#rewatching the movie I just noticed a detail about names that I didn't notice before and I'm gonna add it to the previous post

[perfectfangirl]

notes after rewatching fallout s1 ep1

so once again like a crazy person [i've done this with star wars sequels before] i've decided to take three and half pages of notes over the course of an hour. i've been a fan of the games for at least a decade and i'm actually always watching lore content between the installments though so while i do know some minute details, within the show, there was some things i was interested in and curious about that i just decided to jot down. some of this may be things discussed already and some of it might be something i wasn't sure if anyone brought up before but anyways! maybe i'll do the whole season, but here's my ramblings • them titling the episode "the end" was when i knew i'd love the show • ok but i really wonder if cooper can still do those party tricks? he was really good at them and lucy would probably love them too 🥺 • thinking back, the radio in the first scene mentions not knowing where the president is--- beginning to wonder if he was the guy sitting in on the vault tec meeting • just realized they introduced the mr. handy robot in some of the first scenes • ten years of nuclear threat according to anchor but the show is careful not to give away all the cards because why does the weather anchor make it seem like they know when the bomb will drop? idk but birthday boy mother turns off tv real "head in the sand" like • the nat king cole song that's playing though [wondering if the song is mirroring specifically cooper's feelings about barb despite everything hmm] • horse's name is sugarfoot 🥹 • him having to pay alimony... wonder what the prenup? was like... [still think he probably loves barb 😞]

• them calling him a pinko despite him being an architect of vault boy's persona, a quintessential presentation of a "man's man" acting as a cowboy, a real cowboy, a former marine--- wondering if there was a smear campaign after his situation with barb and vault tec, him working children's parties leads me to believe... • did the kid's say the birthday boy's name was boyd? [if so, there's another character in the games with this name and this is also the name of a character walton has played in another series, funny] • weather man show's up again distressed, wondering if we'll get more info about that day • everyone ignoring, cognitive dissonancing their own nuclear annihilation is so prescient if not disturbing and damning

• him teaching janey the thumb thing ☹️ • cooper's voice when he says "let me see if i can't rustle you up a piece" 😩 • janey being the only one to notice the first bomb • the fear in cooper's eyes • cooper being in denial one last time before realization sets in • people becoming animals the moment they realize what's happening--- one guy punches his friend not letting his family into the fallout shelter • people getting into their cars and cooper onto his horse to escape--- wonder how fast they could be since it doesn't seem you could outrun nuclear annihilation

• lucy being raised so well under the circumstances 😔 [hope she never becomes her father] • i haven't trusted steph since episode one • lucy being a teacher [amongst other things] and asking maximus about what happened after the bombs fell makes so much sense [and also much like another person suggested is an interesting juxtaposition to cooper's pre war knowledge] • lucy showing how skilled she is for being a marriage candidate when in reality we are seeing someone fit for the wasteland is crazy on second watch • is lucy not watching a cooper howard movie with her dad? hello??

• them reading "war and peace" in the family book club is rich • lucy [thinking] she's not good at guns, ironic • steph having to step in like a sisterly type because lucy's mom isn't there 😞 • the wedding dress on lucy being ill fitting, tight as symbolism for lucy not truly "fitting in there" and being constrained [foreshadowing] oof • the vault boy sign in the back saying "don't lose your head" lmao • didn't catch the "cousin stuff" until someone mentioned it on tumblr and twitter 💀

• the flashback we see of lucy ending up being almost a false memory, a misrepresentation of her actual memories, that she has been on the surface, in the sun • norm taunting lucy about her future husband being "anybody" and a "cannibal, crammed full of tumours" 😭 unfortunately for ghoulcy, this was some of the heaviest foreshadowing [the raider also could have been one too] • why didn't hank recognize moldaver? • so many things i still don't understand about vaults 31, 32, 33 • the growing realization they are raiders was pretty funny to me lmao

• moldaver having to sit through the disingenuous lies of hank ugh • norm going into vault 32 like they wanted them to know what was up? or is that just how vault doors work? they used lucy's mom's pip boy [that hank lied about burying] • lucy putting norm in a storage vault, she really is so strong • the handed down wedding dress getting messed up • i am curious if the raiders [shady sands survivors?] only mostly harmed vault tec aligners but maybe not • the way hank and steph retaliating a little too well • hank acting like he doesn't know moldaver when everyone really does know moldaver • moldaver telling lucy she looks like her mother is really such a tipoff

• realizing maximus is getting bullied 😭 • dane... might love maximus a little idk • from latrine duty to basically ruling over the brotherhood of steel • they really showed some dude jacking it lmao it's just normal i guess 💀 • maximus being defeated and having a rightful outburst of emotion, poor guy • the poster saying "the outside world can never harm you"--- funny • chet would've died up there 😭 • them not opening the vault back up for her, wondering if the vapourized bodies are from the initial bomb drop or the subsequent shady sands ones • dane almost gets maximus killed three times tbh • maximus joined the brotherhood of steel to get back at what vault tec did, essentially hank's doing, hank has many enemies • knowing the enclave, it makes sense why siggi is hunted • cooper the ghoul's introduction though • the bounty hunter saying his captors dig cooper up every once in a while to cut pieces of flesh off him 😞 no wonder cooper acts the way he does 😔 he's been taken advantage of, no wonder he doesn't trust anybody and is horrible to everyone • "why is this an amish production of "the count of monte cristo" or the weirdest circle jerk i've ever been invited to?" why would he say this 😭 • cooper's... been invited to circle jerks 👀 • does the bounty hunter know the ghoul is cooper howard?

• him not harming the chicken, him healing dogmeat, there's something there, folks • people only digging him up to use him again 😞 • what a coincidence he's dug up just as lucy leaves the vault • "i do this shit for the love of the game" he's a character, he's playing a character, real theatre kid • hence why cooper is introduced as "the ghoul", cooper is long gone • "us cowpokes, we take it as it comes" something about this lineee

[godotdotdot]

I watched the end of evangelion in theaters last night. The last time I watched EoE was a near spiritual exp; I had been going thru a lot at home and needed catharsis, because I was personally grieving a lot of close relationships that had been hurting me, and could not stop feeling shitty for how I hurt my loved ones.

While that evening I had had the entirety of Eva fresh in my mind, and had sobbed accordingly to my heightened understanding and empathic ability, last night I did not. I had not prepared by rewatching the series or Death and Rebirth. It was a last minute chance that I took. I felt I had not "done" the experience properly.

I noticed so many details I hadn't before, thanks to the big screen: the name KAWORU printed on the EVA Series' S2 drives; how fitting it is that Kaworu (the ideal Shinji, the replacement for Asuka, the parallel of Rei) eviscerates Asuka. I also realised why Asuka has the bandage on her arm in the last scene, because her arm... ripped in two... and how insane is it, the arm that is iconically extended with "I'll kill you, I'll kill you" to be the same hand that reaches forward, as she's dying, to cup Shinji's cheek as he strangles her. I saw my favorite character, Rei, commit her revolt against Gendo. I absorbed everything on screen with greater clarity than I ever had before. The big screen magnified the details, the emotions, everything; and I realised with satisfaction that I was watching the movie the way it was supposed to be watched.

And as such, I think the most significant moment was in the actual theater itself. The scene in the film where they're in instrumentality and talking about dreams vs reality, and they pan to the irl audience of one of the first screenings of eoe? It hits different when YOU are in the theater. It's YOU on screen. I remember feeling like an individual and not at the same time. I realised that everyone in the movie theater was there for the same reason as me: for virtue of being human, having a deep connection w the series like me, having their own reconciling with the awe of seeing it in theaters; after all, all the young kids had streamed this movie on the phone like me, and all the older fellows had not been to an Eva screening in North America. We WERE the first audience seeing the movie, just like in the film; we had all gathered here with our rei plushies and our t-shirts and our cosplays like the audience in 1997. But would we be sitting there confused, like that initial audience was?

