#she doesn't hate them because she also showed most of these movies to her son and she still watches them herself now

[stuworbutwithchipmunks]

I know ppl couldn't care less about the humans in the cgi movies but Zoe and Dr. Rubin were both hilarious characters and the more i rewatch the movies the more i think about that.

[sad-girl-autism]

Ya know, my sister's negative attitude about musicals now doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me given that she's partially responsible for my own love of musicals because growing up she was constantly showing me movies like Little Shop Of Horrors, Hairspray, and The Wiz.

[ellestra]

Beyond the Wasteland of Vengeance

I just watched Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and I loved it. It was hard at times as this is a harsh world and the rule of prequels tells us who has to die. But it was so worth it. We already know this is story of hope in the end. We know how Furiosa's Fury Road ends. It's starts with the same unrelenting determination (like the way she makes sure no one could tell of her home).

The cast is great (even if Chris Hemsworth fake face is somewhat distracting) but I think the most impressive was Alyla Browne who is Furiosa much longer than I expected for a film marketing Anya Taylor-Joy so heavily. She has some of the most badass parts (if you thought you hated Immortan Joe's sons before... well, thinking of their deaths is even more satisfying now). She is also made look so alike Anya that I initially missed the moment they switched.

But Immortan Joe and his band of monsters are just background creeps showing the decay of the world in general. The main villain is the one who took everything she loved from Furiosa. And didn't even remember half of it because he destroyed so many lives hers was nothing special. The one who set her on this path.

There is something sad about Dementus. You can almost feel, not compassion, but at least pity. You can see glimpses of a person he used to be before children died and you see how the end of the world destroyed him. It's like the voiceovers at the beginning describe what happened to his mind and soul when everything fell apart.

He's embodiment of that rot (and him going through white to red to black phases makes it even more clear). And he destroys everything he touches. At least the lords of Citadel, Bullet Farm and Gas Town built something. Something horrible and cruel but something. He can only destroy. He thinks finding Abundance will save him but he will only destroy that too. As I said, allegory.

Furiosa is his opposite because she doesn't let the cruelty of the world destroy her like this. She doesn't let the rot take hold of her and use her to spread. She never trusts the monsters surrounding her and she doesn't believe any of their promises. There is no safety in just letting them do that one thing. The cruelty will not end and will not be just that one thing.

I loved how she never stopped fighting. Not during her kidnapping. Not during her imprisonment. And then she found a way to escape one into another and then escape that one too. Using the very way those men wanted to poses her to plan her escape. Even when she loses her way home (figuratively and literally) to have her revenge it doesn't last. Even if she needed help in to follow her dream.

It's hard to trust in this world because a single act of kindness may cost you everything. But not everyone is evil. Even in Wasteland she finds someone who actually gives her help she needs. Someone she wishes to share her goal with. This films actually did "not all men" and it was great because it was earned but also because it helped explain why she would trust Max eventually. She already knew there are ones you can trust.

I tried to be pretty generic so far but behind this cut are SPOILERS for the very end (even though I don't say what it actually is - you can watch it yourself).

That ending was perfect both as foreshadowing who she will become but also as a callback to the beginning of the movie. Dementus tried to make her his daughter and use her to replace his children but she rejected him completely. Even if that was just swapping one monster for a bunch of even worse ones. And here at the ends he gloats about turning her into his daughter anyway. One in spirit anyway.

That like him she becomes creature of revenge and cruelty that nothing will ever satiate. Someone so obsessed with vengeance she will never stop even when the other side just want to leave (the mirroring of all the time he chased his prey and her chasing him was pretty nice). He thinks his death would just seal the deal because his suffering will never be great enough to soothe her pain.

You know, your standard - you will become like me spiel a villain does in moment like these. And lesser movies have heroes let villain go to prove them wrong (and then he tries to kill the hero anyway so the hero can have “my life was in danger” excuse to kill them anyway).

And she does lets him live but she doesn’t let him win. Once again she rejects him just like she did as a child. She remakes him into a symbol of her new purpose. She creates life out of a rotten man who did nothing but destroy lives of those around him. She makes him suffer for all the suffering he caused but that suffering is to build something new. And to create hope and future for those who have been abused by men like him.

And just like he asked she made it epic but as one last “fuck you” to him trying to control her story no one knows (well, almost no one). It’s epic and it’s a secret.

There is also something poetic that Furiosa eventually took over the Citadel - something he wanted so badly and never achieved. It retroactively made ending of Mad Max: Fury Road even better. And since it only took few days of them being gone he’s probably still there as she remakes it into the new Green Place.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Steve sniffled as he cleaned off Eddie's gravestone once again. The town had been saved, the crack closed, and somehow Vecna had been defeated. No one really knew what happened. Only that a mysterious figure with wings had saved their asses. El was still trying to find them, but they were hiding themselves pretty well. Hopper believed he slunk back into the Upside Down before it closed, but no one else believed that, especially Dustin. He didn't say it outloud, but he knew the kid believed that it had somehow been Eddie. Steve didn't want to discourage him or get his hopes up. He didn't know what to do.

All he could do now was to keep cleaning Eddie's headstone. Edward Munson: Now At Peace. Yeah, right. People keep spray painting "burn in hell" across the headstone. He didn't deserve this. . . Even in death, they were still fucking with him. Steve let out a strangled yell and threw the rag.

"It's not fucking fair!" Steve snapped.

Steve breathed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stared at the headstone and did some breathing exercises to help calm him down. Now would be the perfect time to tell him everything, at least, Robin said it would help.

"I never got to really know you, man," Steve said. "And I really wish that I did, though. I wish I could see you play that guitar even at the Hideout. . .to see you up on that stage. I kind of wanted to see you graduate, too. I would have loved to see you give Higgins the finger. I always hated that guy. Fucking asshole. I would have loved to see you DM up on your throne. I'm not sure I would be able to play, I honestly would have gotten distracted. I wish I knew more than that, though. Like, what's your favorite song? Your favorite movie? Your favorite color, man? I don't know. . .anything. I wish you were here to tell me. I just wish. . ."

He stood there for a moment as though he were expecting an answer. Steve sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He went to reach for the rag, but someone beat him to it. A man with a hat over his head and sunglasses on his face was kneeling in front of Eddie's grave. Steve had no clue who it was.

"Let me help, son," the man said in a deep southern accent.

Steve had been spending enough time with Wayne and Dustin to realize that this man sounded an awful lot like Wayne with his accent. He knew it wasn't Wayne, though, because this man was too young and he knew that Wayne was working.

"You didn't do this, did you?" Steve asked.

"I just want to help, boy," the man said. "A handsome man like Eddie Munson doesn't deserve this. Although, I guess you could say he is hot as hell."

"That's a weird thing to say about a dead guy," Steve said, scrunching up his nose. "Did you know him?"

"You could say that. You could also say that I knew him a little too well," he said. "I kind of overheard your speech there, son. I can answer some of those questions for you, ya know?"

"I - would like that," Steve said softly as he grabbed the extra rag and knelt down to clean up the headstone.

"Well, most people would think differently about his favorite song. He loved the song Rolling Stone by Muddy Waters. His mama would teach him how to dance to that song. Sometimes, she would place him on her feet. He loves red, but he also loves the color blue," the man said. "He loves Conan the Barbarian. He used to sneak into the theater with his best friend, Ronnie."

"Ronnie?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she was the first friend he ever made, and she was never more than his best friend despite him making an embarrassing move on her," he chuckled.

"That sounds familiar," Steve laughed. "He told you all this?"

"In a way," he said. "Ronnie showed him the way into leading lost sheep. His uncle gave him the kick in the ass he needed into not giving a fuck what other people thought of him. He still had some learning to do. He was kind of queer in the head, though, despite all of that."

"What? Who cares what he was into?" Steve scoffed. "Are you seriously judging him on that? I'm queer in the head myself."

"Wait, hold on, son. I ain't judging him for that, and you do know that queer also means weird, right?" The man asked.

"Yeah. . .I mean, I forgot," Steve stuttered.

"Should I just forget that you came out to a complete stranger, son? Doesn't matter, I didn't have a problem with Eddie being like that," he said, and then he dropped the accent. "I can't believe you did that!"

He dropped the hat and the sunglasses, slapping his knees as he stood up. Steve gaped up at him. His hair was cut short, but he would recognize those dimples anywhere. He was grinning wildly down at Steve.

"Eddie?!" Steve choked and he stood up.

"Hey, Stevie," Eddie said.

It was the first time he had called him that, and it made his stomach flutter. His brain tried so hard to comprehend that it was Eddie, but he looked so drastically different without his hair that he couldn't really focus. He noticed that he was also wearing a hoodie and a polo that looked awfully familiar.

