#meta mouse maybe?

[dreamytfw]

I find it very interesting that there is, at best, minimal textual evidence that says or suggests Dean was sexually assaulted in Hell, but Sam being sexually assaulted in Hell is so blatant and explicit they constantly have Lucifer making "jokes" about it.

[sk1fanfiction]

blood of the covenant/water of the womb

The Black sisters are so tragic.

I mean, imagine:

As kids, Narcissa is the baby sister that the elder two dote on, while both Narcissa and Andromeda look up to Bellatrix, the proud, beautiful, powerful, accomplished, perfect eldest sister, who has always known who she is and where she's going, but especially Andromeda, since they look so alike she's always been encouraged to act like her too but since Narcissa doesn't have the stereotypical Black looks and her parents didn't follow the Black naming scheme she's encouraged to be her own person a little bit more.

At Hogwarts they're all Sorted into the same House, Slytherin, which only increases their bond. Bella does really well at school, probably the top of her class, which makes Andy, who's only a year or two behind hyperaware of where the bar is. She walks, talks, and dresses like Bella.

Until

Andy follows in Bella's footsteps (who's probably Head Girl by now) and becomes a prefect, but she gets assigned to do rounds with a Muggle-born Hufflepuff. And despite everything she'd been taught, everything she knows to be true, she finds herself falling for him and the worst part is she can't tell anyone, even Bella, the one she has always been able to confide in, always reassured her and set her on the right path.

Meanwhile Druella and Cygnus are arranging Bellatrix's marriage to Roldophus, someone she doesn't even like never mind attracted to but because she's the perfect Black and the perfect daughter she has to do it. And Andromeda sees and fears how she could get trapped, too, how there's another Lestrange boy in her year.

Meanwhile a strange foreign Dark Lord comes to dinner and he's so different to Roldophus and all those other men who think because she's a woman she must be weak and she's just a vessel for their pureblood children. And despite the way she shouldn't feel this way, Bella doesn't care. He listens to Bella's opinions and he takes her seriously and he sees her magical talent and her thirst to prove herself and he's not scared of her in the way others say that she's 'too intense.' And when he offers to train her, and adds that he never does this, she says, one better, I'll follow you.

Andromeda and Narcissa watch this strange man burn the Dark Mark into their sister's arm and they don't know what to think. Narcissa's scared Bella will put herself in danger, that she'll do too much, give too much of herself because she doesn't know when to pull back. And Andy's scared Bella's going down a path she cannot follow, because deep down she can't say she believes in blood supremacy, can't say she hates Ted and she can't figure out a way through so she leaves.

It's like part of Bella's heart has been ripped out. They were all close, the Blacks, but Andy and Bella had a certain je ne sais quoi, they were thick as thieves and inseparable. Bellatrix is the one who burns Andromeda off the tapestry, crying while she does it, the scorned love for her sister, the anger and shame that Andy chose that Mudblood over her turning that love to bottomless hate.

Meanwhile Narcissa, the lucky one, watches it all. Narcissa is the one that gets it all, she's the only one who's able to marry for love and stay with her family but there's also this Andromeda-shaped hole in her and there's a Slytherin resentfulness of being Bellatrix's supporting act.

Every night that Bella is on a mission, Narcissa stays up, even while pregnant with Draco, until she knows her sister is safe.

That fateful Halloween she waits and waits and waits but Bellatrix never comes home. When she finds out her last remaining sister is serving life she completely breaks down. Won't sleep, won't eat. The thought of leaving Draco without a mother is the only thing that helps her hold on. Regulus, Andromeda and Sirius are dead/burned off the tapestry/imprisoned; she and Draco are the last Blacks, that makes their bond even stronger, makes her scared of losing him like she did her sisters. She curses Voldemort for putting her in danger, aware of her feelings for him and that Bella would do anything for them, swears she'll never let that happen to her son.

All the while Andy raises her daughter, who hates the name she gave her in the same way Andy know she would hate the Blacks. Narcissa and Andy watch each other from across crowds; Tonks and Draco are never at school together, never know more than scattered off-hand mentions of a cousin on their mother's side. But both Narcissa and Andy fantasize of a reconcilation, of Tonks babysitting Draco while they rekindle their bond. Neither bridges the gap. That burn, that rift cannot be healed. But they still ache for each other.

When Voldemort returns that fear for Draco grows, but it's tempered with the joy of having Bella back after mourning her for 14 years -- Bella, traumatized, starved, jagged and torn up at the edges, different, but alive.

And just like knowing he was innocent kept Sirius sane, Bella's love and trust of Voldemort is what made her able to hang on. Yes, they're both drastically different physically (the snake face and the emaciation) and mentally (both shaken, less confident), but everything else can be the same. Maybe better.

But everyone is scared. It's not the same world, where the Death Eaters have control and are undefeated. Voldemort is scared of that boy, Narcissa is scared for Draco. It's clear things are not the same, things are not normal. Far from it. Fear makes Voldemort angry, and cold, and distant and nothing she does feels good enough.

And that boy -- lying hateful filthy boy -- he dares suggest that her Voldemort's filthy-blooded like him. No, he must just be taunting her, scaring her. But there are things Voldemort's said, things he's done -- she would notice, the way she hangs on every word he speaks and plays their conversations in her head over and over again in Azkaban -- Bellatrix just does her best to silence it and block it out, all these confusing things, she's a great Occlumens after all.

She'll make things certain, make things right, trim off the weakness, cut out the sickness. Like Sirius. Like that young woman with Andromeda's face and Andromeda's laugh, that filthy half-blood Andy left her to create.

Narcissa can't keep Draco safe like she, the baby sister, couldn't keep Bellatrix safe. When Voldemort burns the Dark Mark into his skin she sees her son emaciated and dead-eyed.

To assuage Narcissa's fears Bellatrix trains Draco like Voldemort trained her; but he's not the same, he's weak, he's moralistic, he looks at her with wide scared eyes and he's a failure. The glory of the Blacks is gone.

All the while, Narcissa's fear grows, when Lucius is imprisoned, when Voldemort's ire turns on her family, on her son, sets him an impossible task. The despair she feels, she hasn't felt for nearly sixteen years -- Bellatrix more interested in eking out morsels of approval from Voldemort and turning her frustration on Draco, and Narcissa by extension.

All the while, Andromeda's fear for her daughter grows, of the danger she puts herself in as an Auror and a member of the Order, and she's reminded of Bellatrix, of how she gives everything of herself and how Nymphadora does too, begging, begging her to hold back.

She's not good enough for him, not with the sickness, the weakness still clinging to her. Bellatrix very much wants to kill the woman with Andy's face. She's always been perfect. It's everyone else around her that's wrong, everyone else who has to go. She'll do better. Try harder.

And when the Snatchers catch that filthy boy, and he slides out of her grasp like a buttered eel, Bellatrix hits the bottom rung of the ladder of despair. She doesn't know who she is, anymore.

