#she also really sells the possession scene imo

[jihef03]

Saw the first Beetlejuice the other day and Catherine O'Hara doesnt get the credit she deserves.

The script doesnt go out of it's way to make Delia Deetz unlikable ( it does show she's a decent person at heart in the end) but Catherine's performance really is what makes Delia endearing.

[twochildreninamoteldemo]

Hi Maven!! Same q to everyone this week: what are your top 3 wincest episodes, and why?

ok im gonna cheat and do this in 2 ways hehe

a) top 3 sam/dean episodes

3. A Very Supernatural Christmas: has the samulet (their engagement ring, obviously!), you can palpably feel the isolation, the neglect, it's very two-children-in-a-motel-esque. and of course, the final scene, where i think, if there was any point in the series aside from the barn scene in which they would have said "i love you," it would have been there. the deep long stare, the watery eyes, the fact that they both know dean will be gone within the year, and then... "do you feel like watching the game?" ahhhhhhh drives me nuts

2. Swan Song: their love literally!!!!! saves the world, i mean come on. it has the whole wincest montage that you could literally set a richard siken poem to, or a taylor swift song to (look i know those are vastly different things but. bear with me), and it would just feel right. dean finally lets sam do things on his own. he lives because sam tells him to. sam manages to revoke his possession consent because of how much he's in love with dean, even as his fist is smashing dean's face into a pulp. ok i have to stop or i'm going to start crying in this goddamn airport.

Playthings: obviously. gothic horror episode of all time. picture-perfect family in the outside, secret sibling hidden upstairs. the way sam and dean's codependency is paired with that of the grandmother and her ghostly sister. the face-stroking. the almost kiss. god i swear it always looks like they're gonna kiss. sam writhing on the bed. dean staring at him like that. the subtext was about to bust through the screen, what with the acting and the way the plot and the meta-plot fit together perfectly. catherine tosenberger said it much better than i can, go read her article in TWC about wincest if you haven't!

b) top 3 family-horror-what-the-incestuous-freudian-fuck-is-going-on-here episodes

2. Devil's Trap: azazel uses john's body in a sexual manner against both sam and dean--primarily the latter but sam gets it, too. it's a chilling scene and really cements that this is what spn is about: never being able to escape the family. sam learns partly of azazel's plot, dean gets his daddy issues flayed onto him, and all through the eyes of the father. it's so well done.

3. Skin: imo the most damning thing the shifter says is, "i will be sorry to lose this skin. your brother's got a lot of great qualities. you should appreciate him more than you do." uh...what? the way he ties up sam and plans on torturing him also aligns with the shifter's pattern of turning into the husband and beating up the wife. another HMM moment actually comes from dean himself, when he tells sam that none of his friends will ever understand him and that dean's the only one who can...it's very isolating, kind of abuser tactics, and just. whew. this was episode SIX!!

In the Beginning: come on you knew i was gonna say this. aside from the obvious moments of "mom is a babe" (and remember, dean invokes sam into this moment as well..."sammy, wherever you are..."), samuel!azazel leaning over dean and smelling him, and samuel!azazel kissing mary--passionately returned(?), may i add, the plot itself sets up the winchester family as this enclosed, inbred unit. mary's kiss with her possessed father seal's sam's fate as part of azazel's army. the sexuality she shares with her father makes her son's blood diseased and cursed. the family line is tainted by incest. her kiss is what allows sam and dean to grow up that way, to become so codependent, what allows the moments of avsc, swan song, and playthings to happen! in the beginning. this begins the cycle of selling and saving souls--mary for john, john for dean, dean for sam. it's literally THEE spn episode, perhaps even more than playthings. even though sam's barely in it, his fate hangs over the whole episode, and this is full house of wincest at its finest.

[artisticbunny]

Ok ok ok Bun I am consuming this lore like you would not believe. Thank you so much for sharing and answering all my crazy asks and not beating me up or anything because I’m weird. (Sorry that’s the first thing that came to mind lol—)

Ok ok, to the point! Terra is def one of the faves of mine Oki? So like can we know more about her? Like how long has she been guarding her ancient object? What happened to her people? Is there something I missed because I wanna know! How long has she been around? How is she connected to the prophecy if she’s guarding an object related to it?

Alright alright lots of questions this time! (Sorry if it’s overwhelming, I just really like sirens because they’re interesting creatures imo lol)

As always stay awesome Bun! You’re amazing! <333 :D

SHAKING YOU SHAKING YOU OF COURSE!!! ID NEVER BEAT YOU UP OVER ANYTHING AAA

Here is some more info on Terra!

First off, I have drawings of all my characters except for two (I actually do but they aren’t as recent so XP) so im gonna also tack on a visual of her for you <3

Here is a detailed explanation on Terra’s background as well ;3

Terra was born into high social status, her grandmother being positioned to protect their city's most prized possession, the sacred magic shard used to power the most important areas of the city Kcorplek. This is the same shard that Terra is found protecting during the events of the story. Terra’s family is a long line of very powerful and very skilled warriors that were often found in a group referred to within their society as “Guardians”. Highly trained warriors that are sworn to protect their people and their city, no matter the cost. At the age of 4, Terra began training to become a Guardian, She was found to be extremely gifted with her powers. At around age 16, She was able to graduate into the academy (the highest ranking school) at the top of her class, having been able to complete the entry test with ease, even when she was much younger than the rest of her class. Such a test being to incapacitate and re-trap a giant sea serpent let loose into the testing arena. Halfway through her final year of the academy, the city was attacked by a group land-dweller raiders. they wore equipment that drowned out the best attempts of the guardians' siren songs. Their defenses meant nothing. Amidst the chaos, Terra's grandmother gave her the sacred shard. Terra swore to not only her grandmother, but to the city that she would keep it safe, no matter the cost, and escaped unspotted to the surface, where she clawed her way out of the lake holding her city, across the mesa reefs (A biome of my own creation: mesa pocked with salt water lakes and ponds filled with brightly colored, beautiful coral reefs), and lake/pond hopped until she felt she was far enough away to be considered safe. It’s been about ten years since then by the time Brook comes into the scene.

Terra has no clue what became of her people, but world building wise, they were ransacked for all of their treasures. They’ve been recovering since then, continuing to sell their main export: salt from the salt deposits left behind from the ancient ocean that once covered the land where they live now and housed their evolutionary ancestors. This ocean has since dried up.

The salt from this region is coveted by magic users for its ability to enhance magical spells, and also by cooks because it is some of the most high-quality salt in the land. It is theorized that the salt contains microscopic remains and spirits of the prehistoric creatures that roamed the ancient ocean, and that is why it can be used in this way for magic users! :) (it’s also an orange color because of the iron deposits also found in this region!)

Left without their magic shard, however, the city was left to find other means to power their homes and businesses.

Terra is currently 28 years old! :) sirens age very similarly to humans, despite the fact that they are convergent species!

(I have put so much thought into the biology of each of the species in this world lol, I’ve even made my own creatures!!!! I created little bug creatures that feed on mushroom insides and use the left over caps as protective shells like hermit crabs! They take on the properties of whatever mushroom they consume and use for shelter as a Defence mechanism!!! They are also immune to said effects of mushrooms x3 I also made creatures that feed off of the fear of their prey and can cause hallucinations with their venom in order to further cultivate their fear! They are able to spray and release the venom into the air as a mist! If you breathe it in it has similar effects, though less potent)

Terra herself is not really related to the prophecy. Her people were given information long long ago that a chosen hero would be sent down in order to collect it, but unfortunately, the prophecy given with the shard is long forgotten.

I’m also gonna throw in some extra facts for you!!! Sirens are able to breathe both above and below water through a combined gill and lung system. Water goes in through their gills, air goes in through the mouth. They are able to switch out the system used on command. Sirens are descendants of carnivorous creatures, causing their sharp serrated teeth, they have since evolved to eat vegetation as well, making them omnivores. Sirens absorb water through their skin, making it so that they have no need for drinking. Sirens can’t actually hypnotize you, they just mess with your emotions and pre-existing desires in order to make you do what they want!

I think there may be more but that’s all that comes to mind right now X)

Sorry this took so long to reply to! I’ve been in class all day qwq

[marnie1964]

Karate Kid/Cobra Kai survey

i'm gonna consider myself tagged

It’s the year 2021 and you’re obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?: an unexpected turn of events but it's passing the quarantine, i guess!

