#like one would think all these movies have been analyzed frame by frame

[tonystarkfucksaround]

So... something that I noticed: there’s a direct cut between these two scenes, and Erik’s hand is not where it actually landed on the second shot.

And it just striked me how close he actually was to cupping Charles’ face in that moment, or stroking his cheek, you can see it--

I don’t know if it was a deliberate decision to make Erik move his hand away so as not to make the gesture too intimate, but you know what? Either way it makes it even better. It means that Erik didn’t just hold Charles still, he grasped at him, either stroking his chest or just trying to clutch at him tighter, making sure that he was still there, still alive, and that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t quite dare to touch Charles’ face.

This heartbreaking scene just became a tad more heartbreaking for me, wow.

[yesimwriting]

okay but after the whole lucy gray thing we know coryo was done with “love” and everything BUT what if during the following year of thg he ends up falling in love with another tribute also from district 12 and he’s just going through it bad (again) however he somehow ends up actually getting the girl in the end, maybe even buying her way into the capitol

A/n I've been thinking about a very specific part of this since i first read it but i told myself no more fic writing until i finished at least one of my essays for finals seasons 😭

also ik in the book (and it's implied in the movie) that after the events of the book he lives with the plinths, but let's pretend he lives on his own with access to the plinth fortune for privacy

ik that makes it sound like it's smutty, but it's not lol

----

Proximity aggravates distance. The closer you are to something, the more damage any remaining space causes.

The few feet dividing the two of you have no right to jab at something inside of him the way it does. It's bad enough that instead of going to bed after a long night of fulfilling his apprenticeship duties under Volumnia's watchful eye, he stopped by your apartment. Only one floor away from his.

For months, the only thing holding the two of you together had been memories of those few nights before the Games.

Coriolanus's attempt to remain indifferent towards you had quickly failed, and his backup plan of learning to loathe you had proven to be just as useless. So he settled on letting you unabashedly take his hand whenever fear overwhelmed you and committing the way your kind eyes watched him to memory.

You're looking around the room--his room--openly, eyes darting from the mahogany surface of his desk to the details elegantly carved into his bed frame.

His fingertips itch with the uncertain desire to reach for you. You've only been in the Capitol for about a day and a half. Less than 48 hours. But the move, the beginning of a program for certain, qualifying victors and their families, had been planned for months.

You shouldn't feel like a phantom that'll vanish if he lets go for too long. "What are you thinking about?"

The question grounds you the same way it did last time he asked. You do your best to hide it, but you're still adjusting, still surprised that he managed to find a way to bring you together again. Just like he promised. Your doubt isn't personal, a fact he has to remind himself of.

"I'm just..." You tilt your head slightly, gaze retreating from the royal blue wallpaper and silver trim of his bedroom walls, "Analyzing."

The comment is followed by an easygoing smile that pinches at something in his chest. His new apartment, the penthouse of one of the largest buildings in the city, another gift from the ever flowing well that is the Plinth fortune, still reeks of former poverty. The few things that hint at the personal are hidden behind layers of desperate wealth so thick the items might as well be standard.

A lifetime spent in 12 means that there's no way you can read between the lines. He can't decide if your perspective will make this room look worse or better. It's a nice bedroom, definitely grander than any bedroom you've stood in before...but it's understated. Maybe even disappointing to someone like you.

"Analyzing?"

You turn fully, "A bedroom says a lot about a person."

"You might get more out of analyzing my study," an oddly school boy worthy partial truth slips out before he can stop himself, "I think I've been spending more time there than here recently."

You shake your head once, eyes landing on the crimson red vase filed with crisp white roses his grandma'am had gifted him on his last visit. Her pride and joy now more than ever. "I'm seeing all I need."

A hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. It's the most genuine expression that's slipped past him in weeks. When he first worked out a way to bring you here, some doubting part of him wondered if the draw he felt towards you would still exist in person.

Less than two weeks after your victorious departure from the Capitol, he had searched through your files and found your address. He had written the letter in a moment of weakness and only sent it after deciding that writing a letter to never be sent is the only thing more pathetic than writing to you in the first place. He had spent the week following that wallowing in self loathing until an age-stained envelope arrived at his door.

"And what are you seeing?" He keeps his tone light. This is ridiculous. He dragged himself and his family out of a gutter clogged by the casualties of war. Coriolanus is stronger than fleeting emotion now. Your opinions on his room can't possibly affect him.

If he were to simplify what brought you here, to the Capitol, to him, he could blame it on his bedroom. The urge to see you, to figure out some way the two of you closer together before your undeserving district could swallow you whole in an attempt to make you like them, would flare up whenever he received one of your letters.

Those urges, however, had never burned him. Not until you wrote about wanting to see him out of the most curious nostalgia you'd ever felt. You wanted to see him in a way that'd let you know what his room looked like, in a way that'd let you guess at his favorite color.

He takes a few steps forward, making the conscious decision to not reach for you. You've never rejected his advances, not even when he instinctually intertwined your fingers after picking you and your family up from the train station. You had scolded him after, telling him that you'd hear no end of it from your mother. It took a lot of focus for Coriolanus to not smile at that. You spoke of it like it would've never occurred to you to just pull your hand away.

Your eyes shift from end of the room to the other. Coriolanus moves carefully, passing you before sitting at the edge of his crisply made bed.

"Before you make your decision..." You turn instinctually, expression so polite and expecting he almost doesn't know how to bear it. His hand briefly pats the space beside him in a silent invitation. "So you can see it from all perspectives."

Your head tilts slightly, and for a moment, Coriolanus can practically feel your rejection. Then you move, sock clad feet treading over smooth white-gray marble. You sit next to him so assuredly, anyone else would have taken the way you neatly fold your hands in your lap as politeness instead of a display of nerves.

Your family's presence makes you less pliable. It's a factor he's willing to work around considering that you would've never left them to come to the Capitol. And even if he had managed to talk you into it, your nostalgia and homesickness would've made you more of a ghost to him than before.

At least the position your family's in is uncertain enough to allow for some leeway in the social norms that you cling to. However, every once in awhile it hits you that at the end of the day, he's still a boy that you're close to, which means that it's your duty to create the distance necessary to keep everything proper. Leaving your bedroom in the middle of the night because said boy knocked at your door and then entering his room in his empty penthouse is something you would've done under normal circumstances.

But your connection isn't that black and white. If it was something so simple, he would have been able to sever it the night before your Games.

"It makes all the difference," you agree warmly, and only somewhat sarcastically. You give yourself another second to take in the space, "I like it."

He can tell that you mean it. "I haven't fully settled in yet."

You shrug, paying him little mind, "There's something about it that just feels like you."

Coriolanus shifts his focus to the ground. You can't possibly mean it in the way that he sees the room, as a reminder that he still doesn't fully fit into who he's become.

"I've been meaning to pick up a few things," he says, "Tomorrow, after my classes, I was thinking about browsing some paintings." Another half truth. He had been meaning to. Mrs. Plinth had instructed him to visit her art dealer whenever he had enough free time to pick out a few pieces to demonstrate his taste. He'd been putting it off as a dismissable task, but it feels like a safe way to give you your first taste of life in the Capitol. "If you'd like to help me pick some out."

You smile, eyebrows pinching together in a way that's just barely noticeable. You're as interested as you are puzzled. "I'd like that." Relaxing enough to let your hand rest between the two of you, you beam, "I don't know if I'd be much help, but I'd like that."

He'd be willing to get anything that caught your eye. Paintings and vases already with such an exclusive art dealer hold more or less the same level of standing, anyway.

Coriolanus moves his hand slowly, careful not to startle you before his fingers can settle against your own. You instinctually turn over your palm, intertwining your fingers. "I trust you."

You stare at him with wide, understanding eyes. Sometimes when you look at him, really look at him, Coriolanus is struck with the feeling that you can see right through him. It's an irrational feeling, that every good action and cruel deed is reflected in his eyes. Moments like this make it hard to be near you. They also, however, make the thought of adding distance between the two of you unbearable.

"I have an early class."

You dip your chin forward in an attempt to accept what you're considering a dismissal. "Right, you must be tired." The words sit between you for a long moment.

Your free hand presses into the silk of your still new pajamas. You shift like you're going to stand. His hold on your hand tightens before you can move away. You still.

He's being ridiculous. There's nothing about this situation that warrants his inability to look at you. "Stay here." His thumb runs across your knuckles. "With me."

The words are soft enough to be a request, but there's not enough space between them for questioning. He cautiously lifts his head enough to take in your reaction.

"What?" It's a display of shock more than an actual question. Coriolanus squeezes your hand even tighter. You don't try to get him to let go, but you do shift away just enough to create the reminder of distance. "You know I can't."

His other hand reaches forward, settling against your wrist. "Why not?" He doesn't mean for his voice to come off as raspy, as desperate as it does.

You swallow, attempting to straighten your spine in an attempt to offset the instinctual urge to hide your face. This isn't a topic you're even comfortable implying. "My mother would kill me if she so much as found out that I came up here so late, let alone..." You trail off, head dropping to your lap. "Stayed here."

He envelops your hand between both of his. "She knows we're friendly."

You look up just long enough to imply a pointed not that friendly. "It's--" You blink, eyes darting from to your joint hands and then finally to the ground. "You know it's..."

Coriolanus leans forward. The shift is small, just enough for his knee to brush against yours. "It's what?" He keeps his voice low, a barely there whisper that comes off as so innocent it nearly circles back to anything but.

You glance up, so wide eyed and flighty he's reminded of a rabbit. The level of precaution you're exuding can't just be about your mother's opinions, can it? He studies your expression openly, taking in the set of your eyebrows and the way you steadily press your lips together to avoid speaking without thinking. At least some part of you believes in your mother's concerns.

The realization strike shim so quickly he has to focus on keeping his expression neutral. Your bond is so much more than just coming together on a random night where exhaustion's already clouding his focus.

It will happen between the two of you. Eventually. But not yet. You've barely entered the Capitol and every aspect of your life has become vastly different than what you're accustomed to. If he were to attempt to cement any relationship between the two of you like that now, you'd be too overwhelmed or you might think that that's the only reason he brought you here.

He learned early on that it's best to introduce adjustments to you slowly, giving you enough time to hold onto ideas before enacting them. Anything of that nature would work that way too.

"I haven't been able to see much of you." He focuses on your hand, still resting safely between both of his. The words came out too quickly, a flash of some genuine sort of emotion that claw at him on the way out. With you, sometimes a glimpse of feeling works wonders.

Your thumb draws gentle patterns against the side of his hand. "You're busy." He relaxes his hand, turning over his palm. You place his hand on your knee, fingers tracing the natural creases etched into his skin. "You're important."

The way that last word comes out makes an uncertain warmth crawl up his neck. "I--I've wanted to see you more." Another thing he means so much it turns his stomach to admit it.

Your nail drags down a line that cuts across the length of his hand. "Me too."

He bends his fingers slowly, moving in until he's trapped your pointer finger against his palm. "Then stay." You twist your finger enough to express some lighthearted irritation, but not enough to count as a real attempt at escaping. "If your mother says anything, I'll explain it to her." You glare at him without any true aggression. "She likes me, doesn't she?"

Coriolanus already knows the answer. She credits your survival to him. You had mentioned that in a letter once, telling him that she insisted you pass along her gratitude after discovering that the two of you had started to correspond regularly.

He also saw the way she reacted to realizing that she had made it to the Capitol. Your mother's family had once been part of the wealthier side of 12. You're part of a recently fallen line of mine owners, a fact that your mother has only pretended to let go of. He saw a hunger behind her eyes that reminded him of a warped version of his own.

Coriolanus gave her back the pride the war had stolen from her family name tenfold. He owes her this much.

"She'd trade me for you in a heartbeat." He hears the grin in your voice more than he sees it. Your family means the world to you, which means he's subjected himself to seeking your mother's validation and winning over your two younger sisters.

It's not the way he'd choose to spend his limited free time, especially with you standing right there, but he's endured worse for less of a pay off. "Then she'd be a fool."

You fight to hold his gaze. "I doubt that."

Your eyes are pools of honest, unfiltered affection. The care that you're watching him with makes it hard to swallow. The instinct to press, to dig and claw and tear anything that could be hiding an ulterior motive into shreds makes it hard to take a full breath. You've always worn your heart on your sleeve. You're not a flighty songbird that uses its charm to distract its prey from its fang-like talons.

"Stay." Again. So breathless he almost doesn't recognize the word as his own.

The deliberation is transparent behind your eyes. You're considering it, but you're still not convinced. The hesitation stings in a way he doesn't understand. "I don't want to give her a reason to not like you."

So softly spoken he's shocked by the way the words manage to feel like a nail being hammered into his chest.

"She's let you stay with other people before." The response is too sharp, too sudden. He should refocus and think through what he's about to say. Coriolanus knows that it's easier to get you to agree to something through the use of honey sweetened words and displays of patience. "You wrote about him."

The confusion that briefly etches its way into your expression threatens to quell the uncomfortable swell of jealousy tightening his chest. "Warren?" The name makes tints the air between you with something acidic. "That was--different."

