#the first one would've been interesting and moved the plot forward

[unkillable-gays]

9-1-1 8.16 "the Last Alarm" liveblog

Oh they are NOT starting this episode off with a dead baby. What the FUCK.

(Also idk much about house fires, but that one looks CRAZY!! what happened there????)

Buck sounds so awkward entering the Han house 🥺🥺🥺

(kind feel like Oliver's American accent might've been fighting for its life in that first scene. Like he didn't sound British, but he did sound...off? I imagine it's pretty hard to do a foreign accent WHILE trying to express a lot of emotion and also stay in character.)

Buck don't think i didn't notice you absolutely refusing to talk about your feelings!!!!

hshdjdj LOVE that Athena's like, "ohhh, OTHER people's problems? Instead of my own? Don't mind if I do!"

Oh, these guys should NOT be back at work 😬 send Chimney home!! Him lowkey threatening to kill Gerrard was kind of funny, though.

I'm kind of enjoying the Micah storyline tbh. I mean Athena is fully spiraling, but, like, I get it! I also don't want the baby to be dead!!

CHIMNEY you gotta be there for your daughter and your pregnant wife!!!! Take a page out of Buck's book and repress that shit!!

I feel like the fact that there wasn't a body would've been in the police report, or whatever documentation they have for incidents like these? I mean, I get that there wasn't foul play suspected, but if someone dies, I'd think you'd want to record the details.

(It does seem strange, though, that Gary's like, "I thought she might listen to someone who was there," and literally Tommy, Hen, and Chim were all there, too?? And no one mentions it? Like I understand Gary not knowing who was there, but Athena literally talks to Hen about it, and they don't address that Hen watched this happen?)

The Athena and Leah scene 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Awww, May and Harry, best children ever 💕💕💕

Ohhh, the boys getting ready together 🥺

bdnsjksks is it normal for churches in LA to have suits of armor as decor? And 100-foot paintings??? (I mean I'm assuming this is a real place, so, i guess so, but)

Okay, help me out, I haven't watched most of this show, who's the guy next to Athena?

Also why did she say, "today of all days??"

Did they not bring back Bobby's mom and brother for his funeral?? That wouldn't be so weird if we hadn't seen them so recently! (Okay wait I think there might've been a quick shot of the mom? idk I'm not good w faces 😅)

The folksy soundtrack is an interesting choice, but i don't hate it!

Okay wait kind of crazy that they were considering other burial location options when his family already has a plot??? Like I get that it's not conveniently located, but c'mon. Also tbh I feel like Bobby's the kind of person who would've had those arrangements made in advance. He's certainly spent enough time thinking about his own death. (Also Catholics LOVE to plan their own funerals.)

Honestly? Everyone did a really good job crying this episode.

Not a very fun one, though :/ and also not a lot happening! Kind of like a "buffer" episode? Like, not "filler", (I don't really believe in that) but kind of just the stuff we need to get out of the way in order to keep moving forward with the story.

But it was also, just, like, "let's watch Angela Basset act her ass off for 40 minutes", which I can appreciate!

Since I grew up watching MONK and psych, and other mystery-type shows, I couldn't help thinking that Bobby's funeral would've been a REALLY good time for some opportunistic criminals to pull something off while everyone else was occupied and the street was closed down. Maybe a heist?? Or, like, an assassination, if we were gonna go kinda dark.

(I don't think that's gonna happen, it would very much interrupt the solemn tone they've carefully been setting, it's just where my mind went.)

Love that if Bobby does show back up, Athena and Chimney might have to fight it out to see who gets to yell at him first.

[poppyplate]

minor season 5 spoilers for lmk!!!

(some sketches + my thoughts on the new season :0)

this season was so good!! i'm gonna put my long rant about my thoughts below, just cause i have a lot of things i wanna talk about :3

animation: ik the animation change was jarring for some people and i did almost cry about flying bark leaving the show when the news first dropped, but i honestly think wildbrain did a great job and the animation is still super cute and fun. it's definitely different and you can tell, but they still do all the silly animation things that flying bark did and this season honestly had some of my favourite humor (visual and otherwise).

i'll definitely miss the old animation, fully hand drawn 2D animation is becoming harder to come by in cartoons now so it's sad to see this show lose one of the most exciting aspects of it, but i'm looking forward to seeing how wildbrain does in the following season(s?). i'm honestly just glad we're getting more monkie kid content.

plot: i did enjoy the plot they set up. this season did feel different pacing wise? if that makes sense. not that it's necessarily bad i just noticed it felt a bit different. i'm really excited to see more about this whole chaos thing.

ik li jing wasn't necessarily a villain, but he was an antagonist for a bit so i'm adding my two cents about him and nezha. i didn't love what they did with their story arc, but ik there's only so much that can be done in a 10 episode season where each episode is only 10 minutes long. i think their arc would've just benefited from more time :(

villain(s): i think the nine headed demon is such an interesting character (even though he did confuse me a bit) so i hope we get to see more of him. probably my favourite big bad so far personality-wise.

main characters: i'm glad sun wukong had more screentime this season!! he always either isn't around or gets trapped, so it's nice that he was present again.

i definitely felt this season focused a lot more on the monkie trio, which was bound to happen, but i like them so i was fine with it. idk how much of a redemption arc macaque is trying to have, but i kind of hope it's not a standard redemption arc. not that i didn't enjoy macaque's character this or any other season, i do like him most of the time. i just personally hope they keep him as more of a neutral figure even if he does stick around with the group.

i don't have much to say on mk that hasn't already been said. i love the guy and i hope he gets to be happy again soon T^T

side characters? ig: i thought mei and red son's episode was cute. i love dragonfruit interactions a lot, but i do hope red son gets some more screentime next season cause i miss him </3

i am happy sandy got some more screentime though, his episode with mk was cute. also tang was so real this season, he's just like me fr (i hate manual labor).

other notes and whatnot: this season felt shorter somehow, even though it wasn't and i'm not sure if we'll be getting a special like we always do or if they're just going to move on to the next season. either way, i'm excited to see where it goes from here.

although i wasn't in love with the ending of this season, it just felt a tad rushed and i definitely think we would've benefited from a few special episodes again.

i'd give this season a solid 8/10. i would love to go through all the episodes and share my thoughts on them, but i'm just gonna share my ranking of the episodes.

(i feel pretty even with 1-2 and 3-5)

1. collar the king

2. temple of the goddess

3. the cage

4. sacrifice

5. strings that bind

6. into the pagoda

7. claim to flame

8. harbinger

9. the storm within

10. festival fugitives

[draed]

hey everyone, happy opening!! i'm jade and here with my boy wonshik in the role of baek harang (main-02), child actor (turned adult actor). if you'd like to plot, like this post - or, preferably because i'm sure this blog will get sniped, let's talk on discord. i look forward to plotting with you all <3

links: profile / wiki / filmography / biography / quiz: which movie wonshik was in should you watch next?

basics first: chae wonshik, august 13 1996, born in seoul as the third child of two korean-americans.

wonshik is two years old when he's first face to face with a camera. your muse might've seen the clip: he's playing a sick toddler in the gift (1999). wonshik likes to pretend that everyone on set hasn't seen him in diapers, but, well, one minute of screentime can really stick with you!

to the general populace, that role is quickly forgotten though. wonshik's dad really pushes the acting: he gets roles as the youngest son in feel-good romcoms (oh no! my dad was turned into a goat! and other bangers). the role that puts him on the map is in angel's last heart (2005), playing the titular angel's ward. it's a supporting role with a good bit of screentime.

he's in a lot of different stuff after that. you can check his fake wikipedia (linked above) or his filmography with a bit more info; what you need to know is that he establishes himself as a popular love interest and sometimes delves into more whacky concepts. wonshik speaks fluent english (it's the language they use at home), so he also picks up a few credits in american productions. it's all going very well.

tw: drug (mis)use then... he drops out at school at age 16 and moves to LA with his dad. and wonshik, who had already been drinking back in seoul, gets into the party scene in earnest. he shows up on sets hungover and sometimes still high. he gets into coke. it's a classic child actor off the rails type story.

for three years he's stuck in this limbo where he goes to rehab, gets out, makes new friends who bring him to new parties... you get the idea. he finally gets his act together in 2018, and moves back to south korea to fulfill his military service. when he comes back from that, he's left trying to rebuild all the bridges he burned - it's not like he feels like he has any other option but going back to acting.

someone he'd worked with on a prior movie reaches out, and thus wonshik ends up giving the performance of a lifetime in open wide. it's surrealist horror (think the lobster), and wonshik's performance receives overwhelming praise. he ends up picking more indie projects again and rebuilds his career - by 2023 he's back on top of his game. somewhere in there his dad dies, too. short relapse, then realisation that he's got a lot more money without him sending over great sums to his dad. you get the vibes.

and then his agent tells him about the casting for the mask of all hearts! and wonshik, who basically owes his career to these movies and certainly feels very connected to the franchise, goes 'i have to get this role'. and he did! so here he is : )

tldr: child actor who goes off the rails in his teens and manages to get back on the right track as an adult - but if he starts acting erratically on set, can we really trust he's not on something again?

as far as personality goes: the guy's a flirt. not the pushy kind, but he likes to do it for fun. a tiny bit of a people pleaser, but he's pushed that wayyy down. he's pretty social and affable (he doesn't have as huge an ego as his career might suggest), but you can tell he's never lived a life out of the spotlight and that the experience has shaped the way he behaves; him acting out in his teens was definitely part of that too. also, he likes to party! if anyone was interested, he for sure would've been there at the bar with the rest of the crew after a long day. huge extrovert, a bit of a bro. i'm big on chem as far as plotting goes, but i'd love for him to have had a few hookups here and there too... i need help to solidify that manwhore lifestyle. he lives in seoul and does all the regular people things like working out and getting groceries, so we can plot around that too!