As it was, there is no sense of confusion in as an eva fan, not after the End. As the film ended, Shinji crying, Asuka still, Disgusting, and then the end card, there was a full 15 seconds of silence as the lights slowly came on. No clapping. No discussion. No laughter or sniffling or breath. The lights came on, and still, I was silent; I was both praying no one would break the silence as I needed it and observed it. I was completely processing the gravity of being the first (N. American) audience (ever!) since the show aired nearly thirty years ago; and with that weight, how SHOULD you react? And then, the silence broke as I heard people take shaky exhales like they had been crying, chuckling nervously, and then more comfortably laughing to their groups, beginning lore explanations--- someone had a beer snuck into the theater that I only noticed when I looked in front of me--- and everyone re-became themselves, imdividuals with lives and problems and things to be excited over. A couple was still crying and were not holding hands. I saw them outside, twenty minutes later, smiling and taking pictures with the poster.

It seemed strange to me that Eva had become such an emotional thing to such a crowd of people. I didn't realise that I was not the only one who cried tears of horror, who cried tears of disgust, who cried tears of sorrow. I had been excited to go to this movie and was left feeling... normal. It was life-changing, but also, not. I was just a person in a theater, and yet, I understood the movie because I had studied it. And so had everyone else, and we were still crying. At the same time, having reflected on my more private viewings, I still thought I hadn't cried enough.

I think to the things Hideako Anno has said about eva; how it's him on screen, his disdain for certain kinds of anime fans, his passing interest in things that people hyperanalyze. I think about the dedication he notes to his team of workers and five women in his life. Who are those five women? What kind of women are they? Why that descriptor, if you're separating them from your work?

I think the most appropriate explanation for my absurd reactions to the film are because the film itself is an absurd experience; I'm trying to assign it an aura (a la "art in the age of mechanical reproduction") but frankly, I believe it is impossible. Perhaps my theater wasn't right. Perhaps my company wasn't. Perhaps I was not. Perhaps the film was not. And most of all, perhaps it was okay for me to be there, because I wanted to be there, and I wanted to go on.

It was a really beautiful experience. The movie is absolutely meant to be played on a big screen, in a theater. I'm so glad I was there, and I'm so glad I got to be apart of eva history. It was not the perfect exp I wanted, but it was such a special occasion that I don't mind too much. One day I will keep going and maybe I will make that experience perfect for myself.

[dorihey]

Today is the birthday of the late Ed Asner. Many are familiar with him as the voices of Carl Fredricksen from Up, Santa from Elf, and Hudson from Gargoyles, as well as Lou Grant from the Mary Tyler Moore Show and the aptly named, Lou Grant (series).

Back in the mid 2000's, my family and I were staying at a very large expensive house that belonged to friends of my parents as guests. They had a larger cable package than we did back at home, and they had ToonDisney. I remember seeing Gargoyles while staying there, on the "Hangin' with the Heroes" block in the evening. I remember seeing this show very vaguely as a younger kid, but I must not have been older than 6 or 7 or so given the original air dates.

I was totally enamored with these characters almost instantly. I hopped on their upscale internet, and immediately perused various Disney media sites at the time and started going down the rabbit hole with what little material the internet had back in like 2004 about the show. I learned about the cast, Greg Weisman's blog Station 8, and somehow convinced my parents to upgrade our cable so I could watch it. I even made a Neopets Fanpage about the show, and I have no idea if it's still around.

I don't have a lot of specific memories about Hudson being my favorite, or even having a particularly verbose knowledge of the show back them, but I DO remember becoming familiar and fond of Ed Asner, seeing a teaser for Up, learning he was in it, and that detail making it NECESSARY for me to watch it on release day.

I remember the evening before watching Up, and enjoying it, but I rewatched it with my mom a few days later. I am not sure what was different here, but I became OBSESSED. I joined a Pixar fan site, became a highly active member, and began absolutely marathoning this film. I also spent 5 hours one evening with a mechanical pencil, very little drawing skill, and drew this. (apologies, the picture is 14 years old and washed out)

To be clear, this was EXTREMELY out of nowhere. I had never drawn anything remotely this detailed before. So I (quite ignorantly, but still strongly) decided to change college majors and pursue art. Still workin' on that one...

Down the line, I ultimately watched Up in theaters 50 times, held movie nights for the fansite over Skype, made multiple forum signatures for myself and other members, and even got invited to Pixar, and met a lot of Pixar leadership (albeit briefly for most).

At the center of this though, Ed Asner was responsible for me gravitating to these characters. I've been pretty consistently enamored with his brand of wholesome curmudgeonry.

(I just made up that word, and I like it, so it's real now)

In any case, I've always felt a bit odd for having an attachment to an actor that hit his acting stride while being middle-aged in the 70s, 20 years before I was even alive - like I'm the only person my age that even knows this guy existed.

I had never gotten to meet Ed, but I did make an attempt shortly before he passed. It didn't work out, but his son Matt runs a charity organization called The Ed Asner Family Center that focuses on supporting individuals and families with autism and neurodivergence. I was fortunate enough to join an early screening of Dug Days before it released on Disney + thanks to a fundraiser by the center, including a Zoom Q&A with Ed. The thing I noticed during the call is that Ed was so immensely quick-witted, absolutely hilarious, and would not leave his piece unsaid. He had an astoundingly magnetic personality. It wasn't open mic, but I managed to get a question through - "What was it that got you into acting?"

Jonas Rivera, the Producer of Up was moderating the call and Ed about verbally trampled the guy by the time he was getting the last few words out, and he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

I don't have the exact words, but it boiled down to "escapism" - which was a bit shocking to me. You've got a former president of SAG, who'd been acting for longer than I have been a living person, and he was immediately compelled to tell everyone that the reason he got into showbusiness is to run from the world and its problems. It was remarkably humble.

Ed passed away exactly a week later. I couldn't eat for 2 days, I was so distraught.

I highly recommend that folks check out a lot of the acting Ed has done. He's absolutely brilliant, and one of the most fun people to watch. He was intimidatingly witty, and yet seemed like the guy who would talk to just about anyone. And then make them laugh their sides off.

I haven't shared my deep admiration for Ed too often other than with folks closest to me, but Ed Asner was a precious gem of a human being, and embodies a lot of things I think the world - particularly folks of the male persuasion - should have a bit more of.

Here's to you, Ed. Have a happy birthday up there for us, big guy. We love ya. <3

(side note, the portrait at the top, I drew to commemorate his first birthday after he passed in 2021. The picture at the bottom was drawn, but not adequately finished imo, about 2 weeks before he left us. I need to give it a proper redo someday)

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

Bride of Chucky

A Review

Ronny Yu made the correct choice working with the one and only father of Chucky, Don Mancini. I feel like Don's seamless continuing control over the Chucky franchise paired with Ronny Yu's absolute lack of knowledge of the Chucky franchise (and his love of the monster) made for a one-of-a-kind franchise installment.

Writing- 5/5

This entire script takes the snark we know Chucky for and dials it up by giving him a dominating sparring partner in Tiffany Valentine. There are some jokes that kinda feel needless (repeating the "what a crock" joke only got an "eeh" out of me), but Voodoo for Dummies?

And lines like:

"For God's sake Chucky, drag yourself into the 90s"

"Martha Stewart can kiss my shiny plastic butt!"

When Chucky tells Tiffany to "act natural" and this is her response

The entire weird sex scene conversation that 100% does happen in a film about two sentient dolls? It was only a matter of time before we got here, let's be honest.

The addition of Tiffany Valentine allows for a totally valid reason to shake things up- creative kills, high-speed freeway chases with two DOLLS holding two whole adult humans hostage, and the film's only gay character (spoiler but RIP David) getting absolutely blasted by an 18-wheeler for no reason other than Don probably just realized the cast needed to shrink real quick.

Special mention-

The honeymoon suite kill scene. Yeah, it looks a little cheesy, but you best believe before I was old enough to watch horror movies, my older cousin was telling me about this scene in vivid, terrifying detail (much scarier than reality, but what can you do?)

Soundtrack- 4.5/5

Living Dead Girl starts this movie off with a bang and a moment I haven't forgotten for one second of my spooky sapphic life. These are the moments in which horror icons are made.

The soundtrack is mostly upbeat drums and chugging guitar riffs which I loved (it especially added to the freeway chase) I just didn't go full 5 stars because I didn't notice it as much as I'd want to in a party movie like this (because yes, if I ever do host a halloween party I will be popping in this exact VHS to play on repeat).

Also shout out to my boy, Graeme Revell. Been a legend since The Crow in my eyes (but also for so much iconic 80s and 90s horror....and Sharkboy and Lavagirl) and I'll always get excited when I see that name in the credits!

