#i wish i could have said more about the characters and plot beats even

[somethingwittyandweird]

So I finished Sea of Stars today (as anyone with me on their dash will find out as soon as they scroll past this post). Long story short, I loved it! It was a really solid experience from start to finish, and I'm going to take a moment here to sing some praises.

Early on the first thing that charmed me was the environment design- it felt like I could follow my character's journey visually on the world map through the zones when I entered and exited them, which just testifies to how well made the overworld map is. The environment designs were just great in general- every place was visually interesting and some of the backgrounds were absolutely jaw dropping.

I liked the combat system! It's not hard by any means but it's fun. It starts out slow to ramp up the interesting features and many times in the early game I felt like combats were over before I got to use any cool moves, but by the time you unlock all the mechanics it's a really dynamic system. I like the choice to flatten the MP bars and skill costs and put an emphasis on alternating spending MP on two-three skills and then basic attacking to replenish it. The live mana system gives another dynamic angle that ended up feeling a lot like Octopath's BP system in execution (again, setting up a cadence of small attacks to charge -> big damage attack -> repeat) but also interacted well with the lock system. The combo attacks are a highlight and the elemental lock system encourages nearly all of them to enter the rotation. The only gripe I have is that the Obligatory Indie RPG Timed Hits Like Paper Mario, while they do have good feel once you get them down, *really* could have used a timing example on first appearance, or someplace to practice using them. When a new party member showed up with a completely different attack pattern, it took me several fights of pressing A at random times during the animation to figure out where the right timing window was. Turning on the modifier that gave feedback on perfect timing was helpful to know when I had it, but I didn't like having to guess what part of the animation I was aiming at in the first place.

The characters were excellent- though I don't have much to say about some of them, others of them felt like they were aimed directly at me and the types of character I like. There were multiple times that I was delighted to see a new character get to join the ensemble and not just remain in place. I think they were all treated well by the story and most importantly, all had their moments to shine. On that, the story in this one was also excellent- some good twists and some *really* heartfelt plot beats that will stick with me. One visually shattering moment in the middle gave me that awe-struck "oh to experience that again for the first time" feeling whenever I passed through that area thereafter. Just an overall good story well told.

Like I said in my last post, I enjoyed the gamefeel of traversal, which is surprising since JRPGs aren't really a movement focused genre. But again, with the addition of verticality, climbing up ledges and rock walls, and later on the grapple hook to cross gaps, I was pretty engaged even when backtracking- though there was very little backtracking, since the world and environments were designed as very straightforward and easy to navigate. The collectibles and sidequests were at a good challenge level where they weren't free but they also didn't take dozens of hours to scour the world for the hidden door, etc. The game also gives you a modifier that gives a radar for collectibles too making it easy to get that nice shiny completion star. And the sidequests were all worthwhile too, especially the late game character-specific questlines. The full completion reward true ending surprised me at first, but I settled into it once the feelings started to flow.

It wouldn't be fair to the game to not mention the way it wears its love for Chrono Trigger and other SNES-era JRPGs on its sleeve. If "Guest Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda" wasn't enough of a clue, the story is tucked full of easter eggs and references, combo attacks and enemies and environments and plot beats that fans of Chrono Trigger would identify easily. But I think it handles the inspiration well, being an homage that still keeps up its own identity. The lore tying it to the studio's other game, The Messenger, helps with that. It's not just "hey let's remake this game we're all nostalgic for beat for beat" and more "hey let's do our own thing but throw in a lot of nods for us and for other people who are nostalgic for this."

Overall, playing the game was great to end 2023 and finishing the game is a killer start to 2024! A very hearty recommend from me.

[lesbiansanemi]

God nothing hits like early bleach, the substitute shinigami arc and rukia’s execution arc are just. Ugh. Something about the crunchy-ass early 2000s-ness of it that the rest of the series lost (not just animation wise but aesthetic wise), when there was still hope that all the potential would be capitalized on, idk, it was just fun and getting to fall in love with all the characters because pretty much every single one introduced was great and engaging. I just really really wish the series had kept that early vibe that it started losing once the visoreds were introduced, they got the last little tail end of it. As soon as we got to the heuco mundo arc this all vanished and it’s so upsetting, the series just lost a lot of its personality, if that makes sense, I wish it had kept it so badly

[ladcedes]

melodrama

charles leclerc x musical theatre actress!reader, social media!au

summary a melodrama is defined as a dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and plot-lines that play to the audience’s emotions. when charles leclerc dates a queen of drama, there is bound to be some that seeps into his life.

notes yes, the title was from the lorde album. warning, google translated french

the anniversary posts

yourusername

Liked by lilymhe and 582.382 others

yourusername mon amour ❤️ i never could’ve imagined that i would spend 5 years with you… and i never imagined that i could find someone so amazing, who could make me feel like the most spectacular person in the world, the most special girl, yet also remind me of how human i am and how i’m allowed to be only human. you always manage to whisk me away from the pressures of life, push everything away, and make it feel like it’s just us in this world. you, my darling, are the comfort and calm of my soul. with you forever by my side, i can face anything

view 366 replies

12 March 2023

arthur_leclerc i can't believe it's been 5 years since you two started being publicly insufferable

⤷ charles_leclerc nous t'aimons aussi, arthur 🙄🙄🙄 (we love you, too, arthur)

carmenmmundt congrats on 5 years and cheers to many more!!

⤷ yourusername thank you love! ❤️

f1wagsite the caption is too sweet im jealous

⤷ ynfans2023 literally their relationship makes me wanna go in the bathtub with my hairdryer

charles_leclerc

Liked by alex_albon and 906.438 others

charles_leclerc always the light on my darkest days, my sunshine when it rains, melting away all my worries and doubts, always bringing me up from the lowest of low points. you are my courage and strength. you shine so brightly that you light up everything around you, including myself. you bring out the best in me and love even the worst. you give warmth to the deepest corners of my soul. with you, i’m the best and most natural version of myself. these 5 years together have been the best years of my life, i wish i had met you sooner. even eternity isn’t enough to be with you, mon étoile ❤️

view 523 replies

12 March 2023

lewishamilton congratulations guys ❤️

pierregasly congrats on 5! so where's the ring mate? 😂😂

⤷ alexalbon seconding this 😂😂

⤷ hamilfans pierre?? ALEX?? do they know something we don't or are they playing??

valenciacia the caption??? ME WHENNN 😭😭😭😭😭

⤷ f1girliee RIGHTT like "even eternity isn't enough to be with you"???? i'm going crazy.

⤷ leclercwdc i'm about to go take a bath with my toaster rn

charles_leclerc posted • 8/2/2023 | yourusername posted • 2/3/2023

charles_leclerc

Liked by pierregasly and 867.338 others

charles_leclerc my favourite actress ❤️ unbelievably proud of you, mon cherie @yourusername.

to be blessed with the love of such a hard-working, talented actress is an honour. you performed amazingly tonight and every other night before.

11 February 2023

view 406 comments

yourusername charlie you are such a sap (i love you so much)

⤷ charles_leclerc only for you darling (i love you more)

itsnessa they make me believe in love

⤷ loveleclerc real i don't know what i would do if they broke up

⤷ wdcleclerc i think i would lose hope in love

44britcedes my fav couple 🫶🫶🫶

yourusername

Liked by charles_leclerc and 724.198 others

yourusername all's well that ends well

3 May 2023

view 698 comments

myagramm is the ring on yn's finger a new addition orrrr

⤷ pierregasly i guess we found where the ring is

⤷ leclercism beating the breakup allegations with marriage allegations. only them.

⤷ myagramm PIERRE?? HELLO???

httpsainz is that ring what i think it is

solarpiastri im actually crying they rlly said fuck the break up rumours and decided to start up engagement rumours instead

a/n: might make a part 2 if i feel like it in like 5 months

[lurkingshan]

Unknown Episode 12

This the end beautiful friends. And I wouldn't say the show is going out with a whimper, exactly, but it's certainly not with a bang. This will remain one of my all time favorite Taiwanese dramas, but I will definitely be remembering it as being so so excellent for 10 exquisite episodes that built to such a beautiful peak and then inexplicably blew it on the dismount.

We already talked about episode 11 and the sex scene blunder, as well as some of the other missed beats there. Episode 12 moved on from the immediate aftermath of Yuan and Qian getting together to give us a sense of what their lives will look like now that they are together. One thing I definitely appreciated is that they aren't hiding this from anyone--they are taking the no shame approach to the change in their relationship, and I love that. I don't know that I entirely bought how brazen they were being, though. Making out in the open office space where Qian's employees could see seemed a bit much even if they weren't brothers, and given that the show didn't portray any awkwardness or any of Qian's expected discomfort with this big shift in their relationship, it came across a little silly and dismissive of how serious a change this should be for them. I would have really enjoyed Yuan threatening Qian with kisses if it had been a more private moment. And I deeply hated the top/bottom discussion amongst the fujoshi coworkers, that was just in poor taste and out of step with the tone of the show (can we just ban bls from doing scenes like this already?).

This final episode also failed to meaningfully resolve Qian's health issue in favor of introducing a new plot: Lili's accidental pregnancy. I have mixed feelings about this development. On the one hand, it helps to reinforce a theme of this family's resilience and ensures they will have a family legacy, and it led to hands down my favorite scene in the episode, which was the family discussion where they were moving between the bedrooms as Qian learned of the pregnancy, promised not to attack San Pang, and then immediately attacked San Pang when he stopped hiding. That was comedy gold and the cast was so excellent in every beat of it. On the other hand, I don't love this plot direction for Lili and I don't think the show really did anything to reckon with what a monumental wrench it will throw into her life plans (note that this is another departure from the book, where Lili ends the story a successful jet setting model who is still single and living her ideal life traveling for work). Lili wants a career in fashion modeling and entertainment; how exactly does having a child at age 23 fit with those goals? The show didn't even bother to consider her future in the way this story was framed. I would have preferred a time skip to do this plot at a more appropriate time for her; as it was this just felt a little careless.

In the end I am glad we got to see the family accept each other's relationships and Qian and Yuan settling into living alone together in the home they love, but I do wish the final two episodes had lived up to the promise of the rest. It felt like the first 10 episodes built so beautifully to a monumental relationship change, and then the show just kinda shrugged their way through the actual change in favor of random new plots and a list of ill-fitting Taiwanese bl tropes. After everything they went through, all tension evaporated instantly, no one was uncomfortable with the relationship becoming romantic, and there was no real nuance in the family discussion about it. They simply didn’t finish the story they started and given they had such strong material to work with from the novel, I will never understand why.

