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[paigegonerogue]

Random Stuff I Love in Movies & Shows

Varying from super general to incredibly hyper-specific.

Parking lots/gas stations at night

It’s absolutely gorgeous. The lights, the colors. The way you can almost smell the crisp night air. Absolutely wonderful.

Long takes that are closeups of Actors Acting™️

I love when a piece of media goes ultra-simplistic and lets an actor just go wild. It feels so satisfying to watch, and it leads to such weighty moments. Even the most Oscar-bait monologues are a joy to watch for me when they’re shot like this.

Breakdowns (especially when they include hitting walls/doors)

Once again, there’s something so incredibly satisfying about seeing someone just lose it. Being destructive and loud and wild. It’s oddly cathartic, and once again, I love seeing actors go for it. I love seeing them yell.

A really intense, intimate shot that pulls back to a wide

It just itches this wonderful part of my brain. Pulling back from something intense, close, to wide, is just endlessly cool.

Beams of light and colored lighting (bonus points is both)

Nothing to say here. I just think it looks pretty :D

Rooftop conversations

Especially if it’s a bittersweet ending conversation, but even if it isn’t, rooftop conversations are always so good and emotionally resonant, and they look beautiful, too!

Silent intros/credits

Nothing to add. They’re just unbeatable. When an show that normally has a cold open starts immediately, you know shit’s about to go down…

Long Conversations with Bad Dudes™️

I mean, c’mon. We all know I love a psychological, people-talking-in-a-room episode. A most of my favorite scenes/episodes are like that. I’m always just absolutely riveted.

Scores with warped vocals/breathing

It always has this really unsettling feeling, but it makes me excited whenever I hear it. They sound so cool.

Whip-pan transitions

They’re just so fun!

[paigegonerogue]

Episode 8’s Subjective Perspective

Rewatching tlou s1 ep8, and man, just an utterly unreal episode. So good. So well done. I love the dialogue, the editing. I love how it gets faster and faster, how it builds. The performances are utterly brilliant. I could watch hours of Ellie and David going back and forth in the cage, it’s just absolutely riveting writing and acting. I love how they use color, I love it all.

Something I noticed this time, though, is how well the episode puts you in Ellie’s shoes visually. Oftentimes, you’ll only see something when Ellie sees it. You’ll see things in relation to Ellie, from near Ellie’s perspective.

When she wakes up in the cage, you don’t see David until she does. During the steakhouse fire, you don’t know where he is in the room, just where he is in relation to her. Except for around 3 singular shots in the cage scene, when we’re looking at David we’re looking at him from the other side of the bars. When Joel finds her, we only see him when she does. When James finds her, it’s the same.

Often, it’s shot at a lower angle, mimicking how Ellie’s looking up. You’ll see things from the same side she does, from the same angle she does.

I just love details like this, subtle ways in which a show puts you in the shoes of the character. It’s good filmmaking, and really fun to analyze ahaha

[paigegonerogue]

Not to brag but I wrote a forty fucking minute episode of television today, over four and a half hours, with no breaks, that is set in one room, where a character has a four page monologue. And it’s an absolute mess.

Then I realized the episode is just a ripoff of one from Euphoria…

[paigegonerogue]

Spin this wheel first and then this wheel second to generate the title of a YA fantasy novel!

(If the second wheel lands on an option ending with a plus sign, spin it again)

Share what you got!

[paigegonerogue]

I’m rewatching s1 because I’m sick, found out that Joel is Canonically™️ 6 years older than Tommy in the show.

In E4 he says Tommy enlists in the army right out of high school (IE: most likely 18), and twelve years later the outbreak happens. Then, Tommy would be 30, Joel 36. We know Joel’s 56 in S1 because he tells Ellie that, also in episode four, so in season 1 Tommy is 50, after the five year time skip Tommy is 55, Joel 61.

Tommy would be 18 when Tommy was 12, which lines up pretty well with what we see in the flashback in S2 E6.

[paigegonerogue]

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I just finished TLOU pt. II!

Decided to shout my thoughts to the void as a certified Show Lover™️ and talk about what I liked in the game, what I didn’t, and how it compares to the show.

