#and flashbacks of watching the dvds with my friend

[physalian]

Transformers Prime Appreciation Post

You know what. You know what?? This show has featured in so much of my writing advice, it deserves its own “This show is amazing and has amazing writing and shit you can learn from it to be a better writer” post. It’s streamable on Netflix at the time of this post. I own it on DVD. I have all three seasons on actual, physical discs that I bought new for my DVD collection. That’s how much I love this show.

What is TFP? TFP aired on The Hub network, the joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Channel that died after MLP ended, I think. We lost cable before that happened. TFP was probably single-handedly sustained by MLP money for a while, like the rest of HBO on GOT.

This show came out when I entered high school and I have extremely vivid memories of some of the constant previews they showed of the season 1 finale 3-parter, to the point where whenever I watch the scenes that were in those teasers, I still get a physical reaction from being bludgeoned over the head with those lines of dialogue.

I used to scroll ahead in the TV guide as far as the scheduled programming allowed, just to catch snippets of what episodes were slated to air within the next month. This show was the shit.

But it was too expensive and its budget got eaten by Friendship is Magic. The bronies ruin everything I guess.

It’s 3 seasons (technically 2.5 since 3 was only greenlit for half its episode count) of near-perfection and a tv-movie. There are a few weak episodes, sure, and one absolute dud of a clipshow episode, but there are no awful episodes. There ain’t no “Great Divide” for this show.

Why you should watch it:

1. A “kids” show that absolutely takes itself seriously

One of the Autobots dies 5 minutes into the series and it’s the inciting incident for the entire story. He gets blown up, taken prisoner, and then stabbed through his chest by a Decepticon’s fist without warning. He then gets brought back as a zombie, killed again, infects his partner with the zombie juice when she’s trying to save him, and dies for good.

Two main characters get straight-up murdered, long-running characters whose deaths have lofty consequences for the narrative. There’s betrayals, double-agents, robot torture, robots getting eaten alive by scraplets, gaslighting of an amnesiac, near-murders of POWs, near-murders of fan-favorites who get so hurt, their recovery spans 4 whole episodes, attempted child murder, terrorism, and mad science.

But there is also some heavy emotional shit. The surviving partner of the zombie is damaged by his loss for the entire show because she can’t properly manage her grief. There’s characters going on suicide missions to avenge their dead/dying friends, getting beat to shit while a child watches helplessly on the sidelines screaming at them to get up and run through tears. There’s war flashbacks to dead friends and comrades and the terror and fallout of being eons-old soldiers.

There’s quiet moments, too, about grief and loss and living with disability and disfigurement from battlefield wounds. There’s the machinations of a tragic villain, openly and explicitly abused in front of his whole team and who keeps crawling back and groveling at his master’s feet and his internal identity crisis over who he is, if he’s not with his abuser. There’s the fallout of an extremely divisive trolley problem where a normally calm and collected character loses their shit with grief over the decision that was made. There’s the quiet rumblings of dissent and rebellion in the ranks and all the backstabbing that follows.

And there’s clever moments. Rogues and rebels orchestrating complex and interwoven plots to further their agendas. A POW who no one would ever expect to be captured absolutely trouncing their captives and laughing all the while while they free themselves. Characters who always have a backup plan to force others into awful predicaments.

The first episode after the 5-episode mini-movie that opens the show features an A-plot about school science projects, and a B-plot about waking a loyal ‘Con from stasis and trying to convince him to bow down to the ‘Cons’ temp leader, Starscream, while Megatron is elsewhere. It does not end well for him. The very next episode features robots getting eaten alive by alien metal termites.

2. Depth of Character

Beyond the actual plot, the villains might be more compelling characters than the heroes across many arcs and episodes. You’ve got five main autobots for most of the show that generally fit the 5-man band:

Optimus: Leader

Ratchet: Smart Guy

Bulkhead: Tough Guy

Arcee: Lancer

Bumblebee: Heart

Also guest starring the Alien Robot Cowboy Samurai known as Wheeljack, he’s amazing.

These characters have some really rich episodes and arcs, and moments where they have to put their own values, wants, and agendas aside for the greater good or the problem at hand. They feel like real people, for lack of a better word. They laugh, they cry, they rage, they grieve, and since the show is one long storyline, what happens seemingly inconsequentially in season 1 will come back to haunt them in season 3.

But then you have the villains, an extremely dysfunctional team of “every man for himself, we’re all not here because we like each other, but because we hate the Autobots,” and I can tell from the fanfic that the ‘Cons are the much more popular characters to write about.

Megatron: The fascist narcissist warlord

Starscream: His scheming SIC both too smart and too dumb for his own good

Soundwave: The utterly badass TIC comms chief who never loses and is insanely, fiercely loyal to the cause

KnockOut: The absolutely gay-as-fuck cosmedic surgeon/chief of medical voiced by Daran Norris, who’s only design requirement was to make him a sexy sportscar, and they ended up with a cherry red Aston Martin. One of his first lines in the show is "*whistle* Sweet rims” at Optimus in truck mode.

Breakdown: KO’s himbo, canon* boyfriend with some of the best, cringey puns

Airachnid: Arcee’s arch nemesis, the only other female transformer, a “love to loathe her” type

And others down the line for both teams.

*Canon insofar as a kids show on a kids network allows a la “we’ve given you as much subtext as we can, do the rest”.

KO is technically my favorite but it’s a tossup between many and that is a feat, especially when they’re the villains. They are all extremely compelling characters.

3. The Story

With some exceptions, episodes don’t happen in isolation. Most of season 1 is a bit random with a foggy throughline, but season 2 is utterly amazing, sans that one clipshow the producers probably insisted on.

Season 2 is the show’s finest hour and without spoiling anything: The end of season 1 sees this database that had been in the ‘Cons possession suddenly now with the means to decode and decrypt whatever’s locked behind it. The database contains coordinates on Earth of a myriad of confiscated weapons, ancient relics, and the like and the entire season is one big fetch quest with both sides racing and beating the shit out of each other to decode coordinates and retrieve the relics before the other side.

The macguffins are pretty cool in their own right (alien mustard gas, a giant Final Fantasy sword, an alien nuke, a phase-shifter) but it’s the intensity of the story and the action and drama that happens around the various quests that is so amazing.

At one point, the show takes four episodes to tackle a fetch quest across four separate relics that involves the entire cast on both sides and the two rogues all gunning for their targets at the same time, ending with one character critically injured that grinds the whole plot to a stop.

The show is one long story, as I mentioned, where something that happens in episode 2 shows up again as critically important in episode 40 and that’s a heck of an achievement on the writers’ part, making it all feel like it was planned that way from the start, even though it wasn’t.

Season 3 is… lesser, mostly because it has half as many episodes because the show was canceled. However, the writers knew about the cancellation early enough to still deliver a satisfying story, and wrap up loose ends with a tv-movie that is also pretty good.

Episode-to-episode there’s definitely a mixed bag of what kind of tone you’ll get. It’s still a kids show and there are human characters so there are some lesser episodes with the humans’ lives as the focus and the Autobots running support. Then you’ll have small-screen perfection, but like I said, there’s never a single episode of story (not clipshow) that I skip upon rewatch, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. The second “clipshow” episode is far and gone above the first, told through the eyes of a character as they’re on trial, only their scenes through the story, as they await judgment that might see them executed.

4. The Production Value

The majority of the animation budget rightfully went to the transformers themselves, which left the environments and the human characters a little rough around the edges. But you came for alien robots and before I got this show on DVD, I streamed crap quality episodes online. Once I saw these characters in full HD color, for the first time since it aired on TV, I was blown away. The reflections are, bar none, the best part. Which seems like a strange hill to die on but these are shiny metal giants. There’s some shots where you can see the reactions of other characters reflected hazily in the chest plates of the speaking character, and this is kids animated TV.

Some episodes do stand out, possibly because they changed studios, but some do have some off-kilter coloring or shadows, but you wouldn’t notice if you’re not like me and have picked some scenes apart frame by frame.

The music, also, is amazing. It’s grand and epic and far and gone from the 80s synthesizers, with a few choir tracks thrown in. The foley and sound design can get a little gratuitous with the metal-on-metal squeals, but none of it ever feels out of place.

I bought the directors’ commentary without knowing it for seasons 1 and 3 and they talked about having all the digital screens in the backgrounds of both bases constantly moving and showing data, not just static, blank images, and it really ups the feel of the quality and care put into the show when there’s always something cool to look at in every frame.

There are also some money shots. At one point there’s a fight that demands Optimus and Megatron join forces and with zero dialogue between them, only choreography in the span of about 25 seconds of animation shows you that these two really were old friends, old allies, old confidants. Their moves are mirrored, back to back, showing that Megatron clearly taught Optimus how to fight and this shot, the one at the top of the post, is too good to not spoil.

5. The Writing

Beyond the overall arcs, I mentioned in my “How to make your writing less stiff” post that the dialogue in this show is stellar. Due to animation budgets, they didn’t have the means to fully render a huge variety of environments, and that includes anything on Cybertron. So, when necessary, outside of when characters actually go to Cybertron later in the show, they use some beautiful matte paintings and voiceover narration by Ratchet, absolutely dumping exposition on the audience in spectacular fashion.

I have the director’s commentary. I know Ratchet’s monologues were a thing of beauty. They also had the cast all recording their dialogue at once, standing in a big U for more natural line deliveries.

The actual writing though, from the different ways the characters speak to the lore, the backstories, how the show can be a horror trip one minute and a kids’ science fair the next, showed incredible variety and flexibility in the writers’ room.

Optimus’ lines remain my favorite because they’re just that juicy, but then you have characters like Starscream, a perpetual schemer who loves to hear himself talk, pontificating whenever he can about his plans and how much he hates Megatron and how self-important he is. Or other righteous characters who use Big Words like Optimus that don’t feel out of place against somebody like KnockOut who says stuff like “I like the way I look in steel-belted radials” or Wheeljack who clearly learned English from watching Clint Eastwood movies.

Or, a later character, Shockwave, the most “robotic” of the robots and very poncy and scientific with the way he talks and interprets the world, with most of his lines including whether or not a character’s choices were “logical”.

This show is fantastic at creating tension out of mundanity and keeping you on the edge of your seat for nail-biting action scenes. You feel the anguish and the grief with the characters. Their rage and elation and devastation.

