#not my finest montage

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

Happy Ruin day everyone ❤️

I just wanted to celebrate Scarlet Scarlet and the Blue Furious Boy in their dichotomy and complementarity.

They make me escape with cracked and wrinkled emotions bursting out in notes and voices, with blurred lines between reality and fantasy contained and unleashed by words.

Sources : Joey CV photo and Madeleine photo from on IMDB. Contains freepik resources. Edit with Gimp and Gridart

[johhnys-saddle]

I think my favorite scene now in any gay movie has gotta be the montage of Henry riding a horse playing polo cross-cut with Henry practically riding Alex in a gear shed. Gay cinema at its finest.

[doctor-wonder]

Saw the newest episode of Doctor Who (73 Yards) last night on a whim when I got home from work and holy shit I am going feral with how good this series has been so far. I love weekly releases too I hate binge culture with a passion but since the show is still running on BBC they're essentially forced to keep doing weekly episodes. Anyways spoilers for new episode because I need to rant about it:

I've never seen such an effective and eerie mix of DW and such a supernatural, creepypasta-esque theme. I mentioned this to my long-suffering boyfriend right as I was watching it but it feels like an episode ripped right out of the Magnus Archives and that's so fucking cool.

I had heard that the Doctor was gone in this episode but I was still really impressed with both how they made it happen and how quickly into the episode it happens. The story just... Starts up with jo delay and immediately becomes terrifying. The hints of what's to come when the hiker meets Ruby and ends up running, the misdirection in the pub where RTD got to play on anti-Welsh sentiment that he's seen people experience and also put more questions than answers in our heads, it's such a perfect intro.

And then seeing Ruby lose people, get rejected from places and we never ever get to know what the woman following her is saying, but we just see and feel the absolute grief of the aftermath. Fuck, they brought back UNIT and built up our hope of them being Ruby's eventual saviours just to have the same thing happen again. I definitely said out loud "Girl who waited, eat your heart out" (obviously that's a different situation and I love Amy Pond but still I love the comparison)

Gods then the tension of the scene on the football field where her plan finally comes to fruition, I genuinely thought she might get shot then and there and the episode would go in some other random direction, but I'm so glad it didn't go that way. It's an RTD montage at its finest, and I was floored by it all the way through.

[iamjucie]

The Rescue Chapter 1: The Ball

You are sitting at your lavish vanity when suddenly you hear tons of noise from outside the chamber door. You pay no mind, however. Your master gave you a command and you continue to obey.

This is an alternative ending to my first fic "Pet"! It's a deviation from the original story and exists for hypothetical thinking only, I don't believe this to be how it actually plays out for our protagonists.

CW: Mind Control, Manipulating, Domestic Abuse Word count: 1k

You are sitting in the lavish master chamber of the ornate palace you call home. Gazing into your reflection in the vanity mirror combing your unnaturally long black hair, getting lost in thought. It’s really all there is to do when Master Astarion is away on extended business trips like this.

It does help, too, that before he left he told you to think of him while he was gone. It was a command. So you obey. And you think.

Master is so kind to have left you such a kind command.

“Think of me.”

It rings like a backtrack to the montage of memories that play in your mind. The glorious scenes he has you relive, the emotions he has you feel, the sensations he grants your body. You are so full of him even without him near; an ever-present ringing in your mind.

Although you miss him being physically with you, you feel blessed that you have him with you in your mind. He will be back with you in your arms before you know it, you must be patient. 

Your meditation of thought is interrupted by bustling outside your chamber door. Clinking, struggling, yelling. A plethora of heavy footsteps running up and down the halls of the palace.

What’s going on? You rack your mind as to what could be happening.  Is Master having a ball tonight? He must be, what else could it be? That’s the only reason there would be so many servants moving so frantically about. If they’re in such a hurry, it must be soon.

You gently place your elegant crystal comb on the tabletop of the vanity and you saunter your way to the wardrobe full of the most luxurious gowns, hand picked by your master on his travels. They are perfect, he chose them to see your body wrapped in them. And- they all fit you perfectly.

The racket outside quiets down for a moment before quickly picking up again.

“Where the fuck are you keeping her, you monster?” a brutish woman calls out from down the hall.

You put your hand on your chin, thinking about which gown to wear tonight.

“I told you! She died four fucking years ago! Do you not read Baldur’s Mouth?” Your master's voice is steady as it sounds like he is approaching the outside of the chamber door. “There’s been a tribute to her every year since she passed in my arms.” He continues, "Thanks for opening that wound, Karlach!”

What colour will you wear? Master says you look most dashing in royal blue. He says it compliments your beautiful pallid complexion.

“Yeah sure,” a different male voice replies. “like I’d believe the newsgroup owned by the person that would hold her captive?”

Yes, royal blue is the winner. But which one? You think it’s spring time, so a sleeveless, silk gown made by the finest tailors to fit only you is the one you decide on.

“Astarion…” yet another womanly voice says, this one far calmer. “This doesn’t have to get ugly. Just let her go and we can let bygones be bygones”

Now, which cover? You think the arctic fox fur shawl would go flawlessly.

“No, there will be no more bygones. Bygones are the reason we are in this situation to begin with! If you had never taken over the ritual and k-”

Your ears start to ring, as if an explosion had just gone off next to you. You flinch for a moment and put a hand to your temple. You can’t hear what the servants are saying anymore, not that you were paying attention in the first place. You have far greater things to worry about. 

How will you dress?

Your hearing is still deafened as you slip into the dress and peruse your glamorous jewellery collection. Pearls would go perfect with this dress. The long string you pull out of your case feels like it takes forever to end. You wrap it around your neck six times, the gems cascading the pale planes of your chest. 

Your sense of hearing floods back into your ears.

“I knew it! I detect the mind control magic you’re using!”  one of the male servants yells out. “She must be nearby! Get him!”

CRACK 

The sound of powerful magic echoes off the walls of the palace.

After you slip into your white silken gloves you hear the locks on the bedroom door begin to be undone, frantically and quickly.

Right on time!

You turn to face the door and prepare to curtsey for your master.

Astarion comes rushing in towards you; a look of flaming fury on his face. You instantly try to think of what you did to make him so mad but nothing comes to mind. You’ve done absolutely nothing other than what he asked of you. Gods damn it- you knew you should have misbehaved. He has gotten bored of your obedience again. You deserve the punishment coming to you.

He grabs you by the wrist. “Come with me love, we need to go now.”

You knew the ball was soon. Maybe you are still sharp after all!

“Of course, master. Just allow me to put on my shoes. I need to decide which will be best to dance with you!” you pull from his grasp and head toward your collection of shoes. 

“Dance? No-you fucking…” he pauses to look over his shoulder at the still open door. “Fuck it”

He scoops you and carries you bridal style running through the halls. Your hands wrap around his neck and you look at him. The man who is ever present in your mind. The man who knows more about you than you do. Your beautiful master.

He has a look of worry mixed with rage on his face. A look you haven’t seen from him in what feels like eternity.

You must be very late to the ball.

[highfantasy-soul]

Things I LOVED about NATLA Episode 8 - Legends

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

The Aang Gaang working together in the fight!!!!

Honestly it felt so natural to have all three of them taking out the Fire Nation ship that I completely forgot it didn't happen like that in the animated show!

In the animated version, Aang took out the ship while Katara and Sokka just stood on the ice wall - showing them in battle together and working with synergy was phenomenal

Aang doing AOE damage, Katara taking out soldiers with precision, and Sokka shouting battle plans and taking out the command center - really great way to SHOW the roles each play in battle

The Gaang complementing each other was soo cuutteee!!

"Lu Ten would have been proud to have you as his father" 😭😭😭

Then the Iroh hug!!! 😭😭😭

"I'd say it's 50/50! …. 60/40 😬"

Lol oh Sokka, you're so bad at optimism

Let's go Katara!!!! Going to even the odds!!!

The war balloon showing up early!!!

The entire battle of the North was sooo intense!

I really felt a lot more of the danger and panic than in the animated version

LOVE that Pakku's change to allow women in battle came here, with Katara and the other women standing up to him

The animated show doesn't even have any women helping at all in the battle - we don't even see them healing the wounded. To me, the live-action actually addressed the systemic issue of the sexism in the North rather than just having Katara be the token woman who wanted to fight

"You KNOW we can make a difference!" "We?"

The shot of all the women standing there in traditional clothing was super powerful to me

I know some people think it's 'virtue signaling' or whatever and complain about the shot of all the women heroes in Endgame or Captain Marvel's 'standing up after being knocked down' montage, but call me a stupid woman, those scenes actually mean a lot to me. Why is animated Katara railing against Sokka because she has to do the laundry seen as the height of feminism and yet a group of indigenous women standing up and backing one of their sisters in her bid to make systemic change actually the opposite of feminism? It makes no sense to me.

I LOVE Yagoda backing Katara!!

Katara isn't some 'outsider coming in to change a culture's savage ways' - she's simply the catalyst for the people WITHIN that culture to stand up and say 'yeah, now is our time, change needs to happen and we've known it for awhile'

Yue wanting to be out there helping her people 😭😭

Her father's talk with her really reminds me of Eowyn and Theoden from The Return of the King - even if you want to help defend your home, if you're in a position of leadership, staying alive so you can lead in a fallen chief's place is an important role to play, too

Sokka and Hahn's ….tension as he promises to take care of Yue 👀

The student calling Katara 'master'!!!! 😭😭😭

In my in-depth analysis, I go into why I think it's a title she's completely earned despite her lack of formal training but suffice it to say that if you have an issue with them calling Katara master, then shut the fuck up

Ooohh adding a time-table for the Fire Nation attack with the Ice Moon caveat!