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: Act 4, Part 1/4 (p. 1358-1522)

Read the previous post here. Read the next post here.

After a brief diversion with the Midnight Crew and Felt, it's time to go back to the story proper.

Oh fucking yuck it's that other walkaround flash that uses the story sprites. This one has jank ass combat mechanics in addition to having the same clunky controls as the one in Act 2. Just like that one, this one is also a waste of time. There's no point traversing this and its big ass map.

Wait, is this a Shoop da Whoop reference? God I feel old.

And finally we see Jade's "patron black celebrity": Charles Dutton. Look, I have no clue what Hussie means by any of this. It's just a pattern that I've noticed and nobody else has talked about it before.

Unlike the other kids, Jade always has a somewhat repulsed look on her face whenever she sees her black celebrity. I think she might just be racist, which would explain why she's so xenophobic toward the trolls.

Okay, okay, I'm just joking. Look, Jade is in desperate need of some character traits. At this point, even a negative one would be preferable to nothing at all. Anything to give her modicum of depth.

I wonder what kinds of conversations Vriska or Gamzee would have with Jade. These are things we will never know!

Vriska in particular should've had some meaningful interactions with Jade considering she's the one responsible for her narcolepsy. I'm dumbfounded we never got to see her act more outwardly malicious and cruel toward Jade, or even take a more active role in fucking with her beyond simply putting her to sleep. Vriska isn't exactly known for her subtlety, after all. If she really wanted to put her name on the kids' session and be responsible for all the key events in it, she should've went whole hog.

Perhaps if Hussie had actually planned all this out from the onset, we could've gotten something with more payoff. Recall my earlier post when I said Jade had the makings of a twist villain in these early stages of the story? I'd like to alter and expand upon that with this scenario that I would've implemented in Hussie's place.

Picture this: what if the reason Jade is such a shallow character is due to no fault of her own? What if Vriska had been the one manipulating this human like a meat puppet as her means to infiltrate the kids' session? Pushing the kids to play Sburb in the first place? Her reluctance to give away useful information? All of her intents and motives being masked with overbearing cheerfulness? The fact that she needs "reminders" to keep track of her litany of superficial interests? All Vriska, baby. She has hijacked this kid's brain and is using her as a vehicle to drive the plot forward.

This is back from Act 3, but let's look at how Jade initially reacts to each of her friends and then filter this through Vriska's perspective. John's utter incompetence and Dave's crush on Jade would make them useful idiots in Vriska's scheme. So naturally she reacts positively to both of them.

But she perceives Rose with a single, terse sentence. Rose is the only one who is actively curious about Jade's knowledge of things she shouldn't reasonably know about. This makes her a threat. Vriska would have to put a lot of distance between them in order to keep Rose from uncovering the truth.

And then there are the other trolls. Unbeknownst to them, their efforts to stop Jade would've actually been an internal struggle against one of their own. Vriska would shut them out entirely, not wanting to risk getting them involved with this. All the while, the "real" Jade never gets a chance to express herself because she has been constantly suppressed by an outside agent. Her shallowness would be by design, rather than a consequence of poor writing.

... But I think I'm getting carried away with this tangent. At this point I'm talking about an entirely different comic when this is supposed to be focused on Homestuck. Let's just move on.

So Jade knew about Sburb the whole time, okay. I don't know why it was presented like she didn't at first, but fine whatever. She still continues to be smarmy and coy while John continues to have rocks for brains. Every conversation between these two gives me new insights to the amount of bullshit I'm willing to endure to finish this comic.

I love this line from Dave. Can I get a so true oomfie?

Jade fumbles the SBaHJ reference when someone like Rose could probably recite the entirety of SBaHJ verbatim. In fact, if Rose had fudged up a quote like that, Dave would've shown her no mercy. He holds Jade's hand through it, though, because he's a dumb teenage boy thinking with his dick.

"i got served like a dude on butler island" is a great line. Also, Jade is dismissing Dave getting beat up by Bro as "drama" which, if we're meant to take Dave's domestic situation as legitimate abuse and not a joke, is pretty fucked up.

Dave repeating the whole meteor bit is shut down swiftly because Jade is incapable of keeping up with his patter. Not that I wanted the joke to be repeated anyway, but it's a telling example of how their dynamic works.

Even though Jade and John pesterlogs might be the worst combination out there, Jade and Dave conversations are also pretty damn bad. Dave is normally an entertaining character, but he's squandered in these instances. Jade offers no fun chemistry with him in the same way Rose, or even John sometimes, does. Instead of bouncing his jokes and sarcasm back at him, her obliviousness and naivete causes them to fall flat. She's less a springboard and more of a foam mattress (or smuppet ass, to use a more appropriate metaphor).

And since Dave has a crush on her and wants to appease, he rolls with it and moves along to the next subject without comment. It's like a painfully embarrassing comedy routine where one partner is letting the other flounder on stage.

The trolls act as if certain behaviors like laughing and sarcasm are exclusive to humans, despite us later seeing that such things are normal in their society. It's such a silly bit and I do like it a lot.

Karkat's trolling scheme really is the dumbest plan ever. Also some unfortunate foreshadowing for when he does eventually make shitty diagrams later on.

We needed more moments with the Exiles hanging out and getting to know each other, instead of being pawns to fulfill stupid plot contrivances. It'd make this side-plot infinitely more enjoyable to read.

Note how it's nighttime here when the previous panels with the Exiles were all during the day. This means they must have spent several off-screen hours together by this point. What were they talking about to reach a point where they're all chill with each other? Eh, Hussie deems it unimportant, so we move on!

This is actually a funny moment where Dave allows himself to be a bit of a jerk. I guess even his patience with Jade is wearing thin at this point.

Oh? Rose sounds a little jealous it seems. Dave and Jade get to have a relatively stress-free time playing server and client together. But Rose didn't get to have any of that quality time with Dave because he didn't install his disc until it reached a point where they had only seconds to save her life.

I'm once again thinking about how nice it would've been if Dave had connected to Rose earlier and we could've gotten a lot of banter between them as they navigated the game. Instead we get a lot of toothless slop with Dave and Jade. We were robbed.

Oh shit and Dave snipes right back. He has been getting ignored a lot by both Rose and John, so it's easy to see why he's frustrated. He's mad that Rose isn't putting him as her first priority? God, get a room already.

The last time we saw a conversation between John and Dave was 1,108 pages ago, back in Act 2. John has been ignoring Dave's messages since then. I don't buy the friendship these two supposedly share. If anything, it's extremely one-sided on Dave's end.

This series of pages where PM takes control of the console shows us all the key stuff from the walkaround. This makes it even more unnecessary to actually play it.

This love triangle between the Exiles gets no further attention beyond this moment. Personally I'd have solved it by making all three of them form a polycule, but unfortunately I'm not the one writing this story.

You know, I never gave it much thought before, but why is Grandpa Harley suddenly alive? He doesn't have a dreamself or anything. Nobody revived his corpse. He's just inexplicably wandering the Medium now. If this is ever explained later, I don't remember it.

I know this isn't Mom Lalonde saying this but man... I think it would've had more of an impact if she did say it. Rose never gets to see her mother again, so all she's really left with is this sobering moment of insight that, wherever it is Mom sailed off to, she's doing it for her benefit. That perhaps she's not the cold-hearted, drunken shrew Rose thought she was for her whole life and instead, was just a heavily troubled woman trying her best to be a parent. You never truly know the kind of people your parents are until it's too late, I guess.

None of the kids ever get any closure with their guardians and that's a shame. We never get to view things from their perspectives and they're just glorified NPCs. Bro in particular definitely needed some insight into his inscrutable mind, but Mom also continues to fascinate me. This woman is so full of mystique and contradictions, yet all we ever see of her is fragmented shots from Rose's (heavily biased) point of view.

I wonder what exactly Mom thinks is "best for her child," though. Helping her win the game, surely. She had to have been planning for this moment for most of her life, having known about the countdown in the lab. I wonder if she knew the full extent of what Sburb was going to do, where to go once she got there, and how to help the kids win the game.

Anyway, this panel is definitely a top 10 Rose moment. Or perhaps a top 10 general Homestuck moment, since it has to do with both Rose and Mom. I should be keeping track every time I say this line.

It's very cute how AR contributes to WV's model city. "Begrudgingly" oh come on dude, we all know you're loving this.

These imps must be weak as shit if they're getting bodied by a teenage girl with a pair of blunt knitting needles.

These are some awkward steps transitioning back into the main story, but I remember liking Act 4 the most out of these early Acts. It always stuck out in my mind as what "peak Homestuck" really is, so I can only hope things will get better as we move along. I will say that if we're devoting as much time to Dave and Jade fucking around with the Sburb mechanics as we did with John and Rose, we're in trouble.

