#why are people mad at her for her choices and actions in the movie?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

venusacrossthestars · 8 months ago

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a choice I can live with

Summary: you thought that after that night in Monaco you would never see Carlos Sainz again. but what do they say? when one door closes another door opens.

Pairing- Carlos Sainz x fem!reader

WC-10,182

warnings- swearing, making out, it gets a little hot and heavy towards the end, angst, Lando is more of an ass than he was in part one, reader is in her feels, the word slut is used.

this is a part 2 to 'a choice I don't want to make' read it HERE before reading this part

F1 masterlist

December 2021

You didn't like this foreign feeling that was settled in your stomach. All you were trying to do was pick out a movie while your popcorn cooled down, so why did it all feel so wrong? Sighing, you turned off the TV and placed the remote on the coffee table. It was Lando’s turn to pick the movie. The thought washed over you like a tidal wave. Suddenly the aspect of having a movie night no longer sounded appealing. Picking up the popcorn bowl from the coffee table, you walked over to the trash can and threw away the popcorn. Just like 15 years of friendship.

You plopped back down on your couch, sinking into the cushions. The last time you had seen Lando had been that night in Monaco; the last time you had any contact with him was when you sent him that text the following morning. That was in May. You knew that he saw your message, the taunting little ‘read’ underneath had only made you feel worse. As if it wasn’t the consequences of your own actions.

The past 6 and a half months had been miserable. Every time you had exciting news you found yourself thinking- ‘I can’t wait to tell Lando!’ only to remember that you couldn’t. You could barely talk to your own mother without feeling more guilt over the situation. You could feel her disappointment through the phone. As your mother, she was on your side, she told you as much, but it wasn’t without a disappointed sigh.

You had other friends, you had a world that didn’t revolve around your now ex-best friend but sometimes it didn’t feel like it. However, the couple of times that you had braved stalking Lando’s socials you couldn’t help but feel as if he never needed you. Maybe that was the truth.

You could face Lando’s socials, and you could manage the tweets and comments you saw about him. But you couldn’t bring yourself to check Carlos’s. Maybe it was the fear of seeing that he moved on. Maybe it was that he seemed perfectly fine. That was something you were comfortable staying in the dark with.

A knock on the door startles you out of your pitiful self-deprecating spiral. You silently groan, it was too late to be dealing with people. Maybe it was one of your neighbor's friends who got the numbers mixed up and if you stayed silent they would realize. The universe must really have it out for you because the knocking continued, louder and more insistent than before. Getting up, you shuffled to the door taking a quick peek through the peephole. The face on the other end had you quickly undoing the chain and unlocking the deadbolt.

“Carlos?”

“Hi.” Is the only thing that Carlos says.

You rub your eyes, making sure that he wasn’t an illusion, that you haven’t gone mad in these past months. When you bring your hands away from your eyes and re-open them, Carlos is still there standing in front of you with a bouquet of white tulips.

Carlos breaks the silence, “These are for you,” he holds out the bouquet, “I was told that white tulips represent an apology and forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness?” You parrot back, not taking the flowers. Why is giving you flowers that represent an apology and forgiveness? “What are you apologizing for?”

Carlos rocks back and forth on his heels, ignoring your question, “Can I come in?”

You move away from the door frame and hold the door wider allowing for Carlos to enter. Embarrassment washes over you as you come to the realization that this is the first time Carlos has been in your flat, and while it didn’t look like a total disaster, you certainly wish it was cleaner.

“What are you apologizing for?” You ask again.

Carlos spins to face you, “Do you have a vase for these?”

“Carlos,” you try again, “what are you doing here?”

Carlos wanders towards your kitchen, “Like I said, I am here to apologize.” He waves the flowers around.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“All of it. For letting Lando talk to you like that. For letting you leave with him. For letting you walk away that night on the roof. For not responding back to your text. I’m mostly sorry for how long it took me to come see you, to come talk to you.”

“Carlos, you don’t need to apologize. For any of it.”

“It takes two to tango.” He points out.

“It’s been 6 and a half months Carlos, you should move on.”

“Have you?”

That simple question was all it took for you to break. Honestly, you should have been able to move on. You should’ve been able to leave this whole situation back in Monaco. So why were your feelings for Carlos just as strong as they were back then? Even after your attempt to cut him out of your life he still stood here in your flat with a bouquet of flowers, apologizing for not coming to you sooner.

“I haven’t,” you whisper, not trusting your voice.

Carlos sets the flowers down on the counter and moves in front of you. You avert your gaze to the ground, knowing that if you looked him in the eyes there would be no stopping the tears.

Carlos doesn’t let you. His hand gently moves your chin so that you are looking him directly in the eyes. He doesn’t say anything about your tears, he only moves to wipe them away and unlike that night in Monaco, you let him. His hands are still surprisingly soft, just like that night the two of you kissed.

He moves his hands away and you nearly sob at the loss of contact but before you can say anything Carlos is pulling you into his chest. His arms wrap around your middle, hands sprawled out across your back. It takes you a second to register what is happening but once you do you are quick to mirror his motions.

You bury your head into his chest and close your eyes. There is something about being wrapped in Carlos’s arms that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay. You take in a shaky breath. You haven’t been this happy to see someone in a long time and that simple thought is what causes you to break out in sobs.

Carlos tries to pull away, presumingly to ask you if everything is okay, but you are quick to pull him back into your embrace. “Just hold me. Please.” You manage out between sobs.

“As you wish.”

You don’t know how long you stand in the middle of your kitchen in Carlos’s arms, and frankly, you don’t care. The soothing circles Carlos rubs on your back and the gentle swaying of both your bodies is enough to make you calm down.

“Do you want to sit down?” Carlos pulls away, hands still holding your arms.

You nod, leading him into your living room, and you sink into your couch. Carlos sits directly next to you, close enough to where both of your thighs rest against each other. “I’m sorry,” you begin, “I didn’t mean to get snot all over your shirt.”

“No need to apologize.”

“I’m sorry for more than that. I’m sorry too Carlos, for all of it. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“Stop,” Carlos puts his hand up and you close your mouth. “If anyone deserves an apology it’s you. That night I was hurt, I didn’t stop to think what it was like in your shoes. I'll never know what it is like to have my supposed ‘best friend’ tell me to pick between two important people in my life. I've never been in that position.”

“Carlos,” you begin but he stops you again.

“I spoke to Lando the next day, right after you texted me. I was furious with him. How could someone call their best friend those things? How could he, the same man who told me that he wanted me to stay away from you because he wanted to protect you, flip a switch that easily? He showed me the message you sent and I felt my heart break more. Asking him to put all the blame on you? Asking him to not blame me when we were both responsible? Pinning all the blame on yourself just so that he and I could still be friends?”

You knew that Lando had read your message but knowing that he had shown Carlos that same day made his lack of response hurt ten times more. “You talked to him? He showed you the message?”

Carlos nods his head. “I should say I yelled at him that morning rather than talked. We’ve spoken a couple times since then but I can tell he is still furious.”

You figured, Lando wasn’t one to let go of grudges easily. “I can’t help but miss him, even with what he said to me.”

“And that’s okay,” Carlos comforts you, “he is -was- your best friend for a long time. I wouldn’t expect you not to miss him.”

“This is the first winter break we’ve been apart since we met. I don’t know what to do.” You admit to Carlos.

Carlos rests a hand on your thigh, rubbing small circles across the material of your sweatpants. And you look at him with tears in your eyes. You are so sick of crying over this whole situation, you've wasted enough tears.

“I don’t know what kind of traditions the two of you have but if you'd like, I was thinking we could make our own?” Carlos questions. You look at him with wide eyes and he continues, “I don’t want to replace him or those good memories but I think making our own would be fun.”

“I would love that Carlos.” you smile at him. “There is one thing though. If this,” you point back and forth at the both of you, “is going to be a serious relationship, we need to take it slow.”

“How slow is slow?”

“Why? Do you not want to take things slow?” You panic internally. Did he change his mind?

Does he not want to take things slow? You know that his life is fast-paced so does slow just not work for him?

“No, no, no,” he hurries out sensing your panic, “Slow is fine, I’d wait a lifetime if you asked mi amor. I’m just asking because I want to kiss you.”

“Oh.”

“Can I kiss you Hermosa?” Carlos asks in a whisper.

You nod and Carlos closes the gap between the two of you. Unlike the last time the two of you shared a kiss this one was slower, sweeter but somehow more passionate. With closed eyes, you relished the feeling of his lips on yours even more so because you thought you would never experience this feeling again.

Carlos pulls away after a moment and you open your eyes and glance at his swollen lips, a slight you’ll never get sick of. Overcome with emotion you launch yourself onto Carlos, pushing him on his back into the cushions of your couch.

Shock is written all over his face, “Are you okay?”

You shake your head, not trusting your voice and Carlos pulls you into his chest. Carlos’s hand runs over your head and after a moment of savoring the comforting gesture you speak up,

“Thank you for coming to see me. I really thought I’d never see you again.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

January 2022

Carlos wasn’t lying when he said that you wouldn't be able to get rid of him easily. The man was stuck on you like a popsicle on a hot summer day, not that you were complaining.

New Year’s came and went and Carlos insisted that he spend it with you. You argued that you weren’t doing anything fun, that you would probably be sleeping while everyone else was out ringing in the new year, and that he should go out and spend it with his friends. Carlos had refused, stating he rather be somewhere quiet celebrating with you. So the two of you had rang in the New Year together in your flat with a cheap bottle of champagne and poppers you set off on your balcony.

It was only a few days later that, as you were making dinner, you got a call from Carlos.

“Are you free this weekend?” Carlos asked as soon as you accepted the call.

“Well, hello to you too Carlos,” you chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“Hello mi amor, how are you this fine afternoon.”

“I am spectacular, and how are you, Mr. Sainz?” You can’t help but break out in a smile, something you seem to do whenever you hear from Carlos.

“Good, however, I would be even better if you answered my question. Are you free this weekend?”

“I think so, why?”

“I want to take you out.”

“Like on a date?”

“Yes, like a date. I would be a bad boyfriend if I didn’t take my love on dates, wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, I didn’t know we were officially boyfriend/girlfriend.” You tease, Carlos knew fully well how you felt about him.

“Don’t play around with me.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking you’d come over to my place and I’d cook for you.”

“Oh, I would love that but Carlos you don’t live in London.” It amuses you to have to point out that simple fact.

“I know, that’s why I asked if you were free the entire weekend. I was going to fly you out to Madrid.”

You freeze at his nonchalant attitude, to him this was a small little gesture and you can tell that he thinks nothing of it. You, on the other hand, were thinking way too much of it.

“Carlos, I can't come to Madrid. I don’t have the money for it right now.” You say defeatedly, as much as you wanted to see Carlos you couldn't drop that type of money on a flight.

“I think you missed the part where I said I would fly you out. You wouldn’t be paying for anything.”

“Carlos, this isn’t how I want this relationship to be. I won’t be seen as a sugar baby.” You tell him seriously and all you can hear is him laughing over the phone.

“Mi amor, you are not a sugar baby. You are my girlfriend. My girlfriend who I want to see and spend time with so desperately that I am offering her, as her boyfriend, to fly her to my home so she can spend time with me- her boyfriend.”

You bite the skin around your nails carefully weighing your options. You want to see Carlos but on the other hand, you were worried. What if someone spots you? What if someone outed your relationship? You still wanted to take things slow and this was all moving a little fast for you.

You voice your worries to Carlos and you hear him sigh over the phone, “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry mi amor.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should be jumping at this opportunity. You want to spend time with me and here I am acting like a brat. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you. I need to respect your wishes. You have no need to apologize.”

“I still feel bad.”

“Don’t. There will be other opportunities.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, do not worry about it. Listen I have to go, I will call you later okay?”

“I’ll be waiting.” The two of you exchange quick goodbyes and you are then left alone with your thoughts. Saying yes wouldn’t have killed you, in fact, you should’ve said yes. So what if someone saw you and Carlos? Since when did you care what the rest of the world thought of you?

You drop your head on the kitchen counter, lightly banging it muttering a quiet ‘stupid, stupid, stupid.’ Oh well, there was nothing you could do about it now.

Your Friday nights always play out the same way. You get home from work, take a quick shower, put on a pair of sweatpants (you’re pretty sure these were a pair of Lando’s from years ago) and a baggy top, order something, and watch a crappy movie.

You have only finished step 3 of your routine, about to start step 4 when there is a knock at your door. You weren’t expecting anyone other than the delivery man but you hadn’t even placed your order yet, so if it was the Chinese place already you really needed to change up your diet.

When you open your door you aren’t greeted by the greasy teenager who typically delivers your food, instead, you are greeted with a comfy-looking Carlos who has a backpack in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other.

“Carlos, what are you doing here?”

“Are you not happy to see me?” He questions with a slight pout.

“Of course, I’m happy to see you,” you reach across the threshold to grab his wrist and pull him into your flat, “I’m just surprised to see you here.”

“I’m here to spend the weekend with my girlfriend and cook her dinner,” he proudly states, holding up the bag of groceries.

You could melt into a puddle right there and then. “Carlos, you didn’t have to come all the way here.”

A look of panic is now written all over Carlos’s face. “I’m an idiot.” You raise an eyebrow at his admission and gesture for him to spit the rest out. “You said you wanted to take things slow and here I am showing up without notice.”

You wave your hands frantically, “You are not an idiot. I’m happy you’re here. Ever since I turned down your offer I’ve been thinking that maybe we don’t have to take things slow.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”

“I am more than sure. I am sick of overthinking. Who cares what everyone else thinks of me?”

Carlos’s look of panic is replaced by the biggest grin you have ever seen. He drops his backpack and groceries, his hands aren’t empty for long because the next thing you know you are being lifted in his arms and spun around.

“Carlos!” you squeal out, not expecting to be picked up.

Carlos sets you down gently and cups your face in his hands, you are then attacked by an onslaught of kisses. He kisses your cheeks, your lips, nose, and forehead. No part of your face is left untouched by his lips.

You giggle at the sensation, “Carlos, Carlos,” you try to get his attention but he seems too lost in his own world. “Okay. Okay. Calm down, what has gotten into you?”

“I’m just happy. Is that a crime?”

You tap your chin in mock ponderance, “I suppose not.”

Carlos closes the gap once more but this time instead of an onslaught of kisses he locks your lips with his in one long kiss. His hands haven’t moved from their spots on your cheeks this entire time. You can’t help yourself from grinning into the kiss, never in your wildest dreams would you have imagined this.

Carlos pulls away and when he sees the smile that graces your face can’t help but ask, “What has gotten into you?”

You giggle at his question and your reply is full of snark, “I’m just happy. Is that a crime?”

It is Carlos’s turn to break into a fit of giggles and you wish that you could listen to that sound forever. “Okay. Okay.” You try to break the laughing spell that has fallen between the both of you. “What’s in the bag?”

Carlos picks up the bag full of groceries and makes his way to the kitchen, “I’m glad you asked, it's all the ingredients I need to make my pancakes.”