Effects- 4.75/5

First let me say Chucky looks fantastic. Can he emote as well as Tiffany with those pencil-thin eyebrows? Maybe not but this is the opus version of Chucky, so.

The animatronics are still my favorite thing to watch in a Chucky film because you forget that these aren't sentient dolls almost constantly (except when Chucky's body double is crawling on all fours- that's some nightmare fuel). Their faces are so expressive (for rubber doll faces) and there's even a shot of Tiffany walking across the floor of a Winnebago (maybe?) without a wire in sight! Oh, how far we've come.

The effects in some scenes are a little cheesy (the honeymoon suite kill, the gross, fleshy title card, etc) but it's easily overlooked because Chucky and Tiffany are by far the main event of the sfx team.

Extra ratings?

Queerness-3/5

Written by an out gay man, HELLO!

Alexis Arquette!! Easily the second-hottest person in this movie, I loved seeing her camp it up (in a masc role, but goths love to play with androgyny so I'll take it) as the try-hard Damien.

This also unexpectedly features the gbff trope usually reserved for rom-coms in David, a guy whose queerness isn't painfully exaggerated like some portrayals were at the time, and who's probably the most level-headed of the bunch.

RIP, -2 because David got blasted by a big rig and not in the fun way.

Bride of Frankenstein retelling 5/5

It's pretty obvious on rewatch, but this is a whole Bride of Frankenstein retelling. It even follows the title convention (I tell my younger self who completely missed the comparison). I haven't read the dissections of the original that explain why the bride is a metaphor, but in a more literal sense, this Bride has the power unlike her predecessor. Even though she falls in with a toxic ex, she has autonomy and pushes back, eventually sort of kind of helping the two teens (who are not interesting enough to put in this review) stop Chucky. And she gives birth to a weird demon baby while mostly charred through a non-stretch plastic vagina so. That's pretty metal.

Tiffany Valentine 11/5

TIFFANY VALENTINE THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE

THE COSTUMING

THE TRAILER SET DRESSING

But most of all the performance!!!

I may be looking through heart eyes, but I'm not wrong!

Overall, Bride of Chucky will never not be one of my favorites. The addition of Jennifer Tilly allowed the Child's Play series (and all future iterations), to have fun, but to also play with the tone of its installments. Seed of Chucky and the Chucky series tend to focus on Chucky (and friends)'s humanity and personalities, whereas Curse and Cult of Chucky take the franchise back to an exciting, sometimes scary, and eventually openly queer and complicatedly sapphic place. Ignoring the reboot (which he was thankfully not responsible for), Don Mancini's got quite a legacy going, and Ronny Yu had a key part in that.

[mx-piggy]

Just finished season 1 of the Afterparty and I felt like writing my thoughts about it. I'd also love to chat with other people about this show, so feel free to comment, rb or DM me! Spoilers ahead!

I'm definitely going to have to rewatch it at some point (maybe after season 2 is fully out, so I can watch them back-to-back), because I want to see how everything plays out in hindsight, and see what details I can pick up on.

I started watching this show because I saw a gif from the most recent episode in season 2 ('Hannah', I think) and it looked kinda gay. That's how I started watching the Last of Us. And many other shows. I'm a lonely, desperate queer.

Overall, I really enjoyed it! I'm a fan of all the genres it combined, and I think they worked really well together. I feel like, even if you don't gel well with the comedy, the compelling mystery and characters make it worth a watch. I loved the format of having a different sort of genre in each episode, with my favourite styles being Chelsea and Yasper. And, I adore unreliable narrators.

The only episode I went into knowing the genre (or in Zoe's case, the medium) were Aniq and Zoe, but I correctly guessed that Brett was going to have an action-style 'movie', Yasper's was going to be a musical, Chelsea's was going to be a thriller kind of movie and that Maggie's was going to be kiddie-fied. Guessing the genre's not an achievement though, despite my sense of pride.

I didn't correctly guess the killer until I did my thing of reading a reader-insert fic just before the finale, and a line in there (something to do with 'keeping secrets') made me think 'oh shit'. It wasn't necessarily a spoiler, but it did make it click for me, and I noticed things in the finale leading up to the reveal, like Yasper being absent from when Aniq woke up. Before that spoiler, though, I guessed it was probably Walt, though I did suspect he was just a red herring. Part of me also had this crack theory that it'd be a 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' thing where Maggie killed him by accident (funny how they share the same name), or that she'd witnessed Xavier fall accidentally.

Speaking of which, I think the conclusion was satisfying and made sense in the way Danner explained it. I'm hoping it'll hold up on rewatch- I'm guessing it will. It made sense, and I think it's impressive for this kind of comedy show to commit to having one of their charismatic main characters being the killer, instead of copping out and make it be someone we don't really care about. Well, I cared about Yasper at the very least. He was one of my favourite characters, and I'm very sad that he's probably rotting in prison. But, I'm glad he had his moment of fame.

Since this is fiction, I'm allowed to say 'fair enough' to Yasper murdering Xavier. I think everyone at that party should have been more grateful to Yasper for getting rid of him. (/lh) Though I think it would have been hilarious if everyone was actually grateful, instead of them all celebrating that the killer had been caught. That said, even though I love Yasper and I condone what he did, it felt kinda nice for Danner's investigation to be celebrated, even though I'm not a fan of cops.

That said, I do have a small issue with the finale that is entirely personal to me and my preferences, and this could easily be fixed if I wrote an angsty fanfiction like I normally do. So, my problem is that I wish that the revelation of what Yasper did had more of an emotional impact on Aniq. I know that they haven't spoken in two years prior to that night, but they were best friends in high school, and I think it's kind of dismissive that they went straight from 'Aniq feels betrayed that his friend would do something like this' to 'now he's kissing Zoe in the car'. I know it's a comedy and it'd be weird for the season to end on such a depressing note, especially since in the end the murder isn't taken that seriously by Yasper (in a scene I sincerely enjoyed and felt kind of happy for him in). Speaking of which, I read some analysis on Yasper and the perception of success in terms of careers that was really interesting and I'll link here, so that kind of makes that scene a little sad because Yasper would rather be an infamous killer than a guy with a successful career. But, y'know it's a comedy so I'll try not to think about that or I'll be sad.

Now I'll get onto the characters, specifically the main ones. I like them all as characters. I'll only go into depth about the characters who get an episode named after them, Xavier and Walt.

Aniq is really charismatic, and I think he's a fun main character to have even if he's not the most interesting necessarily. I think it makes sense to have such a puzzle-oriented character as the main character in a murder mystery. Plus, he's a genuinely nice guy, so it makes it so you don't want to see him get sent to prison. I'm pretty sure he's the main character of season 2 as well, so I'm happy to see him return.

I really like Zoe, too! I was worried that she would just be 'the artsy, perfect love interest' that you see in teen movies, so I really liked to see her story of struggling with who she is and what she wants. It really resonated with me, and her episode was really interesting to watch. Personally, her episode reminded me a little of BoJack Horseman (the show, not the character). I don't really understand why her episode has such a harsh rating on IMDB, because I think the storytelling and use of animation to further characterise and flesh out Zoe was really effective.

I like Zoe and Aniq's relationship too, and I think that's really impressive because of how I struggle to get on board with canon relationships in rom-coms. A lot of the time, it feels like I'm watching a kid holding their Barbie and Ken dolls in either hand and repeating 'don't you think they should kiss?' But, with Aniq and Zoe, they had genuine chemistry (no pun intended) and they both work as individual characters outside of their relationship.

Yasper is one of my favourite characters in the show, probably second to a character I'll get onto in a minute. I think he's a great subversion of the 'best friend hypeman' trope, where he actually has motivations and goals outside of his best friend. I was worried that his character was going to just be the 'oblivious loudmouth best friend', and, like with Zoe, I was thankfully proven wrong. He was a delightfully complex character who did the world a service. I can't be bothered to analyse him in the detail I'd like to, so all I'll say is that I am going to spend some time tomorrow reading some angsty Yasper fics.

