a fan of Up and Poom. I love it. ⇢To Sir, With Love - This is fully a soap opera. I haven’t seen it recommended as much as others because of how long and how specifically in the soap opera genre it is. But! – big but – if you manage to get through the whole of it, you are primed for any other BLs that use the same narrative style or very close narrative styles like Century of Love. For me, it contextualised a lot of other Thai shows I’ve watched and in the end, though it feels longer than it should be, I actually really liked it. But man, life is way too short to ever rewatch it.

So You Want It Artsy - That snobby friend who only watches French Indie films you hate to admit are actually excellent.

⇢180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - The biggest draw of this show is the shooting style which perfectly complements the themes in the story. A masterclass in acting with complex characters, I know a lot of people find it hard to get through because of the theatrical style it employs but for me that’s a huge plus. I highly discourage watching it all at once, I think it’s a show that needs its time to be watched. A real feast for the eyes.  ⇢Blueming - A cinematographic work of art. The plot is not that complicated, it relies a lot on the emotional beats and the complex inner lives of the protagonists. Part of the HDS holy trinity so you just gotta watch it. It’s fairly brief. ⇢The Eighth Sense - Unfortunately, I didn't end up loving this as much as basically everyone else but I do think it showed amazing promise. The ending just didn't work particularly well for me but it's definitely a very well-crafted story with amazing cinematography and great acting. ⇢I Told Sunset About You, Last Twilight in Phuket, I Promised You The Moon - If you ask people who liked this one, most will say they hate the second season because of the cheating storyline. I completely and utterly disagree. I have some minor gripes with how it ended but overall this is almost a perfect show IMO.

In Need of A Good Cry - Break-up, death, overall tragedy; for those nights you need to get it out. WARNING: some sad and tragic endings ahead.

⇢The Day I Loved You - I have a slightly controversial opinion about this one but the show is not a controversial recommendation at all. It’s plain good. I feel like it might be the only Filipino BL I’ve truly enjoyed and it’s definitely the only one you’ll find in this list. ⇢Eternal Yesterday - You go into this and you already know how much it’s going to break your heart but you never stop hoping for that happy ending. This one really devastated me because even though I knew it was going to end sadly, it managed to surprise me in the way it got there. ⇢HIStory3: Make Our Days Count - I’ve heard so many people say to just skip the end of the second to last episode and the whole of the finale and I get it. I would probably do the same upon rewatch but I don’t recommend skipping it if it’s your first time. Masterful character development and acting, I wish the rest of the HIStory series had maintained the same level of storytelling but alas, it didn’t. ⇢Kissable Lips - I didn't think vampires could make me this emotional. Way ahead of its time, we might never see another like this from South Korea.  ⇢Life: Love on the Line - Frustrating at times, pays off in a big way at the end. Very few others have made me cry as much. NOTE: make sure to watch the director’s cut. ⇢The On1y One - Also a very recent addition. This one can truly boast doing the slow-burn right. There were a couple of episodes that got a little shaky toward the end and if it ends up not getting a second season, I might commit arson but damn if the emotional beats didn’t work in a big way. I was played and I didn’t even wanna watch it at first.

The Self-referentials - We love a story that knows its own genre.

⇢A Man Who Defies the World of BL - Pure and absolute comedy from Japan, it parodies and deconstructs every single trope there is. The comedy is very in-your-face but instead of cringing, it consistently makes me die with laughter. Technically ongoing but unsure whether it'll get a fourth season. ⇢Kabe Koji - I have to admit I don’t remember a lot about this show aside from how much it impressed me when I watched it and the people to whom I’ve recommended it with the caveat that at the beginning it seems a little silly and not that good have come back to tell me that it was totally worth the watch, which is exactly the feeling I remember getting from watching it and why I recommend it. It’s formative, I just don’t remember why. ⇢Lovely Writer - I specifically chose to watch this when starting to dive into Thai BL because it deals with the Behind the Scenes of how BL shows are made and it was essential to my understanding of how fanservice works in this specific industry and definitely put me on the right path to find out more on the subject. Other than that, it’s fairly good and fluffy though I’m not a fan of one specific trope it uses.

Genre Outliers - BLs that like to mix it up a bit.

⇢He/She/It - Short and weird. I feel like this is very much one of a kind and I would watch it if only because it’s so damn intriguing even though it could have flourished with a bigger budget. However, it’s lovable also because it’s so obviously a small-budget project. ⇢Love for Love’s Sake - It definitely deserves the reputation it gets. It starts with catapulting you into one story and perfectly uses it to mirror the actual point of the show. The love story is excellent and the medium it uses in-world was a stylistic and instrumental dream. It knows exactly what it’s doing and it’s a masterful execution of the isekai genre while also keeping well within the BL world. ⇢The Warp Effect - Stretching the definition of BL a little as technically, the protagonist is a straight (up for debate) dude. That isn’t to say this isn’t very much a queer story with compelling queer characters and a fair dose of fun. I also absolutely adore how it talks about sex and feel like its approach to the topic is extremely sensitive and well-done. Plus, it’s genuinely funny. ⇢Till the World Ends - I will forever be grateful to Jay for convincing me to give this a try. It’s a little gorey and none of the characters are very good people – aside from Art. The fact that it came from a smaller, almost indie studio is incredible and it is brave as hell for choosing the subject matter it did and executing it the way it did. Michael Kiettisak is the love of my life (though this is not the show that originated my undying love for him, do ask me about it). NOTE: some of the videos on YT are membership-restricted but censored versions are available on the original channel.

Complicated Recs - Shows I have trouble recommending without a disclaimer but trust me, you need to see them.

⇢Secret Crush on You - I can’t possibly explain in just two or three sentences why you should watch it. It’s cringey, it’s ridiculous, and so so hard to get through but!!!! Just come talk to me about it if you want to know more ‘cause my thoughts about this are so conflicting I can’t get into it here. If you get through this one, you can get through anything. Just watch it and then come yell at me because you hated it and hold me responsible for convincing you. ⇢TharnType - This is even harder to justify than the previous one. Simply put: it is so wildly popular and well-known, you just have to experience it for the culture. On the other hand, I maintain that with a few tweaks – and they would genuinely be just a few though some of them major –, this show could have been groundbreaking. Again, if you want me to say more than that, you’ll have to leave me an ask. + Special 1, Season 2 & Special 2

Underrated Gems - Nobody talks about them and I’m very sad about it.

⇢The Best Story - Short, sweet, heart-breaking. A very overlooked show if you consider it stars YinWar and even though it’s one of the first they did together, it already showcases how well they work as a pair. One day, I will get the epilogue I deserve. ⇢Dear Doctor, I’m Coming for Soul - I cannot understand why this doesn’t get recommended in the same breath as Manner of Death. I found it completely by accident and loved it instantly. Stylistically, very much in the same category as MoD for me though I might like the emotional beats in this one a little more. ⇢Light on Me - So underrated. It has such a gentle touch with dealing about young love. Perfect display of how tender and delicate teenage love can be, it made my heart clench and filled me with joy. ⇢Long Time No See - Some of the older Korean BLs are surprisingly forward compared to what we get today and this is only one, excellent example of it. While it does have some spice, you should also watch it for the plot. Short and extremely lovable.  ⇢Love Is Better the Second Time Around - Why 👏 does 👏 nobody 👏 talk 👏 about 👏 this 👏 show!!! 👏 The music choices alone made it such an entertaining watch. I can only describe this as unexpected.  ⇢Love Class - I can't understand the absolute loathing I’ve seen people have for this show at all, especially for the second season. I loved it, both times. I especially loved the secondary couples in the second season but both times I was blindsided by how much I enjoyed it and how much of a left turn it took. Came for the romance, stayed for the plot twists. + Season 2 (not a continuation of the previous season) ⇢Our Days - This is another show I remember very little about aside from being very struck by the stylistic choices. The plot isn’t especially original but I was very intrigued by its pacing and its narrative style which is what stuck with me. I'm including it because I watched it fairly early in my BL watching experience and it definitely primed me for shows coming from lesser-known studios. ⇢Rak Diao - I will never ever get over the fact that this didn’t get a second season. Not only did it need it, it deserved it. This is shot like a sit-com, which means fake laughter and the kind of comedy that comes with that but it gets unexpectedly deep as it goes and does a wonderful job of conveying the emotions throughout the progression of the love story. I would have never expected to like it as much as I did, it holds a very dear place in my heart. ⇢Something In My Room - Such a lovely and heartwarming show despite the sad ending. I don’t really have the words to describe it, I just really loved it and would like for more people to know it.

Personal Faves - Are these good? That’s irrelevant. I love them, therefore they’re the best.

⇢The End of The World With You - This show was a journey. I knew exactly where it was going but it made me excited to find out how it would get there. The ending is a little goofy solely because of the low-budget VFX but emotionally, it really worked for me. ⇢Theory of Love - This is quite literally my problematic fave. I always skip most of the side plots when rewatching it and it’s the show I managed to trap my best friend into watching BL with. I genuinely adore KhaoThird’s story, I know a lot of people don’t like how their relationship begins but I think the character development is just done so well that it makes it work. Plus, I love the way it combines all the references into its own story and the Special EP always makes me tear up a little. Huge, huge emotional attachment to this one on my part. ⇢The Time of Fever - Technically, this is a spin-off prequel. It tells the story of the secondary couple from Unintentional Love Story and how they got to the point we find them in that one. It’s beautiful both aesthetically and story-wise. The acting is just excellent and the chemistry is out-of-this-world. I would personally recommend watching ULS first, then this one, then only the DongHee and HoTae parts from ULS again but it’s up to you. I will get that DongHeeHoTae-centric second season or die trying. + Unintentional Love Story (main story) ⇢To My Star + Season 2 - This show, to me, is a staple but I feel like it doesn’t tend to make the big names list. It is not only in my top three BL shows but also in my list of favourite shows ever of any genre. It’s absolutely essential to watch season two as it is quite different from the first one and much more developed. In general, I like season two a little more than the first but that does not mean the first is lacking in anything. It’s very marginal. Genuinely, this show can play my emotions like maybe only one or two others I’ve watched.

This concludes this very long and self-indulgent list of recommendations. If you’ve gotten this far, thank you so much for reading and please do shoot me an ask or a comment or a DM if you want to talk about any of these shows or others with me, it would genuinely make my day!

A/N 1: some of the titles in this list have an ‘extended universe’ situation going on. Feel free to contact me if you need help navigating it. A/N 2: just because they’re in this list, does not mean I consider all these shows to be the top of the crop. These are specifically shows that I think would be ideal for a beginner to get into the genre, there are many many others that I would readily recommend that didn’t make the cut and that I would be glad to elaborate on if asked. A/N 3: if you ever find yourself thinking “What the hell are they even saying??” while reading this, just imagine me adding an “in my opinion” to the end of every sentence.

[psychic-refugee]

I loved MOA, I’ve watched it twice and it’s definitely a great rewatch. Probably going into my list of comfort films to watch again and again.

It definitely deserves its #1 Spot on Amazon Video.

I’m going to wait to give a full on review so people have more time to watch it and it’s less spoilery.  

I do want to address one thing that I don’t think is a fair criticism, at all.

I’ve seen several posts where they’re unhappy that the main character isn’t a lesbian. Someone even went as far to call it “lesbian erasure” and others are calling Megan Park/the movie lesphobic.

On one hand, I understand that there aren’t enough good representation movies for lesbians or the LGBTQ+ community, and it can be frustrating when something looks promising or if you had certain hopes, but it turns out a different way.

On the other hand, come on, BFFR and fuck off.

No one ever said it was a lesbian rom com. It’s a rom com with a character who is very young and in her limited experience had thought she was a lesbian, and then finds someone who makes her question that specific title.

Chad has ALWAYS been part of the synopsis and cast list. He was always framed as the romantic interest.

Other people's sexuality is not dependent upon your hopes and wishes, both real and fictional.

I think people are so chronically online and obsessed with labels that they forget that no one has met everyone they’re ever going to meet, ESPECIALLY NOT AT 18. Elliott had only ever been attracted to women up until she meets Chad. She’s also from a very small town, is itching to live in the big city of Toronto, and is about to attend the University of Toronto.

There is a chance she still would have figured out she was also attracted to men when the dating pool got much larger for her.

Is it “heterosexual erasure” if the opposite happens and someone goes off to Uni to discover they are attracted to the same sex? Or is it just part of some people’s journey?

I, personally, think it’s a great message that you’re a) not stuck with a title or specific sexuality and b) it doesn’t have to be this traumatic, existential crisis. I loved how she talked it out with her friend, Ro, and it was like, “oh shit (surprised)…tell me more (intrigued and supportive).”

Please notice how Ro and Ruthie (Maddie Zeigler) don’t question Elliott’s sexuality or try to make her feel bad about it, they just accept her as friends should.

