#anyway i love cyrano lol

[skrunksthatwunk]

so i read cyrano today. here's some parts i thought were funny in/out of context

cyrano's debut comes with bullying an actor he doesn't like offstage. two acts later he sends a band of musicians after him just to get them off his hands. he also tells them to tell this actor he sent them

and, of course, marmaladegate

[obstinaterixatrix]

alicia mentioned having trouble figuring out usopp’s nose & I was like oh there’s this filipino musical based on cyrano and the actor has a nose prosthetic that looks exactly like usopp’s, you might be able to use the promo pics or video clips as a reference. anyway mula sa buwan is an interesting show, look into it if you have the chance

[gayofthefae]

My surprise at the I love you speech was mostly sourced at my first watch casual interpretation of Byler.

Why is Mike behaving this way towards Will? Oh, he reciprocates and is being defensive about it. That would make since. The one thing is how are they gonna break down is relationship with El?...................

oh. like that.

So I really thought it was a done deal I was like "I can't see where this is going but of the two, who has a shittier arc if Mike doesn't have feelings for them. That's who he ends up with" and then was like ok that's the what I just don't know the "how" and then the next episode they GAVE ME THE HOW. So my huge confusion was that the ily speech essentially TOOK AWAY THE HOW???

The thing about that is taking away the "how" doesn't contradict the "what". I knew Byler was endgame when I believed Mike could tell El he loved her in 4x02 just as much as I did at the end of 4x09.

But it's funny because since 4x02, my thought has never been "wow, guess they aren't doing Byler!" It was "wow, guess they're taking a different route to Byler than I expected!"

It makes sense though in retrospect. In simple terms, the pieces were falling into place too early and they need to get together in season 5. (I also didn't know there was a season 5 + past seasons have never had cliff hangers so that adds to it I guess lol). I was taken aback because I understood the destination with my only apprehension being - honestly just curiosity about the path. Then they laid down a path. Then they were like "haha lol that path was unrelated! Psych!" and I was left curious "what's the path then?" with the additional question "what was that for?"

And then I remembered Cyrano and the rest is history but the POINT IS. Since believing in it, aside from occasional queerbait fear, I have never had Byler doubt based on ANYTHING in the story. Nothing in Netflix's "Stranger Things" has given me Byler doubt. I was only surprised to be wrong at how they were getting together.

I thought they were doing the "Mike notices Will overenthusiastically correcting his self-deprecation" romance trope when they were doing Cyrano so I was confused. But as I always say, they were only failing at a goal they didn't have. Was that a failure to execute that romance trope? Yes! Because they were never trying to! I may consider it doubt, actually, during the confession, but then because nothing else resolved in the season either I was like "Oh...that wasn't supposed to be it oh ok that makes more sense"

Anyway, now I know that and this is a long winded way of saying the only incorrect predictions I ever had in regards to Byler were how they would get together. From the second Byler was introduced to me as a viable option of an ending, Milkvan felt entirely illogical as an option and only proved to be moreso as the season progressed. Byler is endgame. Sometimes I'm wrong about how, but that isn't Byler doubt. It's an adjustment and then we are back, baby. The biggest proof against Byler is what I interpreted on my watch (once I realized there would be a season 5) as "a different direction to Byler than I originally thought".

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Okay preliminary Indigo Disk thoughts:

-Don't forget about the Master Ball Mystery Gift!

-The second I got the Indigo Style Card I flew around seeing what was new, felt like there wasn't a whole lot but a lot of what is there is good

-I love Cyrano, he gives me strong Cabanela vibes, anyway play Ghost Trick

-The Terarium is pretty cool! Pleased to see there's only around 60 Pokemon in the Blueberry Dex that could already be caught, it was so weird landing in Kitakami and already being half done

-Perrin! :D I figured/hoped she'd be back but damn they wasted no time lol, I like that her asking you to catch more Pokemon is given a sensible justification this time

-I didn't pay Lacey much mind in pre-release, but seeing her in action, yeah she cute. And apparently her father is an Unova Gym Leader?? Like, a new one? She doesn't have a super strong resemblance to anyone from Gen V as far as I can remember, but...

-The items just lying around the Terarium are kinda insane. Like, one sparkle will be MULTIPLE Quick Balls or Full Restores. Loving that.

-The vending machine being a one-stop shop is actually pretty nice, mixed feelings about the self-serve healing since it puts Nurse Joy out of a job

[fenharel-apologist94]

a Tag Game Tuesday: The MySpace Survey ⭐️

I was tagged by @salesmain!! :D This looks like so much fun, thank you!!

Answers beneath the read more!

what’s your name? I don't really want to share my actual name, but I go by Icy online :) <3

your sun sign: Capricorn

the last song you listened to: Healing Termina by Theophany - I just put Spotify on shuffle while writing lol

what are you wearing right now? My pjs bc I should be sleeping BUT

how tall are you?  5'3" (RIP to me)

piercings? Lobe piercings and a conch piercing in my right ear! I used to have two helix studs but I got them right before the pandemic and the straps on my masks irritated them so much that they never fully healed ;w; I had to call it after 2 years of them not healing, and maybe one day I'll get them re-pierced

tattoos? Yes! I'm addicted! I have a sunflower/bee tattoo, a flower, a demon-fox, and sprigs of lavender on my left arm - I'm trying to fill out that arm as my budget allows

glasses? contacts? I am,,,, so blind. I wear glasses and I need to update my prescription because I've let it go so long that I probably shouldn't be driving when its dark

last drink? Chamomile lavender tea to hopefully make me sleepyyy

last thing you ate? Spanish curry rice with beef and spinch

favourite colour? This one's hard for me, but I'll say Dreadwolf purple bc it's on brand and I do genuinely love it

any pets? I have two cats! Starbucks is a black cat (and if you're following me on my main blog, he's my pfp!), and he's a senior cat who just loves cuddles and food. We joke that I'm his Emotional Support Human because he loves being where I am and will smother me if given half a chance. Our other cat, Shoresy, is a tuxedo kitty and he's so full of love and also so full of fear ;w; He will come trotting over for cuddles but he's also very skiddish.

do you have a crush on anyone? YEGH it's my husband XD

favourite fictional character?  I, um. I have this brain disease, you see. It makes me incredibly and irrationally attached to a sentient egg named Solas and I'm legally obligated financial compensation from BioWare for emotional damage.

a movie you think everyone should watch: Secondhand Lions - this movie wrecks me every time because it's about coming of age and found family and grumpy old men who found themselves with a kid they didn't want but ended up loving anyway. Takes me out every time.

a book you think everyone should read: It's not really a book, but it's a play. Cyrano de Bergerac. In hindsight, I seem to have a thing for witty, tragic men who don't think they're worth anything :')

the last place you traveled: Boston! I had my first lobster roll and I went to heaven.

something you’re looking forward to: whenever I'm able to get more than five hours of sleep hhhhhhh

—

I tag @beastofmoss, @transprincecaspian and @vahingoniloinenlapsi if you feel like you would like to do this! :D

[cluelessbees]

Ayo I’m just making a masterpost for all my theories/analyses:

Crazy Together and Mike’s Swing Monologue

S4E4 Bedroom Scene Script Analysis

Will/El/Mike Love Triangle and Cyrano de Bergerac

The Party and the Five Man Band Trope

Mike’s Confession is not the Resolution to an Arc

Plot Twists in Stranger Things and Byler/Mainly Mike (Pt. 1)

