#tom's expressions in this scene were hilarious

[bloodstainsontengensfloor]

Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Movie: first response

⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

Okay so! There’s QUITE a few changes from the books. The funerals, which I read the book I always found so unsettling, were cut. Honestly, I was worried if I’d be able to stomach watching it on screen so honestly, those being excluded was a bit of a blessing. But, it’s not really clear if Didi and Apollo died in the attack on the Arena or not. The only confirmed mentor death is Felix, who has been upgraded from the president’s nephew to the president’s son!

The biggest change though, which after listening to the recording from the soundtrack I enjoy a lot, is how Lucy Gray wins her games. Rather than the snakes being released mid way through her games, the snakes are what ends her game. Dr.Gaul spirals, claiming that there doesn’t need to be a Victor and the districts MUST pay, especially because now the president’s son is dead because of these ‘rebels’. Lucy Gray poisons one of the tributes from Coral’s alliance, who’s name escapes me at the moment. I think it’s the one she’s kills with the snake. Lucy Gray’s (Rachel Zegler’s) performance in this scene is so powerful. It’s amazing. The way it’s reframed that she’s singing as the snakes shroud her and she’s the only one alive in the arena, is just chilling. Dr.Gaul refusing to end the games and Snow pleading for her to let Lucy Gray go, with the students chanting “Let her go. Let her go.” I’ve been a Rachel fan since the start. Since I was 12, I’ve been subscribed to her YouTube channel, and seeing the movie and her in it is so… AHHHH. This scene was just so powerful and I honestly still am not over it and can’t wait to see it again on my second viewing.

Reaper’s death also changed with this! He is killed with the snakes along with Coral and I believe two other tributes. Clemmie, sadly, is gone from the movie after the incident with the snakes. She also takes a much more like… not antagonistic per day, but cocky role. Reaper’s death was… it was good. His reaction to Wovey’a death being what triggers him creating the grave for the other tributes is amazing, and the performance of that grief and anger was so good.

The movie portrays the mercy of the games so well. Lucky Flickerman is HILARIOUS as a host which is so disturbing. “The odds are not likely but may they be in your favor” is what he says to Lucy Gray after her interview. His quips are funny and quick, and honestly a highlight of the movie. Only to be reminded of the dying children of course. It’s very Ceaser Flickerman and it’s amazing. After Lamina kills Marcus, Lucky even says “was it mercy or murder?”. It’s such a sharp contrast to Lamina and Marcus’ interaction. She gently reaches for his head, and he turns, face clenched with pain and sorrow, saying “please.” You can see how gentle Lamina is as she kills him, the music too really adds onto the tragedy of it. How Lamina, who is seen as weak and a cry baby for most of her screen time, offers such mercy. Lamina’s actress says nothing, but her performance is so beautiful.

The movie highlights on Lucy Gray’s grief and guilt too. When her and Snow reunite, she talks about how they are BOTH killers. She expresses such grief at how Dill (‘ill Dill’ and ‘Tuberculosis on legs’ WERE WILD ON LUCKY’s part) was the one who found the poison and the audience gets to see a lot of her live reactions to the game’s events.

THE LAST SONG OF LUCY GRAY

The way Rachel and Tom play the scene in the cabin is WILD. The movie’s tone SHIFTS so much the second Snow finds the guns. It becomes like a horror movie as Lucy Gray asks what is it and snow turns to her pointing the gun slightly at her, finger almost on the trigger ready to pull. Rachel’s performance of Lucy Gray in this scene is something I’ll be talking about for days. She’s a bit of a schemer, she is suspicious, and she knows what will come next. She tests the waters with him and when she says that besides the guns, she’ll be his only loose end, I can’t tell if Lucy Gray does it to taunt or test him.

SNOW. “Lucy gray. are you… are you trying to kill me? AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU?” Something about the way Snow says this… it takes you out of context of the story because this is something that happens often in toxic relationships. It’s so real and raw, and honestly a little too close to reality than we would like. I personally see it as an effort on the writer’s part to make sure the audience doesn’t side with snow at the end. As we know, the Yassification of characters and if a bad person is attractive it’s okay yada yada IS such a discourse. Tom Blyth as Snow has been seeing a lot of this too. But this part? This part makes it a bit more real, which is greatly appreciated.

Everything about the last scene with Snowbaird was fantastic. The two people I went with said that they were honestly confused on who betrayed who. And who stopped trusting who first. And that’s what makes it so fun AHHH.

I have so many thoughts but not enough people to talk about it with, so word vomit on tumblr lol. I’ll prob have even more to say after round two! (My friend got to meet the cast today and I’m so jealous that I wasn’t able to go)

[yeah-w-r-i-t-e]

okay @real-hawkguy was kind enough to provide me a way to watch minority report (thank you again!!!) so here were my thoughts throughout the movie

put it below a break cause i had. a lot of thoughts

aw man i feel sorry for this guy who's about to murder his wife

oh my god what the fuck this man has no eyes in his holes

NO NOT HIS SON I FUCKING LOVE DEPRESSED DADS

this man in the wheelchair sounds like the polar express conductor

this thing with quite literal targeted ads saying your full name as you wall by is a literal nightmare 💀 if the walls kept calling out my legal name every time i walked by i'd never go outside

ummm that scene where john goes through a conveyor belt car factory seems awfully similar to that scene in star wars: attack of the clones...fun fact minority report came out almost exactly a month after attack of the clones...i'm not saying there's a connection but what the fuck

also everyone gathered at the window thinking john was squished into a car as it was being built and then john slowly rising up to look them in the eye is infinitely hilarious why'd he do that

why does tom cruise always have so much sexual tension with old women wtf??? this lady kissed him for NO REASON

NO IS HE GONNA GET HIS EYES SUCKED OUT??? I'VE HAD SO MANY NIGHTMARES ABOUT THIS EXACT SCENARIO

john saying he wants to keep his eyes "because my mother gave them to me" i'm going to strangle him with my bare hands

why the FUCK did they leave a MOLDY SANDWICH in the FRIDGE what the FUCK

MOLDY FUCKING MILK I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF

why are the cops using the mechanical spiders from despicable me...

oh no not his beautiful face...i'm watching this movie for tom not thomas!!!

HIS EYEBALLS ARE ROLLING AWAY

it's a fucking BILLBOARD lmao love that

umm the murder is 12 minutes away but i've still got 45 minutes of movie left...suspicious

i swear i've seen this hotel clerk before. he reminds me of bugs. if anyone knows why this guy reminds me of bugs please tell me

ok i love how we can see visible redness around john's eyes

"I am going to kill this man" with that FACE AAAHHHHHH I LOVE IT

oh my god i THOUGHT i saw the twist coming but then the twist had ANOTHER TWIST

NO THE SECOND TWIST HAD A THIRD TWIST FUCK

ohhh but i should have seen it coming. cause he didn't have a minority report. damn you good movie for making me forget that D:<

NO JUST AS I WAS STARTING TO LIKE THE GUY!!!

tom cruise in muscle tank...

okay i feel like john's line about not recognizing his son at this age is gonna become relevant at some point. but i could just be hoping for too much [edit: i was hoping for too much]

why are the chitauri attacking lara's house lmao

NO DON'T KISS THE UNCONSCIOUS WOMAN STOP okay he didn't kiss her that was close

HE'S BALD?????????????????????????????????????????????????

YES I LOVE LARA

the red ball with VICTIM JOHN ANDERTON YESSSS

stopppp i forgot he's bald:/

okay but why'd he kill himself. what was the point. did he just not want to go to prison??? he would've been let out anyways

OH MY GOD THEY'RE GONNA HAVE ANOTHER KID

aww and agatha gets a cute bisexual bob

[denial-permanente]

Does Tom get envious of other men who are still allowed to masturbate and be inside their wives? Is it hard for him to watch sex scenes or hear other men boast about sex?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hahaha, oh man that's hilarious! Thank you for a much needed laugh! 😂

We are at an age in which a lot of our friends are finding their own sex lives tapering off from age, health, hormonal changes, etc. But @mrs--edge and I are still managing to have mind-blowingly awesome sex about once a week. The type of sex that leaves her drained for a couple of days and then looking forward to the weekend again. The type of sex where I'm thinking about it for days afterward. Sex that about once a month or so, when we're finished I tell her "That was probably the best sex I've ever had in my life!"

Envious? 😂

I am living a fantasy. When we make love, I get to watch, and hear, and feel my wife have half a dozen (or twice that!) orgasms. I get to feel her nails on my back, watch the expression on her face, listen to her little sounds... it's like being in our own porn video, but ten times better!

Being locked and wearing a cock has not slowed me down in the least. I match my own arousal to hers, I feel insanely horny, I have a deep desire to orgasm; but I have learned to take her pleasure as my own. When my wife is finally done, my own arousal lessens to match hers, and I find myself still horny but also intensely satisfied.

So, no. I'm not the least bit envious for the increasingly rare occasions that I hear my younger friends talk about their sexual experiences. My own days before Mrs Edge and I got together were, umm, filled with a sufficient variety of experiences 😉. I don't care about masturbation; it has been almost fifteen years since she told me she wanted control over that, and I learned to eroticize the self denial in times when I was not locked.

And as I said, our sex life is now insanely hot, and deeply intimate. It's not for everyone, but there's no question that the organ that makes sex so amazing is the one between ones ears. The more we do this, the better it gets. 🔥

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 12)

Well, I can already tell that this is going to be a SUPER episode! (Also, @venus-is-thinking is finally caught up and is joining me this week, so make sure to check her rankings out too if you enjoy mine!)

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings ( 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11), the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Tom's Elimination

Current Score: 49 acquired/73 total

HOW THE FUCK DID YUL NOT GO HOME?????

Anyways.

The fans have been rooting for a Tom/Jake/Aiden elimination for a while now, and I think it will be beneficial for the show moving forward to not have all three of them in the heroes' cast. I'd still probably call myself a Tom fan overall, but... goddamn did this guy make it hard to like him sometimes. Between the three of them, I think I baseline like Aiden the most, and I think Jake has the most potential, so I'm glad it was Tom of the three of them. I also got a whopping 8 points from him, so haha >:D

(I was SO worried about my score if Gabby had gone home... I still don't really understand why they targeted her in the first place, but, no matter.)

It's really weird to finally have more S2 characters than S1 characters given how the season started, though. I guess these guys are finally getting their time in the spotlight.