Again, personally, I’m glad to see a queer story that doesn’t have queer trauma.

I hope everyone’s sexual, or lack thereof, journey is as easy going.

I also feel like the people who are mad that she fell in love with a man when “the right one came along,” and are calling it lesbian erasure, completely stopped paying any real attention to the movie.

Elliott NEVER calls herself straight. She NEVER indicates she no longer is attracted to women because she found Chad.

Her attraction to Chad is in addition to her general attraction to women. It’s very clear through the dialogue that she is very much into women, and that never stops.

Spoiler but not relevant to furthering the plot and it’s towards the end of the movie:

…

Older Elliott references having a current girlfriend in the future. Timestamp: 1:13:30

She doesn’t mention any other male significant other.

It could very well be that Chad is a one off, but still very important, valid, and REAL love in Elliott's life.

At no point does Elliott’s attraction to Chad diminish her attraction to women.

Fine, be frustrated in the general lack of lesbian specific movies.

But don’t call Megan Park lesphobic for not making a character SHE CREATED lesbian when Elliott was never meant to be lesbian to begin with.

[mostlyinthemorning]

Highlander Rewatch Episode 1.1

Join me for a daily(ish) blogging of what was once my favourite show.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, my first love was Highlander (the TV series). I've wanted to rewatch it for a long time, but it isn't streaming anywhere and the box of battered VHS tapes that I’d recorded off of cable have been lost to the sands of time. Thankfully, Youtube has come through, hopefully I can piece together all the episodes in the right order.

If I'm going to watch 119 episodes of this show (Wow, that's a lot of TV, I forgot how long TV seasons used to be), what better way to experience this than to share my random thoughts on the random-thought-sharing website?

*Note, this won’t be a live-blogging so much as a collection of thoughts after I watch each episode.

More below the cut in case anyone is worried about spoilers for a…checks notes…oh, god, that can’t be right…32 year old show. Anyway...there can be only one! Let’s go.

Episode 1.1 The Gathering

IMBD Description: Immortal Duncan MacLeod leaves tranquility when kinsman Connor returns and evil Immortal Slan Quince challenges him to a battle. [It's very funny that Slan has a last name in the credits, because it definitely didn't come up as he was threatening and swording at people. I'm also dying at "leaves tranquility" as a description that's supposed to mean...anything.]

Tranquility or not, let's watch this thing.

I appreciate an opening scene that transitions from giggly sex to this:

Yes. Good. No notes.

Am also belatedly realizing how imprinted I am on Mac’s nicely styled long hair and intense eyes. 

Oh, I forgot how much blatant misogyny there was in the 90s. Well, we’re just going to have to work through it together. 

Christopher Lambert is not a great actor, but there’s something subtly charming about him. Having him in the first episode really transitions the series nicely from the movie, even if everyone’s acting is a bit stiff. 

They really laid the groundwork for Tessa’s death in season 2 so early with the conversation between her and Mac about him outliving all of his past lovers. [Side note: I was enraged by her death at the time and nearly quit watching, let’s see how I feel this time around.] I love how spunky Tessa is from the get-go, not letting Mac call the shots, even though he tries to. And both of them being ride or die for each other is why I was so into the show at the time. Too bad it ended up being the latter. (Can you tell I’m still bitter?)

 Ritchie is such a punk kid. In my head he was a bit older, and a lot more annoying than he seems this time around. Now he seems more true to how a 17 year old would be if he discovered a bunch of immortal swordspeople living among us. 

The flashback scenes are another area that I’m potentially a bit yikes about - very interested to see how they hold up.

Love the ending of the episode where we’re apparently not going to talk about Mac running away or anything like that? Now everything is fine? Truly a Gen-X style resolution we can all be proud of. 

I have skipped over all the swordplay, but rest assured there was a lot of it, and the good guys prevailed.

On to episode 1.2!

[agirlandherquill]

Written In Smoke - The Inceptive Letter

Now, for the first post of this series I thought I’d begin with something simple, explaining the name - Written, because of course I’m a writer and I adore the clickety-clack of keys (and writing with a fountain pen in a notebook when I’m outlining plot, which is a new little venture I’ve begun doing) and Smoke, because it’s a weekly account of events, nothing is going to be completely solid, and my memory will have gaps even if I attempt to note things down, and also because much like the flow of ink upon paper, life is similarly fluid too, in my mind at least, it’s very much like smoke - full of substance, beautiful, chaotic, and full of little moments (which I completely adore) and thus the use of smoke, because little moments disappear so quickly but the remnants remain with you forevermore, and that’s as much of an explanation as my mind can conjure, which for me at the very least, composes the introduction to this series!

And now to move on to the main substance of this post - much like the ingredients of a perfect dish, the parts are still a work in progress, so bear with me whilst I work out which to include and how to structure it

 (And come up with working titles for each section, which is part of the fun!)

A Glimpse Through Time - little bits about me and what I’ve been up to this week

This week marked the end of a chapter, a very important one, because I completed (some may say survived, barely) my final three papers and today was my final day of academic normalcy - everything from here-on-out is completely and utterly unknown - no more Lit, Bio, and Chem to worry about for the summer at least, which is very, very daunting but I did it, I made it through and hopefully my work paid off - we shall see in a few months time, but i’m not ready to think about that yet - Having to say goodbye to the people who have taught me for the past few years was difficult but I made it through with no tears, a few hugs and cards written, which was lovely, truly, and I’m grateful for every minute of it.

Other than completing the final obstacle toward the free-fall that Is adulthood (I say that as though the feat isn’t impressive, because it sure would be to me two years ago), only a few things have happened this week:

(I’m making this a list because who doesn’t adore lists? Perhaps only me, but that’s more than okay)

Stuff Your Kindle Day was yesterday, and my poor, poor kindle has to suffer with the acquisition of 50-odd books (I haven’t dared to count past that, and it was my first actual SYK day despite owning a kindle for 9 years), and I have no idea if it has the storage for it, so that’ll be fun to work through

I made a bet to watch star-wars, now of course i’ve seen most of it (movie-wise, definitely, and 3/4 of mandalorian minus s3 because let’s face it, I’m as behind on that as I am with Witcher, which is soon to be rectified but anyway redirecting back to Star Wars) but very little of the shows and it’s been so long I hardly remember the plots and such, which I’m very much looking forward to re-experiencing for the first “proper-ish” time - so I’m starting with Solo, then steadily working my way through ANH, ESB, ROTJ, Mando S1, Mando S2, Boba Fett, Mando S3, TFA, TLJ, TROS, TPM, AOTC, Clone wars (movie and plot-vital eps, I was given a list), ROTS, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka - all of this in exchange for my friend to watch The Boys (I’m going to rewatch it all, then finally see Gen V, hopefully in time before S4 ends and I can watch the last few eps as they come out, like I did with S3)

I decided I want to go on a trip over summer, just me, which is frankly terrifying but I’m really excited - I’m thinking of Bath, possibly, because the Jane Austen Museum is there (Persuasion is the love of my life and i’ve only read it twice, I also need to read more than simply that and Pride and Prejudice) and a few doors down is Mary Shelley’s Museum too! It’s a trip that’s doable in a day, by train, which is pretty perfect for my first solo excursion - so bear with me since that’s in the works

To end this list I’m slipping in a note about a brief-exchange that my delusional mind brands rom-com noteworthy (only it’s not, unless it maybe is? i’ll leave that to the reader to decide), I gifted my chemistry lab-partner a chocolate bar and a note of gratitude because it’s down to him that I survived the practicals (only kidding, I’m not THAT dangerous, but we were the most successful pair in the class which was pretty awesome), and enjoyed the chem course even more than I thought I would - and on the final day (today, insert anxious and clueless screaming because it feels far, far too soon for everything to be over) on the way out, he gifted me something in return - I never thought a chocolate bar would make me want to cry and giggle at the same time, but there you go (part of me prays he will not notice the existence of my Tumblr, but it’s possible, and if he ever reads this - I am so, so, sorry, but either way my appreciation is known, and that’s good enough for me, and he’s very, very sweet)

Now, what else is there to include in this section? Oh, I know! The nightmare that is the vast variety of things that entertain me - cough, slightly melodramatic of me, but you’ll see what I mean momentarily,

Books - I’m roughly 120 pages into the Wheel of Time, which I already know will become my LOTR (assuming that is an actual phrase and not something my brain has made up, which is highly likely regardless - it’s also a slight reference to Ready Player One, since Kira reread LOTR every single year), because who doesn’t love danger, fantasy, and a delicious almost undecipherable prophecy? If I don’t re-read this book every year I will be incredibly, incredibly surprised. Fighting sleep one night this week I sought out my kindle, which had been sorely unused these last couple years, and I started to read Interview With The Vampire, and I’ve spent a couple hours reading it today, I’m about 25% in according to Kindle stats, so I’ll see how it goes. Surprisingly though, I stumbled across Perks of Being A Wallflower on Kindle Unlimited today - and 5 hours later, with a couple of breaks scattered between, I finished it, about twenty minutes before writing this section - and let me tell you, that book was a LOT, but a good lot? i suppose? And I’m glad I finally got around to reading it - It’s also given me the urge to reread All The Bright Places which I read for the first time last summer, and it’s beautiful, and so, so good,

Shows - Seeing as it’s the weekend I’m making my way through Dexter, I’m currently 3/4 through S4 and loving it, it’s INSANE, I’m also watching Shameless US, I’m on S6 and it’s actually baffling me how much I’m enjoying it (Lip is my favourite character, and this season HURTS me with how much it hurts him, mild spoiler possibly? apologies if so), I’m also going to start rewatching the Boys as aforementioned, seeing the dark side of superheroes is so incredibly genius, if not disturbing, and there’s plenty of that in the show to look forward to experiencing again, so wish me luck dear reader,

Music - I listen to a LOT. That’s the honest truth. Lots of genres, lots of people, but I’ll try and pick out some of the things I’ve been listening to this week: Outlander S1&2 Soundtrack (I’ve only seen up to s2, and after reading the first book last month it was perfect timing for exam season), Like That by Bea Miller (I rediscovered this recently and it fits so well with the characters in my head, and even though I haven’t been writing lately, believe me, I’ve been plotting), Trouble by Camylio (it reminds me of the main characters in my currently not fully-written book, as in the work I need to complete/redraft after I finish Ruin’s Reprisal), Ludens by Bring Me The Horizon (does this song really need an explanation? It’s just that good) and finally, to finish off this little list of things that I’ve hearing a lot this week, The Other Side by Stephen Sanchez, which is so so good

Spills From The Ink-Pot - writing, writing, and more writing

Seeing as it’s Friday, and today is the start of my lengthy, well-needed summer, there’s not an awful lot I can tell you all for writing progress, but so far this weekend I did manage to re-read the chapter I’m editing and the progress I’ve made in it so far, which was super helpful, and by the end of this weekend hopefully I’ll have that chapter all finished, and then afterwards have a lot more to share with you all next week!

But to make up for my absence from writeblr and being unable to post anything these last few weeks, I’ll add this in:

Just a little glimpse into my workspace/theme/whatever you wish to call it on Scrivener - that's right, I'm a Scrivener girlie, and I'm so glad I invested in it last May (take part in NaNoWriMo camps folks, you get 50% off, which is what I did, aka £25 for permanent use as opposed to £50, which is still really good compared to Word etc, in my opinion) - and a sneak peek at some of my Chapter Titles, which I really do love coming up with,

(if it's blurry I do apologise, but you get the gist, hopefully)

Incase it’s not obvious, this account was written in parts, over the course of Friday and Saturday (11pm today, roughly), since I lost the battle against exhaustion and fell asleep before I could finish compiling this lengthy post (that’s not a complaint, i’m really enjoying writing this) so I’m finishing this very first post a tad later than initially planned, but these things happen, and that’s all right - you’ll also notice my battle with autocorrect and its capitalisation, sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I’d rather not go back and correct things this late at night, so apologies for that slight blunder but I promise the next post will be all properly formatted with headers and capitals (as soon as I figure out how to include headers, and make them, hopefully trusty procreate comes in handy, but we shall see)

So that’s it! The very first Written In Smoke is completed, compiled and heading your way - I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, this is unknown territory for me and it feels as though I’m baring another piece of myself to the world, but it’s worth it, I knew it when this began, and I know it now as I write these last few lines, so if you’ve read this far - thank you, and I’ll see you all next week for the next entry in this series!

~ A Girl and Her Quill

p.s. if there’s anything else you’d like to know about, let me know! suggestions are greatly appreciated (cough, somewhat desperately needed because I have no idea what I’m doing)

p. p. s. being the utter genius I am, I pressed save as draft rather than post, so this is coming out even later than originally planned - whoops!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tag List! (if you want to be notified when a WIS post comes out, interact with this post :) )

@lead-to-code @catwingsathena @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings @thestorywitch @lunaeuphternal

@theaistired @frostedlemonwriter

[blade-that-was-broken]

I don’t know why asking but I’m curious.

