#jack and will should've gotten together

[scootersscooter]

Something beautiful about Will and Jack not getting together in the original Will & Grace. Something cowardly about them not getting together in the reboot.

[negrowhat]

BL Things that Disappointed Me in 2024

I couldn't let this year end without telling y'all about the things that truly let me down this year. Things that brought down my viewing pleasure.

Dr. Plakao from Wandee Goodday. Specifically that he didn't really get some type of real storyline outside of helping Wandee with his troubles. I wanted to see more of his dating and romantic life. We finally got a taste of some Ace representation and we only got crumbs. I just wanted more of his romance with Blue. I did. I really did.

Third from Century of Love. WTF was he even there for? All he did was get attacked by San and then turned around and sheltered the man and helped him lie to his own friend. Did my boy even get a happy ending? I just felt like he was a waste of a good character.

RyuAtomZen from The Rebound. Because we all saw how the series was selling us on a poly situation between Ryu, Atom, and Zen. The chemistry between the three was great and it was clear that their "love triangle" wasn't even a triangle just 3 points in a circle. All the pieces were there. We saw Zen spend time with Ryu and Atom. We saw Atom spend time with Ryu and Zen. And we saw Ryu spend time with Atom and Zen. They practically all slept together throughout the series and Granny was ready to adopt Atom and Ryu. IT WAS RIGHT THERE and the poly relationship wouldn't have been the craziest thing to come from that series let's be fucking real. Let me move on because I'm ranting now lol.

ViMook from Love Sea. Oh they pissed me off and it was really because they dragged on whatever cat and mouse manipulation game ViMook had going on until the very end. There was plenty of time for them to do all that and move on to being actual girlfriends or at least dating before the series ended. Like I loved them together but their entire storyline was not the fucking vibe. Here's to hoping we get more of Chanya and Aya in 2025.

'Khun Dad' from SunsetxVibes. I'm not even going to get into how disappointed I was with the series overall (I don't have the time) but I will talk about how fucking YUCKY it was for Salin to CHOOSE to call Sun 'Khun Dad' throughout the series. This is the ONLY time I've ever been disgusted by a daddy kink because why in THE FUCK would you want to call your man 'Khun Dad'? It was without a doubt the WORST thing about that series. Gag-o-rama.

Tonkla from 4 Minutes. I was upset that he died. He was the only one whose death was not justifiable to me. There were worse people in that series who lived. He could've run away. He could've fled the country with Korn (or not). It was possible. I have strong feelings about Tongkla not surviving after everything he went through.

TattooAran and HopeSave from Jack and Joker. All I'm saying is that as long as those eps were we should've gotten more development with the 2 other side couples. HopeSave were an established couple and we didn't even get a kiss between them?? And why did they make TattooAran so fucking lowkey?? Why did we get played with MarkProm AGAIN??? A beautiful love story could've flowered between them because the material was all there and we got NOTHING. I'm pressed.

Not seeing Mick in the maid costume in Every You, Every Me. A maid costume was mentioned, even teased, so where the fuck was it? Why didn't I see Blue in the maid costume??? They could've given us a taste. Mick would look so amazing in a maid costume.

[cinnis]

all the corps: supercorp, rojascorp, reigncorp, spheercorp, agentcorp

did i miss any?

oh

guardiancorp 😅

Hello Sides! I figured it'll be easier to start with the I Ship It corps first!

Supercorp!

The chemistry in S2 is intense. While I have some issues with supercorp the positives outweigh my quibbles most days and a lot of that comes from the chemistry established in S2. Sincerely love the ship a whole lot.

My favorite thing about the ship, I'm a sucker for supportive partners and Supercorp are usually really good at that. Also the angst potential between a Super and A Luthor is delicious.

Um, Kara's behavior in S3 is abhorrent and I really, really, really dislike that S5 distracts from what should really be Kara reckoning with her choices by giving Lena a heel turn that only 60% works. If that's not unpopular enough I also think Lena tops.

Rojascorp!

Confidence Women is maybe the best episode in S5 and absolutely sold me on Rojascorp even if it isn't my favorite Corp ship. The camaraderie established therein really really works for me. I mean "You Jump, I Jump"

Andrea goes on an expedition because Lena asks! While she has other important stuff going on! That's devotion! It's delicious childhood friends to lovers to enemies to lovers(?), it kills.

Andrea doesn't seem to be that bad a boss? Like yes using your magazine to advertise your tech is shady, but at least she calls people by name? Honestly the impetus to make her abusive is gross, but I don't know if that's super relevant.

Reigncorp!

Depending on the day this ship supplants Supercorp as my favorite Corp ship. And it's all because of the mutual trust and support in it. Like both Super & Rojascorp are marred by deception, but Sam comes to Lena when Lena needs help and then when Sam is dealing with Reign Lena promises to cure her and dedicates herself to the task. It's just so good!

God I'm kind of bad at structuring these answers, but you know the scene when Lena's drunk, she goes to Sam and wears Sam's sweatshirt while she's on her couch. That vulnerability is perfect.

Sam & Ruby should both have powers in a S3+ setting. And I don't think Sam is going to try to reconcile Lena & Kara, if Lena comes to her about it Sam is going to be solely invested in helping her.

Spheercorp!

I liked Jack in S2 he seemed sweet, and compared to Mon-El he was literally perfection, I thought it worked better as exes, but I liked it quite well. The scenes he got in Confidence Women really helped cement him as the show's best boyfriend.

He recommends Lena lean on other people! They're working on a fulfilling project together. Like it seems supportive and happy and healthy!

Mon-El got to show up a bunch in E100 I think Jack should've gotten a scene there too! Also let Lena and Kelly reminisce about lost partners!

And now we get to the ships I don't ship!

Agentcorp

To be quite honest, the only time Alex and Lena felt like friends was while Alex was mindwiped. They never read as particularly close to me, and Alex immediately calling into question all the good Lena had ever done for her and the rest of the Superfriends in S5E8 killed any inkling of them ever actually being close for me. (Jonn recommended going to Lena during Crisis, Alex was opposed iirc)

Way more stuff like in S4 without the mindwipe involved, or even just more scenes where they hung out at all?

Look I don't think the ship works, but I've heard Chyler was gunning for an agentcorp kiss and I can respect that. I'm almost curious what that version of the show looks like.

Guardiancorp

The transition from "She's a Luthor" to "Oh I might have feelings" just feels absurdly quick and underbaked? Like it definitely feels like it's relying on the 1 month timeskip between S2-3 to make it work. Mostly I just feel like keeping them icy for longer would've worked out for the best.

Honestly I have no idea. Mehcad is charming, but there's no chemistry there. Would it be cheating just to say if it had been Kelly instead?

I do like that Lena and James disagree and can sort it out, regardless of my opinion on those disagreements, I think that's cool! Also the fact that Lena reverts to Jimmy sometimes is an inspired choice!

Ok! I hope that was coherent! Feel free to ask any followup questions if you'd like elaboration!

[musicfashionmonsters]

Love Should've Brought You Home

Random short based off of a JH story I'm free styling writing. It has nothing to do with the story itself, though some facts from the latter may present themselves.

Warning: Angst ahead

Synopsis: Jack is engaged to his former high school girlfriend Simone after they reconnected and began dating in their adult years. As the stress of their careers, wedding planning and their relationship weighs heavy on them, Jack begins a five month affair with a woman he met at a party. Growing tired of lying and sneaking around, he decides to tell Simone everything.

