#like why was the reason it couldn't have been made into a montage of cuts showing exactly how long they fought for

[flysafepapi]

i understand that there's limited time in every episode, so the storylines that are less important to the overall plot will be modified to fit within the time constraints or not shown at all

but there's a special kind of delusion and/or audacity to take what is supposed to be the heartbreaking story of "we were born together, we grew up together, we took our vows together, but somewhere along the way we drifted apart and you left me, I don't want to fight you but I have to do my duty, i love you even after everything that's happened between us, you're my other half, we came into this world together and so this is how we leave it"

and turn it into something that reads like a forced attempt at a comedic subplot with the switcheroo that ends with "oop, can't actually live with myself after what I just did so I'm gonna commit suicide out of guilt, peace!"

[gobblinhours]

Thin Line Commentary

I've never done this before, but @alchemicallymoon made one for their Agent 32 fic, (which can be read here) so what the hell, seems like an interesting idea!

And fun fact, the whole idea for this fic was spawned because I cannot smile, I just press my lips together into a Thin Line (title drop)

Biggest thing to note: How long it took to write. I thought that it would be around 5000 words and I could get it out by Thanksgiving.

This was not the case. The original roadmap was Eight & Four -> Eight & Three, with a one-day time skip in the middle. But then I had an idea to make it less abrupt, so I integrated Off the Hook into it, before realizing I was leaning into Eight's relationship with Pearl, at the cost of Marina, so I had to make another scene with Eight and Marina to even things out. (leading to this post) Then I figured I should throw in a little bit of positive interaction between Pearl and Marina, which luckily was easily able to be adapted into something subtly referencing Pearlina at the end.

Then I realized that someone had to stay back to commentate over the radio, and if Three and Eight were going to go into a kettle together like I planned, someone else would have to be in the story. I'm not confident in writing Cuttlefish or Sheldon for extended periods, and I already utilized Marie for a joke, so Callie was the most viable option.

And she worked surprisingly well! She and Eight bounced off of each other as if they had been friends for years, even though at this point in time this was the first time Eight had spent any time 1-on-1 with Callie, and she was a great foil to Three, with both examples leading to slapdash photoshop jobs. I had them run through a kettle, (24, for obvious reasons.), and fun fact: That was written as I played through it with a charger, albeit with two people and an increase in skill.

After that, I finally was able to get Three and Eight together, although by that point I was already over my estimate and had to cut out a plot point to save time and energy. (Three and Eight get sushi together during the evening with a Three name drop!) Luckily that was at the very end of the fic, so that fact, combined with the fact that I had no idea how to bridge the time gap except for a shopping montage, which seemed like too much of a cut for me, so I chopped it down to lunch, turf war, and video games. In the end, the roadmap ended up more like Eight & Four -> Eight & Pearl -> Eight & Marina -> Eight with Pearlina in the background -> Eight & Callie -> Eight & Three.

The biggest time loss besides IRL business was finding ways to connect the scenes together organically, as I didn't want to overutilize line breaks. I spent days unable to think of a way to connect them, (the kettle run and lunch being especially egregious) to the point where the once-liberal Thanksgiving estimate was now a speck in the rear-view mirror. The second biggest issue was writing a turf war, as I realized that fight scenes (specifically choreography) were not my specialty. (Also why you don't get to see Eight play generic-brand DDR) I can visualize it in my mind, but I can't put it into words. Hopefully with practice that can be fixed.

Overall, this is the second fic I've written that I was 100% proud of upon release, possibly due to the anxiety that came from accidentally posting it early drowned out any perceived issues, which happened with my first fic, which is the other one I was satisfied with. (my one complaint is that I couldn't come up with a good name for Callie to use in a chatroom, because agentFUN was already taken and I couldn't come up with anything else.)

Overall, I'm surprisingly happy with the quality of this, and I doubt that I'll write anything close to this length and quality, at least for a while. And while I know that I did say that I would write another Agent 24 fic next, this has drained me of any motivation to write anything focused on this ship, and I need time to recover. But I have plenty of non-24 related ideas, and motivation still flows within me. The most anyone should expect for a bit is occasional updates to my microfic dump, but that by no means means that I am not going to write anything big again, just taking a break from more time-consuming projects, as I spent over a month on this, and the added pressure of having people vote on this didn't help at all, so from now on I probably won't do that.

But even though it was absolute hell to write, it was oddly satisfying to work on, and it feels weird not having to think about what to write next.

[xnervouscircus]

i only made it about halfway through the rwrb movie before i had to concede it was every bit as cringey as i'd feared it would be and i genuinely couldn't handle any more of it

like even wayyyyyy way back when i first knew it was going to be a movie and we didn't have casting news or anything yet, i already figured that taking the emotional slowburn that plays out over 400 pages and cutting it down into a 90-120 minute movie was gonna. well. suck. i've recently accepted that i largely dislike movies bc everything happens too fast, especially wrt romance. and yep this boiled down alex & henry's relationship to warp speed montage moments before they are In Love and ughhhh it's just boring and bland and makes me wish i could hack am*zon and put a watermark over the whole movie that says "JUST READ THE FUCKING BOOK" (not that the book is like a+ but it's adorable and a lot of fun and it's a comfort book in a way the movie could never ever be a comfort movie)

THEY CUT JUNE ENTIRELY?? AND CUT OUT THE FACT THAT ALEX'S PARENTS ARE DIVORCED? IT'S A KING INSTEAD OF A QUEEN OF ENGLAND???? just. blegh. so many weird changes like that that i knew i should expect bc book-to-screen adaptions almost always have to be so inexplicably WEIRD but i still hate it all. i'm sure the latter two were changed to make it somehow more widely appealing?? or some dumb shit like that?? which uh. the kind of people who would watch a movie with explicit gay sex would not care that the president is a divorcee and the homophobic ruler of england is a woman. MOST OF US ALREADY READ THE BOOK. and literally why cut june out entirely. alex lost a whole sister. the fuck.

i also hated that they made alex's reasons for "hating" henry so one-note and petty, though i guess more-so i hated how short and trivial the whole cupboard talk was. like yeah the first meeting was awful and justifiable enough to hold a grudge, but that whole cupboard talk had been The Turning Point so shaving it down so much just made everything else about their relationship ring false and blah.

the politics were bland, the dialogue was bland, the acting was bland, i'm sorry everything was just. bleeeeeegh. i mean even the best bits of dialogue they kept from the book were ruined bc i'm sorry but i really do not at all like the actors they chose for alex and henry. the way they read the texts and emails was like they were high school bullies reading the gay kid's messages out loud to the class it all just sounded. mocking and cold and WEIRD.

i only made it to the part where alex comes out to his mom and i tried to be happy about the whole "the b isn't silent" thing but it was just another in a collection of dialogue that was all tired, overused lines. (though to be fair to the movie and critical of myself, that isn't the kind of line that makes it to mainstream much, if ever. it just still feels like a really lazy line. idk. i was just sick to death of the dialogue by that point so what should've been a nice line to hear just didn't land for me at all. all the political dialogue was so hackneyed i was just like "why do you all hate uma thurman so much" lol poor woman had nothing to work with with those lines)

another book that tragically does not survive the to-screen adaption. ah well. i think i will palate cleanse with some go2 before i pass out

[broadstflyers]

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first ever fic! It's really just an idea I've had for months, and then wrote, and then couldn't figure out which hockey boy it fit, until some mutuals were kind enough to help. I settled on our boy Barzy! It's inspired by Taylor Swift's "Gold Rush", and I really wanted to do my best in reflecting the beautiful imagery this story creates for me. I hope I did it justice. It's a little terrifying putting my writing out there, but I hope people enjoy it!

Word count: 3.4k

Warnings: Two curse words, it's really just internal conflict within the reader

Summary: You're celebrating your dad's 50th birthday with some friends and family at a dinner party. You happen to land your eyes on a beautiful stranger, who you can't seem to get out of your head. You spend the rest of the night wondering, should you go up to him?

Or do you let him walk out the door?

___________

They say when you first lay eyes on your soulmate, time stands completely still. As you gaze into their eyes, it feels as though you’ve known them for multiple lifetimes. It feels like home. Is that even remotely true?

