#*chef's kiss* cinematic parallels

[thegirlwhowatchedeverything]

What's going on with you?

Nothing.

Sydney.

Umm yeah today was really bad for me, chef.

Okay.

Okay.

Say more.

(1x3)

---

I don't know why I like said all that stuff. I think, I just I don't know. I was scared and yeah, it came out wrong.

What are you scared of?

*Syd scoffs*

And then just say more, please. Go ahead.

(2x9)

[anonymous-dentist]

Scar not even realizing he won and calling for Pearl. Scar turning around after seeing the lightning and going “Oh, there was a zombie behind me after all!” Scar laughing in disbelief as soon as the realization set in.

This:

[qqueenofhades]

Good Omens Season 2: Some Thoughts (and also Screaming)

First, /screams

Second, obligatory disclaimer that this meta contains MAJOR SPOILERS for all six episodes. If you somehow have managed to remain virginally unspoiled, look away now, scroll past, or add "good omens s2" and "good omens spoilers" to your block list, as those are the tags I have been using for all posts and reblogs.

Third, /screams more

Okay okay okay. Deep breaths.

Anyway, so, uh, how about all that, huh? First, the good thing about the tone of the season overall was that it felt considerably darker and more adult, in a good way. We didn't have the precocious kiddies, the kitsch and literally-comphet Anathema and Newt, the so-clever narration, etc. All that was gone, which makes sense when you consider that a) the end of last season saw them reboot into an entirely new universe, and b) the fact that God has gone silent is, in fact, a major plot point for the season. We don't have Her slyly telling us the story, or indeed anything, and everyone is left to make their own judgments and take their own actions. Which, obviously, gets them into a lot of trouble, especially when Metatron (the Voice of God, aka someone acting in the belief that they're speaking for God and therefore doing terrible harm) swoops in with the ultimate buzzkill at the end of episode 6. But we'll get to that.

The downside was that the main, present-day plot (hiding Gabriel in the bookshop and trying to get Nina and Maggie to fall in love) was fairly thin, felt stretched out and at times weirdly paced, and otherwise existed mostly to get us to That Ending and the setup for season 3. But the ending was so damn good (if obviously, very painful) that I can't be TOO mad, not least because we spent six episodes with them just making absolutely no pretense about the whole thing being as incredibly homosexual as possible. I'll be honest: I did not think they were going to actually, explicitly go there. Neil Gaiman has been so consistent about "your interpretations are valid and you're welcome to read it however you want, but the only canon is what's on screen," which I think is frankly a good thing (not least since the Neil GAYman Cinematic Universe is consistently very, very good to us queers), that I just... didn't quite think they'd pull the trigger. Sir Terry is dead and can't have active input, this is based on a book published 30 years ago, maybe they didn't want to make it LIKE THAT... etc. I certainly hoped, but I didn't really think they would.

Uh. Well.

As I said in my various semi-coherent liveblog posts, I honestly don't think there was a single straight person in the entire season, among both major and background characters. Aziraphale/Crowley and Maggie/Nina are the obvious paralleling couples, but Beelzebub (using "they" pronouns and addressed as "Lord" despite presenting as femme/femme-adjacent) is clearly nonbinary and therefore also queer, and the countless gay/queer side characters were just /chefs kiss. From Job's son making a sassy pass at Aziraphale, to the random Scottish goon with Grindr on his phone (which he then gives to Aziraphale, because what is subtlety), to the interracial couple with the trans spouse at the Pride and Prejudice ball, there was just a lot of casual, unremarked, non-story-critical queer representation visible at every turn. It's like the NGCU saw the bigots wailing about Sandman season 1 being extremely gay and went CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, LET'S MAKE GOOD OMENS 2 EVEN MORE GAY.

God bless.

Obviously, Jon Hamm as Amnesia!Gabriel stole the show (he was SO fucking funny) and it was also incredibly fun to watch Miranda Richardson repurposed as a scheming demon. Nina Sosanya also reappeared as Nina the coffee shop owner, which leads us into the Maggie-and-Nina subplot. They're obviously, wildly, incredibly clearly an analogue for Aziraphale and Crowley themselves, but they're also each, crucially, a mix of both. On the surface, Maggie is Aziraphale: the plump, blonde, earnest, sweet-natured one owning a slightly dated book music shop and somewhat clueless about emotional nuances, while Nina is (also on the surface) Crowley, the hard-edged dark loner who doesn't want to open herself up to people or be spotted caring. But emotionally, Maggie is Crowley: the one openly pining, clearly besotted, only wanting to hang around their crush and do whatever they can to make themselves useful, while Nina is Aziraphale. Interested but reticent, attracted but conflicted, trapped in an abusive relationship with a demanding offscreen "lover" (Lindsay/Heaven) who tries to constantly control and shame them without ever offering much, if anything in return. By the end, they bring themselves around to what Maggie/Crowley are offering, but by then, well. We've got a lot more problems on our hands.

As I also said in my earlier posts, this entire thing has always been a metaphor for religion, queerness, and what religion -- especially abusive, fundamentalist, organized religion -- does to queer people, but they really cranked the FUCK out of that metaphor this season. Aziraphale is guilt-tripped, controlled, and shamed for his attraction to Crowley at every turn. He is torn between his imagined duty to Heaven, in all its ignorant, uncaring, bureaucratic, gratuitously cruel system that he still insists on seeing the best in because he can't bear the alternative, and the chaotic and sometimes grey but genuinely more good morality that Crowley offers him. (Can I just say, we were explicitly shown that the two of them together doing "just a little miracle" are more powerful than Heaven AND Hell combined.) And at the end, he's told that the only way he can be with Crowley -- what Metatron explicitly blackmails him with -- is if they both go back to heaven, submit themselves to the cruel system again and give up everything that has made them who they are: their home in London, their human friends, their reliance on each other, their independence, their own ways of doing things. You can be queer in this (religious) framework, but only the limited, watered-down, controlled, controllable, constantly-under-supervision kind of queer, which relies on both you and your lover "converting" back to the true faith. And if you don't cooperate, they will literally kidnap you, lie to you, manipulate you, take you from your soulmate, and force you right back into doing the one thing (destroying the world) that you never, ever wanted to do in the first place, because in their minds, that is still better than this. It's for your own good.