Trailer Analysis

IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER THEMED EPISODE!!!

Therapy from Nina? This will be interesting...

Alec will get #whitegirlwasted at his reward. I know he's neither white nor a girl, but it's the vibes that count.

THE INTERVIEW ROOM??? Is Emily back?! :D

Quirk analysis time! I very much assume that this will be in the same simulation program that presented the zombie apocalypse challenge in S1, although this time, it seems participants will be aware of it ahead of time. Yul appears to have lightning powers, and possibly the ability to teleport, although that's very likely just him spawning into the program for the first time.

Riya's repping the fire nation.

Aiden has super speed and a great expression. The fact that this is his power is part of what makes me thinks Yul won't be able to teleport.

We "don't see any scenes of Connor using his powers"* (I'll come back to this later), but we do have a suit design for him. The gray color and geometric shapes make me think he could have some sort of earthbending-like ability?

Grett appears to be the water to Riya's fire. Do all of the former Yellow team members have elemental abilities? That could fit if Connor is earth, and Alec is air.

Gabby can turn into an eagle at least, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just animal shapeshifting in general. Very fitting ability for her.

Another fitting power, because Jake is really fruity--

(I really hope he can only manipulate bananas instead of having telekinesis in general.)

Ally has stretchy powers, representing how she's carrying all of the other characters on her back. (/j) I would say that this scene is an argument against Connor being able to move rocks, though, because then it seems like he would have made a bridge.

These could be random creatures on the island, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or both were actually Gabby.

Beyond being hilarious, this is where we come back to that asterisk from earlier! I think this scene could be evidence of Connor having super strength as his power. That seems fitting with his character.

"And you never will...!"

Riya's definitely showing off her fire abilities here. My guess is that this could be in response to Connor trying to "get under her skin" (AKA genuinely help her) again. Riya would see that as a threat to her game, or possibly just to her winning immunity this episode.

Another really weird thing to note is that we don't see Alec's superpower in this trailer at all? The team seems pretty cavalier about showing off what everyone's abilities were, so I doubt they're concealing it for spoilers' sake. Here are a couple of my theories on that:

Alec gets so intoxicated before the challenge that he can't compete/gets eliminated instantly.

Alec is actually the dinosaur/kaiju that I mentioned earlier could be Gabby. However, I don't know if they would really want to make two different competitors' abilities "going beast mode."

Alec's power is invisibility. He could even be whatever Riya hears in the bushes and starts to throw a fireball at in that one scene. I think I like this theory the most, because invisibility matches Alec's cunning well.

Power Ranking

#1: Grett

I don't think I need to repeat my same argument again. Who is targeting Grett? There are far more problematic villains to target, from both the heroes' perspective and the villains'. We also know from last episode that, when Ally, Aiden, Connor, and Jake (and Tom) had the choice to vote for Gabby, Grett, or Yul, they chose to vote for Gabby. That makes me think that Grett is in less danger than Gabby at least.

Then there's all the stuff about Grett's character arc and how it would feel weird to eliminate her before Yul at this point... But, hey, didn't I say that I wasn't going to waste my time repeating myself? I would be incredibly surprised if Grett were ousted this episode.

#2: Ally

I have to admit, Ally's placement here is mostly a meta read as opposed to actual character dynamic analysis. Simply put, she's (currently) the only female hero left in the game. If Ally were eliminated now, it would leave Aiden, Connor, and Jake as the only heroes, which would just feel... weird. She also hasn't done a lot in the last couple of episodes, which would make the villains targeting her feel pretty random.

There's also that fake alliance that Riya attempted to set up with Ally last episode. Despite me arguing that Riya should actually be trying to set up Alec-less endgame options, it seems that Riya isn't actually intending on working with Ally at all at this point. Still, if Riya at least intends on keeping up the illusion of forming a women's alliance with Ally, she probably wouldn't be the one pitching Ally's name to an otherwise seemingly disinterested group.

There is still the argument that Ally doesn't seem to have a lot going on right now, so you could say that having her unfruitfully taking up space as an actual competitor would be worse than suffering one episode of a mediocre elimination. However, it seems like Ally and Connor will be spending a lot of time together in this episode, so I'm hopeful that the writers will capitalize off of the brief bond that Ally and Connor formed in S2 to create a new relationship for her to bounce off of in upcoming episodes. Well... assuming that both of them make it through this elimination, anyways.

#3: Jake

I can't really tell if Tom getting axed makes it more or less likely that Jake would be going home soon. On one hand, now that the TomJake plot is "over," Jake theoretically has fewer plotlines to justify his continued inclusion in the story. He made enough progress in his character arc of becoming a better, less paranoid person that he could exit the competition on a good note at this point. The writers may also want Tom and Jake to both be eliminated at the time of the fabled Loser's Motel episode so that we can wrap up their story with a heart-to-heart conversation.

However, with Tom gone, Jake also gains more opportunities to explore plotlines on his own, like his growing friendship(?) with Aiden. He has made progress in his character arc, but there's still a ways to go if his former backpedaling foreshadows anything. And, well... even if that Loser's Motel thing is true, they might want to eliminate Jake closer to when it would actually happen, so that they don't have to explain why Tom and Jake wouldn't have talked to each other for the entire time period before the episode takes place. (Venus theorized that the Motel episode will take place pretty close to the end of the season so that they can have as many characters in it as possible. That made sense to me, so I'm sticking with it.)

At the end of the day, Jake winds up pretty high because I overall think it's more likely that a villain will go home than a hero, and I think that the villains have two heroes that they're more likely to target than Jake. The votes simply don't seem to be there, in my opinion. Also, he still gives me some winner vibes, no matter how bananas that may sound to some.

#4: Aiden

Yeah, I know. I talk some big talk about there being two heroes that the villains are more likely to target than Jake, and then I put one of them directly below him. But, look, one point in ranking differences is a huge gulf at this point! And I do think that the villains are more likely to target Aiden than Jake, I'm just not convinced that it would actually go through.

Aiden still has a lot of enemies in the villains alliance. Even if Gabby confirmed last episode that she doesn't really have it out for Tom or Aiden anymore, Riya and Yul still dislike him. If there's some reason why they aren't allowed to target Connor this episode-- such as, if Connor wins immunity-- I imagine Aiden would be their most likely backup plan. And, if the heroes can't manage to do anything to split the villains up at this point, they have the majority, and Aiden is gone.

That possibility relies on a lot of contingents, though, and is overall pretty unlikely. Still, it's not like I would be stunned if it happened. I don't really think that Aiden is going to be a finalist again, so, if that's true, he's gotta go home at some point or another. It could be now! However, there are more compelling reasons for me to think that others might be eliminated, so I'm sticking Aiden here.

#5: Gabby

Trust me, I want to put Gabby higher. But, after last week's scare, I'm afraid that I have the wrong read on the group's dynamics. Clearly, the heroes thought there was something to worry about with Gabby, and she got a whopping five votes last episode. Being that close to elimination can't bode well for her odds in this round.

However, now that the heroes are down in numbers, it seems like it'd be a lot more difficult for them to actually manage to eliminate Gabby. This is because, now, they'd have to convince one of the villains to vote for Gabby with them. I can't imagine that Alec or Riya would be down for that for strategy reasons, and, despite Grett's complaints, I do think that she would struggle to vote Gabby out after all Gabby has tried to do to help her.

Really, their only option is Yul, but I do think that's possible. If Yul hears wind from Riya that Gabby wanted to flip on the alliance and vote him out, he could panic and decide to work with the heroes to vote out the biggest threat to his game. If that did happen, it could be the final nail in the coffin for Grett, who could work with the (still) four remaining heroes to eliminate Yul next time. You know. Because Yul's elimination seems to be a next time issue.

However, that fringe scenario would require the heroes to actually choose to work with Yul to vote out Gabby instead of working with Gabby to vote out Yul. Even if Gabby wouldn't have heard of that plan on her own, the heroes could always pitch that vote back to her, and she would presumably agree. That would be good for their games, because a vote would further cement Gabby with their alliance moving forward.

Wait, I'm not supposed to be writing about why Yul would go home! This is about Gabby being eliminated! I do definitely think it's possible. But, there are flaws with the premise as well. Thus, she winds up in the middle. That's what happens when half of me wants to put her higher, and half lower.

#6: Connor

I mean, what am I supposed to do in the face of the villains alliance directly saying last episode that Connor would be in trouble as soon as he didn't have immunity? Assuming that he doesn't win immunity again this episode, I find it incredibly likely that the villains' plan will be to throw all five of their votes on Connor. And, if everything goes according to plan, he would be eliminated. But... will it go to plan?

Yes, Connor has had one episode back in the game at this point to do things. And, do things he did! His motivational speech got all of the heroes to finally put their personal agendas aside and work as a team. Even if they lost the tiebreaker competition, that was a big step. Connor had an impact. He could be voted out.

Except, having your returning competitor be back for two episodes, only surviving the one because the host gave him immunity, is still pretty lame. It feels like we're on the precipice of a villains loss, which would be the perfect excuse timing for keeping Connor in the game for a little bit longer, even without immunity.

My internal feelings say that Connor wouldn't be voted out so soon, but, I've certainly been wrong before, so I'm trying not to rely too hard on gut instinct. Unless he has immunity, there probably will be votes headed his way. It's just a question of whether there'll be enough of them to knock Connor down.

#7: Alec

Alec... I really don't know. He's such a threat. He has too much power! People have to be coming for him at some point. He wouldn't win immunity again now... could he? What is this man doing?!

I can't help but feel like we're reaching the point where Alec's game takes a turn for the worse. The fact that he seemingly gets drunk at the reward bodes poorly for him, in my opinion. He's in control, and he's getting sloppy. He could even make a mistake directly as a result of him being drunk/hungover, like accidentally revealing too much of his true opinions. Opinions about what? Not liking Yul? Actually liking Riya? I can't say, but it could stir up trouble with the villains for the future.

Still, even if Alec will be in trouble soon, would it really result in his elimination now? Well, maybe. I maintain that if the heroes could eliminate anyone of their choosing, they should pick Alec. The issue is, he does seem pretty well insulated within the villains alliance, so getting Grett, Gabby, Yul, or Riya to flip on him could be tricky. Honestly, despite all my praise for their friendship, I feel like Riya could be the best choice. After all, she would be the most likely to realize the true threat that he poses.

