#middle schoolers are still annoying and cringey

[rukidding]

as someone who works in childcare i not only strongly disagree with, but am very annoyed by, the whole "kids don't look their age anymore >:(" shit. and when someone starts going off with that i ask what children they're talking about, and they almost always say kids on social media. and then i ask why they're looking at children's social media accounts in the first place and it's crickets

[nikethestatue]

I read ACOSF back in 2021. I wasn't part of the SJM fandom; I didn't even know it existed because I was a casual reader. But from the first moment Gwyn was introduced on page, I was suspicious of her.

Her introduction felt so jarring, and then she "betrayed" Nesta to Merrill which immediately heightened my skepticism of her. I thought SJM was setting up another Celaena/Ansel storyline. I was so convinced of this that I thought Gwyn had played a role in Nesta and Emerie's kidnappings for the Blood Rite. I was surprised when the book ended with Nesta still being friends with Gwyn. But I still don't trust her.

And I find it even stranger that Nesta considers Gwyn a friend. I've always seen some of myself in Nesta, so maybe I'm projecting, but Nesta doesn't seem like the type of person who is eager to be friends with someone who 1) will talk about her behind her back (it's still odd to me that Nesta trusted Gwyn after Gwyn "betrayed" her to Merrill), but 2) acts immature (maybe I'm being too harsh but Gwyn squealing like a middle schooler at day camp was so cringey to me).

It's just strange to me how so many people latched onto Gwyn's character and are convinced she's a main character. I couldn't even remember who she was months after reading. And after being told about the Azriel BC, I'm even more convinced of my suspicions about her. But even then, she's so one-dimensional that I don't understand the hype? Maybe I'm being anti-feminist or something but I don't trust her and I've always found her character too annoying.

So I am never going to be the person who will say 'oh, I like Gwyn! I just don't like her with Azriel'

For the record, I don't like Gwyn at all.

I had a visceral reaction to her when she appeared and was an asshole to Nesta in the first few scenes. She was rude, impatient, haughty and just kind of deeply unlikable. Nothing about her appealed to me and I thought that she was going to be a false friend, like Ianthe to Nesta.

Furthermore, as a Nesta-identifying person, I can absolutely assure everyone that a person like Gwyn would drive me insane. Their 'friendship' is the most unbelievable part of ACOSF. Maybe Nesta is under a spell, who knows.

But regardless, that nausea-inducing self-righteousness of Gwyn's, her obsessive need to win at all costs regardless of what others might think or how they might be affected, is just a massive turn off for me personally.

I honestly have no problem with people liking her and feeling kinship with her. I get it. She appeals to a certain type of reader. I am not that reader.

But do I see her maybe having an unexpected role going forward--yep, very likely.

[doctorhuh]

hiya! first, love the podcast and both of your senses of humor. second, i recently got to the part in your magician's apprentice ep where you suggest the clara/jane austen kissing comment was "something for the fellas," which seems like a continuation of the other times you two have been (not unjustifiably) critical of a lot of the portrayal of queer chars on DW, and i wanted to offer an alternate perspective - not in a "you're wrong and i'm mad at you" way, just in a "here's a perspective to think about if you'd like to" way. also, i'm not expecting a response (in fact, i think i'd find one embarrassing bc of how long this is) or for y'all to change, just tossing this out there

for context, i got into doctor who as a middle schooler at the beginning of my realizing-i-was-bi-and-nonbinary-in-a-homophobic-household journey. and as a result, jack harkness was Important to me. in fact, i think there's a poll that went around tumblr a month ago where 12% of this site's userbase said doctor who was the first place they saw an earnest depiction of a queer char. jack does plays into bi stereotypes, but he still has depth and likability, and i think that's more important than deciding he doesn't fuck, esp in 2005. plus, he and torchwood were created by rtd who is himself gay, so i'm willing to cut him some slack

i agree that the vastra/jenny "actually, she's my WIFE" exchange is mostly moffat looking for praise, but that scene was also Important to me as a closeted kid who could only fantasize about being so open about my sexuality. and last year, i /did/ get a little thrill when i was getting a haircut and the hairdresser (who /did/ give off homophobic vibes) asked me after my Person left, "are you two sisters?" and i could say no

regarding clara, my view of moffat's misogyny in writing DW has always been "he /is/ aware that a lot of the audience is women and kids and when he thinks to, he does write to those ppl, he's just also infected with the views-women-as-lesser parasite and doesn't make enough conscious choices to battle it." if you'd asked me if clara's bisexuality was /for/ any particular audience segment, i'd say i'd never thought about that before, but if it was for anyone, it was probably for the queer girls. i esp feel that way bc she's followed by bill (and yaz, though that wasn't moffat's doing). i also like that clara said that in front of her class! it's nice to see a teacher char be open about her bisexuality bc of how social reactionaries often rush to "think of the children!" and criticizing schools and teachers as their first line of offense. plus, gay teachers were my rocks in high school, and i loved hearing about their lives bc it made my own future feel more solid

in sum, if the metric for a portrayal of a queer char is "was this scene written thoughtfully and to make queer audience members seem seen?" what might seem cringey and forced to one queer person could feel very affirming to another. i think due to DW's intended younger audience, things fall into the affirming bin more often than expected, and i think they're also /intended/ to be affirming more often than expected. i'd be as annoyed as hell by all these scenes if i saw them for the first time today, but i remain glad they exist for the good they did for kids back then and (who knows?) maybe still today

have a good night!

