#rewatching the lake scene was a bad idea but here we are

[hergrandplan]

Something something about Simon always making sure Wille knew that it wasn't because of him that Simon ended things. That it wasn't their relationship, that it simply was everything else

When Wille said "I thought it would be us" and Simon replied "It has been us. And when it was us, it was good" at the lake

Or how he didn't respond when Wille asked how Simon could be over him, just like that

Or when Simon told him "I never gave up on us. I gave up on the royal family" during graduation/the closing ceremony

How there was an "I still love you" in every sentence, in every word

Even when he broke up with Wille. "maybe this just won't work" wasn't about them, it was about Simon and the crown and him realizing he could never be part of that.

It was never about Wille, and Simon never let him forget that.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super 047

Fuck! 

It’s the Zamasu Saga. 

Son of a... !

*groan*

This arc is the drizzling shits.  It’s easily the worst part of Dragon Ball Super, and it’s far, far worse than anything in Dragon Ball and DBZ.  Is it worse than Dragon Ball GT? 

You know, it might be.  I would say it’s definitely as bad as GT, which makes it pretty vile.  Part of the reason I’m rewatching this is to figure out the answer to that question, but... you know, life’s too short for this.  I’m sitting here trying to compare the worst of the worst, trying to decide which turd sandwich is least appealing, and I feel like this isn’t a good use of my time. 

I’m not gonna do the “Roaming Lake” bit like I did before.  For a time, I considered comparing each episode of this arc to the best episode of GT, except I really can’t decide which one that is.  I keep thinking back to that one where Goku said General Rildo was stronger than Majin Buu.  That one seemed a little better than the others, but it was still an awful episode.  I’m not sure I can compare these things properly. 

I’m just gonna go through this thing, and point out similarities to GT as I find them, and we’ll see if we can figure out an answer when I get to the end.  Okay?  Okay.

So we’re in the Future Trunks Alternate Timeline, which hasn’t been seen since Dragon Ball Z Episode 194.  I think several years have passed since Trunks defeated the Imperfect Cell of that world, but I’m not sure how long it’s been. 

What is certain is that things have gotten much, much worse.  This episode opens on Trunks sneaking through a ruined city while some shadowy villain keeps blowing it up.  Then he makes it to some dingy secret laboratory, where Bulma is preparing just enough Time Machine Fuel for a one-way trip to the past. 

Then their mysterious enemy barges in, destroys Bulma’s equipment, and then kills her.  Trunks flees, knowing that he cannot save his mother, and the trip to the past is the only hope the world has left. 

So that’s our first GT comparison: Killing off underutilized characters as a substitution for genuine drama.  GT set up elaborate death scenes for Majin Buu, Piccolo, Krillin, and Android 17, which all fell flat because those characters barely got to do anything in GT anyway.  Future Bulma is a really cool character who didn’t get a lot of screentime in the Androids/Cell saga of DBZ, so this whole arc could have been an opportunity to do more with her.  Instead, they just kill her off five minutes into the first chapter of the story.  And for what?  To motivate Trunks? 

I mean, let’s seriously think about this.  If this was such a great idea, then why didn’t Toriyama have the Androids kill Future Bulma in the original Androids/Cell saga?  Well, for one thing, that would be too fucking dark.  Trunks had already lost his father and all the other Z-Warriors, and then finally Gohan.  Killing off his mother would literally be overkill.  More importantly, it mattered that there was someone waiting for him back home.  Someone who believed in Goku and the others, and knew they could make things right. 

We’ve barely gotten started, and I’m already pissed off.  I know this is an easy thing to look past.  So many characters in this world have already died, but it’s a big deal.  One of the Zamasu Saga’s many, many sins is the way it tries to just repeat the Androids/Cell Saga, just as Dragon Ball GT tried to repeat story beats from past Dragon Ball stories.  This arc is basically determined to hit the reset button on the whole dystopian future concept.  All the rebuilding we saw in DBZ Episode 194 is erased.  Trunks victory over the Androids and Cell is made irrelevant because of this new menace, and the only solution is another desperate time trip to get help from the past.  At best, this arc can only be a warmed over retread of what we’ve seen before.  But they already fell short of that pathetic goal when they made the mistake of killing off Future Bulma. 

Back in the present day of the main timeline, Goku’s crops are ready for harvest, and he invites Piccolo to help him, since this is the sort of training he used to do with Krillin as a child. 

Then Krillin shows up and mentions how Vegeta has gone back to Beerus’ planet to train, so Goku teleports after him so he won’t get left behind. 

Then the boys all eat jumbo cups of instant ramen!  This shot looks like the one of Goku, Toriko, and Luffy from that crossover special, and it turns my stomach.  Just three goofy pals, eating a wacky snack together!  Must be Dragon Ball Super!

This is probably meant to contrast the bubbly peacetime of Goku’s world with the living nightmare of Future Trunks’ world.  They did this a lot in the Androids Saga too, except the contrast wasn’t quite so sharp. It worked in DBZ because things were kind of grim in the present day, but the characters still had hope because they could still fight and train.  Trunks’ warning from the future was that they would be doomed to lose their next battle, and the conflicting themes of the arc were Goku’s defiant optimism versus the seeming inevitability of fate.

It worked in Dragon Ball Z because Dragon Ball Z was all about the world teetering on the brink of disaster, and the only thing holding the line was a bunch of guys shooting hand lasers in their pajamas.  The only way to raise the stakes after Frieza was for a guy to come from the future and tell Goku he had already lost and the world was already doomed, so Goku could look him in the eye and say “I’m still going to try.” 

It worked then because Z stands for the end, but not yet.  Super stands for “let’s bring back some old IP and see if we can cobble together a sequel.”  Super is Goku being a total goofball and Vegeta having a rod up his ass at all times, and nothing ever really matters because Beerus and Whis are always the strongest characters in the room, and they won’t let anything too serious happen because they enjoy eating Earth food too much.

While they eat, Goku talks up how much fun the Tournament of Power will be whenever it finally happens.  This is the thing that makes the Zamasu Saga really stand out from GT, because at least GT never taunted me with the idea that something good would actually happen later.  This whole Zamasu Arc just keeps gloating about the fact that the Tournament of Power can’t start until we get through this crap first. 

“Tee hee!  Fifty more episodes until something cool happens!”

Back in the future, Trunks makes his way to a bombed out apartment building, where he meets Mai, who is now an adult in this timeline.  They share a can of meat, and talk about how Bulma died for this one-way trip to the past.  Before she got killed, Bulma said there would be a chance for Trunks to return, but he doesn’t know what she meant. 

Trunks has a cool flashback to some cool shit in Dragon Ball Z.  The coolest shit, actually, since it’s mostly footage from the Cell Games.  I miss Cell so much.  He was the best.

So Trunks and Mai head to West City, where they plan to use the Time Machine in the wreckage of the Capsule Corp. building.   Trunks believes that their enemy, “Black”, can track Trunks’ ki, so he has to suppress his powers and travel as discretely as possible. 

And yet Black still tracks him down, just like how he followed Trunks to Bulma’s lab at the start of the episode.  He puts up a fight, but if that were going to work, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

Mai tries to distract Black with a shotgun, and that... doesn’t work. 

Trunks rushes to her side and declares that Black has killed her.   So for those of you keeping score, Mai has “died” 1 time in this arc.  This is stupid for a couple of reasons. 

First, they just got done killing off Bulma.  Killing Mai in the same episode is just redundant.  I mean, they shouldn’t have killed either of them, but both is a step too far, and they killed them both in the same episode.

Second, Mai survives this, because they’re going to tease killing her again later in the arc.  That’s how creatively bankrupt this shit is. 

One of the defenses I see of Dragon Ball GT has to do with whether Akira Toriyama contributed to, or approved of the series.  The logic is that you have to like it because his name is on it, and he provided some character designs and other art assets to the project.  If it was bad, then he would have repudiated the whole thing from the start.  Conversely, some GT critics use the lack of Toriyama’s involvement to justify hating the series.  It sucks because Toriyama didn’t write it, end of discussion.  Both of these arguments are stupid.

Because Toriyama did plot this Zamasu arc. I don’t know how detailed his notes were, but I’m pretty sure most of the shitty ideas in this thing were his.  And even if they weren’t his, he didn’t do nearly enough to correct course.  I respect Akira Toriyama a great deal, but this Zamasu arc makes him look like a hack. 

The episode ends with a clear view of the main villain, and it’s an evil Goku wearing a black costume and a Potara earring.  This probably would have been more of a shock if they hadn’t given away this character’s design in the opening credits. 

This was a big deal in 2016, as the fandom was genuinely intrigued by the mystery of this new villain.  Could it really be an evil Goku?  How could it be, when the Goku of this world died of a heart virus decades ago?  Maybe it’s a Saiyan lookalike, like Turles.  Maybe a bad guy switched bodies with Goku, like Captain Ginyu. Maybe it’s an android designed to imitate Goku.  Maybe it’s an evil future version of Goten!  Wouldn’t that be wild? 

I think there was some fringe theory that the heart virus that killed Goku somehow gained sentience and reanimated his corpse.  Maybe I came up with that one.  I can’t remember.

And the potara earring just raised further questions.  Where’s the other earring?  Where did he get that one from?  The design of Goku Black was certainly good for making the audience ask questions.  Everything about this guy’s look is a mystery. 

Also, fans just liked the idea of an evil Goku, whether it was a corrupted Goku or just an impostor.  One of the most popular legacies of this arc is the fan character “Chi-Chi Black”.  I’m not sure where it originated, and I’m not sure there was ever a single concept to Chi-Chi Black.  Sometimes she was the real Chi-Chi seduced to the dark side by Goku Black, and sometimes she was just an impostor using her likeness.  I think the only consensus was that it would be cool to have a girl version. 

But a mystery is only as good as its solution, and I’ve spent this whole post telling you how awful this saga is.  That should tell you how impressed I am with the big reveal.  The shot of Goku Black looking down at Trunks is probably the high water mark of this whole saga.  One episode in and it’s all downhill from here.

[scripted-downfall]

Dark Angel Reaction: PILOT

@typicalopposite reacts [with occasional asides by scripted-downfall]

Hawkins lab vibes are strong

Shoot them!? They are bebes

Hawkins vibes gone he didn’t try to kill her 😂😂  Just bring her back

Now lady hawke vibes? She fell through the lake

Ok discount Clint Eastwood.

Ma’am.  Ma’am why were you in the clearing.  Where they can see you.  Under the ice.  When there’s all that snow covered spaces

“Hope is for losers.  Still, I hope they are ok.”  LOSER

[scripted-downfall here mentions that clips from this show were used in Hitman despite them not making any sense given the film’s plot]

She was not bouncing around fren.  She was seizing.  There’s a difference

Ok so regardless of how I feel about her character or the actress herself. Ma’am’s foine [scripted-downfall here mentions that she should watch Sin City, then]

I love his accent ☠️☠️☠️

I have met Normal

They have lgbt; How advanced [scripted-downfall here says: OC MY BELOVED]

Oh bby not the first date anniversary

Is that Logan?  On the tv?  I know the voice 😂 Tony was my favorite on NCIS [scripted-downfall confirms because she has no follow-through on the no-spoilers rule.  Also, she’s already said way too much previously to try that now]  now I’m just picturing a news reporter kneeling over a dead body with a quill pen… dipping it in the blood to write

I have no idea what she just said. Just heard ones and zeros… then No way.   

I thought he said he pissed on some one. ☠️☠️  But he said I pissed and moaned

CHEATER!!  CHEATER!!  OMG!  ON THE BIG 1-0!  How dare he?!  MENNNNN

WHAT A GIFT  Bruh.  Men.

