#this includes movie specific spoilers under the cut

[tinyshoopuf]

Murderbot TV thoughts

Okay, I changed out my kitchen sink faucet and let the first 2 episodes percolate in my mind and here are my thoughts (I'll put spoiler type stuff under the cut):

It is a good sci-fi show. I think if you haven't read the books you will really enjoy it. I think if you HAVE read the books you could enjoy it. I will put up front that I went into it skeptical and hoping to like it but expecting it to annoy me.

Murderbot TV is going to be a different story. I believe the themes are all going to still be present, but it's just going to be a different vehicle for it. That's not to say it's a bad adaptation, I think it's done pretty well, but if you are very particular about, well, particulars, you probably aren't going to enjoy the show.

I'll start off by saying I think it's going to be a case of Howl's Moving Castle book vs. movie. There's a popular post on here that says the book is how Sophie tells it and the movie is how Howl tells it, and I think that difference of perspective is at play here. The Murderbot Diaries are solely from Murderbot's perspective, whereas the show is not. We still get internal monologue from Murderbot, but now we are seeing a more objective truth than what we get through the book. Because, remember, Murderbot is an unreliable narrator. It will decide what to tell us and we are getting character actions through its lense and its entire experience with humans is through corporation rim work slavery and dramatizations on the entertainment feed, so its not going to accurately portray events.

Okay, below is where I'm gonna get into specifics.

I think Mensah is one of the biggest ways we're shown this difference. From MB's perspective, Mensah starts out as not an inrepid adventurer, but a scientist and a good leader, then actually is an intrepid adventurer (and good leader). One of my initial annoyances was in showing that Mensah was having panic attacks. This is kind of counter to how MB depicts her in the book, she gets adrenaline spikes, but she's the leader and is able to keep things from showing to her team. In the books, she's only shown to have problems after the events of book 1, but of course that's only after MB gets emotionally attached and actually starts paying attention.

So.

I think, for me at least, it is helpful to view some of these changes as oh, this is no longer through MB's filter and we're seeing everything that happens as-is.

Okay, some other thoughts that aren't really organized are:

I still think it was important that Mensah at least went into the survey having seen MB's face and even though she spoke to the company reps about how she viewed it as enslavement, not seeing its face felt like it doesn't really drive home that it is a person to her yet. One of the reasons in the book she's much quicker to trust MB is because she, at least, has been thinking of it as a person this whole time

I like that they had Arada refer to MB as 'he' after she's seen its face and had Gurathin emphasize the 'it' part, although I wish it had been someone else doing it because Gurathin was being very antagonistic at that moment.

I get that they had budget constraints and wanted to trim down the cast a little so they didn't include Volescu and combined Overse and Pin-Lee, but I'm not sure I like that now Arada and Pin-Lee are married?

There are several, I hesitate to call them changes, but additions/alterations that are used to show the universe to newcomers instead of just having MB tell us everything in a constant running monologue. It's fine.

Listen, I get that they want to drive home the fact that MB does not have the configuration to be a sexbot, but I don't wanna keep seeing it naked, even if it does just look like a ken doll. It was very uncomfortable watching Mensah try to check in on it when it's standing there in the open, completely naked and skin colored, while the not-cubicle works on repairing it.

Not a fan of having MB pick out its name right after deactivating its governor module. The show, in trying to make what happened at the Ganaka Pit installation a mystery, doesn't let the audience know much about what MB knows. It says its memory was wiped and it's got fragments of a memory, but we don't know if it knows it killed a bunch of people (the instigation for it trying to deactivate the governor module in the first place). I guess later episodes might answer that and I know I'm being very critical but. I love the books, okay?

I greatly enjoyed Ratthi. He's so good. I loved how they depicted the PresAux team doing their hippy dippy thing and having the humming circle and Ratthi just humming "Gurathin join in" was hilarious.

I'm not a fan, personally, of being shown Ratthi, Arada, and Pin-Lee having a threesome, but I do admit it was funny that as soon as Gurathin tried to poke around MB's feed Mb was like here's your coworkers having a threesome. That's right, get out of my feed.

I probably missed something, but yeah. I'm gonna keep watching and reserve final judgement for the end. It's a little hard to analyze some of the decisions they made when only 2 episodes are out and we don't have the complete story.

[bridoesotherjunk]

Okay, so it's been a handful of days since I've seen Venom 3.. and I think I've finally got my thoughts together.

This review will have spoilers, so it will go under the cut.

these are all my opinions, so don't take my word as gospel or anything...

Anyone who knows me and my blog knows how much I've loved these movies since 2018, so to see me not ranting about the third Venom movie should be evidence enough how I feel.

I... don't feel like this was a satisfying conclusion to the Venom franchise. I really feel like there was so much more that could have been done, and should have been, instead of what we got.

I truly feel that introducing Knull into the story was a mistake. The first 2 films were so much smaller scale. Expanding all the way to the fucking symbiote god after only having done Carnage just felt like such a massive leap. And they really didn't do much with him anyway.

It felt like they included Knull because they were obligated to. Like Sony made them in order to have a weird spin off involving Knull trying to kill stuff. I don't know. He didn't do much besides tease future movies where he's the villain again. And that's kind of boring...

I will sound so narcissistic saying this, but I truly feel that the story I came up with, where the villains of Venom 3 are former Life Foundation employees angry at Eddie for ruining their lives, made way more sense. In terms of scale, you know? Much less "huge universal threat" and more of the small scale "threat to Eddie and Venom specifically" type story. Even Riot, being a threat to the Earth, was smaller scale than Knull. Knull is just too much. Too big. Too unfocused. It felt like too wide of a net. It felt generic, i hate to say it. It just felt like every other dumb ass gritty movie where the bad guy wants to destroy all life as we know it. (And quite frankly, he could have been taken out of the movie and not much would have changed. Venom and Eddie could have been hunted by the xenophages for any number of reasons.)

The part of the movie that I enjoyed most was the beginning. The part that felt like Venom. Where we saw Eddie and Venom working in sync to free those dogs. I loved that. I loved seeing how far the two of them have come and how well they work together. .. seeing their journey in a montage later? That felt... lackluster. After seeing them literally working together just an hour earlier in the movie, it felt kind of cheap. The way the story ended for these two didn't feel like a victory. It felt like the Avengers Endgame "well we gotta get rid of this character because their contract is up" situation.

The movie was definitely a fun time. I enjoyed myself watching it. But I was left feeling a sense of "That's it?" That I haven't felt since Avengers Endgame.

I'm happy that Tom Hardy got to do these movies. I absolutely will forever adore the first 2. They're fun, they're goofy, they're gay, and I love them. .. but this third one just... yeah. I'm disappointed.

I will always love Venom. That much is not going to change. I love these two gay losers and I'm so happy I got to have them in my life. They brought me so much joy, and so much brainrot, and I will miss the fuck out of them.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

why them??

Whenever we visit a new location, there's an in-game reason given for why it's these specific four characters chosen to go! I was eager to see why Vil had Jamil, Azul, and Ace come along with him to an acclaimed film festival... and I was not disappointed 😂

***Tapis Rouge in the Shaftlands spoilers under the cut!!***

So as it turns out, Vil has been invited to the International Film Festival in Fairest City (a significant location for the entertainment and beauty industries). He’s going to promote a movie he’s in that’s releasing next year.

The original plan was for the Film Research Club to accompany Vil and take the chance to learn more about movie productions. However, the club is in the middle of filming for their own project and a change in weather has led to their shoot next week being cancelled. The filming they would have done next week now has to be done this week, so Vil’s club members cannot go on the trip. (Vil himself still has to attend because he is contractually obligated to.)

The other NRC students start to argue over who Vil should take in his club members’ places. The people vying for spots include:

Cater (because the Fairest City is so trendy and always popular on Magicam)

Azul (many famous brands are sold in Fairest City; he has a financial interest in this research)

Lilia (has visited the city before, but never the film festival)

Jade (the city is close to old mines, which he is interested in)

Ace (he loves the idea of going to a fashionable city and “tasting” the celebrity world)

Rook (a lover of movies and dramas; he is curious about the movie studios)

Floyd, Epel, Deuce, Grim (lol it sounds fun to them; Epel also says he has not traveled a lot so he wants to go this time)

Ruggie (FANCY FOOD)

Jamil (wants to take advantage of Vil’s presence to see behind-the-scenes things they don’t normally show; he usually prepares snacks for when Kalim watches movies at one of three at-home theaters but hasn’t had the time to really appreciate the films for what they are himself)

DKJLBHASILYFAYFVQEFIFQEPI; I love the added detail of Jamil telling the others they're inconveniencing their senpai but then Azul cuts in and implies the behavior is a manipulation tactic to show off to Vil how reliable Jamil can be (thus increasing his odds of going while he still maintains his "humility")... Those two just cannot stop getting at each other's throats, I swear 💀 (In part 2, they continue the pettiness when Ace comments that they’re both quick to tease him together, so do they actually get along? Jamil says no but Azul says yes… and the two of them are STILL bullying each other about their personalities once they get their new outfits. Truly not a dull moment with them…)

BUT THIS IS THE REAL STINGER

So since Vil can only pick 5 people to take with him, he says they'll have to prove that they somehow excel over the others. It's then that Azul cooks up a scheme on the spot and recruits Jamil and Ace for it: a lottery! Azul proposes it, has Jamil pitch in, and has Ace prepare the drawings. THIS WORKS ON MULTIPLE LEVELS BECAUSE:

Azul can present the idea as "random" and "fair". This makes him appear like a kind problem solver not wanting to give anyone, not even himself, a leg up.

It would come off as shady if he gets one of the twins (known to be his henchman) to agree with him... so who does Azul get to back him up? Jamil, someone from another dorm, and someone who was passive aggressive with him earlier. This creates a false illusion that others beyond Azul and his dorm believe in the "fairness" of the lottery.

