#like the fuck is up with recasting the main character

[sapajean]

the fact that we’re not even getting the better hemsworth brother for the role it’s kind of the last straw

[gotta-get-back-to-hatchetfield]

Here's what you missed on Hatchetfield...

Okay so Nerdy Prudes Must Die is happening in a month's time and I'm aware that lots of people who enjoyed guy who didn't like musicals and black friday might not have had time to watch nightmare time. While Nick has said this musical will be fully stand alone and no knowledge of nightmare time is required, nonetheless some of you might be curious about what we've learned that might come up

Presenting a tldr lore drop for nightmare time:

1) Wiggly has brothers (aka the Lords in Black)

You remember Wiggly from black friday? That ugly green little fucker? Well turns out he has brothers. They call themselves the Lords in black because they're pretentious little fucks and they all have different 'powers'.

Itemised list

Pokey (pokotho) - mind control type stuff, likes to make hiveminds

Wiggly (Wiggog Y'wrath) - idk you saw black friday whatever the fuck goes on there

Blinky (blinklotep) - massive eye, likes watching things

Tinky (T'noy karaxis) - fucks with time

Nibbly (nibblenephem) - massive mouth, eats shit

You've actually met Pokey before - remember the blue shit from guy who didn't like musicals? That's the same blue shit leaking out of the cracks in pokey's face in the picture above.

They also have a sister called Webby that I believe Hannah references in Black Friday. We don't know much about her but thus far she seems like a good guy

2) Grace Chasity is a nerdy prude

Remember the girl Bill is trying to set Alice up in guy who didn't like musicals because 'at least she's nice to him in church'?

Well turns out Alice was right. Grace Chasity is a nerdy prude. And also coincidentally one of the main characters of Nerdy Prudes Must Die (to be played by Angela Giarratana).

We meet her in nightmare time 2 (episode 2 part 2) which takes place at a religious camp designed to educate people about the perils of pre marital sex.

Grace Chasity is, well she's many things, but she is very much the stereotype of an American evangelical Christian. She even showers with a swimming costume on so as not to tempt herself into sin.

Despite all this, however, she is a devious motherfucker who will absolutely fuck you up

3) You remember Ted from guy who didn't like musicals...

Well not only are he and the homeless guy the same person (time travel, its a whole thing, blame the yellow guy from the Lords in black photo)

But also we learn that his surname is Spankoffski (because of course it is) and he has a 'nerdy little brother' called Pete Spankoffski who will be one of the leads in nerdy prudes. In nightmare time he's played by Nick Lang but in nerdy prudes he'll be played by Joey Richter

We meet Pete in nightmare time 2 (episode 2 part 2) but we've actually met him before in guy who didn't like musicals. You remember hot chocolate boy? The one who had very low blood sugar?

Yup you guessed it that is one Peter Spankoffski

(If you've been super out of the loop and are wondering why he was recast and for that matter where the heck is Robert anyway just trust that that is a whole thing im not going to get into and it's for the best he's gone)

4) Meet the Lauters

Two more characters who have been announced for NPMD who we met in nightmare time 2 are Stephanie Lauter (Mariah Rose Faith) and her father Solomon Lauter (Corey Dorris)

Steph is actually pretty nice and chill on the inside but definitely has a reputation for being a bit of a party animal/wild child.

This isn't helped by her father who is the mayor of hatchetfield and from what little we see of him will always put his career before his daughter.

Steph and Pete hook up in nightmare time so look out for a possible romance between these two

5) What the fuck is a Holloduke?

You may have seen the word 'holloduke' batted a lot around this fandom lately which refers to the ship of two characters that we've been introduced to through nightmare time.

While it's unclear if either of them will appear in nerdy prudes, given that both Kim and Curt are in the cast and they go a long way out of their way in nightmare time to show Kim's character getting a job at Hatchetfield High in set up for *something* a lot of people think there's a good chance she at least will be appearing.

The Hollo of these characters is called Miss Holloway although at the end of nightmare time she ends up ret conning herself and is forced to assume a new identity as Miss Holiday so if we meet her in nerdy prudes that will likely be her name. She is a witch who has a deep love for all things 80s. We don't know a huge amount about her but that might be because she's cursed(?) so that anything she reveals about her backstory will be instantly wiped from the mind of the listener.

Curts character is an ordinary social worker called Duke who among other things works with Hannah and Lex when they're having troubles with their mum. He's in love with Miss Holloway/Holiday, and it's reciprocated, but due to the curse(?) et al things keep not quite working out for them.

They're both absolutely wonderful people who deserve the world and are absolute OTP fodder

6) The Gift

We don't know a huge amount about this yet but we do know that some people in Hatchetfield, notably including Hannah from black friday have something called 'the gift' which gives them some loose powers

Most people grow out of the gift as they go through puberty, for instance Lex also used to have it, but they may be able to use it in some scenarios (such as manifesting a firearm from the black and white as Lex does in Black Friday)

People with the gift were historically persecuted in Hatchetfield by a group of people called 'the hatchet men' who may or may not have turned them into trees(?)

7) The Black Book

There is a book of spells called the black book which Miss Holloway/Holiday uses to do her magic

[just-prime]

8 : Oh so boring

The horrifying MCU-ification of the Star Wars universe is in horrific display as 8 episodes lead nowhere but setup.

Before I get to everything else, I do want to say, Ray Stevenson's passing is a true tragedy, and I appreciate the love and care he clearly put into his character. He was the only compelling one, and I shudder to think of how Disney will probably heartlessly recast.

Now, on to the episode

Well, all the leaks that said it was zombies were right, to the surprise of no one. This is the MCU now, we need something more than just a fuck ton of stormtroopers to blow through, we need an undead CGI army.

First off : The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord...FUCK OFF FILONI. YOU ARE NOT CUTE.

The show opens with the attempt to lull Legends fans back into a Sion reference for no reason. Also, Thrawn's super baggy pants seem unnecessary, especially since the design in Rebels always has him in perfectly tailored clothes. Nothing during his decade abroad that would have cause the pants to change that drastically, so it just feels like an unnecessary change that is not an attractive look :(

Morgan's power ups make no sense, and as soon as she got them she was going to die. Her eyes had me making a half dozen Supernatural jokes for obvious reasons. The whole "Blade of Talzin" thing is also very dumb given the fact that I assume Mother Talzin would have used every weapon in her arsenal to stop Grievous, and I would think a lightsaber proof sword is on that list.

The entire "Ezra makes himself a new lightsaber" scene filled me rage for a few reasons.

A) Ezra literally just turned down Sabine's offer of the lightsaber for the martial arts force powers which we never see him use again.

B) Huyang knowing about Caleb and Kanan being the same person feels kinda weird to me to be perfectly honest.

C) Ezra's new lightsaber is boring. Full stop. This is the kid who built a gun into his first one, it makes no sense that he'd make one that looks this mediocre.

D) All of Sabine's family dying horrible deaths on Mandalore has always struck me as a cop out. It's just lazy writing to isolate Sabine.

The Stakes

Spoiler alert : THERE ARE NONE

We knew this was going to end in a cliffhanger for a while now, which means none of the main cast was going to die. Morgan has always been a means to an end for Thrawn, not that her loyalty was ever explain...But none of our heroes were gonna bite it (regardless of how I hoped for Huyang to explode) so there were no stakes. Thrawn had to escape, despite the fact that he is weirdly shaken, so he does. Ezra had to get home, so he does. Sabine and Ahsoka are now trapped on some stupid Mortis world??? Okay, pause, I'm getting ahead of myself here...because before that...

Sabine has the Force now

My deepest condolences to anyone who is finding this out from me, but Sabine is offically confirmed and shown to be Force sensitive. Yes it is dumb. Yes it makes no sense. Yes this is something we all saw being foreshadowed from day one, unfortunately. Especially with the playing down of her Mandalorian-ness (she's constantly losing her helmet, her gun accuracy has utterly gone, she barely uses her gauntlets, etc etc) it was obvious that Filoni wanted to do with her, what he was too cowardly to do with Grogu.

Other miscellaneous shit

It turns out that Ahsoka's shuttle is Jedi era...which makes no fucking sense.

