#just say you're shallow and don't understand the point of the movie

[fromdusks]

just saw the most insane wrong take on lake mungo I've ever seen in my entire life

[eldritch-spouse]

I want Breg to grind his slit against mine 😔

The pressure would force his cocks to stay inside, but it would bulge enough to add some bumpy pleasure 🥴

[This is more of a struggle session than actual sex. Fem reader.]

TW: Unhygienic(?)

You wouldn't exactly say you're a sadist, but it's funny to watch the way Breg reacts to certain punishments.

Because even if this monster supposedly endured a past that centered mostly around the act of mating, it seems he's still far behind most others in terms of creative perversion.

Evidenced by moments such as these, if the way he's nearly visibly fuming trying to understand what you meant is anything to go by.

" You want me to keep them inside? " Breg tilts his head.

" Yep. " You confirm for the third time.

" But that way I can't make love to you, angel! "

" That's the whole point, Breg. "

He frowns, then pauses.

" Can I eat you out? "

" No. "

" C- Can you suck my slit? "

" Nope. "

With every rejection, he deflates a bit more.

The breeder glances at his tail, synapses connecting to form the dubious figment of a terrible idea.

" Can I- "

" No. " You emphasize, giving him a stern look.

The terms have been laid out clearly. After his latest impulsive stunt, which has earned you yet another ban from one of your favorite stores, you've decided Breg won't be fucking you for a while. This means he cannot penetrate you in any way, in any orifice, with any part of himself. And you're not touching his dicks at any capacity.

This leaves Breg with only one ridiculous option, relying on his slit for a mockery of stimulation...

You know it's a bit cruel to take a hypersexual monster's relief away so radically, but these kinds of punishments are usually the ones that stick the most with Breg and reap better results in the long-run. This is a necessary evil if you are to succeed in your seemingly impossible task of adapting this fool of a monster to modern society.

" You're so mean to me sometimes. "

The audacity to call you mean after the scene he made almost makes a blood vessel pop in your forehead.

" You can always wait it out. " As if.

You had a movie lined up to watch together if he miraculously agreed.

" But I don't want to... "

You shrug at the breeder. Then he ought to sort himself out, as far as you care.

Breg whines some more, hoping against all odds that you'd have a change of heart and allow the sweaty, horny monster looming over you to have his way. No such luck.

Sagging in defeat, Breg palms over his pelvis, tracing his own slit but not teasing it directly. Just enough to make himself shudder and huff. His unseen eyes are fixed on you while he paws at himself like some pathetic creature, you can only imagine half the scenes that must be unfolding in that fried brain and causing his hips to shift forward occasionally.

Frankly, for as much as he complains, Breg would be able to get off just fine if you told him he could only look at you. He's just that easy.

When Breg dips to shamelessly huff at your neck and chest, you lean your head to take a look at the situation below, finding the breeder already soaking the couch with the precum dripping off his slit, two fingers hastily stuffed in there, no doubt trying to stimulate the tips of his cocks.

He's a smart-enough guy, he knows this is the only way he can directly stimulate them. One miscalculation and they'll slip out, immediately ruining his chance to get off around you.

That doesn't make it any less of a pitiful, almost comedic act to see. The puffs of his hot breath around your neck cast goosebumps across your skin as it becomes humid, Breg breathes shallower in an attempt to get as much of your scent as he can, speed his own motions to keep up a semblance of stimulus. The monster groans something against your skin, his dominant arm straining with effort and fast, slick sounds ringing across the room. If the way his tail thrashes is any indication, this isn't really doing it for him, but he's trying.

And that matters.

" Good boy. " You encourage him, a small hand holding his head closer to you.

Although he gasps and moans in delight at your praise, Breg's irritation only grows. " 'S not enough... " He huffs.

" Yeah it is, you can get there. " You're fairly certain Breg could get off by just moving his hips against air.

" Noo- " His fingers' motions slow rapidly. " I need more, need to mate you- "

" Nope. "

" Angel please-! "

" No. "

Breg takes his hands off his pouch and buries his head on your chest, swaying in the discomfort of his own arousal.

" Please please please please please- "

Gods if his begging never fails to make the temperature in a room rise some degrees... But you can't be that weak willed with a monster like Breg, it just doesn't work.

" Not happening. And if you keep complaining then I'll just leave. "

" No- " His claws nearly sink onto your sides from the quick hold he established at those words. " No please, I'm sorry. "

You roll your eyes. " Apology accepted. "

Again, a few seconds pass as the breeder thinks of what he can do to make things work. You let him have all the time in the world to come up with an idea, because you would also struggle in his place. There are moments where Breg looks as if he wants to give up, but his determination to satisfy his desires has always been stronger. At some point, he settles on what to do, and the first move is to start tugging at your comfy bottoms.

" What are you doing? " It's more genuine curiosity than anything. You told him he couldn't eat you out, after all.

" Don't worry about it, angel. "

All you do is squint and watch as Breg quickly removes your clothes and dips between your legs. Although aware that he can't sample you, he decides that there's no issue if he flattens his tongue against your panties. Breg hums, disappointed that there's little taste but that of cotton, no matter how hard he presses against the folds of your clothed cunt.

His teeth catch onto the fabric while he begins to pull it down, removing the garment, another flash of pain on his face at knowing that he can't dive for the gold.

Once your panties are out of the way, you get to watch the monster think about how he's going to do this.

He tries to slot himself between your legs the way he normally would, pressing himself as close to you as possible. The results... Weren't that great. Breg tries and tries to readjust, but he's not getting the needed friction every time he awkwardly humps.

With a muffled curse, he pulls back and starts brainstorming again, moving parts of you from side to side, impatient. You roll your eyes throughout it, eventually ending up with one leg spread the other pushed up- Not the most comfortable.

Breg shifts then, twisting himself to fit the way he wants, like some kind of puzzle piece. More importantly, you now get what he was trying to do all this time, achieve friction from his slit directly to your pussy. Brow rising, you actually wonder if this will work for him.

Little did you expect that it would work for you too...

By sheer virtue of his frustration, the force Breg uses to grind his slit against your entrance applies enough pressure that it feels as though your clitoris is being squished and rolled around just right, making a shiver crawl up your spine at the sudden stimulus. Every muscle in his body tenses with his effort to find the perfect angle, the perfect rhythm, leading to some very frantic humping in-between harsh grinding rolls.

You didn't really expect to get invested in this. It's just a punishment, after all. But the breeder's misery proves to be a reliable and effortless source of consistent pleasure, enough that you're getting wet and biting your bottom lip, encouraging him with a few of your own motions to aid his pace. As wet as you may be, Breg manages to be wetter, soaking your cunt with his precum that allows for a steady sort of slide against each other.

Your excitement seems to be the missing trick, for as soon as Breg senses it, you can feel the way his cocks angrily push at a barrier they're not allowed to break, causing his slit to bump out humorously- But deliciously so.

Breg sweats and pants as if enduring a great workout, unsubtly drooling out the side of his mouth, grit-teeth betraying a pathetic fight for a climax that might not come at all. Eventually, his complexion starts twisting in a shocked and confused expression.

" What's... What's wrong? " You'd been clutching one of the cushions by now, hoping this would either make you climax or just feel good for a while longer.

" It feels- Feels weird. " The monster groans. " Keeping them in for so long... I- Hnng- "

You can only imagine what it must be like. It occurs to you that maybe, just maybe, his cocks swelled enough with desperation that they might be stuck in his body, squeezing against each other, unable to move. If it were painful, Breg would have gotten scared and stopped most likely, so you assume he's just crumbling under way too much pressure on his lengths.

" Ah, they're stuck? " You tease.

He halts entirely. " N-... No. "

You've said this a couple of times, and you'll say it again, one of Breg's few redeeming qualities is that he's a terrible liar.

" Then, I guess you can pull them out. "

" Huh?! " Had there not been that layer of skin in front of his eyes, they would have popped out his sockets. " Really? You mean it?! "

" Of course. " There's a limit to your blatant sadism. Or maybe not, because you know damn well he's not going to be able to push them out under this much arousal.

Breg immediately pulls back from you, holding still as he tries, rather humorously, to relax enough that, miraculously, his cocks protrude.

It's not happening. The monster huffs and whines, getting upset at himself as he even resorts to reaching in with a digit. No results.

Mildly amused, you push him further back, so that you can sit on the couch while he stands, nearly at face level with his poor, puffed slit. Small hands cling to his thighs as you rest your chin on his skin and glance up.

" Come on, Breg. I'm waiting... Don't you want me to play with them? " Your tongue hangs out, taunting and soft and warm.

If he wasn't desperate before, he sure is now, tail swishing near violently as he realizes his predicament. Helpless, the only thing Breg can do is thrill himself with the view of you so very eager to suck him off, and nudge his wet slit against your face. White claws reach down to grab locks of your hair and play with them, stroking over the sides of your cheeks and bringing you closer, as if that would fix the situation.

Ultimately, the only solution would be for him to calm down, because only with less arousal would his members deflate and his slit stop tensing enough for it to work out. But Breg has put too much work into this exercise to let it go to waste, so he's reluctant to back down.

In the end, all the breeder does is groan, almost on the verge of crying, while he attempts to get you to touch him at any capacity. Gentle hands palp the overheated and swollen skin.

" Please just- " He huffs, the denial and frustration melting into a desperate discomfort that has him rolling his head back. " I just need to cum, Angel please. "

Gave up, did he? Adorable.