“You were serious about cooking for me?”

“Of course I was, I want to spoil my girlfriend.”

“I will gladly be spoiled. Do you want any help?”

“No, you just sit and find a movie or a show to watch.”

“I got the only show I need right in front of me.” You wink.

Carlos laughs at your comment but doesn’t say anything else, too focused on making his pancakes. You have to help him a couple of times when he realizes he doesn’t exactly know the layout of where you keep all your mixing bowls, pans, and spatulas, amongst other things. But once he has all his materials you can almost see the switch flip to Chef Carlos. And while it is a bit shameful to admit, the sight does turn you on slightly. The way Carlos’s tongue slightly sticks out of his mouth in concentration. The way his arm flexes as he mixes the batter. Who would have thought that cooking would be so hot? Not you, that’s for sure.

Carlos spares a few glances in your direction and every time you need to make sure you aren’t drooling all over your counter. Your time of ogling Carlos is cut short when he slides the plate of pancakes in front of you.

“Any syrup or butter?” He asks.

You shake your head, “No, I want to experience the pancakes without any interference.” You pick up your fork and knife and cut right into them. Carlos does nothing but watch as you bring a piece up to your mouth and take a bit.

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding about knowing a pancake recipe,” you say with a full mouth.

“Good?”

“Good? Better than good, these are delicious,” you practically moan out.

“Almost as delicious as the chef,” Carlos says with a smirk. His comment has you choking on the rest of your pancake. Carlos is quick to rush to your side, gently smacking your back.

You hold up your hands signaling for him to stop, “I’m okay, I’m okay.” You take a sip of water, helping aid the rest of the pancake down. “You need to make these for me again. I don’t think I can ever go back to eating a normal pancake ever again. Not after tasting this slice of heaven.”

“You’ll never have to eat a sad pancake ever again as long as I’m around.”

“I want you around as long as you can stand me,” you tell Carlos truthfully.

“Good, because I never want to be without you.”

You can’t help but think the same, and it isn’t because of the pancakes.

February 2022

It’s a week before Valentine's Day when you answer a FaceTime call from Carlos.

“Did you see the car launch?” He asks.

You have given up trying to get him to say hello every time you answered the phone, he was always too eager to talk to you.

“I did. Looks beautiful, hopefully that corresponds to speed.”

“We can only hope. I didn’t call to talk about the car.”

“Well, you could’ve fooled me.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

“I am funny, you know this.”

Carlos ignores your quip and instead asks, “Valentine’s Day, do you feel okay going out?”

Ever since that night when Carlos showed up at your flat unannounced, he has been trying to communicate better. The two of you had your little inside dates- movie nights, cooking, board games, anything the two of you could do at home or over the phone you two have done. You had only gone out on a date once and that was over as quick as it started. Some fan spotted him and it was only a matter of time before his location was leaked. You didn’t want to hide your relationship but you also didn’t want it outed by some random F1 update page. You wanted to be the one who shared it with the world.

It took you a moment to think about it and you didn’t want to spend your first Valentine’s Day in your flat. “I would love to go out,” you tell Carlos honestly.

“Good, I made a reservation to this place I think you’ll love.”

You smile having the perfect idea of how to mess with him, “Well what if I said no?”

Carlos doesn’t seem at all phased, “Then I would’ve canceled the reservation.”

You can’t argue with that logic. “What’s the dress code? Because I take it you aren’t going to tell me where we are going.”

“You’ll be correct about that. Dress code,” Carlos pauses for a moment, “Wear something red.”

You roll your eyes, “You are only saying that because you like seeing me in red.”

“It is your color mi amor.”

“Oh so I look bad in all other colors,” you challenge.

“What has gotten into you today? So sassy.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it's because I miss you.”

“I’ll see you in less than a week, mi amor.”

“I know, I know.” You pick at your nails. “I don’t know why, I just miss you more than usual this week.”

“I miss you too,” Carlos admits.

You go to say something but you are interrupted by another voice. “Carlos, Carlos,” a familiar Monégasque driver calls out. “Who are you talking to?”

“My girlfriend,” Carlos replies nonchalantly.

“Ooohhh,” Charles calls out, and before Carlos can react Charles shoves his entire face in front

of the camera, your screen now filled with nothing but Charles.

There were only a handful of people who knew that you and Carlos were together, Charles being one of them. When Carlos left McLaren for Ferrari, he had spilled the beans to Charles and you had learned that Charles was the one who kept pushing Carlos to come see you. So saying you were thankful for the Monégasque driver was quite the understatement.

You giggle at his actions. “Hi, Charles. How are you?”

“I’m doing great, how about yourself?”

“Same old, same old.”

“What are you two talking about?”

“None of your business,” Carlos answers at the same time as you say, “Discussing Valentine’s Day plans.”

“Valentine’s Day plan? What are you two lovebirds doing?”

“Going out,” Carlos answers for you.

“Ooooohhhh can I come with?” Charles asks.

You snort at his question, “Don’t you have your own girlfriend to take out instead of third-wheeling on our night?”

Charles says nothing and just gives you a blank stare, “Fine, be that way.”

You roll your eyes at his childishness, “Don’t be such a baby.”

“You’re younger than me!”

“That makes it worse!” You exclaim.

“Charles, did you need something or did you only come in here to bother us?”

Carlos’s question seems to snap the other Ferrari driver back in focus, “Oh. Yes actually, we aren’t free from our media duties yet.”

“Let me say goodbye then I’ll be back out.”

Charles wishes you a quick goodbye and you are left alone with Carlos. “You have to go?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

“Yes.”

“The life of a Formula 1 driver never stops.”

“You’d be right about that Hermosa.”

“I’ll let you go, call me if you get the chance.”

“Of course. I’ll see you soon mi amor, don’t miss me too much.”

“I’ll try.”

It’s a week later on Valentine’s Day, and you had spent the majority of the day getting ready for your first real date with Carlos. But along with the butterflies in your stomach, there was also this unwelcome feeling of sadness. At first, you couldn’t place what it was but then it hit you like a truck. Lando didn’t send you any chocolates. You knew that the chances of him sending them were slim but for some reason, it really stung. Every year he sent you a box of chocolates, no matter where in the world he was, no matter what he was busy doing. And every year there was a note “You’ll always have me and your shitty rom-coms”, well you at least you still had your shitty rom-coms. You were excited for your date but that gloomy feeling was hard to get rid of and you knew that Carlos was bound to notice.

“Wow,” is all that came out of Carlos’s mouth when you answered the door.

“I hope that’s a good wow,” you chuckle nervously. You had done what he asked, you were wearing red, more specifically the signature Ferrari red. While it wasn’t a hard color to match, you hoped that Carlos appreciated the sentiment.

“Of course, mi amor. You look… amazing.” You smile at his lack of words. You don’t need him to tell you anything, you could tell what he’s thinking from his gaze alone.

“Oh, these are for you,” Carlos hands you a bouquet of red roses and baby’s-breath along with a wrapped box of chocolates.

“Thank you Carlos, we can share the chocolates later tonight.” You tell him as you walk back into your flat. Carlos shuts the door behind him and follows you into the kitchen as you rummage around for your good vase.

“We’ll have to leave soon if we want to make the reservation,” Carlos says, checking his watch.

“Alrightly, just let me grab my shoes.” You walk into your bedroom to grab your shoes. On your way you stop in front of the mirror to check your hair and make-up one last time.

When you walk back out you notice Carlos staring at the pictures on your walls. As you move closer you can see the one in particular that he is staring at.

“That’s when Lando and I first declared each other as best friends.” You say with a sad smile. “I don’t really remember it but I do know that we were at my house and my mom snapped the picture.”

Carlos turned to face you but you continued to stare at the picture, jealous of how young and naive the two of you were back then.

Carlos called your name and you were quickly snapped out of memory lane. “Are you okay?” His question laced with concern.

You wave him off, “I’m fine.” Carlos gives you a look almost asking ‘are you sure’ and you are quick to spill your feelings of gloom. “I mean it’s silly and I knew what was going to happen.”

“Knew what was going to happen?”

“Every year Lando has either given or sent me a box of chocolates. At first I knew it was his mom forcing him to give them to me, but as we got older he knew that it was something that cheered me up, especially because I never got anything in school from the other boys. Then he would always include a note, ‘You’ll always have me and your shitty rom-coms’. Then I didn’t get anything this morning and I knew I wasn’t, but it makes it all more… I don’t know. Real? I guess? It’s stupid, I know I shouldn’t be complaining about not getting chocolates from another man when my insanely handsome boyfriend is standing next to me.”

“Mi amor, I didn’t know he did that. That was sweet of him and I am sorry that he can’t grow up and accept that he isn’t in control of you. Even if he was your best friend you deserve to be loved and not be shunned for doing so.”

You nod in agreement. Every time you feel at peace with the whole situation something like this happens and you are brought back to square one.

“Well let’s get going. I don’t want this ass-hat to ruin anything else for us. Especially not tonight.”

Carlos snorts at your insult and holds out his arm for you to take, you do so happily.

Carlos was nothing but a gentleman the entire time. He opened the car door for you, pulled out and pushed in your chair, and complimented you the entire evening. Sure these were all little things but they meant the world to you. The two of you were in your own little bubble the entire night, everything was so peaceful.

However, it wasn’t until you and Carlos got back to your flat that your little bubble of peace was popped. You were busy finishing your skincare routine when Carlos called out your name. You walked into the living room and were met with the most domestic sight: Carlos sitting on your couch in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt scrolling through his phone. The sight brought a smile to your lips.

“You called?” You asked, making your way over to the couch.

As you take a seat next to Carlos, he hands you his phone and you are greeted with the familiar sight of Twitter. It takes you a second to make out the picture, the two figures in it are quite blurry but as soon as you read the caption attached to it your smile drops into a frown.

‘New WAG alert? Carlos Sainz was seen looking comfortable with a mystery woman at a candle-lit dinner this Valentine’s Day. Will we be seeing more of her?

“Oh.” You aren’t surprised by the lack of privacy and you are well aware that this was bound to happen eventually, you just didn’t think that it would be the first time the two of you went out publicly.

Carlos raises an eyebrow, seeming to have expected more than a one-worded response to the tweet he just showed you and you can’t help but shrug your shoulders in response.

“You’re not upset,” he asks.

“I mean a little, but it's not like I can do anything about it. We knew the risks before we went out and we were willing to take them. Are you upset?”

“I am used to it,” Carlos admits, “It happens to me all the time, I just wished I was given the decency to go out with my girlfriend and have a nice private dinner.”

You cuddle up into Carlos’s side and he is quick to abandon his phone and wrap his arms around you. “I don’t want anything to spoil this evening,” you tell Carlos, “so as long as those are the only pictures out there let's ignore them for now.”

“I can do that. Now what movie do you want to watch?”

“How about 10 Things I Hate About You?”

March 2022

The beginning of the 2022 season was right around the corner and every time you and Carlos talked he was always trying to sneak in a comment about you coming to Bahrain. He thought he was being so subtle with his comments that the look on his face when you asked him if he wanted you to come with him was priceless.

“I thought I was being subtle.” You can hear his frown through the phone.

You try to contain your laughter but the task is easier said than done, “Baby, you were as subtle as a bull in a china shop.”

“But will you?”

Ever since he first started hinting around, you weighed the pros and cons. You loved watching the races, you would be able to spend time with Carlos, you would be exploring a new country. All of these things were nice, but when you thought about the cons, they paled in comparison. If you went to Bahrain then your relationship with Carlos was definitely going to become public knowledge, and while that wasn’t a bad thing you weren’t completely sure if you were ready for the entire world of fangirls to also be a part of your relationship. There was one other thing that was making you hesitate- the idea that you would probably run into Lando.

You couldn’t let that stop you though, so without putting any more negative thought into it, you told Carlos that you would love to go to Bahrain with him.

Walking through the paddock in Ferrari gear felt wrong but right at the same time. Carlos had insisted on providing you with all the possible merch you could imagine. The number 55 displayed proudly across your back, a Ferrari cap snug tightly around your head, a pair of Ferrari sunglasses Carlos had loaned you, and to your surprise a pair of Ferrari socks. You had nearly laughed when you took them out of your little handmade care package, you didn’t even know that Ferrari had socks it wasn’t like anyone was going to see them anyways.

You were hesitant to wear it at first. Most of the other WAGs never wore team gear and when they did it certainly wasn’t to this extent, however, Carlos had put your mind at ease. He did love seeing you in red.

You were well aware of all the cameras and more aware of all the people. Carlos had given you a clear set of directions on where to go and who to ask for so that you would be escorted to Ferrari hospitality without any complications. However, you had guessed Carlos had scrapped that plan and failed to tell you. Because standing right by the entrance to Ferrari hospitality was none other than Carlos himself.

“Find everything okay?” He asked as you reached him.

“I did, but this wasn’t a part of the plan.”

“Well, I had time and saw your message. I wanted to be the first to greet you.” He leans in and kisses your cheek.

“It’s a welcomed surprise.”

“Come,” Carlos grabs your hand and interlocks it with his, “I want to give you the grand tour.”

Carlos drags you around introducing you to everyone and you can’t help but feel extremely welcomed in your first -official- introduction into the world of Ferrari. Monaco might’ve been the first time but this experience was a much fonder one.

Carlos spends as much time as he can with you, doing his best to make sure you felt welcomed. Eventually, he is forced to do his job and you watch the free practice in the comfort of Ferrari hospitality.

Ever since Valentine’s Day you have avoided social media. Even when you were friends with Lando you never really interacted much with F1 Twitter and even less so now that the two of you weren’t talking. However, due to it being the beginning of the season F1 the sport was trending and out of pure boredom, you decided to brave the tweets. Most of them were predictions about the year, fans cheering on their faves, and even thirst tweets of seeing the drivers back in their cars once again. And who could forget the beloved gossip and update pages? Certainly not you, considering you were looking at your own face on one of the pages.

You weren’t foolish enough to think that you were going to go undetected with Carlos, you were fully expecting it. That however did not lower the shock of seeing yourself on one of these pages. The tweet itself didn’t have many likes or retweets but it wasn’t the only one out there talking about you. And it wasn’t before long until you saw one captioning ‘Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris’s BFF spotted together entering the Ferrari garage’ and below it was a picture of you and Carlos hand in hand. That wasn’t what made your stomach flip, it was what was underneath the photo. Speculation as to why you didn’t have your yearly appearance on Lando’s Instagram.

Of course they were right, there was no need to speculate when that is exactly the reason why, not that you were going to confirm their beliefs. You would have to tell Carlos about all of this on the way back to the hotel. No need to worry him when he should be focusing on the car and the season ahead of him.

The two of you are lying on the bed in your shared hotel room watching some random movie that just happened to be playing when you turned on the TV while waiting for room service. You were snuggled into Carlos’s side, your hand resting on his chest. Carlos has one arm under your head, the other is scrolling through his phone.