I like adding to the depth and lore of the world which makes it make a whole lot more sense that the Fire Nation would attack the WATER TRIBE during a full moon

LIONTURTLE REFEREEENNCCEE!!!

I like the Fire Sage actually knowing spiritual stuff and finding value in it - even though he's using it to help Zhao hurt them

Yes, Iroh. Zhao is most definitely planning on tampering with the spirit world 😬

Avatar Kuruk coming to Aang!!!!

I really like that concept - like on the Lionturtle, the past Avatars can appear as a mirage to give warnings

And connecting Kuruk's battle against the evil spirits to the Fire Nation twisting the weapons of defense into a weapon to harm - soooo goooood

"Killing the ocean spirit would deprive people all over the world of their lives!!! I'm not a monster!!" 🙃

Aahhh, twisted logic at its finest: after all, what's the point in ruling the world if there's no one to rule

Oooohhhhh and Kuruk's voice beginning to layer with the other Avatars as he talks about how Zhao can't be allowed to meddle with the primal forces of nature!!

Such a great use of the voice alteration that happens when they go into the Avatar state!

Hero Momo!!!!!

Omg I was SO WORRIED they actually killed Momo!!!!

Sokka and Momo's relationship is so cute how they developed it 😭

I like Yue telling her story this way better than in the animated series

Here, the story is connected to what's happening directly: she's saving Momo's life the same way her life was saved and letting us know the spirit oasis water has healing properties beyond regular healing

Zuko and him fire blasting out from beneath the ice - cool in every adaptation!

"How do you know that?" "Because I helped design the thing" 😔

Love that we're getting a direct tie from the war balloon to Sokka - just like with Kuruk's spirit knife and like Sokka said all the way back in Omashu: the Fire Nation can turn anything into a weapon

Though Iroh won't fully stand against Zhao yet, he's totally stalling as much as he can

Zuzu!!!!

"This is about you and me!" aawww classic Zuko - walking into a massive thing and thinking it's still just about him capturing Aang 😅

We've got bigger fish to fry, buddy - oh, shit. No. Oh god. Why'd I use that turn of phrase?? Too soon! Too soon!

Love the full circle moment here with Katara and Zuko's showdown

Aang is now letting her fight while he goes off to another task, trusting that she'll be ok

"Go easy, enough people have been hurt already." "I don't care. "I wasn't talking to you 😏"

Damn right, Aang! Putting respect on Katara!!!

Also, Zuko's face as he realizes Aang doesn't see him as the most important thing here 😬 that's gotta hurt

KATARA V ZUKO ROUND 2!!!!

Love that they're getting a rematch so we can see just how far Katara has come in her combat/waterbending training!

The bending is GORGEOUS!

You can see every move each of them are making and watch the respective elements respond to their movements perfectly.

"You little peasant!!" Oh Zuko, you silly, angry boi "You've found a master, haven't you?"

"Yes, you're looking at her" - DAMN STRAIGHT!

Despite Pakku not agreeing to train her, she's taught herself. She clawed tooth and nail to learn everything she could from every source she had available - she observed other benders and created a waterbending version of the move, she practiced in every spare moment, she grappled with her emotional and spiritual trauma and came out the other side with a more holistic view of bending despite the world telling her to stop - so yeah, she IS her own master.

While I do love the "You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" line, I'm ok with the siege lasting only a day instead of several like in the animated series.

Zuko's little field trip with Aang takes an entire day with nothing really going on in the battle, it's just a few minutes of screen time until we can get back to night again so we can see the moon being killed.

Streamlining it and having Aang seek council before the battle starts rather than in the middle of it I think was a good move. We didn't need a cliffhanger mid-episode like we did in the animated series since it's all a single episode.

Zhao's plan revealed is such great character work - he's just as egotistical as the animated version, down to wanting to be declared 'the moon slayer', but there's so much more depth in the live-action version

He's so ambitious that he actually believes he could become Fire Lord and doesn't take Iroh's threats seriously at all - his pride ensuring his downfall.

LOVE that they kept the blood-red moon as the moon spirit is captured!!

Aang trying to talk down his enemies yet again 😞

No matter how clear their antagonistic motives, he truly believes the best in people and always wants to give them the chance to do the right thing

Oof Zhao cutting to Aang's fear without knowing it: Zhao thinks the Avatar doesn't matter on its face - Aang is afraid he's not good enough as an Avatar TO matter

This sets up Aang's decision to give himself to the ocean spirit - he accepts that he isn't good enough - he doesn't matter, but the ocean spirit does

Iroh shot first!!

In the animated show, Iroh only attacks after Zhao kills the moon spirit, here, he's trying to help the Gaang by distracting Zhao enough for them to save the spirit

But they're too late

They kept the black and white shading where only things bathed in fire or the ocean spirit's blue light have any colors!

I think this entire battle sequence was amazingly done

You can FEEL the terror, you can SEE the cost of such an attack

It's not gratuitous violence - it's showing the realities of war without showing gruesome injuries

I love how Hahn and the other Norther Water Tribe Warriors got to have a heroic stand even without waterbending. Despite their best resource being taken from them, they aren't going down without a fight.

Iroh unleashing on the soldiers and Zhao running like a little bitch!!!!

I love Aang's speech here - he's "following" the advice of past Avatars by putting the world's needs above his own, but it's out of despair, not balance

He's surrendering to a power greater than him because he doesn’t feel like he's succeeded in being the Avatar (which unfortunately, through no fault of his own, is true) and so he's willing to fully lose himself to another power to save the world.

MONGO KOI-ZILLA!!!!

It's WILD that this happens only HALFWAY through the episode!! They really let this sequence breathe and gave so much room for all the character moments to happen

Iroh hugging Zuko while he just stares at the giant koi fish 🤣😭

"Uncle, what is that?" "That, that is wrath" - CHILLS

Zuko ready to fight that monster fish to get the Avatar 😭😭😭😭😭

He really is a crazy dude

"He's a small man who's going to meet a small end"

So right you are, Iroh

Zuko v Zhao!!!

LOVE how the live-action made Zhao a cerebral rather than physical antagonist for Zuko

Even though Zuko beats him physically, Zhao destroys Zuko mentally by revealing all the truths about the royal family dynamic

"You were the fire in which her iron was forged"

DDDAAAAMMMMNNNNN 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Love how each adaptation has Zhao die in a different way 🤣

Honestly, I like all the ways ppl have decided to kill him

The ocean spirit taking him, waterbenders drowning him, and now Iroh killing him for attacking Zuko

I do think I like the animated death the best, but Iroh killing him to protect Zuko is also a nice way to end him - Iroh isn't about this 'give them infinite chances', he's a soldier who's not afraid to get his hands bloody.

The entire attack by the ocean spirit is phenomenal - beautifully shot and you can now feel the terror from the fire nation soldiers

Yue getting the agency to realize she can save the moon and sacrificing herself was a good change

"It's worth it to be alive, even just for a night"

"The world needs you. I need you" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I think it was a really good choice to move Katara talking Aang down from the Avatar state and telling him they're family to the final episode rather than way at the beginning like it happened in the animated series.

That declaration holds a lot more truth as we've SEEN them become a family

Seeing the actual loss from the battle was heart wrenching, but I think it was really needed

Poor Hahn and the young waterbender

I love that Sokka didn't fight in the big battle - his place was being there to support someone else and provide comfort in a terrifying moment for her. His heart is what was needed in this battle, not his combat skills

And Pakku giving Katara her due - she EMBODIES change and growth, always finding a way no matter how many people tell her no

And she got her spirit water!!

"I'm tired" "Then you should get some rest. A man needs his rest" 😭😭😭😭😭

"How do I do this without causing so much pain?"

Oh Aang, that's a question you're going to be grappling with for awhile.

It's such a wonderful way to sum up his character - he doesn't want to cause pain, even to the point of giving people chances they don't deserve - but that quest to find an answer is the reason the world is saved and Aang cements his own legacy within the Avatar line.

Closing with another lesson from Gyatzo!!!! 😭😭

"Let go of your past, or you'll never have a future" - thesis statement right there

Let's not misinterpret this line to say 'forget the past' - this is a Buddhist version of 'letting go' which is to say 'don't cling to the past so much you cannot take steps into your future'

The Gaang's banter over Sokka always thinking about food!!!! So cute!!

I love the scenes here at the end with the Fire Nation

Ozai still holding out hope that Zuko will surprise them with some 'hidden' reserve of strength, but still willing to let him fall so 'the strong' can rise

Azula taking over Omashu!!!

And the comet!

Makes sense that they didn't give a time-table as kids grow fast and we can't just draw them the same age: Gordon is a growing boy so we need to give some space for how much he grows through the filming process

[nerdy-frog98]

Finished season 3 of 9-1-1! What an incredible season. I love how easy it is to love the characters in the 118. So much character growth for my favs :’)

Some notes & observations:

- Chim is SUCH a good character 😭 the halloween episode this season was one of my favorites because of how lighthearted it felt compared to other eps.