Ace has deft fingers; he a cut a deck of cards--and he can easily rig a lottery since he's in cahoots with Azul, the guy who suggested it to begin with.

This creates a situation where Azul, Jamil, AND Ace get to go to the event. These bitches are mutually benefitting from being collectively sneaky (According to Ace, Yuu and Grim pulled the remaining two slots by coincidence, so they just happen to be "lucky") 🤡 AND THE FUNNIEST PART OF IT ALL IS THAT VIL SUSPECTED THEY WOULD PULL THIS SHIT, BUT HE LET IT HAPPEN ANYWAY SINCE IT'S TECHNICALLY STILL THEM DEMONSTRATING THEIR TALENTS TO HIM...

Truly, bravo... That deserved a standing ovation, gentlemen 👏

[cuntyglam]

alien romulus, andy, racism, and why robots are autistic

this is an introspective into how the alien series treats artificial humans, also known as synthetics, and how sci-fi portrays androids in general. alien romulus spoilers under cut. written by a native autistic and disabled fan <3

andy from alien romulus is an artificial human that is constantly being seen as less because of his race (artificial human) and who often portrays autistic characteristics. these characteristics include an aversion to loud sounds, difficulty reading social cues, and a special interest in dad jokes.

his behavior is explained by him being a “damaged” artificial human, which is somewhat disappointing. it’s disappointing that these traits that so many of us autistic people have are considered flaws in the context of the movie.

his sister, who is human, takes him for granted and chooses her life over his, even though he shows emotions and was apart of her family. even though it isn’t outright stated, this kind of reminds me how sometimes we as autistic people are seen as a burden on our families, despite us being able to care for ourselves.

once andy gets rook’s chip inserted he becomes “better”. “better” motor skills, “better” intelligence, and “better” everything. but yet, he still portrays autistic characteristics. he doesn’t go from autistic to not autistic, he just starts displaying different autistic traits. he is very knowledgeable about tech, aliens, and the human body, while being very objective about what the right thing to do is. instead of being a very empathetic person, he is a very practical and calculating person, which i think is super interesting.

honestly, i think it would have been really interesting to see him be the sole survivor. to have him get his revenge on the sister that betrayed him and the world who bullied him for his raise and ability.

okay now to androids, synthetics, and robots as a whole. robots are seen as cold and emotionless, similarly to how autistic people are seen, so many ai and robot characters are autistic coded. robots don’t have compassion or empathy in the eyes of the general public, same as autistic people. many autistic people have reclaimed robot characters to represent us, and i think that’s fantastic !!

i specifically love artificial humans in the alien franchise because they showcase so much depth and empathy, while still displaying autistic traits. and beyond that, most of these artificial humans are enslaved by a corporation (weyland yutani), and despite direct programming from their oppressors, most artificial humans end up doing the right moral thing in the end, further proving their humanity. despite being technically non human, i genuinely think they’re good autistic representation. do i like the way that the characters around them treat them ? no. but i think that might be the point. the point is that these characters are ableist and racist and shouldn’t be considered morally correct. i think that the writers could convey this in a better way though.

okay. racism discussion time. several times throughout this series we encounter artificial humans, and almost every time they have to correct their peers on the right terminology to use for them. as a native person who has had to tell multiple people (coworkers, professors, etc.) not to call me an indian, this really stuck with me growing up, and i still think it’s interesting to this day. in alien: romulus andy’s sister uses “synthetic” to refer to him MULTIPLE TIMES, after he’s stated that he prefers artificial human. this is important, because even though he’s family she still does not fully understand what he goes through and she does not respect his identity or boundaries.

there are also multiple instances throughout the series where characters (our beloved ripley included) have prejudice against artificial humans because of bad experiences with artificial humans in the past. this causes human characters to attack and/or harass artificial humans who they have just met for no other reason than their race. in alien: romulus we see a character be hostile towards andy because another unrelated artificial human made a choice to save the many over the few, and his mother died. this is a choice that many humans would make and would not be blamed for. this reflects the real world, where people of color are blamed for almost every choice they make, while white folks can make the same choices and not be criticized.

in conclusion, i love the character of andy and i think him and the alien franchise as a whole is so interesting. let me know if you want a deep dive into the themes of sexual violence, birth, and motherhood in the alien series !! i’ve done a whole research paper on it, and my college admissions essay was about the alien queen, so i know quite a lot !! i hope this drives a lot more fans towards the alien fandom and i hope a bunch more merch comes out !! yippee !!

[pompadourrguy]

❕ This post contains spoilers for Transformers: ONE.

Transformers ONE edit

⤷ Plastique Noir - Catedrais em Chamas

This song matches with D-16 / Megatron's vision of everything that happened during the movie, including his relationship with Orion, Sentinel's betrayal, the new upcoming Cybertron in war era and the consequences of everyone's actions.

If you wanna know the translation and my whole ass rant about why I chose each scene for each part, everything is under the cut!

Again, this should be all interpreted in D-16 / Megatron's point of view.

[Millions in despair, I don't understand]

This phrase can be seen in two ways: Representing how he wants to destroy the Cybertron that Sentinel built, all that Sentinel ruled and owned, and Megatron doesn't understand why everyone got so desperate as he destroyed it all. In his vision, they should be grateful that he's destroying everything that someone as bad as Sentinel, the Betrayer, built and took care of. Megatron also doesn't understand how all Cybertronians, mostly the low-class who suffered the most, could follow Sentinel's system for so many years without noticing his antics and behavior.

[Putting your faith in the wrong guy]

Pretty self explanatory. Everyone on Cybertron trusted Sentinel "Prime", only to be betrayed by him. Once Megatron learned about the truth behind Sentinel, he got furious that he put so much faith in him.

[Talking about merit doesn't make sense]

This shows how Megatron would think that Orion Pax / Optimus Prime getting the Matrix of Leadership and speaking like he deserved it shouldn't make sense. D-16 wanted Orion by his side, he believed that Orion would join him to rule Cybertron, and then Optimus Prime appeared once he got the Matrix, leaving Megatron in disbelief.

[If a dark past creates an arid future]

This is about his view on Sentinel's situation in specific. How Sentinel killed all the Primes in the past, and how he's finally getting what he deserved. This would be his arid future, according to Megatron.

[I wish there was a tsunami over the cathedrals]

[The skies would be gained by dark smoke]

[It would also rain ashes]

The "cathedrals" here would be all those things that Sentinel once ruled, including the entirety of Cybertron. How Megatron wanted to destroy it all, to rule it all, to cause a revolution and be the one true leader. This is the beginning of everything, of a new era, a new revolutionary group called Decepticons.

[I wish there was a tsunami over the cathedrals]

[The weight of all the aces]

Now in this line, the cathedrals would be his relationship with Orion. A tsunami destroys everything, and D-16 / Megatron's actions destroyed absolutely everything they had, even if he never wanted it to end like that. Their bond being friendship or not, it's all over now. About the aces, ace cards either begin or end a match, depending on the game. In this case, Megatron is reflecting about the weight of ending everything he and Orion once had. The impact, the weight, the consequences, and how it would now change everyone's lives in the upcoming war.

This was fun to create, thank you if you read it this far! If it's not too much trouble, I highly encourage reblogging this post, I put a lot of thought on this edit lol. Again, thank you <33

[sketchingstars03]

Mouthwashing AU?!???

CONTENT WARNING IF YOU WANNA CHECK OUT MOUTHWASHING FOR YOURSELF, THIS GAME IS SUPER DARK. SPECIFIC WARNINGS UNDER THE CUT

So one day I was playing on VR chat as a Pikachu on the Mouthwashing map and it just, turned into a Pokémon AU.

So welcome to the “Everything’s The Same But Curly Has A Pikachu AU”!

Premise is: it’s a Pokémon AU of Mouthwashing but only Curly’s partner Pikachu was allowed on board the ship. And thus I put this innocent little creature through hell.

Why Curly as her trainer? Because Pikachu is his canon favourite Pokémon.

Don’t worry Tulparchu spends most of her time with Anya after the crash (well… her free time away from a certain character who proclaimed himself her de facto trainer now that her old one is out of commission, anyways)

Speaking of canon favourites, they may not be on the ship but these are the partner Pokémon of the rest of the crew!

Anya: Glaceon (she keeps photos of it on her phone to look at. It’s very spoiled <3)

Swansea: Herdier (It’s currently staying with his family while he’s on board the ship)

Daisuke: Shiny Midnight Lycanroc, who he nicknamed “Weregarurumon” (I imagine Digimon is still a fictional property in this universe lol)

Jimmy: A Rattata he long abandoned in a PC years before the main story even takes place. Didn’t think himself cut out to be a trainer (he barely tried)

couldn’t even take responsibility for a Rattata. Also no way in hell am I giving this man a Mega Rayquaza

The AU has like, 3 endings and 1 spin off scenario, which I’ll get into under the cut bc game spoilers

Other than that, I hope you like this slightly (very VERY slightly) more positive AU for the Tulpar crew! The presence of a Pikachu is very therapeutic (still can’t fix everything though)

So once again content warnings and spoilers under the cut

Game Warnings: Sexual Assault, Unwanted Pregnancy, Abuse, Murder, Manipulation, Graphic depictions of dead bodies, Depictions of Hallucination

The game is very much a psychological horror

So the three endings are as follows:

Canon Ending: Everything happens the same as the canon game but with Pikachu along for the ride. She confronts Jimmy at the very end and is shot dead and her body is put in the cryopod with Curly (“I fixed it” no you didn’t)

Good Ending: Same as the Canon Ending except Pikachu wins the final confrontation, shocking Jimmy to death. She lives out a few days just her and Curly before deciding to put him in the cryopod herself. She ends up being the one put inside instead (it’s too late for her trainer, but not for her)

Best Ending: Pikachu shocks Jimmy to death on accident months before the end of the game. The crew have a substantially better time (still sucks though), but with Pikachu as honorary “Captain” (it’s just a title but she takes her role VERY seriously). In the end her and Daisuke both take the cryopod, and end up being rescued years later. They were still the only survivors, and so Daisuke takes in all of his crewmate’s Pokémon (including discovering Jimmy’s long-abandoned Rattata)

There is still one alt scenario I have in mind for this AU, and that is one where Rattata is taken out of the PC and brought on board the ship too. Don’t worry he doesn’t behave like his trainer, in fact he also has to deal with Jimmy’s abuse (it’s mostly verbal)

Pikachu and Rattata’s relationship dynamic? Think “I Always Wanted A Brother” from the Mufasa movie (movie is mid from what I hear but this particular song still slaps IMO. Boycott Disney still)

[karan-koron]

Genazo cheat sheet: Blink and you'll miss it edition

Another post where I try to list interesting details and tidbits about the movie, easter eggs, and such. I will try to follow the movie chronologically, but there might be some back-and-forth. Of course, this will include spoilers. If you're interested about Gegege no Nazo trivia and context, I wrote two more posts on the subject, here and here.