"Hey, that's my polo," Steve said.

"Yeah, I broke into your house," Eddie said. "I wanted to look the least like myself."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"So, that people won't try to murder me, Steven," Eddie said.

"No, I mean, I get that. Why the deception?" He asked.

"Hi, I'm Eddie Munson. I like to be dramatic," he said, and he held out his hand. "Go ahead, take it."

Steve wrapped his hand around Eddie's like he was shaking his hand. His skin was cool to the touch, and Steve couldn't help but stare at it.

"You're real," he whispered.

"Very," he grinned.

"Why is your hand so cold?" Steve asked.

"I'm vampire now so. . . ," Eddie said, shaking his head from side to side.

"You were the mysterious figure that destroyed Vecna," Steve said in realization.

"He tried to make me his little bitch. Wanted me to do all his dirty work and kill of you," Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I can't even clean my room when my uncle asks, and I love the man. Do you think I'm going to kill people I care about for someone I hate? Yeah, no."

"You saved us. You saved this town despite the fact that they hate you for no goddamn reason," Steve said.

"Well, my dad conned half the town, so yeah," Eddie shrugged, and then his eyes lit up. "Oh, I saved Higgins! You should have seen the egg on his face. He does know I'm alive, but he probably feels guilty about blackmailing me into dropping out in '84 now."

"He did what?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, crazy story. I should tell you all about it over dinner," Eddie said.

"That was smooth," Steve smirked.

Eddie ran his hand over the vest Steve was wearing and smirked.

"My vest looks good on top of a polo," Eddie said and paused, looking at him softly. "I'm not going to waste my chance this time. Hey, Steve?"

Suddenly, Steve was brought back to the Upside Down, and Eddie had looked at him with meaningful eyes before they parted ways. The memory was soon gone.

"Yeah?"

Eddie grabbed him by the vest and pulled him in, crashing their lips together. Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck, pulling him in closer as he deepened the kiss as Steve gripped his hips. Eddie broke the kiss, allowing Steve to breathe.

"We're kissing over your grave," Steve said.

"Better than walking over it," Eddie cackled.

Steve suddenly began pushing him backward until Eddie's back hit the tree that was next to his grave. He pressed his body up against Eddie's and covered his mouth with his own. He really should care that he was making out in a cemetery, but all he was aware of was Eddie. Eddie's mouth against his, Eddie's tongue making its way back in, and Eddie's hands quickly pulling his polo out of his pants so his hands could press themselves against his skin. All that mattered was how alive Eddie was and how much Steve could feel it. It was like all the lights were turning on inside of him, and it was Eddie that was flipping them on. Steve quickly broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against his, breathing heavily.

"We better stop before we do something else in cemetery that we're not supposed to," Steve said.

"Probably a good idea," Eddie said. "I think we just gave a granny quite a shock."

Steve looked over his shoulder and saw an older woman standing a few yards away, looking appalled.

"My God. She's literally clutching her pearls," Steve said.

"What do you think it is? That we're two men or that we're making out in a graveyard?" Eddie asked.

"Young man, my hearing is just fine! I don't care if you two have dicks! I mind that you two are fooling around in the place where the dead sleep!" She scowled.

Eddie and Steve looked at her in shock for a moment.

"I was not expecting her to say that," Steve said with wide eyes.

"Who would?" Eddie asked and glanced at the old woman. "Alright, time to adopt a grandmother."

"No, Eddie, we have to tell everyone you're alive, especially Wayne and Dustin," Steve said.

"Right. . .Dustin. Shit, I died in front of him. I know this is a stupid question, but how is he?" Eddie winced.

"Devestated but also hopeful that the mysterious figure who saved us all was you," Steve said and took Eddie's hand. "Let's get you home."

They laced their fingers together and walked out of the cemetery, apologizing to the granny as they left. They didn't care if anyone saw them, but after the town nearly went apocalyptic, how could anything else matter? The only thing that mattered was that they were both very much alive.

[cyren-myadd]

Avatar official account posted their screenplay of the Sullys arrived at the Metkayina clan on their TikTok. This part here caught my eye. Neytiri has a secret shame that her kids are half half-human.

What's your thoughts?

oh man, I have some really mixed feelings about this ngl...

First thing I want to say before I get into my rant is remember that not everything in the old script is canon, so Neytiri feeling ashamed of her children isn't canon as of right now, but there's a possibility this will be confirmed in a later movie.

A little self-disclosure, I'm engaged to a guy who is from a different race and culture than me, and I'd like to have a kid with him at some point. My partner and I have discussed the fact that our kids would be mixed, and we've already made plans to teach them both of our native languages and make sure they're exposed to both of our cultures. Even though my kids will be different from me in some ways, I don't care, I'll still love them no matter what and I can't imagine ever being ashamed of their differences-- especially since I was the one who chose to have children with a man who was a different race/culture.

While Avatar is completely fictional, the romance between Jake and Neytiri is a clear allegory for a real-life mixed-race couple, with their children's "hybrid" traits being an allegory for real-life mixed-race children feeling insecure about their features. Obviously, not everything is a one-to-one allegory, since Neytiri has been directly and violently victimized by Jake's people and most modern mixed-race couples in my country deal with more systemic forms of oppression instead, but the allegory is still there.

To be completely honest, if the writers actually follow through with this line from the script and show Neytiri being ashamed of her children on-screen, I might actually start to hate Neytiri. Her other character flaws, like her chauvinism, her resistance to change, and her hypocrisy about Jake vs Spider, are completely understandable, especially since she's been through unbelievable amounts of trauma because of humans. I still like Neytiri a lot even with her flaws. But being ashamed her own kids? The kids she chose to birth/adopt, knowing they were hybrids? These two babies right here?

I am really, really trying to be understanding here, 'cause Neytiri's been through trauma that I could never imagine, but still... ma'am those are YOUR babies. I don't think any kind of trauma justifies being ashamed of your children for something they have no control over.

Whenever I see that screenshot, all I can imagine is Kiri or Lo'ak finding out their mom feels ashamed of them. Could you imagine? They would be absolutely crushed. I think Lo'ak especially would have some kind of a crisis over it, since he's already so insecure about being a hybrid. Even Miles freaking Quaritch, the vengeful colonizing monster, isn't ashamed of his son being so different from him.

For the record, I know the only reason I feel so strongly about this is because I'm projecting my own feelings about being in a mixed-race relationship and planning to have mixed-race kids onto Neytiri. But I feel the way I feel, and if this ever becomes canon I would never be able to look at her the same way, so I'm hoping this idea stays in the old script and never sees the light of day again.

No matter what happens, this is James Cameron's story, and I trust him to deliver a fantastic movie even if I don't like everything about it. Besides, this is only one line. It doesn't go in-depth into the nuances of Neytiri's feelings. Maybe if they choose to go with this concept and flesh it out better, I'll change my mind about it, who knows.

I'm also gonna add this here, cause I know how tumblr is: these are just my personal feelings on the topic-- my personal feelings that are completely subjective and are greatly effected by my own life experiences. I know some people like this idea and think it would be a great thing to explore for Neytiri's character, and if you think that, then great, good for you, no hate to anyone with a different opinion.

[hoosbandewan]

THE Billy Taylor Post

I have a love/hate relationship with The Halcyon as a show overall. I don't feel like all of it is written well, but the area in which it definitely excels is Billy Taylor's story. You know, the cutie pie bellboy that Ewan plays and who is always bugging out in all of the gifs we make of him. He's young, he's sweet, and he's insanely adorable.

And his story is also the best in the entire show. In my opinion!!

I also cry whenever I think about Billy for too long but we'll get into that later, hehe.

Spoilers for The Halcyon, btw!

If you haven't seen it, The Halcyon is set at a fancy hotel in London just as WWII has come to Britain. Also, fair warning that this post is a little bit all over the place because I have SO MANY BILLY TAYLOR FEELS

At the start of the show, Billy is seventeen and working at The Halcyon as a bellboy. He's portrayed by Ewan as someone who's maybe a little bit... no thoughts, head empty. I jokingly refer to Billy as having big NPC energy when he's in the background of scenes because it looks like he has radio static going through his head whenever he's not being interacted with. And like to think that it's not because it was Ewan's first gig as an actor. I think Billy genuinely is a little bit daft. He's the baby himbo. He's the golden retriever puppy who isn't the smartest in the room but he makes up for it with hard work and dedication and pure sweetness.

I mean, he's only seventeen and he appears to be one of the higher ranking bellboys at the hotel. He's given important tasks like welcoming ~secret guests to the hotel, showing new hires where to go, and personally taking care of high ranking guests' belongings. He's clearly trusted by the management and is, more importantly, very good at his job.