“Hey bby girl. I know you're mad at me for leavin you for someone else. But I only did cause you sucked.  Take me back”

“You’re like a mystery… it’s… mysterious”

Ma’am, you can’t drive your bike in here

Them straight across brows Are killing me 

I thought that was Mary.  Or Ellen.  Le gasp

“She was a white lady! With blonde hair and blue eyes. How hard is that to find!”  ☠️☠️☠️

How.  Howwwww.  Did that little ass knife.  Open that door

Don’t do it max- Fuck that.  Lady just yeeted her self off the building

Tony!  I mean Logan

It looks like he cocked a flashlight

This is the most monotone back and forth

That run.  THAT RUN ☠️☠️☠️☠️

Oh shitttt They slicing him up, poor kid 😖😖😖

[scripted-downfall, while watching the show for the second time: this is the most friendly/smiley I’ve ever seen Max; wth happened!?]

Oh Theo dyinnggg

“We gotta talk” “Nothing” Bruh MEN

🤔🤔🤔 Why did she open the can in his face ☠️

It’s scary spice’s hi for me.

“Let me get my coat”  “The one you’re wearing?” ☠️

A man that understands she’s stronger. A little respect!

Poof she gone  *insert “A ghost!” gif*

Ok Lydia stfu

I’m ded.  This whole scene ☠️☠️☠️  “Imma claw you.” *sticks hand in face… max grabs it*  “let go of my hand.”  Just.  Wot

“I broke into your house.  HOW DARE YOU BREAK INTO MINE?  And then cook for me!?”

Is Peter a robot?  He seems like a robot

“I had to see you… pretty thief lady”

[scripted-downfall interrupts: WTF IS THAT CHIN GRAB I DIDN'T REMEMBER THAT]

– – –

Brief hiatus because we had to pause for a bit.  After being asked about what she thought thus far: 

Not too bad.  I’ll definitely have to rewatch it once work comes down and I can watch it at home but I like it

– – – 

Gotta love the classic your telling me exactly how it was but I’m gonna play dumb

He’s like bitch you got a barcode on your neck

Oh nooooo guy got mugged.

 Well, “Mugged”

Oh nooo Theo

Ninja kids!  Minus one

Ooooh. Normal, buddy… you just put your foot all the way down your throat [scripted-downfall interjects: Yeah, he, uh.  Does that a lot.]

Not robot Peter!!!

Ahhh guilt

So she gonna go save the kid?

Is that discount Clint Eastwood?

“Oh pretty boy! I’m sawwry I got you ded”  [scripted-downfall: I hadn’t noticed the religious imagery starting this early because I didn’t know the significance from Pollo Loco.  That’s interesting.]

He needs to just sit up and go… bitch wtf are you talking about

Pshhhh you’re face screamed guilt shush woman

“I don’t feel guilt. Imma save him… cause he’s pretty. And imma talk to him and tell him a story the whole time… but I don’t feel guilty”

Blahblahblah angsty girl blah

Side note: We should totally watch a scary movie and commentate on it [scripted-downfall: YES.]

No one sees spider girl.  Yeah. Right

Well that was easy ☠️

Ooo 👀  [scripted-downfall: ma’am is looking disrespectfully]

Her hair is a lil greasy tho

… welp I had a dirty thought to that ☠️  Just gonna keep it to myself ☠️☠️☠️☠️

☠️☠️☠️ MEN

Le gasp Is she double crossing or is this part of it?

You have tired eyes.  But… same so eh

Typical MANNNNN

SAME MAX (her face at his little attempt)

Oooh super speeed [scripted-downfall: as you can see, she’s being very subtle about being from Manticore]

She just threw that man by her ears

Did she really ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ [scripted-downfall: was that about her smacking his ass?] Yes.  She pulled his pants down and I was like…. What’s this rated again  [Yes.]

How long can ma’am hold her damn breath. Cause GEEEEZ [scripted-downfall: Another Manticore power.]

Okie dokie [scripted-downfall: *inserts Supernatural “I like him; he says okey-dokey” gif*.]

Why is the one holding his mouth like that!?!

angelic music cause buddies are dumb

Clint sees something [scripted-downfall: His name is Lydecker, btw]

Nah man you just had her, dummy

More angelics to ride away angstily on

[scripted-downfall: This won’t make sense yet, but I didn’t realize that Sky was already here in the pilot.]

Oh wow Normal. That’s dirty.  They just be shipping people. That’s- Is that legal?  IS THAT LEGAL?  I can’t even take my dad in the car with out his death certificate; cops might think he’s cocaine [scripted-downfall:  I don’t think the cops much… care.]

Oh so is he paralyzed the whole show? [scripted-downfall: It’s… iffy.  You’ll see.]

“I need you to do a little leg work for me” Cause mine don’t

Angelics one more time.  [scripted-downfall: You do know the show’s called Dark… Angel.  Yeah?  :)]  On top of a building.  In front of the moon.  How angsty.

-- -- --

I like it!  But alas I cannot watch another!  I’ll publish a summary judgement later though

[scripted-downfall: That's a wrap, folks! Next episode will be... tomorrow? *smiles and puppy-dog-eyes at @typicalopposite and prays it works*]

[englishlotusflower]

TPM is actually my unironic favourite - it has the Jedi! before things go bad! Just living their lives! It's got the best glimpse we have of the Jedi's lives without war and genocide and I have been obsessed with it since I was like 10.

Also Padme's wardrobe helps. I've been obsessed with the peace parade dress and the Mongolian inspired dress for years - and that hooded ombre robe is possibly more my favourite than the lake country dress (controversial I know, but I have scars on my back and shoulders and the mere idea of that much skin on display in that particular area makes me break out in a cold sweat)

Also the Jedi! The Temple is so pretty! It's shiny and polished in a way that deteriorates over the years because of the war which is a great design thing but also means it's at its prettiest here.

It's our first introduction to how the Jedi function! We get to see how they are taught, the Padawan braid is introduced, we get to see more variations on the Jedi robes, and we get to understand how backstage functions of the Order worked through the scenes we have with the High Council.

We also get an introduction to the pre-Empire Republic, the whole 'democracy' thing that has been a dream that the rebellion is fighting for throughout the original trilogy but we get to see it in action for the first time here! This is what they are fighting to restore and its...slow...its corrupt....it can be manipulated...its....not perfect?

But its THERE!

This is a glimpse of the world that the Rebellion was fighting to restore, and I am so normal about it.

Also the clothes are great :)

So yeah, OP is right about all the things, please rewatch TPM it's so fun, and pretty, and a glimpse at what the gffa was like before Palpatine took over.

I feel like The Phantom Menace is low on people's rewatch list. Lots of people love Revenge of the Sith and it's novelization and know it really well, but so often when I speak to people about TPM they don't remember it all that well and so much is filtered through years of fanfic. And the thing about fanfic is that being religiously adherent to canon is really quite rarely the point of fanfic, (which is good and proper). But I think it's a shame really, TPM is a very fun movie and lays so much of the groundwork. I definitely recommend it

[blazingphantom]

BACK AGAIN FOR MORE WENDELL AND WILDD Behold Buffalo Belzer stuff I found very interesting/overall just a lot of shit

1.If you haven't figured by now, mans a 300t foot giant. Like how- Is he a special kind of demon? Was he born normal sized but had a huge growth spurt? But before the trailer came out I already had a feeling he'd be tall- but not like TITAN SIZE. 2. Belzer's large, rotund gut houses the Scream Fair and from two separate articles I've read. It's strapped onto him physically and I figured and such because initially I was like 'how tf does he do daily stuff'.

Here you can visibly see red/brown straps going across his belly, so does that mean he can /stand/ up with Scream Fair still attached to him? 3. He's blue! I had no idea he was blue, only found out from an article. You can clearly see he is from when his horns emerge from the graveyard, before electricity(?) dances around his gigantic horns. (Blue matches him better, originally thought he was dark purple for some reason)

4. Belzer EATS souls. Like the homie full on chows down on em. Again, found this from an article. I think it was from a person interviewing Henry Selick. And when I read it I was like 'oh WHAT?' but looking back at this part of the trailer

The surroundings walls clearly move and are red colored and now with this info. So, yup. It isn't a moving hallway- but Belzer's digestive track. (Does this mean we'll get an inside sequence of him?) I feel bad for the souls, they do be eternally screaming. Another fun lil thing' apparently it was Henry's favorite thing to try and animate the insides of it! And his stomach was so big 3 people sat inside it for laughs. Not 'puppets' but 'people', like HUH 5. There were large scaled models built. I assume buildings ect. So Belzer in the movie could be this gargantuan titan when filming compared to the small scaled characters. 6. Also read from the same article, that the crew took pointers from King Kong and made massive animatable hands for him, that featured a lot in the film. I imagine scenes for in hell and in the land of the living. (Idk bout you but I'd die if I saw his massive grabbers coming for me) 7. We all know this by now but. Buffalo Belzer saw the bros suggestion/offer to change Scream Fair into Dream fair 'treasonous' from an article I read, which the guy had actually seen 30 mins of the film (lucky mf). I assume since he's been doing it 5,000 years he'd get pretty peed off at his own children suggesting it should be changed. 8. Belzer has elvis styled sunglasses. (I have a feeling he'll wear them in the first part of the movie where we're introduced to the demon bros and him. PS; I found it weirdly adorable) 9. In the Underworld, or the Scream Fair. Belzer lays in a massive boiling lake, sort of like a hot tub. Mans is chilling, I respect that. 10. So, I was rewatching the trailer before Belzer emerges from the ground.

I apologize for my shitty screenshots. NOW, when I saw this I thought it was the catholic school. But.. IT'S THE BRO'S HEARSE CARRIAGE- and if you look in the distance, you see shapes. But,, if you really think about it

THE WALLS look very similar to this image ^. Both are snow covered rocky structures. The hearse carriage is chilling right by the staircase that Wendell and Wild are at. And from there, the camera pans down to reveal Belzer's horn coming up to the surface. This could allude to the possibility; Belzer senses his sons are in danger. But then it changes to, oh is he saying ''im coming for you'' to the priest/Father Bests? Who knows. I think this could be a possibility again, since the separate scenes could all add up, the hearse carriage, snow covered stairs, ect. I have a feeling Belzer is either coming for the priest or his sons. Another lil thing when he says. Again about the 'I'm coming for you' Too me, he doesn't even sound pissed off. Maybe he is, maybe he's just the calm angry type. But trailers like to lap over voice-lines, right? But I wouldn't be surprised if it was voice lapped. It flows really well. So it could belong to that specific scene, maybe before he comes from the ground. But why is Belzer coming from the ground? Either A. He senses something off, suddenly realizes Wendell and Wild aren't with him in the Underworld. Probably loses his shit. (In the negative way aka utterly fuming) Or B. He senses they're in danger and goes to rescue/aid them. (Not so sure bout the last one, but could be likely? Mainly because it's night- and where the bros are mind-controlled(?) it's also night!) 11. He's described as vain, bombastic and bellicose. Now, it's no surprise to me. But I wonder how he'll actually act in the film- I imagine despite being having these traits- he could still be, somewhat nice?? But who knows! Bombastic marked by or given to speech or writing that is given exaggerated importance by artificial or empty means  (from a post on twitter) Bellicose having an aggressive or fighting attitude (from an article review) Vain having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements (Henry describes Belzer as this) Yet despite these 'negative personality traits, he actually has a giant soft spot. Meaning it probably alludes to the fact Belzer probably isn't as bad as I think. I'm excited to see how his 'soft spot' plays out in the film. That's enough from me for now! Might do more later cos my brain likes to be funny and makes me suddenly remember a lot more after a while.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 06 part two

(Masterpost)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Bathing Boy Beauties

So, now we and Wei Wuxian get to see Lan Wangji with his shirt off. Eventually Lan Wangji will realize that his brother set this up, and will think of some way to get back at him, possibly by spending three years being stubborn in a cave or maybe by chopping an arm off of someone his brother cares about. 