This movie is packed with little details that gives it insane rewatch value (I went to the theaters too many times...), either as references, easter eggs, or small touches that give not only historical accuracy, but also breathe more life into the characters and the world they inhabit. Let's go for another deep dive under the cut!

- Opening scene, present time

Yamada

His name and appearance evokes Salaryman Yamada, a character part of Mizuki Shigeru's star system. I won't go through all of them, but multiple characters in Genazo are part of that star system, like the section chief and the president of the blood bank, some of Osada's henchmen, etc. (here a star system refers to the use of a rotating cast of characters put into different roles through different stories but retaining key characteristics, either in design, personality, etc. Tezuka Osamu is known for this practice as well.) But specifically, Yamada reminds me of Joho-ya, "The informant", or "Hunter" (in Inka-subs), from Akuma-kun!

Ruins of Nagura village

As Kitaro's group and Yamada go through the village, you'll notice obvious items that played a part in the movie : the Sengoku-era armor, the hospital beds, Tokisada's ball form, etc. In the shot where Medama Oyaji says "The time has finally come, 70 years later...", Katsunori's car is in the foreground. Yamada stumbles upon the armor which I already mentioned, and is fairly obvious, but please notice the skull on the helmet: its left eye is worn-out! He then gets jump-scared by an Ichimatsu doll, which seems to have belonged to the little girl coughing in the train Mizuki and Gegero rode to Nagura village. Interestingly, though the patterns on the fabric are different, she shares the color of her kimono with Sayo, and both wear a bow in their hair. Finally, when Yamada points his flashlight at a window, a ghost appears for a frame or two, wearing a headdress making it looks like someone working for the Ryuga family. Which brings us to our next point... !

Hidden yokai and ghosts.

Mizuki Shigeru's daughter, Mizuki Etsuko, wrote the lyrics for Gegege no Kitaro 6th series' 3rd ending theme : "Mienkeredomo orundayo", "You can't see them, but they are here".

And indeed, if you look closely, or if you close one eye, you'll find that yokai have been present in the story way before Gegero made Mizuki notice them. Frankly, I don't know if I found them all, and what I can show you is mostly thanks to the joint effort of movie-goers who shared their findings online, but here are those I could spot and screenshot! (if you found more, Pleaaaaaase!!! Let me know!)

First, the ghost lady in the opening scene.

Mizuki casting two shadows in the blood bank office.

The tengu-like face appearing on a tree trunk as Mizuki enters Nagura village.

Kashabo, sitting on a tile as Mizuki enters Ryuga mansion grounds.

Probably Ikkenya no Yoju's paw, whom will appear again later in the movie, when Nezumi comes to give the diary to Mizuki in the storehouse.

The night after Tokimaro was appointed new family patriarch, Yuurei akago appear on the shelf in the back. (and these are actually pretty easy to spot, if you aren't so focused on Mizuki's cleavage. Yes. I know. Don't hide it.)

A soldier's helmet appearing next to Mizuki and disappearing a few frames after.

I read about more findings on social media, but it's all I collected myself for now!

Showa 31, Tokyo.

Or 1956.

Trash in the water, a cramped, shabby strict in the foreground, the blood bank, and in the background, factories releasing smoke. Far from the Tokyo that Tokiya and Sayo imagined, right?

As I mentioned in another post, the people waiting in the stairs came to sell their blood, and most of them probably do this for a living.

The celestial eye goldfish, or Choutengan, heavily bred in Japan and popular in art, are only found in captivity. They lack a dorsal fin, have limited vision, and can only be kept in aquarium on their own.

Train to Nagura Village

"...Tokisada is the man behind that success story." A script note I should have included in the previous post but I forgot, oops. Mizuki calls Tokisada "立志伝中", risshidenchu, conveying the idea that he is someone who worked harder than everyone in order to achieve great success.

Mizuki smokes "Peace" brand cigarettes. Its name was chosen with hope for the future after the war.

It seems Mizuki brought only one pack of cigarettes with him, as a pack of "Peace" contains 10 cigarettes, and he is seen smoking 10 times throughout the movie. The first time is in this scene, inside the train.

Tobacco's price in Japan has historically been exceptionally low, and at the time period Genazo takes place in a consequent percentage of people smoked - with a lack of awareness for safety, especially in closed spaces and around children, which was sadly not exclusive to Japan. Notice the girl holding the Ichimatsu doll and coughing : one of Osada's henchmen is sitting across from her, looking in her direction. Later in the movie, inside the underground factory, a smaller patient is on one of the hospital beds coughing, as a concerned patient turns to look at them. The doll is seen thrown in the trash, and of course, found again by Yamada in present time.

"Many people are following behind you." The silhouettes behind Mizuki are similar to the Japanese military uniform seen in his war flashbacks. So it's his war companions following him, and not the ghosts of enemies.

(a lot of points from the taxi drive to Mizuki's arrival in Naguramura I feel I already covered in other posts, so let's jump ahead a little bit.)

Reading Tokisada's will

Staff has cited The Inugami Family, movie adaptation of the novel The Inugami Curse as an inspiration for Gegege no Nazo. It's at the most explicit in this scene.

Tokimaro wears a sokutai outfit associated with noblemen of the Heian period. He also has teeth painted black, a practice called ohaguro, popular again between the Heian and Edo periods, mostly for cosmetic purpose ; and white makeup. Mizuki mentions how Tokimaro hasn't made public appearances in a long time due to poor health. Is the makeup for concealing his health...? In a previous post I mentioned how Toshiko, Hinoe and Otome share a motif reminiscent of the "inoshikachou" (boar, deer, butterfly) card combo in Hanafuda. Tokimaro's design is reminiscent of the Ono-no-Michikaze Hanafuda card.

Tokimaro mentions not being allowed to take a wife, surely not to dilute Tokisada's blood.

A maid places a zabuton cushion for Mizuki to sit on, just like everyone else in the room. However, during the entire scene, Mizuki keeps kneeling with his head low : Otome is already not pleased by his presence, but on top of that the maid placed the zabuton between two tatami. Tatami's edges are covered with cloth, and the fancier ones are embroidered with the family's emblem ; it would be considered rude to step and sit on it. He was also never invited to sit by any of the Ryuga, so he remains kneeling next to the zabuton.

Tokimaro's death, Gegero's arrival

"I really hate conflict, you know. How about it? Why don't we all take a bath together and relax ?" Kitaro's father's love for baths is well known as Medama Oyaji. In the Birth of Kitaro manga, he also mentions how the Ghost Tribe are peaceful people.

It's a rainy morning, and when Osada's men attempt to behead Gegero, Mizuki rushes outside shouting to stop them. He's only wearing socks in that scene, which is why he goes barefoot in the next scene when he's in the room where Gegero is locked in.

"This person has brought calamity upon the village..." In the shot where Osada says this line, he's drawn wearing a ring. I'm not sure if it's intentional or an animation mistake, but I think it's the only scene he's seen wearing it.

Night after the murder

Otome feels weak, and Osada doesn't just catch her as she falls, he tightens the embrace as if comforting her in a hug. In the following scene, it seems Hinoe got money from Otome, who is drinking red wine.

In the jail cell room, Mizuki is eating a classic meal of white rice, grilled fish, miso soup, and takuan (yellow pickled daikon radish). Gegero is eating a much lighter meal of brown rice and takuan sliced so thin it's see-through... In the previous scene where Osada, Otome and Hinoe are talking, Osada mentions that the room with the jail cell is in his quarters, which is why Tokiya was able to come in. Mizuki was also given a different yukata than when he was sleeping in the annex room of the Ryuga.

Gegero tells Mizuki that "Some people are not worth engaging in conversation." Indeed, he tried to warn Mizuki in the train that hell was awaiting him, but he didn't listen and came to Nagura Village anyways...

Asking Katsunori to let Gegero out

On the way, Mizuki passes by an old lady wearing a headdress and rubber gloves.

She's probably coming from or going to the underground factory where M is produced, and is also likely the ghost Yamada caught in his flashlight at the very beginning of the movie.

Hinoe is seen drinking alcohol as she peeks at Sayo and Mizuki from the window. In the room is a man in a futon, and a suitcase full of jewellery. The day before, in the scene where Otome, Osada and Hinoe were together, Hinoe was counting money she probably got from Otome, promising she wouldn't waste any of it. It seems she spent it in jewellery from the man in the futon, who is probably an outsider.