Hiya! Thank you for the thoughtful message! I will say I do totally get what you're saying. In fact, I remember being a closeted queer teen in the 2010s and I felt the exact same way. I thought it was super cool to see a bisexual character on TV, and I remember when the 11th Doctor would have throwaway lines about, yknow, romances with other men or whatever I thought that was pretty cool too. I loved Jack back in the day! It's certainly not my place to tell a person that they're not valid for appreciating representation! I think any kid who saw something relatable or inclusive in DW is a big win. I do still feel like looking back and watching it as an adult with more context; we can get a sense that it could've been better! A lot of it reflected attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people from 10-20 years ago, that I think we've largely moved past. I feel like there's nothing inherently wrong *or* invalidating about pointing that kinda stuff out. With regards to Moffat specifically, I get frustrated with Moffat because I think we're all in agreement that we can do better than him to write representation, yeah? Moffat is very "tell don't show" about his characters' queerness in a way that I find personally frustrating. If Clara is bisexual, that's awesome!! I'd love for Moffat to have shown us this instead of just an offhand line about it. His track record is just really bad (anyone who has seen Sherlock can attest to this lol). That's why we are always kind of feeling like his inclusion of LGBTQ+ representation comes across in bad faith (i.e. queerbaiting, using queerness as setup/punchline, or just kinda trying to score points from the progressive viewers).

I'd add that I do think there's been some great LGBTQ+ representation on DW in the past and present. I can't be the only one who loved to see Donna being the parent of a happy, thriving nonbinary trans person. That brought me a lot of joy to see on my screen in a time that is SO fucking hostile for trans people (transfeminine people in the UK in particular have it really bad). More of that please, Rusty. Lastly, I should say our show puts us at a disadvantage by design in terms of good faith criticism, because we're literally not watching the show in a way that makes sense. So a lot of stuff we're saying is basically watching the show completely devoid of context and we're just trying to have a bit of fun and share our thoughts; I do think we've ate dirt on this 1000 times over it's part of the fun when our listeners get mad because we were just Completely Wrong. Like what the hell happens in the Zygon Inversion?? Or Heaven Sent?? We don't know but everyone is mad because we didn't have that context. I really disliked Clara and got at totally different read on her, now I'm much more cool with her as a character. If there's stuff we're missing that's kind of part of the fun. At the end of the day we're just two goobers with microphones trying to have a bit of fun and you're ten billion percent allowed to disagree with everything we say about DW. Also not to like, shill, or anything but if you ever want to discuss this stuff with us directly, our discord link is in every episode. You can join the chorus of listeners who get mad at us every week jkjk. Thank you for the thoughtful ask! I hope that clears up at least my own feelings on it a little bit. -Jordan

[fledglingdoodles]

In honor of Turning Red doing the impossible and making me miss being a loud annoying cringey middle schooler: here’s the first art I ever posted to the internet at the ripe age of 12!(With dear in the @tomato-bird middle there)

(Also if anyone out there knows or is still in contact with Francesca P, please let me know because I miss her a lot)

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 (Blind Watch) - Episode 2

Whew, took me awhile to get to this episode because life got really busy. Excited to have time for anime again. This episode was fun. We’re still in the “introducing stuff” phase and I almost feel like they’re moving too quickly. We got so many new digivolution reveals this episode and I feel like that’s takes the fun out of things. On the other hand, maybe that’s a good thing because it means they won’t be relying on digivolution reveals to make each episode interesting? I guess we’ll have to see...

Digimon introduced: Poromon, Hawkmon, Holsmon, Upamon, Armadillomon, Digmon, DemiVeemon

Notes:

-This seems like a common thing in older shows (the original Tokyo Mew Mew comes to mind) but the narrator dude in the beginning sounds SO bored! Why did they hire some monotone middle aged guy to read the script? I think the dub idea of having one of the kid’s narrate not only makes way more sense but gives more personality to the episode intros. 

-"Kaiser” was a weird choice for the name of this season’s villain. I had to Google where it came from and apparently it’s from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. It just makes me think of sandwiches tho lol

-I get the vibe from the OP that the Digimon Kaiser will have a redemption arc, but rn he just seems like a cringey chuunibyou kid 

-I got culture-shocked (time-shocked?) when the teacher was like “of course I can’t use a computer!” How far we’ve come...(I was 8 when this episode came out btw). 

-The transition to the new “chosen children” seems so weird to me. They’re singled out with their new digivices and only their outfits change when they come to the digital world. It’s like the digital world was like “meh, we don’t need you older kids anymore.” I do like how they’re setting up the OGs as mentors though, that’s cute.

-The fashion sense and hairstyles are baaaaad. What the heck did they do to Mimi!? They massacred my gurl 

-Why couldn’t the new kids have gotten unique crests instead of the same ones as the previous chosen kids? I don’t like how they’re setting them up as archetypes already instead of letting them be their own thing for a bit. 

-Miyako saying “we’re prepared for danger!” and then flailing and screaming 2 seconds later was kind of annoying, but also she’s like 12 so that’s pretty par for the course. 

-Sora reassuring Miyako by saying “I know you’re scared now, but you’ll cherish these memories someday” kinda felt like Miyako was being suckered into a cult lol. Being “chosen” sure is a lot of pressure for an elementary schooler. 

-I noted that Iori, AKA Koushiro 2.0, got the digimon with the funny accent, just like Tentomon. Interesting...

-I like the cheesy early 2000s sequence that plays where the kids get sucked into the digital world. Kinda dated, but in a good way. 

-The designs of the new digimon are okay in baby and rookie forms, but I think the armor digivolutions are butt ugly. Unsurprisingly, I don’t see a lot of fanart or nostalgia out there for them. 

-I wonder why some characters have completely black eyes and others have more traditionally “anime” eyes. It gets a little distracting at points when you see both side-by-side. 

-The new battle music is wimpy as heck. I never really loved the season 1 battle music either, but this music is weirdly quiet and not intense enough. I felt like the sound effects were really drowning it out. 

[bluewinnerangel]

idk if u don't do interview analysis' anymore, but i was j watching the swedish interview where harry describes his dream date and Louis goes "what a boring description of a day" and realized that

a) harry basically describes a normal date where he and louis are out -- thats why it's the "perfect" date

b) though louis sounds annoyed he literally cant stop fonding secretly.

any other insights?

