#on the nth rewatch and thought about this because of their first scene

[setevulpo]

okay but how do you think the cat king felt after edwin got dragged to hell? or when esther kidnapped him?

beyond what we see, i mean.

because edwin did warn him that the caging spell (and by extension, them staying in town) was dangerous. like it was one of the first things he said about the spell. the cat king says it's a caging spell, explains it will keep him in town, and edwin's exact quote is "unacceptable, kindly remove it. we cannot stay here. it is dangerous."

and then that danger was proven to be incredibly real, first when the night nurse finds them, then when hell caught him and dragged him back, then when esther caught him and tortured him.

i mean, the cat king had to know that all of this was related to the spell, right?

[armageddidnt]

Welcome to My Collection of Random Thoughts during my nth* rewatch of Good Omens Season 2

*only amazon prime knows the exact number at this point but I’m fairly certain it’s in the double digits

Episode 1: Gabriel’s fly lurking in the box when Aziraphale first takes it inside 👀

Crowley’s promise of “two minutes” basically means that he’s been homeless and living in his car for the past 4 years strictly so that he can be within 2 driving minutes of Aziraphale at all times in case his angel needs him I’m not crying you are

So here I think the key word is “fragile,” Crowley knows they are ostensibly safe from their respective sides but that could change at any moment so he’s basically spent the last 4 years in anxiety-ridden terror hovering as close to Aziraphale as he can to try and protect him from heaven, hell, and anyone else that would want to bring him harm after all that business they pulled in season 1 with stopping Armageddon

Episode 2: I just happened to pause the episode while Aziraphale is lying to the angels about his miracle and LOL Michael really outdid himself here (Sheen, not the Archangel)

Gabriel trying to swat flies and almost smashing the repository of every single one of his memories

I’m cAckling

So if Good Omens exists in Good Omens, does that mean Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett exist in Good Omens?? Do you think they based their Aziraphale and Crowley characters on Aziraphale and Crowley??

Episode 3: So I’m trying to find any hints or foreshadowing of the Gabriel Beelzebub thing bc tbh I did kind of feel like it came out of nowhere which is really the only issue I have with them. I found this one scene where Beelzebub almost ?? seems to be concerned about Gabriel ?? But it’s blink and you miss it and there could be lots of other reasons why Beelzebub doesn’t want to fail in locating Gabriel (pressure from/leverage over heaven, etc) so idk

More Foreshadowing Fly content 🪰

Episode 4: So here we’ve seen that Shax can just appear inside the Bentley bc she did it earlier to talk to Crowley. Shax only pretended to be a hitchhiker so she could be invited in because Azirpahale was driving so technically she needed permission to cross the threshold of an angel 👀

This scene will never not destroy me the 1941 flashback is the absolute sOFTEST thing ever to happen on this show

We really need more context here I need to see the Crowley-Furfur Monkey Rides

Episode 5: ahahaha thank you google translate for absolutely destroying my sanity this evening

POP goes the Ziraphale

Okay I know you can’t hear it in the gif but just before Nina takes Maggie’s hand, there’s a very quiet miracle noise, like Azirpahale literally MADE Nina dance with Maggie, he said I’m writing a Mina Jane-Austen-Ball-AU and my otp will KISS godDAMMIT

Azirpahale seems lowkey kind of manic this whole scene tho, he’s controlling literally everyone to force Nina and Maggie together and whenever Crowley says anything that pokes holes in Aziraphale’s Magical Jane Austen Ball Fairytale, Aziraphale just straight up denies it. He wants Nina and Maggie to dance and he wants him and Crowley to dance and he refuses to acknowledge anything beyond that.

Is this just Shax insulting Crowley for how much of a nuisance he’s been or a reference to his former status as an angel ???

They’re both completely dismissive of each other when they’re trying to say something important and that’s the main issue they’ve been having this entire season tbh

Episode 6: I think it’s funny that Crowley describes the angels as bees here because in the book, Neil/Terry describe humans the same way. Guess we have more in common than we thought huh?

So the metatron was the one who originally decided Gabriel would be memory wiped and not sent to hell, and he was also the one that decided not to sound an alarm about Gabriel for some reason and said ‘just go find him yourself’ instead. The metatron has definitely got his own agenda and you can bet he doesn’t want Aziraphale up there in heaven because he’s a “leader” and he’s “honest” like that’s exactly what Gabriel was and look where it got him 👀

There’s just something I can’t quite put my finger on about the metatron bringing Aziraphale a coffee from “give me coffee or give me death” and then asking Aziraphale if he’s going to take the coffee he’s giving him…

I have not seen a single person talk about this since s2 came out but Nina literally calls Maggie “angel” because that’s the term of endearment they hear Crowley using for Aziraphale !!!! I’m still going fERAL over this and I can’t believe no one else is eitHER

Something about this part of The Final Fifteen compared to this scene from the first episode is so representative of the entire season. Azirpahale keeps saying “my way or get out” and Crowley finally hits a wall and can follow Aziraphale no further. So he does just that. He goes.

I’m sure a lot of us by now have seen this post that brings up how Aziraphale literally pushes the remains of Crowley into his mouth and swallows and it’s the only thing I see when I watch this now

We still don’t know for certain if Crowley queued up this song to play on their way to the Ritz or if the Bentley started playing it all on its own and it’s driving me insane

Basically how I am doing after my Truly-Alarming-Number-th watch of this traumatizing episode/season. WELP hope you enjoyed this garbage dump of my thoughts and feelings time to go cry for a bit again BYE

[oceanwithinsblog]

guys i've just been struck by a haunting query

y'know how i'm rewatching good omens for the nth time and i'm reaching the final episode, but something just came up to my mind and i can find no satisfactory answer...

in s2 ep1 (i believe) azi and crowley wonderfully perform half a miracle each, but obviously heaven notices and sends its best unit to check on what's happening in the bookshop. personally, i've always thought that said joint miracle was /that/ powerful because the metatron had already appointed aziraphale as gabriel's substitute archangel somehow (in my view, the metatron's offer to aziraphale at the end of s2 is just a pure formality as he had already made up his mind wayyyyyyy before going down on earth and meeting up with azi themselves). therefore their half a miracle was much stronger than crowley's.

