#least that’s the impression I got from her role in the movie

[chloesimaginationthings]

Taking care of kids is hard in FNAF

[vampireimiko]

Johnny Cage with a fem reader who matches his vibe? 👀

Cocky AF

warnings, NONE :3

note, im literally johnny cage 🙏🏾

Johnny Cage, the Hollywood A-lister, was used to being the center of attention. Meaning, he was used to always getting what he wanted. Whether it was a role, some kind of artifact, or just a classic cliche, the girl. However, when he encountered you, a fellow star who effortlessly matched his charisma and vibe, he found himself captivated by a kindred spirit. Your ability to navigate the Hollywood scene with the same flair and confidence as him intrigued the actor.

You knew how Johnny was before you started filming alongside him. But you also knew how to handle yourself and deal with him, because well, the both of you were alike. Both gorgeous, big Hollywood stars, and known players.

Most girls and men would instantly throw themselves at him if Johnny so much as breathed near them. But not you, which is why he was intrigued. Of course, you'd flirt with him here and there, but you never pursued anything. As a seasoned professional and someone who knew how to handle themselves, you decided to keep a degree of distance, at least until the project was closer to completion.

Johnny, not accustomed to this level of restraint, decided to take it as a challenge. He enjoyed your banter, the way you matched his wit, and the fact that you treated him as an equal rather than a Hollywood heartthrob.

So with that being said, he decided to ask you out under the guise of just 'two coworkers having a coffee'.

"How nice of you to invite me out for coffee, Johnny. It's quite the change from your usual grand gestures," you quipped, a playful smirk on your face as you sipped your drink.

Johnny Cage leaned back, a charming grin on his face. "Well, you know me, always up for trying something new. Plus, I figured we could use a break from the set drama and paparazzi."

As you continued to banter, Johnny subtly shifted the conversation towards more personal topics. You found yourself sharing stories and laughter, realizing that beneath the Hollywood glitz, Johnny was more than just a charismatic actor. He was genuine, funny, and surprisingly easy to talk to.

"And then I told her-" Johnny was interrupted mid story by your phone ringing.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I have to take this! It's my agent." You apologized, before getting up to take the call.

"No worries," Johnny said with a casual wave. "Hollywood waits for no one."

As you stepped away to take the call, Johnny took a moment to observe you. He couldn't deny the intrigue that had grown between you two during the coffee outing. He was immensely attracted to you no doubt, he also couldn't deny the connection he felt he had developed with you in such a short time.

When you returned, it was unfortunately time for you to leave as you had an interview to attend.

"Guess Hollywood waits for you too," Johnny teased, though there was a genuine disappointment in his tone. The brief encounter had left an impression, and Johnny found himself looking forward to the next opportunity to spend time with you.

As you gathered your things, Johnny stood up, a signature grin on his face. "Well, don't let the interviewers steal you for too long. We've got a movie to finish, and who knows, maybe we can continue this fascinating conversation sometime?"

You giggled, returning his energy. "Of course, handsome. Until next time," you said giving him a kiss on the cheek and a giving him a flirtatious wave while walking away.

Johnny watched you leave, a mix of amusement and anticipation in his eyes. Your playful demeanor and the kiss on the cheek only fueled his curiosity and interest. As you walked away, he couldn't help but flash his signature grin, a touch of genuine excitement in his expression.

"Until next time," he called after you, his words carrying a hint of flirtatious charm.

𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞; 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐘𝐘𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒, 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 (𝐢𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥) 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 !!

𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

[sirianasims]

Chapter 43.9

I arrive at GeekCon both sweaty and with a vague sense of unease. The stifling heatwave has turned the city into a pressure cooker, and it feels foreboding, like something terrible is building and about to break free.

I’m greeted by my own face by the door, advertising the panel that I’m supposed to be on this morning. I never got comfortable seeing myself like this, I prefer it when they just use the logo or my masked promo pictures. At least today is the last time I’ll appear as Llama Man in any official capacity, and then…

Then I don’t know.

But there’ll be time to figure that out later, right now I’m about to see Julia again. I can’t believe it’s only been a year since we met, and I have no idea how she feels about me right now.

I spent most of the night in my hotel room tossing and turning, thinking about what I’ll say to her, but I still don’t have a plan. I just want to apologise for ending things so abruptly.

It really wasn’t my best work.

She said she just wanted to be with you. And then you dumped her.

I groan inwardly as I scan the faces of everyone I see. There’s no sign of her, but the cosplay competition isn’t until later, she may not have arrived yet.

I wonder if she’ll refuse to speak to me at all. I wouldn’t blame her, but she never seemed like the type to carry a grudge. I just want to see her and make sure she’s not too upset about how things ended, something I should have done months ago.

I need to make sure she doesn’t hate me. I can’t handle if she hates me.

I guess I’ll have to play it by ear, although Lee would tell me that’s not my strongest suit.

I leave my jacket in the wardrobe and linger a bit, fiddling with my VIP bracelet. The gallery’s air-conditioning is working overtime, and it helps a little with the heat but I still feel uneasy. My eyes are drawn to the bathroom door.

If this was a movie, Julia would come out of the bathroom right now, exactly like last time. Our eyes would meet. A beat, as the camera cut from her face to mine, both of us too surprised to speak. I would recover first, tell her that we can’t keep meeting like this, and her face would crack into a smile. Then she’d leap into my arms and I would kiss her like there were no tomorrow.

Get it together, Romeo. She’s not kissing you ever again, you’re going to be lucky if she even speaks to you. Focus. You’re at work.

At least I’m not in full costume this year, I would probably have died from heatstroke. And it would have made me feel silly trying to have a serious conversation with Julia.

I decide to take a quick tour of the convention floor before the panel starts.

Even though it’s still early in the day, there’s people everywhere. Some tabletop role-players are recording their podcast on location, kids are running around, and several people are dressed up despite the heat. I wish Julia had shown me pictures of the costume she was planning so I knew what to look for.

A woman with long, red hair makes me do a double take, but I know it isn’t Julia before she even turns around, the way she moves is wrong. I know every inch of Julia’s body and this isn’t it. Everything Julia is, the way she walks and talks and laughs is imprinted on my brain, and it feels like I should be able to locate her by telepathy, by following some sort of invisible string tying me to her.

“Uh, Mr. Romeo! Sorry, hello.”

“Oh, hey. Edmund, right?”

The young man beams, clearly pleased that I remember his name. His booth was next to mine last year, we talked about old movies. I wish I could introduce Julia to him, she would have loved to discuss Cow Plant Love with an expert.

“Wait, you do know him? I thought you were lying!” The teenage girl next to him sounds somewhere between impressed and angry.

“Yeah, why would I lie about that? Sorry, sir, this is my sister Liz, she’s a big fan of Llama Man.”

“Can I have your autograph? I collect them, I already got the Coolala guy and the Freezer Bunny lady this morning. Oh, and can you make it out to ‘Lizette’, with a Z, please?”

“Of course. That’s a very cool costume, Lizette with a Z.”

“I made it myself! It’s Michelle from Doherty’s Revenge, have you seen it? The one with the zombie gym teacher?”

“Oh? Haven’t heard of it, do you think I should watch it?”

“You have to, it’s so good! I used to think it was actually really scary but now I just think it’s funny. Me and Edmund watch a lot of like, retro movies with dad, we even watched the really old Llama Man movies once. I’m gonna tell my dad I met you, he won’t believe it!”

“I’m flattered. Thanks for the movie recommendation, I’ll make sure to check it out.” I hand her the autograph before waving goodbye to Edmund who mouths a silent thank you.

Retro.

I know everything seems ancient to a teenager, but the word tastes like dusty VHS tapes, like lava lamps and shag carpets, like mid-century kitchens. This is my demographic, I suppose, nostalgic dads and their excitable kids.

Julia is not in the panel crowd either, but I guess that would have been too much to hope for. I would probably have found her presence too distracting anyway.

I know one of the other panellists, Mei Zhang, the iconic voice of the Freezer Bunny for over fifteen years. We’ve met briefly at conventions and even on a few gigs, but never really got a chance to speak much.

The third panellist is a young man named Andy Okeke, who seems to be voicing a few Voidcritters as well as a bear-like creature I’ve never heard of. It’s his first time on a panel, but he’s already annoyingly good for his age, and I can imagine him having a pretty impressive career at the speed he’s going.

I answer the same questions I’ve answered a million times before and try to find some sort of comfort in the fact that it’s the last time. As much as I loved my job, it got repetitive after almost a decade. Maybe I should get that number for Sierra’s agent, try to get back on screen. Maybe I’ve grown too complacent, stagnant.

