#when i watched the movie that was the weakest part i found

[bmpmp3]

I think the annihilation movie is solid albeit flawed and at times really fantastic BUT now having read the book, while I largely like that the movie and book have so little to do with each other, being able to compare the two now did make me realize how much less interesting marital problems stemming from infidelity are compared to marital distance stemming from an inherent difficulty to emotionally connect with other human beings despite one's persisting loneliness

[restinslices]

Random MK1 Headcanons

I'm legit so brain empty rn. Even my requests ain't giving me inspiration or motivation fr. But because I do not want this acc to die, here are random headcanons for random MK1 characters :D. Don't take these too seriously btw.

Tomas sometimes forgets he's white

"Oh, is it because we're Asian?!" "I beg your pardon?”

Kung Lao believes people with peanut allergies are the weakest links of society

And people with asthma

Him and Raiden spend way too much time debating about this

"They can't control that they have breathing problems" "They're weak. Who has problems breathing?”

Kenshi growing up in the Yakuza means he knows random ass creepy facts about death. The Earthrealm guys will be watching a horror movie and he's like "this is so unrealistic. There's not enough air in that box! He should be dead by now!”

Everytime Liu Kang tries to lecture his champions about doing smth stupid, they're like "well you made us like this, so whose fault is it?”

Mileena still feels awful about what she did to Kenshi, so she's overly hospitable to him when him and the gang visit

"You want some water?" "I'm alright" "Okay. There's food made" "Oh, thank you!" "Yeah! Uhh I bought a phone charger for you. I don't even know what a phone is but I bought it for you" "You didn't have to do that" "I did your taxes" "What?”

Johnny definitely took the Outworld gang to see a movie. "Oh, when would they find the time?" don't question me

Mileena hates werewolf movies because it reminds her of herself. Yeah, she doesn't turn into a dog, but she can't control that monstrous part of herself

Baraka definitely had a few words for Liu Kang when he found out that Liu Kang chose to make Tarkat a disease

Kitana and Mileena were probably shocked when they found out about their lives in the previous timelines. Them bitches stayed squabbling.

"All I asked for was a hug and you put your hands on me :(" "You were a clone of me. Excuse me for being in shock"

Bitch when Kenshi finds out he was blind before-

"AND YOU COULDN'T STOP THIS, LIU KANG?!" "HOW MANY TIMES DO I GOTTA EXPLAIN THAT I GAVE Y'ALL FREE WILL?”

It's 2am sooooo imma end this here

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 08

PREVIOUS

FF knows that it might be possible to get a new flight and that the excuse of “Oh I found a flight so I could go spend the holiday with my Gran” would probably be unassailable even tot he great unknown of Andrew Minyard’s displeasure (FF has not yet figured out when the pin will drop and Andrew will come at him. The man is a stone wall but FF knows that Andrew doesn’t like him and that knowledge is confirmed every time Andrew and Captain Neil come into Nicky’s dorm and find FF there hanging out with Nicky and he sees both Andrew and Captain Neil frown at him.)

It’s just that it takes 7-10 business days for him to build up the nerve to have to call someone and deal with customer service and it would take more bravery than he currently has to press forward and actually get a flight that would WORK. He has a very limited window for when he can get to Washington. HIs Gran had called a friend to borrow a car to pick him up and that was only available during a 6 hour window on his arrival date.

He COULD get a taxi to his Gran’s house but… (“What if I get kidnapped, what if I get trafficked, how do I tell a normal taxi from a taxi that will take me to a place where I’ll wake up in an ice bath and down a kidney, what if the taxi driver doesn’t like me, what if the taxi driver wants to talk, I don’t have anything interesting to say! What if he says mean things about me in his native language on the phone and I have to pretend that I don’t know what he’s SAYING?)… he’d probably die during the hour long ride from the anxiety.

He tells his Gran and she promises to get a pie out to him A.S.A.P.

It almost makes him feel better until he remembers what he had agreed to when Andrew came at him at his WEAKEST MOMENT to get him to agree to spend an entire four days at the house in Columbia he has HEARD stories about.

FF, laying face down on the floor in Nicky’s dorm as Nicky pats his back: Nicky next time you see me about to agree to something that will result in me getting killed I NEED you to run up and just punch me in the jaw. I’m begging you. You know I’m a disaster.

Nicky thinking about how Andrew has gotten weirdly protective of FF since the whole step brother incident: I need you to understand that that will result in ME being killed which I am not a big fan of.

FF misunderstanding: My grandma’s not THAT strong Nicky. At most grandmothers from across the country will frown disapprovingly at you.

Nicky thinking about all the little old ladies who dote on FF for inexplicable reasons and how some of them know he’s FF’s friend and give Nicky the grandma experience he had lacked growing up: Somehow that’s even worse than what I was thinking :(

***

Nicky coming to check on FF hours later: Are…are you watching the Saw movies?

FF taking copious notes: I need to prepare myself to survive Columbia. Do you have a basement or will Andrew be moving me to a secondary location?

Nicky walking over and shutting off the TV: I think it’s time to go to bed champ.

FF: If I don’t sleep then Andrew can’t drag me to a secondary location. I bought a 20 pack of five hour energy because that is the most the CVS would sell me.

Nicky: They cut you off??

FF: Yeah the manager there said he’d sell it as a ‘favor’ to a ‘loyal customer’ but to destroy my receipt and I had to buy in cash in case I die from a heart attack so it’s not linked to them. So if I play my cards right I have around 4 days of energy right here. I have looked up all the foods that can make you sleepy and will be avoiding them to stack the deck.

Nicky guiding FF towards his bedroom: Y’know that includes turkey. Also those five hour energy shots will be murder on your tummy. :(

FF: I am willing to make some sacrifices so I can live to see 19 Nicky. Also I figure I can just drink an entire bottle of Pepto per bottle of five hour energy resulting in a net neutral situation in my stomach.

Nicky tucking FF into bed carefully: Or result in you going to the hospital for an overdose get some sleep Smith. Andrew is not planning on killing you.

FF already falling asleep because his stress energy is running out: You have no idea how much he dislikes me and how much pepto my body can handle but you’re right about going to sleep. I’ll need my strength to power through the reverse bear trap let alone a laser collar.

***

2 of Grandma Smith’s apple pies arrive in the early afternoon of Thanksgiving via a little old lady turning up at Abby’s house who is a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of Grandma Smith. The Foxes take a moment to marvel that somehow it is still warm despite apparently having been Granny expressed across the country despite the storm.

The delivering old lady pinches FF’s cheek and says not to be too disheartened and that his Grandma loves him and will see him for Christmas Break for SURE. She hands him a little note his Gran sent with the pies and he pointedly does not read it there.

This would make FF happy if he hadn’t been swearing up down left and right that he didn’t TALK to his grandma to Andrew whose eyes he can FEEL on him.

He manages a “THANKS.” In a perfectly normal tone. He has no memory that he already told Andrew and Captain Neil that he was spending the holiday with his grandma since he had blue screened at the offer last time and had rebooted in safe mode to power walk away from the situation.

“Your grandma is really nice.” Captain Neil says. “Those pies look good.”

FF, his anxiety momentarily overridden by a soul-deep love for his grandma, “My gran is the BEST and so are her pies.” And then he hears what he has said and walks back into Abby’s house to set out one pie for everyone else and goes and stress eats the second one on the living room couch after he promised Abby he’d clean up any mess.

He wonders if he’ll make it to Christmas Break as he sees Kevin Day staring at him in abject horror while Andrew stares straight at him.

Even with the attention on him he decides to check the note the other granny had given him from his Gran. It is in her native polish so he feels his shoulders relax since no one would be able to read it.

‘For my little Chicken, this isn’t your last meal like you texted me. I know you will be fine. I am thankful for you in my life every day.’

He tucks the note in his pocket and feels a little better.

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242 @whataboutmyfries @sahturnos

[xenodile]

okay, slept on it, had some time to think, more coherent thoughts on Alien Romulus, spoilers below

The last second swerve into whole plot referencing Aliens and Alien 4 were by far the weakest parts of the movie, because the movie was at its strongest when it was focusing on Andy and the influence of the corporate programming, and the threat that even a single xenomorph poses.

The facehuggers were the stars, seeing them thaw out of cold storage, skittering around like spiders, the corridor sequence, all of them were phenomenal, and the addition of a single adult xenomorph perfectly accented the threat of a few dozen facehuggers.