That said, even with a lackluster ending I will always be grateful that we got this gem of a show. Despite its flaws, this story contains some of my all-time favorite characters and relationships. Hats off to the cast and crew for delivering one of my favorite dramas of the year. And I want to also thank the folks on here who made discussion of this show every week so fun. We are a tiny little fandom but the love and devotion to this show was so lovely, and I am extra grateful to those who stuck to the weekly pact for the final episodes so we could keep posting and talking about this story for a couple more weeks. I hope we find another show to love together very soon!

[rubywolf0201]

How Mahoro was initially presented in early promo materials and the first episode OP & ED

When Mahoro was first revealed, she was presented as this cute and peppy love interest character that you typically see in shoujo manga. And when I first look at her, I immediately thought she is kind of an odd duck due to the delinquent-like setting BUCCHIGIRI?! is.

The promo teaser even showed a split second shot of her just being the cute character who would give the main characters some motivation (well just Arajin lol). This of course made me fear that she would be a plot device that would cause a shitty ass love triangle.

OP and ED gets a bit weird in this. When she is presented in the OP, all of the guys (sans Kenichiro and Marito) are immediately taken aback by her. In the ED, all of the main guys are dancing with her, have few shots of them getting ship teased with her and when she did the heart hands thing, all of them are immediately charmed by her.

(Wish I could include all guys being heart handed by Mahoro but I want to put in more photos)

But in the main series? Nope. None of the guys except for Arajin (obviously) really like her or are close to her. And that’s because underneath her cute appearance, lies a selfish and toxic girl who only wants her brother’s attention only. And by doing so, she ‘dates’ guys in hopes that they become the new leader of Siguma and have Marito step down so that she can have him all for herself.

The Siguma members relationship with Mahoro:

- Outa is seen being exasperated by her fangirling antics in the first episode.

- One of the mooks commented that Mahoro dated guys 24 times all so that they can be beaten up by Marito, satisfying her brocon fantasies (which in truth they’re ’tests’ to see if they can beat her brother or not)

- Hagure is shown to be intimidated by her and kept running in circles while being behind Jabashiri’s back in the second episode.

- Jabashiri hardly noticed, much less pay attention to Mahoro.

- Marito is the exception since he is the older brother but even he has limits if the face he made in the second ep is of any indication.

This even applies to Minato Kai as well:

- Kenichiro, Kamao and Zabu doesn’t know her yet but in the case of the latter two, they probably know her in passing but otherwise they hardly paid attention to Mahoro.

- Matakara does but he dislikes the way she is manipulating Arajin for personally selfish reasons. When he tried to confront her, she straight up ignored him. When he did it again but with force, she screeched like a siren and ran off.

But with all that said, let’s take a glimpse of Mahoro’s character:

- Presents herself as a shojo manga-esque character.

- But in actuality, she’s a massively unhinged brocon.

- toxic and manipulative. All it takes is using a hand heart sign and guys would immediately be ‘motivated’ by her.

- Is known to go out with guys but has never really shown any care about their personal lives (if her actions in 1st and 3rd episode are of any indication)

- morally selfish but not downright evil. Just selfish.

- can fight back if she wants to.

- doesn’t care about anyone other than her brother.

- hates being touched by other random guys who tried to question her.

- ignores people who tried to confront her about her motives.

I know that I’ve made quite a few posts about Mahoro but she strikes me as an interesting character despite her actions in today’s episode but at the same time, I do hope that she at least have character development along the way, have a backstory that explains why she is the secretly toxic and selfish brocon that she is today and last but not least not thrown or sidelined into a unconventional damsel in distress.

Anyways, peace! ✌🏻

[matt0044]

”Reverse Trinity Syndrome” or why “The Final Day” works.

One sticking point of the finale to Gabriel’s run as main antagonist was the absence of Adrien in the final battle. Fans felt cheated out of Chat Noir facing his father and learning exactly what he’d become. That said... I feel like it being Bug Noir vs. Monarch is inaccurate when it's more like Marinette vs. Gabriel.

Marinette fighting for the one she loves and finally had the courage to kiss before the Perfect Alliance outbreak. Gabriel fighting for the wish he's spent the better part of a year grasping for. Season 5 spent quite a bit of time establishing tension between them as civilians with a classic "rich boy's parent disapprovals of peasent girl" dynamic.

The Miraculous was just the icy on the cake.

There's also something about Adrien, the male lead, being in captivity while Marinette, the female lead, is the one to take on the big bad mano e mano that reminds me of this article a while back that discussed a similar plot beat but with the genders reversed:

We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome

by Tasha Robinson

Since Tumblr's crap with links, I recommending googling the article itself.

The gist of the article was criticism of action films be they live or animated where the third act would have the female lead or a significant female character benched for the rest of the climax. Examples include Valka from How To Train Your Dragon 2, Wyldstyle from The Lego Movie (The Second Part was totes underrated) and Trinity from The Matrix if the name didn't give it away.

For me, Chat Noir being benched hit differently since I often had this frustration growing up. Sure, it was about the male hero mostly buuuuuut the set up for the heroine to be this awesome-sauce mentor, friend, parent or love interest would often be met with a lacking pay-off.

Similarly, I had been viewing Naruto and certainly felt that Sakura lacked prescene in Team 7's battles. Especially one their first mission where she's guarding their escort but doesn't even get any mook to throw down with at least. It felt like the trio was Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke if anything.

So... having Adrien as part of the battle might've distracted from Marinette's part of the battle and SHE is the Guardian who lost the Kwamis.

This isn't to say one couldn't feel that Adrien risking transforming and flying to Paris was missing. Like Bug Noir could stay but Adrien flying off only for the Nightmares to get to him too much and have the Resistence bail him out.

Though, under that train of thought, I will admit that I wish that Adrien revealed himself as Cat Noir to Marinette before Monarch arrives to shoe him away. Evolve the love square at least a touch more as all.

Personally, I wished Alya transformed with Plagg.

In any case, I feel like Marinette and Gabriel have some parallels to each other with each other often pulling overt schemes to get the love of their life. Not in the same way of course but Marinette is still the one to overcome her more iffy habits and ACTUAL TRAUMA FROM CHLOE PUTTING KIM UP TO PRANK HER.

"Derision" was wild, y'all.

Thus not going the "I am your father" approach was valid.

[marvelstars]

X-MEN 97 EP 10 REVIEW

Loved this episode, as Beau said this felt healing and it didn´t dissapoint. That said I agree the series peaked on Ep 5 but for me this doesnt mean this was a bad episode at all.

Highlights for me:

Rogue beating Bastion into a pulp over Remy´s memory "remember it"

Scott and Morph being there for Logan.

Nightcrawler praying with Charles and Magneto.

Cable oppening to Jean and Scott about his childhood and their farewell.

Storm simply laughing at Phoenix appareance, just like her sister to save them all at the nick of time from the prime sentinels.

Morph making fun of Sinister

Charles remembering he is supposed to have a degree on psycology and having a therapy session with Magnus instead of leaving him in a coma, not gonna lie, this always pissed me off in the original FA, him having regrets post fact and remembering Magneto only made me feel more mad at him, so seeing him this way helped me remember why I liked his character, especially considering what has been done to him in current comics.

The first people Magneto remembers are Rogue, who is right there on Asteroid M and his children Lorna, Pietro and Wanda as well as his parents.They help him center himself in his humanity, just wish this series tackled Magda and Anya as well. Talking openly about his sense of isolation over not having an actual family and fully feeling himself part of the X-men now was great, I don´t think even in comics this has been tackled with quite the same intensity.

I personally don´t think Magneto at this point or Rogue see each other in a romantic sense, Rogue more than Magneto´s lover this season, has been more like an honest friend who could understand where he was coming from but also tell him when he was being a jerk so even if they tackle AoA, I don´t see them being end game, their relationship is more like an AU but this doesn´t mean they don´t trust or appreciate the other pov.

Just "Magneto is alive" moment.

Cyclops bad ass leadership moment in which he hoped to understand and help Bastion, supported by Storm and X-men, following the logic of the dream. Bastion reaching out to them.

Just all the cameos. Captain America, Iron Man, Peter, MJ, Cloak, Dagger, Psylocke, Omega Red to name a few, I just missed another cameo by Doctor Doom

This Ep effectively closed up previous plot points and showed what to expect of season two

Gambit will come back as death but I am almost sure this won´t last long. My guess is that Storm, Logan and Morph were selected by Apocalypse to be his current horsemen.

This kind of fun and expectative is something that has been missing for a long time in comics and I am very happy to see XM 97 feels like a fresh take of old stories.

This looks as well as if S2 is tackling different X-men teams, one in the future, another in the present and another in the past. My guess is that it was Apocalypse the one who used time manipulation to take them to different spaces in time.

That comment by Apocalypse "My children, so much death" made me remember current comics Apocalypse, so I expect him to gain new nuances in the series, just like Bastion did.

[redbullgivesyouwingedkuriboh]

Since y’all liked me getting beaten down by GX characters so much, here’s:

Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V Characters ranked by how easily I could take them in a fight

same rules apply: fisticuffs only and my personal feelings about the characters do not matter

also since ARC-V is WEIRD AF when it comes to characters this will be characters that are exclusive to ARC-V. so no repeat of Asuka. We already know I bite harder than she does.

without further ado, here we go:

Reira Akaba. No shit. is literally a baby. if I was a baby kicking kind of person I could punt her into the sun. However as I do not kick babies I am more inclined to wrap her in a lil blanket and put her in the corner.

Yuya Sakaki. Bitch. One good step on his toes and he’s going “reaction shot?!” I pull on his stupid fuckin goggles and snap them back onto his face. he’s down. count to ten.

Yuzu Hiragi. Canonically the bracelet girls really suck at holding their own at any given moment. Yuzu is the weakest physically because she has never seen war or hardship to the level of the other three. I could take her in four seconds. pigtail tug time.

Yuri. The second weakest physically of the Yu boys. has been coddled by Leo for years. probably sparred with Sho at the academy to make himself feel better about having 0% body weight from muscles. eat shit you purple motherfucker.

Dennis McField. not only would I beat him, I would enjoy doing it. I’d love to curbstomp that motherfucker off a boat, except he already did that to himself. physically he is a fuckin twig and I am five feet seven inches of pure unadulterated god complex. he’ll wish I turned his ass into a card.

Reiji Akaba. the scarf works to his detriment. I do two laps around him holding the end of that thing and suddenly his face is turning blue and he’s calling for papa. unfortunately for him I have zero mercy.

Rin. again, the bracelet girls are notoriously bad at being strong independent women. we literally don’t see Rin for most of the series because she got herself kidnapped off the cuff. that being said she could probably hold her own against me, but I think she’s too sweet for that.

Z-ARC. We’ve established I bite. even outside of human form, if you look at him, he’s got a fuck ton of exposed veins, both as regular Z-ARC and Yuya Z-ARC. chompy chompy motherfucker you’ll pass out from the blood loss before I can kick your ass properly.