Main Cast: Jack Harlow and Jourdan Riane (as Simone)

Cameos: None

Mad Love Library Masterlist

Jack laid back in the comfortable California king bed staring up at the ceiling as Stacey laid asleep next to him. He looked over at her, though his mind was elsewhere. He thought about Simone, his fiancee of a year and a half and the only woman to have gotten him near the full point of marriage.

The two of them had known each other since they were 14 years old and dated from ages 15 to 17. They'd broken up months before graduation due to their differences in plans and Jack's acceptance of gaining attention from other girls. She wanted to pursue a degree while he wanted to chase his rap career. Though the two supported each other's dreams and remained faithful to each other, the relationship didn't last.

Others thought they would be the high school sweethearts that stayed together through college age and eventually get married and have kids. The two of them secretly thought that as well.

Simone Le'vine was the name she was given at birth and what the world knew her as, but he knew her as Monie. A Louisville native of both French and Haitian decent with the brains, beauty and spirit to match. Hypnotizing brown eyes, brown skin, beautiful naturally curly hair that he liked to run his fingers through when it wasn't in a protective style, long legs with thick thighs and an ass he loved to grasp in his palms. She'd earned her degree in both business and psychology while in college, though she became a model due to being discovered shortly before her graduation.

She had been on nearly every famous magazine cover known in and outside of the US and even walked a few runways. Though her height was only 5'7, designers were mesmerized by her with every step she'd take.

The two of them reconnected at the 2022 Met Gala with plenty of hostility from her end which he understood. A civil conversation between them eventually took place and they renewed their friendship, though Jack knew he wanted her back. Simone wanted him back as well, but didn't want to come off so eager. Which she wasn't.

They'd gotten back together and things had been great the past three years. Until Stacey came along.

He'd met Stacey at an awards after party nearly five months ago and the two had been sneaking around ever since. She met her around the time that he and Simone had been bickering and having petty arguments back and forth. It didn't help that Simone had a male friend that she was close with who was also in the industry she was in. The guy rarely hid his desire for her or the fact he wanted her to be with him instead of Jack.

It pissed him off more when he would comment on every photo she would post or the photos he would take with her, alluding to there being something more between them. Sometimes he wondered if there was.

He looked over at Stacey's sleeping figure once more, shaking his head to himself. She wasn't even half of what Simone was and he began to think with his head up top instead of down below.

He needed to come clean with his woman and stop whatever he had with Stacey.

He flipped back the covers and got out of the bed to put his clothes on. As he dressed himself, Stacey turned over, her eyes fluttering open as she looked at him.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked in her sleepy voice.

"Honestly, I should've left sooner." He admitted honestly and grabbed his New Balance sneakers, "Look, I might as well go ahead and tell you now. This is the last time we're gonna see each other."

Stacey immediately sat up, covering herself with the comforter.

"What? Why? Did I do something wrong?" She asked him, concern laced in her tone.

"It's not you that did something wrong, it's me. I should've never started this...thing with you. I have a woman waiting for me at home that I love and I'm here with you. This should never have happened." He shook his head, slipping on his sneakers.

"Wait, Jack. Just wait. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that what you and me had is done. I'm going home to my woman and I'm telling her everything that's been happening."

Stacey scoffed and chuckled humorlessly, "And you really think it's that easy? You think she's gonna just welcome you with open arms? From what you've been telling me, she never has welcomed you with open arms."

"You know nothing about her or the history we have." He defended, "That woman knows me better than anybody else and look at what I'm doing to her. It took a while for me to get her back and this is how I treat her. I'm going back where I belong and you and me are done."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back against the headboard.

"Fine, do whatever. When she kicks you out of the house and breaks up with you, don't come crawling back to me."

"Believe me...I won't. Made the mistake of crawling to you once, a second time is not needed to remind me."

He grabbed his phone, keys and wallet and walked out of the bedroom towards the front door. He left, got into his car and immediately started the engine before pulling out of the driveway.

When he arrived back to Simone's house in the last night hour, he used his key and carefully the front door, quietly closing it behind him. He tiptoed through the spacious entryway, making sure not to make too much noise.

Suddenly, the lights in the living room came on and he looked to see Simone sitting on the large sectional with her arms crossed. If looks could kill, he would be a dead man.

"Studio session must've ran late, huh?" She questioned him, the look of anger swirling in her eyes.

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and walked closer towards her, "Yeah, about that...um, I wasn't at the studio."

"No, really? I had no idea." She expressed in fake shock, tilting her head.

"Cut the sarcasm, Monie."

"You don't get to tell me that. I don't wanna hear shit from you except her name. Who is she?" She badgered him.

He sighed and looked down at his feet.

"Her name is Stacey." He confessed.

"And how long have you been seeing her?"

The guilt began to sit in more and he sighed a second time.

"Five months." He mumbled.

Simone chuckled humorlessly, pinching the bridge of her nose and bit her bottom lip as she attempted to suppress her rage before directing her attention back to him.

"Five months? Five MONTHS?!" She exclaimed, standing up from the couch. "We're supposed to get married in six months and you've been sleeping around on me with some random bitch?!"

"I know, I know! I'm sorry! You and I were arguing so much back and forth and neither one of us wanted to listen to each other. I met her at an after party and she just-"

"Distracted you from the problems we had when you should've been talking to the main one you have the problems with?" She finished his sentence, crossing her arms.

"Baby, princess...I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did it, I really don't. I know I should've been thinking with my head up top and I should've talked to you first instead of letting her come between us. I don't want her. I even told her I'd come clean to you and I broke things off with her because I couldn't live with doing that to you."

"Clearly, you could live with it. You made it five months, what's a lifetime?"

She scoffed deeply and pushed past him, marching up the stairs to the bedroom. He was hot on her trails, following her upstairs and watched as she grabbed a suitcase from the walk-in closet.

"I know I fucked up, there's no excuse for it. I was wrong and I'll do whatever to make this right. Just please give me another chance." He begged her.

Simone remained quiet as she packed some clothes and other belongings into the suitcase.

"Come on, baby. Why are you packing a suitcase? Where are you going?" He asked, keeping his eyes onto her.

She chuckled humorlessly again and looked at him.

"I'm not going anywhere. See, I don't know if you forgot, but I paid for this house and I pay for the bills that go with it." She reminded him and pointed at the suitcase, "These are your things."

"Baby, please don't. I don't want her, I don't need her and I don't even love her! I love you!" He expressed desperately.

"You love me?! You love me, huh?! Is this how you treat somebody you love?! Sneaking around and fucking some other bitch behind my back?! Lying to me for months?! If that's your idea of "love", I don't fucking want it! Love should've brought your ass home to me instead of her for the past five months!" She raged, angrily zipping up the suitcase.

Tears filled both of their eyes as she took the suitcase off of the bed and placed it in front of him.

"That should be everything. Anything else, I'll have it sent to you."

"Princess, I don't want this. I don't want to be without you. I don't want anybody else, I want you. I want you forever. Let me know what I can do to make this right. I swear I'll do anything." He pleaded, cupping her cheeks into his palms.

"You know what you can do?" She caressed his cheek.

"I'll do anything. You name it."

All of a sudden, Simone reached back and slapped him as hard as she could. Jack stumbled back slightly and held his reddened cheek, looking at her sorrowfully.

"You can take the suitcase and get the fuck out of my house. I don't want to see you right now, if at all." She spoke calmly, her voice trembling in anger and betrayal.

