#rewriting bad cinema

[thatonelesbianfander]

Rewriting Bad Cinema: Ralph Breaks the Internet (WIR 2)

Okay, so I’m bored and have no idea what to post and I’ve had this idea in my head for a while so welcome to a new series thingy I’m going to do on my account called “Rewriting Bad Cinema” where I go and rewrite bad movies and sequels to something better.

Disclaimer: This is just for fun and not to be taken seriously, this is just my what if takes on how to change a piece of media. Please do not take any of what I say seriously. :)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for both Wreck It Ralph 1 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. If you would like to experience any of these movies yourself without spoilers, please go watch them and then come back here!

For this first installment of Rewriting Bad Media, we are going to be taking a look at Wreck It Ralph 2!

More under cut

For Rewriting Bad Cinema, we're first going to establish the movie's plot, establish its problems that make it bad, and then come up with a way to rewrite the movie that remedies most of the problems as best as possible including removal of some elements, restructuring of the plot, and adding to it.

What's the original plot of the movie?

Wreck It Ralph 2 is a 2018 film released by Disney. In WIR 2, the steering wheel for Sugar Rush is broken in an accident after Vanellope goes against the player’s controls and drives on a bonus track Ralph constructed for her. Litwak attempts to fix the game but is unsuccessful and ends up breaking the steering wheel even more, and after the search for a replacement wheel is unsuccessful, Litwak unplugs the game. This causes all the Sugar Rush citizens to become homeless. This causes Ralph and Vanellope to hatch a plan to go to the internet and find a new steering wheel before Sugar Rush is taken out of the arcade for good. Hijinks and brand placement happens and in the end, Sugar Rush is repaired, the citizens are no longer homeless, and Vanellope ends up staying in a new game on the internet called Slaughter Race.

What are the main problems?

Wreck It Ralph 2 is majorly considered a bad film because of:

Too many brands: WIR 2 is mostly criticized on how often it focuses on brands and cameos. In the first movie, most brands and IPs such as Sonic, Mario, Pac-Man, etc, were placed there as tributes to gaming and the culture that surrounds it. Most of the brands were limited to gaming brands, which made it feel more thought out and less like a cash grab. The brands also had an impact on the movie and its plot and world building. In WIR 2, there is no limitation on the brands represented. The movie includes a whole mess of brands from social media platforms to stuff from the Disney company. This made these additions feel soulless and worthless. The brands also had little impact on the plot and its world building, making them feel more worthless.

Mischaracterization of Characters: WIR 2 is often criticized for how much it mischaracterizes Ralph and Vanellope. For Ralph, it mischaracterizes him into a needy, insecure guy even after he completed a character arc for the same thing in the first movie. For Vanellope, it mischaracterizes her into a selfish person and makes her act a lot like the first movie's villain, Turbo.

No Mention of Past Events: WIR 2 is often criticized for how it just ignores a lot about the original movie. There are barely any mentions of the first movie at all, not even the original villain, Turbo, is mentioned. The only thing that is mentioned is the medal that Vanellope made Ralph in the first movie.

No Use of Other Characters: WIR 2 is also criticized for how little it uses any of the characters from the first movie with Ralph and Vanellope being the only two who are focused on throughout the entire movie. Felix and Calhoun, the other two MAIN characters from WIR 1 seem to have a B-plot in the first part of the movie, but are eventually totally forgotten about and their plot wraps up entirely in the background.

My proposal for a rewrite

Wreck it Ralph 2, in my opinion, is not really a needed sequel. I believe this because of how well the first movie wraps up any lose ends with its ending. However, if I were to write a sequel to Wreck It Ralph, this is most likely how I would handle it.

Removals and Restructuring

First of all, let's just get rid of the internet world entirely. The internet world as a concept was pretty cool, but in execution, there's not really a good way to have the internet world and not have a lot of the brands without it being really confusing. The internet will still be a thing as it seems like a really natural way for the movie's plot to go, but the internet world will not play a factor into the movie's plot.

One thing I kind of liked from the original WIR 2 was the beginning segment before any of the main plot gets started. If you ignore the small bits of mischaracterization from Ralph and Vanellope, it's a nice little opener and establishes what the two have been up to since the first movie pretty well. So, we are going to be bringing that segment with us to the rewrite with a few writing tweaks to recharacterize Ralph and Vanellope into how they were at the end of the movie. Let's also add Felix and Calhoun into this segment to catch up with how they've been doing since the first movie. This slice of life segment will help establish our characters as well as establishing the world for any new viewers who may have not seen the first movie.

Main Plot Proposal

Since we've gotten rid of the entire internet world which was the main premise of the film, the plot is going to need an entire overhaul. So, first, let's change the main focus of the film. In the original Wreck It Ralph 1, Ralph's struggle with his identity and self worth was the main focus of the film and that carries over to the second film with the sequel focusing more on Ralph than Vanellope. For the rewrite, the story is going to be focusing on Vanellope and diving into her character more. For the rewrite, I think it would be interesting to dive into Turbo and the effects his actions have on the cast specifically Vanellope. This would let the movie have a nice message about coming to terms with your trauma and not letting it control you. The catalyst for this? Bringing back Turbo.

Hear me out. The movie opens. It's been about five-ish years since the events of the first, and Vanellope has a problem. Even after everything has been reset and she finally has her life together, she just can't seem to move on from the trauma that Turbo/King Candy has caused her over the 15 years of his reign. She seems to flinch at the mere mention of his name and gets uncomfortable and upset when confronted with anything that resembles him. Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun try to help her with it in their own ways, but since she's a kid, Vanellope doesn't really have the tools required for dealing with her feelings. The day the movie opens up, Ralph, Calhoun, Felix, and Vanellope are all hanging out around the arcade to try to help Vanellope feel better. The four are all hanging out in the power strip when people start gathering around an outlet, finding that a new game is being plugged in. The four go over to investigate, and find that the new game being plugged in is Turbotime Remastered.

Turbotime Remastered Backstory and Aftermath of the Plugging In

Around a decade and a half after Turbotime was released a remastered version of it was created with upgraded graphics, more tracks, a bigger cast of playable characters, and more. Mr. Litwak, being a big fan of the original Turbotime, always dreamed of being able to buy the remaster for the arcade and after not being able to afford it for so long, he has finally managed to safe up enough funds to buy the cabinet. The day the cabinet arrived, Litwak immediately had it plugged in, placing the console right next to Sugar Rush. Meanwhile, in the power strip, all hell has broken loose. Everyone is freaking out about the game being plugged in, especially Vanellope, who is just unconsolable. Before anyone can process anything, a group of people step out into the power strip. In the front center of this group stands Turbo, however, this Turbo is much different from how everyone remembers him. Instead of being this evil asshole, this Turbo is chipper and kind. Turbo excitedly introduces his friends to the power strip, walking to every single person, and eventually getting to the main four. Turbo tries to introduce himself to the four but Vanellope starts freaking out, causing Calhoun and Ralph to get defensive. Felix manages to deescalate the situation before it gets too out of hand and awkwardly apologizes and excuses the group. The group discusses the situation in secret with Vanellope being silent the whole time. They don't really have the time to process anything however, as the arcade is about to open, causing them to all have to go their separate ways.

That day after the arcade closes, Vanellope leaves her game to meet up with the others and ends up bumping into Turbo again. Vanellope starts to freak out again but Turbo doesn't really seem fazed. He helps Vanellope up and introduces himself again. Vanellope introduces herself to Turbo and the two get to talking a little. Vanellope finds out that Turbo has no recollection of any of the events from the years past, no recollection of the Road Blasters event, no recollection of his takeover of Sugar Rush, no recollection of the race and CyBug takeover, nothing. Eventually, Turbo and Vanellope end up going their separate ways with Vanellope going off and joining her group while Turbo heads to explore the arcade with his group.