Voldemort's retaliation and rejection breaks Bellatrix's heart, but it hardens Narcissa's.

Bellatrix will do anything to make him happy. She finally kills the witch with Andy's face -- do you see -- do you love me now -- but he's still cold, still frightened, still different, and she despairs, but it will be all over when Harry Potter is dead and he can breathe again. They've won. It will be alright. It will go back to normal. She can have it all again -- Voldemort and Narcissa and her perfect, pruned family.

Narcissa will do anything to keep him safe. And so she chooses Draco's life, she lies, her heart in her throat, in front of her beloved sister, to the Dark Lord, with unshed tears in her eyes and Harry Potter's 'corpse' before her.

Bellatrix's death is something Narcissa knew was coming, deep down She mourned her sister sixteen years ago and she mourns her now, but it will all be worth it if Draco survives this ordeal; Potter must win, he must live, Voldemort must die. And Bellatrix will never allow this.

She wishes she could tell Andy that she understands.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Sorry I'm a bit late on this, but I just wanted to say congrats on finishing season 1 !! 🥳

LOSING MY MIND AT HOW PERFECT THIS IS!!!!!! THANK YOU PIO!!!!! B'*)

[aeide-thea]

Wee Hour Sex Tho(ugh)ts cw

it really is like. tragic 2 be celibate when you don't want 2 be but also you're prohibitively socially phobic and living in the middle of (not-)fucking nowhere (with yr parent no less so it's just like. eternal child headspace. not actualized. definitely not sexy) and also you've been punting on the question of what ""post""-covid social interaction even looks like but you probably have to resolve that for yrself before you can do things that usually involve putting yr bare face on someone else's bare face

and also you can't really fuck somebody without like. having 2 be a person. which. see soc anx, above, but also like. wtf gender do i think i'm prepared to perform in bed. most options feel variously fake. really just want to like. lie down and be naked with somebody who wouldn't be put off by any of the possibilities so i could just. play around. feel it out (literally). also really i want to have known them for like. years already so i'd have any hope of not just performing Terrified Frozen Polite Eager-to-Please But-Too-Nervous-To-Be-Interesting-or-Admirable. blegh. basically just like. too many impossible criteria.

but unfortunately rubbing one out by yrself is just. not actually that fun. or like. i've been appreciating the distant second person (the only second person i've got!!) but. by myself i shd say bc maybe it is for you! but for me it's like. half the time my body doesn't even wake up properly unless there's somebody else there. also half the time i get lonely and/or sad afterwards when i'm by myself. need a buddy. :(

in conclusion yeah predictably i have been entertaining some glory hole fantasies but like. extremely obvious that for many reasons that scenario only actually fits the bill in fantasyland.

[sweettjrose]

Man i wish we had a mickey centric movie

Ik we have the christmas specials and the three musketers but man What I woudn't give for a full movie with him as...you know him! Not really playing a role just him

My friends have been all making up ideas about what his movie could be about and MAN everytime I Wake up and realize it was just us #=@÷ around on discord and its not real I just go 😟 no detective mickey movie yet

YOU *points through screen* WHAT ARE YOUR IDEAS FOR MICHAEL OF MICE OF MICE OF MICHAEL MOVIE WERE COLLECTING IDEAS LIKE POKEMON CARDS 🫵🫵🫵

Oh trust me, I 100% agree.

Despite being the mascot of Disney, Mickey feels really underutilized at times it would be cool for him to get a whole movie dedicated to him that really focuses on him as a character. Like an official Disney Animated Studios one.

As for movie ideas, I mean if it isn't obvious enough by looking at my account (and it seems like you're on the same page), I would love some sort of mystery movie with Mickey playing as some kind of detective who is trying to prove himself.

I think the best way to go with a Mickey Mouse movie would be to play into his strengths and his character works best (imo) in adventure/mystery stories and as an underdog. The detective role is perfect for Mickey as it utilizes all of his strengths and weaknesses in such a economic and meaningful way.

There's a reason why the comics have pivoted to mostly him being an investigator. It brings to light his personality the best as he gets to show off his sense of justice and dedication to make things right as well as his empathy for others and ability to connect with people. There's even a chance to dig into his flaws like his stubbornness, out of control curiosity, and seemingly limitless faith in his own capabilities.

Also I have an ulterior motive. This would be the perfect way to really bring the Phantom Blot back into public consciousness as the main villain of the movie. And not just that but make him considered an official Disney movie villain where he can sit at the cool kids table with Ursula, Maleficent, and the like. A big movie would also be fitting for the first animated appearance of his unmasked face since he has had animated masked appearances before, but not unmasked. Also you could still easily fit Pete in a villain role as some kind of "partner" underling as they've worked together in the comics quite a bit.

As for the plot, I am open to anything. They could do a reimagining of Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot (Censored version obviously) since that was pretty popular. Or something new. Maybe it would be cool if it could also have some kind of meta story to it where it is a reflection and commentary on Mickey Mouse as a character and how he's changed over the years and in different media. Maybe even a criticism on how he's been mostly a mascot and not really a character lately.

But those are my thoughts. Thanks for asking.

[kassandrasdisciple]

~spoilers for ATLA, LOK and ALL COMICS~

A critique of

(Significant Spoilers / final panel spoilers)

Tl:dr at the end

Disclosure

Hi, this is going to be a critique specifically about how June and irohs interaction in bato of the watertribe (BotWT) was delt with in the bounty hunter and the tea maker (BHatTB).

I recognize this is only 1 page in a 78 page long comic but I think it's worthy critiquing how this was handled. I've watched both shows, read all the ATLA comics, along with the one shot ALTA comics, I'm not meatriding for Iroh in this as you'll see, neither will I do the like for the writers of the show or the comics, I also won't demonize either, I'll just be stating what i disagree with and what direction I think would serve the world/characters better.

1. The Comic in Question

This comic is an okay comic, like the other one shots it's self-contained, if you don't read these, it's fine as they won't come up in any other works from avatar studios (apart from maybe Azula: and the spirit temple). Due to this microcosm, they have all focused on characters or world building that either the audience or the writers think is worthy of expansion (the metelbending academy, sukis imprisonment, ect). You'll also notice a meta theme in that all these comics are woman-focused, expanding the role and background of our female cast, this is a mystery mouse KaTool that'll help us later. This is interrupted by our deuteragoists of BHatTB.

The plot, in summary, is that June is hired to capture Iroh by an old soldier who served under iroh and wants revenge for Iroh leaving him in Ba Sing Sei. In the background is tea cartels and the dying career as a bounty hunter in a peaceful world.

The title would lead you to believe that both protagonists have equal impact but make no mistake this is an Iroh comic. I love Iroh as a character, bit this comic was written with the explicit effect of maintaining his pedestal. After hes captured by June he gives the "perfect" apology by hitting all the action points, initiating the apology and leaving June to accept it on her own time. Later we get an acceptance of the apology and she starts working for Iroh, making it explicit that he's been forgiven by June for how he acted in BotWT.

