#i've only been out of the cinema for an hour and already i've started not being normal about him lmao (platonic)

[beepbeepdespair]

oops

[silenzahra]

Today's the anniversary for me! ✨

I know the Mario Movie was released on April 5th 2023, but back then I was seeing the Holy Week processions with my dad, so I didn't get to go to the cinema until April 8th, which was a Saturday, and that was when everything changed for me 😌💚❤️

This is going to get a bit long, personal and emotional, so it's totally fine if you'd rather not read it! 💖

As I've mentioned, this movie saved my life simply because I was in a terrible place when it came out. Admittedly, I had been feeling a bit better that week thanks to the fact I was going out every day and was distracted and such, but my mind was still not totally... fine.

Until, at 8PM, the Mario Movie finally started and I spent the next hour and a half with a silly smile on my face, feeling like a little kid again and experimenting lots of feelings and emotions I hadn't felt in many months. Happiness. Joy. Laughter. A warm heart. Tension. Pure emotion. Excitement. Nostalgia. The urge to cry, though not from sadness.

And the need to get those cute brothers off the screen and give them each a big bear hug.

(Posted this edit on my Instagram account last Friday.)

Mario and Luigi did really save my life. I had already fallen for them long ago, when I was 13 and played Superstar Saga on my GBA, since that was the very first game that made me see these two as endearing and charming characters with a beautiful sibling bond based not only on love, but also trust, laughter and comfort.

And, in all honesty, seeing this movie, seeing that bond translated into it, was totally a dream come true. Aside from the M&L games, we don't really get to see much of these two taking care of each other (please correct me if I'm mistaken!). Also, I'm a 90s girl, so I had been wanting a good animated Mario movie since... I honestly can't remember. All I know is I used to watch the cartoons (specifically the one based on Super Mario Bros 3), and then I ran into the live action movie from 1993 and... Welp. Let's just say I'd rather forget it 😬 (Sorry if you did like it, it simply was NOT my cup of tea.)

And then this movie was announced, and every new trailer made me feel more and more hyped, and reminded me of my love for the Super Mario franchise. I had already been hyperfixated on it back in 2013-2016, when I played Dream Team and fell even harder for them (especially Luigi), and when I finally got to see this movie, that obsession came back stronger than ever.

I felt like a little child again. I went back to play my old favorite games. I listened to the ost on loop for months, and it ended up becoming my most listened album on Spotify last year.

And I also felt the urge to write again.

Writing has always been an important part of my life. I started at 8 and I simply couldn't stop. To me, it is like breathing, so when I spend some time away from writing, I'm not exaggerating when I say I feel a physical pain on my chest. And due to the bad place I was in, I had been away from it for way too many months.

It turns out all I needed was a dose of brotherly love in order to feel my fingertips tingling again with the urgent need to start writing.

So yeah. There are many things I have to celebrate today and to be thankful for. First of all: I'm alive, and happy, and better than ever, still struggling with anxiety and fears but feeling way better than I'd felt in the years before this film came out. I feel emotion, and joy, and will to continue living and enjoying life and fangirling and being myself. I feel connected to Mario and Luigi and my heart simply warms up every single time I think about them (which is 24/7 tbh).

And I'm writing again! 2023 was the year I've written the most in my entire life, and I owe it to this wonderful movie, and so far I've continued to write this year too, and that's also thanks to Mario and Luigi.

And of course, and more importantly, this film has led me to meet all of you, beautiful people, and I honestly couldn't be more grateful 🥹🫂💖 With you I can fangirl and scream and cry and be myself, and that's why I felt like sharing this with you guys, because I know you understand and share the feelings I've experimented these months since I first saw this movie. I love each and one of you with all my heart 💖💖💖

And after talking non-stop, I believe I kinda feel like finally showing my face here (the real one, not this one 😂), so... Here I go! 🤭👇

This is me today! 🤭 With lots of Mario stuff as you can see, and I even painted my nails to match the main characters! 💅

The blue is for Toad, the pink is for Peach, green and red for Luigi and Mario (obviously) and black for Bowser since he was played by Jack Black! 😁

Admittedly, I'm not very good at painting my nails because I'm not into makeup and such, but I do like to see them all painted, I think they look beautiful 🥰 Last year I used to paint them red and green all the time since I went not once, not twice, but thirteen times to see this movie, and every time wearing a different shirt 🤭 Though the one I'm wearing today is the one I wore exactly one year ago, as you can see here! 😁

I literally cannot remember when or where I bought it, but it was simply PERFECT to wear to go see this movie 😁 And you bet, when the Toad guard said that quote from the first Super Mario game, I went all silly in the cinema: "OMG my shirt!!!!!" 😂😂😂

And here are some pics from some of the other twelve times I went, and you can get a look at some of the Mario shirts I own! I may go and show them all together in a different post, and maybe also the earrings since I own a lot: red shrooms, superstars, fire flowers, green shrooms... Would you like that? 🥰

Now that I see it, I look a bit scared on the first one 😂 The green shirt I'm wearing on the second one is pure GOLD, and on the third one I kinda felt like I was taking a picture with Mario himself 😂😂😂

I did own some Mario merch before the movie came out, but last year I went and bought tons of it, including shirts, earrings, and of course plushies! 🤭

They look like a cute little family OMG aren't they ADORABLE I love them all so so much 😭❤️💚✨

So this is it! This is my little celebration of the first year since I saw for the first time the movie that saved my life 🥰 In all honestly, I would've liked to bring a fic or something, but as you all know, I went through a very hard Holy Week and I'm still not feeling totally ready to get back to writing (even though I've gotten a couple new ideas, for which I'm deeply grateful).

But I hope sharing my experience and feelings (and my face! 😂) is enough for this year, and let's hope I can bring a new Mario story to share with you guys very soon! 🥰

I love you all so so so so so so so so so so much!!!!! 💖💖💖💖💖

[mahuhumaling]

changes i liked and disliked in the rwrb movie 📨

ohmygod. i'm finally gonna talk about this movie, aren't i? i've held myself off from making original creations like video or photo edits for this piece of media, and i still am, because i feel like if i start making one i won't stop, but i think a textpost can be an exception because i've made tweets and threads about it on twitter already.

anyway, i just wanted to rattle off on these since these opinions have been simmering up on me since the movie first came out. lol i watched it 15 hours later on a whim with bar-in-hell expectations. karma got to me, because i ended up getting brainrot over it.

this is a long overdue post.

the aging up is both a yes and a no for me. a yes because i have previously never been opposed to aging up YA characters (technicaly rwrb is more new adult that young adult but whatever, it's teetering) like shadowhunters, and matthew does a great job of justifying this choice: grounding their romance into a more mature and real love. it's not to say that young love isn't valid or real enough, but the decision to make firstprince in their late 20s makes the discussion of forever and their adamant to fight for their love is more realistic and believable. with that said, it's also a no for me because their ages are also detrimental to the timeline and character arcs. for instance, henry's grief hits him like a ten wheeler as a teenager, and the whole explanation that casey writes for his grief is that he expected to deal with something as magnanimous as that kind of loss when he's older and not when his brain hasn't even fully developed. another instance is alex's having to grapple with his career choices after college!

matthew's best change is quite possibly firstprince exchanging the key and the ring. hands down, much better. i do understand that since the novel is in third person limited (alex's pov), it makes sense at a literary level (lol) for alex to own both the key and the necklace ("two homes side by side" is a BANGER line), but the equal complete devotion that the two have for each other at that point is excellent through that showcase of exchange. i own part of you, you own part of me. it's such a great display for the trope of "token of love." romcoms are back, baby! cinema is back!

worst change, then, is probably alex's parents being still happily married and in love. my hot take is that i understand why june was cut out and she's not a huge loss, compared to alex growing up as a child of divorce. making that change to alex having parents who are still together removes a huge dimension to alex's characterization because a lot of his issues stem from that, mainly his abandonment issues. you can see the full effect in the scene where he storms the kensington palace. i understand and respect it, matthew essentially explaining that because this was a different henry, then this was a different alex to — that he needed to be softer. he was more pleasing, desperate, confused with "can we please talk?" instead of the brash "your royal fucking highness!" because that's what it is: confusion. movie!alex couldn't fully understand why someone would just up and leave like that, whereas book!alex was immediately angry because he knows full well when someone leaves him. (*ahem* his dad) but anyway someone discusses it here in such great detail and i very much agree!

oh another good change is showing henry's pov during the email leak. nicholas... sir... ugh. fine, we're getting you that damn oscar. but seriously, he did great. t'was devastating seeing his face crumble, and the one show/display of roual authority, of hot flash of anger, of power, just to talk to alex was even sadder because that was the only time he uses it.

another yes and no change for me is "history huh." the placement of the most popular line from being im the email to being said out loud privately for the two of them is something i'm divided about. yes: there is a great deal of comfort that comes with henry getting to hear that from alex's own lips. it's very sweet and romantic and yeah tbh tbh i would've melted into a puddle right then and there. that there is a comfort that comes with at least that wasn't taken away from them. but no: the whole point of that being in the email (along with bad metaphors, an incomplete list, the story of the prince born with his heart on the outside of his body, etc.) is that these two's privacy was violated. the whole world read those words that were just meant for the two of them, but the public ended up using that line for their banners and flags and signs. and it's important why? it was then made into a form of reclamation. that even if they went through shit and worried about the consequences of being public figures, that there was hope that at least a surprisingly large number of the general public voiced their support, that they were backed by the people they were serving. removing that from the email in the movie... well, you get the rest.

should the height difference even be talked about? that's a factor that is 80% outside of anyone's control lmao??? but i do think it's worth noting that i've grown kinda fond with it that now i imagine taylor & nick's physical builds when reading firstprince fanfics plus having a taller alex who has a height complex instead of a shorter alex who has a height insecurity is so fucking funny. what a great running gag. the gaslighting of the audience into thinking henry is taller is 10/10. best lampshading ever, actually.

henry standing up for himself to the king is both a yes and no too. yes: matthew's justification is pretty nice. not only does it save them production costs to hire a princess catherine actress and pacing issues, it also makes sense narratively. the movie has written henry as voiceless throughout it really well, so for him to save himself is a great reason for why. but also it's a no for me because it's equally important that catherine the negligent mother starts compensating for her absences by battling generational conflict lmao. there's also the factor of a woman saving a man too! the rwrb universe emphasizes quite well about how henry and alex are surrounded by these powerful female figures who are near and dear to them in their lives. to grow up learning from them. point is, movie!henry standing up for himself is a nice choice because he's older. and at the same time, book!henry being supported by her mother is a great choice because he needed to be affirmed with a larger support system in his younger age.

making henry the one to clarify at first that their relationship should be casual instead of alex is a big yes for me. the mixed signals henry does in the book makes for borderline inconsistent characterization, but he's younger there so it makes sense for us to be confused. but henry in the movie "explaining himself to alex for the past year" is a great cleaning up because at the start, henry has been clear on "ok but we can't do this long term."

this has been sitting on my drafts for too long (weeks) so i'll just post this now. and maybe update it, idk. this post feels too incomplete but i don't want to sit on it, so. whatever here it is. 🤣

edit:. i discovered this amazing podcast who talk about it in great detail and 90% of their opinions i agree with! imm frothing at the mouth with how they describe and reason with each change and i just 🥺 want to share how cool they are. [part 1, part 2]

[simplytickled]

Remedy For The Jitters

Summary: Marty has been antsy all afternoon; Doc thinks he knows what the issue is and decides to help the kid out. Takes place before the events of the movie.