here's where trouble comes. ever since i've rewatched that scene with my brother (who is doing an incredible job at keeping up with all sorts of gomens stuff on his first watch), i've been wondering if that's really what happened there. what is the actual reason why the combined miracle halves are so distinctive, fierce and recognisable?

my brother suggested the idea that aziraphale and crowley have little to do with it - the only reason why the miracle resonates so clearly and strongly is because they are performing it on gabriel (while holding both his hands). i guess he means that gabriel still has some of his powers left (as throughout the show he gets part of his memory back at random times and recites lines from the bible + he hasn't actually forgotten everything about himself) or that he is a very special entity of interest for heaven therefore whenever someone interacts with him there's a sort of alarm going off (?).

another idea that i got recently is, quite honestly, a very romantic one as aziracrow are both involved in doing a good deed. since love is the strongest power ever, in any universe and reality, and these two idiots' feelings are clearly mutual (without them knowing), maybe the miracle turned out to be so huge and mighty because what they're feeling for each other influenced the miracle itself and sort of multiplied its efficiency? i mean, i'd make sense somehow as later on we find out that another power couple is involved (gabriel and beelzebub). aziracrow's love for each other sort of mirrors beelzebub and gabriel's, i guess? but both their relationships are supposed to be a secret since heaven and hell should not ever collaborate (and i'm not even mentioning dating here).

what do you think? what is, in your opinion, the reason why the joint miracle halves worked but got inevitably noticed by heaven?

(it could also be that the answer has been given in the show and i'm too big of an idiot to find it out so please put up with my me. i'm just a dumbass in adoration of two more ineffable dumbasses.)

[oxytocin-rush]

So I've seen Red, White & Royal Blue for 8th time (or is it 9th? Idek.)

It is for scientific purposes (don't look at me like that), I wanted to see for myself what small things you folks noticed after rewatch. However, I always forget to do that, as I'm always swept away by the film, the casts' acting, the plot, and can't help but swoon and giggle like it's the first time I saw the movie.

Gosh, I love the movie to bits. I've never felt this way about any form of media I've consumed, and I was addicted to HP, (we don't talk about that, or at least, about She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-or-Else-I-Will-Start-Another-Rant) BBC Sherlock, and Merlin (still addicted to the last 2 btw). I've never rewatched them as much as I did with RWRB.

I'll watch it again tomorrow for the Nth time, and I swear I'll focus on the little details.

So it kinda frustrates me when when people talk shit about RWRB. Yes, they remove a lot of things from the book, side characters and scenes and iconic lines and dialogue. Yes, the pacing was kinda fast. You can make criticisms all you want but please do not shove your BS to the throats of the people who love this movie, just because you wanted clout and joined the hate train to become significant. You folks look like idiots who were not loved enough when you do that. It's not like people were not warned by the director that it is the most expensive fanfiction made. By that it means the movie is like an AU of some sort, and that is the way I take it, because I love the book as well.

Forgive my little rant, guys. I know the thoughts are little bit scattered but I just wanted to get it out there.

[lostinafictionaluniverse]

Bridgerton S2 and its overarching motif of 3

Since the triangle was so heavily stressed upon this season, upon my nth rewatch of Kanthony scenes, I noticed that this season has the theme of three or trio in more ways than just the triangle, and thought I’d list them down. I’m just focusing on Kanthony here and not the other storylines because theirs is the central storyline and I’m certain if these were put in deliberately by the writers/ show runners they would focus on only the central plot. I concede there may have been the theme of 3s in the other plots as well, but confess I did not pay attention to them. Also, I maybe grossly wrong about some of these!

So the triangle is the overarching theme - which we will all agree because it’s the most obvious one. There are three people involved right from the start to the end, and even JB said Edwina is the one that pushes Kate to be with Anthony during that last dance. So Edwina is very much a presence in the Kanthony love story right until then. I’m putting the rest under the cut because it got long and if you don’t wanna indulge my obsession/brain rot around this season and Kanthony please feel free to skip it. 

3 ‘symbols’ that were meant to be Kate’s, were given to Edwina before they came back to Kate.

The ring: This was clearly meant to be for Kate, because she doesn’t even need it fitted, it stays on her finger and does not come off! Edwina is given it when Anthony proposes, but we’re left to assume it does not ‘fit’ her, and has stayed with Anthony since the proposal, since he brings it with him to the fitting in ep. 5. It’s Kate who ‘gives’ it to Edwina, pulling it off her finger.  

The bangles: They are Kate’s and she’s always had them (much like Anthony’s heart) but she gives them to Edwina to wear on her wedding day. And Edwina gives them back. It’s foreshadowing for what happens later, and therefore apt that Kate ends up wearing those bangles since they were her mother’s and meant to be worn at her wedding. At the end of Ep. 6, when they kiss at the backdrop of the altar, she’s still wearing them, so it’s pretty clear that they’re wed in their hearts. The way that shot is framed with the camera panning out and them standing at the altar holding hands indicates this.

Anthony himself: I don’t have to explain this. But think back to the statement he makes to Edwina at the end of Ep.2 after which she is kind of smitten by him. I shall not fail when it comes to duty and action. Then contrast that with the vow/ pledge he makes to Kate at the end of Ep. 8. I will humble myself before you. A man who’s always prided himself on his honor and placed duty before everything else is ready to let go of it all to have Kate in his life.

3 times Kate and Anthony meet at the park

Their first meeting

The time when she begs him to marry Edwina in ep. 5

Kate’s accident

3 times Kate bests Anthony in games

The ‘race’ at their first meeting at the park

At the races when her horse wins.

At Pall Mall: she’s clearly the better player!

I bet she’s a better shot too, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see it!

3 times Anthony ‘wins over’ Edwina  

At the races when he confesses him setting up Dorset with Kate was just so that he could spend time with her  

At the poetry reading with this honest confession about action and duty.