Breaking the rule set earlier, you dip to kiss Breg's leaking slit, a short tongue ravishing it from top to bottom. Even when you try to squeeze it in and directly lick his throbbing cocks, they're so tightly packed together that you can hardly flirt with either. It doesn't stop you from trying.

On his end, the breeder seems grateful at last, taking this as the opportunity it is by rapidly grabbing both sides of your head and clumsily, feverishly, trying to roll his need against you. Again, he achieves a gross sort of hump against your beautiful face, even the protrusion of your nose serving to stimulate him further as he all but nearly rubs himself all over you.

With your ears covered by pale, wide palms and constant mouthfuls of overheated flesh coated in the tang of precum, you fail to pick up on the increasing volume of Breg's cries, the way they become monstrous and shameless in his finally approaching peak.

In the end, the only tell you have is the rapid twitching of his slit, the way his legs tense and the shifting of his buried cocks, before he bursts.

Maybe oozing is the appropriate word here, you'd say, because the only way Breg's seed can escape him at all is through thick globs pooling at the edge of his pouch and being subsequently pushed out by the remaining shots of his pent up load, dripping warmly to coat his hips and ass.

" A- Ahhn- "

Breg lets go of your head to whine and gasp, hisses making it through the gaps between his teeth, the sensation apparently being foreign and intense to him. He still moves his hips, perhaps hoping that he can grind it out of him faster, or maybe that's just his way of riding out the orgasm without being able to stroke himself.

It shouldn't be turning you on so much to watch the monster struggle, his overstimulation rising as trapped members are forced to keep in contact with his own hot cum, still sticking and dripping off him in a depraved show. Breg shudders, his tail wrapping around your leg for a semblance of comfort while you pet his cheek, greedily watching.

Only after a decent pause of trying to ride it down does the pressure deflate enough to give him some actual relief. The breeder growls in genuine pain when his sore slit is stretched enough, finally allowing two blue, half-hard cocks to pop out, coated in a sheen of his own seed and still pulsing from what you imagine must have been an peculiar climax.

" See? You did just fine. " Praising the horn dog after successful training is key. His shaky smile is all the confirmation you need.

It's a bit hard to resist torturing him a bit more, you think as you sink to your knees in front of the mess he made.

" Now, sit still so I can help clean up. "

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Fiyero and Boq (Wicked)

I'm not really a die-hard Wicked fan, but here goes. This is for the musical only, since I haven't read the novel.

Warning: spoilers below.

Fiyero

Favorite thing about them: That despite seeming like a silly playboy at first, he proves to be a kindred sprit to Elphaba, who loves and respects her as she is, who tries to help and defend her when no one else in Oz is willing to do so, and who ultimately sacrifices everything for her, even (nearly) his life.

Least favorite thing about them: That he leads Glinda on by not breaking up with her even as he starts to fall for Elphaba, and then goes along with their engagement even though he doesn't want to marry her. He should have ended things between them long before it reached that point.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I can be snarky.

*I dislike fakeness and selling out.

*I can seem like just a fun-lover, but really I think and feel deeply.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm female.

*I'm not royalty.

*I was never a partying troublemaker in college.

Favorite line: His joke when Elphaba tells him she realizes he's not as shallow and self-absorbed as he seems:

"Excuse me, there's no pretense here: I happen to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow."

And these lines from his dialogue with Glinda at the beginning of Act II, where he calls her out on her tragic flaw of choosing fame and popularity over everything else:

"You can't leave because you can't resist this. And that is the truth."

And when she objects that no one could resist it: "You know who could. Who has."

brOTP: His horse Feldspur in the movie, and probably Boq, especially if we keep the Scarecrow and Tin Man's friendship in mind. Not to mention Dorothy, even though their interactions are kept offstage.

OTP: Elphaba.

nOTP: Glinda.

Random headcanon: Hmmm... In the movie, he really did eat grass as a child. He's not just joking when he says he did.

Unpopular opinion: I like him better than Glinda as a romantic partner for Elphaba. Of course I understand that Elphaba and Glinda's bond is more central and more fleshed out, I see the appeal of Gelphie as a ship, and I know how much Gelphie means to countless fans. But personally? Without denying Glinda's importance to Elphaba, I prefer Fiyero as her love interest. He embraces her values and comes through for her in a way that Glinda only does at the very end, and no attempts I've read by Gelphie shippers to dismiss that fact ring true for me. As a couple, Fiyeraba reminds me in many ways of Esmeralda and Phoebus in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame (these Stephen Schwartz musicals have recurring themes!), and I don't see many fans putting down that pairing, even though they're a bit underdeveloped too, and even though Esmeralda's friendship with Quasimodo is more central to the plot. On the contrary, the fans hold up their love as the main example of healthy love in that story! Besides, if we don't think Elphaba really loves Fiyero, then "No Good Deed" loses its power. If he's just "comphet" to her, why should his apparent death break her so much that she resolves to really be wicked and kidnaps Dorothy? And the reveal that he's still alive is what snaps her out of her breakdown and lets her reconcile with Glinda in the end. I have nothing against shipping Gelphie, but I can't dismiss Fiyeraba as just "boring comphet" the way most of the fandom seems to do.

Song I associate with them: "Dancing Through Life"

"As Long as You're Mine"

Favorite picture of them:

Norbert Leo Butz

Aaron Tveit

Andy Karl

Derrick Williams with Stephanie J. Block (more actors of color should play the role)

Adam Garcia with Idina Menzel

Jonathan Bailey in the movie

Boq

Favorite thing about them: Well, when we first meet him at least, he's a sweet, adorkable character, and if the Tin Man we know from The Wizard of Oz is a mostly accurate portrait of how he behaves on his journey with Dorothy, he never really loses those qualities.

Least favorite thing about them: First that he leads Nessarose on (a recurring flaw among the young men in this story, it seems) and lies about why he asked her out, even if his reason is to avoid hurting her. And later, of course, that he becomes such a bloodthirsty witch hunter, out to kill Elphaba for turning him into tin even though she saved his life by doing so.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I can be socially awkward.

*I'm not always good at standing up for myself.

*Sometimes I want to blame people for doing things that made me uncomfortable, when really those things were good for me.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm female.

*I've never had any romantic entanglements with witches.

*I've never been turned into tin.

Favorite line: His verse in "March of the Witch Hunters," even though it's his darkest moment:

And this is more than just a service to the Wizard I have a personal score to settle with El... With The Witch!

It's due to her I'm made of tin Her spell made this occur So for once, I'm glad I'm heartless I'll be heartless killing her!

And the Lion also has a grievance to repay If she'd let him fight his own battles When he was young He wouldn't be a coward, today!

brOTP: In the Shiz days before things go bad, Fiyero, Nessarose, Elphaba and Glinda (especially in the deleted scene from the movie that shows them all hanging out together). And after he becomes the Tin Man, Dorothy.

OTP: None.

nOTP: Nessarose or Glinda.

Random headcanon: When he sees Elphaba "melt," he'll be unexpectedly horrified; he'll find himself remembering their days at Shiz and the girl she once was, and realize that seeing her die horribly doesn't feel as good as he thought it would. (I'm basing this on the Tin Man's close-to-tears face after the Witch melts in the 1939 Wizard of Oz: we'll see if Wicked: For Good has Ethan Slater react in a similar way or not.)

Unpopular opinion: Even though he's far from blameless, nothing justifies Nessarose stripping him and all the other Munchkins of their rights and forcing him to stay with her, then trying to magically brainwash him into loving her. He may deserve some karma for lying about his feelings for her, but he doesn't deserve all that.

Song I associate with them:

His part in "Dancing Through Life"

"March of the Witch Hunters"

Favorite picture of them:

Christopher Fitzgerald

Riley Costello

Ethan Slater in the movie

[thethiefandtheairbender]

Hello! If you don’t mind, I wanted to ask you..how do you know if a story is worthy of analysis? I feel I don’t have an intuition for what a Good story looks like since I haven’t seen too many (and I tend to not like the ones I do see???), and when I try to analyze my (bad) favorite shows, I feel like I’m gaslighting myself into thinking it’s deep. Lmao. Is there even a point in trying to analyze if you don’t have good taste? I hope you have a good weekend!

Quick note: there's not really such a thing as 'good taste' or 'bad taste'. Classics are usually not classics, after all, because of a bar of quality that they pass (though many of them are very very good) but because they were very influential of literature that came after (Jane Eyre inventing the coming-of-age genre for female main characters), very popular, or a great look at how people were thinking and feeling at the time they were written (The Great Gatsby, More's Utopia).

What's more useful framing, might be "this story worked for me on Various factors" vs "I only like a few things from this story and am discontented with the rest of it". Both can be useful to analyze in their own way. I will say, however, that if you focus on reading/watching/engaging with things where you enjoy more of the story than you don't, you will have a better time and probably end up learning more, especially if you're trying to build up analysis skills to start with, because it is easier to analyze something fairly when you enjoy it than it is with something you don't enjoy and you haven't built those analytical skills in advance. (More here on some of the analytical skills that are useful to employ that also provides good questions to start with when it comes to analysis.)

That said, the good news is that any story is worthy of analysis!

Every story has different strengths and weaknesses, and they're all worth examining. Whether a story is 'shallow' or 'deep' can differ depending on what you're looking for; some stories are light on plot but go deep on character work, for example. Different stories/shows also have different aims and requirements to succeed within their genres. For example, a sitcom doesn't need to have strong worldbuilding, but a great understanding of their cast's chemistry and how to pace the storylines they do have. Alternatively, while not every fantasy property needs to have a lot of lore to be 'Good,' if a fantasy series breaks their lore, chances are it's not going to be a very good fantasy series.