Plot Throughout the Movie

Throughout the movie, Vanellope and Turbo start talking and hanging out more, eventually forming somewhat of a friendship. Throughout their time together, Vanellope starts telling Turbo about her past experiences with him but doesn't tell him he was the one who caused everything. Turbo responds to this very supportingly, telling her that it wasn't her fault that any of that happened to her. Throughout the rest of the plot, Vanellope ends up refinding herself and starts to move on from her trauma.

B-Plot Revisions

Another thing I really liked from the original Wreck It Ralph 2 was the little snippets of the B-plot with Felix, Calhoun, and the Sugar Rush racers. I'm a sucker for unconventional found family, so I love the small snippets of the B-plot in WIR 2, so I want to carry it over to the rewrite. Now, Turbo being back isn't only going to really affect Vanellope, but it's also going to affect the other Sugar Rush racers as his actions majorly affected them as well. So, for the B-plot, Felix and Calhoun would act as adoptive parents to the Sugar Rush racers, helping them conquer their fears and move on. This plot would happen over the span of the movie and finish before the ending climax in a few shorter scenes. The B-plot would probably get as much screen time as WIR 1's B-plot.

As for Ralph, he would act as Vanellope's support/wingman throughout the movie and a mediator between her and Turbo while she interacts with him and his group. The movie wouldn't focus on him as much as Vanellope since his character arc has mostly concluded nicely in the first movie but he would still get a decent amount of screen time since his relationship with Vanellope is an important part of both his and Vanellope's characters.

Story Additions: Lore of Turbotime Remastered

Turbotime Remastered consists of 6 total characters all complete with a special gimmick that would give each character an advantage and disadvantage in a race. Of course, there's Turbo. He acts as a kind of leader of the group. His gimmick is bug themed and would give him the advantage of being speedy and the disadvantage of not being very durable. Then, there would be Avery, the moral support of the group. Avery would have a land animal gimmick, which would give her the advantage of stealth, but the disadvantage of slower recovery. The next character would be Rocket, the brains of the group. Rocket would have a robot gimmick which would give him the advantage of being very durable but the disadvantage of being the slowest. The next character would be Ivy, the healer of the group. Ivy would have a plant gimmick which would give her the advantage of quick recovery, but the disadvantage of not being very stealthy. The next character would be Quinn, the wildcard of the group. Quinn would have a clown gimmick which would give her the advantage of evading, but the disadvantage of unpredictablilty. The last character would be Deino, the brawn of the group. Deino would have a dinosaur gimmick which would give him the advantage of strength but the disadvantage of speed.

Another addition to Turbo Remastered are the new racing tracks, each being themed to a certain character. For Turbo's map, his would be an updated version of his original map with more variety and turns added to the donut. Avery's map would follow her animal theme and consist of four different quarters each themed to a major habitat that animals live in. Rocket's map would be machine themed, featuring a bunch of robots and machines. Ivy's map would be plant themed, featuring a bunch of different plants. Quinn's map would be circus themed, featuring a three section race through a circus performance. Deino's map would be dinosaur themed, featuring a sectioned race where each section takes place in a period of dinosaur time. These tracks would act as the character's home and place of residence.

In the coded backstory, Turbo met his friends while adventuring and the six ended up forming a somewhat family type of bond with each other. The group all has there counter opposites, with Turbo countering Rocket, and Avery countering Ivy and Deino. Quinn, being the wildcard, would be the odd one out, not having any counters to anyone. Despite their differences, the six all have sincere friendships with each other.

Ending of Wreck It Ralph 2 Rewrite

There are multiple ways for this ending to go. One way is to give new Turbo all the memories of old Turbo and causing Turbo to go mad and try to take over the arcade. This would split off into two possible endings of Turbo either being totally defeated like before and Turbotime Remastered being unplugged, or Turbo being redeemed and making up for all his past mistakes. I'm not going to be going down that route however, as I feel like both endings would be a little too cliche and predictable. The unplugging ending would also probably get rid of a lot of character development that the movie had built up. So, instead, let's do an ending like this:

After Turbo, Vanellope, and Ralph are done hanging out for the day, Turbo is confronted by Avery. Avery spills the beans on how everything Vanellope has been telling Turbo about is about him and starts manipulating him into believing that Vanellope hates him. This makes Turbo angry since he was starting to believe he and Vanellope were friends, and he agrees to help Avery and the others get "revenge". After the arcade closes, the Turbotime Racers invade and take over Sugar Rush, leading the Sugar Rush Racers to have to defeat the Turbotime Racers with the help of Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph before the arcade opens or they will have both Turbotime Remastered and Sugar Rush unplugged.

In the final confrontation, Turbo and Vanellope meet face to face. Vanellope ends up confessing to Turbo that yes, she was scared of him at first but now she's ready to accept that he isn't the same person anymore, and his past actions don't have to affect her anymore. Turbo and Vanellope make up, causing Avery to lash out, leading to a final showdown of some sorts and Avery's redemption. In the end, Avery admits she was jealous of how close Turbo and Vanellope were getting and she was scared of being abandoned. Avery's redeemed and everything goes back to normal.

Story Conclusion

In the end, Vanellope realizes her feelings about the past don't have to define her and she's able to move on and heal from her trauma and live her life free of fear, Turbo doesn't gain any of old Turbo's memories, he realizes that he is a different person from old Turbo and movs on to create his own identity, separate from his old self, The Sugar Rush Racers are adopted by Calhoun and Felix and get over their fears, Ralph continues to be supportive of Vanellope, and The Turbotime Racers learn to not be easily jealous. In the end, Turbotime Remastered stays plugged in, and Turbo and Vanellope's friendship goes back to normal.

TL;DR of the Rewrite's Plot

The trauma from Turbo/King Candy's actions have heavily affected Vanellope to the point its difficult for her to move past it, but when a remaster of Turbo's game, Turbotime, is plugged in, Vanellope is forced to come to terms with her trauma and reconcile her feelings about it with the man behind it all.

Conclusion

Okay, that's all! This was a long one, so if you made it all the way here, thanks for reading! I'm probably not going to do anything with this since this was just a fun little writing exercise, but if you would like to make it into a fanfiction of some sorts or something then feel free to take this idea and credit me! I'm most likely going to do more of these so look out for that! Anyway, thanks again for reading and have a nice day :)

[street-corner-felines]

Zero Day (2002)

[cerusee]

I've never watched any Chinese dramas but I really enjoy your posts/gifs about them and it's got me interested in trying some! Do you have any recommendations for somebody who's totally new to them? Any tropes/background context I should be aware of? The historical/fantastical ones seem the most appealing to me.

Oooooh! My first thought on reading this ask was, “oh, I’m hardly qualified”; I’m only on my *stops to count on fingers* eighth cdrama, not counting the one episode I watched of the Wang Zhuocheng xianxia where he falls in love with a rock. (Long story.) There’s a lot of cdramas out there, and I myself have not even scratched the surface of what’s out there! That said, if you’re interested in historical/fantastical dramas, those ARE the ones I’ve been watching, so I still have some opinions despite being a total noob myself.

Do not start with The Untamed/Chen Qing Ling. Twas my first cdrama, like a lot of western fans, who were drawn to it in part because of the big censored-but-still-very-evident gay love story between the male leads, but honestly, as much fun as it is for the slash fans, it’s not a great jumping off point for either Chinese television in general, or even for its own wuxia-inspired genre setting. I say this as some who is still deep in the fandom four years later, and has immense love for the show: the first two episodes are flat-out bad, the overall pacing is bad (episodes frequently stop MIDSCENE), the worldbuilding is thin (a carryover from the novel it was based on), and without a larger context for why it’s made the way it’s made (stylistic choices, industry conventions, government censorship, genre conventions) a lot about it is confusing as hell to cdrama newbies, which is…so evident…a lot…in fandom wank I mean in the discourse about what story this story is trying to tell. Like, if you came to me and asked specifically, “I’m thinking of watching CQL. Should I watch CQL?” I would say yes, absolutely! It’s so much fun! I’m obsessed with the characters! I’ve written a lot of fanfic about the purple guy! But it’s not a good first cdrama, nor it is the best example of what the Chinese TV industry has to offer.

