#Zoë is so important to me no writer making her do or say the most ooc thing would ever erase the amount of love I have for her

[zoennes]

GELUKKIGE VERJAARDAG, ZOË LOOCKX 𒀭 15 FEBRUARI, 2003

[kehlanies]

“Go touch some grass.” Nicole I’m crying lmao. But for real Robbe stans be like “we can call out BA and girl squad but I draw the line when you call out my fav white boy”

i'm so happy you sent this because I've been wanting to say something all fucking day and have (again) felt like i was being too mean or harsh which is super ironic all things considered but fuck it. ok before i start, i do love robbe, and even though I'm committed to not wasting anymore time in this show, he'll probably always be one of my favorite isaks. i'm not ashamed or embarrassed to admit that, and I don't think people who love robbe should feel bad about liking him because despite all of the horrible writing decisions made in regards to his character, he still managed to be, imo, one of the kinder, likable characters of the show. we're suppsed to root for him in his season, and we're supposed to be fond of him afterward. there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

that being said, robbe's still racist, as are all of the white characters, sander and milan included, because the writers are racist. there was never going to be a version of this scene where robbe empathizes with yasmina because the writers don't empathize with her. that's what I was saying earlier this week with suggestion that people tone down their thirst for a robbe scene, because I knew it would end up like this. you can't expect a show that has repeatedly shown that they have zero regard for people of color, their characters and fans alike, to do a scene in which a white character is supposed to comfort a character of color with any sort of grace because they don't believe that a white person would do that because they, as white men, wouldn't do it. i think that's what frustrates me most about all this talk of robbe being ooc, because its like, when have we ever seen him confront racism. the thing with kato wasn't about her being a racist, it was about her getting them into a car wreck (and even then y'all still made it about robbe and sander, but i digress.) hell, the only friend of color that he has is moyo, and we all know how the writers feel about him. it was 100% unfounded to believe that robbe would be able to comfort yasmina or give her any sort of clarity because he's still white! on a show written by white racists! as uncomfortable as it may be to hear, this is the "real robbe" because this is the robbe written by and given depth to by his creators. fanon robbe does not exist outside of tumblr and ao3 (as with fanon moyo, jens, zoë, senne, and basically any other character that we've taken the liberty to reconstruct in the image of what they could be as opposed to what they are.) just because its a truth that you're unhappy with doesn't make it not true, and attempting to excuse this by saying it wasn't actually him isn't going to make the scene magically go away, or make what you want him to have said be what he actually said. all its doing is further ostracizing the people of color and muslims in the fandom, and reminding us, once again, that your inability to project on to your favorite white character is more important than like. literal racism and islamophobia.

-

and one more thing because i know how y'all are, i'm not going to check because like I said, i'm fully done, but i'm sure that there will be a least a few snarky responses to this post talking about how people are reading too much into the scene and how we should just let people enjoy things and that you're only here to see yasmina happy at the end and I just want to say two things. one, yasmina's happiness is forever going to be compromised because, at least in the context of the canon of this show, its going to require her to at least forgive, if not apologize to people who have done nothing but make her life a living hell for 10 weeks. and two, being ~emotionally distanced~ from racism is not the flex that you think it is.

[levihantrash]

new chapter update!

Summary:

Levi’s pragmatism pulled the brakes. “I’m not about to dedicate my life to become a broke comic artist.”

Levi Ackerman, a gruff cleaner with an appetite for toilet humour meets the unabashedly friendly creative writing professor, Hange Zoë, who somehow ropes Levi into working on a comic with them. While the comic’s title remains undecided, Hange knows that it’s going to be set in a world where giant, human-like creatures devour other humans. Erwin Smith, the comic’s self-appointed editor, unironically thinks it’s going to be a hit. All Levi knows is that he wants to indulge in drawing this comic while hanging out with a certain writer who just won’t stop talking to him.

Where Hange, Levi, and Erwin are the creators of Attack on Titan.

Chapter 1: Free Bread

Chapter 2: New Friends

Like routine, Levi found himself waiting for a certain professor to show up. When Erwin called out to him, he couldn’t help but search behind the tall, imposing figure.

“I haven’t seen Hange this morning either,” Erwin said. Levi found himself irritated by Erwin’s discernment and by his own discrete uneasiness.

“Good morning, Erwin,” Levi greeted, nonetheless.

Hange was late, which Levi figured wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

The morning passed without a single sign of Hange.

“Sorry, are you Mr. Levi?” A nervous-looking person approached him, holding on to a well-wrapped steamed bun. A twinge of hope stirred in Levi.

“Levi will do,” he said.

“Dr. Hange said I should pass you this,” the bread-holder blurted out.

Levi’s gaze softened. “Where’s Hange?”

“Oh! She’s rushing a deadline and insisted that I pass you this bread.”

The inexplicable rush of relief made Levi dizzy as he grasped the bread limply. “Huh. Sorry that you have to be an errand boy today.”

“It’s no trouble!”

“Who are you?”

“Sorry! I didn’t introduce myself! I’m Moblit, their teaching assistant! Dr. Hange helps me out with my master’s thesis because they’re my advisor. This is just my way of saying thanks. Dr. Hange also treats me to meals, gives me detailed comments for my work… though they might go overboard when it comes to giving speeches about the importance of world-building and honing your craft, it’s inspiring how dedicated they are in what they do.”

Moblit took a deep breath, making up for lost air in between the lengthy, whole-hearted sentences.

“Is that so…” Levi said, suddenly contemplative. “Do you want some tea?”

“Are you getting it from the staff pantry?”

“No, that stuff’s stale as shit. I have better tea, wait here.”

Levi recalled Erwin asking him in front of everyone in the staffroom if he wanted the staffroom snacks. Hange followed up, speaking at a volume that was clear enough for most of the staff to overhear, orchestrating a deliberate conversation with Erwin.

“Since there are no hard rules as to who the snacks and drinks are catered for, and technically, Levi is a staff member, he should have access to the snacks!”

None of the professors objected. It was probably because open prejudice would be socially unacceptable, Levi thought.

Begrudgingly, he accepted Erwin’s offer, and in full view of everyone, took a candy bar.

Hange gasped. “Just one?” Levi glared at them.

“Aren’t the snacks for your little sister?” Hange asked. He nodded, sensing the collective spike in sympathy for him in the staffroom.

After the whole stage, the trio huddled conspicuously in a corner outside the staffroom.

Hange whispered to Levi, “You could have played along better!”

“Erwin’s tired of your skit,” Levi said, overwhelmed and annoyed at the turn of events.

“No he’s not!” Hange said sternly, before gulping down half a bottle of water.

Erwin, standing in between them, told Hange to keep it down.

“Thanks, you two.” Levi found himself staring at the floor, embarrassed that his two friends had to construe him as a pitiful character for him to get a few snacks, even though he had been informed of the plan prior.

“I’m sorry, Levi,” Hange said, their lips compressed into a hard, grim line. “It’s ridiculous that you can’t even get snacks and refreshments as part of the staff.”

“I’m used to it.”

“If anyone’s giving you a hard time, you have us,” Hange said, still put off.

They squared their shoulders impressively. “Right Erwin?”

“You can rely on us, Levi,” Erwin surmised, equally sombre.

Growing more ruffled by their declarations, Levi hissed, “I don’t need two bodyguards.”

“No, you definitely don’t,” Hange joked. “Some people have told me about the deathly aura you emit that I must have missed…”

Fixing their attention at a vague distance, Hange’s playful jibes dwindled into an idle pondering, “I wonder if you found some joy in our companionship at least.”

They’re talking about joy and friendship again… Levi thought.

He found himself back in the present, handing a cup of black tea to Moblit, guiding him towards a bench.

Moblit squeaked out, “Thank you!”

“How did you find me?” Levi asked, betraying none of his real curiosity.

“Hange gave me a description…” Moblit began, not making eye contact with Levi.

“Did they? What’s the description?” Knowing Hange’s brand of humour, Levi braced himself.