The xenomorph itself was excellent as a solitary threat, retaliating even when it was vulnerable, stalking the other characters, the elevator catch, waiting at the door, presenting the xenomorph as a single implacable monster with a goal is so much more compelling than a horde of them charging down a hallway, and lends credence to the set up of the movie in which the station was taken out of commission by essentially a single xenomorph getting loose.

Having the Xenomorph and the Facehuggers present together allows for a much more interesting and complex story as the xenomorph, which we already know is a vicious killing machine, now just tries to catch and keep the humans alive so they can be infested, and it's a bit disappointing that we didn't get more of that, watching the titular monster behave almost like an infatuated stalker as it tries to seize their right moment to strike so it can have more hosts for its brood.

Though on that note, I think it would've been stronger if the one xenomorph from the prologue had persisted instead of being found as a corpse, because then more could've been done with the one character that actually got infested and had the facehugger removed prematurely. It felt like a bit of a waste to have her get grabbed, have the facehugger removed within a few minutes, and yet she still gets infested as if it had been on the whole time. That aspect felt very rushed as if having a chestburster scene was mandatory just because it's an Alien movie. The cocoon scene could've stayed in as is and just had the xenomorph laying dormant in the absence of prey, rather than it being a newborn xenomorph molting within seconds of emerging.

Back to my other point, Andy. Andy was easily the best character, and David Jonsson's performance was incredible. That said, I wished the narrative had focused more on him and his bond with Rain. I think the story would have been much stronger if rather than completely overwriting his personality, the Weyland-Yutani programming merged and conflicted with his existing directive, and he was allowed more agency to be vindictive about his treatment as a damaged synthetic, which is a very clear allegory for being a disabled black man. Sort of letting the Corporate directive be this corrupting influence rather than full on mind control, where he's suddenly able and has greater control, and can actually stand up for himself instead of being coddled and protected by Rain.

Overall the movie is good, it's perfectly serviceable and there's nothing outlandishly bad, but there was a lot of potential in some of the concepts it presents that just weren't properly utilized to its detriment.

[malacandrax]

Hi! I really look up to your art a lot and I had a question for you! How do you do studies when you find art hard to do? (Ex. Low motivation, lack of ideas, or simply art feeling like a chore, even when you want to do it.) You have such a good handle on body structure and your posing shows so much personality though it, but I'm sure there are times when art feels idle or empty. Do you have a process for working through that? To keep studying?

Thank you, thats so sweet! <3

Honestly I kind of do studies the most when I AM feeling uninspired or lost, they make me feel like I've made something good and ‘worthwhile’ even if I couldn't think of something else to draw or didn't feel like working harder on drawings from my head.

Maybe that's also a part of it- to me studies are easier than drawing from imagination and I find them kind of chill and rewarding. I imagine when I started out studies were probably a lot more frustrating!

I also have spoken with a friend about this and I'm maybe quite lucky in that visual information sticks in my head quite well, almost every time I do studies I find it immediately helpful. Like the other day I drew a behind the head angle, and then found it useful right after, drawing Astarion.

It doesn't last forever though, my memory fades and I have to refresh it again with studies until it eventually becomes more concrete.

I also don't really force it, I do art for my job during work hours and I usually (lately) feel like drawing after work or on weekends, but if I don't feel like it I try and do some other hobby or watch stuff. Sorry though, I know this isn't exactly answering the question!

I guess sometimes I want to want to draw, so I start and see how I feel after ten minutes, if I want to keep going or not, that's maybe the best advice for doing anything when you're feeling meh. It also helps to identify What you want to work on, i have a list in my head of stuff I feel weakest at and I find having it broken down like that helps it feel less like a mountain. Like … things I've picked out lately are :what legs look like sitting in chairs, and heads tilting at different angles. To be honest another thing I've been trying to work on is getting more personality into my poses, it's funny that you compliment just that when I feel it's something I want to work on! I suppose it's a never ending journey haha. I've been reading 'drawn to life' and trying to take the ideas of not just copying reality, but getting more of the essence of it than the technicals!

Saying that sometimes the low stakes 'draw photos that come up on ur dashboard' is fun, in contrast to a focused approach! Or my fav is pausing on movies and drawing that! It takes the worry out, like cool no scrolling for an hour looking for something that will be Perfect Learning Material, just draw something.

Anyway this is very long and I hope it helps ;;;

[obligitory-fma-blog]

I watched the second fma Netflix adaptation. Here’s the best of my notes:

They had the whole fma original soundtrack to use for this movie and tHEY DIDNT??

Purification arts of Xing?? Just call it Alcehestry like they do in the show?? (No I didn’t spell it right I was noting stuff as I went and didn’t look it up)

Okay the weird pause before Lan Fan pulled out the smoke bomb…

ITS AN ACTUAL BOMB?????

Lots of weird pauses and slow-mo’s to mimic anime fights but it reads weird as live action and I don’t like it

HUGHES THANK FUCK PLEASE MAKE THIS LESS WEIRD

Wtf never mind hi envy with your shit ass wig (I forgot they killed off Hughes in the first one 😭😭)

LAN FAN BODIED HIM LMAO

Ed really be like “you do you ig”

“Yeah people exploding today!” Is my favorite line so far. (English Captions with Japanese audio; this was the train hijacker guy from fma 03)

Ed’s expression when Mustang shows up is the most in character thing I will say that (after train stuff)

I will say they did better on characterization this time around I feel like they’re close to the actual characters

But it’s hard to get close to them since they aren’t, well, animated characters. Trying not to judge too harshly.

Not terrible so far actually

Okay nevermind about the cgi WHAT IS WITH XIAOMEI

“I mean, we’re just some decent human beings.” -Ed who wanted to leave Mei behind

GO OFF MEI YEAHHHH TELL HIM THE BITCH

Okay we’re gonna have a really awkward explosion-over-short moment that just will not work because it isn’t animated

GIRLIE ARE YOU HAVING A SEIZURE

Mei being a bitch back is warranted

They be running

“You’ll never catch me, tiny rice man!” -Mei (rice man?)

The dialogue being altered where Ed says he doesn’t have a god to pray to before scar kills him bothers me

I like Alphonse’s movements on the ground when he’s incapacitated, I think the cgi works well there

Hi Mustang good on you for saving your pseudo sons

Riza with the side eye lmao

The slowmo’s again like hello

ARMSTRONG HIIIII You look really fuckin weird tho But HIIIIII

Okay the flexing I can do without thanks it looks weird

Yes Breda why is he shirtless

The red eyes don’t look good either. (For scar)

N ow see why wouldn’t you put in a leitmotif for the brothers theme in this scene with Ed and Al and instead just put in sad piano that sounds vaguely similar to it

WHERES THE LINE ABOUT THEM BEING BROKEN BUT ALIVE WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THAT

Riza being the best and putting her coat over Ed >>>>

Mustang go comfort your son’s PLEASE

Okay just ignore that I’m on the found family train

Girlie that looked like a bad PowerPoint presentation WHY WOULD YOU DO IT LIKE THAT?? (The part where the officer shot the ishvallen child)

Gluttony… hi… again…. Can’t wait for your cgi…. (It didn’t look as bad tbh)

Sorry but with the military uniform off and just the white collared shirt he looks LIKE A DAD LIKE CMON (Mustang)

“You’ve grown… at least I think.” -Hoenhiem, observational genius

“I think I like this scene better than canon a bit actually? Cause Ed gets to express his emotions more than just calling him a bastard

Okay Hoenhiem just ignore him??

Uh oh they have to walk back together

“Our hair matches :D” -Hoenhiem

Ed immediately takes his out of the ponytail

Im not gonna lie I chuckled at that

Also I love seeing Ed with his hair down we don’t get enough of that

“stop following me” -Ed

“we’re going to the same place? 😥” -Hoenhiem

Okay we’re talking about Xerxes instead of Ed and Al’s mom or…?