LOUIS THE SASSY BANTERBOY YEP

That's a very nice interpretation of this I love that. I don't have many insights on this interview, I think with early interviews of them, the first few years they're not that subtle lol. Louis just thrives in giving people shit in interviews. Or just giving people shit. And I think he just loved getting a reaction out of Harry and would just give him so ridiculously much shit whenever he could to the point where it was a little bit too much. And yeah he fonds hard here everytime he looks at Harry. And nope I don't think he meant that that day would be boring to him at all, he would say "what a boring day that would be", he calls the description boring asdljksd which yeah harry just went full domestic lil shit there which isn't really anything interview worthy and that's what he responded to more than anything (which I think is cool, like, Harry rarely does that you know, feed the interviewer, make shit sound interesting. He just sits and chills. And when he does plug shit, try to sell their album or even dolls or fragrances or whatever, it's obvious and funny) He's so focused on him like a middle schooler with a crush that doesn't know what to do with it and just resorts to bullying the person asdkjsdlkgja. It kinda makes me uncomfortable in the sense that I still do that with people I got a crush on and it's so cringey and I always wish I didn't after as I took it too far and anlkadjslkdjwije ew aw uew cringe cringe cringe

This shit cracks me up tho so much room on that couch where's Louis sitting

All these frames after the interviewer touched/complemented Harry's hair and

JESUS LOUIS

Also I love how around 2:20 he's just full on telling us they aren't just your friendly neighborhood kleptomaniacs but really had a thing going on where he tried to steal something from every country they went to sure why not make this picture relevant again why how can i put that in multiple of these breakdowns alsdkjalkjgsd

Im tagging posts like this #interview moments if you wanna see more rambles like this hehe

[limerancy-fics]

what phases (or just things they would do in general) would middle school/high school xiaoven go thru that they would look back on and cringe...

xiao: exclusively shops at hot topic, says rlly dramatic shit n listens to cringey alt rock, "underground" dance crew (it's not they're just annoying middle schoolers)

venti: kpop/aegyo phase.......(carmen still makes fun of him for it), musical phase (aka he breaks out into song in the middle of the cafeteria n everyone is so tired bc he does this every day), his emo phase that lasted one (1) week

[destressjournal]

DCOM Rankings #95: How to Build a Better Boy

Okay this movie was really cute! It’s has a couple problems but it was really cute!

So I thought I was really going to be comparing this to pixel perfect, and it turns out these movies are actually pretty different, however, I can just explain their similarities and get that out of the way first. Cuz it’s funnnnn.

Okay. So I think the intention behind the creation of the non-human perfect being is the same in both movies. The main character (who is a literal genius I mean they have to be), has an idea in their head of the perfect boy/girl and tries to create a digital version of that. The difference is that in Pixel perfect, the main dude creates her for a specific purpose and ends up realizing that he was in love with her and that he programmed her with all the things about a girl he thought was perfect. In this movie, Mae just got rejected (by an idiot), and was hurt and started going on and on about her dream date night and got carried away. Didn’t think that she was creating an actual robot.

The second main comparison is what the purpose of the robot/hologram was. For pixel perfect, the main guy created her just to fill in for a singer/dancer in his friend’s band, (but also to create the perfect girl because he always found flaws in every girl he was interested in). For this movie, the original purpose of the robot was an army soldier that could kill in seconds if he wanted to. But was instead created as Mae’s ideal perfect boyfriend that was overloaded with information. (Like, I don’t understand how that didn’t backfire, he still came out totally perfect)

But honestly I really love both concepts in both movies, even if they are slightly different!

But when the movie gets going, it takes a different approach to discussing perfection that I also enjoy. While pixel perfect focuses on living up to impossible expectations via music industry/Hollywood standards, this movie takes a more personal approach from the viewpoint of a middle/high schooler. Like, how fantasies are fantasies for a reason, and how one person can’t be everything all of the time, and no matter how hard you try to bring your vision to life, real life is still going to happen.

The point of both movies is that perfection is unattainable. People are flawed and make mistakes. That’s how real life works. And if you try to look for one person that checks every single one of your giant list of boxes, you’re going to miss out on people that genuinely like you. If anyone is “perfect” they are either lying, a robot solider, or a hologram. Everyone has shit they’re dealing with. EVERYONE!

Okay I’ll stop making the comparisons now!

The story I feel progressed very realistically. Mae and Gabby were best friends until Mae realized she wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with boys, but never told Gabby because gabby was all about keeping the duo together and had a life plan spelled out. And I can tell you from personal experience I KNOW how Mae feels in this situation. She doesn’t want to upset her friend and wants to keep the friend ship but is worried if she starts having interests besides math and science, their friendship would be over.

I’m going through something similar with my friend. Not going into details though but I’m just saying that’s realistic. And even when Mae finds out the boy she created was just a robot, and she didn’t care, at first I was like wtf? But after I thought about it, we are talking about a teenage girl who just fell in love with the dude because he is EXACTLY, as close as the fucking tee will get, the kind of guy Mae wants. There is literally no one else that’s going to top him because he is made specifically for her. And if that’s the best that she can get, then why look for anything else. Love (or in this case, infatuation) will make people do crazy things….

Can I just take a second to be like wtf no kissing again??? I mean come on Disney channel! maybe cloud 9 was the last movie to feature a kiss?? I have no idea what these censors are about man, but it’s really confusing. Haha maybe I’ll make a game out of it for the rest of these movies. It’s weird there are only like 15 left…

Okay back on topic.

I like pretty much all of the characters. And the funny ones like the dad and the brother were actually funny, like they were cringey but just the right amount of cringey that doesn’t take away from the characters. I even laughed out loud at a scene, which that hasn’t happened in a long time.

The villains were the only thing I had an issue with just because I thought they would be a much bigger threat. But nah they were apprehended like 20 minutes before the movie ended. and that was that. Kinda wish they were a bigger deal. But other than that everyone else was great! The popular girl was annoying but not AS annoying as the one in Zapped. That was pretty cringe let me tell you! But the two leads were great together. I do feel that Gabby was pushed off to the side a little bit though, I mean I get that was the whole story was her getting sidelined because of Albert but I feel like she still should have had a little more depth to her character and more of a spotlight. But that’s just me I guess.