Moblit shuffled in his seat, terribly reluctant. “They said to look out for a cold, black-haired man with an undercut, wearing an apron, gloves and brandishing a mop while scolding people to not step on wet floors.” Levi made a mental note to strangle Hange.

Moblit quickly supplemented, “You’re not actually cold though!”

“How would you know that?”

“Um… you’re offering me tea?”

Levi clicked his tongue. “That’s a low bar for human decency. You should have higher standards.”

“You’re right, Mr. Levi… I mean Levi.”

Levi noted Moblit’s jittery manner when he briefly checked his phone for a message and let out a small groan.

“Hey, you look worried sick. You didn’t receive a death threat, did you?”

Moblit laughed weakly, running his hand through his hair. “Uh, you see, I’m one of the editors for the bi-annual literary magazine and we’ve been looking for illustrators…”

“I take it that you haven’t been successful?”

“Yes… I just received someone’s rejection. It’s okay, we’ll find one,” Moblit said, although his panicked lip-biting ran contradictory to his optimistic statement. Levi’s hands twitched again. He folded them promptly into his apron pockets.

Upon finishing the tea, Moblit stood up and gave a tiny, polite bow. “It was nice meeting you Levi. Thanks for listening and for the tea!”

“Good luck,” Levi said, in time before Moblit rushed off.

Bagging up the rubbish, Levi heaved the load on his shoulder easily, only to be startled by the appearance of Hange.

“Fuck! Can you stop jumping out of nowhere?” Though momentarily disconcerted, the tension built up from the day unwound instantaneously, leaving his body loose and feeble.

“Levi! Did you shit yourself?” Hange sang. They accidentally bumped into the gigantic rubbish bag, falling butt-first onto the ground, phone in hand.

“Be careful,” Levi said, in the same monotonous voice he used regardless of the situation. Unless the situation involved Hange leaping out of nowhere. He looped his free arm under their armpit to pull them back up. Hange, flushed from running, placed their phone in his hands with ill-contained excitement.

“Look at what I found!”

“Oi, what’s this—” Levi scanned the phone, his mouth running dry.

“I’m going to recruit this artist. For my comic.”

It was a sketch of a cat being patted by a person with messy, tied-up hair, their hands stroking its head.

“Don’t you think the person looks familiar? Isn’t the cat cute… remember how I told you I have one at home?” Hange released their brown hair from a voluminous ponytail, biting the rubber band in their mouth.

He swallowed. “I drew that.”

Hange’s mouth hung open. “You’re kidding!”

“Do I look like I make such shit jokes?”

“Personally, I find your shitty jokes very funny. This is exciting news! Why didn’t you tell me you’re an artist when I was trying to find one for my comic?”

Levi found her question preposterous. “You could easily find a better one. I’m inexperienced.”

“I’m also an inexperienced writer. I barely wrote one book and a few articles!”

“You’re a professor. You have the title for a reason. I just draw for fun.”

Hange spared him a baffled look. “Please. You have no idea how many great writers never become professors. And how some professors never write great books. I thought you of all people would know that a title doesn’t mean anything.”

“I thought you of all people would know that titles hold their value here, even if we think they’re stupid and don’t mean shit.”

“I know that, Levi. I’m saying, drawing for fun doesn’t make you inexperienced or unworthy of being the artist for my comic. Besides, I chose you before I even knew it was you!” Hange said triumphantly.

Locking the phone screen, Levi reiterated, “I draw for fun.”

“Then this will be our fun project!”

Levi’s pragmatism pulled the brakes. “I’m not about to dedicate my life to become a broke comic artist.”

“You won’t be broke.” Erwin slipped into their conversation as though he had always been there. It was uncanny.

“What do you mean?” Levi stared questioningly at Erwin.

“You’ll be paid for your work, Levi. Hange as well,” Erwin said simply.

“You’re paying us?” Hange and Levi asked, in unison. One, in disbelief, and the other, in delight.

“A publisher will be paying you. I’ve secured funding.”

Levi gritted his teeth. “A publisher wants to sponsor a comic that hasn’t even been written?”

“I told you, Levi,” Hange interrupted. “I’ve already submitted a draft!”

“Yes,” Erwin said.

Levi had so many questions. “How?”

“Because it’s a good story.”

“Did you bribe them? Threaten them?”

“It is a risk,” Erwin admitted.

“It’s a fucking gamble,” Levi emphasised. “Don’t know why you’re so invested in this comic.”

Hange had other worries. “Levi, did you think I wasn’t going to pay you?”

Levi hesitated. “I don’t know. Isn’t this just a fun side-project?”

Hange’s face came closer to his. With the enhanced proximity, Levi stopped breathing altogether. Their face was deadly solemn.

“Listen, Levi, creating art is hard work. Your hard work. Any artist deserves to be paid. It’s not because our relationship is transactional. It’s because it’s only right.”

Erwin added, “We’re not going to accept your art for free.”

Pushing Hange back firmly with his hands on their shoulders, Levi argued, “Plenty of people have access to my art online for free.”

“That’s your choice. We insist.” Hange grinned. “And we think we deserve to be paid too. Even I’m surprised that my project has early compensation.”

Part of Levi’s resolve ebbed away. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good enough for me!”

“First, you have to tell me what your story is.” Levi gathered up the last of his self-respect. “And if we’re going to be working together, I’ll need your number.”

Erwin raised an innocent eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you need mine too?”

“Stop teasing him, Erwin,” Hange said, grabbing the rubbish bag from Levi, struggling to balance its weight over their shoulders.

Just as Levi felt a shred of gratitude, Hange remarked, “What if he doesn’t agree to do the comic together?”

Patience running thin, Levi stomped on both their feet in a fit of unrestraint that diverged from his unaffected demeanour.

Eyes twinkling, Hange couldn’t help but feel immense glee at the prospect of working with Levi. What was probably Levi’s withheld strength made them certain that he only wanted to dirty their shoes, not bruise their toes. Like Hange would care about the cleanliness of their battered sneakers.

In front of an ordinary apartment door, Hange dug into the depths of their bag to fish out a ring of keys. The size of the ring was unprecedentedly big; the choice of keychain most definitely random, a freebie handed out to new staff that blatantly displayed the university’s name.

Without that much bribery of tea, bread, and friendship, Levi found himself standing beside Hange as they busied themselves in finding the key to their apartment. Erwin had bailed due to having another Important Meeting with Important People, even during a weekend, but encouraged Hange and Levi to take time to discuss the comic.

Hange hadn’t expected Levi to agree so readily to kickstarting the project, and with the generous reception Levi gave (a curt nod and a follow-up question), they thought it’d be best if they invited him over to their apartment. Just so he wouldn’t mistake Hange as a mere business partner. Now that would be upsetting.

Hange pushed the ludicrous speculation out of their head. Levi was first and foremost, a good friend. His bored appearance revealed glimpses of surprise, satisfaction, moodiness, and suspicion. Hange held on to these pieces with the determination to collect them all. Surely, Levi must have figured them out by now. This endless, unabashed interest Hange had taken in him.

“Why are we meeting at your place? Do you need to take a huge shit? Does the toilet at home have a better flush?”

Although Levi had no qualms about visiting Hange’s apartment, he found it unnerving to have a work discussion in someone’s living quarters. It felt too intimate, too casual. He wasn’t sure if he could handle being sucked in further into Hange’s life. They asked so many questions, yet barely answered any about themselves.

Whether intentionally or not, Hange was someone shrouded in mystery to Levi. He couldn’t ask questions either—he wouldn’t—because he was unaccustomed to expressing himself in front of people. More than that, he could envision Hange’s sharp wit poking a clean hole through his muted facade. “You’re interested in my life, Levi?” Damn that four-eyes for being so perceptive. Or was he so easy to read?

“It’s more fun,” Hange said, eventually stuffing the correct key into the keyhole, a smooth click welcoming them. “Plus, I want to introduce you to my friends! Part of the reason why I took up the position at this university.”

“Friends?” Levi asked, slipping out of his shoes to step into the apartment.

“Hange!” A voice rang, and Hange was wrapped in a hug.