The nightsisters being totally on board with the Empire feels like their ability to tell what's going on in the main universe might be a bit sketchy do to the fact that they missed that the guy in charge of the Empire is the one who ordered Dathomir razzed.

100% of the problems that the gang run into would have been solved if Sabine had a fucking jetpack

They pull the "Thrawn knew Anakin" card out of nowhere in the dumbest possible way, which really just goes to show how much FIloni hates the new canon Thrawn books.

Chopper recognizes Ezra (which was rather cute) before Hera does, because he decides to show up on a New Republic cruiser in full Thrawn stormtrooper garb. Also we don't even get a hug between Hera and Ezra.

Shin (because she exists, remember?) who is also stranded now, goes and appears to be taking over the bandit camp we saw earlier. Have no idea where they are taking that...but honestly, good for Shin doing something for her, this seems like a selfcare move.

Now, the ending...Fucking Mortis

So, the final shot we get of Baylan, he is standing on a giant statue of The Father (there is a statue of The Son, and a destroyed statue of The Daughter) pointing out towards something on the horizon.

Back at the hermit crab people camp, Ahsoka and Sabine (and fucking Anakin's ghost, because that's right people, instead of hanging out with his son, Anakin has been just hovering over Ahsoka this whole time apparently) here this chirping, and it's a fucking creepy hyper realistic CGI Morai.

So yeah, that's clearly how all of the trapped characters are going to get off this planet...the World between Worlds. Now, this brings up a fuck ton more questions...Chief of all being how did Ezra not use this to escape years ago???

And I get that Mortis is not everybody's favorite Clone Wars arc. Which is fair. I don't hate it, but I never loved it, and Filoni dragging in the dumbest piece of Force lore that he created is infuriating. ESPECIALLY with this being so obviously aimed at those who've not watched Clone Wars or Rebels. I'm curious to see how much he immediately recons about it, given that it's been his go-to move since before even Mando s3...

I fear they're going to do something like "Bayan is The Father, Ahsoka is The Daughter, and Shin and Sabine have to fight over being The Son" or some stupid bullshit like that.

I'm glad this is the last Filoni property we're getting for a while, since I'm pretty sure he's not involved with Skeleton Crew at all writing-wise.

I am just so happy it's over!

In the meantime, if you are as annoyed at Filoni as I am, spite him by reading the new canon Thrawn books!!! They are really fantastic and give Thrawn a lot of facinating depth, along with having an incredible cast of side characters.

For those of you who are new or just finding me because of my Ahsoka rants, please stick around!!! I'm sure I will be having other annoyed Ahsoka thoughts in the weeks to come as I think back about the full series and about just everything that it's fucked up. Feel free to pop into my ask box if you're curious about my other Star Wars related opinions, I'm more than happy to answer, though know that for the majority of the recent shows, I do not look fondly.

But if you are looking for some vindication on not enjoying recent Star Wars things, then this is the blog for you!!!

[thepixelelf]

Hold Me; Heal Me

set in the Silk Touches and Mended Hearts universe

genres: soulmate au, vigilante au, angst, ambiguous ending pairing: reader x woozi words: 1.7k warnings: blood, description of injury on reader character (bullet wound), mentions of drug use and overdose (not by main characters) notes: this is a recast of a fic and universe I made almost two years ago now... I really like this universe and have some ideas for other characters/stories, so I would love to see if people are interested :] (also I had to make this jihoon I mean shit this is red too?? it just fit so perfectly)

part two: Find Me; Fear Me

In a world where a soulmate’s touch can heal any wound, you would think you’d have no worries. But after your soulmate told you he didn’t want to be exactly that, you set your heart aside. It shouldn’t matter anyways, you reasoned. What need does a vigilante have of soulmates?

You don’t know why you’re on Jihoon’s second-floor balcony. You don’t even know why you bothered remembering which one is his, considering you’ve never been in his apartment before.

It feels like an invasion of privacy, but fuck, you just can’t focus on that right now, not with the burning pain rippling from your shoulder. Impossibly, the bullet still feels like it’s blazing hot where it was sunken into your flesh -- even though you dug it out on the way -- and you flex your jaw in an attempt not to scream. Now is not the time to draw any unwanted attention.

Your left arm is starting to lose feeling, and your head swims from the blood loss. Just as you’re climbing over the balcony rail from the condemned fire escape, your elbow buckles. You fall to the floor with a yelp, pain shooting through your shoulder even though you did your best not to land on it. The black mask on the lower half of your face starts to slip.

You try your hardest not to cry.

The lights inside flick on, and you finally realize how bad of an idea this is.

You haven’t seen Jihoon since over six months ago, when he told you he didn’t want to be anyone’s soulmate.

He’d used the word “anyone”, but it could only apply to you.

Another bout of pain runs through you as you lay there on his balcony. You grit your teeth, and even though your ears are ringing like mad, you can hear footsteps from inside.

He rushes up to the sliding door, visible through the glass even though your vision is starting to cloud with dark grey blotches. His eyes widen, and he opens the door with haste.

“What--”

“Jihoon.”

He’s crouched over you now, but when you say his name, he stops staring at your bleeding shoulder and infamous red leather jacket and instead meets your eyes.

“How do you know my name?”

“I think it’s only fair.” You reach your right arm up, grabbing your mask and slipping it off your face. “Since you know my name.”

Jihoon gasps, though the sound is quiet compared to everything else. “You’re Red?” he whispers.

Your vigilante alias sounds all too real on his tongue.

“No.” Gritting your teeth, you take a second to squeeze your eyes shut and pry them open again with a gasping breath. You can’t collapse now; you’ve already gotten this far. “I just work at Target.”

He doesn’t so much as let out a puff of air through his nose at your attempted humour, instead bringing his hands up and hovering them over you like he has no idea what to do with them. You don’t blame him.

“Jihoon... I need you to help me.”

He frowns, brows furrowing as he stares intently at your shoulder. You know it looks bad.

“How?”

“Just--” You rip off the glove on your left hand and weakly hold it a few centimetres off the floor. “--hold my hand. Please.”

He wastes no time in waiting, and as soon as you feel his skin touch yours, the flow of the soulmate connection washes over you. The pain doesn’t go away, not exactly, but suddenly you can breathe normally, and your shoulder feels lighter, somehow.

They say a soulmate’s healing touch can’t be described -- that you can’t know what it feels like until you’ve felt it yourself. As much as people have tried in books and movies and poetry, you think what they say is right.

It’s indescribable.

You don’t know when you closed your eyes, but when you open them again, you see Jihoon still next to you, your hand in both of his, pressed against his forehead. Though his hands are blocking his face, the light sniffling you can hear gives him away.

“What are you crying for?”

Quickly, he wipes at his eyes with one hand while still holding on to you with the other. “I’m not crying.”

“Okay.” You give him a soft smile, still not strong enough to do much else to show your thanks. “Can you take me inside?”

Jihoon frowns again. “You’re not... Your shoulder, it hasn’t--”

“I know.”

“You’ve just barely stopped bleeding,” he continues. “You’re not fully healed yet.”

Groaning, you try to sit yourself up, and he looks at you like you’re crazy. You kind of are. 

“I know, Jihoon, but I think it’s best to do the rest inside. I don’t want people seeing me here and accusing you of helping Red.”

“But I am helping you.”

With a sigh, you squeeze his hand. “They don’t need to know that. Now help me up, please.”

Jihoon wants to settle you down on his couch, but you don’t let him since you know how awful it is getting blood out of fabric. You make him take you to the small kitchen area instead, leaning against the counter while he struggles to get you a glass of water with one hand. He doesn’t notice you struggling to hop up on the counter, and by the time he makes a stuttered protest, you’re already sitting on top, your head resting lightly on one of the kitchen cabinets.

The soulmate connection is making you a bit lightheaded -- or maybe that’s still the blood loss.

“Don’t do stuff like that while you’re still injured,” he says as he hands you the glass of water.

“Thanks.” You don’t address his nagging, preferring to chug down the water instead.

Jihoon watches you, concern written all over his face. His hand tightens ever so slightly around yours, and you try not to focus on the way his thumb rubs over the back of your hand.

“You look like you have questions.”

Before you’d flopped onto his balcony, you’d prepared yourself for an interrogation, but with the way he’s looking at you, this isn’t going to be one.