Secondly, in the beginning and end of the comic he explicitly rebukes his warmongering ways, apologizing to a earth kingdom protester (side note: this scene is a whole thing, I personally found it distasteful but I'll leave it to another day) and later apologizing to his ex-soldier while reinforcing his repentance for being a general. This is a more general apology to all the people who make "Iroh is a war criminal" memes.

2. Why was this nessesary

Because BotWT aged like milk. There's a conspiracy theory that the third writer, Ian Wilcox, was blacklisted from writing for the show after this, but I can't find any evidence other than the fact this was the only episode he wrote, compared to others writing multiple episodes, however he was a busy writer so he might've just not had time. Also both Bryan and Micheal are credited so their just as complicit.

It makes the most likeable fire nation character so far seem incredibly creepy. Unfortunately it aired in 2005 and this was an incredibly common gag, especially in anime(and still is), which avatar took a lot of inspiration from (think of master Roshi from DB or Jiraiya from Naruto). Iroh is filling the pervy old man trope and in the early 2000s that was perfectly fine.

Tragically time isn't stationary and as writers rooms for cartoons have gotten more diverse we've all come to the conclusion it's weird as fuck. I think it's weird as fuck. However why did 1 scene from 1 episode nearly 20 years ago (I just gave myself psychic damage FUCK I'm old) need a comic tie in?

Because media literacy is dead and CinemaSins.

Okay no, so the TL;DR is that Iroh has become a mascot for avatar studios, but also people make perv and war criminal memes about him, and you don't want to sell merch with the war criminal on. So they did the beauty and the beast remake move and made a follow-up to address all the CinemaSin-esque takes.

Unfortunately the interesting part of Iroh is that he was a war criminal (this is a joke, IK they dont have Geneva, chill). He was an interesting shade of grey but when you put someone on a pedestal they either stay in the sky or fall, and avatar studios decided to build some scaffolding. This entire comic was a way to scrub the morally bad parts of Iroh away, and personally? I think that's pretty boring, so what else could we do?

3. The ReWrite

So first thing what's the comics theme? I don't want to change too much so let's keep that the same, luckily I think June's mum sums it up.

Freedom, and along with that, responsibility to grant freedom. June wants to be free and gives freedom to Iroh, Iroh wants to be free of his guilt but to do so he must take responsibility, Fan and the others wanted freedom and took responsibility for their lives, making a homestead, and lastly Keung wanted Freedom from his past and was going to make Iroh take responsibility.

Metatextually this is also a comic about freedom for Iroh and June's characters by taking responsibility for what happened in BotWT, so we'll keep that theme.

Secondly, I lied about not making big changes, we're kicking out Iroh and the tea cartel plot. Our new title is The Bounty Hunter And The Fire Lord. Our new plot is going to be set after azula and the spirit temple, and follow an unsuccessful attempt my Zuko to find Azula with June's help. We're keep June struggling to find work, and even meeting Fan and the ex-hunters. We're also going to keep the fallout of BotWT.

5. Why Zuko

For this story I envision a fire nation that is returning to pre-war mentalities, and I think in this nation sexism would be returning hard. Just like the UK after WW2 women had been moving towards egalitarianism but were shoved back to the household once peace was established. In this climate Zuko doesn't know what to do, remember, the 2 non-genociding states are both patriarchal with misogyny baked in, the Water tribes are Overt, but outside of Kyoshi island we don't see women in power in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko doesn't have a societal reference for equality other than his homeland, and he's previously been erasing alot of fire nation culture (dragon hunting, colonies, royal deification), he's now dealing with advisors trying to tell him how women should act and he's frozen, should they be like the water tribes?

Secondly, Zuko has no female advisors, he has Katara and Toph as friends, he has Suki and Mai in the palace but none of them know the court machinations, not like Azula would. His mother has been out of the court longer than she was in it, and is still pretty traumatized. So, spurred on by his need to do the right thing and as another excuse to bring Azula back into the family, he hires June to help him find his sister.

I know it might seem out of left field but personally, it would be great worldbuilding for how we went from the treatment of Zeisan and Ursa to fire lord Izumi. Secondly Zuko is always itching to reconnect with Azula in the comics and he loves making bad decisions, he's also got more backstory with June than Iroh.

Onto the meat of it, on their road trip June opens up more to Zuko, same as she did with Iroh, and zuko uses June as a sounding board for all these questions he wants to ask Azula. June has traveled the world's underbelly, she knows what women are capable of and the calculating demeanor means she gives similar answers Azula would.

Eventually Zuko says he could've asked Iroh for his help on the topic, but June snorts at him, she tells the story of what happened to her from her POV. We don't have Iroh to give us a perfect apology, we have Zuko having to choose if he defends his uncles honour or not, who does he believe? This is what his story is about, does he believe his advisors or the women of his country.

Let June use her knowledge of what the dark side of the world is like, let her say what a noble fire nation man probably grew up hearing about women, especially when in the beginning of the war we see no female soldiers, so the gender roles where probably still enforced.

If you want to address Iroh's actions then have them serve the greater narrative, how have women been treated by the fire nation, and also don't have the interaction be kept to just June and Iroh, have it between a woman extending trust and a Fire lord who all to often puts Iroh on the same pedestal as the audience.

If you want, you can have a final scene with Iroh, where he sides with June and apologizes, but I think what we where given serves only the male cast and relegates June's story to a checklist, instead of treating it like a narrative she should get to control.

TL:DR

BHatTB whimped out on adressing Irohs actions, and it's easy to see that they did so just to get people to stop bringing it up. I'd instead propose this conversation happens with Zuko; with Zuko being treated as the audience, glamourisng Iroh, and June reinstating that he's still a human man, and that he isn't free of societal influence.

Have it be about freedom, both individually and societally, and responsibilities; to those you hurt and to those you've sworn to protect.

Again, this critique was focused on this one interaction, if I was to do a full rewrite I would change other aspects and flesh out how I think a June/Zuko road trip would go, still it would be vastly more interesting than what we got.

[the-scanlation-bin]

Dreaming of a Mickey Mouse movie (part 5/?)

We wanna talk more about Mickey! He's our main character after all, our main little guy.

The thing Mickey will struggle the most with in this dream movie of ours is his insecurities. Sure, we'll touch upon his other personality traits, but for this story, we decided to focus on one. And it fits, this being "the first story", his first step into detective-like adventures.

Again, Mickey is an ordinary guy with an ordinary life. He had some odd jobs in the past, but none of them truly "stuck". Often because Mickey would face failures that made him believe that he's not good at anything, really. However, he enjoys reading adventure and mystery books (we could fit a cool reference in here, like his favourite mystery novel series being about Basil of Baker Street, eh?). Perhaps Mickey even dreams of being a hero of these adventures. Heh, no, that would be silly. As if he has what it takes to be a hero...