Watch out! I will be criticizing the both the show and the game in this, so if you’re looking for a “the game is a masterpiece and the show is shit” take from me, you’re outta luck, sorry😅

Let’s start with…

What I liked:

The Visuals - OMG this was, hands down, the most gorgeous video game I have ever played. TLOU pt. I was a pretty game, but this was another level entirely. The light, the shadows, the colors, the settings, absolutely stunning. I loved the filmmaking techniques they used, like the anamorphic lense-flares, film grain, and depth of field. It added a wonderful quality to not only the cutscenes but also the gameplay that felt very cinematic. In an alternate reality TLOU HBO was shot on film, but it’s a universe that we don’t deserve. This was one of the only games I’ve played where I turned up the graphics settings even though it would hurt performance because of just how wonderful it was to look at. Sometimes I would just stay in place and look at the views because of just how beautiful they were. Special shoutouts to the farmhouse sunset, the Rattler base, the ocean fight scene (more on that later), and the Seraphite village (more on that, too).

The Gameplay - What hasn’t been said about this already? The gameplay is fantastic. Super satisfying. I would end up bucking the intended, easier solution because the fights were just so fun. Every aspect was so dynamic. The ability to dodge made the hand-to-hand such an improvement over pt. I, and sound design of the fights and guns made it so satisfying. It was an absolute blast to play, I was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time.

The Acting - Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Shannon Woodward, and Ian Alexander were all really great. They turned a lot of scenes that weren’t incredible into very weighty ones, and they managed to convey a lot of emotion despite being digital avatars.

The Gameplay (Pt. II) - Another thing I really loved was how the gameplay was used in the story. I don’t mean the big switch, though that was cool, but the smaller aspects that came back around. Abby using the arrow pulling in the fight with the Seraphite, the WLF deserters attacking you while you used the crafting table, fighting Tommy, and most of all seeing Ellie use the same tricks you used when you played as her against you in the theater fight was so cool and interesting.

The Seraphite Island - Making your way through Haven during the assault is hands down the best level of a game I have ever played. Going from the horse to caught between the two sides of the war to the hand-to-hand, all while it burns around you was absolutely phenomenal. I was in awe of just how incredibly that was executed. I couldn’t get enough of it, it was so amazing. It felt big and epic in a way I didn’t know was even possible for a video game. That was absolutely the peak of the experience for me.

Spectacle - This game excelled at spectacle. Making moments feel huge and awesome. It was an absolute blast every time it let loose. I loved how big it felt. Some special shoutouts to moments that just felt so incredibly epic: The Rat King, the theater, the car-chases, the lead-up to the aquarium on Ellie’s day with the lightning and the rain as you boated to it, the hospital, and most of all, obviously, Haven.

The Boss Battles - This game had sick boss battles. The Museum Fight was such a creative and unique boss fight. Fighting the character you played, using strategies you used, was so incredibly cool. The Rat King was a fun fight, but the lead-up to it especially was what made it so fun. The garage, the suspense, the lore. Really, really fun experiance. Lastly, the Final Fight hands down the best final boss battle I’ve ever played. Like, technically or gameplay wise it was so simple, but the emotional weight it packed was awesome. Plus, the visuals with the fog, the waves, and the bright red blood. Unreal. The shot of Ellie crying when drowning Ellie was probably my favorite of the whole game.

If you couldn’t tell I absolutely had a blast playing this. Every element of the gameplay was so fun and well executed, and I was fully engrossed every second. I felt giddy at times with just how exciting playing the game was. That being said, I do have my criticisms, mostly about specific aspects of the writing…

What I Disliked:

The Pacing - I feel like this is understandable. Ellie’s time in Seattle was very drawn-out plot wise, which worked because of the gameplay, but then Abby’s felt much more compressed. It should’ve been a bit longer, we should’ve gotten more bonding time with Lev, and the Seraphite/WLF conflict felt kinda jarring when it happened. Then, once Abby beats Ellie it goes hyper speed. Ellie’s at the farmhouse, Tommy’s at the farmhouse, Ellie leaves, Abby gets caught, Ellie’s in SB and finds Abby, Ellie’s in WY and goes home. It needed more room to breathe. It felt like someone took all the “important” scenes and cut out the in-between, which is what matters most. We needed more time to make it hit harder. I loved the ending, I just wish it was slower. HBO is having another season after Abby’s story, so I’m really hoping they expand the ending, give it more room to breathe, and add in some original content (which the show excels at).