When you told him about what you saw on Twitter that afternoon he simply shrugged and said “Let them think whatever they want to think. It’s our relationship, not theirs. We don’t owe anyone anything.”

You still had your concerns that Lando might do something but Carlos insisted while he was dumb, he wasn’t that dumb. But if he was to open his big mouth McLaren and Ferrari’s PR team could handle it. This was nothing to worry about.

You’re half paying attention to the movie and half paying attention to the occasional funny tweet or whatever Carlos is showing you. A knock at the door causes you to shoot out of Carlos’s arms. “I’ll get it!” You call out to Carlos, excited to eat some real sustenance.

You don’t even bother looking through the peephole before whipping open the door, a rookie mistake. Because who stands in front of you is not the room service delivery person with their little cart, no, the person standing in front of you is your ex-best friend.

“Lando?” you ask in shock.

“So I see what’s going around Twitter is true then?”

You cross your arms over your chest, “Excuse you?”

“I just had to see it for myself,” Lando sneers.

Before you can respond Carlos comes up behind you. He’d gotten out of bed at the sound of

Lando’s voice. “What are you doing here?” Carlos questions.

“Oh I just saw some update and WAG pages saying that my best friend was spotted with no one other than the Carlos Sainz and I figured I would come see it with my own two eyes.”

“We aren’t best friends anymore. Remember you told me I was throwing 15 years of friendship away?” You snap back.

“You need to go,” Carlos gently guides you away from the door so that you are now standing behind him. You aren’t going to argue with that. All you wanted was to spend the night with your boyfriend eating room service while watching a crappy movie. You didn’t want to see Lando, let alone have this conversation.

“Is this room 512?” Of course, now the room service shows up.

“Yes,” Carlos answers. The gentleman looks between Carlos and Lando, “Don’t worry about him, he was just leaving.”

You peer around Carlos in time to see Lando stomp off down the hallway back to his own room. The room attendant drops the food off and leaves in a hurry, not that you blame him.

You make your way back to the bed and curl in on yourself, Carlos is quick to follow. “I’m not hungry anymore,” your voice is muffled by one of the pillows. You feel the side of the bed dip behind you as Carlos sits to comfort you.

“I can’t believe he showed up here. What is his problem? Do you want me to go talk to him?”

The idea of Carlos talking to Lando nearly makes you throw up. “No, don’t bother. It’s not worth it.”

“No,” Carlos says harshly, “He comes here, spews a bunch of bullshit and he thinks he can get away with it.” You roll yourself over so you can now look at Carlos. You’ve never seen him so mad, sure you saw him pissed off and frustrated at Monza a few years back but this, this was a whole different type of anger.

“Carlos, as much as I would love for you to give him a piece of your mind, it’s not going to do anything. To him we're the bad guys, no matter how we try to explain ourselves. I’ve made peace with the fact that this is who he is. I think as long as this stays between the three of us and off the track it's best that we just leave it.”

“That still doesn’t mean he can show up whenever he feels like it and start shit.”

“I know, but you’ve said it yourself- he’s childish.” You can see the fight and anger leave Carlos’s body. “Besides, I want all your focus to go into the race. I only kiss boyfriends who end up on the podium.”

“Is that so?” Carlos questions with a sly grin.

Well, it seemed that you owed Carlos a kiss. A Ferrari P1-P2 finish at the first race of the season was a sight to see. The entire garage was in a frenzy as all of them rushed to watch the podium ceremony. You weren’t sure what you were supposed to do with yourself. You wanted to go watch the ceremony in person but you weren’t sure if that was acceptable, seeing as the rest of the team was more deserving and you were only, well, yourself.

“What are you doing? Let's go! Carlos will want to see you!” James, one of the mechanics that Carlos had introduced you to early in the weekend had seen you standing off to the side looking confused as to where you should go.

“Are you sure?” You asked as he weaved you around his co-workers.

“I’m sure of it! Besides, don’t you want to see your boyfriend up on the podium?”

You really did want to see Carlos on that podium and it definitely had nothing to do with seeing his skin shine with sweat and champagne, nothing at all.

The entire atmosphere was addicting- the fireworks, the roar of applause, the cheering from the team, it was all so addicting and the grin on Carlos’s face was worth being squished in between multiple sweaty bodies.

You could pinpoint the exact moment that Carlos saw you in the crowd and if you thought he was happy before you would consider him ecstatic. After the ceremony, Carlos was quick to make his way down to where you and the rest of his team stood.

Your congratulations died on your lips when Carlos crashed his into yours. Although surprised, you waste no time grabbing the nape of his neck and bringing him closer to you. His skin is sticky with sweat and champagne, not that you mind. His lips are sweet and you can’t help but savor the flavor.

He pulls away and you can’t help but ask, “What was that for?”

“You said you only give kisses to boyfriends who get podiums. I was just collecting my award.”

You roll your eyes, “I’ll kiss you no matter where you end up.”

“Good.” Is all he says before capturing your lips in another kiss. You were well aware of the cameras, the people and their cheers when Carlos kissed you. You could feel the heat rise into your cheeks but you didn’t care. How could you when you had Carlos kissing you? Tomorrow

might be a different story but for now, you were truly living in the moment.

Silverstone 2022

Nearly 4 months had passed since Carlos had kissed you after his podium finish in Bahrain. And it's been nearly 4 months since every social media platform of yours has blown up. It was almost scary how fast your follower count went up. You tried not to look at the comments but your curiosity had gotten to you. While the majority were sweet, there were always those who hated other people's happiness.

It really didn’t bother you, well most of the comments anyways. The ones that cut the deepest were the ones that asked about Lando- Where’s Lando? I wonder what Lando thinks about this? Oh, so you're the reason we don’t have Carlando anymore. She was only using Lando the entire time, I guess the friendship paid off.

Carlos had called you when first brought them up, that conversation was a rough one. He had suggested deleting social media for a time and you had argued back that they really didn’t bother you. You knew that Carlos was concerned for you, it was sweet. But like any 20-something-year old you were addicted to your phone and social media. Carlos had then suggested making a private account, something only your close friends and family could view, that way you could continue your life as an iPad kid.

Silverstone was the second race that you were able to attend of the season. Carlos understood that you couldn’t drop everything and travel the world with him, no matter how much the both of you wished you could. But it nearly broke your heart to tell him that you weren’t able to make it to the Spanish Grand Prix. He told you it was okay but you could still hear the sadness in his voice.

You always sent him a text after every race, no matter the result, and if the timezone allowed you would try and call him. So when your time off got approved for the entire week at Silverstone you couldn’t be happier.

So here you were, your third time at the Silverstone circuit, however, it was your first time being here and not being in the McLaren garage. You felt more comfortable in your Ferrari getup the second time around.

You had high hopes for Carlos during qualifying, the free practice sessions seemed promising. And your hopes were fulfilled when Carlos got pole position for the 2022 Silverstone Grand Prix.

Your emotions were amped up a hundred times the next day when the checkered flag was waved and Carlos crossed the finish line in P1. Emotions were high in the Ferrari garage and you weren’t excluded in feeling them. Carlos had just achieved his first-ever Formula 1 win at Silverstone. Everything seemed to move in a blur, you were whipped away to see Carlos. You didn’t care how sweaty he was, how his hair was sticking out in a hundred different directions, or the indents of his helmet on his cheeks. None of that mattered, all you cared about was Carlos. Celebrations didn’t cease after the podium ceremony. Of course, Carlos was whisked away for a few post-race interviews but everyone was preparing for the night ahead.

You don’t remember the name of the club that you were dragged to and frankly, it didn’t matter. The atmosphere was buzzing, the music was so loud you could feel it in your chest, and the floor was so sticky that you could feel your shoes almost slip off with every step. But you could barely think about any of that when Carlos’s hands were currently around your hips and the two of you were dancing, not very PG-ly, in the middle of the club.

Carlos was handsy when tipsy, you knew that much. His hands were constantly moving up and down your sides, to your hips, to your arms, and even to your neck every time he decided it was time for another kiss.

“Do you need another drink?” Carlos shouts over the music.

You glance down at the empty cup in your hand, “Yes please!”

Carlos grabs your hand and drags you away from the dance floor and towards the bar. You bump into a couple people and while it is bound to happen you can’t stop the quick ‘sorry’s’ that slip through your mouth. No one seems to pay any attention to you basically stepping on their toes, all too wasted to really care.

You stand next to Carlos as he tries to get the bartender's attention. You don’t mind waiting, it’s busy and the poor bartenders are slammed. However, you do mind when someone bumps into you so roughly that you are rammed into the bar counter.

“Sorry!” The person exclaims and you are quick to turn around to see who the hell just ran into you.

The universe must really have it out for you because the voice belonged to none other than Lando Norris, who else? The two of you lock eyes but say nothing. It’s only when Carlos turns around with your drink that Lando lets out a scoff.

“Congratulations Carlos,” Lando says. You don’t have to be a genius to tell that Lando isn’t being genuine.

“Thank you,” Carlos replies dryly.

“That was quite a performance at the podium ceremony,” Lando’s attention is now fully on you, “I never did quite take you for a slut but guess I was wrong.”

Your jaw drops and you are left speechless. Never in a million years did you think that the boy you grew up with would call you such a vile name. Tears well in your eyes, is this truly what he thinks of you?

Carlos slams the drinks on the counter and you can feel the anger roll off of him in waves. “What did you just say?” Carlos growls.

Lando looks taken aback by Carlos’s reaction and you can almost see a flicker of regret flash across his features, however, he doesn’t change his stance reply with a cold, “You heard me.”

“I have had it with your glorified temper tantrums. You need to grow up and get over yourself.” Carlos doesn’t allow Lando to get another word out, he grabs your hand and pulls you away from the bar.

Once the two of you are outside Carlos is pulling you into a tight hug. “Don’t listen to him. He’s drunk and an asshole.”

Carlos's words don’t do anything to stop the tears from falling. Sobs rack your body and Carlos can only hold you tighter. Rationally thinking, why did it matter what Lando thought? He wasn’t a part of your relationship. Emotionally thinking, on the other hand, Lando was your best friend for 15 years. The two of you went through almost every milestone together and yet he still called you a slut. It didn’t matter if he was drunk or not.

“Let's go back to the hotel,” Carlos says softly.

You can only nod. You can’t help but feel bad for Carlos, tonight was supposed to be his night. The two of you were supposed to celebrate his win but here you were crying and getting snot all over his shirt.

You had nearly passed out the moment you and Carlos got back to your shared hotel room. The excitement of the day along with the tears had proven all too much. Cuddled up next to Carlos you couldn’t help but feel the need to apologize.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing, Hermosa?”

“Tonight was supposed to be all about you. We were supposed to have a fun night celebrating and I ruined it.”

“No. The only person who ruined it was Lando. He had no right to say anything.”

“But-”

“I don’t want to hear you apologizing for something that wasn’t your fault. You did nothing.”

“But my reaction-”

“Was a normal reaction to the situation. If he ever says or does anything like that again I won’t hesitate to punch him.”

“Carlos!” you exclaim, “You can’t just do that.”

“Consequences be damned.”

“Carlos,” you say in a warning tone. He says nothing and you shake your head in annoyance.

“We can celebrate properly later, when do you need to be in Austria?”

“In three days, I think.”

“Oh, well when we go back to my flat we can do something before you leave?”

“Sounds perfect mi amor.” Carlos presses a kiss to your temple.

When you talked about celebrating with Carlos at your flat you meant maybe have a few drinks, go out for a nice dinner, or maybe even watch a movie. What you didn’t imagine was straddling Carlos on your couch.

One of your hands was wrapped around Carlos’s neck and the other was tangled in his hair as his lips left warm, wet kisses along your neck. His hands were spread across your back, holding you in place to make sure you didn’t fall backwards off the couch.

“Carlos,” you whine out. The slight scratch of his facial hair mixed with the feeling of his lips were driving you crazy. You were definitely going to need to use some concealer and foundation

on your neck when you got ready tomorrow morning.

Carlos, hearing your whine, had only responded with a “I know Hermosa.”

His hands then found their way to your waist and moved you off of his lap so that your back was now resting against the cushions while he hovered over you. His hands dance along the hem of your shirt and you savor the warmth of his palms.

Carlos nearly has your shirt off of your body when there is a knock at the door. The two of you look at the door and then back at each other and Carlos brings a finger to his lips, signaling for you to be quiet. You nod in understanding, hoping that whoever is at the door goes away soon.

The knocking continues and Carlos moves off of you and to the front door. You sigh and sit up, fixing your shirt in the process. You hope whoever is at the front door has a good enough reason for interrupting your and Carlos’s celebration.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You hear Carlos question whoever is at the door.

“Carlos,” you call out, getting up from the couch to make your way out of the living room to see what the commotion is. “Who’s at the door?”

You don’t need Carlos to answer the question because as soon as you are close enough you see a sheepish-looking Lando who is holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Lando, what are you doing here?” You cross your arms over your chest.

“I came to apologize for my behavior last night.”

Carlos scoffs, “Just last night? You should be apologizing for a lot more than that.”

Lando looks down defeatedly, “You’re right. I should have never acted the way I did. The truth is I was worried about losing my best friend. I’ve always cared about you and I always will care about you.”

It was your turn to scoff, “You didn’t seem to care about me that night in Monaco when you told me I was throwing away 15 years of friendship. You didn’t care when I pleaded with you to understand my feelings. You didn’t care when you basically told me to choose you or Carlos. You say you were worried about losing your ‘best friend,’ but if you were so worried, how come I couldn’t even get a response from you that morning I texted you apologizing for all of it?”

“But I’m here now.”

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t need a half-assed apology. Especially after that night in Bahrain and especially after what you called me last night.”

“What made you think that showing up here, unannounced, was going to do anything?” Carlos asks.

Lando now turns his attention to Carlos, “I wasn’t talking to you. I am here to apologize to her, not you. This isn’t any of your business.” Lando snaps.

Lando has always been a bit of an idiot and clearly, that hasn’t changed in the past year. You rub your eyes. You can feel the stress headache starting to form already.

“Not any of my business,” Carlos repeats, “Are you kidding me? You say it’s none of my business but I think calling my girlfriend a slut is my business. You might be too childish to see it but I care about her. I listen to her when she talks about you and your friendship, when she talks about how she has supported you for all these years, and when she misses you. I won’t have you messing around with her feelings.”

“Lando,” you say gently, “You will always have a special place in my heart. I just can’t get those nasty words that you told me out of my head. It’s one thing to call me a bad friend but calling me a slut? For what? Finding someone I care about, someone who makes me happy? I can’t accept your apology, at least not right now. Maybe someday we’ll be able to be friends again but I think it's time that we admit that we will never have what we once did.”

Lando looks as if he is about to cry and while you feel bad you have to maintain your stance. You can’t have someone like this in your life, it’ll only make it harder.

“I get it,” Lando says, “Just know that I truly am sorry for the way I’ve acted. I hope the two of you are happy, I mean it.”

“Thank you, Lando. I wish you the best."