Yugo. Canonically relies on his motorcycle for fuckin everything. lost to Yuri because he rolled a nat one on his constitution saving throw. even though he’s probably physically in shape from motorcycle stuff I could flick him in the forehead and he’d be whining like a baby. If I got the first shot in, I’d have a 99% chance of winning. If he got to me first it would go to about 60%. again, I bite.

Leo Akaba. Here’s where we get into characters that have a greater than 50% chance of beating me. Leo is canonically ripped and also has zero emotions. I would only win if I got close enough for a nut kick, but there’s only one person who wants to be that close to Leo Akaba and it sure as hell ain’t me.

Sora Shuin’in. Holy fuck who let their feral cat off its leash. Sora is literally insane and I am requesting backup. He’d shove that lollipop so far up my ass that I’d be able to tell whether it was lime or green apple. I live in fear of Sora suddenly materializing in my room

Ruri Kurosaki. Remember how I bite? She bites harder. She puts up with No Shit and also has No Fucks To Give.

Serena. No further explanation needed. I fear that explaining it further would cause Feral Child #2 to burst into my brain and start kicking.

Yusho Sakaki. Sweet mother of blue eyes white dragon. remember how I said my personal feelings don’t matter? now they do. smash. next question. wait what were we talking about?

Shun Kurosaki. kinda lost the plot on Yusho but we’re back on track now. Shun canonically took out armed guards by Batmanning his ass up a wall. There’s posters up for him that say “lost dog” and the caption is just “if you find him please keep him”.

Yuto. Everything that Shun is + Ruri taught him how to effectively bite.

Noburu Gongenzaka. he is actually ripped and wears cement shoes for funzies. he could probably just stomp once and my shaky joints would give out on their own. bye.

Yoko Sakaki. canonically beat the stuffing out of people in her past life and I would let her. angry mom energy means I barely make it out alive. smash. wait— shit—

[gourdkeeper]

Drunken Brawlin'

A self-insert/reader/world tour character 🍋 fic with Jamie Siu. Reader is gender neutral.

4k+ words

Warnings: Drunken sex, light bondage, public setting, semi-public sex, blowjobs, masturbation and mild name calling, switching, lesson goes too far. Canon compliant but not plot heavy (there's no plot almost lol this is straight up porn)

Disclaimer: I am not a writer. Specially not an erotica writer and this was all very self indulgent so please forgive the simplicity of the sentences and amateur-like writing.

Part 2

The sound of a new message rings and you check your phone. It's Li-Fen, again. You sigh in annoyance. She was a very sweet girl but she could easily overload you with small requests that would amount to massive chores if you don't learn to tell her no. Started when you helped her track down Bao Bao Bro and now it's never ending.

This time she had you fetch some weird coupon that allowed her to order milkshakes and boba tea for free once a week via drone delivery. "Sure," you thought "Can't be that hard." Indeed it wasn't such a hard task, but it took your whole morning away and you pray that she doesn't ask anything else of you.

"Did you find it yet?"

You reply with a thumbs up sticker.

"Cool! I'm still chilling with Jiejie here."

You're not far from Chinatown so you decide to take a stroll over there and handover the damned coupon to get this over with.

As soon as you enter the alleyway your eyes meet Chun Li who is once more teaching the locals. She gestures a small wave and a smile at you and you retribute, never did it dawn you that you'd be friends with such a well-regarded and skilled fighter such as her but here you are trading smiles. A little more ahead is Li-Fen, perched up on a little chair, eyes trained on her laptop. Either up to no good or browsing FooTube, who knows.

She doesn't seem to notice you right away so you clear your throat. She looks up at once and sets her sticker filled laptop aside, prancing at you with a full smile. You reach your pocket to get the coupon and notice another small folded paper together with it "Huh, weird when did this get here?" You mutter to yourself. Regardless you hand the prized coupon over and you wish her farewell as you have more business to attend to. She even gave you a Bao Bao Bro sticker as "reward" of some sort. She was happy and that's good enough of a reward as is.

As you turn around and walk away you take a look at the other mysterious paper. Unfolding it revealed the message: "Rooftop, at night."

Wow sure, someone wanted to be weird. You look around your surroundings trying to figure out who must've slipped the message into your pocket but nothing catches your attention. Your feet start moving again, eyes still on the paper. You take a quick final glance over your shoulder to see that someone was just watching you from the corner before swiftly disappearing.

Without any thought or time to waste you turn on your heels and begin sprinting towards the small alley. As soon as you make the corner. No one. Just some merchants going about their day. You know your eyes weren't playing tricks on you.

Well, no reason to stand around. If anyone tries anything funny you know you can stand your ground. "I'll just go about my day and return at night..." Whatever could be worse than another gang bothering you anyway?

---

The message had been in the back of your brain all day now that the sun is setting.

Come to think of it, that same alley was where you had met that long haired guy who was a "peacekeeper" or whatever it was he spouted out of his drunk mouth. He knocked out a couple of gang members and nearly had you beat as well as he had confused you for one. He seemed like a weirdo vigilante to you, albeit a weirdo you'd like to know more about. His fighting style was interesting and unique, you'd be lying if you said you didn't want to learn some of those moves as well.

Perhaps he was the one who had left the message?

With the sky now dark you make way to Chinatown for the second time this day, a couple of cardboard-box-headed fools try to pester you but you quickly brush them off. You don't have time for their stupid brawls.

You make way up the little ladders and onto one of the rooftops and there he is. The exact same drunk guy that singlehandedly beat a swarm of gangsters, facing away from you, staring off into the sky.

You approach cautiously, remembering how the last time you had seen him you nearly tasted asphalt.

The braided man seems to have heard your footsteps and turns around with a welcoming smile on his face, arms rested beside his torso, laying on the railing without a sign of malice. "Yo! I'm glad you got my message! Name's Jamie."

You awkwardly introduce yourself back, slowly closing the gap between the two of you.

"You dropped this that other night and I've been meaning to give it back but figured we could have a chat as well?"

He hands you your own ID, you haven't even noticed it was gone until now, almost makes you wonder if he didn't swipe it off you just to have an excuse.

"Oh uh, thanks!" You take it back and join him by the railling and look down on the humble alleyway. It's quite a nice view you can't lie.

Jamie bumps the back of his hand on your shoulder, motioning his gourd at you inviting you to take a swig with him. You politely decline "I don't really drink much, I don't think I'd be able to keep my drink well."

"Oh this?" Jamie looks at you, eyebrows raised "No no, not at all! This isn't booze, it's more like a uuuh herbal energy drink? Sure it is strong but it won't leave you with a nasty hangover. Family recipe!"

He has a kind smile on his face, he's... Really pretty honestly, the moonlight reflects off his eyes and skin, your eyes drift downwards meeting his bare midriff. It's making you feel things. You are smitten by him. The view *sure* is nice in here. Focus, you're not here for that.

"Try it really! I'll even teach you some of my moves so you can be *almost* as cool as the great Jamie Siu!"

You laugh at his cockiness. He's kind of arrogant but in a joking manner, like he doesn't fully take himself seriously? It's endearing. Plus he just offered to teach you his style and that's pretty much what you wanted. Surely can't hurt to give it a shot.

You nod and accept the drink. Jamie's smile stretches across his face and quickly grabs you a small cup and kicks a bench upright for you to sit on. "Really, best that you take a sit incase *it is* too strong for you."

It makes you question the contents of the drink but sure. You chug it down in one gulp and. Oh. Oh no. God. He was not lying. This is strong. Maybe too strong. You've dropped the cup and you're seeing double, one Jamie is enough, thank you.

You stupidly try to get up and trip over yourself, thankfully he grabbed you and stopped you from falling.

"Yooo are you okay?" Absolutely not.

"Try to regain balance, c'mon." He lightly slaps your cheek to get your focus on him and you just fall towards him. He lays you down. "Ok maybe there is a *little* bit of alcohol. Jeez you sure cannot hold your drink. Sorry about that."

Your head is still spinning, you're clueless as to how anyone can stand up, let alone fight after drinking whatever that gourd contains. Out the corner of your eye you see Jamie take his puffer jacket off, leaving his chest bare.

"Woaah..." You mouth, causing him to chuckle at you.

He lifts your heads and slides it under for support. "Just lay down for a couple 'k? We'll get onto the fighting part once you can clear your head a bit."

Whatever he says just does not register, your mind's in cloud nine and you can't unglue your eyes off of him.

Sure you realized he was attractive already but, goddamn, he is beautiful and you cannot stop yourself from stammering it outloud.

"So I've been told!“

He doesn't take you seriously, under the impression it's just the drink talking but you are dead serious.

You were there to catch fists, not feelings damnit.

Your breath is heavy and dragged, your eyes half lidded and your head feels entirely too hot, it's like you're going to explode.

You look up and he's hunched over, hands on his knees, staring right at you smiling.

"You're quite pretty too, y'know that?" God. You just want him to kiss you honestly.

"Anyway," He continues, "If you're lucid enough to admire my beauty... I'm sure you're lucid enough to get up and fight, no?"

You whine quietly at the callout and do your best to get up on your feet.

Jamie takes on his stance and you mimic it.

He starts explaining the basics and gesturing simple moves for you to copy.

You're following along but there's nothing but static in your brain, you can only think how badly you want this beautiful dark haired man standing in front of you half naked. This isn't the usual you, you're a fighter, and fighters show restraint, they don't show whatever this newfound weakness is.

He goads you onto attacking him. "Give it your all. Go on." You try to jab him but he deflects it effortlessly. You take a backstep and throw a kick. Deflected, throwing your balance off. You catch it and waste no time bringing your opposite arm forth with another punch and your feel your arm get stopped in it's tracks and circled around you. You get hit a couple of times and before you realize, you're locked in place, defeated.

"Tsk tsk" he clicks his tongue, "that's no good. Try again."

Once more, the same result.

"Again."

Every time, taking the same stance and defeating you without breaking a sweat while you can barely even maintain your composure.

This time he locks you in place and ends with his fingers pinched over your windpipe.

Right beside your ear, "I could have killed you easily. You need to do better." He growls.

His sudden serious low tone brings a shiver to your spine. Once more you're feeling things that shouldn't be felt, not here or now at least.

His stern voice. His breath right next to your ear, his naked chest pressed onto you, unable to move. This could prove to be a real problem.

You let out a pitiful whine and stare at him through the corner of your eye. He looks like a predator who had caught his prey.

"Are you... Gonna let go of me so we can try again?“ You enquire half nervously.

"No. Break out of it yourself."

You gulp down hard. He has a devious smirk on his face for a moment and the drink is still impending you from lying.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Oh?"