This is A+ Yibo fanservice but it's also a male-male version of a trope that's ubiquitous in c-drama, in which the male lead takes a bath and the female lead sees him. The purpose of the scene is almost always so a woman can look a man’s body over and decide, not to put too fine a point on it, whether she wants to fuck him. 

Examples:

The Pillow Book - “Which part of Shen Ye is better than me?”

Women’s sexual agency is not often at the forefront in c-dramas, but the bathtub scenes are an acknowledgement of the female gaze, and of male objects of desire being subject to evaluation & approval.

Tientsin Mystic is a show with a lot of muscley swimming in it, In case you’re looking for your next Netflix show. 

As a CGI artist I have to mention that water does not reflect or refract 100% of light. If you look at a naked dingle-having person in a bathtub full of clear water you will definitely be able to see their dingle. But C-drama water is magic and nothing is visible below the waterline, to the point that Bai Yu is modestly covering his thoracic surgery scar chest in Detective L while leaving his lower half uncovered.

Note: that caption isn’t fake; she is really saying this on her way out the door, after having a long chat with him in the bathroom. You can find the whole series on YouTube.

Seen in this context, The Untamed’s two bathing scenes are saying quite a lot. Wei Wuxian, being a boy, doesn’t display any female-encoded shyness or modesty, but he and his sword pause for a moment of admiration.

(more after the cut!)

16 years later, Lan Wangji will sit quietly in this pool and let Wei Wuxian examine his wet body thoroughly from multiple angles, in a more prolonged invocation of this C-drama mating ritual.

Carrying on - was Xiao Zhan supposed to kick his boot in the water like that? Because if not, he rolls with it like a champ.

Wei Wuxian starts trying to be direct with Lan Wangji, giving him the worst, most neg-filled compliment ever, bless his heart.  

Then he says that there are benefits to being his friend, and starts taking off his clothes.

Wei Wuxian here takes his first step into the bold new world of respecting Lan Wangji’s boundaries, asking Lan Wangji to stay and saying he will keep his clothes on. 

Lan Wangji actually does stay, so he's apparently not too angry with Wei Wuxian about the drinking. Wei Wuxian invites him to visit Lotus Pier sometime (see my gifset here), but the promise of lotus pods doesn’t impress him. Then Wei Wuxian tries to tell him that the Yunmeng chicks really knock me out, they leave the rest behind. This also doesn’t impress him. 

You could read this macking-on-ladies talk as a sign that Wei Wuxian is oblivious to LWJ's feelings for him. But I read it as a bisexual boy being horny on main with a boy he likes, not  understanding yet that some boys don’t share all of his turn-ons.

Lan Wangji is sort of mildly startled when Wei Wuxian disappears under the water. His eye makeup is good here, isn’t it?.

Ice Cave

They end up in an ice cave and both spend the rest of the episode showing how good they look with wet hair. 

When the guqin starts attacking, Lan Wangji is only mildly perturbed about Wei Wuxian getting his shit rocked over and over.

Eventually he sends Bichen to protect his very bedraggled date. Lan Wangji’s sword is faster than the speed of a very slow sound wave.

Beauty's where you find it not just where you bump and grind it 

Gusuship Down

I feel like there are a couple of things in this show that are so problematic the fandom has silently agreed to never discuss them. Well, I’m here to talk about this one:

There are rabbits in this ice cave and they are wearing headbands. HEADbands. On RABBits.  

EXCELLENT FUCKING QUESTION, LAN WANGJI

*deep breath*

Are these rabbits lineal Lan descendants? Who makes the headbands? How do they stay on because “headband” here means “glowing cloud on forehead” without any actual band.  When rabbit babies are born, how do they stay safe while they’re waiting for someone to make them baby-sized headbands? Do these rabbits adhere to the other 3499 Lan Clan principles or just the headband one? Is any ol' rabbit allowed to touch a rabbit’s headband or is it limited to parents and significant others and is that even relevant when presumably these bunnies are all fucking each other like...bunnies?

The characters are like “oh, the rabbits are wearing headbands; killer guqin problem solved.” And then they move right the fuck along with their lives and the rabbit headbands are never seen or discussed again and I just want a hit of whatever the author or creative team was smoking when they came up with this whole idea.

Headband Sharing

When Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji to hand over his headband, Lan Wangji understands his entire rabbit-based thought process without asking

Gen-X Joke Alert

Wei Wuxian is awfully impressed by this sword-recall trick, considering that he did it himself when they went to the lake.

I see you know your way around a sheath

Killer Guqin

When they approach the guqin I hope that the subtitles are mistranslated, because Wei Wuxian keeps promising not to touch it and then says he can't look at it without touching it. I'm not going to touch it, I just need to touch it. 

Lan Wangji is going to teach Wei Wuxian some goddamn boundaries no matter how many times he has to make him fondle his sword.

Nothing suggestive here

Lan Wangji sits down to play the guqin and immediately goes off into the ether where there are seagull noises and plenty of fans. This is either a state of pure bliss, or he just really likes seagulls.

Did Lan Wangji just have a stealth orgasm?

Speaking of getting off, get your ass off of my desk

The Yin Iron

Lan Wangji does some spirit whispering, and suddenly the cave starts yelling at them. A bunch of clans are chanting in unison about a plan, which is the cultivator version of a battle cry.

Lancestor Lan Yi shows up. She is elegant and has a combination of sweetness and gravity that is similar to Lan Xichen’s. And none of Lan Qiren’s douchiness.

Search Party

Lan Qiren is worried and Lan Xichen is worried and they have sent people to look for the boys. It's really too bad nobody around here knows magic.

All these powerful cultivators search for missing people by running around outdoors yelling for them. 

Yanli is excused from PE class because she’s not feeling well, so she sits on a rock in the woods instead of, you know, staying home in the first place. She gets bored sitting down and unwisely decides to walk two or three steps. Xuan Lu, seen here competing in a gymnastics event, gamely pretends she can’t climb a small rock. 

Yanli falls into Jin Zixuan's arms and they gaze at each other for a long heterosexual moment. 

No homosexual explanation possible

This means two things: 1. he isn't looking very hard for her brother if he's hanging out here catching wobbly girls 2. soulful longing looks from him ain't shit, because he's going to dump her in the next episode.

Lanny Granny

Lan Wangji intros himself to Lan Yi and does a full prostrate bow. Wei Wuxian does a standing bow since he's not a descendant, just a future in-law.

No I mean come on, HEADBANDS

Lan Gran explains the entire history of the yin iron. It's bad, it's full of resentful energy, no-one should use it. She’s going to dump it on a couple of 16 year old boys, one of whom has a woody for using resentful energy, because it’s destiny and her battery is about to run out. 

Props to the Prop Department; this thing does look pretty cool

Xue Chonghai was the most problematic cultivator back in the old days. He killed a lot of dudes and fed their resentment to...a turtle? To the disk? I don’t know; I literally am unable to pay attention when anyone is explaining the intricacies of the unobtanium Yin Iron. 

Anyway there’s a disk and it’s soaked up a lot of resentment.  

Using it makes people evil. Well except..clearly this dude started off evil, yeah? If he was feeding people to his turtle.

Side effects may include: being fucking crazy

Here Wei Wuxian brings out his "resentful energy is awesome" theory and has an experienced grown-up grand master tell him that she also thought this, and has spent 100 years locked in a cave with headband-wearing rabbits because she was super fucking wrong. Does this deter him? ...nope

Baoshan Sanren

Now she name checks Baoshan Sanren, and Wei Wuxian has a big reaction and Lan Wangji has a big noticing of Wei Wuxian’s reaction. He’s very attuned to Wei Wuxian’s emotional state, in the moments where WWX lets his actual feelings show through the sass and swagger.  

Lan Gran talks about her search for the Yin iron, and Lan Wangji wisely says, if you can't neutralize it, why look for it? And she says, I was filled with hubris just like ya boi Wei Wuxian.  Lan Wangji points out the exact same shit he will later point out to Wei Wuxian.

So now we have a parallel in which Lan Yi is just like Wei Wuxian and Baoshan Sanren is just like Lan Wangji, yeah? Which is kind of sweet; it shows how these types are drawn together and how your clan doesn't determine your personality. Also it shows how the Lan clan has room for an unorthodox clan leader. Also it shows how the Yin Iron causes some really bad breakups. 

These boys are standing on snow barefoot which has got to take a pretty high cultivation level. Look how short Lan Wangji is without his stilettos, aww.

Flashback to Baoshan Sanren, just long enough to appreciate how beautiful she is.

Did OP give up on recoloring that flashback-blue-hazed image and just start fucking around with random filters? Yes she did. 

We also get to see that Lan Yi and Lan Wangji have more common than just guqin, because they both like to solve problems by kicking them.  

So after breaking up with her girlfriend, Lan Gran became invisible in this cave for 100 years while trying to contain the Yin iron and put headbands on rabbits. 

Soundtrack: Vogue by Madonna Writing prompt: Watership Down rabbits meet Lan rabbits

Bonus extended bath clip:

Bai Yu, Detective L

[dirk-gently-theories]

Hello, I am alive and rewatching Dirk Gently with new friends (had to introduce them to the show). We’re on S2E3 and I keep having those tiny little thoughts about the big something.

Here’s  some of them:

- Todd and Amanda work like a battery. One’s the negative pole and the other one the positive. Input and output of energy. Redirecting it and transforming it.

- Holistics exist on both sides, the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. “Whatever this thing is, it doesn’t pick sides.” They might even be the main force that move things in the universe, the most important gearwheels as one might say. I believe that for every Dirk solving cases, there’s a Dirk causing cases. For every Bart ‘cleansing’ the path that the holistics will have to take to ensure their safety (without knowing it) there’s a Mr. Priest trying to kill them.

- Friedkin’s new job in the fabric of reality is to lead the holistics to where they need to go. They, as Priest phrased it, are his weapons and he’s the one who has to pull the trigger. Friedkin now sees everything, he somewhat knows how things work. He’s got to keep the balance between everything and the holistics are his weapons to do so. Friedkin is neither good nor bad, he’s everything and nothing. Just like he did with Ken he leads the holistics to where they need to go, where they need to take their shot. He tries his best but the universe works in mysterious ways and he doesn’t always understand it. Ken asked to leave the car, so Friedkin let him out of the car but left him inside the cell. A misunderstanding. But he still provided Ken with the things he needed to follow his path. (Might rewatch the scene later and unpack it more organized).

- Season 3 would’ve been sci-fi, the main focus on magic car fixing robots. Too many mentions of car fixing stuff and way too many cars in S2 for it to be a coincidence. I’m thinking that maybe there was an UFO with robots and it landed in a lake. Robots can’t get into the water, can’t fix the UFO so instead they fix cars. Smart and lethal children got a hold of the robots and use it to help their family who owns a car repair shop thingy. The UFO or the code name for the mission may be Atlantis and the UFO is “The lost city of gold”. Far fletched, I know. It’s just an idea.