And the bitch is gone

YOURE GOING TO XERXES WITH AUTOMAIL YOU DUMBASS YOURE GONNA OVERHEAT

Ooooo love the look of Xerxes ruins

Awwww Winry’s parents :D we get more of them

They’re gonna die tho and I hate that :(

This is gonna be so hard wrenching actually-

GIRL IM GONNA CRY

5 minutes into Central and you’re already causing trouble, good job Ed

Al I feel like has the weakest characterization so far in this adaptation he’s just reacting to stuff rather than doing stuff as far as I’ve seen

Scar when Winry is having a breakdown🧍

Ruhroh Winry’s got a gun

Okay the slowmo makes more sense here

Ed saves the day :D

Also we finally see scars brother after getting no context on him

Good acting on Lan Fan’s part

Also why is this calling her Ran Fan? Is that a dub thing (they called Ling “Lin” but this was all in the captions so I’m confused)

“King Bradley is a Homonculus” very serious Ling “hUh.” -Ed

Any Mustang and Hughes content is good Mustang and Hughes content I don’t make the rules

Also it’s good they didn’t change the layout of Riza’s explanation montage for Ishval because it works really well in canon and translated pretty well to live action

Riza and Roy’s speeches near the end >>>

Oh great the bros are gonna try and catch scar alone this can only end well

Well they definitely didn’t catch him

WINRY HOW TF ARE YOU HERE??

MUSTANG WHY TF ARE YOU HERE???

Oh hi Riza :D

Mustang’s like “let ur gf speak to him if she wants like damn”

Ed’s like “bb girl if he says anything shitty I’ll fight for you”

WINRY GIRLBOSS LUV HER

“Hell no I don’t forgive you for shit, but I’m gonna patch you up anyway.” -Winry

Okay cool message, someone must endure pain if it means they can prevent further suffering and cycles of violence

Uh oh Gluttony escaped

He be runnin

YEAH ED AND AL SAVE UR DAD

YEAH SCAR SAVE WINRY

YEAHHHHHH

“Wait I won’t leave you behind” MUSTANG BEING A DAD AHEGWIWNWN

“Colonel your fight is elsewhere” SCREAMING

Oh hi envy

ED SAVINF LING

and they got eaten lmao

Yay we’re all trapped in Gluttony’s stomach :D

Envy is so cynical what a bitch lol

“Tf is a portal of truth 🧍” -Ling

Oh great we’re gonna get cgi envy this will go well right?

EW

Could be worse but

EW

Conclusion: it was okay. There were parts I genuinely liked. There are things that also bug me to no end. The soundtrack from the original series would’ve fit way better and a lot of times it sounded like an off brand marvel track. Acting and cgi was a lot better (at times.) An improvement on the first one, and a semi-worthwhile watch if you have nothing else to do and you like fma. Cannot and will never be a substitute for the original obviously. Seems like less of a cash grab and more of a genuine effort this time which I appreciate. Overall? 6.5/10

(Lemme know if y’all want my full notes version because it has way more of me screaming and being goofy)

[zalrb]

little women is def the only greta movie I really like, so I’m glad you feel the same. What did you think of the cast and chemistry

Yeah it's definitely a technical accomplishment. I wasn't particularly moved by the monologues or the themes in the dialogue, it kind of just reminded me of Mona Lisa Smile in that way

but as a movie, as, like, a piece of cinema,

I was like, yes, this is breathtaking. When I saw the Laurie/Jo dancing sequence -- probably my favourite in the movie -- I was like ah, OK, this will be a cinematic treat.

I thought the chemistry was great especially between the sisters, they really brought to life the warmth and closeness and affection the March sisters have for each other and the scenes with them just announcing things to each other were very charming and very funny.

I did think Timothee had the appropriate chemistry with Saoirse and Florence respectively. A few years ago someone asked me to watch different scenes in different movies between Saoirse and Timothee to see if I thought they had chemistry, and I concluded that it looks like they get on really well and are very comfortable with each other but they don't have that spark, even when they're playing romantic interests, that makes a scene feel romantically charged for me

and that's how I felt watching Jo and Laurie where I was like, I could believe that they were soulmates but I don't see romance. Whereas with Timothee and Florence, granted the writing is different for them and Laurie is given more flirtatious lines with Amy (when they're 20) but I believe the undercurrent there, I believe the hint of tension, and they played off of each other and the banter well.

I think the weakest actors were Timothee and Emma and I felt like Meg could be taken out of the movie and nothing much about it would really change -- it just seems she's there for that one scene with Jo just before she gets married to indicate that each sister has a different dream, a different goal, and not everyone has to subscribe to Jo's way of thinking, which is a valid reason to have a character but it also felt like that could be done without Meg. I also couldn't take Timothee's pout seriously when Jo rejects Laurie.

I thought Florence was good. Over the years I've briefly seen comments about the Amy/Laurie/Jo thing and a few people said that they didn't believe Laurie would fall for Amy partly because when he sees her in France, years are supposed to have gone by and she's supposed to have transformed but because Florence played both parts, they couldn't quite believe how he would see her differently. I disagree. I think Florence did a really good job in portraying a young, bratty girl and then transforming into a pragmatic, poised young woman.

I also thought Saoirse was good, the scene that stuck out to me the most wasn't any of the monologue scenes, it's actually the first time Beth gets sick and she goes down the stairs, wondering if she's died and there's a hint of panic and sorrow before she beams with relief and happiness at seeing Beth at the table.

Jo is who I related to the most -- I have had my stories ripped apart in front of me and for a while, it was the worst day of my life so her response to Amy burning her novel was like oh yeah I get that -- I'm not as fiercely opposed to marriage as she is but being dedicated to my craft and being content with being alone but also being lonely is something that I (and many women, which is why that monologue circulated for moooooooonthsssssss) relate to, but Amy was my favourite to watch just because I found her one-liners very funny, like her remark that Laurie must be romantic because he's part Italian or when she says that Jo's hair is the only pretty thing about her and she cut it off or when she explains why she burned Jo's novel, it was barely contrite and just her explaining that she did it because there was no other way to hurt her as if her line of reasoning was enough, like I just found that hilarious.

The character that I had the most trouble with is probably Marmee, like she has that conversation with Jo about how she's angry everyday but after forty years, she knows how to not let it get the best of her so I get that we're supposed to understand that she's a person with an inner life and complex emotions and not simply a one-dimensional, static virtuous woman who is just kind all the time but that's basically what she's presented as.

I understand why the ending is the ending but I personally didn't care for it, I thought it was too direct, too much of a breaking of the fourth wall and I generally dislike when they do that at the end of movies.

[fairydust-stuff]

Freddy Boy damsels part 1 Joey

The thing about male SA survivors in fiction analysis is it's like doing janga puzzle. It's honestly shocking how often I see a depiction of a male sexual abuse survivor in fiction. Only to read interviews and realize the creators didn't even realize what they wrote or shot was sexual assault of a man.

And there's always the question is it subtle and quiet because the writers just didn't realize. Or is it an honest attempt at a male pov since violated men and teenage boys do tend to keep it secret and often don't have the vocabulary or knowledge to combat or vocalize what was done to them fully. Even when they do, what can they do about it?

So I guess I tend to rely more on interpretation and subtext with these characters. Then with female SA surviviors because its usually what I have to go on. And just picking through the details with a fine tooth comb.

Nightmare on Elm street tends to flip the script in terms of female badasses and Freddy getting some boy damsels to terrorize. But I noticed Freddy's creeping on the boys just doesn't get talked about as much. So I just have to talk about this.

Joey from Dream warriors tends to get focus from directors and fans all the commentary is about the underage actor making out with the hot adult women.

But i don't see a lot of focus on the whole Freddy decieves and sexually assaults Joey thing.

In his failed attempt at murder involves Freddy disguising himself as an attractive nurse. And he then in the female persona makes out with Joey for quite a while.

Then he tangles his tounge in Joey's mouth and uses it to tie him to the bed while quipping. " What's the matter Joey feeling touge tied?"

Then he opens a fiery pit under him leaving the kid to slowly bake alive while leaving him as bait for the others.

If you watch that scene knowing its Freddy the whole time. The sexual predator reading of his character becomes very heavy. He tricks a teenage boy into kissing him. Uses a pun usually used to context of someone being akward around their crush. Then ties him to an actual bed with the tounge from his mouth.

Even though he wants to kill the kid. Its very sexually charged.

There's also an element of Joey being mute due to trauma as a result of Freddy invading his nightmares. Given the nature of Freddy's role within those nightmares. It gives off the vibe that Joey is an abuse victim who has been silenced by his abuser. Who continues to torment him.

Which is why is kinda annoys me when fans complain about Joey's power being lame. Yes he screams and shatters glass, but that is the point.

Though out the movie kids repeatedly scream for Freddy. They are his helpless so its all they can do.

Then Joey who's been so terrorized by Freddy he cann't even scream the whole movie. Transforms what should be a helpless gesture into actual power.