Lando walks away, head hung in shame. Carlos closes the door softly and just like that the hope you held for you and Lando’s friendship dies out. Maybe it’s for the better, maybe one day the two of you can be friends again. But for now, you’ll focus on the present. You might’ve closed the door on Lando but you have never been happier opening the one for Carlos.

A/N: I just wanted to say again thank you so much for all the support on part one. I was not expecting this to become a 20k+ fic in it's entirety. I was also unsure the entire time whether or not to make Lando and the Reader friends again, so hopefully this is open ended enough for you to decide.

Also please don't forget to like, comment, or reblog. It seriously means the world to me <3

taglist- crossed out names mean I couldn't tag you!

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dr-spectre · 2 months ago

Text

RANT POST ABOUT CALLIE AHEAD!!!

I need to get some old and built up feelings out of my chest before i explode into a trillion pieces, if you do not wish to see a LONG rambling about me getting mad and rageful about this important character to me then by all means skip over and have a good rest of your day or night!

If you can handle me getting a bit pissed off and mean then keep on reading!!

This will also be a VERY LONG POST!!! Because I have a lot to rant about. Some of it i have talked about before many times but i need to talk about them... Again..

So anyways. If you wanna move on, that's okay, if you wanna stick around? That's all good as well!!! I highly HIGHLY encourage you to read all that I have to say. Okay? Thank you!

You know, as someone who has put in a lot of time and research into Hypno Callie and the others. What I've come to notice in media is that people tend to use the words mind control, brainwashing, hypnosis, influence, indoctrination, corruption, all interchangeably despite each word having vastly different meanings and connotations and effects.

Brainwashing has been used as an incorrect word to describe a lot of these kinds of plots in TV, movies, games, etc. and it really bugs me personally. Like, if you see something as clearly hypnosis, they explain that it is hypnosis and there is a hypnotic element at play here, you cannot just slap the word brainwashing onto it. It's like if I called a mango an apple you know? Or if I showed you a squid and you called it an octopus and you were REALLY adamant that it's an octopus.

Another example, if there's mind controlled zombies that are being controlled by aliens or something, slapping the word hypnotised or brainwashing onto that scenario is stupid because they clearly explained it in the story with evidence that it's straight up direct mind control and nothing else.

This doesn't just to apply to Splatoon btw, this annoyance goes for every other time a "mind control" plot has occurred in fiction.

I don't wanna sound rude here, I really don't! But guys, do you realise that we have this cool thing all across the world called a language? And languages have words in them!!!! And words have meanings in them that are brains understand and interpret!?

If I say the word "fluffy" what do you think of? "Fluff, fur, cute, huggable, adorable." You think of cute fluffy things, yeah?

If I say the word "hypnosis" what do you think of? A trance like state, a weird altered state of consciousness, maybe even a weird sleep/flow state?

If I say the word "brainwashed" what do you think of? Cults, militarily, experiments, evil, etc.

You guys see why I take issue? You guys see why I am extremely picky and laser focused on people's word choices when it comes to Callie and what happened? You guys see why I get really angry when people who do fuck tons of research into the events of Splatoon forget that languages exist and fail to see things past a fucking Wikipedia article?!? Is it seriously THAT hard for some people to say hypnotised?

I don't even necessarily blame most people for the words that they use, they don't know any better! And you know what? That's okay! I don't wanna get mad at SOME people since that word has been used incorrectly in media for a long ass time. And you wanna know another reason why i don't blame the casual fan or someone not in the know that much too? Because even the SPLATOON DEVELOPERS use brainwashing to describe Callie which is just... from my research and posts, incorrect.

I have yet to find a single person who can confidently explain to me that Callie was actually brainwashed and provide evidence to me to prove their points. Cause all I see is people just saying that "oh, a wiki and an artbook said so, so it must be true." Instead of looking at the actual game and looking at Hypno Callie's personality, behaviour, actions, etc. and comparing them to regular Callie.

Why do you think 99% of people call her Hypno Callie? Like there's a reason as to why her name is that in most circles... Have you ever talked to someone who calls her brainwashed Callie? Probably not...

God... I'm really sorry if i come off as some gatekeeping fan or elitist snob or some shit. I'm not trying to be and i don't wanna be like that. I wanna educate people, make people think of a different perspective and make people think a little more you know?

I'm just getting tired of it all... It affects how I see Hypno Callie and the events of Splatoon 2. I can't enjoy it when some people throw out these certain words, and it makes me feel so sad and terrible. And not in an engaging way, just a sadness that fucking stings my chest and I'm SO SICK OF IT!!!!!

I just despise this notion in the Splatoon community, Inkipedia, YouTube videos, social media and official sources that Callie was kidnapped out of the blue when she was alone and Octavio forced the shades onto her, brainwashing her and removing her memories. I hate it so much. It's something that truly fills me with great sadness and pain and pure anger. Callie is a comfort character of mine and to hear that scenario for her in official canon is just... no. I can't accept it. I refuse to accept such a vile and awful thing. It makes the Octarians more evil and way less sympathetic that way too, it makes DJ Octavio's eventual redemption make less sense because in one game he's this fucking monster and the next he's like "Hey guys imma help you out!" It makes his character incredibly inconsistent at that point.

it makes his appearance with Cuttlefish at the Grand Fest feel less satisfying because there this huge black spot on his character from Splatoon 2 where he apparently did something truly evil and unredeemable. Why would Cuttlefish be okay with standing next to a man who """kidnapped and brainwashed"""" his grand daughter?! I don't care about their history together, if i was Cuttlefish and I heard about that kind of event for my grand daughter, I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE OCTAVIO!!!

Hypnosis by nature is less evil and has more nuance and agency for Callie and the Octarians. Sure it's still fucking bad but not as extreme and dark as brainwashing is. The two terms are so vastly different and using either word willy-nilly is extremely annoying and frustrating to me.

Hypnosis ≠ brainwashing and you cannot prove to me otherwise. You literally cannot mind control someone with hypnosis, that's not how it works. They are so opposite of each other it's actually insane. I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE USE THEM INTERCHANGEABLY ALL THE FUCKING TIME?!?! WHY?!?!!? Is it a lack of knowledge?!? Lack of caring?! Is it because of how hypnosis is portrayed?!?!

And the whole "Callie was kidnapped/abducted." My god... Do people understand what words are coming out of their fucking mouths?

Callie was more than willing to join the Octarians and she said to them "okay fine I'll hear you out." That is not KIDNAPPING!!!!!!!!!! THAT STATEMENT MADE BY CALLIE GOES AGAINST THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD!!!!

I don't know why they say this in some official sources either, i don't know why Inkipedia lists it on their pages. i don't know why fans keep wanting to push this idea that Callie was kidnapped, is it because an artbook said so and nothing in the game? I don't know why timeline explainers and people who do a fuck ton of research into Splatoon push it too. If Callie was kidnapped you figure she would mention it. But she doesn't!!!! Marie does and says she was brainwashed in the North American (NoA) localization, but of course she would think that and from her perspective she would figure that is the case from her limited knowledge of what happened to Callie.

God I just.... I hate it when people say Callie was brainwashed. I fucking despise it. It makes me so violently angry and upset and EVERYONE WHO HAS A LOUD VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY SAYS IT!!!

This doesn't even impact just Callie. It impacts the entirety of the Octarians as a species and DJ Octavio too. I LIKE DJ OCTAVIO!! I THINK HE WAS FUNNY IN SPLATOON 1! I like his role in Splatoon 3 and how he redeems himself and how he appeared in the Grand Festival with Cuttlefish. It ties back to before the Great Turf War when the Inklings and Octarians were on good terms and now finally that peace is back....

But this enjoyment... this appreciation of his character growth gets ruined because of the shit Nintendo did and what the fanbase did when Splatoon 2 rolled around... I can't enjoy Octavio as a character anymore because of the notion that Callie was brainwashed by him.

I can't look at his inkipedia page because IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH THEY SAY HE BRAINWASHED HER!!!!

And don't you EVEN MENTION the line "I remixed Callie's brain!" My brother in Christ, that is not only a call back to a line he said in the final boss of Splatoon 1, but it's also because DJ Octavio is a.. idk... DJ!!!! A DISC JOCKEY!!!! In the NoA version of Splatoon, Octavio's personality is very loud and in your face, compared to his more sinister and intense personality in the European and original Japanese versions. This serious personality was only given to Octavio finally in the NOA version of Splatoon 3 ROTM where his personality actually matches his Japanese and European versions from Splatoon 1 and 2.

Octavio says puns and musical terms to describe shit in the NoA versions of Splatoon 1 and 2. Remixing by definition is taking a song and altering it to make something new. What is Hypno Callie? A REMIX OF CALLIE!!!! It's Callie but she's more aggressive, emotional and impulsive. And you know where we've seen this remix of Callie before? IN SPLATOON 1!!!! IN THE SPLATFEST DIALOGUE!!!!

Octavio didn't literally mean that he "remixed her brain." via actual brain, washing. He just means that he gave Callie a new twist, and Callie in her hypnotic state was like "okay fine I'll hear you out."

Octavio hypnotising Callie who wanted to help the Octarians anyways out of her own free will, planting suggestions into her head that SHE HERSELF ACCEPTED AS DURING HYPNOSIS, SUGGESTIONS GIVEN CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PERSON'S MORALS AND IDEOLOGIES!!! So that Callie would be more likely to stay in Octo Canyon and not decide to suddenly run off as Callie was under a lot of mental distress and emotion from her busy and lonely life, and allowing Callie to put her influence onto Octo Canyon to help his people and boost motivation, fits more in line with Splatoon as a series and Octavio as a character than the whole "he brainwashed Callie" bullshit that has plagued the internet for 7 years and continuing. Why do you think Callie is so chill to see DJ Octavio come back in Splatoon 3 huh? Why do you think she misses shaven Octarians in ROTM? Why do you think she calls Octarians cute? Hmm... I WONDER WHY?!?!?!

Is Octavio still bad? Yes! Did he use Callie to benefit his people? YES!!!! Was Octavio being manipulative and selfish? FUCK YES!!! HE'S THE ANTAGONIST!!!! I AM NOT RESOLVING THAT MAN OF BLAME!!!! DONT GET MY WORDS TWISTED!!! HE'S STILL BAD! just not unredeemable... because once you say he brainwashed someone and forcefully removed Callie's memories like a pure evil monster, then you have a character who is pretty much unredeemable at that point. You have made him cross a line that he can't turn back from. You implanted these disgusting and disturbingly sexual suggestions about Octavio and Callie and her outfit. Why the FUCK do you want that? Why?! Why do you wanna even suggest the idea that Callie was forced to wear skimpy clothing against her consent and knowledge? Do you know how fucking DISGUSTING AND EVIL THAT IS?!?!?! FOR A SERIES SUCH AS SPLATOON?!?!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO FUCKING IMPLY HERE?!?!?!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?! GOD!!!! WHY DO YOU WANT THESE AWFUL THINGS DONE TO CALLIE AGAINST HER KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT IN THE MAIN TIMELINE!!??!?!?!?!! For AUs I get it, it's your right as a fan to make fanfiction and explore darker topics. I personally won't read it but I won't EVER stop someone from making a darker AU. It has its place in the community and I 100% respect it with all of my heart. I truly respect those who make dark AUs and darker takes on Splatoon because I'm sure it's fun and interesting for some people. To each their own! I actually like hearing my friends talk about Fuzzy AUs and stuff like that, given the time and place, darker toned AUs are something that i find really interesting but I'm not super duper in love with them.

But don't you DARE put these disgusting and sexual undertones about Callie and the Octarians in the main canon. Fuck off. Don't you even try and suggest that the Octarians are this purely evil race that forced Callie into a revealing outfit while she was completely unaware and it was against her consent. And that they just grabbed her... god... Jesus Christ man. Fuck. I hate thinking about that so much dude.

This type of scenario that people push did NOT happen.

THIS DID!

I'm so angry. I'm so sorry for this giant humongous rant. I care a lot about Callie. I only want the best for her. I only want a more engaging and more in-depth take on Splatoon 2. I want to enjoy Tidal Rush, I want to enjoy Spicy Calamari Inkantation, I want to enjoy Fresh Start, I want to enjoy the Bomb Rush Blush remix like how i enjoy Unconscience by Marina Agitando. I want to enjoy Hypno Callie in general, BUT SOMETIMES I JUST CANT AND I GET SO SAD AND MY CHEST HURTS!!!! This has been going on FOR SOOO LONGGG!!

I keep making all these posts about Callie because I still see that kind of bullshit being thrown around. Imagine having a perspective on a character you really love and you try and hold on to it. But everyone else around is pushing that perspective down and you feel so sad and stupid and ridiculous... And so your only option left is to scream and bark and yell....

I am literally gonna keep ranting until I can see the word "brainwashed" in media without having a fucking heart attack. I wanna just be able to enjoy Callie's arc and see it for what it truly is...

A story about two cousins drifting apart... Callie becoming so popular and famous... and lonely... that she became so mentally distraught and overthought everything. She did something incredibly irrational. She went to Octavio and the Octarians. Octavio knows that Callie can be a huge help to him after his loss and so he enlisted her help. And she just said, "okay, fine."

She was given hypnotic shades by Octavio in order to keep her more under control as she was ridden with mental illness and could leave Octo Canyon at any point with her overthinking. But he did NOT put her under total control and brainwash her, he needed Callie's influence for the Octarians, to decorate bases and add her touch into their music. The Octarians became happy and more motivated then ever. He didn't need a drone to help him. He needed, CALLIE.

However... Callie, in the canyon, lost herself, she gave into bitterness, hatred, sadness, anger... She knows who she is, but her memory is so cloudy and muffled by emotion and the shades... She needs help... Proper. Help. You can hear it in the songs found within the Octo Canyon, her reversed vocals sound so sad and deeply emotional...

When Marie arrives, Callie is mad at her, she wants nothing to do with her. But when Marie shoots the shades off of her, Callie is still dazed, upset, emotional, sick, she dances and continues to sing back against Marie's desperate words and pleas... Marie only wants to repair their broken relationship and lend out a hand to her cousin who needs to see the light....

But, when that heavenly melody echoed in that stadium, it was like a rushing tide of memories and feelings flooded into Callie. All of her and Marie's time performing, hosting news, celebrating Splatfests, and arriving to Inkopolis for the first time, came back to her and dispelled the darkness in her heart.

Callie heard the melody and went "wait... This isn't me! What am i doing!? YEAH! I REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And well... The rest is history, the pair healed their relationship over the course of a few years and are stronger than ever.

They fulfilled their fresh start, they helped redeem an angry vengeful man from the past, they inspired the present with Off the Hook, and they planted the seeds for the future in Deep Cut.

and they won the Grand Festival... TOGETHER!

Well... At least that's MY interpretation on things ;). And i want my interpretation to be held strong in my head... I'm tired of getting chest pains man... I'm tired of feeling this sadness and pain... I'm tired of going on Inkipedia and seeing that FUCKING word. I'm tired of being scared to watch YouTube videos focusing on lore and the story of Splatoon because deep down i KNOW they will say that word that has such fucking horrible connotations and meaning behind it...