But, bless his heart... Billy can be kind of a mess. He's forgetful and sometimes just plain thick. He loses the family dog of the lord and lady who own the hotel while taking it out for a walk. (Literally how does that happen. Billy.) He bungles the staff poker game by revealing his hand without realizing. He's also a silly little dumbass when he and a couple of the other hotel staff are at the movie theater and see the lady who owns the hotel (who's there on a !secret date) and he straight up points at her from several aisles back with his eyes all bugging out. Be more obvious, Billy!

Billy is young and naive and maybe not the smartest guy around, but you know what? He's good at what he does (most of the time, lol) and he's a damn hard worker.

He's also someone who knows that people are reluctant to believe in him and he clearly doesn't like that. Billy signs up to join the army the moment he turns eighteen and, although we don't see it, his mum Peggy (who works at the hotel as the telephonist aka switchboard operator) mentions to the hotel general manager that there was a bit of an argument between them over it.

“Do you know why he was so upset that I didn’t want him signing up? He thought I was saying he wasn’t good enough.”

He also gets angry with his mum when his call-up papers do arrive. I know I called him daft before, so I'm giving him credit where credit is due - he actually very cleverly notices that the letter should have gone to his family's house, but it showed up at the hotel instead. And, upon learning that he's been assigned to the Royal Artillery instead of what he wanted - the engineers - he knows it was his mum (with the help of the hotel general manager, but he doesn't know that part) who moved things around so that Billy could stay close to home.

He angrily tells her, "I ain't a child no more," and storms out of the room. Billy wants to prove himself. He wants to be a grown up with responsibilities and he wants to be believed in.

You feel for him, but you also feel for his mum, who is watching her only son grow up and enlist in the war effort. At one point, Peggy mentions that she was only 19 or 20 by the time she'd had Billy, so she was a young mother (and still is!). Her worrying and fretting over him clearly annoys him because he's a teenager, but, god you feel for her. We also learn that Billy's dad, Jim, was drafted to fight in the war so she must be out of her mind with worry. I'll get more into my Billy feels as related to his mum in a bit. But I mean... just look at this line of Peggy's after Billy's joined the army:

“I pray. I fuss. I hold him a little tighter each time I see him."

Before I move on, GOSH, Billy is such a teenager when it comes to his interactions with his mum, lol. He doesn't want her fussing over him or being affectionate. He shrugs her off when she tries to fix his collar. He's reluctant to let her kiss his cheek... but he lets her do it anyway, of course.

Speaking of his family, Billy's relationship with his little sister, Dora, is also so cute and I love them. She tells another character that she doesn't miss him once he's moved out to join the army because she thinks he's "annoying" but she really does love him, lbr. And he's clearly very close with her, too.

At one point, their family home is destroyed in the Blitz so Peggy and Dora move into The Halcyon for a while. Billy watches his sister on mornings that he can get away from his army duties. He carries her around piggyback style. He lets her wear his army hat. He calls her "squirt." They're freaking adorable.

There's also a cute little moment during one of the Blitz raids where Billy's mum and sister are in the hotel shelter and Dora is frightened. Her mum tells her to listen for the sounds of the artillery and says, “That’s our Billy. He’s protecting us.”

And he is. Billy is a protector. He's always looking out for the people he cares about. When Kate, the maid he has a crush on, is SA'd by the Count, Billy angrily confronts him and even points the Count's own fucking gun at him. AND HE PULLS THE TRIGGER. He was about to fucking murder this man for doing what he did to Kate!

Billy is a fucking real one. God, he's the best character.

I don't have anywhere specific to put this, but I wanted to mention how much I love the little detail the writers added in about Billy's handiness and interest in machinery:

He is seen chatting with one of the waiters about the guns they use in the war and is later able to correctly identify the type of German plane flying over the hotel.

Later on in the season, The Halcyon's general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the hotel generator and lamenting that Billy was the one who always maintained it before he left to join the army. (I will come back to this later because omg)

Billy himself mentions to his mum at one point that he's planning on helping a neighbor with some things she needs done in her shelter and that he expects it to be a quick job.

When he joins the army, he's put in charge of operating one of the anti-aircraft guns - directing his fellow soldiers and being the one to manually operate the machine itself.

Now that I think I've covered every other Billy feel, I have to talk about... the worst one. The saddest one. His death. /:

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a complete [Michael Gavey voice] loooser, but I can't really think about Billy and his story in this show for too long without... crying? Oof.

I think that's a testament to just how well written his storyline was in this show. They make you care so fucking much about this sweet, innocent, pure-hearted, good to a fault, daft, brave young man so much that, when he dies in the Blitz, it really fucking hurts.

I swear, thinking about Billy Taylor deals psychic damage to me every time.

And I think that, part of the reason that Billy's death hurts so much is because of how it's shown to us. We all know the famous orange scene between Billy and Kate so I'm sorry for ruining it by making it sad, lol. But that scene ends with Kate telling Billy that she'll meet him the next morning to share the orange with him. So when morning comes and the hotel staff are arriving and see Kate waiting impatiently for "someone" who hasn't arrived, your heart fucking sinks immediately.

They don't even tell us about Billy's death by showing Peggy learning of the news. We're told through Kate's POV. He doesn't show up to their meeting in the morning and, when she arrives for her shift, the staff has been gathered around by the general manager. Only then do we learn that Billy was killed by a parachute mine the night before. And we follow Kate to the same closet where Billy gave her the orange, where she's sobbing and cradling the fruit in her hands.

But what's even sadder is that Billy remains a presence throughout the rest of the show. You, as the viewer, grieve him alongside not only his family, but also the people who knew him and worked with him.

When the hotel loses power during a bombing one night and the general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the generator, they're lost for what to do and even lost for words because Billy was the one who always handled the generator. They end up fixing the thing by taking a wrench and banging the side of it because "That's what Billy used to do." And it works. The generator turns back on thanks to Billy. Thanks to the memory of him. And the concierge look up and says, "Clever lad," as though Billy can hear him.

Of course, Peggy spends the rest of the season grappling with the loss of Billy, too. The other characters mention more than once that she's "talking about Billy as though he's still here" and that it's worrying them. Eventually, the general manager sits down with her and she says that she does know he's gone but that it's so hard to believe because she wants to think that he could just walk through the door at any moment.

But, oh my god, the saddest moment of the show for me... is the moment when Peggy is walking through the hallway in the staff area of the hotel and she sees one of the bellboys walking towards her. He has his head down so his face is in shadow but he's about the same height as Billy... and you can see in Peggy's face that she's allowing herself - just for that one moment - to imagine that it's Billy. To let herself think that he's still alive. You're watching her process the scene before her and seeing her think, "Could it be him?" for those few seconds... until she sees the bellboy's face. And, oh my god, it absolutely wrecks me every single time.

Billy's death is the reason that Peggy gives up the one thing she has left - Dora - and sends her away to the countryside along with the other children who are being evacuated from London. Because she can't bear the thought of losing her last living child.

Billy is the character who shows the audience how cruel and unforgiving the war is. That it can take anyone, no matter how sweet and kind and young and good the person is.

And it illustrates the enormity of the chasm they leave behind.

Billy's loss is felt in everyone, from his family to the people he worked with to the girl he had a crush on. AND IT'S FELT IN ME, TOO, GODDAMN

This was so long and I may not have even touched upon all of my feels but thanks for coming to my Billy Taylor TED Talk. I fucking love him. The writers did an amazing job writing him. 10/10, no notes whatsoever. I cry every single time.

He's such an underrated Ewan character and, I know I haven't mentioned it much, but Ewan's portrayal of him is flawless. He's perfect at capturing all the silliness, daftness, and earnestness that makes up our sweet little Billy!

Tl;dr - Everyone should love Billy Taylor!