Finally, the questions dry up and the last people leave the room, and just like that, I’m free from my contract. It doesn’t feel like freedom, though, more like a free fall.

“Hey, Romeo, wait up.” Mei stops me by the doors.

“How are you doing? It must be so weird.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know what I’ll do if they ever retire Bunny.”

“You’ll still have others, won’t you?”

“I know, but I’m known for Freezer Bunny, not for… four or five Voidcritters. I can’t even keep track of their names, which is ironic since it’s all they ever say.”

I’m not sure how to respond so I just nod. I’m impatient to get to the cosplay competition, but I don’t want to be rude.

“Mei, it was great seeing you again, but I’m in a bit of a hurry, actually.”

“Sure. Would you – would you want to grab coffee some time, though?”

Shit. Before Julia, I would have gladly followed Mei home tonight, maybe we’d even go on a couple of real dates before things fizzled out as they normally do. But right now, every muscle in my body is telling me that I have to go, to move, to be somewhere else.

“Sorry, I’m, uh. Maybe another time, I don’t…”

The giant poster of my face is judging my lame attempt at stringing together a sentence, and I’m painfully aware that the woman behind us has been sweeping the same spot for a minute now, pretending not to eavesdrop.

“I’m a big girl, Romeo. If you’re not interested, that’s fine.”

“Right. I am sorry, though, it’s not…” I mumble something politely incoherent and more or less flee the room.

Fuck. One year and I’ve completely lost my touch.

I hurry up the stairs, the competition must be just about to end. I can see through the doors before I even reach them, all of the contestants are on stage – and she’s not there.

I stand in front of the doors, frozen, arm still outstretched. This doesn’t make sense, she loves this, she told me about the costume she was planning, she should be here.

There’s no time to dwell on why I so desperately need to see her again, what I would even say to her, the only thing left is fear.

What if something has happened to her? Would I ever know? We’re not together anymore and we have no friends in common, no one who would think of me or assume I’d want to know if she got hurt or sick.

She could be dead. She could be dead and I would never know.

I’m vaguely aware that I’m spiralling but I can’t stop, I feel dizzy. The heat and the lights and the people, everything is too much and I can barely see.

Somehow my feet carry me outside, to the very same bench where we talked for hours on that first night. I try to breathe, deep breaths, but the air is too warm and feels thick.

My hands shake as I log into the anonymous account I made during a moment of weakness after she blocked me, and I pull up her social media in the hopes that she posted something recently, anything that can reassure me that she’s fine.

Relief floods through me when I see the timestamp on her latest updates. San Sequoia Aquarium, just a couple of hours ago. But the relief dissipates quickly as I scroll through the photos.

Nestled between fish and family pictures, there are two selfies with her friend Marten.

I stare at them, suddenly feeling numb.

Her eyes are shining like stars in the lights from the tanks. She’s smiling, and so is he. His arm is around her, possessively, and there’s a hint of triumph in his eyes that I don’t like.

He seems to be carrying her on his back in the other photo, and the thought of her legs wrapped around him awakens an urge to tear him away from her that is almost suffocating.

If they’re not already dating, it’s a matter of time. They would probably have gotten together a long time ago if I hadn’t been there. A petty part of me wonders if he was really being her friend or just biding his time, waiting for me to fumble, but that’s crazy. I barely know the guy. Actually, I don’t really know any of Julia’s friends, I just have a vague idea about their names and who they were to her.

I wasn’t a very good boyfriend, was I?

I told you it was better this way.

I’ve kept reminding myself that I didn’t make a mistake, and here’s proof at last. This was meant to be, they were meant to get together, I just happened to get in the way. He’s been a good friend to her, nice and considerate, while I only brought her chaos and pain.

I was so worried that Julia was wasting my time, but all along, I was the one wasting hers. She deserves better, I know this, but it still feels like I lost her all over again.

I put away the phone and take a deep breath of the scorching air. And then I reach for the tiny, secret corner of my heart where I was nursing my last hope of getting her back and stomp it out.

beginning / previous / next

[partycatty]

So ive been obsesed with janet cage since she appeared in the end of mk1 and now shes finally being released with peacemaker and im desperate for something ANYTHING PLEASE 🙏 😭

YOURE SO ME FR I LOVE JANET SO MUCH GENUINELY i need her so bad she's my pfp and banner on discord rn HAHA thank you for sharing your thoughts bc i was so afraid i was alone HEHE

janet cage > this one's for you, baby!

janet's got a wittle crush on the reader, and will go to stupid lengths to show herself off

notes: you're in the genderbent universe :3 but because i'm stupid, the chosen ones' names are gonna remain the same because i couldn't think of a genderswapped name for them and wasn't about to do them dirty with new names LMAO

[ masterlist ]

it was only a couple months into training, and things were looking... decent? at least, you could consider yourself improving. sure, combat was something you trained in, but when it came to you versus whatever horrors outworld contained, you tugged at the collar of your shirt.

janet, however, seemed unfazed. actually, she seemed ecstatic! you'd seen a couple of her movies and knew she could kick ass if needed. her physique impressed you, as did her endless charm and effortless ability to piss the swordswoman off. her attitude was brushed off for your sake. you knew she had just gone through a messy divorce with her ex-wife, is in talks of selling her mega mansion, and new roles were coming up dry. you'd think she'd be bitter but it turned out to be quite the opposite. her typical swagger and flourished gestures tore you from your thoughts.

"there she is!" janet exclaims, swinging a toned arm around your shoulder and tugging you close to her side. "you miss me? i bet you did!" you recall the last time you interacted with her: lunch. twenty minutes ago. even still, her perky attitude flustered you quicker than you'd like to admit.

"suuure," you sarcastically reply, hoping to toy with her ego a bit. "as if i didn't see you at lunch."

"it's hard to not miss me when i'm not around," she sighs dramatically, as if she has the hard life. "no need to lie to me, babe. you love having me around." your insides twist at the name. as you eyes are downcast, janet's eyes light up more than usual with a slight blush to her cheeks.

"whatever you wanna believe, miss A-List," you swat her arm, and she removes it though her grin remains unfaltered. janet pauses for a moment, lifting her sunglasses from her eyes and settling them on top of her head. you're winded by her beauty. you had seen it on screen as mentioned before, but there was some alluring power of her eyes when they were only a couple feet from your face. janet could kick ass, but she was also a gorgeous actress.

"tell you what," she shoots a single finger gun at you, once again removing you from your daydreams full of her face... among other things. "you won't have to miss me tonight. raiden and i planned to spar after dinner. you'll watch me kick her ass, right?" there was a hint of pleading, almost nervousness in her gaze. as if she needed you to say yes. her brows knitted together for only a single twitch.

"don't sweat," you reassure her, taking her strong hands in yours with a soft smile. "i'll be your cheerleader." with your confirmation, you turn on your heel and head the other direction to tend to your own duties. what you don't notice, however, is janet whooping to herself as soon as your back is turned.

just as the sun hits golden hour, you and the girls are waiting by the sparring ring. raiden stands straight, hands behind her back as she waits for her opponent to arrive. and so she does. janet comes jogging into view, waving at the crowd of monks and earthrealmers. she waves and smiles, blowing kisses to an unamused audience. she acts like it's another one of her performances. liu kang rolls her eyes.

"i bet your chakram hat that janet gets her ass kicked," you mutter to kung lao, who stood beside you with a smirk. she nudges your shoulder.

"aren't you supposed to be on janet's side?" kung lao mumbles back with a knowing grin. when you return with a perplexed frown, she scoffs. "everyone and their mother could figure out you're into her."

your cheeks puff up out of frustration, ready to rip kung lao a new one for being so loud and direct, but you see a hand snap in your face. snapping your neck to the source, you meet your eyes with janet's, who was leaning down to catch your attention.

"hey hey, eyes on me, sweet thing," her voice feels like honey when it drops low, and you snap back to her attention with a dazed look in your eye. your heel drives into kung lao's foot when you hear her snicker. "atta girl, check this out." a part of you dies inside from embarrassment. damn her and her confidence.

the spar begins, and admittedly it's evenly matched. punches are matched with kicks, parries and dodges slightly rile the crowd up from how equal the combat is. while raiden is calculated, janet is quick, and it becomes apparent that janet actually has a good chance.

that is, until she successfully knocks raiden to the ground. she's doubled over in pain, trying to prop herself up enough to come back from the near-knockout. janet winds up a fist almost comically, winding it in circles with a grin. just before she lands the blow, she turns to you with a beaming, cocky grin.

"this one's for you, baby!" janet shouts out, pulling her sunglasses down with her other hand to wink. before you could even consider being flattered, raiden flips up and shifts her weight, readying a godlike kick.