Joey screams and he shatters the glass of Freddy's dream world. saving himself and his friends, because survivors need to be allowed to scream. Its not always the gesture of helplessness sometimes it can be a release. He's not the action hero or the badass. Nancy and Kristen have that role. He is the damsel the others have to save. But he's the first to metaphorically break the silence and fracture Freddy's world.

By the end of the movie, Joey is talking. Since he has found his voice. Thanks to the support from other survivors. In a world that never believed him.

Which sadly brings me to the Dream Master. I also do not like this movie. No anger toward anyone who does. I would find it the weakest in the franchise. I even perfer Freddy vs Jason at least that though bad was fun.

the Dream Warriors are brought back then divided and I have a distaste for horror movies to bring back beloved characters. Just to murder them in a way that adds nothing to the story. But at least Kristen and Kincade got to go out with some dignity intact. (Even though I hate the concept of them dying at Freddy's hand).

But anyway lets unpack even though I doubt the director was thinking beyond an excuse to have a naked blond women on screen. Its basically a rehash of the scene from Dream Warriors.

Freddy turns himself into a naked blond women in Joey's water bed.

Lures him close grabs him and pulls him though it

Then mocks " How are you enjoying your wet dream Joey!" Then drowns him.

Once again we have the targeting of the teen boy though his sex fantasy. Accompanied by mocking him though sexual dialog. Also this moment just looks weirdly intimate from Freddy's angle. Right before he kills Joey.

So its basically a rehash of the scene from Dream Warriors. But it undercuts the whole point of it.

This scene took away Joey's power from the previous movie and Because the director never saw him as anything.

Because Joey wasn't a badass male lead. He was part of a group of warriors and was the one who broke the silence. He has his voice back but the narrative won't let him use it. So his pedo abuser kills him and then he is forgotten.

[cocogum]

The awareness level of Sukuna’s existence doesn’t make any sense.

When I had first watched season 1 for the first time, I always found it weird how no one around Yuji was terrified that he was a walking time bomb.

Like these people have all gone through either the Kyoto Jujutsu High or the Tokyo one. And what do these sorcery schools teach? They teach the basic topics that any school has to have but they primarily teach the different grades (from Grade 4 weakest to Special Grade strongest), how domains work, history of sorcery, general sorcery techniques like barriers, but above all, they teach the different types of curses. Since they’d be teaching the students about all types of curses, they would have obviously taught them about the LITERAL KING OF CURSES and what he had done in the past (like his achievements 😀).

Since that’s the case, how come no one is freaking out or aware that the literal embodiment of chaos’s vessel is now walking around with them??????

Because if you think about it, the only thing separating any jujutsu sorcerer from getting killed, sliced, shredded to bits, or eaten by Sukuna is a 15 year old dude who just started to learn what curses and jujutsu even was 💀.

The only people who actually have good reasons to act this casual were Gojo and the non-sorcerers. Gojo, because he’s literally the strongest so he’d have no reason to be scared of Sukuna (they’re almost equals). And the non-sorcerers because well….they just have no idea who Sukuna is.

And yet, that’s not what we got. Instead, we even got the sorcerer students from both schools acting casual around Yuji as if he didn’t have Sukuna in his back pocket. And it’s not like these students haven’t seen a curse before. A lot of them have a hard time dealing with them so they are AWARE how much of a pain in the ass they are. So why would they not take Yuji’s case a bit more seriously like how they did with Yuta’s?

Cuz I don’t know about you but they painfully made it clear that there was a HUGE difference between the two and all it took to show it was a one hour movie 💀

(Ex: making Yuta wear a distinct white uniform instead of blue just to make the students and teachers aware of his presence.)

(Ex: Maki and the gang attacking Yuta as soon as they meet him because they sensed his cursed energy as soon as he came in the class.)

(Ex: he immediately gets to be ranked as a special grade for containing the ‘Queen of Curses’.)

Yuta even gets a full scene of Gojo and the higher-ups talking about his case in the movie. Now I’m not saying that the higher-ups didn’t talk about Yuji. I’m just saying that, unlike Yuta, we didn’t see his. Yuji didn’t even get to be ranked as a special grade as soon as he got accepted by the school despite containing the KING OF CURSES, someone who literally outranks the ‘Queen of Curses’ by simply blinking.

So even when Yuta had been in the same shoes as him, we can see how he got treated more seriously than Yuji. Like the math isn’t mathing.

The only one who had acted concerned and scared as soon as they saw Yuji, was the principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High, Yoshinobu Gakuganji.

He saw Yuji, was shocked to see him alive, and tried to tell his own students to kill him during the Kyoto Goodwill Event.

His students (excluding Todo) actually listened to him but the weird part about this was the fact that they never show an ounce of curiosity or shock from witnessing someone who withstood Sukuna’s fingers and is actually keeping him in check (for now).

The first time they all saw Yuji, their focus were apparently too into the souvenirs Gojo bought for them that they barely even noticed him or registered the fact that they were all going to compete against someone who has the King of Curses captive in their body.

But that’s clearly not an excuse to NOT notice him! Like come on would you rather focus your time and energy on the vessel that literally keeps the embodiment of DEATH, or on a flimsy ass souvenir????

Now I’m not saying that just because we saw a lot of instances where Yuta was discriminated or taken special treatment means that Yuji did not get treated the same way just because we haven’t seen any scenes like that with him.

I’m just saying that it’s weird how we DIDN’T see any scenes like that with Yuji.

Also, to top it all off, did NO ONE tell Yuji about what Sukuna was capable of??? The only instance where we do see Yuji learning more about Sukuna is when he was nonchalantly walking with Gojo to see principal Yaga for the first time. All Yujj got to know about Sukuna was that: 1. He used to be a human and 2. He had ascended to become a higher being and now kills people for his amusement. I’m legit surprised to see how they haven’t even told Yuji about Sukuna’s abilities. All Gojo said about it was that Yuji could gain Sukuna’s abilities if he trained. He never explicitly said anything about what these abilities were.

And I get that Gojo actually sucks at being a teacher (a first-year teacher) which is why I can give him a pass (even though you have to be this stupid to not be able to at least tell your student what the enemy can do).

[primeconvoy1]

In action today is the Titanic Creations Gorgo figure set, based on the 1961 kaiju movie Gorgo, which I enjoyed watching on a Saturday afternoon as a kid.

This was a crowdfunded project that met all its goals to get produced, and I believe this is the first time we have gotten an articulated Gorgo in plastic form.

Sidenote: I know the larger figure (Gorgo's mother) in this set was called Ogra in the movie, but I'll be referencing it as Gorgo and the smaller one as Baby Gorgo.

The Gorgo set comes in a deluxe see through display package designed and illustrated by Matt Frank .

I love the presentation with the packaging, including the awesome illustration of the monster on the back. The art also shows a burning city backdrop with some nice art references of Dorkins circus that held the baby captive in the movie

You can also see all the content of the set, since the packaging is clear plastic.

Be mindful that some of the accessories can come loose inside the package. The small jet plane accessories sometimes fell behind the larger figure if the interior plastic clamshell is not closed properly.

The main Gorgo figure was sculpted by @d0pep0pe and does an amazing job representing this kaiju.

Gorgo has ton of nice details including sculpted scales, wrinkled skin, and very crocodile like features going from its head down to the tail.

The face sculpt captures the beast well with its ferocious looking design. I especially like the detailing with the ear fins.

Gorgo stands a little under six inches tall when fully posed.

Titanic Creations suggested the figure had 26 points of articulation, but after fiddling with it, I found 39 points, if you count the 11 segments in the articulated tail. That's a bold amount for a company that is putting out a posable figure like this for the first time. Well done!

Gorgo can get into some decent poses, but the toe articulation isn't that strong to hold up the figure, if you're trying to get Gorgo in more dynamic poses. (Recommend squeezing the the front toes together where it plugs into the rest of the foot to help with a tighter joint.)

Gorgo also come with an alternate head that is the same sculpt as the default head but with brighter red glow-in-the-dark eyes! The feature does work, but the glow effect only lasts for a brief time after placing it in direct light.

I use this head as my default head, as the eyes pop more in my display.

Gorgo is done in a dark green color with beige paint going down to the front of the figure, it's underbelly, and underneath the tail.

She also sports some dark grey washes on the faces as well as the scales on the back of the figure. I really like how this fleshes out those sculpted details!