Requested by @ticklybing/@studious-switch.

"Marty, don't bother trying to lie to me, I've seen your leg shaking like it's about to fall off since you sat down."

Marty had been off from school for about an hour now, and like most afternoons, he had went straight to Doc's house. The boy usually demonstrated a level of curiosity towards the various gadgets and gizmos scattered about the workshop. Today, however, it was clear he had something else on his mind, something his companion immediately clocked.

"Really, Doc, I'm fine!" Marty replied with exasperation, shaking his head. "I've just got a bit of energy pent up for being at school all day, that's all!"

The inventor rolled his eyes with a small scoff. "These aren't the typical McFly jitters! You've been drumming your fingers against your leg, too! You only do that when you've got something on your mind." Doc said pointedly, nodding to the offending fingers, which stilled instantly in a vain attempt to cover up their motions.

"That's not true!" Marty stammered, a soft flush coming to his cheeks upon realizing he'd been caught. "Besides, even if there WAS something bothering me, you couldn't do much about it. Don't worry about me, Doc."

Doc's eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowing as he looked at the boy closely. The silence was defending, especially in the absence of Doc's usual scientific ramblings.

"I've GOT it!" Marty flinched as the inventor's voice suddenly roared back to life at full volume. Doc pointed a finger at him, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips. "It's that girl, isn't it!"

The boy's blush darkened significantly, spreading up to his ears. "Girl? What girl?" He mumbled, averting his gaze.

"That one you've been making heart eyes at all semester! What was her name again? Janice? Jolene?"

"Jennifer..." Marty mumbled under his breath; of course Doc heard him.

"Jennifer, that was her name! What happened? Did you finally work up the courage to ask her out?"

The teen looked down, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well..." He started, pausing before a shy grin overtook his features. "Yeah, I did!"

Immediately, Doc matched his grin. "Why, that's wonderful! I knew you had it in you, my boy! Where are you going to take her?"

"I was thinking about the movies. There's this new flick coming out soon about aliens or something; do you think she'd like something like that? I know it's not a romantic comedy or anything, but those tend to release in the spring, so I'm kinda limited with my options here."

Doc chuckled. "I'm sure she'll have a good time, Marty! You're a charming young man, and from what you've told me, she seems to be a nice girl! Don't work yourself up over nothing."

Marty fiddled with his sunglasses, an anxious habit he had picked up over the years. "What if she doesn't, though? I really like her, Doc! I don't want to blow it because I came up with a subpar first date!" He replied.

"That's ridiculous! I think the cinema is a perfectly suitable first date for kids your age! You're just overthinking things!"

Despite his attempts to reassure the boy, Doc could see that his words did very little to soothe Marty's nerves. The other was practically vibrating, leg shaking a hundred miles an hour, and it was clear that his head was racing with all of the "what if" possibilities. No, it was going to take more than words to get Marty to stop worrying so much.

"Marty, don't make me pull out my secret weapon."

In an instant, the boy went completely still, eyes widening as they darted over to the scientist. Marty knew good and well what "secret weapon" meant.

"Doc, you wouldn't-"

"Oh, I would." Doc smirked, slowly starting to edge closer to the other. "IF you don't settle down.. Really, Marty, you're being too hard on yourself! The date hasn't even happened yet and you're already worried you'll mess up. Just be yourself and things will go fine!"

"But Doc, you don't get it! Jennifer is, like, WAY out of my league and I really need to impress her with-"

"Alright, I warned you." Marty didn't have time to react before the inventor pounced, hands latching onto his sides and beginning to squeeze rapidly.

In an instant, Marty's lips slammed slut, trying desperately to hold back the startled giggles threatening to spill out of him. The boy slouched over in his chair in a vain attempt to protect his torso, wrapping his arms around his waist with a soft whine in his voice. "Dohohohohoc, cut it ohohohohohohout!"

"Nope! You had your chance, now it seems I have to tickle the jitters out of you!" Doc replied, chuckling with amusement. His fingers jumped from place to place unpredictably, testing Marty's ribs, his stomach, his hips, cataloging which spots garnered the best reactions.

Marty shook his head rapidly, a little snort slipping out as fingers found a particularly bad spot on his lower belly. "Nehehahahahaha! N-Nohohoho, you dohohohohohon't!"

Fingers danced across his ribs like a piano, kneaded at his sides, poked and prodded at his tummy. Right as he finally started to process one touch, it would move somewhere else, changing in pressure and technique, keeping him on his toes.

The boy's legs kicked frantically, his heels scuffing against the floor as he tossed his head back. A loud, boyish belly laugh ripped from his throat as his friend's fingers spidered up to target just below his armpits. "OHOHOHO SHIHIHIT! DOHOHOHOC, PLEHEHEASE!"

"Bad spot, eh?" The inventor smirked, continuing to tease the sensitive area. "Then I suppose I should just keep tickling there, shouldn't I? After all, the more you laugh, the more of those nervous jitters you'll get rid of." Oh god, he was teasing now, and Marty didn't know if he could handle that.

"NOHOHO! PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, DOHOHOHOHOHON'T!"

"There's no point pretending you aren't having fun, my boy. You haven't tried to push my hands away once since I started." Doc pointed out with a knowing chuckle.

Immediately, Marty's cheeks turned a dark red, his laughter raising in pitch. As much as he hated to admit it, Doc was right. Even though his hands were free, Marty had not attempted to push away the other away or seriously protect his ticklish spots at any point. In fact, he hadn't uttered the word "stop" either, now that he thought about it.

"OHOHOHO MY GOHOHOHOD! DOHOHOHOHON'T TEHEHEHEASE ME, MAN!"

The boy's cackles turned borderline hysterical as Doc finally dug under his arms; one could say he resembled a hyena at that moment. It just tickled so bad, it should have been illegal!

"Oh, alright. I suppose I won't be mean, just this once. However, I'm not stopping until you promise you'll stop worrying so much about your date." The older man replied, shooting the other an affectionate grin. "Speaking of which, how ARE you feeling, my boy? Ready to tap out?"

Marty could have said yes. He could have begged for mercy, for those evil fingers to just MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE. However, instead he just let out another flustered whine, curling furthur in on himself.

"Aah, it seems that you still need a bit of tickle therapy, then. Not to worry, Marty, I'm more than happy to help!"

Marty might regret his choice to not give in when he had the chance later...or maybe not. After all, he could say he was already feeling significantly less stressed.

[flowercrown-bard]

thank you for the tag, @lokibus💕

Name: Riya (i also went by Valentine for a while with some friends and i really like that name but no one calls me that anymore)

Sign: taurus

Time: 20:46

Last movie: uhh good question. I started watching Pride and Prejudice (2005) yesterday and got distracted after 5 min by remembering that apparently jeans were worn in that time period already and then i had to google some stuff. The last movie i remember watching in full was Barbie at the cinema where i can't just gez distracted and turn the movie off lmao

Last show: season 2 of atla but in a language i don't speak bc that was the only version i found on YouTube (I own the dvds but i dont have a way to use them with my laptop)

When I created this blog: idk. I think the year before Covid? Or maybe shortly before it? What even is time

Other blogs: i got two. One i only used for a secret santa thingy so i won't reveal it in case i need a secret santa blog again. And then there is @brotfrevel. I created that blog when i was very deep into my ed and not comfortable with talking about it where people i know irl might see. I had this little project where each day that i resisted my i healthy habits, i added one element to an embroidery project (I'm happy to announce that I got much much better and the result of this silly little project is now a constanz reminder of that on my wall)

Do I get asks/may you ask me something: i love getting asks! (I've just been really inactive lately so if i didn't answer, I'm sorry. I've literally not been on tumblr for more thwn like five minutes in the last month or so)

Average hours of sleep: something between 5-7 hours i think. I tend to wake up at 1:30 am and then I'm unable to fall back asleep for a while and then i wake up again at around 3:40. So no idea how much sleep i actually get

Instruments: singing, guitar and violin. And technically i have my grandpa's old mandolin and know enough chords to play a couple of songs but the stings haven't been replaced in over 40 years and it's horribly out of tune so i don't play

What I’m wearing: yellow turtleneck sweater (an old one from my sister), an ugly but super comfy jacket (i think it's an old one from my other sister), jeans, pink socks with bees and I'm also gonna count the comfy blanket I'm wrapped into

Dream job: i meany I'd love to publish a book one day and have at least one person buy it but that's pretty unrealistic. So I'll go with being a kindergarten teacher

Tagging (no pressure): @combatbootsfemme @parttime-creative @dhwty-writes @mondglocke @lycanbucky @rebard-main

[charliedawn]

How would the Hannibals react to their little sister crying because of a teacher ?