So, my favourite character in the show was Chelsea, and I'm honestly so in love with her it's insane. Her character was so complex and interesting, and on a personal level she was really easy to empathise with. I knew early on that she wasn't the killer, and that she was just a fucked up woman who deserved so much better in life. It made me so happy to see her making amends with Zoe, and to see how nice Yasper and Aniq were to her, because all she really needed was to escape the high schooler judgement and be afforded some compassion and kindness. And, I found it simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming that she was so used to the feeling of being judged and ostracised that she didn't get revenge on Xavier and wrote that apology on Aniq's hand for him drinking her cat roofies. Her arc was the most satisfying to watch for me. I'm devastated that she's only in season 1 (though I get it from a narrative standpoint). Hoping she will live on through fanfiction.

Brett was also a surprise to me, because I assumed he was just going to be a total loser who thinks he's a badass and that's it. But, I really like how he was actually a decent dad to Maggie as well. Like, sure, you shouldn't leave your kid alone in a car for a prolonged period or speed when your kid's in the car (or at all), but still. It was really sweet to see the joy on Maggie's face when her dad was living out some Fast and the Furious fantasy. And, I like how the motivation of his episode was to get the koala back. It made me giggle.

Danner was a really interesting character to watch. Again, I'm not a fan of cops, but I personally feel like her character is well-done. She's someone working against a shitty system as best she can. She'll do what's right as opposed to staying in favour with her colleagues who believe in protecting their own than pursuing true justice. I like how she's very unconventional in her approach, where she knows she'll find something relevant in seemingly unnecessary details. It makes her a really interesting investigative character. Plus, I really like Danner's personality; she's also a very charismatic character, minus the being a cop thing.

Walt wasn't my favourite character but I still liked him enough. It was kinda depressing (in a fun way, though) at times to see him be so overlooked by his peers. I thought it was funny that, in Maggie's version of events, he's a puppet who just says 'Walt'. And, I liked that he's so overlooked that his designated episode (High School) isn't named after him and we don't really get his perspective as much as we did with the other characters. It fit a lot with the outcast, background role of the character, where his own party, his own story isn't even about him. It was nice that they remembered his name in the end.

Maggie is so precious to me fr. She's such a sweet kid and I want to adopt her. Her joy is so infectious.

Now onto Xavier. As a character, Xavier was really incredible. As a person, I'm overjoyed that someone took the initiative to dispose of him. His relationship with Yasper was so interesting, and I like that we got to see his origins as a kinda dorky teenager who wants to reinvent himself and is heartbroken 'heterosexually' when his best friend wants to break up their band. So much so that he gets into a fight with the guy his best friend definitely isn't in love with. But, he fucked over my darling Chelsea and my guy Aniq. He makes shitty music. The only good thing he ever did was make Maggie's favourite movie. Overall, he is basically Jamie Tartt, if Jamie was murdered before he could become the man we all know and love today. I mean, neither of them wear shirts under their suits, and Dave Franco and Phil Dunster have some physical similarities.

I'm really looking forward to watching season 2 and to rewatching the whole show. And to reading some angsty Aniq/Yasper/Xavier fanfics. And to hopefully finding some fanart to reblog. I need to consume fan content for this show and these characters. Especially Chelsea.

[theshampyon]

Holy shit, more Glass Onion thoughts that I have to purge from my brain. Some of these are things I saw others commenting on on other sites. Some are Shower Thoughts. (Can't believe I didn't notice the first one.) Possible SPOILERS ahead...

When we first see Miles Bron he's playing Blackbird on a white guitar. He says it's the guitar Paul McCartney wrote the song on. The guitar is right-handed. Paul McCartney plays left handed.

I think this is one of a bunch of things in the film Bron paid big money for, never knowing he was being ripped off. Blanc solves Gillian Flynn's Murder Mystery before it even begins because it's not hidden very well, but Bron isn't smart enough to realise it. The Puzzle Box features, in Blanc's words, "Children's puzzles", because the puzzle maker knew Bron wouldn't recognise a proper adult puzzle if he saw one. (So who knows, maybe that wasn't really the Mona Lisa after all.)

Everyone calls the chess puzzle an "endgame." It's not an endgame. It's a move called "The Fool's Mate," so called because it can only be achieved if the White player royally fucks up. Basically, it's the dumbest way to achieve mate. It's also not strictly speaking an endgame. But people who don't actually know chess (like myself, I confess) wouldn't know that.

The Fool's Mate is solved by... the fool's mates.

Back to Benoit calling the puzzles "children's games". They really are. None of require analytical thinking or deductive reasoning. Just recognising patterns that are familiar to their friend group and social class. Not riddles, just references.

The first being the most obvious - a Magic Eye, which some people are physically incapable of seeing and thus could never solve. And even those who can see them do not need wit or reasoning to solve it, just the ability to kinda cross their eyes a bit. In the 1990s, when these characters were teens, Magic Eye puzzles were literally sold as a child's puzzle.

And even then, they needed help. Without Duke's mother, none of them would have solved the boxes. Not even head Bron's main technology department head Lionel, who sure as shit should be able to recognise a Fibonacci sequence when he sees one. It's the kind of thing taught in High School. Yet none of these Special People, these brilliant Disruptors, saw an answer that a very pointedly normal older lady did. Because the movie is telling us right from the beginning that they're not special. All of then are in their positions due to Bron's money and influence, not their actual intellect and skill.

But Benoit didn't necessarily know that about the boxes at the time. He'd never seen the box intact, and he didn't realise Bron is actually an idiot until much later. Which makes me think Benoit said it purely to get Bron off balance. (Also, he may not have been able to solve the box if he had one intact, precisely because it's stupid. Benoit admits such simple puzzles are his Achilles' Heel, which is why he loses the Among Us game in the bathtub!)

This is all also why working class Helen can't solve them. She's smart - a better lateral thinker and riddle solver than any of the Shitheads - but she's not part of their social class. She doesn't know their rote cultural signifiers. (But I bet she would have solved the Fibonacci one.)

So she, in keeping with the Greek theme, cuts the Gordian Knot. Presented with the puzzle as barrier to a prize, most assume the solution is to solve it. Like Alexander the Great, she thinks outside the assumed constraints and simply removes the barrier.

The Greek theme, of course, including the naming of the characters. Andy a.k.a. Cassandra, who foresaw great peril but was not believed. Her sister Helen, whose coming brought about the end of an empire - "the face launched a thousand ships" (or in this case, a fleet of police boats).

I gotta rewatch this. There's bound to be a thousand more little details that I didn't catch the first time around.

[springlock-suits]

Question from insta! "The Silver Eyes or FNAF Movie?"

Spoilers for tse and the fnaf movie under the cut 👍

I could not possibly pit two bad bitches against eachother

But for real oughhh it's a bit hard to say tbh! Like fnaf movie, in its current state, does beat the novel series, but tse separated from the others... ough...

Honestly Honestly it may just depend entirely on which one I've seen most recently

I think I liked tse much much more upon rereading it, and the fnaf movie gets slightly more boring on rewatch

I like really love how the kids' drawings worked in tse. But I understand why in the fnaf movie it was changed. As the disconnect between what the souls know vs their animatronic selfs can definitely be a bit confusing. I still think how the kids drawings work in tse is super awesome tho

I like how tse is longer, has more content so to speak. I like how we get to see and interact with William several times, given hints throughout before they learn his identity and who he his. And we get to see him as a character in detail. He like. Exists. in tse way more

Tse is also more supernatural leaning than the movie which is my fav. I mean. The movie does still favor those elements, like the dream sequences and the animatronics acting like kids but man. Tse is more.. something. The building itself feels like it's out to get them, the kids drawing's move to tell a story, at one point there was unexplained music in the background I'm fairly sure. Dave.