A MUCH better first cdrama especially if you like the historical/fantastical: The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017), which not coincidentally was my second cdrama. It’s one of about a dozen television adaptations of the classic 1957 Chinese novel of the same name by Jin Yong, generally considered to be the inventor of the genre known as wuxia, which is a blend of history, fantasy, and martial arts. (One of the most well-known examples of wuxia in the west is Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which you have probably at least heard of.)

Legend of the Condor Heroes (hereafter known as LOCH) has it all: romance, revenge, evil plots and daring deeds, people jumping off a burning mountain and being rescued by the worst CGIed eagles known to television or cinema, boat adventures, mountain adventures, grasslands adventures, a weird cult leader who lives on a spooky flower island (there will be math), murder, baby kidnapping, more murder, one guy inadvertently racking up a ridiculous number of martial arts teachers, sworn brotherhoods which invariably end with one guy stabbing the other, lots of VERY good martial arts fights, and, of course, Genghis Khan. Technically there are no magic/supernatural elements in this show—no ghosts, ghouls, magic, angels, devils, gods, etc—although the martial artists do have l33t skillz that might qualify as superhuman depending on how you slice your genre conventions, and are awfully fun to watch.

I’ve actually seen two LOCH adaptations (there was one in 2024 I liked a lot, with my favorite Guo Jing so far), but 2017 is a much better adaptation for newcomers as it tells a fuller version of the story and doesn’t skimp on or rush through or rewrite as many elements of the plot as other versions do; it’s meant to be a LOCH for people who haven’t seen half a dozen versions of LOCH already. It has a WONDERFUL cast, including my one of my favorite cdrama leading men, Chen Xingxu,* as the lead antagonist, Yang Kang, who is a trash fire of a person you just can’t root for, but he also can’t help it because he was raised by Wanyin Honglie. You can catch it on YouTube (I recall that there are couple of missing episodes from that playlist, but you can search on YT for those when you get there, to find them subtitled from other channels.)

*If you, like me, come away from LOCH 2017 with your mouth slightly ajar at how great CXX is, I have wonderful news for you! He’s been a lead in at least two other very good cdramas: the 2023 xianxia** The Starry Love, where he gets to play, like, five different characters (huge acting flex, and he’s great, although I would rush to stress I loved a ton of things about this show besides CXX himself), and the 2019 semi-historical drama Goodbye My Princess, which might actually be my favorite cdrama I have seen to date, and arguably THEE best well-made on a technical level, with phenomenal acting, a great script, and editing and directing I am constantly swooning over, but I am not entirely sure I can recommend to you unless you are a Tragedy Enjoyer.

(If you are a Tragedy Enjoyer, please stop whatever you’re doing and just start watching Goodbye My Princess right now, it is phenomenal. It is also available on YouTube. Watch the Director’s Cut, not the regular one! This is important. In its haste to get the main leads on screen together ASAP, the regular version does a Reader’s Digest version of stuff the Director’s Cut spends like five episodes carefully setting up, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense, nor does it flow well.)

**Speaking of xianxia! Xianxia is the high fantasy genre, full of magic and gods and demons and people dying and living multiple lives and whatnot. Important to note: xianxias are soap operas (complimentary). They tend to feature female protagonists, sweeping, epic romances, and put enormous emphasis on exploring the nuances of relationships and emotions. I have watched three that I loved (Love Between Fairy and Devil, The Starry Love, and Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms), and while technically I could recommend all three, if you were going to watch just one, especially as a cdrama intro, I have to recommend Eternal Love, which really is the quintessential xianxia, the one all other xianxias are kind of shaping themselves around. I have watched it 1.5 times and I can say that it does not properly take off until like, episode 10, or whenever it is that the main couple finally, properly meet. IT IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT. This show made me want to spit blood. I cried multiple times watching it. It made me feel things. It has a wonderful immersive quality that’s hard to describe except to say that the entire show sort of vibrates on its own frequency. The casting is just kind of…perfect? Props to Maggie Huang for portraying the most perfectly hatable xianxia villainess of all time. Absolutely no one is doing it like Su Jin. No one should try. I believe this is available on YouTube, but after an abortive start, I realized it was on US Netflix, and watched it there.

As for tropes and background context: ehhhhhh. I mean, it’s an entire industry? I know substantially less about how it functions than I do about, like, American TV and film. I know government censorship is a not-inconsiderable factor, but I don’t know much of the nuance of how that plays out in terms of filming and airing. Tropes will vary according to subject. Idol dramas (shows built to showcase media personalities regardless of their ability to act) are a thing. Most cdrama audio is still dubbed (this one surprised me!), usually by professional voice actors and not by the original cast, for a confluence of reasons, some of which historically make sense (noisy filming lots rendering original audio useless), and some of which are really stupid (fans throwing hissy fits if lead actors don’t have the “right” kinds of voices for their characters).

Anyway! My recommendations are this: try The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017) to start with, UNLESS you would prefer having your heart ripped out of your chest, in which case watch Goodbye My Princess (Director’s Cut, 2019), or UNLESS you love soap operas as much as I do, in which case watch Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (2017). All three are great shows, but they all hit differently/scratch a different itch.

Oh! Lastly! @dangermousie is a great source of cdrama recs. I should note she prefers dramas and tragedies and mostly does not vibe with xianxias. But she watches like eight million hours of dramas a week and reports her findings to us because she is a river to her people.

[spirit-meets-the-b0ne]

House of the Dragon was built to fail

Which the greatest shame of that is, I truly believe they got an incredible cast of talented actors, it's distressing to see them largely wasted. I've been an HBO fan (in a Stockholm kind of way) for the better part of two decades and even some of their usual pitfalls were accelerated here. While it's easy to just blame Ryan (5 spits for an enemy Condall) it still feels like there's more than just writing or directing so this post won't focus as much on the characterization follies but more on the story's infrastructure. While budgetary concerns with a show like this are obvious considering the dragons cost a great deal of time and money it is odd to me that this is a series rather than a mini-series. By that I mean, HBO for most of their big productions had seasons ranging from 10-15 episodes (Sopranos S1 13 episodes, True Blood S1 12 episodes, The Wire S1 13 episodes, etc) so this is exceptionally short of a season for House of the Dragon. Game of Thrones original run was largely a 10 episode format until the later seasons which were also notably shit.

This structure was never designed to give the characters or an audience time to breathe. While this is something that is continually brought up across the cinema/film community these days it seems especially important here. It also seems very easy for an audience to decide against investing time and energy into a series that only holds you for 8 weeks and then takes another 2-3 years of production. As most of the audience knows, it isn't like there is a shortage of materials for the show to incorporate. It's an active choice to not dive more into the lives and circumstances of these character and their relationships. Now, I'm not expecting Lost 2.0 where every character will get an episodic focal point and backstory. Still, you have plenty of non-dragon riding characters whom you could spend time with that don't require maxing out your VFX budget for. Because as of right now from the posts I've been seeing it's clear that most of the general audience at this point is more invested in the dragons than any human character in the show save for some Stans. I can't say I blame them. Most every character at this point is barely tolerable or straight up deeply unlikeable. That's a failure of the writers and directors explicitly. I think the actors are genuinely doing the best they could with the material they're given.