You start to take a sip of your drink and turn your head slightly to take in your surroundings. Your eyes dance around the room, until they stumble upon another pair of wondering eyes. Your eyes lock, and you’re instantly sucked into the mysterious yet intriguing twinkling grey-blue color that compliments his navy blue suit. Suddenly, your breath hitches in your throat, every part of your body stiffens, except for your lips that part slightly and eyes that widen. The drink is long forgotten, you’re even struggling to keep it from practically falling out of your hands and onto the wooden floor. The party is now just a blur, the noise? What noise? The world is muffled, as if someone stuck your head into a hundred pillows. Images stream through your mind like an endless movie reel wrapped in shimmery gold. Endless laughter on a first date over coffee. Him rubbing the back of your hand as you take a stroll through the park. Holiday mornings, exchanging gifts. Would he participate in the tradition of opening small gifts first, or would he want the biggest gift right off the bat? Ice skating and him catching you as you stumble on a pesky track in the ice. Him tossing you into the pool while you’re trying to put up a fight in a losing battle. A sweet and quiet proposal where he promises his forever love. A kiss at the altar in front of all your friends and family. Chasing after rambunctious little kids trying to get them to nap. All these gold dripping images of a pure love plow through your brain. Your heart is the unmovable object. They are the unstoppable force.

You and him only shared a look for what was probably half a second, but the thick air that seemed to only be affecting you made time feel like it stood completely still.

You burst back into reality with the help of a slight head shake. “Woah,” you quietly whisper. You blink a few times and finally get around to taking a sip of your drink to quench your parched throat. Did you just see a whole future...with a stranger?

“Hey, are you okay?” Stella asks. Her hand gently touches your arm as she cocks her head to the side. Her brows are furrowed in what can only be described as pure confusion. Did you really space out that badly as she was talking? What were you guys even talking about?

“Oh,” you say as you gently shake your head, “yeah.” You chuckle, “yeah, I’m just fine.” You wait a beat then say, “Hey, I’m going to use the bathroom really quickly, okay?”

“Sure thing,” she nods. “Do you need me to come with?”

“I’m totally fine, I promise,” you reassure with every bone in your body while giving her your drink. You really just needed to be alone to calm your racing mind that has now turned a complete stranger into a romantic interest with the power of a golden montage.

You make your way over to the exit of the dining hall and push the creaky open with your shoulder, and the amount of force you had to use honestly hurt. Your heels click down the tiled hallway of the golf club to find the bathroom door. The rectangular bathroom mirror framed in an intricate gold design holds your reflection. You slightly tilt your head as you take a look at your face. It’s like someone took the color of a clown nose and colored in your face with it. Jeez. You shake your head and sigh. This isn’t good, and deep down, you know that. You hate when you’re like this, all flustered over someone who just happened to lock eyes with you. His eyes. They were gleaming and just all around beautiful. What were you thinking again?

Oh, right.

Well, it’s pretty obvious he has this power over you, and you don’t like that. Now is your face going to become red everytime you see him? You check your phone. There’s still two hours left, plenty of time to possibly see him again. You can’t tell if that’s necessarily a good or bad thing.

You pace around the bathroom trying to reason with your begging heart. He was pretty good looking, which means that so many people naturally want him. Who was he even talking to, anyways? You gasp and stop in your tracks, blood running cold. “He was talking to a girl,” you mumble. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t sound completely and utterly crushed. In the heat of the moment, you completely failed to realize the blonde standing next to him. You lean over the counter, the cold marble feeling on your arms making your arms break out in goosebumps. You take one last stern look in the mirror at your face. “See, this is why we can’t allow ourselves to fall that hard,” you whisper angrily, “everyone wants him, and I just...I don’t like a gold rush like that.” You shake your head again and take one last deep breath to shake out any other thoughts. You can see yourself standing barefooted at the bottom of a hole looking astounded at how tall the walls have grown, and how distant the light looks. It feels like you soared lightheartedly into the sky, just to fall and crush every bone in your body.

You roll your eyes to yourself while slightly cursing yourself out. Pushing the bathroom door open, you step out into the hallway and make a beeline back for the dining hall. Your purse starts spastically vibrating, so you hastily fish your phone out to put an end to the obnoxious noise. Scanning the text, you read that your mom is asking where you went, as the cake for your dad’s birthday is going to be cut soon. You sigh as you text, “I’m hurrying back now.”

That’s all you see before you feel a slight brush tickle your bare shoulder. Your eyes don’t dare move from your phone screen. You reason that it’s not someone you know, as they would have said something to you. Your hands shake as you put your phone back in your purse.

“Oh, sorry,” the voice trails off as he continues to walk down the hallway after he brushed up against you.

“It’s okay,” you whisper, without turning around, which is admittedly ridiculous.

As soon as you can judge his footsteps are far away enough, you make a quick glance behind to see if it really was him. And judging by the navy blue suit, it was.

Suddenly, the golden montage flows through your mind once more, showing an image of yourself wearing an old shirt of his, maybe one from when he was in high school for whatever sport he played, if he played one. Your feet feel the coolness of the wooden floor of the supposed home. The home both of you share? It’s so tangible, so real that you almost reach out to touch it. It’s right there...

Your head jerks yourself out of the vision once more, or rather the fact that you’re now faced with a white wall in front of you. You sigh a long frustrated sigh. I can’t believe I really walked by the entrance, how embarrassing, you think as you turn on your heels to backtrack. Why does this stranger have you so wrapped around his finger? No one else has been able to even come close to doing that. You feel your face with your hand, and it’s burning. I’ll go in there looking like a tomato, it’s fine.

You do your best to quite literally shake off those thoughts as you push open the dining room hall door. “There you are!” your mom says. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Come on, we’re going to sing happy birthday to Dad.”

“Can’t wait,” you beam. After all, your dad only turns 50 once, and this night is about him, afterall. You follow your mom to a table with a white tablecloth resting on it.

Stella pops out from behind your dad to approach you and whispers, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

You resist the urge to gently shove her in front of everyone. “Yes,” you pleadingly insist, “now stop asking me in front of Mom and Dad, they’ll think something is wrong.”

She side eyes you with an attitude. “Fine.”

“They’re my girls,” your dad says with a smile.

You and Stella laugh while leaning into him for a quick hug. “Hey dad,” you both say in unison.

The room completely dies down, people could hear a pin drop. “Ready?” your mom asks the guests. The room takes a collective deep breath.

And so the melody of Happy Birthday rings joyously through the hall, you can see the mystery stranger out of the corner of your eye. Heat radiates off your skin, it’s almost like you can feel his eyes boring into you. It takes all the willpower you can muster, but you resist the temptation to look over at him all throughout the song.

When the song is over, the room breaks out into obnoxiously loud clapping. You, Stella, and your parents share loving looks and warm smiles.

Eventually, everyone proceeds to return to normal chatter at the one rectangular table of two that they’re sitting at, and so do you, Stella and your parents.

You pull out your seat next to your sister near the middle of the middle of the table and sit, fixing your dress.

“Ahem,” Stella says in an ill attempt to cover her suspiciousness with a clearing throat noise. Queue whatever accusatory question she’s got.

“Let me just set something straight,” she starts.

“Go for it,” you say as you reach for some water.

“It’s definitely that guy a few seats down, isn’t it?” She smirks. She’s got you trapped in her little web, and she knows it.

You may or may not have fought back choking on your water or pulling a ridiculous spit take on the nice white table cloth.

You lean in and harshly whisper, “Well you didn’t have to say it that loudly.” You glance over at the mystery stranger and see his hand wrapped around his glass as he goes to drink it. He has a thick silver ring on his pointer finger?

“Hello?” Stella shifts her head to selfishly cut off your view of him.

“Okay,” you sigh in defeat, “yes it’s him. Happy?”

“Very,” she says, very satisfied because she finally pried it out of you and got you to admit it. Someone else has you wrapped around their finger. She didn’t even have to know all the details of the montages to know. She could tell by the way your eyes glossed over and how your lips would slightly part like you were in a hazy daydream.

And you were.

“Who is he anyway? And why don’t we know him?” You ask.