Aaaand here's another gif of our sweet boy to end this massive post:

[walrus150915]

Nimona headcanons part 3 bc I'm insane (out of order and disorganized so like- be ready) and bc it's my new year gift for y'all

• Nimona mostly talks like a normal teen but sometimes she'd use words that show her real age. "Sonorous", "vapidity" n stuff like that. Her vocabulary is INSANELY huge

• Ambrosius tries not to swear so he uses a lot of silly replacements instead. "HOLY S- golly!!", "You son of a b- bishop". Like I'm sorry but he's the type of guy to say fricking instead of, yknow, the intended word. Ballister finds it endearing; Nimona finds it stupid

• Yes yes he does replace sex with lovemaking. Yes he purely refers to him and Bal going at it as "making love". Yes he's a fellow like that

• Ballister doesn't drink alcohol. I know that's implied in the movie that he drinks (although I thought he drank, like, soda?? On the other hand he is a wholeass thirty years old man who's seen some shit so I wouldn't be surprised) but idk he strikes me as a type to refuse drinking out of moral code. He doesn't eat pork for the same reasons (pushing my cultural Muslim Ballister agenda)

• Ambrosius drinks only during celebrations or parties. Not much because he's a light drinker😭 one cup and he's already lying on the floor, crying and hyperanalyzing his life

• after Nimona came back Ambrosius was not safe from her jokes. Neither of them despised each other (not after Nimona saved the whole Kingdom and not after Ambrosius proved he really isn't a jerk) but boy does Nimona make fun of him on any given occasion. Ambrosius was taken aback by this at first but then he just got used to it

• Ambrosius is being kinda petty and jealous when Ballister spends more time with Nimona than him ("Although now apparently he's got a new best friend, what's that about?!"), not in a way that'd make it unhealthy ofc but still😭. Him and Ballister were tied to the hip for like the most of their lives and now there's someone ELSE Ballister likes to hang out with? Ugh🙄

• Ambrosius had a diary when he was a teen, he didn't write much there (one or two sentences a day). Once he became an adult he kind of forgot about it but after the whole... Hunting stuff started happening he found himself writing a ton of sentences there again

• when him and Bal started dating Ambrosius had a whole page in that diary filled with "Ambrosius Boldheart" HE'S A GUY LIKE THAT OKAY

• Ambrosius likes to attack Ballister's face with quick little kisses. If he pecked his forehead he must peck his cheeks and nose and eyelids and cheekbones etc etc

• Nimona sometimes speaks in rhymes. She doesn't know how she's doing it but her tongue just does it on its own. ("Let's go dunk on the punk in the trunk")

• Ballister has actually been a year older than everyone in his class, another reason why he was the black sheep™

• Ambrosius can play the flute and the piano due to his noble upbringing he HATES whenever someone brings it up tho

• Nimona and Ballister have those nights where they recall historical facts and situations and Nimona shows her perspective of the things. "The guy claimed to be a war criminal was the biggest sweetheart in the world what are you onnn". Ballister wrecks his brain trying to understand if she's serious or not

• Ballister doesn't get a lot of the jokes, they just fly over his head. Only after some time he starts getting them, like in the middle of the night randomly going "ohhhh that's what she meant"

• first time Ambrosius and Ballister made out Ambrosius threw his hands in the air and said "yayy :D"

• Ballister's haircare routine is better than you think it is he's just casual about it. Yes he uses coconut oil like his life depends on it

• Ambrosius's complexion is leaner but Bal's is broader. So when they exchange clothes it doesn't fit because Bal's shirts are too loose on Ambrosius but also kinda short and Ambrosius's are kinda long but too tight in the shoulders for Bal. They still think it's sweet to swap their clothes sometimes

[marvel-ousmondays]

Iron Man (2008)

As mentioned in last post, when I went to Iron Man I literally had no idea that such a superhero existed. (I thought Sherlock Holmes with RDJ came out first but apparently not so I had essentially no knowledge of the actor either.) My friends and I decided to spend the day out at the nearest town big enough to have a book store, craft stores, and a Target, as well as a Drive-In movie theater. I was now a college student and enjoying the freedom of no curfew, rebel that I was. I'm pretty sure the movie prior to Iron Man was the Narnia: Prince Caspian movie. I mention this because I hated that movie. It bastardized the book something awful and after the first movie was so faithful an adaptation, this was incredibly disappointing. However, this meant I was doubly primed to appreciate the awesomeness that Iron Man ended up being. I've watched it a few times since then, but usually as background to something else. I decided for this challenge I did REALLY want to watch the movies/shows. No other distractions- just it. I can take breaks (it took me 3 days to finish Iron Man due to various constraints last week) but when I'm watching, I'm JUST watching.

Here were my takeaways this time

The differences in Terrence Howard's Rhodey and Cheadle's Rhodey are always a bit mind boggling and part of what makes Iron Man feel really different from the later films. We're also just starting MCU so while they aren't LACKING budget, it's not the level it would be later. This doesn't hurt the movie at all for the record, if anything I think it meant the story had to be more well-developed and the actors better.

But this first film has a seriousness and a somberness that most of the other films only flirt with (notable exception being Infinity War of course).

The scene where Tony goes back to help Gulmira, Yinsen's home, and we see the 13 year old boy screaming and crying as his father is pried away from their family, the soldiers clearly planning to execute him and all the other grown men. The young boy tears himself away from his mother to his father, determined to keep him, to save him. His father, begging his son to go, so that he will live even though he knows- he KNOWS he will not. This moment of utter terror made personal just before Tony shows up is incredible and all the more so when put into historical context. The U.S. was still in Afghanistan and Iraq at this time and it was easy for citizens here to paint everyone in those areas with the same brush. But in this moment you CAN'T. You HAVE to see the family ripped apart right alongside the terrorists and be forced to realize that race, ethnicity, language don't make terrible people- actions do.

A common criticism of Marvel movies is they don't let a moment sit- that they always break a serious moment with a joke. But this one doesn't do that. There are multiple heavy moments- after Yinsen's death for one and when Pepper nearly quits (because she can't watch Tony self-sabotage and possibly die) and he tells her:

"I shouldn't be alive... unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

This moment sits between them so clearly, so starkly and it is not ended with a joke, but with Pepper grabbing the flashdrive and asking what to do. (Thinking back, I'm wondering how many of those MCU "broken" moments are by Tony. He's the one uncomfortable with emotion. Him breaking those moments with humor is actually 100% in character. Something to pay attention to as I watch.)

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, some of the key themes of this movie just strike to the heart.

Death from a distance is easy to ignore or even be complicit in, but death up close rips us apart. Tony sold weapons that he knew took lives for years but it wasn't until he watched Yinsen die that I think he really understands what that means. Yes, his parents had died before but he wasn't THERE, he didn't SEE it. This death, this is the one that makes him really know what it means.

You don't have to change everything to be a better person. Tony is still self-centered. He still likes attention. He's still arrogant and as we will see next movie, open to playing the field as Pepper and him haven't committed. But not only has he stopped being complicit in the deaths of the innocent, he's taken on the mantle of protecting them.

Lastly, who the good guys are is largely a matter of perspective. This obviously gets hit harder again in Ultron (oh that glorious train wreck- I'm looking forward to writing about you), but it matters here. Tony was fine manufacturing weapons because he assumed he was supporting the "good guys", the 'Muricans. But not only was Obadiah dirty dealing, he is forced to learn the good guys aren't always as discriminatory with their weapon use as they purport to be. That it's easy to start painting with broad brushstrokes in areas where precision is actually called for.

Overall I'm really glad I PAID attention to this one this round. The grittiness and the depth really hit the way they did the first time or even more so. Onward to The Incredible Hulk, even though it's only semi-canon now.

Note for me:

Directed by: Jon Favreau

[angrycloudloud]

My dear half bloods, I have a theory...

Hi, there's something that's been bugging me since the other day, when I watched the fifth episode of pjo...

Spoilers from here (and a bit of mythology)

When Ares said that he didn't like his children... Okay, I know, I know the gods in this series aren't known for paying child support, but... I think Ares case could be more heartbroken than what we can think at first.

I want to start giving a bit of context in WHY I think there's something really sad behind his words and acts. First, let's talk a bit about mythology...

Ares cares about his children... In his own way.

I'll put a couple of quick examples (just mention something and move back to my point). Ares in Greek mythology it's known for many things and one that I found interesting was that he march in battle with his sons by his side: Phobos and Deimos (fun fact 1 these two are the personification of Panic and Fear, fun fact 2 they are also sons of Aphrodite... Fun fact 3, yes, they are the little "demons" that were the minions of Hades in the Disney movie.) Ares is also known for what happened to his daughter Alcippe, who was 🍇 by a son of Poseidon and Ares didn't took it too well... So he send that son of Poseidon to visit Hades... He unsubscribed that man from the world of the living with his spear... Ares was judged acussed by Poseidon of murder, but the goddesses voted in favor of Ares. (anyway, I invite anyone who is interested in ancient Greek mythology and culture to look up and read about women's rights in Sparta vs Athens, you might be surprised) Now, my point is that he might say that he doesn't like his kids but...

...I mean... he gave Clarisse the spear because he recognized her value as a warrior. It may sound stupid, but I think it was his way of saying that he was proud of her (and maybe he said that to her when he gave the spear to Clarisse, we don't know). What, it's clear, is the fact that she cherished that spear as if he really put all his love in it and said to her "this is my weapon, make me proud"

But why and how does he goes from "I fight with my children by my side in battle" and "don't you f*cking touch my daughter" to "I hate children, even my own"?