Flat Tone - Pretty self-explanatory. It all felt pretty “samey” emotionally. Ellie’s time in Seattle is just very flat, which makes sense for the story, but it didn’t feel as fleshed-out as it could’ve. There wasn’t enough variety in her suffering. This goes even more so for Abby, who needed a lot more peaceful, quieter moments with Lev to really sell their bond.

Male Gaze - I felt like so often the game sorta told you to ogle the female character’s bodies. There was a lot of voyeur that I didn’t love in how the girls were presented through lots of different choices in the cinematography and costuming.

Lev’s Backstory Reveal - I really liked Lev, and I liked his backstory, I just don’t like how they went about telling us about it. The constant deadnaming and outing to Abby was rough enough, but then to not even have Lev tell Abby his backstory but Yara, who shared information he didn’t want Abby to know yet. It felt kinda icky, I can’t lie. I wish the narrative treated Lev with a bit more care, and I hope the show does in s3.

The Boat Scene - Here’s the thing, I actually really like scenes where characters suddenly hook up because of tension/adrenaline/etc. I also totally understand what they were trying to go for here, I’m just not sure they succeeded. I started laughing during it, which I don’t think was the intention of the scene, because it just felt kinda like what?

The Dialogue - Sure, the show can be a bit talky, but I think I’m spoiled because of just how good the quality of dialogue is in it. It’s very naturalistic, but also really deep and subtly witty. During a lot of conversations in the game, I felt like the dialogue was very clunky and, unlike the show, could really feel forced. Some of the profound things they were saying’s impact was deadened by sorta rough setup.

The Plotting - The plot is good for gameplay, but I just don’t know if it’s good for a story. It does what it needs to and gets you to the next set-piece, but the constant just kinda Stuff Happens™️ got a bit old. The obstacles felt kinda contrived, and while I get that the constant delays and setbacks show how motivated Ellie is to find Abby, I don’t think it’s very effective from a narrative perspective. In a lot of ways it made me appreciate the show more, because it is not a story that’s easily adaptable like pt. I was, because of how pointless a lot of it felt. With Ellie it was just “fight through all this stuff to find something”, and for Abby it was even worse because so much of it felt pointless. Like, the whole Rat King fight happens to get medicine for Yara (already a bit contrived, but I can forgive it because how fun the fight and setup were), but then Yara dies the next day. All the work to find Owen, but he dies the next day. It didn’t feel like it mattered much what was happening, and two days after I finished Ellie’s part I tried to remember what happened and I couldn’t. I remembered specific scenes and moments, but had no idea how we got there or where they led.

Isaac - Isaac was one of my favorite parts of s2, and Jeffrey Wright is one of my favorite actors, but man in the game he was just such a frustrating character. He was so purposeless, he served no use for the themes, and his death was so anti-climactic. You could take Isaac out and it would be exactly the same.

Shock Value - The constant deaths didn’t really work for me. Like, in pt. I there was some buildup to big deaths, but in pt. II characters were just constantly getting quickly shot in the head. It works once or twice because it’s surprising, but when every character just runs out of hiding and is instantly dead it loses a lot of its effectiveness and feels pretty cheap at some points. Like, put in some effort lol

A Lot of It Just Didn’t Hit for Me - I think I my brain just isn’t wired for video-games, because I can get excited, but I have trouble actually feeling stuff when I play. A lot of the time cutscenes would play out and I’d just be like 😐 the whole time, even during moments like Joel’s death. People give it a lot of credit for making them cry/get angry. I’ve heard tons of people say it’s absolutely devastating to play, but… I wasn’t devastated or angry or crying. I was just chillin’, having a blast with the violence.

The Gameplay (pt. III) - Speaking of the violence, the gameplay sorta renders the game’s anti-violence messaging a bit moot. It’s so fun that it kinda misses the point, y’know?

What I Thought the Show Did Better:

The Side Characters - Jesse and Dina were had way more depth and personality in the show. In the game I liked Dina, but she was pretty one note. However, in the show I loved her. You can talk about how it came at the expense of Ellie’s arc, but once you see a version of the character that feels much more interesting and fun to watch, it’s hard to go back. I also really liked the conflict with Jesse in the show, and while I wish that he and Ellie got a few more moments of friendship, he had actual importance and weight that was never assigned to him in the game. By the end of s2 I even really cared about Mel, who didn’t a lot of screen time, much more than in the game. She was another of the season’s highlights alongside Isaac and Dina.