Warning :.....I don't know what happened. I...I'm sorry. I wanted to write gore and...Well...wrote this. Not for sensitive souls. You've been warned.

When you came back home crying, Hannibal Jr. was the first one to find you and wordlessly took you in his arms. He knew how to calm you down, and even though he didn't know why you were so upset—he still sought to comfort you first.

"Ssh...love. Calm down. What happened ?", he asked in a soothing voice and you whimpered in his arms. "My...My teacher was mean to me today. She told me I was an idiot and that she was disappointed and that I would never be as good as Morgan or Kevin. She...She..."

You were so upset, you couldn't finish your sentence and Hannibal Jr. hushed you softly while petting your hair and cradled you in his arms. "Hush now, love. You'll be okay. Everything is going to be fine. It's okay. She won't bother you ever again...I promise."

Hannibal Jr. kept holding you as you cried on his shoulder—even though he was already planning a meeting with that...lovely teacher of yours.

A few days later :

Your teacher was scheduled to come to the house and Hannibal Jr. had asked Peter to accompany you to the cinema while they...talked.

He had set everything ready and the moment she stepped in, he smiled and put on his emotionless mask on.

He pretended to be charming and complimented her awful vest with a small seductive smile—even though it hid a barely hidden eagerness to tear through tender flesh and rip out someone's heart. He served her some tea and watched as she mindlessly drank it in one swing...

She would have a severe headache.

"It is a shame. Really. You know, I've had Morgan in my class a few years back, a very talented young man. I was hoping for another prodigy, but she is a real disappointment. I don't even know how she managed to get past kindergarten.", your teacher said with clear distaste in her voice and Hannibal Jr. could only let out a soft sigh before carefully putting down his cup. He really didn't like when teachers thought themselves above everything just because they were the adults in the classroom. Quite frankly—school was never to be an institution dictated by tyrants prepared to give up at the first problem arising. He then wondered if he should start looking for online schooling for you instead ? Well...He would have to think more about it after having dealt with that tyrant of yours.

"I see...Thank you for keeping me informed.", he said with a placid smile.

"You're w—", Mrs H/N was about to answer—but suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe...Her head started spinning and her cup fell to the floor and shattered. She then tumbled to the floor herself and took deep hectic breaths—suffocating. She tried to reach out desperately for Hannibal Jr. who kept his perfectly poised expression as she started gurgling and rolling on the floor.

"Relax, madam. You're not dying...yet.", he said with a cold smile etching on his lips and your teacher's eyes widened at the realization that she had been trapped before she passed out. Hannibal Jr. then sighed and finished his own cup before standing up and dragged your teacher to the basement.

There would be a family meeting later concerning her fate...

A few hours later :

Hannibal Jr. put both you and Peter to bed before getting down the stairs leading to the basement. Morgan and Kevin were already waiting and Hannibal Sr.'s face appeared on the screen of the TV situated at the center of the room. He tilted his head and started examining the woman in front of him with mild interest before asking—straight to the point.

"What did she do ?"

"She made Y/N cry.", Kevin answered and suddenly, a heavy silence settled around the room. Hannibal Sr. leaned forward to get an even better look at the teacher who seemed deeply afraid. He smiled. Good...

"And she is still breathing ?", he asked before throwing a quizzical circular glance at all the other Hannibals present.

"We were waiting for your approval.", Hannibal Jr. explained and Hannibal Sr. hummed absent-mindedly before his eyes settled back on the woman who was desperately trying to cry and scream through the tape securing her mouth shut.

"You did well...", he finally said before a dark sinister smile spread on his face. "I would have hated missing on all of the fun."

Your teacher's eyes widened as she shook her head vividly and tried to beg for mercy to her former students—but there was no mercy to be given. She had made their little sister cry. She was done for the moment she stepped over their threshold.

But, her fear was so strong—it made the three Hannibals present snap their heads at her with astounding synchronization. They seemed to be the Cerberus of Hell with one mind and one soulless heart—guided by fear and tears. Kevin was about to touch her when Hannibal Jr. stopped him.

"Kevin. Gloves. You know I don't like when you touch the food with your bare hands.", Hannibal Jr reminded him before giving the two boys a box of medical gloves and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Kevin and Morgan nodded in agreement before putting them on, even though Kevin couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"We're going to eat her...Do you really think having our fingertips all over her is going to make a difference ?"

Hannibal Jr. gave him such a dark stare—Kevin didn't dare protest.

"Fine fine. I'll wear your damn gloves."

Hannibal Jr. then glanced at Morgan who was staring at Mrs H/N intently. Hannibal Jr. smiled knowingly.

"She said you were one of her favorites...", he informed him and Morgan tilted his head before humming softly.

"Oh...Really ?"

While Kevin was putting on his gloves, Morgan stepped forward towards Mrs H/N and took a strand/curl of her hair and started twirling it around his finger with a small smile.

"Such a shame. You were one of my favorites too, Mrs H/N.", Morgan mourned before leaning forward to whisper in the teacher's ear. "You just had to go and make our little sister cry, didn't you ?"

Mrs H/N tried to plead and ask Morgan to set her free, but the young man seemed to read her mind and clicked his tongue before offering her a fake apologetic smile.

"Today is the day you die. I'm sorry, miss H/N. I have no say in the matter anymore...But, as a favor from one of your old favorites. Any last word to plead your case ?" He asked before releasing her mouth and Mrs H/N kept silent for a moment before throwing her head back with laughter. When she was done, she glanced at the Hannibal she used to call her "favorite" with a fierce look.

"My dear sweet Morgan...", she uttered with a sickly sweet voice and her expression darkened as she then spat. "I hope you choke on my bones."

Morgan took a step back in surprise at the dark glare his former teacher was now staring at him with and his whole form started to tremble as he felt an unknown sensation spark throughout him. He finally chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair before taking out his knife and making it dance between his fingers—relishing in the way Mrs H/N seemed unable to detach her eyes from the shiny blade.

He then stepped forward and pressed the tip underneath her chin, stroking the skin there with the back of his gloved finger. He could hear her heartbeat increase significantly and a sinister smile crept up on his face as he pressed a cold kiss on the side of her face.

"...You really were my favorite teacher, you know ?", he whispered in her ear and Mrs. H/N closed her eyes. She resigned herself to keeping silent—finally accepting her fate. It was too late. She knew it now. There was no turning back—no point in begging. She didn't even hear the voice of Hannibal Sr. when he gave them his permission to begin.

"Boys. Kill.", Hannibal Sr. instructed mercilessly and suddenly, the three men smiled at each other and were on her in an instant.

Morgan lowered his knife and with one swift movement, plunged the dagger deep into her stomach and swallowed her gasp—his lips barely an inch from hers and his eyes catching the life slowly draining away from her.

"Pretty...Really pretty...", he praised before taking a step back and leaving the two other Hannibals have their turn.

Kevin didn't like killing game so fast—he liked the chase and the hunt. So, he didn't take as much pleasure as Morgan and desired to just get it over with. He took out another knife and slit her throat before taking a step back. Hannibal Jr. was last and he stared down as she started choking on her own blood. His eyes were immediately drawn to the thick rivers of blood cascading down her neck and chest. He knelt before her—as if worshipping her. He leaned forward and started drinking the blood from her neck—giving it a few tentative licks before pressing his lips to the never-ending gush. And then, he decided to end her suffering and slowly plunged his knife in her chest—where her heart was. It was almost merciful as her eyes closed and her soul departed...But then, he sank his teeth into the flesh of her throat and tear it apart. It felt...blissful.

"Oh yeah...'Wear gloves, Kevin'.", Kevin started complaining. "But, you don't have any problem with sinking your teeth into the meat and..." Another dark stare sent his way and Kevin immediately stopped talking and only huffed a small laugh of disbelief.

Unbeknownst to all of them that you and Peter were hiding on the stairs and looked with morbid fascination at the bloody scene. Your hand was in Peter's and he sensed you shaking. He glanced at you with a small worried frown—wondering if you should come back up...But then, his eyes widened as he realized you weren't shaking from fear. Your eyes were blown wide and the wide unhealthy grin spreading on your face made you look completely unhinged.

And when you slowly turned your gaze away from the macabre scene to look at him—he couldn't help but shiver as he saw the glimmer of insanity in your eyes.

"...I love this family.", you finally confessed in a whisper.

Truth be told ? You hadn't even been that offended by your teacher's words. You just wanted to see the reactions of the other members of the family—and they didn't disappoint. You couldn't tear your eyes away as the wolves started devouring your teacher raw...It made you feel things you shouldn't and you were tempted to join them.

But then, you froze into place when you realized that the TV had slightly shifted position and now, Hannibal Sr. was staring at you and Peter with a small knowing grin. He then winked at you and raised his index to his mouth significantly.

You nodded understandingly and bit your lower lip in order not to giggle as Peter grabbed your hand and led you back upstairs discreetly.

[canmom]

L'aventure de Canmom à Annecy - Vendredi 2: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

It's almost a week since the day now but here's more Annecy writeups! I will be republishing this whole series in a very fancy filterable way on canmom.art soon, so look out for that!

Friday's second act was the new anime film The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes (夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口 Natsu he Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi), a title which conveniently only uses kanji from the first ~10 levels of Wanikani so it's nice and easy to read. That said, this showing had both English and French subtitles, so I didn't need to lean on my Japanese knowledge this time. Here's a trailer...

This film seems to have been out in Japan for long enough that it's already available on nyaa (GJM are working on a sub), but this was actually my first time hearing about it. It was originally a light novel by Mei Hachimoku, then a manga, and now an anime film by Tomohisa Taguchi.

Taguchi has a pretty good track record as a director, although mostly stuff I've not seen. In fact the only of his works I've seen before is the original series Akudama Drive (2020), which is a very stylish scifi heist anime. He also directed the recent Bleach film, and the 2017 Kino's Journey TV anime, as well as a number of adaptations of the Persona games.