He speaks softly, like talking too loud will break you. “What... happened?”

“Drug bust.” You take another sip of water, and Jihoon seems to bristle at your casual air. “Normally I leave dealers alone, but...”

“But?”

You put the glass down, suddenly not wanting to meet Jihoon’s eyes.

There are only two people in your life who know about your alternate identity. Three now, you suppose. Your best friend has known since the beginning, though, and his doctor friend he roped into this mess -- who's conveniently out of town for the week -- politely asked you to keep any and all details regarding your vigilante work from him. Plausible deniability and all that.

So it's not often you talk about the world's injustices with someone who doesn't really... know you.

Your soulmate has no idea who you are.

“This guy,” you say. Errant thoughts are useless, so you simply continue. “He deals to kids -- targets them, specifically. And he laces his shit so they keep coming back for more until--”

Jihoon steps closer when your breath hitches.

“...A kid OD’ed yesterday. She’s in the hospital now, and she’s going to be okay, but...” You bring a hand up to your face, digging your finger into the corner of your eye. Oh, so now you’re going to cry, huh? “I couldn’t let this guy keep hurting kids like that. I had to take it into my own hands.”

“You got shot.”

A snort escapes you, and you gasp a bit in pain when your shoulder protests the sudden movement. Jihoon’s healing touch works quickly, but apparently not quick enough.

“I know I got shot,” you say with a smile. “It’s a part of the process.”

Jihoon doesn’t seem to like that. “You should have been more careful.”

“I was careful. Believe me, it could’ve gone a lot worse.” You try to laugh it off, but he isn’t amused. “Besides, the fact that I got shot and had to high-tail it out of there means that asshole is still on the streets. I need to find him again.”

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Jihoon just looks at you. It’s almost uncomfortable under his gaze, but you don’t break the eye contact, too scared of what will happen if you look away.

This is the longest you’ve ever spoken to him.

You only wish it was under better circumstances.

“Well.” You slide off the countertop, pulling your hand out of his grip. He’s too surprised by the sudden change in pace that he barely even reacts. “Thanks for your help, Jihoon. Seriously.”

“I-- you’re not--” he stumbles over his words again, but his intention is clear.

Already partway to the balcony door, you turn around to face him again.

“I’m fine,” you insist, rotating your shoulder to show him. Still, the movement makes you wince, and you can tell Jihoon sees through your bullshit.

“You’re not fine.”

“Even so.” You take hold of the mask still hanging around your neck and bring it back over your face. Hooking the straps behind your ears, you try to give him a look that says goodbye. “I have to get going.”

“Are you going after him again?” Jihoon asks, voice harder than before. “That drug dealer?”

You sigh, one hand on the balcony door. “Someone has to.”

“Don’t. You’ll get hurt again.”

Looking at him again, you narrow your eyes. His hands are wringing together, but the glint in his eye is sharp.

“And what, Jihoon? Let him keep peddling drugs to teenagers? Wait until another one overdoses? I don’t have a choice--”

“What if it’s worse next time? What if I can’t help you?” He steps closer.

You snap. “I don’t want your help.”

“Why not?”

He’s up close now, barely a foot between the two of you as you try not to lean your weight on the sliding door. You’re less healed than you thought, but you can’t let it show.

“No offense, Jihoon,” you say with a scoff, “but I don’t really feel like spending time with a soulmate who doesn’t want me.”

He blinks, mouth opening slightly, but no words come out. You take that moment to slide open the door behind you and slip out, hopping over the railing and bracing yourself over the edge.

You look back up at him where he hasn’t moved from the doorway. He’s still staring at you.

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” you say.

And with that, you disappear into the night.

part two: Find Me; Fear Me

[mightymizora]

oh hey! actually i was very curious - i never played bg3 in early access, and i heard wyll changed a lot? i have many thoughts about him, but also he ended up with... the least cutscenes and dialogue of any companion by far, despite theoretically having a huge connection to the main plot. it's hard to figure out whether there was an actual issue with the original writing, or if it was just racism that made people dislike the early version so strongly, RIP. what was he like in there?

- the gale thoughts anon <]:)

Hello anon. I was going to answer this with links etc but I have no idea when I’m going to be on desktop. So, with apologies that this is a bit scatty and off the hoof.

Starting with the obvious (or maybe the thing I need to make obvious!) that I’m not a Black fan, I don’t speak from that experience and you should seek out the writings of fans who really know what they’re talking about around fandom racism, which is a real fucking problem.

And! With the caveat that I cannot be totally objective about this because I LOVED early access Wyll in an EMOTIONAL way. I loved Lanre’s performance, I was bewitched body and soul by this silly man. I still think of him. I loved that boy! But!

I kind of think it’s a bit of both. Which I know will sound like a cop out.

I was disappointed in the fan reaction that Wyll was boring. It felt very off to me as his story was rich with potential. He was a charming, swashbuckling folk hero who wanted to be the hero SO BAD. A guy who wants to be a hero so much, but is also so bad at it! When you went to the fire, everybody was like oh fucking hell, not this idiot. Not Nepo-baby Wyll who flunked out of the Fist despite being a descendant of Eltan himself (I loved this moment, it was a real reveal of ohhh, he’s not what he thinks his is or says he is.) Who is humiliated by goblins as a young man and in a moment of weakness, signs a pact that changes his life? Who uses it to do good things, but is still a little immature, a little too passionate, and can still have that shade of a man who cares a little too much about heroics, instead of what it truly means to be good? It was JUICY! Not to even mention his malapropisms, his attempts to be seductive and being so silly. Man, he was so soft and fun but with this real core of anger that he didn’t know what to do with, a man of passions who made a mistake he didn’t know how to deal with.

So yeah. I do think that it was influenced by the fact he was a Black character and they didn’t bother to try to play with him.

However, I also see why they rewrote him. In the original drafts, Wyll’s relationship with Mizora was coded a bit more personally than what we got if that makes sense. It felt like they were almost in a toxic situationship. She was constantly communicating via his sending stone, and was very much a part of his day to day life. And that, with how things would pan out if it ends in the same kind of way would have been. Eesh. Not good, especially with her human design being a white woman. Also, and I’m not saying this is a good thing… but it’s what I personally saw, there was some overlap in themes with Gale. The romantic patron storyline, the hubris. And early access Gale was a bit more serious, and it was probably a bit of a waste of having comedy actor like Downie in the role (which is quite a bit of casting, he’s very well respected in audio work so it seems silly not to use all his talents.) so a lot of the silly puns and lightness sat naturally in a Gale rewrite, or development.

I just wish there had been more time. I think Theo’s performance is lovely and I love the Wyll we got. He absolutely smashed it and I was SO worried when I heard about the recast as a huge Lanre Malaolu fan. I love that he’s a romantic, I love that he’s so self sacrificing and strong and GOOD. The earliest days of early access, everybody was either evil or VERY morally dubious. It needed at least one good character, and Wyll was a great choice for that character. I just hope against hope that we do get some more act 3 upper city content for him. It feels like that is where he would really shine.

Also if you ever get a chance, as an aside, to see Lanre Malaolu dance? Run, don’t walk. He is an incredible choreographer, actor, director. One of the most thrilling people working in theatre today. I am a mega fan. I think he has some work on YouTube, so get acquainted as he is truly something special.

[hollow-keys]

Top 5 Second Doctor stories

Oh, hi! Uhhh

Somehow my brain completely skipped over second and thought I had to narrow down every story in Doctor Who to a top 5 😭. This is much easier. I could see myself shuffling the ordering around, but basically:

5. The Macra Terror

Authoritarian crabs... IN SPACE. Yeah, that's the pitch. No thoughts, just fun. Shame it's missing.

4. The Enemy of the World

It's silly, it's fun, I love it. The Doctor tries to take them to the beach and gets shot at because the main villain happens to look exactly like him. He convinced his friends he's not his evil doppelganger by miming playing the recorder. Salamander gets sent into the fucking void. Peak Doctor Who.

3. The Mind Robber

They just let themselves be silly. The TARDIS team lands in a world entirely made of fiction, shenanigans ensue. The fictional characters only speak using dialogue from their original work. We meet a fictional fictional character from Zoe's time. The Doctor has to reconstruct Jamie's face and fails miserably so they could recast him temporarily because Frazer Hines got chickenpox. They don't make TV like this anymore.