Anyways. I think I'm done. I think I'm just in a huge ranting mode and I had to get it out, my autism was really acting up and i wanted to vomit this stuff out of me. I hope you guys feel what I'm feeling and if you have a character who you feel similar towards, let me know! Let the anger out. Okay?

Have a Callie for sticking around and actually reading. You're amazing.

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sunflowerdigs · 2 months ago

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People can scream about the mean Buddies being bullies all they want, but it's not going to change the fact that Buddie fans never convinced anyone that a plot device and glorified extra was 911's new star just because he was a white man. Fans did that themselves.

For some reason, the way Tommy fans are now trying to sideline Athena in her own plot when Angela Bassett is an Emmy and Oscar winning actress with a career spanning decades and LFJ just has a famous dad is so galling to me. The reason I watch 911 is because the kinds of characters who only get to stand on the sidelines in other action shows get to be big damn heroes on this one. "Autism saves the day" is so on-brand for this show and that's why I love it. This isn't Supernatural. White male characters don't become the default heroes and leaders in every situation just because they show up and are conventionally attractive. An older black woman and a black autistic 8-year-old are going to land that plane and it's going to be just as "realistic" as whatever 30-year-old Whiteman McSixpack has done in any other action movie or show ever made.

It's fair to say that Buddie fans also expect to see Buck and Eddie too often, but at least Buck and Eddie are show leads with 6 years of history behind them. At least Buck and Eddie getting together would actually be unique queer rep that is worth getting excited over (and that we honestly may never have a shot at again). At least Buck and Eddie getting together doesn't sideline characters who have been part of the show for over half a decade.

I get that Buck coming out was exciting, but Buck coming out is about Buck, not Tommy or Buck/ Tommy. Tommy should have always been treated like Taylor or Natalia. It should never have been assumed that just because he was a man (and white) he would naturally be privileged over not just other love interests but over Eddie (and, now, Athena). Getting mad because Buddie shippers put Buck's coming out into the context of story that's been building for six years only to turn around and obsess over a storyline with barely any screentime is...a bold choice.

#911 discourse #911 spoilers #fandom discourse #i'm just...no lfj is not going to take athena's lite hands off the controls while she weeps with gratitude #astounding bullshit #anti bucktommy #anti tommy kinard

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whispersosoftly · 1 year ago

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In Defense of Hot Dog Fingers

There is something about EEAAO that makes it fundamentally impossible for me to condense into a manner I feel is concise-yet-informative enough to adequately state my opinion. The movie itself is addressing so many different-yet-important facets of the main character (Evelyn)’s life that to describe one requires the description of them all. This movie is a narrative about parenting, queerness, undiagnosed ADHD, broken families, generational trauma, marriage, failed marriage, and deep depression. It talks, in a very genuine manner, the sensation of being an immigrant, of being out of place both at home and afar. It talks of having to deal with the elder generation in a way that is respectful to the old and the new. Like all things in life, it is messy. It is sharp and brilliant and disorganized. And it is queer.

The Hot Dog Fingers section of EEAAO is one of the most viscerally unnerving portions of fiction I’ve had the pleasure to experience in quite some time. We follow Evelyn’s romance with her IRS agent, Diedre, as they navigate their life together as a lesbian romance in a universe where human beings have hot dogs for fingers. We see a “sex” scene of Evelyn and Diedre ejaculating mustard and ketchup into one another’s mouths. Jamie Lee Curtis (or a body double) play the piano with their toes. It’s a distinct and intentional diversion from the other universes we see Evelyn inhabit, where she is a chef, a singer, a scientist. Here, Evelyn falls in love with a woman. Here, Evelyn has a normal life. Here, Evelyn learns what love means in a way that is alien to both her and the audience.

The Hot Dog Fingers world is, in many ways, representative of Evelyn’s internalized homophobia and her lack of understanding of her daughter’s romance with her girlfriend, Becky. The concept of lesbianism– of lesbian sex, of lesbian romance, can only exist in Evelyn’s world in the same way that humans could evolve to have hot dogs for fingers. It’s a specific, marked moment in the narrative where Evelyn is forced to learn to recognize that love can be unrecognizable.

It can often be easy for parents or adults to assume that a particular perspective or lived experience is the way that things are done. Many times has ‘my parents did it to me, and I turned out fine’ been cited as an excuse for corporal punishment, for the restriction of privileges, or for the deliberate choice to not acknowledge a minor or younger person’s identity. In this narrative, Evelyn is allowed to experience love from outside her wheelhouse, in a manner that would never have been expected or made available to her. Hot Dog Fingers is the reason why Evelyn is able to approach Joy’s relationships with the confidence and knowledge that her daughter is pursuing her happiness, whatever that happiness may mean for her.

The second portion of this essay will concern itself with the sections devoted to being a rock. I feel it has an importance to the narrative as a whole as well as to the cohesion of the film itself. I will approach the cohesion of the film first, as I think it will lend itself toward explaining the narrative.

Some films, most notably to my mind Mad Max: Fury Road, rely on endless, thumping, writhing action. The entire film is set in a broad, open desert. The entire film is a chase sequence. There are no breaks. The rig cannot stop, or the heroes will be caught and likely die. They must reach the place where the mothers sleep. They must reach the end point. They must meet their goal.

Halfway through the film, the illusion of a green sanctuary is shattered, and for about ten to fifteen minutes, there is stillness. The baking sun sets. The rig moves, but the story can breathe. People talk. There is a moment or five to resolve oneself toward the eventual rising action and climax.

This stillness in narrative allows the viewer a moment of rest. One hundred and twenty minutes of constant action is enough to numb a viewer to the spectacle of it all. Movies like the Fast & Furious franchise or Mission Impossible rely on these spectacles to draw in viewership, but without built in narrative pit stops, it’s just a fireworks display of meaningless lights and fire.

The rock segments of EEAAO fulfill that narrative pitstop for the viewer. Almost all sound cease. Almost all movement ceases as well. There is no spoken dialogue, only subtitles that display in clear, large block lettering. EEAAO is relentless in the way that it introduces and supplements new visuals, and the two sections of rock are literal anchoring points that allow the viewer and the characters to breathe and to coalesce into their respective identities.

As a person with ADHD, I often find myself in a life that feels loud. Sounds, sights, sensations all clump and pile onto one another in ways that can be at times frustrating or obstructive. The actual, palpable relief I felt at the first rock sequence allowed me to think through all I’d seen and actually process the narrative. The silence was comforting to me. It literally felt like being put under a blanket and allowed to think during a busy day.

In terms of narrative, this is as close to suicidal ideation as the story toes. Joy wants to stop. Life and everything hurts her! She receives no support from her parents despite being told that they love her. She wants to cease. To be inorganic matter, unable to be hurt. She wants to have a literal, immovable, inviolable distance between herself and her mother. It’s a visual representation of the shattered relationship she has with Evelyn, and of her own measure of despair at ever crossing that gap.

The second use of the rocks is different, because by this point in the narrative, Evelyn can see Joy. Evelyn can see Joy’s pain. Evelyn can see that Joy’s feelings of isolation and of abandonment, while real, are surmountable. Evelyn takes that step and rewrites the world for her daughter. Evelyn looks at all the misunderstanding and trauma heaped onto her by Gong Gong and she says no. I will not do this to my Joy. I will not allow my pain and disappointment to carry on through her.

It feels as though every portion of EEAAO is a bit like a cotton boll, where I can tease and tug and pull at each individual fluff until my little narrative becomes a pile of interconnected thoughts, sensations, and experiences. Evelyn’s life and the multitudinous ways in which that life can be expressed cannot be covered in just these two scenes, but I feel the importance of those scenes vastly outweigh the jarring nature they may have to the viewer.

Thank you for reading. :)

#everything everywhere all at once #EEAAO #Evelyn #Joy #Analysis #hot dog fingers #hey qara look pls

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redwiccanrobin · 9 months ago

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I keep seeing people say the live action show is going to be bad only because Bryke is no longer involved. Now, I’m not particularly interested in the show because live action remakes just don’t do anything for me, personally. But I think y’all are giving Bryke way more credit than they deserve. Let’s discuss.

First, I think we should acknowledge the more problematic aspect of them creating the show in the first place. While I love Avatar, Bryke are two white men who took the aesthetics of many different Asian cultures to create their world. And most of the voice cast were also white. If there were Asian voice actors, they were either a background character or a villain (besides Iroh and Zuko, of course). Now, I know that some of you may have read that and thought about how the actor playing Sokka is not only white but lied about his ethnicity. Don’t worry, I’m mad at that as well and I’m beyond frustrated that Sokka has been whitewashed not once, but twice in the name of a live action interpretation.

And speaking of live action interpretations, let us not forget Bryke’s role in the 2010 movie. They announced their decision to leave this new show due to it not matching their vision. But they had no problem with the film that casted almost exclusively white actors to play characters of color. Again, if there were POC in the movie they were either background actors or villains (again, besides Iroh and Zuko). When people bring up the movie, they blame Shamalan for every aspect of it. Yes, he did not direct a good movie. But, at the end of the day, Bryke wanted this movie to happen. Everyone else, including Shamalan, wanted a season four but they were dead set on the live action movie that whitewashed most of the characters. And they were fine with that. That didn’t clash with their vision despite relying very heavily on non-white cultures to make their show.

Outside of the whitewashed movie, their creative choices are… interesting, to say the least. And we didn’t get to see those because the writers pulled their weight and tweaked the original concepts. Toph? Bryke wanted her to be a boy and be in a love triangle with Aang and Katara. It was the writers who made her a girl. Azula? Again, Bryke wanted her to be a boy and, again, the writers made her a girl. Katara fighting sexism in the Northern Water Tribe? They wanted her to be fighting for Aang, not herself. It was the writers decision to add in Katara fighting against a patriarchal system. Many of the episodes that people point to as their favorites (Zuko Alone, The Puppetmaster, The Southern Raiders) were not written by them. Yet, they get the pats on the backs from casual viewers and even some dedicated fans.

Do you know what happens when they do have creative control? At best, it’s mediocre, at worst, it’s bad. Let’s first take a look at their continuation of this universe by looking at Legend of Korra. The writers that made those iconic and beautiful episodes in ATLA? For the most part, they’re no where to be found. And it shows. LoK was a mess from the very beginning and never quite got its footing. Yes, I will acknowledge that Nickelodeon fucked them over. Yes, I do have respect for them for sticking to their guns and making Korrasami an item and giving us not one but two bisexual women of color. But besides that? It’s just a very mediocre show with mediocre writing.

But we see how truly bad things can get with the ATLA comics. Now, I do need to acknowledge that they didn’t work on that comic alone. So, like the movie, there are others to blame for the mess. But Bryke signed off on everything and wrote some of it themselves. And, boy, are they bad. A large number of the ATLA fandom do not like these comics and there’s definitely a reason why. Including out of character moments, prominent sexism with how the women are written, and just downright bizarre discussions, it’s not that much of a surprise that we don’t like to acknowledge it. In my opinion, no one got screwed over more in those comics than Katara. They make her a trophy girlfriend. A shadow to Aang rather than being her own character. That girl we watched in the show, the one who was vibrant, layered, complex, was gone. In her place, a hollow shell. And they would continue to show disrespect for their own character in LoK where she has been upgraded from trophy girlfriend to trophy wife. They didn’t even care enough about her, besides her being the wife of Aang and the mother of his children, to give her a statue! All the feminism we see in the original show? It definitely wasn’t Bryke.

I don’t know how this new live action show is going to pan out. It could be great, it could be bad. It could just be meh. But none of those outcomes have anything to do with whether or not Bryke was involved. Because they may have created ATLA, but they weren’t the ones who truly breathed life into it.

#avatar the last airbender #atla meta #anti Bryke #atla fandom critical

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blackbullet99 · 11 days ago

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Mary Jane Watson From The Spider-Man Trilogy Is Ridiculously Overhated

I keep seeing a bunch of stuff online about how the Raimi Trilogy MJ sucks, how she’s “the real villain” and a horrible person, blah blah blah.

Truth be told, I don’t have that much of an attachment to this character, I’ll defend people like Katara from the unjust hate she receives because she’s one of favorite characters and heroines EVER! But MJ (in these movies anyway) is merely okay. I much prefer the leading ladies of the other Spider-Man films, Gwen Stacy and Michelle Jones.

They have more personality, better relationships with Spidey and aid him more in his heroics. In the original trilogy Peter and MJ are often at odds and usually the later always has to be rescued (not that it’s her fault). There are legitimate reasons to dislike this depiction of MJ (i.e. her personality isn’t exactly comic accurate). But a lot the hate she receives is relatively unfounded and definitely in misogyny, coming mostly from incels.

Like, seriously, this just screams incel loser syndrome right here.

First and foremost, MJ is a fairly sympathetic character, she’s generally a kind, friendly individual for the most part, which is why Peter is drawn to her, but she’s also deeply insecure due to her abusive father and thinks her worth is determined by whom she’s in a relationship with, only for these people, such as Flash and Harry to mistreat her or demean her respectively.

People often get mad at MJ for her treatment of Peter, but really think about things from her perspective. He’s the only guy who treats her with sincere genuine kindness for the most part, then out of the blue, after he indirectly confesses his feelings about her and she directly confesses her, he states they can only be friends, then to quote TV Tropes, we the audience have a…

Then Peter tells her he wants to be with her after she’s publicly announced she’s engaged and the later when she comes close to considering it tries to back out of it, again we the audience know why, by MJ doesn’t.

However, I will say ditching her fiancé at the altar was messed up and I can’t really defend it, probably the worst thing MJ did especially because said fiancée was a genially nice dude. But hey, it’s sweet to see her and Peter finally admit their feelings despite her knowing he’s Spider-Man.

She also gets a lot of flack in Spider-Man 3, which I also find kinda unfounded. One big reasons is her essentially cheating on Peter by kissing Harry, but people tend to forget:

She quickly realized what she was doing was wrong.

Peter also kissed Gwen right in front of her, without much thought, you could argue that kiss was staged, but still it’s rather hypocritical.

I’m not saying MJ is a flawless woman who can do no wrong, but her that her vices are overblown by so called fans. It can only be due to misogyny seeing as Peter and Harry also do pretty jerkish things. I already mentioned some of Peter’s actions earlier, but in the first movie Harry essentially goes after someone he knows his best friend likes as soon as she breaks up with her ex and doesn’t even tell his best friend about it, then his dad pretty much calls his girlfriend a slut and that he should just do her while he can (something people actually agree with) and he barely defends her. But neither he or Peter get as much flak. Granted I really like both characters myself, but still.