Ouch.

And the thing is: that's why the ending a) hits so hard and b) is so fucking painful, because of course Aziraphale agrees. He has no conception of being able to defy Heaven on his own; he has always, always needed Crowley for that. In the flashbacks, when Aziraphale is faced with an order from Heaven that he desperately does not want to carry out (such as letting all Job's children get killed), he still relies completely on Crowley to "outsmart the rules" and find a better way. Crowley is A Crafty Demon; that's what he does, and so Aziraphale rationalizes it to himself that therefore that must be fine. Even in season 1, when he really didn't want the Apocalypse to happen but initially thought it was his duty as a good Heaven footsoldier, he relied on Crowley to talk him out of it and allow him to do what he really wants instead. That's their whole dynamic in a nutshell, as exemplified in that scene in episode 2, where Crowley tempts Aziraphale with the "pleasures of the flesh" while sprawled on his back in Ravish Me mode like the giant walking gay disaster that he is. (Sorry, buddy. That beard. Can't do it.) Everything that Aziraphale's existence is, that makes him who he is, that he loves and cherishes the most (in this case, food and wine) comes from Crowley. Everything else is just background noise.

Throughout the season, what we see is Aziraphale increasingly coming around to the fantasy of being with Crowley. He's coy and flirty; he talks about "our car" and expects Crowley will let him (which he does); he wants to have a Jane Austen ball and for them to dance together (oh my heart); he even thinks, at the crucial moment, that the best way for them to be together is to go back to heaven just like they were in the beginning, once more perfect angels, as if those entire six thousand years of struggle and grief and pining and separation and falling didn't happen. And Crowley -- poor, poor, brave, devoted, heartbroken Crowley -- has just heard for the first time in said six thousand years that actually telling the person you love how you feel is an option. Maggie and Nina tell them point-blank that their whole stupid plan failed because people aren't chess pieces who can be moved and automatically achieve the desired result. And of course this gobsmacks the dearest and dumbest Ineffable Husbands, because they can't conceive of anything else. People are chess pieces in the Great War of Heaven and Hell; Aziraphale and Crowley themselves are chess pieces who have been desperately trying to get out of being moved by external forces, but that doesn't change the fact that that's what they are. They don't have volition or agency aside from that which they can sneak for themselves in brief and stolen moments. That's it.

Until, well. It's not it. They discover that this whole would-be war is actually an elaborate ruse to cover up another angel-demon romance, that of Gabriel and Beelzebub. (I'll be honest, I'm 99% sure they did this storyline because they saw the fans crackshipping them, but I appreciate a fictional narrative that values and incorporates its fans' input, rather than trying to constantly "trick" or "outsmart" them or "do what they don't expect.") And Gabriel and Beelzebub get to be together, but only by leaving their world forever. They have to desert their homes, their structures, even their own identities, and never return. And Crowley and Aziraphale are so rooted in their "precious, perfect, fragile" life in their little corner of Soho, with their bookshop and their Bentley and their dining at the Ritz (which they didn't get to do in the end because METATRON /shakes fist), that that just doesn't work. Neither of them can conceive of doing that. So Aziraphale thinks "go back to heaven and try to make the terrible system do some good and take what we can in terms of being together" and Crowley just... pours out his heart. He's ready to fucking propose. He barely stops himself from saying something to the effect of "I want to spend eternity with you." He begs, he pleads with Aziraphale to go away not in the literal sense, but the emotional/metaphysical: to finally break this toxic dependence on Heaven and tell them once and for all where to stick it. And because he is desperate to make Aziraphale understand, he finally throws all caution to the winds and recklessly, desperately, adoringly kisses him, the one thing he's wanted to do for ages and...

Gets. Shot. Down.

Ugghhhhh. I'm suffering all over again. Aziraphale wants him, hungers for it, for them, and yet he's been so abused and so conditioned by Heaven (he's still blithely repeating to Crowley's face that "Hell are the bad guys!") that he just cannot accept that kind of desperate, blind, limitless, lawless affection. He even forgives Crowley for this "transgression," just to really twist the knife, and Crowley just can't take it, can't face up to how terribly this has all gone up in flames, after he went to heaven trying to find the answer for Gabriel's situation. Gabriel, who he fucking hates. Gabriel, who tried to kill the angelic being he loves (and for which Crowley has transparently never forgiven him). And yet at one pouty puppy-eyed look from Aziraphale and a warning that whoever is harboring Gabriel might be in danger, Crowley leaps headlong into the Bentley again and rushes to the rescue while "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" is blaring. He stoutly protects Gabriel; he does a miracle to disguise him; he lets him have hot chocolate and stay in the bookshop; he guards him from the literal demonic horde outside. All because of Aziraphale. That's it. And then, it still doesn't work. Not only that, Gabriel's absence and decision to forego Armageddon gives Heaven the one tool they finally need to take Aziraphale away from him.

I repeat: Ugghhhhhhhh.

(In a good way. Ngl, I love this angst. This is the kind of angst my brain Thrives on, the Thematic Parallel Romantic Character Arc kind. Nom nom nom. But also: AGONY.)

I also need to talk about Aziraphale driving the Bentley, aside from the obvious metaphor of him being in Crowley's home while Crowley is in his. Last season, we had the "you go too fast for me, Crowley" scene with them sitting in said Bentley, which was Aziraphale saying he's not ready for a relationship. In this season, as noted above, we see Aziraphale increasingly embracing the potential fantasy of being with Crowley. But here's the catch: when he's in the Bentley this time, driving it, setting the pace, acclimating to the idea, he's driving his own idea of what the Bentley/his relationship with Crowley is. It's not the real thing. He plays classical music; he supplies himself sweets; he turns it yellow; he drives too slow. Crowley calls him in another old-married-couple snitfit to complain that Aziraphale's messed it up, but what Aziraphale has actually messed up (or will, by the end of the season) is far more consequential than just a car. He's changed the entire shape of their relationship to the one he thinks can make it work, and it just doesn't. It has to be them -- "we could have been... Us" -- or it's not even close to the truth. It's not worth their time.