Plot Twists in Stranger Things and Byler/Mainly Mike (Pt. 2)

**Incomplete Analysis Series**

El & Mike Analysis Part 1: El’s POV

El & Mike Analysis Part 2: El’s Relationships

I need to finish this analysis lol

Anyways I’ll update this as I go—

[ficuscircus]

I LOVE HOW THEY BOTH LOOK SURPRISED!!! I LOVE HOW THEY BOTH GET CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT!!!! I love their I Fucked Up Big Times™ faces!!! I love how awkward the kiss was (a stationary prolonged smack, WHO does that, if you're gonna stay against each other's lips for more than three seconds add a little tongue ffs, or at least give it some MOTION idk)!!! I love the carousel shot, reaaaaaally brings all the Manège/Tourbillon de l'Amour vibes 😍😍😍

And I love that they ended on THAT shot instead of instantly bringing a resolution, be it Morgane running away, pulling him in for another kiss, yelling at him, etc, I LOVE that it's unresolved because this is just a GOLDMINE of possibilities for a fic writer, I've already plotted and read so many different outcomes, this is the season finale open ending of my dreams honestly ❤️❤️❤️

Also: #here it almost looks like the beginning of a relationship and we don't want that do we?

-> You truly are an angst gremlin and I love you for it 😂

Now I’m just picturing you standing on the deck, screaming "ADD A LITTLE TONGUE" at the top of your lungs 🤣

From a Watsonian POV, I couldn't have used a better word than "awkward," lol. They kiss like teenagers who've only ever read about this before 😂 (Cette scène c'est la définition même du baiser chaste… Lancelot would be proud)

It’s an interesting choice from a Doylist POV too, imo: the kiss lasts so long because it feels like time is stretching out, and they stare at each other wordlessly for an eternity because the world has stopped turning around them… We're shown emotion rather than fact! Je repense à cette scène de Laurence Anyways où le personnage se prend une douche froid métaphorique. Same here! I think it applies to the dancing scene in ep. 7, too: the floor lamp dims visibly because suddenly it’s just the two of them, sheltered from the rest of the world. Bref, j’aime beaucoup la réal de Djibril Glissant, hoping he comes back for more episodes 🤞

I getcha on the open ending! (and I’m very glad to hear it’s so fertile fic-wise 👀👀) But imagine either of them turning away at the last second while "Knowing Me, Knowing You" plays… 😈😍

Speaking of angst: what if, riddled with guilt (😈😈😈), Morgane becomes Karadec & Roxane’s #1 supporter overnight, helping Adam out in all his ~romantic ventures? À la Cyrano… I mean, Roxane s’appelle Roxane, la réf est déjà là 😂

[saint-cecilias]

me @ my husband since i discovered the Cyrano soundtrack:

[inevitably-johnlocked]

I've always been curious if Martin's nose was his own or a prosthetic in the Hobbit because it's such a cute little snub nose anyway but somehow it looks a bit different as Bilbo and then I came across an interview with him that made me laugh!

"It was sort of gradual. Bilbo went through a few phases. There were a couple of noses for Bilbo," said Freeman, who plays lead hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

"The ideas of him having a more snub nose or a slightly Cyrano de Bergerac-shaped nose [were considered] and then it was decided my nose was weird enough. "

Weird enough lol 🤣 it's not weird it's adorable just like the rest of him!

Hey Nonny!

HAHHAHHAHA AWWWW I love silly little tidbits like this!! hahah! I think it’s cute that you needed to know this LOL. Thanks for sharing!! <3

[benevadeca]

SAW the new cyrano movie and wow i liked it! anyway thoughts about it under the cut as it's like the 4th adaptation i've seen of cyrano lol.

so yeah in a lot of respects i do still prefer the national theater live's version in its rap translation thing. very obvious that these are two different adaptations that focused on different aspects of the source material made for different intents.

overall it was fun, i liked it! very artsy. one of roxane's songs was like kinda weird horny but it's the u know. romantic period drama sensuality and it was like at least tastefully done so eh! makes her a more understandable character than how she appears in most versions where it just feels like she wants to be in a better book club lmao

i DO think the musical adaptation of it was like, a good translation of a historical work for a modern non-french audience. but the songs, while fun and good and artsy, were kind of still at the same time sorta? idk generically...not Hollywood but idk. like songs u hear and go "yeah this is part of a musical"

[spoilers after this]

like cyrano the movie focusing on the romance plotline and the whole societal expectations/body image thing. loved the leitmotif of like, i forget the wording but "everyone wants to be loved for who they are" basically. the parallels betw christian and cyrano's deaths were rly good!

kind of mixed feelings on both of their death's honestly? but to focus on positives the parallel between christian sort of. giving up on roxane "i only want to be loved if it's for myself, and what roxane loves isn't me" and uhhh running into bullets basically. that paralleled with cyrano's "i have given up and am dying today". like it is the extreme lack of faith and emotional low that makes them easy pickings. i def had other thoughts but they are eluding me i need to marinate them a bit more maybe

but yeah on the cons side, i do think w/ the changes they made to cyrano's death scene (him getting his epic 10 seconds of mutual love and mouth on mouth), while more uh "positive" than other versions sort of undercuts the "tragedy" title of it. missed connections, too much has happened between the beginning and where we are now, cyrano's refusal to let go of his own pride and penchant for drama to fully accept its reciprocacy.

tho on that not his "and i loved...my pride" line was raw and epic it's like yes the realization all too late that you are your own worst enemy, you might've said you loved her but it was your inability to love yourself that affected your relationships with others, made it so you could never actually have any real faith in the person you love, that it was your simultaneous idolization and denegration of her image that got in the way. etc etc etc.

but yeah ANYWAY like it's bc the focus of the movie was fully on the romance and not any of the other themes that christian kind of got a worse deal than he usually does it almost feels like. like, the scenes he got were good ofc, but how he was fully cut out of the entire finale almost and basically just a prop for said 10 seconds of happiness that don't usually occur. also im still confused on that sequencing from christian's dead body to jesus i still don't get it but another thing marinating in my mind.

this is all to say ig that nothing goes as raw as national theater live having his dead body on the floor and then his actor physically between them in the entire end scene. also like idk there could've been just a little more of a focus on the "war is hell and it is the boys who never got to grow to be anything more than boys" bit

List of things cut:

OK so they cut a LOT from the original bc the original has that "art is controlled and censored by the people in power when it should be used to fight for the people" subplot, so basically everything from that is cut. which i get bc of time constrains w/ movies compared to theater productions, and like the director being the pride and prejudice director and the entire marketing of the movie being on the romance aspect of it and not that. so yeah i get the rationale! but sad tho

tbh i dont think it even explained specifically WHY cyrano said fuck that guy to montfleury in the beginning the whole convo cyrano had w his bro abt it just centered on roxane, and the "cyrano getting into a fight in the night to save his bro" scene was also subsequently refitted

cyrano's boyz night scene where he's dramatically reinacting his fight the previous night :( like instead it just has him angstily boxing in the corner which doesn't showcase his extreme chadness. also christian's introduction as just being kind of a mouthy brat lol

degich? i can never remember or spell his name but bitchy rich, they cut out his "war is bad and it's made me a better person" redemption arc but who cares so lol. moving on <3

roxane's epic girlboss moment was cut out. SAD. and subsequently the scene w/ the baker being a recurring character was ALSO cut out. quite the loss but ig they at least showcase roxane's ability to be an active character in other scenes so not a total loss

both of cyrano's moon monologues :( sad! also the timeskip being dramatically shorter and only three years. i do think switching his gradual health decline to be A-actualy consequences from the war and B-less him refusing to stop pissing people off without accepting help from others to just full inability to take care of himself. like yes really showcase his issues and also that poverty and its consequences exists outside of an aesthetic backdrop