“I don’t know, honestly. A little strange, isn’t it? Why don’t you ask mom who he is?” She suggests, but her cheshire smile suggests that she will somehow find out, with or without your mom’s help.

“But mom’s going to absolutely harass me until I say something to him. Just you on my tail is enough,” you say with an eyebrow raised as to say ‘don’t test me.’ And Stella knows you’re right.

“Alright, fine,” she concedes, “But why don’t you, I don’t know, talk to him?”

“I did,” you nonchalantly float.

Her eyes widen and her mouth forms an “O” from disbelief. Did you really not talk to people that much?

“Really?” she practically squeals.

“Yeah, he brushed by me and said, ‘Sorry’ so I said, ‘It’s okay.’” Okay, now you get why your friends and family get mad at you for refusing to talk to people. But cracking this joke was one you could not pass up.

Her face scrunches up and she exhibits the biggest eye roll you have ever seen. She opens her mouth to start saying something, probably to scold at you, but you open your mouth to cut her off first.

“Alright no, I haven’t. And do you know why?” As you’re about to get your thought out, you’re interrupted by a fit of laughter down the stretch of the table. Your eyes scan but freeze on the stranger, whose nose is adorably scrunched up as he laughs with multiple, yes multiple, people about goodness knows what. And there’s that other blonde that you still don’t know, laughing with him. You tear your stare away and focus back on your sister.

“Look, that right there. That’s why,” you say, anger burning through your chest.

Stella raises an eyebrow in her own judgemental manner. “He talks to people? You know people do that right?”

Now it’s your turn to return the favor of a judgemental eye roll. “No, Stella, I mean just look at him and the people he’s surrounded by. It’s so obvious that everyone wants him. Just look at that girl with him. I’m not the only one who wants to love him.”

Silence ensues between you two. She picks up her phone and shoots a quick text. After a moment she says, “Well, I think if you just talked to him, you’d be pleasantly surprised with what could happen. I have to help mom with distributing gift bags. You stay here,” she instructs.

You can only assume you’re not being called to help because Stella graciously told your mom that you’re potentially working up the courage to talk to someone that’s not one of your three friends or your family. How generous of her.

A few friends of your dad stop by your seat to say goodbye before they head out. The noise slightly dies down enough to scarcely hear some other conversations. You hear nothing out of the ordinary, just a girl talking about getting into her dream school to some guy. Your ears slightly move as you pick up on a voice that sounds like the one in the hallway earlier.

“Yeah dude, but did you see the fake out on the goalie on the second goal? That had to have been the best part.”

Out of instinct you open your mouth to interject, but quickly shut it and put it under lock and key. You blink in disbelief. Hockey? Did this man just speak on hockey?

You circle the rim of the coffee cup and stare at the brown liquid. In a different universe…

In a different universe you would have actually kept your mouth open, and maybe even squeezed some words out, too.

“Actually, that seamless stretch pass down the neutral zone from the defenseman after a pretty difficult forecheck set up the play pretty well. I’d give him a lot of credit, too.”

He’d probably look a little shocked, as do most guys when you interject your two-sense about hockey. But maybe he’d break out into a small smile and offer a rebuttal. Yeah, that sounds nice. Maybe one day…

Maybe one day you’ll be sitting next to him on the couch, watching a game while cuddling and brushing the hair out of his face. Oh who are you kidding, you’ll be up and screaming at the TV. It’s your staple.

A noise of someone dropping something behind you slightly startles you and pulls you out of your once again golden daydream. You finally stop mindlessly circling the rim of your coffee cup to take a sip, but only to find it’s now ice cold.

This is why you hate looking through a pair of rose colored glasses. It distracts you from enjoying things. You glance over at your dad who’s still talking to one of his good friends that lingered after festivities. You’re supposed to be celebrating him right now, but instead you’re literally stuck in this cursedly pure golden daydream that is almost too good to break.

You can see him. He’s still there, at the end of the table, chatting away with some dude. The blonde left at some point, though.

“Well, I gotta head out, man, good to see you. My sister needs help with packing her stuff for college tomorrow, so we’ve got a busy day coming up.”

Could that girl have been his sister?

“Congratulations to her on getting into her dream school by the way,” the guy says. “I talked to her when she was here earlier, and she seemed super excited.”

A wave of cool relief washes over your body, remembering the conversation about college you picked up on earlier. It was his sister.

“Yeah she is, she worked really hard, and it also involved a whole lot of crying,” he chuckles.

Ain’t that right, you think to yourself.

The table shakes as he pushes out of his chair. Your eyes remain glued to your coffee cup no matter how much you want them to move. You just can’t gather the courage to say something, and you’re cursing yourself for it. You don’t want to sit here and dream about him anymore. You want to actually let these things happen, for once. You want to just unleash all these swirling and sickeningly sweet emotions from your body and drown him in it. You want so badly to leap up and say something, anything. Step on those voices taunting you and mocking you saying that it could never happen, it could never be so it will never be. He’s so inviting that you can’t resist any longer. You go to reach out to him, but the door shuts before you know it.

And just as fleeting as he came,

He’s gone.

Fuck. It feels as though a brick is sitting on your chest, suffocating you. You really let your worries control you, and this time it feels as though you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life. You just can’t believe you let it happen when your mind was begging you to talk to him. You always do-

“Shit,” you mumble. In your frustration, you knocked over the remnants of the coffee onto the not-so-white-anymore table cloth. Tears prickle up in your eyes, your throat closes, and your nose begins to sting. You quickly swallow these emotions down your throat and begin to use a napkin to soak up the excess coffee. Drinks have really not been your friend tonight.

For the first time, you notice as you clean that it’s just you left in the room, besides a few people cleaning up on the other end. You’re not sure where your family has gone, but you haven’t received any texts prompting you to leave yet. It’s so silent that you can hear some muffled chatter down the hall.

Suddenly, you hear the same creak of the door open with an “oof” that doesn’t quite sound like your dad. Your blood runs cold and you freeze mid press into the tablecloth. You glance up without turning around to see a lone jacket hanging on a chair suspiciously close to the chair he previously sat in. Your eyes widen and dart around the room, but you dare not move, waiting to see what he does. Even after cursing yourself out for ten minutes while cleaning up spilled coffee, you still haven’t learned to make the first move. His presence feels like a forcefield, you can feel it heavily pressing into your back.

But he isn’t moving to grab the jacket, no.

A pointer finger with a silver ring taps your shoulder.

“Hey,” the clarity of his voice rings in your ears like a bell. Your heart is racing so fast that it feels like it’s going to burst out of your rib cage and run its own 10k. You slowly crank your head around to meet his eyes for the first time-- face to face.

And you must say, his face is really pretty when you actually talk to him face to face. Maybe you should do this more often. You take in his golden features, and struggle to hide a small smirk creeping up on your face. His messy hair falls perfectly into place on his head, and his kind face makes you feel as though a mess of metallic gold swirls are playfully swirling and dashing around you both. You’ve found him in this lifetime.

“I’m Mat, can I help you clean up before I grab my jacket?”