- Season 3 would have ended with Bart going to space in the UFO, together with the kids. “The only constant is me and gravity.” - Not anymore. She doesn’t want to kill people anymore - not possible in space. Oh, and Todd would die. Not a permanent thing though. It’s the Mexican Funeral after all. Season 4 would have been within the supernatural/paranormal genre and we already had mentions of ghost Estevez. I don’t know if the story would be about getting Todd back/ghost Todd/resurrecting him or something (maybe he’s in Valhalla?) or if his death is even part of the plot, not just a clue for what’s about to happen. The thing I’m remotely sure about is: After reuniting with Dirk during the magic car fixing robot case, Assistent would take Todd’s place - because Todd isn’t there anymore, reason unclear.

- Ken maybe tries to build a gigantic unlimited energy device, with the holistics as the gearwheels/power source. I’m not sure if it’s a literal machine (for which he might need the help of genius children?) or just a description for his network of unlimited power sources, aka the holistics, which he can control, send out, call back and thus cause an imbalance.

- And of course Amanda as the leader of the holistics. I love how season 1 already it, the way the Rowdy3 instinctively followed Amanda around in their van.

(- What if in S4 Dirk explored the Death of his own parents?)

That’s it so far. I’ll keep you updated during the last episodes of the rewatch.

[bamboobrat]

succession s3 e8 recap: macaroni and memorial services 5/5

anyway, back from lake como, roman joins the others for a meeting to find out what to do about gojo. the swede wants a merger of equals or whatever the fuck he said and that means a lot of power lost for the roy family.

also, it means that karl, frank and gerri will have to fight for their lives, probably.... jesus christ.

it's funny to me, though, that frank and karl are back in NY still, but gerri is with the fam for the wedding. i need to know more about caroline and gerri's relationship, pleeeeeeaaaaaseeeeeee.

roman agrees with his father that mattson is a serious guy and that maybe they can say they will agree to a merger of equals, but still remain top dog.

i love how most of the business conversations in succession go from "we're fucked" to "fuck it" over the span of one interaction.

gerri tells roman he is a good boy over text.....

(drumroll)

and we all know what happens next, but let me repeat so that we all realize it did in fact happen:

ROMAN RESPONDS WITH A PICTURE OF HIS DICK, BUT ACCIDENTALLY SENDS IT TO LOGAN INSTEAD.

yes. this is real life.

the moment roman realized he was fucked:

at first, i didn't see the text completely, so i thought maybe he didn't include gerri's name in there. would have been a fun little mystery for them all to solve, like.... who did he send his dick to?

but no..... roman of course named gerri in the text and logan is disturbed.

mostly, i think, because he didn't know. he wants to know everything about everyone so that he can control them. and the roman and gerri alliance complicates his power over the both of them.

gerri gives roman what i can only describe as a death stare!!!!!

we knew from the trailer that this moment was a bad one, but we did not know how bad...

roman's respond when his dad asks why he sent the photo:

"i don't know, gerri's hot."

logan calls gerri a million years old and i want to murder him, because gerri LOOKS LIKE THIS:

we all need a gerri kellman makeup routine.

as per usual, shiv plays the woman card and plays it badly, telling gerri she should report roman to HR or she will look like a weak CEO.

what would make this problem go away? say it with me: wedding! wedding! wedding!

all of this aside, i don't actually think gerri is in a weaker position than shiv, not even after this. logan legitimately respects her and knows that she is capable. he doesn't believe the same to be true for any of his children, really.

i think logan might have started to believe roman could be the one and that might be compromised.

gerri, though? i'm sure she'll be fine.

and after that whole ordeal, we end the episode with kendall in the pool:

and listen, i rewatched this scene at least fifteen times to see how submerged his face was in the water and all... and i was very scared all fifteen times. but i don't believe our #1 boy is dead. as i wrote yesterday, i think he was just toying with the idea and breathing in water like waiter boy did, thinking about logan's comments and how he could have perhaps saved him.

what we are seeing here is self-harm for sure, but i'm crossing all that i have that we'll see more of him next episode.

predictions for next episode: kendall is not dead. i will cry because this season is over....

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: Episode 5

I thought this would be a shorter recap. Ha!

Every now and then throughout this show we are getting CGI wide shots of the Dragon City, mostly establishing the time of day. They have three settings: nighttime, daytime, and sunset/sunrise. While quality-wise those wide shots would not feel out of place in a video game from ten years ago, with buildings looking all rubbery, I actually really like this sunset sky. I also appreciate that they firmly establish that this is city is not, in fact, a real place. I almost wish the architecture was a little bit less familiar, but making the city look truly otherworldly here would make location scouting much harder. As it happens, the buildings on the forefront have a very 60’s art deco revival inspired feeling, and there are some distinctively neoclassical buildings peppered around as well. We can also see that the roads are very wide, and generally there is a hint of Stalinist grandioseness about the downtown. Unfortunately, it looks nothing like the locations and sets the characters are running in; we also get a feeling that the Dragon City is very large, which is not entirely consistent with the very few locations that were available when shooting the series. This shot does, however, remind me the city I grew up in (Moscow).

The actual plot of the episode centres around Huang Linqi and his fiancé, Li Jiaqi, going missing - it will be important, because their disastrous wedding will produce the most Clark Kent moment that Shen Wei will ever have. We also meet the parents of the couple, who are stinking rich and extremely unpleasant. It also introduces us to Butler Wu (Wu Tian’en) and his son, who will become important in later episodes. Butler Wu is not actually the villain of the piece, despite this shot clearly telling us otherwise. 

Back at the university, Shen Wei is having a morning tea with his dean. He holding his teacup with almost god-like elegance, very close to actually covering his mouth when he drinks, which is extremely old-fashioned. This is in stark contrast with him brazenly and un-gentlemanly showing his ankles. 

Shen Wei is asked to move off campus, because, apparently, having a chief of the special task force showing up at your office is bad for the reputation. Since the professor does not look surprised, and states that he has already found a flat, I’m guessing that he was clever enough to have predicted this turn of events, and used it to secure the place a breath away from Zhao Yunlan. It is up to speculation as to when he started scouting for an apartment: it could not have been more than a few weeks since he met Zhao Yunlan, and finding a flat can take a while. 

At the SID office, we are treated to a lovely moment between the team members, crowding around Lin Jin’s new invention: a popcorn-specific microwave.

It’s very sweet to see the team indulge in some nonsense outside of their case work, made even better by Wang Zheng being there. The fact that Zhao Yunlan is on board with his department’s time and resources being spent on a popcorn maker only makes this scene better. He is crouching on the table, because chairs are for the weak.

After inspecting the crime scene, Zhao Yunlan is spending some time outside chatting to Buttler Wu, and comments on Li Jiaqi’s good looks, since Zhao Yunlan is a man who can appreciate beauty.

As Xiao Guo is awe-struck at his boss’ ability to note someone’s prettiness from a distance, Chu Shuzhi literally rolls his eyes calling those “instincts of a beast”, and Zhao Yunlan fails to reprimand him for the remark, because… fair enough. Very fair enough. It’s hard not to relate to Zhao Yunlan, a self-admitted bi disaster. 

Shen Wei is being shown his new apartment. He does not even look around it, staring instead at Zhao Yunlan’s front door across the hall from him.

Moving here is a completely senseless thing to do. How on earth is he planning to hide his Hei Pao Shi persona while being a next door neighbour to the chief of SID? My conclusion is that from a character stand-point, it’s nothing but an act of desperate devotion; from a narrative stand-point, this codifies that their relationship is about to get very intimate indeed. 

The SID members are interrogating Buttler Wu: as is often the case, instead of bringing him in, like they did with Shen Wei, they hijack a cafe nearby to have a more relaxed conversation. As they talk, Shen Wei is making his way past the cafe, which both Wu Tian'en and Shen Wei notice. 

Shen Wei proceed to follow Butler Wu, who calls him out on it. This leads to a removal of his glasses so epic it warrants a jump-cut to close-up, on top of the dutch angle used mere seconds prior to it.

Instantly recognizing Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi, Wu Tian’en sinks to his knees in reverence. Again, fair enough. After having a brief conversation about their shared history, Shen Wei states that Butler Wu is not allowed to lay a hand on Zhao Yunlan. 

“Chief Zhao? You’re stalking him?” 

“You don’t need to know more.”

That is not a no. Mostly because that is a yes. 

Shen Wei promises to not take Wu Tian’en away before the man resolves his current problems, adding that he hopes his old acquaintance won’t have any regrets when that happens. As Shen Wei walks away, he muses “Then how much time is there left for me?” 

(And I have to fight an uncomfortable sinking feeling in my stomach, which is occurring a lot as I rewatch those series.) 

The same evening at the SID offices the team is struggling with the case so much Da Qing suggests asking Hei Pao Shi’s help. Zhao Yunlan bristles at the idea, and… calls Shen Wei instead. Of course he does.

To be fair, he does so to check whether the other man is stalking him, but he also calls him by his given name rather Professor Shen, reinforcing that he makes this enquiry as a friend, not at as the chief of the Special Investigations Department. 

During the phone call Shen Wei is absentmindedly playing with the corner of the publication he is reading. 

While Yunlan does not deny that he still thinks Shen Wei is potentially up to something dodgy, he still proceeds to ask his advice on the case. This continues the dynamic from the previous episode: it’s not that Yunlan is completely blind, it’s just that he trusts Shen Wei regardless of the secrets he might be hiding. 

Moving on, here’s what I have to say on he topic of bad CGI. There are several reasons in the world for a piece of visual media to have a poor quality computer animation. It could be laziness, or it could be absence of imagination, both of which are inexcusable. It also could be absence of funds, as is the case with the Guardian. And, honestly, I am alright with that. It’s not their fault, and I would much rather see this drama as it is - bad CGI and all - than none at all. 

And, the quality of CGI here has energy similar to Live Action Sailor Moon (PGSM), which I honestly find both nostalgic and endearing. 

That show also has a talking cat, but it’s performed by a literal plush toy on strings, so Guardian certainly wins here.

While Huang Linqi and Li Jiaqi are being kept together (possibly in an alternate dimension, seeing as how they have emerged from the lake completely dry), they talk through their relationship issues, and the audience finds itself with a sugar-sweet take on the arranged marriage/strangers to lovers trope. I feel a little bit bad about their disaster wedding now. 

At the same time, Xiao Jun and Wu Tian’en’s story is a tiny echo of Shen Wei end Je Zun: the son thinks his dad left him to fend for himself when he was young and vulnerable, and distrusts the very concept of love because of that perceived abandonment. Unlike Je Zun however, he stops to have an actual conversation, which ultimately forces him to quit his senseless act of revenge, and make the first step on the path of reconciliation and redemption. This is Guardian telling us that communication skills do, in fact, matter. 

He also drops this bombshell of a line, which hurts my heart a lot.

“In the face of death every love in the world is mere foam”

On an entirely separate note, I am very glad that the actor who plays Butler Wu is wearing nice thick knee pads. 

They are very visible, and they make a little “boing” when he hits the ground, but the actor has to fall to his knees twice in this episode, both times on hard surfaces, one of which is literal gravel, and I’m happy that the production is being considerate of their actors’ physical well-being. 

While this episode does not mark the first time Zhao Yunlan is being understanding to the Undergrounders in pain, this is the first time anti-Unvergrounder bigotry is explicitly framed in a negative light. The two evil businessmen, who cast a child aside just because he has special powers, are shown as unquestionably in the wrong. Xiao Jun is lightly scolded for his rash actions, but he is not brought back to SID in cuffs, and he is not immediately given away to Hei Pao Shi. Far from that: he is brought in softly, to spend some time at his dying father’s side. 