- Abby coming back in the last episode made me hurt so bad for Buck. I beg your finest pardon- she felt like if she came back for him, she’d go back to being what she was before? That’s such a cop-out excuse. I hated that. I get that she needed to get out of there, but never communicating with Buck about how she felt is horrible and he did NOT deserve that. Good riddance. (no forgiveness to the woman who made him feel unworthy and bad)

- The tsunami arc was SO GOOD. Deeply impressed by it, and have been filed under “favorite episodes” (an ever changing list atm)

- Buck and Eddie did reach the “best friendism” I was looking forward to in season 2, but just like season 2, there is so much queer coding in their friendship. There’s little moments where they’ll say/do something for each other that feels so romantic, and it makes it difficult to look at their friendship as the platonic one it was supposedly intended to be.

- continuation of the last point : when Eddie got trapped in the well system & was dreaming of Christopher (which ultimately gave him the motivation to keep going and survive…chef kiss for that), there was A WHOLE LOTTA BUCK in that montage!! It’s almost like Buck is coparenting his child! Anyway.

- I’m not a huge fan of cops, and this season kind of highlighted many of my reasons. I really like Athena and how she interacts and supports other characters, but her attitude towards the general public feels icky to me sometimes. Michael and her kids nearly getting hate-crimed was awful and made me so sick, but the way she reacted to it was so ????. It kind of tainted her character a little bit for me. (although her arc at the end with the rapist was really sad and I gained a bunch of respect back for her wanting to take care of that)

- Maddie + Chim are a top tier couple, and MADDIE IS PREGNANT?!? what???? I’ve seen several spoilers for this show but I knew nothing about this arc!! Nada! So I am very much looking forward to seeing what happens there 👀

- I don’t know if I was imagining it, but I felt like a lot of the emergencies that happened this season felt very personal to the 118. More so than the last two seasons.

- I wish Bobby was my dad :(

- And on my last point, I fucking adore Hen and Karen. I want more of their story. Hen is such a beautiful character to me, and I’ve loved seeing her growth. Her relationship with Karen is incredible too (which I’m glad about, the cheating storyline in S1 was awful). I want more of my mother lesbians ❤️

I’ve heard from several of you, as well as my lovely sister-in-law, that season four is…exciting…so wish me luck ✋🏼

[aphellos]

There is a special announcement after the latest commercial break, and the 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐑 rerun of yesterdays rounds opens on to an unfamiliar setting compared to the interview seat and backdrop. Although still on the ship, the lightsources are far fewer, and part of a hull window shares the frame. The person in frame places their blue, four-fingered hands together, frilled ears rising as the recording had begun.

"Hi there, devoted viewers. My name is Lau, you might recognise my voice more than my face; during the show, I was the narrator for the contestant Aphelios, both in Demaxian common and native Korobak."

"Many of us in the behind-the-scenes crew were very sad to see Aphelios leave us, and we hope he's safe and sound wherever he is right now. I'm sure all the galaxy can agree when I say he had quite a way with words, and every answer of his was a joy to speak aloud. I felt so connected to his words, sometimes I would have to record multiple times just to get a take without crying from the raw emotions written! To continue speaking for him, I think Aphelios wouldn't want us to worry, or grieve about his shortened run in the competition, or imagine wild conspiracies of why he was taken. Because he'll be found soon with the empire's finest looking for him! In the meantime, I believe he would want us to continue on with our lives all over the empire. Continue tuning in and supporting the other contestants we're rooting for, and keep doing our little parts to make the Demaxian empire the best place in the galaxy. And when we're trying to make our own home-made noodles, or fixing our ship's radio to tune in to K/DA, we can thank Emperor Kayn for creating the 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐑, and giving us all a chance to meet Aphelios."

"To remind everyone of the fond times with him, the crew has put together all of Aphelios' highlights they caught on camera. Thanks for listening everyone. And thank you, Emperor Kayn!"

Once the shot fades to black, it is replaced with a montage of clipped recordings of Aphelios set to slow and emotional music. Other effects have also been added, like a bright vignette, slow motion, and the rare lens flare or sparkle here and there. From his hard work in the ship's kitchen or thoughtfully standing in the midst of a showroom, to the most mundane of actions like sitting thoughtfully on a lush couch, or staring out a floor-to-ceiling window with a somber expression. The montage lasts far longer than it has any right being, maybe because the editor thought every shot of Aphelios was a highlight. It seemed like every possible angle of him had been caught on camera, and they were sure to use every bit!

[50cal-fullauto-astarion]

Dumbass bg3 shipping nonsense under the cut.

My Tav is a heavy stoner, has had to cut back on it since hitting the road, just bc supply doesn’t meet demand on the road. By the time act 3 rolls around, she and Astarion are twined around each others little fingers with the finest of red thread, and they hadn’t consolidated their separate tents into one spot. Neither are sure they’re ready for that, and they’re both getting used to having spaces that are solely their own. But that doesn’t often stop them sliding through one flap or another to sleep body-to-body.

It’s not much of a surprise for Astarion to come to her tent, and find her on her side with her good eye glazed over (the odd, filigreed prosthetic Volo paid her back with over the original organ he’d dug out—the result of his ignorance egged on by her desperation—in a small jar of some cleanser or another) as she reads a book the size of a small house. There’s a bowl with a schlocked-together assortment of cheese, blackberries, and candied nuts within reaching distance of her one arm, and a skin of mead hanging off a stool so she can shoot it straight in her mouth when she’s thirsty.

“Ah, look at you,” he starts, sort of prim, but only for show. He doesn’t much care what she gets up to so long as it’s not either selling one of the two of them up the river, or hurting one of them. “A perfect little hedonist. You’d just make a Satyr die on the spot.”

“Commoners aren’t s’posed to look upon gods,” she mumbles, “or some shit.”

“Well said. Remember that later when Mystra strikes you blind because you want custody of her fuck-toy,” he snorts, pulling his shirt off to replace it with one of hers. Perks of a slightly taller partner that likes their clothing loose and soft.

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re not paying attention to me. Unbelievable.”

Her eyes drift slowly up to him, and a crooked grin pours like syrup over her mouth. “Hey, lover.”

“Mhm,” he hums, tightly, lips pursed and brows raised. “Yes?”

She moves to lie on her back, her half-buttoned shirt spreading to reveal the freckled green skin of her chest, and drops her hand coquettishly and weakly curled next to her head. “You should add th-this image to your dead wife montage,” she tries to murmur in a sickeningly sweet, irritatingly baby-talk-y voice that she knows he finds repulsive.

“You can sleep alone. You know that, yes? I don’t have to sleep in here—we’re twenty short feet from my tent,” he threatens, nose wrinkling as his skin crawls.

“Nooo,” she cedes, going limp except to snatch another blackberry from the bowl, which she then eats. She blinks at him, though, and gives him a searching look. “Nothin’ about the wife comment, then?”

“Honestly, I’ve had worse proposals, but I’m still rejecting it.”

“Figures.”

——

I don’t know how to end this bc it was stored to be shorter lmao. He does stay in the tent and she reads repulsive smut to him from the book she had

[indigosabyss]

Honestly my favourite ‘Rick and Morty’ clip (which does remind me of Gwen a lot) is the “this is a gun” montage from Season Seven, for context they’re watching a memory, hence the almost cutaway pacing, the series generally not doing cutaways, but this one as a montage was still golden, while also quietly answering a two-season-long mystery in the background of “What happened to Jessica? Did she really just decide to go back to school after she became a time god like in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ a year before that movie even came out?” with a “Yes Ferb, yes she did.” while not distracting from the solid succession of jokes: the comedy rule of three at its finest: https://youtu.be/cbFmTDUg0DI

Oop that was a good one lol. I remember the joke playing out slight differently with Morty learning from the "gorilla gun doesn't turn things into gorillas, it kills gorillas" mistake and then messing up the bully gun somehow else.

Also since it was all flashbacks, it's possible this scene happened before Jessica turned into a time god.

ALSO. Talking about wacky guns and how R&M is similar to Gwen Poole. Behold.

One button flick between 'insta-kill' and 'crash landing' lmaoo morty would die immediately.

[cor-corbinian]

So I had time to sleep on the last episode of bsd and I have thoughts.

So far I've seen so many different oppinions about it - so many people are exited and so many are dissapointed. I easily fit into both categories.

But my first thought was that the episode felt off .... And I'm going to try, putting that feeling into words

PACING: As always the anime is going for an olympic medal in rushing. But unlike the previous ones this one felt even more rushed. For me, I believe that has one mainreasons. 1) Ususally I marinade in the manga chapter before I watch the Anime. This time I had nothing to go off, so my brain couldn't automatically fill the gaps. -> Missing Plot/Plot holes felt a lot more present

FUKUFUKU: Alright. This is propably the part I enjoyed the most. I think it was the best way that could have ended. 10/10 Somehow managed to not feel rushed to me. Teruko coming in was suprising but not entirely unexpected. I really liked it. You can see were the most effort went into :)

Aya&Bram: This one was good as well. But I barely felt scared for Aya. Another case of rushing - nothing to outragous though, although I felt it took the emotions out of the scenes.

All in all I really enjoyed the majority of the airport Part and can very much see why people are so exited and happy about this episode.

Now for the mixed bag that is Meursault...

SOUKOKU: Here the opinions are split. Not mine though, I liked it. Does it have implicateion that I most likely haven't thought about? Yes. But as long as Dazai wasn't aware of Chuuya not being a Vampire for the entire time, I'm fine with it. It is very much Soukoku shenanigans at the finest. Still rushed as fuck and with so many open questions that the manga has to adress. So I can see why people dislike it.