[arcadekitten]

With the new year on the horizon and 10 completed games under my belt, I thought it might be fun to go through some projects that didn't make the cut and I ended up shelving for one reason or another! (It's only like, 2 of 'em but still)

The first is a game about Theodore and Zapara. While Tricks N Treats was my first finished + published RPGmaker game, I originally started testing things out with RPGM shortly after Cemetery Mary's release. The following game was meant to take place in the CM universe.

It was my first time using RPGMaker & it shows. It was also being made in VXAce, hence why proportions are so different from all my current projects. VXace uses 32x32 tiles whereas MV + above use 48x48. Trying to work within these limitations was a bit tricky for me

The (gif) footage you see above is all that exists of the game now(I didn't even screen record LOL). Back when my old laptop kicked it the files for this game went with it and I never cared to back them up. I don't consider it a hard loss though as by that point I had already moved on to bigger more polished projects and I didn't see myself returning to it any time soon(or at all).

The plot of the game was that Theo woke up in the night to hear Zapara leaving their apartment. When he goes to look for and finds her, she seems to want to avoid going back to the apartment for reasons she won't share. By the end of the game she confesses that she had a really realistic nightmare and she's scared if she goes back it will come true. Theo reassures her that he would never let her nightmare happen in reality, and so the two go back together. In the morning, we see Crowven texting them. They're making plans to go out to a club, when Crowven asks if his cousin can come along--tying it into CM.

I think if I made this game, it would've been cute, and maybe I'll even do something with the premise for a larger game, but I don't see myself trying to start this as a solo project again.

The next game that was shelved from when I was learning Unity & Adventure Creator. Patrons had seen previews it! I started this game as a tool to help me learn the programs, and it got shelved when I felt it was no longer teaching me but instead adding weight to my back.

Unlike the previous game, this is a game I COULD see myself starting again--probably using the same method I'm using for WISHMAKER in RPGM. This game is called "Dreary Elaine", and it's a bit interesting!

(ignore the reference PNG of Elaine here HAHA) This game, like WISHMAKER, is a point-and-click adventure game, where you play as the titular Elaine as she delivers party invitations to her neighbors.

The thing that makes Dreary Elaine interesting is that it is actually an offshoot of my other work! Mary Anta is a character that exists in the fictional world of Noisrev. Dreary Elaine is Mary's favorite childhood book series. A fictional world within a fictional world!

As I said above, this is a game that has the potential to come back one day--I'm just not currently sure when. But exploring the Elaine-verse is something that always appeals to me and who knows! Maybe I'll represent it more in my work going forward.

I think that's all for now? I hope it was fun to read through and I'm excited to have more (finished) games and art for you soon! ❤️

[nikethestatue]

Hi Nike! I was wondering if you’ve kept up with the news that the third Fourth Wing book, Onyx Storm, became the fastest selling adult book in 20 years with over 2m sold the first week. That number is so much higher than anything we’ve ever seen from romantasy (the previous book sold less than 60k the first week and that was record breaking, and HOFAS sold less than 45k.) It made me think about whether SJM’s impact is being lost. I am sure SJM and RY will continue both to set records but 2m is an insane number that I don’t think anyone can replicate. To me it feels like SJM was popular in the book community, and blew up from the fandom, but then failed to capitalize on the popularity and as the fandom dies, so does the hype for her. Whereas RY entered the romantasy scene when it was popular and had a strong fandom from the jump, but then managed to capitalize off the trend and grab a shit ton (millions, apparently) of casual readers and is more popular than SJM at the moment. SJM has the advantage because she has been around longer so people are more familiar, but her popularity will die down before RY’s does. What do you think?

That's exactly what we've been talking about with my friends.

SJM literally was the creator of the Shadow Daddy phenomenon and Azriel's book still hasn't been published. The grandaddy of all shadow daddies was lost in the tunnels, I guess.

2 million in one week does sound kind of crazy. I feel like it's Happy Potter territory.

I do think that BB and SJM totally missed the train, so it will be interesting to see how they move forward. I guess now they have the playbook of RY to see how she generated this level of interest and what she did in terms of engagement.

I hope they are not foolish enough to believe that SJM can just remain nonexistent and sell 2 million copies of a book.

I DO think that ACOTAR6 has the potential to be a huge blockbuster, if it's written well, if the romance is nicely delivered, and if there is a good mix of adventure and angst and spice.

Let's just say that if ACOSF was the book she was releasing following Onyx Storm, it would've been embarrassing. Walking up and down the stairs, doing stretches and fucking and sucking for 690 pages, with actual plot taking less than 200 pages would be unacceptable.

So all of this gives me hope for the next book--the it will be BEEFY with loads of stuff.

[momowoah]

To add to the seemingly endless list of Chenford/Buddie parallels: both couples had moments before they dated (and before they even truly realized their feelings) in which they opened themselves to the possibility of that relationship and truly considered moving forward with it for the first time. (aka 7x01 is to Buddie what 3x14 is to Chenford) (long-ish post)

In the S3 finale of The Rookie, Lucy and Tim are finally out of their T.O.-Boot relationship, which opens up the possibility of them having something beyond that. Lucy even acknowledges that in 3x09 when she fake confesses her feelings for Tim in order to prove she can handle UC work. Even though the confession wasn't serious, it did bring up the fact that it could've been; Tim specifically actually had to consider how he'd respond to Lucy actually having feelings for him, since he believed her. This whole ordeal resurfaces in 3x14, first when Lucy flirts with him while UC, and later when they talk at the wedding, the first time both of them manifest being interested in each other and in pursuing a relationship. Lucy breaks away from Grey and Nyla to go talk to him (and they exchange looks over it); Tim checks her out; they bring up the flirting; Tim asks Lucy to save him a dance. It feels like they crossed a line, it feels like it's going somewhere, and it probably would've if not for all that happened after. 4x01 basically confirms that by showing both Lucy and Tim laying in bed(/couch), wondering whether or not to get up and go towards each other after a hug and an almost kiss. Although the show never acknowledges what would've happened if either of them had gotten up (and we know at least Lucy would've, because she was getting up when Tim interrupted her), it is heavily implied that during those two episodes they were interested in each other, but it ultimately led to nowhere (at the time).

(Unrelated kinda but we can also establish a parallel between Chenford and mid S2 Madney here. Jackson's death ruined what they could've had back then, but they still managed to have something else.)

(Btw this paragraph will be a little chaotic and I'm too lazy to reread it and organize it sorry but I swear it makes sense) We get this kind of subconscious-ish realization of feelings and openness to a possible relationship with Buddie too. For Buck, that happens in S7. I can't find that interview again for the life of me but remember when OS mentioned a few weeks ago that Buck felt something when he thought Eddie and Marisol had split up in 7x01? I think that was the moment when he finally opened himself to the possibility of dating Eddie (even if he didn't realize that's what he was doing). He had broken up with Natalia after he had realized that their relationship would always be about his death rather than his life and was actively trying to understand how he had changed since dying (if we go by his 6b plot). I think the fact that Eddie was missing from his coma dream is specifically significant for this reason. Eddie was the one major relationship in his life that Buck didn't confront during the coma. He was absent, because Buck wasn't ready to deal with what he meant to him yet. By S7, we see Buck way more open to dealing with his feelings, evidenced by the fact that he finally figured out his bisexuality and by how light that whole plot was/is. Buck was ready to deal with it, even if subconsciously, and I think a part of that was him finally opening himself up to the possibility of Eddie. His vibes in the locker room in 7x01 are a lot like Tim in 3x14 - he wasn't overtly flirting, but he was trying to take that step forward, willing to take that step forward, and only didn't bc Eddie told him he was still with Marisol. Unlike Tim, though, I don't think he has fully closed that door yet. He's redirecting these feelings to Tommy for now, but he's still there with Eddie. He just needs some time to figure it out.

When it comes to Eddie, I think this moment came much earlier and lasted a lot longer. His feelings finally came close enough to the surface (even if they didn't surface completely) when he got shot. In that moment, he reached for Buck, and he never truly stopped. He broke up with his girlfriend really soon after that; he avoided going on dates; he pulled Buck closer to his family life (s5/6 domestic Buddie my beloved) (also by revealing the will); he actually pretty much took Buck out on a date. Eddie was moving towards a romantic relationship for almost two years, completely open to dating Buck, until the cemetery scene. Buck thinks he's finally found his place with Natalia, and Eddie decides to stop pursuing him because he realizes (wrongly in my opinion but shhhh) that he'll never be able to be that person to Buck, because Buck has yet to realize that Eddie does see him and that Eddie sees him all the time. However, he resumes his pursuit in 7x01, because Buck breaks up with Natalia, and that means that Eddie still has a chance. Even Buck's relationship with Tommy points towards it, because it means Buck can feel like that about a man. So Eddie pulls Buck back into his family life by asking for advice and help with Christopher (and probably also through whatever is going to happen with the Diaz family now), starts to fuck up his relationship with his girlfriend (by moving too fast even though he doesn't want to, which was what killed his relationship with Ana), avoids his girlfriend, and indulges Buck's every idea (as seen through the bachelor party). Since the 7x01 locker room scene, he's been fully open to Buck, and Buck has been fully open to him. In conclusion: Buddie will be canon by the end of 8A.