As seems to be customary for screenings at the Bonlieu Grand Salle, he and one of the producers (I regret that I didn't make a note of which of the three) came on stage before the film to comment a little. [That guy on the left - I'm not sure his name but he seems to be one of the main people running Annecy, since he introduced most of the films and carried out interviews at most of the Grand Salle screenings I went to.]

Taguchi remarked that most of his previous work has been action, so this more grounded romance film was a big change of pace. He spoke about wanting to capture the loneliness of the two main characters. The animation was carried out at Studio CLAP, a young studio whose previous work is Pompo the Cinephile, which we watched on Animation Night 123.

This film actually ended up winning the 'Paul Grimault Award', one of the three awards bestowed to feature films, which is named after a French animator who I presently mostly know from the bus stop by Cinema Pathé; at some point I gotta dig in more lmao.

So, with all that introduction... what sort of film was it? I went in expecting a solidly made summer movie in the Makoto Shinkai idiom... and that is indeed precisely what I got.

The story concerns two highschoolers, Kaoru (our main viewpoint character) and Anzu. Kaoru is a boy whose sister died when he was young, leading to his parents breaking up and his father falling into alcoholism. Since she was attempting to retrieve a beetle for him, he blames himself for the death - a sentiment shared by his father. Anzu meanwhile is a new transfer student who arrives at the school and immediately makes waves by acting standoffish towards the other students. She has aspirations to become a mangaka, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, but this has estranged her from the rest of her family who disapproved of his lack of success. So she severely doubts her own talent.

The pair meet on a rainy day waiting for a train that is delayed by hitting a deer, at which Kaoru lends Anzu his umbrella. This train stop becomes a recurring motif throughout the film, symbolising the evolution of their relationship. The other major element is a local legend of the 'Urashima Tunnel', which can grant wishes, at the price that time is drastically slowed down inside the tunnel, so that seconds inside the tunnel pass as hours outside. Kaoru discovers the tunnel is in fact real, and might give him a way to save his sister; Anzu follows him and the pair start researching the properties of the tunnel (e.g. its effect on phone communications), and draw up a plan to enter it and get what they want, even if it sends them thousands of years into the future.

Naturally they grow closer together and start to form a romantic relationship. Kaoru learns about Anzu's manga, and comes to the conclusion that she doesn't lack talent at all - and he also knows (somehow) that the tunnel is not capable of bestowing talent, only restoring things that were lost. So in the end (spoilers!) Kaoru enters the tunnel in secret without Anzu knowing. Eight years pass on the outside during which Anzu becomes a successful mangaka, still eaten by her highschool relationship; inside over a matter of minutes Kaoru finds his sister, and spends a little time with her, before realising that actually what he really needs is to be with Anzu, so he texts her and starts running back. They reunite near the entrance of the tunnel, smooch, and live happily ever after (even though Kaoru is still a high schooler and there's an eight year age gap lmao, this just straight up isn't even mentioned as a potential issue).

Generally I enjoyed the buildup a lot more than the final act. That this kind of movie centres on a heterosexual relationship is inevitable, but Anzu and Kaoru's hesitant relationship is genuine and sweet - the scene where Kaoru is reading Anzu's manga as she anxiously waits for his opinion is especially well observed. The pair's efforts, led by Anzu, to analyse the properties of the tunnel through experimentation is fun, since that's precisely what I would do if confronted with a magical tunnel of time dilation. That said, the central fantastical conceit, the time dilation tunnel, doesn't feel like an especially interesting metaphor.

Compared to the films of Makoto Shinkai, which visually and narratively it hews very close to (complete with the coloured highlights), the notable divergence is that the couple don't end up separated and do get their happy ending. Kaoru's decision to break their compact and leave Anzu alone outside the tunnel for eight years ultimately... just doesn't matter too much. He realises he needs to move on, says goodbye to his sister, and reunites with Anzu. I think it might be more interesting if Anzu actually ended up moving on and starting a different relationship and Kaoru had to face up to the fact that he has thrown away his one connection, but then I'm a miserable bitch who loves suffering lmao. Alternatively, I think it would be really cool if they actually did send themselves thousands of years into the future, although it would put this film into a very different genre.

In any case, the ending to this film ultimately left me a little cold. Yay, breeding pair got together.

Even so, it was absolutely an entertaining film; the environments are suitably beautiful, the animation is solid. Whether you'd enjoy it will probably depend how much you enjoy the "summer movie magical romance" subgenre. If you like Makoto Shinkai's movies, you'll probably like this one. If you hate Makoto Shinkai's movies, I expect you'd feel much the same about this one.

Speaking of Makoto Shinkai, I was a little surprised not to see Suzume in competition. But in general it seems pretty random which anime studios decide to submit their work to Annecy. Some studios like Science Saru have a pretty close relationship with the festival, others seem to ignore it entirely. (Perhaps it is a case of like, for smaller studios it's a valuable chance for promotion, but Makoto Shinkai is basically guaranteed a massive worldwide audience so he doesn't need to bother to come out to France?)

[mysticcabinboy]

The "interactive cinematic experience" buzzword should stay in the 2010s where it belongs.

At the very least visual novels are up front that what they are trying to achieve is a little less rather than a little more. That's not to say it isn't a daunting task to write a book either but at least then you know the only extra disks that they are trying to spin is learning RenPy and how to draw rather than try and go for the next "revolutionary" 0 in the polygon count for their choose your own adventure romance plots. You get what you are expecting by going into a genre called Visual Novels, and you accept that in the same way someone accepts being a furry, creator or consumer you have probably already heard the memes a hundred times before and you decide to go in anyways because you're curious or already know its something you want to get into.

But videogames have a stigma behind them that lends itself to weird complications when it gets compared to its older (two) brother(s). When you call something cinematic, you are invoking an idea that the story is in some way trying to be its own "insert GOAT movie meme here". Which then becomes its own trap for the genre as a whole, if the story is good and the game is shit, it gets compared to cinema and becomes the new "best" game, if its ALL bad "well what did you expect, its a videogame, nothing but a shiny toy".

that's just fucking unfair. especially when the times I've ever felt genuine powerful emotion is when the game takes things you have been, if not thinking about, then dealing with for hours, before twisting it in powerful ways. Project moon is great at this, often taking small quirks of the game and putting it in context of the actual world. Their most recent game(sadly a gacha side project to keep the lights on while they do other stuff) has an ultimate/id system where pretty much every little weapon that the characters wear or use has some amount of thematic significance with them, so ultimately its up to the player to start wondering how it connects. Even if they don't and braindead the game, theyre probably going to start going insane the moment they hear the word 'ideal', 'that bastard', 'gallop on', 'chains of others', etc from just how often they hear those phrases. the most recent "main" chapter does something fucking amazing with it, turning something almost innocuous and meme worthy from the few times you try it out, then twists it to create a moment of extreme catharsis.

As an older example. I played Deus Ex for the first time a couple weeks ago as well, and the first level on its own is a perfect set piece in how to lay out even a basic sense of how to have your player view your world and game. It immediately gives you the tools to learn about the world and tells you what you need to know when you ask for it. Just with that it makes a great piece of symbolism just from telling you "hey see that green thing you clicked on? yeah the french extremists bombed the statue of liberty. They thought we didn't deserve it." and it makes you think "what the fuck? when? why? what would we have done wrong?" or in my case i check the date of when the game was created and realized it was made a year before 9/11. Its a very specific moment of emotion that is designed to confuse, it helps that its also a very early part of the game rather than a twist kept towards the end as a 'subversion of expectation' because there wasn't much building up to it and its passed off as... just something that happened.

This sort of thing is exactly why i hate it when writers try to market their game as cinema because it shows that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of the medium they are working in. You aren't just making a movie anymore when you step into this space, EVERYTHING you allow the player to do can become a tool that can be used in service of a story, and just putting in a cover shooter for your "cinematic experience" shouldn't really cut it. Its an insult, you have every tool in your arsenal, including the concepts you made up out of thin air for gameplay purposes, and your first thought is to make cinema? Not a sandbox, not a game, not something that means something to the player when they fuck around with mechanics... but cinema? At that point you are better off just making a movie and getting laughed at by the people you're trying to impress because i sure as hell wont find it funny.

This isnt to say you cant write a story well on its own and let it be a part of a game. Just that when making and critiquing a game, consider EVERY facet of it. Ill praise Limbus' story to hell and back but the sheer fact its a gacha, and the consequences that come with it brings it down a little. The sheer fact that Limbus could have ended up like Honkai Star Rail in how braindead it is still fucking haunts me, even as the gameplay, while polished compared to the adjustment needed with ruina, was already sort of a step back.0.

[mdhwrites]

Hot take:

Hunter is a worthless character that never should have been in the show and you can tell by how he's written just how much of a writers pet he is and you can see Dana's blatant favoritism with him.

Labyrinth runners had MANY plot holes that highlight this issue perfectly.

(for example, did you know that Hunter somehow knew Adrien was in the gym despite this never being said and him being knocked out?

Equally why WAS Hunter being aimlessly dragged around instead of with Gus, despite being identified as a high value target who needed to be brought back to Belos?

Why did Willow trust him to help Gus when he admitted he had zero clue what was wrong and would have been better suited to fighting the abomaton as a supposed trained fighter? Although to be fair, the writers routinely make Hunter incompetent when the plot suits, such as when he stood still for an abomaton to whack him out the sky.

And why did hunter have the line 'have you seen her play flyer derby?' did the writers just forget Gus was in ASIAS?)

So... I won't say Hunter is a worthless character. He is likable which is better than I can really say about say... Alador at this point, who went from quirky and a bit funny to just... THERE. Hunter at least has a theoretical narrative point and a likable enough personality. Of course, when you're given the narrative position of Lilith and are a corrupted copy and paste of Amity, you're not going to be entirely useless or unlikable. -_- So while not worthless, he is incredibly unnecessary and repetitive. I would have to rewatch Labyrinth runners to comment on a lot of the plot holes you bring up and for how important they are. Something like him knowing Adrien is in the gym when he shouldn't is one of those nitpicks that isn't good but not something I'd inherently hold against the show. It's a writer fucking up but it's no big deal and i want to make sure people understand the difference between a nitpick, which I do at times myself and also fuck you Cinema Sins for making writing discussions so much worse, and an actual problem in a story's writing.