But he does. Mickey doesn't see it, and it doesn't help that others don't either, but he DOES have what it takes. He just has to try it, test the waters, to really let his skills and characteristics show. Because, without trying, how would he know his skills? And if he won't believe in himself, how will others?

Sorryyy if this is alll too vague, we just decided to be poetic for some reason. Maybe because it also fits in the meta sense: Disney isn't using Mickey in anything, so viewers stop seeing Mickey do anything, ergo accomplishing anything. He needs to be put in situations in order for us (and himself) to see that he, in fact, CAN get out of them.

Either way, Mickey's main obstacle is his lack of faith in himself, and it only gets reinforced since most people around Mickey don't believe in him either. Although, we're thinking that it can also be his drive. When Mickey gets underestimated in the field of work that he secretly dreams of, he suddenly feels the need to prove everyone wrong. But eh, we're not sure about this part still.

[shallowseeker]

Optimism freeform meta

Jack, Harper, and the folly of pursuing of immature, illusory Perfection as the antidote to life's many disappointments.

///

Okay, here it comes. It's our rambling, group Optimism meta from discord that I promised once upon a time I'd post here. Apologies ahead of time if I get your Tumblr names wrong.

Harper's flat is decorated in ooey-gooey symbols of love.

Green for growth (though Harper's growth pattern is certainly arrested), and red for passion. We have the green-Italian amore in the symbolic kitchen of life, and a bright red heart near the entrance.

BEWARE: You're entering Harper's heart. It's black and bloody.

We also see that her home is full to the brim with books and stories. She clings to them, hoping they'll bring her life meaning. The blood-red-pink-purple color theme continues in the form of her array of romance novels.

Harper herself is clothed in red, in a Sayles-coded corduroy, perhaps a mate to the hunter's anorak jacket. Her little scarf is certainly Scooby-Doo-Daphne-esque, but it's also a RED BANDANA calling to mind that she's an OUTLAW, like Dave Matthews in the Tombstone episode.

///

But her bedroom is more serene, stuffed with zen colors, serene green, and a bedful of childish stuff animals. It's dominated by strong protector-types like lions and elephants.

via @honeyedwhiskey: okay so I got intrigued by the fact that she has these particular stuffed animals. the lion, symbolizing stalking her prey, elephants for their memory and their brutality (maybe a nod to wanting community) and the tiger for her actual isolation. the puppy seems to be an older addition, maybe from childhood, and the smallest and most vulnerable one is being protected by the dog which seems to be a bear cub? reference to maybe a mama bear that protected her? the three at the top are what interest me the most though because harper is represented by the heart and the color red so the mouse is her, and the two pigs seem to be her parents, with one being a combination of colors and patchwork looking. so it seems to me that one of her parents was zombie-fied, maybe from a young age.

I like the symbolic nature Whiskey acribed to the stuffed animals above a lot!

I too think her reaction to abandonment and Vance speaks to something really fucked up in her necromancy family, like maybe a necromancy-coming-of-age-trial that went REALLY REALLY badly and wound up with her being totally alone.

Maybe it's like how Sam jokingly told Charlie: "You're not really a hunter till you've come back form the dead." Or like Cas told Jack of his own death, "It's something of a rite of passage around here."

Maybe you're not really a necromancer until you've killed and brought your family back and ofc Harper failing that test would fuck her up forever.

//

I noticed the teddy bear, too! There's a tee-tiny nod to the teddy-bear lovers' symbol above her bed, same as Marvelous Marvin has a red heart on his chest in season 15's Gimme Shelter. (And Dean's I Wuv Hugs from a million years ago.)

[The stuffed bear is] a simultaneous motif...of sexual intimacy and The Lover, it's also representative of The Beloved Child resulting from their contact.

(Jack is Marvin.)

///

Here's love in the corner, illuminated by two lamps. Harper is getting Jack a book, a book about her little beloved hometown, McCook.

Deep down, Harper is lonely, and unlike her disdain for her other suitors, she's a little different with Jack here: she wants to be understood.

She wants him to understand her and her hometown. Just a little. She's prodding at the niggling, unusual, UNFAMILIAR feeling. So, she sits down and invites him to sit, to learn more about her.

By this point, it's possible she's figured out he's a hunter, which opens up the possibility of revealing her true self, for better or for worse. It's an intoxicating thought for Harper.

Jack hesitates, clearly interested but also a little bit "!!!!"

He's framed by the heart on the wall. Indeed Jack, like Dean and Mary, is a "heart" character. He's even clothed in one of Mary's key colors: dusky orangey pink. (Aside// You'll notice Connor also wears this color in Gimme Shelter.)

///

Unlike in Tombstone, where Jack wasn't (via script) all that interested in Athena and Dave's relationship, now Jack's clearly grown. He's even interested in physicality.

Even though his emotional core can be kinda prickly, like Dean and Mary, he's at root a very affectionate character, interested in experience affection/connection with others:

So, he sits. Perseveres through he awkwardness. And lo and behold, Harper is as weird as he is.

They talk about having a positive outlook, even though they've had and terrible pasts, have done terrible things. And hey, look--she's getting the lamp treatment! How lovely.

They sit on the blue couch, as Harper tells him more about her past, subconsciously seeking his acceptance. The blue of the couch mirrors the blue color of her past, of her prom dress. We see her little prom queen crown, and we wonder...Harper is so awkward...

...does she really seem like the Prom Queen type?

I suspect it was fake. That she manufactured her own popularity with bit of magic. To meet the perfectionistic obsession with her romance tales. She is at core a fearful character, fearful of messing up, or being imperfect, of not living up to The Dream (TM).

///

Jack makes a quick getaway. In this shot, he's effectively the trope of the divine masculine, fleeing from love, "amore."

It's interesting that the kitchen, a bit like the bedroom, is earthier in tone, filled with more "valley" colors: of browns, greens. The kitchen is about the imperfect strivings of every day life, divorced from the high-dollar reds of Harper's romance-novel decor.

In the bathroom, Jack is clearly interested in exploring "love."

To Dean, he says, "Just in case (she is in love with me)...tell me everything you know about sex. Go!"

Jack is a curious-and-courageous character, too. He's prone to experimentation, which is also why he so often gets the drug ("I like cocaine!" and The Who) motifs. Like Cas, he's maybe a little scared, but he's going to go-for-it no matter how silly and awkward he might look.

That courage is probably something Harper senses in him. It's attractive to her, like the symbolic stuffed-animal lion-and-tiger protectors she has in her bedroom. She wonders:

"Is he strong enough to love the real me?"

In THIS sense, the thing with Vance isn't completely "a naughty nurse game." Deep down, at her root psychological base, Harper is testing the potential lovers' strength. Very classically mythical, really. And she's disgusted by her suitors because they keep failing and failing.