Hinoe is watching the scene from this balcony, and you can see two sets of tire tracks : the ones going straight is from Katsunori's car who just passed by. So the ones turning are probably from Hinoe's visitor, the jewellery seller, coming from outside the village. Had Mizuki paid a little bit more attention, he would have realized that Otome lied about the landslide at this point...!

In a previous post I talked about Tokimaro and Katsunori's placement in the succession scene, Katsunori sitting in front of a dragon, placed inside its maw.

This time, behind him are displays of his vanity : a replica of the "King" (osho) shogi piece, and peacock feathers matching the color of his cravat. He's drinking Grand Old Parr Scotch whiskey, contrasting with Otome drinking red wine a few scenes earlier.

First time on the forbidden island

In front of the well, "呪" (kashiri) "Curse" is written on the torii gate.

(lots of important things happening that I already covered in older posts, so let's flash forward again)

Back at Osada's house jail cell

Gegero is eating zaru soba. They are cold buckwheat noodles that you dip in tsuyu sauce before slurping. It's a great dish to have during the hot Japanese summer! There are two ozen (low dining table/trays) in front of him, one with the soba, and the other with an empty spoon and bowl. It seems that this time, Mizuki shared his dinner with Gegero.

Discussing next plans

"And as long as [the Kyokotsu] doesn't have a vessel in the village." Here, Gegero specifically uses the word yorishiro which I chose to replace with "vessel", but yorishiro is a word specific to shintoism. It refers to an item or body that can attract and host a kami (deity). You may have seen before shimenawa ropes tied around rocks or trees - they signify that a kami resides inside, making those yorishiro. It's possible that at this point in the story, Gegero might have already figured out Sayo.

After finishing his popsicle, Mizuki flips the stick and looks at it, then seems a little bit disappointed. Some popsicles have written on their stick either hazure (lose) or atari (win), on the end which is visible only after finishing the popsicle - had Mizuki gotten a win, he could have had another popsicle for free! Aww...

Sayo and Mizuki on the balcony

Sayo wears a fashionable, western dress. She may have gotten it from outside the village, possibly from Katsunori. From this point, she starts calling Mizuki "Mizuki-san" instead of "Mizuki-sama", closing the gap between them.

Moonlit talk in the graveyard

Throughout the movie, you can see many electric poles, but in this night scene, no lights are on at night except from Tsurubebi :

It's possible that most of the electricity is used in the underground factory.

"I saw it in the south..." When Mizuki mentions the south, he means Rabaul, New Guinea.

After lighting his cigarette with Tsurubebi, Mizuki notices he took his last one (the tenth) and crumple the empty cigarette pack in his pocket. It's why he shares it with Gegero instead of giving him a new one ; an interesting twist of fate right when Mizuki asks himself if he will have his own fateful encounter one day.

Gegero and his wife enjoyed "cream soda", which I left as is in the subs, but I realize that these are actually called soda floats in English, oops. Melon soda floats are heavily associated with the Showa era ; go to any vintage store, museum gift shop, etc and you'll find amongst retro goods something melon cream soda themed. (Pancakes and "pudding a la mode" are desserts with a similar iconic retro vibe) Cherries are also a known favourite of Medama Oyaji!

Their date spot is in Asakusa, Tokyo. You can see Sumida river in the background, with what I wrongly assumed to be Ryogoku bridge at first, but is actually Kototoi bridge. Starting from there you can find the exact spot : The rooftop amusement park "Sportsland", opened in 1931 in the Matsuya mall building. The mall remains nowadays, but not the park, sadly.

Picture source

flash forward to...

After Gegero's capture

In front of the shrine, when Otome reveals the role of women within the Ryuga family, Osada's shoulders slump, pained by the thought.

Inside the underground factory, you can see the same headdress and rubber gloves wearing old lady, grinning while at work.

As I stated earlier, we meet the coughing little girl from the train again here.

Sayo asks Mizuki, "Are you going to help that person from the Ghost tribe?" even though she has never met Gegero on screen - Either she was spying on Mizuki and Gegero, or she figured it out after reading Tokimaro's diary. "If I run away now, this guy will laugh at me." Mizuki says. Indeed, Gegero accepted to work with Mizuki on one condition : "Whatever you see, do not run away."

Bloodbath

Sayo's Kyokotsu releases more smaller Kyokotsu from its rounded stomach, as if giving birth.

During the bloodbath, one of the Urakido is not killed by Kyokotsu, but by one of his fellow man who accidentally slashed his throat while swinging his sword.

When Otome calls Osada for help, he shouts the usual okusan, "Madam!", followed by her name, "Otome!" in despair.

The anger Sayo feels for Mizuki is different than the grudge she bears towards the Ryuga and the villagers ; she chooses to strangle him with her own hands rather than through Kyokotsu. When Gegero said that he felt pity for Mizuki, Mizuki similarly went for Gegero's throat.

The bottom of the well

"By now, [Tokiya] must be bullied in hell in my place." "今頃 余に代わって 地獄で 獄卒どもに いじめられとるだろう" ima goro yo ni kawatte, jigoku de gokusotsudomo ni ijimeraretoru daro Literally, "by now, he must be bullied by the Gokusotsu in hell in my place." Gokusotsu are the guardians of Hell - they are seen in Gegege no Kitaro anime, working for Enma Daio. It's wrong of me to have omitted them in the subs, but I didn't know how to phrase it with proper length and timing. I'm sorry.

Mizuki climbing the stairs dragging the axe behind him mirrors Gegero's arrival in Nagura Village - the sound of the axe hitting the ground replacing the karan koron of Gegero's geta sandals.

Gegero places the chanchanko for protection on Mizuki's shoulders, but later Mizuki put it on Gegero's wife instead - Mizuki didn't hear Gegero says his "my friend, the future in which you live is something I wanted to see with my own eyes" line after all. At this point, Mizuki has nothing left to lose or look for himself, as highlighted in the shot where Gegero and his wife reunite, and Mizuki is lying as if dead on the foreground while Tokisada speaks of the bright future of Japan. He is ready to pay the price for his actions, even if it costs him his life.

When Gegero removes the seal on the pile of skulls, it's lodged in a skull's left eye socket.

Present time

Yamada promises that whatever happened in this village, he will "definitely write it down and pass it on." His article was printed in the pamphlet sold at the time of the movie's theatrical run.

Ok... phew! I think that's enough for now. If you've read this far...congratulations!! Unfortunately I may still have things to say in the future, but that post is way too long already. Thank you for reading! I hope this helped you notice a few things. Enjoy the movie!

[harveyguilleniconodelamoda]

Welcome to Harvey Guillén: Icono de la Moda!

A blog for celebrating the style journey and impact of queer, Latino, plus size actor, producer, and fashion icon Harvey Guillén.

To explore what's already here, click or tap on the tags on this post! For some explanation on the purpose of the blog and how things are tagged, check under the cut!

About This Blog

Since the earliest days of his career, Harvey Guillén has been exceeding expectations and breaking down barriers in every avenue of the entertainment industry he has explored. After almost exclusively styling himself for years--in photoshoots, on screen, and even on the red carpet--Harvey blew up on the fashion scene in 2023 via multiple red carpet collaborations with luxury designer Christian Siriano.

From his iconic 20s-inspired suit for the Oscars to his statement-making Met Gala look both honoring and critiquing the legacy of designer Karl Lagerfeld, Harvey's red carpet looks have been covered by People, Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Since then he has continued to stand out, speak out, and create space for more diversity and inclusivity in the arts.

Here you'll find posts analyzing the costumes of Harvey's most iconic characters such as Guillermo de la Cruz from What We Do In The Shadows, Cousin Blobbin from The Thundermans, Eli from Companion, and others as his filmography continues to grow! You'll also find:

Retrospectives on Harvey's most iconic fashion moments.

Examinations of recurring motifs in Harvey's personal style.

Deep dives on Harvey's staple pieces, accessories, footwear, outerwear, and seasonal style.

Editorials and comparative analysis of specific looks.

Identification of specific pieces including price and sizing information.

Affordable (under $100) alternatives for those wishing to emulate Harvey's style.

Is there a costume, outfit, or staple piece from Harvey's style you'd like to know more about? Feel free to send a request via the ask box!

Tagging Method

All posts are tagged with Harvey's name, "fashion," "plus size fashion," a basic category for the occasion/purpose of the featured look(s), and the names of any key designers or brands mentioned within the post. Beyond that, I try to be consistent about tagging key types of clothing items (i.e. "jackets" or "shoes") and any other relevant topics (i.e. season, event, holiday, show/film, etc.). A categorized list of all current tags is below.

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[vickyvicarious]

To anyone who is interested, here is my thoughts on Nosferatu (2024). In briefest sum: it's not my thing. I didn't really like it by large.

To be a little longer, but still remain mostly spoiler-free: There are several elements running throughout the movie. There's stuff taken directly from the original Nosferatu, there's stuff added in from Dracula, and there's also some elements that appear to me to be informed by other adaptations or reputation, as well as more modern tastes in the way horror movies operate. It is definitely still a horror, and for people who like this style of horror, I think a lot of them would enjoy it. Personally, I'm not super into gore or sexual horror scenes. There are definitely several of both. In general I like more subtle psychological horror, and in a lot of ways I think this movie is pretty in-your-face about what it does. That is a personal preference for me, though, and definitely not universal.

Also, while I find the combination of elements interesting, in several places I personally feel like it weakens characterization or at least my interest in the characters. That said, some character things that fans of Dracula like would probably include: Orlock is definitely still evil/hated by all. Thomas and Ellen (the Harker figures) are in love, and both protagonists we're meant to root for. There are also a lot of added scenes that call back to various events in the book. On the other hand, there is some degree of Ellen/Orlock that is likely a major turnoff for a lot of people, and also Friedrich (the Arthur figure) is definitely not our Art. Also, many of the callback scenes involve similar events, but almost inevitably twisted in some way, either to fit the changed place in the plot, the different characters, or to feed in to horror scenes that are more gory/sexual than you'd see in either original book or movie.

