#also they retcon him wanting to be a farmer so idk lol

[capinejghafa]

i kind of want to work on a mal set as he’s gotten very little love this season and archie really do a good job.

[bisluthq]

yall still running with this cheating narrative is very tired btw

zero evidence of her physically cheating but you guys are ready to die on the hill that she did…not that it matters but your bias is showing in the way you talk about joe vs taylor

how many times do we have to go though the storyline in order for you to understand this finally?

joe checked out in 2021, taylor felt neglected, hurt and started mourning the relationship but still stayed. matty came back into her life, initiated every single interaction, even when she wasn’t responding (his words). taylor reached a point where her thoughts of what couldve been with matty started to take over and she gave into his attempts at reconciliation…guilty as sin. emotional involvement? sure. actual, physical cheating? nah.

can you blame her tho? your partner has started putting his career before you, you sense that he doesnt love you anymore, you try but he keeps pulling away. your ex from 8 years ago starts sending you love songs and implying that you have unfinished business. he starts telling you all the things he knows you want - marriage, babies, PUBLIC SUPPORT. you either stay in a shitty relationship, miserable or you break up and start pursuing someone who promises you the perfect life…choice was very easy.

joe couldve broken up with her anytime if he was so damn miserable, taylor loved that man so much that she was willing to give up everything for him and he didnt even have the decency to be honest with her about how he felt….

but we don’t know Joe was miserable dude. He hasn’t said that. We also don’t know that in his mind he checked out in 2021. We do know he took Stars at Noon which really hurt her but like he was also justified for that because it was a VERY cool opportunity and she loves HER career so idk that she wouldn’t have done the same. Taylor’s never missed opportunities she really wanted and were available to her tbh and I don’t think ever would. If she was upset he did still want a career, it’s giving Joe J’s gripes with Sophie and Ballerina Farmer girl’s husband but with genders reversed. So she can follow all her dreams but he can’t? Ok. That doesn’t seem that fair. Her being upset about his lack of commitment to planning, which is a hallmark of his personality and chosen career, is fair but like he still needed to follow his own dreams/heart? We were literally discussing how Ballerina Farmer girl’s husband stole her dreams and how it’s unfair that they just live per his dream with a little sprinkling of what she wants but that’s how you want Joe to have lived? Idk.

“matty came back into her life, initiated every single interaction, even when she wasn’t responding (his words)” - his words can’t be trusted tbh (he also previously explicitly verbatim said they didn’t date in 2014 and then retconned that to the truth a decade later). He can’t have initiated every single interaction because she asked him to collab on Midnights lol so like unless he just stormed into the room uninvited and started singing and dancing around she… initiated some of it.

actually no one brings up physical cheating because we don’t know and seeing as how we’re not Matty or Taylor we can’t be sure (even their friends likely can’t be because they wouldn’t have fucked in the studio nor would they necessarily have told the truth either way so…) but we KNOW they had an emotional affair soooo that’s cheating lol. That’s the same thing.

The takes I most like are “Joe fucked up and so did Taylor” but your take is very “🥺🥺 poor Taylor” and idk that that’s not YOUR bias.

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 31: Orphan Black 2x02

This was a good ep but I feel like I wasn’t paying enough attention... I can’t just give my undivided focus to anything more. That’s probably bad.

I’m also fading VERY fast.

Art learned about the clones damn fast lol. I guess they weren’t interested in teasing that out anymore--or just couldn’t afford to--or just realized it wasn’t feasible that he wouldn’t have figured anything out after meeting, like, 5 clones. I was ready for him to know, but it feels anticlimactic.

I do like him and Sarah as a Detective Duo, though, even though their time together in this ep was pretty short, and they didn’t really do that much... They had the right Attitude, though.

I did not remember at all the twist with Kira and Mrs. S. So that was fun. I just love Mrs. S so much and I think I love her even more on this rewatch. She’s just so consistently badass... I don’t know, I don’t have deep commentary about it. But I love her whole thing, her radical politics and her love of children, her networks of people, her sneak ways... How at the end of it all she unconditionally and completely loves and would do anything for Sarah, Felix, and Kira. It was also cool seeing a bit more of Sarah’s and her family’s history. Honestly I just feel like I could watch a whole show that’s just about them.

I’d forgotten the twist also, though at least some of it came back when S stabbed her friends’ hands with a fork and a knife. Hard to totally forget that. I did feel very bad that her friends had betrayed her, and that as a consequence, she’d come very close to putting her granddaughter (and daughter) in harm’s way, as she’d JUST pointed out she never did. Plus, to do the sort of things she did, she had to have a lot of trust in her associates, and to see them just turn on her for... money? Very sad.