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?:  to be completely honest, i don't really like the movies? i didn't vibe with them as a kid and when i went back and tried to watch them this year i couldn't make it all the way through.* i think they're well crafted movies, but i've never liked relatable young boy wish fulfillment (i couldn't even get thru harry potter as a kid), and i think the first one is guilty of burying the lede twice over with regards to mr. miyagi and later the relationship between kreese and johnny. and lucky me--these are exactly the areas that cobra kai delivers on.

*except for the third one, which imo is a camp masterpiece and also genuinely heartbreaking. it's the only one that allows daniel to be an genuine pain in the ass. i think i've finally figured out what the target audience for cobra kai is: people who's favorite karate kid movie was tkk3 (me).

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character: johnny! what is a man but a miserable pile of bruce springsteen lyrics? or aimee mann lyrics? or mountain goats lyrics? or otis redding lyrics? or--fuck, have americans ever written songs about anyone else? i have an unreal amount of good will towards this man and his late-life struggle for recuperation. he's the heart of the show both in terms of his relationships with other characters and in terms of zabka's chemistry with the other actors.

my deep dark double secret fave is kreese. he makes me feel real anger in a way that's usually reserved for characters in vince gilligan shows. i'm a bit obsessed with him and his preoccupation with johnny and later johnny's teenaged son (I Have Thoughts). the show does a great job of making what he did to johnny--and all the years and years and years of fallout from that--feel really real, which makes him one of the most viscerally despicable villains i've ever come across . it's unironically among the best portrayals of domestic abuse i've seen, may god have mercy on our souls. the decision to pop out from behind a fucking cardboard cutout of himself to scare daniel in tkk3 was also a hilarious galaxy brain move. aspirational stuff.

also--shout out to daniel-san. the writers really had to work their asses off to make him into a character that appeals to me, and i think they did a great job of it. he's a cringey tool who's capable of displaying a surprising amount of integrity under the right circumstances! he's tom wambsgans! he's pete campbell! he's wonderful i love him!

Favorite ship:  johnny & daniel (what if mysterious skin was a sports comedy??)

Underrated character: the True and Correct answer to this question can only be aisha, although i don't think she was actually underrated by anyone besides the writers. chozen is also lowkey my favorite katate child because c'mon, he had everything (spear fights! ziplines! teen death matches! formfitting disco-era polyester button down shirts worn with gold chains!)

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  uhhhh... the only teen couple that could have been interesting is tory/aisha. they were cute together and their friendship rang true to me. it's that thing where you're the new girl and you're conventionally attractive, but on the inside you know you're a freak so you immediately gravitate towards the most obvious female outsider. i lived it, bay-bey!

i also think there are interesting things to explore with carmen and johnny's relationship. i don't know if the writers are even aware of it (i lean towards no b/c men amirite) but the entire premise of carmen's character is that she chose to live in poverty to protect herself and her son from a bad man with power. she's thereby the exact opposite of johnny's mother, who (at least by his understanding) married hollywood film producer shmarvey shmeinstein to provide her son with a better life. so, there's a lot to unpack in his attraction to her. also they're super hot hur hur i like sexy nurse thing hur hur.

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?: i can't look directly at it, but sweep the leg. zabka what the fuck man.

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?:  i don't think i've seen anyone mention this one yet, but the football jersey with the sweatpants. it makes him look so small and huggable, i wanna pick him up and set him on my shelf or something.

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver: bring back ali's lesbian girl gang!!! or else--dutch. he was funny and iconic, i loved his exaggerated offended reaction to everything daniel said or did in tkk. also, i'm tacky so i'm a sucker for aggressively bleach blonde hair. the SCANDALIZED wasp couple standing behind ali and johnny in the spaghetti scene will also do. or terry's secretary (an mvp--i believe the original actress has passed away so in my heart of hearts she's portrayed by j. smith-cameron).

Scene that lives in your head rent-free: the whole character development speed run that johnny does from sweep the leg to crying while handing daniel the trophy to getting strangled in the parking lot by his beloved teacher. i'm especially transfixed by that last bit--what's the thought process of a man who decides to publicly execute his teenage student via strangulation? why did none of the many bystanders call the police? johnny is the real kitty genovese, prison for everyone.

from the cobra kai series proper: daniel's decision to greet johnny with a big hug after not seeing him for 35 years and never actually being friends with him (I Have Thoughts), the heinously creepy scene where johnny is repeating the cobra kai mantra for miguel and his entire disposition completely changes (demonic possession shit), and johnny's tiny go-ahead-and-kill-my-abuser nod (his face is so stoney after being so animated at dinner) coupled with daniel's shaky little sign of relief (macchio is really the cutest when he looks scared).

it goes without saying that every johnny & miguel scene lives rent free in my HEART.

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?: anthony becomes relevant for one (1) episode next season when amanda and daniel finally get around to putting him up for adoption.

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war.  Which dojo do you join?:  i enter the cobra kai dojo decked out in all of my snake-themed clothing and jewelry (it's a lot). i approach kreese and explain to him that the open mouth of a snake, viewed head-on, is a yonic symbol. i am permanently banned from the cobra kai dojo.

(seriously though, assuming i'm a teen in this scenario i think i would have vibed with tory/miguel/aisha. dimitri and sam would have driven high school me up the fucking wall though. the cobra kai style looks like more fun/better exercise. do i also genuinely believe most young girls could actually benefit from someone yelling no mercy down their neck? maybe so 💖)

What’s your training montage song?:  50ft queenie - pj harvey (it takes place in the alison bechdel feminist karate dojo ofc)

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?: it's a full episode flashback to the time johnny got arrested in albuquerque, new mexico. johnny's court-appointed attorney is a weirdly hot babe who seems like a super straight laced killjoy at first, but soon reveals herself to be an unhinged woman. one thing leads to another, and johnny winds up in bed with her and her loser husband. there are lots of great themes about punitive justice, people's ability to change for the better (and worse), and what makes someone "good" or "bad" to begin with, but mostly it's just really hot sex. the husband tries to sell johnny a prepaid cellphone and johnny tell's him that cellphones are never gonna catch on, cause who want's to be bothered by people all the time like that?

better call saul. it's a better call saul crossover ep.

(fwiw think that greg 'hbo succession' hirsch should also be terry's cousin greg on the non-roy side. think about it--the roys are small people, but cousin greg is really tall?? and who else is really tall, and a blue eyed brunette to boot? terry silver. it all adds up! this never becomes relevant to the plot, in any case, i'm just considering it canon until the writers come to my house and explicitly tell me i'm wrong.)

Tagging: anyone who's interested 😘

[isagrimorie]

I finally watched Waiting in the Wings after so many years since it first aired in Angel. I think it really helped the show when it was able to break away from the buffyverse for a bit even though IMO season 2 was its best run of episodes. Season 3 is when Angel felt it was a more grown-up show than BtVS. 

Summer Glau was amazing in it and I can see why this was the episode that convinced Whedon to hire her for Firefly. Although, it’s a shame Summer Glau and Amy Acker have never performed together again because they both have the intensity and a great gift for intense monologues. 

(I was unfair to Amy Acker in the first seasons in Angel, I thought she was an okay actor until her switch to Illyria happened, and that’s when I realized how great an actor she is. And all the roles I’ve loved her in has an element of hard edged bitterness underneath from Claire Saunders/Whiskey to my beloved Root. 

Imagine that intensity matched with Summer’s own intensity). 

I think, in a way, Waiting in the Wings is still Joss Whedon’s best attempt at directing. Yes, over his Shakespeare movie and over the Avengers ones, even the ones in Buffy. 

But boy, the creepiness vibes I’m getting from Wesley especially with the way he seemed to identify from the controlling and possessive count... like, do you know how much I appreciated Boyle (in Brooklyn Nine Nine) telling Jake that the reason Amy wasn’t dating him? Was because he didn’t ask her? Like, that shook me because no show has ever called that out.

Or, that Jake admitted freely he liked Amy romantic stylez so it was out there and not some creepy stalker vibe that Wesley is definitely projecting despite him trying to do the what he thinks is the right thing? 

Points for trying but the vibe of sad boy ‘I should be with Fred over Gunn’ felt creepier through current 2021 lens. 

Also, I liked Gunn and Fred together they do seem to have fun together and genuinely like each other. 

(Plus, Wesley/Lilah forever, dammit. Forever salty Stephanie Romanov wasn’t asked back in season 5). 