2. The Evil of the Daleks

It's about Jamie and the Doctor's undying trust in each other, it's about the human spirit being undefeatable, it's about ushering in 4 blessed seasons without a single Dalek episode. Truly a tragedy we're missing most of this serial.

1. The War Games

THE swan song for the second Doctor and includes the only episode of Doctor Who to ever make me cry. The entire thing is a Marxist critique of war made by a card carrying communist, the Time Lords have never been better in all their televised appearances since and the ending is heartbreaking but it's so good. It's the sort of thing that makes you want to create art about it.

But despite how much I love the idea of the story and a lot of the execution is also stellar, there's 4 things holding it back from being a solid 10/10:

It drags in places, which isn't surprising given it's 10 episodes long. This is my most minor criticism.

The racism and misogyny. Expected yet sigh inducing.

Treating all the soldiers like they're the same and allying up with British soldiers from the Boer war as easily as Union soldiers from the American civil war, despite one set fighting for colonialism and one fighting against slavery.

The ending wasn't given the gravitas it deserves. I assume they just weren't trying to be too heartbreaking about it, but Katarina's death in the Daleks' Master Plan was given its appropriate weight so I can't entirely put it on era of television.

It may be weird to include this much criticism on a post about best stories but it really is one of those "recommended with asterisks" stories to me. Makes me want to eat drywall (mostly positive) too much not to be on the list but that doesn't mean my criticisms go away.

Thanks for asking!

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

I don't like to call people out but this was such a buck wild, insane take that I had to share with the class. (blocking name out cause again I don't like to call people out)

The actual literal face of the Flash.... is not the face of the Flash? The main character in the Flash franchise is unrelated to the franchise??? Bro the mental gymnastics required for this.

It's pretty simple. Ezra is a wanted felon and participated in child trafficking, grooming and kidnapping. Not to mention assault and all the other fucked up stuff.

You scrap it or you recast it. You don't continue on like nothing has happened.

[quohotos]

did u maybe also read guardians of ga'hoole? could i bother u for some of those owls?

YES! I did read all of them when I was like 11 or 12. Our school library had the full series. I don't remember if I liked owls before I discovered Ga'Hoole, or if I liked owls because of Ga'Hoole but either way it became like my THING for a couple years.

My favorite thing about them was that in the inner cover was all of the main characters illustrated with their names attached, and then in the back cover was four more characters illustrated who you hadn't met yet. I just thought that was so cool, and every time a new character was introduced I would flip back to the end cover and see if it was one of the ones shown off. I'm totally going to steal that technique if I ever get published.

I actually made a clay plant pot that had little (also clay) renditions of these guys pasted onto the side but I can't find it at the moment. If I ever do I'll post a picture of it.

oh, rant time:

I read ALL of the books, and then got two books into the wolf spinoff before I realized I just... didn't super enjoy Lasky's writing. I put up with it because owl but there were a lot of things that really baffled me as I reading. What the fuck was going on with gizzards? And magnets? Why were there always songs? Why did we get two expansion pack maps (wait, no that was cool I'm not complaining about that one)? Why was Soren's brother owl Hitler? I mean that literally, they say like "Hiel Kludd" and goose step and do a little owl salute. Why do all of the books I read as a child have animal Hitler in them??? Are the humans (sorry, others) all dead? Did the owls kill them? Trader Mags tears out the eyes of portraits and trades them, and laments the fact that she's never found violet eyes (is that a fucking Underland Chronicles Reference??? (I don't think it is now but I sure as heck thought so then). Why did it suddenly become first person but for like only one book? Why is Soren related to both Owl Hitler and Owl Jesus? Does Mist actually have magic powers or is she just like that? Why did Soren let his kids drink alcohol? Soren just starts a family off screen like welcome back he's a dad now? Am I allowed to make fun of the fantasy names that are impossible to spell and pronounce or are they actually Native names and I'm gonna appear super racist? God those were violent, like a lot of people died? What's all this shit about owls not pooping, they totally do poop in addition to dropping pelots? This book mislead me and I totally embarassed myself infront of the entire highschool biology class aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I remember walking downtown and going past a local mini movie theater. There were posters up for the Ga'Hoole movie and I was like HOLY FUCKING SHIT LETS GO LETS GO YES YES YES.

And then I saw it and it was just alright. I mean I'm not gonna say it was bad or anything, I don't think Zach Snyder ruined my life or whatnot but it was just okay. I feel like British Soren was anoying but they at least got Twilight correct. Mad they recast the spotted owl because they're native to where I grew up and we love the representation. They rolled the first like four books into one and changed the lore to kind of merge the moon blinking (which just dissipated from the story after book 2?????) with the animal magnetism that brainwashes his sister (fucking magnets again, magnets in the gizzards, how do they work?). Why did they put owl city on the soundtrack? I mean it was obligatory, they had to, but also why?

I did read all of them religiously, and I do have a great appreciation for owls as a result... but I'm just not as attached to them as I am the Underland Chronicles. I feel like they were good books for me as a kid, but I have very little desire to go back and re-read them.

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I impulsively binge watched Solar Opposites.

I like their way of handling Korvo's recasting. His new voice actor also fits his character better.

They really ended up embracing Korvo and Terry's relationship. The show went from "they're roommates and kinda life partners wink wink nudge nudge" to "they flirt a lot but their relationship is pretty ambiguous" to "oh yeah they are so fucking domestic and they also have a lot of sex like all the time". I can appreciate that.

I'm more invested in The Wall (Yumyulack's wall of shrunken people who survive off the candy put into their enclosures and are forming their own society with dictators and cults) than in any of the main characters 😔

If they make one more fucking diabetes joke 🔫

[cyncerity]

ok this isn’t really a post about the situation but it is a minor update to how i’ll be handling a few of my aus:

the whole rant is under the cut but tldr: the aus i talk about here are Store Shifter, Dad’s Troubles, Flubber, and Epic. Store Shifter and Dad’s Troubles are getting left alone, Flubber is getting a minor recast, and Epic is getting more majorly reworked (mostly character wise, kinda plot wise). As of right now, Wil/crimeboy centric fics are on pause. Not cancelled, but i’ll see later down the road if they need changed or if i can learn to separate the character from the creator. I will be updating the Epic au soon with said reworkings cause i really really really wanna finish that story. I have yet to start and actually finish a chaptered fic and I want this to be my first.

most recently i’ve been posting a few updates on mainly the Store Shifter and Flubber au, while i’ve been kinda working on the Dad’s Troubles and Epic AU in the background.

For the most part, these aus will remain unchanged because you know who either isn’t in them or isn’t a main character. For the Store Shifter, i’m not changing it for now because he isn’t and was never planned to be an important character. I’m just gonna ignore him in that au. Dad’s Troubles he just straight up isn’t in, so that one is unchanged.

Flubber au is a little different: i’m just recasting. He doesn’t have a huge part, but it is a lore important one, so from now on in that story the main antagonist will be Dream (1: he’s easy to stick in the “Tommy’s antagonistic boss” role and 2: i need at least one au where Dream is an antagonist lol). So yeah i’ll make a more official post for that au later.

The main reason for this post tho is the Epic AU, which is one of my personal favorites and i have so much that I want to talk about it for and even a whole bunch of new characters and concepts and world building that I want to post about. However, this au faces a problem for me at this moment: it’s crimeboy centric.

As of right now, I do not feel comfortable updating any of my Wil/crimeboy centric aus/fics. This is not to say I’m discontinuing them, i’m personally very attached to my own fics and a lot of them were written to either help me feel better or to help other people feel better, so I don’t feel right just throwing them away. Also, i will never be deleting my fics or shutting down this account, so I don’t want people to worry there, either. However, I don’t know how comfortable I am with writing for c!Wil rn, especially since this situation is still so fresh and plenty of people haven’t shared their experiences/responses (not to say that I expect anyone to; i don’t expect everything to be handled publicly over twitter). I think in time i’ll be able to separate the character from the actor; unfortunately i’ve been through this before. i’ve seperated characters who were far more like their creator from said creator who had done far worse things (if anyone on this blog has watched TribeTwelve, you know exactly what I’m talking about).