"Princess..."

"Get out, Thomas. NOW." She demanded.

They always used each other's middle names whenever a situation at hand was not one to be taken lightly. It was also a way to show just how upset one or the other truly was by something that was done or said.

Knowing there was no changing her mind, Jack grabbed the suitcase and began walking out of the bedroom.

"Oh, I just remembered. You did forget something." She spoke up.

She reached for the seven carat engagement ring on her finger and threw it at him. It bounced off of his chest and he looked down at it, feeling more tears fill his eyes. He grabbed the ring off of the floor and looked at her as the tears fell down her face.

A burned memory that he'd never forget. He had no one to blame for it but himself. Usually, he'd be the one wiping her tears from someone else causing her harm. Now, the cause of her tears were on his hands.

Not another word was said as he held the suitcase in his hand and walked down the stairs and out of the door.

If she never wanted to see him again, he knew she would've been well within her rights. He did the one thing he promised he wouldn't do ever when they got back together.

He broke her heart and her trust.

[archerandthefoxx]

So I was up from 12am to 5am reading ACFTL and I honestly can't believe that it's over now. Like my brain can genuinely not wrap my head around it. The book I have been waiting for months. The series I've been reading since it was only ouabh. I honestly can't believe it's done now.

So these are just my thoughts on acftl: (SPOILERS BTW)

So I want to start with things I didn't like because I like to end things on a more positive note:

● There was a lot of potential for other things that Stephanie has hinted to in the past (just basically a lot of unanswered questions) that I can't simply believe isn't anything bigger:

> "too familiar nickname" when Jacks called her Little Fox for the first time. This had the potential to be something really big, but the fact that Eva has no connection to the fox is just leaving me confused (as in being the first fox or a reincarnation). Like how. Especially when it was heavily hinted to in the past.

> "heavier than an apple should've been" when Jacks threw an apple at Eva in ouabh. I don't understand what this was supposed to mean if it just ended up being nothing. Like why did it have to be mentioned

> An Evajacks wedding was heavily hinted to in ouabh (even the reverse dust jacket for bn acftl). I just would have liked to see that.

● For me, some of the plot points just felt very disconnected and not linked, to the point where it felt like just random things being stringed together. Like it felt like things were just happening, as if I was reading different books at the same time.

● Acftl kinda feels like after tbona, Stephanie went online and saw everyone's theories and aimed to do the exact opposite. Sometimes I felt so confused because it felt like random facts and points were just thrown at me. Or this felt like this was the original version that Stephanie wrote.

●Why was time personified constantly?

●Where was my boy, Luc? I love him and I missed him so much. I was waiting for him to pop up on the page or make a creepy/funny appearance ("Hello, Eva" - I always laughed when he pulled stuff like this).

●Even though she's not relevant, where was Marisol? You can't tell me she just disappeared. I would have just liked to know what happened to her.

●Aurora's role felt so random.

●The whole thing about Jacks's curse felt to simple and barely touched on.

●I would have liked a better answer on Jacks’s obsession with apples. Like I understand it was left like that on purpose but it would have been nice.

*

●I would have liked the return of Scarlet and Tella. They were the ones who sent Evangeline to the Magnificent North. It would have been nice to see them after all of that and Jacks and Tella could have gotten some sort of closure.

●I love how everyone was hell-bent on the fact that apollo is lysander. The fact that everyone believed Apollo was Lysander started to make me doubt it. When Lysander appeared on the page, I was surprised tbh.

● Tbona established their clear feelings for each other and acftl was them just accepting it.

●Anyways I need domestic evajacks. Like 20 chapters. The bonus epilogues healed me.

My theories that were actually right: ●Tiberius slashing Apollo’s back

●Aurora having some type of magic and being the true villain. I was so sure that she was obsessed with Jacks and placed the Archer's curse.

~"My turn" if you know, you know. Something I never knew I needed. And I need more. There is never such thing as too much Evajacks.

Me having mixed feelings about acftl hurts so much because I've been waiting for this book for so long (I've been reading this series since it was only ouabh). I haven't been able to wrap my head around the fact that this is the official book. Ouabh and Tbona were soo amazing. They were so magical and fairytale like and I cried after I finished acftl, not just because the series was over (because I did) but because it didn't live up to the expectations I had and the high standards that ouabh and tbona set.

This series will always and forever be the series I go back to when I'm sad. Regardless of how it ended, I loved it because Stephanie created a new definition of magic and fairytale for me.

[vanyzvat]

FAILED TIMELIFE

A short fanfic in which Jack gets erased from the universe, and within minutes, the story adjusts itself, and Henrik loses all memory of him ever existing.

Trying to work with the current canon events, so I thought of a concept, in which c!Jack gets erased from the timeline mid-story!

This is loosely inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club, specifically how Sayori was erased from the game, and then the script had to work itself around that gap.

Henrik carefully opened the door to the hospital room, where he found Jack still lying on the bed, unconscious. Every time, he hoped it would be different. That things could go back to normal...

...But, they never did.

“Top of zhe mornin', Jack...!”

“You know... Chase has grown tired of imitating you, your fans miss you, we miss you. Have you ever thought of zhat? Well, you should've thought about it before zu went up and died...!”

...Henrik sighed. Being mad at the circumstances wasn't going to change anything, but if things continued down this route, he might have to just... Give up, and let Jack go.

He really didn't want to consider that as an option just yet.

He administered some medicine through the IV drip before walking out of the room, heading right back to his office.

He was still studying Jack's records, trying desperately to understand what he was missing. His brain wasn't supposed to do that, his heart wasn't supposed to beat like that...

Suddenly... His computer turned off, and...

...

What? What was he doing again? He swore it was something important, so why couldn't he remember...

Oh! Right, he was studying [][][][]'s records...

...Whose records? Wait...

What was going on? Why couldn't he remember his name? Henrik tried to think, but he just couldn't piece his memories together. This man... He couldn't remember anything about him. His name, his face- It was like his memories were suddenly tampered with.

Henrik scratched the back of his head in confusion as he sat up from his chair and stepped out of his office, heading back to the hospital room he had left moments prior. The patient was in this room- So if he just walked inside, he should be able to refresh his memory.

...What?

There was... No one there.

The hospital room was completely empty, with no sign of anyone ever being there to begin with. What just happened? Had Henrik lost his mind? But he swore there was someone...

Maybe he had just gotten too tired from work.

...

...Why was he in this room again?