This brings us to the Angel/Cordelia of it all... I am an admitted Buffy/Angel shipper and I’m looking at the pairing with open heart and, I have to say I’m still not seeing the chemistry. It’s not from the lack of trying though but this time I feel like it’s not just because I don’t see it because of my shipping preferences but because of David Boreanaz. 

Charisma Carpenter is giving it her all, she’s acting aces and selling that tightrope and she’s also selling Cordelia as a grown-up really well. But Boreanaz? He’s pulling the same tricks he pulled acting against Sarah Michelle Gellar and it’s like there’s a mismatch, whatever he’s selling (most especially in the scenes where he’s supposed to be possessed and madly and heatedly in love with Cordelia, or the ghost possessing Cordelia?) I’m not buying. 

It feels like its bouncing off Charisma Carpenter like teflon. 

I think Boreanaz gets better in Bones in more ways than one. 

This reminds me how much Veronica Mars failed Charisma Carpenter, they never really knew what to do with her character and just let her fall into the wayside into one note. 

Also, out of everyone why does Boreanaz keep getting series after series when Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charisma Carpenter have none of their own? 

[nadziejastar]

If BbS V2 really was what you theorized they might have been better off planning it as a series of shorts. A game about filling in the gaps of other games was probably a very hard sell for executives, regardless of how much the overall saga would benefit from it. With shorts it would be perfectly normal to jump around, there wouldn't have to be a flimsy excuse to shoehorn in Disney worlds if they weren't necessary for the story, and it might even be cheaper if 2D animation was acceptable.

— So what will it be?

I can’t say that quite yet, but it will be more “official” than a side story. I actually told the producer this recently, and he said “…what?” It’s the mystery KH. (laugh) Of course, I am also thinking about KH3.

— In an interview in the KH Days Ultimania, you said ‘I’m thinking of a mystery KH that made the producer go “what??”‘. Was that KH3D?

No, it wasn’t. I originally planned to make that after KHBBS, but we ended up making KH3D and the project was stopped. It’s a shame, but we won’t be starting that project again.

I think you are correct. The premise of the game seemed very weird and that’s probably a big reason why it got cancelled. But the story still really needed all the loose ends tied up in some way. FFXV got a short animated series called Brotherhood. I totally think KH3 could have benefited from something like that to fill in all the blanks. And fans would love seeing a 2D animated version of KH. I know I would.

The biggest issue the series had was that it was spread out across so many different handhelds. But the HD collections solved that problem. If the shorts were included in the HD collection, or made freely available, it could have worked really well. It’s no worse than making so much of KH3′s plot tie into Union X, which is less accessible than Brotherhood, for example.

A game about “blank points” was probably just too weird from a gameplay perspective, which I understand. I also agree about the Disney worlds. That also seemed like it might have been an issue. KH games suffer when the Disney worlds aren’t incorporated well. This isn’t an issue in games that feature new worlds like KH1, KH2, KHBBS, or KH3D. Even Days was mostly fine IMO. The worst offenders were CoM and Re:Coded which felt like the Disney worlds were just obligations and their plots were tired rehashes. KHUX Disney worlds were also very strange, too. Even 3D was weird since it used sleeping worlds. Stuff like that is why the series gets lambasted as being too confusing/convoluted.

— What about the missing 0.3?

We thought to tell the story of 0.5 with all three characters, but instead we decided on 0.2 with a focus on Aqua.

Honestly, I can’t even think of how Disney worlds would be incorporated into a lot of the “blank points” story. Nomura said KH0.5 was supposed to feature all of the wayfinder trio. Does that mean they would be playable? I dunno. Aqua was in the Dark Realm. That was a very unconventional world. It had Disney-themed locations, but it’s still not technically a Disney world. Story-wise, it was also unconventional, since she just spent all that time talking to herself until she briefly teamed up with Mickey.

I have no idea what Nomura planned to do with Ventus. Dream world? Or flashbacks to how he met Xehanort? Or he just wasn’t gonna be playable? Then there’s Terra, who was living as apprentice Xehanort and possessed. I don’t see how that functions gameplay-wise, unless it was something weird like you playing as the Lingering Will or something. There was the whole subplot of Namine communicating to the Lingering Will, which was poorly handled.

— Which worlds did Pluto travel when he had that letter?

I can say that he appeared in worlds that do not appear in the game [KH1]…. well, other than the current worlds, there are other worlds that the Heartless erased. The End of the World did not exist at first and is a world that is made up of erased worlds put together. Also, there is that place the door to Kingdom Hearts appears. At first that was another world, so that means that Sora and the others are now residing in that world which returned to what it once was.

— After debugging Traverse Town, the King says to Sora, “That day, your travels began here. Also on that day, I was here too.” Does that mean that the King was in the same place at the same time as Sora adventured into Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts I?Seems so. What he was actually doing becomes the previously mentioned “blank time period”, but in this title, it’s implying that the two crossed paths in the same place.

Mickey probably would have been playable. In Blank Points, we saw him in the Dark Realm, and his blank period in Traverse Town was something Nomura specifically said he wanted to show. I guess he might have visited Disney worlds with Pluto and we could have played in those? I don’t know if that world that was shown in the end of KH1, the grassy place with the crossroads, was supposed to be important. It sounded like Nomura wanted to explain why Pluto was there with Mickey’s letter, though.

— About the World of Darkness and such, you haven’t gone into detail. Could you possibly talk about some of these things? Does the beach at the beginning and end of KH II have some connection to the World of Darkness?

Presently there are 4 main untold stories to consider: “the period of the King’s absence”, “the period of Riku’s absence”, “Roxas’s time in Organization XIII” and “Xehanort’s past”. In this case, the story of “the period of the King’s absence” is set in the realm of darkness. I am examining a way to tell these 4 stories so I might be able to find a way to tell them soon.

Young Xehanort’s past was another blank period. Him visiting Disney worlds is…possible, I guess. The best candidate for visiting Disney worlds is Riku, though. Nomura said he wanted to cover Riku’s period of absence, which probably includes KH1-2. In KH1, he was a bad guy and in Blank Points, he was shown in Neverland. Monstro is another possibility and that might have been intended to connect to the Monstro subplot in KH3D with Dark Riku. We also saw Riku in Twilight Town watching Roxas and Xion, so his Days period is open. Then there’s his period of absence in KH2, which opens up those worlds. In the novels, we know Riku spent most of his time in KH2 with Namine and Axel, and he also kept an eye on Sora, like during The Land of Dragons and the Beast’s Castle.

I didn’t notify you but you might’ve already heard from Yen Sid-sama. I’ve come to train to become a Keyblade wielder. Until now, I’ve only been waiting for you guys to come back from your journey. Maybe with this I can at least help out a little.

The magician Merlin-sama can use magic that surpasses time. Here, we can forget about the flow of time. Isn’t it great? Lea’s training with me. He apologized to me over and over again. It’s alright, I’d say, but he’d keep on apologizing…

At first I was a bit scared but as we trained together we started talking to each other. I found out Lea also has a best friend he wants to save. I felt like, he’s not a person that I can bring myself to hate…

Sometimes….. He’d stare at my face, so I’d ask him, what’s wrong? “I don’t know, but I feel like it’s something I must recall”, he’d say…

Your journey is a journey that will help many people and the people you’ll meet from now on. I have a feeling these people you meet will also need your help. The journey might be hard but please stay as the cheerful and bright Sora I know. Because your smile, will save many hearts…..

Then there’s Lea and Kairi. I guess we could have played through their training and the world could be based on The Sword in the Stone? I figured that was what the forest area in KH3 was supposed to be, but I dunno. Then they could have flashbacks during their training. I think we were definitely supposed to get more scenes of Lea and Kairi talking to each other, where she learns that he has a best friend he wants to save. It was obviously referring to Isa. KH3D was all about Lea looking for him, and he summoned his Keyblade immediately after learning that Isa was a vessel.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see where that subplot was going. Lea was training to rescue Isa. Roxas being Axel’s “best friend” in KH2 was supposed to be a red herring—a pretty well-written one at that. People just didn’t pick up on it due to Roxas’s popularity bias. I doubt Lea would have told Kairi all the details of him and Isa being human test subjects. Like, she still didn’t understand why he didn’t wanna take off his black coat in KH3. But he’d tell her enough to know that he has a best friend who is a vessel and we’d learn what happened. It would have made their closeness in KH3 a lot more understandable if Kairi knew about his past. In his heart, he could tell that Kairi was Xion, too. And that’s how I’m gonna do it in my fanfic. :)

After KHBBSV2 was cancelled, Lea had no backstory anymore, so I guess we were just supposed to conclude that Lea was referring to Roxas in Kairi’s letter when he said he wanted to save his best friend. Which is just…dumb and insulting to the audience’s intelligence. Lea knew even in 358/2 Days that Roxas looked like Ventus. He said he kept it a secret from Roxas, so he obviously knew for a long time. It sounded like he realized it as soon as he met him, which is why he got so nostalgic for his childhood right after meeting Roxas.