Can we talk about mae’s outfits though? Who the hell was her costume designer? And why do the outfits on Disney channel shows/movies have to be so complicated and almost ugly? Like NO ONE wears these kinds of things to school on a regular basis. Gabby’s outfits, maybe, but Mae’s, like she’s a literal alien from another planet wearing these things. Why do people think these outfits look good? Ugh. I remember when people would wear dresses over t-shirts, oh wait, no I don’t!

Rant over. But anyway, I felt pretty invested throughout the whole thing, even toward the end when Mae’s first kiss was set up. I thought that was really clever because it only further illiustrates the fact that these things have to be planned ahead of time and are fabricated. It’s all for show, none of it was real, and deep down Mae knew that which is why she didn’t kiss Albert. But I will admit that scene had me glued to the screen. It has similar kids the girl vibes from little mermaid.

I’m also SO SO SO happy that Mae did the right thing and stayed with her best friend the rest of the night instead of hanging out with the boy that wanted to ask her out the first time. I was so worried that would be the case but nope, she cares about her best friend and many years of friendship more than one boy that she recently met. That’s a lesson for all you young hetero girls and women out there! Friends are always more important than dumb boys. And this movie gets it right. But it was also sweet how gabby was like “sorry for putting pressure on you” and now it feels like Mae can talk to gabby about anything. If a friend is bullying you into doing something you don’t wanna do, you need to set boundaries! And also dump them if it gets worse.

In some ways I think this movie is better than pixel perfect because it gets its characters so right. But the theme in pixel perfect is so much better and deeper and the music is better. Oh my god that ukulele cover of I love you like a love song by Selena Gomez. That was also kind of cringe but I can’t pretend that I never dreamed about my crush serenading me on guitar or uke. So….fuck you disney channel for getting into my 13-14 year old mind and making this movie.

How would this score against pixel perfect though? I think I gave that one a B+. Oh boy…I think this movie might be A range…because the here is nothing I outright hated about this movie. Nothing frustrating, hardly any flaws. Oh man…am I really doing this to pixel perfect…? I think I am. I don’t think I’ll give it a plus though. Just a regular A. I know I wouldn’t wanna watch this all the time.

Wow that was shocking I scored this movie higher, but I guess when it comes to technicalities, this one came out on top. Now for the next movie, it stars the girl from ally….something…oh man I don’t remember the show name but it has Ross lynch in the show. But he’s not in this one. Anyway yeah this one might be a cringe for me just cuz of the title but we’ll see!

[cupideya1314]

My Pride, My Joy, My love: The “Original Character” Trend

I remember when I was enjoying my life as a Middle schooler (over here we call it grade 6) I enjoyed a lot of the internet during that time. I became a fan of Minecraft and enjoyed all the modern cartoons at the time. Me and my friends were very into Five Nights at Freddy’s and during that time period is where a lot of good late childhood memories formed for me.  All these media has made me into the creative person I am today, despite my career choice of the moment, I’m very proud as an artist. Part of that pride is my creativity to make OCs (Original Characters). Like many other artists growing up to these trends, I would have all these ideas and draw them out in my notebook. Whenever I get home from school, I would finish my assignments just so I have the freetime to play Doll Dress up games to create stories and characters (This was such a highlight of my life tbh and im not ashamed!! DOLL DIVINE MY LOVE!)  Getting to play with these games and playing around with MS Paint was my humble beginnings of becoming an artist online (mygash i sound like im famous but im not XD) 

A confession, the first time I made my own original characters is when I was still dreaming about playing Minecraft [ yes, I dreamt about playing Minecraft one day because my dad won’t let me play it and we had to buy it heheh silly but I was real ecstatic when I was able to play it on mobile-- but playing it on PC, I was super happy like- this is literally a dream come true for me y’all, I can’t express my happiness ] I would create what my Minecraft skin would look like, I never really told anyone about that. But later on I slowly created a story behind these characters for my own pleasure and fantasy. It feels so wonderful like I’m back to my kid self being in my own world.

This eventually became something I got stuck with until now, creating original characters with their own storylines but never really posting them about it. I made Gemsonas (Steven Universe fan characters), Five Nights at Freddy OCs, Yandere Simulator, and many more until they became their own original thing for me.

I can’t really count how many characters I have made through playing online games but they we’re mostly revolved around my personality and my friends. As I matured I realized how cringey that is hahah I guess I don’t want to look back at my personality back then even though nothing much change hehe. Though I still like how some of the characters I have made reflect what I am and what I wanted to be you know; that goes for almost any character ever made by someone similar to me, a character to reflect them in a way or project something they want to be someday. Nowadays I make characters that reflect more to the stories I create so it would be more fitting for them. My love for Original Character making came from a place where I dream of being famous (who doesn’t dream about that right?) I thought the ideas I have made were unique and at the time not have been thought of. As much as I want to share these ideas there was no where I shared these but between friends and myself, mostly just myself. I tried wattpad but somehow I never got to finish the stories. I tried Deviantart but right when I think I want to post I refuse to because I know the internet is a harsh place and my skills were not as extraordinary like the people I support. So ever since then, as much as I crave the attention, I never really pushed to get it. Instead all these characters I made are for my own pleasure. And I think that’s okay, I did these art for myself and it makes me super happy to come up with ideas and concepts. It shows how alive I am. It also worked in my favor because I improved as an artist too. I’m not the only one who feels this of course but I don’t know, this creative part of me is very strong. I was really happy when I started my Instagram, I don’t have many followers but I don’t care, the internet showed me it’s okay to just share whatever you want. Though I still feel anxious whenever I post, I mean there isn’t anything wrong with the post but what if someone saw it and many more. And like I use the hashtags to get notice but also not too much to get really noticed. I contradict myself a lot with that hahaha but I’m slowly just not caring about it. You can say this trend was my comfort and coping mechanism, I do enjoy self-insert stories and projecting my self into these characters. So far that’s how much I can express my love for doing this trend. The original character trend is still as strong as ever and it’s more developed hahah. I admire those artists that indulge a lot to their characters even without a piece of media to fully express their world. That’s why I still fancy this topic a lot. I can talk about my original characters for a whole week but that sounds super annoying tho no? HAHAHA Anyway I am proud of this part of me and maybe I can express that part of me more soon when I feel it’s right. Right now I’m doing fanart but then it will be fanworks then original stuff. I have a bunch of original content made but it may take a long time to present it well. My love and joy for this is boundless ahahah that’s all I can say Extra: The pics are from my gamer childhood (I am best dress up gamer!!!) and ofc the characters I made throughout that time. Not gonna lie but looking at the old art I made as a gr6 is S U P E R  C R I N G E. I want to share more, believe when I say I have TONS of characters but I think I will regret every moment once I scroll my own page in the future HAHAHA.