And here's when it gets sad, I think he has lose so many of his children in battle, dying too young, that he distance himself from them on purpose to not get too attached.

We've seen, pretty well portrayed in the show, how Ares children are more reckless in battle than Athena's (it's an example because they both are deities of war) so it's more than possible that if those children are in a quest or a battle, they decide to go face to face with the big baddie just to make Ares proud or to prove themselves they are strong enough to be warriors, children of Ares... And if they survived and get older, they are the most likely to end up joining the army... aaand that exposes them to die in battle even when the monsters aren't a problem anymore.

And that's why, I think, Ares had try to detached himself from his children, because he knows demigods don't live long and even if they got to be adults, he knows his children, and probably he knows they'll become soldiers to feel the battle and feel him closer even when they already have earned a peaceful life.

And that is why I think it's sad, because he probably is so proud of them...but also, he is probably so worried about them, that he had to decide if letting himself be vulnerable and care openly for his children or bottle up all his father instincts and detach himself from his children so nobody can weaponize them against him.

Aaaaaand now I'm sad...

[magnetothemagnificent]

could you talk a little bit about the narrative decisions in prince of egypt that you liked or disliked?

Narrative and plot decisions in Prince of Egypt I didn't like, in no particular order:

Making Pharaoh a symphathetic character. He was a tyrant over slaves. I get maybe emphasizing the regular Egyptians that got caught in the crossfire, but there should not be an entire fandom saying Pharaoh deserved better. Also the whole Moses and Pharaoh being brothers thing- in the Tanakh, Moses is Pharaoh's adopted grandson, son at most if maybe you want the first Pharaoh (Moses's adoptive grandfather) to die. That's an entirely different dynamic than adoptive brothers, and I think Moses facing the imposing Pharaoh whom he saw as a grandfather/father in contrast to the memory of his mother's song is much more powerful.

Not including Moses's disability. In the Tanakh he has some sort of speech impediment, and it's really important in the story. I don't like how Aaron was sidelined in the Prince of Egypt- he was Moses's interpreter!! I think it would have been really cool for a kids' movie to have a disabled protagonist, because speech impediments are really only used in movies for comedic effect or to imply a lack of intelligence or maturity in a character. Having the main character and hero of the story just happen to also have a speech impediment and have his brother as his interpreter would have been so meaningful. There's so many different angles they could have taken too- they could have made Moses a non-speaking or semi-speaking autistic person, or a Deaf person, or someone with an anxiety disorder, or someone with a neurological disorder, or someone with an injury that prevents him from speaking. All of these would have been incredible and I think it was a major loss for the film to not include Moses's disability.

Not including the kickass Jewish midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh. They could have made them seperate characters, or they could have followed Midrash and made them Yocheved and Miriam. Would have been really cool to see Yocheved risk her life not just to save Moses, but to save other babies, too, with Miriam as her assistant. Also not including Yocheved being Moses's wet nurse. In the Tanakh, Moses doesn't just get left with Pharaoh's daughter. Miriam offers Yocheved as his wet nurse, so Yocheved still gets to nurse her son. Would have been such an heartwrenching emotional plot point, for Yocheved to nurse her son and watch him grow up but not being able to tell him who she actually is. She could have sang "Deliver Us" while nursing him in Pharaoh's palace, and I think it would have hit even harder.

Not having Aaron perform the plagues of Blood, Frogs, and Lice. Moses recalling how the Nile and the earth saved him would have been so incredible, and just....justice for Aaron honestly he was completely destroyed as a character and flattened out and it feels like he was only included in the movie because they had to but they didn't flesh out his character at all and I hate it. They made him into a cowardly nobody when he was literally the first ever High Priest and Moses's interpreter and ughhhhhh

Parts of the Prince of Egypt that I loved:

"When You Believe". Just...god it makes me cry every time. The animation for this song sequence is beautiful and just...I love it.

"Through Heaven's Eyes". I love Jethro, I only wish we got more of him.

"You're Playing With The Big Boys Now". Incredible. Love the dread it makes you feel, but again, I only wish Aaron was given more of a larger role in confronting Pharaoh.

The scene with the burning bush. I like how it's animated and how it's both beautiful and terrifying at the same time- just like G-d.

The little details like the Erev Rav (Egyptians that joined the Jews when they left Egypt) and Miriam with her tambourine that shows that the creators really knew the source material......which makes it all the more disappointing that they changed really important details or omitted them, because they knew better.

There's probably more things I liked and disliked that I'm forgetting, but yeah these are the ones that I think about most.

If you disagree with me I don't care but please make your own post about it because I don't want my post to become a PoE discourse thread.

[lunarspiral1127]

X-men 97 episode 7 *SPOILERS*

Gambit's funeral

UGH, WHY?!?!? GAMBIT, NOOOOO!!!! 😭

I didn't recognize everyone at the funeral, but are they his friends from his past or his family? Cause I have no idea.

Nightcrawler with the eulogy. He sure has a way with words. Plus, him being there as a priest makes sense. Also, he looks so adorable with the robes.

Logan comforting Jubilee was sweet, bit it got me thinking that her screentime has been spent most with Roberto than the other X-Men.

Rogue going solo

Honestly, I don't blame her for hunting down Gyrich and Trask. Especially when it was later on revealed that they were involved but not the mastermind.

Cameos of Thunderbolt Ross and Captain America. Now, last time I saw 90s Steve Rogers was in the Spider-Man animated series during that show's own version of Secret Wars. Before that, he was trapped in a vortex with Red Skull. So, I guess he got out which is why he was there?

I was bummed that he didn't go help Rogue get Gyrich, but I get that he has to do things by the books. Cause that's who he is. Although, Rogue did him dirty by throwing his shield far into the mountains. It was funny and I don’t blame her for doing that. But I do kinda feel bad for him.

Her fighting Ross's army was cool. Also, if the base was durable against the Hulk, does that mean she's stronger than the Hulk?

Nightcrawler best brother! The way he talked to Rogue, hugged her when she was finally mourning over Gambit and Magneto (still don't like the Rogueneto ship), and even called her "sister"! God, I love this blue devil man! 😭 And if anything bad happens to him in the next three episode, Imma be pissed!

Roberto "coming out" of the Mutant closet to her mom

Well, it went better than when Iceman told his family in the X-2 movie. It was a relief to see his mom accepting of him and not hating him.

However, it's unfortunate that she told him to keep it a secret because of their business reputation l. It would've made more sense if it was to protect her son due to the humans' stances on mutants and what happened in Genosha. At least, that way, it would've been more of a good reason than about their business.

Jubilee being supportive and being there for him was sweet.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Jubilee isn't really part of the main plot, though, so I don't know if we'll see her in action, nor if we'll see Roberto use more of his powers.

Genosha aftermath

More of Jean and Scott talking, so that's good. They're communicating and are still working as a team despite what happened. So, there may be hope that their relationship will survive, but we won't know for sure. So much crap has happened, and I blame Sinister for all of it.

Emma Frost survived, and she got her diamond form! She must've been stuck in all that debris for days. Also, how is she gonna react when she finds out Sebastian Shaw is dead?

Beast and the reporter. Considering how all these relationships have been going in this show so far, I was very, VERY worried about Beast. But, because of what Trish (I think that's her name) said, it ended before it even started.

Trask

Y'know when he said he didn't want to be made a monster more than what Sinister did, I thought he was talking about Genosha, but I think he was talking about him turning him into a human sentinel.

Also, yes, we're getting Prime Sentinels, which is very very bad. They ain't no joke cause Trask as one took out the X-Men one by one. Rogue was knocked out with a single hit!

Speaking of Trask, I have no sympathy for that sunuvabeech. But, it was messed up how his body was twisted.

And, all because Rogue dropped him off the building! Like, DAMN ROGUE! Again, I have no sympathy for Trask, and I get why she did it but it was still a holy crap moment. Also, everyone else could've tried to save him, but they just stood there. I think only Wolverine was cool with it.

Thank god, Cable was there to save them. Doesn't seem like he likes Scott despite him being his dad, even though he cared for his mom back in episode 5. Then again, daddy issues have been a thing in the Summers' family. But, I hope that's not the case cause animated Scott is cool.

Bastion

This whole time, Bastion was the true mastermind?! God dammit, how did I not see this coming! OZT was Operation Zero Tolerance, I should've seen this coming, but I thought it was Apocalypse or Nimrod!