I remember that Mrs. S is in fact one of the good ones, and I remember the (fairly clearly retconned) connection between her mother and the clones, but other than that, I can’t remember what she knew and when. I feel like they’re already retconning her level of knowledge/involvement a little? Or maybe it was planned out that way from the beginning and I just don’t personally like it. That is a possibility. But it READS like ‘hey, we’re halfway through the story, wouldn’t it be cool’ type rewriting rather than a ‘wow, what a twist! everything really is coming together and making even more sense now,’ galaxy-brain style reveal.

I would also watch a whole show about Alison, still. Nothing really new to say about her but like... I continue to love all aspects I have previously loved. How she calls her adoptive brother Felix when she needs help. Her ridiculous play. (Okay, I do cringe, but what a ballsy move for the show as a whole.) Her relationship with slightly doofusy but ultimately good-hearted Donnie. “I think I need to keep drinking, then I’ll come up with an idea.” Her kids stealing the funeral flowers. “Breathe from the sacrum” (extra cringe in this the year 2021 tbqh.)

But also a special shout out in this episode to Leekie, still, I’m just gonna say it, the best villain, stepping out of his usual role today to be comic relief. Leekie trying to wrangle Donnie just made my whole week. “Donald, stop talking.” “That’s the wrong Sarah.” He’s having a hard time being evil OR charismatic trying to deal with the Hendrixes lol.

I had a flickering of interest in Cosima’s story line today, around the time she joked about “keeping the clones” in the basement. Idk, something about the concept of a cloned scientist researching clones. This big biotech company with a secret cloning project,employing one of its own clones... I dunno, I still don’t like Cosima much, and I HATE Delphine, and I don’t get why Cosima and Delphine are a thing (are we never going to address the fucking Leekie thing? Like how she was literally fucking Leekie? I’m going to bring it up every time...)--but there are isolated good moments I guess.

I can’t remember much about Rachel... did she want a kid? I feel like she does. Does she (actually) kidnap Kira at some point...? Or something?

And...Helena. I can’t keep all the Prolethians straight to be honest. I think I just assumed they were all kinda... the same. That’s how I remembered it. But I guess they had to switch out Tomas for... smarter, farmer!Tomas in order to explain why Helena wasn’t killing clones anymore and also to... broaden the Prolethian threat a little. Make them more interesting. Tomas wasn’t very imaginative. I’m not necessarily saying I find them interesting... but I do think Tomas had outlived his creepiness, so to speak.

I’m also having all these flashbacks to Gracie and her, like, whole-ass personal story line... Did she run away with one of the male clones? Mark?

Today’s excellent outfits: Sarah’s, Alison’s (at the graveyard), Delphine’s.

Next ep we finally get to Cal!! I admit Cal is the main thing I remember of this entire season... I love him so much. M A J O R step up from Paul. Also he and Donnie are the only valid clone love interests.

[lesbow]

my thoughts on the croods 2 so far

based on literally NOTHING but the trailer so even i’m taking all this with a grain of salt

the art:

GOOD: the colors are gorgeous. TC was always a vibrantly breathtaking movie and luckily the second seems to be the same

BAD: i’m disappointed with the clothes. at the end of the first movie, the croods excluding guy got huge wardrobe changes to highlight they were not the same people they were in the beginning. but sadly the sequel seems to have??? cut that out entirely as the family are in their caveman clothes again.

GOOD: i like how the faces are more...... refined? the eyes look more natural and have neater lines. and i also like that the face shapes have been tweaked a little too. those that needed sharper features (eep’s face in the first movie was literally a circle) got them, and those that needed smoother and more rounded features (guy used to have the Anime Triangle Jaw) got them too.

BAD: this also comes with a negative though. as someone already pointed out, although their faces look neater, they also look a little too neat. all of guy’s blemishes are gone. actually, everyones blemishes are gone.

BAD: also, their hair! in the first movie, everybody’s hair is messy. it’s the wilderness! they don’t have combs. but in the trailer, guy’s hair looks like it was literally put into a straightener. and this is before he went through the betterman transformation. a side by side of what they did to guy (they butchered my boy!!) is in the post i already linked. it’s nuts

GOOD: another thing about the character designs i DID like was ugga. most of the girls/women’s faces in the first movie were round, soft, and wide eyed. ugga’s face in the trailer now has more variation to it. she has high, sharp cheekbones, her eyes are narrower, chin more pointed. the women do not just have “soft” facial features anymore. i like that theres more variety between them.

GOOD: i love the farm and domesticated animals. the wildlife has always always been one of my favorite things about the world of the croods and they deliver on it once again (black and white furry elephants!!!)