As Butler Wu slipping away, we once more see Guo Changcheng being recklessly heroic, as he is prepared to use the Longevity Dial to share his life force. Instead of letting him do it, Zhao Yunlan snatches the Hallow away and decides to perform this particular miracle himself. This is the same man who will later sacrifice his eyesight to bring people’s lives back. Bai Yu’s acting in that moment is utterly phenomenal, showing a whole range of emotion from horror to determination to dismay in mere seconds. 

Hei Pao Shi teleports in, and, without a preamble, scolds Zhao Yunlan (the first episode in the series-long “don’t touch the Hallows” saga), and then asks him whether it’s worth shortening his life for an Undergrounder. This is in equal parts a provocation and a test, because I’m fairly certain that Shen Wei was going to save Wu Tian’en anyway. 

As SID members beg Hei Pao Shi to save Butler Wu in perfect unison, Zhao Yunlan states that a person is a person, regardless of their origin. Shen Wei notes inwardly that SID had changed, and, as expected, heals Butler Wu, while Yunlan stares at his power with relief and awe.

Since I have talked about the wide shot of the Dragon City, let’s talk about its counterpart in the Underworld. 

I have failed to notice before that there appears to be a vast city next to the volcano river, some way away from the royal Palace, looming over it. Geographically, this makes little sense: we will see characters leave the Palace and instantly end up in a city square throughout the series, but I still really enjoy this wide shot. It is also interesting to see the architecture of the place. It is somewhere between (western) medieval abodes and futuristic shipment container blocks, with living spaces built on top of each other, crammed-in, and unpleasant. I also love the lighting here, contrasting blue and red.

Hallows random power #n: projecting their brethren. Imagine how useful it would be if they also did that for the Brush and the Lantern.

The next day, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are on a leisurely morning jog, while Yunlan is wearing bottoms that my partner refers to as “sheggings” (as in, shorts + leggings)

They are talking about Shen Wei, naturally. In my head-canon, Zhao Yunlan is driving his colleagues nuts because can’t help himself but bring the good professor up every goddamn minute of every goddamn day.

As they turn the corner to go home, they bump into the subject of discussion, who informs them that he moved into the building, and leaves abruptly looking more than slightly pleased with himself. 

Finally, we are treated to Guo Changcheng’s surveillance exam. I don’t know why he thought this outfit would make him look less conspicuous. 

Eventually, the SID will learn that some of their staff members don’t have to be fighters or detectives. In Xiao Guo, they have found the heart of their team, and that is enough. 

Next up, Episode 6: The Coat Zhao Yunlan Will Buy

—

PS: I have mentioned earlier, that I have a sinking feeling as I watch Guardian, and I would like to elaborate on that. You see, I am very scared of flying. It’s an irrational fear, but it is the one I nonetheless have. There is a very specific feeling I get just as the plane starts gaining speed on the runway: there is joy, because at the end of this journey they is something to look forward to (my parents’ hugs, a drink with a friend, a favourite place, a new city to explore), but there is also a painful anticipation, as I brace for the moment the aircraft will tilt upwards, knowing that I will be pushed back into my chair by gravity, battling against an onslaught of a panic attack, shaking, learning to breathe, fighting with everything I have to keep my heart rate down. Watching Guardian from the beginning, knowing where the story is going, mirrors that feeling perfectly.

PPS: The following conversation happened with my partner as I way typing this recap.

My partner: Do you think Shen Wei ever wears sheggings?

Me: Sweetie, I think he would rather die. 

[cloudylotus]

#ShowYourProcess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you for the tag Mimi @yiling-recesses​ ~ it was so fascinating to see how you plan and organise everything and then the editing process as well! ♥

I was tagged to show my process for my Episode 17 Post which somehow got relatively popular, in comparison to the rest at least, so I’m glad to share the behind the scenes of that post in particular. This is going to be a long ride so buckle up friends.  ∑(O_O;)

1. Planning

First of all I have to rewatch the whole entire episode before I can even start on anything. So I usually sit down with pen and paper in hand and ready to pause at any given moment that sparks interest. In case there is a quote that sounds fancy enough to represent the episode I write it down, or when I see a scene or just a certain shot that catches my eyes I screenrecord that certain scene and save it in a folder for that specific episode. Over time I accumulate scenes here and there so I already form a rough idea in my head which scenes would look good together or would make sense together. Sadly this also sometimes leads me to have very few scenes because nothing really inspired me, or I end up with only one quote that I wasn’t even too sure about, but I just make the best out of it. So I basically let the episode itself be the whole drive and inspiration for my edit but I also try to not give away too much in terms of spoilers. So if you were to see it with the knowledge of what’s going on it’s supposed to be hitting a nerve, evoke a memory, or at least make sense, especially given in combination with the quote, but if you were to see this set without the knowledge of what’s happening I’d still like it to be interesting enough without giving away too much of the story. Do I even make sense, mayhaps.

This is usually what I end up with in my folder, sometimes I have about 20 scenes, sometimes 3, so for episode 17 this was a decent amount to work with! [Also please don’t ask why I name the clips like that, they made sense to me in that moment and it works somehow. And yes Wen Qing is the queen and there is nothing to stop her   (ﾒ` ﾛ ´)  ] Now it’s time to look through the scenes again that I clipped out and begin with the actual gif making. I use Avisynth to rezise all the gifs to either the smaller squares, the “full” square or sometimes the longer rectangle - honestly I usually do these very much based on what I think would look good in my head and just decide based on that, so sometimes I end up making the same gif again just in a different size because I felt it was lacking impact or ended up looking better in another set. Sometimes I end up not using gifs I made at all  ┐( ˘_˘ )┌

2. Creating

Now that I have this huge mess of endless gifs and pretty scenes that would work as a background loaded in my Photoshop I start to assemble. Given the fact that I always use the same 540x540 format at least the step of building a base is uncomplicated.  The first part of the set I made was the lotus lake scene. The moments that were catching my eyes the most were mainly the close ups of the actual plant. Detailed close ups make my heart go boom boom. So I figured they would pair well with a scene where all three of the siblings were in screen to convey this mood of like ‘happy yunmeng trio being silly in lotus pier yay’, especially given the fact that it’s a fond memory of Wei Wuxian in this oh so painful episode.

So I have the base grid I always work with, the gif of our three beloved plus the two lotus close ups. From here on it’s just very trial and error where the still pictures fit best over the gif and I just tweak around for so long until it looks good. Once I am done with the positioning of everything I slap my watermark on it and my default colouring for these sets. Of course the default coloring action I made never works the way I want it to so I end up messing around with it for half an eternity to make all the different colours work together and look coherent which sometimes leads me to colour one single part individually and adding more filters to the background and what not. This is how it looked like in this particular edit ~

For the other two edits I basically repeated the same process just slightly adjusted to whichever format I use [this is already way longer than needed]. When I make the edits with four gifs in the middle I always have to shorten the gifs beforehand so they have the same amount of frames in order to make the whole thing work to begin with. Usually gifs with the same colour palette or same theme work well together so in this case the food and hands stood out to me [hands always do, always]. So I found the perfect set of gifs to work with that and just added a scene of Wei Wuxian in the background as he fell asleep studying the scripts and Wen Qing came to bring him food, since this is a big part of the episode.

Of course we slap on all the fancy stuff on top afterward and tadaa - it’s a gifset. At last I had the scene of Wen Qing turning her head slightly and I knew from the beginning that I needed to have that scene as a “full” gif as I was just struck with love. I had so many different things I put on top like frames and flowers or tried to put the gif in a certain shape - whatever, it just looked kinda bad - until I found this dragon png and finally had an epiphany. I must confess i didn’t mask out the dragon perfectly to fit behind her but I reached a point of desperation as my creativity of the day left me behind struggling.

3. Posting

Once I am done with all three edits, sometimes only two depending on the amount of clips I saved, I arrange them in Tumblr and check how they look best. This thing alone can take me forever unless I have a set that has a coherent background throughout all of the individual edits so I don’t need to worry about in what order to arrange them. But once I finally decided on that I go back to my notes of quotes and try to decide which one works best in regard to the criteria I mentioned above. In this set the angsty Jiang Cheng had the honor. For finishing touches I add the link to my other episode sets and all the tags to keep things organized and usually ramble a bit about the process or my feelings. That’s what tags are for, right? 

Oof so yeah, that’s it. This turned out way longer than anticipated and I already edited this down...whoops.

I would like to tag:

@huigusu​ - for this painful beauty

@leonzhng​ - with this incredible masterpiece

@mylastbraincql​ - because this post makes me feel things

@fengqing​ - words can’t even describe

@lan-xichens​ - this set made me cry

No pressure at all to do this if you do not want to or have already done one before! ♥

[kiss-my-freckle]

8x16 Rewatch: Nicholas Obenrader

IRS storyline. Red’s friendly thief talks about someone going to Boston University. Another one going to college. Agnes will tie into their college storylines somehow. I love Red’s comment about Ressler. “Black shoes, cheap suit, flat stomach, regulation cut - don’t get me wrong, he’s bent, just not as bent as we’d like him to be.”

“Why must you always be early?” This ties in Ressler’s comment to Liz in Brothers. “Not on my watch.” Whatever happens, he’ll be early. Ressler informs the team. He knows a great deal about the Yakuza because of Mako Tanida. 

Espinosa was building his golden parachute like The Director did. He takes a 10% cut from the 40% cut the crew is supposed to get. Red’s friend informs Neville. He’s boxing Espinosa just like he did Rudigger. Neville’s people have no reason to doubt Liz. He already knew she was an agent.

“She’s really good. But I think we’ll all be a lot better when this is done.” A nice hit to the note the woman from Paris left for Red. “You’re good. I’m better.” The worst has yet to come.  “Liz’s mom abandoned her. She would never do the same to Agnes.” Aram has no clue why Katarina gave Liz up for adoption. She had no choice. Liz will realize this soon enough when her own child ends up in danger because Neville wants to kill her. Katarina didn’t make a mistake, Liz did. 

The whole brother of Charles at the lake house reminds me of Liz’s comment about Ressler’s lake house when she spoke to Laurel Hitchin in 4x19. 

Liz is so disrespectful. Anyway... Cooper sent Aram to Paris because he’s still unofficially working with Liz. Ressler last week, Aram this week. Cooper basically knew Aram would be meeting with Liz. I will blame the entire task force along with Liz for whatever happens to her and/or Agnes and/or Jennifer because they failed to arrest her and chose to work against Red instead. He’s their CI. Liz is not. Red put her on the blacklist for a reason. Panabaker put her on the wanted list for a reason. 

“If I were you, I’d like the finish line.” Red’s comment is a nice kick back to his comment to Liz in Devlin’s episode, S5. “Our sprint to the finish. The bag is just out of reach now.”

I love Aram’s care for Agnes in this episode, but I laugh at Liz’s comment.  “Where we live is quiet and peaceful.” A nice kickback to the scene cut in 7x13 for their War and Peace theme. Ressler's "But maybe this will help us." US being Keenler. A hearing aid that blocks out sound. Cut to Agnes' name on her passport meaning Peace. “Your daddy just always taught me to be ready for a rainy day.” This runs through The Freelancer in 8x5. “There's a number pre-programmed. You ask for Charlotte. You tell them you got caught in the rain and need to dry off.” It won’t be quiet and peaceful for long. Charlotte’s web is about to get tangled. 

“I’ve done some awful things.” Liz kicking back to S3... again. “I have done... so many terrible things. I have hurt so many people."