No one is like Vance. Not even Vance is like Vance. Her idea of Vance was never real, and she was never prom queen. But admitting that to herself is so painful, she constructs this horrible pattern of death and destruction.

///

"Her apartment has a lot of wallpaper/furniture from the 50’s! Or with that general aesthetic!" -Cal (@13-01)

It's so interesting, because this 50s retro theme is something that Jack, Dean, and Cas carry a lot, especially in terms of their "old-school" button-up pajamas and dressing downs. (Cas himself, with his overcoat, could be plopped in the middle of Mad Men tv series and fit into the surroundings, haha. And although we rarely see Sam carry the motif, but he dips into it in Peace of Mind as well.)

At the end of this episode, we'll see Harper seated in her own retro cafe with the same 50s vibe as well, a Charming Acres-sort of feeling. To me this symbolizes a backwards-looking illusion of perfection, that everything used to be simpler and better, and with enough effort, it can be simpler and better again.

Also there are dragonflies in her bathroom, a bit of a parallel to the lonesome fly plot that Sam and Charlie are on (in this same episode).

This too is the backwards-looking motif, of holding onto the illusory idea of Happiness (TM) so tightly that it becomes tragic and destructive.

///

Since even her idea of Vance isn't real, it's become like Amara's illusory idea of love. It can never let her down. "It can never hurt her."

[the-sage-libriomancer]

i try not to overthink the worldbuilding in Scoob and Shag because it's a thin premise that can't withstand much scrutiny (especially stuff relating to Toone), but i did have some thoughts that don't blow up the story's logic, so.

-first of all, the concept of "cartoon characters = actors" is inherently fascinating. especially since a lot of the actors seem to be government workers as well, implying the government used their own staff along with professional actors (like Yoge). what was the criteria? did they just have to look human? did Toone write show premises around whatever "characters" they had available? maybe that would explain some illogical plots and clunky lines in saturday morning cartoons - the actors didn't have much acting experience, and for all we know the writers were entry-level accountants.

-ballyhoo is also fascinating. it's basically a living metaphor for how an audience can influence their media: a toon's ballyhoo is directly empowered by how much love the human population gives them, just like how enough love of a fictional character makes them popular enough to keep appearing in media. it increases their strength (bc they have influence over the world) and extends their lifespan (bc they don't "die" until people stop caring about them), and all the ballyhoos are named after tv/movie terms like Picture in Picture or Jump Cut, implying that using tv/movie screens as a medium influences what sort of abilities they can get.

-the fact that too much ballyhoo causes you to instinctively, uncontrollably break the fourth wall is super fun and super fascinating and (as Bugs demonstrates) super horrifying. too much energy from meta sources causes the confines of your narrative to break down, leaving you in a weird spot in-between your world and a world you can't see.

-i can't stop thinking about The Inspector's backstory. it's just so tragic. born an android, given a literal soulmate shortly after creation, constantly looked down upon for not having a ballyhoo, losing his soulmate to old age, then losing his home to a war caused by the very thing you were devalued for not having. Bugs said that a toon's ballyhoo can extend their lifespan (likely bc a character who's beloved by fans doesn't really die), so the fact that Penny got old and died means she wasn't popular enough with the humans, which makes sense - Inspector Gadget is the iconic one after all. he's the one who everyone loved and remembered, and it was completely useless to him because he didn't have ballyhoo. no wonder he never smiles.

-i just realized that the Inspector was forced to leave Penny's grave behind when he escaped Toone. he can never visit her again :(

-speaking of screen partners, i love thinking about how the dynamics in cartoon series translate into real life and vice versa. it's a chicken and egg question: did certain characters land roles together because they were friends, or did they become friends because they worked together as actors? were Spongebob and Patrick actually buddies? did Felix the Cat work with Mick back in the beginning days of sending broadcasts? what's Scooby's professional opinion on Scrappy-Doo?

-(i wonder if you could justify the short period in Scooby-Doo history where Shaggy and Scooby were the only members of the gang regularly appearing in shows as "the government needed a way to keep the dangerous terrorists busy so they literally Could Not let those two stop appearing in things" asjhshbjahsjahsja)

-i I love that all the commanders are cartoon characters who were so popular/beloved that they seeped into (usamerican) popular culture: Mickey Mouse, Homer Simpson, Bugs Bunny, etc. They were the most powerful because their cartoons became the powerhouses of their respective eras - you can't get more loved than them.

-i wonder if the Simpsons were basically an ageless family back on Toone because they're still popular even after 40+ years, halting their aging. actually, i bet a lot of toons stopped aging after ballyhoo became commonplace. if your lifespan was defined by how loved you were by a fickle human audience, how do you think that affected relationships? it must've been hard if you had a tangible, literally life-affecting gauge of how popular you are according to alien beings you've never met.

-i was thinking about why Kermit is included as an mc when he's a muppet and the other toons are strictly western animation characters. the doylist explanation is that the author hadn't decided to limit the media used (similar to how Mario and Goku appear in early episodes), but i have a watsonian theory. i think Kermit is from the old Muppet Babies saturday morning cartoon, all grown up. he might've been a child actor who stayed with the government even after aging out, possibly explaining why there aren't any other muppets: they left the business and probably didn't escape Toone as a result.

-relatedly: my headcanon is that traditional (i.e. not toon-led) animation IS possible in this universe, and any animated project not usamerican is created that way. so anime is to the toons as a cg character is to humans, and the Goku pic is the equivalent of...i dunno, a photo of Avatarized Jake Sully lol.

-the fact that anime characters apparently didn't exist on Toone is probably for the best. can you imagine how powerful characters like Sasuke and Bakugo would be lmao.

-lastly, i was thinking about the old gods (or whatever they are). i'm pretty sure they're beings who exist behind the fourth wall. when Dee is pulled into the purple one's domain, she at first sees it as a wide open area in space, but then she starts processing it as more of a glass cube, with one huge window screen, large tubes, and wires running through the floating spheres - not unlike being held inside a tv. the purple god even says that staying too long will cause her mind to "shatter under the weight of reality" which...i think discovering you're actually a fictional character in a webcomic would do that to you. so the gods "interfering" is them going against the story's narrative to give the characters a boost. (this might tie into who Bugs is talking to when he/she addresses the camera - it's not technically us, it's the gods behind the wall.)

i have other thoughts but uh. this post is probably long enough.

[breadvidence]

Toggling between I.V.V and III.VIII.XXI trying to square this character with himself—how do you start with "stoical, serious, austere", a man whose "laugh was rare and terrible", and pass through "you’ve got a beard like a man, mother, but I have claws like a woman"? Lemme say, I was far more blithe about this before I had to decide how many cock jokes he might conceivably tell in a 20k span. Meta flavored by authorial navel-gazing ahead. For a somewhat unnecessary context, I'm working on a modern AU that depends on the musical but is beholden to the Brick.