FYOLAI: Oh boy ... I really disliked Fyodors death. They have to have cut something important from the manga, because it just felt wrong. I fully believe Fyodor is coming back in some way. But the death just was so unsatisfying. What do you mean, every character got an impactfull fake-out death and Fyodor just got stabbed by some no name and blown to bits?! Doesn't feel like a fitting end for the mastermind. Nikolais part was amazing though - exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Absolutely heartbraking. 10/10 for that small part.

SIGMA: AAAAAHHHHH. I'm honestly upset and absolutely livid. What do you mean, the character who just wanted a home and to be seen as more than a disposable tool got his fate revealed in a single line and was forgotten and disposed of??? What the actual fuck! I get what bones is trying to do - keeping it a mystery on what exactly happened to him. Trying to reveal absolutely nothing. But we don't even get Dazai mentioning that he has to go back into the prision for some reason? Or saying that he has something still left to do? Anything at all that hints towards Dazai remembering that Sigma existed? Truly, it fells like Sigma was abandoned and I hate it. I will be writing Angst about it.

OTHER CHARACTERS: The Montage was kind of nice, even though important characters were forgotten about (where is Jouno!). With the lack of impact of most of the characters shown it just felt kind of hollow I guess.

EPILOGUE: Why does it feel off? I honestly wouldn't be at all suprised if it was the set-up for some anime only filler content - However horrible that would be. Akutagawa was looking fancy though. And it seemed about the only relevant thing that happened to poor Atsushi this episode. For a Protagonist he was sidelined hard.

TLDR: I feel like the rushing and lack of explaining/skipping over plot details of the anime is making me hate the progression of the plot more than I could ever with manga. I'll have to wait and see.

[mamamittens]

STALKED IN THE WOODS (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!)

Part 4/13 of Spooktober!

@raptures-finest

Hopefully this meets your standards, as it was a little hard writing from a camera's pov, ngl

Sabo/Kaku/OC(Andy)/Koala

Monster: Serial Killer, yandere vibes and inspired by "The Blair Witch Project" (1999)

Warnings: Murder, kidnapping, stalking, and dubiously written shaky cam.

Word Count: 3,925 (not as long as the others so far though I tried my best, and I apologize for this taking so damn long)

The monitor buzzed with static as several seconds of darkness rolls by.

Suddenly, disjointed clips stutter across the screen.

Miles and miles of forest shot from overhead, soft, eerie violin playing in the background.

Thick trees surrounding a group of young adults, the fading light casting shadows around them as they laugh. No added background music but a faint static.

The shot is tilted, the camera recording laying on it’s side in a pile of leaves, low battery light flashing in the upper right corner. It’s looking up at a massive, worn down mansion with boarded windows and ivy climbing up the sides. The door wide open as a faint thud is heard, screams echoing through the building with no apparent source. The static is heavy and laced with crickets as the sunlight just barely spills over the tallest rooftop.

The video jolts, cutting back to black and static for several more seconds.

A video fades in, image and sound becoming clear.

A camera is held in unsteady hands, laughter ringing out as it pans across the backseat of a car. The woman next to the camera operator rolls her eyes behind large, red sunglasses. Frilly red top buttoned low, exposing the top of a lacey red bra. She pats down her purple hair curling close to her neck.

“So! Betty-Bo-Betty, tell us where we’re going!” A young man pops out from the passenger seat with a bright smile, dark curls bouncing around his ears. His dark skin marred with splotches of lighter, smooth burn scars. Green eyes bright against the smeared backdrop of the forest that blurs past the vehicle.

Betty smiles, tipping back her head.

“It’s an old mansion that used to be owned by this well-to-do family. The Outlooks. But they’re all dead now, have been for six years, and no one’s been out here since. Rumor has it, it’s haunted by the people they wronged to get all that fabulous wealth!” Betty declared. “It’s really far out though, so I’ve graciously decided to accompany your group—don’t forget to follow my channel and subscribe or you’ll miss my beautiful features in your lives~!” Betty smiled at the camera sweetly.

“Ahah, yeah! And don’t forget to follow Lucci, too. He’s the one that’s letting us borrow his drone—and his car—for this trip! He usually just likes posting nature shots so, naturally, he’s going to get a lot of good pics out here!” The camera is jostled and peaks around the driver’s seat to an older man with sharp features and dark hair, a well-trimmed beard curling up his chin in a unique fashion. He glared at the camera before returning his attention to the road.

“As if I would trust any of you with the equipment, Andy.” He drawled with a smirk. Andy sighed, smiling as he settled back in his seat.

“And as usual, Kuma and Lindbergh are manning the cameras. Check out their work after the video, yeah?” He smiled, tugging on his flannel sweater.

A short young man poked his head out from the far back with a wide grin and crazy green hair that failed to be contained under a tan beanie. His eyes obscured behind goggles.

“You know it!” The camera was pushed forward to look at a young woman with orange hair sleeping against the far window. “Keep sleeping, Koala, and you won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight!”

The video cut out abruptly before anyone else could respond.

Lucci’s voice cuts into the black over a montage of clips and photos. Each one a different image of several people. Andy, Koala, and two other men. Both blond with dark eyes, though one has more aristocratic features compared to the other with a markedly long, boxy nose.

“I’m worried. Something isn’t right with him. Hasn’t been for a long time.”

The montage stops on a large group photo, panning from Lucci looking over at the core group in concern. There, in the middle was Andy, arm over Koala’s shoulders and the dressed up blond with curly hair. The other blond just behind them with a wide smile, eyes fixed on the camera with his hands visible on top of Andy’s shoulders.

“And if I’m right?”

The screen cuts out to black.

“This trip is going to be a disaster if I don’t stop it.”

An image flickers over the screen for a half second, burning bright just fast enough to leave an afterimage of a body in a shallow river, blood flowing downstream as birdsong echoes.

The video is paused and goes back, frame by frame, confirming something.

There is no head.

There is a snort and a crunch of leaves.

“Really?”

The screen goes black again, video resumed.

“Not my finest work but—” The video glitches, static and stuttering digital degradation overtaking the screen and speakers for an uncomfortably long period of time.

The change to a campfire is jarring. Laughter echoing as the group of six gather around, roasting weenies on metal sticks for hot dogs. The shot is steady, the camera men now in frame as they enjoyed their meal. Still images flash over the scene of dubiously scorched meat and overburdened buns. Laughing faces and grins lit up by the fire as night falls.

Every shot that has the forest behind the joyous campers lingers longer than the others. The shadows between the trees dark with a gleam—the shape of a figure watching them.

The video cuts again.

“What can you tell us about the Outlooks?” Koala asks with a soft smile, addressing an older woman. She purses her lips in a frown.

“Rude bastards, the lot of them. Even that son of theirs was rotten—not the other one, god bless his soul.” Koala glances at the camera.

“Oh? They had two sons?” The woman huffed.

“Yeah, the older one was quite the charmer for such a rotten family. Sweet, somehow. Certainly didn’t get it from his folks. They claim he ran away but never reported it. I think they dumped him in the river and forgot about him. Serves them right, what happened to them. Good riddance to trash!” She spat.

Koala grimaced.

“Ah, right. The murders—”

The video cuts to the back of the group, trekking through the woods while they chatted and laughed.

“My shoes are ruined!” Betty cried with a pout, looking at the camera for support.

“You’re the one that wanted to come!” Andy laughed.

“Should’ve gotten Gucci boots or something instead of heels!” A large man with curly hair teased, shouldering a heavy backpack.

“Shut up, Kuma! Mourn my perfectly good heels like a decent human being, damnit!” Betty screeched.

“Well, at least you have an excuse to buy another pair? Maybe that’ll be your next video!” Koala suggested with a grin over her shoulder. “Andy, you got the map, right? How much longer until the first stop?”

Andy paused at the front of the group, looking back at them all, map spread out wide with a sheepish grin.

“Well… another three hours?”

There were cries of denial as the screen went dark.

It returned to the camp seen before, Lucci building up the fire dutifully.

“We all have our assignments, correct? Let’s get it done before dark. We’ll leave at eight. If we make good time we might even make it to the mansion by tomorrow afternoon.” Lucci mused.

“Cool! You gonna get drone footage today or wait till we’re really in the thick of it?” Andy asked, tugging on the corner of a tent to pin it in place.

“Today and tomorrow. We’ll probably be too tired for that on the way back.”

“Sweet, I bet the woods look amazing this far out!” Andy smiled.

A long, tracking shot over the trees starts, the setting sun illuminating the treetops in golden light. It speeds up, zipping over the uneven landscape and old growth as night falls.

There’s two fires visible from several hundred feet up and the drone pauses in place. Light overtakes the drone and it crashes into the trees, breaking on impact.

The screen is dark as Lucci’s voice cuts in, whispering into a microphone.

“This is Lucci. I am travelling with five others towards the abandoned Outlook Manor and I believe we are being stalked. My drone was taken out when I scoped out the area and I am reluctant to inform the others. Out here, no one around for miles… if it is who I suspect, it may already be too late. If you find this, look in the black box under my kitchen sink. That’s where I’ve hidden the evidence I’ve accumulated so far—” there’s a snap of dry wood. “… I fear I may have overestimated my ability to keep us safe. I won’t be sleeping well tonight. If at all.”

“He was a good friend.” Someone mused softly, pausing the video.

“He was… nosy as shit though. Should have just stayed out of it, isn’t that right, nightingale?”

“Don’t tease him. Adjusting is hard.” A feminine voice cut in harshly.