[janexwaters]

— BASICS

Name: Jane Waters Age / D.O.B.: 36, January 17th, 1989 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: cis woman, she/her, bisexual Hometown: Thief River Falls, Minnesota Affiliation: Civilian Job position: Bartender / independent jewelry maker and designer Education: High School Relationship status: Single Children: one, six year old daughter Willa Positive traits: caring, creative, hard-working, observant, stubborn Negative traits: brash, defensive, sarcastic, capricious, prideful

— BIOGRAPHY

Left as a tiny newborn at the orphanage, Jane never really saw the stability of a home life. Whilst foster parents did pick her up at times, she was often returned, being a little too troublesome as she grew, a little too defensive, or perhaps just a little too closed off.

Jane was a name given to her by the carers at the orphanage, with them often calling her Jane Doe as no one came forward about her roots. Once she turned eighteen, Jane changed her last name to Waters.

School, and eventually high school was a struggle to Jane, given her creative, albeit harsh nature. She loved creating just about anything - clothes, pottery, woodwork, even if drawing just didn't go as well for her. Although, she was fairly decent when she was learning how to tattoo. Natural sciences was where she struggled, so when she finally graduated, she didn't even look into the options of further education. Granted, she didn't have the money for that in the first place.

Once she was free to go, Jane took off, without really looking back. It would've been natural for her to go looking for her parents, but she had no leads, and she was far too angry to actually follow through with that. If those people didn't want her, why would she go looking for them, only to get hurt and disappointed instead? Rather than doing so, Jane explored the country, never really settling down anywhere for good, staying in any city or town she please for a few months at a time. Sometimes, she got a job, sometimes, she made friends, or sometimes, she learned a yet another new skill that she could focus completely on for those few months.

Once of the very few skills that she actually mastered was the art of making jewelry. It calmed her, the whole process of designing and creating it being enough to keep her at peace. At first, she played with simple metals, but once interest in her jewerly grew - albeit still relatively small - she moved onto stronger metals, going as far as silver and bronze.

Just over seven years ago, Jane found herself in New York City, a place where she was bound to go to one day. What she wasn't expecting, however, was to get pregnant after a one night stand. Children - or even a family of her own - wasn't something she had been planning to have, ever, but the Jane quickly found herself warming up to the idea of it.

Whilst Willa's father and Jane gave their relationship a solid chance, clearly both aiming to achieve something they craved, it didn't really work out. Eventually, the two of them called it quits, and opted to coparents instead, still wanting to ensure that their little girl got everything she deserved, and then some more.

For the first time in her life, Jane was settling down, and she found herself absolutely loving it. She was still working fairly dead-end jobs, but it brought money in, and she could afford to rent a decent place in Brooklyn, close to good schools for Willa to attend. Now that she got to settle down, she opted to focus on her jewerly business, working hard to create unique pieces. It doesn't bring her a lot of money, but the work itself was rewarding, and it's a hobby Jane genuinely enjoys.

Nowadays, she can be found spending her time with her daughter, always prioritizing her over everything else, or working at the bar in one of the many hotels of NYC. Whilst she sells most of the jewerly online, she can sometimes be found in one of the markets too, although that's not exactly something that Jane really enjoys.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

Freuent bar patron. Someone that's been going to the same bar that Jane works at. Both of them flirt with each other, however, it never goes past the simple, playful stuff, decent tipping and free drinks. Neither really push it further.

Neighbors. Good, bad, the worst; whether that's how perceive Jane or how Jane perceives them. Perhaps there's misunderstanding, or perhaps they're the kind to chill at one another's place and meet up for drinks and pizza on the rooftop of their apartment building.

Ghost from the past. Jane had travelled and lived in many cities prior to settling down in NYC, and this person might just be someone she crossed paths with back in the day. It could've been sweet, it could've been terrible, or it could've been both.

Members of the Brotherhood. Whilst Jane is not involved in the matters of the gang, given that her daughter's father is their Captain, she is still somewhat aware. It doesn't go as far as knowing what they do - she does not want to be incriminated, but she certainly knows some of the members.

[the-plot-blog-thing]

(originally published on 4/6/24)

WDAS TAGTEAM REVIEWS MOVIE #62: WISH (2023)

It's not fair, y'know? It's just not fair....

If I had seen this movie BEFORE the internet decided to already pick it apart, and BEFORE we learned about its earlier versions, I would've just said "Eh, it's cute enough" and moved on.

BUT now that we DO know, I can only see this movie and think, what if?

First, the good: all the acting and singing is all very good. They were wise to actually cast actors who can sing, so we didn't get a Beauty and the Beast (2017) problem on our hands.

The animation is also great! I liked how it looked from the first trailer. The colors are vibrant, and the characters have a great feeling of weight and movement. I really like how the backgrounds look especially.

Now then, onto the bad: The songs are too long and too similar rhythmically. None of them have a strong hook, they just repeat the same lines over and over again hoping that they'll stick in your head. Spoilers: they don't. The animal song is probably the worst.

There's a plot point where Victor Garber's character's wish was to sing a song that inspires the world. That's the main plot point of the first third of the film, and by the end, we still don't get to hear the song. They cut a song sung by Victor Garber in favor of...nothing?

You could really tell that there weren't any Broadway songwriters behind this one....

The film also has too many characters. I chalk most of this up to Asha's friends, who are all parodies of the 7 Dwarves. Only 2 of them are actually important, combine that with the queen, the goat, the star, and Asha's mother and grandfather, it's just a struggle for screentime.

The references didn't bother me all that much actually, up until that last scene where it all got a bit much. I know they were trying to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company, but the Once Upon the Studio short did that well enough.

Every scene just repeats the same information too many times, to the point where each scene drags a minute longer than it should. And for a 90 minute film, that's saying something.

I was bothered by how Magnifico was corrupted by the dark magic. The fact that he clearly had a tragic backstory, and his wife was worried for him, showed he must have at least still had some small shred of good in him.

But then the film just says "No, once you touch dark magic, you're evil forever!" and that just bothered me. I know we've wanted an outright villain in one of these movies again, but this was not it. Was he under the influence of an evil book or not? You can't have it both ways.

Look, we've all seen the animatics and concept art, and we all heard the interviews. This movie could've been much different and potentially way better, but we can't keep dealing in hypotheticals. We can only judge the movie we got, and this one was just ok.

Emperor's New Groove famously was a totally different movie before it became the comedy we know it as today, and while it's interesting to see what could've been, nobody thinks less of Emperor's New Groove because it isn't Kingdom of the Sun.

As such, I can only look at Wish for what it is, and as of now, it's only a

5.5/10: I wish that they learn and go forward from here

But next time is Moana 2, so who knows?

[dilfdoctordoom]

It’s really frustrating how Gamora wasn’t given proper nuance in the first two movies because then vol 3 might’ve been less frustrating. If her issues had been explored in depth (in vol 2 especially) her being feral for 90% of the film would’ve been interesting enough on its own, but because the first two films focus so heavily on Quill and the third on Rocket we don’t get enough time with either version of Gamora to see what makes her tick.

Ooooh boy I've got a lot to say on this.

The personality that Gamora has in Vol 3 is one that we have seen before... in the deleted scenes of Vol 1. Since those never made it to the final cut, the majority haven't seen them, don't know they exist, and I wouldn't count them as canon.

It makes her Vol 3 personality jarring, to say the least, which is an in issue. Vol 3 Gamora is the first time MCU Gamora has been anything really like her comic counterpart. Gamora's... very sharp, very volatile and doesn't tend to be the nicest person in the room. Gamora in Vol 1 & 2 was put into the "team mom" role which really isn't a place she should ever hold. At best, it should be like Infinity Watch, where she just thinks she holds it because she's decided she's the most responsible when in reality. she's fucking crazy.

Vol 3 also doesn't fit the established beat of the past two films; Peter is our clear protagonist, Rocket is the secret protagonist, and Gamora is the female protagonist. She gets things moving. It's her thoughts, her wants, that ultimately drive the films forward. She wants to save Xandar, she wants to escape Thanos, and it's those two things that push the first film forward. It's her want for familial connection (that she finds with Nebula eventually) that leads her to encourage Peter to go with Ego; if she hadn't been looking for that herself, I doubt she would've ever told him to go.

It also drops the sister dynamic between Gamora and Nebula, literally the one thread that links the Guardians appearances consistently through Vol 1 right over to Endgame. It's the beating heart of it all and shown time and time again to be important and then.... nothing. Vol 3 doesn't dare address that they've both lost the only sister they've known and what stands before them is essentially a stranger. It doesn't address that both of them know there's a version of them that is dead and has lost their future (and they both know that the future that version of them lost was a GOOD one). There's so much to work with, and it never gets picked up on at all.

Gamora's the moral center of the team, it's beating heart. She's always been the driving force of the plot, even in Infinity War, and she's central to most of the Guardians appearances in Endgame.

In Vol 3, she's there, I guess.

And even back then, even when she's so important to the films... like all women in the GOTG franchise, she's not nearly as delved into as the men. Don't get me wrong, she's a hell of a step up from Mantis, but... it's not as much as it should be.

It's an issue that feels especially because, as much as I adore Rocket & how well done his side of things was, Volume 3 needed to be Gamora's movie.

How Infinity War left her was bad. How Endgame left her was also bad. How Volume 3 chose to present her was worse.

This movie needed to have at least some focus on fixing what went wrong but we somehow ended up with Cosmo & Kraglin getting more development & Yondu getting better treatment than dead Gamora.