He squeezes his grip on you like a snake trying to strangle his prey and applies pressure on your neck causing you to squirm and yelp in pain.

"What do you mean by that? Are you giving up already? Not cool... I thought we had a fighter here and not a loser..."

"I'm..." the words stutter out of you, "Too distracted... By you..."

Your cheeks are burning in embarrassment, why can't you just be quiet. Stupid drink. That was the biggest mistake ever. Mom truly was right, never take anything from strangers.

One moment you don't know each other and the other you're undressing them with your eyes because you took one, *one* single swig of an unknown liquid. Stupid stupid stupid.

"Is that so?" He tightens even further. "Tell me, what about me makes you so distracted, hm?"

"Can't be my amazing skill as a fighter, I assume." He mocks, clearly enjoying this. "Is it my handsome physique?“ Tone still mocking.

With the limited motion you have you simply nod slightly and let out a breathy "huh uh" out that sounds more like a moan than an answer.

"I see. It's alright, I would be a flustered mess if I saw myself too." He jokes, cracking a smile and letting go of you.

You regain your breath and balance, assuming a fighting stance once more.

"Oh no no, I don't think so. That's enough fighting today, you need to sleep." Jamie says waving his index finger sideways. "Do you have a place to crash at?“

You tell him you just stay at a hideout near Beat Square but that you're not done. You came here expecting to learn something.

"Fair enough, but I did warn you." He takes on his stance as well and once more has you beat in record time, ending with you pinned underneath him. Wrists gripped by his hand above your head and his leg directly under your crotch.

You squirm and try to break free to no avail, once more he tightens his grip and pushes his knee up.

"It seems to me like you're losing on purpose now... I'm not quite sure I catch your drift."

"Maybe I am..." You reply flustered.

"What is it you want?" His face coming dangerously close to yours.

"You." You nearly moan, "I want you... I think."

"You think? “ he wastes no time and your mouths connect, making you gasp when you feel your lips touch and his tongue intrude.

He pulls back, flustered now too, "How's that for a thought?"

"More." Nothing else is in your mind but him, you need him. You only need Jamie, nothing else.

He smiles and gets back on attack, obliging, this time you feel his free hand roam on your chest, feeling you around and groping while your tongues fight for dominance.

He breaks away from the kiss as if asking for permission to move further and you nod. You've started grinding on his legs, you're getting desperate.

You moan his name softly as you attempt to please yourself with his leg and he scoffs. "Tsk, an hour ago you didn't even know my name and now you're moaning it... Pathetic. Do it again." He goads you, just like he did earlier to deflect your jabs, only this time he takes your open mouth as an invitation for his fingers. "That's right, open up for Jamie... Be on your best behavior..."

Jamie's fucking your mouth with his fingers in and out, smearing your drool on your chin while keeping you in place wanting for more. He withdraws his digits and wipes them off on your cheek. "Tsk, maybe I was right, you are indeed a loser." The smile on his face isn't one of bad intentions though, he's just being light-hearted but it does get you going and you once more moan a "huh uh" at him. "Good. I do like reminding losers where they belong." He lets go off your hands for a moment to rip you out of your pants and turn you around. "Follow my instructions, yeah? Lift your ass up."

You do as he says without a second thought. "Good, hold it like that." Without a second to waste he starts rubbing you through your underwear and you have trouble staying in the position. Hell, you have trouble not collapsing completely. You can't even believe that you're doing this. On a rooftop of all places!

"You're beautiful like this..."

He's picking up the speed and you're having trouble not being loud. You don't want the entire neighborhood to hear you but it gets harder and harder, you are quaking, quivering, if he keeps this up you will come undone without a doubt.

"Jamie... Please"

"Please what?“

"Please, Jamie, I'm going to... Aah"

He pulls his hand away leaving you twitching and panting.

"Not yet."

He lightly kicks you to the side making you lose balance and roll over.

Gasping for air and staring at him through heavy lidded eyes.

His braid has come loose since, and his long black hair is a mess, strands clinging to his sweaty glistening forehead and torso.

"On your knees." He commands and you scramble to assume position, wondering if he's doing what you think he's doing.

You expect him to undo his pants but it never happens.

Instead he removes your top, leaving you bare. Completely naked and vulnerable. You can only wish that no one can see you like this. Last thing you need is a random gangster trying to blackmail you over this.

"Spread your legs for me and lean back... Like that, good. Do that for me... Good." He's so mesmerising, his flowy hair, the way he talks, his body, he has you melt like butter. He has you completely in his grasp.

You see him hold onto his gourd but don't question it and simply do as he says.

He crouches next to you and resumes, applying pressure in all the right spots, rubbing at the perfect pace, getting you worked up once more.

"Open your mouth."

You slightly open one eye and part your lips.

"Face up." He tilts your chin forcibly and positions you as he wants. "Open wider."

His busy hand speeds up as he slightly loses his temper. "I said. Wider."

Suddenly there's liquid pouring over your mouth, chin and chest.

"Drink up, loser. Don't you want to be as strong as me? Learn to stomach it then."

Your chest heaves up and down, trying to not choke up on the drink while fighting the growing orgasm inbetween your legs. It's almost too much to bear.

He picks up the pace, faster than before. "Soon you'll be having something else in your mouth."

Now it was definitely too much. You inhale and you feel the climax crashing and you choke on the drink, coughing and gasping for air as your arms grow tired and let yourself collapse on the ground.

He lays down next to you, taking a swig of his own drink and wiping his mouth with his arm.

"You good?"

You regain your breath and exhale while nodding.

"Good, I'm not through with you."

He rests his palm on your cheek while gazing into your eyes and approaches for a kiss once more.

"Hm, you taste much better now" you're both giggling like school girls, you reek like his drink and you look like a mess. You *feel* like a mess, hell, you probably can't even walk straight at this point.

"Do you still want it?“

"Hm?“ You look at him, confused.

"The other "something" in your mouth?“

You can't help but let out a laugh and nod. You do. You want all of him.

"You sure right?"

It's sweet of him to confirm with you even though you're both clearly plastered.

You reassure him and crawl over to him and start undoing his sweatpants.

He's leaning back on his arms, cheeks burning red and with a smile on his lips.

"Eager eh? You sure are a good student, the best for sure."

"Oh so you just do this with everyone?“

A belly laugh comes crashing from his side. "No no, absolutely not. First time doing this to be honest."

Huh. His answer and honesty perplexes you. First time sinning on the rooftops with someone he's trying to teach or? First time, first time? You push for clarification.

"Of course the great Jamie Siu has had sex, duh of course." His eyes averting from you now. "No one can resist my charm, I mean, look at me. It worked on you!"

You already know the confidence is a bit of a façade, no use making him feel bad even if he's a terrible liar. You're done removing his pants and you start teasing him. Giggling at him while you ghost your finger tips on his thighs and above the elastic of his boxer shorts.

"Is this revenge or something?" He asks with a cocked eyebrow.

"Nah, I just like seeing how you react."

You peel his underwear off of him. The way his sex springs up makes you hunger even more for him. He's so wet already, coated in his own precome. Would be a real shame to tease him further...

You crawl inbetween his legs, taking one into your grasp and kissing up from his calve to his thigh and do the same on the other one. Lightly touching his ankles, the back of his knees, the inside of his thighs. The more he shivers under you the more you want to devour him.

"Please" his brow is furrowed and his cock is heaving up and down together with his chest. "Please just touch it already..."

"Since you've asked so nicely..."

Your lips touch his tip, just a small kiss before reaching down with your tongue at the base of his shaft and dragging it up painfully slow causing him to squirm. He bucks his hips upwards trying to connect with your mouth and you take hold off them and push them down, pinning him to the ground.

He moans in response.

"Hm? What? Do you like being under my grasp as well?"

"Maybe so." He's pouting slightly, somehow redder than before. It's honestly cute and it only makes you want to push further.

You run your tongue lightly up and down his sex. Everytime it goes near the frenulum he almost loses it. It's like you're making love to it.

'Ah's' and 'oh's' together with a myriad of other noises keep escaping his lips.

You pin him harder to the ground and decide to take his entire lenght in your mouth. Hollowing out your cheeks, his pubes tickling your nose. You apply some pressure and go up. And down. And up, alternating between circling the head with your tongue and licking the base of his cock with every motion. He's squirming, panting and his hips twitching.

He's swearing something in Cantonese and it makes you proud of your skills. He's so beautiful, specially like this. It makes you wish you could see him in this state every day.

You feel his hand reach up to the back of your head pushing you down and you slap it away immediately, taking a hold of his wrist and pinning it on the ground. You do the same to his other hand that was laying about comfortably.

Judging by the moans leaving him, that was the right move.

You close your eyes shut as you work him up.

No. This is not enough, you decide last minute.

With a pop you withdraw your mouth from his cock. Jamie produces the whiniest moan you've ever heard from anyone.

"N-no please, I'm so close please, please please"

His pleading is adorable.

"Oh yeah? Do you want to come?"

"Please, god yes please! It was so good please" He pleads thru his teeth, grimacing, teeth gritted, eyebrow furrowed, tears swelling up at his eyes, redder than the lanterns in Chinatown and his hair clinging to his sweat. If you didn't know any better you'd think he was in pain. He's back to swearing in his language, switching back and forth between the swears and the pleading.

"Oh come on? I thought you were the great Jamie Siu? Protector of Chinatown? You're getting destroyed in a rooftop and you're being so loud about how badly you want more? If you don't watch out you'll be branded as the whore of Chinatown instead." You tease.

He stills and gulps down, not even realizing how much of a loudmouth he was being. Embarrassed and thankful that you reminded him of his whereabouts, now whimpering quietly.

"If you want to come to badly, you'll have to be quiet, ok? 'O great Jamie Siu..." You mock and his cock twitches at the words.

He nods quickly, trying to stammer out a "Yes please, I'll be quiet!"

"Good boy."

His world froze. *Boy? Good boy?* How could you talk to him in this matter. First calling him a whore and now this... He didn't like that his body betrayed him in this way, he should be offended, whooping your ass even, but truthfully nothing has ever excited him like this before.

You see the gears in his head turning and repeat yourself. "That's my good boy..." His breath is ragged and you return your mouth to his cock.

You release one of his wrists briefly only to slam your knee over it instead and with your now free hand you start jerking him off along with your mouth, squeezing ever so slightly when it's close to the head. You keep pumping up and down. Making eye contact with him. He's a mess. Biting down on his lip, trying to be a good boy for you. His fists balled up, trying to ride these sensations out for as long as he possibly can. Sadly for him it all comes crashing down. He can't take it any longer. His body convulses underneath you as he blows air out of his nose and his forehead almost goes purple. With the most beautiful expression painted on his face. He comes, hard. Spurting for what feels like an eternity in your mouth. You doing your best to not let a single drip out.