Still not a fan of the red eyes in either

I like the connections and references the fnaf movie has to tse, especially the 'Bonnie showing up in a room someone just locked themselves in' bit

I prefer the main characters in the movie, tse just feels so crowded at points. Lamar felt very pushed to the background. You could fuse John and Carlton and I wouldn't notice. While Marla did stand out in the motel, later on she does just become words on a page to me, you could fuse her with Jessica. I'm a bit of a bad reader so it's very easy for me to lose these characters and forget about them. It's nice the fnaf movie made for a smaller roster, as it helped me get more invested

Steve Raglan I think I prefer as an identity over Dave Miller, it's really fun to me how instead of just being some random mall guard who just happened to be there, he's somewhat of an established person in the community, considering his job now is to interact with others. He even has an award next to his desk. Like?? He's right there, in plain sight, he has coworkers, he's been there awhile. And he is in full control over who works at Freddy's

I say this, while also thinking it would've been really fun if Dave Miller didn't actually have a job at the mall, and was just There pretending to be a guard. Alas

The animatronics acting like children, and actually getting to see the missing children??! (Though unfortunately not their names) ough

Tse was definitely a bit of a slog to get though, I really felt most invested pretty much only when they were in Freddy's. And some panicking scenes had me just feeling frustrated with the characters. Also why could Jason not once say like "a yellow bonnie took him" instead of just saying bonnie, the book even points out that the kid noticed, it would've been better if it didn't, and just described the rabbit as being too obscured by shadow to see (but then people may have thought it was shadow bonnie, hmm,,,,)

I love the set designs of the movie, all the little details. It perfectly captures the era and Freddy's as a restaurant I feel, not much tse could've done here

The movie had no weird romance plot!! Its very easy to see all of Vanessa's positive interactions with Mike as her just being a bit silly, having a bit of fun

Tse had no annoying miscommunication conflict at all ❗️💖✨️🎈🎉💖✨️🎈🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[fma03envy]

Rewatching CoS for the first time in like 2yrs, here's my stream of consciousness thoughts as I watch:

The steampunk aesthetic at the beginning is neat. Also a fan of this guy presenting his life's work to Al, who goes "that's the worst idea ever We Are Not Fucking Doing That" in his polite little way and then just starts walking away

The animation is immediately noticably higher quality than in 03 proper. I like the normal animation by this is also neat :)

The fact that physicist dude whose name I've already forgotten was actually capable of getting as far as the gate when human transmutation is funny to me. How do you have more willpower than Shou Tucker

The concept that CoS!Ed and I are the same age is just so much. Idk whether I should find you hot or gender sir...

Last time I saw this movie and Edward driving (poorly) I remember thinking about how I'd soon learn to do that too. And Then I Didn't™ (I'm autistic and it's scary etc)

This sub appears to be spelling Heiderich's name like Alphonse and I really wish it wouldn't

The Noah fortune telling thing is one of the parts of CoS that's like, I'm aware it's for plot armor but that still doesn't excuse the premise. The fact that they're establishing that no other magic-adjacent fma stuff (not just alchemy but also Envy's shapeshifting) even works in this dimension, but they still give their main Romani character magic fortune-telling/mindreading powers (and never explain why) is shitty

The opening credits art style is really pretty, even if I this gets to me:

Ed you are not that tall we all know you're not

The subplot about one of Noah's companions selling her out is also at best unnecessary

Glad to see that even without his alchemy Edward is still perfectly able to fight with what he has, i.e. explosives, steaming hot metal, and fucking up his automail (come to think of it, these were all tactics he also used when killing Sloth specifically, but I doubt there's any intentional parallel there)

I like how there's a lot of little characterization details early on. The parallel of Ed and Noah's quiet depression, his earnestness to tell anyone he thinks will listen (see: Alfons Heiderich) about his world contrasted with her interest in learning about it...

It was kind of funny though seeing Ed (resident science nerd and Shit From His Dimension Enthusiast) happy that Noah was curious about his prosthetics, before realizing that he also didn't really know how they worked

The Bradley/Lang thing is one of my other most serious problems with this movie's writing. Like. I know Lang canonically isn't Fuhrer Bradley's doppelganger but that of the human Bradley was, and I do think the writers made that clear so it would seem less like they were comparing the two. (And ik homunculi can be very different from their sources in terms of beliefs, see: Trisha being the Rockbells' friend and not liking to see Amestrian soldiers in Resembool vs. Sloth being the Fuhrer's secretary). But even given that, it still feels way too close to equating Bradley to a Jewish man (who's also an actual irl person, not just a character they made up for the movie)

Envy vs. Edward fight 2: Ed has a gun this time

I think Envy's serpent/leviathan form is sick actually. Look at this shit:

Just wholesome sibling bonding moments

The "Envy gets captured by the Thule society" subplot is the third main writing decision in CoS I take serious issue with. Like I do see why the writers could hardly redeem Envy (they'd never help Ed), but also couldn't make them a main antagonist (they're a kind of campy (? not exactly right the word but you get it) villain, and so it would be in really bad taste for them to be too relevant in movie where all the other villains are literal Nazis). But the canon solution of "we don't know what to do with Envy's character in this movie, so to avoid having them make real plot decisions, they're going to get imprisoned and experimented on by Nazis and then killed off" is so awful? Especially with them trying to escape and getting hunted down again. It's a horrible writing choice to make for plot armor

The pose/lighting we first see Hohenheim in here mimics the one we see Ed coming out of The Gate in at the end of 03. Wonder what it means

I'm trying so hard to like Winry's CoS clothes but I still don't really. Tragic that the most masculine outfit we ever get to see her in is this, the one choice that looks weird to me for no reason. I think she deserves a vest like Ed

The animation on the soldiers sucks so the animation everywhere else can be good. Equivalent exchange

The thing of Al being polite but clearly not recognizing his old allies is so. God. Drives me insane. Alphonse my sonnn

Thank you for saving Al Rose, it's clear which of you had the braincell on that one

The bit where Noah basically asks Heiderich if he's working for Nazis and he goes "I just want to build rockets :)" as if to distance himself from responsibility for his actions... Hm. I have thoughts on his characterization and the thematic point of him but they'll be easier to articulate when I'm further through the movie

Ed talking quietly to himself as he skulks around and looks at the transmutation circle... Edward ily I hope you know that

Elric brothers back together babey!!!

Ed's little smile about having seen Al and Al waking up in his world and starting to cry.... Argh you can't do this to me movie...

This movie needs more Wrath. Maybe that's just me and my thing of caring a lot about the timeskip between 03 and CoS but I want to know more about what's going on with him

The fact that when we first see him he's just sitting defeated at Izumi's graveyard and has let his automail break down rather than reach out for repairs. And that once Winry fixes it for him he immediately goes off with Al on what for him is a suicide mission... Wrath how are you coping with it all buddy

The bit where Ed stares at alternate Lyra and she turns up her nose at him is so funny to me I'm sorry. Lyra my friend, even aside from my aro Ed HC someone with your face is the last person to be his type ever. Just trust me on this one

The entire conversation with Lang is another "I get what the writers were going for but still" moment

The. The bit where Sheska tells Winry she'll show her where the underground city is after they visit the cemetery. Feels like dramatic irony

I don't think I was able to see as well before how big the underground city is...

Two well adjusted, mentally stable young fellows competing to see who's more suicidal:

"He's like me- a monster!" I know it might be different in the dub translation, but Wrath. Wrath :(

Ed I really doubt you'd survive a fall from that height irl

It's sad that Noah never got into Ed's world imho. Like I get why thematically it wouldn't really work but still

With his hair flowing like that underwater, Wrath almost looks like his mother (Sloth). Ofc that's partly just fma03 typical sameface but

The Gluttony vs Wrath fight is sick, though I do feel a bit bad about Gluttony's fate

*Guy who isn't big on the idea of Wrath forgiving Izumi and also doesn't want to think about the fact that he just died voice* This isn't how the gate works. The only other times we've seen dead people's souls in the gate was when they had literally just died. That's why Al at the beginning and Ed at the end didn't come back as homunculi, because it had just happened. So there's no reason Izumi would still be in the gate

Hohenheim's death is the only CoS writing choice involving Envy that I really like. Envy, whose main goal in life was to kill Hoheinheim for failing him as a father. Them ultimately being forced to do so by Hohenheim himself as a way of helping Edward, Hohenheim's other child, is just. Hollowest victory possible isn't it my friend

Now that Alfons Heiderich is dead and we've seen everything of him that we're going to I'm trying to gather my thoughts on how he's written. I've talked about being ambivalent with how his characterization is before and I guess I still am. But it's feeling more and more like "I really dislike this guy as a person but might (?) think he's well-written as a character".

One criticism of his writing I've had is that he isn't a good representation of Alphonse Elric, as I feel like *gestures at all of fma03* kind of demonstrates that Al ultimately wouldn't act like this in Alfons's position. But on rewatch, I kind of feel like Alfons's final speech about how he was real and not part of Ed's dream feels partially like a message to the audience not to view them as synonymous. Given that I do think the whole doppelgangers premise is weird but like. I'll take it?

