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the first time i cried in thunderbolts was when they all worked together to save that woman from the chunk of a building

superhero movies are about people who have the ability to help people and choose to do so

that isn’t all there is but i think the mcu has gotten so focused in the weeds of the multiverse and inner group politics and whatever that they forgot that the reason we watch superhero movies is because we want to watch good guys fight bad guys, but more importantly, we want to watch them help people because that’s why they fight the bad guys in the first place

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my White Lotus theories/opinions

SPOILERS FOR EP 1 & EP 2 of Season 3!!

Here's what I think so far -- maybe someone else has had the same thoughts, but just in case they haven't:

Girls Trip

Going on from the popular theory of Ratcliff siblings embodying "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", we've had two out of three pair dynamics between the three ladies. First, Kate and Jaclyn gossiping about what a wreck Laurie is, which Laurie SEES from her bedroom. Then, Kate and Laurie are talking smack about Jaclyn, which Jaclyn HEARS from her bedroom. I think the next time two of the girls talk about the third (most likely Laurie and Jaclyn talking about Kate), "speak no evil" will come into play.

Each of the girls are MAJORLY insecure:

Kate is insecure about her image.

The whole "do you remember me" scene was incredibly awkward and painful to watch. It felt unnecessary for Kate to linger that long when it was clear that nothing was going to come from the conversation (or lack thereof). Kate wouldn't let it go that Victoria couldn't remember her from a random weekend years ago. She was embarrassed by Victoria in front of the Ratliff family AND in front of her own friends.

She felt like the odd one out because her test results were less positive than the other two. This was quickly cemented by Jaclyn talking about the nutrition of food in Texas, which led to Kate rambling about beans in her effort to assure her friend that she was "very healthy".

2. Jaclyn is insecure about her place at the top of the trio's hierarchy.

She is famous, rich and beautiful, but none of these things are enough to keep self-doubt from making her insecure and competitive. She wants to be the visible, no-contest top of the pyramid. This is obvious when Laurie tells Jaclyn that Valentin gave her the same health feedback (namely, percentage of body fat), and she is in disbelief about it -- they can't be the same, or it would disrupt the balance.

She tries very hard to persuade her two friends that she and her husband (who is noted to be somewhat younger than her) are obsessed with each other. Usually, you don't need to convince your two oldest friends about stuff like that. Neither of them looked impressed, and later went on to discuss the validity of the situation.

3. Laurie is insecure about her place at the bottom of the hierarchy.

She's the pitied friend, who is showered with patronising love and affection from the other two girls who consider her beneath them in success, wealth and general "put-together-ness". Laurie does nothing to get out of this. You can see in Ep 1 that she's sad about being left out, even though she does nothing to change her circumstances. When Jaclyn offers to switch rooms so that Laurie's not so far away from the main house, she doesn't accept. And when she sees her two friends talking without her after she leaves the house to go up to her isolated bedroom, her first reaction is to be miserable because she thinks they are talking about her (they are, but that's beside the point). She's wallowing in her self-pity, and her insecurity about being left out is only manifesting into her real life.

Rick and Chelsea

I felt that the first interaction between our girl Chelsea and the French-Canadian model, Chloe, was not all innocent. (I may be seriously reading into this one, so sorry about that.) Chelsea compliments Chloe on her outfit, and Chloe's response is to compliment Chelsea on her teeth. "I love your teeth" may be an innocent thing to say, but I don't think it was in this case. Chloe's comment felt like a backhanded compliment. If you were just meeting a person for the first time, and they had a unique feature on their face or body (and you didn't know whether or not they felt comfortable about it), would you immediately draw attention to it? I personally wouldn't say anything, even in a complimentary way, unless I knew how the person felt about themselves/their appearance. Chelsea's actress, Aimee Lou Wood, has beautiful, unique teeth, and it's clear that she rocks them with confidence IRL. We, the audience, can also see that Chelsea is a confident woman within the show. But Chloe doesn't know Chelsea yet. So for that reason, I felt that Chloe's comment was more like "you're so brave to have teeth like that". I get that condescending, judgy vibe from her, but who knows?

Going on from this, it was weird that Chloe was so dismissive about Chelsea recounting the story of the robbery. Yes, Chelsea was a little dramatic, but she had every right to be. She was in a hostile, terrifying situation, and there was an armed robber who could have, at any moment, killed her and the store assistant. So yes, she didn't die, but those events happened that same afternoon and she needed to process it. A traumatic event like that happening at any time, especially when you're on a vacation and your guard is down, would be awful. Chloe waving it off felt weird because she wasn't even there, she was safely hidden in a changing room, behind a curtain. She didn't see what happened, so why be so blasé and dismissive?

I fear that Chelsea will die. She's made more than one remark about nearly dying, and she also asked Rick to protect her (in a jokey manner while they were in their room, but still). I think there will be a situation later in the show where she's in danger and Rick is not around to protect her. Perhaps something will happen when he's in Bangkok?

Rick really redeemed himself at the end of Ep 2. HOT!