Here's a classic Accirax Crack Theory: Maybe Alec does have the power of invisibility in this episode, but, not being able to see him, the other competitors assume that he was too hungover to compete, or that someone else eliminated him without their noticing. At the end of the challenge, someone will believe that they've won, only for Alec to sneak attack them and steal immunity from right under their nose. While he celebrates his third straight victory, Riya will have a sobering moment realizing Alec's ability to sneak, deceive, and win challenges. It plants the seed in her mind that she needs to get Alec out sooner rather than later, especially because the friendship she's been building with him (showcased in this episode with the reward) has been keeping her from seeing him as a threat. That's dangerous. He needs to go.

Now, you may have noticed that that Accirax Crack Theory does not actually support Alec going home in this episode, because he would have immunity again. Yet, I still have him at #7. Oops. Well, it's because, even if that theory isn't exactly right, parts of its logic could still be used to justify an Alec boot. Maybe that exact thing is about to happen, except Alec's sneak attack doesn't succeed. Maybe it's just that sloppy gameplay that causes Riya to panic and seek out that "fake" alliance she built with Ally.

I don't, like... really think that Alec is going home this episode, but there's still enough going against him that I feel okay putting him down here. There are still obvious reasons why Alec would go home, even if the votes aren't necessarily there. Although, hell, if the villains are split between voting Gabby and Yul (like Yul/Riya/Alec on Gabby and Grett/Gabby on Yul) or whatever, it would be really funny if the heroes could use their four votes on Alec in the exact same way that the villains did on Ashley. Weird things can happen, and I do feel like Alec's timer could be running out. It could just be pessimism, though. Can't forget the pessimism.

#8: Riya

Much like how Riya feels about Connor, I'm sure that, now that Riya (theoretically) no longer has immunity, Connor will want to vote her out if he has the chance. Aiden and Connor both want her gone, so I wouldn't be surprised if the heroes wind up throwing their votes on her if they don't have a better plan. The main point against that plan is that throwing four votes on Riya won't do a whole lot unless you can get a fifth vote or if the villains split their votes. Could that possibly happen?

Well, the "splitting the votes" option is basically the same thing I described for Alec, just with the heroes' votes landing on Riya instead of Alec. It could be a result of Alec having immunity again, or of them just having more of a personal vendetta against Riya. But, how could a fifth vote happen?

One option is definitely Yul. Despite working together for so long in DCAS, Riya and Yul definitely don't like each other, so Yul could flip to take her out. Remember that vote that Riya cast on Yul for funsies back at the Miriam vote? Now that Connor is back in the game, he could once again try to prove to Yul that it was Riya who cast that vote. If he could come up with some convincing proof, it could set Yul off. Wouldn't it be fitting for Riya to be eliminated as a result of her former pettiness?

This would also work in terms of Connor being the one to get Riya eliminated. I assume that, much like they were going for with Ashley and Fiore, the writers will want Connor to get his revenge on Riya at some point in this season. It could be now.

The dialogue scene shown in the trailer also gives me reason to worry for Riya. She seems to be having a dramatic and emotional moment, possibly losing control of the That Bitch(tm) persona she's tried to cultivate and reestablish in Connor's absence. If she freaks out in a way that winds up losing the challenge for the villains, it could remind the former Yellows of the way she lost them the musical challenge. It could be additional fuel to the fire of Yul's flipping, or even convince Alec that she's too much of a liability...?

I don't know. I definitely feel like there's something there to support a Riya elimination, but I sorta worry about putting her this low, because I might be calling it too early. But, it's gotta be #9's time to go, right?!

#9: Yul

I'm NOT making my Ellie mistake again. I'm not going to let the fact that I feel like Yul should have been an obvious boot an episode or two ago cause me to gaslight myself into moving him away at the eleventh hour...!

I already talked about one way that Yul could be eliminated back in Gabby's section, and that's not even the most obvious way he could get axed. Gabby and Grett just straight up turning on him seems far more likely. I'm sure that the skin tight superhero suits will only invite more negative commentary from Yul to Grett, which could further motivate Gabby.

This point isn't necessarily directed at solely Yul, but, the superhero imagery certainly seems to bring a heroes' victory in this episode to mind, doesn't it...?

Yeah, I don't have much else to add about Yul. I think that I've already said everything I have to say about him in prior power rankings. Other than that the tiebreaker loss thing probably isn't happening anymore, just because I doubt they'd want two tiebreakers in one season. Ah well. You can't win 'em all... but hopefully I'll finally win by putting Yul at the bottom this week.

Well, that's it! I'll once again plug @venus-is-thinking's own power ranking if you want something else to read now that you're done with this. See you all on... Saturday? Woah, what a twist! We're really picking up the pace heading into the Disvengers: Endgame. I'm sure the superhero timing was purely intentional. Until then!

[fadinglandtragedy]

POTO Korea Review

August 3, 2023 Seoul

Cast : jeon dong-seok, song eun-hye, hwang gun-ha

It was a pretty special experience for me. This was my first time watching a Korean-licensed version of POTO, seeing the brilliant original staging, and seeing the phantom I'd been waiting to see for seven or eight years. (When I saw him play Der Tod, I knew he had to do The Phantom..)

I think Jeon dong-seok successfully pulled off phantom. I was a bit skeptical of his acting (good expressions, but sometimes too much), but he seems to have learned to moderate it. His voice was strong as always, and mesmerizing.

Yes, He definitely reminded me of the Y&K phantom. He clearly doesn't know what to do with Christine. In MOTN, he hesitates for a long time before touching her face, afraid to even touch her. But at the same time, He was very much a ALW Phantom. his desire for Christine is so great. He's hiding his lust in his affection for her. afraid to reveal all those feelings, so he cloaks them in adoration, but can't hide his obsession. (it's little scary to see him staring at Christine in POTO... I thought it looked like Hugh Panaro and Jonathan Roxmouth, but not sure. Jeon dong-seok phantom is gentler than them.)

His performance is full of energy. At times, like in STYDI and the AIAOY reprise, he lets out screams of sadness and anger, but the resentment seems to be directed more at himself than at the other person.

My favorite part was the final lair. And also the most memorable scene. I think it was a scene that really allowed his full energy to shine. He drove the play as best he could, pulling Christine along, mocking Raoul, and getting angry… I was little shocked when he crumpled up the sheet music and slammed it down on the organ😂

And when Christine approached him, he made a gesture of covering his face, as if ashamed of himself… like this :

I loved this detail. Yes, this detail reminded me of Earl Carpenter and showed how immersed he was in the character.

After shouting ‘make your choice!’, he cried almost constantly, he captures the feeling of not wanting to let her go, but having to. It was sad to watch him as he hugged veil and kept… kept sobbing. (how can he cry that much..?) At the curtain call, I could see his mask glistening with tears.

He's more obsessed with Christine than he was in Busan, which makes him even more reluctant to let her go. Now he doesn't smile anymore when he lets her go. (and I like it)

Song eun-hye has a beautiful voice and her delivery of the lines is natural. But her facial expressions were bit awkward… It’s better when she doesn’t make sad face. She's really cute in AIAOY.

Her best part is TOM. She deserves to be a prima donna. Her cadenza is long and perfect, and with Raoul's enthusiastic cheers, it was like watching a truly successful prima donna debut.

In STYDI, she does not look away from the phantom’s face. The phantom first turns away in shame, then she calmly hands him the mask, and he stares at her for a long moment in disbelief. I felt that in that moment, jeon dong-seok phantom fell in love with her all over again, but missed the opportunity to express it.

I thought she was very 25th Sierra-like. I felt a lot of Sierra's vibe when she was singing and acting, but her image is different from Sierra's, so it's bit hard to recognize it at first glance… She is milder than Sierra, and has a more classic image.

Her serafimo is unique! I had never seen a Serafimo like this. She’s not a naïve, clumsy but a flirtatious, sassy Serafimo. It seems she wooed the countess first! Not what the phantom expected, She really nailed the role. I even thought she looked better in the Serafimo than Christine..

I like hwang gun-ha Raoul! He's stern and always furious with the Phantom, but it's nice to see that he's always there to protect Christine.

In TOM, his reaction to Christine was so loud.. it was hilarious. He's a very cool image overall, but in that scene, it was kind of cute how he was so proud of Christine that he couldn't help himself.

I was worried that he would be too strong, but he was more like a classic, reliable Raoul, plus he was a young nobleman, so more confident.

Of course I like Yoon young-seok André. Couldn't miss him in Notes 1 and 2. His andre is very cute lol.

The ballet girls’ screams are really loud.. really..

Oh, I also liked the pace of the orchestra. SO MUCH. The west end was too fast:( so grateful that they gave the actors enough time to act, especially the silent pause before the final kiss. I see that silence as the most important part. The audience needs time to anticipate how the play will end, and time for Christine's kiss to not seem so forced. It’s nice that the orchestra didn't make me feel like I was running out of time.

This is the first time I've seen the angel statue, and I didn't know it’s coming down from the beginning of the rooftop scene! It was a little unsettling... But I loved seeing the original things, like the PONR choreography… I always think that the brilliant original is the most convincing and beautiful version.

If you sit within 5 rows, it's little hard to see the phantom when it appears from above.

Overall, it was exceeded my expectations and worries. Also, strange. It’s the phantom of the opera, but also Korean musical. The actors are filled with new energy, and it's strange to think that today's performance will be different from tomorrow's.(Of course... every live performances are different everyday, but Korean musicals have adlibs and details that change frequently.)

It felt less standardized than the west end, for better or worse. Personally, I've been so impressed with the west end version (that I can't get over it), but I like both version. If I liked the vibe of the Korean musical more, I would have liked it better.

And it was a novel experience to hear the lyrics in Korean. In fact, I've heard this so much in English so at the time of the performance, I didn't feel that there was much difference between it and English, but It was interesting enough.

Like, they matched some lyrics. In STYDI, 보아줘 너만은 처참한 모습 뒤 아름다운 내 영혼(I only want you to see, my beautiful soul behind the wretchedness) - In final lair, Christine said 서글픈 건 당신 뒤틀린 영혼(what makes me sad is your twisted soul)

In ‘The mirror’, phantom calls Raoul ‘You hypocritical, insolent man!’ - in the final lair, Christine calls the phantom a hypocrite.

Also Some numbers had a slightly different meaning, and some were better understood. I still don’t know why they make Raoul chaGny…

The ticketing process was long and tedious, but the show was worth it. all's well that ends well, right?