I repeat: Ouch.

Speaking of the writers validating fan theories, I know we all picked up and screamed about on Crowley's idea of Peak Romance Guaranteed To Fall In Love being sheltering from rain and gazing into each other's eyes, which confirms that that poor bastard was indeed ass-over-teakettle gone as soon as he met Aziraphale (again) in Eden. I also need to talk about the 1941 redux, because wow. This time, the danger comes from Hell, which we see being its usual self: gleefully, pointlessly cruel, pettily backbiting, dirty, sniping, tedious, endless, determined to mindlessly destroy because They're The Bad Guys and they like it. So they blackmail, spy on, miracle-block, illicitly photograph, and try to prove that Aziraphale and Crowley are secretly a couple, right after Aziraphale himself has just had the Light From Heaven realization that he's in love (which we all also picked up on in s1). They're forcibly outing them (to speak of more Religious Queer Trauma) in order to break them up/get them into trouble with their authorities/families. Aziraphale and Crowley manage to escape it mostly by dumb luck, but Crowley having an altogether freakout, hands shaking, barely able to actually point the gun at Aziraphale even in the knowledge that it's supposed to be fake, is just... wow. He can't even fathom the idea of ever trying to destroy him in earnest, especially when he knows on some level that Aziraphale also finally just realized his own feelings. So I just need to --

/screams

Anyway, Aziraphale's entire arc this season is doing what he thinks is the right thing and then inadvertently causing harm and damage as a result. In the Edinburgh flashbacks (live slug reaction of me: SEAN BIGGERSTAFF???!!) he tries to stop Elspeth from stealing bodies and gets Morag killed and Crowley drinking the laudanum to save him (though that part with David Tennant just riffing left and right, using his natural Scottish accent, and being Tiny Crowley/Huge Crowley was hilarious). He invites his neighbors to a Pride and Prejudice ball and makes them all the target for demonic attack. And of course the Job episode: Aziraphale, horrified at Heaven's callous cruelty, desperate not to get Job's children killed, willing to go along with Crowley's tricks to save them somehow, tempted by Crowley to do the fucknasty with their angel bits eat some food and decide that he likes it. As mentioned, the whole thing about God being silent this season is a major thematic choice. The only time we see/hear God is Her communing with Job from afar. Aziraphale enviously imagines the answers he must be getting (he's not, he's baffled and perplexed), while Crowley longs beyond words to even have the opportunity to ask the question: why? Why do this? Why is this your plan?

And of course, this absence culminates in the Metatron, the Voice of God, the person arrogantly claiming that they're speaking for God and know exactly what Heaven wants, being able to seize Aziraphale by the short hairs and absolutely fuck him over. Gabriel is gone/decommissioned/eloping with Beelzebub, so Heaven needs a Supreme Leader (God apparently is no longer a factor in the equation). And what this Supreme Leader needs to do is finally unleash the Apocalypse that Gabriel decided to pass on (the Second Coming). Aziraphale needs to be punished, taken away from Crowley's influence/love, and put back under Heaven's explicit control, so Metatron spots a great opportunity to do all three at once. It's not an accident that the exact tool he uses to get Aziraphale to agree is "now you can actually be with Crowley!" Aziraphale and Crowley have been trying so hard to hide out from their respective Head Offices, but now all at once, there's this seemingly miraculous opportunity for them not to have to do that anymore! They can be together! They can be sanctioned by Heaven! They can give up all this hiding and sneaking around and lying! Isn't that better?

... As long as, of course, they give up absolutely everything that makes them who they are. No big deal. Minor catch. Probably nothing.

Metatron doesn't let Aziraphale have time to escape, or think it over, or reflect, or anything. He pressures Aziraphale to come with him immediately, or be once more subject to Heaven's implicit wrath/destruction/judgment. Believe me, Aziraphale already KNOWS he's made a huge mistake, as soon as he hears what Metatron really wants: bringing him back to unleash the Apocalypse that Aziraphale and Crowley have given up literally everything to prevent. He doesn't need time to reflect. By the time my man is in that elevator, he's well aware of what a catastrophic misjudgment he's made, and yet --

Aziraphale needs this. He has, as noted, literally always relied on Crowley outsmarting Heaven's cruel orders in order to prevent himself from having to do them. He's relied on Crowley rescuing him ("rescuing me makes him so happy," WELL BUB, IT'S BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS NEED IT). He admits to Crowley's face that "I need you!" He hates Heaven's sadistic meanness, but he has absolutely no framework, in and of himself, to defy it. When the rubber hits the road, he will crumple and try to go along with it, and now he's been put in a position where he's going to have to stand up, defy Heaven, and make the break once and for all BY HIMSELF. He doesn't have Crowley around to do it for him, he has no support, he is going to arrive in Heaven and be shuttled straight off to the Apocalypse 2.0 War Room. The only way he gets out of this is if he actively stands up, if he chooses himself and Crowley and their life, and he has to.

The thing is:

Aziraphale has lived his entire eternal existence Looking Up. Up is the direction of Goodness and Heaven. Up is where Angels go. Up is where Aziraphale comes from and where Demons and Hell are not. But now he's going Up, in a position to take over the whole shebang, and it's the last thing he wants.

So he's going to have to come back Down.

He's going to have to Fall. He's going to have to get back Below at all costs. He's going to have to finally, once and for all, understand what led Crowley to make the choice to leave Heaven and never come back. It's only then that they can possibly be together on any kind of conscious, equal, deliberate footing, claim their own agency, reject Heaven AND Hell, and try to really earn that South Downs cottage and that happy-ever-after, and it's gonna hurt so good.