This also goes into looking at stories you think are bad but enjoy anyway. Clearly something is keeping you there (probably the characters) so what is it about that aspect you think the show did well, at least once upon a time? Even if you think they're bungling their execution of the characters, that probably means the show did a good job at crafting characters that were compelling on a premise basis, even if they're not living up to it.

I also think a good indicator of quality—at least what I find in the stories I enjoy, and why only 2 stories in my life have Disappointed me (the Star Wars sequel trilogy after the first movie, and Voltron: Legendary Defender after s3 and I cut ties after s6 / knew s7 and s8 wouldn't be to my taste)—is asking yourself "Is it evident that they have a clear end goal in mind while writing?"

This can be a clear end goal for getting a character from Point A to Point Z, or a conflict, or a theme. For example, Avatar: The Last Airbender makes it very clear from its title and initial episodes (Aang being both "the boy (child) in the iceberg" from ep1 and "the avatar returns" from ep2 followed by "the southern air temple" as his birthplace) that his main journey is about reconciling these three identity factors — being a child; being the Avatar; being the last airbender — is his main arc. This is evident even without looking too much even from the episode plot themselves or the dialogue, though they help push it further and develop it, of course. Therefore, the last episode of the series being "Avatar Aang" and the central conflict being his identity is unsurprising, and shows that this core goal was built throughout and then to fruition. This is also why defeating the Firelord was always going to have to be a non-violent (pacifist) solution; not because Aang is 12 and doesn't want to kill anyone, but because to do so would be to revoke his Air Nomad values and retroactively make Ozai/the Fire Nation correct that his people/culture was not 'strong enough' to exist in the world he finds himself in. This does not mean that the reconciliation of his identity / how this idea was developed or finished has to be to your personal taste, but it IS objective that there's a consistent arc and ideas being put forth.

This can also be something in plot and worldbuilding/lore. For example The Dragon Prince made it very clear two seasons in that 1) humans not having magic was unfair and the story was conscious of it ("the blindfold gives us a way to test the system to imagine we have not been born yet [...] that a fair system should be fair no matter the accident of my birth, that the laws and opportunities should stand to empower everyone") and 2) this unfair magic system would be fixed (main character proves humans can connect to primal natural magic after all). Therefore, 4+ seasons later when we finally started to get into the weeds of having characters In The Narrative who decided that humans couldn't have magic, and that these characters also suck absolute ass, like... Yeah, because this system was always unfair, and dismantling it Eventually was always going to be a Thing. Clear plot and worldbuilding goals from the start being steadily taken to fruition.

Good stories are not necessarily dense and complex, either. I know for me I tend to lean towards stories that have lots of motifs/symbols and are very thematic, because looking for that 'deeper' meaning is fun for my brain. I also find they help create richer, more engaging characters and plotlines. However, I also enjoy stories that have only 1-2 themes and very few symbols because they have other things that are still very good, like plot or character bonds.

The reason why it's helpful to feel and/or tell that a story has a Clear Vision (an end goal or multiple goals) in mind is because the two pillars of analysis (at least how I've always engaged it and how my professors encouraged me to) was two main things:

You examine every part of the story to see how it works together.

You examine every part of the story to see how it works together in good faith.

And that is easier to do so when you can look at, or make assumptions, that every part of the story is working together towards a holistic, cohesive ending. Sometimes this means leaving your personal hang ups or biases or feelings at the door. You may not like a ship, for example, but chances are there are still thematic and/or plot reasons as to why they're being put together. It is easier to argue in good faith when you like something (aka something works for you) which is why I recommend starting there. Doing so when something doesn't work for you, especially on a first pass, is important in creating an expansive viewpoint and stepping outside of your personal bubble.

For ex, like 10 years ago when Moana came out I felt like her conflict with her parents was a bit underdeveloped because she didn't 'push back against them "enough"'. I realized on my own that I was probably expecting a more Western (white) protagonist, rewatched the movie with a more collectivist mindset, and my previous complaint went away, because it was grounded in my (limited) cultural (dominant) context, not the movies (nor was I necessarily the audience in mind, anyway, which is also useful to keep in mind).

So, things worth analyzing in stories which can all be entirely separate (but often overlap):

How they utilize their protagonists and antagonists from a: characterization standpoint, from a foils standpoint, from a plot standpoint, from a thematic standpoint.

How does a story introduce ideas, such as: their characters, relationships, threats, conflicts, solutions, themes.

How does a story pace its: plot, character arcs, relationships, instalments (chapters, episodes, sequels, etc).

What are the repeating ideas in the story? Similar shots, turns of phrase, choices, etc? (Parallels/patterns is how characterization and growth / theme are built, so it's especially useful). Is the story drawing on other older tropes or ideas to subvert them?

All stories, even 'bad' ones, are worth looking at for how they do these things and which parts worked for you.

Ask why. Just always ask why. "This character made such a selfish choice" --> "This character made a selfish choice. Why do I think it's selfish? Do I think the character thinks it's selfish, or justified? Why? What could the narrative be saying about what/who/why people make selfish choices? Why would this character be selfish? Is this in line with their consistent behaviour? If not, why do I think that? Am I overlooking something?"

For example, in the movie adaptation of Wicked which was quite good, Glinda was portrayed exactly as I like to be portrayed: she's allowed to be more cunning and mean and artificial rather than playing up her 'ditziness'. However, while I generally prefer my Elphabas to be a bit angrier/meaner/sharper, I really appreciate that they didn't have her be that way when they cast a Black woman to play her. My preferences, depending on the context(s) of the adaptations, casting, staging, etc. do not rule all, and the film is not worse as an adaptation for not aligning with that specific preference of mine; on the contrary, I think it is undoubtedly better precisely because it doesn't align.

Now for the (hopefully shorter?) recommendations section because it seems like you tend to be dissatisfied with what you're watching and there's 100% stuff out there that'd suit your tastes better and/or be helpful to learn from even if they aren't:

The Dragon Prince (TDP) for its explorations of morality, its character work, its respect for all of its character emotional states, and how consistently it makes you watch all of its characters ("good" guys or "bad" guys) make choices that are bad or you know are gonna have disastrous consequences, but you also get 100% why they're making them every time. A 'good guy' protagonist uses a torture spell on someone when he absolutely did not have to. A 'villainous' character saves his sick child from dying. The show slaps. Also a very good example of thematic maturation, where the series starts off with a more simplistic view of love (love = good) for the first 3 seasons, only to then explore the darker underside (you will do terrible things in the name of love) consistently across the main cast.

Six of Crows for the way its multi-POV chapter style hammers home what you can do with gaps of information/perception between characters. How Inej or Matthias view Kaz, or vice versa for example, is radically different, and illustrates how as an author you have to hold/understand many differing viewpoints and motivations on your characters and their actions simultaneously. The YA fantasy duology also does a great job at showing how to craft characters who are very distinct from each other in personality and association, bolstered by the symbols/objects given to each of the main cast (Matthias is associated with wolves; Inej has her braid and two knives and ghost-imagery; Kaz has his gloves, his crows, his canes, etc).

Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) for its cultural worldbuilding and natural worldbuilding integration. The former is due to its pacing and its biggest main theme as a series being "cultural preservation in the face of imperialism is important," with the latter due to its strong character work (Sokka's sarcasm often provides a basis for Aang or Katara to correct him or explain things in greater detail in Book One, for example).

Sidenote: This is also a great example where understanding how a story is operating vs personal preference be useful. For ex, my brother preferred Dragon Prince to ATLA because ATLA was slower paced and he liked stuff that was faster, and TDP focuses on historical/lore worldbuilding whereas ATLA focuses on cultural worldbuilding partially due to being paced slower / having more room within its seasons, but the trade off is that TDP has more character development and is more thematically tight, which is my preference.

Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters for its utilization of a very strong roster of multiple villains / antagonists going at all times, and subsequently for its plot pacing as a result. Many shows have what I call a 'crowning achievement'—the thing this show does very well amid other things it does well—and I think this is undeniably Trollhunters' greatest strength. I'm not usually much of an antagonist person (I tend to be most invested in the protags) but I think Trollhunters' willingness to subvert pacing expectations and keep a general sense of uneasiness adds to the fun of the show, i.e. 2 villains want the same thing so one teams up with the hero, etc.

Crazy Ex Girlfriend (musical comedy drama tv show) because it's a great example of a deconstruction narrative and an unreliable narrator as a protagonist. Basically S2 onwards goes "remember all those sit/rom-com trope things you laughed at in S1 that we made light of? yeah they're all unhealthy and here's why" while still remaining a comedy. The show also deconstructs common tropes and expectations around love / female archetypes as well as the title itself in thoughtful discussions on mental illness without ever being preachy.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous for writing interpersonal character conflict / dynamics without ever feeling contrived. This is probably one of the 'simpler' shows on the list (there's a few framing parallels, 1-2 verbal motifs, meanwhile like every other line or shot in TDP winds up having deeper meaning, especially on rewatches) but what it does well, it does very well. The main 6 kids who are left stranded on the island are very well written, the show provides ample space for everyone to be developed and balances storylines / character beats, it lets you see how trauma is affecting them without always spelling it out, and the dialogue always sounds like stuff real people would say or reason through without feeling like the characters sound too young or too old or anything like that.

TLDR; you like what you like, even if that's just parts of a story, and you have good reasons for liking it. Examining what you don't like and why can also be useful. Separating stories or parts of them into "this is bad vs this is good" can be a useful jumping off point, but in order to analyze having specific reasons for each one while considering why the story made the choices it did (in good faith) is a strong foundation.