“Onyankopon! I saw you yesterday—”

“Three days ago, to be exact, since you always sleep over on the lovely desk at the university.” A smooth voice entered, coming from a woman standing comfortably against the wall.

As the tallest body let go of Hange, it allowed Levi to take in the congenial features of a man whose shoulders rivalled Erwin’s towering, well-built stature. While Erwin’s smile was measuredly cordial, Onyankopon’s was candidly sincere. Watching Hange and Onyankopon, Levi felt as though he were intruding into a family reunion that had invited the entire neighbourhood. Here, he was the guest who came for the free flow of food and drinks.

“I’ve missed you too Pieck!” The woman named Pieck ruffled Hange’s hair, offering them an embrace.

Hange pulled Levi by the elbow, pointing to the new people. “Meet my roommates and college friends, Onyankopon and Pieck!”

“Hi,” Levi said, uncertain as to what else he could affix his terse greeting with. Hange resolved that predicament for him, going into further details about their friends.

“Onyankopon is a researcher and engineer! I can’t tell you the technical specifics of what he does, though, I always get them wrong. Oh, and he’s religious, but he won’t try to convert you.” Onyankopon nodded, affirming Hange’s unflattering introduction.

“Pieck… Pieck is a gardener, florist, and avid gamer! That’s why she’s always bent over, whether it’s tending to her plants or her high score in front of the monitor.”

“It’s not why I need the crutches though,” Pieck said. Hange squeezed her shoulders in response.

“Seems like my friends are all nerdy. Maybe that’s why I like them?” A sheepish smile graced Hange’s lips.

Onyankopon gestured towards Hange, imitating their dramatic flourish. “And this is Hange Zoe, the nerdiest of them all. Obsessed with words. Recently obsessed with science fiction. They’re always reading or writing, and once they start on something, their butt doesn’t leave the chair.”

Levi’s eyes flitted around the apartment—it was relatively tidy, with a couple of framed photos and artworks. A blanket on the couch made it homely enough. His inspection didn’t miss Hange’s notice.

“Like what you see?”

“It’s neat,” he replied.

“That’s a compliment!” Hange took care to disclose this to their two friends.

“All your previous partners don’t take off their shoes, Hange. I hope he isn’t one of those.” Pieck said, using their crutch to relocate Hange’s haphazard shoes to a corner, flipping them the right side up. Levi liked her already.

“That’s gross,” Levi said apathetically, wiping away the horrifying image of dirt-smeared carpets and tiles creeping into his consciousness.

“He’s very clean, don’t worry,” Hange said easily. “Some might even say it’s his obsession.”

“I’m the cleaner at the university.” Onyankopon and Pieck turned towards Hange with patented disapproval.

“Levi, you know that’s not what I meant.”

“I think we’ll make good friends,” Pieck said, bemused.

Hange beamed at Levi. “You’ll love Pieck! She’s really quiet most of the time, just like you. Not to mention she pretends that she hates me. Just like you.”

“Good to know,” Levi said, enjoying the banter a bit too much.

“Hange says she’s going to get you to draw me, as a titan,” Pieck said, evidently sceptical.

“What’s a titan?”

“The giant, naked people I told you about, Levi! They’re called titans!”

“Why are they called titans?”

Hange landed on the sofa with a plop, patting the seat beside them for Levi to sit. “In Greek mythology, titans are immortal giant gods who were banished to the underground.”

Levi, who had little knowledge of Greek mythology, made a mental note to search for references online.

“Therefore, the titans are kind of like vengeful giant gods from the underground who have come to earth to wreak havoc on what the gods have built, which is human civilisation, basically.”

“Basically, I am wonderful enough to be titan-material,” Pieck drawled, propping their crutch at the side of the couch, sliding onto the cushions.

“A special titan that walks on all fours! Um, that’s the plan for now,” Hange said brightly.

Onyankopon, who had been content with listening, clapped his hands together in sudden realisation. “Hange, now that you’re finally home, you can take a shower.”

“I should, right?” Hange scratched their head, feeling the slickness of unwashed neglect.

Levi crinkled his nose as Hange reluctantly made their way to the bathroom. “That’s disgusting.”

“And here you are, still.” Pieck’s amiable statement prickled at his skin like a light warning before impending exposure.

“Hange must really want to make a good impression if they’re showering now,” Onyankopon said, chuckling to himself.

“It’s good to finally meet you.” Onyankopon pushed a newly made cup of tea towards Levi, with the steady confidence that could only come from having known prior that it was the beverage that Levi would desire. “Make yourself at home.”

Levi said his thanks, to the hospitality of two people he scarcely knew, and to Hange, who likely told them about the tea.

Cold water blasted them in the face, as Hange became cognizant of the necessity of showering more regularly. It wasn’t like they thrived in the dirt. Hypothetically, showering wasn’t that troublesome. The shower kept forgetting itself until it was three days later and Hange stank with regret and mild self-loathing. Still, the shower felt good, giving them new clarity about the fact that they had invited Levi into their inner social circle. How would he fare? Would he be uncomfortable? Hange massaged shampoo into their hair, recalling their conversation with Pieck and Onyankopon.

After much elaboration on adapting to a new university, their visits to an amazing bakery, and the fostering of daily encounters with new friends, Pieck had caught on that every other sentence from Hange contained a sliver of Levi-sized anecdotes. The new university was so much bigger than the one Pieck, Onyankopon, and Hange had attended together; it stretched endlessly, and Hange estimated that Levi would have walked 393700.7874 steps to clean just the faculty building. The bakery near the university was fragrant, its selection marvellous, and choosing a new bread for Levi every day was a tremendously delightful task. Moreover, Hange had met so many unique characters since getting to know the people in their faculty, people like Levi whose abhorrence for social etiquette was admirable, and with whom she was eager to share their mornings and lunches. Together with Erwin, of course.

Pieck let out a tinkle of a laugh at Hange’s obliviousness. “Why are you friends with Levi?”

Thinking hard, Hange answered, “I don’t know if he thinks of us as friends.”

“Well, friendship status aside, how’s he like?”

“He’s kind. He doesn’t sound like it, but he’s kind.”

“That’s nice. How’s he kind?”

Confusion coloured Hange’s usual confidence. “Hmm. It’s gut-feeling, I guess.”

“That’s unlike you, to rely solely on instincts,” Onyankopon said, stroking his chin. Hange was a person with an abundance of rationale, a reason for everything, with justification for any ideas. Their reasoning this time fell flat.

Pieck prodded on. “You said that he doesn’t sound kind. Then what does he sound like?”

“Grumpy, sarcastic, serious. He looks like he’s annoyed with everyone. Most people find him scary, I suppose? It’s like he wants people to think he’s an asshole.”

Pieck perked up. “Oh, so you’ve become enamoured with broody, misunderstood people who’re rough around the edges?”

“Pieck, come on, I’m not writing my own romantic trope! I don’t know… he’s a good person. I can tell. He doesn’t say much though.”

“You’re a mind-reader now?”

Hange ignored her. “His art… it’s so evocative. Melancholic. Hopeful. Angry.”

“What was the artwork you last saw of his?”

“A cat,” Hange said immediately.

Onyankopon brought Hange back to reality. “What about him? What do you like about him? Not his art.”

Hange pursed their lips. “Do good people need to prove themselves to show that they’re good?”

“There could be reasons as to why you’re so adamant about his golden character,” Onyankopon said.

“He’s reliable. And his shit jokes aren’t so bad once you get used to it.” Hange surprised themselves with that comment—Levi’s relentless toilet humour was infecting their brain. The corrosive force of the word “shitty” had already moulded itself permanently into their vocabulary.

Gazing up at the ceiling, Hange bent their arms behind their head. “It’s hard to find people to truly get along with.”

Onyankopon and Pieck shared a knowing look.

With their eyes trained to the white ceiling plaster, Hange mumbled on, “it would be nice if he’d talk more openly about what he’s feeling. It’s all guesswork and I’m afraid I’m constantly reading him wrong.”

“Maybe you should take your own advice…” Onyankopon said gently.

“But I do talk about my feelings!”