This is his first animated debut, btw. And, I'm surprised he was working with Mr. Sinister cause he's a mutant, and Bastion is a human looking sentinel thing. That explains the Genosha massacre cause, of course, he'd wanna exterminate them.

Magneto's alive! But, he's held captive by Bastion. Okay, I don't know how the hell he survived or how he got captured when he was in Genosha. I hope that'll be explained. But, if he's there then where's Leech? Where are the Morlocks? Cause they were there with Magneto.

I'm really really worried for Magneto. He must've been captured for days or weeks, and I think Bastion is gonna turn him into a Prime Sentinel like Trask. That would be so so terrible if that happened. He'll become the thing he fought against. The thing he despises. God, what's taking Xavier so long?! He gotta go save him!

So, a good episode again. But next week begins the three-parter finale which I'm really nervous how it'll turn out. I hope the show will stick the landing, but I can't handle it more of my favorite characters get killed or worse.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/ecoterrorist-katara/743680863675580416?source=share

I know that you have already talked about the "female gaze" more than once, but what do you say about this?

Let's get the easier parts out of the way:

1 - The showrunners consider Aang the angel on Katara's shoulder on The Southern Raiders because Avatar is a kids show and the moral of the episode was "Hey, kids, even if you ever meet a truly horrible person don't immediately respond with violence, it could backfire horribly or push you to do something you'd regret later" not because they think she's an object that Aang gets to posses and control - hence them having Aang give her advice on what to do, but not try to prevent her from leaving nor judging her for not forgiving her mother's killer.

2 - Katara's point was NOT central to Zuko in that episode, at least not at first. By the end of the episode he understood and felt compassion for her and her family, but at the start he was only looking for a cheat-code to make Katara stop hating him because it reminded him of his screw ups. It was Zuko being entitled and trying to avoid consequences.

3 - "This thing is like the PLATONIC version of a thing that sometimes happens in romance" If it's platonic (you said it, not me) then it's not a "win" for your OTP. Zuko and Iroh's falling out after Ba Sing Se has lots of dramatic, super intense and heartbreaking moments, just like romances do - but their storyline is obviously not a romance and they are explicitly treated by the narrative as father and son.

4 - "Katara isn't hiding any side of her personality from Zuko" Katara doesn't hide any side of her personality for ANYONE - family, friends, rivals, enemies, strangers. Highlighing that she is herself with Zuko is pointless because she is herself with everyone, including people she does not like, which was the category Zuko fit into at the moment.

Now, onto yet another absurdly long take by this annoyed feminist that has had enough to the "Male Gaze VS Female Gaze" bullshit.

(Check this previous post before reading the rant in case you don't know these terms or what they mean/were supposed to mean)

Zutarians gotta learn that just because a trope is popular, that doesn't mean it is present in every story, and that NO TROPE appeals to a whole group of people, no matter how much they keep insisting that their ship is the "female gaze" - like that thing could ever even exist.

To give a practical exemple so people understand what I mean: Imagine that a woman wrote screenplay about a lesbian romance, which is then filmed by a female director, and edited by a woman. The actresses playing the lead roles also have their own perspective on the story and characters. The movie is then shown to 200 women, every single one of them has their own opinion on it.

Which of the women I mentioned above is going to speak FOR HER ENTIRE GENDER, and decide if that romance fits "the female gaze"? Do we take a survey and whatever points are repeated the most are taken as objectively correct due to being how the majority feels, and thus any differing opinion is treated as lesser and "not what women like" regardless of how many women feel that way? Do we only listen to the proffessional criticts in that audience of women and completely disregard the opinion of any woman that didn't study anything regarding cinema and writting?

Even if somehow it is decided that the movie fits into the "female gaze" - if all those women rewatch the movie years later and some of them feel differently about it, would that affect the definition? If their grand-daughters watch it 50 years later and don't agree with their grandmother's takes on it, does the definition change? If the movie is shown to other groups of women, from different countries, and they all have their own opinion on it that is radically different from that of the first group, which group of women gets to say "OUR culture's way of interpreting this story is the TRUE way women feel about it, everyone else doesn't count"?

If the movie is then shown to 200 men and they all like it, does that turn it from "female gaze" to "unisex gaze"? Does it become "Male Gaze" if the guys get aroused by it, even if the movie was designed to appeal to women and not to them AND there was no exploitation involved? If the 200 women then watch a movie that has scenes that are considered as having been made to appeal to guys, but some or all of them ALSO enjoy it (story of my life), does that make it change from "male gaze" to "Female Gaze"?

Gender is simply ONE out of many, many, many things that can impact how one views fiction - and it doesn't exist in isolation, being affected by generation, culture, language, religion, class, etc. The "Female Gaze" doesn't exist. It CAN'T exist because humans are more complicated than that. It is a concept that is almost fully divorced from reality.

Also I can't help but notice that, because of the way these terms work in the assumption of absolutes, no room for nuance, "MALE Gaze" is meant to describe lazy writting/film-making that is sexist towards women and cases of full on exploitation and abuse in which men were the abusers, and sometimes the label even gets attached to harmless things as a form of bad faith criticism just because guys like it - but "FEMALE Gaze" is NOT about lazy writting/film-making that is sexist towards men (say stories that full on say that a guy hitting a woman is bad, but a woman hitting a man is funny, or using "guys always want it" as justification for scenes of female characters forcing themselves on the male characters).

Instead, Female Gaze is meant to either neutral or POSITIVE. "This appeals to women" is used for praise, "this appeals to men" is used as criticism. Women are harmless, men are dangerous. Women are helpless victims, men are evil abusers. Women need to be protected and put on pedestal, men need to be hated and feared. Female desire is inherently pure, male desire is inherently objectifying. And, of course, any woman that disagrees is bad and a traitor and needs to be "called out for being anti-feminist" (aka be condescended to or full on attacked).

This is sexism, pure and simple. Anyone can be a victim, anyone can be an abuser. Anyone can like any kind of story, trope, genre, ship, etc. Desire is a morally neutral thing, and it doesn't become "pure" or "inherently corrupt" depending on the gender of the person who feels it.

The "Male Gaze VS Female Gaze" thing is nonsensical at best and perpetuates a dangerous double standard at worse, and I'm so fucking tired of it never being questioned because people are afraid of being labelled misogynistic.

[softpine]

I just remembered you haven't seen Twilight but I'm going to ask anyway! Do you know what teams your characters would be? Like team Edward or Team Jacob? Oh! Actually I'm also curious what Fandoms would they be in? I recent realized im a Bielieber

oh i have seen the first twilight movie!! i just wasn't a fan. but it was my best friend's favorite series so i do know a lot about it! was anyone actually team jacob? he's like gale in the hunger games. the only reason anyone would actually prefer them is because they're Not the main love interest (sorry to any galeheads out there...)

anyway now i want to imagine what fandoms each of them would be in, so:

🎭 caroline: well, she's a great artist and a monster fucker.. i don't think i have to spell out what she was doing online fjkjsdsj and she loved comic books as a kid, so i feel like at the start of the MCU madness she was really hype and then she got more and more angry with the state of things

💬 beth: she's written some star trek fanfiction more highly researched than her master's thesis and she loved nsync because what is a baby dyke without her emotional support boy band / comphet crushes

🎸 danny: music is the obvious answer, but i'm not familiar with musical history so i can't go into detail 😭 but his dad introduced him to bob dylan and taught him how to play guitar, then he learned piano, then he taught himself how to produce his own music from scratch. this was in the 90s btw so it wasn't very easy to learn. also he used to seriously follow skateboarding

⛅ mikaela: she loved old school country music from female artists like tanya tucker, reba mcintire, loretta lynn, etc. she's less interested in modern country but she looooves shania twain. and she's worked nights (first as a bartender, then a nurse) for most of her life, so she got really into daytime soaps

🌲 asa: he's literally the only one on this list where i'm like...... stumped. he doesn't pay attention to anything online, celebrities, music (he'll listen to whatever), movies (doesn't care), could never commit to watching a whole tv show, etc. he's very floaty and daydreamy? lmao he just doesn't have the headspace to get attached to fictional media like that

🎥 finn: we know he's always been a harrison ford fan boy and in any universe where he survives past the 80s he's a huge nirvana fan!! (if he and jules had a son, they would've named him kurt... he's deeply serious) he's also read every stephen king book that came out while he was alive. he was a big reader in general, particularly horror

🧸 stevie: canon seth rogen super fan, has seen every adam sandler movie (every last one of them) and i knowww she knows the fnaf lore... as soon as she finishes a show/movie she likes to find the weirdest fan art to terrorize her followers. also loves musicals and wants to see cats on broadway someday (a girl can dream)