It's frustrating because while I was expecting this show to disappoint (both because of GoT's outcome and HBO's late game losing streak shout out to True Blood for getting so bad I never watched the final episodes) this production is hitting that wall way sooner than expected. If there was another 2-4 episodes to actually develop the characters and their relationships (even with piss poor writing) it might have helped tremendously but this structure is going to leave an audience wanting more and not in a good way. If there is a season 3 I can't imagine in 2 years that a lot of the current viewership would return. So even the "fix it" episode rewrites fans make don't seem like enough, to me you genuinely need more material, more for an audience to invest in or feel a part of. If this season was even 10 episodes there would have been so much room for improvement. The Last of Us was able to deliver a satisfying plot and character arcs with 9 episodes and there's a huge difference with the way that was received by audiences vs. HotD. The obvious difference is the amount of time they needed to tell that story vs. the amount of time you rightly needed to tell this one, which is case in point why HotD needed more time. So, while a short season can deliver satisfaction in some cases, I don’t believe as a rule it should all be common place to condense stories and characters. Especially considering HotD's compression is coming largely at the expense of the women in the show (Rhaena, Jeyne Arryn, Helaena, Nettles, Rhaenrya and Alicent's respective character assassination, etc). That's to say even if these character plots deviate from the canon they have the room to grow and develop a character completely to an audience. If you're going to change a character from the source material at least make them a well-developed different person.

[an-inspired-eternity]

people have said this before me but i'm going to say it anyway cinema is like the pinnacle of akikasa parallels. the big thing is that to varying degrees akito and tsukasa hide their self doubts behind an aura of acting like theyre hot shit

tsukasa to a more notable degree, as we only really started to see that in action in phoenix- because you're not telling me tsukasa "method actor" tenma being to the point of tears thinking about how far behind he is and that he won't be able to catch up was just him pulling shit out of his ass. i don't believe that for a second.

but even ignoring phoenix, we see hints of it before that

i don't have a ton of good pictures to use just bear with me here. i also feel its a bit less necessary to grab examples for akito given in his case this is a lot more visibly key to his character arc (ie. the entirety of stray bad dog)

that being said. yeah. back to cinema. people have pointed this out (although less seriously than i describe it here) how. despite akito's outward vocal dislike for tsukasa. the two are more similar than he thinks (which is as some of you may know a Thing in my fic, balsam).

also feel like it bears being pointed out the fact that "(if you're not suited for the role) then just rewrite the script!" is sung by kaito. which, with akikasa, definitely hits a bit with the knowledge that wxs kaito is A. tsukasa's main vocaloid B. more or less implied to be a role model/ideal self for tsukasa and C. has literally told tsukasa before to take things one step at a time and not push himself so hard.

tldr;

i am so normal about akito's relationship with the wxs boys (lie.)

[doomspiral]

Doom's Movie Rec List

Some of these are bangers, some of these are the worst thing I have ever seen in my life, but I think they are all worth watching and enjoying one way or another. Sometimes the enjoyment is cringe and sometimes its staring at a wall for three hours. <3

The seventh seal (1957)

Classic chess game with Death film, I presume the entire thing is Bergman staring into the soul of the viewer in dead silence until you can read his mind.

The cabinet of Dr. Caligary (1920)

Strange, lurching, I watched this in German without knowing enough to keep up and I believe my confusion added to the experience.

Atomic blonde (2017)

This is my favorite movie. This is the one that I can't stop rewriting in my fics. I can't get the "lies" soliloquy out of my mind. My soul is tied to this fillum. Hot insane woman does a lot of violence, kisses women, beats up a guy who truly deserves it. Iron Curtain Spy Nonsense.

Hackers (1994)

Am I depressing you? Good, watch Hackers to experience child-like wonder and also see a grown man skateboard down a foggy street in the middle of the night to harass the homosexual teenagers (and slim shady) he's beefing with.

The core (2003)

This is not a good movie. But there is a little freak in there named "Rat" who I am obsessed with.

Angel's egg (1985)

This is the kind of movie where you have to not try to figure out what's going on and instead let it take you by the hands, just experience it, just keep your mouth shut and your mind at rest and you can consider the implications afterward when its safe.

Princess mononoke (1997)

I watched this as a child and saw those beasts dissolve into bloody worms and apparently that left a lasting mark on my brain.

Nausicaä of the valley of wind (1984)

I actually read the manga for this one but this is a movie rec list, so please go watch this for the death and rebirth vibes, and some mild foeyay yuri.

Invasion of the body snatchers (1978)

Horror movie that's odd and disturbing and clearly betraying some better dead than red fears, worth it for the horrible despicable freakish noise the guy makes at the end while pointing at the viewer.

Strange days (1995)

Please read up on this before watching it, it revolves around a fictional, then-futuristic critique of the adult film industry, HEAVY focus on the capitalistic dehumanization and devaluing of human life.

Underworld (2003)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters. Core memory.

Blade (1998)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters but maybe you need a break from how white this whole movie list is overall. That's okay, I see you, this vampire flick fucks severe.

Fright night (1985, 2011)

The first movie is pretty campy (fun) but the remake dug into my actual stressors and fears and scared the lights from my eyes for a day or two. Welcome... to FrrrighT NighT.

Dracula (1931, 1992)

First movie is a classic, this is thee one with the guy crawling around like a lizard and there's armadillos for no reason. The 90's version has no business being as deranged as it is and for this it is a core personality trait movie.

Fast&furious: Tokyo drift (2006)

Not sure I would say this is peak cinema but it's a racing movie that falls in line with the F&F tradition of being clearly in love with the entire premise, location, and cast. Rent free.

Drive (2011)

I like this movie because it is not about the guy getting the girl, it is about doing the right thing every single time because that's what it takes to be a real human bean. being. whichever. I was so obnoxious about this movie when I watched it with my now-ex gf that I wish I could siphon the memory of it out of her brain, because I kept pointing at actors I knew.

Green room (2015)

This is the best punk parable I can think of. Litany against not reading the room, litany against being the hero when there's no one to save, litany against thinking shared trauma is gonna get you any pussy.

Lords of chaos (2018)

I'm obsessed with the band Mayhem there is no other explanation.

There will be blood (2007)

WILD WEST TOXIC YAOI. I'm not apologizing for this summary and I'm not elaborating.

Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid (1969)

I don't know. I watched this in the wee hours of the morning with my best friend and actually cried about it. Doomed criminals and a famous final stand.

Saw (2004)

I used to watch Saw movies when I lived in the trailer park while hiding from my family in a neighbor's place so I don't know if these movies are good or if I needed to watch tortureporn to relax bcs the roof leaked on my bed when it rained? But I think everyone should at least watch the first movie or how are you going to play any games?

Chernobyl diaries (2012)

I walked out of this movie shaking head to toe and couldn't think about anything else for months. I don't think I'd be as scared now but I can't say if that's because I'm not 16 anymore. Warning against going into a dangerous situation with a guy you met off Craigslist.

Constantine (2005)

Demon hoards, evil angels, catholic bullshit, 9/10.

The neverending story (1984)

Well after all that let's reinstate some whimsy into our souls again bcs this is the Jim Henson Power Hour. This one is just a solid entry point into "puppets are fun and practical effects are my best friend".

The dark crystal (1982)

My babysitters put this on for me as a bed-time story when I was five (5) years old and I do not believe I slept, I think they regretted this and had to tell my parents what they did. But now I will never stop making Skeksis noises at people I love.

Labyrinth (1986)

Y'know the phenomenon of alt teens and preteens dating young adult men who are total and complete losers, including actual band members? It's not that this pre-dates any of that, but I believe it does a good job representing it through the lens of a modern fairy tale. Like when you watch this you have to realize this is wish fulfillment for people who want to be Sarah because their age-gap goth boyfriend in the real world is a manipulative disappointment.

Pacific rim (2013)

Love letter to the mecha and kaiju genre(s). Makes no sense, compels me though.

Eurotrip (2004)

This is the movie "Scotty doesn't know" is from. Some high schoolers fuck off to Europe and have the most misadventure possible. It's somehow exactly the kind of cringe humor you would expect from the 00's without being cruel or overly disgusting. I used to watch a lot of really bad 00's comedies and this is a good one I promise. Scussie.

Hamlet (1996)

Personality point, I think this is the best version on film because the guy actually looks like how I envisioned Hamlet. Ignore your girl! Avenge your dad!