[its-tortle]

SPOILERY ETERNALS REVIEW/THOUGHTS UNDER THE CUT PLEASE?? 💖

your wish is my command. i'm so sorry this became 1k.

okay, so. i'll put together a likes/dislikes list and then conclude with my overall opinions. why am i writing this like the last sentence of my intro paragraph for a uni paper asdfgh

what i fucked with:

so much representation!!! a little gay family and an emotional homosexual onscreen kiss with one of the main characters!! hell fckin yeah! a deaf main character?? YES!! the beautiful bollywood scene!!! the main main character being an asian woman when it could have been any of the other white and/or male characters?? YESYESYES!! that made me very happy

the costume design was amazing, as was the set design. i did read that eternals was filmed more onsite than marvel films usually are, which is great. it was a gorgeous movie to watch

also cause everyone in it is so gorgeous?? richard madden? gemma chan? angelina jolie? be still my beating heart

i really loved how all the eternals had different powers, and how they complimented each other. it was really cool to watch the way they fought together

the relationship between thena and gil was everything.

sersi's ringtone is juice by lizzo

i also think the concept of sprite and her age issues was really well done. i found her annoying at the end but that was kind of the point, i can't imagine how frustrated she must have been

karun. just, karun.

the fuckin. oh my god. the ikea table joke. my friend and i DIED. that is a contender for funniest marvel joke of all time

i think the concept of the movie was actually kinda really dope and interesting. like, the idea that celestials are born of intelligent life and that's why the eternals were sent to protect human life and serve this greater purpose? cool. it felt original and interesting, and didn't content too much with existing marvel lore.

what was maybe kind of wack:

we saw the movie at 20:45, and the movie theatre didn't serve popcorn after 20:00 because of some inconsistent dutch covid rules and so we couldn't have popcorn. this has nothing to do with the movie but it made me sad so it's going in here anyway

this didn't bother me as much as it did my bestie -- i obviously facetimed her as soon as i got home -- but she was right in pointing out that there was a bit of a problem with the lack of chronology. sometimes the flashback scenes weren't indicated as such soon enough, but mostly the problem was how this influenced the building of characters and relationships

because all of the backstory (just of the characters and their developing relationships) isn't until later in the movie, it's harder to care about them until then. they want us to mourn a relationship and mourn a character before we even know them

which is part of the reason i didn't find ikarus and sersi that convincing. i did ship them in the beginning, but my bestie didn't at all. they tell us they're in love without first showing us how they fell in love, and when they do show us, it's in a few short basic scenes

(also, this isn't necessarily bad but ? a sex scene? in a marvel movie?? i don't know her)

but yeah, i think that not only their relationship, but the relationships between all of them would have been more convincing with more initial scenes of them just bonding and joking around and being a family. we only got references to that, and then the scenes where they're all yelling at each other

which ties to what i would have loved: a montage scene with fun music that shows what they were all up to through the ages. apart from that one short hiroshima scene, all we got was modern day and BC. i want to see phastos finally invent the steam engine! i want sersi in a flapper dress! i want ikaris to be madden back in the kit from cinderella fit!! it also would have been a great way to let the audience get to know the characters better in order to fall in love with them, and a way for the relationships to develop

even though i shipped them, i wasn't invested enough in ikaris' and sersi's realtionship, which might be the crux of it. i liked dane too much and there wasn't enough set up for them. there's that writing rule about romance, and how a good romance is written in such a way that they don't need to kiss in order for you to realize it's romantic. they barely had that.

who was the villain? while i think it can be nice to have ambiguity, the fact that it kept switching around in this movie was a bit confusing. i sometimes forgot who they were fighting.

the really cheesy music over the dramatic moments was too much sometimes. i couldn't help but laugh when it was taking itself way too seriously

which leads me to my last point. they thought they were being so dramatic. they thought they were being so clever. they had ikaris fucking YEET himself into the sun after he messed up once (1), and i was laughing. it was fucking hilarious, and i know that that's not what they were going for. it your defining dramatic moment comes across as ridiculous, you fucked up

what is harry styles doing in the mcu. baby no, run while you can. i think he'll do a great job and i love him but i'll need some time because right now i don't wike it.

conclusion: 6.5/10

i was very much entertained and i had a good time and i fell in love with some characters, but i would have been more in love with them with just a few additional scenes. it was a beautiful movie to watch and had some absolutely hilarious anecdotes that made me laugh out loud. i wish i would have had popcorn. ikarus yeeting himself into the sun is ridiculous. the half point is for the ikea joke.

[the-melting-world]

Jezebel | Solo de la Vega

This exists because @lucigucci asked for it and I couldn't say no. Sorry it took me so long! It's basically a background/personality/daily life montage for Sascha's brother, Solo. I was trying to figure out how to work some of his experiences into Sascha's story, so this is exactly what he needed!

This fic pairs well with Sascha's "Don't Call Me Daughter" miniseries!

Music: "Jezebel" by Sade

cw: there is some nested lemony content 🍋 (some choking), emotional abuse, just very bad parenting in general

~ 2.6k words

***

~ Twenty-six years ago ~

Solo and Sascha hid. They were close enough to hear the screams and the dishes shattering.

“Get out of my house!”

“I want to see my children. Please–”

“I said, GET OUT!”

And on and on it went.

Shortly after Honore stopped making his infrequent trips to Casa Vega, the Vega twins learned to never ask about him. Instead, they protected the few mementos they had of Honore and remembered him quietly, out from under the eyes of their mother…

***

~ Present Day ~

“Nanang, why would I make any of this up?”

Solo had no more fire left in him to spat with Floribeth. He just wanted to close his eyes and become unconscious to the pain settling into his bones. But his mother wouldn’t leave. Despite her petite frame, she haunted the foot of his bed like an overfed wraith.

“You were in bed all day yesterday, Solomon. How is it that you had enough energy to traipse the town with your sister this morning, but you couldn’t even pull your weight in this negotiation? Do you plan to leave April without any assistance this afternoon as well?”

Solo’s eyes smarted as he rolled onto his side and tried to hide his head under the blankets.

“You were there. You saw how that man didn’t touch any of the swatches I brought. My charms were in those swatches.”

Beth’s response came out clipped and dismissive. “So what?”

Great, Solo groaned internally, today she wants to play dumb about how my magic works.

Solo had tried to explain this to Beth before. Why couldn’t her sharp mind sense his meaning? Why did she have to make every conversation about his magic so taboo?

“Nanang, please understand…it is… easier for me when the clients touch–”

But she cut him off. “Solo, stop. You’re whining about your condition again. For all of your devotion to our practice, you forget sometimes how spoiled you’ve become. I blame myself for that. Get your rest. I’ll fetch Sascha. But you’re to be present for April by this afternoon. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Part of him wished he hadn’t agreed, but it was the only way to get her to leave. When she finally did, Solo wanted nothing more than to blackout and let his body recover the old fashioned way until Sascha administered some relief for his pain. But all he could think about was Floribeth and how guilty she had made him feel over the years.

Even though he had nothing but devote his entire body and heart to her business.

Whenever Beth became upset or disappointed with him like this, it took him back to listening to her and Honore argue. For some reason, Solo couldn’t shake off the feeling that Beth had wanted those fights to escalate between herself and the father of her children.

“Beth. Look at what you’ve done to him. By the gods, look at his hands! Every time I come back, they’re swollen or bleeding. This isn’t right.”

“Stop being melodramatic, Honore. Solomon picked up sewing faster than Sascha and all of his cousins combined. We don’t let talent go unhoned in this family.”

"He is just a child!"

"He will heal! His hands will form calluses in time and then he won’t be able to feel it anymore. The pain is only temporary. You really are an idiot."

"Let me at least take Sascha with me. You’re always complaining about her. She’ll be cared for. Happy for once–"

"You’re not taking her anywhere. Now go away."

When Solo opened his eyes again, Sascha was at his side.

***

Later that week...

Solo was where he was the most comfortable – in his dressing room, sewing a project by hand. He was alone until someone walked in. Solo recognized the newcomer almost immediately. Basil Jebel-something or other. He was an usher for a friend from what sounded like a collegiate past. Today Basil was there for alteration, without the entourage of the rest of the groom’s party.

“You came alone this time, Mister…”

“Jebeles.” His delivery was tired, but not unkind.

Solo, who was stretched out on his divan, looked up briefly from his work. “Yes, now I remember. We didn’t have your size. And we still don't, unfortunately.”

Basil made a face as he slapped his gut. “Figures.” Then he mumbled something blunt and self-deprecating.

By now, Solo was rising to his feet and warming his pearls over his knuckles.

“Please. You have a nice figure, Mr. Jebeles.” He came around behind the man, who smelled a lot like the inside of a tavern, and eyeballed his measurements with the help of his long string of pearls.

“And not all is lost. We may not have your size, but that’s why I wanted you to come back. For a closer look at what we’re working with–” Solo let his pearls slide down Basil’s frame before pulling them a little taut under his abdomen. Then he whispered, “We can easily correct the garment for the occasion.”

Not long after Solo finished up and memorized all of Basil’s measurements, he checked to see how the client was responding to his charms.

By the way Basil had dropped his dry humor and focused more on the path Solo’s hands took, the seamstress would have to say that he was responding very well.

Better than he expected in fact.