WHAM!

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

janet sits awkwardly on the cot, fidgeting with the now broken pair of sunglasses in her hands. she can't seem to bring herself to focus on you, even as you're leaning into her to wipe her wounds.

"you should have been more careful," you gently scold her, holding her face up by her chin to wipe the dried blood on her nose. "i don't need the whole show to be impressed, janet."

she smiles lazily, eyelashes fluttering as she inspects your features. "did i at least look hot getting my nose broken?"

you want to sigh and scold her further, but you decided to indulge in her entertainment and smile back, and janet visibly tenses up at your warm stare.

"very."

her lazy smile turns into a lopsided grin as she realizes you're calling her hot. not that her ego needed it really, she knew she was hot. but you saying of it all people, dear lord she was reeling. although she was an actress, a damn good one, you could see she was visibly straining herself from losing it. so, considering you had the upper hand, you hold her face by her cheeks and squish gently with a teasing smile.

"you're blushing."

janet frowns dubiously. "am not."

"i can see it. you're blushing." your eyes flicker between hers, and then to her lips briefly. she sucks them in, focusing on your own lips with dazed eyes.

perhaps janet could use another lesson, you think. so, instead of indulging in what you both want, you let go of her face and place the bloodied rag in a discard bin, wiping your hands on your thighs. janet freezes with a pleading look, knowing exactly what you're doing. you're playing a sick game of cat and mouse.

"where are...?" janet's voice trails off sheepishly, the hardest indicator that you've caught her off guard. she wants to stand up and follow you out, but the monks told her to stay, and a pounding migraine from the blow made sudden movement difficult.

"gotta fight for what you want, janet," you coo innocently, waving with your fingers before you exit the tent. "just don't get your ass kicked. maybe then i'll reward you."

you're not around long enough to see the steam spilling from her ears and her beet-red cheeks.

[pascalcampion]

Under the Boardwalk.

I was at Lightbox a few weeks ago and I bumped into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. ( hey Francis! We need to do lunch) He was laughing because he said that he had just seen a trailer for this thing I did some work on years ago. It took me a minute to realize he was talking about Under the Boardwalk. Movies do take a while to get done.

Anytime I see a movie in a theater that doesn’t come from Pixar, Disney, Illumination or Dreamworks, I clap my hands in my mind. It is SO hard to get to the finish line. Each movie that you see is the result of a series of small miracles.

I did a couple months of work on it. I was think it was in preproduction at the time. It was called Jersey Crabs at the time and there were only three people on it. At least, I only met three.

There was Chris Zibach, Ericka Stewart and David Soren.

I had just come off of two rather long and hard productions and I was a bit burned out about Art direction, production design or just… design in general.

When I first got an email about this, I wasn’t sure. But I went over to Paramount to meet with all three of them.

And you know what? They were fantastic.

Ericka was the producer and she had this no nonsense approach. Tell me your price, I’ll tell you if we can do it, if not we’ll figure something out. Boom. Done. She cut to the chase and any time I had a question she would reply within the hour. Her feedback was always short and precise, and she was always encouraging. After I was gone, she emailed me a couple of times to follow up on this or that. She didn’t leave any loose ends AND, something that is absolutely remarkable in this industry, she would reply to emails. She didn’t simply reply when she needed something, but when I would ask her if I could send recommendations, or if there were any other projects going on, she would send me an email back. I think the longest it took her to reply was TWO days, which is incredible.

Chris Zibach. It wasn’t immediately clear what Chris’s role on this was. I knew he was an artist. I had met him a few years prior while visiting a friend at Dreamworks TV I think. He was quieter than Ericka. Not sure if he was shy or I was simply too aloof for him to talk to me. For whatever reason, when I saw him, I thought of Tim Burton. Maybe the genius in him? Not sure. Later, I learned he was the production designer. I was surprised because that is something I typically learn on the first meeting. I was also unsure of his role because I hadn’t seen any of his work before and he didn’t act like any of the production designers I had met before. He wasn’t bombastic or sure of himself. He wasn’t trying to win me over with his talent or past battlefield experiences. He was humble. Yes, I think that’s probably the right word. Humble. But at the time, I couldn’t figure out if it was humility or something else.

It became clear after the first few designs of his I’d seen and especially after I had done a sketch for a moment that I couldn’t quite picture. I wasn’t understanding what they were looking for and Chris did this thirty second sketch that was SO clear, SO readable and SO easy to work with, and I was. OH! Ok.. he’s the real deal.

I love Artists like him. I wish I had worked with him more actually.

And, David Soren, the director

That was such an interesting meeting.

You know how sometimes you are hesitating on a project and you meet the team and all of a sudden it all flips? That’s how it was for this. I didn’t know what this story was based on, I didn’t find crabs particularly interesting, and the story, as it was pitched, wasn’t what I gravitate toward.

But David, wow. He had this energy in the meeting, this confidence. He was good at talking but he could listen AND hear you. He could also answer questions. Any type of question regarding the art, the story, the schedule, the planning. I didn’t know much about him but I came away very impressed.

I gave it a shot and now, I feel I was lucky to have been asked because, even if I was only on this for a very short while, it was one of those candy like work experiences. All good, nothing bad. Short and sweet and really fun.

There was a moment when I was drawing this big long scene that was supposed to be in the middle of a battle and I stopped, look at it and laughed on the inside because I had just realized I was being paid to do this and THIS was SO much fun.

I don’t know what my job was, what I was supposed to bring to the project. I didn’t understand why they had me do these designs when Chris’s work was so different and so unique already, but all three did a good job at quieting those thoughts.

I was working from home and they were on the lot. If I remember correctly, they would send me emails to broadly tell me “ There is a flood there, there is a battle there, there is club, a hotel, etc etc” and I would just do some images on what I thought it could be.

They already had some character designs, and Chris had done a few images, so I wasn’t totally going from nothing.

Each time I would send a set of images, I would get an email back the same day or the next day from either Ericka or David telling me something nice. Never from Chris though. I always wondered why but now I am realizing it was because he was too busy getting the whole thing off the ground.

I would get notes sometimes but not very often. Chris would do little drawers or notes on my images and, again, they were always minimal except for that one set piece and always clear.

I don’t know what the movie is like. I was still working on this when I started with the Peanuts Special which would occupy my life for the next three and a half years.

But I do know that I remember this as a very fun, loving and carefree work experience, which have not come around very often in my career.

Thank you Ericka, Chris and David.

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You're commenting as Pascal Campion.

[marimayscarlett]

It’s cold outside. Our heating is still off, I am desperately trying to get warm.

Do you happen to have some Richard pictures/stories that might warm my insides?

Thank you for your service, m’am🖤

Hi 👋

First of all, I truly hope that your heating will soon be working! Sending warmth and hugs your way 🤲🏼

Now, regarding some stories - not sure if these will do the trick, but I always feel warm/smile/sigh and look into the distance dreamily when I think about the following (sadly, I can't find sources for every story here - so some might just be cute "urban legends", but I just choose the believe them ☝😌):

A story of a fan about meeting Richard after a concert: "The hug I got was bone crushing. I was right in front of him. Cried my way through Frühling [...]. He checked on me and asked me if I was ok. Said i was fine and even the amount of times I'd seen them play, i got so caught up in the emotion. Richard told me they were the most moving moments for him at least and pulled me into a huge hug that if i think about it, i can still feel. Sounds weird but when you get a hug like that you dont forget it." (X)

It's incredibly nice to see how much he seems to care about his kids. Of course, that's the job of a dad, and yet it's not always the case. This situation warms my heart and makes it aching for him at the same time: “When my daughter, Khira, was 3 years old, she became very ill. There was nothing to worry about, a typical advanced tonsillitis. She was admitted to hospital. As always there were no seats in the wards I faced a choice: either pay for the ward or stay in the corridor. Only very wealthy people could afford the paid hospital ward. I was at that point that still could not afford it. We needed expensive medication, and I did not earn much. And she was put in the hallway. I slept with her in the hallway at night and her mother at daytime. And so the weeks passed until a free place appeared in the ward." (X)

Richard once mentioned (I think it was one of the festival interviews in 2017, yet I can't find the source anymore, so I might be wrong), that he was present during the birth of both of his daughters, and that the birth of a child is one of, if not the most, impressive things he has experienced in life. He seemed truly positively enthusiastic and sincere in that moment, which I found very beautiful, since not every man/father thinks like this.