Favorite changes things:

there was a musical/dance number in the bakery :) we only got to see the baker in that initial scene but love him

boyz night did get cut but the christian musical number kind of fucked hard so all is forgiven actually

OK depending on the variation the way cyrano dies changes, like he gets assassinated in diff ways so in one they drop bricks on him or smth and in another a carriage runs him over. (im p sure it's the 1990?) i think they referenced the carriage running him over version bc they had post-timeskip him walking and a carriage barrel pass and him collapse as it does (like. not it running him over just these two seperate events framed together) and i was like haha...i get the reference. kinda mean but i did laugh in the theater a little i was like brooooo

OH the movie starts not w in the theater but w roxane getting ready for it! so yeah epic girlboss moments. she didn't get to be angry at the very end like she was in the national theater live modern rap version but she did get a "im angry" song around the middle of the plot so u kno. girls who get to be angry

i do admit i cried at the scene where the ensemble cast of soldier's got to sing about their loved ones and accepting that they're being sent off to die. anyway

anyway yeah! i liked it it was good but i DO think if they were gonna strip it down to its bare romance they should've had cyrano and chris kiss also tho like it's simply only fair

[ranty-ramblestein]

(captions~) Mar 28th: I got some cool new items from Saharah~  I love the greenhouse wall!

Mar 29th: Roommate Plan #2: Achieved!  The Wild World Throuple has their home now! I had an indescribable urge to try and write Tattle as joining along with the roommate dealio... but I don’t remember him having any personality aside from “traumatized and angry”.

Before that, though, I finally tried to make an outfit of the purple bekasab robe and matching tubeteika... And it just feels wrong.  I left it on anyway, though.

Also on Solaceon: Tucker had a lost item...  which he didn’t gift me the missing pants for! :(

Anyway, the rest of the roommate text+build is below the cut.

pic 1: The greenhouse wall, circus flooring, and imperial rug were all new!  I love the look of the imperial rug~ pic 2: "Ooo~  It looks so pretty!" Croissant hummed happily. pic 3: I found it so funny that Cyd spawned right in front of my door, lol. pic 5: "...Is this the best I can do with this outfit?  I feel like I’m doing something wrong with it...” Croissant sighed.  (It was either this outfit or the parka dress, but this one had been put aside for too long!) pic 6: 'Biskit said to look out for this guy, right?' Croissant thought. A voice came from Cyrano's phone, he was facetiming, "Oh!  Is that another human over there, boo?" "Oh, yeah, I think he works here."

(Cyrano is saying that third line, of course!  I thought about making Tattle physically there, but thought it would be funnier if they were just facetiming the whole thing back to Tattle, who is busy doing a nondescript ‘work-thing’.  [I never gave him a life goal, and don’t want to now!]) pic 7: "Just missing one more color now, nice!" Croissant grinned. pic 8: This dialogue, lol.  ("Hey, the blue anteater you told me to look out for?  I saw him on the beach today!" Croissant explained.  "OH!  Take me to him, then!" Biskit hopped excitedly.) pic 9: "Well, they specifically requested you!  Does a dog named Biskit ring a bell?" Croissant asked.  "Oh, right, Biskit said he was getting a home done for us!" Tattle shouted from the phone. pic 10: Then Cyrano and Tattle introduced themselves as Biskit's partners before they went over to the table.  Croissant thought that sounded exhausting.

“You already got Croissant to make a three-person home, huh?  And moved our instruments over, too?  Nice thinking!” Cyrano complimented the dog. “Yeah, nice going!  I can’t wait to see it!  Make sure to show me around through the phone when you get there, Cyrano,” Tattle talked excitedly from the phone Cyrano was holding aloft.

“I’ll have to have a picture taken when I get over there!” Tattle said, “Who did you say took the pictures?  Harv?” “Yup, Harvey’s the best professional photographer around here,” Croissant nodded.

“I’ll be there before long, too!” Tattle insisted. “I hope you’ll enjoy the place when you finally arrive, Tattle,” Croissant smiled.

“Yaaaasss, make him dadcore!” Tattle laughed. Cyrano gasped, “Excuse me, this is Cyrano-core!  It’s how I like to dress!” Cyrano angrily posed in front of Biskit, who was now holding up his phone. “It’s nice!” Biskit smiled.

(This was the only reason why I wanted Tattle here.  To say yass and call Cyrano’s clothes dadcore.)

“I like the music notes behind our band, by the way,” Cyrano pointed out. “Thanks!  When I heard you guys had a band, I thought of those stickers,” Croissant smiled.

I tried to take a video when I thought I missed this waving moment, but it didn’t take a video, wtf...  Well, at least I got it in the transition to the fridge’s close-up.

...Wait a second, this was made before I got the music note polish designs, wasn’t it!?  I need to update this house!  Those instruments need music note polish!

“And I can’t wait to check out those flowers up close!  I mean, flowers that actually breed!? Preposterous!” Tattle laughed, incredibly excited by the idea.

[jakeperalta]

Ya I'm not worried about not liking it at all..Spiderman is my fav superhero and I do like all of the actors and how different they are..it will be really cool to see them all on screen together! and I do watch most Marvel films anyway and enjoy them. But the people that are saying it's one of the best superhero movies ever and really hyping it up..is that cuz of the spoilers I already know? I also didn't really know how hyped up the movie was..like it didn't seem as important as Endgame..but now it's one of the biggest movies lol. Like I kinda knew the cameos were a possibility..but idk..cuz usually I don't watch those movies in theatres..i just try to catch it whenever..besides Endgame. I already went to see West Side Story this month cuz I love the musical and original film and it was one of my most anticipated movies this year..and it was great! I like to support musicals at the box office ..so i might see Cyrano next month too. But now I have to wait haha.I know I will love it anyway though as much as any other Marvel movie and it will be exciting and fun to watch so I guess it doesn't matter and I don't usually mind spoilers either..its just weird when everyone else on the internet talks about it and I haven't watched it yet haha. I might send you my thoughts when I finally do watch it though!

I do think a big part of the hype is because of how it brings together the different spidermen which is just a bit different and exciting. plus that just sort of makes it feel like a celebration of the whole concept and character of spiderman which is obviously a favourite for lots of people. I didn't expect it to be quite this huge since it wasn't as hyped as endgame was but I do think I preferred it to endgame, I think having less characters meant it could have a bit more focus on characterisation which I like alongside all the action and drama.

I haven't had a chance to watch west side story yet but I've heard such good things so I really want to!! I'd also like to see cyrano when it's out. I just got a cinema subscription which means I can see unlimited movies for a set price so I'm hoping to get to go lots!

[spectralarchers]

hey christine!! i’m not a first-language french-speaker by i’ve been taking french courses for a few years so i can string a few sentences together, and i’m wondering if you have any french tv shows (or films!) that you really like that you’d recommend? maybe like something police/law procedural or crime drama esque? so far i’ve got secret histoires jotted down on a list and not much else. anyway! ((no pressure!!!!)) <333 sending much love!! <3

Hi, Nonnie! 