“Monologuing in your room and reposting vague lines of poetry and sending us memes to cope with your avoidance is not the same as talking about your feelings,” Pieck said, spending the subsequently long moment of silence to snip off a yellowed leaf from the potted Monstera deliciosa next to the kitchen counter.

“Wow.” Hange, for once, had nothing to muster.

Onyankopon’s approach was less incisive than Pieck’s. “You know, I don’t think you need a reason to be friends with someone. If he’s making you happy, I think it’s a good sign.”

“Thanks, Onyankopon,” Hange said gratefully.

“But Pieck’s right about you being deliberately evasive with your own emotions. Introspection shouldn’t be so strenuous, right? Don’t you write about your characters’ internal turmoil often?”

“It’s different when you’re reflecting for yourself,” Hange contended.

“We’ll see how Levi’s like anyway, when we meet him,” Pieck said, grabbing the scissors, going towards another deadened leaf.

“Don’t bully him!”

Another snip. Another leaf fell. “Isn’t he supposed to be scary?”

Hange smiled wryly. “But you two are scarier.”

[k-eudia]

Look, I'm all for the Evak couple and this love story and I was dying after David told Matteo to leave him alone but this is different.

I don't know if it's Sander being the most cruel with his cheating or just me, needing this kind of story but I'm actually glad with this 'hell week' because it's not hell 'week' it was a hell Friday and a hell Saturday but the healing has already started even if it's not that obvious yet.

It's only hell week for the people who think that this story is only worth something when Sander and Robbe are together.

I would've loved to see them dealing with the hate crime together but the writers had something else in mind so I'm going to go with it. I want to see Robbe heal on his own. I want to see him getting love from the people he wouldn't have expected to a month ago. I want to see him heal without a love because he is not just the 'half of a whole'. He is a whole. His life is a shit show and he has to understand things before he starts something with someone else. When was the last time he has visited his mother? I think before fall break because after that we have only seen him telling her how he can't go. He has or had a plan with his father about a restaurant. Jens obviously cares about him, he just needs to be a little more pushy about it and not let himself get distracted by every little thing. Robbe still has to accept that he is gay. Make up with Yasmina and tell Noor how stupid she is for saying that no one cares about him being gay. Figure out what to do with the boy squad. Punch Moyo if he says one more homophobic thing or make him apologize a lot of times if he accepts him immediately.

This hell week is important. Zoë convinced him to go to a psychologist. Senne told him to go to the police. Milan hugged him and told him that it's not his fault. He is getting support from a lot of unexpected directions, he is more than just the guy who is kissing with Sander.

Also there was a saying that sometimes you have to spend some time apart from a person so that your love can be stronger when you reunite

[navollidiot]

i know there is and will continue to be a lot of controversy about the hate crime scene, so if you don’t want to read this post because you won’t agree with me criticizing it, then don’t read it, don’t clown on it, just don’t interact and move on with your day, i’m not taking names and hunting people down for their opinions especially when i do not personally know most of you.

obligatory statement: i’m not cis, not het, not white. do not be a bigot on this post :)

i remember very clearly the night that clip dropped + literally spending the next 2 or 3 days scrolling through the tag to read every single post in there to gather all of the opinions that i could find, everything from people who had been following the season from the very first second of the first episode, to people who were only casual viewers, who had not offered commentary before that point and only came out to share their opinions after the enormous shock wave that clip generated throughout the fandom. i don’t even think that sander running out of the hotel in episode 8 caused nearly as much of an uproar, mostly because the majority of us knew that was coming (though i do remember the outrage that we didn’t see robbe find him until it was past midnight, which is also completely understandable).

over those next few days and the following weeks, i saw the full spectrum of opinions continue to expand as more and more people gradually processed what they had seen and began to come to their own conclusions about it, especially those, like mine, with many layers of conflicting emotions. some even shared their own stories that were deeply personal and brave and heart-wrenching and hope-giving. what was pretty universal, however, was that no one saw the hate crime coming. it wasn’t in og, it hasn’t been done in any other remake, there was no hint or warning whatsoever that it was imminent. i know part of that is probably the production thinking that was an appropriate way to show how something like that can unfold in real life. do i agree with how that decision was made? ultimately, no. i’m sure that plenty of you also share that opinion to some extent. i’m sure that many of you also excuse, turn a blind eye to, or even defend the hate crime’s necessity and importance. i’ve said before that it’s not a black-and-white situation and i continue to stand by that. i also stand by the opinion that the writers handled the execution poorly even if they had good intentions. intention ≠ impact. there should have been a trigger warning. there should have been a better and more assertive resolution in the following episodes, like there was for zoë’s season (which was very well done and makes me confused why they didn’t give robbe the same treatment but i digress)

“but iT’S REALISTIC—” yes, it’s realistic that gay people experience violence for being gay. no one is denying that this stuff happens. but the aftermath of the incident, which robbe discussed only briefly twice with milan (and senne, but robbe never told him the full truth of what happened) and then was not addressed further, even when it was at some points clearly mirroring zoë’s struggle with testifying against viktor? that was not realistic. i recognize the very real possibility that they are going to drag the assault into s4 to show how robbe’s storyline impacts however they’ve written yasmina’s arc, but whatever they have planned for her honestly terrifies me to no end because we have never had an adequate sana season that does the muslim main justice. i am including og in this, for those of you who have not seen it. i’m sure that many of you who have seen skamfr s4 and druck s4 agree with me. it goes without saying that i believe they should have addressed the assault before robbe’s season actually ended in order to minimize the amount of interference that he would cause in yasmina’s season. don’t mistake this as me hating on robbe; he is one of my favorite isaks hands down. i can simultaneously love his character and hate what the writers did with him.

“but wiLLEM SAID—” first of all, if you yourself are straight and you are pulling willem’s words from the article to defend your opinion, i want you to step back from the situation and examine the details a little further. willem herbots, for all the speculation that has gone on, has now stated outright with no ambiguity that he is straight. i do not deny his talent as an actor; anyone who follows and reads my tags knows that i have many times before praised his skill in portraying robbe as intimately as he did in s3. but the hard pill to swallow for a lot of you is that by being straight, he lacks the inherent nuance that only personal experiences and struggles with sexual identity can bring to a character whose arc literally revolves around internalized homophobia and coming out. no amount of research can help him understand robbe’s character the way a gay actor would. and to be clear, this is not a moral condemnation against him; i’m not blaming willem for being straight, which is a wild thing to have to state lmao but you never know with tumblr. i do harbor the same sort of apprehension that i harbor towards any straight actor who plays gay roles regardless of their reasoning behind it (most of it falls somewhere along the lines of “i wanted to challenge myself” which honestly is such bullshit to me). but, to my knowledge, we have never had a single male isak who was played by an actor who is lgbt+ irl (i’m not counting skamesp because lucas doesn’t fit the original mold since he’s both isak and eskild, sorry if you have a problem with that), so i’m not exactly surprised that wtfock hasn’t broken that mold. saying all that, i do think he is incredibly sensitive and compassionate for his age and amount of experience, and it is rare to see someone answer questions with the kind of sincerity that comes through even in what appears to me is a fluff piece that is meant to please readers rather than present the most objective truths.

i will link a post here that pretty succinctly sums up my view on what willem stated about the hate crime and about how this interview happened in the first place, but something that i did notice that no one afaik has talked about: notice how willem uses I-statements to answer literally every single question in the interview up until he’s asked about the assault, where he slips almost too obviously into the royal “we” that is often characteristic of pre-fabricated answers: “The only moment we really showed... but we really wanted to show the harsh reality of being out...  it’s not something we wanted to ignore in WtFOCK.” in the same paragraph, he uses “we” 3 times, where at no point before he had done so. of course, it’s possible that he did say it at other points and those sentences simply didn’t make the final cut for the article, but i still think it’s pretty telling that all of his other answers are so grounded in his personal, individual thoughts and experiences, but that specific response is so stilted and formal it’s almost awkward. it’s very likely that he was regurgitating an answer that was fed to him from higher up, precisely because the production knew from fan responses that it would come up in any self-respecting interviewer’s questions. these are very basic PR procedures within the industry; willem, at the end of the day, is a paid actor on a show that is still in production and is bound very tightly by his contract. do not expect at any point that what he states about wtfock is fully his own opinion, as whatever he says will reflect on the show’s reputation. this is also, more importantly, why you cannot automatically associate the words and actions of a production with the words and actions of its actors; i seriously doubt that willem h or any of the other cast members personally agree with everything the show has done, but i can tell you with absolute certainty that they are contract-bound to not share their full opinions while the show is still in production. he nor any of the other actors wouldn’t be allowed to criticize writing decisions even if they wanted to. finally, please note that i am in no way trying to lessen the impact of willem answering this question in this way, fabricated or not; i am only trying to present all the facts as objectively as i can because i’ve seen 50 posts today worshipping him for giving answers that likely did not come from his own actual brain. i am asking for a little of the same objectivity in return from you all.