He collapses, defeated. Body drained of strenght and mind of judgement.

You've let go off him by now and swallowed most of his come. Crawling up to him you decide to kiss him. You swirl your tongue, dancing together with his, giving him a taste of himself to which he scrunches his nose with a look of disgust now that the clarity is hitting him. "Good boy." You whisper as you back out of the kiss.

He flops onto his back and stares at the sky.

"I can't believe we just did this." He's incredulous.

You're both laughing again.

"We should probably get dressed again and call it a night." You remind him.

"Uh yeah definitely..." his tone seems a bit sad now, "Do you uh, want me to walk you home?"

"Oh you don't have to, I can handle myself-"

"No really, I want to, I insist."

"Well," you look back at Jamie with the grin of someone who's about to mock him again, "if the great Jamie Siu insists who am I to decline?"

---

You're both standing at your doorway now, saying goodbyes. You've tried inviting him in but he politely declined, you can only hope you haven't scared him off. You'd hate for this to be the last time you see him.

Just as he's about to walk off you exclaim "Wait!“

You pull the Bao Bao Bro sticker that Li-Fen handed you earlier.

"You're gonna give me a sticker?? Really?“

"No dumbass," he's bewildered. You pull a pen out and scribble your number into the back of it. "It's more than a sticker. Here." You hand it to him and kiss him once more before seeing him off.

You turn on the lights to the small apartment (if you can even call it that) and kick your shoes off just as you hear your message tone again.

*Sigh.*

"Please tell me she doesn't want to send me on a wild goose chase again."

It's not Li-Fen this time, instead it's an unknown number.

"Tomorrow, rooftops? xx"

Now that was fast! A smile curls at your lips. Tomorrow, rooftops for sure.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Can't send asks from my sideblog, but this is @chewing-the-drywall

I feel like much of s2 fell into Frenchie's "we put it in the box and then lock it and don't open it again" in the sense that it set up A LOT that I was intrigued about how they would address it, but it either never was mentioned again or was handled poorly.

Examples range from light, like how I wish we saw more of the crew interacting with each other in ways that built on their characters from S1, where in S2 they didn't feel any more developed, or even regressed. (Example, Fang used the word Fingies 2-3 times through S2, and it felt like they were using it almost as a shorthand for his character, rather than making him feel more real and multidimensional as a character.)

100% @chewing-the-drywall. When I first heard that line I had I was so excited for the story to prove Frenchie wrong. Or show how important it can be to put aside problems to stay alive in the moment. But in the end, this one line summarized how the season handled everyone, besides Stede and Ed. Below, is an in depth discussion on where this season decided to spend it's limited amount of time. Instead of focusing on the characters and plotlines they'd already established.

This season had so MANY ideas it wanted to touch on.

Izzy trying to deal with his unrequited love and opening up to a new way of living. The traumatized 'Revenge' crew trying to adapt to a softer way of life again. The abandoned crew learning how to help their traumatized friends. Introducing new characters like Zheng, Auntie, and Archie into our main group. Setting up a conflict to resolve in season three. Along the way, referencing Pirates of history like Ned Low, Mary Reed, and Anne Bonny.

Notice, I've said all this and we're not even at our romantic leads.

Which is fine. Stories are fluid things. As long as the story knows how to flow from our leads to our side characters. Which leads us to how I feel this show took a lot of time away from establishing our central crew-

[Warning- this will be a controversial opinion- I want to know what y'all think about this] Zheng/Oluwande. This seasons habit of retreading old plotlines and referencing scenes from S1.

What S1 did so well was paralleling the side stories with what was going on with Ed/Stede. Usually, highlighting how well Stede/Ed worked by showing how much Ed/Izzy DIDN'T work. Or general hijinks that tied into the plot (Oluwande and Frenchie on the French ship).

Season 2 chose to parallel our main story with what was going on between Zheng/Oluwande as a budding romance and Izzy's slow recovery. The reason Zheng/Oluwande scenes felt like a waste for me in that the story was JUST a retelling the story we watched from S1.

A frustrated first mate(Auntie), and a legendary captain(Zheng) fighting over the captain falling in love with an idiot(Olu). In season 2, much like every callback for me, it felt like it slowed down the plot by pulling us out of the story. Like...yeah, you did the thing again, do you want me to applaud you for it?

I LIKE Zheng and Oluwande as a couple! I like that Oluwande was debating leaving Stede and taking Jim and Archie with him. But at the same time, I didn't care about Zheng until episode 7 when she beat up Stede, showing that yes. She's not just some all powerful woman taken down by a mix of love(the crew in ep3) and thinking that she was above it all (ep 7). She's fast on her feet, smart, and willing to stab someone who gets in her way. She's her own person. But.

Every other scene that established her was about her romance, felt like we could have put Rhys and Taika in there. It didn't feel...unique. It's as if the show only knows 1 way to write a romance between a badass and a bumbling idiot. Again. Oluwande in season 1 wasn't dumb in the same way everyone else was. He was protective of Jim, a bit nervous overall, but he was the person the crew chose to lead them. The season just dumbed everyone down a bit and called it a day.

This comes to the larger issue. When we only have eight episodes I don't want to rewatch the exact same plot beats with different characters. Time spent here ends up taking away from other stories we could have told about trauma and growing as a family and other forms of growing as a family. We didn't need another romance plot line. Imagine taking this time instead to show Lucius reaching out to Pete AND the crew for help. Or Frenchie finally feeling safe enough to play his lute. Or Roach helping Fang get over his thing with cakes-you get my point.

The fact we took all the found family stuff from season one, and pushed it onto only Izzy in S2 means when he dies, all the found family shit falls away. His death makes us realize we've been ignoring the central family we were supposed to care about. Because in so many words, their trauma was ignored.

[I even theorize if Izzy was alive and sailed away with them. Showing how he was taken in and loved by his crew, the ending wouldn't feel so hollow. This crew doesn't feel like a caring family. The person who protected them for months died, wasn't mourned, and then they threw a wedding the same day. Not even a full day to mourn. The 'New Revenge' feels like a heartless crew of characters we barely recognize because they aren't a family like they were at the end of S1. More like coworkers who sometimes fall in love with eachother.]

Trauma, Timelines, and Tonal issues when jumping from Episodes 1-3 to Episodes 4-5.

When the crews meet up, the story chooses to focus on the fun plot. Ed and Stede recovering their relationship, only dipping back into that serious tone when Izzy or Lucius come on screen to 'make things sad' again. I don't think the transition from 'serious' to 'comedy' was handled well.

I don't have an official timeline of the events of season two. But from what I remember, everything happens within 2 weeks.

In episode 4, Stede ignored the vote of his crew- to let the man who was torturing half his 'FAMILY' for at least 80 days- back aboard. This rubbed me the wrong way, as it showed Stede being a selfish prick in a way that could seriously harm his crew. That's when I started to see how not adding a *single* time-skip mid-season would hurt S2.

Imagine if we had a one-week off-screen time skip between episodes 4 and 5.

Maybe it's implied that they stay in that town for a bit. Izzy would a bit more time to learn to move on his new leg and start to open up to those he already trusts. Include a scene of Izzy WITH the crew, maybe laughing about something with the old traumatized crew, even if it's just a 30-second opener. Imply that the traumatized crew would have more time to settle in with the family they miss. Show that yeah, the traumatized crew needs more time to heal. Imply at the start of the 'Ed apology' that Ed and Stede have had more time to talk their issues out.

THEN have Ed apologize. You can even keep the bullshit corporate to show that Ed still has to work for this.

Healing takes time. Setting a series over the span of two weeks after half your cast was tortured by your lead love interest? After five of your main crew thought they would sail off into a storm and die after months of stress and life threatening battles? Why did that shit get shoved to the side so quickly?

Framing episode 5 as the START of Ed making amends with the crew, only to drop the plot by episode 7? Not a smart move. Because let's be honest, 'poison into positivity' in episode 6, referring to the fact that they sold all of Ed's loot to pay for the party, ignores the sacrifices the crew made to live that long. (The death of Ivan, and intense trauma they all need to work through). In a way, Ed throwing this party was him asking the crew to start putting everything away in that imaginary box.

It's Ed retroactively letting himself say 'hey, that time I spent torturing my captives was worth it because we got something good out of it' while still ignoring his own guilt. Ed needed to take accountability for his actions. No more 'I took 'a' mans leg' bullshit. The reason his arc feels so unsatisfying is that the plot easily forgives him. Fuck. I hate what they did for Ed's arc, but that's not the point.

Overall.

My issue with this season is not that it chose to do these topics, it's that it didn't think about the implications of what they were bringing up. It didn't dare to think 'maybe it's fucked if we quickly brush off a trauma like this'. Again. I know we have to blame MAX for cutting off two episodes. But I don't think 2 additional episodes would fix a tone problem seen going from episodes 3-4.

Fucking hell. Each member of the revenge had the potential for their own arc, so it's baffling to see them all reduced to 'well meaning idiot' when they all felt so fleshed out in S1.

When izzy gives his speech about belonging, there's a reason the only image in the show of the crew all together was from S1.

At the end of the day, Season 2 didn't let our surviving side characters grow. This is a mean spirited bit on how I feel the writers see the their own characters.

Stede and Ed are our leads. They won't die, not in this genera. Their shitty actions will be forgiven because it's a comedy, and as long as it's joked about, it holds no weight. They won't die. They won't get fatally hurt. Their trauma will be taken seriously, but it's a 50/50 on if they'll talk about it before breaking up again. They will eventually get a happy ending, their trauma looked at head on, because duh.

Jim, Olu, Lucius, Pete? Characters who used to have defined personalities in S1, but haven't been defined much beyond their relationships with their partners? Whose trauma might be mentioned, but will quickly be 'resolved' in one scene? Shame. Seems like they're only useful as set dressing, But we might make you useful as interchangeable side characters to riff against. Oh, and you're in love! Isn't that cool!

Izzy? I'll just quote Jenkins here. "To have him become a father figure to Blackbeard, and on some level to the rest of the crew, and to see him become the heart of why we’re giving pirates the chance to stand for being able to live how you choose. In reality, they’re thieves and criminals, but what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy." So...Is Izzy a pirate and accepted into the Revenge family? Or is he still an outsider? Jenkins gave us a romcom but still defines Izzy's character as that of one stuck in a drama/tragedy. Point and laugh, because tonally these two things clash HARD and will make an audience lose trust in it's writers unless well established. Leading us to the entire issue we've pointed out of not letting your characters actions hold in dramatic weight in your story.

Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and Fang- Ah. No love interests again...shit. Well. Background actors it is... for now. We'll see. But we need 2 more scenes of the couple breaking up, so MAYBE you'll get some backstory hinted at in dialogue. You all have 1 thing your good at, so that's easy enough to put you where you belong.

Buttons and Swede? Well. They're still alive!! Don't be sad, fans :) The actors just couldn't show up anymore. We don't want our silly happy queer pirate rom com to not end on a happy ending! (Closes the lid of the trash can where they're keep Con O'Neill a bit tighter, thanking God Con was silenced by a strike this entire season from social media)

Do you agree, or disagree? Leave any lingering thoughts down below!

I'd love to chat down below.

[convenientalias]

West Out of Yu Men/Parallel World Review

Bc I just finished watching it yesterday!

I really liked it :D

I think it had a very unique aesthetic. It's set in the desert or in cities located near the desert for the most part, and you really feel it. The characters don't always look like they're hot, but there's always a dry, gritty feeling to the air. The fashion, tooo, was pretty unique. Ye Liuxi is very rough and tumble action girl with a little bit of sexy thrown in; Chang Dong mostly dresses kind of generic, practical and understated; Ding Liu dresses kind of cutesy-garish, loosening up both in attitude and in fashion as the show progresses; and then everyone in the parallel world dresses like they're in some historical fantasy with a touch of apocalyptic. So that's all just fun to watch. I love when a show has a unique visual feel to it.

In terms of plot, the show is a little wandering and not super tight, but that makes sense for a show about two characters both investigating a mystery and traveling through a different world. It's about discovery, meeting people and seeing wonders--eventually with some political intrigue as well. I honestly wish it could have been a little longer. Give it another five episodes, and I think we could have tied up some loose ends and gotten a more satisfying ending for a couple characters (specifically I'm thinking of Gao Shen and Jiang Zhan, but even Liuxi... well, I could watch several hours more of just Liuxi lols).

The acting was all pretty good. I have to admit I was not equally invested in all characters. This is definitely the Ye Liuxi show. Everyone else can be as cool and complex as they want, but we're all here to watch Ni Ni beat people up, open up portals, drive through the desert, cut melons, flirt obnoxiously, make threats, and so on and so forth. Previously I had only seen Ni Ni in The Rise of Phoenixes, and she's good in that but more of a trickster character, clever but not exactly intimidating. I love seeing an actress in a role where she's really allowed to dominate everyone around her, and I hadn't known Ni Ni would be so good at that. Now I want to finish watching The Rise of Phoenixes at some point but I don't know if I'll feel disappointed seeing her in a role that's less absolutely tyrannical.

The other lead actor is of course Bai Yu.

Tumblrites probably know him as Guardian's Zhao Yunlan, which is also where I first saw him. In this show he's much more subdued and serious, which I think is necessary to counter such a powerful presence as Ni Ni's Liuxi. He and Ni Ni have great chemistry. It's less sexy and flirty, and more familiar and comfortable, though slow-won. There's one scene where Liuxi pokes a brooding Chang Dong with a stick until he takes the end of it, and when he lets go of it she pokes him until he holds it again, and they just sit together in silence. For me, that's kind of what their relationship is about. They understand each other and offer each other comfort and support. At the same time, they have a strong sense of physicality for a cdrama. Again, not necessarily in a sexual way, but Liuxi is the kind of person who will just drape herself on someone, hook an arm over their shoulder, rub legs like an obnoxious and kind of sexy cat... it adds to the warmth of their relationship. (Though I would also have been fine seeing the two remain platonic, but as ships go, it's rather nice.)

That said. This show also had a couple ships it did not need! Gao Shen/Ding Liu is okay but underdeveloped and kind of just background noise; Fei Tang/A He is where I enter "okay, so now you just need to pair up EVERYONE" territory. None of the ships were annoying exactly, but apart from Liuxi/Chang Dong, I just feel like you could have left them out and you wouldn't lose much. If you're going to include them, give them some damn development! That's all I can say on the matter.

I enjoyed the villains a lot. There's a variety here: Some typical shady bureaucrats, a scheming woman to serve as Liuxi's foil and rival, and a man from Liuxi's past who has a complicated relationship with her. My favorite was the last of these three, Jiang Zhan! And I won't give more spoilers than that but can I just say: Jiang Zhan deserved better!!! Will someone please write hurt-comfort fic for my boy!!

Anyway! I recommend West Out of Yu Men if:

-You like Ni Ni or Bai Yu and want to see them doing something a bit different.

-You would be interested in an atmosphere of urban fantasy meets desert epic.

-You want to see a woman playing the amnesiac "chosen one" warrior trope (and with flair).

-You like to see an ensemble go on a road trip, gathering members along the way and getting into magical shenanigans. (If you HATE road trips, though--not a reason to skip. Travel is an aspect but there's still plenty of plot to go around.)

-You want to see Ni Ni cut a melon with a big knife (you can get this in episode one. Just one episode to appreciate the glorious THUNK of a melon being cut with a large knife).

You can also watch it if you want to write fanfic for it to satisfy my current cravings for 1) femslash and 2) anything about Jiang Zhan. (I haven't talked about the possible femslash ships bc they are pretty much my imagination but Ding Liu is very cutesy and friendly with Liuxi and also that female villain I was talking about above HATES Liuxi in a way that is quite fun, so. There's that.)

Now I have to find another badass woman show to satisfy that particular mood. If you have any recs along those lines, let me know ;)

[tentacledwizard]

tumblr user tentacledwizard reviews: Employee of the Month

 

  So recently [read: a few hours ago], @cgtg hosted a sort of movie night. The movie was Employee of the Month, starring Dane Cook. I joined it because I am always willing to expand my cinematic repertoire and also cgtg’s Davekat stuff is really good. Like I don’t even ship Davekat that much but their content is excellent. And the Sandler rap perfectly encapsulates my opinions on Adam Sandler as an actor, because ever since my dad played Billy Madison my life has been ok I’ll just do the review now.

So okay, I was prepared to have an ironically good time. I was convinced the movie would be 100% shit tier, just like Dave Strider said. But I should have known that Dave is not a reliable source. Because this movie was fun. I had a great time. When it comes to official reviews, I’ve seen mainly lukewarm/frosty attitudes towards Employee of the Month but *clears throat* Whatever. 

Now, those who know me know of my passionate love for Home Depot. And if you didn’t know about this, now you do. I wrote a Home Depot/necromancy story in like 7th grade. Home Depot is paradise on earth. You could survive a zombie apocalypse in there. It has everything you need for survival- shelter, crops, energy drinks, etc. This movie basically takes place inside a Home Depot. I forget what the store was actually called. It doesn’t matter. You just need to understand that I love Home Depot so I will generally enjoy movies set inside Home Depots. That was a pretty big factor in my enjoyment. Never mind the fact that this was filmed inside a Costco.

Now onto the actual movie. By rom-com standards, is this a good rom-com? Ehhh. No. The main romance between Dane Cook and “Blond Tart” was half-baked. I saw nothing that distinguished the fair-haired love interest from the other rom-com love interests before/after her, except maybe her big ears. The pair had like nothing in common, mainly because I don’t really know about their interests? Gotta say that Dane Cook had far more chemistry with the other blond tart (aka the antagonist). I wasn’t rooting for the main couple. This is also partly because of the movie’s intense homosexuality. I am not even kidding. Their date was cute though, I just wish they actually had some things in common and we learned more about the love interest.

So basically the plot is that this guy Zack (Dane Cook) works at Fictional!Home Depot and he seems like kind of a “slacker.” He is rivals with a smarmy blond Eminem cousin named Vince (Dax Shepard), who seems like a “stand up guy.” Obviously he is a douche bag who flirts with everyone in a very unprofessional way. There’s some kind of subplot about the store trying to beat another retail place. Then this new employee (Jessica Simpson) waltzes into the place. (I could say she “breasted boobily,” but nah.) Her name is Amy and she allegedly has a thing for employees of the month. So Zack falls in love, but obviously Vince starts making some moves on her. Now Zack has to win Employee of the Month to get the girl, or else Vince will. (There was nothing to worry about though, he dates Amy without even getting the position yet. Also Vince is super awkward/gay.) 

So let me just bullet point this. I’ll cover the characters/plot points/romance plots.

CHARACTERS:

Zack: The main character, Dane Cook. For everyone watching, there was this process of thinking oh no he’s cute and then falling in love with him. Look, he is actually pretty cute. I don’t make the rules. That dorky smile of his is great. He does have his flaws, like being focused only on his own problems. Dude just apologize. But they do get addressed. He’s a pretty good main character, and he really knows how to treat a girl. Home Depot date? SIGN ME UP. That’s going to be me some day, ok? I will meet some dude who shares my love for Home Depot and together we will wander the dusky aisles filled with all manner of appliances. Welp I kind of lost the plot. Anyway he has great date ideas. His little yellow car thing is a complete travesty but I will let it slide. Jorge has the better yellow vehicle but of course he does. Jorge is gangsta. 

(guy has that Kubrick stare)

Vince: The main antagonist besides the nebulous “corporate.” At first he seems like a blond flashlight that draws in the ladies like moths. He truly seems like a suave douchebag. As the movie goes on, you learn that this is untrue (the “suave” part). He is really awkward. Probably the only person in love with him is my main guy Jorge (Efren Ramirez). More on that at ten. Anyway, Vince is really good at cashiering. He does an unprofessional little circus act with the products that makes the ladies allegedly swoon. He gets Employee of the Month many, many times. Can Zack possibly usurp him?? Who knows! So yeah, Vince is a sopping and pathetic fellow. At some points you want him to shut up, but at other points you feel this deep well of pity for his plight. Negative points for using the r-word once >:( but also hey this is 2006. 

Amy: Uh. Ummm. Well she seems very friendly and… like a love interest. Uh… I’m sure there has to be more to her. Right? Oh well. Her big ears are pretty cute. Sadly, she doesn’t exactly have a personality or agency over the plot. I don’t really like plots that are just two guys fighting over a girl, except that turned out to not really be part of the movie so it’s fine. At least she called out Zack when he was being stupid, but that was mainly just to milk some drama. I think she and Lily should date.

Jorge: Jorge, the man that you are. Look, he is amazing and I cannot lie. What even is a salmon churro? The entire chat was yelling every time he was on screen. He first appears as Vince’s lackey, and he mainly helps out Vince with his various sabotage attempts. But he turns out to have more depth than that. He is like a short bug. He is willing to stab an old lady. Jorge is what we call “gangsta.” Everything he does is cool in a Jorge sort of way. He really made the movie. You can fight me on this. 