BUT. Let's actually start getting mean because you're not wrong but the problem is only half Hunter. The other half is that you're asking the writers to actually care about Gus and Willow because you know? I bet you they didn't fucking care that Gus was in ASIAS, especially when they gave him no reason to be trying to ride his broom normally before showing how he actually rides it. Or in Labyrinth Runners, you have the MUCH bigger problem of the fact that Hunter, a guy who has spent like two hours tops with Willow, knows her better than her best friend? "That's not the captain." Yes, Gus is experiencing some level of a panic attack at that point but it's BEYOND dumb nonetheless that this total stranger knows Willow better. And unfortunately, Hunter takes the lead with Willow a lot post being added to the cast for the sake of Huntlow because the writers are fanfic shippers instead of remembering the entire cast. So shove Gus to the side because he is the third wheel to the ship they want to have interacting and getting closer.

Side note on favoritism with Hunter: THREE different girls all do the same routine of "You can be better. Oh, you disappoint me. That's okay, we'll work it out someday." Luz, Amity and Willow all are very potentially shipped with him in one way or another, have similarities drawn between them and Willow gets to keep him because she's not already in a ship or a lesbian already. It is... awkward that they use the same trick three times in general but I'm not sure how many tricks TOH really has in its writing playbook when it comes to ANYTHING. But moving away from Hunter, because I've honestly talked before about how shit he is... I do want to talk about how shitty Gus is treated in the entire show. Despite the fact that he gets more true episodes than Willow (Holy shit is Willow not a character btw and talking about her status as a plot device to the writers is its own blog), how much actually expands his character. His first one is about wanting to keep his club and his human fascination but is also the first, and only time in S1, where illusion magic is taken... seriously? At all? Otherwise he's a complete joke? Then Looking Glass fucks up his magic sideways just to make glyphs look REALLY COOL AND REALLY EASY AND REALLY BORING with a finale that... Feels entirely out of line. We have never even been led to believe, especially by THAT episode, that illusion magic could be that strong. Besides Gus skipping a couple grades, he isn't ever portrayed as strong either with his illusions honestly being on par with the twins AT BEST. And then suddenly he pulls out an illusion that has to be so many different spells at the same time to function as it does that you would expect a TEAM of witches to have to be needed to do it, not a TWELVE YEAR OLD. And then we finally get Labyrinth Runners which is the only one that actually tries to do something with his character beyond "Take me seriously, jk maybe not?" (because seriously, the fact that his episodes are about taking him seriously when he is a joke literally any other time in the series is a PROBLEM). It does this in a compelling way... And that episode is still dominated far more by Amity, Willow and Hunter. He gets honestly only three real scenes for him in that episode and one is teaching Hunter the breathing technique. So when the end comes around and Gus takes out a coven head with a version of illusion magic that's never even been hinted at before, during a panic attack nonetheless... It creates a response from the audience not of "HELL YEAH! THAT'S OUR LITTLE GUY!" but instead "Wait? What just happened? And by him? How?"

And all of this fucking blows. Honestly the writing with Willow and Gus just sucks in general. And I could say "Man, it'd be nice if Hunter didn't exist so they'd have gotten more time," but that's implying they would have. I don't think the writers literally ever cared about these two. They were only useful in S1 in order to help cohesion with Amity (a term in romance writing for the moment when a couple starts sticking to each other rather than having glancing meetings) and that's really it. That and introducing Hexide I suppose. But besides that? How little of TOH changes if you just remove both of them? And that question is honestly SO much worse for Gus, who effectively replaced by Hunter over time it feels like, than it is for Willow. And that sucks really badly. But hey, what do you expect from a show where pretty much every male character sucks? More on that later this week because someone has taken the bait to get me to talk about it.

[writerdream22]

requested by: no one, but I sincerely hope you like this anyways ✨🌻💛

pairings: Steve Harrington x reader, Robin Buckley x reader (platonic)

warnings: none

taglist: @sevenseasofswifties13

a/n: you could consider this gif imagine to be a second part of this

feedbacks are always appreciated!

After your first kiss, things were quite awkward between you and Steve. You had little to no time to discuss what had just happened because you were a couple of hours late to work and you figured that Robin had been forced to cover for the both of you.

“Here you are!” she exclaimed, as you ran into Scoops Ahoy as fast as you possibly could “There's so many people in here today, so chop-chop and do your job!”. You and Steve chuckled at your colleague's words but followed her orders nonetheless. For the whole duration of your shift, the two of you exchanged glances and sweet smiles that made your heart flutter.

At two in the afternoon, it was time for your lunch break. You didn't have time to prepare anything in the morning, so you went to Burger King to grab something to eat. Afterwards, you headed to the back of Scoops Ahoy to enjoy your food in peace.

Unfortunately, you were disturbed almost immediately by none other than Steve.

“Oh, hi.” he said, smiling sheepishly. “Hi!” you responded, waving with the hand that wasn't holding the delicious burger. “Hi” the boy said again, clearly flustered. You chuckled, then pointed out “You already said that”.

“Right” Steve observed, pursing his lips in frustration and running his hands through his hair “Sorry, y/n, it's just that— it's just that what happened this morning was really, well, unexpected. And we didn't get to talk about it”.

“I know” you sighed “But I don't know what to say— It would freak you out if I said: 'hey I've had a crush on you since freshman year buy you were too blind to see it and I too much of a coward to admit what I felt, because you had a crush on Nancy Wheeler' ”. Steve's eyes widened in surprise, and he was only able to respond “You've liked me for this much time?”, and you nodded.

“I knew it, I freaked you out” you said, and then took a sip of soda before you gathered all your things and got ready to start your shift again. All of a sudden, Steve grabbed your arm as to stop you from going anywhere. “You could never freak me out” he stated, in a sweet tone “And besides, that's one of the many reasons why I like you— you're weird. In a good way, of course.” .You smiled, and stood on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“What do we do now?” Steve then nervously questioned, referring to the situation that was going on between the two of you.

“First, we must go back to work. Then, you take me out on a proper date— say, we could go to the cinema after our shift ends and then have a pizza or whatever you prefer”

[purplesurveys]

1819

When’s the last time you ate bread?  I had a burger from Wendy's earlier today.

What’s the last movie you watched on your own?  I watched a local comedy movie called Ang Tanging Ina, which translates to The Only Mother. It's one of those movies that are almost deliberately bad that it ended up a comedy classic, but the plot is really nice so I ended up liking it. It's an easy watch for sure.

What about the last movie you watched with another person?  You've Got Mail. It was an event of a client and they were screening that for Valentine's Day, and I snuck into the cinema for a few minutes to watch a few scenes since I've never seen it before.

How many coats do you own?  None. I don't need coats where I live.

What about shoes?  Somewhere around 10-15.

One word to describe your most recent ex?  Selfish.

Where, in your current country, would you like to live, other than where you do now?  Realistically I would love to move somewhere like Cebu or Davao, so that it can still be in the city but life can also be quieter and slower.

Do you like snow?  I've never seen snow, so I wouldn't know yet how I feel about it.

Do you like sheer clothing?  Eh not really, they demand creativity and some style knowledge and I'm not nearly as passionate about fashion to decide on things like that lol.

Have you ever seen anyone famous in the street?  Sure, but being in PR I deal with a lot of famous people on a regular basis so seeing celebrities isn't really something I'm limited to encountering in the street.

Are you hungry right now?  I am, a little bit. I'm seeing someone for early dinner in around an hour or so though so I should be alright.

Are you regularly tired?  Yes, being in the corporate world and having your braincells sucked out of you on a daily basis isn't the best walk in the park.

What was the last thing to upset you?  Continued from this afternoon. Being late to the said dinner I mentioned earlier. I hate wasting people's time by being late, and Metro Manila traffic is just the worst for making you late no matter how much time you allot for travel.

How’s the weather been today?  I was indoors and in air-conditioned rooms all day long so it'd be hard for me to tell how it was like today haha.

What was the first tattoo you got or what would be the first tattoo you’ll get?  I'd love a really small and subtle reference to BTS. Seven dots, and then each color is matched to their mics.

What was the last store you went into and did you buy anything?  I went to a Lawson yesterday to get the biggest bottled water available, because I had a mini fainting/dehydration incident and all my companions insisted I get the fuck inside and get some water, lol.

Have you ever been late for school or work?  I was late for college classes more times than I can count, but the most unforgettable moment for me was that time in like...high school (or like Grade 6 or 7? I can't quite remember) when the bus broke down and we got to school by ~8:15 AM – extremely late. Everyone else went down but my anxiety was through the roof that day and I didn't want to have to face walking into the classroom while the first subject was already starting, so I just asked them to take me home.

As for work, I technically have a grace period which allows me to report to work by 10 AM latest and yeah I tend to maximize that from time to time.

Do you prefer to shower in the morning or at night?  Morning. I need to shower first thing in the morning – it makes me feel refreshed and calm before work.

What is your favourite kind of fruit cobbler?  No thanks.

Is there a basement in your house? If so, what is it used for?  We don't.

Have you driven a car today?  Yep. In fact I'm taking this survey from my car just for a bit of change.

Do you have a small, medium or large bedroom? It's the smallest bedroom in the house but I'd say it's still medium-sized for me; it fits all of the things I own comfortably.

Where was your first job and how old were you?  I was an intern in my current workplace. I was 22 when I started.

Have you eaten soup this week?  No, it's not really something I tend to get a lot.

Are you a fan of The Office?  I've started with a few Season 1 episodes last December but haven't gotten back on it since. It's hilarious, but it hasn't given me that ~spark or oomph the way Friends immediately did.

When was the last time you started a new medication?  Never really been on long-term medications. Last thing I had to take was stuff to help recover from Covid.

What is your favourite type of nut?  Pecan, pistachio.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t have a middle name?  Used to.

Have you put your phone on silent today?  Yep, it's always on silent Mondays through Fridays.

Can you name all 50 US state capital cities?  I cannot.

Do you read John Green novels?  I did when I was in grade school.

Have you ever been to Universal Studios?  I've been to the one in Singapore.