finishing on a personal-ish sidenote: but i have never been more aware than in this moment how completely at odds the druck and wtfock fandoms are, like i knew during the run of robbe’s season, from some replies i was getting on posts and anons in my inbox, that it seems impossible to some people that people can like (and criticize) both shows. but now in the wake of this article, it really goes to show that both sides are ready at a moment’s notice to fight each other over matters that do not need to be fought about. we can all just talk through things and try to see each other’s perspectives and, sometimes, yes, agree to disagree. for a show that preaches “everything is love” left and right, certain people really do not seem to take that message to heart. just to be clear, im not saying that you should lie down and take people’s bullshit, but i am saying that we should hear each other out more instead of jumping to conclusions based on thirdhand information.

in conclusion: no show/film/book/other form of media is perfect and we should be allowed to bring attention to their problematic aspects without being accused of blindly hating on the aforementioned medium overall.

tl;dr criticism ≠ hate, take what willem said with a grain of salt, the assault scene is not black and white, im fuckin exhausted

[flamingbluepanda]

This post has been building up in me for a while and it’s 11 at night and I can’t sleep so here, let me try and put my mixed feelings about Gwen bloody Cooper into words. Because I have a lot of love for her, but I also have a lot of hate for her, and this essay got long, and I’ll have to add a read more.

Here’s the thing about Gwen- she had so much potential. She could’ve been this badass female character who’s good in the field and has a good head for problems and brings a bit or morality and fresh perspective to the team. And even more, she could’ve been this badass female character while also being soft and in love with this wonderful adoring boyfriend- who, by the way! Did most of the cooking and cleaning and general homemaking stuff while his wife was kicking ass. A wonderful twist! They could’ve been zoë and wash! Or kida and Milo! Or literally anything other than what they were

Because the writers did Gwen Cooper dirty.

Instead of this badass female character we could’ve gotten, the writers just had to have their fucking romantic tension and instead of a badass we were given a nosy, boring, hypocritical cheater character who I just cannot stand.

Look, I get that part of Gwen’s purpose as a character is to ask the question we, the audience, want answered. But there is a fine line between being inquisitive and being nosy and... I really feel like Gwen goes over it. Like, instead of carefully playing in her questions- like an ex-cop who was a good interrogator would- Gwen goes full on “Jack, please tell me, the person in the room who you’ve known for the shortest amount of time, your entire life story this very instant.”

And speaking of Jack, while I appreciate a good heterosexual baiting, the fact that she spends the whole series acting like their about to fall into bed with eachother annoys me endlessly. I know part of that is Jack’s fault but that’s honestly a whole other post, and I know it was 2008 and they were purposefully not being like “oh yeah we have this gay relationship,” but like... Gwen you have a boyfriend and so does Jack.

Remember when Gwen’s boyfriend died and then miraculously came back and then she spent three days at another man’s side??? Remember that????????

Seriously, Jack I can get, Jack flirts with any of age being that can consent, but Gwen, Rhys is a god damn saint, and you cheated on him! With Owen! Who is an asshole!

I mean, I understand that you wanted to talk about almost getting eaten by cannibals, and you can’t do that with Rhys, but that doesn’t mean go to bed with Owen!!!

Anyway.

Gwen’s also a bit “holier than thou,” hubris is a big character flaw with her. The problem is no one ever calls her out on it, especially when she goes and does the stuff she criticizes others for! It might just be because I haven’t watched the show in a while but I cannot think of one time when Jack actually calls her out on her insubordination and goes through with it. At the end of “Meat” she literally breaks over a century of policy because “I’m in a relationship and I’m more important than all of you” and when Jack tries to fight her on it, he backs down! Why would Jack freaking Harkness back down!!!

Maybe I’m being a little too rough on her- in my heart of hearts I do not hate Gwen.

Gwen does actually have her good moments. No, really. When she’s not cheating on Rhys or being insubordinate, she’s almost the beautiful, badass Gwen we were promised.

That is actually one of the only thing’s I praise Children of Earth for. Because consistently, for five episodes, Gwen is perfect.

She’s funny, she’s sassy, she’s badass. And Rhys finally gets to be supportive and included in his wife’s life! And Rhys falls into the support role immidiately- no bullshit over Gwen being pregnant, he sits back and lets her work.

“You wanna have your trigger finger free, dontcha?” Is hands down one of the best moments in the series. That’s the Rhys Williams we were promised! This is the Gwen Cooper I’ve been craving!

Miracle day also sees some badass Gwen (note her holding a baby in one arm and a grenade launcher in the other) but once again, she has this tension with Jack- only now it’s angrier, like she wants to hatefuck him and get it out of her system.

Miracle day is a fucking mess and that’s all I’m gonna say about it, okay?

Book Gwen... varies. Book Gwen jumps between beautiful perfect COE level Gwen and god awful end of meat at her worst Gwen. It depends on the writer- which is typical for a book series. I personally like the books, because I’m a slut for books, but I’m still in the camp of “Gwen has been done dirty by the writers”

I would say the same about Audio Drama Gwen but... Big Finish only trusts the best. Every audio drama I’ve seen that has Gwen in it is her at her best, particularly in outbreak when she and rhys are, once again, perfect.

I do love Gwen, and I do absolutely adore Eve Myles. But I will, consistently, be critical. I try and be critical of all characters, but that’s a little hard with the ones I truly love (*cough cough* my hetalia Days speak for themselves here) But with Gwen, because Canon did her dirty, I find it a little easier to be critical, and it shows in my writing. I have her make some stupid but unfortunately canon decisions in a few of my fics- and unlike canon, I’m unafraid to call her out on it.

In conclusion... Gwen Cooper is not a horrible character, and she doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets. But she is not a perfect character, and sometimes when I’m feeling blue I’ll read a bash fic that makes me laugh or write her really badly because the canon writers made it so easy for us to turn her into a Mary Sue.

And... yeah, that’s it. Gwen Cooper is flawed just like everyone else on this freaking show, her flaws are just a little more glaringly obvious and annoying than the other characters.

[leta-the-strange]

A far too long, fever-induced Unpopular Opinion, likely first of many, (keeping in mind that is it an opinion and not expressed at all in mean spirit): The casting/character ages in Fantastic Beasts.

Again, this is likely a wildly unpopular opinion because I’ve never come across anyone who has even touched slightly on the subject, but it is an, admittedly minor, detail that got me thinking a little. Again, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter a great deal and I’m sure I’m still going to enjoy the series either way but it’s just a personal opinion I’ve had nonetheless.

I do understand the organic nature of film and the flexibility you need to allow. Sometimes the character will be pitched or imagined as a certain age, but it doesn’t translate into film well (think LOTR or GOT, etc) or the casting directors like an actor who is obviously much younger or older so much that it trumps the desired age bracket. And most times, it is purposely done that way especially in teen-based movies and tv shows (90210, Smallville, Gossip Girl, PLL, etc, etc) which lead to wildly inaccurate expectations of what teenagers look and act like (in my high school experience anyway). Sometimes for legal and professional reasons, its more convenient to have adult actors portray younger characters. 

Often pre-imagined characters evolve and change to fit the actor that is set to portray them whether it be gender, race, age, hair colour, eye colour, relationships, characterisation, etc. Sometimes this is celebrated, goes unnoticed or is a disappointment.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I understand that it comes down to a matter of priorities.