Finally, more specific spoilers under the cut:

Sorry in advance but this is more of a ramble than any specific progression throughout the plot.

I think that the story wanted to have its cake and eat it too a little bit in regards to the original book, the original film, and to pop-culture derived interpretations of Dracula themes and characters. I also think there was a degree of playing in to more typical modern horror expectations. Some of my thoughts on this are pretty suppositional because I don't actually like watching horror movies much and also haven't seen any film adaptations of Dracula (aside from the original Nosferatu and now this one). So feel free to disregard me if I'm wrong on any of those points. But I feel like there are several scenes that either alter events or add in gratuitous nudity or violence just because that's expected.

Like, for example, when Thomas arrives in the town near the castle. There's a whole odd scene where a bunch of people are dancing around and then kind of mocking him before he gets into the inn. Once there, we have a scene more like in the original movie (OM from here on out) where there's horrified reaction to him saying he's going to the castle, and also similar to the original book (OB) where he is given a crucifix. Then we have a scene that seems like a "queer dreams" reference (but when he wakes his shoes are muddy showing it really happened) where he follows a bunch of locals leading a naked virgin on a horse to a grace where they then stake a vampire. I think this is the same group who were outside the inn mocking him, though I'm not totally sure.

The staking scene irked me more in hindsight because it seemed to be suggesting a possible alternate ending, with the virgin potentially 'distracting' the monster's attention while its body was staked. I kind of wondered near the end if this was going to happen to some extent with Ellen taking out the shadow and Orlock's spirit while the men staked his physical body. Now, that too would be off from both originals and was entirely my own theory so it not being fulfilled isn't really a knock on the movie, but... While I guess we can see the connection here, the actual way the whole "pure woman offers herself to the vampire to kill it" plays out later has nothing really to do with this scene. So it still feels kind of like there was no point having her there, since all she did was ride naked on a horse, and so it felt more contrived to show a boob than really relevant to me. The people also are weird because of this. Are they in Orlock's employ and scornful of Thomas? Are they opposed to vampires and want to protect him? There's a weird mix, only increased when everyone is gone when he awakes (including the innkeepers) and have stolen his horse. I didn't feel like their behavior made sense.

OrlocI did like several of the trippy bits about Thomas' journey to the castle (though the empty carriage reminded me more of Curse of Strahd, haha), and some of the parts of him being there. The scenes where he is eating with Orlock and where he's being pressured into signing a contract he can't read are pretty good moments of him having to try and keep calm and polite while freaking out hugely internally, though it's all much more condensed and quick to become blatant attacks on him than the OB. But that itself is more similar to the OM. The scene when Orlock makes him say "my lord" instead of "sir" is pretty funny. I also quite liked the way Orlock turned his excuse to leave ("I've been having horrible dreams since getting here, I think I'm ill") against him into a reason he must stay ("It's not good to travel when you're sick, you must stay here until you get better"). From the book, we get scenes like Thomas asking about local traditions and being shut down, running frantically about after learning he's trapped, being threatened by wolves, and escaping out the window. But the way it happens is typically very different, with Orlock just having some wolves in his crypt apparently. Thomas going in there and opening up the coffin to see him isn't really led up to in any way, other than him running around searching for an exit. We do get an attempted shoveling, except it's not a shovel but a pickaxe, there's no apparent reason for it to be sitting there, and Orlock (who apparently sleeps totally naked) physically repels the blow and then chases after him/shadows him and then drinks him while also humping him. He wakes up in his bed afterwards, and escapes out the window while fleeing wolves that have been sent to attack him after Orlock (presumably) leaves. Then he falls into the river.

I think in general his character is closest to the equivalent OB character. He loves his wife intensely, and is determined to return to her and to protect her/kill the vampire who harmed her. There are still some really unfortunate moments where he tells her to ignore her creepy dreams and basically be normal (as well as disregarding her warnings not to leave, though that at least I seem to remember happening in the OM), and he's the one to say of course she'll be left behind when hunting vampires. But he never seems to think about leaving her, and definitely loves her a lot throughout. I also like him getting a limp after his escape from the castle, showing some lingering physical effect. Though he also apparently has bite marks since he shows them to people later on.

Von Franz is shown to be more lost in his 'crazy' theories than Van Helsing. He also is too willing to sacrifice others, and kind of has a crazy monologue while setting a bunch of stuff on fire which feels super out of character. But he plays a smaller part and I liked both him not being shown as a super vampire hunter (the one scene when Friedrich asks him how to kill the demon he's talking about and he's just like "I dunno, I've never actually seen one of these before" was funny) and him having respect for Ellen. He insists she not be tied up and empathizes with her psychic nature being preyed upon, being clear that the results are not her fault. Dr. Siever plays a really small role, and Knock (the Hawkins/Renfield medley) is just as comically evil as he is in the OM. He does get naked in a pentagram and gnaw on animals/people onscreen, but doesn't have a huge role. I had fun laughing at Orlock carrying his own coffin in the original but sadly no luck in that regard thanks to Knock escaping to help him.

Friedrich irks me the most because he's got a larger role and it's so different from Arthur. While Emma (Lucy) doesn't do too much, she's at least still a good friend to Ellen. He clearly doesn't like her from the start and just kind of puts up with her weirdness because of other people. He's a loving husband and father and that's where the most sympathy for him comes in, but also skeptic who hates the influence on his life that Ellen brings and has a hard time believing Von Franz about supernatural causes. While Siever apparently suggested it in the first place, he still is the one who approves tying Ellen up, and he's a jerk to her about her not being normal and not doing what he tells her. Not to mention kicking the Hutters out in the middle of a plague! As well as trying to flee when his wife is already suffering from the plague. He does traumatically lose his whole family, and he gets the shadow keeping him asleep while his children were killed, which originally happened to Jonathan while Mina was attacked. The scene of the nosferatu carelessly dropping a dead child reminded me of vampire!Lucy tossing aside a child in the graveyard. And in fact, having Emma be the only one awake rushing about to try and save her family and having to face the vampire alone is sort of similar to the night of Lucy's memorandum if you squint. I absolutely hated Friedrich's ending - he's visibly caught the plague and wanders off to the graveyard where he then has sex with his dead (not undead, just dead) wife and then dies doing so? Euch. If they just left out the necrophilia then it would feel much more coherent to his character, just kind of selfish and very intentionally 'normal' but still deeply loving his family and losing it after their loss. But that just seemed kind of thrown in there to add to the erotic horror to me, and since I don't like it, well. I didn't like it.

Ellen, now... it's hard to talk about her character in this without also talking about Orlock. But let me start with just her and then get to that after. They lean way in on the psychic Ellen from the OM, which I initially quite liked. She also seems to deeply love Thomas, though there are some later scenes that add a weird dynamic there. One being she only became 'normal' when she met him, and so he seems kind of like an escape from her psychic dreads. I initially really liked her connection to him when he was on his trip. She gave him a token of her hair in a locket, which she cut while staring psychically out into the night, and it seemed like it was linking her to him. Then, when Orlock took the locket, the connection seemed to contribute with her sometimes overlapping with Orlock in a way I initially thought was kind of cool. I really liked the way the actress did her own version of the clawed hands and the Orlock walk/silhouette, she embodied that really well.

The sexualized trances/dreams and seizures were definitely not to my taste thought, and the whole more Exorcist-style scenes where she seemed almost outright possessed didn't really make full sense to me most of the time. I really disliked what the story behind them and her connection to Orlock ended up being. Apparently she psychically reached out to something dark in her lonely youth and ended up waking him/making some sort of marriage pact with him? This is what aroused his interest in her all along and seemed to drive many of his actions. And while we do see that she hates him consciously, and outright rejects and insults him to his face in one scene, there's all this stuff where she seems very drawn to him despite that. I really hated the Hutton sex scene. It was bound up in an argument between them during which she seemed to at least partially believe Orlock's words about Thomas selling her (this was apparently the contract he couldn't read but signed because Orlock was menacing him) for a bag of gold. She also throws in his face that he's never satisfied her like her dream lover (the nosferatu). She seems to be getting partially possessed or something throughout this fight. She takes on the nosferatu posture and uses a different voice, but it's not made clear how much of this is some influence against her or her own inner darkness or her actual thoughts. Thomas looks scared of/for her and also freaked out by how crazy she seems, and then she crawls up to him begging for no doctor and then they have aggressive sex while she commands him to kiss her heart. That in particular makes it seem like she's trying to emulate her dream sex with the nosferatu, since he's always shown to bit the chest/over the heart. So that left a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth.

Again, we do see that she loves Thomas and wants to save him. But the eroticization of the vampire feeding (once again, they are clearly having sex while he drinks her blood. The only reason I wasn't a hundred percent sure this happened with Thomas is because he at least was wearing clothes thought Orlock was naked at the time) combined with the visual horror of making Orlock look so open-wound and corpsey combined to have a really weird feel of just wanting to show a woman having sex with a horrible monster. The sexual horror thing... but she agreed to it, yes as a plan to kill Orlock, but what with the dreams thing and her making sex noises and whatnot it kind of seems like she's enjoying it too. Then when they find her body there's this kind of weird detail where she has a hand holding Orlock to her chest (she drew him back down and asked him to drink more blood when he started to notice the onset of dawn) and Thomas takes her other hand, and it feels symbolic somehow. Her lover being death and her husband reaching out for her but her clinging death closer... I dunno. The whole sex and dream connection/prolonged haunting aspect made it seem a lot less resigned sacrifice than it did in the OM, and definitely way more of her being drawn to him in return than in the OB.