Some faults, because I love this show and I can recognize them

The human characters are… well, teenagers. Miko is pretty divisive, you’ve got the camp of “wah she’s a girl and she’s annoying” and just people who don’t find them as compelling. Which, fair. Their animation is a bit gummy and sometimes they disappear for entire episodes and their human world arcs are kind of abandoned. They’re not the best, but this isn’t about humans, it’s about transformers.

Due to probably time constraints with the show being canceled, some transformers’ arcs also felt abandoned or not given their due time to shine (of which fanfic has made painfully clear and rectified). It’s a very tight plot, but there are some dangling loose ends.

Sometimes it is incredibly in-your-face that this is a show meant to sell toys, particularly in season 3 with the whole uh, “we must become beast hunters” and the soft rebrand.

There exists a subplot of C-list villains, human militants who want to dissect cybertronian biology and make weapons. While some of their episodes are absolute bangers, you can tell the writers were getting sick of them before they’re finally written out of the show.

And a few awkward lines here and there.

Other cool shit if nothing else has convinced you

No love triangle or romantic subplot for the two female robots and one of the female humans. You can read one of Arcee’s relationships as romantic or platonic, but she is far beyond just “the girl” of the group, she’s a badass. The other romantic subplot is between a mom who’s deadbeat ex-husband is inexplicably missing, and a pot-bellied Army vet, and it’s really sweet and healthy.

(I think) incredible representation of characters with disability, in Bumblebee’s various war scars and his mutism.

The Gays. I swear there’s a page in the art book (of which I am desperate to find a copy of) for KnockOut and the caption of his art legit says something like “we made him too sexy, oops”.

So. Many. Puns. Puns that know they’re awful and relish in it. Dad jokes, too.

Ratchet losing his mind over how human children can get “twisted limbs and metal burn” if they do a dangerous thing before realizing the latter does not apply. Ratchet losing his mind in general. Just all of the cranky medic. Jeffrey Combs can make a phone book entertaining.

One of the last times we’ll probably get Peter Cullen and Frank Welker together doing Optimus and Megatron, the OGs. And also, one tiny moment where Frank has to say “treasure” and he still flubs it just like he does for Fred in Scooby Doo.

Consistency between character injuries. If Optimus’ sword breaks in a battle, whenever he summons it before he can have time to fix it, it’s still broken in ensuing shots.

An episode of zombies infecting the Decepticons’ ship and Starscream and KnockOut accidentally admitting they love each other while cowering in terror, while also calling back to a different pair of characters they did not witness saying the exact same lines.

Optimus transforming, ramming Megatron in the chest in truck mode, booting him off a cliff, and using his tires to melt rubber in Megatron’s face once they land because he is pissed.

All of Starscream’s immensely satisfying comeuppance for situations he gets himself into.

Using the murder termites for good in a rather horrifying death of a random goon.

Megatron’s hate boner for Optimus that clearly shows how badly these two don’t actually want to kill each other, despite having a million chances to do so, because like Batman and the Joker, “you and I are destined to do this for eternity,” and killing one would leave the other alone, after eons of fighting.

The gorgeous matte paintings.

—

Somebody on here once drew KnockOut with Autobot blue eyes and I have not been able to find that post since. If anyone sees it, please send it to me, it was gorgeous.

Now go watch this show. You can do it in a weekend.

[madamudeeaaarr]

astroboy 2003 the ramblings

So i convinced two of my friends to watch astroboy 2003 with me and here are some of my highlights and ramblings.

we saw the dub version of our country (brasil) which unfortunately lacks a lot of original context and scenes from the original anime, with that said we still had a lot of fun despite the lack of content in some places, mostly thanks to the voice acting and the adaptation done with the material that the voice actors had.

Note : currently I'm still watching the subtitled version and the extra materials so I can catch most of the content that I might be missing.

The voice acting is quite aggressive and ironic at some moments and we love every second of it.

We are all pinning for tenma. (Ochanomizu too)

We want to give Atom some clothes because he looks adorable with them.

My friend gave Uran a gun.

We actually really liked some of the secondary or episode only characters and some of my friend's complaints were about wanting to see more from them,especially Atom's friends which i agree and i did want to see more from tamao and Shibugaki individually in a similar way to what we got from the microbear episode.

we didn´t saw the denko episode thanks to it not being avaliable in the dub version, i have no idea why is that and this also created a problem while viewing the intro & backstory for atlas/daishi, the translation changed too much of the dialogue and this combined with the editing mad everything really unclear for us.

Pluto's arc probably has the same problem.

“He has a pimp's car.” - me seeing tenma's car

“Tenma is kind of a chad.” My friend.

We stan tawashi.

i have a unreasonoble love for tamao and i want the best for the lil guy.

“Please don't kill off atlas again.” my friend seeing Atlas about to be kill for the 3° time.

“2000s anime girl.” Friend about Epsilon.

"i don't blame the blue knight." friend about blue knight.

At some point the dubious website we are using was out of air so we watched the 2009 movie with an audio modifier.

For context this movie is still remember was some random pirate DVD movie most of us 2000 kids saw that for some reason has a tv host providing the voice for atom, is really bizarre but at least is very hilarious thanks to the memes we count use during our watch which included bass boosting the audio when tobio dies.

"noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" friends seeing the robot on the volcano flashback.

we finish our watch with a made up amv because one of us was playing linkin park on twitter and he decided to play it over the opening of the show, it sycronizes for whatever reason and is funny af because the op is too happy.

end of ramble

art from Luna

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Welcome to the last Absolute Zero Day aka Thank god that's over day aka I can't believe I made it Wednesday.

Well... this is it. Last episode folks, this has certainly been interesting, if not good.

Here we go, last episode the adults reunited and became instant boyfriends.

Both adults and Sine ( I'm gonna refer to the actress name again because I doubt anyone who isn't watching will remember the char name) are having a conversation at the coffee shop because Soon is gonna move to the upstairs apartment. Again. Sine keeps having the feeling of deja vu. I wonder why...

Now the couple is in the room and it's time for flashbacks of "that" time. Oh and Soon found a cat on the street, Ongsa named him Neon and it's adorable. It brought me back to when Tai found the cat, because they are both white cats and way too clean and friendly to be street cats.

And since I mentioned the cat Neon, my favourite bits of this episode was definitely Sine and the cat.

Since I'm talking about my favourite things...

Look at him. He so pretty. I missed him.

I got distracted by Karn but I'm back.

So Suansoon meets the parents, it's a very nice family moment. Mom seems suspicious of something but never says anything.

So the high school friends, now adults, meet Soon and are very confused by his usage of Phi when refering to Suansoon. I, too am confused as to why the show would insist on making us relieve that relationship but whatever.

And the strange continues because the girl friend of the group remembers the past where Adult Soon and Young Ongsa dated. No one else does btw, just her, Ongsa and Soon. But how? Why? No explanation, just, the writer said so.

Still in strange unexplained land, Ongsa dreams about the accident that in this timeline never happened. We don't ask questions.

Beach trip with the parents and proposal at the beach. The end.

Or is it?...

No it's not. We're back at the coffee shops that now is also a dvd renting spot, because Soon got left all the dvd's when the old guy died. However...

Who have we got here? Could it be? Of course it's him. And he's going to rent a dvd from the ones he left behind when he died. Cause why wouldn't he? And which dvd does he rent? Any guesses?

Once, my beloved. And we come full circle. Yay us.

Any questions? I'm sure loads but nor I or the show have the answers for you.

Now it's THE END.

Never have I been so relieved to check the completed box on my mdl page. So for anyone thinking about watching this show now that it's over, here is my recommendation.

Don't. This is not a good show. This is a badly written, well acted and visually appealing show that unless you disregard all logic and don't question anything that happens, will drive you crazy. It's finished and I still have so many questions. I thought about listing them but what's the point?

Anyway I'd like to thank @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm for sticking with me through this and leaving encouraging comments on these recaps, they kept me sane during the final stretch. I won't miss this show but I'll miss writing these recaps.

I'll bid you adieu and leave you with the last frame of the series.

[purplelurkinghini]

You, sir, have been to church. Very good. (x)

Da Vinci's Demons (2015) S3:E3 || Batman Unburied (2022) S1:E1 || Da Vinci’s Demons (2015) S3:E3 || Batman Unburied (2022) S1:E3 || Da Vinci's Demons (2015) S3:E3 || The Harvester by ilovedust || Blake Ritson as Girolamo Riario in Da Vinci's Demons (2015) S3:E6 || Batman Unburied (2022) S1:E1

Welcome under the cut!

Now that you’re here, I advise you to sit down for a minute while I talk at you about this post.

It’s been sitting in my drafts since February. I actually got around to screen capping and gif making as soon as I finished season 2 and 3 of Da Vinci’s Demons. I had already watched the first season back in 2013. And I’m pretty sure I was the only one watching it. Well, there was me and the mysterious stranger who put it up on this one illegal streaming website that I’m not even sure exists anymore.

However, everyone else was all about ice zombies and fire-proof dragons back then, so I had nobody to talk to about it. I ended up having GOT watch parties with my friends and putting DVD in the back of my mind.

Now, why did I binge two entire seasons of decade-old television? Because Pinterest recommended a couple of Count Riario (Blake Ritson) pins to me and I experienced a flashback to my first ever exam season. Yes, I did take breaks to snack on junk food and watch David S. Goyer’s Renaissance Men Fight Demons (Bisexuality).

Why, yes, the show does have the same producer/head writer as Batman Unburied! The man sure loves himself some Tortured Geniuses (Leonardo & Bruce) and Catholic Guilt-Ridden Serial Killers (The Harvester & The Count in the last season). And so do I!

Alright, you can get up now!

Thank you for reading!

[acutiewithagun]

hello :]

could I request a mikey x reader platonic hurt/comfort fic (w cuddles in some form)??

idk if this is too specific or not specific enough? sorry if it's either :P

(Absolutely fine, it's specific enough to give me ideas.)

Taglist: @oleander-nin

Healing is a form of art

You rubbed your eyes free of the tears you had been shedding. You gazed at the mirror in front of you and practiced fake smiles. They would catch on too fast if you didn't perfect it to a science. So forcing an upturn at your lips you wash your face with the water from the faucet in front of you.

Your eyes were puffy as you continued to scrub the water on your closed eyes. It hurt, but it was better than anyone figuring out about your fit. Stepping away from the sink you turned the tab, cutting off the water and wiped your face with a towel.