Before he started his training with Kairi, he also knew that Ventus was one of the lost Keyblade wielders they were all looking for. Up until Yen Sid’s tower, Lea thought that Ventus was going to remember him as Axel. That’s how he was going to reunite with “Roxas”. He had no reason to think he needed to rescue “Roxas”, since that was Sora’s job and he was handling that. Of course he was referring to Isa in that letter.

Eh, I dunno. It’s possible we’d get to play as young Lea during his flashbacks in Radiant Garden. During the experiments, maybe he was tasked with Heartless clean-up duty inside the castle. He doesn’t have a Keyblade, though. Just his frisbees. It’d be unusual to have him be playable, but not impossible. If so, that opens up the castle, like the Hollow Bastion areas from KH1. All in all, the gameplay part of BBSV2 seemed pretty strange and the Disney worlds didn’t seem completely necessary, either. I think a series of animated shorts could have worked phenomenally well.

[briangroth27]

Annabelle Comes Home Review

Annabelle Comes Home is a respectable and dependably spooky addition to the Conjuring franchise. It isn't the scariest—none of the spin-offs have been able to touch The Conjuring 1 or 2 yet—but this is my third-favorite film in this ever-growing horror shared universe and I had a lot of fun watching it!

Full Spoilers…

It was great to have Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) back in more than just stock footage, even if they still had reduced roles. I’m glad they touched on the real-life questions surrounding the veracity of the Warrens’ investigations: that’s a good aspect to mine for drama, both for them and for Judy (McKenna Grace) with her peers at school. As far as the Warrens go, it’s hard to play that real-life public scrutiny any further than they do here: there’s no question whether ghosts are real in the movies since we can plainly see that they are. This film finds the Warrens in a more traditional horror setup, with them out of the house and the terrors affecting the teenagers left home alone, but the movie’s creators found the right balance to keep them recognizably “the Warrens” while also exploring that setup. Plus, Farmiga and Wilson are both so good in these roles that it’s nice to see them in whatever new situations the writers can cook up! This setup offered a peek into their home life when they’re not on an investigation and brought a little more variety to this cinematic universe’s offerings. The one thing I would’ve liked from Lorraine and Ed this time was a discussion about whether or not they should continue keeping their haunted vault room in their house with their daughter. They have to decide that they will, given it still exists in the Conjuring films, but I would’ve liked to hear the thought process behind keeping it. Did they have second thoughts at all? Do they just trust that the kids have learned their lesson? Did Judy reassure them that she’d be fine, either through her actions here or with a newfound strength uncovered by the film’s events? Might they even use the archives room to train Judy in the use of her paranormal sensitivity to some degree? (Probably not, given that would mean intentionally exposing her to dangerous demons). 

Like the Warrens, the rest of the characters were very likable and engaging. I greatly appreciated that the kids at the center of this film weren't the typical dumb teenagers messing with haunted things for fun or because of carelessness, but were instead aware of and at least a little respectful of the power of the Warren's archives. They were also capable in their own right (at least, as much as they could be in the face of this sort of danger). Judy's struggle with her burgeoning paranormal powers was well-handled and this was one hell of a first experience! The fallout at school from the questions about her parents' honesty was both a smart place to plant the seeds for the movie's main plot and to explore the unexpected (and until now, unexplored in this series) effects on Judy. I wonder if they’ll take liberties and have Judy grow up to follow in her parents’ footsteps someday, because Judy going from scared, lonely kid to opening herself up to the supernatural to save her friends was a great arc that could easily build into a new sub-franchise (particularly as we haven’t seen Lorraine’s early experiences with her supernatural abilities at an extended length). Grace did great with that transition and she was also really good at playing the more everyday character beats like Judy’s conflicting hesitancy and eagerness to open up to a new friend (Katie Sarife) despite pretty much everyone she knew thinking she was a freak (a very relatable tween/teen struggle). That development was a nice, grounded parallel to Judy’s sensitivity to the supernatural. I liked the idea that there would logically be good ghosts out there in addition to the demons the Warrens investigated, just like not all people are bad. That bit of wisdom was a cool moment for Judy’s babysitter and (initially) only friend Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) to help Judy on her journey, giving Judy the courage to lean into her abilities to help save the day.

Mary Ellen was a refreshing change of pace as a responsible babysitter who truly cared about her charge. I liked her friendship with Judy and their scenes together felt totally natural and lived-in, as if their hangouts had been going on for years. I also enjoyed her displaying no hesitation to trying to put an end to the ghosts once she knew what was going on. Iseman’s acting and Mary Ellen’s writing also made good use of the push and pull between her responsibility to take care of Judy and Daniella’s intrusion into both the Warrens’ house and her romantic life. Mary Ellen’s awkward flirtation/burgeoning romance with Bob (Michael Cimino) was cute and the film included just enough of it to sell their mutual attraction and chemistry, while keeping it at a realistic level for teens who knew each other but didn't really hang out (so there was no "it's totally love already!"). The one beat that rang a little false for me was Mary Ellen and co. going “We’re totally fine!” at the end of all that terror: that was a touch too glib IMO, but as teens trying to save face in front of their peers—especially the guy she liked—it still worked. Besides that, I’m glad the horrors here weren’t just laughed off and there was an honest discussion with the Warrens about this being a serious incident.

Mary-Ellen's friend Daniella gets that talk and it was a nice show of responsibility that she’s the one who pushed Lorraine to call her out on her mistake. Throughout the movie, she was well-drawn not just as a dumb teen looking to stir up some ghosts for laughs, but as someone who had real pathos in wanting to see her dad (Anthony Wemmys) again. While you’re spending the movie thinking that she should absolutely not be exploring the vault and trying to contact her dad, her performance and the writing make it totally understandable that she would. I bought her sadness and guilt and thought she walked the line between accomplishing her agenda and genuinely caring about Mary Ellen and Judy very well. I also liked that she truly seemed interested in Judy as a person, even if she was also using her to see her dad again (if only she’d just asked Judy which artifact could help her!). All three of the central girls have a similar complexity to their characters, pulled between what they want and what’s been forced on them (Judy’s powers and the isolation caused by them and her parents’ reputation), what they’ve been hired to do (Mary Ellen, though she would still be Judy’s friend; her arc has the least tension), and what they’ve convinced themselves they have to do (Daniella seeing her dad again, which makes her a nice foil for Judy in that the paranormal is what she’s seeking but her pull away from it comes from befriending Judy). That’s a cool common building block to these characters that immediately makes them multi-dimensional, a state that’s only further enhanced by the actresses’ performances. Ben was fun as an awkward teen with a crush, and I liked that he wasn’t too toxic, like you might expect from a high school boy in a horror movie. Another refreshing twist (and a bonus gift stemming from the public scrutiny about the Warrens’ cases) was that all the kids readily accepted that ghosts were real rather than having to go through the motions of beginning to believe in them.

While this was entertaining, I’m over Annabelle as an antagonist at this point: she was fine here, but the other ghosts definitely felt like more of a threat and stole the show while it felt like the doll didn’t do much of anything (even though it was the object pulling the other ghosts to the house). I wouldn’t mind if this were the last Annabelle movie, as it seems like they’ve said all there is to say about the doll. They also included a nice full-circle tie back to Annabelle Creation with a brief vision of her human self (Samara Lee), making it feel even more like this is the last one. Thankfully, there was a sizable monster mash of new ghosts here too! While I would’ve liked some more focus on each of them (a longer haunting act would’ve been nice), I liked what we got and there was a solid variety to the types of scares they generated. The Ferryman was scary and I liked the mythology behind him as well as his appearance. The the coins hitting the floor and rolling in to view to herald his approach were really creepy-cool, and the rules about him appearing in the dark vs. disappearing in the light were used against and by him really effectively. At one point I was hoping the “werewolf” case would be the basis of Conjuring 3 since it seemed like an original take on both a possession and a werewolf movie, but I guess not. Still, I liked that they got some classic werewolf imagery out of the Black Shuck (Douglas Tait) when it ripped up the car. The Bride (Natalia Safran) and the typewriter brought a classic ghost sensibility to the mix and the Feeley Meeley game was bizarre even before it was haunted! The movie definitely left me wanting to know more about the other ghost artifacts in the Warrens’ vault, especially the cursed samurai armor and the future-telling TV. Maybe they could make a web series or something exploring the cases that brought the vault objects to the Warrens’ attention! 