I get that Rocket is Gunn's favorite and Gamora is not, but honestly? Not a good enough excuse.

A woman of color got violently fridged to make her abuser more sympathetic. Something needed to be done to fix that and that was sacrificed to... further a raccoon's story & downplay the abuse of two major women (Gamora&Nebula) in this franchise. I don't care how much Gunn loves Rocket, he should've done every damn woman in the franchise better.

[sahaias]

Finished Violetta season 3

Idk how to feel now that i have no content left to watch (outside of the reunion special and movie that I consider non-canon), this is my comfort show and to have it gone kinda sucks

I guess some thoughts on season 3 as a whole:

Still my least favorite season, but it wasn't bad like I remembered

Gery and Clement feel like such pointless additions who would've been better off being one-off antagonists for like 10 episodes at most.

The Milton plotline is genuinely so stupid and forgettable. Once he's gone at the halfway point and he's nonexistent, it feels like "why did we waste so much screentime on him?"

Vilu and Leon should've been together the whole season, facing barriers in their relationship but never breaking up. The season was at its best when they were together, and it's genuinely so fucking annoying that they were together for the longest amount of episodes in season 1 over season 2 and 3 when Tomas was still a thing.

Fuck the whole Roxy storyline, it was so aggrivating

The side couples' plots were kinda boring imo. I like Naty and Maxy but their storyline was a bit blah. Diego and Francesca have telenovela drama and then just kinda exist in the show it feels like. Broduey and Camilla's relationship was super boring imo.. I'm not very interested in Federico even if Ludmila was super interesting this season. And I don't even care the slightest about Gery x Clement, Pablo x I forgot her name (though Pablo deserves to be happy after losing Antonio), or Nicolas x Jade. All are actual screen waste imo

Angie and German are hard for me to root for bc he and Maria were together when she was a little girl? Even if she's like 30 in the present, the whole knowing her back then aspect ruins any interest in the relationship for me

I actually thought the Andres love doctor plotline was kinda funny, and it matches how so many queer people in my life are amazing at analyzing others' relationships but struggle with finding relationships themselves

Ludmila's development was definitely the highlight of the season, but I don't think it's enough to carry the season

The whole "new kids in the studio" plotline was cool for giving Maxi his career development story, but the characters were weird. It was weird how one of them was played by an actress in her 20s and was set up as Andres's love interest, only to suddenly leave, Meanwhile, the rest were just children who looked younger than the studio students we saw up until that point (being like 12-15 instead of 17-18)

The last few episodes felt so rushed through with a ton happening, which was annoying considering how much the conflicts dragged on throughout most of the season

The show is still my comfort show bc I love the characters (most of them) so much

I'll definitely watch Soy Luna soon, and I'm excited since it'll be my first time watching it. But it probably won't be until a while into 2024. I work 12 hours a day 4-5 days a week, and I think I'm going to watch stuff that's lower commitment for now. Plus, I have a massive game backlog. My free time is super limited

Thanks for reading my thoughts while I rewatched Violetta! I don't know what I'll post about moving forward (definitely Soy Luna but that might not be for a hot minute), but it was nice to interact with everyone! I hope we can continue!

[godsfavouriteprophet]

The falls trilogy, for me, was about two people moving at completely different speeds and primarily where unconventional love fits within the church. Following two characters, at the exact same starting point and watching as they navigate their lives, while in very similar situations, take completely different paths to end up at the exact same place makes for a very emotionally impact full watch.

The role that the Church and religion in general has in these movies, for this point specifically, the third one, makes for a great opportunity to define characters based on their opinion on the churches teachings. When you put two characters in one movie, put them in the exact same situation, but give them different opinions and instincts on how to navigate through said situation offers, not only a great contrast of two characters but also a great conflict that cant and wont be easily resolved.

Also, this movie stands out in the way that religion is portrayed. Often times, religion is put in queer movies as an obstacle or something just 'bad' in general, but in the Falls trilogy, I think they do a really good job at accepting religion, mainly ones that restricts a way of living, and faith as a way of life that shouldn't be looked down apon just because it doesn't fit your idealistic.

When religion is portrayed like this light, its often light hearted and often just a one time thing but pure hypocrisy, nonetheless.

Extending on my second point, the specific situation in the first and second movie, is extremely unique which also makes for interesting conflict between 2 characters, even if not the two main characters, the two main family's, or the two main characters verses the church. As the 1st movie feeds into the 2nd one, often times it feels as if its one of the main characters verses the church alone. This is due to the character feeling so confined within the church that they become one in the same, preach becoming practice.

A second conflict I personally would've loved to have seen more explored was Chris's wife's opinion on the whole situation, and how she deals with it all. Plots like the 2nd movie are more common now a days, very few exploring the emotional distress of anyone but the two main characters. In the 2nd movie, during the confrontational scene, we see Chris's wife in more upset then we see any of the other characters that movie, but after that scene we don't see her again and her plot is sort of discontinued. This purely couldve been from lack of quality writing, which on a surface level, tends to be a very reoccurring thing for these movies, or it could be from lack of care of what really happens to her, which I find sort of upsetting mainly because I find the conflict of her and Chris and RJ a very interesting topic aswell as the fact we get to see Chris's family's, specifically his father explored a lot more in the 3rd movie. And also she had a kid with Chris, which I get we see he gets full custody of in the 3rd movie but like where'd she go??

Stereotypes, fortunately, fail to be something I came away from this movie, experiencing very frequently, expect the unexpected, obviously to an extent, considering the topic, is what I would recommend to anyone who wants to watch this. This goes hand in hand but by like halfway through the 2nd movie I stopped baking any bias opinions about characters because the character development in this movie is crazy.

When people hear character development, often they expect quite straight forward arcs to come to play, like good goes bad, bad goes good but when battling things like the church, it should be expected thay characters opinions by the 3rd movie are sort of all over the place and it's deemed hard to come to a place of comfort regarding the topic. There's a lot of ups and down, between churches and family's and relationships its very crazy but done very well compared to how its often portrayed, also, this might because its over the course of three movies but I think its a happy ending that's not extremely forced.

[winter-spark]

I know that after those 2 small Madoka thoughts I had I said I'd stay in my lane but my film/media brain is like "hey hey hey remember that "cool" thought you had?" So. Even though Chikage is still not my lane, my film brain wants to discuss the neatness/niftyness/cleverness (idk which word I'm looking for) of Act 8 & the slight step further it could've been pushed, in reference to Act 5 of course. Besides if the Zafran princes are my lane(I'm kinda forcing myself on them actually, I'm probably not the best person to claim them but here we are), and Citron is both a Zafran Prince & in Spring Troupe and Chikage is in Spring Troupe, Chikage is my lane adjacent. Still though if I say something that makes you go "well actually" please ignore me. Let me have 0 notes due to being wrong about something, it's okay. Really.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Act 5 (Chikage's storyline) recap - Paragraph 1 Act 8 (Zafra storyline) "mini" recap -Paragraph 2 Cleverness - Paragraph 4 The Potential Push - Paragraphs 5-8 Conclusion - Paragraph 9 Too long, didn't read: I like the parallel between Chikage's abducting to destroy in Act 5, & rescuing to protect in Act 8. As a film major I feel the rescue coulda been used to move his relationships forward in a way had there been any (realistic) animosity/hesitance lingering.

So as we all may or may not (idk) know, in Act 5 Chikage infiltrates Mankai by being let in through the front door(he's undercover shush!) and sees how Mankai is one big happy family. Feeling betrayed by Hisoka/having some misinformation he decides to get his revenge: Hisoka entered then ruined his happy family (and abandoned him), so he would do the same to Hisoka. In this he comes up with a simple Preminger plan: Izumi, the center of Mankai, goes missing, Mankai disbands. (This plan would've worked best if he snatched up Sakuya alongwith Sakyo &/or Isuke too, just saying. Those four are the reason Mankai stands today. Fact. But also imagine them having to navigate the coleads, director, financer and manager mia, woulda been harder to pull off and come back from but Mankai woulda been a mess) So he kidnaps Izumi, Hisoka comes to save & reconcile, they all go home. Izumi lies for Chikage, Chikage later shares that he actually did abducted her(without reasoning as to why ehich leaves open a bit of skepticism but yada yada we get the point).

In Act 8, (let's see how quick I can give the setup), Guy comes and reveals Citron is next in line for the throne and that there are some others who support his brothers being next in line and of them there are extremists(every cause has some extremists am I right or am I right?), Citron knowing Chikage got the capabilities to make people disappear w/out a trace asks Chikage to help him dip for Zafra early w/out Guy (also remind me to write about Citron's "selfishness"(there's a different word I'm thinking of but this'll have to do) pls I have thoughts); Mankai first begrudgingly accepts this but then they're like "No! Who broke it?" and head down to Zafra to get an explanation from Citron 'cause "dude what the heck?" They make it just in time to find out about a plot to keep him from ascending to the throne and that he's been kidnapped. Here Chikage steps up to the plate to find and save Citron from being kidnapped.(Itaru goes too but we're not here to talk about how he was prepped to die to save his wife<3, gosh I love love). (Kinda lengthy but I can't help making side notes & jokes lol)

So now that I've said a whole lot of nothimg, let's discuss the cleverness and how it could've been pushed.