With a cheery smile you grasped the door knob of the bathroom, exiting quickly. You check your phone, rereading the orange box turtle's previous message. You figured you had just enough time to set up for your movie. Mikey was bringing it, but you had the snacks and blankets to cover.

You grab a pile of blankets and make your way to the couch, plopping the fuzzy fabric down. You then turn your attention to the kitchen. You rush over there then start to rummage through the cabinets and cupboards. You pull a few microwave popcorns out along with your secret stash of candy.

Taking the packaged candy to the nest on the couch, you dump the sweets and move back to the kitchen. You unwrap the packaging around the popcorn and push it into the microwave, starting it up. Reaching over to a cabinet, pulling out a bowl, and placing it on the counter.

Suddenly you are picked up and raised into the air with a yelp. "Ch'ello, my bestest friend." Your breathing picked up and became erratic as you wriggled around. "M-Mikey put me down!" He noticed your sudden freak out then put you down quickly and safely.

"What's wrong?" He turned you around to face him as you tried to reign in the tears that threatened to spill. Mikey noticed and looked over at the couch. With a nod he ushered you to the fuzzy pile, pushing you gently onto it and wrapping the blankets around you. Tears started spilling down your cheeks as you tried to reel in your fear.

The box turtle simply sat next to you, placing an arm over your shoulders. He was waiting for you to calm down, for your breathing to return to a stable rate. "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." His voice was soft despite how hyperactive he normally is.

Once you are able to grab a hold of your breathing, you rub the tears that stained your face. "S-sorry, I di-didn't want you to see-see that." You managed to hiccup the apology as he hugged you full on now.

"Care to tell Dr. Feelings what started that?" You froze at the nickname and looked ashamed, gazing at the floor. "... Before you got here... I was struggling a bit... The hug kinda set off my already skittish nerves." Mikey grinned as he held up the movie. "Wanna watch this to get your mind off of everything?"

You give him a small smile with a tiny nod. He stands up and inserts the film into a DVD player. Your gaze goes back to the popcorn that went off a while ago and you begrudgingly start to get up. Mikey is quickly stopping you with a cheery smile. "Nah, uh, uh, you are staying right there. I'll handle everything, ok?" He gives you a wink of assurance as you open your mouth to argue.

He placed a finger over your mouth. "Don't make me bring out Dr. Delicate Touch." You shudder at the flashbacks and settle back into the mountain of blankets that surrounds you. Mikey beams and whistles as he heads into the kitchen.

You hear the sounds of the microwave opening, a bag being torn apart, and popcorn being poured into the bowl. You could smell the butter and feel the fluffy cloth that covered you. Taking in the small details helped calm your already peaked nerves.

Mikey came back and plopped himself next to you as he started the movie. You unwrapped a bit of the blankets, inviting him into a cuddle. He gave you a bright smile and hurriedly joined you in the warm enclosure, placing the bowl between the two of you.

Movie days were a rarity with both of your busy schedules, but they held a special place. "Wanna tell me what you were struggling to deal with earlier? It might make you feel better." The suggestion was tempting, Mikey was your friend, he would judge you. So you relented as the movie turned into background noise against your worries and traumas.

Mikey just listened patiently, nodding when it was appropriate. Gradually you finished your tale of woe and tensed as you awaited the judgement. But all that came was the squeeze of a tight hug. "Thank you for telling me, that's a step closer to healing."

This didn't sound like the wild and chaotic Mikey you were used to. But for right now, it was a nice change. You also accepted his embrace in return. You both just hugged each other as the movie played, acting as great white noise as you calmed.

Healing was hard, you were taking so long, but Mikey always helped. He was the only one you could rely on. But he knew this, he knew all too well, but it still made you feel comfort. Despite all you've gone through, he was always there, ready to lend a shoulder.

Maybe healing is just another form of art, one your box turtle friend has mastered to a tee.

[dozing-marshmallow]

What about Chris and reader watching tucker and Dale vs the forces of evil? One of my favorite movies of all time, super funny.

HALLELUJAH I FINALLY FOUND THE MOVIE ON YOUTUBE😫 I’m so sorry I put this off for so long, anon! I couldn’t find the movie anywhere for the longest time and it was such a relief to finally find it 😭 Who knew it was on YouTube after a second try of searching? Looking back on it now, it was an amazing film and I regret not watching it sooner! I hope this was worth the wait, you absolutely deserved an answer for being so patient 💘

Spoiler and trigger warning to those who haven’t heard of this movie before, it’s a horror film that involved a lot of gorey scenes with majority of them embedded in this post, so if you’re uncomfortable, don’t feel that you need to continue reading!

WATCHING TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL WITH CHRIS MCLEAN

“Let’s watch another classic.” you hold the DVD out in front of Chris, Tucker and Dale vs evil.

He has himself a good look and smiles,“You know what the name reminds me of?”

“What?”

“That one cartoon.”

“What, Star vs. the forces of evil?”

He clicks his fingers,“Yeah!”

“Hah.” Having summarised knowledge of the movie’s premise, you could only feel smug at the lighthearted nature of that franchise being nothing alike to what you were putting into the DVD player.

Three days ago.

In the beginning, the movie takes you on a journey with a bunch of young people inside a car, travelling somewhere for school break, having stopped at a gas station along the way to pick up some beer. This is where you meet the actual protagonists, Tucker and Dale, whom were also at the store collecting some housework equipment.

“Smile and laugh.” was Tucker’s advice for Dale’s demeanour in talking to the college girls that were helping each other to store bags of supplies into the car.

Naturally, the kids were uncomfortable with this ragged looking man approaching them, nervously laughing.

“Why is he going to them with that scythe?” you ask, despite knowing Dale had unconsciously made a poor choice of grabbing the closet thing to him in order to appear more normal.

“He’s the grim reaper! He’s gonna end everyone’s lives from how embarrassing this is!” Talk about figurative language, especially admirable on Chris’ part.

The college students coincide their hangout spot at the same woods Tucker and Dale went to where the night had settled and they were around the campfire, sharing a horror story of the “Memorial Day Massacre”, where in the exact woods they were in was a mass killing of college students, orchestrated by “Tucker and Dale’s kind”, twenty years ago.

“Wait, so if that was the case, why the hell did they think that was a good place to go to?” they were practically sitting in a graveyard.

Chris scoffs,“Teenagers.”

In a flashback of the Memorial Day Massacre, one of the killers whom joined the college students had sunk a sharpened cog into his neck before throwing it into the face of his first victim.

“OOH.”

“OOH.”

The group quickly disperses and it became every man for themselves. The scene then ends when the new batch decides to go swimming in the lake.

After a failed night of skinny dipping and assuming the main female heroine Allison was captured by the “creepy men from the store”, it was now up to her friend group to “rescue” her.

“It’s just a cabin, it doesn’t mean they’re psycho killers.” One of the boys comment as the group walks into the sight of the previously abandoned shelter.

“Oh yeah? Then why don’t you go in there and talk to them?” Chloe snarked, obviously not buying the idea.

“Alright. Maybe I will.” The collective looks back to Mitch, waiting for him to go,“I said maybe.”

“He reminds me of Cody...” Chris remarks in a thinking, squinting manner with his finger to his chin,“He’s got the style, the confidence, the hair...”

To compare a character to Cody in a horror film considerably meant the most unlucky thing,“Oh no.”

Mitch’s maybe ends up forcefully becoming a yes after losing a game of Rock Paper Scissors. So he makes his way towards the foggy cabin.

Tucker meanwhile was outside, minding his own business, getting on with wood sawing when he gravely jabs the chainsaw into a wasp nest, enraging the buzzing inhabitants to chase him in a frenzy, sending an entirely different message to the teens.

“Why is he just running with it!? Like why can’t he just throw it to the ground?” you cry when the movie, if shown to someone who had walked in, would look as it did to the kids in movie.

“I dunno. But it’s sure funnier this way.” Your spouse’s statement spelt true by his chuckling.

Having been faulty in his attention to his rapid change of surroundings, Mitch ends up getting stabbed by a tree branch. And not only did he get stabbed, his body somehow ripped halfway through. 

“How the hell does that happen?” it was kind of gross to see,“Right in the heart? You can’t just run into a stick and end up that deep in it to the point where it’s coming out your back!”

“Huh. Look at that, it really is Cody.” All Chris had to say, to the dying boy who spent his last moments realising the opposing truth behind Tucker’s running. Had he lived, the movie may have moved more smoothly.

It then cuts back to Allison and Dale playing their board games, jolly in the cabin.

“Girl’s unaware her friend died.” you nearly chock on the bitter change of atmosphere.

“I just think that so many of the major problems and conflicts in the world are caused by a lack of communication, you know.”

Isn’t that ironic.

Here, the kids were executing their scheme to tackle the men. Again.

One of the students, Todd, had sharpened a spear from a tree branch and began running at Dale and Allison in the middle of them digging a hole. However, Todd javelin throws it into the pit, moments before fatally tripping and landing right through it, where Dale’s soft heart witnessed in panic, drools of blood falling from his mouth.

“Again?” you’re shocked,“Why are all these kids going straight into the tree branch? It doesn’t work like that in real life!”

There was another, Mike, hiding behind a tree, watching Tucker getting on with some wood chipping. Off the brink of bravery(or stupidity), he ran with pocket knife at the ready. But Tucker was a lucky ducker. So Mike ran.

Right into the wood chipper.

“AOW.” you involuntarily let out. What a way to go.

Chris was laughing. Tucker, now horrified at the sudden appearance of the boy inside the machine, drops his blocks of wood to try rip him out even though it was way too late to do anything(which again was terribly mistaken, of him trying to push him into the machine).

“That is so disgusting.” you watch the bimbo in front getting drenched in his bodily pulp,“Noo...why did they have to show the shot of him coming out like that? I can’t imagine how that skeleton looks...”

Chris coughs out the last few chips of laughter,“Yeah, he’s gone.”

“So, this is a movie full of dumb people dying in the most ridiculous ways, is that what I’m seeing?” Your question sounded more like a screech against words.

“Pretty much.” It may have been a horrible thing to wish for, but Chris’ carelessness was something you too hope to embody in the future- to horror films.

“Long day for them.” Tucker himself was also all bloodied from head to toe,“He needs a serious shower.”