Just this moment from this interview:

I find it rather endearing that he seems to love fantasy and would have liked to play a role in "Game of Thrones" or "Westworld", to let certain characters in him come to life. Richard seems to find enjoyment in movie worlds like these and I love that he speaks so openly about it 🥰 (X)

A long time ago, I read about an anecdote of the time when he lived with Till in the early 90's - they had little to no money, let alone food, so they apparently stole all the necessary ingredients, so Richard could make donuts for Till, who has a major sweet tooth. No idea if this is true, but it's really sweet.

In this interview, Richard expressed that he would drop everything to play a benefit for abused children.

He once gifted his guitar to the Hard Rock café in Berlin and signed it with "Rammstein!! RZK YeaH" which is kind of cringy, yet very cute?? (X)

Some pictures which just warm my heart - his comfy travel outfit, product free hair, him being soft and smiling, meeting a fan this year and being seemingly quite open, or just downright adorable on stage...

Weird assortment, I know and I'm sorry, but maybe it helps a bit 🤍

[kyrieeleisonelise]

Ai’s true feelings?

(Spoilers!)

Judging by the amount of times I’ve seen with this manga panel on tumblr and YouTube, Ruby’s interpretation of Ai in the recent chapter has definitely made a stir. 

Is this really how Ai felt? 

Realistically, it would be difficult to accurately re-tell the life story of somebody as secretive as Ai once they are long-dead.

In the world of the Manga though, we are supposed to understand the movie as being at least mostly an accurate representation of Ai’s life, since they have the analytical genius Akane point out it’s ‘90% accurate’.

But when it comes to the topic of Ai’s feelings, it seems significant that both Ruby and Aqua- who sometimes seem to represent the two sides of Ai- interpret her differently.

Throughout the manga, but especially the movie arc, we are seeing two different interpretations of Ai. There is Nino and to an extent Aqua who think Ai was as emotionally invincible as she acted. 

Then there is Ruby and the director (and even Kana) who recognise that there was probably a lot of dark feelings and anger that Ai felt she had to hide. 

Even the Director, who has the tapes of Ai we’re yet to see admits he feels like he never got to see the true Ai, even when she was trying to be honest with him. This further cements the idea that nobody really knows how Ai feels. 

We’ve seen hints about Ai hiding darker emotions throughout the chapter, but Ruby’s interpretation of her seems more extreme. Did Ai have this much hate in her heart? Or is Ruby projecting her own feelings?

In chapter 136 we see the argument between Nino and Ai being acted out by Ruby and Kana.

I think we are meant to take the acted-out argument as being an accurate representation of what actually happened between Nino and Ai.  From Kana’s insights while playing the role, I get the impression that Nino was so upset by Ai not only because she was jealous, but because Ai, someone who she thought of as a friend, seemed indifferent to her. Ai just gave glib responses when Nino was trying to express that she was struggling, and when Nino lashed out and tells Ai that she wishes she was dead, Ai just smiles at her. 

Nino thinks Ai doesn’t care- Nino means so little to her that her hatred can’t hurt her at all. Even years later, Nino still maintains that Ai probably immediately forgot what Nino said to her. 

But I really don’t think Ai was unaffected by Nino’s words. Kana was probably right when she said Nino and Ai used to be friends. Anyone would be hurt if a friend wished them dead. 

We met Ai’s mother a few chapters back, and it’s revealed that she gave up custody of Ai out of jealousy over her beauty (when Ai was 8!?) Having someone else in her life hate her over her looks probably really hurt Ai, and maybe even made her angry . If Kana is right about Nino and Ai being friends, it probably hurt even more to have another person she cares about reject her out of jealousy. 

Why didn’t Ai just tell Nino how upset she was? If Nino saw Ai’s human side it may of lead to them actually making up and deepening their friendship.

Ai had a really troubled upbringing; She was abused and abandoned by her mother and then raised in a children’s home. It isn’t surprising that she had a lot anger in her heart. 

To protect herself, Ai would lie about how she felt and pretend she didn’t have feelings and that nothing could hurt her. Eventually it seems like lying became automatic and Ai didn’t know how to stop, how to express herself truthfully or what the truth even was any more. 

When Ai first meets Ichigo, she uses her traumatic background as a defence mechanism to try and unsettle him and chase him off. She acts tough, saying that she doesn’t care she was put in a children’s home. She protects herself by acting indifferent and making the people around her uncomfortable.

But her reaction when Ichigo gives her some encouragement and tells her she can be an idol and say she loves people ‘until it’s real’ shows she does still want to connect with others, she just doesn’t know how. 

Ai was good at lying. So good that some people started to believe she was as detached as she pretended to be. They saw the ‘invincible persona’ she was projecting instead of the traumatised girl.

I don’t know if Ruby’s interpretation of Ai’s feelings are completely accurate. But I do think that Ai was probably deeply, deeply hurt by Nino. Ai’s dismissive reaction to Nino was probably due to Ai’s lack of social skills rather than true indifference. If Ai hated the world in that moment I wouldn’t be surprised, but I don’t think Ai carried any long-term resentment towards Nino.  

 The Ai we know seemed a bit more socially adept and stable compared to the Ai Ruby portrayed. Ai was probably only around 14 when she had her argument with Nino. I thin as Ai matured she probably realised why Nino lashed out the way she did, but it was too late to repair things.

It’s been mentioned a few times that Ai stopped her ‘catastrophic’ behaviour and matured after her time in theatre troupe, so it will be interesting to see what specifically it was that made her change

I don’t know if the story will ever give us a definite answer on Ai’s actual feelings, or if, just like in real life, we’re left to interpret and guess how a person really felt about something after they’re no longer there to ask.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Sense and Sensibility (2024, Hallmark) a review

I had expectations for this movie. They were not surpassed. It didn't perform below them either.

Spoilers under the cut.

So, this is a short movie (1.24hr long) a tv movie, a hallmark movie. You must keep that in mind as a frame of reference for what I'm about to say. You cannot really compare this with theatrical movies on equal footing.

Where to start. Costumes and sets. It is Bridgerton's world and we live in it. Everything is VERY colorful and shiny and not very real looking; that was to be expected. I think that sort of semi-fantasy aspect didn't hurt at all, and it was consistent. If you are not going to stick to the time period, at least go ham and show me something really interesting. I'm looking at you, Netflix Persuasion. There are some dresses that are pretty, and some others that... aren't. Considering that apparently the costume designer had to make something like 60 pieces in a month, it's kind of impressive that it came out as it did.

One funny bit, though, in this respect, is that they complain about how small the cottage is like some actual estate houses aren't the same size IRL XD Allenham we only get to see from afar, and it is rather disappointing.

Music: nothing to write home about, to be expected. Yes, we got one of those Vitamin String Quartet modern-song-played-by-strings. IDK. They were a bit dorky in their heyday, I don't know why they are so sought after in these pieces lately. I digress.

The acting. Deborah Ayorinde was a really good Elinor. She definitely deserved better writing and direction. The rest of the cast was good enough; I feel some roles really benefited from their characters being a bit hammy already in the source material (Lucy, Mrs Jennings, Anne, Fanny, Robert), others were really struggling because of being given very poor dialogue (Mrs Dashwood), and others were just... not good (Willoughby and Brandon, sadly). Edward was... a very special case. I can only describe it as the actor having two expressions: one, an attempt at reaching Hugh Grant's adorkableness AND Dan Stevens' ease at the same time, and two [SCREAMING INTERNALLY], but I guess those two were indeed enough to make it work just fine!

Which leads me to the writing. We all knew this adaptation was going to live or die in the writing, and most likely die.

The thing is that most of it is written around repeating 95' and 08's greatest hits, while attempting to compress the narrative into an hour and a half. And that goes as well as you can expect it to. Some scenes are painfully rushed -Brandon's backstory was extremely awkward to get through- some things are over before you have any time to assess their real weight -Marianne's illness, and many others end up being... incongruous.

Let me stop a little on those. The movie keeps Margaret, and gives her the whole play acting as a pirate with Edward from 95', but then removes the only real plot relevant thing she does in the book. So why keep the character at all? (Willoughby asks for Marianne's handkerchief in exchange for Queen Maab, instead of cutting a lock of her hair).

Because 2008 makes Brandon suspicious of Willoughby from the get go, this one makes it so that they know each other and implies that Brandon knows dirt on Willoughby, but then plays the rest of the story straight, which makes it... pretty inconsistent.

Speaking of Brandon, we have reached adaptation #5 that cuts out the fact that he tried to elope with Eliza sr. This time the backstory is that his father promised to let him marry Eliza if he proved himself as a soldier, but when he came back, he found his father has kicked her out of the house. Yeah, that was utter nonsense.

The adaptation makes a clumsy attempt at including the dinner at Mrs Ferrars... but Brandon isn't there to see Marianne defend Elinor.