Of course you've probably caught onto the cleverness yourself, a person who once abducted someone before a big event now is rescuing someone kidnapped before a big event. He is actively working in another person's best interest and to help sustain a family rather than aim to cause one to crumble out of his own desires of revenge. Of course, he vowed to protect the Mankai family at the end of Act 5, the parallel itself is still neat. And there's double the families he's sustaining in saving Citron here because not only is he saving a member Mankai/Spring Troupe's family but also of the Zafran royal family (why don't they have a last name >~<; that's so long winded), which allows a place for there to be a return after their punishment for suresies because if it had gone worse...

So now that that's been addressed how can this have been pushed further. Well. It could've been Chikage proving how much he's grown to care for and how much he means it when he says that he is devoted to protecting Mankai, which it kinda was in a bit of a less stated way. But also! While A3! is a clever series with compelling characters and storylines, there are some aspects that fall a little flat in the realism department at times, if they commited to being a bit more realistic w/ certain forgiveness storylines, this would've been a great moment for someone to feel more open to trusting Chikage. Like especially w/ him already being concerned about Mankai being upset with him for agreeing to & succeding to send off Citron. If it was like "man I'm still walking on eggshells a bit because even though people are nice to me and accept me they still don't fully trust/like me, I'm so not going to be increasing my score w/ any of them this way" and then him actively going to save and succeding in saving a cherished member of Mankai, with complete resolve and trying to keep everyone safe. That's something that could've really been something. Like not to say it wasn't anything or anything, just like it could have been a shift in the story. Like they love Chikage but do they trust him? They don't have much of choice. Obviously this can only be properly done with characters who would have animosity, coulda been there, and if it was something mentioned between the two points but yea.

(Reminder: my "lane" is the Zafran Princes so if I say anything inaccurate to any other character they're not my lane. (my current tag for them (tho I am considering changing it) is "Citron & his brothers" if you want to see anything I've said about them. (here's a good place to start, me thinks)(yea pretty shameless self promo but eh) I'm kinda dumb and know nothing tho so idk if any of it's at all good or something you'd agree w/ but I feel alright about the stuff I've said lol). I'm not a great writer or anything but I think if they had decided to take that route the best Spring Troupe options for that kinda dynamic woulda been Masumi or maybe Tsuzuru. (Had to choose Spring Troupe to go along with the setup that's already there, any other troupe and I might have to change big story details & that's not the goal here, the goal is elevating what's already there) Why these two? Well I'm less sold on Tsuzuru but I feel like he has more realistic and negative-leaning views sometimes, like he feels like a person who feels like he might stay cautious about a person who's done some shady things. Masumi other the hand is already a bit less of a people person, has he grown alot already yes, however, he is still someone who very much (haha kinda like Chikage) has a strong desire to protect those important to him and Chikage litterally abducted Izumi who was dire in Masumi being able to connect with more people and have those he wants to protect and do things for and she's at the top of that list of people. Sure she doesn't hold anything against Chikage but she's Izumi. She's a very caring and forgiving person. I could see someone like Masumi being a bit on gaurd and skeptical partly on her behalf.

I'm sure it'd be a little harder to pull off with what the situation was but I do think it's plausible & do-able. I mean, if I recall correctly, at this point most of Mankai are unaware why Chikage kidnapped Izumi in the first place(I think Hisoka, Izumi, and sorta the rest of Winter Troupe and Sakuya knew around the time it happened) so if one of them(not the ones I just specified) were somewhat weary of him it could make sense, I think reasoning is something that I can see being important to Masumi and Tsuzuru and that's something Chikage didn't divulge, so it feels like Chikage did it for "no reason". Though I do want to say I think if we took one if these routes reasoning would be important to them in different ways. Tsuzuru would be more mentally like but what was the reason tho, while Masumi would think less about that he didn't give his reasoning and compartmentalize it as no good reason as he had his chance to explain but didn't, which I wanted to bring up because because imagine with me if you please, Masumi accepting Chikage being around but lowkey not fully trusting him bcause he clearly had no good reason for abducting Izumi. Chikage plays vital role in rescuing Citron maybe he is okay to trust a bit more and maybe (flashfoward to Magician's Pure Love) Masumi can hear out what reason Chikage had for his actions, because maybe even if it was wrong and something he shouldn't have done, maybe he does have a reason. (See I'm tying things together)

My only hesitance really being the comparison of how important Izumi and Citron are to this character (because they're the ones in the situation not the weary character) but it simultaneously makes me want to hit floor it because they're equally important. Or something. Idk honestly. Just, i it was Masumi for this route I could see that being a nice reminder he cherishes his whole family. (I know Act 5 kinda already is that but I'm just throwing paint at the wall okay? This is only my lane adjacent.) I guess while I'm here let's discuss why not Izumi or Citron being the person for this to drive the relationship forward. Well. I think even if Izumi reasonably had a small fear of or discomfort with Chikage after Act 5 she would actively be workimg herself to getting over it. For it to be something to drive their relationship it would definitely have to be a thing between the two of them. Meanwhile, Citron literally trusted Chikage to keep his secret that he was leaving early and help him do so. I think they're in an okay place.

So yea, maybe this whole idea is dumb or too movie or something, Idk I have film major brain, but it's something I think about sometimes(not as much as I laid out here but the concept). Like obviously in part the rescue's probably partially there with something similar to that in mind but like instead it's to prove Chikage to the viewers rather than to Mankai, however I also think that it's okay in media to make characters have to work for people(read: other characters) to forgive and/or be comfortable around them. Like sure sure some people will forgive you pretty early on and water under the bridge and all that stuff. And some people won't mind being around you. But some people might be completely unaware as to how much they subconciously don't trust you. Some might be like okay we're cool but we're not cool. For some people all this depends on how well they feel they know/understand you and which actions they've seen to help determine your character to them, you know? And I like complicated/layered/complex dynamics and relationships, so I personally woulda found it neat to have something like that within the story. But who am I lol

[fountainpenguin]

My brief reviews on movies I watched this week (Mostly Disney-Pixar):

Dug Days: Carl's Date (Short, not a movie) - Very cute. I liked the earlier Dug Days shorts and this one was no different. I like how Alpha Beta has a squeaky cow toy and is living his best life.

Very much enjoyed Dug telling Carl to bring his date a toy so she would wag her tail. And Carl turning Ellie's picture around on the mantle when he was embarrassed. And Carl practicing his small talk on Dug who doesn't get what's going on so he just sits at the table with his fancy hat saying things like "I like bugs" with the most serious expression and eye contact.

Elemental [2nd watch since release] - Enjoyable. I went in hoping this time I'd connect with Ember/Wade as a ship and tbh I still don't - I don't know why, they're just... there to me - but I greatly enjoy this movie for showing them working hard to figure out their relationship. I enjoy the look Wade gives his uncle when the microaggressions start coming out. King.

I think I'd enjoy this movie more if they didn't find a way to get around the touch issue? I know it was a big deal for them, and I know they have other elements of their cultures they can still explore with each other, but they seem to have fixed the issue easily and they're a pretty standard couple after that.

There's nothing wrong per se with the direction the movie went, but I would've loved an ending where they choose to date even knowing it means giving up hugs, kisses, and other touch-related intimacy. Just would've made my aspec heart happy and been really neat to explore.

Also, this time I realized the Fire folks are eating wood, not charcoal like I thought, so that's nice in case I ever want to write something about this show. I have many questions about Wade's life that are still unanswered (Sir, why did you have two airball tickets and who did you cancel with to give one to Ember? Sir, that's a big table and a lot of chairs for a guy living alone in his apartment), but I like this movie.

I like Wade's mom. I think she oversteps a little, but I like that for her because it's not too in your face, and she really is just trying to help. Movie hurts my eyes a little to watch directly, but I spent the week playing movies on my second screen while focused more on my first. Good watch. I cracked up when I got another look at Ember's bed and realized she doesn't have blankets because she doesn't get cold.

Lots of nice worldbuilding. I'd like to learn more about her trip with Wade to her internship as I assume they're sharing a room (and a bed?) on the ship for at least a week and there's so much potential for how nerve-wracking that would be for them when they're still trying to figure out how to not, y'know. vaporize each other with touch.

Luca [3rd watch since release?] - This is a really good movie and I like it. I don't have much to say; I think it does everything it's trying to do really well. Plot, emotions, and character work together nicely. This one hits hard.

I would really like to know if someone's written an AU where Luka doesn't run away and has to spend 2 seasons in the deep with his uncle. Lots of potential there.

Finding Dory [2nd watch since release] - It's neat. Again, I think it does what it's trying to do, though this one doesn't hit me like some others. Also Hank is a flippin' liar for saying he can't fit in a pipe, but I support him and his wrongs.

Years ago I tried writing a character with short-term memory loss (which would be the big reveal the reader didn't know unless they'd picked up on it), and it was very difficult. I think they do a good job moving Dory forward and showing her struggles, especially when she pleas for help and backs away from things because she doesn't have a caretaker with her.

And you can see Marlin struggling with his new life as Dory's caretaker, which is interesting. I would have liked to see more Nemo-Dory interaction since that was limited in the first movie. There are a few times Marlin says something ableist and Nemo calls him on it in defense of Dory, but it would've been really interesting to see Nemo call him on it and relate it to Nemo himself being disabled. That said, it's good that Marlin realized he was hurting Dory and not just "Oh, I hurt my son because I hurt Dory."