First: my favorite thing about fandom is watching people hare off in wildly different directions, and while there are interpretations of this character I'd flat disagree with (the conservative ones that think he's in the right, mainly), there's many many more I'd thumbs-up gleefully even as they contradict my own reading. Shit, I will go so far as accepting your Javert who is based on the premise that Jean Valjean in I.VI.II (1) means his compliments and (2) is making a good character assessment. I might someday write a second thing that has a wildly different version of the character in it—why not? This is a sandbox, you can dig more than one hole.

Anyway, I've come to a few different conclusions.

The comedic one: When "Jean Valjean stepped up to this bed, in a twinkling wrenched off the head-piece, which was already in a dilapidated condition, an easy matter to muscles like his, grasped the principal rod like a bludgeon, and glanced at Javert" (I.VIII.IV), all of the emotional stressors and situational whiplash of the past few weeks catch up to Javert, the flexing is too much, he has a small frontal lobe aneurysm, it is nonetheless large enough to impact his inhibitions, his inner cunt is released. The "stoical, serious, austere" man described in I.V.V becomes the one who plays—plays!—cat-and-mouse with Jean Valjean during the first Gorbeau encounter and later runs his mouth at all and sundry. The contrast between the descriptions in I.V.V and subsequent on-the-page behavior is a deliberate character development and entirely the fault of Jean Valjean.

More seriously—yes, it's character development, logically because of the events in Montreuil-sur-Mer. We do not see Javert "play" with Fantine in I.V.XIII in the way he "plays" with PM in III.VIII.XXI, and while I would argue that some of his rambling in I.VI.II hints at his shitty sense of humor, there's no overt witticisms; he laughs in I.VIII.IV but absolutely not from humor. Based purely on his Tome I behavior, sure, austere and serious. Related: M-sur-M really should fuck this man up: regardless of it being set to rights, for years a figure of authority was perverse, and he himself operated as a lower functionary of that perverse authority. You could argue that Jean Valjean didn't "count" as a mayor because he was a convict, but going down that road you can end up at an almost normal psyche (one where bad authorities exist), which is undoubtedly unacceptable in interpreting Javert, so. While he's ecstatic in the moment of revelation and arrest, in the longterm—what's the impact? Bitterness and instability expressed as humor, maybe, in the way you dredge comedy out of cognitive dissonance? I can see why correctly identifying a criminal would make any other cop more confident, and how (cruel)playfulness/humor could stem from that, but I can't help but think it's a bad sign psychologically in Javert's case.

Victor Hugo looked us in the collective eye and said, "I am going to describe this character abstractly one way and then have his concrete actions be contradictory simply to fuck with you."

I'm perceiving a contradiction where there isn't one. The style of his humor—which is very dry, even morbid—and of his play—fucking with helpless people—are not in and of themselves unserious. And if I'm not mistaken, the last time we see him laugh is in I.VIII.IV (oddly the other time is in I.VI.II, but it's lugubrious/sad bitch behavior). I'm not thoroughly convinced, but I'm not thoroughly convinced of the character development theory either.

An alternative completely different from the above that I have failed to think of, but which someone will helpfully put in the tags?

(My current plan for the project semi-affectionately titled DAMMIT is to 🙈 at I.V.V in preference of III.VIII.XXI—which is not my greatest yeehaw of a characterization choice, anyway (for DAMMIT, as I don't generally, I'm digging in my heels that when Hugo talks about honesty and Javert it is always with the understanding that it is a spy's honesty, self-contradictory and self-deceptive—a decision not unrelated to choosing to go the promiscuous/closeted route for his gayness, which is itself not unrelated to the fact that promiscuous/closeted plays best into contradiction as a central character trait... and is also the funniest option, banter-wise).)

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

Undertale Fans, Deltarune Fans...

Food for Thought, on the Undertale end.

WD Gaster's name is a mix of Wingdings and Aster, two distinict Fonts. But let's focus on Aster.

It's latin for "Star".

Where do we see Stars in the Underground? That's right, the Save Points. Which, you could say, are "scattered through time and space"--they affect time, and they're across the underground... notably ONLY on the path to Asgore, or the game path.

While Flowey knows about SAVING, only an Amalgamate references the use of the Stars as SAVEs at all. ( Honestly, that encounter might imply that the one they were trying to trick was Flowey... and instead, got You. I wonder if Flowey was giving the Amalgamates a hard time... )

Those with high DETERMINATION can see and use the SAVE Points. No one else appears to be able to.

Additional information: ... Aster is a kind of flower, or denotes a type of flower. Asters are edible flowers, and can be used to make tea. (Sounds like the Golden Flowers to me). ... Waterfall is filled with references to Stars. Be it seeing the real stars, seeing fake stars but they're gemstones.

What's a star? Can you touch it? Can you eat it? Can you kill it? ... Are you a Star?

... What was that about Papyrus solving the Horoscope?

And if you think that revelation is mind breaking.

Let's get meta.

Near most Save Points, you are going to find the hole of a mouse. These various mice inspire our PC to have determination as they save. They are ONLY found near SAVE Points.

Enough so that we can safely associate the unseen Mice with SAVEs, and possibly, benign sources of Determination. One day that mouse is gonna use that microwave to unfreeze Cheese.

Now, what's so meta about Mice?

... SAVEs are a game mechanic. We get tuToriel'd about game mechanics, and how it uses the keyboard.

... What's the thing that's Missing here?

That, like the font Wingdings, is capable of shifting form...

That, like a character or the keyboard, is usually capable of interacting with the world, but cannot in this case, it can only float there and watch.

Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same... except you don't exist?

That is very much associated with a Hand.

Everything functions perfectly without you.

I'll give you a hint about "Mice".

Ha ha... The thought terrifies me.

ADDENDUM:

Those mouse holes certainly look like little doorways, don't they? The Mysterman seems to be pretty fond of his, maybe that's something to consider.

Sounds like Gaster's life is about the plans of mice and men, huh?

[wolverinedoctorwho]

Headcanoning the bg3 companions as crewmates in p101

Astarion as a cat/mouse Swashbuckler. Hands down. (In w101 I think he'd be in the Fire school but I could also see him in Myth or Death.)

Gale is a Witchdoctor obviously. (I think in w101 he'd be a Storm or Fire school wizard, maybe the Balance school post-game.) I could see him as a dog, specifically from Marleybone.

Shadowheart as a Privateer because of the healing, and because on a meta level I feel like she tends to be the leader/second-in-command of the group. I see her as a fox because she and Bonnie Anne are both early-game companions and low-key faces of their respective games. (In w101 she'd be in the Death school.)

Lae'zel as a Buccaneer for the focus on strength and heavy armor/weapons. Obv she'd be a frog.