I didnt draw this, my friend drew it for me during gr7?? Check him out, he’s a great artist! Insta: @/hitdhits, Deviantart: @/HitDJ

oh and if somehow someone got interested in my insta @/cupideya1314

[tonyglowheart]

Some Spider-Man:Homecoming Awesome Moments/thoughts, behind a cut bc spoilers, and also long:

I basically squee’d through the entire beginning, after the like Damage Control/Toomes part. From the whole orchestrated version of the Spider-Man cartoon theme during the Marvel sequence (which honestly was way too frickin long, but the music was a good touch), to the vlogging part, like it was just. So Good. (my Spider-Man friend liked the vlogging, too, said it was a very Peter Parker thing)

Adrian Toomes literally has the stupidest reason for hating Tony Stark, and also tbh, supes awk I’ve been salty/on guard so long from the anti’s, it wasn’t obvious to me at all that Toomes was Evil All Along, I lowkey read it as “and this is when I decided to become Evil” moment with him staring with hate at Tony. Apparently, according to my friend I went with, who is more of a Spider-’verse guy, it was p obvious to him *like a cross between shrug emoji and :’)* (I think it was the fact that, like, Tony’s face took up half that screen that had me on guard? It says *US* Department etc, joint venture, etc, but like isn’t Pepper still CEO of Stark Industries? I mean idk I guess I’m kind of annoyed the anti’s have me so on guard that I looked at that and was like “great it’s set up to blame Tony personally for stuff that is again NOT his personal sole total fault”)

Re: the vlogging. oH MAN, THE TIMES NEW ROMAN 12 PT FONT DOUBLE SPACED CARD!!!! I’D ACTUALLY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS, HOW LONG AGO WAS THAT FROM?? Was that CW? It seems like it’s been ages

comment Tony made re: May wearing whatever. Oh no, bad, not good, whose idea was this, pls can we Stop that (other than that tho the rest of it was good, so even though we started rough at least we moved on)

oh no sad child sending a million texts with no response :(  (okay it kind of is hilarious to me that Happy is so incredibly out of his depth with Peter tho, like he has no idea what to do with being responsible for a teenager)

THE CHILDREN ARE ACTUALLY CHILDREN, THEY LOOK LIKE...middle school/high school, I’ve realized I am REALLY bad at telling, I’m back home and see these kids in the mall or Starbucks and I’m like “I am going to call them high schoolers but they look So Small somehow, a part of me yells “MIDDLE SCHOOLERS”???

tiny soft spider son who is awkward but not cringey? The whole movie was wholesome and good, and him and Liz were cute and there was no Hetero Farce, like Liz actually liked him, too, even though Peter’s an underdog it didn’t condescend on him? (like, didn’t play up that whole No Girl Will Like You Cuz You’re A Nerd thing that’s like douchebro mentality)

BODEGA CAT

omg tiny child going into alleyway and changing into his suit, kind of a weirdly endearing scene but so ???? like I don’t even know how to describe this feeling but He Is My Tiny Spider Son

the little notes are super cute. "why did I tell him about the churro” super cute. Him accidentally messing up and webbing a guy who was breaking into his own car: also super cute actually, and good flavor, too. All of it set the stage really well for him as an actually “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” like he’s basically running errands, but also he’s not omniscient so sometimes things are not what they seem

Happy is SUPER out of his depth lmao oh man

Ned Leeds and his fanboying highkey relatable (guy in the chaiiiir)

I can’t believe Zero Moustafa was in this movie, I didn’t even recognize him also I highkey was not expecting him

honestly all of the whole “changes in your body” stuff to Peter were also funny and added great flavor to the movie. It’s a bit out there and ridiculous but it’s from Peter’s PoV and was very appropriate for that :D

DUM-E!!!!!

“how far can you shoot?” “if I were you I’d stand on the edge of a building and shoot as far as you can” *girl turns around and gives them a weird look*

I highkey appreciate that Peter is the “I can just be myself” kind of person, this lets Ned be the “nobody wants that” ironic humor but also highkey relatable guy/line person. This was a good way of setting up those dyad of lines bc it centers self-confidence FIRST, and then the self-deprecating humor

running across the golf course was Excellent, him flailing so badly in suburbia was also good flavor and also hashtag same

“if you’re going to shoot someone shoot me” TINY HEROIC SPIDER SON OH MY GOD OH MAN HOLY HECK

“So. You got detention”

something something “those turkeys convinced you” something something

“So your body’s changed. Believe me, I know how that feels”

“You can’t just stroll back in and expect to be welcomed with open arms” *teacher walks out of bus with open arms* “hey, welcome back, Peter.”