[queermania]

Hi what are your thoughts on Lebanon? (the episode not the town hehe)

the first time i watched it i loathed it. now that i've had time to sit with it, i've really come around. i think it has a couple flaws, one of them fatal, but i still like it.

it's first flaw is that it's too ambitious. there's not enough time for what it's trying to do. the town as a character is a really neat concept and one they could've gotten a whole episode out of (and they should've). and the concept of john coming back for a day is also a really neat concept, and again, something that needed at least an entire episode to breathe. smooshing those two together makes it all feel underdeveloped and rushed.

the second flaw, and the one that is fatal in my opinion, is the john and mary of it all. i know a lot of people are bothered by sam and dean forgiving john and having nice family moments with him but i'm not. those were moments that they earned, not because john deserved them, but because the boys did. sam didn't need to have another shouting match with john. he'd already come to understand why john did the things he did. he'd already forgiven him. hell, he'd already forgiven him to his face even if john didn't know that was happening (in 5x13). this just let sam have closure.

the same is true of dean. dean didn't need to yell at john and tell him all of the ways he fucked up. i mean, the fact that john ruined their lives is already pretty clear. dean is in his forties and is living in a bunker and still hunting. but dean got to look his dad in the eyes and say, "this is my life because i chose it and it may not look the way you think it should but it's mine. i don't need your approval." he got to choose the family he built for himself over his dad and that's so so special to me.

none of that was about forgiving john, or even forgetting everything he did. it was about closure.

the only one who let john off the hook was mary. john gave her children the exact life she didn't want them to have and he did it in her memory. he turned her into nothing more than an effigy to mourn. she's been told, to her face, that what john did to her children was child abuse..... and she has no thoughts about it? i didn't need to see sam and dean yell at john and spew every hateful thing they ever felt because i already knew how they were feeling. i'd watched over fourteen seasons of it. but mary's surely complicated feelings about john are never addressed at any point in the show and that's fine up until the moment they bring john back to stand in front of her, face-to-face. i know there wasn't enough time in the episode to get into it but that's a problem. you cannot load the chekhov's gun of john and mary being forced together for breeding purposes + have mary learn of every horrible thing john ever did to the children she didn't want to be hunters, all in her name, and then not pull the trigger. you just can't. and it never gets addressed before or after this episode either. it's just a glaring neon sign. and it makes the whole thing feel like john apologia.

all that being said, i do love the idea of the town as a character and what it reveals about sam and dean. i loved seeing sam and dean have those moments of closure with their father. i loved seeing a glimpse into an alternate timeline. i loved the utilization of cas and zachariah. i loved that in the end dean chose cas and jack over his father. there was a lot of good in the episode.

[angelsdean]

about the ensemble cast missed opportunities.

cas and dean babysitting baby cas and baby sam while sam, garth and bess hunt down some monster of the week with a very sniffable smell.

jack and claire sibling team up to save dean and sam, who turned into adorable frogs after being cursed by a fairy tale related object. meanwhile cas is on a girls night out trip with eileen and rowena, but they are disturbed by one of rowena's ex girlfriends.

crowley centered episode where he is bored running hell and takes a vacation everytime he wants to sip on his cocktail and relax, someone else calls him for help/info etc

yesssssss i want all of that !!!

deancas babysitting adventures would be sooo funny. i'm torn between cas wanting to actually put all the baby knowledge he gained from those parenting books to good use OR him just angel-magicking away any issue. like baby is fussy bc they have gas? angel magics them all better. teething pain? not anymore! hungry? sims-cheat-style fills their hunger bar. gross diaper situation? grace-zaps it clean again. meanwhile dean's got the other twin and he's running around warming up a bottle with one hand and bouncing and singing to the baby in the other arm. he's got sweat and baby spit-up all over his shirt. cut to cas sitting on the sofa peacefully reading to his twin. i think cas has baby sam while baby cas is making dean's life a living hell jdkfdkg

frog shenanigans: jack keeps frog!dean and frog!sam in his jacket pockets. dean keeps grumpily ribbeting for attention. sam is trying to communicate in morse code because he thinks he knows how to turn them back but jack is just like "you guys are sooo cute" and puts them back in his pocket. both claire and jack are also Very Determined to solve this together on their own and insist they Cannot Under Any Circumstances disrupt cas, rowena, and eileen's girls night out trip even tho rowena def could undo the curse in a second.

crowley, poor crowley. let the man drink his little fruity drinks in peace! he's about to close the gates to hell himself if one (1) more person calls him! he should've never gotten the demons on a cellphone plan

[omarwolaeth]

Hearing some thoughts on Rin's lines about Clear Wing.

I don't disagree that it feels off-putting or wrong (whichever you prefer to describe it as), but I imagine her reasoning doesn't necessarily boil down to seeing herself as above Yuugo (though it's very possible it partially is; they both lived in a dog eat dog world - the City - and they're commons to boot - so they're fighting one another to duel Jack up until she's kidnapped, even if Yuugo says they were going to do it together), as much as it boils down to her being the responsible one.

Yuugo really isn't, so it might possibly be that, given how dependable of a monster Clear Wing (and Crystal Wing) are, Rin thinks her burn deck is a better fit for such a monster than Yuugo's luck based deck. The answer to this is obviously no as soon as anything to do with Zarc or Ray comes into the picture (Clear Wing and Yuugo are both cut from the same quarter of the Supreme King Dragon, even if it was by En Winds.)

Or, Rin is probably jealous she doesn't have effect negation in her monsters, and is bullying Yuugo about it because she's seemingly never really dealt with her frustrations in any other way (because Yuugo's always there.) Or maybe because Clear Wing is a unique card and Rin wants a copy too.

Alternatively, this is somehow the same thing as Yuuri's sadistic streak; a hold over from their Original self, and Ray decided Clear Wing should've been one of her monsters. As if Zarc would lose one of his dragons without a fight, though.

(Additional note I think is important but couldn't figure out where to put it in; Rin's defeat line in the overworld implies to me that Yuugo expects her to win her matches, like it shouldn't be hard for her. Yuugo's never gotten angry at her even if she's gotten angry at him multiple times and she's probably afraid of what he'd think - either this hasn't happened and she's worried all his frustrations with her would ungracefully tumble out, only putting up with her because she wins and can get food on their table even if we know that wouldn't happen - he loves her so much he'll ramble about her to anyone given half a chance, or it has happened before and Rin doesn't want to experience that sort of thing again, as though it would embarrass her.) (So her self esteem is either rock bottom when it comes to losing. or she's got too much pride to admit any of her losses to the one person who adores her)

[purposefully-lost]

She couldn't move. There was a heavy, leaden weight in her limbs, leaving them pinned to the ground and unyielding no matter how hard she tried. It was to the point that she wasn't even sure how she'd ever managed to move at all, since thinking into existence did nothing. She was thinly aware of a vague, throbbing pain somewhere in the back of her neck, but it seemed to come and go at random. Sometimes it was so excruciating she wanted to scream, and sometimes it felt like she'd simply laid down to take a break in the middle of her hike. She wasn't sure how long she'd been here. The sky had gotten darker.

She'd never been so tired of the inside of her own head. She didn't know where her bag was or what had happened to it-- she just remembered wandering off the trail, and suddenly she'd woken up here- but she had a book inside that she would've killed to have in her hands just then. The Return of the King. Jack had let her borrow it. She was so close to the end...

Jack. He liked to come out here, she knew. They'd never come together, at least not yet, but she wanted so badly to go camping with him. They'd talked about it. He had this place he wanted to show her, this meadow. It sounded so pretty.

She couldn't really see the stars above her. Not only was there a canopy of leaves blocking her view, but her vision had gone sort of halfway blurry and halfway dark. She didn't think her eyes were working quite right anymore. But that was okay. All she needed to be able to see was light. Then she'd know, if a shadow passed over her, that someone had found her. He'd kneel down next to her and talk to her in a soft voice. Stroke her cheek and pull her close to his chest and tell her that it was okay, if she was scared, but she'd be alright. He was going to carry her home. When she was stuck in the hospital getting back her fluids and being henned over by her mother, he'd sit at her bedside and read her the last few chapters of the book he'd given her. He'd hold her hand.

Chris let her eyes fall shut and tried again to move her hands, but it didn't work. She should've kissed him when she'd had the chance.