However, even if I eventually decide that I can write c!Wil while separating him from his creator, i don’t know if i’ll ever feel fully comfortable incorporating him in stories with a bigger cast of characters given the cc responses to his actions. Any stories where I have him interacting with people like Ranboo, Tubbo, or especially Niki will likely need to be changed because i don’t feel comfortable portraying them like friends anymore.

I’ve kind of done this before, honestly, i just never posted about it last time: when beeduo first stopped talking publicly, i stopped writing for beeduo. To this day, i have a fuck ton of beeduo requests in my inbox that i never got to and may not ever write because i didn’t feel comfortable writing their characters being close when in real life they may have had a falling out or now hated each other (so, so sorry to the people that sent those btw). Over time, most people started to realize that it was because of the crazy amount of shipping. It was bad during the dsmp and only got worse when Ranboo came out and all the speculation over Tubbo’s sexuality hit its peak when he’d made it very clear that crossed his boundaries. After realizing their silence was likely just them trying to shut up a more toxic part of both of their fanbases, i became a bit more comfortable writing them as friends again. I still haven’t made any beeduo centric fics or stories since then cause i don’t know the full story of what happened between them, this is all just speculation, but i at least have them be friends as supporting characters in aus i’ve already made.

All this to say that the way i handle the rest of my aus really depends on how things play out more with the situation. Again, it’s still new and i’m still gathering my thoughts. I can think about it more clearly now that i’ve gotten over the shock, which is why i’m posting this, but not every decision will be finalized immediately.

However, back to the Epic AU, it will be getting a rework in a lot of ways. I’m changing up the cast, and i’ve decided to cut Wil entirely because 1: i’m impatient and this is an au that i really wanna start up again and keep working on right now and 2: in the au i have him being friends with Ranboo and Dream and Tubbo and again that’s just not something i feel super comfortable with rn. So, i’m recasting and minorly changing the plot so i can update that one soon cause honestly i just miss it. I’ve still got so many asks and art requests (Becky sent me an art request like almost a year ago now and istg i’m gonna fucking draw it if it kills me) and there was a whole nother species i teased a bunch and then just…never told you about.

So yeah expect an update on the Epic AU soon and thank you for reading this entire fucking essay. As a little bonus for taking your time to read this, i’ll give you a hint for the next au im working on: karlnapity and vampires >:)

Eat, drink water, and get a good nights rest, take care of yourself <3

[deliciouskeys]

Writer Tag

Thank you for tagging me, @kosmochlor and @saintmathieublanc<3

How many works do you have on AO3?

47 apparently.

What's your total AO3 word count?

469,180

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1) Attack on Titan rated T fic, macro micro (it was part of the canon there lol), blind character element

2) Zinc Molybdate (rising star but very far behind #1)

3) Another Attack on Titan fic rated T. Anime fans are all under 18 I guess.

4) Negan/Rick mpreg lol. I abandoned it when TWD season 8 deeply disappointed me and hopefully that doesn't happen again with the current fandom D: (I don't think it will unless they do something truly idiotic like kill off Ryan in an inexplicable way)

5) The Selfish Gene

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes I do. It's the least I can do when someone takes the time to write something. Plus many of the comments are so thoughtful and sometimes helpful to the writing process. And I just enjoy responding.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Um. Probably an "original fic" set in the holocaust, unfortunately. I've written fics long ago where main characters die, but those are not angsty somehow, just dark/shock value.

What’s the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I think it might be Zinc Molybdate lol. First of all it has an ending. And I'd say it's very optimistic about the human spirit and possibilities for change.

Do you write crossovers?

The only true crossover I ever wrote was Alex from a Clockwork Orange x Norman Bates. But I never crossposted it to AO3 from LJ. Can't imagine why XD I'm more of an AU where you recast the characters into a different world girl.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes, writing bible fic is controversial apparently. Writing holocaust fic is controversial apparently. Mpreg is controversial apparently, although I have never received hate for mpreg on ao3, only on tumblr.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do..... I wouldn't say it's my forte, despite having it in almost every fic and fic chapter lol. I'd say there's always some element of something being 'off'. Normal people having bad sex, or a fucked up pairing having unsettlingly wholesome sex.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. In small enough fandoms some ideas become sort of communal, but that's usually just fun 'sharing'.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES! And it's in a language that I'm pretty fluent in (but maybe not fic-writing fluent) so it was a surreal, amazing experience. I've translated several fics from Russian and one from French which was a stretch for me.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Only in terms of translating others' fics. I've always wondered if I'd be able to do it with the right person.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Butchlander. Which probably means my favorite ship is whatever I'm currently hyperfixating on, but I've been on this kick for like 20 months now, so I don't take these things lightly :)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

My very first fic, which I started writing at 18 and abandoned at 19 or 20. I couldn't do it, I couldn't give them a happy ending because the pairing was just too messed up, I couldn't give them a sad ending because that's just not within the realm of what I'm willing to do.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I am all about the Emotional Journey, and thus by extension, characterization. I like writing dialogue, so hopefully that's a strength, otherwise the readers get to suffer lol.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I have to remind myself to write even the most basic setting/scenery details. Most of the time I don't think it's very important. I'm probably not a very visual person (although that doesn't mean I don't love art and fanart!). I can write multiple characters outside of the pairing, and those scenes are fun, but I tend to prefer hyperfocusing on just the 2 mains, which is probably a limitation.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oh god, I did it in a fic, and ... I shall leave it as I wrote it in my 20s, but... it was ill-advised. I'd say don't do it unless it's a language you know, and even then... why.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Uh. Peter Pan. And I don't mean during the Once Upon a Time craze that happened much later.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Within the Boys, I'll also say Starlander. I like it, and honestly the canon leaves much to be desired, so it's fertile ground. Fandomwise, I read quite a bit of Batjokes and Symbrock, but never wrote anything for them.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

I'll go with Zinc Molybdate. It's got that new relationship fandom energy that is impossible to just bottle up and deploy when wanted. But I like them all.

Zero pressure tags (and sorry if you've been tagged elsewhere) @phoenixtakaramono @eutz @merry-andrews and anyone who sees this and has ao3!

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Um, so about the new casting announcements....Like, I love the fact that antis screaming over a wannabe serial killer fag hag news reporter who died in the 1990s exclaiming "I DON'T TOUCH THE GAYS!" and then proceeding to repeatedly poke the bisexual main character in the breasts as she looks on in confusion and discomfort at this woman for being extra cunty and sensual with her despite saying these things alone, not to mention Katie's immense disdain for her straight male coworker who is probs her comphet fuck... Apparently was NOT enough of an actual hint for the audience to immediately clock Katie Killjoy's character as having at least a 99% chance of turning out to be a Closet Case Lesbo from the moment we saw her as if that's not gonna be her running gag in the series as if she gonna have her Dead Gay Son Moment because she's just so garsh darn homophobic! ... And so they had to recast her voice actor to be a gay man who frequently dresses in drag to play a very similar character to Katie in order to amp up what should've been Katie Killjoys Already Obvious Queer Coding/Camp Factor to 100% while they're at it so that tenderqueers trying to reinvent the haze code for themselves would maybe FINALLY GET THE FUCKING POINT?!

[kazumahashimoto]

all my ff7 rebirth thoughts i can remember upon a first watch, split into good and bad

THE GOOD:

-AERITH'S DAMN SONG IS REALLY GOOD IT'S BEEN STUCK IN MY HEAD. I CRIED.

-both gold saucer dates with aerith were really good. cloud instantly following aerith's bit with the announcer voice shocked me so bad i started crying just a little it was so fucking cute 😭 and i think they did the conversation about zack really well!!!! i like it. i really liked how they traded off helping each other get on/off. very sweets.

-there was a scene like somewhat early on i think with aerith cloud and nanaki where aerith tries to get him to let her touch his paws cos she thinks they'll be soft and he says no. aerith tries to get cloud on her side and he says “i mean, i am curious” I LOVE how he follows her bits. IT'S SO CUTE. HE'S SO SILLY AROUND HER.

-in nanaki's date the paws thing gets referenced with cloud shaking his paw and saying “woah, they are soft” i love a callback. cloud silly moments

-barret saying in-kweh-dible

-CAIT SITH IS SO CUTE. I'M SO JEALOUS OF HIM. HE'S SO CUTE. it is unfortunately tainted by the fact they chose to mispronounced his name however.