We needed to have a "Brandon rescues Marianne in the rain" scene, but in this case, she's not faint or anything, he just grabs her because she's sad XD

And the list goes on and on and on. It was to be expected that the shadow of both 95 and 08 would be large over this one, but it truly is to the point that the references and contrivances are almost constant. Which is a pity because I think most of the original choices were interesting.

For example, Marianne twists her ankle running after Margaret, to try and stop her from asking something embarrassing, which is a good choice in terms of showing that Marianne is passionate, but she has more sense than Margaret.

On his deathbed, Mr Dashwood makes Elinor promise that she will take care of her mom and sisters and keep the family together. That added pressure on Elinor works really well in the context of the adaptation, and ads a new layer of interest.

John Dashwood is written mostly as a hapless but not malicious idiot. This is similar to what From Prada to Nada did (though there it made more sense because of the father having two families simultaneously), but I'm not sure where was that going. They did cut the Palmers, so I suppose the choice was so that they could go to Norland instead on their way to Barton (it is never established that Norland is so far away as it is in the book, so I guess one could give it a pass), but in that case, I feel the most cost effective shortcut is... have them go to Barton? Because we do get to see Barton (Marianne goes alone with Brandon to see it close to the end, and they get engaged before Edward returns, don't think much about it, manners and such are... for this movie... loose guidelines. But it isn't super offensive most of the time).

Anne Steele is decent fun as she's supposed to be, but Lucy really suffers the flattening. The mastermind has been flanderized into just a mean girl, and that's a pity.

Oh, Edward is sassy at times! And the sassy jokes land! I have to say it is not my preferred way of doing the character, but he does show some sass at the end of the novel, so, you know, I'll allow it I suppose XD

Edward's return and proposal started pretty good, but it overstayed its welcome. I cannot emphasize enough that, when writing this kind of proposal, you must avoid the word love if you can, and if you must use it, use it once, and with great reluctance.

The movie chooses to dedicate quite a time to the reveal of Edward and Lucy's relationship, and it's honestly... decent? For a scene made out of whole cloth it stands on its own feet reasonably well. But there's no Fanny freakout. This is probably the most shocking plot twist in the adaptation. This very on-the-nose Hallmark adaptation decided to cut the Fanny freakout of all things. Impressive restraint.

One thing, however, that was sadly cut out was Elinor and Marianne's conversation about Willoughby at Barton. It is instead replaced by an unsubtle comparison between Willoughby and Edward, and an exchange between Brandon and Marianne. It is one of the several points where the storytelling relies on previous knowledge of the work.

These are my main, disordered thoughts. I leave you with this choice from the ending, that I cannot form a thought about:

At Elinor and Edward's wedding, on the first pew are in attendance, from center to side: Mrs Dashwood, Margaret, Marianne, colonel Brandon... and Eliza Williams with her baby in her arms.

As a summary, I'd say Elinor and Edward's story was good enough, the relationship between the sisters was sweet, there were some odd choices, some interesting choices, and overall the writing was severely downgraded by attempting so much to stick to the choices of previous famous adaptations.

[not-your-bro]

do you have any ud hcs? It could be anything idc

ooh, free rein! sure sure. josh + chris are def the characters i most frequently rotate in my mind, so some stuff about them off the top of my head...

josh

film studies major. i must admit i don't adhere to the psych major he's given in canon, though director/producer roles aren't my first choice for him either. he goes all-in on tangible stuff for his prank, so i put him in the practical effects arena.

artist in his spare time, but big surprise he's cagey about it. like, chris sees josh's sketchbook in josh's room all the time, but he's never actually looked inside.

with both movie sfx + art, josh is practical > digital, and he only dips into digital effects or art when he absolutely needs to. i just think he's a tactile sort of guy who prefers to make things with his hands, so creating on a screen alone doesn't give him the same satisfaction.

on social media in that he has accounts, but they're sporadically active at best. he can be slow to respond to texts/dms and his responses can be short, which gives off the impression that he's disengaged or bored. he isn't, he just doesn't want to be on his phone.

this is a longstanding hc of mine that i've absolutely mentioned before, but: designed hannah's butterfly tattoo! didn't really understand why, he was like you know your tattoo artist can do one for you, right. but she insisted, and he obliged.

gay as fuck. realized young, came out young, very comfortable. as demonstrated by the fact that, much to everyone's annoyance, he wears shirts that say shit like 'employee of the month at the dick sucking factory' in public.

chris

ok, so i've reached the point where the chris in my mind looks different enough that i get a little jumpscared when i see him in-game LMAO. i hc him both taller and heavier. he's gotta be at least 6 ft. and a chris hartley who's thin is no chris hartley at all. not to me.

does not come from money, like lower middle class. i have two totally different hcs about his family that both feel real to me: one is that he's an only child, his parents divorced when he was a kid (old enough to understand, but not quite a teenager), and he lives with his mom. the other is that his parents are not divorced, and he has a big family - lots of siblings. i've been going with the former in my fic lately, but both work for me. the constant is that his family's economic situation is more precarious than most people in the friend group, and family trips with (and funded by) the washingtons were his primary vacations.

has adhd. i find 'always on his phone bc he just loooves technology' less interesting than 'always on his phone bc he has existing attention problems.' this went undiagnosed for a while, and his performance in school suffered for it.

speaking of, he is not all-around school smart. like, emily may have strengths and weaknesses (even if she'd never admit them), but she can swing As across the board. chris cannot. he's getting good grades in classes that interest him or cater to his solution-oriented brain, but he's terrible in any class where there's no right answer. english, art - he does not get it. love him to death but his media literacy is Bad

bi as fuck, but it was a journey. thought he was straight for a long time, dismissing any attraction to men as a 'who hasn't had gay thoughts' kind of thing. i think it took him a while to come to terms with it bc he had a lot of internalized shit to work through. if a friend came out as bi, he'd have been like cool 👍 but him? surely not! he got there eventually though.

wowee this is long. as a lil bonus hc for another character, i'll add that i don't think jess went to college - i think she went to a hair/beauty school. she loves what a social job it is, getting to chit chat with clients all day, and like josh, she does best when she's working with her hands.

[adamnablelittledevil]

Just finished Part I of The Vampire Lestat and here are my first impressions (I skipped IWTV *for now* since the show has already covered it... I'll read it eventually):

I can't tell yet if I like it or not.

So far, I enjoy the concept and the characters seem to be compelling. In terms of eventfulness, there hasn't been much, but I do have some interest in these people. They all appear to be complicated and have a lot of baggage, which I guess makes them appealing and gives the story potential. Let's see where this goes.

I don't hate, but I also don't love Anne's writing style. I don't think she narrates and describes things very well, she lingers on stuff I don't care that much for and doesn't provide details on things I'm actually curious about? There are some abrupt changes that annoy me sometimes as well.

I do believe this might be an attempt to get ourselves in the mind of Lestat and how he process to the world around him, though? It would make sense considering how chaotic he is.

Another thing I like is how he got so obsessed with the 20th Century, music and theater. The descriptions really give me the idea of someone experiencing the world for the first time (in a while) and considering how isolated he was growing up or after everything that happened with Louis/Claudia, it makes sense that he is so fascinated by all these discoveries. And it's really immersive and sweet to see how he in awe he is with all of it.

He also speaks like he is somebody born in the 1700s. So I give her credits for that as well.

Pretty sure Lestat is neurodivergent at this point (ADHD is basically a yes from me, maybe he has dyslexia and/or autism too).

And his memory is trash. So often he doesn't know if he actually did something, or if it were someone else, or if it was just a thought... I'm like, ARE YOU OKAY (he isn't)? By the way, this is painfully relatable because I also have poor short (and long-term) memory. Heaven help him (and moi).

That boy is a water sign if I've ever seen one.

He cries A LOT. I don't remember ever seeing any (book/show/movie) character cry that much, specially in such a short time lol. And the fact this is coming from a man and not a woman... There you go with defying gender norms, king!

Lestat having Borderline Personality Disorder isn't even a headcanon at this point, but a FACT.

He probably hasn't been hugged enough times in his life and it SHOWS.

Even with the abuse in his family, his frustration with his mother and the "malady of mortality", he manages to stay optimistic in a way that feels so childlike and naive that makes my heart warm and ache for him. I'm like, you deserve better.

Again, I don't know if I'm enjoying or not, but I do like the fact I can imagine Sam's Lestat doing all of this on season 3. Picturing Sam bringing these moments to life is the BEST PART of the reading.

Would I still read these books if the show never existed? That's what I need to find out.