The movie switches perspective back on the teens, where the saner ones were wondering why they were still there and debating on how to leave. Chad had himself a monologue.

“How many people do you think get a chance for something like this?... The chance to live, to be free from people always telling you what you can and can’t do.”

“He’s actually such an instigator, what is wrong with him?” you question aloud in disgust at Chad’s thought process on the situation, like it was a game,“Do what any normal person would do and leave, don’t hang around. About us against them.”

“Hero complex, (Y/N).” Chris coldly worded, sipping loudly from his pop soda.

Police sirens then play in the background and everyone(except a pricky Chad) ran to the direction of it.

“We don’t need the fucking cops!”

“Watch when the police aren’t even coming for them.” a smile drove on your face at the thought of such a scenario, driving one onto Chris’ face too.

“That would be funny.”

“Oh, disgusting.” you gag at the sight of Tucker and Dale dragging Mike’s legs across the ground,“Isn’t messing with the body a crime?”

“I don’t think that’s what’s important right now...” Chris replies, eyes stuck on the screen.

“You know what I don’t get...”  you start, watching the police car stop in front of them, your throat drying for the men,“He sees this guy who he’s assuming is a psycho killer with a chainsaw and without a hook, working with a machine that can be very dangerous if misused... And his best thought of action is to run to him? Not sneak? How-How does he know that this supposed killer isn’t gonna use the machine on him?”

“That’s what college does to you (Y/N), it makes you dumber.” Chris claims, the scene of testimony miserably unfolds as Tucker attempts his best to explain what had happened to the sheriff, no matter how unbelievable it looked.

“You must think that I’m some kind of moron to believe a story like that.”

“Is that why you didn’t go?”

One easy way to offend him,“Way to spread misinfo, (Y/N)! I went then dropped out.”

“That’s even more sad.”

Having leaned on a pillar(same loose pillar in the beginning Tucker said he would need to fix), the Sheriff had fallen victim to an own accidental death, with a piece from the top impaling him on the face and doing so forcefully, he was hurled out of the cabin.

“Oh for God’s sake.” you face palm, both Tucker and Dale rushing out of the cabin in concern for the officer,“Is it everyday.”

“I mean, they did try warn him... At least he sees how the deaths are happening.” Chris smiles, contrasting to you flinching when he stumbled back to the car with nails right through his face and the remaining students inside the car losing it.

“Damn it! Tucker, I told you you should’ve fixed that beam!”

One of the kids in the car decides he’ll be saviour so he immediately leaves the passenger seat to arm himself with the dead Sheriff’s gun, aiming at the technically innocent men. The gun had its safety on, and Dale naively gives away how to turn it off, while Chuck was looking right into the barrel.

“Stupid kid, did he just shoot himself?” you exclaim when his body rapidly collapses in front of the splash of blood on the car front.

“At this point, the director wanted everyone off now.” Chris tittered, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

Thinking he was God’s servant, Chad took the gun off Chuck’s corpse and began firing Dale and Tucker into retreating back into their cabin. To reel them back out, he had to resort to a more inhuman measure that weighed out his pretentious “survival of the fittest” death match.

“No no no, I know this movie isn’t about to kill off the dog.” you shake your head at Chad holding a gun to the head of Jangers, through the perspective of the titular duo inside the cabin.

“I love when the people die, but if they kill that dog, I am switching this movie off.” Chris warned, thumb circling around on the red power button of the remote.

Praise be, he didn’t need to push it, because it was a good horror movie; good horror movies don’t rely on the animals dying, so Jangers was gracefully saved- unfortunately, that couldn’t apply to Tucker whom was caught by Chad shortly after freeing the dog, hanging upside down and letting out a bloodcurdling scream when Chad bellowed his axe onto him.

“Is it bad I can’t see where he hit him?” Chris rewinded the part three times to try spot  any bleeding wound, but nothing.

“It’s more bad that they’re just allowing their friend to do that.”

About time, Allison reunited with half of her friend group inside Tucker’s cabin while the country men were on their way back.

“Wait a minute... I remember reading about this in my sociology class.” one of Allison’s friends recalled after listening to Allison’s rebuttal on the crazed serial killer label on Tucker and Dale they had lived under for time.

You would think that hearing from their friend who they thought was kidnapped’s perspective would finally put an end to the accidental deaths, right?

“...Stockholm syndrome. When someone who’s been kidnapped ends up falling in love with their kidnapper.”

Pause.

Both you and Chris got up from sofa.

“Congratulations.” you clap deadpanned, sitting back down,“Con-gratu-lations. Whatever your name was, I hope you’re happy. Because now, you have that one going off the deep end even more,” you point to where the screen froze on Chad,“And you have Allison looking like a dickhead.” 

“You’re falling in love with him?”

Your mouth gapes from annoyance,“Why is he going off what that whore said?”

“Cuuuz! That boy is if Sierra possessed Cody.” Chris answered merrily,“And did Sierra ever have common sense?”

“Good point.”

Poor Allison was trying to insist that wasn’t true, but Naomi was so set on her nebulous statement, nodding her head away like a bitch.

“Oh my God, she’s pissing me off!” you were close to dashing the remote at the TV, “She’s not a professional, she can’t just make conclusions off medical conditions she knows nothing about! Cunt’s acting like it’s not a rare occurrence and even if it wasn’t, it’s not instant!”

“Yeah... She may be more of an airhead than Lindsay.” Chris laughs mockingly,“You should be the sociology teacher instead.”

That was actually a really big compliment,“Thank you Chris.”

“Where did that other blonde girl go?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Chris dismisses,“I bet you that Chad is gonna have the most gruesome death.”

“Is that Chamomile Tea cuz I can’t have that, it fucks with my asthma.”

“Oh hear that he has asthma, note that, that’s gonna be important for later.”

This hearts to hearts discussion Allison had initiated was going great until Jason and Chloe disrupts it(answering your question). Weed whacker at hand, Jason revives the accidental tragedy motif of the movie by slashing Naomi’s face off in attempt to get Tucker, her features twisting away in a bloodshed swirl.

“Aw see that was your friend this time, your friend, your friend.” you shout at Chad, hoping that would knock some sense into him that these deaths were happening by their own hand.

Chris dully rocks his head from side to side,“It just keeps going and going and going and going.”

Newcomer Jason ended up on fire after Chad threw a lampshade, and Chloe in desperate aid to help him, throws the nearest substance she could find (a paint thinner), worsening the situation and causing an explosion that ultimately killed herself, Naomi and Chad’s face to melt together with his flesh and skin.

“He has a little something...on his face.” Chris motions to the side of his face like Chad could see.

Tucker, Dale and Allison make a break for the truck to escape his impending wrath, Chad somehow immune to the burns of his disfigured face.

“Yeahh there’s no helping that thing, just go.”

Well, accidents happen and now Allison had yet to be rescued, with “captor” and “hero” correctly swapping places.

Morning came when she woke up, in an alarming tied down state under the disfigured Chad. He proceeds to lick her face moments after her new dangerous reality cut into her consciousness to your repulse.

Dale breaks into the warehouse and a fight between him and Chad commences. With Allison destined to be sawn in half slowly, Dale’s shoulders piled more with bricks of pressure to act. With a successful axe throw, Allison is freed and the two rush their way upstairs to frantically search for anything useful for their defence.

“It can’t be... They lied to me... How could they!”

“Yeah, see your life.” you snicker when Chad looks over the newspaper in seething disbelief at the painful truth of his conception,“I kinda feel sorry for him though.”

Chris illustrates his lack of empathy once more,“I expected something like that the moment I saw the killer drag her in the flashback. Talk about family lineage.”

Alas, post inhaling the boxed chamomile tea, Chad presumably falls to his death out of the window on the second floor and had been broadcasted as the scapegoat to all the deaths of the new generation of college kids. Tucker ends up in the hospital, Dale ends up in the bowling alley with Allison(who becomes his girl).

“All three of them deserved that happy ending.” You say adoringly. Right after you said that, there was screaming from other bowling girls and the stranger man who Dale had given flirting advice on was dragging the unconscious girl of his dreams in his arms in the background of him and Allison making out.

“Annnnd the cycle continues.” Chris gets the final piece of commentary in with a grin before the movie cuts to the rock credits,“Well! That was that. If I’m being honest, when you first came to me with this movie, I was thinking of something entirely different. I thought there was gonna be defying the laws of gravity or something.”

“Hah!” You crack your knuckles,“Didja like the version you got?”

He nods impressed,“Absolutely. Would you happen to know where this was filmed?”

“Errr I think, somewhere in Calgary. Why?” You should have thought twice before giving away such information to Chris.

He stands up,“No reason.”

[starkslove101]

CHAPTER 24: “The one where Tony has a flashback”

A/N: School is killing me atm but I wanted to give you all something to read in the meantime. I have already started on the next chapter so I'll try to get it to you all by sunday, again. But I before I let you read I want to thank everyone who's read my story so far. It means alot to me.

Pairing: Tony Stark x OC F! Reader

Warnings: Just fluff

Word count: 1k+ words

1999.

Tony.

I was quietly sitting fixing up something in my lab, when I dropped my screwdriver on the ground I sighed and grunted when I went to pick it up but it rolled under my desk so I had to crawl under it. “Damn it, where are you” I grunted. I crawled all over the ground when I saw a pair of feet standing in front of me.

“You looking for this?” a soft voice entered my ears, making the hairs on my neck stand up. I  scrunched my eyes really hard before I looked up. My eyes get a glimpse of her shoes. She looked down at me a grin on her face, the screwdriver in her hand. She gave it back to me reached out her hand towards me and pulled me up. (not so fluently, however)

“Yeah, thank you” I chuckled softly. I walked back to my desk and sat down. She followed me back, like a lost puppy. “Can I help you, Darling?” I put emphasis on the word ‘darling’. She smiled and showed me the tv-remote.

“I don’t know how this works. There are too many buttons” She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Her face flushed red when I laughed a little too loud. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She constantly looked down at her hands and constantly avoided my eyes.

“It’s fine” I wiped my hands and walked back upstairs with her. It’s only been 6 months since she got here. She was still getting used to the new environment. She gets startled easily and I had to save her from traffic multiple times. I guessed the amount of stimuli must’ve doubled.

“So, what’s the problem?” I asked when we got to the living room. She shifted on her feet again.

“I was watching this show, Friends, I guess. But I accidently pushed the wrong buttons and I can’t find it again” I laughed again. She handed me the remote again and I set it to the right channel again.