Gorgo comes with some sweet accessories that were unlocked tiers during the crowdfunding campaign.

First up is the Big Ben clock tower accessory to help recreate the iconic scene the movie.

Big Ben is painted mainly in gold which brings out those sharp lines on the building. The accessory also has some claw mark scratches sculpted into it.

Big Ben also has a break away feature, so the top of the tower can be removed.

The next accessory is the small bell sub, which appears to be painted brown and has a few sculpted details.

Next up are the jets and stand. The set comes with 3 jets sculpted in either soft grey plastic or rubber. The cockpits are painted black, which is a nice detail.

To display the jets, while fighting Gorgo, the jets come with a single round base and three black bendy wires that plug into the base and the bottom of the jets.

This was probably the weakest part of the set, as the wires don't plug into the base well and not much better into the jets.

There's also a bit of balancing act to keep them stable, once you do get them on the stand.

The final accessory is the Baby Gorgo figure, which stands a little under 2 inches. It's a static figure with no articulation. Sculpt is well done with similar paint apps to the larger Gorgo figure, just not as extensive. Even the red eyes turned out great, which is impressive for such a small figure.

Overall, I'm really pleased with this figure, and give kudos to the creative team that worked on this!

I look forward to your next kaiju endeavor!

On to pics, Primers! Will post more pics shortly.

[rea-grimm]

Demon's Creed 2

Over the next few days, you got used to life on the base. For those few days, you found out that it was only you and brothers.

You went out to eat with them regularly, but even though everything seemed fine, there was still a gap between you. Sure, some brothers accepted you, but there was clear disbelief from others.

According to Lucifer, Mammon took care of you and greeted you every morning as "Templar." However, he said it in such a tone as if he was going to get sick of it.

Despite all that, you had several opportunities to get closer to them. Like when the brothers suggested they all do a horror marathon.

However, when they told you about it, they only mentioned the movie marathon. You weren’t much into horror. You had such a vivid fantasy that it made you paranoid.

You sat between Beel and Mammon, who bragged about how horror movies were like fairy tales to him. Lucifer was sitting in the chair next to him, looking more or less bored. Across from him on the opposite side sat Satan and next to him Levi and Asmo.

The beginning of the movie was cool. There was nothing there to bother you. However, when it came to the scary part, you didn't understand where they could get such scary movies?

You watched most of the rest of the movie hiding behind pillow, peeking out when Beel told you that it was good. However, to your surprise, it was Mammon who screamed the most.

Through your pillow, you didn't notice Lucifer's amused smile when he looked at you. After the movies, you and Mammon would accompany each other to your rooms.

🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉

You were working on research when your phone buzzed. You wondered what it was when you found out it was a text from Asmo. And by all accounts it was an emergency. A crisis when he needed your help immediately and without delay.

You immediately stopped your research and ran to his room, willing to help him. However, when you burst into his room, Asmo was sitting perfectly still on the bed, showing no signs of being in crisis.

“Y/N, you're finally here! Why are you standing in the doorway? Come in,” he urged you to the bed where he had various nail polishes.

"What's going on?" you asked confused as you sat across from him on the bed.

"It's dreadfull! You can't even imagine! I don't know which of these polishes will look best on me!” he said exaggeratedly, showing you the polishes he was deciding between.

According to you, you chose the nail polish that you thought best suited him. Asmo took the chosen polish in his hand and examined it seriously and thoughtfully. You had no idea what was going through his mind.

Asmo finally brightened and completely agreed with your choice. He unscrewed the bottle as he stopped and looked at you before looking thoughtfully at his polish collection. He picked up one bottle before taking your hand.

"This one will go great with you, don't you think?" he asked excitedly. You nodded your head at the angle and Asmo got all excited. You then painted each other's nails.

🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉

You had the impression that you were the weakest at the base. You were more focused on research than combat and you had the impression that you could use some training. Some basics in self defense.

You knew who to go to and where to look for him. You were the first to head to the kitchen where he was whitewashing the fridge. You admired how he could eat so much and so quickly.

Beel offered you pudding from the fridge before moving to the table with the food as well. There you confessed to him that you didn't want to be a burden and you wanted to learn to defend yourself. By doing so, you also asked him if he would train you.

A part of you was afraid that he would reject you as a former Templar, but the opposite was true. Without hesitation, he agreed to train you. However, he was not going to focus only on self-defense. While that was certainly important, he also wanted to teach you how to fight with a weapon.

You have agreed together on the days and approximate times when you will attend to it. After that you talked about everything.

🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉-🟉

It was evening and you were enjoying a nice rest after training with Beel. You had no idea that your body could hurt in all these places.

You were slowly falling asleep when your phone buzzed. You picked it up lazily and noticed a message from Mammon who was on his way to your room. No sooner had you sat down than there was a knock on your door.

"I'm going to have dinner. Do you want to join the great Mammon?” he asked and as if nothing.

“Sure, I'd love to,” you replied. You originally planned to sleep until morning, but the food sounded great.

“But don't think it means anything! Templar!” he replied almost startled, taking your hand and starting to pull you towards the kitchen.

There, Mammon prepared cups of instant ramen soup, into which he mixed a few other things. You had the impression that some of the ingredients he put there didn't fit together at all. You had the impression that he was preparing some kind of poison rather than ramen.

“And one for you,” he said smugly, placing a steaming cup of soup in front of you.

“Thank you,” you replied nervously and scooped up the noodles on your fork. It looked like toxic waste. Before you even decided to taste it, Beel came to you.

"I thought I smelled something good," he said and took a cup of soup along with several other cups. The whole time here, you wondered how it all fit into him.

"You're not going to eat?" he asked you as he literally devoured the first cup of soup and noticed that you hadn't had a bite yet.

“Hey Beel! Look at your food!” Mammon shouted at him. You smiled at their nudges. You were an only child and everyone treated you like an adult for as long as you could remember. You've never experienced this.

You didn't say anything and instead you finally decided to taste the noodles. You were expecting how awful it would be when the taste caught you by surprise. You didn't expect them to actually be edible, and delicious at that. You then threw yourself into the rest with gusto.

During the meal you exchanged a few words and you caught that they had another brother. Beel had a twin. Belphie who was apparently on a solo mission that was top secret so only Lucifer knew about it.

However, that was all the two said about him. You deliberately asked Beel what his twin was like. Beel looked like he would like to tell you more, but then his expression changed and he just shook his head.

“Talking about Belphie is taboo. Lucifer is pretty strict about that,” he said sadly before stuffing his pockets with food and leaving. You looked at Mammon but he too just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he didn't know much about it.

Obey me! Masterlist

Demon's Creed

[mx-piggy]

Maybe I missed Muppets Mayhem discussions from back when the show came out but I’m wondering what you guys thought of the human characters of the show?

I watched a YouTube review of the show, and I was somewhat surprised at the fact that the reviewer hated the human characters so much, which I do understand as someone who had to force myself to try to like them.

For me I guess I agree that they were the weakest element of the show, and I think it was a mistake to have the human characters be equally as important as the Mayhem. What I enjoyed about the Muppets 2011 was that it knew not to have the human characters ‘hijack’ the movie. I’m not a Muppets expert or anything but the role of humans in Muppet media has always been to support the Muppets, as opposed to having the Muppets be the supporting cast to the humans. It was always a celebrity guest in the Muppet Show, not the other way around.

At times, I think that the Muppets Mayhem felt like those Tom and Jerry movies where it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or the Wizard of Oz, but Tom and Jerry were there for some reason (apologies for the niche reference). Like, the show felt less like a Muppet series but a Goldbergs-esque sitcom that just happened to have Muppets in it. It might have been in part because it’s rare for Muppet media to have such a limited number/range of Muppets in it, if that makes sense? Like, it’s never just Kermit and Miss Piggy, or just Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe. Typically, most/all of the Muppets are present. So, it feels a little less Muppet-y, at least for me. This isn’t an original thought but I feel like Scooter could have functioned well in this show, possibly in the place of Nora (because he was the Mayhem’s road manager in the original Muppet Movie IIRC? So, that might have made it feel more Muppet-y.