“Whoever said crime doesn’t pay wasn’t very good at it.” When crime nearly costs Liz her daughter... she’ll understand what that truly means. It’s a dialogue that kicks back to The Ethicist in S6. “He did a cost-benefit analysis on these people, figured that the cost outweighed the benefits, and killed them because of it." Liz believes the benefit outweighs the cost. It doesn’t. 

Finally, some Ressler action in a lake house. 

Sikorsky’s official name is Ivan Stepanov. Red’s friend in the East. Officially, he’s SVR. Unofficially, he’s a high-ranking member of Zaslon. running black-ops around the globe. “Mobilize assets.”

Red doesn't expect Obenrader to reveal anything meaningful about Neville's organization. Obenrader knows the blowback it’ll have on his loved ones if he does. This is what Liz will have to worry about later. The blowback on her loved ones. More specifically, Jennifer and Agnes. 

Whoever their inside man is, it’ll be a low-level agent like The Director’s friend in Zal Bin Hasaan’s episode. I’m expecting someone outside the task force, but close enough to tap the phone. They know Liz is using burners, so they had to tap Ressler’s. Yeah, another kickback to S3. 

The task force can’t arrest Stepanov, so they’re letting Liz extract him. Because they chose to work with Liz and Ressler contacted her about Stepanov while having a tap on his phone, Neville’s own people got their hands on him first. Precisely the point. They just put Liz in the direct line of fire because Katarina was N-13 and she’s very much alive. I thought it’d be Paula who got into his line, but it was Neville’s people. Guarantee Stepanov can prove Katarina was N-13, and knows the identity of imposter Katarina. This knowing will be Liz’s downfall. He’s going to protect Red at all costs (tortured or not) because he and Red have been working on this project together for the past 30 years.

“Oh, my stars” is a common quote from Red. He used it in Lord Baltimore with Yaabari. "Let me guess, I stole something from you. A painting, jewelry.... your heart."  Red’s new asset is gorgeous as hell. Priya Laghari. 

“I want to be your angel.” - Red

Red pulls a fake shooting on Ressler and Park so as not to look like a CI in bed with the FBI. “Of course, a mystery is only as good as the story around it.” Red saying exactly what I’ve been saying about his real identity. It has to fit the story around it. 

Alina Park is pretending to read Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy. “A powerful story about family secrets, first love, the limits of forgiveness, and finding your way in the world.”

“Like taking candy from a kid.” A hit to Rizal’s episode. This is where Agnes falls in, along with the dialogues about spoiling her rotten. 

“You think you’re giving her a rope to hang herself. I fear you may be giving her a rope to hang all of us.” A nice hit back to 8x14. “I’m responsible for Mary Bremmer’s murder, Dembe’s torture, and I got nothing to show for it, except for another reminder that no matter how tight the noose, Reddington will always cheat the hangman." To be clear, Liz fully accepting responsibility for the murder of Mary Bremmer, so what comes to Jennifer will be on her. That whole washer necklace choking Mary through Liz’s Cyranoid. She didn’t specify that it brought her good luck, only that it brought her luck... because Tom Keen is bad luck. 

A noose for Jennifer Reddington. Then Liz will have something to show for it. 

Red is worried about Priya. He hired her to assassinate Neville. 

He should be worried. This focal shot is a kickback to Roy Cain's episode in S7. His "knock on wood" will push back to Liz and her fate.

Purposeful stuff. 

A kiss of death... like the woman from Paris kissing Red before injecting him. It also makes me think of The Apothecary, the Scotch. Just throw it in the bottle while he's gone and be done with it. While she may not kill Neville, I do think she’ll be the reason Red’s friend Ivan will survive. She’s a thief. "Items” include people. That's what Neville wants Priya to steal. She's gonna steal Ivan Stepanov. "Item" is how Red referred to Raymond’s bones in S5 and how they referred to Karakurt when he came in country in S2... items. Rakitin wasn’t worth the save. 

The Stranger by Albert Gamus. The book Dembe was reading that Red starts to read. The novel is famous for its first lines: “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.”

"Katarina Rostova was N-13. And Katarina Rostova is dead." Ivan Stepanov speaks truth. Red is N-13 because he's Katarina. SHE has been dead for 30 years. Of all people, the person who created the archive can prove who stole it in 1990. Expect Neville to be pissed because he's been chasing the wrong woman for 30 years. Ivan can reveal it all without revealing Red's real identity.

Neville’s comment about her innocence. “But Katarina Rostova was framed. Which means I dedicated my life to the hatred of an innocent woman.” This pushes back to Red’s comment in 8x2. “Is that the story she told you? She's a victim? An innocent wrongly accused?" What Ivan will be revealing to Neville. The real Katarina Rostova was no innocent. He knows Red is Katarina and he knows he’s dead either way because he created the archive that took Neville’s family. "Do you know who I am? Because I know who you are. You're the one who created the archive that destroyed my family." He’s gonna put Liz on the chopping block. "And I asked you to fly here so I could look you in the eye and tell you: I agree... for now." Because he has no idea she’s Katarina’s daughter, which means he has no idea she’s Red’s daughter.  

Full drive through the rest of the season. The first person Neville would kill... is Liz. 

[pluviophile-bookworm]

AWAE 3x1 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

So we’re finally here, up to the (unfortunately) final season of AWAE. I will be rewatching and reacting to the first half of the season only, since I’ve already posted my reactions to episodes 5-10 when they were coming out. Just thought I’d say that here. 

For this rewatch, I will be adding onto the notes to myself I made when first watching the episode. Also, this is dedicated to Amybeth McNulty for her birthday today.

So, without further ado, I suggest we dive right in.

Can we talk about how Anne’s beautiful green ribbon gets untied and flies into the air while she is riding through the snow and she doesn’t even seem to care? I mean, she looks back and smiles at it, but doesn’t even think of trying to retrieve it… If I were her, I would have turned the horse around. Although it did seem like the ribbon was too high up in the air for her to reach. Also, her hair is beautiful flying loose in the wind… like we’ve never seen it before. [Present-day note: of course we’ll see it like that again, and from Gilbert’s point of view. That scene was magical. Truly magical]

So… Ruby still has it for Gilbert… and she has it going on strong… she’s supposed to be covering the hockey game for the school newspaper, but she’s dropped her notebook in the snow [Present-day note: again, my dislike of ruining material objects speaks here, but - I felt really bad for that notebook. It’s done nothing to deserve being ruined by the snow] because she only has eyes for one of the players… and so does Anne. I really hope the budding love between her and Gil doesn’t shatter poor little peach Ruby’s heart. [Present-day note: I’m so beyond happy she got over him before Anne realised that she was, as they would say on Friends, ‘under’ him.] She’s a dearie and deserves the best.

The hockey field (probably nothing more than a frozen lake, but this is the 19th century, so, you know) has apparently turned into a place of courtship, as Billy is giving his attentions to Josie and Moody to Diana… but her parents won’t allow it. “Too rich to be a minister’s wife?”, Josie teases. But then the attention shifts to Gilbert who stares at something undefined between Anne and Ruby, leaving it ambiguous which girl his affections are directed to. The whole thing is very awkward to watch, and with no Cole around to reassure Anne that Gilbert has a crush on her, and her only, she may as well think he’s finally returning Ruby’s sympathies. That scene is intense.

The natives appear – a man and a little girl, presumably his daughter, the girl that was mentioned in the articles promoting this season. It turns out the man is the one who makes the hockey sticks for the boys, and the difference in nature between Gilbert and Billy is once again emphasised by how they each treat him. Billy is superficially polite, saying “Thank you” when receiving his new stick, but he says it in a sort of patronising way, like the subtext here is “We whites are better than you”. Gilbert, on the other hand, is just as polite and respectful as he would be to any white man – or woman, for that matter. I mean, he lives with a black couple, so he can’t be racist at all. I mean, he’s an absolute cinnamon roll.

Anne is even better with the natives, as in, she doesn’t even notice anything about them that would make them superficially different than her and her peers. She asks if she could write an article about the man, but not about his lifestyle or different standards, but about the sticks he makes. She sees the quality work, not that the man doing it is non-white. And I bet she’ll be learning a lot about their life and culture later on, in a perfectly respectful and inclusive way. This is beautiful.

Billy comes back and is all kinds of disrespectful, so the girl, Ka’kwet, shows her dislike of him very clearly, and her father warns her against “stir[ring] trouble with the white man”… the tension can’t be ignored anymore. It can practically  be cut with a knife.

The man offers a great judgement of Billy – “The little man with the big ego” – in his own native language, so only Ka’kwet understands. But he couldn’t be more right.

Billy walks away, muttering “Savages” under his breath. Anne, however, isn’t shaken for a millisecond in her wish to visit and interview them later.

So, Billy won’t even be coming back to school, as he’s stepping into the family business. I’m hoping we won’t see much of him anymore. [Present-day note: Unfortunately, we will. And when I say unfortunately, I mean devastatingly. Before this season, I didn’t think this excuse of a guy could get any worse, but in the latter half he’s proven to be an absolute entitled monster. I loathe him, and I’m not even sorry for allowing myself to feel such negative emotions.]

Jane is “chaperoning” Josie and Billy as they walk back from the game? I mean, yes, she is his sister, but she’s younger than him, I think. But well, I’m not sure how chaperoning works in such a situation.

Anne arrives at the natives’… village? What is it, exactly? Anyway, her new budding friendship with Ka’kwet (which, the poor thing says, just means “starfish”; now she and Anne can bond over wishing they had a different name – although Anne isn’t as resentful of hers anymore, now that she’s signed the family bible as “Anne Cordelia Shirley- Cuthbert) is just so beautiful… this show is pure aesthetic. [Both visually and in terms of content.]

Marilla disapproves of Anne’s having fraternised with the natives… the tension builds up. I guess Anne won’t be stopped from seeing her new friends so easily, though.

At the Pye household, Josie’s mother is pressuring her to “get a hold” of Billy before someone else does. I mean, she’s a Pye – an unpleasant person as per the book, so she deserves him. Let her have him, as long as Gilbert is reserved for Anne and Anne alone. [Yeah, in retrospect, not even Josie deserves this imbecile. But I didn’t know back then just how bad he could be.]

So Anne’s words “seems to me I was destined to be the bride of adventure” from the teaser are part of her evening prayer – a change from the (apparently) usual plea to make her good-looking, which she now, on the brink of age 16, sees as a childish wish and not a real prayer. Anne has grown!

“Many suitors or even just one…” Come on, Anne, are you blind? You have one – The One at that. Take Notice of him… I mean, the Take Notice board will be returning as per a gif set I saw here on Tumblr, so I really hope Shirbert moves on a bit quicker than it has so far.

Bash and Mary have a baby! Since when? I don’t know, but I love it. Is Gilbert the godfather? Seeing as he is Bash’s best friend and honorary brother, he must be… oh dreams…. [Either way, he’s her Uncle Gilby]

Her name is Delphine? That’s beautiful. Also, Gilbert just kissed her forehead before going out to school… the dream has come true.

The unlikely duo of Rachel Lynde and Miss Stacy takes centre stage in the next scene where Miss Stacy says she doesn’t need a man as she has discovered self-sufficiency after her husband’s death. Mrs. Lynde, of course, wants to play matchmaker for her. As I said, this is an unlikely duo and I would very much like to know how this relationship turns out further.

Anne and Diana are dreading the nearing day of their separation as Di goes to finishing school in Paris and Anne goes to college in Queens. I really want to know how this separation will turn out. [Fortunately, I won’t have to find out, and neither will they.]