Lily: The Human Resources manager. Okay, so she doesn’t have dialogue (I think) but I wanted to include her here because she is cool and really pretty and I had a minor sexuality crisis once she arrived on screen (it happens every other day. Don’t worry about it). I like the lily in her hair. She was so real for accepting a bribe and eating that Butterfinger. <3

Grandma: She could be referred to as feisty. You could also say she’s bisexual. Kudos to her for keeping it real with Zack. The “seed of love” speech was…really dubious!

Boss man: Whatever is going on with him, it’s very gay. He outright says that he thinks/has thought about kissing guys. Maybe there’s something between him and the policeman? Anyway, I feel pretty bad that his older brother emasculated him. Not much else to say. He’s not exactly a paragon of professionalism, which is what makes this movie fun. He totally wants to be the fatherly boss but he fails. His lackey’s name is Dirk. Strider reference? You know it. (This was made 3 years before homestuck started).

BOSS Boss Man, aka Corporate Incarnate: Boss Man’s big brother, in the age sense. Okay, this guy kind of scares me. He is way less relaxed than Boss Man, and he certainly can drub people with canes. He runs a tight ship, so obviously he won’t stand for the main character mayhem going on. 

Iqbal: I don’t remember a ton of stuff about him, but he is like a lot of my family friends. He deserves good stuff because he had to put up with Zack’s crap for longer than necessary. Do I have to cover every single character? How about we move onto the main thing: shipping. It’s not really the main thing, but I'm going insane over it so for me it is.

SHIPS:

  Oh man okay, here we go. I already covered my very few thoughts on Zack/Amy so here are some ships that I find interesting.

Zack/Vince: Basically, the plot of the movie revolves around these two and their rivalry. I kind of doubt their hate is platonic. At one point Vince compares them to a pair of “old gay sailors.” Zack’s face really says it all, honestly:

Their scenes together had a ton of sexual chemistry. Intense Kubrick stares. Toreador-ish mop fights. Breaking into the other person’s house to make them late for work. You know. Like that. We all agreed that they are best summarized as “toxic yaoi.” Essentially, they are kismeses. Also, Vince is a complete mess around Amy but seems way more comfortable antagonizing Zack. I don’t think Zack is really into Vince, but it’s an interesting thought.

Vince/Jorge: Now this. THIS is the true romance of the story. You think I’m kidding? This is pretty much canon (or at least heavily implied). Where Zack and Vince had some sexual tension, these two have a Home Depot’s worth of romantic tension. They have so many little moments, like when they just kind of solemnly listen to music in a car (which turns out to be a bookend). They’re constantly around each other, and their relationship actually has an arc. Vince starts out kind of using Jorge as a henchman, but then Jorge goes against that. There’s a temporary breakup, and Vince kind of loses it. He has no one to talk to now. But he’s willing to pull himself together and give Jorge the space he needs to think things through. And THEN they have this big moment where they get back together as equals and it’s beautiful and okay it’s easier to just show you. 

(Previous image) Here we have Jorge helping Vince with his dorky-ass heelies because Vince is trying to be a coolkid like Zack.

And then we have that whole moment over there. They’re holding hands! (Hurt/comfort moment tbh)

THEIR VICTORY DANCES?? HELLO?? This is adorable i can’t

Okay, this is blatantly romantic. The words “please, come home” imply that they share a home. Perhaps they are even… roommates? But look, the normally rude Vince is actually being considerate. And he calls Jorge “homes.” Jorge normally calls him that!

Full access to the cashier’s lounge? Jorge you mad lad. 

Awww-

Okay I gasped aloud at this part. They are married. Or like they will be at some point in time. “It just feels right” yeah they are SO married. Look at the height difference. They are everything, as of four hours ago. This is cinema.

I can’t do this man why did I start reviewing this. They use each other’s pet names. Shit. Fuck you, Dane Cook movies. I hate feeling emotion like this.

yes, Jorge and Vince were the real romance subplot all along. They’re literally the last scene of the movie.

Look at the smile on Jorge’s face. Jegus. This ship is everything. These two were the real emotional core of the movie. Without them, I’d just be like “eh whatever at least it was fun.” But damn, they really delivered on the romance subplot.

Uh… Yeah I can’t really think of any other ships that I like. Vince/Amy sucks and they had nothing to say to each other. I like the idea of Amy/Lily, though! I think either of them could make employee of the month. I guess Amy/Zack is good for now though.

OTHER THINGS:

That clubhouse is awesome. Probably a big hazard considering it’s on top of that big shelf. But hey I want a Home Depot buddy lair too!

Vince saying he can get a little anal…. >:? Sir what.

Amy’s really out there auspiticizing for Zack and Vince huh? She deserves good things for having to put up with that

Why did it suddenly turn into a sports movie for a few minutes? Why were they playing softball against another hardware store? We may never know.

Banger soundtrack. 10/10.

And that’s a wrap everyone, catch me crying over the hug or making “ironic” fanart of Dane Cook and co. I really enjoyed this and I will hopefully be there for the next flick. Wow I wrote a lot about this movie. Uh. Consider it ironic, I suppose.

[pxnsneverland]

Hellfire Lost | Eddie Munson x oc (part 1)

plot summary: Juliet Henderson has had her fair share of excitement fighting otherworldly monsters in the Upside Down with her brother, Dustin, and his friends. She's ready for her senior year to be a peaceful and pleasant time spent cheerleading and hanging out with her best friend Chrissy. However when Chrissy mysteriously turns up dead and her unlikely outcast crush Eddie Munson is suspect #1, she finds herself back in the fight along with the rest of the Upside Down squad facing their biggest threat yet. Will Juliet and everyone be able to stop dangers of the world below Hawkins and clear Eddie's name? And what happens when the monster starts targeting someone a little closer to home?

pairings: eddie munson x oc

word count: 949

warnings/notes:

  Chapter 1

“Dustin! Hurry up! If you’re not ready in 5 minutes, I’m leaving without you!” As I walked through the house, I yelled at my younger brother.

While my mother was petting the cat that was sitting on her lap, she addressed me, saying, "Juliet, don't yell at your brother."

“I’m not yelling at him. But this is my last time cheering for Hawkins High before I graduate and I can’t be late.” I took a quick look at the clock that was hanging on the wall. The basketball game was scheduled to begin an hour from now. Dustin burst into the room at full speed, and I let out an exasperated groan.

He put his hands above his head as a sign of surrender after I gave him a hard stare. “What? I couldn’t find my character sheets for Hellfire.” 

I really didn't want to hear it. I took the car keys from the table, kissed Mom goodbye, and walked out the door, Dustin close behind.

Even though we didn't live too far from Hawkins High School, I wish we'd arrived at least half an hour earlier. Hawkins hadn't won a championship in several years. However, the team was stronger than ever before, and everyone was optimistic. Anyone who was still paying attention. Before getting out of the car, I found a parking spot and turned off the engine. As we were getting out of the car, a well-known van pulled up next to us, and loud music could be heard coming from inside. Eddie Munson, the Hellfire Club's leader, jumped out of the vehicle, carrying a box full of items with him. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Dustin and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Henderson, are you ready to perish at the hands of the cult of Vecna?” he asked Dustin in a low, sinister voice. He finished the question with a demonic tone.

Dustin's laugh was as wide as his grin. “Please, I was born ready. We’re going to beat your campaign tonight and I’ll do a happy dance on Vecna’s grave.” 

“Watch yourself eat your words, kid.” Dustin accepted the box that Eddie had handed him. “Here, go start set up. I have more stuff in the car.” 

“Sure.” He tried to make a quick exit from the scene.

I yelled after him. “Meet me back at the car at 10, Dustin! 10!” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Good luck with your cheer thing.” He was already inside the school after that.

I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. I had a lot of affection for the kid, but he could be very narrow-minded at times. He hadn't kept quiet about the end of this Dungeons & Dragons campaign for the past week. I couldn't understand a word he said, but I was relieved that he had found a place for himself at this school. Tomorrow was the start of spring break, and before long, it would be graduation, at which point I would no longer be able to care for him.

“Don’t worry. The campaign will be done and finished by 10.” 

I had completely forgotten Eddie was still standing there because I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts. Eddie Munson was typically referred to as "the freak" by everyone. We never really had much of a conversation before Dustin joined his club. As I got to know him better, I discovered that he wasn't nearly as intimidating as everyone had made him out to be.

“Oh, it’s fine.” I made a casual gesture with my hand to show that I was unconcerned. “It's just our mom will freak out if we’re not home by at least 11. She’s a little neurotic sometimes.” 

“I don’t blame her with a kid like Henderson. He’s got way too much energy for one person.” 

At that, I couldn't help but chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right.” 

He scratched the back of his neck and coughed to clear his throat. “Um, I didn’t get to thank you for, um, those math notes you let me borrow. I’m coasting a solid D+ in…” 

I raised a brow. “Sounds like the notes weren’t very helpful.” 

“Trust me, that has nothing to do with your Olympic level note taking. I’m just a dumb ass when it comes to numbers. I wouldn’t even be at a D without your help so…thanks.” He chuckled nervously. 

I'm not sure why I felt the need to blush. “You’re welcome.” I turned around and observed the people entering the gym. “I should go. Good luck with your Vecna cult or whatever.” 

“Yeah, have a good…cheer.” He made a motion with his hands that could have been interpreted as a cheer.

I laughed again and dashed off to the gym.

When I walked into the gym, the band was already playing and the seats were nearly full. The other cheerleaders were huddled in front of the stands, and the energy was high. I went to join them.

Chrissy Cunningham, the captain, greeted me right away. “Jules, where have you been? I was starting to get worried. The game is about to start.” 

“Sorry, Chris. My brother also had his club thing tonight and he had to come along with me and he was taking forever.” I noticed she had a strange expression on her face and dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept. “Are you okay?” 

She smiled as brightly as she always did. “Yeah I’m fine. I guess I’ve just been paranoid lately.” 

I had no choice but to trust her because it was time to form up. So I let it go, and the game started.

Stay tuned for part 2!! Click HERE to view!

[saleintothe90s]

495. I watched Ghostbusters II, and I have questions

Hot take: I loved it.

When they fell on hard times in those five years, it made them more interesting to me. Although, it was never revealed what Winston did in those five years other than appearing at kids birthday parties with Ray. I know Red Letter Media didn't understand why Ray and Winston dances to the Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters theme, but I totally get it. My theory is that in the Ghostbusters universe, that song was totally a novelty song that only played on NYC radio stations. My theory is proven more after I saw Frozen Empire and Paul Rudd's character references it.

I do, however wonder why the kids wished He-Man was at their party instead .. I thought that Masters of the Universe/He-Man was more of a mid 80s craze?

I wanna know who Sigourney Weaver had 'dat baby with! Was it the guy who was jealous of Peter in the original film when he waited for Dana outside of orchestra practice? I bet it was him.