That sounds absolutely fabulous, I’m so glad that you’ve decided to give French a go, and I can only admire your courage (as a native French speaker, the French language still fucks with me sometimes, lol). Props to you!

Secrets d’histoire is absolutely FANTASTIC - they’re great, and Stéphane Bern articulates particularly well, so his enunciation makes everything great. I think I have the one on Beethoven stashed away somewhere too!

Here’s a non-exclusive list of French things you’re always welcome to try and watch:

Movies/documentaries: 

Avis de Mistral, a movie with Jean Reno that takes place in the South of France, where two youths from Paris are sent to their grandfather. There’s a lovely little deaf boy and some really emotional beats in it, I highly suggest it!

La Promesse de l’Aube, with Pierre Niney, a biographical motion picture about Romain Gary

Le Pacte des Loups, a weird fantasy / realistical take on the myth of the Beast of Gévaudan (it has nudity and violence, so be aware of warnings before watching it, it can fuck with you if you’re not careful)

Yves Saint-Laurent, with Pierre Niney, about the fashion designer of the same name

Gims (Netflix), a French language documentary about the rapper Gims and his career with Sexion d’Assaut and becoming one of the best selling artists in France

Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopatre, which is what it says on the tin,

De Rouille et d’Os, a Matthias Schoenaerts & Marion Cotillard movie about a former whale trainer who loses the use of her legs after an accident with a killer whale, 

De Gaulle, a biopic about the General de Gaulle which kinda sells itself,

Edmond, a sort of biopic of Edmond Rostand, the one who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac,

Au Revoir Là Haut, a con movie in the roarings twenties featuring two soldiers, one of which is completely disfigured. 

Here’s a further list of movies I think you could watch: La Rafle, Qu’est ce qu’on a fait au bon Dieu, Rrrrrr!!!!, Les Bronzés Font du Ski, Intouchables, Les Misérables (2019), Brice de Nice, etc.

Shows:

Kaamelot, King Arthur on his quest to the Holy Grail but if it was an absolute comedy, 

Lupin, on Netflix with Omar Sy in the lead role (excellent!)

Un si grand soleil, a TV show that takes place in the South of France which I feel obligated to put on this list because it’s filmed in my home city (Montpellier, représente!) even though it’s not, by far, specially good and I’ve only seen a little bit of it, 

Section de Recherches, which is basically CSI in French, but I don’t watch it myself (I’m not a fan of law procedurals and such, but I hear it should be good!)

Joséphine Ange Gardien, which is not something I personally watch either, but from what I’ve seen of it, it should be quite fun if you’re into serialized TV shows with a little bit of procedures and crime and stuff, plus it’s kinda cute too.

Here’s some more you can look, if you feel like it: H, Bref, Engrenages, Un Gars Une Fille, Scènes de Ménage, etc.

Other:

The Restos du Coeur charity show, which is an absolute classic thing to watch in France with a whole bunch of French artists and other celebrities/public figures doing a sort of concert to raise money for charity,

Auto Moto, if you’re interested in cars/bikes etc. and you can, I’d try watching this, it airs every Sunday and is a car/bike specialist TV-show where they take a look at new cars and new bikes etc. every single week (it’s about 30 minutes long)

Les Aventures du Jeune Voltaire, an upcoming TV show about Voltaire, the first 2 episodes are airing on the 7th of February (I am looking for much forward to it!)

Cash Investigation, a good investigative television show that covers important current topics, 

The Voice France, and I know this is a stretch, but the principle of the show is basically the same as the American one, except in French... Bonus, you get French songs as well!

The documentary “Les stars racontent 20 ans de NRJ Music Awards” if you can find it somewhere which is a 90 minute documentary about the NRJ Music Awards, the biggest music industry award show in France (it gives a nice insight into what is going on in France when it comes to music and such),

Other things you can watch, if you can find them online / if they’re available: Secrets d’Histoire (which you already have), France 5 and Arte usually have some good documentaries you can look up, etc. 

Music: 

Gims raps mostly in French language and has very good and sophisticated lyrics, I’d definitely look up some of his tracks if you don’t already know some of them,

Kendji Girac, a French Catalan Romani singer who won his season of the Voice and is currently the best selling The Voice alumni WORLDWIDE, he makes some nice bops to chill out to (I always get in a good mood when listening to his songs),

Indila, French singer, she’s got some nice tunes to her as well,

Nolwenn Leroy, known for her Brittany inspired songs which celebrate her heritage, 

Soprano, French rapper who also does some nice bops, 

Louane, a wonderful young French singer who has a beautiful voice, 

Julien Doré, a nice French singer who does some nice stuff too, and I’m obliged to put him on the list because he grew up in Lunel which is like almost next to where I grew up, lol,

Johnny Hallyday, which is the most cliché thing EVER to put on this list because every single Frenchman will go “oh my god WHY” but his catalogue is so large that there’s bound to be some songs in there that you enjoy (He was called the French Elvis and is also called “the biggest rock star you've never heard of“ and I will unabashedly keep listening to his songs when I need it.

Other French singers/artists you can look up: Tryo, Indochine, Kyo, Slimane, Matt Pokora, Christophe Maé, Joyce Jonathan, etc.

There’s probably a whole bunch of other things I’ve missed myself because I haven’t been living in France for almost 6 years now, but this is just what I could list off the top of my head <3

(If you come off Anon, I know of a place to find some of the non-feature movies and non-fictional television shows if you’re interested!)

[what-a-messsss]

2x3 rewatch

I keep forgetting that Brach is still in S2.  Oops.  Also, I apparently went to check something in S6 last time I watched something, so it started at 6x2 instead of 2x3 and I yelled.  But anyway, on with this mess.  “Death Came in Like Thunder” apparently.  It sure did.

Ah yes, let us not forget that Branch is MANLEH.  This shall be proven to us by him murdering his cousin, Trunk, with big ax.  Chop chop, Branch, kill Trunk.  But oh no, must also show that he is People Smart, so must also lose because this makes him likable.  And many white people clap.  Yaaaay.  But be sure to say, “I let him win, Ferg,” while your competitor is right next to you, so he almost surely heard you.  Good good.

Oh Ferg.  Could you look more gormless if you tried?  (I mean, probably not, since presumably that was the goal of the actor, so he would have been trying.  But still.)  Bb.

Heh, nice thematic cut to Walt also chopping wood.  And YAY, Henry’s gorgeous truck (and gorgeous self).  I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Henry rolls up and just helps himself to some of Walt’s thermos of coffee.  Because of course he does.  But I do so love these touches that they put in that do underline the fact that they are married have been besties for going on 40 years.  Also, I love this jacket of Henry’s.  The woven top, jean jacket sort of one?  Yeah, top 5 costume pieces of his for me.  (Also on that list, all basically tied with each other, basically any pants he wears.  I am reminded, when they cut back out to a full body shot.  Because I am very shallow, and he is very pretty.)

Haaaaaa.  And of course Cady talked to Henry before she talked to Walt.  Walt is a butthead.  And, yeah yeah, she just found out that he’d been lying to her for over a year, but that just proves my point that Walt is a butthead.  And we’re back to this whole idea that she left her phone, which just... ugh.  No.  But Henry’s face when he says that she said that she is safe, and he’s so worried, but still willing to respect her boundaries.