Joel - I loved Joel’s arc in s2. The themes of generational trauma were absolutely stunning and really made me emotional. Episode 6 is one of the best episodes of modern television. In the game he didn’t have an arc, so I was glad that we got some emotion and growth from him. I also much preferred his death in the show. Say what you will about them revealing Abby’s backstory early, but the tension and buildup throughout episode two (another of the best episodes of modern television, btw) was so well executed, and his death being more drawn out and built up to made it feel a lot less cheap than in the game. I know some people like the suddenness of it, but yeah, for me it was a bit too sudden and the lead-up in the show made it hit harder and feel much more earned.

The Performances (pt. II) - I’ve posted before about how the performances in the game vs the show aren’t comparable. It’s not only a different medium, but also a different version of the character, and pitting them against each other is just reductive of the amazing performances on both sides. HOWEVER, I did find myself missing the added intensity and weight of live-action, where it showed real people rather than digital ones.

Show Their Age - Self-explanatory. They acted nineteen in the show. If someone told me Ellie and Dina were nineteen in the game and showed no evidence except how they acted, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Mel and Owen’s Death - What can I say? In the show it was absolutely devastating and one of the best scenes in the whole series. The quieter but sadder approach worked so well and was absolutely visceral and brutal to witness. Here’s a clip of my favorite reaction YouTubers watching the scene that just about sums it up:

What I Thought the Game Did Better:

The weird thing is, I don’t actually have a ton here. Because despite all the problems with s2, there isn’t a lot specifically that I thought was better. I think the game told the story a bit better, but the story was also very much made for a video game and didn’t really suit a tv show. However, when comparing specifics, I couldn’t find a ton on the micro scale that was an improvement, it was mostly on the macro.

More Focus on Ellie - Obviously. The biggest problem with s2 was how Ellie was too often sidelined to support in a story that was supposed to be about her. Often, she was relegated to responding and setting up other characters for good lines of dialogue and character moments without enough of her own. In s1, in scenes like the cage scene with David, Ellie talked way less than him, but it was still just as much about her as it was him. I wish this had that same quality, but for a lot of conversations she felt pretty unimportant.

Narrative Consistency - While I complained about the flat tone, it’s hard to argue that pt. II isn’t more consistent than s2. Not really much else to add, it just felt a bit more cohesive.

Makeup and Hairstyling - I liked how dirty the characters got. My favorite was all the times they got absolutely covered in blood. That always looked incredible lmao

Hi Nora - Super small thing, but I loved how in the game Ellie found Nora and just went “Hi, Nora”.

Final Thoughts:

I had an absolute blast with pt. II, one of the most fun game experiences I’ve ever had in terms of gameplay. A lot of story beats were kinda a miss for me, but I thought it had some great writing and some awesome moments that felt like a true spectacle. Needed more time, needed more variation, but generally pretty good👍 Also, absolutely gorgeous.

[paigegonerogue]

I’m curious when you think Tommy’s feelings about Ellie went from “this girl saved my brother welcome to the family” to “she is my niece yay I’m an uncle again” specifically

okay first of all i gotta flip the switch from penverse brain to standard verse brain lol

i posted about this before, but i find it FASCINATING how much time tommy spends in the meal in jackson looking ONLY at ellie

at ANY moment someone else isn't actively talking, he is looking at her with this very interesting facial expression like he's trying to figure her out

even when joel is actively speaking, tommy will glance at him only briefly and then IMMEDIATELY back to ellie

we also have one of my FAVORITE moments in which joel pulls Dad Voice out of nowhere, and we have this AMAZING little moment of

like this is such a FOND smile from tommy. it is so soft and almost?? nostalgic??? he looks like he's remembering the OTHER times joel has pulled out That Tone, and he's having a moment of joy-hurt at hearing it again out of nowhere.

and i feel like the conversation with joel in the workshop is the moment he has confirmation that ellie IS joel's kid now, whether he can put words to it or not. joel brings up wanting a better future for tommy's kid, but it's not until joel says "you have to take her" that we get this

when tommy closes his eyes and looks like he knows already that he's going to agree.