Sorry this is long, but hope it helps! Most of my recs are all completed series, on Netflix, or easy to find online if you do choose to look into any of them <3

[lakesparkles]

hai me again! I hope you don't mind me adding on, I'd understand if you choose not to respond, just wanted to give my thoughts-

I first want to say that I relate to the emotional overwhelm of such situations. I'm very sensitive, especially when it feels as if I've been hurtful :( I just recently I got an ask that condescendingly said I was being insensitive about some fandom things (they misunderstood my point so I clarified and it was okay) but I felt that same feeling of rejection. it's like guilt and embarrassment and makes you feel like everyone is mad at you, lol... it always takes me a few days of recovery to feel comfortable posting again

secondly, I want to say that I agree with all your points. I don't know anything about mouthwashing, but it sounds like other people are making their shallow interpretation of it your problem. opening a discussion, as you did, is not an invitation to be harassed or accused of terrible things. you didn't deserve that!

saying that evil/abusive characters can have good qualities, do good things, or be nice, is not at all excusing (or God, forbid, endorsing) their evil/abusive actions. it's actually a grounded and realistic opinion to have. the idea that all abusers are just evil monsters isn't true. in my experience, one of the most dangerous things about abusers is that they can be nice, normal, even good people. anyone is capable of abuse, even good people. even normal people. if you talk to any abuse victim about their abusers, they will say things like, "yes, they were terrible, but they were good sometimes, too, and that's what made it so hard to hate/leave them"

I have watched bojack horseman. bojack is an excellent example of a realistic abuser (if you don't mind me calling him that). because he is written to have good moments, and to have deep and complex feelings, and to be sympathetic, sometimes, too! the things he does to others I would still call abusive, but because he is so complex and multifaceted, people sympathize with him more. he's a very interesting character and, imo, the comparison between him and jimmy is justifiable (from what I know)

(sorry a lot of this is nonsense. tldr, I think you're right, and other people just have poor literacy skills)

salukes!

-🦊

Hello!!! As usual, you don't need to worry at all! I love reading your thoughts, you can always express your thoughts so well!

First things is that YES, this is exactly how it feels! :( I'm also very sensitive with negative opinions towards me. I'm aware this is something about myself that I need to change... But oh man, I wish I knew how to actually do it. I just can't, and not even therapy helped me a bit. I feel so guilty I convince myself everybody - including my friends and mutuals - will start hating me too... Part of me knows it's not true. Part of me knows that people should and will have criticism about my actions. But nothing of it makes this type of situation easier.

Thank you for thinking so, what I was hoping was that I would be able to listen to other people's opinion about both characters, which is a very interesting topic to me. I like to see how bad people are represented on games/shows/movies, even more when Bojack and Jimmy have such different character arcs and are both the protagonists.

And I do think that admitting that abusers can be good people sometimes is a truth most people don't want to admit. But, at the same time, it's something very important to talk about because the same happened to me! (Vent coming, sorry) When I decided to stop talking to my ex, I felt so guilty. Because she treated me in a terrible way but, at the same time, she had so many good moments. She was cool, funny and made me feel very comfortable. There are some conversations between us that I still remember clearly because she inspired me and changed my way to see everything.

But she was still terrible and she still hurt me in many ways, no matter what.

I also wish things were different, but they aren't.

And Bojack is such a good character to show this. I do believe he was abusive many times and being able to relate to him is what makes the show so painful to watch. The problem is that he's so much more complex than Jimmy that people forget how he traumatized many other characters. I think more people should read his crimes on the Villains Wiki to remember Bojack is not a good guy. But well

[meraki-yao]

Translation of a Bilibili Video Analysing the Paris Love Making Scene

HOLY SHIT THIS LITERALLY TOOK ME ALL DAMN DAY

Preface from me: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT MY ORIGINAL CONTENT! THIS IS JUST MY TRANSLATION OF THE FOLLOW VIDEO MADE BY 搭火箭都要追剧 A CHINESE RWRB FAN. I REPEAT, THE CONTENT IS NOT MINE, I'M JUST A TRANSLATOR (that being said I did a little bit of commentary, anything in brackets is my own thoughts)

All photos are unedited screenshots taken directly from the video

Preface from OP: The content of this video is very subjective and shallow, if it's different from your opinions, you're the right one (a Chinese saying which basically means "this is just my thoughts don't come at me") and it's most likely to be very different from any official BTS.

Didn't translate the first part because 1, I can't really translate it well due to cultural references 2, I... don't really agree with it, but did like 90% of the video

Also since it's about the Paris love-making scene, there's sexual content, you have been warned

For the moment when Alex slips his hand under Henry's shirt

When Alex slides his hand across Henry's naked waist, his fingertips, the most sensitive part of the hand is touching Henry's bare skin and stirring his desires, which is why Alex's body tenses: he clenches his jaw and takes a deep breath in.

In contrast, Henry is absorbed in the romance of it all. He's been in love with Alex the whole time and finally, the man of his dreams is here with him, touching him.

For the couple of shots where they stand naked with Henry touching Alex

1, Close Up Shot of Henry's hand gliding up Alex's arm

Henry told Alex that he's in good hands, therefore Henry's the one to lead this dance and set the atmosphere, so most of the light is on him, with the bright spot being shone on Henry's wrist which leads the audience to focus on that point

He starts with his fingertips running along Alex's vein, but the brightest spot doesn't follow the movement of his hand and stays focused on his wrist and the lower part of his thumb while the rest of his hand is in darker lighting. This is to strike a contrast and to put the focus on Henry's hand and therefore his movement. The reason only part of his hand is illuminated is because his entire hand is lit, the frame's lighting loses its balance and looks abnormal, and won't match the more subtle, softer tones of the romance in the movie

A highly saturated orange/golden light is chosen, which increases the feeling of content and ambiguity (I don't that sounds weird but it's the closest word I can think of, but a more accurate description… Imagine the use of steam in a shower sex scene) which also hints that this is going to be a lovely night

The use of light and the contrast of brightness on different parts also serve to convey Henry's emotions and internal thoughts. Even though their first night in Alex's room and their hook-up during the polo match were both really intense, but it was more about the surging, frantic sexual desire between the two. Now Henry doesn't actually know how Alex will react and is somewhat worried about it, which is represented by his fingers in darker lighting. But at the same time, Paris is the first time Henry can be so physically close with his long-time crush and be extremely honest/vulnerable with him, and later understand and feel each other on a spiritual level (… Woah.). He feels contentment from that, which is what the brighter area conveys.

In this single shot, the bright and dark areas are fairly equal, which also means these two emotions are in equal conflict at this moment

Then Henry's hand slides up towards Alex's shoulder and he switches to touching him with his fingertips, which, with its sensitivity, means Henry can feel any tiny change on Alex's skin. He feels Alex's excitement and comfort, which in turn makes him happy and bolder, which is also conveyed in the change of the light in the frame: the fingertips that were previously in dark lighting gradually shift into the brighter area, representing his worries fading

2, The following shot of Henry facing Alex's camera right, Alex's back against the audience, camera left

The light is still on Henry which means this shot is still conveying Henry's feelings

There's a clear contrast of light on his face which makes his face seem more 3D (again sorry for the weird translation but I can't find any other words) and attracts the audience's attention more.

The contrast is also represented in Henry's characterization. To explain this, we need to understand what a cognitive schema is: cognitive schema is a psychological concept which can be summarized as when a person is exposed to an object, event or person, they will use precious experience and knowledge to make a general judgment and description of them thus predicting their next actions. So in the case of Henry, at first since he's a prince, the audience and Alex, using their cognitive schema will assume he's prim and proper, when in reality he's horny (ha), flirtatious and adorable (so in conclusion, he's actually a babygirl)

Henry then lingers his hand on Alex, and glances at Alex with a flirtatious smile, enjoying Alex's shiver under his touch.

3, Shot of Alex facing audience camera left, Henry back against audience camera right

The light is now mostly on Henry's back, increasing the romantic atmosphere of the shot.

The light is also on Alex's torso and cheek forming a light contrast, which turns the audience's focus onto Alex. The larger dark area indicates he's being led by Henry in this situation, and he doesn't really know what Henry's gonna do, therefore his nervousness is the dominating emotion, represented by the dark area.

But he's also enjoying Henry's touches, which is why the light is still mostly on Henry but also partly on Alex now, almost like an extension of the contentment that Henry feels

The lamp that in-universe is providing the lighting is on the right side of the frame. If a similar light source isn't placed on the left side, the left side of the frame would seem too cold, which would destroy the atmosphere previously created. Therefore a mirror was placed there both for spatial balance and to create a reflection of the lamp's light, creating a small light spot on the left, balancing the coloring and lighting of the shot.

To the right of the mirror where the light can't cover is a small cupid statue. The statue not only adds to the romantic atmosphere but also indicates what's about to happen, as cupid symbolizes love and sex. Cupid is also a mischievous God who enjoys pranks, which also somewhat describe the boys' relationship: cupid shoots out the silver/lead arrow of aversion and revulsion that leads to their misunderstanding and subsequent hatred, but the shoots out the golden arrow of fall that led to them falling in love with each other and living together happily ever after.

Alex keeps watching Henry's hand as his hand slides down and looks back up when Henry touches his chest and takes a deep breath. Henry smiles brightly at Alex's reaction.