How did you first find out about Trolls? What did you think about Trolls? What were your favorite character?

About TBT

How did you think and feel about Branch when TBT first released? About fact he has four brothers? How do you feel about JD, Clay, Floyd and Bruce when you first saw them? Sure they have reasons why they left but they weren’t thinking straight, their reasons were stupid and worse they even decided to leave and BOOM! We know what happened in TBT.

(Poor Baby Branch being left in Trolls Tree in the middle of Bergen Town and poor JD…)

How did you think about bunker that it was the originally for his brothers as Branch built?

What’s your favorite member of BroZone, other than JD and Branch?

Where did you think Clay was after he left? There was a theory that he didn’t leave Trolls Tree but I’m not sure about that one.

Did you know that Branch was originally going to be kidnapped by Velvet and Veneer but that was changed to Floyd, that I heard about that. It would have been so much angst! :(

What do you think Trolls 4 going to be about if there’s one? (Idk why I’m asking that 😅)

Oh boy... I'm not sure about the first time I saw Trolls.

I have several younger siblings so I have watched a TON of animated movies over the course of my teenage and young adult years (I'm still a young adult, I'm not that old I promise lol) and several of my siblings do NOT shy away from the animated kids stuff. My guess is one of my sisters put it on and since most of us like the musical movies, it kind of worked out. Why I latched onto it for my hyperfixation a few months ago? I have ZERO idea.

My favorite character was Branch. Introvert, sarcastic, organizational nut, overthinking paranoid? Yeah, might as well be me with a little extra trauma and crazy. (After my fixation started, JD was added to that favorite. I'm sorry just that's how it is) I had watched movie one and two and whatever before but I didn't think much of it. And then the third movie came out and my sister watched it and I decided to rewatch the entire movie series - with most of the tv shows - as well because that is what I do.

I binge watch shows and movies and draw. I'm a big homebody and most of my time is spent drawing so that's kind of what worked. And then I watched the third movie and then watched it again and upon the second watching, zeroed in on John Dory's "thought you were dead" and "came back" parts and well, hyperfixation galore.

I didn't really watch anything as it was released; as I didn't really follow Trolls that closely. Like I said, my fixation isn't very old. So I didn't really care? Okay so when I watched TBT for the first time, my favorite character was Branch and the other brothers, I didn't have much opinion on? Except for Floyd who I LOATHED. The others leaving? Fine, whatever, I didn't really see it as much as child abandonment in the sense that others do at the time because he was left with his grandmother who, as the adult - should have been raising him anyways - so I guess I didn't see it the way some others did.

For my dislike of Floyd in the beginning, it was because of that promise. The others didn't promise to come back so I didn't really hold them to that standard but Floyd promised to return (there is also him telling Branch to take care of grandma which... I GET why he said that and it makes sense too for a kid but Branch... Branch probably didn't take it the way kids normally do) and he never did. Twenty years. Look, I get that the writers probably did not have that backstory when they were first writing the first trolls movie, I get it but AUGHHHHH

The second time I watched TBT, I got a bit more of a opinion on the brothers. Eventually my dislike of Floyd softened, mostly because I figure he's not as grudge-holding as some of the others. Trust me, I know how holding grudges can eat you up. Clay kind of annoyed me; like he felt so childish with the whole "I'm serious and boring thing" like dude, just chill. I like Brandy, don't get me wrong, but the whole giants/muppets thing threw me off guard and it kind of wigs me out just a bit. Idk, it's probably just me.

Also them getting so upset with JD when he slips up on Bruce's name in kind of a heated situation irritates the heck out of me. Don't ask my why, it just did.

Anyways, I don't have a good memory so idk on most of this stuff lol

I think it's really sweet that the bunker was built for his brothers too. I know Branch does that specific thing for Floyd, like, that's his favorite and whatever, but it's nice that everyone was included. It was kind of like that holding onto hope that they would at least come and visit or something; like they would always have a place with him. Which pisses me off more about none of them coming back. I'm not saying they had to stay but geez, they coulda called or whatever. This is mostly with Bruce and maybe Floyd. We don't really know what Floyd was up to so idk. Bruce literally just settled down and pretty much entirely forgot about his family point blank. Clay has a bit of an excuse, since Viva was protective and he had to lead people. John has a bit of an excuse too considering he thought Branch was dead.

I think the Clay one is kind of hard. I don't... I'm not sure if I think that Clay and Viva were friends before the escape. And I'm not sure if Clay stayed in the tree or not. Like, that's a hard one. Cause idk if that would be worse, if he was in the tree and never even visited Branch. I know the timeline between everything is SUPER sketchy and aging for Trolls seems to be... confusing at best (considering Branch is like a couple months old when he's performing?? Or something?? Idk) so who knows how much time passed between the band breakup and the escape.

My guess? Not a lot of time is between the two. I know Branch seems to "look" 5-6 or whatever in the first movie flashbacks but who even knows with Trolls; everything about them is wild and uncertain and the writers certainly don't seem to care about timelines/continuity that much. It's fine, I don't really mind, since it is a kids movie but whatever.

I did hear about Branch being the one to be captured once upon a time. I think that's a bit too much angst; the dude is literally full of angst. I'm kind of glad that it wasn't him but I'm also not entirely fond of how Floyd is treated as a character? Idk, I guess that is mostly up for interpretation. I think it would also be really hard to find John Dory, considering he travels a lot and thinks everyone is dead lol. Or at least, Branch. Well, up until after TWT. So... I'm not sure?

Trolls 4... hmmm. I'm curious on how long they are going to milk this. I'm a little worried if they do because if the brothers are in it, John's just going to be treated like the butt of the joke like in TBT and I'm not a huge fan of that, as much as I would love to see more of the bros. I'd like to think they'd do something either more world-wide centric with the other tribes or something a bit more Poppy-centric, since TBT is pretty much solely Branch-centric. Maybe some Viva and Poppy bonding.

[jackiestarsister]

Thoughts while re-watching the live-action "Beauty and the Beast"

I am a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, from the story by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve to Jean Cocteau's black-and-white film to Disney's animated movie and stage musical. When Disney's live-action remake came out in 2017, I was delighted by it, and failed to understand why so many people hated it. I've watched it a few times since then, but it has been a while, so I decided to give it a rewatch and take notes.

Be warned: this is pretty long!

My thoughts:

~ I love that the castle in the Disney intro is actually the Beast’s castle. On this watch, I noticed that it is topped with a statue that seems to be St. Michael slaying the devil/a monster, which is so appropriate for this story's symbolism!

~ Interesting that the first object seen is a rose being plucked. I assume that was the Enchantress’ hand? Did she pluck the flower from the prince’s own garden before entering the castle?

~ I love the way the servants are introduced in the prologue! Although they are in shadow, Cogsworth is there with his watch and Lumiere holds up a candelabra!

~ This film really leaned into the ostentation and extravagance of pre-revolution France, and it works so well in the context of this story about true inner beauty versus shallow, superficial appearance.

~ Is that Emma Thompson narrating the prologue? It sounds like her, but her accent is not the same as when she voices Mrs. Potts.

~ The actors must have had an interesting challenge acting out the curse scene, which has no audible dialogue between the Prince and the Enchantress!

~ I like that they added an explanation for why the villagers are unaware of the castle despite the relatively short distance between them.

~ I do not understand why people hate Emma Watson as Belle! She looks just right for the part, and while she is no Broadway-caliber singer, her voice is very pretty and she carries the songs quite well!

~ It almost looks like Belle is deliberately ignoring the people talking about her, marching past them as though trying not to care. But she stops to show kindness to the outcasts and the animals! She even waves to a criminal being escorted to jail!

~ I like that they gave Belle and Maurice one real friend, the local priest. I only wish he was a little more effective in his attempts to help them.

~ The entire sequence of “Belle” is just fantastic! It’s not easy to shoot such a complex scene with so many moving parts.

~ The trio of Gaston fangirls remind me of the silly younger sisters in Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

~ Although they made him an artist instead of an inventor, Maurice is still absentminded and a bit obsessive. It is easy to see how Belle would feel lonely despite his loving presence, since he is completely absorbed in his work.

~ Hearing that her mother was “fearless” might have inspired Belle’s own fearlessness later, first to save her father and then to save the Beast.

~ Why is Belle’s reader in English and not French? And why does she have a children’s book with her when she goes to do laundry? Did she hope to find someone to teach? Was she actually studying the English language?

~ Gaston crosses so many lines, literally and figuratively, when entreating Belle. And he does not even help her or defend her against the villagers’ abuse, he just tries to pressure her at a moment when she is upset and vulnerable.

~ It’s interesting that Gaston plays the “I can change” card, and Belle insists that “no one can change that much.” She will be proven wrong, but not by him!

~ The tree being struck by lightning and blocking Maurice’s path really makes his going to the castle seem like a result of magic or divine intervention!

~ Maurice seems remarkably calm throughout the wolf chase and when stumbling upon the castle!

~ The lamps held by sconces shaped like arms are a nice nod to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film La Belle et La Bête!

~ I’m surprised that Maurice would feel bold enough to take a rose after being so spooked by Chip! It would make more sense if he either saw the animated objects and accepted their extraordinariness, or did not see anyone at all and assumed the inhabitants would remain hidden.

~ Maurice must have been coughing very loudly for Belle to hear him all the way in the foyer!

~ Belle holding the light up to see the Beast gives off Psyche and Cupid/Eros vibes!

~ “Forever can spare a minute” is an interesting choice of words considering the name of the song “How Does a Moment Last Forever.”

~ The Beast is so selfish and had such an unhealthy relationship with his own father that he cannot wrap his mind around Belle sacrificing herself for her father.

~ I like Ewan McGregor in general, but his French accent is ridiculous. I get that it’s in keeping with the original film, where Lumiere was the only character with a French accent, but aside from the English characters Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth, they’re all supposed to be French, so it doesn’t really make sense.

~ I don’t like that Lumiere is the one to give Belle a room, behind the Beast’s back. Giving her a room is supposed to be the Beast’s first gesture of decency and kindness toward Belle.

~ Lumiere is much shrewder and actually comes off smarter than Cogsworth, who is so by-the-book that he reveals the one place Belle ought not to go!

~ Belle’s expression when Madame la Garderobe dresses her up says, “I did not sign up for this!”

~ Belle’s simple beauty and country/provincial style contrasts strongly with her bedroom and the lavish style Madame tries to impose on her. That seems to be a kind of arc over the course of the film, with a sort of meeting in the middle by the end.

~ A big difference between the two films’ versions of “Gaston” is that here, LeFou pays the people in the tavern to play music and sing along, instead of everyone joining in freely! I like that, because it suggests that Gaston may not be as well-liked admired as he thinks.

~ When LeFou sings that he does not know how to spell Gaston’s name, it’s written right on the wall behind him!

~ Chip rolling around on his saucer in excitement reminds me of Aang on his air scooter! (Which is funny because I actually gave Aang the role of Chip in the Avatar/Beauty and the Beast crossover I wrote years before this movie came out.)

~ Why does Belle sit and hug her knees self-pityingly, in between moments when she is busy devising her escape? It’s pretty convenient timing for the Beast to see her that way in the mirror.

~ I'm sure it's been pointed out and laughed about before, but I find it quite funny that Emma Watson and Emma Thompson, who played Hermione and Prof. Trelawney in the Harry Potter films and had a whole scene involving tea leaves, got to act together in this film and dealt with teapots and teacups again!

~ Mrs. Potts’ advice about whether to listen to people when they are angry … makes sense when it comes to insults or harshness, but not when it comes to rules and boundaries.

~ Maestro Cadenza is so sassy! “Are there any other tasteless demands you wish to make upon my artistry?” I may need to use that next time I get a negative review for my work!

~ “This is France” followed by the knife falling like a guillotine made me laugh!

~ Lumiere seems clumsier, less confident, and more oblivious in this version of “Be Our Guest.”

~ Poor Belle can’t get a full bite of food while the staff objects are showing off! I choose to believe that after that performance, Mrs. Potts made sure she got to relax and eat a proper, comforting meal.

~ Belle breaking the rule about the West Wing feels more in-character in this version. Here, she is more headstrong, and she intends to break her word and leave. So it’s not just curiosity or fascination with the castle that drives her to investigate. She may be hoping to find out the Beast’s weakness and find a way to escape.

~ Belle is not very sneaky when going to the West Wing; her footsteps are very loud!

~ The Beast ruined the image of himself and his father, but he left his mother’s image intact!

~ If Philippe was still at the castle, how did Maurice get back to the village? Did he walk the whole way? There was no weird palanquin like in the animated movie.