“It is! That’s why we put this together. So he understands.” Another masculine voice simpers. “We worked so hard for the surprise~”

The video kicks back on to the morning. Andy is kicking dirt into the fireplace with a perplexed frown.

“Where the hell is he?” Andy muttered before looking up adruptly, smiling quickly.

“Ah! Luddy, hey! Have you seen Lucci?” The camera jerks.

“Nah, Andy. Didn’t he say he wanted a morning shot, though?” Andy’s smile fell.

“Yeah but… his equipment is still in his tent.”

Lucci stepped out of the bushes abruptly with a scowl, holding up a broken drone.

“Oh, shit! What happened?!” Lucci glared at the camera with a pinched expression.

“… bird hit it.” Andy grimaced.

“Sorry to hear that. Is it recoverable?” Lucci shook his head at Andy.

“No. I’m afraid not.” Lucci scowled again. “I’ll have to be more careful with the backup.”

“I’ll reimburse you after we get back, I know those aren’t cheap.” Andy pat his arm, the camera panning over to a tent where Koala and Betty came out.

“Shit, sorry! Didn’t mean to sleep in—give us five and we’ll be all ready to go!” Koala smiled, Betty wrinkled her nose at the morning light.

“Ugh, daytime. I need more beauty sleep.” Betty complained.

“You wanted to come camp with is~” Koala sang with a laugh, jostling the other woman.

“Alright, everyone pack up and be ready to leave soon! The faster we leave, the faster we can sleep in a decrepit mansion!” Andy cheered. “Spooky mansion~ spooky mansion~ spooky mansion~!” he skipped over to a tent and clambered in while everyone laughed.

Kuma paused, looking out into the forest behind him, head tilted to the side as his hands froze in the middle of packing a bag.

“What’s the matter?” Koala asked, turning to look. “You hear something? Maybe a deer?”

The large man shook his head.

“…No. I don’t think it is.” Kuma picked up a camera and trudged off. “Go ahead and keep packing, I’m going to make sure it’s not a bear.”

“A bear?! Are there even bears out here?!” Koala screeched, her voice jolting as the shot switched, evidentially to Kuma’s camera as it started recording. “What the hell are you going to do if it is?” She called out behind him.

“Run faster than you.” Kuma laughed, the camera swaying with every step as it panned over the trees. There was a spot of color that vanished when the camera swiveled back abruptly. “…What was that?” He walked towards the direction, the sound of running water faint over the leaves crunching beneath his feet.

Five minutes of walking with no results and he paused, a small river a few feet away. Kuma hummed, looking out at the forest for a moment.

“I should go ba—” The camera flew into the dirt, sound glitching as a heavy thud echoed. The lens fixated on the leaves close by, blurry background a smear of green and red. Something moved in the background, a dark, fuzzy shape lumbering as something was dragged into the water.

“Hmmm? Ah, right.” A voice faintly called through the static. Boots softly stepping closer until the lens abruptly focused on the dark leather. The image spun as the camera was lifted, jerking as something brushed over it, dirt and leaves falling to the ground. It turned to look at the river.

Kuma’s body sitting in the water, head gone and blood oozing into the flow. Someone chuckled darkly.

The video cut out.

“Where the hell is he?!” Koala screeched, “It’s been half an hour!” The camera panned over the mostly packed campsite. Everyone looked worried and Lucci in particular was pale.

“Maybe he turned back?” Lucci offered weakly.

“Why would he do that without saying anything?” Andy asked. “And without the map, too—if he needed to go home he could have said so and we’d turn back!”

Betty huffed.

“And waste all this time getting halfway? Nuh-uh! Maybe something happened and he needed to go home ASAP!”

“Lucci has the keys, Betty. Unless he needed to leave immediately without saying a word but not so immediately that he could walk all the way to town, I don’t think that’s likely.” Lindbergh said from behind the camera. “Do you think he got lost?”

“…S-Should we call someone? That’s what you have to do, right? Call someone so they can start search and rescue?” Andy asked.

“No one has signal out here, Andy. If we wanted to do that, we’d have to either go back to the car or go to the manor. It’s probably got a phone line or something. No way those posh bastards were that isolated.” Koala pointed out.

“Without power and after so long?” Andy mused. Koala shrugged.

“It’s probably also pretty clear—closer too if that map is accurate.” Betty offered.

The camera cut out and returned to the group walking in silence. Betty nowhere to be seen.

“…are we really doing this?” Lindbergh asked softly from behind the camera. Lucci looked back at him, swallowing hard.

“Two people disappeared after breaking from the group. We can’t risk anyone else. We’re going home—” Something flew into the trail, Andy flailing back with a scream.

“What! What!” Koala gasped, looking down at it and screaming too. “Run! Run! Go-gogogogogogogo!” Koala grabbed Andy’s arm, pulling him as he stared at the object. Lucci swearing as he ran.

Lindbergh’s grasp on the camera made it shake violently as he looked at the object. Breathing hard and sobbing as he manually zoomed in with a mechanical whir.

Curly hair tangled with leaves rested in the middle of the path, blood shining in the sun.

“K-Kuma--!”

The video glitched, stuttering over frantic running and hysterical crying. Day to night.

It settled over a small campfire, the camera settled on a log overlooking the four remaining. They looked pale and shaken, Andy curled up against Koala while Lucci periodically looked out at the woods.

“… I think we’re being herded to the manor.” Lucci warned with bloodshot eyes. “We need to get to the car and leave.”

“I-I don’t even know where we are anymore.” Andy admitted with a sob. “The map disappeared—I must have dropped in when—when…”

“We’ve clearly been followed. Who knows we’re out here?” Lucci asked in a stern whisper.

“No one! I-I wanted to do a surprise video—unless B-Betty said something… no one should know we’re out here.”

“Well, we can’t go to the manor. It’s clearly not safe!” Lucci hissed.

“Then where is safe!?” Koala shouted before deflating. “I-I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to…” Lucci reached over and patted her knee.

“It’s alright. This is hard for everyone, I understand.” Lucci murmured, looking out at the woods one last time. “We should sleep in shifts. No one leaves the campsite for anything. Anything. Do you understand? Not alone. Not… not until we’re safe.”

Andy sniffed.

“Y-Yeah. It’s… uh, nine. Daylights at seven. Ten hours, nine if we go to bed a bit later… s-soooo… two hours give or take each?” Koala sniffed, nodding her head. “Yeah. Two h-hours each. Who wants first watch?”

“I’ll take it. I’m too keyed up to sleep right now.” Lucci offered. “I’ll wake whoever is next.”

“I’ll go next.” Lindbergh said softly.

The video cuts to a short video from inside a tent. Crickets chirping loudly as the fire cast shadows across the fabric.

There was a loud snap and a repressed whimper. A figure passed the tent and there was a muffled, gasping sound.

It was daylight. The birds chirping as the camera fixated on the trees.

“Where’s Lucci?!” Koala’s voice cut into the air, the camera jumping. “W-Where is he?! Lindbergh, did he wake you for your shift?”

“N-No! No he didn’t, I-I didn’t wake up at all—”

“Liar! We’ve known each other for years—I can tell when you’re lying off your ass, what! HAPPENED?!” Koala screamed, the camera sent flying. It hit the ground, Koala shaking Lindbergh’s shoulders just on the edge of it’s vision.

“O-Okay! I-I heard something but I didn’t know what it was—I was too scared to leave the tent!” Lindbergh stuttered. Koala froze.

A slap echoed into the forest, sending the smaller man to the ground.

“You bastard! Lucci! Lucci!” Koala ran into the trees blindly.

“K-Koala, no! D-Don’t leave alone—STOP!” Andy ran after her, Lindbergh still sat on the ground, crying.

There was a loud snap of a branch and he ran, stumbling and crying as he picked up the camera. Running madly through the forest, the camera never focusing enough to make out more than a blur of trees and the sound of rapid breathing and steps.

It cuts to the outside of an old, overgrown mansion. The sun rising as Lindbergh wheezed in fear.

“A-Andy? Koala? I’m sorry—I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry—”

The screen turned to black with a heavy thump and a low whimper. Video flickering to a tilted view of the manor. The image paused.

“This feels mean.” Someone complained. “Songbird is just getting upset. I don’t think they can really appreciate this just yet. Maybe we should put on something else?”

There was muffled crying.

“He needs to see it at least once.” Someone else cut in. “It’ll be a good reminder of how much work we put into this.”

There was a sigh and the video jumped back to life, afternoon sun bathing the trees in golden light in the tilted vision of the abandoned camera on low battery.

There was a thump and a scream.

“K-Koala!?” Andy called, kicking the camera. “SHIT! O-Oh—Lindbergh’s camera? I-Is he--?” Another shrill scream and the camera was picked up as he ran into the house.

It was dusty and eerily still. Clearly abandoned for a very long time, faint light pouring in from the windows.

“W-Where are you?!” Andy shouted.

“H-HELP!” The camera jerked towards the right, peering down a hallway.

“K-Koala?”

“ANDY!” He ran, camera bouncing frantically between closed doors and lush, moth eaten carpet. Koala’s voice growing closer as he approached the end of the hall and a dark, open doorway.

The concrete stairs led down into a basement, his steps heavy as he ran to the bottom. There was a click and a whine as a light cut into the dark, an expensive flat screen sitting on the floor.

Andy came to an abrupt halt, camera fixed on the tv as it played an old video, his own voice cutting into the stifling air.