With all of that said, I didn’t actively dislike the humans in the show, and I actually quite liked Moog. Overall, the main human characters were a little basic for my taste, but I think the main problem for me was how heavily they featured. Their lack of depth would have been fine if they weren’t treated as having the same importance as the Mayhem. Like, I really didn’t care for Nora and Moog’s relationship; if I wanted that sort of thing, I could go to literally any other sitcom with a pair of male and female main characters of a similar age. I was never actively annoyed by the human characters’ presence, but I just never found myself overly interested in them? They’re just boring, shallow sitcom characters to me (other than Moog, who I like and respect as a fellow Mayhead, though I wish he had less to do with Nora and more to do with the Mayhem). I probably would have liked the humans more if they better supported the Mayhem from a narrative standpoint, as opposed to being the stars of the show and having the Mayhem be secondary to them.

I am hoping, probably in vain, that the humans’ involvement in the show will reduce to a reasonable extent, where they can act as supporting characters for the Mayhem. Failing that, I’m hoping that the human characters will grow on me.

[chasingshadowsblog]

Review: Speak No Evil - Maybe Do, Though

Title: Speak No Evil Directed by: James Watkins Written by: James Watkins Starring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Francosi, Dan Hough, Alix West Lefler Year: 2024

I haven't seen the original Danish version of this film but I understand that the ending is much darker. While I found the ending of this version to be the weakest part of the film, it wasn't the lack of darkness that bothered me so much as the pacing. I don't watch a lot of horror films but in the few I have seen I've found that there usually comes a time near the end when you just have to kill the fucker and get out; that sudden rush is what let Speak No Evil down for me.

Ending aside, I really enjoyed watching the horror itself unfold. The tension throughout Speak No Evil was not so much built-up as immediately present and I ate up every bit of it. The sense of doom is not so much what's going to happen, but when; we know something very bad is going to happen to Ben and Louise in the company of Paddy and Ciara and we spend the entire film waiting for Paddy's incremental cracks to break down fully. The tension is unabashed and immovable and one of the film's strengths.

The other is James McAvoy's performance as Paddy, whose ineffable zeal charms and reels in Ben and Louise, but whose edges are sharp enough to frighten them as well. McAvoy visibly relishes the role and slips easily between devil-may-care and devil. I went to see this film because I enjoy the work of Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy; having seen it, I would recommend it on the back of McAvoy alone. Despite knowing how awful and insidious Paddy is, you can't help but be reeled in by him, too.

Davis also gives a great performance as Louise who suffers throughout the film for cheating on Ben but who is the only one attempting to be constructive about their relationship and the ensuing issues with Paddy and Ciara. Davis really found her character's toughness and resilience but Louise is let-down by the fact that I never cared what happened to her or Ben before they ended up in a horror movie. Their marital issues are uncompelling and their general demeanour in the beginning of the film didn't win me to their side. As such, I wasn't overly concerned about their outcome. The two kids, Agnes and Ant, are far more clever and compelling protagonists and the two actors give wonderful performances, Dan Hough in particular shines. The actors really carry this one as Speak No Evil falters in the nuance of its story-telling and characters; Ben and Louise are unsympathetic protagonists, their issues are grating, and Paddy's motivations for his actions are unconvincing, while Ciara's role in the dynamic and her sincerity in it, is unclear. The discomfort felt in the film is palpable, but, ironically and unfortunately, that tension lessens when the story conforms to the conventions of its genre.

Other bits:

I really enjoyed the way that Paddy played on Ben's masculinity, looking to Ben whenever Louise was worried about something or in matters about Agnes, ceding the power in the marriage to Ben in an unspoken way

while I can't compliment his performance enough, what was McAvoy's accent?

[rindecisions]

A Being of Bad Luck Based on From Hell and Back

Teen+ | 824 | Demon Eddie

Find the rest and more here

Art by @lady-lostmind

Written for @batboysxprompts Friday the 13th prompt | Luck

༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒

Contrary to popular belief, angels and demons weren’t enemies. In fact, they intrinsically required the other. Every demonic regiment had a direct angelic counterpart. One side thrived on creation, the other on consumption.

Where the angels of love created pure bonds of intimacy, the demons of lust altered them to a tainted desire, consuming the result. And where the demons of wrath created misfortune, the angels of patience consumed it to promote peace and order.

Typically, these jobs were done in the realm of the dead. Be it in Heaven or Hell, their tasks could be completed with ease without a physical form and without directly interacting with humans. How this was accomplished was an incomprehensible feat and contained knowledge that would be best left for the afterlife.

As a demon of Hell, Eddie was one of millions, and that was just within his own legion. Each demon and angel may have had their own look, just as humans did, but that didn’t make him particularly special. He had a job, as did everyone else. It wasn’t a hard job, and it brought him at least a little joy. Eddie was a Discord, also known as a bad luck demon, meaning it was his job to create minor misfortune.

When Steve summoned him into the realm of the living, that didn’t mean Eddie could take a break from his hereafter job, it just meant he had to get creative. Causing chaos and misfortune while being stuck in a physical body was a bit harder than Eddie had expected, especially when most of his time was spent in Steve’s tiny apartment.

From Hell, he could reach various parts of the globe with minimal effort. Here he was anchored. Thanks to his powers, though, he could make the most of his time by effecting what he could see from Steve’s windows.

One of the things ethereal and infernal beings had to contend with was freewill. Some found it an annoying hurdle, to others it was a stimulating challenge. They were unable to influence a human’s freewill up to a point, and things like possession were unavailable to those that weren't physically in the same realm. The person had to be willing or asleep to some degree in order for them to influence their actions directly, and if the person willed it hard enough, they could break any control. The more powerful the being, the more willpower it took to break the control. Demons like Eddie, well, they were of the weakest variety. Meaning him and his cohorts needed to get creative with their influence.

Bad luck was an interesting subsection of wrath. In and of itself, bad luck didn’t breed wrath, but it was commonly met with it. A puddle on the side of the road or a shine off of a mirror wouldn’t inspire anger by themselves, but if a blinding light encouraged someone to stop in their tracks, just in time for a car to run through a puddle beside them, the resulting splash on the outfit they wore for an interview would absolutely insight frustration, at the very least.

He couldn’t help but smile when there was clear intervention from an angel. Being a demon didn’t mean he was evil, and being an angel didn’t mean they were good. It was simply a case of morals. Eddie had no issues ruining someone’s day, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying when it was ultimately made better as a result.

As anger bubbled up in the man that was splashed, it was quelled when a waiter from a street-side restaurant came running up with some towels. The list of angel legions that could have encouraged that was long, and there’s always the chance that it was purely a human action.

“Ready to watch those movies I picked up?” Steve asked, towel drying his hair as he walked out of the shower.

Eddie spun away from the large window with a wide grin. “Did you get that Beetle-what’s-it movie?” he asked eagerly.

Could Eddie have made the tile under Steve’s foot slick enough for him to slip? Easily, but he didn’t enjoy causing Steve bad luck. Plus, he was stuck living with him. Even if Steve was hot when he was mad, he preferred him happy. Instead, he just caused mischief around him.

He quietly clicked his claws behind his back, and while you couldn’t hear the shout due to the thick walls of the apartment, Steve’s neighbor just fell in the tub while washing her dog.

“Beetlejuice?” Steve corrected with a laugh. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Sweet!” Eddie exclaimed, jumping into the air and staying there. “What about—”

“Ghostbusters Two?” Steve guessed. By Eddie’s bright eyes, he could assume he was right. “Yeah, I got that too.”

“I could kiss you,” Eddie beamed, swiftly flying up to Steve and doing just that.

Steve draped the towel around his neck and smiled into the kiss.

@steddiebang

[ridiasfangirlings]

I know you have been in this fandom for 10 years long. I must say I'm curious about your thought on this series. What does the series have that makes you stay with it for such a long time? Is there anything you find unsatisfied abt the series? Does this series have any effect on your life?... etc

I know this kind of ask is kinda personal, so you can refuse to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. Anyway, tysm for what you did for the fandom!

Honestly it’s mostly just the neurodivergence :P Well, basically I get really attached to things I like and will stay attached like a limpet until something else comes along to catch my fancy, and nothing’s made me really fall madly in love since K so here I (still) am. There are a lot of things that attracted me to the series in the first place, in order: Fushimi, Fushimi, and also Fushimi. He’s the first thing that attracted me anyway, his character type is just the kind I like a hot mess. I wasn’t really into him much when I first started watching, I’ve mentioned before but I was kinda eh on the series until after S1 ended and I listened to the drama CDs. The Sarumi interview and especially the Private Hero drama really hooked me with just the general complexity of Fushimi’s issues beyond the standard yandere that we saw in the series. I could really go on about how good Private Hero is, giving such a great glimpse into Fushimi’s feelings without outright saying it, and the bitterness that Mamoru Miyano infuses into Fushimi’s tone is fantastic. 