~ The sequence of Belle, the Beast, and the wolves is kind of rushed. Even though it hits the same beats at the original scene, there is not a lot of room for the emotional reversals of the Beast going out to save Belle and her decision to save him in return, even though it costs her the chance of escape.

~ I’m glad that in this version, Maurice opposes Gaston as a suitor for Belle. He knows that the guy is bad news!

~ They gave the line “If you like it so much, then it’s yours,” originally part of the lyrics for “Belle,” to the Beast in the library scene!

~ Belle helps the Beast to see his home and possessions with new eyes, both because she is a newcomer seeing it for the first time, and because she reads with him. I like that a poem (“A Crystal Forest” by William Sharp) helps him look at the castle’s environment in a new way.

~ Belle literally lets sun into the castle when she cleans the windows!

~ The “something there” could have been friendship, but the fact that Mrs. Potts won’t tell Chip what it is makes me think it’s really sexual chemistry/attraction!

~ Has the Beast considered why laughter dies when he enters a room? Did that happen before the curse, or only after he became a beast? Is it because the staff are afraid of his temper, or of his monstrous appearance?

~ The magical book feels like a nod to the magical rooms Belle visits in the original story of “Beauty and the Beast”

~ Personally, I like that this version provides some backstory about Belle and the Beast’s parents. Belle’s journey thus entails not only new relationships but also healing and closure regarding past relationships. Losing their mothers at a young age becomes a point of commonality between Belle and the Beast. Learning of Belle’s mother’s sacrifice, urging Maurice to take their baby away for her safety, may have inspired the Beast’s willingness to let her go later.

~ I know it’s in keeping with the original film, but making Belle’s dress yellow creates a good contrast against the blue and white tones of her usual outfits and the wintry setting of the castle grounds.

~ The Beast’s smile when he sees Belle dressed for their dance is so soft and sweet!

~ The dance sequence is beautiful!!! They don’t look quite as happy and content as they do in the original, but somehow it feels appropriate to where they are at this point in their relationship. The choreography involves trust and teamwork, so it shows how much they have grown from where they began. Belle was not even willing to be in the same room as him, and now she is getting really close and letting him lift and twirl her!

~ I like that the Beast explicitly, if indirectly, broaches the subject of whether Belle could care about him, and that she affirms that she could. It’s more personal than just asking if she is happy there, which is a pretty odd question to ask someone who is technically a prisoner.

~ Unlike in the original, where the Beast is pained and takes a long moment to decide to let Belle go, in this version he says it immediately, almost without thinking.

~ Why doesn’t the coat holder (I think they call him M. Chapeau?) give Belle her cloak, at the very least, as she leaves?

~ “Evermore” is such a beautiful, powerful song! I realized that throughout it, the Beast keeps climbing higher in the castle so he can watch Belle as long as possible. My only criticism of the sequence is that the Beast’s CGI face does not emote very much. Some of the lyrics are pretty angsty, but his expression is almost stoic. Maybe he is supposed to be at peace with losing Belle?

~ How long did everyone stay in the tavern while the asylum carriage was summoned? Why do the villagers have torches at that point? And why do they all follow Gaston’s lead?

~ The magic mirror’s actual glass is quite small and clouded! The images aren’t clear at all.

~ The standoff with Gaston is a bit awkward in its direction, but the actual “Mob Song” sequence is excellent! And this was the first time I wondered: is it meant to be an allusion to the mob mentality of the French Revolution?

~ Cogworth’s “man the barricades” has got to be a Les Misérables reference, and “third-rate musketeers” must be a Three Musketeers reference!

~ Do the household objects sing part of the “Mob Song”? Did they do that in the original movie too?

~ How did Belle carry the magic mirror and her mother’s rose thingy while riding her horse? She doesn’t seem to have any kind of bag on her. Does her ballgown have pockets?

~ Maurice and Belle’s scene in the wagon is so sweet. He seems to be convinced a little too quickly about the Beast becoming kind, but it underscores how much he trusts and supports her.

~ It’s not exactly original, but Belle turning a fashion accessory into a tool is so in-character!

~ LeFou mockingly talking to Chip and Mrs. Potts reminds me of Olaf, another Josh Gad character, pretending to address the rock trolls in Frozen!

~ I swear, Maestro Cadenza’s music as he pins LeFou down sounds like “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)”!

~ Great symbolism of books being used as weapons against the literacy-hating townsfolk!

~ If Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza were able to come out of their respective rooms to participate in the battle, why weren’t they able to see each other sooner?

~ Where did Belle get that jacket? Was it Maurice’s?

~ Although it was shown earlier in the movie, I think the castle crumbling should have been revisited the night of the dance. It seems too random when it happens during the climactic fight.

~ I like that Belle participates in the fight, taking away Gaston’s weapons and trying to protect the Beast.

~ The “death” of all the household items … it’s like the writers asked, “How can we make the Beast’s death even more devastating than it already is?”

~ I like how the rose petals become part of the Beast’s transformation. But the transformation itself seems a bit rushed. In the animated movie and stage musical, it’s a pretty long sequence with a lot of awe and emotion. But I guess there’s only so much you can do with the live-action medium.

~ Mrs. Potts’ first name is Beatrice?!

~ As a human, Chip has a tooth missing, like his chipped rim!

~ It looks like Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza ditched their wigs and decided to wear their natural hair after the curse broke!

~ I had not realized that Gugu Mbatha-Raw was in this movie until now, after seeing her in Loki!

~ There are many beautiful shots of the sky throughout the film!

~ The score is so beautiful! I love that it weaves in melodies of songs from the original movie, the stage musical, and the new movie.

My conclusion: it’s not perfect, but it is a beautiful movie and a wonderful retelling of a classic story that long predates Disney’s interpretation!

[airbender-dacyon]

Just some quick personal thoughts on Netflix’s adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender before it premieres tomorrow.

I know I’ve not been as active the last couple years, especially in the Kataang and AtLA fandom, but I started this blog for Kataang and AtLA and it will always be a blog for Kataang and AtLA. And it’s been a while since I’ve talked about my favorite fandom and ultimate OTP.

First and foremost, I think the adaptation is completely unnecessary (same goes for the HTTYD live-action movie that’s currently being filmed). The story has been told in a visual medium already through its original animated series.

That said, I feel this live-action series will be an improvement over the 2010 film, though that is admittedly a very low bar to clear.

Despite that I feel it’s unnecessary, I do intend to watch it after I rewatch the first season of AtLA. I want the first season fresh in my mind because I’m planning to do some level of a review of each episode as I watch it, if anyone’s interested.

My expectations for the show are that it will be… okay. Somewhat good even. Slightly above average.

From the trailers and clips released so far, I have hopes for some aspects of the adaptation and disappointment and irritation with other elements. It seems like they’ve handled some concepts well (set design, costumes, casting, visual effects, some character bonding moments, expanding upon some of the lore and characters, etc.) while it appears they may have failed to grasp the significance of key plot points and character arcs (Aang is a kid, please let him be a kid and have his fun; Sokka needs to grow as a person; Katara needs to relearn how to be a kid and have fun; Ozai scarred Zuko because Zuko refused to fight him during their Agni Kai, so why is there apparently a fully choreographed fight?).

I’m hoping I’m proved wrong on the rumored issues regarding plot points and character arcs.

I understand there are always differences between adaptations, but some of these things do worry me.

All of this said, please do not attack the cast and crew if you dislike the show. Criticism is fair, but do not go after the people who worked on this adaptation, no matter how much you disagree with some (or all) of the decisions.

And I think most importantly, be kind to newcomers to the fandom and if they liked the show, encourage them to watch the original animated series. We have an opportunity to show people that the original series is worthy of its praise and that any adaptation, no matter how well done, won’t be able to recapture the essence and beauty that made the original series so special.

I say this because it was only thanks to the live-action adaptations of One Piece and Percy Jackson that got me interested in the originals. It wasn’t that I never had an interest in them, but I had other shows/books/fandoms/interests that overshadowed them for literal years. Now I’m planning to read the OP manga and the PJO books once I’ve got some free time. And I imagine I’ll enjoy them both more than the live-action adaptations.

Last, but not least, I’m hoping to see some bonding between the main trio and especially hoping the Kataang friendship is strong. I doubt there will be any indications of anything romantic, but if they at least handle Katara and Aang’s friendship well, it will serve as a foundation for any romance in potential future seasons.

So, these are my ramblings.

If anyone is interested in me reviewing the episodes, let me know and I’ll try my best to write them up when I get a chance.

In conclusion, be respectful of the cast and crew, be kind to fandom newcomers (and please do not incite ship wars), be open-minded about the show if you watch it, but also do not be afraid to critique the adaptation.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: December 2023

And so the year draws to a close! Big movie month and hoping to carry that over into the new year.

……….FILM……….

Turning Red (2022) Late to the game on this but it’s so great! When they talk about the ritual and that the words to the music don’t matter, I knew it was gonna lead to 4*Town playing a key role, but what they did on top of that was a genuine surprise and what takes this to the next level: they embrace the obvious setups but add an extra twist to the payoffs. So great.

The Fate of the Furious (2017) Okay I really love the idea of evil Dom so this movie moooooostly works. I’m still getting caught up on the series but even knowing that Han is alive, it’s still baffling that Shaw is embraced by the crew. He killed that whole hospital wing! 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) These are of course Christmas films and I’ve noticed a transition in myself having not seen them for many years. I once liked the earlier movies for how faithful they were to recreating the books, but I now see how that the accuracy is at the expense of the movie’s pacing. Still really impressed with how well cast the core trio is even at this age.

The Santa Clause (1994) Nostalgia overwhelms my perspective on this but, as far as I can tell, this holds up pretty well. Starting Scott off as just...kinda the worst makes his transition all the better and I think is where Tim Allen is at his best. Plus a lot of really great sight gags which I don’t really see anymore (like the Denny’s full of sad dads).

Confess, Fletch (2022) Fun and the sort of movie I wish got made more often. Not all of the humour really landed but the characters were engaging and the mystery lead to a lot of fun. Perfectly decent rainy day watch.

The Night Before (2015) A lot of ups and downs with this one. At it’s best it’s very funny but when it slows down it really grinds to a halt. I wonder if the hangover movies have the same challenge. Also 100% thought the steroid injection was insulin.

Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) Two Rankin Bass classics that really highlight the best that this production company could do.

No Hard Feelings (2023) and Easy A (2010) The former was a pretty fun comedy that didn’t have a lot of comedy and the later was a comedy that I remember loving when it came out but not really connecting upon rewatch. Would I still recommend both? I think so, but only lightly.

……….TELEVISION……….

Blue Eye Samurai (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) A good chunk into the season and really digging it. The characters are rich and layered and the show is doing a good job of exploring those layers in an engaging story. Plus the setting/time period allows for a lot of really great visuals. Definitely making the most out of the premise and stoked for the rest of the season.

Poker Face (Episode 1.08 to 1.10) Such a satisfying series. The majority of the episodes stand on their own but the bigger picture occasionally pops up, until the end of the season where it becomes the main focus. Just like TV used to be! Really beautiful wardrobe and set design, all the actors seem to be having a great time, and each episode feels thoroughly realized. Big fan can’t recommend enough. 

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Episode 1.07 to 1.08) Came into it expecting something else and it’s gonna take some time to adjust to what it was. Gotta rewatch but really no complaints! 

……….YOUTUBE……….

Plagiarism and You(Tube) by hbomberguy Yes I did watch a 4 hour video on plagiarism and you should too. VIDEO

when the director is overqualified for the job by CinemaStix I never really considered how similar the early Harry Potter movies but it all makes sense. VIDEO

Stop Taking ANY Advice From TikTok by Extranet Shaquille A quick and light reminder that social media isn’t worried about truth or accuracy in any way. VIDEO

The Marvelization of Cinema by Stories of Old This succinctly explains (to me, at least) why some modern remakes/sequels/reimaginings land and some don’t. In short you gotta ask if it’s purpose is to tell a story or maintain a brand. VIDEO

……….READING……….

There is a Tide aka Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie (Page 122 of 224) Picked up a bunch of old Agatha Christie books at a thrift store (partly because of the cool covers, partly cause I like mystery as a genre but never read it). Turns out this is EXACTLY what I needed right now. It’s been a while since I was this stoked to keep going with a story and this specific story feels like a great influence on the first Knives Out movie in that it’s centred around a lot of family drama vying for control of a deceased benefactor’s money. So stoked and gonna grab more of these when I can. Hey do you have old DELL copies of Christie novels you don’t want? Lemme know.