Now if you will excuse me, /screams

[sparkysxi]

Alien Stage Predictions

so ROUND 6 dropped. As an Ivan fan I am DEVASTATED. but we must move on (have copium he and sua are secretly ok) (this is VIVINOS we’re talking about those bitches are dead) so I decided to have a little speculation about future content in order to strengthen myself against the inevitable heartbreak I will feel

ROUND 6 is the official halfway point of the series, so here are a few things I think could happen/future videos likely to drop:

An IVANTILL video like MIZISUA explaining their backstory (the lab/adoption center) 

A solo Luka video and a solo Mizi video 

perhaps a video for Isaac and Dewey. I just think they deserve a duet but I am not as confident in this prediction 

A video about the human rebellion (perhaps rescuing Till?) 

A video in the style of TOP 3, as an in-universe advertisement for the Finals/ROUND 7 

Speaking of the finals, that’s literally going to be a self-harm-off. 

Till has lost two of the most important people in his life and was already Not There during ROUND 6 he is not doing well, and I think Luka only really feels “alive” on the Alien Stage, so he may be trying to kill himself through entering the competition multiple times 

Or Luka is fucking insane and wants a mountain of bodies behind him to prove his worth to the aliens

maybe because of his laundry list of physical illnesses-perhaps Luka is scared he will be abandoned or killed for being a burden to his owner?

I think I will go INSANE if Mizi manages to rescue Till, like they get out of the arena, but Till’s crazy ass goes BACK INSIDE, like how he did for Mizi all those years ago, because he’s not leaving without Ivan’s body to at least bury him properly 

like the cinematic parallels that could be achieved here UGH *chefs kiss*

also I think it would be really cool if Till’s character became an exploration of heteronormativity-he’s been pining after Mizi after all this time, but he realizes that the admiration he has for her is not the same as the love she shared with Sua or the love/obsession Ivan had for him 

maybe Till is gay/bisexual-or on the ace/aro spectrum 

regardless of what he is the societal expectations are likely that girl humans like boy humans and boy humans like girl humans 

Till enters his queer rebellion era how DARE these aliens expect him to do ANYTHING

alien historians will call MiziSua and IvanTill “just really good friends”

anyway I also expect more Sua and Ivan hallucinations 

perhaps they’ll act as “guiding spirits” from here on out??

wouldn’t it be cool if we got a post-death Ivan and Sua duet? maybe they’re singing to Till and Mizi from the afterlife 

I’m less confident about that one as well but I think it would be neat 

a video of saving the children from Anakt Garden-with Till at the helm using skills Ivan taught him-less confident here again but would be fun nonetheless

I think it’s pretty likely BOTH Hyuna and Luka will die by the end of the series-Hyuna’s already injured and Luka has death flags (wearing all white and having feelings of love/affection/obsession towards another who does not reciprocate it equally) 

The non reciprocated love appears to be a common thread between our male contestants, doesn’t it?

However Hyuna may survive-half the cast lives, half the cast dies kinda thing 

They all end up missing their counterparts

I think ultimately the final scene of the series will be very melancholy-they’ve won, but at what cost 

And a lot of choking 

Also: one very emotional scene where the characters actually talk to one another. Not singing: talking to one another

[enbyleighlines]

Misc. thoughts about the Forging Bonds (with the Dawn Brigade):

Leonardo’s conversations are kind of super boring and bland, but I suppose that’s on point for him. He does seem to be a rather boring and bland person.

I did appreciate Prince Alfred randomly showing up to, once again, affirm how gay he is for muscled men.

Also, they made Leonardo seem kind of… stupid? I always figured he was the smart one since he’s portrayed as being more mature than Edward, but he was very clueless. He was absolutely baffled by Alfred saying he was a passerby who appreciated a good physique. “What does that mean?” Leonardo asked. It Means He Gay, Leonardo. Keep up.

I haven’t gotten very far with Edward’s story, so I don’t have much to say about it.

However, Edward apparently likes to draw? Was that in RD anywhere, or did they add that to his character?

The fact that the Dawn Brigade is so reluctant to join the Order of Heroes just because some of the people are from Begnion is… understandable, but at the same time, they didn’t put up that much of a fuss over fighting for Begnion during part 3 of Radiant Dawn. Like, they questioned it a bit, but they also got over it pretty quickly.

Of course Micaiah’s whole story is about her focusing on the fact that the Order of Heroes is super diverse. At that point in the story, she is worried about what Daein would think if they found out their Silver Haired Maiden was part laguz. It was the obvious choice for her forging bonds. Nevertheless, I appreciate that they acknowledge what Micaiah was going through at that time. Micaiah being Branded is more of a sub-plot, and doesn’t get nearly enough focus, in my opinion.

Micaiah asking someone to make her a dress to match Sothe was super cute. I love how Sothe’s reaction was to just stop functioning for a moment. That boy is down bad.

Also, Sothe’s reaction to seeing Micaiah was to shout “Micaiah?!” much in the same way that in Engage Soren shouted “Ike?!” and I gotta give a nice chef’s kiss to the cinematic parallels.

Sothe’s insistence that Micaiah hasn’t aged at all since he met her is… super weird. I know that’s in line with that picture of their first meeting, but it’s just… so weird. And it does not fit with what we know of canon.

At most, Micaiah would be 24 or 25 years old in Radiant Dawn. Yet the game wants me to believe that she hasn’t aged in over 10 years, which is nearly half of her total lifespan? What, did she speedrun her childhood and adolescence in her first 10-15 years and then stop aging completely? That’s… not how Branded aging works??

Also, if heron Branded really did age even slower than Soren, a dragon Branded, then don’t you think someone in Begnion would have noticed that the Apostle just… doesn’t age?

Sothe and Micaiah’s relationship is supposed to be a parallel to Ike and Soren’s. Ike and Soren met as kids, about 10 years prior to PoR. Ike saw Soren and realized that he needed help. At the time, they appeared to be the same age. But later, when they meet up again, Soren looks younger than Ike due to the fact that his aging has begun to slow. But at the same time, Soren really doesn’t look thaaaat much younger.