When he stands up for them against the Sheffields

(not counting the conversation where they’re being chaperoned because that’s just them getting to know each other, and Anthony’s responses were probably too fake and rehearsed to be real)

The 3 proposals that Anthony makes:

To Edwina

To Kate when she’s recovering from her accident

And to Kate again in the final episode

3 times Daphne ‘sees’ that Kate is the one truly suited to Anthony

When she first meets Kate - she mistakes Kate for Edwina and the one Anthony is courting

At the Pall Mall game when she sees how out of place Edwina is and how comfortable Kate is with the competitive Bridgerton family, she gives them a long look as they disappear together to recover their balls

At the ep. 4 dance - she’s watching them and Anthony’s meltdown at the end of it, and she clearly does not miss how agitated her brother is when he leaves.

3 almost kisses 

The Bee sting

The library/ study in ep 4

The one in ep 5.

I’m not counting the rifle moment because they’re not facing each other then, and not counting the night in the library because although you can see his eyes darken they don’t get close enough to kiss, nor am I counting the closet scene in Ep. 6 because reasons.

3 people who see/ suspect Anthony and Kate’s feelings for each other before anyone else

Daphne

Lady Danbury

Violet (she’s the last to see it and Daphne confirms it when the wedding falls apart)

I want to add Newton here but I won’t although I do believe he’s been a Kanthony shipper from the beginning!

3 Kanthony dances (and the mood is different with each one!)

Ep 4: Dancing on my own

Ep 7: Harmony/ country dance

Ep 8: Wrecking Ball

Also, the dance in Episode 7 has them changing partners thrice.

3 times Anthony made scandalous declarations to Kate

The Study/library in Ep. 4

In Ep 5 after the Sheffields leave

The gazebo in ep 7

3 times Kate has a flashback about Anthony and their shared intimacy

Start of Ep 5 before the meeting with the Queen, she thinks about the Hunt, the Bee sting and the library scene.

Start of Ep 7 before the bath scene as she’s laying in bed and thinks about their kiss in the church

End of Ep 7 before she goes off riding in the storm, she thinks about their night in the gazebo

3 women we have seen Anthony in a sort of romantic relationship, each one different of course.

Siena

Edwina

Kate

3 siblings we see Anthony in close/heartfelt conversations with: 

Daphne 

Benedict 

Gregory. 

He also brings up 3 of his siblings: Benedict, Colin and Daphne when he’s talking to Edmund in the flashback.

3 times Anthony breaks Kate’s heart after she gets her hopes up about him

When she overhears that conversation at the Conservatory Ball

When he proposes to Edwina after their interlude in the library

When he proposes to her after their night of intimacy with no declaration of love

3 times Anthony refers to her as Kate

When he introduces her to Daphne: Miss ‘Kate’ Sharma

When she falls off the horse he yells her name frantically

When he proposes to her for the first time and she turns him down

3 times Edwina actively pushes Kate and Anthony together (and I love her for it!)

For the hunt

For the Ep. 4 ‘Dancing on my own’ dance

In Ep 8 after their ‘resolution; when she tells Kate she cannot avoid him forever.

Other threes:

Anthony’s 3 requirements for a wife: Tolerable, dutiful, suitable hips for childbearing (half a brain wasn’t a requirement but a preference!)

The first time they touch each other intimately is in Ep. 3 during the Bee sting, and their first kiss is 3 episodes later in ep. 6.

The 3 fingers he holds up at the dance! And then flips it into 4. I know people have pointed out that it symbolizes the number of children they have or like JB said it could be the number of seasons they’ll be in!

But I take it to mean that it’s 4th time lucky for them.

They have 3 intimate encounters indoors: The library/ the room in ep.5/ the closet in ep. 6 where he holds her hand and asks her to wait, before they finally kiss in their 4th one  at the end of ep. 6. 

They have 3 intimate physical encounters outdoors: The Bee sting, The hunt, The gazebo before they finally confess their feelings at the 4th one at the end of episode 8.  

Okay, this post has gotten out of hand, and if you made it this far, kudos to you. You must have realized how deep down I am in the bottomless abyss of Kanthony obsession. Thank you for coming to my TED talk!

[dreuming]

Kyoukai no Kanata

me right now... mirai is such a whole mood.

For the nth time, I am, once again, sleep deprived. So here I am, blabbering my unorganized thoughts. I just finished rewatching knk because I already forgot about the main plot and the fact that I can't find an anime that suits my current mood. It was one of the first anime I watched when my weeb days were just starting. All I could remember is that I really liked it and my it's such a waste feeling because it doesn't have a season two. And yeah, I just learned that they released a movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, after rewatching the series, I immediately watched it (Beyond the Boundary Movie -I'LL BE HERE- mirai-hen). Personally, the story didn't really have an impact on me but I still loved it. Overall, the movie was really fun to watch. The characters were really funny. But what really made me write this was the voice actors. I don't know what happened and my ears suddenly became sensitive but the way how they executed the scenes really amazed me. Especially Mirai's voice actor.

The scene where Mirai just exorcised the hollow that made Akihito unconscious. I really love the part where Mirai cried while apologizing to him. Her cries were like kousei's piano performance, it reached me. Kidding aside, her cry was full of emotion that it felt so real? The build up before crying, showing how sorry she felt. I also looooove Akihito's voice actor. Especially during the emotional parts. I have no professional knowledge about voice acting but for me, they were voiced out really well. Anyway, I need to sleep.

[sherinaward]

Adulting Entry #2 - The One with the Fear

I was rewatching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (for the nth time), and have gotten to the episode The One Where Rachel Quits. On the first few scenes, Rachel realizes that she hasn’t done anything for the past how many years to pursue for the job she really wants. 

For a moment there, I felt like I was Rachel. I’ve been working in audit for 4 years, and I’m nowhere near my dreams. It’s not that my job sucks or anything, but it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. It’s not what I want to do when I start to have my own family. It’s not what makes me genuinely happy. 

But what am I doing? Am I doing anything to make me closer to the life that I want? Nope. I was so scared of taking risks, so I just stayed in my comfort zone. This is when what Joey and Chandler said made a very big impact on me. 