Tiger in the Stars by Zach Hughes (Complete) Okay so I picked this up while thrifting. There were DOZENS of these Laser Books and figured I’d try one and see what they were like. Turns out...not that great. Some fun ideas but moved at a snail’s pace and felt like there was a lot of padding. Something like this feels like a Goosebumps book (short, quick output, somewhat formulaic) but in comparison, I think I’d prefer R. L. Stein.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 2 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Again rereading as the series draws to a close and it’s still such a joy. These characters are fully formed right from the beginning and it’s such a good study in dramatic escalation as right now it still feels light and fun and I love it.

The Michael Moorcock Library: The Chronicles of Corum Vol. 1: The Knight of Swords by Mike Baron, Mike Mignola, Rick Burchett, & Kelly Jones (Complete) Love these illustrated retellings of the old pulp fantasy novels. Sometimes the limited page count leads to pacing that feels rushed and a scale that feels smaller than the grandiosity of the subject matter, but every adaptation requires sacrifice. Gonna keep going with this series and also try to find the original books!

……….AUDIO……….

Cold & Blue All Over (Demo) by Blue Freezie (2023) A little punk, a little surf rock, a little rockabilly, and all a good time. Big fan of this album and hoping there’s more to come.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday D&D crew is back in Neverland and sorting out this Elf problem! They’ve killed one and are on their way to killing some more. It’s more nuanced than that and you can read all about it here.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 D&D crew just robbed a funeral and started a riot! Who knows what’s gonna happen next.

And that’s it. See you in January!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Rook, Leona: Look a Little Closer

BLESS TWST FOR THE PETTINESS, IT NEVER DISAPPOINTS 🙏 xjdvsjdnsksvs The way Leona is just. So done with this situation and wants to get out ASAP, but Rook is babbling and prolonging the conversation and making Leona deeply uncomfortable with it—

Rook has a lot of insightful things to say about art!! When you look at a work again, sometimes you’ll notice things that you didn’t before; I also understand the feeling of being so passionate about a work of art that you fixate on it, analyze it, and excitedly discuss it with others. That’s basically what I do for TWST 😂

P.S. Glad it only took 30 rolls for me to get Rook!! The lighting and the scattering petals in his Groovy are so gorgeous 😭 Oh, and it seems like the Groovy poses are based on what the boys do during various Flying lesson animations! No hands on the broom though… Rook, buddy. I don’t care if you’re trying to T-pose or do the Titanic. Your ass is going to come tumbling out of the sky—

A Boy in Bloom, and his Flowering Future.

“What do you do on your days off?”

“I often enjoy attending the theater or watching movies. Plays, musicals, dramas, films of all genres--I enjoy them all.” Rook’s eyes glinted with keen interest. “Why, quite recently--this last weekend, in fact--I rewatched one of my favorite dramas with Epel-kun!

“I must have already seen it 100 times by now, and yet it never fails to allure me.” He sighed lovingly, his gaze clouding with adoration.

“You are a man with refined tastes, Roi des Lions, so perhaps you’ve heard of this drama? It is a harrowing tale of a monster that seeks to be like man... Alas!! He is shunted at every opportunity. It truly begs of us, Is there humanity to be found in every beast, just as there is a beast to be found in every human?”

Leona’s face twisted into a scowl. “Okay, I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t need such another long-winded answer.”

We’ll never get done with this interview at the rate this is going.

“My, did I overstep my bounds?”

“That’s all you ever do,” Leona snorted.

To this, the birthday boy only chuckled. “Pardon, I wished to be more accommodating of you.”

“More what?”

“I noticed, Leona-kun, that you hesitated earlier when I assured you that it would be no trouble at all were you to request that I elaborate on my hobbies.” Rook’s half-smile was reminiscent of a semicircle of moon: half dark, half light, one hundred percent mystery. “Even the ever so fierce Leona-kun can have his moments of skittishness, left too shy to approach with his inquiries. I thought to consider those feelings and to move along the conversation myself!”

“Tch. I’m damned if I play your game, and I’m damned if I don’t. You just do and say whatever you want anyway.” There was a snideness set in Leona’s voice. “I think I’ve heard just about enough about what you do in your spare time. Staring at people, recreating things in creepily close detail, incessantly watching the same things over and over--”

Expecting different results. For a change of fate, a reward for all that effort.

The very definition of insanity.

“Fufu. There is bliss to be found in such simplicity, Roi des Lions.” Rook tenderly laid a hand upon his heart, extending the other to the sky above. “To observe is to glean new details with each pass of the eyes, to indulge in the senses until one is entirely entranced...!!"

“... You’re really something alright.” Leona placed a hand on his hip, eyes cut with suspicion. “You really think there’s that much fun to watch grass grow or watch paint dry--even if it’s faked?”

“Whether real or staged, it matters not. The emotions being conveyed are always genuine!”

“Now you’re just lying through your teeth. Putting on airs, lying, deception--”

He saw himself in a crown of crumpled cardboard. A harsh wind roared, sending it scattering as fine particles of sand. Another roar ravaged the sky as he desperately clawed to reclaim his crown.

The pathetic sound came from him.

Pretending to be something you’re not.

“--They’re all natural parts of life. How can you say those feelings, too, are ‘true’?”

“Oui. They are as true as the blood in my veins and the breath in my lungs. Art comes in many forms, you see. However, no matter what form it may be beholden to, art retains its novelty, and its power to move our hearts.

“When a work of art most resonates with us, that is when the truth is pulled from the lies, and when we feel the same pains and pleasures as the actors upon the stage--and... the actors that we see for ourselves in the mirror. Look closer, and you will find that there may be something there that wasn’t there before.

“But... I’m certain that you were already aware of that, Roi des Lions.” Rook’s lips stretched into a broad grin, a gleam of sunlight twinkling in his eyes. The kind of eyes that looked right through him. 

Unnerving, Leona thought, a chill causing his fur to stiffen.

“Of course, if you struggle to find that connection, I would be more than happy to recommend a few titles! I believe you would enjoy a number of historical films. We could have a whole movie watching party to ourselves! I would be ecstatic to discuss the intricacies of...”

“No thanks.”

“You needn’t refuse! No need to be shy! Come now, I wish to get to know my beloved classmate better~”

“What part of keep your nose out of other people’s business don’t you get?”

“... D’accord,” Rook agreed, playfully holding both of his hands up. “My business is hereby minded!”

A (relieved, annoyed?) sigh hissed out. “If only you stayed like this all of the time, my life would be so much easier.”

The corners of Rook’s mouth quivered with delight. “Ah, and there it is--your ‘truth’, Leona-kun. Elusive, but as beautiful as the dawn to a new day.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve run your mouth plenty enough as is. It’s about time you packed up and cleared out.”

“Oh...!!”

Leona practically chucked a broom at Rook, a flurry of white petals fluttering to the ground as the birthday boy seized it. Sturdy, with a good weight--the broom felt familiar in his hands, like a bird that had migrated home from the winter season. Soft as freshly fallen snow, petals as pale as the pages of an unwritten story.

“Beauté. This is a most wonderful bouquet. I am touched to be the recipient of such a dazzling arrangement!”

“Good for you. If you’re so excited, then best scram,” Leona urged him, “get out of here. Your birthday party’s waitin’ for you to appear and show off your flashy flowers.”

“Fufu, very well. The happiness of all the well wishes I’ve received shall propel me along the birthday road!” With a twirl, Rook easily mounted the broom. The flowers began to glitter, his feet smoothly lifting from the ground.

Leona managed a strained smirk. Finally, he’ll be out of my hair.

Then, a few feet into the air, Rook uttered something that made his stomach drop.

“I shall see you for that movie viewing party tomorrow!!” Rook called, plucking a flower from his broomhead and tossing it to Leona. (It landed on his face and limply fell off onto the sidewalk.) “1:00 pm, in the Savanaclaw lounge!”

“Oi, I don’t recall agreeing to that. And when did you decide those details?!”

But Rook (that bastard) was already too far away, too high up (though Leona knew for a fact that with his superhuman hearing the huntsman could hear him, he was just choosing to not respond). Gritting his teeth, the beastman bolted after Rook, shouting after him.

“Who the hell would show up to that?! I’m being serious, I’m NOT havin’ this…! If you show up, I’ll have the fresh meat toss you out, so you’d BETTER not!! Are you even listening to me?!

“LAY OFFFFFFF….!!”

Up in the air, Rook laughed to himself. “It’s good to see him in such high spirits!”

He peered up from the brim of his hat, lifting his head to the horizon.

The sun was up, touching everything in its path with a golden glow. Honey outlined tufts of cotton candy pink clouds, the sky pale cornflower blue. Pastel colors, soft shapes.

How beautiful.

He flung out his arms, embracing the day. Sunlight spilled over him, illuminating a face as bright as his character.

For as much danger as his precarious position posed, Rook Hunt was the only man capable of dancing with it.

[alicia-18]

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV REVIEW

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Before anyone says anything, I know. I have skipped another movie. But before you call upon Jason himself to turn me into a shish kebab, let me explain.

I am based in England and watch this franchise on Paramount Plus. For some reason which I can only assume is to annoy the fandom, both movies 1 and 3 aren’t on the platform but 2,4,5,6,7, and 8 are. I’m just as baffled as you but as we are broke bitches out here, I can’t afford to rent it currently. I am actually going to borrow the first movie from my sister-in-law’s girlfriend soon so I will post my review of that too!

But with that out of the way, let’s get into my thoughts and opinions on part 4.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! I think I might have even enjoyed it more then the second, though I expected as much as I know the fandom view this one and maybe number 7 (?) in high regards. The characters conversations, although still super corny, we’re a lot more realistic sounding then in part 2. Like the way Ted and Jimbo (I’m assuming his name is Jim but all I have in my head is Ted shouting Jimbo) were talking about girls does feel very reminiscent of typical teenage boys, just obviously very 80s.

And the kills were also a lot more interesting typically. You can tell by this movie that they had more of an idea on how to use Jason and his strength, even if at times he still seemed quite goofy. Just seeing the way he killed Doug by squeezing his face until blood poured and then throwing him through the shower glass for the girl to see was so entertaining, as well as the seen with Jimmy getting the corkscrew through the hand. I even appreciated when Trish sliced through Jason’s hand slightly.

This movie also seems to lean slightly more into the goofiness it has. Like when Rob is being killed and he keeps shouting “he’s killing me!” just had me cackling in bed at the unseriousness at it all. The movie had the ability to create suspense whilst still being laughable - in a great way. I’ve stated before I truly do appreciate the cheesiness of older horror and this movie is the epitome of that.

It isn’t a perfect movie though. I find Trish to be a much weaker final girl in comparison to Ginny. Like how she just watched Rob get murdered, went to run away and then went back like she would have been able to stop death? It made such little sense. She also felt pretty useless overall. Because realistically, Tommy is the star of this show. All she does is find a body and scream “he’s here!” When it’s bloody obvious he is by how the front door has been hacked down. She also left Tommy with little choice but to kill Jason himself when he is literally a small child! He has to try fixing the car, he has to stay by himself at the house whilst there’s a masked killer. All that she did successfully was hit Jason when he grabbed Tommy and then distracting him long enough for Tommy to shave his head.

The way they killed off Mrs Jarvis was also jarring because it’s completely offscreen and you don’t actually get any definitive answer to if she is dead. They could have atleast had her body show up in the third act or something similar to that but no. This goes back to my grievance with the second movie surrounding the ambiguity of Paul. I hate not receiving an actual answer and just makes me think they didn’t know what to do with either of their characters so they’ve left it open ended.

All in all, despite my few negatives, I did genuinely really enjoy this movie! I think it has a lot more rewatch-ability then the second too. I’m hoping the fifth part has a couple answers regarding Mrs Jarvis and I hope Tommy does come back because the ending where he looks straight at the camera is chilling!

I also wrote this a couple of days after watching due to my children being crotch goblins and not giving me a second to myself so this isn’t as in depth as the Part 2 review. I’ll try adding more when I review Part 5!

RANKING SO FAR

1) Part IV : The Final Chapter

2) Part II

[lazyypumpkin]

Vampire movies I have been watching to keep me sane until season 3 of iwtv (Part 2)

Moving on to the sapphic vampire movies I’ve watched thus far

Wir Sind Die Nacht/ We Are The Night 4/5🌟

•does this movie really deserve 4 stars? Maybe not but I love it dearly anyway

•has the same feel as those slightly shitty fantasy books one consumes as a pre teen when one grows up in the 2010’s (based on a purely hypothetical example of course, I personally obviously never did that haha ha ha)

•could be SO good if they would’ve had the balls to make the main character bi

•shitty cop character that you just have to ignore to enjoy the movie

•One of the characters (Louise) is low key a genderbent Lestat?? Blonde ✔️ Obsessive about her love interests ✔️ Also insane but in a glamorous way ✔️

And did I mention a lesbian???????