Neville, Petunia and Dudley were all blondes in the books. Did it really matter that the actors weren’t (and didn’t dye their hair for the role?) IMO, nah not really. I know a lot of people still can’t forgive the ‘you have your mothers eyes’ issue. I can. Partially. Personally, I didn’t mind Harry’s signature “green as a fresh pickled toad” eyes being blue in the film because Daniel Radcliffe couldn’t wear the contacts. Only auditioning actors with green eyes, the rarest eye colour on the planet, would exclude a lot of talented actors and potentially perfect Harry’s. I don’t believe green eyes were essential to Harry’s character (but I can’t speak for everyone), I think there were more important qualities. Geraldine Somerville, who played the older Lily Potter, also had blue eyes. But then, after making a huge deal over Harry having his mothers’ eyes, they cast young Lily, with whom they do close up, full face scenes of, with big brown eyes. I’m not saying she didn’t do an excellent job – she did wonderfully. I suppose it was just a strange decision in the eyes (pun not intended) of a lot of fans that the casting of a two or so minute role precluded what seemed to be such an integral theme that had been woven through each book and movie so frequently. This is just an example of the questionable, dare I say for lack of a better word ‘lazy’, ‘just imagine for the sake of the plot that he/she…’ attitude that I get from HP/FB at times.

Getting back on the topic of age, one thing I did have a problem with in HP was James and Lily’s age. I don’t think I’m entirely alone in this. 21 seemed old when I was a wee one reading Harry Potter for the first time. It was only when I got older that I realised how young they were and how it added quite fundamentally to the tragedy of their short life and death. It was heartbreaking either way, don’t get me wrong, but seeing (an actual 21-year-old actor portraying) a 21-year-old young mother slain in the first flashback in Philosophers Stone would have been truly shocking. It would also add to the tragic aftermaths of Sirius and Remus too. However, I did later realise that this was probably due to having to match Alan Rickman’s casting as Snape, and later, Gary Oldman and David Thewlis (which I think were all fantastic in their roles). So, they sacrificed the canonical age of James and Lily for the casting of Snape and the Marauders (possibly). Whether this was something the fans agree or not, they prioritised what was most important, in their eyes, to the film. But then, after all of that, for some reason they keep James and Lily’s age of death as 21 on their gravestone??? Therefore, casting two barely-speaking roles to a 43 and 34-year-old who they expect the film going audience to believe are 21??? I assumed that when they did the full casting and knew that Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman and David Thewlis would look far too old for their long-deceased classmate counterparts they would just make the characters older in the films but now I think they wanted to keep film Snape, Remus and Sirius in their early to mid (and eventually late, by the end of the books) thirties and didn’t want it to look painfully obvious. I think a lot of films and tv shows do this to try and pull off the age differences. A 27-year-old actor portraying a ‘high school student’ can often pull it off until you stick them next to a real life 15-year-old. I like to believe it’s that or something other than lazy writing but I can’t know for sure. 

This brings us to my current thoughts about Fantastic Beasts which has some of the most wildly strange actor vs character casting age I’ve seen in some time. As a quick refresher (or if you don’t know…) here are the actors ages vs what their characters age is (if I’m not mistaken)...

 Eddie Redmayne - 36 / Newt Scamander – 29

Zoë Kravitz – 29 / Leta Lestrange - 29 (probably given that she was in the same year as Newt)

Ezra Miller – 26 / Credence Barebone - 18 (from an interview but still unconfirmed from filmmakers)

Katherine Waterston – 38 / Porpentina Goldstein - 25

Alison Sudol – 33 / Queenie Goldstein – early 20’s/hopefully not late teens (she’s younger than her 25-year-old sister so 24 at the absolute most but I’d say younger given the dynamic). I haven’t found a confirmed age anywhere.   

Dan Fogler – 42 / Jacob Kowalski – 26

Callum Turner – 28 / Theseus Scamander – 37

 Try and keep in mind that there is no mean spirit intended in my opinion on this. My opinion on the acting ability of each of these people isn’t necessarily relevant to this particular discussion though I do commend actors who can convincingly pull off different ages though I certainly can’t fault actors who can’t as there is only so much you can do sometimes. This is purely about what is most important – character or actor – and the relevance of it.

Eddie Redmayne, in my opinion, seems to have features that allow him quite an amount of leeway in terms of age. He starred in the mini series based off one of my favourite books, Pillars of the Earth (definitely an underrated series I heartily recommended) where he portrays his character as a teen all the way up to a man in his forties/fifties and, in my opinion, is quite believable. I think I have more trouble believing that Eddie Redmayne is 36 than I do believing Newt Scamander is 29/30 (as his birthday is in February, I’m assuming he is 30 during Crimes of Grindelwald) and even if that weren’t the case, I think a six-year difference at those ages can be neither here nor there with some people especially with the right clothes, mannerisms, etc...

Zoë Kravitz – hold on to your hats, a 29-year-old playing a 29-year-old. I haven’t done my in-depth research on the other actors not aforementioned, but I believe this may be the only occurrence of this happening in this film series.

Ezra Miller said that Credence was 18 in an interview. This is probably true, and I would’ve guessed around that age anyway. I think I double checked it on the characters wiki and it matched. As a side note, as a general rule I don’t tend to take the actors words as gospel truth until its confirmed by the writer or director. I feel like, in this film series, there are some actors that get maybe somewhat carried away and speculate rather a lot about their character and sometimes it isn’t entirely accurate. Of course, actors are usually allowed some creative control over their characters and often get little titbits about their past/future that help with their portrayal, but I have noticed some actors’ thoughts about their character don’t add up at all to what the filmmakers have also said and I know which side wins out. A lot of actors are shocked/surprised/disappointed/elated when they find out developments about their character - not even they always know what’s around the corner and sometimes what they think isn’t necessarily true. No matter how deserving, creative or insightful they are about their character, it doesn’t solely belong to them. I think a lot of fans forget this. They go on about ‘so and so said this’ and ‘so and so literally said…’ while blatantly disregarding anything J.K or the FB filmmakers say and again, I know which ones actually run the show. This has nothing to do with Ezra, to be honest, it’s just a quick observation I’ve noticed.  I’m so off topic! Anyway, Credence I would’ve put as a late teen/20-year-old at most from his character and I think Ezra has one of those faces that, like many, can float around in the weird young adolescence stage that you can can’t quite pinpoint whether they’re late teens or mid-twenties (I’m in university and pretty much anyone between 18-27ish is indistinguishable to me). Either way he’d be carded at the uni bar. I think if I met a modern-day Credence Barebone I wouldn’t think twice if he told me he was 18.