Your explanation adds an edge to the pressure in his chest. "Why?"

"We weren't--" You cut yourself off, the instinct to placate him and your desire to not start a conversation you can't finish battling each other oddly. "We were never alone." You squeeze his hand as best as you can. "He's a family friend and I only stayed over when my mom had to work late and I was too young to be alone for so long, so I haven't stayed over in years. And--and he shared a room with three of his siblings and his parents checked on us constantly."

He frowns, unconvinced. The lack of approval has you clinging to him, adjusting your hold on his hand as you gently trail your knuckles against the inside of his wrist. "I do miss you." You stare at your hands. "I know it's weird because we're--y'know--closer than before, but I-I do miss you."

The expanding wave of tension in his chest begins to deflate. You're good at that, at redirecting and soothing without even realizing it. A talent that had contributed to his original desire to loathe you. "I understand that." He runs his thumb over your knuckles. "Things aren't going to get less busy. That's why I want to use all the time we have."

You nod slowly, a hint of understanding making its appearance in the set of your brow. "I know."

"What you wrote," he begins, too aware of how much he means the question that follows, "Did you mean it."

"Of course I did." Not an ounce of hesitation, of uncertainty.

He turns your hand over before shifting his fingers up the inside of your wrist. "You wrote about wanting to see me."

"I did..." The pad of his thumb gently makes its way up your forearm. Your even breathing falters. "I do."

Coriolanus lets himself look up just enough to take in your expression. "Then stay." He swallows, too aware of the sudden dryness of his mouth. "Please."

You glance up at him through your lashes. There's a softness there that jabs at him. "Okay."

He lifts the back of your hand, carefully brushing his lips against your skin. "You mentioned wanting to see a library."

You wrote about it once. A brief mention in one of your letters of the small room in your school's office that served as a sort of communal study space with a few books stacked on a small shelf. Your longing had been clear.

Nodding curiously, you agree, "Yeah?"

"I could leave for my classes a little earlier tomorrow, you could come with me." The proposal comes out slowly, his own suggestion taking him by surprise. "My driver could bring you back, that'll give you time to meet the tutor that's being sent over for your sisters, and then when I get back we'll look at the paintings."

You immediately grin, "Really?"

He finds himself smiling back, pulling your arm closer. "Whatever you want."

You beam. "I'd really like that."

"Good," he affirms with a nod of his head that's a touch too forward. He regrets it almost immediately. "If you like it, I might be able to get your own tutor to meet you at a library."

Part of the still uncertain victor program relies on setting up the victor and their family with a new life. Education plays a role in that. Placing any one of you in an actual Capitol run institution is far out of the question. For everyone's sake. Even if the thought of sharing a classroom with someone from 12 didn't horrify the Capitol parents, you and your siblings wouldn't be able to just jump in. It's not that he views you as unintelligent, but District 12's education system isn't exactly on par with the Capitol's.

"That sounds nice," you sit up a little straighter, excited by the prospect, "A part of me kind of misses school."

Another aspect of your personality that he had learned about after your Games. You like school for the sake of it. "I'll check on the arrangements tomorrow."

He clears his throat before you can do more than just nod, "It's getting late."

Coriolanus carefully sets your hand down on the comforter. You awkwardly shift, now more aware of what you agreed to than ever. "Right," you push yourself to stand, "You need your sleep."

He pulls back his sheets before you can think about it even further. You crawl into the provided space without looking at anything in particular. He's quick to join you beneath the safety of plush bedding before leaning over and turning off the bedside lamp.

Darkness floods the space. There's something about the absence of light that makes things feel heavier. The potential intimacy of the situation sneaks up on him with no warning.

This isn't a loss of control. It can't be. It was his idea, he had pushed and convinced you to stay here. He's aware of everything that's led up to this moment, but that's not enough to stop him from wondering if this is something than he should have known better than to embrace. He had accepted the familiar, fickle knotting of his stomach once before.

Steady warmth presses itself against his arm. He blinks, head turning a second too quickly. Your hand has found his. Coriolanus relaxes, allowing himself to fully relax against his pillow. You pick up on his shift, reflecting it by laying down as well.

For someone that had been so hesitant, you seem to know what to do better than he does. You pull his arm towards you, gently trailing your fingers against the exposed skin. Heat crawls up his neck.

"Goodnight," you mumble, voice already drowsy.

Coriolanus lets out a long breath. He grasps your hand, bringing it back to his lips before settling back into the position the two of you were in before. "Goodnight."

[atwas-gaming]

Sonic Movie 3 Preliminary Predictions

I saved the craziest one for last:

This COULD be Shadow and Gerald bending over Maria's body, but that doesn't sound right to me.

The Ark is big enough to hold large vehicles like this:

But I think a battle big enough to leave this kind of wreckage might do major structural damage to the Ark.

Also, if this is when Maria died, wouldn't the GUN soldiers be aiming AT Shadow and Gerald? Looks to me like they're aiming past them, at something in the distance.

And look at the body. I think I can make out what looks like a very round, small head:

Could this be Sonic's body? Do they think he died in the final battle?

Because all we've seen in the trailer is Shadow as a supervillain, and that is NOT who Shadow is.

Black-hearted evil, Brave-hearted hero, I am all, I am all I am.

Look, Eggman might be working with Team Sonic for a time...

But he's gonna turn on them all. "If I can't rule the world, I might as well save it!" Yeah, sure, Eggface, just saving your own butt, and the second you find an opportunity to try to rule the world, you're taking it. Because that's what Eggman ALWAYS does. His ONLY purpose in life is trying to rule the world.

He wants POWER. He's gonna take that thing and do something with it. And while I like the theory that he's building a Metal Sonic with it, we clearly won't see it in this movie. (Maybe movie 4...?)

But I think I do know what he IS gonna build in this one:

Look behind Tails.

See it? Most prominently on the right side?

The MOUSTACHE?!?

It's the DEATH EGG.

So Robotnik's gonna build the Death Egg, Team Sonic's gonna have to fight him, and somehow, Shadow's gonna realize he has to join Team Sonic.

Not really surprising, that's usually the gist of every game with Shadow in it. But I gotta wonder why I haven't seen anyone talk about that shot of the Death Egg. I KNOW y'all have been analyzing the trailer frame-by-frame. I must just be missing the discussion somehow. I even googled "sonic movie 3 death egg" and got nuthin.

(My theory is that Eggman's gonna turn the Ark into the Death Egg, but we'll have to wait and see.)

This calls into question lines like "when we're done, there won't be anything left," and "what I had to."

What's Shadow gonna do???

And does it have anything to do with this?

Why are they tied up like that??? If that is, as I've seen people say, not a black hole, but rather a ring portal that Shadow opened into space, then I can't imagine Shadow gave enough warning for these three to tie themselves down.

So what if they were tied down in preparation for Shadow opening this ring portal as part of the final battle against the Death Egg? Maybe to suck Eggman's robots off the planet or something?

Notice that there's no humans in this picture, either. My guess is that they got Tom and Maddie and GUN crew out of the area before Shadow opened the portal. Because Sonic and Co. can survive in space, but nothing else can.

With only 2 minutes of the movie currently at our disposal, it's impossible at this point to be certain of anything about the overall plot. But I know what Shadow and Eggman are both like, and the trailer is leaving out half their characters. Unless the plot goes completely off the rails and totally disregards every bit of character building Shadow ever had in the games, he IS gonna join Team Sonic, and there WILL be a final battle against Eggman.

If only because he promised Maria that he would protect Earth.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Rook, Ortho: Princess Power

BRUH 💀 Go figure, giving the guy obsessed with beauty two of the least flattering screenshots in his background frames… But hey, his groovy is very different from everyone else’s so far! ^^ Very relaxed and peaceful.

Cbjssbjsjskendb new tidbits about pre-Pomefiore Rook?? He used to cut his own hair with a knife and focused on keeping his bangs out of his line of sight… and he wasn’t as confident about his style (mood). It’s also interesting to know that he started doing ballet on Vil’s recommendation, and that has helped a lot with his posture, working out muscles he doesn’t normally use, and appreciating the art of performances. We love Pomefiore out here breaking gender norms 👊

A Tale as Old as Time.

Rook drew out a longing sigh, gently easing into the quiet of the museum. The soft sound lingered, coiling around his fingers like thread from a spool. It, too, did not wish to part ways with the stunning beauty laid out bare before it.

A fair maiden was framed in shining platinum. Hair black as ebony, lips as red as the rose, and skin as white as snow... Truly, she was the fairest in all the land.

Her graceful frame was folded, kneeling on the forest floor to greet the woodland creatures that had gathered. The pale yellow skirt of her gown spilled out, blue bodice and puff sleeves fitted well by her figure. Her face round and gentle, in spite of the high collar encircling it, crowed by a petite red bow.

Here was pure innocence, a young girl reveling in nature.

“Beauté,” he marveled—to no one in particular, but such beauty warranted verbal acknowledgement.

“It seems that this painting has captured your interest, Rook Hunt-san!” a voice chirped. A neon blue light emanated from the darkness, accompanied by the silver flash of metal.

“Bonjour!” Rook greeted Ortho. "I must confess, I have been enchanted by this particular work of art! The brush strokes, masterful! The composition, immaculate!! The subject—oh, how it makes my heart quiver with nostalgia!! I am a man close to being moved to tears!!”

Ortho curiously glanced at the girl and her animal friends. No strong emotions arose within up from him. Perhaps he did not feel as much, or perhaps Rook felt too much. “Is there a sentimental experience or memory you have related to this painting…?”

“Oui! It is a tale as old as time.” Rook gestured to the snow white young lady. “They say that this maiden was a princess forced to flee from her home country, as a hostile presence threatened her life. She retreated into the woods and found comfort in a humble life there. Her tenacity is most admirable!!”

“Tenacity… That’s the value that Pomefiore was founded on!” Ortho, floating overhead, beamed at Rook. “I understand why you would like that story. It has a good moral that sticks with you.”

“That is the beauty of telling tales! They inspire those who hear of it, ensuring that the spirit of the story is never truly extinguished.” The huntsman’s eyes held a keep glint to them. “Tell me, Ortho-kun. What do you believe makes a princess?”

The boy blinked. A split second, and he had already input the term into an internal search engine, the formal definition loaded up to recite.

“Prin-cess, noun. The daughter of a monarch or wife to a prince. A woman having sovereign power.”

“An efficient, succinct answer!” Rook applauded, his cheer never faltering. “However, my desire is to know your interpretation. In Ortho-kun’s own words, what makes a princess?”

“My own…?” The words stretched, unsure, on his tongue. Ortho hesitated—seeking, processing, and analyzing. Rook’s heartbeat sounded where there was the space for the boy to think.

Then, finally, Ortho spoke.

“From what I’ve observed in movies and books, the princess is a pop culture icon. She’s usually presented as a role model for little girls. Someone who is beautiful, dainty, and composed, wearing a pretty dress and a glittering crown."

A pause. Ortho assessed Rook’s hard-to-read, bright expression.

“… Is that closer to the response you were looking for, Rook Hunt-san?” he asked.

To this, the third year’s lips quirked. “There is no correct or incorrect answer! I was curious to see your perspective. Everyone holds one that differs, lenses of all designs and colors with which to see the world through! You have my most heartfelt thanks for sharing your view with me.”

"Oh, I see! You're collecting data from a variety of sources to compare to a standard." The android (literally) lit up from within. "Let me ask the same back! Rook Hunt-san, what do you think makes a princess?"

"Mon dieu! You've set my own trap upon me," Rook teased.

The Beautiful Queen, the Fair Maiden, Vil, his peers... So many fragments of beauty in his collection. Plucked, collected, hoarded.

He ran a finger along his chin, contemplating. The thoughts assembled like a collage. Ideas taken, cut up, and pasted together into a new, glorious artwork.

"A princess can be many things," Rook declared with certainty. "They are a princess to their very core, even when their power is stripped from them or they are dressed in only ashes and rags. What defines them is not royal heritage or political influence, but the strength of their character, their values and virtues. They are not bound by a singular trait, but are aspirations to all in their own ways."

Ortho's eyes swelled. "Eh...? That's so broad! By your definition, anyone could be a princess—even you or I!”

The huntsman threw his head back and laughed. "Broad it may be, but I am of the opinion that we all have it in us to live up to the title~”

He indicated the woman in the platinum frame. Ortho’s gaze obediently followed. "Even without a kingdom to call her own, she remained kind-hearted rather than turn to cruelty. That is why she was, and always will be, a noble soul. A princess who puts out good into the world.”

“Rook Hunt-san…”

“Ortho-kun!” Rook dramatically extended an arm to him. He was practically sparkling in the dim room. “I, too, endeavor to put out as much beauty as what is gifted to me! That is my one true calling as the Hunter of Love: to not only seek out beauty, but to cultivate and to contribute to it!”

Ortho silently stared. Nii-san did warn me that Rook Hunt-san could be eccentric, but… maybe there’s some meaning to be found in it.

Cutting through the numbers and the formulas that governed him was a fuzzy warmth. Not the familiar jolt of electricity that powered his circuits. It was too wild, too unpredictable.