I can see why some people got so invested in this character, though. At least for now. Some stuff hit close to home and I find myself rooting for him. I imagine that for the ones who read it at as a teenager, it must've made them feel less alone and seen to some extent.

At this moment, it's Lestat > Gabrielle > Nicholas for me.

Lestat's father isn't a person I care about, but depending on how the show adapts him, I guess it could be a good opportunity for a blind actor. It would be killing two birds with one stone, because it would develop Lestat's backstory, but also give space for a category that barely gets any job in the industry. I would love to see a powerful guest star that is a an actual disabled person playing a disabled character. Sure, we would hate him, but if someone manages to show their potential, book more roles and maybe even earn an award or nomination, why not?

Whenever Lestat talks about kissing his mother I get confused if the incest is already happening or not lol. Because I normally would just imagine a platonic kiss on the cheek or forehead and I haven't seen anything explicitly inappropriate. I don't know if it's because I'm reading the Brazilian Portuguese version, or if Anne wasn't that clear, or maybe I'm slow and naive, but nothing big seems to have happened? But I'm familiar with those spoilers, so... Anyway, whatever. It's not like I was counting the days to read about incest, so I don't really care about it being evident or not. I just mean that for now they seem to be more of a "parent that didn't want kids, but cares for him in a distant, but still real way and child that seeks for any crumbs of love and affection" kind of relationship.

Speaking of that, Lestat is SO DESPERATE for love, omg. Nicki was basically the first person besides his mother that was nice to him and he told the guy ALL OF HIS LIFE STORY AND FELL IN LOVE almost immediately? Get up!

Peak BPD/ADHD/maybe autistic/water sign/Scorpio behavior. MY GOD.

Still don't know how to picture Gabrielle and who I fancast playing her. I do think I have some sense of who she is now, which is nice. I also have some actors that could pass for Sam's parent and have the appropriate age to play her in my mental library, but I can't form a face yet. Not the face of a real actress or even an imaginary face, it's just a blur so far. Which sucks because I loooooooooove imagining fancasts, specially for a show as great as this one, but I'm just waiting for the revelation to come to me lmao.

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Sorry to bring up "Uglies" again, but this discourse has been so infuriating, and I promise it is relevant to the theme of your blog:

Not sure what it is about the movie, but it showed previously unknown lows of media literacy (which is impressive), and one that is particularly... interesting to me is how people have reacted to Laverne Cox, who for those not knowing her, is a black trans woman who is not just a quite famous actress, but also an outspoken advocate for queer people, playing the villain Dr. Cable.

Dr. Cable is the de-facto leader of the city the movie takes place in, and a cyborg super soldier. This dystopian regime, and that is where the issue lies, mostly relies on beauty culture to keep people under control, though that is far from the only thing. Specifically, people get plastic surgery at sixteen to eradicate discrimination based on looks - and the scary part is, they succeeded at least at the surface, making this world indeed almost feeling like an utopia. Almost.

I can see how this can be misinterpreted in a transphobic way if you really want to and disregard most of the canon and message, which is that forcing people into uniformity based on arbitrary standards is bad, which very much is a statement against cisheteronormativity. The series doesn't have any canon queerness because it was published in 2005, and for the movie presumably from a mix of wanting to stay true to the source material and desperately trying to make it more mainstream appealing, but it feels quite queer subtextual.

Now comes the really infuriating part: The people I saw being the most worried and the most aggressive about Laverne Cox playing Dr. Cable were not TERFs and other fascists. Now, I haven't combed through the entire twitter tag because I value my sanity, so there probably are some who indeed realized that they could misinterpret that for their advantage, but the transphobes I saw didn't got into the plastic surgery ankle. They just spewed the usual uncreative bullshit they always say ("thats a man" etc).

But left-leaning people in the tumblr tag... "Forced into plastic surgery by a trans woman for the woke agenda" - You wanted to miss the point so badly, buddy... "Hmm, a trans woman forcing children into plastic surgery and brainwashing them, is it just me or was that written as a piece of fascist propaganda" - It is just you, not just was it written in 2005, Scott Westerfeld (author) also is an outspoken queer ally since at least 2003, where he featured a sapphic couple in his space opera "The Risen Empire" and since then he has tried to use his platform to help queer people, including going on several fights with fucking J. K. Rowling over trans advocacy.

It just is this age old problem of "if you write a minority as anything than a perfect hero, you are a bigot or at least help bigots". Which feels so condescending.

Now, I know that actors are obliged to market their movies, but again, Laverne Cox is a very famous actress, and also she does queer advocacy since what, at least ten years? I don't even know her, but it feels so condescending and insulting to her insisting that she must be too dumb or brainwashed or something to notice that a role could harm her community. She doesn't need the money, and she would have had the power to just step out. On her instagram, she is quite enthusiastic about the role, even saying that she looked forward playing such a character for once.

Another layer of this is that most of the people complaining about her playing Dr. Cable aren't even trans. A small number are, but the majority are just cis people.

It just feels so icky.

Now, I know most marginalized people don't feel this way, but when I personally see a villain with my identities (who isn't a caricature of said identities, but just happens to share them) I feel empowered, not insulted. Being a horrible person, making bad choices and going on power trips is part of humanity too, and by insisting that all minorities are only ever allowed to be perfect, you do not just infantalize them, you strip them of their humanity, counter-intuitive as that sounds.

Dr. Cable is not a trans caricature. In the book we don't even know if she is cis or trans (and also not what her ethnicity is). Her main arc is that she thinks she needs to protect this utopia with all means necessary, stripping away parts of her humanity in the process and getting more and more brutal and paranoid until her hubris brings her downfall. That is not a trans-only story.

It is not even a woman-only story. In fact, this is a kind of villain arc women are hardly ever allowed to have. Yes, I am aware how this brutality can intersect with harmful trans and black stereotypes, but also she is such an interesting character, and it just doesn't feel right to say that black people or trans people should not allowed to have interesting villain characters.

.

[autumn-foxfire]

Wearing my Van Gogh sunflowers pajamas to watch movie 19: the hellfire sunflowers! What's not to love about this film, Art and KID.

Kaito spotted!

The amount of money the rich have disgusts me. I like Jirokichi but I know that this is really how the rich spend their money while the rest of the world suffers.

To be able to make Kamen Yaiba out of a watermelon is impressive.

Ai calling out Shinichi for his interest in art more than the professors invention (I don't blame him), I love thier friendship.

Sonoko has said she's not really interested in taking on the family name but she would be good at the job. It's no wonder that Jirokichi chose her to accompany him to make this announcement.

Shinichi is so close to the screen T-T The boys is obssessed. I don't blame him though.

Shinichi is so goddamn dramatic. "I only saw that for a moment but was that really my husband?" as the camera spins around him. If that was Kaito than DAAAMN. We don't appreciate his mad skills enough.

And he's slipped into his favourite disguise, his husband.

I love women looking out for other women. We vibe.

Ran's outfit is very cute for a change.

Kaito seeing Sonoko on the phone: Well, that's my cue to leave.

Shinichi you know your husband wouldn't put people in danger like that. Shame on you!

Kaito: The things I do for art (and my assistant).

The should be thanking Kaito, really, he just saved that piece of art.

SONOKO CALLING OUT TO RAN T-T SHE LOVES HER SO MUCH. She doesn't know if they'll survive and her last thoughts are for her closest friend. Fuck I adore that.

Shinichi after avoiding being hit by an airplane: I think my life just flashed before my eyes.

I love how the Shinichi's priorities are KID while Ran's are her friends.

Ran really thought you just fucking DIED Shinichi. And Shinichi is too busy with Kaito T-T I hurt for her but also I just want to scream about how when Kaito is in the picture, he has Shinichi's complete attention like a man possessed.

Round two with the Iron Tanuki.

The one thing the movies do that is close to canon is having Shinichi show so little care for Ran's feelings and I wish they wouldn't. Can he not be such an awful friend to her.

Sonoko and Kaito need to be come friends. Kaito deserves a friend like her who will defend him to the death.

Shinichi is also aware there is something off about what's happening with KID and wants to discover the mystery his husband is leaving for him.

Come on kids T-T Look at the other pieces of art! It's not often you get to see such amazing pieces.

I know this old women is important to the plot but can we not imply romance just from two people who trust one another greatly. I adore Shinichi and Ai's relationship because they're partners in crime and have promised to watch each other's backs.

Be careful of this transport service, the last one borrowed Scream for a picture in his house.

Kogoro: Stop making noise!

Shinichi: I'm literally fucking helping you useless drunk.

Shinichi is so confused about what's going on T-T Poor guy's like "this isn't like my husband..."