So well that Basil stayed afterward. They talked. Solo had one of the attendants bring them something to drink. Basil, it turned out, was quite easy to keep talking to and getting to know.

Very soon Basil’s back was against the floral wallpaper, his hands above his head, grasping weakly at nothing. His wrists strained against a makeshift binding out of Solo’s seemingly endless yards of freshwater pearls.

“Solo.” The barhand breathed. His head only grew dizzier against the dressmaker’s slow, lingering touches. Solo’s lips found his again with a rough tenderness. His hands roamed, dragging his pearls with him under Basil’s tunic, past his fly. The barhand turned hard in Solo’s grasp.

“Solo — ngh.”

There were no words to describe the seamstress’ calloused, dimpled touch.

“Mr. Jebeles, please relax,” Solo said, sneaking his tongue along the seam of Basil’s mouth. “Excitement breeds excitement. Keep squirming and calling on me and I’ll soil my nice linens for sure.”

“Gods. Slow down then! Perhaps we could both last longer if you unwrap those fucking pearls from around my cock—“

The bindings drifted up around his neck. “Oh? You mean these pearls? Shall we do something else with them?”

Basil locked onto the uneven, iridescent orbs. “Do you take those with you everywhere?”

Solo’s smirk was as soft as his question. “What do you wish to know?”

Basil suddenly felt very stupid for trying to initiate a conversation right then. He wished he could take it back and just quietly let the seamstress take him apart.

Solo’s smirk deepened as he read the meaning in Basil’s hesitation.

“Fine. We don’t need to go into any details until afterwards. Just try not to choke while I’m sucking you off. Simple enough?” Solo dropped to his knees without waiting for an answer, pulling his pearls taut around the client’s neck on his descent.

It wasn’t that strange for Floribeth, head of Vega Bridal, to be passing by Solo’s dressing room as he escorted his latest client out. It was, however, not like her to pause and study the poorly concealed familiarity between her son and the client who smelled like cheap booze and was clean shaven all but for those ungodly sideburns.

Solo saw the man out and joined his mother for a debriefing while they traveled to the main house. She noticed how easily he kept up with her and the slight bounce in his step as he walked.

Solo. Sascha.

Her children always needed reminding of what was what. When and how. That life didn’t give them joy without a little sacrifice. That no goodness came without consequence.

Floribeth knew that it was her duty to consistently remind them.

“Solo, honey,” the matriarch began, depriving her voice of as much edge as she could bear, “you know I don’t care one way or the other of the company you keep in your space. In fact, I encourage it. It’s good for business.”

Solo managed a tight smile. “So you’ve told me in the past, nanay.”

Beth chose to ignore how Solo reverted to the more formal way to address her. The way Sascha always did unless she was throwing a tantrum.

“Well, listen closely to me because I’ve never told you what I’m about to tell you now.”

She felt better once the spirit left Solo’s gait. She finally had his attention.

Eyes forward and heels clacking briskly against the sandy tiles, Floribeth began, “You know I don’t expect you to dedicate any energy to finding a suitable partner or more to marry. Unless that’s what you want. But since you’re at that age, I’ll just say a few things.”

Solo honestly had no idea where this was going. It was true that Floribeth was very diligent about avoiding the topic of a potential marriage in Solo’s future. Thanks to his condition and the value of his magic to the business, he had been excused from much of the pressure that came down on young de la Vegas to grow and expand the family as quickly as possible.

Floribeth carried on. “Your father would have never so much as caught my eye if it hadn’t been for those damnable charms. Their existence made me question everything we had…”

Solo did not expect to hear the slip, if ever so slight, of sadness in his mother’s tone. She was quick to recover from it.

“So one can assume that even with all of your charisma, in the end, it could never yield a proper marriage. Perhaps you could get someone to love you, but it wouldn’t be true love, Solo. And it wouldn’t be fair to the other person. You can never forget that. Eventually your charms will wear off and they will suffer in some way or another. You’re smart, Solomon. I’m sure you’ve figured all this out by now.”

Solo’s lip quivered.

“Yes, nanang.”

He managed to keep his voice from shaking.

“That makes a lot of sense now that you point it out. Thank you.”

He didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.

***

Solo felt stupid and selfish for running to Sascha’s room and collapsing onto her lap. In seconds, he was sobbing, his make-up running, his outbursts incoherent and shrill.

“That’s basically what she told me, Sascha!”

Solo was beside himself. He couldn’t believe the state of anger he had allowed Floribeth to work him into.

“I’m incapable of being loved in any natural way? Because of…” He lifted his pearls up over his head and shook them in his fist. “Because of these?”

Then the seamstress made a wretched sound as he hurled the ancestral pearls at the wall.

“Well I didn’t ask for them! I just do what she wants of me all the time, but sure, Sasch – no one can love me!”

Solo could feel Sascha trying to call her magic to the surface and soothe him with it. But that wouldn’t do any good. This was a different kind of pain.

“Solo, shhh. It’s okay. It’s not true. You know it isn’t true.”

Solo barely heard her. He sobbed until he couldn’t anymore.

Later, when Solo had gotten it all out of his system and he was leaning against Sascha while she played in his hair, he whispered, “Sasch. Can I tell you something?”

He had opened the question in broken Esmeraldi. Sascha answered in the same way, signaling that whatever he said would be kept safe and just between them.

“My charms have always behaved in strange ways, yet I’m the only one who’s ever understood them. I can’t explain it, but Sascha, I know what I know. They only work to flex people’s attitude about the material world. People are people – they internalize those feelings and sometimes what they feel has the potential to carry them beyond the object. Still, whatever feeling they project out into the world came from a foundation of something inanimate. It’s all in the dress, the garment, the pearls, whatever they’re wearing or touching.” He paused to take a breath. “What I’m trying to say is, it’s impossible to generate a charm through my own... self.”

Sascha remained silent, but Solo could feel her thinking.

The seamstress added, “It makes me think about tatang–uh. I mean Honore.”

“So,” Sascha said finally, “all those times Beth claimed our father tricked her into feeling things for him that were never there... you’re saying that she was full of it?”

Solo frowned. “I don’t think she lied on purpose, but I could see her needing something to justify her own decisions to herself. The charms are an easy thing to blame.”

Sascha helped her brother off of her and into an upright position so she could look him in the eye.

“Solo, if you were to ever tell nanay this, she would just deny it.”

His gaze drifted elsewhere. “…. I know.”

Sascha gave his shoulders a gentle shake. “I don’t say that to be harsh, Solo.”

Solo reached up to pry her hands from her shoulders and cradled them between his own scarred palms.

“Not at all, Sasch. I’m... relieved that I came to this realization. It means that no matter what nanang says about me, I know it can never be true.” He paused. “I don’t get to talk through these sorts of things very often. But it’s the only way I’m able to make sense of all of it… everything that you and I have been through.”

Sascha smiled, which gave Solo hope more than anything else. “If you ever need to talk again, I’m here.”

She got off her bed and made her way across the room. She came back with Solo’s pearls and placed them around his neck.

“I needed to hear that,” Solo whispered, his voice full of emotion. “Thank you.”

Sascha glanced down and noticed that Solo hadn’t gone to reassure himself by touching the pearls.

She said, “You know, something that I’ve noticed over the years is this. Whenever our family comes to visit from Esmeralda or even as far as Catclaw, they like to dump their old, creepy heirlooms on us.”

Sascha looked up at her brother and pushed aside the bang that always managed to cascade over the left side of his face.

“Cousins and great aunts and uncles whose names we never knew and probably won’t ever remember walk through here with artifacts that look like they should belong in a museum. And who do they bring them to? Not Beth. It’s never Beth. They bring them to you.”

Before Solo knew it, his scarred fingers were walking along the lace in his dress, seeking out the ancient voices, beaded and condensed in layers against his torso.

“You know the placement of each pearl by heart and the ancestor it belonged to. Our family members come to you to feel reassured, Solo. They leave our past with you because they know it’s safe in your hands. Clients come to you to feel beautiful and cherished. So the next time Floribeth tries to make you feel low...”

Sascha brushed a tear that had escaped Solo’s dark eyes.

“I want you to remember whose face comes to mind when people think of Vega Bridal… and who it is our ancestors have always looked to.”