“Listen, can we go, already? cuz I was hoping to get in some light protesting before dinner” “protesting is patriotic, let’s get on the bus”

Training Wheels Protocol. Baby Monitor Protocol. Karen. DRONEY. ADVANCED INTERROGATION MODE LMAO. “Instant Kill.”

seriously tho I appreciate how much of a genuinely down-to-earth guy Peter is. It’s not forced and it’s consistent, he’s such a good child

the TI-84 tho

RDJ!!! ARM-CLUTCHING!!! “gosh I sound like my father” *quiet gross sobbing on the inside*

school admin: there’s a dance. what are you doing? Ned: I’m....looking...at....porn?

that whole sequence of Toomes in the car on their way to homecoming was cinematically brilliant?? The way the light of the traffic lights shone and the symbolism with it, I like had a moment of like, “Oh my god, this is actually a really well-crafted movie??” (like tbh my salty ass lowkey can’t believe *Marvel* churned it out)

(this whole middle section I stopped taking notes and was just watching bc the next notes I have are on Tony losing control of the screwing the pooch metaphor lmao. but a couple points:)

“COME ON, SPIDER-MAN” D: D:

the invisible jet. them playing up the danger of the turbines was really suspenseful, but also very nice because it demonstrates genre-savvy. also, that part where you see Spidey on the top of the jet camo panels bc he’s on the bottom :D :D

seeing Peter save Toomes made me a bit sad bc I was remembering the post Nat wrote about the parallels we COULD have had, i.e. from IM1, IM3, that were ultimately cut :(

Tony’s whole extending the metaphor on screwing the pooch and absolutely losing control of it with the whole free clinic and hybrid puppies line lmao.

“he made a really mature decision. surprised the heck out of us” :D :D these two are so frickin out of their depth with any kid, let alone Peter. Thank heck Peter’s the voice of reason here. (again, good flavor, cute characterization points, gr8 all around)

the whole post credit scene and the metatexual poking fun at the audience for waiting for something for forever that doesn’t seem like it’s worth it  lmaooo. (actually when I’d first glanced at a gifset on Tumblr, I’d thought he was referring to waiting for Peggy since TFA ended on that note, so I thought it was referring back to that)

re: like the treatment of the high school setting, it seemed a biiiit...stereotypical to me, but I think ultimately it was a good mix of current with nostalgic for the maybe older crowd who’d watched three iterations of Spider-Man in so many years, I think. Like, the whole “You’re bullied because you’re a nerd” and the whole “very clear defined cliques” thing is so....Mean Girls era, and that kind of was the touch of nostalgia. But also they did kind of set it up where Peter and Ned weren’t necessarily bullied by EVERYONE *for* being nerds, because Flash was also in Decathalon, and more because Flash was a jerk, which I think was a good updated social mores touch. Also, I liked that the “comeuppance” scene with Peter commandeering Flash’s (dad’s) car wasn’t all vindictive, it was fueled by genuine need, and he didn’t go out of his way to destroy the car, he just literally had never actually driven on roads before :DD

so kind of in conclusion: SM:H really is All That and More, it was so good and I want to watch it again a million times

[aloneandunreal]

july 30, 20

i haven’t posted in a bit. i don’t know why i’m deciding to post now. i guess because i’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic (once again). just know that i’m always feeling sentimental about something - every damn day. before i go on, though, i’m just going to mention that it’s my sister’s tenth birthday today! i can’t believe she’s been around for a decade already. kind of mind blowing. 

anyway, this band called fog lake came on shuffle the other day and it made me think of the days i was really into them - i was about thirteen or fourteen. i remember the summer before my freshman year, i sat on top of my roof and listened to music, watching the sunset. i wanted to be like one of those indie kids in the films, as i always do. the last time i was on the roof was on my fourteenth birthday, at exactly 12. i was up on the roof with my cousin, as she was sleeping over the night. we listened to music and just had a weirdly fun time, even though we were on the damn roof at 12 A.M. it makes me smile thinking about it, especially thinking of the person i was then. i know i always say this but i honestly always am. the person i was then, the people i knew then, is so different than now. but at the same time, similar. i still get nostalgic about dumb things as i did then, and i still want to be one of those cool high schoolers like in the movies, though my time is almost up now, whereas then it was just beginning. at the moment, i’m listening to hey there delilah. my cousin and i listened to that song when we were on the rooftop for some reason; we were listening to throwback songs. the song really makes me so sad for some reason. this song and fog lake are really making me sad, thinking back on eighth grade and just my past self in general. 

it’s sad thinking how different the world is now, with coronavirus and all. if i told myself 3 years about all that’s going on now, i don’t even know if i’d believe it. speaking of corona, my school announced that we’re going to be doing all virtual for the fall semester. i don’t exactly know how to feel about that. i’m happy, but at the same time, it’s my senior year, and i know it’s basically ruined now. it’s not going to be a normal year. but it’s not like i’d do anything different this year, though. nothing crazy, i probably wouldn’t put myself out there. 

i’m thinking of my freshman year, and the seniors then. it’s weird thinking that that’s now... me. but i won’t have a year like they did, because of all that’s going on in the world at the moment. i kind of wish i could have a normal year. the whole thing with zoom is just going to cause me so much anxiety, having to see myself on camera. but at the same time, it’s not as bad as going to school at 6AM every morning, starving and tired for 7 hours. but yeah, i don’t know how to feel about it just yet. it’s abnormal. never happened before, so i don’t know how it’s all going to turn out. i’m still worried about college and all, and i feel like i have so much to worry about, but right now i don’t think i want to write about that. it’s exhausting, honestly. i am genuinely terrified though, as i’ve probably mentioned in every entry before this.

things i’ve been remembering in specific and have felt nostalgic about are as follows: my eighth grade graduation, the girl i was best friends with in seventh grade, and the end of ninth grade. i don’t know why these events in specific. i’m going to go through each one in specific, i don’t know why. i just feel like it i guess. i like going over memories over and over again and making myself sad... Ha Ha.