Something undeniably human.

Ortho let out a giggle. "Hehe. Then you must be a princess too!"

Rook's mouth formed a small "o". Unsubtle surprise—or perhaps purposefully exaggerated. "Me? Whatever makes you think that?"

"Strength of character!" Ortho parroted mischievously. "I've never met someone as uplifting as you are. Rook Hunt-san is the type of person that sees a princess in everyone."

The boy lowered himself to a few centimeters off of the ground, pretending to dip into a curtsey. "Your majesty!"

"Fufufu. You're quite charming yourself, Princess Ortho-kun!" Rook bent into a deep bow. "Most clever in all the land, computing complex problems in the blink of an eye!”

Upon straightening, the third year laid both hands over his heart. He lifted his head toward the painting of the fair maiden in the forest. A serene smile at his lips.

It was as if he was pledging his allegiance, making a vow. A worshipper at the altar to pray.

“May we all live happily ever after,” Rook whispered raptly, “like the princesses of old.”

Forever and ever.

[buckingham-ashtray]

SHERLOCK DID CHOOSE THE RIGHT PILL. STEVEN SAID SO

After rewatching ASIP again today, I think I might have finally discovered the truth about if Sherlock has chosen the correct pill.

The answer is YES.

I will save you time and tell you right here right now that the truth lies simply in how certain shots were particularly framed. However, if you do wish to discover the Why, then here is the other end of the handcuffs, be my most welcomed guest.

Let me start with a notice that I am as well aware as I can be that A LOT of people have already analyzed this mystery countless times from every possible angle. And while I remain confident in “The Princess Bride Theory” and am sure it's still the most possible solution (given the impossible odds), it might not be the case in Sherlock's situation. Here are two possibilities:

According to Mr Cabbie (Jefferson Hope), Sherlock's "fan" / his sponsor (later revealed to be Moriarty) has warned him about Sherlock in advance:

SHERLOCK: How did you find me?

JEFF: Oh, I recognised yer, soon as I saw you chasing my cab. Sherlock ’olmes! I was warned about you. I’ve been on your website, too. Brilliant stuff! Loved it!

SHERLOCK: Who warned you about me?

JEFF: Just someone out there who’s noticed you.

Now, Mr Cabbie’s kids get money every time their dad murders someone, yes, but since Moriarty has particularly warned Hope about Sherlock instead of warning him OFF Sherlock, it could be possible that the pay would be higher if Hope succeeds in murdering Sherlock. (But also given that Moriarty was much more interested in making Sherlock dance rather than killing him, this assumption is very likely wrong)

The second possibility is that could it be for both types of pills to be harmless to Hope (with his aneurysm), and only one of them deadly to the victims? (This hypothesis is also very unlikely, due to the fact that Hope did not have a real gun and was unlikely capable of strangling full-grown adults to death with his hands if they’ve actually chosen the harmless pill)

Thus, in this meta we are temporarily abandoning The Princess Bride Theory, assuming that there actually were a good pill and a bad pill for Hope as well, and focus entirely on the framing.

[I watched Ben’s new TV series ERIC a month ago and was astonished to realize that I was able to pick up on hidden messages so rapidly during the show. (Really recommend it! And if you’re into interpreting intricate movies as well, definitely watch The Power of the Dog too! I like it so much I am currently reading the novel.) A huge thanks to all you clever clever TJLCers, for that if it wasn’t for you and TJLC I would never have developed this ability at all to write this short meta.]

The key idea is to constantly ask yourself “Why?”. Why is this shot framed that way? Why did that light go out first? Why is this seemingly unimportant detail included here? Why did this dialogue happen?

Why did Steven Moffat write in the script that Hope chose the building on the right?

If there’s one thing I know for certain, it is that NOTHING in BBC Sherlock is there without a reason. So, why was the right building the “right” one, instead of the left? Does it parallel how the two bottles of pills were placed on the table? If we make the assumption that Right is correct and Left is wrong, is there any other evidence to support it?

YES.

1. The pills

WHY is it that EVERY TIME the two pill bottles were given close up shots side by side, it was ALWAYS the one on Hope’s right in focus?

2. The doors

WHY is it that Sherlock and Hope entered through the right side of the door in the right building, and John ran through the left side of the door in the left/wrong building?

WHY is it that John burst through the right side of the door AFTER Sherlock has chosen the pill on the right?

3. The positions

WHY is it that Sherlock was ALWAYS on the left side of the frame and Hope the right without ANY exceptions?

WHY is it that they switched positions AT ONCE, the moment Sherlock chose the pill on the right? (Also note that Sherlock held his pill in his right hand and Hope his left)

Why Why Why?

If it’s just once or twice, we could still dismiss them as “coincidences”. (What did we say about coincidence?) But this many? Implicated in such platent ways? I was an absolute idiot for not seeing this sooner.

If every single shot implies that right is Right and left is Wrong, Hope slid the pill on the left to Sherlock, and Sherlock chose the one originally on the right, is there any possibility that he chose the wrong one?

NOT. A. CHANCE.

All screencaps taken from here.

(I really wanted to tag someone but sadly I don’t know any of you wonderful people and it feels terribly intrusive and impolite to tag someone you don’t know :( Please definitely let me know if you wish to be tagged and thank you so much for coming to my ted talk.)

[vintagebunnies]

as above, so below

part i | part ii

eddie munson x succubus!fem!reader

Eddie summons you back, but this time it’s for revenge. (3.9k)

mean dom eddie, rough sex, choking, hair pulling, face slapping, spitting, succubus reader, fem reader, demon sex, mentions of gore (nothing happens), handcuffs, slight dacryphilia, mdni 18+!

ཐི♡ཋྀ

It’s been about a week since Eddie has last seen you. All that was left of you were the everlasting marks around his body, and the smoky message left on the bathroom mirror.

Well, the red and purple surrounding his neck and collarbones are lasting a lot longer than your little message. As soon as he saw the foreign words on his mirror, he immediately wiped them away. Not wanting Wayne to see it, but also how the hell would he explain that?

The book he checked out of the library needed to be sent back soon, only one more day with the book in his ownership. In its old and crumbling glory, it was sitting right on top of his desk. He kept eyeing it as if it’d grow legs and walk away.

With the way things played out that night, he wouldn’t be surprised.

Eddie knew you were dangerous. The strength you showed that night was unrivaled, you were capable of doing whatever you pleased. Hell, you could’ve fucking killed him! But you didn’t.

That’s what confused him the most—you are a supernatural being who spared his life—why him? Was it because he summoned you? Did you find him interesting? What made you choose Eddie and let him live?

As scary as Eddie looked, he didn’t know much about demons or anything paranormal, so it was just odd to him. The main source of his knowledge about this kind of stuff was just from horror movies. Fiction. Everyone knew those movies were fake, made straight from the glitz and glam of Hollywood.

But he couldn’t help himself from constantly thinking about you. He would spend hours in his room just analyzing the abundance of marks left on his pale skin.

Eddie was sitting on his bed, eyeing the book.

He knew he was stupid for what he was about to do, but he couldn’t stop thinking of all of the pain and pleasure he received that night.

Yeah, you were dangerous or whatever, but fuck, did he miss you.

He stood up from his bed after being lost in thought, heading straight for the book. Eddie grabbed the book but didn’t immediately open it, instead just analyzed the front cover.

Eddie thought back to the day at the library. When he first came up with the idea of partaking in a ritual, it was supposed to be harmless fun. He didn’t expect for what happened to actually happen.

He opened to the front page of the book, the contents of each chapter laid out in front of him on the yellowing pages.

The dog eared page was still marked.

With that page still being partially unread, since he only read about how to actually perform the ritual, he decided it was time to find out what you really were.

Eddie made his way back over to his bed, not paying attention to his surroundings.

“What’cha got there boy?” Wayne asked, making Eddie jump.

“Shit!” Eddie was so spooked by Wayne’s sudden appearance, he stubbed his toe right on the legs of his bed frame.

From the adrenaline of being snuck up on, he dropped his book, and it landed with the cover right side up, exposing the title of it to Wayne.

Wayne never was one to snoop, knowing Eddie was a grown adult and had the right to privacy. But he couldn’t help being curious on what Eddie was getting up to.

Wayne grabbed the book off of the floor, reading the title aloud. “The Grand Grimoire,” Immediately noticing the illustrated devil on the title, he stared Eddie down, who was still cradling his sore toe.

“D’you mind telling me why you have this?” He flipped the open book towards Eddie, who was now derived from any color in his face.

“Uh- it’s uh, just for research. Y’know, just a little curious,” Eddie gave Wayne an awkward chuckle, trying to lie his way out of it. But Wayne wasn’t stupid. He could see right through Eddie like he was transparent.

“Boy, I don’t know how dense you think I am, but why the hell would you need research on this?” Wayne shook the book around in his hand, trying to enunciate his point. “Listen, you’re old enough to know better. Don’t be messin’ around with this. Return it.” He gave Eddie a stern look.

Eddie knew Wayne was right, but was he gonna listen? No.

“I’ll uh, return it tomorrow. Promise. The library is closed by now, so I kinda have’ta wait,” Eddie wasn’t planning on Wayne finding out about this at all, so he’s at a complete loss for words.

“You better. Came in here to tell ya I’m leaving now, but then I saw this. Just please, think twice before you do this kinda stuff.” With that, Wayne turned to leave.

“Yeah, yeah of course! Don’t worry,” Eddie followed Wayne out into the living area, seeing him out.

Eddie and Wayne bid their farewells to each other, Wayne giving Eddie a hard-nosed stare as he walked out of the trailer.

As soon as Eddie shut the steel door, he exhaled a big breath. Not realizing he was even holding it.

His heart was beating a mile a minute. There was a reason why he got the book when Wayne wasn’t home, afraid of this interaction.

After all, Wayne was right. Eddie shouldn’t be messing with stuff like this, it’s too dangerous and you never know what you might conjure.

Eddie walked back into his bedroom, staring hard at the book that was now on his bed. He had to take a moment to think about it, if he should still try to get into contact with you again.

Fuck it.

He was gonna do it no matter what anyone says, he knows the risks. But he also knows the good that’ll come out of this. Seeing you, in all of your dangerous ways.

He could feel himself get hard again from the thought of you.

“Jesus.” Eddie whispered to himself, he felt like a hormonal teenager again. Getting aroused from the mere thought of you, to the thought of your body and your voice.

God, your voice.

Your voice was painfully sweet sounding. The way you spoke to him. The way your sharp teeth gleamed under the warm candlelight every time you opened your mouth.

This was it.

Eddie was going to perform the ritual whether Wayne liked it or not.

He hated disobeying Wayne, but he knew to be cautious. Or cautiously stupid.

Eddie picked up the book and finally thought it was time to stop beating around the bush and just do it.

He finished setting everything up, now sitting in the center of the salt pentagram, open book in hand, reading over the pages one last time.

Eddie took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to ground himself. He was more nervous this time around than he was the last time. Tense from the possible outcome.

He repeated the trigger words over and over for a solid minute. Nothing. It was taking a lot longer than it did the last time, you showed up almost immediately last week.

Eddie was constantly checking around his room, seeing if you were anywhere to be seen. He even reread the words that were supposed to evoke you, nothing was wrong.

He tried it once more, and all he got was a few candles to flicker.

Eddie started to grow frustrated, rubbing his hands down his face.

“Fuck this shit.” Eddie was fed up. It was a bunch of bullshit. At this point Eddie was sure he came home obliterated last week and gave himself the scare with the message on the bathroom mirror.

The marks on his body? Probably some shitty hookup.

He stood up and blew out all of the candles, swept up all of the salt, and he chucked the book across the room making it leave a resounding thud against the plaster walls.

Eddie doesn’t know why he was so mad, he always believed in the supernatural and paranormal beings, but now he thinks it was all just bogus. All glorified in the movies.

Sitting back onto his bed, the old rusty springs creaking under his weight, he rested his head in his hands.

You were just a figment of his imagination, something he made up in a fake fantasy world when he was horny just so he can get himself off.

He decided it was time to just forget about you and everything, and just sleep.

Eddie turned off all of his bedroom lights and just laid back in bed, staring up at the pitch black ceiling.

At first he thought there was a chance that you were real, that what he experienced was real. But it just doesn’t add up, so he made every scenario he possibly could to explain how it was all fraud. The book was a fraud.

He did everything in the ritual the same as he did the last time, so there was no explanation he could give himself to point at the book giving answers or demon summoning even being existent.

Eddie finally gave up fighting with his thoughts and just closed his eyes, ready to just ignore this all.

Almost falling asleep, he was shivering because of the room dropping about ten degrees. There was cold air that just started to surround his body, like a sheet of ice forming over water in winter.

He pulled his blankets around himself tighter, hoping to fight off the freezing air.

The warmth from the blanket wasn’t helping, now the wintry air was coming from under the blanket. Eddie looked around from where he was faced on the side of the bed, trying to find the culprit of what was making him frigid.

Eddie decided that it was probably air coming from the open door to his bedroom, maybe a window was open somewhere out in the living area. So he turned over. But right as he did so, he felt his heart drop.