[karazor--el]

Supergirl's Brainy Teases Intense Resolution to His Double Agent Storyline

Supergirl star Jesse Rath teased Brainy's confrontation with Lex, some 'intense' scenes, the return of his sister Meaghan Rath and more.

In the fallout of "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Supergirl's Brainiac-5 has embarked on his most difficult mission yet. On the advice of his female doppelganger, he distanced himself from the Super Friends and aligned himself with Lex Luthor in order to keep an eye on the supervillain's moves against Leviathan. As Season 5 moves into its final two episodes, this will come to a head when Brainy makes a decision that could nullify all the sacrifices he made to protect those he loves.

Speaking to CBR, Brainy actor Jesse Rath previewed what's in store for his character in the last two episodes of the season. He promised his double agent storyline will be resolved by the end of the finale, although some consequences will extend into next season. He teased a confrontation with Lex, some "intense" scenes, the return of his sister Meaghan Rath and more. He also reflected on creating a new voice for uninhibited Brainy, what it is like to work with Jon Cryer and why he'd wear his new comic book-inspired costume all the time if he could.

CBR: This season has been big for Brainy. I mean, his personality got almost an entire overhaul. How did you go about crafting this new voice for him?

Jesse Rath: I thought, for episode 10, it was important that each of the Brainies be distinct from each other. There was five of them, including my sister [Meaghan Rath], and two of them had transformations within that same episode. It was emo Brainy turning into the evil Brainy, and our Brainy Prime turning into the uninhibited Brainy. So I thought it was very important to be able to tell it was a different Brainy and a transformation through their voice. I thought it was very important that you could tell just by hearing that it was a different person. So I wanted there to be a distinct sound that could differentiate them between each other.

So yeah, the green Brainy -- uninhibited Brainy, who they referred to in the script as Suave Brainy -- is just like... I like to think of Family Matters when Steve Urkel takes the potion and becomes cool and he becomes Stefan Urquelle. It was more just uninhibited, more confident in himself and socially grounded. That's kind of what I was going for.

We've also seen a shift in terms of his looks, with a move towards a more comic book-inspired costume. Obviously, you're not wearing that getup all the time, but how has that changed your hair/makeup experience when do you get into it?

The green and blonde look? I mean, I love it. I would wear it all the time, if I could. I'd wear it home. I'm a big fan. It's made my life a lot more comfortable. I don't know if it's easier, but it's comfortable. I no longer have to wear a prosthetic forehead on on my face. That makes a world of difference, because it's very uncomfortable. There's a wire running down my back to turn on the lights and the thing is hot and I'm not very expressive in it and so it becomes hard to emote. You know, it's just a grueling process to put it on and take it off. So the fact that that's not in the mix anymore and that all have to worry about is being painted and get the wig thrown on me, it definitely is more comfortable and it's made my life a lot easier.

And you know what? Even if it was harder to do and more uncomfortable to wear, I'd still do it, because I love that it's the comic-accurate look and I know that it means a lot to a lot of fans out there that I look like this beloved character from the books and it means a lot to me too. I want to do the character justice and I want him to look the best he can. So it was a long time coming and I couldn't be more happy with the results.

Brainy has acted almost like a triple agent all season. Now, with the understanding that the season was cut a bit short due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, is that something we'll see a resolution to when everything wraps up?

Yes. You will. All that stuff comes to a head in these next two episodes. When I heard that we were obviously going to have to cut episode 20 from the schedule, I felt okay about it because episode 19 is such a strong episode. It's a great episode. David Harewood directed it. It's epic, action-packed. The whole storyline with Brainy comes to fruition. It comes to a point, and we leave on a cliffhanger. Whereas with episode 20, before we had time to resolve everything and see how the pieces landed, episode 19 will end on big cliffhanger, which is cool. I love it. It kind of puts Brainy in a very dangerous situation and I'm excited for everyone to see it. I think very strong episode. So I'm not worried about it at all.

How does Brainy's dynamic with Lex Luthor continue to evolve?

I think their patience with each other is wearing thin for both of them. I think Brainy can't really take it anymore. You know, knowing that Lex is actively manipulating him is a very frustrating thing for Brainy. You see in episode 18, he pulls the trigger on a decision and things start to crumble around him. He's aware that Lex is manipulating him and that, I think, is part of the whole reason why he's forced to work with Lex. It's working against all of his instincts that would put him opposite Lex, and so working with him, it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. I think you see, in these next two episodes, how that all unfolds.

You've been working pretty closely with Jon Cryer this season. What has that experience been like?

Well, it's a lot of fun working with Jon. He is a tremendous actor. I learned a lot from working with him, as I do with all my cast mates. It's great. He's a really down-to-earth, funny guy. Yeah, I've had a lot of scenes with Lex and then some more to come. We have a great one -- we have a couple great ones coming up in 18 and in 19, so I'm excited for everyone to see that. I think he does such a great job as Lex. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that role now. It's so much fun working with him and I can't wait for you to see these next two episodes and see what happens with this whole Lex and Brainy storyline.

I'll admit that I'm particularly fond of the BrainNia relationship. That said, how will we see their relationship continue to grow?

Without 20 in our lineup anymore, there are certain scenes that I don't know if we'll see or if we'll have to wait till next season to see. But in this next episode, in 18, Nia does confront Brainy about everything, about him lying to her, working behind their backs and Supergirl and Nia do confront Brainy about how he's been acting. And in 19, I believe she starts seeing dreams of him. So yeah, there'll be some Brainy and Nia scenes. I don't know if it'll all be sunshine and rainbows, but we do get a lot of Brainy and Nia stuff to come in these next two episodes.

Last year, you had this frankly incredible scene where you ran through a gamut of emotions in about 30 seconds. As the season winds down, will we get to see a spiritual successor to that?

The closest thing I could think to that scene would be episode 10. I think that scene at the end of Season 4 of going through all the different Brainies maybe was like an audition in a sense to show that I could play multiple different versions of the same character. And I think that's what I really got to do in episode 10, which was physically embody all these different versions of Brainy.

But in terms of what's to come in these next two episodes, I'm not saying you should expect a bunch of Brainy cycling through a bunch of personalities, but things get just as intense and emotions are high and the situation is very dangerous. There are some epic scenes to come, and I think you'll be happy with it and I'm very excited for everyone to see. I'm very excited to it see myself!

Can you tease your favorite moment or scene from an upcoming episode?

Well, in 19, my sister comes back to the show. She will return to the show. So I have a handful of scenes with female Brainy, or Meaghan Rath, or whatever you want to call her. So I'm very excited to see those scenes. I always love working with my sister and I'm very grateful for her to come and do the show, so I can't wait to see those scenes.

Martian Manhunter actor David Harewood has directed a few episodes, and now Supergirl herself Melissa Benoist has made her directorial debut on the series. Would you be interested in directing, yourself?

I would! Yeah, I've always wanted to direct. It's something that I think is so cool, that Warner Bros. and The CW, that they allow their actors to direct. It's pretty cool. You know, I don't know any other networks that give us this opportunity and it's definitely something I'd like to take advantage of in the future. I think it's pretty cool. Yeah, I would like to do that. So who knows! Maybe Season 14 I'll be directing some episodes.

You joke, but look at Supernatural!

Exactly! Yeah. Fly in on my private jet and direct a couple. [laughs]

With Melissa directing the last episode, what was that experience like for you?

Oh, it was so cool. We were all so happy for her and proud of her and trying to support her. None of us had any doubt that she would be great. She's always filming and editing stuff on her laptop and she has a great eye for this kind of thing and, as you saw, the episode was amazing. Such a great episode! I love that whole sequence with "The Man Who Sold the World" song over Lex -- that montage of Lex giving speeches around the world. I thought it was a great episode, and I think she is a very talented director. We're all just very happy for her and very proud of her.

Do you have any game/book/TV/film recommendations for everyone stuck at home?

I've been playing a lot of video games. I play Mario Kart with my friends online. We've been doing a lot of Zoom calls and playing Codenames and games with my friends and family online. I watched all of Sopranos with my girlfriend and we really devoured that. We've just been making our way through television series. We watched Community -- for the fourth time, for me. I love that show so much.