“Good morning, everyone! Andy here with another abandoned building to explore! Remember, take only pictures and leave nothing but footprints!” B-roll of an abandoned supermarket rolled by, white linoleum floor peeling away from years of poor weather than fell through the high ceiling.

“W-What?”

“I like this one.” Andy jerked, spinning around to find Koala standing behind him, smiling in the ghostly light of the tv. “You screamed so loud when that racoon popped out of the garbage.” She laughed.

“K-Koala! You’re alright—what… what are you doing in here? Why were you screaming?” Andy asked hoarsely before chuckling nervously. “O-Oh, I get it—I get it! T-This was all a prank! Shit, you guys really got me good—eheh… I-It’s uh… a bit of a dark joke though. With the head and all. How’d you get Lucci in on it, he’s so serious all the time!”

Koala shook her head.

“No prank. He’s dead.” Andy’s chuckle died.

“D-Dead? I-I thought he just…”

“Disappeared?” A soft voice asked behind the camera, Andy screaming.

“SHIT!” The camera fell to the ground, cracking the lens and refracting the light from the video on the flat screen. Two figures fought on the ground.

“Easy, songbird! Easy!” Koala called out.

“Relax, Andy, it’s me!”

“Get off! GET OFF OF ME!”

Someone clicked their tongue and another figure approached, kneeling at the head of the two with something in their hand.

“I think that’s enough excitement for you, Nightingale.” They pressed something over the pinned person’s face and slowly, they fell still.

There was a deep sigh.

“Well, that went better than I expected!”

“Sabo!”

“What? It did! Look at our baby, barely a scratch on him!” Sabo protested.

“I thought the plan was to wait until they reached the manor?”

The video cut out.

Someone sighed again.

“It was the plan, but Kuma saw Sabo, so…”

“And then it all went downhill from there! You two seriously suck at sticking to a plan!” Koala hissed. “Who’s idea was the head, anyway? You almost hit Andy!”

“Hey, you guys were almost at the car! What was I supposed to do, let you?!”

“The hell were you keeping the head for, Kaku?!” Koala snapped. “You never kept trophies like that before!” There was a long sigh.

“It was my idea, actually. I wanted to put it somewhere in the manor to herd whoever was left into a dead end. But Kaku panicked and took it from me.” Sabo grumbled. “Anyway, I think our poor little songbird has seen enough.”

“We’ve set everything up. All that’s left is repairs—sorry but you’ll have to stay in the basement until they’re done. Officially, Sabo has ‘regained his memories’ and is sprucing up the place since he’s the sole inheritor. Where he finds—” Kaku is interrupted.

“—Me, distraught and searching for my friends who have all disappeared. Kaku comes to be emotional support at search and rescue comb the area. They won’t find anything but still.” Koala huffed, “Officially, you’ll be missing until you adjust, songbird. We’ve put a lot of thought into this. I promise, we’ll all be very happy.” She coos softly.

The video resumes, flashing between missing posters and newspaper clippings detailing the disappearance of two youtubers and their friends.

Only Koala is found, having stumbled onto Sabo Outlook’s manor as he looked over the property in a lucky coincidence that likely saved her life.

No bodies were ever found.

“Maybe we’ll play this again next year, you know… to celebrate?” Kaku suggested.

“Maybe! Oh! Maybe Andy will feel better and we can add some cute photos of us together too?” Koala gushed.

“We’ll have to see. He’s still pretty… upset with us right now.”

The video ends with muffled sobs and soft reassurances.

“It’s okay, we just wanted you to see how safe you are with us, baby~”

[heiressofdoodles]

I got the happy stimmy hands after watching the new Mario Movie trailer. Naturally, I have to share my thoughts.

Peach is so done with Mario’s little training session, omg. This woman has no hope for him, lol. He seemed to have been trying to impress her, which makes this all the more funny. Also, training montage! He’s not good at this stuff yet! Mario is actually overconfident with his abilities, which makes the games all the more impressive, because he had to learn everything about how weird this world is!

HALBERD PEACH HALBERD PEACH!!! SHES GOING TO BE A BADASS ETHIORAEUHHUHJIO i love her so much (i want there to be a small Kirby reference in there) That also implies that Peach has not only been to battle before, but that she has weapons training. Wow.

Also, Peach standing with Toad, facing down Bowser’s entire army and Bowser himself is a terrifying prospect. I hope that they show off her magic knowledge and power, but I think that’s gonna be restricted to the powerups.

Now we know how the magic is going to work! With the Fire Flowers at least, but that’s still something! Peach’s dress and the animation around her transformation is beautiful!

With that scene with Bowser and Luigi, it not only implies that Mario is already causing trouble at this point... and Luigi instantly knows it’s Mario. Siblings at their finest.

LUIGI SOUNDS SO GOOD OMG!!! when i saw looked at the Wikipedia page for charlie day, and saw he did Newton for Pacific Rim... I knew this was going to be good. He gives Luigi that sense of panic and insecurity while also just trying to not die.

Luigi’s potentially going to be held hostage for a chunk of the movie which is an interesting twist. Dark thought, but maybe that’s why his confidence is next to nonexistent in the earlier games. I always imagined that’s why his confidence is really bad; I know my confidence wouldn’t be the best if I thought I lost everyone I knew, and was ridiculed and mocked for caring for days or even weeks.

THE BROTHERS HOLD ONTO EACH OTHER DURING THE WARP PIPE SCENE. ARE THEY GOING TO BE PULLED APART?! LUIGI FELL DOWN FIRST AND MARIO MUST’VE FOLLOWED HIM! AAAAAAAAAAAA-

With how Peach’s existential dialogue at the end sounds, it kind of sounds like the start of something Rosalina would say. “There’s a huge universe out there... with a lot of galaxies...” It honestly sounds like there should be more dialogue there with how simple it is. Like mother like daughter, I suppose.

MANIFESTING A ROSALINA CAMEO IN THE MOVIE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. MAYBE THE END CREDITS???

Needless to say, I was skeptical about the movie’s quality because of a certain actor, but I am hooked. Probably won’t watch it in theatres (they can be pretty draining to go to and I get sensory issues from them easily), but I will definitely enjoy it on my own time afterwards.

still don’t like Mario’s voice a whole lot.

[allkinds-oftrash]

Took a nap but finally watched Episode 3 and I LOVED IT here's the commentary!

The Crown S5E3 Commentary

Non-Spoiler TLDR: This episode is centred on the Al-Fayeds particularly Mohammed and his son Dodi. It was an emotional rollercoaster but ultimately I loved it. It was pretty much watching Mohammed's brilliant character development but also half the time watching him be a fangirl of British society 🤡🤡 while loving an unexpected side character Sydney (minor spoiler but he is the best and deserved to be named) and Dodi. The last 15 minutes made me cry and laugh so much so prepare your tissues!

They're bringing back all the classics fur this season huh - first Claire now Alex as Edward and the lady who plays Wallis

Dodi's dad is a vibe His dad is RIGHT The British imperialists are the worst bud

Ooh that IS Dodi's mom lmao his uncle is a shit Awwe babey Dodi Holy shit?? The resemblance is uncanny!

Ohmygod Sylvie from Emily in Paris He revitalized the Ritz??

Not his dad being anti Black wtf Brooo you know what it's like to be discriminated against and yet???

It WAS Sydney Oh dear god they're meeting I hope he doesn't hatecrime him "British society is the finest in the world" Jfc Mohammed you dumbass it's not God the internalised racism is STRONG in this one

Not him firing Sydney and now enlisting his help in the same 24 hrs 🤡🤡 Okay but this British culture lessons is giving 90s makeover montage from teen movies back in the day

Ughhh the racism I am not vibing with it

Dodi and Sydney are very likeable and endearing though

Ohmygod Mohammed married that white lady from Finland - dude she's the same age as your kid!! This man's obsession with being British is not fun at all

Oooh Dodi wanted to make movies he's officially my fave

I was wondering why there were a bunch of white men running Living for this outdoor set Love the story very meta

WAIT DODI PRODUCED CHARIOTS OF FIRE Ohmygod I have 3 degrees separation from Princess Diana shdjshsk cos David Puttum always visited our film school for lectures (the film school was named after him so he was always invited to come down and give us guest lectures)  This is so cool but funny af cos all his lectures made me hate this film hekdjdk Awww they got a shoutout by David Puttnam

Lmaooo they were describing what went wrong with Wallis trying to invoke sympathy for her suffering but I'm like Good she was a Nazi Sympathizer sbsnsns

Sydney nooo are you okay??

THIS MAN REALLY BOUGHT THE FRENCH ESTATE SHDKSJS He is DOING THE MOST TO GET NOTICED BY THE BRF I CANNOT Like even I never tried this hard and I wanted to marry Harry as a kid shdksj

Okay but Sydney and Mohammed's development friendship means so much to me but Mohammed is still on thin ice cos he's a billionaire and is constantly trying to be British royalty I can't

Lmaooo Philly's Don't you dare Not Philly glossing over the Nazi Sympathizer confirmation 🤡🤡

Mans is SO disappointed over Lizzie not coming to the estate ssksmsq LMAO HE'S FINE He's like a fangirl I can't stop laughing please

SYDNEY NOOOO MOHAMMED TAKING CARE OF HIMM 😭😭 I'm OBSESSED with this full circle moment this is EXACTLY the kindness Sydney deserved at the end WELL I'M CRYING

Damnn Mohammed finally made it to the front row Jesus Lizzie just go sit with the man he doesn't a disease just cos he's brown AHHH DIANA awww she's hilarious and definitely growing on me as a believable Diana from Emma's version

Ohmygod their banter is on point She fits in so well with him already 🥺🥺 I can't wait to see her love story with Dodi!!