Wyll as a Musketeer? I tend to have him more range focused with his spells. I think he'd be a unicorn for that Diego energy. (Diego is the unicorn duel master from w101.) (In w101 I think he'd be in the Storm school for his personality and combat effectiveness, but he'd use a sword instead of a wand.)

Karlach as a Buccaneer for the focus on raw strength and courage. I could see her as a horse, like Subodai. Or maybe a cow for the horns?

Not sure about class for Halsin (Privateer? Witchdoctor?) but he'd be a bear. You know he would. (In w101 he's Life School 100%.)

Minthara could go Buccaneer for strength/bravery or Swashbuckler for stealth/darkness. I think she could be a rat, or maybe a horse.

I haven't played with the other companions enough to properly guess but I'm open to suggestions!

[redgearsmovin]

something that's been on my mind ever since i finished watching the series:

Specifically in "Aloha Nina", I really thought it would've been cool if the Movers would've maybe made Nina an honorary Mover. I saw someone's art of Nina in a pink Mover suit and just think that would've been so nice to see.

Like they acknowledged she helps them alot (in song and in other moments) and that she gets called to Mover huddles and included in a lot of what the Movers do. Warehouse Mouse had a Mover suit and was even included in a banner when he helped them out (yea i know he lives in the warehouse lol) so like, technically, why not Nina hahah.

I feel like that would've made such a big impact to the moment, even if it was actually a misunderstanding. But like, they thought Nina was leaving for good, they wanna make a attempt to convince Nina to change her mind on leaving right. And even so, being called a Honorary Mover would be such a big parting gift.

I get that she isn't a Mover, and that Imagination Movers is tied to their company/band so like, in meta analysis maybe they don't wanna cause confusion since she doesn't perform with them. but it's also why i said 'Honorary' and augh don't you agree it would've been so cool to see Nina in her own custom pink jumpsuit with the nametag and all .. doesn't even have to be pink (though that is her signature colour) i just really wanna see mover nina one time 🥲.

lol i'm rambling but if they did that i would be so emotional and the episode itself already gave me so many emotions so just imagine aaah.

[memekeymouse]

I know I haven’t been able to shut up about mickey mouse nonstop but sighs!!!! I’ve seen meta fics about toons existing in real life but still being the product of their creators and how that life is like a la Who Framed Roger Rabbit and when it comes to mickey either he’s an spoiled, egotistical asshole who treats his friends like shit and only pretends to be nice for the cameras, or he IS actually nice but also completely sanitized and passive under Disney and everyone shits on him for being so naive or whatever and both takes suck ass tbh

And it’s like. God how do I even phrase this.

I wanna see toon meta stuff where Mickey is still fundamentally kind and friendly and also so so SO unbelievably tired after almost a fucking century and has a MUCH lower threshold for bullshit as a result

A Mickey who has always loved to make people happy with his acting and still does in theory but also has become completely disillusioned with Disney’s business ethics and is now counting the milliseconds until he’s released into the public domain

A Mickey who adores his friends and particularly loves Minnie more than anything and viceversa not because they were made to be a couple but because witnessing and living so many things together over so many years has made them understand each other better than anyone else (and that love can be romantic or not, depending on your read on it; it shouldn’t change the trust in each other either way)

A Mickey who can make crass jokes and swear because screw you, just because he’s a kids’ cartoon doesn’t mean he’s a baby and he’s really tired of being treated like one, specially when he’s not even on the clock.

A Mickey who has a complicated relationship with Walt and— yeah, maybe he DID see him as something of a father once but over the years he’s come to realize he was really just his boss at best.

A Mickey who is aware of his (im)mortality and has lived too much but not aged enough and who has outlived so many humans and toons alike while wondering if he’ll ever see the end. If he’ll even want it or be ready for it.

(Also he probably spent months trying to figure out how smartphones work and is perpetually disappointed the 21st century doesn’t have flying cars like in The Jetsons and sometimes you can see his soul crumble to dust in casual conversation because what do you mean the 50’s were 70 years ago and not last decade????? Huh????)

A Mickey who can do whatever the hell he wants with his gender and sexual/romantic orientation because come one man, it’s been 90+ years. You really think he wouldn’t at least be questioning after all that time?

A Mickey who is very, very sick of people, complete strangers, thinking that because they only know him from his cartoons means they have him all figured out and can make assumptions on who he is or who he HAS to be instead of. you know. get to know him like an actual person

(A Mickey who still wonders in his lowest moments IF he’s even a person and not just a commodity to be sold, a brand pasted on overpriced merchandise)

A Mickey who is depressed and anxious and angry and scared and bitter at all once and is still learning to allow himself to feel all of those things without letting them define him because that’s not the kind of person he wants to be, even if he does have enough reasons to be. Who despite everything still latches on kicking and screaming to joy and whimsy and life and love because he refuses to fall into apathy. A Mickey that isn’t naive or a pushover just because he’s nice, but isn’t cruel or apathetic either just because he isn’t sunshine and rainbows every waking second

[meirimerens]

Tell us about the rat catcher and aysa!! Been thinkin about them and wanted to listen what other people think

RATLYONINA

okay here's the lore i made up in my head.

first of all Who (do i think) Are They:

Aysa Klyonina: Aysa has like A Presence within the in-game narrative and we have some info about her: friend of Yulia, lives in the the Trammel with her, and is an engineer who helps her with calculations (in P2, Yulia has the title of Mathematician, and Aysa being an engineer means she puts the math to practical designs/execution). she's a woman in STEM ♥. as i've drawn [here], methinks aysa as an (unreciprocated) crush on yulia. i think their cohabitation started as Women Hanging Out Together (platonically/professionally)/like if the Trammel was a lesbian commune but it's one house & then Aysa developed her little crush. while i've depicted Yulias as [CLUELESS] i think it evolves into YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GET YOURSELF OTHER BITCHES for she is a staunch monogamist (something her girlfriend doesn't have to be) in a committed relationship.

Rat Catcher: the Rat Catcher only appears in Burakh's 3rd death cutscene and has no apparition outside of it, in the narrative that is meant to represent a "real world"/lived experience. while her name implies she catches rat, she's apparently only worried about one, a big one, that burakh let loose coming in. she's a metanarrative device. However comma she has to me Pied Piper vibes; while P2 doesn't have rats and instead has gerbils, i think this is so sick and twisted, and i think they should have normal rats, and she should handle rats, and she can play the flute to rally the rats. she has pet rats (normal rats) that she trains for the theatre and to act as messenger. while her Starling model makes her look a little bit #afraid i think she is mischievous in the same ways Mark is: indeed i think she is his sister. i looove making up family bonds between characters i did it for dandy & catnip already. she's a silly. she handles rats. she's a metanarrative device that dwells in the layer that's "under" the main game, within the mechanisms of the game such as death. but unlike Mark she deals less with the ambiguous/meta[phorical/physical], the sneakiness, etc. she's way more normal about it, i think mostly she vibes. she is aware of her place as a chthonic type of figure, but unlike her brother who heavily plays on it, she just Lives Here. this is the rat catcher. she strikes me as an Olga because it's passe-partout, it's common, it's unsuspecting. she's like a little mouse in that.