Annabelle Comes Home has a strong cast with well-written and atypically alert characters facing a good variety of specters. The pacing’s solid: they take their time introducing us to the characters, which helped generate fear for them when they were put in danger and made the film feel like a throwback to 70s horror, which is fitting given the film’s setting. It also helped to defuse any knee-jerk “this is a real dumb plan” reactions to Daniella trying to contact her dad because she explained her mission enough for me to be invested in it (giving her such a strong a need to see him also avoids any “this is what you get for being stupid” reactions when her quest puts everyone in danger because I felt sorry for her). Jump scares don’t bother me—they’re fun too!—and this movie definitely has some effective ones along with the creepy visuals (like the denizens of a graveyard (Sheila McKellan and others) approaching the Warrens’ car that only Lorraine can see). The paranormal attacks seemed more intense overall in the Conjuring films and Annabelle Creation, which are probably the three scariest entries in this franchise so far (though I liked this one and these characters better than Creation’s). The music, both the score and the 70s songs, was well used to creepy effect.

This movie might not have been necessary, strictly-speaking, since we already saw Annabelle get loose in the first Conjuring, but it was definitely a lot of spooky fun! It's a solid haunted house flick with a strong cast and that’s exactly what it needed to be. It’s also a good ending to Annabelle’s spin-off trilogy and got me ready for the next Conjuring with the focus shifting back to the Warrens (and maybe Judy this time?). You should definitely check this out!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[asiryn]

alright.........i finished kh3. so here’s some Thoughts. still gonna put behind a cut, and obvs there will be spoilers there.

so, to try to maintain some coherency, i’m gonna split this up into Good and Bad sections. we’ll start with the Bad, so i can let the salt out, and this post can end on a positive note. XD

The Bad:

some of these are more minor things, and some are.....much bigger, and are actually weakening the strength of the game and the conclusion, imo. so i’m gonna work my way up, from least to most Bothersome.

- the fact that eraqus apologized to ven and aqua, but not terra..........like wooooow, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you know, i was actually considering forgiving you a little bit for a second, but lolololol noooooope!!!!!!!!!!! not anymore!!!!!!!!!!! you fucked up terra even worse than the other two (which yes, damn right you should apologize to them, particularly ven), and really, you are the root cause of him falling into xehanort’s clutches in the first damn place, and you don’t apologize to him?????????? FUCK YOU ERAQUS, YOU PIECE OF UTTER SHIT---

- the resolution with xehanort........like......it’s not bad, per se.........but like.........it’s the tiniest bit of a stretch to me. like..........oh okay, dude, you are totes fine with MURDERING ERAQUS, but now that he asks you to stand down, you do??? when the fuck did you grow a heart and start caring about eraqus??? YOU FUCKING MURDERED HIM THE LAST TIME YOU WERE TOGETHER!!!!! LIKE, IF I CAN BRING MYSELF TO IGNORE THAT DETAIL, THEN THE SCENES WITH THEM WERE TOUCHING, BUT LIKE..........YOU. MURDERED. HIM. THE LAST TIME YOU SAW HIM!!!!!!!! BUT NAHHHH, LET’S JUST CONVENIENTLY IGNORE THAT DETAIL, IT’S FIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE ://///

- namine should have had more screen time, damn it :////// also, i can’t help but feel that aqua got shafted, and wasn’t nearly as powerful a fighter as she should have been ://

- i’m.......not really satisfied with what they did with vanitas? which was basically nothing, really. there wasn’t really any kind of resolution at all. :////

- that moment when everyone was consumed by the demon tide, leaving only sora and riku left, and sora falls to his knees, and is crying and screaming about how he’s all alone, his friends are his power, without them he’s nothing...........oh man, i was RAGING. 

SORA. RIKU IS RIGHT THE FUCK THERE, SO NO, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, YOUR BOYFRIEND BEST FRIEND IS STILL HERE, SO WHAT THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU ON ABOUT???????? LIKE, I WAS ACTUALLY SEETHING AT THIS, IT FELT SO FORCED AND CONTRIVED, AND HONESTLY OUT OF CHARACTER, BECAUSE SINCE WHEN DOES SORA GIVE UP??? ESPECIALLY WHEN HE STILL HAS RIKU??????????? AND LIKE..........EVERYTHING LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT FELT FORCED AND CONTRIVED, OH SURE, LET’S HAVE THE MAJORITY OF US JUST.....FUCKING STAND AROUND DOING NOTHING, THAT’S COOL. 

but yeah.......sora saying that he was alone? wow, i was Screaming at him so much for that one, what the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck writers. 😡😡😡

- so, onto the big one: absolutely everything to do with kairi

going into this game, she was in the top 3 of the characters i was most worried for, because i was worried that she wouldn’t be given the proper development that she’s deserved and been shafted away from for far too long. and boy was i right to be worried, bc this game, like pretty much every game that came before it, did her dirty. OH WOW LOOK, KAIRI’S A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS AGAIN! OH LOOK, SHE GETS FUCKING KILLED OFF TWICE FOR SORA’S MANPAIN!!!! AND SHE DOESN’T EVEN TRY TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST XEMNAS OR XEHANORT, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS WAS THE WHOLE GODDAMN POINT OF GIVING HER A KEYBLADE IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE, AND WHY SHE GOT PUT INTO A POCKET DIMENSION WITH AXEL WHERE TIME DOESN’T EXIST SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE AS MUCH TIME AS THEY NEEDED TO BE PROPERLY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIKE..........FUCKING REALLY??????????????????????????????

also, sora going off alone to save her at the end..........what the actual fuck. again, they keep trying to force sokai as being soooo important, but guess what? it’s forced and awkward and inorganic, and after the game series i’ve played? i do not fucking believe that she is the person that sora loves above all others. even though the writers had their chances, over and over and over again, to develop their relationship, to make it grow and deepen it, they never fucking did, not even in this game!!!!!! and sora has way more believable romantic chemistry with riku and namine than he’s ever had with kairi, especially riku. you know, the relationship that you ACTUALLY took the time to develop over the entire series? the relationship that you CANONICALLY had “dearly beloved”, the main theme of the entire series, become the song of their hearts? let me tell you, there’s a real cognitive dissonance, looking at the title screen art of sora with the paopu fruit from kairi, while listening to the CANONICAL soriku love song.

so this ending, where sora’s willing to leave RIKU of all ppl behind? wow, that sounds fake, but okay. also, why in the hell is riku letting sora go alone??????? why can’t they both go together? (also: eternally salty that we STILL have not ever really gotten a scene of the destiny trio having any kind of genuine friendly interaction. the closest we ever got was in twtnw in kh2, when kairi helped sora to see riku in asod’s body. yeah, you’re really selling the MAIN trio as friends, here. ://////////)

and like.................THIS is the conclusion i’ve waited ten years for??? sora abandoning all the people he loves and all the friends that he’s actually had meaningful interactions with, for the person he barely remembers as existing half the time? fucking really?? 