She could hear crickets, and the distant call of an owl. The swish and sway of leaves in the wind. Very quiet, she could hear the running of the creek. And the cracking of a branch as something walked towards her.

Her eyes flew open again. Involuntarily, unable to really feel it, her breaths quickened to something almost panicked. She strained at the corners of her version, turning her head what miniscule way she could and enduring the pain that followed to try and see. It'd be him. He was going to kiss her, her first kiss, and everything would turn out alright. She'd tell her mom that she thought Rabbit's home wasn't a very good place and he'd be allowed to stay over whenever he needed to. They could sit in the living room and listen to records and re-do what they hadn't done on the night of the formal. She waited, so certain it'd be him, but it was the large, cloven hooves of an abnormally sized buck that stepped close to her.

Maybe it was just the way she was staring up at it, but he was huge. Large, elegant antlers that should've weighed him down, really, but he didn't seem hindered. The deer lowered his head until he was staring right at her, his hot breath on her face, then lifted again. It let out a long bleat, seemingly just at the night, then started to lay down next to her. His large, heavy head rested on her chest.

He was gorgeous. He wasn't what she wanted. Chris realized she could see even less than she could moments ago and a cold panic took hold of her heart. She closed her eyes to block it out, putting all of her effort instead into trying to make a sound. Nothing but air-- nothing but gasps that made her lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to look up again and couldn't- or maybe she'd finally lost her sight and just couldn't tell the difference between open and closed. Some sound finally escaped her throat, the last she knew she'd ever make, and it sounded almost like Jack.

[paperandhis-paper]

Arc-V Month Day 11: Legacy for the Future

(Is that a motherfucking Jojo reference?)

Ok, so, I've spent most days of @arcvmonth so far gushing about the show, so warning: negativity ahead.

I'm overall mixed on the Legacy characters. I don't think they ruin the show as some people claim, but I happen to have problems with... all of them? There are also positives, ofc, so ANALYSIS TIME!

Crow: he's... fine. His screentime is fine. His role in the plot is fine. Everything about him is just fine. My only real complaint is that I wished Shun had won and gotten another duel with Yuya, but it's whatever. He's really only part of the Lancers because he's a legacy character, as I don't think he's the most interesting Synchro character.

Jack: by far the best Legacy character, Jack somewhat takes the role of rival from Reiji, down to having 3 duels with the protagonist and a 3000 ATK ace. Giving him the role of a mentor is an interesting take on the character, although it was weird going back to 5D's I don't know how people feel about him beating Sergey (I know some people hated that when the episode was first announced), but somehow it works fine? It's an interesting subversion, because you'd think Yuya would be the one to do so, but instead Yuya's role is to be the one to unite the people together. My only problem is that it's... kinda weird that Jack just lets the City remain a shithole. Like, do something my man! I also wonder if Yusei wouldn't have been more fitting for his role, but I understand they didn't want to have the protagonists so Yuya wouldn't be overshadowed.

Kaito: I never cared for Kaito in Zexal (granted, it's been a long while since I've seen it), and Arc-V Kaito has similar issues. Namely, being a bit too powerful. He never has a solo loss, and here's where being a legacy character begins to hurt. He had a reputation for being unbeatable (Tron cheating aside), so the writers know they can't have him lose easily. He even almost beats Yuya! The best thing about him is that he provides a mirror for Shun; he's basically edgy-bird Shun from the beginning, but in some ways worse. He steals spotlight a fair bit, but his most egregious case of this is to another Legacy Character, so whatever.

Speaking of...

Asuka: done dirty, and so unnecessarily. Seriously, let her duel Dennis! Him vs Kaito isn't a TERRIBLE set-up, but she needed a big win so her presence doesn't just feel like fanservice. Her getting carded also sucks, but I get the writers kinda had to (can't have a Ritual duelist face Zarc, after all), plus it gave Yuri some much-needed depth.

But at least she got a win, even if it was against mooks. Unlike...

Edo: oh boy. See, I don't actually have much issues with his arc. It works, so long as you ignore that it has basically nothing to do with Edo's character in GX. No, what I wanna talk about this is his duel with Yuya.

I'm gonna be blunt: he should've won that duel. For one, he didn't get a single win in the series (tbf, his opponents were strong, but still), but most importantly, earlier on we saw with Kaito vs Shun that even if you lose you can still reach your opponent. And Edo got development himself by accepting Entertainment Dueling and grabbing an Action Card. The fact that Yuya wins by grabbing an Action Card of his own just rubs salt on the wound. Plus, I just like the idea of Yuya never beating an arc villain (other than Zarc, sorta), his role instead being another (then again, I guess then people would use that to claim Yuya is a weak protagonist and whatnot, so maybe it was for the best).

Also, both him and Kaito interrupting Yugo and Yuri's duel is dumb. Saving that rant for later.

So yeah. Legacy Characters were a mixed bag. I think the writers struggled with giving them the prominence they deserved without outshining Arc-V's massive cast. That's a very fine line. But hey— we got Legacy Support! That's always a good thing, right?

[owengrose]

Shipper tag game

tagged by my friend @sunriseverse (hi friend!!!!!)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

johnlock. listen. i'm aware. i am aware. Thankfully I've grown as a person and now I don't care about anything or anyone associated with that mess of a show.

Which ship would you consider your first one?

uhhhhhh aang/katara maybe? I really wasn't interested in romance that much until like middle school, but I do remember thinking katara and aang should get together as a kid.

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

probably destiel. Actually wait no, guaranteed destiel.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i was in middle school when Twilight came out, so I can almost guarantee you somebody drew Bella and Edward fanart and showed me. I don't actually know this for sure though, this is just a guess. The first fanart I actually remember seeing was Percy/Annabeth.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

lmao no. it's just not worth it literally ever

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

mmm not really. i have ships where I just don't see it, but I don't usually feel all that strongly about it.

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Sam/Jack from Stargate! This is entirely @kbunny10 's fault, she got me into Stargate and now I have Feelings.

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I mean, always. The biggest ones are probably Morgwen, Sam/Jack, destiel (i thought i was free but then nov 5 happened so......). But I'm not super actively a shipper these days

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

no bc everyone i've ever wanted to get together did so in my heart. Sam and Jack should've gotten together on screen, but In My Heart they did get together so it's chill.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

not that i can think of! my romantic tastes tend to be relatively consistent honestly. maybe the gay ones before i became not homophobic (and then not straight! yayyyyyy!!!!! :D )

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

again, none that i can think of! I'm kind of a normie tbh

What is your favorite crack ship?

so this isn't actually a crack ship but like. Captain Hook and the daughter of Snow White/Prince Charming on OUAT got together. That was a real thing. They really said "you know who we should pair with our main character, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming? Famous villain Captain Hook. Yeah we're gonna make him young and sexy so it's fine." That was a real thing!! It aired on television and I was REALLY invested!! Man OUAT was such a wild ride lmao

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

i thought it was destiel but i checked by ao3 bookmarks and apparently newmann are still unbeat!! shoutout to the year where i was obsessed with those gay little scientists, i went absolutely NUTS for them. My newmann fics that I bookmarked are more than the #2 and #3 ships COMBINED.

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

there's usually an earnestness or a sincerity that either one or both of them has. where one person is just like very open about how much they like/admire the other, or where they engage with people so trustingly, or something along those lines. sometimes its sincere4snarky, sometimes its sincere4sincere, and sometimes its "i'm only earnest around you"

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

lack of communication. it drives me INSANE. unless they're miscommunicating about their feelings for each other, then it's great. but otherwise i hate it bc like, this is your partner!! talk to them!! what the fuck!!

