#so i had to make these ones b&w but to compensate i made the caption colourful 😭

[sleepygetou]

Geto Suguru (kenjaku)

JUJUTSU KAISEN S2 EP8

[sweet-potatoq]

ok i really wanna dive into this xicheng gymnast au ive got going on because its self-idulgent a really cool idea and ive been really interested in gymnastics recently (little angst bc im a weak bitch)

here are jiang cheng, nie huaisang, wei wuxian designs; ill add more as i draw

so jc, nhs, and wwx are popular rhythmic gymnasts and are a fan favourite in the fandom (?)

jc loves the ribbon but can also do club and rope; nhs does ball, ribbon and club; wwx can do all five (ribbon, ball, hoop, club, and rope) but he likes doing hoops the most

the three of them are pretty close since they have time to chitchat at the small louge area for resting; theyre also often called the powerpuff girls (ppg) since they wear red, green and purple (ik bubbles is blue but just roll w it)

jc has a no. 1 fan, like the biggest jc fan ever, and its a famous musician, lan xichen; literally his social media is filled with jc photos, fancams, and videos (sometimes he posts selfies with his jc merch that me probably made on his own)

ppg knows about lxc and teases jc about him so much

"did you see his face lighting up once it was jc's turn? he even brought a handmade light up banner for him omg"

jc is both flattered and annoyed (mostly because he gets teased a lot for it) but every gift lxc gives him (read: yeets on the floor) is treasured

its mostly bouquets of lotus flowers and teddy bears (there are times when he throws heavily a box safely wrapped in thick bubble wrap and tons and tons of tape and inside is just cute bracelets, necklaces and rings)

secret: jc wears it under his clothes and costume

secret secret: it sometimes comes out and lxc screams about it on twt

anyways, one day at a competition, ppg makes a bet that if jc gets a score higher than 18 in ribbons, then he has to go to lxc and ask him out

jc is torn bc he really wants a high score but is too shy to ask lxc out

spoiler: jc gets a 18.5 and now he has to approach lxc

jc's too shy to do it in person so he reaches out thru twt and dms him a

"hey uh i know ur like a big fan and i appreciate ur gifts but sometimes they look expensive anyways can i treat u to dinner to compensate"

LXC FREAKS OUT AND MESSAGES EVERYBODY HE KNOWS

lwj: do it, nmj: coward accept it, jgy: once in a lifetime opportunity, fucking do it pussy

spoiler #2: lxc accepts and jc takes him to a nice restaurant on a nice night out

its super awkward at first but once lxc takes over the conversation (mostly gushing about jc's techniques and routines) they find a nice flowing convo

"i had a great time" "me too!! im honoured to have had a dinner with my idol" "gay panic"

jc and lxc keep talking thru twt dms until they finally exchange numbers

"huan-ge" "CHENG CHENG 😭🥺💖"

they eventually go out again, and again, and again, until finally lxc gets brave and asks him out ON A DATE!!! as if the other hangouts arent dates 🙄

now theyre B O Y F R I E N D S ~ ✨

but secret bc jc is still new to everything and is lowkey overwhelmed by it, lxc agrees and does his best to make jc more comfortable and make him feel loved

they do fight over how jc's still being cold after months of dating and the fact that their relationship is still a secret doesnt help AT ALL

after numerous fights about it, lxc breaks and unloads all of HIS insecurity

"ive been feeling like ive forced you into this relationship, that my love and adoration for you made you feel as if you needed to compensate for that like how you did when we first went out. you've been cold and reject my affection and it hurts me even though i know you've said that you're just not used to it, but jiang cheng, we've been dating for 8 months now and i was so sure that by this point you'd be more comfortable. i love you a-cheng but i feel like you dont love me back."

something in the lines of that but you get me right?

ANYWAYS lxc keeps his distance from jc and jc does the same bc shit he feels bad that he made lxc think and feel that way

ppg notice that jc has been acting weird and asks him abt it and jc opens up to them about his relationship with lxc and ppg just go from 👁️👄👁️ to 😬☹️😞 because yikes

nhs and wwx obvi helps him brainstorm ideas as to how to apologize and show lxc that jc truly loves him the same way but theyre so busy with training and practicing for finals wHEN SUDDENLY NHS GOES

"what if... you dressed... in a blue and white costume... and wore the gifts he gave..."

BOOM jc gets the same costume from his routine tailored in white and blue and gets a pearlescent ribbon, shining blue to purple and wears pretty cloud earrings and replaces his zidian ring with a matching cloud ring

he goes to his finals in that costume AND ALL HIS FANS RIOT

"holy SHIT jc is wearing blue???" "what happened to the old costume??" "its the same one but in blue??" "hes so handsome tho"

lxc is obvi there at the finals because he is first and foremost, jc's no. 1 fan

nmj and lwj are with lxc bc lxc needs emotional support, and with the added bonus of jc's beautiful costume and accessories, he just LOSES it and cries on the spot bc hes a softie

jc performs his routine, gets an unbelievable high score and wins a gold medal (deserve) and on the podium, he asks for a mic and tells the whole fucking world his feelings for lxc

"ive been dating lan xichen, my no. 1 fan, for 8 months and its been the best 8 months of my entire life. its been a secret to everybody we both know because i was too scared to say something, too scared that everybody would reject it and judge us. but now that i realized it has put a strain on our relationship, it made me think. why should i worry about this? why should i be scared? why, when i have him by my side to support me and love me? im so sorry huan-ge that ive made you feel unloved and unwanted because i do love you. i love you so fucking much and it hurts me that you feel this way because of me. i hope that you're here somewhere in the audience to hear this, maybe not since we're not okay, but know that ill do better. ill let myself love you wholy and freely from now on if you'll let me."