[slettlune]

i couldn't sleep so i sat up all night finishing reading the three musketeers

groggy morning thoughts:

this story is bawdier than i imagined it! i have never seen an adaptation capture the way dumas keeps reminding you that the musketeers fuck: frequently, enthusiastically, and they especially appreciate getting paid for it. it doesn't happen on-page (it's not that kind of book), but it's very clear that they all have substantial sexual experience (even if athos has become celibate by the time the story begins).

i STILL don't agree with the translator's comment: aramis IS my favourite musketeer, he IS easy to love actually!! my personal ranking goes aramis >>> athos > d'artagnan > porthos. yes athos wins second place for having cyclical depression and making sarcastic jokes about it.

on the subject of "this was clearly written for a certain kind of male audience of a different time"... i admit that that one "humorous" nonconsensual sex scene was an uncomfortable chapter to get through

the female main characters were all AWESOME. i LOVE a vicious female villain! i could have done without one of the many "ooh curses that i am a weak, easily-fainting WOMAN and physically and mentally inferior to a man" internal monologues, but what can you do

i did not wind up shipping any of the main guys together, which, believe me, comes as a surprise. i fully believe in their bond and their fierce loyalty to and love for each other, but i don't need them to kiss on the lips about it. i DO think all of them (excepting d'artagnan) have had male lovers though

i checked and was disappointed that there is not a single lord de winter/tom felton fic on ao3. the religious devotion that separates them, the personal devotion that ties them together... i might have to write something.......

BUT THE WOMEN THOUGH. the women should ALL explore each other's bodies. you can't throw multiple "unhappily forced to be a nun" characters at me like this and not make me imagine them doing things to each other

i sampled several different translations and i really really really wound up enjoying lawrence ellsworth's, PERFECT mix of easy-to-read and formal, and i especially appreciated how their speech still retained french phrases here and there in an elegant, unobtrusive way.

the political machinations stuff in the early chapters <3 AAAH! i'd read a WHOLE book just about monsieur de treville elegantly tiptoeing between factions. the adventure stuff is exciting; the comedy is hilarious; the melodrama is a little meh for me, but the political drama is EXCELLENT. i wish it had continued through the book.

honestly a surprisingly fast-paced story for a 700+ pages novel. lots of twist and turns and suspense and wild horseback chases and more than a few very dramatic coincidences. i gasped irl

what i really appreciate with dumas is how he makes you wait for reveals. he'll give you all these little enticing mysteries to ponder and then it feels SO satisfying when you can finally go OOOH THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT

it's still so wild to me that most of these characters were based on and named after real historical people. dumas has SUCH an affection for cardinal richelieu. i never realized that although he's a formidable antagonist, he's presented in an almost endearing way. that's dumas' historical blorbo

a lingering question i have is HOW was athos married and madly in love and NEVER saw his wife's naked shoulder? gonna have to assume athos is a fast cummer so they never got around to undressing properly

this is book ONE of EIGHT in the musketeer cycle and i get that dumas didn't figure it'd be a series because it ends with a bratpack freeze frame about every important character and how each spent the remainder of their lives... and now i have to read the other books because HOW do you sneak in more grand adventures in between developments like that???

the old maurice leloir illustrations in the edition i read are so expressive and lovely and replicated the EXACT feeling i'd get when i'd read classics as a kid. i loved contemplating each one

[canonically47]

didja see the first All Stars ep yet?

yes!! i really liked it, fiore and yul’s exchange was hilarious and i literally screamed when alec and grett came on screen, i missed them so much. aiden and james are so fun and bounce off each other so well. also, i need gabellie + tess friendship in this season. better yet, tellabby polyam relationship 😌 also... tomjake... please do not get back together. if you haven’t communicated these past two years at ALL and neither of you (OR MIRIAM???) tried to reach out... at this point just call your whole relationship off. you are not meant to be, romantically or otherwise. just boot jake or tom first, i am tired of dealing with them

i’m rooting for the blue team the hardest. ngl they could all make it to merge and i stand by that. i’m looking forward to seeing their interactions. the other teams contain characters i don’t really care about and some i really love (alec, grett and fiore <333 ...yul, ashley, connor, riya <<<) so i have mixed feelings on them. also yul now also being homophobic beside racist is not the funny haha joke i think they were aiming for, or i guess i’m not the target audience for it

i’m also happy to see the improvement in some of the sound quality and acting. aiden, tom, alec, fiore all still sound great in both of those. james got a new mic but i still feel like he doesn’t express the right emotion in some scenes, i’m hoping that will change. ally got a new actress! i really like her! but i swear to god that as soon as ally and hunter start fighting and not communicating they will be shoved to the very bottom of my list. those two are already annoying me, and more than tomjake, if that was even possible

i like ellie more already this season. her outfit encaptulates her personality better, she is more confident, she’s attending uni woohoo! also she is the nastiest bitch ever and i LOVE HER for it. yeah girl drag alec and ashley through the dirt, how they are so annoying is beyond me too! (i love alec but i agree so much with ellie WHY DID BRO DROP THAT ON FIORE LMFAO)

anyways again, blue team are my saviours, maybe except tom but i feel like he is less in the wrong than jake. he deserves to take a break from dating. and jake should’ve gotten a therapist with miriam’s money cause girl 💀 you are 26 you better act like it

i really wanted nick, kai or rosa maria back :< i feel like ashley wasn’t as fun as nick could’ve been, and like, seriously who the hell wants connor here, just bring back someone more relevant. i’m sure everyone will get a chance in the spotlight tho, i trust ONC know what they’re doing, i just like some characters better than others

DEREK AND TREVOR I MISSED YOUUUUUUU <333 nina go back to whatever demon spawn you crawled out of. she was my least favorite running gag of s2 and i am so tired of her already she is literally not even funny 😞 KRISTAL AND OLIVER GETTING ALONG THAT’S RIGHT also EMILY!! kind of a queen idk guys.. i like her

i am so excited to see these people in action i am bouncing off the walls

[idonotbitemythumbatyou]

Hiii, what's your perception of Tom and Greg's relationship? Is it true love underneath it all? Lust? Power? All of that or none? I'm in love with your succession fic, it's everything a succession fic should be. You manage to capture the character's voices and inner worlds so well... I'd just like to know what do you get from Tom and Greg, I love their dynamic.

Hi!

short version: I think it could be true love if either of them had access to their souls.

As it IS. We can't know. They've divested themselves of all human warmth and connection in exchange for money and power. Any sincerity is not only difficult to even access, but dangerous to their standing to express.

Up to the finale, I think their relationship is mutual obsession. They're the outsiders on the inside, so they'll always have a little more in common with each other than The Family or the Old Guard. They're actually more comfortable with each other than anyone else (the bar is low), and who has the power in any given scene is deliciously difficult to untangle.

It's loving because they're both starved for affection, and genuinely kinda like each other. It's violent because affection between male friends is forbidden in the strange exotic culture of corporate New York. And then it's homoerotic because Tom is doing his best to imitate the boundary crossing, sexually violent language of the Roys, but is simply bad at it. And then consider that Greg is taking his cues on banter from Tom. Truly learning from the worst. You end up with shit like "disgusting brothers," and recounting sexual exploits in uncomfortable detail three inches from your platonic bro's face.

And then, you throw in a pinch of genuine attraction, and the verdict is love, your honor! Oh wait. no. sorry. I read that wrong. The verdict is repression, actually. Sorry. It's repression. They're both on such shaky ground in their corporate climb, that even if they could admit to themselves that they might have one (1) feeling, it would not be in their best interest to express that. So we get all... whatever is going on over there instead.

I gave this line to Shiv's internal monologue in my fic but: it's like jazz. It's about all the sex they're not having.

At least. That's how it is before the finale. Finale, I think, changes everything. Tom's pretty securely in the chair, and he's literally objectified and declared ownership over Greg (I did not find the sticker romantic. Loved it, but it made me sad for both of them but I digress). So if he wanted to, he could probably bang his assistant without causing too much trouble for himself. They'll both think they're manipulating the other, and any emotion (if it's there), is going to have to stay repressed for safety.

Now, I've heard people say that tomgreg is cringe. And I would agree. But if "cringe comedy" implies the existence of "cringe tragedy," then that's Succession, babe!

And if anything were to happen between Tom and Greg, the characters within their own universe would also find it incredibly cringe, and that is just hilarious to me. Cringing, dying, can't stop being obsessed with each other.

Thank you so much for reading, and those kind words! I'm trying hard to keep it as in character as I can - their voices are so distinct, and I definitely struggle to capture them at times. And thanks for coming to talk about Succession with me!

[project1939]

Day 48- Film: Lost in Alaska 

Release date: July 28th, 1952. 

Studio: Universal 

Genre: Comedy 

Director: Jean Yarbrough 

Producer: Howard Christie 

Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Mitzi Green, Tom Ewell, Iron Eyes Cody 

Plot Summary: In 1890s San Francisco, firemen buddies Tom and George try to stop a man from committing suicide. They learn he is “Nugget” Joe, a gold prospector from Alaska who has struck it rich but lost his girl in the process. Comedic entanglements soon lead Tom and George to travel back to Skagway Alaska with Nugget Joe as he searches out his love Rosette.  

My Rating (out of five stars): *** 

I knew going into this that it probably wouldn’t be my preferred kind of humor, but I also knew I wouldn’t judge the film harshly solely because it wasn’t to my particular taste. Even though I didn’t find it hilarious, I can appreciate the skill of Abbott and Costello as comedians. They were both extremely likeable, especially Costello. He has such an innocent baby-face, and it pairs well with his befuddled buffoonery. I’d probably give this a lower rating than three stars if it were based purely on my enjoyment of the film, but I do think it deserves three stars as a decently made and executed comedy film. 

The Good: 

The camaraderie between Abbott and Costello. They were always entertaining to watch, and their familiarity and ease with each other was sweet and funny. 

As I just wrote, I found something especially appealing about Lou Costello. That was a little surprising to me, because it’s not generally the goofy slapstick characters that I find most appealing. 

Tom Ewell. He is always funny, and this movie is no exception. His facial expressions are worth the admission price alone. Even though I didn’t love all the jokes about suicide, he plays a desperate man just about as amusingly as possible. 

Mitzi Green as Rosetta. I adored her! She was entertaining and funny with a unique kind of sparkle- much more than just something pretty for Ewell to pine over. She always drew my attention more than anyone when she was in a scene. Her singing voice was also great. 