Advantageous (2015)

This movie goes in on the connection between race and class in a sci-fi future where you can change the former through predatory, dangerous cosmetic surgery.

Gravity (2013)

This is my go-to movie when I need to sob like a sick little baby. Space travel as a metaphor for motherhood, spaceships as the womb, scientists are the babies who left their babies back on earth. It's about what you give up in the name of fulfilling your human urge for the unknown.

All clear on the western front (2022)

Thee anti-war fillum. Very well done. I never recovered from one of the final scenes to the point I wrote a final paper on it. Without spoiling it, the Ending gave me the feeling of when you're a kid and you want to go play, but you're grounded and you fall asleep listening to your friends outside in the street. I hope this sentence ruins your life if you watch this movie.

Inglorious basterds (2009)

They lock some nazis in a theatre and set them on fire, good cinema.

Shadow dancer (2012)

Domhnall Gleeson in one of his classically pathetic twink roles but its about British imperial violence and Irish reactionary violence.

Logan (2017)

Good art film, a story about dementia, legacies, and why putting children in cages is fucking evil.

The batman (2022)

Weird art film, next question.

Joker (2019)

I do not care about the opinions of straight men who watch things uncritically, this is a good movie because of the depictions of poverty in the US. I don't believe this needed to be about the DC Joker this should have been a standalone art film about a mime.

Dragonheart (1996)

Medieval era dragon nonsense, I will never be convinced this is a bad movie.

Sleeping beauty (1959)

Personality trait was rooting for the dragon.

Snow dogs (2002)

I'm not defending this one it stands on its own, please watch this movie if you wanna see Cuba Gooding Jr. bite a husky's ear so it'll stop ruining his life.

Luck of the irish (2001)

This movie is genuinely so bad I have considered it some kind of hate crime since the day it came out, because I watched this the day it was a direct-to-TV movie. I think I was too young to feel insulted but I was deeply, deeply bemused.

Black swan (2010)

There is a woman inside her and she is trying to crash the plane. Can I get away with calling this foe-yay yuri also? I'm going to.

I, tonya (2017)

Sufjan Stevens' song "Tonya Harding in Eb major" makes me so unreasonably emotional, so one day I watched this movie and then the film of the 1988 Calgary Olympics in the living room while all of my housemates had to sneak around in the dark. This is just a solid movie about ambition, betrayal, abuse, tragedy, and having to get over it and move on because you're not dead yet.

Phantom of the opera (2004)

Whatever was going on in Labyrinth, this is the adult version. Weird man in a sewer possessing a soprano. I think there's some gender happening here but it gets a little lost under the love(?) triangle.

A knights tale (2001)

Just go watch some more medieval nonsense, it's good for you, its fun.

White chicks (2004)

I'm not defending this choice, it's a good movie. "You were thinking it" "Yeah but you said it" there are some phrases you could use to see if I had been replaced with a body double and this is one of them.

Heathers (1988)

Ouughhgh ough oh. Personality trait. Watched this because I kept listening to the musical soundtrack, love both but agree the themes are much tighter in the movie. This is just a fun schlock to tell teens life is stupid and difficult and bad things will happen, so don't abandon your friends.

Priscilla queen of the desert (1994)

Classic homo fillum, if you wonder why I write Gilbert Like That it's partially because of the mean little fruit from this movie. It's about the Aussie drag scene and who belongs in the queer community.

300 (2006)

I'm not sure that I would call this a "good" movie, but it's a classic as far as I'm concerned. This is the "THIS IS SPARTA" movie.

The foreigner (2017)

I actually don't remember the plot of this one too solidly but the suspense and action were solid, and I enjoyed the setup. Good for if you wanna be really pissed off for two hours.

Conan the barbarian (1982)

Look at me. Look into my eyes. You're going to watch this movie. You're going to think about the wheel of pain and you're going to go wow, this is so stupid. Don't look away I'm not done. You're going to watch this movie and then you're going to get a couple of paper towel tubes and find someone to beat the shit out of each other with the tubes.

Law abiding citizen (2009)

I don't know I think watching this movie changed my brain chemistry in very special ways. Guy fucking loses it and becomes a problem for his local community by kidnapping and torturing people who killed his family. Cathartic and vile.

Black dog (1998)

:D DO YOU WANNA WATCH AN ACTION MOVIE ABOUT AN 18-WHEELER?

The hunt for red october (1990)

Almost forgot this one. Lithuanian Submariner off the shits, goes rogue, I'm not sure what accent Sean Connery is going for, I get the impression he just showed up to gigs and did whatever he wanted.

[jadedbirch]

I finally watched the 2023 French fanfic of my favorite book, i.e. The Three Musketeers: Milady, part deux of Martin Bourboulon's two-part adaptation of the Alexadre Dumas' novel. I talked about part 1 - The Three Musketeers: d'Artagnan - earlier, but I like to think of them of them together as one oeuvre, since they were shot as one film and then split into two cinematic releases.

Those of you who know me, understand by now that my movie reviews predominantly judge these movies not as standalone works of cinema but as adaptations. I don't ever ask for historical or canonical accuracy (which I have long ago accepted is much too much to ask for), but what I look for is that the plot and the characters serve the underlying spirit of the original Dumas novel. And perhaps this is why, more so than with other - admittedly much more terrible - adaptations, this one just makes me blind with rage. I don't know when filmmakers decided that how we like our morally gray characters is somehow justified, redeemed, and generally de-clawed. If what they were going with here was to make Milady de Winter, the murderous villainess of the novel, into some kind of a post-feminist hero, then they have failed miserably. (Lots of spoilers below the cut)

I don't usually feel the need to put SPOILER warnings on adaptations of the 3 Musketeers, but this ones veers so far off plot that I'm putting it here just in case.

Let's start by saying that it is certainly not Milady who is the main villain of these movies. It's not even Cardinal Richelieu, the man who seems to pull her strings. Rochefort, sadly, does not even appear in this adaptation, and honestly, I feel like docking a point just for that. Apparently M. Bourboulon decided that Dumas' masterpiece just wasn't interesting enough on its own, so he felt the need to "beef" it up, i.e. rewrite the narrative by taking out critical characters like Rochefort and Lord Winter and substituting them with new characters like Mathilde (Aramis' knocked-up sister), Benjamin (Athos' Protestant!!! brother) and maligning poor Gaston le duc d'Orleans by making him the main villain of the duology. Which is a damn shame, because these were all one-note characters foisted upon us at the expense of delightful assholes who made the original novel so fun to read.

And that goes for all the main characters here, including the titular Milady herself. Book!Musketeers are young, reckless assholes, who wench, fight, gamble and generally engage in very questionable behavior. You know, "boys will be boys" - and I do mean that with every possible connotation, i.e. they're horrible. By taking away their youth (excuse moi but Vincent Cassell, who plays Athos, is in his 60's LMAO), Bourboulon would have stripped their bad behavior of any of the benefit and charm of youth. So, I guess, Bourboulon decided to get rid of the bad behavior entirely, instead. Other than Porthos having an occasional bisexual threesome (bless), and Athos drinking while brooding, we don't really see any of the musketeers being the delightful assholes that I, for one, expect them to be. Strip away everything else, but do not ever take the assholery away from me! Here, they are old and they are boring, and honestly, it makes absolutely no historical or narrative sense that any of them are still in the service.

As for d'Artagnan, our hero, he is painted with such a chaste and faithful brush that I'm not actually sure - is this the same shithead who in the book fucks Milady's maid so that he can pretend to be Milady's boyfriend in the dark and sleep with her without her consent??? Hm... nope. This d'Artagnan is so faithful to his Constance, even though they barely touched hands, that he rebuffs Milady's (very assertive) attempts at (inexplicably) seducing him. Oh dear, oh dear, you might say. How is she supposed to spend the rest of the movie trying to get her revenge against him for raping her? Oh, that's right. She's not!