Alex then becomes intoxicated by Henry's touch as his sexual desires take over him

When Henry picks up the key that means a lot to Alex, Alex clenches his jaw. The highlight in his eyes allows the audience to immediately catch the change in his eyes that's filled up with lust.

So to conclude this part, a lot of attention was given to the placement of props and the lighting: the saturated golden creates a romantic but steamy/foggy (meraki seriously can't find the right word) setting, which is a filmmaking technique often used by Wong Kar Wai, in fact a similar lighting was used in "In the Mood for Love" (Matthew is a true fan)

For the shots of them kissing on the bed

There's a red mark on Henry's chest which OP explained in an earlier video that would have been caused by Alex grabbing there when thrusting forward

There's another possibility which is Alex getting excited when being behind Henry but he doesn't really know what to do so all he can do is grind against Henry. But Henry feels and sounds divine, and Alex gets impatient so he leaves marks on Henry's arm and chest

To prove her hypothesis op did an experiment with her own arm: she chose her arm because just like the part of Henry's chest that's marked, part of the muscle curves (into the elbow just as the chest muscle curves into the armpit) it's not a easy place for fingers to exert force, thus can draw a closer, more subjective comparison.

Experiment process: open uses her other hand to grab onto her arm and pull backwards forcefully, to 1, observe the shape of the mark and if it's identical to that of Henry's, 2, observe the time needed to create the mark in order to be the same as Henry's

As shown in the photo, the (faint) red marks are approximately the same shape, width and redness as the ones on Henry's chest. It took 28 seconds to reach this. This approximates the time taken by Alex to "do stuff" (I think she means prep?) from Henry's behind

With how loving and gentle Alex is with Henry it's not that likely that he started groping Henry's chest from the beginning, so the conclusion is when Alex was trying to "move forward" when he was behind Henry (I seriously don't know if she means prep or like, doggy style) but doesn't really know what to do and groped Henry in his nervousness, and this failed attempt lasted at least 28 seconds.

OP thinks the failed attempt was done in front of the window with Henry bending over, gripping the back of one of the chairs, and deduced from the DNC scene: the boys were originally chatting in bath robes on the couch with the curtain mostly closed, but when Zahra barged in, the blackout curtain was out, leaving just the mesh layer closed. There was a bathrobe on the far side of the couch and another in front of the window. So presumably after the talk, they went for another round, Henry ditched his robe on one side of the couch and pounced on Alex (similarly to how he did on Alex's couch), they tumbled around and switched position and ended up in front of the window, Alex remembered he failed attempt in Paris and wanted to make up for it so he pulled open the blackout curtain but left the mesh layer closed, and then he got to work. (...tbn personally I think this is a stretch?)

Henry thinks Alex is adorable but he's also really intoxicated and wants to get down to business asap, so he grabs Alex's neck and presses Alex towards him, kissing from Alex's lips to his neck. He kissed Alex's neck because from their first hook-up and the way Alex immediately stretched his neck to give Henry space when he kissed his neck then, that this is the quickest way to stimulate him. Which is why you can see a faint hickey on Alex's neck

As they kiss they walk towards the bed. During their first hook-up, Henry pushed Alex onto the couch, so now it's Alex's turn to pounce on Henry, which is what we see in the shot: Henry falls onto the bed first, then Alex follows. Alex is really happy and a bit proud that he can drive Henry crazy like this, while (and I quote directly) Henry can't think of anything anymore, and has "please hurry up and fuck me" painted on his face

The mark/hickey on Alex's neck takes the shape of an inverted triangle, with the vertical side and the diagonal side (left down right up, in math it's a positive slope) being more red, which means those two points experienced the largest amount of force

Red Mark on Henry's Chest

Screenshot from In the Mood for Love using a similar lighting

Red Mark Result from OP's experiment

Blackout Curtain Closed on DNC Night

Bathrobe (presumed to be Henry's) on the far side of the couch

Bathrobe (presumed to be Alex's) near the window, Blackout Curtain Open in the background

For the process, deduced with the shot of them laying in bed during the afterglow

The trajectory of sweat on Henry's temple runs downward vertically. If he was fucked lying down, the sweat should run into his ear canal horizontally. Which means he was fucked in a sitting position. For example in the polo match hookup, Henry's sweat is visible in the form of drops running vertically down his face. Also in the afterglow, the sweat also seems to be splattered, which required Henry to have vigorously moved either up and down or front and back. So yeah this further proves that there was a cut riding scene.

Alex also has sweat on his face, and his fringe is wet. So riding should have happened right before they lied down and started talking.

So the process deduced by OP is 1, they tried doggy style in front of the window and failed 2, what was shown in the movie 3, doggy style on the bed 4, riding (OP wasn't aware of the details of the extended Paris love-making scene, but all RWRB fans in China know that there's doggy style and riding that got cut, this is OP's deduction of the order)

Even without looking at the sweats and marks, from the way Henry's signet ring is turned in the movie you can tell that something's deleted, since before Alex intertwined his fingers with Henry, the letter H was facing outwards, and when their hands join the movement causes the ring to turn and for the letter to face inwards. But then the next shot with Henry's hand on Alex's shoulder shows the ring worn normally again, which means something in between was deleted or reordered.

Hickey on Alex's Neck

Henry's sweat in the afterglow

Henry's sweat during the polo hook-up

Alex's sweat in the afterglow

tagging @sanneannelies7 and @na-18dia who mentioned wanting the translation in my original post

[artist-issues]

I know you have kind of commented on this topic in one of your posts, but what do you think of the fact that Tolkien hated Disney and thought of Walt as a "con-artist" (if I remember correctly) because of how much would be changed? Even though I very much love Disney movies, considering how Tolkien studied mythology, folklore and history from other cultures in-depth, particularly those of European background, I do understand why he was not fond Walt's work at all if we view it from his perspective. Other people seem to share a similar sentiment. I ask you because you often analyze Disney movies and their themes quite in-depth. This whole thing is interesting.

Well, I'll preface by saying I'm not much of a Tolkien apologist. I don't connect with him or his mentality as well as I might flatter myself by saying I do C.S. Lewis' mentality. C. S. Lewis had this beautiful way of blending genuine good-faith enjoyment of something and careful, intentional critical thinking. He could be a reasonable analyzer of media, and a childlike consumer of media, at the same time. Don't know if I've mastered that myself, or if I ever will, but I really admire it.

Which is besides the point, sorry! 😂

But Tolkien was different. First off, Tolkien said some things about interpreting the meaning of his own stories that I don't agree with. He keeps insisting he wasn't trying to "say" anything with Lord of the Rings, or infuse it with any particular "meaning." Truth of the matter is, though, that is not true of any good storyteller. What they believe about the world bleeds into what they create, if they're creating genuinely. So Lord of the Rings is about how small decisions matter, doing what you can with what you're given instead of trying to control everything matters—whether Tolkien likes it or not, whether he was always conscious of it or not, that's what his story says.

He also criticized weird things to criticize about Lewis' works. For someone who was Lewis' friend, I don't know how he could've looked at what Lewis was writing and been surprised, or disgruntled, at the hodgepodge of mythology in works like Narnia. I don't know what made him think a "children's story" would feel like anything other than...made for children.

But anyway. All that to say, I don't always agree with Tolkien, or feel like I understand him. His response to Disney movies is just one of those things I don't get. I can speculate, but I don't know.

Like I said, I think he was so used to thinking of fairy tales and literature in a way that is much...higher, and more layered, than how the everyday layman thought of them, that when a Kansas cartoonist started retelling fairytales without any apparent grasp of that layering, it really rubbed him the wrong way.

I guess it would be like if someone came along twenty years from now, pointed at Disney's The Little Mermaid, and said, "look! A cartoon about fish! I'm going to make an TikTok dance about fish and call it 'The Little Mermaid,' and retell it that way!"

First of all we'd be like "IT'S ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN FISH, it's not just an CARTOON, are you BLIND?!" And then secondly we'd probably go, "and what? A TikTok dance?! Are you kidding me? You want to take this beautiful pillar of traditional animation and living color and musical mastery and drag it down to the level of middle school girls flapping their hands around cringily??"

That's probably how Tolkien felt Disney was treating Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Because back then, the medium (TikTok dances, animation) was just associated with sort of lowbrow humor and silliness. Walt was still inventing the whole "animated film to be taken seriously" thing. And back then, Tolkien would've seen the comedy characters of the Dwarfs and their character development as very shallow in comparison to the mythos of Dwarfs in literary and oral-tradition history. He had the most background knowledge. So what he was comparing Walt's movies to was, for him, like comparing grape Gatorade to aged Italian Wine.

As far as Disney being a "con artist..." yeah, I think that's a little bit of a stretch. He was definitely selling something, but if you can look at Walt Disney's life and see dollar bill signs, instead of a guy who genuinely made what he liked because he liked it, you don't know much about Walt Disney. He didn't adapt fairy tales because he thought they could make him money. He adapted fairy tales because he adored them, just like he had a train in his backyard because he adored them. Ask his brother Roy how much Walter "Let's Invent Smell-O-Vision and Drop Flowers on the Audience of Fantasia" Disney was thinking about exploiting the public for financial gain.

Like I said, Tolkien was responding to Walt Disney because he was Tolkien, and it would've been like asking a Bird to relate to a Krill. They were way too different to ever understand each other on the level that either of them preferred being understood at.

[franki-lew-yo]

I wish people would understand that the reason something is '' bad* '' isn't because it didn't do what you wanted but because it was badly done in what it was TRYING TO do. I'm so fed up with the absolution of hypotheticals and I say this as a person who regularly writes rewrite-stuff for fun.