[fandomchill]

"hi, you are a new character for my awesome fantasy novel."

"Cool! What am I going to be doing first? Training Montage? Growing up with the finest magic tutors?"

*looks down at my notes.* "Well.... How do you feel about..." *flips page.* " castle towers?"

"Am I going to be a prince or princess? Awesome!"

People who aren’t writers just don’t get it. They think that our favorite OCs would be getting the easiest possible rides in life, but nope, all of our favorite OCs get French-dipped in blood and angst and trauma.

[daxwritesstories]

College AU Part 32: Better Days

Content warning: abuse mention, dubcon mention

Scene 1: Party at a Rich Dude's House

(Scene title by Kesha)

INT. Cyra & Celia's dorm - Morning

Cyra and Celia are sitting on Celia's bed together. Celia is putting makeup on Cyra's black eye. Vir is sitting on Cyra's bed, watching them.

CELIA: You really need to stop getting into fights.

CYRA: I can't help it. So many people piss me off.

Celia giggles. Vir raises an eyebrow at Cyra.

VIR: What even happened this time?

CYRA: Some bitch was making fun of Ace and calling him a faggot. I couldn't stand it so I jumped on her. It didn't last long though. Ace was there to break it up.

Vir sighs and shakes her head.

VIR: Homophobia at it's finest.

CELIA: And transphobia. Really though, Cyra, I know you get mad about these things, but violence isn't the answer.

VIR: It really isn't, although sometimes it can feel that way...

CYRA: I know... You guys know I have trouble controlling my outbursts.

CELIA: I know you do.

Vir smiles at Cyra.

VIR: Maybe Ace can help you learn to control them.

Cyra smiles back.

CYRA: Hm... And how would he do that, I wonder?

All three girls start giggling.

CYRA: I'm so excited to get these invitations out today! We have to make sure everyone on the guest list gets them.

VIR: I'm surprised you actually made a list this time.

CYRA: Well, I rented a small house just outside of campus for it. We can only fit so many people in there, so I don't want anyone bringing their friends this time.

VIR: I see. Is the house nice?

Cyra shrugs.

CYRA: It'll get the job done.

Vir and Celia laugh.

We cut to a montage of Cyra, Celia, and Vir handing out invitations to various characters. All the while, we can hear voiceovers of the three of them talking.

INT. Erik & Rhett's dorm - Day

Rhett is sitting at his desk. Celia hands him an envelope while Cyra theatrically poses with her arms out, smiling at Rhett.

CYRA (voiceover): Remember, it's only Christmas-themed. No gift exchanges and we're not doing anything religious.

INT. Boy's dorm lobby - Day

Cyra is standing in front of Prince and Jayce near some of the couches. She smiles and holds out two envelopes.

CELIA (voiceover): What if people insist on bringing gifts?

Prince and Jayce both take envelopes. Prince smiles back at Cyra and Jayce nods.

CYRA (voiceover): Then that's on them.

INT. Lounge area - Day

Ace and Zayn are sitting on a couch together. Vir is standing in front of the couch, handing them both invitations.

VIR (voiceover): Is there a dress code? I know you love your costume parties.

Ace and Zayn both take the invitations. Zayn gives Vir a polite smile and Ace blows a kiss at her.

INT. Hallway - Day

Devin is sitting on a bench with some random guy, chatting.

CYRA (voiceover): No, but everyone is more than welcome to wear a crazy outfit if they want!

Celia and Vir run past Devin. They both poke him as they pass, getting his attention. He looks in the direction they ran in, confused. He doesn't notice Cyra running up to him until she throws an envelope at him. Devin flinches and scrambles to grab the invitation before it falls. He watches Cyra run away, looking annoyed. The guy who's with him laughs.

INT. Library - Day

Laura, Sky, and Bella are sitting on a couch together, all reading different books. Vir and Celia approach the couch from behind and place an envelope on each of their books, right on the pages they're reading.

VIR (voiceover): I bet you're just itching to see what Ace is gonna wear.

The girls on the couch all look up at Vir and Celia and then examine the envelopes. Vir and Celia smile at them.

CYRA (voiceover): Always!

EXT. Courtyard - Day

Leon, Cyra, Vir, and Celia are all standing in the courtyard. Cyra is holding an invitation out of Leon's reach as he tries to grab it from her. Vir and Celia are both giggling.

CELIA (voiceover): You should let me pick the music this time! I already have some ideas.

Cyra holds her finger up to stop Leon from reaching. He settles down and Cyra says something to him that we can't hear. Leon puts his hands behind his back. Cyra opens her mouth wide and Leon copies her. Cyra giggles and puts the envelope in Leon's mouth. He grabs it with his teeth.

CYRA (voiceover): How about we go half-and-half?

INT. Axel & Drew's dorm - Day

Cyra hands Drew an invitation and he smiles at her.

CELIA (voiceover): Okay...

Cyra and Drew both look at Axel, who is sitting at his desk, ignoring them. Cyra cautiously approaches him and silently places an envelope on his desk. When Axel notices, he looks over at Cyra. She's already walking away though.

CYRA (voiceover): Ah! I can't wait!

INT. Girls dorm lobby - Day

Vir is holding an invitation out to Celeste.

We hear Cyra giggle excitedly in the voiceover.

CYRA (voiceover): This is gonna be so much fun!

Celeste aggressively snatches the envelope from Vir, avoiding direct eye contact with her. Vir takes a cautious step back.

VIR (voiceover): I hope so.

Scene 2: Better Days

(Scene title by NEIKED)

INT. Roman's office - Afternoon

Roman is sitting at his desk, doing paperwork. Cyra sits on top of the desk in front of him.

ROMAN: Get your ass off my desk.

Cyra aggressively slaps an envelope down on top of Roman's paperwork.

CYRA (singing): You're invited~

Roman sighs and picks up the envelope.

ROMAN: To what?

CYRA: To my party! We need to celebrate the winter break.

Roman opens the envelope and looks at the invitation.

ROMAN: I take it you're not mad at me anymore then?

CYRA: Well, I wouldn't say that...

ROMAN: So, you're still mad, but you're inviting me anyway? And what are you gonna tell your little boyfriend?

Cyra sighs.

CYRA: Look, Erik's gone for the break. I just don't wanna think about all that right now. And he's not my boyfriend, by the way. He isn't my type.

Roman laughs.

ROMAN: You have a type?

Cyra rolls her eyes.

CYRA: According to Ace I do...

Roman slides the invitation back into the envelope and throws it back onto his desk.

ROMAN: Alright. I'll be there. Winter break is always boring as hell anyway.

Cyra tilts her head, confused.

CYRA: Don't have any family to see?

Roman smiles and looks up at Cyra.

ROMAN: Wouldn't you like to know?

Roman's facial expression suddenly changes as he realizes something. He squints to get a better look at Cyra's face.

ROMAN: I think the makeup under your eye is coming off.

Cyra quickly brings her hand up to her eye, feeling around it.

CYRA: What? Really?

Roman laughs.

ROMAN: What'd you do this time?

Cyra puts her hand down and glares at Roman.

CYRA: I didn't do anything.

ROMAN: Well something must have made Ace mad.

Cyra glances around, debating telling him.

CYRA: Did Ace tell you that Phoenix trashed his dorm?

Roman frowns.

ROMAN: No. When did this happen?

CYRA: Yesterday. I tried to make him feel better but he just got mad.

ROMAN: Hm. I wonder how Phoenix even got in there...

Cyra shrugs.

CYRA: Beats me. The lock wasn't broken or anything.

Roman doesn't respond, just sits there thinking. He looks mad. Cyra hops off the desk and mindlessly wanders around the room.

CYRA: You wouldn't be able to... do anything about that, would you?

ROMAN: Not unless Ace asks me for help. He hates when people try to meddle with his business.

CYRA: Oh. Okay.

Cyra wanders over to a half filing cabinet. She notices a CD case sitting on top of it. She picks it up and examines it.

CYRA: What's this?

Roman looks over at Cyra and then laughs when he sees what she's holding.

ROMAN: That's a demo disk from my old band. I was reminiscing.

Cyra smiles and looks at Roman.

CYRA: No way! Let me hear it.

Roman nods toward a boombox that's sitting on one of the bookshelves. Cyra rushes over and puts the CD into the boombox.

ROMAN: Don't play it too loud.

CYRA: Why? Embarrassed?

ROMAN: No. You'll see why.

Cyra presses play. A heavy rock song begins to play. The vocals on the track start right away and Cyra smiles when she recognizes Roman's voice.

As the track plays, it becomes obvious that the lyrics are very sexual, complete with tongue-in-cheek moaning in between a couple lines. Roman bobs his head to the music while Cyra just stands there, perplexed.

CYRA: Did you write this?

ROMAN: Yep.

CYRA: It's... um...

ROMAN: Horny? I know. That was kind of our thing.

Cyra laughs in disbelief.

CYRA: You didn't tell me that.

ROMAN: Was I supposed to?

Cyra doesn't respond, listening to the song more.

CYRA: It's... actually pretty good.

ROMAN: I know. We didn't stop because we weren't good enough. We had a falling out.

CYRA: Over what?

ROMAN: Don't worry about it.