•anyhow can you tell I’m obsessed with her

•loved the other characters as well, specially Nora and Charlotte (the main character is ok too)

•loved the atmosphere& cinematography

•the first 2/3rds of this movie are fantastic

•one of my favorite vampire turning/transformation scenes

•one of my favorite vampires being vampires and messing around montages

•this could really be a cult classic imo (specially if they just would have committed to the gayness even more)

•LESBIAN VAMPIRE YEARNING!!!!

The Hunger (1983) 4/5🌟

•didn’t like this one much either on my first watch and then rewatched it and was utterly convinced I loved it until right before the ending happened lol

•starts off with a goth club scene where Bela Lugosi Is Dead is playing (it’s so iconic)

•very cool cinematography

•Bisexual Vampire Yearning& Angst

•like seriously this movie is beautifully queer

•thought all the characters were interesting but did not buy that Catherine Deneuve was a vampire from ancient Egypt lmfao

•honestly feels quite anne rice-esque in essence to me

Carmilla (2019) 3,5/5🌟

•didn’t like it the first time I watched it but appreciate it more upon rewatching it several times

•i loved the idea of this movie but am not sold on the execution

•needed more scenes to build up the romance

•actors sort of have a face that looks like it knows what an iPhone is and that took me out of it

•Miss Fontaine was low key annoying and not in an intentional way

•loved the anatomy scenes, the insects& scenes of slow decay

•loved the cinematography& visuals

•BLOODY! SAPPHIC! KISSES!!!!!

•like genuinely when the movie was good it was very good but when it wasn’t good it was kind of meh???

•it could have been such a good movie smh

I still have a lot of lesbian vampire movies from the 70’s on my list so I will expand this sapphic section considerably (and probably cringe at a lot of male gaze-y shit lol)

[the-rewatch-rewind]

An old movie with a very relevant name.

Script below the break.

Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies over the last 20 years. Today I will be discussing number 14 on my list: MGM’s 1944 psychological thriller Gaslight, directed by George Cukor, written by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch, and John L Balderston, based on the play by Patrick Hamilton, and starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten.

So first of all, if you’re thinking, “Gaslight? As in, to deny someone’s reality to the point that they can no longer trust their own perceptions?” then, yes, you’re absolutely correct: this movie (and the play it’s based on and the 1940 British film it’s a remake of) is where that term comes from. So I’m just going to give a blanket content warning for this whole episode: I will be talking a lot about psychological and emotional abuse. This is an incredibly well-made movie, which is why I keep revisiting it, but I recognize that not everybody is in the right place to hear stories about gaslighting, so please, take care of yourself, and skip this episode if you think it’s going to cause you distress.

That being said, I truly have no idea why “gaslighting” suddenly became a popular buzzword in the last 10 years or so, or how it has evolved to be misapplied to any form of lying. I’ve even heard people talk about how someone is “gaslighting” them when they merely disagree about something. So despite how incredibly dark and disturbing this movie is, I really think everyone should watch it, if for no other reason than to learn how to use the term correctly. But there’s obviously a lot more to it than that, which I will get into. But first, my traditional plot summary:

When her aunt and guardian, a famous opera star, is murdered in their London home, young Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) is sent to Italy to train as a singer. Ten years later, she is swept off her feet by her new accompanist, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), and after knowing each other only two weeks, they get married. Though she is still haunted by her aunt’s unsolved murder, upon hearing that Gregory has always wanted to live in London, Paula suggests that they move into her old house. As they settle in, Gregory’s behavior gradually changes, and Paula begins to feel like she is losing her mind.

The main thing I remember about the first time I watched this movie was thinking it wasn’t a very good mystery, since it’s pretty obvious fairly early on who the bad guy is. But by the end it became clear that it was never meant to be a mystery, but rather a map of red flags to watch out for, as well as a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of how easy it can be to ignore them until it’s too late. Or, I guess I should say, almost too late, since, spoiler alert: the movie does have a mostly happy ending. Anyway, I had never seen a movie like this before and it fascinated me. I watched it twice in 2003, once in 2004, once in 2006, once in 2007, twice in 2008, three times in 2012, once in 2013, once in 2014, twice in 2015, twice in 2016, once in 2017, once in 2018, once in 2020, twice in 2021, and once in 2022. I also saw the 1940 version once in 2006. I don’t remember much about it other than I thought it was pretty good, but the remake was better. And a big part of that is because of the cast of the remake. One of my 2015 views of the remake was part of my watching through Best Actress winners project because Ingrid Bergman won the first of her three Oscars for this film. Apparently at the time I ranked this performance as the 7th best to win that award, and now if anything I feel like that was too low. The more I rewatch this movie, the more impressed I am by what a difficult job she had and how thoroughly she crushed it.

Paula is an incredibly complex character who undergoes a significant emotional journey. At the beginning, though she’s definitely still haunted by the trauma of her youth, she’s mostly happy and hopeful and vivacious. And then all of that slowly dims as Gregory’s manipulations escalate, almost as if she is a gas light that he’s turning down. That’s not why the movie is called Gaslight, though; it’s called that because one of the early signs that something sketchy is going on is when Paula starts to notice lights dimming as if someone turned a new light on somewhere else in the house, but nobody else seems to notice this and she can’t find a good explanation for it. But watching Paula go from a lively, lovestruck newlywed to basically a zombie struggling to find a shred of reality she can trust also feels like watching a gas light flame go down. And it would have been so easy to either overdo or undersell this descent into confusion, but Ingrid Bergman perfectly balances every moment. You can see Paula starting to doubt herself more and more as her actions and words become more hesitant and her looks become more vague, until she begins to resign herself to the fact that Gregory must be right, she must be insane, there’s nothing more she can do. It’s so painful and heartbreaking that I desperately want to reach through the screen and comfort her and tell her what’s really going on. And then, just when I almost can’t stand it anymore, Joseph Cotten shows up to do that for me. He plays Inspector Brian Cameron of Scotland Yard, a childhood fan of Paula’s aunt who happens to see Paula one of the few times she’s out with Gregory in London, which leads him to reopen the cold case of her aunt’s murder and figure out what’s going on just in time to help Paula. The implication that Paula needs a man to rescue her is one thing I don’t love about this movie, but at the same time I think it’s important to acknowledge that Gregory was so effective at – for lack of a better term – gaslighting her that she could not have escaped that situation without help.

Not to take any of the credit away from Bergman for her stellar performance, but I do think it helped that George Cukor was the director. Longtime listeners may recognize his name from Holiday, which was number 33 on this list, and Adam’s Rib, which was number 27, both of which have significantly lighter tones. Gaslight feels much more like an Alfred Hitchcock picture than a George Cukor one. Cukor apparently didn’t like being referred to as a “woman’s director,” but he had a reputation for his ability to coax great performances out of actresses, and this is certainly no exception. In order to help Bergman keep track of Paula’s gradual descent toward madness while shooting out of order, Cukor would tell her the whole plot up to the scenes they were filming each day, which Bergman initially resented, but then he stopped doing it for a few days and she realized how helpful it had been, and they went back to doing it that way. I do think Ingrid Bergman would have been great in this role regardless of who the director was, but George Cukor helped elevate her to the best she could possibly be.

While Bergman’s performance is far and away my favorite aspect of this movie, the rest of the cast is also phenomenal, albeit rather small. It definitely has that based-on-a-play feel of limited locations and few characters, although that also works very well with the story. Part of Gregory’s strategy is to cut Paula off from the rest of the world so she won’t have a safety net. Consequently, for most of the film she only interacts with him and their two servants: the kind but mostly-deaf cook, Elizabeth, played by Barbara Everest, and the saucy, flirtatious maid, Nancy, played by none other than 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her film debut, both of whom are absolutely perfect in their roles. I love Everest’s delivery of “I see just how it is” when Gregory is trying to keep Elizabeth on his side without realizing that she’s always been firmly on Paula’s. And Lansbury embodies the exact attitude required for Nancy: flirtatious toward Gregory, disdainful toward Paula, totally oblivious to how she’s being manipulated until the end – all conveyed with every look she gives and line she speaks as if she’s a veteran actor. It comes as absolutely no surprise that she went on to have such a long and successful career, with this as her first screen performance. She was even nominated for an Oscar! And then there’s the neighbor Miss Thwaites, played by Dame May Whitty, who adds some much-needed levity with her “diggy biscuits” and morbid curiosity about the house in her square where there was a “real murder!” Joseph Cotten’s role is honestly pretty bland – kind of the film noir version of a classic Disney prince, in a way – but he makes the most of it. And then there’s Charles Boyer, giving one of the best creepy villain performances I’ve ever seen, which was also Oscar-nominated. He starts out just sort of vaguely unsettling, raising one or two red flags right off the bat, but like, he could still be okay, and then by the end he is full-on terrifying. He has this amazing stone-faced look that makes your blood run cold. There’s this one moment in particular, kind of toward the middle, when Miss Thwaites and Inspector Cameron (posing as her nephew) have tried to visit them, and Gregory tells Nancy to send them away. Paula wanted to let them in but he freaked out so she backed down, and then after Nancy leaves she again says she wanted to see them, and he’s like, “Oh, why didn’t you say so?” and it makes me want to scream. Then he tells her she didn’t have time to see them because they’re going out to the theater, and Paula’s like, “I didn’t know that…or did I forget?” and Gregory, facing the camera with his back to her, opens his mouth to respond, and then stops and waits for her to dwell on that for a few more seconds before he tells her that no, this is a surprise, and both his face and her face are so perfect there, I love it and hate it so much. Like, I love it from a “this movie is so well acted” perspective, and I hate it from a “this character is a horrible human being” perspective. And then Paula gets overly happy, since she’s been trapped in the house for so long that him letting her go out seems like a wonderful gift. But then he “notices” that a picture is missing from the wall, and makes her think she hid it, and they end up not going out because she’s “too unwell.”

That’s the main way he manipulates her: by moving things and making it look like she took them. What’s particularly interesting about the way the movie shows this is we never actually see Gregory taking any of the things, but it is nevertheless clear that he has been. But he is so insistent that she’s doing it that we can easily believe that Paula wouldn’t suspect him, or that if she did, she would have significant doubts. And even if she did figure it out, it’s not like there’s anything she can do about it. She’s in London for the first time in a decade, she doesn’t know anyone, she doesn’t have anywhere to go, and she’s not sure she can trust her own mind. And I think it’s so important that the movie at no point faults her for ending up in that situation or for not being able to leave. The movie also gives no indication that Gregory is physically harming Paula, but leaves the audience in no doubt that he is an abusive husband. And I feel like the messages that abuse doesn’t have to be physical and that it’s never the victim’s fault are still too rare in media today, let alone nearly 80 years ago. I feel like back then most unhealthy relationships in movies were in the His Girl Friday vein of “they’re kind of both abusing each other so it’s fine” or would find other ways for excusing or explaining the abusive behavior, like “the abuser was drunk” or “the victim was asking for it” or what have you. And if they weren’t like that, the victim usually ended up dead. In Gaslight, Gregory has no excuse. I mean, he does have a reason, but it’s a terrible reason that in no way justifies his actions. And Paula not only survives, but also gets an incredibly satisfying confrontation with Gregory after Brian and another policeman have tied him up. When the police leave them alone together, Gregory pleads with her to get a knife and cut him free, and for a moment you think she’s actually going to help him, but she gets her revenge by pretending she can’t find the knife and saying she’s too insane to help him, forcing him to admit that he has lied to her and she isn’t actually mad. And she wraps up her great payback with: “If I were not mad, I could have helped you. Whatever you had done, I could have pitied and protected you. But because I am mad, I hate you. Because I am mad, I have betrayed you. And because I'm mad, I'm rejoicing in my heart, without a shred of pity, without a shred of regret, watching you go with glory in my heart!” So she turns his gaslighting around on him, and it’s amazing. Although I must admit that right after that when she cries, “Mr. Cameron! Take this man away!” is the one part when I feel like Ingrid Bergman overdoes it just a little bit and gets too melodramatic, but after everything Paula has been through, she deserves as many melodramatic moments as she wants.