There were several gags that genuinely made me giggle. 

It was a short simple comedy that didn’t try to be anything else. It knew what it was and spent 76 minutes playing it up. 

The Bad: 

The script definitely had some structure problems and holes in it. I understand the plot was essentially something to loosely contain the gags, but still... 

When I knew the setting would be Alaska, I feared some stereotypes of the Eskimo people, and they were definitely there. There was a scene where two Eskimos were speaking broken English to each other when no white person was even around, for example. I wouldn’t say it was hugely offensive- they weren’t painted as bad guys or as stupid. There were just some stereotypes that were exploited for humor.

Joking about suicide. I’ve noticed this as a trend in media back then that has definitely dwindled today. I’ve seen lots of comedy gags in this project, both verbal and physical, about people who want to commit suicide, or even have committed suicide. Even though I found a lot of what Tom Ewell did as a suicidal character pretty funny, it still made me uncomfortable. I think we have greater sensitivity and awareness about the issue now. Even as a culture, it’s just something we don’t like joking about anymore. 

[rubysunnday]

Tuactober 2020 Day 25: Paradox Psychosis

Prompts by @totallyevan​

Bonus +

[love-takes-work]

Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” - 

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc. 

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face). 

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed. 

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression. 

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won. 

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth. 

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was. 

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Could you talk about the Statute of Secrecy? Or the Ministry’s corruption in General :)

Well, those are two different things. Given that I believe I have an ask floating somewhere in my inbox on the Statute, I suppose we’ll talk about the Ministry of Magic today.

I feel like this is such a broad topic though that I’m not quite sure where to start. I guess I’ll just throw spaghetti at the internet wall and see what sticks.

The Ministry is a Reflection of Society Who Never Admitted They Were the Death Eaters

In the ministry of Harry Potter’s era the Ministry is hopelessly corrupt and filled to the brim with spies (more on this in a later section). Lucius Malfoy, very high up in an unofficial capacity in the Ministry and owner of the Ministry’s mouth piece: The Daily Prophet, was a known Death Eater with a very flimsy excuse.

How is he even able to wield so much influence, you ask? Well, I think it’s not just because of Fudge picking the wrong friends.

I think most the population probably does believe Lucius Malfoy is innocent the way Fudge does. I think it’s a very small subsection, i.e. Dumbledore’s lackies, who go “Nah, ain’t buying it.” I think that, in 1981, when it came time to reveal just how many were Death Eaters and how far this went many people just couldn’t handle it.

Because it was to the point where the nation wasn’t battling Death Eaters, Death Eaters were the nation. Look at the members, these are and were the most influential and prominent families in the country, who combined hold a non-small minority of seats in the Wizengamot. More, these were only the participants, combine those who given anti-muggle and muggleborn sentiment (which I believe are pervasive even among those who claim they fight for the rights of muggles and muggleborns) and you get a nation that is suddenly facing a huge cultural issue that was never previously acknowledged.

We’re talking an entire purge of the Wizengamot, of the Ministry, of the major families and cornerstones of this society. The Black family is completely and utterly destroyed.

People were and remain throughout the 1990′s, desperate to believe it was not as bad as it was or isn’t as bad as it is. If Lucius Malfoy says he was never really a Death Eater then he was never really a Death Eater.

The Ministry is Lousy With Corruption and Spies

What’s hilarious to me is not only is the Ministry incompetent. It is positively flooded with spies. Given the ministry’s overbloated, it’s not even a sizeable minority of employees, but nonetheless every major department has at least one person (if not more) who works for somebody else.

Most work for Tom Riddle. He seems to have intelligence in every department. Through Lucius, who is working pretty much as an unofficial aide to Fudge, he has access to Fudge, complete control of the Daily Prophet, and a voice on the Hogwarts’ board of governors.

Through Rockwood, Tom has direct access to the Department of Mysteries which Lucius is then able to take full advantage of.

Lucius is able to set up an ambush in the Department of Mysteries, getting escaped convicts into the building with the none the wiser, and, had his sole purpose not been a prophecy that only Harry Potter and the Dark Lord can touch, he would have been able to take what he liked. (Though it was always odd to me that the plan was to get Harry Potter to do it, when the better solution would have been to polyjuice Tom Riddle into someone else, set up a tour with the department, and then Tom wanders off conveniently to pick up the prophecy. My theory, I suppose, is that chasing after the prophecy was mostly an exercise in punishing Lucius. And then Lucius fucked up.)

And of course, in book seven, Tom Riddle makes a puppet minister. Point being, to me, it always said a lot that in Book Seven Tom just sort of walks into the building and says, “I’m in charge now” and everyone says “okay”. There was no second Wizarding War, it was a bloodless coup that met zero resistance from anyone but angry school children. 

But that’s Tom’s spies, we also have other spies. Who am I talking about, Dumbledore’s folks of course.

Shacklebolt, Moody, Tonks, and Arthur Weasley are all spies, they just don’t have the introspection to even realize it (which really tells you something about the state of corruption in the ministry). They all work for the ministry, yes, but they in fact pass on information to and serve another master, whose goals do not always align with the government and was a hop skip and a jump away from overthrowing the government at any given moment.

And they don’t even really realize they’re doing this! There doesn’t even seem to be a thought of “I’m doing this for the greater good”, they don’t seem to acknowledge that what they’re doing is very very very bad. Arthur, in fact, is appalled when Percy refuses to do this (well, he’s upset for a lot of reasons, such as that he thinks Percy is spying on Arthur for the minister, but in there is also that Percy refuses to help out with the Order or follow Dumbledore without question). 

Harry paints the Dumbledore’s Army threat that Umbridge saw as something utterly ridiculous, but honestly if I was the ministry I would be worried about this. Dumbledore’s people have infiltrated the ministry just as deeply and badly as the Death Eaters, Dumbledore’s known for recruiting children into his vigilante organization, I don’t know what he’s doing with an army of schoolchildren but I can smell a coup coming.

Anyway, I’m getting off track, point being though that corruption is not only expected and accepted by the ministry, they cannot recognize what it even is. They’re at the point where paying bribes is allocated in their budget.

I Don’t Blame the Ministry For Not Thinking Tom Riddle Was Anti-Jesus

Fudge is designed to get a lot of flack for his outright denial that Voldemort had returned from the dead. He, and other denier characters, are meant to be fools with their heads in the sand who can’t see the obvious.

I ask what about it was obvious?

The only witness to Tom Riddle’s resurrection, Harry Potter, has a known history of erratic behavior.

The previous year, he’d performed illegal magic on his muggle aunt and run away from home. During the previous school year, Harry was revealed to be a parselmouth in a time when the Chamber of Secrets was presumably opened and the mystery was never fully solved (remember, that it was a possessed Ginny never comes to light for more than a few people.) Beyond that, since his first day of school, Harry is routinely in and out of detention, constantly out after curfew, and only seems to not be in serious trouble because he’s openly favored by Dumbledore (who gives him hundreds of points for breaking one of his school rules, during the Philosopher’s Stone fiasco in first year). In 1994, Harry is entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament under very suspicious circumstances.

We know why all this happens to Harry but from the outside he looks like a delinquent. In fact, he kind of is a delinquent. 

Point being, the only witness is not only Harry Potter (who is already sketch) but it’s Harry Potter holding a dead body of a rival in the tournament.

And he’s claiming that a man who has been nearly fifteen years dead, a man who held the nation in terror and Harry Potter is beloved for destroying, has returned from the grave and conveniently murdered Cedric.

Why is Cedric dead? Well, you see, he and Harry both touched the goblet at the same time because they were going to share the reward. The goblet, a national treasure, was turned into a portkey so that Voldemort could kidnap him.

Why didn’t Voldemort just kidnap him at any other point during the year where he’s guaranteed not to get tag a longs or the wrong kid? Uh... VOLDEMORT IS BACK (for the record, I think it’s because Barty got hung up on the goblet scheme and was determined to ruin his father’s day.)

Where is Voldemort at this very moment? Being evil, somewhere, that is not right here. No, Harry has zero evidence this happened.

Frankly, I wouldn’t believe Harry either.

And when Dumbledore goes about promoting this as sound evidence that Tom Riddle has in fact returned, it starts to get even sketchier. Rather than sounding the alarm, Dumbledore is using this boy’s madness to stir the public into a panic that he, perhaps, plans to take advantage of.

After Dumbledore does that, I would suspect that, even if Harry does give me a memory of the graveyard scene that his head had been tampered with by Dumbledore.

And it’s so convenient that, of all the names Harry picked, it’s Voldemort who killed Cedric. It seems like a ploy to not only deflect the fact that he murdered Cedric but 

Harry’s very upset when some don’t take him at his word but Harry’s also a dumbass and a psychopath. He hates everyone who doesn’t agree with him.

More importantly, necromancy isn’t a thing in the Harry Potter universe. People don’t rise from the dead. Horcruxes exist, but they’re extremely rare, and it seems like no one ever really makes use of them.

So, yeah, not unreasonable that Fudge didn’t immediately go, “My god, Voldemort has risen from the dead! LIGHT THE BEACONS AND SUMMON ROHAN!”

So yeah, it’d take me seeing Voldemort waltzing through the Department Mysteries to go “... Goddammit, this man is more unkillable than Sheev Palpatine.”

After the Epilogue, I am Certain It’s Still the Same Damn Ministry

People hate the epilogue, but in a way, I love it, because it confirms many of my headcanons: these people don’t learn a goddamn thing.

Nothing in their society seems to have changed. Instead of one set of families holding all the power it’s now a new set of families and friends holding all the power. The difference being that they are now all in some way connected to Harry Potter.

Nepotism’s still the name of the game, we still see only human children boarding the Hogwarts Express so you know shit hasn’t changed for the goblins, Draco Malfoy’s alive and well and holds a position in the Ministry that Kingsly graciously allows him to have, it’s just now you have Hermione writing all your laws for you.

The Wizarding World is still the Wizarding World in every single capacity. The only difference is that Voldemort is dead again. Hooray.

Harry and friends simply don’t have the introspection to even realize it.

[iamanartichoke]

Last night I ventured into the plain old #loki tag for the first time in forever, and of course it was filled with all the trailer reactions, etc, but one thing I kinda zeroed in on was how that “I’d never do it again” clip is being so positively received - by which, I mean that the majority of people seem to genuinely think it’s absolutely hilarious and even looking at it from an objective standpoint, I don’t see why it’s funny? 