So how could Micaiah be the exact same after a decade has passed? It doesn’t make sense! Make it make sense!

Overall, I will continue to take the Christian approach to feh, wherein I decide what it is or isn’t canon according to my own personal preferences.

And besides all my nitpicks, I am enjoying the Forging Bonds. It’s nice to see Edward and Leonardo given some time and space to exist as actual characters, and not just units meant to help the player progress from one chapter to the next.

[aprillikesthings]

The next episode itself is a two-parter, and I think that rather than split them up I will just watch through, which might mean I have to reblog this post multiple times.

Finishing out season four!

s4, eps 12&13 Destiny

Usual reminder: this is a REwatch and there’s spoilers ahoy, I make a lot of bad jokes (some of which are Adult In Nature), I reference other cartoons, I make random asides.

(also, this time specifically, I had some alcohol)

Tbh? it's a lot like watching things like this with me in person aaahahaha I always want to pause and infodump shit -_-

lol Emily is destroying Shadow Weaver's garden

Emily acts like Mal the cat does sometimes. WHAT IS IN YOUR MOUTH you are not supposed to have that! Get out of there!

UGGGH

it's easy to forget how BIG Scorpia is??

LOLOL oh my god I went downstairs for like an hour and a half talking to my partners about the most random shit and then playing with the cat and also: I've had most of a can of wine.

One of these:

YEAH (that's a huge image)

so if these get weird: blame the wine I guess

oh also @corpseauthority and I picked out fake fur and minky fabric for the ears and tail of my Catra cosplay :D :D :D I'M SO EXCITED

OKAY BACK TO SHE-RA

the only thing better than Scorpia's "huh?" is Shadow Weaver's flat "what"

Shadow Weaver: no we need the other princesses Glimmer: well they're gone but-- Scorpia, Shadow Weaver, and Emily: WAIT, WHAT???

AND THEN

okay but is the guard telling you this Double Trouble

ROLL INTRO

that thing was not meant to hold four humans and a horse with wings

why are you SNIFFING HIM

Entrapta: "I don't know you" Micah: "Yes, you do. You stole my food." Entrapta: "OH YEAH! It was delicious :D"

oh god Adora's like "....but are you okay? we came here to find you 🥺"

and she's like YEAH I'M GREAT

"each more deadly than the next??? it's PARADISE"

I love her so much oh my godddd

Bow: "We're here to rescue you" Entrapta: "didn't I just rescue YOU?"

Bow mentions Hordak and Entrapta pulls her little new bug-eye mask down :(

Adora: so hey we uhhhhhhhh really need your help due to a terrible secret of the First Ones that nobody but us knows

"WHy didn't you say so???"

well that's a callback to s1 ep1

THERE SHE IS!! MY BABY 😍 I LOVE HER SO MUCH

nooo

anyway Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie come in and Catra's like OH UHHH so...what's happening

Lonnie: "we just got back from conquering another Rebel town" Kyle: ":D You should've seen us!! It was all:"

and then he kicks Scorpia's old locker, with the drawings on it, and Catra gets mad

Ironically the degree to which Catra is UPSET is making me ship them harder lol

bb you need a break you are getting feral

Man Lonnie has her number lol. "What is wrong with you? We're winning! Even you should be happy."

god I love when she's this deranged

she slams poor Lonnie against a locker

john cena dot gif

but also OH DO THEY REMIND YOU OF WHO YOU USED TO BE? HMM? what you really wanted??? what actually gave you something like joy or contentment????? are you trying to just erase any part of you capable of feeling good?????????

Kyle is RIGHT

The cinematic parallels between Catra and Glimmer in this episode ("forget my friends I'M IN CHARGE HERE and YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ORDERS") are *chef's kiss*

Catra realizing this isn't what she actually wants: part ....a lot

STOP REMINDING ME I HAVE FEELINGS!!

The other three leave, she yanks the drawings off Scorpia's old locker, then THUMPs her head on it. And then Double Trouble shows up!

okay wait tho the way she pauses and then thumps her head on it is so funny I wish I could gif it, it's so cat-like and also Very Emo

I don't think this is supposed to be funny but it IS and I cannot stop rewinding and laughing. I blame the wine.

THONK

help i've rewatched it like five times now

okay

lol right??

Me, when I was info-dumping my own fic at myself: is it weird to imagine these two banging??? Me now: nope

Double Trouble: "Apologies for the delay, kitten. I got ...held up...in Bright Moon"

Anyway they give a little speech about how the Princesses keep fighting and She-Ra is away

NO SHIT, SHERLOCK

(now THERE's an old fandom reference ahahaha)

"We can't let them return to the Fright Zone!" TOO FUCKING LATE

YOU STOLE HER GARNET YOU WOULD THINK SO

Anyway they argue about the possibility of Glimmer taking Scorpia back to the Fright Zone

GOD I HATE IT WHEN SHE'S RIGHT UGGGHHHH

lolol I am. like. less than ten minutes into the FIRST OF TWO EPISODES and i've hit the image limit.

[katy-133]

Emesis Blue Cinematic Parallel: The M (1931) Tape

Okay, so I'm late to the party talking about this, since it's been like 10 months since Emesis Blue was released, but I have seen zero people mention this when talking about the various cinematic parallels the film uses, and I think this is a very funny one.

I'm not even sure if this was an intentional parallel on the part of the screenwriter, or just a coincidence, but Emesis Blue included a reference to MacGruber (it was the, "How did you know he wouldn't shoot you in the head?" "I didn't," exchange between Spy and Soldier), so Emesis Blue is not above referencing comedies.

Okay, so early on in Emesis Blue, Scout sees a bunch of tapes knocked over in Medic's office. As he's tidying them up, he notices one tape is labelled "M (1931)."

The implication is that it's M for Medic, and it's footage of Medic from 1931. Scout's medical report (the one Soldier finds) says that he's 23 years old and Emesis Blue is set in 1968. Scout is curious about what Medic was up to before he (Scout) was born, between the wars.

Scout steals the tape.