This Milady is no villainess but she's certainly no post-feminist heroine either. Her backstory is so cliche, it is for to weep, and I raged and ranted at great length about it here. She was forced to marry at 15! To some unnamed man who beat and raped her! And whom she killed - a totally justifiable homicide - before somehow falling in love and marrying Old Man Athos and bearing him a child (future Mordaunt? I see you, cutie!). But alas, Old Man Athos learned of her past crime - because she told him - and turned her over to the authorities, resulting in her being branded (natch) and then hanged (convenient how Athos doesn't actually get his own hands dirty). This Milady has literally Never Done A Thing Wrong. Since there's no Lord Winter, there's no poisoned husband. She never succeeds in killing Buckingham or having him killed. She never tries to even so much as look at d'Artagnan wrong, in fact, they keep saving each other's lives for Reasons of the Narrative, none of them particularly compelling. And finally, our poor Constance, I was really rooting for her to survive this AU, but alas. She ends up once again doomed by the narrative, but so stupidly, that I honestly don't know what to say. It made absolutely no sense for Queen Anne to hide her in England with the Duke of Buckingham since doing so would have implicated her in both treason and adultery. BUT WHAT IS LOGIC? Anyways, suffice to say, it's not Milady's fault that Constance ends up dead in d'Artagnan's arms by the end of the movie.

Don't get me wrong. This Milady is very hot (she is played by Eva Green, after all). But there's really nothing interesting or compelling about her as a character. She's a survivor, determined to survive. WHICH SHE DOES. Yay, it's a Milday-is-alive-at-the-end AU! And, honestly, good for her. By all means, girl, you kill that old man who betrayed you and handed you over to be hanged! He doesn't deserve you! And you abduct your own son and smuggle him out of France to teach that old man a lesson! But for the love of all that is holy, can you please, PLEASE raise him to be at least a tiny bit evil???? Please???

I am begging, can we just let villains be villains? Milady's original character was so much more fabulous not because some man beat and raped her but because of her ability to bend men to her will and whim throughout the novel. She outwits and outmaneuvers all of our "heroes," leaving a titillating trail of bodies and broken hearts in her wake, and it takes TEN MEN in the end to hunt her down and execute her. And listen, Athos spends the rest of his life trying to atone for it. THAT IS HER POWER. This Milady? Blah. And while we're here, this Athos? Double blah. I don't care, let her kill him. There's absolutely nothing interesting about this man. (And yes, I think hanging your wife for lying to you and then becoming a murderous alcoholic about it is very interesting, Athos. Very interesting, indeed.) I'd rather watch Vincent Cassell in Eastern Promises 20 more times - now THAT was a character worth his acting skill!

As for the movies themselves, it's sad to say that the only time both my wife and I felt ANY level of investment was close to the very end, when we were waiting to find out whether Constance was going to die. And most of that was due to the extremely convoluted narrative bending that defied logical sense and occasionally space and time. We did not give a shit about anything else, which does not, generally speaking, a great cinematic experience make. And where Part I at least gave us a few moments of levity and a great win for humanity in bisexual Porthos, Part II is merely dark, drab, and joyless.

Final grade for both parts: I give it a C- as a film and a D as an adaptation, in which the only thing that saves it from being an F is Eva Green's hotness.

[axo-wisteria5]

!Deadpool and Wolverine Spoilers!

I saw Deadpool and Wolverine yesterday and I need to get my thoughts out.

-I loved it so much! I have not loved a MCU film this hard since gotg3 came out. It was so fun and silly, and a real love letter to everyone who enjoyed the fox films. I really hope we get to have more content of these two. (I would love to see a Spider-Man film with these three. I don’t know if that is ever going to happen, but I do know that it would so funny.)

-That opening sequence went so hard

-seeing Chris Evens Jonny Storm on a cinema screen in 2024 truly shocked me. I thought he was going to be another cap variant but hearing him say flame on shook me to my core. Genuinely did not know how to react. The fantastic four films were the first ever marvel films I watched and fell in love with. So seeing him reprise that role, even if only for a few minutes, made me so happy.

-Deadpool’s and Wolverine’s relationship was great. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman play these characters so well and have a lot of great chemistry together. I love how they portrayed their dynamic, especially how much weird, aggressive, homosexual tension Deadpool and Wolverine gave off. (We all know that they did more in that car than fight).

-Hugh Jackman

-‘Why is Thor Crying?’ ‘Till Your 90’

-soundtrack was amazing

-loved Channing Tatum as Gambit

-the scene where Peter came to rescue Deadpool and all the other Deadpool variants stopped fighting because of him was one of my favorite scenes. It was so cheesy but I think that why I loved it so much. Also loved it when the TVA master and Peter were eye fucking each other and Paradox just yelled what the fuck is happening.

-When Deadpool and Wolverine walked out after being thought dead with Iris playing in the background I could feel my brain chemistry rewrite itself. I could not put into words how much I love that scene.

-so happy that they got their happy ending

-The end credit montage was so bittersweet. After the movie ended I was in a daze, but when I got home I just started to cry. I really love the fox marvel films. I know that a lot of people think or thought they were bad, however they have always had a really special place in my heart. The fantastic four movies were the first marvel movies I ever loved. And although I didn’t watch the x-men movies as a kid, my mom has always loved them and has always loved Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. So, when we watched them together when I got older I sorta already had this pre-established love for these characters. So, watching that end credit montage made me super upset, however I do think that it was a lovely ending for that era

[streetlamp-amber]

GUIDELINES

about the author + blog rules

⤾ NAVIGATION 　　 → MASTERLIST

✧˖*°࿐ABOUT THE AUTHOR

.·:*¨ ailís — 22 — fae/they (okay with girl gendered terms) — bisexual enby ¨*:·.

ꕤ — i’m bilingual, my first language is french but i only write in english (though i might incorporate french in some fics/one shots).

ꕤ — i'm back in school for the first time after dropping out of college four years ago so i'm struggling with keeping my school-work-social-activist life balanced (because yes i also got involved with my university's student committee for Palestine literally during the first week of class). i'm currently a free student, meaning i'm in no particular bachelors program, and i'm hesitating between majoring in art history or photography. i won't be following any posting schedule on here, i write when i have time to and i'm a little bit of a perfectionist so i won't rush myself to fulfill your requests with writing that i'm not satisfied of.

ꕤ — things i like: blueberry bagels with cream cheese, autumn, concert photography, poetry, music (arctic monkeys, lorde, blur, wallows, inhaler, fontaines dc), movies (studio ghibli, nolan’s dark knight trilogy, irish cinema, french cinema), tv shows (peaky blinders, broadchurch, derry girls, true detective, doctor who, the sopranos, new girl), sports (montreal canadiens, liverpool fc, celtic fc, f1), the colour green, europe (but not england or germany), cillian murphy, david tennant, art museums, batman.

ꕤ — i’ve been writing fanfiction for years (it all started with very poorly written one direction imagines on instagram and wattpad when i was thirteen…), improving both my writing skills and my english vocab + grammar along the way. my earliest works available are from 2021 (on ao3) because i’m too ashamed of anything posted before that (and it was also very bad).

ꕤ — i’m very multifandom and will mostly write content related to my most recent hyperfixations. there’s a list down below with all the characters i read and am interested in writing fanfiction for.

✧˖*°࿐WRITING + RULES

ꕤ — this blog will be mostly dedicated to one shots, blurbs, headcanons, drabbles and maybe short series.

i do write long series on wattpad (and also on ao3 but that one is currently on hold). i’m in the middle of a friends series rewrite with a joey tribbiani x female oc storyline that i’m very invested in (this might be the first multi chaptered fanfic i ever complete). i also started writing a tenth doctor x witch oc au but i’m taking much longer to update this one as it will mostly be original episodes instead of following the doctor who storyline. i also have a tommy shelby x oc fic that’s been on hold for a year that i plan on eventually getting back into writing.