-yuffie pretending to hit barret and barret pretending to be hit 😭<3

-BARRET’S STORY WAS DONE PERFECT. i was crying so bad. the visuals, the voice acting, the writing, it was all there. i'm so so glad they stuck the landing with this one.

-VOICE ACTING MOSTLY GOOD. nothing was so terrible i was actively pulling my hair out while it happened like with reunion, so i'm pleased. cody christian has definitely improved since last time too he's kinda lost that awkward disjointed manner of speaking sentences, which i'll always have a fondness for but he really did an incredible job here. i really like the main remake cast's new voices!!! i know the recast wasn't received well by everybody but i really think they're all doing great. the only people i really struggle with are zack, and recently reno? he sounds off. he was lacking whimsy. though we don't see him too much here anyway so shrug. ALSO I REALLY LIKED ELENA'S VOICE. i'm not sure familiar with elena as a character so i can't speak much on how she was being characterized here, but i LOVED what the actress was doing. i love all her inflections. she was always very petulant and cocky and she felt perhaps younger than she actually is? but i think that's what they were going for with her being new. anyway she was a standout for me in terms of new voices for this game.

-aerith says “for real? awesome!” at one point and while i HATE that they changed that line in reunion, the fact that aerith is mimicking zack drives me insane. she says for real at least one more time after this too i love it. i can't remember every instance of her mimicking zack but just assume i got a kick out of all of them

-cloud aerith date after falling into the pit, “you don't look like you're on a date… more like, ‘at a funeral’.” what if i died? what if i blew up right here?

-”cloud…[...]aerith… how the hell am i supposed to choose?” zack so close to realizing he can have them both

-zack cloud and aerith all being alive in the same room together for the first time and two of them are unconscious made me laugh. i stay losing i love it (genuinely it's funny i think it's good that they died ect)

-OH ZACK THROWING A FUCKING LAMP POST OR WHATEVER INTO A HELICOPTER WITHIN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF THE VIDEO GAME HAD ME SCREAMING THAT SHIT WAS SO FUNNY. LIKE GODDAMN. ALRIGHT. WORK.

-”alright. follow my lead.” “look at you takin charge! i like it!” my essay in why zack is submissive,

-AERITH HUGGING CAIT. WWEWEWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-”QUESTION. am i a dumbass?” “i'm cetra! am i intolerant?” i love you girl.

-cloud junior reminds me of the quaxly i named cloud jr. who was birthed by my friend's quaquaval cloud strife

-blanket statement i love all of cloud and aerith's interactions really i do. even if the plot was annoying me i must admit to enjoying all their cute smiles at each other. real cute. THEY MAKE GREAT GIFSETS !

-WE ARE IN THE FUCKING CLEAR. ANGEAL STAYED DEAD. PHEW.

-zack was looking at a notice board in the slums and there was a banora white poster directly next to his head

-the end scene was real fucking cute. i love a call back. ending on cloud's dumb smiley face and “you promise?” “promise.” AWAYUGH. i like them. they're sweets.

THE BAD:

-zack. oh girl. like, admittedly i was already coming to this from the perspective of “zack lives doesn't need to be canon”, but even STILL. god THEY FUCKED IT. now let me defend my initial stance here too. zack has no narrative purpose being alive in the canon story of ff7. the story of ff7 is already a complete one full of characters that each play their own role in how things turn out in the end. zack has his role. he's there to be cloud’s SOLDIER friend he looked up to, one that saved his life and brought him where he is now. his character gets expanded in crisis core, but ultimately he's still there to die. his role is to be dead. and, looking to crisis core, he gets a full story as well. it's not to say he has no room left to grow, theoretically, but WHAT would his purpose be in the canon story of ff7 if he still lived? here the thing. fanfiction does not need to be canon. fanfic and aus and headcanons are great, they're a wonderful tool to flesh out characters more, get in their heads, it's a chance to explore “what if”s. but they don't need to be canon. just because you like a character and want to see them more does not mean they'd serve an actual narrative purpose in the canon material. there's nothing zack could really offer here, in my opinion, and clearly the writers agree because they didn't give him shit to do.

everytime we skip back over to zack, he isn't doing anything. he's looking over cloud, looking over aerith, he's talking to marlene, to biggs, to elmyra, about NOTHING. “hopes, dreams maybe? something like that.” marlene gives him Weird predictions of the future, which changes nothing. he gives biggs a pep talk, which does nothing. honestly it feels like they were just trying to buy time until they could try and prod some jealousy out of him over cloud and aerith and then the final team up with cloud against sephiroth. and they couldn't even keep him IN CHARACTER the entire time.

i have my small gripes. zack so nonchalantly messing up an angeal speech (which he should have absolutely drilled in his head at this point. hah, one of THOSE, huh.) irks me. i still don't think caleb's voice really suits him, though it was much better this time around. i think zack not realizing that there's literally no way biggs could have possibly met cloud is stupid. but the worst, the most egregious bit of mischaracterization i have ever seen, is marlene telling zack he needs to make cloud better so he can protect aerith, and zack deciding to go to hojo. are you… fucking. kidding me? zack's internal clock is messed up. sure, okay, that doesn't stop him from remembering aerith's letter where she tells him he's been gone for FOUR YEARS. GETTING EXPERIMENTED ON IN A BASEMENT. WITH CLOUD. BY HOJO. and then he just, shows up! he shows up, and he says, “pretty sure i only asked to meet hojo, not a whole platoon.” he says, “whatever. the world's about to end anyway.” do they think he's fucking stupid? do they think he's dumb? do they think zack is so, what, cocky? so sure of himself? that he can’t possibly find all the very obvious flashing warning signs that that idea makes no fucking sense? you expect me to believe zack would just go back? that he'd even consider it? that he'd put his life, CLOUD'S LIFE, AERITH'S LIFE, at risk like that? like i'm speechless. what are they DOING to him? what did this even MEAN for his character? so he finds out aerith has a thing for cloud. he stands next to cloud for a minute. he leaves. what did this add? what did this even set up? nothing. zack being alive had zero impact on the story, so why keep him around to begin with?

-on the topic of biggs, biggs! he also had no fucking purpose! and he won't shut up about it either! survivor's guilt, oh sure, but when he starts waxing poetic about how he doesn't know why he was saved, all i can think is well of course they picked you, the other choices were a woman and a fat guy. no fucking wonder they went with you. AND THEN HE DIES WITHOUT HAVING DONE ANYTHING. he literally added NOTHING to the story. him and zack are just there for hungry fans to point and go LOOK, LOOK! MY FAVORITE IS HERE AGAIN! WE’RE EATING GOOD CRUMBS TONIGHT!

-cissnei. when i tell you cissnei was the literal only new potential plotline i was looking forward to going into this, i mean that fully. and you know what? i got baited. i, too, got baited with look, look, my favorite is here again. i thought of so many different ways cissnei could impact the story, based on the short clip we got from the last trailer, with her saying “it's you!” i thought, cissnei is the only person left who knew zack and cloud simultaneously while they were both alive, besides tifa who's keeping quiet and sephiroth who's fucking with cloud on purpose. this could be so interesting. she recognized him! i'm enthralled. i get to gongaga, cissnei shows up near immediately, and she says, “wait, it's you! oh, i thought you were someone else.” and they move on. it's never brought up again. like. really? really? “i thought you were someone else.” who in the WORLD else could he possibly be. cissnei sees this scrawny, short little “ex soldier first class” running around with the dumbest, FAMOUSLY, CANONICALLY, FREQUENTLY BROUGHT UP IN THIS VERY GAME, ICONIC hair style, and she says “i thought you were someone else.” I DON'T BUY IT. CISSNEI ISN'T STUPID. like it wouldn't have even needed to change the story line. any acknowledgment that she KNOWS him would have been better than THIS. a simple “it’s you! you're still alive!” “what do you mean?” “oh, uh, i saw you on the news!” BOOM there you go, now WE know she knows him, and everyone else just thinks she recognizes him from being wanted by shinra. excellent. but, no! no in fact cissnei serves no narrative purpose beyond “oh, she fulfilled zack's wish from crisis core” and “oh, i know her!” 