Like, yes - the “joke” is that Mobius calls Loki out on Loki “betraying” people all the time (not even going to touch how Untrue that is) and Loki is offended. It’s not that I don’t think it’s funny bc I don’t “get the joke.” It’s just that I don’t think anything about the setup of the joke or the delivery of the line is particularly amusing. Certainly not “the height of comedy” and “LMAO” funny. 

Even if I agreed that Loki had betrayed everyone (thus giving the joke merit), I don’t think the joke landed where it intended to land. 3/10, nice effort, I see what you were going for, but it didn’t quite work, guys, sorry. That’s my reaction regardless of the meta (or wank, depending on your pov) of whether or not Mobius’s line is even valid. 

Now, Once Upon a Time pretty quickly devolved into an overall dumpster fire after season 2ish, but there were genuinely good arcs/moments throughout it (I am apparently the only one on the planet who really enjoyed the Frozen storyline), but season 1 was the pinnacle of that show’s run. And Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin was a huge part of what kept it reasonably decent for several seasons. I have a ton of respect for Robert Carlyle as an actor in general; he’s one of the greats. Always gives 110% to his roles. Would consider him and Tom to be actors of the same caliber. 

And I just keep thinking of this moment in Season 1 where Rumple shows up to Belle’s castle and there’s a whole standoff and someone is like, “He [Rumple] is untrustworthy, evil, etc” (I don’t remember the actual line) and Rumple is like, 

^^ I think that’s funny as fuck. 

The acting choice here is like the perfect balance of “subtle” and “visibly (amusingly) offended.” It’s meant to make you laugh for a few seconds and then continue on. And it’s in-character, bc both the audience and the characters know Rumple is full of it, that he’s kinda gleefully being a villain at this point, and so his being “offended” here is funny on an ironic level of like, “Well, I never!” while knowing full well that the mistrust is deserved. 

And I could go into a whole other level of how Rumple isn’t really evil, either, and actually he has a ton in common with Loki as a character, now that I think about it (morally grey, complex, tragic background, etc) - but, the point is, the combination of the narrative (”Rumple’s a villain, he’s being called out on his villainy, and he’s amused by it”) and the subltety of the reaction (”Wow, it’s so rude of you to be 100% correct about my moral character) makes this a solid joke. 10/10, would LOL again, etc. 

Contrastingly, the first part of what makes this similar scene in the Loki trailer kinda cringey is that first of all, there’s some kind of cognitive dissonance overall in Loki’s arc, wherein he’s done bad things and people keep framing him as the villain, but then when he’s called out on being the villain, it’s always for things he didn’t actually do. So the context of the joke is a little murky. But then, second of all, his reaction veers away from the subtle and right into the very in-your-face “How dare you imply I’d do something that I’m not even sure I have a history of doing, obviously I’d never do that again!” 

If he (Tom, that is) had delivered the line a little less like the class clown and a little more like Rumplestiltskin, I’d go with it. If his response had been something like a totally dry, “Um, that was one time” or something, I’d go with it. If his facial expression had given us any insight into his genuine reaction to the comment, I’d go with it.

^^ I genuinely can’t tell if he’s offended over being called out, offended bc he hasn’t stabbed people in the back, both, neither? Besides “LMAO Loki you little shit,” how is the audience supposed to interpret this? 

If someone who thought this joke was great would like to explain what I’m missing here to me, I’d be glad to hear it. I do want to reiterate that I get the idea of the joke, but please feel free to explain to me how it successfully landed for you and what it is I’m missing. 

Hi, my name is Charlotte and I like to write hundreds of words analyzing a three-second joke because that is my idea of a good time, nice to meet you. 

[annab-nana]

Is There Something There - Tom Holland

During an interview that you were doing with Tom for Endgame press, some of the questions catch you both off guard and one leads to you two talking about something you’ve both been feeling about each other.

A/N: I’m going to be honest. I don’t really like this one because I already feel like I use a lot of dialogue as a writer and this is an interview so there is a lot of dialogue, but I also like the story here so that why I decided to post it. Also, it’s my first Tom fic so I hope you all enjoy and feedback is greatly appreciated!

Warnings: some curse words

Word Count: 4.1k+  

--------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe you didn’t know who Obadiah Stane was,” you giggled with Tom as you two left the room you had just been in doing an interview to head to another one in a few minutes.

“He asked what an Obadiah Stane was, so I thought it was a thing, not a person,” he defended, his smile stretching as his words brought you more laughter.

“I’m sure Robert would love to know that his little buddy didn’t even know the name of the villain in the first Iron Man movie,” you teased Tom while he chuckled along with you. “But I will give you the infinity stones question. All I could remember was the reality stone and the time stone, but you rattled off the first five in a matter of seconds and then the last one came to your mind shortly after. It was impressive.”

“Thank you, thank you,” he stated sarcastically with a bow and a tip of his head. “You know what was funny? When you said Sebastian would be a bad baby name. That was hilarious,” he brought up before dying of laughter again at the joke you made earlier in the interview.

“Yeah, and I can guarantee you that he said my name too when they asked him which MCU name would be the worst as well,” you told him while laughing along with him.

“This is it I think,” the man who had been leading you to your next interview announced to you both before opening the door.

“Ladies first,” Tom said to you while holding a hand out to show you the way. You playfully rolled your eyes at the dork you had been paired with for the day as you walked into the room.

It was no secret that Tom Holland could not keep his mouth shut when he needed to. He just gets too excited and has to tell someone. He along with Ruffalo were terrible secret keepers and when it came to interviews, they had to do them with someone who could pay attention to them and catch them before they slip up. Benedict got paired with Mark and you obviously were with Tom.

“Good morning you two! I imagine you both have been very busy today,” the woman who would be conducting the interview asked when you and Tom walked over to her and got settled in your spots on the couch after you each shook her hand.

“Yes ma’am, we have been busy, but it has been loads of fun I would say,” Tom responded first while he got comfortable on the couch and stretched his arm to lay against the back of it before you nodded your head in agreement at his previous statement.

“Super fun especially since we get to do it together,” you spoke to the lady before meeting the dashing brown eyes of your partner for the day.

“She’s just saying that because she has to be with me. She actually hates me,” Tom teased while you rolled your eyes at him.

“I do not hate him. Does he get a little aggravating from time to time? Yeah, but I don’t hate him,” you played along with the boy’s joke as he chuckled lightly at you.

“Wait, y/n has to be with you, Tom?” the interviewer inquired, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as to why you were forced to be with him. She probably thought it was a little weird that you, the actress who plays Guardian of the Galaxy Willa Adler, and Tom, the actor of Peter Parker who was also known as Spider-Man, were doing press for Endgame together. If she saw Infinity War, she knew you were both onscreen together a good bit in that movie, but still she most likely was wondering why you were not doing interviews with Chris Pratt like you normally were since he played your older brother figure in the past few Marvel films you have done.

“Well, yeah, someone has to be with me because I can’t keep my mouth shut and y/n is good at telling when I’m about to say something I shouldn’t, so she is here to help me not spill the beans on anything,” Tom laughed while a slight blush of embarrassment dusted across his cheeks.

“Yeah, I have been told I’m good at reading people and we’ve become really good friends lately, so I guess I better at reading him than some of the others. I don’t know. I think it’s funny that he has to be with someone, or he’ll spill all the information on everything,” you giggled as you responded to the question too.

“Oh well, I guess it’s good you two have been paired together and later on I’ll have some questions specifically for the both of you. Anyway, I spoke with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan and that pair,” she paused for a chuckle, “They like to tease you two, don’t they?” As soon as she mentioned their names, you both knew where the question was headed and you and Tom both nodded towards the woman.

“Yeah, we have quite the rivalry with those two, don’t we?” Tom led the answer for you to continue.

“Yes, but it’s all out of love,” you reassured the interviewer while you all shared a laugh.

“It’s all love, for sure. I think it’s because we are the youngest and easiest to pick on because we take the jokes well and we’ll shoot them right back. I find it funny how it's them against us. We will tease them and they’ll tease us, but at the same time, we split it up and it’ll be me and Mackie going at each other, and y/n and Stan will pick on each other quite a bit. It’s like the big brothers teasing their younger siblings and they each have their favorite one to pick on. I love it. I find it so hilarious,” Tom told the woman, a chuckle falling past his lips.

“Especially the juice box joke,” you laughed. “That one is my favorite.”

“Juice box joke?” she asked, her emerald eyes dancing between you and Tom while you both wore huge smiles on your faces from all the laughing you both had been doing.

“Yeah, Mackie likes to joke and say that ‘I need my juice boxes or I’ll go crazy without them’ that I need the sugar or something,” Tom expressed using air quotes with his fingers to show Anthony’s words. “They say I need juice boxes and y/n needs water bottles.”

“Why’s that?” the lady quizzed at the second part of his sentence as a light laugh escaped her mouth. You audibly groaned, knowing which story was about to come up next.

“She forgets to drink water sometimes and then she’ll get dehydrated and when we’re shooting harder scenes or if there’s a lot of light on her and it gets hot, then it doesn’t end well,” Tom told the interviewer honestly before she looked to you to continue or confirm his statements.

“It was one time and I just forget to drink water sometimes. I’m okay,” you reassured before taking a sip of water from the glass next to you.

“One time?” the blonde woman inquired further. You loved doing these interviews, but at times the people conducting them tended to be a little pushy and don’t pick up on the hint that you don’t want to share this story. You knew she wasn’t going to give so you spoke.  

“Tell the story, Tom,” you instructed with a sigh before turning in your chair to face him better. His hand still rested on the back of the couch behind you and he brought it down slightly to rub at the top of your back and play with your hair a little, a friendly and comforting gesture that you were very thankful for at the moment as he was about to share one of your more embarrassing experiences.

“Okay, so you know that scene in Infinity War where the Guardians, Strange, Tony, and I are in that spaceship and the Guardians are coming at us because they think we’re with Thanos?” When she nods her head, Tom continues with the story.

“Well, that particular day, y/n forgot to drink basically anything and in the makeup and suits and stuff, it gets really hot. It’s the scene where Willa has Peter Parker in a chokehold and Peter Quill has a gun to my head. So, when we were shooting that, y/n has her arms around my neck, not tightly obviously. She’s not actually trying to choke me, but you can feel it, you know. So, as I said, she wasn’t holding me tightly, but I felt her arms loosen from around me before she was supposed to, and she leaned against me a little.” The interviewer let out a slight gasp before looking at you and you nodded towards her, letting her know his words were true.