HOW DID THEY MEET?

by doing her calculations for the making of the very town, Yulia deals with the underliements. the subterranean Narrative-Wise of the town. it is by accompanying her in these endeavors that Aysa met First Name Rat Last Name Catcher (FNRLNC). the very first time, i think they just spotted each other as aysa & yulia were taking measurements around the Theatre and FNRLNC was on her smoke break (i also think all three are smokers, yulia the heaviest of them three). just smiled & nodded & carried on. Aysa & FNRLNC kept running into each other as Aysa was on the field taking More measurements and trying out some prototypes/designs out there. by digging into how the un-roads are intertwined you run into this woman it just is how it is. they struck up conversation. possibly asked for a cigarette or offered one. i think aysa is kinda shy/reserved, one of the reasons her and yulia work well together is because they kinda behave like nervous animals, but FNRLNC is more extraverted, a little bit quirky outwardly. i think she started finding aysa cute first, maybe flirted openly, but aysa was like 🧍‍♀️ (<- clueless because since she can't flirt she doesn't know how others would do it). FNRLNC was like It is what it is and didn't push further. i think yulia & aysa came across multiple rat nests when doing the roadlayings, and who you gonna call.... ratcatcher!! i think when aysa saw her breaking out the flute and pied-piper them outta the way she became like Damn........... (she loves a woman with a strange and unusual talent) and that's how it started.

she would get out of the house pretending she needed to check on a water pump, or a sewer grid, or a bridge, whatever, and go hang out with FNRLNC. smoking. FNRLNC showing her her pet rats & aysa being like "(deathly afraid) aw so cutes". you know..............

[weclassybouquetfun]

Universal's THE FALL GUY has premiered to middling box office. Which is unfortunate. It's a fun and funny film.

In the past few months, I have seen an interesting mix of action films. MONKEY MAN Is superior. It's incredible. THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE is great fun - one of the best Guy Ritchie films in a while. ARGYLLE was awful. I hate the use of sped up action and Matthew Vaughn needs to be brought before The Hauge for his overuse of it. BOY KILLS WORLD uses it, too, which is unfortunate, but at least everything else works (to a degree). It certainly has the feel of a cult film. The entire time I was watching I thought, "This would kill at Beyond Fest or Fantastic Fest". It's a bit too off-kilter so you really had to adjust my thinking of it.

But THE FALL GUY is not really like those films. Action-packed to be sure, but in the vein of the JOHN WICK films, they are more about stunts, falls, punches etc; than gun violence and bloodshed. Which makes sense as director/producer David Leitch (ATOMIC BLONDE, DEADPOOL 2, BULLET TRAIN, JOHN WICK franchise ) is a former stuntman. This film - aside from being a reboot of the 80's television series starring Lee Majors - is a love letter to the stunt community and a not so silent campaign for the stunt community to be recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Leitch & Co. have made sure that this roll-out to this film has centered Stunts.

Compilation of their promotion of stunt people: Ryan Gosling on Jimmy Kimmel, stunts on the red carpet at the L.A. premiere and a demo of stunts at the L.A premiere.

SPOILERS FOR THE FALL GUY. MORE SPOILERS THAN THE (ALLEGED) FILLERS IN RYAN GOSLING'S FACE.

What is it about: The film is about stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), who suffers an on-set accident, which ends his career as the #1 stuntman for actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

With Colt's career goes his relationship with Jody (Emily Blunt), a camerawoman.

Eighteen months later, Colt is beckoned by Ryder's producing partner Gail Meyers (Hannah Waddingham)

to work stunts on Tom's new film with first-time director Jody at the helm.

When Tom goes missing, Gail implores Colt to locate him before the studio shuts down production, which will destroy Jody's career. With Jody's career at stake Colt begrudgingly throws himself into locating Tom, which drags him into the dodgy lifestyle the actor he's been doubling has been into.

WHAT I LOVED

-Ryan Gosling is incredible at comedy. Most people discovered that with BARBIE, but those who loved THE NICE GUYS knew that. Or maybe even saw his promise in THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB and YOUNG HERCULES.

The humour doen't stick the way THE NICE GUY does, but it is still an extremely funny film. The film is very self-referential and meta, so the comedy works more if you know about the issues surrounding the entertainment industry and the stunt community. If you don't, the jokes are still there, but may not land as well as it would if you understood the reference.

-Emily Blunt can have chemistry with a sponge, so it makes it very easy to care about Jody and Colt's relationship, despite we get very little time with them as a couple. Because of how great they are individually as portraying lost love, you really do root for these crazy kids to reconcile.

-Something that may very seem like a point against it, is something I count as an asset - it is extremely meta. People may find that anvilicious, but as a film that throws restraint out the window - doesn't even bother acting as if it has restraint - it's easy to lean into it. You have a script supervisor advising Jody to make the in-film character do a wall of exposition about how there is no third act, while in the film Jody is really dealing with the fact that her film has no third act; which is a reference to big blockbusters being filmed without a finished script.

Or Jody talking with Colt about if she should do a split-screen effect, while Jody and Colt are in the split-screen . You just have to embrace it.

And as much as it is a full-throated love letter to stunt and a cry to have them recognized by the Academy (there is even an end-credit song that is all about how stunts is deserving of gold), the film is a love letter to movies with Colt and his stunt coordinator Dan (Winston Duke) reciting movie quotes to each other. There is even a point in the film where Colt says something profound to Jodie and he's trying to figure out if he made it up or if it was a quote. It's a gorgeous film for people who love movies.

They even call out stunts by other films and seemingly recreate them. It's great.

Gael Garcia Bernal did a Criterion Closet pull and he lamented on how there are no longer movies like Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN that make you come out of the cinema that makes you want to live and have sex and love and enjoy people. While THE FALL GUY may not make you want to have sex, it is a big, bold, film that makes you think back at classics that were all about the indomitable spirit of the reluctant hero and of the hero trying to get their love. It really does feel a Valentine to cinema as a whole.

-Colt literally being made into a fall guy by Gail. Genius!

-The fact that the "Miami Vice" reference had a pay off and ties into Universal Studios' long running stunt shows.

Gosling popping up at Universal's stunt show.

WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE

-They had Blake Shelton remake the series theme song, "The Unknown Stuntman" which was performed by the 80s series lead Lee Majors (who cameos in the film, along with his costar Heather Thomas), but they took out all the references to celebrities. And since this film is all about Colt's love for Jodie, the song has been retooled to make it more a dedication to their love, then the love of stunts and leading ladies.

Thankfully, there are great songs in the tracks, especially Yungblood's cover of Kiss's "I Was Made for Loving You".