In a later scene, we see Scout at home, watching a black and white film. This film is 1931's M, directed by Fritz Lang (very good director I can recommend; he also directed Ministry of Fear, a film about a man who gets caught up in a bunch of espionage stuff because he won the wrong cake at a raffle--I enjoyed it enough to re-watch it multiple times). The film is in German, which makes sense, as Medic's first language is German.

While we don't get to see Scout's initial reaction to watching what's in the tape (as we cut to the scene in media res), I imagine it was a mixture of disappointment in himself, upon realising the tape is just a movie and that he betrayed Medic's trust for basically nothing.

Kinda ironic, as his trust in Medic will be tested again and again later in the film.

So, this plot beat reminded me of something. And when it occurred to me what it was, I smiled. Because it's a rather unexpected callback when you remember that Emesis Blue has referenced films that can be described as highly respected, iconic, and (very important here) dark. Films like The Shining, Jacob's Ladder, Se7en, and Dr Strangelove.

The film I'm thinking about is…

2005's The Pacifier.

For those unfamiliar with this film's work, The Pacifier is about a military man who, after failing to protect a scientist, is forced to look after and protect the scientist's 5 children in the suburbs while his boss tries to recover the computer program the scientist was working on. The film's premise is part of the tradition of the "main character (who is usually played by a famous irl wrestler/bodybuilder/martial artist) is an action man who is unexpectedly forced to survive in a domestic setting" subgenre since 1990's Kindergarden Cop.

In this film, the main character (Shane Wolfe played by Vin Diesel), while cleaning the house, comes across a disk labelled "GHOST." This looks significant, because Ghost is the name of the computer program the scientist was working on that everybody is after.

Shane Wolfe, after fighting tooth and nail to protect the disk in an action sequence, pops it into a disk player… and Whoopie Goldberg appears on the screen.

The disk was not the much sought-after computer program. It was the 1990 romance film Ghost, starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Cut to Shane and the kids looking very very disappointed.

(Gif source)

Scout: "Jeez. You got a whole video store in there."

Both The Pacifier and Emesis Blue have a major plot beat where a main character finds a labelled piece of storage media, mistake it as important documents, take it, and then realise it's just a movie. And that is very funny to me. I love it. Cinematic masterpieces. Chef's kiss

Again, this may be entirely unintentional on the part of Fortress Films. Still very funny though.

People who make "Every film reference in Emesis Blue" metas, get on this.

[em-allay]

The cinematic parallel that is Tubbo being the one that Dream was going to kill, to take Tubbo’s final life, in the final disc confrontation, after being trapped in a base covered in obsidian, and than Tubbo being the one that kills Dream, taking his last life, after being trapped in yet another room full of obsidian is just- *chef’s kiss*

[gyllenswiftcevanslipa]

The cinematic parallels between Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal, with Sabrina Carpenter as the protagonist, are just *chef's kiss*

[demonstars]

ok last one. cinematic parallels chefs kiss

you Literally want me to kill myself WHY WOUDL YOU DO THIS TO ME.,

[the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see]

Have you seen the prequel movie? If yes🌹>>>

A. In your opinion, please rate TBOSAS movie with 1-10 scale.

(1 = I hate it, 10 = I love it.)

Things that you like :

Things that you don't like :

B. For people who also read the novel.

Your opinions about the difference between the book and the movie :

Thank you 🎼

@curiousnonny

<333333 yes yes yes 🌹🌹

A) hmm im gonna say 8? im not very good at number ratings. i had read the book already so i went in with the context of everything and coryo's internal monologue so i very much enjoyed it for the visuals and being able to see everything i read on screen + hearing the songs. biggest pride point is that ballad of lucy gray baird sounds exactly like i thought it would -- i have a recording of me singing how i thought it sounded and its nearly the same as in the movie so i was VERY haunted by that bc it felt like it was taken out of my mind. however, if i hadnt read the books, i dont think i wouldve enjoyed it as much bc it took away from a lot of the story to not know what snow was thinking -- it just didnt have the same impact

things i like: the dress was gorgeous and very realistic (and the touch of katniss and primrose designs on the bodice was chefs kiss), and the color symbolism was very fun to watch unfold, both with the obvious district blue/panem red as well as the colors of the roses and just the color imagery in general. i love rachel zegler and am very happy with her as lucy gray, but sejanus was perfect casting for me; he looked EXACTLY like i thought he would. also when i was reading the book, i knew what took place where and when that matched up with places in thg, but being able to see it was a whole other story.

things i dont like: um nothing much really for the movie on its own? like i have Opinions on the changes they made, but as it's own thing, i only wish we had more of coryo's internal thoughts -- and if not, a heavier emphasis on lucy gray. without either, it just felt like the dynamics fell a little flat, especially compared to the dynamics of the og movies.

B) OOOOOOOH okay so i was fine with most of the changes to the story for the movie -- theres only so much time and so many ways to show something and its a different medium, so i understand why things had to be different. BUT! i very much did not like two changes. one, that lucy gray wins the games by not being killed by the snakes. its a lovely scene and great to watch, but i feel like it almost takes power away from lucy gray. we, as the audience, know that it isnt her singing that keeps the snakes at bay, and so all it really shows us is how easy it is to make the capitol see district citizens as human like them, if only they get past their own blinders. and since she survives bc coryo gave his handkerchief with her scent to the snakes, it just makes it so he won the games, not lucy gray. the way it played out in the book mightve been less cinematic to watch, but it was much better in my opinion. like, the fact that lucy gray had to resort to using reaper's humanity against him in order to kill him, and that it was a suicide that led to her survival was very poignant and i feel like we missed out on that.

the other change i disliked was how we didnt see arachne's funeral and the spectacle it became. again, i know that with the movie's age rating, it might not have been entirely possible to show the parade of brandy's body but i very much wish we had to be forced to confront the dehumanization that was prevalent in the capitol -- i feel like we hear it a lot in the movie, but we dont ever really see it in a way that isnt excusable by the games. i also think it wouldve been a very intriguing parallel for coryo's to sing the anthem (also bc he sings it in the books twice i think, once in a group and once alone) and have his performance be a stark difference to how lucy gray and the covey perform. one thing the movie did well was letting the art stand for itself -- the music, sure, but also the designs of the clothes and the city, as well as the statue at the end. i think adding coryo's singing wouldve been awesome to see.