I'm so effing done with people saying Frozen ''was ACTUALLY going to be a good movie, once" based on oold concept art alone where Elsa was more villainous and the characters had better designs. Yes I too prefer that look for the characters over the final film but the thing is- you don't know what that movie was like!! That movie you're talking about doesn't exist. That version of Frozen isn't Frozen; it's an entirely different movie which is why the writers made the change they did with Elsa's character. If you don't like it that's cool ((*Peter Griffin 'ah she said it!'*)). But, you wanting to "fix" the movie by insisting it go back to it's original concepts, the ones you haven't actually experienced but simply like more in theory...at that point write an original story instead of trying to rewrite anything. Watch the Soyuzmultfilm Snow Queen and talk about something other than how awful Frozen is. This here is a Wendys' and there's far more legit reasons to hate Frozen other than " D> WAAaaah! They didn't make the woobie-queen the way I WANT HER TO BE!!", so do us a favor and shut up about how concept art-Frozen was the "superior" film simply cuz you hate Frozen. No it was not. It may have been a better looking film but it wasn't better just cuz it's not the thing you hate.

Look, let me put it another way...

Disney's Wish is bad. I would really like to see some genuine receipts on if any of it's production was actually AI-generated or not(((this 'it has to be because JUST LOOK/LISTEN TO IT' is a badfaith badtake; that's how we got to the point of saying Lion King literally traced Kimba the White Lion. Stop it. Show some receipts or shut up))), but it's actual problem is it's a rushed and incredibly hollow wanky-production. The entire vibe of the movie is celebratory of Disney as a brand rather than Disney as an artform. The characters are awful and the songs are terrible sns.

In relation to the beforementioned Frozen-concepts, yes I also would have preferred something about a hopeful girl and a starboy and also a legit equally evil king and queen who are villains in love. I can't for certain say that would have been a 'good' movie because that movie, again, doesn't exist. ((cope)) The final concepts that make up Wish: evil King who doesn't see himself as the bad guy being told off by his actually good wife +talking goat that looks like a baby but is really an adult +cutsey sentient kawaii star; ALL these concepts could have worked and have been fun! I was ready to eat up these concepts. The reason I didn't is the same reason everyone else hates actually hates the movie for -I think final movie is bad and unlikable and shallow in the worst way possible. No, you're not changing that take. Please don't argue with me. Wish is an annoying and kind of hateful movie to everyone who didn't work on and so has some attachment to it ((it's really for their sake that I ask we not claim Wish is ai; don't do underpaid+starstruck writers dirty by claiming they mustn't exist. AI didn't snuff out the reality of hired writers being rushed and forced to make something that doesn't work-work)). In the words of Bojack Horseman, "It [Disney's Wish] had all the right pieces, but it just… It couldn't put them together."

THAT'S what's wrong with Wish. Heck maybe that's what's wrong with Frozen or Moana or Zootopia for you, person reading who hates those movies. I'm not you.

Love or hate a thing for what it ultimately actually is. If you have a "fickle"-love/hate thing going on for a thing; like with me and Princess and the Frog or anything by VivziePop; redesign your soul away. ((it's complicated gurl, I've been there)). BUT if you actively resent something the way I do Illumination films or Wish, do the world a favor and hold it responsible for what it did as a final movie vs what it could have done as a concept. The fact that it isn't the concept you wanted isn't the problem with it.

To wrap up this discussion on exclusively Disney properties-as-examples; what's actually wrong with Chicken Little is a bad case of Poochie-syndrome. Chicken Little was a mangled, sad production of an already odd premise fueled by spite and hating the very thing it was trying to do. If you look at the writing for what was going to be it's direct-to-DVD sequel you can see how these characters could have worked...the movie itself was a catastrophe because of everything added onto it rather then what was taken away.

[fujosh1dreamer]

I think i hate shipping...

Its been harder and harder to engage in posts about ships or even read fan fiction, and I just assumed it was the usual depression. It'll pass.

It hasn't, and I've come to the conclusion that modern fandom is to blame.

Don't get me wrong shipping in the days of old certainly had its problems. Everyone was always fighting over everything, it was an absolute cesspool... but it was simple.

Either you wanted these characters to be together or you didn't. Simple.

Now everything is turned on its head. (I imagine the current political climate has some blame). Never have I seen such a split between gay and straight ships, it's gotten completely out of hand.

Its to the point where you literally can't like both, you have to pick a side. If you ship mlw you must be homophobic, it you wlw/mlm you're woke and shallow. It's exhausting.

The stupidest of conversations of your mlm ship is sibling coded, no your wlm ship is sibling coded. Every ship is sibling coded!!! Your favorite ship, they're sibling coded you wanna know why? Because I can go write a fanfic right now and make them siblings. Or even better they're sibling coded simpy because I personally dont ship them.

Its immature and psychotic to label a ship you don't like as sibling coded solely because you dont like it and lack the media literacy skills necessary to explain why. For every straight ship you say gives "sibling vibes" I can name a dozen queer ships with the exact same dynamic. Are they siblings as well?

Its especially frustrating when it occurs with canon pairings. Since when has fandom specifically the shipping side of fandom become so obsessed with canon???? Since when have we cared about a ship being canon or not being canon??? Why are we harassing writers and actors??? Why do we suddenly need validation when slash fiction has existed for decades without it???

We're ruining ourselves and for what!?!? Corporate greed!!?!!? A pat on the head from daddy disney because he let us pay money to see the characters we ship stand next to each other?!?!?

Why can a person like a ship regardless of sexuality or gender??? Why can't a person like a ship regardless of if it becomes canon??? Why can't a person like a ship regardless of how someone else might feel about it???

I don't understand when it became all or nothing. I dont understand when shipping stopped being a fun side piece that came along with consuming regular media, and became the whole meal.

Why have we stopped talking about shows and movies as a whole and boiled them down into, "did the most popular ship interact together? If not then bad."

I've been in some pretty rough fandoms in my life, but never have I been in the pits like I am currently.

Companies learned that fandom is a sword, and they picked it up and used it against us. And instead of feeling outraged we simply joined the fight.

We've betrayed each other.

[lumsel]

Reviews of movies I watched on Qantas flights this week

Poor Things: I expected this one to be more harrowing, actually. I got that vibe from what I heard about it? It's more like a weird fairytale about sex and sexuality though. I am good friends with @utilitymonstergirl of Replacable Parts though so that may be skewing my baseline for what most people consider a shocking lmao. I like how totally blase it is about its own problematic elements, it never blinks or tries to justify itself in any way, it just goes "lmao check this shit out". Refreshing in a moment that feels marked by overbearing didacticism in media. Not to say this movie doesn't have a very clear Point, mind you, which is basically "stop being weird about sexuality", but it tells that Point with a level of focus and confidence that I find satisfying.

Oppenheimer: There's a few seriously eye-rolly moments in here, like the one where he says the I Am Become Death line while his mistress is mid-insertion, but it's like a single digit number in a three hour movie. Very well paced too, it did not at all feel like three hours. I really like how it uses the language of film to get you understanding why Oppenheimer made the seemingly contradictory decisions he did during his career. When Oppenheimer is building a nuke, you're biting your teeth like "oh man, I hope Oppie builds this nuke in time!" And when he's trying to stop them from building more nukes, you're like "oh jeez, I hope Oppie can stop these nukes getting built!" Despite the expansive and star studded cast, this really does feel like a movie primarily interested in getting you to understand this one dude specifically, and I really respect it for that.

That One DnD Movie: Fun!!! It's a little jank, and the exposition can feel clunky, but it was a fun movie overall. God, though... the second act sucks so much ass. I feel like this happens a lot in movies, where the first and third acts are where the substantive parts of the narrative happen, but the second act feels like the plot is spinning its wheels while we set up the climax. This one is particularly bad where the cast just takes a sidequest in the middle of the movie to grab some inconsequential artefact and nothing that happens in that sequence matters particularly much. Anyway, fun as this movie was, I almost forgot entirely to add it to this list of reviews, which probably

Anatomy of a Fall: Yeah this was good. Very good-movie coded, like the foreign films I always see my mum and dad watching when I'm cleaning up after dinner at their place. I feel I don't even have much to say on this one because it basically just executed everything it was trying to execute efficiently and without any jarring mistakes. You can tell from pretty early on that this is gonna be one of those stories where you never find out the Real Truth of what happened, although I found one of the sides to have a broadly weaker case and I'm not sure if that was intended.

Dream Scenario: Ultimately was disappointed by this one. Thought there was gonna be a multilayered metaphor underlying this one but it turned out to be a pretty shallow piece on social media fame framed around some dude who really wants to cheat on his wife. Let down by the synopsis, I spose. I think the constituent parts work at cross purposes and make the movie undermine itself a little: the kafkaesque surreal horror is harder to feel the depth of when the protagonist is so obviously a shithead, but the unsympathetic protagonist is less compelling when the things that happen to him are an inexplicable nightmare scenario rather than his own decisions taking him down a dark path. There'd be a way to make it work but honestly I don't think this movie was pretentious enough to pull it off. It needed to be willing to get weirder and harder to parse with it rather than keep everything so broad and crowd-pleasing.

TMNT Mutant Mayhem: I liked a lot of things about this movie. The pacing is fantastic, and I found the character writing to actually be quite good. I actually found myself quite liking the density of pop culture references, because yeah, that's how teenagers talk. Makes it feel more real. And the animation. I'm glad more animated movies are incorporating actual fight choreography these days because it fucking whips every time. Unfortunately it really fell apart by the end for me because the pacing gets janked up to hell and it starts cramming in way too many unearned character moments. Something about it got kind of unbearable for me personally, I just stopped watching the movie.