There you were.

Sitting on the right side of his bed, head resting in your hand from your arm that was propped up on your elbow.

That’s why it was cold.

Eddie tried pinching himself, pulling his hair, anything that could potentially wake him up from a dream. This was real this time.

You were right in front of his very eyes, and very real.

“Salve, mortalis.” You were giving him a malicious smile, but your inky black eyes were looking up at him with affection.

All Eddie could do was stare at you, you scared the everloving shit out of him, showing up like that. But he was thrilled to see you again.

“I can feel your eyes burning into me, Eddie.” Your voice was still as soft as ever. Like a fuzzy warm blanket fresh out of the dryer.

Eddie sat up, facing himself towards you. You sat up too, leaning up on your elbows and sitting with your knees slightly bent in front of you

“You’re back.” Eddie says incredulously. “I didn’t think you were going to come back, you didn’t show up before.”

“O mortalem miserum, you missed me,” Your tone was dripping in sarcasm, clearly amused.

“Why didn’t you show up?” Eddie was tired of your constant laid back attitude, as if you weren’t a fucking demon. “Isn’t that like, your fucking job? To show up when someone performs this shit ritual?” Eddie was infuriated, he doesn’t know why he felt such malice towards you this time.

You weren’t some chick from the bar, waiting to get fucked by the next rockstar to cross your path. You were a disciple of the devil!

Your face dropped to something akin to anger, clearly showing your distaste of his tones. “How dare you speak to me like that, mortal?” You sat up. “After I gave you such pleasure, you treat me like this.”

Sitting up on your knees, you crawled closer to Eddie. “You should be punished, stultum hominem.”

You were practically nose to nose with Eddie now, but what came next is what shocked him the most. You suddenly lunged, slapping Eddie hard across the face then pinning him down to his stained sheets by his neck.

Eddie gasped, waiting for you to just snap his neck, maybe cut right into his jugular, watch him choke on his own blood.

Something else caught your attention though, making you smile wickedly.

You could feel Eddie’s cock grow hard under you from where you were straddling his lap, making you squeeze his neck.

Eddie’s eyes rolled back into his head from the pressure right on his larynx. He felt disgusting for being turned on. This was probably how he’d get killed, strangled to death because he was thinking with the wrong head.

Fortunately, you weren’t planning on killing him tonight, releasing your grip on his neck and putting your hand right on his cheek, the cheek where your hand print is starting to flourish with red.

“Silly man, getting aroused from pain,” You whispered the last part. “What shall I do with you?” You tilted your head like a curious dog, similar to Eddie’s puppy dog eyes staring right back at you.

“You could um- start by getting off of me,” Even Eddie was surprised by his sudden boldness, if this was his first time meeting you he wouldn’t have dared to say something like that.

But all you did was laugh, a maniacal laugh. “Ut obliviscatur qui in crimen videris.” Your voice lowered into a deeper octave, leaning down to be face to face with Eddie.

Eddie still has no clue what you said, but it just provoked him to tease you more. “Yeah, I’m not your bitch,” He suddenly switched positions, pushing you off of him to now be under him, the movement made you let out a gasp, eliciting a smile out of Eddie from catching you off guard. “But tonight you will be.”

He was leant over you, his breath fanning over your ear.

Eddie moved his hand to rest over your throat, identical to the way yours was before.

He nibbled on the skin right under your ear, soothing the bite with a swipe of his tongue. You closed your eyes and let out a quiet groan from the sensation.

Eddie squeezed his hand tighter around your throat, not even sure if it’s doing anything to control your breathing. Even if it didn’t, it still made your breathing slightly accelerate.

He started to kiss from your jaw down to your neck. “I’m,” Kiss. “Going to,” Another kiss. “Fuck you stupid.” Bite.

Eddie could feel your legs move from where they were pinned under him, he was sat right over your lap just like how you were sat over his. He had you completely trapped under him.

He let go of your neck, not even seeing you take a deep inhale to catch your breath.

Slowly sitting up from his position, he reared his hand back and slapped you right in the face, just like what you did to him. The momentum from the slap made your head move to the side. You had a grin on your face from the sudden act of dominance from Eddie, a complete different contrast to how he was the last time.

You were biting your lip when you went to face him again, but when you went to look at him he was standing up from his bed, going towards the silver handcuffs hanging on his wall.

He slowly sauntered back over to the bed, looking down at the handcuffs in this hand, then back at you. “You’re not going to use your hands, I’ve had enough of you having your way with me.” When he got closer to where your head was resting on the bed, he grabbed both of your hands, and cuffed them to the bedpost above your head.

You were just staring up at him with this sick look on your face, clearly enjoying every second of this. You had an everlasting smirk engraved on your face.

“Fac tibi pessimi.” You whispered.

Eddie gave you a small smack on the side of your face, not enough to rear your head to the side but enough to catch your attention. “Shut the fuck up.”

He crawled back onto the bed, slowly stripping off his clothes as he did so. Eddie moved to spread your legs to bracket his hips, hands right on the underside of your knees.

Eddie grasped his cock and tapped it right over your dripping pussy, making your hips jump from the heaviness of it.

“I’m not giving you the satisfaction of fucking you yet,” He dropped your legs back onto the bed. “You’re going to suck my cock.” As Eddie said that, he made his way to where your head was resting, his leaking cock now leveled with your mouth.

“Open your fucking mouth, whore.” His hand gripped the top of your scalp, moving your head side to side trying to enunciate his point.

You obliged, opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue. Eddie didn’t waste any time, and shoved his entire length down your throat.

Just like the first time you sucked him off, you didn’t gag. Taking him all the way to the hilt with no issue.

“Yeah—mm—take my fucking cock,” Eddie groaned. He had an unyielding grip on your hair, guiding your head up and down.

You were slobbering all over his dick, but you fucking loved it. The roughness, and messiness of it all was perfect. You never expected him to snap, he was terrified of you, you can sense it. But you wanted him to use you, use your body like it’s a temple. Giving him all the pleasure he desires.

“Shit—“ Eddie’s voice was getting weak, indicating he was close to his release so you sucked harder, your cheeks hollowing. “Fucking dirty slut,” He pulled out of your mouth, slapping you across the face.

Eddie grabbed your jaw before you could face the impact of his slap, tucking his thumb into your mouth right behind your teeth, spitting in your mouth, then forcing your mouth shut. Before you could even swallow, Eddie spit right over your closed mouth, then smearing it across the bottom half of your face.

“Yeah? You like being treated like this? Like being used?” You nodded with a smile on your face, opening your mouth and sticking your tongue back out. Eddie spit right back into your open mouth, bending down to bite the side of your neck.

You gasped and pulled on your binds. You knew if you wanted to, you could easily snap the metal chains holding the cuffs together, but you were also curious to see where he’d take this.

Eddie trailed kisses down to your chest, biting the plush skin around your breast, then leaving a bite right over your nipple making you moan aloud. Eddie slapped your tit in retaliation, watching the flesh jiggle from the force.

Eddie crawled back down so now he was back to being right in between your legs. He sat up straight and spit right onto your cunt, then taking his fingers and forcefully spreading it around your clit.

“Oh— Eddie,” You gasped.

“Hm? It’s Eddie now? What about the other names you called me before, huh?” He was looking down at you from the slope of his nose.

Eddie dragged his middle and index finger towards your dripping hole, and pushed them both in with no resistance, making your legs push against your chest and knocking your knees together.

You threw your head back from the pressure and the pleasure, your mouth opening to make way for quiet moans.

Eddie‘s pace gradually got faster, adding his thumb in the mix to rub your clit.

You could feel your release hurriedly coming closer, making your cunt clench and convulse over Eddie’s fingers.

“Yeah, fucking squirt all over me bitch,” Eddie seethed through gritted teeth, pulling his fingers out of your cunt with a wet squelch and landing a few slaps over your soaked clit.

Eddie’s harsh words and his onslaught on your cunt made your release spray all over his pelvis, and you let out a scream in response.

Your legs were continuously shaking from his rough fingers, and your breathing grew heavy.

“I’m not fucking done with you.” Eddie spread your legs wider, positioning himself right in between them and rubbing his hard cock over your quivering cunt, smearing your release.

Eddie tapped the tip of his dick over your swollen clit, making your hips jump away from the sensation.

He gave you no reprieve before he was shoving his entire length into your sore cunt, making you moan out loud and your brow furrow.

Eddie grabbed onto your neck with his right hand, slapping you across the face with his left.

His starting pace was furious. Not giving your cunt a break, slamming in and out of you, making you let out a moan with each thrust.

Eddie’s hand squeezed around your neck as your cunt clenched around his cock, making him groan.

“Fuck yeah—squeeze my cock you slut,” His words were shakey from his pace and your quick submission. Eddie looked down at your face; your cheek was a dark red from how many times he’s slapped you, your chin was shiny with yours and Eddie’s mixed saliva, and your eyes were squinted from his cock.

You felt like Eddie’s cock was jabbing your cervix, making tears spring in the corner of your eyes. This didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie, he smiled at the thought of making you cry just like how you made him.

“Cry me a fucking river, you did this to yourself.” Eddie gripped the underside of your thighs, pushing them both to your chest, contorting your body.

The new position made Eddie push deeper into your warm walls, hitting that spot perfectly.

You bit your lip so hard you drew blood, squeezing your eyes shut making the tears fall down your cheeks. Eddie bent down over you, licking the tears off your face then landing a slap on your thigh, close to your ass.

The feeling of Eddie’s palm slapping you made you arch your back, letting out garbled moans and cumming on his cock a second time.

“Cum in me Eddie, quaeso.” You were staring up at him with glassy eyes, and a flushed face.

Your demand made Eddie sit up straight, thrusting into you harder and grinding his cock in your spent hole.

It wasn’t long before Eddie was cumming inside of you, a dam bursting and filling you to the brim with his warm spend. Eddie gave a few more rough thrusts into your sopping cunt, riding out his orgasm.

He leant down over you, holding himself up with his hand next to your head, trying to catch his breath.

Eddie completely forgot about the cuffs that were wrapped around your wrists until he heard the snap of the chains holding them together snap. He looked up from his position and saw that you broke out of them, trailing your hands up and down his back and petting his hair, letting him come down from the high.

Eddie didn’t even bat an eye, just collapsed back over you enjoying the warmth of contact with another.

A few minutes passed, Eddie was passed out and you were able to move yourself without waking him up.

Eddie was laying on his stomach, his hair all over the place and damp from sweat. He looked truly beautiful. You gave a genuine smile from how peaceful he looked.

Before leaving you made sure to leave a small kiss on the back of his head.

Making sure to leave a note that said, “Iterum revertar, Eddie.”

ཐི♡ཋྀ

[hellomynameisghostface]

Who Was The Best Ghostface?

Ranking all Ghostface killers from the "Scream" movies in order of who was the best at being Ghostface, in my opinion. Taking into account a few factors; who had the better motives, how much they contributed to the attacks/killings, how far they got in their plan and how well they executed it and possibly some other factors. Some might out way the others but I'll try to explain my thoughts as best I can. So let's get started. 13. Jason Carvey: while his motive was fine, it wasn't one of the better ones. It was just a continuation of Amber and Richie's pretty much. However, since he was one of the opening kills it makes sense why they wouldn't waste a good motive on him and Greg. The fact he was found out and killed so quickly proves he's the worst Ghostface so far though.

12. Richie Kirsch: this really depends on how you watch and analyze "Scream V" but from my point of view, Richie didn't kill anyone. The only confirmed attacks to be him were Sam and Mindy which both failed. The directors have already said in interviews that he barley did any of the work and Sam even mentions in "Scream VI" that "he made his girlfriend do all the killing." Like many fans of the franchise, you may be thinking "how could she possibly know that?" It's not that hard to figure out when for most of the movie/attacks Richie was with Sam or close by and with Gale's investigation instincts she could've easily found out where Amber and Richie were most of the time. Example: going to the hotel Richie was at and asking when he arrived there and if he left would help figure out if he actually participated in the killing of Judy and Wes. He basically let someone much younger than him do all the dirty work and pull the strings while thinking he was in charge the whole time. It would've been different if he betrayed her in the end like a couple of other who made it higher on this list but he never even got the chance. His motive was good though but not good enough to save him from being this low on my list.

11. Stu Macher: okay, I know this is going to piss people off because he's one of the originals and a fan favorite so everyone hold him up on a pedestal along with Billy but again, like Richie, I guess it really depends on how you view the movie. Stu does the least amount of work and on top of all that he makes the mistake of trusting his partner and by doing so is almost killed and betrayed by him. Roman even mentions in "Scream 3" that he suggested Billy get a partner to frame in case he's caught. I have no doubt in my mind if they were successful that Stu would've ended up dead or in jail anyway.

10. Quinn Bailey: she was a pretty decent Ghostface but honestly, I don't know how far she would've gotten if her father wasn't a detective or helping her. Faking her death was smart because not only does it take her off the suspect list but it allows her to do kills while her father and brother get alibis but again, without her father being a detective it would've made it much harder executing her fake death so because of that she still pretty low on my list but higher then they others because she actually did a decent amount of the dirty work and wasn't betrayed by her partners. Although it's widely disliked in this fandom, I actually liked their motive and the fact that it was a family seeking revenge, not just a parent or sibling.