She smiled and plopped down next to me. “Thank you” she quipped. She was so innocent and quiet. I felt guilty that I couldn’t help her.

“No problem, but you know there’s like 5 other seasons that go before that” I stated. Her head jerked up.

“Really?” she asked, her voice soft. A small smile on her face, for what seemed the first time in months. I got up, grunting from the sofa. All those hours sitting down on a chair in the lab aren’t exactly the best for my health. But it was better than just sitting in meetings all day deciding if we should sell more weapons to the U.S. government.

I went to the DVD holder next to the TV, grabbed the first season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., and put it in the DVD player. “Now it’ll make much more sense I guess. Can’t seem to figure out why this Rachel girl is so mad at this guy, ehm” she snapped her fingers.

“Ross?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. She giggled and nodded very fast.

The first episode started playing. Ransom's head turned to the TV. If she could put her head against it I think she would. I was so caught up in staring at her that I didn’t notice hours go by.

Her head was resting against my shoulder when I heard light snoring coming from her. I was scared to move and wake her up. She looked like she didn’t get any sleep for a while now. She looked so peaceful. So I just sat there In silence, listening to her snore. It was only then that I also noticed how tired I was.

My eyes felt heavy and I fell asleep. My head resting on top of hers, my arm laying on her shoulder. I couldn’t help but notice that warm feeling in my chest welling up. But I stopped myself from pursuing whatever it was that I was feeling.

It was about three hours later when I was woken up by the phone ringing. Ransom jumped up her eyes wide and frightened by the noise. “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

I rubbed my face to wake myself up. I took the phone off the horn and greeted whoever it was that interrupted our blissful sleep. “This is Tony,” I said, sleepily. My head resting against the back of the couch.

I looked at Ransom who was still distraught by the sudden noise that woke her up. I grabbed her hand to help her calm down while listening to Pepper rambling on. Turns out That I had missed a very important meeting. I didn’t want her to keep talking anymore so I tried to cut her off. “Alright Pepper. I’m still the boss so we can reschedule whatever meeting I missed.” I said to her. Feeling very irritated by the fact that the first little sleep I had in days got interrupted by some stupid meeting. “So please don’t call me until I call you,” I said harshly before I hung up.

I sighed and laid my head against the back of the couch again. “Are you okay?” Ransom asked, she looked at me, worried by my sudden burst of anger. I wasn’t normally like this I don’t know what got over me. Maybe it was the distraught look on her face when she got startled. Every time I looked at her I couldn’t help myself, but I had to protect her. It’s a promise I made to my father. I smiled at her, trying to calm her down again. “Yeah, I am. I’m sorry for scaring you” I squeezed her hand tightly.

“It’s okay, sweetheart” She smiled at me, her eyes glowing with kindness. “Can we resume watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?” She asked. Her voice was soft. “I think I fell asleep.” her face flushed when I laughed.

“Sure, we can watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S.” I leaned back down, placing my feet on the table. “Do you want some popcorn?” I asked.

Next part

[juurensha]

For that writer's ask game: 30. share a fic you’re especially proud of!

Thanks for the ask! I guess I'm going to feature my fix-it Fear Street Alice/Cindy fic here.

If you watched the Netflix Fear Street trilogy, you know these two are doomed just going in since they're part of the flashbacks instead of the present timeline, but there's just something SO GOOD about former friends turned enemies having to team up again against the supernatural. And also, both actresses/actors said that they played their characters as being in love with each other despite all their differences, so it adds up to an electrifying tension on-screen.

If you haven't seen the Fear Street trilogy yet, highly recommend it (Netflix, boxset DVDs when).

So of course, I wanted to give these two the happy ending they deserved, which of course means, the Shadyside curse has to be broken much sooner than in canon. And yes, I know it's a bit of a stretch to have one of the perpetrators of the curse just bleed out, but THATS WHAT FIX-IT IS FOR.

I had a lot of fun exploring how they would have recovered after the entire camp massacre and dealing with the reveal of who the curse perpetrator was. And of course, I wanted to give poor Tommy closure! Really, at some point, I'd love to explore all the Shadyside killers more because they seem to be mostly a group of innocent people who got cursed into becoming serial killers, even in their afterlives.

I'm pretty proud it stands up to a reread, since I wrote this mainly for myself to begin with, and I think the smut scenes aren't bad either!

Anyway, that's my personal rec for my fics today!

[pauls1967moustache]

Hellooo!!! Could we have your dvd commentary on this snippet from my beloved ‘tomorrow I’ll miss you’ please?! (even though you already did such a good job at showing their feelings)

"You know, he didn't want me to come today," Paul tells him. He says it as a joke—to demonstrate the state of George's protective paranoia—but John doesn't laugh. A perplexed, little frown creases between his brows, instead.

"What do you mean?"

Paul feels embarrassed for a moment, his cheeks warming starkly against the cool autumn air around them. He's realises it might have sounded like a bigger deal than it really is, what with John going all serious on him.

"George thinks it's this whole thing like—" he stutters out, trying not to go too obviously red. He takes a breath, focusing on the burning end of his cigarette instead of John. "Well, he has this daft idea in his head like it's going to be Hamburg all over again or summat, you know. Like we're going to become best mates in an afternoon, and then you'll disappear, and he'll have to deal with me."

It's not exactly what George said, but Paul can tell it was what he meant.

Do you want me to come with you? George asked him, in that same conversation about the book event.

I dunno if I'm going, yet. I'll probably have to work, anyway, but if you want to see him you should go, Paul had told him.

And then George said: I'll go if you wanna go—his voice all gentle, like he was trying to reassure Paul of something.

George always fucking did that—talked about John like he was only ever Paul's friend. It frustrates Paul. Makes him feel embarrassed for bringing John up in conversation, when it isn't that he's desperate to talk about John, or whatever George seems to think. John's a thing they share. Paul brings him up because he figures George might like to talk about him, too, from time to time. But then George always turns sarcastic, or wary, and it ruins the mood of whatever story Paul wanted to reminisce about in the first place.

And really, Paul doesn't always want to deal with it; so he didn't say anything else about the book event, and he didn't say anything this morning, when he decided he was going to go.

"Why would he have to deal with you?" John asks, his voice even enough that Paul figures he—thankfully—hasn't noticed Paul's unplanned embarrassment about his flub.

"I don't know," Paul shrugs, taking another drag of his smoke. "He's not my bloody keeper."

He notices John watching him carefully, out of the corner of his eye. He holds out the cigarette in offering, not sure what it is John expects.

For the DVD commentary game

Ooh, I actually have lots to say about this one! For starters, when I was outlining this fic I was very precise about the reveal of information. I knew this scene was going to be the reveal of their relationships: first Paul's wife, then John's lover, then what happened in Hamburg with each other.

But I didn't originally have an introduction to that yet, they just went straight into talking about Paul's wife. I wanted it to be a bit more fo a shock than that though, and I didn't feel like the fic had addressed George enough up to that point (something I felt like John would've asked about, but didn't fit in anywhere else). So I wrote that they start by talking about George, and once Paul accidentally hints that maybe what happened in Hamburg had more of a significant effect on him than John believes, John gets curious/desperate enough to bring up the wife Paul hasn't mentioned at all.

The other thing is that later on in the fic, we learn just how devastated Paul actually was by what happened after Hamburg when we get that flashback to Paul crying when he realises that John's genuinely never coming back, and George finds him. This is like one of the first scenes I had for the fic, and again - I planned this very precisely - so I couldn't really get into just how upset he was yet, because it's going to come up later. I could only hint at it.

The good thing about this fic is that Paul is the denial king, so his POV is tailor-made for that kind of unreliable narrator nonsense. Paul never really acknowledges his feelings, but I could give an idea that they were there by using George's protectiveness. Paul says George had to deal with him, but we don't yet know what that really means.

And then, bringing George into it created this whole backstory of George as the one who had to put Paul back together after the heartbreak John caused him. Like, my brain went into detail about this. There's a whole mini-fic of George's post-Hamburg POV in my head. So George knows what seeing John again will mean to Paul, and he is rightfully concerned about how that will turn out given that from his POV John ditched them both and then Paul was so devastated he almost quit music entirely.

George kind of doesn't like John anymore because of this, which is why he doesn't join in on Paul's John stories the way Paul likes. But Paul doesn't like to feel judged, so naturally, he doesn't want to actually be honest about his desire to see John - even if George sees right through it. George is trying to leave space for Paul to be vulnerable about all the John-related feelings this is surely bringing up to the surface and Paul is going, no thanks! because he knows George won't approve, (and he just doesn't like talking about his feelings).

John is obviously not aware of any of this and is just trying to figure out what the fuck he'll have to deal with me is supposed to mean.

[artknifeandglue]

as shattered stars shine: DVD Commentary (6/12)

Brand new part, Harry’s half of the story!

Fun fact: this was meant to be two equal parts with an equal number of chapters, but then it got way longer than expected (and really, I don’t know why I’m surprised considering the expected length of this was originally 5k and I crossed that in not-a-lot-of-time) and so the chapter numbers don’t quite line up. So much for symmetry.

Eighteen days before the Perseids and one day after the former Lancelot dies, Harry sits in a dingy pub with a pint of beer and watches the slightly drunk men by the bar. Some of them are far too loud, booming voices echoing off the walls of the pub as other patrons give them dirty looks, and some have spilled beer on their shirts and jeans and the floor of the pub, but it isn’t them that catch his attention. Instead, he sits in quiet observation of a man with green eyes who sits perched on a bar stool, beer in hand, gesturing animatedly with his free hand, watching, assessing.

We open with a flashback chapter because I’m particularly fond of heaping emotional baggage on my characters. Kidding, but only partially so – just as true love isn’t the only reason Eggsy sells his soul to bring Harry back, Harry was always going to pull Eggsy back from the dead, and so he needs more reasons. We see in canon that Harry does appear still affected by Lee’s death, so I wanted to set up and explore that a little more.

Green Eyes shoots him a thumbs-up from the floor. “Nah, I’m okay, don’t worry.” He accepts the hand Harry offers him and stands, dabbing at his trainers with the tissues that his friends press into his hands. “Sorry about your beer. Can I get you another one?”

Harry blinks. “You don’t have to, really, it’s not—”

Either the man doesn’t hear Harry's words or deliberately ignores them, because he turns to the bartender and hollers across the already-crowded bar, “Oi, Paul! Another drink for my friend here!”