I would prefer it if the movie didn’t conclude with the implication that Paula is going to end up romantically involved with Brian, but again, she deserves all the happiness she can get, and if that’s what’s going to make her happy, I’m all for it. And I guess we can claim Miss Thwaites as aroace representation, since she seems to be an old maid with no interest in romance. This movie also speaks to my aromanticism and asexuality in a different, unique way. Because to a certain extent, being aroace in an allonormative, amatonormative society kind of feels like the entire world is gaslighting you. Of course, I don’t mean to imply that my experiences have been anywhere near as horrendous as someone like Paula’s – having your reality cruelly and intentionally twisted by a partner is on an entirely different level from not quite fitting in with the dominant culture’s concept of reality. Still, being constantly bombarded with the message that all mature humans frequently experience sexual and romantic attraction, and that a universal top life goal is to find a partner you’re attracted to that way, when you don’t feel those attractions and don’t desire that kind of partner, is incredibly confusing and disorienting. Once you become an adult, or even a teenager, people start giving you knowing looks when they hear you’ve been hanging out with a friend one-on-one, especially if that friend happens to be of the opposite sex. And you don’t think you like any of your friends “that way” but you also don’t really know what liking someone “that way” feels like so you start to think maybe you don’t know your own feelings. And if you’re lucky, your brain subconsciously decides that you do have crushes like a normal person, they’re just always on movie stars, most of whom are dead, which you realize is weird, but it’s an understandable kind of weird. Nobody believes you when you say you don’t have a crush on anybody, but if you show them a picture of Cary Grant and say, “I have a crush on him,” that makes sense to them. And so you end up becoming convinced that you’re experiencing types of attraction that you’re not, to the point that when you first hear about asexuality you don’t even consider the possibility that it could describe you. And of course, when I say “you” I mean “me”; I can’t speak for all aroaces, although I do think most of us experience some form of that confusion before we figure out that our identity exists. I feel like there’s a relatively widespread perception that aromantic and/or asexual people are just single allos who want to feel special by giving themselves a label, but for me, the opposite is true. Using the aroace label makes me feel less special, because now I know there are other people out there like me, after spending so much time trying to play along with the attraction I thought I was supposed to be feeling. It’s honestly been kind of difficult to unlearn this, to teach myself how to even recognize, let alone trust, what I’m actually feeling versus the socially acceptable way to be feeling about other people.

It’s weird because, looking back, it’s so obvious to me that I was faking crushes, that I was just parroting things I’d heard when I talked about them, that I was just smiling and nodding when people would say things like, “Isn’t that person hot?” But at the time, I absolutely could not admit that, even to myself, because I felt like, in order to be human, I must be experiencing what I’d been led to believe were universal human emotions that went along with sexual and romantic attraction. Back in 2013 I blogged about all the movies I’d seen at least 10 times in 10 years, and I just re-read my post about Gaslight, in which I apparently wrote that I found Joseph Cotten attractive in this movie. I don’t remember thinking or writing that, but I’m sure if I’d been asked to elaborate, I would have said I thought he was hot or whatever, even though I absolutely did not, I just thought I was supposed to. I wasn’t consciously lying; I had become convinced that I felt things I didn’t. Although, now that I think about it, maybe I really was attracted to him, not sexually or romantically, but in terms of the way his character functions in the story. I desperately needed someone to show up and tell me that the problem wasn’t with my mind and provide me with some key information I was missing that would explain what was going on, just like Brian does for Paula. Again, her experience was much more horrifying than mine, but learning that some people are aromantic and asexual, that not feeling those kinds of attraction is perfectly normal for those people, was almost as revelatory to me as learning that her husband killed her aunt and was trying to drive her mad was to Paula. Maybe it sounds like I’m the one being melodramatic now, but I don’t know how else to explain how messed up it is to spend decades convincing yourself and everyone else that you’re feeling things you’re not, and what a relief it is to learn that you were right all along and can finally take the mask off. And that’s why I’ve been focusing so much on looking at movies from an aromantic and asexual perspective on this podcast. Because I don’t want anyone else to go through all that. I want everyone to know that amatonormativity and allonormativity are lies, both because I want people on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums to understand themselves sooner than I understood myself, and because I want alloromantic, allosexual people to know that not everyone is like them. I don’t blame the allo people I was surrounded with for perpetuating these norms because they didn’t know better. I know they weren’t really trying to gaslight me. But I would like to live in a society where most people do know better.

Anyway, I appreciate this movie for understanding me in ways that I couldn’t articulate until recently. But that’s far from the only reason it’s this high on my list. Again, I truly cannot overemphasize how phenomenal the acting is. Ingrid Bergman was always wonderful, but she took it to a whole other level here, and the rest of the cast were similarly at the top of their game. I never get tired of watching them act together, particularly when I’m in the mood for something a little darker. Like the other Ingrid Bergman movie I talked about, Notorious, I’m not sure whether Gaslight “counts” as film noir, because it has some of the typical noir tropes but lacks other important ones. But from a lighting and cinematography perspective, it definitely feels like a noir, so if you enjoy that style, you’ll probably appreciate this movie. It was nominated for a total of seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Screenplay, and Black-and-White Cinematography, in addition to the three acting nominations I mentioned earlier for Bergman, Boyer, and Lansbury. The only Oscar it won besides Best Actress was for Art Direction, which is something I don’t generally pay a ton of attention to, but the set is particularly important in Gaslight. The house almost functions as a character: it’s Gregory’s accomplice in torturing Paula, and the increasingly cluttered look of the rooms helps emphasize the way it’s trapping her. And, of course, there are the real, vintage gasoliers that give the movie its title and add greatly to its mood. So both of this movie’s Oscars were thoroughly deserved.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched films. This wraps up the 4-way tie of movies I saw 22 times from 2003 through 2022. I wonder how many other people out there have watched Beauty and the Beast, A Mighty Wind, His Girl Friday, and Gaslight the same number of times in the last 20 years. Anyway, I didn’t watch any movies exactly 23 times, so next up is the only one I watched 24 times, which is also one that I have a LOT of feelings and personal stories about, so stay tuned for what I’m sure will be a particularly long and rambling episode that I hope will be fun to listen to. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “I don’t need to act things out in order to write them. I have what we like to call an ‘imagination.’ Have you ever heard of that? Oh, no no no no no, please tell us more about the old man… and the boat.”

[redfurrycat]

❤️📺Ten (ish) TV-shows I love❤️📺

Tagged by the lovely @renai-chan to do the 'Ten Movies I love' Tag Game.

I already did that, so allow me to redirect you to this post listing my ten movies, and this other one (a much much much much longer version, if you feel up to it).

However, after reflecting about which 10 movies I like the best –what a dilemma it was– I also thought about which 10 TV-shows are my comfort rewatches. I came up easily (surprisingly so) with the selection, so let me share that with you instead! 😊 ❤️

Xena: Warrior Princess

The most badass warrior I have ever seen on TV. What a sight is Lucy Lawless, I fell in love with those gorgeous blue eyes since the moment my child eyes saw them… This tv-show is everything to me. Xena & Gabrielle, the purest soulmates. There were also lots of amazing characters and actors (Karl Urban and Kevin Smith, among others). Produced in New Zealand too… Which is so awesome! <3 (Strong opening theme!)

Stargate SG1/Atlantis

MY FUCKING SCI-FY babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t even tell you why I love these two TV-shows, because I got so overwhelmed about it! I. JUST. LOVE. THEM. SO. MUCH! (I actually watched several Stargate Atlantis episodes just before typing this list.) If you like the genre, GO.WATCH.THESE! (Amazing opening themes as well! <3)

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (the 20-min-episode tv-show)

I’ve watched every rerun on TV since it has been broadcasted. It is tied to my childhood, so I’m rather attached to it! I prefer this version over the more recent one, which is a bit too dark compared to the comedic one. Salem is so funny! He’s I-C-O-N-I-C! :P

Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman/// House MD

My absolute two favourite tv-shows involving doctors… though they are very different from one another. Western drama vs. medical drama. It’s really not your typical medical show however.

A female physician from a 19th-wealthy family moving in the wild west to establish a practice. She feels very deeply and has a strong moral compass. The themes mentioned are quite serious (which I like) as you have, for instance, a close-minded-white-men little village, a woman working a man job, Cheyenne tribes being mistreated so are the black people and any other non-White people. Of course, it is still a tv-show, so I don’t how historically-accurate it is. But so not as sappy as Grey’s Anatomy if you know what I mean. 😊

AND the Sherlock doctor. Hugh Laurie is magnificent in this out-of-the-ordinary, junkie, snarky genius of a doctor!  

Avatar: the Last Airbender

Do I really need to spell it? MASTER OF THE ELEMENTS. AIRBENDING. WATERBENDING. FIREBENDING. EARTHBENDING. THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!! The Legend of Korra is good too!

White Collar

The adventures of an FBI agent and his con artist/thief consultant. YUP. It is as cool as it sounds. All the characters are lovely as well!

Downton Abbey

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE BRITISH PERIOD DRAMA EVER. It is about the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants’ life during the earliest 20th century. The cast is realllllllllllllly good! A lot of good characters, strong episodes (very emotional sometimes)! Dame Maggie Smith is killing it as the Dowager Countess of Grantham, the sass in this character’s lines and faces!!!!! XD (Again, the opening theme is SO GOOD!)

Once Upon a Time

A very nice tv-show where fairytales characters are transported into the real world because of a curse. The cast is INSANE! :O Nice revisit of famously known fairytales!!!! I have a thing for the accents…Well, there are a lot of different accents to listen to!

Lucifer

It’s probably one of the last (new-ish) TV-show I’ve watched from the beginning to the end. The British (again with the accent) Devil’s adventures with the Detective (yeah… it’s her official name! XD). Very good chemistry between Tom Ellis and Lauren German! And the other characters are equally as good!!!!!!!!!

Prison Break

Season 1 was the best. Truly. The idea was so original when the tv-show came out! Wentworth Miller’s acting is pure *chef’s kiss*. (That’s why I love Captain Cold so much btw, especially because Dominic Purcell is also his Rogues buddy in The Flash). Also, I’ve never loved the crookiest of the crook characters so much than how I love T-Bag. He’s the worst, but OMG his lines and mimicking (Robert Knepper did a fine job!)

As I already did the tagging before, I won’t do it again, but I let this open. Anyone feeling like talking about their comfort TV-shows are more than welcomed to do this “other version” of the tag game! 😉

[all-things-fandomstuck-writes]

A Night to Remember - Muerte x GN! Reader

Hi guys! I meant to get this posted on Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t quite finished yet. This a Muerte (Death) x Reader from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, but, it’s set during Shrek 2. There had been talk about Muerte being there for Lord Farquaad’s death, but I thought there was a missed opportunity with Fairy Godmother’s death. And, since I don’t know any other way apparently, yes, this is an x Reader. And this is more of a drabble than an actual fic. Well, at least by my usual standards. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

Also, just a quick reminder, I do you (Y/N) in my fic, so if that’s not your cup of tea, well......

Oh, and forgive me if I mangled the Spanish. I don’t speak it, and therefore, I used Spanishdic.com and Google Translate.

TW: I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this one, especially if you’ve seen Shrek 2, but Major Character death, probably mangled Spanish (please correct me if you speak it)

I also apologize if Muerte seems a bit OOC. I’ve only been able to watch the movie once, and don’t have the money to watch it through Amazon until payday, and my usual site doesn’t have it yet. So, I haven’t been able to do several rewatches to get his character set.

Anyway, without further ado, the fic:

Muerte wasn’t one for dressing up. Not that he couldn’t, but rather, his job made it hard to do so. It’s much easier to blend into a crowd when you look like everyone else. Not that Muerte had the need to, as most people couldn’t see him, save for the dead or dying. That, and the occasional mystic who happened to be attuned to death. Truly, there had never really been a need for him to look nice. Not until today.Today, Muerte had a promise to keep. While he could never truly take time off, he did try to spend as much time with his partner, (Y/N), as his job allowed.

Ah, (Y/N). His heart and soul. The very thought of them brought a smile to his face. Muerte stood in front of his bedroom mirror, taking the time to make any and all necessary adjustments to his black dress tunic, no matter how minor or trivial they seemed. While he recognized that he still had a job to do, he was determined to make this night special. After all, it was the first time in a while his work load had reasonably lessened to allow for a breather. It had been too long since he had gotten to spend a significant amount of time with his beloved (Y/N), and he was determined to at least spend the night out with them. They had insisted on meeting him there, given the potential hecticness of his work. Muerte straightened the last of the creases from his outfit before grabbing his sickles, and opening up a portal that would take him to a special evening with the love of his life.

The night was just getting started with Muerte stepped out of the shadows, which worked well for him. He hated to keep his amor waiting. His eyes scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of them. It didn’t take long to find them, as they were conveniently, and perhaps even predictably, near the spot where her arrived.

(Y/N) felt Muerte’s presence before they saw him. There was a certain chill that their lover brought with him that seemed to cling to the atmosphere around him. A smile crept upon their face as they felt their wolf’s arms wrap around them.

“Mi Vida”, Muerte spoke in their ear. (Y/N) snuggled against him, finding comfort in his coolness.

“Mi Corazón”, they replied. “I’m glad you could make it!”

At this, Muerte briefly released them, only to grab them by the hand and spin them out and away, as if in a dance, before spinning them back into his replace.

“As if I’d miss the chance to sweep you off your feet.”