🎀 elaine: she loves following celebrity news but she watches them like animals in the zoo; ie. she's observing from afar, she has no personal stake in them. she's a frequent flyer on gossip forums like fauxmoi. she was on the ground floor of lipstickgate and was SEATED for dramageddon. and she had a serious twilight phase

🎨 jada: SOMEONE on this list had to get assigned supernatural... i'm not saying it just to say it, i really think she would connect with (early seasons) sam what with the dead mom... fear of losing their humanity... having powers they don't understand... a hot girl manipulating them to use their abilities in sketchy ways... yeah. i'm sure she has favorite contemporary artists (painters specifically) that she'd be able to talk about on end but sadly i don't know anything about that world 😭 oh and she's kind of obsessed with hate-reading booktok books to feel alive

🏈 casper: sports count as fandoms and i don't want to hear a word about it!! his team is the patriots but he's kind of a fairweather fan (maine doesn't have an nfl team so he doesn't have that state loyalty factor). miley cyrus is his problematic fave forever but he's kind of a pop girlie in general

💋 coco: in high school she was a speedcuber if that gives you an idea of what we're working with here.... she grew up with pokemon, naruto, dragon ball z, she collected trading cards, etc. she still likes anime and video games and stuff, she just doesn't have the time to get invested like she used to, and it makes her sad because it reminds her of her late best friend liam. she makes time to play fortnite and minecraft with his little brother and she plays other games on twitch sometimes. has done a LOT of cosplay. she's a huge nerd basically

[universaln0b0dy]

Rewriting miraculous- Adrien agreste

[Note] Hey, hey! I wanted to start rewriting and designing miraculous for the fun of it. Please note that this is just for fun and giggles! I will try to keep the rewrite as close to the show as possible, at the same time I want to put as much of my ideas into it as I can. Also this is probably an angst au, because of my 3 am brainrot.

Adrien Agreste:

Look he isn't written good, I will say it as it is. Too much wasted potential, too much he is the love intrest not enough plot. I need more Adrien because the snippets of his personality he has are very Intresting, so we can work with that! But he is honestly kinda annoying at times at the same time he isn't, I don't know how to say it better, but that's how it is!

Backstory:

Adrien is a human child in this, not a senti-monster. His behaviour is all because of Gabriel, not because of some magical force. Adrien grew up in the Agreste household, with his mom Emily and his father Gabriel. Most would say they are loving towards one another, just until you look past the facade.

Emily is Gabriel's muse, his sunshine, his world his everything and the reason he adores his son so much is because he looks just like Emily, with his green eyes and blonde hair. But Gabriel hates Emily's twin with a burning passion. She looks just like his muse, at the same time she doesn't, she is ugly in his eyes, not comparable to his wonderful sun and so he forces Emily to cut of contact with her sister. Emily fights with Ģabriel about this, but Gabriel just responds by locking her up.

Emily tries to shield Adrien from this, telling him that Gabriel loves her and that he only wants to protect the two of them. Very soon in his life, Adrien is barely five, he first learns that his father's obsession is true love. (It actually isn't.)

Adrien looks at all the movies all starring Emily, all the pictures on the wall and Gabriel's obsessive jealousy as something good. Realising what she has done, Emily is devastated, devastated enough to risk something and that is bringing Nathalie back. Natalie desperately needs a heart transplant to survive and Emily does that, creating a heart with the peacock miraculous, ending up comatosed. (More to this when I am starting with the miraculous)

Gabriel is devastated by this because his wife slipped through his fingers like sand and completely abandonds Adrien in his grief, during the loss of his sun. (Luckily Natalie is there to help)

Gabriel actually thinks Emily was naive and that Natalie serves no other purpose than being his assistant. (He is delusional)

But back to Adrien, he first learns that love seems to equal obsession and then gets neglected, only for his father to come back into his life to plan every single step of it. Ever since Adrien is 8 he isn't allowed to pick his own clothes, style his hair or have a say in his own life. Luckily because of his mom and Natalie he actually was able to experience freedom of choice and doesn't think what Gabriel is doing is normal, at the same time he doesn't dare to speak out against anything.

His friendship with Chloe starts somewhere between the neglect and his loss of freedom. They both relate to eachother for having parents that either aren't there anymore or just neglect them, but unlike Chloe who only has her wealth to keep her company, Adrien has Natalie so he turns out a bit better than her.

His very first form of rebellion ever is going to school when he is fifteen. His dad still has a say in everything, but at least he can talk to other people, right? The thing is his classmates hate him at first, mainly because of Adriens behaviour. He wasn't ever part of the normal school kid society so he acts like he does in high society. No one liked that.

Adrien also tries his best to help Marinette who at first is totally against this, Marinette despises him, him and his behaviour. She compares him to Chloe.

Adrien actually needs some time until he becomes friends with Nino and Marinette, by trying to prove himself as a good person, but his fathers controlling and manipulative behaviour gets in the way. Lady bug will actually become his first friend, closely followed by Marinette.

Marinette becomes his friend after he protects her from Chloe, also developing a crush on him. Adrien falls in love with Lady Bug because he considered her amazing and while she is controlling, she is someone he idolised, which becomes the start of his possessive ness.

Personality as Adrien (season 1-3)

Oblivious: Adridens sheltered life stops him from picking up social cues, in a way you might not expect. He reads too much into everything. He has only ever interacted with the upper class, so he tries to interact with the normal people just exactly like he does with high society. Which causes a lot of things to fly over his head that would be said/ indicated by every day people.

Indecisive: Adrien was never allowed to pick something himself so he doesn't know how to react when someone asks him about what he would like for lunch, etc. The worst thing that happened because of this was that he almost was completely hated on by the class for not picking a side in a fight.

Possessive: Let me tell you, this guy is possessive of his friends, stuff anything! The mixture of seeing how his father was and the fact for the first time in his life he gets to make his own friends makes him loose control over his emotions occasionally. Nino would be the one to slowly bring him over to a more calmer path with his chill attitude.

Jealous: Ahaha, this ties in to the possessive ness and stems from his deep insecurity about the fact that his mother went missing (he blames himself) and that he is always so indecisive. He believes his friends can simply be snatched away. Which is stupid, he is a model, but still he feels like he just lacks everything. Kagami also has to suffer because of it

Helpful: Yes, despite everything Adrien is helpful. His mother taught him this and he won't ever, ever let it go. He tries to help anywhere he can whenever he can and in general is such a sweetheart!

Adrien as Chat noir:

Joyful, cocky, funny: do I have to explain in detail why? Marinette becoming Lady Bug gave her something to do, a responsibility. Adrien gets freedom, freedom he wished for so desperately secretly. As Chat noir he lives out the emotions he has to hide for his father and he can finally be himself

Possessive and jealous: Lady Bug is the sun as one would call it, less love more obsession. Suprise suprise I guess. For him lady Bug is what Emily was to Gabriel, a light in the Darkness. (Though Marinette still has more in common with Gabriel considered that she thinks of Adrien as her muse at some point.) Chat noir is helplessly in "love" and he wants to claim his possession.

Loud, obnoxious: This guy goes wild, he does the craziest stunts and just flings through the air cackling loudly to himself. For the first time in his life he wants to be seen and heard. Everyone admires him for the self he never was able to show and he enjoyed every second of it.

Insecure: needing reassurance daily that he isn't a useless side piece. Occasionally when his real life hits too hard he also doubts himself as chat noir and when villains find the right spot to hit it is over for chat noir with his incredibly fragile ego. Because chat noir is the most vulnerable part of Adrien.

Adrien "Chat Noir" Agreste season 4 and up

It takes longer for him to mature in the way lady Bug does and so does connecting his two sides. After a while though Adriens overcomes his insecurities and more, he heals from the neglect and even calls out his father occasionally when the latter is being unreasonable.

He becomes less jealous and possessive and learns about the correct way to love someone, just like Marinette does. Adrien even apologises to Kagami, who has of course never harboured any resentment towards him, but is relieved about it anyways.

Chat noir also stops clinging to Lady Bug as much and let's her do her own thing without feeling insecure in the eye of the other heroes. He knows he is capable now and he loves himself. (Though he developed a bit of an ego)

Art

Soo, Adriens human design looks way different when it does in the show, but that has a reason! Gabriel uses him as an walking advertisement and Adrien is forced to look perfect every where he does. No jogging pants or sweatshirt for him. His hair is styled and so ar his clothes. (Not by him)

Chat noir is silly. The black fur an his arms and Legs that act like leg warmers over to his hair, everything just looks a bit less than Adrien Agreste. The little bell makes noise, but the suit looks dark, perfectly matched together, not really special. A reflection of how he views himself. His costume does change after his personality does, but he is one of the rare users where the more power you have the more you look like the animal your miraculous represents and the it also reflects your personality don't clash that much.