Of course the American is like "I need a gun".

Well, at least Charlie is acknowledging that Shinichi is useful and is helping him look at the screens.

And he was right because only Shinichi would notice something so small.

Kaito is like: I'm going to redistribute all this wealth!

Well done king. I hope people managed to grab a few of the bills.

I don't think this is how Jirokichi wants to be remembered XD

When you can't extort a ticket from Agasa, go to the ones running the competition XD

The children should be grateful Shinichi is so obsessed with Kaito as they only got the tickets because he's useful to Jirokichi.

Shinichi: Kill my husband and I will make you regret it

Ah, that's Jii.

At least Kaito is playing the role of Shinichi very well, avoiding his love interest to the best of his ability.

Thank you Ai for being a responsible guardian for the children. I don't know why you were the only one made to do so. I know why Ran has gone with Shinichi and Sonoko, but she should have stayed behind to look after them to ensure their safety.

Shinichi has finally figured out why his husband is being weird. It took him the whole movie

I was going to say this movie lacked murder. Nevermind, though it's never shown on screen. Well, it's not much of a murder but more self-defence even if the brother never meant to kill him, he was still using a gun.

KAITO MY BABY T-T

Kaito: SHINICHI TELL ME YOU'RE NOT!

Shinichi: I am! (Kicks debris at the painting)

And they have Ran's incredibly strength to free it.

He's jealous that he's not the one hugging Kaito :p

Awww, Kaito really was relying on Shinichi to figure it out. It's no wonder the next movie has them properly team up.

Stop flirting with one another! Your lives are in danger!

Shinichi stop taking credit for Kaito's work. He saved the sunflowers. Well he and Ran.

Shinichi is just calling out this woman's bullshit. This is what happens when people believe they're better than mutlple experts (cough what happened with Covid).

Kaito: GODDAMNIT IT SHINICHI!

And there's the necessary forced Ran and Shinichi romance. At least it happened between her and KID so it was more like filling the quota.

Kaito: Please say you made it out, Shinichi.

KAITO ABOUT TO REVEAL HIMSELF DESPITE THE DANGER HE'S IN HIMSELF BECAUSE HE'S CONCERNED FOR SHINICHI T-T

What would have made this movie better if Kaito did just rush out of the trees and into the water to save Shinichi. He's done it before.

Movie Kogoro is being a decent and caring guardian. You only see it rarely.

I just want to appreciate how good he looks.

LMAO KAITO STOLE AGASA'S TICKET. I THOUGHT HE JUST TOOK THE ONE SONOKO GOT FOR SHINICHI.

[love-little-lotte]

A Look Into My New Guilty Pleasure: Poldark (2015 Series)

My biggest weakness is period dramas — especially period dramas with a talented cast, sweeping romance, terrific scenes (preferably set in some kind of country/provincial side), and lots and lots and lots of just sitting around and talking.

That's probably why Poldark has captured my heart. As a big fan of Outlander, it's no surprise that I fell in love with this show. Outlander and Poldark have so many similarities that I may make a lengthy post about it, but for today, let me just rant about my new guilty pleasure. I'm so obsessed with this show that I actually finished watching the entire five seasons in one week!

Poldark is based on Winston Graham's novels and adapted by Debbie Horsfield. I was so excited to start this show, with a male protagonist originally written by a man, created and written for a series by a woman. I haven't read Graham's novels (I'm going to one of these days, I swear!), so I'm not sure how well Debbie's adaption worked. I've read many Reddit threads, though, and some fans of the novel are not that impressed with how she omitted and added details to the show (will get back to this once I've read the books or at least the seven ones that were used in the show). The show has also been adapted in the 70s, so this was not the first time Graham's novels were seen onscreen!

Despite not having read the books, I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the cast! The show follows Ross Poldark returning to Cornwall after fighting in the American War in the 1780s. He looks forward to marrying his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth but, believing him to be dead, is now engaged to his cousin Francis. He then tries to resurrect his family's mining business and hires a young girl Demelza to be his kitchen maid (whom he eventually marries) while also crossing paths with the villain George Warleggan, a corrupted banker who stops at nothing to ruin Ross's prospects and personal life. As the show progresses, we also meet other characters, including Prudie and Jud, Ross's servants, Verity, Ross's cousin and Francis's sister; Ross's friend Dr. Dwight Enys and his love interest Caroline Penvenen; Sam and Drake Carne, Demelza's brothers, and Morwenna Chynoweth, Drake's love interest.

Yes, this show has a large ensemble cast, and trust me, there always comes a point when you hate or love them. Especially our protagonist Ross Poldark. Ross... is an interesting character. He's terribly, terribly flawed and many times times, I'm so infuriated with him to the point that I want him to suffer. I swear, you cannot go through this series without screaming at Ross. (When that moment came up in Season 2, I swear I had my middle finger ready every time Ross showed up on my screen from then on.)

But my favorite character in the show is Demelza, Ross's wife who started as his kitchen maid. She's the heart of the show, the voice of reason, and even though she makes questionable decisions along the way, you can't help but get on her side no matter what. She's the perfect fiery yet gentle match to Ross's stubbornness. He treats her like shit many times in this show, which makes me angry to no end, but they eventually grow to be understanding, loving partners.

And it also helps that Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson have one of the best romantic chemistries I've ever seen. They're terrific actors as well and they bring the characters to life so effortlessly. They just seem like they have the best time shooting this show. I kind of want to rewatch Loving Vincent now just because they're in that movie, even just in supporting roles.

Poldark is a roller coaster, with so many ups and downs (mostly downs, to be honest, please give Demelza a break!) My favorite season has got to be Season 1. Season 1 had the best Ross and I loved the early stages of his relationship with Demelza. It also has my favorite episode: Season 1, Episode 8. That episode broke me so much, thanks to Aidan and Eleanor's perfect performances. It's the only time I ever cried watching this show. I usually cry in period dramas (I've cried countless times in Outlander and Downton Abbey), but for some reason, I only cried once in Poldark. Most of the time, I'm annoyed and infuriated (hahaha but I still love it!)

The romance in Poldark is also quite unique, something I haven't seen before. Ross and Demelza emotionally hurt each other many times in this show, and they don't have the best communication. It's not an ideal marriage, but that's what makes it so raw and real. It hurts when Ross sleeps with his first love Elizabeth or when Demelza falls for the much-sensitive Hugh Armitage, but these are challenges people face all the time, and it's interesting to view it in characters and circumstances through 18th-century lenses. Plus, it can be very tiring to see perfect couples onscreen all the time. So watching Ross and Demelza's relationship thrive, suffer, and reconcile is very refreshing to me.

Nevertheless, Ross and Demelza are still able to work together. Seasons 2 and 3 showcase the worst moments of their marriage, from infidelities to insecurity, but the love between them still perseveres and they learn to forgive. In the end, they realize that they belong together.

And despite the unconventional marriage, Poldark is not a stranger to grand romantic gestures. Two of my favorite Ross and Demelza moments occur in Season 2:

A real funny, old-married-couple type of bicker in The Beach Scene:

And of course, showing all intimacy in The Stocking Scene:

(Let's just not talk about what happened 2 episodes after this!)

The romance in Poldark not only ends with Ross and Demelza. We also got two really good couples in the series: Dwight and Caroline and Drake and Morwenna.

And these love stories don't just happen! They're fleshed-out characters with proper backgrounds and their own problems, especially Drake and Morwenna's relationship. Morwenna is one of my favorite characters, and she doesn't deserve all the shit thrown at her. The last season of Poldark is not the best (bordering on bad, actually, especially the last two episodes), but watching Drake and Morwenna get their happy ending is worth it.

Finishing all five seasons is bittersweet. I enjoyed most of the story and fell in love with different characters. I kind of regret watching everything in one week haha. But what can I say? As soon as I finish each episode, I'm so tempted to start another episode. I think the last time I stayed up until 5 AM the next morning to watch TV shows was Yellowjackets. Poldark's just too good to binge! It's one of my favorite TV shows now. Maybe I'll watch Sanditon next...

I want to write more about Poldark soon, maybe a comparison with Outlander or maybe just a post about each character. I realized I hadn't talked much about Elizabeth, Francis, and George in this post; I was too preoccupied with the love story aspects and Ross and Demelza. We'll see!

[bdzonthareel]

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Ladies, Gentleman, Zems, and Thems! IIIIIIIIT’S SHOWTIME! Now that I have that out of my system, we’ve waited roughly 30 years for a proper sequel and the question is was it worth the wait? Let’s answer that question.