cue jc crying and lxc also crying (harder) and probably the whole world crying with them even lwj lets out a tear or two

cue cue lxc fucking jumping out the barracade, fall on his ass, running towards the podium, tripping and landing on his face, standing up and limping, then tackling jc and almost making them fall over bc lxc is chaotic like that

cue cue cue lots of crying and hugging and screaming from the audience and probably the medical team rushing in because holy shit lxc did that and jc is still hitting him for almost dying??

social media fucking blows up with numerous photos of jc, videos of jc's speech, photos and videos of lxc and jc and loads of support messages for the two of them

it ends with lxc posting numerous selfies of him and jiang cheng being lovey dovey with a really cheesy caption that probably goes like

"HE HAS NO RIGHT TO MAKE MY KOKORO GO DOKI DOKI" or "i love one (1) man and its my boyfriend- oops i meant fiance"

the end sksks theres other couples in this like wangxian and nieyao but really minor so i didnt put them in BUT how is this story? is it worth writing out? or is it ok as is?

[fibula-rasa]

Noirvember the 6th: The Locket (1946)

The Locket (1946)

20 December 1946 | 85 min. | B&W

Director: John Brahm

Writer: Sheridan Gibney

Cinematographer: Nicholas Musuraca

What stands out about The Locket, upon first reflection, is its plot structure. It’s often the main feature people discuss about the film. The Locket’s story is told through nested flashbacks that spiral back to a dramatic climax. It might sound complicated, but it’s actually a very lucid narrative. (BTW: If you’re someone who doesn’t watch too many older films, and you check this one out, I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Locket’s structure!)

On the day of his wedding, John Willis (Gene Raymond) gets an unexpected visit from a strange man, a psychologist called Blair (Brian Aherne). Blair tries to explain that Willis’ bride to be, Nancy (Laraine Day), is his ex-wife and a compulsive liar who has left a trail of broken men in her wake. Once Blair has sufficiently proven that he’s not some charlatan, Blair explains that after he married Nancy, he also received an unexpected visit from a strange man, a painter called Clyde (Robert Mitchum). Clyde had tried to get through to Blair that his new wife was Clyde’s ex-girlfriend, who was involved in a murder and theft and had already ruined at least three men’s lives.

This would be too niche of a crafting project, but I’d love to make a matryoshka doll set with Gene Raymond>Brian Aherne> Robert Mitchum>Laraine Day>a locket.

Each flashback segment is perfectly paced out and it’s so satisfying. Even though some people seem to laud the plot structure as if it’s an extricable part of The Locket, the style exquisitely reflects the dive into each narrating character’s psyche. (Nicholas Musuraca strikes again!)

The outer story (Willis’) is evenly lit with few shadows and many wide, conservatively constructed shots. The second story (Blair’s) starts in summertime with equally bright lighting and standard angles then, post-Clyde’s story, starts incorporating more shadows and shifty angles culminating in destabilized camera work in the midst of The Blitz. The third story (Clyde’s) is dark and wintry to begin with. But, Clyde’s story kicks off with mistrust as his first impression of Nancy is as a flippant rich girl with no real appreciation for art. Then, after Clyde learns of her trauma and becomes the only living witness placing her at a murder scene, his sequences are filled with shadow. The core story (Nancy’s) is maybe the most emotionally effective sequence of the film.

It returns us to the mostly shadowless standard angles of the start of the film, but it devolves as young Nancy is faced with her childhood trauma, which superficially might seem minor but tapped into deeper emotions of class difference. (And let’s not overlook that her mother is played by a Viennese actress with a noticeable accent.) Then, when The Locket finally returns to Willis and Nancy’s wedding day, repetition of events is paired with repetition of shots and sound cues until the film devolves stylistically again.

This is all captured in the musical score as well. The execution of Nancy’s final scene was actually jaw dropping for me. No surprise that the music was done by Roy Webb, who has a mind-bogglingly impressive resume.

I know that all probably made it seem like maybe I was lying when I said hat the plot was actually very easy to follow, but I promise it is. The structure is so cleanly presented with Nancy’s childhood trauma at the core of it all. But, each story layer outside of Nancy’s leaves room for questioning the nature of Nancy’s psychosis. Essentially, we don’t know how her mind is broken. Now, I leaned toward the ending being appropriate because of Day’s performance. Day’s Nancy is so aggressively normal that she comes off as abnormal. When she’s called out and might be caught off guard she doesn’t even flutter her lashes. At moments where no one is watching her, her facade doesn’t falter. So conscious could her facade be?

In my post on The Lodger (1944), I mentioned that, as a Twilight-Zone fan, I wanted to check out more of John Brahm’s film work. The Locket seemed more noir-ish than the The Lodger and it was still Noirvember so here we are! And, Brahm wasn’t even the only TZ crossover with The Locket! It was produced by Bert Granet, who was a producer on seasons 4 and 5 of Twilight Zone. And Brian Aherne stars in an episode of The Twilight Zone that also does a deep dive into the past and the nature of memory: “The Trouble with Templeton.” Now, if only Granet had brought a bit more of this movie into the season 4 hour-long TZ eps.

I’d wholeheartedly recommend The Locket, but there is one thing I’d keep in mind: the poor quality of Warner Brothers’ DVD release. The sound quality was so bad it was as if we were listening to the movie through a closed door. There were no captions available on the DVD to compensate either. (So, not very accessible.) Your best bet might be waiting for the next time TCM runs it.

Previous Noirvember 2018 Posts:

The Red House (1947) | Fury (1936) | Out of the Past (1947) | The Lodger (1944) | Lured (1947)