Well, aren’t we all Chandler at some point in our lives? I know I am. I’m too afraid to go out there and expose myself and be vulnerable in going after what I want. But Joey is right, I need to feel the fear. The fear which would push me harder to pursue my dreams. The fear that would make me feel that I have no other choice but to go and get the life that I want.

Well now, I don’t mean to quit my job, (someday maybe) but what I meant by “feeling the fear” is being afraid of not having the life that I want. Understanding the costs and knowing that the pain of not achieving it is unbearable. Knowing the consequences and what you be giving up on is what gets us going, it’s what pushes us harder to do something about it.

For me, I would never understand the cost of what I’m giving up, if I don’t know what my why is - my deepest why. I started to write down what I want in life, and continuously ask myself, why do I want that. Like I want to have a mansion. Why do I want that? So that I can have a house where my family can live at. Why do I want that? Because as we grow older, I want our family to grow closer. Why do I want that? Because bla bla bla. Until I realized and understand my deepest why. This is what I’m giving up on if I don’t take any action, if I don’t pursue my dreams. Honestly, I can’t afford that. 

The thought of the consequences when I give up on my deepest why, made me feel "the fear”. Feeling this kind of fear didn’t make me feel weak, it actually made me feel bold and empowered. From there, I started taking risks, and went out of my comfort zone. I know I’m vulnerable, and bound to experience some failures or mistakes. But because I know, that the cost of experiencing those mistakes is much smaller than the cost of not achieving my dreams, I’d rather expose myself to the risks than never being able to do anything to achieve the life that I want.  

So if you ask me what keeps me going, I can honestly say that it’s my “WHY” - my purpose in life. I’m not afraid of experiencing mistakes and failures, but what scares me the most is not having the life that I want. Life always give us lemons, and I’m just hoping that when that happen, it will be a lemon essential oil. After all, Rachel did get the job that she wants, right?

[themeatlife]

the Meat Life Stay-At-Home Watchlist

Chronicling what I have watched or rewatched through the pandemic so far

The world has changed around us the last few months, particularly in the United States since March 11.  With the lack of events to hit up, like most Americans I’ve been catching up on some watching through the various streaming services and my own digital copies of movies and shows.

I didn’t really think of keeping up with what I have been watching until just recently, but here is what I can remember hitting up so far since I’ve spent the majority of the time at home.  Some are favorites that I would have watched anyway.  Some were unfinished until I got a chance to get back to them.  And others just became available.

Here’s what I remember of the watchlist:

The Office (Netfilx) This is a favorite of me and the wife.  We watch this on the regular though.  My wife uses The Office as her lullaby of sorts, putting it on in the evening as she gets ready for bed and is in bed to fall asleep.  I did a post on the 15th anniversary, so I won’t really deep-dive.

Gossip Girl (Netflix) Another one that my wife rotates with The Office as her lullaby.  The series is not bad, it’s basically The OC in Manhattan (both are created and developed by Josh Schwartz).  It also takes on a new perspective when you think about star Penn Badgley is the creep in You.  So Dan Humphrey gets this weird creeper Joe Goldberg vibe at times.

Parks and Recreation (Netflix) I never got into Parks and Rec on its original run.  I was encouraged to check it out by some coworkers since I liked The Office.  It is a great show, very funny, and poignant in a way.  It feels like a throwback to when people could disagree politically and still get along.  There is a lot less of that nowadays.  We might need more Parks and Rec in real life.  I started this right before the pandemic and finished around the beginning of things getting locked down.

Frozen II (Disney+) The sequel debuted on Disney+ early on in the quarantine period.  My family enjoyed it.  I thought it was entertaining, but I felt like it was weighted down a bit by the mythology explaining.  It seemed too busy explaining a lot of things.  Still an enjoyable movie, but the first is better.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness (Netflix) Intriguing.  The series debuted early in the quarantine period and became a staple of stay-at-home viewing and a runaway hit.  Lots of WTF moments.  It was like the train wreck analogy to the Nth degree.  But you can tell it was made in a way that leans in favor of Joe Exotic, making him look like a victim in the last couple episodes.  Also gave way to memorable memes ever since.

The Rocketeer (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  Looking back, you can see a lot of The Rocketeer in Captain America - The First Avenger.  Easy to see though, since they share the same director Joe Johnston.  Prior to America’s involvement in World War II, a movie star Nazi goes after an experimental rocket pack developed by Howard Hughes.  The rocket pack is retrieved by accident from a down on luck stunt pilot.  Fun movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney+) I should have watched the entire Skywalker saga leading up to it, but I figured I have a ton of time to do that later.  This was a May the 4th watch.  I haven’t watched the Skywalker saga finale since it was in theaters.  It’s not a bad movie, I just feel it could have been a lot better with some modifications here and there.  Also, I believe this was going to be the Leia movie.  The Force Awakens was Han’s swan song, as was The Last Jedi for Luke.  I feel like this would have been great for Leia but obviously they were limited due to the untimely death of Carrie Fisher.  The scene where Ren/Ben speaks with Han after battling Rey would have hit harder with Leia instead of Han.

Trolls: World Tour (VOD) Cute kid movie.  Was nice to hear a lot of familiar music.  Sucks that rock was the villain in the first couple acts.  Seeing it once was enough, though.  Like the first Trolls, I am glad my kids enjoyed it but did not participate in excessive multiple viewings.

Onward (Disney+) Didn’t get a chance to catch this at the theater before they closed them down.  Great movie, but gosh.  Why does Pixar always pull at the heart strings like that?  I was quietly crying to myself at the end.  I’m glad we made our living room dark theater-style, otherwise my kids would have seen me all torn up.

Fast and Furious 5-7 (Fast Five - HBO, The Fast and the Furious 6/Furious 7 - Digital) I ended up not watching the entire series.  There is a great trilogy within the series, 5-7 was that trilogy.  Fast Five was the best of the FF franchise and where it perfected their movie formula.  It was like an action Ocean’s Eleven with cars.  6 and 7 expanded on that formula, upping the humor and ridiculousness factor.  6 had the exits of the Han and Gisele characters (they found a way to tie in Tokyo Drift to the rest of the series, Gal Gadot was on her way to becoming Wonder Woman for DC).  And 7 had that great ending with the tribute to Paul Walker to the sounds of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.