Orlock himself was a pretty nice mix of Dracula and OM Count for most of it I think. I liked when he called himself nothing but hunger, it feels like it leaned in more to his OM counterpart. Using Thomas's fate against her (and before that, the Hardings) was very much something OB Dracula would do too. But his whole past with Ellen and consequent fixation on her kind of took over everything he did. And since I didn't like that element... I did love the shadow stuff, and enjoyed when he did the classic nosferatu walk with the hands reaching out, though it wasn't as often. His design was definitely creepy as well.

I liked the plague elements. I also liked the shadow of the vampire, and kind of wish there had been more emphasis put on that. I feel like in the OM, more horror was shown in his movements and his physicality partially just due to the medium. But it was also really iconic, especially the shadow, and I liked the instances when it was used to reflect his influence.

Not a fan of all the thrashing about (sexually and also just seizing/shaking) and drooling/vomiting/blood spilling from mouths. But those are more personal preference and again feel like more modern horror staples to various degrees. My biggest grief is the Orlock/Ellen stuff and how that infects other things around it.

BUT... if you like this sort of story, as I imagine many do, and if you are able to see it as its own thing enough not to get upset with the divergences (for example Orlock/Ellen, or Friedrich vs. Arthur) then I think a lot of people would enjoy this movie.

[la-alert]

What's Happening In LA?

04/30 – Spring Picnic & Game Night @ San Pedro West Harbor Port 05/01 – Movie On The Lawn 8PM @ Griffith Park *See movies below the cut 05/02 – R&Brew Party 9PM @ Verve Coffee Roasters 05/03 – Sins & Silk: A Midnight Affair 10PM @ Blue Flame Lounge LA 05/04 – Cinco De Mayo Bar Crawl 12PM - 12AM @ Santa Monica Pier 05/05 – Cinco De Mayo Bar Crawl 12PM - 12AM @ Venice Beach

Looking for something to get into in town? Enjoy these upcoming events in the city and be sure to tell a friend! Each of these locations can be found on Cliq. Please look under the cut for event details and specifics.

Spring Picnic & Game Night Games:

Jenga, Phase 10, Uno, Spades, etc. Bring your own Picnic materials!

R&B Brew Party Details:

R&B Music ONLY; alcoholic drinks will be served with a few special coffee liquor cocktails

Movie On The Lawn Film

Love Jones & Sinners (No spoilers on the dash, please!)

Sins & Silk: A Midnight Affair

$25 Advance | $40 Door

VIP Tables start at $250 (bottle and hookah included)

Dress Code: Silk, Leather, or Lace

A luxurious late-night experience where sultry meets sophistication. Think dimmed neon lights, velvet ropes, DJ spinning R&B, Southern Trap, and Afrobeats all night, specialty cocktails named after sins (Lust, Envy, Greed, etc.), and live pole performances that blur the line between art and temptation. Guests are encouraged to wear silk, satin, leather, or lace to match the moody, sensual theme. The vibe is intimate, electric, and deeply indulgent.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Dreadnought!" review

Novel from 1986, by Diane Carey. There have been other books before this one, that focus on original characters instead of the usual crew. But those characters tended to be either a "lady of the week" or a scientist, on the same level as Kirk and the others. For the first time, this story presents the viewpoint of the underdogs: a group of junior officers that look up in awe (and sometimes amused) at their superior officers from the Enterprise. And it's a refreshing change of perspective.

The protagonist, and first-person narrator, is Lieutenant Piper, just transferred to the Enterprise from the Academy. She gets accidentally involved in a plot to steal a new Starfleet super-ship, and avoid a coup d'état, and needs to hone her commanding skills against the clock. Her friends include Sarda, a Vulcan who's initially hostile to her due to a past grievance, Merete (a medical student) and Scanner (a technician, with a southern accent I think). Together, they form some kind of lesser-scale triumvirate, with Piper being clearly a younger, inexperienced version of Kirk; Sarda being an emotionally immature Spock; and Merete and Scanner forming together the McCoy (including Scanner bothering Sarda with his constant touching and emotionalism). They aren't carbon copies of the originals, though, and have their own dynamics and conflicts. Piper is a fun, relatable protagonist, and some of her remarks are pretty hilarious. I don't understand why so many reviews label her as a "Mary Sue". She isn't anything like that, and very often shows insecurity, or is a bit clumsy. It's just that she has good potential as a leader, the ability to improvise and follow her intuition in seemingly desperate situations, and a bit of luck on her part. That's just literally Kirk! Including her tendency to body slam on security guards.

Leaving aside the characters, the novel expands on some types of ships (the dreadnought and destroyers), that up to this point had only appeared in technical manuals, or as very brief mentions in the movies. It also presents a less-than-flattering view of Starfleet, at least in substantial sections of the top brass. And it's neat that the book includes an organigram of Starfleet and some drawings of scout ships. Another thing that was elaborated on are the Eugenic Wars from the 90's, here blamed on the ascent of communist dictatorships all over the world (after all, this novel was published before the fall of the Berlin Wall).

Overall, it's a fairly good book with likable characters, and the portrait of Kirk and co., as seen from outsiders' eyes, is actually more spot-on than that of many other novels. Besides, it includes one of the most exciting ship battles to ever grace the pages of these TOS books.

Some spoilers under the cut:

Lieutenant Piper impresses Kirk at the Academy, by almost beating the Kobayashi Maru test through some unorthodox tactics, and he request her to join the Enterprise crew. There she meets her new roomates: Merete, Scanner and Sarda. The latter is a Vulcan who's currently struggling to reach Kolinahr, and at first doesn't want to even talk with Piper. It seems that she made a serious blunder at the Academy, recommending Sarda for his proficiency at weapons. Even though she was well-intentioned, this fact ostracized Sarda from his Vulcan colleagues, that didn't approve of his interest in weapons due to their pacifistic philosophy.

The Enterprise is soon assigned a new mission: the new dreadnought Star Empire has been stolen by terrorists, and they have requested a rendezvous with Kirk's ship (the fact that Starfleet has been developing such weapon-heavy, offensive ships like a dreadnought, and that it's called "Star Empire", should already be a red flag). However, the specifics for the rendezvous have been encoded in such a way, that only Piper's biocode can decrypt them. Due to this reason, Piper is called to the bridge, in time to see Star Empire being surrounded by Klingon ships. Kirk orders her to take the helm, but Piper is terrified and can't respond accordingly, which makes her doubt her abilities for command. Star Empire takes a bad beating from the Klingons, and is seemingly crippled. But just then, the real dreadnought emerges from its hiding place behind some asteroids, and destroys the enemy ships. As it turns out, one of the new capabilities of the dreadnought is projecting fake copies of the ship to lure enemies. Now surrounded by copies of Star Empire, the Enterprise decodes the message using Piper's bio data. Her boyfriend Brian appears on the viewscreen, speaking on behalf of the rogue commander, Paul Burch. He assures Kirk that their mission is one of peace, and that they're not terrorists, and requests a party to come aboard Star Empire, including Piper and at least one Vulcan. Suspecting Piper to be on league with the hijackers, Kirk arrests her on her quarters... without much in the way of security (which makes Piper wonder if Kirk actually expected her to escape).

Using an easy trick that she learned from Brian, Piper escapes her confinement, and steals a fighter ship from the hangar. Sarda unexpectedly joins her, since he also wants to know what's going on in Star Empire. The Vulcan had designed the dreadnought's projector, but Admiral Rittenhouse, the mastermind behind the whole project, took all the credit. From this point onwards, Sarda will warm up to Piper little by little, as they come to understand each other. They escape the Enterprise in the fighter, but never reach Star Empire. Rittenhouse has arrived in the destroyer Pompeii, and captures their fighter in a tractor beam. Aboard Pompeii, the Admiral tries to convince the cadets that Burch has gone insane, and explains his plans for the future of the Federation. A future without wars, or Klingons, or Romulans, or any kind of dissension... And Piper starts realizing that Rittenhouse's plan is a road to hell paved in good intentions, and how the new dreadnought fits into all this. Left alone for a moment, Piper and Sarda investigate the computers, and find out a disturbing pattern, where all the key positions in Starfleet have been filled with Rittenhouse's minions during the past years. They try to warn Kirk about the conspiracy, but Rittenhouse discovers them and puts them in the brig.

Nonetheless, a brief power malfunction opens the brig's force field a while later. Piper and Sarda escape, in time to see Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty entering the briefing room of Pompeii, to discuss the situation with the Admiral. They hide in a secluded part of the ship, and use their communicators to signal their friends, still in the Enterprise. Merete and Scanner materialize next to them, and they get a link to the briefing room, to spy on the conversations. They see Kirk objecting to Rittenhouse's plan of killing the hijackers without even meeting with them first. And the Admiral arrests Kirk and his men, putting one of his pawn-captains in charge of the operation. Piper and her friends rush to the rescue, and use some wacky tactics to distract the guards (the bunny hop!?)... Just to find out that Kirk had already freed himself without their heroic assistance (of course, that's the value of experience). Kirk and his senior officers leave for the Enterprise on the transporter. But just when the juniors were about to follow them, the Pompeii transporters are deactivated. Then, the cadets have to make a last-ditch escape in a couple of fighters from the hangar.

Evading the Pompeii's weapons by staying close to the hull, Piper and the others reach at last Star Empire. There, they meet with Burch and Brian, who stole the dreadnought to stop Rittenhouse's totalitarian schemes, and are trying to man the starship with a skeleton crew. The last part comprises a pretty intense battle, with Star Empire and the Enterprise facing Rittenhouse's destroyer and his loyal ships. While the inexperienced crew aboard the dreadnought try to learn how to maneuver the mammoth ship, under such extreme conditions.