i also kind of wish we saw the plinths get close to coryo just bc it was so important to propel him into who he became, but i understand that there just wasnt enough time and space to show that. although, when they played the jabberjay recording at sejanus's execution? GAGGED. i nearly started screaming right there. that little sequence will haunt me forever.

i do wish ballad was split into two movies despite any backlash to give more time to tell this story -- the book itself is absolutely packed, so to make it one movie under three hours long almost feels like a disservice? but i honestly went in to put some visuals to the book and to watch the arc play out on a screen, and so im pretty happy with what i got! im definitely rewatching it when i rewatch the other movies and thats all i really need :]

thank YOU nonny<333 i'd love to hear your thoughts as well !!!!!! i dont have many people to talk to about ballad so its awesome to be asked these questions! love you<33

[deactivatesamwhich]

Okay here are some ideas for my hypothetical Avatar The Way of Water fanfiction that I'm work shopping in my head spoiler warning.

Since we've as a fandom agreed to pretend that Neteyam didn't die: what if he was still shot, but he was paralyzed! You know like his dad at the beginning of the first movie. That would be such cinematic parallels chefs kiss. What if there was a fic exploring what that does to him psychologically because something I noticed about how the Na'vi villages are set up they do not look very disability accessible a lot of them are on uneven ground and you got to climb and Neteyam sees himself as a warrior as his defining trait. He's just starting out as a warrior and he knows his role in society and then what if that was just taken away from him what does he do now, resign himself to basket weaving? Not likely not for him. You could have this plot line where he learns to ride his ilu/ whatsitcalled without the use of his legs and you could have a plot where Neteyam and Jake are having a bonding moment about the situation like I still love you son you're not less of son to me.

[thedyingswann]

Ok but can we appreciate Penelope Douglas’ music choices in Corrupt. I mean like Deathbeds by Bring Me The Horizon and it’s timing? It fits so PERFECTLY!

I watch you like hawk (…) like I’m gonna tear you limb from limb.”

This lyrical reflection of Michael’s life long obsession with Rika, but also his hatred for her and how she’s forever damaged the lives of his friends. The mixture of love and rage he feels for her shown in this line?! *chef’s kiss*

“That little kiss you stole, it held my heart and soul.”

This is basically what happens to Michael when he kisses Rika for the first time, it unlocks the desire for her that he’s hidden his whole life and we know there’s NO going back after this. She becomes his fixation after this, whether romantically or through the idea of vengeance, he can’t let her or the idea of her go now.

“Don’t try to fight the storm, you tumble overboard.”

Implying that this is the calm before the storm and Michael doesn’t want Rika to put up a challenge, the way she does with EVERYTHING he throws her way. But also for himself, he can’t fight the choices he’s made or the monsters that he’s made out of his friends at this point. He HAS to go along with the plan.

But then “you’ll tumble overboard”, that foreshadowing that I didn’t see coming and am only remembering it now! Douglas HINTED the ending right there, whether it was her intention or not (I like to think it was). I can only imagine if there were a film adaptation of this book, a cinematic reprisal of this song would play over the scene where Michael tries so save Rika from the water, just adding another wave 🌊 (pun intended 😉) of emotion crescendoing over this moment where he thinks that he’s lost her forever.

“The waves will pull us under.”

There’s the constant threat that this hatred surrounding them will either make or break their relationship. This “storm” that they’re facing is like a metaphorical parallel of all of the bad blood between them, as well as the incorporation of the horsemen’s and Trevor’s rage. It threatens to consume them both completely, destroying whatever love they could have for one another.

“Tides will bring me back to you.”

I meeeaaan come on, we all knew their relationship was the endgame, whether the characters knew it or not. These two ALWAYS seem to drift back into each others lives, no matter how many barriers they put between themselves.

This song was made for this book, the same way Michael and Rika were made for each other. 😩

Okay rant over now. 😅

[cerebrobullet]

Sharpe Rewatch 4- Sharpe's Enemy (1994)

tonight's theme is:

(this is a lie, tonight's theme is actually me crying over teresa)

alright, starting off I have strong feelings about harper sitting on top of his captain, protectively pushing him back down to the ground with a big 'ol hand on the back of his head. then sharpe just kind... accepting his fate and curling up in the middle of a pile of his boys. i cannot label what exact emotion it gives me, but OH BOY it's an Emotion.

side note: sharpe says the chosen men were acting under his orders so.... were his orders to.... have fun? lol

fuck i take it back i AM gonna cry over this epsidoe. look at how happy sharpe and teresa are!!!!

i DID forget just how much teresa roasts farthingdale for insulting her hubby. amazing, #realtionshipgoals #girlboss, i'm gonna gif it later.

sharpe telling harper "don't name it after me" about his kid with ramona, only for sharp turn around and name his own son patrick. excuse me, rude.

i also hadn't noticed before that teresa is sewing a lil rifleman doll and now i want to cry again.

She gives it braids later? so i guess it's supposed to be of antonia in her daddy's uniform ;A;

now a bit i still don't understand is the, like, cooking lesson aside that happens in the middle of the hostage exchange? ... that's it, idk, it like doesn't effect the plot at all. just weird to me.

but, ah, anyway, frederickson!!! i love him! i wish he showed up more often, but i appreciate him most in sharpe's revenge, doing all the leg work to save sharpe's ass. he's just fun! i just think he's neat!

sharpe literally swallowing the urge to burst out laughing tho *chef kiss*

but the "why do i always have to wear the dress, sir?" from perkins makes me wonder just how many times they've played the "disguise one of us in a dress" card and why i didn't get to see every single situation this was their answer to. robbed, robbed of good content.

hey now let's talk about a cinematic parallel that i hate. it's this:

( : im fucking dying and i hate everything

"I lied. my wife taught me. she taught me many things."