“You really don’t need to,” Harry begins, but Green Eyes waves away all his protests.

“Let me buy you just the one drink, yeah? It’s a great day for a beer.” He claps Harry’s shoulder genially and gestures at the men still gathered by the bar. “Join us if you like! If you don’t mind the noise, at least.” He leaves for the bathroom and Harry returns to his table, absorbed in his own thoughts about the young man he’s just met but doesn’t know.

Lee Unwin, just as much of a Kingsman as any of the Round Table. Also a nice guy and well-liked! Have to make his death an absolutely horrifying waste somehow.

“Sure.” Merlin pulls his chair closer to the table and reaches for his keyboard. “You need it for a mission?”

“Not exactly.” In the weighty silence that follows, Harry levels his gaze on the drinking bird, watching as the glass bird lowers its head into the petri dish in front of it and then bobs back up while Merlin pieces together the puzzle and understands why Harry has come to him.

“You do know,” Merlin says slowly, apprehensive and disbelieving, “that Arthur won’t like it?”

The bird dips its beak into the dish again. “That is rather the point of the whole exercise,” Harry answers. Because there is a debate to settle on principle, but also because there is endless satisfaction to be found in watching that arrogant smirk slide off Chester King’s face, and the perfect man for the job is currently somewhere around London, just a few days from a fourteen-month deployment that will take him away from Harry’s one chance to settle a score with the newly promoted bigot that sits at the head of the round table.

Establishing Lee’s role in the story: Harry doesn’t know him personally yet, so Lee at this point is only a pawn in a game larger than him. Harry does grow to like and respect him as a fellow human because Lee is truly good (something that shows up in Eggsy as we know him!), but therein lies the tragedy of his death. Lee throws himself on a grenade to save Harry, and the world loses a good man.

“If you shock yourself with that thing, I’m going to send the footage to Merlin. He’ll never let you live it down.” The source of the interruption continues staring intently at the book in his hand, and Harry rolls his eyes. The façade of calm is quite pointless — neither of them are in any state to concentrate today, nor are the other agents faring any better when the fate of their candidates and several thousand dollars’ worth of bets hang in the balance.

“I wasn’t aware of your burning passion for horticulture. Planning a career change?” Luke doesn’t answer, but he shuts the book with a loud snap and drops it onto the seat of his armchair as he stands. Harry moves a step to his right as Luke approaches the window and looks out at the lawn, at the sky, at the vast expanse of nothing outside. The wind gently shakes the leaves of the trees below, and a bird flaps its wings on the short journey from one

end of the manor to the other before it disappears into the maze of green. “They’re late,” Luke mutters. “What the hell is the holdup?”

“It’s only five past eleven,” Harry points out. “They’d have just finished boarding the plane.”

The frown on Luke’s face deepens. “You don’t suppose anything will have happened?”

“Like what? James trips on a step and concusses himself on the floor?” Harry claps Luke on the shoulder. “He’ll be fine, Luke. Stop fretting.”

The words have no effect whatsoever, but then again the fear of having one’s younger brother dashed across the Kingsman lawn will do that to a person. “He’d better have the sense to check his parachute,” Luke mumbles.

Completely original character because I wanted Harry to have someone to fret over the candidates with, and so James Spencer gets an older brother.

And so they wait.

They run out of tea while waiting, and Harry pulls an unopened bottle of Bowmore scotch out of the liquor cabinet by his desk and pours out a generous measure into a glass that he presses into Luke’s hands. He pours his own drink, caps the bottle, and turns back to the window to find Luke downing half his glass in a single mouthful, a deep crease in his brow. In the distance, engines roar, first imperceptibly and then drawing closer.

They wait.

Professional alcoholism, the Kingsman pastime.

Too slowly. “Oh God,” Harry breathes, watching in dawning horror as the other man plunges feet-first into the collapsing canopy, and then the material seems to fold up around him and swallow him whole. Luke swears under his breath, and then the man is struggling to land, feet and arms caught in the billowing fabric as he careens blindly past his fellow candidate. Harry leans forward, hoping desperately for this man to make it even as he drifts past the centre of the target and towards the other end, because this is so close—

Then, unexpectedly, the other candidate lunges forward, manages to grab hold of something resembling a pair of legs, and bodily hurls himself to the ground, pulling them both downwards onto the target. It doesn’t quite work at first, momentum carrying them both forward, and he ends up being dragged along the grass almost to the other end of the target before they come to a complete stop almost diametrically opposite his own landing point. The lump of canopy struggles and thrashes for a while, and then a helmeted head pops up from the gray fabric shortly before a whole person emerges, kicking his legs free of the parachute. Ahead of them by a hair’s breadth is the large white arc of spray paint on grass, the outer circle of the Kingsman logo looming barely centimetres away.

“He made it,” Harry breathes, full of wonder. “He actually made it.”

Lee Unwin the honourable gentleman! Not pictured here: my desperate attempts to figure out how this might work with the size of the target on the field.

The evening after the train-tracks test, an unexpected insurgency fouls up the neat ending of Harry’s last mission. And, as he tells Merlin, it is an excellent opportunity for the candidates to learn a little something on the job. When else might they get the opportunity? So he uses the twenty-four hours to bring Lee and James both out on an impromptu field mission, inviting them along to witness an interrogation. The two candidates trade jabs and jibes and granola bars the entire plane ride, and Lee snaps an unflattering picture of James fast asleep in his seat, mouth open mid-snore.

Afghanistan in summer is bright and blinding, impossibly sunny and sweltering in ways that England never is. Lee and James joke about suntans as they shadow Harry into dark corners and remote villages and a car chase at one point. The mission goes smoothly, brilliantly with the two capable aides Harry’s found himself with, and all too soon Harry has on his hands a captive insurgent nearly a week ahead of schedule. “Do you think,” James remarks to Lee as he tugs his balaclava over his head, “that waitress back in the hotel bar will go out with me if I ask nicely?”

Lee rolls his eyes. “Do you ever talk about anything that isn’t women or cars?”

“Whisky,” James points out. “Which you should know, since you talk about it just as much as I do.” Lee chucks the mask in his hands at James’ face, and whatever little Harry can hear of the conversation disappears in mild swearing from James and the ensuing laughter.

The world loses a good man, and James loses a friend. The list of things Harry must live with only grows longer.

Then instead of two candidates, there is one Lancelot and one dead body slumped over the grenade that he never noticed. The air is thick with the bitter stench of burned flesh and acrid snap of explosives, so thick he can taste the blood at the back of his throat and feel it clinging to his skin. Buried somewhere in the nausea that hits him is the realisation that, if he had had the chance to take it, Lee would have passed the dog test with flying colours. And yet, now—

Traumatic moment that will continue to haunt him for years to come. It’s a surprise tool that will help us later.

They cremate Lee Unwin’s body that night, at the peak of the Geminids. As the stars rain down overhead, tumbling into abyssal night and disappearing, Harry thinks of the young Marine from the pub, green eyes and sharp mind and good heart, and feels the guilt settle into his soul, lingering, calcifying.

Forgive me, he thinks. Please forgive me.

In the house of a heartbroken widow, Harry holds out a medal to a young boy who has done nothing to earn the new burdens Harry lays on his shoulders, and wonders if he can ever be forgiven.

Seventeen years later, he waits outside Holborn Police Station until a young man with Lee Unwin’s eyes walks past him. Eggsy is rough around the edges and bitter in ways that Lee never was, but in many more ways he is almost exactly like Lee, especially in that fierce loyalty that Harry has done nothing to earn. And later, amidst the sounds of fists on flesh and panicked screaming, Harry listens to the boy shielding him with everything he has, and impulse rather than thought moves him to threaten a stranger he’s never met in his life. When Eggsy Unwin shows up at the tailor shop, Harry takes one look at the boy, only slightly worse for wear but painfully, painfully loyal, and sees a chance for atonement.

Of sorts.

That night, as it has for seventeen years, an old nightmare returns. A young man full of promise dies, only just barely out of reach, and lies unmoving on the floor. Green eyes stare at the roof, unseeing. Harry spends the rest of the night staring at the ceiling of his bedroom through his glasses, waiting for three o’ clock to pass him by. At half past three, a notification pops up on the left of the display. Nine candidates in the running for Lancelot, currently undifferentiated in rank.

The selection process has begun.

The end of the Lee Unwin flashback is a mission statement of sorts, or a summary of what Lee’s death does to Harry: a good man, one of the best people Kingsman could have had, is dead because of Harry’s choices (bringing Lee and James along and not checking the hostage), and now Harry must live with that knowledge. He wouldn’t be new to the business of being a spy, but the Lee Unwin affair must weigh heavy on his shoulders, heavy enough that he would go out of his way to give Eggsy a second chance and mentor him as he does. Importantly, he also never truly lets go – we’ve got Lee appearing in a later chapter, but even if Harry can forgive himself, he can’t forget what’s happened, and then Eggsy dies and history repeats itself as another good man is gone too soon while Harry is helpless to stop it. Until he isn’t, because this time Mephistopheles has an offer for him.

[narfoonthenet]

(Amphibia) I don't like Marcy's lesson in 'All In'

This is a thought that I've had on and off since Amphibia ended.

But, am I the only one who has a problem with the lesson Marcy learns in 'All In'?

"My friends don't have to like the things I like, and I have to be okay with that." (No, not an exact quote)

That's not necessarily a bad lesson, but that's also wasn't the problem?

Like, in 'Beginning of the End', the literal episode before, the flashback at the beginning clearly shows Anne and Sasha showing disinterest in her favorite movie and being dismissive of Marcy herself. Heck, we have some clues beforehand that Anne and Sasha weren't very attentive to Marcy and even took her for granted.

In 'The Planters Check In', when Marcy tells Anne she'll do all the research, Anne pretty much states that Marcy did all of their group-projects herself (though not word-for-word); in 'Marcy at the Gates', Anne's behavior around her in the episode - especially the flashback - shows she saw Marcy as a klutz who needed protecting at all times (Anne's arc that episode is accepting that Marcy is capable on her own and can be trusted (ahem)), and during Marcy's introduction scene, when she's talking about Creatures and Caverns and RPing, Anne has the same blank in-one-ear-out-the-other look we see in 'Beginning of the End'.