9. Ethan Landry: I decided to put Ethan a place higher than his sister because he seemed more aggressive and willing to me. He killed Quinn's hookup and then proceeded to take on three people (Sam, Mindy and Anika) at once and wounding two of them and then killing one of them. While not factual, I think he would have made it further without his father's help than Quinn did because while Wayne was the brains behind it I feel like he didn't help Ethan quite as much as Quinn.

8. Wayne Bailey: since he was the mastermind and brains behind these attacks I think it's fair to place him above his kids. Being a detective put him at a higher advantage as well. Not only was he an aggressive Ghostface but I think his plan was well thought through and executed fairly well and as already mentioned, I actually really like their motive even if it's just another version of Nancy's motive from "Scream 2."

7. Billy Loomis: his motive was to kill Maureen because she was sleeping his his father causing his mother to abandoned them. Which would've been okay if it stopped there but he kept going. It would've made sense if he tortured Sidney while Maureen was still alive. Since she's dead, what's the point? Sidney didn't do anything. At this point their just doing it for fun, I guess? Which is fine, I guess. I can look past that. What puts him kind of low on my list is that he and Stu start stabbing each other to paint themselves as victims before they kill Sidney and Neil. He was carrying out his plan pretty well before that. He killed Maureen, framed Cotton and got away with it for a whole year which is why I let him be a little higher on my list than I originally wanted him to be.

6. Charlie Walker: this is another one that kind of depends on how you view and analyze the movie but in my opinion, Charlie kills everyone in "Scream 4" besides Trevor. With that, he's already a great Ghostface but what knocks him down to seventh place for me is that he was so blinded by his infatuation for Jill that he trusted her to wound him instead of doing it himself, leading to her betraying him and ultimately resulting to his death.

5. Mickey Altieri: I'm putting Mickey right before Charlie because they're situations are very similar. While Nancy helped Mickey more than Jill helped Charlie, I think Mickey still did most of the dirty work but mostly because he wanted to since it's implied he was already a serial killer prior to the event of "Scream 2." Like Charlie he was betrayed by his partner but unlike Charlie it wasn't due to him being blinded by love or anything like that. It was rather sudden and caught him off guard. Ultimately, trusting a stranger and it leading to him being betrayed and almost murdered instead of staying on guard and killing her first loses him points. Plus, his motive was stupid and I didn't like it at all.

4. Nancy Loomis: her motive is rather simple but it's one of the better ones: good old fashioned revenge. She was also smart enough to get someone on the inside (Mickey) because she obviously couldn't been seen by Sidney. She was also partnered with someone who was already a serial killer so it was smart of her to kill him before he could turn on her. Plus, his motive would've more than likely fucked her over which she was very much aware of.

3. Amber Freeman: as I already mentioned when talking about Richie, I believe Amber did all the killing (or at the very least, most.) The directors/writes have basically confirmed in on and off screen that she was the mastermind but let Richie believe he was in charge and did most of the work. She wasn't manipulated into doing the killing, she wanted to and you can see that with how excited she gets after her reveal. She was the one who informed Richie Sam was the daughter of Billy Loomis and she more than likely told him to take Tara's inhaler because the spare one was at her house and she knew Tara would have to go there to get it (Richie literally says "I can't believe this worked" as if he doubted Amber.) Amber also killed a legacy character and wounded the other two. She took on Sidney and Gale, two full grown women, at the same time and even though she ultimately ended up dying she did some damage. Her motive was 10/10 for me. I don't know why people hate it because they literally sound like Amber and Richie complaining about it. She was a child carrying a full grown man. That's embarrassing, which is why Richie is so low but it's iconic for Amber to accomplish so much for being so young.

2. Roman Bridger: he was the only Ghostface to go solo which means he did all the work. He deserves the recognition doing it all himself and getting as close as he did. He also technically started it all by convincing Billy to kill Maureen. I know a lot of people, including the cast, thought it was random for Roman to be Sidney's brother but I think it makes so much sense and I think they executed it well. The storyline wasn't anymore random than Billy having a daughter that no one knew about for years but Amber found out like nothing.

1. Jill Roberts: in my opinion, she is the smartest Ghostface and quite frankly the best when it comes to planning and getting away with it. Sure, she made Charlie do all the Ghostface killings and kills only Trevor and her partner but that's the genius part. Her goal was to become the new Sidney so she had to keep her hands clean as much as possible. She was the only one smart enough to not let her partner wound her and instead betrayed him before he could her. She killed everyone (or so she thought) before beating the shit out of herself and making herself look like the victim. She's the one who got the closest to killing Sidney and getting away with it and shes the only Ghostface to not scream like a maniac when she “comes back” after being seemingly killed. Her motive was 10/10. I remember watching "Scream 4" for the first time and thinking how relevant it was at the time and it's only gotten more relevant with time.

[aihoshiino]

I know I'm making bold claims here but with 139 and your post on Kamiki being silent for 4 years and not going after Ai after she gave birth makes me think everytime Ai called him, he gave her a chance to get back together with him by asking (thus that's the first thing Ai answers when calling, that she won't get back together) but because Ai rejects everytime, he just snaps. I'm sure Ai is the one who initiated the calls.

I mean, this is the same person who wanted to venge because Ai didn't love him back after all they've been through…so first was when she mostly likely asked him to visit the hospital and the next were for the kids (both times were with Ryo too, wonder how did they know each other, did Hikaru manipulate him?)

So… while this is an interesting idea, I don't think we know enough about Kamiki yet to say for sure that 'revenge against Ai for not loving him' was the basis for his motivations in lashing out against her and as such, it's hard to analyze him from that POV. I'll be up front and say that while I definitely think Ai's "I can't love you" made a huge, negative impact on him, I don't think it was his sole, driving motivation in what ultimately ended up playing out. But like I said, we know so little about him it's hard to say for sure wtf is going on in his weird little brain.

As for the calls, I actually didn't really get the impression he and Ai were speaking all that often? When she calls up Kamiki, she casually refers to him as 'an ex' and says that she was calling him 'on a whim', both of which are weird ways to frame a conversation with someone you speak to on the regular. It's also notable that she explicitly says she was motivated to get in touch with him because she overheard the kids speculating about their dad. If she and Kamiki were regularly in contact with each other prior to this, I definitely think the 'hey, will you meet the kids' convo would have come up prior to this talk. So I don't really think there would've been the opportunity for them to be constantly talking about getting back together.

His association with Ryosuke is also still totally in the dark, huh… I do have a small theory about it but it's kind of a big leap and not one I'm suuuuper comfortable voicing without more in-series evidence just yet but they also just as easily could've met at a B-Komachi concert or something. I guess we'll see as the movie arc plays out!

[detailtilted]

hi! I'm sorry if you've talked about this before, but I've been wondering how you enhance the spn con videos. like, how does it work? cause your videos look amazing, especially in comparison to the previous footage!

Thank you so much for being interested enough to ask!

At a very high level, the visual enhancements to the original videos themselves are made by running an upscaling program and then manually adjusting color-related settings in my video editing software. Sometimes I also fix aspect ratios if the original videos are squished.

Below are way more details than you probably ever wanted. 😅 I’ll put my very long answer after a break...

Upscaling

The very first thing I do when I start a new video is to take all the video sources I can find, pick out the ones I think I'm most likely to want to use, and see if I can get them to upscale. This is actually one of the easiest parts of the whole process, at least in terms of the actual time that I myself have to put into it. The computer does most of the work.

The upscaling is done through a software program. I don't actually have any idea, but I imagine it might be a dumbed down version of the type of software that movie studios use when they create upscaled Blu-ray releases of older films. I know the obvious question is, “What’s the software program?” I’m a little scared to say it without some explanation first, because it has “AI” in the title. I know and understand (and agree with) why AI is such a hot button today. However, this is not generative AI where it generates a new work out of nothing, and it’s performing a function that a human could not reasonably do.

The way I understand it, it runs an algorithm to analyze all the frames in the video and figure out how it can remove some of the visual “noise” and also add missing details to some frames based on what it finds in other frames. It then updates every single frame in the video. The videos I’m currently working with have 30 frames per second. A 30-minute video would therefore have 54,000 frames. For a human to compare 54,000 frames and make all the tiny changes required to each one would be… impossible I think. So anyway, after that long preamble, the name of the software I’m using is “Topaz Video AI”.

There are a variety of settings you can tweak, so I focus on upscaling one video source at a time because the same settings that work with one source may not work for a different source recorded with different equipment. I try different combinations of settings to small sections of the video until I find settings that seems to return noticeably improved results without adding any weird distortions. Sometimes I have to give up and proclaim the task impossible. If the video has too much noise and/or not enough good detail already there for it to work with, then it won’t upscale well. I get much, much better results with original video files than I do with files from YouTube. I think the videos were compressed when they were uploaded to YouTube and lost some of their quality.

If I find a setting that works, I tell the software to apply those settings to all of the videos from the source I'm currently working on and then leave my computer to crunch through them. That can take hours, and it makes my computer sound like it's preparing for liftoff, but it doesn’t require my involvement. I’ll often let it run overnight, then check it the next day to see if it came out ok. Sometimes I have to go back to the drawing board because I find parts of it didn’t come out well at all, but usually if the sample looked good then the full result also looks good.

Then I take my next video source (another set of videos recorded by a different person on different equipment) and repeat the process.

Color Corrections

This is all done in my video editing software. I’ve been using Adobe Premiere Pro. There’s free software out there that might be a better choice. I tried one early on and didn’t do very well with it, but I had no idea what I was doing. Video editing is new to me. So for me, the advantage of using a very popular software program was that there are tons of answers out there for just about every question I’ve ever thought to ask. Now that I have more experience, maybe I’ll give some of the free options another try. I have to decide whether or not to renew my current license at the end of the year and the price is pretty crazy, especially considering it's only for a limited period of time.

So… back to color corrections. My original attempts at this did not start out well. My first set of videos were the CHICON 2007 videos and those colors looked fine to me, so it never even occurred to me to adjust colors. When I moved on to Comic-Con 2008, I was confronted by a bunch of badly red-tinted and green-tinted videos and I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if this video editing software can do anything about that.”

And I tried. I drove myself absolutely mad. I’m not good with colors in general, I’d never worked with color adjustment settings before, and my eyes were going crazy trying to figure out if I was making things better or if I was just creating a new variety of bad. I put out a plea for opinions/advice here on Tumblr with some screen shots showing what I’d done so far, and sensitivehandsomeactionman came to my rescue. They took one of my screen shots and adjusted the colors in their own software to show me what could be achieved. And it looked amazing. Having that example to reference was a huge help. It was still a challenge for me, but I eventually got pretty close to what they did.

I’m not as good at it on my own, but I learned a lot through that process that I’ve been able to apply to my subsequent videos. I think every video I’ve worked with since then has had at least slightly wonky colors, so I've had a lot more practice. There are a bunch of complicated color-related settings in Adobe, but eventually I found the “Lumetri Color” panel which has a simpler set of set of controls consisting of a few sliders that let you adjust between two opposites until you find the right balance.

One slider is for Exposure and it basically changes the lighting from darker to lighter. Then there are two color-related sliders. One shifts between blue and orange and the other shifts between green and purple. I play around with those sliders until I think the colors look more natural, focusing mostly on their skin tone. Then if needed, I’ll adjust the Saturation slider a little to tone things down. For the most part, playing with those 4 sliders usually gets me something that I think looks decent.

Some videos are more difficult than others though, and I still consider this to be very much outside my wheelhouse. When I announce a new video on Tumblr, I usually display a comparison image of the original video versus the enhanced. Those help me see that the end result does in fact look at least a little better than the original. Sometimes after staring at the video for hours on end, I start to doubt.

If there are any wonky aspect ratios making the video look squished, that’s a really easy fix by just changing the scale percentages for that video in my video editing software.

All The Rest of the Work

All those things I just babbled about probably take up only 25% of the time I spend on each video. Less if the videos don't give me much trouble with upscaling or color adjusting. I could write another book about the rest of the process, but what I've already typed is probably overkill as it is so I'll try to be brief since this stuff isn't as much about the visuals anyway.

This is when I move on to the process of choosing which videos to display at which times and editing everything together into one (hopefully) cohesive video. I also try to choose the clearest audio that covers most of the panel. Audio changes are very noticeable, so I try to minimize them and use a single audio throughout the whole video as much as possible. Often the audio you’re hearing was from a different video than the one you’re seeing.

Once I have all the footage edited together, that’s when I start adding the subtitles and the extra content. These things are by far the most time-consuming part of the process, especially the subtitles.

I hope this answered your question. Thanks again for asking! If I didn't answer your question and if you want to risk having another book typed to you, let me know. 😅

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE and Cyber Security.

When you are a Rockman/Megaman Battle Network fan and you take a college course about networking, you start to notice how broken the internet is in the anime. So just for fun, I want to talk about a few things I learn about network security and how it is interpreted in the Megaman Battle Network anime.