BAD: there’s a downside to this part too tho and i will direct all of that towards douglas. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO HIM?!?!? he looks completely different in a bad way. he looks simple. i look at douglas in the trailer and see an easy-to-make toy. the colors are simple and no longer ombré, his teeth are more rounded and claws nonexistent. he doesn’t look anything like a tiny crocodile creature anymore, and more like a toy store plushie come to life. look at him in the trailer and then look at him in a pic from the first movie and then look me in my eyes and tell me they didn’t ruin my boy.

now about the actual plot:

BAD: why are the croods “searching for a perfect place to call home”? why is guy so eager to stay at the farm?? yes, guy is an inventor so new technology would interest him, but he was way more focused and concerned abt making it to Tomorrow. at the end of the first movie, they all agreed to become nomads and stay on the move, following the sun. a theme they explored was that home was not a place/“a cave”, and is actually just about being with the people you love. so why would they want to..... settle all of a sudden? eep ofc still wants to get out and grug doesn’t like strange things, but the others are like in love with the place?? i have to say with all these things so far it’s almost like they’re trying to scrap the end of the first movie entirely and just base the sequel off the beginning to middle sections. which is kinda disheartening since the end was so beautiful and made me tear up.

GOOD: i like that there’s another family, especially a mom, dad, and a daughter. i LOVE the fact that eep now has a friend her age and it looks like they develop a great relationship!! i desperately hope the same happens with ugga and the mom, and maybe grug and the other dad can bond too. all 3 of them, while having extremely different lifestyles, have very similar roles, and could confide in and relate to one another.

BAD: again, my biggest concern is the backtrack. in the trailer, grug is wary and upset with his family for growing attached to strangers. just like he was in the first movie with guy. “i don’t know if cave people belong in a modern world” they’re not cave people anymore. they’ve already developed past that in the first movie. “this place is changing everyone” grug is still afraid of change?!?? he got over this in the first movie too! so not only have they backtracked with the clothes, but also with the character arcs. this is a little worrying. how loosely connected is this sequel??

GOOD: nonetheless, i do think the croods encountering farmers is interesting. so far, they’ve only known that you can either be a caveman or a nomad. being neither is an entirely new concept to them, and it will be interesting to see how they deal with this third lifestyle.

BAD: WHAT HAPPENED TO RIDING THE SUN?!? i’m sorry, i’m just struggling to wrap my head around why the croods would be so ready to settle down. they had a plan. they were gonna follow the sun until they “caught it” and then ride it to Tomorrow. so what happened? especially with guy?!?!? that was literally his life’s most important goal. sooo.....????????

GOOD: while i was busting a lung, one of my friends suggested that the plot this time could be about “remembering one’s roots”. like how the theme for the first movie was that change and moving forward is good, so the sequel could now be about how, although progress is good, it’s also important to remember where you come from. i think this could be an interesting storyline if they do it right.

extra thoughts:

BAD: where are the other pets? the owl bear? the liyotes?? the land whale??? they didn’t go extinct bc the croods rode off into the sunrise with them. so Where Are They?????? did they get erased to?

GOOD: i definitely like the revamped betterman designs. apparently they looked completely different before and i very much prefer their looks now. i’m tired of the “blond, conventionally attractive character(s) think they’re better than others” trope. the bettermans look more like regular people and take pride in the technology they’ve created. i especially like how racially ambiguous they are, as i know this was one of the points the first movie got praised on too. (i do think goth!dawn wouldve been a cool contrast to eep’s bubbliness tho)

NEUTRAL: okay so this is based on both the trailer and fan theories. ive seen a few people wonder if the bettermans are actually guy’s long lost family since they look a lot like him, especially with their affinity for technology. while i don’t think this is a bad theory, i don’t know if i’d want it? idk it’s hard for me to explain but it feels like we’ve already covered guy and his family’s past. can you even imagine the convo lol. guy: “omg you guys are alive!!? i thought you’d been gruesomely drowned to death by tar!!!” / them: “oh no we just hopped right out of that. so anyways” like?!?!??? idk it would just feel...... idk. i think it’s unnecessary. (the theory that dawn is their adopted daughter and is actually guy’s last remaining relative/sister is interesting tho)

conclusion:

good total -> 8 points

bad total -> also 8 points

final thoughts -> so yeah. all in all i’m excited for this!! i love the croods and the themes and subtle little touches they had in the first movie, and am interested to see what they do in the second. unfortunately, it looks like a few things got retconned which is very concerning. i both like and dislike the new art/designs, and am very interested in the dynamic between the bettermans and the croods.

and reminder: i’m taking even my own first impression with a grain of salt (a very, very tiny one) since we’ve seen literally only one trailer so far. these are just my thoughts based on what we have. they might change as more things get released, or they might stay solid. who knows! anything goes until the movie actually comes out.

(also pink!belt will be the death of me)