Katherine Waterston is the one I am most anxious writing about and the one I’m sure a lot of people are cocked and ready to come after me about. She’s probably also one of my two biggest irks with the age issue. Just to get this out the way, I am not the biggest Tina fan (yet). At first, it was casual indifference. I didn’t (and don’t) hate her, I just didn’t really take to her in the first film (I already have hope that the new film may sway me). It really started as simply as that. I will write a separate post on all my thoughts revolving around this because there are many. All I will say is that if you don’t love Tina or ship Newtina based on the first film, it is a very cruel and vicious fandom to be part of. At least in my experience. But that’s a different issue. Let me say firstly that I think Katherine Waterston is very beautiful and I would be happy to look like that at 38 (obviously not the same as she is very Caucasian and I’m a nut-brown Maori, but you get my point). Obviously, I don’t know how the story will unravel and how important it is but was it absolutely necessary that Tina had to be 25? I think 30 would have been passable. Or even better, she could’ve been a little (or however much) older than Newt? Normalising relationships where the woman is older than the man is something I’m here for (my sister is two years older than her boyfriend – 19 and 21 – and it’s so controversial to people??? But I know lots of relationships in the reversal). That would’ve been my ideal scenario if they had Tina originally set for 25 but discovered they really loved Katherine Waterston and decided it would be inconsequential if they wrote Tina a bit older than originally planned. However, I do think it might be the other way around. Maybe it is important that Tina is 25. This might be one of the reasons why I haven’t yet meshed with this character or either of the Goldsteins for that matter. I do admit that I forget that they are in their early and mid-twenties. I do forget that Tina is (apparently) only 25. I honestly believe that I would have liked – or at least had a lot more understanding and sympathy – for Tina’s character had it been obvious she was so young. I will explain more thoroughly in the separate post I’ll eventually write that, had FB been a book before a movie, I would likely have really enjoyed book!Tina. Please understand this particular opinion isn’t about the actor. I’m just saying that I, personally, feel like it was easy to lose sight of the fact that this character is only 25 when the actor playing her is nearly forty years old. Please don’t twist this and interpret it to being me ‘coming after’ the actor. I don’t know why age is regarded as such an insult. It’s the most beautiful, natural thing. Katherine Waterston is 38. There’s nothing wrong with that. She’s healthy and pretty and could easily pass for younger if she so desired. But again, I think sometimes why I don’t find Tina endearing at all (yet) is because I see (not in terms of the actor, the character) a 38-year-old (or round about) woman acting like a 25-year-old. This might be even harder for me to combat in the next film as she is supposed to be quite younger than newcomers Theseus and Leta (ridiculously younger than Theseus) whose actors are both twenty-somethings joining Ezra as the babies of the cast. Don’t come at me about insulting her about her age. Carmen Ejogo is 45 and she cancelled everyone in FBWTFT. A lot of people grow more and more beautiful with age. Older doesn’t mean less beautiful so let’s put that to rest immediately.

Alison Sudol looks like a fucking earth angel and she was a great Queenie. I loved Queenie’s character. Did I love Queenie as a person? No. There is a difference – again, that ties in with what I’ll eventually write about my feelings about those two. I don’t know Queenie’s age, but she is younger than Tina so at the absolute most she would be 24 but I would wager given the big-little sister dynamic they seem to be following, there’s likely more than a year’s difference. I wouldn’t have thought Queenie was so young had I not known otherwise. There are some who find her character a little more annoying than cute, but I think if she were portrayed by someone who was in fact in their early twenties, she probably wouldn’t have come across as so naïve and a little airy. A lot of development occurs in your twenties and there is a tremendous amount of personal growth by the time you hit thirty. The same issue with Tina I suppose. You can forgive a lot of Queenie’s quirks when you remember how young she is but sometimes it’s easy to forget when physically she seems older. I will have to keep in mind how young and impressionable she is still while watching her actions in Crimes of Grindelwald because again, I think I forget sometimes.

I had no idea how old Jacob was, admittedly. I guessed anywhere between 32-40 (I assumed Jacob and Queenie had a bit of an age gap either way) but I was way off. Apparently, he’s 26. My head is in my hands at this point. I know Jacob’s been through a lot (and I’m not saying Dan Fogler isn’t a cutie!) but if some guy told me he was 26 and I arranged to meet him and Jacob Kowalski (again, based on first impressions. I love Jacob) walked in, I’m calling the fucking police. There is no way he is TWENTY-SIX. I love Jacob and Newts relationship, but I never saw Jacob as being the younger one. The fact that he is younger than Newt, Leta and Theseus (again! 11 years younger than Theseus!) when he looks like he could be their fucking uncle is unreal. I don’t really know why they made Jacob so ludicrously young when there was honestly, in this case, no need. I had to track down his age because it had zero (0) relevance to the film. Only thing I can think of is maybe to make his relationship with Queenie not come across as creepy? Who knows. 

This one really hurts me. Theseus, my poor boy. The FB team really are just gonna swing around and do THAT. Callum Turner is, in my opinion, a great Theseus from what I’ve seen so far. From interviews, it looks like he adores Zoë and he has great chemistry with Eddie. They’ve also done well to find an actor with similar physical characteristics and mannerisms as Eddie Redmayne making him a very believable casting for Newt’s brother. Though later it was revealed that Theseus is supposed to be eight years older than Newt making Theseus 37/38 which I think was completely unexpected for most people. We knew from the first film that Newt was the youngest brother and even with Callum Turner only being 28, I thought with the right clothes and such they could make him look older – or at least old enough to look like he could pass as Newt’s older brother. But nearly forty? With the kind of trauma Theseus has been through not to mention the likely constant drama of his troublesome brother and fiancée (and his brothers’ new friends and extremely messed up future brother-in-law)? Does he exfoliate with the Philosopher’s Stone? Drop that skin case routine, Theseus. Again, I don’t know what the film is going to bring. Perhaps Theseus must be significantly older than Newt for plot related reasons. Maybe for the sake of the story, he had to be old enough to not attend school with Newt, or maybe their father died early on and Theseus had to grow up quickly to fill a father figure void (that could explain the complicated nature of their relationship) or it might be for any number of reasons. My only hope is that it is specifically relevant to his character and not an inconsequential detail that could easily have been adjusted when they cast such a young actor. It can be a risk having a cast of actors in their thirties and forties playing a cast of twenty-somethings convincingly, and I’ve mentioned why, but it can be pulled off though I think it’s a strange move casting an actual twenty-something year old, one of the youngest cast members, to play a character 10+ years older than some of the oldest cast members characters. I think, like with the Goldstein’s, I will have to be constantly reminding myself when understanding the character that Theseus is that much older than Newt and Leta and even more so than Tina, Queenie and Jacob. 

Again, I’m not saying the actors haven’t done a good job with their respective roles, it’s just my 4am cough medicine powered thoughts on how they’ve made some interesting choices regarding what age they’ve kept the characters vs the actors real life ages and how it, for me at least, has affected the way I’ve interpreted the characters and would I feel any different about them had they made the characters similar ages to their actors or vice versa. I might be the only person who has thought about it and it’s not even a complaint on the cast itself (it’s a great collection of actors), it’s just an observation not at all eloquently put by a flu-riddled person. 

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2019) - #153: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) - dir. Quentin Tarantino

(Warning: a little spoiler-ish toward the end.)

I try my best to be an objective viewer of cinema, but in all honesty I anticipated the possibility that I might hate Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood with a burning passion. With the exception of Four Rooms and Grindhouse, I’ve seen every feature film directed by Quentin Tarantino, so I am well acquainted with his strengths and weaknesses; based on the Cannes reviews that I skimmed in springtime, I was uncertain as to whether Tarantino’s latest flick would be a Pulp Fiction triumph or a Hateful Eight disaster, but critical reaction seemed to lean more toward the latter. Imagine my surprise, then, when a friend and I sat in a nearly full screening at BAM last month - an unusually late one for me, 8:30 PM until at least 11:15 - and I found that I liked Hollywood more than not (more detail on the “not” in a moment).

Tarantino uses his new film to dig into the mythology surrounding Charles Manson, his “Family” of followers and the crimes they committed on August 8, 1969, murdering actress Sharon Tate, hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger and writer Wojciech Frykowski. Although Tate is a key part of Tarantino’s story, portrayed sweetly by Margot Robbie, the bulk of the narrative belongs to two fictional characters, washed-up actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). As Rick pogoes between jobs as villains of the week on network TV and villains in Spaghetti Westerns shot in Italy, Cliff divides his time between chauffeuring Rick around town and doing odd jobs for his boss/best friend. In between tasks, Cliff often spots an attractive young woman called Pussycat (Margaret Qualley) on LA’s wide boulevards, stretching her thumb out for rides to a place called the Spahn Movie Ranch. Unbeknownst to Cliff until he picks Pussycat up for a drive, the ranch has been overtaken by the Manson Family and George Spahn (Bruce Dern) is mistreated by the lot of them, most of all by “Squeaky” Fromme (Dakota Fanning in an exceptionally creepy performance). Cliff doesn’t know it yet, but he and Rick are on a collision course fated to intersect with the plans that the gang has for Rick’s next door neighbor, Sharon Tate.