Spirk Meter: 3/10*. The relationship between Kirk and Spock doesn't escape Piper's observations. She notices that both of them share some kind of silent understanding, where a look to each other is enough to communicate their intentions. There's also a humorous bit, when Piper is surprised to learn that Spock is literally half-human. All this time, whenever she heard about Spock's "human half", she thought they were referring to Kirk himself!

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[rorykillmore]

if you have been as intrigued as i am by oz perkins' LONGLEGS (2024), here is a very preliminary shot by shot breakdown of its teaser trailer! will we discover anything profound? probably not, but there are some spoilers and speculation/potential spoilers under the cut, so if you want to go in completely blind, be mindful

maika monroe herself in our opening shot, standing in front of her crime board. which seems to mostly feature a cipher (one of what appears to be several that this movie and its marketing are using).

are we to assume that something Bad is happening in this car? probably.

next shot is cut as though this little girl is reacting to whatever is happening outside. i was squinting at whatever is on her desk because i have a feeling it may be important (for reasons mentioned later) but it is difficult to tell.

someone (maika monroe?) is doing research on what appears to be demonology or something related to it. titles of the books are 'a guide to the nine circles of hell' and 'the dark lord's hand' (both books were presumably created for the movie as they don't come up in any searches). beneath the books are notebooks in which she seems to be attempting to decode that cipher (maybe the killer is leaving our protagonist coded hints)

this opening of the book is intercut with a shot i did not include (to save space/because i had little to say about it individually) of the investigators opening a door to a dark room (murder scene?), which is a cool thematic thing. it also precedes...

also this shot is more heavily featured in this teaser with a cipher that when translated reads "hail satan" (check out the decoding work this person has done). well! if we had any doubt that these killings have some kind of religious motivation.

this is the 'guide to the nine circles of hell' book, but i can't make out the text with any clarity. to the right, perhaps another decoding effort is happening -- but i actually think this is maika trying to figure something out about the victims here. the order in which they're going to die, maybe? their locations/how they are chosen? there's a list of people's names beside a field of numbers, and she's drawing a line through some of the numbers.

starting to notice something odd with the aspect ratio - pay attention to how it swaps between standard widescreen and this more voyeuristic type of shot (you also saw this earlier, in the winter shots of the car and the girl), and we'll see if there seems to be any logic to that.

our first look at nic cage! is it scenes involving him/related to him specifically which are shot differently? maybe to induce said voyeuristic quality surrounding him and his kills? regardless: he's busy in his little workshop here. there's a nic cage interview floating around that seems to indicate that his character kills via creating cursed dolls or puppets which drive families insane in a sinister-esque fashion, which would check out here

something wicked is afoot in this hardware store (?) (i can't actually tell what is being sold here)

in presumably the same store, we see an unknown figure offer this girl some kind of small figurine (???). possibly nic cage planting one of his dolls (this is also why i was paying attention to the other girl's desk in the earlier shots, to see if she had anything similar). does he work here? (worth noting however that this is shot in the regular widescreen aspect ratio)

maika is finished with her triangle recreation.... but perhaps she is not alone

few interesting things to note here. 1) woman is getting hit in the back with an axe (in her own home, seemingly not expecting it, lending credence to the killer's MO). her murderer (husband? unsure) appears to be covered in blood. 2) she bears a resemblance to this woman, from a promotional poster and the setting looks as though it's the same one from this teaser. (cipher reads: "stood upon the sand of the sea", referring to a quote from the book of revelation describing a HYDRA, hmm)

3) a change of aspect ratio again, which immediately intercuts with....

maika flinching backwards as though bearing witness to this. could be just some misleading trailer editing, but the implication here is that she is 'seeing' these murders take place somehow. actually, maybe THAT explains the change of aspect ratio? it happens when we're seeing her "visions"?

gonna cover these quicker shots a few at a time: a shadow stumbling/dragging itself through a house as though wounded (not sure if it's the axe-in-the-back woman, because the house looks a little more modern, plus - different aspect ratio), an eerie figure in the woods (feels strangely out of place), another shot of nic cage in his workshop(?) (again with the aspect ratio switch - so if we follow the theory that these are maika monroe's visions, she definitely has some kind of direct connection TO him and not just a voyeuristic connection to his victims).

a person (i initially thought a woman, but that could actually very well be nic cage with his long, scraggly hair) slamming their head into a desk. the shot has interrogation room vibes (to me) but is too bare bones to make out for sure. maika is either... watching/interviewing (that's a camera beside her?) or this is another intercut reaction shot implying their connection.

(i didn't capture it but these shots are also intercut with images of red, gurgling blood, which seems a bit more deliberate than just an edgy choice - if there is a ritualistic element to these murders, perhaps it has something to do with blood)

i think this is nic cage again, but why is he upside down? interesting. unless i AM wrong, they actually show him a lot more in this trailer than initially assumed.

we're in maika-vision (calling it that until further notice) here again, this time to look at some kind of demonic entity (the same one we saw in that earlier shot of the woods?). this calls into question the objectivity of this voyeurism-whatever-it-is, although... obviously this film does have very clear supernatural elements, so hell, maybe nic cage IS being instructed by a demon.

another very clear intercut between maika and nic cage. is that nic cage?! it REALLY does not look like him from this profile angle, but it is possible that they've done some prosthetic work on his face (which they have been very careful not to show in full quite yet - nor do i think they should, since he is such a well known guy. you don't want your audience getting comfortable with him in this role before they actually see him.)

but i digress: another moment where the editing is implying an important connection or parallel (maika seems to be losing it a little - which i would too if i could no longer separate my identity from a killer's and/or their victims)

going forward i would pay attention to how promotional material for this movie is edited In General because they are using it as a very deliberate communicative tool at least in this teaser!

another couple of notable shots. in the first one, a woman (a nun? she seems to be wearing a habit, similar to another woman we will see later) fires a rifle into what seems to be an already blood-splattered car. then (which i didn't include) we see Maika With A Gun (hi maika), and what appears to be a car chase.

in maika-vision again, a man who has seemingly just got done slaughtering all of his cows. probably safe to call an animal harm content warning for this one, pals

ah! that WAS nic cage in the car paralleled to maika -- look at how he's dressed here. yet again they are deliberately hiding his face (also note the background - it would seem that yes, he is working at some kind of paint/hardware store).

two more maika vision shots. the first is the woman we see featured in this poster. the second is a small child who is closing a door to avoid watching whatever they're looking at. neither is having a good day!

there is a targeted amount of religious violence here, which makes sense if our killer is demonically motivated

and last but not least, nic cage murdering a guy (gender neutral) (interesting though because i hadn't assumed him to be the hands-on type given his rather indirect MO).

anyway: that's the longlegs trailer! the most telling takeaway here, in my opinion, is: how much it does actually focus on this sort of duality between maika monroe and nicolas cage and some apparent connection between them. my instinct is that that's going to be the meat of the story (although there is clearly a deeper mythology to explore too -- the cipher, the demon, the nature of the kilings).

one more thing to note: this movie seems to take place over the span of several decades. the teaser posters/captions released by neon are dated by year and reflect as much, and if you're looking for it you can see the aesthetics shift around a bit in the trailer as well.

send me your theories/observations! eager to see if anyone puts some pieces together that i might have missed.

[clownakai]

Bleh. Pinned post time 💥

Hi! I'm Atlas and this is where I'm very neurotypical about DetCo :)

Here's a helpful guide to the things I will probably talk about the most:

☆ My favorite clown in the whole wide world (Akai Shuuichi/Okiya Subaru)

☆ The Akai siblings in general

☆ Movie 24 <- guy who is extremely neurotypical about this thing

☆ The "Shuuichi and Conan as absolutely unhinged unofficial father and son" agenda

☆ The "Shuuichi and Jodie as the best friends they deserved to be" agenda

☆ Whiskey Trio Era 💥💥💥

☆ Whiskey Trio (OT3 edition), Scotchrye, Akam

☆ my WIPs

More info & tags under the cut :)

Character tags!

☆ #! [character name] -> I can and will assign random posts to characters. This is how I keep track of them

☆ #subaruposting, #shuuichiposting -> I get gender envy sometimes okay. Leave me alone (explodes)

Miscellaneous tags!

☆ #yapping time -> welcome to Atlas Reading Too Much Into Irrelevant And/Or Largely Inconsequential Things (may or may not be backed by actual manga/anime screenshots) ^_^^

☆ #brainworms time -> writing tag!

☆ #my sandbox now -> general headcanons tag!

☆ #m24 my beloved -> I'm normal about this movie I promise

☆ #atlas.exe -> general yapping/memes/shitposts/you name it

☆ #detco rewatch, #detco reread -> what it says on the tin

☆ #detco text posts -> meme format specific tag (I like scrolling through these :3)

☆ #detco spoilers -> recent manga chapters tag!! Beware!!

List of WIP/AU tags!

☆ #genderfuckery AU: none of the Akai siblings are cis 💚 unfortunately for everyone they have to figure that out first. Specifics are as follows:

#genderfuckery: the slut shirt fic -> Akai Shuuichi

TBD -> Haneda Shuukichi

TBD -> Sera Masumi

☆ #almost people AU: general vaguely eldritch fuckery re: various characters. Specifics are as follows:

#almost people: soliloquist -> Akai Shuuichi

TBD -> Miyano Shiho

TBD -> Vermouth

TBD -> Edogawa Conan

#almost people: golden -> Hagiwara Chihaya

☆ #amnesiac akai AU: what it says on the tin 💚 things go wrong at Raiha Pass, and Shuuichi ends up actually scarred and amnesiac, disappearing from everyone's radar— including the good guys'. He's fine though, just living his best life out there. Camel suffers as a direct consequence of this. Also, Shuuichi and Subaru are separate people here, and this may or may not be a slight crossover with something else (purely for comedic potential). No real plot tbh, but I do find it funny to build upon it from time to time

☆ #Pokémon AU: also what it says on the tin 💚 originally started as me assigning teams to detco characters and immediately devolved into whiskey trio angst + general clownery. Mostly a silly little AU I occasionally write snippets for

Dynamic-specific tags!