Can you tie balloons?  I cannot.

When was the last time you were at a pet store?  Years and years and years ago.

[coldrubies]

Grief cinema

My mom died at the end of 2019, right before lockdown. When covid hit, I was still in a foggy state. My reaction to everything delayed. I am supposed to stay home? Not go outside? Fine! Those were precisely what my plans were for the next mumblemumble years anyway.

My brightest, most vivid memories would have been of the movies that I saw anyway, because movies are special to me and I am always watching them. But the way they informed my grieving process surprised me. One does not necessarily expect, in the moment, for anything to really make it better.

But the day of my mom's death—maybe the day of, maybe the last day that I saw my mom—I watched MIDSOMMAR for the first time. I didn't know the plot and was a little concerned about it but a lot unable to do anything about the way that I felt; the DVD was already in the DVD player, and I knew my mother was dying/dead. Florence Pugh's portrayal of grief was a real gift. I felt held by it. It was miraculous to me, frankly, how much it lifted me into a state of feeling able to engage with what was going on and how I was feeling. There is a rant in me—and it is in there pretty shallow; you can get at it easily—about how acting is a vital service. I feel about actors the way that THE OFFICE's Dwight Schrute feels about his urologist. It is something I cannot do myself all the time, validate my own feelings about life; I need someone to do it for me, and I am grateful.

Also right around the same proximity to my mom's death, I saw the "Original Cast Album: Co-op" episode of DOCUMENTARY NOW! in the midst of watching that season. It was funny, I loved it, it took me out of my troubles, and the milieu was so novel and fascinating to me—this is how a cast recording (something I had never thought about) is/was made?—that I looked up which real documentary the episode was based on.

Before addressing ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY and all it's done for me, a word on Stephen Sondheim:

I will pick up practically any biography of an artist. An all-time choice was the biography of Wendy Wasserstein by Julie Salamon. I didn't know her or her work, and it was such an absorbing book, I think about returning to it all the time. Ditto Michael Schulman's Meryl Streep biography. I love to get a feeling of people in time. The choice to buy Stephen Sondheim's biography was not totally random, but it happened to be on my person when, immediately after my mother's death, I was hit by a car! It wasn't fatal—here I am—it just tipped me over. But I was in a fragile state, I did cry a lot, and I explained to the driver that my mother had just died, and that was why I was crying, and that would be the only reason I cry about anything for a while, regardless of what it seemed like I ought to be crying about. Eventually, I got to a hospital that night to make sure nothing had happened to me, and I was stranded in a room for more than an hour, and all I had was this book about Stephen Sondheim.

I can't remember—I'm sure I could figure it out—whether I had the book before I saw the documentary, whether I'd already seen it by the time I started reading it—but it all feels like it happened more or less at once that I went from not knowing* who Stephen Sondheim was to knowing, you know, the reams of tedious details that a fan knows (how many lines he preferred to have on his yellow legal pads; his go-to chord structure).

As all of this is going on, I've been writing a novel about musicians since 2018, and I made a promise to myself that, once I finished the first draft, I would prioritize learning about music. I never did when I was in school, I always wanted to, and the novel would never be done if I did not understand what my characters are supposed to be doing. I finished the first draft at the very end of 2019, and how fortuitous for this guide to show up, again, more or less all at once (just in time for me to be truly knocked out when he died two years later, more or less exactly from the time of all of this).

The extent to which I've clung to that gift as a life raft during this time is best demonstrated by the fact that, at the end of 2019, I had no knowledge of anything pertaining to music other than liking it, and now I have been composing music since the spring of 2022 (composing was the very long goal, and I still can't get over the fact that I met it). Have I neglected other parts of my life? Big time. But this is still impressive to me considering I would have liked very much to simply pull a blanket over myself and be sad quite ongoingly.

(*- On the subject of "not knowing who Stephen Sondheim was," my only frame of reference was seeing his name in the credits, mostly on item descriptions online, for, like, CDs of the WEST SIDE STORY, INTO THE WOODS, and ASSASSINS cast recordings, all of which I happened to see randomly over the years, but it is the kind of coincidence that would leave one who doesn't know anything about musical theatre to wonder if, maybe, Stephen Sondheim has written every single musical ever.)

Back to the documentary:

Between my discovery of ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY and now, the Criterion Collection has issued an edition of it on DVD and Blu-ray that is beautiful, a dream come true, and it features the DOCUMENTARY NOW! parody episode—magnificent. At the end of 2019, though, my only option for owning it was as a Quicktime file. This is fine—whether or not I have internet access, I have access to ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY.

I have so much to express about ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY, but I will restrict myself only to how it has intermingled with my grieving process. It is, of course, a pleasure to see people lost in work that is demanding but, compared to grieving a loved one's death, a load of cake. In the moment, the first many times I saw it, it came with a fresh, invigorating spray of curiosity-provocation. I love to be curious. Curiosity can do a lot for me. And there is a lot to be curious about for the completely uninitiated when it comes to the byzantine, idiosyncratic, union-forged business practices of Broadway theatre. Knowing how much he loved rules, watching him in this documentary, I am so moved and so happy for Stephen Sondheim that he was from and dwelled in a land that loved rules so much.

I could go on and on and on about how cathartic it is to watch someone be difficult, a ruthless artist, rigid, upholding a high standard as a method of care. I could introduce the subject of Stephen Sondheim and mother issues and we would be here all day. One of the conditions of my loving a thing is that I just go on about it. But when I first saw ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY right around the time that my mother died, the big thing that it did for me was show me, in case I felt like allowing my grief to interfere with my plans, that working on music was going to be good, nice, and right, which in this case were all the same thing.

It's been comforting to rewatch MIDSOMMAR since the end of 2019 and, to be honest with you, I rewatch ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY on a basis so routine that, on second thought, to be honest with you about it would embarrass me too greatly, but the other movie that did something for me in the bewildering swirl that was right-around-the-time-my-mother died, maybe the day it happened, isn't one I revisit, but it is worth noting. I was not going to prepare any food that day, which I barely incentivize myself to do when I'm not pulverized by the cruelty of fate, so I bought, I think, a poké bowl (spicy tuna, etc.) and a Mediterranean-style grain bowl (ancient grains, spicy feta cheese, etc.), and ate them both promptly and simultaneously. I felt sick. I could not do anything lest I risk throwing up. I watched SPACE JAM (I did not throw up! A small miracle).

I am I-saw-SPACE-JAM-in-the-theatre-and-it-was-age-appropriate years old. The soundtrack was a presence in my home. I have no tender feelings about it, but, watching it for the first time as an adult, its ludicrousness did completely take me out of what was happening to my soul and body. That's not nothing!

Maybe more happened then and it isn't coming to me now, but this is how I remember it.

[d2kvirus]

30/10/23 Fact or Fiction

Statement #1: You will pay for the premium “no ads” tier of Netflix (or whatever your streaming service of choice is) no matter how much they raise the price. FICTION - When it comes to Netflix I won't since I sub at the mid tiers (aka the least I can pay without ads, because isn't late stage capitalism great that you can pay a subscription fee yet still get ads???) as I only use my account for a month here and there, while in terms of Crunchyroll I'm simply not going to upgrade my account to premium because they can fuck right off with suddenly holding shows hostage behind a paywall when they were free to watch literally the day before

Statement #2: Martin Scorsese has the best filmography of any director. FICTION - Oh boy, which punchline do I use for this one: Kundun or Gangs of New York? Wait, you wanted a serious answer? Okay then: no, as while Scorsese does have some impressive peaks such as Goodfellas, Casino and Taxi Driver, there's plenty of particularly deep troughs (i.e. the two I already named) and some middling works and even works which are (unfairly, IMO) overlooked like Bringing out the Dead, not to be confused with the middling works people pretend are marvelous like Shutter Island, The Aviator, or - screw it, I'm committed at this point - Raging Bull. Come at me, Film Twitter!!!

Statement #3: Your favorite horror movie villain is based on the quality of the movies they were in more than their character or appearance. FICTION - This is the problem with a lot of horror movie villains: they tend to be in one or two good or even great movies, but are also in a whole heap of crap ones. Case in point, Pinhead is a fascinating horror movie villain...but outside the first couple of Hellraiser films, they have appeared in some utter dreck. Similar can be said for Leatherface: Letherface is an interesting character and the first Texas Chainsaw was a masterpiece, but the three sequels sucked...and then the remake and its sequel sucked, and I only watched the Dead Meat for the legacy sequel and that's enough to tell me that it sucks

Statement #4: You have the dreaded “super hero movie fatigue”. FACT - Every time LadyVirus and myself are thinking of going to the cinema between June-September, since on the off chance the one film we want to see is playing at the local cinema it has one screening a day either at lunchtime or even worse at brunchtime, while there's at least a dozen screenings all day every day for the latest slab of Marvel Spam. So yeah, I've got fatigue, because certain cinema chains make it damn near impossible for their customers to watch anything else, and it has been the exact same thing every summer for over a decade now

Statement #5: AI will replace actors and writers for Movies and TV within 10 years. FICTION - Ahh, I remember the good old days of 1994 where people watched Forrest Gump and/or Weezer's Buddy Holly video and were worried that studios would start replace actors with facsimiles, which hasn't happened - barring outliers like Brandon Lee in The Crow or Oliver Reed in Gladiator, which were more a necessity to finish the film due to their deaths during filming. More than anything else, studios will hopefully see the response to the digital necromancy used in The Flash and realise that audiences don't like paying to spend a couple of hours in the uncanny valley, and more than anything else audiences are put off by seeing an obvious lack of effort - as demonstrated by the widespread disdain Kwebbelkop has been getting for using an AI to churn out react content. In other words if Hollywood studios intend to have something reading out dialogue robotically, they're more likely to use Gal Gadot in the future than the Monroebot 3000

[bellmo15-blog]

The Aftermath

Today is the 28th of November. Yesterday was a very life changing day for me and today I have to suffer though the aftermath! Yesterday was...

... My birthday!