Weirdo Fam

Victoria Ratliff has an issue with women (maybe all people) who she deems to be on her level, or in the same social class as her. She doesn't trust them, and she doesn't like them. She is painfully impolite to Kate from the Girls Trip, and goes on to insult Kate's friend, Jaclyn. She talks dismissively about Chelsea too. However, when talking with hotel staff (e.g. the masseuse, the person on the phone when she's ordering snacks, etc), she is friendly and polite, and her tone never appears to be condescending. That Southern charm seems to only show up when she's talking to "the staff".

The family displays no affection for each other. The father and mother clearly have a bond, but the three children lack closeness. They seem like distant cousins who've just met at a family reunion after a couple of years without speaking to or seeing each other. Also, the parents don't seem to give a fuck about the children aside from the father criticising the two younger ones, and the mother being oblivious to her eldest son's pervy machinations. All of it feels like they've never spent time with each other, even though they've mentioned prior family vacations.

Belinda

Honestly, I just hope she stays alive.

Mook

I love her. I'm almost certain she and Valentin are in on the robbery, but I don't care. She's an icon and a legend. She can do whatever she wants.

Okay. Bye!!!

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Tolkien: “Sauron was a victim of Morgoth’s corruption who, then, got high on power trips. When his master was defeated, he truly regretted everything that he has done, but was too proudful to return to Aman in humiliation and face the judgement of the Valar. He wanted to heal Middle-earth and create perfect order and harmony between its people but his bounds to Morgoth were too strong, and he fall back into evil (= became a tyrannical dictator). BTW, Gandalf with the One ring would have been far worse than Sauron himself.” 

Dudebros: “Sauron is the Satan of Tolkien lore!” 

Tolkien: “Galadriel is a proudful and power-hungry elf princess with a “Amazonian disposition” who wanted her own kingdom on Middle-earth. She rebelled against the Valar, and got banished from Valinor for it. Her character arc in “Lord of the Rings” is that of a “repentant sinner”. She’s only pardoned and allowed to return to Valinor after she resists Frodo’s offering her the One ring on the Third Age.” 

Dudebros: “Galadriel is the Virgin Mary of Tolkien lore!” 

“You are shipping Satan with the Virgin Mary, you blasphemous heretics!”  No, we are not.

You really should stop calling these idiots “lorebros” because the “lore” isn’t in the room with us.  

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brat girl summer is over, it's time for the fall of númenor

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#relatable

DAISY JONES & THE SIX (2023)

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Just never lie to me again. Swear it.

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- the party's dead. wanna ditch it with me?

- absolutely!

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Im obsessed, I’m weak.

Now stay stay stay with me for now

Until our time is out

There’s no one else for me but you…

a playlist curated by Lucy Carlyle that reminds her of Lockwood.

•true as true can get: kaiyko • never-ending summer: wes reeve • could you love me while i hate myself: zeph •stuck on us: claire rosinkranz, aidan bisset •repeat until death : novo amor • sweet nothing: taylor swift • oceans: seafret • stay alive: josé gonzález • you wouldn’t like me: sleeping at last • wildfire: seafret •hate to be lame: lizzie mcalpine, finneas • glitch: taylor swift • cognitive dissonance: sophie holohan • summer 2019: caroline culver • to build a home: the cinematic orchestra • sleep deprivation: chance peña• idk you yet: alexander 23 • reckless driving: lizzy mcalpine, ben kessler • agape: bear’s den • did i make you up?: half•alive • beach: axel flovent • renegade: big red machine, taylor swift • state of mind: sød ven • hot tea: half•alive

listen to the rest here

note: creating this playlist has been a dream of mine since I watched the series, and I am thankful that the wonderful, @genniearts was able to make this gorgeous piece to accompany it. I will continue to update the list as I find new music! I hope all of you authors, artists, and shippers enjoy. x

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My favorite bits from the Thinking Cloth

George's and Lockwood's doodles of each other

CEO of Cooking Cocking

Compliments :)

Mustard is the fools condiment ≠ Lockwood is a fool

Food

Locklyle grammar flirting

Literature quotes from Lockwood

To-do list

It's the cat again

The trio 🥺

the full thinking cloth (x) from Sophie Powell's instagram

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Just paused Netflix to get a glass of water and came back to see this expression on Lucy’s face. Miss ma’am, you are in LOVE.

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Oranges

by Jean Little

I peel oranges neatly. The sections come apart cleanly, perfectly in my hands.

When Emily peels an orange, she tears holes in it. Juice squirts in all directions.

“Kate,” she says, “I don’t know how you do it!”

Emily is my best friend. I hope she never learns how to peel oranges.

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Why is AO3 always fully funded you ask? Because AO3 goes down unexpectedly on a Friday night and everyone loses their goddamn minds. Who are we without AO3 but shells of ourselves?

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i want so badly to be more offline but alas the siren call of images

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@ the people who hate on Beth Dutton in comment sections and reddit threads

y’all love the morally gray, snarky, grief stricken characters until it’s a woman. i’ve seen so much discourse regarding female characters who display the exact same character traits as male leads and are criticized for it while the men are praised. let women be cruel and vindictive. let them deal with their grief and trauma in destructive ways. let them be real. give them the same treatment you would give to your favorite male love interest.