Beyond that I’ve since really gotten attached to just about everyone in the series, one of the things that always appeals to me with fictional characters in general is when a character appears to be a specific stereotype but then has some additional quirk going on. For example, how Fushimi seemed a flat ‘crazy obsessed’ character but really is just a messed up kid at heart, or Munakata seeming like a dignified manipulative megane character but he’s also a sparkly nerd, or Yata being a baseball bat wearing thug who is also a ball of sunshine and cries sometimes. K’s big cast means there’s something for everyone, and even some of the weaknesses in the writing turn into strengths — there’s enough canon there to get attached to but so many little cracks and corners waiting to be filled in by the fans and I love that sort of thing. 

That said there are definitely some things about the series I’m dissatisfied about, like I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I dislike how it feels like the narrative tends to be kinda biased against S4 even when they’re objectively right and in general I feel like S4 gets a lot more shit than Homra that they don’t deserve. I also found ROK in general to be rather underwhelming, Gora put a lot of great pieces in place and then kinda just tossed the board away in the end there (I went on about my feelings around ROK here way back if you want a deeper analysis). When I rewatched the series a couple years ago I was struck by how much better S1 was than I remembered and how much worse ROK was, the pacing issues are really prevalent in ROK and unfortunately I think the series didn’t deliver on its potential as much as it could have. That said it wasn’t bad enough to turn me off the show (which is something that has absolutely happened to me with past series I liked, that something happened near the end which disappointed me so much it kinda killed all my love for the series), it just didn’t change my opinion that the anime is, unfortunately, the weakest part of K and what makes it so hard to recommend, because all the best stuff involves a little more legwork than just watching the easily-streamable show. Also smaller disappointments, I wish they wouldn’t have put LSW in 7 Stories and just given us a proper movie, and I still want that last stage play because it will forever annoy me that ROK stage only got through half the narrative. 

[streets-in-paradise]

Best Friends Till the End - Andy Barclay x (Fem) Childhood Friend! Reader - Part 7

Masterlist

Warnings: Chucky doing very fucked up comments.

Summary : Chucky attempts to play his first move against you with one of his classical stalker calls. You know he sees you as the weakest element of the group and his twisted Intervention preys in your biggest fears seeking to destroy your greatest hope. However, a crucial mistake on his part allows Andy to present you with a whole new purpose.

Tags: @barclaysangel ( i finally finished to write this while dealing with my anxiety over the current situation, hope you will like it. Also, i wrote it on the phone so sorry for the mistakes you may find. )

In the peace of your embrace Andy managed to be the first one falling asleep. Judging by the comments you have heard on his insomnia, he must have been too tired or feeling too comfortable with you in order to accomplish that. Confessing your feelings to each other wasn’t an expected part of your childhood reminiscent ritual, but it happened and you were feeling good about that. Finding out you felt the same for him had surprised him the most, Andy was already insisting on saying you needed someone better and you were claiming over and over there was no one else for you. It got to a point where you started to shut him up with more kisses every time he would start bringing up his flaws. The caresses and reassuring whispers must have relaxed him, so you kept doing that even when you began to notice he was getting sleepy. 

It was a perfect moment, you were almost sure nothing could have possibly ruined it until you felt the vibrations of your phone against the wood of your nightstand. Getting called in the middle of the night was suspicious enough already, only your sister in some severe emergency could justify that. Fearing something could have happened to her, you picked up without caring to consider the fact that the number was unknown. 

If she was in danger, her phone could have got ruined and she could be calling you from anywhere else. 

Your doubtful introductory salute found no direct answer, the person at the other side wanted to hear your voice first. Raven would have never done that, not at least at that hour of the night, so it couldn’t be her. 

It freaked you out a little bit, but you tried not to show it. 

“ In case you are wondering, my favorite scary movie is Halloween … Anything else, jerk?”

The Scream reference obtained a chuckle and you didn’t need anything else to understand what was happening. You looked at Andy, still lost in his sleep, and wondered if it was enough to justify waking him up. 

“ Don’t fuck with me, let’s start with that. Shall we?” 

Chucky was ruining everything again, somehow managing to do it exactly the same as the last time. It was only you hearing his voice in the dark while Andy tried to sleep. 

“ This is not what I expected. “ You admitted, then lowered the tone of your voice trying to speak in whispers. “ Of all the shit I could have imagined you say after decades of silence, I gotta say it’s disappointing. This whole thing is a letdown. I get death assholes don’t sleep but, really? A call in the middle of the night? Have you been watching the Scream movies, Chucky? “ 

He noticed the difference and immediately called you out about it. 

“ He is there, isn’t he? Had he already tried to fuck you and found out you are a frigid bitch?” 

The sick insult was vague enough for you to not be able to tell if he was just taunting you or if he had learned private details of your life touching someone who knew you. 

“ Poor babe is too tired. We are too busy keeping every single child in this town aware of you.” Was your strong sounding comeback. “ You reached my kids, they know one of yours was there and news travels fast. Friends, siblings, cousins … neighbors. Organized children are your downfall, that’s what I learned last time. You ain’t going to get a new family anywhere near, I have eyes everywhere. “ 

“ You are so fucking ungratefull.” He interrupted you, his way of complaining sounding too parent-like to not be twisted. “ I let you be, you could have done anything with your life and yet you dare to get in a business that enters in direct conflict with mine. Couldn’t you let it go? With your failed child actress thing and the daddy issues, I have always imagined you would end up in porn.” 

He disgusted you to the core, keeping in mind you were around five the last time he saw you made your stomach churn.

“ I found my call forced to take responsibility for what you left behind.  My mom got into occultism seeking for answers and found in that a passtime to escape my dad. She even tried to convince me that my fear summoned you in the apartment of the Barclays that night and the place was haunted. Her medium was the only one taking real care of me and we raised my sister, so now I’m a kinder teacher who does palm readings.” 

“The cunt inside your mother’s womb, I’m more excited about paying her a visit than the very little thrill I can get from you. “ He cruelly mocked you. “ The name was a very flattering touch. Did the shrink tell your parents to pick it for positive association? Was she left in charge of fixing your screwed mind from birth? “ 

“You will never get Raven, she will get you.” You pridefully recalled. “ She is the Scrappy of my Scooby and she grew up to my tales of Andy. If you would have come back for me, you would have found me running after another little girl who just put on a mask from her last halloween costume to recklessly chase you around the apartment with a butcher knife in hand.” 

“ Meaning literally everyone else in my list is more interesting than you … Do you see now why I never returned? Little bitch, you were just a replacement for someone else. There was a time when killing you would have given me great pleasure, but I got the real thing and I don’t need you anymore. You are becoming a pain in my ass in vain. Face it, no matter how hard you try you will never make anyone care. Your dad never cared, I didn’t care. Every single man in your life has abandoned you, maybe that’s why you couldn’t let me go.” 

The words were like knives stabbing your soul, silent sobbing brought you back to the very same state you swore you would never come back. A lonely, hurted little girl preyed on by a monster. 

“ If I clinged to my memories, if I choose to stay awake … It was never for you. “ 

Despite not fully awake, Andy was giving signs of being listening to bits of your answers. You gesturally reassured him to stay calm, holding him tighter. 

“ You have been waiting for Prince Charming to return and slay the dragon. Even though he had also abandoned you, you have made excuses for him all your life. “ Chucky insisted, twisting your words the way he wanted. “ Andy is not your salvation, he couldn’t even save himself. You have no idea of the kind of man he grew up to be, I raised him. The bastard is a psycho and you are the last thing he remembers fondly;you really don’t want to be on his side. “ 

The card he was playing with was a powerful one, he truly knew Andy better than you. 

“ Bullshit. You may have broken him, but he is still a good man. A wonderful, broken man.” 

“ He is lost, he picked all the tricks in my handbook … Including how to rope the naive woman you got fixated on into opening the door for you. His obsession with you it’s more dangerous than what you think, before you could realize and fight him he is going to make you his new toy. You are going to spend the rest of your life locked in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and he will be telling you it's the only way for you to be together because he has to protect you from me. He will say he had to do it because he loves you, but he is the real danger. 

The grim speech should have been enough to make you hesitate, but it didn't.