and when they get to the stables and find joel there, i find it SO interesting that it's not joel's reaction tommy is watching

it's ellie's. he knows that joel trying to hand her over hurt her, and i feel like he's watching now to see how she's going to use that hurt and whether she's going to decide to NOT go with joel.

and when she decides without even letting joel finish his sentence that she's going with him

tommy looks so relieved and even has a little headnod at joel after

and when he extends the offer for them to come back and live in jackson, i find it SO sweet that tommy makes sure to make the offer DIRECTLY to ellie to make sure that she knows it's meant for her, too

so after a prolonged background to my answer: i think tommy had his suspicions from the second they got to town that he was meeting the newest member of their family, he got his confirmation in the workshop talk with joel, and he had already accepted that joelandellie are a package deal now by the time they start to leave, so i think tommy had months of expecting that they've got a new kiddo in the family which makes him an uncle again

after they get back, we already see by ellie's fifteenth birthday (two months after they got back per what joel says) that ellie and tommy know each other well, and tommy is a safe enough person that drugged ellie feels entirely comfortable with him and that tommy feels comfortable enough with her to scold her about not messing with the bandages in a way that's very "older family member" in delivery lol

(also! we have tommy here stepping in in a familial role. we the audience saw that joel was at home and not anywhere else, so tommy could have sent someone to get him. but he didn't. he interrupted his meal and had ellie tended and good to go before walking her home himself. to me, that says that tommy feels comfortable enough in the dynamic they have by that point that he knows he CAN do that, so we know within two months that tommy was already uncle-ing.)

so to my brain, tommy already accepted ellie as his new niece before they even got back, so i think the actual only delay in things would be earning ellie's trust

which i feel probably involved more than a little letting her play with guns and sniper scopes as fairly blatant bribery to spend bonding time with him XD

tl;dr: within the first two months of them arriving back to jackson, i feel like tommy was fully back in Uncle Mode, and i think that was heavily aided by the fact that he already knew they had a new family member for good before ellie and joel even left

[paigegonerogue]

Craig just released the full script for 202 “through the valley” and…oh my god

His last thoughts…

“I will try for you. I would do anything for you. That’s why I’m here. That’s why this is happening. I will try”

“I’ll stay here with you, I’ll die with you.”

HIS FAITHFUL CHILD WHO WILL NEVER LEAVE HIM. EVER.

[paigegonerogue]

Happy pride from joel and ellie

art by me :)

[paigegonerogue]

✨ Pick Your Tropes✨

Thanks to the amazing @renegadeknight for the tag❤️

coffee shop or flower girl | au or fix-it | enemies to lovers or childhood friends | angst or fluff | love at first sight or pining | modern au or historical au | break up & make up or proposal & wedding | get together or established relationship | soulmates or unrequited | fake dating or secret dating | obvious pining or domestic fluff | hurt/comfort or crack | meet the parents or meet cute

NP tags: @wordspinning @messitydepressity @becomethesun @archetyped2 @adhdprincess

[paigegonerogue]

Like Dina but wish everything was even worse for her than in canon? Boy, do I have a fic for you!

With all the well-worn tropes of fights, morbid analogies, and self-hatred you folks have come to expect from my writing, take this fic if you’re like me and desperately missing TLOU sundays!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66101386?view_adult=true

[paigegonerogue]

Hi Paige! How about ❌️ and 🎉 for the asks!

Hi!! Thanks for the ask!!

What trope will you never write?

Hmmmmm, I’m not sure? A couple months ago I would’ve said I’m not really into writing romance, but then I did ‘Safe as Houses’ which sorta counts, so who knows?

I don’t tend to write baby-Ellie fics, if that counts? The people who do are wonderful and incredible writers, but I am just absolutely awful at writing little kids. Plus, my writing really thrives in darkness—I’m not sure what I’d do if they were happy😅

What leads you to think of a fic as a success?

Just if I feel I wrote it well, I think? Like, if I can read it and not actively be like “this is shit” every second lol

Thanks for the ask, Rachel❤️

[paigegonerogue]

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

[paigegonerogue]

Should I post it?

[paigegonerogue]

My blorbos😭