Tagging: @kbunny10, @inesathammar, @cawfeeann, @lacigarra, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[archester-creations]

Rated: G

Pairing: Solar Dawn (Sky Lark/Sun Wukong/Yang Xiao Long)

Word Count: ~2k

A/N: Day five: healing @rwbyrarepairweek ; security breach au, animatronic Sky

Not every kid likes Sky. A small portion actually hates him, though he is supposed to be a jester and not a clown and Yang had thought the clown-fear thing was mostly myth. That was before she started working for Scarlatina Entertainment as a technician. Yang rubs the back of her hand against her forehead, smearing grease. "Alright, can you move your fingers?"

Sky raises his left arm, the bare brown metal glints slightly under the lights of her workshop under the Pizzaplex, and flexes his fingers. They move without so much as a creak and he smiles. "Fixed."

"Thankfully. Now on to the second one," Yang says. "Can you turn for me?"

Sky nods and turns around to straddle the chair, draping the already fixed arm over the back. He drops his head to rest on it, too. "I still can't believe those brats managed to hurt both arms before a parent got to them."

"Neither can I." Yang clicks her tongue. If Ruby or her did that, they would've been grounded for weeks. Not that either of them would've ever done it. Even as kids they were both way into robotics.

Actually, thinking about it, if they were young enough they might have tried some pretty stupid stuff to try and see how it worked. Yang still remembers all the pens and mechanical pencils she tore apart—a few of which were Weiss' that she ended up being unable to fix. There is a knock on the wall and Yang calls whoever it is in without turning from Sky's wires.

"I heard Sky got hurt again?" Sun asks as he walks into the room.

"Yeah," Sky and Yang sigh together.

"Have you sewn his sleeves?" Sun asks.

"Yeah." Yang vaguely gestures to where they sit on the table, next to the still open sewing kit. "Can you put it on him?"

Sun nods, knowing that while she can't see it, she would know he did anyway. "So did you scare them or were they just bastards?"

"Bastards." Sky sighs. He holds his arm up so Sun can attach the sleeve to his forearm. "Preteens."

The cloth is long and flowing; it attached to under the metal at the joint between the animatronic's upper and lower arm and Sun carefully feels along the seam to reattach it. His fingers flutter against Sky's metal and wires. It doesn't hurt, but it does tickle, and while Sky tries to stop he can't help squirming.

Yang clicks her tongue. "Babe, stay still."

"Sun is tickling me," Sky giggles, the noises bubbling up.

"Sorry." Sun removes his fingers and sits on the table in a clear area. Cloth hangs loosely from the spots Sun didn't get to. "I'll finish after you're done, Yang."

"Thanks," Yang hums. "And sorry, too, I forgot how ticklish he is there."

"So did I for a few moments," Sky says. He lays his arm in his lap, the action making a hollow ting sound. It's easy to forget he's ticklish even like this. "Are you almost done?"

"About. I need to go slower with your arms, I don't want to hurt the wires so your fingers malfunction," Yang says and smiles at the panel she's messing in. "You need those to flip off Cardin."

Sky hums. "I do, so I guess I can sit here patiently for a little longer, if Sun entertains me." He glances up at his other boyfriend and Sun snorts. It's an ugly type of snort, it always is, but it also always makes Sky feel a little like he's overheating. He loves that snort.

"What do you want me to do?" Sun asks and Sky forcefully keeps himself from shrugging. Yang hums in appreciation.

"Anything. Yang's too focused to talk to me," Sky says.

"Then what if I…" Sun pulls three balls out of seemingly thin air, sliding off the table as he does, and Sky laughs. "juggle?"

"Isn't that supposed to be my thing?" Sky asks.

"You don't have a monopoly on juggling." Sun taps a finger against his beak.

"Alright." Sky rolls his eyes in mock annoyance. "Show me what you got."

"Cool." Sun smiles and it's just as sunny as his name. Sometimes Sky thinks Sun should've gotten the security jacket with the sun patches instead of the lightning bolts, but he likes that his security guard matches him. "I've been practicing this."

Sky shifts in the seat, not enough to disturb Yang but just enough to sit up. Sun throws all three balls up together and catches them before he starts truly juggling. As an animatronic, Sky is nearly an expert at juggling. It's one of the things that's just in his coding. He's literally built for agility, hand-eye-coordination, athletics. Anything a jester might need to physically entertain. Whether or not he was actually good at any of that stuff while he was human, he doesn't really remember, but he thinks he was. All that is to say, Sky loves watching this. The balls arc and spin, Sun moving with them and never missing a catch, even as he has to lean into the table for one. The movements speak of time, speak of hours, speak of passion. The way Sun smiles, bright and large and all laughter just without the sound, speaks of passion. Speaks of fun. Sometimes Sky fumbles a ball, but his body is really just code. It's wires and metal and made for errors like that to happen as statistically seldom as human error can achieve. And with Yang as the main technician– as his only technician– Sky rarely makes a physical error. Meanwhile Sun juggles without error because of practice. It is beautiful, though Sky knows neither of his human boyfriends would naturally think of it that way. But that's okay. Sky knows people see beauty in different things and he is more than okay with being the only person to look at Sun and see his forever messy hair, curls bouncing as he juggles, and know that it is beautiful.

A spark in his wires causes him to look over at Yang, who flushes and looks away from Sun and back at his arm, and Sky thinks happily that she does see it, too.

Sun juggles for a bit longer, and on the ball's last loop he throws each of them higher and ducks under them, mouth wide, and swallowing after all three falls so it looks as if he's eaten them. One of his arms is behind his back, and Sky knows it means he's simply caught them. Something he thinks is more impressive, because that means Sun caught all three without looking. With all three balls in his hand, Sun takes a bow. Since Yang has his right arm, he claps by hitting his thigh. His palm makes a soft ringing sound against the metal there, like a bell.

"I'm done," Yang says at that moment and rolls her chair away. She stands and stretches, her spine and elbows making a popping sound. Sky smiles and flexes the fingers of his right hand, rotating the wrist to make sure everything is working probably, though he knows it is. The only reason he checks is because he knows Yang wants him to.

"Thanks, Yang," Sky says.

"Anything for my girlfriend," Yang says, smiling cheekily as she adds, "Plus it's how I get a paycheck."

Sky puts a hand on his chest to gasp dramatically. "Is that all I am to you? A job?"

"No," Yang says, sudden seriousness belied by the way her lips are twitching upward again. "You're also an annoyance."

"How dare, good sir! Sun, do you see how our boyfriend treats me?" Sky bemoans, making Sun snort. If not for the weight difference, Sky would’ve leaned against Sun just to really sell it. Instead he tips backwards in the chair.

“She’s being terribly cruel,” Sun agrees and that gets Yang to break, laughter filling the room as they join in. it always feels good to be silly with them. Natural in a way that isn’t related to his job, though that is very natural, too. It’s just different. Sky waves his arm and the cloth moves in the air like a wave.

“Finish my sleeves for me?” Sky asks, batting his eyelashes. There is still humour in Sun’s smile as he takes the unattached cloth in his hands and continues to attach it to Sky’s arm while Sky tries his best to keep it still despite the tickling feeling, so he doesn’t pinch and hurt Sun’s fingers.