Toy Story 4 (Disney+) Another Pixar hit.  Didn’t hit me quite as hard as Onward or Toy Story 3 did emotionally, thank goodness.  I thought this story was over the way Toy Story 3 ended.  But Pixar did a good job adapting to prolong these characters stories.  It did feel like it was a bit of two and three combined looking back.  Still very good, Pixar knows what it’s doing.

The Marvel Infinity Saga (Disney+/Netflix/Digital) Leading up to the one-year anniversary of the release of Avengers: Endgame, I went through and rewatched all 23 MCU movies.  This time, I went in chronological story order by starting with Captain America - The First Avenger.  I chronicled the order I watched in my last post.  Even after viewing many of these movies multiple times, I’m still amazed at how much I enjoy them and the scope of what Marvel was able to achieve leading into the climax in Endgame.

Community (Netflix/Hulu) I loved Community on its initial run on NBC but never watched any of the episodes when it was on Yahoo for its sixth season.  It has been great to rewatch the meta-humor and sitcom trope parodies.  And since Ken Jeong and Joel McHale started their own podcast called The Darkest Timeline (half COVID-19, half Community pod), it has been a good companion viewing.

The Back to the Future Trilogy (Netflix) Recent add to Netflix for easy viewing, these movies have been a favorite of the Mitra boys since childhood.  Upon viewing as an adult, there is some humor that I didn’t recognize as a kid that is hilarious to me now.  It is also crazy how well this teen time-travel sci-fi comedy works.  Some of the effects in Part 2 are dated and 2015 didn’t quite end up the way it did in the movies.  But overall very enjoyable on the rewatch!

Extraction (Netflix) High budget action flick funded by Netflix?  Written by the Russo Brothers?  And staring Chris Hemsworth?  I’m in!  Directed by long-time stunt man and Russo Bros go-to stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave (you can tell the Russo influence).  It has an awesome 15ish minute one-shot action/chase sequence that is top notch.  Don’t think much about the plot or the controversy of cultural representation, just enjoy the action.

The Mighty Ducks Trilogy (HBO) Another childhood favorite of mine.  Nevermind that the hockey itself isn’t accurate.  This is about pure fun for an hour and a half at a time.  Come for the hi-jinx, stay for the heart.  Triple-deke, knuckle-puck, taking out the trash.  And leave it out on the ice!

The Harry Potter Series (Blu-Ray/Digital) This was not a go-to for me until Linda made me watch the entire series.  I guess when the first movie came out, it was too much of a kid movie for me (I was a high school senior at the time).  But from the second movie onward, it felt like the storytelling and movie making got better and better.  The Deathly Hallows was an epic ending, even if they did change the ending from the book.  I didn’t watch the newer Fantastic Beasts movies along with this though, my wife did.

Westworld - Season 3 (HBO) Recently got HBO back, so I caught up on Westworld Season 3.  I haven’t rewatched the previous seasons yet, but I may revisit it soon.  Season 1 was spectacular, Season 2 was confusing as hell but still entertaining.  Season 3 is somewhere in between, expanding on the ongoing storyline.  It was more straight-forward because its storyline is in the “real-world.”  For those of you that have watched, didn’t you think it was highly ironic that the Incite ball was basically the AT&T logo? (AT&T is the parent company for WarnerMedia and HBO)

The Last Dance (ESPN/ESPN+) The Michael Jordan docu-series has been a god-sent for sports fans devoid of live American sports for the past couple months.  Is it Jordan-biased?  Sure.  But it is full of drama and intrigue and full of nostalgia.  The NBA had commissioned a camera crew to follow the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls on their run for their sixth NBA championship.  Jordan owned the controlling rights to the footage and unlocked it after the 2016 NBA Finals.  So this documentary was years in the making and with the pandemic the release date was moved up.  Although it featured a lot of unseen footage, it also chronicled the years leading up to the 1998 Bulls title.  The last 5 Sundays have been awesome.

The Princess Bride (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  It wasn’t one of my recurring watches back then.  So this was actually my second viewing of this movie ever.  I found it quite enjoyable.  It was cheesy, but fun, and a good family watch.  One of the many older titles available on Disney+.

Scoob (VOD) My kids had some of the older Scooby Doo episodes on DVD and watched them when they were younger.  This was a fun revisit for them and for us as parents.  It was actually cool seeing a lot of the Hanna-Barbera characters in one movie.  We watched this shortly after finishing Community, and my kids recognized Ken Jeong’s voice as Dynomutt.  My daughter hilariously shouted “Senor Chang!” when she recognized him.

The Indiana Jones Series (Netflix) I introduced my son to Indiana Jones a few months ago watching Raiders of the Lost Ark.  He loved it.  He lost a little bit of interest during the Temple of Doom, I think the character Short Round lost it for him (character hasn’t aged well).  The Last Crusade reclaimed his interest.  Harrison Ford was at his natural apex playing Indiana Jones.  I did not watch the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I didn’t feel the need to revisit that installment, while it was enjoyable the alien ending ruined the lead up to it.

The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight - Hulu, The Dark Knight Rises - Digital) Every few years I try to revisit this series.  It is the best thing DC has ever put out cinematically.  While Begins and Rises is more comic book, TDK is a straight crime drama set in the world of Batman.  My favorite is Rises, but the absolute best comic book movie remains The Dark Knight, even with the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jurassic Park/Jurassic World Series (Jurassic Park/The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Blu-Ray, Jurassic World - Digital, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Cinemax) The original Jurassic Park is such a great movie.  Rewatching, it’s crazy how well the effects for the dinosaurs hold up.  Steven Spielberg, Stan Winston, and ILM did a great job mixing animatronic and CGI dino effects that stand the test of time.  The Lost World was enjoyable but not as good as the original.  I skipped JP III, such a bad movie.  Jurassic World was a good way to reboot the series, basically a remake of the original but incorporating a lot of references to it.  I just finished Fallen Kingdom today.  Although Fallen Kingdom was entertaining, it fails to recapture some of the magic of JP and JW.