" And you expect me to believe you called to warn me? YOU, of all people? "

" I called to offer you a deal, the same I did the last time … Give me Andy and I will let you and the babygirl live."

That time you were the one chuckling.

" If you really want to turn us against each other you are going to need more than that, Chuck."

Apparently, the cocky negatory wasn't what he expected and his persuasive tactics kept escalating in darkness.

" Deny it all you want, but I'm the last hope you have of walking out of this before Andy shows his true colors. Think carefully, little bitch … or you will remember me when you will be tied up begging him to stop forcing his damn dick inside you. In that shitty cabin no one is going to hear your screaming and he is so gone in his delusion that he will think you like it. He will even try to kiss your tears as he is coming inside, so happy that you are going to have his children!! You will wish i was there to fucking stab your growing womb, pathetic slut!!! It's over, you have no choice but doing as i say. DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TO DISRESPECT ME EVER AGAIN. I'M ALL YOU HAVE, BARBIE!"

He hanged up out of sudden, almost as if anger would have made him deviate from his script accidentally.

Andy was awake near the end, your sobbing and the look on your face explained enough.

" He must have found my old therapist, otherwise i have no idea of where he learned so much of me." Was all you could explain. " He called to brag exploiting my traumas. The pregnancy phobia must have made him very proud, he was extra cruel with that. "

Your enamored friend took a deep breath, seeking to contain his anger because you were already terrified.

" You should have woke me up, never let me sleeping again. Even if you can tell he isn't approaching" He sweetly complained, sitting on the bed to hold you in his arms. " Whatever he has told you, remember it's all lies. It's exactly like you told me : he wants you to feel like shit so you won't stand in his way. "

Tears were still falling down your face, but he wasn't going to give up.

" We ruined part of his scheme without having to spill a drop of blood, and that was thanks to you. It's because you are so smart and kind hearted … and you found a usefull lesson in the shit we went through together. One I didn't seen before. Have you heard that ' kill them with kindness' thing? That's you, and Chucky is pissed off that it worked."

The comfort he was attempting to bring you would have worked, making be you all smiles for him, if you wouldn't be haunted by what you heard.

" Andy … Do you have an isolated cabin somewhere? He mentioned that. "

" It's not the most romantic place, but i can assure you it's not the Evil Dead one. " He answered, worried and weirded by you sudden fright. " … No, no, don't give me that look. Fuck, I should have know he would bring that up. "

You released yourself from his grip to stand up at a prudential distance and he let you do it, but the sudden lack of trust seemed to be hurting him.

" I don't know what he said, but I will tell you the truth. I didn't want to do it before because I feared it would scare you away. " He started to explain himself. " The place is a hunter's hideout and i have one of them prisoner there. As far as I can tell, it's the original."

You weren't dissaproving it completely, so you hesitantly awaited for his tale to end.

" I did all kinds of fucked up things to that doll. Kept only the head as a trophy and tried every single method of torture I had available, that's how i discovered the fire trick. You have seen some of that yourself; I can be a bit too trigger happy when it's about hunting him but that's all. "

The mere posibility of loosing you precisely then, ríght after finding himself enjoying a bit of your romantic affection, got him sincerely desperate.

" I would kill protecting you, but I would NEVER hurt you. " He insisted, approaching to round your hips with his arms looking at you with such broken beauty that you could tell he could be about to cry if he wouldn't feel too ashamed of releasing the tears. " You have to believe me, like you always did … Please. "

It was sincere enough for you.

" i'm so sorry, baby. He had spent more time with you than I ever got, made me feel as if he knew better. " You explained, caressing his face. " He said such horrible things, he wanted me to fear you … It felt exactly as when he threatened me as a kid, he even used the old nickname … Barbie, I can't look at one of those dolls without remembering it. "

As you were speaking, and encouraged by your well receivement, he placed a few pecks on your lower belly. The fabric of your nightgown was a barrier to reach your skin, but that wasn't necesarily the point.

It was a reassuring gesture to prove his devotion loving the spot of you that Chucky hurted. His sweet attentions only stopped to the mention of that name.

" Are you sure he said that? "

Only then you realized you have never told him that specific detail.

" Of course! It was an inside thing he had with me. Whenever he would loose his patience, he would start calling me Barbie. I believe he intends to mock my femminity as fragility. Definitely a mysoginistic thing implying weakness and reliance on him. I was this pink lover girly girl, never have been the queen of challenging gender norms, and I guess Barbie was easier to come up with than Daphne. "

Your guesses didn't convince him.

" … Barbarah Pierce. " He whispered to himself, connecting dots out loud despite you could still hear. " Shit, I'm being such a jerk, there is something else you need to know. "

He encouraged you to climb back on the bed with him before starting and held your hand the whole time.

" You were ríght all along, what Chucky told you that time must had been a twisted version of the truth. " He admitted, hesitant to carry on because he feared your reaction even more than before. " There was another family before mine: a woman and her two daughters. The eldest was of your same age and her name was Barbarah. "

The very few things he knew about the Pierces came from what he managed to read online and his failed experience trying to save Nica. Still, he told you all he could and there was no doubt that had to be the true origin of the nickname. In you Chucky found a reminder of another little girl he despised and that was all. You understood why Andy kept silence on the matter, since untill then he couldn't tell for sure if there was a connection and he didn't want to trigger you in vain. That was your worst nightmare, just like he had the memories of each time the doll attempted to possess him. He was being so considerate of your pain and you loved him for that, but there was no way you would let it go. Andy knew it well. He ended up being the one sedating you with reassurance untill you both finally managed to get some sleep.

That didn't stop you from freaking out the morning after. Kyle offered herself to make breakfast, since she was almost sure you had lost your mind because of Chucky's call. The siblings were watching you sip bits of coffee while nervously revisiting a pile of old books, handwritten notebooks, letters and packs of notes.

Inheritance of your deceased medium friend that you revisited with desperation to find anything usefull.

" You must be scared and I completely understand you… Wouldn't you prefer to talk about it?"

You closed the book before replying her.

" I already called Raven and she is fine, but i don't know for how long. I am aware she is perfectly capable of kicking his ass if he tries to kill her, but never stopped to think what would I do if he possesses her. I'm not going to let her alone for him to take and i am not abandoning Barbie's sister either. "

Before Andy could attempt to calm you down, you pointed at the pile.

" Pick one and start digging, we are looking for anything that could work as an exorcism or to possibly prevent possession."

Your serious determination made him chuckle a little bit.

" … This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. You will get as obsessed as i am, only through a different route. "

He checked the things you recommended him and while digging the pile he did a very strange finding.

" The fuck is this ? "

Picking that particular item from the pile, he then showed it arround.

A Voddoo for Dummies book. Kyle bursted into laughter noticing you mixed that with real stuff.

" Remember when I told you that despite i don't appear in the front page of the search, eventually people always find out? Someone gave me that as a phrank gift like a decade ago. " You explained to them." Even if it's not legit, it can serve as a guide for the mythology. "

He gave you a skeptical look, more amused than concerned.

" Whatever you say, gorgeous. "

Curiosity did make him look into it briefly, but he wasn't actually reading it. It wasn't surprising that you found something first because you knew what you were looking for.

" THE HERMETIC PRINCIPLE!!!" You cheered yourself in a language nobody else was understanding. " How did i missed it? Nadia told me about that so many times!!! Ughhhh, i'm such a dumbass!!! "

" English, please?" Kyle mocked you. " If it's good news, how good is it?"

" Maybe not enough for an exorcism, but it may work as a preventive hack. " You began to ramble away. " When I was told about it I would call it the Upside Down Rule, a bassic prínciple bonding things with their natural contraries. Surprisingly, an example of it was portrayed in Pirates of the Caribbean 3. If the theory is correct, we may just have to twist Chucky's chant to turn his words against him. "

The precise explanation was concluded with a pridefull smile. Despite of how strange it was, the idea has still a sense of inside logic that the audience catched.

Amazed as he was, Andy kissed you ríght there and without any warnings.

" Dating isn't enough, i should marry you. " He sweetly joked ríght afterwards. " ... And then you wonder why he did that? He must be desperate! Soon he would be paying us a visit. "

His lovely encouragement did work that time

" Excellent moment to test the theory. "

Kyle remained silent for an instant, untill realizing nobody seemed to acknowledge what just happened.

" So, Chucky called and you both are going to start dating …. Is there anything else that i missed last night? "