☆ #unofficial father and son -> anything Shuuichi & Conan adjacent

☆ #the fucking akai family -> exactly what it says on the tin

☆ #we could have had it all -> Shuuichi & Jodie agenda save me

☆ #nagano gang -> exactly what it says on the tin

☆ #OTP: they keep me sane -> Yumi/Shuukichi tag

☆ #OTP: divorce of the century -> Rei/Shuuichi tag

☆ #OTP: they make me sick -> Scotch/Rye tag

☆ #OTP: literally married -> Hiro/Rei tag

☆ #OTP: insane soulmateism -> Heishin tag

‼️ Disclaimer: I use OTP very loosely here— more for tag format convenience than anything. Shipping is less important to me than you'd think.

💥 This post may be subject to future changes! 💥

[shiggy-my-babygirl]

Shiggy Simps Alliance discord server

Hey everyone! I'm making a discord server for shigaraki Simps and I'm looking for mods who are willing to help!

Server info under the cut:

Server info:

Server is SFW and discussion of NSFW and Comship/proship isn't allowed as there will be minors there and it can potentially trigger people as well as being problematic, so just keep it SFW and no proship/commshippers pls (or at least no talking about it in the server, pls respect boundaries 💗) this also includes in VCs

I am the owner and mainly operate during the hours of 3pm-12am GBMT so I would be rlly grateful if anyone who is online outside of those hours is willing to step up to help moderate, it would help a lot!

No vent channel, and no venting allowed in the public chats and VCs as it's not rlly something I like to have in my servers because it's hard to mod in terms of what needs to be spoilered and potential triggers for people.

Thinking of doing mha 'movie nights' where I'll put on a few episodes of mha and maybe one of the movies occasionally and we can sit and watch them together if enough people are interested :)

There will be a channel for promoting your writing, art and any other forms of media that you would like to share, as well as a channel for sharing others art that you like, all that we ask is that you credit the og artist when posting it

Of course, there will be channels specifically for simping for our boy, shiggy, as well as ones for sharing shiggy related media.

There will be a manga spoilers channel and and anime spoilers channel, all I ask is that you specify what chapter/episode you are referencing and that it is spoilered.

Please ask any questions in the comments :)

[notquitedeadpod]

What do you think about interview with the vampire (both the books and series)?

As briefly mentioned in my audio essay Based Vampirification, I got pretty into the movie when I was a teen, and then read a couple of the books.

I'm going to waffle for a bit about this, so I'll put it under the cut. CW discussions of blood, sex, and rock and roll. No really.

Spoilers for: IwtV, Queen of the Damned

TL;DR: dead blood is stupid; let gay vampires fuck; i want to put Lestat under a microscope

Please note in addition that the following is all just my opinion and should not be taken as anything but such.

There are some interesting limitations on the vampires in that series, and some things I find frustrating about their mechanics. What is, for example, 'dead blood'? This is a nonsensical concept. It does feel vaguely folkloric to me, and I think primarily is there to explain why vampires don't simply drink the blood of the recently deceased. It irritates me. They lean towards being more magical beings and that's okay, but the introduction of such a mechanism as 'dead blood' troubles that and implies-- it just annoys me. We'll be here all week if I go on.

I also find it frustrating that they can't fuck. There's a lot of discomfort about the idea of two men having sex, and the mechanical changes which happen when an Anne Rice vampire turns canonically (in the books) mean he can't get it up in most instances. Whilst I don't think sex between two cis queer men begins and ends with dicks, discomfort about this precise thing is rife, so I find it annoying that these are men who are unable to connect in this way not through choice, and with biting and drinking each others blood - acts of violence and exploitation - serving as a substitution. This stands in sharp contrast to Lestat's escapades with Vampire God Queen Akasha, where he goes out of his way to specifically note that sometimes male vampires CAN get it up.

This is all troubling to me for what it infers about how the text views mlm vs wlm romantic and sexual connections. It should also be made clear that whilst the recent TV adaptation shows Louis and Lestat as explicitly queer in text, in the OG IwtV, this was not overt and space was left for doubt as to the real nature of their relationship. This is partly because of when the novel was written, but it also strikes me as pretty cowardly.

I've enjoyed what I have seen of the recent TV adaptation. I'm interested in how it's exploring the toxic back and forth between Lestat and Louis, and how it makes explicit a lot of things which were left implicit in the book and in prior adaptations. I really like that they've taken the choice to make Louis black, too. Textually this is really fascinating for his character. I think he's extraordinarily well cast as Louis and is now the default Louis I picture in my head. Plus I'm always thrilled when an adaptation takes the initiative to include more people of colour in major roles.

I find Lestat as a character MOST intriguing. He's unpleasant, abusive, and entitled. He goes on to become a rock star and attempts to out vampires to the human world and I'm fucking obsessed with that as a concept, have been for years. He's a horrible little man, and I love that for him. So does he, tbf. He's properly vile. I really enjoy it, not because I think his actions are good but because I enjoy watching him be horribly wrong. It's fun for me.

Anyway there are my fairly comprehensive thoughts on Anne Rice's vampires as far as I know them.

Hope this was illuminating!!

--- Eira xxx

[kylejsugarman]

FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES WAS GREAT, it was exactly what i wanted and just a wonderful reintroduction to that wacky ass world. spoilers under the cut but i loved it

the opening disaster blows all of the other openings out of the water. obviously the fear factor will vary for u if heights are one of ur fears and if one of the other openings preys on a specific phobia (i used to be terrified of upside-down roller coasters and still get a little uneasy with them), but the build-up was wonderfully tense and full of those awesome cheesy fd music cues and the pay-off was amazing. i know its easy to say this one was "the best" because it was the longest opening so far with the most victims and the most sophisticated special effects, but i really think it was the peak of this particular genre of scene.

i could practically hear jay bauman laughing when the asshole little kid got crushed by the piano. first child death in a fd movie btw!! (even if it didn't "actually happen")

i predicted that the little kid that iris saved in her premonition was young tony todd/jb was tony todd, but it wasn't a huge deal or anything. those weren't supposed to be movie-changing twists

speaking of tony todd, he definitely looked very ill in this movie :( but he still gave an incredible performance. not as playfully morbid as the character usually is, but i really appreciated his line about being done helping people. he always has to play that part and it never works out, so of course he would be done. his last lines were surprisingly sincere and it was a very nice note to go out on for both the character and tony :(

speaking of, there absolutely 1000% would have been a mid/end credits scene of william bloodsworth dying had tony todd not died. i still waited until the credits were done just in case, but the scene never came because it would obviously be in pretty poor taste if there was a humorous stinger of tony dying in some crazy way when this is his last film

the effects were fine, but i feel like some of the cgi was a little squishy and boneless. almost to the point where it felt like there was less actual on-screen gore than usual?? i dont know all of the details on the production yet since the film just dropped, but i would bet there weren't many practical effects for the gore. it just didn't land with the squeamishness factor it usually does

(although props to the degloving of iris's ring finger at the end of her premonition. that looked pretty real and was a super nasty little touch)

the eric twist was a good one considering his entire "death" scene was one of the film's first trailers. i had a feeling it would be some kind of fake-out since soooo much of the scene was in that trailer, but it was cool to get the reveal that eric wasn't howard's biological son only after julia got killed. it felt like a genuine shock, which was very needed

the ending felt super rushed and unresolved. i appreciate the homage to the log truck (of which there were two), but the whole train derailment felt way too big and way too serious. the same "twist" happens at the end of nearly all of the movies and it's usually a pretty quick, snappy resolution (3 not included) that specifically nabs the remaining victims and has some weird sense of humor to it. the ending was surprisingly humorless and just didn't fit the tone of the rest of the movie.

the emotional core of the film is also whatever. i dont expect much from these films and it was nice to have the victims be a part of a family and actually care about one another, but there was no real punch to anyone's deaths. the absent mother thing was also just a non-starter.

stef was a pretty boring character, but her actress was very good and i think she had a lot of great chemistry with the actor playing charlie. their sibling relationship wasn't especially compelling or anything, but it was very sweet and i really liked the both of them

there weren't nearly as many references to the past films as i was expecting. the fd films have always been very generous with referencing their predecessors, so i would've been okay with more references. we get the two nods to the log truck scene, the phrase "clear rivers", tony todd mentions kimberly from 2 to give the example of flatlining and then coming back to life to skip death, a few tiny nods in iris's death book. there may be more that i'll spot on a rewatch, but just very few overall.

best death is probably eric + bobby's. the whole lead up to howard's death is great, on par with the gymnastics scene in 5, but his actual death isn't quite as gory or satisfying as candace's so i'd put it below eric and bobby (even though an mri. u know. obviously doesn't do that). the set up to julia's is kind of goofy, but the visual of her face getting crushed was pretty effective. same with iris: her jaw unhinging looked pretty good. stef, charlie, and their mom all got the same death and it was not exciting, memorable, or good looking.

overall, im just super relieved that they didn't riff too much on the fd formula or get too smarmy and self-aware. there was some riffing, but it was the same amount u get in the other films: the characters ALWAYS point out the absurdity of death's formula. there was no scream 5/halloween remake shit, no cutesy fourth wall breaking, no eye-rolling over tropes. it was like "saw x" in that regard. a fun return to formula that wasn't ashamed of being another franchise entry. "saw x" was really good, definitely one of if not the best saw movie, and fd was definitely enjoyable, but not the best of the best. still, i had an awesome time :)