In 'Marcy at the Gates', the flashback shows Sasha always standing off to the side, either not paying attention or just watching with a look of disapproval, and then there's the flashback in 'Beginning of the End'.

(That's all the examples of Sasha that come to mind - not gonna rewatch episodes for this rant)

Marcy's not innocent in all this - we've all seen 'True Colors', there's no denying her actions and their consequences - but we have both clues and outright proof that Marcy was being mistreated (even if unwittingly), but her big moment in S3 leads to a version of "I'm being selfish and need to stop."

Like, what? Didn't she learn that in S2 already??

Late addition: What's even worse is that the show actually acknowledges this, again, in 'Beginning of the End'; Anne brings up the possibility that Marcy did what she did in part because of how she and Sasha treated her, with Sasha, on their way to the castle, and later on the Core/Darcy calls them out on this.

But then, at the end of 'All In' when the girls reunite, Marcy apologizes - as she should - but Anne and Sasha don't apologize for their treatment of her? There's not even an attempt to handwave it, like Anne and Sasha's instant and no-lingering-baggage forgiveness.

(I'm going by memory here, so I could be missing something; again, not gonna rewatch episodes for a rant)

The show introduces the idea that Marcy's actions and decisions go deeper than "I wanna stay with my friends", actually acknowledges this, but then drops it by the next episode - in favor of "she's a selfish and dumb kid," essentially.

That inconsistency is, at best, forgetful - at worst, just lazy.

P.S. I'm not including anything from Marcy's Journal here. The Journal is, ultimately, supplemental material. I'm focusing solely on the series itself; it should stand on its own merits without needing help from what's essentially the DVD extras.

[fonteyn]

Just had a flashback to the first time my mom let me go to a friend's house to hang out on the weekend. It was me and two friends and our main plan was to watch the Up All Night tour DVD that one of them had bought on a trip to the U.S. Before that all we had were short clips and pictures of the shows. We laughed, we cried, we sang every lyric. It's a really fond memory of something so long ago that it doesn't feel as if it really happened.

Feeling for those three little girls right now, but also for my grown up version as well.

[neotorchwickvt]

So, in honor of The Babadooks upcoming 10th Anniversary, Join me for a Haunting Tale!

Flashback to around 2016, Babdook is now on Netflix (Boycott them), my friends and I would have popcorn, watch some horror movies, and genuinely enjoy the time of not having a job yet as we were in High School.

So one night, we watch a little movie called The Babadook (sadly before he became a LGBTQ+ Icon), this is still one of my favorite Horror films, the Pacing is Slow, but helps drive home the absolute paranoia and fear the Mother feels in the film, alongside the scene where she looks at her neighbors house in the middle of the night and The Babadook is just, standing there, menacingly (I had to include a SpongeBob joke, it’s in my nature).

So we watch it, and sadly due to it being 2am, my friends fell asleep. So the next day, we go to breakfast, Have lunch, and finally we go to Hastings (an old video rental store), and long and behold, like a holy grail calling our name, The Babadook is available to rent.

So despite it being on Netflix, we rented it this time, go back to my friends place, and watch it again, this time around 7pm, we get done around 9pm, my friends having not fallen asleep this time, loved it, me having seen it twice now, Love it even more.

So we drive back to the rental store an hour before it closed and return the movie. But we decided to also have a little browse around the place, and amongst the books, The Babadook finds us again, it’s the actual pop up book they made to go along with the movie.

So we all jokingly read it, laughing, and having fun thinking nothing about how despite us not looking for it amongst the books, it was just sitting out practically waiting for us. We continue on, I wanted to look at the Manga, so we go to the Very Back of the store where they kept it, and pass by a Stormtrooper toy (Force Awakens is still fresh in everyones mind).

I think the Stormtrooper was supposed to say something like “Don’t Move Resistance Scum.” Or something, but it was broken, and all we hear from this toy is “Do-Do-Dook” “Do-Do-Dook”. We joke about how it sounds like Babadook, and start teasing each other that we are haunted now.

So Stores about to close, I go to check out my Manga (I forget which one as I’ve read a LOT now). And as I’m buying it, a person in a Black Trench Coat and Black Top Hat walks in (The store closes in like 10 minutes). Not a single vehicle except my friend’s truck parked outside.

My Friends and I walk out, a little scared but laughing like “Did any of you see his face?”

We all agreed that we didn’t get a long enough look at the person to see the Face, just the clothes. We start driving, it is now around 10pm, and one mile away is a Walmart (Also boycott), so we go to get snacks.

On the way there, we hit a Stop Light amongst a Pizza Place with a bright sign, and a gas station across the street also with bright lights, and standing on the sidewalk nearby them…

A person in a Black Trench Coat, Black Top Hat, and a Ghostly White Face. Let it be known, this Gas Station/Pizza Place is half a Mile from the Video Store, so unless the person at the video store sprinted in less than 3 minutes to this spot in the darkness, then thats not the same person.

We get to Walmart, now entirely scared like did we actually just see that, or are we psyching ourselves out. We all agree that we are just being paranoid (Master Gaslighters of Ourselves), and go into Walmart.

We go to the Movies, and on the New Releases, The Badbadook. Let it be known, Film came out in 2014, we watched it on Netflix in 2016, meaning the DvD probably came out some time in 2015, so it is not a New Release. It’s just a single copy of the movie, sitting front and center for us to see.

So we get the hell out of the movies, don’t even look at the books, and go straight for snacks, we are rushing to get home now, because we all think something is now haunting us.

We are in the Snack Isle, Walmart is a bright place, lots of lights everywhere. As we buy some Microwave Popcorn, The Lights above the Snack Isle, Go out, with a Pop.

We all look at each other, and agree, we need to check out, and leave. We turn to exit the Isle, and there again stands. Black Trench Coat, Black Top Hat, and Ghostly White Face. Whether the same Person, Three different people, we have no clue, it’s not Halloween, so it’s not like people are just casually dressing up in costumes.

We go out the other side of the isle, we are running, probably looked like thieves despite us dropping the box of popcorn and getting out of there. We get to my friend’s Truck, we’re out of breath, he starts the engine, and we floor it back to his house.

We all huddles together in his bed that night. Because we don’t know if it was just all coincidence, Shared hysteria amongst us, or if we actually summoned something that night.

But we all haven’t experienced anything like that since. And it will always be remembered to me anyway as The Night We Saw The Babadook.

[andswarwrites]

It's Friday, so it's time to slack off in the writing and make a list of favorite things.  I'm currently watching the science fiction series Firefly with my daughter, and experiencing her reactions and responses is proving to be quite an experience for me.  I've loved Joss Whedon's universe and the Firefly ship Serenity's crew ever since I first met them when a friend brought over the movie, and while we were dating, my future husband bought the boxed set of DVDs so I could watch the precious thirteen episodes.  I do not love each episode equally, that is why I'm going to make this list.  I'm going to do my best to keep spoilers to the minimum, but if you are reading this and have not seen the show and movie, stop reading and go watch them.  It doesn't take long, and it's quality sci fi.

Number One: Serenity (Pilot)

As I said, I met the crew through the movie, so I had a vague idea who they were, but when I watched the pilot, I was blown away by how the characters were brought together, and how extremely well written the dialogue was.  From Wash playing with his plastic dinosaurs (see, spoilers), to Jayne calculating the percentage of nothing, to Mal's discovery of River: this was not a cohesive group of individuals with a united goal, this was chaotic, conflict could be explosive, but there were moments of tenderness, there were glimpses of potential friendships and relationships.  I love a good introduction, a great first chapter.  I've seen many pilots, but none I could watch repeatedly as if it were a standalone movie.  The pilot is a masterpiece.

Number Two: Out of Gas

Mal is an enigma, because in one way he cares for everyone on board his "boat", and he takes seriously his responsibility as their captain to keep them safe, but he tends to keep everyone at arm's length.  This episode is divided into three specific stories, all mashed together: first, there's Mal, and he's all alone.  He's injured, he's in danger.  Next you see flashbacks of how he first met his ship and then the people who joined the crew along the way, and third, you see the story unfold of how he wound up alone on his ship, and the suspense builds as he struggles to make a desperately needed repair, all the while losing blood.  It becomes clear, as you watch it, that it's Mal who brought this crew together.  He made connections with everyone, and he didn't judge their background or actions.  From this episode you learn how Mal thinks and operates, and if he wasn't before, he definitely becomes your Captain, too.

Number Three: Objects in Space

I love any story that focuses on River.  I had difficulty choosing between Safe, Ariel and Objects in Space for the third rank, but I have to say that Objects in Space wins the place, just for that opening scene of River wandering the ship and our glimpse into her mind.  The other factor that makes me feel like this episode is one of my top favorites is how unabashedly brutal, sadistic and clever Early is.  Niska by comparison is a manipulative coxcomb, and up until the point where you meet Early, Niska seems like the worst villain they had the misfortune to encounter.  While everyone is worrying about River, she takes matters into her own hands and plays mind games with Early.  River is vulnerable, yet resilient.  She is forthright, direct, yet there is much she keeps to herself.  Following Early through the ship, watching him take control of matters, but then seeing him bested by River and her plan, now that is a satisfying storyline.

Number Four: Trash

Christina Hendricks is a treasure.  Of course, we meet her in Our Mrs. Reynolds, but Trash is a heist episode.  As will soon become abundantly clear: I love heist episodes.  There are so many twists in Trash; first you think one person has outsmarted the rest, and then it turns out they themselves were outsmarted.  There's a certain measure of suspense, as there should be with a heist, but Trash is mostly fun, thanks to quipping, bickering, playfulness and the like.  We got to know  the vixen in Our Mrs. Reynolds, but we learn so much about her indirectly in Trash.  She's a thrill seeker, though somewhat pathetic.  She always has to have the upper hand, and she's wily.  And yet, you can't help but feel affection for her.  And you have so many questions about her backstory.  You may get a smidgen of answers, but you're left wanting more.

Number Five: Ariel

Firefly mixes space with small towns on backwater moons, livestock with fancy parties, guns and ammo with advanced technology, but then in Ariel you get to see the inside of a futuristic hospital in a bustling city.  The color scheme is less warm, more cold colors creep in.  This episode sets up a heist storyline, but then there are other elements that come to play.  Two nemeses that were introduced back in The Train Job demonstrate how dangerous they truly are.  An "interesting day" which was alluded to back in the pilot comes to pass.  Simon finally truly shines as a doctor and a devoted brother, and a decent human being.  But most of all, the story itself is compelling and suspenseful.  A proper heist, with twists and turns, peril and betrayal.