1. Firewalls

What are firewalls? In simple terms, it is a security barrier that is placed between a private network and the public network. 

They are configured to monitor and filter networking traffic, hackers go through them by figuring out how they are programed, once they do they can either bypass the security undetected or simply disable the firewall.

Lets take a scene from the movie where Lan sends Megaman into a secretary’s console to destroy a program inside a company’s server.

Megaman is running through the network between the console and the firewall, which protects the private network of the company.

Logically, for Megaman to go through the firewall, he is going to need to use his powers as a Net Navigator (Net Navi) to analyze the firewall at an incredible speed to try to find a way to go through it, right?

WRONG! Battle Network logic says you can just break it with brute force!

You see the problem?

Does this mean Navis and battle chips are just as destructive to the net as viruses? Because last time I checked, Viruses and malware are the only programs with the ability to destroy networks.

2. Viruses

Viruses are man made, they are programed with a purpose that’s usually to destroy data files. They can also be used to change and manipulate programs, that’s why you can see evil Navis controlling viruses to do specific jobs for them. Viruses can’t replicate on their own without a user interface, so how is this Moloko a baby?!

There was an undubbed episode of Megaman Axess where Rush meets and befriends a baby Moloko virus, which doesn’t make any sense. Yes, Rush is a virus, and it has been established that viruses can communicate with each other, but why does this Moloko have parents? And why was the group of Molokos it separated from was being herded by other viruses like Trumpy? All I’ve seen Molokos do is charge at megaman when they see him, trying to ram him. Why would someone herd them? For the wool? It disappears after you hit it!

And what even is Rush’s purpose anyway? When he first appeared in the anime, he was made to track down Rockman’s frame or structure when they were trying to revive him with the backup data, but now?

All he does is being a crappy character who runs away when things get dangerous, doesn’t act like a dog anymore, and irritates me because he can move between the cyberworld and the real world! He is selfish, lacy, and practically useless, there are several times where Megaman goes missing and Rush is never even called to track him down, so he doesn’t even have that ability anymore.

On a positive note, viruses can be interesting, I found out that there are different types of viruses. For example.

A Stealth virus is a virus that avoids detection from anti virus software, this means it can conceal itself and attack without being spotted, sounds familiar? In this case the anti-virus software would also include Navis.

A retro virus tries to destroy anti-virus programs, I like to think these apply to viruses who specifically target Navis in battle like Canodumbs and Piranahs since they only attack when they detect an enemy in the line of fire.

Armored Viruses are hard to detect or analyze because they have a protective code, These could be Viruses with armors or auras like the Dominerd or even the life virus.

But Phage viruses remind me of these guys because they rewrite programs.

And I guess this one counts too?

Other viruses just act like malware, like the Alpha bug that is more of a worm than a virus, because it can replicate and travel across networks without any human assistance.

Others are obvious like the Pop up virus which is just Rush, and it is supposed to be adware, but just like Rush, it is more annoying than harmful.

In the anime, killereye viruses are used as spyware, there was an episode were Videoman used them to spy on Rockman and make copies of him.

3. Tracing a signal.

Basically, everything you do on the net leaves bread crumps or cookies behind that makes it easy to track a user online, every device have a Mac Address and every network has an IP address, but it takes a special kind of software and advance skills to track down somebody in the real world.

Let’s talk about episode 32 of Stream.

Remember that episode were Megaman followed a revived Shademan to 20 Years in the past and he witnessed a famous hacking incident that was stopped by Colonel?

Aside from the fact that it was 20 years in the past and Megaman is more advance than most of the technology there, there were a few things bothering me.

For starters, why does that computer show a little Colonel doing something to that guy’s hacking program? It’s cute and all, but this is a confusing way to show someone disabling a program, it usually just shows a notification. Or is that how the computer sees colonel, like a little pixel version of him? XD

That hacking program was made to open any cyber lock, it uses three special pillars to disguise the signal so the police wouldn’t be able to track down the address, this means those pillars have some special form of encryption to cover the data to make it untraceable. In the anime’s world, that means it’s invisible, but somehow Megaman can still sense it? And how did Barryl know where the guy was? Did colonel tell him? Or did the viruses he sent to delete colonel revealed his location? Oops.

4. Hard Drives.

To end this post, what are hard drives? They are what your computer uses to store files, so Navis can obviously be stored in a computer as well. The problem is that they are still sentient inside the computer instead of dormant.

The concept of containing a Navi, yes, Navis have their own jail in this universe, doesn’t really make any sense. We know Navis can sleep, but the Navis we see in cages are still active, and if everything is connected to the internet, how can they not escape?

I’m using this scene with Megaman as an example, when he was arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was put in a cute little cyber cage.

However, since Megaman is more advance, he wonders if the hard drive of the computer he is stored in is weak against vibrations. What does he mean by that? Physical or cyber vibrations? Does that mean he can control a frequency in that computer’s cyberworld to alter it? 

Whatever he did worked, because he left a gap in the cage, but how did he do it without damaging the Hard Drive? The police officer wouldn’t be able to access his files anymore, maybe it was minor file corruption?

And the worst part is that he opened a gateway into the internet, which is still there! I guess Megaman can travel through routers by himself? Maybe that wouldn’t have happen if the officer just disconnected his ethernet cable. 

This Network based world is a scary one.

[mdhwrites]

The Problem With the Harem Childhood Love

"I met this girl a decade ago and she changed how I viewed everything. We only knew each other for a single day but I know she's the one."

"Oh, so you two are easily going to have the most chemistry of anyone in your own story if you were to ever meet, right?"

"Why would we need that? I've already made my mind up a decade ago that I love her. So long as I say that, I can get with her at any time."

And then I start staring at the writer across from me until they finally leave because of the cardinal sin they have committed: Writing while assuming the ending.

Let me elaborate: It's actually a good thing for most stories to know what their ending is. It allows for better narrative planning and build up so that each block of your story can build on one another. Foreshadowing is only possible by knowing what plot points are coming up. Some writers can go by the seat of their pants and plan on the fly like the late Akira Toriyama and still have something coherent but it is usually considered better for a narratives pacing to know what it is.

This isn't about that though. It is when a writer knows what is coming and assumes it as self evident. This is almost always a bad thing to do because if you assume something is self evident, you'll put less narrative work into justifying it. You get this a lot when a character seems to only know something because the author says they do or they run off to a specific place without any real reason because the writer either thinks that's already been justified or because they just need that to happen for the sake of the plot.

Romance is the genre where this problem is at its worst with a pretty clear lead over most other genres. This is mostly due to two elements: Genre and the 'nature of love'.

Let's tackle the second one first since genre is going to come up more importantly with this specific trope. Love is seen oftentimes as mysterious and essentially impossible to explain. We fall in love. We slip into love. We find our soulmate. Many forms of romantic literature doesn't frame love as a choice but as an inevitability which isn't actually a bad thing. It's part of the appeal. Part of why Hallmark movies are as popular as they are is because the idea of one day having someone crash into your life, fill you with what most consider to be the best feeling in existence and change your life for the better is pretty damn attractive.

If you have watched a Hallmark movie though, you will often look at one half of that pairing and go "Why the hell are you interested in this person?" I've literally been told off in the past for analyzing why a character loves another character (positively even btw which made the reaction incredibly confusing for me) because it's like... Love man. You don't gotta explain it. If they say they're in love, they're in love!

Yes, that is undeniably how reality works but this isn't talking about reality. It's talking about fiction. In fiction, characters are theoretically supposed to have motivations and personalities and if you never sell your audience on why your two romantic leads would theoretically want to grow closer with the other one, besides lust, then it's not going to be a truly engaging romance. You don't even have to interrogate it that hard. We have tried and true ship dynamics for a reason to help with this because how those dynamics play off of each other commonly showcases why they would like each other. That doesn't mean you can just present the ship dynamic either but it can help give you a proper baseline to work from.

Second: Genre. You're reading a romance story so of course the main two characters are going to get together. If the story is not about that then you're not writing a romance. That mindset of it being a genre necessity and a foregone conclusion is already a death sentence for a lot of romance works. After all, they're together, they're your leads, you had them blush a couple times around each other, jobs done, right?

WRONG! It is still your job as a writer to sell us that they got there naturally and believably. There's a reason this is a GENRE. Part of why romantic subplots suck in so many things is because romance is seen as this thing you can just throw in a story easily and then walk away from because you said it happened so it did. Love is such a complex topic, and the process of falling in it so compelling and powerful (or if you're even braver, the process of dealing with those feeling after the confession) that it can carry a story entirely on its own. This is also because love is such a powerful emotion, terrifying in that strength and its mystery, and a relationship such a big commitment that someone actually deciding to go through with either is a genuinely big deal. There's lots of people out there, and not just those who are aromantic, who don't understand why we fall in love because it's absolutely fucking terrifying and you lose a lot just to gain a romantic partner, at least if you look at it derivatively.

BUT! What if you could write yourself an out of all of this complexity? Better yet, what if this out could allow you to expand your cast to a frankly ludicrous degree for a romance story while still making who wins make narrative sense? How glorious would it be if you could make the final question not "Who does the main character like most," but instead "Who is the one he was destined to be with?"

Enter the trope at the top of this blog. Harem stories are frankly a touch terrifying to write. As someone who has done three different erotic takes on the genre, I have fucked up one of three SPECTACULARLY and my other two are taking cheats of their own to get around some of the ensemble problems of a harem. Because this blog is already going long, I won't get into hard why harem writing is difficult or why its protagonists are the way they are here but uh... Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there and it's not all for wish fulfillment. I mean, it's a genre with a lot of wish fulfillment too but there's still other reasons behind it.

The core thing that makes them a struggle though is that time is your explicit enemy. An ensemble cast always consumes time in a way that few are always ready to deal with. You may want five main characters but you may quickly realize that only three are any good or that to make all five good, you're going to need add another season to your show, volume to your manga, etc. like that because expanding on each character, especially equally, is a big ask. Again, romance as a genre normally deals with only two main characters for a reason. The question of falling in love is bad enough when you have to sell a relationship with one character, let alone three or more. Even worse if they're all supposed to be seen as equally valid options.

So how do you pick one over the rest? Well, if you're not a coward, you make them into a polycule but as that's not all that socially acceptable and not a lot of big harem works have gone that route, you aren't going to see that option too often. Instead, you need a final plot beat/arc that will make it crystal clear who the choice is and why.

And what better way to do that than with some predestination!? Yeah, this trope actually has a crap ton of problems. The fact that people change from when they were kids, the fact that promises made when young should not define your entire life, etc. like that. That all can be said to be like saying that implying a high school romance will be forever is stupid though. That you're already clearly against the genre or the romanticization of love and so your opinion is skewed.

That's why my complaint is the one it is. See, this sort of excuse makes it so you can say that one of the girls in a harem was always the one and it's in character and fuck EVERYTHING up in the process. After all, with such a... profound eye roll explanation as this, why do you need to build their relationship? You have two to four other girls, potentially even more, to explore, tease and string along until finally getting with the one left out. They don't need chemistry even more than a normal romantic couple because of this singular moment in the past.

And if you, as a writer, actually believe that, you deserve to be smacked. All you're going to do is piss off essentially your ENTIRE audience who got invested in these other characters, who you told them through narrative to care about and get invested in, because the one they were told didn't matter was actually the one they should have been watching out for. Even if it's explicitly clear from go who it is, if your entire audience hates them then they're still going to throw away your story because of the bad taste the last bite leaves because you somehow chose the worst member in your roster to be the one that deserves the happy ending while the rest can eat shit.

And the reasonable argument against this complaint is that if you're that invested in the rest, the author still succeeded. It's the journey that matters, not the destination, right? Well... Actually, romance is the genre where that is the least true. It's why romance stories end with implying a happily ever after because treating these two that you've come to know and care about as just a school yard fling makes all those sweet moments, all that care and growth, seem meaningless and cheap. Like it was all for naught, especially because of how desirable love is for most people and how devastating heart break can be.

So if you can't even go "At least one of the ones that deserved it got their happy ending" then it can make all those moments of harem fun just feel all the more painful. Like the hand of the author is holding a knife to your back, waiting to betray you at any second. That is a feeling that will leave very few in an audience happy, at least if they genuinely care about the characters and romances you've written.

And all because the writer assumed their brilliant excuse was all it would take to make you agree that their ending made sense.

======+++++======

This blog is brought to you today by Quintessential Quintuplets, an anime I couldn't finish because while I don't watch much harem stuff, I could still clearly see that every girl who deserved a happy ending in that show wasn't going to get it, even before being told who got with the MC in the end. It's also somewhat brought to you by me working on the concept of a harem story and my musings on some of its specific tropes. Again, I could do several blogs on it frankly. Shocking, I know, that the romance writer has thoughts on romance genres.

(Also, if you're more immune to this problem than I am, Quintessential Quintuplets is worth your time. It's not perfect but I did find the cast compelling and charming enough to get worked up about them and there are some really smart narrative choices made along the way.)