-the whispers were the worst fucking thing to happen to this fucking franchise. like not only are we getting the dumb “fate” bullshit (that's just there to poke fun at all the fans that wanted remake to be the original story with updated graphics), but we're also getting lost memories! in fact, we're using the whispers as explanations for things that did not need answering from the original game now too! aerith tells tifa about her missing memories, and tifa says she thinks that must be happening to her too. and i suppose i don't doubt that, given the whispers exist in this iteration of the story, tifa would THINK that that's what's happening to her, but what bothers me is that there's an ANSWER. if you're a new fan and don't know how this goes originally, you're going to be thinking “oh, it's the whispers” too. but there was no REASON for there to BE an answer. tifa thinks she's crazy. tifa thinks SHE'S the one in the wrong here, it can't possibly be cloud, but she's SO SURE she doesn't remember him there. there's so much turmoil there, especially as more and more signs point to tifa being right. but here, the answer is whispers. alright, guess tifa's memory is just fucked cos of the whispers. nothing to do about it!

i believe, due to the fact that whispers fucking with memories is something they kept bringing up, that everytime you think “the characters should already know this at this point” the answer is whispers! isn't that fun? isn't it Fun that we're getting plot convenient memory loss on EVERYBODY? honestly by the time they added a third fucking type of whisper i was fully convinced their literal only purpose is to drive the plot in whatever direction the writers feel like at any given moment. we need this character to do x, but how? well the answer is whispers. if EVERYONE is a puppet, what makes cloud so special huh? they're all at the whispers whims. don't seem to be defying much fate right now!

-on the topic of memory loss, yeah the only reason cloud remembers zack this early is so we could get that team up at the end. it's cheap. like, in theory the way they did it makes enough sense, he sees the room at the inn and remembers that he was with someone in there. (the conversation he remembers is also grossly out of character for zack at that point and seriously misleads you on what was such a somber conversation initially but uhhhh let's call it cloud's imagination huh.) alright, he sees the river flowing down the mountain and remembers he watched someone drown, must be zack! makes sense. and then, tifa agrees? yes, he drowned. oh, we should tell aerith. we should, but let me, and let’s keep it a secret. cloud just remembered he had a best friend, he says they were so close, how could he forget, he just remembered that he watched him die. and tifa tells him to keep it a secret? like i understand WHY but isn’t that a bit rude? i don’t know that she'd actually go about it like that. regardless it's getting REAL tiring how they keep adding in scenes early. they did it with the forest scene with aerith in remake and they're doing it here too. IT'S RUINING THE NARRATIVE FLOW!!!!!!

-um. no rocket town? we get cid with no rocket town? like picking up yuffie and vinny different from the original doesn't Super bother me, i think they did it well enough that it's not really worth noting for me, but this is quite the direction for cid. they've sucked all the misogyny right out of him and took out the area where he acts the absolute worst. i've never liked cid! but this just feels like. damn they didn't even wanna TRY getting into cid keeping this woman in his house doing all his chores cos she feels indebted to him. feels a bit selective to me, they had no problem making women squeal at the thought of hojo getting them pregnant, using women as bubbly set dressing, having cloud put a dress on and pretend to be a woman to trick a man into sleeping with him. oh but, cid is just a hair too far. we still need him for the travel though, so, welcome aboard! maybe the whispers made him forget.

-OH MY GOD THEY DIDN'T HAVE CLOUD SAY “did sephiroth… do this?” LIKE!!!!!!!! dude that's like if they decided zack didn't need to say “me? gongaga” to cloud when he asks where he's from. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

-why did they decide shinra flew tifa out to corel? shinra, who wanted no survivors after the fire. shinra, who sent a full platoon after zack to kill him after he escaped. oh, but, in this one the residents in nibelheim all know that it burnt down? nibelheim, the town that's meant to be full of actors. the residents that are supposed to tell you “what an awful thing to say” when you explain the town burned down five years ago. oh but now it's a town dedicated to helping those with mako poisoning. right.

-i know damn well a furry did not design that galian beast WHERE IS HIS FUR. WHY ARE YOU WHITE. WHY IS HE NOT OURPLE. he looks too much like vinny, which might seem like a silly complaint but given how much he usually Doesn't look like him it kind of feels like they're treating us like we're dumb, like we couldn't possibly understand that that's vinny unless it really looks like him. not a fan.

-sephiroth didn’t even chuck the materia at cloud and then do a flip and fly away. girl you're missing all your most iconic scenes. at this point cloud's not gonna say let's mosey.

-what was the point of roche if they were just gonna essentially kill him off? i hate to sound like a broken record but girl what's the point of having all these characters when they add NOTHING. AND THEN THEY DIE.

-alright i wasn't playing the video game so maybe this was actually INCREDIBLY COMPELLING GAMEPLAY but why were half the puzzles in every area “move a big box very slowly to a location” like. damn no wonder they put that thing in the demo you're gonna be doing it in every area for the next 20 hours

-good christ the ending was so convoluted and confusing. i already don't really care for timeline convergences as a plot point, so of course this really isn’t for me, but even still it was so frustrating and hard to follow. and i think they wanted it to be that way, but that doesn't make it interesting? that doesn't make it thought provoking or compelling, it makes it frustrating and hard to follow. AND MEANINGLESS. AERITH STILL DIED. like they keep going on and on about defying fate, doing whatever, they're taking charge of destiny and whatever. oh, here comes zack to help us fight. and he’s gone. oh, here comes aerith to help us fight, and we're mourning. not cloud though! i really don't get it.

-aerith DIES!!!!!!!! THIS IS A GOOD THING I WAS WORRIED THEY'D PUSSY OUT. and well they kinda did! we don't get the iconic scene of cloud putting her in the water? like her materia falls into the water OK but that's it. it's just cloud holding her and he tells her to wake up and she does and they smile. i tell ya what, it makes a real pretty gifset! and that's it!

-really and truly what bothers me the most about this all is that to so many people, THIS is what the story of ff7 is. to many new fans, this is the only version that matters. they don't care to go back and see what originally happened because the game is old and looks “bad”. no one's getting mad at dissidia for not following exact canon and keeping everyone alive. it's not a matter of everything needing to be 100% accurate all the time. it's the fact that this IS the story of final fantasy 7 in current times. this is what people are currently viewing as default. but it's fucking up the storyline, plot progression, narrative flow, characterization, character importance. and for what? a story that's nearly impossible for someone to fully understand without having prior knowledge of the original, and adds a plot device that mocks fans that just wanted the original's story with updated graphics? that's what bothers me most.

[hellstromknight]

This started off with me just joking and fucking around with some buddies, my girlfriend and I, and uh... Kinda took a life of it’s own.

Recasting Marvel Actors as DC Characters!

Chris Evans - Aquaman.

Robert Downey Jr. - The Riddler. Everyone says something big and grandiose like Batman or Lex Luthor, and while he’d be decent as Lex... I just think he’d have a ball as The Riddle.

Chris Pratt - Guy Gardner/Green Lantern. Mostly because he’s pretty much the only ginger in the MCU. At least, that’s passable.

Richard Armitage - Hawkman. He’s actually my main choice for Carter tbh. Though, Aldis Hodge did a fucking amazing job, one of the best things about that movie...

Hugh Jackman - Wolverine.

Tom Holland - Jericho. Okay... Don’t lie, it’d be perfect to watch them be dad and son like that.

Ethan Hawke - Black Hand.

Tony Dalton - Joker. 

Anson Mount.

Teyonah Parris - Vixen.

There a were a lot that I came up with for the Marvel characters, nearly doing all, but I’m not gonna go through all of them.

DC’s version coming up soon!

[littlefanthings]

Let’s be honest Pedro was not in the suit probably at all this season because he chose a different role, which yeah sure good for him. But season two, when he spent more time in the suit it felt different. The vocals matched the performance so much better

I’m starting to understand why Branden keeps referring to himself at the Mandalorian seeing as he does most of the work

I agree that that when Pedro is actually in the suit the voice and movements are more cohesive, though to be fair I think a lot of Mando’s lines (if not all) wind up having to be ADRed anyway since that helmet can’t be helpful in terms of getting quality sound recordings. I don’t know 100% on that, I’m too lazy to try and look it up, frankly. But yes, the performance is better when the person speaking is the one also making the decisions on physicality. It all connects. However, for the most part, even if it would be better to have one guy doing the whole thing - they still do a great job working together to make the different performances mesh together into one believable character. That’s a lot harder to do than it looks.