firstly, was my eighth grade graduation. that was the day i began talking to one of my online friends who quickly became one of my really good online friends. i’ve spoken about her in past entries, and we’re no longer that great of friends anymore. just different people now, i guess. anyway, besides her, i remember going to the high school, which is where the graduation would be held. before it started, i took pictures with my friends that year. my girl friends, and then these two boys i was kind of friends with. colin and aaron. aaron moved, and although i gave him my number, he never texted me so that was the last i ever saw of him. then colin, we lost touch in high school. haven’t really spoken since eighth grade. i took a photo with them, saying something stupid as we took the photo. god, i was so cringey then. anyway, then the graduation happened, all of us being sweaty stinky teenagers in a hot auditorium just waiting to get out of there. then we left after some more goodbyes, and i remember this one boy i was friendly with said “bye ava!” and that was it i believe. what i don’t understand is why i’m thinking about this, it’s not a huge moment in my life. nothing crazy. but thinking of each person and our history is what makes me sad. some of those people, it was our last time speaking to each other. and now, my last graduation is coming up. it’s crazy how much i’ve changed since then.

second is the girl i was best friends with in seventh grade. i’ve spoken about this before, so i’ll try not to go too much into depth. i miss her sometimes. we’ve always had this on and off type of friendship. we lost touch in eighth grade, and found different groups. we still talked, but it was obvious we were separating. ninth and tenth grade, nothing. this year was when we started speaking again, and it was nice and all, but not really the same as it once was. and i mean, obviously. we’re not twelve anymore. but thinking back on it, the peak of our friendship, makes me sad. i’m her friend i guess, but we don’t speak all too much since quarantine happened. she has another friend group anyway. honestly, i feel as if it’s my fault we drifted apart. i was so caught up with some other girl in eighth grade, and kind of just forgot about her. and now i’m not exactly friends with either of them. i wonder what would have happened if i hadn’t jumped on this other girl; if i had focused more on our friendship, that was more important than this other girl who is not even in my life anymore and was a toxic friend anyway. i wonder. maybe it wouldn’t be any different. i’ll never know, that’s for sure. all in all, i just miss our old friendship sometimes. i was thinking back on seventh grade, and first of all, god there are so many memories. but one in specific i’ve remembered is the end of the year. i was working on some project in my science class, incredibly bored, so i decided to make a google doc. it was basically a letter for my sister and myself for when she / i got older. i wrote questions like “are you still friends with ___?”, “did you start dating anyone?”, “do you still like [band]? you better!!” and some other (depressing) stuff i won’t get into as it’s not really important. that was almost five years ago, and i can answer those questions now. though i am not happy with my answers. i wish i could have fulfilled twelve/thirteen year old me’s little dream of what she wanted to become in high school... but i don’t think i did. and now it’s over. high school. i still have this year, but i don’t know how much opportunity there will be since corona and all. sorry, seventh grade me. i really let you down, huh?

lastly is the summer before my freshman year ended. i remember i basically failed all of my finals or got D’s on them. that year seriously sucked academics wise. before i failed said finals, i remember my dad drove me to school to take them, and i was listening to blue monday ‘88 by new order and mr blue sky by electric light orchestra. i don’t know why i remember that. that’s also around the time i smoked weed with this girl i was once friends with... but that’s a whole other insane story. thinking of it, i have a lot of stories from middle school and high school, whether they be good or bad. i always thought i didn’t have any, and it was 100% bland, but to be compeltely honest, it wasn’t. there are some fun memories out there, whether they involved school or not. even though i didn’t get to live my indie kid dream, i still had some memories that i’ll look back on. they’re not as interesting as some peoples’ but they’re memories nonetheless. 

to speak on the present, i’ve not done too much. i remember at the beginning of the summer i said i was going to try and write my own story. that never ended up happening. i also got accepted into the national honor society which i can’t really believe for some reason. i accepted the invite, though incredibly anxious considering there’s a lot i need to do in order to stay in the national honor society. it’s making me really anxious, but since of covid, i probably won’t have to do as much as they want me to. for example, they want me to do 2 or more clubs / sports / activities. which i do NOT want to do, considering being social makes me incredibly anxious. i know it’s dumb, but i can’t help myself. these are the times when i wish i was normal, and wonder how i’m going to get by in the real world. will i be able to? i don’t know. but other than that, not much has gone on. i’m practicing for SATs since i missed them (was supposed to take them the weekend before my school shut down... so annoying). i’m taking them in late september but i don’t know if that’s going to happen or not. who knows what will be going on by then in the world. so yeah, i’m worried about a decent amount of things. and it sucks. but it’s summer, so i’m going to try my hardest to not dwell on it too much. 

there’s plenty of memories i could go on about, like the times in freshman year i used to skip class with my friend and one time we went outside to the courtyard and took ‘aesthetic’ photos. or the time i was obsessed with this one boy in my friend’s digital photography class who was a senior at the time - don’t even ask why i was so obsessed with him. i still don’t understand why. i remember before school ended i listened to your graduation by modern baseball and thought of him, knowing i’d never see him again. god, i’m already starting another one of my dumb rants about stupid things and people who don’t even think or care about me. i’m just sad about it. so many different things; going over them in my mind. i don’t know when or if i’ll ever get over this whole ‘i’m sentimental and feel nostalgic about every single thing that’s ever happened in my lifetime.’ i don’t know why i dwell on these things, they’re the past. they won’t be coming back. i can’t change anything, or go back to them. sometimes i miss the people or just the experiences i had in some of these memories, even if they weren’t the best memories. i always glorify things and make them seem better than they  actually were. i’ve said this ten times already in previous entries, but i remember in seventh grade i specifically said “this was the worst year of my life” but now? now i kind of want to go back. for whatever reason. go back in time to that year, that time of my life, the friends i had, the life i had, the teachers i had, the things and activities i did. i want to go back and taste these memories one last time. not just seventh grade - but whatever i’m feeling sad about. 