and again, this wouldn’t be so bad, if they had JUST ACTUALLY TAKEN THE TIME TO DEVELOP SOKAI AND KAIRI AS A CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU HAD AN ENTIRE SERIES!!!!!!!!!!! YOU HAD THIS ENTIRE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!! SORA AND KAIRI COULD HAVE BEEN TALKING ON THE PHONE AT THE VERY GODDAMN LEAST FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT, AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE WITH THIS RELATIONSHIP AND THE ENDING, BUT YOU FUCKING DIDN’T NOMURA, AND I LEGIT DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE THE FOUNDATION IS ALREADY THERE, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SAY “THEY’RE IN LOVE” AND HAVE IT BE BELIEVABLE, BUT YOU FUCKING DIDN’T BUILD THAT FOUNDATION AT ALL, SO INSTEAD IT JUST FALLS FLAT, AND FEELS UNBELIEVABLY FORCED, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU JUST TOSS ASIDE THE RELATIONSHIP THAT YOU ACTUALLY TOOK THE TIME TO DEVELOP LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- no i lied, the actual worst part of this game: SORA DIDN’T FUCKING THANK NAMINE FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ACTUALLY HAD AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE PROMISE, AND SORA TOLD HER THAT HE WANTED TO DO IT RIGHT, BUT THEN HE DIDN’T GET THE CHANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOMURA, YOU ARE THE WORST PERSON, YOU PROMISED US AN EMOTIONAL PAYOFF FROM THE SECOND FUCKING GAME, AND YOU STILL DIDN’T DELIVER!!!!!!!!!!!! AND EVEN IF YOU CONSIDER THE THANKING HER PART OF IT FULFILLED, THE FULL PROMISE WAS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE FRIENDS FOR REAL, AND THAT DEFINITELY HASN’T REALLY HAPPENED, AND I. AM. SO. FUCKING. FURIOUS. IF I EVER MEET YOU IN PERSON, I AM GOING TO BREATHE FIRE ON YOU. WHATEVER KINGDOM HEARTS GAME YOU MAKE NEXT, OR WHATEVER NEXT ARC THE SERIES HAS OR WHAT FUCKING EVER, IF SORA DOESN’T EVER GET THE CHANCE TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO NAMINE, I’M GOING TO MURDER YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS. 😡😡😡🔪🔪🔪🔪

okay. okay. i’m calming down from my rage. i’m breathing. onto the good! bc there was a lot of it! 

The Good:

also known as, the part where i drowned in my own tears:

- the akurokushi reunion was absolutely everything i’d ever wanted it to be, it was beautiful and everything hurt 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

- the tervenaqua reunion was just as good 😭😭😭

(everyone was crying, and i was crying along with them 😭)

- so what i’m getting from the finale arc, is that namine is, once again, the true mvp of this goddamn team, and literally everyone would be lost without her. when they wound up back in time, facing terranort again, she’s the one who summoned the lingering will there to save them, AND I FUCKING LOVE HER, AND SHE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE SCREEN TIME THAN SHE GOT :/

- also, when the lingering will showed up, i was cheering so hard. lol, terra beating the shit out of his own possessed body, round two XDD

- it was a nice moment, when all the keyblades from the wielders of the past war, ending up helping out 

- everything about repliku ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

- wow, luxord’s last moment hit me right in the feels, and is a perfect example of why i love him so much. fair and honorable to the end, and him saying that he’d like to meet up with sora and basically be friends as just people? pls just keep stabbing me in the heart, thanks

- marly thanking sora??? THANKS SATAN

(fuck, the majority of the true org didn’t even want to be there, and honestly, that just makes everything even sadder :////)

- larxene!!!!!!!!! man, i love her. complaining about losing to sora, but then saying that it’s not the worst that could happen, bc being a container for “that old geezer? pass.” LOVE. and then saying that she was just there for someone else, but told sora that it was her secret to keep on who it is......TELL ME, LARXENE!!!! 

- XION WAS A MEMBER OF THE TRUE ORG????????? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU

- BUT HER PROTECTING AXEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO, AXEL’S SASS AT XEMNAS WAS LIFE-AFFIRMING 

- ROXAS SWOOPING IN TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS, BASICALLY EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS TRIO, WOW WHY WAS I GIVEN EMOTIONSSSSSSSS

- ALSO, GETTING TO TEAM UP WITH ROXAS AND XION, LOVING THIS SONG 👌👌👌

- THAT SCENE WITH AXEL AND SAIX!!!!!!!!!!! AXEL HOLDING SAIX IN HIS ARMS (WOW, THERE’S A LOT OF GAY GOING AROUND HERE), SAIX SAYING THAT HE WAS JEALOUS OF ROXAS AND XION, PROMISING TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, AHHHHHHH

- WELL, I FINALLY GOT MY EXPLANATION FOR WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO TERRA’S HEART. SO, XEHANORT DID SUCCEED IN TAKING TERRA’S HEART OUT OF HIS BODY IN THAT FINAL BATTLE WITH AQUA, AND THAT DARK GUARDIAN HE HAD WAS TERRA’S HEARTLESS ALL ALONG, AND HE SAVED AQUA AND VEN AS A HEARTLESS AND CONFRONTED TERRANORT, AND SORA HELPED HIM REGAIN HIS BODY AGAIN, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS EVERYTHING IS GOOD

- i.....actually really like the conclusion they had for ansem seeker of darkness? he was actually kinda proud of riku, and i just ended up feeling sad for him. 

- i fucking loved that sora called xehanort out, and told him that restarting the world wasn’t his decision to make

- ISA’S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND HE AND AKUROKUSHI AND HAYNER, PENCE, AND OLETTE ALL GOT TO HAVE ICE CREAM TOGETHER ON THE CLOCK TOWER!!!!!!!! AND THEY ALL GOT PICKED UP TO HANG OUT IN DESTINY ISLANDS!!!!!!!!!!

- NAMINE’S RETURN, YESSSSSSSSSS BBYYYYYYYYYY (also, i do ship namiku a tiny bit, so i like the moment that they had)

- XION AND NAMINE HANGING OUT IN DESTINY ISLANDS TOGETHER!!!!

- ALSO, XION, AXEL, ISA, AND ALL THE NEW CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- well.......idk what’s up with whatever the secret ending is teasing us for, but at least sora and riku are in proximity to each other, and will be together again, i guess. the gays will prevail

okay, i think that’s it for now. i might make more posts as more thoughts come to me, but i think this is quite long enough already XDD

[theangry-ace]

I care more about the girl in R18 drama cd; another short reviews

God I’ve gone through so many titles and it’s hard to find a series with a good balance of good story, good boys and good ecchi, but unfortunately most are not.

It's not that there's a lack of good ones though. there are quite a lot of them actually. but just that the MCs in most titles are just too... unnaturally passive ALL THE TIME! would it not sell if they made MC more strong-willed and actually would stand her ground and not let herself being pushed around and bullied? I want a title where the MC actually kick some ass. literally or metaphorically, I don't mind, just give me an ass kicking scene!!!! give me a girl who will not put up with the bullshit!

anyhow, here’s the third batch of my reviews. the first and second are here if you’re insterested. I spoil a lot so read with caution.

I found most of these from Airavalky.

Love tranquilizer story: 5/5 icha icha; 5/5 this is bias bc this was my first R18 drama cd. made me notice of sawa manaka. also where I realized finger sucking is my thing lol. I believe this series is still ongoing and has a one or two more other characters but these are all that I’ve gone through. the concept is 'tranquilizing' relationship. each one of them started as casual relationship with no commitment, but later progressed to be something much more. Takemiya Yuki = osanajimi character. he sounds like a insensitive jerk but he actually cared too much about the girl. his story is that he gained a lot of attention in high school due to his basketball and girl decided to keep a distance from him to avoid jealous fans. dude didn’t like it at all but he played along until he just kinda begged her to chose him over trying to pretend they don't have anything to do with one another. second season he had to move away bc of uni and their issue there is adapting with long distance relationship for the first time, and they're struggling to make it work. Houbai Kazuhide = a more matured character from work. he is the one with the finger sucking thing hehehe. they started very neutral relationship but after a drunken one night stand, they thought they'd be sexfriends to "relieve one another's stress". after a while dude gets an omiai and wanted to end the relationship, only later to realize his feelings for the girl is real. second volume for his story is quite realistic couple's problems I enjoyed it so fucking much 10/10 will go back to this just for the drama. Matsuzawa Tasuku (Sawa Manaka) = this was my actual first R18 drama cd so it left quite an impression on me haha. I thought I’d prefer 'manly' voice but actually I like this youthful/playful voice much better. guy is kinda an up and coming celebrity and the girl is his manager. I think at first they're just sexfriends but one time had sex with no condom and thought if girl got pregnant she would have to quit her job and he don't want that so he decided they should be a real couple instead... I think. he speaks too fast for me to understand completely. I’ll get back to this once my Japanese is a bit better.

Madoromi no alice story: 1/5 icha icha: 5/5 don't be fooled by the pretty cover art. not much story in this except a girl sex dream with many versions of her boyfriend, with alice in wonderland as theme. the tokutens are quite intense with the sex though. if you don't know sumeragi mikado, this would be a good place to start... or bad place to start if too much ecchi is not your thing. I’d suggest Kindan Jouji, the host volume instead.

Mikkare story: 4/5 icha icha: 4/5 quite good and sweet story, though the sex takes place in very inconvenient of all places. like, in the fucking elevator????? in a storeroom???? ...but I think I need more from this series. why is there no more of this series? pls tell me there's actually more from this series.