“She is an adult, Walt.”  “She’s my daughter.”  For fuck’s sake, you jackass, your ADULT daughter; that’s the whole flipping point!  Also, that little emphasis on my daughter, pfft.  If you didn’t want to feel like she preferred her cool dad to you, maybe try being less of an AAAAAAASSHOLE.  And, like, respecting her.  Even a weensy little bit.

“Etta Place”  I don’t remember if we find out why that’s the ‘assumed name’ that Cady chose, but I’m intrigued.  Wait, I just googled.  Looooool.  She spent years with Butch and Sundance.  Nice.

Walt is such a soft touch with teens.  *snack crackle pop* that kneecap back into place.  Vic starts this scene saying, “The 911 operator,” though, which is interesting, because I was kind of under the impression that Ruby was the main dispatcher, so it would be kind of heartening if she actually had back up with that.  ...Or maybe they’re just far enough out that a cell call made would be picked up by a tower farther out and have to be routed back in to the station/them.  I have no idea how that actually works.  Another rabbit hole for me to totally not go down.  Hopefully.  Shit.  They’ve apparently upped the fine for trespass since the show, though, because it’s $750 (or 6 months in jail) now and Walt says it’s $500.

And once again, we see Vic actually wearing gloves while investigating a suspicious death, and Walt just squinting into the distance helpfully.  I suppose “things got bad” in Basque country around WWII, but there has been friction there that dates back before the Spanish Civil War, or even the Carlist Wars the previous century.  It did get gnarly with the dictatorship of Franco, and the formation of the ETA in retaliation, though, so yeah.  (Francisco Franco is also on the list of people who anybody with a time machine should go back and beat the shit out of.)

Shit, I forgot about the animal death.

Knock knock, no answer.  Better just wander in without a warrant.  I know that the guy who they know lives there is dead, but still, no fricking warrant; I suppose the worry of a poisoning could count as probably cause?  

Gods, but there are moments when I do absolutely adore Vic, and they are usually when she’s taking the piss out of Walt.  “Reclusive bachelor chic; you and Marco have the same decorator.”  Looool.  But also, sad, because Martha has only been gone for a little over a year, and Walt is not the kind of person who would, like, change stuff and get rid of her things, so that’s kind of odd.  Maybe Henry and/or Cady went though and put away some of her things to try to help Walt move on?  But damn, the ‘excuse you’ look on Walt’s face when she does say it, pffft.

AND AGAIN, Vic wearing gloves, Walt with his bare ass hands picking up the picture of Picasso’s Guernica; can you at least *pretend* you’re a cop, *some* of the time, buddy?

Lol at the barrabilak; they are pretty well by the Rocky Mountains, so it’s probably not all that surprising that Walt’s had some “Rocky Mountain oysters” before.

I had forgotten that Vic had four brothers.  But her comment about Sal going off to look after the sheep and how if someone had told her that one of her brothers were dead she “wouldn’t care about any damn sheep,” I don’t know.  It kind of annoys me.  It’s totally in character for her, which is good, but I think it’s part of what can annoy me about her character.  Different people grieve differently, but also, I know she’s only been in Wyoming for a year or two, tops, but how is it so hard to fathom that someone one would be concerned about their livelihood, even in the face of personal tragedy?  Just, seeing beyond her own very narrow experience doesn’t seem like something she’s very good at.  It would be one thing if she’d framed it as “this is suspicious, and here’s why I think so as a cop,” but it was, “I wouldn’t react that way personally, so it’s sus.”  

Sure, be suspicious because there’s a suspicious death and family members are always suspects until ruled out, but approach it like a cop.  Or at least think about it from more angles than just your own, not terribly similar experience.  You’re a white city cop who can’t (or won’t) adjust to being in BF rural-ville, but these are immigrant shepherds whose family come from a homeland where the cops were just as likely to kill you as answer questions, and you’re side-eying a guy for going to make sure that their meal ticket doesn’t get obliterated?

I need to keep reminding myself that I really did want to like Vic.  I really did.  She just... they don’t make it easy for me.  Maybe she’s serving as an avatar for audience who don’t know about some of the culture stuff, and the audience get answers from her ignorance?  But honestly, I wish they’d picked a different way to handle that, if that’s what they were trying to do.  Her response to Henry being salty about Thanksgiving still really pisses me off.  Because it was shitty and racist, and... do we really need a character basically rolling their eyes and saying, “It was so long ago, why don’t you just get over it,” about something that is intrinsically tied to the genocide of so many people?  Why are Indigenous people just supposed to “get over it” but “Remember the Alamo” and “Southern Pride,” and shit?  Fuck’s sake.  Honestly, that might have been the moment when they lost me on her character.  She has moments where she’s awesome, but they never really address her being fucking racist or give her a chance to grow into a better person.  Which sucks a lot.  Fuck.  Ok, that was a lot.  Sorry.  Back to the actual ep.

AH, nice of you to beam in from the campaign trail, Brancheroo!

Uh, so I paused it to look at pic in the newspaper, and then being me, started to look at the articles surrounding the pic.  And the one with the headline “Fans Injured At Local Game” is actually about the Stewart case?  From 1x3?  I’m guessing that somebody went to the trouble of writing up an article for that for some S1 ep after it and they just plugged it in because when not paused, you might catch “Sheriff Longmire” there and that’s all they need.  Especially since the text starts to repeat after the first paragraph.  (I am the worst pedantic little shit.)  Ooooor, maybe even though it’s S2, it’s hardly been any time since 1x3?  The date on the newspaper is March 31, 2012, so there’s a timeline hint. 

Awwwwww, once Walt points out the bird, Ferg knows exactly what it is.  Occasional twitcher, are we, my lad?  “A red-tip meadowlark,” indeed.  Oh bb; Ferg’s face when he sees Walt looking at the pic of him with Branch in the paper.

“You go too fast, you miss the little things.”  Every once in a while, he actually sort of mentors Ferg.  I wish he did more of that, especially since we see later how capable Ferg can be.

Go suck an egg, Branch.  Why does she get all the “good” assignments?  Maybe because she was actually on the job when they found the body, not campaigning.

OPE.  Lizzie’s gift.  Yeah, I’d probably choke on that coffee if I were you, too, girl.  Better hope that there wasn’t perishable food stuffs in that gift, because that has been in there for a whiiiiiile, hasn’t it.  Wait, was Ferg in the office when Lizzie dropped off the gift?  Because his face said more than just “Did somebody give Vic a present?”  Suuuuper subtle with that whole pushing the drawer closed with your foot there, Vic.  Pfffft.

“Cyrano Caballero”  How daaaare that skeeve take Cyrano’s name in vain?!?!  (I have a thing about Cyrano de Bergerac.  It’s quite possibly my favourite play, and I adore the character, and have exactly 0 chill about it at all.  I find Brian Hooker’s translation of “The Ballade of the duel at the Hotel Bourgogne Between de Bergerac and a Boeotian” with “Then, as I end the refrian, thrust home,” vastly superior to any other translation that I’ve heard or read, though for the rest of it, I will grant that there are others to be preferred.  But that version of his Ballade is exquisite, and I will not be swayed.  Holy shit, FOCUS.  That is so very much not the point.)  It’s not even a throw away line in this ep, it’s just a random, very well chosen, if utterly appallingly insulting, company name.  It’s actually incredibly clever for what the business is, and if it didn’t make me so stomping mad, I would applaud whoever came up with it heartily.