Number Six: Jaynestown

One of the funniest episodes, in my opinion, this episodes also has depth, especially in its final scene, where the theme song of the entire episode quietly, subtly plays while Jayne utters "Don't make no sense."  Jayne is one of the most straightforward characters.  He likes money.  He likes women.  He looks out for number one.  But even Jayne shows us that his conscience can smite him, in his own way.  Jayne goes from confusion and wild-eyed stage fright to lapping up adoration to an earnest wish to make a difference to expressing heartfelt remorse and confusion at how strange people can be.  And then there's Inara and how she influences a young man crushed by the personality of his father, helping him find his own.  Part tender, part heartbreaking, and full of humor.

Number Seven: Safe

River looking into the soulful eyes of a cow.  River dancing.  River telling Simon what she knows to be true.  Shepherd Book revealing that he isn't quite what he seems.  "Big damn heroes" showing up "in the nick of time".  And then Simon asking Mal why he came back for them and being told "You're on my crew."  Simon and River are on the crew.  Shepherd Book is on the crew.  Mal has to prioritize one who is injured, but that does not make him abandon the others or choose and easier path.  There are so many precious moments in Safe.  It's like a scrapbook of Firefly's greatness.  And while we heard Simon and River's story in the pilot, seeing it in Safe reveals so many details that were left unsaid.

Number Eight: War Stories

I figured out what I love best about this episode while discussing it with a friend.  The best feature, for me, of this particular story, is how Wash simply shines.  From that very first episode, where "He's the captain, Wash," is met with "Right, I'm just the husband," we see the underlying resentment Wash feels, under all the playful banter, behind the light-hearted quips, he feels threatened by just how close Mal and Zoe really are, how they have something he isn't part of.   But in War Stories, we see Wash's epiphany, where he realizes what Mal did for Zoe: Wash has his wife thanks to who Mal is, how his survival instinct is contagious; Mal is a force of nature and Wash finally owes him in the same way Zoe does, bringing them closer together as they mount a reckless rescue operation as husband and wife.  I could mention more scenes, more lines, from Kaylee getting pinned down and River coming to the rescue, to the way Book roasts Simon. 

Number Nine: Heart of Gold

This one is a stand off between a band of misfits and a selfish sexist who apparently has the upper hand.  It breaks my heart every time I watch it, so why isn't it lower on the list?  Just like I love YoSaffBridge, I have tremendous affection for Nandi and the life she has carved out not only for herself but the family who inhabit the house with her.  I love every scene with her in it, because she's a lot like Mal in feminine form.  She handles crises well, she is a natural leader, she has authority as well as compassion, she knows how to protect those who rely upon her, she will take matters into her own hands and she has her own code which only she knows and follows.  No wonder Mal and Nandi connect instantly.

Number Ten: The Train Job

We’re getting to the point where I'm asking myself "Why isn't this one higher up on my list?!" and then I look at all of the ones that precede them and I go "Oh, because they're all superb, so ranking them is really an impossible feat."  Honestly, I would have ranked The Train Job higher if I had never learned that it was a substitute pilot.  Of course, it does its job very well; it introduces the characters, it's snappy, it's fast-paced, its overall tone is good, and it introduces a minor character I adore, the sheriff of the town.  All that being said, I'm so angry that the network decided to air this as the first episode instead of Serenity, which as I have stated is in itself a movie of such tremendous quality, I can't help but notice how the dialogue must carry so much exposition to make up for the fact that the audience was pitched into this story headlong.  I have mixed feelings about The Train Job, but I still love it, because it introduces Niska, who is a comprehensive sadist who we love to hate, and as I said, the sheriff.  As a pilot, however, it should never have been one.

Number Eleven: Our Mrs. Reynolds

Why is Trash higher up on the list than Our Mrs. Reynolds?  Sometimes a story where we already know a character is more compelling than the story where that character is introduced.  It's why I love GotG2 and GotG3 the most, even though when I first saw GotG, I thought it was the best movie Marvel had made so far (thank you, James Gunn, for this awesome trilogy).  Honestly, my favorite character to be introduced was Vera.  I still randomly say "I call her Vera" in conversation, and anyone unfamiliar with Firefly is completely lost as to my meaning.  I also sometimes have Mal shouting "She was naked! And…articulate!" pop into my head making me laugh.  Also Book leaning with his head at a comical angle reiterating "The special hell."  It's a masterpiece.  They all are.

Number Twelve: Shindig

When we meet Badger, he's a slimy, no-good half-pint crook.  But in Shindig we see him interact with River, and that adds so many more layers to him, "a sad little king on a sad little hill."  Like Jaynestown, Shindig is one of the episodes with a lighter tone, a lot of humor.  It's also visually lush, stunning at times, and the commentary on high society and so-called refinement is deliciously scathing.  Kaylee is just so sweet in this episode, Inara is graceful, Mal is "all right".  Atherton Wing is a snake.  And the end of Shindig sets up Safe.  Shindig may be before-last in this "ranking", but as I said: they're all masterpieces.

Number Thirteen: The Message

The one thing I truly appreciate from The Message is a certain piece of music that Greg Edmonson composed.  He was working on this episode when he learned that the show had been cancelled, and he put all his grief at this news into a sort of musical dirge, which moves me every time I hear it.  Honestly, however, I have no tolerance for this episode's antagonist.  His fate when he meets it seems so pointless to me.  He was so hell bent on manipulating people who cared for him, he didn't stop to think that if he straightforwardly asked for help instead of wearing mask after mask to trick them, he would have obtained help and would have made it out of the situation.  The way he can't ever bring himself to finish that sentence, and Zoe has to finish it for him: "You find someone to carry you."  He had someone, two someones in fact, who would carry him, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.  The tragedy physically hurts me. 

And that's it!  In order of my favorite to my least favorite, these are the thirteen episodes of Firefly.  I'm sure every Browncoat on Earth could make this list and have a completely different order, while many might refuse to even attempt it, saying that they are all equally good.  The thing about Firefly is that it was so brief it is basically a miniseries, self-contained, a story full of genius, a work of art.  It is one of my all-time favorite shows.  This list was fun to put together, but I might have to revisit it in ten years and see if the order changed.  My appreciation of certain plots and characters develops as I do, my outlook shifts.  Nothing should ever be set in stone, not while we are flesh and blood.

[heich0e]

episode 3!!

"something's bothering gakuto" i already know just from the title this is gonna hurt

gaku's dumb little best friend is very important to me i didn't say that in episode one but i did think it fyi he loves snacks and so do i

i like the kirishima grandpa too he seems nice

waka (gets home, eats snack, and then passes out)... me too buddy

omg little guy is playing shogi w the grandpa he is a genius.... shikamaru is that u.....

"hayato always treats me like a kid... i want to help out around the house" my baby you are six please just enjoy your babyhood

hayato running all the way home so that he's there when baby gaku got off the preschool bus i'm crying i want him so bad

i love the goofy little animations that show the inner workings of their minds they're so funny lmaoooooooo

"grandpa across the street keeps staring at me" rly would be such an offputting thing i cannot blame them for having a meeting of the minds over it

wait hayato like shaking and crying bc he's scared of the grandpa is soooooooo funny he's my baby

the funeral flashback.... "i'm not sending them away. i won't allow us to be separated."....... oh i love him i LOVE him my brave baby

"he doesn't know... that most kids bring a store-bought towel to kindergarten... and their names are written in marker" i ACTUALLY SOBBED OUT LOUD

OH NO HAYATO FELL ASLEEP AND BABY GAKU JUST GOT HOME FROM SCHOOOOOOOL

omg the baby is blaming himself gaku please you are literally just little this is not your fault

"hayato quit his part time job but sometimes he still has money to buy me toys" BABIES SHOULD NOT EVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY OMGGGGGG

kojiro talking to gakuto like an adult is so sweet to me help

hayato running home SCREAMING gakuto's name he is sooooooo goofy i love himmmmm

gakuto watching the period drama with grandpa instead of the baby DVDs is soooooooo funny i love them #1 duo

like LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE!!!!

"i've been trying to find a way to talk to you kids. ever since you lost your mom and dad, i've keep wondering if there's anything i can do for you boys" IM GOING TO CRY GRANDPA I LOVE U TERRIBLY

he got the dvds to connect with gaku im actually crying so hard hahahhahahaha

"thank you for saying hello to me" WAILINGGGGGGGGGG

"i feel sad when i see him working so hard" I FEEL SAD WHEN I SEE YOU FEEL SAD BABY BOY

him resenting his own childhood MY BABY nanami said it best when he said being a child is not a crime!!!! PLEASE BE KINDER TO URSELF GAKU

"your time as a child is short. and it's precious" YES GRANDPA!!! SAY IT LOUDER!!

gaku and mr kojiro are besties and that is so important 2 me

omg hayato for real yelled his name the whole way home he is so silly

"mr kojiro is my first best friend" no i'm snotting all over myself u guys

i'm about to start The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons and i already know it's gonna fuck me up.. i will report back at the end of each episode with my thoughts

[spnscripthunt-inactive]

Hi guys, I’m looking for a pdf presentation of supernatural. I’m teaching ESL and wanted my students to watch the first season as a project. Do you have any suggestions for me? Thanks!!

It's been 84 years since I (@lets-steal-an-archive) got my (never used) secondary level teaching license and about as long since I taught undergrads and I'm stumped.

The few lesson plans I've seen have been for undergraduates and they aren't at all relevant to teaching ESL.

I asked other mutuals of mine and they are also stumped, though they all agreed the SuperWiki season one episode pages would be a good place to start: all episodes have transcripts, links to definitions, trivia and pop culture references.

1.01 Pilot

1.02 Wendigo

1.03 Dead in the Water

1.04 Phantom Traveler

1.05 Bloody Mary

1.06 Skin

1.07 Hook Man

1.08 Bugs

1.09 Home

1.10 Asylum

1.11 Scarecrow

1.12 Faith

1.13 Route 666

1.14 Nightmare

1.15 The Benders

1.16 Shadow

1.17 Hell House

1.18 Something Wicked

1.19 Provenance

1.20 Dead Man's Blood

1.21 Salvation

1.22 Devil's Trap