My butler story: 3/5 icha icha: uhhhhh / 5 review: it started out good but kinda made me cringe halfway, especially Cider's. it's kinda creepy like I know the MC is supposed to be a projection of you but the 'grooming'/teaching scene is too... pedophilic-ish to me I couldn't bring myself to listen to the end.

Otona no marchen story: 2/5 icha icha: 3/5 review: interesting concept of the fairy tale but not too complex; just taking the fairytale and put the sex in them. a bit too simple but good nonetheless. I like the peter pan one bc of the lol. the cinderella one is what you called a yandere? i feel so bad for the girl i wish there was another tokuten where she actually escaped from the prince or prince gets less of a possessive asshole.

Otona kareshi story; 4/5 icha icha; intense AF /5 review; sumeragi mikado doing yandere/controlling bf is very scary sometimes but he did it very convincingly. the White side is on the ~gentler~ side compared to the Black. sex scene has variety, uhh, acts? like there's paizuri and mentions of urinating and it's not something i found that in many titles  mentioning those yet so... that's something!

Otona tomodachi story; 4/5 (blue side only) icha icha; 4/5 (blue side only) review: this series has two ways how the guy would react, but both started out pretty much the same; they're sexfriends. Blue side, Chasuke's character will try to convince the girl not to go through the omiai and they would be a proper lovers instead. the Black side takes a darker turn I think (yandere route?) but since I don't want to ruin my image of chasuke, so I'm gonna put off from listening to them until my kokoro is ready. not anytime soon at least.

Relacion dulce story; 5/5 icha icha; 5/5 review; this is a very good series that focused on alcohol and icha icha that don't go problematic so this is stress free. vol.1 = this one has a ashikoki scene and the guy makes a very cute do-M chara. vol.2 = younger guy type. he just turned 20 (legal to drink) and they enjoyed a night drinking and sexing. vol.3 (yotsuya cider) = dude is a vet (I think) and when drunk he got loud and bitch about owls lol this one is unique since they talk about getting married and having babies. I don't think I've come across any that seriously talked about this yet so it left a big impression on me. (the only other series that talked abt the same thing is Karepilo's 10th volume (with Hirai tatsuya) where he said he want two kids and want to be the cool dad who can participate in school's sport event ugh that is the cutest god damn thing I ever heard fuck u hirai pls do more.)

Reversible story; 3 /5 icha icha: 5 / 5 review: the idea is its giving you two choices to how the ecchi scene goes; either the guy takes the lead or the girl. my fav is one with domon atsushi bc his oresama character is a real selfish asshole so having the side where his girl handcuffed him to the bed and decided to leave him is very amusing I clapped for the girl lol 10/10 would repeat many times over just to laugh at him hahaha. the iyashi(healing) bf side is very accurately titled.

Rouge et noir story; 5/5 icha icha: drugged and intense /5 review: story's really fucking good and suspenseful. icha icha is intense, understandably it was supposed to be induced by drug. I've only heard of two volumes (kawamura masato & sawa manaka as CV) but there’s also a third and fourth I think. basically girl is a rookie cop and she's one of them to take down a dangerous drug ring. why a rookie for this type of mission, though? I think the whole series focused on one girl but the stories they don't cross with one another. ugh I really really want to buy the whole seriessssss this is the exact amount of thrilling drama and icha icha that I wanttttt

Shinsoku ren'ai story: rape / 5 icha icha; rape / 5 review: rape. the kind where the sex will eventually ~magically~ made the girl fall in love with the rapist and somehow that's okay?? even for a porn??? case 1 (sawa manaka) = he started out fine but he grew increasingly possessive and jealous. he relocate girl's office to next to him, made her move in with him, all without the girl's say. he confined her in his home too. I think this is the least offensive of the three volumes since it ended with the dude stopped doing all that shit to her. well, kinda. case 2 - oh god this is too much rape I get nightmares. girl is the private tutor to the student guy. guy confessed one day but she refused. what comes next is traumatizing so only proceed if you know what to expect. case 3 (sumeragi mikado) - guy is the younger brother to the girl but he forced her to have sex with him, or he would go to her friends instead? I... I can't do this kind of shit. esp when girl eventually just accepts his 'love' in the end. why is this the theme for sexually abused victims??? can't just one of them gets their justice??? pleaseee

Shitsuji no prince-sama story: 3/5 icha icha: 4/5 review: I think it's pretty decent bc I really do like characters using keigo, but this is not very, uhh, satisfying? since they're kinda short. are they from a visual novel or something? not that they're not good; they’re great and I love the CVs here. the butlers will mention they have something to do with another career but my Japanese can't catch exactly why they had to be butlers as well. all I can get is that the girl had to stay in the mansion for two months for some reason.

Souai-sei no eshisu story; 3/5 icha icha: 3/5 review: look, I do not, for the life of me, will ever understand that someone would risk having their loved ones doubt, made them cry, argue or misunderstand that leads to a complete break of their cherished relationship, for the sake of keeping a secret of a fucking BIRTHDAY SURPRISE! JUST TELL THEM YOU ARE PLANNING A SURPRISE DON'T LEAVE THEM ALONE FEEDING THE DEMON WITH THEIR TRUST ON YOU! DO YOU WANT TO BREAK UP OVER A FUCKING BIRTHDAY SURPRISE?! anyway. this is sawa manaka though. not his best works IMO but this might just be me.

Suki ni natte wa ikenai kare story: 3/5 icha icha; 3/5 review; the theme is cheating. guy already has a gf and girl a bf. there's two ways their story would end, 'good ending' as in they break off with their then partners and date one another instead, or 'bad end' as in they sexed for the last time and swear to never see each other again. for this kind of theme I don't mind much, but not something I prefer. I may be aro but I know how much it hurts when ppl decided they would rather lie to you rather than come upfront and being honest.

[evenstevensranked]

#47: Season 1, Episode 1 - Swap.com

A true piece of Even Stevens history right here, guys! This was the very first episode to air... ever! It premiered on June 17th, 2000 (yes, 17 years ago!!!) and introduced us all to a baby-faced, comedic boy wonder Shia LaBeouf. And a bright, young actress (pre-Kim Possible) Christy Carlson Romano. 

Strangely enough, our first glimpse into the Even Stevens-verse is an episode centered around a one-off character. Louis desperately wants to possess a rare trading card. Ernie Morton, the school nerd, owns the card and is willing to give it up for a price: A date with Ren. 

This one opens with Louis and Twitty at school in some computer/Geography hybrid class. As their teacher begins a lecture on Afghanistan, we get the very first actual dialogue of the series, and it’s pretty good imo:

Teacher: Now, if you turn your attention to Afghanistan... Louis: [shouting at the computer with joy] YES!!! Twitty: Louis, it’s just Afghanistan. What’s the big deal?

Of course, Louis isn’t celebrating over the wonders of Afghanistan. He’s talking to someone online who’s willing to sell him what’s clearly supposed to be a knock-off of a rare and highly coveted Pokémon trading card. This is so funny in retrospect because the entire planet was playing Pokémon Go! last year. Points for maintaining relevancy! But basically, Louis really wants to own a Roaring Drycon... Which is not a Pokémon, but is definitely supposed to be a Pokémon: 

Yes. The internet used to look like this.

It turns out, the seller of the card is none other than Ernie Morton. A frankly nasty, unhygienic, arrogant, nerdy creeper to say the least. Thank god he’s a throwaway character and only here for this one episode. He tells Louis that the price he’s asking for is a date with Ren. 

Louis says to himself: “Why couldn’t he just ask for something easy? Like my mom’s Volvo.” - This is a small, but interesting parallel to Boy Meets World and was only brought to my attention when I read through this ranking of every BMW episode. Apparently, Cory puts on music, Topanga asks where he got it from and he says “I don’t know. It came with my mom’s Volvo.” Idk. Like I mentioned before.. there are a few (stronger) similarities between the two shows. I might even start a similarities tag, lol. But, yeah. This really stood out to me for some reason. 

There’s a scene where two girls approach Twitty all flirty in the hallway and Louis makes them run for this hills after awkwardly shouting “WAAAZZZUUUP?!?” at them. (Which I’m assuming is a reference to the classic Budweiser commercial that premiered in 1999 and became a popular catchphrase.) I’ve seen so many gifs of this. I’m even guilty of using one on my about page. Louis tells Twitty that he made the deal with Ernie, explaining “Ernie just wants to hang out with a popular girl, and I happen to live with one.” Once again, reminding me that Ren is supposed to be popular! I still think it’s cool that she’s not the stereotypical, vapid popular girl you usually see though. 