I’m not sure what I will hit up next.  I might hit some Keanu Reeves movies like Speed, the Matrix Trilogy, and/or the John Wick Trilogy.  Maybe Top Gun.  Maybe rewatch Friends or How I Met Your Mother.  Maybe something on HBO Max when it comes out like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  Maybe Terminator.  Possibilities are endless, at least until some American sports return.

[wings-of-a-storm]

Apparently it is that time again when the emotions of my Skam France addiction bubble over and I actually have time to write up some thoughts on scenes that have moved me.

In the stress of Incommunicado Eliott Week, now seems like a great time to revisit a slightly happier time for Elu... Hint: it involves paint.

AN OVERDUE REVISITING OF EPISODE 7: THE PAINT FIGHT ERA

Let me try and start from the beginning…

BOY GANG HELPING LUCAS

They may not always be my favourite boy squad, but it warms my heart how Lucas’ friends all gathered to support him through an emotionally tough task: painting the Mural of Heartbreak that was supposed to be Lucas’ and Eliott’s special thing together.

Come to think of it, Lucas didn’t technically even have to do it. If Daphne needed the eyesore gone that badly, she could have kept bugging Eliott to do it since he was the one who offered in the first place. With that in mind, I guess Lucas needed to paint over the mural as a form of closure. It may have always been hanging over his head as this ongoing promise between him and Eliott. By painting over it with his friends, he could cut that painful ‘what if’ from his life and close that door before Eliott can get another foot in. It is a tangible way for him to feel like he is in control and moving on (with the bonus of making Daphy happy).

The boys helping him through that was the Gang support we and Lucas had been needing! I don’t have much else to add about them in this scene but wanted to give them kudos anyway because they really helped Lucas a lot just by being there with him and helping him have a new memory of the mural. (It’s hard to say that with a straight face after knowing what happens…)

SENDING AN ULTIMATUM

I was honestly rather skeptical that the boys would be able to help Lucas navigate the strained relationship he was in with Eliott. Their relationship felt so damaged compared to other versions -- Lucas wasn’t budging or letting any softness in no matter how many well-meaning drawings he received. Eliott needed to prove his mindset was different before Lucas could even consider letting him back into his life. Eliott hadn’t achieved that by the time Lucas met up with his friends to paint the mural though, and a few texts to Eliott didn’t seem likely to appeal to Lucas. The ball was in Eliott’s court after all, to prove he wasn’t just leading Lucas on again.

But to my surprise, the text ultimatum started unfolding anyway. And even more surprising, it actually started to make sense. Lucas had chosen to ghost Eliott until he was convinced that Eliott had made his choice and was going to stick to it. What that meant though was that Lucas had taken on a passive role (just waiting things out) and he became trapped in that self-imposed limbo land. He couldn’t get out by himself because he was too in love to give up that last drop of hope that Eliott would somehow come back and mean it this time.

We’ve seen Lucas be savage before so he did have it in him to actually text Eliott (as Eliott himself had even requested with his last drawing) to tell him to knock it off and stop leaving drawings, but Lucas never quite reached that step. Perhaps he was hoping Eliott would get the message on his own after two deliberate ghostings and he wouldn’t have to say the difficult words out loud. But of course I think it was more that his subconscious just couldn’t handle cutting hope off completely that the boy he was in love with would dump Lucille for good and come back to him.

It wasn’t going to happen though because nothing was changing. It made sense then that Lucas would be receptive to (unsolicited) advice on how to take that final step and make it either a clean break or a clean reunion. Especially when his ‘experienced’ (wtf Arthur!) friends seemed so confident that texting an ultimatum was guaranteed to end Lucas’ woes one way or another. It’s hard not to get hyped up with that sort of group confidence. It was the push Lucas probably knew deep down that he needed to take to exit his own purgatory. He was only leading himself on… I love that even though the Gang gave Lucas the basic guidelines of what message to send to Eliott, Lucas, in typical Savage Style, was able to put the killer touches on his texts. He didn’t mince his words; they sure cut straight through the bullshit with a bullseye that drew blood. This, more than anything, sold the scene for me. It felt so true to Lucas that he would jump on a chance to express his frustration without any games but just needed that push from an unbiased third party.

I only have one minor issue with the scene: the pacing of the Gang’s solution just felt a little disproportionately quick. Is it a French language thing? Are things just expressed so much easier and quicker in French than in English so it takes longer to read and process? Because the Gang’s advice kind of gave me whiplash -- especially when they were able to even digress with the ‘wtf Arthur’ tangent in almost the same breath.

Or is it just a Skam France thing because they have that painful time limit that always messes with the pacing? I guess I just get frustrated that some scenes feel a little rushed when they don’t have to be. Even with a time limit, you can still work your pacing around it by cutting certain lines out to give pivotal scenes the space they need to breathe. For example, they could have left out Arthur’s mysterious past relationship or Lucas listening to a story about a recently deceased hoarder… By rushing the Gang’s advice, you don’t really have time as a viewer to anticipate whether it will work and whether Eliott will even show up or not. It wouldn’t have ruined the sense of urgency to slow it down even just a little… But maybe that comes down to my personal taste.

LUCAS: THE ARTISTE

God love Lucas for his highly convincing I’m just an Artiste holding a paint brush while pondering a mural on a Friday afternoon pose. How relatable was that. Of course Lucas needed to feel unaffected and strong even though he was practically trembling with nervous energy. His fear of turning around after hearing the door open was palpable. It doesn’t matter how many times I rewatch it, I am always scared for him. Plus the soft, tentative piano music accompanying Lucas’ nerves is almost too much to bear with its earnest fragility…

The man he is desperately in love with has just walked into the room and might break his heart all over again…

A WILD RACOON APPEARS: ABOUT TIME

Eliott Demaury, don’t you ever leave us again! Lucas had missed Eliott; I had missed Eliott; we all had missed Eliott, so of course the very second we saw his beautiful, earnest racoon face peep around the door it was like OH MY GOD, THE SUN HAS COME OUT!