I'm still glad that Marlin and Dory don't flirt. Also, the Bailey-Destiny friendship is very cute and honestly it's so sweet that he offers to be her eyes if she escapes with him to the ocean. This is a movie about disability and it's super interesting. Literally most of the characters have a disability (Nemo's fin, Hank's tentacle, Dory's memory, Destiny's eyes, Bailey's sonar, etc.) and that's really cool.

Turning Red [2nd watch since release] - One of those movies that I'm glad exists, but I definitely don't connect with it since it's nothing like my experiences as a teen. That's okay though and I'm glad it's there for other people. It does second-hand embarrassment in the beginning really well.

When I first saw this movie, I thought it was entirely about Mei becoming a red panda when she's embarrassed, and I thought that was unique because that's an emotion never tied to shapeshifting in my memory. I still think it's disappointing that embarrassment goes out the window into "all emotions" early on, and then very quickly into "Nah, she can just control it without issue." Eh.

I think Elemental hits the vibes of carrying the weight of tradition a little harder for me, but I'm not sure I could put a reason into words, and it's worth noting I'm not the audience for Turning Red. I like the ending scene where Mei's father is wearing the cardboard costume that Mei used to wear- that one glimpse says so much. Yes, there was a solution to who would help out. Very nice.

Soul [3rd watch since release?] - Always a good watch. It's very enjoyable with some clever twists, great humor, and spooky moments. I like it a lot.

Still surprises me that the only time 22 is addressed with gendered pronouns, it's near the end of this nearly 2-hour movie and it's only like, twice. Despite being asked why she uses a woman's voice, I didn't really see her with a gender on my first watch and I remember it really caught me off guard when they revealed so late that she uses she/her. idk why they didn't just go all the way without gendering her, especially when she hasn't been born yet and has no body, but okay.

Raya and the Lost Dragon [2nd watch since release] - There's some neat lore here, but the tone and jokes don't fit well for me. This movie definitely gives me the vibe of someone who very badly wanted to see "hot girls fighting" and made it their mission to do so, but maybe that's just me. seriously why so many fight scenes between Namaari and Raya when they're unarmored especially when their main bonding moment was that they prefer weapons over hand to hand, it just seems so impractical sldkfj

Kind of confused as to what the droon are since they're clearly not eating people. Why do the statues make a cupped bowl pose with their hands? I'm curious to know if this is just symbolism for the rain at the end of if it's a symbol for something I'm not familiar with.

I kind of wish Raya had more of a relationship with Namaari in the beginning, like if they'd grown up together, because Raya REALLY holds a grudge about Namaari betraying her despite the fact that, like... they knew each other for about 10 minutes. The baby's definitely not one of my favorite characters, but I like Boon. Obsessed with his commitment to selling food.

This is a movie that I don't love, but I do love the climactic scene because it hits brutally hard and plays with something I've never seen another piece of media play with, and I think that's super cool.

I think I'd be more interested in seeing a story about what life is like during these hard times rather than saving the world, which... isn't really something a movie would follow, but that's why we have fanfics. I like Namaari's relationship with her mom. I think I missed how her mom turned to stone because I didn't see any droon make a move for her? Did that happen 5 seconds after the canals were drained? Might've missed it.

I'd love to see this kind of concept (people turned to stone in a desert), but set it up so people are revived by dunking them in water and there's no easy access to water, so all you have is a small amount that you can rub on their lips or eyes so they can briefly see or talk to you before falling into corruption again. It wouldn't work well with the Raya plot, but I think that's sad- Little glimpses of hope, but then you slip away again. I might play with this kind of idea in some other magic system.

Frozen II - Not really what I expected? I liked the girls' dresses towards the end and I appreciated her continued naivety. Fascinated by Elsa's decision to move to a culture she knows nothing about, especially after showing the kingdom she can protect them from natural disastesr that might happen again.

Absolutely on the floor over the fact Kristoff spends the whole movie as a sexy lamp. There's a huge chunk of the time in the middle he's not onscreen at all. Yes, king, give us nothing!!!

10/10 hilarity in one of Anna's opening lines to this movie being "Who backstabs you after you give them a gift?" 5 minutes after watching Raya.

Big Hero 6 [2nd watch since release] - I'm not the audience for superhero movies so it's a bit meh to me, but I do think it's hilarious that Hiro upgrades his friends to superheroes because....... he just thinks it would be cool? If you went into this movie not knowing it's about superheroes, it comes out of nowhere and that's so flippin' funny. The scene where Wasabi stops at a red light during a car chase is always a good laugh.

Thoughts I had: "Hiro is so ready to put construction companies out of business and everyone in the crowd is okay with it" / "TADASHI how are you this smart and yet you still don't know that breathing in toxic gas will kill you? Did no one teach you why you don't run into a burning building without a suit?" / "Were there really that few people who died in the fire or is the person making the memorial doing it only for people they care about? That wasn't a long evacuation."

I don't really get the justification for them becoming superheroes in the end, like... I don't know who they're fighting? They just kind of do parkour? But good for them.

Baymax! Shorts - Pretty cute; I especially enjoyed Mbita developing a fish allergy while running a restaurant called Just Fish Soup. Devastating. I like how in the finale, you can see he changed the name to Smorgusbus.

Also I personally liked when Hiro went looking for Baymax's recent patients and that girl tells him he helped her with her period and Hiro doesn't think it's gross. Baymax's point in helping her was that it's natural and she shouldn't worry people will think she's gross for having one, so I'm glad Hiro didn't react badly to her.

Baymax's battery really does not give him enough warning to plug himself in if he can't even walk to the wall. I really thought that cat was going to plug Baymax in when he passed out, but it didn't... brutal. This cat has enough dexterity to make complex sculptures and I really thought it would help him but it left him there? Fantastic. No notes.

Strange World - Not one of my favorites and probably won't watch again, but interesting. I don't really have anything to say about it. Searcher and Meridian were cute; I really liked Mer'.

I wish Ethan's desire to live in harmony with creatures had been a little more pervasive, as it doesn't show up until late and doesn't really come up again. I don't think I understand what he's doing in the very last scene (I think he's gathering resources?)

"Interesting" and "Huh" are probably the words I'd use to describe this one.

100% Wolf - I didn't love it; emotions didn't hit right for me, MC was needlessly mean, plot twists a bit predictable, but it had some neat lore. I liked the housekeeper who isn't a werewolf. That makes so much sense. Absolutely wild to see the dog pound lady dancing while a human got sucked into the dog-killing machine.

Also I correctly identified Cripp as sharing his VA (Rhys Darby) with Neal the Eel from Carmen Sandiego (2019) and I thought that was funny.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Wow, this was a very loud opening sequence that switched into very quiet mumbling and the entire movie is like that.

Milo: /writes "coast of Ireland" on his whiteboard while talking about where he thinks Atlantis is.

Me: HY-BRASIL???

[It was not]

Very lively and interesting, detailed movie. I'd not seen it outside previews from VHSs or DVDs when I was a kid and I always wrote it off as "not interesting for me because it's about adults." Pretty cool to watch the snippets I remembered come together now that I'm an adult. Beautiful settings; I loved the cabin and bunks.

I really liked Helga. Set up with femme fatale vibes, out here making sure the crew eats healthy meals. A+ character. I have no questions.

One of my favorite tropes is forced proximity, especially when those involved have unique skills.

I'm a little surprised the Atlantean natives have such dark skin for living near Iceland before they went underground, as I thought skin tone was darker towards the equator. I remember reading recently about some exceptions, though I forgot what they were. I'll have to brush up on my knowledge for future worldbuilding projects.

Milo deep-diving with his glasses on... Sir? Also, what exactly is letting the plants bear fruit underground without the sun? The life force crystal can replace that too? Why are the clouds so low?

For a culture with ambiguous understanding of guns, I'm surprised how much the many, many Atlantean people held back when the item whose removal will literally kill them all was taken away from them. All of them against two guys and they didn't try to stop the Commander from driving off, even knowing they'd die anyway?

A lot more mechs than I expected and I don't think I understood a lot of what was going on with the magic or why. Not the biggest fan of how Milo/Kido is written; seems like they fell for each other after just an hour or so, but... guess it's only to be expected. I don't think I'll be watching the sequel.

Pocahontas II [2nd watch, 1st was maybe 8 to 10 years ago] - Intriguing to watch. I don't have much to say. I think they do disrespect and microaggressions well. Pocahontas calling them out is always funny. She's witty and I like that.

Also I thought it was funny when the king made a sexist remark and the scene cuts to the queen just looking at him sadly. Interesting to see how the length of some of these older movies differs from present-day Disney works.

It's SUPER interesting to see a sequel depict the MC falling in love with someone other than her love interest from the first movie, as that's not really something you see... ever, really. I wonder if this got a negative reaction when it came out and what the reaction would be for something like this in present day.

And whether it makes any difference to people considering that John Rolfe is who IRL Pocahontas married, though ofc this is a fictional interpretation of things.

I really like how John Rolfe was portrayed as being more understanding of Pocahontas whereas John Smith was still pushing at her to do things his way. Again, it's something I can see not going over well among those who don't like to see a character / main love interest with flaws, but this was an interesting movie to revisit.