Yeah that's not as traumatic as I made it out to be lol. Joking aside I bring this up because I wanted to thank everyone who wished me a Congratulatory Day Of My Birth yesterday and even got me some presents. Some of them I actually want to show. And I didn't get a whole lot of physical presents, rather I mostly got a bit of money and a gift card. However one physical present I'm extremally happy to have gotten is this!

A brand spanking new Computer Monitor! Not only that but it's one of those fancy curved ones two so you know what that means?

Me playing one of my favourite games from 21 years ago and pretending like I'm in the cinema! 🙃 Apparently you can actually rent out some cinemas for a few hours to actually play video games on a big screen though. I did also get a drone two and let me stop you right there! It wasn't the sexy kind of latex drone either! It was one of those flying ones!

Anyway, I say it wasn't just physical presents because I actually got a few digital presents as well in the form of artwork! This isn't the first Birthday I've gotten art as a gift, there was also my birthday in 2018 and 2019, but I was still surprised to get them!

The first was a commission a friend of mine, PantherUnit01, got from VanessaRubberArts for me of my blatant self insert Michael with a Zero Suit which is already something I'm super into but also a Symbiote Zero Suit which god yes! And unlike the other pic I personally got of Michael in a Symbiote Suit which I wrote out in my story being a faux Symbiote made from Liquid Latex to mimic some aspects of it, this is the real thing! It's actually based of an edit Panther did of a personal commission I got of my sona in a Zero Suit by ChaosCroc and an AU story they wrote up to go along with the edit they made for me.

The next thing was less of a birthday present at first but it sorta became one anyway with when it was done. A few days ago Frost Silverwhisper was taking on some Sketch Requests and I requested my girl Mikaela. He got around to doing those sketches on my Birthday and also added a Happy Birthday message to the tweet as well. So it does count as a Birthday Present. Plus it means I get both my guy and my gal on the same day!

The last present I got was surprisingly, another AU related thing, in a manner of speaking! Long story short, a few months ago on KevoGlum's server a Splatoon Gmoder by the name Broken offered to do people's OC's as Inklings in Gmod and I offered my sona. To my surprise, he still has the model! And had him meat his latex OC Latexia and turned him into one of her dolls to play with.

Oh and I should probaply put this out there as well, I consider my Inkling self to be the same age as me! 26 as of yesterday! I bring this up because people do get anssy over Splatoon lewds though it is understandable. Considering I've seen Splatoon youtubers who have Inkling/Octoling self inserts that they have started to be adults I'm not doing anything two wrong right?

Anyway, that's all the birthday stuff I got yesterday. I just want to end this by saying if you sent my a birthday message or got me some kind of present yesterday I just want to say thank you all so much! It really made my day especially since I feel like I needed that. You see, recently I haven't been as excited over the idea of getting older and it's mostly because of something my Dad use to say on his birthday's. "Another year closer to the grave." It's something I use to write of as his terrible attempts at humour but recently it started to actually affect me a little mentally as I got closer to my Birthday because he was right in a way. I'm mostly over it now thankfully. I guess I just needed this day to happen to lift my sprits and it did. Here's to my birthday yesterday!

[fleurlia]

here is part two of this.

[7:13 pm] for all the phases you have been through in the past few months, all of them were disastrous. a couple of months after jeno has told you about his proposal karina and he appears with new rings, explaining to everyone how both just choose to make things more swiftly and not wait until graduation.

you already knew it but that didn't stop you from spending at least twenty minutes crying pathetically in the ladies' room.

certainly when you thought things couldn't get any worse, believe me, they did. you were convinced for the moment karina asked you to help her choose the dress. again, you couldn't blame anyone against yourself.

renjun and donghyuck stood next to you, holding their laughs as she was asking for help in the most loving way. just for when she was gone the duo were shouting loud and attempting to comfort your poor heart. following that, you saw yourself sat there watching karina trying on more than a thousand wedding dresses, for getting married to the love of your life.

it would be easier to hate her if she was a bitch and 20% less attractive. you thought.

and talking about him, you couldn't even hold his gaze without looking weepy and bitter. your friendship existed only by devices, which you believed would be turned off the moment he said yes to her.

after a year of planning and torture, the big day has arrived and even though you have created every possible excuse, none seemed good enough to not going to your best friend's wedding. including a sweet smile, your mom comforted you as you got ready for the wedding, holding up tears and making yourself at least looking attractive on the worst day of your life. you asked more than once for your mother to be merciful and to fake an accident but she keeps telling you how could you get over it if you didn't see "the dead body".

instructed to stay at least a few minutes late, you made everything possible to be delayed. not wanting to arrive and have to deal with the reception and face the bride and groom. not craving to deal with the fact that if you held more than five seconds alone with jeno, you would presumably tell him the truth that was stuck in your throat. then when you arrive everyone was already at the ceremony, your entry causing a small noise that drew attention. jeno's eyes catching yours immediately.

the couple looking supremely beautiful, like always. the dress that karina and you have picked just not fits her but makes everyone around her look poorly ugly. oh my god, i hate myself so much. that was the only thing going through your mind.

sitting down next to renjun, he sends you a glance. "it's almost ended, i thought you were not coming."

"as if i were that lucky"

he chuckles but gently takes your hands. even though you said more than a thousand times that you didn't want anyone feeling sorry for you, he tried his best to make things a little better.

while the minutes started to grow, your mind stopped a few more every time that ceremony got close for the "yes". holding up every tear you possess in your body, you almost failed as the old lady next to you smile in your direction and whispered;

"what are you from the groom??"

"i... i am his best friend, since freshman year at college."

"oh, that's why he is looking right here all the time."

quietly you agreed with her, not even daring yourself to look up and catch all of his stares. the moments pass with you staring to anywhere, you couldn't even look at them without feeling your chest squeeze in sharp pain.

"so lee jeno, do you take this woman as your wife to lover her, respect her, and looking for her?"

wishing to not stand there or even existed, you were close to starting to crying but renjun squeezed your hands and all that people heard at next was; "yes, i do."

lee jeno, the love of your life just got married... but it's was not whit you.

later on, — this including the time you spent crying and sobbing in the car — you were supposed to go to the celebration and that's is what you did as a supportive friend.

the first hour was going like a blink, you have to pretend so much happiness that the idea of the newlyweds just got blanked out of your mind. it was the last straw when jeno's sister approached you with a gentle smile, you could feel her pity just by the look on her face and you felt even more miserable when she said it in a low tone: ''i always thought that on a day like today, you would be my new sister.''

that hurt so much.

the rest of the night passed like a blur, a slow and painful blur. you had taken so many pictures and you were sure that you looked ridiculous in the picture with the bride and groom, donghyuck and renjun were there to support you but your false happiness was quickly destroyed by jeno's stares.

almost at the end of the celebration, everyone full of the food and tired from the dancing, people decided it was time for the speeches and in the crowd of invited people you hid behind your friends. if by any chance the universe hated you that much you would be chosen to give some words and you were ready to make a whole speech based on rose's in "love, rosie". it would be tragic.

karina's mother said beautiful words to the couple and praised jeno so much that you at that moment felt happy for him. many relatives passed by, all of them talking about how perfect they were for each other and at end wishing them happiness. you felt like a jealousy bitch at every second.

almost at the end of all your torture, you already agreed that renjun or one of his friends would take you home because you didn't even want to talk, it was the newlyweds' turn to speak. karina sounded so perfectly in love with every word she spoke out. you were thankful to be far away from the couple because your stomach flipped as you watched jeno stand up, straightening his suit and black hair.

you were about to get up and walk away, not wanting to hear about how much he loved her and was grateful to be married to her but after a second thought, you knew you would draw pitying and pitiful glances in your direction.

"i can give you more than a thousand and one reasons about how i ended up here, married to karina." his soft voice echoing throughout the room. "one of them is because sometimes... we don't notice that what we need is right under our noses. sometimes we even notice... but only a few people dare themselves to confess their love to that person.'' at that point nobody else understood where he was getting at with that speech. just like all evening, you didn't attempt to look at him and be unlucky enough to find him also watching you.

''one more reason why we are here, on this particular night, is that maybe i took too long to realize, waited for too long. i wish i could confess this earlier because... deep down i always knew it was you. the love of my life and my best friend.''

something inside of you clicked. back when you started to date, jeno looked you up one day and you fought, he was just being jealous that your then-boyfriend also claimed to be your best friend and you didn't say anything, the point is that he would never call karina his best friend. on that day, both promise never forgets about their besties and never, never calling anyone ''best friend''.

nobody knew about that.

"if... if i could only go back in time... maybe i would tell myself how i should confess to you.'' you looked up, getting his gaze. you stood surprised when you noticed that his eyes were tearing up. ''if only i had known that we would be here today. i never would have let your lips leave mine years ago, on new years'. i never should have walked away. i never should have panicked. i never should have lost all those years without you... because i've realized that no matter where you are or what you're doing, or who you're with, i will always honestly, truly, completely love you.''

you couldn't believe in your damn bad luck.

you couldn't discover what was more pathetically tragic. the fact that karina would watch the video of her wedding in the future and see her husband confessing his love to someone who wasn't her. or the fact that jeno had chosen his wedding day to acknowledge that he loved you.

karina never kissed him on new year's, their first one was in a cinema. only you did, once in your second year as friends. you two never spoke about it.

karina didn't like romantic comedies, she was a literature major and only liked movies that was focussed on classics. you did. you had made jeno watch "love, rosie" so many times that you both knew the script.

with tears rolling down their cheeks, the two of you stared at each other for what seemed like hours. he loved you too. you both now knew about the other's love. inaudibly while you wiped your tears you both agreed that; maybe in another time, another life, we were meant for a happy ending. but not here, not at this moment.

but it didn't matter, only you two knew how much you loved each other and always would.

ok guys, sorry for making this so long and for any mistakes. let me know if you wanted to me doing scenarios, reactions or timestamps or even let my asks open for requests.

[literary-creature]

Thoughts on Fantastic Beasts Franchise: Why am I upset? (But still a little hopeful)

I've been reading everybody else's opinion on the trailer and the future of the franchise for the past two weeks, so I thought I could write something about it myself. I'm not as happy as I expected to be, and there are some reasons for it. I’m going to start with a short overview of what the first two FB movies left, and what I think about recent news.

I watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in November 2017, a year after its release. As someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, I was curious about the movie but didn't expect much from it. Even if it offered an opportunity to go back to the magical world, I wasn't sure I could love a whole new set of characters as much as I had loved the HP ones, or find their story as compelling as the one I knew. But I wanted to give it a chance.

During the first half of the movie, I was lost. There were wands, magical creatures, and adventure, but it felt unfamiliar. It wasn't until the death cell scene that I started to find it interesting. For me, it's the film's breaking point: The moment when Newt and Tina start to trust each other, and when along with Queenie and Jacob, they become a team; one that can go through impossible and dangerous situations together. A little like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but different. These characters were not kids in a school, dealing with the typical problems of teenagers while saving the world; but adults facing real-life (magical and non-magical) troubles the best they could. I could connect with that. From then on, I started to enjoy myself.

I think the reason I loved the film so much was that it brought back to me the excitement I felt for HP as a child. For some years these books and movies were my entire world, and even years later, they hold a special place in my heart. For two hours I had the strange and wonderful sensation of being an eleven-year-old all over again. But it also made me emotional in ways the HP movies never managed to. My favorite scene is the one where Newt releases the thunderbird, obbliviating New York, with all the wizards walking around and reconstructing the city. Watching it always makes me feel strangely emotional. It may be that as we grow up we start to need more magic in our life, or at least, be able to imagine a world when magic can solve problems and make things better.

By now, I must have watched the film like a million times, and it still makes me feel that childlike excitement. As the credits rolled that first time, I remember I ran downstairs to take my copy of fbawtft and make sure that Newt indeed, married Tina.

I watched it again a few days later and put special attention to detail. I think one of the biggest assets of the film was that the HP references were subtle: If you were a fan you could get excited by identifying a spell, or remembering a creature from Hagrid's lessons, or wondering why the obscurus description sounded familiar. But someone who had no idea, could easily ignore all those things and enjoy it as well. It was a perfect balance between nostalgia and surprise, the old and the new.

I only had a year of waiting before Crimes of Grindelwald. When I started to read the HP books, most of the movies were already out, so I've never followed the promotion for any of them. 2018 was a tough year for me, and keeping up with the trailers, the posters, the interviews, gave me something to be cheerful about. It was fun. I must confess my expectations were high. It was also the first time I was going to watch a release. I grew up in a small town, and the cinema didn't work regularly.

But watching CoG my disappointment was immense: After the promotion, I expected something big, but the movie wasn't much more of what we had already seen in advance. Everything that made the first one great, was taken away. Instead of our four beloved protagonists, there were three hundred new characters that did not have much screentime; some didn't even have much relevance to the plot. Most things regarding Newt, Tina, Jacob, and Queenie were not even explained, as if they lacked importance.

The most painful omission was the situation between Tina and Queenie. Queenie's storyline in CoG confused many fans, not because the twist in her fate was not interesting, but because it was never correctly developed.

In the first film, we're told that the sisters raized each other and are incredibly close. They would not "stop talking" just because Tina disagrees with Queenie seeing Jacob, unless that conflict, for some reason, turned more serious in those months previous to the Paris incident. This is important not only to see Tina's point of view, but also to understand the events that led Queenie to be desperate enough to think Grindelwald was her only option. If we consider that Queenie feels the most important people in her life, and her government are not supporting her, then her making a radical choice could make sense. Explaining all of this was of huge importance to three of the main characters' storylines, and so, to the general plot. Big mistake.

Tina's storyline made no sense either. The first film introduced us to a female character that was strong, independent, and brave, but also insecure, lonely, awkward; someone who has had a difficult life, and had to do the best she could. A character with the potential to grow and change throughout the five movies. In CoG they turned that character into just a love interest, someone who had no story of her own, and no mission apart from turning the protagonist's head. Queenie's character arch, even if poorly developed, had the advantage of being "cool": The sweet and innocent sister who joined the bad guys. Standing with the "good ones" is not that interesting. True to life: Doing the right thing is for boring people only.

The HP references were everywhere. It looked wonderful in the trailers, but most of them didn't make a significant contribution to the story. Characters and elements "magically" appeared where the plot needed them, ignoring of it made sense or not.

There was no emotion. The bigger scenes didn't feel moving. I watched the ending on a big screen and not a single emotion went through my body. I left the cinema trying to figure out what the hell had happened to the franchise. Suddenly, instead of making the most of what had been built in the first installment, it was about bringing HP back. And that was not what I wanted to see.

I suspect the people making the film believed that if they gave us enough HP references and special effects we wouldn't realize there was no plot.

Over these past three years since CoG, I have re-watched it many times, and even though I don't consider it a good movie, I've found some things that made it worth watching (Mostly Newt, Tina, and Jacob scenes, but some of Grindelwald's as well)

When FB3 was first pushed back, in 2019, I knew it was probably the best thing to do. They promised us a bigger and better movie, and I imagined they were going to learn from their mistakes. For me, the solution was obvious: They had to go back to the things that made the first one great. They had to go back to the four main characters, to the magical creatures, and stop trying to fit so much HP into the plot.

After all the troubles the third film has gone through, I was happy to have all the little news we could get. But when they released the title...I felt uneasy. The Secrets of Dumbledore. More HP. The leaks going around bothered me, but the trailer was the thing that really upset me.

The worst thing is that the trailer was good. There are so many things in there that I wanted to see! Newt and Theseus behaving like brothers, Pickett being adorable, Jacob being Jacob. But there was a single point that monopolized my attention: Tina's absence.

Of course, I was disappointed because she is my favorite character, but it's not just about Tina, it’s about what she represents to the story.

We know Tina marries Newt at some point, but that's not the only role she plays. Tina was the person who risked everything to help Credence, the first one to notice him. Tina is Queenie's older sister, the one who raized her. Queenie and Credence are on Grindelwald's side, and the third movie may be the one when the conflicts surrounding both characters are solved. And Tina is not gonna be there? It makes no sense to the character, but most importantly, it makes no sense to the plot.

Tina is as important as any of the other three protagonists, but she has a particularity that makes her indispensable: She is the one that connects all the characters. In fbawtft she is the reason the four protagonists meet, and the reason they got involved in Credence's path. In CoG, even if I do not appreciate what they did to her character, she is again the point where many of the stories connect: She is in Paris looking for Credence, and that makes Queenie and Newt end up in the city as well, along with a very confused Jacob.

If we think about it, in CoG the only thing left standing from the first film was Newt and Tina's relationship. So, apart from messing the plot in an unspeakable way, taking Tina away would feel like severing the last tie this franchise has with fbawtft. From now on, it's about Dumbledore and Grindelwald. And honestly, I'm not interested in that. I want a fbawtft sequel, not a HP prequel.

I know it's the first trailer, and the only thing we are hearing are speculations, most with incorrect information. Sadly, some of these "speculations" are being fuelled by fan pages that have several followers; and that's how the rumors start to spread. Even the "leaks" seem to be from the same source, a screentest that happened months ago (And we're talking about a movie that is still very much in post-production, so the leak is not the movie we're gonna watch in April) We can't tell for sure, but I confess I'm worried.

In CoG, character development, or having a sensible plot were not the main concern, that's why I don't trust either JK, Yates, or WB when it comes to presenting a flawless story anymore. But what I do believe is that they wouldn't do something that could potentially harm the production's image. They cannot take another scandal: FB3 needs to do well if they want the franchise to subsist. If this goes wrong, not only will it be over, but they will lose a lot of money. This is why I find the situation with Tina is very suspicious. Let me explain.

I want to believe that the ones making the movie are not stupid, and can tell that reducing a leading character's role without an excellent explanation is a very bad move, one they cannot afford to make right now. I also suppose they know that not showing Tina in the trailer would make people talk. So I wonder: If they are reducing Tina's role so drastically, wouldn't it be smarter to make her appear two seconds in the trailer so we don't suspect it? Wouldn't it be silly to take her off the story if fans can get upset over it? (And the situation requires those fans to be pleased?) Wouldn't it be weird to put the spotlight on her like this if she is so irrelevant to the plot? Because this is what's happening right now: The spotlight is on Tina. And this goes further than the trailer: the little official material that has been released features every character except Tina. It looks like they are making an effort to conceal her.

Besides, I have the feeling that if there was some reason that escaped the production's control (something like covid restrictions or scheduling conflicts) and could easily explain Tina’s “disappearance”, they would let us know instead of allowing fans to imagine anything that makes WB look bad.

Since the trailer dropped, people have been relentlessly asking about Tina and making theories on her absence. She is receiving more attention than ever before. WB must have seen it coming, I just can’t believe they would make that kind of mistake. If this ends up being a strategy to increase the level of attention around the movie, I'm going to admit it's smart. I wouldn't like the alternative.

Maybe part of the problem is that we keep comparing the promotion for this film, with the one for CoG. But the situation in the world (And in the fandom) was very different back in 2018. If they're trying to keep everything under wraps so we can find out in the cinema, I don't think that's bad. Last time they gave away too much while promoting, and in the end, it wasn't beneficial.

So, even though I'm bracing myself for a huge disappointment, I'm still hoping for a surprise. I'm relying on WB common sense. Because common sense is very important to make films, but even more important for business.

I want the movie to be good, and for that, I need it to make sense. I've lowered my expectations in the past weeks, but I won't consider this a lost battle just yet. I hope the movie is not a disaster, that I can like it (at least a little), and that it saves the franchise. What makes me sad, is that I'm not as excited as I used to be. And I miss feeling excited. Promotion time used to be fun, and it's not anymore. Whether this Tina situation is resolved to the fans' satisfaction or not, I'm concerned about where the franchise seems to be going.

What I'm trying to say with this very long text, is that in their eagerness to catch the eye of every HP fan in existence, the ones making these movies are losing the respect of the FB fans; the ones that love these films, not as an intent to extend a successful franchise, but as a wonderful and different story all on its own.

I want Fantastic Beasts (And my excitement) back.