I'm really taking this time to just consume a bunch of television and entertainment. It's really kept me going throughout this whole process. My girlfriend Holly and I, we're bunkered down here in LA, and we've been having a great time with each other, and we've been enjoying our quarantine. So we're making the most of it.

Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers. The Season 5 finale will air May 17.

CBR.

[beatriceeagle]

I find it really interesting that John knows and thinks it is obvious that Pedro is bi in one foot. Given their nmtd relationship it doesn't seem like they would have talked about it. so I think they talked about it recently (post MONTAGE). Even so their relationship couldn't have been so strong in those few weeks and this is clearly not something a lot of people know. Is this P's way of saying "hey my image is kind of fake" but even so why would john think its obvious if he just found out

So in “one foot” the implication to me, at least, is that:

Pedro is bi.

John knows Pedro is bi.

Pedro knows that John knows that Pedro is bi.

This is all extremely secondary to the Question of Balthazar.

I definitely think that Pedro and John have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks talking, and I can definitely see Pedro’s sexuality being part of that conversation. Because I do think that Pedro was making a conscious decision, at the end of NMTD, to come out, as part of just a general letting go of his perfect “normal” golden image.

But I also think that John’s response to Pedro coming out to him was, “Uh, yeah, duh, that is the least surprising thing I have heard literally ever.” (I would say that he probably said it more supportively, but it’s John, so there’s really no guarantee.) And the reason I think that is because John treats Pedro’s sexuality as obvious, in “one foot.” I mean, it’s possible that he’s just fucking with Ben, but honestly, one of the things we know about John is that he’s incredibly perceptive – even in that conversation with Ben, he mentions that he knows that Balthazar has liked Pedro since year nine, when he wasn’t even at Messina.

The big thing for John, I think, that he found out in that conversation, was that Pedro liked Balthazar. I mean, he may have kind of had an idea about that already, because he already knew that Pedro liked guys, and it’s not like, the world’s most subtle flirtation. But I’m pretty sure Pedro told him, because it’s pretty clear from “one foot” that Pedro knows that John knows that Pedro likes Balth – why else would Pedro cut John off, when John is about to suggest Balth as someone to date? (Here’s the relevant section of the script, to back this up.) And that, I think, is, if not entirely new information to John, then at least information that he would treat as not obvious. Not just the idea that Pedro likes Balthazar, but the idea that hey, maybe he’s in a place where he might act on it.

John really is a perceptive person, and in a lot of ways in NMTD he’s actually the character who has the most accurate read on Pedro all along – that’s the only reason his plan works. I think that when he and Pedro start talking and getting to know each other at the end, John doesn’t get a whole lot of entirely new information. Instead, I think that he starts to evaluate the things he already knows or suspects or sees differently. He starts to see different sides to Pedro. Forgiving sides, loving sides, genuine sides. Partly that’s because Pedro’s finally showing those aspects of himself to John, and partly that’s because John’s finally looking for them. But anyway, prior to the end of NMTD, I don’t think John would be particularly interested in who Pedro had a crush on except to the extent that he could use it to hurt him. So I think he probably looks at Pedro and Balthazar, thinks, “Yeah, Pedro’s probably into him, whatever, that’s going nowhere,” and then moves on. But then the end of NMTD comes, and John and Pedro start trying to understand each other on a deeper level, and Pedro comes out to him officially and mentions that he likes Balthazar, and John realizes, oh, okay, this is like a real thing. And also realizes, oh, this is kind of important to my brother in some way. That’s new information. Or anyway, that’s a new angle on this.

Thanks for bearing with my rambling answer! It’s about John and Pedro, and I always have a lot of feelings. Plus I actually, after FOUR FREAKING YEARS, came to a realization about one of the lines in this video that made me completely reevaluate what was happening with John and Pedro, which made it finally make total sense to me, but also gave me a lot of rambling thoughts.

[icharchivist]

Okay I understand what you said about death note, but don't you think you're going a bit overboard with the roasting? It's bad for people who know the original masterpiece, yeah, but it does stand alone as a movie. If I watched it with my non-anime-watcher brother, he might go, "Oh, that was interesting." And maybe finally give the original a shot. It did its job getting people familiar and interested in dn, but of course it couldn't be as good, its an entire sieris shortened to one movie

Well I did say when I started it that I wouldn’t have much pity toward the movie either. 

And I’m sorry, but we’re talking about a story that was extremely Japanese, and which not only was stripped of its Japanese intend, but also showed off Asians being killed by Light, and especially a bullshit explaination on them picking the name Kira because “in Japanese it means Killer so they’ll think we’re japanese” and them letting messages in Japanese on the crimescenes to pretend Kira is Japanese.

This is not the kind of things to overlook. Whitewashing isn’t something to overlook, and the movie dealt with it in such a poor way, in an actual offensive way, when you adapt something, you at least try to respect it.

And it’s not an entiere series shortened into one movie. They planned sequels. The movie ends on a stupid cliffhanger. And it follows absolutly no plot from the original. Why do you try to use the L. and Kira’s showdown, and clearly call your characters those ways, while you don’t respect the story at all?

Oh and fyi, for as...... much as they are (i’m not found of them), there are Japanese movies adapted from Death Note. The First movie is all about the mindgames between Light and L, and it ends on L. meeting Light. They changed a lot of things, but they kept the focus where it should be: on L and Light’s mindgames and manipulations. It teased for a sequel while actually leaving you with quite a story that was closer to the original. Of course you can’t adapt 12 volumes into one movie. But, especially when you expect sequels, you can try to cut the story correctly.

Listen, when you adapt something, you’re supposed to at least have read the thing. As bad as the Last Airbender Movie was, at least it did show you a Kid who ran away from his duty because he was scared of wars, two others kids finding him and trying to help him learn the elements, and Zuko the antagonist is still someone extremely wounded in hs honor after his father’s abuse.

And let’s be real, The Last Airbender is one of the worst adaptation of all time, it’s boring, and it’s whitewashing, but at least it kept the characters basic traits and journey. Why would you adapt something and keep the name if you’re not going to at least follow the story?

Like i repeated, it wouldn’t have been as bad if say, they did a whole new story where Ryuk just happens to drop the Death Note in America with enteirely new characters. No L. No Kira, an actualy story. Like the Chapter 0 of Death Note, or why not even explore the BB Murder Case since it’s a novel happening in America?

You can take the idea of the Death Note, but not if you take the characters name and the basics of their showdwn while absolutly nothing about it will be respected.(especially since the movie totally overlooked the mindgames between L and Light because Light did a really obvious mistake.)

And how the fuck does it stands alone when it removed the lore? No really?? 

Okay so, where the hell Ryuk’s come from? Why did the notebook say “Do not trust Ryuk”? What did Ryuk do in the movie that wasn’t trust worthy aside from not letting Light know Mia was doing bullshit? What was the point about this plotline?What was Mia’s deal? We just had to accept that a cheerleader would get into murders right away?Besides have you seen how those two bounded without even blinking at the idea of murders? Especially since Light is supposedly a victim we’re supposed to feel bad for in the movie?

Why do we have to accept that? Why do we have to accept the lowest of effort, of writting a basic Teenage Horror Screenplay, while the actual story was supposed to be One of The Kind? 

Seriously though, Awkward Teen with a Crush on Cheerleader Who Gets The Girl After Getting Mysterious Powers is a cliché. Turning Ryuk, a sympathetic figure in the manga, a passive observator, into a sort of creature always pushing you to do bad is cliché. Hell, they removed entierely the relationship between Light and Ryuk while it was the focus of the original.

Not to mention it was a story about a greater scale. The original manga was a commentary on how Law Enforcement works in Japan, and how a priviliged, popular, “will go far” kid like Light, who had access to the information, would believe he would have some reasons to clean it up.But instead, it became a teenage drama. Light was always pushed by other people in the movie to make murders, and he often want to get out of it. Even the God persona is something coming out of their ego, while in the manga it’s something that just happens. Here, it’s kids who want the attention, and get backlash for doing so. An underdog, who just want to keep his life going in school, who plays God just because he was pushed by his girlfriend and because he is a poor kid who’s traumatized.