Ren really wants to beat this chick Adrienne Dunmore for Service Volunteer of the Month. She’s currently falling behind her and needs to work 4 more hours over the weekend. We see another one of Ren’s early placeholder BFFs, an Asian girl named Jewel. Random, but both of Ren’s placeholder best friends were minorities. Doesn’t really mean anything, lol. Just something I noticed.

Ren staring at Adrienne all green with envy after checking their volunteer hours. But, can we talk about how Ren’s entire bellybutton and stomach is showing?! What the heck, Disney?! I know it was in style I guess. But, for an 8th grader? Also, aside from it being purple... It doesn’t really seem like something Ren would wear. Probably just a first-episode hiccup.

And here’s Jewel. She’s also very peppy like Charlotte. 

We see the Stevens family at home that night celebrating Ren’s birthday! There’s a pretty funny bit where Donnie gives Ren various pictures of himself, blissfully unaware of how narcissistic he is. The show makes good use of this later on. One particular picture of Donnie “on vacation” is seen on Ren’s bedside table in After Hours! I love good, subtle continuity! It helps make their world feel a little more real. 

Donnie’s gift in this episode. 

...and here seen in S1, E13. This is actually pretty funny. Another photo he gave her of himself playing baseball can be seen in the bottom/left, too. Haha, perfect. The only weird thing is that it looks like she has some strange Donnie shrine, lol wth. 

Louis obviously forgot to get Ren a gift and tries to play it off by saying “I got her a thing. It’s a very very nice thing. But, I got it over the internet. These things don’t just pop out of the screen” with a mouth full of cake. It’s funny, but also a little sad. Steve says “Oh, Lou. Not again...” (which I hear perpetually in my mind whenever Louis messes up) before the entire family clears out of the living room -- disappointed as he rambles off his excuses. Oh, god.. I’m seeing shades of Uncle Chuck. 

Louis is wracking his mind trying to come up with a way to get Ren and Ernie to hang out together alone. Once he gets an idea, there’s a bit where he knocks on her door to tell her. It’s been gif’d a bunch and is a very popular post on here. Being clever (and selfish) he tells Ren there’s a program called “Adopt A Friend,” where you hang out with a needy young person for a day as some form of community service. Okay, I’m actually dying now that I have to write this out, oh my god. LOUIS!!!!!!! He tells her that Adrienne Dunmore is considering doing the non-existent program, which piques Ren’s interest. We get a voiceover of Louis telling her about Ernie, blatantly lying about the kind of guy he is. Using words like “nice, giving, helpful, and great!” This is juxtaposed against a montage of the real Ernie doing various things that are the complete opposite. He’s basically the worst kind of human. 

Cut to the mall now! Ren meets Ernie and wow he didn’t even try to look good.

I can tell ya one thing -- If this was The Bachelorette, Ernie Morton would not be receiving the First Impression Rose. 

For whatever reason, Ren treats him like a special needs child or something? Talking to him in simplified English, slowly and loud as if he’s deaf or has trouble understanding. Louis said he was NEEDY! Not impaired in some way! (Well, maybe socially impaired...) This bit is kinda funny but it’s also kinda like... Wut. Anyway, Ernie takes Louis aside and gushes about how he can’t believe he pulled off this date. He does this really creepy/annoying thing where he sticks his tongue out constantly and I hate it. Ew. 

But, yes. Ernie is under the impression it’s an actual date. He even says he’ll only give Louis the trading card after he gets his “goodbye kiss.” Problem, indeed.

Louis spends the rest of the mall sequence sneakily running around like a freaking stalker... hiding in plants and behind newspapers -- to make sure Ernie doesn’t try anything, and that no one from school sees Ren and Ernie together.

The worry in his eyes and lack of discreetness is making me laugh harder than anything else. 

Ren spends 4 hours with Ernie and actually ends up having an okay time. She genuinely thanks him for “a wonderful afternoon” after taking some photobooth pictures together -- and that’s apparently good enough for Ernie. He gives Louis the card!!! Louis is stoked, but then the remorse starts to seep in. (I love remorseful Louis, though. It helps gives him more dimension.) He notices Ren window shopping and staring at a pearl necklace ~longingly~ before they head home. 

Ren is super excited to turn in her hours at school (going above and beyond, writing an entire paper on her experience) only to discover there is no “Adopt A Friend” program. Yeah. I’d be pissed, too. Not only that, she finds out that Ernie has been telling the entire school that they’re dating. She lashes out at him in front of everyone saying she wouldn’t date him if he were the last guy on earth and storms off. A little harsh, but is it really? Ernie was way out of line spreading fake intimate stories and lies.

Ernie left in Ren’s dust, being made fun of.

This show has a lot of heart. You actually feel for Ernie here. But you also feel for Ren because she was played by Louis. But, you ALSO feel upset for Louis because he knows he f’d up. The conflicting emotions. That night, Ren is fuming after she figures everything out. Louis hides from her by hooking himself onto the back of his door. This is also a pretty popular/memorable scene. We get a micro-mini mirror talk here, as well! I love the Season 1 mirror talks honestly!!!

“Man. Tell 20 or 30 lies, and right away you’re a bad guy.”

Ren discovers where he’s hiding and we get a line that’s not exactly great, but was used on a lot of Disney Channel commercials back in the day. (“What are you doing back there?”/ “...Just hanging out.”) But a line I do like is when Ren asks “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SHOW MY FACE IN SCHOOL AGAIN, HUH?!” and Louis dryly responds “May I suggest plastic surgery?” 

After talking through the situation (the cover image of this post) we find out that Louis ended up trading in the Roaring Drycon card for money to get Ren the necklace she was looking at for her birthday. Awww. Ren loves it but hates the idea that he got the money from his scheme. She comes to terms with her own faults though when Louis makes her realize she only hung out with Ernie for selfish reasons. Can we also talk about Ren’s Y2K rubber band, pigtail hairstyle in this scene?! I 100% wore my hair exactly like this in elementary school -- with blue bands and everything, because I saw Ren Stevens wear her hair like that. Miranda Sanchez rocked this look too. Why was this style ever a thing? lol. Who came up with all of these crazy Early 2000s looks?! 

In the end, she turns around and gives Ernie the necklace. Apologizing & saying “This belongs to you.” Really??? WHAT A WASTE. At least keep the free necklace, Ren! Ernie and Ren makeup and he asks for a friend-to-friend hug. It’s kinda nice for a split second, but then we see his friends pop up and snap a photo of them ~embracing.~

AGAIN WITH THE TONGUE THING! What a creeper. x

This was a bit of a slow episode in retrospect. It’s super clear in my memory because Disney usually beats the first few episodes of a series into the ground. It’s a pretty safe and predictable plotline. Not a horrible episode, but definitely nothing too unbelievably special either. Not the greatest choice for a first episode, imo. Ren and Louis don’t really get to shine 100% and really flaunt that bickering sibling dynamic that the show is based on. It basically switches from Ren and Ernie sharing the screen, to Louis and Ernie sharing the screen. I mean, that sibling element is definitely there. But, you don’t really “get” that Louis and Ren are opposites always at odds. Louis just seems like a little brother who means well but messed things up for his sister, here. You also don’t really get to know anything about Louis as a character, his interest in comedy, or any of that. 

There aren’t a lot of laughs, either. But to be fair, it’s the first episode!!! Much like All About Yvette, the show obviously hasn’t really hit that signature Even Stevens stride! So, taking that into consideration.. It’s pretty solid and entertaining enough. I was going to rank it higher for the mere fact that it was the first episode to air and it isn’t totally bad, lol. But, I think I’m okay placing it here. Something else that’s a little “off” is that it’s missing that signature swing-jazz style music throughout the episode that’s so prevalent in others down the line. It uses mostly generic, quirky sitcom music. Another sign that it hasn’t found its place as a show just yet. 

This episode actually recently aired on Disney for their “Firsts on the First” marathon! They aired the first episodes of some of their most popular shows over the years to celebrate the New Year. Did anyone catch it? I did! I was actually home sick that night and it made my day so much better to see baby Shia’s face back on my television, honestly. 

Thanks for reading! How do you feel about this being the first episode ever? Chime in below as always.

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