Vic’s face listening to this jackass’ spiel is a thing of beauty.  “A good woman goes a long way of easing the obvious stresses of your daily life,” the jackass says, cutting his eyes at Vic when he says “obvious stresses,” and I caaaackle.

What is it about this guys’ horrible glasses that just makes him so much more hate-able?  I’m not entirely sure, but kudos to whatever costumer put those on him, because they are perfect.  In the ‘I want to punch him’ way of perfection.

And after all of that about Walt’s “lady friend,” Vic brings Lizzie’s present.  Womp womp.  That went super well.  Yuuuup, run while you can.

Poor Ferg.  Branch manipulates him, Vic ignores him, Walt shuts him down...  Poor guy just can’t get a break.

I actually kind of like this motel manager--the one who “doesn’t judge people” and is a stickler for warrants?  At least somebody in this county cares about warrants.  Also, those doors are actually really pretty.  Nice colour, and the carved scrollwork designs are nice.

What an odd shot: the one when they’re coming out of Walt’s office after talking to Skeevy McGrossFace and Rosa.  It’s a weird sort of shaky-cam stepping back, just preceding Branch walking, and then turns to follow him when he sit’s on his desk.  But it’s a really different style of shot than I can remember, so much so that it’s a bit jarring, especially after the series of nearly stationary close ups that we just had.  Weird. [18:42-18-50]

Cady!  I haven’t made much note of her costuming before this, but it seems notable that’s she’s only in monocromatics.  Especially next to Fales in muted tones, but still some colour, and surrounded by the colourful grafitti of the alley where her mother was stabbed.  Nice way of setting her apart from everything.

SHEEPIES!  Ooooo, that wagon is so cool.  Ah dang, the way that Sal corrects Walt’s pronunciation of his brother’s name is so gloriously passive aggressive.  Good for you, my dude.  Names are important, and people should have the respect to make the effort to get them right.

Aaaaaand Walt, the definition of Do, Don’t Tell, just shoves the guy to keep him from drinking the possibly dangerous water, rather than, like, using his words.  Walt’s gonna Walt.

Iiiiiiiii am a mess, truly.  It cuts to an architectural model and I start giggling like a 6th grader, because I know it’s going to be a Jacob scene.  He’s not even on screen yet, ffs.  HANDS.  I’m fine.  Totally fine.  (That’s totally a lie.  I just rewound to the beginning of the scene because I kept giggling too much to pay attention.  What the hell.)  First time we’ve seen one of the chips, which at this point must be a marketing mock-up, since nothing is built yet.  And he actually types, not just doing the hunt-and-peck thing that is sometimes easier on a tablet.

Looking at the weaving that is up on his wall (maybe a rug?) I’m hoping that the prop people actually did buy from Northern Cheyenne artisans.  They apparently did most of their filming in New Mexico, so I hope they made the effort to get the patterns right, and buy from the actual tribe they’re supposed to be portraying, I guess?  And now I’m distracted by the fact that the random hanging light behind Jacob is at a weird angle?  

Look, ever since I realized that the “Hey,” that Jacob does is apparently just A (thanks to it also happening in That Damned Xmas Movie) I am endlessly amused (and charmed) whenever Jacob does it.  I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but it does.  (This is legitimately embarrassing.  How much trouble I am having focusing.  Beyond my normal focus issues, which, as shown above, are already impressive.  Because thiiiiirst.)

“My boys at the lumber yard did just throw you a campaign rally.”  I love how Jacob is basically apparently not just his secret angel-investor, but also a sneaky campaign manager.  Did Branch just think shit like the rally just happened?  He’s not fricking Ferris Bueller; somebody organizes those.  And apparently it’s either Jacob himself, or someone who Jacob appointed to do so.

“I thought you were just a casino developer.”  You have noooo clue, Brancheroo.  “I prefer to remain a silent partner.  White people get nervous when Indians start taking back their land.”  Oooooope.  Especially interesting because there are previsions for the Tribal Council to purchase land to be Tribal land (Section 6 of Article IX of the Tribal Constitution), but this seems more along the lines of personal acquisition.  Though maybe not, because “on the board” doesn’t necessarily equate to being the owner.

The set up of Jacob’s office is so interesting.  Functionally for the show, it’s probably for better shooting angles, so that we can see more of Jacob behind the desk while Branch is sitting in front of it, but from an in-the-verse decorating standpoint, bit’s fascinating.  He has this focal wall with the gorgeous wall hanging, flanked by floor to ceiling window, but instead of having his desk centered on that wall and directly facing the bulk of the room, it’s at an almost 45 degree angle on a huge rug, and it’s so unexpected.  I kind of love it, and want to analyze it for days.  Also worth noting is that pride of place is given to the  Hotamétaneo’o headdress which is on a stand centered in front of the wall hanging.

How fucking tired must Jacob be.  He’s used to Walt... Walting, but then Branch comes in, who he is literally spending his own money to support in his bid for sheriff, and he pulls the same shit of assuming that he’s behind Bad Shit.  And then Branch frames it as “bad P.R,” so he’s there to “discuss it with [him] privately.”  And then basically threatens him with Walt.  I swear.  ...there is something a little amusing about Walt being used as the stick in the carrot and a stick method of negotiating.  He certainly is enough of a blunt object most of the time.

Oh fuck you so much, Branch.  Playing the “can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation” card as though you have some professional or moral leg to stand on after basically blackmailing Jacob with Walt’s vendetta is just such shit.  You don’t get to look down your nose at Jacob’s quid pro quo pragmatism when you were the one who came to him for financial backing.  You sanctimonious little shitheel.  If you didn’t want to deal with Jacob, you shouldn’t have taken his $100k.  He’s a business man, and you’re an investment, and not a quixotic one.

“He’s probably the only person to have died from [hemlock] since Socrates.”  And then Walt’s incredulous look and her, “Alright, I googled it,” were subtle comedic gold.

Ooooooo, that was a nice little shot.  Not quite foreshadowing, but showing Branch’s suspicions and sort of inviting the audience to share them.  Walt says his bit about the Army poisoning “Indian wells” to kill them off and get their land, and then we see Branch fiddling with the Four Arrows chip and narrow his eyes considering and slip the chip into his pocket, looking suspicious.  It’s a really neat little moment of visual storytelling, no lines, literally three seconds long, just sort of snuck in there, but super effective.  Really nicely done.

And again, Cady is in monochromatics.  And, shit, just gave Fales Henry’s name.  Aaaaaand right after, she realizes that the junkie was killed and realizes that it had to have been one of her dads (or so she thinks).

Sal’s monologue in the cell is a good emotional payoff that plays off of Vic’s comments towards the beginning of the episode.  I see the narrative worth of her making them, and how the structure of the episode benefits from it; but seeing those writing elements from the outside of the show doesn’t make me able to like her as a character who said them in-universe.  And then the threat Sal makes of vengeance on someone who killed one he loves also underscores the stuff with Cady’s investigation into her mother’s death very well.  As much as I gripe about the writing *cough S6 cough finale cough* there really is some damn good writing in this show, and I don’t show enough appreciation for it.

Huh, and now there’s a sort of inverse of that weird shot preceding Branch from earlier, but this one is much more effective and less off-putting.  This one [33:00] precedes Walt as he walks back into his office, still a medium close up, but it’s much steadier, and the way it is framed, it does quite a bit to convey his mindset, and he walks out of the shot and we see the three deputies following him in like baffled ducklings, making the shot serve another purpose, too.  Which honestly makes that earlier shaky follow shot of Branch even weirder, because this one was so much better.