Egon wanting to do a gynecological exam on Dana as part of the investigation. Egon totally did it with that slime.

No more smoking! I kinda miss the smoking. I loved in the original that the boys pretty much welcome Winston in by lighting up a cigarette for him in the basement while they discuss Twinkies.

Peter MacNichol! I didn't even realize it was him until I was like forty minutes in. I love him, the only shining light from Ally McBeal! Did I miss why Dana was restoring paintings now instead of being in the orchestra? I guess it was because it was a day job so she could be with baby Oscar at night? I know at one point she tells Janosz that she'll be leaving soon since the baby is getting older?

They are cute as buttons in their suits fighting those death row ghosts in court.

Speaking of cute as buttons, Janine's glam makeover! She got that "return of Ghostbusters" paychecks now.

It's weird that New Years Eve is brought up, and is a giant part of the plot, but other than them wearing the Santa hats in the montage, and the aluminum tree in Peter's awesome apartment, that's all the Christmas we get. Did the entire movie take part in that week between Christmas and New Years? This video tries to figure it out.

Ooo the green dress. Winston saw it in a deleted scene, and said "[Peter's] not coming". Was that dress in the suitcase Peter brings over from Dana's apartment?

Speaking of the suitcase, that apartment scene before their dinner date, that scene felt like it was ten minutes long! I like Peter's apartment, so I'll let it slide.

Winston being scared of the ghost train is one of the best most overacted scenes ever. What was up with all the beheaded heads at the old Subway track?

Why did that scene involving Louis and Janine at Peter's apartment awake something in me? I do have a thing for guys like Louis. I need to put those feelings back away. Y'all know I gave up on dating!

I mean THIS?! With the earmuffs?! I need a minute. Even if Louis thought he had to save the Ghostbusters, I think him and Janine did some things first.

When that cop said "the Titanic just arrived", I felt the emotion in that line. He said it like it was real deal this really happened breaking news. Better Late Than Never.

Bobby Brown's sad cameo where he just opens the door at Gracie Mansion and asks the boys where he can get some ghostbusters stuff for his brother. Yes his song "On Our Own" (which I LOVE) is playing in the background.

I don't care about the Vigo stuff too much, the baby's acting makes the scene bearable however. Those twins who played Oscar were really good baby actors!

Them controlling the Statue of Liberty with the positive slime and the big flat Nintendo controller is silly as heck, and I am here for it.

Now, I know the movie got a cool reception when it came out in June of 1989, especially since it came out the weekend before the biggest movie of the year, Batman. Ghostbusters II made the biggest three day box office record at the time -- but Batman beat it the following weekend. I wanted to read some critic's initial reactions to the movie.

Vincent Camby of The New York Times almost gives away the entire movie's plot! I agree with most of his points, except for him saying the original was "overproduced and sloppy" the effects were made in 1984, what do you expect? On Christmas of 1988, NYT almost gives away the plot again in an article about the behind the scenes process of the film. (gift article)

I think Al meant a "junky" effect when he was referring to the Statue of Liberty walking around instead of a "junkie" effect, but I get what he's saying, even if I loved the scene for its silliness.

(My local paper ran this review too, so that's why you don't see one from my paper. ) I saw Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire the other day, and I feel like this was finally Ernie Hudson's chance to shine after being just the fourth Ghostbuster so so long. To me, each Ghostbuster has their own movie now: the original was Ray's, Ghostbusters II was Peter's, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was (ghost) Egon's, and Frozen Empire was Winston's.

I even found a newsgroup review from June of 1989. That is baby internet! Here is the archive, because I just feel like google groups is going to shut down the old newsgroup archives any day now. Wait, I just found another one (archive).

Here is an article about the press tour held at the newly renovated Plaza hotel in New York City. The press was already clamoring for a third movie. Of course, we wouldn't get that until 2020, 2021, of course.

In closing, never forget the Hardees promotion, with the noisemakers that were recalled almost immediately because lil kids ate the batteries. I remember being about six? and was terrified that my parents were going to take away my Ghostbusters noisemaker.

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[davidfarland]

David Farland’s Writing Tips—Wish Fulfillment

Awhile back, a writer was critiquing another author’s novel and said a little snootily, “This strikes me as a lot of wish-fulfillment.”

She was right, but the impetus for nearly all fiction comes from wish-fulfillment. If a reader is in the mood for a good romance, or a thriller, or a western, or a fable, she’ll hunt down something that suits her tastes, and if it delivers the emotions that she wants more powerfully than she imagined, she’ll be delighted.

In other words, books come in different flavors.

But some books are more complex and subtle in their flavors than the average reader would imagine, just as a fine chef will often surprise you with their unusual ingredients. For example, you might want a little romance, but the author adds in a bit of terror, profundity, and far more craving than thought you could tolerate—which only makes the ending more satisfying.

Sometimes our wish fulfillment doesn’t come at the level of trying to create an emotion. It might have more to do with intellectual curiosity. I often find myself wanting to understand how it would have really felt to climb Mt. Everest or to live in ancient Rome. I’ve even written historical novels like In the Company of Angels in part as an exercise, in an effort to try to imagine the heartaches and triumphs of others.

Some authors are storytellers whose sincere wish is merely to entertain vast audiences, to guide them through an imaginary adventure, and they become skilled entertainers

I know other authors whose wish is primarily to dazzle readers, to prove their superior storytelling skills, or to win awards.

In short, all novels are wish-fulfillment. Yet sometimes it is hard to understand just what wishes the author hopes to fulfill. For example, when you read a novel that is trite and poorly written, you might not understand that the author really did wish to succeed, he just didn’t understand what he needed to do to get there.

All of which has led me to consider something. When I start a novel nowadays, I ask myself questions like, “What will the reader want from this story?” I have a character in a dire situation, what would the reader want to have happen?  Is the reader looking for a bit of romance, or a grand adventure? Do they want a deep and powerful mystery solved? Do they want to be transformed by a story?  What would the reader want to see happen to the villain?  What do I want from this novel?  How can I facilitate those things?

When I’m plotting a novel, I find that if I write down the answers to these questions—if I create a wish list, I’ll discover that I’m trying to create a novel that is more intricate than what I first imagined.

For example, let’s say that I have a middle-aged woman whose husband was killed in a war twenty years ago. She wants to solve the mystery of who exactly killed her husband and confront that person. She wants to see what kind of monster he is.

Meanwhile, we have the story of a man who fought in a war, and in the heat of battle, out of his own fear, murdered a man who he realizes later was raising his hands to surrender. He’s been haunted by that image for decades and has endeavored to make amends. He’s become a doctor who runs a free clinic, dedicated to helping others.

And perhaps this is billed as a romance, where the woman travels to search for her husband’s killer and falls in love.

While I’m at it, maybe I want to entertain as wide an audience as possible and try to win an award. So let’s call it an epic historical mystery romance.

What would I have to do to accomplish all of that?  Well, a little thought generates a whole list of items. I might consider first, “what war are we talking about?” Is this the French Revolution, World War I, or Vietnam?  If I go with the French Revolution, let’s consider how the murder took place and what impact the Napoleonic Wars had over the next two decades.

I might have to look at what other authors have done, and consider how to beat their work. Crud, I’m going up against Tolstoy’s War and Peace!

I’ll want to make the story believable, so I’ll need deal with each step of how our heroine solves the mystery, seeking out every man she can from the troops that attacked her husband’s group, and so on.

I’ll have to consider how the killer changed and grew over time and create a chronology of major events.

I’ll have to weave in a powerful love story that is historically accurate and make it both shocking and utterly believable.

But in doing all of this, do you see how I am guided constantly by my wish list? That’s the fun of the process. The work is guided merely by your whims.

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[innocentimouto]

Anyone else notice how the show is not only reluctant to explore the Water Tribes, but also tends to paint them negatively?

It’s in the way they spent majority of the first book in the Earth Kingdom and spent only three episodes in the North which was their goal the whole season. Or the way Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom have random characters speak to the Gaang along the way whereas only necessary Water Tribe members get lines.

It’s in the way Roku formed close bonds with all his teachers except his waterbending teacher. He was close friends with Gyatso. He describes his earthbending teacher affectionately, even though his character may difficult. Roku beats him but maintains respect by serving him tea.

With his waterbending teacher, there’s nothing there at all. No connection, no story. There’s disrespect at best.

I don’t think growing distaste between nations is an excuse because the show as a whole does this.

None of the boys Katara trained against could have been given lines or some character? None of them could have befriended her or spoken to her? None of the waterbending girls there could speak to Katara?

They had the time to speak to two earthbending boys in Toph’s debut episode. And that could have easily been cut out.

Hahn. I don’t think the show intended for people to hate him as much as the fandom does when he’s remembered.

Hahn said maybe one sexist comment. It’s an arranged marriage, a political one. It’s only done for the “perks”. You’re not marrying out of love, not that it’s impossible to fall in love. The way Hahn said it does sound majorly disrespectful to Yue, and bringing up other girls also seems in bad taste, but really, he’s an arrogant guy bragging about how he’s got the most profitable marriage that one can have in the North.

Also Sokka has said many more sexist comments than Hahn has. The difference is that he had time to unlearn it and that he wasn’t in a relationship while he was sexist. Remember how he spoke to Suki at first, brushing off her training and armor and weapons as a “dance lesson”? You can’t convince me he wouldn’t make kitchen jokes or be really unpleasant to watch in a relationship then.

Hahn dies? Or something. We never find out. I find his character funny and wish he was explored more.

Kuruk is the only Avatar besides Roku who’s painted as someone who was lazy in the show. None of the others have a mistake highlighted.

I didn’t watch Korra, but I’ve seen some of the characters and I guess it’s worse there.

The NWT doesn’t join for the Invasion. You’d think Sokka would ask for their help and that waterbenders would be able to get places faster than regular boats. The NWT never shows up again, in fact.

The swamp benders show up, but they’re more country American than anything close to the Water Tribes.

The Northern Water Tribe is the one who gets the sexism card, while the Fire Nation gets to have female soldiers and act like that doesn’t make them sexist. Sokka is glaringly sexist while Zuko and Iroh aren’t. Or at least the show acts like they aren’t.

Aang never learns to heal. For someone who doesn’t eat meat, or claims to never kill, you’d think healing would be important to him.

Katara is the last known Southern waterbender and this is never brought up later. None of her tribe are proud of her, neither Sokka or Hakoda. Her only moment of acknowledging her responsibility of maintaining Southern waterbending is with Hama.

Hama.

Katara stealing the waterbending scroll is not given the weight of it being important to her culture.

Katara barely does anything in the Invasion until the end. 

The Gaang goes to many places or has many scenes with one off characters that are either Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation and that aren’t entirely necessary for the plot. It would be easy to switch some scenes out for more Water Tribe.