anyway, i’m going on and on about nothing now. i’m just damn sad about this at the moment, and this being my last year of high school makes it worse. it’s all about to end - the kids i have known since childhood, the memories i’ve made since elementary. they won’t be gone technically, but they’ll be distant. i’ll be moving on to different things when i graduate. college, i guess. this will all be in the past, and i don’t know if i want to let it go. i never want to let anything go. each year i get sad about the past year, for whatever reason, even if it was boring. for example sophomore year. it was boring but thinking back on it, there still were some memories i go back to in my mind and kind of want to go back to. even this year i feel sad about sometimes. the beginning of it, more specifically. god, i am so stupid. anywho, i need to end this now. writing this and listening to sad music honestly has just made my feelings more prominent and i am just more sad now than i had been before. i feel dumb but i just felt like writing about this for some reason...plus, i haven’t written in AWHILE.

that’s all for now i guess. i’m sad. the future is so uncertain, and i guess that’s why i always go back to the past, and reminisce on it. by the way, i don’t know how amazing my spelling and grammar will be considering i’m tired (it’s 12:38am - not too late but i’m tired for some reason) and don’t reread this over / edit it. okay, bye for now. this was really dumb and basically just me ranting and going on about the same things i always go on about, but i just felt like getting it out. bye..

[lindsglenne]

Hello! Pop culture and entertainment rule my life. I decided that it would be fun to do a little recap of all the media I consumed each month:

Because September was a waste of a month for me, I’ve decided to combine it with October.

BOOKS!

September:

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Chalan – This book fucked with my mind. Because I have my own health struggles, I’m always fascinated with stories involving other people’s health journey. This was absolutely terrifying. Everything Cahalan went through—and at such a fast paced—was so awful, but also extremely gripping.  A book about medical issues can easily be filled jargon no one without a medical degree can understand but Cahalan simplified everything to a point where it was easy to understand, without completely dumbing it down. I flew through this book and really enjoyed learning about her experience. 5/5

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert – I loved the story and the characters but I wanted MORE. at only being 276 pages, I felt like there was a lot missing. So many storylines or themes could’ve been fleshed out more. And also, blackness in general could have added more to the story (go into it more about how successful her father is while being black) – sometimes this was mentioned but I think could have been made a major component to the story. I would have loved to see more of warren and Yvonne relationship before all the drama. I just. Needed. MORE! 4/5

October:

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens by Marieke Nijkamp – really disappointing. I only ended up reading half of the stories. I think I wanted a little more variety with the characters and their disabilities 2/5

Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid – short little novella, told through letters between two people whose significant others are cheating with the other

What If it’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera – One of most anticipated reads. And it was just okay. I mean it’s still 4 stars but it I expected better. You can distinctly tell which chapters and characters were written by which author, and I feel like there should have been more cohesion between the writing. Granted, this is their first book together and who knows if they’ll do another. I also didn’t really like the character of Arthur, one of the main characters. He was whiney and immature and just annoying. 4/5

The Opposite of Innocent by Sonya Sones – 3/5 stars

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – I read two books told in verse this month. I used to read these kinds of books when I was younger— I could not wait for the next Ellen Hopkins book to come out. Yet, in recent years, I’ve been kind of avoiding them but this book was held in such high regard that I decided to give it a shot one day, killing time at Barnes and Noble. It was beautifully written and flowed so well. I really loved it. 5/5

Sadie by Courtney Summers –Blew me away! I was so in it throughout the entire book. There’s a reason why everyone is talking about it.Once again the hype is warranted! I’m not well versed in mystery and thriller, but this was really incredible. I loved the mixture of narrative and podcast format. Like with the emergence of text messages years ago, I think this format will show up in many books in the future. 5/5

TV!

Big Mouth Season 2 – Basically, four of my favorite comedians—Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jenny Slate, and Jason Mantzoukas) and one Remus Lupin (David Thewlis, The Shame Monster) as middle schoolers going through puberty. What’s better than that?

MOVIES!

September:

Sierra Burgess is a Loser – This made me sad. I wanted it to be great, especially coming in after To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Kissing Booth, but it was just way too problematic, particularly in terms of consent. Kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

October:

Little Women – This is the new modern day retelling of the classic. The character of Jo isn’t exactly the most likeable of characters but this girl took it too far. She was SO obnoxious. She overacted so much that it was just cringey to watch. Give me back my dear Winona Ryder!. Beth had little but more personality and didn’t act so much like a child which I liked. Another thing that was weird about the movie, and this is a total me problem, but Laurie was played by Lucas Grabeel, otherwise known as Ryan from the High School Musical movies. I just couldn’t get past it and take him seriously, especially when he was trying to profess his love Jo.

A Star is Born – Loved it! Bradley Cooper did a really incredible job, both as lead actor and as his directorial debut.  Lady Gaga was pure magic. All the music was really great. The two things that really bothered me was that time and place were never really established, but that could have been intentional. When she was home with her dad she sounded like she was in New York or Jersey and next they’re driving to Arizona and then doing a gig at the Greek in LA. Grounding would have been good. 

The Hate U Give – Obsessed! Made a whole post about my love of this movie.

Hocus Pocus – My first viewing! It was cute. I love a young Thora Birch, and I still can’t believe the kid wasn’t a young Jared Padalecki. It’s a little dated especially for a kids movie mentioning the fact that the boy is a virgin SO. MANY. TIMES. But it was fun!

All Summers End – I love teen coming of age stories, in any and all forms. Tye Sheridan made me so heartbroken throughout the entire movie, same with Kaitlyn Dever.

The Shining – this was another first viewing and I watched this on Halloween, sitting with my dog in my parent’s bedroom while my mom handled the candy. I get it. It’s a classic. No one could do that role except for Jack Nicholson. I had a hard time taking Shelley Duvall seriously, specifically when she’s running, with her floppy arms.

And of course it wouldn’t be October without watching some of the classics: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Halloweentown 1/2/3, Beetlejuice, andThe Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. 

Monthly Entertainment Round-up Hello! Pop culture and entertainment rule my life. I decided that it would be fun to do a little recap of all the media I consumed each month: