marveltaughtmetoread

[marveltaughtmetoread]

It's a Meet Cute from the Jump

livelovecaliforniadreams

I'm not buying the there was no romance planned in the first season argument. The meeting between Syd and Carmy fits the meet-cute trope:

She shows up 5 minutes into the pilot episode and shares the most screen-time across all four seasons with our main lead (a reliable index of who the main love interest will be). She's also the "First Girl" which means the audience will connect to her well before any others appear on the scene. The "First Girl" is set up to win (auditory cue the Ballbreaker theme in the background). Remember Ebra telling us "Carmen, there is a girl." Here I should point out that retconning girl-next-door as the original First Girl does not work; in this trope, the First Girl is the one we, the audience, meet alongside the hero. So Syd is the First Girl, no contest.

Despite how busy Carmy is that day, we get a slowing down of the scene when they meet and no one interrupts for once. That means this is a significant meet-cute for a show where there is a "sense of urgency" and "every second counts." They meet each other alone, distinct from the rest of the Beef crew and the order of operations makes it clear their relationship is the priority (he'll remind us in the next episode when she asks if he has time for her and he says always). He starts off by apologizing and his stare is intense; she is all wide-eyed fangirl and we will see that backed up with what she says about him to others (Richie, Marcus, Donna, T.J.). Her reaction makes professional---even platonic---sense whereas there is no unromantic explanation for his starstruck expression and the way he smiles at her--twice. Carmy at that low point in his life does not offer a genuine smile easily and definitely not twice.

redcreekheart; livelovecaliforniadreams

3.He forgets what UPS stands for (and also that her CIA credentials are at the top of her resume). But every detail of this meeting is etched in his mind as we are shown in subsequent episodes from her first greeting word-for-word, what she wore, her working for UPS, the employers listed on her resume that he calls to find out why she is bothering to work for the Beef (note that Mikey rejected Tina's resume) and her word-for-word compliment to him. Still waiting on the Dad's favorite restaurant story follow up but the very fact that it is worth mentioning means it was a memorable first meeting for both characters and for us, the audience. And now I'm wondering if Carmy still has Syd's resume tucked away somewhere in his secret Syd stash.

livelovecaliforniadreams

4. She's wearing a crisp white Thom Browne shirt which Courtney Wheeler, the show's costume designer, has revealed is Carmy's favorite designer--the one who made the best version of the pants he would draw in school. He clocks this instantly and we know that because it is a pricey Thom Browne chef's jacket that he will gift her in Season 2. Incidentally, this is also one of Chris Storer and his partner Gillian Jacobs' favorite designers. Imagine you are Carmy: drowning, running on adrenaline and lack of sleep, grieving and surrounded by people who have contempt for your chef training. Then, one day, this beautiful young stranger (your age, nearly exactly your height) walks in wearing your favorite designer, knowing your world and deferring to you, offering to work essentially for free and reminding you of who you are and who you could be. Your tailor-made hype team of one that begins turning your life around when you are at your lowest point. That's hella romantic.

5. But--perhaps most telling of all the details in this scene is that he knows how to read her before we do. From their first meeting on, the rhythm of their interactions is established such that we, the audience, are often a few beats behind their ability to synch up with each other and know through some telepathic communication what the other is telegraphing. Off-camera in this first scene he says, "What's up?" and then she gives him the whole spiel of how she knows who he is (wow, what a thing to say to a stranger and also what an injection of hope and good energy that must be to him at that point in his life). We know how much that moment means to him as he remembers it to calm his panic attack and also refers to it in Goodbye. Their nearly wordless communication style begins at their first physical encounter and only deepens each following episode. We are trained to catch up to what the other is feeling when we hear Carmy ask Syd what's wrong in Season 2 Bolognese or Syd call out Carmy for his put-down of Shapiro in Season 4 Goodbye. That's highly unusual because in most shows we, the audience, are omniscient--seeing things that other characters don't know. Yet between Syd and Carmy, we are the third wheel--reduced to playing catch up as they tune in to each other from the get-go.

eloiscbridgerton

If this first meeting between our main leads was not a meet-cute, we would not be reminded of every detail of this meeting and how large it looms in Carmy's mind even four seasons in. Compare that to the re-connect between the stated love interest and all that is memorable is that it was ominously in front of a freezer.

[marveltaughtmetoread]

Ant-Man and the Wasp dir. Peyton Reed | 2018

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you cannot headcanon your way out of overt thematic structures on which the entire narrative is built

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kevin is so bad at being rejected. the only person to ever tell him no was andrew about the ravens and kevin followed him three states over so they ended up on the same team anyways

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au 2848578 on how Jason’s revival gets snitched on

Bruce, on the phone to Talia: please, come on, you must at least have ONE. that’s my baby boy! i need to see photos of him when he was little!!!

Talia, not paying attention because she’s fighting like twelve men one handed: i don’t know what to tell you, i just never took any! there were more important things to do at the time.

Bruce: JUST ONE.

Talia: beloved, i didn’t- *distant scream and thud* *sigh* look why don’t you ask his brother, i’m pretty sure he took some when Damian was a babe,

Bruce, pausing: …what? Tim and Dick didn’t meet him until i did.

Talia: *distant gunshots* yes well maybe if you used that detective brain for once you could puzzle out that i mean MY other son; honestly beloved, sometimes you concern me.

Bruce:

Bruce, bluescreening: um.

Bruce: you have. you have another son?

Bruce: is he…?

Talia, abruptly coming back to herself and remembering Jason’s insistence on NOT telling the bats that he’s alive:

Talia: *winces* uhm.

Bruce: TALIA?!

Talia:

Talia: *hangs up*

-two days later-

Jason, talking to a video call on his phone that’s set leaning up against a crate of guns in a warehouse he’s clearing out: *upper cuts a guy* -she told me she fucking panicked, which is SUCH bullshit, so she told him i wasn’t his biological son, *roundhouse kicks three people at once*

Ra’s, watching boredly through the phone in his personal chambers at the compound: *hums in disinterest*

Jason: -and now he fucking knows Damian’s mysterious older brother is in Gotham and apparently he’s trying to figure out who i am so he can ask for baby photos- *shoots somebody* *redirects punch aimed at him*

Ra’s: to be honest i’m just surprised it wasn’t Damian who let it slip. i’ve been betting on him for months.

Damian, also in the call, watching while pacing the roof of Wayne Manor: RIGHT?! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT WASN’T ME THIS TIME!

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Andrew: we should make out

Neil, a virgin demisexual who was also traumatized by his mother into not even thinking about romance: that’s allowed??

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Giancarlo Esposito has so much potential to be such a sexy and compelling vampire

AND THEY FUCKING DID THIS TO HIM

[marveltaughtmetoread]

conversations overheard on the batkid com lines pt 13 (masterpost here)

Tim: guys, Batman is pissing me off tonight. i need revenge ideas, go.

Bruce: i am on this line- i'm literally standing right next to you, Red Robin.

Dick: shut up B, we're brain storming here.

Damian: you could hack the Batmobile's radio to only play that ad jingle that he hates so much.

Bruce: Robin?!

Tim: this is good, this is good,

Dick: just do what Hood used to do and write revenge porn.

Tim: sorry, Hood used to what now?!

Bruce: Oracle, kick Nightwing from this line.

Oracle: not a chance, please elaborate Nightwing.

Dick, giggling: yeah, he used to- O, get Hood in this call, he loves talking about this it's hysterical.

*ping*

Jason: -tell me where the site is or you'll be jerking off with a fucking prosthetic for the rest of your life, asshole, now- *distant scared whimpers* -TELL ME!

Tim, sweetly: hiya Hood~

Jason: the fu- what- *thump* ...when'd i join this line? why am i here?

Dick: i requested it, i want a Red Hood story-time.

Bruce, firmly: no.

Damian and Tim, simultaneously: yes!

Jason: eh?

Dick: they want to know about the revenge porn you did on B back when you were in Gotham Academy.

Bruce: NO.

Jason: OH- *wheezes*

distant unknown male voice, barely heard through Jason's laughter: c-can i- can i go...?

Jason: *cough* AHA- y-yeah man, fuckin- HA- *wheeze* go for it, i'll track you down later, *cackling*

Dick: this was the story that made me start liking Hood as a little brother, by the way.

Jason: so- *wheeze* so B really pissed me off this one time when i was Robin, i can't even remember why,

Dick: he grounded you for calling Mr Freeze a 'cunt' in front of a group of pre-schoolers you were rescuing.

Jason: OH YEAH-! and part of the grounding was that he forced me to take part in the theatre department bullshit going on down at the school for like, community service, where a bunch of kids in my class were writing an original musical to put on for the end of year show. i was pretty good at english lit, so when my teacher heard i had to join she put me on the writers squad or whatever and pretty much told us to have at it.

Jason: except i was really pissed off at B at the time, so i convinced everybody that the musical should be about Gotham's own Batman, and then i decided to add in Superman and make him Batman's gay love interest.

Damian: oh my god

Dick: *wheezing* it- it was so fucking cool-

Tim: holy- IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL?!

Jason: *cackle* *high pitched* yeah- that's not- that's not even- dude it gets so much worse-

Bruce: it was not funny.

Dick, crying: god it so was...

Jason: AND I MADE THAT SHIT- I MADE IT SO EMOTIONAL, TOO-

Dick: YOU REALLY DID- LIKE IT WAS GOOD, THAT WAS THE THING,

Tim: *laughing*

Damian: please tell me you have a copy of the script, Hood

Jason: annotated and signed, i'll drop it round the cave later

Damian: i love you.

Tim: *laughing harder*

Dick: even better, i still have the fuckin' video,

Tim: THERES A VIDEO?!

Bruce: *disgruntled groan*

Jason: holy shit- dude you still have it?! I LOST MY COPY WHEN I DIED!

Dick: oh Jay, i would not have deleted that video if it saved you from the fucking Joker.

Bruce, scandalised: NIGHTWING.

Jason: NO- NO, AS HE FUCKING SHOULD B, I SENT IT TO HIM TO KEEP SAFE, AS HE FUCKING SHOULD-

Damian: is the video of the whole play?

Dick: well kind of? but littlewing, littlewing's a fucking genius so he- *wheeze*

Jason: i didn't want to act in the actual musical, so they put me on stagehand shit and i ended up in charge of the official school's video production, and i just- *laughter* i just fuckin'- i fuckin filmed B's reaction in the audience for like- *wheeze* the whole fucking play-

Dick: THE BEST PART- best part was B 100% got sucked into the story,

Bruce: I DID NOT.

Jason: YOU CRIED DURING THE ENDING KISS.

Dick: *bursts out laughing*

Tim: SORRY-?!

Damian: Nightwing i want that video.

Dick: *still laughing*

Jason: to this day, best thing i ever did as a child. i don't care about my legacy as Robin, i'm just happy i got to produce such a masterpiece. i should write a sequel-,

Tim: PLEASE,

Bruce: ok that's it,

Tim: B, what are you-

*ping*

Dick: what'd- what-

Oracle: Batman, you can't kick Red Hood from the line.

Bruce: WELL YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING-!

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I have never wanted something more.

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Damian becoming a med student and immediately getting way too invested in his family's health for no reason.

Damian, knocking on Dick's door: Richard, can I ask you a favor?

Dick, suprised: Yeah, of course, what's up?

Damian: I have a question for one of the Doctors in my school. Can you come with me on Friday?

Dick: Umm, sure, kid...Why? Do you need me to play the big bad intimidating brother?

Damian: No. But I do need you to avoid consuming any caffeine eight to twelve hours prior. And bring a list of all the medications you're taking.

Dick: What

*In the Batcave*

Damian, finishing taking a blood sample: I should thank you for letting me do this.

Jason, shrugging: Hey, whatever for a Batburger.

Jason: So... Why do you need my blood?

Damian: It's not important, really... You probably don't even have it–

Jason: Wow. Have what?

Damian: You have nothing to worry about...maybe.

Jason: What are you talking about??

Damian: I'm just making sure.

Jason: Damian! Making sure I don't have what??!!

Damian:

Jason:

Damian: Yeah, you probably don't.

Jason: *Launches at Damian*

*At a family dinner*

Bruce: So Damian, how is school going?

Damian: It's fine, Father.

Bruce, smiling and continuing eating: Good.

Damian:

Damian:...Father, have you ever gotten your prostate checked?

Bruce: I–

Jason: *chokes*

Tim: Oh god.

Damian: You should really see to it, it's important.

Dick: I'm pretty sure Selina–

Tim: Oh god, please shut up.

Jason: *Dies again*

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tim: what's the weirdest thing y'all have ever done? jason: one time i was killing this rapist and i decided it was going too smoothly so i called up killer croc and told him that there was a guy dressed like a sardine in the nearest sewage drain, and obviously since he was dressed like that, he was asking for it. then i tossed the asshole in and listened to his screams like they were my momma's lullabies as i walked down the street dick: *in unison* i liked the way cursive 'f's looked better than regular 'f's so i started writing every f in cursive even when i was writing every other letter normal, and then suddenly i'd done it for so long that i couldn't make myself go back to regular 'f's, and so now i write every letter normal except 'f' which is cursive tim: dick: oh. i was looking at the wrong genre of deed, wasn't i jason: no his is weirder

[marveltaughtmetoread]

Selina Kyle/Catwoman by Caterina Mazzei

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i like to think dick and jason occasionally text each other at four in the morning like "meet me on the roof of batburger" when they're having a shitty night and they just like. beat the absolute shit out of each other. no holds barred. just throwing punch after punch. jason shoots him in the arm and dick electrocutes his leg and then pushes him off the roof. civilians walk by and think there's some genuine beef going on but this is the healthiest their relationship has ever been. they get drinks afterwards with blood still gushing.

[marveltaughtmetoread]

more people need to consume media how dedicated comics fans consume their media of choice

[marveltaughtmetoread]

[“When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away—even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaningless of modern life still have to drink water from time to time. One of my students wrote a story about a nun who got a piece of dental floss stuck between her lower left molars, and who couldn’t get it out all day long. I thought that was wonderful. The story dealt with issues a lot more important than dental floss, but what kept readers going was anxiety about when the dental floss would finally be removed. Nobody could read that story without fishing around in his mouth with a finger. Now, there’s an admirable practical joke for you. When you exclude plot, when you exclude anyone’s wanting anything, you exclude the reader, which is a mean-spirited thing to do.”]

kurt vonnegut

[marveltaughtmetoread]

The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is a story thats just layered and layered with tragedy. It harkens back to classic dark/gothic American literature, riddled with drama, familial dysfunction, generational trauma, incest, death, murder, etc. One thing that’s recently come to my mind tho is the tragedy of Renee Graves.

Obviously, she was a shit mother. She deliberately neglected Ashley, (which definitely led to her being so fucked up as a person) parentified Andrew while also blatantly favoring him, she’s cold, cruel, manipulative, and wasn’t there for either of them when they really needed it. Not to mention literally leaving her children for dead and then profiting off of their deaths as a miracle solution to pull herself out of poverty.

And yet…. In a way, I feel for her. She kinda got what she deserved in the end, granted she got the most extreme version of what she deserved, but nevertheless. She was only 15 when she had Andrew, literally a child, yet she speaks about having both her kids as if it was a choice, calling Andrew an “easy child” and assuming she could handle a second because of that.

She’s 37 years old, that’s still so young, and based on the way she dresses and speaks she clearly reached her age of stagnation as a teen, when she got pregnant. Now all she wants to do is live in a nice home, have kinky sex with her husband, grow a veggie garden and make friends in her community. A simple, happy life. The kind she probably didn’t think she’d have as a teen mom who was likely raised in poverty, given their standard of living and the fact that she had a kid while she was still a kid herself; an occurrence that’s unfortunately far too common in lower-income/high poverty areas.

There’s clearly a lifetime of resentment towards her kids. She definitely regrets having them, or at least having them so young. Whether their conception was her choice or not, she was way, way too young and immature to make that decision. It doesn’t excuse her neglect or abuse towards her kids, but still. I can’t help but pity her. She was a kid, who made bad choices that snowballed into so much pain and destruction. She’s awful, and she’s a fascinating character in a fascinating story.

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