Anway, for Alfons himself. A core message of fma03 is that harming others cannot be justified in the name of chasing one's own hopes and dreams. This is relevant to basically every subplot where the philosopher's stone is important (Lab 5, Dante's actions, etc), to Mustang having to put aside his ambitions before he can actually make a positive change, "even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world that exists outside ourselves and our dreams" (i think that's the line), etc. And imo this premise is crucial to understanding Alfons Heiderich. The EXPLANATION for his behavior is that he's a slowly dying scientist desperate to make something of his life's work, and that he wants to help his friend get home. But neither of these facts is an EXCUSE for his willingness to help Nazis in order to achieve his own goals. I think his writing tracks on a thematic level

Winry and Sheska also def couldn't have survived that fall

The truth gunk on the ships is weird and totally not how the gate has worked before but I kind of like it

Ed's confrontation with Al about him opening the gate is so good arghhhhhhh

First time seeing Mustang in two years and he and Ed are already at each other's throats with Al apologizing for his brother, same as it ever was

Last Ed vs Eckhart conversation did seem a bit on the nose/unsubtle but I liked the fight choreography

The ending makes no sense on a ton of technical levels (you're going to. Destroy The Gate. The interdimensional gate where people's souls go right after they die that opens when you try to bring them back. Full of weird silhouette unrealized homunculus hand blobs. Containing all human knowledge. You're destroying it. How™) (and what happens if they succeed? Is human transmutation impossible to try now?) but I get what they were going for on a thematic level

Hiiiii Scar and Lust

Well that was CoS ig

[immortal-family]

re: your tags on the post about mia i would love to hear your thoughts on mia's family / the catholic symbolism in the movie!

* rolling up my sleeves * here I come

(I’m answering only one question now because the answer was longer than I expected lmao I will deal with the other tomorrow)

Catholic symbolism in the movie Il Padre d’Italia

This movie is drown in catholic symbolism, at a level that it cannot be "unconscious" but, in my opinion, is a very deliberate choice by the authors.

The most immediate thing that I noticed was how Mia and Paolo are a sort of allegory for the nativity, where Mia is a sort of "unholy" Mary and Paolo is St. Joseph.

Mia being Mary is underlined by her wearing a jacket with literally St. Mary embodied on it and being pregnant without a biological father for the children (sure, there must be a biological father somewhere, but he is basically non-existent). When Paolo speaks with Assunta, she even makes the joke “She would even tell you that she’s a virgin”.

When I first heard that Paolo wanted to be a carpenter, my first instinct was to say "wow, St Joseph much?" He literally is a man who is taking care of a child that he knows is not his.

It's a little stretchy, but also their travel can be seen as a parallel to Mary and Joseph journey, looking for a place for her to give birth.

These parallels are resumed in one of the final flashback which is also my favorite scene of the movie and makes me weep like a toddler when Mia says that the whole story of Mary and Jesus is "unnatural". Mia takes Paolo internalized homophobia and tries to unpack it, to dismantle it as a wall, brick by brick, in the same way she probably had to unlearn to hate herself for being pregnant of a random man without being married. And she herself declares to be “a miracle”. (We could open a whole chapter about how this movie plays with the mother/madonna/prostitute trope and subvert it by making Mia reclaim all three identities).

What I love about this use of the catholic symbolism is how it is reclaimed by the movie, by putting as protagonists two categories that have been persecuted by Catholicism: women (and in particular, free independent women) and gays.

Italy is a Catholic country. If you grow up here, religion is probably going to be a part of your upbringing, even if you don't come from a religious family. It is in the language, in the holidays, in the culture, in the architecture, in the traditions... And the two main characters have to live in this country, catholicism is part of who they are.

Paolo was literally raised by nuns and we see how important religion is for Mia's family (it cannot be a case that they arrive the day of the confirmation of Mia's niece, the movie wants us to see that religion is part of your life).

What the movie does is nearly sacrilegious, but at the same time it simply re-tells the story of the Gospel. This movie is saying "yes, we have been taught these things since we were kids, and you know what? Now we are interpreting it on our way."

I have so many queer friends who grew up in religious families and are themselves religious, and they often have to find “their own interpretation”, in order to reconcile their faith with their queer identity.

And in a certain way, that’s what the movie does. Instead of rejecting everything that is catholic and trying to delete the characters’ upbringing, it makes them subvert it and reclaim it.

And this subversion is also made by the fact that Mia has a girl, instead of a boy. Because sure, this story can be see as an allegory for the Holy Family, but they are their own story.

Without this, the movie wouldn’t be as powerful as it was, especially for people who grew up queer in christian and - specifically - catholic families. 

This is only my opinion, of course. I’d love to hear other people’s opinion, in particular from people who come from different backgrounds! 

[zozophoenixxx]

Serotonin Booster :D 🐉

How to train your dragon edition

Here are some things I had forgotten or little details I just noticed on my rewatch, maybe even Unpopular Opinions 🤭👀

✨Race to the Edge✨

SEASON 6

I love how the twins were basically the reason Hiccup figured out that Johan was the spy

NOOO THE WAY GOTHI WENT TO TRY AND STOP STOICK FROM THROWING AWAY HER MEDICINE AND THEN GOT THROWN OFF THE CLIFF WAS SO FUNNY [ep2]

Omg that fight between Hiccup and Stoick in ep2 was crazy whenever Stoick said "I'm talking to the expert in getting duped by Trader Johan" and THEN HICCUP WAS LIKE "but I was only duped for half as long as you were. So what does that make you?"

Awww the way both Toothless and Skull-crusher were trying to get them to talk

And also Astrid being the only one that wasn't caught by the Hunters right away, she's just superior bro

I love how both of them were right - Stoick was right to not trust the merchants and Hiccup was right about Johan's plan

Toothless is actually so strong like he's not only agile and clever, I mean he just flew up to the ballista and crashed against it and destroyed it without using his Plasma Blast 😎🤩

Mala and Dagur fighting over where the Dragon Eye lenses are gonna be hidden is hilarious. Mala is so calm I love it

I got chills when Atali was like "no, Hiccup, this is my island I will defend it"

I really want to know the origin of the Wingmaidens, like where did all these women come from? How come they're still there?

I love Minden and Snotlout's relationship, the way he tried to convince her to not give up AND SHE KISSED HIM!!!

Krogan's Singetail actually cares about him

Never gonna get over Adelaide Kane voicing Mala

Also Snotlout running when the dude had the razorwhip on him LIKE HE WAS LITERALLY FLYING AND HE WAS STILL RUNNING Y'ALL HAVE TO WATCH THAT SCENE I JUST DONT KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT ITS IN EP3

Generations ago Fishlegs's ancestors were dragon hunters

The Loyal Order of Ingerman - decimated the Dramillion dragons, pushing them to the brink of extinction

Grump is amazing I love him

Dramillions - have both a lava blast and a magnesium blast. Omnivores. Still being hunted.

The Hunters were founded by Ingar Ingerman

The Dramillion trying to take the manacle off his tail🥺

And when Fishlegs threw his helmet and THEN THE HAND THING 😭🥺

I love the Dramillions they're so smart they learned how to get rid of the manacles by just looking at what Meatlug and Stormfly were doing 🥺

I just realized that the twins are 19 AND I FIND THAT ABSOLUTELY CRAZY HOW CAN THEY BE THAT OLD

I really wish we knew each of their birthdays like I wanna know which one's older and which one's younger

I feel like for some reason the twins would be the oldest ones then Fishlegs then Astrid then Snotlout and lastly Hiccup. Idk I'm still iffy on this

Most Thorstons don't make it to 19

I love the twins' relationship, they love each other so much that they would rather be alone and not form part of a clan than leave each other alone and the fact that other people know this too? Plsss like the only reason Gruffnut got them back into the fake induction trials was by telling them how bad it'd be for each other to not be part of a clan.

Titanwing Zippleback HOW DO THEY KNOW ITS A TITANWING IT LOOKS THE SAME AS THE OTHER ZIPPLEBACKS

"Ughh, what's the point of winning alone? Being a Thorston means nothing without him. We are one Thorston."

I love them and also technically Ruffnut won the induction trials.