We went also from a story which was a commentary on Japanese Law Efforcement, to a story who was so oblivious to the Law Efforcement Commentary, that they showed a white cop choke the black lead before letting him go, and you’re supposed to cheer for the cop. 

Is it worth showing someone who don’t want to watch anime for them to get interested?? No. 

It’s a watered down stupid teen flick which plays on Edgy Fuel. It’s a project that was born and kept going with racist intends. It’s a story you may watch, think “bleh” and leave. Not get interested in more. And if you do, jfc. I’m sorry but I hate the idea some people might come into the manga expecting say, Ryuk to be like this movie bullshit, or Light, or L, or anyone. 

And okay, as a standalone movie?

The movie is poorly paced. The exposition scenes are hilariously bad. The characters motivation are inexistant, explained by a sexy montage of them having sex while killing people (of color), showing how immature the whole subject was treated. The montage itself was incredibily bad, the whole idea of seeing the ascension of Light’s godlike persona was totally overlooked for his stupid romance. It gives tragic backstories to the two main leads to explain somehow why they’re like that.

 The whole fun of this story, which was to see how L and Light was trapping each other, was ruined by the fact the plot runs on stupid and Light doesn’t make any decision. It’s Mia doing them. L. discover Light is Kira halfway throught he movie because Light fucked up. The manipulations of say, getting rid of the FIB agent, was completely overlooked in a cheap twist. Because that wasn’t important. 

The whole plot requires you to just accept they are whatever genuis and overlook the batlant mistakes they make to make the plot running. And, because it didn’t make it through, spelling out the message of “chosing the lesser of two evils”, removing the reader’s freewill to chose who to side with. 

It was not fun. It was not exciting. It was seeing Edgy to be Edgy.

And I’m sorry this is insulting? Death Note was a serie that run for 3 years. For 3 years, the authors went out of their way to make an unique story, with unique characters, with a complex view on mankind. They put 3 years to elaborate the themes, to develop the characters, to tie up the looses ends. And Hollywood saw from it just an opportunity of a quick cash, to be Edgy by taking the name and concept, and make the usual soup they do with teenage horror movies. 

Death Note wasn’t the franchise to do it. We can’t blindly accept adaptation because “it stands as a stand alone movie”. It’s completely disregarding the fact it was someone else’s work that you decided to strip from everything that made it so unique to start with. 

Even more when it’s America disregarding a culture and somehow managing to be offensive toward it, making them the victims of a story they were the main characters of to start with.

So I completely disagree with your point of view on it. I’m sorry if i’m harsh, it’s not against you nonny, much more against the movie.

If an adaptation isn’t capable of getting the basic understanding of the story right, they have no right to claim themselves as such. I’m not asking an adaptation to the comma, i’m asking to an adaptation which would respect its root.

Which isnt what this movie gave. 

[fly-pow-bye]

Ducktales 2017 - “The House of the Lucky Gander!”

Story By: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written By: Christian Magalhaes

Directed By: Matthew Humphreys, Tom Owens

Storyboard By: Dalton E. Grant Jr., Vaughn Tada, Brandon Warren

"If I hit the lever, I think I can stop it!" Not an actual quote in this episode. Part 2 of the DuckTales 2017 catch-up week.

DuckTales 2017 has at least two ongoing plot threads. There’s the Della Duck plot, and there’s the looming threat of Magica and her niece, as seen in the last two episodes. Well, one and a sixteenth. This episode doesn’t continue either of them. If you just want the main plot, you can skip this episode. If you want fun...well, let’s see!

Scrooge McDuck is on a journey to find the golden cricket, but has to make a small detour to help out a relative: Gladstone Gander, the luckiest duck in the world. They are excited to see their Uncle Gladstone, and they ask their Uncle Donald about any memories of him. His expression pictured above says it all.

We get a whole montage of Donald's memories of him, with Gladstone always finding a 20 dollar bill, while Donald Duck always getting the short end. Rule of three in full swing, it ends with Donald finding a 20 dollar bill, but ending up benig framed for a robbery. It sets up Gladstone’s gimmick very well, and it certainly sets up Donald Duck in this plot. Donald’s known for getting into misfortune, and they turn it up to 11 in this episode.

With this montage, I'm already starting to share Donald's opinion of him. I'm glad to see that Donald isn't the only one who doesn't like him, implying that any feeling of hatred is probably intentional. Scrooge calls him a layabout, and questions how he could even be in trouble. Also, the nephews imply that despite his luck, he's apparently not a trillionaire.

Despite Donald Duck strapping in for a crash landing, that acts as the cold open, the plane manages to land safely near the pier. Maybe Gladstone’s luck is already starting to rub off? Launchpad McQuack leaves the group to set off on a journey to find his old girlfriend. It’s left up to the viewer to imagine what kind of quest he went on, as we never cut back to him. Maybe another day.

They end up at the House of Lucky Fortune. They go up the, the older ducks wonder why they even bothered, and they find Gladstone under attack by a panda.

A panda attacking his back pains with a nice massage, that is. Donald asks why he needs help, and he replies that he needs help...spending all his winnings. Despite what the name of the place implies, they never call it a casino, and they never show a slot machine.

There's certainly an Asian theme going with this place, right down to how most of the machines appear to be pachinko machines. They still cash out in chips; I guess they didn't want to expose the whole "go to that weird shop that has no relation with us to trade in your prizes in a totally not gambling way" part of the business.

Scrooge just wants to get out of here, as luck is not really his thing. and most of the episode consists of him trying to find the exit. Luck is not really his thing, which is certainly consistent with his "hard work" lessons in The Great Dime Chase.

The owner of the place, Toad Liu Hai, shows up to greet Scrooge and try to get him to stay. I was confused on what he was supposed to be, because I didn't clearly hear his first name at first. I guess I just assumed people in this universe only uses species names as their last. He's definitely a pushy owner, advertising all of the great things at his not-casino-that-is-totally-a-casino.

Early on, Louie clearly latches onto Gladstone, thanks to his "being the best at getting something for nothing" character. As for the other nephews, Huey gets obsessed with a theater show involving fountains, and Dewey is offered a green tiger by Liu Hai. Scrooge has second thoughts for what seems to be obvious reasons at first.

Scrooge: You can't give a tiger to a child...especially not this child.

I guess he'd be okay if it was Huey. Oh, and Webby gets to walk around, say a few lines, and show off a window that makes one think they're falling to the boys. Not every episode is going to leave out characters that don't add anything to the plot, it seems.

A lot of the episode is based on the contrast between Gladstone and Donald's luck, and it continues with what is essentially a montage of Donald trying his hardest to win at the casino. It could be said that Donald is overdoing it to try to make up for his lack of luck, with Donald spinning a prize wheel so hard that it rolls off and destroys the aforementioned fountain show, and repeatedly guessing 27 on a "how many fingers am I holding up" game. Even the show points out how silly that is.

Just as soon as Scrooge finds the exit, the twist comes along and changes everything. This is one of those episode that gets better on a second viewing, as one starts to notice scenes that hint at the big twist. It's not just one line, either, the whole episode has signs of something more going on.

I don't want to give away too much, but it leads to a race between Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander, and the stakes are high. This whole scene is fantastic. Anyone missing the Donald Duck slapstick will be right at home here.

Let's just say whenever there's a very low chance of anything happening, Gladstone always ends up beating the odds in the end; even if it doesn't look like it. Anyone hoping for Donald Duck to get over will get their wish granted...in a certain way. Scrooge gets a chance to shine, too, even if what he does seems like his biggest jerk moment at first.

The episode ends with Scrooge finally going on his big journey for the cricket, and we actually get to see it. It goes to show not all of them can be winners, even in-universe. But, is this one a winner?

How does it stack up?

It's very difficult to make a Gladstone story good with how infuriating his "the universe serves him, and everyone else gets bupkis at best" character can be, and this episode manages to succeed anyway. Good slapstick, anyone who is familiar with casino resorts will appreciate some of the jokes even more, and it had a great twist that makes second viewings even better.

Filler isn't always bad, and neither are Gladstone plots.

Next, we journey to the world of tech companies. See you on Friday!

← Terror of the Terra-firmians! 🦆 The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks! →