Seriously, shout out to the mise-en-scene crew for placing that It’s About Time poster right beside Eliott during his close-up arrival shot because truth. Those hell weeks were totally like Titanic and Interstellar rolled into one: even though only two weeks had passed for the characters, for our reality it had been 84 YEARRRRS. But back to Eliott’s beautiful, earnest racoon face.

How nervous was he before he let the bravado slip back into place! And excuse me, child? “Need a hand?” Pretty smooth for a guy who has been leaving drawings of droopy-eared racoons around and getting ignored. Oh, to have that kind of fake confidence! He really had nothing to lose. (Was the wording in French dripping in double meaning too though? Good times.)

Guys, Eliott is really strong though. How did he have function left in his legs to walk over after being hit with that face…

THE MURAL METAPHOR:

I really like the way Skam France turned the common room mural into a metaphor for Lucas’ and Eliott’s relationship. The final clip opens on both of them examining it in silence, looking at what they have to work with and what can be done to fix it. Their first words to each other in this moment complete the metaphor with their double meaning:

- “What were you planning on doing?” - “I don’t know right now.”

Eliott is of course the one to nominate a solution to the ‘mural’ because he is the one who needs to fix the error of breaking up their relationship and hurting Lucas. It is up to Eliott to salvage that mess and lead them in a new direction (Lucas’ texts made it clear that he won’t budge until Eliott does).

So Eliott dips his paintbrush into his tub of emotion and flings his feelings at the wall in wild, raw abandon. (And he says they should paint with every colour because Lucas brings out all his colours and Eliott is putting all of himself into this. Ugly sobbing!)

Eliott urges Lucas to try it too. And his dumb, beautiful, earnest racoon face is so hopeful that Lucas will because that will mean that Lucas is willing to try and forgive him.

Lucas halfheartedly gives it a go but his heart isn’t really ready to commit yet, so his flick of paint ‘misses’ its mark (allegedly at least). Eliott can see that Lucas isn’t ready yet and needs to find a way through to him. He makes a joke to try and soften things further but all that does is manage to stick a paintbrush through his own heart because Lucas actually smiles and Eliott remembers (probably for the nth time) just how much he has missed seeing it.

In the face of that emotion, Eliott simply can’t sustain his bravado anymore and he confesses: “It’s nice to see you smile. I missed it.” For once, Eliott reveals the sadness that he normally tries to keep hidden from Lucas. His words have in fact stripped both of their masks away.

And even more emotional than all of that perhaps: this moment was a clear nod to the passe på meg scene in og. Even though Isak is the one who uses that line, what is actually revealed by Even in that scene is that he saw Isak on the first day he came to school. In Skam France, Eliott has obviously already revealed that to Lucas early on, so this line (the last remaining bit from passe på meg) seems to act as an extension to its original sentiment: Eliott seems to be revealing that he has continued to watch Lucas from afar at school and hasn’t stopped since that first day. He has noticed Lucas’ changed demeanour and absent smiles. He hasn’t seen Lucas smile for a long time. (It all links nicely with Eliott’s ‘In case you ever foolishly forget’ sentiment too.)

Like yes, technically that line can also be interpreted as ‘I missed seeing your smile in general because Lucille’s can’t compare’ but the use of the passe på meg line seems to scream significance… Eliott has noticed.

SAVAGE LUCAS:

As sweet and well-meaning as Eliott’s sentiments are, we can always count on Lucas to cut right through them to reach the heart of the matter... I love him so much for cockblocking Eliott’s attempts to open an intimate channel between them with his straight up: ‘You miss my smile and yet you looked sooooo happy with Lucille the other week. It’s totes amazeballs that you’re ‘talking’ to her again after supposedly dumping her ass.’ Like yassss Lucas, don’t let him get away with that type of seductive sentimentality! He’s not deliberately trying to lead you on but the results are the same and you deserve better than that back and forth!

(Beware, guys, because a small rant is about to start.)

Eliott’s response to Lucas really frustrates me. There is a pattern to it and I just can’t ignore it…

His response to Lucas’ ‘You looked happy with Lucille’ was “You can’t say that.”

Um, yes, yes he can. Just because Eliott knows he isn’t happy with Lucille, doesn’t mean Lucas can mindread… Like Lucas has stated that that is the impression he got when he saw them together and he has a right to that interpretation. Dictating what Lucas is allowed to think without elaborating on why he has misinterpreted it isn’t helpful, it’s actually really dismissive. Of course that is going to rub Lucas the wrong way. I am so happy Lucas heard that response and served up a sassy ‘Oh yeh? This will be good’ face to counter it. He was not having any of that crap.

But Eliott only makes things worse by saying: “Because none of it matters.”

Ugh again, yes it does, Eliott. It obviously matters to Lucas. He has just told you that he saw you back with your ex and is hurt by it. If he is hurt, then that matters. I know Eliott doesn’t mean it that way, but it is really harsh to be made to feel like you’re just being stupid and your hurt isn’t important.

It is a shame that Eliott has a habit of sweeping aside Lucas’ emotions without properly acknowledging them out of fear of rejection and a misguided need to prove him wrong because of it. We saw the same brush off in the cafeteria scene and later again in the kitchen scene. Eliott means well but I really wish he would validate Lucas’ emotions so Lucas can at least feel heard.

And like I get that Eliott wasn’t elaborating between each audacious statement because he was trying to build up to the surprise revelation he had in store for Lucas, but boy did he choose the wrong method, for me...

Back to their conversation though.

“It doesn’t matter?” Lucas rightfully echoes, for all the above reasons.

And finally Eliott has his cue (the cue he has been building up to during their whole exchange) to go in for his grand gesture kill: “Ever since I met you, you’re the only thing that has mattered.”

Cue piano music returning. Cue Lucas basically stopping breathing. Cue a literal light flare hitting the screen beside Lucas. Cue Eliott smiling because Lucas has finally heard his Truth.