THE LAST LENSE GOSH

Love how Fishlegs cares about global warming

I'm all Snotlout, Toothless and the Triple Stryke reacting to Mala and Dagur- I'm also Mala whenever someone tickles me I'LL KILL U

UGHHH I HATE HOW SNOTLOUT MADE HICCSTRID UNCOMFY FOR HAVING A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP

Astrid overthinking 🥺😭

"How would you like your yak cooked?" JSHDHHA

bro I love how both Tuff and Toothless noticed the betrothal necklace

"So want to deliver some scrap metal?" Hiccup baby? Why are you so oblivious?

At least he asked her if she was alright in the armorwing's island 😩

No but if I was Astrid I'd be pissed too, the dude saw a dragon eye lens from far way and didn't notice her betrothal necklace? 🙂😤

No I can't that scene was too harsh to watch, I mean I loved to see Hiccup noticing something was wrong with Astrid but then the way Astrid compared their relationship to Mala and Dagur's and then threw him the betrothal necklace... And the way he caught it too I can't- 😭😞😖😭😓🤧

Seeing the twins trying to capture Mala was hilarious JAHDHDHHSHA

I love how when they're fighting Astrid's still there for him whenever he's expected to have all the answers. She ignored her anger and went over to him and grabbed his hand and that single thing was what gave him confidence in a moment of panic 🥺

"I'm with you"

"I know"

That final Hiccstrid scene in Mi Amore Wing was just too perfect, we have Hiccup grabbing Astrid's hand to bring her outside and talk to her, the sunset in the background, every little thing Hiccup told her about being there for her and loving her with everything he had and that he should've noticed the necklace right away AND THEN THAT KISS WAS JUST AMAZING❗️❗️❗️ it was passionate and sweet and Astrid was blushing and then Fishlegs was all uncomfortable and Mala was like "okaaayyyyy😏" and Dagur like "alrighhtttt👌🏼" ig the only thing I didn't like is that Astrid didn't say I love you back 😭 but it's ok cause yk she does I just wished she had said it.

Baby razorwhips love the water

Tuffnut named the baby razorwhip that bonded with Ruffnut, Wingnutt

Top scenes of Ruff Transition ep7

Tuffnut throwing up in Ruffnut's mouth and Ruffnut throwing up in Wingnutt's mouth just do that he could be fed- seeing the windmaiden's reactions is the best lmao

Hiccup trying to teach Ruffnut how to fly (with his dragon flight suit) and then Ruffnut losing balance but Hiccup helping her regain it BUT we still get overprotective Tuffnut jumping off of Toothless to try and help but all he did was make things worse HIS SCREAM WAS HILARIOUS nonono and the way Toothless tried to help BUT AGAIN MADE THINGS WORSE 😩😮‍💨😂

Ruffnut finally figuring out how to connect with Wingnutt and fighting the dragon hunters and saving Atali was so badass and then Atali riding Barf 😭🤩

Hiccstrid kiss count (approximately) : 6😘

The way he slightly and carefully touches her face to reassure her that he'll be fine

The Singetail's only predator is the Skrill

The Berserkers used to use metal daggers to lure Skrills into traps. The dragon is drawn to it due to its electrical properties

VIGGO JUST DID THE HAND THING THING WITH THE SKRILL WTF

If I could have any dragon it'd be in this order

Skrill - it's so badass and powerful

Nightfury - it's badass, powerful, pretty, strong and fast

Deadly Nadder - it's extremely fast and agile, has multiple attacks and the spikes

Dramillion - has multiple attacks and is very smart

Just realized that ep8 is called Triple Cross because 1st Johan crossed Viggo 2nd Viggo fake crossed Hiccup and 3rd Viggo and Hiccup crossed Johan and Kogan

That episode was basically jusr to show Viggo's arc and the way he changed for the better and learned to respect dragons

That's why the Singetails wouldn't leave in ep9 whenever they were trying tp free the Deathsong- their eggs! They're in that island.

I can't with Hiccup and Astrid sitting together just chilling but with Astrid feeling guilty and Hiccup assuring her that he was also at fault 😭

I love Narrator/Author Snotlout! The titles of the chapters of his book remind me of the ones from Pjo

Stoick and Skullcrusher acting as 1 and being worried about each other 🥺 I love their relationship

Also the way Stoick bats off the shots from the Singetails with his axe just like Astrid. They're both truly warriors

No but Toothless asking for a head scratch from Gobber bc he's worried abt both Hiccup and Stoick🥺

The way Toothless tried to make Hiccup feel better- I mean the man blamed himself for putting Stoick in "his deathbed" it was just so awful seeing Hiccup in that state and the way everyone was trying to make him feel better but it was ultimately Astrid who managed to get through to him😭

I love it when they put scenes of the movies

I love how Astrid always knows what to say without lying

Looks like it's you and me, then.

Always... was that corny or-

Probably. Nice, though.

The way Astrid is so natural at being a leader and putting everyone on their places 🤩

That lil moment they had in ep12 where he holds her face and thanks her for everything and I just love them too much 😭

I love how Spitelout is so happy when he's beating ass, this dude literally goes "I'm sure I've had more fun than this. But at the moment, I can't remember when"

Have I mentioned I love the Dramillions before? I love them way too much they're amazing and the sound they make is so 😩 I love it

The Dramillion is a distant cousin of the Changewing which means the Titanwing Dramillion shares the de-cloaking ability with its subspecies.

Stormfly's spine clone was literally so badass, my girl was surrounded and she finished every single dragon flyer with it. Badass move. Wish we had seen it more throughout the series

It really pissed me off that Hiccup had to choose between getting Tuff, Ruff and Snotlout out of that sinking ship when he could've been following Krogan. Like ofc it was the right decision but that wouldn't have happened if the twins and Snotlout didn't follow Gruff into the ship :/

I love how strong Barf and Belch are! They literally carried the a Titanwing Dramillion on their own.

That scene when they figured out that the Titanwing Dramillion is not the King of Dragons but instead the last piece of the puzzle to get to the King of Dragons

When the Wingmaidens got to the battle it was amazing

Also the way Dagur was so proud that the King of Dragons was a Berserker and how Ruff was so excited to see Wingnutt and Snotlout to see Minden🥺

THEY REALIZED THAT BBYS AREN'T AFFECTED BY THE KING OF DRAGONS BC OF THE BABY RAZORWHIPS

that last Hiccstrid Scene where Hiccup is worried about Astrid's safety- I mean his face 🥺🥺🥺 and she told him that his dad would be proud and that she's proud too and when she was about to leave he held her back and kissed her 😭😭

Ik I said this before but I simp for Astrid as a leader, she's just so natural at it

Also I love how the King of Dragons has ice powers instead of fire

WAIT SO IS THE EGG THAT HICCUP FINDS IN THE FINALE THAT THEY GIVE TO VALKA IS THAT THE KING OF DRAGONS THAT VALKA CARES FOR IN HTTYD2?!!

Valka being friends with the Wingmaidens sits absoluteky right with me

no but the way Toothless hesitated when Hiccup told him to leave him and get the egg

I love how all the dragons arrived to fight the dragon flyers, it was just so poetical to me, the dragons finally getting to fight the people that hurt them 🤩

I FINISHED IT AND NOW I'M SAD!!! I loved the end tho and I'm glad we got to see Shattermaster at Dagur's wedding, also Astrid's outfit change- we love that. And them leaving the edge is just so sad bro 😭but I love how we got to see some "insight" ig u could call it on HTTYD2 😭 also seeing Snotlout and Fishlegs's love for Ruffnut start forming was hilarious

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

You guys are good - I never noticed the Starstruck James/Ben inspiration but rewatching those eps now I see it. With that in mind, the lazer tag scene in the finale felt like it must have been particularly cathartic for Rose to write. With James having spoken so much about their relationship and breakup in his work, it must have felt so good for Rose to finally say her piece and get some of that off her chest.

I think you're right, though I don't think it's a case of everything being that clear. James Acaster wrote in his non-fiction memoir about a woman from New Zealand whom he dated for several years between 2014 and the beginning of 2017 and he first met her when he visited NZ... he didn't use her name but he may as well have. That was very clearly him writing about that relationship as it actually happened, and I don't think Rose has ever done anything like that.