And then Walt has his creepy little speech about how someone would want to watch the light go out of their eyes and not caring if you get caught.  I do appreciate that when he’s talking about the psychology of killing with poison he doesn’t just call it a “woman’s method” which media so often does.  It might have been the writers keeping who the killer was abstruse, but it was still more gender neutral.  Especially since according to The U. S. Department of Justice's report on Homicide Trends in the United States (1980 to 2008) of all poison killers in that time period, 60.5 percent were male and 39.5 percent female.  (Table 5 on page 10.)  So that long held idea that even Sherlock Holmes was written to have that poison is “of course” a woman’s weapon is pretty crap.

Awwww, the good old days when Walt paid attention to animals.  ...I am still bizarrely salty about the fact that he never named his horse.  What a good pupper!  

And then we have a classic example of Sneaky!Walt, which always takes people quite by surprise, because he’s usually as subtle as Miley Cyrus.

Also because when he does this, it tends to be pretty fucked up, in a Make Someone Think They’re About To Die way.  And then he does His Thing, where he just lays out all of his suppositions, with no proof, only the terror of her thinking that she’s been poisoned and you’re withholding medical intervention to get her to confess.  And is, irritatingly, correct about his theories.  But I’m pretty sure this qualifies as coercing a confession?  She thinks she’s fucking dying.  Even Vic looks at him like it’s fucked up, and her moral compass where he’s concerned is... skewed.

They way this reveal was played out, (”How’d they find her so fast?”  “Hard to say...”) is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it’s supposed to be that Branch went there to tell Jacob or not, but I kind of doubt it?  I kind of figure that the meeting that Jacob was having when Branch rambled in was already with Rosa signing the paperwork.  Jacob is smart.  So, HAH.  Little good your “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation” schtick did.

And then the news that someone in law enforcement has been asking after Henry.

“Lizzie was waiting for you here tonight.  You should talk to her, Walt.  She seems to think she is in a relationship with you.”  ....omgs.  The tone.  I mean, yes, the blisteringly glorious SASS, but how does one not read that as incredibly shippy?  Howwwww?

“You are an honest man, Walt.  I would like you to stay that way.”  Oh Henry.  When did you decide that you weren’t?  Was it when you hired Hector?  Or was there something before?  ...I feel like there were things before that.  Hello darkness my old friend.

“It is not your job to protect me.”  “It is my job...”  THOSE WERE THE DAYS.  Those were the fucking daaaaaays.  And the emotions on Henry’s face after Walt says, “That was my right,” as though Henry cheated him of something.  I am so deep in OT3 feels I cannot even see daylight here.  The feels of them having been an OT3 and then Walt pulling this shit, and Henry having to defend his own “right” to avenge Martha?  It wrecks me.  “A good woman was murdered.  A bad man is dead.  End of story.”  

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 14: 2x15 The Trouble with Tribbles

Back to watching TOS on Wednesdays! We’ll see if I can keep this up because I do prefer it to Fridays.

Today’s episode: the Classic (tm) Trouble with Tribbles.

Starting out with a little test for Chekov lol. Just Chekov, his mentor, and his mentor-in-law.

My mom called Chekov “Kirk and Spock’s little project,” which I think is hilarious but also probably true. Only 22 years old and on the bridge crew? Private quiz by the top two people on the ship? Legit interpretation.

“It was just a little joke.” / “Extremely little, Ensign.” Classic Spock burn.

The Organian Peace Treaty--from Errand of Mercy??

I really do feel like Kirk is genuinely amused by Chekov.

You would never guess from this intro about tense diplomatic situations and number-one-top-priority-triple-red-alerts that this was going to be a crack-y episode about space bunnies.

Oh no, a fake red alert! Kirk is really angry now.

Kirk and Spock are very Married today.

STORAGE COMPARTMENTS?? StOrAgE cOmPaRtmEnTs?

WHEAT??

Do not try to imply that Spock doesn’t know things; he is contractually obligated to show off.

Canadian wheat.

Honestly, just let Kirk call it wheat.

Spock is using diplomacy to reign Kirk in. Sarek would be proud. And Spock would be insulted that Sarek is proud.

Kirk is very Sassy today.

Omg the waitresses have little wings.

Spock taking the wheat from behind his back and giving it to Kirk like a magician’s assistant.

I feel like Kirk is bitter about the wheat because it’s the one (1) thing he’s not a nerd about. And he’s from Iowa too!! He should know!

Uhura listening to the salesman; well she IS here to shop, after all.

Is it alive? Is it cute? Oh who am I kidding, I can see it’s cute!

Oh no the tribble is eating the grain.

Uhura is truly adorable.

I can’t believe she just made a joke about never getting any shore leave and here she is, back at her station again.

Can you even imagine AOS Kirk being tasked with protecting a bunch of grain? HE would make Iowa jokes.

And Spock is trying so hard not to laugh.

Tbh I have a real soft spot for these frustrated Kirk episodes. Poor, long-suffering Kirk. So much more serious than all of the nonsense going on around him.

I like this space station design.

Klingons on shore leave. They just want to have some fun. No bowling alleys on their ships!

Technical journal time for Scotty!

“I am immune to their effect....” Sure. What’s funny to me is that Kirk actually is immune to their effect. Truly at no point does he seem charmed or amused by or even interested in the tribbles, except in their capacity as Klingon detectors at the end

“I think they’re old enough [to be adopted].” Lol how can you tell?

One look from Spock reigns Kirk in. #spacehusbands

Oh, you noticed there are 11 tribbles instead of 1? How astute.

“What do you get when you feed a tribble too much?” / “A fat tribble.” This is ACTUAL DIALOGUE. Oh, Kirk.

Honestly McCoy is a medical doctor, so it kind of would make more sense for Spock to be doing these tribble experiments but he has his hands full with Kirk

Kirk is awfully insistent upon Scotty taking shore leave when he should very well remember what happened last time

“You’d think he’d be a vodka man.” And he is!

Klingons don’t understand Kirk at all. He IS a little soft <3

Where’s that post that’s like ‘the AOS writers just listened to this one Klingon speech about Kirk and wrote his character based on that?” I mean... not totally inaccurate.

Actually it is a potentially interesting speech. Is this really how his enemies see him based on his reputation? Or is it just, like, a bunch of generic insults you could apply to pretty much any captain of a group you didn’t like?

Poor Kirk, missing out on this fight scene.

Lol the drink joke. Does it make sense? No, but it’s funny all the same.

“Captain’s log: I am forced to cancel shore leave.”

Angry Daddy!Kirk and his unhelpful children. You’re ALL grounded!!

“No this is not off the record!” Not even gonna debate that Scotty.

This whole Kirk and Scotty scene deserves an Emmy.

Spones + Tribbles

The extra hilarious thing about Spock talking about the uselessness of the tribbles and Bones defending their cuteness as being an end in and of itself is that Spock DOES canonically like soft, pleasing animals. Even in this episode!!

The tribble wants to be captain.

Kirk collecting tribbles lmao.

“Don’t look at me, it’s the tribbles that are breeding.”

The tribbles are bisexual. Just like Captain Kirk. (Yes this is two different uses of the term that mean totally different things and I do NOT care I just like hearing the word “bisexual” in DeForest Kelley’s voice.)

I feel like Uhura must be so lonely.. Trying to talk to Spock about the moon. Meeting shape shifting aliens who become native Swahili speakers just for her. Trying to buy love in the form of small, cute animals.