“Alright”, (Y/N) said, before pulling away and turning to look at him. “Let me get a good look at you before you waltz me into a stupor.” Muerte let out a small chuckle while they smiled as they drank in the sight of him.

“My, my, we are going to have to get you dressed more often,” they said playfully. A smirk made it’s way onto Muerte’s lips .

“Don’t get used to it, Mi Vida”, he said as he held out his arm. (Y/N) graciously accepted, and allowed themselves to be lead onto the dance floor. It wasn’t long before the couple of the evening, Princess Fiona and her husband, Prince Shrek arrived, prompting Fairy Godmother to launch into a rendition of “I Need a Hero”. The crowd of onlookers, all too excited to see the couple, goaded them to dance. If (Y/N) had been paying attention, they might have noticed the look on Fiona’s face, and think that something might have been amiss, but they were too focused on the wolf next to them to care. The royal couple began their dance, as the sweet melody pour from Fairy Godmother’s lips. After the first verse however, and with a cry of “Hit it!”, the choir joined in the song, and the tempo increased rapidly. Other couples, including Muerte and (Y/N), joined in. (Y/N) held Muerte’s gaze as he expertly spun them around on the dance floor. His ruby eyes held their (e/c) ones captive, as they enjoyed the feeling of being secure in his arms. ‘How odd’, they thought to themselves, ‘that one could find comfort in Death’s embrace.’ The irony was not lost to them. The moment didn’t last long, however, as a new figure bound into the party atop a white stallion, and brought the whole affair to a screeching halt.

“Hey, you”, the newcomer said as dismounted his steed and strode towards the couple, specifically addressing the new prince. “Back away from my wife”

“Shrek?”, Princess Fiona questioned, recognizing that the man in front of her was her true husband. In an instant, Fairy Godmother came flying through the crowd, and in that moment, (Y/N) felt it. The familiar spine chilling tingle that announced someone was soon to pass. They had spent more than enough time in Muerte’s presence to know the feeling. One look into his eyes was more than enough to confirm it. He gave them a silent nod in response to the question they dared not ask.

“Looks like this night just got interesting”, they heard him say. The ball quickly dissolved into chaos from that point, as a desperate struggle for Fairy Godmother’s wand began. Eventually, it was caught by a ginger cat both (Y/N) and Muerte recognized as Puss in Boots. (Y/N) felt their lover tense slightly under their touch, clearly unhappy with the cat’s appearance.

“Ese gato estúpido”, he muttered, grip tightening on his partner’s waist. Muerte had collected Puss a few times in the past, and he hated the blatant disregard he seemed to have for his lives. The glare that was present on his face soke volumes, as he watch the cat, who now stood atop the stallion, which he then declared a donkey, and held high the Fairy Godmother’s wand in his hand.

The Fairy Godmother spun in the air towards the man who was clearly not Shrek. (Y/N) would later find out that he was the infamous Prince Charming, though that didn’t seem to matter at the time.

“She’s taken the potion!,” the fairy shouted. “Kiss her now!”

Charming swept up from behind Fiona before grabbing her by the shoulders, and planting a firm kiss on her lips.A cry of “No!” was heard from Shrek, and the party goers looked on, unsure of what was happening. Charming, hopeful that whatever plan was laid worked, briefly caressed Fiona’s cheek, as if he were being careful not to overplay it.The crowd watched with bated breath as Shrek looked away and sighed. Fiona took Charming’s face into her hands, and with a resounding cry, headbutted him to the ground. A chorus of “Ohs” and gasps rang through the crowd, before falling into a stunned silence. Charming hit the ground, and Fairy Godmother raced towards the King, and began to give him a rough scolding.

Unfortunately, Charming was quick to recover, and with a shout of “Mummy”, which confused many people, ripped the wand from Puss’s paw and threw it towards the Fairy Godmother. She caught it effortlessly before rising higher into the air.

“I told you, ogres don’t live Happily Ever After!”, she shrieked. With that, she hurled a bolt of magic towards the recently reunited couple. In a flash, Shrek pushed Fiona away from himself, and out of harm’s way. But, the King of Far Far Away was faster. Despite his old age, or possibly in spite of it, he threw himself in front of his son-in-law, and took the full brunt of the blast. The breastplate he wore bounced the beam back towards it’s origins, blasting Fairy Godmother backwards several feet. She spun heels over head, until she was able to right herself, and check for damages. Satisfied that she herself was alright, she prepared for her next attack. But, it never came, as the moment she went to strike, Fairy Godmother burst into a shower of sparkles and bubbles. Her glasses and wand hit the ground as Fiona and the Queen rushed to wear the King had once stood.

“Duty calls, Mi Vida”, Muerte softly spoke, slipping away from his partner to reap the soul of the now deceased fairy. (Y/N) bowed their head, out of acknowledgement or respect for the dead, they weren’t certain. The guests began to mourn their fallen King, before a frog crawled out of his breastplate. From their position, (Y/N) could see that it wore the King’s crown, and the royal family seemed to confirm it as well. They seemed to have a massive heart-to-heart, though (Y/N) was now more focused on their boyfriend to truly care. They loved watching him work, even though it was a rare sight for them. Considering that he’s “Death, straight up”, as he often liked to put it, Muerte didn’t want (Y/N) getting too close to his job. It was a better way to protect them, he had reasoned to himself. Not that they couldn’t handle themselves, but still. Better safe than sorry.

Muerte returned to (Y/N)’s side as Shrek was asking Fiona if she wished to remain human. Muerte’s arm snaked around their waist as the pair watched the tender scene unfold before them. They snuggled into his side, as Fiona chose to return to her ogre form to be with her husband. The royal pair, and the stallion, were lifted into the air in a swirling stream of light. As they returned to the ground, there stood two ogres, and, much to (Y/N)’s amusement, a single donkey.

The crowd cheered as Shrek dipped Fiona into a kiss. However, the sweet moment was cut short by Puss reminding the crowd that they were there to party. Both Puss and the donkey launched into a stirring rendition of “Livin’ La Vida Loca”, as fireworks lit up the night sky. Muerte scowled, clearly not over the annoyance the cat’s presence brought. “I’m gonna kill that cat”, he muttered to himself, but (Y/N) was quick to drag him out of his thought and onto the dance floor.

Pulling him into a dance, they reassured their lover. “Oh come on, Mi Corazón. For once, el gato has a point. Besides”, they shrugged, “He’s got a couple more lives. You could always hunt him down later.”

Muerte chuckled and shook his head. “That is true, Mi Vida” He smiled as he pulled them closer, eyes meeting theirs. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“There’s always tomorrow”, (Y/N) echoed, wrapping their arms around Muerte’s neck. “But for now, I have the Big Bad Wolf all to myself.” That earned then another small chuckle from their boyfriend.

“Yes, yes you do,” he replied as their (e/c) irises locked onto his crimson ones. (Y/N) was quick to notice the mischievous glint within them. Suddenly, their body was tilted backwards, though they had no danger of falling. Muerte’s grip on them was firm as he kissed them senseless.

Yes, there would always be other days. But, for now, the pair would revel in the warmth and joy of the evening, and in each other, as they continued toward their own Happily Ever After.

~

Translations:

Muerte - Death

Amor - Love

Mi Vida - My Life

Mi Corazón - My Heart

Ese gato estúpido - That stupid cat

El gato - The cat

[pick-me-up-im-scared]

Get To Know Me(-ish)

I was thinking I could answer some typical “get to know me” questions, if anyone’s interested in reading them. If not, I’ve just done it for myself, I guess. Anyway, I’ve found these on Google. Let me know if there’s someone to credit! (prepare for me babbling on about completely useless stuff)

What's your name? Julianna (but I´m open for any nicknames, especially "my little ps5 cooling fan")

How old are you? I turned 23 this year. Yep, I´m having an internal crisis

What's your sexuality? I will say bisexual for now. But there´s a VERY high chance I'll change it to 100% lesbian. Like, right know girls are the only thing that interests me.

What I love the most about myself? I´m very kind and loyal. It could be seen as something bad, ik. But I´m trying to not let people use it against me. I also believe I'm a good listener, which is somethings I'm proud about. I'd also like to think I could make a boring task funny, like grocery shopping or doing the dishes.

What I dislike the most about myself? I have a pretty bad temper, I blame it on my dad. If I'm pissed, don´t even bother trying to calm me down. Just give me a few minutes to myself and I'll be back. But that leads me into the next thing I hate about myself, I hold onto things for waaaay to long. If someone did something bad 5 years ago you better believe I still think about it. I´m also stubborn and think about other people´s opinion SOMETIMES, but let's not focus on that. I like to believe I just need to find "the right person" to pull me out of that mindset...

What are your favorite movies? This is suuuuuch a hard fucking hard questions for someone who enjoys movies like I do. And I’m not saying it in a “I like to watch movies like every other fucking person on this planet”, I mean I’m like sooo invested you wouldn’t even want to go see a movie with me. There’s no such thing as talking while the movie is playing. I even pay attention to the small things the actors do to make their role more “truthful”………yeah, I’m a maniac.

Anyways, I won’t even try to list all the movies I like or else we’d be here for YEARS! But two movies I can rewatch the second the credits starts to roll is either Once Upon A Time In Hollywood or The Dark Knight. But I also enjoy kids movies a little than I should…….but that’s a whole other story.

What's your favorite song? If the previous question was hard, then this is on fucking Viagra. I listen to sooo much music with such a variety. Like I listen to every genre there is! But I’ll give you three songs I haven’t grown tired of yet, even though I have them on repeat 24/7:

José Feliciano - California Dreaming

The Strokes - Repitila

Justin Bieber - Hard To Face Reality

What are your hobbies? I´m trying to make myself busy with literally anything. I can't stand the thought of not being productive (doesn't stop me from laying in bed, watching youtube for hours!). So basically anything productive. Drawing, some sculpturing (nothing professional, calm down), very rarely write (obviously, I haven´t been updating this blog for like ages!). Recently I've been trying to learn how to play the piano AND electric guitar (ik, you can give me your number after the show).

Do you plan your outfits? Yeah, way more than I think anyone who sees me thinks. Idk how many nights I've spent, planning out in my head the outfit for the next day. Even if you see me wearing sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt you better believe that t-shirt wasn't the first one I tried on. Even if I´m going to the fucking hospital I can´t wear socks that doesn't match with the rest of the outfit...

The meaning behind my username? Tbh, I just started thinking of random stuff, like "sayings" that doesn't sound too...cringe? Then the Patrick meme of him in a knitted sweater with the writing "Mom, can you pick me up? I´m scared" (or something like that) popped into my head. I rephrased it a little before checked if it was taken, and it wasn't.

Any addition? Vanilla Coke or/and Dr Pepper (apart from my huge cocaine addiction), like I´m obsessed. Ik it sounds sooo dramatic, but if I had a no limit access to either of those sodas I'd die of diabetes in a week. If you want to get in my pants, just buy me a can and I'll get on my knees and propose to you.

Turn ons? I could say something like "eyes" and "hands", but I'll say some features I don´t think are AS common, but I go craaazy for. One of them would be scars. I can't explain to you how fucking kneebendingly HOT I think scars are. Idc if it's from acne, self harm or an actual injury. It's. So. Fucking. Attractive! People who's self contious about their scars, hit me up!

Second thing I find really attractive is backs, idk why but I just find them so ecstatically pleasing especially filled with scratches of my nails.

Turn offs? People who's playing hard to get or think they're hot shit! I've spend too much of my teenage years chasing those type of assholes. And people who think people like that, wtf is wrong with you? I'd have a nerdy sweetheart everyday of the week! These fuckboy-type of behavior needs to be stopped, istg. If you like me, tell me that! (also, I need that clarification every now and then, otherwise I'll think you despise me...)

What skill would you most like to learn? To be able to comprehend any social situations without wanting to blow my brains out. I´m the worse when it comes to socializing, like overall. Doesn't matter if it's my relatives or complete strangers, I'll dig my nails so hard into palms inside my pockets. People who can start having a random discussion with someone on the streets, or blend in with their partner´s family first time they meet them PURLEY amaze me. I wanna be like them sooo bad.

Favorite ice cream flavor? I will say just plain vanilla, CAUSE if a brand is good the flavoring doesn't need to be so complicated (to slap). The brands who has these crazy flavor combinations are usually doing it to try and conceal their shitty ice cream *cough* Ben & Jerry *cough*. But if I wouldn't choose that I'd probably be something super childish, like "rainbow bubblegum cotton candy confetti".

Dogs or cats? I know the lesbian community will throw me out, but I 100% choose dogs. Idc what you say, cats are satans creation!

Favorite quote? "When you're having a bad day, don´t forget you're ugly too"

Favorite sport? I´m not really into sports. I was never an athletic kid. But whenever there´s pingpong on tv, I'm in a trance. Like I'll spend HOURS watching that shit without even knowing the rules.