"You're so spoiled," Yang says, only half joking but fully fond and unrepentant as she is one of the two doing the spoiling, and bends down to kiss his forehead. Sky beams up at her.

"As I should be," he says with all the snottiness he can muster while smiling and being unintentionally tickled. It makes Yang snort. Sun purposely flutters his fingers at his wires and Sky gives a cut-off laugh, freezing up.

“Suuun,” Sky complains and Sun just smiles.

“Gimme your other arm?” Sun says. Sky sighs and holds up his other arm so Sun can connect the other sleeve.

[michaelisamenace]

Part two:

Oh too bad you never got to experience Gillian as Bedelia, you guessed correctly, she nailed it. While I can't say anything about her appearance matching her book canon, I can say I found her performance deeply captivating. I know you're not a fan of the series, but perhaps you might enjoy this little 2 min peek into how Gillian pulled of Bedelia:https://youtu.be/zAR2Cubbc5M?si=6ForMcVJq1KDIFq_

Yes, I quite liked Fiennes' performance as Dolarhyde, even if it wasn't the best in his career. He simply just excels in acting with his yes, which is something a character as damaged and reserved as Dolarhyde needs as a character.

Oh no, I totally get it! While I tend to respect the actors' wishes, I too lament so much that we didn't get to see Jodie in both movies, I was also angry about this as a teenager when I first saw the Hannibal movie xD I was also upset when I learned years later that they changed the ending and Hannibal and Clarice didn't end up eloping together.

I also learned, which you probably already knew, that Jodie simply didn't find it plausible that a sharp and highly moral character like Clarice Starling could just succumb to Hannibal's manipulation tactics like that and just abandon her values. I think she might've gotten attached to the character of Clarice as she was in the Silence of the Lambs (which also won her an Oscar so that might've increased her fondness), so she couldn't reconcile within herself a character development like that. Darn it, she should've just talked to some fanfiction authors, they could've assured her that the audience loves that kind of shit :D

Last but not least, don't worry about the length, I can sometimes be verbose as well, depends on the topic and it was delightful reading your thoughts.

P.S. your thoughts on Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford?

You're very kind.

I spoke to a mutual yesterday who told me she had beef with Jodie because it seems she was going to be part of the Hannibal cast, initially, but made them change the script for she found it out of character and then just fully abandoned the work. I think that was awful of her to do, but you know... Actors make bad decisions. And I'm still her fan, sort of, and shamefully weak for blondes, so...I can't stay as pissed as this moot. I also don't know if it is true or not, but I'd bet it is.

"Which also won her an Oscar so that might've increased her fondness" lol

It's like I said before. If she'd done movies in which she played child prostitutes and was the victim of a gang rape before, couldn't she stick around a little longer for an itty-bitty stalking and cannibalism? It wouldn't hurt.

I'll be owing y'all from these asks two things: to read the whole Silence and Red Dragon, and to watch all the movies. I'm going to watch Manhunter tonight, for a fact.

That being said...I can't really opine on Fishburne's performance as Crawford, because I haven't seen it (and unfortunately probably never will. I've got a grudge against the series. Childish, yes.), but if I were to guess, I'd guess he was good at it. As good as the screenplay allowed him, nevertheless. He's a good actor.

[myrnadalgleish]

watts should've gotten together with detective scott instead of jack... but ik he doesn't date coworkers only murder suspects and weird ppl who got something silly stolen

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

okay so, having now seen furiosa: a mad max saga opening night and having Ruminated on my thoughts, I am going to give my two-pence on the movie even though nobody asked or wanted it - you're getting it anyway!

but before going into the full thing, I actually re-watched fury road today, bc I just wanted to contrast it now that we know furiosa's full story that lead her to her trek in fury road, and I just had mad max on the brain (and also I love that movie).

spoilers under the cut below!!

first, I already knew before seeing the prequel, that that scene in fury road where furiosa breaks down after learning about what happened to 'the green place,' was going to now hit 2x as hard once we learn what really happened the moment she was ripped away, and...yeah, it's super painful to watch. it was already a very emotional scene, but now having known how much pain and struggle it costed her, how many times furiosa desperately made her bet to get back home and fell short - you can really feel her grief

funnily enough though, I was shocked to find myself tearing up not during that scene, but when furiosa was reunited with the last of the many mothers. having just watched her ripped away so unfairly as a defenseless child, her whole world destroyed and clinging onto this dream of one day, getting to embrace her family - you can't help it!! I started tearing up when the other woman rushed to furiosa, embracing her with the gentle touch of their foreheads, 'this is our furiosa' 😭 like..she did it!! she made it home!!! - also, I learned in the credits - that woman was actually the same little girl, valkyrie, in furiosa who was her friend!!! that girl saw her friend get snatched and pulled away from their home, and then finally, both grown, they reuinite! I just thought that was sweet

what max says to her about hope in the scene after they find the mothers, 'if you can't fix what's broken..you'll go insane.' - my mind immediately jumped to dementus. we get this glimpse that he once had a wife and child(ren) he loved, that were either taken from him or killed, and he tells furiosa in their stand-off more or less how that destroyed him mentally, further plunging him into this hateful madman who acts so cruelly to others. he couldn't 'fix' it by getting them back ('I want them back!!' 'I can't!!'), the one thing he loved that kept him sane, and so he lost his humanity.

I saw a post of someone saying how ricktus's death (immortan joe's son) is 10x more satisfying after having seen what he (nearly) did to child furiosa...abso-fucking-lutely (though, I think with that in mind, furiosa should've gotten a part in it..)

also, max & and furiosa's dynamic after knowing about her & jack...the parallels! the parallels!! their gradual bond of trust, how fluidly they work together to kill/fight the enemies of the citadel akin to her and jack vs. dementus and gang, etc.

this saga, of course, is about hope and redemption, alluded to in both fury road and the prequel. in fury road, max says (I think in his opening monologue) how he was once strived to be a 'righteous warrior', who could do good and help others. later, when one of the wives finds the warboy nux, he's distraught bc he thinks his chances for greatness are gone, but then she tells him that maybe, he's destined for something greater - and that would be, of course, later sacrificing himself to save her and the rest by crashing the rig into the war party. in furiosa, jack says how his parents were valiant warriors, and how he hopes one day, he could be the same - also, later, fulfilling that by sacrificing himself so that furiosa might escape dementus and the destroyed gastown. it's just such an amazing string of parallels - all three men, looking to do something great, and then, through furiosa, they're given that chance and achieve something good even amongst the destruction!! but it's only bc of furiosa, this harbinger of hope, that they do so - she's the tie between them all, the embodiment of that goodness!!! it's! just! so! good!!!

honestly there's probably way more parallels out there I'm sure ppl will bring up, but those were the things that struck me. now, onto my actual thoughts on the prequel.

--I'll start by saying I was unbelievably excited to see this movie. I'm annoyed though, bc despite knowing about it and wanting to see it once it was released, I literally only learned it was coming out a week before the release date. straight up, the press for it was so poor, not once did I hear about it before the trailer randomly crossed my feed one day - and considering how popular fury road is, I find that bizarre (but, I'll bet you a good couple bucks, that the press/hype was deliberately poor bc of the movie company execs, due to this being a female lead film 😠) - but it did mean I didn't have to wait too long, and that I did watch the trailer about 13 times on my own accord until then..