I just don’t get why people are so obsessed with villainizing MJ in these films. Isn’t the whole point of these films is that anyone even good people can make bad or selfish choices, but sometimes all they need is forgiveness, understanding and compassion. That’s one of the core themes of the trilogy, especially the final film. So I’m gonna leave you with this…

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melhekhelmurkun · 2 years ago

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Watched The Shining by Kubrick last night, and I can honestly understand why Stephen King hates it so much. It’s definitely not the best adaptation of the book at all, and the film really did destroy all the characterization the book goes through for each of the characters.

He might’ve been a bastard and a drunk, but Jack Torrance did love his wife and son, and the book does show that. It’s only towards the late middle and end that he really goes psychotic, and that’s mainly because of the hotel itself essentially possessing him and bringing out the worst of him. I am in no way excusing his actions, because he is an attempted murderer and an abusive father, but he did love Wendy and Danny, and he wasn’t a psychopath. Ultimately, it was his love for his son that stopped him when he managed to catch up to Danny, and it was what made him try to kill himself in an attempt to save his family. Unfortunately, at that point the Hotel was too powerful, and it didn’t matter if Jack was alive or dead; it just needed his body. The movie really failed to show his descent into madness; it just jumps right into crazy, with nothing to show the man he was before everything at the hotel happened. It also failed to show that the Hotel - the ‘manager’, as was stated - was truly what was behind everything. Had the Torrances not gone to the Overlook, would Jack have snapped and killed his family? It’s a possibility, but a low one - it’s more likely that Wendy would’ve ended up divorcing him, or he would’ve carried out his suicidal thoughts.

Wendy Torrance was not a weak woman - she not only had the courage and drive to stand up to her husband when he went batshit crazy, she locked him in a pantry, stabbed him, and went up multiple flights of stairs while very badly injured… and then she lived to be happy afterwards! She survived having her back broken by her husband when he tried to kill her, and lived a happy life afterwards! I can name maybe three people in my life who I am confident could do that. Kubrick’s decision to depict Wendy as an emotionally fragile woman was just demeaning to her character. Shelly Duvall did an incredible job, however, and I respect her immensely for it. That’s not an easy role to be put into in any way, especially not when you’re working for a nightmare of a director who decides that the best way to get results is to psychologically torture the star actress. She depicted the movie version of Wendy perfectly. I was cheering for her the whole way.

And then there’s all the other changes which I can understand from a filmmaker’s perspective as being more logical to making a movie, but they did change the story quite a bit. Having Jack use an axe rather than the roque mallet was an understandable change, as it was more recognizable to the public as a dangerous weapon, however… it meant that most of the important scenes, such as when Wendy’s back gets broken, never happen. You can’t exactly do that with an axe, can you? But that scene is one of the most impactful (pun not intended) and important to the book, at least in my view, since it shows her resilience and her love for her son, as mentioned in the above paragraph about her character. The choice to use the axe also meant that that Dick Hallorann died when he should not have.

That man, the chef with the Shine, was more important to the book, I think, than any character. He was the first to tell Danny that he wasn’t alone, that there were more people out there who had the same abilities he did, and that it wasn’t a bad thing. He was the one to tell Danny of the strange happenings at the Overlook, and to tell him that the visions might be scary but ultimately he didn’t think they could hurt him - which ended up being a major part of Danny’s choices. The main part of the reason Danny went into room 217 (237 in the movie) was because he remembered Dick telling him that the visions couldn’t hurt him, that all he had to do was look away when he saw them. And then there was how Dick came all the way across the country to help Danny when he was called. He pledged to help that boy if needed, and when he was needed, he came immediately, and ended up saving the remaining Torrances. His refusal to let that boy and his family die was such a big part of the story.

I can also understand the decision to turn the hedge topiary into a hedge maze. Making bush animals move is not at all easy, especially for a movie made in the 80’s. However, the animals were also fairly important to the story; they were the first real visual of Jack’s descent into madness, and then later a big factor of his possession by the Overlook; when he refused to believe that he’d seen them move, he essentially shut down any possibility of belief that there was something wrong at the hotel. By the end of the book, we sort of find out that the hotel itself was influencing his willingness to believe that, but his initial refusal did push that along. Once someone has made up their mind about something, even something they’ve seen with their own two eyes, it’s often very difficult to get them to change it, especially in a scary situation. The topiary was the first big turning point in Jack’s psyche.

Then there’s the decision to change his death scene - having him freeze to death after getting lost in the hedge maze and suffering a mild heart attack. It was… definitely a choice? In the book itself, after Jack ‘kills’ himself (again, the Hotel was possessing him fully at that point and no longer needed him alive, just needed his body, so him fighting back and bashing his own face in really did nothing in the long run but was a rather important scene - see the paragraph on Jack Torrance for clarification) the boiler in the hotel begins to overheat. The Hotel (possessing Jack’s body) goes to release the steam from it to prevent it from exploding - the problem here is that Jack was told by Watson that the boiler would blow long before the pressure gauge reached its red zone, because it was so old. But since it was not Jack present in that body but the Hotel itself, it had no idea about this and believed the boiler was now safe, as it had managed to reach it before the needle hit the red… and then the boiler exploded. Having Jack freeze to death in the hedge maze (and thus forcing us to experience that absolutely ridiculous final scene where we see him frozen) was a much less final and impactful death than that of the boiler exploding. With the explosion, his body was destroyed, and so the ‘manager’ of the Overlook was destroyed (the ghost/demon). It was a finale; the evil perished, the good guys got away, and everything was right in the world. With the freezing, it was much less final, and much less satisfying.

Objectively, if you separate the book from the movie, the movie wasn’t terrible. I did like it, and I had a lot of fun watching it. But as an adaptation, I found it VERY lacking. I can understand why King hates it so much.

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ennard-is-near · 5 months ago

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As a fnaf movie enjoyer I would be so down to hear your thoughts on it! Like genuinely curious. I like hearing people's other perspectives

Of course! I probably should have clarified anyway. Just know that everything I say is lighthearted. I’m not mad at anyone who likes the movie, I think there’s some stuff about it that is fun, it just really didn’t do it for me personally. This is going to be a long one, so I’m sorry about that. Thank you for the ask!

Of course there are positives:

It looks great! The pizzeria, the animatronics, the sets and actors. Everything is really well done on a technical level. This extends to the casting being incredible. Matthew Lillard was a perfect choice for William Afton, he does insane guy pretending to be regular very well. Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, the guy who played Doug, MATPAT??? All slay so hard. Everything like that about the movie is good.

Mike and Abby have a cute relationship. All the family stuff is actually really well done. I think it was a weird addition (I’ll touch on this later) but as it is it’s a well done part of the movie.

The little fan service bits are super fun. I shat my pants when Sparky the Dog came onscreen. That one guy being named Carl and getting his face eaten by the cupcake, the use of The Living Tombstone’s song at the end, MatPat. All these moments are great.

Dumb fun. I mean, it’s the FNaF movie. They build a fort! Freddy Fazbear is there! William Afton is there (sort of…)! Vanessa throws Mike’s Xanax or whatever into a lake! That’s hilarious! I enjoy the movie in this regard. As a FNaF fan who is occasionally willing to overlook everything I find disappointing about the movie, it’s fun.

However, it’s still not really a good movie.

I think this movie was pitched as being “For the fans” but aside from the little moments, like the ones I mentioned earlier, it isn’t really that. And it’s not clear enough for someone who has no idea what FNaF is to follow (that’s why critics were so confused). I don’t know how to Segway this into the next topic so here’s a few things that really bugged me from a fan perspective.

The Aftons are not prominent or interesting at all. This should have been a slam dunk and it wasn’t. I might get in trouble for talking too much shit about Vanessa because people tend to love her for some reason, but she’s so boring. She doesn’t have that much personality or clear motivation and only shows up to deliver exposition or get stabbed. She has a lot of potential, maybe I could over analyze her potential one day, but as she stands she is not interesting. And don’t even get me started on William. He’s in like two scenes, doesn’t have any clear motivation at all and then just shows up at the end to get springlocked. I want to see him!!! Lemme see William! Why isn’t he more of a constant threat throughout the movie? Instead there’s a random child custody based subplot and the antagonist for most of the movie is some random character they made up and not William fucking Afton?? What’s his deal? It’s obviously not remnant because that doesn’t make sense based off his actions in the movie. I think they should have spent more time clarifying the motives for the movie Aftons, because as they stand they are completely different characters from their game counterparts (which is fine) but with no known motivations or personalities. Like you can’t expect me to apply their game motivations to this movie when they’re clearly super different.

The pizzeria isn’t prominent enough either. Mike doesn’t enough know what Freddy’s is despite probably being a child in the 80s. Garrett is kidnapped in the woods (Why did William Afton do that?) Mike spends more time zonked out and dreaming about Nebraska than he does thinking about Freddy Fazbear. It’s a bummer because it’s such a cool location, but the climax could have taken place almost anywhere and would have had the same effect with how few shits Mike gives about the Pizzeria. Which is a bummer because if Mike had just been a Charlie Emily type character then it would have been so easy. His dad was co-owner, his brother went missing there and now he has to go back and confront his demons. Have him freak out a little when the employment office guy tells him he can only get work at Freddy’s. Have him squint with vague recognition at “Steve Raglan” but not be able to put his finger on where he knows him from. Easy, doesn’t add too much and really brings the setting together.

The dream thing is kind of a stupid addition. It would be fine in a regular horror movie, but this is the FNaF movie? And it’s not a FNaF 4 reference because that’s not how FNaF 4 is. I get that they wanted to reference Dream Theory, which is a super fun reference but not enough to be the plot of the entire movie.

Not quite game compliant enough for a couple very specific things. I get that it’s a different media but like…Why can the kids appear in dreams? Why do they respond to drawings? Hey…why is Golden Freddy able to move around and stuff? That’s like his whole thing!

Some Random nitpicks: Wouldn’t it be more fun if the animatronics had beef with Vanessa? Isn’t the whole thing in the games that they don’t really like the kid of William Afton? The cupcake is too violent. The drawing thing is really stupid imo, especially because the kids seem creepy and violent even when they aren’t listening to William. I don’t think what Mike did to Garrett was bad enough idk, like I get that he feels responsible for his death, but he isn’t. Whereas Michael Afton was totally at fault for his brother’s death, Garrett was randomly picked up in the woods in Nebraska. The springlock scene was super lame, literally just period cramps. I get that it couldn’t be too intense because the movie was PG13 but maybe don’t make the movie PG13 if you can’t properly include one of the most iconic things in the games.

(These are the big ones. There’s a billion other things I could say but I think we’d be here all day)

But also, aside from being the FNaF movie…it’s just not a very good movie. The plot is all over the place. Nothing is explained very well. There’s a lot of exposition but not even about the things that matter. I don’t want to say that it wasn’t scary because I don’t personally get scared by horror movies but it wasn’t even intense. How are the animatronics a threat when they can be taken down with a taser? (I get that this is possibly a reference to 5 & 6 with the controlled shocks and such, but in those games they had to be like in a fixed spot and the taser was just a button, this can be taken places.) There are two antagonists and one of them is super random (if you don’t know the games), I’ve got a little facial blindness so if I didn’t know that Steve and William were the same based off prior knowledge I wouldn’t have put it together. It’s painfully slow at some points. The ghost children are underdeveloped. Certain arcs don’t go anywhere. It’s just all over the place.

And I think if it was a bad movie, that would be okay as long as it was a good FNaF movie. Or if it was a good movie, it would be okay for it to be a bad FNaF movie. But it’s not really great at being either thing, so (imo) it’s sort of just a terrible movie.

And it’s sad actually because I really wanted to love this movie. When I saw it in theaters, I left thinking it was a pretty solid movie, actually. Because I love FNaF and I was just happy to see it finally get the movie I’ve been waiting on since like 2015. But then I watched it 3 more times, and I started to realize that aside from the lore for the movie characters I made up in my own head and the fact that OMG Freddy Fazbear it wasn’t really a good movie or a good adaptation. I don’t hate it, though, I just think it’s a terrible movie (if that makes any sense). I’ll still go see the second one though, I’ll probably dress up too.

Final thoughts?

I think that a lot of the love for this movie comes, not from the source material, but from everything we made up afterwards. Headcanons and fan comics and fanfiction and the like. And that’s great! I’m glad people are taking a movie that I think is terrible, really I do. It just personally doesn’t do it for me, and that’s fine. Not every movie is for everyone, no movie could have been made that would satisfy every fan (The one they made just happens to not be for me. There’s a universe not too far from this one where I think the movie was great and you hate it.) And, hey, maybe the sequel will fix all the issues I have with it? Who knows. Only time (Dec 2025) will tell.

TLDR, I guess?

The movie has positives and it’s good fun, but there are so many flaws that make it both a bad movie and a disappointing FNaF adaptation. It’s great if you love it, I truly wish I did, but it just has too many flaws I personally can’t overlook.

Sorry this is an INSANE response to this ask, I have been looking for an excuse to type all this out for so long. Thank you for asking, thank you for reading, heart emoji heart emoji heart emoji.

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #answered asks #holy sweet baby jesus this is a long answer to your question #Vanessa fans please don’t hurt me #again I’m really sorry I went off the rails with the one I have a lot of thoughts #but not really enough to put in the tags #sorry it took me all day to type this I’ve been busy #anyway thank you for reading my rant #<3

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frasier-crane-style · 1 year ago

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I'm not sure Ahsoka is even a story

People have been comparing the writing to an AI and... they've got a point there. I mean, stuff happens... barely... but it's like there's no attempt to dramatize or sex things up or impart any excitement or conflict or nuance into the story. Dave Filoni has one move and it's spamming lightsaber fights and starship dogfights constantly.

(Speaking of which, remember in the movies when lightsaber fights would end with SOMEONE dying or at least being maimed? People get IMPALED in Ahsoka and they're there in the next scene like "get some sleep, you need it." Like being impaled by a lightsaber is a cold. Not even a bad cold. They might as well put the lightsabers away and settle things by arm-wrestling, it resolves as much!)

(I'm convinced that Marrok was a studio note added at the last minute because someone realized they had made a show with eight hours of people trying to kill each other with laser swords and no one actually dying.)

I actually read a quote by Timothy Zahn where his idea was that, in their decade-long exile together, Thrawn and Ezra had been forced into an uneasy alliance against an even greater threat. Like, yeah! That's dramatic! That's Something and not Nothing.

When you watch the show, though, it's more like they've just gone off to summer camp. Ezra sees Sabine again and he's just like "hi, how are you?" He's older and he hasn't changed at all. Neither has Thrawn. He's painted his Star Destroyer a bit and he calls his Stormtroopers Nighttroopers now (surely not to sell new merchandise instead of the same old action figures)... other than that, no change in his character whatsoever. Same guy.

Oh, he's teamed up with the Nightsisters, but that just amounts to him getting the obligatory Imperial superweapon. Does anyone really think this isn't going to turn into another plot coupon quest to stop him from using his new toy to destroy the New Republic before it gets destroyed anyway?

I mean, how can you not brainstorm SOMETHING interesting happening with this setup? It's impressive! A kind of anticreativity.