Cyra gives Roman a skeptical look but doesn't say anything else.

Scene 3: Feels

(Scene title by Calvin Harris)

INT. Cafeteria - Day

Prince is standing in front of the vending machines, trying to pick out something to eat. They have their wallets in their hands.

LEON: Hey, Prince.

Prince looks over and sees Leon approaching them.

PRINCE: Hi. How's it going?

LEON: Good, good. Are you going to Cyra's party?

PRINCE: Yup. I'm assuming you're going too?

LEON: Yeah. The last one was pretty fun so...

Prince nods. Leon looks at the vending machine.

LEON: What are you getting?

PRINCE: I don't know. Maybe popcorn?

LEON: Popcorn's good.

Prince laughs.

PRINCE: You raise a good point. Okay, I'm getting that.

Prince punches the number into the vending machine and then starts putting coins in.

PRINCE: Want anything?

LEON: Yeah, but I brought my own wallet.

PRINCE: No, I'll buy you something.

LEON: Uh... Okay.

The popcorn bag falls and Prince reaches into the slot to grab it.

PRINCE: What do you want?

LEON: I was gonna get popcorn too.

Prince punches the number into the machine again. Leon watches as they put the coins in.

LEON: Thanks...

PRINCE: No problem.

LEON: Hey, um, I never got to ask what you meant the other day. You know, when we were talking in my dorm.

PRINCE: What did I say?

LEON: Uh... You don't remember?

Prince shrugs.

PRINCE: Maybe. Maybe not. Can you say it?

LEON: Um...

Leon hesitates.

LEON: You said... The best way to learn is through experience. I think those were the words you used.

Prince smiles and nods.

PRINCE: Yes, now I remember.

LEON: So, what did you mean exactly?

The second popcorn bag falls and Prince bends down to grab it. When they stand up again though, they don't hand it to Leon. They just hold it instead.

PRINCE: Come closer, I'll tell you.

Leon takes a step closer to Prince, now standing right in front of them. Without warning, Prince leans forward and kisses Leon. They hold the kiss for a moment. Then they shove the popcorn bag into Leon's hand and pull away. Leon is too shocked to say anything.

PRINCE: I meant exactly what I said.

LEON: Oh...

Prince smiles.

PRINCE: I have to go.

Leon still looks dumbfounded.

LEON: Uh, yeah. Sure.

Prince turns around and walks in the opposite direction. Once they're a good distance away, Leon leans back against one of the vending machines and takes a deep breath. He looks both overwhelmed and excited.

Scene 4: Pay For It

(Scene title by Mindless Self Indulgence)

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

Cyra is alone in the hallway. She looks around to see if anyone's nearby and then leans against the wall. She takes out her phone and taps on it a few times before holding it up to her ear and waiting.

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

Ace is alone in his dorm. The beds have both been replaced but the rest of the furniture is still destroyed. The wall has also been painted over.

Ace's phone rings on his bed. He picks it up and sighs when he sees Cyra's name on the screen. He answers it.

ACE: I hope you're not expecting an apology, 'cause you're not getting one.

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

Cyra sighs.

CYRA: No. I wanted to apologize, actually...

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

Ace rolls his eyes and checks his nails.

ACE: Well? I'm waiting.

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

Cyra closes her eyes for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

CYRA: Look, I know I should've just kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to help, but I should've known better.

ACE (through the phone): Yeah. You should have.

CYRA: I wasn't trying to upset you. I never wanna make you upset or angry or sad or anything like that.

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

Ace sighs and puts his hand on his forehead.

CYRA (through the phone): I get it if you're still mad at me...

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

CYRA: ...but I really wanna help. Will you at least let me replace your clothes?

ACE (through the phone): I don't want a replacement.

CYRA: But–

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

ACE: I want an upgrade. I want a wardrobe that cost twice as much as the one that got destroyed, at least. Can you do that for me?

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

Cyra pauses, taking in what Ace just said.

CYRA: Of course... Anything for you. We can go shopping–

ACE (through the phone): No.

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

ACE: I'm going shopping and then I'll send you the credit card bill. Do you understand?

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

Cyra swallows nervously.

CYRA: Yeah. I understand. Um...

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

CYRA (through the phone): Do you think you can forgive me?

Ace rolls his eyes.

ACE: I guess I could... Since you're at least trying to make up for your mistake.

CYRA (through the phone): I'll fix everything. I promise.

ACE: Yes, you already told me that. Just shut up and listen. Now that you've managed to weasel your way into my life, all of my problems are now yours too. If you love me as much as you say you do, then you'll do everything you can to help me solve them.

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

ACE (through the phone): You can't pussy-out now. I gave you plenty of warnings, plenty of opportunities to leave. You had your chance.

Cyra looks around nervously as she listens.

ACE (through the phone): You're fucking stuck with me until I'm done with you. Got it?

Cyra nods even though Ace can't see her.

CYRA: Yes.

INT. Ace & Zayn's dorm - Afternoon

CYRA (through the phone): And I don't want it any other way.

Ace smiles, his demeanor completely changing.

ACE: Good girl. That's what I thought.

INT. Hallway - Afternoon

ACE (through the phone): Okay, you're forgiven.

Cyra sighs in relief and bites her lip.

ACE (through the phone): I have to go now. Time to get some new clothes. I'll call you when I'm done.

CYRA: Okay. Sounds good.

ACE (through the phone): Goodbye, pup.

CYRA: Bye, gorgeous...

Cyra puts her arm down and looks up at the ceiling. Just then, Prince walks around the corner, holding a bag of popcorn. They look anxious. Cyra looks over when she hears them coming.

CYRA: Prince.

PRINCE: Hey.

Cyra tilts her head, noticing Prince's nervous body language.

CYRA: What's up? You look stressed.

PRINCE: I kissed Leon.

Cyra's jaw drops and she smiles.

CYRA: What?! Why?

PRINCE: Well, you've seen him...

CYRA: I sure have. He's adorable.

PRINCE: Yeah, and he's always staring at me like he wants to fuck me. It's, like, getting into my head. You know?

Cyra nods.

CYRA: I see... I'd probably do the same thing if I were you.

PRINCE: Do you think Jayce will be mad?

Cyra thinks for a moment.

CYRA: Maybe, but he'll get over it.

Prince sighs, not convinced. A sly smile grows on Cyra's face.

CYRA: Hey... Isn't Leon, like, super bicurious because of you?

Prince snickers.

PRINCE: Yeah.

CYRA: Okay, so, here's what I would do. You talk to Leon to figure out what his schedule will be on a certain day, so you know when he'll come back to the dorm. Then, you start having sex with Jayce close to the time that Leon is supposed to come back. Make sure you get him all wound up so he's not thinking straight.

Prince laughs.

CYRA: Then, when Leon inevitably walks in on you two, you can be like, "hey, why don't you join us?" Jayce will be too desperate to protest and Leon can do his experimenting or whatever. And you get to have two cuties at once.

PRINCE: I see you have this all planned out... You really think Jayce would do that with his roommate?

CYRA: Hey, how do you think I got him to try all that weird stuff with us? I was just edging that boy like no tomorrow.

Prince laughs again.

PRINCE: You're gross. But that is true.

Cyra puts her hands up and shrugs.

CYRA: It works.

PRINCE: Hm...

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Children of the Great Buddha

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

The opening scenes of Children of the Great Buddha don’t really give the impression that it will be a particularly emotional cinematic experience. The first several minutes consist almost entirely of expository dialogue: the young protagonist guides groups of tourists through the temples and shrines of Nara Prefecture, reciting memorized historical facts and legends pertaining to the various relics and artifacts encountered in a dispassionate monotone. At times, it feels more like a documentary than a narrative feature—informative, but not terribly dramatic.

As in much of Hiroshi Shimizu’s best work, however, a compelling conflict resides just beneath the surface of the seemingly simple story, emerging gradually before striking at the viewer’s heartstrings with devastating abruptness. Early on, for example, our hero is filling out a postcard for mail-order binoculars. “What will you put down for an address?” asks an acquaintance with a lack of malice that doesn’t make the query any less insensitive; “You don’t have a home.” Later, a conversation with a vacationing World War II veteran reduces the orphaned boy to tears; his own father is still missing following Japan’s recent surrender, and the cruel reminder that he probably numbers among the countless soldiers killed in action immediately (albeit briefly) shatters his façade of cool, composed professionalism, unleashing the grief that he’d previously repressed. Even the character’s childish daydreams are surprisingly poignant: he longs to one day nap in the open palm of a colossal Buddha statue—a powerful metaphor, symbolizing his subconscious desire to be nurtured, protected, and loved unconditionally.

Ultimately, though, these loosely structured episodes aren’t nearly as thematically significant as the spiritual and religious icons around which they unfold. The sculptures, towering pagodas, torii gates, and stone lanterns that populate the setting are magnificently photographed, framed from low, tight angles that emphasize their awe-inspiring stature (further magnified by slow, fluid camera movements). I’ll admit that I initially had my reservations about Children of the Great Buddha’s frequent (and excessively lengthy) educational interludes—after all, they tend to disrupt the rhythm of the otherwise lean and elegant plot—but Shimizu’s exquisite craftsmanship eventually won me over; I now consider them to be some of the finest sequences in his oeuvre (comparable to Ornamental Hairpin’s gorgeous ending montage, which remains a personal favorite of mine). For sheer spectacle alone, the film deserves to be ranked alongside the director’s greatest stylistic triumphs.