*lays down on ground, cries fucking eyes out* THIS STILL ISN'T FAIR. just the IDEA of it- sharpe already has an Emotional Thing about the guy who taught him to read and write, and then he gets himself a badass literal #girlboss wife who teaches him how to speak french, teaches him how to chill out a bit as leader, teaches him such soft things. a woman who's been through rough shit, just like he has. he's so proud and amazed of her, every time he speaks of her. and then it's... just all gone.

him kissing the sword as he salutes teresa's grave makes me physically unwell

now, i do want to know how duco manages to keep his head when literally every single thing he claims in regards to sharpe ends up biting him in the ass. you'd think after the second time maybe people would, idk, not trust him judgement...

ok. i'm... im just gonna sit here and cry now.

this was somehow worse the second time around. probably because i'm going through theses so much slower. and i like it most when sharpe has someone to come back to, rather then doing the new girl of the week thing. though jane is.... well. jane is jane. we don't talk about jane.

[oofuri2003]

tajima finally hitting a HR off tosei of all teams would be chefs kiss. also while we're on tosei topics..... im sad that we might potentially be getting another tosei match, but this time it wont be animated.. meaning we would be missing out on mamomiya's riou dsfsdfsd (oofuri anime comeback when orz)

OOWAAAA if tajima's first HR was off of junta that would be fucking insaneeee FULL CIRCLE MOMENT. i think that would literally be epic. and if it was off of the forkball....well....it's cinematic parallels baby!

actually just got hives thinking about a sayama bijou rematch. that's actually so cursed. if i see roka again it's literally on sight. but also imagine if nishihiro got to play and actually hit a pitch this time </3 and also imagine if they played a full game without a traumatic incident

I'm SOOO depressed about all the shit that's never getting animated I literally need to see akimaru thonking abe on the back of the head with the ball during that game animated. NOW! and of course. the iconic. but you're the one who cares about me the most. AND HANAI'S FUCKINGGG HOME RUN. and abe n mihashi making breakfast together. okay im getting ahead of myself here anyway we need it.

[lolexjpg]

dts s5 e9-10: THE FINAL POST

e9: -have not been looking forward to the christian horner episode i must say -GOD listening to everyone talk abt how dominant of a year this was for max knowing whats to come 🙃🙃🙃🙃 -this whole "well we didnt do it on purpose so its not cheating" is SO SILLY like imagine if i went to the irs like sowwy i didnt pay my taxes correctly i didnt know 🥺🥺 doesnt matter ur still getting fined lol -i have always felt that christian's whining here is Extra Obnoxious like he didnt spend YEARS going after every lil thing mercedes might've stepped wrong on. if there was a rumor that mercedes went even $100 over cost cap you KNOW he wouldn't shut up about it but when the tables turned he's such a victim -max is going to be deaf by 40 istg. insert huh cat meme that is him always. (affecionate) -"these people talk shit through the media but'll never say it to my face" have u considered its not bc theyre scared to say it to you but bc you're a rancid person they'd like to avoid interacting with. food for thought -"maybe you feel guilty, i dunno" binotto ate with that one i mean IF THE SHOE FITS -I THINK. as it was in 2020 w/ the pink mercedes. (and in 2007 with mclaren!) the penalty for the cost cap breach should've been a dock in constructors championship points. it wouldn't affect the final standings of 2021 (mercedes beat them anyway, there was a big gap to ferrari in 3rd). it would be a great way to set a strict precedent that would easily motivate teams to be very careful with the budget cap WITHOUT changing any results. FIA hire me -say what u like abt will buxton they will never make me hate you will buxton. the way he is with words explaining drama he is the caesar flickerman of f1 and if you cant appreciate it thats a you issue -showing the singapore grand prix and all i can think abt is iconic post race dando interview. yeah i'm sure the race was cool too i guess -I FUCKING FORGOT HE PULLED THE MENTAL HEALTH CARD bro is seriously like dont talk about the cheating we did think of our poor mental health 🥺🥺🥺 anyway i'm gonna go fire nyck devries midseason brb -WOMP WOMP -once again if the roles were reversed christian would be spearheading a campaign to get a mercedes title stripped be so fucking forreal -more max/gp fics. their dynamic is immaculate chefs kiss -god if lewis won this race it wouldve been so iconic. sad

e10: -ad22 top 10 daniel outfits ever. btw -um lando norris neurodivergent agenda the way he's talking about food here? something going on in that brain. when he ordered 13 spring rolls as a meal in that iconic nortrell stream? that is not a way a neurotypical person eats i swear on god -them asking charles how his season was then immediately cutting to the france crash is so mean. good narrative storytelling, but mean nonetheless -how cathartic it must be for nando to benefit from ferrari blunders lol -pre this season coming out, i remember hoping they'd have a proper focus on carlos' austria dnf. it did get a lil moment but it was, for me, the most shocking mechanical dnf of the season and i was looking forward to seeing more of the inner details of it all. oh well -cinematic parallels between merc & ferrari fighting for 2nd in 2022 AND 2023 -brazil must have some typa rule abt not having netflix there bc they always miss out on the most bangers of races. sad. i love u brazil 22 :') -"they told me i can do whatever i want. when i see carlos, put him in the wall" max i am. i am kissing u. on the mouth. mwah mwah mwah -i DO wish. the focused more on the charles v checo battle. that was simply more important. but i guess that didnt work well with the happy ending they gave checo in e7 so -"omtar might get the last laugh this time around" :)))))) for the last time babey hell yeah -FUCK hate how awkward this dando moment they chose to feature is. they're so much more than that. dts only watchers they're in love and doing the nasty on the reg i PROMISE -this daniel comp is so goofy silly now that hes coming back lmao. i do love him he is so important for the reach of f1 and drive to survive and he deserves all the love he gets -HI LOGAN SO EXCITED TO SEE MORE OF U IN THE NEW SEASON MWAH