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[ask-serendipity-sky]

Why does no one mention jimin and ong seongwoo going on a movie date in 2019? There's even a pic of them, ong has a drink with 2 straws in it on opposite sides. Rumor has it that jimin's ex-boyfriend was ong seongwoo. What if that's actually jimin's boyfriend 🤭

Hi Anon. No offense, well offense, actually...your question is kinda dumb.

First of all, that was in 2019.

No one mentions Jimin and Ong? I'm sure that if you find older Jikook blogs, you will find them discussing that just like they've discussed other outings that Jimin or Jungkook had with different people... Back in 2019.

Jimin and Jungkook doing things with people doesn't mean they are dating said people. It's called having friends and being your own person not just a half of a relationship.

Jimin and Ong going on a movie date. Jimin and Jungkook have gone to "movie dates" as you call them too soo...

Ong has a drink with 2 straws. He does. That doesn't prove anything, though? Did we see them drink out of the same cup? Were there other people with them? We don't know. Does drinking out of the same cup mean anything? Because if you think it does, then Jimin and Jungkook are boyfriends. They've shared a slice of lemon, the same cereal bowl, a lollipop, steak, ice cream, gimbap, pizza, the list goes on. Here is a little summary lol:

They've done that since they were younger and the last time we saw them share a ramen bowl on screen was in the Busan welive on Oct 2022. So based on that logic Jikook has been together for years now.

What if that's actually Jimin's boyfriend? When I first heard about Ong, I looked it up and analyzed at the evidence we had.

The things that Jimin did with Ong, he has/had done with other people and a lot of the stuff included Sungwoon. I didn't find anything that to me indicated that they were dating. Even during the interactions with Ong, Jimin is still checking on Jungkook's reaction.

Why would he care what Jungkook thinks or feels? Unless....

I do think that Jikook went through a rough patch or break during part of 2018 and part of 2019. During this time, we saw Jimin in outings with friends but based on what I observed, I don't think he was dating anyone of them. Ong included.

If Jimin was dating anyone else, it would mean that everything Jikook did in 2018-2019 was fan service and I don't think Jikook is fan service.

Jikook was different during that time because they lacked the closeness, the exclusivity. They were still friendly towards each other, of course, but they both didn't actively search for each other. However, we had some of the great Jikook moments happen in that time frame.

To me, that's indication that they were trying to get back on track, trying to get that exclusiveness again. Making a big gesture so the other person can see that you still want to give it a try.

And they did. Jikook's relationship took a step forward and matured a little more. You see the closeness. They began being exclusive again. Only doing certain things for each other and no one else.

And that's where we are today too. Only doing certain things for each other and no one else.

So based on your logic, Jungkook is Jimin's boyfriend.

Thanks for confirming, anon!

[queennai714]

Random hcs I have because I may be cringe but I'm free part 24 (Ninjago)

My hcs on side-interests the ninja have. There will be little to no reasoning for most of these except I got the feeling (I'm not even going to attempt further explanation) Enjoy 👍

Kai: I've always thought that weapons (especially swords) and blacksmithing are def a huge special interest for him but I also feel like he would be into spiders and scorpions. If anybody else on the team started freaking out about a spider in the house (or the occasional scorpion on a mission) that he knows is harmless, he would definitely pick it up and chase them around with it (Jay is his most frequent victim). He's also into mixology. You know why.

Jay: Not gonna lie, had a hard time thinking about one for him, then I remembered he said he was into model building in the pilots and we never heard or saw of it again so yea, he gets to build little models. Considering how stressed out he gets in tough situations, I think he would really enjoy feeling like he's in total control of every little detail, and its probably good for blueprinting/practicing for new inventions.

Cole: This one kinda relates to his canon art interest but I feel like he would be really into old school cartoons. I'm talking black and white stuff. He would probably really enjoy that style and how outlandish some of those old characters could get in an age where there were a lot less boundaries. He would never try animating for himself but if he sees something he likes, he'll sit there and analyze one clip frame by frame until he understands.

Zane: BIRDS (I feel like these are just getting more and more canon compliant but whatever) You cannot tell me bro isn't an avid birdwatcher. Why else would Dr. Julien specifically choose a bird design when the aim was to make a friend for Zane? Bro could name all the native bird species for any region of Ninjago without needing to look it up. The birds like him back, too. Dude looks like a whole Disney princess everytime he relaxes outside cause all the nearby birds just flock to him and rest on his shoulders.

Nya: Much like Cole, Nya's into the classics, except she's strictly into movies, and not so classic that they're black and white. Annie, Braveheart, Alien, Predator, Crocodile Dundee, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Rocky, etc. if it came out before the year 2000, she's seen it and enjoyed it (she cried during Braveheart because we're actually really similar and I cried during Braveheart so now she does too). Despite how offensive some of that older stuff can be, she's never started a movie (or even sometimes a series of movies) that she couldn't finish.

Lloyd: Whatever the Ninjago equivalent of Pokémon is. You saw how much of a nerd he was, especially when he was still little, and especially about Starfarer. You're telling me he wouldn't freak out about something that has a show and a card game!? Even after he's been aged-up for a while, he still has and adds to his card collection and he still holds it VERY near and dear to his heart. After seeing how well the Starfarer thing worked, he has been slowly recruiting Jay so he can finally play against someone and get some use out of his collection, and its working.

[anjumbai]

Remembering: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Director: Hideaki Anno

I must not run away.

Another one of those anime that I watched Gigguk make loads of videos on. There's an almost persuasion quality to his videos, where he doesn't directly try to persuade you into watching an anime. Instead he makes love letters in the form of video essays on different anime, which sound so artistic and funny that you want to watch the anime just so you can grasp all of what he's saying. Sure, you can talk about anything passionately and people will find it beautiful. But it's a totally different thing when you love somebody's work so much that you wanna pick it up yourself and try it. Just so you can experience a fraction of what they did. I picked up journaling like that once. It really is beautiful what somebody's passion can make you do.

So NGE, another anime that I watched during Covid lockdown. I've loved this anime for how simply it tore apart all of it's narrative just so the depressed middle aged man known is Hideaki Anno could grasp the world's attention and deliver his message. His message was as simple as -"I don't like life. I'm no good and this world has no place for me. Somebody please, see me." As Gen Z, nothing beat a sweet glass of milk with depression back then.

What do I remember about NGE? Well-

Never skipped the damn intro. ZANKOKU WA TENSHI- *head beat intensifies*

Shinji was a pu*sy. It seemed that most of the viewers agreed that Shinji was a coward when it came to facing his life head on. While his behavior has always been memed, the same viewers were as sympathetic to him as they were critical. It was easy to make fun of him, but imagining myself in his shoes was really tough as well.

Rei was nice.

The adults were as hopeless as the teenage cast. None of the adults managed to act as adults where they should have. That resulted in a different kind of fucked up-ness. Shinji's father was a menace to him, burdening him with responsibilities totally not appropriate for a teenager of 14. I don't remember the age but yeah. You could see adults making moves on kids so that they could suffice for their loneliness; and you would think that how can that pass in a show? Well, it all seemed so subtle that you'd have to read some analysis on the characters. It was all pretty fucked up.

I read at least 2 reddit posts for analysis on each episode. At first, I thought I should do it because it's a mecha anime with loads of robots and prophetic terms. But soon you will come to realize that these religious terms and extremely cool robots were just for show, just to look cool. You didn't need to analyze any of it nor did you need to know what angels were, what was the spear of longinus or anything of that sort. As the story unfolds, you could see it was a deep revealing of Hideaki Anno, the director's troubled and disturbed mental state.

FLY ME TO THE MOON.

The studio lost it's budget before it could even end the show properly. You would have one shot of animation running for 10 minutes to end an episode, accompanied only by the dialogue. The last episodes used colorless panels of animation- even a regular viewer could see this as a budget cut rather than an artistic choice. But just because of this- they put some extra care on the only panels they could draw. You couldn't help but smile at a studio's budget constraints.

These are actual frames from the final episodes.

The anime finished with me gaining some deep knowledge on human emotions and that is what made NGE memorable to me. I still remember most of the lessons I learned and happen to instinctively follow now.

Evangelion is divided in 3 parts imo. The first is the original anime, then the follow up artistic movie called End Of Evangelion- my favourite movie this day, and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. I loved Gigguk's explanation on how part 1 was an insight on the troubled mental state of Hideaki Anno. It showed how he failed to deal with emotions, how human interaction can leave you so hurt and how pointless all the pain seemed. End of Eva seemed like an acceptance stage of the pain, the woe and the inabilities. And the rebuild showed full acceptance of life and gratefulness. It was literally the most artistic and different way to get therapy in my opinion. And I love that about Eva.

I love Evangelion for all it has presented. It's an anime I hold close to me and I often run to Reflections of Despair in youtube just to remind myself of what I learned through this show.

You never understand anything. Nothing ever changes. Is that wrong? I don't wanna be alone. I'm no good. Nobody wants me. You betrayed my feelings. Somebody help me. Somebody care about me. All lines from the ASMV. I don't remember whether these are lines from NGE but they seem connected. There's so much to uncover through this lines, so much to live with. Nobody will truly understand you- and maybe that's the beauty of it. You have some feelings to yourself and you keep them with you. Nothing really changes, people stay the same. Not particularly true but maybe all of it is a part of life. We can't beg people to be with us so we can look at them instead of looking at our loneliness. And when they won't look at us, when they can't be the crutch we use to walk on, we focus on the rage of betrayal instead of learning why we actually feel all that rage. For whom is all that rage for? The betrayal? Or the pain you're gonna feel? Is it another crutch? Why let somebody care about you when you can do that for yourself?

10/10. Would watch with my kids. When they are 18 and mentally unstable.

End of Evangelion is much different than this. There's so much to talk about this anime- but I never have the proper words at any given time.

[darklingichor]

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

Uh, so I reread this and accidentally wrote a rough draft for an academic essay on the satire and differences between the book and the movie. It's long... Sorry!

Most of the time, the book is better than the movie. It's inevitable, really. You get more of the story, more time with the characters, more of the why.

Sometimes, the movie is better than the book. I personally like the movie versions of Bridget Jones's Diary and The Shawshank Redemption more than the books.

And then you have things like The Princess Bride where the book and the movie are almost like the storytelling equivalent of divergent evolution. Both sprang from a common source (the imagination of William Goldman) but slot into separate niches. I'm of the opinion that it isn't fair to compare the one against the other to decide which is better because that's like comparing riding in a car to riding a horse. They can both be enjoyable, and get where you need to go, but they are fundamentally different experiences.

You can, however compare and contrast the two to analyze both.

So, I think that's how this one will go.

The bones of the book and the movie are the same.

Boy is sick, family member (grandfather in the movie, father in the book) reads the boy The Princess Bride by S. Mortensen.

The Princess Bride follows the beautiful Buttercup and her love, the farm boy, Westley on their journey of fencing, fighting, true love, and adventure.

The book, however, takes the framing device of a sick boy being read to a lot farther than the movie with Goldman inserting a fictionalized version of himself and his family in there. He was the sick boy, and when he realized that his father only read him the good parts of The Princess Bride, he decides to abridge it.

Goldman says that in the unabridged version, Morgenstern was satirically commenting on the royalty and general attitudes in Florin (which is a real place in this universe).

I think what Goldman is actually poking at is the archetypes and tropes of fairytales.

We have Buttercup, our damsel in distress, who has been in plenty of distress, but most of it, not coming from the villains.

We have Westley, our hero who spends very little time actually being heroic

Inigo Montoya, who is sort of cast as a sidekick, but if you really look at it, does most of the heavy lifting and has the only true hero arch in the whole story.

Fezzik, who is cast in the role of Inigo’s sidekick, but the action would have gone nowhere without him.

Count Tyrone Rugen, Vizzini and Prince Humperdinck who, are all deeply fucked up, but have to be taken together to make one fairytale villain.

And all of these are complemented but slightly contrasted in the movie to really shine a light on Goldman skills as a writer.

In the movie, Buttercup is beautiful, and that is just taken as a given first because Robin Wright is playing her, also, of course she is beautiful, she’s going to be our princess.

However, in the book, beauty is the first concept to be lampooned. The reader is told about the most beautiful women in various years of Buttercup’s life. The worlds women are ranked, and someone somewhere is keeping track.

The year Buttercup was 15, she was barely in the top 20 most beautiful, on potential alone. Of course, she didn’t really notice when the boys started flocking to her. And she would have been baffled if she had known that, two years later, the reason that Count Rugan visited her parent’s dairy farm was because of rumors of her beauty.

It was only when she and Westley fall in love that her potential starts to be realized (It should be noted here that Westley only seems to love her for her beauty at this point since he calls her “not the brightest”). Westley, immediately after they declared their love for each other, decided bugger off to America to make money for their life together. Buttercup decides to start taking care of herself and began climbing the ranks.

By making beauty the focus around Buttercup, Goldman is making an interesting commentary because at this point, there is nothing special about Buttercup, other than the fact that she is beautiful. In all other ways, she is fairly unremarkable. She does her chores, and she likes nothing more than to ride her horse. Think of the classic fairytale heroine, they don’t display any particular aptitude for much of anything, they are just pretty things to be rescued. They don’t need to develop anymore. And Buttercup is fitting into this mold well.