“I turned my head and asked her if she was okay, but she just nodded her head. She didn’t say anything, just nodded her head, and right then I knew something was wrong just by looking at her. I turned around and grabbed her before she fell and sat down with her. Chris came as well and was checking on her while Benedict and Robert went to get help and some water. But we got her some water, and she was good to go shortly after.”

“That must’ve been scary for the both of you,” she commented while her widened eyes jumped from yours to the set of honey brown ones to your left.

“It was honestly one of the scariest days on set for me,” Tom added before looking to you, his fingers still switching from rubbing small circles into your neck and twirling your hair between them.

“I was in and out of it, so I don’t remember much. All I remember is leaning against him and him helping me down. It was more embarrassing to me and I hate thinking about it, but now I will never get to forget about it because Anthony and Seb won’t ever let me live it down,” you told the woman with a small laugh which she joined in on along with Tom.

“Your characters both have this relationship with someone older than you that you look up to, Peter Parker with Tony Stark and Willa Adler with Peter Quill. How was it for you both to do your death scene in Infinity War with those people?” she asked you and Tom. Tom looked to you for you to start off the question so you do.

“Both Willa and Peter have had it rough as far as a mentor or someone who can really help guide them in life because they keep losing them. Peter lost his parents when he was younger, then his uncle, and then he disintegrates in Tony’s arms. Willa lost a lot of people in a short amount of time. Quill and Willa were both taken by Yondu at different times for their own good to save them from their terrible fathers, so she didn’t have anyone to look up to on Earth. Then she lost Yondu and feared she lost Quill when things with Ego went down. Then in Infinity War when they are all trying to take the gauntlet off Thanos, she finds out that she lost Gamora, the only girl Willa has ever had by her side, so that breaks her even further. Then after the snap, she watches all of her found family turn to dust around her. She watches Quill turn to ashes right before she can get to him and then she tries to run to Nebula who is the only person she has left before she goes with the rest of them. Right after that, we watch Peter and Tony hold each other and Peter goes so the scene overall is a terribly sad one. It took a lot of emotion for both of us I think.”

“Yeah, like she said, both of them have experienced great loss. Peter is a little more used to it while Willa loses someone before she’s done grieving the last person she lost. She definitely had to put a lot more emotion into it, but Willa is also the kind of person who holds her emotions in. You can see in that scene she was talking about, Willa tried to hold it in when she found out about Gamora but started to break down as she saw everyone she loved dissipate into nothing. Peter was emotional of course and he didn’t want to go like he just saw everyone around him do but at least he went out in the arms of someone he loves and looks up to a lot,” Tom added to your explanation with his own.

“I would say that scene after the snap with you two is the saddest in my opinion. So, to lighten the mood a little, there is a lot of talk about the family feel that the cast has, and the people wanted to know if that is true?” she asked as she flipped through her cards.

“Yes!” you immediately agreed.

“Of course, we all get along and it is super fun especially in films like these where we get to be together. Peter got to be with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and it was amazing filming with everybody. I loved it, didn’t you?” Tom pushed the question over to you.

“Yeah, it was super fun. I always get to film with a large group of people, but I got to film with Chris Hemsworth and then later on with RDJ and Benedict and Tom. It was great to work with so many amazing people,” you commented while you shifted in your seat a little, trying to get comfortable again.

“Mackie and Stan are like our annoying older brothers as I said earlier,” Tom mentioned with a light chuckle.

“Yeah,” you giggled before continuing with his analogy. “RDJ, Evans, and Hemsworth are like the fathers, the founding fathers really since they’ve been there since the beginning. Umm, Pratt and Rudd are the funny uncles. Elizabeth, Zoe, Karen, Scarlett, and Danai are the cool aunts. And then you’ve got people like Benedict, Chadwick, Pom, Letitia, and Tom who are absolute sweethearts. Everyone is just super cool and fun and sweet, and we couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.” The lady awed at your words while Tom’s eyes softened at them.

“That was really sweet, y/n, and you are amazing to work with as well,” he grinned as he spoke which you returned him on as well while you nodded at him. His hand shifted down to your shoulder and he kept it there, something you didn’t mind at all. “Everything she said was spot on and everyone we get the opportunity to work with is awesome and they’re great people. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Do you think your characters will appear onscreen together in the future?” the interviewer questioned before she looked up from her card to the both of you.

“Um, I’ll take this one,” you said to both of them, but mainly to Tom so he knew he wouldn’t have to add anything or spoil anything without knowing it. “So, Peter normally protects Queens, and Willa’s territory is all of outer space. In Infinity War, you saw that Peter’s experience in space wasn’t the best and Willa had a terrible life on Earth though she didn’t know it at the time because she was so young when Yondu took her. I don’t see them crossing paths again in the future if everything gets ‘fixed’ like everyone is hoping for, but if another space titan comes to destroy half of all living things or something big like that, then yeah maybe you’d see Willa and Peter onscreen again, but I don’t think it is likely,” you told the woman as she nodded her head.

“Marvel is full of surprises though, so you never know what is going to happen,” Tom added, earning a laugh from you since you knew firsthand how true the statement was.

“The fans love seeing you two together and you both clearly have good chemistry so what is it like working with one another?” the blonde asked before pushing some fallen hair behind her ear.

“I’ll go first,” Tom stated as he turned a bit in his seat and smiled your way. You playfully rolled your eyes, getting ready for him to completely roast your ass.

“She’s mean, a total diva, a drama queen,” he started listing off several false claims before busting out laughing at your pouting face. “I’m kidding,” he chuckled while he leaned over to grab your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“No, go on. I’m thinking about teaming up with Mackie and Seb and all three of us can rip you to shreds,” you sarcastically smiled at him before you dropped the grin and shot him a death glare.

“Okay maybe I wasn’t lying about the mean part,” he joked causing you to smile again. His brown eyes lit up at the sight and he finally continued with answering the question.

“No, but for real, she is amazing, as a person and as an actress. Every time I watch her, I am reminded of how phenomenal of an actress she is. You all have seen the gag reels of me and how I can’t keep a straight face if my life depended on it, but I watched her and the person she was filming with slipped up. She kept a straight face until they started laughing so she started laughing too. If that was me, I would’ve started laughing before anyone even messed up. And even when she’s feeling poorly, she performs so well. Y/n is so incredible to watch and work with. She is truly a great person and an even better friend. I’m glad we have each other to lean on when we get teased for being the youngest out of everyone,” he chuckled after literally just melting your heart. You leaned over to wrap your arms around his torso, his arm going around your back to rest his hand on your side.

“That was really sweet, Tom,” you whispered while giving him a little squeeze before pulling away from him. He did not remove his arm from around you though, so you scooted closer to make it more comfortable for you both.

“He may say my acting is good, but I’ve got to brag on his as well. He is so good at improvising and going with the flow of things. I am a very ‘follow the lines and stick to the script’ kind of person, but his improv makes his scenes and character so much better. That may be because he is basically Peter Parker in real life so when the cameras are rolling, it is truly interesting to see. He lights up any room he walks into and makes every day easier when we are working. He is a delight to work with and just generally be around and I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Thanks y/n,” he grinned down at you and you smiled right back.

“How is he like Peter Parker in real life?” the woman further inquired as she adjusted herself in her seat to sit more comfortably.

“For one, he is a major dork,” you started before snickering at Tom’s furrowed brows and stuck out lip.

“You just said all that nice stuff and then called me a dork,” he huffed and turned his head from you. He dramatically removed his arm from around and placed his hand in his lap.

“Oh, come on. You know it’s true,” you told him to which he sighed.

“Yeah, it’s true,” he gave in before nodding at the interviewer.

“So, there’s that,” you continued to answer the question. “He’s a little awkward, but in a charming and lovable way. He cannot keep a secret at all. There’s probably more, but that’s all I can think of right now. Everybody loves Peter Parker and everyone loves Tom Holland. I mean it when I say they are the same person.”

“So, there is a good bit of speculation of a budding romance between the both of you and the people want to know if there is something there,” she stated before playing with the rings on her fingers.

Before you could open your mouth to deny the suspicion, Tom grabbed your hand in his, interlacing his fingers with yours. A blush crept up on your cheeks when he placed his lips against the back of your hand.

“Do you want to tell her, babe?” he asked as he shot you a wink, the small act telling you it was a joke. The growing grin on his face told you his actions were false as well, but you couldn’t help how your heart fell that it was all a lie. You once again rolled your eyes at the boy who held your hand.

“You can tell her, sweetheart,” you giggled while Tom held your hand in both of his and you leaned your head on his shoulder.

“Y/n and I have been in a relationship for a little while now and that relationship has been completely platonic and we are just friends,” he laughed as he placed your hand back in your own lap. You would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t miss the feeling of his hand in yours, but now was not the time to think about that.

“Yeah guys, we’re only friends,” you chuckled, making eye contact with the camera that was filming the whole thing while you lifted your head from its previous resting place on his shoulder. “Nothing more.”

Later after the interview, you and Tom are walking to the car that was going to take you both back to your hotel and the events of earlier kept circling through your mind. The way it felt to have his arm around you and you leaning into his side. You craved that feeling. His hand in yours and his lips pressed to the back of it. You wanted more of that. Just being with him, you strived to have more moments with him, but you always thought that it was because you were really good friends and you liked having his presence near. However, you feared that you were into something more that he was not going to be interested in.

“You did good with the whole dating joke. That was funny,” you giggled lightly as you bumped his shoulder while walking by his side.

“Hopefully, you didn’t think it was too funny,” he mumbled, his own eyes widening at his slight confession. Your eyebrows drew together in confusion and your feet stopped moving forward.

“What?” you spoke the only word that was running through your mind at the moment. Tom stopped walking as well and turned to face you.

“I kinda liked holding your hand and I kinda like you,” he stated sheepishly, his gorgeous brown eyes looking everywhere but at you.

“What are you saying, Tom?” you asked, knowing exactly what he was saying but you wanted to be sure. He stepped forward a bit and took your hand in his, interlocking your fingers just as he did before.

“I’m saying that I like you, y/n, and I want to be with you. We can just try it out for a little bit?” he asked more than stated.

“You mean we can try out being together?”