And cue the return of the mural metaphor: while Lucas is stunned and left to process this grand romantic declaration, Eliott turns to add lots more paint to their Relationship Mural. It is like the tangible release of his sentiment; like his way of physically proving his own commitment to Lucas. He will work on this mural/relationship with everything he has, for as long as it takes.

The question is: will Lucas work on it as well?

Once Eliott has finished adding splashes of colour (because he is all in with his feelings!), he turns to Lucas to both make sure Lucas has seen how serious he is and to see what Lucas has decided.

Lucas’ response is to silently pick up a paint brush and add to the mural too. And if that is not the most powerful response… Some things need no words.

PAINT FIGHT

Well. When we speculated that Eliott’s grand gesture in the common room might be to paint a hedgehog, who knew that Eliott would literally be painting his hedgehog...

Eliott came into that room with the determination to get Lucas back. As soon as he got his sign that Lucas was willing to forgive him, his rush of happiness could no longer be contained and he darted towards Lucas with an impromptu paint dab on the nose.

It was so unexpected for Lucas, it allowed him to forget all of his deep-seated Lucille insecurities for the moment and fall back into that easy, old, familiar rhythm with Eliott. It must have been such a relief to suspend the recent heaviness and just be together like that again, as dumb, playful, carefree teenagers.

And because they are dumb, playful, carefree teenagers, their paint fight escalates. It gets more physical, it gets more exciting, their hearts start to race more… And in a brief stalemate, they get caught in each other’s eyes and their play-fighting drops away to reveal what it had been substituting for all along: their desire to physically connect with each other and consummate what they are feeling.

And what an intense love it is to make you forget you are tasting paint and having sex on school property, where anyone could walk into that room since it is, you know, a common room.

Their love making (grinding, rubbing, being handsy, whichever method they were making love to each other with) was a literal piece of art, as others have already said. It was an explosion of colour in a world that had been dark for both of them.

I’m squeamish with paint and other questionable substances, but when I put all that aside, I can imagine just how amazing it would have felt to have that slippery addition to their sense of touch. Feeling skin against skin, body against body, palms against skin that is sensitive precisely because it isn’t normally touched is a very heady thing, let along adding a kinky lubrication onto it. Even paint-covered fingers running through hair would feel different with strands clumping together and exposing parts of your head to cool air.

Not only that but you’d be able to see the marks your hands are leaving on the other person; like you are drawing them into existence and -- dare I say it -- claiming them for yourself after seeing them with other people and being denied them. How alive would you feel with all those heightened sensations?

And what has been evident with Lucas and Eliott from the very beginning is how important touch is for them. Even during their first kiss, their hands were running over each other’s bodies and tangling in each other’s hair. Then their morning after kisses were filled with even more sensuality with their (basically) naked bodies pressed up against each other so that they could feel each other’s weight and warmth. This new lovemaking scene had all of that in it again. It was so vibrant and so loving, it was almost too much to bear…

They just get so much comfort from the physicality of each other’s presence. Perhaps it is that reassurance of feeling someone physically there, of not being abandoned, of every part of them being loved. Whatever the reason behind it, they are so compatible in that way.

It was a stunning scene to end the episode with. Especially the way the light kept increasing and engulfed them at the end. They lost themselves over to pleasure but they never lost each other in it. They both went there together.

And I felt that. We all felt that, I think. What more is there to even say?

[multsicorn]

tryna jump randomly back in the tdb rewatch

a few thoughts on 1x16 “Home”

I wonder, on this nth viewing, if Kurt's unhappiness at the way his father and Finn are bonding isn't just at Burt connecting with Finn in a way that he didn't (and couldn't! exactly) with Kurt, but also over Finn giving the sort of easy and active attention to Burt that Kurt probably wants from him, but isn't consistently able to elicit.  (See also: Kurt telling Mercedes that as Cheerios they don't have to beg for scraps of attention, even as he's doing just that with Finn vis-a-vis the wall swatches.  See also, how Kurt's defense of Mercedes' refusal to diet or dress according to Sue's dictates dies a sudden silent death visibly on his face the instant that Sue accuses him of having pear hips.  Oh Kurt, bb, none of that's even relevant to your crush - but delusions inside delusions, and all that.)

I like the idea of April Rhodes being a washed-up dreamer, 'and that's all I'm ever gonna be,' quite a bit, actually.  Especially existing in the narrative frame of Glee.  An 'all-white production of the Wiz' is super distasteful and, well, racist.  But up to that point… I think it's not how pathetic or even needy she is that turns me off - it's how insistently and undeservedly she constantly looks up to Will.  Ugh.  He doesn't deserve it!  Also, "One Less Bell To Answer" might've been a nice vocal performance at half the length, but it does not need to be over four mour minutes long.

A musical note!  As to why Finn has to sing those couple of jarring lines in "A House Is Not A Home."  Because, on the one hand, his singing a song that Kurt suggests and sings most of shows that they are really connecting, despite the continuing mishaps, and especially/specfically, that Finn's getting something from Kurt.  But on the other hand… the changed context of Finn's lines show that he's not getting the same thing out of the song that Kurt's putting in, and the literal discord there echoes the discord in meaning.

But the best thing about this episode is definitely Mercedes' storyline.  Mercedes and Quinn - though the episode tite/theme always tricks me, Mercedes doesn't invite Quinn to stay in her home until later - but their scene is so good here, mutual care, mutual vulnerability.  Quinn reaches out to Mercedes not with 'you should listen to me,' but with 'I was just where you are, where I am now's not better, just different - and you were better than me back when our social positions were switched.'  And with a literal gift of food!  And Mercedes opens up about how fucked up she is right now.  Cause she's just not good at this whole faking thing.

(Side note: Quinn tells other girls they're beautiful the same way Rachel tells people they're talented.  Because it's what they've been made to think is the one/most important thing.)

… and Mercedes is able to take Quinn's 'you are beautiful,' and not just believe in it again herself, but make a gift of the message in turn to the entire school.  The shared mutual confessions, how important it is to know that everybody feels this way, the way that requires somebody to take the first step to say 'yeah, I do, do you too' - and the song.  It's #choir summoning power, it's for building and taking care of a community, and, in all sincerity…

… I think that's beautiful <3.