 Another line of tension builds up with the resurrection of the Take Notice board, as the girls discuss the pressure to get married soon and Josie teases Anne about becoming an old maid, as seen in the trailer.

Poor Ruby takes the blow instead of Anne as she, who will apparently be going to Queens with Anne and Gilbert – only in order to remain close to him (poor unfortunate soul), is desperate to receive any advance from him. I really don’t want her to suffer, but here she is now, crying about him not noticing her. I almost want her to not end up going to Queens, as that will most probably be the place where Shirbert’s relationship will finally bloom, and I don’t want her to witness that. [AWAE Ruby would have loved to be Book!Ruby, as she gets much more attention from him there - but she doesn’t care as much. However, seeing as how Book!Ruby ends up, AWAE Ruby should be glad she’s not quite her.]

Anne “bet[s she] can help” Ruby’s Gilbert issue – but if she is the root of the problem and she doesn’t know it, how can she possibly be of any use to poor Ruby?

I’ve never seen Anne ignore someone so hard as she just did Moody – he greeted her and she barely turned her head in his direction, muttering a quick “Hi” before returning to her conversation with the girls… good thing he is not one of her suitors. Although she doesn’t pay much more attention to Gilbert, you know. 

I see Moody has grown up a lot since last time he was seen, and he’s now a close second to Gilbert, at least the way I see it. That’s quite a glow up he’s had. But I kinda wanted Diana and Jerry to be a thing – and now I’m low-key shipping her with Moody “your dress is very… blue” Spurgeon. The poor guy has always been awkward around her; it’s obvious he likes her. [See, I told you I only ship couples that have explicit signs of potential to happen. Even though Diana and Moody didn’t happen even for a second, I’ve apparently seen something in her and Jerry stemming from that one single conversation they had. I mean, he did call her ‘the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen’, so that must have been what made me ship them - even before I had the slightest idea they were going to be a thing this season. I still can’t get over the fact that they were not endgame. In my mind, at least, they are - somewhere in that future we didn’t get to see.]

 And now the super famous “take notice” scene between Anne and Gilbert is happening… oh the tension. [You know, this scene reminds me of Vanessa Hudgens’ Rather Be with You. If you haven’t heard that song, go listen to it and then try to tell me I’m wrong here.]

Anne was apparently talking about Ruby in this scene, and Gilbert was blabbing on about “the right person” and stuff… Shirbert is on!!

Well, that was a turn of events! The second Anne mentions Ruby you can actually see Gilbert’s emotions change. Kudos to Lucas for portraying that only with his eyes. How to those kids do that? 

And poor Ruby has been observing him during the conversation, of course… she is so deluded, the unfortunate thing – she thinks his reluctance to post means he’s looking for a much more romantic advance to make… Poor thing. Shirbert will break her heart and might just ruin her friendship with Anne forever… and she dies young in canon. I just hope Moira finds a way to give her the happy ending she deserves… [And, as we know, Moira didn’t disappoint there. I’m so glad things turned out for Ruby the way they did]

Jerry can read long complicated texts now… he’s reading Frankenstein [Little did I know how important this book would be for his story arc this season], for goodness’ sake! I stan one (1) beautiful [inside and out] French farm boy!! And I ship him with Diana even more now. Although if her parents won’t allow her a future minister, how will they allow a farm boy?

Diana has actual royal ancestry… but that ancestry is “keeping [her] from Queens; from [Anne]”. Isn’t this a tragical Bro-mance right there? It is indeed.

Marilla is helping Mary with the baby… makes me wonder if she has been dreaming of one for so long but never got to have it and this is why she’s so attached to this one… this series is beautiful but dramatic… it really tugs on my heartstrings.

Diana stands up for herself and her own wishes in front of her parents… but she doesn’t achieve more than angering them that way… poor little rich girl, indeed.

Also, I just love how the Barrys express their anger. Diana sits at the piano and starts playing angrily, while her mother embroiders angrily and her father reads his newspaper angrily. [I had no idea two out of those three things could be done angrily. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which two.]

The Take Notice board has a note on it saying “Susan has her sight on Moody Spurgeon”. Who is this Susan and why is she eyeing Moody if he’s courting Diana?

Anne is super excited about turning 16… “Once upon a time this was the happiest day of my parents’ life”. I really want her to find out about her ancestry eventually. But I want her and Gilbert to finally get together more. [Of course, both of these will happen in this season. I sort of knew that even back then.]

Let’s sum up: Anne has beautiful hair, but, more importantly, dreams of finding out her family history; Ruby has it bad for Gilbert - but we already knew that; Ka’kwet and her father make their first appearance and create tension in the process; Billy is racist on top of everything - but we all expected that; courting is in full swing; Rachel Lynde plays matchmaker; lots of tension caused by the Take Notice board; eye (and eyebrow) acting; Jerry reads Frankenstein; Marilla is a really good mother, and not only to Anne; who’d have known embroidery and reading could be done angrily; who is Susan; Anne is nearing 16 and things are about to change forever.

[disappointingyet]

The Last Seduction

Director John Dahl Stars Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, Bill Pullman, JT Walsh, Bill Nunn UK/USA 1994 Language English 1hr 50mins Colour

Gloriously nasty 1990s noir

[Spoilers about the events of the first 10 minutes or so of the movie]

Is the greatness of The Last Seduction a marvelous accident? (You may, of course, not agree that it’s a a great movie). Why an accident? Because although this was the writer’s first movie, he only has two further credits. Because although John Dahl was a promising director making his third movie, in the quarter century since he’s only made five more. And, most of all, I guess, because Linda Fiorentino gives such an indelible performance, yet by the end of the decade her career was effectively over and in 2009 she officially called it quits. 

I think that summary is unfair to Dahl, at least: he’s one of several directors who made good low-budget movies in the 1990s who have gone on to have long, steady careers in the waves of great TV that followed – he’s done episodes of Billions, Justified, The Americans and Dexter, to give just a small sample. As for Fiorentino, I can’t presume to know whether her failure to become a big star was down to bad luck, Hollywood’s misogyny, her own character or some combination of the above. 

After watching the film again, though, what I can say is I still think she’s extraordinary here.* She plays Bridget Gregory, who wants the kind of Manhattan apartment that her job as a manager at a telemarketing firm and her husband’s income as hospital resident won’t pay for. So Clay Gregory (Bill Pullman) does a drug deal – which, presumably, is Bridget’s idea – and then she double-crosses him, drives off with the cash and ends up laying low in Beston, a characterless town in upstate New York.

In Beston, she has what’s meant to be a one-off screw with none-too-bright local Mike (Peter Berg), which sort of becomes an ongoing thing. 

In a way, the tension of the story comes from a situation where Bridget’s been advised by her lawyer Frank (JT Walsh) to sit patiently until her divorce comes through, but she’s not prepared to be passive. She’s spotting opportunities and using them to build a scheme to protect the fruits of her first crime. 

The great JT

What occurs to me is that although the femme fatale drives the events in, say, Double Indemnity (which The Last Seduction references) and Basic Instinct (a huge recent hit when this came out), we don’t see the story from her point of view. The perspective in those movies, and in most others in the tradition I can think of, is of the manipulated man.** But The Last Seduction is emphatically Bridget’s story. 

And, doubling-down on that, Bridget has little vulnerability and no warmth or empathy.  Mike says to her: ‘I'm trying to figure out whether you're a total fucking bitch or not.’ and Bridget replies: 

‘I am a total fucking bitch’.

The closest thing she has to a friend and confident is Frank, and while she clearly enjoys his amorality and the fact that he trades insults with her, she’s also relying on attorney-client privilege. Walsh – one of the great character actors – and Fiorentino seem to have a terrific energy together but since all their conversations happen over the phone, who knows if they were actually even acting together?

Bill Nunn!

So it’s up to Fiorentino to carry the movie and she does. She makes Bridget a compelling and convincing sociopath rather than a cartoonish character. She finds a way to make the spirit of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity work in a post-innuendo age. And Dahl keeps the film lean and efficient around her. Along with Walsh, there’s able support from Pullman (who, like Fiorentino, was somewhat older than the character he was playing) and Bill Nunn as a private eye. Peter Berg went on to be better known as a director and exec producer than actor, but this is one of his better roles.

A passing thought on the question of genre, even though I know these are just arbitary categories we give movies. Like most critics I tend to think of The Last Seduction as a noir (or neo-noir, if you like) rather than considering it an erotic thriller, which is what the production company allegedly thought they were getting and which its none-of-the-cast-or-main-crew sequel The Last Seduction II presumably is. Part of that might just be snobbishness – I like this therefore I’d rather slot it  alongside, say, Scarlet Street than the movies starring assorted Shannons that followed in the wake of Basic Instinct or indeed Jade, the William Friedkin/Joe Eszterhas movie Fiorentino starred in shortly afterwards.  (Then again, I’ll make the case for the bonkers but in places briliantly made Basic Instinct – absolutely an erotic thriller – anytime). More to the point, though, is the fact that the sex scenes in The Last Seduction are all short and plot-relevant – it is (like the noirs of the 1940s) a film whose sexual charge comes through atmosphere and dialogue rather than flesh. 

However, there’s a clear difference in style from Dahl’s debut, Kill Me Again, which although it was set in the present day had lots of scenes that were clearly trying to evoke the 1940s in their look. The Last Seduction in its lighting and sets and technology is unashamedly early 1990s. There are a couple of things that can be seen as retro nods – Bridget’s hair has a Veronica Lake shape to it, for instance – but its noirishness is much more about the characters and the narrative than the visuals. 

Oh, and I like the way that in the outdoor shots in NYC the shots emphasise the height of the buildings and bridges*** to provide a contrast for when we reach low-rise Beston.

(Quick note: if you were born after the film was made and have 2020-flavour progressive sensibilities or are older but share those concerns, there are a couple of things in this film you may regard as problematic.)

Which I guess brings us to the final question: rewatching it in 2020, was I as blown away by The Last Seducation as I was in 1994? Absolutely.

*And I think she’s good in Men In Black and Dogma and – but I want to check this sometime soon – After Hours.

**I’m sure there will be some that pre-date this. But the Wachowskis’ Bound, for instance, is a couple of years after. ***I know, I know, but you can film at eye-level rather than frame your characters tiny against tall buildings. 

[docholligay]

You need to keep us up to date on what eps of Bly Manor you've watched so I can scream at you without fear of spoilers. Because I need to scream at someone other than my husband about the shit that's happening in this show.

I finished! Me and Jetty watched the last few episodes on Saturday. I want to rewatch it before I make any “real” calls on themes or what I think it’s really trying to say or anything like that, but if anyone’s interested, here are my basic spoilery things below the cut

Loves: 

I thought the gothic horror tone with the series on the whole was excellent. I have no doubt there are and will be complaints about it not being “scary” but I think it hit what I think of as horror really well, and that feel of the early horror novels, that creeping feeling of something being horribly wrong. 

I quite liked the “happy” ending. I think it was really bittersweet and well set up, and I had only minor quibbles with the execution. BUt all in all, I think the way that Dani wins by deciding to lose is quite compelling for me, and I’m a big fan of victories that are had in this way. I find them to be really reflective of life. It addresses a frustration I had with Hill House, where I found the end to be very very neat and tacked on based on what the entire fucking miniseries was saying about Hill House and about the things that drag us down. I found this even more egregious after seeing Doctor Sleep, a story he changed to NOT end with the resolution of childhood trauma despite the entire story being written to signal it was GOING to. ANYWAY THAT’S A WHOLE OTHER RANT. But yes, I found the winning and losing of Bly Manor to be very satisfying. 