Lydia Deetz (Winnona Ryder) has become estranged from her teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega) as she has made a career from her ability to see the dead. And on top of that, she’s started to see visions of “The Ghost with The Most” himself Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) who is also (pardon the pun) being haunted by a ghost from his past… literally. So it will take an uneasy alliance to help solve each other’s problems.

Like many other studios have been doing for 20 years or so, WB (which is guilty of multiple offenses of this) is relying heavily on nostalgia. And while there are multiple instances of good or bad examples, there are some that toe the line and this is one such case.

Michael Keaton slips back into the role of the titular character like an old pair of shoes. He's still got it.

It was great seeing most of the original cast return, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder had such amazing chemistry on screen, the years have not eroded that.

Justin Theroux was delightfully scummy as Rory, he was doing some damn fine scenery chewing.

As Tim Burton tends to do, he has added yet another of his favorite collaborators to the cast, Jenna Ortega fresh from her run as Wednesday Addams. She clearly had fun in this performance and I have no complaints with her performance.

Willem Dafoe showcases his comedic talents as he tends to in roles like that.

Monica Bellucci was there.

The vfx took a different route from the predecessor, Burton decided to use CGI for the more fantasy based elements. Such as the Sandworm, but there were sometimes when I couldn’t tell for certain if it was CGI or stop motion, either way I was impressed.

The Danny Elfman score is what you would expect from the longtime collaborator of Tim Burton.

The movie’s biggest issue is that it’s bloated, 2 of the 4 plot points could have been removed and it would have been a more cohesive film. Monica Bellucci was wasted here, and that was kind of disappointing.

But I had a lovely time, I wholeheartedly was satisfied with the final product, and think it’s worth at least a second watch.

I give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 3.5 out of 5.

[mathoinyanarts]

Beetlejuice 2 actually just bummed me out

Man, I was so hyped for this film, and in the end I was just kinda...eh.

There were moments that made me laugh, but like in the end it was an all around let down. It felt like a series of events just happening until it all collided into...nothing really

Spoilers from here on out

Biggest problem. The trailers made it seem Delores was gonna have a bigger role, but looking back, other than the plotline where Beetlejuice wants to marry Lydia so he won't have to get back with Delores, they could've gotten rid of her and come up with a new motivation.

But I'm not saying get rid of her tho, I wish she could've had a bigger role. While we saw her in small chunks throughout the film, I think having it crescendo at the end to her being the main threat would've been much more satisfying, instead of her just getting fucking sandwormed along with the loser fiance dude, who honestly got way too many lines for how purposefully annoying as hell they made him.

I get that was the point with his character, he's this movie's version of Otho, same snootiness and all, but even the first movie used Otho sparingly...

At least this guy was more deserving of being sandwormed lol

Willem Dafoe character was also one I wish had a bigger role, literally didn't do anything in the end either. His job was to tell Beetle about Delores, and then get frozen at the climax to achieve nothing ultimately, which is part of the joke I guess.

The beginning of the movie focuses on setting up a lot, but then the writers clearly realized how bloated their script, was at the end, cause then they just started doing stuff like, getting rid of one of the antagonists, sidelining one of the antagonists, and then sidelining another antagonist, and then introducing Astrid's father, which, I have like a theory that was made as a substitute for an Adam and Barbara reunion, cause like, it really just felt super tacked on.

If anything a Barbara and Adam reunion would've made more sense, but I get that Alec Baldwin is kinda... in trouble, and Geena Davis is...Actually I dunno what she's doing :v

And I know I'm complaining a lot for something that's like a solid 6, but like, I can't stop thinking that like, did this have to be made? Did this specific sequence of events have to be made? I'm not asking for hype bait, I'm not asking for like a big crossover, I'm asking for the writers to have looked at their script one more time lol

Cause like this bloated sequence of events just kind of led to something that made me go... ok😐

The biggest red flag when I first saw the trailer was seeing that at least 2 of the main writers were writers for Wednesday, like, I cannot with that show😔

There were in fact positives that I might illustrate in a future post, but that was my first impression. I just left the theater feeling like I wanted my money back;-;

[burst-of-iridescent]

atla live action thoughts: episodes 7 & 8

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

i keep forgetting to say this but i love the stylization of the opening credits it looks so elegant

northern water tribe looks beautiful. the spirit oasis is stunning, this show almost never fails to deliver on visuals

i fucking KNEW they were going to end the season with azula producing lightning for the first time and it looks great i won't lie. can't wait for her blue fire

the pakku v katara fight is not bad actually, though it obviously doesn't hold a candle to the original. glad they kept the ice discs moment in because that was iconic and it does have a nice set-up of her learning it from the earthbenders

i do like that they allow aang to interact with different avatars and that they all give him different perspectives. it highlights the differences in their personalities and how the role of the avatar had to be adapted to the times they lived in

i can't remember exactly what it was but aang's line about how this isn't his world or his time went hard

"i underestimated zhao" "funny i figured that out as i was swimming away from the burning wreckage of my boat" i live for sassy zuko

good decision to take out pakku only deciding to teach katara because she was kanna's granddaughter. that reeked of exceptionalism and never sat right with me, so i appreciate that she at least proves herself and also that she includes the other women in the tribe when pushing him to let them fight

yugoda getting to yell at pakku for being a misogynistic idiot is exactly what she deserves, you tell him queen

KOIZILLA!!

seeing the fall of omashu to azula was an addition that made a lot of sense, and sets up the return to omashu episode in the next season nicely

things i disliked:

yue's wig was atrocious. can't believe i'm saying this but the shyamalan movie did it better. amber midthunder deserved so much better

the misogyny arc was a godforsaken mess. the northern water tribe is still sexist... but no one seems to be sexist except for pakku?? chief arnook seems to be grooming yue to take over as chief, the other male waterbenders are impressed by katara and respect her right away, yue seems to have a lot of autonomy, hahn is respectful and kind, and then pakku himself changes his mind on women fighting pretty much within one day. so what was the point of including it at all?

this show has completely nuked katara's rage. she would not be calmly announcing that she's fighting pakku as though it was a calculated decision because it very much wasn't! it was her sense of righteousness and outrage over injustice taking over and it hurts me deeply that they removed that because it's so important to who she is! i needed to see a LOT more power and fury in her in this scene but instead it felt extremely lukewarm

KATARA AND AANG NEVER. FUCKING. LEARN. WATERBENDING. for a show that marketed itself so heavily with the tagline "master your element" there isn't a lot of mastering going on here?? i'm sorry i don't buy at ALL that katara would be able to become a master with One waterbending scroll and watching some earthbenders. i know she's a prodigy but no one can be THAT prodigious. and it really makes her fight with zuko and subsequently being called master katara fall flat because i don't think i've been shown enough to justify that

also hate that my girl got knocked out halfway through the zutara fight because of the moon wtaf let her kick zuko's ass

a moment of silence for "aren't you a big girl now" and "you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun" you will always be famous

despite knowing the avatar needs to learn waterbending, pakku and arnook just?? walk away?? when they find out he hasn't??? SOMEONE TEACH THIS POOR BOY AN ELEMENT OTHER THAN AIR. ANY ELEMENT, I'M BEGGING

real quick, who had "momo saves a random little girl from falling rock only to be nearly killed and saved by yue and sokka in the spirit oasis" on their live action bingo? no one, that's who, BECAUSE THAT'S FUCKING BONKERS. people are dying all around them but sokka and yue decide this is the time to fuck off to save a lemur?? please be so fr

iroh telling zuko to remember his breath of fire when this show has not once established (at least, iirc) that power in firebending comes from the breath is... something. heavily dislike how little focus was given to the intricacies of learning bending in this series

HATE that they removed zhao dying because of koizilla and gave it to iroh instead. that was such a great moment of karmic justice for zhao and really highlighted how he brought about his own downfall through his pride and arrogance. i know they tried to show zuko's compassion by having him spare zhao and walk away (as a callback to the agni kai i'm guessing) but zuko risking himself to save the life of the man who tried to kill him in the original just hit SO much harder.

the pacing of the north pole arc in general was FAR too rushed. at least in the original animation we got the sense that they'd spent weeks there, but in the show it feels like it's been a couple of days MAX. there had to be much more time to build up the threat of the fire nation and the yue/sokka relationship

the sense of time passing was a problem i anticipated the show would have from the start because 8 episodes just feels shorter than 20, but i wish they'd at least done some montages or something to make it seem like time was passing between episodes. as it is, it felt like every episode picked up right after the previous and so the whole season felt like it happened within a week or two. which is a shame because it weakens the epic scale of their journey in having to cross the entire world

overall rating: 6/10. unfortunately i think these episodes were the weakest of the series both in quality of writing and entertainment value, but still fun to watch for the most part