“Yeah, we can keep it quiet until we’re sure and then if you want, we can go public with it. I was not lying when I said I love working with you. It wasn’t because you’re great to work with because you are. It was because you are great to be with. So maybe we try this out and see how things work with us while we do press and see how things work after this when we are separate and doing our own thing. We can go from there and see if this is something we want to continue or announce?” he questioned nervously while his eyes finally locked with yours. The corners of your mouth turned upwards in a huge grin, happy to be hearing what you had wished to hear for a while now.

“I’d love to be with you, Tom,” you gushed, grinning ear to ear.

“Well, that’s great, babe,” he chuckled after using the nickname he called you earlier. His other hand slid around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You felt his breath fan over your lips before he closed the space between you two.

“But you know that Mackie and Seb are going to pick on us about this too right?” you reminded him when you pulled away slightly and he giggled.

“Yeah, we’re never going to hear the end of it.”

--------------------------------------------------

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[chaoticunorigionalstranger]

BOM 8.8.22 - London

I have audio if anyone wants it

I haven't got lots to say about today's performance, apart from it was amazing as always. Dom was Dom....amazing vocally and very expressive as always. But Stevie really was on top form and stole every scene he was in. He certainly recieved the largest applause and cheers at curtain call, followed by Dom.

Sitting in row A of the stalls also meant my short ass self got to appreciate the footwork of the dancing. I knew it was impressive having sat in various locations across the stalls, circle and lodges, but seeing it at eye level (as I said, I'm short) - seriously - these guys are so bloody talented it takes my breath away seeing it so close.

McPriceley

Lack of McPriceley today 😭 Kevin wasn't really into McKinley - apart from excitedly pointing to him during TIO and saying "he's good" to Arnold. Even when he followed McKinley's come hither finger in SMHD there wasn't much interaction between them. Stevie seemed to try - gyrating at Dom (which was actually hilarious) and lots of tongue flicking, but Dom didn't seem that into it tonight.

In TIO there wasn't the almost kiss 😭 - Price put his hands briefly on McKinley's shoulders (when I say briefly I mean briefly - it lasted seconds) then stepped away super quick, so there wasn't an opportunity for a lean in.

In SMHD McKinley did his come hither finger and Kevin followed, and McKinley actually gryrated at Kevin, but they were too far apart and it didn't last long. If they'd been closer then that would have been truly amazing for my McPriceley trash heart.

Stevie as McKinley

He really was on top form tonight. At bows he certainly got the largest cheer.

Stevie's 'crush it' got such a resounding laugh and cheer from the audience that the cast stood there just looking at eachother and then to the audience waiting for it to stop. It was wonderful to see Stevie's and Dom's eyes when that happened .

A highlight for me was McKinley's 'WTAF' expression when Arnold is talking about the matrix logic trick before running after Kevin. At first he looked really firm and was clearly trying to keep Anrold in check, but then when he started talking about the logic trick McKinley stood there with a WTF face and seemed to kinda give up.

Mission President Rolley and his assistants Jack G and Tom A.

Mission Pres Rolley got such a loud cheer when he stood up after JSAM and did his suit button up, that he had to sit back down and wait for the audience to stop before continuing. He stood there, but when it didn't die down he turned to the audience and that just made people cheer louder. The cast were laughing (obv descreetly, but cos I was front row I could see it) and a couple of the Elders actually turned away. It was brilliant - he almost broke when he turned to the audience the second time.

My fav highlight of the show was when the Mission Pres assistants didn't know what a cliterous was in JSAM.

Tom A 'whats a cliterous?',

Jack G: 'I dunno'.

It was worth sitting in the front row just to see and hear that exchange!

Dom as Price

What can I say about Dom? Dom is wonderful and so talented that I don't understand how he can actually get better with each performance (lamo). I shan't simp/thirst because there isn't much more to say, but the women next to me certainly were. When he stripped down to the magic undies one actually went "oh. Wow" and her friend said "I know". It wa shared not to laugh at how awkward that was cos he was literally right in front of us.

His facial expressions were so incredible that I had to stop watching him and focus on the ensemble otherwise I'd feel like a creep.

Ollie as Cunningham

I know it's controversial - but I prefer Ollie to Tom. Tom's chemistry with Dom is brilliant, but Ollie is really funny and reminds me a bit of Josh Gad. His laugh and then shocked expression when Kevin says the Book will really help the Africans was brilliant - the way he looked shocked when he realised Price actually meant it! I also like the dry heaving more than the clinging to Price in Hasa Diga. Sorry - I know Tom is really popular in the fandom - and I love his performances, and his and Dom's voices go really well together. I just like Ollie. Don't hate me.

[the-army-brat-and-the-nerd]

Favorite Smallville(clois/non clois) funny scenes?

Ooh..Interesting!! There are a lot of memorable ones I love- I just hope I'd be able to recollect all those now. Lois Lane and Oliver Queen were my favorite funniest characters on the show, but- I'll die for Clark's expressions throughout the series, they're too amusing and comical (thankyou Tom Welling!).

Without much ado :

CLOIS

Exposed (5 x 06)

You know the one I'm talking about! Yup-Lois Lane at Windgate in that Stars and stripes outfit. Don't ever get me started on how much I loved and enjoyed seeing Clark Kent cringe like that. It was so freaking hilarious, the way he tried to pretend he wasn't interested at all, the way his face turned to one of absolute horror when Lois caught his gaze, and she, in turn: looking like Christmas came early that year. And the events which followed, especially: "What are you doing here?"

HONORABLE MENTIONS

These might not seem extremely funny and all- so I'll just associate the word 'Entertaining' with them (I re-read this and understood I've nearly listed out almost every Clois scene here)

1. The whole sequence of events in Committed, from her getting obnoxiously drunk to the picture we get to ponder upon once she was taken back to Kent farm, the "Clark Kent will you marry me?", the ridiculously cute nicknames in the jeweler's shop, them stumbling upon Ollie, and him dismissively laughing off the "We're getting married!". Also the banter in Odyssey.('He wishes he didn't know me', 'You disappear for a month and come back with a sense of humor?' and 'It's only your kneecap!'). Rooftop scene of Hex.

2. The whole of Krypto, I adored their bickering so much in the episode, especially the "Clarkie" scenario('He's annoying and I can't get within ten feet of him without being sick. I think we should call him Clarkie!'). The way Clark patiently deals with her is so cute ('Is it the 'ie' part that you don't like? Coz we can always make it 'Clark, and that would be too confusing. You can be Skipper!') and I also enjoyed the ending, where she took the effort to bath Shelby, and her "Maybe I'm allergic to you!"

3. I loved Echo, where Clark got to literally hear Lois' thoughts, especially the elevator scene following "You know what the general always says, on certain days....." -yeah you get it, people! His smile is so priceless, and also that stare. Also enjoyed Crossfire and auditioning for 'Good Morning Metropolis', the 'I've got a really annoying ringing in my ear' and 'Congratulations Clark, you're dating Mother Teresa in six inch heels'

4. Whenever their parents caught them : In gone and in Ambush. I loved the opening scene in Gone when they had to face the 20 questions from Martha and Jonathan, and her backing out after the 'This is a family matter, so, I'm leaving.' just after 'The chopper landed face-first in the middle of the field'. Clark looks so adorably annoyed in that one. (Seriously, someone give him an award for his various expressions!). Oh- and I really don't have to say about Ambush- both of them looking kinda drunk (on love) and having to face a solemn looking Sam Lane straight away, who definitely didn't seem one bit impressed.

5. Nearly every Clois scene is season 4, special mention to "Lois can sleep in the barn"(Lucy), "Is that a promise or a threat"(Devoted), and the opening scene of the finale: 'Try to keep your tears to a minimum.' Oh- also 'My perfect job would be a radio disk jockey' and the 'You talk enough there won't be any dead air' among countless others. I also liked that interaction with Sam Lane and 'Lo, you failed last semester.' and Clark going hysterics after that.

6. Crimson-'Were we just set up?, 'the hot fudge and halibut' Lois and "big, strong arms"(and slow dancing), the tattoo, the Whitesnake CD, the "Lois is into me!" and everything else. Also Hydro (lol) were she just slaps him across the face, and him removing the Green Arrow mask to reveal that big smitten face of his.

7. Clark dealing with the after effects of Lois' legendary cooking : Persuasion (Even Shelby couldn't bite into her 'pot roast') and Lucy ('If you were any nicer, we'd starve!'). It's truly realistic. (I'd like to add-It's too good to see that Clark takes over the kitchen, in their future domestic life though, and we all know it is half out of the terrifying thought of Lois setting the place on fire lol). Lois-making fun of his sense of fashion, and still 'borrowing' his plaid & flannel.

8. These are not exactly funny- but the arm punches, Lois stealing all his food at the DP, Clark Kent singing in the shower (Escape) and Lois Lane dancing to 'Boomerang' (Persuasion)

NON CLOIS

Spell(4 x 08)

As much as I hated the plot of the episode, and as much as this particular one moment isn't even close to anything which Clark Kent represents-kid or not-it somehow manages to crack me up every time. The first time I saw that guy from Princeton come into the barn looking utterly mortified and then, the perfect cherry on top being Clark going like: "Hey, come on in-and join the party!", I doubled up with laughter, so hard- my stomach hurt.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

1. Oliver rescuing Clark in Russia (Odyssey)- and the 'Is my presence here bothering you?' and 'Starting to'

2. The whole of Fortune. That one from start to end was a blessing: with every single one of them going insane. Clark Kent: the Kleptomaniac, Lois fighting for her wedding ring, Chloe in a bride's dress holding one half of a marriage certificate, Tess and Emil's crazy concert, and above everything- Oliver Queen dressed up as a fortune showgirl. It was too funny for words. (especially the way Chloe recognizes Lois and him)

3. The unintentional double date in Escape, where everyone was indirectly teasing Clark. ('That wasn't Lois' Brochure, Clark..That was mine' and Oliver's knowing smile which follows). Also liked the later awkward conversation ('I stopped a bank robbery.')

4. Oliver somersaulting out the window in Ambush('What are we, 16?'), Tess laughing at Cat's 'Lois is the Blur', Emil in Persuasion, Lois and Jimmy('Excuse me, did I get a lecture from Jimmy Olsen?') Clark and Chloe in Sneeze and the ending of Bloodline, (I think) where Oliver arrives unannounced into the Clark's house.

Thankyou so much for the question!