Episode 5 is a fucking masterwork. I was never fully convinced of time itself being frightening by the Bent Neck LAdy, but Hannah’s episode did it for me, the way she skipped through time, knowing she was doing it, knowing that on some level, it’s ALL HER. Absolute perfection, and I had even realized Hannah was dead before the episode, but if a story is good, the twist is unnecessary. 

Jamie!!!! Jamie. I am gay, and there is Jamie. FINALLY, a lesbian for the rest of us. 

The scene with the Lady of the Lake walking behind Dani as she talks to the children was incredible. Actually, the casting for the kids was incredible, in general. I thought they did a marvelous job. 

Plus and minus:

The whole thing with Edmund was really fascinating and well done in bits but, I felt, resolved rather quickly. I think the reveal maybe should have come sooner so we could see more working through it. 

Cons: 

Episode 8 was entirely unnecessary. I know you are married to Katie Seigel, Mike Flanagan, but that does not mean you are contractually obligated to give her at least an hour of “shitty person who gets to be rebellious in a way that fits social mores so she can be likeable” in every The Haunting series. Viola’s story could be told over the course of the series in bits and parts, and went on far, far too long. This is especially egregious given the shortened season. If this season had been 12-13 episodes and had been able to breathe a little more, i wouldn’t have had such an issue with it, but given what we have to work with I found myself ENDLESSLY irritated. 

We sort of dropped the whole thing with Peter at a certain point. I mean, he was still there, and we didn’t like him, and he was bad, but I don’t think the show ever satisfyingly did anything with him as villain or victim. The thing with him and Rebecca just sort of...kited away. I think this would be another thing that could have been easily solved with time and a dedicated writing team. 

Which brings me to my overall complaint, I think. This season felt disjointed because it was written and directed by too many people. Flanagan fully wrote 4 episodes of Hill House and consulted on all of them. HE directed every single one of them. Bly Manor had ONE episode that he wrote and ONE he directed (both were the pilot). That’s it. So it feels like it lacks a single thesis statement, because it does. There are GREAT ideas in Bly, but because we have too many hands in the pot, it lacks focus. And that’s the most frustrating part.

That’s what I can think of first watch off the top of my head without a direct question!! 

[daylighteclipsed]

my Wizards feelings are mixed, leaning towards positive overall, I came away liking it, but mixed

Right off the bat, sorry, but I HATE that Steve has more development than Toby. That’s ridiculous, and it makes it very hard to appreciate the development Steve went through this season (autocorrect stop changing Steve to Steven challenge, ik I’ve been on a su kick, no need to call me out) Toby’s been a main character since the start, and they’ve really done nothing with him! It’s bs!! Plus, most of Steve’s jokes fell flat to me. The humor was pretty weak this time around.

The pacing was a little too fast. I know they only had 10 episodes to work with, and I think they did a good job with what they had, but everyone could’ve used some more on-screen development and breathing room. I would’ve liked to see Douxie training Claire in more than 2 scenes for ex. I also felt like the b plot, with Deya and Jim, was weaker than the a plot. I could’ve used more there, more emotion from Jim seeing his late friends, Vendel and Draal. I wanted more about Deya. I feel like Jim connected more with Nomura in the Darklands for ex. The potential was definitely there, with Deya and Jim having similar experiences being chosen as the Trollhunter and stuff, but they just didn’t quite get there, imo. I’m also confused about Morgana and the changelings. Did she create them all in that short time frame she was serving the Arcane Order? Was that actually a short time frame, or were the kids stuck in the past longer than it seemed? Maybe I need to rewatch Trollhunters, but I don’t see why the Morgana in Wizards would want to bring on the Eternal Night in Trollhunters? She saw her brother change his mind before he was killed and it definitely shook her. I would argue maybe the timeline’s been altered, but Morgana remembers trapping Claire’s soul in the shadow realm so. Yeah. I’m scratching my head over here.

I love my sweet boy Jim, but I don’t know how I feel about him being turned back into a human. I was devastated by what happened to him, but it was a big move, and to 100% reverse it is...cheap? Especially when Claire’s tear revived him, and they never explain how. She never had healing magic before. All I can think is “magic is emotion” and Claire’s never not seen Jim as Jim no matter what he looks like, so she revived him with his soul in mind and that’s why he’s human again. I do appreciate the phoenix imagery, with Jim rising from his own ashes, reborn again. But I kinda wish we’d gotten a head’s up that Claire’s got healing magic. It came out of nowhere. And I would’ve preferred a more changeling-like situation, where Jim can live a human life but still has to carry consequences of his choice? Idk. My heart is happy Jim is human again, but my mind is telling me it’s weak writing.

I think they’re doing a bad job of incorporating aliens into this mix of trolls and wizards. The three series are supposed to weave together, but 3Below still makes little to no sense in the show’s Arthurian mythology. I was hoping Wizards would provide some answers, but that’s not the case. Maybe the movie will. Maybe not.

I really enjoyed Wizards. Everything with Douxie and Merlin was stellar and fun to watch, especially with that gorgeous animation. Loved Morgana. Loved Claire. I just wanted to air my grievances here since there’s just a couple things.

Very curious to see how things will play out with the Amulet destroyed. I kinda like the idea of Jim wielding Excalibur. We don’t see him fully try to pull it out of the stone, since he stops and hesitates. I bet that’s deliberate. If anyone’s worthy to wield the Lady of the Lake’s sword it’s him.

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

Desperada rewatch summary because I need to lighten up

I’ve watched Desperada way too many times and I’ve probably written like 30 pages of angsty analysis so I’m balancing it out by writing a summary of non-angsty things about the episode that are being criminally forgotten

The flirtiest thing Luka does in the beginning is playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on his electric guitar in Marinette’s general direction while smiling at her

Adrien is carrying both his and Kagami’s fencing supplies when they walk into the boat. It is implied that they either made it all the way to fencing practice before meeting up and driving away, in which case the “oh no this is the wrong address” is hillarious, like “we were two feet away but oops oh nOoOoo, I accidentally took a wrong turn and headed back into the car, and then told my driver to come completely out of his way, whoops” or they are regularly carpooling to fencing practice which means they get to actually hang out more, I don’t know which I like more

Kagami asks Marinette if she’s there to watch her boyfriend rehearse, as Marinette and Luka are hugging and joking together. Marinette blushes and does not say no. Adrien, who is awkward and missed a lot of his friends interactions, has no reason to beleive that Luka and Marinette are not currently dating

Kagami is super awkward and physically used Adrien as a shield between her and the other girls, until the second Desperada shows up, at which point she instantly leaps in front of him to protect him.

I’m 90% sure that the first thing Marinette does when she sees Kagami and Adrien appear is rush to get them some orange juice, this is probably where Kagami got the orange juice idea

Marinette apperently plays the flute? This is never mentioned again

The SECOND that an argument starts up outside, every single person in the boat drops what they’re doing and RUNS outside to see what’s about to go down. No one thinks this is odd

the reason that Vivica got into drama with Jagged Stone is because she ate Jagged Stone’s cereal “and drank Fang’s milk.” He is still upset about this at the end of the episode

Jagged is not at all worried for his safety, his only concern is that Desperada “is giving rock and roll a bad name” in her murderous rampage. He also follows after her and tries to stop her, genuinly thinking that this argument will work

“I may not play the guitar but I do play the yoyo!” = actual Ladybug line in the English dub. I’m still uncertain as to what this means but she sounded really smug when she said it

Ladybug pulls Adrien and Luka into the sewers to hide and starts talking very quietly so Desperada doesn’t find them. Luka immeditatly starts to loudly play the guitar for no reason. This is never addressed and Ladybug says nothing about it. Desperada is actively searching for guitar players so she can attack them. This is not a good way to avoid capture.

before the timeloops start, Ladybug just takes down an entire bridge causing Desperada to fall several meters and be covered in heavy cement rubble. She is only mildly inconvenienced by this, and it barely distracts her. However, Luka playing a few notes on the harp at the end of the episode makes her completely unable to focus, because she’s so upset at Luka for playing music in the middle of a battle. Desperada represents my deepest inner emotions

Adrien knows his way around the sewers and immediatly finds a locker room to hide in. Luka does not question this

Adrien, being smart, closes another locker door to make Luka think he’s hiding in there. Also Adrien, being an idiot, is whispering to Luka for this entire scene so Desperada doesn’t find them, as he’s stomping around and slamming doors. No one sees an issue with this

Desperada destroys a flock of pigeons because they’re bad at playing guitar. I am not making this up

Marinette falls off the sewer ladder and almost drops the snake Miraculous into the sewer. The episode would have been very different if she had

Chat Noir, being a genius, takes away Ladybug’s suspicion by pretending to have magical smell that leads him directly to Adrien. He reaches exactly the locker where Adrien should be, then says “oh no he’s not here, lets team up with Luka and split up” and as soon as Ladybug’s out of the room, he shoves Luka back into a locker before he can join the search effort. Points for making an attempt to strategize I guess? I don’t know what he thought he would accomplish tho

If you follow the time frame, Luka stays in the locker for maybe 90 seconds before running out to look for them. What was he doing? He clearly had no intention of following Chat Noir’s order to stay put, which leads me to conclude he spent the entire two minutes just flustered because Chat Noir shoved him in a locker and winked at him

Luka walks in on Adrien and Ladybug talking and asks “did I miss something?” Ladybug laughs as if this is a joke. Luka never gets an explanation. I feel almost bad for him

Viperion’s solution to the problem is to start playing music in the middle of the battle. This works.

Desperada falls off the Eiffel Tower and it’s not enough to break her focus or make her angry at Chat Noir for cataclysming the ground she’s standing on. However, Luka plays maybe 4 notes on his lyre and she shoots off towards him in a blind murderous rage.

I think the literal reason that Adrien kept failing was because he never would’ve just started playing guitar in the middle of a battle like Luka was already doing.

If they spent any timeloops together in the sewer for the whole 5 minutes, Luka would’ve shown up before the time even ran out, and probably would’ve immeditaly started playing the guitar given his characterization in this episode

Jagged Stone is still upset about the cereal thing but he does his best to apologize anyway

When Kagami asks “I was wrong about you and Luka, wasn’t I?” she’s literally saying she was wrong about thinking he was her boyfriend because that’s what she thought at the beginning of the episode.

When Kagami kinda tried to pressure Marinette into love triangle mentality, Alya literally just bursts into the conversation and tells Kagami to knock it off in the nicest way possible

Jagged Stone cradles his crocodile in his arms at the end of the episode, not in a “I was worried about you, Fang” way, but in a “yep, this is a normal way to interact with a crocodile” way. Neither Vivica not Anarka bring it up

Jagged Stone is definitely related to Luka based on everything about his characterization in this, he doesn’t even stop playing the piano when Desperada shows up, his main priority is music, he speaks in musical metaphors, and his priorities make no sense. I’m trying to decide if this makes Fang Luka’s brother.

Anarka’s whole issue was that she doesn’t want to be Jagged’s “second choice.” This is clearly a pun. Luka, on the other hand, doesn’t have any capacity to care about anything that isn’t his guitar, so he doesn’t have this kind of rage

The freakinf cereal thing, you guys, Vivica got fired over eating Fang’s cereal, and Jagged only feels the slightest regret at firing her for this. He also may or may not have thrown her into a literal lake when he did this, the dialogue makes it unclear where the metaphors end

Jagged Stone’s music seems to have had both a piano part and a guitar part, so if anyone had been thinking at all, then Adrien could’ve come in as his pianist and Jagged could’ve taken pn the guitar

“You can come back but get your own breakfast, ok?”