The tribbles have been taken from their predator-filled environment. I am VERY curious about their native environment now. What eats tribbles?

“It’s you I take lightly.” Honestly this level of sass almost makes AOS Kirk seem IC.

“Licensed asteroid locator and prospector.” Brb changing careers.

“But he is after my grain!”

Kirk saying “au revoir” is funny on its face for how he echoes Cyrano what’s-his-face but also because it reminds me of Shatner saying “I’m from Canada, so I speak French.”

No, the tribbles got in his food! That is the last straw.

It’s hard to tell because it’s covered in tribbles, but Spock appears to have a very odd looking salad. (Or that large piece of fruit is a tribble, really hard to tell.)

Spock’s “fascinating” was so quiet.

“They’re into the machinery all right.” First, lol, and second, isn’t Scotty supposed to be in his room thinking about what he’s done?

You can really see that missing finger.

Gonna beam down some tribbles too.

And now to top off this bad day: the indignity of having a bunch of dead tribbles fall on his head. To wacky music.

“Gorged? On my grain?” It’s more likely than you think.

And like........you realize someone off set is just continuing to throw little puff balls at Shatner's head at regular intervals during this whole scene? One just bounced right off it.

And the answer to the tribble problem is literally “stop feeding them” which is so obvious that I assumed it was just harder than one would think not to feed a tribble. Since no one fed them. And they continued to eat.

I also love how Bones comes into his best friend literally buried in tribbles and doesn’t even blink.

Whereas Spock’s here with his mouth this thinnest possible line, trying not to laugh.

They like Vulcans! They have good taste.

Spock is definitely that type that has secret low self esteem so he builds himself up with confident comments at every opportunity.

“He’s a Klingon, Jim.”

Kirk REALLY likes threatening the Klingons with tribbles.

I feel like leaving Cyrano to single-handedly clean up the tribbles over 17 years is not a punishment that makes sense because like... must the station live with the tribbles until then? Also, where is he to put them?

I think they should be returned to their native habitat to be eaten by predators according to the natural cycle of life.

Are we to understand that SPOCK suggested beaming the tribbles on to the Klingon ship? Perhaps I have underestimated his prank war abilities.

I’ll be honest, this ep is very entertaining and for that reason one of my favorites, but I don’t know that it paints the Enterprise, and Kirk in particular, in the best light.

Like... I am really torn on Kirk’s treatment of the undersecretary. I know he often doesn’t much like administrators and diplomats and other people who don’t seem to have much RL experience, and certainly this Federation official got on his bad side immediately and understandably by misusing the red alert.

But... Kirk isn’t at all subtle about not liking him. I mean he literally says “I don’t like you” and that’s just objectively unprofessional, which he is not. The sassiness was way unsubtle, which could be funny, but it just didn’t seem IC.

I can almost justify it because of the red alert mix up--that’s everything Kirk hates: violating regulations, showing disrespect to him and his crew, uncalled for manipulation--and I think he has the right to be upset about it. But he continues holding this grudge for a long time. It feels like it’s just as much about not personally caring about the grain as about anything else. Like he’s dismissive about the grain because he personally has never heard of it. So obviously it’s not important.

That’s too much that conventional-wisdom arrogant, dumb Kirk for me.

I guess I just don’t understand, why so much hatred for the undersecretary? Because his two biggest sins were the red alert and employing a Klingon. But as I already said, I think Kirk’s ire is disproportionate to the first offense and no one knew about the Klingon until the end--because a tribble, not Kirk specifically, found him out.

Otherwise..this guy was right! The grain was important, losing it or having it sabotaged would have very bad consequences for the Federation, it is Kirk’s job to guard it, and he should do it well. He was also right that the Klingon threat was real!! He’d brought in the Klingon threat but he was still right about it existing. The Klingons did in fact sabotage the grain! And although we hear at the end that there was magically more grain out there... I don’t get how or from where.

Furthermore, he used the red alert specifically because he seemed to think Kirk wouldn’t rush over to protect the grain otherwise, and Kirk is so dismissive of this “just wheat” that he kinda proves the guy right!

Anyway, I can see the grains of this Kirk (lol pun not intended) in his general characterization, but it’s too over the top, to the point where it’s OOC. He does take his job, including the diplomatic aspects of it, very seriously, and I think an IC Kirk would protect the grain, and maybe be only occasionally, subtly sassy to the undersecretary.

But this was such a crack-y episode overall... it was like everyone was turned up to 11 and pushed slightly to the side.

It was a fun ep though with a lot of very classic scenes, and it’s another reminder that Spock likes soft, adorable animals.

I will admit that I actually do not think the tribbles are particularly cute. They kind of weird me out. They’re just lumps of fur.

Next is The Gamesters of Triskelion, which I vaguely remember as a decent but not great episode.

[xiaq]

Would you mind talking about your criticisms of The Half Of It? Because I really enjoyed it but some parts also bothered me and I'm kind of afraid to mention them because everyone on Tumblr seems to love it so much lol. Youll probably also articulate things way better than me too. :)

I’ve had a couple DMs about this actually so you are not the only one! I’m also really tired, so I’m not sure how articulate I’ll be, but here we go! Caveat: I definitely liked more than I disliked. It was subversive and engaging and had so many lovely literary references. A queer, Asian-American Cyrano de Bergerac? Sign me the hell up (and the Bollywood train ending?? My heart). Ellie’s relationship with her dad? I could probably talk Just about the intricacies there for several paragraphs. I loved the English teacher, and that Paul got several “deep” moments/lines despite being the “dumb” character. I love that the movie sets up the complexity inherent to the idea of “love” via Plato at the beginning and then Very Specifically shows a bunch of different kinds of love through the film (Storge! Philia! Agape! Ludus! Pragma! Mania! Philautia!) Again. I could speak at length about how neat those incorporations were. I love that neither Paul nor Ellie “won” the love triangle at the end and the love interest chose Not be a love interest and head to art school (here’s looking at you philuatia). Frankly, it was exactly what I would have wanted to see as a teenager. 

That being said, I am not a teenager anymore and I have spent far too much time in classrooms criticizing media to ever enjoy a film in its entirety anymore (alas?). My criticisms here were mostly things that I’m assuming weren’t handled on screen because of time constraints--like the fact that Paul never explicitly apologizes/talks to Ellie about her sexuality after saying she’s going to hell. Like. That would have wrecked me. I get that his Church Moment was him talking to Ellie while also talking to Aster and sort of an apology, in it’s own way, but it just wasn’t enough for me. Same with Ellie/Aster’s convo at the end. It felt a little too contrived that after a significant betrayal/violation of trust they would be able to just jump forward into joking together/Aster being ok with Ellie kissing her. 

It also really bothered me that Aster was just...blatantly cheating on her boyfriend. And that’s never addressed at all. I feel like casual infidelity that’s never called out in a movie meant for young audiences isn’t healthy--especially when that infidelity is occurring in a character who can be interpreted as bisexual (because that propagates the shitty narrative that bisexual folks are super promiscuous/more likely to cheat). But regardless of your interpretation of Aster’s sexuality, it feels like the movie condones/normalizes the idea that cheating is ok if you’re not happy in a relationship, which is. Uh. Bad. 

So, anyway. Things like that bothered me, but they don’t negate the fact that I think this was, on the whole, a good film. If you DM me, I’d definitely be down to talk about it with you!