Rose Matafeo wrote a fictional sitcom, starring a character played by herself but clearly not meant to be her except on a few loose details. Rose Matafeo doesn't work at a cinema or a flower shop and I don't think she's ever dated a very famous movie star and there is no way she's ever walked into a room wearing a tuxedo and had people say she looks anything less than stunningly gorgeous. I don't think Starstruck is the same as other sitcoms that are based on fictionalized versions of the writer/star, like Feel Good or Grandma's House or Josh or Not Going Out (it's weird to put all those together since they're wildly different shows, but they all have in common that the star/creator does not try to hide the fact that the character they play is based on themselves, down to keeping the same name). She wrote a story about a fictional character and is telling it.

But there are a few similarities, like her roommate from the show being played by her real-life roommate, and the character also having moved from NZ to England as an adult, and that move being related to having a boyfriend in England with whom things did not work out. She mentioned that in season 1, and then in season 2 the ex-boyfriend actually showed up, and said ex-boyfriend has a few traits that seem not dissimilar to type of guy James Acaster appears to be. So, I think it's reasonable to assume there was some inspiration there.

I feel like I should make the distinction because I've said before that I don't like how much James has written and talked publicly about his relationship with Rose, not just the fact that it happened but the details of their breakup and how much it upset him, because that's going to affect how people see her in her own public career. I don't think she's done that, it's a fictional show. I'm sure plenty about the ex-boyfriend character is invented, like her job at the cinema and her world famous movie star boyfriend (I mean, if that last element isn't invented, then Rose has done a much better job than I've given her credit for of keeping her private life private).

But... yeah, I bet some of it's real. And I agree with you that she's mostly been the responsible one in not making books and stand-up shows and interviews about specifics of her relationship with another public figure when he keeps talking about her, so I can't blame her if she did throw in some real-life elements to a fictional show, and hopefully get some catharsis and enjoyment out of doing so.

[zozophoenixxx]

Serotonin Booster :D 🐉

How to train your dragon edition

(Basically a friendly reminder series but it's now called Serotonin Booster bc I like it that way hehe)

Anywayssss here are some things I had forgotten or little details I just noticed on my rewatch, maybe even Unpopular Opinions 🤭👀

✨Riders of Berk✨

ok im starting this from ep6 bc I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this but yk what why not

JUST REALIZED that whenever Astrid says to Hiccup "what took you so long" when she was stranded at sea in RTTE she was referring back to this one scene in ROB on ep6 when she saved hiccup from Alvin's arrows [Hiccup said the same thing] 😳😳

By the way, it's not really "dragon conqueror". It's "dragon trainer" 🤩

STOICK RIDING TOOTHLESS JAHDHAHSHA

ALSO loved the way they named the typhoomerang🥺

DUDE JAHDHSJAJ stoick is such a kid lmao he really punched the thunderdrum like it was nothing lmaoo

Thunderdrum: *tries to bite Stoick's hand because he doesn't trust him yet*

Stoick: *punches the thunderdrum*

Hiccup: Hey,hey! Whoa, what happened to trust

Stoick: Talk to him! He's the one who tried to take off my hand!

OK BUT AWWW- the thunderdrum just saved stoick because stoick stood up for him and the purple one and then they did the hand thing 🥺🥺🥺

Stoick showing that he did listen to Hiccup and then Hiccup smiling🥴🥺

Hiccup looked so sad whenever he saw his portrait and realized that he was painted differently and the fact that stoick was like "it's you but bigger and stronger" and the other guy was like "that's the son of a chief" definitely did not make him feel better. The fact that sometimes he probably thinks that's he's not good enough and he has to live up to that kid in the portrait-

That's him after... Tell me this isn't the saddest thing-💔

I completely forgot that "it's Viking tradition to call the runt of the litter a Hiccup"

Fireworms! 😁

Fun fact: Gronckle farts are strong enough to make people pass out

Stoick's thunderdrum's name is thornado🥴

Scauldrons eat blue Oleanders, these flowers are poisonous to other dragons tho

Snotlout was the one that found Heather's wrecked boat

I love how Astrid's so intuitive, she knew right away that Heather was kinda sus. It really shows the difference between her and Hiccup who always tries to look for the best in people. Both are good qualities to a certain point if you think about it...

Chicken! :D

"Why would you do that?!" JHDHSHA I LOVE HIM

"Ow! Why is it always violence with you?" "It's not violence. It's communication." Astrid after hitting Fishlegs

That one scene where Astrid is going to Outcast island as Heather on her own and Hiccup is all overprotective i-😩🥺

I really wish they had named and kept that monstrous nightmare that saved Astrid

Thawfest: festival to test strength, endurance, and courage

- The fact that Astrid could've won the log roll and axe throwing events if it hadn't been for fishlegs 🤦🏻‍♀️

- I love how Astrid always knows better

- OMG KISSY KISSY KISS KISS 😚🥴🥰😍😘

Why do I feel like tuff and ruff would definitely be children of Ares

Mildew annoys me sm

I love Mulch and Bucket and also how Stoick was willing to go against his people to protect Toothless. I think it shows the great qualities of a leader who doesn't let everyone do whatever they want.

HICCUP HAS BEEN HIT WITH LIGHTNING!!

- *wakes up from being hit with a lightning bolt to check on his leg* "At least I didn't lose another one."

Whispering death - boulder class, razor sharp teeth, incredibly strong and hunts from underground

The way Snotlout makes fun of the fact that Toothless can't fly bc of Hiccup pisses me tf off

Little moments between Hiccup and Astrid are the ones that get me 🥺🥰 like him getting on Stormfly before Astrid and then helping her up or him touching her shoulder and leaving his hand on there for just a sec to indicate the way 🥺🥺🥺

No because the way they're all running away from the Whispering Death in ep14 and Toothless finally appears and Astrid is like "TOOTHLESS!" like I always asked myself why they didnt show Hiccup's immediate reaction to Toothless coming back and defending them. I just love that they showed how Toothless is also important to Astrid.

Toothless looks cute/funny holding a boulder

Barf and Belch go through the worst lmao

OK I COULD NEVER REMEMBER WHICH ONE WAS WHICH BUT NOW IK CAUSE I ACTUALLY PAYED ATTENTION THAT

Barf is Ruff's

Belch is Tuff's

Also why did I forget that Zippleback gas is kinda druggy

Dagur gives me Vector from Despicable me vibes

I really liked how Stoick was willing to go to war to save Barf And Belch in the Twinsanity ep, it really showed that he wouldn't only do it for Toothless (to protect Hiccup) but he'd do it for any dragon bc he's actually changed

Hiccup's acting was on point ✋🏼👏🏼🤩

Love how Hookfang won't take shii from Snotlout

LITERALLY JAHDHSHZHS Hiccup being hella done w Snotlout in ep16 is my new favorite thing.

THE HAND THING WILL ALWAYS BE ICONIC AND NO ONE WILL TELL ME OTHERWISE

Wow Toothless and Snotlout working together, never thought I'd see this duo

Breakneck Bog = Bermuda Triangle = The Sea of Monsters

Astrid hitting Tuff for pranking them is hilarious and Then RUFF ALSO HITTING TUFF TOO WHEN SHE WAS ALSO PART OF THE PRANK LMAO

Smothering Smoke Breaths - hide themselves in a veil of smoke, very territorial and they build their nests out of metallic objects to defend against attacks by bigger dragons

Changewings - able to change color of its skin to blend in with its surroundings.

I love how Astrid is just so direct lmao

THE TWINS I- JAJDHDHDJAN I LOVE THESE 2 DUMBASSES

The way the chabgewing just ruffled up tuffnut NAHSHDHHSHS

Baby Gustav 🥺🥺🥺🥺

WAIT BUT BUCKET'S SPITTING FACTS

"It's always the quiet ones that snap the loudest"

Granite is Meatlug's favorite 🥴

The way Astrid is so excited to show Hiccup her new achievement and the way she always knows when something is wrong... If this isn't true love i-🥺🥺🥺🥺

Hiccup was entrusted with Bork life's work

The Isle of night - an entire island filled with Night Furies!

Fishlegs lil giggle after he did the thunderdrum call😅🥴

Remember how I said that I thought Stoick would be the only person to get into a fist fight with a dragon? Well I was wrong... Snotlout just punched a Changewing and ig that's abt right

Hiccup just wanted Toothless to not be alone 🥺🥺🥺

ALVIN! UGH THIS DUDE-

The way we had to wait for 2 more shows and 2 movies to finally see another night fury

FINISHED IT OMG NOW ONTO DOB