Then news comes of Westley's death. Her heart is broken, and she grieves, and she makes a vow to never love again.

She now has aptitude at something, being brutally practical. She made the decision after she lost Westley to carry on and that's just what she does.

So, when Humperdinck decides he wants a beautiful wife, the Count, remembering Buttercup's potential, turns the prince's head toward her.

Humperdinck asks her to marry him and she refuses until he makes it clear that she will die if she doesn't, and that he isn't looking for a love match, only someone agreeable to make an heir.

So it's either marry the Prince or die. Since he doesn't want her to love him, that would mean dying for no good reason, and that would be stupid, so she agrees.

Even after Westley returns, this doesn't really change.

In the movie, when Westley and Humperdinck face off for the first time and Buttercup agrees to go back to the castle as long as Westley isn't hurt, she says: "I thought you were dead once, and it almost destroyed me. I could not bear it if you died again, not when I could save you."

Romantic and self sacrificing.

In the book, the same scene goes like this:

“The truth,” said Westley, “is that you. would rather live with your Prince than die with your love.”

“I would rather live than die, I admit it.”

“We were talking of love, madam.”

There was a long pause. Then Buttercup said it: “I can live without love.” (pg. 191, Kindle edition)

Oof, harsh. In fact, Westley who doesn't give up, seems to spend the rest of the story, until their reunion, thinking that she did this for money and power.

It is clear, however, that Buttercup doesn’t care about either of those things, never has. She's willing to be queen, but doesn't lust after the power it would give her, and she never mentions money.

She says she can live without love, because she already has.

Westley's reality of the three years they are separated is not the same as Buttercup’s. He never utterly lost her, his vision of the future with Buttercup never changed.

Buttercup’s reality had a grenade thrown into it. Westley was dead, nothing was going to be like she thought, and she experienced pain she had never been through before. Love was off the table after that.

When Westley returns, she is happy, yes, but when faced with the prospect of both of them dying, that brutal practicality came out.

Living without Westley was nothing new, so she would just be continuing on the same path. This would be better though because at least Westley would be alive. She learned to live without love, Westley could do it too.

She does have a change of heart later, and that triggers the unhinged rescue mission that is my absolute favorite part of either book or movie. But even with this veering back on to the path of traditional princess narrative, she ignores the typical princess trappings.

Buttercup also manages to turn the damsel in distress role upside down.

She doesn't suffer all that much at the hands of Humperdinck, or even Vizzini, Inigo and Fezzik when they kidnap her on Humperdinck’s orders. in fact, the prince goes out of his way to be nice to her until toward the end of the book. And the kidnappers are pretty respectful of her, even while they talk about killing her.

No, our Princess suffered most before she ever put down her milk pails, and this suffering and some that she would endure later didn't come from our villains, it came from our hero.

Ah Westley, in the movie, lovely. In the book, sort of annoying.

In the movie, Westley comes off as alternately confident, and lovelorn. He is always intelligent, and other than when he thinks Buttercup threw their love away (the first time), a generally sweet guy.

In the book... Well, he’s not unlikable, but he is arrogant. Very intelligent, but not so much in the emotional department.

In the movie, the way it comes across, is that the two leads fall in love over a period of time, spend a period of time being in love together, and *then* Westley goes off to make his fortune.

In the book, Buttercup realizes she loves him, tells him, then he confesses that he’s always loved her *and then he leaves*. Less than a night between “I love you” and “Bon Voyage”.

Cary Elwes manages to make the attitude The Man in Black has toward the now Princess Buttercup, come off as anger inspired by hurt.

I don’t get that in the book. I mean, yeah, he’s hurt, but he’s mostly just pissed.

We find out how he survived being attacked by pirates in much the same way in both book and movie, eventually becoming the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Here’s a question I have always had no matter which version of the story I am thinking of: Three years, it takes for him to come back to Florin as The Man in Black. He couldn’t have dropped a letter to his girlfriend in all that time? He steps on shore for supplies, never once thought: “I should probably tell my one true love I’m still among the quick” ?

Yeah, yeah, secrecy and all of that, had to keep being the Dread Pirate Roberts. But movie Buttercup is bright enough to know not to say anything, and book Buttercup wouldn’t have needed details. And yeah, it would be a challenge to get letters back to him, but considering this is a world where miracle men can bring a dead man back to life with a chocolate pill, you would think that the most feared pirate in the world could figure out some kind of relay system. And then, when Humperdinck says “Marry me or die” she could use that relay system to get a letter to Westley and maybe things would be delayed what with one thing or another, and the whole kidnapping plot and stress can happen, but with the added benefit of Buttercup not being emotionally traumatized and Westley not acting like a dick.

But, the way the plot and his character is set up, this is a case of Goldman going after the classic hero.

The swashbuckling saver of ladies and practionor of daring dos are never in doubt of whether they are in the right and doing what is best for all, and because the narrative is on their side, they are not burdened with the needs of others, because the will align with his.

Westley is this hero, which is why he is able to hold fast to his romantic (in the literary sense) ideals. Life hadn't emotionally knocked him around. That's why when Buttercup leaves him after the fire swamp, he can't even compute things not going his way. It's not until he is actually killed and brought back does he have a crisis of faith. His doesn't last as long as Buttercup’s, because Westley has Inigo and Fezzik to shake him out of it, while Buttercup worked through her's alone.

This is another subversion of the normal fairytale. The men in this book need a lot of help and the women really work stuff out. Namely Queen Bella and Miracle Max's wife, Valerie. Things wouldn't have happened at all without the former, and would have come to a screeching halt without the latter screeching at her husband.

Westley really learns humility at the end of his journey rather than having his wonderfulness confirmed.

And two characters in particular help him get there.

Inigo Montoya and Fezzik are without a doubt my favorites. The Inigo and Fezzik are more fleshed out in the book, but are fundamentally the same characters. Both of their backstories are awesome and worth the read all on their own.

I mentioned earlier that Inigo has the only true hero arch in the book. Here's what I mean: He has an origin story that makes us care about him (losing his father to the six fingers man, over a sword) he works hard to learn sword play, devoting himself to it utterly. His quest is clear, avenge his father by killing the six fingers man. He loses his way, has a crisis of confidence, and finally completes his quest.

Although arguably somewhat amoral, he is kind to Fezzik and is generally loyal. He is not presented as our main protagonist, yet he spends more time doing things that would eventually rescue Buttercup, than Westley does.

But he lost to Westley, and heros don't lose!

Well, a big theme in this book is that life isn't fair, and I would argue that that is only half of the message, the rest is: and hubris will kick your ass.

Westley is a master swordsman, but if you read the scene in the book, you will see that he is not better than Inigo.

Inigo starts the duel left handed, for more of a challenge. Westley also does this, and that makes for the wonderful "Got'cha" moment where Westley beats him.

What you have here is two over confident people meeting at the same time.

The reader is told that Westley does his best fencing on open terrain, When Inigo gets him in the trees or around rocks, he wasn't as formidable. Inigo, by contrast, is an expert no matter what ground he is fighting on. By time both fighters are using their dominate right hands, Inigo is shaken - someone who pulled his own trick on him! This shock made him a fraction off his game, and meant that he was not able to maneuver Westley into terrain where Inigo would be able to get the upper hand.

If Inigo would have simply used his right hand at the start, it is possible that the fight would have been over as soon as they made it to the rocks,and long before Westley would have had a chance to switch to his right hand. But, he didn't, and he lost.

And he does learn this lesson, as hard as it was, and he didn't have to die to do it.

Fezzik is presented as the sidekick's sidekick

But, if it weren't for him overcoming self doubt and fear to simply survive, nothing would have worked out.

Growing up a giant with a gentle heart wasn't easy for Fezzik, especially because he had to learn to fight, not just for defense, but for a living, but he did what he had to for survival. In this way, he is very much like Buttercup.

When Westley bests him, he doesn’t have a crisis of confidence, instead he's afraid because Vazzini is dead, and he assumes Inigo is too.

But he knows he has to carry on, so he joins the Brute Squad that was formed on command of Humperdinck before his wedding. And that's how he found Inigo. If he hadn't figured out a way to live without being on Vizzini 's crew, Inigo would have been blind drunk when the count killed Westley and Humperdinck would have won the day.

Humperdink, the Count and Vazzini are fairly straightforward villains in my view, though fairy ineffectual on their own. Humperdinck has the power, and the means. He wants Buttercup dead so he can blame Guilder and go to war. Vizzini is seen as having the brains, he Inigo and Fezzik are hired to carry out the plot. Vizzini is an assassin, he does what the money tells him to do. When Westley cocks that up (and to be fair Westley does out smart him) Humperdinck decides to just do it himself.

The six fingered man is just interested in pain, as a hobby. He's not looking for power or gold, he has what he needs there. If he could hire people to hurt and study, he would. Also, he puts no thought into the consequences of his actions. He's a noble, there won't be any.

These three, are a commentary on power. Those who have it want more and also will abuse it, and will use those without it to meet their ends, and while the characters are different from book to movie, they seem to be making the same point, and in the end it is the people they abused that wind up being their undoing.

What's interesting between book and movie is that Goldman's outlook seem to have softened a little. There is a lot of pointed sarcasm and sharp satire in the book that is mostly subtext in the movie.

The true love through line feels more developed than it was meant to be in the book. In the book, up until the middle, Westley and Buttercup represented a literary ideal more than an actual fleshed out relationship. To be blunt, there isn't a lot of chemistry between the two until after the second reunion, and considering the way the other characters are written, I have to think this was deliberate. It's a commentary on the fairytale "I've known you for 17 1/2 minutes, let us spend our lives together" love story.

Not so in the movie.

Was this change just because Goldman didn't feel like the edged stuff would translate well to screen? Or did he decide, like his fictional father in the book, that a little high adventure and true love can make you feel better?

I don't know, but what I do know is that I love both versions.

If you want satire, and comedy with a lot of heart and just enough darkness to keep you grounded, go for the book.

If you want adventure and laughs, that keeps a wry smile and a wink turned your way watch the movie.

[doedipus]

I watched oppenheimer the other night and I think if I were to describe it with any single word it would be "overproduced"

nolan has never been very good at developing characters through dialogue, and I feel like this is probably the roughest it's been. trying to discuss the pre-bomb and post-bomb parts of rob's life led to an unfocused scope with dozens of characters that mostly were around for a small handful of scenes each, and human connection between characters was cut in order to make room for more plot points to happen. the emotional core of the film felt hollow while the runtime ballooned.

people mocked the movie when it came out for ostensibly being a pity party for a guy who led development of the bomb, but I felt like in the end the movie only weakly gestured towards rob's interiority at all. there are a handful of scenes where he seems nonplussed about the jingoism of wartime america and imagines the bomb being used on his own people, but these threads get lost in the weeds as nolan chooses to focus on things that are more interesting to him. and beyond that, his presence in his romantic relationships seems incidental and tertiary. rob is a very emotionally detached character, which frustrates his lovers periodically, but again, these threads are lost in the weeds and not followed up on satisfactorily. they briefly hint at his interest in various areas of spirituality, but it doesn't noticeably tie into the plot or imagery besides explaining where that one quote is from. he's one of the only characters with significant dialogue, but he still says very little.

nolan also clearly was very excited about drawing a parallel between rob and strauss, as this forms the core framing device(s) of the film, but without much development of strauss beyond and handful of scenes which were repeated every half hour or so, it's unclear what the parallel was supposed to mean. in the end they just seem like two public figures with a petty rivalry that got out of hand rather than, again, any particular insightful commentary on either. this whole arc of the movie is a huge culprit contributing to how convoluted the presentation is, and ultimately fails to justify itself.

and this is the case for so many more plot threads beyond this. like if nolan's aim here was to make a movie about a complicated guy that properly conveyed how convoluted and meandering his life was, that's interesting I guess, but a big part of the job of biographers and documentarians is to help filter and weave narratives out of the chaos of real life, and nolan has staunchly refused to do that at all.

with respect to the bomb itself, I feel like the discussion of it here was very lackluster. we're far enough removed from the event by now to have documented things like the actual contemporary debate around whether we should've used it, what the bomb, like, did, changing narratives about it afterwards, etc. but instead we're treated to the layer 1 "a land invasion of japan would've been too costly for everyone, so we used the bomb to force a quick end to the war" interpretation we've all heard in high school. they even bring up the euphemistic phrasing of "a vital war plant with a large number of workers closely surrounded by the workers' houses" or whatever, but this is accepted uncritically by the film and not like, analyzed at all. going too far into discussing postwar japan or whatever would be more needless scope bloat, but I feel like one of the villain characters quoting stats at rob, while elsewhere the typical line is toed as usual, was not sufficient and did not do the subject matter justice.

people have been comparing oppenheimer and ziller minus one for covering similar material, but like, the political bent of both is just... bad. ziller swings for the fences with the political commentary but strays into wildly misplaced sentimentality that comes off really bad at times, and oppenheimer is seemingly petrified to say fucking anything interesting about the debacle at all.