Perhaps it sounds as though Cliff Booth is the most important of the three protagonists, but for sheer entertainment value, Rick Dalton has no peers. He may be a hack in the universe of OUATIH, yet in the real world the role is one of the finest of Leonardo DiCaprio’s three-decade-long career. Tarantino knows how to get performances out of Leo that provoke him to grow as an actor; his work in this film and Django Unchained are much more impressive to me than the nonsense that went on in one of Martin Scorsese’s worst messes, The Wolf of Wall Street. The loudly comedic sides of Rick’s day-to-day routines are enjoyable, but the scene that snuck up on me in OUATIH is the one in which precocious child actress Trudi (Julia Butters) tells Rick how much she respects the choices he made in a scene they had just shot for a TV Western, resulting in tears rolling down Rick’s face after Trudi walks away. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen at the movies this year.

I can’t fault Tarantino for his reliance on star power. Everywhere you look in OUATIH, there’s a recognizable face: besides the aforementioned actors, the cast also includes Emile Hirsch (who I will never forgive for choking and nearly strangling a female film executive in 2015), Timothy Olyphant, Austin Butler (he’s excellent as the disturbed Tex Watson), Mike Moh, Luke Perry (RIP), Damian Lewis, Al Pacino (hamming it up so much as a Jewish agent that it’s basically a stereotype), Samantha Robinson, Lena Dunham, Mikey Madison (I kept asking myself “who is that????” until I checked the cast afterward and realized she’s one of the daughters on “Better Things”), Maya Hawke, a very pregnant Danielle Harris, Scoot McNairy, Clifton Collins Jr., Clu Gulager, Rebecca Gayheart, Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Michael Madsen and Brenda Vaccaro, just to name a few. There are plenty of reasons to be interested in such a huge assemblage of talent.

I’ll also admit that there were three scenes that I considered genuinely moving. The incorporation of José Feliciano‘s cover of “California Dreamin’“ and a strings-heavy version of the Rolling Stones song “Out of Time” were highlights of the movie, while the moment when the film’s title slowly appeared onscreen in the final scene actually caused me to cry. It is apparent that Tarantino wanted to construct a tribute to Sharon Tate and her friends, the victims of a hateful group of monsters. I struggle, though, with piecing together the points Tarantino was trying to make besides the obvious one that those innocent people should not have died. What do we gain from the barely-there presence of Tate’s husband, Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), in the narrative? Is his jerky air supposed to indicate the behavior that would lead to the sexual assault he committed in 1977? And what about the heinous amounts of violence that are perpetrated against women in the third act? Is Tarantino’s vision of retribution one in which it’s OK to hurt “bad” women because he sees it as justified? Is Brad Pitt seriously going to earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination for bludgeoning a female member of the Manson Family - a woman whose beliefs may have stemmed from being brainwashed by the cult leader and his disciples - to a bloody pulp?

Despite the glaring flaws that support my misgivings, I still say that Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is one of the better-crafted films that Tarantino has made in recent years. It has problems for sure, but at least Tarantino’s thesis statement wasn’t “hey, isn’t being nostalgic for the way things used to be in 1960s Hollywood (and, to a larger degree, America) so great?” The film shows the sunny optimism of Sharon Tate, starlet and mother-to-be, but it also depicts the ugliness and sadness of the Dream Factory, where hopes fade and end up in reruns on Saturday night. Of course Tarantino wanted to rewrite the script... who wouldn’t?

[weekendwarriorblog]

ED’s Not Quite So Important Thoughts on FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD (No Spoilers!)

Someday, someone will do an in-depth study about sequels – what makes them work and what doesn’t work – because these days, a sequel is either going to match what made the previous movie(s) so popular, or more than likely, it’s going to fall flat on its face.

I think the jury is still out on the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by JK Rowling as the next movie in her “Wizarding World” series. The thing is that The Crimes of Grindelwald, named after the evil magician (or Pureblood) played by Johnny Depp, has a lot of the same elements as the first movie – writer, director, producer and most of the cast – but then goes off in a completely different direction from what was so enjoyable about that movie in the first place.

From the title, it’s obvious we’re going to begin things with Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald, locked away by the American Ministry of Magic, but quickly escaping in an action setpiece so confusing to follow one wonders if anyone watching it will know what’s happening. There’s a few of those in this movie.

After his antics in the first movie, Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander has been banned from travelling abroad by the British Ministry of Magic, but then he learns that Tina (Katherine Waterston) has returned to being an Auror and is going after Ezra Miller’s Creedence in Paris… for some reason that’s unclear. Newt enlists the help of the younger Aldus Dumbledore (Jude Law) to travel to Paris himself along with his Muggle pal Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who wants to find his own girlfriend and Tina’s sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). If that isn’t confusing enough, there’s others looking for Grindelwald, including Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner) who is also now engaged to marry Newt’s ex-girlfriend Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz), which might not matter much to anyone because neither of those characters even appeared in the first movie.

And therein lies many of The Crimes of Grindelwald’s biggest issues, because there are just too many characters to keep track of, as you try to figure out why anyone cares about Creedence, why recapturing Grindelwald isn’t a bigger deal to everyone, and then there’s all sorts of subsidiary characters including an Asian woman who turns into a snake for no particular reason.

Thankfully, Ezra Miller’s Creedence isn’t nearly as creepy as he was in the first movie -- he’s still pretty creepy -- but he also plays a larger part in the story, a part that’s so vague and confusing until the very end. Grindelwald’s plans are also a little too enigmatic – does he want to kill all Muggles, does he want to separate the Purebloods from the “mixed race” wizards? If you were able to figure that out before the last act almost two hours into the movie, please let me know.

As I said before, the movie goes off on quite a dark tangent from the first movie, and I’m not sure that viewing Jacob and Queenie’s relationship through a darker lens made much sense, because it immediately takes away from the humor they provided in the first movie. Likewise, the awkward relationship between Newt and Tina never really develops beyond the first movie, and frankly, Redmayne and Waterston look terrible on-screen together.

That’s kind of a bummer because I genuinely like Eddie Redmayne and what he brings to the character of Newt, but time and time again, it comes down to Newt’s menagerie of creatures to save the movie -- everything from the adorable Nifflers to a giant and fierce creature who is easily tamed with a toy shaken in front of him. (Sorry, I can’t remember the names of all the creatures, but there are quite a few new ones, and they’re always a joy to watch.)

I also really liked Jude Law as Dumbeldore, but after his first very brief appearance, we don’t get to see him for another hour. At least then it’s back at Hogwarts (yay!) where we see him training the next generation of wizards. Leta Lestrange’s contribution to the already-confusing plot includes a flashback to her own time at Hogwarts where she first connects with Newt. But having this strange overlapping love-triangle between Newt, his brother Theseus, Tina and Leta just never pays off in the way some might be hoping, and that might be one of the biggest failings of this movie. Spending a good ten minutes trying to explain Lestrange’s lineage via exposition that tries to explain who Creedence really is could be considered another one of the movie’s missteps.

It’s hard to determine who is to blame for this, because even though Rowling is still a relatively novice screenwriter, she still had long-time Potter crafters Davids Yates and Heyman to keep things on track. Maybe their ultimate vision of Fantastic Beasts as a series of five movies that one or two of them will be necessary as set-up for future movies, and that seems to be the case with The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Let’s talk about Johnny Depp as Grindelwald, a character that appeared for but a moment in the first movie, but this movie obviously relies a lot more on the character being an intense menace. The whole time you’re watching this, it’s hard to avoid the onus of Depp’s off-screen antics to the point where it’s hard to even determine where this performance falls within his filmography. I will say that Depp’s Grindelwald has quite a long way to go if he wants to equal Ralph Fiennes’ brilliance as Voldemort from the Harry Potter series, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for at least one more movie, because like every good franchise, this one ends in a place that leaves you wanting more.

When you have a movie that gets so much darker than its predecessor, and it takes adorable CG creatures to win the audience back every few minutes, you have to think that maybe you’ve strayed too far from why the original concept work. If nothing else, The Crimes of Grindelwald sets up some intriguing building blocks for the next movie, which hopefully will introduce even more fantastic beasts.

Rating: 7/10 (And that’s only because I love the Niffler… this rating would be much lower if the Niffler wasn’t so adorable.)