Soooooo next is either chloe or Alya, I haven't picked yet but I hope you enjoyed this drawiting session and I'll see you next time! (Also, do you prefer Chat noir, or chat Noire)

[kimium]

Tell me, in as much detail as you like, why you love Diasomnia 💜

Oh! Thank you so much for this ask! I'm super excited to answer it. I waited until I finished Part V of Book VII. I'm done now, so let's get started!

Warning: Mild spoilers for Book 7 up to where the ENG server is (Part V).

Reasons Why I Like Diasomnia

They're based on Maleficent

Without question my favourite classic Disney villain is Maleficent. I love how she's terrifying, powerful, and is easily an actual threat in her movie. There is weight to her words, actions, and abilities that always made her more threatening to me as a child than some other villains.

However, my love for her blossomed further thanks to her role in Kingdom Hearts. I absolutely love how in the KH lore she's been scheming since moment one (even before we met her in KH1, all the way back in KHUx). I consider anything in Kingdom Hearts canon to the overall Disney arching universes. This means any time I see Maleficent in other media I think, "Oh! She's also after Kingdom Hearts!"

This meant that naturally when I first started Twisted Wonderland I had to pick Malleus as my first card ever!

Aesthetic - Sleeping Beauty

I think that out of all the Disney princess movies nothing beats Sleeping Beauty's backgrounds and overall aesthetic. I know a ton of love went into creating and designing that movie and it shows! It's all breath taking and lives rent free in my brain. It's also why when Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep finally let me run around that world as Terra/Ven/Aqua, I was So Excited.

Twisted Wonderland doesn't disappoint and has brought the aesthetic to Diasomnia perfectly, especially with the dorm. I love it with all my heart!

Diasomnia's OST

This is on the list because I love the dorm's theme so much. It's so hauntingly beautiful! Also, because I can't stop making Kingdom Hearts references, it has some similarities to a song from BBS that plays when you visit Sleeping Beauty's world called The Silent Forest.

Malleus is one of my favourite character archetypes

We're now at the heart of why I love Diasomnia: Malleus. Look, I took one look at Malleus and went "Oh no, he's my character type". Design wise, I think he has the most "at a glance" recognizable traits that link him to Maleficent. That instantly drew me in to his character because, as I said before, Maleficent is my favourite.

Malleus is also an over powered character and I am always drawn to them. It's usually because they're also confident. While Malleus certainly is confident, he has depths to his personality. He's a little awkward but earnest. He sometimes doesn't "get" human things but he tries to understand. Malleus also has a niche (and a little bit dorky) passion for gargoyles that's so endearing. I love it.

He also wants a friend so badly that it's really cute our player character/Yuu was able to befriend him since Book 1. Of course, it's lead to my favourite meme "Malleus doesn't realize Twisted Wonderland isn't an otome game". Which, honestly, good for him! He deserves friendship AND love!

They're Fae

I am such a sucker for Fae in literature. Ever since I read the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream in high school, I was hooked. My favourite part to Fae are the "spirited away" elements because I'm also a sucker for wishes having the theme "This is a gift. It comes with a price". While Diasomnia don't have that classic trickster element to them, they're Fae and that's enough for me!

Lilia and Silver's relationship

Coming off reading Part V for Book VII what I love the most about their relationship is how raising Silver helped Lilia heal from the worst moments of his life. The character arc and growth from Lilia is so satisfying and heart-warming. Especially when it would have been so easy for Lilia to hate Silver and all he "stood for". Yet, despite all Lilia lost in the fight between the humans, we see him willingly and lovingly raise Silver as his son.

Yes, this is the "Big FF Term" (Found Family) aspect of Diasomnia that I know many people love. However, I can't stand the term "Found Family" any more because I think fandom needs to have that term put on a shelf until they learn how to use it properly.

Diasomnia's Unique Magic/Signature Spells

I love that for the most part they all have a common theme present and that's Dreams/Memories. Malleus with his literal ability to create a Lotus Eater Machine, Lilia with his ability to read imprint of memories off objects, and Silver's ability to cross/travel dreams is so cool!

Even if Sebek's may appear to "break the trend" I think his Unique Magic/Signature Spell being so straightforward shows he's not giving up on his goals/dreams/ambitions.

Malleus's overblot theme

Like all the housewardens, Malleus has a theme at the core of his overblot: grief when faced with change (death) of something you hold dear. It's a theme that speaks to me strongly and tugs at my heartstrings. It's the core to so many series that I hold near and dear to my heart such as FMA, Fruits Basket, Anohana, and To Your Eternity.

What do we do when faced with death? How do we react to it? Why can't we just keep clinging onto what we hold dear and never have it change? Those are some deep, heavy questions that define the human experience and to make Malleus, someone who is not human, have to face those questions? I think it's genius and this theme would not have gone over as well with any other dorm in my opinion.

And there you have it! My reasons why I like Diasomnia so much! I hope you like my answers, friend! Let me know!

[autumn-foxfire]

Time for the preschool episodes! And I will focus on baby Ran and baby Shinichi and not the forced romance (although I can't promise that I won't complain about Gosho making Shinichi love Ran since he was fucking four).

LMAO Ran is pretty blunt: Yeah when I met Shinichi I hated his guts!

Damn Kogoro has always been a bad parent, it seems. Just ditching the moment he fucked up and leaving it up to Eri to fix.

Awww baby Ran and Sonoko are adorable. And Sonoko has always been Ran's biggest defender, as she should be. I love her. And she's so upset that she damaged her new badge when she got it back T-T No wonder Ran would kill for Sonoko just as Sonoko would kill for Ran.

Did Yukiko and Yusaku just not try and teach Shinichi how to socialise with others? Probably not. This is probably the first time he's got to actually socialize with children their own age.

Damn, Ran could stand up for herself as a child, what happened to that when she's an adult.

Gosho kids don't talk like this. If you're going to write four year olds, spend some time at a preschool and actually watch them.

Okay, Shinichi is just wary of an adult behaving strangely which isn't too odd considering he's a very smart child who is raised by a man who freelances as a detective from time to time and has taken him to crime scenes before, it's no wonder he's suspicious.

Shinichi has always been a little shit, huh. He's adorable.

He saw Ran being bullied and did what he believed to be the best way to make sure she wouldn't be anymore but he was too blunt about it and Ran misunderstood his intentions.

Sera can we not. He was a little kid, he didn't want to impress a girl, he wanted to MAKE A FRIEND. Not to mention he made a friend with what he loves, mysteries, his special interest.

Shinichi is a genius. He's just reading such an advanced book and he's four.

Shinichi doesn't like raisins. Noting that down.

LMAO and he's looking for a library because of course he is.

WHAT MOVIES ARE YUSAKU AND YUKIKO LETTING SHINICHI WATCH?!

He just wanted to show off how good he is at deduction, his special interest, like how a child will show off a new toy to try and make a new friends.

And he was drawn to her because she didn't react the way he read like in books, which is probably his only frame of reference on how to properly socialize.

Shinichi was so happy to recieve attention the way he did. It could just be because he's a kid but I also fear it's because he doesn't get that attention from his parents. When your kid does something incredibly, most parents would praise them, but we've seen from Yusaku that when Shinichi shows him how incredible he can be, he usually uses the opportunity to knock him down a couple of pegs.

Shinichi: This adult was behaving weirdly to a child and it concerns me!

Adults with rotted brains: Are you sure you're just not in "love" and are just jealous because it's a member of the opposite sex? Nevermind you are just four and have never had friends before and are just naturally concerned about adults displaying weird behaviour like we told you to be.

Yusaku, you are very much dressed like a child snatcher, I would be wary.

Thankfully Yusaku actually did take Shinichi seriously.

He actually prevented a kidnapping from happening.

Nevermind, Yusaku is a bad parent.

YOU TOLD YOUR CHILD SON TO PREVENT A CHILD FROM BEING KIDNAPPED. YOU KNOW, THE KIND OF PERSON THE KIDNAPPER WANTS! I know they're targeting female children but you never know what could happen if they're desperate.

Did Yusaku write about lesbians?

That's my headcanon now.

NO SERA. HE HAS NOT. HE. WAS. FOUR.

Shinichi, you mistook a chance for friendship as romantic because everyone around you told you otherwise even though you WERE TRYING TO PREVENT BULLYING AND THEN A KIDNAPPING.

Shinichi: I don't know this girl and I'm madly in love with her.

Me and the rest of the fandom: Dying of laughter and pity for the boy who had no friends and mistook friendship for romance.