Pedro also may have spent some time in the suit during breaks from TLoU’s year-long filming schedule, but yeah, he’s likely not physically playing Mando much in S3.

But look, I’m not going to begrudge an actor work, especially an actor who got their big break later in the game than most. Hollywood is ageist as fuck and there’s a ticking clock on being able to do certain types of roles.

The options here would have been:

• Pedro doesn’t do The Last of Us and is physically involved as Mando more often, which is great for Mando fans but sad for Pedro and TLoU because he’s doing an incredible, possibly Emmy-worthy job as Joel and it sounds like it was an amazing and unique experience.

• Pedro leaves Mando entirely to do TLoU, very sad for Mando fans because we love Pedro and it would leave the entire show in jeopardy - they’d have to recast and/or drastically change the whole framework of the show. Not easy or preferable for anyone.

• Pedro is physically there for both Mando and TLoU, but that would mean we probably wouldn’t get more Mando for at least another year since TLoU took an entire year to film in Alberta.

• They work things out the best they can so that he can do both roles without massively delaying anything, which is what they did, and I think it was the best option for everyone.

When they cast Pedro for Mando they knew up front that availability was going to be an issue and agreed to work around it. They would likely have the same issue with any popular actor. The show is uniquely positioned to easily use doubles and stunt performers since the main character is literally forbidden to show his face. Any actor worth their salt would be insane to not take advantage of the amount of flexibility that offers. And even if Pedro was in the suit all the time, Brendan and Lateef would still be stepping in a lot for stunt work.

What’s fascinating and wonderful to me is how The Mandalorian cast and crew is being so straightforward about the fact that stunt performers are doing a lot of the heavy lifting and bringing them into the limelight. A lot of shows would - and do - try to completely obfuscate and distract their audience from the fact that stunt performers and doubles are used. That really sucks for stunt performers who will literally risk their bodies and lives for this work without getting the credit they deserve. They don’t even get included in the major award shows despite the fact that a lot of film and TV would be impossible without them.

So yeah, Brendan IS the Mandalorian. And so is Pedro and so is Lateef. And if more shows and movies were honest about it, we’d get to see that a lot of these kind of superhero and crazy action shows are really an amalgamation of multiple people working together to create one character. And the fact that they can make it work and keep us all immersed and feeling like it’s one person is actually extremely cool.

In conclusion: Teamwork makes the dream work. And means we get a lot more really great films and shows than we would without it.

[queerticulate]

Don’t Worry Darling Spoilers

ShSo after lapping up all of the recent drama about Don’t Worry Darling, I went to see the actual movie.

Because everything about the promotion of the film and everything that has been surfacing about how it was made was so unprofessional, I expected a terrible movie. When I checked out the trailer I was actually intrigued - it was giving me a mix between Black Swan and Strange Angel. Still went to see it with the expectation of laughing at a train wreck... but I actually enjoyed it!

Here’s some of my thoughts (i’m trying to keep it spoiler light):

It’s promoted wrong: it’s a mindfuck movie. In fact, it could have been released under the name of Christopher Nolan and it might have gotten a lot of praise (if there hadn’t been so much bad press). Central to it the plot is gendered abuse. Why on earth the director - Olivia Wilde - is promoting it as a feminist movie and making ‘female pleasure’ such a strong talking point baffles me. See: gendered abuse. By the end of the story, I would qualify the sex that takes place as rape. If Olivia really believes what she says, that’s creepy as fuck.

There is some really disturbing imagery in the movie. Main themes are losing your mind, abuse, self-harm and gaslighting. Some of the scenes are graphic. Don’t go in unprepared just because you want to see a cute movie with Harry Styles (which it won’t be anyway).

Casting & Harry Styles: I think recasting Shia LaBeouf was a good choice, considering his real life and what’s been in the press about that. I think that would have left a viewer who knows that very uncomfortable at the end of the movie. Considering what the reviews have been saying about Harry’s acting, I expected him to be completely cringe all the time. He was actually okay in my opinion.

Chris Pine: This was the first time I’ve seen Chris Pine play a bad guy. It was an experience. I’ve followed this guy since Star Trek and I have a soft spot for him. Seeing him, successfully, play the sort of person that freaks me out was an experience.

Themes & Similar media: My original instinct that it would have somewhat similar vibes as Black Swan and Strange Angel were right. It also seems to take some elements from Hannibal, Upload, and The Truman Show. The way that the neighborhood is set up, in part stylistically, reminded me of the start of Fall Out III (the videogame) and say Tim Burton’s movies such as Edward Scissorhands. I liked these aspects. It might also have found some inspiration in the Handmaid’s Tale, but it can’t even hold a candle to that in a million years (which sometimes is also good, bc the Handmaid’s Tale is traumatizing AF in how hardcore it showcases certain premises).

Directorial criticisms: I tried to look really critically and there is some negative stuff to be said about Olivia Wilde as a director, but I don’t think it goes beyond flaws that can be pointed out in most movies. Several times the music felt a bit off for the scene. I didn’t like the camera angles often. Some scenes felt like there was a specific point to them, but the execution wasn’t quite it yet and sometimes thus came across a bit awkward. When I mentioned Hannibal, I specifically think they tried to recreate the flashing scary dream-like cutscenes and haunting music as part of the journey of a character losing their mind, but it was a poor copy (which is sad). 

Plot & directorial criticisms: The final plot is, in my opinion, really really cool. And it had a plottwist I didn’t see coming. I was intrigued enough with how it unfolded to really want to follow the movie closely. But the above-point does show up here too in the sense that the ideas where there, but sometimes I needed to make some stuff up in my head to make it work. Some of the stuff that bugged me sort of seemed to be explained in the end, sort of. The weak spot for me was that Alice’s reactions seemed overstated for what we as the viewer saw as the cause of them. The things that were odd that she found out about, did not support the questions she consequently raised and the distress she had about it. The speed and intensity with which she lost her mind also didn‘t feel justified. Maybe the point was that she knew more than she thought the whole time and we as the viewers knew, and maybe we were supposed to notice this as odd as a clue. Maybe some of what happened can be chalked up to a sort of glitches in the matrix. It didn’t ruin the movie either way, and I don’t hate extending upon what we see onscreen in my head, but I do think the movie might have been stronger with a bit more exposition/build-up on some things on screen.

I am very mad that they got Dita von Teese to star in this, doing her signature performance, and we barely got to see it because it was intercut with so much of Alice’s trauma memories/nightmarescape scenes. Full offense!

Ending: I am sad the movie ended right at the moment where Alice fully grasped what was going on. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of her dealing with the aftermath. I think that would have made a stronger emotional journey for the viewer.

World-building: I must admit I am really fascinated with the premise/world-building of the movie, and there are so many aspects of it that I would have enjoyed knowing more about. I’m sort of sad it wasn’t told in a TV format so there would have been room. I’m very curious about the creation of the Victory Project and Frank’s character motivations. I am also very curious about Shelley’s position in all of it. I am curious about the struggles that would come with maintaining the situation around Alice (which also raises the question about how time works for the Victory Project). I also would have loved to know more about the stories of the other residents - it could have some very powerful tales about gendered violence (e.g. think of the implications of the character who was referred to as ‘always pregnant’). I am also interested in beyond the domestic aspect, how much of the world-building is set up in such a way as to fulfill specific power fantasies for the men. Does Jack get a big promotion and the opportunity to dance in front of everyone, because that is what he desires? Also, to how much beyond the domestic trad!wife fantasy is the Victory Project intended to cater? What would happen if a guy applied who doesn’t want to bring a wife, maybe someone who just thinks the aesthetic is really neat? What happens if a gay man applied who wants to bring a husband?

Overall, I liked the movie. The premise / plot was great, the execution okay. I do think that if it hadn’t been tanked so hard by a bad rep created by all the negative things that have surfaced about its production and the horrible promotion of it, it might have done well. I think most of the flaws it displays tie to lack of experience or talent from the director. But I also do think that there is a chance it wouldn’t have been judged as harshly if it had been directed by a man.