What if Sabine was in love with Ezra, then gets there and finds out he's gotten hitched to a cute Rodian or something. Or maybe he's gone kind of mad with isolation and is using the Dark Side, but doesn't know better in his crazed state?

Or Thrawn could be this Colonel Kurtz figure who's gone around the bend and his Stormtroopers all worship him like a cult leader. Like, right now, what does he even have against the New Republic? Why does he like the Empire so much? What is he trying to achieve? What benefit does he get from challenging the NR over simply suing for peace? It's insane--this one specific character is meant to be a galaxy-killing threat based solely on him as a person, but we know nothing about him as a person. (And he squeaks out a victory over three people, BARELY, and we're supposed to buy that the universe should be quaking in its boots.)

Filoni actually even stumbles upon a good vein of drama. Sabine betrays the galaxy to save her platonic friend. No one cares. Ezra doesn't care, Ahsoka doesn't care--why should the audience care?

Ahsoka trains Sabine to be a Jedi (that's its own rant, by the way), but stops because she worries Sabine will go the same way as Anakin. Jedi are all about nonattachment and Mandalorians are all about clans and lineage. Then, at the worst possible moment, Sabine proves her right, makes the exact same choice that Anakin did to go with saving a loved one over the fate of the galaxy... and Ahsoka just shrugs and goes "eh, no big!"

And I get it. I'm a comic book fan. I don't want to see noble, experienced characters flying off the handle at the drop of a hat and attacking their loved ones because it's their turn to hold the conflict ball. But these characters have no emotions at all! I don't care how good a person you are, if your bestie sells a nuke to Neo-Nazis to get you out of debt, you should probably raise your voice a little.

Also, is the last episode the first time they actually set up that Ahsoka and Sabine's conflict is over this "I'm afraid of her turning out like Anakin" thing? Well after it's resolved? Why? You have eight hours of TV show, you can set this up early on and then pay it off later (not next season, but later).

'Ahsoka has an astral-plane pow-wow with Anakin and gets over her issues' is a decent plot, but you have to actually depict her issues ahead of time, you have to dramatize them in a certain way so we know what the heck you're talking about!

Imagine if in Back To The Future, the first time we saw George McFly was when he punched out Biff and saved Lorraine. You wouldn't care at all, right? It's just a guy punching another guy. We have to know that George is a pussy and that Biff is his tormentor and that he's in love with Lorraine from afar--once we know all that context, THEN it's a triumph for him to punch Biff.

Your show can't just be people punching each other out! It also has to be reasons to give a shit about the punching!

You don't have to spell everything out, but you can't just show Rosario Dawson crossing her arms and expect us to know "oh, she's traumatized from Anakin becoming Darth Vader, she never got over that." You have to put that into words and imagery! Show us her ACTING! Let us RELATE to her! Introduce these people to us and let us get to know them! You can't coast on everyone already liking them because they look like old cartoon characters.

#star wars #ahsoka #dave filoni

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darkpoisonouslove · 1 year ago

Note

1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23 for the choose the violence asks 🔪

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Faragonda. People either think that she's secretly a villain or that she's a meek, old grandma. The villain part is really annoying because people act like Faragonda sending the Winx on life-threatening missions is a writing choice made in regards to showing her character when it's a writing choice made for the sake of plot. The writers don't care how Faragonda comes off if they can get their little plot with getting the Winx to save the day work. It's true about everything. How come she spies on the Winx but never does it when they actually need help and she could save them but at the cost of interfering with the plot? Her seemingly keeping the Agador box (4x01) is just the writers being lazy with coming up with a new design for something that will be on screen for 10 seconds. Honestly, name one of her "shady" actions that cannot be explained as a plot convenience. The other side of the spectrum is honestly just... Are you blind? She clearly has a lot more backbone than people realize, yet when that's noticed, it somehow makes her a villain. I am tired.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Somebody implying that Daphne is at fault for getting killed by the Ancestral Witches because she chose to sacrifice herself for Bloom and she could have just let her baby sister get murdered if she'd wanted to save herself. What even???????? *flips table*

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I block over too many wrong opinions or just a few opinions that are Very Wrong TM. So it's usually that. I don't try to remember what exactly made me mad.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Roxy, kind of. I don't hate her but every time I see someone whining about her not being part of the later seasons and bemoaning the fact that she was supposed to be the seventh Winx but then dissapeared, I start to hate her... until I distance myself from that part of fandom. I think Roxy has much potential in her quality of being a foil to Bloom, someone with a very similar backstory but completely different feelings on magic and being a fairy. However, the writers are so hellbent on making her Bloom 2.0 that they completely ignore the differences between the two that they themselves wrote in and the fandom just makes all of that worse when they try to shove Roxy everywhere and force her into the same mold that the Winx fit into. Roxy should have gotten to decide for herself and instead of going to Alfea should have stayed at home with her long-lost mother. Morgana was literally the queen of the Earth fairies. I bet she could have taught Roxy everything she'd learn at Alfea and more, considering that Earth seems to have a different branch of magic altogether that probably differs from the curriculum at Alfea. Plus, that way she could have spent some time with the mother that is a stranger to her and she could have found her own path instead of being forced into something she clearly didn't want just to be like the Winx and, more importantly, Bloom.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

The idea that SotLK is a better movie than Magical Adventure. The way that Bloom makes headway in her search for her parents is so fucking random. We never learn how the Winx found Hagen, the English dub cut the part where Daphne explains why she now thinks that the Roc might have survived when, for 20 years, she believed it to have been destroyed, and the Book of Fate is the literal fucking worst plot device ever. It straight up tells them that Marion and Oritel are in Obsidian. Don't even get me started on the whole mess that happens once they get there or the search for the key to Obsidian. And the theme - if it can even be called that - is a joke.

Magical Adventure suffers from the fact that the scenes have to be in a certain sequence to make sense and keep the suspense but that sequence makes the story feel like two movies mashed into one. However, the two segments are not bad at all. Sure, there are things that don't work (ugh, that montage with the suitors - what were they thinking?!?!?!). But the movie tries to focus on Bloom's relationship with her birth parents, which the first movie completely skipped over. Bloom and Sky are actually somewhat likable. We see the Winx without magic which hasn't happened since when? Season 1? The Ancestral Witches are actually scary when they possess the Trix and the fights are interesting and creative. Plus, there is a coherent theme about how parents' actions affect their children (there was another nuance here that I can't remember now because it's been a while since I watched it).

Anyway, Magical Adventure supremacy.

9. worst part of canon

I already talked about all the bullshit in SotLK and besides I really hate what they did with Zenith. The source of most technological advancements and, of course, they made the whole society be logic-based and emotionless. I. Cannot. Stand. It! They should have made Zenith's technology come from a place of empathy, of wanting to improve life so much for everyone that they become too focused on their work and don't notice how they isolate themselves from everyone else, including each other. It would have been so much more interesting and they could have kept Tecna as a logic-driven person, who's not good with feelings because that's just who she is. She'd fit even better with Winx if she comes from a planet so dedicated to helping everyone else that they neglect themselves and their emotions.

10. worst part of fanon

Blorboifying Valtor. I'm sorry but if you think you want a real-life Valtor, you need to go outside and touch grass. Not to mention that Valtor stans in general seem to have a very distorted view of him. This man has the temper and anger management of a fucking toddler. The only reason why he manages to remain collected and calm a lot of the time is because pretty much no one can stand up to him and pose a threat to his plans and his ego. At the same time somehow people completely miss the fact that he's vain and self-centered and clinging so desperately to his charisma and skills because he knows that deep down he is nothing more than a monster that was created to be a tool for the Ancestral Witches and he hates that. He's practically in constant denial mode about how truly sad his existence is.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Krystal! She's already at a disadvantage because she's introduced in season 5 AND is instantly shoved in the bullshit drama between Helia and Flora. I have seen people hate on her and call her a shady bitch when all she's done is be overexcited about seeing Helia and managing to defeat the Winx at volleyball and then realizing that maybe the situation came off wrong to Flora and trying to talk to her and tell her that Helia only loves her and he and Krystal are just friends. She's just an excitable teen and she's not at fault for Helia acting weird as fuck and introducing Flora to her as his "friend" as if they haven't been dating for 3 years. Smh. #JusticeForKrystal2kforever

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

Giving alien features to the girls. Like, I get it but it's always surface level because in the end it's so much easier to work with humanoid characters that you don't have to invent a whole new biology for. It seems completely pointless and usually doesn't come into play a lot. It feels like it's added more for diversity points rather than because it's fun or interesting.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Making Flora a drug dealer. The "Flora does recreational drugs" take honestly feels like people are desperately trying to make her interesting because they don't like her as she's portrayed on the show. And the idea of "Flora is okay with parts of nature that are dangerous and volatile" somehow always seems to lead to "give Flora a gun" when the two have nothing to do with each other. Flora wanting to protect all nature as it is is one of her defining traits. It feels like people are trying to erase her gentleness because they think that a mild-mannered character is worthless. Honestly, the show doesn't help. They make her empathy come down to "don't hurt it" even when the "it" in question is trying to kill her friends. They could have improved on that by letting Flora specialize in restraining spells that don't hurt the creature they're used on so that she can protect her friends and stick to her beliefs.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

The Company of Light. Even the writers ignore it because a) they did not think it through when they added that backstory and created several plot holes, b) they never did anything with it (for the last time - where's the fucking spin-off?!?!?!?!) and c) they constantly make all of the Company members appear incompetent and weaker than they are for the sake of the plot and letting the Winx in the spotlight. Give these people screen time! They are interesting and important! *cries*

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

I guess Blicy. I just didn't understand why Icy would want to date Bloom but I read a really good fic and I can see it now.

#winx club #ask #her-majesty-wears-jeans #opinions #this is me on my way to kick a hornets' nest #winx faragonda #winx valtor #winx flora #secret of the lost kingdom #magical adventure #winx krystal #winx roxy

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ceruleanwhore · 2 years ago

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I was just going back through some Wonderful Wonder World/Alice in the Country of Hearts/Heart no Kuni no Alice stuff and I wanted to make a little post in case there’s anyone out there who doesn’t speak Japanese and is looking to get into the series with just what’s available in English but doesn’t really know where to start. This is going to be kind of an overview of what order I personally would go in with everything I’ve seen in English based on what’s good, what makes sense, and what flows well.

First off, I would strongly suggest skipping the base, main manga that’s just called “Alice in the Country of Hearts.” It’s the one that you’ve probably seen either in like a dozen small volumes or three really big ones and the thing about it is that it’s pretty long but it isn’t good and anyone who is at all familiar with the Japanese version can tell you how badly they butchered Blood’s character, which really matters since he’s the main love interest in this one. He was frankly infuriating to read and I hated him and the story and everyone I’ve seen talk about this subseries of the Alice manga agrees with me.

The other thing I would suggest is not watching the movie they put out because it’s honestly really confusing. Where I think they didn’t go in the best direction they could’ve and they really didn’t make a movie that’s watchable or at all understandable to people who don’t really know the series is that they conflated the different sequels and stuff and kind of jumped right into the Country of Joker. The other thing about it is that the pacing and the way they jump between scenes and how they go from flashbacks and dreams to the actual, current action is very confusing because there aren’t stark enough boundaries between those so you easily lose track of if you’re in a flashback or a dream or not. It might be on purpose because they thought it was a stylistic choice that would emulate the strange, confusing nature of the world, but it just makes for a confusing movie that’s really hard to follow, especially for anyone new to the series.

With that out of the way, this is the order I would read all the manga in. This is all manga that I’ve been able to either purchase in English or find translated online (Country of Clocks is amazing and @vocaotome has a wonderful, very extensive list of English translations of the Alice series stuff, if you want to go looking for any of it.)

Start with White Rabbit and Some Afternoon Tea. For the record, every Alice manga starts with a recap of her going down the rabbit hole and coming to Wonderland, so you get the background information no matter what you start with, but this one has the most about Alice outside of Wonderland aside from the main base series. Also, Peter makes for a very logical choice for a first love interest and this story in particular does a good job of really introducing the reader to the Country of Hearts and the characters and the worldbuilding and everything. This is also one I was able to get from Country of Clocks online.

Next for me would be Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party. This one’s optional since I had to buy it and you can’t find it anywhere online, but I actually really liked it, which I wasn’t expecting given how much I hated the Alice in the Country of Hearts books that were also centered on Blood. However, while it is still through that same company that did that other horrid translation, I really think this version of Blood is infinitely better and makes for a great follow-up to that first introduction of White Rabbit. You also get some important plot and worldbuilding stuff with this one, which is why I have it listed second.

My Fanatic Rabbit. Like the previous one, this one is also two volumes but it’s about Elliot instead of Blood, which is honestly why I think it makes for a nice segue from a Blood-centered story, since it’s more of the Hatters. This also does get a bit more into Elliot and Blood’s backstory stuff and gives some more information there.

The Clockmaker’s Story and Love Labyrinth of Thorns. I can’t remember if these are online or not since I did buy them, but I personally really like and recommend them. Both are about Julius, and I think it makes sense to save them for last in the Country of Hearts stuff because, by now, you’ve seen Blood and Elliot and their perspectives on his character and all this stuff about him, which sets it up rather nicely. They’re both standalone, single books and I’m honestly not sure if it matters what order you read them in.

Moving onto the first sequel and the Country of Clover, definitely start Clover with Cheshire Cat Waltz since that is definitely the default and, unlike Alice in the Country of Hearts, it’s actually really good and I think it does a good job of introducing the new country and new characters. It focuses on Boris, so while Alice is reeling from suddenly landing in a new country and at first seeming to not have any of the people there with her from the Country of Hearts whom she’d gotten close to by then, he then comes in to be a familiar face and reassuring presence for her. It makes for a good dynamic and I think it helps with the introduction of all this new stuff while accurately dealing with and showing her emotions around it. You actually probably could find these at a library, too, since they’re really mainstream and did get widely published and everything.

Next up I think I’d do the ones with Ace, Knight of Hearts and Knight’s Knowledge. Similar in concept to the Boris stuff, he’s another familiar face in a new, unfamiliar place and they’re kinda just fun and short and, because it’s Ace, also pretty chaotic.

Definitely Black Lizard, Bitter Taste. This is also just my personal favorite of all the Alice manga and I love it SO MUCH. Alas, they never published an English translation so you can only find it online, but it’s sooooo good. This one is about Gray and does a lot more with the new characters from this country.

The Lizard Aide, maybe. Super optional, I know I never really liked Job’s art all that much and it is just a little oneshot so I leave that up to you, but it’s also about Gray so I’d put it after the other one.

Nightmare. Keep in mind, this is the little standalone from Clover, not The Nightmare Trilogy from Joker. Tbh this one, in my opinion, has the best of the art I’ve seen from Job and it’s kinda fun. The other thing you need to know about Job though is that they write their stuff differently than the other manga people do, so where a lot of the other manga reads like it’s all supposed to be part of this same collection of manga that’s kind of standing in for the absence of the game, Job’s stuff reads a lot more like it’s supplementary to the game. It still makes sense and it still can be fun, but it definitely has a different vibe to it and I think that’s the most accurate way to put it. This becomes especially clear in the aforementioned trilogy in Joker which I will get into later. Oh, last thing is that I thiiiink you can find this online but I seem to remember it’s pretty difficult to find, so you might have to hunt a bit, same with The Lizard Aide.