Labyrinth: Technically a rewatch, but last time I saw this one I was like single digit aged. Thoroughly it despite it being structurally a mess. It's basically just Jim Henson's Creature Shop coming up with various Situations to put our protagonist into, threaded together in a very loose framework of a plot. The lead is not that good at acting, the jokes rarely made me laugh out loud, and yet! I was smiling the whole time through. There's an interesting contrast to the DnD movie for me, where that one has a fine first act, an awful second act, and a fine third act with divisions between them so sharp you can hear a clunk when the gears shift, Labyrinth is pretty much 80% second act, with a bit of intro at the start and a quick bit at the end to wrap it up. Makes it feel like a very storybook fairytale type of story, and I love that for it! And, unlike the DnD movie... I don't think I'm likely to forget I watched this one a week from now :P

[tyrannuspitch]

i know it's probably a lot MORE vexing to be on the other side of this equation [ie: a norse myth enthusiast when the public image of your passion has been swallowed whole by Some Hollywood Film that just makes shit up]...

but it is still incredibly vexing to me how so many people who are clearly very well-versed in and passionate about norse myth will tell you that mcu thor is terrible while displaying the most surface-level understanding of it.

like. argh. obviously it's fine to personally dislike something for being inaccurate, but "inaccuracy" is not necessarily an artistic flaw in and of itself. sometimes change is just change.

"ah," you say, "but i don't dislike it for being inaccurate, i dislike it because all the changes are simplifying and reductive." are you sure? is it really that the version you know is complex and subtle, and the version you're seeing for the first time is shallow and dumbed-down... or is it just that you're seeing this version for the first time? is it actually less complex" or is it just complex in different ways from what you're expecting?

but also, mcu thor was never going or trying to be mythologically accurate, because it's literally not an adaptation of the myths. it's an adaption of the comics.

yes, it definitely would be cool to have a blockbuster film that accurately depicted norse myth... but that film wouldn't be "marvel's thor". because marvel's thor is his own entity, and he is not interchangeable with his mythological counterpart. if you wrote about myth!thor when you were meant to be writing about marvel!thor, that would be inaccurate too, and, unlike the films we have, you would be failing your brief.

and god it's just really frustrating because like. even a lot of people who like these movies don't see what they're doing, and don't understand that the simplistic hero narrative is something they're setting up specifically to knock down... but that's going to be even harder to see when you're trying to view the movies through a myth lens, given that they're designed to be viewed either through a comic lens or no lens at all.

you need to trust these movies if you want to see what makes them good, and if you come in with the wrong set of expectations, they're not going to look very trustworthy! they're trying to critique and re-complexify the simplified narrative of (the worst version of) the comics, but if you don't know the comics, you're going to think the movies did all the simplifying themselves, and if you don't have patience or faith in the movies, you're not notice to see the self-subversion going on.

which would all be difficult enough to begin with. but then we also have the fact that these movies are near-universally seen as Bad Movies, disposable, soulless, low art, unworthy of study, etc etc. which means that simply trying to defend them is going to lower your credibility in a lot of people's eyes, and the likelihood of anyone ever actually listening to you and believing you on this topic is pretty much negligible. it is at this point that i conclude that i have most likely fallen victim to a wizard's curse and should resign myself to being trapped in the labyrinth(tm) for the rest of my days.

[salarta]

I said in another recent post how people on CBR being too focused on what Lorna wears and who she fucks kept me from really digging into meaningful topics for Lorna with her upcoming Fall of the House of X moment. I feel like delving a little more into the core issue of that matter.

There's nothing inherently wrong with either topic in isolation. Both topics can take things in interesting directions and bring interesting insights. There are story and development possibilities for both.

But here's the problem: over there, both topics have been done to death. I literally cannot count how many times people on the Polaris thread on CBR decided to spend pages talking about these things. And whereas I do talk about Genosha and its importance for Lorna a lot, I do so because a) the comics keep refusing to even acknowledge that part of her history, and b) that matter is pivotal to understanding who Lorna is and how she thinks.

What she wears and who she fucks is neither of those things.

Someone who hasn't had to deal with this stuff will understandably think "What's the big deal if people talk about those topics even if it's over and over and over again?"

To that, I have to explain that when your conversation is almost entirely about those two topics, the message you're sending to the company and to other fans is that those two things are where the character's focus should be.

Not on more pertinent things like how she would respond to Orchis and other attempts at genocide based on her own past experience with it. Not on how her long history with the X-Men would play into her perception of current events.

The focus ends up being aimed at superficial things. And in the case of sex and potential partners, it brings with it a huge risk of just repeating all the same problems of how she's been depicted around Havok.

When someone focuses mainly on her looks and sex, what they're suggesting is that the best approach to writing Lorna is a very shallow one where nothing of deeper substance needs to be explored.

When you get down to it, this is part of why her treatment over the past decade has been focused on those two things too, including the coffee cup deal. Coffee was a neat quirk when it first appeared, but ended up being a problem once it took the place of doing anything truly meaningful with the character.

Ultimately, the topics of clothes and possible romance are like filler episodes of a TV show. They're fine here and there, to add a little flavor to the characters and bridge gaps. But people don't watch your show for nothing but filler episodes. People don't watch the baseball episode of an anime and think "Oh man I wish they would stop with all the demons and powerful fighting moves and deeper themes of this show to focus entirely on baseball."

The chicken dinner joke from the movie Inside (2023) is another way to put it. Wish I could link a clip or good text for it, but can't find either so I'll just relay.

The movie itself involves Willem Dafoe's character, Nemo, trapped in a high tech condo after a botched art heist, slowly losing his mind from the isolation. He tells a joke about a girl who loves chicken having that for dinner... every single night. Her mom decides to make that for dinner every night, nonstop. In the beginning, the girl is ecstatic to have her favorite meal. But after over a week of eating the exact same thing, she ends up first not caring, then loathing it, then reaching the point of sarcastically saying she loves chicken again cause that's all she ever gets.

That's the "what could Lorna wear and who could she fuck" discussion when it constantly comes up.

It's worse right now, because we're on the cusp of what's shaping to be an excellent story for Lorna having a huge moment. There are so, SO many things that could be discussed about the character and what could be done with her. What parallels we can already see (e.g. bringing Knowhere to Earth being like flinging Krakoa into space in the 70s), which could happen.

But instead, they're once again talking about what she could wear and who she could fuck.

What kind of message does that send when such a huge moment for Lorna leads not to deeper discussion on themes and character, but on superficial stuff? Far more importantly, what does it mean when the superficial stuff actively prevents deeper discussion from happening in any meaningful way?

That's a big part of why I don't mind skipping out on the CBR thread at this juncture. Right now, it really doesn't represent Lorna and why people voted for her to win the X-Men vote. It represents a minority of people who would rather talk about superficial things, and for some people, revert her to past poor depictions.

[dosnotoevsky]

I know I'm a load. I didn't have a long line of peaceful family members - like you see in the movies. I seem to carry that in my blood. And I try everyday with every fibre of my being so that no one can point it out, "you're their blood after all." but my traumas seem to never go away. I know i distance myself and my energy seems off. it's me. I'm their blood after all. As i accept my flaws, I also know it's not entirely me. I just wanna know. do you really care about me and love me or talking to me is just your convenience? And do you really consider me your friend? I don't get it sometimes. When I'm gone, I don't feel like I'm missed but when you're gone I feel empty. I don't have many options for myself. None of you are unaware of that. I would very much like to be alone forever but the transition isn't easy especially at this point of my life so i really don't have the option here to fuck up my whole life and leave. Because I'm not courageous enough. The last time I was that courageous was the most peaceful and unbothered phase of my life but it ended soon. And so I'm always hoping that I get left. I look forward to it. It feels like a fucking paradox. I wanna be here but I don't find here being here. Here is not constant. Here does not want me sometimes. Here would kill for me sometimes. Here is confusing. Here is scary. I step back when I want to shout because here is fucking shallow and I hear my voice back and here is manipulating so it makes me feel like I'm a piece of shit to say those terrible things. And then here stays with me. Like a lump in my bile. Here is now at my throat. Here is suffocating and i can't leave here because here is in the air as well. Here is too far. Here has me in its claws. Here is also keeping me alive. Here is driving me insane. And let me tell you as respectfully as I can, NONE OF YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND. YOU NEVER WILL. I FUCKING ENVY YOU. That is not a thing to be proud of. That is my tragedy. That is here. And even for feeling like that here makes me feel like I'm a terrible person.

unsent messages

[doyouthinkimenjoyingthis]

Golden Girls

I get across on this: "I get it that you're both gay and you love each other but you don't need to show it or be loud about it."

Here's the thing. People, straight people, gets a partner. They hold hands, PDA all that shit practically making everyone knows you are lovey dovey in love. Make bold statements. Make these ridiculous grand proposals. Foil the newsfeeds of you getting married.

But gay people can't have that?

And they would say, "I accept gays but...."

I know immediately whatever comes out to that is already homophobic.

I always used to hear, "It's okay to be gay just don't ...

- have sex

- turn into woman or man-- dress like the opposite

- don't be too loud

- don't be you

People don't understand that the point of being gay has started at thinking of loving the wrong one but it's the right one. The point of being gay is being frustrated that we can't be with the person we love. So are we just going to be gay and it stays that way?

And we should be content by your acceptance?