Mulan II [2nd watch after many years] - It was nice to revisit this one. I remember not liking it much, but it's amusing to watch. Mushu's brutally selfish in this one, but that's in character. I still think it's funny that Mulan's dog is named Little Brother. I like the first song in this movie, but that's no surprise since I listen to it on occasion.

I dooooon't totally get why the princesses were so drastically against marrying "men they'd never met," yet immediately fell for men they hadn't even spoken to and were willing to marry them within 3 days?? That just seems too soon to know if you like someone? Gurls, these men got thrown of the matchmaking because they were self-absorbed and wanted women to fawn over them. please make sure you know what you're getting into.

Guards flirting with people they should strictly be platonic with and care for is one of my least favorite tropes, as doctor/patient is just so ingrained in me as an ethics violation :P That said, I think it works in some parts of this movie; I appreciate how the guards take the princesses to a town where they're interacting on equal playing field instead of while on duty. Yes, they were supposed to be on duty, but-

Okay, but... it just seems so unlikely for 6 people to fall for someone they've known for under a day, especially when the princesses are already engaged?? that's just so wild to me. The guards on like, Night 1 chatting that they think the princesses like them and I'm just holding my head like "Why would you ever think it's okay to flirt with them when you are literally on the road to their weddings and they haven't confessed their hesitations to marry the princes?" You are all soldiers; why can't you follow instructions? Ahhhh...

I did remember Mulan preparing to marry a prince in place of the princesses, but I forgot she thought Shang died, so that makes more sense than I remembered. All in all, nice to see again, but not one of my favorite romance stories.

Cars 3 - I went in not expecting much and I really liked it (Way more than Cars 2). I think more movies should showcase the struggle of accepting you've gotten old, actually. Every time an adult told Lightning that they grew up watching him race and he mentally bluescreened, I found it hilarious.

Lots of neat worldbuilding and details. I liked him struggling to learn to take naps and draft off other cars in a way he didn't need to when he was young. Very sweet movie. 10/10, would watch again and I look forward to Cars 4.

My one gripe is that Lightning doesn't look old so for most of the movie I thought people were exaggerating his age (I mean, he's in a sport and retirement age is lower there), and it's not until the end you really get the fact that oh, they weren't joking around with him- he is actually old... but I can forgive that since his job is to upkeep his appearance and he has a crew of people that do that for him.

I like how Lightning and Sally seem to be a couple, but they don't have kids even though baby cars and family lines are a thing in this world. Also I am dying to know how he fixed a broken trophy when he has no hands. I'm having some flashbacks...

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Promo time!!

Hm?

Oof a body

Uh oh a specific killer 😬?

Ope nope a pentagram o.o

OPE NOPE BOTH 😭😬

YOOO MEKIA'S NEW HAIR oh my gosh that's slaying so hard

Oh gosh I.o

I wonder how many 😬

Ope her husband o.o?

Out committing another murder 😬 o.o?

NOPE ope O.O

So her/another family member or somebody else is continuing it o.o uh oh 😭 xd

Oh gosh xd

Well that's gonna be DRAMATIC and I am looking forward to it it looks so fun :D

Loving again the look that it'll be more of them all working together!! I'm loving that so much this season :))

Well, that's about the last of my last thoughts, so now it's onto the. . .

REVIEW

I loved this episode!! I thought it was really good :D. The scary vibe was really cool lol :). And while the isolation would've been interesting, I think it fit well into the time slot it was given, and I'm glad we got to see the others still. Also, again, it helped us move storylines along without wasting time, which is something that unfortunately needs to be done in this shorter season 😭. Still, besides Aaron and Celina maybe being a bit quick (but I'm not mad about it lol), nothing seems too rushed! Anyway, it was a really great episode :D. Loved all the plots :)! Also there were some really hilarious moments XDD 😂. Even a laughing emoji, I know, I'm crazy lol (thought about just saying "wild lol", bc it's just something I don't tend to do).

Also,regarding this review: again, not quite as serious as my main ones lol

Anyway!

Onwards to the characters/individual plotlines/details :))

I'm really glad I got to watch this tonight by the way, if not live :D it was a cool episode :)!! I nearly said live just a second ago though lol, and I was like ". . what am I talking about? And what am I actually trying to say here lol" xD. That's what I had to do to get here lol. Anyway!

Back a week later lol. I want to watch last night's (the next one compared to this review) episode tonight, so this will be quick lol.

Loved seeing my besties Angela and Nyla!! They didn't do too much in the way of actually stopping what was happening in the island, but I do think it's definitely a good thing they showed up. They got everything sorted and hey, they got a little vacation out of it too. And got to be epic 🥰. Slay, I love them <33. I did miss Wesley though lol, and James too. Also Gray just being like "whatever" was iconic lol.

Tim, Lucy, and Celina's case was wild lol!! I am glad they didn't just dismiss it, and actually figured out what happened. Even with the mind games, Celina seriously slayed this episode :DD.

LUCY MADE DETECTIVE!!! YAYYY WHOO CONGRATS GIRL 🥳🥳🥰🥰🥰. She did get 17th, but you know, it counts!! She slayed anyway <33. And the scene at the end with her and Tim was so cute 🥰🥰. Your honor I love them so much 😭😭❤️🥺🥰.

I don't remember what Aaron did much, but I do remember that him and Celina are doing better!! And I'm really glad for that :). They could be cute together, but I love them as friends and I really think it was just his trauma. Glad they're doing better now though :)).

John and Bailey!! Using his first name since it's his honeymoon lol. He deserves it xD. Anyway, I am so glad they're okay lol. Kinda idiots for going to people's houses in the middle of the night and what not, not to mention following murder sounds, but hey xD. What can you do lol, they're heroes. Anyway, these trouble magnets made it xD. And hey, at least they had a bit of honeymooning in there lol! I am glad they got their bit at the end though :')). It sucks the actual thing didn't work out too well, but I'm happy for them overall <3.

Overall, I really loved this episode! I thought the format was cool, and even if it would've made it feel more isolated, I'm glad we didn't just see Bailey and Nolan. Plus, everyone else had plots that did need moving along. Still, it was really enjoyable! Loved the creepy vibes, it was so fun :D.

So yeah! I really liked this episode, it was a nice switch of pace from what it usually is. I'm excited for the next one! This has been my review of. . .

The Rookie, Season 6, Episode 3: Trouble in Paradise

I loved it! I'm so excited for the next episode, it looks super interesting. And, of course, dramatic :)! I'll be back next time for my review of. . .

The Rookie, Season 6, Episode 4: Training Day

See you then!

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

Gee, this would've been really nice to have seen, instead of it just being told to us.

The amount of "evidence" we collect before this infodump is pretty bare, with multiple characters even saying how bare it is and how hard it's gonna be figuring anything out. So what exactly are these guys doing for two entire days that makes them seem so efficient but also doesn't actually move the investigation forward?

Because we, the reader, know that UB knows what's going on from the very start, so this basically strongly implies they're faking it to seem cool and/or competent in front of the Detective.

So to me the question becomes: Is this intentional? Are we meant to believe UB are a scarily competent unit, like the Detective believes? Or are we meant to believe they're deliberately putting on a show for the Detective, because we as the reader know something the Detective doesn't? Because if this is intentional, then it's brilliant to write it this way, because the narrative is literally putting on a show for the reader while UB put on a show for the Detective.

But that would mean that we as readers aren't meant to take UB's competence and efficacy at face value, which, as a gaggle of romantic interests and a unit the player character later joins and becomes a part of, means that these characters aren't as competent as they pretend to be. That they're faking it 'til they're making it. And I doubt that was the point, because it would certainly paint UB in a bad -- or at least a deeply silly light, and M!shka doesn't seem like the author to vibe with that sort of portrayal.

Personally, I think we're meant to take this seriously. There is a section in Book 2 that's explicitly meant to show how the Detective has become a part of the team and how well they work together, in contrast to how the Detective initially was an outsider and jealous of UB's effectiveness. Implying that they're faking it would also go against the characterization of several UB members, particularly N, who is all about telling the truth from the very start.

But if we're meant to take this seriously, then what the fuck are they doing? What are they doing with the few pieces of evidence/clues we have that's so mindblowing? What are they doing that's so cool but not cool enough to advance the plot? How do they work like a well-oiled machine while essentially rotating on the spot on square one lest the Detective realizes they actually know everything already? How are they doing this for two full work days when going over the collected evidence would take a few hours, tops?

And, assuming we're meant to believe it, this whole section is just a blatant lie, anyway. Not only do we see how UB constantly bicker, disagree, and fail to communicate with each other, but several characters mention how the Detective makes them work better and has made them into a true team, but here we see how they're very competent from the start? Is that just the author manipulating events to make the Detective seem more like a sad sack who gets to join the cool guys later on?

The least charitable interpretation is that M!shka wants us to believe UB are amazing and competent and attractive, and that the Detective (and by extension the player) should want to join them, but simply doesn't know what they would do to show us this or what they'd be doing with what evidence to support this portrayal, so she had to just say they are super cool and awesome and competent in the vaguest possible terms and just use her authority to force this to be true in-universe, thus forcing the player to believe it, too.

AUGH.

Sorry I've been replaying the first book for fic outline purposes and I am losing my mind. Also s/o to @ribbonsandfeathers for helping me put these points together and being my sibling in arms in the T/W/C trenches.