--having read the reviews, I do agree, it is a bit slower then fury road - but, that's really only bc it's a character story instead. fury road takes places in the current time of the film and the actions that follow, whereas the prequel is specifically about furiosa, so it's honed less to the action and more about a certain character, in my opinion. but it's just as good for a character story! it does an excellent job of unfolding furiosa's journey, and really, if you're gunna compare everything in the franchise to fury road, it's never gunna live up. that said, there's still excellent action and real nail-biting moments.

--I will say though, that I found it almost...darker, then fury road? fury road is definitely intense and there's of course violence, but it never openly tips into anything past pg-13; the darkness that is there, is more or less touched upon by the narrative (like, we can get a sense of what must've happened to the wives (ie assault) and why they escaped once we see how immortan joe regards them as property, the suffering furiosa must've went through by the pure vitriol look she gives him when their cars are side-by-side and later, 'remember me?' before killing him (my favourite scene)). but it's never explicit - furiosa is. from the torture of her mother, to that scene right after the max cameo when he drops furiosa off at the citedel's underground where I literally had to cover my eyes and ask my friend to say when it was done..there's an overtone of darkness that gives to the tragedy of furiosa, this child molded from pain (not to mention, again, that scene of ricktus and her as a child which to me, was the most nerve-wracking moment). fury road gives you a glimpse, but furiosa doesn't hold back.

--chris hemsworth, meanwhile, made an excellent villain. not just as an actor, but dementus as a character was fantastic. he's got lots of great lines and brings in a lot of humor - he's both deranged and erratic, while also clever and simultaneously childish, and mostly, cruel. he's wonderfully dynamic. bringing in a backstory of losing his wife/child was a great added piece to his story (I love a good backstory), and the way he takes the loss of his kid and tried to mold it around furiosa, tries to fill that empty piece inside, was a great choice in terms of their dynamic. it made him more then just a mad-man who stole a child for yuks - he had a deeper desire to tote furiosa around, almost as a security blanket in the same way the teddy bear also acts as one. his final monologue was great - the ramblings of a hateful man, but it was, in the end, what got furiosa to see past vengeance, and become better - to choose hope, and not destruction.

--anya taylor-joy did a great job I thought - while I wish furiosa had more lines, she made up for it in just the facial expressions and how full they were, really giving us a glimpse of what furiosa was feeling. even still, it would've been nice to have known what was going on in her head, or even hear her talk about her past - the green place, and then dementus, are the pure driving force of her character, yet she doesn't ever mention or grapple with her grief around these things, simply stays silent (except for the final confrontation with dementus). I would've loved maybe, if she had confided in jack, or maybe even one of the wives, to give more depth to her feelings.

--I also wish furiosa could've bonded with someone else besides jack, or at least before him. it would've been nice for to have had at least one ally, or, I dunno, a friend? like that war boy who had dwarfism - she seemed almost sad, when realizing after the battle that he was dead. instead, she's alone, but a fellow misfit friend could've been nice.

--speaking of jack, loved him! thought he was great! it's unfortunate his part was so short, would've loved delve into his background (also, I'm as gay as they come, but he's like..an objectively Good Looking Man, so well done all around).

--I was really nervous, for how they were gunna do the romance. I was against it initially, bc the great thing about fury road, was that romance was not at all forced into the narrative - you can read that between max & furiosa if you want, but for one of the very, very few times when a woman and man team up, romance wasn't forcefully wedged in, and instead they could be respected allies. so I was skeptical - and then I totally fell for them. they were so sweet! the two actors had great chemistry - their bond was just so soft. the way, after they crash and are caught by dementus, furiosa, who can barely stand, gently leans herself into jack's shoulder, sweetly muttering to each other as he leans his forehead back against hers, like 😩😩 it was so lovely, and so tragic. you could really feel the respect and care they had for each other; it was so organic, bc jack genuinely wanted to help furiosa. he respected her and asked nothing of her - he was a purely good man, and through that, furiosa was able to open up to him and trust him. it's the great curse of the mad max universe though - no romance can escape it's claws, same with how nux and one of the wives were torn apart. in my heart of hearts though, there lives a little AU fic where dementus doesn't catch them, and they make their way back to the green place and live happily ever after with a kid perhaps, and maybe, furiosa and him go back to later rescue the wives (they say, like they're not thinking of already writing that very fic...).

--one more thing about furiosa I wanted to mention, if I can call back to earlier saying how she becomes a beacon of hope for the various men that enter her life (and the women too, when you think of the wives..) - that, despite all this horror handed to her, at the very end of the rope, she gives into her hero's heart. time over, we see, even as the destruction of the wasteland chips away at her, furiosa can never quite betray her heart. she runs back to her mother even after being pushed to leave, she goes back for jack despite having the perfect escape to finally make it back home, and in the end, takes all her hurt and anger wrapped up in dementus, and turns it and him into something that can bring good into the world. it's about choosing good, above all!! a hero's heart, even in the darkest of worlds!!!

--the trailer really emphases the green place, but we only see it for like...a couple minutes? I was looking forward to more lore about it, maybe seeing some of it's inhabitants like the mothers. but furiosa is taken immediately and then her mother starts her hunt after her, and that's it. kinda a bummer.

--there's a couple inconsistencies here and there - like, when furiosa is first brought to where the wives are kept, there's gotta be about 20 women in there, roughly. but then, as she becomes a young adult, we see at the very end her approach the 5 wives from fury road (I was expecting a call-back, so loved that) and it looks like there's only them there - what happened to the rest of the women??? did they all die in childbirth?? also, when furiosa runs away and hides herself as a warboy/mechanic, how did no one know she was gone?? it seems odd, since immortan joe specifically picked her out and probably has a mental line-up of all his 'treasures', you'd think he'd notice. or how, later on, the new 'imperior' with jack looks oddly similar to that young girl ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

--also, I wanna know how furiosa got away with being the only female imperior - you'd think immortan joe might snag her away instead to be a wife bc she's young and viable, or that she'd be either dismissed or preyed upon by his sons/the other men. maybe because she was partnered with jack it was easier, but that was kinda confusing.

--final thing, bc this post is already too long - my last gripe is mainly about furiosa's dynamic with immortan joe. in furiosa, her revenge is purely motivated towards dementus, but then, switching to fury road, she now holds contempt and anger towards the warlord. part of what I wanted to see in the film, was her past with immortan joe; we didn't know initially how furiosa got to the citadel, but my interpretation, was always that possibly (because she was branded with the logo on her neck) she was brought on as a wife, inevitably abused by him, and then something happened where she was no longer useful as a wife (maybe an accident that cost her her arm) but was still useful as a tool. but, immortan joe isn't really looked at in the prequel; he's here and there, but doesn't show any particular cruelty or act towards furiosa that I was expecting. that vitriol she shows in fury road, and of course, 'remember me?', makes you think there was something there to fuel furiosa's revenge. instead, nothing really occurs between them - of course, furiosa is brought on to breed him children and then is expected to do his every bidding in getting supplies, so, I think we're supposte to assume that she has seen how cruel he is up close, and so acts against him. still, I was expecting something deeper there.

all in all, I loved it and had a great time. fury road will always be one of my favourites, but this is a great addition. fury road is great on all fronts; a fascinating world, great characters, amazing action, a well-made and clearly cared for story, but the thing I love most - is that it's about hope. it's about choosing, every day, despite the horrors around you, to get up and hope for something better. to do something better, even at your own cost. it's about hope and what we mean to each other when we extend it. and I just love that so much

go see furiosa! support it! it's a great time!