March Hare and March Hare’s Revolution. These are both really cute little standalones that focus on Elliot and I honestly like them a lot more than My Fanatic Rabbit from the Country of Hearts stuff, even though I do also like those.

Bloody Twins and Twin Lovers are definitely optional. I personally don’t like them, they frankly make me uncomfortable but, if you want to read them, I would do them probably after Elliot but you could do them before if you prefer.

Moving onto Joker, there’s only two things so definitely start with Circus and Liars’ Game because that’s all the main plot you’re going to get. Then, if you want to read The Nightmare Trilogy, go back in with that, and frame it in your mind as like if you were going to read some oneshot fanfic about Nightmare and the Country of Joker, because that’s definitely how it reads. Unlike all the others, this really doesn’t stand on its own and each of the three books are their own separate thing that don’t go together in one cohesive narrative. It’s honestly kind of weird and some of the things they decided to do in the story kind of annoyed me (like flagrantly throwing around and wasting massive McGuffins with enormous potential) but overall it is fun in the way that fanfic can be.

Love, Storms, and Flower Clocks. This is a good introduction to the crazy storm and the Twin World stuff and the mad eggs because it’s still mainly just about Alice living her normal life and, in this one, being with Julius, but while you have those familiar elements, this other stuff is then introduced as well.

Eggs of Love Come Rolling Down. This one is online only for English, and it’s just really about Humpty and Dumpty. This really should be read after the previous one I listed because it just jumps right into the mad eggs and everything and at least if you read the other one first you’ll have some concept of what’s going on.

Very optional Dia no Kuni fanbook stuff, and if you do decide that you want to start poking into that mirror world stuff, I would dredge up and look at as much as you possibly can because there’s so little of it that you really need all you can get just to understand the concept of it and what’s going on.

That brings me to my next point, which is that even though you can only get the fan translation of the first game in English, @vocaotome has detailed English summaries of a lot of the routes from all the games (except Spade) so you can kind of read through the routes and get the plot even if you can’t play the games. That being said, I have not done so myself but you absolutely can download and play Anniversary no Kuni in English on your computer if you want to do that as well. So anyway, hope this helps!

#hnkna #cnkna #jnkna #dnkna #wonderful wonder world #wonderful twin world #wonderful mirror world #heart no kuni #clover no kuni #joker no kuni #daiya no kuni #alice in the country of hearts #alice in the country of clover #alice in the country of joker #alice in the country of diamonds #quinrose #alice series

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cassecorrea · 1 year ago

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I’ve seen a lot of people do these and I wanted to get in on the action even though it’s super late

Thoughts on The Little Mermaid (2023)

Likes:

- I will forever preach about how my favorite scene is the one after KTG when they sneak back in!!! Soaking wet!! Giggling!! Quiet!! Late at night!!! I love it!!

- after reading about this I’m actually VERY glad they went with short dresses for Ariel — good costume design choice!! A big ballgown would hide the very fact that she’s human now!

- the Caribbean 👏🏼 calypso music 👏🏼 need I say more?

- how Eric finds out her name ☺️ written in the stars ☺️

- the opening quote! The fact that she doesn’t shed a tear until the end!

- the fact that the ending focuses on their new adventures together in the future

- part of your world reprise 2!! It should’ve been longer!!

- the jade mermaid figurine 🥹 (btw I want one please someone make a replica… that I can afford LOL)

- back to costumes, I love her blue dress!! (Tho Lashana(?) had her animated dress’ color palette so like… it was right there XD) but I also loved her pink dress!! And the ponytail!! She needed more hairstyles 😭

- I LOVE the fact that the mermaids are covered in scale patterns, that they don’t have skin at all but shimmering scales all over

- the fact that king Triton just SPAWNS???? From fish???? With the fish cape???? Now what was that about — also, how old are all the sisters if he’s been ruling for centuries??? Questions questions

- I love how Ariel and Eric meet on the beach in the OG but as a variant I did also like that a fisherman finds her (also I love how we see her struggling to swim to shore) this movie also made me realize how impossible that hair flip scene is since she’s standing on nothing and her hair would be behind her but it’s pretty so who cares

- Awkwafina my girl was the perfect scuttle

- scuttlebutt was so unnecessary but it’s low-key a bop so I’m not complaining (though Ariel and Eric SHOULDVE HAD A DUET ok bye) wait why isn’t there a single pop version of a song from the soundtrack like with every other film? Demi lovato singing let it go, Christina Aguilera reflection, zayn a whole new world, John legend and Ariana beauty and the beast, like BRO we needed one for under the sea!! Or part of your world!! Or kiss the girl! Ugh missed opportunity

- her hair on land TwT is so pretty TwT the shades of gold and red and orange ahhhh (maybe could’ve done with a few more red strands but it was still gorgeous) plus the shells in her hair!! She needed more!!

- I’m all over the place but the library scene !!! Ariel’s curiosity!! Ariel always disappearing LMAO someone needs to nail that girls fins to the floor is right

- love that they took out the writing plothole

- Jodi!! With the fork!!

- Grimsby being the ultimate shipper

- yo Vanessa’s actress?? For having so little screen time she BODIED that role

- Halle’s voice duh

- for the first time was such a needed song, love the cinematography especially in her room (her eating the soap!!! Lmao)

- go back home to daddy, and nEVER. LEAVE. AGAIN.

- Ursula looking all zombie and kaiju-esque?? Definitely to hide weird cgi but it looked so creepy and cool

- Eric struggling back to shore at the end and immediately calling to search for Ariel as he stumbles from exhaustion

- Ariel diving for the trident instead of Eric!!

- scuttle and Sebastian were a hilarious duo lmao

- Ariel’s mermaid design (but the early screen test footage version looked so pretty too… more thoughts in the dislike section about this)

- Ariel saving Max!!

- the whole market sequence tbh

- Ariel’s bones cracking when she transformed back into a mermaid!! But I’m so mad we never once got to see a full transformation scene lmao more about that later

- Ariel just putting everything in her mouth 🌷

- the grander orchestral soundtracks in each song

- Ariel’s grotto is bigger

- ariel killing Ursula (it’s her villain!!!) and having to drag herself across the deck (eric saved her with the harpoons so stop complaining)

- Ariel finding the telescope

- the shot of ariel swimming to the surface with her reflection on top with the fireworks!!!

- Ariel forgetting about the kiss

- Ariel singing along to under the sea!!! To show that she doesn’t absolutely hate her home!!! She just wants more!!! And the way she sings music is to me specifically !!! And the fact that she sings more period! I always thought she should’ve sang a lot more than twice in the original version for being known for her voice

- Ariel saving/healing Eric quicker with her siren song???

- the fact that one of my fave Disney ships is now getting all the love they always deserved ☺️

Dislikes:

- her sisters do more than the og but they still need to be shown more… and have lines lol. I read the companion novels for this version and they’re so prominent and have cool abilities and cultures and kingdoms but !! They don’t show any of that in the movie !! Like why add lore if you’re not going to show it… also I like the fact that in the companion novels they rule over fictional seas and their world map is different from ours, but then in the film they just mention real world locations like… pick one

- okay I gotta talk about it 😔 Ariel’s ocean transformation dress. Not to mention that whole scene. It’s one of my favorites in the original and they just… scrapped it. I was looking forward to them actually showing Ariel’s transformation back into a human at the end because I thought the original should’ve included it too (hello I love a good Barbie transformation scene) but they still didn’t show it… AND they didn’t even show the gold magic going to her tail OR her reaction!!! Like BRO WHAT???? And the fact that they took out her magical dress???? And just put her back in RAGS like they put my poor girl in a torn up smelly dress and for what 😭 not to mention the fact that they imply she had to swim naked, find the rags dress, and climb up all those stairs AHEM YEAH THEY ALSO TOOK OUT THE RISING FROM THE WATER SCENE LIKE BRO also if they didn’t want to include the ocean dress (mistake but ok, they could’ve had her scales transform into a dress but ok) they could’ve at least fixed up her blue dress… added some shimmer or shells and coral idk man

- yeah she needed at least one more day outfit… my girl wore the same dress for three days in a row… and one of those days it fell in a lake…

- the fact that every transformation scene was either dark and hidden or not shown at all (come on budget??)

- the screen test version where Ariel had more upper body and arm scales… was better. She just looked so empty compared to her sisters it was a weird choice they made to make her top look more like an actual bandeau bra with a harsh cut off and everything

- yes Ariel and Eric needed a duet

- where was the ensemble?? The choir??? Both in under the sea and kiss the girl??? Under the sea should’ve had a lot more people singing as the song went on especially since he’s talking about instruments and animals (that don’t even get shown???) but instead it sounds so empty since he’s singing by himself until Halle joins and a tiny quiet ensemble — and in kiss the girl it was such a BAD choice to have it just be scuttle Sebastian and flounder I’m sorry but it ruined the sultry smooth jazz calypso vibe of that beautiful song 😭 flounder’s vocals threw me so far out of it lmao they could’ve started the song singing it but the ensemble should’ve come in!!! Where were the harmonies!!! Anyway the broadway version is my fave listen to that instead

- the lyric changes were so unnecessary… Ursula’s a villain, duh she’s gonna spout some shady misogynistic advice… plus that was my fave part of the song 😭 also the whole “use your words boy” line was unnecessary… because when he leans into kiss her multiple times he doesn’t even ask………… like they missed the point there (also why was he already so willing to kiss her, he should’ve been super reluctant 😭)

- they took out les poissons which, fine, I guess but we’re not even gonna have a kitchen scene in any way?? Also Ariel got over the whole food for slaughter thing real quick but I’m glad they brought it up at all

- they could’ve had Sebastian rap at the ending bridge of under the sea (as an alternative to scuttlebutt)

- where was the finale song !!! With all the merpeople and humans singing together!!! At least have Ariel sing the deleted clip of it !!! Now we can walk now we can run… ugh we needed it

- loved the ending… but that final shot was a bit wonky?

- where was the cruise ship????? If we’re not gonna see the wedding on the ship (missing triton’s water spout and rainbow) fine but not even the engagement cruise?? Hello budget??? We didn’t even get to see Ariel swimming her butt off to get to Vanessa?? But we got her tackling her instead 😭😭 odd choice

- I’m sorry but the visuals were not giving on wild uncharted waters, at least in the first half… like show something!! Show him on the beach at least!! At Ariel’s rock??? Show flashbacks?? Idk something??

- the fact that Sebastian is no longer the court composer 😔 and he’s not dignified anymore he’s just an abused wannabe advisor who is harassed like whaaaaat he’s supposed to be one of her father figuresssss,,, also the fact that he’s so miffed and takes things into his own hands during KTG is because he’s a composer, it’s why he mentions bands and instruments in under the sea!!

- I was afraid of this when the casting announcement was first made but I was looking for some more expressive… expressions from Halle :( mainly in the poor unfortunate souls scene and when she has no voice, like she does a great job but I do think she needed to be more expressive in some parts

- why does Ariel call him father?? And not daddy?? Small nitpick but it seemed a lot colder/distant when she called him father lol like it threw me out of it in the goodbye scene

- the whole concert scene was gone lmao not to mention that we barely even see other merpeople or their culture, we literally just see the sisters in an otherwise empty sea until the ending

- no lyrics to Vanessa’s song :( but it was sung beautifully. Oh also it made no sense that Vanessa’s melody started singing before she even put the necklace on?? Like wha?? Why would Ariel’s melody change on its own? Also why did Vanessa not talk in Ariel’s voice? That girl had three voices come out of her XD I guess they wanted the actress to be able to talk??

- also I wish Vanessa were black too since she was supposed to look so similar to Ariel and be mistaken for her (Halle could’ve played her, or even Chloe!) but the actress did a great job so it’s fine

- I’m sorry but Eric should’ve been Hispanic imo… :( they made sure it takes place in the Caribbean but still had a white Eric? Who was adopted? Idk man I wanted a Latino prince :/ also wasn’t a fan of the way they styled his hair or stubble because he looks much better in other things he’s been in

- Eric had only one outfit, even for his wedding XD, and what was up with that weird blue vest

- the shot of Ariel in the sun was too blurry and dark :( didn’t give off the same vibes as the og

- the sky in the part of your world reprise is so pale, they could’ve upped the saturation behind her :( the shot didn’t give the same oomph

- Ariel creeping up the rock… why

- the weird shot in part of your world where her hand is through the hole but it cuts to her being on the rock at the bottom? Made no sense lol also they could’ve upped the saturation of her hair underwater the way it looks in the sunlight since it’s all cgi

- they couldn’t even give my girl an actual high quality mermaid tail to base the cgi off of?? H2O had a much smaller budget but had actual detailed tails 😭

- for the first time was great but melody wise it didn’t seem to fit the rest of the soundtrack? It was much more broadway-ie

- why didn’t the eels talk? Why did Ursula not even talk to them? Ariel killing them literally is what gets her mad and go kraken on her but… they barely had a relationship in this one

- ^ like why did Ursula say the word pathetic out loud? To no one? How was that not an immediate turn off for Ariel? Plus the skulls??

- where was Eric’s flute? Playing Ariel’s melody? And Vanessa walking across the beach all majestic like?

- I’m sorry but the queen was so unnecessary… I get what they were going for with the Triton parallels but they could’ve done that with Grimsby in the beginning or his court or whatever, why give a mom who’s barely in the film then immediately changes her mind in the very end without us seeing it?

- Carlotta 😭 poor girl was written out!!! Lashana was obviously supposed to be her so why change her name?

- I do kinda wish they made the three days longer (give her a week?) but I get why they didn’t, that’s just a personal thing

- some of the underwater scenes were shot at an angle that were unflattering to Halle which pissed me off because she looks stunning in every other part of the movie

- why did Eric’s castle look like a gray European fortress 😭 where were the red tiled roofs and the canals

- Atlantica went from a glowing golden magical city-palace to an underground rocky coral cave… couldn’t we have done a mix?

- flounder was so unnecessary he was barely in the movie in favor for the scuttle/Sebastian dynamic

- max was barely in the movie :(

All in all I HOPE they make a sequel (but please don’t base it off of the terrible animated one lmao please no kids) and give Ariel and Eric a duet, give Eric a tail!!! Make him explore her world too!!! And actually address the fact that Ursula killed the queen like the companion novels state… also please include a full transformation scene lol also why does no one make a version where she can switch between worlds freely, it’s okay I’ll write that into my own version

#I’m probably missing a lot of stuff but #I loved the movie #the little mermaid 2023 #live action little mermaid #halle bailey ariel #little mermaid live action #Disney remakes #little mermaid thoughts #cassecorrea #text post

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