We don't care about being 'accepted'. At this point we are tired. During pride months, we stomp on the streets to protest our rights to love and love and laugh like those corny fb posts.

But they don't get that. Because people are shallow and are not willing to understand that but we are forced to understand that despite red flags-- a whole fucking flag pole in which they are willing to wave it, they will still stay with that person.

Incomprehensible really.

One time I heard a priest say: "If we will accept gay marriage, the next thing we will be accepting being married to animals, things, own relatives."

Or worst yet is the belief that gay people corrupts the young or convert them.

Growing up, I can't even count how many gay shows or movies or in literature I have seen and read (I had but it's not the point). These straightness in media shoved into my throat and up my asshole didnt make me straight.

I see this that they call us evil but they are actually the one thinking of the nastiest most unhinged and probably unthinkable thoughts to justify. Those never even came across our minds. Gays are no angels but what about a lot of us who don't care we just want to be with the people we love and care?

But no.

One time, I woke ahead of Hollmae. She's been sleeping here for days now. My first thought-- my very first thought is old age. The night before, we talked about going away. Since the legalization of same sex marriage in America, Canada and---side track-- did you know in Spain, it became legal in 2005?

2005!

Other countries were late!

The funniest thing is that Spain brought us Christianity, aye? (Forgive my sudden penchant for UK almost old English, Game of thrones and Sherlock Holmes fanaticism at the moment)

They brought it in PH and I've learned from Hollmae that precolonial times, Filipinos have queers.

So, off course, Christianity being Christianity, queerdom has been demonized. And now, we are strongly homophobic, less accepting country. We couldn't even secure rights and protection from discrimination.

But Spain got it. The fuuuuuck.

Going back, we were talking about that last night, researching.

But I know the reason why-- our families don't really accept is especially hers. They really believed I corrupted their only daughter.

I wondered what if one day, there's no progress at all? The clock will turn back and we will be once again oppressed, stripped of our rights, persecuted, thrown away?

[loveanoutcast]

I was talking to a guy I found attractive and he asked, "Who's your favorite actor?" I smiled widely because my favorite actor hasn't changed since I was a young kid and said, "I know he's ruined his reputation recently, but I've always favored Will Smith."

I should add some context, this guy who I'm getting to know is biracial (half black-half white), I am indigenous latina and I would say olive brown toned. His dimples caught my attention, and his name (starts with a V too and is unique like my own) just sealed the deal. However, my attraction wavered when he responded,

"Oh, so is that why you approached me? You're into black guys? or light skinned guys? Would you say that's why he's your favorite?"

I don't know why that had me stunned for a moment, I've never had that type of response and needed a second to just process. I calmly said,

"I've never thought of it that way, as a child I found him very goofy, when I was a teen I found him cute and admired his wit, now that I'm grown, I've just followed his career for so long that his acting always amazes me and yes, he is handsome to me...but to say it's because he's black sounds...really uncomfortable. I'm trying to understand your perspective but I'm at a loss, could you elaborate?"

"Well, if it wasn't for like my height or because I'm black, is it because I'm gonna be a doctor?"

At this point, I wanted to just block him and curse him out because I felt that he was trying to dig and see if I am as shallow as he assumed. I said,

"I liked your dimples and your name...you are mutual friends with someone I trust so I felt comfortable and brave enough to shoot my shot...that was it. I sustain myself and I love my life as it is, I wanted to get to know you and see if maybe we vibed together, but I feel as if you're jumping to conclusions on why girls may be attracted to you and I won't assume that it hasn't happened to you before, and I will respect if you feel like you have to know someones true intentions before seeing if they can be trusted, but I'm saying this right now, that yes, I acknowledge that you are biracial, you are tall, and you are going to be a doctor...but those are just bits of who you are as a person. You're not your job, nor your height, nor your skin color, just as I am not just some chicana with a fat ass and a graduate degree. I'm more than that and I would like for the person to like me to acknowledge those bits but to want to see more than just that."

He seemed hesitant but accepted the answer. We talk about other things like books and movies, but am I being too sensitive? Should I have approached it in a better way? Was there a piece of information that I missed?

Any help would be great

[trickarrows-bishop]

OKAY YALL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW FKDSAHGFKASHDGFAKSDHG madlyn makes me feel but i hope this essay helps yall out cuz jfc

BASICS FIRST Y'ALL !!

so its pretty clear if you look at the timeline of madlyn it went from ashlyn not really liking gadget at all to being like !! acc she's alr !! save me a seat at movie night bestie !! to kissing her on opening night alr so that in itself already gives me plot of enemies to friends to lovers.

if i remember correctly (this is all off the top of my head please bare with me yall) like the first time maddox speaks directly to the camera in one of those "the office"-like interviews she talks about how she's for "aqcuired taste" (aka she's not for everyone) and how much that acc hurts her. WHICH IS TOTALLY FUCKING VALID. if i heard that shit come out from someone's mouth about me you best believe i'm gonna keep that in mind every mf time i speak to a stranger, whether it be at the goddamn gas station or during some ice breakers at some community event. she also stated that after the last summer, many of the friends she made at camp had moved on from it, leaving her behind (ofc we all know this kinda includes maddison but i can only assume there was others, too) so what im saying in this is that maddox was most likely desperate to make friends over this summer with the others, wildcat or not. she finds multiple common grounds with ashlyn, too, with both of them talking (arguing also ig but eh enemies to lovers i say) about their birthcharts !!! (gay. once again i will get to that)

THE BIRTHCHART DRAMA :O

ash obviously takes maddox thinking she knows ash better than ash knowing ash to heart and believes that this girl is just some nosey, rude girl that is friends with her cousin from camp. but, quickly changes over time when she finds out that a) she was in fact NOT born at the time she thought she was (rip) and b) maddox was literally making POLITE CONVERSATION and SAYING WHAT SHE THOUGHT !! :O she wasn't completely disagreeing with ashlyn over that whole "i totally get fire sign vibes from you!" thing. ash did say "oh no i'm 100% a capricorn rising!!" afterwards. even tho maddox defo disagreed girlie didn't take that shit further. she was like "!! alr !! :)"

and then, ofc she goes off on the whole "you know, im a feminist right?" LIKE. girl the fact you are GOING ONNNNNNN about it omg- "and MADDOX had the NERVE to tell ME i was a LEO RISING" GIRL. STOP HATING- *opens book. reads about both capricorn and leo rising. panics and over thinks about ONE conversation she had with maddox*

and THEN maddox literally comes up and apologises if she took it too far, but ashlyns stILL like "ur wrong but its ok!! :P" which causes a whole "are you SURE you don't have any leo in ur big three-" which only builds up more tension and an argument (over birthsigns ik) while maddox is literally just interested in whether she's got leo in her big three, ashlyn is taking it PERSONALLYYYYY for far too long until she realises "oH never mind i am a leo rising and she was just helping" 💀

OPENING UP A LIL ??? DKSGFASKHDGFAS

and then further down in another episode of s3 (if you think i can remember what episode when i havent watched season three since release you're mad) we see maddox open up more. i also want to point out that she had NOT opened up (at least on camera) to no one. not ONE wildcat or any character for that matter other than ash. ofc we have that scene where EVERYTHING blows up (real housewives of camp shallow lake yk what scene im talking about) (also i so called her being queer before that bombshell but anyways) and im guessing the episode after where we see maddox and ashlyn painting set pieces for frozen and gadget talks about this mysterious ex girlfriend, maddison.

FINALLY, after we had watched them at the beginning not really (more ash, again, but im running w it), we see them get CLOSERRRR- wanna also make a note that them two get EXTREMELY close in that reality tv episode prior tho like they were stuck to the gdamn hip OMG

THE PROM EPISODE

now. this episode was enough to fill my lgbt heart with JOY for years to come. NOTE- the episode before this ashlyn made THE discovery. and i also wanna add to this that i HAD TWO theories about ashlyn and coming out to the group, but it is most DEFINITELY one now that season 4 has dropped and like. everyone knew. the theory is that she basically just ran around and was like "Y'ALL I MADE A DISCOVERY TONIGHT !!!" and told them LMAO so ofc within that maddox would've... yk... found a lil something new out abt her roommate in the honeycomb cabin

ofc jet has maddison fly over and there's this whole thing of "ooooo maddox looks really happy with maddison wow she must still like her!!" like brother i did not believe that. please take it from a lesbian that when you see an ex that you broke up w (THAT ISN'T TOXIC) you truly only want the best for them so ofc you're gonna smile when you see them HAPPY. now. let me continue.

the main bit of the prom episode that is so SO madlyn is the ending. ej talking to maddox, asking if any girl has caught her eye? the CAMERA PANNING TO ASHLYN? ashlyn telling maddox “you’re one of us now” when all maddox has seemed to know if people she cares about LEAVING ??? oh my GODDDD

the finale of s3 jfc

let me just say that it was definitely not my fav season finale ☝️ however !! more madlyn lol so uhm. i definitely feel that maddox caught feelings AROUND the prom episode and if not realised she had them around then because in that finale she did not have one scene around ash that felt straight or platonic😭 like i feel as tho it was her mission with THAT outfit too to attract women

on top of that ! for the doc you notice that her reaction to them looking like they’re in love is deadass just *looks away*. and like, even ashlyn has something to say and ms gadget doesnt ?? 🤨🤨🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🫵🫵

okay i’ll add s4 in a whole other re blog bc i didn’t think this would be as much

y'all i wrote an essay to my friend on why madlyn is perfect, enemies to friends to lovers, and built up on terrible communication and misunderstanding. one note and i'll drop it