ꕤ — i honestly don’t really care about canon (especially when it comes to stuff like the dc universe). i will always respect identity traits that are important to the character like race, sexuality, disability, etc., but i might get ooc sometimes when it comes to their personalities.

ꕤ — i will try to keep my reader inserts as physically vague as possible except if it’s indicated that the reader is afab. however, i am physically disabled with chronic pain so i might incorporate some aspects related to that in my writing (it will be indicated at the beginning of the post).

ꕤ — i am okay with minors interacting with my sfw writings but if i see anyone under the age of 18 interacting with nsfw stuff you will be blocked. i can’t stop you from reading it but i am not comfortable with you interacting with that content.

ꕤ — requests will be answered once i’m done writing them. i will try my best to do so as fast as possible but i tend to write multiple works at once so if you see me post other things after you sent your request, don’t get deterred. if you send a request i don’t want to write, i’ll reply to the ask to also let others know not to request something similar.

ꕤ — do not translate, copy or publish my work on other platforms without my permission.

!! DO NOT REQUEST !!

major character death (canon or non-canon), underage reader or character, incest, any kink involving fluids, noncon/dubcon, self harm, eating disorders, yandere, abuse, manipulation, butt stuff, cheating/infidelity, a/b/o

✧˖*°࿐CHARACTER LIST

✵ doctor who

⋆ tenth doctor

✵ peaky blinders

⋆ tommy shelby

✵ dc universe

⋆ batman/bruce wayne ⋆ batmom/batfamily ⋆ scarecrow

✵ bridgerton

⋆ benedict bridgerton

✵ supernatural

⋆ dean winchester

✵ broadchurch

⋆ alec hardy

✵ true detective

⋆ rust cohle

✵ harry potter

⋆ sirius black ⋆ barty crouch jr ⋆ fred weasley

last updated 5 october 2024.  　　 divider by @saradika

[project-sekai-facts]

Akito is the only person with solo lines during the first two choruses of Cinema. During the final chorus, the other members of Vivid BAD SQUAD and KAITO all get a solo line.

No, it can't be this, not this. This is a bad fit for me I'm not suited for it - should I quit it now, or— But that's not right, right! I wonder, when will I get to be The leading star of this show?

This can't be right, right. This is a bad fit for me I'm not suited for it - I could stop now but, It kept repeating thousands of times I'll just keep hoping for tomorrow.

We're not here yet, yet. This can't be the end, so If you're not suited for the role then just rewrite the script! Look, for the most part, I'm sure it'll always just be me The leading star will only be me! Someday it'll be bye-bye when the end comes. Smile for the curtain call and the applause. The future I wanted to change has come. Whatever you like, however you like it, This is it. I made it here, all the way from the bottom. Just like a movie, this is my story.

(TL from Project SEKAI Wiki)

[daddymus-mamatron]

Greetings, I come in peace. So...I saw your tag about a TFE plot rewrite on a rb and. I'm very intrigued. Please kindly elaborate 🙏🙏🙏 (Forgive me if I'm too nosy! Feel free to ignore this ask. ⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄

Oh it is a PLEASURE to talk about it!!!

Ramble under cut because it's going to be long

When I was in college I had a class on cinema and my brain decided it'd be my new hyperfixation. Now that'd be fun and dandy except I got a little too into it and all I can see is patterns, archetypes & trope.

Like there is maybe 10 movies/TV shows that I didn't see the plot twist coming from a mile away. My stupid brain pick up on the most minuscule details and unravel the whole plot in a second. Which sucks sometimes.

Enters TFES.

It's great but there's a few sentences/frames that drive me insane.

When they throw the Cons in jail after episode 1, the rest of the Decepticons must know about Mandroid, they'e so close in there and in later episode it's shown they can chit-chat easily

Megatron is nice now and that's it?!?!?? He hunts & imprisons Decepticons and he's free and it's fine?!?!? AND HE STILL WEARS THE DEECPTICON BRAND?!?!?!

Speaking of cells, I knew G.H.O.S.T. was iffy the *Second* they showed the empty cells. THERE'S NOTHING IN THERE NOT EVEN A BENCH OR SOMETHING WTF?!?!

Bee casually mentioning that Rumble exploded because Soundwave was low on energon.

Swindle saying they should wait for the 'plan' instead of breaking out after Hashtag Oops

Bumblebee carrying restraining bolts

Karen torturing the 'Con, how long did that go on for?!?! How come they never spoke up about the torture??!

On the same subject, Tarentulas mentions a gun that erase memories and then we never hear about it again

There's more but I have more things to say so moving on

*inhale* THEN!!! Then there's the deleted scene (The confrontation between Megatron & Shockwave + Soundwave & Starscream freeing Shockwave) THEN!!! Then there's the mentions in the official guide that were never explored/explained

SO

I said fuck it and wrote down all the things that bothered me, asked my pal @shotimus what other things she thought were weird/missing/not explained [Shots is the TF expert, I'm still a noob] and I threw that all together in a blender. Took my favourite parts of multiple continuity (IDW, Aligned/Prime, Shatter Glass, G1 & Earthspark) and made a 6k OUTLINE of the fic I wanted to write.

The one (1) thing I was doubting the most about the plot of the fic, is Starscream is older than Megs & OP in my AU. I saw a comment on Reddit once that blew my mind (goes like this: If we’re sticking pretty closely to G1-esque Starscream, it would be pretty easy to show some more of his motivations for being so conniving. 

Just show some glimpses of the life he imagines he should have and why he is so convinced he should have it, and there could be many specific ways to go about that. All you’d have to do is show why he’s like this—you wouldn’t have to get the audience to think he’s in the right or being reasonable, and it would be interesting.) Took that and ran with it. This post reassured me I wasn't too insane for making SS older

SO

So he's a golden child that got more and more bitter as the war went on and he was more and more abused. Because I have to torture my fav blorbo.

AND THEN S2 CAME OUT

It was so bad.... I have MORE THINGS TO REWRITE. Like Soundwave ripping the 'Con badge off Megatron. There's another thing I wanna talk about it's a surprise so I'll refrain.

And that's where I'm at OTZ

The fic in question is actually a whole ass series because I'm possessed with a demon and I must rewrite the whole show?!?!?

[destinyc1020]

Marvel rn is like swimming against stream. Like nobody wants see urself in bad likes,any famous actor with reputation or good directors don't want risk of reputation. Big problem is marvel not giving any creative freedom to any director so famous ones don't even want deal with them even for big money.they don't wanna be all like puppets.

Constant rewrites too,like actors or director don't know that they get next day if they change overall mcu plan.

Like saw day ago twt with big amount likes about that spiderman without directors but +- with scripts and already dates of filming it's all bad signs. I agree with that, director should have own vision, prepare for projects, maybe change something in script in their taste and only then calmly shoot film without reshoots. With spiderman4 Thay have nothing for now only ideas.

And about mcu. I stand bely it, almost all their films just bad. I was last time in cinema for mcu film for nwh before that infinity war.

I couldn't understand some of what you were saying in your ask, but I think that as long as SM4 can secure a decent director, and hires good writers, the film should be fine. 👍🏾

Fans WANT to see a SM4. It's not like Hollywood is pushing the sequel of a franchise that nobody wants to see, or nobody asked for.

So they have the fans on their side. Fans want to see what happens, and they want to see more villains and characters in the spidey universe come to life.

I personally think though that Tom should sign on to ONE film at a time, instead of signing a 3-movie deal contract right off the bat.

Plus, I'm sure that eventually he would want to move on to smthg else in the future. 😊

I don't get the impression that he wants to play Spiderman for the rest of his life.

[amiaima]

Cinema (English Version)

Translation by amiaima

All of a sudden, everyone started acting out

A scenario that had absolutely no sense.

This feels exactly like a movie,

This is exactly like a movie.

Everywhere you go, there's a story

I encountered countless mistakes on this path

How many more would I find if I reviewed it?

Are there flaws I can't see?

Is there anything bad about it?

Please tell me, if you find I'm blind to it all.

Delusions at dawn

Escapades so precious and

A misunderstood hero roleplay

A traffic jam, a line with no end in sight-

There's nothing I can do about that though.

"This isn't how it was supposed to play out."

"What was the end supposed to be then?"

I forgot the more I thought about that

Oh no, this must be wrong.

I'm not fit for situations like these

I'm not done though-

Should I quit or still act like a fool -

But nothing feels right! I always wonder, when will I

Get to be the star of this show?

Laughing every time others are better than me,

Crying every time more worries fall upon me

Feeling disappointed knowing my hopes can't be

I can't blame anyone else, and it bothers me

The brilliant lights of the city shine on me

Highlighting my features full of defeat

The time to start is right now!

Yes, let's try again, again, again

This must be wrong.

I'm not fit for situations like these

I'm not done though-

I know I could stop here, but it all,

Kept repeating thousands of times like a broken record

I'll just keep hoping for a better tomorrow.

Delusions at dawn

Escapades so precious and

A misunderstood hero roleplay

A traffic jam, a line with no end in sight-

There's nothing I can do about that though.

I recognized something back then,

An old painting or something of sorts

When was the time that I...?

All of a sudden, everyone started acting out

A scenario that had absolutely no sense.

What are you all playing at?

Who are you all trying to be?

There's no way you could be one of them, right?

Still not enough...

We aren't there yet.

I know this can't be the end

If you don't fit in

Just rewrite the entire script!

For the most part, I'm sure it'll always be me

The leading star will only be me!

Someday we'll say bye-bye

Right as the show comes to an end.

Smile wildly

For the curtain call and the applause.

I changed the future so I could finally fit in the role.

Finally how you like it, how you want it,

It's the time.

I made it here all the way from the bottom.

Just like a movie, this is my story.

[fablecore]

i was curious what you thought of the live-action One Piece now that season one is out! personally, i have the same compliants as Geoff of Mother's Basement (youtu.be/43K-H_dtQ9g?si=2n0MLLPmdw0vARk7) where, personally, my main compliants were (1) how clean some of these well-worn outfits and set-pieces were and the bigger one was (2) how Garp was altered but i, like Geoff, have my hopes that s2 can fix that by showing that this is the experience (mostly part from Mihawk) that changed Garp into more of the Garp we see in the manga. "a high 8 or low 9 out of 10" indeed. overall, i think its okay as an adaptation! i like Sanji's perviness being toned down, i dont mind most of the shuffling and changing because it is an adaptation with timeslots and seasons unlike a limitless manga with arcs however long it wants. i can understand if you or others dont like the live-action adaptation though! i just like that it was a good gateway to help me turn some of my friends into One Piece fans, less scared of how BIG One Piece is now the live-action has given them a limited taste, towards the manga or the OnePace.net-editted version of the anime (though i do still plan to have them watched some of the anime-only filler that is fun lmao maybe ill throw a sleepover or something, idk, i just like how OnePace fine-tunes the padded-out pacing problem the later One Piece episodes have) thats the main plus of the live-action adaptation to me

but im curious about your thoughts if you have any?? its okay if you never plan to watch it, i know a few other fans like that and i dont mean for my wuestion to be all peer-pressure-y or anything ♡

i've never heard of onepace until now! i'm in the same boat, i've been watching opla with my sister who's kind of interested in starting one piece but is also intimidated by the anime's episode count. maybe we can watch onepace instead. thanks for letting me know ☺️

i've only seen the first two episodes (but don't care at all about spoilers and have seen a lot already). i didn't like the first episode, zoro particularly, but the second was fun! well... it was camp. combined, i would give it the verdict of "aggressively okay" but this isn't a judgement on anyone who liked it. if you did, i'm happy you had a good time. i just have cinema brain.

what i liked so far: helmeppo's >:O face and his puma trainers. the vfx team in charge of luffy's rubberyness. buggy's "surprise, shithead!" nami's den den mushi earpiece/cellphone.

the rest:

zoro’s zombified no energy go girl give us nothing monotone. 😐 <- why did they tell him to make this face in every shot

they cut the scene where luffy gives zoro his swords back and replaced it with helmeppo ass

"a man needs to be strong. but he also needs to be good.” you are going to cut off a pirate rookie's arm and then obliterate his ship and crew later 👍

what is this whole thing about being "morally good" and "one of the good guys" and "a good pirate" it's ICKY

justice for silly winky vain nami. how are they going to do the personality shift into broody serious arlong park nami when she's been broody and serious the whole time

nami spent like 30 minutes unlocking one (1) locked cage. i guess it's because she and zoro needed to talk/get some exposition in, and i'm not going to suggest a better option because i don't want to rewrite half the script. i just found it amusing because normally it's "suspend your disbelief when a character does something amazing for the plot" and not "when a character is noticeably worse at something they really have no business being this bad at. for the plot"

i'm starting to think that zoro and nami lost core personality traits because the writers wanted them to be luffy foils instead of their actual characters

i did hear taz was the best/most charismatic actor out of the straw hats. i'm assuming this is because they let him be sanji instead of making him into a luffy foil since they have enough luffy foils

cameraperson's love affair with low angle closeups and fisheye lens. i don't hate it (it's camp) just pointing it out

i'm literally so serious about mackenyu's insufferable zoro voice. whenever i hear him talk in that joyless southern california kardashian vocal fry my blood pressure shoots through the roof. who made him do that

even though i have issues with the writing, i think objectively opla has done a decent job of pleasing fans. i'm not one of them but i know there's a lot. but on a technical and artistic level... deep sigh palms pressed together listen... i was hoping for spellbinding artistry from the showrunners. beautifully lit scenes, beautiful camerawork, excellent technical chops, lingering shots of luffy's bruised knuckles, the slightly frayed fabric on zoro's swords, a super close-up of a log pose with the crew talking behind the compass needle, their bodies distorted by the glass. fingerprints on kerosene lamps. barnacles on rotting wood. a searingly hot-blue summer sky (super saturated in post) over shells town or wherever. i wanted lush gorgeous rich interesting artistic ideas from the directors and cinematographers. i haven't seen any of that so far, and what i have seen doesn't compel me to watch more. i'm not saying the actual cinematography was bad! just. okay. it was okay.

(but also some of the nighttime/underlit scenes are bad. put a dang key light on your actors 🤺)

concluding thoughts: at the end of the day, if netflix wants to keep throwing millions per episode at tomorrow studios, i'm fine with overlooking mediocre filmmaking and storytelling. i want everyone in the production crew to get their bag. i hope this show runs for another 50 seasons and is powered by union labor forever and ever until the end of time amen

[anxious-m3ss]

it is *wild* to me that some people think canon divergent fic is somehow bad or they only ship canon compliant pairings.

Like my most memorable foray into fanfic (I've read stuff before, but this is what got me properly into ao3 and such) was a complete Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker rewrite that I found shortly after I left the cinema feeling robbed by canon.

I know not all fanfics are fix-its and they don't have to be!! But fandom space is not only for cherishing canon. It is also for exploring what ifs. And sometimes it's for burning canon down and dancing on its ashes.

[derrickwildsun]

The worst thing about the whole draconification sub-plot is that it's inspired a lot of headass takes about how Zelda's sacrifice could only have meaning if she essentially gets killed off for good, even though her mission succeeded and she lost herself for thousands of years; it's definitely exposed yet another ugly side to gaming fandom. I also find the "make her scaly and reptilian at the end" off-putting; bad fanficcy fetishizing disguised as profound rewriting. Very Cinema Sins/TV Tropes-ish in terms of line of thinking. I think it's also another reminder that gamers generally don't value female characters, hence why so much fan media surrounding the sub-plot amounts to "Link is sad about what happened to Zelda and that's angsty;" there's not a lot exploring Zelda's emotions (particularly post-TOTK).